UNIVERSE IN FLAMES - FURY WARS

(THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON: 10 BOOKS + 7 NOVELLAS)

—== ULTIMATE EDITION ==—

KALLIAS

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Also by Christian Kallias

Copyright

Wings of Destiny (Novelette)

Earth - Last Sanctuary (Book 1)

Damocles Fall (Novelette)

The Way of the Warrior (Novella)

Fury to the Stars (Book 2)

Into the Abyss (Novelette)

Course Correction (short story)

Destination Oblivion (Book 3)

The Beginning of the End (Book 4)

Rise of the Ultra Fury (Book 5)

Shadows of Olympus (Book 6)

Armageddon Unleashed (Book 7)

Saroudis’s Destiny

Twilight of the Gods (Book 8)

Requiem of Souls (Book 9: Into the Fire Part 1)

To End All Wars (Season Finale Book 10: Into the Fire Part 2)

Extra : Descent

Bonus Album: Download This Exclusive Collector Album: FURY WARS

Download your Collector Universe in Flames Digital Artbook

Also by Christian Kallias

4 Ebooks & 1 AudiBook FREE to read

News update about the AudioBooks

Thanks to all my patrons

About the Author

PREFACE

Fury Wars is the complete Universe in Flames First Season Box Set. It contains 10 full novels, plus 7 Extra stories (ranging from short story to 35k words Novella in size). These extra stories are positioned chronologically for your convenience making FURY WARS the most comprehensive and complete version of the first season of the bestselling and award-winning series. The whole Box Set has nearly 4000 pages (estimate) and nearly a million words! (967k+, I think we can safely round that up to a million). I apologize in advance for the amount of sleep you’re going to have to trade ;).

What makes Fury Wars unique compared to my other box sets, is that you get the entire season in one go from beginning to end, without missing on any of the side stories. I’ve also spent a lot of time and attention to detail for cover of the book, and going for a true & classic Space Opera movie vibe. I’ve also reintroduced features like the Dramatis Personae (which I improved by adding phonetic pronunciation guide for the Greek names. Something that had been requested by many readers. So better late than never, it’s in the books now).

Why does this Edition exist, you may wonder? Because I never managed to put all stories in one collection, that simplifies reading and also insures you’ve read every extra stories under the sun, since they sometimes have some importance in fleshing out certain characters, but also add to the main events of the series. Nothing in those stories will prevent you from still understanding what’s going on if you skip them, but it adds more details to the overall world-building.

I hope you enjoy this labor of love (Universe in Flames my passion project), and Fury Wars clocks at nearly a million words. Amongst the extra stories, you also get Saroudis’s Destiny, which was until now only in one other box set release, as well as Descent which bridges Season 1 with the upcoming Season 2 Box Set: Spectre Wars.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading Universe in Flames - Fury Wars as much as I enjoyed writing it. And once your reach the end of Descent, you have 2 other labors of love I’ve included as bonuses: A 20 pages Digital Artbook with some truly epic artworks I’ve worked on to visually illustrate the series, as well as an Album containing 12 tracks, a mixture of songs and film-score-like soundtracks. Both these items are exclusive to this Box Set. In fact the music on the CD hasn’t been release yet, and may not for month. So both these Collector’s Item are not to be missed if great artwork and music based on the series appeals to you.

Obviously if you never read the books, you could check the Artbook any time you want (still it could spoil somewhat, so I’d wait until you’re well into the series or after you’re done with S1), but I’d finish the Box Set before trying the Album, as main themes and important events of Season 1 could be spoiled. I’ve made sure not to include any songs pertaining for Season 2, these songs will have to wait for Spectre Wars which releases on Jan. 7th, 2025. So yeah… the bonuses are worth your while and anyone outside those who got this version won’t ever own these files, making them (digital) collector’s items. You just have to have read the books first to not spoil yourself. If however you’d like to be able to put a face to some of the characters, the Artbook will help achieve that. I’ve even finished with portraits of the MC and other important characters. If you’ve ever read the books before, then you’ll get a kick out of them and I’m sure, except perhaps for one character, you’ll easily guess who they are immediately.

Sorry for the long preface, I’ll let you embark on other galaxies now…

Enjoy Fury Wars,

Your friendly neighborhood writer.

Christian Kallias

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias - kallias.com

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

https://steeleternal.com/ (My Music)

Editors

Philip Newey (Destination Oblivion, The Beginning of the End)

Effrosyni Moschoudi (Rise of the Ultra Fury)

Paula Lavattiata Lopez (All Books) - myeditcheck.com

Proofreaders

Philip Newey (Earth - Last Sanctuary, Fury to the Stars, Destination Oblivion, The Beginning of the End)

Effrosyni Moschoudi (The Beginning of the End)

Paula Lavattiata Lopez (All Books) - myeditcheck.com

Miliana Chipaila (Thank you so much Millie!)

ALSO BY CHRISTIAN KALLIAS

—== Access All my Books Here ==—

christiankallias.com

The Universe in Flames Series

Book 0: Wings of Destiny* (more prequels in the works)

Book 1: Earth - Last Sanctuary (Definitive Edition)

Book 2: Fury to the Stars

Book 3: Destination Oblivion

Book 4: The Beginning of the End

Book 5: Rise of the Ultra Fury

Book 6: Shadows of Olympus

Book 7: Armageddon Unleashed

Book 8: Twilight of the Gods

Book 9: Requiem of Souls

Book 10: To End All Wars (Final Chapter)

Book 11: Nemesis

Book 12: Unleashed

Book 13: Reckoning

Book 14: Dominion

Book 15: Fireborn

Book 16: Atlantis

Book 17: Asunder

Books 1-17 also available in trilogies format.

Books 1 to 7 available on Audible (Book 8 in recording)

Extra: Damocles Fall (Definitive Edition)

Extra: Course Correction

* Wings of Destiny & Way of the Warrior are also available in the Universe in Flames - Origins series or through some box sets. The Box Sets contain other extra stories like Descent, Course Correction, Damocles Fall and others.

* * *

Universe in Flames in MUSIC Form

Albums with songs from the Book Series are now available, they’re the perfect companion to take Chase’s adventures with you on the go!

Album 1: Battlecry of the Galaxy

Album 2: Unleashing the Storm - Part I

Single Blood Brothers

Unleashing the Storm - Part II (coming this Winter / 2025)

More on STEELETERNAL.COM

Early access to new songs on Steel Eternal’s Patreon page.

You can also find my music on most streaming services (Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and more)

* * *

From Far Beyond Series

Book 1: Spaceship Down

Book 2: The Stranded Fleet

Book 3: Dark Empire

Book 4: The Battle for Earth

Book 5: Empire Mine

Book 6: Civil War

* * *

Rewind Series (get the entire series for free here)

Book 0: Out of Time

Book 1: Freedom’s End

Book 2: Pandemonium

Book 3: Nightfall

* * *

Galactic Tales (10 Epic Stories from Earth & Beyond) - soon to be unpublished, with more single “short” stories coming in 2025.

Sign up for my newsletter to keep up to date with new releases and promotions.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2024 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2015-2017

Third Printing, 2024 / Version 1.0

WINGS OF DESTINY (NOVELETTE)

By Christian Kallias

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Star Alliance

Cadet Chase Athanatos – Starfighter Pilot Academy student

Cadet Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Atarfighter Pilot student

Captain Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Star Alliance - SAD Destiny’s Captain

Admiral Tharowni (tha-roh-nee) – War hero & Academy professor

Commander Fillio Steriopoulou (fee-lyo steh-ree-oh-poo-loo) – Starfighter Pilot Academy student

Others

Hooded Man – Mysterious Leader figure

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

Production Editor & Alpha/ARC Team Lead

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Editors

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Proofreaders

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Alpha Readers

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2018 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2018

Version 1.0

1

This story takes place thousands of light-years away from Earth. In a part of space where the Star Alliance and the Obsidian Empire have been waging a war for generations.

The missile grazed Chase’s ship, briefly illuminating his cockpit in a radiant blue before it reacquired its lock.

“Missile lock,” said AINI, the onboard navicomputer AI.

“No shit!” exclaimed Chase. “You’re really a stickler for stating the obvious.”

“I’m sorry, Pilot, I do not understand your last command.”

The AI’s vocal sub-routines made the female computer’s voice sound like a mixture of artificial calm and unintended digital sexiness. Something that Chase found, more often than not, disconcerting.

Chase exhaled in frustration. He would have to find an engineer cadet willing to sacrifice some of his spare time to give the ship’s AI a much-needed personality boost. Chase made a mental note of it as his ship’s proximity alert started blaring, informing him the missile was once more on his tailpipe and ready to impact with his weak shields.

“Never mind that, AINI, divert all power to the shields and execute evasive pattern Theta-3.”

“Executing,” said AINI.

As the missile gained on him, Chase spun his ship one hundred and eighty degrees on its Z axis and took back manual control. He locked onto the missile with his lasers, set them to rapid fire, and blasted it into oblivion.

“Three more enemy ships on approach vector,” warned AINI.

Of course they are.

“Power redirected,” added AINI, “shield at sixty-two percent and rising.”

Chase took a second to look at his instruments to assess the situation as well as the status of his ordnance. He only had a pair of missiles left, which wasn’t ideal. He’d have to make do.

The moment the enemy ships entered firing range, Chase veered his ship hard, vectoring toward the trio of incoming fighters. Red laser fire screamed past his canopy and briefly illuminated his cockpit with crimson tones. Chase flew his fighter in a corkscrew maneuver, trying to avoid as many hits as possible until he was ready to make his move.

The enemy ships flew in a tight pyramid formation. The corner of Chase’s mouth arched into a grin. He locked onto the apex craft as more laser fire pounded and depleted his frontal shields at an alarming rate. He fired his first missile, then almost immediately after, fired a second one at the same target. The first missile lit up and exploded on the enemy’s shields, the follow-up pierced through them and tore the fighter’s wing to shreds.

The enemy craft spun uncontrollably. Molten parts, sparks, and oxygen spewing into space. The other two ships tried to break away but one wasn’t fast enough; the damaged fighter exploded on its shield, sending it spinning out of control. Chase acquired it, unwilling to let this brief window of opportunity slip through his fingers. He showered the craft with rapid bursts of low-power laser fire, making short-change of what little shields the enemy had left. Chase switched his firing mode to heavy, supercharged laser fire, aimed at the ship’s engine, and blew the fighter to kingdom come.

Chase cheered as he flew through the resulting cloud of dust and debris. A few of the smaller fragments burned on his shields, bringing them down to under ten percent.

“Buy one, get one free,” Chase chuckled.

But his victorious dance was interrupted when he received heavy laser fire on his starboard side. The incoming fire finished off whatever shield remained, and several hits broke pieces off his Manticore starfighter as alarm holo-controls lit up throughout his cockpit.

Dammit!

Chase went evasive. Knowing he was in trouble, his instincts fired up. He couldn’t let the last ship score even a single hit more if he wanted to win this engagement.

His heart skipped a beat when a heavy pounding noise resonated from the top of the cockpit.

“Chase! Stop fooling around in that thing; we’re going to be late for class!” Daniel shouted.

Chase refrained from swearing at his best friend.

“I just need another minute,” he shouted back, with no small quantity of frustration seeping into his voice.

Chase veered away and went evasive. He had lost focus, and his mind wandered outside of the simulator. It was pure luck that the last enemy ship hadn’t blown him out of the sky during that time.

“We can’t be late today, buddy, remember special guest and all. Admiral Tharowni will have your ass this time.”

“Leave me alone, go. I’ll be right behind you.”

Chase was met with silence, during which he tried to get his bearings and check the position of the enemy fighter. It had moved right into his six.

Perfect, just fucking perfect!

“Alright, buddy,” said Daniel. “I’m going. See you in class.”

Chase huffed but didn’t answer, infuriated that his focus was interrupted from the virtual firefight. He knew Daniel meant well, but in this very moment, anger filled Chase’s mind like a deadly virus, threatening his ability to fly his ship, let alone engage in a dogfight, virtual or otherwise.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and for just a split second, in the back of his mind, he thought he heard a female voice.

“Stay calm, you can do this. You can do anything you set your mind to.”

Great, I’m hearing voices now, can this day get any worse?

As if in answer from the universe, part of Chase’s wing splintered as the remaining enemy fighter scored three laser hits.

Son of a bi⁠—

Unfortunately, Chase’s attempt to remain calm failed. His muscles tightened, and he began to sweat, his anger turning to rage and spreading within his body like venom coursing through his veins. Then, something happened, and it felt as if time were slowing down, giving Chase a reprieve to check the situation and find a way out of his current predicament that didn’t involve him losing this fight.

Above all else, Chase hated to lose.

He tried to redistribute power to the shields, but the generators were damaged. He would have to finish this dogfight without them.

So be it!

Chase evaded the next wave of laser fire, dodging, rolling, and sliding through space like a sinuous sea eel on a mission, even with a damaged wing, never letting the enemy fire come close to scoring a hit. His focus was now back one hundred percent, to the point that the dogfight felt real to Chase, and he had to win as if his life depended on it.

It took some doing, but Chase eventually managed to line up his fighter into the bandit’s six o’clock position and finally had the enemy ship in his visor.

You’re mine now!

Chase got a nice lock tone, only to be reminded by the ships’ AI that he no longer had any missiles. Was it her condescending tone or just Chase’s annoyance at forgetting something so obvious, he didn’t know. But he redirected the AI’s power to the weapons, effectively disabling any future vocal messages from AINI.

Now, where was I?

The enemy starfighter started jinking, but Chase was determined to shoot it out of the sky by any means necessary. He stuck on its six no matter what, continuously pounding the enemy’s aft shields; however, the levels were dropping too slowly.

Chase checked his power readings only to notice that he had lost power to the laser cannon located on his damaged wing. It had sprung a power leak. Chase whipped his head to the side and saw sparks fly from the flaming wing every time he took a shot. This was unfortunate as his ship could blow up if he continued to ignore the leak.

Inhaling deeply, Chase tried calming his mind, which was on the brink of blowing a fuse.

I love a challenge, he recited as a mantra.

Chase’s hands blurred on the holo-controls as he redistributed all power to the functioning cannon, bypassing the power node on the damaged wing altogether.

That cost him precious seconds during which the enemy fighter, still unable to shake Chase off of his tail, managed to recharge most of its shields.

I have lost enough time dancing around with you, say your prayers to whichever digital gods you believe in.

Chase felt as if he entered a trance. He switched his laser to full power, siphoning as much energy from literally every system in order to supercharge the one working cannon to one hundred and forty percent. Every one of his supercharged shots hit the enemy ship, draining its shield rapidly. Two more hits and its shields went down. Sparks flew from one of the damaged engines. It was losing speed.

“Time to say goodbye, now⁠—”

Chase depressed the trigger on his flight stick to take the winning shot, but nothing happened. Another three red status indicators illuminated on his holo-controls.

You’ve got to be shitting me.

Chase twitched. It ain’t no thing. You want to play it this way, then let’s fucking play.

Bolstered with an inhuman influx of motivation, Chase’s mind took over, and he felt as if he were watching a holo-movie, as if some strange force was taking over his actions and left him only as a witness. He redirected all power to the engines, even life support, and pushed through at full burn. With the extra juice in his engines and the enemy slowing down, Chase accelerated on a collision course and approached his prey fast. Very fast. He disregarded the “collision imminent” alert.

Here goes nothing.

A split second before he would have rammed into the enemy fighter, Chase rolled his Manticore ninety degrees and vectored his nose just below the enemy, using his good wing to cut at the belly of his prey like gutting a fish. Metal grounded, sparks and flames flew, and every warning and alarm inside Chase’s cockpit lit up at once on his holo-controls. With AINI down, the alarms were displayed as hovering holo-text.

“Ship structural integrity failure imminent, ejecting pilot now!”

His pilot chair was spinning in space as he saw the last scene unfold.

The enemy ship was nearly cut in half by Chase’s crazy stunt, but by some miracle, it was still flying, somewhat. Chase’s ship, on the other hand, blew up into multiple fiery displays of explosions behind the enemy ship, incinerating it in the process.

“I win!” he exclaimed as the holo-projectors reset and the simulator cockpit latch opened. Chase jumped out of the machine to an empty mess hall. Nobody to applaud his last crazy display, and nobody giving their constructive criticism as to how insane his fighting style was and how they wished they would never have to fly with him in a real combat situation.

Hell, even the barman had left the premises.

“Ooookay,” said Chase.

He looked at his wrist holo-device and saw the hour. He was more than ten minutes late for class.

I’m in trouble, he thought as he darted toward section three of the space station.

2

“How generous of you to grace us with your presence, Cadet Athanatos!” bellowed the teacher, Admiral Tharowni.

Chase waved his hand timidly. “Sorry, Admiral,” he said as he sat behind Daniel. “I— I was detained, well, sort of. It won’t happen again,” he added with an unconvincing smile.

“I don’t care what excuse you think you can cook up this time, Cadet! I have half a mind to ask you to leave. And today of all days, you could have made an effort. Let me be perfectly clear, this is your last warning. If you ever arrive at my class late again from now until the end of the year, you can kiss your days at the academy goodbye. Is that understood?”

That’s a little rough, take it easy old fart, Chase thought.

“What did you just say?” asked the Admiral.

Chase swallowed hard. Had he voiced his inner thoughts without realizing?

Chase quickly glanced around and could tell from the many baffled looks that he wasn’t the only one surprised. If he somehow had been heard, he would be in big trouble, so he stood up straight, swallowed his pride, and saluted.

“I’m sorry, Admiral. As per your question: understood through and through! Thank you for giving me one last chance, you won’t regret it.”

Chase thought he heard a classmate from the other side of the classroom whisper “sucker.”

The admiral threw his hands in Chase’s direction. “Shut up, Cadet, and sit the hell back down. Oh, and today, just for once, try and learn something, okay? It’s not every day that you are exposed to a living, breathing war hero.”

Chase sat back in his chair, releasing a long and silent exhale of relief.

I’m surprised you’re not including yourself in that statement today.

Chase grinned. “Will do, sir.”

The Admiral was notorious for recounting his glory days during class and putting himself on a pedestal, which annoyed Chase to no end. For a moment he wondered why that was until Daniel turned his head slightly to the side and whispered.

“I hope your joyride in the simulator was worth getting your last blemish. One more cock-up and they’ll fire your ass. Who will I hang around with if you get your dumb ass fired from this place?”

Your concern is touching. You’re lucky you’re my best friend, or I’d kick your ass.

While Chase wanted to argue with his friend that the admiral was probably just bluffing, weirdly, his instincts told him otherwise. Though he shouldn’t be surprised, he had, after all, repeatedly been late, disobedient, and sometimes just plain distracted to the point where dismissal from the academy was probably a real possibility. Now was definitely not the right time to attract more attention to himself.

The thought of being dismissed did scare Chase more than he thought it would. Was it his love of flying that would die should he not finish and graduate from the academy? Most likely, but something else at the back of his mind screamed at him that he had to stop screwing around and take his classes a little more seriously.

“I’ll tell you about it later,” Chase whispered back. “Better not anger the dragon.”

Daniel turned his head even more and gave Chase a befuddled look that spoke more than any words could.

* * *

“Now it’s time to present the esteemed guest of the day,” said Tharowni. “Class, attention!”

Everyone got up as the admiral walked to the door. It split open and revealed a bearded man with an iron look in his eyes. He wore a captain’s uniform, and even though Chase was far, he could read the name of the ship under his slew of medals.

The Destiny.

“Class, it is my privilege to introduce you to Captain Saroudis. Hero of the battle of the Thermopylae Pulsar. I’m sure you all know about it by now. It’s been all over the holo-news for the past month.”

Chase had indeed read about it. Captain Adonis Saroudis had used cunning strategy and tactics to defeat a much bigger and more powerful fleet. He had waged battle for three days, relentlessly, and had sent whatever was left of the Obsidian Empire forces packing.

A round of applause filled the room.

Captain Saroudis scanned the classroom and permitted himself a small smile.

“Thank you, Cadets,” said Saroudis. “As you were.”

Everyone sat back down.

“Thank you, Admiral, for having me here. It’s an honor.”

“The honor is ours.”

The admiral whispered something in the captain’s ear, and he nodded slightly before taking a couple of steps forward, looking straight out at the class.

“The admiral would like me to give you a bit of a motivational speech. I wish I could say that your training here will prepare you for what awaits you once you graduate and are assigned to your destroyer carrier in a few months. Perhaps even on board my own ship.

“Unfortunately, I can’t and won’t lie to you. War is ugly, it’s tough, and it will make your life miserable more often than not, that is, if you survive it.”

Chase could tell from Admiral Tharowni’s uneasy face that the captain’s words were not what he had in mind for a motivational speech. But the words resonated with Chase, so Saroudis had his undivided attention.

“You see,” continued Saroudis. “This conflict has been going on for generations, my father, heck, even my grandfather, have been involved in it. I lost them both to this bloody war. In fact, I was very young when my grandfather’s starfighter was destroyed during the onslaught at the battle of Dervenakia.”

The captain’s face hardened before he continued.

“Such is war. You lose people. In fact, you’re very likely to lose your own life. I can see on some of your faces that this isn’t what you wanted to hear today. And I’m sorry if I’m bringing your spirits down. It’s not my intention, but I don’t like lying to anybody, let alone young minds that are training to defend the Star Alliance and what we stand for. I owe it to you to tell you what war really is and what you’re going to have to expect in the career you have chosen.

“Like you, I’ve been through the academy, I flew simulators, then proper live training missions until I was finally assigned to a wing onboard my father’s ship, the Argolis. Had my father requested my presence? Or was it just the luck of the draw? I never found the courage to ask him the question for fear of learning something I didn’t want to know. And so I was there, in my fighter’s cockpit, shot to hell, my engines on fire, when both my father and his ship exploded into a million pieces.”

The class had never been this silent. The cold, hard reality check Saroudis painted with such eloquence, was filled with deep emotional backwash that he managed, for the most part, to not let impact either his tone or the message he was trying to convey to the young people’s minds in attendance.

“No. I can’t lie to you,” continued Saroudis. “I won’t. That moment was, without a doubt, the most excruciatingly painful one of my entire existence. It still hurts today. But it was also a defining moment for me. Even though a part of me died when I saw my father’s ship explode, and at that moment I felt like giving up, and for a handful of seconds, thought about letting the enemy finish me off and put me out of my misery. My fighter was shot to hell, barely still flying, shields failing, half of my power nodes fluctuating. But if I had, then thousands of courageous men, my father included, would have lost their lives in vain. They were fighting for a cause, and that day I realized that so was I, so I couldn’t give up. I patched up my fighter and kept fighting, and so did the rest of my wing until we drove the Empire away from our space.”

There was a long silence.

“This is what war will do to you. But without the sacrifices of brave men and woman, we may not keep our freedom, and could end up being squashed under the Obsidian Empire’s tyranny. So we wage war, fighting and dying for the Star Alliance at a moment’s notice if that is our destiny. For that, I want to thank you for being here, for willing to put your lives in jeopardy for what you believe in. I may have brought your spirits down a little today, but I know that in each of your hearts flows the blood of warriors. Heroes of tomorrow. We need you, more than you realize.”

Chase was the first to get up and clap, and the rest of the class followed suit. The entire speech struck a chord with him, and for the first time in a long time, he actually felt like he was in the right place, doing the right thing. This feeling would fade away later that day when he and the captain would clash on tactics. But, for now, Chase was perfectly happy to bask in the moment. Little did he know this would be a pivotal moment that would shape his future.

3

Chase destroyed the last of the enemy fighters with barely any of his shields left before the simulation ended. He removed the neuronal interface from his temple. This advanced piece of technology was still in its beta stages and sometimes glitchy, though Chase had to admit that the engineers in charge of its development were working out the kinks at an impressive pace the last few months. The neuronal implant projected a virtual holographic scene directly inside the mind of its wearer. It was, in fact, just like a regular simulator, except it weighed almost nothing and could link with other minds to practice both standalone and networked dogfight scenarios or even full squadron maneuvers like he just did with his classmates.

Chase looked around, his classmates staring at him. Some looked surprised, some casting him disapproving glances, and a very few seemed to glean some sort of inspiration from him. Or so it seemed to Chase.

“Alright,” said Saroudis. “Who can tell me what Cadet Athanatos did wrong?”

Wrong? I just killed four fighters!

For a moment Chase thought Daniel would raise his hand, but Fillio beat him to it. Fillio Steriopoulou was another of Chase’s friends, though there was more to their relationship than that, even though Chase didn’t know where they were headed with it just yet. It was against regulations to date another fellow pilot.

Like with every other rule, Chase didn’t like that particular one.

“Yes, Cadet,” said Saroudis as he pointed toward Fillio.

“He broke off and abandoned his wingman in the middle of the fight.”

No kiss for you later today, Chase thought.

“However,” Fillio added, “he did take down four enemy fighters pretty much on his own.”

Chase smiled. On the other hand...

“That part was impressive, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that he left his wingman hanging high and dry,” countered Saroudis. “Sure, the cadet seems very good at breaking every rule in the book and flying by the seat of his pants. Granted, his instincts seem pretty strong. But, discipline and rules are there for a reason. Right, Mr. Athanatos?”

Chase suddenly felt everyone’s eyes upon him. For a moment, he even felt like he was about to freeze. Now the question was, should he tell the captain how he felt about his question, or should he try to conform to what was expected of him as a Star Alliance pilot? For a moment Chase thought he would go with the latter, but then he remembered how he felt when Saroudis poured his heart out and told them how he lost his father. The man deserved Chase’s honest answer.

“I think rules and discipline are important, I just happen to think I fly better doing my own thing, no offense.”

Captain Saroudis sized up Chase for what felt like the longest time. Chase had no idea what the next words coming from his mouth would be. If Chase’s answer had generated an emotional impact on the captain, he wasn’t letting it show. Not one iota, in fact.

“That’s a better answer than I expected you to give, Cadet. And I appreciate that you didn’t just cow down and agree with me when your flying clearly displays that you are, indeed, doing your own thing. Now class, while the cadet seems to fly well with his instincts, let me tell you why you shouldn’t try to emulate him and why you’d rather have someone who flies by the book as your wingman.”

Chase flinched. There had been some tempered compliments behind the captain’s words, and he didn’t completely shut him down like he was used to with Admiral Tharowni. Still, not exactly an endorsement of his flight skills either.

We’ll see about that wingman comment when your life will, in fact, depend on my flight skills.

Chase’s attention drifted away after that, not even caring to listen to the arguments on the logic behind never abandoning one’s wingman. Chase didn’t care about logic; he cared and listened to his gut, and he intended to continue to do so.

Daniel swiveled in his chair and entered something on his wrist holo-device. Chase’s device vibrated, and Daniel’s message hovered an inch from his wrist.

“Chin up, bro. The way you killed those four bogeys was amazing.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Chase answered on his device.

* * *

At the end of class, as the cadets headed to their quarters, Captain Saroudis called to Chase.

“Cadet Athanatos. If I may have a moment with you.”

Chase shrugged almost dismissively. “Sure, why not. What can I do for you, Captain?”

“It’s more what I can do for you, Cadet.”

“And what would that be?”

“I know where you’re coming from, I— I’ve been bending the rules when push comes to shove, and more often than not, that saved many lives.”

Chase squinted his eyes. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I recognize a fire in you. I used to have the same fire in my eyes as well as the same attitude problem.”

Attitude problem, huh?

“I can tell from your reaction,” continued Saroudis, “that you don’t think you’re the problem.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“You would if we were off the record. Which by the way, we are.”

There was silence.

“Look, Cadet,” Saroudis continued when it became clear that Chase wouldn’t talk. “I didn’t mean to give you a hard time in front of your classmates. And if I made you feel uncomfortable, well, I’m sorry. I just think you need to curb some of that pride that shines through your entire personality. You’re young, inexperienced, and if I may speak frankly⁠—”

Chase nodded.

“You’re unprepared for what’s to come in the future. Blowing up digital ghost ships and actually taking lives are two different things.”

Chase swallowed hard and had to restrain himself from letting the anger show in his demeanor. Saroudis put his hand on his shoulder and looked at Chase squarely in the eyes.

“There was pure genius in your flying today, but I can’t acknowledge it. Not publicly. Pilots with your kind of instincts are needed, one day you’ll probably do something heroic and save people’s lives. But I can’t encourage this behavior toward other cadets that don’t have that instinct you seem to have been born with. Do you understand?”

To say that Chase had been unprepared for the captain’s words would be an understatement.

“I do. Thank you for saying so.”

“I also want you to know that, even though you clearly can put your money where your mouth is, you will see many roadblocks in your career in doing so. For instance, if you want to become a wing commander, or even a captain one day, you’ll have to curb some of that ‘fire’ you have.”

I just want to fly a starfighter.

“What’s on your mind, Cadet? And, please, don’t sugarcoat your answer.”

“With all due respect, Captain. I just want to fly a Manticore starfighter and kill as many Obsidian Empire bogeys as I can. That’s all that matters to me.”

Saroudis smiled. “I can say with confidence that I’m sure you’ll get that done. But don’t discard what else you could achieve in your lifetime.” Saroudis chuckled before continuing. “I see a lot of myself in you at your age. If there’s one thing I can impart to you, it is that you never know what the future holds. You may think you’re just the lone wolf pilot, misunderstood, shunned by others who are in fact jealous of your innate abilities. But sooner than you might expect, the universe might serve up another kind of destiny for you, one you can’t imagine right now.”

Chase took some time to digest the words. He liked Saroudis, he seemed like an empathic person.

“Thank you, Captain. I⁠—”

“Yes, Cadet? Tell me.”

“I don’t believe in destiny, sir. I think we make our own.”

“And on some level, I’m sure you’re right. But give it time, one day you might wake up and realize that destiny is knocking on your door. I’ve taken enough of your time, I’m sure you want to go back to your quarters and enjoy your evening.”

“Thank you, Captain. I enjoyed this talk.”

Saroudis smiled. “So did I. You’re dismissed.”

Chase was almost out the door when he stopped and turned around.

“How long will you be staying on Starbase Alpha Three, sir?”

“My battlegroup is scheduled to leave in a couple of days, Cadet.”

“Will you be teaching more classes until then?”

“You bet, I’ll see you tomorrow, Cadet.”

Chase smiled and nodded before leaving the classroom.

* * *

Admiral Tharowni descended from the back of the class and came next to the captain as Chase left the room.

“He’s a different fellow, this Chase,” said Tharowni. “Did you talk some sense into him?”

Saroudis smiled as he brushed his hand through his well-groomed beard. “In a manner of speaking.”

“Good. He sure needs to learn his place. Always late, fighting with other cadets, he’s got quite a temperament.”

“That I have no doubt believing, Admiral. But was I any different?”

The admiral chuckled. “I’d like to think so, yes.”

“He’s an excellent pilot, though.”

“Not a team player, but yes, some of the maneuvers he’s pulled, at least in the simulators, I’ve never seen anything like it. I just wish he had a slightly different attitude.”

“Well, he is who he is. At least it must make your days interesting, right?”

“Oh yeah, I’m running out of ways to formulate new blemishes on his record.”

Saroudis laughed.

4

This evening had started so well.

Daniel, Fillio, and Chase were drinking at the bar, exchanging jokes, taking friendly potshots at one another, until Cadet Luyet decided to be a smart-ass.

It wasn’t the first remark where he paraphrased Saroudis and focused only on the negative from today’s class. No, that one Chase had managed to let slide. Nor was it the cadet’s second remark about how he would never fly on Chase’s wing. Since Chase had no intention of ever inflicting himself with such an imposition, he had managed to stay calm.

No, all hell broke loose when big mouth Luyet went to no man’s land.

“Listen up!” Luyet yelled to anyone within earshot. “It’s obvious why our boy here, Chase, doesn’t care about rules or anyone but himself. I mean, wouldn’t you be a rebel too if you didn’t know your heritage or being adopted at a mature age? I mean, come on, he doesn’t even remember his past or the fact that he doesn’t have real parents.”

This was when the shit hit the fan.

Five minutes later, a brawl of epic proportions ravaged the mess hall, and Chase had thrown the first, lip-splitting punch. One that Luyet was unlikely to forget until it healed.

In hindsight and looking at the brig’s force field, he regretted his actions. But Luyet had been out of line. Still, Chase feared that this last incident might just be the last straw that could cost him his place in the Star Alliance Academy. And today had generally been a good day, he had fun in both the simulator and listening to Captain Saroudis in class, only to cross that line that he was just starting to see in his mind. Having crossed it, he might regret it for the rest of his life.

Every minute spent in the brig felt like an eternity. Were the instructors deciding his fate right now? Would he get expelled? The thought scared the shit out of him. By the time Admiral Tharowni came to the brig, Chase felt like an entire month had passed.

He started to sweat, and he felt like he could hear his heart trying to pound its way out of his chest. He didn’t like the look in the admiral’s eyes.

Dammit, please, don’t let this happen.

Tharowni requested the security officer to lower the force field. Once it was down, he walked in the cell, sat next to Chase, and interlocked his fingers together without saying a word.

Should I apologize now? Or wait until he speaks? Chase wondered.

When the silence became too unbearable, and Chase thought his mind would explode, he blurted.

“I fucked up, didn’t I?”

Tharowni briefly glanced at Chase then returned his attention to his hands.

I did. That’s it. They’ll throw me out.

“I’m going to tell you a story. I’d like you to listen closely to it.”

What? Why won’t you tell me if I’m expelled?

“Okay,” said Chase.

“I lost my birth parents in the war. I was too young to remember or understand. Fortunately, a nice couple who couldn’t have children adopted me. They made me feel like their own. It was only when I reached puberty that they disclosed it to me.

“Even though I was too young to remember my real parents, I still felt betrayed. Why would they pretend to be my parents? But after a few weeks, I realized that it didn’t matter whether or not they were my birth parents. They took me in, they loved me just as much as they would have their own child, and they made me feel safe.

“In the time it took for me to reach that life-altering conclusion, I had complained to a few too many of my friends, and the word got out that I was adopted.”

Where is he going with this?

“I know the only thing on your mind right now must be your fate in this school. I don’t want to torture you by telling you my entire, not-so-interesting, life story. And until five minutes ago, when I looked at your record, I hadn’t realized something. While we share a similarity in that story, in the fact that we’re both adopted, there’s a divergence in our respective lives. My adoptive parents died of old age. And while I was filing the paperwork for your expulsion out of this academy, I felt compelled to check your records.”

Admiral Tharowni put his hand on Chase’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry you can’t say the same about yours.”

A single tear ran down Chase’s face.

“So, I trashed the order to have you expelled because I think your reaction to the bullying from Cadet Luyet was not only understandable under the circumstances, but warranted. If I had been in your shoes, I probably would have bashed his head in too.”

Chase turned toward the admiral, not knowing what to say.

“That being said,” Tharowni continued, “you need to understand something, Chase. You have been a negative influence on the class, your constant tardiness, your general attitude, I can no longer tolerate it. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Chase wiped the tear off of his cheek and nodded. “I do.”

“I’m going to need more than this from you.”

Chase stood and saluted. “If you give me another chance, I’ll prove to you that I can be an asset to the Star Alliance. I give you my word.”

Tharowni stood from the bench and took a long breath.

“I’ve done everything I can do for you, and by all rights tonight should have been your last day on this station. Please don’t make me regret this.”

“I won’t.”

“You’re months away from graduation, but if you keep your nose clean, you’ll pass all the tests with flying colors. Of that, I have no doubt. It is highly unlikely you’ll ever be given a command, but you’re one hell of a pilot, Cadet Athanatos. Don’t squander your future, okay?”

“Thank you, Admiral. Believe me, starting now you won’t hear a peep out of me in class, and I’ll never arrive late again.”

“I’ll hold you to your word, Cadet. Now go have your face checked out in med-bay and try to get some rest.”

* * *

When Chase didn’t answer his doorbell, he heard the person resort to incessant knocking. While he wasn’t in the mood to see anybody, he still opened his quarter’s doors. There stood Fillio, smiling at him.

“Mind if I come in?” she asked.

“I’m not sure I’ll be good company tonight.”

“That’s okay. At least you’ll have some. Where’s your roommate?”

“I don’t know where Daniel is.”

“So, what happened?”

“They didn’t get rid of me, that’s what happened.”

“Well, thank the Gods of Olympus for that.”

“Yeah,” said Chase absently.

They talked for a few minutes, during which Chase told Fillio the reason why he still had a chance at graduation.

“You’re one lucky ba—” but Fillio caught herself. “You know...” she added.

“I know.”

Before he could say another word, her lips were on his, and soon they were intertwined on his bunk bed. Chase lost track of time as they made out for what felt like an eternity. When Fillio’s hand traveled south and brushed in between his legs, he caught her hand. They both opened their eyes.

“What’s wrong? I thought you’d like us to go a little further tonight, you know, blow off some steam.”

Part of Chase wanted nothing more than to do just that. But he knew very well that breaking one more rule was no longer an option. In fact, he shouldn’t have made out with Fillio at all.

“I— I’m sorry, but no,” he said, trying not to sound too harsh.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t do this.”

“That’s okay,” she said, pulling her hand and going to caress his face instead. “We can just make out tonight.”

But when she was about to kiss him, he pulled back.

“I don’t think you understand what I’m trying to say. I can’t do any of this, not anymore.”

Her expression changed. “What are you saying?”

Chase sat on the edge of the bunk bed. “This is against regulations, we shouldn’t be involved in this way.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me. Did you get hit hard in the head during the brawl? Because Chase Athanatos citing regulations is kind of ironic. Is that a not so subtle way of telling me you don’t like me anymore?”

Chase always enjoyed hanging out with Fillio, but never really felt like his heart belonged to her. If it had, he wouldn’t be telling her this.

“No, of course not. My entire life I did anything that I wanted, the more against the flow, the better. I guess it’s part of my DNA, but I came within an inch of losing the opportunity of flying tonight. I— I can’t continue on this path, or I’ll never get my wings.”

And I want my wings; I need to fly a starfighter. That much is certain.

Fillio got up and went straight for the door.

“Fillio, don’t take it personally,” Chase tried to tell her. But she was already gone.

5

Saroudis gazed at the class for what felt like the longest time.

“Today we’ll do live exercises, similar to what we did yesterday, except I want you to fight each other this time, not AI craft. In pairs, so choose your wingmen.”

Chase looked at Daniel, who nodded in agreement.

Soon they had attached the neuronal interface to their temples and were each flying a Manticore starfighter. The HUD overlaid the call signs of the pilots atop their ships, so each pilot knew who they would fight.

“Holy crap,” said Daniel.

“What?” asked Chase.

“Look who we’re fighting.”

Chase looked at the incoming fighters, the names atop the fighters weren’t the call signs, but the last names. Saroudis and Tharowni. Chase grinned.

“Daniel, whatever happens, we have to win this one.”

“I was sure you were gonna say that. How do you want to proceed? They’re not exactly rookies, you know.”

“I’ll take Saroudis. You take the admiral.”

“Ok, so no plan whatsoever. Not that I think it would make the slightest bit of difference, either could probably both kick our asses in their sleep.”

Not if I have anything to say about it.

“Try and think positively, will ya? You’re ruining my buzz.”

“Of course I am.”

Chase locked onto Saroudis and opened fire. The captain evaded, allowing Chase to get on his six pretty quickly. Chase got a good lock tone and fired up his first missile. Saroudis cut forward thrusters, rotated his ship, kept its current momentum, and took the missile out with laser fire. Some of the shots impacted with Chase’s shields, briefly basking the virtual cockpit in bluish light.

Chase wondered why the captain hadn’t just deployed countermeasures. Perhaps he wanted to signal to him that he wasn’t scared of engaging in a dogfight with Chase, which made this encounter, even if only a simulation, all the more thrilling.

By the time his shield stopped glowing, Saroudis had veered away, but Chase wouldn’t let him off the hook so easily, and he re-engaged him, but acquiring another lock proved a more difficult task than dispatching four simultaneous AI ships. This told Chase that it didn’t matter how good he was against AI enemies, in the real world he would have to fight fierce adversaries that would not be predictable.

Before he knew it, Chase’s aft shield was hit. Tharowni was pounding on them.

“Daniel! What the hell are you doing? I thought you had the admiral.”

“Hey, take it easy, I’m trying. I’m on his six, but he’s throwing me off the scent with some pretty fancy old-fart flying.”

“Get—him—off my six!” protested Chase.

“Believe me, I’m trying!”

Chase replicated the captain’s earlier move, spun his fighter as he killed his forward thrusters, and retaliated against the admiral. He unleashed low-powered high-frequency laser fire to drain Tharowni’s shields. The admiral was expertly dodging a good majority, but Chase managed to bring the shields down fifty percent when he locked onto ship and selected two missiles.

With a good tone, Chase fired them. What happened next he didn’t expect. Tharowni instantly deployed a flurry of countermeasures and veered upward. Chase’s missiles went forward, taking the countermeasure bait when Daniel’s fighter emerged and ran into both. His fighter spun uncontrollably.

Fuck!

“What the hell! Did you just fire at me?” Daniel protested.

“Those were meant for Tharowni.”

“That makes me feel so much better.”

“Head in the game!” Saroudis’ voice cracked up over the comms.

Dammit, Sarou⁠—

The distraction had opened up offensive possibilities that Saroudis would not miss. Chase was taking heavy fire from the starboard side. He swore in his mind as he evaded, but Saroudis didn’t let him breathe. He fired a couple of missiles, forcing Chase to use countermeasures.

Saroudis was gaining on him; scoring more and more laser hits on his aft shields.

Damn, he’s good!

Chase tried every evasive maneuver he could think of to shake Saroudis off his ass, but he kept coming. Chase wished with all his might that he could get his fighter to stop so that Saroudis would overshoot him. Before he could key in the commands, his ship did exactly as he had wished.

What the hell? How’s that even possible?

As Saroudis screamed past his canopy, Chase took advantage of the situation and showered the captain’s shields with everything he had. What happened, was there a glitch in the simulator? Or had Chase entered his commands without realizing? He really wanted to win this fight, so he decided to let it go, but something smelled fishy.

Saroudis took evasive maneuvers, and Chase followed suit still pounding on his shields.

“Just another few seconds and you’re mine,” Chase shouted.

But then Daniel’s fighter exploded nearby.

Shit!

Tharowni didn’t lose time and vectored toward Chase.

This is NOT good!

He had enough trouble just trying to dispatch Saroudis, with the admiral on his way, the situation grew from dire to desperate. For a moment Chase froze, realizing that if that had been a real-life fight, his best friend in the whole world would have been killed. Anger started to make Chase’s blood boil.

Saroudis’ aft shields were slowly approaching critical, and Chase locked a missile on the captain’s tailpipe, but he knew that Saroudis would dodge it, so he prepared a second missile. His instinct told him the captain would break right, so he switched the second missile to manual trajectory and aimed it a little over two points off Saroudis’ starboard bow and fired the missiles in quick succession.

Saroudis deployed countermeasures and broke to starboard, his own countermeasure must have masked the second missile from his visuals as he ran into it, which not only finished off his shields but took out one of his engines as the ship spun in space, spewing coolant from a leak.

Chase was about to finish Saroudis off when his locking alarms blared at the incoming four missiles.

“Holy crap! The admiral doesn’t want me to win this.”

Chase deployed countermeasures, and two of the missiles fell for it, but the other two reacquired Chase’s Manticore as they flew through the countermeasure.

Oh, no you don’t.

Chase went evasive, veered hard to starboard, and soon was facing the admiral. Chase redistributed power from his shields to the engines to outrun the missiles long enough to execute his next move. He squeezed the trigger and unleashed a barrage of laser fire toward the admiral, pummeling his shield. Tharowni did the same, as he was left with no other choice but to try and shoot down Chase first since the admiral had fired his last remaining missiles.

That mistake would cost him the fight, Chase decided. Both fighters kept advancing toward one another, not even trying to dodge incoming fire, the perfect standoff. Who would blink first?

Chase had no intention to, he had something else in mind. He fired his last missile, knowing that the heavy barrage of laser fire wouldn’t get to his target, but he only needed to distract the admiral for a second. The missile screamed toward Tharowni’s craft. Midway it got shot down and exploded, and Chase stopped firing his lasers the moment it happened and diverted all weapons and half of his shields’ power to the thrusters. With his shield’s power halved, he redirected all their energy to reinforce the frontal shields only.

That was an all-in move, as the twin missiles, still locked onto his craft, continued to gain on him, but by boosting his engine’s power another thirty percent, he could delay their catching up to him for an additional second or two, which is all he needed. He flew through the cloud of flames his exploding missile created, still on a collision course with Tharowni’s craft.

“Goodbye, Admiral,” Chase said as he turned at the last second just enough to avoid a collision. The pursuing missiles didn’t adjust to his last-second maneuvering and continued straight on, impacting with his prey. Tharowni’s Manticore exploded into a million pieces.

Chase redistributed power to his shields.

Pride filled his heart, but he knew this battle wasn’t over. He looked at his instruments to try and locate Saroudis, who Chase had no doubt had recovered from the damage he had done to his craft earlier. His radar was displaying nothing but noise.

Sneaky, Captain, but that won’t save you.

Chase tried acquiring a visual on Saroudis’ ship; he maneuvered to try and cover the most angles possible. The captain was nowhere to be seen. He must have been close and was able to compensate for Chase’s movements to prevent him from establishing a visual line of sight.

Chase opened a broadband channel.

“You can run, Captain, but you can’t hide forever.”

“Who says I’m hiding, Cadet? It’s game over time. You fought well.”

What?

Chase looked to his port side, saw nothing, turned his head to his starboard side, and that’s when he saw the incoming fighter, flying as fast as a shooting star. Chase didn’t have time to react, and Saroudis’ ship crashed into his starboard flank. Both craft exploded, and the simulation ended.

Chase removed the neuronal link from his temple. He was frustrated but tried not to show it.

“Those were some impressive flight moves you displayed, Cadet,” said Saroudis.

“Thank you, Captain. Likewise.”

Saroudis nodded. “But you’re still dead, and so is your wingman.”

“Remember me?” said Daniel.

“Sorry, perhaps I shouldn’t have split us up.”

“Perhaps?” said Tharowni, arching an accusatory eyebrow at Chase.

Chase decided to ignore the admiral and turned his attention back to Saroudis.

“I never expected you to ram into me. But in that scenario you would have died as well, so why do it?”

“First and foremost to teach you a valuable lesson. As for dying, Cadet, I’m a captain, every morning when I put my uniform on, I do it knowing that today may very well be my last day and that I may be required to go down with my ship. I just wanted you to learn that there is such a thing as a no-win situation. I want you to be prepared for it, because as sure as the sun will set on the horizon tomorrow, there will be a time where you’ll be faced with such a dilemma.”

Chase reflected on those words as he nodded solemnly.

6

It was the middle of the night, and Chase couldn’t sleep. He could hear Daniel snoring from the top bunk. In fact, his friend was so loud he felt like he could probably hear him from another galaxy. Chase kept replaying the dogfight with the admiral and the captain in his mind over and over again, wondering what he should have done differently.

He reflected on managing to divert power to his thrusters with such efficiency that the captain shot past him. He still didn’t remember actually inputting those commands, yet, they had happened. That was the strangest of feelings. It had felt as if he had ordered his ship to do the maneuver with his mind, and the ship had obeyed.

Chase shook his head.

Nah, that’s not possible. I must have acted on instinct and simply didn’t realize I was doing it.

The station rocked, and Chase was thrown from his bunk and crashed to the cold, hard floor. Red lights turned on as the alarms started blaring.

“Condition Red, the station is under attack, this is not a drill.”

Daniel jumped down from the top bunk and helped Chase get back on his feet.

“What the hell is going on? What are we supposed to do?” Chase asked.

“I would imagine standing fast, we’re not commissioned pilots yet. They’ll let us know if they need us one way or another.”

Chase ran to the viewport in their quarters and looked outside. He saw Obsidian destroyers firing toward the station as the Destiny battlegroup, apparently having been taken by surprise, was only now undocking from the station. The nearest ship in Chase’s line of sight, the Medusa, was drifting away from the station when a flurry of torpedoes impacted it broadside. The destroyer split it two before exploding. The resulting shockwave shook the station so violently that both Chase and Daniel crashed to the floor.

“This isn’t good,” shouted Chase.

“No shit,” said Daniel.

“We gotta do something.”

“We have to wait for orders.”

The speakers crackled in their room. “All pilots, cadets included, are requested to meet with their commanding officers, on the double!”

Finally!

“There are your orders,” said Chase as he dressed faster than he ever had before in his life.

* * *

Upon arriving at their rally point, and in the midst of the chaos, the first thing that Chase noticed was fear in the admiral’s eyes. That made him uneasy. It told Chase that this attack was very serious.

“Listen up, cadets. I can’t send you to the frontlines, you’re not ready. But I need you to man the turrets, the AI targeting won’t cut it. Just put your palm on the turret chair, your identification codes will override the automatic targeting. Give them hell. Go! Now!”

Everyone started running away, but Chase grabbed Daniel by the uniform.

“We’re going out there,” said Chase to both his friend and commanding officer.

There was no shortage of determination and imperative in Chase’s tone.

“No, you’re not,” argued Tharowni.

“We’re not manning some damn turrets, we’re going out there and helping Saroudis win this fight.”

Tharowni’s face hardened.

A nearby explosion sent a bright flashing light through the viewport; the Sparta had just been destroyed.

“Listen to me, Cadet, now is not the time to disobey orders.”

But Chase was determined.

“They need us out there,” he insisted, pointing at the Sparta’s smoldering debris. “Please.”

Tharowni gave both Daniel and Chase an intense look, mulling over his response. He keyed in some commands on his holo-wrist device.

“I’ve just temporarily bumped the both of you to acting First Lieutenants, the reserve fighters in bay two will let you fly them out of the dock.”

Chase exhaled. “Thank you, Admiral.”

“Don’t thank me just yet, this might be the last time we speak. Please, come back to the barn safely.”

“Will do,” said Chase.

Chase could tell Daniel was a little shocked by what was happening. It was easy to see how surreal this all was. The entire situation had that nightmare quality. But the adrenaline in Chase told him how real this all was.

Before Daniel could say another word, Chase grabbed him, and they ran toward the launch bays.

* * *

“Let’s go, they need us out there,” pressured Chase over the comms.

“This is insane,” said Daniel from his Manticore’s cockpit. “We’re just two newbies, with no real combat experience. What sort of difference are we expected to make?”

Oh, we’ll make a difference, believe me!

“Suck it up. This is what we trained for.”

“Trained, yes. But we’re just cadets, we’re not ready for this.”

“Not anymore. You heard the admiral, so consider this your final graduation test if that helps. Are you done with pre-flight?”

“I— I don’t know, Chase.”

Chase could feel his best friend’s fear in every one of the syllables he muttered over the radio. He knew he needed to boost his confidence, or he would freeze out there, and Chase couldn’t let that happen.

“Look, if you don’t feel like coming, then nobody will think less of you. Myself included. You can still disembark your Manticore and find a turret to man. But wouldn’t you want to be in control of your fate? I know you, Daniel, I know you have what it takes to take that fighter into space and help fend off this attack.”

Chase took a small pause. “So— Are you with me?”

The couple of seconds that Daniel took to answer felt like an eternity.

“I’m with you, Chase. Let’s give them hell.”

“Now you’re talking!”

* * *

Saroudis swore as the Destiny shook from the impact of the latest Obsidian torpedoes. They were losing the fight. The Empire had taken them by surprise by not showing on long-range sensors, and by the time the crew had rejoined their respective ships, they were already being pounded upon.

The battlegroup had already lost three ships, putting them at a numerical disadvantage. To add insult to injury, the opposing force was strategically positioned far enough from the station making sure to stay out of range of its big guns.

Admiral Tharowni had fired up the station’s thrusters but moving a space station was painfully slow, and the enemy had already shown signs of anticipating the maneuver. Worse yet, the Empire jammed subspace frequencies before even opening fire. Therefore, preventing him and the station from sending a subspace signal in order to get reinforcements in on time.

Things were looking bleak. Saroudis dispatched orders to his crew, providing targeting and assigning priorities. He had also tasked his bridge’s chief engineer to locate the source of the jamming; they needed to remove the interference as soon as possible.

Saroudis glimpsed two new small signals coming from Starbase Alpha Three. He pinged the pair of Manticores on his holo-screen and saw their call signs. Firestorm and Scorpion, Chase and Daniel’s call signs. Saroudis twitched and opened a channel.

“What the hell are the two of you doing in those fighters?” he asked.

Chase answered.

“Acting First Lieutenants Athanatos and Tharraleos, reporting for duty.”

“This is not the time for misplaced heroics, Cadet— First Lieutenants,” Saroudis corrected himself. “Trust me you don’t want your maiden mission in these circumstances, you’ll get yourselves killed.”

There was a slight pause.

“Negative, Captain. You need all hands on deck, and we have no intention of dying today.”

Defiant to the end, oh well, at least he’s consistent.

“If we survive this day, Lieutenant, we’ll talk about orders and their function in the Star Alliance.”

“I’m looking forward to it, Captain. In the meantime, what do you need us to do?”

Before the captain could answer, his engineer transmitted the coordinates of the jamming ship. The lieutenants were the nearest, and coming late to the party, the enemy had not yet begun to target them. A couple of starfighters were by no means any threat for larger ships, and that’s something Saroudis could use. It would put both their lives in jeopardy, but something told Saroudis that if there was anybody that could pull off the move he had in mind, Chase was the one to do it.

“Very well, I’m uploading coordinates; this ship is jamming subspace frequencies, and I need you both to take it out of play.”

“Consider it done,” said Chase.

“No, no, Lieutenant Athanatos, no bravado, or you’ll get killed. Please use the exact flight plan approach I’ve uploaded with the coordinates, do not dare deviate from it, or I may blow you to smithereens, and I don’t want to have to deal with that kind of paperwork, you feel me?”

“Understood, but why would you blow us up?”

“I’m going to use the Destiny’s batteries to cover your approach, that’s the only way two measly Manticores can have a shot at doing this. Once you’re in range, unload your entire ordnance, don’t save anything, alright? Right now you’re just a blip on the enemy’s scopes, which gives you the element of surprise, they’ll never think you’d be mad enough to try and take that ship out.”

“With all due respect,” said Daniel. “There’s no fucking way we can bring that target down, even with all our missiles and torpedoes. Their shields will eat them for breakfast and keep smiling at us.”

“I’m well aware of that, Lieutenant, that’s why I’ll have a full complement of torpedoes take a large bite out of their shields. For this to work, you need to stay on point, follow my instructions, and trust me. Can you do that?”

“I can,” said Daniel. “Chase?”

“Sure,” said Chase.

“I cannot stress this enough,” said Saroudis. “If you deviate from the plan, I’ll have to write a eulogy for both your asses and I would just plain hate having to do that.”

“Understood,” said Chase and Daniel in unison.

7

“Oh, I think I’m going to regret this,” Daniel said over the comms.

“No, you won’t. Tomorrow we’ll look back at this and smile at the whole thing.”

Chase and Daniel were sticking to the exact flight path leading them to their targets. Saroudis had not been kidding, the Destiny was saturating the area with cover fire, making sure any enemy fighter stupid enough to try and get to them would get obliterated. If either of them made the slightest twitch, they’d suffer the same fate.

A volley of friendly laser fire passed awfully close to both their ships, with a couple of stray shots passing between them.

“Please tell me you’re at the very least finding this as unnerving as I am?” asked Daniel.

“Sorry, pal, no can do. This is fun, but well, you know me, I live for this shit.”

“I was really hoping this crazy-suicidal attitude of yours was just something you brought to the simulator. That once under fire it would get somewhat tamed.”

“Who’s suicidal? In case I wasn’t clear earlier, neither of us are dying today; I’ll make it an order if that helps you get it through your thick skull.”

“Hey…We’re both of the same ranks, so technically you can’t order me around. And if one of us is ever making it to Wing Commander, we both know who that will be.”

“You’ll make a fine Wing Commander, Daniel, of that I have no doubt. But in the meantime, why don’t you grow a pair, stop whining, and concentrate on accomplishing our mission. Every one of our friends onboard Starbase Alpha Three is depending on us. If we fail, they could all be killed.”

“No pressure, then.”

“Just another day in service to the Star Alliance.”

They were approaching firing range. The target ship, a massive corvette that kept growing in size as every second passed, opened up on them with long-range artillery. Some of the shots exploded too close for comfort, rocking their ships and lowering their shields little by little.

“Redistribute power to your shields, you can even divert some power from life support,” said Chase.

“Did you ever ask yourself why they call it life support? That’s because you bloody need the damn thing, Chase!”

“Not all of it, what good will your oxygen be if your shields aren’t strong enough to deflect some of that heavy fire?”

“Hard to argue with your logic,” conceded Daniel as he mumbled something incomprehensible afterward.

“Alright, we’ve just entered firing range.”

“Locking all ordnance on the target. Ready to fire.”

“Don’t shoot just yet!” exclaimed Chase.

“What? We have to, Chase. Saroudis said to follow his plan to a T. We have to shoot now!”

“No, we don’t. Just trust me on this one, if we shoot now, we’ll miss the mark. I’ve got a visual on the Destiny’s torpedoes, they’re late to the party, we need another few seconds.”

Three rather sizable explosions rocked both their ships heavily.

“Screw this, you’re going to get us killed!”

“No, I won’t, Daniel. Get ready, in three, two, one…Fire!”

Chase and Daniel unleashed all their ordnance in concert toward the enemy corvette and veered to starboard shortly after. A total of eight missiles and four torpedoes left the Manticore wings and screamed toward the target. Meanwhile, the Destiny’s torpedoes were on course, all targeting the same area for maximum effect. They impacted and lit up the corvette’s shields. Chase and Daniel’s missiles were next, which smashed into the still lit-up shields, but they seemed to hold.

“Shit, it’s not working!” exclaimed Daniel.

“Have faith, brother.”

The first Manticore torpedo exploded on the enemy, and the remaining three passed through their shields, resulting in a trio of large explosions that split it in half.

“See, I told you it would work.”

Daniel swore. “I hate it when you’re right.”

“Get used to it, bro, I’m always right.”

“And so fucking modest.”

Chase chuckled. “Yeah, that too.”

* * *

Saroudis was only half surprised when the corvette exploded. Not that he didn’t trust his plan or the newbies to deliver. During his time with the cadets in the classroom, he had sensed both of them had great, if diametrically different, flight skills.

Daniel was a by the book, straight as an arrow, grade-A student, and Chase…well, Chase was a crazy-genius type. Both useful in a multitude of situations. But they had managed to follow their orders and even compensated for an involuntary delay in the firing of the Destiny’s torpedoes.

Impressive.

“Get Star Alliance headquarters on the line this instant, request any ship in the area to assist, and have them send the entire second fleet if they have to!” ordered Saroudis.

“Distress call sent,” answered the comm officer.

Meanwhile, Saroudis opened a channel to the heroes of the hour.

“Well done, Firestorm and Scorpion, now go back to the barn.”

“Understood, Captain. Thank you,” said Daniel.

“Mmmm…that’s a negative on your last order, this battle isn’t over,” said Chase.

Saroudis shook his head.

“Listen, Son, I like you, but this is not how things are done in the service.”

“I understand that, Captain, but you need us.”

“This war needs good pilots, alive. You don’t have any missiles left, and you’re about to catch the kind of aggro you don’t want to have to deal with. Do you get my drift, Lieutenant?”

“We still have laser cannons, which means we’re prepped and ready to dispatch enemy starfighters, sir.”

Saroudis stared stoically at his tactical holo-display, slowly stroking the bottom of his beard.

“I’ll only agree to let you in this fight if you’re both in agreement on this.”

There was a pause.

“Daniel?” inquired Chase.

“Lieutenant Athanatos is correct, sir. We still have cannons.”

Saroudis could tell Daniel was not exactly thrilled but his allegiance to his friend, especially under the circumstances, was commendable.

“Very well, then. I’m sending you a list of enemy targets to engage.”

“Consider them history,” said Chase.

l guess we’re about to find out if Chase is as brilliant as he is insane.

No matter the case, Saroudis had to admit that he respected the enthusiasm and courage under fire. Especially when considering that this was their first taste of war. Saroudis’ gut told him that it wouldn’t be their last.

* * *

Chase smiled as he blew up a third Obsidian starfighter in the last five minutes of engagement. He was running on thrills and adrenaline and loving every second of it. Part of him had wondered if his instincts would be as sharp in space as they were in the simulator. And he was surprised to see that they seemed to be even sharper with the threat of impending death weighing upon him.

“Nice shot!” exclaimed Daniel.

“Thanks, bro. Watch your six, you’ve got incoming.”

“I see him, let’s take that one together, shall we?”

“Gladly.”

“I’ll get it to engage me and deliver it to you on a silver platter, just don’t let him shoot me out of the sky before then, please?”

“You got it.”

Daniel waited until the Obsidian bogey was on his tail to go evasive. He managed to dodge most of the shots and brought the enemy craft to Chase’s vicinity. Chase engaged the enemy with successive laser fire, draining its shields rapidly. If he had had missiles left, now would have been a perfect time to fire one, but instead, he waited until the enemy’s aft shields were down and switched to supercharged laser shots and sent a volley of them toward the target.

Bull’s-eye. The shots impacted with one of the ship’s engines and sent the fighter into a wild spin.

“Dan, finish him off, there are three more ships incoming. I don’t want them to catch us with our pants down. Rejoin me once you’re done.”

“I don’t like these odds, perhaps we shouldn’t split up.”

“We’ll be fine.”

Chase veered away and saw Daniel arc back toward the damaged enemy ship, he re-engaging and blowing it out of the sky before vectoring back toward Chase. By that time, the three enemy fighters had entered firing range and wasted no time showering Chase’s ship with heavy laser fire. Chase went evasive as best as he could, wishing he still had missiles.

“I’m going to get them to follow me, make sure you reduce their numbers with your first pass, otherwise I’m history.”

“Please don’t say things like that.”

“Ready?”

“Be careful. Ready.”

Chase smiled as he shot laser fire toward the incoming bogeys before breaking off, making sure to get their attention. As planned, they kept formation as they attempted to lock onto Chase. It took some pretty fancy flying to make sure they couldn’t get a missile lock. Meanwhile, Daniel engaged one of the fighters, but then it disengaged and broke off formation.

“Stay on the pair,” said Chase, “we’ll get that one later.”

“Roger that.”

Daniel lit up the second fighter hard. Soon, its shield went down. A few more shots blew it to kingdom come. He started pounding on the remaining fighter. But that one was avoiding incoming fire with much more efficiency, all the while managing to score hits on Chase’s aft shields.

“Get this fucker off my six, will ya?”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder.”

“Not helping, Chase! He’s as annoying as you when it comes to crazy flying.”

“Was there a compliment somewhere in there?”

“Screw that, Chase, I’m serious, he’s bringing down your shields faster than I’m impacting his.”

“Fuck!”

Before Daniel could inquire about his friend’s swearing, he saw two missiles leave the enemy’s craft and sail toward Chase. Daniel reacted on instinct, disengaged the enemy, vectored hard to the side to get a better line of sight, and opened fire on the missiles.

He got one pretty quickly but missed the second one, impacting Chase’s shield instead.

“Sorry about that, bro!”

“Thanks for the assist but re-engage this sucker, please. I’ve got an idea.”

Daniel re-engaged the Obsidian fighter.

“Understood. Wanna keep me in the loop?”

“It’s going to be pretty self-explanatory.”

Chase got rid of the incoming missile by deploying countermeasures with perfect timing. Then he slowed his Manticore down. Daniel had witnessed Chase doing this many times in simulation, or so Daniel hoped, as Chase cut power to the forward engines and reversed thrusters at maximum. The pursuing craft didn’t expect the maneuver, and before he knew it, he now had both Chase and Daniel on his six.

Chase came so close to Daniel’s wing that they could literally wave at each other from their respective canopies. They looked at each other.

“You’re crazy,” said Daniel. “I never thought this would ever work outside of the simulator.”

“When will you learn to trust me,” Chase said, a big smile spreading across his face. “Now, let’s blow this asshole to bits.”

They both rained down their laser fire, and while the pilot was extremely skilled at evasive maneuvers, he couldn’t dodge them both. Eventually, its shields went down and both Daniel and Chase’s lasers simultaneously impacted with its hull, turning the Obsidian ship into a fireball before it disintegrated completely.

“Who’s getting credit for that kill?” asked Daniel.

“You can have this one, brother.”

“I don’t need your charit⁠—”

But then something went terribly wrong. Daniel was hit with a missile coming out of nowhere and spun uncontrollably.

“Daniel!!”

8

Daniel’s ship spun so wildly it impacted with Chase’s. Both their shields lit up, but Chase was able to regain control quickly. Daniel wasn’t so lucky.

“Talk to me, Daniel?”

“I’m hit! One of my engines is acting up, I can’t seem to get out of the spin. Shit!”

“What?”

“That motherfucker has locked another missile on me.”

“Hang on tight.”

“Well, you’d better do one of your magic tricks ‘cause there’s no way I can get rid of that missile. I’ll be lucky if I don’t pass out. The damn engines won’t let me get out of this spin.”

“I got your back. Turn off your engines now and reactivate them full burn when I tell you.”

“Turn my engines off? What for?”

“Just do what I say.”

“Roger that,” said Daniel.

His engines died off, and the ship continued to spin. Chase had to act fast as he would only have one shot at this. He diverted all the power he could from secondary systems to the thrusters and shield and vectored straight for Daniel at max burn.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” said Daniel.

Hang on my friend, I’m coming. With any luck, I won’t blow us both up.

Chase almost froze at the thought. His best friend’s life was on the line. If his crazy idea didn’t pan out, would he be able to live with the consequences of his actions? Fear started to creep into Chase’s heart. But then he heard the sweet female voice again in his mind.

Trust your instincts, Chase, they never fail you.

Chase was a little worried about hearing voices, but perhaps his subconscious was telling him to hold to his guns. He wondered why it would address him as a female, but right now he couldn’t worry about that.

“Alright, I’m going to graze you ever so slightly.”

“You’re going to do what? Have you lost all your marbles?”

“I know what I’m doing.”

“Alright,” he said, with doubt creeping into his voice.

“Activate your engines at full burn on my mark.”

“Standing by.”

Chase’s instincts told him what trajectory to take to generate enough force on his fly-by to mitigate Daniel’s current spin and allow him to regain control of his fighter. Of course, that was half the battle, there was still a missile on approach. He needed to take care of that as well. A quick glance at his instruments also allowed him to keep an eye on the enemy ship that had fired the missile; if he survived the next part, he’d have to take care of it too.

As Daniel’s ship got bigger on his visuals, Chase took a deep breath and held his breath.

“Mark!” he shouted.

Chase saw Daniel’s engines powering up as he reached his position a fraction of a second before the missile, which was locked and ready to claim his best friend’s life. The moment Chase grazed Daniel’s Manticore, the missile locked onto his engines because Daniel’s weren’t emitting enough energy, and Chase had passed right into the trajectory of the missile, forcing it to follow him.

Daniel’s engines took a second to power up to full burn, but by then both Chase and the missile were gone and grazing his shields with Daniel’s had stabilized Daniel’s spin enough that when the engine kicked off, he managed to get out of the spin.

Chase let the air trapped in his lungs escape as his comms crackled.

“You’re one crazy-talented pilot, thanks for saving my hide. I wish I could say I would have done the same if our positions had been reversed...but⁠—”

Chase didn’t even understand how his brain could show him what to do in these situations, he was acting on pure instinct and had learned to trust it over the years. It had yet to fail him.

“You’re welcome, Dan. While I do appreciate the intention, we both know that if our situations had been reversed, you’d just have killed the both of us a second before the missile hit.”

Daniel chuckled. “Ouch. But probably true.”

Chase still had to get rid of the missile gaining on him. Fortunately, he was flying at max burn when he deliberately confused the missile to follow him instead of his friend. But he only had a handful of seconds to get rid of it before he was blown to pieces. The near miss maneuver to save Daniel had lowered his shields enough that he wasn’t sure he would survive the impact. Not that he had ever planned to let that missile impact his Manticore.

Chase vectored toward the fighter that had launched the missile in the first place with a vengeance and activated a short-range jamming field. For his plan to work, he would need the enemy pilot’s instruments to go blind.

I’ll teach you to try and kill my friends. Pray to whatever gods you believe in.

Chase aligned his Manticore on a collision course with the enemy and opened fire with his lasers, scoring hit after hit on its frontal shields. The Obsidian fighter did the same, but Chase put his fighter into a variable barrel roll to dodge a good half of the incoming fire. His shields still lit up every other second.

When they grew closer, Chase deployed countermeasures, with the missile so close to his Manticore now he knew there was almost no way they would work, but he needed to distract the opposing pilot more than the missile itself. Chase then veered away, feinting to break the standoff, hoping it would keep the Obsidian pilot on his course for just another second or two. And, it did.

With Chase’s countermeasures dying off, the pilot never saw his missile come back. It impacted with the already lowered bogeys shields and tore the ship to shreds.

“You’ll have to teach me that one,” said Daniel as Chase disabled the jamming field.

“Not sure I can teach you how my gut works, but we’ll figure something out. Now, get back to the barn, your ship is too damaged to stay in the fight.”

“I think I can hold her together.”

Chase looked at his instruments and checked the status of Daniel’s ship.

“That’s a negative, you barely have any shields, and you’re leaking power like there’s no tomorrow. At this rate, you’ll be out of juice before you can return to the starbase.”

“Right. What about an escort?”

While Chase liked the idea of returning to the starbase, ending a successful run on multiple kills, the battle wasn’t over. Saroudis might still need his help. He decided to compromise.

“I’ll cover you until you’re out of range of enemy fire.”

“Fair enough. Thanks, Chase.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Soon, Daniel was out of danger, and Chase veered back toward the battlefield. He opened a channel to Saroudis on the Destiny.

“What’s the status, Captain? Where do you need me?”

“Reinforcements are five minutes away, I think we can hold them o⁠—”

But static interfered with the comm channel as an enemy ship exploded in close range to the Destiny.

“Captain! Have you been hit? Captain, please respond.”

Chase had trouble breathing as he looked at his scopes and saw that the Destiny had lost its starboard shields. He adjusted his vector and pushed his ship’s thrusters to their maximum limits.

9

“Destiny, come in,” said Chase.

The Destiny’s deck lights flickered madly, which was not a good sign. The remaining enemy destroyer on the Destiny’s starboard side launched three torpedoes. The ship was far enough away for Chase to try and intercept one or two of them, but he knew in his heart that he would never be able to shoot three of them in time.

“Chase Athanatos to Star Alliance fighters, there are three torpedoes on course to the Destiny. Its starboard shields are down. Can you help me intercept?”

“This is Alpha Three, I’m close enough to try but I can’t shak⁠—”

Static replaced the pilot’s voice, and his Manticore faded from Chase’s scope.

Dammit!

“No risk, no glory.”

Chase’s Manticore screamed past the Destiny’s belly, plunging Chase’s cockpit into darkness for half a second. He had visuals on the incoming torpedoes, aligned with the first one, and opened fire with low-power, high-rate lasers. The goal here was to impact a small target and let its own contact sensors do the rest. The faster rate of fire, the better.

It only took two seconds of sustained fire for Chase to detonate the first bogey. He had hoped the explosion would set off the other two torpedoes on course to the disabled Destiny, but no such luck.

Chase quickly scanned his instruments to choose his next target, looking at possible impacts from the torpedoes to see which one of them could create the most damage if the Destiny’s shields didn’t get back up in time, which was more than probable. The missile on his farthest starboard side was the winner. A direct impact on the Destiny could light up its landing bays and create secondary explosions.

Chase lit it up with everything he had but didn’t manage to get it on his first pass. He cut thrusters, swiveled his ship, and re-engaged them at full power the moment he was done with the maneuver, all the while firing at the torpedo. A couple of hits grazed it, but the torpedo stayed on course.

He needed to make a decision and fast. If both of them impacted with the ship, the Destiny could be destroyed. His mind raced to try and find a solution when he remembered his simulation engagement with Saroudis and the no-win scenario. He never thought he’d be faced with it so soon.

Chase siphoned all the power from every system on the ship, except for minimal life support and low-power communications, and fed the extra power to the thrusters. Every holo-instrument in his cockpit turned off, plunging him into solitary darkness. The Manticore flew without shields and no weapons, but it flew faster than the torpedoes, fast enough to catch one of them before it impacted.

For a second he thought that perhaps if he set his ship on the right trajectory and ejected, then he would survive. But that was wishful thinking, he couldn’t risk missing his mark, and even if he did hit his ship after ejecting, the high-yield torpedo’s explosion would incinerate him just the same.

Never thought this is how I would go out.

Chase was a few seconds away from his target. His thoughts went to his best friend, Daniel. Perhaps it had been a mistake to send him back to the barn. Maybe together they could have found another way. It mattered not anymore. He couldn’t let the crew of the Destiny die, not if there was anything he could do about it. Chase took a long breath.

Goodbye, Daniel.

Just before he was about to impact with the torpedo, he saw a missile trail impact with the other torpedo a few klicks from his position. His comms crackled to life.

“Chase! Break off now!”

It was Fillio’s voice. Chase broke away from the torpedo, and Fillio waited a second before blasting it with another missile. The resulting shockwave shook Chase’s Manticore and sent him into a spin, but he managed to recover.

“Holy crap, I thought my number was up. Not to sound ungrateful, but what are you doing out here?”

“Well, for one, saving your ass, but I just thought it unfair that the two of you got to go out and play with the big guys, so I convinced Tharowni to let me take a reserve fighter.”

“I’m glad you did. Thank you, Fillio.”

Chase felt both relieved and guilty. He had basically broken up with her, and now she was saving his life. Hopefully, one day he could repay her for that.

“Chase, I still have four torpedoes on my bird, I decided to take a strike loadout, what do you say we blow that ship to smithereens before it reloads its torpedo tubes?”

“Sounds like a plan, but I only have lasers. If you think your ordnance is enough to take it, I can try and cover you.”

“Lasers won’t make a dent, but that destroyer’s shields are in bad shape. I suggest you boost your shields to the max and provide its laser battery with a diversion. I’ll do the rest.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

A couple more starfighters joined their wings.

“Alpha Two and Six to Starbase fighters, thank you for saving our ship. Do you require assistance?”

“Hello, boys,” said Fillio playfully, “if you could help my friend here clear a path to that destroyer, and if you happen to have any torpedoes left, we could use that too.”

“I’m all out,” answered Alpha Three. “Six?”

“I have one left and two missiles. I can slave their targeting and release to your fighter.”

“Neat, I’ll take it, thank you. Six is it?”

“Lieutenant Commander Kal Maniakos. They call me Maniac.”

“Nice to make your acquaintance, Maniac. Acting Lieutenant Fillio Steriopoulou. You can call me Seraph.”

Alpha Three, Six, and Chase teamed up to clear a path for Fillio’s Manticore until it reached firing range. She kept her approach vector for another few klicks as she wanted to release her payload at an optimum distance. When she and Six finally fired, Chase was already veering away. His power nodes were severely damaged, the resultant shockwave from the destroyer blowing up would render his fighter completely inoperable.

When the payload hit the shields of the Obsidian destroyer, it lit the dark space with a very bright, temporarily blinding flash. The ship had been obliterated, turned to space dust.

Multiple flashes lit up the area in the distance as Star Alliance reinforcements jumped into the war theater. Unsurprisingly, what was left of the Obsidian Empire forces turned tail and jumped away.

We’ve won.

The comms came to life with Saroudis’ voice.

“Thank you all for protecting the Destiny. We came close to losing her. Even though we’ve won the battle, this has been a tragic day with the loss of both the Medusa and the Sparta. But for now, let’s just be happy this engagement is over. All fighters, return to base.”

Chase could feel the strain in the captain’s voice, how heavily the loss of life today had impacted Saroudis. Chase wondered if one day he would be in a position where thousands of lives would depend on his choices. He did not relish the thought and preferred discarding it altogether.

10

“Were you really going to sacrifice yourself?” asked Daniel on their way to cargo bay three.

“I didn’t think I had a choice, you know,” answered Chase. “If I didn’t, and people died, I would never have forgiven myself.”

“I know, and I think if I were in your shoes, I would have done the same, but boy, that’s heavy. Our first mission and we both came within a hairsbreadth from dying. Makes you think, doesn’t it?”

“That’s what we’re fighting for. For the freedom and safety of the Star Alliance, to oppose the tyranny of the Empire, and at the end of the day, for one another.”

“Well said. I must admit I’m no longer in a hurry to graduate. I mean…today was filled with enough excitement to last me for the next few months of class.”

I wish I could get back in the cockpit right this instant myself.

Chase simply nodded.

“Do we know why we’ve been called to the cargo bay?” asked Daniel.

“I have no clue.”

When Daniel and Chase stepped in, the first thing they noticed was the crowd of pilots and other officers neatly lined up. They heard running footsteps behind them, and Fillio came in between them and put her hands around both their necks.

“Do you think they’ll give us medals?” she asked.

Medals?

“I— I didn’t consider that…” said Chase.

“I don’t think that’s why we’re here, but that would be cool, wouldn’t it?” said Daniel.

Fillio exhaled loudly. “You two are good pilots, but you’re not the brightest, are you?”

They advanced toward the rest of the pilots who split into two groups, making a path in the middle for Chase, Daniel, and Fillio to walk through.

Saroudis was waiting with Admiral Tharowni on the other side. Tharowni’s voice boomed through the cargo bay’s speakers.

“All hands, salute!”

Oh shit, she’s right. We’re getting medals.

They were amazed at what was happening to them. The smiles, gratitude, and admiration from their fellow pilots filled their hearts with pride. It all felt surreal. When they arrived at the front of the podium, Saroudis addressed the crowd.

“These three cadets have displayed incredible courage under fire today. Even though they haven’t officially graduated from the Star Alliance Flight Academy, when danger beckoned, they answered the call of their hearts and risked their lives for our values. It is with great pride and honor that I bestow upon them the Wings of Valor for extreme courage and bravery.”

Saroudis pinned a set of quadrinium-enhanced metal wings on each of them and saluted.

The trio of cadets saluted back as the crowd applauded. A tremendous sense of pride filled Chase’s heart. Not too long ago he had almost been dismissed from the academy, something that would have broken his heart. But now, he truly felt like his life was back on track.

* * *

Later that day, they all celebrated at the mess hall. They were bought many drinks, more than they could handle.

“Boy, what a day,” said Chase, raising his glass.

“I’ll drink to that,” said Fillio.

“So will I,” added Daniel.

Admiral Tharowni came to their table.

“Well done, you three. I’m glad you all came back alive from this ordeal, and I will deny it to my grave if you repeat this, but you made me very proud.”

“Thank you, Admiral,” said Daniel.

“Will you join us,” said Chase, pointing at all the drinks. “We could use the help.”

The Admiral nodded and took a nearby chair to sit with his pupils.

“Did you know that you’re the first cadets in history to receive Wings of Valor?” he said.

“Get out of here!” said Chase.

“I’m serious, we don’t usually let cadets out of the academy to fly in deadly combat situations, you know. I’m glad you convinced me to let you do this. Things might have turned out very differently otherwise.” The admiral’s face hardened somewhat. “We could all have been killed today. That was a close call.”

“We’re still here, so let’s celebrate, shall we?” said Fillio getting up.

“Where are you going?” asked Chase.

“Lieutenant Commander Maniakos owes me a drink,” she said, winking at Chase.

Good for you, maybe he can give you what I can’t, though if he’s serious about keeping his job, that shouldn’t happen.

“Have fun, say hi to Maniac for us,” said Chase.

“Who’s Maniac?” asked Daniel.

“That’s the lieutenant commander’s call sign.”

“Oh…peculiar call sign.”

“Yeah, ‘cause Scorpion isn’t?”

“Who calls himself Firestorm?”

“Well, at least mine is accurate.”

They both laughed.

Chase and Daniel got up as Captain Saroudis approached the table.

“At ease, you’re not on duty at the moment.”

“We’re not on duty, period,” said Chase not even trying to hide the disappointment behind his words.

“We’ll be soon enough,” said Daniel. “It’s our last year at the academy.”

Admiral Tharowni smiled.

“I think the captain wants to have a word with you two. I, for one, will get some rest. Unlike certain people at this table, I actually have class tomorrow. Good night, party well tonight, tomorrow is another day.”

It took Chase a while to compute what the admiral meant because, at first, it didn’t make any sense. Daniel arrived there faster.

“He’s not serious?” he asked Saroudis.

“Please, sit,” the captain gestured to the both of them.

They sat back, their looks serious.

“Nothing’s official yet, and you may not like the idea. But Admiral Tharowni thinks you will, obviously.”

Chase started to feel his heart beat so hard, he thought it was trying to burst out of his chest. Excitement tingled the rest of his body. And even though he thought he knew what was coming next, he still couldn’t believe it, so he asked for confirmation.

“What’s the idea?”

Saroudis looked straight at Chase.

“I lost two pilots in Alpha squadron, today. If you guys would like your temporary ranks to become official and be First Lieutenants under my command, I’d like to have you on board the Destiny.”

“Count me in,” said Chase with no shortage of pride.

“Me too, Captain, thank you,” said Daniel.

“We’ll still have to discuss your blatant disregard for the chain of command, Lieutenant Athanatos, but seeing as if you hadn’t disobeyed a direct order, we might not all be sitting here enjoying each other’s company. I’ve decided to leave that part out of my report. I think it’s only fair. Let’s just not make a habit of it in the future, though. Can you live with that?”

“Absolutely, Captain.”

“Then I’ll see you onboard the Destiny tomorrow, 0800 sharp. We’re to return to Alpha Prime, effect repairs, and replenish this battlegroup with two new ships fresh out of space dock. I suggest you say goodbye to your friends tonight, there’s no telling the next time you’ll see them. Enjoy the rest of your evening. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

They both stayed silent for a few minutes after the captain had left, still reflecting on what had just happened.

“Are we dreaming?” asked Chase.

“Nah…this doesn’t feel like a dream; there would be naked chicks if it were.”

Chase grinned. “Classy, Dan, classy.”

I’m actually a pilot, on board a carrier ship. I can’t believe it.

EPILOGUE

A lizard-like Zarlack entered the ready room.

“Report,” came a cold voice from the throne.

“I’m afraid I’m the bearer of bad news. The attack on Starbase Alpha Three was lost by the Obsidian Empire.”

“As I suspected. Very well, you’re dismissed.”

The lizard-man bowed, but before turning away, he dared speak again. Something very few in his position would attempt.

“I’m sorry, Master. But I don’t understand why you asked me to arrange for the fake intel to be delivered to the Empire. Obviously, you wanted them to attack the station, but you don’t seem disappointed that the starbase survived. Have I missed something?”

That was one brave Zarlack. The Master, his face hidden behind a cloak, had beheaded subordinates for less than a stray look, let alone curiosity. Fortunately for this particular Zarlack, he felt magnanimous today.

“It is not your place nor your duty to try and understand my reasoning. As a matter of fact, I’d encourage you not to continue doing it in the future. While I have no need to tell you this, I’m in a rather good mood at the moment, so I’ll tell you this much: I wanted to test a theory and witness how it played out. I’m actually very satisfied with the outcome. I’ll look forward to checking the battle logs in more detail.”

“I’ll have them transmitted to your throne holo-storage at once, Master,” said the Zarlack with a bow.

“I can sense you still have questions on the matter. May I suggest you empty your mind of such concerns at once,” he said as both his eyes glowed red. “That is unless you’d like me to empty it for you. Which right now is more than a little tempting. Leave, now!”

The imposing scaled creature had a hard time concealing his trembling as a result of his master’s words. He bowed respectfully and hastily left the ready room.

Mindless and useless cold-blooded slaves. I look forward to the day I don’t have to tolerate their kind any longer.

He knew that the lizard-men species was a means to an end. But that didn’t mean he had to enjoy their presence. Nonetheless, for the time being, he needed an army to do his bidding.

The holo-console built in his throne room chair beeped, informing him that he had received the detailed log of the engagement between the Obsidian Empire and the Star Alliance. He sifted through the holo-vids and paused at a couple of starfighters leaving Starbase Alpha Three. He grabbed the small holo-feed with his hands and threw it forward, effectively expanding the holo-feed to the entire room.

There you are, his gaze locked onto Chase’s Manticore as he resumed the holo-vid in accelerated mode, focusing only on that fighter throughout the entire fight.

Once he had reviewed the entire footage, he turned the holo-vids off. The Obsidian Empire hadn’t exactly impressed him much in this battle, but they could still be useful in the future. Just like the Zarlacks, they would have a small role to play in his plans. There was still much to do before he needed to approach them, however. The Zarlacks hadn’t built nearly enough ships to be the reckoning force he needed them to be.

Patience wasn’t exactly his strong suit, but he knew very well that rushing unprepared could have dire consequences.

A hiss in a jar next to his throne broke him out of his current thought pattern. He smiled as he lifted the lid off the archaic-looking jar and two yellow eyes glowed in the darkness within. He released the handle, and the cover hovered where it stood, he then presented his forearm to the hissing creature.

The Kyrian snake leaped forward and planted its long fangs into his flesh, releasing its sweet poison into his bloodstream. The burning sensation was almost immediately replaced by a dizzying high. His pupils dilated, and as the snake released his prey and retracted back into the jar, he let himself relax on his throne.

Whether an hour or half a day passed by the time he came back to his senses, he wasn’t sure. Not that it mattered to him. The Kyrian snakebite could most certainly kill most species. But he wasn’t like the others in this galaxy, and the bite never threatened his life.

Using the Kyrian snake venom was his way of relaxing from the daily stress, as well as a way to cope with old demons haunting him. Late at night, he dreamed about the events that got him here.

I should have killed him when I had the chance. But death is too sweet a release. He needs to suffer; he needs to see everything he holds dear crumble before his eyes.

EARTH - LAST SANCTUARY (BOOK 1)

By Christian Kallias

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Star Alliance

Lieutenant Chase Athanatos – Star Alliance Starfighter Pilot - SAD Destiny’s Beta Squadron Leader

Commander Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Star Alliance - SAD Destiny’s Wing Commander

Captain Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Star Alliance - SAD Destiny’s Captain

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos (yah-nis tee-hee-hos) – SAD Destiny’s Chief

Earth Military

General Adams – Earth Human US Army

Commander Sarah Kepler – US Navy Commander

Olympians

Aphroditi(s) – known to humans as the Goddess of Love

note: The s is silent (pronunciation: a-fro-dee-tee)

Obsidian / Zarlacks

Hooded Man – Leader of the Zarlacks

Emperor Altair – Emperor of the Obsidian Empire

Other Characters

Cedric – Earth Human scientist

Ryonna Isch’ys (ree-oh-na is-kis)– Droxian Warrior

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2015 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2015, Volume 1.2

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

Christian Kallias

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

1

Chase looked at the display with unmasked satisfaction as the last red dot disappeared from his radar. The remaining pieces of the fighter he had just blown out of space came burning against his frontal shields, illuminating the cockpit with radiant blue light for a brief instant. He took the opportunity to make a quick systems check. His shields were still in the green, standing strong at eighty percent and recharging. He had only exhausted half of his missiles against the eleven kills he had made in the last twenty minutes of combat.

Not bad, he thought. Not bad at all...

The thought quickly died as the ship’s computer broke the triumphant silence. The computer spoke with a soft, sexy, female voice—probably way too sexy for a star fighter navicomputer designed mainly for dogfights. But this was an old Manticore Mark II model, which was equipped with outdated software. Chase had to admit, when it came to the voice, there were times when he didn’t mind.

“Multiple enemy targets on approach vector,” said AINI, the Artificially Intelligent Navicomputer Interface. The radar let out four successive, high-pitched beeps as each of the targets progressively appeared on the scope. They were flying in a standard square formation, one pair of fighters covering for the other.

The grin slowly faded from Chase’s face. A dogfight against four enemies with no wingman was not to be taken lightly, not if one wanted to live long enough to talk about the encounter. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to face such odds, but each time he had, it had cost him and his ship dearly. And here he’d hoped to bring the fighter back to bay with as few scratches as possible. Wishful thinking.

As the fighters approached, his mind raced over the different tactics that applied to such a situation. The academic ones as well as the crazy ones—those that most dogfight instructors would consider not only insane, but also directly against practically all the rules in the flight book. Standard by-the-book tactics would dictate prudence by trying to reduce the number of enemies from the first pass, allowing the pilot to concentrate on killing the next target while avoiding only a pair of bogies. A feat which in itself was far from easy. Chase’s main instructor and war hero, Admiral Tharowni, would say that a couple of missiles locked and fired at the exact moment bogies entered firing range had a ninety percent chance of scoring a kill, reducing the odds to three against one. Again, not easy, but statistically preferable to trying to engage in a dogfight while being pursued by three enemy vessels.

But Chase never fought thinking about the statistics or the odds. While he respected the wisdom in such a course of action, losing two out of his three remaining missiles so early in the fight was not something he was prepared to do, at least not today.

“Enemy craft entering firing range,” AINI purred with all the charm programmed into her vocal subroutines.

Time to make a decision. In only a few seconds, Chase’s fighter would be in a shower of enemy laser fire. He needed a plan.

“Let’s try something new, shall we?” he said aloud. This rhetorical banter was rather routine for him and his sensual computer. One-sided, but routine.

Three seconds later, heavy laser fire started to fall around his fighter’s canopy like red rain, occasionally igniting the shields. Pulling hard on the stick, the fighter effectively rolled and dodged, avoiding most of the damage. But his enemies were still closing on him at high velocity, firing all the while.

“Missile lock!” AINI sounded as alarmed as she could, humming with the familiar buzz that warned of imminent danger.

A slow smile spread up the side of Chase’s face. Time seemed to slow, then for a split second, it stopped altogether.

Now!

He released countermeasures and his fighter veered sharply and made a tight break to the right, still not firing a single shot. The incoming missile fell for it. The port shields received part of the incoming laser fire while the internal structure of the fighter moaned in disagreement over its rough handling. Clearly not designed to be subjected to a brutal ninety-degree break while at full afterburner speed, the ship made warning noises and lit a red LED light across the primary alarm panel. The ship’s inertial dampeners were clearly not made for this kind of abuse. As always, the dangerous creaking and flashing was accompanied by the silky vocal explanations of AINI.

“Structural integrity failure imminent,” she warned.

Unfortunately for the ship, in Chase’s mind “imminent” still meant that he had a couple more seconds. That was, coincidentally, all the time he needed. Once he pulled out of his break, the primary alarm LED turned from red to yellow. Automatic systems were redirecting power to structural integrity to compensate for the ship’s mistreatment. Soon, it would turn green as power would be siphoned off other systems like shields, guiding systems, weapons, and even life support.

A quick glance at the radar showed Chase that his maneuver had gone exactly as planned, forcing the quartet of ships to break hard left to follow him and take position at his six o’clock. He could almost see his instructors holding their heads in their hands; such a display would most certainly be defined as “reckless flying.” He brushed the thought away and shook his head to clear it. He would need perfect concentration if he intended to leave this dogfight as something more than a floating pile of space rubble.

Streaks of laser fire passed by his canopy again, but this time from behind, and while many of the hits reduced the aft shields, he still thought that this tactic, however highly dangerous, would pay off. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. He was about to find out.

“AINI, prepare to execute maneuver Theta-4 on my mark.”

“Loaded and ready,” she answered almost instantly.

“NOW!”

The next instant, AINI killed the afterburners and engaged the reverse thrusters while simultaneously boosting their power by redirecting ninety percent of every other system’s power into them, leaving the ship with minimal shielding for just a few milliseconds. Chase sucked in a deep breath. If the enemy had anticipated such a maneuver, those milliseconds would no doubt mean the end of him. But sure enough, the fighters were caught completely off guard and sailed past him like shooting stars into the quiet night.

Once AINI’s sensors detected that the targets had passed by, she automatically re-balanced the power, redistributing it equally between two main systems: forward engines and weapons. The Theta-4 maneuver was programmed to stay in this distributed power scheme for ten seconds. More than enough time for Chase to rain deadly supercharged firepower upon his foes, effectively draining their aft shields while they undoubtedly tried to understand what had just happened to them. After a few seconds of showering a full spread of laser fire, he quickly selected the two enemy fighters that had lost more than half their shields and locked onto them with a missile each. When AINI acknowledged the locks, he simultaneously fired the missiles and turned quickly on the third craft’s vector, the one which had its aft shield at the minimum. Chase aligned his vessel perfectly to his foe, not letting it breathe. Each of its attempts to dodge were carefully anticipated and compensated for. There was no escape. Its structural integrity started to decrease rapidly and most of his laser shots were now scoring holes in its metal armor, leaving a trail of sparks and chunks of metal in its wake. A few seconds later, it finally exploded in a bright fireball.

One down, thought Chase.

He glanced at the rest of the ships just in time to see the first missile reach its target, effectively tearing a port wing to shreds and sending the craft into a twirl before it detonated brightly. Chase couldn’t help but crack a smile.

Bold maneuvers. Worked every time.

The second missile-locked fighter launched a decoy and the missile fell for it, but its late deployment still weakened its shields and caused enough damage to effectively remove it from the fight for a few moments as the pilot broke off to recharge. Glancing at the radar to find the fourth fighter, Chase was rewarded with a spread of fire on his port-side shield. He pulled hard on the stick while cutting its velocity by half, allowing the enemy to pass him by and using the momentum of this last attack to reposition his fighter back into the hunter’s position.

“Port shields failing,” AINI advised.

“Dammit!” he swore. One more hit on this side of his craft and he was history.

He quickly checked the status of the damaged fighter only to swear again as he realized that it was already back on course. Two to one, and he was in bad shape. He had to act fast. The only good news was that his maneuver to place himself behind the only undamaged fighter had been a success. He started showering it with all the laser fire he could, hitting it many times on its aft shield. But it wasn’t enough to get it out of the sky before the second ship would reach him.

An almost Zen-like state came over Chase as he considered his options. He still had one missile left, but he knew that firing it meant using his final ace. As he deliberated, he saw the vessel in front of him effectively spinning around, avoiding his lasers and keeping its shields up despite being in the red. Chase had no doubt that the pilot had redirected every ounce of energy to keep his shields up, probably even cutting life support. A risky strategy, but it had worked; it bought him enough time for his wingman to rejoin the fight.

The situation was beginning to grow dire. Chase wondered if the standard by-the-book tactics wouldn’t have been wiser, but he quickly disregarded the thought. He’d made his decision, now he had to blow up two fighters. Such was life.

“Missile lock!” AINI cooed, displaying two missiles advancing quickly on his position.

“Looks like this guy doesn’t want to see if I have any more tricks up my sleeve, now does he?”

Sometimes Chase wished AINI’s programming extended to sarcasm. In moments like this, her silence twisted his stomach.

“Launch countermeasures on my mark.” He pushed his stick to the left, a little more, and a little more, before shouting, “Mark!” as he performed a hundred-and-eighty-degree spin. Then he double clicked his afterburner, activating a fifty-percent power boost transfer from other systems. One of the missiles scored the decoys and, as Chase had predicted, his spin took him far enough away to avoid any critical damage from the blast. However, he no longer had any side shields, as the starboard ones had failed upon the missile’s detonation.

Nervously glancing at the radar for the last missile’s position and trajectory, he suddenly smiled as he saw that he still had a few seconds to complete his plan. With quick fingers, he soothed his lasers from rapid fire to concentrated beams. He only had one shot at this, and it had to be enough. His instincts took over as he aligned himself perfectly behind his foe’s engines and fired. The concentrated beams scored multiple hits, knocking out the remaining vessel’s aft shields and disabling one of its engines. As it struggled to recover, Chase passed quickly by and broke hard on the right. The last missile still on his back adjusted course only to find Chase’s crippled foe right in its trajectory. With a screeching rip, it tore through metal like paper and the ship exploded in a million pieces.

“Three down, one more to go!” Chase shouted in triumph.

And one missile left. Perfect. Just like he’d planned.

With a fierce concentration that came from years of fighting, Chase locked on the last enemy craft with his final missile and fired away. At the same time, he continued blasting away with his lasers, delivering a concentrated burst of fire at the precise moment the missile made contact. A blazing explosion sent it straight to hell, leaving pieces of debris and a sudden silence in its wake.

“Phew, that was too close a call…” Chase murmured to himself, glancing at his ship’s status. But he couldn’t help but be proud.

He had succeeded in eliminating all four enemy craft without compromising his own ship’s armor. The only damage was to the shields and they were already recharging. He clicked a few buttons and looked at the fight’s statistical display: a more than satisfactory sixty-seven percent laser hit ratio and a total fight time of two minutes forty-two seconds. That had to be a new record for this kind of fight.

“Hey AINI,” he smirked, “looks like we just made histor⁠—”

“Multiple inbound system jumps detected.”

The words echoed in Chase’s mind but, before he had time to process them, there was more.

“Enemy vessels on approach vector.”

“You have GOT to be kidding me!”

A series of high-pitched beeps answered back from the radar. No less than six foes, two of which were highly shielded corvettes. Way too much firepower for a ship even twice as solid as his was now. His beauty had seen better days, and that was before dispatching fifteen enemy vessels.

He quickly glanced at a map readout and keyed jump coordinates as fast as he could, only to be rewarded by another vocal alarm.

“Jump engine inoperable, one of the ships has erected a JIF.”

“A jump interdiction field. Great. Why am I not surprised? Well, I guess I’ll go down in a blaze of glory then.”

Silence.

“AINI?”

“Enemy ships entering firing range.”

Chase rolled his eyes. “Some comfort you are.”

Then all hell broke loose.

Both corvettes’ long-range laser-cannon fire sprayed heavily toward him. He jerked on the controls, trying to evade in every possible direction, but it was only a matter of time. It would take just one or two direct hits to vaporize him. A quick glance at the displays showed the quartet of fighters protecting the corvettes as they vectored toward him. They were only a few seconds away from entering firing range themselves, at which point any attempt to dodge fire from six simultaneous targets would be all but futile.

“Unless...” he let the word hang in the void while his brain worked away at light speed. Glancing at his star chart, he bellowed, “Full power to engines, vector zero by four by six, toward that blue moon.”

The ship’s engines roared to life, doubled by a big rumble from the afterburners. The enemy craft were heavy fighters; that gave him just enough of an advantage in speed to outrun them for a little while. His fuel gauge, however, indicated some rather alarming readings, not to mention, main power was almost in the red.

“It will have to do... AINI, give me an ETA on the moon and the time difference for the enemy fighters to reach us.”

“At present speed, we’ll reach the moon in one minute, twenty-five seconds. The vessels will enter firing range approximately twenty-five seconds before we reach it.”

“Damn and I thought this could work…” he muttered. “Well, maybe it still can. AINI, what if we redirect all power to the engines, including life support?”

“Simulations project that we would reach the moon with an advance of five to ten seconds if we execute that command immediately,” she crooned.

Amazing, even in a life or death moment, his computer sounded like she was inviting him to bed.

“Execute now!” he cried. “And…goodbye AINI,” he added, knowing full well that executing the command would also take the power away from her artificial circuits. He would have to fly by the stick and pushing buttons from now on.

A few moments later, the moon was on the view screen, growing fast. Chase aligned his fighter into a near-atmosphere entry vector line. Red LEDs started to blink all over the cockpit as each of his systems siphoned off their power. At this rate, if he even brushed the upper atmosphere, the ship would transform into a big ball of fire. Chase pushed the thought from his mind and tightened his hands around the navigational stick.

His enemies were closing in fast, but not fast enough to get a clear shot before he disappeared behind the moon. They would, no doubt, pursue. But it didn’t matter now.

He pushed his ship to the upper limit, only a few feet off the moon’s atmosphere, and used its gravity to start a slingshot run around it. His speed grew exponentially and he redistributed some power to his shields and life support when the air started to become too thin to breathe. Now was not a good time to be light headed. The energy drain for propulsion was no longer necessary, thanks to the formidable gravitational forces of the moon. The ship would accelerate with incredible velocity even if he only gave the engines a little rub.

“Space Applied Physics wasn’t such a dumb course after all,” he reflected, trying to boost the inertial dampeners to avoid having his bones crushed under the pressure of the Gs pulled by the maneuver.

A few minutes later, his fighter was on the other side of the moon, ready to finish the slingshot. He adjusted his course toward one of the corvettes and, once he was away from the gravitational forces, he disengaged his engines. Then he quickly keyed a set of commands as his ship entered the corvette’s firing range. He pulled hard on the controls to put the ship in a wild spin, trying to avoid enemy fire, then he submitted the command he’d keyed earlier, diverting power to the shields and the weapon systems.

He was only a few seconds away... He’d entered what he liked to call the “dead zone,” the stretch where enemy craft were at optimal firing range and during which the probability they scored a hit was much higher. Not a moment later, the ship took one hit on the starboard shields, disabling them on the spot and sending a few metal pieces of the hull floating off into space.

Streaks of red laser fire streamed all over his canopy, and he was mere moments away from the corvette. Then suddenly, he keyed a flurry of other commands. His shields went down and his lasers started to fire at full power. Then, before he could even brace himself, he pulled very hard into outer space, spinning in his chair just enough to watch his plan play out.

His ship collided with enormous velocity into the corvette’s frontal hull, causing a massive explosion. Its fractured momentum sent it hurtling full speed into the second corvette, which promptly split in half.

And that was the end of it.

2

The screen turned black, the cockpit lights turned back on, and the monitor flashed.

“Simulation over.”

The canopy of the simulator opened with its usual shrieking and thumping, and Chase made a mental note to have a word with the maintenance crew. The simulator, despite being multiple versions behind in terms of the navicomputer, was the only pleasure he was getting out of the war these days. If it broke, he wouldn’t know what to do to pass the time.

“More reckless than ever!”

Chase shook back his long, dark hair and turned around to see his old friend Daniel walking up to greet him, a broad smile stretching across his face.

“When are you gonna learn, that sort of flying will get you killed in the real world? I seriously doubt it’s what they’ve been teaching you at the academy. I’m not sure you would have killed half those bogies in a real combat situation, but I must admire your spirit. Not to mention, some of the stuff you did was pretty ingenious.”

Daniel was medium height and medium build with longish hair that was sometimes free flowing, but most days, like today, was pulled back neatly in a ponytail. His bright blue eyes were slightly amplified behind a thinly framed pair of glasses, and he grinned again as he clapped Chase’s arm.

“I beg to differ,” Chase answered with a return smile dancing in his shocking, purple eyes. “But as long as the cease fire is in place, I fear I won’t be able to prove to you that it could.” Daniel cast him a doubtful look but, before he could speak, Chase continued, “But since you’re here, let’s grab a couple of drinks, shall we?”

“That, my friend, is an excellent idea!” Daniel agreed cheerfully.

A few moments later, they were sitting in the mess hall with their bottles in front of them, bantering good-naturedly back and forth.

After taking a long sip from his drink, Daniel lowered his voice seriously. “Don’t get me wrong, but the simulator isn’t a good way to test whether or not your crazy maneuvers would work. If you want to get some thrills, and god knows so do I when I practice in that old hunk-a-junk, it’s all in good fun. But you can’t expect to pull such reckless tactics out there.”

“And why not?” Chase raised one of his eyebrows.

“Well, for starters, you don’t really feel the Gs in the simulator, at least nowhere near the way you would in real life. That ninety-degree break you made toward the end? I don’t think you would have been able to make it in your ship without passing out. And if you do, even for a couple of seconds, you’re dead!” He flashed Chase an accusatory look. “Not only would it pain me to lose such a good friend, but the last thing our cause needs is to waste a good pilot.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were genuinely worried about me. Isn’t that sweet…” Chase chuckled mischievously. “A good pilot, you say?”

“I’m serious. You should try to fly your ship by the book; it works for most pilots.”

“Are you referring to the guys whose names are engraved on silver plates throughout the halls of this ship? As a thank you for giving their life for the Star Alliance? Because if you are, believe me, I’d prefer my name wasn’t engraved anywhere but in the brain of the enemy pilots, for a split second, just before I send their vessels to kingdom come.” Chase took a swig of the blue drink and pushed his long, black hair out of his eyes. “In the academy I was treated like a freak because I refused to follow the book and everyone said I would end up dead at my first enemy encounter. Well, funny enough, five years later, with more kills than I could paint my ship with, I’m still alive and kicking. Look, I agree some pilots need to follow procedure. I can only surmise that they either lack inspiration, instinct, or both. But that’s not me, Daniel. I fly with my gut, and my gut is still here, so that has to count for something.”

“That’s true I guess...” Daniel traced the table. “I’m just worried.”

“Why exactly?”

He seemed reluctant. “Cause you’re...well...”

Chase leaned forward with a grin. “Spit it out already!”

“You’re reckless.”

“You bet your ass I am!” Chase laughed. “You know, I thought we were supposed to grab a drink and have some fun. Why don’t we just enjoy them and not talk about each other’s piloting skills and styles?”

“Well, we haven’t discussed mine.”

“Yeah well, we better not, mister ‘by-the-book.’” Chase smirked sarcastically.

“There you go! I’m still alive too, and right after your ass on the killing roster. And I’m still your wing commander,” Daniel said with mock sternness.

Chase put his hands up. “Alright, you are indeed the second name there, but I could go on vacation for a year and you still wouldn’t catch up with me. And you’re wing commander because of your people skills; that and nobody in their right mind will give that position to a top-gun fighter like me who doesn’t follow procedure.”

“You’re exaggerating about the roster and, yes, this is why I’m your wing commander and not the other way around.”

“Am I exaggerating?” Chase stroked his Van Dyke style beard with satisfaction. “I’m fine being the lone-wolf pilot. You know I hate orders anyway, most certainly receiving them, but I don’t really see myself giving them either. I’m okay doing my own thing.”

“You’re still giving orders as Beta Squadron leader, or did you forget?” Daniel grinned wickedly. “I wonder why… Could it have something to do with your mysterious past?”

“Yeah, yeah, I dispatch advice under fire.” Chase pointed his bottle at his friend in a playful warning. “And you’re entering touchy territory here.”

Instead of backing down, Daniel leaned forward. “I don’t want to upset you, but didn’t you ever ask yourself if you live the way you do because you have no family? Or at any rate, because you don’t know them?”

“I… I don’t know.” Chase stared contemplatively at the table, caught off guard by the sudden change of tone.

“Look, I don’t want to bring you down, and I love you like a brother, so, in fact, you do have family.” Daniel paused. “I was just trying to say…it must not be easy to have been found on our planet, fully grown, without a single memory of where you come from. You even told me there was something slightly different in your DNA scans…?”

“Yeah I guess, but it’s something I try not to dwell on, if you know what I mean. And yes, I’m definitely different according to scans.” Chase finished his drink and tried to lighten the mood. “Must have something to do with my irresistible charm.”

But Daniel’s face was solemn. “It’s not just the scans, Chase…”

Chase’s smile faltered. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve known you for how long?”

Chase tipped back his head to think. “Since the academy, so about ten years.”

“Exactly. Chase…you haven’t aged a single day.”

Chase snorted in surprise. “Of course I’ve aged. What are you talking about?”

Daniel slowly shook his head. “Ten years is just a chunk of our life spans, but even so, I’ve changed. I have a few more gray hairs, a couple of wrinkles. But you? You’re just the same as the day I met you.”

“I hadn’t noticed.” Chase picked up another drink. “Maybe I worry less than you?”

Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Less than the rest of the entire Alliance?”

“Alright, that’s a fair point. Well maybe it’s my DNA. Maybe that’s what’s so different.”

“Yes, but that has to make you think. Who are you? Where were you born? Why were you abandoned…?”

Chase set his empty bottle down on the table a little harder than usual. “Why do we have to assume I was abandoned? Maybe I just woke up there after an accident.”

“In front of a medical center, in the capital of the Alliance?”

“Yes, so what?”

“Nothing, I guess.”

“Then let’s just drop it, okay?”

Daniel hastily nodded, casting nervous glances at his friend while Chase stared moodily at the now empty bottles.

“And Daniel?” he finally spoke.

Daniel gulped, afraid he’d gone too far. “Yeah?”

“You’re like my brother too.”

The two men chuckled to dismiss the tension, when an alarm suddenly went off.

“Battle stations, ship condition level red. All pilots rejoin your fighters for immediate takeoff; this is not a drill!”

Half of the people in the mess hall jumped out of their seats and starting running outside. Daniel and Chase got up with them and began sprinting toward the fighter bays. The red-alert lighting cast red hues and ominous shadows upon their faces as they ran.

“Ah fuck this! Can’t we enjoy a simple drink?” Chase grinned.

Daniel shook his head with a smile. “You know you’re excited. Nothing beats the thrill of a dogfight, eh? Anyway, maybe you can demonstrate some of those reckless moves.”

“With pleasure, Wing Commander. Plus, it looks like I’m gonna advance my lead on the kill board today, bro!”

“I’m not even gratifying that with an answer. Bro!”

“Oh no?” Chase taunted. “Why not? Cat got your tongue? Or maybe you can’t run and talk at the same time? Maybe you’re out of shape, buddy.”

“I’m not your buddy,” Daniel said with a smile that clearly proved otherwise.

“Okay, okay, enough teasing then. But last one to the cockpit buys the next round.”

“Deal!”

They picked up their pace, tearing past everyone else on the way to the fighter bay. Pretty soon, all the pilots were in their ships, ready to be shot into space.

“Looks like you owe me a drink, bro!” Daniel gloated. “You should know that the more you talk while you run, the more energy you expend.”

Chase grinned. “I let you win. Besides, I didn’t want to burn out all my stamina on running; I need my cunning reflexes out there. Goes with my mad flying attitude.”

“I’m sure it does. See you in space in five.”

Daniel’s fighter was then loaded into catapult launcher number five with Chase’s right behind him. Before Chase could blink his eyes, the door opened and Daniel had vanished into space.

The catapult’s particular design allowed fighters to enter combat space with sufficient velocity to immediately engage enemies if needed. A scenario particularly helpful when a starship was under a surprise attack. Also, it allowed full squadrons to be launched together, optimizing their battle readiness in war conditions.

It took less than a minute to reload the launch tubes with a new squadron. Chase could feel his blood pumping through his entire body and he emptied his mind of all the thoughts that were lingering there from a moment ago. Now was not the time for an existential crisis. Seconds passed by and his adrenaline level rose as the machinery secured his craft into the tube.

“Enemy ships in approach,” said Daniel through the comm system. “Deploying sensors to max range.”

“Alpha Leader, this is Alpha Two. I count three enemy squadrons. Wait…four. Five. More keep appearing.”

“Alpha Leader this is the SAD Destiny. Be advised, our long-range sensors show at least nine squadrons and five battleships, maybe more in approach.”

Chase’s blood froze as he listened in on the comm. The Destiny battlegroup was only composed of three destroyer-class battleships, each with three battle ready squadrons of Manticore Mark IV fighters, and a trio of Omega-2 class bombers. That meant the enemy forces had a clear advantage in numbers.

“This doesn’t look good,” he said to himself while performing his final pre-launch check. Then Daniel’s voice came through once again, this time directed toward him.

“Beta Leader, this is Alpha Leader. We’ve engaged the enemy but we need assistance ASAP.”

“Launching now,” replied Chase. “Hang in tight, Alpha Leader. We’ll be securing your six before you know it.”

“Hurry up, Chase; we already lost Alpha Six,” Daniel said with a heavy heart.

Damn! Less than thirty seconds of combat and already one of their teammates had been killed. But now was not the time to mourn fallen comrades, especially since this didn’t look like a walk in the park. In fact, it was probably the most difficult engagement this battlegroup had faced in months. But there was no denying it, the Star Alliance had been losing more fights than they’d been winning lately. The Obsidian Empire was getting stronger by the day, and some rumors even said that the days of the war were numbered.

Chase’s train of thought was interrupted by a sudden acceleration boost as the catapult launched his fighter through tube one at maximum velocity. The tunnel his fighter traveled through was lined with bright green lighting, and it illuminated his cockpit with flashes of light as his ship soared through.

“Alpha Leader, this is Beta Leader. We’re airborne; will rejoin in approximately twenty seconds.”

There was no answer on the comm. Radar was showing a handful of blue dots being swarmed by red ones. Daniel had dispatched three bogies, while his squadron picked off another three, but that still left way too many to deal with on their own. And that was probably just the first wave.

“I’m hit!” shouted Alpha Three. “Ejecting!”

Chase’s squadron was only a handful of seconds away from the engagement now, and he activated his comm system.

“Alright people, stay alert. This is just the beginning of what might very well be a very long, hard day. We are to render assistance to Alpha Team, clear their six, and obliterate this first wave before the next one arrives. So make every shot count.”

Multiple comm clicks acknowledged that order. A couple of seconds later, red laser shots started to pass between the fighters as they entered the combat zone. Two lasers made a direct hit to Chase’s forward shield, bringing their efficiency down to ninety percent. Chase frantically painted targets through his target acquisition panel, and ordered a voice command to the navicomputer AI.

“Execute offensive pattern Xi-niner.”

“Confirmed,” replied the male, synthesized vocal processor.

Chase shook his head, missing the sultry tones of his simulator. “Where’s that sexy little minx when I need her?” he muttered under his breath.

The ship started firing low energy but high frequency laser bursts at all the painted targets. Each blow would only weaken an enemy’s shields by a few percent at a time, but that was exactly what Chase wanted. He switched his main manual firing weapon to heat-seeking missiles while the computer continued the automated firing. Then, one by one, he started to lock onto the enemy ships, all four of them. Once the last lock was confirmed, he pressed the trigger and all four missiles fired simultaneously. The enemy craft started evasive maneuvers, but there was no escaping Chase’s lock. The missiles arrived roughly at the same time. The first explosion sent an enemy craft into a wild spin, venting parts and oxygen into space, as the three remaining missiles hit with a surprisingly synchronized detonation that blew up all three enemy craft into bits of fiery space junk.

Chase then went after the first target, which had managed to stabilize its spin but was obviously having trouble with its thrusters, probably because the missile blew up one of its oxygen tanks. It was little to no challenge to finish up such a badly wounded enemy, but this was not a simulation, and challenge was no longer the name of the game. Time was of the essence, and Chase blew the fighter out of the sky without hesitation.

“Thanks, Beta Leader,” Daniel called. “Hope you won’t need those missiles later on though.”

It was a fair point. Chase had effectively depleted half his missile complement in the first minute of the engagement but, under the circumstances, it made more sense to blow up the enemies quickly to avoid being caught in multiple crossfire.

“Copy that, Alpha Leader, nothing to worry about.”

Chase vectored toward the nearest enemy craft and locked lasers. He switched them to full power and pulled the trigger the second he had a firing solution. The first shots caused heavy damage to the enemy vessel, which quickly reacted with evasive actions. Obviously panicked, the craft rammed into its wingman, sending it into a spin that turned into a fireball as it was caught in some friendly crossfire. The second craft had lost its aft shields upon impact. Chase had no intention of letting this advantage fade away by giving the pilot time to transfer power to compensate. He hit his afterburner and rained down deadly laser fire. The ship exploded, and Chase flew through what was left of it, acquiring his next target as soon as he was through.

He quickly checked his radar. Five more ships had been dispatched by the rest of the squadron, putting them at a numerical advantage. The scanners also showed that Alpha Team had engaged another squadron as soon as the numbers had evened up. Chase dispatched one of the last ships with agile laser fire and watched while the remaining enemies were successfully destroyed, one by one.

“This is the SAD Destiny. The first wave of attack seems to be contained, but we’re getting unusual neutron radiation on the sensors; we don’t know what to make of it. It seems to be coming from everywhere.”

The last remaining enemy fighters retreated back toward the battleships, staying outside the firing range of the first assault. But just as they made it back, the sky all around them erupted into what looked like a million, blinding lights.

3

Standing proudly on the bridge of the Obsidian battleship, the Iron Claw, Admiral Zan was looking at the heart of the battle with a grim smile on his face. His bright emerald eyes glowed in the dark as he turned to face the command center and his crew.

“Report!”

“Everything is proceeding exactly as planned,” said the tactical officer. “The first wave has been repelled as anticipated and the remaining ships have been recalled. Should we send the second one, Admiral?”

“That won’t be necessary, Lieutenant Major. We’ll proceed directly to phase B. But first, let’s make sure these rebels won’t try to quit the scene before it starts to get interesting. Deploy the anti-gravity engine on the starship Titanium now. As soon as its engine is deployed, call in the secondary fleet and engage.”

“Titanium erecting the anti-gravity field, Admiral.”

“Very well. Ask the Second Fleet to enter the theater.”

“Message sent, Admiral. Ships jumping now.”

The usually dark space flashed with sudden light. Then, just as everyone’s eyes were adjusting, several gaping holes of darkness began emerging from the bright, blurry veil. The next moment, it was clear that the spots were actually battleships, lots of them, circling all around the Alliance’s battlegroup and escorts. In a matter of seconds, the new ships were everywhere, spewing their squadrons one after another like locusts.

* * *

On the bridge of the Star Alliance Destroyer Destiny, Captain Saroudis had only partially regained his eyesight when he emptied his lungs, shouting.

“Full reverse! Get us the hell out of here, now!”

There was a metal grinding sound, and strong vibrations suddenly shook the whole ship. Crewmen who were not seated ended up flattened on the ground or crashed up against the walls. The captain’s eyes flashed with terror.

“What’s going on?! Why aren’t we moving?!”

The tactical officer tapped into his console. “We seem to be restrained in some sort of magnetic field. It’s paralyzed our engines, and the more we try to maneuver, the more we’re effectively weakening the structural integrity of the ship, Captain.”

“Stop the engines at once!” shouted the captain.

There was a temporary calm but, the next minute, hundreds of lasers began firing against the shields. Usually, starfighter firepower wasn’t strong enough to cause much damage to a battleship-shielded vessel but, when there were multiple squadrons firing at the same time, it might very well make all the difference in the world.

“Lieutenant Brents, divert all power except life support to the shields.”

“Aye, aye, Captain! Diverting power now.”

The rapidly fading shield gauge on the control screen was suddenly boosted back into the green and seemed to lower only in small increments.

“That won’t keep those battleships from blasting us out of space like bugs,” said the captain, mind racing as he tried to think of a solution to the impossible situation. Then suddenly he turned to the tactical officer with illumination. “Use the sensors to find out which ship is generating the magnetic disturbance.”

“Yes, Captain.”

The captain then turned to the communications officer. “Sergeant, give me a comm line to the entire battlegroup.”

“Ready, sir.”

“This is Captain Saroudis. We are currently being held by a powerful magnetic field; if we want to survive, we need to send every available squadron to destroy the vessel holding us. As soon as the target is destroyed, return to your ships. We need to make a long jump out of here. Probably by the borders of uncharted space, to make sure we have a chance to regroup and repair.”

The captain then turned toward his communications officer.

“Try contacting headquarters to inform them of the situation. This could be a huge military maneuver that will shake the balance of power in the galaxy. We only have a few minutes before they overcome us by sheer firepower, especially when these new battleships start entering firing range. And give me status on the anti-gravity ship.”

“We can’t seem to reach the Alliance headquarters, Captain. Communication logs show multiple distress calls similar to ours all over this part of the galaxy.”

“Geez, could this be an all-out attack?” asked the captain, not expecting any answer.

“It looks like it, Captain. We have identified the ship responsible for the anti-gravity field. Transmitting coordinates to all fighters.”

The captain re-addressed the rest of the fleet.

“This is the SAD Destiny. Fighter squadrons, we are sending you a target via your navicomputer systems. This is a high priority target and it must be destroyed immediately.”

The rest of the ships regained offensive formations and started vectoring toward the coordinates they were just provided. It didn’t take long to realize that the target was within a group of enemy battleships. It was an unusual looking vessel, positioned defensively, well protected by the other ships around it. But before anyone could do a thing, half of the enemy craft firing at the Destiny battlegroup suddenly stopped and went on a pursuit course of the Alliance squadrons.

Laser fire filled the blackness of empty space in a matter of seconds. From a distance, it must have looked like a beautiful light show, except that any of these lights could blow a ship out of the sky. Heavy photon fire from the battleships started to make it more and more difficult for the squadrons to approach their target.

“Alpha Leader, this is Beta Leader.”

“Go on, Chase?”

“We won’t make it this way; we’ll be in pieces faster than it takes to say ‘oops.’”

“I’m listening, but make it quick.”

“We split into two groups; your group harasses the photon cannons and tries to take one of those battleships out of the equation, while we go for the jackpot and blow this sucker out of the picture.”

“Good thinking, but we’ll reverse the positions if you don’t mind. We’ll go after the target; I have more ordnance anyway.”

“Right…” Chase said with some reserve, then he added, “Good luck, Daniel.”

“You too; we’re both gonna need it. Alpha Leader out,” Daniel said, and he clicked another button on the comm controls. “Listen up everyone, the only chance we have to live another day is to destroy this target. Make no mistake, we must do absolutely anything necessary to destroy it, or die trying. I’m counting on all of you. Keep in formation and prepare to engage.”

The sudden change of tactic seemed to have thrown the enemy off guard, and the distraction might just have given them a chance for Daniel’s squadron to approach the target from a good vector. Chase wasted no time ordering a shower of laser fire upon the battleship that was the nearest to the target. It rained blue laser light just as, simultaneously, all the fighters unloaded their complement of torpedoes into the battleship’s nose. The first few were deflected by the battleship’s strong shields, but the continuous fire made it weaker in many spots, allowing some of the following torpedoes to go through and explode directly on the plating of the vessel. Before the last torpedo reached its target, the battleship started exploding in a bright fireball. The resulting shock wave took out a few of the fighters that were near the explosion, including some from Beta Squadron, which was now reduced to four ships.

“Chase, are you nuts?! You’re supposed to lay cover fire, not blow us up to hell!”

“This will buy you the time you need to remove the target from the board, Daniel, and you know it!”

“What about the crew members you just lost?”

“What difference does it make if they would have died in the next few seconds had we failed? And for what cause would it have been, Daniel?”

“You can’t just—” Daniel’s voice cut out momentarily. “I’m entering tactical firing range. Hang on.” Then the radio went silent.

Fighters from Alpha Squadron were diverting fire so Daniel could reach an optimal firing range. Some of them were instantly destroyed by photon cannons, while others fell to enemy fighters in one-on-one combat.

Daniel wished he could wipe the sweat from his forehead, but instead he lowered the temperature of his suit. “Approaching optimal firing range in ten… nine…”

Suddenly, a shock jolted his entire fighter and sent the stars and ships spinning in the windshield. Daniel was hit. He tried to stabilize the ship as well as he could, but it was one hell of spin to recover from. His inertial dampeners started to go critical, and already he could feel terrible G-forces taking hold on his body. He had to act fast...

“Code Red! This is Alpha Leader. I’m in a spin I can’t get out of. Inertial dampeners failing.”

Chase’s voice crackled on the comm. “Hang on, Daniel! That’s an order.” He quickly changed trajectory and acquired Daniel’s craft on his sensors. A plan began swirling behind his eyes, and he hit the comm once more. “Daniel, there’s a chance what I’m gonna do is gonna get you killed.”

“Why am I not surprised? But hurry—I don’t think I can take it much longer anyway.”

Chase entered a series of coordinates manually. Then he switched to his missiles.

Daniel heard the warning from the navicomputer. Ally craft had locked onto the ship.

“I thought you depleted the rest of your ordnance on that battleship. You didn’t have so many left in the first place.” Daniel strained to speak. A deep ache had started radiating out from his bones from the force of the spin. If things kept up, it would crush every bone in his body; the little ones first, then the bigger ones.

Chase interrupted his dark train of thought. “I kept one. I thought, what the hell, one more missile ain’t gonna make a difference; I might as well keep it for something that will.”

“I like your thinking buddy, but if you don’t shoot now…”

“Firing.”

The missile vectored straight to Daniel’s ship but, a fraction of a second before it connected, Chase remote detonated it. The shockwave that followed stopped most of Daniel’s spin and sent him hurtling through space like a dead rock.

“Uuuuuurggh…”

“Daniel, are you alright?” Chase asked fearfully, peering out the window to get a visual on his friend’s ship. When there was no reply, his face whitened. “Daniel?!”

“Yeah... I’m... here... I’m contemplating my breakfast but, thanks to you, I might actually get a chance to have another one tomorrow.”

Chase sighed in relief, but it was short lived. “What’s your status? We have to destroy that ship, and we’ve just lost our window to do it.”

“Status check is erratic. I lost most of my shields, inertial dampers at twenty-five percent,” Daniel reported. “So I have to watch for crazy maneuvers unless I want those words engraved on my tombstone. Otherwise, weapons seem to be online. I can still deliver my full complement of torpedoes, but I’ll need a shield.”

Chase nodded and hit the comm. “All fighters report.”

“Alpha Four reporting ready. Shields minimal.”

“Alpha Seven, I’m still in the green.”

“Alpha Two, I lost a stabilizer, but I’m good to go.”

“Beta Three, shields in the red, good to go.”

“Alpha Eight, in the green.”

“Beta Four, I’m hit, but the ship can fly.”

“Beta Seven, shields are holding.”

“Alright everyone,” said Chase, “we’re going to surround Alpha Leader and go for an afterburner run on the target. We’ll only get one shot and we have to make it count. We must stay in Alpha Leader’s proximity and cover his ship with our shields. If necessary, cover him with your ship itself.”

“Beta Leader, this is Alpha Four. The targeting system won’t engage at this velocity; it won’t have time to get a good lock.”

“He won’t need to,” Chase replied. “Daniel will manually release the torpedoes when we’re in sufficient range.”

“And what would that range be, Chase?” Daniel asked nervously.

“Say, about a klick or two away from target.”

“…You’re insane.”

“I thought someone said that we had to do everything possible for this mission to succeed. I’m only telling you what our course of action should be.”

Daniel sighed again and glanced around at his damaged ship. “You’re right Beta Leader; we’ll proceed as you suggested. Everyone in position!”

Daniel engaged his afterburner and everyone else followed closely, trying to stay in a tight, defensive sphere around him. When it started to rain lasers, the ships protecting him saw their shield levels drop at an alarming rate. The ones whose shields were already down started venting parts into space. While the first five seconds of the run were crazy, the next ten were even worse. Almost every few seconds, a ship would either explode or be disabled. Before long, there were only two pilots remaining, Daniel and Chase.

Only when the instruments told Daniel he was under one klick did he hit the trigger. The weapons deployed and both pilots made a hard break left. Chase was soon out of range, but Daniel fell behind—his inertial dampeners and engines being low on power. It took only a fraction of a second for the torpedoes to reach their destination. It was a direct hit. The resulting blast engulfed everything around it in a fiery wall of flames.

“Daniel?” Chased asked nervously, watching the fire get closer to his friend.

“I see it.”

“…Daniel!”

“Chase, I promise you I see that massive explosion!”

The fire got closer and closer to Daniel’s craft. Soon, only the nose of his ship was visible to the outside world. Chase held his breath… But then the flames started to dissipate. With a whooping cheer, Daniel shot out of the explosion and into open space.

* * *

On the command deck of the Iron Claw, Admiral Zan started to lose his composure. When he could stand it no longer, he turned away from the main screen and glared at his second in command.

“Major Extor, would you mind telling me what just happened?”

“We just lost the battleship Sudden Death.”

“Fitting end for a ship of that name, I suppose. But how could they destroy one of our battleships so easily?”

“They launched all their torpedoes at once, Admiral,” the major replied nervously.

“They did.” The admiral’s voice was dry and dangerous. “Very well then, concentrate your efforts on destroying them now that they lack their precious ordnance.”

“Yes, Admiral.”

But moments later, a red light started to blink on the tactical console and the lieutenant’s face changed radically.

“Admiral, one of the ships with a full tactical load of torpedoes is converging toward the Titanium’s coordinates.”

“Deploy all cannons and every fighter, even the ones out of range. Fire on the ships with everything we’ve got.”

He spun back to the main screen and watched as a storm of firepower converged near the Titanium. There were multiple explosions and shield impacts. Several of the Alliance vessels were quickly dispatched and bits of them drifted behind the attack like a deathly cloud. Finally, there were only two ships remaining. The admiral smiled to himself as he watched their imminent collision. Not only would they fail to destroy his prize ship, but they’d end up painting its hull.

But at the last second, everything seemed to go wrong.

Both ships broke hard left and, almost at the same time, the Titanium got caught in the biggest explosion yet. The admiral put his hand to the glass as he watched Titanium and its vital anti-gravity engine go up in flames.

“How the hell did this happen?!” he shouted in a blind rage.

“Unknown, Admiral,” replied the tactical officer.

“Find out now! Or there will be hell to pay! In the meantime, deploy all ships and engage this pathetic excuse for a battlegroup. Wipe them out this second! You hear me!?”

The tactical officer thought he might have been having some kind of mild heart attack. But he finally managed to get control of himself and turned back to the comm.

“Relaying command to the battlegroup, Admiral.”

The admiral turned his back to his crew and returned to his place in front of the main screen, staying silent as if meditating on the situation. His brilliant plan had been thwarted by…what…two lousy ships? Two lousy starfighters?!

* * *

“Alpha Leader and Beta Leader, this is SAD Destiny. Congratulations on a job well done. Now hurry up home so we can jump the hell out of here.”

“Copy that!” said Chase. There was no reply from Daniel and he glanced down at the comm. “Are you alright, Alpha Leader?”

The radio crackled, and Daniel’s voice could barely be heard. “I think so...”

“You did it, Daniel! You blew up the ship; we can go home!”

“That’s great, but I don’t think my fighter is going anywhere.”

He was suddenly cut by photon fire from one of the battleships vectoring fast on their position. It blew off half his left wing.

Chase hit the comm and shouted, “Eject! I’m gonna tractor you through!”

Inside his failing craft, Daniel shook his head. “As much as I want to live, I don’t want to get us both killed. Get out of here, Chase.”

A second laser hit and blew up part of his cooling system.

“Your engines are going to blow; you have to eject!” Chase cried. “Listen, I won’t go without you, so unless you do want to get us both killed... Eject, eject! NOW!”

Daniel hit the ejection button, and suddenly his cockpit was spinning in open space. As the stars flashed by, he saw Chase’s fighter vectoring at a high velocity toward him. With a startled frown, he clicked the comm device in his suit.

“You’re not gonna grab me at afterburner velocity are you now my friend?”

“Unless you have a better idea?”

“Chase…do you have any idea what that would do to me?”

“Look at the bright side Dan, you already threw up your breakfast.”

As the ship hurtled toward his floating cockpit, Daniel couldn’t help but yell, “YOU ARE INSAAAAAAANE!”

The tractor beam got a good grab on him, but Daniel blacked out instantly. Chase tore through heavy enemy fire, not even engaging potentially easy targets, concentrating only on getting back to the Destiny as fast as possible.

“Destiny, this is Beta Leader. I have successfully tractored Alpha Leader after his ejection and I’m coming in hot. Have medical teams standing by on the landing pads for Daniel.”

“You got it, Beta Leader,” said Captain Saroudis. “Good job.”

“Thanks. It cost us dearly though, Captain.”

“I know, Lieutenant, but we did what we had to do.”

Chase nodded to himself. “Will we be jumping soon, Captain?”

“The second your craft has landed, Lieutenant, so hurry up.”

“Copy that.” Chase ground his teeth together and went as fast as he could.

He vectored his fighter into the landing bay, carefully unloading Daniel’s cockpit to the ground and then disengaging the tractor beam. The cockpit moved a bit, but secured itself quickly. Chase then landed his craft, jumped out of the cockpit, and started running toward his friend who was already being taken care of by the medical crew.

The medical first officer looked grimly at Chase. “We have to take him to a life support system right away; he’s in a coma and his vital signs are fluctuating radically.”

“Will he make it?” Chase gulped.

“It’s too soon to tell. I’m sorry,” replied the officer as they loaded Daniel up.

“I’m sorry too,” Chase said to no one in particular.

The medical team placed Daniel on a mobile health-bed and plugged him in with an oxygen flow and an automated cardiac stimulator. A few seconds later, they vanished through the doors on their way to the med-bay.

Chase watched them go with a strong pain deep in his chest. He couldn’t help but feel responsible for his friend’s condition. But just as he was replaying all his actions to see what he could have done differently, his comm system activated and the captain called his name.

“Lieutenant Athanatos, to the bridge on the double.”

Chase stared at the doors his friend had just been carried through, but clicked his comm and answered, “On my way, Captain.”

Just as the elevator opened up on the command deck, flames shot down and almost burned Chase where he stood. The fire quickly stopped, but the whole ship shook violently, and Chase was thrown to the floor along with several other people. When he got up, the bridge was filled with smoke and some equipment wiring was sparking on and off, but he could see that the battlegroup had successfully entered hyperspace.

He took an unbalanced step and came to stand beside the captain’s chair. When the captain saw him, he immediately got up and shook Chase’s hand.

“Well done, Lieutenant. I’ve been told that Alpha Leader is in critical condition; I’m really sorry about that. I know how you and the wing commander are close friends.”

“Thank you, Captain. We’ve lost a lot of good men and women today; I hope he won’t be added to the list.”

“So do I, Lieutenant, so do I. But since you’re the highest ranking officer for the time being, you’re temporarily our new wing commander. And, unfortunately, we have a lot more problems ahead of us, Lieutenant.”

Chase’s dream of a hot shower and a nice rest went up in smoke.

“I’m listening,” he said.

“We had to jump in a hurry with some heavily damaged systems. The computer was unable to determine all the coordinates in time, so the last two coordinates were randomly selected. As of now, we’re in critical condition. But I’m afraid if we hadn’t done the jump blindly when we did and not a moment later, we would have been blown to pieces. The SAD Faith and Courage are badly damaged as well, but fortunately they successfully slaved their jump engines to ours seconds before I gave the order to go. That being said, we’re not sure if any of them will be able to sustain such a long jump.”

“What about the dreadnoughts?”

“Four of them, including the Iron Fire, have managed to jump with us as well.”

Chase frowned. “How long a jump are we talking about here?”

The captain looked away a moment before reluctantly returning Chase’s gaze.

“Seventy-two hours, Lieutenant.”

Chase’s eyes grew wide and he put a hand on the chair to steady himself. “Seventy-two hours?” he repeated. “That’s madness—we’ve never done such a long jump! We could end up on the other side of the known universe. We should try to contact headquarters to send reinforcements to help us defeat this armada. Otherwise…I mean…god knows what they’ll do to the Star Alliance, sir.”

The captain’s face grew grave and he paused a moment, regarding Chase thoughtfully. “I don’t think you’re grasping something here, son. The Star Alliance is history.”

Chase blinked as the words settled over him like a fog. Sensing his temporary speechlessness, the captain continued.

“While you were engaging the enemy forces, we received multiple distress calls from all over the sector. All of the attacks happened at the same time; they were precisely orchestrated and surgically executed. There’s just nothing left.”

Chase’s mouth went dry and his throat closed up but he nodded robotically. Now was no time to fall apart. The enemy was still out there. And at least a few ships had survived.

“Did you notice that the second wave of ships was of a different design, Captain?”

Again, the captain seemed reluctant. “Yes I did. We’ve checked with our internal database and, while they weren’t an exact match, the computer came up with…”

Chase fought back his impatience. “With what, Captain? What were those ships?”

“Zarlack, Lieutenant. The computer thinks they must have been Zarlacks.”

Chase almost had to laugh. “That’s nonsense. The Zarlacks were wiped out a thousand years ago.”

“All evidence to the contrary… Or maybe our computer is wrong.”

Chase nodded confidently. “Maybe they just look like their ships. In any case, we’ll have to analyze the logs.”

“We already have a team working on it. But right now, we must proceed with caution. We could very well be the last of the Alliance.”

Chase’s throat closed up again and he shook his head wildly. “But we escaped the attack, Captain; maybe other battlegroups have as well.”

“Maybe, but even so. Imagine the difference in firepower they would be facing right about now. I don’t usually care much about the odds, but a few scattered ships against an armada of hundreds if not more battleships stand no chance. Our only possible course of action is to escape and survive at all costs.”

“How the hell did the Obsidian Empire get their hands on an armada like that so quickly, Captain?”

“I wish I knew. Obviously these new ships, Zarlack or not, gave Obsidian a serious advantage in firepower and numbers. That’s the only way they could have delivered such a death blow to the Alliance.”

Chase hesitated as he trod on shaky ground. “Did you consider going to Alpha Prime? The great council should make this decision…No offense, Captain.”

The captain shook his head. “None taken. But I’m afraid Alpha Prime was also targeted by the Obsidian Empire today. From what we can gather, we believe it fell within the first minutes of the attack. All our attempts at communication have gone unanswered. The logs show some distress calls that also mention vessels of unknown configuration and immense firepower. My best bet is that Obsidian made an alliance with a race we’ve never heard of and, if today was any indication, they must be very powerful. From the reports we’ve gotten…it seems they may have vaporized our forces throughout the entire sector.”

“My god.” Chase shook his head, trying to absorb everything. “I’m still not ready to accept the Zarlacks are still alive…but whatever this new race is, they have fundamentally shifted the balance of power in the universe as we know it.”

The captain nodded. “That was my reaction as well. I still hope I’m going to wake up from this nightmare…but it seems that this is all too real.”

“What are we going to do, Captain?”

“We’re going to find a refuge planet and try to stay out of trouble for a while. With any luck, we can find some allies of our own and begin the process of reconstructing the Alliance. But we must do that far, far away from what is now Obsidian space. We must put ourselves out of their reach or we’ll be hunted down and annihilated.”

Chase frowned thoughtfully. “But is there anywhere we can go? If they have so many ships, they can make blind jumps just like we did... Eventually, they will find us.”

“I suppose they will. But if we end our jump deep in the unknown regions, we might have a chance to buy ourselves at least some time to repair.”

“They’ll search the universe with everything they’ve got.”

“Perhaps, but the unknown regions are huge. It would take them a long time. Years if we’re lucky. Months or weeks if we aren’t.”

Chase resisted the urge to start pacing as his mind raced away. “Not necessarily. They could have calculated a partial vector from our escape; that would considerably lower the amount of space they’d need to search⁠—”

The captain cut him off. “That’s a possibility, but right now we can’t think that far ahead. We need to concentrate on getting ourselves a new base of operations and see what we can do to ultimately survive.”

“I understand, Captain. Just one question… You said we made the jump with two random coordinates?”

“Yes. So basically we have absolutely no idea where we’re going to end up. This ship could be heading straight into a black hole for all we know. It’s out of our hands now, Lieutenant. We’ll know for sure in about seventy-two hours, but for now we’re in the hands of fate.”

Funny, I don’t believe in fate, Chase thought to himself.

4

Time seemed to freeze on the bridge of the Iron Claw. Not a word had been spoken since the Alliance fleet had managed to jump out of the battle scene, but Admiral Zan stayed fixed at the window, watching the lingering debris drift off into space.

“COWARDS!”

Everyone on the bridge found themselves holding their breath. The admiral’s wrath was legendary; he had killed fellow officers for less than this. The minutes seemed like hours, as everyone watched, while pretending not to, the admiral’s reaction.

A loud beep from the communication station suddenly broke the icy silence. The communications officer glanced up at the admiral, but found himself hesitating.

“Admiral, the...the Emperor would like to speak with you.”

The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

“Patch him through directly to my ready room.”

“Yes, Admiral.”

Without another word, Zan left the bridge, taking the stifling tension with him. When he arrived in his ready room, his wall screen activated and the gigantic face of the Emperor loomed up at him.

“Is it done, Zan?”

The admiral looked down for a split second, long enough for the Emperor to understand something went wrong.

“Don’t tell me…you failed your mission?”

“Not exactly. Some of the Alliance ships managed to jump out of the scene in the middle of the battle.”

The Emperor’s face tightened in rage. “You failed. Don’t try to hide behind a technicality. Why aren’t you pursuing as we speak?”

“They jumped in a hurry. I’m not even sure they had all their calculations...”

“Then find out and exterminate them all!” the Emperor exploded. “The Zarlacks won’t look at this mess too kindly.”

“I don’t understand why we must do their dirty work if they’re so powerful...” Zan replied. “Why do they need us?”

“Enough! If I want your advice, I’ll let you know. For now, you’ll either obey my orders without discussion, or I will find someone who will!”

Zan bowed his head at once. “That won’t be necessary, Emperor. I will track them down and eliminate them all, as per your wish.”

“Better. The next time I hear from you will be to confirm that you corrected your mistake; there’s no need to contact me otherwise. Is that clear?”

“Like crystal, my Emperor.”

The screen turned off and Admiral Zan sank into his chair to think. So what if a handful of ships had escaped? Today, the Obsidian Empire had crushed the Star Alliance. A few crippled ships wouldn’t make any difference in the long run. These Zarlacks seemed determined to see every single ship of the Alliance fall at once, but why? What did they have to win in this? And more importantly, why did they need the Obsidian Empire to do their dirty work? Maybe they didn’t want the Alliance to know they were involved… But still, something didn’t add up.

Zan shook his head and tried to clear his troubled mind. He had been given a mission, and this time he needed to make sure he would succeed. He took a deep breath and touched a button inlaid in the covering of his desk.

The tactical officer appeared at once. “What can I do for you, Admiral?”

“Mr. Telner, I want you to start calculating every possible jump coordinate that the Alliance Fleet could have plotted. I want to know where they went so we can track them down and finish them off.”

“Sir, we can only calculate partial vectors from their jump.”

“I don’t care what it takes or how much time you require. Assign as many people and ships as you need, calculate every single possible vector, and then have a ship accompanied by a fighter escort check every single trail. Ask our new allies to also dispatch ships to assist in the search.”

“Yes, Admiral. Should we limit the search to the known regions?”

“For the time being only. If we fail to find the Alliance ships at all the verified vectors, then expand your search to the unknown regions.”

“Very well, Admiral.” The officer disappeared as quickly as he’d come.

The admiral looked out at the stars. He didn’t like playing cat and mouse with the enemy. In fact, he didn’t like the idea of searching for his prey for an undetermined period of time. He was a man of action, and today, while his strategic abilities were known to many, he was forced to admit that he underestimated the Alliance. If he had planned his attack with just a little more care, none of this would have happened. His reliance on the Zarlack ships had also been a big mistake. While they indeed shifted the balance of power, it had only made the Alliance flee as a result. A hands-on battle without their support might have proven a success.

* * *

The Emperor sat on his throne in Obsidian Prime looking grim. Even lost in thought, he radiated a chilling authority. As one of the last descendants of the Raxin people, a humanoid race feared by everyone in the galaxy, he was used to having this effect. He had dark red skin with prominent orange tattoos that covered most of his face, and the bone spikes erupting from his forehand lent him the typical air of his warrior caste. Despite his fearsome exterior, the Emperor could sit this still for hours, calculating and planning, deciding the best course of action for his empire. But today, he didn’t have that luxury.

Loud footsteps resonated from the other side of the grand hall and the Emperor looked up in dread. The room was so dark that he wouldn’t be able to see who was coming until they were halfway to the throne, but he didn’t need to guess. He knew very well who the footsteps belonged to. How incredible that the leader of the Obsidian Empire dreaded anything, but the Zarlacks were not to be taken lightly. How the times had changed…

The time when the Obsidian Empire didn’t fear anything was long gone. The Star Alliance had held the balance of power in the galaxy for almost ten generations, making sure the Empire couldn’t rule the known universe. That is, until today. But the victory was not Obsidian’s alone. The Emperor knew that without the Zarlacks’ advanced ships and technology, they would not have been able to strike such a deadly blow to the Alliance. It should have been a victorious time, but the Emperor knew that Obsidian’s alliance with the Zarlacks was an act of desperation, eerily akin to slavery. It was by no means the true partnership he had hoped for at first.

The steps grew closer and, a moment later, the hulking silhouette of Ambassador Zorak appeared. The Emperor straightened his spine and tried to appear confident.

The ambassador was colossal, as Zarlacks were taller than humanoids. They were a powerful and proud reptilian race, with strong, almost metal-like purple scales. The lights of the torches illuminating the throne reflected against every single one of these scales, casting an almost ethereal light on the ambassador. He stopped a few feet from the throne, bowed slightly but respectfully, and then fixed his piercing green stare on the Emperor.

“Is it done?”

“Not entirely.” The Emperor was having difficulty hiding the emotions that accompanied that statement.

“Explain.”

The ambassador’s voice was ice cold and the room itself seemed to catch the chill. To be honest, the Emperor wasn’t sure what was more intimidating: the Zarlacks’ brute force, or the piercing glow in their eyes that seemed to turn whatever it touched to stone. Deciding to ponder this at a later time, the Emperor took a deep breath and started to speak.

“Apparently, a small group of ships escaped during one of the engagements.”

He received no reply except a thunderous growl so strong he could feel trembling in the very framework of his throne.

“I’m sorry,” he continued. “I will fix this situation.”

“Yes,” the Ambassador replied, staring straight into the Emperor’s eyes. “You will.”

“May I ask why it’s so important that every member of the Alliance is either taken prisoner or killed?”

The Zarlack sneered. “You may ask, but I’m reserving the right to not inform you of our intentions until I decide the moment is right.”

“And when would that be?” Immediately after speaking the words, the Emperor cursed himself for pushing the issue.

“Emperor, we’ve helped you build your new armada. We’ve armed you with our advanced technologies and the addition of our own battleships has more than quadrupled your fleet’s numbers. We’ve given you all the advantage you needed to prevent this war you’ve been fighting so long, so poorly, from escalating into another century. I believe you could learn to be patient, unless you’d rather we dealt with someone else in these matters.”

The Emperor was a warrior with a fiery temper himself, but he reined it in as the ambassador’s words hit home. He knew the Zarlacks had no qualms with terminating him and nominating someone else to the throne. So he swallowed his pride.

“That won’t be necessary. I will let you decide when you need to share anything with me. I’m sure you have your reasons.”

“Very good. We Zarlacks like when the chain of command is understood and respected unconditionally. So tell me, Emperor, what is your plan to find the last ships that eluded you?”

“I’ve asked Admiral Zan to find and eliminate the Alliance survivors once and for all.”

“Am I correct in assuming that this Admiral Zan is the one who let them escape in the first place?”

“…You are.”

“Then once the admiral has succeeded in his new mission, I would like that his head be brought to me. Unlike you, we do not tolerate failure. May that serve as a lesson to you as well…yes?”

The hiss in the last word sent shivers down the Emperor’s spine. “Yes, Ambassador.”

Without another word, the ambassador bowed again and went back the way he came, disappearing into the shadows.

The second he’d disappeared from sight, the Emperor gritted his teeth together and clenched his hands into fists. He was not accustomed to being told what to do, and he didn’t plan on acclimating. That being said, he knew the Zarlacks could obliterate the Obsidian Empire with the snap of a finger if they so desired. So for now, he would be their puppet.

But it wasn’t something he intended to accept forever. The Obsidian Empire had been waging too long a war, with too many territories lost. But one day…one day they would rise again. Even if that meant destroying their so called “allies” in the process.

* * *

Chase spent the next twenty-four hours in the medical bay, watching the medical staff and bots do their best to bring Daniel out of his coma. While they had stabilized his condition and he was technically no longer in “mortal danger” the staff was still not optimistic that he would make a full recovery.

“He could wake up any moment or never again; we simply don’t know,” Medical Chief Avlar cautioned Chase when he came upon him still sitting in the waiting room. “That being said, his body is already taking care of its vital functions by itself and that’s a very good sign, Lieutenant. The rest is up to him now.”

“I understand, Chief. Thank you.”

The chief smiled kindly. “If I may suggest, you should go get some shut-eye; you’re no good to anyone like this. How long has it been since you last slept?”

Chase ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I honestly can’t remember; it feels like an eternity since this all happened. Like we’ve been to hell and back in a split second.”

“I think that’s exactly what we did, Lieutenant. But from the looks of it, things aren’t about to get any easier, so it is my medical opinion that you should not keep pushing the limits of your own body. You are the Destiny’s new wing commander, after all. Now get some rest. Doctor’s orders.”

“Temporary wing commander. That job belongs to my friend lying there. But okay, Doc, and…thank you. Thank you for saving Daniel’s life.”

“From what I heard, I believe you’re the one who did that.”

Chase attempted a smile then turned his back and left the med-bay without adding a word. How had the day changed so quickly? This morning in the simulator, everything was how it had always been. And now…? His best friend was unconscious and might never wake up, and what was left of his beloved Alliance was jumping blindly into the complete unknown. Countless people had lost their lives and for those who survived, their world had changed forever in just a matter of hours.

But how could so many worlds be wiped out so quickly and so brutally? The Obsidian Empire was never that powerful; they must have made an alliance with some outsiders from one of the unknown regions. Or maybe the computer was right and the Zarlacks, the enemy of old, had returned. This thought sent shivers down his spine. But it was useless to try to find an explanation; it had already happened. It was done. Virtually the entire Star Alliance had been wiped out in a matter of hours; there was no going back.

While Chase knew he was standing on solid ground, he could no longer feel it. He couldn’t feel anything. It was as if everything in the universe had gone away and he was left floating in the middle of the void, with no points of reference.

* * *

Chase was walking in a beautiful meadow on a sunny day. While he didn’t recognize the landscape, the place had a mystical quality to it. It was teeming with lush, rich vegetation. Streaming waters and scores of animals were all living in perfect symbiosis, as a chorus of birds wove an intricate melody overhead. As if he’d been given a sedative, Chase felt his entire body relax all at once. If there was a paradise, then he was in it, right then and there.

A lovely, almost chant-like voice asked, “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

He turned to see where the voice came from and saw an ethereal-looking woman. She seemed to be made out of blue energy and appeared translucent. Her very skin glowed with a light that haloed out around her.

“Who are you?”

“Does it really matter?”

“Where am I?”

“On Earth,” she replied, “at least, the way Earth is supposed to be.”

“What is this Earth?”

“Earth is the planet where your ancestors were born. But a few millennia ago, they decided to leave in thirst for travel and knowledge. They settled in a faraway place in the universe, and later created the alliance of planets you know today.”

Chase looked around in amazement. “Where is this Earth?”

“It’s far, far away from the Alliance, but it’s not so far from you now. Soon you will get there.”

“I don’t understand.”

She smiled kindly. “You will, very soon.”

A sudden warmth seemed to wash over him and Chase felt completely reassured with every word the woman spoke.

“Can you tell me your name?” he asked.

“My name is Aphroditis.”

“That’s a beautiful name.”

Aphroditis laughed in an almost childlike fashion. Her face was absolutely perfect, harmonious in a way that seemed almost impossible. She was far and away the most beautiful woman Chase had ever seen. She had a stunning figure and long, flame-colored hair that flowed almost to the ground. But despite how intimidating she should have been, he felt calm and confident in her presence, as if he was under a spell.

“Am I dreaming?” he asked her.

“Yes, but it’s no ordinary dream.”

“How so?”

“I am here to help you in your journey.”

Chase was puzzled. “What journey?”

“You do not know who you are, my young Chase, and you will need guidance in order to fulfill your destiny.”

“My destiny?” he frowned. “I don’t believe in such things…”

She smiled again. “Oh, but you will. Yes, your destiny. You have powers you are unaware of, and these powers are the thin line that stands between order and chaos, good and evil.”

“…I don’t understand.”

“I know, but worry not. We will guide you along the way.”

“How do I know this isn’t some sort of deception?”

“Listen to your heart; it will tell you all you need to know.”

And for whatever reason, it did. Chase knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he could trust Aphroditis. He didn’t understand how this was possible, but every fiber of his being was telling him that he should listen without questioning.

“I believe you.”

“Good.” She nodded. “Now let me explain to you what’s to come. Your battlegroup will soon drop out of your jump near Earth, and your captain will have to make a choice regarding your next destination. If you don’t go to Earth, the consequences will be dire. The entire galaxy will be doomed to fall into its darkest time for eons to come. It is essential that you reunite with your old ancestors and do whatever is necessary to protect Earth. Humanity is the key to everything.”

“Protect?”

“Yes. Your jump to this part of space has attracted the eye of an ancient evil and, unless you stop them, Earth will be conquered and the humans will be annihilated.”

“That sounds terrible, but what can we do?”

“Earth is about to be attacked by an evil coward race, the Zarlacks. You must protect Earth and help them win this war.”

Chase’s mouth fell open. “So they are Zarlacks after all? I refused to believe it… I thought they went extinct a long time ago. But why would they attack us or this Earth?”

“They were never extinct; they merely fled and regrouped, biding their time and growing strong once more. But they have enslaved your current enemy, and by joining their forces with them they almost managed to bring about the destruction of the Alliance and everything you held dear. Unfortunately they are not your only problem. The Zarlacks are merely the caretakers for a much darker force, a darkness that is advancing toward the destruction of all life, all love, and all that is good in the universe, Chase. The Zarlacks are simply their pawns. At their masters’ behest, they allied themselves with the Obsidian Empire, though they quickly took control. They are the scout force for the big guns; they delve and search unexplored and underdeveloped parts of the universe—for planets too weak to defend themselves—and they obliterate them, thinning the herd and making sure the forces of light are too few in numbers to face them in a coalition. That’s why they attacked the Alliance; they saw it as a real threat to their plans.

“Earth is such a world. But Earth stayed out of their radar for a long time. It was even erased from records in order to protect its existence, as prophecy tells us that it will be the last glimmering source of light against the darkness, the last stand, the last sanctuary for all that is good and pure.”

“Wait.” Chase tried to catch up. “Who erased the records, and why was Earth suddenly detected now?”

“All in good time, my dear,” she answered wisely. “What you need to know for the time being is that your jump so close to Earth has alerted the Zarlacks patrolling the area that there is life in this part of the universe. Their long-range scanners just picked up Earth and its seven billion souls. Their scans have also most likely determined that Earth has no real defenses, and they will send ships to wipe it out. You must not allow this to happen.”

“But we’re in no position to do this! Our ships suffered massive damage and the battlegroup is barely operational as it is. We need more time…”

“Time is the one commodity you don’t have. But I believe you can fend off the first wave of Zarlacks, Chase. It will cost you but, in return, you will win an ally in Earth, the new beginning you currently seek. I’m sorry to put this on your shoulders, but you and your comrades are the universe’s last hope...”

“What happens if we fail?”

Suddenly, the peaceful meadow transformed into a gray desert where all life was extinct. The sky was dark red and covered with a thick layer of black clouds, and the wind blew toxic ashes into the air. Chase shivered.

“That’s what will happen, Chase. And not only to Earth, but to countless other worlds. Unless you can stop it. Unless you save Earth.”

Chase’s mind raced as he struggled to formulate a plan. “Can you tell me more about the Zarlacks? I mean, it took an unprecedented amount of cooperation to defeat them a thousand years ago and that was with much more firepower than the Star Alliance currently had, until… until we got defeated. So how are we to defeat them now with only a handful of ships?”

“They are a cowardly and evil race. They’re reptilian and are physically very powerful. If you meet one face to face, you must be incredibly careful as they could crush your bones with their bare hands.”

Chase shook his head hopelessly. “How are we supposed to fight them then?”

“Well, a few millennia ago, they were defeated by your ancestors.”

“My ancestors from Earth?”

She paused. “Not exactly. While most of the people on your ship are descendants of humans, you are part human and part Fury.”

“Fury?” Chase couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Yes, a mighty, powerful race that went extinct around the same time the Zarlacks were defeated. But before they lost their world, Furya, they sent away ships from their planet to try and save whatever was left of their race. One Fury arrived on Earth and had offspring.”

“And I’m a descendant of this Fury then?”

“Yes. Your ancestors had incredible power, power that to you or the humans would seem supernatural or magical.”

Chase was baffled. “Tell me more about these powers, what can I do?”

She tossed back her long hair. “It varied. Some had the ability to move objects, the ability to create powerful energy discharges, mind projection. Some of them could even fly.”

“Fly? You can’t be serious!”

“Yes, Chase, some Fury could fly.”

“And you think I can do these things?”

“It’s too soon to determine if the remaining genes in you are strong enough to awaken the Fury inside. But for now, it’s important that you save Earth. Once you’re there, you’ll be able to advance your personal journey toward regaining your dormant powers.”

“How will I know how to do so?”

“We will guide you whenever you need it. Now you must go. I believe you’ll soon arrive to your destination, and it is imperative that you help, or if necessary, convince your captain to make the right choice.”

“I understand. Thank you, Aphroditis.”

“It is us who thank you. Now wake up, Chase, and accomplish your destiny.”

5

When Chase opened his eyes and looked at the clock, he couldn’t believe it. More than forty hours had passed. And what a dream! He wasn’t sure what to make of it.

They were only a few hours away from the end of their jump. So far, the ship seemed to be taking the rough treatment quite well, though Chase had no doubt the engineering crew had their hands full since the beginning of the jump.

He got up, took a long sonic shower, suited up, and went directly to the med-bay to check up on Daniel’s condition. When he arrived, he discovered the staff had moved him into a nice corner and made it look like a room with tall, wheeled dividers. There was also no life-support system attached to him anymore, which was a good sign. Medical Chief Avlar approached Chase as soon as he walked inside.

“Any changes, Doc?” he asked as he looked down at Daniel with concern.

“I’m afraid not. But he’s stable and his life isn’t in critical danger; we just need to feed him by injection every once in a while. It’s up to him to come back to us now. All we can do is hope he wins the battle.”

“It’s not the good news I was hoping for, but I’ll grab onto anything positive right now...” Chase’s voice trailed off as his face tightened in pain. “It’s all my fault.”

“How’s that?” Avlar asked with a frown.

“I tractored his cockpit while in full burn.”

“That explains the physical condition we found him in, but still he’s alive and he wasn’t blown to pieces.” He gestured to Daniel sleeping in the bed. “I think for now we can safely say that this is a big improvement to how he would have been otherwise, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I’m not so sure,” Chase answered miserably. “I knew in my heart that if I didn’t grab him that instant, and not a second later, there wouldn’t be anything else to grab. But I also didn’t think I could live with the alternative. So I acted outside protocol and risked the life of a dear friend…and my superior, for that matter.”

“You reacted with compassion and, by all accounts, with great courage, risking your own life to save your friend’s. You should give yourself a break; you did the best you could and you shouldn’t second-guess your decision. If I had been in his place, I would have certainly wanted to have someone willing to risk everything to save me.”

Chase gave him a half-hearted smile. “Thanks, Doc.”

“Anytime, Lieutenant. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.”

“I will, thank you.”

The doctor clapped him on the shoulder and returned to his work, while Chase stared down guiltily at Daniel’s sleeping form. Had his own impulsive mind been the cause of this situation, or had he made the right decision to save them both? Looking at Daniel now, Chase could imagine him opening his eyes, sitting up, and talking. It seemed so simple. Like he was only asleep. With a heavy sigh, he pulled up a chair and sat down at his friend’s side.

It was not so simple after all.

Chase had no idea how much time passed as he stared at Daniel’s motionless body, when suddenly he saw a reflection of Aphroditis’ face on the shiny walls of the med-bay. He tried not to jump and stared in wonder as she smiled at him. Then, before he recovered his senses, he heard her sweet voice inside his mind.

“It’s time, Chase. Go now.”

Chase turned his head to the window and saw that the ship had just left hyperspace. All of a sudden, an electric current shot through him and he remembered every detail of his vision and what he needed to do. Without another second’s pause, he started sprinting out of the med-bay like a madman. Heading for the bridge…

* * *

The Destiny battlegroup finally jumped back to normal space. On the bridge of the Destiny, Captain Saroudis got up from his chair and turned to his navigation officer.

“Where are we?”

“We’re in unknown space alright, quite far from the border.”

“Long-range sensors; find us a habitable planet.”

“Right away, Captain.”

Saroudis wondered how next to proceed. Alone in an unknown region of space, where any race could be a potential enemy, they’d have to fight for their own survival. Of course, they could also try to find allies. God knows they needed allies right now, on the brink of extinction. There was no denying that the situation was dire, hopeless, some might say. In the numbers and state they were in, their only hope was to regroup and repair before the Obsidian Empire found them again.

The navigation officer interrupted his train of thought.

“Long-range sensors have found two planets with breathable atmospheres within sensor range.”

“Tell me more, Lieutenant.”

“One is at the outer edge of our scanning capabilities. A fully populated planet, industrialized, home to about seven billion people. Their technological level seems quite archaic; they are certainly no threat to our battlegroup.”

“Seven billion? And the other one?”

“The other one is only a few light years from our current position; it doesn’t seem to be inhabited. However, it has far fewer natural resources than the first world.”

Captain Saroudis thought the choice was obvious. Seven billion people could very well mean seven billion enemies, no matter their level of technology. Whilst the second planet was perfect to settle down for repairs and establish a settlement in this galaxy. Of course, if he could get the first world as an ally, their resources and manpower would come in handy in the fight against Obsidian. But all of this could be done later, when they had finished repairing their ships and set up a new base of operations.

He was about to give an order to set course for the second world, when the bridge’s double doors slid open and Lieutenant Chase Athanatos stormed onto the bridge. The captain got to his feet as Chase sprinted toward him.

“What is it, Lieutenant? Any news from Daniel?”

“Not yet, Captain.”

“Then why is it that you storm in here unannounced? You’d better have a good reason for this breach of protocol.”

“I know, Captain. I have a reason, a very important reason.”

“I’m listening.”

“Am I correct in assuming that our sensors discovered a populated world?”

“Yes, we’ve actually discovered two planets; one uninhabited, and one with a population of seven billion.”

“Earth!” Chase exclaimed before he could stop himself.

“What? What is Earth?”

“That’s the name of that planet.”

“How in the blazes would you know that?”

“It’s a long story, but right now we must hurry. They’re about to be attacked by a Zarlack Fleet, and they’re going to need our help.”

The captain blinked slowly. “Lieutenant, you’re not making any sense. I believe your crazy maneuver to save our wing commander made you lose your grip on reality. And I thought we had agreed that the computer might have been wrong identifying the new ships we encountered in the last battle.”

Chase struggled to keep his patience. “No, it wasn’t. They were Zarlacks alright. I know how I sound, sir, but I’m telling you, we NEED to go to Earth. Now!”

“Lieutenant! I understand you’re feeling shaken right now, we all do. But I don’t see how you could know about this planet. We jumped blindly here. The only way you could know these things was if you were seeing the future. Is it what you’re telling me?”

“No, Captain, that’s not it. It’s...it’s complicated. You need to trust me.”

“Either give me a good reason as to why I should believe you, or I’ll resume my plan and take what I think is the safest course of action for this battlegroup—and that is clearly to go to the uninhabited world and establish some sort of base there.”

“But, sir, the reason Earth will be attacked is precisely because we’ve jumped into this area of space. We’ve unintentionally endangered seven billion people; we can’t abandon them!”

“What the hell are you talking about? How could you know all that?” the captain exclaimed. “I don’t know if this is the last fight, or Daniel’s predicament, or you’re simply suffering from sleep deprivation, but you’re sounding mad! Stand down, Lieutenant.”

“I’m not the mad man here!” Chase shouted with much more anger than he had intended. The second the words left his mouth, he knew the game was up.

“Lieutenant Athanatos, you’re out of order!” Captain Saroudis turned to his chair and clicked a button summoning security to the bridge.

Chase bowed his head. “That won’t be necessary, Captain.”

“Well, you don’t seem like yourself, Chase. Consider yourself relieved of duty pending a full medical examination.”

“But, sir,” he pleaded. “Earth?”

“Earth again?” The captain raised his eyebrows. “Kid, if I were you, I wouldn’t make your situation worse than it already is.”

Suddenly, Chase heard Aphroditis in his head again.

“Chase, you must succeed! The entire fate of the universe hangs in the balance! If you lose now, everyone is doomed!”

The main bridge doors opened and three armed security guards walked into the room. Chase’s head felt like it was about to explode. His precious window was closing; he had only a few seconds left to do what needed to be done. For a moment, he froze, uncertain as to what to do, then he took a deep breath and made up his mind. It was now or never.

In a fluid motion, he took his service weapon and pointed it at the captain’s head.

The captain’s jaw dropped open. “Are you insane, Lieutenant?!”

The three security guards pointed their weapons as one at Chase and shouted, “Drop your weapon… NOW!”

“If you shoot me, the captain dies! I’m sorry, Captain, but this is bigger than you and me. This planet needs us and we need them. Without them, there’s no future for any of us, so unless we rescue them right now, we’ll all die soon enough and the Alliance will die with us. If that’s the case, I can die here with you. I really don’t give a damn.”

Saroudis looked deep into Chase’s eyes. “My god, Chase, you really believe all of this, don’t you?”

“With every fiber of my being, sir.”

“What is it you want from me? I can’t and won’t put the entire battlegroup into mortal danger just because you think you know what’s going to happen in the future. You have to understand the insanity of what you’re telling me, son. You know full well I can’t just trust you under these conditions; you’ll have to shoot me first.”

Chase’s chest rose and fell with quick, shallow breaths. “Then let’s do this one step at a time. First things first. Ask the security goons to drop their weapons. NOW!”

The captain slowly turned his head toward the guards and gestured them to drop their weapons. They obeyed instantly, but glared at Chase with increased menace. The rest of the bridge seemed to share their sentiments, and the atmosphere grew thick with tension as people looked around in fear and bewilderment.

The captain was steady. “Now what, Lieutenant?”

“Now we’re going to make a deeper scan of the region surrounding Earth to see if they’re already under attack or soon will be.”

“Very well. Take it easy, Lieutenant.” Saroudis turned toward the navigation officer and said, “Do as he asks.”

The officer began clicking away at his control panel, and the seconds seemed to stretch into years. Chase’s arm, still holding the gun at his captain’s head, was starting to feel unbearably heavy. He was hyper-aware of the eyes of every person on the bridge boring into the back of his head but, just when it felt like the silence couldn’t last any longer, a sound emanated from the console and everyone turned toward it at once.

“Scan complete, Captain.” The navigation officer sounded shocked.

The captain turned to him curiously. “Anything to report, Lieutenant Gathos?”

“Yes, sir, many things. There is indeed a fleet of ships approaching the Terran System.”

“The Terran System?”

“That’s the name of the eight-planet solar system where Earth is located.”

“Earth?” Saroudis repeated, sounding astonished.

“Yes, sir. The computer established links with radio and other types of wave communications within the planet. It’s indeed called Earth.”

“What else can you tell me, Lieutenant?”

“As we already know, Earth’s technological advancement is centuries behind ours; they do not seem to have the resources to fend off the incoming attack. They can barely get into the outer space surrounding their own world.”

“That’s why we must stop wasting time and jump to their rescue,” Chase insisted as his gun began trembling.

“Easy, Lieutenant, I’m not giving that order just yet.” Saroudis turned to Lieutenant Gathos and asked loudly, “What else?”

“Well…that’s the most disturbing part, Captain. I intercepted a message that Earth is sending into space. It’s a sort of welcome message to any and all alien life. It contains many things about their cultures, languages, mythologies, and much more. Our computer cross-referenced it to our databases and found several matches.”

“What?!” the captain cried. “How is that even possible? What kind of matches?”

“Well, one of their languages, what they call Ancient Greek, is actually the language used in our old sacred scrolls. But that’s not all. The language they call English, the dominant language on the planet, is actually a ninety-two percent match for our Universum.”

In an instant, Saroudis’ expression changed completely. He ran his hands through his hair and suddenly couldn’t care less about the gun being pointed at his forehead.

“Oh dear lords… Does that mean what I think it means?”

“Yes,” Chase replied. “We’re linked to these people, one way or another.”

The captain turned in shock. “But how did you know? How could you have known?”

Chase hesitated. “…It’s going to sound crazy, Captain.”

“Crazier than putting a gun to my head?”

“Maybe not…” Chase paused, took a deep breath and continued. “While I was asleep, I saw a woman in my dream, or maybe it was a vision. I’m not entirely sure. She called herself Aphroditis, a beautiful and almost surreal woman. She told me all about Earth and said I had to convince you to save it any way I could. Unfortunately, when the security guards entered, I was left with very few options.”

“Aphroditis?” the captain repeated with wide eyes. “As in, goddess of love and beauty, Aphroditis?”

Chase frowned. “You know her, Captain?”

“According to our old mythologies and legends, Aphroditis was one of the goddesses of Olympia; she used to guide our people in the old days. But it’s been centuries since their influence and worship faded. Today, it’s almost completely gone from our culture—only philosophers and historians remember the tales. I’ve been fascinated with legends and mythologies since I was a young boy, so I read all about them at the Library of History on Alpha Prime. But until now, I only thought they were stories—a cultural myth. I never had any idea there could be some truth in them… I’ll be damned!”

“Does this mean you believe me, Captain?”

“Let’s just say your credibility just received one hell of a boost. Now we need to know more about this fleet and their capabilities.” Saroudis turned to his strategic officer, Commander Philis. “Commander, can we defeat this fleet in battle in our current state?”

“According to our scans, the enemy firepower is equivalent to ours, but the computer can’t really make a successful analysis of their shielding technology. We’d be facing a few more ships than we have but, with a carefully laid out plan and the element of surprise, perhaps we could indeed repel the enemy. But I should point out, that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t come back with reinforcements.”

“One problem at a time, Commander. Right now, it looks like we’re going to make some allies after all. How long until the fleet reaches them?”

“A little more than two hours, sir. But we’ll need a near three hour jump to reach them, and that’s if the jump engines are still operable. By then, they might very well have finished the job. Earth has no planetary shielding and no space-worthy craft. The only weapon they possess is the atom bomb. While very powerful, their delivery systems are way too slow to be effective. In fact, they might accidently destroy their own planet if they try using them.”

“Can we send a message to warn them?”

“The approaching fleet just started emitting jamming frequencies, sir. We’re also about to lose sensor resolution so we won’t know what’s going to happen until we actually arrive on the scene.”

“Dammit!” Saroudis and Chase cursed at the same time.

They turned to each other in surprise, and Chase’s face relaxed into a faint smile. He slowly lowered his gun and holstered it, looking into the captain’s eyes all the while. The second his weapon was holstered, the security guards immediately picked up and raised their guns, but the captain raised his hand sharply.

“Hold your fire; lower your guns.”

The guards were clearly reluctant, so the captain raised his voice to a tone that couldn’t be ignored.

“You will holster your guns this second! And get the hell off my bridge while you’re at it.”

The security detachment disappeared from the room and Chase turned his attention back to his superior. “What should we do, Captain?”

“We should hurry, that’s what we should do. Battle stations everyone; plot a jump for Earth and engage the second the coordinates have been fed to the jump engines.”

“Aye, aye, Captain. Coordinates in. Jumping now.”

Chase gazed around the bridge. It was suddenly a flurry of activity. People typed away into computers and filed flight plans as the lights on the terminals blinked rapidly and the monitors started displaying strategic and data scans. Suddenly unnoticed by everyone around him, Chase pulled in a deep breath of relief. He had managed to do what Aphroditis had asked of him.

“Captain, I’m really sorry I pulled a gun on you.”

“That was a serious violation that could be construed as mutiny. I could have you executed for this or, at the very least, court-martialed.”

Chase hung his head. “I know. You can court-martial me, though I would hope capital punishment would be optional.”

Saroudis smiled at the cheeky remark. “We’ll see, son, but, luckily for you I’m not so sure what the gods would think of me if I did sentence you to death.”

“Am I right to believe that their worship might have found a new follower?”

“You bet! And with the position we’re in, it’s somehow comforting to know that the gods are on our side. We’ll definitely need their help. But next time you need to convince me of anything, I would rather you do it in another fashion.”

Chase grinned. “Duly noted.”

6

Chase went to engineering to find his friend Yanis. Yanis Tixichos was the First Tech on board the Destiny, and he and Chase had developed a friendship over the years. He was the one who had helped Chase customize his fighter with dozens of pre-programmed pattern commands that allowed him to be more efficient during dogfights, reducing the time it would take to do basic things like changing the weapons selection or power distribution. Chase had even managed to convince him to reprogram the simulator computer with the same commands so he could train with them and make adjustments in his spare time.

Upon entering the room, Chase looked around but didn’t see him anywhere. “Yanis?”

“What do you want, Chase? This isn’t a good day for me. Heck, it’s been a horrible three days. This mega jump has put so much strain on the ship, it’s a miracle that I managed to stop it from blowing up into a million pieces. And now we’ve jumped yet again. Tell me, are we deliberately trying to destroy the Destiny?”

Chase looked up. Yanis was apparently working on the ceiling.

“Stop complaining for once and come down. It’s urgent. I’m here on Captain Saroudis’ order, hurry up—we need you.”

Yanis mumbled something into his beard while he leveled down from his hovering platform. “What is it now?”

“I need to find a way to reach our destination earlier than the current jump will take us.”

“And how am I supposed to achieve that, exactly?” Yanis held up a finger and smiled sagely. “Oh yes, I suppose we could put on some spacesuits and go out and push.”

“Very funny. This is really important; our fate depends on it, so please…think.”

“I can think all day long, my friend. There is no way we can boost the engine that much. It’s running too hot already. Like I just said, it’s a miracle that we didn’t blow it out already jumping again so soon. I haven’t slept in three days either, you know. I’m starting to lose my mojo.”

“Well we need your mojo for one last delivery. If we can’t boost the ship, can we boost a smaller craft like a fighter?”

Yanis paused. “Hmm…interesting. I never thought of that. The problem is if you fire up the engines of your fighter too near the ship, you might very well provoke an explosion inside the jump corridor and send us all to heaven.”

“Or hell.”

“Semantics.”

“Let’s focus on the problem at hand, shall we? So is it safe to fire up the engines if we manage to get ahead of the ship?”

“It depends… If you take another direction, it might be okay, but if you stay on the same path as the Destiny I wouldn’t recommend the engines at all.”

“Dammit, that’s not good. So how could we accelerate if we couldn’t fire the fighter’s engines?”

“Accelerate? How do you get off the flight deck in the first place is the question!”

“Can’t we use the tractor beam for that?”

Then Yanis’ face lit up with that strange, genius smile he sometimes got. “Of course!”

“Of course…what?” asked Chase.

“Give me a minute, will ya?” Yanis called while running toward the closest terminal.

When he reached it, his fingers blurred as he started bringing together displays, schematics, fighter diagrams, and what appeared to be a physics formula that made no sense to Chase whatsoever.

After a few moments, a bit of beard rubbing, and some throat clearing, Chase started to feel like they were really on to something. Yanis’ eyes were glowing like a kid on his birthday, ready to open his presents.

“Here we go!” he suddenly said with unrestrained pride.

Chase sighed in relief. “So, will it work?”

“In theory, it could. All we have to do is modify the tractor beam so it can send a reverse pulse, acting as a deflector and not a tractor. That way, we use it to bring you in front of the ship, and then reverse the beam to push you away into a higher jump velocity without you even having to fire the ship’s engines. It might be a bit bumpy. And well, we’ll probably need to reinforce the shields, but it shouldn’t be a problem to divert power from the weapons and engine systems to the structural integrity and shields since you won’t need them in the hyperspace corridor. I think it could actually work.”

“Awesome! Can you do it for multiple ships?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem, but who would be crazy enough besides you to attempt something that no one’s ever done before. And in all seriousness”—he glanced back at his schematics—“there’s still a good chance this could blow you out of the sky.”

“That’s why I will be going alone, but with many ships.”

Yanis’ head whirled around. “You’ll do WHAT?”

“That’s the other assignment I have for you. Can you link the other ships to respond to commands from my main computer?”

“Theoretically yes. But Chase, your scripted commands are for one ship. That is unless you intend to program an entire squadron in the blink of an eye.”

Chase frantically searched his pockets, and then handed Yanis a data crystal disc.

“I’m ahead of you on this one. I’ve been programming these for a while, hoping one day it could be useful...”

Yanis grinned. “No. . . you programmed this in case you were the last pilot standing, didn’t you? Admit it. You like to think that even if you were the last one on the battlefield, you could win the battle all on your own.”

“Well it doesn’t hurt to be prepared now does it?” Chase tried to keep a straight face but failed. “Okay yes, that’s why I programmed it. You know me too well…”

Yanis laughed. “It amazes me how grim you have to be, to be thinking of contingencies like that.”

“If I didn’t, we’d be having some problems just about now, wouldn’t we?”

“Can’t argue with that logic, I guess. You didn’t take just an afternoon to do all these?”

“It’s been months in the works. I still have to write some mission specific commands to be added to a repertoire this large. In essence, it’s simply a tool. I just need to use it in the correct way…and come up with a halfway decent plan.”

“A plan to do what?”

Chase shook his head. “You know, you should really read the security bulletins more often instead of making love to your jump engine every chance you get.”

“I’m not making love to it; I’m taking care of it.”

“Potato, potado.”

“Very funny,” Yanis said with a reluctant smile. “Okay, so since I’m not following the news, what’s up and what timeline am I looking at to make these adjustments? I was kind of hoping to hit the sack for a few hours first.”

“No can do, bud; we need all we’ve just discussed ready to go in one hour tops!”

“But that’s insane…and impossible.”

“I thought that impossible wasn’t part of your vocabulary.”

“Oh damn... Okay, I’ll do my best. But don’t come complaining if you blow up during this crazy stunt of yours.”

Chase raised his hands innocently. “I won’t complain. I might do some haunting…”

Yanis shivered. “I hate ghosts even more than sleep deprivation. I’d better make sure everything is checked twice then.”

“Yes, better make sure indeed.”

“Should I start now? I guess I would need the captain’s authorization to do such heavy modifications to the Destiny or its fighters. You got the paperwork, right?”

“Nope, but I’ll have it before you’ve managed to modify the tractor beam. Promise.”

“I could lose my job if you screw up, Chase.”

“When was the last time I left you hanging?”

“Alright, but please make sure it’s okay with the captain. ASAP.”

“Consider it done. Keep in touch; call me once the tractor beam has been modified.”

Yanis nodded. “By the way, what’s the plan?”

Chase was already running back to the hall. “Save the universe!”

“Go figure…”

There was an ominous silence in the conference room as everyone scratched their heads to find a solution to this latest problem. Twenty minutes had passed since every senior officer had been asked to the meeting, but they were still at square one.

“Still no solution to penetrating their jamming signals?” Saroudis asked, clearly discouraged about discovering a timely solution.

“I’m afraid not, Captain,” answered the communications officer. “And even if we do find a way to penetrate the jamming, our brief analysis of Earth suggests that its people would be unlikely to trust an alien race. They may even construe a message on our part to be a plot to invade them.”

“That’s just…great.” Saroudis dropped his face into his hands and rubbed his forehead. “Any other ideas, anyone?”

Every member of the room either looked away or stayed silent. Then, all at once, the doors opened and Chase stormed in shouting, “I got it! I know how we can save Earth!”

“Despite your repetitive lack of protocol, I’m very interested in hearing what solution you may have found, Lieutenant. By the way, you forgot to take out your gun.”

Chase smiled broadly at his sarcasm. “Here’s what we’re going to do: I’m going to jump ahead of you with some fighters and distract and weaken the enemy for the time that you need to join the battle. Basically, I’ll be giving the enemy something other than Earth to shoot at.”

“That’s nonsense, Lieutenant. First, you can’t jump with fighters; we haven’t installed jumping drives into the smaller craft; and even if it was feasible, I doubt we would have the time to do so. And second, you would arrive at the same time as we do...as we are already in hyperspace.”

“Sorry to interrupt you, sir, but that’s not what I had in mind.”

“Then please, by all means, enlighten us, Lieutenant.”

“We’re already at jump velocity, you’re right, sir, so theoretically we could use a modified tractor beam in reverse to push the fighters away from the Destiny. It would manage to increase their velocity, ever so slightly, over the current jump speed.”

“I thought hyperspace speed was actually the limit of what our ships can travel; won’t your ship get crushed in the process?”

“Just like we can push the engines to get slightly faster in hyperspace, we should be able to add a little more velocity to small craft. As for being crushed, it’s a chance but, if we reinforce my shields, diverting power from weapons and other non-essential systems, it could work. I might have to constantly readjust the shield frequency, but I’m confident I can do it.”

“It seems really farfetched but, for the sake of argument, say you succeed. Your plan still has a major flaw, Lieutenant.”

“What would that be, Captain?”

“How in the blazes do you intend to divert an entire fleet of enemy ships during the time it will take the battlegroup to reach Earth? Granted, you’re the craziest pilot I’ve ever seen. You proved that not long ago with your stunt recovering the commander, but even you can’t pull this off on your own.”

“Oh, did I forget to mention that I’ll be going with a full squadron?”

“Really?” the captain laughed. “And do you really think you’ll be able to find that many pilots as crazy as you? If Daniel was up and running I’m sure he would join you, but otherwise, I can’t ask pilots to volunteer for a mission that could have them blown up the second they attempt it.”

“No worries, Captain, I don’t need any other pilots for this plan to succeed.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I’ll be remotely flying the entire squadron. I’ll take some heavy birds loaded with torpedoes and remove some of the opposition. That way, not only will I be buying us time but, if all goes well, I should be able to reduce the odds to a manageable level before the fleet engages the enemy. It would considerably lower the loss of life on our side.”

You could hear a pin drop in the conference room. There were many open mouths, but no one could seem to speak. Then, the second in command, Major Bradis, broke the silence.

“How exactly do you intend to fly a full squadron on your own? Is that even possible? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Quite simple, Major. All the computers will be synchronized to mine; I’ll simply be giving formation and attack commands which are being reprogrammed in my fighter’s computer as we speak. Now, I won’t have control over each ship individually, so I expect to lose some if not all in the process, but the idea here is to buy our fleet the time it needs to reach Earth. We need to be able to protect the planet until you arrive and finish the job.”

The major shook his head. “Captain, even if this idea has some merit in originality, it’s not realistic and we shouldn’t waste our time, energy and already limited resources on a mission that we don’t even know we can manage to pull off. There are simply too many factors and variables that can go wrong, starting with the farfetched idea that we can inverse our tractor beam to push the fighters to a faster speed and⁠—”

Right before the major could finish his sentence, a comm interrupted him.

“This is Chief Engineer Tixichos. As requested by Lieutenant Athanatos, I’m reporting that the modifications to transform the tractor beams into deflector beams have been completed. We’re good to go. At least in the simulations, we’re all in the green. Do I have the green light to start linking the reserve fighters together and uploading the lieutenant’s command database to his ships?”

“This is Captain Saroudis. You’re telling us we can push the fighters to a higher velocity safely?”

“Aye, Captain. If someone is crazy enough to be in one of the ships, it should be a bumpy but fun ride.”

“Thank you, Chief. You have a go.” The captain then turned to the major. “Thanks for your input, Major, and while I respect your skepticism, it seems to me that Lieutenant Athanatos has presented us with the only viable solution to our predicament so far. My only concern is that this sounds a lot like a suicide mission. One pilot against a full fleet… Are you sure you want to even try such a perilous mission, Lieutenant?”

“I have to, sir. It’s the only way we can save Earth. You and I both know it. You need to let me do this.”

“I have to admit, this plan is bold, borderline insane. And only a crazy mind would suggest it, let alone volunteer for it. But then again…I suppose it will only be the third time you’ve done something crazy this week, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Both men smiled at each other.

“Very well, you have my authorization to assign as many resources as you need to finish the preparation for your mission.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

* * *

In the med-bay, Daniel was being tended by medical bots. He was still in a coma. Chase approached the bio-bed and sat on a chair next to him.

“Sorry, pal, didn’t bring you any flowers. I know you probably can’t hear me, but I’d still like to tell you a few things. The fact of the matter is, I don’t know if I’m coming back from this mission and, well, this could very well be goodbye. I know what you’re going to tell me. I’m too pessimistic. Maybe I am. But the captain wasn’t far from the truth. My plan is a suicide mission, one that I’m not sure even I can pull off… I wish you could fly with me on this one; I could sure use a wingman of your caliber.” He sighed and clapped his sleeping friend on the shoulder. “Anyway, I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing. Unfortunately, I really have to hurry...so take care of yourself, buddy.”

Chase got up, but stood for a few moments, hoping that Daniel would open his eyes and wake up. But when nothing happened, he left the med-bay and headed for the cargo bay where his squadron was waiting for launch. While running in the corridors of the Destiny, Chase was rehearsing his tactics based on the latest logs they acquired of the enemy armada during their last engagement. He knew in his heart that this was a long shot, but he also felt that if Aphroditis had chosen him to save Earth, then what he was doing now must be the right course of action. He just wished he could be sure…

As he thought the words, Chase realized that he was no longer running in the corridors of the ship, but through a very dark and troubled valley. On each side of his path rose insurmountable mountains, miles high, and the air was cold and dry. Not seeing an end in sight, he stopped and looked back. It was the same scenery on both sides—a small, almost cramped trail in between two huge mountain chains as far as the eye could see in both directions. He suddenly felt cold. Was this the sign he had asked for? If that was the case, it couldn’t be a very positive one… Then he heard her voice in his mind, resonating in his very soul.

“Keep running, Chase, you must keep running.”

He started running again, not knowing where he was going. The sky got even darker and, to add insult to injury, it started pouring rain as a terrible storm exploded. The rain got worse and worse and the mountain chains lit up with lightning and boomed with thunder. Soon, the very sides of the trail were shaking.

“Faster, you must hurry!” said the voice.

Faster, he said to himself. And he picked up speed. He ran as fast as he possibly could, faster than he’d ever run in his whole life. All of a sudden, the dark scenery faded and the familiar shapes of the Destiny’s corridor came back into sight. By the time his vision had fully faded back to reality, he was in the cargo bay in front of his fighter. Yanis was there waiting, but he took a step forward when he saw Chase.

“You okay, buddy?”

Chase gasped and looked around. “I think so, I— I’m not sure.”

“Having second thoughts? This is quite suicidal, despite being right up your alley.”

“No, I don’t have second thoughts, it’s just—” Chase paused. He wanted to share the strange vision he’d just had, hoping an external look could give him some clues as to its meaning, but now wasn’t the right time. So he simply said, “Never mind, it’s nothing. We’ll talk about it when I come back.”

“Glad to finally see some positivity.”

“Yeah, I think I’ll need it to succeed with this mission.”

“Well, you should get going. You’re on a pretty tight schedule.”

“I sure am. Thanks a lot, Yanis. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“No biggy. I like a challenge and it makes days like these more interesting.”

Chase simply nodded at his friend and climbed into his fighter. He made all the pre-flight checks and made sure the remote link with the rest of the squadron was working. Everything was in the green.

Then the silence was broken by an incoming radio signal from Yanis.

“Hey, buddy, I almost forgot. I made a little change to your personal ordnance. Nothing drastic though.”

“My plans depend on my ordnance, Yanis! What did you change exactly?”

“Instead of the normal central twin torpedo complement, I replaced it with one of my latest pet projects. A shielded torpedo.”

Chase was impressed. “Shielded?”

“Yep. I managed to include a strong enough power source to shield the sucker, so it should resist quite a few direct hits before being destroyed. That should give you an edge in that you’ll be able to launch that particular torpedo from farther away from its intended target. Thought it would help.”

“Seems like an advantage I could certainly use. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, boss.”

“I gotta go now.”

“Roger that. Good luck.”

Chase flipped on the comm. “Captain, this is Lieutenant Athanatos. I’m in my ship, ready for my mission.”

“Very well, Lieutenant. Good luck, Chase!”

I think I’ll need it, Chase thought. He signaled Yanis that all was good to go and the tractor beam soon locked onto the squadron.

7

The launch had been a success and Chase was already well on his way to Earth. The ride was bumpy and full of interference; he constantly had to re-adjust the power flow of his equipment, changes that were automatically retransmitted to the rest of the remote-controlled squadron. In five minutes, he was due to enter the solar system exactly where the jump corridor was ending, somewhere near the biggest planet.

I’ve got to stay focused, he thought. The plan relied both upon the element of surprise and the hope that the countless hours of programming squadron combat and defense patterns would pay off. It was a bold move but, deep in his heart, Chase knew he could succeed. He had to! The fate of the billions of people on Earth was in his hands! For a short moment, he actually shook and felt a sense of dread. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to relax for the few moments that were left until he would jump out of hyperspace.

What seemed like a second later, the navicomputer signaled that he was about to drop out of hyperspace. He quickly checked the status of the squadron, the remote links, and the final ordnance check. All good. The plan flashed again in his mind when the blur of hyperspace suddenly stretched back into stars and space. As predicted, he’d arrived near a massive planet orbited by many moons.

There was no time for sightseeing. He checked his radar and initiated a medium range scan to see if he would manage to arrive on Earth before the enemy fleet. His plan relied heavily on the fact that he would attack the fleet as soon as they exited their hyperspace corridor. According to the computer, he had about fifteen minutes before that happened, and it would only take him a fraction of that to reach his destination at max sub-light speed. He entered the coordinates and engaged the engines. The remote fighters, being in slave mode, did the exact same thing.

As soon as he arrived near the planet, he positioned his squadron behind the moon in order to mask it from direct sensor scans. The enemy jamming there was strong, and there was no way he could signal either the Destiny or Earth of his presence. The good thing was that the jamming would most likely also protect him from being detected by the enemy fleet. One of the main objectives, besides buying the Destiny at least thirty minutes, was to locate the source of the jamming and destroy it so he could contact the Earthlings and let them know that help was on the way. Bearing all this in mind and trying to keep calm, he turned on the navicomputer’s vocal command program and tested it.

“Computer, status check.”

“All systems normal.”

“Confirm remote link and command propagation.”

“Confirmed. Remote link active, command propagation online.”

Good, Chase thought, I guess I’m ready to go. Then an alert came in.

“Enemy vessels approaching on short-range sensors.”

It was the point of no return. If the enemy fleet decided to make a final scan before going out of hyperspace, they could potentially detect the squadron. But Chase counted on the fact that they probably had a specific mission and, having scanned the area before engaging their jamming fields, would not do a new set of scans, neither would they expect anyone to interfere.

“Fleet is dropping out of hyperspace corridor in ten...nine...”

Chase took a deep breath and issued his first squadron command.

“Computer, execute squadron script Alpha-seven.”

“Executing.”

The ships entered an arrow formation and headed directly toward the already forming hyperspace corridor. It was already forming as his ships came about from behind the moon. A second later, a huge fleet emerged from the corridor. Before Chase could even register their presence, they started firing on the defenseless planet. Chase pushed on the throttle and ordered another command.

“Pattern Omega-nine on my command . . . Execute!”

“Executing.”

All at once, every ship in Chase’s squadron started to fire a shower of lasers toward the fleet. Simultaneously, the four heavy bombers in his contingent released a full complement of torpedoes toward one of the biggest ships of the armada. After launching a total of twelve, heavy-yield torpedoes, they veered off course and headed back toward the moon.

The armada’s suppressing fire managed to destroy five of the incoming torpedoes before impact, but seven of them were direct hits—taking out two battleships and seriously damaging a third, disabling its engine as well as its firing capabilities.

“Pattern Theta-two, evasive action Delta-three,” Chase shouted.

“Executing.”

The squadron dispersed into a star shape and took a much wider formation stance, forcing the armada to pick their targets. The returning shower of enemy fire made a few hits and illuminated some of the fighters’ shields with a bluish hue. But for now, the squadron was keeping its distance from the armada. Each ship was being extremely evasive, spinning and veering frantically.

Unfortunately, some of the armada was still firing toward Earth. Chase painted these targets and made them a priority for the next kills. He also scanned for the presence of a jamming signal, and found it was coming from one of the ships within striking distance of the squadron. Within seconds, the squadron was on the target.

“Typhoon maneuver Sigma-one.”

As one, the rest of the squadron converged around Chase’s fighter, orbiting in a blur around his hull and firing short bursts of laser fire while rotating. This was the type of maneuver that would be impossible to coordinate with living pilots and Chase hoped the enemy would be taken off guard by the tactic. Clearly not making much damage to the squadron with long-range fire, three of the five remaining battleships started to launch fighter squadrons of their own.

There goes the easy part, Chase thought as he saw the advancing enemy fighters. Things were about to get a lot more interesting…

By now, the squadron had reached tactical firing range and Chase fired a single torpedo from four of his fighters toward the jamming ship. The defensive fire from the ship intensified toward the incoming bogies, and it destroyed one pretty quickly, followed by a second. But a moment later, the third exploded right into its frontal shielding and the fourth sliced through its armor like butter. The front half of the jamming ship exploded while the rest of it started to drift and spin in space, colliding with a nearby battleship and damaging it heavily. Chase checked his scans. There was no longer any jamming blocking his communication equipment. He issued a retreating command, sending the squadron away from the armada, and opened a wide-band channel toward Earth.

“This is Lieutenant Chase Athanatos, call sign Phoenix, to planet Earth. We’ve detected the orbiting armada coming to attack you and are now engaging them. If you have any way of helping us defeat them, then please let me know. I’ve got reinforcements on the way, but they’ll be here about thirty minutes from now. In the meantime, we’ll do our best to protect you in any way we can. Over.”

“Lieutenant Chase Athanatos, this is General Adams, US Army Defense. Please stop your attack against our planet; we would like to negotiate,” said a voice over the comm.

“We’re not attacking you, General. My people came to protect Earth from this invasion.”

There was a pause. “How can we know this isn’t a ruse to make us think you’re helping us, while you’re actually in league with the enemy?”

Chase laughed shortly. “Well for one, they’re shooting more at me than at Earth right now. Surely your scans can confirm that. But if you’d rather take care of this crisis alone, we’ll gladly vacate the vicinity.”

There was a frantic muffled sound of several people talking before the comm activated again. “Please don’t leave, Lieutenant. The entire planet is in shock; we’ve never faced such a brutal and destructive attack before. Until now, we didn’t even know if there was extra-terrestrial life out there.”

“Alright, General, now what are your defensive capabilities? Do you have some sort of planetary shielding or a weapon that could help us destroy a few of those ships?”

“We have nuclear missiles, but they would take a few minutes to launch and reach their intended targets. They weren’t designed to be sent to space, but we can try.”

“Nuclear? Not a good idea. If the enemy detects a nuclear weapon coming toward them, they could detonate it within your atmosphere in a matter of seconds, and I don’t have to tell you what the repercussions would be.”

“No, Lieutenant, you don’t. What about firing from a satellite already in orbit?”

“Do you possess such a weapon?”

“We actually have an anti-missile weapon in orbit. It fires very precise and concentrated laser shots that could maybe damage these ships, but we don’t know if it will be effective.”

“Is this installation shielded?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Then the enemy will dispatch it as soon as it fires. I’d rather we keep it as a last resort; I might be able to use it later on during the fight.”

“How many ships do you have, Lieutenant?”

“Just the one squadron.”

“Just one?” There was more muffled talking. “Can you hold off that many ships with only one squadron? I hope you took your best pilots with you.”

“We sure did.” Chase preferred not to disclose the fact that he actually was alone, and that if he was killed, this entire gamble would die with him.

“What should we do, Lieutenant?”

“Make sure the civilians are protected down there. I won’t be able to prevent every ship from firing toward the planet’s surface, even though they seem a bit more interested in our ships now that we’ve made a serious dent in their armada. But they will resume firing eventually.”

“The planet is in a state of full alert; people are being redirected to shelters in anti-nuclear bunkers. When you mentioned reinforcements, how many are we talking about here? Will you be able to fend off this attack all together, Lieutenant?”

“If we can manage to inflict a little more damage to a couple of enemy ships, then I’m confident the Destiny battlegroup will dispatch the rest.”

“Lieutenant, our sensors are detecting strong incoming fire from the armada. I think they’re very interested in destroying us again.”

Chase checked his radar. The Earthling was right. Now that the squadron was distancing from the armada, the enemy ships had all resumed firing toward Earth, leaving Chase’s squadron to their fighters.

“Earth, hang tight. We’ll be engaging the rest of the armada now. Over.”

“Thanks, Lieutenant. On behalf of everyone on Earth, we thank⁠—”

The signal broke. The communication towers on Earth had been hit. But Chase had lost enough time talking anyway. It was time to execute the second part of his plan.

Just as he began to issue a new command, his ship was hit from behind. His shields lit up blue as the enemy fighters entered firing range. More laser hits. He had to act quickly if he wanted to stay alive long enough to give Earth a fighting chance. He painted another set of targets on his screen and then issued a new offensive command.

“Assign individual squadron offensive commands Delta One to Delta Seven.”

All the ships received individual automated fighting commands, and soon, four pairs of wings formed. The even fighter groups began attacking the enemy while being protected by the odd fighter wings. Now Chase would know if his hard work and unorthodox fighting techniques would pay off against a live enemy, especially an unknown and unpredictable one.

He was leading the way with his automated wingmen and soon dispatched two approaching enemy vessels; the other wings seemed to be faring well and taking only minimum damage. But by the time they had finished with the first enemy wave of fighters, the second and third ones both entered firing range. This time, Chase and his squadron would be outgunned two to one. Fortunately, it seemed the enemy fighter-to-fighter technique wasn’t very advanced, and most of his commands would take them by surprise, giving him just enough time to adjust his tactics again. But he knew eventually he would run out of tricks.

To make things worse, the sky had started lighting up with bright explosions, as most of the remaining enemy vessels had changed course and begun firing their big guns toward them. Having seen how fast the first squadron had been dispatched, the enemy must have decided to engage Chase’s squadron with everything they had, even if that meant dispatching some of their own fighters with long-range fire. A few of them broke engagement and tried to run, some were destroyed by incoming heavy fire, while the rest provided for involuntary yet easy targets. The pounding of heavy fire from the enemy battleships, however, was having the same detrimental effect on Chase’s fighters. After only a fistful of seconds, it had already cost him two ships.

He quickly joined Delta Three and Six to reform a stronger wing while entering new evasive action commands on his keypad instead of vocally, hoping to shave off a precious second or two. His mind was racing and his fingers raced on the pad even faster, trying to keep up and make sure he could delay the inevitable for as long as was required. He had no time to waste thinking. Everything was pure instinct, reprogramming the vessels on the fly with split second decisions. If he stopped to think, if he stopped to consider that the weight of a world was literally upon him, it could cost both him and an entire planet their lives.

He finished inputting the last few commands, then changed course to lure the vessels closer to the moon. Time was running out but he still had a trick or two up his sleeve…

* * *

Back on Earth, General Adams was being moved to a tactical bunker, hoping its communication equipment would be functional so he could inquire on the status of Lieutenant Athanatos and his squadron. From what the Lieutenant had said, reinforcements should arrive in about fifteen minutes now. But the perpetual planetary bombing, the panic and fear in everyone’s eyes as they rushed to shelters or simply ran for their lives, made each minute on Earth feel like an eternity. Never in the history of this planet was such destruction brought on so rapidly, so unexpectedly, and on such a large scale. Fifteen minutes could very well mean planetary Armageddon.

Looking at the chaos in the streets, the general couldn’t help but feel completely helpless. His mind was overwhelmed with questions piling one over the other. Why was this happening? What had changed? And why was someone out there trying to help them? He felt stuck in time. A million questions and perhaps not time enough to get a single answer. Life as he knew it, life as all humans had known it, would either end or change forever on that very day. The petty conflicts between nations somehow seemed ridiculous when fire raining down from the heavens could obliterate five blocks of a city in a mere second. How many children were dying? How many people died instantly, never knowing why? And who was this Lieutenant Chase Athanatos?

“Sir? Sir!”

The general looked up at the chopper pilot.

“It’s the Pentagon, sir.” The pilot extended a cell phone. “Secretary of Defense Tyler.”

All at once, time resumed and the general snatched up the phone. “Yes, Secretary, what can I do for you?”

“We received your message, General, and in the thirty seconds that separated your message from the first bombing, we thought at first you were taking us for a ride.”

“I wish I was, Mr. Secretary. I wish it with all my heart.”

“There’s no time for sentimentality, I’m afraid. Can you give me a status report?”

“Sir, it appears that the attack is being partially fended off by some other unknown, alien race. They just claimed that they were here to help us and would do everything in their power to do so. They also asked that we don’t try to go nuclear against our enemies.”

“Surely you don’t believe any of that, General! It’s obviously a ruse! You’re being asked to sit tight while they destroy the planet; are you really going to fall for that one?”

“If I may explain, sir, the incoming transmission came seconds after the strange interference that disrupted every electronic communication device on the planet was lifted. And shortly after that, our sensors and satellites transmitted data showing that a space battle was indeed ongoing. As we watched, many of the larger ships firing on us were blown to pieces. I find it hard to think that the enemy would go through such a charade just to bluff us. Not when we can see how easily they’re bombing us back to the Stone Age.”

“General, are you willing to bet seven billion lives on that assumption? Because from where I’m standing, we are being obliterated and we don’t know what kind of tactics these people might be using to make their job easier. Maybe they’re feeding us bogus sensor readings, have you thought of that?”

“I have indeed, Mr. Secretary. That’s why as soon as I lost contact with our presumed allies, I ordered a visual confirmation to be made.”

“What if they hacked our satellite? They could show us whatever the hell they wanted!”

“That’s why I asked for telescope sighting confirmations, sir. Three observatories, one of ours and the other two in South America, confirmed that there is indeed a fleet of ships that seems to be engaged with a fistful of fighters. The sky is reported to be containing lots of debris, some of it is plummeting toward Earth, sir. And from one military man to another, the fighter pilot I have been in contact with doesn’t seem to be playing any games. For what reason are they risking their own lives to save ours, I don’t know, sir. But it’s clear that the outcome of the battle happening a few hundred miles above our heads will determine the outcome of our very survival.”

“I see… Then for the time being we should consider this a fortunate alliance, though the timing of their arrival is more than suspicious if you ask me.”

“Yes, Mr. Secretary. I felt the same.”

“How’s the battle going?”

“Well there are only a few small-sized space craft, probably single seat fighters, defending against an entire armada. It seems almost impossible for so few craft to resist for much longer, but for now they’re holding tight. From the reports we’ve obtained and the sensor info we managed to scrape together, our allies seem to outsmart the enemy by constantly changing their tactics and with some pretty acrobatic flying. But however brave and ingenious they are, their numbers have started dwindling. They’re already down to only a handful of ships.”

“That’s just great. We might have to use our nukes anyway.”

“According to our allies, we shouldn’t. They reckon the enemy would detect any launch on our part and explode our weapons before the missiles leave the atmosphere.”

“That’s a chance we might have to take.”

“I know, sir, but according to our ‘friend’ up there reinforcements are less than ten minutes away. They should shift the balance of the battle.”

“I noticed the multiple conditionals in your phrasing: according, should…”

“At this point, sir, do we have any other choice but hope that it’s true?”

“I guess you’re right. Let’s hope the battle won’t be well finished by then.”

“That’s exactly my fear as well, sir. I also think we’ll need to use the anti-missile satellite if it’s not destroyed already.”

“Very well, General. What’s your ETA to the tactical bunker?”

“About three minutes, sir. I’ll keep you informed as soon as I have new information.”

“Thank you, General Adams. God help us all. Pentagon out.”

The transmission ended just as the chopper arrived at the base. A minute later, General Adams rushed toward the command bridge. Sensors and video feeds from the last remaining satellites were displaying on war theatre screens. The battle seemed frantic, with fewer allied ships showing on the screens with every passing minute. They seemed to be going toward the moon, using evasive maneuvers now. The biggest battle Earth had ever witnessed was going on full force just a few miles above the surface, and no humans were involved. Nor could they do a damn thing about it, even though their survival as a species was at stake.

They would just have to put their faith in their new “friends.”

And hope they turned out to be friends indeed…

8

Chase’s squadron was taking heavy fire while trying to escape toward the moon, or so Chase wanted the enemy to believe. He loaded another set of commands, called Gamble tactic seven, and suddenly his fighters stopped all evasive maneuvers and went toward the moon at maximum burn. The sudden change of speed and altitude took the enemy by surprise and shaved off seconds from their reaction time, but they soon started pursuit at maximum velocity as well. Fortunately, Chase’s fighters were a bit faster, and the pursuing force fell back out of firing range.

A few seconds later, Chase’s four remaining heavy fighters emerged from behind the moon and headed on a collision course with the incoming squadrons. Chase held his breath. If his calculations were off by even a small factor, this would be a catastrophe of epic proportions. Armageddon-like proportions. He pushed the thought from his mind. He couldn’t afford to second-guess himself now. This tactic had to work and that was the end of it. But before he could end his current train of thought, a major explosion on his starboard side shook the ship and some sparks flew into his cockpit.

“Dammit!” he shouted. “Damage report!”

“Delta Six destroyed. Shields at forty-five percent. Lasers at eighty-eight percent. Inertial dampeners at fifty percent.”

“What? But that means...”

With his inertial dampeners only working at half capacity, he would not be able to sustain the next phase of his plan. He reacted quickly.

“Direct all weapons power and ninety percent of life support to inertial dampeners.”

“Transfer in progress.”

While the transfer was completing, he saw the heavy bombers opening fire as the rest of the squadron veered abruptly at ninety degrees. Unfortunately, now that Chase’s dampeners were only up to seventy-one percent, the force with which the squadron had broken from their initial trajectory caused a huge impact on his body. He felt queasy. His vision started to blur and was quickly replaced by a dark veil. Soon, clenching his teeth was all he could do to not lose consciousness. There were more explosions, this time from the tail of his ship, and a beeping on the console announced friendly casualties. For what felt like just a handful of seconds, Chase’s eyes closed.

The bombers had launched their remaining missiles while showering fire in their trajectory as cover. The bigger part of the enemy squadrons were obliterated, completely taken by surprise by the four bombers who were actively jamming the area to avoid disclosing their presence until the last moment. But some of the enemy ships reacted quickly and managed to destroy one of the bombers before succumbing to the wall of laser shower and torpedoes. Three ships had then broken formation to engage and pursue the squadron. Chase’s ship went straight while the other ships resumed a defensive position. Two of the enemy craft engaged the squadron, the third went after Chase.

The cockpit echoed with a transmission, but Chase was still unconscious.

“Lieutenant Athanatos, can hear me? Lieutenant, please respond! Oh god... Please, Lieutenant, if you’re still out there, respond in any manner you can. Lieutenant Athanatos!”

Chase tried opening his eyes. He was hearing something muffled that sounded almost like his own name. And suddenly, like a thunder stroke, everything became clearer. His hearing returned to him and his vision came back.

“Are you there, Lieutenant? Please respond!” The voice sounded extremely alarmed.

Chase’s thoughts quickly rearranged themselves and he remembered that he was in the middle of a giant battle. Another second and several hits on his dorsal shields did the trick. He shook his head vigorously and answered.

“Hang on, General, I’ve got a bogie on my tail.”

“Not just one, son, they’re all coming toward you now. I think you got them pissed.”

Chase checked his radar and realized the bombers were still jamming. He must have forgotten to script its cancellation. More hits from the back. He had to get rid of his pursuers before he could do anything else. He shouted a vocal command while entering pad commands to disable the jamming at the same time.

“Counter-attack command Zeta-one.”

The ship made a disorienting one-eighty degree on the Z-axis and all lasers started firing in short bursts, showering and lowering the enemy craft’s shields. Then, one missile was fired to finish it off. It exploded in a fiery, white flash. Chase ended his pad commands and the radar came back online. The general wasn’t kidding. All the enemy ships, big or small, were changing course to intercept him; they had all stopped firing on Earth. The comm resonated again.

“I don’t know what you did, but they seem less interested in blasting us to kingdom come than they were a few minutes before.”

“So it would seem, General. I must have gotten their full attention. But that may not be a good thing just yet. We’re still seven minutes short of rescue and, from the looks of it, I don’t think I’ll last half that time with the entire armada converging on my position. I think it may be time for a little diversion about now.”

“The laser satellite is up and operational. All I need from you is a target. I’m broadcasting our sensor data to your frequency.”

The ship’s computer caught the signal but, before he could send the data back, the sky lit up as the nearest enemy ship entered firing range. Chase entered the coordinates and sent a tagged image of the ship currently firing on him.

“We’ve received your targeting information, commencing firing.”

A couple of seconds later, a powerful red laser hit the enemy ship’s engines and blew it out of space in a fiery display. Chase clicked the comm.

“Can you target another ship, General?”

“Yes, but unfortunately it takes one minute for the laser to cool down.”

“We don’t have a minute, General. The rest of the fleet will have a firing solution on me any second now.”

“I can try to fire again sooner, but it will probably destroy the satellite in the process, and it certainly won’t be a fully powered shot.”

“That’s alright, I just need the distraction. Fire at any ship you can target.”

“Firing now!”

The satellite fired a much less focused second laser shot to the tailing enemy ship. Most of the damage it did seemed to have been absorbed by the ship’s shields. The satellite stopped firing after only a second, but did not explode. Fortunately for Chase, half the remaining enemy ships saw these last two shots as enough of a threat to split their targeting priorities.

Exactly what Chase was hoping for. Divide and conquer.

He checked his radar again, and saw that three more of his auto-piloted ships had been destroyed in the meantime. That left only three fighters and two bombers, all heavily damaged. At that exact moment, an intense, blinding blue flash illuminated the war zone.

At first, Chase thought that the Destiny had finally arrived but, when he checked his radar, he realized that it was just a new enemy ship—much bigger than any of the ones Chase had already destroyed—accompanied by a host of frigates. The frigates headed directly toward Earth while the new ship changed course toward the satellite. The second it entered firing range, it destroyed the satellite with a single shot. Chase sighed. The jig was up. The enemy had probably thought it would be heavily shielded, which was why they split their numbers in half to deal with it. But now that it was destroyed, the new enemy ship changed course and started vectoring toward Chase.

As it approached, it started spewing attack fighters at an alarming rate. Some of them headed toward Earth, escorting the frigates, while others began converging on what was left of Chase’s squadron. Chase quickly checked his squadron’s status. All the torpedoes had been depleted, except the one on his own ship. The shielded torpedo. His last ace in the hole. Now was time to put it to good use.

“Computer, calculate firing solution to damage as many launching bays as possible on that massive ship.”

“Firing solution ready.”

“Fire!”

The torpedo fired straight for the newly arrived ship and, although the ship began immediately firing upon it, it was so fast that only a handful of shots made contact before it hit the shields near the middle of the launching bay. Flames spewed from the hull. Many of the fighters launching at that time were destroyed by the blast and some decks around the bays seemed to take heavy damage as well, spewing parts and debris into outer space. But it wasn’t enough to take the entire vessel down. Chase had hoped that secondary explosions could at least disable the ship partially. But no such luck.

A glance at his radar revealed that he had about forty enemy fighters on a direct intercept course, and the first ones had just entered firing range, spewing laser fire on what little was left of the squadron. The remaining bombers were dispatched almost instantly, as well as the last two of his own wing who soon succumbed to the impressive wall of laser fire coming their way. Even their pre-programmed evasive maneuvers didn’t help them survive longer than a few moments. There were simply too many bogies and not enough ships left to make even the slightest difference anymore.

That was it. Chase had done all he could and, while trying all the evasive maneuvers he could think of, his ship was now taking heavy damage as well. His shields were failing, engine power was fluctuating, and there was still four minutes on his already optimistic countdown. But just when he was about to give up all hope, he heard the voice again in his mind.

“Fear not, Chase, your destiny is just beginning.”

Suddenly, multiple blue flashes appeared in front of Chase’s fighter.

The fleet had arrived early!

 “Are you still alive, you stupid fool?” a familiar voice on the comm immediately inquired as a large ship swooped between him and the oncoming fighters.

Chase’s breath caught in his throat. “Dan?”

“Who else? I was peacefully sleeping thanks to you, but then I woke up and learned what you did, you crazy bastard.”

Chase cracked a smile.

In seconds, multiple available fighters from the Destiny battlegroup were out of the docks and into space, fending off the opposing squadron and obliterating the force currently converging toward Chase’s heavily damaged fighter. The Destiny had started opening fire with all batteries and there was a bright wall of torpedoes and heavy laser fire between them and the enemy ships.

“Boy am I glad to see you.” Chase sighed in exhaustion. “I don’t think I could have lasted another ten seconds.”

“Oh really?” Daniel asked with amused sarcasm. “May I suggest you stay out of sight now and let us take over?”

Despite his instinct to be a part of the fight until his dying breath, a quick glance at his power levels made Chase realize that he wouldn’t be any help to anyone anymore. He had fulfilled his mission and delayed the enemy fleet until reinforcements had arrived. He had managed just that, barely, but in the end what counted was the result.

Earth would survive.

“If that’s an order then by all means, Commander. I owe you one.”

“No, we’re actually square. But the planet below sure owes you more than just one.”

“Damn...the planet! Frigates escorted by fighters were sent down; we must intercept them before the ground troops do too much damage.”

“Alright, Chase, we’ll send a squadron to take care of them. Just come back on board the Destiny before you get yourself blown out of the sky.”

“Yes, Wing Commander. Good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back. See you in a while.”

Chase docked his ship in the landing bay and quickly went to the bridge to follow the rest of the battle. By the time he arrived, it was almost over. The last of the enemy ships had just burst into flames and the sky was filled with their smoldering debris. Soon, the sky darkened, as the last of the lasers was spent. What was once a blinding fight to the death had dimmed as suddenly as it had begun, and the remaining fighters joined the others on the surface to fend off the enemy invasion party.

The battle had been won, but a quick glance at the bridge’s main tactical war screen showed that the Destiny battlegroup had taken some damage during the fight and would need days if not weeks for repairs. A few fighters had been destroyed as well. Shaking his head in relief, Chase approached the captain.

“Welcome back, Lieutenant, and congratulations! I don’t know how you managed to keep such a huge fleet at bay and minimize the damage to the planet, but you did it. And from what our sensor log shows, you did it right up until you were about to get blown out of space. That’s an excellent job, Chase!”

Chase grinned. “Thank you, Captain. I really thought my number was up, but fortunately you arrived early.”

“We damaged the jump engine to the point where it will take days until we can jump again, but I guessed every second counted to pull off this crazy maneuver of yours, so I decided to overtax the drives to their absolute limits.”

“Well I’m glad you did, Captain, thank you. What’s our status?”

“The remaining ships have been destroyed, but we have even more damage to the battlegroup and we must now take the time to make repairs. We’re hoping the humans of Earth can assist us in this task.”

“Have we heard from Earth since the battle ended?”

“Yes. I’ve spoken with a General Adams, who inquired if you survived the battle and wanted to thank us for assisting when we did. He also wanted to thank us for the lives lost protecting Earth. He seemed quite surprised when I explained to him that you were actually alone here at first.”

“I thought it best not to divulge any information regarding my plans. I figured they had enough on their minds without worrying about the fate of their planet resting in one man’s hands. I know it would have made me uncomfortable if the situation was reversed.”

“I can understand that. Nevertheless, General Adams seemed relieved you had survived the battle, and he said he looks forward to meeting you soon.”

Chase frowned. “Will we meet?”

“Indeed you will. It’s good you came to the bridge. The people of Earth have asked that we land on the surface so they can properly thank us. They want to discuss what just happened and what comes next.”

“I imagine they must have lots of questions.”

“I would imagine so. We are to leave in an hour. You’re coming since you were instrumental in saving their planet. Heck, you convinced me at gunpoint to do so…a fact we will not share with them if you don’t mind. Nonetheless, Earth is safe for now and that’s thanks to your bold plan and even bolder execution. I want you with me down there.”

“Of course, and thank you, Captain. I’m really sorry again it came to…that. You have my word that it will never happen again.”

“Lieutenant Athanatos, you apologized for that already. And off the record, I have to admit that you did exactly what needed to be done under the circumstances. If it wasn’t for you, the Zarlacks would have destroyed Earth and, from where I stand, your actions today may have very well ensured us a future ally. We are outgunned, outnumbered, and in a part of space we know nothing about. We need help repairing, we need a place to stay, and we need to think about how we will survive. At least now, we might have a place to start doing all of that—Earth. Let’s pray it’s a welcoming sanctuary; our last sanctuary, dare I say.”

“I agree, sir. We need to rebuild our forces, and I’m hoping with the help of the humans, we might actually have a chance to achieve that.”

“I hope so, Lieutenant. But I’m not so sure about what they can do for us, at least technologically speaking.”

“Maybe we can help them help us.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if we share ancestry with these people, we could bring them up to speed, technologically speaking.”

“First contact protocol dictates that we don’t give technological advantage to primitive races; history has shown that it usually leads to their own destruction. Give too much power to an unprepared civilization and the results could be catastrophic. That’s why we have the protocol in place.”

“I believe the protocol doesn’t apply in this case, Captain.”

“And why’s that?”

“Well, because we wouldn’t simply give them weapons and go on our merry way. We would supervise their evolution. Teach them, work together. In doing so, we have a good chance to prevent their thirst for power taking control over their destiny.”

“Yes, but we can’t be sure of that.”

“No, of course not. But at the end of the day, do we really have any other choice? Can we hope to free our homes from the Obsidian Empire and rid the galaxy of the new Zarlack threat if we don’t grow our numbers? It’s risky, Captain, I realize that, but it’s a risk we have no other choice than to take and hope it’s the right one. I feel as uneasy as you sharing technology centuries in advance of the people of Earth but, with their manpower, we could quickly rebuild a fleet of ships, as well as some planetary defense systems that could protect both the planet and our own fleet.”

“I concur, Lieutenant. As much as it pains me to be responsible for the fate of an entire planet and civilization, our coming to their system brought upon them an enemy that will most certainly return, and in greater numbers.”

“Oh crap,” Chase blurted suddenly, slapping a hand to his forehead.

“What is it, Lieutenant?”

“It was something Aphroditis said… That the Zarlacks are a slave race to another major player and, with their newfound alliance with Obsidian, they’ll soon discover where we’ve disappeared to.”

“We may have doomed not only the Alliance then, but…”

“Yes, Earth as well.”

The captain sighed. “It seems our destinies are now intertwined with the people of Earth. I’m not sure how they’ll react to this when we break the news…”

“Maybe, just maybe, we shouldn’t tell them we brought the enemy upon them.”

“You mean, we lie to them?”

“Unless you have a better idea. I mean, now that we’ve won the battle, the Zarlacks will come back. The rest of Obsidian might be with them. Even if we were to leave and never return, it would leave Earth completely defenseless.”

“I hate to admit it, but we’ll need their help. No, Chase, you’re right. We must not give them reasons to be angry at us, at least not for the time being. As much as I hate to build an alliance based on a lie, I don’t think we have much of a choice.”

“Technically, we could manage not to lie.”

“How so?”

“Well, we tell them the truth about what happened to us. We just omit the fact that we know there’s a link between the Zarlacks and Obsidian.”

Captain Saroudis took a moment to reflect upon Chase’s words. “Agreed. But now we should prepare for our visit. Meet me in the flight bay in three hours, in uniform.”

“Aye, aye, Captain!”

9

Commander Sarah Kepler climbed into the cockpit of her F-18, ready to fly out and fend off the incoming UFOs that were roaming the skies and wreaking havoc around Washington. Her hands trembled with a panic that she rarely felt. She was customarily strong willed and almost never lost her nerve. But she had been at a family barbecue when tragedy struck and fire rained down from the skies. And that was enough to do it.

She could still smell the meat being prepared by her Uncle Peter: hamburgers, hot dogs, T-bone steaks. Then the smells changed. Burning metal, acrid concrete…charred flesh.

The first to get hit was her sister’s son, Johnny. He was running around with the other kids, playing soccer, when the laser fire cratered not far from him, catapulting him at least fifteen feet into the air. He had already lost consciousness when his body hit the ground. Sarah had run through the screaming children with her sister and had immediately begun first aid. His heart had stopped. Her sister, Anna, fell to her knees, crying and holding her head, while her husband, Paul, was already calling 911. Sarah performed CPR for a good five minutes, until, when hope was getting as thin as the air, Johnny finally started breathing.

It was only then that Sarah broke out of her trance, and looked around her. She didn’t understand what she saw. The sky was falling down.

On her race to the airstrip, she was finally able to gleam some answers. The whole country was under attack. With absolutely no warning whatsoever, alien craft had descended into the atmosphere and started shooting at people, killing them by the hundreds, if not the thousands. As Sarah did her pre-flight check, some of the details she’d blocked out in her attempt to save Johnny came back to her. Almost every house in the block had been hit. In retrospect, the first hit could have been much worse, it could have hit the barbecue area and taken most of her family, herself included, in just one strike. But Johnny hadn’t been the only one hurt that day, far from it. The radio crackled and interrupted Sarah’s train of thought. 

“Tower to Commander Kepler. How’s your pre-flight check?”

“Pre-flight done; good to go.”

“Very well, Commander, you are go for takeoff.”

“Roger that, tower.”

She slammed the throttle to afterburner mode and soon felt the Gs from the fierce acceleration of her fighter plane. Within seconds, she was in the air, climbing toward the sky to intercept whatever it was that had caused so much devastation.

While her craft gained altitude, she had another flashback. Once Johnny was safe in Anna’s arms, she’d turned to look at the rest of the house. It was still there, but columns of smoke rose from almost every other house up and down the street. People poured into the street in sheer panic, and the noise was overwhelming. Crying, screaming, broken pipes spilling water everywhere. It was total and utter chaos. As a good soldier, Sarah’s instinct told her to help whomever was in need, so she scanned the perimeter and that’s when she saw a little girl trapped under a car, her parents already crushed in the front seat. She could see the girl was crying though she couldn’t hear her over the sounds of destruction and panic all around. She had just started to sprint toward her when she heard the same sound she’d heard right before Johnny had flown into the air. She reflexively turned her head to follow it and, the next moment, her sister’s house was obliterated, just thirty feet away.

The explosion threw Sarah facedown into the dirt. Now it was like she couldn’t hear anything. People seemed to be running in slow motion, and everything sounded like it was coming from very far away. Her vision blurred for a moment, but then she shook her head and her senses started coming back to her. In a few seconds, she scrambled to her feet and looked up to find the little girl. But there was just a crater where the car had been.

Belated tears stung her eyes and Sarah wiped her face briskly as she ascended through the clouds. One thing was certain; she wouldn’t be able to save everyone. No matter how hard she tried.

Her plane finally arrived at sixteen hundred feet, her wingman Frank Gerald in formation on her right, when her radar beeped a warning. There were more than ten bogies in the vicinity. She didn’t like those odds. Within seconds, both fighters were engulfed in a tornado of small alien ships firing all over the place, both at other aircraft, and at ground troops and civilian targets.

“Frank,” she gritted her teeth, “engage enemy craft at will.”

“Affirmative, Commander. Engaging.”

Then all hell broke loose. The F-18s were vastly outnumbered, and whatever gunfire they managed to hit the enemy with only lit the shields on the alien fighters. Missile lock produced the same result, only affecting the enemy craft’s trajectory but not managing to do any real damage.

“They have some sort of shielding, Commander.”

“I see that, Sergeant. Let’s try something else. Concentrate on one fighter together; you light them up with your cannon, and I’ll engage with a missile.”

“Understood.”

Both F-18s went into a tight formation, miraculously dodging a hailstorm of laser fire, and executed the commander’s plan. Lieutenant Commander Gerald rained his cannons upon the nearest target and, after a few seconds of impact upon the enemy craft’s shields, Commander Kepler’s F-18 fired a missile. The alien craft was hit with the full force of the blast and exploded like Fourth of July fireworks.

“That’s a kill. Good call, Commander!”

“Let’s engage other bogies using the same tactic. Once I’m running low on missiles, we’ll switch roles.”

“Understood.”

They proceeded to the next group of targets and dispatched two more enemy craft the same way.

“This is Commander Kepler to Fleet Command. The enemy fighters are shielded; we have discovered an effective means of destroying their craft but it requires a wing of fighters. Shoot cannon fire at their shields to weaken them while the second fighter lights them up with a missile. Both cannons and missiles on their own are being repelled by the shields. Transmit this info to all fighter pilots in any country currently fighting the alien invasion. It may be possible to achieve the same result solo, but it’s hard enough to engage these suckers in a dogfight without having to get a good missile lock at the same time.”

“This is Fleet Command, roger that. Transmitting info.”

“Frank, let’s get a few others.”

“Roger th⁠—”

Before Lieutenant Commander Gerald could finish his sentence, his craft was hit by an enemy and blown out of the sky.

“FRANK!”

Sarah felt a desolate numbness creeping up her body. The body count was rising, the city underneath was in flames. And with the sheer number of enemy aircraft in the sky, how could they win? This could very well be the end of the human race. It certainly felt like it. In the sky directly in front of her, another plane went down in a fiery blaze and Sarah’s eyes narrowed dangerously. If she was going down, she was going down fighting.

She lined up with a bogie and started engaging it with her cannons. After a few seconds of showering the craft, she locked her last missile.

“That one’s for you, Frank.”

The missile hit its target and the craft exploded. But when Sarah looked at her radar, she saw another wave of enemy craft approaching at a high velocity. She had probably gotten their attention by managing to bring a few of their craft down.

Her lock radar started buzzing. She had an enemy on her six, one she didn’t even see coming. The next second it opened fire. She could see the bright laser blasts streak past the left and right side of her canopy even though she was doing all the evasive maneuvering she could think of. She wouldn’t last long without reinforcements, and everyone else was either in the same situation or crashing down to the city.

The city!

She peered out the cockpit window at the city below and, before she could talk herself out of it, she plunged down toward the street. Some of the skyscrapers were in flames; huge towers of smoke rose from them like industrial chimneys. The sight was truly horrifying but, before Sarah could register anything, laser fire grazed her right wing and instantly decreased her maneuverability. She flew lower still, just a few feet above the busy streets. It was all a blur, but she could feel the chaos as she passed through. Cars in flames, bodies on the road, people shouting and running for their lives. A glance at her controls told her that the bogie was still hot on her tail. She’d have to step up her game if she wanted to lose him.

That’s when she saw the bridge.

“Oh Sarah,” she said aloud, “this is maybe one of those bad ideas…”

She sped forward and, as soon as she reached the bridge, she started hitting it with her cannons. At the same time, she deployed her countermeasures and then hit the afterburner. To say it was a close call was underselling it, but she was able to lift her plane out of the way before the enemy craft, unable to see between the debris and the countermeasures, collided straight into it, exploding in a trail of fiery rubble.

“That was close,” she breathed. But the game wasn’t over yet.

As she rose a bit higher to get a visual reading on the next enemy target, a trio of bogies entered firing range. She broke right hard, but a few lasers grazed her craft again and sent some pieces of armor flying away. Warning lights lit up all over the cockpit, and she frantically checked the radar again. Using what little maneuverability she had, she broke left and set a collision course with the fighters. She’d take them down. One way or another. They opened fire and she went into a tight spin, aiming for the one in the middle. This was it. No going back now. In the final seconds before collision, she pushed back in her chair and screamed at the top of her lungs.

…but nothing happened.

She opened her eyes in confusion, when suddenly a barrage of blue laser light came from higher up, exploding the enemy craft one after the other with great efficiency. In a fraction of a second, the squadron she had been heading for was decimated. As she passed through the smoke of their explosion, she looked up and saw other spacecraft, different from the ones she was currently engaging.

Her radio crackled.

“Ballsy move down there.”

“Who is this?” she demanded. “Identify yourself!”

“This is Wing Commander Daniel Tharraleos, call sign Scorpion, of the Star Alliance battlegroup. We’ve come to help you eliminate the alien force currently attacking your planet.”

Sarah couldn’t believe it. The same day Earth learned they were not alone in the universe and that the aliens wanted to destroy their whole world, another alien species came to their rescue? It felt so unreal that Sarah wondered if she was dreaming after all. Then her collision alarm sounded and brought her back to the present with a surge of adrenaline. She broke left to avoid colliding with a nearby building and climbed up outside the city.

She tried to think of what to say to this Commander Tharraleos, but she came up empty. In the end, she settled on, “Thanks for saving my hide back there.”

“No problem, um…?”

“US Navy Commander Sarah ‘Firefly’ Kepler,” she said instinctively.

“Very well, Commander Kepler. May I suggest you return to base? We’ll take care of the rest of these bastards. But you did a fine job under the circumstances. Well done. Scorpion out.”

“Thanks.”

And she had done a fine job. As the last few hours began to sink in, this fact resonated with her. With inferior weaponry and numbers, she had done well. But Frank was still gone. Her heart bled at the thought and a tear ran down her face. She wondered if his wife and young daughter had survived the day… Would there be anyone left besides her to grieve for poor Frank?

As soon as she landed, she took her cell phone and tried calling her sister for an update on Johnny and the rest of the family. No signal. Well, that was hardly surprising considering the level of destruction that had befallen the city in the last hour. Who knew what was left? Who knew what had been hit? She wondered if the White House had survived…

She descended the ladder slowly and began circling around to survey the damage to her trusted plane, when from the corner of her eye she saw a tall man sprinting toward her.

Now what, she thought. And she braced for the worst.

“Can I help you?” she said preemptively, as the tall, pale man came to a stop beside her.

He nodded his head, unable to catch his breath, but gave her what looked like a sat phone. With a bit of hesitation, she took it and put it to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Commander Kepler, I’m so glad you’re still alive. This is General Adams. I have an important mission for you. This comes directly from the President.”

10

Captain Saroudis and Chase climbed aboard a shuttle transport and took their seats as the doors behind them closed. After a nervous pause, Chase took the controls and flew the ship out of the docking bay.

“I sure hope they won’t hold us responsible for their losses. From our scans, many thousands of humans lost their lives today…”

“I know, but countless more were saved,” replied the captain. “We compiled some information based on their geo-political structures, and it seems that on Earth, different nations are still waging war against each other, cultures are still pitted against one another, and different religious beliefs abound. While we’re being greeted by what seems to be their largest, most powerful economic and military force, a country called the United States of America, we have to hope the rest of their world will be willing to form an alliance as well.”

“At the end of the day I don’t think they’ll have a choice, but I’m sure it won’t be an easy sell, especially if they were fighting one another prior to our arrival. Can you tell me more about their history and wars?”

“Currently they seem to have only a few small wars, nothing major. But historic records show that this planet suffered two major world wars in the last century alone.”

“How do we know all this?”

“Our computers connected into a huge repository of data formed by millions of computers on their planet. They call it the Internet.”

“Interesting name.”

“Yes, it’s a relatively new concept for them. About three decades old.”

“And this information is freely accessible?”

“Yes, yes it is.”

The ship entered the planetary atmosphere and continued its course toward a city called Washington DC, the capital of the United States of America. As they approached, the humans sent a video signal to the shuttle, and Chase displayed it on the main screen. General Adams appeared before them, a man well into his years. Tall with gray hair, brown eyes, and a neatly trimmed beard.

“I’m General Adams. We welcome you to the White House.”

“Thank you, General. As per your request, I’ve brought Lieutenant Commander Athanatos with me to meet with the people of Earth.”

“Lieutenant Commander, huh? I see we share similar ranking systems in the military chain of command. I guess congratulations are in order then, Lieutenant Commander Athanatos. From what we’ve witnessed here today, it’s a well-deserved promotion.”

“Thanks, General,” answered Chase, not knowing who to thank first.

“We’ve transmitted coordinates for your landing; we look forward to meeting you upon your arrival.”

“Thank you, General. We look forward to meeting you as well. Captain Saroudis out.”

The transmission ended, and Chase looked at his captain with a raised eyebrow.

“What is it? ‘Lieutenant Commander’ isn’t good enough for you?”

“No, of course it is. Thank you, Captain. I just— I didn’t think I would get a promotion mere hours after pulling a gun on you.”

“Your actions were reckless, and I didn’t particularly like that part, but I’m not a fool. You did what you had to do and you did it with courage. Courage bordering on foolishness but, in the end, you did what you thought was best and you were right all along. You saved an entire world and, no matter how this turns out, I believe that no other course of action could have resulted in a better situation.”

“I don’t know what to say. I just hope we won’t both regret it.”

“You and me both, son, you and me both.”

The shuttle landed on the designated pad near a large, white building. The biggest “house” Chase had ever seen. There were a number of humans waiting for them, as well as some armed soldiers. When the doors opened, the first thing that struck both Chase and the captain was how beautiful the sky was: a deep blue with very few clouds and a brightly shining sun. There were some flying vehicles around the area and some flashes coming from a far-off crowd.

Once they’d descended the ramp, General Adams stepped forward and performed some sort of military salute. “On behalf of the people of the USA, we welcome you to Earth.”

“Thank you, General,” answered Captain Saroudis. Then he added, “USA?”

“Oh, of course. The United States of America. The greatest country in the world!”

Chase smiled but inside felt worried about the fact that there were so many countries on this planet; this wouldn’t help speed up their alliance with the people as a whole.

“We’re honored, General,” answered Saroudis with a polite smile.

“Follow us this way; we have a lot to talk about.”

Chase and Captain Saroudis followed the group of men into the building called the White House.

While everyone was walking down an inner corridor, Chase turned to the general and asked, “What were those flying machines outside, and the flashes?”

“Oh, of course,” he was quick to explain. “The flying machines are helicopters; they use propellers to allow us to fly between one place and another. Some are military, others are for transportation purposes, and some were from the press.”

“The press? What is that?”

“The press is a dedicated group of people whose job it is to inform the people of our planet about what’s going on. They’re called journalists; they write about or film the events unfolding on our planet on a daily basis. Then everything is shown on TV or printed in the newspaper.”

“TV? Newspaper?” asked Captain Saroudis.

“These are means of communication. We print the news onto sheets of paper that are sold or distributed to the population. TV is short for television; it’s a video broadcast we send to the people of our country and sometimes to the whole world to keep them informed. Your arrival is the biggest story the people of Earth have ever gotten. You will surely have your faces on our TVs for months or years to come.”

Chase resisted the urge to shrug. “I’m not sure we have time for this but, one thing at a time, I suppose.”

“Yes, I suppose this must all seem quite strange to you.”

“It does, but we have similar concepts in our civilization. I believe it’s mostly the terms or vocabulary that will be a barrier to understanding one another,” added the captain.

“I’m extremely surprised you’re speaking English.”

“As were we that you speak Universum.”

“Universum?”

“That’s what we call our very similar language. We also noticed that we share an older language, what you call Ancient Greek. It has us baffled as to how this is at all possible; we can only surmise that at one point, in a very distant past, our species were connected.”

“It has been theorized that there must have been some alien life that either interfered or lived here thousands of years ago, but we didn’t have any proof until now. As a matter of fact, this is the first time we’ve had contact with an alien race.”

“What is alien?” Chase asked curiously.

“Alien is the word we use to describe people or life-forms that are unknown to us or that come from outside our borders—but that second one is of no importance. We’ve had suspicions for decades that there must be life on other planets. In fact, a part of our population believes we’re visited on a regular basis by aliens, but most people think it’s nonsense.”

“And are you being visited by other species?”

“If you don’t mind, we’ll discuss that topic another time. For the time being, we need to discuss a few other things, like your intentions toward our world.”

“Yes of course,” agreed Captain Saroudis.

Chase couldn’t help but feel the need to interject. “Our intentions? I’d think our intentions are clear; we came to help.”

“That part we understand, but put yourself in our place. The same day we learn that we’re not alone in the universe, we get attacked and nearly destroyed by one alien species, and then another saves us. The fact that there’s life on other planets—beings with immensely more powerful technologies than ours is both fascinating and terrorizing at the same time. And from what we’ve gathered after what happened in orbit, you have the means to wipe us out, if that will ever be your intention.”

Chase was about to answer coldly, but Captain Saroudis put his hand on his shoulder and said, “I understand, General. So let me reassure you right away that that is not our intention. It was pure luck that we detected the fleet approaching your world. We happen to have directives in our society not to interfere with affairs that don’t concern us.”

“I see…” the General said slowly. “So, why is it that you did so? Not that I’m complaining; we would surely all be dead or enslaved right now if you hadn’t come to our aid.”

“We detected the similarities in both your biology and language, as well as a few things from your probes and communications. It became clear that we, as people, were linked somehow. It was also clear that if we didn’t interfere, you wouldn’t be able to defend yourselves against this foe.”

“Yes, as much as the leaders of our world will hate to admit it, you’re most certainly right, Captain. However I must warn you, while we are extremely grateful for your help, as a species, humans are a very suspicious people. Many of our population might think this was a plot to infiltrate us and exploit us in one way or another. But I suggest you discuss all this with our leader and chief, the President of the United States.”

The group arrived at an elevator door protected by two armed guards with blank faces.

General Adams turned to Captain Saroudis. “Are you carrying any weapons on you? I’m sorry to ask, but it’s security procedure. I’m sure you understand.”

“We do understand and no we don’t have weapons on us. It would seem futile to pack weapons for our first meeting. We do want to make a good first or, in this case, a good second impression.”

“Very well.”

The general put his finger on a green pad near the metallic doors. After a second and some beeping, the doors to the elevator slid open.

“If you will please enter the elevator.” He gestured the way.

Both Chase and Captain Saroudis stepped onto the platform followed by men in black costumes, white shirts and black ties. Some of them had wires that came out of their ears and disappeared inside their jackets. Upon closer inspection, they seemed like some sort of security detail.

Once inside, the general touched a blue button with his thumb, received some sort of scan, and the elevator started moving. Though the contraption seemed to have some sort of crude inertial compensating system, it was clear they were going down.

“Are we going underground, General?” Chase asked.

“Yes, several stories down, into a protected bunker where we will meet with the President of the United States as well as a few other people from our country’s government. Since we were taken by surprise with all of this, we couldn’t assemble all the people that would normally be needed for such a meeting, but you will see the President, some of his advisors—I’m one of them on the military side—and some scientists.”

11

A few moments and several hundred feet of descent later, the elevator doors opened into a very large room with a high ceiling. The walls on all sides were heavily reinforced and most of them featured huge display monitors. There was a big table in the center, and it was here that the general gestured Chase and the captain to sit.

A moment later, an image of a face appeared on the biggest monitor. It was a human of around fifty to sixty years of age, judging by the number of wrinkles on his face and the gray in his hair.

“I am President Jack Mandle of the United States of America, and I welcome you to our planet.”

“Thank you, sir,” the captain and Chase said in unison.

The rest of the people around the table exchanged quick glances and General Adams spoke up. “They don’t know our way of addressing rank, Mr. President.”

“That’s quite alright, General. They just saved our world; they can call me dude if they want. I wouldn’t be offended.”

Chase and the captain glanced at each other, not understanding the word “dude” but deciding to let it go. Instead, the captain leaned forward. “Mr. President, thank you for talking with us. We have lots to discuss. But I would like to address what I believe are the most pressing issues first. Then we can both choose delegations of our people, scientists, doctors and the like, to meet and discuss the details, as I’m sure you’ll want to.”

“Alright, Captain, what are these urgent matters you’d like to discuss?”

“Well, Mr. President, while we defeated the alien race attacking Earth today, we believe they’ll most likely come back and in greater numbers. We need to discuss how we can help each other to fend off the next attack. We also need to discuss the prospect of forging an alliance between our two peoples, but also with the other nations on Earth. I wonder if we could use what happened today to try and unify the people of the planet as a whole so that we can all benefit from this alliance.”

“Captain, I’m glad to see you’re seeking us as allies, but that will certainly raise a red flag amongst many of our people. What do you have to gain? I mean, you could claim this planet for yourselves or take it by force if you wanted. You certainly have the firepower to do so, and that fact alone will make a lot of people doubt that your intentions are sincere.”

“I understand, Mr. President, but here are the facts: we left our own galaxy because we’re being hunted down. One of the reasons we intervened today and saved Earth is that we need a place to stay, and we need allies to help us rebuild and repair. We took serious damage in the protection of your world, and we don’t have the manpower or resources necessary to expedite this task. With the help of Earth, we could repair our ships much faster. We’ll also need to start building new ones as soon as possible, another task that would be daunting without some sort of labor force.”

“I see.” The President paused and one of his advisors whispered something in his ear. He pondered the information, then continued talking. “We’ll have to discuss all this of course, and see how we can help you, but our military and scientists are confident we can. We’ll also have to inform the rest of the planet, and that’s sure to cause some internal turmoil. Not to mention the fact that you’re technologically far superior than we are. While we can surely provide manpower, I doubt we’ll be able to help you much when your technology and resources are so far ahead of our own.”

“That brings me to my next point, Mr. President. We are willing to teach you our technology and help Earth in any way we can. But we first need to reverse the damage you’ve already done to your planet.”

“We are aware of these challenges and our best minds are already at work toward that goal.”

“No offense, Mr. President, but, from the information we’ve gleaned from looking into your histories and records, you are not waging a winning battle.”

“Our world is a complex one, Captain, we must tread lightly and⁠—”

“That’s all well and good, Mr. President, but I believe another attack from this alien race is imminent. In a matter of weeks at worst or months at best. It is only a matter of time. They will surely be back, and they will most likely come in much larger numbers. We believe we’ve destroyed all the enemy ships, but we can’t discount the fact that they might have sent a distress call during the battle. We need to mount defenses on and around the planet as quickly as possible, and we must change your infrastructure in order to achieve that goal in a minimum amount of time.”

“Wait a minute! Are you telling us that you need to take over? Do we have a choice in the matter or are you simply imposing conditions?”

The people around the table fidgeted nervously. It was clear the President had interpreted the captain’s words as a threat.

“No, Mr. President, we’re not imposing anything. We’re merely stating some cold hard facts. If you will allow me to explain, then you can discuss everything with the rest of the world and decide what you want to do. But it’s obvious that to survive what’s coming next, your entire planet will have to make drastic changes. Changes in the way you create energy, for one.”

This didn’t go over well at the table either, but the captain kept going.

“Again, we don’t wish to impose anything, and we’re not here to dictate terms. We’re only trying to help you reach your potential in a fraction of the time it would have taken you to do so on your own. But for these changes to take place quickly, many things will need to happen, and they will need to happen fast. We realize this must be extremely frightening to all of you, but we must insist upon the fact that without these changes, we do not believe either we or the people of Earth will be ready for what is yet to come.

“It’s unfortunate that we had to meet under these dire circumstances, but we believe that with our help and guidance, the human race can evolve. Furthermore, it’s clear that our species share a common ancestry. How else would we speak almost the same language and have the same appearance as you if we were not somehow linked?”

A voice from the other side of the table said, “You could be masquerading yourselves as humans, while actually being totally different from us. You could also be responsible for the attack we just went through, and you’re just taking credit for the save to try and enslave us in the name of peace and evolution.”

Chase rose from his chair in anger, but before he could speak, the captain put a hand on his arm and gestured him to sit back down.

“Mr. President, while I can understand the doubts and turmoil that our arrival must bring, I believe we must make our point clear, even if it bruises some egos or creates some controversy along the way. Had we not intervened when we did, and had my colleague not risked his life to reach you before our battlegroup did, we believe a significant portion of the planet would have suffered irreparable damage and you would not be in a position to have a dialogue with your aggressors. And while we will certainly spend the next few days discussing all of these issues with the people of Earth, the simple fact is this: We are here, and we need allies. We would like to ally ourselves with Earth and help you defend yourselves against any new enemy that may come.”

“Any new enemy… Are there others?”

“We know of others, and we will discuss them all in due time. For the time being, we need to decide if you want this alliance or not. If you do not want us to help you, even if that help might seem like an imposition because of the urgency of the situation, then we will leave. While we can’t jump back out of Earth space right away, we still have sub-light capabilities that would allow us to break orbit today if that’s your wish. But we cannot overstate that the best way for Earth to survive the coming war is for us to work together by jumpstarting your evolution. Where we come from, we have directives that actually prevent us from doing this because the risk of giving such advanced technologies and weaponry to a race that is centuries behind could have catastrophic consequences for you. However, we believe that with our guidance, we can help you make the best of it and send you centuries ahead in terms of progress.”

The President took a while to answer. “You mentioned war… We have done our best to try to avoid war on our own planet and, even with our best efforts, we are nowhere near a positive result. So what do you propose we do?”

“I propose the people of Earth each raise their voices and help make this decision. Make them take a vote, everyone on your planet. If the vote is for us to leave, we will leave, however reluctantly, because we do not wish to see your wonderful planet destroyed or enslaved. We came here on a blind jump, not knowing where we would end up or what other species would be in the area. Perhaps our jump attracted the attention of other races as well. All we know for sure is that the Zarlacks will be back.”

“The Zarlacks?”

“That is the name of the foe that attacked you. We had information in our databases about them, though we thought they’d been extinct for a thousand years. We were wrong. Maybe they simply moved to this part of the universe instead.”

“So you’d like the world to take a vote to see if we should fight these Zarlacks together?”

The captain nodded. “Yes. I think the only way for this to work is if the people of Earth actually want us to be here. But they also have to be willing to change their ways, and be prepared to fight a battle on a scale they have never witnessed before.”

“Changing ways is not one of our strengths.”

“I’m sensing that, Mr. President, but it is my sincere hope that you will nonetheless try, for all our sakes.”

“Would we keep our current sovereignty over our countries?”

The captain and Chase shifted in their chairs. They were treading on dangerous ground now.

“I won’t lie to you, Mr. President. The political and sociological state of the planet is flawed at best. Money must be abolished, fossil fuels must be replaced immediately, and while this will all take some time, the sooner we start, the better for the human race.”

A look of utter shock radiated from the face of the President and echoed around the rest of the table. He tried a couple of times to say something, and almost stuttered, “Mo… Money? Abolished? Do you have any idea...?”

Before he could finish his sentence, Captain Saroudis cut him off. “Yes, Mr. President. I know exactly what I’m asking. Money is the currency of species still in their utter infancy, with all due respect. We had a period where our own civilization was focused on the same goals as yours, and I won’t lie to you, it was a dark time in our past. But as soon as we abolished the monetary system, we evolved at a pace that was almost exponential. We cured illnesses, eliminated poverty, and focused on bettering ourselves. Material possessions don’t make a civilization great. They often prevent one from achieving its full potential. The sooner you release yourselves from these burdens—money, fame, and power—the sooner you will be in tune with what matters most and become a greater civilization.”

“This is a lot to take, Captain. Quite a lot. And while I’m sure the people of Earth would relish making the decision themselves, I’m not sure...” his voice trailed off.

“Mr. President,” the captain said, “I’ll be honest with you; there will be some chaos; there will be groups rebelling at first. We experienced this on our planets as well, but over time we prevailed. Because we know what to expect, we can help you minimize these effects.”

“This seems like a science fiction proposition, but I hear what you’re saying. I should warn you though that humans doubt; humans don’t like to be told what to do.”

At that point, Chase rolled his eyes and leaned forward. “That’s all well and good, sir…Mr. President, but your society is already telling the majority what to do. And yes, the people in power now won’t like it. They might even rebel. But since ninety-five percent of the planet are the little guys being told what to do, I believe they’ll relish the idea of being asked what THEY want for a change. Not to mention, until poverty, famine, war, and any other unproductive conflict stops, we won’t stand a chance of defeating the Zarlacks. How can you hope to save your own world if you’re still fighting amongst yourselves?”

That last sentence was uttered with a little too much passion and Chase regretted its intensity almost as soon as he’d said it. He tempered himself immediately.

“I apologize for my passion. But while this is all new for you, the fact of the matter is we just want to help. And in helping you, we also help ourselves. But we’re asking that the people of Earth decide, not the current people in places of power, Mr. President. As long as the human race functions that way, things won’t change fast enough to make even the slightest of difference. But like my captain explained earlier, we will gladly leave this planet if you’d rather fend for yourselves to protect a system that’s doomed to fail.”

There was a long silence in the room, as everyone pondered the enormity, the absurdity, and the strange logic behind these words.

After a couple of minutes of muted exchanges between the people in the room and on the monitor, Captain Saroudis got up and took something out of his pocket. Before Chase could see what it was, all the security goons in the room had raised their guns, shouting.

“Keep your hands where we can see them, sir!”

Chase shook his head in despair. Earth was not what he’d hoped it would be. Unless some sort of miracle happened, this wouldn’t end well.

And then, something miraculous did happen.

A warm light suddenly filtered throughout the room, shining and brightening the harsh colors and dim table. Chase glanced at the monitors in astonishment to see that the light seemed to be shining in different places at once, all over the planet in fact.

Then, a sweet female voice resonated all over the world.

“People of Earth. My name is Aphroditis, and I speak to everyone on the planet at this very moment. Things are about to change, but fear not, you are not alone. In the name of love, and as what you once called a deity, I have been chosen amongst the people of Olympia to reveal our presence to you now. Otherwise, your world will be destroyed very soon. After all, you are our children and we love you.”

The light was surreal but, instead of making everyone panic, it had an impossibly soothing effect. It was something no one could understand, being pure and untarnished love. That, combined with the voice that seemed to be coming from within, held the room breathless.

“We left this world a long time ago; the human race rebelled against our guidance back then and we preferred not to interfere with your development anymore. The people that came to your rescue today are your ancestors. Most of them decided to follow us to the farthest reaches of the universe when we left. With our continued guidance, they evolved faster than the people of Earth. A point came when we decided to let them continue this evolution on their own and, in time, they also forgot about us. But there is a darkness looming in the universe, a force of pure evil that hasn’t been felt for thousands of years. Only if our children unite will there be a chance for survival, for peace, love and universal prosperity.

“We would like to ask you to choose your future; it will be like taking a vote and the vote is simple. You can either continue to fight amongst yourselves and doom your hopes for the world of tomorrow, or you can start to love all that is life. Love yourselves, love your neighbors, and love the gifts you’ve received at birth over countless generations.

“We realize now that we left you too early. Despite your rebellion, we should have stayed a little longer and provided much needed guidance. It is clear now that a select group of people used this to their advantage and the needs of the few have surpassed the needs of the many. Because of this, many sufferings have happened on planet Earth. We cry for the people of Earth; you deserved better than this. But as the darkness approaches, like many other worlds, you must now decide if you want to change for the better, or let the darkness consume you like it tried to do earlier today.”

As Aphroditis spoke, the range of reactions around the room and on monitors around the world was astonishing. There were tears running down people’s faces. Some were kneeling and joining their hands in prayer; some were staring dumbly up at the heavens; and others were trying in vain to block the words with hands pressed firmly over their ears.

“I will ask you all now to decide if you want to change and better yourselves as a species; if you are willing to let go of your old and decadent ways. Or decide if you’d rather continue upon your current path. You are all free to choose for yourselves. You must know by now that we don’t interfere in your everyday lives; sometimes the ones who still believe in us in one form or another wonder why we let people die, children starve... We have not chosen this fate for you; we have let you make your own. Long ago, we gave you the gift of freedom, and we will never take it away from you. So today, we let you decide. Hold your answer in your minds and hearts and we will know what your decision is.”

The next few minutes were absolutely silent. Chase imagined that not a sound could be heard on the rest of the planet; maybe on their ships as well. People’s faces held a mixture of serenity and panic, as the centuries without communication with the gods had caused a great divide between those who believed and those who didn’t.

“You have chosen.”

The people in the room looked around in shock as Aphroditis spoke again.

“More than ninety percent of you have chosen to better yourselves and are ready for the biggest change in the history of your civilization. We are very proud of you, our children.

“From now on, Earth will no longer be a multitude of countries with a multitude of beliefs; you will all unite this day. Today, the Earth Alliance is born. Welcome the new members that have saved you on this dire day. Let them guide you and help you toward a new life, a new path, a new beginning. There will be tough times ahead. There will be much pain and suffering as darkness has been allowed to roam the universe for too long, long enough to become a force that will not let itself be stopped easily.

“Every few thousand years, the forces of light and darkness wage an epic war that threatens to destroy the very fabric of the universe. There will be casualties. Such is the gift of freedom and non-interference we’ve bestowed amongst the countless civilizations we’ve cared for. But know this: You are not alone in the universe. As you have witnessed today, there are other species—some aligned with light, and some allied with darkness. The union of peoples and civilizations makes them stronger. You will face darkness but you will also encounter light in this journey. The universe is at a tipping point, and only your courage, determination and, most importantly, your love, will prevail.

“There is still a percentage of you who do not wish this change and, if they so please, they can leave Earth. Red glowing portals will appear near everyone who wishes things would stay the same. They will be transported to another world similar to the way Earth has been functioning in the last few centuries... You can go there or you can stay. The choice, as always, is yours. Once you step into the portals, your mind will be changed on the fly, your identities will be rewritten so you will never know you came from Earth, and you will feel at home on your new world with the right set of memories. You will not remember you were once an inhabitant of planet Earth.

“From this day on, we will not interfere anymore. You now have to make the changes required for your fight against the dark forces of evil of your own free will and of your own volition. We have guided your ancestors toward you so they could help you grow faster and avoid a terrible loss of life today as well as tomorrow. But it was their choice as well. They proposed exactly what we just proposed to you; we simply helped them make their point by addressing each and every one of you simultaneously.

“Rejoice as you are entering a new age, an age where you’ll use technology to better yourselves in the most amazing of ways. Now that the shackles of your existence have been broken, you will be amazed by all you can achieve and you will come to know what it is to experience true freedom. Freedom of the mind and of the soul. Whatever your dreams are, you will be given the chance to realize them. People with an affinity for leadership will be leaders in the coming war; people with an affinity to fight will be soldiers and fight for life, for freedom, and for love. People who have an affinity for art will create to their hearts content and realize their life’s purpose without having to think about material issues interfering with their muses. You will no longer be hungry; you will no longer be sick; you will age more slowly now that a huge burden has been lifted from your hearts and souls.

“There will be a small amount of time for things to transition from the way they currently are, but these changes will seem fast. You have the right to be afraid, but these winds of change will make you reach a new state of thought, a new state of being, where everyone does what they want in their life by choice, not because they’re forced to. Nobody has the right to force you into a position you do not wish, and soon you will experience what it is to be free of all your pains and suffering. Your ancestors have the knowledge to cure any diseases you suffered until now, but even now, those of you with seemingly incurable illnesses must feel inside that you will get better. Life isn’t there to get you anymore; you are free and you are love. You have all been reborn.”

The warm light started to recede but it stayed present in everyone’s heart long after fading away. The sheer magnitude of what had just happened was so overpowering that the entire planet fell silent, reflecting upon the words that came from the sky, from within, from beyond...

12

Earth rallied faster than anyone would have thought possible and, before he knew it, Chase was walking back into yet another briefing room. On one side of the table were seated Captain Saroudis, Medical Chief Talon Avlar, Wing Commander Daniel Tharraleos, and Technological Advisor Yanis Tixichos. On the other side sat the people of Earth: Navy Commander Sarah Kepler, Technological Advisor Boralis, General Adams, and some other scientists whose names Chase didn’t know. As soon as Chase was seated, Captain Saroudis rose and started the meeting.

“It’s been four weeks since we arrived on Earth, and we’re happy to report that you’ve achieved what is being recognized as the fastest technological and philosophical change in the history of this planet. Frontiers have been abolished, war has ceased, there is no longer any famine. We’ve cranked up the production of helper bots to create new living quarters and bring basic facilities like water and electricity to the regions of the globe that needed it the most. We’ve also relocated the people who are gravely ill into newly built medical centers, more of which are being constructed day after day. Each continent already has at least five of these centers, where the sick, hungry, and dying have been admitted in order of priority and are being treated as we speak. There are still some fatalities due to the speed at which the planet’s infrastructure had to be repurposed, but with each and every day these decrease in numbers. We project that in the next two months, all types of illnesses will be eradicated on Earth. For more on this—Medical Chief Talon Avlar, if you’d please give us a detailed report on the advancements that have been made in terms of health and the medical field in general.”

Chief Avlar was a tall, thin man, with blond hair. His eyes were light blue, and his voice was overly soothing. All in all, he looked and acted like the perfect doctor. He got up from the table and clicked a remote to display a map of the planet on a screen.

“Thank you, Captain. Indeed, the progress we’ve made in just a few weeks has already changed much for Earth. The creation of the health centers and their strategic positioning has permitted us to treat a huge amount of sick people in a small amount of time. The region that needed it the most was, without a doubt, the continent of Africa. Hundreds of thousands of children were saved and we believe that except for a few isolated cases where the indigenous population rejects technology or are simply afraid to come forward, we should have the region stabilized very quickly.”

As his speech came to a close, a doctor from Earth got up with tears in his eyes. “If I may, Chief Avlar?”

“Absolutely, Doctor Schmidt, by all means.”

Doctor Schmidt had a similar doctoral presence, but was in his sixties. He had the gray hair that usually accompanied such an age, and a thick beard that took over half of his face despite being well kept. He stuck his hands into the pockets of his white, medical coat.

“I just wanted to say how truly amazing the past few weeks have been for the medical community of Earth, to see the crisis of hunger and poverty in Africa resolved so quickly. In my wildest dreams, I never thought we would manage to do so much good in Africa in my lifetime, let alone in four weeks. Every doctor and every humanitarian on Earth is so grateful for what you have helped us achieve; I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Avlar smiled. “Thank you, Doctor Schmidt, we’re glad to help. And the help from the medical community on Earth has played a vital role in identifying priorities as well as streamlining and deploying our new facilities on your planet. Without your expertise and the passion from the community, we wouldn’t have managed to achieve such fast results.”

Doctor Schmidt smiled and nodded, wiping tears as he sat back down at the table.

“Please continue,” said Captain Saroudis, gesturing toward the chief.

Avlar ran a hand distractedly though his hair and glanced down at his notes before continuing the briefing. He briefly explained how the most virulent diseases like cancer, diabetes or AIDS had been beaten with the help of the regen tanks brought by the Alliance. The tanks were not only made to cure physical damage, but they analyzed living DNA. When a discrepancy was found inside the body, it meant that some sort of illness had started attacking the healthy tissue. The regen tanks then rebuilt those tissues with unaffected cells with the same DNA and a person was back to a state of perfect health. If enough regen tanks were built for the population of Earth, Medical Chief Avlar predicted that most humans could easily live to be one hundred and forty years old, maybe even more with the use of augmentation implants.

As the captain spoke, Chase observed the reactions of the “Earth” side of the table with detached satisfaction. Their expressions were that of sheer wonder and sometimes utter stupefaction. To them, this marvel of health and technology was brand new, but for Chase and the Alliance, it had been the standard way of life for centuries. He was enjoying their varied faces, when his gaze suddenly fell on Commander Sarah Kepler.

It was as if he’d been zapped with a jolt of electricity. He sat up straight and pinned his eyes on her, transfixed. She was listening to the chief finish his briefing with a little smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. Her lips were red, and she wore more make-up near her deep and beautiful green eyes. Her straight, glossy hair was a shade of crimson and fell well beneath her shoulders. It framed her puffy cheeks in a way that gave her an almost childish look, but every angle and every detail was immensely appealing. Chase kept gazing at her, mesmerized, until she met his gaze.

Flustered and embarrassed beyond measure, his eyes flew around the room, looking for a place to land. He settled on the map, but occasionally checked back in with the commander who was smiling slightly, well aware that he was looking at her. Gritting his teeth, he forced his attention back to the chief.

He felt ridiculous, being caught in the act like a child. And he didn’t even know anything about her. That being said…maybe he could get to know her better in the coming weeks. Maybe there was something else on Earth besides its military defense that required his attention…

The chief concluded his report and it was Chase’s turn to speak. He had been tasked with evaluating Earth’s military technology to propose options as to how they could use or modify the human war machines to help with the defense against the next wave of Zarlacks.

Captain Saroudis gestured toward Chase, introduced him as the newly appointed technological and military liaison with Earth, explained his mandate, and gave him the floor.

Chase rose and quickly glanced at Commander Kepler. She was gazing at him with a completely different look now, a look of interest. Being a fighter pilot herself, she was clearly interested in what he had to say.

“It’s clear that Earth has a lot of weaponry at its disposal, but unfortunately, most of it is based on projectile-propelled technology, and all of it has been solely designed for either terrestrial or in-atmosphere use. There are very few weapons designed for space. There was the prototype satellite, but it was destroyed during the engagement with the enemy.”

He paused and showed an image of the satellite taken in action during the fight with the armada.

“However, the satellite was a good idea. We need to build a network of them around the planet and shield them so they can sustain more hits during our next engagement with enemy forces. Because we only have a handful of battleships ourselves, we absolutely need to find alternate means of defending Earth. I have no doubt that the next wave of ships will be much larger than the one we faced, and this time, we won’t have the element of surprise on our side.”

Commander Kepler raised her hand.

“Yes, Commander, would you like to add something?”

“Yes, thank you, Lieutenant Commander Athanatos. I just wanted to say that we should indeed try to prepare ourselves, but we should also devise a strategy to keep an element of surprise on our side. If anything, your brilliant move of flying a squadron of remote-controlled fighters was the very shock and surprise move that made it possible for Earth to survive the attack. That being said, and I don’t know in what shape or form just yet, I believe we should have the same sort of ace up our sleeve for the next battle.”

“I agree, Commander, and I hope we can find a solution together.”

As soon as Chase spoke, he was worried that it could be misinterpreted, but the people around the table didn’t seem to have reacted at all. Commander Kepler, however, looked straight into Chase’s eyes with a slightly different expression.

“I look forward to it, Lieutenant Commander.”

Chase gulped uneasily and resumed his part of the briefing. He went into further detail of the plan to build a network of satellites around Earth, maybe even repurposing the ones already in orbit and upgrading them to be weaponized and shielded. He then showed the progress of the orbital shipyard, which was almost complete, thanks to the manpower Earth had been able to provide. The shipyard was intended to create more battleships as well as an exploration class of starships. This part of the universe was not well known to the Alliance, and it seemed important to start charting it. They could find new allies and assess potential enemies as well.

He then proposed the construction of a second shipyard in orbit around Mars, suggesting they terraform the planet so it could sustain life. Workers could have quarters while constructing the shipyard. Apparently, it had been a dream for Earth to have a colony on Mars for a long time, and this plan was met with wild approval.

There were also going to be a few additional security measures for the upcoming battle. The first was to repurpose the thousands of tanks from various armies of various nations and retrofit them with particle weapons. They would then be stationed on the moon, where the construction of a small base of operations had been in process for the last week. Thanks to the human labor and the richness of the planet’s resources, the Alliance had created multiple bot factories on Earth, sometimes simply upgrading automated factories that were already building things like cars and planes. These bots were essential to quickly assembling a base on the moon or Mars as well as orbital shipyards.

And while putting modified tanks on the surface of the moon seemed preposterous, it had strategic value. Chase explained how he used the moon as a cover for part of his fleet during the first engagement and how well it worked. He explained that if they could lure some of the enemy forces to a range where the modified tanks could fire upon them, it could create a chokepoint where a large number of ships could be destroyed. Of course, the moon was rotating around the Earth and there was no way of knowing if it would be at the right place when needed, but Chase used the same expression—“ace up our sleeve”—as Kepler did earlier.

Then came the time to discuss the fighters and how the Alliance had lost a large number of ships during the last battle. Some of the factories on Earth could be converted to create new ships, but Earth lacked the necessary alloys. Chase proposed instead that they modify certain factories to retrofit existing airplanes used for in-atmosphere combat, giving them space flight capabilities as well as shielding, and upgrading their weapons from projectile based to particle based.

“I like the Tomcat F-14 particularly,” he said. “It’s a formidable-looking craft, and our analysis of many of Earth jet fighters shows that it would be the least difficult plane to adapt to our needs. We should have a modified prototype, renamed the Tomcat F-140 or, as Yanis has taken to calling it, the Thunderbolt, in the next few days. Maybe even as soon as tomorrow.”

“I would like to be allowed to test fly it, if I may?” Commander Kepler blurted without raising her hand. Her excitement was palpable. The prospect of piloting the first space-worthy fighter was irresistible.

Chase paused. “I intended to fly the craft myself, Commander but, as the F-140 is a two-seater airplane, maybe we can share her maiden voyage.”

“That would be fine, Lieutenant Commander. Thank you for the opportunity.”

A faint blush tinted his cheeks and Chase looked down. “Yes, very well.” This time, when he looked up, he was staring straight into the twinkling eyes of the captain. Mortified, he straightened up and presented a segue. “Now, on to the bad news.”

The entire table stiffened, clearly unwilling to receive anything but good news today.

“As you all know, our technologies are hundreds of years ahead of Earth. And while we’ve been adapting your technologies and upgrading them to serve short-term purposes, we are quickly running out of the resources we’ll need to make all of this work.”

“What kind of resources?” asked a scientist at the other side of the table.

“Well, our engines and most of our shielding technology is hinged upon a crystal-based element known as quadrinium, a resource that is very abundant where we come from but that we haven’t been able to find in this solar system. This crystal is very dense; only a small amount can fuel a ship for weeks. We were lucky to have a significant stock of it on one of our cargo ships, but we estimate we’ll run out of it soon; we may already lack the necessary amount needed to power all the defense systems we need to build for the next attack.”

The news hit like a hammer and everyone in the conference room stayed silent for what felt like an eternity. Finally, General Adams spoke.

“What can we do then?”

“I propose we prepare a mission to nearby systems to try to find more. Maybe at the same time, we could find some more allies.”

“But can we afford to split our forces with the threat of an impending attack?”

“That’s the risk. We can’t afford it but, on the other hand, we still need to send a ship accompanied by some fighters to be able to defend it in case we’re attacked. We could even take some of the F-140s, should the test flight go well.”

“Alright, son, who will lead this mission?”

“I’d like to go myself if that’s alright. Perhaps General Adams could dispatch some of Earth’s ground troops to help on the planetary side of the mission if necessary.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea. You’ll get as many men as you require, Lieutenant Commander.”

“Thank you, General.”

The general nodded. He had been an invaluable ally ever since Chase had arrived in Earth’s orbit. Without his help and the satellite, Chase wouldn’t even be here. There had been an instant trust between the two of them, a reliance based on strong respect.

“That settles it then. In the next few days, I’ll lead a mission to find quadrinium and hopefully some new allies along the way.”

Chase was pensive the rest of the meeting. His thoughts wandered from the ongoing presentations about the financial shift and the paradigms used to get rid of the monetary system as Earth knew it, and what problems the global economy was facing ever since the first changes had been put in place. A temporary transition phase where time would become a currency until all the necessary infrastructure changes were put in place was being discussed. His thoughts wandered even more and he focused instead upon the coming attack. As of now, Earth was vastly unprepared and, if he wasn’t able to find any quadrinium, they would never reach the level of readiness they needed to survive. But the mission itself could take him away from the people he cared about exactly in their time of need.

If only he knew when the attack was going to happen. How much time did they have before the skies opened and rained down fire?

Ten days? Ten hours? Ten minutes…?

13

Today’s the day, Sarah thought as she got up.

The previous evening Chase had called to let her know that the F-140 was ready for its maiden test flight. He sounded very polite but also a little shy. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination or if he was genuinely interested in her, beyond the professional. She liked him. He was, after all, an attractive man. But the timing? She was still recovering from the attack on Earth, the death of her wingman, the knowledge that there was life on other worlds, the goddess intervention…not to mention the impending doom of her planet.

Needless to say, there was a lot on her mind.

But Sarah was a pilot at heart. And despite everything going on around her, she found herself completely preoccupied with the blissful reality that she was about to fly a modified Tomcat F-14 into outer space. The thought alone was intoxicating!

Intoxicating and impossible. Who would have thought that everything Earth had achieved in the last month was even conceivable. Sometimes it felt like she was living in a sci-fi movie, about to wake up and discover her life and her planet was exactly how it had always been. Fixed in its corrupt ways. Unable to change. Plotting its own destruction. If Chase and the Alliance hadn’t decided to intervene, perhaps they would never have changed.

That thought was interrupted when the doorbell rang. Sarah looked in the mirror, adjusted her uniform, and then quickly went to answer the door.

It was Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos, also in uniform. The Alliance uniform was striking—mostly black with hints of grey, and some blue and gold lining here and there. It commanded both class and authority; the fabric seemed soft yet solid. It also looked like it wouldn’t be easy to crease.

“Good morning! You look quite stunning in that uniform, if I may say, Lieutenant Commander Athanatos.”

Chase was caught off guard and blushed as he glanced at the ground. Sarah smiled to herself. Further proof that she had indeed sensed something between the two of them that went beyond work. But now was not the time for such things. She had a Thunderbolt to fly.

“Huh, thanks.” He gave her a small smile. “I’ll get you one if you like. After all, we’re all part of the same Alliance now.”

“Not really a priority these days, Lieutenant Commander, but yes, I would love to own one.”

“I’ll have one made for you soon. And please, call me Chase.”

“Very well, Chase. Only if you call me Sarah.”

“Sarah it is then. Ready for the test flight?”

“Impatiently so!”

Chase grinned. Her enthusiasm for flight matched his own. “Let’s go then; a shuttle is waiting to take us directly to the test site.”

After a twenty-minute ride, the shuttle landed somewhere that used to be Sweden. The doors opened in a military base of some kind, lined up with one hangar after another. They descended the steps at hangar seven, where not one, but two F-140s stood waiting.

Sarah’s mouth fell open, then she grinned. “You couldn’t just let me have the first flight could you, Chase?”

He smiled back. “Actually I was fine being your co-pilot but, when they told me that they had worked on two of them and that both were ready. So, I thought it would be more fun if we did a little dogfighting instead of just going out for a flyby.”

“I like the way you think.”

While getting outside of Earth’s gravity and atmosphere wouldn’t have just been a flyby by any means, the idea that they could actually test these babies in combat was even more appealing to Sarah. That being said, she found it more than a little intimidating to dogfight with the person who was almost single-handedly responsible for saving her planet.

To hide her uneasiness she added, “I’ll go easy on you.”

Chase answered with a broad smile. The more he got to know her, the better he liked her. They went into the hangar and put on flight suits.

A few minutes later, they emerged from the barracks, fully geared and ready to take the F-140s out for a little one-on-one. How romantic, Sarah smirked.

“I’ve taken the liberty to prepare a little shooting practice near Jupiter, then we’ll head out to Neptune to have a go at each other,” Chase told her. “We’ll be back in time for dinner.”

“Is that a date?” she challenged.

He paused. “…Only if you’d like it to be.”

She looked him directly in the eyes and smiled. He returned the smile, but was clearly not as at ease with flirting as she was. She found it endearing. This boyish charm.

“Shall we?” Chase gestured toward the planes.

They were magnificent. The Tomcat was already a vision on its own, but the modified F-140 was leaner and sleeker. With matte, dark-gray paint and light-blue hues, it looked like something from the future. The wings where inverted and pointing forward, which gave the craft a much meaner look. Sarah took a deep breath as she examined it. She couldn’t believe that in a matter of minutes, it would be taking her into space. But then she frowned. The plane had no wheels, only some sort of retractable foot that was holding it to the ground.

“What happened to the gears?”

“There’s no need for them anymore; the F-140 can take off vertically.”

“Niiiiice!” She grinned. “Tell me more about it…”

“We reinforced its armor with some of our more durable alloys, and we completely removed the fossil fuel engine and retrofitted it with a quadrinium one. Now, it can go Mach twelve within atmosphere. In fact, it’s so big that we even managed to cram a little jump engine on board.”

“You mean it can jump? Like how you jumped here with your fleet?”

Chase smiled a little before catching himself. He found himself completely charmed by how new and wonderful all of this was for her.

“Yes, but it’s much more limited in terms of range. You can barely do three light years before the engine needs to recharge; that won’t get you very far.”

“Let’s agree to disagree on that one. Three light years almost instantaneously? That’s amazing! How long does it need to recharge?”

“About thirty minutes. But if the craft is damaged or if too much power is being used for other things, like combat, it could take longer or it could become disabled altogether. This is really just a prototype; it needs refinement. We didn’t have time to make every system with top-of-the-line components. It’s actually quite crude by our standards.”

Sarah ran her hand along the hull. “I bet. But still, this can be used tactically. We could have a few of these in reserve, not far, that could jump at a moment’s notice.”

Chase nodded. “That’s good thinking... I’ve been so occupied with supervising the craft and deciding what technology we could cram into it that I didn’t see the obvious advantage of having a jump engine aboard a starfighter. Our fighters are smaller. Usually, there would be very few tactics that would require them to jump. It was actually one of the problems we had to face to send me here in advance of the fleet.”

“Alright, I’m dying here,” she grinned. “Let’s test these bad boys.”

“Okay. When you sit down, put the two small round devices on your temples.”

Sarah nodded and climbed the steps, sliding into her cockpit as Chase did the same. When she sat down, she noticed there wasn’t much left over from the F-14. There was just a stick, a pad to enter numbers, and the two little round devices Chase had mentioned. She put them on her temples as instructed.

What happened next was nothing short of extraordinary.

As soon as they touched her skin they stuck there, and an entire holographic HUD appeared. Controls, gauges, monitors, radar…the whole shebang projected inside her brain.

“Wow! How is this possible?”

Chase’s voice answered from inside her mind, like a radio, but it didn’t come from the interior of the craft. And while it was definitely handy, it would take some getting used to.

Chase “mind-spoke” as if he was sitting right next to her. “These little devices access the visual and audio cortex of your brain and project the information relayed by pretty much every sensor and piece of equipment aboard these craft. Also, the computer AI responds to vocal commands. You’ll be able to pre-program some commands and use them later on. That’s what I used to remote control the squadron.”

“That’s…so cool!”

“That’s just part of it. I’ve asked for a neuronal interface to be installed on these as well, so if you want, you can touch the purple button at the far right of your HUD, and you’ll switch into neuronal control mode.”

“What’s that?”

“In simple terms: what you think, the ship does. It’s still in the experimental phase. We’ve used it in other applications but never in combat as it requires a very disciplined mind. That’s why I’ve installed it as a toggle, so it can be toggled on and off at will. We may try it later on when we reach target practice, or you can use it now to try to get off this base.”

“Hell yeah!” she cried. “But this is a little overwhelming. I’m used to flying with stick, thrusters, and rudder. I feel like a kid who turned on a PlayStation for the first time.”

“What’s a PlayStation?”

“So there are things you don’t know,” she laughed teasingly. “No worries. I’ll show you one when we get back from the test flight.”

“Alright, let’s get these started. Touch the⁠—”

But before Chase could finish his sentence, Sarah activated the neuro-link, got off the ground, retracted the stands, and was flying toward the sky.

“Wooooohooooo!” she cried as she lifted through the clouds.

Chase blinked then hurried to comply. “Alright then!” He touched the neuro-link toggle and joined her in the sky, positioning beside her in formation like a normal wingman.

“Chase,” she sounded breathless, “this is the weirdest and most exceptional thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’m literally piloting this thing just by thinking it. It’s amazing!”

Chase grinned but cautioned her. “Just keep in mind that the neuronal link is tiring after a while and, if you lose concentration or get lost in emotional turmoil, the results can be unpredictable. If that happens, toggle it off immediately; don’t wait until you feel like you’re losing control. As an additional measure, I’ve programmed the onboard AI to turn the neuro-link off as soon as it detects something is wrong in our vital signs. But that’s never been tested so I don’t know how sensitive it will be.”

“Roger that. For now, it handles like a dream. It’s not more tiring than watching an IMAX movie in 3-D.”

“A what?”

“Yeah sorry,” she apologized. “I keep referencing day-to-day Earth technologies; I’ll catch you up on that later.”

“And I thought I had learned all there was to learn about Earth technology.”

“Oh I don’t doubt you did for the military stuff, but we love recreation here, maybe too much. Sometimes I wonder if that’s what prevented us from evolving as fast as we should have as a species. Anyway, that’s a good conversation topic to save for the date.”

“Alright, I look forward to it. What do you say we punch these babies through the atmosphere?”

“You sure do know how to talk to me, Lieutenant Commander.”

And with the blink of an eye, both F-140s accelerated to max speed, became fireballs in the sky and, a few moments later, were orbiting the Earth.

“Oh…my…god!” Sarah exclaimed.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I’m better than fine. In fact, I don’t know if I can find adequate words to describe how fine I feel right now. I’ve dreamed of this day my entire life, but since I didn’t choose a career as an astronaut I never thought it would come. I’ve seen movies and pictures, but to experience this first hand…? It’s simply magical. Thank you, Chase.”

“You’re perfectly welcome. Enjoy the view; we’re not in a hurry.”

“Thanks. How much fuel do we have, in terms of time?”

“Fuel? Oh, quadrinium doesn’t deplete nearly as fast as fossil fuels do. It all depends on how we tax the systems. So for our test flight, unless we encounter heavy resistance, we could use the ships for the entire day or even more before we’d need to reload. The ship also has secondary power, which is a system similar to what you call batteries. But it has a lighter design and a much higher energy storage capacity. It’s linked to the shields and recharges when they aren’t being taxed.”

“Amazing! Is there anything this ship can’t do?”

“It doesn’t make breakfast.”

There was a pause.

“…Um…that was a joke, Commander. A really dumb joke,” he muttered to himself.

“Roger that,” said Sarah playfully.

“Alright, back on topic and your original question. The Thunderbolt actually misses a few things. The life support isn’t redundant, neither are the engines or shields. We also only managed to install first-generation particle cannons. Our own ships are more advanced in terms of firepower and redundancy in the critical systems; they’re also smaller, faster, and more maneuverable than these. But because of its size, the F-140 has a stronger armor and a much bigger quadrinium chamber. Therefore, it can do longer missions, and probably take a bigger beating, armor- and shield-wise. It’s just that if we lose a primary system like shields, it will need repairs on Earth. There isn’t any self-repairing circuitry. Not yet anyway. We were in a hurry and had to sacrifice on installing some systems.”

“Alright so…no. These craft are amazing, notwithstanding all the techno-babble you just threw at a girl in awe of seeing her planet for the first time. It’s amazing to think this was once an F-14 Tomcat.”

“Yep, there’s not much left. But we kept the seats and the stick.”

“I like it; gives it a retro feeling.”

Chase didn’t know what “retro” meant, but inferred from the context it probably meant something old. He would have to get used to the subtleties of the language. Both English and Universum were very similar, frighteningly so when one stopped to think about it, but just like dialects could make things sound different, that’s how Chase felt about English. It was a dialect. Sometimes familiar, sometimes rather distant.

“I’m glad you like it, Sarah.”

“So what do we do next?”

“Now the fun begins. On the left of your HUD, I’ve marked a point on your radar with a blinking blue dot, do you see it?”

“Yes, what do I do?”

“You either touch it or think about going there.”

Before she could confirm, her ship jumped. Chase thought about the destination and the AI engaged his jump engine as well. Stars became lines in the frontal view of the canopy for just an instant before they returned to stars. Then Chase’s ship jumped out of hyperspace beside Sarah’s.

“Did we just make a jump?!” Sarah was unable to contain her excitement.

“Yes, the neuro-link will choose the fastest way to achieve a goal. Since you thought about going there, it decided to jump. You should see a countdown on your HUD going down from three hundred. That’s the time it will take for the jump engines to be available again.”

“Incredible. How long would it have taken to come here at full burn?”

“A little under three minutes.”

“Oh…so jumping wasn’t really necessary?”

“No it wasn’t. But it was fun, wasn’t it?”

“Oh, that it was! So next time I should think about flying there slower?”

“Like I said, the neuro-link requires a very disciplined mind. Yours seems to handle it quite well but, because you don’t know the capabilities of your craft, it’s bound to create some quirks like this one. I’m just hoping any other unpredictable quirks won’t put pilots in danger.”

“I think we’ll be fine. That doesn’t answer my question though.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. So you could use your HUD, and when you press the target on it, it will ask what method of travel you want to use – burn or jump.”

“Roger that. So where’s that targeting field? I want to blow stuff up.”

“It’s right ahead of our position, just a few thousand miles. The targets should show as red dots on your radar.”

“They do. Cool. There’s close to a hundred at first sight. May I?”

“By all means, have fun. You can either think and acquire your targets mentally, or line them up and shoot manually.”

“Great! I love the neuro interface; I want to see how it handles in a fight. Are the targets firing back?”

“Only if you want them to. They can fire low energy discharges that will simply light up the shields to inform you when you get hit.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She nodded. “Let’s set them up that way.”

“Done.”

“Thanks. Time to have some real fun.”

And with that, Sarah’s F-140 went full burn toward the targeting field. They started firing from all over the place and she soon saw a few impacts on her shields. Thinking fast, she entered a whirlwind dance of evasive maneuvers, trying to get hit by as few probes as possible. The more she practiced, the less probes managed to score her shields. It was quite impressive, considering how outnumbered she was by opponents, and Chase watched her appreciatively. She was one hell of a pilot and, coming from him that meant something.

“Why aren’t you firing back?” he eventually inquired.

“I’m just testing the maneuverability of this thing; it’s amazing. Will my shots destroy the probes?”

“Only if you wish them to.”

“And can I? Isn’t that a waste of training resources?”

“I guess… Tell you what, blow up a few for the fun of it and then switch to training weapons. Then the hits will only disable the probes and turn them off.”

“Deal! Thanks!”

And the laser show began. Sarah blew a good five probes with real lasers, crying out with the sheer joy of it, before she switched her weaponry to practice mode and started turning the probes off one after another with impressive ease and at an even more impressive rate. A few moments later, they were all disabled.

“That was FUN!” she cheered.

“What about a real fight now? Against a human opponent?”

“I thought you’d never ask. But let’s make sure we have those training weapons on. I don’t think it would look good on my rap sheet if I blew you out of the sky on the first day.”

Chase couldn’t help but smile. Her attitude was very similar to his. Aggressive and witty with a naturally playful arrogance. He liked that about her. Very much.

“Let’s not get too cocky; I’m no dumb probe.”

“Oh Lieutenant Commander, I’m counting on that fact very much.”

Without another word of warning, the fight began.

In just a few moments, Chase was already on Sarah’s six. He opened fire and scored a few wing hits, although the damage simulator translated that they barely would have impacted ten percent of the shields in a real fight situation. As the chase progressed, Sarah became more and more evasive, and even managed to catch him off guard by decelerating abruptly, a maneuver he both used himself and loved.

Then the roles reversed. Chase was the prey and Sarah was the huntress.

She rained laser fire on his craft like there was no tomorrow and, while he went evasive himself, he got hit quite a few times on the rear shields. In a matter of seconds, they dropped to a virtual seventy percent. He tried executing a few of his pre-programmed evasive macros but they only worked with marginal success. However, the more she attacked, the more he studied her patterns. She had the tendency to try and anticipate his moves based on the repetition of his patterns, and he could use that to his advantage by throwing her a curve ball at a critical moment. But he decided that he wouldn’t try to show off just yet, and hit the afterburner and flew away rapidly instead.

It didn’t take long for Sarah to adjust her speed but that had given him enough time to make a full reverse and be nose to nose with her. They fired at each other at the same time and both took hits on their frontal shields. In a matter of seconds, they were on a collision course. Neither one would be the first to back down, and their ships’ computers beeped frantically warning of the coming impact. But at the very last moment, when they could each almost see the other smiling in the cockpit, they veered and rotated right, avoiding each other by mere feet.

“You’re holding out on me, Chase. Why?” Sarah asked over the comm.

“I thought you’d like time to adapt to the new ship. It’s your first space flight after all.”

“I’m not made of glass, and I have logged thousands of hours flying planes.”

“You’re right, I apologize. I won’t patronize you anymore; get ready for a full on assault.”

“Bring it on!”

Chase had seen enough of her fighting patterns that he let his brain take over and fly the fighter on pure instinct. It felt good to let go of every thought and become one with the fighter; it was a sensation like no other. Sarah came about and started shooting toward him, but he instinctively danced through the rain of lasers. After a few seconds of hitting nothing but void, Sarah laughed.

“Wow, you were REALLY letting me have fun before, weren’t you?”

“Not really, but I didn’t let myself fully ‘link in.’ Now, I’m completely focused.”

With that, his fighter reversed and he was firing at Sarah. She managed to avoid most of the hits but took some serious virtual damage nonetheless. That’s more like it, she thought. The longer they fought, the more balanced the fight became. But it was clear that Chase still held a clear advantage.

“What about missiles?” asked Sarah after a while. “There were a few moments I thought about using them, but nothing happened. I suppose it’s a safety measure?”

“That and the fact they haven’t been installed just yet. We’re still having issues integrating our missiles and torpedoes with the F-140 systems, but it shouldn’t be a problem for much longer. I hope...”

“What about putting our own missiles on the craft? Can they operate in space?”

“I suppose it’s possible…They seem to have crude targeting capabilities, but maybe we could fix that faster than trying to adapt our own missile technology. Still, simply releasing a heat source is enough to make them follow another target.”

“We call them flares or countermeasures since the missiles are seeking heat. They’re vital to Earth flying warfare.”

“So I understand. But our missiles and torpedoes have several types of sensors to lock onto an enemy. They should provide a better yield of impact during space combat.”

“Okay, bring in the toys when they’re ready. I can’t wait to see what they can do.”

“I guess we should stop dogfighting and go over some of the less interesting but important parts of flying these craft.”

“A little anti-climactic, but I had so much fun so I’m not going to argue.”

Chase then went on to explain the navigation sensors, inertial dampeners, power distribution, and engine modes at length. The more he talked, the more Sarah was impressed by how far ahead the technology really was. Sometimes, it was almost an informational overload, but it was incredible to be the first human to learn all about it. Not to mention the fact that she could literally see the combat benefits while being instructed on how to use the various systems of this ship. The ship, which regardless of being technically inferior to Alliance ships in terms of firepower, was simply mind blowing. When Chase seemed to arrive near the end of his instructions, she asked the obvious question.

“How long will it take to convert an armada of these ships?”

Chase sighed. “That’s actually going to be an issue. We lack the required materials to make massive numbers. We could probably do about thirty ships with what we have, maybe even less.”

Sarah stared out at the vastness of space. “Is that going to be enough?”

“I’m not sure. We need to be careful with our reserves of quadrinium since it’s not a material that’s found on Earth and our attempts to replicate it by altering other minerals on your planet have been unsuccessful.”

“Where can we get more?”

“We’ve sent long-range probes in search of systems where we can replenish our stock, but we’re still waiting for a positive result.”

“I see.” She paused. “And how long do you think it will take for the enemy to return?”

That was the question of the day, wasn’t it?

“I have no idea. It could be in a few days, or it could happen today. Either way, it’s going to be a serious problem.”

Sarah bit her bottom lip. “We’re not going to be ready, are we?”

“If the next attack is bigger than the last… No, we won’t.”

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes until Sarah broke it.

“Should we head back home? I suppose you’ll want to analyze the data from this test flight right away.”

“Yeah and make the necessary adjustments.”

“Adjustments? I didn’t feel that it needs any adjustments.”

“I’m sure it would feel that way to you, but I will undoubtedly find things to improve once I’ve analyzed the data.”

“Neat. A perfectionist.”

Before Chase could respond, a red halo started to flash on both their HUDs.

“What is this, Chase?”

“Checking…hang on.”

He looked at the information on his HUD. No doubt about it, a ship of some kind had just entered sensor range of the fighters.

“Heads up, we have company! It’s just entered sensor range; let’s engage stealth mode. Maybe they haven’t seen us yet.”

“Roger that. Stealth activated.”

“I’m getting multiple signatures now; this might be a scouting party.”

“What should we do, Chase?”

“Let’s assess their forces and try to identify their ships. In a few more seconds I should get signature verification. Hang on.” He studied his controls. “I read one corvette plus escort… Signatures seem to match the vessels that attacked Earth a few weeks ago. They just changed their course and are vectoring toward us.”

“I thought we were invisible in stealth mode?”

“Our scanners must have triggered their sensors somehow. Engaging jamming mode. Receiving more data now… The ships signatures are confirmed as Zarlacks; probably a scouting party trying to find out what happened to their fleet.”

“Should we engage?”

“I don’t see that we have a choice. If we do it fast enough, maybe we can prevent them from sending a distress call. But no matter what we do, this means we’re going to have company sooner rather than later. Right now, it’s just a matter of not letting them evaluate and report the bulk of our forces to their masters. Get ready to disengage stealth.”

“Wait up, Chase, I have an idea.”

“I’m listening.”

“Let’s micro jump and engage them from behind; they won’t be expecting that.”

“I like the way you think. On three?”

“Two, one, JUMP!”

Both F-140s jumped almost simultaneously and arrived a few miles behind their enemies. Without a moment’s pause, they immediately veered and engaged the scouting party. They managed to dispatch a fighter each before the rest of them could realize what was going on. Then the corvette turrets started raining fire upon them both. In perfect synchronicity, they initiated evasive maneuvers, effectively avoiding most of the hits.

“Think of my ship, Sarah. It will show you my status. I’m doing the same. Let’s dispatch what’s left of the fighters first, and then deal with the corvette.”

“Understood. Got your ship’s vitals on my HUD now.”

They both concentrated on the same enemy craft and it wasn’t long before it exploded out of the sky. There were now only two fighters left and the corvette started veering away while still showering laser fire toward them.

“Is it retreating?” inquired Sarah.

“No, it’s just trying to get out of range so it can send a distress call. We can’t allow that to happen.”

“I’m on it. Finish up the fighters. I’ll dispatch the corvette.”

“Without missiles, we’ll need both our firepower to dent its shields.”

“Wait—can the probes I used for testing move?”

“Brilliant idea!” Chase replied. “Okay, follow the corvette and make sure your jamming field is at full strength.”

A moment later, another enemy fighter exploded and Chase began lining up a firing solution on the last of them. Panicked, it fired all its missile at once. It took some pretty fancy flying to avoid them all…all but one. Chase slowed down and steadied his flying, making sure the last one was following him. Then he switched his weapons to rapid fire, less powerful in terms of damage, but more efficient against shields. He quickly scored hundreds of hits on the ship, which, by now, was in full retreat. When its rear shields were almost depleted, it turned to face Chase’s F-140 again. They were on a collision course, both firing madly while rotating to avoid as many hits as possible. Chase redistributed the power distribution to boost his frontal shield. Then, when they were about to impact one another, they both veered off course and the missile pursuing Chase locked onto the enemy craft and blew it out of the sky.

“Having fun?” Sarah asked.

“Just testing a theory. What’s your status?”

“I’m still engaging the corvette, but my lasers are barely making a dent. What do we do now?”

“I’ve reprogrammed some of the probes to intercept you; they should reach you in twenty seconds. In the meantime, let me help you a little.”

Chase entered firing range with the corvette and added his firepower to Sarah’s. It made a slight difference, but it would still take forever to get those shields down. And the longer they waited, the greater the chance they had of getting their jamming field damaged. Chase looked upon his HUD and started typing commands on his pad with blinding speed. A few seconds later, he hit the comm again.

“Okay I’m ready. This is what we’re going to do… I’ve put the probes onto a collision course. I’ll concentrate all my fire on a single point on the corvette’s shields and, when the probes arrive, you’ll need to shoot them and use them as mines.”

“That should be fun.”

“Yeah, I just wish I had missiles as well.”

“I see the probes. Get ready.”

Chase quickly rewrote the macro for hyper firing to speed it up even more, and then started firing hundreds of hits toward a single spot on the corvette’s shields. When the first probe was in range, Sarah shot at it. Its explosion took the corvette’s shields down by more than half. The second hit lowered them even more, and soon, they both fired full strength at the hull, scoring heavy damage with every hit. When a third probe arrived and it was time for the kill, both Chase and Sarah lit it up together and the corvette broke in two before exploding into jagged pieces and clouds of flames.

“Yipikaye, motherfucker!”

Chase frowned at the comm. “Yipi…what?”

“Oh nothing.” Sarah tossed her hair back. “It’s from a favorite movie of mine.”

Chase shook his head and smiled. “Alright, we should head home, analyze the flight data, and decide what our next course of action should be. Because I have zero doubt that we’re going to have more company soon.”

“So much for building F-140s to defend Earth.”

“We already have twenty more of them in the pipeline. We’re going to need to equip them with missiles or torpedoes though.”

“Amen to that!”

14

The flagship Dragon’s Claw was the jewel of the Obisidian fleet, a personal gift the Zarlacks had given the Emperor as a sign of their alliance with them. Most of the crew was Zarlack and while they seemed to react just fine answering his orders, the Emperor never really knew if he could trust them fully. A Zarlack officer entered the throne room. He advanced toward the Emperor and knelt quickly in front of him. Leaning on a wall behind the throne was a hooded man. He stood with a casual nonchalance, completely at ease despite his charged surroundings. It was most unusual. As far as the officer knew, all the major players had been accounted for. But try as he might, the officer couldn’t identify this new man; he was staying in the shadows with his arms crossed against his torso.

“What is it, Commander?” asked the Emperor.

“We’ve dispatched scout vessels to the last known coordinates of the fleet currently looking for the Alliance in the unknown regions. No ships were detected, but our long-range scans have detected debris from a battle and multiple Alliance signals. Shortly after arriving, the scout ships were destroyed.”

“So that’s where they’re hiding.”

“How come we only hear of this now?” asked the shadowed figure.

The officer stared at him in disbelief, then turned his sights back to the Emperor.

“Answer the question!” ordered the Emperor.

The Zarlack hurried to comply. “Yes, master! We found a transmitting beacon. They must have reprogrammed it to send an ‘all good’ signal; that’s why we didn’t investigate any sooner. As per standard procedure, we had to wait for three failed transmissions before sending a reconnaissance party.”

“In times of peace perhaps, but this should have been brought to my attention sooner!”

“I apologize, master; I’ve only learned of it now myself.”

“You’d better be more careful next time, or it will be your hide.”

“I...I understand, master. Thank you for your leniency.”

The hooded man made a noise that sounded like a disapproving growl, but didn’t move.

“Commander, assemble whatever fleet we can in the next few hours, then jump toward the coordinates. We will crush the Alliance resistance once and for all.”

“Thy will be done, master.”

“Dismissed.”

The commander rose and left the throne room, not daring to look back. Once the door closed, the hooded human spoke again.

“You’re too lenient with your troops.”

“Maybe you are too harsh with yours?”

“You’re still alive, aren’t you?”

The Emperor bared his teeth and looked like he was about to say something, but he decided not to escalate the conversation.

“What message would it send to the universe if people knew the Emperor was dead?”

“I don’t really care. What does matter, however, is that we get to this fleet, find the Alliance, and finish them off.”

“Which is what we’re doing. I’ll report back to you once they are dealt with.”

“No!”

“What do you mean, no?” the Emperor asked.

“Not only will I be coming with you, but I will command the fleet personally.”

“Like hell! These are my ships and my troops. I am in command.”

“Caution, my old friend, or should I remind you that even emperors can be replaced.”

“You misunderstand me, I meant…why would you bother?”

The hooded man almost smiled. “While I have no doubt you are a better fleet commander than those you sent before…” He grabbed a bag from his feet, took something out, and sent it rolling toward the throne. It bounced on the floor and came to a stop just in front of the Emperor. He stared down into the terrified, lifeless eyes of Admiral Zan. “They had a rather sizeable fleet but they still got defeated, which implies a superior strategy rather than bigger numbers. We did, after all, almost annihilate the Alliance in a few hours. As for this fool, he had that coming, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Perhaps. They probably lost half their own fleet in the battle though, so they’ll be easy pickings now.”

“Still, I sense something else.”

The Emperor didn’t answer and silence rang out between them. He stopped looking at the admiral. He knew full well that complaining about why he was dispatched without his authorization would put him in more jeopardy than he was already in.

“What do I tell my officers?” he finally asked.

“Whatever you want. As long as they understand that I will be leading them once we reach the target system.”

“I don’t understand.” The Emperor frowned. “You always stayed hidden, in the shadows. Heck, you’ve given me command of this flagship, the biggest and strongest ship ever built. Now you suddenly want to be in charge?”

“First of all, your understanding is not required, never forget that. If the Obsidian Empire defeated the Alliance, it is because of me, my associates and the bulk of our forces that I graciously lent toward achieving that goal. Second, I will be giving orders from the throne room. You’ll be on the bridge, observing, or in your quarters, getting blown by one of your many wives. If it’s the former, try to learn a thing or two, will you?”

A deep rage burned down to the Emperor’s very core. He didn’t like to be treated like an underling. But for now, he had no other choice but to obey.

“Very well.”

“I’m going to check something else now. Like I said, I have a weird feeling about all of this…”

With that, the hooded man disappeared back into the shadows.

15

Chase landed on the Destiny and went directly to the bridge. When he stepped out of the lift, he went straight toward the captain’s chair where Saroudis was receiving a report from an officer.

“How did the test flight go?” the captain asked.

“The flight was a success, but we had company.”

The captain froze. “What kind of company?”

“Zarlack.”

Saroudis took a deep breath and let out a long, exhaling sigh. “I had wished for more time to prepare before our next engagement.”

“Yeah, so did I. We have to start thinking about strategies and how to repel the next assault.”

“Yes we do, and we must prioritize our workforce into building ships and defense systems.”

“Agreed, Captain. I’ll look into the F-140 flight data to see what else we can optimize, and find a quick way to equip them with missiles. They’re fine against fighters, but taking down higher class vessels with their current firepower is not a viable option.”

“What ships did you encounter?”

“A corvette with an escort. We dispatched the escort easily, but had to pool all our resources and tricks to get rid of the heavily shielded corvette.”

“Understood. But make sure adding missiles to the F-140s doesn’t take too much time; we can always use these craft for dispatching other fighter vessels and get rid of the bigger ships with heavier weapons with the fleet.”

“I agree. Maybe a simple modification of Earth missile technology could be done without spending too much resources and time.”

“Let’s hope so. What else do you have to report, Lieutenant Commander?”

“Well for one, Sarah’s fighting skills are very good. She’s one hell of a pilot.”

“Sarah, is it?”

“…I meant Commander Kepler.”

“No, you didn’t.” The captain permitted a corner of his mouth to curl into a smile.

Chase’s face flushed and he dropped his eyes to the floor. He had never been in this situation before and didn’t know what to do besides wait for the captain to break the ice.

“Don’t sweat it; we all have feelings. And she’s definitely not bad to look at.”

Chase hesitated. “Yes, sir.”

“Now, on to more pressing issues. Our quadrinium reserves are evaporating quickly. We need to think about devoting part of our effort into replenishing them and seeking out any other possible allies before the Zarlacks come in full force.”

“Allies?”

“Surely the Zarlacks have made enemies in this part of the galaxy, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

“What about more Alliance survivors?”

“I’d like to hope more ships survived and maybe some escaped the attack back home but, without knowing for sure, isn’t it exactly the kinds of fool’s errand we ought to avoid with the limited time we have?”

“Not more so than trying to make friends with alien races that may see us as yet another enemy.”

“There’s wisdom in what you say. What would you propose?”

“I’m thinking Daniel and I could go back home with one jump capable ship and a couple of squadrons as escorts. Try to locate any surviving ships and bring them back here.”

“You’re my most experienced fighters. To put you both in danger with no guarantee of reward doesn’t feel like sound strategy to me.”

“I understand, sir, but, to have even the slightest chance of making such a mission succeed, don’t we need our best people?”

“Correct, but I need one of you to stay here. We need a seasoned wing commander should the battle start before the search party returns.”

As much as Chase hated the idea of going without Daniel, he knew that Captain Saroudis was right. They couldn’t put all their eggs in one basket. But Chase had no doubt that the current force of the fleet would be insufficient against the next wave to come. After all, what kind of enemy commander would send a similar or smaller fleet after the one that had disappeared? No—the enemy would at least double or triple their forces. They’d come with bigger ships and bigger guns. To beat such a threat, the Alliance would need bigger ships and bigger guns as well.

“Alright, but we also need some sort of ace in the hole. Be it tactical or technological, we must have some way to level the playing field should the next wave be bigger than what we think we can handle today.”

The captain nodded. “Agreed. In fact, both our and Earth’s scientists have been considering this. So far, the only thing the people of Earth could propose is nuclear weaponry, but we know from our own history that’s too much of a risk.”

“In the hands of humanity, yes, but in ours? We’ve come a long way since those dark times⁠—”

“No, no, no!” Captain Saroudis cut Chase’s argument short. “The moment we try to rationalize this subject with how evolved we’ve become, the sooner we get back to where we were a thousand years ago, at the brink of destruction. I won’t be responsible for the destruction of Earth, not now that we know that it’s our true home.”

“Look, Captain, I understand your position. Heck, I don’t want that any more than you do, believe me. But think of the alternative.”

“What alternative?”

“Simply put, these weapons are on Earth. They could get detonated anyway should we prevent the next wave of the attack. Wouldn’t they be less dangerous if we used them a farther distance from the planet?”

“What are you thinking about? Mines?”

“Kind of…but we add a few elements of surprise.”

“Now you’ve got my attention, soldier, tell me more.”

Chase began pacing distractedly, thinking aloud as he planned. “First of all, we shield them so they can’t be destroyed with tampering or a few shots; we don’t want our own weapons turning against us. Second, we give them engines, maybe even some jump engines so they can make micro jumps. It’ll be just like the modifications we added to the F-140s, but with simpler engines that have an even lower range and smaller fuel chamber.”

“What about detection? If they have such abilities, surely they’ll get detected and we’ll lose some of, if not all, their strategic value.”

“Yeah, I also have an idea about that…” Chase replied with a smirk.

* * *

Chase arrived in the main engineering room. He quickly scanned the place, trying to find Yanis, and heard his voice resonating from somewhere past the quadrinium chambers. A moment later, he popped in front of him and saw his friend’s instant dismay.

“No, no, your presence here means trouble! Go away!”

“When did I ever make any trouble for you?”

“Okay, trouble isn’t the problem. But every time you show up, I must stop whatever I’m doing and do some ludicrous thing in an even more ludicrously short amount of time, and then I’m backed up for days catching up on my to-do list. So, nice to see you and all that, but we’re closed. See you another time, if you don’t mind.”

Chase grinned. “Well, sorry friend, but I’m here on orders of Captain Saroudis.”

“Of course you are…” Yanis let out a sigh of discontent. “Well, step right up then. How did my modified torpedo do on the battlefield? People come and go asking for favors, but they never report anything to me unless it blows up in their face. Well, not literally…”

“It saved both my ass and the planet’s. So good job!”

“Thanks, glad I could be of some assistance. Maybe I should mention that to the next Earthling woman I try hitting on. My torpedo saved the day. That’s a nice opener, right?”

“Good luck with that. But as for the torpedo, it indeed worked as planned, which explains my presence here yet again.”

“You want more of them?”

“Actually yes, it would be nice to have a few in reserve; but I’m here so you can help me build another contraption.”

“…I’m afraid to ask.”

“Basically, I need you to add an engine, including short-range jump, to a mine. Then I’d like you to shield it and mask its signature.”

“Why would you want…?” Yanis stopped mid-sentence and smiled. “Of course, so it doesn’t register as a mine.”

“Exactly.”

“You know, I always wondered why you’re a space pilot. Clearly your vocation is to think, design, and build stuff. You know that, right?”

“Yeah well, I love flying and blowing things to pieces just as much. Why not both create and destroy? For the former, I always have you anyway.”

“How convenient! But it makes sense. After all, I couldn’t fly a ship if my life depended on it so I won’t argue with you there. If I could, I’d probably come with you guys.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“Please tell me you don’t need this ready today.”

“No. We probably have a few days, but the sooner the better. And you’ll have to get in touch with Earth to obtain the nuclear warheads that will act as the mines.”

“Hello! Did you just say nuclear?”

“Yes. That’s why they need to be disguised as fighters.”

“And Captain Saroudis agreed to this? Do you have him under hypnosis?”

Chase rolled his eyes. “He didn’t agree at first, but I think he realizes that we don’t really have a choice. Plus, I made a compelling argument that it would be safer for the people of Earth if these things blew up in space rather than on their planet’s surface.”

“Can’t argue with that logic.”

Chase didn’t even try to hide his smile. It was like a kid announcing a perfect grade to his parents.

“Okay, Chase, but there is one problem. A technical one.”

“Which is?”

“Well, shielding a fighter or a torpedo is one thing, shielding a nuclear warhead and giving it an engine is another.”

“I sense some impending techno-babble I don’t really want to deal with, so let’s jump directly to the solution.”

“Basically, it requires much more energy to shield and disguise it as a simple fighter. That means more quadrinium and, last I checked, we were already running low.”

Chase sighed. “I know, it’s a gamble but we need to win the next fight, even if that means we won’t be able to jump the fleet or use the ships at peak performance. Both our and Earth’s survival depends on it. What good will our quadrinium be if we all die here in the next few days?”

“See, that’s exactly why I hate it when you come here. It’s always a do-or-die type situation.”

“Not really my fault.”

“I know, it’s just… It’s frustrating to do all these things that go against common sense. I mean, we learned so long ago to leave nuclear ordnance alone, and here we are using them the first time we’re backed against a corner?”

“I hear you; I don’t like this one bit. But I don’t see any alternative, do you?”

“No…I guess not. Anyway, back to the technical issue. I can maybe give you ten of these, but I don’t think we can do more. And they will have a short range. The maximum will be to the confines of this solar system.”

“That’s fine, totally in line with my plan anyway.”

“Also, the jump will be a one-off. Once the mine has jumped, it will have to detonate or stay there and look really mean at whatever’s coming.”

“Can you at least make it work as a mine in that case?”

“To blow up based on the distance of a foreign object? Yes, of course. It will be its primary function anyway.”

“Yeah, but I would love it if it could not detonate based on a list of signatures I will provide…”

“I see, a smart mine.”

“Exactly. It will blow up for anything but Earth and Alliance signatures.”

“Alright, that shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

“Great, I’ll leave you to it. I have to prepare for another mission.”

“Do I even wanna know?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Alright, good luck then.”

“Thanks, Yanis. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“I’d sleep,” he answered brightly. “I’d sleep without you. Think about it all the time.”

“We’ll sleep when we’re dead.”

“Yeah…”

Unfortunately, that seemed like sooner rather than later. Chase clapped him on the shoulder and returned to his quarters. With so much that was uncertain, and so little resources to accomplish much of anything, Chase could be thankful of only one thing.

There was a plan brewing in his head. And on that…he could be certain.

16

Chase crashed into his bunk bed, almost smashing his skull against the gray wall. Another eventful day, he thought. But he couldn’t fall asleep. His mind was still racing almost obsessively about how fast things were about to hit the fan. In a matter of days there would be another, much bigger attack on Earth. Fortunately the mine ships, if used properly, should inflict a considerable amount of surprise damage early in the fight, but he still needed to find a few more aces in the hole—something to turn the tide of battle, should the mines, ships, and orbital defense satellites prove insufficient. After all, they would be lucky if three of the satellites were even ready in time. It would be another two days before they could test the first one, and that would be without shields.

For the next two hours he couldn’t think of anything except combat and strategy. Time continued to slip by at an alarming rate, until he finally said aloud, “I need something to distract myself so I can fall asleep.”

As if on cue, his personal communicator started to beep. He threw the video to the wall in his quarters. It was Commander Kepler.

“Hi, Chase. I wanted to call you earlier, but it was a long debrief.”

“Same here. I’ll have to tell you about it. We thought of a new weapon.”

“Really? Cool. Something I can fly as well?”

Chase couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. And I’m afraid it’s not flyable, unless you want to blow up.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“Where indeed? I’m glad you called. I can’t sleep; my mind is racing.”

“Mine too. I’m afraid. I know I shouldn’t be. I’m a seasoned pilot; been in battles my whole life. But the fate of the planet is on my shoulders now.”

“Our shoulders.”

“Yeah, you know what I mean though.”

“Why do you think I can’t sleep?” he chuckled. “And technically, it isn’t even my planet, so I totally understand how you feel.”

“We should do something about that. Feel like taking a trip down here?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I thought, since we can’t sleep anyway, maybe we could watch a movie.”

“A movie? Oh—those recreation things you told me about. Any one in particular?”

She grinned. “I’m sure I have something that fits. So what do you say?”

Chase considered it. While his mind rejected the idea of wasting precious time with something as trivial as a movie, he wasn’t coming up with any good ideas anyway. Maybe he needed a break, and the thought of spending time with Sarah was a very pleasant one.

“Yeah okay, sounds like fun. Should I bring anything?”

“Nope, I have everything needed in my flat. Just get down here. I’m sending you my building’s coordinates. Just land on the top and I’ll wait for you there.”

“Sounds good. Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have anything to eat, would you? I just realized I didn’t eat anything all day.”

“Same here. I just ordered some food. It will be here soon.”

“Good. See you soon, Sarah, and thanks for the invite.”

“No problem. You let me fly a ship in space today, well, technically yesterday, so it’s the least I can do.”

“Chase out.”

He jumped out of bed, took a quick sonic shower, and changed clothes. Before he really thought about what was happening, his fighter was about to enter Earth’s atmosphere.

The sight of Washington at night was breathtaking; all those tiny lights, signs of life in the middle of the night…It reminded him of his own planet. At least, the planet he grew up on. Because if Aphroditis was right, he didn’t know his real planet, Furya. The second he’d found out, he’d looked it up in the ship’s computer, eager for a visit, but apparently, it had been destroyed a long time ago.

A signal alerted him that he was about to land on the building, and he slapped his face to wake up. No time to think about that now. He had to save this world.

The second he turned off the systems and opened the hatch, he saw Sarah waiting for him on the roof. She was wearing very different clothes—a snug black dress that revealed the shape of her body. He felt silly in his training uniform, but they hadn’t really had time to pack before all hell broke loose in his part of the universe. He made a mental note to acquire new, less formal clothing the first chance he got.

“Hey there,” she greeted him cheerfully.

“Hello, Commander.”

“I thought we agreed on Sarah.”

“Yes, of course. Sarah.”

He smiled at her and noticed she was looking at the box he’d tucked under his arm.

“What’s that?” she asked as he extended it.

“We talked about food, and I thought I’d bring you this from the ship.”

“That doesn’t answer my question now does it?”

“Sorry.” He laughed nervously. “It’s a food synthesizer. It basically creates food.”

“But I thought I told you I had taken care of that.”

“Yeah I know. It’s just in case we run out of food, or for you to use another day.”

Her face brightened. “I see…a gift then? You brought me a replicator. That’s so cool.”

“What’s a replicator?”

She then went on about yet another movie in which there was similar technology to what he’d brought.

“You didn’t have to offer me a gift, but that’s very sweet of you. Now come on, let’s get down to my flat and watch some good old-fashioned Hollywood cinema.”

“What’s Hollywood?”

She chuckled and gave him a brief background on the entertainment industry on Earth. Movies, television, theater…the works. It was fascinating to Chase how prolific Earth was in these matters, inventing stories to transport their minds to other places and feel good about forgetting their day-to-day life. It was very different from what life meant where he came from. Sure they had recollections of old tales in their society too, but they were mostly of a historical nature. They had books and music as well, but this cinema thing was something he didn’t know about. Maybe it was something his civilization once had. But the last few generations had been so difficult with the war, that it most likely had become a lost luxury.

They quickly arrived at her flat. The place was huge compared to his quarters; it seemed to have far more space than one would need just to sleep. She gave him a tour, showing him all the different rooms. The kitchen, for example, was a room where food was prepared. This concept was too strange for him and made him laugh. Food was dispensed via the synthesizers; there was no need to pick up different elements and mix them together. It seemed like an inefficient use of time.

They ended up in the room she called the living room, and sat around a table with multiple white containers with red temples printed on them. As if he couldn’t get more confused, Sarah handed him some wooden sticks. Bewildering, yes. But there was a very pleasant aroma in the room, something he had never smelled.

“What are these sticks for, and what’s smelling so good?”

She laughed. “Our food, silly. This is Chinese.”

His mind raced. “Isn’t China one of the countries on this planet?”

“Yes, yes it is. And they make a typical food from their region. You see, on Earth we like to share each region’s food. Recipes have evolved over the centuries and globalization opened up all sorts of foods from different parts of the world.”

“That’s very interesting. And this is Chinese food then?”

“Exactly! It’s one of my favorites, so I thought we could share a meal and you could discover it as well.”

“That’s very thoughtful…” Chase eyed it warily. “I’m not used to food that releases such a strong smell. Our food plans are mostly about providing exactly what the body needs, with subtle flavors added for personal taste.”

“And that gift you brought me…is that what it makes?”

Chase nodded. “Yes. It will prepare food almost instantly, and it will have all the elements the body needs.”

She looked skeptical. “Hmm, the technology seems interesting, but I wonder if it takes away the pleasure of eating different flavors like we have on this planet. Here, let me show you—try something I ordered.”

“Ordered?”

“Well, since we banished the monetary system we can technically acquire food more easily, but it’s had some adverse effects on our way of life.”

Chase frowned. “How so?”

“Well, many things like restaurants were transformed so people could get food. But if people want particular types of food cooked for them, it isn’t so easy.”

“Interesting. Can you cook?”

“It’s not one of my best skills, I’m afraid, but I’m very good friends with the owner of the Chinese restaurant and he still lets me have some of my favorites now and then.”

Chase’s stomach made a churning noise and they both laughed.

“Looks like all this talk of food made you hungry; let’s dig in.”

Chase looked back and forth between the containers and the sticks. “Are you trying to torture me? Because my training might kick in and then who knows what I’ll do.”

She giggled. “I see you don’t know how to use chopsticks. I should have known. I’m sorry. I take these things for granted.”

She tried to show him how to use the sticks, but some skill was involved and it wasn’t going very well. Eventually she took them from his hand and went to the kitchen.

“I’m going to get you a fork for tonight; it’s much easier to master.”

He flushed. “Thank you.”

Now that the containers were open, the smell was almost intoxicating. When Sarah came back with a fork, he dug in. His first bite was something he didn’t expect; it was a small explosion of taste in his mouth. He chewed slowly and swallowed.

“So,” she asked tentatively, “how is it?”

“This is incredible!” He could barely contain his excitement. “What is it?”

“I believe you tried the chicken with cashew.”

“What’s chicken?”

“It’s an animal from this planet.”

An animal? Chase gulped. This beautiful woman had fed him exotic flesh. While he’d heard of the concept before, he’d always found the idea repugnant. But now that he’d tasted it for himself…

“I…I feel a little strange about eating an animal.”

“I’m so sorry! Are you a vegetarian?”

“What’s a vegetarian?”

“It’s a person who doesn’t eat meat.”

“Well, I guess we’re all vegetarians in the Alliance.” Then he said cheerfully, “But I must admit this food has an incredible taste; I’ve never had anything so good in my life.”

“I’m glad. Try not to think about where it comes from; it’s completely natural here to eat flesh.”

“I see. And what is it you are eating…?”

“Sweet and sour pork. Wanna try?”

“Yes, please.”

The flavor of the pork was completely different but equally delicious. It was coated in a sauce that felt both sweet and sour to the tongue. It made him salivate even more and he wanted to try everything that was on the table. The Cantonese rice was also very good; it contained only little bits of flesh. Before he realized it, he was tasting from each container, be it chicken, rice, duck or pork. It was all delicious.

“Should I put on the movie?”

“Yes, sure.”

She grabbed a plastic device on the table and pushed a few buttons. The next second, a nearby monitor sprang to life and what she called the “movie” started.

After a few minutes of watching, Chase shot her a glance and she burst out laughing on the sofa. She had found “something that would fit” indeed. It was a tale of starship fighters, good versus evil, aliens and intrigue. The entire galaxy seemed to be at war.

“Have more of these?” He gestured to the cartons when the movie was finished.

“I’m afraid not and it’s too late to get more. I have some leftovers from last night but there’s not very much. Let me warm it up.”

“Okay, cool.”

She went to a device that was not dissimilar in looks to the food synthesizer. The food turned in a circle inside and, when she came back with it, it was steaming. She called it a microwave.

Chase had an idea. “Maybe we can program the synthesizer to replicate this food…”

“Can it do that?”

“Technically, it can replicate almost any taste. It was programmed to deliver standard protein, vitamins, and other nutrients our body needs to function at peak efficiency, but maybe it can replicate this food.”

“It wouldn’t be the same though, would it?”

“Only one way to find out.”

“You’re right, let’s give it a try. What should we try to replicate?”

“I love the sweet and sour pork. Let’s try that.”

He put the container in the synthesizer, then went on to scan the food inside. The on-board computer analyzed the food and some red symbols appeared on the screen. Sarah leaned curiously over his shoulder.

“What’s happening?”

“The computer says that thirty percent of this food contains things that aren’t good for the body. Eating only this food would lead to health issues.”

“Ah, obesity. We have loads of that in this country.”

She went on to explain that Earth people knew the foods they regularly ate were bad for them, but they tasted so good that it was a daily struggle as to what to choose. Something fattening but delicious or something healthy. Apparently, the healthy foods hardly compared.

“That’s so strange,” Chase murmured as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Who would have guessed that would constitute a ‘struggle.’ But I have to admit, that kind of emotional satisfaction is hard to resist. We have a similar kind of satisfaction, but…Well, it comes from a different activity.”

“Sex?”

Chase didn’t expect her to approach the subject so openly, and he flushed as he glanced at the ground to gather his thoughts. “Well…yes. Are sexual relations also regulated on Earth?”

She hopped up onto the counter. “Hell no! That would suck!”

He nodded thoughtfully. “It seems humans have a lot of pleasures we don’t have in our daily lives.”

“Why would sex be regulated in the first place?” she demanded.

“To control population growth.”

“We don’t really do that here. With all the sickness and war, the population kind of controls itself.”

Chase frowned. “So every time you have sex, you get a baby. Isn’t that inconvenient?” He suddenly wondered how many children she might have.

There was a brief pause, then she burst into uncontrollable laughter. It went on so long that eventually Chase started to smile himself.

“What did I say that was so funny?”

It took her another moment to regain her composure. “We’ve made sex recreational. We can have sex and not have the result be a new life.”

She briefly explained the concept of birth control, and Chase listened with wide eyes. It baffled him how humans indulged in time-consuming activities on a daily basis just for the fun of it. But somehow, it sounded like a good time.

“What an interesting world you have... Doesn’t it take up all your time when you indulge in preparing food, eating it, watching movies, and having sex?”

She grinned. “Yes it does. Maybe that’s why we haven’t progressed that far as a civilization; we like to procrastinate.”

He nodded but stayed quiet. She’d given him a lot to think about.

“What about the replicator?” she asked. “Can it make more Chinese food? I’m feeling peckish again.”

“Oh yeah, sorry, I got distracted. The synth— replicator can replicate the food and lower its amount of toxicity. Should we try that?”

“Yeah why not. I would love it if it could do that.”

Once Chase entered the parameters, the synthesizer made a replica of the food in a matter of seconds. He took a bite, and was pleasantly surprised that it tasted quite similar.

“So how is it?” she asked eagerly.

“Very similar. Why don’t you try it?”

She took a bite and made a sound of satisfaction. “Yes, it tastes almost the same. Not quite exactly, but very similar.”

“Good, you could use this for food from now on. But we would need to program it with various recipes; I’m afraid the ones that are pre-programmed won’t be to your liking.”

“Sure, but won’t it be able to only replicate what we scan?”

“Not necessarily. If we feed the computer a database of recipes, it should be able to emulate it and you can use these controls to choose how to make it more to your liking.”

“That seems overly complicated, but what about feeding it recipes from the Internet?”

“The Internet…? Oh yes, that network of information you humans use.”

“You’ll have to do it though. I’m good at kicking some butt in the air, but technology isn’t my strong suit. When my computer refuses to work, I end up kicking it.”

It took a while to interface the synthesizer with the wireless stream of information that humans called Wi-Fi but, after a few minutes, Chase managed to connect it to the Internet.

“That should do it. What food would you like to replicate?”

Sarah put her finger over her mouth and made a humming sound as she considered. A second later, her eyes lit up. “A double pepperoni and cheese pizza, Chicago style!”

The synthesizer made a similar humming noise for a few seconds, and then a thick rounded dish appeared out of thin air. The smell of it filled the room, and Chase suddenly felt like he needed to eat again, even though his stomach didn’t seem to agree with the thought. Sarah took a slice of what she called pizza, and gave him a wide grin.

“Any good?” he asked.

“Dude, you have to try this. It’s one of the best pizzas I’ve had in a long time. This replicator thing is wicked!”

Chase picked up a slice and experienced his first taste of pizza. He was bowled over, and quickly finished it off.

“This is delicious! How many different types of food are there to try?”

She laughed. “Too many for you to try in one year, let alone one night, I’m afraid.”

“That much, huh? Then it’s something I can look forward to. I’m going to download the settings of this synthesizer so I can try more later on.”

“Yeah, you do that. As long as this one stays here. Will it?”

“Of course. It’s a gift, remember?”

She slid back off the counter and ran her hand over the top of it. “I sure hope I’m not going to gain too much weight. It’ll be almost impossible to resist now that I can have anything anytime I want…”

Chase shrugged. “You shouldn’t gain too much weight at all. The machine will continue to replicate the taste while avoiding most toxic elements.”

“That’s incredible! We all need one of these!”

“That would be a little bit of a problem right now. It runs on quadrinium, and we’re running out. But hey, if we find a source for it, then we should be able to make a lot more. They’re already present in most of the food centers around the globe. They just deliver our kind of food, not yours.”

“Can’t you just connect them to the Internet as well?”

“Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll put it on my list of things to do when I get back to my ship. Speaking of which, it’s already 4 a.m. Should I maybe let you sleep?”

“That depends…are you sleepy?”

“Not at all. I’m having a really wonderful time.”

“Great!” She clapped her hands. “Then let’s watch the sequel! There are actually about a million of these movies now, so our options are unlimited.” She put the next one on the monitor and they sat down to watch. After a while she turned to him. “I’m actually surprised you like these so much. I would have thought you’d think it was too much ‘magic’ and not enough ‘science.’”

Chase laughed. “Well, I’m not sure about the ‘force,’ but there seems to be a lot on your planet that seems pretty damn magical itself. I wonder if that’s what Aphroditis was talking about.”

“You lost me there, Chase.” Her eyes grew wide. “Wait—you talked with the goddess? On your own?”

He shifted, a little embarrassed by the attention, but dying to talk to someone about this huge revelation in his life. “She appears in my dreams sometimes. She was the one who made us come here and rescue you from the Zarlacks.”

“No shit!”

“She also told me I’m part human…and part Fury.”

“What’s a Fury?”

His face fell. “I wish I knew. Apparently, it’s the world I’m originally from.”

“Well, how don’t you know? You mean you’ve never set foot on the planet?”

“No, it was destroyed a long time ago. I was found on the planet Alpha Prime, in a small capsule, with no memory of who I was. The technology of the capsule was nothing from our world. Scientists tried to look into it, but it was dead beyond repair.”

Sarah’s voice grew soft. “What about your parents?”

“I never knew them. I was adopted by a couple on our world. They were the sweetest people you could imagine and they raised me as their own. Being an adult with no recollection of my past made me kind of feel lost, not so different than being a kid I guess.”

“I can imagine. We do that on Earth as well, adopting I mean. Are they still on Alpha Prime?”

His face was hard. “They were killed many years ago…when Obsidian launched an attack on the Alliance. That’s what motivated me to join the Alliance’s military and become a pilot.”

“I’m sorry.” She patted his leg. “My parents are dead too, so on some level, I know how you feel.”

“Did they die in a war as well?”

“No, my mother got sick, very sick. She had cancer and she fought it for a long time but, in the end, it got her.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that. What about your dad?”

“My dad never really recovered from my mom’s passing. He started to drink too much and, after a few years, he developed cirrhosis of the liver and died as well.”

“That’s horrible,” he said softly.

“Maybe your real parents are still alive. Did you ever think about that?”

He shrugged. “Not really. To me, the couple who took care of me were my real parents.”

“I can understand that. Hey, what do you say we watch a more…uplifting movie?”

Chase chuckled. “That’s a good idea. Hey, can I ask for some water?”

“Yes of course! I’m sorry, I’m a terrible host. But wait…maybe you’d like to try a soda instead?”

“What’s soda?”

Her eyes sparkled. “Oh, just another Earthling marvel. Hang on, let me find it.”

She went to the replicator and handed him a thing called cola. It was a dark liquid, strange and bubbling, but it was incredibly refreshing.

“I love cola!” Chase declared after a moment.

Sarah laughed. “Me too. I rarely indulge in them because they’re pretty bad for you, but they taste great. So, how long will the replicator work until it needs more quadrinium?”

“I would say a few months, unless you use it more than this.”

“Nah. Tonight we ate a lot because you had a lot of catching up to do, but I don’t eat that much food all the time.”

“Either way, hopefully we’ll find more quadrinium soon enough.”

She frowned. “How will you find more?”

“I’m leaving on a mission soon to scan for it in other sectors.”

“What mission? When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow or the day after. There are still some preparations to be made.”

“Will you all be going? What if the enemy returns?”

“It’s just a small group of us. We’re also going to try to locate more survivors. It’s possible that other battlegroups escaped like we did. If we found them, they could join us here. After all, we need to strengthen the Alliance if we are to survive.”

Sarah was quiet for a moment. “It’s just like the movie. We’re the rebels, aren’t we?”

“I guess…but we’re not alone. Maybe we’ll encounter other civilizations on our travels. Have you ever had contact with other life-forms on Earth?”

“There are rumors and theories about that. Many people say they’ve seen UFOs, unidentified flying objects in the skies. We thought they were alien races visiting us without revealing themselves. But most people think it’s just made up.”

“What do you believe?”

“Well, if you had asked me that question a few months back, I would have told you I’m not sure. Today, I’m inclined to think there are many other species roaming the universe. You’re proof of it. Maybe they’re not even as far as we might think.”

“If they’re close by, we could try to form an alliance.”

“Yeah, I hear you.”

“Hey, weren’t we supposed to watch another movie?” He smiled and lightened the mood. “And screw ‘uplifting.’ I want to know how the story we were watching ends.”

“Absolutely.” She grinned. “I’ll replicate us some ice cream to go with it.”

Chase froze. “Does it actually scream?”

She shook her head and laughed.

“Hey—you guys eat actual flesh. Maybe screaming’s not that far off⁠—”

But before he could say another word, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. He skin flushed and his pulse started hammering in his chest. Was this going where he thought it was…?

But Sarah just grinned, threw her arm around his shoulder, and flicked on the next chapter of the story.

* * *

Chase opened his eyes to find that he and Sarah had fallen asleep. Her head was nestled in the hollow of his shoulder and he immediately froze so as not to wake her. She was so beautiful! How was it that she was unattached? Well…maybe she wasn’t. Maybe that kiss on his cheek meant nothing and she wasn’t interested in him like that. But he was definitely interested in her. Without jostling her, he gently ran his fingers through her hair. It was softer than he could believe and smelled intoxicatingly sweet.

The movie was still playing. Some sort of teddy bears were pelting the bad guys with rocks. He was intrigued, but nature called, and he slid out from under her to find the bathroom. But when he reemerged a moment later, Sarah wasn’t in the flat. In fact, the flat itself had disappeared.

It was like he’d stepped onto a different planet. The door vanished behind him the second he stepped through, and he walked tentatively forward onto the unusual terrain. The ground was covered in sharply pointed mountains and a cloud of sand hung in the air. It was a wasteland, yet there was a strange beauty to it. In the sky, he saw layers of iridescent rings circling the planet as well as many moons that hung like lanterns in orbit. From where he stood he could see a distant blue moon, a gray one that resembled Earth’s, and a giant red one that was so big it might actually be a nearby planet.

He was about to call out to see if anyone was there, when he heard Aphroditis’ voice.

“Hello, Chase. I’m sorry to disturb you again, but there’s something you must know.”

He looked around, but saw no one. “What is it?”

“The Zarlacks are approaching our part of the universe. Soon, we will be at war with them as well.”

“Can you defend yourselves?”

“For a while maybe, but they outnumber us millions to one. We are the last descendants of Olympus and, while we aren’t affected by the passing of time like humans, we are not completely immortal either. We can be killed.”

“Gods can be killed?”

“God is a concept, Chase. We’re just more advanced creatures. In the same way that you’re perceived as gods by the insects on Earth, we are perceived as gods by you. Do you understand?”

“I think so.” Chase struggled to wrap his mind around the concept. “You are older, wiser, and more advanced life-forms.”

“A nice definition if there ever was one.”

“What can we do to help? We’re already struggling to help Earth.”

“I know, and you must do whatever you can to protect it. The future of all living and breathing beings in the universe depends on it.”

“But what about you?”

“We’ll be fine for now. We have enough experience with other races trying to find and destroy us that we’ll manage. We’ve gotten very good at hiding ourselves from others over time. However, I need to talk to you about your next mission.”

“What about it?”

“You must take Sarah with you.”

“Why? Not that I mind, but…?”

“I cannot tell you why, only that it is imperative.”

“Alright, I’ll ask her to join me. But I don’t like the idea of putting her in danger.”

“That is part of who both of you are. Danger will always be a part of your lives. Don’t tell her I asked you though; she must come because she wants to. That’s very important.”

“I understand. Are we going to find more survivors?”

“All I can tell you is that you will find what you need now but, when the time comes to enter a destination, just trust your instincts.”

“Understood. I was wondering, will I ever meet you in person?”

“All in good time, Chase. I know you have plenty of questions, but right now it’s important to focus on the task ahead.”

“Alright. Is this place the world I must find?”

“It is a representation of the world, yes.”

“But it seems so barren.”

“It doesn’t matter. Here you will find the next piece of the puzzle.”

“Puzzle?”

“I wish I could tell you more, but the fact of the matter is I am violating every law we are governed by just communicating with you.”

“Why are you doing it then?”

“Because not all of us think Earth matters.”

“But obviously you do.”

“Yes, I do. Every world and every life-form matters.”

“Won’t you be punished if you’re discovered?”

“Probably, but I must do what I know in my heart is right.”

Chase nodded. Clearly the Olympians had free will as well. But there was something troubling him, something he had to ask.

“Aphroditis… Will we be victorious against the next wave of ships?”

“Unfortunately I cannot see the exact future, Chase, as it is actively created by the thoughts of every living being. I can only guess at the outcome.”

“Don’t get me wrong but, if you can’t be certain that what I’m doing now is going to succeed, why should I listen to you?”

“It will always be your choice to follow my advice. I’m here to guide you as your journey unfolds, but only you can shape your own reality.”

“That’s not going to give me nightmares at all,” he said sarcastically.

“I’m sorry, but I must leave now.”

All of a sudden, the world faded and Chase was back in Sarah’s flat. Her eyes shot open in surprise when she saw him standing in the middle of the room.

“Pheewww!” she cried in relief. “You scared me!”

“I’m sorry, I just went…to the restroom.”

“No problem. I guess we must have fallen asleep after all.”

“Yeah.” He gestured to the monitor. “The frozen guy came back.”

She giggled and tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m glad you got into it.”

“I like the little green man.”

She yawned and stretched. “Everyone likes that little frog.”

“Frog?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Forget it.”

“Well hey.” He knelt down in front of the sofa. “I suggest you go back to sleep. I’m going to head back to my ship to try to get some rest as well. I’ll call you in a few hours.”

She yawned again. “Okay, sounds good. I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah me too. That’s why I should get going.”

“Unless…?” She let the word hang in the air.

“Unless what?”

There was a moment of silence before the corners of her lips turned up in a small smile. “You could stay and sleep here…maybe?”

“But you only have one bed. I guess I could sleep on the couch…” his voice trailed off as she stepped in front of him and put a finger on his lips.

“I meant with me, in my bed… If you want to.”

A wave of shyness rendered him temporarily mute and he froze, trying to make a rational decision.

“It’s a big bed, Chase,” she continued, “enough room for the both of us. I… You’re going on a dangerous mission soon, and I want to spend a little more time with you. If that’s okay…”

Chase’s heart was pounding, but a feeling of warmth was spreading down to his fingertips and he smiled. “I…I’d like that very much, actually.”

She approached him slowly. Her skin was flushed, but her eyes were soft and kind as she ran her finger down his arm, took his hand and dragged him gently to the bedroom.

It looked like a small mine had exploded. There were clothes and shoes strewn about the desk and the floor, but in the center was a bed large enough to accommodate them both.

“Sorry for the mess.” She quickly kicked some jackets into the open closet. “I can be such a slob sometimes.”

“No problem. I…I can see that.”

She punched him affectionately. “Hey, that’s not a very nice thing to say to a lady.”

He held up his hands with a mischievous grin. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t⁠—”

But before he could finish his sentence, she closed her eyes and kissed him full on the lips. That same electric buzz he’d felt the first time he saw her flooded through his entire body and, before he knew it, he was kissing her back. They tripped and stumbled closer to the bed and, at the same time, they started taking off each other’s clothes.

Chase felt like his skin was on fire. He’d never felt anything like this before and he never wanted the moment to end. Fortunately, Sarah seemed to feel the same way and, from the way she was kissing him, she didn’t have any plans of letting him go any time soon…

17

This must be what it feels like to be in love.

Chase couldn’t stop smiling. He had hardly gotten a bit of sleep, but somehow, he wasn’t tired. He walked the corridors of the Destiny like a new man. Sure his own bed had felt cold and hard compared to Sarah’s. Sure he was about to go on yet another life-threatening mission and at any moment a Zarlack fleet could drop out of hyperspace and blow them all away. But he was here now. And so was Sarah.

And life couldn’t get much better than that.

The comm beside his bed beeped and he flicked it on. It was the captain.

“Yes, Captain?”

“Hello, Chase. I passed by your quarters this morning, but you weren’t there. The computer located you somewhere on Earth so I decided not to bother you.”

“Anything wrong?”

“No, but I thought you’d like to be on the bridge for the testing of the first satellite.”

“Absolutely,” he said quickly. “I’ll be up soon.”

“We’ll wait for you.”

“Thanks, Captain. Chase out.”

As the transmission ended, Chase quickly changed from his training attire to his uniform but, before he went to the bridge, he called Sarah. She answered voice only this time.

“Hey there, how are you?”

He smiled at the sound of her voice. “I’m great, how are you?”

“I’m good. I just got called by my superiors; apparently you guys are testing the satellite in a few moments. I’m running late. I gotta go to headquarters; don’t want to miss that.”

“I just got the same call; I’ll be heading to the bridge shortly.”

“Great.” There was a slight pause. “Was there something you wanted to tell me? I’ve really gotta hurry or I’ll miss the test.”

“Yes, I…”

“Spit it out, Chase. I think after last night, you can ask me anything.”

His face flushed. Thank god this was audio only. “It’s about the mission.”

“What mission? Ah yes—the mission. What about it?”

“I—I mean, would you—Would you like to join me?

“Jeez, I thought you’d never ask.”

“You’d like to come?”

“Of course, silly. Would I pass an opportunity to go out in space and fly the F-140?”

“We won’t be taking the F-140s; we haven’t installed missiles on them yet, plus the prototypes are needed here so the improvements I ordered can be installed.”

Her voice flattened in disappointment. “Oh.”

“But our ships are nice as well, don’t worry.”

“I’m sure. Did you manage to install the mind interface on them yet?”

“Not yet, but it shouldn’t take long. I’ll make sure both our fighters are equipped.”

“Alright, so I guess we’ll see each other shortly.”

“Yes, I can’t wait.”

“Me neither. I had a great time last…well…last night and this morning too.”

Chase grinned. “Me too. See you later.”

“Bye.”

He grabbed his jacket and hurried up to the bridge. But the more he walked, the more he thought, and the more his smile faded away. He was delighted that Sarah would be accompanying him on the mission, but…what if something happened to her? In the middle of hostile space, he could hardly guarantee his own safety, let alone hers. But before these thoughts could run away with him, he was at the double doors. Swallowing back his fear and clearing his face of emotion, he stepped inside.

The bridge was bustling with activity; everyone was buzzing around different control terminals getting ready for the test. When the captain spotted Chase, he gestured for him to take a seat beside his own chair at the weapons control and tactical test. Chase instantly complied, wondering as to the location of Sergeant Zarthas, the man who usually occupied that chair.

As if he could read minds, the captain answered, “I’ve sent him to engineering. They were short staffed for the last calibrations, and I thought you’d like to do the honors anyway.”

“Thanks, Captain, with pleasure.” Chase grinned with satisfaction, before he suddenly remembered his request. “But first, I need to ask you something…”

“Sure, what is it?”

“It’s regarding the mission.”

“Alright. I’m listening.”

“I’d like to request permission to bring Sarah Kepler with me.” Chase immediately bit his lip and regretted calling her Sarah.

The captain gave him a long look. “Sarah? You mean Commander Kepler.”

“Yes…yes sir.”

“Any particular reason?”

“Well, since we agreed that I can’t take Daniel with me, I thought it would be good to have another experienced pilot. Her flying skills impressed me when we tested the F-140s.”

“Alright. I’ll ask her superiors, but I don’t see why not.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“What do you say we fire up this bad boy?”

“Absolutely. What are we firing upon?”

“The moon.”

Chase’s eyes grew wide. “What?”

“I’m kidding, son. We placed a few targets in its orbit, mostly debris from the battle.”

“Alright, gimme a second to familiarize myself with the controls…” He quickly examined the panel and nodded to himself. “Okay, seems pretty straightforward.”

“Anytime now, Chase.”

“Acquiring target lock…and firing…now!”

On the wall monitor, the entire bridge could see the diamond-shaped satellite fire successive pulses of energy toward floating debris that was obliterated upon impact.

People on the bridge cheered, and the engineers from both Earth and the Alliance were shaking hands and congratulating themselves. Captain Saroudis seemed pleased as well.

“What about the shields?” Chase asked. “Will they be operational soon?”

“Chief Tixichos thinks they should be up and running by the end of the week.”

“Let’s hope the fleet doesn’t arrive before then. And that I can return with some reinforcements too.”

“That would be ideal, but we must proceed under the assumption that you may not come back with reinforcements, and…” Captain Saroudis left the sentence in midair.

“That I may not return at all…”

“Yeah, I don’t like that part one bit.”

“I know, Captain, but we really have no other choice.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to like it.” He frowned. “Just make sure you don’t get killed out there, you hear me, son?”

“Understood.” Chase quickly changed the subject. “Is that all with the satellite?”

“Actually, now that you mention it, the chief is working on an alternate firing option.”

“Is he? What would that be?”

“An intense burst of energy sustained for several seconds.”

Chase frowned. “I feel a ‘but’ coming…”

“Yes, there is a downside. The shield will be down during the entire duration of the shot. While that’s to be expected, it will take ten more seconds for them to become available, and another twenty seconds before the satellite can fire its primary weapons again. Three to five minutes to fire again with the secondary weapon.”

“Well, it’s a nice backup in case we need to inflict a serious amount of damage to a battleship, sir, and I think we can make those weaknesses work to a tactical advantage.”

“So do I, but it’s all academic as long as we don’t have shields on these satellites.”

“What’s the status on the completion of the other two?”

“Upon my request, Earth has dispatched even more men in order to finish them earlier. Teams will be working around the clock, and the other three satellites should be ready by the time their shield components are ready to be tested.”

“Another three, sir? I thought we could only build three of these in total.”

“Well, I’ve reclaimed a little more quadrinium from every ship in the fleet so we can build a fourth.”

“Alright, sounds good. But do we still have enough to jump out of here if needed?”

The captain sighed. “Chase, I’ve been thinking a lot about that… I don’t see us abandoning this planet, even if things turn bad.”

“I understand how you feel, Captain, but we might need to do it on a strategic level.”

“Well, we’ll have enough for a medium or two small jumps at most, and soon after we’d be dead in the water anyway.”

“My mission suddenly seems even more imperative,” Chase murmured.

“When are you scheduled to leave?”

“We haven’t decided an exact hour, but I’m thinking sometime tomorrow. I’d leave today but I still need to alter some systems and nail down a few final details.”

“Very well, Chase, may the gods be with you.”

Chase wanted to say that they were and he didn’t like the tone of their last visit, but he didn’t want to worry the captain more than was needed. The entire universe was in turmoil and they needed to stay focused on one task at a time. Aphroditis was adamant about the importance of defending Earth, and that should be the captain’s priority.

“Thank you, Captain. If that will be all?”

“Yes, Lieutenant Commander, you’re dismissed.”

Chase left the bridge and decided to go see Daniel, but he wasn’t in his quarters. After inquiring with the computer, he found him in the mess hall. He was about to eat his usual ration of protein bars when Chase arrived.

“Hey, Chase,” he said cheerfully.

“Hey, buddy, how’s it going?”

“Fine. About to grab a bite and go back on patrol with some new pilots from Earth. We need to train them on both our fighters and then later the F-140s.”

“That sounds great; you shouldn’t eat that though.”

Daniel looked down at the bar. “Why’s that?”

“It’s got nothing on pizza!”

“What is pizza?”

“Let me bring you one.”

Chase went to the synthesizer and quickly uploaded the Internet database he fed the one he gave to Sarah. A few minutes later, he came to the table with a double pepperoni and cheese, Chicago-style pizza.

Daniel’s eyes widened as he set it down. “What the hell is this?”

“This, my friend, is a little slice of heaven.”

Daniel frowned skeptically, but he took a tentative bit. A second later, his face transformed and Chase couldn’t help but smile.

“This is…this is unbelievable! Where did you get this? Since when do our food distributors make this?”

“Since a minute ago. I taught it most of the food recipes from Earth. Humans know how to eat. Of course, their versions are full of saturated fat and toxic ingredients, but I’ve programmed our distributor to keep the good and get rid of the bad; most of it anyway, there does seem to be a correlation between fat and taste so some of it has to still be present.” He grinned proudly.

“Toxic ingredients, you say?”

“Nothing to worry about; it’s quite safe in these proportions.”

“If you say so… Well, actually, even if you didn’t say so. I don’t think I could resist now that it’s right under my nose.” He took another huge bite.

“Glad you like it.”

“Did you just come here to bring me…what’s it called again?”

“Pizza. No, I wanted to see you a little before I leave for the mission.”

“And when is that?”

“Early tomorrow. I’ve got to finish up some calibrations for the ships, and install neuronal controls on the fighters.”

“I meant to ask you about that after your test flight. How is it working?”

“Well I didn’t think I’d like it so much, but analysis of my flight test with Sarah showed I gained in accuracy and speed by more than twenty percent.”

“Who’s Sarah?”

“Oh crap, I have to stop doing this.”

Daniel leaned forward curiously. “Doing what? Spill!”

“Commander Kepler.”

“Oh I see. Sarah is it then?” He grinned. “Good for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dude, I’ve known you since the academy. I could totally tell you were smitten with Commander Kepler.”

Chase got quiet then said, “I think I’m in love.”

“Seriously? So soon? Boy, she must be something!”

“Yeah she is. She’s sweet, beautiful, funny, and thanks to her you’re eating pizza.”

“I see. She made this for you?”

“Kind of…”

“What does that mean?”

“It would take too long to explain. Let’s just say, I learned more about humans with her last night than since we arrived on the planet.”

Daniel’s eyebrow lifted and Chase quickly back-pedaled.

“I mean…oh boy.”

“That’s alright, bud, I’m just messing with you. I must say, I’ve met a lot of pretty humans myself these last few weeks, but I haven’t fallen head over heels for any of them.”

“Yet.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed. “I guess I didn’t exactly try fraternizing much either.”

“Scary, isn’t it?”

“Tell me about it. Well, you don’t seem to have that problem.”

“I was terrified, but it just happened naturally.”

“I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

“Isn’t it going to be weird leaving for that mission tomorrow without her?”

Chase smiled happily. “Oh, I asked that she be assigned to the mission too.”

“Reeeeally?”

“Yep! Only…now I’m not sure if that was a good idea or not.”

“Why’s that? You like her, so at least you can get to know her better during the trip.”

“Yeah, but I worry about her. What if she gets hurt or worse?”

Daniel nodded thoughtfully. “I can understand that. But you know, when you think about it, whether you’re on the mission or here facing a Zarlack armada, I’m not sure it makes a huge difference. We’re all in mortal danger now, so you might as well spend some time with her while you can. Plus, if you’re with her, you can protect her.”

Chase absorbed these words then looked up with a small smile. “Actually that makes a whole lot of sense. Thanks.”

“Hey, what are friends for? Now, aren’t you supposed to be getting things ready? Or is there more you want to make me try than this awesome pizza?”

“You’ve got to try the sweet and sour pork.”

“Sweet and what now?”

“Another time. Ask the replicator. Gotta go. It was good talking with you, thanks.”

Daniel chuckled. “Same here, pal, thanks for the pizza. But what’s a replicator?”

“Sorry, I meant the food synthesizer.”

“Whatever, you’re basically an Earthling now.” Daniel laughed again but, as Chase stood up to go, he called, “Chase?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful, buddy, we need you.”

“We?”

“You know what I mean.”

Chase’s face softened. “I know. You be careful too. If I don’t come back, you’ll have to make sure this planet survives. Everything depends on it.”

“Dude, I really hate it when you get all melodramatic on me.”

“I’m serious, Dan, we cannot let Earth fall.”

“And we won’t, but I forbid you to get your sorry ass killed, you hear me?”

“Yes, sir!” Chase doubled back to the table and took a slice of pizza to go. It was gone by the time he left the mess hall.

He was still licking the cheese from his fingers when he opened the door to his quarters and saw Sarah standing in the middle of the room.

“Jeez!” He jumped back. “You scared me!”

“Commander Kepler, reporting for duty, sir!”

He grinned. “Hey you.”

She took her beret and threw it on his bunk, waving her hair out around her. Chase took a second to catch his breath. Then she stepped forward and put her finger on his chin.

“I’ve received orders to report to my new commanding officer for the mission.”

He smiled. “That’s sweet. How did you get here?”

“I hitched a ride on a transport going to the ship.”

“Well I’m thrilled to see you; I can’t seem to think about anything else but you.”

“Me neither.”

They locked eyes for a moment, then brought their lips together. Time seemed to suspend as they weaved their hands through each other’s hair, pressing themselves together as hard as they could stand.

A sudden buzz on the door broke their reverie.

Chase shot backwards, and Sarah darted to the bed to retrieve her beret.

“Enter!” he called, a little breathlessly.

“Yo, Chase,” Yanis answered as he came inside, “I just wanted to…” His eyes grew wide as he saw the two of them standing there. “Am I interrupting anything?”

“Commander Sarah Kepler. Nice to meet you, sir.”

Chase and Sarah blushed at the same time and Yanis looked between the two of them like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“The commander will be joining me on my mission tomorrow,” Chase quickly explained. “She came to report for duty.”

“To your quarters?” Yanis asked in disbelief.

“Yanis,” Chase said pointedly.

Yanis shook his head quickly. “Right, anyway, nice to meet you, Commander. I’m Yanis Tixichos—chief engineer aboard this hunk-a-junk.”

“Nice to meet you too, Chief,” she answered warmly as they shook hands.

“You’re the one who tested the F-140, aren’t you?” he asked curiously.

“Yes, a great ship.”

“Thanks. From the flight logs, you did an excellent job piloting it.”

“Thank you. Did you design it?”

“Well yes, with Chase’s assistance.”

Chase made a throaty noise. “Assistance?”

“Okay, okay, under his guidance.”

Sarah grinned. “Well you both did excellent jobs; it flies like a dream.”

“Thank you,” they said in unison.

Sarah laughed nervously then the three of them fell into awkward silence. Eventually, Chase noticed the parts Yanis was holding and seized upon the conversational life raft.

“Are those…?” he began.

“Yes, of course. That’s why I was coming here, to deliver the neuronal link controllers for the ships.” Yanis looked as relieved as he was. “I could only make two, and since I’m late on the mines project and I’ve got the captain on my back about shielding the satellites, well, I hope two will do.”

“We’ll make do, thanks.” Chase smiled, then glanced at the door.

Yanis got the message. “Great… Well, I’d better go back to engineering.”

“Right, see ya. And thanks for dropping by the interfaces.”

Yanis nodded and gave Sarah a two-finger salute. “Was nice to meet you, Commander.”

“Nice to meet you too, Chief.”

“I’ll catch up with you later, Chase. You know where to find me.”

Chase nodded quickly and Yanis disappeared through the door.

As soon as they were alone, Sarah turned to Chase with a mischievous smile. “That was…kind of hilarious.”

“Really?” Chase asked as he pulled her to him. “I thought he’d never leave…”

“Oh I’m sorry, Lieutenant Commander. Was there something else you wanted to be doing instead?”

He put a finger over her mouth, then kissed her again. But they’d barely begun when yet another sharp buzz sounded from inside her pocket.

“Oh crap,” she mumbled, pulling herself away.

“What is it?”

“The alarm. I had completely forgotten. I have to go see my sister and nephew. I promised I’d come for dinner.” She eyed him speculatively. “Wanna come?”

“I’d love to, but I really need to install these and go over a few more details before we leave. Rain check?”

“Sure, absolutely; we’ll visit them together another time. I hope you don’t mind that I have to go though.”

“Not at all. Actually I’m not sure how much work I would have managed to do if you stayed…”

She laughed lightly. “It’s a good thing then. When should I meet you tomorrow?”

“I’m thinking we should leave around eight in the morning.”

“Alright.” She headed to the door. “Have a nice evening and don’t work too late. I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

“Me too. Have fun at the party.”

“Will do.”

Then she gave him a kiss and a wink, and left him standing in his quarters.

18

Sarah arrived at 7:45, packed and ready to go. Chase was there waiting with Captain Saroudis and she crossed the deck to meet them.

“Commander Sarah Kepler, reporting for duty.”

“Nice seeing you, Commander,” said the captain kindly.

“It’s nice seeing you too, Captain.”

“Ready for this mission?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Very well, but please, the both of you, be careful. It’s very important that you locate as many survivors as possible and secure whatever quadrinium you can find, but that being said, no unnecessary risks. We need all the good pilots we can get and, if what the Lieutenant Commander tells me is true, you fall well into this category.”

She beamed. “Thank you, sir, understood.”

“You have four days tops, but the sooner you return, the better. If after that time you haven’t found any remaining ships from Alliance territory, return home. We’ll have plenty of new defense systems up and ready by then. Be safe.”

“Thank you, Captain.” She nodded and stepped back.

“Thanks, Captain, see you soon,” added Chase.

Captain Saroudis saluted and they saluted in return, before he turned and left the hangar. When he was gone, Sarah looked at Chase.

“Didn’t get much sleep last night, huh?”

“That obvious?”

“Yes, you look exhausted.”

“I’ll sleep during the jump. Did you have a good time yesterday?”

“It was fun, but I had trouble sleeping as well.”

“I wonder why that is,” Chase asked playfully. “It’s not like the weight of the world is hanging on your shoulders.”

She scowled at him. “Is that supposed to be my pep talk?”

Chase grinned and stretched ostentatiously. “That’s as good as it gets.”

She rolled her eyes and smacked him in the chest. “See you on board.”

They boarded their respective fighters and launched into space, quickly docking at what would be their home for the next five days, the Alliance dreadnought Iron Fire. Everyone else was already on board: a skeleton crew of seven people to operate the ship, engineering, and their portable med-lab, as well as a dozen fighter pilots including Chase and Sarah. There was also a contingent of Earth Alliance marines.

Chase went to the bridge to set the destination of their jump back to what was once Alliance territory. With a brief pause, he sat down in the captain’s chair and looked at the star-map holo-display. Aphroditis’ voice echoed in his head. Follow your instinct. After a moment’s consideration, he brought up the controls and entered in the numbers manually before engaging the jump engines.

The Iron Fire was a nice ship; it had seen a lot of action over the years. Chase had even served on it as wing commander under the orders of Captain Galis back in the day, but Galis had perished during the surprise Obsidian assault. As Chase thought back on his old commanding officer, he realized he hadn’t even had a chance to mourn. How many other countless men and women had perished without receiving the proper acknowledgment? How many ships had been destroyed? He wondered what Alpha Prime had become, if it had been turned to dust or if the habitants had become slaves under Obsidian tyranny. Well, one way or another, he was going to find out…

He went to his bunker to sleep and woke up eight hours later. It was already late in the day, though “days” in space didn’t mean much compared to planetary cycles. He stood up and glanced in the mirror. He still looked tired, but it would have to do. They would soon be ending their first jump and he needed to check with the crew and with Sarah. He had targeted an area at the very border of Alliance space, hoping to avoid attracting too much attention.

After making his rounds he went to check on Sarah, who had also been sleeping. They went to the mess hall together and had a delicious dinner of what she called spaghetti Bolognese. It was a little tricky to eat, but was mouth watering nonetheless. A few hours later, it was time to drop out of hyperspace and they headed to the bridge.

As Chase took a seat, he called for status updates.

“Sergeant Miller, please run long-range scans. Focus on Alliance signatures.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

After ten minutes of negative results, Chase was about to enter the coordinates for the next world, when Communications Officer Daliant reported an incoming transmission.

“Captain, we’re getting a distress call from the sixth planet of this solar system.”

“What type of planet is it?” Chase asked.

“It’s mostly a wasteland; very few life-forms, mostly animal. No industrial signs. Air is a mix of oxygen-nitrogen and carbon dioxide with traces of methane. Technically breathable, though I would recommend environmental suits to be safe.”

“Source of the distress call?”

“A ship’s beacon near the equator of the planet. According to our scans, the ship appears to be damaged. Signature of the ship is Droxian, Captain.”

Chase looked up in surprise and Sarah leaned toward him. “What are Droxians?”

“They’re a warrior race,” he explained, “once part of the Alliance, but they left it a while back.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know the details. Their core values and the Alliance’s clashed at some point, something about rituals the Alliance didn’t agree they keep practicing.”

“We’ve had similar issues on Earth with all the different religions and all. It’s probably the main reason we never united as a planet. Still”—she nodded toward the view screen—“should we help them?”

Chase turned back toward the communications officer. “How many Droxian life-forms are you detecting?”

“Just the one, Captain.”

“One…” Chase turned to Sarah. “What do you think, Commander?”

“Well, we’re here looking for allies. And while there’s only one, it could lead to others.”

“I’m just wondering if we can afford the time for an away mission.”

“Yes, but is it humane not to? I mean, what if that Droxian is wounded or starving to death? What if no other ships have passed in the area for weeks, months, or even years? You did choose this part of space because it’s very low in activity.”

Chase considered for a moment, then nodded. “Alright, let’s check it out. Sergeant, we’re going on an away mission, have a shuttle ready for us in five.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

* * *

Chase landed the transport shuttle on the surface of the planet less than a klick from the coordinates of the distress call. He and Sarah exited the shuttle in full environmental suits, and he quickly brought up a holographic display from the left forearm interface on his suit.

“That way,” he directed.

The landscape was depressing, but held a certain charm. The atmosphere was mostly sand, but was dotted with spiky rock formations. In fact, it reminded him of the place in his last vision. That had to be a good sign. He checked his navigational data once more.

“We’re getting close.”

“How violent are Droxians?” Sarah asked as she walked by his side.

“They’re much stronger than us physically, but the historical data doesn’t mention a particular aggression toward other races. They might have left the Alliance, but they didn’t fight it either.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Believe me, if they were known to be violent I would have asked for that platoon of marines to come with us.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know… Quality time?”

“How romantic. I think I’ll have a storm with my sandy face massage now.”

He looked at her until it hit home. They both laughed.

He pointed suddenly. “There’s the ship.”

“It seems pretty banged up.”

Chase advanced cautiously. “Hello? Anyone hear me?”

He and Sarah looked around but there was no answer. Then something on his arm buzzed and he checked his holographic display once more. His face tensed in a frown.

“What is it, Chase?” Sarah asked nervously.

“There’s a life sign coming toward us at an impossible speed from the east…”

They barely had time to look at each other and take out their pistols, before a gigantic beast erupted from behind a rock formation, destroying it as it passed through. Chase gasped and Sarah stifled a shriek. It looked like a cross between an elephant and a dinosaur, with a disproportionally large face filled with rows upon rows of serrated teeth. The ground shook beneath its feet and both Sarah and Chase barely had time to jump out of the way before it was upon them.

The side of its shoulder hit Chase squarely in the chest and sent him rocketing backwards as it passed. He landed with a thud several yards away, and winced as he looked through the cracked visor in his atmospheric suit.

“Chase!” Sarah screamed. “Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine. Watch out for the beast! It’s turning back!”

Sarah turned around just as the beast spotted her and started hurtling her way. Chase pulled himself to his feet and began shooting at it, causing it to shift directions and sprint toward him instead. He and Sarah continued shooting as it charged, but the blast of their pistols seemed to glance right off its hide without causing any damage.

“Get out of the way!” Sarah screamed when it became clear it wasn’t going to stop.

He leapt a few steps to the side, continuing to fire, but the beast simply altered its course to match as it rapidly closed the distance between them. Chase didn’t know what to do. They were outmatched here, both in power and in speed. Sand billowed up behind it and it was close enough that he could see its sharpened fangs, when suddenly, the sky went dark.

He looked up in alarm as a shadow fell from the heavens, landing between him and his attacker. Before he could focus his eyes, the shadow was airborne again. It leapt through the air toward the beast and, when it was at its height, a silver sword flashed out between them. For a moment, it was as if the beast was stuck in midair, but the next second it fell to the ground in pieces. Chase watched in amazed horror as dark green and purple entrails spilled onto the sand beside it. Several yards away, it looked like Sarah was trying not to throw up in her suit. Then the shadow slowly straightened out and turned toward Chase.

It was the Droxian.

She was huge, at least several feet taller than Chase, very muscular and very strong. She had long, red dreadlocks and deep-pink eyes. Like all Droxians, her skin was blue, and the parts that weren’t covered in armor showed many scars.

“Thanks,” Chase said mildly as she holstered her sword.

She looked at him, but did not respond. As the swirling sand cleared, Chase noticed she was wearing some sort of gun on her belt and instinctively raised his own blaster. It was a mistake. The second he moved it, she shot it out of his hands, enveloping him in some sort of blue energy that belted his hands to his sides. Sarah fired upon her the next second, but she rolled on the ground to dodge it and lassoed Sarah as well. The two of them struggled for a moment, but the more they did, the more the belt seemed to tighten.

“I suggest you stop trying to free yourselves,” said the woman.

“Why did you do this?” Chase asked furiously.

“I saw you reach for your weapon. Just be happy I had my weapon set in this mode or you’d both be dead by now.”

“Alright,” Sarah panted, “we’re sorry if we seemed aggressive. We didn’t know your intentions.”

“Can you release us now?” Chase added as he strained against the binding.

“That depends.”

“On what?”

The Droxian leveled them with her eyes. “I need help getting off this planet.”

“That’s kind of why we’re here, to see if we could render assistance.”

“I need to go to another part of space as well.”

“Well, maybe we can track your ship onto ours. Help you repair and be on your way.”

“Unfortunately my ship is too badly damaged for that, and I need to be on my way as soon as possible.”

Chase gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry to hear that, but we’re also short on time and on a very important mission of our own.”

The Droxian almost smiled. “Then I’m sorry, but I have no other choice but to leave you down here and take your ship.”

Sarah squirmed furiously. “Wait a minute, we came here to help!”

“And I just saved both your lives, so the way I see it, we’re even. Since you came on a bigger ship, you will be rescued soon.”

“Just a second,” Chase stalled, “maybe we can find a way to help each other.”

“I don’t see how. You just said you don’t have time, and neither do I.”

“Can you at least tell us why?” Sarah had finally stopped struggling.

“I’ve been targeted by some Obsidian scum. They put a price on my head.”

“We’re sorry to hear that. Maybe we can help.”

“Sarah?” asked Chase nervously.

“Look, Chase, maybe this woman can help us locate our friends.”

“Who are your friends?” the Droxian asked curiously.

“We are Alliance, well, ex-Alliance, and we’re looking for survivors,” Chase replied.

She thought for a moment. “There has been some ship movement not too far from where the Obsidian were hunting me. Maybe they’re still around.”

“Can you lead us there?” Chase asked imploringly.

“I will if you help me get to where I’m going first.”

Chase fidgeted with agitation. “Look, I understand it’s not nice having a price on your head, but now that you met us, we can protect you. So I think our current predicament is more important. We are really short on time.”

“So am I,” she sneered. “In fact, I’m wondering why I’m still here talking with you!”

“What is so important that you need to go now?”

“They have my son!”

“What?” Chase and Sarah said in unison.

“They took my son and, if I don’t find him or if they find me, he will be killed, tortured or both. I cannot take any chances; I don’t expect you to understand.”

Sarah’s eyes welled up. “I do understand.”

“Even so, your boss over there is adamant about his mission; I can tell just by looking in his eyes.”

“Then look into mine.”

The woman approached Sarah and looked deeply into her eyes. “I suppose you do understand, but that changes nothing. I cannot take the chance that you’ll cross me once I’m on your ship. I’m sorry. I’m grateful you came down to help, but I have to go now.”

“Please…wait. What’s your name?”

The Droxian grunted something, then said, “I’m Ryonna.”

“Ryonna, please let us help you. I give you my word we won’t stop you.”

“You understand how I feel because you’re female too, but this man won’t.”

Sarah actually smiled. “I think I can convince him.”

“I’m right here, you know!” Chase scowled.

“Chase, we need to help her!”

“Look, I’m also very sorry they took your child, and I will help you in any way I can, but we can’t afford to lose the time.”

Ryonna threw up her hands. “See, he won’t help.”

“I didn’t say that,” Chase countered. “Maybe we can spare a few men to help you and, in return, you can be of help to us. Would that be acceptable?”

Ryonna hesitated a long time, before coming to stand right in front of Chase. Instead of answering, she pressed something on her weapon and the beams restraining them vanished into thin air.

“It’s been a very long time since I trusted anyone; even longer with someone I know nothing about,” she said quietly. “Don’t make me regret this.”

Chase nodded quickly. “I appreciate that, and I give you my word we won’t. Let’s help each other, and let’s do it quickly since we’re both running out of time.”

Sarah stepped forward. “Chase, I propose we split up. I’ll take a few marines and help Ryonna with her son, while you can continue looking for the fleet and some quadrinium.”

“I can help you find quadrinium,” Ryonna volunteered.

Sarah and Chase glanced at each other, relieved and delighted.

“That’s very good news,” Chase sighed. “We need as much as possible.”

“Well, if you have a tractor beam, you should start with the amount in my cargo.”

Chase frowned. “We scanned the planet and didn’t detect anything.”

“That’s because my cargo bay is shielded. Probably the last damn system still working on it. Before a price was put on my head and my child was taken away, I was a smuggler.”

“Very well. How much are you carrying?”

“About five tons.”

Chase’s mouth dropped open. “Five tons?”

“Is that a lot?” Sarah asked to the side.

“It’s enough to power our fleet for the next year, so yeah, I’d say it is. My best-case scenario was that we’d find a ton or two. This is unbelievable!”

“Does that mean you’ll help find my son?”

“Absolutely, if you’re willing to sell us this quadrinium…”

Ryonna threw back her hair impatiently. “Look, help me get my son back, and it’s yours.”

“We have a deal. I suggest we hurry back to our ship and be on our way.”

“Very well, lead the way.”

They raced back to the shuttle, keeping a wary eye out for any more beasts, and quickly docked on board the Iron Fire. A few minutes later, the Droxian ship had been tractored into the shuttle bay and everyone assembled on the bridge.

“Alright, Ryonna.” Chase gestured ahead. “Where do we go?”

“Our first destination is the third planet in the Hathan system.”

“First destination?”

“I don’t know the exact location of where they are holding my son, but I’m fairly certain someone on this planet does.”

“Fairly certain?”

“Chase,” Sarah tempered him, “I believe we must do all we can to help Ryonna. After all, we have all the quadrinium we need for the short term, and maybe she can help us locate more in the future.”

“I can,” Ryonna promised. “Droxian space is incredibly rich in quadrinium.”

Chase nodded. “Alright, Sergeant, get us to the Hathan system, maximum speed!”

“Just a moment,” Sarah said. “Shouldn’t we send some fighters to look for more Alliance ships before we go?”

“Blindly?”

Ryonna stepped forward. “I can give you their last position; I encountered some Alliance vessels not long ago.”

“Do you remember how many ships?”

“Three maybe four battleships and escorts. But there have also been Obsidian ships in this part of space; they have sent many destroyer groups to hunt down the survivors.”

“Three battleships,” said Chase hopefully. “That sounds really good. And you say more ships have been escaping?”

“From what I’ve heard, yes. A few battlegroups retreated from the all-out attack before being destroyed. I don’t know how many though.”

Chase and Sarah exchanged a smile. “That’s excellent news. Can you give us the coordinates of where you encountered them last?”

“Yes, they were located in a system near Droxian space.”

“Droxian space?”

“Yes. Obsidian hasn’t attacked our people just yet. We don’t know why.”

Chase frowned. “How’s the state of the Droxian military?”

“We are stronger than ever, but my people are no friends of the Alliance.”

“But are we considered enemies?”

Ryonna tilted her head to the side. “No, not really. We simply prefer our independence; we wish to keep to ourselves. We only break that isolation to trade, and only with species outside both Obsidian and the Alliance. That being said, we do not take kindly when people trespass in our space; that’s most likely why your ships sought refuge there. They’ll be relatively safe from Obsidian, but you should know, to my people, it’s considered an act of war.”

There were anxious whispers around the bridge and Chase held up his hand. “We need to talk to the Droxians. Maybe we could convince them to help us in our cause.”

Ryonna shook her head. “My people won’t help.”

“Why not?”

“While we haven’t been attacked by Obsidian yet, my people have been down the Alliance path before. I don’t think they’ll go back.”

“Look, the Alliance is no more, but the Obsidian Empire has dispatched Zarlack ships to take over smaller worlds and expand. Eventually, they will turn toward Droxia.”

“Zarlacks?” Ryonna looked startled. “What do they have to do with Obsidian? I thought they were extinct.”

“So did we, but they’re back. And they allied themselves with Obsidian.”

“That’s not good,” she murmured. “That explains why they were able to dispatch the Alliance so fast.”

“Exactly, so it’s in everyone’s interest to make an alliance, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I understand, but I doubt my government will commit their military.”

“Any chance we can go ask them together?”

“After we find my son?”

“After we find your son, yes.”

“I don’t see why not. In the meantime, if you send ships, make sure you don’t cross Droxian space just yet. The Alliance vessels were in a system called Froxnard, about seven hours hyperspace from Droxia.”

Chase turned to the side. “Sergeant, how far is Froxnard at sub-light speed?”

“About ten days travel from here.”

“So, it’s not an option.”

“You can make it in much less than that if you use a wormhole not far from here,” Ryonna interjected.

Chase’s eyes lit up. “Can you tell us where to find that wormhole?”

“I wouldn’t have mentioned it if I couldn’t.”

“Great! Hang on, Ryonna. Sergeant, how long until we get to Hathan at hyperspace?”

“Under a day.”

“And time to Droxia from Hathan?”

“About another day and change.”

“Alright then. Sergeant, have Lieutenant Darkis take two fighter wings, load them with as much quadrinium they can hold, and send them to Froxnard. They are to try to locate any surviving Alliance ships they can.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

A few minutes later, four fighters launched from the Iron Fire’s shuttle bay and vectored away from the ship. Shortly after their departure, the Iron Fire entered hyperspace.

19

While en route to the Hathan system, Chase and Sarah were eating breakfast in the mess hall of the Iron Fire.

“I didn’t expect us to find quadrinium so fast!” Chase exclaimed between bites.

Sarah grinned. “Good thing I insisted we go to the planet’s surface.”

Chase reflected on that last comment for a little while and couldn’t help but remember the vision and what the goddess had told him. How it was crucial that Sarah came along.

“Did I say something wrong?” Sarah asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“Not at all, sorry. I’m just—a little overwhelmed by everything, I guess.”

“That’s okay, I understand. I wanted to go for a run anyway. Maybe I should give you some space; you seem like you need a little time alone.”

“Wait, please don’t leave on my account.”

“I’m not. Don’t worry, Chase.” She kissed him softly on the lips and left the mess hall.

Chase watched her go and couldn’t help but think how lucky he was to have met her. What were the odds that amidst his entire universe being destroyed, he would find something great buried in the rubble. But then it dawned on him…what were the odds? Was it plain luck, or was it all orchestrated? Aphroditis had shaken the very foundations he stood upon and, while he’d like to believe that every person had the free will to shape their own destiny, what if there was some higher force? What if it was all pre-ordained and he and everyone else were just pawns in a bigger game? The thought sent cold shivers down his spine.

“I have seen that look before,” Ryonna said as she approached his table. “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all, please sit.”

She nodded gratefully and pulled up a chair. “I wanted to thank you for keeping your word. When we first met, I didn’t think you would help. But Commander Kepler is very persuasive.”

Chase sucked in a breath. Even more evidence of Sarah’s “crucial” role.

“Yes she is, and a very empathic person too.”

“You two are an item aren’t you?” Ryonna grinned.

“Is it that obvious?”

“We Droxian females can sense these things, but it doesn’t take an acute sense to see how you two look at each other.” She smiled at Chase kindly before continuing. “Too bad her life is almost over.”

Chase paled and sat back in horror. “What? What the hell are you talking about?!”

“I…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Well you did, so you’d better explain yourself or I swear to god I’ll⁠—”

She held up her hand to cut him off. “Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. Let me explain. Some of my people have a gift. When we meet someone, we have a flash of the moment that person is going to die. While I can’t be sure of when it will happen, I did see Sarah’s death when we met on the planet. She looked almost exactly as she does now. So I’d say it would have to happen soon. Unless your species has a very long lifespan…?”

Chase could barely speak. “About a hundred, maybe a hundred and forty years when all goes well.”

“Then she doesn’t have that long a time. I’m very sorry.”

He pounded the table between them. “This is nonsense!”

“Again, please accept my apology. This is how things are on Droxia; we have this gift but, if you ask me, it’s more like a curse. But I assure you, it’s quite accurate.”

And there it was again. Doubt about the future. Doubt that Chase wasn’t in control of his own destiny. Doubt that there was anything he could do to save her…

Ryonna examined him. “There’s that look of doubt again.”

“What about it?” He glared.

“I’ve seen it many times, the look of doubt. The look people have when they question everything about their existence.”

“Yeah well, life has a way of doing that to you when goddesses speak in your dreams, and strangers tell you the woman you love will die soon.”

“Goddesses?”

“I’ve had these…visions where I talk with the goddess of love, Aphroditis.”

Ryonna raised her eyebrows. “I’ve heard rumors about the Olympians. But this is the first time I’ve met someone who has actually talked with one, in a dream or otherwise. Why does it make you question your beliefs?”

“Why wouldn’t it? I always believed I was in control of my destiny; I always believed my actions shaped my universe.”

“They do. After all, it’s your actions that brought you here, so why question it?”

“Because if it wasn’t for Aphroditis, I wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t have met you, and...”

“And you wouldn’t have known about Commander Kepler.”

“…Yeah.”

There was a heavy silence at the table for a long while.

“Look, Lieutenant Commander⁠—”

“Call me Chase.”

“Chase, we Droxians don’t believe in gods, but we believe in destiny. With such power as to see people’s death in visions, how couldn’t we?”

“Doesn’t it affect your choices?”

“Of course it does.”

“Then how can you fall in love if you already know how and when your partner will die?”

She smiled wisely. “Well that’s the good thing about this particular power. Only a few of us possess it, and it doesn’t work on other Droxians. I don’t know when my son will die, and I didn’t see the death of my husband when it came.”

Chase softened. “I’m sorry. What happened?”

“Nothing special. An accident. I don’t like to talk about it.”

“Sorry, didn’t want to intrude into your personal life…even though it’s kind of the way this conversation is going.”

She laughed. “You’re right, I started it.”

As the smile faded from his face, he asked, “Have you ever been wrong?”

She gave him a long look. “Hold on to your beliefs. Prove me wrong. Make sure it doesn’t happen.”

“Well, can you tell me more about what you saw?” he asked desperately.

“It...” she paused. “We can tell other people about the visions, but we don’t have the right to divulge details. And I shouldn’t have told you about Sarah because you’re so close to her. It’s just been a long few weeks and I’m grateful to you for your help.”

“Why can’t you divulge details?” he pressed.

“You know, I actually don’t know why.”

“Maybe to make sure people don’t get advance warning and change their fate. But, if they could change their fate, wouldn’t that be a gift and not a curse?”

“That’s an interesting question and a point of view I never considered. Our laws⁠—”

“Laws are sometimes meant to be broken. Aren’t you a smuggler, by definition, going against the law?”

“I am, but I became one out of desperation. I do it only to survive.”

“That doesn’t change the fact you are who you are. If you can break one law, why not break another?”

“Because this law is taught to us at the youngest age. There’s even a warning attached.”

“What warning?”

“Our elders tell us that if we break the law, the universe will punish all of Droxia.”

Chase leaned forward. “Now that sounds like some cosmic propaganda if you ask me, and it doesn’t make more sense than why you get to see what you see and why it doesn’t work on your own people.”

“Perhaps...”

“Okay, let’s table this for now. Except…what about me?”

“What about you?”

“When will I die, according to you?”

She hesitated. “I’d rather not talk about it. Like I said, I can’t reveal anything to you directly.”

“Oh come on!” he cried. “We’re helping you get your son. It’s the least you can do.”

Ryonna looked down at her plate, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore. A tear ran down her cheek and she wiped it quickly away.

Chase froze. “That doesn’t look very reassuring.”

“No, it’s not about you. I…all this talk of death reminds me I don’t even know if my son is still alive.” She sobbed. “I can’t lose him!”

“I understand, and I can’t lose Sarah. It doesn’t matter what you say, I won’t let it happen!”

“I’m glad, and I hope with all my heart you will prove me wrong.”

“I would have better luck if you gave me some details…”

She smiled ruefully. “Maybe later. Let’s complete the mission first.”

“Alright, let’s get...what’s your son’s name?”

“Ronan.”

“That’s a nice name. How old is he?”

“Just over sixteen.”

“Look, Ryonna, we’ll do all we can to get him back. I give you my word.”

“Thank you, Chase. If we do, I give you my word I’ll give you all the details I can about Sarah. Maybe, as you say, it will make a difference.”

“Fair enough.”

She got up and left the mess hall without saying another word. As he stared at her tray of uneaten food, Chase couldn’t help but wonder what the universe had in store for him. He certainly hoped it had nothing to do with what he’d just heard. Even though they had only known each other for a few days, Sarah had become the center of his life. She had brought a flame and passion to his heart that he hadn’t known could exist, and he would lay down his life to protect it and defend her.

Unfortunately, he might actually have to.

And soon.

* * *

A short while later, the Iron Fire arrived in the Hathan system. Sarah entered the bridge, followed shortly by Ryonna. Chase was already sitting in the captain’s chair.

“Sergeant, status report?” he asked.

“We’ve arrived at the fifth planet of the Hathan system as instructed, Captain. There are heavy defense platforms around this world. And…incoming transmission.”

“On screen.”

An alien face appeared on the screen. It looked almost humanoid, with pale green skin and dark spots dotting the sides of its cheeks. But upon a closer look, he didn’t have any ears.

“Unknown ship, this is Sector Atrak from Hathan Security. Please identify yourselves and state your intentions.”

Chase stood up from the chair. “My name is Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos from the Earth Alliance. We would like to land on your planet for trade.”

“We are unaware of this Alliance. Please be advised the defense systems around this world will take deadly action in case you display the slightest sign of aggression.”

“We understand. Nothing to worry about; we come in peace.”

“Very well then, you are authorized to land on platform seventeen. We are sending navigational data as well as an escort. Please be advised, docking fees are thirty Hathan credits per day.”

“Thank you, Sector Atrak.”

“Atrak out.”

The transmission ended and the face of Sector Atrak disappeared. The second he was gone, Chase turned to Ryonna. “What now?”

“Now we go to the traders’ part of town. There’s a bar there where we must locate an individual called Grolax Trakis. He has the information I need to locate my son.”

“What about the docking fees? We don’t have their currency.”

“Not to worry, Chase, we’ll get what we need from the surface.”

“Very well. Sergeant, follow the navigational path we’ve just received.” He stood up and prepared to go to the surface. “Ryonna, Sarah, you’re with me.”

Ryonna hesitated. “I’d rather go alone.”

Chase shook his head. “My ship, my rules. We need you alive if we’re to continue this mission, and I’m not about to let you risk your life without backup.”

“Very well.”

All three left the bridge and headed toward the cargo bay. They boarded a shuttle and followed their escorts to the planet. Once landed on platform seventeen, the doors of the shuttle lowered and they took in the magnificent sight that was the city of Hathan Prime, a metropolis like no other, according to Ryonna. Chase stared appreciatively, but it took the wind out of Sarah as she stared in wonder at the dancing lights and thousands of tiny ships. They looked like phosphorescent insects, buzzing around buildings that were easily ten times higher than any skyscraper on Earth.

“This is unbelievable,” she gasped.

“It looks a lot like some of the cities from my own world. Well, how they used to look; I don’t think they still stand today,” Chase muttered.

Sarah’s eyes grew wide and she reached out to put her hand on his shoulder, but he flashed her a tight smile and turned to Ryonna.

“Lead the way.”

They exited the landing pad and took an elevator all the way down to street level. The streets were as impressive as the sky view of the town. Colorful, holographic billboards, blinking ads, and multi-color-coded sectors of town made the world look a bit mesmerizing, especially for Sarah, who had never seen such things. She turned at almost every corner to check out all the different aliens. Hathan Prime was a known hub for commerce, so there were plenty to choose from. Reptilians, insectoids. Humanoids with tentacles, horns, implants, augmentations… If it existed somewhere in the galaxy, it was probably here.

“All good?” Chase asked Sarah.

“I’m fine. This is just really overwhelming. In my wildest dreams I never thought there were so many different life-forms in the universe.”

“I’m surprised. That movie we saw pictured a similar variety.” He laughed.

“Yes, but that’s a movie, Chase. The first physically different alien I saw was yesterday when we met Ryonna. Come to think of it, how come your ships don’t have other species? I thought the Alliance included many different worlds?”

“It does, but most of us have similar genetic backgrounds to humans. Heck, from what the docs have ascertained so far, we have almost the exact same DNA.”

“So none of these species here are on any of the Alliance ships?”

“There are some; we also have a few onboard our ships on Earth.”

“Really? I never saw any.”

“We didn’t know how humanity would react to seeing radically different species on the planet. We thought it best to introduce only humans for contact situations.”

She frowned. “I find that odd.”

“I guess it is, but look, in the beginning, we didn’t know if you’d even welcome us.”

“You saved our world, why wouldn’t we?”

“Because it might be our presence that attracted them to you in the first place.”

Sarah’s head jerked up. “Are you serious?”

“Right… I was supposed to keep that to myself.”

She rolled her eyes. “Good job!” He cringed and she chuckled. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything to my superiors. I don’t care whether or not you accidently brought them to Earth. I care that you risked your life to save us. That says a lot about someone.”

Chase smiled half-heartedly and reached for her hand, but Ryonna sighed deeply and turned toward them, interrupting the moment.

“Whether you did or didn’t bring the Zarlacks to Earth is irrelevant. The Obsidian want to rule the entire universe. After they took out their biggest opponent, the Alliance, it was only a matter of time before they started taking out smaller worlds, one by one. It was going to happen sooner or later, so Earth is just lucky some friendly battleships were nearby.”

Sarah turned to him brightly. “See, Chase, it might actually have been a good thing it happened this way.”

“Let’s hope so,” he murmured, but he felt like a weight had been lifted. Somehow it was a relief to hear it from another species, that what they did was the right thing.

Ryonna nodded once, but then held up her hand. “We’re here. This shop will give us credit—if we can find something to trade, that is.”

It looked like any pawn shop on Earth, with the exception of the wide array of mysterious objects placed neatly on separate cushions, some of them levitating. Ryonna approached the store’s owner and began speaking in a deep, throaty language.

Sarah leaned over to Chase. “Do you know what she’s saying?”

“No, I think she’s speaking Droxian.”

“How come so many races understand English?”

“It’s Universum too, remember? I know it sounds similar, but it’s not exactly English.”

“Well, what Sector Atrak said sounded English to me.”

“That was the computer translating Hathanese to Universum in real time.”

“Oh... Kinda like a universal translator, cool!”

Ryonna turned to Chase. “This one isn’t very interested in my jewelry. Apparently Droxian craft isn’t selling well on this planet. Any of you have anything of value you could part with?”

“I plum forgot to pack when we were attacked and driven away from our part of space,” Chase said sarcastically.

Ryonna shot him a look and turned to Sarah. “You?”

“All I have is my watch and it was a gift from my dad… Oh, what the heck. If the fate of our planet is hanging in the balance, I think he would have understood.” She took it off and handed it to the shopkeeper.

He made a snorting sound that might or might not have been a language.

“What did he say?” she asked.

“That he doesn’t know what it is.”

“It’s a watch. It tells the hour of the day; surely they measure time here.”

Ryonna translated the information to the shopkeeper, who answered her with something that sounded like a question.

“He asks why there are twelve separations.”

“Because there are twenty four hours in a day.”

“On your planet perhaps; Hathan rotation is thirty cycles.”

She bit her lip. “Oh crap, let me guess: each world has a different way of numbering hours and days?”

“Oh yes. Minutes too. Each galaxy and each planet has their own rotation.”

“I should know that. Alright…Tell him maybe a collector will be interested in it. It’s real gold.”

Ryonna and Chase exchanged a glance, and Ryonna asked, “So?”

“It’s a precious metal.”

“…Not so much on Hathan.”

“Or most worlds,” added Chase.

Sarah looked between them. “Don’t tell me it’s worthless?”

Ryonna shrugged. “On Droxia it’s used for making pipes.”

Sarah frowned. “That’s…a disturbing image. Well, okay, what materials are considered valuable here?”

Chase looked at her sympathetically. “I don’t think you have them on your planet.”

She jutted out her chin. “I’m sure I have something. Let me just look.” She frantically searched her pockets, emptying them on the counter. The shopkeeper looked on in disgust, but when she dropped her keys he screeched something that sounded positively festive.

“He likes that,” said Ryonna.

“What? My keys?”

“No, that little totem attached to them.”

“He likes...Pikachu?”

“What’s Pi-kat-chou?” Chase asked curiously.

“It’s a character from an animated television show on Earth. It’s for kids.” She looked down at the charm. “My nephew gave it to me for luck…” The other two stared at her impatiently and she quickly unlooped it from the keys. “…And this situation obviously needs a little.”

“Ryonna, how much will he give us for it?” Chase inquired.

Ryonna turned to the shopkeeper and they negotiated for a good long while. After a few minutes, she turned back to Sarah.

“Well, he wants the keys too. He says the whole thing is something he’s never seen before. He’s okay to give us twenty credits for the ‘pi-kat-chou’ thing, but is willing to go to three hundred for the whole set.”

Sarah shook her head with a smile. “So basically, if I sell him just Pikachu we’re still short for paying the landing fee, and if I sell him everything I’m homeless.”

Chase turned to her in alarm. “Can’t they be replaced?”

She grinned. “I was trying to make a joke. I have doubles, take the three hundred!”

“He’s also willing to give you a symbolic credit for the watch.”

She twisted it around her wrist. “I’ll pass. Tell him thanks for the offer though.”

While Ryonna made the final exchange, Sarah started browsing the various items in the shop. Chase joined her.

“All good?” he double-checked. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Are you kidding? Unless we give him the address of my flat, those keys are pretty worthless. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost them in the last few years.”

“Good, I wouldn’t want you to part with anything you didn’t want to.”

“Nothing to worry about here. This is an interesting pawn shop, but I don’t even know what most of these items do.”

“What’s a pawn shop?”

“It’s this type of store. You leave an item and the shop gives you money. You have thirty days to come back with the money again or he can sell your stuff.”

“Then this is not a pawn shop; it’s more like your tourist shops on Earth.”

“Oh, that’s just a regular shop, and I’m sure I saw weapons in that area back there.”

“Yes, he sells weapons too.”

“Anything interesting? I mean, well, I suppose two hundred and seventy credits won’t buy me much.”

“Landing fees in Hathan are particularly high, especially for unknown vessels. Traders and people that come here often don’t pay thirty credits for a day of landing.”

“How much do they pay then?”

“Probably one hundred or two for the year.”

She whirled around indignantly. “So we’ve been taken for suckers.”

“Well, we didn’t have much choice.”

“How much is the change worth then? Enough for me to buy something nice?”

“Actually yes. Fairly good second-hand weapons are found for about a hundred credits. There are some more expensive options, depending on quality, build, state, charge…that sort of thing.”

“So…where’s the weapon aisle again?” Sarah said with a huge smile.

Chase grinned. “That way. Let’s go get you a souvenir.”

“You read my mind.”

Chase laughed shortly. “That would be Ryonna’s job.”

“What?”

His face darkened. “Never mind.”

Fortunately, Sarah seemed to dismiss this as a failed attempt at humor and, the next moment, it was forgotten as she descended upon the weapons like a kid in a candy store.

“Any light-sabers?” She giggled with delight.

Chase turned toward the shelves. “Let me see.”

She stopped cold. “You’re shitting me, right?”

“Not at all. Such weapons exist, only you don’t need the ‘force’ to operate them.” He thumbed through the different options before stopping. “Hmm, this is pretty similar.” He handed her something that looked more like a gun than a light-saber.

“I didn’t ask for a…pisto-laser, Chase.”

“Actually, this is both.”

Her mouth fell open. “Get out of town!”

He glanced back at her. “Later maybe, when the mission is over.”

She chuckled and he raised an eyebrow. “It’s an expression,” she explained.

His face cleared. “Oh. I hoped ‘you’re shitting me’ to be one as well, but I kept it to myself…”

“It means I’m very surprised.”

“See, I told you Universum and English are different. At least on how we use the words.”

“That’s because you ‘advanced’ species aren’t used to slang.”

“Slang?”

“It’s a way of using normal or odd words with a different meaning.”

Chase shook his head. “I still have plenty to learn about Earth culture.”

“That’s okay. I have plenty to learn about your culture as well. Though I must say, I’m unimpressed with the lack of entertainment and poor choice in variety of food.”

“Centuries of war will do that to a civilization. We once had extremely talented artists, and maybe something reminiscent of what you call entertainment. But constant warfare in the universe forced us to adjust our priorities.”

She looked down at her gun. “I guess I can understand that. During times of war, entertainment and good food wasn’t a priority for us either. But our world wars never lasted longer than a few years.”

Chase gestured to the weapon. “Come on—let me show you how this works.”

He briefly took her through the three settings; stun, kill, and something that could disintegrate most life-forms. Not Zarlacks, he explained. Their strong almost metal-like reptilian scales would prevent heavy damage, but he hoped that repeated shots could mortally wound one. When he was finished, he showed her the thumb-activated laser blade. When he pressed down, a bright white column of light sprang into the air in front of them.

“Aw,” Sarah sighed with disappointment. “It didn’t make a whoosh.”

“It’s a tactical weapon,” Chase explained. “No need to broadcast your position when you’re coming up behind your enemy for a stealth kill.”

“Good point,” she grinned, “but not as fun.”

Chase smiled at her excitement, but the longer he watched her playing with the weapon the more he worried about the time when she’d need to use it.

His smile faded and he took her hand, pulling her to the front of the store. “Come on, let’s pay for this and go.”

When they were back on the streets, he turned to Ryonna.

“What’s the plan?”

“We’re heading to a well-known bar. That’s where I can find the man I’m going to…interview about my son.”

“Interview?” Sarah asked skeptically.

“I’d rather do it alone,” Ryonna warned. “It could get ugly.”

“All the more reason for you to have help,” Chase insisted.

“You can wait for me outside. If someone runs out, try to stop him.”

“I would think three is more intimidating than one.”

Ryonna bit her lip. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Chase, but humans aren’t the most intimidating species… You’re rather small. No offense.”

He grinned. “None taken. And we aren’t small, you’re huge.”

“Hence, more imposing.”

He shook his head in exasperation. “Alright, fine. We’ll do it your way—this time.”

Ryonna smiled graciously. “Good. We’re almost there.”

“How do we even know he’s here?” Sarah asked doubtfully.

“It’s his base of operation.” Ryonna pointed at a nearby building. “There it is. Chase, why don’t you stay in the front, and Sarah, there’s a door in the back. Would you mind?”

“I’m on it,” Sarah replied and headed around toward the back.

Chase took a step after her. “I’d rather we didn’t split…”

Ryonna turned to Chase and looked deep in his eyes. “Now is not the time.”

He stared at her for a moment, then nodded. Sarah disappeared behind him, and he took up position as Ryonna headed inside. After a few minutes of waiting, he clicked the communicator on his wrist and a holographic image of Sarah sprang to life.

“Status?” he asked.

“I’m here at the back door. Staring at some sort of rats and standing in garbage.”

He bit back a smile and saw her eyes narrow.

“Next time…you take the back.”

* * *

Inside the bar, Ryonna approached a table where a blue humanoid alien was sipping a simmering red drink. She sat down across from him before he could protest.

His eyes widened and he set down the drink in alarm. “Ryonna, you’ve got balls to come here. Do you know Obsidian has placed a bounty on your head?”

“How much?”

“Ten thousand credits. I have to say, I’m more than a little tempted to cash it in.”

Ryonna smiled dangerously. “Is your life only worth ten thousand, Grolax?”

“I guess not,” he muttered. “What do you want?”

“I need to find my son.”

“And this is my problem why?”

“Because you still owe me for the last favor I did you, and because if you don’t start talking, I might just start tearing this place apart. I’ll start with the mirror behind the drinks, so unless you want your sorry-ass reflection to be the last thing you see, you’ll start talking.”

“You know I don’t like threats, especially empty ones.”

“Oh Grolax,” she smiled sweetly. “This is no empty threat.”

He looked at her as if gauging her level of intent, before his composure broke and he looked down at the table. “I did hear something, but you know how it works. You give me something of value, and I tell you what I know. With the price on your head, you can’t just come in here and try to cash in on an old favor.”

“Look, Grolax, we’ve worked together for a while now. I’m willing to be civilized about this, but do not push me; you’ll regret it.”

Then, all at once, three Horak goons headed toward the table. Ryonna looked up in alarm just in time to see Grolax’s hand retreating from a hidden button beneath the table.

“Grolax?” she demanded as the goons got closer. They weren’t as tall as she was, but they were about twice her width.

“I’m sorry, Ryonna, but business is business. You understand, yes?”

Before he could say anything else, Ryonna sprang into action. With one hand, she propelled herself up from the table, kicking out in a circular motion that sent two Horaks flying. Before the third one could react, her knife had sliced through his heart. With a scowl, she removed the bloody blade and held it under Grolax’s throat while he was still reaching for his blaster.

“Come now, let’s not do anything rash,” she said calmly. “You and I both know what will happen if you don’t drop your weapon this instant.”

He dropped the blaster on the table with a splash and a clatter.

“Alright, calm down, Ryonna. You wouldn’t want to kill the only person here who knows where your son is being held.”

“I might if you don’t start talking, NOW!”

“Alright, alright, the Obsidian Empire has him.”

“I already know this.”

“Right, well, they transferred him yesterday.”

“Where to?”

“Hellstar Prison.”

Ryonna’s face fell and she stared down at the table. Grolax leaned forward but, the next second, she punched him full in the face. Dropping a coin on the table, she left the bar.

The frigid night air bit into her face as she joined Chase. “Let’s go,” she said shortly.

He blinked in surprise. “You have what you came for?”

“Yes.” She walked at a brisk pace, not waiting for him to follow.

He stared after her in confusion, before quickly calling Sarah to join them. She caught up with them a second later and hurried after Ryonna’s retreating back.

“Ryonna, you’re walking too fast for us,” she called.

“We need to get off this planet as soon as possible.”

“Can you tell us what you learned? Where’s your son?”

“In prison.”

Sarah and Chase exchanged a look before Sarah ran up behind her and put a comforting hand on her back.

“I’m so sorry,” she murmured as she struggled to keep pace.

“It’s not your fault.”

“Do you know where they’re holding him?”

There was a hitch in her step and her voice was strained. “Hellstar.”

Chase’s face tightened in concern and Sarah whispered, “What’s Hellstar?”

“It’s a high-security hell hole from which there is no escape,” he replied.

“Well then…how do we get him out?”

“You don’t,” Ryonna answered. “I will.”

“Ryonna,” Chase began, “let’s be rational about this⁠—”

She spun toward him. “What would you do if it was your son? Or if it was hers?”

Chase hesitated, then confessed, “I would do anything to get him out.”

“Then you know why we must part ways.”

“Can’t we help her?” Sarah asked quickly.

Chase looked down but shook his head. “Unfortunately, we can’t. Hellstar is simply too far away from here; we don’t have the time.”

There was a crash and they glanced up to see Ryonna kicking a trash bin out of her way as she stormed back to the ship. Sarah looked at him with muted concern, and he shook his head again helplessly.

“We just don’t have the time.”

20

Back on the Iron Fire, the ship was already breaking orbit by the time they reached the bridge. Before Chase could sit down, Ryonna turned to him.

“I need transportation; can you spare a fighter?”

“We can, but they don’t have jump capabilities. It will take you months to get to Hellstar without a jump-capable ship.”

“I’ll find a way. I just need something that allows me to travel. My ship is too badly damaged.”

“Ryonna, I can imagine how you must be feeling, but wouldn’t it be better for you to come back with us? Let us repair your ship; you might even get to Hellstar faster and maybe we can help you break out your son together.”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you’re fighting for your own survival right now. There’s a huge battle coming for you and your people, and you don’t know if you’re going to survive it. Even if you do, your priorities might shift. Believe me, I’m doing what I know has the most chance of saving my son’s life. But this path I must walk alone.”

“What if I came with you?” Sarah volunteered.

“Absolutely not!” answered Chase swiftly.

“Sarah, you are sweet and kind. I felt from the first moment I met you that you were someone I could trust, but you wouldn’t last an hour in Hellstar,” Ryonna said gravely.

“And how long do you think you’ll last,” Chase tried to reason with her.

“As long as it takes to find my son.”

“And then what?”

“Then we’ll break out together.”

“I thought no one had ever escaped from Hellstar.”

“I’ve heard of one man who did it. I’ll find him and learn what he knows.”

Chase shook his head. “That’s a suicide mission, you know that? But…I get the feeling that that’s not going to change your mind. I wish we could help.”

“You’ve already helped more than I thought you would. Thanks, to both of you. Keep the quadrinium. Something tells me you’ll need it more than I will. And I hope you can save Earth. If Sarah is any indication, it seems like a good planet with good people.”

Tears welled up in Sarah’s eyes and she started to say something else, but Chase squeezed her hand and they watched in silence as Ryonna left the bridge.

* * *

An hour later, Ryonna was looking for whatever she could salvage from her shuttle when Sarah approached her quietly.

“What can I do for you, Sarah?” she asked as she pried open a container.

“I...I wanted to know if there’s anything I can do for you. And to give you this.” She held out the remaining credits from their time on Hathan. “It’s not much; it probably won’t get you very far.”

Ryonna took it gratefully. “No. Thank you. It could actually be very helpful.”

“Isn’t the quadrinium in your cargo worth a hundred times more?”

“Even more than that.”

“Then why give it to us? Keep some of it at least.”

“There’s a bounty on my head; nobody would do business with me now. They’d more likely shoot me to get the bounty and cargo instead. The quadrinium is very important to you and, as it stands, it is now worthless to me, so it was an easy choice.”

“Well, easy or not, we are extremely grateful.”

“As am I. If you hadn’t come to the planet’s surface, I might still be rotting down there. Now, not only do I know where my son is, but I have transport to get there. We’re even.”

“Well, could you use this?” Sarah held out the weapon she’d just purchased.

“Thanks, but I won’t need it. I have plenty of weapons and, once I get captured and sent to Hellstar, they’ll be confiscated anyway.”

“So that’s your plan, get captured and sent to Hellstar?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Chase was right, it certainly sounds suicidal. But I know how you feel. I don’t have children of my own, but I’d do the same thing for my nephew.”

Ryonna smiled at her fondly. “This is where my path leads now. I will either break us out of Hellstar, or die trying.”

Sarah nodded and left with a sad smile but, only a few minutes later, Chase came into the shuttle bay to check on Ryonna before her departure.

“You know, when we started this yesterday, I really thought we’d have a longer run.”

She laughed. “Me too. But priorities shift, you know. I’m sure you understand.”

“I certainly do. I just wish we could help you find a less dangerous way to get your son back.”

“I know, but time is of the essence. Every day that passes is one more day my son will have to try to survive in Hellstar.” Her voice grew soft. “He’s only sixteen.”

“Well if his mother is any indication, I’m sure the boy is pretty tough.”

“He is,” she said proudly. “I’ve been training him for more than a decade.”

Chase raised his eyebrows. “Since he was six? You Droxians start really young!”

“He actually started late compared to some of the other children. He was a sick child.”

“That must have been difficult…” Chase trailed off. “Wasn’t that part of why the Droxians left the Alliance? The Alliance didn’t approve of your policies with your children?”  

She nodded. “Yes. I’m not proud it, but the Droxian people want only able bodies in their midst. A child that displays too much weakness can sometimes have...”

“…A short lifespan?”

Her mouth thinned to a hard line. “It wasn’t easy, sneaking around for years to hide his condition.”

“You see, sometimes rules are meant to be broken.”

She threw back her head and laughed. “I see where you’re going with this.”

He grinned. “Not so subtle, huh?

“Remember, Droxians are very empathic. While we don’t read minds, we pretty much get the emotional state of the people we talk to.”

“How’s my emotional state right now?”

“In complete disarray.”

He stared at her without saying anything until she finally threw up her hands.

“Alright, I’ll tell you. At my age, I sincerely doubt a creature will come out of the emptiness and swallow me whole if I break the law.”

“Is that what you were told?”

“Not in so many words.”

“Charming.”

“We learn to deal with our fear from a young age as well. Now, regarding Sarah…”

Chase straightened up. “I’m listening.”

“I saw her succumbing to torture and, from the glimpse I got, it must have been a long, agonizing battle. I’m not a hundred percent sure, but it felt like it was happening on an Obsidian base or a ship of some kind. My vision doesn’t have windows or any more geographical references to give you than that.”

Chase paled but took a steadying breath. “Alright, so I just have to make sure the Obsidian Empire doesn’t get their hands on Sarah.”

Ryonna gave him a pitying smile. “I should say so. I hope your love and determination are enough to prevent it but, after all these years of seeing what I’ve seen come to pass, I have my doubts. I can only wish you the best of luck. Hopefully we’ll meet again someday and you can tell me all about it.”

“Anything else you want to tell me?”

“I was hoping you’d forget.”

“No such luck.” said Chase gravely.

“Alright, if you must know. I haven’t seen your death. That was also one of the reasons I was reluctant to trust you when we met on the planet.”

Chase’s eyes widened. “How is this possible?”

“I don’t know. It’s the first time it happened, but I didn’t see anything when I looked into your eyes.”

“Can it be because I will die after you?”

“No, that’s not it. I have had visions of people dying centuries from now from what I could understand from the visions.”

He nodded and tried to lighten the sudden weight he felt in his chest. “So, how do you feel, betraying the sacred oath? Feel like you’re going to burst into flames or something?”

She smiled. “Not so much.”

“Well then, good luck to you. I hope one day I can meet your son.” He shook her hand, and then handed her a small device. “And take this. It’ll send out a distress call. If me and my crew survive our impending apocalypse, I’ll come and help you myself.”

“Thank you, Chase, for everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me. You have no idea how helpful you’ve been. Without you, we’d be empty handed. At least now we have a fighting chance.” He was about to leave, but then turned back suddenly. “Oh—and before I forget—here’s a data disk; it contains an encrypted Alliance message.”

Ryonna frowned. “Why are you giving me this?”

“If by any chance you encounter any of our ships, especially one with a jump capable engine, transmit the message to them and they will take you wherever you need to go.”

“I’m in your debt, Chase. I hope I can repay you one day.”

“Nah, we’re barely square; I still feel like we owe you.”

They shook hands again and, a few minutes later, Ryonna left the Iron Fire to board one of the Alliance starfighters and started on an opposite vector. Chase watched her craft departing from the bridge. Once it was out of sight, he turned to his communications officer.

“Did you do as I requested?”

“Yes, sir, the tracking signal is strong.”

“Very well.”

“What tracking signal?” asked Sarah.

“I’ve asked that her ship be tracked.”

“Why?”

“Because if we do survive the battle, I’m gonna do whatever it takes to help our new friend.”

“Didn’t you give her the distress beacon?”

“I did, but Droxians are a very proud people. She might be reluctant to use it, even under dire circumstances.”

Sarah smiled approvingly and he winked.

“Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold.” Then he turned again toward the communications officer. “I need you to do one more thing.”

“Yes, Captain?”

“I’ve recorded a message in the Iron Fire computer memory; it should be on top of the list, encrypted.”

“I got it.”

“Send a probe to where our ships went. Somehow I don’t think we have time to swing by to pick them up and, since meeting Ryonna, I don’t think we should try to enlist the help of Droxia. This encrypted message tells them of our plans. Launch the probe and set a course for home at maximum speed.”

A few moments later, the Iron Fire entered hyperspace.

21

Daniel sprinted onto the bridge. The red alert had sounded only moments ago.

“What is it, Captain?”

“Long-range sensors have detected a huge fleet of ships.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“You and me both.”

“How many ships is it?” he asked.

“At least fifteen battleships and their escorts.”

Daniel froze. “That is quite the armada.”

“Have the smart mines been deployed?”

“Yes, but they might need to be moved depending on where the fleet ends their jump. Let’s hope they observe standard operating procedure and come out of hyperspace at the edge of the system. If they jump too close to Earth, we might not be able to use them.”

“What’s the status of the defense platforms? How many are operational?”

“Three are operational and a fourth could be rushed into operation within a few hours, but it likely won’t have shields.”

“Any news on Chase?”

The captain hung his head. “Nothing yet.”

“Let’s hope he doesn’t arrive too late and that he brings reinforcements with him…or this is going to be a short fight. How long until the enemy fleet arrives?”

“About five, maybe six hours.”

Daniel nodded. “Have you contacted the military readiness team on Earth?”

“Not yet, but I will do so shortly. There’s a good chance they’ll have to fend off attacks within the atmosphere. Fortunately, they have thousands of aircraft on stand-by.”

“But how many of those are actually using new weaponry?”

“Less than five percent.”

Daniel cursed. “That’s not going to cut it.”

“Daniel, it will have to.”

He nodded reluctantly. “What about the F-140s?”

“We’ve managed to have three squadrons ready, but it’s a gamble. We couldn’t equip them with much quadrinium; if this battle lasts more than a few hours, we’ll run out of fuel for the fighters and, a few hours after that, all other ships and defense systems.”

“We knew it would be tight energy wise. We’ll just have to make sure the fight is fast and decisive. What about reloading if Chase brings quadrinium back with him?”

“We have four cargo ships on the other side of the planet; they would act as refueling ships, but that’s going to be tricky in the middle of a battle.”

“Boy, so many parameters, so little margin for error.”

“There’s almost no margin for error, I’m afraid.”

“Has Research and Development on Earth managed to find some way to convert their weaponry with our technology? They’ve had access to our database for weeks now.”

“They’re working on it day and night, the leading minds on the planet and a few of our engineers, the ones we could spare anyway. Most of them were supervising the activation of the planetary defense satellites, the smart mines, and the F-140s as well.”

“So in short, no.”

“There just hasn’t been enough time. Are your squadrons ready?”

“As ready as they can be. We’ve analyzed all the tactical data from the last battle, and trained accordingly. We should be more efficient this time around.”

“We’ll need to be. Very well, Commander, good work.”

“Yes, Captain, I’m going to make my final briefing.”

“Try to find inspiring words; the men must be on edge.”

“Aren’t we all?”

* * *

In Research and Development Station 8, in Geneva, Switzerland, Chief Engineer Boralis came out of the conference room and joined his team, waiting on pins and needles to know what the last minute call was about.

The second he emerged, one of the engineers asked, “Sir, what’s the news?”

“A fleet of ships has been detected by the Destiny’s long-range sensors, about fifteen battleships and escorts.”

The men looked around at each other.

“Then we’re all dead.”

“I will have none of that, Frank!” the chief reprimanded.

“I’m sorry, sir…but what can we do against such firepower? And what if this is only the first wave? What if there are more ships?”

“We don’t know any of that, so let’s focus on what we do know. In about three hours, the Earth Alliance will be fighting for the survival of our race. So we at least have that much time. Where are we on Project Sixteen?”

“We have neither the materials nor the energy requirements to make it work. If we had more quadrinium, much more, then we could have it working in the next few days.”

“Days won’t cut it. This fight will, and must, last hours. What other projects are near to completion? Anyone?”

The men looked around but came up blank. “There’s just nothing, sir.”

“Where is Cedric?”

This was a meeting of their top minds, but the top mind was missing.

“We haven’t seen him in a couple of days,” Frank answered.

“What do you mean, you haven’t seen him?”

“He spends most of his time working from home.”

“On whose authority?” the chief demanded.

“I don’t know, sir. He usually joins us via video conference during meetings, but he hasn’t for two days now.”

The chief shook his head in exasperation. “Alright, Frank, go get him.”

“But...?”

“But what? By your own admission we have nothing to show for weeks of work, and nothing readily usable in the next three hours. So do you have anything better to do?”

“No, sir, I’ll bring him in.”

“Everyone else, keep working!” the chief yelled before he returned to his office and slammed the door behind him.

He was still fuming a few minutes later when he received a video transmission on his personal computer. It was from an engineer from the Destiny who was now working in Station 4, in Greece.

“What can I do for you, Adonis?” he answered quickly.

“Chief, we may have something, but we need your best computer guy.”

The chief exhaled deeply. “He’s not in the office.”

Adonis paused. “Get him, then.”

“That’s already being taken care of. What do you have?”

“I know it’s going to sound farfetched but, since it was clear my team wasn’t coming up with anything of use, for the last few weeks I’ve been looking at inventions throughout Earth’s history.”

“And?”

“Well, I’m thinking about teleportation…”

“Teleportation?”

“Yeah, only one problem, a big one.”

The chief couldn’t help but laugh. “Just one? Enlighten me.”

“We need immense computing capabilities.”

“I thought the Destiny had a super-computer that put our puny computers to shame.”

“Pete, you know I don’t enjoy sarcasm.”

“Sorry, I just meant, isn’t the Destiny’s computer powerful enough?”

“Actually, not by a long shot. Not only is the computation power required for this absolutely astronomical, but we also lack sufficient storage.”

“I didn’t know we’d even approached teleportation on Earth; how did you come up with that?”

“Well there’s been research about teleporting a photon, an electron, and an atom, but some of the latest theories about quantum entanglement got me thinking. If we could interface this theory and apply it to the material generation we use to achieve in our food synthesizers, I think we could theoretically teleport objects.”

“And that helps us how?”

“Well, if we could beam a nuke directly inside an enemy ship, I think that would give us a distinctive advantage, don’t you?”

The chief blinked in surprise and then smiled. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

There was a pause on the other line. “Do I have to answer? Or was that rhetorical?”

“It was. Sorry.” The chief chuckled. “But the enemy fleet will be here in under three hours; can it be achieved in such little time?”

“Not a chance, but I’m hoping in under six or seven if all the other stations drop everything and pool their resources to work on this. There’s only one problem…”

“The power and storage and the need for my geeky yet not-on-task computer genius?”

“Besides all that… Let’s say we manage to find the computing and storage needs. What if we teleport a nuke into one of our own ships; or worse, what if it detonates in our own atmosphere upon trying? I mean, for something that huge, we need weeks of testing.”

The chief shook his head. “Weeks we don’t have. You know what, let’s just throw caution to the wind. Let’s try to send a couple of toasters up in space; if they all arrive whole, we can try a nuke next.”

“Yeah, a toaster grills bread, a nuke kills millions.”

“And I thought you didn’t enjoy sarcasm. Okay then, a battery-powered one with toast grilling while teleporting.”

Adonis hesitated. “That’s actually less dumb than it sounds; it would allow us to monitor the energy levels and see if it can survive the process.”

“I was joking…”

“Yeah I gathered that, but weirdly enough I think it can give us some idea of whether or not this is remotely doable.”

“Believe me, it isn’t. But what do we have to lose?”

“Exactly. Call me back as soon as your guy is here.”

“Will do.”

The communication terminated, and the chief shook his head.

“Teleportation… This is as crazy as it gets.”

* * *

Back on the Iron Fire, Chase was resting with his head on Sarah’s lap.

“We still have five hours to reach Earth, and then all hell breaks loose.”

“Did you manage to contact the Destiny?” she asked.

“No, they’re either out of range or something is interfering with our signal.”

“And you don’t find that strange?”

“I do, but there are a few plausible explanations. We’re passing really close to a red dwarf right now… Or maybe they had to prioritize energy consumption.”

“I don’t think Captain Saroudis would sacrifice communications.”

Chase paused. “No, neither do I.”

“So what else can it be?”

“It could be jamming.”

“But that would mean…”

“Yes, that the battle has either begun, or that the fleet is near enough Earth to start actively jamming.”

“Could they jam us all the way up here?”

He thought about it for a moment. “They don’t know where we are, but they do know where they’re going. Maybe they...” All at once, he sat bolt upright.

Sarah leaned back in alarm. “What?”

“Crap!”

“What it is, Chase?”

“Maybe they’ve sent a faster ship in advance to jam communications around Earth.”

“Wouldn’t the Destiny have detected that?”

“I don’t know. We don’t know everything about the technological capabilities of the Zarlack ships. Heck, we don’t know if it’s gonna be Zarlacks or the damn Emperor himself coming to Earth. Or both.”

“The Emperor?”

“No, I guess not. But somehow I doubt they’ll send a simple commander this time around. I mean, if my first fleet had disappeared and I was hunting my enemy, I would make damn sure the next time I met them, I would come with a much larger armada.”

“That’s a scary thought.”

“I know. Let’s hope they don’t think like me.”

“But in case they do?”

“…Then this is going to be the most devastating battle ever.”

Before Sarah could answer, the red alert sounded. There was a buzz and the speaker clicked on.

“Captain to the bridge, immediately!”

“Now what?” Chase jumped up from the bed and started running, Sarah a few steps behind him. It took them less than thirty seconds to reach the bridge.

“What is it, Sergeant?” he asked quickly.

“Sensors are picking up very high levels of energy.”

“What kind of energy?”

“Weapons fire, Alliance and Droxian signatures.”

“Dammit!” Chase cursed. “How far?”

“About half an hour in hyperspace if we turn back now.”

“Can we establish communications?”

“Trying now, sir.”

The view screen on the bridge sprang to life, but the image was garbled. Nevertheless, Chase recognized one of the pilots he sent on the mission near Droxian space.

“Lieutenant Chafkis, report!”

“We have good and bad news, sir.”

“Good news first.”

“A few hours after you left, we found a few Alliance vessels. We’re on board now.”

Chase was almost afraid to ask. “And the bad?”

“Just before we found them, they’d been forced to enter Droxian space to avoid an Obsidian patrol getting close, and now we’re being hunted down for trespassing on their territory.”

“Tactical report.”

“We have four ships, the Axxis, the Euphoreon, the Oblivion, and the Far Beyond.”

“The Far Beyond? Really? I thought she was destroyed.”

“No she wasn’t, but she will be if we can’t shake this fleet of eight Droxian battleships that just engaged us.”

“Have you tried to negotiate a cease fire?”

“Tried and failed. The Droxians really don’t like ships crossing their borders.”

“DAMMIT!”

“Captain, your orders?”

“Can’t you lose them in hyperspace?”

“We’ve tried it several times; we’ve played hide and seek for the better part of a day now, but they just flanked us.”

“Alright, we need to secure the Far Beyond and the Axxis. They’re the biggest and some of the most advanced ships the Alliance has. Which ship are you on now?”

“The Oblivion.”

“Then you’re not going to like my orders.”

“Give them to me anyway, Captain.”

“Evacuate as many people as you can from the Oblivion, run interference with as many fighters as you can deploy, and make sure you carve a path for the other three ships to escape into hyperspace. Then try to get as much distance as you can from the Oblivion, and self-destruct it by overloading the quadrinium chambers.”

“Captain, the Oblivion carries this fleet’s stock of quadrinium. Don’t we need to save it?” the lieutenant asked.

“We’ve secured quadrinium as well, so it’s less critical. How much quadrinium is in the cargo bay?”

“A little short of two tons.”

“Well that could be a good thing. I hate to squander it, but it will make one hell of a bang and might be the very distraction you need to save the other ships.”

“Yes, sir. Captain Greilas would like to talk with you.”

“Put her on.”

“Captain Greilas on the line.”

“Captain, I’m sorry but I don’t see any other alternative. Can you program your ship’s computer to autopilot and self-destruct?”

“We could, but I will stay with my ship.”

“Captain, there’s really no need.”

“Yes there is, Captain Athanatos. What if the automatic self-destruct gets damaged during evacuation?”

“Then...”

“Then we could lose all the ships.”

Chase pounded his armrest. “Damn those Droxians!”

“It’s not their fault. We did enter the outer edge of their territory, but we didn’t think we would be detected. We needed a place for repairs; we fought many battles in the last few weeks. This battlegroup initially had ten battleships.”

“I understand.”

“I’ll stay onboard to make sure I take as many Droxian battleships with me as I can.”

“Roger that, Captain Greilas. Good luck.”

“Likewise. Greilas out!”

“Lieutenant, leave with the rest of the crew. Enter hyperspace as soon as you can and tax the drives as much as you can. You must try to catch up with us before we reach Earth.”

“Affirmative, Captain, see you soon.”

“Athanatos out.”

Sarah looked at Chase silently, not knowing what to say to him.

“This had better work,” he murmured as he leaned back in his chair.

“Are those ships superior to the Destiny?”

“Oh yeah, they’re top of the line. The Far Beyond is a war machine on its own. It could be the key to winning the next battle. But she couldn’t take out that many Droxian ships without seriously crippling herself, or worse.”

“That’s a tough tactical decision you just made.”

“I didn’t have any choice. I just hope most of the crew can get on the other ships.”

“Will they?”

Chase’s face clouded over. “I wish I could say yes, but trying to evacuate in the middle of a battle…? Many of them will perish.”

“But don’t you take the risk of the Droxians seeing through this plan? If they see shuttles leaving the ship?”

“I know Greilas; she’s a skilled tactician. She’ll simulate damage; it will look like they’re trying to abandon ship. I just hope the other ships can get enough distance; a two-ton quadrinium explosion could very well destroy half a system.”

“Are there any habitable planets there?”

“Sergeant?” Chase inquired.

“No, sir, they’re near a Class D solar system. No sentient life-forms reported in the database, however the fifth planet could support underground life.”

“The explosion could be killing an underground civilization?” Sarah asked in horror.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Chase?”

“We don’t have any choice, unless you can think of anything else?”

“No, I’m out of my element here. A few days ago I had never travelled to space. Too bad we don’t have F-140s…”

“I thought about that. We could have loaded the quadrinium we have and used it to detonate one fighter instead of the Oblivion.”

Sarah nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”

“But the F-140s could never hold that much quadrinium, and they need a really big bang to stop that Droxian armada.”

“Something tells me a big bang is what they’ll get.”

Chase dropped back to his chair with a grave expression on his face.

* * *

Cedric was sleeping when the doorbell rang.

“Whaaaaaat? Go away!”

“Cedric, I’ve been ordered to bring you back to base. The chief needs you.”

He turned into his pillow. “Everybody is going to die in a few days anyway, so no thanks.”

“Actually the fleet is less than three hours away.” Frank pounded repeatedly on the door. “Open up, now!”

Cedric grunted something unintelligible and shuffled to the front door. When it swung open, he squinted into the bright sunlight.

Frank clapped his shoulder. “Get dressed! We have to go!”

“Okay, okay, give me a minute.” He shuffled back inside and, unable to decide between the two, grabbed both his jacket and his bathrobe. At the last second, he grabbed his pillow as well. “I’ll come,” he mumbled as he headed out to the car, “but you’re driving.”

The roads were practically empty so it only took fifteen minutes to reach the office. A planetary-wide message was transmitting on all frequencies: TV stations, radios, social media, you name it. It said, in the gentlest possible terms, that an attack was imminent, so it was best if everyone either stayed in their homes or evacuated to anti-nuclear shelters beneath ground. Saying that in the gentlest possible terms was tricky, to say the least.

Frank parked the car in a hurry and shook Cedric awake, partially to get him inside, and partially to stop his ungodly snoring.

“We’re here! Let’s go!”

“Yeeehmemme...”

“Cedric! We gotta report to Boralis ASAP or he’s gonna kill us!”

Cedric tentatively opened one eye, then the next. He grimaced as if he had been asked to do some sort of impossible task but, under Frank’s insistence, he finally mustered the energy to get out of the car and walk slowly toward the entrance. Slowly indeed. One of the only perks of being on planet Earth right now was the newly found legality in smoking copious amounts of marijuana. Cedric had taken to it like a fish, and was having the time of his life, speeding up and slowing down, watching Frank’s eyes bulge out to the point that he was worried his old friend might have a stroke.

“You stress too much, Frank,” he said with a mischievous smile.

“And you don’t stress enough!”

“It’s in the eye of the beholder. I have my own rhythm; that’s all that matters.”

“Yeah, when Boralis assigns us to the night shift for three weeks in a row, we’ll see whose rhythm will have to change.”

“I’m not worried; he wouldn’t waste a precious resource like me on the night shift. You on the other hand...”

“Funny. Precious resource. Coming from the man who was living on his couch.”

“I like the couch. No surprises there.” Cedric sighed wistfully. “No enemy armada coming to blow you to kingdom come.”

“Yeah, speaking of…” Frank opened the door and led Cedric to the elevator. They rode it to the seventeenth floor and, a moment later, they were in Chief Boralis’ office.

“Hello, boss,” Cedric said cheerfully.

The chief looked up from his desk. “So nice of you to finally show up.”

“My pleasure. What can I help you with?”

“Hang on, gonna open a channel with Greece.”

“Ah Greece, what a nice country. I need to go back there if we survive this.”

“Don’t hold your breath.” Boralis used his computer to initiate a video conference conversation; it started ringing.

“Why would I? I like to breathe.”

“You have the most peculiar sense of humor, but we’ll discuss that another time, as well as your decision to skip work.”

“First of all, I wasn’t skipping work. Second, I can do whatever I want; there are no salaries anymore, we can do as we please. And third, I was working thank you very much, just from the comfort of my own home.”

The chief’s eyes narrowed sarcastically. “From the comfort of your own home. You must be single-handedly keeping Netflix in business.”

Cedric opened his mouth to defend himself, but shrugged and said, “Well played. Although there is something to be said for multi-tasking when⁠—”

The chief held up his hand to cut him off as the video connected. The blank screen suddenly turned into the face of a man who looked at Cedric curiously.

“Boralis, is that your network guru with you?” he asked.

“Yes, he’s here,” the chief answered.

“What’s your name, son?”

“Cedric.”

“Cedric, we’ve been working on a theory, and we need your help.”

Cedric stifled a yawn and tried to appear alert. “What’s the theory about?”

“Don’t want to bore you with details, but it’s basically teleportation.”

“Neat,” Cedric said with a nod, “that way we could beam nukes at our enemies by flicking a switch. Could be useful.”

“See, Boralis, it wasn’t such a stretch of the imagination.”

The chief straightened his jacket indignantly. “Well I don’t watch as much TV.”

“Maybe you should. Anyway, Cedric, we need to muster as much CPU power and storage as we can in the next two hours. Any idea how to do that?”

“In two hours… Well, I’d say we should hack the planet, via the Internet.”

“Can you elaborate?”

“Almost every human has either a smartphone, tablet, cloud storage, home storage, personal computers, you name it. Some nerds have all of those and more.”

“Are you a nerd?”

Cedric tossed back his hair. “The good-looking kind. But yes, I have many devices and I know countless others who do as well. That being said, I thought the Alliance ships had supercomputers that put our technology to shame.”

“It does, but we need even more power. Networked, and able to calculate immense data in real time.”

“I see… Then we use the computers on the ships to hack the planet, use every bit of CPU from every device that’s turned on. We’re talking hundreds of millions of them.”

“Can you do this from Geneva?”

“Not a chance, unless you teach me your computer’s language and give me direct control.”

“Actually, we could just open a channel to the ships. But if communication was to be broken during the battle...maybe it’s safer if you come aboard the Destiny and work with our chief engineer.”

“Alright. I’d say beam me up, but somehow I think that would be premature.”

The man in the screen cracked a smile. “I’ll contact Captain Saroudis and inform him of your arrival. Please be ready to be picked up within the next twenty minutes by a shuttle.”

“Alright, sir.”

The communication ended and Cedric smiled at Frank who was still standing by the door.

“From the couch to the stars in less than an hour… I might even have time to smoke.”

22

The Dragon’s Claw battlegroup exited hyperspace around Saturn. The fifteen battleships and their escorts then proceeded in sub-light speed toward Earth. On the bridge, an image of the Emperor appeared on the main screen.

“While I will participate in this assault, you will receive your orders from my...tactical advisor. You are to treat his orders as if they were mine. Failure to do so will result in immediate execution. This is effective immediately. He will now take command.”

The air on the bridge cooled with a sudden chill as the crew looked back and forth at one another. They were supposed to be taking commands from a stranger? But they knew better than to challenge a direct order from the Emperor, and quickly resumed their tasks.

Then, a voice that no one recognized boomed from the shadows.

“Troops, battle stations! Navigation officer, long-range scans at maximum. I want a detailed status of every ship in this system projected directly into the war display in the throne room.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You shall address me as master.”

“Absolutely, I apologize…master.”

“I will be sending most of my orders via the holo-interface but, if you hear me vocally, do not hesitate a split second. Are we clear?”

“Crystal clear, master.”

“That goes for all of you!” the voice threatened.

“Yes, master!” said the crew in unison.

Back in the throne room, the hooded man took a seat on the throne as the holographic war display sprang to life in front of him. He studied the image while the Emperor paced back and forth on the floor, enraged at being rendered so powerless.

“Will you be doing this the entire time?” the man asked, clearly annoyed. “The battle hasn’t even started.”

“I’m unaccustomed to not giving orders on my own ship.”

“Accustom yourself then. Your constant pacing is distracting. Either find a way to refrain, or excuse yourself from the war theatre.”

The Emperor gave a low growl of discontent. He’d reached his limit with this man and his lack of respect. If it weren’t for the fact that he, through weaponry and sheer intellect, had almost single-handedly defeated the Alliance, he would have tried to dispatch him already. Days ago, the man had told him the reason for the sudden attack. Something about Olympian gods trying to rebuild a bigger and stronger Alliance. But what did the Emperor care about the will of the gods? When this battle was finished, he may decide to strike.

He realized he was still pacing when he heard the click of an impatient finger tapping on the throne and followed the arm up to a glacial stare. He froze in his steps.

“Better.”

This time, the Emperor literally had to close his eyes to stay calm. “Yes…master.”

Not master for long, he thought. Not for long at all.

The man’s head snapped up. “What did you say?”

The Emperor did a double take. “I said yes, master.”

The man’s eyes gleamed in the semi-darkness. “I got the impression you said something after that, or maybe you’re just thinking too loud.”

What the hell did that mean? Was this man also capable of reading minds?! No, that couldn’t be. He would have killed the Emperor long ago if that was the case.

Without realizing it, the Emperor started pacing again.

“Look, I understand this isn’t fun for you. So may I suggest you go watch the battle from the comfort of your own quarters? Have a drink, take a nap, play with your ears… Just get out of my sight.”

The Emperor stopped pacing and looked straight in the eyes of the man he would soon take immense pleasure in killing. “Very well, master. Call me if you need me.”

“That won’t be necessary; you’re dismissed.”

Another wave of hatred threatened to overwhelm the Emperor, but he turned his back to the throne and left the room in silence.

“About time,” the man murmured to himself. “I’ll deal with your rebellious thoughts later.” And he returned his full attention to the holo-display.

From his first analysis of the long-range data, he could see that the Alliance had clearly enlisted the help of the humans of Earth. This planet was classified as being about two centuries shy of space travel, yet the data was showing what looked like four orbital defense platforms and a space construction dock. There were also a few large ships and lots of smaller craft—short-range fighters in defensive patrol.

Earth and the Alliance had clearly been expecting them. But no matter. There was no way they could be prepared for what was to come.

He touched the controls on his console and started tagging the battleships and defense satellites in order of target priority. Then he brought up camera feeds from the Dragon’s Claw and brushed it to the right of the tactical display, while brushing live feed of the enemy fleet to the left.

He was still working when he noticed a small blinking dot in the corner of his display. Fast as he was, it was too late for him to react. There was a giant noise and the entire ship trembled, sending a tingling sensation up his spine.

“Full stop!” he cried.

“Full stop acknowledged, master.”

“Damage report?”

“Two of the battleships and three escorts have exploded; another two battleships and their escort were damaged in the explosion.”

“Nature of weapon?”

“Nuclear, probably a mine.”

“Didn’t we scan for mines?”

“We did. None were detected.”

“Stealth, then?”

“Most likely, master.”

He didn’t see that one coming. The Alliance had banned the use of nuclear and fusion based weaponry, but obviously, they didn’t intend to play by their own rules. It was a cheap trick but, he had to admit, an efficient one. They had made the first move. A good one too.

“Have the damaged ships retreat and return to base immediately.”

“Yes, master.”

An annoying buzz sounded in the throne room and he waved a switch on his control panel to have an infuriated image of the Emperor appear in yet another display.

“What can I do for you, Emperor? I thought you were going to your quarters to calm yourself down.”

“I am not amused. I’ve seen a huge explosion; we’ve lost ships and we haven’t even reached our destination yet.”

“I am aware. This is the nature of war.”

“Why have we stopped?”

“I don’t remember saying I would inform you of either the status of the battle or my tactics…”

“Tactics? You call that tactics?”

“I don’t think I like your tone, Emperor. Would you like me to show you how I deal with impudence?”

“Impudence?! Enough is enough! I’m coming back to the throne room right away.”

“No, you are not!”

“This is still my ship!”

“No, it isn’t. I’ve granted you use of the Dragon’s Claw. That’s a big difference. This is a Zarlack ship and, by that definition, it is mine.”

“What?!”

“I don’t have time for this.” The man’s eyes almost seemed to glow and he spoke with a voice that could have come from hell itself. “SLEEP!”

As if by magic, the Emperor collapsed on the floor of his room. Then, with total calm, the man swiped the video feed away and went back to analyzing his screen, resting his chin on his hands as he peered at the ships.

* * *

Onboard the Destiny, Captain Saroudis asked his tactical officer to report.

“One of the smart nukes just detonated, Captain.”

“Damage?”

“It took out two of their battleships and a few escorts; our sensors show some of the damaged ships are already retreating.”

“That’s odd. But that’s a few more ships we won’t have to destroy so let’s count our blessings and hope the rest of the mines will keep up the good work.”

“Yes, Captain. However, the fleet stopped cold after the explosion.”

“Mmm, they’re evaluating what their next move will be. I would do the same. What’s the status of the other mines?”

“They’re active in passive mode. Should we move the next one toward the fleet?”

“Are they on the fleet’s advancing vector?”

“Not quite.”

“Then we don’t have a choice. Activate the nearest mine into search and destroy mode.”

“Activated, Captain.”

“Time to impact?”

“About a minute or so.”

“Good. Keep me informed.”

“Captain!” the officer suddenly yelled.

“What is it?”

“All the enemy ships have started firing in almost every single direction they can.”

“Dammit! They’re trying to fish out the rest of the mines.”

“Onboard telemetry indicates that the travelling mine’s shield has been scored a couple of times.”

“Turn that mine off now!”

“Too late, it’s been destroyed by a concentrated laser burst from the biggest battleship.”

“A single burst?”

“Yes, Captain.”

Its firepower seemed much stronger than any of the previous ships to attack Earth. It would have to be monitored with extra care.

“Have the sensors identified the class of each ship?”

“Yes, Captain. Most are battleships and dreadnoughts of Zarlack design. The main battleship, however, is a class we’ve never encountered. The computer has no information in its database.”

“On-the-fly assessment?”

“Five times the size of the biggest Obsidian or Zarlack ship in the database, much stronger shielding, extremely high energy output, maybe twenty times the energy signature of the Destiny. The silhouette is reminiscent of the Zarlack design, but much larger.”

“Good god.”

This one vessel alone could be the difference between victory and defeat. If Chase didn’t come back soon, and with reinforcements to boot, this battle could be over before it began.

* * *

“Target destroyed, master.”

“Very well. There are more mines, but I don’t have time to play cat and mouse.”

“Your orders, master?”

“Prepare a micro jump. Calculate the coordinates in between the ships and the satellites orbiting around Earth.”

“Calculating… Computer warns it’s a dangerous jump. Ships could materialize within some of the targets.”

“I am very well aware of that. No more warnings, just execute the jump when the calculation is ready.”

“Yes, master, jumping now.”

* * *

“Captain! Multiple jump signatures!”

“Friend or foe?”

“Foe!”

“WHAT?” the captain cried.

Before the officer could explain, laser fire started raining down on the shields and a dozen nearby explosions shook the Destiny.

“All ships, open fire! Lieutenant, report!”

“The fleet has jumped right in the middle of us, sir.”

“What the hell are they up to?! I’ve never seen Obsidian use such tactics. Damage report.”

“We’ve lost two frigates, sir. They were fused with the incoming ships as they jumped in. But the enemy ships responsible were destroyed in the process.”

“Dammit! All guns and all satellites, concentrate your fire on the main battleship.”

“Firing now.”

A barrage of laser fire pelted down on the shields of the Dragon’s Claw. But it completely ignored the waves of concentrated fire from its enemies and headed past the fleet and straight toward the planet. The rest of the Zarlacks stayed in position and began to launch fighters.

* * *

“Squadrons Alpha, Delta, and Gamma, engage these fighters.”

“Yes, Wing Commander.”

“Chase, where the hell are you?” Daniel muttered as he opened a channel to the Destiny. “Captain, we’re engaging the fighters, but what the hell just happened?”

“I never saw that coming, Daniel. That’s not how they usually fight.”

“It doesn’t matter now; we need to stop them.”

“That might be more difficult than we thought,” the captain replied. “Their main battleship is breaking position and will soon enter firing range of the planet. I really don’t think they care that we’re still out here.”

“This is bad!”

“Tell me about it!”

Daniel’s wings engaged the fighters in a frenzy of dogfighting, dispatching one after the other, but they were outnumbered at least five to one and were losing fighters fast. The kill ratio was still highly in their favor but, with these numbers, it wouldn’t matter for very long. Daniel took out three enemy vessels in a row and avoided being hit by a missile at the last second. Then he saw a burst of light and looked up in horror to see that the main Zarlack battleship had opened fire upon Earth.

His comm link clicked on.

“Daniel, they’re using mass drivers!”

“Jesus, mass drivers?!” He could only imagine the damage that would cause. “We need to stop that ship at all costs.”

“We’re firing all we have and it’s not even making a dent in its shields. If you have any brilliant ideas, now would be the time.”

Daniel’s mind raced but came up blank. “I’ve got nothing. We can’t recall the mines; even if we were to detonate them, we would inflict heavy damage to our fleet and to Earth.”

“From what I’m reading, I don’t think the target ship’s shields would collapse from a nuke or two anyway.”

“Then this battle will soon be over.”

“I don’t think we have a choice; we need to take this ship out of the equation or this is the end for both the Alliance and Earth.”

Daniel swerved to avoid another missile. “Any ideas?”

The captain paused. “Just the one. We can micro jump into the ship.”

“That’s suicide, Captain. The Destiny will be obliterated.”

“I don’t know that we have any other options.”

“Any news from Chase?”

“Nothing, and that doesn’t sound like him. He would have tried to contact us by now.”

Daniel shook his head and refused to believe the worst. “They’re jamming all communications. Even if Chase wanted to, he couldn’t get a hold of us.” Then he keyed some commands onto his control panel and a new display with a blinking ship appeared in front of him. “Captain, I’m sending you the coordinates of the jamming ship. Let’s take it out now!”

“Received, firing now.”

The Destiny and all remaining ships started to fire at the target, and soon, it exploded into a million pieces, taking out two waves of incoming fighters as well as a few of Daniel’s Gamma Wing pilots.

* * *

“Report!” shouted the hooded man.

“Master, the jamming ship has been destroyed.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. In a few minutes this battle will be over. We will crush the planet before their very eyes. Let them see what it costs to defy us, and then we will annihilate them.”

There was clear disappointment in his voice. He expected a stronger defense and more surprises from the Alliance. They had destroyed an entire battlegroup with much less than what was present here. Either the admiral in charge was really a poor tactician, or something was missing.

Perhaps it was the presence he could feel hurtling through space toward them….

He targeted more cities on the surface of the planet, aiming for targets where Alliance buildings had been built. He would annihilate whatever edge the Alliance had given to Earth first, and then take out the rest of the planet. This had not been his initial tactic, but he had not liked the surprise mine taking out some of his fleet. It was a coward’s action; one that needed to be paid in blood.

* * *

On the Iron Fire, Chase asked the communications officer to establish a signal to the Destiny and waited impatiently in his chair, tapping the armrest nervously.

“I’ve got Captain Saroudis on the line.”

“On screen.”

“Captain, we couldn’t get in touch with you. What’s happening?”

“Chase, I sure hope you’re bringing reinforcements. We’re getting our asses kicked. In a few minutes, this battle will be over. Earth has already taken heavy damage.”

“What?!”

“Their main battleship is a behemoth of a vessel; all our concentrated fire is barely making a dent in its shields.”

“Dammit! What’s the plan, Captain?”

“That depends on how many ships are coming with you and when?”

“Well, we’ve found three more battleships, but we also have some foes on our tail.”

The captain’s face tightened in alarm. “What? What foes?”

“Droxians, sir.”

“We do not need this right now!”

“Actually, sir, I have a plan about that.”

“Explain!”

“Well, they’re right behind us. We’re pushing the engines to the maximum, probably past that, so they’re going to fly in just moments behind us. We need to make sure they enter the conflict. Maybe it will distract the Zarlacks enough for us to try and take that ship out.”

“That’s a big if, Chase.”

“I know, Captain.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

“We have quadrinium though, more than enough. We also found the Axxis, the Euphoreon, and the Far Beyond.”

“The Far Beyond wasn’t destroyed?”

“No it wasn’t.”

“Still, I’m not sure we can do anything against this massive ship. I’d better jump into it and take it out now, while we still can.”

Chase stood up in alarm. “No, Captain! Their shields might actually withstand it and then you would have sacrificed yourself and the Destiny for nothing.”

“So what do you propose? We’re running out of time.”

“We’ll use the advanced weaponry of the Far Beyond and the rest of the fleet to make as big a hole as we can in the main ship. We’ll hit it with everything we’ve got!”

“You’d better. ETA?”

“Two minutes, sir.”

“That’s going to be the longest two minutes of my life.”

* * *

In the Destiny’s engineering room, Yanis was pacing left and right while Cedric was relaxing in a chair, his feet resting on the corner of a table. After a moment, he pulled out a cigarette and lit one up.

“Hey, there’s no smoking in here!” Yanis reprimanded.

Cedric glanced around at the damaged ship. “All evidence to the contrary.”

“Of all the scientists on your planet, they had to send me a hilarious smoker.”

“Want one? Might help you calm down.”

“I’m perfectly calm.”

“If you say so.”

“Look, we need to focus. There has to be a way to disable that main ship without sending a nuke aboard. At this distance, we’d blow up half the planet…”

“Actually, from the looks of that giant ship and its power signature, I’d say more like half the solar system. What about an EMP?”

“I’m unfamiliar with the term.”

“Electro-Magnetic Pulse. On Earth, this thing fries or at least disables all electronic devices for a good long while.”

“That could work, but wouldn’t it affect our fleet as well?”

“Theoretically yes, but if we can time our attack and ask our ships to power down the second before the blast…”

“…they’ll be immune to its effects.”

“Bingo.”

“What about the calculations for the transport; have you successfully accessed all the devices on Earth?”

Cedric leaned toward a holographic display he’d been monitoring. “Almost. Your computer is badass. It hacked almost everything in minutes. Right now it’s having a go at the more heavily secured systems but, after another few minutes, we should have the computational power of the entire planet at our fingertips, and the trillions of petabytes of storage that goes with it. Hopefully, it will be enough to beam the EMP onto that ship.”

“Well…let’s hope we have a few minutes then.”

Cedric nodded. “Not to sound too melodramatic, but we’ll only have one shot at this.”

Yanis pointed to the cigarettes. “Give me one of those.” He clicked on his comm link and scrolled through until he saw Chase Athanatos. “I have to make a phone call…”

* * *

Daniel’s wings were almost all destroyed; only two of Alpha Squadron’s vessels were remaining, but both of them had exhausted all their missiles and they were fending off the incoming waves of enemy fighters in a laser-fire dogfight. He glanced down at his own instruments. His shields were down to sixty percent and the damage that was being inflicted upon the planet was simply too much to withstand. If something didn’t happen soon, all their hard work, all that was left of the Alliance, and an entire civilization would be destroyed.

Just then, another Alliance support ship exploded, but not before colliding with a nearby enemy battleship. The explosion didn’t take it out, but it clearly disabled it. There were still seven battleships, including the seemingly indestructible one raining metallic hell from above the planet.

“I’m hit!” cried Lieutenant Barios.

“Break off and⁠—”

Before Daniel could finish his sentence, his wingman’s ship exploded in a bright flash of light and he was no more.

“NO!” Daniel shouted.

He stared out at the already dissipating debris and felt something he had never before experienced in all his years of fighting. Pure hopelessness.

A missile exploded on his starboard shields, knocking his ship off course and draining what was left of his shields. At the same time, two more bogies came up on his tail. He took a deep breath and braced himself. This was it.

But just then, bright blue flashes split the sky on his port side. He stared out in amazed disbelief. The Iron Fire had returned! The next second, more Alliance battleships jumped in as well. They immediately started firing a defensive barrier that took out the two bogies and allowed Daniel to retreat toward the Destiny.

“Daniel, respond?!”

“About damn time! Where were you, Chase?!”

“Believe me, I got here as fast as I could. No time to talk; I need you to board the Far Beyond right now. I’m going to the Destiny with Sarah. The Euphoreon and the Axxis will provide cover fire.”

“Roger that. Good to have you back.”

“Good to be back, bro.”

Daniel broke off and flew at full burn toward the Far Beyond. The second he landed, he jumped out of his fighter and started running toward the nearest lift. A few moments later, he was on the bridge. On the screen, Chase was already talking to the Far Beyond’s captain when he saw Daniel.

His face lit up with relief. “Good, you’re here. I’m on board the Destiny but we won’t stay long. Sarah and I will deliver some quadrinium to the satellites for a major assault. The Far Beyond’s and the Euphoreon’s fighters will engage the enemy squadrons while the Axxis provides cover. It is vital that Sarah and I deliver this quadrinium to the satellite or we won’t stand a chance of destroying this massive ship. Not to mention, any moment now, the Droxian Fleet will arrive.”

Daniel was bowled over. “You managed to bring Droxian reinforcements?”

“…Not exactly.”

“What exactly then?”

“They were chasing us.”

Daniel almost laughed. “Boy, this day gets better and better.”

“I’m hoping they’ll join in on the fight; that is, if the enemy starts firing on them. I’ve already instructed the other ships to treat them as friends for now, so make sure the Far Beyond does the same.”

“And if they fire at us?”

“Well, then it will really be a shitty day.”

“Not to mention our last.”

“We’re not there yet. I’m taking two F-140s, fully loaded. You’ll know when we’re ready to strike. In the meantime, I have a special mission for you.”

Daniel leaned forward. “I’m listening.”

“The Far Beyond has some experimental weaponry on board, the kind that could make a serious dent in this colossus of a ship firing on Earth.”

“Why aren’t they firing it then?”

“Because they need more quadrinium for it to work. We only have one shot. Make sure the transport that’s on its way to the landing bay arrives safely and load the quadrinium into the ship’s main generator. Then ask their engineer to fire the phantom cannon at four hundred percent capacity in a single burst.”

“Four hundred percent? Won’t that fry the gun?”

Chase nodded. “I would think so.”

“Dude, I hope you know what you’re doing.” Daniel shook his head.

“Yeah, me too, but trust me on this.”

“Alright. Daniel out.”

The second the connection terminated, Captain Saroudis turned to Chase on the bridge of the Destiny. “Mind explaining why we should destroy the only weapon that can actually damage this ship?”

“It’s a gamble, but I believe receiving an ultra-powerful blow to their shields will make whomever is kicking our asses right now reconsider their tactics. Clearly, they think they’re invulnerable; we need to shake that belief to the core and make sure they stop firing at the planet immediately. They must have killed hundreds of thousands of people already.”

“I agree and it will probably back off, but then what?”

“Then you make sure that the engineers from Earth are able to beam that damn EMP inside that ship.”

“Won’t we need the shields to be down for that to work?”

“That’s why Sarah and I must hurry and deliver that quadrinium to the satellite.”

The captain nodded. “I think I’m beginning to see what you’re doing.”

“Good, cause I don’t have time to stay any longer anyway.”

“Go! May the gods of Olympus be with you both.”

* * *

On the Dragon’s Claw, the man looked at his tactical display. Things had changed. Some bigger, stronger Alliance vessels had entered weapons range. They started firing at the Dragon’s Claw and, for the first time since the beginning of the engagement, the shields actually began to lower at a slow but steady pace. The man almost smiled.

“Divert all secondary power to the shields.”

“Yes, master.”

That would allow his ship to sustain more damage until it would be time to either attack the offending ships or, at the very least, change strategy. He looked at the images from the ground; he had leveled ten major cities on three different continents. The day was going well. Just as well as he’d hoped. Despite this new influx of ships, nothing could touch him…

Until now.

The man flew backwards into the wall as an impossibly powerful pulse came from the biggest new ship. It drained most of the shields in one hit and alarms began sounding all over indicating structural damage.

He gritted his teeth and sat back down in his throne. He’d have to change tactics sooner than he’d thought.

“Turn the ship around. Attack all Alliance ships. Target them in the order I’m tagging them now. Deploy all fighters from all bays. Have them engage any and all Alliance forces with everything they’ve got. Enough with the foreplay.”

“Yes, master. Turning about, deploying fighters and acquiring new targets.”

He turned the channel off and gazed at the screen.

“Now it gets interesting…”

* * *

Chase and Sarah departed the Destiny aboard their respective F-140s and headed toward the satellites.

“Sarah, we need to wait until the Droxian fleet arrives.”

“What if they attack us as well?”

“It doesn’t matter now. We just need the distraction. Hopefully the Zarlacks will think it’s still more reinforcements and start firing at them.”

Sarah gulped. “That’s a big if.”

“Yeah, well, something’s got to go our way today.”

“Yes it does. Chase…do we know which cities were destroyed?”

Chase hesitated. “I understand how you must feel, but right now is not the time to think about that. We must succeed in this mission or no human will survive the day.”

She exhaled slowly. “You’re right. Incoming!”

“Now, let’s blow up some Zarlack fighters.”

“With pleasure.”

They simultaneously engaged the fighters with two squadrons each in support. Multiple waves of enemy ships rose up in response, and soon, it was an all-out gun show.

Despite the lethal dance, Sarah felt better than she had in days. For all she knew, everyone she had ever known on Earth was dead. But with the neuro-link in her fighter, she was finally able to channel that rage into something good. Blowing her enemies out of the sky, one fiery explosion after another.

When they arrived at the designated coordinates, she used her comm. “Chase, I guess this is where we part ways.”

“For now, but I’ll see you soon. Be careful out there.”

“You too.”

Like clockwork, both their squadrons veered off on a different heading. She was assigned to the satellite orbiting above North America, while Chase had the one currently orbiting above Europe. The pursuing enemy fighters split equally to follow each target, but the supporting Alliance squadrons were doing a fine job of suppressing hostile fire.

* * *

Back on the Dragon’s Claw, the man stood up from the throne and closed his eyes as if trying to concentrate. After a moment’s focus, he smiled.

“Here you are. What are you up to?”

He fixed his eyes again on a ship whose signature didn’t match anything in the database. It had a strange design, but definitely emitted an Alliance energy signature. The ship was accompanied by a squadron of Alliance fighters who were being attacked by Zarlack vessels. While it was a chaotic skirmish, from back here, the man could clearly see that the squadron was covering for the strange ship as it headed toward one of the satellite defense platforms. Another ship of similar design was flying toward another satellite.

“They’re up to something, and I can feel your presence now.”

He marked both fighters as targets, but with the lowest priority. While there was no doubt they were up to something, it seemed pointless. These satellites didn’t have enough firepower to be a real threat, so why go toward them?

In the meantime the new Alliance battleships were engaging the rest of the fleet and doing a sizeable amount of damage. That seemed to be the real threat. The largest ship had managed to inflict improbably sizable damage to his own ship already, so that was the one that needed to be dealt with. He tagged it as the main priority and ordered most of the fleet to concentrate their fire. It was more heavily shielded and armored than any of the remaining ships but, strangely enough, it had not fired a second salvo at the Dragon’s Claw.

“And why is that?” the man murmured to himself.

Perhaps the weapon needed recharging. If so, the man wouldn’t give it the opportunity to fire again. He entered a course at maximum thrust to intercept and destroy. The ship maneuvered out of the way, but he was closing the distance fast.

“You can run,” he smiled, “but you can’t hide.”

He was less than a minute away and was already plotting a firing solution, when his tactical officer suddenly called, “Master! Multiple jump points forming to the starboard!”

“WHAT?!”

He ran back to his throne and looked at the holo-display. Several more ships had entered the battlefield, carrying a signature he recognized well.

“Droxians?! What the hell are Droxians doing here?!”

He leaned back in his chair and absorbed this new turn of events. So, the Alliance had somehow struck a deal with the Droxians… That changed things. Droxians were known to be formidable at war with heavily armored ships that were armed to the teeth.

“Your orders, master? Do we engage?”

“Stand by.”

The battle was starting to get more complicated, but that did not displease him. It had been way too easy up until now. He was almost pleased the Alliance had something up their sleeves. He only wished it wasn’t the Droxians…

* * *

“This is Captain Saroudis to the Droxian fleet. We mean you no harm; in fact, we are requesting your assistance.”

A Droxian admiral appeared on the main screen of the Destiny. He was huge, even by Droxian standards, with big red hair arranged in decorative warrior locks, a huge scar, and yellow teeth. Unfortunately, he also looked furious.

“We did not come here to help; we are in pursuit of Alliance ships that illegally trespassed Droxian space.”

The captain held up his hands peaceably. “We are aware of this incident; it was an accident. They didn’t know they had trespassed on your territory.”

“Ignorance is no excuse.”

“Look, we’re in the middle of a battle right now, as you can no doubt see. We will gladly surrender and face the consequences of our mistake if we survive, but for now, either help us or leave.”

“I do not take orders from Alliance scum.”

“Very well then, maybe you’d like to join the Obsidian Empire instead.”

“We join with nobody! The Droxian people are independent.”

“Admiral, it’s been nice talking with you, but I have a battle to fight. Saroudis out!”

The communications officer turned to Captain Saroudis once the transmission had ended. “Sir, we have an incoming transmission from a fighter en route toward the Droxian Fleet. It’s Wing Commander Tharraleos.”

“On screen.”

Daniel’s face appeared. “Captain?”

“Daniel, what is it?”

“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. Doesn’t look like the Droxians will willingly take part in this conflict, so I thought I’d press the issue.”

“Wait, if you attack them now, they’ll start firing at us for certain.”

“That’s not what I had in mind. Look at your telemetry.”

Captain Saroudis glanced down and saw that Daniel’s ship and escort was being followed by multiple squadrons of Zarlack fighters.

“What in the hell…how did you…?”

“It’s a long story. Let’s just say I pissed off some of their pilots with some fancy flying. They did not seem amused.”

“I thought you were supposed to be on the Far Beyond?”

“I was, but since my mission was over and there’s a war going on out here, I thought I’d make myself more useful than just looking at it from a tactical display. Hang on…I’m entering firing range of the Droxian Fleet; let’s hope my plan works.”

As he flew within range, he started a fast spin, causing the enemy laser fire to fly past him and hit the Droxian battleships. The Droxian’s response was immediate. They launched fighters and started firing their main guns at the rest of the Zarlack Fleet.

Captain Saroudis looked at the tactical display with bewildered amusement. “I’ll be damned. Welcome to the fight.”

* * *

A new alert started blinking on the holographic display of the Dragon’s Claw. The Droxians had started firing upon the Zarlack ships. The man watched this with impassive eyes. So they really did ally themselves with the Droxians. So be it.

“Return fire toward the Droxian ships,” he commanded. “Maximum firepower.”

“Retuning fire, yes master.”

This battle was getting more interesting by the minute. Annihilating both the Alliance and this Droxian Fleet would prove a worthy challenge.

The doors of the throne room opened and a Zarlack officer ran in and knelt before the throne. The man growled, clearly angered by the interruption.

“I apologize, master, but security just discovered the Emperor has collapsed in his chambers.”

The man slowly rose from his chair. His eyes started to glow a vivid red as he lifted a closed fist toward the officer. “Who said you could enter this room?”

Before the Zarlack could answer, the man’s fist opened and the officer literally exploded. His limbs and head hit the surrounding walls, and dark blood splashed all over the floor, soaking the bits of his dismembered body.

Without a second glance, the man projected the gruesome image over the holographic monitors throughout the entire ship.

“This is what will happen to any of you who either disobeys my orders, or takes unwanted initiative.”

Then he flicked a stray piece of bone from his shoulder and returned to the throne.

* * *

Chase landed his ship quickly on the satellite docking bay and was immediately joined by Alliance and Earth personnel who began unloading the quadrinium.

Pausing for breath, he clicked on his comm. “Sarah, status report?”

“Landed a few minutes ago. Quadrinium has been delivered. I’m about to leave the landing bay and get back into the fight. What about you?”

“I...” he hesitated. “Quadrinium is being unloaded as we speak.”

There was a distinct gloat in her voice. “I beat you to it then?”

“This wasn’t a race and, technically, my satellite was the farthest.”

“You’re a sore loser, you know that?” she said with a chuckle.

He couldn’t help but grin. “Very funny. I see the Droxians have started shooting at the Zarlack ships; I told you something finally had to go our way.”

“Well you can thank Daniel for that. He taunted them somehow.”

“Good for him, and good for us.”

“Indeed. I’m leaving the bay. See you in space in a few.”

“Be careful, Sarah.”

“You too.”

Chase tapped his feet impatiently as the quadrinium was carried out of his cargo bay. Standing here with nothing to do, he pictured Sarah engaged in the heat of battle. Ryonna’s warning echoed again in his head and he clenched his fists.

He had to get out there. He couldn’t lose her. Not now, not ever.

“We’re done, sir. You’re good to go.”

He sighed in relief. “Thanks. I take it you know what to do with it?”

“Yes, we’ll have the modifications ready within minutes.”

He nodded and climbed back into his fighter, downing two more enemy craft the second he left the shielding range, and headed for Sarah.

* * *

The shadowy man walked out to the bridge of the Dragon’s Claw. Every Zarlack stood up and saluted in unison. He didn’t salute in return, but looked toward the second in command. “Commander, who is your best pilot?”

“That would be me.”

“Then by all means, come with me.”

“Yes, master.” The Zarlack turned toward one of his officers. “You have the bridge.”

They walked toward the nearest lift and headed down to the fighter bay. A few seconds later, they were in front of a magnificent, black fighter, at least three times bigger than the average Zarlack craft.

The hooded man turned to his companion. “You will do as I say at all times.”

“Yes, master.”

“See you in space in a minute.”

Without another word, a door on the ship opened and the hooded man climbed aboard. The Zarlack commander ran to the first available fighter and ran his pre-flight check. Fear was coursing through his veins, but there was something else too, an aching excitement. He had been chosen to be on the master’s wing. Clearly that was an honor.

A moment later, both ships launched off from the Dragon’s Claw.

23

Chase checked his radar to see several ships vectoring toward Sarah’s position. It was nothing she couldn’t handle, except that one of the fighters carried a strange signature. It was something he had never seen before, and the ship itself was much larger than usual. He quickly adjusted his vector to join her.

“Sarah, you’ve got a strange bogie vectoring toward your position.”

“I see it. What is it?”

“Damned if I know. But let’s keep an eye on it; I don’t like this one bit. Make sure it never locks onto your six okay?”

“Roger that.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Worrying about me, baby? That’s so sweet.”

Chase didn’t answer. He wished he could take it so lightly, but every time he tried to relax and focus Ryonna’s warning shot through his mind. Was this the moment he had been dreading? And why hadn’t Aphroditis appeared to him? He would think that she’d be heavily interested in the outcome of this battle…She couldn’t check in and help?

“All good, Chase? Did I make you uncomfortable with my last transmission?”

“Sorry, Sarah, no you didn’t. Don’t worry. I just got lost in my thoughts.”

“Not to be a bitch, but weren’t you the one who told me to stay focused?”

He laughed shortly. “Roger that, and you’re right. Head in the game!”

“That’s better. Sarah out.”

Checking his instruments, it was clear now that the strange ship was interested in the fighters that had delivered the quadrinium to the satellite. Chase hoped that didn’t mean they were countering against his plan, but how could they? Space was in chaos. The Droxians had engaged the Zarlack Fleet and the playing field had been leveled. If they could only find a way to destroy or at the very least disable that seemingly indestructible behemoth of a ship, they might have a chance to win this thing.

A warning signaled and Chase glanced at his controls to see that the strange fighter was picking off ships from Sarah’s escort at an alarming rate. He was less than a minute out of range and he clenched his fists out of frustration.

Another thirty seconds and Sarah’s ship was the only one left.

“Sarah?” he called anxiously.

She sounded out of breath. “I don’t know why it hasn’t fired on me yet.”

“Don’t worry about that. Just be evasive. Do not engage until I join your wing.”

“I can take it.”

“No! Wait for me. That’s an order.” It came out harsher than he’d intended, but he was having trouble controlling his emotions. Something was seriously wrong, he could feel it.

“Very well... Crap—it’s targeting me.”

“Evasive maneuvers, Sarah!”

“Roger, but hurry up. This pilot is using flying patterns completely different from anything we’ve seen so far from the Zarlacks.”

“I don’t think it’s a Zarlack ship.”

“I can’t shake it, Chase! It’s locked and loaded on me, but it still isn’t firing.”

“Hang on,” he assured her, “I’m engaging any second now.”

His heart started pounding in his chest and he pushed his ship even faster. Why would this mystery ship take out her entire squadron but leave her? None of it made sense…

The second he entered firing range, he pelted the ship’s starboard side. Nothing happened. He glanced at his controls again, sure he had misread them. No, he didn’t. The ship’s shields had stayed at one hundred percent.

“This is not good!” he cried in alarm.

“What is it?” Sarah asked, still dodging as best she could.

“Its shields are incredibly strong! I hit it full on and they didn’t even blink.”

“Maybe we need to go at it with missiles.”

“With shields that strong we’ll only waste our ordnance. We need to find a way to lower them first.”

“I’m open to suggestions.”

“Let’s go at it together, like we did with the scout corvette the other day. Try to dance around and stay very evasive. I don’t like the ease with which it destroyed your escort, or the strong signature I’m getting from its shields.”

“Me either. Understood and,” she confirmed, “engaging.”

As they engaged the incoming wing, Chase got his first visual look at the ominous craft, and what a beast it was! It was at least five times the size of the F-140s with a black matted paint that made it look like a shadow in space, erasing the stars behind it.

He and Sarah focused their lasers on a specific point in the shields for about twenty seconds but, to Chase’s intense dismay, its shields dropped by only a single percent.

 “We really have a problem here.”

“These shields are way too strong, Chase. What do we do?”

“We need stronger firepower; there’s no way we can take this fighter out with just two F-140s.”

“What about the Destiny?” she asked.

“That’s what I’m thinking too. But we’ll need all the ships we can spare for the next phase of our plan…”

“So what do we do then?”

As if to answer, the black fighter veered and turned to face its opponents, hitting them with heavy fire. The first salvo took Chase by surprise and scorched his aft shields down to thirty percent before he managed to start evading. Not only was the fighter powerful beyond anything that Chase had ever thought possible for a vessel of its size, but it was also incredibly maneuverable, and Chase had one hell of a time dodging its relentless attacks. Forget thinking offensively, it was taking his entire focus not to get blown out of the sky.

“Hang on, Chase, I’ll try to get his attention.”

“No, it’s too powerful. I can manage and keep it at bay until the satellites are ready to fire on the destroyer.”

“But Chase⁠—”

“That’s an order, Sarah. Stop firing at him and engage his escort. The escort is Zarlack in design and I don’t understand why it hasn’t engaged yet, but that doesn’t matter. I need you to dispatch it. I won’t be able to dodge both of them attacking me.”

Sarah was quiet for a long moment, before she finally said, “Engaging escort now.”

The second Sarah locked onto the passive Zarlack ship, it veered away from the dark fighter and engaged in evasive maneuvers. It had one hell of a pilot! Sarah had trouble scoring the few hits she did, and she wasn’t able to inflict enough damage before the tables turned and she became the target.

She danced around and evaded most of the fire and, for a few minutes, both vessels exchanged the roles of hunter and prey—neither managing to inflict any serious damage. All the while she kept a close eye on her radar and she watched as Chase’s fighter got steadily weaker. His shields were already down to fifteen percent. He was the best pilot she had ever seen, but a sense of dread started looming over her.

What if he had met his match?

* * *

In the Destiny’s engineering room, Yanis looked at his terminal and said, “That’s it, we’re ready. Cedric, can you give me the status of the satellites?”

“Eighty percent charged. Another two minutes before they’re ready to fire. I’m entering the code now and locking the coordinates for the transport of the EMP device. Do we know if it will affect our ships as well?”

“I’ve run simulations… Only ships that are in the direct path of the wave escaping the small hole the satellites will punch through the shields should be affected. I’ve already warned Captain Saroudis and he’s positioning the ships accordingly. They’ll also turn off their equipment at the exact moment we beam the EMP to be sure. Simulations are one thing…”

“There’s one thing I don’t get. If the EMP knocks out their systems, won’t the shields collapse as well?”

“They should, but they won’t collapse instantly. They should still contain the bulk of the EMP shockwave.”

“Should?”

Yanis glared defensively. “Well it’s not our ship and I don’t have the exact specs now do I? I just fed the simulator whatever scan parameters we had.”

“So we could end up disabling our ships as well?”

“Yes. That’s why some of the ships are currently repositioning away from the detonation zone. We shouldn’t need too much firepower to destroy or disable the ships once it happens anyway. The ones in the detonation zones will just turn off their power for a brief moment.”

“What about ships with shields that are still up?”

“I fed that info to the simulator as well; the blast should disable any ship whose shields are under sixty percent in the blast radius.”

“That’s a lot of uncertainty.”

“If you have a better plan, I’m all ears.”

Cedric shrugged. “I don’t. I’m just thinking that it’s one hell of a gamble.”

“I agree, but we don’t have much of a choice. If we don’t destroy or at the very least disable this ship, sooner or later this battle will be over and the wrong side will win.”

Cedric was quiet for a second, and then asked, “What about power?”

“What about it?”

“When you made the calculations, did you reroute enough juice for the beaming to even happen? Since the processing power and storage requirements are astronomical here, we need to make sure we have enough juice to make this work, now don’t we?”

“Isn’t Earth’s electricity grid stable?”

“Are you serious? It’s designed to make our infrastructure run well, but when every computer on the planet starts running at full power all at once, I predict there will be a little problem.”

Yanis paled. “What do we do?”

“Give me another two minutes to hack the planet’s power grid.” Cedric sighed. “Boy, this better count as overtime.”

“You aren’t being paid anymore, remember?”

“Don’t remind me.”

* * *

Chase was losing patience with the black fighter. It was clearly the superior vessel but, for whatever reason, it seemed content to play a game of cat and mouse. A game that Chase, despite his impressive piloting skills, was doomed to lose. It was time to pull another rabbit out of his hat. He hit his comm link, and Captain Saroudis appeared on screen.

“What’s up, Chase? You seem to have bitten off more than you can chew.”

“Sure have. I need to know where we are on the plan. We need that big ship to go away so we can concentrate the rest of the fleet’s firepower on this new threat I’m dealing with right now.”

“Want me to start firing our main guns at it?”

“That would put you on the wrong side of the EMP radius, so no. But can you have a squadron of fighters loaded up with my remote control protocols?”

The captain thought about it. “We have two wings of ships coming in for reloading. I’ll dump their pilots and load the programs. But the rest of the ships aren’t ready.”

“Can they fly?”

“Probably.”

“Then load as many as you can with my programs and give me access when they’re ready.”

“Alright, Chase, hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Improvising.” He tried to smile. “Isn’t that what I do best?”

“I hope so. Hang on a second…”

“Roger that.”

The picture emptied but, after a few seconds, Saroudis returned to the screen.

“Alright, we’re ready to fire the satellites.”

“That’s great news! How about the EMP?”

“Locked, loaded, and ready to beam in shortly.”

“Very well. Make sure the squadron of fighters I requested is powered off when the EMP explodes and try to put the Destiny enough of a distance away to stay operational.”

“Still comfortable with improvisation at this point?”

“If I didn’t have to evade a possibly better pilot while talking with you, yes. But right now, it’s getting hard to manage.”

“Hang on just a few moments. I’m already transferring firing controls to you.”

“Thanks, Captain, see you on the other side.”

“Hopefully.”

The holo-display turned off. Time to get away from this part of space, or he and Sarah would get disabled along with the rest of them.

“Sarah, we need to vector away from here. We’re almost ready for the firing sequence.”

“Busy here. This pilot isn’t fucking around. I miss the dumb drones from our test flight; hell, even the scout ships. I’ve almost fired my entire ordnance at this guy; he simply does not want to die.”

“I know how you feel,” he replied. “At least yours is just a skilled pilot; mine is a freaking flying fortress too.”

“Exchange?”

He was about to say no, when he suddenly paused. “Actually, that’s not a terrible idea. My shields are reaching levels I’m no longer comfortable with.” He typed in some commands and sent them her way. “Let’s bring them both to this set of coordinates.”

“Alright. Changing course.”

“Once there, let’s face each other and fire at our respective pains in the butt.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

A couple of minutes and several thousand miles away from the satellites, Sarah and Chase came nose to nose, with their enemies still hot on their tails. Chase reconfigured his firing frequency to an ultra-powerful, single beam. He redirected every bit of energy he could to the weapons, then locked all his remaining missiles on Sarah’s attacker. As soon as they passed each other, his lasers opened a hole in the ship’s shields, and his missiles blew it to kingdom come. Unfortunately, debris from the blast rained down on his ship in the process, draining the last of its shields.

“Thanks for the assist, but you’re out of missiles,” Sarah called.

“One problem at the time.”

At that moment, Chase received the green light that both the satellites and the teleporter were ready and fully charged.

“Satellites two and three, fire now!” he shouted.

A ball of blue energy glowed for a split second on the tip of the main cannon of both satellites, before a laser of enormous proportions hit the main enemy battleship, enveloping every single fighter—friend or foe—that was in its path.

A quick look at Chase’s scans showed that the shields were down at the point of impact.

“Chase to the fleet, power down in three!”

He thought about the teleporter firing controls, activating it in the process. “Transporting now!” he added just before turning off his own systems.

But then something happened. The lights on the satellites and every enemy ship within the EMP impact range blinked uncontrollably for a second, before going black. The same thing happened on the ground and, a moment later, the entire planet went dark. He waited another few seconds before re-engaging his systems. As soon as the F-140 systems came to life, he heard Sarah on the mind link.

“Chase, did it work?” she asked breathlessly.

“I think so, but I don’t know. Hang on.” He hailed the Destiny. “Captain, package delivered. Concentrate all firepower on that big ship. Make it go away, or make damn sure it doesn’t get the opportunity to recover from this.”

“Systems rebooting. Engaging with every ship still capable, maximum firepower.”

Then every remaining Alliance ship started firing at the indestructible enemy battleship, which seemed to have been temporarily disabled by the EMP.

In a matter of seconds, they could see the impact they were having. Debris was flying, decks were taking fire. Before long, the Droxians joined in and the “indestructible” battleship didn’t stand a chance.

A strange voice echoed in Chase’s ship. “Very impressive, but it will cost you, boy.”

“Who is this? Identify yourself!” he demanded. But then, with an ominous chill, he checked his controls and realized the message hadn’t been transferred via communicators, but directly into his mind. He put his hand up automatically to his face and gazed through the view screen at the black fighter. How was that even possible?!

Then everything started to turn very bad.

Chase’s controls started blinking rapidly and he looked down to see that the fighter was gaining on Sarah, pelting her with maximum fire. It quickly tore through her shields and bits of debris started floating away into space. He immediately angled his ship to intercept, transferring all power to the engines, but even so, she only had a few seconds. As he looked on in terror, the black fighter, which wasn’t affected by the EMP blast, turned around to deliver the final blow.

“Sarah, eject!” he cried.

“I’m trying, Chase, help⁠—”

But time seemed to stop in Chase’s brain. He realized that even at maximum thrusters, he would never arrive in time. Every moment that he and Sarah had spent together seemed to flash before his eyes and, before he realized what was happening, he was making his ship jump on instinct, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“NO!”

He re-appeared a split second after in front of Sarah’s disabled ship, taking the hit that was meant for his beloved. His instruments exploded and flames shot out the sides of his cockpit, and then…darkness.

He never realized how lonely it was, floating there in space. With all his systems down he had no way to evade his attacker and no way to call for help. He could only watch, through his cracked canopy, as the black fighter swooped around for another pass. He also felt the weightlessness of zero G now that his ship’s systems had been disabled.

At least he and Sarah would die together. The thought comforted him. But then the familiar voice of the goddess echoed in his head.

“It’s not over, Chase.”

He looked around in wonder, but then his eyes fixed on the ship. The black fighter had stopped right in front of him, so close he could almost touch it; but it paused, waiting.

“Do it already, you motherfucker!” he screamed.

“Not today,” came the same mysterious voice as before.

Then all at once, the ship turned to the side. Sarah was floating there in her cockpit. She’d been able to eject, but was now sitting there as helpless as he was. Chase watched in impotent rage as a red tractor beam seized her cockpit and lifted it to the ship.

“No!” he shouted aloud, and he began pounding on the weakened glass of his cockpit.

He punched it again and again, trying in vain to get to her, as drops of his blood floated inside the cockpit. He had to stop this! He had to save her! He had never wanted anything so much in his life.

And then all at once, his situation changed.

As if he had willed it so, he opened his eyes and found himself onboard a Manticore Alliance fighter, with his wing of remote fighters at his side onboard Destiny. He gasped and clutched automatically at the sides of the cockpit. Losing no time he launched out of the Destiny, his remote-controlled wing following once he slaved them to this craft. Was this even real? Was he hallucinating? A second later, he decided that it didn’t matter and, as soon as he entered firing range, he launched every missile he and his squadron had at the black fighter.

Of course Chase didn’t want to destroy the ship, just disable it, but no matter how many times he fired, its shields were still holding. Out of options, he started throwing the remote-controlled ships on a collision course, one by one, still to no effect.

The dark voice inside his head chuckled. Let her go. She’s mine now.

Chase made a noise somewhere between a shriek and a growl.

I told you it would cost you.

“Destiny! This is Chase. Fire on that ship with everything you’ve got!”

“Understood. Firing now,” Saroudis answered.

Streaks of blue laser fire and salvoes of missiles approached the target while Chase braced himself and hoped with all his heart that they wouldn’t blow the ship out of the sky, but at least manage to disable it.

But just before the lasers impacted with it, the black fighter disappeared, simply blinking out into nothingness instead.

Chase’s mind went black and he lost consciousness. All the fighters he was controlling turned off instantly and floated in place, becoming still pieces of debris, drifting aimlessly in the darkness of space.

24

When Chase opened his eyes, he was lying on a bed. His vision was blurry and everything sounded garbled. He thought maybe he heard a voice. It was too muffled for him to understand. His hands were throbbing with pain, though, that much was clear. He remembered how he’d pounded them to shreds upon the glass in his F-140. His head was also ringing like someone had tried to pry it open.

What had happened? He’d obviously been picked up…but had they won?

He could make out some words now, but they didn’t make sense. His vision started to clear and, little by little, he could see Daniel’s face looking down at him. One by one, his words started to puncture through.

“friend…scared…try…”

Chase raised a battered finger. “I can’t hear you. Gimme a minute.”

Daniel nodded up and down in response.

As the world around him grew progressively sharper, his mind zeroed in on Sarah. The black fighter had taken her, but where? Was he holding her captive? Was…

…was she dead already?

He turned his head weakly to Daniel. “I think I’m okay…”

Daniel’s face cleared in relief. “Good, you scared the shit out of us!”

“Where am I?”

“On board the Destiny, medical bay.”

“Did we win?”

His friend paused. “Sort of.”

“What do you mean, sort of?”

“Well, we stopped the Zarlacks, disabled their largest ship thanks to the EMP we teleported into its hull, and managed to destroy the rest of the fleet. We’re currently analyzing the disabled ship in order to develop more efficient weapons for the future. It’s been badly damaged but, if we could retrofit it, it would make a good addition to what’s left of our fleet.”

“So…we won?”

“Yeah. We won.”

“I don’t like your tone. What is it?”

“Well, you remember the Droxians?”

“Yeah, what about them?”

“We’re currently en route to Droxia now to answer for our crimes.”

Chase frowned in confusion. “What crimes? What the hell is that about?”

“Yeah...I’m a little pissed off too.” Daniel shook his head. “But if they hadn’t followed your reinforcements, we probably wouldn’t be here discussing it. We did infringe on their territory and Captain Saroudis promised we would stand trial once the battle was over.”

“Earth?”

“Many big cities destroyed, millions killed.”

“Any good news?”

“I’m afraid not.” Daniel looked at his friend gently. “We found Sarah’s ship adrift; she apparently ejected, but we couldn’t locate her cockpit. I…I’m so sorry, Chase.”

Chase felt his world crumble beneath him. “So it wasn’t a hallucination…”

“What wasn’t?”

Tears started flowing down his face. “I saw the dark fighter use a tractor beam after she ejected. It took Sarah and vanished.”

Daniel squeezed his shoulder. “Then maybe she’s still alive.”

“I hope so. I need to find her.” Chase tried to get up, but a wave of pain coursed through his body and forced him down again.

“Easy, man!” Daniel pressed him back. “You’re in no shape to go anywhere right now. As a matter of fact, I’m going to let you rest a little, okay?”

“Yeah I guess,” Chase panted as his heart rate returned to normal. “How long was I out anyway?”

“Almost a day now. Get some rest. Everything will still be here in the morning.”

Chase closed his eyes and felt more tears slip down to his neck. A day. The black fighter had a day head start on him. He tried to sit up once more, but fell back with the searing pain and decided to try to sleep. He would begin his search first thing in the morning.

“I will find you, Sarah,” he whispered in the dark. “I promise.”

* * *

Sarah slowly opened her eyes. She didn’t know where she was. It was extremely dark and the ground she was lying on was freezing. She managed to raise herself up and leaned back against a wall as her vision adjusted to the darkness. The room was small; it felt like a prison cell. She heard steps and tried to stand up, but she fell back almost immediately. Every muscle, every bone in her body, felt as though it had fallen off a skyscraper.

The door of the cell opened and a lizard man entered. Sarah reeled back in alarm, but the pain was so much that she couldn’t even try to get away. Her eyes struggled to see as the lizard swept toward her in the darkness. A strange sort of stick touched her abdomen and, the next second, she doubled over with a jolt of electricity and a scream. Then all was black.

When she came to, she was being dragged on the floor. Two lizard men had her by the arms, and when one looked her way, she quickly closed her eyes, feigning that she was still out cold. She was dragged a bit farther now. After a few moments, she squinted through her lashes. There was a long corridor in front of her and, by the looks of it, she was alone with her two guards. If she wanted to try to escape, now was as good a time as any. Maybe she could take out a lizard or two…

Without any warning, she jerked her arms free, ignoring the blinding pain that followed. The lizards seemed as surprised as she was that it had worked, and she used their confusion combined with a jolt of adrenaline to pull herself to her feet. She kicked out with all her strength and felt her foot connect with painful satisfaction with the lizard’s face.

He didn’t even blink.

“Uh oh,” she muttered.

Before she could try to run, she was slammed by a tail so hard that she flew and crashed into the nearby wall, barely conscious. The other lizard muttered something angry in a language she couldn’t understand and they took her arms again, dragging her away.

So much for my great escape, she thought. Then she lost consciousness once more.

When she opened her eyes again, she was in a much bigger room. There were strange torches lighting the walls and, in the center, there was what appeared to be a throne. She tried to raise her head higher, but fell back with a whimper of pain.

“I said she was not to be hurt!” a voice resonated from the throne.

“She tried to escape, master,” answered one of the lizards.

“Who did this to her?”

After a moment’s pause, one lizard stepped forward. Even its tail was trembling. Sarah didn’t understand what could make such a huge, monster of a thing afraid but, the next second, something seemed to go very wrong. As if pulled by invisible strings, the guard started levitating and soon the lizard’s limbs shot straight out to his sides. There was a low frequency buzzing, during which everyone seemed to hold their breath, and then, all at once, the lizard’s head exploded.

Dark blood and bits of flesh showered down around her, and Sarah wiped her face clean in disgust. The other lizard by her side immediately kneeled.

“Leave us!” the voice demanded.

The lizard jumped to his feet and hurried from the room. Sarah watched him until he’d disappeared through the doors, then turned her attention back to the throne. It was a man, she saw now. The source of the voice was a man.

He got to his feet and slowly descended the stairs in front of the throne. As he walked, the dim lights caught the side of his face, and Sarah was actually able to see him a little. There was something about him that looked familiar. The curve of his lips, the shape of his jaw. He almost looked like… She shook her head to clear it; she must be dreaming.

But then he threw back his hood and her mouth fell open. She couldn’t believe her eyes. A deep warmth flooded through her tired body and she pushed up onto her legs and ran toward him.

“Chase!” she cried in happiness. “What are you doing here? I’m so glad to⁠—”

Then she stopped like she’d hit an invisible wall. The corner of the man’s mouth twitched and, like the lizard before, she started levitating.

Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she realized her mistake. The man looked very much like Chase. It could very well have been his twin in fact. But there were a few differences. He had a nasty scar that ran down the entire left side of his face, and a shock of gray hair with some white highlights. But the most telling difference was the eyes. His glowed a bright red, resonating pure evil.

Chase’s eyes were kind. And he would never look at her the way this man was looking now.

“Who are you?” She started sobbing uncontrollably as he lifted her still higher.

The man smiled. “Chase, huh? So that’s the name my brother goes by these days.”

End of Book 1…

DAMOCLES FALL (NOVELETTE)

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Commander Theodoros Leonidis (theh-oh-do-ros leh-oh-nee-dis) – Damocles-3 Station Commander

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis (spee-ros ma-lah-yah-nis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Lieutenant Commander Michalis Maniatis (mee-khah-lees mah-nee-ah-tees) - Bridge crew

Tassos - Spiros’s Lab Assistant (Engineer)

Major Sotis - Damocles-3 Security Chief

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

Production Editor & Alpha/ARC Team Lead

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Editors

Philip Newey

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Proofreaders

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Miliana Chipaila (Thank you so much Millie!)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2017 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2017 / Version 1.01

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

Christian Kallias

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

1

“Commander! A fleet of seven unidentified ships is jumping out of hyperspace. They’re heading toward us at full sub-light burn. Their power signatures are massive,” said Lieutenant Commander Michalis Maniatis.

Station Commander Theodoros Leonidis took a step forward, his face stoic; his gaze as cold as ice.

“Do we have a visual on the fleet yet?”

“Yes, Commander, they’ve just entered visual range.”

“On screen.”

The large holo-screen in the command center of the Damocles-3 R&D research station came to life and displayed the ships no one on board had ever seen before.

“ETA?” asked Leonidis, rubbing his dark-gray beard.

“Less than fifteen minutes, Commander.”

From the top of his six foot six frame, the commander looked at the ships inside the streamed holo-vid and tried to remember where he might have seen them before. Something about the ships was familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Hail them.”

A few moments passed.

“Lieutenant Commander?” insisted Leonidis.

“I’m sorry, Commander; I can’t establish communications. They’re either incompatible to ours, or they simply don’t care to answer our hails.”

Leonidis was certain it was the latter. There was no way such advanced ships couldn’t pick up a subspace holo-signal.

“What do we do, Commander? Should I try audio only?”

“No, for the time being, we assume they’re hostile and take the necessary precautions. Try recalling the Star Alliance Destroyer Faith to the station.”

“They’ve already entered the Ismara Nebula, and we’ve lost both sensors and comms. I’m not getting any response, Commander.”

That was not the answer Leonidis was hoping for. He knew the SAD Faith, even with its latest R&D weaponry, couldn’t take on a fleet of ships that massive, but, in conjunction with the station’s defense, it would give them better odds in case of a conflict. The unknown ships’ power signature was off the charts. Together, they emitted a stronger signature than the Damocles-3 Station itself. Without the Faith, Leonidis didn’t see a positive outcome should the fleet decide to attack them. He needed reinforcements and prayed that his station’s heavy defenses would hold until they arrived.

“Open a channel to Alpha Prime.”

After a few moments without an answer, Leonidis sensed that something was terribly wrong. “What’s going on, Lieutenant Commander? Where’s my channel to Alpha Prime?”

“I’m trying, Commander. Nobody is answering.”

“Widen your frequencies. Use the emergency ones.”

“I’ve already tried that. I’m picking up a subspace distress signal. Audio only.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“This is Admiral Thassos to any Star Alliance ship. We are under attack. The Obsidian have launched a large-scale attack on the Alliance. Defenses around Alpha Prime have fallen, we have no other—” The sound turned to static.

“Commander,” continued the Lieutenant Commander. “I’m picking up similar distress calls from all over the sector.”

What in the gods’ name is happening?

“Set condition red throughout the base,” said Leonidis.

* * *

Chief of Research & Development Spiros Malayianis punched his console with frustration, and half a second later the lights in his lab flashed red.

“What now?” he said out loud.

The station had set condition red. Spiros was in a foul mood, and the last thing he needed was another battle-readiness drill interrupting his work. The last twenty simulations trying to stabilize the power flow in his shield generator upgrade had all been a disaster. Sometimes the shields fluctuated to the point of becoming utterly inefficient, while in other cases the power capacitors overloaded and the simulation failed catastrophically. The emitters blew up, in some scenarios even taking the station with them.

Spiros had carte blanche with his research and didn’t need to worry about drills, though he usually got an advanced warning from the command center when drills were running, which oddly hadn’t been the case this time.

He checked his holo-screen and brought up the station’s status alert. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that this was no drill. A real condition red had been issued.

“What the hell?” he exclaimed, even though he was presently alone in the lab.

Before he had time to open a channel to Commander Leonidis, an incoming call arrived.

“Commander, what the hell is going on?”

“We’ve detected a fleet of massive ships coming our way. They’re not answering hails, and we’ve also intercepted multiple distress calls all over the sector. The Star Alliance is under attack, everywhere.”

It took a second for Spiros’ brain to assimilate Leonidis’ words.

“What do you mean everywhere?”

“Even Alpha Prime. We can’t establish a channel to the home world. Whatever the Obsidian are doing, this is a systemic, Alliance-wide attack. They’re wiping us out.”

“The Obsidian don’t have that kind of power, Commander! We’ve been at war for decades. Our forces are evenly matched.”

“It looks like today is the day this stalemate ends, Chief. And I think these unknown ships are the reason. Many of the distress calls mentioned them before they were abruptly cut off.”

“Do we know anything about them?”

“Something looks familiar to me. I just can’t recall where I’ve seen them before. Perhaps you can run them through our database and get more information. But that’s not the reason for my call.”

Spiros knew what was coming next. This station was the primary center for every new weapons upgrade being developed for the entire Star Alliance. The information it held could not fall into the hands of the enemy.

“You have ten minutes to wipe out your research.”

“But Commander⁠—”

“Chief! This is a standard procedure we’ve put in place. We can’t take any chances. I’m sending two security teams to accompany you to the Phoenix prototype vessel you’ve been working on. It’s jump-capable at this point, right?”

“It is, but, sir⁠—”

“Not now, Spiros! Listen carefully. You have to survive this attack. You can always recreate your research somewhere else. Your data is expendable; you, however, are not. Do I make myself clear?”

“I must object⁠—”

“You have your orders, Chief! And so do I for contingencies like this one. I don’t have time to discuss or debate this with you right now. Let’s hope your last batch of modifications to our shields and weaponry will be effective against this threat. But we can’t take the chance, so I’m ordering you to erase all your databases now and prepare to flee this station and board the Phoenix. Be ready to go in ten minutes.”

2

“Tassos, where the hell are you? Come back to the lab at once,” yelled Spiros.

“On my way,” answered Tassos, his primary lab assistant, over the comm-link.

Spiros’ heart was racing. He felt a panic he had never experienced before. He wasn’t ready to delete his research, but he had been given a direct order. If he erased his entire research, it would take years to rebuild it from the ground up. This could be fatal if the Star Alliance were to survive this day.

He wasn’t prepared to give up on his advancements. Time was running out, so he needed to act fast. He grabbed his latest pet project, a multi-phasic-encryption, high-capacity data crystal, and started moving all his research into it.

Spiros then ran the database search to try to identify the ships that were coming their way.

While his research transferred to the data crystal, and the computer ran a program matching power signatures to the incoming ships, Spiros tried opening a channel to the home world. He couldn’t acquire a channel, not even on the golden priority network he was privy to.

He thought of Takis, his nephew back on the home world. The boy had already lost his parents to the war with the Obsidian, and Spiros was the last family he had. The death of Spiros’ brother and sister-in-law had been hard. Spiros had taken years to get over it, and now perhaps Takis was lost as well.

This is not happening!

The computer bleeped and dragged Spiros out of his thoughts. The computer had found a partial match for the ships. Spiros had to read the results three times to accept them.

“Ship is an eighty-five-percent match for Zarlacks,” said the message on his holo-screen.

That’s not possible.

The Zarlacks had been defeated. They were a dead race. After the Fury War and the Furies’ defeat nearly ten thousand years ago, the Zarlacks, one of their allies, had fled the known universe. A few thousand years later, the coalition of worlds that had defeated the Furies had tracked them down and wiped them out on distant worlds. Or so they had thought.

Spiros analyzed the power signatures himself, looked at the few schematics they had in their database and was forced to accept that the resemblance in both design and power signatures was too high to ignore. Which meant the Zarlacks had not been wiped out, and now they were working in concert with the Obsidian to annihilate the Star Alliance.

The Alliance had been created long after the Fury War, to protect emerging worlds from potential enemies and to police this sector of the universe against any other threats. A few hundred years ago, the Obsidian Empire was created and had opposed the Star Alliance. A multi-generational war had ensued that continued to this day.

Spiros’ entire career and research had been dedicated to developing new weapons and defenses to give the Alliance an edge in that long and tiring war that had claimed many of the people Spiros had loved and cared for. From his parents to his brother, and even his wife, twenty years earlier.

Even though he was a scientist and detested violence, every cell in his body wanted nothing more than the fall of the Obsidian Empire; an enemy whose cruelty and thirst for power had brought so much grief to his life and the lives of so many others.

Spiros opened a channel to the command center.

“They’re Zarlacks, Commander.”

“That’s impossible, Chief. Zarlacks were wiped out a long time ago.”

“I’m afraid all evidence is to the contrary. These ships coming toward us, even though I share your disbelief—they’re Zarlacks for sure.”

“Then may the gods of Olympus help us all. Are you done wiping your data?”

“It’s progressing well. By the time the soldiers you sent arrive, it will be done.”

Spiros hated lying to his commanding officer, someone he had the deepest respect for and even considered a friend. But Leonidis was a soldier, and soldiers obeyed their orders without questions. Spiros saw the bigger picture and knew his research could help in the long run.

“Get your ass on board the Phoenix and get the hell out of here. Try to reconnect with whatever survivors you can find. They’ll need your technical expertise and engineering talent if the Star Alliance is to survive.”

“What about you, Theo?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll fight them off and buy you the necessary time to escape. Your life and your brilliant mind are more important. It’s been an honor knowing you, my friend.”

Spiros wanted to shout his frustration, but that would accomplish nothing.

“Likewise, my friend.”

The communication turned off, and the computer informed Spiros that a technical issue had prevented the database from continuing to dump data into the crystal.

Spiros tried to resume the transfer, but an irrecoverable error kept occurring. He had only a few minutes before the jarheads with orders to get him away from here arrived in his lab.

“Fuck! Now is not the time.”

He had futzed around with his processor’s architecture and network redundancy the day before, trying to get more juice for running concurrent and parallel simulations in order to validate his latest shields’ design. Obviously, he had altered a piece of code that was now preventing the full data-dump of his research onto the crystal.

Spiros sweated profusely. He did not like working under pressure, especially with such sensitive material. One false move and he could corrupt everything he had worked on for decades. That would be ironic since that would pretty much render it unusable, which was in line with the order he had received.

But Spiros couldn’t reconcile himself to the idea of having his life work erased, so it was time for plan B. Though he didn’t like the idea, he had no choice. He sent the remainder of the data into an encrypted demilitarized subnet, using the data crystal hash as the decryption key. That way he could try to access the data with his brain implant on the way to the ship. Or, at the very least, recover the data from inside the Phoenix before departing the station. The Phoenix contained state-of-the-art processing power and network capabilities that would help him achieve that quickly.

That would give him another ten minutes or so to try to get the data back, and perhaps another few seconds once the ship launched. But as soon as it entered hyperspace, the link would be severed. The clock was ticking, and he needed to make this work, one way or another.

3

When Tassos entered the lab, Spiros was so focused on his task that he jumped while sitting behind his holo-console.

“Great Zeus’ bolt! It’s you.”

“Who else would it be? You told me to haul ass back here. What the hell is going on? The entire station is in a state of panic.”

“We’re about to be attacked. In fact, the entire Star Alliance is under attack, and we may not survive this day.”

“Why isn’t the commander evacuating the crew? We shouldn’t stay here. We’re researchers, not military.”

“We’re getting off this station, but the rest will stay. The SAD Faith is unreachable, and we have no ship to load the crew and escape to but the Phoenix.”

“The Phoenix is barely bigger than a cargo shuttle!”

“Which is why only the two of us and a few soldiers are going to board it.”

“You can’t be serious! What about the rest of the teams? We can’t let them die here!”

Spiros growled in frustration. “You think I don’t know that? You’re not grasping the big picture here. We have to save my research in the hope it can help defeat our enemies.”

“I’m surprised the commander gave that order, especially since the first thing they made us write when we came here was a wiping algorithm to make sure our research never fell into enemy hands.”

“That’s the order I’ve received, but that’s not what we’re going to do.”

“Are you insane? If the commander says ‘erase the data and leave,’ that’s what we should do!”

“No!” screamed Spiros. “This research could be the Star Alliance’s only hope. So I need you to help me get it out of here, intact. Any time now, a battle will start outside the station, so I want you to get as much sensor data as you can. It’s vital I get actionable data on these Zarlack ships.”

“Did you just say Zarlack?”

Fear crept behind Tassos’ eyes. Spiros grabbed his colleague and friend by the shoulders.

“I know this is a lot to take in, Tassos. And I know you are scared. I am too. But if we are to survive and give the Star Alliance a fighting chance, you need to be clear on what we must do. Are you going to help me now? If not, then please leave, but I could really use your help, my friend.”

“I want to help but don’t know how I feel about disobeying orders⁠—”

“You’re not, Tassos. I am. As far as you’re concerned, I’m giving you orders, and you’re only obeying your superior.”

“That’s a technicality, and a gray one, at that.”

“Look, after the repeat drinking problems you’ve had, nobody in the research community was willing to give you a break. I gave you a job, got you back on your feet, and I even trusted you with my sensitive research, despite your past addiction⁠—”

Tassos looked down.

“Please? Help me save my research,” pleaded Spiros.

Tassos looked back up and nodded. “Very well; tell me what to do.”

Spiros let out a long sigh of relief.

“Record everything you can regarding the battle about to start outside the station. Focus on energy signatures, shield frequencies and laser modulation of both allies and enemies. We need to know how much we currently affect the enemy with our weapons, how much they affect us and how to develop both shields and lasers to counter their specific technology. You’ll have a few minutes at best. Unfortunately, we’ll shortly be escorted out of here by soldiers. I’ll run interference to give you enough time to program a portable holo-pad so you can do the job en route. It’s a long walk to the Phoenix, and we can use that time to finish what needs to be done.”

“I knew I should have installed a brain implant like yours. It gets the job done so much faster.”

“Well, if we survive this, I’ll design you one just like mine.”

Spiros regretted the words the moment they escaped his lips.

Tassos’ face dropped. “If?”

“I meant when. We’re getting out of here, I promise. Now please, hurry!”

Tassos attempted a smile and went to work on modifying a holo-pad with the necessary modules.

Soon enough the door of the research lab opened, and some of their security detachment entered. Men in black boots and full body armor stood before them armed to the teeth.

“Chief Malayianis, I’m Major Sotis. I’m here to escort you to hangar bay six on the double.”

“Hello, Major, give me a minute, will you? I’m not done here,” answered Spiros.

“My orders are to get you there ASAP.”

“And we will go shortly, Major, but I also have my own orders to destroy my research, and these things take time. The commander was adamant about this being done prior to leaving, so confirm it with him if you have to, but I’m not ready to leave just yet.”

Major Sotis grimaced. “That’s alright, sir, we’ll wait for you. Please hurry.”

4

From the holo-console on the desk of his ready room, Commander Leonidis tried in vain to reach the SAD Faith once more via subspace. Unfortunately, it looked as though they would have to defend the station on their own. Damocles-3 had the most advanced weaponry in the Star Alliance, thanks to Spiros’ research.

This also meant that once Spiros left on the Phoenix, Leonidis would have to self-destruct the station to make sure the enemy didn’t reverse-engineer his work.

Of course, that would have to be a last resort, but no matter how powerful the Zarlacks’ weapons and shields were—which at this point was an unknown quantity—they were massive and bigger than any destroyer Leonidis had ever seen. While they couldn’t know how strong their weaponry was before the battle started, taking on so many ships and winning didn’t seem likely.

And then there was his family back on Alpha Prime. They had lost communication with the planet about the same time they detected the incoming fleet. Leonidis thought of his wife, Zoe, and ten-year-old son, Angele. Would he ever see them again? Were they still alive?

Life as he knew it was most likely over. Leonidis had his standing orders and would execute them for the good of the Star Alliance, even though he questioned their relevance at this point. Being unable to make contact with any of the Star Alliance vessels or bases in the system told him that whatever attack the Obsidian had mounted against them today, it was a surgical and synchronized assault to end the war in one fell swoop.

Leonidis buried his head in his hands, grabbed his dark-gray hair and pulled it in frustration. The beginning of tears burned the corners of his eyes. Everything he knew, everyone he loved, were probably already gone.

He had joined the Star Alliance to make a difference; to make sure he could protect his family. But there was nothing he could do for them from here, and no way to escape the inevitable conflict that would likely be his last action in this world.

An incoming communication broke his train of thought. He wiped his eyes, took a deep breath and answered it.

“The enemy is about to enter firing range, Commander,” said his second-in-command and tactical officer. “I thought you’d like to be in the command center when that happens.”

“I’ll be right there. Thank you, Michalis.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

Leonidis’ index finger touched the holo-control to end the communication. He then looked at the holo-picture frame of his family resting on his desk. They all looked happy in that picture. It was taken on a day out in the woods around their small town of Kifissia on Alpha Prime. The town was inhabited by mostly Star Alliance officers. He missed the place. It had been three months since his last leave. He had spent nearly four days with them.

While the time had been mostly great, there had also been tension with Zoe. She had implored him to resign his commission. She couldn’t stand for them to live apart any longer. An argument had ensued, and they had left things in a way that stung Leonidis’ heart now. Their last words had been heated, spat out in anger and frustration.

Leonidis was proud to be a part of the Star Alliance and to have been given a position of authority. He had responsibilities, and it gave his life meaning. Him considering breaking his oath to the Star Alliance was ludicrous. But now, at the precipice of this uncertain battle, he regretted both his stubbornness and insistence on duty and honor. At least slightly. He would never have given up his command, but he could at least have tried to listen to Zoe’s point of view. It mattered not anymore. The time to act or at least consider it had passed.

A tear traveled down his cheek. He gently kissed his fingers and passed them through the holo-picture.

I’m so sorry. I love you both so much. May we meet again in the afterlife.

He got up from his chair, wiped his cheek with the back of his hand, sniffled once and went back to the command center through the sliding door in his ready room.

“Status,” he said before sitting in his command chair. He brought up a tactical holo-map on his personal controls.

“The Zarlack ships, if that’s what they are, will be in firing range in twenty seconds. Their shields are up, and they’ve powered their weapons,” said Lieutenant Commander Maniatis.

“Any attempt to hail us?”

“No, and they haven’t answered our hails either.”

“Then we have no option but to defend ourselves. Lock every weapon on a single ship, the closest one. Don’t wait for them to fire first. As soon as they’re in range, just open fire with everything we’ve got.”

“Target acquired. Firing in ten . . . nine . . . eight . . .”

5

Spiros finished loading everything he needed in his brain implant, just as Tassos had finished reprogramming the holo-pad.

“Chief Malayianis! We really need to go, sir, now!” insisted the major.

“We’re good to go. Tell us what to do.”

“We’ll escort you to the Phoenix. From there, we’ll try to escape undetected and provide protection for the rest of your trip.”

That part Spiros believed they could do. The last upgrade he had tested on the Phoenix was a cloaking field. It wasn’t yet very stable, but it worked well for a few minutes before overloading the power nodes. His design used the Damocles’ shield frequency to allow the Phoenix to leave the station without lowering the shields, which they’d have to do the moment Leonidis started firing at the incoming fleet. Once free of the station’s shields, the Phoenix would jump into hyperspace.

Spiros and Tassos followed the soldiers into the corridors of the station, making their way toward cargo bay six. It would take at least ten minutes to reach the ship, so Spiros had that time to make sure he could recover the rest of his research data and merge it back into the crystal.

He wondered where they could go from there, though. If the Obsidian had attacked every known Star Alliance base and planet, where could they hide? Perhaps they could jump near the Ismara Nebula. They stood a better chance at establishing contact with the Faith at short range. They would need a destroyer or carrier ship of some kind since the Phoenix’s range, and resources were limited.

He wished he had more time to think of alternate plans, but right now he needed to focus on getting the rest of the data into the Phoenix’s memory banks. He also needed an on-the-fly scrubber program to erase the data from the encrypted subnet where he had temporarily stored it.

Thankfully, his brain implant allowed him to do all that on the move. Spiros quickly located a scrubbing program on the station’s main computer and copied it within the encrypted subnet. He then set the program to scrub the data automatically the moment he had finished copying it to the Phoenix’s memory banks.

Suddenly, the station shook heavily, sending Spiros crashing to the floor with the rest of the men.

“The attack has begun,” said Spiros to Tassos. “You know what to do.”

Spiros saw the fear in his friend’s eyes, but Tassos grabbed his fallen holo-pad, got back up to his feet and started entering commands.

The major came to Spiros and offered his hand. “Are you alright, sir?”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“We’ve got to get to the Phoenix right away. Let’s pick up the pace.”

“Unlike you, Major, I’m an old man. You can’t expect me to be able to run like all you young soldiers.”

“We either start running now, or we may not reach the Phoenix in time. Do the best you can, sir. You’ll be setting our pace.”

Spiros had other implants, including in his legs, that would allow him to keep up, but he didn’t want the major to know since he was trying to buy himself some time to recover his research data.

“I’ll do my best. Lead the way.”

Spiros ran at a pace he felt comfortable with in order to still have enough time to achieve his objective. Tassos was right behind him, with two more soldiers closing the march and guarding their six.

He located the Phoenix’s subsystems and accessed them with his personal credentials. It displayed an overlaid HUD on his field of view from which he could control most of the ship with his mind. He started a remote pre-flight check sequence to shave several seconds off their departure time and then accessed the Phoenix’s main computer core. He created, then mounted an encrypted partition, and started the data transfer.

Something wasn’t going well, though.

“Damn!” he whispered.

“What is it?” Tassos whispered back.

“The transfer is too slow. The data won’t make it in time.”

Tassos looked around before answering. “What are we going to do?”

An idea struck Spiros. It was risky, but they didn’t have much choice.

“I’m going to use my brain implant to cache the data.”

“Isn’t the network bandwidth throughput the same whether you send it to the Phoenix or your implant?”

“Not if I over-clock my implant.”

“Isn’t that dangerous? Doesn’t over-clocking generate more heat?”

Now it was Spiros who looked around, but the soldiers weren’t paying attention to their conversation. “It does, but I don’t think we have a choice.”

The station was hit once more and rocked heavily, but this time only a couple of them fell to the floor. Spiros was near the wall of the corridor and used it to keep his balance. Tassos did the same.

“This is all well and good, but it won’t matter if we get incinerated before we reach the Phoenix.”

“Tassos, I designed the shields of this station. Even though the fleet outside is large, I’m pretty sure the shields will hold as long as they need to.”

“I sure hope you’re right.”

6

“Status report!” screamed Leonidis.

“Our weapons are not making a dent on their shields, Commander,” answered Lieutenant Commander Maniatis.

“Can we boost their power output?”

“I’ve already redirected half the power from life support and hydroponics to the weapons. Still not enough.”

“Squeeze every bit of juice you can spare. Boost the output of these guns past their limit by ten percent. They should hold.”

“This is risky, Commander. If we overload the generators, the station could blow up.”

“And if we do nothing, we’re dead anyway. Do as I say.”

“Understood.”

Whatever Spiros Malayianis had built would hold even if pushed beyond safe limits. At least for the time needed to make sure he left on the Phoenix. Then it wouldn’t matter. There was no way they would win this battle.

A full salvo of enemy torpedoes rocked Damocles-3, and a couple of officers were thrown from their station. Sparks flew from a console near Leonidis’ command chair.

The main lighting in the command center turned off and was replaced by the secondary power reserve, casting a low-light red hue.

“How many reserve Manticore fighters do we hold?”

“Only a couple dozen fighters, Commander. They won’t make the slightest difference out there.”

“Still, that would give the enemy something else to shoot at and could save us precious seconds. Have the reserve pilots board their fighters at once and launch on the double.”

Leonidis’ second-in-command sent him a sharp look, but then he nodded, even though he obviously didn’t like that order. The commander knew he was sending these people to their deaths, but be it inside the station or outside, there was a good chance everyone would die today. As long as Spiros Malayianis survived, that was all that mattered.

While the military fabric of his personality had taken over, the human part of him didn’t believe that. In truth, he wanted nothing more than to hold his wife and son in his arms. But that was a fantasy, and the harsh reality was knocking on their shields relentlessly.

“Can we use the tractor beams?”

“What for, sir?”

“On one of these ships.”

“What good will that do, Commander?”

“Let me worry about that. I’m painting the target. On its next pass, deploy the tractor beams. Have tubes ten to thirty-six loaded with the prototype scatter torpedoes.”

“I thought they weren’t ready for deployment.”

Leonidis wasn’t happy that his first officer was questioning his orders, but he couldn’t blame him. He was, after all, proposing ludicrous ideas in a time of crisis. But using desperate and crazy tactics had a better chance at causing some damage than their current by-the-book strategy.

The scatter torpedoes Spiros had been working on had only worked half the time during tests. They were a wide-spread, multi-part weapon that split into six different smaller explosive charges loaded with quadrinium-enhanced spherical flak. In theory, they should cause way more damage against any known shield.

Since they were quadrinium-enhanced, impact with shields would make these smaller objects explode, thus generating an even bigger energy drain. During weapons testing, many of the torpedoes failed to release their payload. But even if some of them acted this way, they would still inflict more damage than standard ordnance. Or at least that was the gamble Leonidis was willing to make.

Still, Leonidis didn’t want to reprimand Michalis in front of the crew, so he erected the comms privacy option Spiros had installed a couple of months back. It informed both parties of the call that an invisible force field had been cast around their station, preventing sound from escaping beyond a two-yard diameter.

Leonidis saw the icon flash on his holo-console, confirming that they were in private mode. His first officer cast a questioning glance at him.

“Look, Michalis, I understand some of my orders don’t seem to make much sense, but please trust me and execute them, nonetheless. Can I count on you?”

“You’re the commander. That goes without saying.”

“And yet you’ve given me resistance at every turn.”

“I’m sorry, Theo, I just don’t understand your tactics. They’re so far outside the rulebook; I felt I would be remiss as your first officer to not at least voice my concerns.”

“Look, I trust you implicitly, and there’s no one I’d rather have by my side in this battle. But, let’s not get our hopes up. It’s way more likely that we will perish today, no matter what we do. I’m just trying to give Spiros a fighting chance to escape. His mind may be the key to developing new weapons to beat our enemy.”

“Even if I’m willing to accept that, and I’m not saying I do—at least not fully—what can he do? If everyone in the Alliance falls today, who will he build these weapons for and how will he use them to strike back at our enemies?”

“I wish I had the answers. We have to leave that in the hands of fate. But the Star Alliance has some of the best captains and admirals I’ve ever served with. I have to believe some of them will survive and strike back at our enemy, perhaps even come and rescue us. And with Spiros on their side⁠—”

“Say no more. I don’t know if we’ll get another chance, so while it’s just the two of us talking, I’ll say it’s been an honor serving by your side.”

“Thank you. It’s been an honor, as well. May the gods of Olympus light our way.”

The lieutenant commander glanced at Leonidis and gave him a timid smile.

“You know me and legends, sir. I’m not really the praying type. But in this case, I truly hope they just heard you loud and clear.”

7

Spiros was becoming lightheaded. The extra heat generated by over-clocking his brain implant was interfering with his focus. His sight was blurred, and black spots flashed in front of his eyes.

A warning message flashed on his implant HUD. “Overheating reaching dangerous levels. Recommend immediate shutdown of the implant to avoid permanent brain damage.”

Hell no! Not now.

Spiros selected the admin override and kept his over-clock running.

“Are you alright?” asked Tassos when he noticed Spiros slowing down.

“I . . . I don’t know, but I can’t stop now.”

“If your gear overloads, you’ll lose your transfer. Perhaps you should dial it down, at least a little.”

Tassos was right, but time was of the essence. He dialed his twenty-percent over-clock back to fifteen percent, and his vision improved slightly.

The data transfer slowed down proportionally, but Spiros estimated it would still be completed by the time they boarded the Phoenix. His heart rate elevated, and he felt his blood rapidly moving through his body.

Something exploded in front of them and Spiros, Tassos and the soldiers were thrown back. The corridor was exposed to space, and they were sucked toward the large hole. Three of the soldiers leading the way were incinerated in the explosion while another two were sucked into space before the station’s automated systems erected an emergency force field.

The moment the field activated, everyone felt the grasp of the artificial gravity and crashed back to the floor. Spiros’ head pounded, and the nearby fire spiraled him rapidly into overdrive. He tried getting back on his feet but everything around him spun out of control, and he fell back to the floor.

* * *

“Spiros!” shouted Tassos, crawling next to his friend.

“Heat . . . too much heat,” said Spiros before his eyes turned white, and he lost consciousness.

“Major!” shouted Tassos. “Have your men put out the fire, immediately. I need two of them to help me take Spiros over there.” He pointed toward an air vent above them.

The major was barely on his feet. He held part of his face that had been burned in the explosion. Blood ran through his fingers.

“Major!”

“I heard you.”

The major ordered his men to take care of the fire and assigned two of them to take Spiros to the air vent.

Tassos ran toward the nearest wall console and entered a flurry of commands, his instinct taking over as the adrenaline flooded his system.

The command center had redirected power from life support, and he had to hack into this sector’s ventilation controls to bring enough power to crank up the air conditioning past its maximum setting.

When the pair of soldiers reached the air vent, Tassos instructed them to open the vent and hold Spiros’ head inside it. They gave him a dubious look.

“Don’t try to understand what I’m telling you, just do it!”

They proceeded as instructed. Tassos diverted a small part of his holo-pad’s CPU from outside sensor-monitoring to scanning Spiros’ brain and implant temperatures. The readout was alarming, but soon after they had delicately positioned Spiros’ head inside the vent, the temps lowered quickly.

Tassos hoped it wasn’t too late. He checked for wireless signals with his pad. The transfer of data had continued despite Spiros’ loss of consciousness.

Another Zarlack destroyer passed by awfully close, making the area they were in tremble for a couple of seconds. Tassos caught a glimpse of the massive ship as it roared past.

He had never seen a starship this big; it froze his blood and sent a cascade of shivers down his spine. Fear engulfed him and filled his thoughts with darkness.

We’re not gonna get out of here alive.

8

“Status on the Phoenix? Where are Spiros and his escort?” asked Leonidis.

“They’re on their way, but they’ve had to reroute because of the structural damage on deck six.

Dammit!

This was not the news he had been waiting for. But Leonidis knew Major Sotis well; he would do everything to achieve his primary objective, even if he had to deliver Spiros to the Phoenix breathing his last breath. Now it was up to him to buy them that extra time they needed.

“Open a channel to the pilots,” said Leonidis.

“Channel opened, Commander.”

“This is your commander speaking to all pilots outside the station. Listen to me carefully. I need you to boost your shields to the maximum. Divert power from all other systems except minimum life support. Don’t bother firing on these ships. Your laser cannons won’t make the slightest difference. This power will be better used to protect your fighters against incoming fire.

“Stay as evasive as possible. Divert as much enemy fire away from the station as you can. I’m not going to lie to you: I don’t expect any of us to survive this day. But I’m asking your help to provide cover for the Phoenix to escape. The man behind the research on Damocles-3 is the Star Alliance’s best hope for developing effective defenses and weaponry against our enemies.

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but we’re soldiers, and we have sworn an oath to defend and protect the Star Alliance with our lives. Today, we may very well lose this battle, but our sacrifice could ensure the Star Alliance’s survival in the long run.”

“This is reserve Wing Commander Tsanbouris. We understand what’s asked of us. I won’t lie to you. Right now, I wish we could just pack up and run, but that’s obviously not an option anymore. Even if we wanted to, we’d never make it past that armada.”

“Thank you, Wing Commander. We’re trying to get the shields of one of these ships down, but we may require some of you to ram the ships when they fall. Should this work, I’d need you to repeat the maneuver on the next targets.”

There was a long and heavy silence. Everyone on the bridge was shocked. Fear permeated the atmosphere and hung there like a messenger of doom.

“Understood. We won’t let you down, sir. Tsanbouris out.”

Leonidis felt a wave of guilt at having had to utter such horrible orders. No matter how much he tried convincing himself that they were doing the right thing, he felt helpless.

“The second our fighters are in range, fire all three tractor beams toward the designated destroyer,” said Leonidis.

“Aye, aye, sir,” answered the ensign in charge of the tractor beams.

“Manticore Wing will be in range in three, two, one—” said the lieutenant commander.

“Fire the tractor beams,” ordered Leonidis.

All three tractor beams fired simultaneously toward the nearest Zarlack destroyer. It was currently veering after its last attack run on the station’s shields.

The trio of beams impacted with the destroyer’s shield and their cumulative power slowed the destroyer considerably.

“Fire all prototype torpedoes now!” shouted Leonidis.

He opened a channel to the wing commander. “Send two ships on a collision course.”

A barrage of torpedoes shot toward the destroyer locked by the tractor beams. A few hundred yards before impacting with the shields, about sixty percent of the torpedoes split into smaller ones that immediately released the quadrinium-enhanced flak spheres around them.

The shields of the Zarlack’s destroyer lit up like fireworks and were taken offline. Some of the torpedoes that hadn’t deployed properly punched through and impacted with the destroyer’s armor. Three successive explosions brightened the view from the command center and bathed the room with bright yellow light for several seconds.

The Zarlack destroyer hadn’t been destroyed, but it was on fire, and the two kamikaze Manticore fighter pilots took it out of its misery by sacrificing their lives, ramming into it at maximum burn.

The fourth and fifth explosions their impact generated took out the destroyer in a blaze of fire and molten metal. The resulting shockwave impacted the station’s shields and rocked it heavily but also dealt damage to a nearby Zarlack destroyer’s shields.

“We have a kill!” said Maniatis.

A small but timid cheer rose from the rest of the command center crew, but everyone knew the price they had paid to bring down one of these ships.

Leonidis’ heart ached for the men who had sacrificed their lives to make this happen, and for the next ones who would shortly follow suit. He brushed the thought aside, determined to stay focused on what needed to be done.

“Reload batteries on the double with another batch of scatter torpedoes. Lock onto the next ship and fire the tractor beams the moment the target is in range.”

9

Spiros could hear sounds and incomprehensible words around him as he slowly regained consciousness. His vision was blurry but was clearing with each passing second. Soon, he saw the face of his friend Tassos and heard him speak.

“Wake up, Spiros. We gotta go!”

“What happened?”

“You overheated because of your over-clock and the added heat from the explosion.”

“Why . . . How am I still alive?”

“I’ve cooled you down, Spiros. I’d rather we continue this chat on our way to the ship. We’re running out of time, and now we must backtrack to reach the cargo bay via an alternate route.”

Spiros held his head in his hands. It was pounding. When he looked to the side, he saw space, debris and even bodies flying outside. A Zarlack ship in the distance was firing toward the station. When its plasma beam hit the shields, the station trembled.

“In Zeus’ name⁠—”

“Yeah, he’s not on our side today; but let’s try and beat the odds anyway. Can you get back up?”

“When did you become so brave?”

“I think it’s the adrenaline; but make no mistake, I’m still shitting my pants on the inside.”

Spiros chuckled. He got back on his feet, but his legs faltered. Tassos caught him before he fell and helped him straighten up.

“Can you walk? Ideally, run?”

“I can start with walking. I think.”

“Good. We really must go. Can you check the status of your transfer? I checked earlier, and I could detect a wireless signal, but I couldn’t tell much about the integrity of the data transferred since it’s encrypted.”

The transfer!

The thought gave Spiros a discharge of adrenaline, and his blurry mind became crystal clear. His focus returned in a flash. He checked the data transfer. Everything was still on track. No sign of corruption. The timer showed three minutes and change on completion of the transfer.

“We’re good. The transfer is on track and will be completed soon. Let’s get to the Phoenix while we still can.”

The major approached them. “Are we good to go? I’ve lost nearly a third of my people. We have to hurry and make sure their deaths weren’t in vain.”

Spiros cringed. “I’m sorry about your men, Major, and yes, we can go. I’m feeling much better now.”

They backtracked toward the previous intersection and took another path to the cargo bay. Soon, they arrived on the other side of the isolated and damaged portion exposed to space, where they continued for a few more minutes.

The transfer was completed, and Spiros ran the scrubber program on the source files the moment he verified the hash from the copied data was valid. There was no turning back now. The data he needed to get the full backup of his research was on board the Phoenix, and that’s where they needed to be, too.

* * *

By the time the second Zarlack destroyer was targeted, there were only three Manticore starfighters still flying, and their shields had been severely compromised. The destroyers kept their distance from the station, out of range of the tractor beams.

“Give me more power to the tractor beams,” ordered Leonidis.

“Working on it,” said the lieutenant commander.

“Work faster!”

Leonidis’ tone was harsh. The stress and pressure were getting to him. In the unlikely event they survived, he would apologize for such bursts of frustration.

“I’ve gotten the range extended by twenty percent.”

“Can we lock onto the nearest ship?”

“Affirmative. We have a lock. Firing them now.”

“Scatter torpedoes, full spread!” Leonidis opened a channel to the wing commander. “The next Zarlack destroyer is about to lose shields.”

“Understood, Commander. We’re going in. It was an honor working with you, sir.”

“Likewise, Lieutenant Commander. Your sacrifice won’t be forgotten.”

That was if Leonidis had anything to do about it; but if Damocles-3 fell today, no one would remember the pilots who gave their lives, or the men and women of Damocles-3, or even him.

The torpedoes impacted their target taking down their shields. Two of the three approaching Manticore fighters were blown out of the sky by a barrage of defensive fire from a nearby destroyer. Only the wing commander remained, and he managed to plant his fighter near the engine core to maximize secondary explosions. Upon impact, the ship ripped in two before exploding in a bright flash.

10

The remainder of the Zarlack ships backed off from the station after they lost their second destroyer. There were still five left, and that was more than enough to bring the rest of Damocles-3’s shields all the way down and rip the station to pieces. However, seeing two of their destroyers being taken out in quick succession gave the enemy pause.

“They’re backing away from the station, making sure we can’t target them with our tractor beam anymore,” said the lieutenant commander.

“Good; perhaps there’s still hope, after all,” said Leonidis.

“They’re launching fighters.”

“Have all laser batteries engage them and fire at will. What’s the status of our shields?”

“They’re down to twenty percent. We can’t take much more of this.”

Three destroyers repositioned just outside of the station’s firing range and powered their main guns.

Leonidis knew what that meant. The enemy would no longer risk a direct approach. Instead, they’d just fire from a distance. It didn’t matter that their attacks would be diminished in power at this range. All that mattered was to bring the station shields down without losing any more destroyers.

At least, that’s what he’d do if the positions were reversed: bring down the shields, try to board the station, eliminate your enemy from within.

“They’re all firing at the same location, trying to punch a hole through the shields.”

The end was near. Leonidis could feel it. He opened a channel to Spiros.

* * *

The station trembled heavily for a long time.

“Where are you on your escape?” asked Leonidis. “Have you destroyed all your data in a manner that cannot be retrieved?”

“It’s all gone,” said Spiros.

He hated having to lie, but if he told his friend and commanding officer of his deception, he would change his plans about getting him aboard the Phoenix and to safety.

“Then hurry up and board the Phoenix, ASAP. The shields will fail any second now.”

“Understood.”

“The moment the Phoenix jumps to hyperspace; I’ll blow the station.”

“Can’t you just surrender? Try and survive until reinforcements arrive?”

“I can’t risk them reverse-engineering the weapons on this station. Damocles-3 is equipped with the most advanced technology the Alliance has. Your life’s work. But I have faith that you’ll manage to rebuild similar if not better weapons and help the Star Alliance rise again. That’s why it’s so important for you to survive today.”

“But Commander⁠—”

“I’ve said everything I have to say, Spiros. Get the hell out of here, and may the gods of Olympus shine upon you.”

The communication cut off before Spiros had time to answer. He was still processing what the destruction of the station meant, all the lives that would be lost so he could survive. He didn’t want this to happen. He didn’t want to be the reason for all this misery.

“We don’t have much time left,” said Spiros.

“What’s wrong?” asked Tassos.

“I . . . I’m not worth the lives of everyone who will perish here today so we can leave.”

“The commander clearly thinks differently, and so do I. You’re a brilliant scientist. If the Star Alliance is to survive and strike back, Leonidis is right: we need you. I’ll gladly lay down my life if it means we survive as a species. The commander will too.”

Spiros was surprised Tassos was so willing to lay down his life for him. Spiros didn’t feel his life was worth more than anyone else’s, no matter what technology he could come up with. Every life was precious, one or a thousand. No one should ever be deemed more important than the other.

“Let’s go, Spiros,” Tassos insisted, “or all this death will have been for nothing.”

“That’s already the case.”

Tassos shot him a cold look while they were walking toward the bay. “Don’t second-guess yourself now. This is war. We didn’t choose any of this. We’re just trying to survive it. War brings the worst out of all sentient beings, but I believe it sometimes brings out the best.”

“I never wanted to build weapons, Tassos! I don’t want to be remembered as the scientist who developed the best mass-destruction weapons.”

“Then why didn’t you just obey your orders? Why didn’t you erase your research?”

Spiros looked down.

“I . . . I just couldn’t do it. I’m an old man. I have so many implants in my body just so I can still walk, breathe properly and even stay focused. I’m too old to start from scratch now. My memory isn’t what it used to be.”

“Then let’s hurry and get the hell out of this place.”

Spiros nodded, and they picked up their pace as much as they could. Their security detail matched their speed, with men both in front and behind.

A minute later, they heard a deafening sound from a nearby explosion, and the entire station rocked. Most men braced themselves against the walls to prevent themselves from falling, but a couple of soldiers, those with laser rifles drawn, weren’t so lucky and crashed unceremoniously.

The moment they were back on their feet, with their weapons pointing forward, a high-pitched sound rang out for three seconds. Something pierced the intersection between the top right side of the corridor and the ceiling.

The lights flickered repeatedly, sparks flew all around the pointy object, and wiring dangled on all sides.

A metallic spike, the tip of which had stopped a few feet from the floor, opened like a blooming flower, accompanied by metallic grinding as it deformed the walls and ceiling structure around it, sending sparks flying.

When the spike had morphed open into a straight cylinder, it rotated and grew in size. Soon, a red force field could be seen inside it.

“You two, step back. Get to cover,” shouted the major.

He and the rest of his men kneeled and hoisted their rifle blasters toward the breaching pod.

Spiros and Tassos did as they were told and ran toward the previous intersection to hide behind the wall of a perpendicular corridor.

“What’s happening?” asked Tassos.

“This looks like a boarding apparatus. I think the enemy is getting inside the station.”

“What about the force field? Why was there one?”

“My guess is to not let the air escape into space and prevent explosive decompression. It could also be a one-way-only field, letting things pass from one side, but preventing them from going through the other.”

“What’s coming through it?”

“Soldiers, a bomb, a deadly gas. Your guess is as good as mine.”

Tassos peeked around the corner and heard a sliding noise. “I think we’re about to find out.”

11

“Open fire on anything that gets through this thing,” screamed the major.

The soldiers all aimed toward the inside of the large cylindrical opening, now big enough to allow men to slide through.

An apple-sized metallic sphere was the first thing to emerge from the force field. It immediately defied the laws of gravity and shot upward. The soldiers opened fire but the laser shots were deflected away from the sphere, and it exploded a split second later, releasing a large smoke cloud inside the corridor, reducing visibility.

The major redeployed his men back about twenty yards before loud thumping noises were heard.

“Light them up!” said the major.

The air filled with blue laser fire that penetrated the smoky cloud, but the platoon had near-zero visibility. The men were shooting blindly.

Tassos was still looking at the scene, and Spiros struggled to his knees and crawled over to peek as well. Then he saw them.

Massive lizards emerged from the smoke and returned fire.

“This is not good,” said Spiros.

“You think? We’re screwed!”

The lizards were almost twice as tall as them, with large muscles, long, waving tails and a thick layer of scales acting as body armor. They wore red-colored glasses that Spiros assumed improved their vision through the smoke, perhaps via thermal enhancement. The lasers from their security detail bounced off the Zarlacks’ thick, scaly armor without causing the slightest damage.

It all went very quickly. Within seconds, half the platoon had been destroyed by the Zarlacks’ powerful blasters. Each hit was like a mini shockwave that sent the men flying backward for yards, with missing body parts or large holes. They crashed not far from the two scientists.

“We’ve got to get the hell out of here,” said Tassos.

Spiros was paralyzed by what he saw. The men, charged to protect and accompany them to the Phoenix, stood no chance. Only a handful of Zarlacks wielded weapons, while the rest finished off the soldiers with large claws that erupted from their fists. Those without weapons ran against the walls, jumping from one wall to the other, displaying surprising agility and speed for such massive creatures.

“Let’s go!” insisted Tassos.

Spiros got back up, and they both started running the other way. Spiros’ heart beat so hard in his chest he thought it might escape his ribcage.

* * *

“We’re being boarded,” said the lieutenant commander. “Multiple boarding parties throughout the station, Commander. On decks two, six, five and one, just outside the command center.”

For once Leonidis wished he hadn’t seen that tactic coming and hated being right.

“What do we do?” insisted his second-in-command.

“Send all troops to the insertion points. Defend these positions. We can’t let them advance.”

“We’re getting reports from the major. They’re under attack. Our blasters are not stopping the enemy.”

Leonidis took a deep breath.

“Computer, set destruct sequence, silent countdown, and activate immediately. Command code Alpha Zeta Three Three Seven Omega. Confirm?”

“Destruct sequence initiated; twenty minutes and counting,” answered the female computer voice.

Leonidis tried opening a channel to Spiros but couldn’t. He sent a text message instead. “You have twenty minutes. After that, the station will blow. Make sure you reach the Phoenix before then.”

* * *

Spiros saw a message flash on his neuronal HUD. Leonidis was telling him he had less than twenty minutes to leave the station before it self-destructed. With their direct path to cargo bay six cut off, the pair of scientists had to take yet another detour and approach the cargo bay from an adjacent corridor.

“We’re almost there,” said Tassos. “One more left.”

We’re going to make it, Spiros thought.

The station rocked heavily and threw both of them to the floor. A series of nearby explosions shook them again.

Spiros wondered if his thought had jinxed them. The station could still be obliterated by the armada outside, though he didn’t see the logic in them doing that while there were boarding parties deployed. Surely they wanted to get their hands on the station without destroying it, or they wouldn’t have sent in troops.

Tassos was the first to try to get back up but screamed the instant he put weight on his left foot. He fell back to the floor. Spiros came to him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think I’ve broken my ankle. You go. Prepare the Phoenix. I’ll try to make it, but if I’m not there by the time you’re ready to fly the ship, you get the hell out of here!”

“Not a chance. You’re coming with me.”

“Look, you know me. I’m not trying to be a hero, but you must get out. I’ll only slow you down.”

Spiros put his shoulder under Tassos’ arm and helped him walk. “Stop this nonsense. We’re both getting out of here.”

Less than a minute later, they arrived in front of cargo bay six.

Spiros rested Tassos against the wall and opened the blast doors.

He knew something was wrong the second the doors split open and a large cloud of black smoke filled the corridor and plunged them into darkness.

“Stay here. I’ll check it out.”

“Be careful,” said Tassos with a nod as he winced with pain.

Spiros blindly walked through the thick smoke, covering his mouth and nose with his sweater, until he finally recovered some of his sight. What he saw made his heart sink.

Half of the Phoenix was gone. Part of the ship was still on fire, but the entire tail section had been obliterated. The exposed metal still glowed orange where the blast had burned through the ship’s armor. The damage was fresh.

“Is everything okay?” shouted Tassos from just outside the cargo bay.

“The ship is toast. We’re not going anywhere.”

“Then let’s try our luck with a shuttle craft. There’s at least one in each cargo bay.”

“Except this one,” said Spiros to himself.

The Phoenix had its own dedicated cargo bay. Spiros had requested that no other ship or cargo be put in here, so he had sufficient space to conduct his tests. A decision he deeply regretted now.

An emergency force field surrounded the hole where the blast had taken out the Phoenix, but it was flickering heavily. It wouldn’t last much longer.

What the hell are we going to do now?

12

“What’s taking you so long?” asked Tassos as he painfully limped inside the cargo bay after Spiros.

Spiros ran a scan of the ship with his brain implant to locate the memory banks. The ship had lost power, but the data transfer had been completed. If the hardware holding the data was still there, he could recover it.

His overlay displayed the memory banks inside the remainder of the Phoenix. He sprinted toward what was left of the ship and arrived in front of the panel that held the memory banks.

He tried opening the metallic cover protecting the electronics behind it. Since the ship had lost power, he couldn’t open it using the touch control panel.

“Spiros?” he heard in the distance.

“Stay where you are. I’m getting the memory banks and will be there in a minute.”

“Okay, but hurry. We shouldn’t stay here too long. That force field doesn’t look like it’s going to hold.”

Spiros looked around and saw a sharp piece of metal shrapnel. He grabbed it and immediately regretted it. It was still burning hot. He released the metal shard but not before suffering serious burns to his fingers. He covered his hands with the sleeves of his sweater and grabbed the shard again. It was still too hot, but he had no choice but to continue. He inserted the sharp edge between the seal of the memory banks’ compartment and pried it open.

There were five memory chips inserted into the computer core. Having no idea about which one contained his data, he unlocked and removed all five chips and put them in his pants pockets.

He emerged from the Phoenix and ran back toward the still-foggy blast doors.

“I’ve got them. Where are you?” he shouted.

But there was no answer.

When Spiros burst through the blast doors back into the corridor, he stopped in horror.

A large Zarlack lizard was holding Tassos by the throat five feet from the ground. Adrenaline flooded Spiros’ body, and he instinctively charged toward the beast, leading with his shoulder and putting his entire weight into the move.

It did not go as he thought it would. He crashed into the beast and was thrown to the floor, an unbearable pain radiating from where his shoulder had impacted with the Zarlack’s scaly, metallic-looking skin.

The Zarlack hadn’t moved at all as a result of Spiros’ failed rescue attempt. It looked down at Spiros and snarled before opening its mouth to display a row of ugly and sharp teeth.

Spiros looked at Tassos. His face was deformed by pain and fear, his eyes filled with dread and helplessness; he knew he was about to die.

“R-run,” said Tassos, just before his neck was crushed.

Ignoring the physical pain, Spiros jumped back to his feet and started to run.

He dared not look back but heard heavy footsteps behind him, and they were gaining. What was he to do against such a monster? The fear of death gave him more energy and stamina than he ever thought possible. He ran faster than he ever had before, but he didn’t know where to go, or if he could escape the beast that was still gaining on him. His mind filled with dread and horrid flashes of his impending doom.

* * *

The command center’s entrance was being pounded upon from the outside. The thick metal doors deformed more with each powerful impact. Animalistic growls accompanied the unceasing pounding. The doors would soon break.

“Draw your weapons. Use your consoles for cover,” said Leonidis.

Leonidis drew his service blaster pistol and aimed it at the middle of the doors, his heart pounding and his hands slightly trembling.

He had been in firefights before, but not against tall lizard beasts that seemed to have impenetrable skin. He had witnessed their unnatural strength and agility in the holo-footage he reviewed from the multiple boarding parties as his security teams engaged the enemy. These encounters hadn’t lasted very long, and the Zarlacks had brutally murdered the entire crew of Damocles-3 that came to stop their advance. Their blaster tech was superior. Their natural scaly armor was thick enough to deflect Star Alliance portable guns, and they also used claws to impale their enemies. When that wasn’t enough, they also slashed their tails to incapacitate or even behead Star Alliance personnel.

Leonidis knew he and every one of his crew was living their last moments. He wanted to say something, to reassure them, but he couldn’t find any words that would make a damn bit of difference. They were about to be slaughtered and, as much as he was hoping for a miracle, he knew better than to give false hope to the women and men under his command.

He touched his implanted comm-link and tried reaching Spiros, but he still couldn’t get a signal through. Hopefully, Spiros had departed from the station, though Leonidis’ current thoughts were more focused on his family.

The pounding on the now badly deformed doors stopped for a moment. Leonidis saw movement through a gap in the twisted metal. Soon after, the doors exploded and were propelled forward. Flames and smoke rushed inside the command center with the smell of death in their wake.

In the ensuing chaos, everyone blindly opened fire as a small group of lizards stormed the place. The officers’ weapons were useless against their foes, and Leonidis saw the first casualties amongst his crew, killed in a horrible fashion: beheaded by tail slashing, impaled by long, sharp claws and worse. Thirty seconds in and already half of the command center crew had perished in the midst of screams and blood-spattering chaos. A Zarlack jumped and landed right in front of Leonidis, teeth clenched, a foul stench emanating from its mouth.

Leonidis raised his blaster and instinctively shot the beast in the eye. For the first time, he saw a blaster shot finally do some damage to these creatures. The laser bolt burned through the eyeball, and purple blood shot out of the burnt socket. The Zarlack screeched and took three swaying steps backward as it held its large hand over its lifeless eye.

That’s got to kill it.

“Go for their eyes,” he screamed.

A quick glance around showed him that there was only a handful of officers still standing, including his friend and first officer Michalis Maniatis.

The lizard beast in front of Leonidis regained its composure and unleashed an angry, deafening roar. It expelled gooey and smelly spittoons toward him from its open mouth. Leonidis aimed toward the second eye, but by the time he depressed the trigger of his blaster, the Zarlack had already protected its remaining eye with its palm. The shot burned through its flesh, but that didn’t stop it.

Before he could line up the third shot, the Zarlack slashed its tail, hitting Leonidis’ firing hand, and sent his blaster scattering across the floor. Then a punch that felt more like a hammer blow hit Leonidis under the jaw and propelled him crashing hard into the console behind him. Shards of glass pierced his clothes and skin and lodged in his back. Leonidis screamed with pain.

The Zarlack walked toward him and extended a long trio of sharp claws from its fist.

This is it. Now I’m going to die.

Leonidis glanced to the side to see if a weapon was nearby and saw the beheaded body of his communications officer, blood spilling from his clean-cut neck. The sight disgusted him but also brought rage back to the surface.

If I must die, I’m going down fighting.

13

The Zarlack was gaining on Spiros and getting dangerously close. Spiros had only a handful of seconds to do something, or he would surely die.

The thought gave him the courage to think outside the box for a technological way to save his life. He had to survive. So many people had died. He couldn’t just let himself be killed this way. If he did, their deaths would be rendered meaningless.

While still running as fast as he possibly could, ignoring the terrible pain throughout his old body’s joints, he accessed the schematics of the corridor he was in and located a nearby juncture point where a force field could be erected. He hacked into the controls with his implants to shave off extra seconds he didn’t have, going in with authorization codes, and overlaid the exact location of the force-field generator on top of his vision so he would know exactly when to trigger it.

Too early and he would trap himself on the wrong side or, worse, be cut in two as the field deployed. He boosted power to the generator by diverting energy from the laser batteries on this deck. Their loss wouldn’t affect the battle outside, which was already lost anyway.

The moment he walked past the mark he had set on his HUD, he mentally activated the force field and jumped forward. He heard the force field come to life just before he crashed to the floor.

He turned around just in time to see the Zarlack run and crash into the field and be violently ejected backward before falling on its back.

Spiros let a long sigh escape his burning lungs. He was not in the right shape for such long efforts and was now desperately trying to catch his breath. The Zarlack lay on its back, unconscious, while Spiros took a few much-needed breaths of air.

* * *

Leonidis grabbed the small lightblade from his belt and turned it on. The six-inch, light-blue energy blade vibrated to life. This would probably be his last move, so he had to make it count.

The Zarlack ambled toward him, still holding a hand over its burnt eye. The other burned with hatred. It growled, and Leonidis didn’t need words to understand the beast’s call for revenge. It wanted to kill him. At least in that last moment, they had this in common. Leonidis was also determined to kill his foe.

Leonidis sprinted toward the beast, shouting from the bottom of his lungs, which seemed to confuse his enemy, who stopped advancing. The Zarlack slashed its tail at Leonidis, and he let himself fall, using his momentum to skid on the floor between the Zarlack’s legs, effectively dodging his enemy’s tail.

Leonidis grabbed one of his foe’s ankles with his free hand and felt the sharp scales cut through his skin. He then squatted and propelled himself toward the back of the Zarlack’s neck. Leonidis planted his lightblade at the bottom of the neckline where the scales appeared thinner. His blade shot through, and its tip emerged on the other side, piercing the Zarlack’s throat.

The Zarlack fell hard on its knees while Leonidis held on for dear life, with his legs around the beast’s torso. The upper body of the beast angled forward, and Leonidis knew he had killed his enemy. He unlocked his feet and landed on the side of the collapsed lizard. He recovered the still-pulsating lightblade from the corpse and turned around, a look of determination in his eyes.

“Who’s next?” he said out loud.

He was now running on pure adrenaline and rage. His fear levels were off the charts, but he was determined to end his life on a high note and go down fighting until his very last breath.

He caught a glimpse of a pair of Zarlacks converging toward his first officer.

“Watch out, Michalis. Go for the back of their n⁠—”

But before Leonidis could finish his warning, the first Zarlack had punched through the lieutenant commander’s chest with its tail, while a second jumped in the air, grabbed his friend’s head and ripped it from of his body, along with Michalis’ entire spine.

Barbaric bastards! You asshole. You’re my next kill.

Leonidis screamed his frustration as he sprinted toward the Zarlack who had beheaded his friend, a look of utter hatred in his eyes.

The Zarlack turned around and saw Leonidis running toward it. It threw the severed head and spine toward Leonidis who had to take a step to the side to dodge it. Some of the blood on the spine spilled onto Leonidis’ face. He wiped it with his injured hand. This spread both Michalis’ blood and his own into four red lines across his cheeks. It looked like war paint. The feeling of blood on his face strengthened his resolve. He would end the murderous beast’s life even if that were the last thing he ever did.

* * *

Spiros stood and dusted himself off. He felt slightly better, though he still had a sharp pain in his shoulder and the mother of all head-pounding headaches.

He couldn’t worry about that now. He had to find a way to get off the station. That’s when it hit him like a hammer. The Phoenix had stealth and a jump engine. Most shuttles on Damocles-3 didn’t. There was one larger troop-deploying shuttlecraft, but it was five decks below. He could probably make a short jump with it. But they would surely track it and destroy it. It would also take too long to reach the shuttle from his current position. The more time passed, the more Zarlacks boarded and the less freedom anyone would have to roam the station.

Soon he would be overwhelmed and unable to get anywhere. And shortly after that, the station’s self-destruct mode would detonate and kill everyone on board, himself included.

The Zarlack started moving again. Its tail flailed for a second before it released a muffled growl.

This is not good.

Spiros didn’t expect the lizard to recover so quickly. These beasts were far more resilient than they seemed.

The Zarlack rose and shook its head. When it saw Spiros on the other side of the force field, it rushed and punched it with full strength and screeched from the pain. That didn’t stop it, though. It kept pounding on the field and even slashed its tail toward it. It then locked its frustrated gaze onto Spiros and roared.

Spiros didn’t want to stay and test the longevity of the field, so he turned and resumed running.

His options seemed more and more limited. He couldn’t escape the station, and he couldn’t just try to survive under the current regime, or he would get blown up by the self-destruct. There was only one thing he could do, even though it was a longshot and something he hoped he could avoid. He had to hide inside the station, at least until some backup was dispatched. But before any of that could happen, he needed to stop the self-destruct sequence.

Fortunately, he wasn’t far from engineering, and that was the best place to execute the next part of his desperate plan.

14

Leonidis only had a couple of seconds to make his move. He grabbed a fire extinguisher and planted his lightblade into it. It emitted a high-pitched sound.

Leonidis threw the extinguisher at the Zarlack, which caught the bottle-shaped projectile with its tail. It brought its tail and the whistling extinguisher near its face and removed the blade. The extinguisher exploded and threw the Zarlack to the ground.

The blade spun in the air and Leonidis reached to grab it. One false move and he would slice all his fingers, but he grabbed the handle with a precise and fluid motion.

He then launched himself toward the downed Zarlack and went for its eyes, but he was smashed out of the way by a slash of his enemy’s tail. He rolled on the floor and stopped against a nearby console, his head pounding.

By the time Leonidis looked up, another Zarlack was jumping toward him. Leonidis ripped the back panel off the console, located the power source and rolled out of the way quickly enough to avoid getting crushed by a large Zarlack foot.

Leonidis quickly jumped back on his feet and threw the lightblade toward the exposed power source of the console. The Zarlack saw the move and tried stopping the knife with his palm a couple of inches before impact. The knife impaled his hand and pierced the other side. The momentum of the throw carried the tip of the blade just far enough to make contact with the power source.

The console exploded and took out the entire arm, shoulder and half of the face of the Zarlack, who fell dead, flat on the floor. Glass shrapnel was thrown around, and one piece perforated Leonidis’ left shoulder.

Leonidis heard the growl of another incoming Zarlack approaching from behind. He ripped the glass from his shoulder, determined to use it to bring down his next foe.

But almost as soon as he had the bloody shard of glass in his hand, a scaly tail wound around his neck and cut his airflow. Soon, Leonidis’ legs were no longer touching the floor.

The Zarlack who held him by the throat brought him nearer. Razor-sharp claws extended from its fist. Leonidis fought through the pain and lack of air supply and, in a desperate move, planted the bloody glass shard into the Zarlack’s left eye.

The lizard screamed from the pain but didn’t release its grip on Leonidis. Before Leonidis could extract the shard and go for the second eye, he felt a strong pain in his chest.

Blood rushed upward from his chest and into the back of his throat. He spat blood uncontrollably onto the Zarlack’s tail. Leonidis looked down and saw that the Zarlack had punched through his ribcage with its hand. He felt the hand going through him and saw his own heart being ripped out with it.

Leonidis felt dizzy and his vision blurred, though he was able to see the Zarlack close its fist, crushing his severed heart. His last thought before his entire world faded into eternal darkness was of his wife and son.

* * *

When Spiros arrived in engineering, he was surprised to find the place empty. The engineers had probably tried to leave or hide throughout the station. Which was exactly what Spiros hoped to achieve, as well. But he needed a viable hideout; one that he could use for both short-term and long-term hiding.

Without wasting time, he hacked into the computer core to access the self-destruct mode. A simple command override wouldn’t work. The procedure was layered with multiple security fail-safes to make sure it couldn’t be stopped once started, except with the right vocal code spoken by the station’s commander and no one else.

Trying to run a fake vocal signature and finding the code would take too long. Spiros only had three minutes to disarm the self-destruct. That wasn’t enough time to hack the fail-safe manually especially with slow holo-control inputs. Spiros reached for a cable in his pocket and connected one end to a port on the back of his neck and the other end to the holo-console’s port.

He closed his eyes and started hacking the Damocles-3’s main computer. Soon, he had all the CPU processing power at his fingertips. There were ninety seconds left on the clock when Spiros started hacking full force. The first three fail-safes mostly required a brute-force approach.

The next two were slightly trickier, but Spiros had a myriad of tools to hack almost any system loaded in a hidden partition inside his implant. Being slightly paranoid by nature, having hacking tools inside his brain felt like the best way to get out of a sticky situation, if one arose.

Spiros never thought he would be using it in such dire circumstances. The last fail-safe was the most difficult, and he was running out of time. Brute force wouldn’t work in this case. It would take too long. Forty seconds. The only way to make this work was to bypass the last power node, making sure the trigger was without power when the countdown reached its end.

Twenty seconds.

He located the power grid, isolated the correct zone and drilled down to find the exact node responsible for triggering the explosive that would set off the catalyst explosion, resulting in a systematic destruction of the station.

Ten seconds.

Spiros identified the power node and re-routed power around it, making sure the secondary backup circuit was also severed.

Three, two, one, zero. Nothing happened, and Spiros let out a long sigh of relief.

Stopping the self-destruct procedure was only part of his plan. He was still far from safe.

15

Spiros moved toward the back of engineering, behind the power core. He had been part of the crew that came on board to supervise the final build-up of Damocles-3. He knew everything about the station and, in this case, where the best place to hide was.

That was in an abandoned staging room behind a series of bulkheads that ran behind the main power core. After the core was brought online, and due to the radiation in that area, it had simply been abandoned as lost space when the engineers realized it would take too much effort and energy to shield the room efficiently for it to be converted into either quarters or a depot.

The trick now was to make it invisible to everyone else prodding in the system in the future. That meant going inside the computer, altering the blueprints, making sure to disable the sensor coverage in the area, and setting up a dedicated network. He had to redirect power there without attracting any attention if scrutiny was applied by whoever had control of the Damocles-3 computer. He also needed to install a force field around the room to prevent radiation from slowly killing him.

He took a deep breath and started applying the changes using the entirety of the computer resources at his disposal. Right now, nobody was using it, so he had carte blanche, but that would surely change soon, so he had to hurry.

Spiros heard footsteps in the distance and thought he would have a heart attack, but they continued to wherever they were going, without entering engineering. That was a lucky break, but Spiros knew it wouldn’t last.

It took ten minutes to set up the changes inside the main computer. By then the station wasn’t firing on the ships outside. That particular battle had ended, and the Zarlacks were now focusing their efforts inside the station.

Once the blueprints and sensors were dealt with, all that was left to do was find some equipment to set up a mini-lab and then reroute power inside the hidden room. He would mirror station-wide sensor data to his hiding place to know what was happening all over the station, like locating enemy life signs. He would need this information to go on errands, in order to avoid being caught. However long it took him to formulate an escape plan or to be rescued by the Star Alliance, he would have to leave the hiding place from time to time, if only to gather food and supplies.

Spiros returned to the main engineering control room and took several holo-pads, portable processing units and engineering tools back to the hidden room, which was about a hundred square feet in area. It was cramped, but it would allow him to set up a mini-lab, and eventually a bed.

Time for the power connections to be installed. Spiros rerouted all the power he could with his implant, turned on a temporary force field and added a trigger command shortcut inside his brain implant to easily turn it on and off. Once the final power patch was done, he would redistribute the power accordingly.

The tricky part now was to hide the power extension he was setting up from the core to behind the bulkheads where his hideout was.

Spiros entered a few holo-commands, and a square of the false flooring lifted and slid to the side. Spiros stepped under the false flooring and crawled the fifty yards to where he connected one side of the power extension cable into the power node under his hidden room. Now all he needed to do was to connect the extension to the node near the power core. He crawled back and grabbed the extension, but before he could plug it in, a hand grabbed him and lifted him through the hole in the false flooring.

A Zarlack held him by the clothes and growled before throwing him against the nearest wall. Something snapped inside Spiros’s chest, followed by a sharp pain.

Spiros’s heart started to beat faster than it ever had. He was so close to finishing setting up his hiding place, but now a monstrous beast stood in front of him, intent on killing him. His mind raced. He grabbed the square of false flooring near him just before the Zarlack struck him once more. He threw the square, metallic plate with all the force he could muster. It impacted right in the middle of the Zarlack’s throat.

The Zarlack stumbled backward, holding its throat, wheezing heavily and desperately gasping to get some air into its lungs. It was now or never. Spiros jumped and skidded on the floor next to a power panel near the station’s power core. He opened it and ripped a cable at random off its socket. It sparked, and the lights in engineering flickered briefly.

This power fluctuation could get him detected if the enemy was already within the system. But Spiros had more pressing problems. He approached the Zarlack from behind with the cable.

Before he could hit the beast with its lethal current, the beast slashed its tail and hit Spiros’ hand. Spiros dropped the cable to the floor, where it spewed large sparks. The Zarlack turned around and roared.

Spiros’ blood pumped heavily against his temples. He glanced at the power cable. He wouldn’t reach it before the Zarlack reacted. Zarlacks were fast. He had seen their speed and agility firsthand when they had taken out his security detail.

Spiros extended his arms in front of him in a non-threatening way and took a step back. The Zarlack, still holding its throat with one hand, snarled and took a step forward. From its other hand, three sharp, metallic claws extended between its finger bones. Its clawed hand was right above the power cable.

It’s all or nothing.

Spiros over-clocked his brain implant by fifty percent to accelerate his next command. He accessed the shortcut he had created earlier, activated the force field and extended its size in real time.

The Zarlack had its back turned against the incoming force-field bubble and never saw it coming. Spiros was forced to take another step back. Before the Zarlack could attack, the force field touched the power cable, which triggered a large arc of electricity that shot from the cable to the metallic claws of the Zarlack, sending lethal current throughout its body.

Lightning bolts of electricity sizzled around its body, and it fell on its back. The ever-expanding force field passed through the Zarlack’s head, and it exploded. Spiros dialed down the force field to its original position, but not before taking several steps back to make sure he wasn’t struck by another spark when the force field passed over the power cable again.

The room smelled of charred meat, and Spiros forced himself not to vomit at the sight of what was left of the beast’s head.

Once the force field had been retracted fully, he quickly finished his power connections. He dropped the Zarlack’s body inside the false flooring before closing it, but the square was slightly dented. He cleaned up the purple blood from the floor and made a mental note to replace that flooring square later, once he was fully set up. Doing it now would be too risky. Trying to properly dispose of the body would be risky, too. He used his brain implant to crank the ventilation and have it run at two hundred percent, and soon the charred-meat odor dissipated.

More footsteps came his way, so he entered the bulkhead through the ventilation shaft, crawled through to the hidden room and started working on a holo-projection field at the end of the shaft. It would project to the exact position where the force field was to mask the entry to his hiding place, both physically and visually. Hopefully, nobody would try to go this way. No systems of importance were located behind the bulkhead. Spiros had altered the blueprints anyway to make sure nobody would ever be interested in this stretch of bulkhead and ventilation shaft.

Once he was in the room, he double-checked that the minimum safety features had been correctly set up, and then he let himself fall on the floor and rest a moment.

He had escaped death on many occasions today, but the same could not be said of other people around the station. From time to time, he would still hear the cries from someone getting caught and brutally killed by the Zarlack. The delayed sounds echoed inside the ventilation shafts.

Even after all that had happened today, he knew the real struggle was only beginning.

EPILOGUE

It had been three days since Damocles-3 had fallen at the hands of the Zarlacks. An Obsidian starship had just left after a one-day visit, confirming to Spiros that they were allies with the Zarlacks, which explained how the Obsidian Empire had managed to overthrow the Star Alliance and wipe them out so rapidly.

Spiros had recovered his data, though it had been tricky. It had required him to leave his hiding place and recover some additional hardware, all the while staying undetected. At the same time, he acquired a small mattress and whatever food he could fit inside a backpack. He had also properly disposed of the dead Zarlack’s body and replaced the square of dented false flooring that could have given away his location.

He imagined he could stay there for at least two weeks, even though the lack of facilities would surely make the smell in the place unbearable. To avoid that, he started working on jury-rigging a toilet system of some kind.

His sensor scan had confirmed that not a single member of Star Alliance personnel had survived. Some had been tortured for information, and Spiros wished he could have helped them, but there was nothing he could have done. He had watched them being tortured and eventually when it became clear they didn’t hold any relevant information, they had been executed in gruesome ways.

It had been turning Spiros’ stomach for the last twenty-four hours. Perhaps today he would be hungry again. But it mattered not. He needed to work on a plan to get out of here and, until that day came, to gather as much intelligence on the Zarlacks as he could. Having lost the data Tassos had gathered, he had set up his own secure array of sensors by installing hidden partitions and concurrent software atop the station’s sensor array. The data from the new sensor array wasn’t using the station’s internal network but the dedicated one Spiros had cleverly put in place.

They would only work and give him data when the array wasn’t fully in use, so as to not arouse suspicion of his presence should the sensor report an overload of system resources. If that happened, it would probably result in a manhunt, ultimately resulting in his execution.

Spiros wondered if by stopping the self-destruct he hadn’t given the Zarlacks time to reverse-engineer his weapons. To honor Leonidis’ last wish, Spiros swore he would find a way to poison-pill the technology with random bugs, thus making it too much trouble to reverse-engineer.

But the data he had saved would allow him not only to continue his research but also to identify weaknesses in the superior Zarlack tech that could prove vital one day to defeat this formidable new enemy.

Spiros let himself drop onto his mattress and tried to sleep. Up till now, sleep had eluded him. He was too scared of getting captured, and the only times he had managed to close his eyes for just a little while, he had had terrible nightmares.

Life as he knew it had been turned upside down. Four days ago everything was still normal. He was laughing and joking with his friends and co-workers. Then everything had turned to chaos.

In mere hours his entire perception of reality and normalcy had reversed upon itself, and he had lost nearly everything but his own life. He wondered if it would have been better to perish alongside the others. It would certainly have been easier. The one thing that was quickly getting to him though, what devoured him from within, was how terribly alone he now felt.

THE END

THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR (NOVELLA)

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Ryonna Isch’ys (ree-oh-na is-kis) – Droxian Warrior / smuggler on the run

Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos – Star Alliance Starfighter Pilot & SAD Destiny’s Beta Squadron Leader

Other Characters

Captain Alix – Space Pirate Captain

Grolax — Mob Boss

Jonas – Ryonna’s brother-in-law

Jax – Ryonna’s husband (deceased)

Sector Atrak – Hathan Government Official

Hens Raknod – Engineer / Hellstar escapee

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2017 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2016 / Version 1.2

CHAPTER 1

I need to save my son!

The thought was at the center of Ryonna’s mind as she watched the Iron Fire enter hyperspace and felt a little sadness. She was surprised by the feeling, as well as the bond she had quickly formed with both Sarah and Chase. After all, she was not used to trusting strangers, especially these days, while being on the run. But both their plight and predicament, as well as the generosity they had displayed towards her, warmed her heart. She felt sorry for Sarah. Ryonna’s vision had indicated that her end was near. If it hadn’t been for her, she probably wouldn’t have struck a deal with Chase and the Alliance, and she wouldn’t know where Ronan was.

Ronan.

She had to get to her son as fast as possible, but going inside Hellstar Prison half-assed would not achieve anything. She longed to see her son more than anything in the world. More so since her husband had passed. Ronan had become the center of her universe. Worrying and being overprotective was not the Droxian way, but she couldn’t help it. From the day they had discovered his genetic weakness, and during the years spent hiding it from the Droxian Ministry of Health, her bond with her son had grown beyond that of most Droxian parent-child interactions.

She brushed the thoughts away. Now was the time to devise a plan to get to Hellstar, with at least a hint of hope of getting out of there alive. First things first. She needed to acquire a jump-capable ship. She opened the holographic star map in the Alliance’s shuttle and studied her current location. She didn’t have much currency, so buying a ship was not an option. She would probably have to steal one.

Her eyes fell on the few credits Sarah had given her lying on the co-pilot’s console next to hers. Her mind wandered a little, but soon a bleep from her own console caught her attention.

“Recorded message awaiting,” said the onboard computer with a male, synthesized voice.

What message?

She touched the control and soon an image of Chase’s smiling face filled the holo-screen.

“Hello, Ryonna, I took the liberty to record this before you were ready to depart. I wanted to reiterate our thanks for your generous donation of the quadrinium we need so much. I wish we could have come with you to Hellstar to help you free Ronan. As soon as we repel the Zarlack attack on Earth, we’ll try to get back in touch with you. Hopefully we can still help you achieve your goal. I don’t have to tell you Hellstar is a very dangerous place, so please be careful and make sure you have a plan before going in.”

She smiled at Chase’s advice, which matched her own analysis of the situation.

“I’ve taken the liberty of dropping a couple hundred pounds of quadrinium into this shuttle’s cargo hold. I know you said you didn’t need it, but we both know this stuff has value, and you may need the cash to buy equipment. You gave us more than enough, and one day I hope we can repay you for your incredibly generous gesture. I’ve also loaded the onboard computer with some of my autopilot flight patterns. If you get into trouble, don’t hesitate to activate them. Hope to see you soon. Farewell and good luck, Ryonna.”

The holo-screen turned off, and the emotions she had been feeling moments before returned with a vengeance. She had been wary of trusting Chase when they first met, but not being able to see his death when she looked at him puzzled her. That had never happened before and threw her off. Instinctively she felt he was hiding something. Sarah, however, had convinced her they meant no harm and were willing to help her. This message from Chase reaffirmed the conclusion she had reached in the hours following their first meeting, namely that he indeed meant well and had a good heart.

“Thank you, Chase,” she said out loud.

As if in answer, her ship trembled from what felt like laser impacts on the aft side of her shuttle. She raised her shields and checked her radar. She could see no signature, so she turned the shuttle for a visual. She was rewarded with another set of laser impacts on her shields. She swore. She caught a glimpse of her attacker’s craft, and while she didn’t recognize the ship, it was noticeably bigger than her own.

Probably equipped with a hyperspace engine, then.

Her ship’s shield absorbed more salvos, and she took evasive action, which helped a little. For a split second she wondered if she shouldn’t simply activate the device Chase had given her. After all, Iron Fire had only left a few minutes ago. But she decided against it. She didn’t like the idea of calling for help at the first sign of trouble. She also knew that Sarah and Chase were on a time-sensitive mission. A few minutes’ delay could be catastrophic for them and the people of Earth. After more laser impacted with her shuttle’s shield, the onboard computer complained that the shields had dropped below forty percent.

She needed to think fast. She brought up the schematics of the shuttle and diverted all power to the shields, boosting them to nearly sixty percent; and then she accessed the engine’s schematics and looked for a way to eject quadrinium from its chambers. While the controls of Alliance vessels were new to her, she had flown enough ships to understand the basics. It took another five hits and more warnings from the computer before she saw what she was looking for. But it would take time to make the necessary adjustments to eject the quadrinium and ignite it, and with every moment her shields were lowering. That’s when part of Chase’s message struck her.

“Computer, show me autopilot patterns.”

The holo-screen filled with different, pre-programmed patterns. She selected “aggressive evasive” from the list, a pattern called Delta-7. The moment she activated it the ship took over piloting duties, and it didn’t take long to realize that the automatic patterns flew the ship much more efficiently than she did. That gave her the necessary time for the next part of her plan. She diverted more power to her shields from the weapons, which she wasn’t using anyway, as well as ninety percent of life support. The way this fight was going—one sided and with her getting her ass kicked—this bold maneuver would either succeed or she’d die trying. Once she had redirected every ounce of power to the shields, she regained manual control and executed the commands she had been working on.

Her ship released smoke from her engines, simulating damage. She waited a few seconds to see if that would stop her pursuer, but her instincts told her this pilot was not interested in only disabling her. A few more salvos took another ten percent of her shields and confirmed her gut instinct.

“Yep, they want me dead alright.”

She slowed down, and soon the attacking ship was upon her. She locked onto it with the shuttle’s tractor beam and then ejected the quadrinium, redirecting all power to the aft lasers. Dragging the ship into the quadrinium cloud, she fired at it with her aft lasers at full power. The resulting explosion rocked the shuttle, severing the tractor beam and taking out whatever was left of the shuttle’s shields. With inertial dampeners set to the minimum, she experienced tremendous G-forces when the ship entered a wild spin. Fortunately, Droxian physiology allowed her to withstand much stronger forces than this before risking loss of consciousness. She recovered from the spin and saw an array of warning lights on her consoles, followed by multiple vocal warnings: “Shields down, structural integrity comprised,” said the monotonic, synthesized voice of the onboard computer.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” said Ryonna as she turned about to look at her target.

Sparks erupted inside her cockpit and the lights flickered. Her shuttle was in bad shape, but that was to be expected.

“Low power! Low power!” wailed the onboard computer.

Annoyed that the AI was stating the obvious, she turned off vocal alerts.

Approaching the ship that had fired on her without warning, she saw it had been heavily damaged and was slowly spinning in space, smoke and sparks escaping from one side. All that was left to do was board the ship and hope she hadn’t damaged its jump engines beyond repair. She located the target ship’s nearest landing bay and landed her shuttle inside. She checked the cargo bay for atmosphere. She could leave her ship without resorting to an EVA suit.

She left the cockpit and set her blaster to maximum stun while running towards the cargo door. With determination and anger in her eyes she punched the release button with her elbow and raised her blaster towards the now-descending cargo ramp.

CHAPTER 2

The ramp descended to the ground of the cargo bay of the unknown ship. Ryonna heard a wailing alarm, no doubt related to the heavy damage she had inflicted on the ship just moments before. She stepped down the ramp, blaster in hand, and checked her surroundings, making sure no one was waiting in ambush. After a few seconds she mentally marked the cargo bay as clear. She approached the nearest console and brought up a schematic of the ship. She exited the cargo bay, her weapon still pointing forward, and made her way to the bridge. She avoided the turbo lifts, preferring to use ladders inside the nearest bulkhead.

At the bridge’s door she took a deep breath and stormed in. A humanoid male on the floor had his weapon drawn. She jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the laser fire from his blaster. The laser grazed Ryonna’s hair as she landed on the deck and rolled behind a nearby console.

“Why did you fire on my ship?” she exclaimed from behind her cover.

There was no answer, but three more blasts impacted the console protecting her. Sparks flew over her head and some landed in her hair. 

“Fine, let’s do it your way!”

She removed one of her boots and threw it to her right, while jumping in the opposite direction.

Laser fire hit her flying boot, and while in midair, she lined up her shot and pressed the trigger. The stun shot hit her target in the thorax and he collapsed with a groan. Small sparks of lightning ran over his body armor. She took no chances and fired three more stun shots. His limbs jerked and spasmed. His eyes were closed when she approached, her blaster still pointed at his head, ready to fire again if necessary. When she was near enough, she kicked the man’s blaster away. She placed her knee on the torso of the motionless body and checked his pulse. She found one and proceeded to search his body for more weapons. She found a second, smaller blaster in a chest holster, as well as a few small blades, throwing stars and a light-blade attached to his belt. His skin was a pale-green tone, and he had markings on his face.

Gotta be a bounty hunter to be armed to the teeth like that. I wonder how they found me, especially in that Alliance ship? So much for hoping an Alliance ship would provide anonymity, allowing me to move discreetly in the sector.

She dragged his body to a chair and sat him down. She changed settings on her weapon and shot twice more. Two energy lasso shots immobilized him at both chest and feet height, emitting a low-level hum and radiating blue light.

Ryonna sat next to her immobilized prey. She tried accessing the console in front of her but the computer refused her commands.

“Non-authorized personnel access, locking the computer core. Please provide valid biometrics identification,” said the onboard computer, before turning on a hand scanner on its glass controls.

Ryonna smashed her fists on the controls, frustrated. The glass on the console cracked and cut her hand. For a second she looked at the droplets of blood falling on the floor. She wiped the blood on her pants and picked up her blaster. There was no way of knowing if anyone else was on board without computer control. Since she had managed to bring up the schematics of the ship in the cargo bay she hadn’t expected the bridge’s console to be locked. But it made sense. She had similar contingencies in place in her own smuggler’s ship. Low-level access to plans and cargo direction so she didn’t have to babysit the unloading crew, but critical systems on the bridge would only work for authorized personnel.

She tried accessing the same controls on the console in front of her hostage. A similar warning was issued and the hand scanner came on. She dragged the unconscious man’s hand from the grip of the force lasso and put it on the scanner. It turned green, but then the computer requested a vocal command code.

“Well, that was worth a try.”

There was no alternative. She brandished her blaster in front of her and resigned herself to going room to room, checking the current level. It took ten minutes to check every corner and all the rooms. Her head started to buzz from the surrounding alarms. When she couldn’t take it any longer, she started shooting the speakers on the walls. She decided to go to the engine room and assess its state. Her outside survey while approaching the ship had revealed substantial damage on the plating as well as a nasty hole on the port side of the ship. When she tried entering the engine room a vocal warning resonated. “Engine room radiation level outside safe limits, access restricted.”

“That can’t be good.”

She needed access to the ship’s computer as well as information on her attacker, so she ran back to the bridge. Not taking any risks, she entered carefully and scanned every corner for surprises. She heard a small groan. Her hostage was slowly returning to consciousness.

“About time!” Ryonna had gone overboard, stunning him repeatedly when she took him out of commission. She had been angry. She didn’t appreciate being shot at the minute Iron Fire had gone into hyperspace. She had overdone the stun shots in the heat of the moment.

She approached the chair just as the man released another faint moan. Ryonna slapped him across the face without thinking twice.

When he tried jumping out of his chair, he was rewarded with strong pain from the energy lassos holding him in place. The pain generated increased exponentially the more the subject struggled, a fact he quickly became aware of. He soon stopped struggling.

“Who sent you to kill me, bounty hunter?”

The man looked straight at Ryonna, his bright-blue eyes trying to gauge her.

That was when it happened. She saw the moment of his death, and it looked as if Ryonna would be delivering a knife to his neck. She pushed the thought away. She rarely spared a man who had tried to kill her anyway.

“I’ve asked a question,” warned Ryonna in an icy tone.

The man looked at his restraints and then around the room.

“Last warning,” she added, with more than enough menace in her voice.

The man spat on the ground and looked at Ryonna with a wide grin. “Go fuck yoursel⁠—”

He never finished his answer. Ryonna punched him in the stomach with full force and he spat blood onto her forearm. She grabbed his dark, purple hair and wiped the blood off his face. He tried to bite Ryonna, but she was ready for such a move. She jabbed her elbow into his throat, pushing a little more each second.

“You were saying,” said Ryonna, before sniffing heavily, “you stinking piece of crap.”

His eyes were closed from the crushing pain of Ryonna’s elbow on his throat. He could barely breathe. Just when Ryonna felt he would lose consciousness, she removed her elbow. The man wheezed heavily and coughed a little more blood before he was able to get some much-needed air back into his lungs.

“Let’s try this again. I suggest you don’t play with my patience. It’s been one of those days.”

“W . . . what . . .” He took another painful breath and tried clearing his throat. “What was the question?”

“Who sent you to kill me?”

“I can’t tell you that and you know it!”

“Wrong answer.”

Ryonna took one of the man’s own blades and jabbed it straight into his right thigh. He screamed loudly. Already suffering a headache from the alarms constantly resonating within the ship for the last half an hour, Ryonna took the man’s blaster and put it in his mouth, which promptly stopped him from shouting. His look changed from defiant to terrified in a split second. His face painted a picture of pain.

She lowered her face to his level and looked straight in his eyes.

“I suggest you suffer in silence or I’ll make sure you never make another sound again. Are we clear?”

The man slightly tilted his head up and down, one eye closed and teeth clenched on the muzzle of his own blaster.

“Now can you please turn this commotion off? I can’t hear myself think, and that usually results in bad decision making on my part.”

She took the blaster out of his mouth. He took two deep breaths. “Computer, alarms off.”

The multiple audio signals all turned off at once, and finally the headache Ryonna had had since shortly after her arrival on board started to dispel.

“Thank you. Now, if you’d be so kind as to unlock the main computer and give me full access.”

He looked at her with doubts, which Ryonna decided she had to eradicate quickly. She took the blade out of his thigh and blood started gushing. The man moaned.

“I can do this all day, but I’d rather we make it quick.”

“What’s my incentive to help you? You’ll kill me anyway.”

“That really depends on what information you give me. And in your line of work, I don’t think I need to remind you that there are many ways of killing a man, some more painful than others.”

“Not good enough. I need assurance you will let me go.”

“I give you my word.” She knew full well she wouldn’t be able to keep it.

“While Droxians are known for their honor, I don’t trust your word. No offense.”

Ryonna exhaled in frustration. She needed to get going as soon as possible. She decided to go back to physical threats and amp up her game if necessary. She didn’t enjoy torture much, but it was an effective tool when pressed for time, as she was at the moment.

She took the bloodied blade she had extracted from the man’s thigh and wiped the blood off, using the man’s dark pants. His eyes followed her every movement with concern. She then put it next to the other weapons she had confiscated from him, and started browsing the different blades, tapping each a couple of times before moving to the next, until she stopped at the throwing star. She flipped it in the air like a coin and stopped it from spinning by catching it between two extended fingers. She examined it for a while, turning it around.

“This will do.”

“Will do for what?”

She grabbed his hair and bent his head backwards as she planted the throwing star right under one of his eyes.

“Well, you don’t need your eyes to answer my questions.”

“WAIT!”

“Talk . . . fast!”

“Okay, okay, just don’t remove my eye.”

“Eyes.”

“I received my warrant from a guy named Grolax.”

“That no good piece of . . .” She paused in mid sentence. ”How much am I worth since my last visit to him?”

“One hundred thousand.”

“I should have ended him on Hathan Prime.”

“I can help you correct that mistake.”

“Why on Droxia would I ever need your help?”

“Well, it’s not a selfless act, obviously. I really would like to keep breathing, and it seems to me that if I have something to provide, you may be more inclined to let me.”

“Speak.”

“Grolax did amp up his security, and I don’t mean just more guards. You must have rattled him ’cause he’s got shadow droids patrolling around every place he goes, and he hired sentinels too.”

Ryonna clenched her teeth. She must have spooked Grolax for him to adopt such heavy measures in less than a day. Sentinels were renowned for being the best bodyguards in close-quarter combat. And shadow droids were no picnic either. That would make approaching him more difficult. But she had to deal with Grolax nonetheless. Not before making sure she got some important information out of him. If there was one scumbag in this part of space who could help her locate someone with information about Hellstar security measures, it was probably him.

“I take it from your silence that you’re considering my offer?”

“Don’t celebrate just yet. I was mostly thinking about what I would do to this piece of Tran’Kahr droppings once I get my hands on him.”

“Somehow I get an idea . . .”

“Believe me, you don’t.”

The man swallowed hard.

“What’s your name by the way?”

“Alix Dar.”

“Well, Alix, as a gesture of good faith, would you please give me computer control.”

He looked at her, trying to gauge if his speech had worked.

“You don’t really have a choice here. I can get access on my own and you know it. It would just take longer, unless I make you scream again and use your vocal patterns as identification for the second layer of security.”

“You thought of that, did you?” said Alix, resigned.

“That would be my next move, yes. You gave me the idea when you squealed a few moments ago.”

“Speaking of that, would you mind if we did something about that wound? I’m starting to feel light headed.”

“Then I suggest you speak faster, starting with computer control.”

“Computer, accept executive-level control by all current passengers.”

“Confirmed,” replied the onboard control.

“Thanks,” said Ryonna, jumping into the chair next to Alix’s.

“What are you doing?”

“Setting a course for Hathan Prime. Fortunately, we aren’t very far away, but I’d rather not lose any more time.”

“What’s so urgent?”

“None of your business, Alix,” snapped Ryonna, pointing a warning finger at him. “Let’s get this straight right now. I’m willing to spare you, for the time being, but you may want to restrain from asking questions about things that don’t concern you.”

“My bad. I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m really sorry,” said Alix with fear in his eyes.

Ryonna realized she probably overreacted to that last question, but she didn’t feel like acknowledging it. After all, this man had tried to blow her out of the stars, a fact she wasn’t going to forget anytime soon, no matter how useful he proved to be.

“Course set,” said Ryonna, just a second after the engines started humming. “Looks like your self-repairing systems are quite efficient. We still don’t have jump-engine capabilities. Must have damaged that too.”

“My nano repair circuitry is the best. I’m sure it will be fixed soon. We’re only a few hours away from Hathan at full, sub-light burn. The jump engines might be fixed by then.”

“I hope so. I’ll need your ship for a few days.”

“If it means I keep breathing, you can have it.”

Alix’s eyes blinked rapidly.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I . . . I don’t feel so⁠—”

But Alix never finished his sentence and lost consciousness.

“Great! Next stop med-bay, I guess.”

CHAPTER 3

When Alix came around, Ryonna was standing over him with a hypo spray.

“Feeling better?” she asked, without a hint of worry in her voice.

“I . . . I guess. How . . . how long was I out?”

“Not long. About half an hour. I’ve used your medical facilities to patch you up.”

“I would hardly call myself a facility,” said a tall, lean and pale-skinned humanoid with blond and gray hair and beard.

Alix yawned as he extended his arms at his sides.

“I see you found the holo-doc.”

“Yeah, he activated himself automatically as I entered the med-bay.”

“Glad to see it works. I hadn’t required his assistance until now. Hello, Doc,” said Alix with a slight wave of his hand.

“Hello, Captain, your wound has been fixed, and we have administered painkillers as well as a stimulant, though this last was done against my better judgment,” said the doc, shooting a cold stare towards Ryonna, shortly before turning his attention back to Alix. “You should be back to full health in less than a day.”

Alix nodded. “Thanks, Doc.”

“You’re perfectly welcome.”

Ryonna looked at the holo-doc, then at Alix. “How do you turn him off?”

“Please refer to me as ‘Doctor.’ As per your previous inquiry, I would like to stay active so I can monitor my patient.”

Ryonna frowned at the tone of the hologram. “That won’t be necessary. Turn off . . . Doctor.”

“I must insist.”

“Now!” said Ryonna.

“Very well. Don’t hesitate to reactivate me if needed.”

“We’ll do just that,” said Ryonna, rolling her eyes, annoyed by the hologram’s condescending tone.

The holo-doc vanished into thin air.

“That’s a practical yet rather annoying piece of technology.”

“It’s this sort of technology that we will require for you to approach Grolax safely.”

“I don’t follow. Explain.”

“I purchased this particular holo-doc tech as well as other pieces of tech from a friend in the Zathnor sector. I grant you his AI personality matrix is somewhat quirky, but overall his tech is very good quality. The other piece is a holo-camouflage suit. You could use it to approach Grolax without him knowing it was you.”

“Interesting. How does it work?”

“You feed it DNA, and then the suit projects the new DNA.”

“Who should I approach Grolax as?”

“Well, me, obviously. In the pretense of cashing in your death warrant.”

“We’re not exactly the same corpulence, you and I, though you’re pretty big for a humanoid.”

“I know. You’d better go disguised in my full-combat body armor. That should pretty much fill the gap. The device will do the rest.”

“Won’t he ask for proof of my demise?”

“I’m sure he will. We can doctor that, present him either a fake video of your ship blowing, or present him your head or something.”

“My head?” Ryonna raised an eyebrow. “How exactly do you propose we doctor that?”

“Well, you see that piece of equipment over there,” said Alix, pointing toward a cylindrical tank with big wires attached to it.

“What about it?”

“It replicates living tissue perfectly, in case I ever need to replace a limb or something. I’m sure it can make a pretty convincing replica of your severed head.”

Ryonna smiled. She had to admit Alix was surprisingly resourceful. She wondered why she had seen herself kill him in her vision. At the moment she rather enjoyed his ideas. But perhaps this was all part of his plan to lower her guard and make another move when the time felt right. She would have to stay on her toes.

“That could work, and it would make a hell of an entrance too.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Pieces were starting to come together in Ryonna’s mind and a plan was taking shape.

“We still need to find a way to separate him from his security,” continued Alix, “but at least you have an approach.”

“I’ve got an idea for that part. That is, if you’re willing to help.”

“Like I said before, whatever keeps me breathing.” Alix attempted a smile.

“About that. Let’s make one thing clear right now. I will need to trust you when we reach Hathan Prime. You could use that to escape, but I just want to make sure you understand what would happen if you double cross me.”

“I have a pretty good idea.”

“Good.”

* * *

When Ryonna entered the bar on Hathan Prime, she looked like Alix in full combat gear, which drew weird looks from people nearby. Fortunately, all sorts of people and races came here, so she didn’t look too much out of place. Discreetly, she dropped a small device under the nearest empty table in proximity to the barman and then looked around for Grolax’s table. He had moved to a much more defensible position within the bar, which gave him a good look at anyone approaching his table and more than enough time to react.

Paranoid are we? Well, you’re right to be.

She walked towards him and the sentinels detected her and locked their gazes onto her.

“Back already?” said Grolax. “I hope you come bearing good news.”

Ryonna grabbed her bloody, replica head from a bag and threw it on the table. It was a weird experience and sent a shiver down her spine. Grolax was startled when the head hit the table, but was soon grinning from ear to ear.

“How’s that for good news?”

“Excellent! You certainly live up to your reputation, Mr. Dar.”

Ryonna really hoped that if Alix wanted to double cross her it wouldn’t be now. He was essential for the next part of the plan. She activated the beacon that would alert him, while holding her arms behind her back.

“Please sit, Mr. Dar, so I can provide your payment. I’m in such a good mood that I think I’ll give you a ten percent bonus for your swift and decisive results.”

Ryonna sat opposite Grolax. She had to fight all her instincts to prevent herself shooting the bastard between the eyes. She needed him alive a little longer.

“Would you mind?” said Grolax, pointing at the gruesome head in the middle of the table.

Ryonna picked up the prop head and dropped it onto the floor. It made an unpleasant squishy noise.

“Sorry about that. I have terrible manners sometimes.”

“That’s okay. I like your style Mr. Dar. So much so, in fact, that I might have more jobs for you soon.”

“Glad to hear it.”

Ryonna tried to keep conversation to a minimum. While her holo-suit replicated everything from the provided DNA, voice included, she didn’t know Alix well enough to pass herself off as him. He had briefed her somewhat, but as time was of the essence, she preferred keeping things simple: like not talking too much.

Grolax took a small, glass communications device and entered a few commands. It flashed green for a moment.

“There, one hundred and ten thousand credits have been wired to your account. Would you like to get something to drink? It’s on me.”

“If this place carries Brin’s beer I’d gladly have one, thank you.”

Grolax gestured with his head as he put his personal computer back into one of his pockets. One of his sentinels went to the bar to order the drinks. Now was the time to act. When he was near the table she had prepared earlier, she put both her hands under the table and activated the detonator hidden on her wrist. She closed her eyes and covered her ears. Before anyone could react the flash bomb detonated, temporarily blinding everyone in range, as well as releasing a deafening and disorienting sound. The first sentinel was thrown against the barstool. It hit very hard, but Ryonna thought she saw a brief, yellow force field absorb most of the blast.

Crap! If that was a protective smart shield she just saw . . .

The answer came with instant pain as the second sentinel, clearly unimpaired by Ryonna’s diversion, punched her square in the jaw. The sheer power of the blow gave her an unusual sensation. While she had been beaten before, she rarely felt such power behind a single blow, except when it came from other Droxians. Still, it did not send her down. But she had lost the element of surprise that her plan was resting upon. She needed to react swiftly or there would be dire consequences. She only had a few seconds before Alix came for her on a timed flyby. She needed to be outside the bar with Grolax in less than a minute.

The first sentinel stood up and ran towards their table just as the second sentinel, who had just punched her, attacked again. She dodged the arching kick just in time and grabbed her attacker’s leg. When she smashed her elbow against the man’s knee, she was rewarded with yet another jolt of pain. The personal shielding didn’t let her break the leg as she had hoped. She reacted quickly, powering through the pain by kicking the man’s other leg. That meant receiving yet another jolt of pain, but she caused him to lose balance and crash to the ground. By then the other sentinel was incoming, in midair, ready to deliver a flying kick. She arched her back to dodge the attack, grabbed her blaster, which was set to kill, and shot three times in quick succession. The first two shots were absorbed by the smart shields that briefly radiated yellow upon impact, but the third laser fire went through. The sentinel ended his course by crashing headfirst into the table.

“What’s happening?” shouted Grolax, his arms covering his eyes. “I’m blind!”

She set her blaster to stun and shot at Grolax’s head. The result was immediate: he fell back onto the bench and lost consciousness. But then she felt something entering her back. When she looked down she saw a thin blade protrude upwards from her stomach. The other sentinel had used that time to impale her.

She turned around just in time to see the sentinel getting back up and grabbing his own blaster. Her reflexes were faster and she unleashed a flurry of shots at him. They seemed to be absorbed by the sentinel’s smart shields, but each shot slowed him down. She fired again and again, and soon the shields lost cohesion and collapsed. The sentinel fell to his knees. That was her window for finishing him off. She grabbed the blade behind her back, drew it out and in a fluid motion swung it at her target.

The blade passed through him as if he wasn’t there, with almost no resistance. For a split second Ryonna thought she had missed. But then a cut appeared at the sentinel’s neckline. He was looking at her with wide open eyes in a state of shock. She detached his head from his body and sent it flying in the air with a well-placed kick.

Her pain receptors registered the wound she had opened by removing the blade, and she started to feel dizzy. She heard another blaster firing. She instinctively moved her head to the side and part of her face burned as the shot grazed her cheek. The other sentinel had fired from the ground and was about to finish the job. He jumped back to his feet and resumed firing. She jumped to the side in anticipation and dodged the next two shots by only an inch. While in midair she aimed her own blaster and fired a single shot. It was a bull’s-eye. It froze the sentinel in place upon impact, its shields clearly damaged by the previous pounding with her blaster.

When Ryonna landed, she rolled and arrived right in front of the stunned sentinel. As she stood up, she swiped her blade vertically and cut him in half. The sentinel’s blade was so thin it went through him like a hot knife through butter. The cut was so precise the sentinel’s body didn’t move, but blood flowed from his forehead, then his nose and soon his chin. More pain radiated from within her. Her acrobatic landing had made things worse. In a fit of rage she kicked the already-dead, but miraculously still-standing, sentinel and his body split in two in almost perfectly symmetrical parts. Each part fell to the ground, spraying blood on the nearest walls and tables.

Everything had happened quickly, but when Ryonna heard someone scream after the gruesome display of her last take down, she realized the visual impairment of the flash bomb was probably wearing off. She looked towards the scream and saw two shadow droids cutting a path through the still-disoriented crowd inside the bar.

Time to get the fuck outta here!

Ignoring the pain throbbing throughout her body, she grabbed the unconscious Grolax and dragged him through the back entrance as fast as she could, spilling a trail of her own blood in her wake.

CHAPTER 4

Ryonna kicked open the back door of the bar and stumbled into the alley. It was pouring rain. She looked around for a sign of her shuttle but it wasn’t there. She only had a few seconds before the shadow droids caught up with her. She dropped Grolax to one side, used her blaster at max setting to weld the door to its frame with a few well-placed shots, and then took a small device that Alix had given her. She deployed it on the ground in front of the door. When she tried rising up, she was rewarded with another jolt of pain. That was when she saw the trail of blood she had left behind.

This is not good. I’ll need to see that annoying holo-doc soon or it will be the end of me.

She dragged Grolax for a few more yards before activating her communicator. “Alix, where are you? I have shadow droids on my back. I need you now!”

“You weren’t there thirty seconds ago when I made my flyby.”

She swore in her head. That’s what she had been afraid of. Her fight with the sentinels had taken longer than originally planned, and she had called Alix too early.

“Can you come by for another pass, pronto?”

“Trying to, but I’ve picked up a bogie on my tail. Hathan security isn’t keen on unauthorized flybys in town. These guys don’t mess around; they shoot first and ask questions later.”

Things were looking bleak. There was no way she could dispatch both the droids in her current condition. She estimated that if it took her more than twenty minutes to get back on board Alix’s ship, she would bleed to death.

“Do your best. I’ve lost a lot of blood. Could use the pick-up.”

“You do realize this information could give me an incentive to just let you die down there?”

“I do, but I also think you know that, should I survive, my wrath would go beyond anything you can imagine. But strike that. I’ve decided to trust you. Hope you won’t let me down.”

“On my way. Be ready. I should be flying over your position within a minute.”

But then she heard a heavy, metallic clunk against the door. The shapes of punches deformed the thick steel door. She took to one knee, went for another contraption in the pocket of her jacket and mounted it on her blaster.

This better work or I’m toast.

After ten more seconds of pounding, the door finally gave way.

As the first shadow droid stepped out, the device she had planted magnetically stuck onto its leg. The droid looked down just in time to see the device explode, spreading its body parts in every direction. Ryonna had to dodge one of its arms that was propelled towards her.

The flames weren’t yet out when the second droid emerged from the fire, both arms extended, and started shooting lasers from its palms towards Ryonna.

She jumped to the side, aimed her blaster at the incoming droid and pressed the trigger. But her blaster jammed.

“You’ve got to be shitting me!”

She grabbed the top of a nearby garbage can and used it to block the incoming laser shots. As the droid approached, it kicked the red-hot piece of metal from her hands and pointed its palm at her face. A supercharged jolt of adrenaline rose inside her and she reacted instinctively, rolling to the side at the exact moment the droid fired. She scissored the droid’s legs with her own with just enough force to make it stumble and crash its head against the nearest wall. But that was a short reprieve. The droid was back on its feet faster than Ryonna expected and definitely faster than her. The next thing she saw was the droid’s black, metallic foot hitting her full force in the face. She flew upwards and backwards for a good fifteen yards before landing in a garbage bin. Her head spun and her sight was compromised by blood flowing into her eyes.

That’s it, I’m toast.

She heard the ominous, metallic steps of the shadow droid approaching the trash bin. Her entire body ached. She mustered every last bit of energy just to raise her head and get a visual on her approaching foe. No way was she dying without looking at her executioner. That was not the Droxian way. If she died today, she would die with honor. Time slowed. She looked at the incoming, black-matte droid, droplets of rain rebounding from its exoskeleton as its eyes shone bright yellow. It was already raising its palm to aim at her head.

I’m so sorry, Ronan. Forgive me.

The light inside the hand-integrated, repulser blaster shone brightly, and each of her strongest memories flashed before her eyes. But then she saw a missile exploding on the shadow droid’s torso, just as it fired its shot. It deflected its aim just enough so that the shot burned a hole an inch from Ryonna’s head, burning some of her hair in the process. The droid was ejected hundreds of yards away in the back alley and crashed to the ground with a very loud, metallic clunk.

Ryonna climbed down from the garbage dump and let herself fall to the ground. She ached everywhere and barely had enough energy to get back to her feet; but, with a tremendous effort, she stood up, picked up her blaster and holstered it. She approached Grolax, where she had left him on the ground before engaging the shadow droids.

He moaned. The stun effect was probably wearing off. He was a fat bastard, after all. He opened his eyes a little, blinking heavily. Then he opened them wide.

“You!”

Her holo-suit must have been damaged and she probably appeared in her own form. Ryonna didn’t let him regain his bearings. She clocked him straight in the face with a powerful right hook that sent him back into unconsciousness.

She activated her communicator.

“Thanks for the assist.”

“Anytime. I’m coming around for another pass. I’ve dispatched my security escort, but it won’t be long before they send many more after us. We have to get out of here!”

“Yes we do. I see you in approach.”

“No, no, can’t be me. I’m still six blocks away, turning back now.”

“Oh just great. Hey, Alix, any idea why my blaster jammed when I tried using the EMP add-on you gave me?”

“Did you turn it counterclockwise?”

“No, why?”

“It’s a security feature.”

The incoming ship, with a green laser pointer scanning the ground, approached her position quickly.

“Hang on, I’ve got to deal with this now.”

“Use the EMP!”

My thoughts exactly.

She unlocked the add-on on her blaster and re-attached it counterclockwise. A green LED lit its cylindrical shape.

As the incoming ship approached at tremendous speed, laser shots impacted the street, shooting flames and stones upward.

She set her weapon to max power and squeezed the trigger. A strong, blue sphere of light headed straight towards the ship. On impact, the ship was engulfed in a spherical EMP shockwave. Its lights flickered briefly before going dark, and its engine died almost instantly. The ship fell to the ground like a heavy boulder. It destroyed much of the concrete on its trajectory towards Ryonna, emitting sparks and igniting fires along the way. It came to a halt just a yard from her position.

Ryonna removed the EMP add-on from her blaster, making sure the blaster stayed at its maximum kill setting, and aimed at the ship’s canopy. She saw another sentinel at the helm, lined her shot and sent a deadly discharge from her weapon right in the middle of his eyes. The sentinel’s head fell on the ship’s pilot console. Soon Ryonna heard the familiar humming of an incoming ship.

She grabbed Grolax just as Alix landed the shuttle. When its doors opened she threw the sad but heavy bag of fat and bones to the floor and fell to her knees.

“Get us the hell back to your ship at maximum speed.”

“Sure thing, boss. You’d better grab on to something.”

But Ryonna had already collapsed to the ground, barely conscious as more of her blood spilled onto the floor of the Alliance shuttle.

CHAPTER 5

Ryonna felt queasy. She was moving but didn’t have the strength to open her eyes. Her body was put into a horizontal position. A voice in the distance said something about the nature of the medical emergency. That’s when she remembered what had happened. A jolt of adrenaline brought her back to consciousness. She sat up and caught the arm of the person nearest her. It took a second for her sight to adjust.

“Easy, Ryonna! You’re badly hurt,” said Alix, whose hand Ryonna had just grabbed.

“Where are we?”

“We’re back on my ship. Lie down and let the doc and I work on you. It’s a miracle you’re still alive.”

“Why don’t I feel pain anymore?”

“The doc injected you with powerful painkillers.”

“Grolax?”

“I’ve secured him in a room.”

“He must not be allowed to escape. He’s a fat sneaky weasel.”

“Don’t worry, he won’t. I used your blaster to stun him once more when he regained consciousness. That made him puke all over the floor of the shuttle.”

“That happens sometimes,” said Ryonna, lying back down with a smile on her face.

“Rest now. He’s not going anywhere. I triple lassoed him to the chair in one of my guest rooms. Would you like me to interrogate him for you?”

“No, I’ll do that myself when I’m back on my feet.”

“That could take a day or two.”

“Unacceptable. That’s way too long. Tell the doc to patch me up and inject as much stimulant as needed. I need to be up in two hours.”

“I must object to this course of action. There could be some serious side effects,” said the holo-doc.

“Stuff it, Doc, you’ll do as we tell you!”

The doc looked at Alix for confirmation.

“Do as she says. Patch her up and make sure she’s up in two hours, I guess.” Alix shrugged.

“Thanks, Alix.”

“Hope you’ll remember that the next time you feel like killing me.”

“We both know who started that game.”

“I really must insist that my patient gets some rest now,” added the holo-doc.

Ryonna shot him a murderous look.

“Alix, you’ve earned your life back today. I will probably still need your ship, but you can get it back when I get sent to Hellstar.”

“That’s your plan? Get locked in Hellstar? Are you insane? Nobody escapes.”

“Please, she needs her rest.” The holo-doc was becoming more insistent by the minute.

“Alright, we’ll talk about this later. Now relax and let the doc work on you.”

Ryonna nodded and closed her eyes as Alix exited the med-bay.

* * *

When Ryonna opened her eyes, the doc was using a glass medical pad to run some scans.

“It’s been two hours already?”

“I’m afraid I had to let you sleep a little longer.”

“WHAT?”

“After fixing your obvious wounds, I detected cerebral hemorrhaging. I had to operate and that required a minimum of five hours’ rest. It’s still risky waking you now. It goes against all my programming.”

Ryonna wanted to slap the holographic particles off the doc, but she had been around enough wounded people during her time with the Droxian military to recognize that a brain hemorrhage was not something to be taken lightly. She probably got that from the powerful kick the shadow droid had inflicted on her in the alley.

“Very well, Doc, where can I find Alix?”

“He’s on the bridge, waiting for you to recover.”

“How soon can I go, Doc?”

“You’re about done. Let me inject another stimulant, but I would avoid stressing your system any more than needed in the next few days. I’m serious. Your body won’t be able to take such beatings a second time, unless you give it time to recover.”

As the doc injected her with the stimulant, a jolt of energy coursed through her body and she jumped out of bed.

“Can’t make any promises, Doc. I’m on a tight schedule.”

“Well, you’ve been warned. There’s little more I can do.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

“You’re welcome.”

Ryonna exited med-bay and arrived on the bridge a minute later. Grolax was seated near Alix and her blood boiled. She reached for her holster but her blaster wasn’t there; neither were any of the smaller blades she usually carried.

“What the hell is he doing out and about?” asked Ryonna, pissed.

They both stood and Grolax shot Alix a look and smiled.

“He made me an offer, a very difficult one to refuse,” said Alix, pointing Ryonna’s own blaster at her.

“You should not trust this piece of garbage.”

Grolax snorted. “Look who’s talking. At least I have something tangible to offer our friend here besides his life.”

Ryonna kept walking towards the pair.

“That’s far enough,” warned Alix.

She thought she saw him wink at her.

“Shoot her, and you’ll be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams, as we discussed.”

Ryonna took the last three steps towards Grolax and Alix, who was still pointing the blaster at her.

“Discussed?” asked Ryonna with murder in her eyes.

“Sorry, pal,” said Alix as he swung the blaster into the back of Grolax’s head, sending him crashing to the ground.

He threw the blaster at Ryonna who caught it promptly and holstered it. She smiled at him.

“Once you have what you want from him, I wouldn’t mind if you managed to convince him to still send me the money he promised,” said Alix with another wink.

“Consider it done.”

“I’ll kill you both for this!” exclaimed Grolax, holding his head.

“I think you got it backwards, my friend.”

He spat on her shoes. “You’re a dead girl, Ryonna!”

She kneed him on the chin with such force it raised him back up, and Alix caught him and immobilized both his arms behind his back, exerting enough force to make sure Grolax felt the pain.

Grolax turned his head. “You’re dead too, by the way.”

Alix moved his head from side to side. “Sorry, pal, I’m pretty sure I just bet on the winning horse.”

Before Grolax could answer, Ryonna punched him in the guts. Grolax vomited on the floor.

“Was repainting my carpet really necessary?”

“I suppose I can expect the same in my shuttle? Now we’re square, puke wise.”

“Right,” said Alix, with a smile that demonstrated he enjoyed their playful banter.

Ryonna couldn’t help wondering again why she saw Alix die at her hands. Perhaps he was really good at hiding his ulterior motives. Still, something didn’t feel right. She really felt as though she could trust him now; but perhaps that was part of his plan.

When Grolax finished his disgusting and pathetic display of weakness, she grabbed him by the throat and lifted him five feet off the floor, effectively cutting his airflow. She looked at him with disdain as he slowly changed color.

He tried to speak but was unable to.

“I think he wants to tell you something.”

“Give it a little more time.”

“Not sure he has that much. He doesn’t seem to be a very healthy fellow.”

“Are you, Grolax?” said Ryonna casually, as his face turned a deeper shade of blue. “No, Alix is right. You clearly don’t lead a very healthy lifestyle.”

When it looked as if Grolax would faint or even die, Ryonna released her grip. He fell to the ground as unceremoniously as a bag of potatoes. He wheezed, trying to catch his breath, and panted heavily. Rivers of sweat dripped from his ugly mug.

“What . . . what is it you want from me?”

“Feel like talking now? It has the advantage of requiring you to breathe, so all in all a good decision. I need to find someone who either works or has worked on Hellstar.”

“Again with that. Forget about Ronan. He’s toast!”

“Oh boy, you should really think twice before using that mouth of yours,” said Alix.

Ryonna’s blood boiled. She struggled with the impulse of blasting Grolax’s head clean off with her blaster. She thought of Ronan and envisioned the day she would rescue him. That gave her just enough strength to regain control over her erupting emotions.

“I’ll give you this one for free, Grolax, but next time you mention my son’s name, I’ll cut you into little pieces while you’re alive and feed them back to you.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

She looked at Alix. “Where are my blades? Mind bringing them to me?”

“Sure thing, boss, I’ll go fetch your toys,” he answered cheerfully before leaving the bridge.

Grolax swallowed hard.

“I have nothing to gain from helping you.”

“This is entirely a matter of perspective. How much do you want to suffer? I know how to inflict pain for days before I end someone’s suffering.”

Ryonna had to turn off the compassionate part within her when she entered interrogation mode. If she didn’t, she could never do the things that sometimes needed to be done. She was aware of the gray area, and the moral implications of the act of torture. But she was also a firm believer in the end justifying the means. Right this moment, with her own son’s life weighing in the balance, there was no choice.

There was a moment of silence until Alix returned with Ryonna’s white-weapons arsenal. He gently put them down on the nearest console.

Grolax grew more nervous at the sight of the blades. When Ryonna took one of the blades and fiddled with it, the amount of sweat on his forehead tripled.

“I’m sorry for telling you to forget about Ronan. There’s no need to escalate this to more physical violence.”

“For once we can agree on something, my dear Grolax. And rest assured there won’t be any violence if you tell me what I need to know.”

“Will you promise not to shoot me if I do?”

“You have my word. I promise I won’t shoot you.”

Alix frowned. She looked at him for a second and returned her gaze towards Grolax.

“Look, I might know someone who worked on Hellstar.”

“Keep talking.”

“He was a structural engineer for many years on board the prison.”

Perfect, thought Ryonna. “I’m gonna need a name and a location.”

“I don’t remember his name.”

“Wrong answer,” said Ryonna as she dangled the blade in front of Grolax’s increasingly pale and sweaty face.

“Wait! I must have his contact info on my personal computer.”

“Then I suggest you search for it now. And wire that money to my friend Alix here. While you’re at it, why not double it?”

“What? That’s a lot of money!”

“What’s more important to you? Your life or your money?”

Grolax grumbled incomprehensibly as he fetched his personal computer from his pocket and fiddled with it.

“Work faster.”

Grolax shot her a look of irritation. Ryonna simply played with the blade, spinning it between her fingers with great dexterity as a visual aid for helping Grolax work faster.

“There. I don’t have a complete address, but since he lives on Droxia you should be able to locate him on your own.”

“Computer, set a course for Droxia and engage hyperspace engines at maximum.”

The computer confirmed the command and the ship entered hyperspace.

“And his name would be?” added Ryonna.

“What about letting me go?”

“We’ll let you go with a ship, don’t worry. Now the name?”

“H. Raknod.”

“H?”

“Sorry, that’s all I have.”

Ryonna growled.

“You can growl all you want. That’s not gonna bring the other letters of the old man’s first name into my computer’s memory banks.”

“Old?”

“Yeah, you know. You get old and retire. That’s why he isn’t working on Hellstar anymore.”

“How do I know he’s still alive?”

“Not really my problem, but since his contact is star dated less than a cycle ago on my device, I’d say there’s a good probability he’s still alive.”

“In case your info doesn’t pan out . . .”

“Yeah yeah, I know what to expect.”

“Any other candidates come to mind?”

“It’s not a requirement for people to work on Hellstar to be included in my contacts list, you know.”

“What is? In fact, how come you have this one?”

“That’s between him and me.”

“Not today it isn’t.”

“I really don’t like divulging my business relationships. It’s not very professional.”

“Neither is being shipped back to your family in small pieces in a tight container box.”

“Point taken. If you must know, I paid him to let some merchandise find its way inside the prison.”

“You mean bribe.”

“And the difference being?”

“You know me, Grolax, I like when things are precise.”

“Yeah, you’ve always been a stickler for details, I’ll give you that. If my life wasn’t on the line I’d use a different word.”

“What would that word be?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“Suit yourself. Now, about the payment, if you please.”

“You’re killing me here.”

Ryonna smiled. Poor Grolax. He wasn’t aware how accurate his last statement was.

“So?”

“Gimme a minute, will you. . . There.” said Grolax, turning towards Alix. “You’re now two million Hathan credits richer.”

“Well thank you. Such generosity!” Alix did not mask the sarcasm in his voice.

“Now, if you’d please send me home?”

“Right. Mind unlocking this computer device of yours for me, please?”

“So you can steal all my money? You can’t access my funds without triple DNA verification checks.”

“Then there’s really no reason for you not to share your contacts list with me.”

“I’ve done what you ask—” but he was interrupted by the cocking of Ryonna’s blaster, pointing at his head.

He instinctively raised his hands.

“Let’s cool down here. You can have it, but would you mind lowering your weapon. We’re all friends here now, right?”

Ryonna beamed him a smile. “Riiiight.”

Grolax unlocked his personal computer. It vocally asked for confirmation.

“Grolax, three seven alpha alpha six niner.”

“Please confirm unlocking access to internal memory to everyone,” cooed a very feminine voice.

“Confirmed.”

Grolax handed the glass slab to Ryonna, clearly annoyed.

“Thank you. Now come with us to the cargo bay. I can show you how to fly my shuttle back to Hathan.”

“Does it have a hyperspace engine?”

“Yes it has.”

Alix grinned slightly.

Ryonna led the way to the nearest airlock. She opened its door, grabbed Grolax and threw him inside. She punched the controls to lock the door and entered the decompression sequence on the console.

“Why did I see that coming a mile away?” said Alix in passing, not really expecting an answer that never came anyway. “That doesn’t bode well for me now, does it?”

That got Ryonna’s attention.

“No, I gave you my word . . . and I meant it with you.” She paused, remembering her vision. “I won’t kill you unless you give me reason to.”

“Fair enough.”

Lights inside the decompression chamber flashed red as Grolax crashed against the unbreakable window.

“No! Don’t do this! You said you wouldn’t kill me! You’re a Droxian. You’re bound by your word. This isn’t honorable.”

“Nice try, Grolax, but I said no such thing. Details, remember? I gave you my word I wouldn’t shoot you. So, technically, I kept my word.”

“You bitch!” said Grolax in a fit of rage as he pounded louder against the glass.

“You’ve tried to have me killed, and we both know that wasn’t the first time, you abominable piece of crap. But today sure was the last! You may want to pray to whichever god you believe in.”

“No! No! Ryonna, I beg you. I’ll give you all my money. Don’t do this!”

“How little you know me after all these years. Keep your money. Hope it will serve you well in—” she looked at the counter on the panel— “less than twenty-five seconds. Any last words?”

“Ryonna, I can tell you who killed your husband if you let me out!”

“He died in an accident.”

“No, he didn’t! I know who did it!”

Ryonna felt as if she’d been stabbed in the heart. A shiver traveled through her body.

“Who? Who did it?”

“Open the fucking door!” shouted Grolax, pounding on the glass.

She went for the abort sequence but it didn’t work.

“Alix!”

“On it.”

He fiddled with the controls at incredible speed but they blinked red, refusing every one of his commands. “Computer, override airlock one sequence. NOW!”

“Malfunction in the data pathways. I’m sorry, Captain, but I cannot comply.”

Ryonna pushed Alix to the side and punched the controls with her left fist. The glass cracked but nothing happened. She tried the command again but the pad was now unresponsive. She could still see the countdown on the cracked screen. Seven, six, five . . .

She took her blaster from her holster.

“No don’t!” screamed Alix.

But she shot the control panel anyway. It exploded and sparks flew.

She looked inside the airlock. “Grolax, I tried, tell me who⁠—”

But then the outer door opened and sucked Grolax into the void, his body disintegrated by the hyperspace field around the ship.

“You’re insane! If that door had opened while in hyperspace we would have been obliterated, like that fool!”

But Ryonna wasn’t listening. She dropped her blaster to the floor and collapsed.

All she muttered was a name. “Jax . . .”

CHAPTER 6

Ryonna still couldn’t fathom what Grolax had blurted out in his final moments. She heard Alix’s voice trying to get through to her, but her mind had shut down. The enormity of what had been revealed hit her like a magna-train moving at full, frictionless speed. The idea that her departed husband, Jax, had not died in the transport accident, as she had thought for the past three years, put into light a lot of questioning and doubts. Her brother-in-law had tried to tell her that he thought there had been foul play, but Ryonna, in her grief, had dismissed his accusations as nothing more than grief-stricken paranoia. It fit his personality. She saw him as the conspiracy-theorist type.

Was he right? Was Jonas right?

Then another thought slowly but surely blossomed in Ryonna’s mind. Why? Why would anyone want to murder her husband? Soon the single thought had become a garden of questions and scenarios, overwhelming Ryonna and messing with her ability to interact with her surroundings. That was when Alix slapped her.

That did it. It snapped her brain out of its loop.

As soon as he saw her react, he took two steps back, put his hands in front of him, and looked at her pleadingly. “I’m really, really sorry, but you’ve been sitting there for more than twenty minutes and you didn’t respond to vocal commands, so I had to try something.”

Ryonna couldn’t believe it. Twenty minutes? It felt like less than two.

“It’s okay, Jonas, I’m not mad at you.”

“Who’s Jonas?”

“Right, I meant Alix.”

“Was Jonas the name of your husband?”

“His brother. My husband’s name was Jax.”

“Ryonna, it’s entirely possible that Grolax invented that story to get out of there alive. The mind will fabricate anything in a panic to survive.”

Ryonna thought about this, but Droxians were very empathic by nature. She had sensed zero deception from Grolax.

“Thanks, Alix. In this case my gut feeling tells me he might have been telling the truth.”

“Then I’m sorry for you. This must not be easy to deal with. How long ago did Jax pass?”

“About three years, and a good two since I . . .”

“Since you?”

“Since I had to run away from Droxia. Could all of what’s been happening to my family lately be linked?”

Alix didn’t know how to answer this rhetorical question.

“I’m sorry. It’s been a long ride, and it looks like the finish line just got pushed back even further.”

“I meant to ask earlier but, under the circumstances, it didn’t seem important with respect to my survival.”

“Shoot.”

“When Grolax gave me your kill warrant, it was a personal request; nothing official. He didn’t pass through any official channels.”

“Yeah, that sounds like him. Why does it matter?”

“Well, when I entered your name in the Bounty Hunter’s Collective Warrant Database, I saw you’re already being targeted; but that particular warrant required you to be caught alive for the bounty to be collected.”

“Which begs the question as to why you tried to kill me and not disable my ship.”

“Honestly, I was pounding your shuttle and would have accepted any result, disabled and captured, or dead.”

“There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“Well, Grolax paid a lot more for you dead than the empire wants for your arrest.”

“There must be something I own or something I know, and I think it’s linked to my husband’s death.”

“That would make sense. What do we do now, though?”

“Well, if my next stop is Droxia, I might as well go see Jonas. I owe him one hell of an apology, and I’ll need his help locating that retired engineer. He might be my only hope to escape Hellstar.”

“You’re really going in? You know your chances of escaping are slim to none, right?”

“Going in unprepared, yes. I would just join my son there and we’d both be captives, at best. With the right amount of preparation, I think any prison is escapable.”

“Well, you’ve surely got balls for even attempting it. But under the circumstances, with your son being held there, I totally dig why you would.”

“You have any children, Alix?”

“I used to.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Now is not the time. You’re on the clock.”

“Right! I need to get Ronan out of there, if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Let’s go then.”

“What do you mean ‘let’s’?”

“Well, we have work to do on Droxia, don’t we?”

“We?”

“You can use the backup and you know it.”

“I only need your ship, Alix. You don’t need to come. I promise to let you know where I leave it. I’ll simply activate a beacon. But right now you should take the shuttle and stay as far away from me as possible.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather tag along.”

“Alix, you not only got paid very well today, but you also saved my hide on Hathan. You more than deserve your life back, twice over, in fact.”

“And I have my life.”

“I have to admit I feel sorry for torturing you when we first . . . met.”

“No apology is necessary, Ryonna. If our roles were reversed, I would most likely have killed you. Unless I needed anything from you, in which case I would have used similar methods of extraction. So forget about it. I fired first, after all. I did not expect you to let me go, though.”

“What did you expect?”

“That I would have to gain your trust little by little and just give you the shaft when you least expected it.”

“I figured as much, but you’ve had plenty of opportunity to not only do that, but still honor your original warrant, so why didn’t you?”

“Same reason you didn’t feel like killing me and gave me a second chance, even if you had every intention of finishing me later.”

“At first, I must admit I did.”

“See. We’re not so different, you and I. In any case, I’m glad things turned out the way they did.”

“So am I.”

* * *

It felt weird being back on Droxia. Alix had repaired the holo-suit and had even provided some Droxian DNA from his extensive database. Ryonna looked like any another Droxian woman, and that was all that mattered. Why the Obsidian had put a warrant for her capture remained a mystery. Until a few days ago she really didn’t care about the why; but things had changed.

She was happy that Alix came along, despite insisting he should go. She liked having some support in her current endeavor. But it still nagged her, seeing herself kill Alix in the vision she’d had when they first met. She had never been wrong, so unless something had changed with her ability, Alix would die, and soon.

It was night in Xandria, the town where she used to live with Jax, and until she’d had to make a run for it after the Obsidian had started chasing her. The town was breathtaking. Tall, crystal towers, as high as the eye could see, with many buildings disappearing into the slightly purple clouds illuminated by the planet’s moons. The air was fresh and a small wind caressed her face as she made her way deeper into town. She could have driven all the way on the speed cycle she’d borrowed from Alix. But when she passed the park where she and Jax used to bring Ronan to play, she felt like walking the rest of the way.

Ryonna arrived at the block where her brother-in-law Jonas lived. At the building’s entrance she swiped Jonas’ name on the glass HUD.

“Who are you?”

“It’s me, Ryonna.”

“I don’t know what sick joke this is, but you’re not Ryonna. Get lost!”

“Wait.” She deactivated the vocal morphing unit of the suit. “It’s me. Listen to my voice.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I need your help.”

“That’s just precious, after all the shit you gave me.”

“And there’s something else. It concerns Jax. You . . .”

“What?”

“You were right. I’m sorry. We need to talk.”

He unlocked the building’s door.

“I’ll be waiting for you in my flat.”

“On my way.”

Ryonna took the turbo elevator to the thirty-seventh floor. It took just under five seconds. She turned off her holo-suit while the doors split open. Jonas waited by the door of his flat at the end of the hall. A pit opened up in her stomach. Their last conversations had not been pleasant, and she felt like a fool now, considering what she had learned just a few hours ago. It took a few seconds to find the courage to walk towards Jonas. Thoughts and emotions boiled up into a hot mix that quickly turned to anxiety.

A couple of steps in front of her brother-in-law, a tear formed under her right eye.

“Hello, Ryonna, you look . . . emotional.”

She nodded.

“Where are my manners, please come in,” said Jonas as he gestured her inside.

“Thank you, Jonas.” She discreetly wiped the tear from her eye.

The first thing she noticed inside the flat was the extensive research on a holo-glass. A quick look, and she knew instantly that Jonas was still investigating Jax’s death.

“So, you have something important to tell me?”

She nodded gravely.

“After our last conversation I didn’t expect us to ever talk together, you know.”

“I’m sorry, Jonas; even more so after what I’ve just learned.”

He gestured with his head towards the couch and sat opposite her. “What have you learned?”

“Someone told me that Jax was murdered.”

“That would be me, but you didn’t want to hear it at the time. At first, I put it down to your grief, but it became increasingly clear as time went by that you didn’t want to hear it. So imagine my surprise seeing you here, especially discussing that subject.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You said that already. We both said things we wished we could take back.”

“That we did.”

“So who told you about Jax and, more importantly, what did they tell you? Do you know who did it and why?”

“I wish I did. As for the information, I got it from a dying man. Someone named Grolax, a scumbag I used to work for while . . .”

“While on the run?”

“Yes.”

“And you believe him?”

“Well, in my experience, things people say just before they die tend to be true.”

“How did he die?”

“I spaced him.”

“What? Why didn’t you get more info about Jax before you did?”

“I tried, but there was a malfunction aboard the ship, and I didn’t manage to stop the airlock from opening.”

“I see. What did he say exactly?”

“That he knew who killed Jax.”

Jonas ground his teeth. “You mentioned you needed my help?”

“Yes, I’ve brought you this.” She took Grolax’s glass computer from her pocket and handed it to Jonas.

“What’s on this?”

“I’m not sure. I thought it would be preferable for you to look at the data. You’re more versed in such things. I’ve made sure it’s unlocked.”

“That should make it easier. What kind of data do you need from it?”

“Anything you can find that could give us a hint about Jax’s killer.”

“I take it this belongs to this Grolax?”

“Yes it does.”

“I’ll get on it right away, then.”

“If it would be possible to locate someone on Droxia for me first, I would be very grateful.”

Jonas made a face. “What exactly would be more important than finding your husband’s—my brother’s—murderer?”

“Ronan.”

“What about him? I thought he’d be with you.”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“As you may know, there’s a bounty on me, placed by the Obsidian. I wonder if it could have anything to do with all of this, but to get to me they took Ronan.”

Jonas jumped out of his chair. “What do you mean they took him? Where?”

“He’s in Hellstar Prison.”

Jonas fell back on his chair and took his head in his hands. “This is bad.”

“I’m gonna get him out of there, even if it kills me.”

“I have no doubts about that, but Hellstar . . . of all places.”

“I know. Grolax gave me the name of a retired structural engineer, H. Raknod. I need to find him and get any information I can use to break Ronan out of there.”

“You should have told me about Ronan. He’s my nephew. In fact, you should have come to me the minute they got their hands on him.”

“At the time I didn’t think you’d help, and I was running for my life. Believe me, these past few days I’ve been chased, stranded on a deserted planet, shot at multiple times and stabbed, to mention only the highlights.”

“I’m glad you’re okay. I will do anything I can to help you get Ronan out, and then we’ll get after the bastard who killed my brother, right?”

“Absolutely. He or she is going down!”

Jonas attempted a smile. “What’s your plan to get to Hellstar? They don’t allow visitors.”

“First, I need to figure a sure way out, then I can worry about getting sent there.”

“Except nothing short of murder will get you sent to Hellstar.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.”

“Alright. Can I offer you a drink?”

“Anything strong would be really great right about now.”

“Speedball?”

“Perfect.”

Jonas went to the nearest wall and waved his hand in front of a glass control. A square part of the wall dematerialized, revealing a small bar with plenty of different colored and shaped bottles. He prepared the drink and poured it into a hexagonal-shaped thin glass.

“Neat?”

“Actually, I’d love a few ice cubes.”

Jonas pressed a barely visible touch control on the glass. “Three cubes,” he said out loud. The top of the glass shone bright blue. For a second it looked like a small force field, and from there three cubes of ice dropped into the drink, which changed color from bright red to a mix of red and purple filaments, dancing in the liquid as the ice came in contact with the drink. It made the drink look alive.

“That’s pretty fancy.”

“You know me. Anything that can be achieved with technology will pique my interest.”

She raised her glass to him and they both drank the strong, reddish liquid.

It went to Ryonna’s head pretty quickly, probably because of her currently weakened state, and the fact she hadn’t consumed alcohol in a very long time. Speedball was not only illegal on Droxia, but very few had the stomach for it. It was definitely an acquired taste, but one they’d always shared. Jax, on the other hand, didn’t like any mood-enhancing drinks. She liked that about him. He wouldn’t touch anything chemical with a ten-foot pole. Such a gentle soul . . .  

Why would anyone want to kill him?

“You seem pensive.” Jonas finished the rest of his drink.

“I wonder why anyone would want to kill someone as sweet as Jax.”

“I’ve asked myself that as well. But I think he must have been hiding something from us. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Jax being deceptive? I don’t believe it.”

“Well, we’ll know soon enough, hopefully.” Jonas tapped the glass computer she had handed him a few minutes earlier. “But for now, let’s find this Mr. Raknod.”

He stood and moved towards his holo-glass. He swiped his entire research to the side and pinched all the data into a single folder that he pinned to the top right corner of the holo-glass. He then brought up a database and looked for the name H. Raknod. The holo-glass flashed briefly red.

“What was that?”

“Looks like I found a match, but his personal information is classified.”

“Why would a structural engineer’s info be classified?”

“He might have had a career in the military before he joined Hellstar. That’s not unusual, in fact. Hellstar doesn’t employ many people. Most of it is run by machine and drones. But when they hire someone, they tend to look for the best in their field.”

Makes sense, thought Ryonna.

“Anything you can do to find his info elsewhere?”

“I can use my DT access to crack through it.”

“You still work for them?”

“I don’t work for the Datalight Thieves. I just consult for them from time to time. In fact, I only do it so I can access their gigantic CPU farms for times like these, when I need to get into protected systems that would take forever to crack otherwise.”

“As long as you’re aware of the risks of doing business with them.”

“I can take care of myself, don’t worry. Plus, you’ll owe me one, right?”

“You bet,” she said, beaming him a smile.

She had dreaded seeing Jonas again, but he had been more understanding than she expected. On the other hand, Jonas wasn’t really the problem and Ryonna knew it. She knew how stubborn she could be sometimes. She looked at him work and served herself another speedball.

CHAPTER 7

When Ryonna opened her eyes, Jonas was still working on his holo-glass.

“Any luck?”

“I got it about ten minutes ago, but you seemed like you needed to rest.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Barely an hour.”

“I shouldn’t have had that second speedball.”

“Headache?”

“Yeah. The mother lode, in fact.”

“I can get you something for that. Hang on.”

He left the room and returned shortly.

“Hold still.” Jonas approached her with his thumb held upright.

“No pill?”

“This acts faster and is much more efficient.”

“What is it?”

“Epidermal patch. It will rid you of that headache in less than a minute.”

He applied his thumb to her forehead and she felt a cold sensation for a few seconds. Immediately her headache started to fade.

“I see what you mean by faster.”

“Yeah, I never leave the house without them. Here, take the rest of them.”

He handed her a tiny, round, plasti-glass container, barely an inch in diameter.

“Thanks, Jonas. Where is H. Raknod located? I should greet him as soon as possible.”

He handed her a thin, glass-shaped tablet, similar to Grolax’s computer: much thinner but slightly wider; barely thicker than a piece of translucent paper. He activated it and it projected a holo-map in 3D. It drew a path from Jonas’ place to the target destination.

“You have a means of transportation?”

“I left my speed bike at Ran’Dar Park.”

“That’s a good ten minutes from here. I could drop you there by speeder.”

“That’s okay. I can use a run to clear my head.”

“You’ll come back here before going to get Ronan? Perhaps I can come with you.”

“I will come back, but no way we both risk our lives getting into Hellstar.”

“I want to help, Ryonna.”

“You are, a lot, but your time will be better spent finding more info about Jax.”

It looked as if Jonas wanted to argue, but the mention of his brother’s name gave him pause and he resigned himself to agreeing with Ryonna.

“Very well, but please be careful.”

She smiled, got up from the couch and took Jonas in her arms.

At first he seemed surprised, but he embraced her back and squeezed harder.

“Thank you,” said Ryonna.

“Anytime, sister.”

A few minutes later she was back in the streets, in full holo-suit disguise. She informed Alix of her next move and they agreed to meet together at her next stop. Then she started running towards the park.

* * *

Alix was waiting for her near the small house belonging to the man she hoped would give her vital information about how to break out of Hellstar, one of the most secure prisons in the sector, if not the universe.

“Looks like your brother-in-law came through.”

“Yes.”

“Are you okay? You seemed a little rattled.”

“Seeing Jonas brought up some pretty painful memories, but at least seeing him did some good.”

“How did he take the news about Jax?”

“It only fueled his obsession, but since he was right to begin with, I can’t blame him. I want to find who killed my husband too, but Ronan has to come first.”

“Yeah, one crisis at the time. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin.”

“Exactly.”

“Should we go in?”

“Absolutely . . .”

“What is it?” asked Alix, sensing something was bothering her.

“Nothing, it’s just there aren’t many single houses on Droxia.”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s not an efficient use of space and resources. Droxians live in city skyscrapers; it’s more efficient. Houses like these tend to be expensive.”

“And that matters why?”

“Well, if I need to bribe him for info, his asking price might be way outside of my range.”

“I’m sure Jonas can help you access funds from Grolax’s fortune. If not, I’ll front you the cash you need.”

“Thanks. I really need to get to Hellstar as soon as possible.”

“Then perhaps you should dispense with the pleasantries and use your usual tactics.”

That hit Ryonna. The last few days she had used torture more than she liked.

“Did I say anything wrong?”

“No, it’s okay. I guess I’m a little tired. A lot has happened in the last couple of days.”

Alix nodded. “Should we go?”

“I’ll go alone. You stay here in case he tries to make a run for it.”

“Alright. Be careful.”

“I will.”

Ryonna approached the porch of the house. It looked old and in poor shape. She hadn’t reached the door before a red laser shone on her chest.

“That’s far enough,” said a male voice, booming from nearby speakers. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

“I need your help with something. I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Not interested.”

“I really need to talk with you.”

“If you value your life, you’ll start walking the way you came. This is my last warning.”

“I can’t go. I need to talk to you about my son. He’s being held in Hellstar.”

“Then I’m sorry, but he’s lost, and there’s nothing I can do for you.”

“I know you worked there. Please let me enter.”

There was a long pause and the laser turned off. But soon a flying, metallic, sphere-shaped drone approached her. It was rusty and barely functional. Ryonna could barely see the red light of its looking-glass eye through all the dust.

“Please let my associate scan you.”

Ryonna nodded in agreement.

A ray of light scanned her from head to toe and bleeped frantically as a result.

“You’ll have to leave your weapons on the ground before I let you enter.”

She dropped her blaster and her arsenal of blades and knives to the ground. As soon as she dropped the last piece, the drone fired a beam of blue light on her weapons that projected a force field around them.

The door opened in front of her.

“Please come in.”

Ryonna was surprised by the stark contrast between the outside and inside of the house. While it looked as though it was barely standing—rusty and ready to be demolished—from the outside, the inside told a different story. Everything was pristine, looked brand new and the level of tech was impressive. A tall man approached her. She was surprised to see he was a Brin.

“My name is Ryonna.”

“I’m Hens Raknod. I’m sorry for my security measures. You can never be too sure these days.”

“You’re not Droxian.”

“You have a keen sense of observation,” replied Hens, not trying to mask the sarcasm.

“It’s just there aren’t many non-Droxians on the planet. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“That’s alright and you are right. Your people aren’t too keen on strangers from other worlds living on their planet, but with the right contacts and the right amount of, should we say, resources, it’s doable. I’m hardly the first, though.”

“You’re the first I’ve met anyway.”

“You may want to disable your holo-suit now. You don’t need it here. My security system is top of the line. Nobody will see your real face but me; but I don’t trust people whose real eyes I can’t look into.”

Ryonna turned off the hologram projection of her fake persona.

“That’s better, thank you. Nice to meet you, Ryonna. Have a seat.” Hens gestured her towards the couch in the middle of the living room.

“Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask a few questions about Hellstar.”

“I understand, but I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do for you. I’ve signed non-disclosure agreements with my former employer, and I’m a man of my word.”

Ryonna didn’t believe a word he said, but his demeanor and acting were extremely convincing. And while Droxians were highly empathic, she was surprised that he somehow managed to defeat her innate abilities. But her instinct, and the fact he worked with Grolax, told her he was deceiving her. That raised a red flag. She wondered what to say next. Should she try to finesse some info out of the man? Or go straight at him with the info she had? She decided to go with the latter, patience not being her strong suit.

“The same employer you deceived by bringing contraband in and out of the prison?”

His expression changed.

There it is.

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Look, I’m not here to make trouble, but I don’t have time for games. I need you to tell me how to get out of Hellstar, and I’ll be on my way.”

“You’re direct, I’ll grant you that. I like that. But I’m afraid there’s no escaping Hellstar.”

“That’s not an answer I can accept. Surely there’s a way. You worked as a structural engineer there, so if there are any weaknesses to exploit, you should know about them.”

He looked at her for a while. “Perhaps there is, but it’s a long shot.”

“Tell me.”

“What do I get out of it?”

“Well, Mr. Raknod, let me put it this way: I’m really tired. I’ve been shot at more times than I care to count, beaten and impaled, and that’s just in the last twenty-four hours. I came here in good faith, hoping to make an arrangement of some sort. But now that you’ve told me you may know a way out of Hellstar, I’ll do whatever it takes to get this information. Whether or not this meeting stays courteous or even pleasant is entirely up to you.”

“Droxians. They’re nothing if not consistent. Alright, I’ll let you know for a price.”

“And that would be?”

“Five million credits.”

“You must be out of your mind.”

“I need to get out of this dump. At first I liked it here. It’s secure. Only crazy people try to operate crime on this planet. But it’s also so damn boring. I’ve already put the house up for sale, but I need another five million to buy a cruise ship. I’d like to end my days among the stars.”

“There’s no way I can afford this sum.”

“What can you afford?”

“I was thinking about two hundred pounds of quadrinium, whatever it goes for these days.”

“That’s barely one hundred and fifty Ks. I’m sorry, but that won’t do.”

“What about your life?”

“You’ve left your weapons outside, remember?”

“Trust me when I tell you I don’t need them.”

“And while I’m sure that’s true, you’re no threat to me in my house. I suggest you don’t test me on this.”

Ryonna was losing patience. She didn’t have time for this. Perhaps Alix was right and she would need to resort to physical violence to achieve her goal.

“I assure you, no matter what security you have here, I could kill you before you had the time to say ‘oops.’”

The man stared at Ryonna. “Looks like we both need to decide what our next move will be. One word from me and you could be vaporized. On the other hand, your eyes are telling me that if that doesn’t work, today might be my last day.”

“Why don’t we do each other a favor, then, and let this encounter remain courteous?”

“I wish things were so simple, but you see, I don’t have very long to live. I’ve been diagnosed with a very rare genetic disease. It’s incurable, and while I only have a few months left, I’d rather it was months rather than minutes.”

“Then clearly it’s not worth taking the risk.”

“Yet I’m fairly certain my security system will dispatch you.”

“Why are you telling me all this? Why did you let me in, for that matter?”

“I’ve lived a pretty uninteresting life. Coming here was clearly a mistake since nothing happens on this damn planet. But being exposed to the worst scum of the universe on Hellstar didn’t really encourage me to live on the edge. I’ve had my fair share of close encounters on Hellstar. That’s why I agreed to work with that scumbag boss of yours.”

“If you’re talking about Grolax, you’ve got me all wrong. I used to work for him out of desperation in the past, but I have no love for the man; besides, he drew his last breath just a few hours ago.”

“Grolax is dead?”

“Yeah, disintegrated by hyper-travel spacing.”

The man started laughing.

“I’m glad you find this funny. I’m sorry, Hens, but I need to get going, so we’ll need to come to an arrangement, and soon.”

“Grolax was a son of a bitch. I never liked him.”

“Why did you work with him?”

“Didn’t I make that clear already? I’m not the courageous type, you see. After nearly being killed on Hellstar, I decided that helping him smuggle things in the prison could help me be more secure there.”

“Why not just quit and find another occupation?”

“Do I have to spell it out? I’m a coward, but a very careful one. I look back at my life and see only a series of really bad decisions, accompanied by some even worse ones.”

“I suggest you make the right call today.”

“Part of me wants to help you, but part of me wants off this hellhole of a planet.”

“My home is not a hellhole, but I can understand that it ain’t to everyone’s taste. I can get you off Droxia.”

“I have more than enough money to take the next transport off Droxia. I really need to travel in style, on a safe, armed-to-the-teeth vessel, and that costs money.”

Ryonna empathized with the man, but she didn’t have time to lose.

“Look, it seems to me that . . .”

Then she realized she hadn’t had any vision when she first met him. Something was off. What the hell did that mean? Her power of foresight didn’t work on other Droxians but, besides Chase, she had never met anyone else that didn’t trigger a vision of their death. Could he be Droxian?

“What is it?”

She couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, but her instincts told her to proceed carefully.

“Nothing . . . never mind. Look, I really need that info, but I don’t want to have to hurt you.”

“Neither do I,” said Hens, and then he touched a control on his wristwatch.

That was when everything went wrong. The lights went out, and a huge charge of electricity ran through Ryonna’s body. Before she could do anything about it, she lost consciousness.

CHAPTER 8

Pain radiated through Ryonna’s body. Her eyelids were heavy, and she had to force her eyes open.

What happened?

It took a while for her eyes to adapt to the room and for her brain to remember where she was and what she had been doing. Then it hit her. A jolt of adrenaline made her aware of her surroundings. She was at Hens Raknod’s house. She was being held vertically by four hovering devices that held her limbs away from her body. She tried moving her arms closer but they didn’t budge.

“Ah, you’re awake. I prefer it that way,” said a voice on her left.

Hens was standing near a table on which many blades of all sizes and shapes were laid. Then she saw blood on the floor beneath her.

A torture chamber? How ironic, thought Ryonna. For once she had tried to get information without using force, and she had been captured by someone who actually enjoyed torture. The place smelled foul.

“What is this? Why am I being restrained?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to do this.”

“And what is this exactly?”

“You could call it a hobby.”

“You’re sick!”

“I’ve been told before, usually by people who didn’t have much time left to live.”

“You do realize I’m gonna kill you!”

“I think you have our positions reversed. This is a soundproof room, so feel free to cry for help if it tickles your fancy. Though I can see in your eyes that you’re not really afraid.”

“I’m not.”

“You should be. What comes next isn’t going to be pleasant.”

Ryonna had no doubts about that, but she didn’t intend to let herself be butchered by this sack of shit. She tried to move all her muscles at once but was rewarded with electric shocks.

“There’s no escaping these bonds. They’re my own design. You see, the more you struggle the more pain you receive.”

“Tell me how to escape Hellstar!”

“You’re in no position to bargain, but seeing that you won’t talk to a soul after I’m done with you, I guess I could tell you how to escape.”

Yes, do that, you creep!

“I’m listening.”

“Hellstar is mostly guarded by automated sentries and drones. There are a few guards around, but most of it is automated. Machines are so much more reliable than living beings. I once feared that if I was caught smuggling contraband for Grolax, I could end up a prisoner there, so I made sure I could get my hands on a powerful explosive to blast the main doors open if my station there changed.”

“So you hid a bomb?”

“It’s not that simple,” said Hens, picking up a dented blade from the table and approaching Ryonna. “You see, because everything is checked with double and sometimes triple layers of security, I simply replaced a piece inside the decontamination chamber. It’s a room that every new prisoner has to pass through. I hid some military grade quadrinium in there. It’s a small enough quantity, but it’s very, very dense. If I ever got sent there, I would recover that piece and manufacture a bomb to escape.”

“Where is it and how would I get it?”

“I don’t think you need to trouble your soul with that right now. You should make peace with yourself, as your life will end soon.”

“You’re a coward. Why are you so afraid of telling me?”

“I’m not afraid. There’s nothing you can do to survive our little session here.”

“Then there’s no reason not to tell me. I bet it’s an ingenious idea. Why not share it with me?”

Ryonna hoped that by flattering the madman’s ego, he would perhaps tell her the details.

“It is ingenious.”

There we go.

“You see, since every system is checked, I needed to hide it in plain sight. I replaced a pin in the decontamination chamber’s gas-diffusing engine.”

“But you had to make sure you could get it out without any tools, right?”

“Exactly, and there lies the brilliant part. All it takes is for someone to clog the gas nozzles. That will initiate a buildup of pressure within the engine and it will expel the quadrinium pin.”

“That’s a great design.”

“You think I don’t know what you’re doing? You’re trying to flatter me so I give you as many details as needed. You still think you’ll survive this.”

“Well, one can only hope.”

“You’re wasting your time. It wouldn’t work anyway. Not anymore.”

“Why not?”

“Just before I retired, we were asked to add a mandatory object scan after the decontamination procedure, so the scan would pick up the quadrinium now.”

“I’m sure you would have found a way to bypass that problem.”

“Perhaps.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.”

Hens came near Ryonna and looked into her eyes. He slashed her forearm with the dented blade. It was extremely painful, although it wasn’t a deep cut. Ryonna didn’t give him the pleasure of reacting to the pain.

“Impressive. But you’re not the first that thought they could resist the pain. Which reminds me, would you like to meet previous occupants of this room? I like to keep souvenirs.”

I need to get the hell out of these restraints and fast.

“Sure. Show me your . . . What do I call it? Collection?”

Hens smiled as he dropped the blade back on the table and activated a control nearby. Part of the wall opposite Ryonna slid open. What she saw made her stomach turn. She was not easily disgusted but she didn’t expect that. Lined up in a neat row were jars filled with heads suspended in liquid. Their eyes were locked in an expression of either fear, tremendous pain or both. There were at least twenty of them, mostly Droxian, some humanoid; there was even a synthetic’s head, the only one with its eyes closed.

“Looks like the synthetic didn’t give you an expression to remember him by.”

“That’s because they can disable their pain receptors, whereas you cannot.”

“You won’t get the satisfaction of any expression from me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Before you do, though, why don’t you show me your real face?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re also using a holo-suit. I know you’re not Brin.”

“Interesting. What am I then?”

“You’re Droxian, though I’m disgusted by your lack of honor. You’re a disgrace to your race.”

“Perhaps it is all of you who are disgraceful, you and your stupid honor!”

I must have hit a nerve.

Ryonna looked at her binding devices more closely. They suffered from the same flaw as cuffs: they held her hands and feet tightly, but if she broke her own bones, she could perhaps get free from one of them. Her left hand, she decided.

“You’re pathetic. Grab your next blade, you piece of shit. The sooner we’re done here the better.”

“I like to take my time. It’s more enjoyable that way.”

“So you get off on torturing others?”

“I bet you’ve done your fair share of torturing. I got that from our previous talk, when you threatened me. I could see it in your eyes.”

“Yeah, ’cause you’re a Droxian. So show yourself!”

Hens reached for a control in his black jacket and his entire appearance changed as the hologram vanished to reveal a very old Droxian with almost no hair, a few scars on his face and rotten teeth.

“I get why you need to hide from others.”

This pissed him off. He took a sharp blade and thrust it into her abdomen, not far from where she had been impaled a few hours ago. The pain radiated around the wound and up to her neck. She could have stayed silent but decided to use the jolt of pain to misdirect her butcher. She grimaced and clenched and ground her teeth. She let escape a moan, just as she snapped her left wrist.

“I see what you’re trying to do, Ryonna. You think that if you insult me I will kill you faster.”

“It seems to be working.”

“Perhaps I overreacted this time. I won’t be fooled twice.”

“You’re an old pervert and a sicko!”

“I know. But there’s no changing who I am, so better embrace it. Thank you so much for coming inside tonight. It’s been months since I had so much fun.”

“I understand why you thought you might end up in Hellstar. You know how sick you really are. But Droxian security is pretty good; so are our police. So I guess you haven’t had many opportunities to kill here.”

“That’s true, and it’s why I want to get out of here. I need to get to a planet where I can appease my inner demons more frequently.”

“You’re lucky you weren’t discovered here.”

“I was careful, making sure those I took had no family; rejects of society.”

“I have family.”

“Yes, but you are also being hunted. That makes your disappearance a non-issue.”

“You could cash the bounty. Surely it would go a long way towards acquiring your ship.”

“You’re only worth a measly hundred Ks. I will get much more pleasure from gutting you little by little. And you’re not bad to look at. Perhaps I will have some other fun before or after I satisfy my primal urge.”

Ryonna felt sick. She had zero tolerance for rapists, but perhaps she could exploit this situation.

“Sure thing. It’s been a while since I had a good shag. Get these restraints off and you can have your fun with me. I give you my word.”

“You think I’m stupid? You’d kill me instantly.”

“Look, old man, I WILL kill you.”

“I must admire your combativeness, but it’s already too late for you. Now, onto more fun things. I can always fuck you once you’re dead. Seems a safer approach.”

“You’re disgusting!” She spat in his face.

“Let’s deal with this mouth of yours first, then. Nothing permanent, but it’s starting to distract me from my fun.”

Ryonna would have to act soon. The moment he turned to get his next torture instrument, she slid her broken wrist through the tight opening. The pain was tremendous, and it would be difficult to use it to inflict much damage, but the old man was frail. She didn’t need to inflict much damage to take him out.

He returned and started fondling her. “These are nice breasts, really tight.”

“Look in my eyes, old creep, if you have the balls.”

Hens stared into her eyes. “Perhaps I should do something about that look of yours.” He applied pressure with a scalpel to the skin under her right eye.

Ryonna acted. She slid the rest of her wrist through the restraining device and hit it against her own rib cage, trying to snap it back into place. The pain was nearly unbearable and the result limited, but it gave her enough grasp to grab the scalpel from the man’s hand. She then clocked him with her elbow and he went down like a log, making a satisfying thud as his elderly head impacted with the floor.

She tried using the scalpel to free her second hand. She would have a hard time getting her feet free with both wrists broken or damaged. She managed to open a panel on the hovering device, revealing internal circuitry. She was no engineer, but she had cracked enough locks and doors to know the basics. When she heard Hens moaning and slowly regaining consciousness, she hurried and cut into the circuitry. She hoped a short circuit would release the clamp restraining her right hand.

Sparks flew and the device made a noise, but it didn’t open the restraints. However, the device no longer exerted the same amount of force. It still required a strong effort to move her right hand, but it would now move somewhat.

Hens started to get back to his feet.

Dammit, I’m not ready yet!

She had to get rid of him. The moment he stood she swung the scalpel at his face, but he saw it coming, dodged the weak attack and grabbed her left hand. He took the scalpel away from her and thrust it into her right bicep. With the pain went her chance for escape.

“You bitch!”

In a desperate effort she swung her head as much as she could and head-butted him. He took three steps back and put his hand on his head. When he looked at his hand he saw blood.

“You’re going to pay for that in some exquisitely painful way, I promise you that!”

He went to a nearby cabinet and removed a blaster. He fiddled with it and aimed at her chest.

“Look at you! You’re gonna kill me now? I thought you liked to take your time.”

“Oh yes, but I can’t have you unrestrained. This should put you to sleep so I can make sure you⁠—”

The door to the room exploded and Hens was thrown to the ground.

He didn’t wait for the dust to settle but started firing his blaster in the direction of the door; but his shots ricocheted, one beam grazing Ryonna’s thigh and another hitting Hens on the arm that was holding his blaster. Alix entered, brandishing a full, protective force field in front of him.

“Don’t kill him just yet!”

When Alix saw the old man try to grab his blaster with his other hand he ran and hit him in the face with a powerful thrust of his knee. Two of the few teeth he had left flew through the air, as well as some blood, before his head hit the floor. Alix shot all three hovering devices holding Ryonna prisoner and she fell ungracefully to the floor.

“Are you alright?”

She rose to her feet. “I’m fine, thanks to you. How did you know I was in trouble?”

“It was taking too long, so I checked with my ship’s computer and your vitals didn’t look normal.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry. I thought after the bar incident it would be safer for you to have a tracker. That way, if you were in too much trouble, I would know about it. It took a while to reach this underground room. This house is booby trapped with a lot of security measures. I had to proceed carefully.”

She took three steps forward and punched Alix square in the face.

“What the fuck?”

“I’m sorry, but things like this you mustn’t hide from me. But thank you for coming for me.”

Alix put his hand on his bruised cheek. “You’re welcome . . . I guess.”

“Look, I have a real problem with things being done behind my back. You should have told me.”

“Duly noted.”

“Did you by any chance get my weapons?”

Alix handed Ryonna her blaster from behind his back. “The rest is waiting outside.”

“Thanks. I only need this for the time being.”

She turned her attention to Hens, who was still passed out on the floor. Setting her blaster to lasso mode, she shot Hens twice, immobilizing him around the torso and feet. She then dragged his sorry ass to the nearest chair.

“Did he give you any useful information?”

“He gave me a partial solution. I need more. But we have to wait until he wakes up now.”

“Not necessarily.”

Alix took a small tube containing a yellowish-green liquid from his jacket and injected the old man in the neck.

Soon he regained consciousness.

“He’s all yours. I’m gonna find his main security system and make sure we don’t face any more surprises.”

“Good idea. Thank you, Alix.”

“Sure thing.”

He took the stairs to a higher level.

Ryonna faced the creepy old Droxian. Every cell in her body wanted only one thing: to kill him. But she still needed to extract some vital information, and this time she would do whatever it took.

CHAPTER 9

When Hens opened his eyes he struggled to free himself, but that only caused the energy bindings to tighten more, increasing the pain.

“The more you fight, the more pain you receive. Sound familiar?” said Ryonna with an ice-cold voice.

“I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

“On that we can agree, but now it’s too late. You’re my prey now, and I suggest you cooperate and tell me how to smuggle the quadrinium pin from the decontamination chamber. And I suggest you tell me quickly.”

“No way! You’ll kill me the moment I give you that info.”

Ryonna was in no mood for games and delay. She punched his face three times in quick succession. She had more than enough residual hatred from being tortured. She had patched herself up as best she could, but the wound in her stomach wouldn’t stop bleeding. She would need yet another visit to that annoying hologram of a doctor.

“Don’t test my patience. Like you, I can make this last. It can be more painful than you could ever imagine.”

He spat blood and one more tooth onto the floor, looked at her and grinned.

“Very well, have it your way.”

She grabbed his left hand and broke one of his fingers in three places. Hens screamed. She saw in his eyes that he wouldn’t endure pain long. That was exactly what needed to happen. She had already lost way too much time. She couldn’t bear letting another day pass by while her son fought for his survival in the hellhole known as Hellstar.

She grabbed another finger, looking Hens straight in the eyes. “Should we continue?”

“Go fuck your⁠—”

He never finished his sentence. Ryonna had broken the next finger, making sure she crushed as many bones as possible.

“I don’t have time for this.” She didn’t wait for Hens to end his screaming and went directly for the third finger.

The pain must have been unbearable. Hens’ face was distorted.

“Stop! I beg you, stop it now. I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

“I’m listening.”

The old Droxian drew a few breaths with his eyes closed.

“Talk! Now!”

“Alright, alright. Your best bet to defeat the scanner would be to have something installed inside your body, a small area that would masquerade as an organ, but would, in fact, be a hiding place, somewhere inside your stomach.”

“So I’d have to swallow the quadrinium? Isn’t it highly toxic?”

“Raw quadrinium is extremely toxic. Military refined and dense quadrinium is still lethal if ingested as-is, but it takes way more time to release its toxicity within a living host. With the right augment the pin could be intercepted and moved to a tightly sealed location inside your guts that wouldn’t allow the toxic properties of quadrinium to harm your organs.”

“Intercepted how?”

“Basically, you need to install a nanite factory inside your digestive system. The nanites will locate the quadrinium and hide it. You could also have them programmed to transform the raw material into a working bomb. Finding the right equipment to create a bomb within Hellstar won’t be easy. And unless you’re a very skillful engineer, you wouldn’t know how to make one anyway.”

Ryonna was okay when it came to hacking, or making slight repairs to ships, but she lacked the expertise for more specialized tasks.

“Where can I find a doctor willing to make this contraption?”

“There are a few. They aren’t cheap, though.”

“Let me worry about that. I need the name and location of the nearest one.”

“I . . . I’m not feeling good. I can’t seem to remember. You’ll need to let me access my terminal so I can find this information.”

“Nice try. You’re not getting near a computer terminal.”

“Then you’ll have to locate the doctor on your own.”

She went for a fourth finger. “Are you completely sure about this? I still have plenty of fingers to go through, then we move to toes.”

He shot her a murderous look and she started applying pressure.

“Wait!”

“Make it fast.”

“There’s one doctor on Droxia who could do this.”

“Name and location.”

“Dr. Alphran Zarott. His operation is located in the capital.”

“You see, you remembered after all.”

“You’re going to kill me now, right?”

Ryonna didn’t answer. She went upstairs and returned a minute later with a grenade and some adhesive tape.

“What is this? Shoot me if you have to kill me.”

“I think they would disagree,” said Ryonna, pointing towards the heads in the jars.

“I told you what you wanted to hear. Have some pity.”

“Pity? Twenty minutes ago you were talking about killing me slowly and raping my body once I was dead. You’re lucky I don’t have time to stay here and make sure you suffer for days, if not weeks.”

“Please—”

But Ryonna didn’t let him finish. She put some adhesive tape on his mouth. He tried mumbling something through it, but she was already attaching the grenade to his face, making sure he could see the timer she set at five minutes. She activated it.

“So long, you sick piece of shit.”

He mumbled even more, tried to get out of the restraints, but was rewarded with added pressure and pain. When Ryonna took one last look at the old man, his gaze was locked on the timer.

A few moments later, when Ryonna and Alix exited the house, they heard the explosion.

“Thank you for the assist, Alix.”

“You sure had a funny way of showing it.”

“I’m sorry. I really don’t like being deceived.”

“Yeah, I’m never doing that again.”

“Good. May I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why are you helping me? What’s your incentive?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“I wouldn’t ask otherwise.”

“I used to have a son as well, he . . . he died because I cared more about my warrants than my personal life.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that. But this is not your fight.”

“In a twisted way, if I help you get your son out of Hellstar, I guess . . . Who am I kidding? There’s no redemption for my soul. My son is dead, my wife left me and I deserve everything I get.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. If you had known your son was in danger, would you have done everything to save him?”

“Of course I would. I would have moved mountains to save him. But it was an accident. I was supposed to stay home and care for him, but a very well paid job came at the same time. I just made the wrong choice. I never wanted anything to happen to my little buddy.”

“Then you shouldn’t blame yourself. Sometimes things happen outside our control.”

“That’s nice of you to say, Ryonna, but you know, at the end of the day I just can’t let go of what happened. I think on some level I have continued this shitty job to punish myself. When you captured me I thought that was it, that my day had finally come. And I was okay with that. I don’t deserve better anyway.”

“I disagree. You’re a nice guy. And I would like you to know something else.” If she warned him about her vision, could she change the fate she first saw? If so, then perhaps Chase had a chance to save Sarah as well. She wanted to believe that her visions weren’t set in stone.

“What?”

“I’m a priestess amongst my people, and I have the power of foresight. I see the death of people I meet, unless they’re Droxian.”

“Are you telling me you saw my death?”

“I did.”

“And?”

“I’m not supposed to give you details. It goes against everything I’ve been told.”

“Then why bring it up in the first place?”

“Because I owe you my life. And because, thanks to you, my son might soon be free from Hellstar.”

“Where are you going with this?”

Where was she going with it? She wanted to tell him everything she had seen, but all her instincts told her not to. Still, Alix had been more than useful, and though he was in search of redemption for something that wasn’t really his fault, she understood his motives.

“All I will say is that if you keep helping me, I think you will die.”

“I’m fine with that.”

“Alix, please think carefully about this. You could always walk away.”

“We all have to die at one point. That’s the cycle of life. Whether I die helping you or later down the road, that day will come anyway. At least if I help you I do so in accordance with myself. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to stick with you.”

Ryonna smiled. “You’re a much nicer guy than you give yourself credit for.”

“If you say so. Now, let’s go visit that doctor so you can break your son out of Hellstar.”

“Thank you, Alix.”

* * *

It took an hour to travel to Primus, the capital of Droxia. With the help of Jonas they located Dr. Zarott. Jonas had seemed really worried during the communication and wanted to see Ryonna the minute she was done with her operation. He didn’t want to talk over an open channel, and that told Ryonna it was bad news.

After a short interview, they set a price for the intervention at one hundred and eighty thousand credits. Alix agreed to advance the money to speed things up. Ryonna was taken into the operating block and the doctor explained that this particular operation was reversible. In fact, it needed to be reversed no later than five days after implantation or there could be life-threatening implications. She didn’t really care about the risks. All that mattered was getting to Ronan, even at the cost of her own life.

When she woke up a few hours later, the doctor demonstrated how the implant worked. He made her swallow a small, innocuous piece of metal, and then he showed her on his screen how the nanites grabbed it and introduced it to the nanite factory. He demonstrated where she should apply pressure on her belly to give the command for the nanites to deliver back the package by inducing vomiting. She was all set for her mission to Hellstar. Now she needed to find a way to get sent there. Perhaps Jonas would have an idea. Before she left she would have to see him and discuss Jax’s case. He had found out something, and it sounded like something big.

He proposed they meet just outside Primus. Jonas had always been a little paranoid, and he preferred to avoid crowded places, which suited Ryonna too. She was still being hunted, after all.

“One more thing,” said the doctor.

“What’s that?”

“You can no longer use your holo-suit. You’d risk interfering with the nanite factory.”

“That’s going to be a problem. I really don’t need to show my face around here.”

“I know. I took the liberty to check your DNA with the wanted list. I like to know who I work for.”

Ryonna’s look darkened. “Is this going to be a problem, Doc?”

“No, you have nothing to fear. My computer system is highly encrypted, and I don’t double cross my clientele. You’re not the first criminal nor the last that will end up on my table. I just like to know who I’m dealing with, that’s all.”

Ryonna wanted to object but decided against it. The doctor could have simply not said anything and sold her to the first bounty hunter; or worse, call the Droxian authorities while she was under. The fact that he discussed this openly confirmed that he could be trusted, as far as anyone could be these days. He had also accepted Alix’s presence during the entire procedure.

“Thanks, Doc.”

“You’re welcome. Thank you for your patronage. But please remember, this has to be reversed no later than five days from now. Preferably sooner.”

“What side effects should I expect when the time comes?”

“Intense stomach cramps, possibly headaches; but when you start spitting blood from your mouth, you’ll have minutes or an hour tops before the walls of the factory lose cohesion, at which point they won’t protect your organs from deadly quadrinium anymore. Even if the piece has been delivered, the residual quadrinium particles will kill you. You really don’t want to die this way. It ain’t pretty.”

“Thanks, Doc, I’ll keep it in mind. Am I free to go?”

“I would try and rest for at least half a day.”

“Not really in the cards.”

“Will you put your life in danger when you leave my office?”

“Most likely. Why?”

“Then I should inject you with a stimulant. It will have a detrimental effect on your sleep patterns for a week, but it will allow you to have maximum reflexes. Without taking the time to rest properly, your system is still flooded with the sedative I had to give you to do the procedure. Right now your reflexes are impaired by at least twenty percent.”

“I can’t have that.”

“Indeed. The stimulant will actually increase your natural reflexes, but you will have trouble sleeping as a result.”

“Very well.”

The doc injected her with a purple substance and she felt the effects almost instantly. Her mind raced, she was able to think clearer and the veil of fogginess she felt when waking up from the procedure was lifted in seconds. In fact, she felt in a better mental and physical state than she had in years.

“Wow, this is quite the potent elixir. Any chance I can get some more?”

“I would not recommend it. You’ve been through a lot lately. I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving you more.”

“What would happen if I took more? What are the risks?”

“If you take another dose in the next twenty-four hours, you will boost your internal reaction time, whether mental or physical, you will have more strength and think faster. But there’s a risk of brain aneurism as well. While every patient is different, there’s a thirty percent chance of that on a double dose. Since you’ve had two operations in the last twenty-four hours, it could be as high as fifty percent in your case. Even more if you’re under great pressure.”

“Can’t you program some of my nanites to prevent the aneurism? Aren’t they able to travel within the blood stream?”

“Yes, they could indeed provide some shielding and lower these odds, but why take the risk?”

“I don’t know what awaits me next, Doc. All I know is that I could use the boost if I end up in a sticky situation, which seems to happen every few hours lately.”

“Look, I can give you one dose to take with you, and quickly reprogram a few nanites to travel into your cortex and help mend a broken blood vessel if one should rupture, but this is to be used only as a last resort.”

“Very well. Thanks, Doctor.”

The doc entered a few commands on his holo-terminal.

“There. I’ve dedicated ten percent of your nanites to this task. They are powered short term, so you need to have them flushed out of your system as well, but there’s no urgency to remove them, unlike those in your stomach.”

“Got it. Thank you.”

“I would tell you to be careful, but the patients I see usually aren’t the corporate types. There’s always some battle to be fought, a mission to be done, lives to be saved or taken.”

“Indeed, careful is not what awaits me next.”

“If that will be all?”

“Yes, Doctor, thanks again.”

“Your friend is waiting for you in the next room. Good luck.”

CHAPTER 10

Alix and Ryonna arrived at the abandoned factory, where Jonas was waiting for them.

“Your choice of meeting location always amazes me.”

Jonas smiled, but Ryonna could read his tension.

“What is it, Jonas?”

“It’s about Jax. I’ve pieced it together. I know who killed him.”

“Who?”

“You’re not gonna like it.”

“Spit it out already. Who did it?”

“A high level executive within the Hathan government.”

“What? That makes no sense. Jax had no ties to Hathan. He was just a teacher here on Droxia.”

“I think he lied to both of us.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jax was Section Seven.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“What’s Section Seven?” asked Alix.

“It’s a top secret organization that does very specific missions for the Droxian military. Shadow operations.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning my husband was a spy and I didn’t know anything about it.”

“Kind of how this works, Ryonna,” added Jonas. “Believe me, I was the first to be surprised. You’ve known him for almost twenty years, but I’ve known him all my life; or so I thought.”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

Jonas took a small, portable holographic projector and activated it. It projected an image of Jax’s Section Seven rap sheet.

“Damn,” said Ryonna.

“Didn’t you try and join Section Seven yourself?”

“I did, but I was rejected. I think I know why now.”

“Yes. Jax would never have agreed for you both to have such volatile and dangerous occupations, not with Ronan in the picture.”

A tear fell from Ryonna’s eye. A dark pit opened in her stomach. The man she thought she knew had deceived her. But she didn’t hate him for it. In fact, she admired him. She would have had to do the same to him if she had been admitted to Section Seven. But once she was pregnant she had made the decision not to re-apply. She realized now she would probably never have gotten the job anyway.

“What do you want to do, Ryonna?”

“I want a name.”

“Sector Atrak.”

“I know that name.”

“What? How is that possible?”

“I . . . Not long ago I was helped by the Alliance. It led me to Hathan, where Grolax told me I could find Ronan. This was the person who contacted the Iron Fire.”

“Iron Fire?”

“The name of the Alliance ship that picked me up from the world I was stranded on.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“Tell me more about him.”

“He’s the one who gave the kill order. That’s all I could find.”

“What was Jax doing on Hathan Prime?”

“I couldn’t recover that information, but whatever it was, it cost him his life.”

“And it will cost Sector Atrak’s his as well.”

“Killing a high-placed executive will surely have you sent to Hellstar. Fortunately, Hathan doesn’t have the death penalty.”

“Do you have more intelligence on this guy?”

“Not much. He’s a very skilled military man, turned executive for Hathan Prime, reporting directly to the ministry of defense. He could be quite difficult to approach.”

“He won’t be an easy mark to take down. You’ll definitely need my help on this one,” said Alix.

“This is the one mission you might not come back from alive. Are you sure, Alix?”

“I am. We’re going after him.”

“Very well. Thank you.”

“Jonas.” Alix turned towards him. “Would you mind wiring my assets to my wife in case I don’t make it?”

“I’ll need your credentials to access them, but yeah, consider it done.”

Alix logged into his accounts and transferred control of his assets to Jonas. “You now have full access.”

Jonas nodded. “Mind if I get a minute alone with my sister?”

“Sure thing. I’ll wait on board my ship.”

“Sister, huh?”

“You know I never cared that we aren’t of the same blood. I was just pissed at you when you didn’t listen to me about Jax’s accident.”

“I can understand that. Again, I’m really sorry. I didn’t want to hear any of it at the time.”

“I don’t blame you. You had just lost your husband, the father of your child. I should have been more patient and let you deal with your grief first.”

“We both made mistakes.”

“Yes, we did.”

“No matter what happens next, I’m really glad we’ve had the chance to patch things up.”

“Me too. Please promise me you’ll be careful. I want to see Ronan, but I would also like to see you again.”

“My plan is to break him out of there, so that implies I survive this mission as well. I know it sounds suicidal but I have no intention of dying.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it. Any chance I can convince you to let me come along?”

“Jonas, you have every right to come with us, but if you get caught, you’ll also be sent to Hellstar. I don’t think Jax would have forgiven me for that.”

“Part of me really wants to go with you, but I’m no fighter. I might just end up being a liability.”

“Can you hack into Hathan’s systems from here?”

“My DT credentials and access to the InterSystem network that goes with it should allow me to do this from home, yes. But perhaps I should come along and stay on the ship?”

“I think it’s best if you do this remotely.”

“Very well. Promise me you’ll come back.”

“I promise I’ll do whatever it takes to come back. How does that sound?”

“That sounds good.”

He took Ryonna in his arms and hugged her tightly.

“Jax would be proud of you.”

“And I’m proud of being your sister. Now, you’d better go home. We’ll stay in contact. I’ll definitely need your help to infiltrate Hathan security systems.”

“I’ll get you inside, and make sure that Atrak guy pays for what he’s done to Jax.”

“On that I can give you my word.”

* * *

Alix safely landed the ship on Hathan, avoiding all detection thanks to both his state-of-the-art stealth engines and a little help and smart jamming on Jonas’ part. He rejoined Ryonna in the cargo bay.

“Ready to go?”

“Any chance you have bigger weapons than our blasters?”

“I thought you’d never ask. Then again, I thought the idea was to go in stealthily.”

“It is, but I’d rather be prepared for anything.”

“Computer, armory.”

The wall near Ryonna vanished to reveal a secret room. Ryonna’s eyes sparkled with interest at the impressive weaponry on display.

“That’s quite the arsenal you have there. Are you readying yourself for a war?”

“Like you, I enjoy being prepared for anything.”

She beamed him a wide smile.

She entered the high-tech arsenal and browsed. Alix had it all: military-grade, concussive rifle blaster; augmented, vision-cortex add-ons; pretty much every type of grenade for any situation; latest generation body armor; and some tech she didn’t even recognize.

“This is gonna take a while.”

“Let me present you my dream-team selection, if I may?”

“Please, there’s so much choice I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“How much can you carry?”

“As much as needed.”

“Let’s start with my personal favorite, the Zaxon Industries MR-227. This isn’t available yet. I’ve got a buddy who acquired it in an R&D weapons depot. Top-of-the-line rifle blaster, fastest recharge and salvo-firing weapon ever created. Armor piercing; high shields depleting ratio; integrated grenade launcher. But let me demonstrate my favorite feature.”

With two fingers, Alix swiped a blue band on the side of the weapon, which promptly turned orange, and the weapon morphed into a sniper rifle. “Liquid metal.”

“Sweet!”

He swiped it again. The color band turned red and the weapon morphed into a veritable mounted turret cannon with a shield protecting the upper half of the wielder’s body. “This is for when you’re vastly outnumbered. It won’t last long as a turret, but you could still take on a small army with this.”

“Looks like I don’t really need any other weapon than this.”

“You’d think so, but you’d be wrong.”

Alix took a couple of one-handed blasters off the wall.

“These babies are among my favorites. You can tag your enemies and then shoot, and the lasers will auto guide themselves to their targets. It’s very useful when you’re outnumbered and behind cover. You just take the time to lock onto your targets. It can lock as many as you want. Then you can fire blindly. It doesn’t have perfect accuracy, but when you’re under heavy fire it will thin the attacking crowd rapidly, even if you stay behind cover. It has three small explosive charges as well.”

“And I thought my own blaster had all the bells and whistles I needed,” said Ryonna with a smile.

Alix smiled back. “Your blaster is very powerful and the binding energy shot is great. I wish I could have that on any of my weapons, especially for a mission where I must bring someone back alive.”

“What else?”

“I propose we both wear my latest acquisitions. Latest in smart body-armor protection. It’s made of a morphing alloy similar to the liquid metal of the MR-227. It gives total protection and can masquerade as normal clothing as well. When turned into body armor it even adds a helmet on demand. It has an integrated shield that allows you to take many shots before the armor even has to do its job. It’s very light and you barely feel you’re wearing it. It has features like short-term cloaking, super speed, which enhances your own movement, allowing you to react twice as fast. But also friction control and magnetizing boots, so you can run on walls as well as stick to metallic surfaces.”

“Neat. Anything else?”

“As a matter of fact, it is fire repellant. You can walk through fire for a few seconds. It will also resist very low temperatures. And you can glide with it in case you fall from a distance.”

“This could all be useful for sure, but shouldn’t we get going now?”

“Just one last thing,” said Alix as he grabbed a few throwing stars.

“I do like white weaponry.”

“I noticed. These babies have a homing sensor similar to that of the blasters I just showed you.”

“How do you lock onto your enemies?”

“The smart armor has a targeting system built into its holographic HUD. Just think target when your eyes are looking at your enemies and it will lock onto them.”

“What about the blasters? Are they linked as well?”

“Only if you want them to be. Sometimes you need manual targeting. Simply put your finger on that control to activate or deactivate the link with the smart armor.”

“Okay, we should go now.”

“Right, I’ll let you choose your arsenal.”

“I’ll take everything you’ve just shown me; a few grenades as well. I still have the EMP device you gave me earlier. I’ll take that as well. We’ll only get one shot at this, and I can’t take any chances. Today is the day Sector Atrak dies.”

“I wouldn’t want to be him.”

“Alix, once he’s down, you run, you hear me?”

“Let’s cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“No, Alix, I want you to get the hell out of there the moment I kill that bastard. Soon after I’ll be taken into custody and sent to Hellstar. This needs to happen.”

“It will go as planned, don’t worry.”

Ryonna couldn’t help thinking there were simply too many variables for things not to go awry. It needed to work, though. This was Ronan’s only chance.

Ronan, I’m coming soon.

CHAPTER 11

Night had fallen on Hathan Prime’s central city. Ryonna and Alix arrived at the security headquarters by speed cycles. They had just finished their survey. A stealthy entrance would prove difficult at best, impossible at worst.

“What do we do? Are we sure he’s inside that building?”

“He’s on the seventieth level.”

“What about entering from the roof? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

“That was my hope as well, but Jonas says the top level is booby-trapped. A powerful shield protects it from intruders and he couldn’t get this feature disabled remotely.”

“Too bad. A front entrance will mean heavy resistance.”

“I know, but you don’t have to come with me, and you know it.”

“Let’s not go there again, Ryonna. I want to come. You stand almost no chance of survival on your own.”

“And with you along?”

“Well, together we stand half a chance at least, but those are still better odds.”

“Right. The next security shift is in a few minutes. That’s when we make our move. There’s only one objective.”

“Kill Sector Atrak, got it.”

She smiled at him even though she was worried about what came next. She dreaded having to take the life of the best ally she’d had since meeting Sarah and Chase. She really hoped Chase was right, and that the future could be changed when one knew about it. While she wanted to kill the person who murdered her husband, this mission was first and foremost her ticket to Hellstar. Even if everything else failed, she needed to be sent to Hellstar one way or another. Killing a dozen guards on her way to the top of the security spire of that Hathan government building should ensure that, no matter what. But she needed to survive. Failure was not an option, not today.

They activated their full body armor and the liquid metal crafted a helmet around their heads. The armor was black matte, with blue lights emanating from the helmet. They approached the building and activated the cloak. They became invisible.

“What’s the range of this feature?”

“A few hundred yards when you move. Less if you use your super speed at the same time.”

“What about when you don’t move?”

“A couple of minutes, perhaps three. I haven’t had the pleasure of testing that feature yet. Your HUD displays an energy bar on the lower right. It will let you know when you reach ten percent power for a feature by flashing the entire HUD.”

“Recharge time?”

“A minute, give or take, depending how you’re taxing the overall power supply of the armor.”

“We should hurry then.”

“You can also think what you want to tell me once we’re inside. I will receive the signal but no one else will hear us. This will work with your communications with Jonas as well.”

Very well, said Ryonna with her mind, testing the efficiency of the feature.

Then she activated her communicator. “Jonas, I need you to unlock the front service entrance.”

“Done. Be careful, you two.”

“We will. Do you still have a visual on our target?”

“I’ve hacked into the camera system for the building. He’s still on the seventieth floor, but you should get moving. It looks like he’s packing it in for the day.”

“We still have at least five minutes before the next shift,” said Alix.

“We can’t afford to wait. We go now. Perhaps we can pass the lobby undetected.”

“Alright, let’s try.”

Ryonna looked at Alix. Each suit registered the camouflage cloaking effect of the other suit, displaying the wearer’s outline on the HUD, so they could keep a visual on each other.

She waited until the nearest guard had passed and opened the service door, making sure she made absolutely no noise. Alix slipped through, and she quickly followed. Once inside he gestured for her to take a path right through the middle of the lobby, where no less than seven guards were posted at different stations, each covering a part of the big room. 

One of the guards near them had just turned a corner and was no longer in sight of his colleagues. Ryonna grabbed him from behind and broke his neck as silently as she could. She made no noise laying his lifeless body on the floor.

Nice kill, said Alix mentally.

“Go secure the elevator. I’m right behind you.”

Alix moved fast, but when he reached the middle of the lobby, something went wrong. He was struck by a couple of lightning bolts, revealing his position. Alarms wailed almost instantly and all hell broke loose.

“Intruder alert! Intruder alert!” came out of the speaker system of the lobby.

Holes appeared in the walls in all four corners of the lobby and laser-guided blaster turrets started firing at Alix. He jumped out of the way as he activated the super-speed feature of his suit. His cloak had been temporarily disabled by the security feature that had struck him with lightning. His armor still showed a ninety percent power level. He jumped and, while in midair, grabbed his MR-227 blaster rifle, shot one grenade towards the nearest turret, which promptly exploded.

“So much for a stealthy entrance!” he shouted.

Ryonna was already on the move. She threw a pair of flash bangs towards each side of the lobby. When they exploded, the guards in range were blinded and disoriented. She wielded both blasters and fired at her first two targets. The commotion from the flash bang made it difficult to aim precisely, so she activated the homing feature and locked onto her targets. The next shots hit them in the face, and they were dead before their heads hit the marble floor, accompanied by the satisfying sound of skulls cracking.

Three shots from a nearby turret hit her armor and it shone blue, revealing her position. She went evasive and slid along the floor, locking onto the nearest turret and unleashing a flurry of blaster shots; but its shields were too strong for the blasters to do much damage. She used an explosive charge in each blaster, in the middle of the normal firing sequence, and the shields blinked just enough to let the next few laser blasts through to destroy the turret.

On the other side of the room, Alix dispatched one of the temporarily disabled guards with a perfectly thrown star that severed the guard’s carotid artery. The other two guards had started shooting blindly with their blasters, and one of the shots finished off the guard whose blood had already spilled all around him. A few more shots grazed Alix and illuminated his armor slightly. He skidded on the marble floor, approaching the nearest guard still frantically shooting in his general direction, and exploded the guard’s kneecap with a kick.

The guard screamed in agony, but Ryonna instinctively silenced him with a well-placed headshot that blew most of his brains out of the side of his head.

“Get the last two turrets,” said Ryonna. “I’ll finish the guards.”

“Roger that.”

Alix activated both super speed and friction control the moment he jumped towards the nearest wall. In a fluid motion he ran along the wall leading him towards his next target, the north-east corner turret that had acquired him as a target and was now shooting a flurry of blaster fire his way. His armor took many hits, but he was fast enough, and as he shot past the turret, he stuck a mine on it, just before jumping to the adjacent wall, already running towards the last turret. He detonated the mine, which disabled the turret’s shield, but it kept firing at him. His HUD registered the shield’s power at twenty percent, so he somersaulted away from the wall, turned in midair, aimed at it with his rifle and finished the turret with a precise, full-power blaster shot. Sparks flew from where the turret stood.

Ryonna received a volley of fire from the last turret as she approached her next targets. One guard was in front of her, and two approached from the sides. She swapped weapons, using her own blaster set in lasso mode, to shoot at the incoming guard’s feet. He stumbled and skidded on the marble. Ryonna grabbed him and used him as a human shield against the incoming turret fire.

“I need that last turret down!” she said.

“On it,” answered Alix, who used the grenade launcher from his rifle to dispatch it.

When the turret was destroyed, Ryonna threw the blasted, hole-ridden body of the guard towards the nearest incoming foe, but not before snatching his access card. The dead guard slowed the incoming guard’s momentum. He had to dodge the dead body coming his way. Ryonna performed a reverse, circling kick that sent the guard’s weapon flying high in the air. He went for his service blaster, but Ryonna cut him in half in a fluid motion as she drew her thin blade from her back scabbard. The top half of the guard fell to the floor and blood pooled around it. The guard’s legs and part of his trunk remained upright, which really looked odd.

The distraction cost Ryonna half a second she didn’t have, which she realized soon enough when the last guard cocked his blaster towards her helmet. But before he could fire, he was kicked in the torso by Alix, who sent him flying. Both Ryonna and Alix lined up their blasters and tore one hole after another in him. He was long dead before his body hit the ground, smoke rising from his multiple, deadly wounds.

“Guys!” said Jonas on the communication channel.

“What is it?”

“Hurry up. The next security team will be there momentarily. Your triggering of the alarms has diverted a lot of patrols in the area. In a few minutes you’ll be surrounded by more forces than you can possibly engage. There’s also a heavy transport inbound for the building’s roof. It’s been sent to evac Atrak. There’s a full platoon onboard. You have to hurry before he gets to the roof.”

“Can you do something to delay the arrival of the transport and other reinforcements?”

“I can, but I won’t be able to buy you more than a few minutes. You really must hurry!”

“That’s fine. Every second counts. See if you can shut these damn alarms off as well.”

“Done,” said Jonas as the wailing stopped. “Hacking the transport now. Crap! They’re trying to jam my sig⁠—”

The communication ended.

“Jonas! Jonas come in?”

Ryonna looked at Alix. “Perhaps you should go now, while you still can.”

“You may still need my help with Atrak. I’m staying put.”

“Alix!”

“The more we argue about it the less time we have.”

They ran towards the elevator but its doors split open before they reached it. It revealed a glistening, metal mech with a soldier at the controls. He started firing the second he saw them. Intense blaster fire shot between them. They had the same idea and jumped to the walls at each side.

“Cloak now and get to the seventieth floor, Ryonna. I’ll distract this thing so you can accomplish your goal. I’ll join you when it’s turned into scrap metal.”

She activated her cloak and the mech’s aggro was turned towards Alix, still running on the wall. He jumped to the ceiling and ran by boosting the friction control settings to maximum, as well as magnetizing his boots to lock onto the nearest metallic structure between floors.

“Thank you, Alix, be careful.”

“You too. Atrak might still have forces or other nasty surprises waiting for you upstairs, so stay sharp.”

Ryonna shot like an arrow inside the elevator and pressed the button to the seventieth floor on the touch panel, but it blinked red. She took the swipe card she had acquired earlier and placed it on the touch panel. It flashed green and the elevator doors closed. The last thing she saw was Alix jumping from the ceiling back to the floor and retreating from the intensifying fire from the mech.

* * *

Alix found it more and more difficult to avoid the mech’s fire. Whatever evading trajectory he chose was quickly anticipated by the armored man. A heavy blast passed his head and exploded into the wall nearby, reminding him that he really needed to stay focused if he was to survive this fight. Failure was not an option. Ryonna might need backup to finish her mission. She was so close now, so close to her objective, to get the chance to save her son. Alix knew his own little quest for redemption was misplaced, but it gave him something to believe in, a mission that mattered to someone; something to accomplish that actually had a meaning other than a big paycheck.

When the next blaster shot struck his back and disabled his armor’s shields, he was thrown off balance and stumbled. When he turned around he saw the mech jump, on its way to landing on him.

Trying to crush me like a bug? I don’t think so!

Alix activated his cloak, dropped a live grenade and rolled to the side in the nick of time. He activated his super-speed feature and ran away just as the concussion grenade exploded, engulfing the mech in flames. Alix then took his MR-227 blaster rifle, shot two more grenades at the fiery mech, and quickly swiped its color-coded band twice. The blaster morphed into a mounted cannon turret. Alix fired one powerful laser blast after another towards the fiery inferno. After almost a minute of intense firing, and seeing that the blaster’s power pack was almost depleted, he stopped firing.

Flames still burned, and he could see metallic shapes here and there, but he didn’t know what state the mech was in. Not taking any chances he threw two smart mines on either side of the hall and ran the other way, back towards the elevator as his cloak ran out of juice.

The flames died down but there was still a lot of smoke, and Alix still couldn’t get a visual to confirm whether or not his foe had been neutralized. But then the mech emerged from the smoke and started firing at him. He ducked to avoid the incoming fire and detonated the smart mines the moment the mech was in range. Its shields were still up. His own shields, however, were slowly recharging and barely ten percent operational. Those weren’t odds he liked. An idea struck him.

He swiped the weapon back to an assault rifle, ejected the power pack and replaced it with a spare, but not before putting the pack into a feedback loop. The weapon was getting hot, so he ran towards the mech, who had just recovered from the exploding mines and resumed firing at Alix, one salvo of blaster after another. Alix jumped from one wall to the other, then to the ceiling, and when he was above the mech, who had destroyed half the hall, trying in vain to kill him, he dropped down and lodged the rifle, that was now red hot, between the mech’s shoulder plating.

He then pushed with all his might and flew to the side, grabbing a hand-size blaster and locking onto the rifle with his HUD. He crashed unceremoniously to the ground a few yards away and heard the mech turning around to reacquire him. Alix took careful aim.

“Goodbye, asshole!”

He squeezed the trigger of his blaster and a flurry of lasers hit the rifle, still locked into the mech’s plating, promptly exploding the rifle. The resulting detonation severed the mech’s arm, and he was thrown into the opposite wall. Lights flickered, and water shot from broken pipes. Soon the hall was plunged into darkness.

Alix switched to night vision. The mech had crashed through the men’s room. It seemed disabled. He zoomed in for a better look at the pilot. His eyes were closed. With no time to lose, he ran back towards the elevator past the hole the mech had crashed through. When he arrived at the elevator, he heard a mechanical noise. When he turned around to check the hall, he didn’t see anything, but then a giant hand punched through the wall a few inches past his head.

“Dammit! What do I have to do to kill this thing?”

 Then he saw multiple vehicles approaching the building.

“I don’t have time for this shit!”

The damaged mech emerged from the hole it had just punched through the wall and positioned itself in front of Alix. The pilot was bleeding, and the glass protecting him was cracked. Determined to end this fight, Alix took two throwing stars and locked his targeting system on the pilot. He threw the first throwing star, which exploded the protective glass separating the pilot from the outside world. The pilot’s reaction was immediate. He swung his mech’s only remaining arm like a hammer, trying to smash Alix. Alix jumped backwards and dodged the attack. The fist broke through the marble floor and became stuck there. Before it could release itself, Alix locked onto the hydraulic cables showing atop the mech’s shoulder. The throwing star sliced through with diabolical precision and the pilot lost control of the arm. He looked at Alix with fear.

“I’ve wasted enough time with you,” said Alix, as he ran atop the disabled arm. The pilot grabbed his side arm and started shooting at Alix. The shields of Alix’s body armor had recharged enough by now. When he was at shoulder level and out of reach of the pilot’s blaster, Alix took a light-blade from his belt and back flipped in the air to face the pilot. He raised his blaster but Alix was faster. In a fluid motion he activated the bright-white light-blade and sliced through the mech’s plating, as well as the pilot himself. When Alix landed on the floor, one knee on the ground, he turned the light-blade off. Drops of blood hit the floor in front of him, soon mixed with oil and fuel.

Alix turned to see a dozen armored security forces approaching the building’s entrance. They were armed to the teeth.

“I think we’ve overextended our welcome.”

At the elevator he used his light-blade to seal the doors together, trying to buy Ryonna as much time as possible. By the time the security forces had stormed through the hall, Alix was already climbing stairs three at a time, pushing the super-speed feature of his smart armor to the maximum.

CHAPTER 12

When Ryonna was near the seventieth floor she received an incoming transmission.

“Ryonna, do you hear me?”

“I hear you, Jonas. Glad to hear your voice.”

“As am I, they jammed our communications channel. It took a while to pinpoint the source of the jamming, but it’s been taken care of. There are two guards waiting for you by the elevator.”

“Thanks, Jonas.”

“You must hurry. I managed to deviate the incoming transport, but they regained manual control of the craft. They’re back on course and will reach the roof in less than five minutes.”

“Roger that.”

When the elevator’s door opened, Ryonna was already cloaked and crouched against the ceiling of the elevator, thanks to the magnetic feature of the smart armor. Multiple laser fire impacted the back wall of the elevator. When the firing stopped, she heard footsteps approach. She had her blade in her hands, ready to slice through whomever came looking. One guard made the fatal mistake of peeking inside the elevator. Ryonna swung her blade and decapitated the guard. His head fell to the elevator’s floor and blood sprayed all over the elevator’s cage.

Heavy laser fire resumed. She was still cloaked and on the elevator’s ceiling, waiting for the next wave of fire to stop. That’s when she heard metallic clunks and saw two concussive grenades roll inside the elevator’s cage. She unlocked her magnetic lock and landed on the floor. She ran in super-speed mode but wasn’t fast enough to get out of range of the grenades. Most of the blast was absorbed by her armor’s shield, but she was thrown to the ground and lost both shields and cloaking ability in the process.

She jumped back up just in time to see the end of the second guard’s blaster in her field of view. Her reaction was immediate. She grabbed the blaster, but not before it fired one shot at her shoulder. Fortunately, the armor took the brunt of the damage and soon the guard was disarmed. She lost no time breaking the guard’s arm, kicked his leg to drop him to his knees and, in a fluid motion, she broke his neck. He fell like a log to the carpeted floor.

Then she saw him. Sector Atrak had opened the door at the end of the hall, but when he saw her execution of the guard he closed the door immediately. The blinking holographic HUD inside her helmet told her one thing: the armor was badly damaged, and she wouldn’t be able to rely on it much anymore, at least until its auto-repair systems kicked in. She ran towards the door and punched through it as if it was made of cardboard.

At first she didn’t see Sector Atrak. She turned around in time to see him wave a light-blade at her neck. She grabbed his hand in midair, punched his wrist and he dropped the light-blade. She punched him square in the face, but he was wearing a personal shield and a jolt of electricity ran through her body, paralyzing her for a second. The armor had again protected her from most of it.

Atrak went for the light-blade but she kicked it to the other side of the office. The look in his eyes confirmed that he didn’t expect her to be able to move so fast. She grabbed a small, wooden table and smashed it into his torso. He lost balance and fell on his ass. She took out her blaster, set it to maximum firepower and shot him three times. His personal shields held and he was already back up and running towards his large, ebony desk. He jumped and slid across its surface to land behind cover as Ryonna kept firing at him.

“Who the fuck are you? Do you have any idea who I am?” shouted Atrak from behind his desk.

“You’re a dead man! That’s who you are.”

“Look, it’s obvious you want me dead, but I think you’re making a mistake. I haven’t done anything to you.”

Ryonna felt a sting in her heart when she heard the words. Nothing? You killed the man I loved more than anything in this universe. She paused her firing for just a second, but that was one second too many. A green, cylindrical force field trapped her in place. It exerted a strong magnetic field that made it almost impossible to move a muscle.

Atrak rose from his cowardly cover, sat at his desk and typed some commands onto his holographic computer screen.

“You’re done, whoever you are. My forces will be here shortly, and you’ll be sent to the worst jail there is, a dark hole in space from which there is no escape.”

Ryonna couldn’t help smiling. Even if she didn’t kill Atrak today, she had still succeeded in her main objective.

Jonas, do you hear me? she thought, hoping her armor’s communications tech was still working.

“I hear you and I see you as well. I’m working to remove that force field, but whatever personal security this guy has in his office is protected by multiple adaptive firewalls with incredibly strong encryption. You need to keep him talking until I find a vulnerability.”

Alright, she said in her mind.

Atrak looked at her with a mixture of amusement and disdain. “Why did you try to kill me?”

Ryonna dropped her helmet. It morphed and merged into the upper part of the torso armor.

“You’ve taken someone I hold dear.”

“A Droxian. That would explain how quickly you dispatched my lobby’s security. Your race are formidable warriors, I’ll grant you that, but your pride and your inability to think before you act has always been your race’s weakness.”

Is it? Ryonna wondered. She wanted nothing more than to smash this man’s skull with her bare hands, and in that moment of rage she was, indeed, barely in control of her decisions. All she saw was the objective. Was that a weakness or a strength, she wondered.

“Drop that field and let’s find out how weak my race is.”

“And here comes the pride. You’re nothing if not predictable. You know that, right? What’s your name?”

“Ryonna. Ryonna Isch’ys.”

“Isch’ys . . . Why does that name sound familiar?”

“Because you signed the order to kill my husband.”

“Right, Jaxson Isch’ys, the Section Seven operative masquerading as an ambassador on Hathan Prime. Well, killing spies is part of the game. If one of my Hathan spies was caught on your planet, wouldn’t he be killed as well?”

“You could have imprisoned him, but no, like a coward you make it look like an accident.”

“Don’t play dumb, Ryonna. You and I both know that’s the only way to deal with such matters.”

Jonas, I sure hope you’re recording this.

“Nevertheless, you took him from me and now you’re gonna pay for it.”

He approached the force field and looked into her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Ryonna, that’s how it is. Your husband went looking in places he shouldn’t have, and I was left with no choice. Someone in my position must protect his interests. If you hadn’t caused quite the commotion and destruction today, I would have gladly sent you to rejoin him, but I can think of no better punishment than your rotting in Hellstar for the rest of your days. I hear women aren’t really treated well there; gang rapes and all,” said Atrak with a sadistic smile.

I’m not just any woman.

“What is it he found? If I’m to be sent to Hellstar for the rest of my days, at least I have the right to know what claimed Jax’s life.”

“Let’s just say he stumbled upon a side project of mine, involving young children taken from Droxia. You must be familiar with the concept. Your race only keeps the toughest children alive. When a child develops a weakness, is sick or simply deemed a potential waste of future resources, what happens to it?”

This last comment hit her straight in the soul. Her own son Ronan was such a child. He had been gravely ill from the age of five, and both Ryonna and Jax had to make sure the Droxian government never found out about his condition. She knew deep in her bones this filtering the weak from the strong on a genetic level was wrong, but that’s how she had been taught. When her own child had shown signs of sickness, she and Jax were faced with the decision to either report it and have Ronan potentially deemed unfit for Droxian society, or hide it and do their best to make him better. They had chosen the latter course. How any parent could just accept that their child wasn’t worthy of living because he was either sick or weaker than the “norm” was something she had never really understood or accepted, at least not after she became a mother.

“Any child unfit to serve Droxian society must be forfeited,” answered Ryonna coldly, trying to give Jonas more time to release the force field.

“Yes, isn’t that barbaric? In fact, isn’t it why your people left the Alliance a long time ago? You don’t have to answer me, Ryonna. It was a rhetorical question. So you see, some of my associates here on Hathan thought that this was such a waste of resources. Sure, perhaps these kids wouldn’t perform well in the Droxian military, but perhaps they could be of some use in the entertainment business, if you catch my drift.”

A shiver of disgust ran through Ryonna from head to toe. “You’re a disgusting monster.”

“Well, look at it this way: at least these children didn’t die. Though I will grant you that many wished they did. The clientele that craves their company can be rough sometimes. But hey, it’s a good way to make me more money.”

“You’d better prey this force field of yours holds, ’cause if I get free before your forces arrive, I’ll kill you where you stand.”

“I have no doubt this is your intention, but I’m not someone who can be killed that easily, not by a single Droxian, anyway. No matter how resourceful and powerful you are.”

Ryonna clenched her teeth and fists. The hatred she felt for this man had reached a level she never thought possible.

A series of explosions made the building tremble.

Atrak went towards the nearest holo-display to check it out.

No doubt Alix was wreaking havoc.

“Troubles?” she said with a smile on her face.

“Looks like your partner is really giving my security forces some trouble. What you two have managed on your own is very impressive. I’m also impressed with the technology you’ve been using. I will have to reverse engineer it once I get it off your dead or arrested bodies. It could prove useful. I do suspect, however, that you had external help. Once we’ve dealt with the two of you I’ll look into finding the ghost in the machine. A lot of things went wrong today, and I have no doubt someone is helping you remotely. He is, in fact, in our systems right now. But what he doesn’t know is that I’m allowing his presence so I can track him. He’s very good, I’ll grant you that. Data Thieves good, in fact; but once I locate his sorry ass, well, he’ll either join you on Hellstar or join your husband.”

“No, if I fail today he will find you and finish the job.”

“I very much doubt that, Ryonna. If he was so good and courageous, he would be here with you right now. Data Thieves are usually nothing more than frustrated geeks who prefer to act like cowards behind the cover of a remote link. In my experience, they are rarely men of action.”

A door at the farther side of the hallway was obliterated and Ryonna heard heavy steps running towards the office.

She wished she could turn to see who it was, but the armor and the magnetic field within the force field made it almost impossible. Perhaps if she dropped the armor she would have more freedom to move about. She thought about the HUD, and to her surprise it still appeared in front of her eyes, even with the helmet off. She selected the option to remove the liquid, metal-based armor and the armor melted away slowly.

Then Alix stormed the office, a light-blade in one hand and a blaster in the other.

“Ryonna! Are you okay?”

“Be careful, Alix. Be sure to keep moving or he might trap you as well.”

He nodded as he started running towards Atrak, who turned on his own light-blade. They engaged in a battle giving rise to sparks and crackling sounds each time their light-blades touched. They were evenly matched.

Hurry up, Jonas, thought Ryonna.

Meanwhile, her armor kept liquefying, but the whole process was in slow motion compared to how fast it had morphed into her shape when she initially put it on. The same force preventing her from moving around inside the force field was also affecting the morphing abilities of the armor. After another minute watching Alix and Atrak go at it, Ryonna was able to free both her arms and she started pounding on the force field. Each punch was rewarded with a strong pain feedback and electrical current. It wouldn’t come down that way.

“Hang on, Ryonna,” said Alix, “I’ll get you out of there.”

Atrak slashed at Alix’s shoulder while his attention was divided, but Alix grabbed his wrist and stopped the light-blade only inches from his face. He threw his own light-blade spinning towards the floating ceiling device that was casting the force field. At the same time, he disarmed Atrak and slashed his torso with his own blade, but his personal shield absorbed the blow.

The spinning blade hit the force field generator and sparks flew. The force field blinked but didn’t completely turn off. Ryonna resumed her pounding. The pain feedback was greatly reduced and the field blinked more and more but still wouldn’t let her free. Then the lights turned off in the room for half a second, and so did the field. She jumped away just in time, before it turned back on.

Thank you, Jonas.

Atrak had retreated against the farther wall as Alix advanced towards him, wielding Atrak’s own light-blade.

“Alright, this distraction, fun as it is, needs to end now,” said Atrak. He put both palms against glass panels on the wall.

An electrical force field engulfed both his hands and metallic glove implants materialized on them in less than a second. On each palm was a circular emitter, one blue and one red. Ryonna ran towards him at full speed, but he waved his left hand and released a blue-tinged shockwave. It threw her back and she crashed against the wall. Multiple bones cracked in the process.

“Ryonna!” shouted Alix as he jumped towards Atrak, wielding the light-blade.

But Atrak was faster and used his right hand to shoot a red beam of light towards Alix. It stopped him in his tracks and he dropped his light-blade. Atrak smiled as he approached him. He intensified the red beam and Alix fell to his knees, his face distorted with pain.

Ryonna tried to get up but was rewarded with a jolt of intense pain.

Atrak was now standing above Alix and intensified the beam further. Alix screamed as blood flowed from his ears.

“Let him go!” shouted Ryonna.

“Sure thing, Ryonna. I will soon be done with him.”

Atrak released the beam of energy and Alix put his hand on the floor, panting heavily. Blood droplets fell from his mouth.

“I’ll let you live if you kill her for me. Do we have a deal?”

Alix had to muster all the energy left in him, but he took a knife from behind his back and thrust it into Atrak’s stomach, using the super-speed feature of his armor. It passed Atrak’s personal shield and sliced a couple of inches of flesh before being repelled by the shield.

Atrak’s teeth clenched as his pain receptors registered the wound. He kneed Alix in the chin, sending his head flying backwards, but Atrak caught him by the hair, holding his augmented hand mere inches from Alix’s face.

“Have it your way. I don’t actually need your compliance, as you’ll soon discover.”

The emitter in his hand lit up bright red, and a much thinner and more focused beam shot through Alix’s forehead and into his skull. Soon his eyes were devoid of emotion. After a few seconds of this treatment they turned gray.

Ryonna fought through the pain and managed to get back up, but she stumbled to her knees. She injected herself with the dose of stimulant the doc had given her. She saw her blaster on the floor, not far from her. With renewed energy coursing through her veins, she jumped towards it, hoping to reach it before it was too late for Alix.

But Atrak released his beam and let Alix’s hair go.

“Get up,” Atrak said.

Alix stood, not saying a word.

Atrak pointed towards Ryonna, who had just recovered her blaster.

“Kill her, now!”

Alix looked towards Ryonna and their gazes met. His eyes had the look of a dead person. She didn’t recognize the man who had helped her these past few days. He looked like an android, devoid of life and human emotions.

Alix, no! She understood there and then why she would need to claim his life. He was no longer himself.

“What have you done to him?”

“Nanobots took control of his mind, and he will only obey me now. Let’s see how well you fare against your friend. You might still join your husband after all, Ryonna.”

Then the cylindrical force field turned off completely and a new force field was erected around Atrak’s office. By erecting this, Jonas would prevent the incoming forces from gaining access to Ryonna until she was done with Atrak.

Ryonna jumped towards the pool of liquid metal and put her hand in it. The armor came to life and reintegrated into its original shape around her body. The HUD came back to life and displayed a status report.

“Subject damaged. Using nanotechnology to effect bone and tissue repair.”

Alix was walking towards her, his light-blade in his hand. He turned it on and the bright, white blade came to life.

“Alix!” she shouted. “Fight this. I don’t want to have to kill you.”

“No need, Ryonna,” said Atrak. “He can’t hear you anymore.”

Alix jumped towards Ryonna and swept his light-blade in a vertical motion. She used the suit’s super speed to get out of the way and disarm Alix by kicking his light-blade-wielding hand. His reaction was instantaneous. He threw a powerful kick towards her but she blocked it with her left forearm, and swiftly counter attacked with a straight kick to his torso that sent him flying and crashing onto Atrak’s desk, destroying it in the process.

When she came about for her next attack, Atrak used his shockwave contraption and sent Ryonna flying backward and crashing onto the floor. The armor took most of the blast, and already she could feel the nanobots healing her internal wounds. She had to do something about Atrak, but she didn’t have time to think of her next move before Alix was upon her again. He kicked her in the stomach and she flew upward. She used the momentum to stabilize herself, spun in the air and landed on her feet. Alix was already running towards her, unleashing a series of punches and kicks that Ryonna blocked one by one. In the middle of his next combo she landed a perfectly timed uppercut that sent him flying backwards, but he recouped in midair, somersaulted and landed with one knee down, not losing his balance.

“Give it up, Ryonna,” said Atrak with a smirk on his face. “I could kill you right now but I have to admit I enjoy the spectacle. As skilled a fighter as you are, you stand no chance against an enemy who doesn’t fear death or feel any injury. Whether he kills you in the next two minutes or my forces manage to access the office, you’re done. There’s no win for you, no matter what.”

With fire and hatred in her eyes she shot a murderous look at Atrak. “That’s where you’re wrong, Atrak!”

Alix performed a circular kick at floor level and took Ryonna by surprise. She lost her balance, but before her head could hit the carpeted floor Alix kicked it full force, sending her rolling madly on the floor until the nearest piece of furniture ended her momentum.

Ryonna! she heard in her mind.

Jonas, I’m in trouble, she answered in her thoughts.

I know. I recovered access to the camera feeds. I have put multiple force fields inside the building that should give you the time you need to kill Atrak, but why is Alix attacking you?

He’s been infected with nanobots. They’re in control. Alix is no more.

I’ll try to hack his suit and give you the opportunity to bring him down.

Can’t you find a way to disable his nanobots?

Not in the time we have. I’m sorry. Look for an opening on his neck. I’ll create a chink in his armor.

Thank you, Jonas.

Watch out, he’s coming at you!

Alix was in the air, his foot extended in order to crush Ryonna’s head while she was still on the ground. She rolled at the last second and landed her elbow on his shin, making him lose balance.

They got up at the same time.

“Be careful, sister. I suggest you let him think he’s got the upper hand. Then surprise him.”

“Got it.”

Ryonna launched the next attack, going with a circular kick to Alix’s neck. She didn’t put all her strength in the attack and he grabbed her leg. He punched her in the stomach and used his open palm to strike her torso, sending her down once more. Just as Jonas had suggested, she let him approach for the kill.

He grabbed her by the neck and tried crushing her throat. The armor held but the enhanced circuitry of Alix’s own armor, in better shape than hers, was working and she could feel pressure against her windpipe.

“Alix, please stop. I beg you.”

“I . . . must . . . kill . . . you.”

Alix spoke like a robot. Not a shred of emotion could be detected in his voice.

“Think of your son, Alix. What would he think of you now?”

“I . . . must . . .” he repeated.

Ryonna used one hand to remove Alix’s hand from around her throat and with the other she reached for a knife. Thanks to Jonas, she saw the opening and planted the knife deep within Alix’s neck. As she removed the knife in one swift motion, blood sprayed from Alix’s sectioned jugular.

Then a flash of color returned to his eyes for just a moment, and a tear formed in the corner of one.

“I’m sorry, Alix.”

“Ryonna . . .” A little emotion returned to his voice while a large quantity of blood spilled onto Ryonna’s armor and face. “Use the EMP.”

Of course! Even if it would disable her own armor it would disable Atrak’s contraptions as well. She had no doubt she could defeat the weasel then.

“Thank you, Alix,” she said as she kicked him off her. He fell on his back, blood spilling from the wound, but he had already lost consciousness. She rolled three times as Atrak fired his shockwave weapon at her, but she managed to grab her blaster. She jumped behind a table for cover and installed the EMP add-on, making sure she installed it counterclockwise. She rolled out of cover when Atrak’s latest attack exploded the glass table she was under. Pieces of glass flew around the office, many shards ricocheting off her armor. When she finished her roll, she had Atrak dead to rights in her sights.

He moved his hand in her direction, but she had already squeezed the trigger.

The blue-light EMP hit him on the torso and engulfed his body and half the office, touching her own armor as well. The holographic HUD was garbled for half a second and then disappeared. Electrical lightning ran over Atrak’s hand augments. He kept thrusting his open palm towards Ryonna but nothing happened.

“What the hell!” he exclaimed.

Ryonna stood and walked towards the opposite wall, farthest from where the EMP had detonated. Alix’s light-blade was on the ground, the one he had thrown before trying to disable the force field. She hoped it had been outside of the range of the EMP. She looked at Atrak. For the first time she saw fear in his eyes.

CHAPTER 13

Ryonna picked up the light-blade. The on switch was still illuminated. The weapon had been out of range as she’d hoped. She started towards Atrak, passing Alix’s dead body and the huge pool of blood being absorbed by the light-gray carpet fibers.

“Let’s be rational here, Ryonna. In a few minutes you’ll get arrested. If you spare me I can guarantee you won’t go to Hellstar. I’ll give you whatever you want, money, a ship. You can get away from here. Now, what do you say?”

“I say that you don’t understand my motives. I want to go to Hellstar, and killing you will ensure that.”

“No wait! I can arrange that as well. I can even provide protection once you’re on the inside.”

“You forget about Jax.”

“Look, it wasn’t personal. He was in my way, that’s all.”

“It’s personal to me. And now you’re in my way. Gotta love the irony.”

When she approached, he threw the first series of punches. He was clearly well versed in hand-to-hand combat, no doubt from his long career in the Hathan military or as a mercenary. On a normal day, and with her multiple wounds, he could probably go the distance with her. But this was no ordinary day.

Ryonna dodged, blocked and countered each of his punches and kicks with perfect timing, either repelling him against the wall or inflicting damage of her own. She could finish the fight at any moment, but the fact that she still had some time made her enjoy the fight. For Jax, for Alix and for all the children whose lives this piece of garbage had either ruined or taken. He would pay here and now. Her only regret was that she probably didn’t have much time left to toy with and hurt the man.

As if in answer to her thinking, noises and commotion rose from the level below. The clock to her arrest was now ticking.

The next punch he threw at her she not only blocked, but she grabbed his wrist and punched him in the face with a well-placed elbow. Blood flew from his mouth as his head was thrown backwards. She applied strong pressure to his wrist and he opened his hand. She took his fingers one by one and broke them without hesitating. He screamed in agony with each new broken bone. He fell to his knees and implored her to stop.

But she couldn’t hear him anymore. She broke his wrist on the same hand, then proceeded to crush his humerus with a powerful thrust of her knee. The bone broke in two and was exposed to the air as blood flowed from the wound.

She then proceeded to his other arm, dislocating his shoulder with a very satisfying crunch. She no longer heard his screams. She was in revenge mode, making sure he would suffer every last second of his pathetic life. She owed that to Jax, Jonas and Alix.

When she stopped, Atrak was crying and begging for mercy, both arms rendered totally useless, blood flowing from many wounds. Even if she stopped there, he would die shortly. But she wasn’t done. Laser fire hit the force fields preventing people from entering the office. Ryonna saw half a dozen guards firing their weapons. The force field blinked but seemed to be holding. Nevertheless, she needed to make sure Atrak drew his last breath shortly.

“Get up, you piece of shit!”

“I can’t. You broke both my arms. I can’t move a single muscle.”

“Let me help you out.”

When their gazes met, Ryonna saw utter terror in his eyes. The man knew she was about to finish him.

With one hand she grabbed the light-blade and with the other she lifted Atrak to his feet by his hair.

“This is for Jax.”

She brought the light-blade to life near Atrak’s groin. The blade shot between his legs, hovering less than an inch from his testicles.

“No! Don’t do this, plea— Aaaaaaarg,” was the last thing Atrak ever said.

Ryonna cut through him slowly, taking her time, splitting his genitals in two before splitting the rest of his body all the way up to the top. A foul odor of charred flesh emanated from his body as the light-blade cut him slowly in half, cauterizing his wound and releasing smoke. By the time she was at neck level, Atrak was already long dead. She then released his hair and, with a swift motion, finished her movement to split his face in half, in a perfectly vertical line. His body split in two and fell to the ground. She turned the light-blade off and threw it on the ground.

“Vengeance has been served. Thank you, Jonas,” said Ryonna, knowing he could hear her.

The force field was about to give in, so she dropped to her knees and put both hands behind her back.

Soon the security guards stormed the office, restraining and arresting her.

* * *

Because she had killed so many people, Ryonna had been deemed too great a security risk for a public trial. Instead, a judge came to see her in her detention room, where she was chained to the wall by every limb, four laser-guided turrets covering her from every direction.

The woman judge entered her cell and shot her a cold stare.

“I have half a mind to ask an exception be made so we can execute you, miss.”

“I thought Hathan didn’t believe in capital punishment.”

“Acts like these make me think we should make exceptions.”

“Atrak was a piece of garbage. He needed to be put down.”

“Watch your mouth. I knew Atrak personally. You’re the piece of garbage here.”

“Then you didn’t know him as well as you thought.”

“And why should I listen to the words of a criminal responsible for the deaths of no less than eleven people?”

“Look, lady, I don’t give a rat’s ass what you believe, but that asshole killed my husband and exploited young Droxian children.”

“What do you mean ‘exploited’?”

“Do I really have to spell it out?”

She didn’t. It was clear the judge was aware of such activity on her planet.

“I refuse to believe it.”

“Like I said, I don’t give a shit what you believe. He will no longer hurt anyone.”

“Even if what you say is true—and believe me I will get to the bottom of this—the way you sought retribution was wrong. You will be sentenced to life in the worst prison in this sector. Hellstar.”

Ryonna smiled.

“Do you find it funny, miss?”

“No. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.”

The judge shook her head. “I therefore sentence you to life on Hellstar. Do you understand your sentence, Ryonna Isch’ys?”

“I do, thank you judge.”

“May gods have mercy on your soul.”

“Save it for someone who believes in them, judge, but thanks for the pep talk.”

The judge left her cell and the temporarily disabled turrets came back to life, casting their red laser pointers on Ryonna’s chest. She was still smiling.

* * *

Ryonna looked at the stars passing by. She was in the transport that would bring her to her final destination. She was ready for what came next. Her thoughts went to Jonas. She had wished for a chance to talk with him once more, if only to say goodbye in case she didn’t make it out of Hellstar alive. But mostly she thought of Ronan. Soon she would be reunited with her son, and together they’d escape the unescapable prison.

Hold on, my son, I’m coming for you.

THE END of Way of the Warrior

Keep keeping…

FURY TO THE STARS (BOOK 2)

By Christian Kallias

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Commander Sarah Kepler – Earth Human (formerly US Navy Commander)

Commander Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Captain Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Captain)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos (yah-nis tee-hee-hos)– Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Ryonna Isch’ys (ree-oh-na is-kis) – Droxian Warrior (a fugitive Droxian smuggler)

Tar’Lock (tahr-lock) – Gorgar (Insectoid)

Admiral Ally Thassos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Admiral)

Commander Fillio Steriopoulou (fee-lyo steh-ree-oh-poo-loo) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis (spee-ros ma-lah-yah-nis)– Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Olympians

Aphroditis (a-fro-dee-tee)– known to humans as the Goddess of Love

Ares (ah-rees)– know to humans as the god of war

Obsidian / Zarlacks

Argos Thanatos – Head of the Zarlacks

Emperor Altair – Emperor of the Obsidian Empire

Other Characters

Cedric – Earth Human scientist

Ronan – Ryonna’s son

THE STORY SO FAR

Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.

This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. It can, of course, be used by new readers but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (Definitive Edition).

Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

And now the continuation . . .

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2017 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2016 / Version 1.2

1

Chase was standing on the edge of the canyon. The air was warm, brushing his hair and face gently, enveloping him like a blanket. He felt at peace, relaxed. As light as a feather, floating on a soft wind. His mind had expanded beyond his body as he took in the magnificent view of the russet canyons and the burning night sky above. The three moons were almost perfectly aligned with the giant, ringed planet suspended in the distance.

As he gazed out at the abyss, he felt the steady rise and fall of his chest. His breath came slowly and purposefully. His mind was empty, filled with nothing but the flawless view and his own steady pulse. It was in this state of perfect balance, as the rest of the universe seemed to fall away, that he felt her coming back to him.

Sarah. His beloved.

His heart warmed with the very thought. She appeared just as he remembered. Her brilliant, crimson hair flowing in the wind, eyes shining with the light of the moons. She looked like magic. Like endless possibility. Like a future he desired above anything else.

Time seemed to suspend as he passed his fingers slowly through her rippling hair. At first, she’d been lost in the view, but at his touch, she turned to him with a radiant smile.

His heart began to hammer in his chest, growing stronger with each pulse as he gazed in loving admiration at her celestial body. Stronger and stronger it grew, swelling his chest with the weight of his emotions.

But then, all at once, it was too strong.

Chase clutched at his chest as the rhythmic beats sharpened to excruciating pain. His breath caught in his throat and he reached out automatically to Sarah for help.

But Sarah was no longer there.

Her body remained frozen painfully in place against the beautiful horizon, but it was not the Sarah that Chase knew and loved.

Her sallow skin was tinted deathly gray and her beautiful green eyes had filled with the darkest black. It was like looking into a void.

All that remained was a shadow, a mere echo of what used to be. Chase’s eyes grew wide with fright and dread as he began to feel that hopeful future fading away.

Then, all at once, the pain and pounding in his chest subsided. Had his heart just stopped?! He stared at Sarah in a blind panic, unable to understand what was going on.

“Sarah!” he cried. “What’s happening?!”

She turned her head with a strange, jerking motion that was not entirely human. The bone-cracking echo that followed made Chase’s blood run cold. He longed to stop her. To stop her before there was nothing left to save, but she continued turning towards him, shattering what sounded like every bone in her body. She opened her mouth, as if to scream, but instead, a bright red light shot out of it, blinding Chase and burning his face.

“Why, Chase?” she asked in a voice like Sarah’s, but deeper. “Why did you do this to me?”

Chase shook his head in horror. “What did I do?”

As if to answer, she drifted off the ledge and levitated in the air in front of him. He tried desperately to get to her, but she was just out of reach. Her body started shivering, each motion crushing another bone, each one sending cold shivers down Chase’s spine.

Something was about to end here. Something was going very wrong.

Then, without warning, she threw back her head with the most earth-shattering, heart-wrenching screech Chase had ever heard. It sounded as if it was coming from the very depths of hell. Her body began bleeding the red light—it exploded out of the cracks in her ashen skin before Chase’s eyes—ripping her to pieces until suddenly…

All that was left of his beautiful Sarah was gone.

As he fell to his knees, Chase heard another scream, this one decidedly animal. It hardly seemed possible that the sound could have come from him, but his throat burned as if the noise had dug its claws in before it was ripped out into the air. Tears streamed down his face, smearing the lingering ashes that clung to his cheeks, and he curled his fingers into fists so hard they made his hands bleed.

There was no controlling this rage. No caging the fury that ran coursing through his veins. Teeth grinding and eyes closed, he screamed out for release, unleashing the full power of that unimaginable rage on the heavens above.

Canyons exploded, water rushed into the air. The ground started shaking and breaking apart beneath him. The three moons exploded in quick succession while the giant, ringed planet cracked in two before shattering to dust.

I need to control this, he thought desperately. I need to make it stop!

But he had lost all control over what was left of his mind. It was pure darkness now. Pure hate. He could feel his own personal hell overtake him.

Until suddenly, he thought of her again.

With every bit of energy he had left, he conjured an image of Sarah in his mind. A frozen picture from happier times back on Earth. Times when her eyes were green, not black, and the radiant sun caught in her hair.

The blackness in his mind began to recede, little by little. His consciousness returned to him as the hate and anger dissipated slowly away. When he felt he could stand it, he dared to open his eyes.

What he saw made no sense to him.

There was simply nothing left. The ground he was standing on had vanished. As had the rest of the planet and its three moons. He was floating in space. Drifting helplessly amongst a sea of shards from the planet he’d destroyed and faceless bodies that looked like shadows.

What—just happened?

Chase looked around in horror as an overwhelming feeling of dread settled in the pit of his stomach.

Had he done this? Had he just destroyed an entire solar system? It wasn’t possible…

Tiny, weightless tears poured from his eyes before losing themselves amongst the debris in the blackness of space.

This can’t be happening. It can’t be happening.

He repeated the silent mantra again and again.

I couldn’t have done this. And Sarah has to be alive. She can’t just be gone…

One of the tears landed upon what looked like a tiny hand made out of glass. Upon impact, the hand began to solidify before Chase’s very eyes—hardening and coloring itself until he was staring into the grave face of Aphroditis.

Chase stared at her in horror, fighting the urge to hide his face. He didn’t want to ask, but he had to. He had to know. “Did I do this?”

Her sad eyes looked back at him with pity. “Such is the power of the Fury, Chase. Without control, it can destroy everything in its path.”

Chase’s eyes flickered wildly around, resting on the debris of the shattered planet. “But this? I didn’t mean to do any of this.”

“Of course you didn’t,” she said kindly. “But the loss of your beloved sent you into an uncontrollable spiral of hate and rage—unleashing the Fury inside you.”

Chase covered his mouth with his hands, unable to reconcile the terrible guilt ripping his heart in two. All those people… All those worlds…

Dead. Because of him.

“You must learn to control your powers,” Aphroditis cautioned, “or there will be casualties your soul will not be able to bear.”

“I… I already can’t. How could I have done this?”

Then she gave him a small smile. “Fear not, Chase. This isn’t real.”

It was like someone had popped the molten balloon growing in his chest. He covered his face and exhaled slowly. “This is a vision?”

“Yes, and an important one. One that shows what can happen if you lose control.”

Chase’s mind flashed back to the battle. “Like I did on the ship?”

“Yes.” She inclined her head. “On the ship you were able to control your powers by sheer instinct, but we may not be so lucky next time around.”

“Well, what can I do?” Chase cried in desperation. “I didn’t ask for this! I don’t want these powers! They’re a curse!”

“No, Chase,” she answered quickly. “They’re not a curse, but a gift. In you lies the key to saving the universe from the forces that seek to destroy it.”

Chase’s mind struggled to keep up. “Obsidian?”

“The Obsidian Empire is but a pawn. There is another threat out there, a far more dangerous one…”

“But—”

She held up her hand. “All in good time, Chase.”

He bit his lip. “Can you at least tell me if Sarah is alive?”

Aphroditis smiled. “She is alive. At least for now. But you need to wake up, Chase. And please, try to keep yourself calm.”

Chase frowned. “Why would I need to⁠—”

Before he could finish, the stars blurred to lines and he was sucked into space at a speed faster than hyperspace. He struggled to keep breathing as the sky around him faded to black. A few seconds later, the force of a tremendous impact knocked him awake.

His vision was blurry as he blinked several times, trying to open his eyes. A muffled buzz blasted with familiar regularity, and he shook his head slowly as he tried to place the sound. All at once, it clicked. He was back on board the Destiny, and the buzzing he was hearing was a red alert. Pulling himself up, he looked around his quarters in shock.

Now what had happened here?!

It looked like someone had taken a wrecking ball to the place. Every bit of furniture was smashed. Everything Chase owned was in a splintered heap on the cracked floor. Even the walls were dented in.

“Holy shit,” he murmured as he looked around.

Then the doors opened and Daniel ran inside with weapon drawn. He stared around at the demolished room in utter shock before his eyes fell on Chase, standing in the middle.

“What the hell?”

Chase felt all the color drain from his face. “I… I think I did this.”

Daniel shook his head with a frown. “What? Chase, no. How is that even possible?”

Chase took a trembling step backwards. The room around him started spinning and he began to feel sick. “I… I⁠—”

The last thing he remembered was the ground coming up to meet him and the distant echo of his friend calling for a medical emergency…

2

It had been days since Sarah had been left to rot in the dark cell. From time to time, a reptilian Zarlack would come in to leave what they obviously took to be food. It tasted horrible, a green-grey goo that Sarah had decided to pass on for at least five or six meals, until eventually her hunger grew too strong.

The interrogation sessions had been grueling, but she had staunchly refused to say anything about Earth or the Alliance to Chase’s brother. She still couldn’t accept, understand, or even fathom the fact that he was Chase’s brother. How could brothers be so different? Chase was such a good man. He was so kind, brave, selfless. Willing to sacrifice his life, even for those of a different world. But this man, this thing, who looked so much like Chase, was nothing like him.

She wanted to stay strong, but in moments like this, moments when she was finally alone, feelings of utter helplessness would overtake her and tears began to flow freely down her dirty face. She lifted a shaky hand and wiped them away. She could feel the calluses and caked blood on her palms scratch against her cheeks. Her fingertips ached where the nails had been cracked and splintered. She couldn’t see her body, but she could feel where each massive bruise cried out in anguish.

Her cell was so dark that she could barely see anything. There was no bed, no view to the outside. It was a pit, a dark hole. And the longer she was trapped within it, the darker her own thoughts began to grow. That must be the point, she thought. Another mind game crafted to make her talk. She knew she needed to buy as much time as possible for Chase and the Earth Alliance to come and rescue her, but she wondered how long that would take. Maybe the Droxians went to war with the Alliance, as she had feared they would. If that was the case, she could be here for a very long time.

The only thing that kept her going was the firm belief that no matter how long it took, no matter what he had to do to get there, Chase would come for her.

She heard sudden footsteps coming down the hall beyond the door of her cell and hastily wiped her face. She was determined not to give them the satisfaction of seeing her break. The steps stopped in front of the door, and shortly after, it opened. A Zarlack grunt stepped inside. With no preamble, he grabbed her by the elbow and started dragging her away. Long gone were the days when they’d try to coax her to her feet or wait for her to walk beside them. Everything was force now. Unceasing, unrelenting force.

The room was unassuming but somehow menacing at the same time. As though her own pain, and that of the prisoners before her, had seeped into the taupe walls. It was also, by now, eerily familiar.

As soon as they arrived, the Zarlack released her elbow and left her alone. Just like the day before and the one before that. The monster wasn’t there yet, but she had no doubt he would come soon enough. Even before she could hear him, her body started to float in the air.

Here we go, she thought. Without a word, she closed her eyes and tried to empty her mind of everything—everything except an image of the one thing that was keeping her going.

Chase.

It was her only sanctuary. Her only escape. The only thing that made these interrogation sessions slightly more bearable. She would retreat to a place where the monster couldn’t follow. He couldn’t touch her there. Unfortunately… that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

“How about we don’t lose another few hours torturing you for nothing today?” he asked as he swept inside. At this point, he didn’t even bother to look at her.

“How about you go fuck yourself instead?”

“Impetuous as always. I can already tell today won’t be fun for you. I have neither the time nor patience, so let’s expedite things, shall we?”

Sarah bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from trembling with fear. Now was not the time to show any weakness. The previous sessions had been nearly impossible to endure already. And while she was strangely proud that she hadn’t cracked under the pressure of the pain, the mental abuse, and the feeling of helplessness that grew every single day—if things got more violent, she wondered if she would be able to get through it.

I have to, she thought, I just have to.

And with that, she closed her eyes and thought even harder about Chase, projecting him mentally, trying to block all her other senses even as the pain started shooting up her body.

Today she focused on the image of her and Chase walking down the aisle, hoping such a wonderful image, though fictional, would help her face what already promised to be the worst session yet. She had considered using this particular tactic a few times before, but kept it in reserve for a truly horrible time. Rationing the happiness for a day when she’d need it the most. Judging by the overwhelming sensory return she was getting from her pain receptors, today was going to be that day.

The hall of the cathedral was magnificent. High ceilings, sparkling stained glass. Sarah stood in the center of the floor and pulled in a deep breath as she looked around. In just a short matter of time, she would marry the man of her dreams in this cathedral. It didn’t even matter to her that he wasn’t from Earth.

He looked human, of course. A good looking, tall man with long, dark hair. She’d noticed him the first time she saw him in the briefing room back on Earth. He’d noticed her too, though he’d tried to keep it together in front of his commanding officer. She remembered the first time they’d made love in her apartment. She wasn’t the kind of girl who usually allowed herself to form such an intimate connection with someone so quickly, but Chase was different. She had felt it in her very soul.

The fact that mere hours before he had invited her to pilot the first Earth-Alliance hybrid fighter to leave orbit and make a hyperspace jump had definitely helped. That alone had counted for at least twenty dates in her book. It had been the most exhilarating experience of her life, so when he came to see her that night, she already felt as though every single nerve was firing, aching for another adrenaline fix.

She remembered how gently his hands coursed her naked body, how sweet and attentive he had been, how his tongue and lips softly caressed every inch of her burning skin, making her tremble and vibrate with pleasure.

A piercing scream ripped the fantasy apart.

Sarah felt like her skin was being ripped apart from the inside out. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her contorted face. She was still floating in the air, but her back was arched at an impossible angle, as though some invisible hook was pulling her spine to the ceiling, leaving her limbs to dangle towards the ground. As she was rotated to face the fiend, she could see that his mouth was moving. He was clearly exasperated, demanding that she give him some kind of information. She quickly closed her eyes again, willing herself back to her beautiful memory of the wedding that might have been. That could still be.

That will be, she thought as her lips curled into a wistful smile.

All at once, she was back in the dream. The wedding would be magnificent, though she was slightly disappointed to miss an opportunity to be the first Earthling to actually marry on an alien world. She had thought about it, but the circumstances made it more logical to marry on Earth at the time. Chase was such a sweet man, she couldn’t really know for sure if he had been disappointed or not. He had suggested that they use some flowers from his native planet to add a breathtaking alien touch to the hall, and she had loved the idea. The aisle and altar were both magnificently lit with star lilies, each pulsating a luminous white light into the cathedral, adding what looked like a living, breathing energy.

“I have to say, I’m impressed by your tolerance,” her torturer taunted. “Most people would have given up by now, or at least lost consciousness. But you? You continue to surprise.”

A sudden burning pain in the side of her body showed her how impressed he was with this little revelation. She gritted her teeth and forcibly tuned him out, returning to the dream.

When she rounded the corner and proceeded down the aisle, the entire church stood up with a gasp. She and Chase met eyes immediately. He looked as happy as she had ever seen him, a radiant smile erasing every trace of his usually shy demeanor. The lace of her gown whispered across the smooth marble, and, a second later, she was by his side. They locked eyes for another moment before Chase suddenly winked. Then the ceremony began.

A sharp pain in her belly made her open her eyes for a split second, just long enough to catch a glimpse of her imaginary groom’s brother smirking at her, his hands dripping with her blood. Even though she closed her eyes as fast as she could, she could still hear him laughing in the distance as she returned to the cathedral.

“Are you alright, my love?” Chase whispered questioningly.

“Yes, I’m good,” she panted. “Don’t worry, just some… cramps.”

The minister began to talk about the beauty of marriage, the value of commitment. It all felt so perfect, so magical. She had to admit that she had never imagined a big wedding. Most days, she never thought she’d be getting married at all. While other girls spent their childhoods planning out the big day, Sarah had dreamed about going to the stars instead. Flying through the celestial heavens and exploring brand new worlds. But she realized, as she held Chase’s hand tightly in her own, that in this moment, she was truly happy. The longer she stood up by the altar, the happier she felt.

The minister took a step back as it was time for the vows and rings. With a little smile, Chase stepped forward to go first.

“I promise to always look after you and love you for as long as I shall live. I will always be there for you. I will always be kind and patient, and give you strength and support when you need it the most. You can always count on me, through thick and thin. I love you with all my heart and soul. I pledge myself to you for the rest of our lives.”

Simple, yet beautiful, she thought. It was exactly what she would expect him to say.

As his long, thin fingers slid the ring gently up her finger, she fought the urge to forget the crowd and just kiss him. The cool metal made her feel safe somehow. Wanted.

It was her turn now. She looked at him with a smile so broad that her face hurt, and, before she could stop it, a single tear ran down her cheek. With a deep breath, she began to speak.

“You are my everything. My best friend, my teacher, my role model, and my true north. I love you now, and vow to love you forever. In sickness and in health, through sorrow and success, through times of darkness and light, I shall forever enjoy your sight. I love you more than anything in this world, and today you make me whole.”

She slipped the ring onto his finger as well, and when she looked up his eyes were swimming with tears.

The minister stepped forward again with a smile. “If anyone here sees a reason why these two should not be joined in matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

There was perfect silence in the cathedral.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

Sarah gave a silent gasp as another wave of pain threatened to rip her from her body. It was greater than anything she’d felt before. Like a sand storm beating against her raw nerves. She stared into Chase’s peaceful eyes and held on with every ounce of strength she had.

She would not let go of this moment. Not this moment. She would hold on with everything she had.

Chase leaned towards her and she leapt into his arms, pressing herself into him as their lips finally met in a kiss. It was as if everything around them had melted away. It was just the two of them in their own little perfect world. Alive and in love.

The crowd jumped to their feet in applause, but she barely heard any of it. Even when she and Chase finally pulled away and started marching down the aisle, the noise was nothing but a warm hum in the back of her head.

She was with Chase now. She was with Chase. Nothing could ever pull her away.

A huge smile spread across her face as she tossed the bouquet over her shoulder to no one in particular. The happy faces of the crowd swam before her eyes, and she and Chase walked hand in hand back through the cathedral. They didn’t have time to stay and mingle. They had a fairytale life to get to, after all.

But one face suddenly stood out above the rest. One face… that shouldn’t be there at all.

She squinted and leaned forward for a better look, but the next thing she knew, she was flying towards the ceiling with a scream. It was as if someone had lassoed her around the stomach. One second she was standing next to Chase, the next her hand was ripped from his as she flew backwards up into the air.

“There you are.” A cruel voice made her open her eyes. “Did you really expect to keep me out forever?”

3

Ryonna stood in front of the guard in Hellstar Prison. She hadn’t slept more than four hours in the last five days, there had been several close calls and near misses, and she couldn’t even begin to describe the intense aching behind her eyes, but she had made it. She was where she needed to be.

The Ferogot guard looked at her with the utmost detestation. She wasn’t surprised. His species had made the terrible mistake of going to open war with her people five decades ago, and the foolish attempt had cost them dearly. The Droxians were not conquerors of worlds. All they asked was to be left in peace. But the abundance of quadrinium within their territory had the unfortunate side effect of attracting unwanted company, something they didn’t look upon too kindly. Then again, very few other species were as powerful and talented at war as the Droxians. The Furies were one such species, but they had gone extinct a long time ago.

“Empty your pockets and drop your clothes, you filthy Droxian.” The guard snarled.

She looked into his eyes for the very first time and immediately received a vision of his death. From the looks of it, he would die shortly, within the confines of Hellstar Prison.

She smiled, taking this as a good omen for what was to come next. “Whatever you say.”

“I’d wipe that smirk off your face. We don’t like sarcasm around here. You’ll learn that soon enough.”

She decided not to antagonize him any further; he was clearly not worthy of her energy, and, to be honest, she didn’t have much left to spare. She dropped all of her belongings on the counter and started to undress. A guard droid hovered near her, ready to strike or stun her at the first sight of trouble. These flying spheres of metal were simple in design—a line of red lights shining all around the circumference and a red glass eye at their center. They also emitted a nerve-wracking buzzing sound when hovering and moving about.

“Not feeling so tough now, are we?” The guard was feeling braver now that she was naked.

Any other day, she would snap the little bugger’s neck on the spot, enjoying the sound of his brittle bones cracking under the pressure of her hold. But she had to be patient, something she wasn’t really good at. She was, after all, on the most important mission of her life.

Her teenage son was trapped somewhere in this hellhole. She had to get him out.

“No, sir,” she said, adding a tad of fear for dramatic effect. Best to just swallow her pride and get on with it—every second was important.

The guard’s eyes glittered with malice. “Yeah, you’re going to find out what happens to your kind down here.”

Don’t push your luck, you disgusting little dwarf!

He threw some prison clothes in her face and she had to block every instinct she had not to catch them. Droxians were incredibly fast, with amazing reflexes, but she didn’t want this pitiful piece of dirt to see that. Perhaps soon you will get a taste of my speed, she thought.

The clothes fell to the ground.

“Pick them up, now!” he shouted.

“Yes, sir. Pardon my clumsiness,” she replied through gritted teeth.

Keeping her eyes fixed on the ground, she picked up the clothes and quickly dressed. Of course they were too small. Not many races were as massively built as Droxian warriors. That being said, she was sure a prison like Hellstar would have attire for all sizes and shapes. This was probably just a pathetic attempt by the guard to feel superior.

Once she was dressed, the droid changed position and said in a synthetic voice, “Prisoner XA-667037, follow me.”

“As you command.”

She followed the droid down the hall to her right without giving the guard a second look.

Hope to see you soon, little dwarf…

They arrived at a steel door that was freckled with patches of rust. The droid turned its glowing eye to face her.

“Enter the decontamination room. Once you are finished, keep walking. Another droid will take you to your cell.”

“Understood.”

The door groaned as it split apart from the center. Flashing red lights appeared on the ground, indicating the way to the center of the room.

Like I would get lost taking a step forward. Who designs these things?

As soon as she stepped inside, the doors slammed shut behind her with a loud crunch and the room filled with a thick gas. A few blinking lights on a control screen provided the only illumination. She groped blindly until she managed to find one of the nozzles spewing the fog in the darkness and braced herself into position.

It was now or never.

Taking a deep breath, she blocked one of them with her thumb. A sharp beeping resonated within the decontamination chamber. Her interference had clearly set off some diagnostic function or alarm. It was exactly what she’d been hoping for. After a few moments, the pressure at the nozzle intensified, as expected. Another moment, and the nozzle made a clanging noise. With that, a pin ejected from the wall, making a soft metallic noise upon impact with the floor. She quickly took her thumb off of the nozzle and quietly slid the pin under the sole of her left foot. The second she’d gotten it hidden, the door shot open and the droid sped inside.

“Prisoner, do not move.”

“Understood.”

“There’s been a malfunction with your decontamination chamber. Running diagnostics. Please stand by.”

Ryonna didn’t answer. She felt the pin roll slightly and concentrated on keeping her foot completely motionless. These droids were not programmed to be subtle, and they certainly took no chances either. She pressed her bare foot harder over the pin to ensure that it remained hidden. Anything construed as a breach of protocol usually resulted in more safety measures on the part of the droids, sometimes even violent, preemptive actions.

After a few minutes, the pressure under her foot was killing her. The slightest twitch could result in the failure of her entire plan and that must not happen.

Hurry up, you flying ball of junk, she thought.

Just when she thought she would either have to move her foot or make a noise, there was a sudden beeping sound and the droid shot back outside. The second the door slammed shut, she immediately grabbed the pin with her toes, quickly passing it to her hands, and finally to her mouth. She then reluctantly swallowed it, grimacing from the horrible, stale, metallic taste.

The nozzles resumed distribution of the gas. Soon, every part of the small room was saturated. When it was finished, another synthesized voice announced, “Decontamination procedure complete. Please step out of the chamber.”

Almost immediately, the doors in front of Ryonna opened, splitting from the middle like the ones before, but this time vertically instead of horizontally. Just behind them stretched a dark hall, another set of red lights lighting up the floor to show her the way. Pretty soon another hovering droid came to meet her. 

Well, it’s now or never. Either the doctor was telling the truth, she thought, or I’m screwed. The droid stopped a meter away from her and its lights blinked once.

“Please hold still. Mandatory foreign object scan.”

A ray of red light scanned her from head to toe. She held her breath. At first, it seemed to be going well, then the droid emitted a sharp beep that didn’t sound good.

Crap! Her heart started pounding.

“Rescanning; please hold still.”

“Understood,” she said again, fighting to keep the worry from her voice.

The same ray of light scanned her again, only this time the droid’s noise was more cheerful. Well, as cheerful as a prison droid’s voice could sound.

“No foreign objects detected. Please proceed to the cells in section D. Follow me.”

She followed the droid with a sigh of relief. Step one: achieved.

Now all she needed to do was locate her son and try to get out of this hellhole…

4

When Chase opened his eyes, he saw that he was no longer in his quarters. A series of white lights strung over his bed pulsed as though they were dying and he could feel the stiff sheets of the med-bay under his hands. He blinked in the flickering light, but there was nobody to be seen. When he tried to get up, his head pounded from the movement.

“Alright then, not right now,” he groaned as he lay back down. “Doc? Anyone here?”

No one answered. He pressed the bright red button by his bed, the one intended for emergencies. He needed to know what had happened. He needed someone to tell him what was going on. He waited for a little while longer, but still no one came. Impatient, he jabbed the button continuously, until suddenly all the lights went dead. There was a deep, mechanical groan as the ship’s main generator went offline.

“What the hell?” Chase exclaimed out loud.

He glanced toward the door, expecting someone to come crashing in. But instead, he continued to sit in the quiet dark. His thoughts swirled around like a thick, befuddling fog as he bounced his foot with increased agitation. Finally, he’d had enough.

“Fuck this!” he cursed as he threw off the sheets and lowered his feet to the ground.

The second he stood up straight, his head began to throb with pain—pain accompanied by a strong dizziness that made him feel as though he could fall over at any second. He groped along the wall until he found the main door of med-bay and hit the comm button. Not even a single beep. The controls were offline. The door wouldn’t open either.

“Just great.”

He reached for a side panel and pulled the manual release. The door groaned apart, but stopped short. He managed to wedge himself inside and pushed the two sides apart just enough to squeeze through.

Great, med-bay is on deck five, he thought. Just four more decks to get to the bridge. Of course, that wasn’t going to be so easy since every system on the ship crashed.

He continued stumbling in the dark, and eventually the obvious question dawned on him.

Why hadn’t the secondary generators kicked in to turn on the emergency lights?

This can’t be good, he thought. He slid his hand along the wall, trying to blindly navigate. With his splitting headache, he couldn’t recall his approximate position within the ship. He needed to find a bulkhead and then climb four levels up to the bridge. If he could then⁠—

He stopped dead in his tracks. His hand had slid over a viscous substance, a syrupy liquid of some sort splashed across the wall. His hand shot reflexively away from the wall and he rubbed the liquid in between his fingers, hoping to identify it.

Please don’t be blood, he thought to himself with a mixture of disgust and fear.

As he wiped it clean on his pants, a terrible sense of dread filled his mind. What could possibly have happened? And where was the crew? His captain? His best friend Daniel...?

His heart started pounding. Panic propelled him forward at a reckless pace. Screw caution, he thought as he ran as quickly as his weakened legs would carry him. He ran a good while, his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. He was making good time, despite not being able to see the walls, when something caught his foot, sending him sprawling forward.

He struggled to catch his breath as his hands groped wildly along the ground, searching for whatever had tripped him. Or… whoever. The dark thought struck him just as he made contact. It was exactly what he had feared. It was a person.

“Oh God, no,” he panted. “Who’s there? Are you hurt?”

There was no answer. He patted his hands across the body, hoping to find some identifying feature. It seemed quite big. Bigger than him, for sure, bigger than anyone on board the Destiny, in fact. His hands found the face and then felt the hair. It was long, but the strands were knotted together. Like... like dreads. Could it be Ryonna? No, why would she be on the Destiny? Maybe it was another Droxian. After all, their ship had been heading toward Droxian space. Perhaps a battle had ensued…?

Then he heard something behind him. He turned and saw a small flicker far down the hall. It looked like a blinking emergency light. Maybe there was still some power running here and there. He got up and started walking slowly towards it. The light kept flickering, but it was too faint to give him any kind of visibility. At least it gave him something to move towards. Suddenly, he heard steps and saw a shadow dart in front of the light. He couldn’t make out who it was, but he hoped he could at least get some information.

“Hey, wait! What’s going on? What happened?” he called out.

There was no answer, just the sound of the running steps fading away. He did his best to chase the shadow in the direction it ran. He paused, unsure where to go, until he heard the steps once more. He continued his blind pursuit. Soon he could see another light in the distance. Then he heard it.

“Help! Please help me!”

It was a boy’s voice; not one he recognized, but it was clearly someone young. Someone afraid.

“Hang on! I’m coming!” Chase called out to him.

“Please hurry. He’s almost here!” the boy shrieked.

“Who? Who is after you?”

Chase was almost at the next flickering light, still barely able to see anything, but he thought he could see the shadow getting nearer with every step.

“Too late,” the boy whispered. “He’s here.”

“So am I,” Chase tried to calm him. “Now tell me, who’s here? Who are you?”

Suddenly, every light on the ship began to flicker wildly off and on. While it certainly didn’t help Chase’s headache, at least it gave him some visibility. He was able to discern the source of the frightened voice. It was a Droxian boy with his back turned to Chase. The boy was short for his race, although he was likely taller than Chase himself.

“What’s your name, boy?” he asked, shielding his eyes. Each flash intensified the dizzying pain in his head.

The child stammered breathlessly. “I... I...”

“Calm down. Take a deep breath, and just try to tell me your name.”

“I am... Ronan.”

The name sounded familiar. “Ronan? Ryonna’s son? Where’s your mom?”

“She was killed by that monster.” He sounded terrified. “He—I can feel him. He’s here. He’s close.”

Chase felt a deep pain sink inside his heart. Ryonna. He couldn’t believe she was gone. He needed to take care of Ronan, though. He would have to mourn later.

“Don’t worry. I’m here now. I won’t let him hurt you.”

Chase was slowly moving toward the boy when the lights suddenly turned back on to full power. The ship wasn’t a pretty sight. The walls were covered with blood. So was Chase’s hand. The boy rotated slowly around as his eyes flickered up to Chase’s face in horror.

“It’s you! You’re here to kill me!” he screamed. “Please don’t kill me!”

“Calm down, kid, I’m not⁠—”

Before Chase could finish his sentence, the boy started running the other direction. He was moving far more quickly than Chase was able, given his current state. Not that he could ever keep up with a Droxian on a good day.

“Wait! Come back here!”

“Leave me alone, monster!”

“I’m not a monster,” Chase breathed, more to himself than to the boy who was already nowhere to be seen now.

“Maybe you are,” said another voice from behind him.

He turned and saw a hooded man walking slowly towards him. The only parts of him not in shadow were his chin and what looked like a broad, sinister smile.

“Who the fuck are you? What did you do to this ship?” Chase demanded.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Are you terrorizing this boy? Did you kill Ryonna? She’d better⁠—”

“Better what? Do you really think you are in any shape to make threats, Chase?” The man moved closer, but his face was still obscured by the hood. There was something familiar about his voice, though. Something that set Chase’s teeth on edge.

“How do you know my name? Who are you?”

“You are so weak, I won’t even enjoy crushing you.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

The man only smiled in return, and Chase could feel the anger boil within him.

“Alright, pal, I’ve had a really shitty couple of days, and right now I am aching to beat the shit out of you, whoever you are.”

The man was less than twenty feet away now, still walking purposefully towards Chase, despite the fact that the latter had raised his fists. Then he stopped a few feet away and took his hood off. Chase couldn’t believe his eyes. The man looked just like him.

They shared the same facial structure, build, nose, and chin. But the man’s hair was grey with some white highlights, and he had a strong scar passing from his forehead to the bottom of his cheek. Then, there were his eyes. They were a deep red, a color Chase had never seen on a human before.

“What is this?” Chase wondered aloud before he could stop himself.

“Hi, little brother,” the man replied almost toyingly. “Are you ready to pay for your sins?”

“What sins? What brother? I have no brother!”

At Chase’s last words, a cruel grin spread across the man’s face. “Really. And how would you know?”

The weight of this question took him aback. It was true. He had no way of knowing. He had been mysteriously found on Alpha Prime with no recollection of his past. He had no way of knowing for sure about his family. His biological one. But the resemblance was undeniable. Could it be true?

“What kind of brother would want to crush his own kin?” Chase muttered quietly.

“The kind that doesn’t like it when his fleet gets wiped out.”

“That was you…” Chase’s eyes widened in shock. “You were on the dark ship?”

“I told you, you wouldn’t die that day. But now the time has come.”

“Where’s Sarah?” Chase thundered. “What did you do with her, you son of a bitch?” The anger now burned red hot against his skin.

“Insulting your own mother now, are we?” asked the man with a laugh.

“Where is Sarah?” Chase shouted again, throwing his fist towards the man’s face with as much force as he could muster.

Except it found nothing but air. The man had disappeared.

“What the⁠—”

“Behind you.”

Chase barely had time to turn his head before a terrible blow hit him full force and catapulted him into the air. He crashed to the ground, blood flying from his mouth.

“You bastard, I’m gonna⁠—”

“You’re gonna what?” the man demanded mockingly. “No, really. I’m interested to see what you’re going to do now. In fact, I’d be surprised if you simply managed to get up. You never were strong; I should have killed you a long time ago. You were always complaining, crying, never able to fend for yourself.” He spat on the ground. “You were always pathetic.”

Chase’s skin began to tingle with rage. His face burned. His hands curled to fists. For a moment he recognized the feeling. It reminded him of his vision with Sarah. Control or not, brother or not, he would use this fury inside him to strike this man down. He got up, his legs shaking, but he managed to stabilize himself as he looked towards his brother’s eyes.

“Tell me where Sarah is right now!”

“I suppose I could do that, as a sort of dying wish, last request kind of thing.”

“Tell me now, asshole!”

“Ah, Chase, always thinking you’re in control of the situation. It’s funny, really. But you know what, why not? I played with her, toyed with her emotions, tortured her, and made her crack. And once I was satisfied that she told all I wanted to know, I spaced her off the airlock of my ship. You should have seen her eyes blow up. Dear oh dear, have you seen what spacing does to a body? I’m telling you, Chase. It ain’t pretty.”

With a roaring growl, Chase entered a state of pure fury. His eyes started glowing purple, his hair waved about as though in a strong wind, tears formed in the corners of his eyes but he was emitting such power that they too started flying upward instead of falling on his cheek.

“Good,” the man called excitedly, “show me what you’ve got!”

“You asked for it!”

Acting on pure instinct, Chase raised his right hand in front of him, palm pointing towards his opponent. A ball of blue fire started forming, growing from the size of a cherry to the size of a soccer ball in almost no time, blue lightning crackling all around.

“Don’t shoot! Hold your fire, Ensign!”

What? Chase echoed the distant call back in his mind. He knew that voice.

“Move away from the bed, sir. Now!” another voice called in his mind.

What was happening? Chase looked back at his brother. He was smirking with a wicked glee. Chase took a deep breath and prepared to launch his attack.

“Wake up now, Chase!” Aphroditis shouted in his mind.

Then everything changed all at once. He was no longer standing, but sitting in a bed. Daniel was in front of him, waving his arms. A security guard, rifle in hand, was shouting at them both.

“Get away, Commander, we don’t know what will happen. He must be dealt with!” the guard shouted in clear panic.

“Stand down, now! This is a direct order, Ensign!” Daniel shouted back.

Chase shifted his focus towards his right arm. Hovering in front of it was the same blue fireball that he had been about to launch towards the man in what he could only surmise had been yet another vision. Or perhaps it had been a nightmare? It didn’t matter anymore. He quickly closed his eyes and concentrated on calming down. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. The ball was receding little by little. Soon it was gone.

The guard saw and lowered his weapon. Almost instantly, Daniel turned to look into his friend’s eyes, turned again, took three steps forward, and punched the security guard across the jaw, sending him flying to the ground.

“You’re dismissed, asshole. Report to the brig for insubordination.”

“But…”

“Now!”

The ensign got up, still holding his face as blood spilled out from his cracked lip.

“Yes, Commander, sorry, sir.”

He took off from the med-bay, leaving his weapon on the ground.

“You okay, buddy?” Daniel said cautiously, approaching Chase’s side.

“Yeah, I think so.” Chase sat with his legs hanging over the side of the bed and rubbed his temples.

“You scared me shitless. What the hell was that?”

Chase sighed. “Wish I knew.”

“This is getting out of hand. First the incident in your quarters, now this?”

“I know... I need to get off the Destiny before I hurt someone.”

Daniel’s face tightened. “I didn’t mean...”

“I know you didn’t, but we both know I’m endangering the ship and everyone onboard.”

Daniel took him calmly by the shoulders. “What actually happened? How did you destroy your quarters? And what the hell was that sphere of light just now?”

“My powers.”

“Don’t patronize me,” Daniel reproached, then his face changed. “What powers?”

“Aphroditis told me I wasn’t originally from the Alliance. You remember those subtle differences in my DNA?”

“Yeah, what about them?”

“Well, I’m a Fury, or at least half of one. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it.”

“What’s a Fury?”

“An older race that apparently has very strong powers.”

“Are there others like you?”

“I don’t know. Aphroditis said the Fury were extinct but I met one in my vision, nightmare, whatever that was just now.”

Daniel raised his eyebrows. “And he was… unfriendly, I take it?”

“Yeah, I think he’s the one who took Sarah.” Chase’s face tightened. “And Dan… he looked just like me.”

“Dude, you lost consciousness so many times the last few days, I’ve stopped counting. I wouldn’t interpret anything you saw while dreaming.”

“I would. I think Ryonna is in trouble.”

“Who the hell is Ryonna?”

“She’s the one who got us the quadrinium and helped us find the rest of the ships.”

Daniel nodded quickly, trying to follow along. “Where is she now?”

“Hellstar Prison, if I had to venture a guess.”

“Nothing you can do about her now then.”

“I’m not going to just sit here when we have a lead,” Chase replied.

“That place is no picnic, Chase! How do you even get inside?”

“I’ll find a way.”

Daniel sighed. “Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s say you find a way to get there. How will you fight your way inside? With what assault force? I know the captain trusts you, but after these two lasts stunts of yours, I don’t see him going along with you on this one.”

“I know. I didn’t intend to involve the Destiny. This is probably something I have to do on my own,” said Chase gravely.

Captain Saroudis’ voice resonated from the comm.

“All senior officers report to the bridge. We’ll be arriving on Droxia any minute now.”

“Feel like taking a walk?” Daniel asked.

“Absolutely.” Chase jumped out of the bed. “Let’s go.”

5

Sarah felt as though every muscle in her body had been ripped apart. She hardly had the energy to keep herself conscious and could feel her spirits beginning to falter. She had lost a lot of blood, and little by little she could feel herself slipping away. Each passing moment left her feeling less and less anchored to her own body. She began to lose her grip on reality. She knew she needed to remember something; there was a secret she was meant to keep. She vaguely remembered being captured by Obsidian, and she knew she wanted to stay quiet.

And she remembered Chase. Of course she remembered Chase. But truth be told, she was in so much torment that she could barely picture his face anymore.

“Where are you?” The voice was her own, but she didn’t remember allowing herself to speak.

“My brother isn’t coming, I’m afraid,” a man answered her. “And unless you start talking soon, I am afraid you’ll never see him again.”

Her eyes shot open, but she saw nothing. Tears poured down her cheeks. She no longer had the strength to keep him at bay. With each passing moment, her will weakened as her body slowly began to shut down.

“Alright, maybe it’s time for a change of pace,” the man said, when Sarah still refused to speak.

He gestured with two fingers, and Sarah came crashing down to the floor, barely able to protect her face with her hands before hitting the ground. The pain was excruciating—almost unbearable. But she was a soldier, after all, and soldiers didn’t quit.

“Go to hell!” she spat with what little voice she had left.

“Somehow I doubt I’ll get there before you,” he replied with a scoff. “Let me make you a deal. Obviously you don’t want to give up any information about your precious planet or the Alliance. I commend your courage, though right now I think it borders more on utter stupidity, but it is commendable nonetheless. So… what about the Droxians?”

“Droxians... Ryonna,” Sarah mumbled deliriously. She was on the verge of losing consciousness.

“Who’s Ryonna?”

“Friend…”

“Yours? Chase’s?” The man’s questions held a frantic tone.

But Sarah’s energy had left her. She tried to keep her thoughts straight, but she felt as though she was experiencing everything through a hazy fog. The pain was simply too agonizing. She could hold on no longer.

“Come on, one last effort and you’ll be rewarded,” he offered. “If Ryonna is your friend, where is she now?”

“Hell…” Sarah croaked.

“She’s dead?”

“…Star.”

“Hellstar Prison?”

“We need to help her. Chase... we need to…”

“Poor thing, you think I’m...” The man suddenly stopped himself. He studied her closely before continuing in a hesitant voice. “Yes, Sarah, hang on. I need you to help get Ryonna.”

“Help...”

The word fell quiet on her lips as her heart gave out once and for all.

The man sighed. “Not again.”

He raised his hands and a white energy flowed in strands from his fingers, enveloping her body for a brief moment. The light glowed warmly, then vanished as she opened her eyes.

“Chase,” she murmured, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome…”—the man hesitated—“dear.”

“Earth?” she said suddenly. “What...” She was still too weak to make full sentences.

“Don’t worry. Earth is safe. We saved it. Together.”

He approached her and knelt down, lifting her chin so she would face him. “Open your eyes… my love.”

“I... I love you too.”

Isn’t that sweet, thought the man, my brother fell for a pathetic Earthling. I can use that.

“I know,” he answered with as sweet a voice as he could manage. “Open your eyes and look at me.”

She struggled to do as he asked and finally got them open. It was a mistake.

The man’s eyes glowed bright red and she was blinded almost instantly. A powerful red beam of light shone so brightly that it seemed to burn into her very brain. It was like razorblades scraping their way down into the depths of her mind.

She tried to scream, but a few seconds later, it came to a sudden stop.

Realization rushed back to her in a flood of chilled understanding. This was not Chase. She tried to insult the assailant but her mouth wouldn’t move. The hair stood up on the back of her neck and she tried again. Nothing. A thin layer of sweat dotted her forehead as she realized with a stab of horror that she couldn’t move. She couldn’t do anything. She was paralyzed beyond recovery—staring into the fathomless red eyes of this terrible man.

“There’s no need to struggle anymore; your body is mine now,” his voice said in her mind.

“What the hell?” she mentally cursed.

“I call the shots now. See for yourself,” he answered her.

Sarah’s arm moved and she slapped herself. Hot panic bubbled up in her stomach.

“I will kill you!” she said in her mind, filled with rage.

“Somehow I highly doubt that. But you’re welcome to try.”

Everything in her longed to shriek, cry, tear out her hair in anguish. Anything to break free of this new kind of prison. But there was nothing. Her body was no longer her own.

She rose robotically to her feet.

“Let’s go to Hellstar Prison,” the man said in her mind.

“Yes, let’s go,” her voice answered him, beyond her control.

They walked through a long hallway before reaching a large, open hangar where she saw a ship that she recognized—the ship that had captured her. As they stepped aboard, she started screaming at him in her mind.

“Let me out of here! Let me go!”

“There, there,” he mocked. “Hush now.”

“No way! If you invaded my body, be prepared to get an earful.”

“Suit yourself. It makes no difference to me.”

“We’ll see about that!”

“Feisty things, these humans... You are a combative race, I’ll grant you that.”

The arrogance in his tone made her blood boil.

“A combative race that’s going to destroy your precious Obsidian.”

He laughed. “Obsidian? They're just a means to an end. I have little use for those fools anymore.”

Sarah reflected a little on that. He was so confident he had already won that he was clearly not thinking carefully. This bit of information might already prove useful. A rush of determination warmed her icy limbs. She would not allow herself to be completely helpless. Maybe by antagonizing him, she could learn more. That is, supposing she would ever regain the control of her body…

“Tired already?” he asked.

“Oh no, mister. We’re just getting started.”

“Well at least it won’t be a boring trip to Hellstar.”

So that’s what I said when I was losing it. Damn, I hope I haven’t endangered Ronan’s or Ryonna’s life. I don’t think I could forgive myself if anything happened to them. But at least there’s a bigger chance of me seeing Chase soon.

“Why are we going there?” she inquired casually.

“You know very well why.”

“Well I guess so, but you’re wasting your time if you think Chase will be there.”

He pursed his lips doubtfully. “Not the vibe I got from you earlier.”

“I was delirious.”

“Yeah, right.”

“But I’m glad we’re going.” She brightened. “Ryonna’s going to kick your ass.”

“I’d love to see her try. Don’t forget I control you now. I could very well use you as a shield or cannon fodder.”

“I’d rather be dead than trapped in here with you.”

“Well, your wish may come true soon enough…”

A chill ran up her spine at the ominous tone to his words.

“As for this Ryonna,” he continued, “I don’t fear the Droxians. They’re very predictable. One of my fleets is turning their world to dust as we speak. So you see, the Droxians will soon be history as well.”

“You bastard!” Sarah screamed.

“There, there now. You’re just insulting your own boyfriend’s parents.”

“I don’t believe you are Chase’s brother.”

It was true. No matter how much they looked alike, there was no way that someone so evil could be related to someone as good as Chase.

“But I am. Soon he will join me, and together we will destroy your pathetic planet!”

She gave a hard laugh. “Chase would never work with you. He’ll kill you the first chance he gets.”

The man shook his head with a smile. “He is a Fury after all. It’s our destiny, to rid this universe of the weaker races.”

“Your destiny? Wow, you should hear yourself! Alright then, Mr. Fury,” she said, hoping to push him to reveal more information.

“My name is Argos Thanatos.”

“Finally, I have something to call you besides creep, coward, or bastard. Though I must admit, I like those just fine.”

He ignored this with a scary calm. “Your attempts at making me angry are not going to work. But fortunately I have plans for you for the time being.”

“Yeah? Bring them on. Chase will end you. That is, unless I do it first.”

“Sure... you can keep thinking that while you enjoy the show.”

She sneered. “You seem pretty confident. Do you really believe the Earth Alliance is only made of humans? We have help.”

"I know, the Droxians. But wait, didn’t someone just say something about wiping them off the face of the universe?” He gave an evil laugh. “And then, of course, there is the Olympian scum as well.”

He knows about Aphroditis? That can’t be good. I wonder how much he knows…

“The who?” Sarah asked as innocently as she could manage.

“Don’t play dumb. My ship detected an Olympian subspace transmissions signature. I know they are talking with my brother.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Who are these Olympians?”

“I guess my brother didn’t tell you everything then.”

She could almost feel his smug smirk. Bingo.

“Or you’re making up stories. The name sounds familiar, though. We had this mythology from a country that used to be called Greece; the Olympians were their gods.”

“So that’s why they intervened. Earth must be one of the worlds that was once under their… How do they put it? Ah yes, guidance.” Argos chuckled. “At least it makes some sort of sense now. They will pay the price for their crimes. They were strictly forbidden by the older races to intervene in the matters of the young ones.”

“Young ones?”

“Yes, you know, little cockroaches like you.”

“I’m surprised you know that word. Do you also have roaches on your planet? You know, other than you?”

“I am in control of your brain,” he explained, ignoring the last comment. “With each passing moment I gain more knowledge about your vermin of a race. You are weak, with a lifespan of eighty or so years. You bicker internally. No wonder the Alliance chose you to enslave.”

“The Alliance and Earth are allies. We are not enslaved.”

“Be that as it may, I may enslave you myself soon enough now that I know how easy it is to do so. Or I may just crush you under my heel, as I would any other pest.”

“I’m feeling a lot of repressed anger. Mommy didn’t love you as a child?”

Argos growled. “Enough!”

“I must have touched a chord. Not so in control after all, are you?” She waited for a reply. “Argos? I thought you wanted me to keep talking?”

He didn’t answer. Good, it meant she was at least getting to him, at the very least on some level. She needed to keep him as distracted as possible to keep him out of her mind.

So there are older races. I wonder if there are still others left in the galaxy besides the Olympians—the Alliance could use their help.

“So are the Fury a younger race as well?”

“Don’t be absurd. We’re one of the oldest there ever was.” He corrected himself quickly, “I mean… is.”

“I thought you were extinct.”

“You thought wrong.” His voice was noticeably strained the longer he talked about it.

“Alright, but your world⁠—”

“Is no more, yes…” He paused. “But that’s just a temporary setback.”

“So there are more of you?”

He growled again. “You ask too many questions. Sleep!”

Suddenly, she felt as though a dark veil had thrown itself over her thoughts. As her mind drifted off to unconsciousness, she was able to wrap her head around three final words.

Chase, help, Hellstar...

Then her mind dissolved into an empty void.

6

Ryonna’s first night in Hellstar had been a sleepless one. As was custom for new arrivals, she was assigned a lone cell. But Hellstar wasn’t a normal prison. Cells there were only temporary. Main population was actually just a large, open space. There was one fortified main entry, but several smaller doors led to interrogation chambers and medical centers, and one big door led to a morgue. The prison was mostly unguarded with the exception of sentry droids who would intervene only if the security of the prison was in jeopardy. Something that didn’t happen often, if the prison’s reputation was to be believed. The inmates did a good enough job of maintaining their own brand of order.

What that meant was that no one who came to Hellstar would ever get out. Not alive anyway. The population of the prison had the tendency to make their own rules. They would thin the herd regularly. Only the strong survived this place. Ryonna wasn’t that worried, though. Not many races were able to take down a Droxian in a one-on-one fight. What she had to be careful about was to not get overpowered by larger numbers.

Her stomach made a strange noise accompanied with some discomfort. She groaned but knew it was part of her plan; the quadrinium pin she had ingested was being transformed in her stomach, a process that would take some time. And while she might hate how she was feeling, it was normal since she literally had a nanite factory in her stomach. So it was bound to feel unpleasant at the very least. She hoped the doc had been right, or else her stay in Hellstar, and in the universe for that matter, was not going to be as long as she’d hoped. She had gone through a whole lot of effort and pain to get this plan in motion. It had to work. Ronan’s life hung in the balance.

Aside from the discomfort from the pin, there was something else that was causing her stomach to feel as though it was tied in knots. A fear gripped her heart and wouldn’t let go. She tried to tell herself that it was just nerves, but her instinct told her that she had no more time to lose, that Ronan needed her.

In the morning, a flying droid came to open her cell and accompany her to the general population. As they approached the large and clearly fortified gates, Ryonna rolled her neck first to one side, then the other, popping the bones loudly. The massive doors opened after a series of loud clicks and groans. She held her body stiff and tall as she strode past the dozens of creeps waiting within its walls.

Here we go, she thought.

The moment she crossed the threshold, the gates closed back with a loud, metallic clunk, and the ground trembled. She looked fiercely at everyone present. One pair of crazy eyes after another. Humanoids, Brins, insectoids… All the finest scum of the universe was here, no doubt. She gave them each a look that would melt ice to make sure she set the tone of her presence. She knew she had to make it clear from the start that she was not a being to be trifled with. After a few moments, most of the inmates went back to whatever they had been doing before she walked in. There was one Brin, though, who simply wouldn’t stop staring at her.

“Want a holo-picture? It will last longer!” she said defiantly, jutting her chin.

He didn’t answer. She walked right in front of him and stared down. Still, he didn’t move and his eyes stayed locked on hers.

“I suggest you get out of my way,” she said menacingly.

Brins were typically about the height of human beings. This one was actually about two meters in height and was well built. His purple, scaled skin looked filthy and he emitted an unpleasant odor. He still didn’t budge. He did, however, make the stupid decision to growl.

Ryonna had hoped to avoid any confrontation, but she knew very well she would have to mark her territory if she was to survive her stay here, however short it may turn out to be. She kept meeting his gaze until he made the first move.

But before he could launch his fist toward her thorax, she was already out of the way. She caught his arm and snapped it on his own back, taking a step away as he screamed through the agony of a dozen broken bones.

By this point a crowd had started to form around them. She decided not to let the altercation last too long. After all, she had more important matters to attend to. She delivered a single blow in a fast and fluid motion to the back of the Brin’s neck. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

“Now let this be a lesson to everyone,” she said loud enough so most convicts within earshot could hear. The crowd quietly dispersed.

“Very impressive. Although, you probably made yourself a few enemies. The Brins are well respected here in Hellstar,” said someone to her right.

She turned to see who had spoken. An insectoid Gorgar was standing there.

“Well, he looked at me wrong,” she retorted irritably.

“Maybe that’s because he’s both blind and deaf, and I guess now a cripple.”

“What?” Her face clouded with surprise.

“Nah, I’m shitting you. The guy’s a real asshole. I, for one, am happy you kicked his ass.”

Ryonna released a sigh of relief over the last comment. She definitely hated those who preyed on the weak, and she’d hate to think of herself in that category.

“Who do I talk to to get information around here?”

“That depends. What kind of information are you looking for?” The Gorgar smiled. He clearly knew something.

“I’m looking for someone in Hellstar.”

“Another Droxian perhaps? A young boy?”

Hope swelled in Ryonna’s chest. “Yes, where is he?”

“I can help, but everything has a price down here.”

“I don’t have time for⁠—”

Before she could finish her sentence, the Gorgar vanished into thin air in front of her eyes. “Make the time,” he suddenly said from behind her.

A teleporter? She jumped instinctively back into a fighting stance.

“Easy, Miss...?”

“Ryonna.”

“Take it easy, Ryonna, I’m not your enemy. But I need your help, and I think you might need mine.” The insectoid was right, and Ryonna knew it.

“I’m listening.”

“I believe I know the one you are looking for.”

“What do you want?”

“I sense you are not planning to be here for long. I want you to take me with you.”

She shook her head. “Not in the cards.”

“Too bad. The boy won’t last long.” The insectoid turned away, but glanced back at her intently. “He’s your son, isn’t he?”

“How did you⁠—”

“Oh please, a mother’s love is obvious. But like I said, he won’t last long here.”

She jutted up her chin. “My son is stronger than you think.”

“That may be true, but it’s not really relevant at this point.”

“What does that mean?”

“He got into a fight with another convict yesterday. It didn’t look like he would survive his injuries for very long, I’m afraid. I’m surprised he lasted the night.”

“What? You son of a bitch, why didn’t you tell me that earlier? Where is he now?” She moved toward the Gorgar, but he just vanished and reappeared behind her.

“As I said before,” he began, “everything has a price. Mine is my freedom.”

“What about your life? I could crush you right now!”

“Well, you could give it your best shot, but I doubt you have the time to play cat and mouse.” The Gorgar then teleported again three times successively. First on her right, then left, and then in front of her. He moved so fast that Ryonna could hardly keep track. “If you see what I mean...” He smiled when he was finished.

“You can’t keep that up all day. Eventually, you’ll run out of juice.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But do you think your boy has that kind of time?”

A fierce rage boiled in Ryonna’s blood, but now if what that creature said was true, she might even have less time to find Ronan than she had thought.

“One day you’ll regret blackmailing me, mark my words,” she hissed.

“Do we have a deal then?”

“Yes,” she responded grudgingly. “Now where is my son?”

“Follow me. He was badly wounded, so we need to hurry. I hope we’re not too late.”

“If we are, the deal is off.”

“That’s not in the original deal. Let’s go.”

Ryonna growled.

The Gorgar started running, Ryonna following closely behind. After ten minutes, they arrived near something that looked like an arena of some sort.

“This is where he fought.”

Ryonna looked at the ground and saw blood. Lots of blood. Some of the fresher streaks did indeed look like Droxian blood.

“Alright, where is he?” she asked anxiously.

The Gorgar got down and took some of the Droxian blood between his fingers, licked it briefly, and got up again.

“What are you doing?” Ryonna demanded.

“Picking up his scent.”

“What? I thought you knew where he was? Don’t you waste my time⁠—”

“Look, I’m the best chance you have to find him quickly.”

“Doesn’t look that way to me.”

“Droxians,” the Gorgar groaned, before suddenly: “There! He’s three klicks in that direction.”

“What are we waiting for?!”

They resumed their run and made their way to one of the smaller corridors. It was there that they ran into a problem. A big, fat, orange problem. He was a humanoid with dark, tribal tattoos covering his bright skin, and he was standing directly in their path. They came to a stop in front of him and Ryonna didn’t waste any time bothering to evaluate the situation.

“Move out of our way, or I will make you move.”

“You cannot pass through here,” answered the man with a deep voice.

“Wanna bet?” Ryonna replied, taking a step forward.

“Ryonna, maybe we shouldn’t antagonize him,” the Gorgar cautioned. “The Radioks are dumb, but they are numerous in this prison.”

“Who are you calling dumb?” the man bellowed.

“Not you, sir. I was making a general observation,” the Gorgar replied.

The fat Radiok seemed confused by the answer, so he started scratching his head, trying to figure out if he should feel insulted or not.

“Move away now,” Ryonna repeated impatiently through clenched teeth. “This is your last warning, fatso!”

“Who are you calling fasto?”

Ryonna turned towards the Gorgar. “Yeah, you’re right. They’re really dumb.”

The Gorgar nodded in answer.

“What?” cried the Radiok. “Nobody dares to⁠—”

Before he could finish his sentence, he was taking a swing at Ryonna. And while she was much faster, she was still impressed by his speed considering the Radiok’s ample corpulence. She slid under him and went for a kick in between his legs. He didn’t seem to budge so she backed away.

“That should have floored him. What’s going on?”

The insectoid smiled. “That’s not where the Radiok’s genitals are.”

“Oh...”

“He’s pissed now anyway, so let’s finish this.”

The Gorgar teleported behind him and attacked the Radiok with three precise strikes to his back. The man fell headfirst to the ground with a loud thud.

“Alright, next time do that immediately.” Ryonna huffed, annoyed at having needed the assistance of a Gorgar.

“Again, not part of our original deal. And you’re welcome.”

“If you say the word deal one more time I will shove your antennas down your throat.”

“Charming…”

Ryonna stepped over the Radiok and they resumed their run. A few minutes later, they arrived at an intersection. The Gorgar made a weird noise and pointed towards the right.

“That way. We’re near.”

“Let’s hurry then.” The feeling of terror had returned to Ryonna’s chest.

They arrived at a series of rooms. Some of them looked like living quarters. She could smell a Droxian presence now. She rushed towards it and entered one of the alcoves before stopping dead in her tracks. What she saw terrified her. There was a Droxian body in the middle of the floor, face-down and motionless, lying in a pool of blood.

She froze, terrified to take another step. The body didn’t seem to be breathing.

7

The lift’s doors opened and Daniel and Chase stepped onto the bridge.

“Good to see you up,” the captain said upon seeing Chase.

“Captain,” Chase replied with a nod.

“Daniel, would you mind explaining to me why one of my security guards had to surrender himself to my brig?”

“Long story, Captain.”

“Alright, we only have a few seconds before we jump out of hyperspace near Droxia, but you will debrief me later.” His tone left no room for argument.

“Yes, Cap⁠—”

He never finished his sentence as the Destiny’s hyperspace engines roared.

The second the Destiny made the jump back to normal space, all hell broke loose. Salvos of laser fire came crashing against the ship’s hull, rocking it. They were at the planet alright. And it was under a full-on attack.

“Shields up, now! Battle stations!”

“Shields are up, Captain,” answered a crew member.

“What the hell! I thought we were supposed to stand trial, not be shot on sight!” shouted Daniel.

“Status report?” demanded the captain.

“A fleet of several ships, some Obsidian and some Zarlack, are attacking a large fleet of Droxian ships as well as firing on the planet, Captain.”

“Get me Captain Dark’nar of the Droxian battleship Phoenix.”

“On screen, Captain.”

The captain appeared on the main holo-screen of the Destiny. He seemed as lost as they were, shouting commands in Droxian to his crew. After a few seconds he turned towards his main camera. “Captain Saroudis, do you have any idea what this is?” he demanded.

“None. But let’s not worry about that. We will engage and provide assistance; we owe you that much.”

“Thank you, Captain Saroudis, this will not be forgotten.”

The screen snapped off as the captain issued his next order.

“Target enemy vessels; fire at will. Torpedoes, lasers, everything. Red alert! Deploy all fighters now!” He turned toward his two young friends. “You two, to your ships on the double. Alpha and Beta Wings need their wing commander.”

“Understood, Captain,” said Chase as they both ran off the bridge.

* * *

Chase and Daniel’s fighters were the last to launch, but soon they rejoined the rest of their wings. This was a far bigger onslaught than the one that had taken place on Earth a few days ago. Obsidian and their Zarlack allies had clearly amassed another huge fleet in order to attack Droxia, no doubt because of their intervention in the previous battle.

How had they gotten so many new ships so quickly? No one knew.

“Dan, what if Sarah is on one of these ships?” The question had pricked the back of his mind ever since he saw the Obsidian Fleet.

“Chase, not now. I understand how you feel, but you can’t let that stop us from destroying our enemies. They nearly annihilated a planet with seven billion souls, and now they’re trying to destroy another. They need to be stopped. Not to mention that if we survive this, we might just have found our biggest ally yet.”

“Let’s just hope they don’t bite the dust here today,” Chase replied.

“That’s more like it. Let’s help them make sure that doesn’t happen, alright?”

“Roger that. Engaging.”

Chase went into a fury of acrobatic maneuvers, dispatching enemy vessels one after the other. His mind was fully dedicated to winning this fight and it showed. After only a couple of minutes he had eradicated an entire enemy wing almost by himself.

He was directing his wing to the next incoming wave of fighters when he heard something in his mind.

 Chase, help, Hellstar...

It was Sarah’s voice. He would know it anywhere. At first he froze, believing he was hallucinating. His ship took a blast of laser fire to his port shield, but he barely reacted until the onboard computer resonated another alarm: “Warning! Collision alert, warning!”

He barely managed to veer off course at the last moment, his shield brightening up from the close encounter with a Zarlack fighter.

“In the name of...” Daniel shouted via the comm. “Are you alright, Chase?”

“Yeah, sorry, got distracted for a moment.”

“Chase, there’s no way of knowing if Sarah is here, but you can’t think about that for now. We need you.”

“Roger that. Plus, I know now she isn’t here.” Chase was almost delirious with relief that she was alive, although terrified at her destination.

“Huh? Mind explaining that?”

“Later—let’s finish this and fast! I know where I have to go next.”

“That’s the spirit. Watch your six! You have multiple enemy craft approaching.”

Chase looked at his HUD. Three enemy craft had taken advantage of his little reverie and were aligned perfectly on his six. They started firing the moment they were in range.

Chase took evasive action by rotating the ship on its axis, avoiding most hits but still taking some damage to his shields.

“Hang on, Chase, I’m coming.”

“No need, Dan, I’ve got this.” He couldn’t help but grin. “Computer, execute command Omega One.”

The ship’s engine’s cut off and he made a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree rotation to face his foes. With the engine off, the ship carried its initial momentum and Chase lined up a shower of laser fire upon their frontal shields, diverting the engine power to his own shields and boosting the power of his lasers. He painted all three targets and fired three missiles simultaneously. Two of the missiles tore their targets apart in a fiery blaze, while the third impacted the ship but the ship didn’t explode; it lost all shields instead.

Chase rebalanced power, went full on the engines, and headed on a collision course. He waited until the last second and fired a single burst of concentrated laser fire. The enemy ship exploded like a piñata, and Chase flew through the debris.

“Are you okay, pal?” inquired Daniel.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Okay partner, you seem to be flying even more recklessly than usual.”

Chase smirked. “And how does that reflect on my kill stats so far?”

After a couple of seconds Daniel answered. “As long as you’re in control of your emotions.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

“I’m fine, bro, don’t worry.”

“Roger. Good hunting.”

“You too.”

* * *

On the bridge of the SAD Destiny, Captain Saroudis watched the battle with great focus. Their arrival seemed to have tipped the balance in favor of the Alliance now, with multiple squadrons of fighters being eradicated by the joint forces of the Destiny battlegroup and their Droxian escorts.

Chase’s ability to engage enemies using non-conventional and ever-changing fighting techniques never ceased to amaze the captain. Of course, his recklessness was enough to give the captain a series of small heart attacks. Chase was an ace pilot and natural strategist, one they could not afford to lose. Not to mention his relations with the Olympians.

The Obsidian Empire and their Zarlack allies seemed to agree. They sent no less than two squadrons on an approaching vector towards Chase’s Beta Wing.

“Lieutenant, concentrate fire to cover Beta Wing; all batteries, fire.”

“New targets acquired. Firing now, Captain.”

The barrage of laser fire being unleashed towards the incoming wings vectoring towards Beta Wing was very effective and dealt with most of them in a matter of seconds. More than two thirds of their craft exploded before they could reach firing range.

“Thanks for the assist, Captain,” Chase called over the comm.

“Anytime, Chase. But some fighters are still entering firing range.”

“That’s alright; my wing will take care of it. What’s our status?”

“We seem to have tipped the balance of this fight. We should be able to win this, but it’s too early to tell at what cost. It’s a rather balanced fight; both sides are incurring substantial damage.”

“Roger that, Cap.”

Captain Saroudis’ chin was pressed against a clenched fist, clearly worried by this unexpected battle. Yet he knew this might actually win over the Droxians as new members of the Alliance, something that was both unexpected and a great first step towards uniting more worlds against the Obsidian Empire. He had to admit, though, that he didn’t know if that would be enough. Even if the Droxians joined them, they would most likely still be outnumbered. They simply had no way of knowing how many Zarlack ships were out there. So while every new allied world mattered, especially after the catastrophic losses the Alliance suffered from the coordinated attack, Captain Saroudis wondered how long they could resist an all-out attack if one was to come.

“Captain!” shouted one of the officers.

“What is it?”

“Multiple jump points forming.”

“Damn, just when we thought we had this battle under control.”

“Sir, the ships show a friendly signature!”

“What?”

“Seven Alliance battleships with escorts, including the SAD Cronos.”

“Thank the gods…”

* * *

Onboard the SAD Cronos’ bridge, Admiral Thassos was sitting in her chair.

“Ensign, target all enemy ships. Fire at will.”

“Yes, ma’am, firing at will.”

The admiral was a tall woman well into her eighties, though the years had been kind to her. By human standards, the admiral barely looked fifty years old. Her face bore few wrinkles and held one blue and one green eye, along with long blond hair that flowed like golden velvet down her back.

“Open a channel to the Destiny.”

“Channel opened.”

Captain Saroudis appeared on the holo-display of the Cronos battle destroyer.

“Long time no see, Adonis.”

“Indeed, Admiral.” He looked delighted. “I thought the Fifth Fleet was destroyed when the Empire attacked the home world?”

“Rumors of our demise were greatly exaggerated.”

“I can see that. Your timing couldn’t be better.”

“You seemed to have things under control from what our scans told to us, but I thought you’d appreciate the help anyway.”

The captain chuckled and gestured to the battle. “We do.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing you soon, old friend. In the meantime, let’s turn these Obsidian scum and their new friends into pretty fireworks.”

He smiled. “Roger that, Admiral. Saroudis out.”

The holo-screen turned off.

Admiral Thassos then picked the biggest three battleships currently engaged against the Alliance and the Droxians, targeting them on her personal battle holo-display.

“Bring main weapons to bear.”

“Main weapons active.”

“Fire in sequence on my target list, maximum firepower.”

“Firing now, Admiral.”

* * *

Chase had just dispatched the last of the incoming enemy fighters when he was blinded by several jump points forming. Obsidian Empire reinforcements, no doubt. It took a few seconds for the white veil from the jumps to restore his vision. At first he thought he was dreaming, then quickly checked his HUD for confirmation. There was no doubt, those were Alliance battle destroyers, and quite the armada too.

“Am I seeing this right?” Daniel’s voice came over the comm system.

“Yeah, that’s the Fifth Fleet.”

“But how is that even possible?”

“Does it really matter?”

“No I guess not. I’m just stunned. For a second I thought it was more Zarlack reinforcements and more bad luck.”

“You and me both, my friend.”

Soon every ship from the newly arrived Alliance armada started spewing fighters. It looked like a swarm of bees, beautiful and extremely effective too. Both Obsidian and Zarlack starfighters started disappearing off the radar at an exponential rate.

“Wow, looks like this battle will be over sooner than we expected,” Daniel said.

“Yes, but let’s go assist anyway.” Chase grinned. “It’s not every day we have the numbers on our side. Let’s savor this moment.”

“Agreed.”

“Care to make it interesting?”

Daniel chuckled. “What did you have in mind?”

“The one with the least kills is on drink duty for a week.”

“Deal!”

Both Daniel and Chase vectored towards the nearest wings of enemy ships and engaged them. Clearly surprised by getting fired on by no less than three fronts now, they were easy pickings. They exploded one after the other. Chase aligned a perfect couple of shots toward his nearest target, successfully exploding the fighter wing, which promptly started spinning and went crashing into another foe, the explosion claiming both fighters simultaneously.

“Buy one, get one free!”

“Show off,” Daniel replied.

“That’s seventeen, my friend. Now who’s showing off?”

“I’m still gonna say you.”

“Fair enough.” Chase laughed.

Then something happened. The Cronos fired an intense beam of laser fire that instantly took out the biggest Obsidian battleship still in play. Two successive shots then took down the next two biggest Zarlack battleships, the first hit splitting the ship in half and the second provoking a major explosion that disabled the targeted ship.

“I don’t know what that was, but I’ll take five, please!” exclaimed Chase.

“I had heard the Cronos was getting equipped with next generation R&D weaponry.”

“I’m also getting a newer signature on the radar but haven’t seen any of the ships on visuals.”

“Oh,” Daniel said knowingly, “that must be the Omega starfighters.”

“What are those? And why am I not flying one?”

“They’re the next generation of dogfighting war machines. I had heard about them in passing but never thought they were actually ready for combat.”

“Why don’t we see any?”

Right on cue, an impressive looking fighter with sharp lines and glistening armor de-cloaked in front of Chase’s fighter.

“Hey, rookie! How do you like my new set of wings?” called a familiar female voice over the comm.

“No way! Fillio?”

“Still as reckless as ever I see,” she replied.

“Well, you know me. That’s one sweet machine you’re flying.”

“Very, and it’s been invaluable to our survival. The cloak only works for a few minutes, but it definitely gave us the edge we needed with our enemy encounters.”

“I bet! I want one of those, yesterday!” Chase was almost giddy looking at the ship.

“You’ll have to ask Admiral Thassos for one, flyboy. We don’t exactly grow them on trees, especially nowadays. Speaking of starfighters, what the hell are you flying? I don’t recognize the design.”

“Oh, say hello to the F-140 Thunderbird, the first Earth Alliance ship. I helped design it.”

“Really? What’s Earth?”

“Long story. We’ll talk about it over drinks. And from the looks of it, Commander Tharraleos will be the one fetching them, for a whole week,” Chase taunted.

“Alright, boys, see you later then.”

“See you soon, Fillio; really glad to see you.”

“Always a pleasure, Chasy boy!”

“Chasy boy?” echoed Daniel, trying not to laugh too much over the comm.

“If you repeat that, I will kill you.”

“Whatever you say… Chasy boy.” The laughter overtook him.

“Oh gods...”

As the battle continued, the SAD Cronos fired another one of its main weapons and finished off the ship it had crippled earlier. Then, as soon as it entered battering range, it started raining an impressive amount of laser fire toward the smaller Zarlack ships around it.

It was an impressive victory, but it didn’t last long. A few seconds later, all enemy ships still capable of jumping did so. They had retreated. It only took a couple of minutes to dispatch whatever enemy starfighters had been left abandoned on the battle theater.

Soon all Alliance and Droxian fighters rejoined their respective battleships. Fragments of destroyed Zarlack and Obsidian vessels slowly orbited Droxia. Each piece looked like a tombstone, remembering the lives of soldiers lost. The allied forces watched as the floating cemetery gradually disintegrated into ash, before vanishing amongst the stars.

8

Argos and Sarah arrived at Hellstar. Somehow, he had managed to get permission to land under some pretense that he needed to come pick up a prisoner for transfer. Sarah was again awake in her own mind. She tried with all her might to take back control of her body, but nothing budged. Not a finger. It had thrown her into a panicked tailspin.

They got off the ship, the same ship that had captured her what felt like ages ago, and walked a few moments before arriving near a door that opened as they approached it. A hovering, circular sentry came to greet them and ask that they follow them to the administrative section of the prison. But as soon as the flying bot turned to show the way, Argos flicked a finger and the droid crashed against the wall, collapsing to the ground in a mess of sparks and ashes.

He and Sarah went the other way at a sprint. Every camera they encountered exploded before it could catch any images of them. She couldn’t understand how Argos was doing it, but it was clear that his powers were great. If he was Chase’s brother, Sarah wondered if maybe Chase had similar powers. But why wouldn’t he have told her about them? And why wouldn’t he have used them before when they were in trouble on that desolate planet? Sarah remembered vividly the beast that had attacked them. She could still see Ryonna slicing it in two. Surely that would have been a great time to reveal secret powers.

“Where are we going?” she asked in her mind.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

“I’d like to know now.”

“I don’t care what you’d like,” Argos replied in an almost petulant tone.

“Boy, you are nothing like Chase.”

“That’s a compliment as far as I’m concerned, so thank you.”

It was her turn to ignore him. “You aren’t even half the man he is.”

Argos didn’t answer but she could see he hadn’t liked the comparison. Perhaps there was something she could push more on the subject.

“You do realize he is going to kill you?”

“He is welcome to try. Though, I don’t think ten of him could even manage to wound me.”

“You’re very confident even though we defeated you and your armada back on Earth.”

“Don’t get too cocky,” he replied sharply. “I decided getting you was more valuable than destroying your pathetic world that day. There is a difference between defeat and patience.”

“Losers will always find excuses.”

“Would you like to sleep some more?”

“Cowards too. Sure, put me to sleep if you aren’t man enough to talk with someone who you won’t even give a chance to defend herself.”

“Humans... you are nothing more than insects.”

“Say that to the Zarlacks that died at our hands.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. Zarlacks are nothing more than insects either, but I’ll give you this, you fought well.”

“We outsmarted you, plain and simple.”

“And look where it got you. I am going to kill your friend Ryonna. And your hands will be the ones that carry it out.”

Sarah faltered but tried to sound strong. “She won’t fall for it.”

“Let’s wait and see, shall we?”

They arrived at the end of a corridor, a huge, reinforced door blocking their path. Two more sentries were waiting there and entered into combat mode the moment they saw the pair arriving. They issued a single warning.

“Surrender immediately or be killed.”

Before Sarah could even blink, they collided with one another as if by magic and exploded into a million pieces on the ground.

“Great tactic. Now who is going to open these doors for you?” she taunted.

“I don’t recall saying I needed anyone’s help.”

Argos took a fighting stance and pushed Sarah’s body out of the way. His teeth ground together and he made a growling sound as two bright red fireballs engulfed both of his fists. He released a huge shout and thrust both his fists towards the door. The fireballs merged into one and a ray of red energy melted through the metal as if it was nothing.

“Wow,” Sarah uttered against her will.

“And you think I’m afraid of Chase?”

She had no response to that. His power was even greater than she had feared. They stepped through what was left of the doors, the melted edges still burning red as countless convicts came running towards the entrance, clearly intrigued by what had just happened.

The first ones were a few feet away when Argos raised a single finger towards them. At first, it looked like nothing was happening. Then, he shot out three thin lasers, like stings.

The first convict, a human-looking female got her heart pierced; the second one, a race Sarah didn’t recognize, with green-spotted skin, got his brain pierced; while the third went towards the neck of an insectoid-looking convict, effectively decapitating him. Every single other convict around immediately froze, while the ones farther away just turned tail and started running. Argos grabbed one with his mind and sent him flying in the air for a few seconds. Sarah knew very well what was coming next, but before she could mentally prepare herself for the spectacle, the convict’s arms, legs, and head disconnected themselves and blood spilled all around.

When Argos took a step forward, the looks of everyone present were nothing short of terrified. They didn’t know what to do, too scared to move a single muscle.

“Alright, now that I have your attention, ladies and gentlemen, I am looking for a Droxian woman by the name of Ryonna. Anybody seen her?”

A convict stepped forward and pointed towards a set of corridors nearby.

“Speak,” ordered Argos.

“They... they went that way, sir. Please don’t kill me.”

“You’re all free to get out of this place, but if any of you try to approach my ship parked in docking bay five, well, I don’t have to tell you what will happen.”

When the convicts didn’t move a muscle, Argos made a growling noise that froze everyone’s blood instantly.

“I don’t think I made myself clear. I need the diversion. So you either start running through there”—he gestured to the hole he made a few moments earlier—“and make a commotion, or I don’t have any use for you. If you catch my drift?”

That latest speech had the effect Argos hoped for. All of the convicts started running towards the hole as fast as their legs could carry them.

That should keep the sentries occupied while we locate Ryonna, thought Argos, smiling to himself as he watched them run.

9

Ryonna could hear every single beat of her heart. It was hammering so hard that her body almost moved into a fighter’s stance by instinct. After a few moments, she finally closed the distance between herself and the body and turned the Droxian towards her.

The boy was dead, but it wasn’t Ronan. The weight of her joy rolled her to a sitting position. Not Ronan. Not Ronan. Not Ronan, she kept repeating to herself. She exhaled deeply in relief, but she felt sorry for the boy nonetheless. She had still lost one of her own.

The Gorgar came to her side and didn’t say a word, but he looked worried.

“It’s not Ronan.”

“I am very glad to hear that.”

“We still need to find my son.”

“Absolutely.”

“Any ideas?”

The insectoid nodded. “I have an idea. Stay here.”

Just like that, Ryonna found herself alone with the dead Droxian boy. Not Ronan, she repeated to herself. But someone’s son. Her body felt ravaged by emotion. She had truly thought this was her son. She had felt that loss, and it had hit her like a fatal blow. She allowed herself to feel every emotion she had been trying to hold back as she looked at this boy who had been someone’s Ronan. They were even the same age; maybe this one was a year or two older.

What was he doing here? she wondered. She understood now why her enemies had sent her boy here. And she was expecting them to show up any day to claim them both. They would probably execute her in the process. But maybe Chase’s battle with the Obsidian Empire had taken priority over her personal issues with them. She could only hope. One way or another, she had no intention of sticking around to find out.

She heard light steps running towards the alcove, and instinctively she got up and hid behind the entrance. A person stopped in front of the opening but she couldn’t see who it was.

“Deriak... No!” cried a familiar voice.

Before she could register who the voice belonged to, Ronan ran towards the body, fell over it, and started crying.

Ryonna took a step forward with tears of her own. She hated to see her son’s heart aching, but she was overcome with relief and joy that at least his heart was still beating. Her son was here, in front of her.

“Ronan,” she said, sobbing.

Ronan whirled around in surprise, his eyes widening fast. At first, he looked as though he was in shock, then he stood up and ran, launching himself into her arms.

“Mom!”

“My son...”

They both cried for what seemed like ages. Soon after they finished, the Gorgar entered the alcove and said, “Ryonna, I think I know... Oh... Ronan, I presume?”

“Yes. Ronan, this is... I don’t think I know your name.”

“Tar’Lock; my name is Tar’Lock.”

Ronan released his grip on his mother and looked at the Gorgar. “Mom, these creatures can’t be trusted.”

“I don’t trust anyone, son, but Tar’Lock has been very helpful in locating you. I owe him.”

“Well, technically you found your son on your own, Ryonna, so I don’t think our...”—he hesitated to choose his next word—“arrangement applies anymore.”

“Actually it does,” she disagreed. “If we didn’t follow this poor boy here, we wouldn’t have found Ronan so quickly.”

“That’s fair and very honorable of you.”

“I will do whatever I can to help you escape with us, but I can’t guarantee we’ll survive the attempt.”

“Nobody can guarantee anything in this world.”

Of course Ryonna knew Tar’Lock wasn’t going to become a casualty right away. When she met him she saw, like she always did, the moment of his death, and it did not seem to be happening on Hellstar. But since insectoids didn’t really show signs of age, she had no idea if he would be dead soon or in many years to come.

“Mom, how do you plan to get us out? Nobody escapes Hellstar.”

“Well, let’s hope you are wrong, son. I have a plan to get us out. We should get going towards the entrance of the prison. We have a gate to blow.”

“With what exactly?” said Tar’Lock.

Ryonna bent over at the waist with her hands on her knees. Her face contorted strangely and she began making weird, gurgling sounds. It looked like she was about to get sick. Both men took a step back. It took a few retching movements and strange noises but she eventually spat something out into her hands. It looked like a small, roundish, metallic box.

“With this,” she offered.

“What the hell is that?” Ronan asked.

“It’s a micro quadrinium bomb.”

“How did you smuggle a bomb in here?” Tar’Lock asked in astonishment.

“I didn’t.”

“You’re not making sense! Care explaining how you just spat one out?”

“It’s a long story; I managed to acquire just enough quadrinium entering the prison.”

“And you spat out a bomb? Still not making sense, I’m afraid.”

“Mom, I don’t understand either.”

She sighed. “I underwent a surgical procedure to install a nanite factory inside my stomach. It transformed the raw quadrinium into a crude yet effective explosive.”

“Ouch. That must not have been a fun procedure.” Tar’Lock grimaced.

“Is that safe, Mom?”

“I should be fine as long as we reverse the procedure within a few days.”

“Let’s go then. We don’t have time to lose,” Tar’Lock said enthusiastically.

* * *

Chase was looking over the Omega starfighter in the docking bays of the Iron Fire. They were nearly at the end of their hyperspace jump to Hellstar and his stomach was in knots. He was worried about Sarah; he kept seeing her ashen skin and blackened eyes from his vision.

That couldn’t be a good omen, he thought. But he tried to focus on the positive.

The Omega fighter was really a beauty to look at. Thanks to Captain Saroudis, Admiral Thassos had agreed to lend them this one for the purpose of Chase’s mission. It was a more advanced, more streamlined version of the Manticore starfighter, looking meaner, sleeker, and more robust. It packed impressive firepower as well, but the one thing that really set it apart was its cloaking ability. Chase wasn’t even aware the Alliance had been working on cloaking for a starfighter. Of course, in hindsight it sounded logical. Cloaking a fighter was a tremendous strategic advantage, one that Chase would need in order to enter Hellstar undetected. Prior to leaving the Destiny, he had requested that his chief engineer friend Yanis take a look and find a way for the cloak to remain active when the fighter was landed. He had to apply a quick fix as time was of the essence, but he would get about half an hour of standby cloaking. Hopefully, it would be enough time for him to complete his mission.

Daniel entered the docking bays and approached Chase, his arms laden down with weapons, rifles, grenades, and side arms.

“Preparing for a war?” Chase asked.

“It’s Hellstar, after all. We’d better have the capability to defend ourselves.”

“I’m hoping for a stealth mission here, but it definitely won’t hurt to have these.”

“I don’t think a stealth entry is even a choice, Chase. While the number of living guards is low, they have artificial intelligence sentries, and those you can’t really negotiate with.”

“Yeah, I guess not.”

Daniel sighed. “Are we going? The Iron Fire should exit hyperspace any minute now.”

“Yeah… let’s go.”

The Iron Fire dropped out of hyperspace a few moments after Chase and Daniel had boarded the Omega starfighter. They engaged the cloak and left the docking bay. After a couple of minutes, they approached the landing port.

As instructed, the Iron Fire returned to hyperspace as soon as they had left the ship. They would stay within quick jump distance and return upon Chase’s signal.

It didn’t appear that they had been detected, so they proceeded to enter the bay. It wasn’t shielded, but was protected with very powerful ion cannons. The kind that could take on ships even bigger than the Iron Fire. But it was none of these cannons that made Chase pause; it was what he saw already docked on the platform.

It was the dark ship. The one that had taken Sarah in the battle.

“Is that…” Daniel began.

Chase gulped. “It is. I—I hope we’re not too late.”

“At least there’s a chance you’ll find Sarah here.” His friend tried to comfort him.

“Yeah, it’s just in what state that worries me at the moment…” Chase blocked the image from his mind.

“Stay focused. We’re here to get her and your friend Ryonna back. Should we shoot the black fighter now that it’s landed?”

“What if Sarah is onboard in a cell?”

Daniel paled. “Right. That would be a terrible idea then.”

“We can’t do anything to compromise our presence here anyway. We’ll have to enter the prison and see what we can do from there.”

“Do you have a plan on how to enter the general population? I mean, this is one of the deadliest places in the universe. I doubt they’ll just let us knock on the doors.”

“I know that. And… no. I have no plan. I just know we need to be here.”

Daniel grinned weakly. “Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

Chase landed the ship next to the black, heavy fighter. They locked and loaded themselves with as many weapons as they could carry as well as full body armor and exited the fighter. Chase hoped the cameras in this place wouldn’t pick them up exiting an invisible ship. But even before they stepped out, they heard the ongoing wailing of a siren.

As they ran towards the nearest gate, they could hear laser fire and a great commotion behind it. They automatically took cover and cast each other frantic looks.

“Something is happening here,” Chase muttered quietly.

Then the gates opened. A couple of convicts sprinted past them but were shot in the back by orange laser fire.

“Yeah, looks like there is a prison break in progress. So much for stealth,” Daniel offered with a grimace.

“Alright, Daniel, be careful. We need to eliminate the sentries in that corridor before we can proceed any further.”

“Roger that. The firing came from there,” Daniel answered, pointing to the right.

“I’ll cover you.”

Chase stuck his right arm through the opening and started blindly shooting in the direction where they thought the sentries were. At the same moment, Daniel slid on the ground and shot multiple times. There were three sentries that he dispatched in no time, and the next second, the firing stopped.

Daniel got up and Chase followed him. There were at least ten convicts lying dead in pools of their own blood in the corridor, and a few more sentries besides those Daniel had destroyed lay in spiked piles of sparking metal on the ground.

“I thought Hellstar was inescapable?” Daniel said incredulously.

“Getting out is the challenge. Our enemy must have blasted his way in and let the general population escape. That way, he wouldn’t be the main center of attention. That’s what I would have done, anyway.”

Daniel gave him a look. “Let’s get to general population as fast as we can then.”

They ran down the corridors, encountering more sentries, but thanks to their body armor and laser rifles, they dispatched them without too much trouble. A few moments later, they stood in front of a reinforced gate that had a huge hole in the center of it, large enough for people to pass through.

“I guess we know how they entered the prison,” Daniel said conversationally.

“Yeah, not very subtle.”

“Look at the bright side: I’m not sure any of our grenades would have even made a dent in this gate.”

“Yeah, they probably wouldn’t have,” Chase conceded.

They went through the hole just in time before another set of convicts came from the other side, getting shot at by multiple sentries. They quickly jumped out of the way and found cover. They engaged the sentries, but there were too many of them and soon the two were pinned down. Fortunately, the convicts running all over the place in a frenzy gave the sentries many targets to shoot at, buying them a little time.

“What do we do now, Chase?” Daniel shouted over the noise.

“Keep firing. I’ll think of something.”

* * *

As Ryonna, Ronan, and Tar’Lock progressed back the way they came, they heard the wailing of the sirens.

“That can’t be good,” Tar’Lock muttered.

“Agreed,” said Ryonna. “Let’s pick up the pace.”

They started sprinting as fast as they could, but they could hear laser fire and people screaming all over the place. They didn’t know what was happening but it sure sounded like trouble. Soon, they reached an intersection and took a left. They were still sprinting when suddenly two figures appeared in the distance. A man and a woman running towards them. Ryonna swore she recognized Sarah and stopped short. She couldn’t tell if the man was Chase; he looked like him somehow, but something was off.

“What is it, Mom?”

“I know that woman… but something’s not right.”

The pair stopped running and started to walk in their direction.

“Ronan, Tar’Lock, be ready to fight!”

“Understood,” said Tar’Lock. Ronan nodded.

Ryonna swayed herself into a fighting stance as Sarah and the man that looked like Chase stopped a few feet away. The man stepped forward even further with a hard smile.

“I presume you are Ryonna?”

“Who the hell are you?”

“My name’s Argos. I am Chase’s brother.”

She frowned warily. She didn’t like the look of this man. “Why isn’t he with you?”

“He had other business to attend to. Droxia is under attack from the Obsidian Empire and he sent me in his stead.”

Inside her mind Sarah tried screaming all she could, but nothing happened. She could scream at Argos, however. He could hear her.

You son of a bitch, why are you doing this?!

What did you expect? Would you rather I shoot them on sight?” he answered her mentally, keeping a fixed smile on Ryonna. “No, I need them as bait for your boyfriend.

Ryonna didn’t look convinced by Argos’ statement. Instead, she looked at Sarah. “Are you alright, Sarah? What are you doing here?”

“We came looking for you, of course,” Sarah’s voice answered beyond her control. “We told you we’d help you as soon as we could.”

“I had a plan to get out of here,” Ryonna fumed. “You might have jeopardized it now.”

“It’s alright, Ryonna, we have a way out. And I see you found your son,” the possessed Sarah offered sweetly.

“Yes, but we need to go. Soon this place will be crawling with deadly sentries.”

“Right, follow us, we have a ship waiting.”

Ryonna felt a weird sensation in her gut. Was it her instinct trying to tell her something was off, or was it just the nanite factory acting up? She decided that under the circumstances, she had very little choice anyway.

“Lead the way.”

10

“Chase! How’s that plan coming? We’re pinned down here.”

Laser fire grazed Chase’s cheek and he took cover again. “Thanks for reminding me. I hadn’t noticed!”

“We need to make a hole, or we’ll get stuck here,” Daniel shouted over the noise.

“Alright, prepare to cover me in three, two...”

Chase took the grenade from his belt.

“One... Now!”

Daniel started laying cover fire while Chase sent a grenade flying in the air. He then jumped on his side, aligned his shot, and fired at the grenade once it reached the multiple sentries. It exploded and took out three of them as well as pushing the others out of the way. Chase and Daniel took advantage of this opportunity and picked off the rest of them with precisely laid laser shots. With most of the sentries now destroyed or disabled, they continued firing until every sentry in the area was annihilated.

“About time! How long did we get stuck here, do you think?” Daniel panted.

“I don’t know, but way too long. I’m not even sure if the ship is still cloaked.”

“Yeah, that’s also my concern. What if it isn’t?”

“I’ve programmed the onboard computer to lock the canopy and raise shields if anyone besides us approaches it.”

“Good thinking. But if the black fighter fires on it, surely shields won’t last too long.”

“They’re a better design than our Manticores and F-140s, but I agree, they probably wouldn’t last very long.”

Daniel shook his head dismissively. “Later,” he instructed. “Where to now?”

“I’d say this way.” Chase pointed to a corridor nearby.

They started walking towards it when they heard footsteps and five shadows appeared.

For the second time that day, Chase stopped dead in his tracks.

Was he dreaming?

The first person he saw was Sarah, next to Ryonna and what probably was her son standing behind her. On their left was also an insectoid.

But it was the last member of their party that made his blood run cold. There was no mistaking it. It was the man from his nightmarish vision.

Argos took a step forward and looked straight into Chase’s eyes, not saying a word. Chase’s heart pounded so strongly against his ribcage he thought it might break through.

Daniel looked at Argos, then back at Chase.

“Who the fuck is this guy? Why does he look like you?”

Ryonna stepped forward. “I thought Chase was supposed⁠—”

Before she could finish her sentence, Argos flipped his left hand. Ryonna flew through the air and crashed against the nearest wall.

“Mom!” Ronan ran towards her and kneeled by her side. She was unconscious and bleeding from the left temple where she hit the wall. The young Droxian got back up and started running towards Argos, who flicked a finger and sent him crashing into the same wall as his mother. With a dull moan, he landed unconscious on top of her.

Daniel and Chase didn’t wait to react. They both took aim at Argos and fired multiple shots with their rifles. But Argos put his hand in front of him and stopped every one of the shots with an invisible shield. He then made a fist and both rifles exploded in their hands.

“What the hell?!” exclaimed Daniel, looking at his singed hands.

The insectoid teleported to their side. Chase cast him a look.

“Friend or foe?”

“I’m Ryonna’s friend. My name is Tar’Lock.”

“Alright then.” Chase gathered his thoughts quickly. “Sarah isn’t to be hurt, no matter what she does.”

“Understood, but she seems in cahoots with him.”

Argos lowered his hand and spoke. “Hello, brother.”

“You are no brother of mine.” The anger in Chase’s voice was thick.

“All evidence to the contrary.”

“What do you want? Is Sarah your prisoner?”

“More like a partner.”

“I don’t believe you!”

“Everyone has a breaking point, Chase, even Furies like us.”

A thick rage started to engulf Chase’s body. He could feel a tremendous amount of power run through his blood, every part of his body under so much pressure it was about to explode.

“Daniel, Tar’Lock, this asshole is mine.”

Argos just laughed in response. “Do you think you can take me? Come on, bro, show me what you’ve got.”

A second later, two blue fireballs blazed in Chase’s hands.

“Kick his ass, Chase!” Daniel called.

“With pleasure.”

Chase’s eyes shined bright purple. He launched the first fireball, then immediately launched the second towards Argos’s head. But quick as they were, Argos blocked both of them with each of his palms, crushing them in quick succession.

“Thanks for the power up, Chase. Not that I needed it but…”

A second later Argos disappeared then re-appeared behind Chase, smashing his elbow against his brother’s head. Chase smashed into the ground, coughing up blood.

“That’s all you've got? I’m disappointed,” Argos said with a smirk.

Chase thought that his blood was in danger of literally boiling over, but he remembered what Aphroditis had told him. He had to control his rage or it could have catastrophic results.

“Or maybe you’re afraid of hurting your friends?” Argos guessed.

Chase’s eyes flashed to his brother’s face in fear. Could he read minds?

“Let me help you here then. I don’t want you distracted.”

“Wait—”

But Argos got into a stance and pushed both his hands to the side. A powerful shockwave sent everyone but himself and Chase flying in every direction. Daniel crashed against the floor, Sarah was propelled backwards, and Tar’Lock’s body hit a rock formation nearby with a crushing sound followed by an agonized moan.

Then Chase lost control.

He screamed so loudly that the rock formations around him started to crack. The amount of energy being emanated from his body unhinged small rocks and floated the destroyed sentries and sent them flying around him. Argos looked up at the destruction, but before he could react, Chase was flying in the air, crashing down on him with hands joined atop his head and smashing him into the ground.

Chase didn’t wait for him to get up. He kicked him in the face, and Argos flew in the air. Chase caught him in mid-air and squeezed his hand around his throat, using an enormous amount of pressure. Argos was clearly suffering, but he kept smiling. He kept smiling right until the moment that Chase sent him crashing into a nearby wall with a well-placed and powerful kick to the thorax. Parts of the wall cracked under the impact of Argos’ body.

“Very good, brother!” he shouted, spitting blood onto the ground. “You have potential, I’ll grant you that. But look at you. You have no control whatsoever. You simply let your rage dictate your every move.”

“I will kill you,” Chase swore.

“You’re welcome to try, but you’ll need to channel way more hatred and energy to do so.”

With another wild shout, Chase unleashed half a dozen fireballs at his brother at an impressive rate. Argos deflected them all, scattering them around a wide arch and scorching huge holes in the ground, walls and high ceiling. But Chase kept firing more attacks until the resulting debris and smoke blocked his vision of Argos.

But when the dust settled and the smoke had cleared, Argos was still standing.

“You’re a pathetic Fury, Chase,” he said with a smile. “Let me show you real power.”

He pointed a single finger at Chase and a thin red laser pierced through his brother’s shoulder. Chase cried out in pain and clapped his hand automatically over the wound.

Chase was trembling now. Not so much with fear of Argos, but fear of himself. Fear of what he might do if he wasn’t careful. If he lost control.

He had to find a way out of this situation. He had to find a way to protect the people he loved. But he was running out of energy. The last attack had drained him more than he knew.

“Oh, poor brother, running out of juice already. Just when I started to have fun.”

Chase opened his mouth to say something cutting, but stumbled back a step with a quiet gasp, still clutching his shoulder.

“Do I have to kill one of your precious friends for you to show me what you’re made of?”

“Don’t!” Chase shouted earnestly. “If you do, we will all die here!”

“I don’t think so, Chase. You don’t have that kind of power. And even if you did, you are in neither shape nor state to make good on that threat. Who should I kill first?”

Then Chase heard Aphroditis’ voice in his mind. “Chase, you cannot defeat your brother Argos today. You need to outsmart him. This is your strength; use it. It is the only way.”

Argos looked left and right, then shouted, “Stay out of this, bitch! I’m coming for you next!”

He could hear her too! How was that even possible?

Chase didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter. He had to think of something and fast. He looked at Tar’Lock, the only body still moving, barely. He focused on him and concentrated on speaking only with his mind.

“I might need your help. You seem fast.”

Tar’Lock nodded slightly and Chase sure hoped Argos couldn’t hear every thought. But Argos was very distracted with what had just transpired.

“Fucking Olympians! You think you can meddle in the affairs of other races? You will pay for this. You and I both know you are not allowed to interfere!”

Taking advantage of Argos’ distraction, Chase turned to Daniel. He was still breathing but his face was bloody—he would need medical attention very quickly. Then he noticed the cluster of three grenades on Daniel’s belt and his eyes widened. Tar’Lock saw what he was looking at and nodded, understanding.

“I don’t care if you’re my brother, this ends here and now, Argos.”

Argos whirled around. “I don’t remember telling you my name.”

So he hadn’t heard what Aphroditis had said. He’d just sensed her presence.

“It doesn’t matter. Today is the last day it will be spoken.”

“You’re funny, I’ll give you that.”

His focus was entirely on Chase now. Perfect window of opportunity. Chase maintained eye contact, but mentally shouted with every last bit of strength he had.

“Now!”

He launched himself at Argos, who saw him coming and entered into a defensive stance. But at the same time, Tar’Lock teleported and took the cluster of grenades. He also quickly recovered the quadrinium bomb from Ryonna, spat on it, and stuck it to the grenades before teleporting behind Argos, who was still distracted by Chase’s charge towards him. Without a second thought, the insectoid shoved the explosives into Argos’ clothes.

Argos whirled around and sent Tar’Lock flying with a power blow, but the second his back was turned, Chase rushed forward. He threw back his head and released a scream that sounded like it had come from the depths of hell.

A powerful beam of blue light erupted from both of his palms, melting the grenades deep into Argos’ back and sending him flying in the nearest corridor before they suddenly exploded. Everyone in the area was blasted back out of range as what was left of the corridor collapsed in a smoking heap.

The dust settled and Chase ran towards Tar’Lock, who looked to be in really bad shape.

“Thank you! I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said in a rush.

“It’s not like I had any choice. This mad man would have killed us all,” Tar’Lock groaned in reply. “And it was a good plan.”

“Will you be okay?”

Tar’Lock tried to smile. “No, I don’t think I’m gonna survive this. My back is broken in three places; I can feel internal bleeding.”

A sudden thought occurred to Chase and he leaned down. “Hang on.” He closed his eyes and put both his hands on Tar’Lock’s body.

“What are you doing?” the insectoid asked.

“Trust me.”

White light glowed from Chase’s hands and started radiating all around Tar’Lock’s body. The result was almost instantaneous. Bones began to repair. Cuts began to close. After just a few seconds, Tar’Lock started to feel better than he had in years.

“Thank you,” he gasped. “I bet that sure comes in handy!”

Chase smiled weakly, just thrilled by the fact that it had worked.

“Especially when considering I had no idea I could do that.”

Tar’Lock’s eyes widened. “I find that both fascinating and terrifying.”

“So do I,” said Chase, getting back up.

One by one, he ran around and did the same thing to each of his friends. As Sarah had received the least damage, she was his last stop. But the second he got to her, his eyes filled with tears.

He covered her in strands of light, and watched silently as the power took effect. When it was done, he leaned back on his heels, exhausted and anxious, and waited for Sarah to open her eyes…

11

Captain Saroudis arrived on the bridge of the SAD Cronos and happily approached his old friend, Admiral Thassos.

“Admiral.”

“Adonis,” she corrected him, “how many times do I have to remind you to call me by my first name?”

“Very well, how are you, Ally?” Saroudis asked with a smile.

“I’m fine. What about you?”

“Very well, considering the last few months. You have no idea how much of a relief it was to see your battlegroup arrive.”

“You had things under control. I’m sure you would have prevailed.”

“Maybe, but that’s not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant.” The admiral nodded slowly. “I’m very happy to see you survived as well.”

“Any news of the home world? Maybe more ships survived?”

“The Sixth Fleet protecting the home world fought to the death but they were overwhelmed by impossible numbers. They protected Alpha Prime as long as they could but… it fell.”

Saroudis’ heart dropped. “Did you ever go back there to see if there were survivors?”

“We’ve tried but Obsidian left a substantial amount of ships in orbit. In the end, I decided it was too much of a risk. At the time, the battlegroup had suffered too much damage for us to even attempt any kind of rescue.”

“I understand. We were in bad shape ourselves.”

“I bet. So I’m being told you allied yourself with a planet called Earth,” Ally said expectantly.

“Yes, against my better judgment. But it has proven to be the right thing to do.”

“Why against your better judgment?”

“Technologically speaking, they really aren’t even space-worthy.”

She nodded. “Ah, the first contact directive.”

“Yes, but one of my trusted officers made a compelling argument at the time.”

“I guess sometimes we have no other choice but to break the rules.”

“Exactly,” he agreed. “How did the negotiations go with the Droxians?”

“It’s still ongoing, but I simply couldn’t take it anymore. My second-in-command took over. Let’s just say they are in agreement with some reservations.”

He smiled, knowing full well the drudgery of the legalese. “Well, since you just spent so much time negotiating down there, you must be tired of talking through it right now. Perhaps you’d like to tell me more sometime later. Over dinner, perhaps?”

“That sounds like a good idea.” She smiled. “I just wish we could eat something different than rations. We’re running out of quadrinium even though the Droxians agreed to provide us with as much as we need from now on.”

“Well, if you’d like to come onboard the Destiny, I think we can arrange something better than rations, Adm—sorry—Ally.”

“That sounds like a terrific idea. But before we do, we should probably go back to Earth. I heard it got hit badly. Any news?”

“We’ve received communications from our officers on the planet,” began Captain Saroudis. “It’s not pretty. There were a lot of casualties and quite a bit of civil unrest. We should indeed get back there as soon as possible.”

“Agreed. For the time being, this is still your show. I’m not here to take control of your new Alliance.” She raised her hands innocently.

“I appreciate that, but you should probably take command further down the road.”

“We’ll see. You know me, give me a battlegroup and a target, and I’m happy.”

Saroudis laughed. “Well, in that case you should feel ecstatic, because targets are not what we miss nowadays.”

“I wouldn’t go as far as happy, but we certainly have lots to do and many battles ahead of us,” she replied.

“Is your fleet capable of jumping back to Earth with us?”

“Absolutely. As soon as our chambers are reloaded we can be on our way.”

“Good. I’ll return to the Destiny and prepare my crew for the jump.” He suddenly hesitated. “Perhaps you’d like to come with me for that dinner? Make the jump onboard the Destiny?”

“Yes, I guess there’s no reason for me to stay with my ship during the jump,” she said gratefully. “Give me an hour or two to finalize the preparations here regarding the quadrinium distribution and I’ll be there.”

“I am really happy you’re alright, Ally.”

“You said that already.”

“That’s how happy I am.” 

* * *

Back in the Destiny’s captain’s ready room, Admiral Thassos sat on her chair while Captain Saroudis pushed it under her.

“Thank you, Adonis. Quite the gentleman. What smells so good?”

“I’m told this is called Chicago-style, deep-dish, pepperoni pizza.”

“I have no idea what that means, but I can’t wait to have some.”

The captain walked around the table and took the chair facing his old friend. “I did some research and it appears this is a very ancient dish from Earth that evolved over the centuries. The original recipe included the flesh of animals.”

“Yuck!” Ally said, unable to hide her disgust.

“I know, but our food synthesizers just replicate the taste. I have to admit, I did try meat on Earth and it tastes delicious. But I prefer eating the synthetized version.”

She gave him a look. “Alright, as long as no animal was injured in the preparing of this meal, I am happy to eat it. The smell is intoxicating.”

“The taste is even better,” Saroudis replied, picking up his fork.

Admiral Thassos took a bite and her eyes lit up immediately. “This is probably one of the best things I have ever tasted in my entire life.” She placed one hand over her full mouth to avoid being rude, but quickly cut another piece for herself.

“Earthlings are very talented when it comes to making rich and decadent food. Their original recipes are not exactly healthy, but thanks to our technology, we can replicate the taste almost perfectly without the health problems of their originals.”

“To tell you the truth, even if it wasn’t healthy, I don’t think I could force myself not to eat this right now. It’s just too delicious.” She smiled and took another bite.

“Yes, that was part of their problem on Earth as well. It led to obesity and cardiovascular problems, and a host of other ailments within their population.”

“But how do they feel eating the flesh of animals?”

“They’ve been doing it for so long, centuries in fact, that I don’t think they think about it one way or another. There are people against it, of course, but this is a planet with many beliefs and different cultures and ways of life. Eating one animal in one religion is permitted, but could be construed as a crime in another.”

“And do they get along with such diversity? That must have created conflicts,” Admiral Thassos inquired.

“Before we arrived, yes, it did. In fact, there were small wars going on all over the planet. That being said, each country seemed fine respecting their own cultural aspects within their own borders. Actually, it’s more complicated than that, but I don’t want to bore you with such details. Let’s just say, the intervention of the Olympian Aphroditis changed all that,” Captain Saroudis added without thinking.

Admiral Thassos dropped her fork. “What?”

“Oh yes…” the captain backtracked quickly, “… that.”

“Yes, that! Mind explaining? The Olympians exist?”

Saroudis took a deep breath before responding. “They do. Look, here’s what happened. When we arrived in this area of space, we didn’t know where to go to mend our damaged ships. I wanted to go to an abandoned world.”

“Logical choice. No surprises on an uninhabited world.”

“Not exactly. Do you remember Chase? The one who asked you for an Omega fighter?” Admiral Thassos nodded. “Well, he was adamant that Earth was the key to our future. I had my doubts.”

“What changed your mind?”

“His explanation was… persuasive. It certainly didn’t hurt that he had a gun to my head.”

Her jaw dropped open. “You’re not serious?”

“Well, he had been contacted by Aphroditis, who pretty much ordered him to do whatever it would take to make sure we went to save Earth.”

“Save?”

“Yes, our jump in the area attracted unwanted attention. We believe it was the reason why Earth was about to be attacked.”

“Let me stop you right there, Adonis. You were convinced at gunpoint, by a guy who told you he heard a goddess talk to him? That sounds really ludicrous.”

“I know how it sounds,” Saroudis replied, “but I guess you had to be there. There was something about him that was so sincere. And I’ve always been fascinated with the tales of the Olympian divinities, even though they lost traction with our people so long ago.”

“Legends at best.”

“Most legends are based on some sort of truth.”

“So you really believe the gods of Olympia exist?” she asked.

“They do exist, yes. Well, at least Aphroditis does. We haven’t had any communications with any other Olympian. They seem to be a more advanced species. Perhaps not gods, but at this point, I don’t really care. They came through for us, and forcing Chase’s hand to go to Earth was the right call.”

“There goes your legend. It’s debunked itself. Why should we trust these people? I don’t like the idea of being controlled. They could be setting us up; have you thought of that?”

He nodded seriously. “The thought had crossed my mind, yes, but the results speak for themselves. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have struck an Alliance with the humans of Earth, we wouldn’t have fended off their second attack, and we probably wouldn’t have regrouped with you.”

“All well and good, but what if their game plan involves sacrificing us all for their own purposes later down the road?” she insisted.

“Like I said, you had to be there. When she addressed the people of Earth, I felt her presence and I felt her intentions. Those didn’t reflect the work of a mischievous being.”

“Or they did, and they use their superiority as a race better than you think.”

“That sounds almost like paranoia.”

“We couldn’t have stayed alive this long without a small dose of it, my friend.”

“Still, I believe they are on our side.”

“And for the sake of all of our lives, I hope you’re right. But if you ever relinquish power to me, please know that I will approach that particular subject with much more caution.”

Saroudis held up his hands. “You can take power; I don’t have to relinquish it. In fact, it may be better for the troops if the chain of command was respected. I think you should give the order now.”

She considered for a moment before agreeing. “I’ll do it for the sole purpose of appearances, but for the time being, I will let you decide our course of action—unless I see any reason for this to change. So sure, just report to me, and inform me of your intentions. How does that sound?”

“That sounds great.”

“Also, the humans are used to interacting with you, Captain Saroudis. But I would like to change one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Nothing fancy, but I believe a rank change to Commodore Saroudis is more than deserved in your case.”

He beamed back at her. “Are you serious?”

“You deserve it. Heck, you deserved that rank way before all of this, if you ask me.”

“Thank you, Ally. It means a lot that you would think so.”

She smiled at him warmly and the two continued to eat their deep-dish pizza in a comfortable silence.

12

Sarah slowly opened her eyes and focused on Chase’s face. She blinked, partially because she couldn’t believe her eyes, partially to make sure she actually could, and felt every sensation in her body begin to come back to her once more. It was liberating beyond belief.

“Chase, I’m so glad⁠—”

But then he was kissing her. She forgot herself entirely and lost herself in his arms, closing her eyes and melting against his body in sheer exhaustion and relief. All the tears Argos wouldn’t let her cry before came streaming down her face, and when she finally looked up, Chase was crying as well. They sat like that for a long time, just looking at each other, softly stroking each other’s hair.

“I love you,” he said suddenly, causing even more tears to fall.

The words were like a life raft, and she clung to them with every bit of strength she had.

“I love you too.”

Despite how many times Chase had thought the words while Sarah was away, no matter how many times she had imagined them during her brutal interrogation, it was actually the first time either one of them had said the words aloud.

They embraced once more and Sarah shivered at his touch. She had pictured this moment happening so many times, now that she was finally in Chase’s arms, half of her was worried it wasn’t real.

“I can’t… I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

“Why is that?” Chase murmured against her hair. “You had to know I’d come for you.”

“Yes, but Argos⁠—”

“Shh,” he soothed her, “that’s all over now. You’re safe.”

She stifled a shudder. “Chase… is he really your brother?”

Chase shifted uncomfortably. “I’m… not sure. We do have a few things in common⁠—”

“Yes, but he has incredible powers,” Sarah cut him off in a rush. “He’s absolutely ruthless and he’s gunning for you, Chase, and⁠—”

“Actually… we fought just a few moments back and I think I got him pretty good.” He couldn’t help but feel proud. Proud and deeply satisfied. “That being said, I wouldn’t want to risk our lives if I’m wrong. I think we need to get out of here. Somehow I seriously doubt killing him would be that easy…”

“Where is he?” Sarah looked around in fright. “Are we still in Hellstar?”

“Yes we are,” Ryonna interjected. “I’m sorry to interrupt this private moment of yours, but I believe if we ever want to get away from here, now’s the time.”

“Right you are,” Chase agreed. With incredibly gentle arms, he lifted Sarah up then delicately tilted her body so she could stand. “Can you walk?”

She tested her weight gingerly and was surprised. “Yes, I feel perfectly fine. Better than ever, in fact.”

“Thank the gods. Hang on a second.” Chase took a small device from one of his pockets and pressed it. “Chase to Iron Fire, we’re coming in soon, but I’m not sure if we will still be cloaked. Be ready to lay cover fire if needed and make sure you avoid getting in too close. Those ion turrets could rip the ship in two.”

Lieutenant Rathos onboard the Iron Fire answered. “Glad to hear from you, sir; we were starting to get worried here. We’ll be staying just out of range of the ion turrets and will provide cover fire if needed.”

“Also, the minute we’re onboard, execute a jump to Earth.”

“Understood. See you soon, Lieutenant Commander Athanatos. Rathos out.”

Sarah looked at Chase with a surreal smile, still unable to completely believe that the ordeal was over. “Chase, what cloak? What type of vessel did you come here with?”

“I’ll have to tell you more about it, but some new kind of Alliance starfighter.”

“Will we all fit in it?”

He hesitated. “I admit I didn’t intend on having that many passengers.” His eyes flickered to Tar’Lock. “I hope we can fit everyone in the cargo hold.”

Tar’Lock took a step towards Chase. “I understand if you need to leave me behind. Maybe I can find my own way out.”

“No way.” Chase shook his head quickly, keeping a constant hand on Sarah the whole time. “Without your help we would most likely all be dead. I am not leaving you behind.”

“That’s very honorable of you. My physiology allows me to bend much more than yours, so maybe with some creativity, we’ll find something that works.”

Chase nodded and motioned to the ship. “Alright, let’s not lose another second here. I’m sure more sentries and whatever guards they have will come back soon.”

They went through the hole in the gate and started their run towards the landing bays. A few meters before reaching the wide double doors, some laser fire came from down the hall. Chase reacted instinctively, pushing both Sarah and Ryonna out of the way at the last moment, then started running towards the incoming fire, deflecting each new laser streak towards the walls with his hands as he did so.

As he approached the source of the attack, he saw a humanoid inside a huge, armored machine, two powerful rifles at the tip of its arms. Probably a crowd-control type of defense system in case the sentries weren’t able to regain control of the facilities, Chase thought. It was beginning to be more and more difficult to advance, as the floor was layered with an increasingly thick layer of dead or dying convicts who had failed to escape. In fact, he realized as he got closer, he was soon going to lose enough speed that it was only a matter of time before he and his companions joined them.

There was a split second’s pause, a brief moment of hesitation, then Chase let his instincts take over.

He leapt up—up and onto the side of the wall. But he didn’t stop there. Without slowing his body for a second, he began sprinting and reverted across the ceiling.

“Chase, what the—” he heard Daniel say, trailing behind him. But there was no time to explain. And to be perfectly frank, he didn’t understand it himself. All he knew was that time was running out and this was what he had to do.

In no time at all, he was upon his foe. He joined both his hands together and used them as a hammer to strike the mech right in the face. It flew and crashed tens of meters away. Before it could get back on its feet, he lifted his hand and sent an ice-blue fireball flying its way. A second later, the mech had exploded. The guard crawled out from inside, still smoldering, and Chase was by his side in an instant.

Using a bit of the same healing magic he’d conjured for his new insect friend, he revived the man just enough to get him breathing again.

A moment later, Tar’Lock was at his side. “Is that wise?” he asked doubtfully.

“I don’t really care,” Chase replied. “He might just get to live for another few minutes depending on how things go inside this hell hole, but I didn’t want to be the one who drew his last breath. He was only doing his job after all. We’re the intruders here.”

Tar’Lock nodded but stared at Chase speculatively. “I must admit it was an impressive takedown.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to get used to my powers.”

The insect made an impressed clicking sound. “I’d hate to be on the wrong side of things, whether you master them or not.”

Chase chuckled. “Well, I don’t know you very well, but I doubt that will happen. I really appreciate your help and hope you can stay with us when we reach Earth.”

“Is that an official invitation?”

“Did it sound like anything else?”

It was Tar’Lock’s turn to laugh. “I’m sorry. After years in this place, I’m not used to acts of kindness, no matter the circumstances. Thank you, Chase. I accept your invitation.”

“You’re welcome. Now with all due respect, let’s get the hell out of here.”

They rushed back to the landing bays where the rest of the party was waiting near the Omega fighter. The cloak was not fully operational anymore and the silhouette of the ship blinked in and out of existence, giving it an almost creepy vibe. Chase approached and it de-cloaked fully, as it was programmed to do so.

“I think we can fit three people in the cockpit, perhaps Tar’Lock as well,” he declared. “It won’t be a pleasant flight, but hopefully it will only last a minute tops.” He touched a panel at the back of the ship and a small ramp lowered to the ground, revealing a small cargo hold. “I’m afraid two persons will have to crawl in there.”

Ryonna stepped forward. “My son and I should go in there.”

“I’m not sure you’ll both fit.”

“We’ll just have to. There’s no room for us in the cockpit. Ronan, get in.”

While Ronan was just a young Droxian, he was still as tall as Chase, but he fit without issue in the small cargo hold. However, there was no way Ryonna could do the same—no matter how hard she tried—without at least one limb sticking out.

Chase glanced around nervously as the shouts of oncoming sentries drifted their way. Ryonna followed his gaze and took a deep breath. The next second, she snapped her leg at an absurd angle and folded it up along beside her.

“That’s it, Chase.” Her voice was strained with pain. “Let’s go.”

He and Daniel stared at her in shock as Sarah covered her mouth with a gasp. “Did you just break your⁠—”

“We’ve got to go!” she shouted. “Step on it!”

Without another word, Chase pressed the panel again and it closed, pressing and pushing both bodies even further into the tiny space. Then Sarah went into the cockpit followed by Daniel, squeezing together onto one seat, while Chase took the main seat and Tar’Lock used his extreme bending abilities to manage himself a position somehow on top of them, all limbs extended against the canopy windows.

As Chase turned the engines on and lifted the fighter from the landing bay, the four of them gazed down at Argos’ ship.

“Should we destroy it?” inquired Sarah.

“I was thinking about the same thing myself.”

“Take it down, Chase!” Daniel agreed.

“Alright.”

Without hesitation, he acquired a target lock on the ship and squeezed the trigger. A volley of laser fire made direct impact, but Argos’ shields must have been still up as they were instantly deflected in all directions. One even hit their own fighter on the port wing. Chase immediately stopped firing and carefully avoided another two shots, not easy to do inside a landing bay with not much room to maneuver.

“Forget about it, Chase, we need to go,” said Daniel.

“Agreed. Engaging cloak.”

The onboard computer spoke.

“Not enough power to engage cloak.”

“Dammit!” Chase keyed a few functions on the ship’s touch pad, redistributing shield power to the cloak systems. The ship’s engine made a higher frequency roar and the cloaked engaged. “We maybe have thirty seconds of cloak… if we’re lucky.”

“Punch it then,” Daniel urged, impatient to get out of there. He didn’t like closed spaces, and while he had gotten used to cockpits over the years, being squeezed against both the walls and Sarah with a smelly insectoid so near his face… It was a little too close for comfort.

Chase took the fighter out of the bay and hit the afterburners as soon as they were out of Hellstar.

“How did you get the cloak back?” asked Sarah.

“I transferred any ounce of juice from the shields.”

“Is that wise?”

“We’re about to find out.” Chase opened a channel to the Iron Fire. “We’re coming in hot. Cloak should fail any second and we have no shields.”

“Understood, Lieutenant Commander.”

Some systems lights on the ship started to blink orange then red. The cloak was failing.

“Will we make it?” Tar’Lock asked anxiously.

Chase frowned. “I don’t know. We need another five seconds to get out of range of these turrets.”

Right on cue, the onboard computer sounded off. “Target lock!”

“Oh crap. Hang on guys.”

Chase entered into a spin as some extremely powerful green ion shot illuminated the canopy and grazed it.

“I never thought I’d say it,” Tar’Lock whimpered, “and I’m really sorry about the timing too, but there is a slight possibility I might soil myself here.”

Both Daniel and Sarah instinctively looked up, Tar’Lock being only a few centimeters over their heads. He gave them a constipated smile.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Sarah warned. She’d been through a lot these past few days. She was in no mood to add this to her list.

“Not exactly the optimum position for me to control every one of my bodily functions right now. I promise I will do my best to avoid any leak.”

Daniel groaned as Sarah glared upwards. “And I promise I will kick your ass otherwise.”

Another flash of green light illuminated the cockpit.

“That was too close for comfort,” Daniel muttered.

“I know.” Chase turned sharply. “We’re almost out of range.”

Just then, the Iron Fire started firing a volley of torpedoes towards the Hellstar turrets. They didn’t destroy them, but it gave Chase the necessary time to exit firing range.

“My god!” exclaimed Sarah, putting both her hands in front of her nose. “What’s that smell?”

“I don’t smel—” Daniel couldn’t finish his sentence before gagging dramatically.

Tar’Lock dropped his gaze. “I am really sorry.”

“Chase, get us on board Iron Fire on the double, I beg you!”

They touched down on the ship’s landing bay a moment later. Sarah and Daniel were the first to jump out, followed by Tar’Lock, who looked ashamed. Chase followed shortly behind and was quick to open up the panel to release the Droxians.

As the door dropped on the ground, Ronan called out, “She must have passed out from the pain. Please help her.”

“Don’t worry, Ronan,” Chase assured him, “it will be alright.”

He dragged Ryonna’s unconscious body to the ground next to the ship, then quickly put his hands on her leg. White light engulfed her and her leg made a snapping sound again, this time back into place. A second later, it looked like nothing had ever happened.

Sarah knelt down beside them as Ryonna opened her eyes and touched her leg. It was completely healed. “Thank you, Chase. I owe you both our lives.”

“No, you don’t owe me a thing. I’m just glad you and Ronan are safe.”

She shook her head fervently. “I won’t ever forget this, Chase.”

Sarah leaned back on her heels with a very peculiar look on her face. “I think Argos did something similar to me. Many times, actually.”

Chase looked up sharply, blood boiling as he imagined the horrors his brother must have inflicted upon her. “Did he⁠—”

“Later, okay?” Sarah asked softly. “I promise.”

Chase sighed but nodded his head. They might have been back safe, but he had a feeling the trouble was just beginning.

* * *

Argos slowly opened his eyes as he regained consciousness. A controlled shockwave propelled the debris out of the way and he rose to his feet. As he started dusting himself off, a huge smile spread across his face.

Mission accomplished.

Within moments, he reached his ship and took off from Hellstar. The ion turrets acquired a lock on his vessel and started firing. His shields depleted a bit faster than he was used to, but not before he entered hyperspace.

Once he was safely there, he touched a control on his holo-display and opened a comm.

“Status report?”

A Zarlack face appeared on the one monitor. “Subject tracker reports vital signs are stable.”

“Good. How about the transmitter?”

“Receiving live telemetry.”

“Perfect. Argos out.” The holo-display faded off and Argos leaned back against his chair with a smile. “It has begun.”

13

Chase’s fingers traveled delicately across Sarah’s naked, burning skin. His lips were soon to follow, kissing her tenderly on the neck and sending her into waves of shivering anticipation. Her nails raked down his back as he made his way slowly to her face, and then they kissed for what seemed like an eternity.

Everything was going perfectly until an involuntary shudder ran through Sarah’s body.

Chase pulled back immediately. “Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry.” She flushed. “It’s just… I can’t believe this is all real, you know?”

He bit his lip nervously. “Maybe you should tell me what happened the last few days.”

“Somehow I don’t think this is the appropriate time,” she stalled.

He looked steadily into her eyes. “You’re safe now, and we’re alone. Nothing can happen to us and we’ll be on Earth before you know it. Maybe it’s best if we talked about it before.”

Her face fell. “Maybe... I guess you’re right.”

The two of them sat up against the headboard and she launched into the tale. She took him through every bruise, every scar, and every resuscitation. No detail was too small to ignore and no memory too painful. No matter how difficult it was, she plowed on through, taking special care to describe Argos’ powerful mind control. She’d never seen anything like it.

There was a deafening silence when she was finished and she looked up to see that Chase had tears in his eyes. Hard anger and bitter remorse were etched into every line of his face, and when she squeezed his hand, he took a second to control himself before talking.

“I... I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.” His face grew dark. “He will pay for this, I promise you that much.”

“Maybe he already did,” she said hopefully. “I mean, who survives a quadrinium enhanced bomb and three thermal grenades?”

Chase’s lips thinned to a hard line. “Furies do...”

“You seriously think so?”

“Sarah, when I faced him, I felt a kind of power flow through my body like nothing else I ever felt before. I sent attack after attack upon him, each one powerful enough to kill ten men, but he dealt with them as if they were nothing more than mosquito bites.”

Her face paled. “Can I tell you something?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I’m… I’m also a little scared of you now.” She glanced away, looking embarrassed.

Chase straightened up in surprise. “Why? You know I’d never let anything bad happen to you. I’d rather⁠—”

“Even so, this man is your brother. You’re from the same planet. What if something happens to you and you lose control? You said it yourself, when you’re angry you could potentially be uncontrollable.”

Chase got up from the bed and walked towards the window. Blue and purple lights from the hyperspace corridor flashed across his bare skin. He stared at his reflection in the glass, deeply impacted by what Sarah had just told him.

What was he now? Was she right? Was he something to be feared?

But at that moment, she got up as well and embraced him, slipping her arms under his and resting her palms on his shoulder. Her soft skin and delicate curves pressed against his back, and when she squeezed his wrist, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

“Chase, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t. And you’re right. I destroyed my quarters on board the Destiny and that was just a reaction from a vision. In that same vision… I destroyed entire worlds.”

She pressed her face against the back of his neck and kissed him. “Visions and nightmares are one thing… but do you seriously think you could do such a thing?”

“Aphroditis seems to think so.”

“Right...” She suddenly remembered. “Argos is very interested in the Olympians. When he was in my head, I tried to make him tell me why—he seemed obsessed.”

Chase considered this thoughtfully. “He seemed pissed at her during our confrontation.”

“Maybe they hurt him somehow… and he’s seeking revenge?” Sarah guessed.

“It doesn’t matter what it is,” Chase said firmly. “What matters is that I have to stop him.”

Sarah was quick to jump in. “We⁠—”

“What?”

“We have to stop him, Chase. You’ll need my help and the help of your other friends too. Argos is too dangerous a threat for you to deal with alone.”

Chase shook his head. “Nonetheless, I don’t want any of you to get hurt. Again.”

“I don’t think it’s your choice to make.” She smiled warmly. “But that’s very sweet of you. In fact, it’s why I fell in love with you to begin with. But you have to be smart.”

“Interesting choice of words,” Chase murmured, more to himself than to Sarah.

“Why is that?”

“Something Aphroditis said during the battle: that I couldn’t defeat Argos based on powers alone. That I wasn’t ready yet so I needed to outsmart him.”

“And you did, so that was good advice. How do you feel about your powers right now?”

He considered. “I’m starting to feel some sort of control, even though they scare me. But I’m nowhere near his level. At least for the time being, I’m ill-equipped to face him again.”

“Then when we reach Earth, you should focus on training,” she suggested. “There are desolate places on Earth where you wouldn’t risk doing too much damage.”

“Perhaps...” Chase doubted there were any places with such low risk, not if he lost control.

She tightened her embrace and laid her head on his back. His mind wouldn’t stop racing; he kept thinking about his visions, replaying the fight with Argos again and again. He knew full well his fear of hurting innocent people was holding him back, but how could it not be? To wield such power was not something to be taken lightly. He took small comfort in the fact that the healing power at least had come naturally to him. That had to be a good sign.

“Sarah…” He sighed. “I am so sorry for what Argos put you through.”

She trembled a little but held strong. “It’s not your fault.”

“Maybe it is,” he countered. “Maybe if I had been stronger, I could have prevented you all this pain and suffering.”

“We both know that’s just wishful thinking,” she murmured. “It won’t do either of us any good. And may I remind you that you saved my life jumping in front of my ship when he was about to blow me out of the sky?”

“Maybe he wouldn’t have.”

“You can’t second guess yourself. You’re not this guy.”

“What guy?” he asked curiously.

“The guy that keeps obsessing about the past. This isn’t you.”

“Right now it is”—he sighed again—“and it makes me feel cold and sad.”

She squeezed him firmly. “Then I suggest you leave the past where it belongs. Focus on the now. I am here, I am back, and thanks to you, I am no longer under the control of this mad man. That has to count for something, right?”

Chase turned and took her in his arms. They looked each other in the eyes for a moment before he lowered his lips slowly down to hers.

* * *

Ryonna looked at Ronan sleeping. These past few days had been quite the ordeal for him, and he had fallen asleep as soon as they arrived on board the Iron Fire. She stroked back his hair, thinking—with a concerned frowned—that perhaps the ordeal had left marks on her too.

For the first time in her life, she had been unable to sense anything about the crewman that had escorted them to their new quarters. Not his death, not anything. It was unnerving.

But it was also perhaps a blessing in disguise; she had never liked this power. She knew it was supposed to be a gift, a highly regarded one amongst her people, in fact, but to her it had only made things more difficult throughout her life.

How do you manage to develop any sort of longtime relationship with people when you know how and when they’re going to die?

No. It was not a gift, it was a curse. And if she had lost it… it was for the best.

Ronan started moaning in his sleep and she stroked her hand again through his hair. She was so happy to be reunited with her son, so proud of the strength it must have taken to survive Hellstar, so proud of the man he was becoming right in front of her eyes.

A sudden pain in her stomach made her reel back with a gasp. The damn nanite factory was acting up again. Maybe that was the reason she had lost her ability. But what started out as tolerable pain, soon escalated to a near-crippling paralysis. She fell to the floor and tugged herself out into the hall so as not to wake Ronan.

A passing crewman ran towards her. “Are you alright, ma’am?”

He was a short man, even by Alliance standards. Dark haired with concerned, chestnut eyes.

“My stomach,” she panted, doubling over in pain. “Please help.”

The crewman hit a panel on the nearest wall. “Medical emergency on deck two, corridor twelve.”

The last thing she remembered was him kneeling down to help. Then she blacked out.

* * *

Chase arrived in the med-bay shortly after. He talked with the doctor currently on duty who gave him a detailed report on the tests they had performed on her and showed him some scans before leaving to tend to other things.

Hesitant to wake her, Chase cautiously approached the bed where Ryonna was sleeping, smiling when she opened her eyes. “Hello, sleepy head.”

“Chase...? Where am I?”

“Medical Bay.”

She looked around in alarm. “On Earth?”

“Soon,” he said calmingly. “We're less than an hour away from jumping out of hyperspace. You’re still on the Iron Fire.”

“Ronan?” she asked automatically.

“He’s fine. I passed by his quarters and he was still sleeping so I let him rest. I’m sure you’ll agree he’s had enough excitement for a while.”

She chuckled weakly. “Indeed. Thank you, Chase.”

The smile faded from Chase’s eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“About that thing you have in your stomach. I ran into Tar’Lock and he explained that you had a nanite factory installed inside your stomach. He said something about the fact you needed to reverse the procedure quickly…?”

She sighed. “I thought I had a few more days. It didn’t seem that important at the time.”

“Well, the doc here is worried. It seems your body is rejecting the implant and he thinks you need to be operated on as soon as possible. He prefers doing it on Earth. Some of our best physicians are there, and there’s better operating equipment as well as full operating staff.”

She nodded but then stared up at him anxiously. “There’s something else, Chase.”

“What is it?

“I can’t seem to be able to foresee the moment of passing of the people I meet anymore. When I arrived on Hellstar it was still working, but shortly after—I don’t really know how or when exactly—or why—it’s just gone.”

Chase considered his response. “Does it bother you?”

“No, on the contrary. I’d rather this be gone forever.”

“So why worry?”

“Well…” She paused thoughtfully. “Maybe it was a tactical advantage you could have found useful in the future. As such, it’s a shame to have lost it.”

He frowned. “Why does it matter what is of any tactical advantage to me, Ryonna?”

“Because I owe you a life debt now.”

He shook his head quickly and took a step away. “Oh no you don’t! You saved our asses with that quadrinium. Without it, Earth and the Alliance would have fallen. So if there’s anyone owing anybody anything here, it’s the rest of us owing you, do you understand me?”

She gazed up solemnly. “That’s not how things work, Chase. You saved my hide from that desolate planet and helped me locate Ronan—that’s why I gave you the quadrinium. You coming to Hellstar to save us is another debt, a much more important one for me to repay.”

“Look, I understand Droxians are very proud people with a strong sense of honor. I’m sure you feel you have to do this, but⁠—”

“I need to, and I will.”

“Will you let me finish?”

“Sorry. Please continue.”

“Alright, so as it happens, it’s Sarah who asked me to come to Hellstar. I don’t know how. I don’t know if this is one of my powers, but I heard her telepathically calling to me. So technically, I didn’t come to save you.”

Ryonna smiled. She knew what he was trying to do.

“The fact of the matter is, even if you came to find Sarah, once you arrived, do you honestly expect me to believe that you wouldn’t have tried to locate me and Ronan?”

Chase stalled nervously. “Alright maybe, but not if it had jeopardized my own mission.”

“Very well...” She grinned. “Well, now that my people and yours are allies, I guess there’s no issue with us to being friends.”

“Of course!” he said quickly. “I would expect that even if our people weren’t allies.”

She had him cornered and went in for the kill. “Then as your friend, I’m sorry I lost this advantage, and I hope you’ll let me be part of your entourage.”

He faltered at her logic. “What about Ronan?”

“What about him?”

“Isn’t he too young to be mixed up with what the new Alliance is trying to do? Wouldn’t you rather take him some place safe to look over and protect him?”

She sighed. “I don’t think there is any safe place anymore, Chase. This is an all-out war now, otherwise my people wouldn’t even have considered joining you. I know how stubborn we can be.”

“You can say that again,” he mumbled and they both laughed.

“Furthermore you need to understand that I want Ronan to become a great warrior, and shielding him from danger isn’t really going to help accomplish that.”

Chase nodded practically, but rushed suddenly forward when Ryonna doubled over with a groan. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Chase, don’t worry.”

Her fierce bravery even amidst all the pain made him smile. “Look, I’m perfectly happy to have you on our side. You’ve been an invaluable ally and I would love to get to know you better as a friend.”

“Then it’s settled, Chase,” she said happily. “We’ll stay with you, and I think as long as I’m around, I can take care of Ronan.”

“Good.” Chase gave her a comical handshake and she laughed. “Now you should probably get some rest. We’ll soon reach Earth and then you’ll be transferred to a bigger medical center. They’ll operate as soon as possible to remove that contraption in your guts and flush the nanites from your body.”

Ryonna nodded in agreement.

“I’ve also let the doc know they need to bring Ronan to you when we reach Earth. There’s a guard in front of your quarters with orders to bring him to you in case he wakes up before then.”

She smiled at him. And to think, at their first meeting she had been reluctant to trust him. He was, after all, the first non-Droxian she had met who didn’t provide a vision regarding his future death. That alone had destabilized her. She was grateful now that she had let Sarah change her mind.

“Thank you, Chase.”

“You’re very welcome. Now try to rest a bit. You deserve it.”

* * *

The Iron Fire exited hyperspace and was soon orbiting Earth. Chase was on the bridge, sitting in the captain’s chair when it happened.

The view was both magnificent and terrorizing. On the one hand, it felt good to see the number of starships now orbiting Earth, especially ships like the Cronos, which were so massive they cast shadows below. However, Chase couldn’t help but notice some huge, dark, grey spots in Earth’s atmosphere where Argos’ abomination of a battleship had launched its deadly, mass-driver weaponry. Chase knew full well Sarah would want to know as soon as possible what cities had been hit, but after their intimate moment in their quarters, she had fallen asleep and he hadn’t felt like waking her up after that. She had been through so much lately, she deserved whatever sleep she could get.

Another few minutes or hours wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway, he thought. And somehow he was glad she wasn’t there to see the damage with her own eyes, just as he could see it right now from orbit.

14

Time on the planet passed quickly, and it was just a week later that Chase and Sarah entered a room in the newly constructed headquarters of the Earth Alliance. Commodore Saroudis was there waiting for them in front of a huge conference table. When the pair walked inside, Saroudis took a few steps forward and shook Chase’s hand.

“It’s good to see you again. Sorry I missed your debrief upon your return from Hellstar. It’s been busy.”

“Thank you, Commodore. Congratulations on the promotion. And no worries. Under the circumstances it’s just normal.”

“Thanks, Chase,” he said warmly. “Sarah, it’s good to see you as well.”

She flashed a smile. “Thank you, Commodore, it is good to be back.”

“Please, sit.” He gestured to the table. “I wish we had time to chitchat but there are lots of things we must talk about.”

Chase nodded seriously as they all pulled up a chair. “I’ve seen the damage from orbit. I’m afraid to ask the number of casualties.”

“I don’t even have a figure myself, Chase.” Saroudis shook his head sadly. “But we estimate a few million people died during the attack on Earth.”

Sarah’s face paled. “Dear god!”

“Yes, I know this must be quite a shock for you,” the commodore sympathized. “I am deeply sorry we weren’t able to do more for your planet.”

She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. The Alliance risked everything to save Earth; without your help, we simply wouldn’t be here discussing this.”

“I am somewhat relieved you see it that way. I’m not sure all the people of Earth will.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Which cities took the brunt of the damage?”

“Many capital cities, in fact.” He listed them off: “Los Angeles, Boston, Vancouver, Paris, London, Rome, New York—to a lesser degree—but the list goes on. While the damage has been substantial and the loss of life unthinkable, we have dispatched all the help we could to these cities to relocate survivors and start the process of rebuilding. Some of them were quite literally leveled during the assault.”

She stared at her hands in her lap. “I can’t imagine what people must be feeling right now.”

“Neither can I, Commander. But unfortunately, we can’t delve into this too much right now. There is a good chance Obsidian will continue attacking in the coming weeks. With the help of the Droxians, however, we should have a more defensible position, and with the Fifth Fleet’s arrival, our numbers are strengthening.”

“That’s a lot to take in,” Chase murmured. “When we arrived on Earth, we knew things would be bad, but I had hoped we could have repelled this assault with far fewer casualties.”

“We all did, Chase...” said the commodore gravely.

“Where is Daniel?” Chase looked suddenly around. “I expected him to be here for this.”

“I wanted him to captain the Destiny while I came down to Earth. While I don’t expect an imminent attack, I’d rather the ship was in good hands.”

“Understood. What’s next, then?”

“Many things, actually. With quadrinium now in abundant supply, we have quadrupled the construction of bots that are working relentlessly, some in damage control and some in churning out new battleships and defenses. We should have a larger network of orbital satellites in place within two weeks, and a brand new Prometheus-class battleship in the next few days.”

“Prometheus class?” Chase raised his eyebrows.

“Yes. Admiral Thassos was kind enough to provide the full specs she carried with her. The Prometheus class is another top-secret battleship design that was being built for testing when Obsidian attacked. Yanis has added a few things to improve upon the specs further.”

“Of course he did.” Chase grinned. “What’s so different about it?”

“I think it’s best I let him explain it himself. I know he wants to. But suffice it to say, it’s a smaller battleship, about thirty percent smaller in size than the Destiny, but packs new and improved engines that are up to twenty-five percent more efficient, with double and triple redundancies on critical systems. It also comes with prototype shields and is armed to the teeth. Yanis will brief you further. It could be a very important ship for reconnaissance missions, as it can handle its own with faster, sub-light engines, more maneuverability, and stronger shields. It’s the perfect ship to start exploring what was once Alliance space to look for more survivors while we try to find new allies.”

“That sounds good.” Chase nodded approvingly. “What about the Droxians? How serious are they about joining the Earth Alliance?”

“Almost a done deal. There are a few details being ironed out, but for now it looks like we may have just scored the biggest ally we could hope for under the circumstances.”

“Maybe it will push other worlds to join in as well.”

The commodore nodded. “We can only hope so. We still have no idea of how strong the Zarlack forces are. We might just have seen the tip of the spear here.”

Chase shuddered. “That’s a scary thought.”

“Yes, it is. But at least now with the shipyard churning out vessels and the Droxians in the fold, we can actually start planning search and rescue missions.”

Chase sat up quickly. “I would really like to be part of the first mission that goes to Alpha Prime.”

“So would I,” added Sarah.

Saroudis smiled. “I predicted that, so in a few days, when the Hope is ready, you can take her on her maiden voyage.”

“What about you, Commodore?” Chase frowned. “Wouldn’t you want the honors?”

“I would, Chase, but I need to keep supervising things here. You might have to get the admiral’s permission and probably take an escort as well, but I’d rather send you and Sarah on this. You two demonstrated great resilience whilst finding reinforcements and quadrinium. Maybe the gods are smiling on you two.”

Chase almost wanted to explain that Olympians weren’t really gods, just a more advanced species, but he also knew Commodore Saroudis was a believer, so for the time being, he simply smiled and nodded in agreement. After all, who was he to belittle someone’s beliefs? If it helped Saroudis and others to think of Olympians as gods, then so be it.

Sarah got up and went to the nearest window. They were in a tall building and the view should have been breathtaking. It still was—only in all the wrong ways. Houses were flattened, trees were scorched. It was a planet on the mend. A planet still licking its wounds.

Sarah pondered the extent of the scars left on humanity’s psyche. Yes, the arrival of the fleet had brought about an end to global famine, disease, and war. But still, looking around now raised a hell of a lot of questions.

Could this have been avoided had the Alliance never jumped near Earth?

The two men watched her for a moment, until Chase made a discreet hand gesture, asking for a moment. The commodore got up graciously, announcing he’d return with coffee.

Once the sliding doors to the conference room had closed, Chase got up and put his arms gently around Sarah’s trembling body, kissing her warmly on the cheek. She jumped a little, as if just realizing that he was there, but then leaned back into him.

“Are you alright, sweetie?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re thinking about Uncle Peter?”

Upon their arrival on Earth, Sarah had immediately gotten a message letting her know that her uncle had been killed in the attack.

“Yeah. I still can’t believe he is gone. I can’t believe how many are gone.” She pulled herself together and straightened her shoulders. “But now is not the time.”

Chase hung his head. “I’m really sorry. I feel… responsible for all of this, you know.”

“Well you shouldn’t.” She took a deep breath. “If it wasn’t for you, there’s a good chance we would all be dead right now.”

“Nevertheless, I can’t help it.”

Sarah stayed silent.

“When is your uncle’s funeral?”

“The day after tomorrow. I’d like you to come with me...” Her voice trailed off.

“Of course I’ll come.”

He tightened his embrace and kissed her on the head, feeling a little frustrated that the only thing he could do to help her in this situation was provide emotional support.

There was just too much going on these last few weeks. Hell, these last few days. He needed a moment to pause, a moment to plot out his next move without being worried that he was accidentally going to rip the fabric of the universe in two with his mind…

Little things like that.

Both Sarah and Chase turned when the doors slid open. Instead of the commodore, it was Yanis holding a tray with three cups on it.

“Coffee delivery anyone?” he said cheerfully. “Looks like this is the right place… May I?”

“Sure, come in. Where’s the commodore?” inquired Chase, clearly surprised to see Yanis come back instead of him.

“He had an errand to run, I think. Not that anyone tells me anything, as per usual. Basically I ended up with a tray in my hands and was told to come here and debrief you on my latest genius advancements.”

“Sounds good to me. Sit down, my friend,” said Chase, gesturing Yanis to where the commodore was sitting a few minutes ago.

“Thanks.” He sank down and grabbed himself a cup before spotting Sarah still standing in the corner. “Oh, um… hello, Sarah,” he said tentatively, sensing she wasn’t feeling very well.

“Hey, Yanis, it’s good to see you.” She joined them at the table.

“It’s good to see you too! We were really worried after the battle. I’m so glad we got you back.”

At his words, Sarah felt a sharp prickle in her heart. Good intentioned as they were, any reminder of her time spent with Argos was enough to send her into a tailspin. She tried to push these thoughts out of her mind as much as she could, but it wasn’t easy. This particular wound was still quite fresh. That being said, she was a soldier first and foremost. Time to toughen up.

“Thank you. It’s good to be back,” she said, only a slight waver in her tone.

Yanis remained cheerfully oblivious. “Interesting drink this coffee.” He took a sip and smiled. “I’ve never had anything like it.”

Sarah nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know if I could live without it.”

Chase leaned forward, steering them back on course. “So, Yanis, what do you have for us?” he said as cheerfully as he could.

“Plenty, as a matter of fact.” The master engineer reached into his pocket and took out a small, cylindrical device that he slid to the middle of the conference table. Almost immediately, a holographic display shot out—representing the new battleship.

“Let me guess… the Prometheus-class destroyer?” Chase asked casually.

Yanis frowned. “No spoilers!” They both cracked a smile. “Indeed, this is a Prometheus-class ship, currently being assembled in orbit of Earth. And guys, trust me, it’s one hell of a ship. I managed to cram all the latest tech from both our inventory as well as the prototype tech the admiral had specs on.”

The view of the new tech got Sarah’s attention, diverting away some of her grief. “Wow, that’s a nice looking ship,” she said with genuine interest.

“Well, thank you,” Yanis replied proudly.

“So give us the run down,” she continued. “What does it do better than your current lineup?”

“I’ll show you.” Yanis leaned in and pointed at different parts of the display. “The main feat here is it uses a twin quadrinium core. This provides not only a redundancy, but allows this baby to pack quite a punch in terms of both defensive and offensive capabilities.”

He went on to explain how the ship could use both core engines at once with a reserve power that was constantly replenished, similar to how the F-140s had been equipped but on a much larger scale. In fact, even when both engines were damaged, the ship could use the emergency power supply to make a medium-size jump. That alone was enough to awaken in Chase a real excitement about captaining it soon. But it turned out that was only the tip of the iceberg.

With the combined power of the twin engines and the reserve power, the ship could, if necessary, power a brand new plasma cannon—firing a concentrated beam of plasma on which both amplitude and power could be modulated. Yanis explained that the ship could, in fact, even deliver a single pulse that would use every bit of power the ship had to fire a super powerful shot. A shot that he believed would be able to lower the shields of the behemoth Zarlack monstrosity that had attacked Earth. According to Yanis, it could even destroy a small moon.

“That’s excellent news. We need to be able to take out more of these behemoth starships in the future… and at a much lower cost…” said Chase, with more than a little regret.

“Yeah, that was my thought as well,” Yanis agreed. “However, there’s a catch.”

“I’m listening.”

“The all-power shot would temporarily disable the ship in the process.” He paused. “For shields and life support to get back up to twenty percent, the ship would require sixty seconds, another minute or so for full main power to the weapons and sub-light engines, and at least five minutes to get all systems back to full power and restore the jump engines.”

Chase frowned. “Can’t we simply use the power of the twin engines and reserve the backup power to do all these things after the shot?”

“You can, and that’s how it is set by default. But it will lessen your power shot by roughly twenty-five percent. Plus, you’d still need a minute or two before you could fire again while the gun’s plasma chambers recharge. But in the meantime, shields, laser turrets, and torpedoes would still be at your disposal.”

“Then I don’t see a problem,” Chase said confidently. “I suppose two or three of these shots would still disable the Zarlack capital ship’s shield.”

Yanis considered. “Probably. It depends how fast their shields would recharge in between hits. But the point I’m trying to make here is that the Heracles cannon also has that gamble type of firing, but that would require you to go ‘all-in,’ as the humans say. So while this is very risky, it’s still an option. I know it’s the kind of edge you might want to use in one of those over-the-top, bat-shit crazy ideas you seem to concoct under pressure. No offense.”

Chase grinned. “None taken, and duly deserved. I’m glad that something like this can be done. It might even save our asses one day.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Yanis looked up sharply. “But don’t jinx us.”

“What is it called?” Sarah asked.

“EAD Hope,” Yanis replied, literally beaming with pride.

Chase frowned in confusion. “EAD?”

“We renamed the Alliance, if you remember.”

Yanis went on to explain that since the ship had, for all intents and purposes, almost double the power of even bigger class destroyers in the fleet, it would make a perfect ship to churn out in large numbers fast. It was clearly a war machine first and foremost, but its added speed in hyperspace as well as superior sub-light speed made it also a great exploration ship.

“Why would we build anything but these, then?” asked Chase.

“Well, we still require larger ships as carriers. This can only accommodate two squadrons of fighters and lacks the tube-cannon launching system. So you can’t deploy a squadron as fast as on the Destiny, for example.”

“Yeah, two squadrons if the ship is alone can be a little tight.”

“That’s where the F-147 StarCrusher comes in.”

“The what now?” Sarah asked, a twinkle in her beautiful green eyes.

“Yeah, the what?” echoed Chase.

“Shush, he’s talking fighters,” she said with a smile.

This time, the whole table cracked a laugh. Then Yanis got up and pressed something on his wrist device. The hologram immediately changed to display what looked awfully like an F-140 Thunderbolt.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let me present you the new and improved version of my already very popular space-worthy fighter bomber.” When he received nothing but blank stares, Yanis’ face fell. “I… I expected some applause.”

“F-147 StarCrusher?” Chase asked. “StarCrusher? Really? That’s what you’re naming it? And why F-147 and not F-141?”

“Finally some reaction! Not the kind I expected, but, well,” said Yanis, scratching his head. “And yes, I think it’s a cool name. If you don’t like it, bite me! As for the number, I like the number seven and I added at least seven new technologies to the craft. So there, a little creative freedom if you please?”

“Easy, tiger,” Sarah soothed, trying to diffuse the testosterone-infused hiccup. “StarCrusher isn’t that bad, and if worse comes to worse, we can rename it later. What really interests me is what it can do.”

“Right.” Yanis pouted. “We can rename it later... or not.”

“Yanis,” interjected Chase.

“Okay, okay… It can do a lot, in fact. As you well know, despite its glowing reputation, the F-140 was a bit of a rush job. We were under imminent threat; we had to do the modifications fast and we really went super raw on the types of systems we were able to include.”

“If you ask me, it’s one hell of a ship, raw or not,” Sarah offered.

“Well, thank you.” Yanis glowed. “And I agree. Not only that, but analyzing the logs and stats from the last battle seemed to confirm that as well. The Thunderbolt outperformed and out-killed the Manticore-class fighters. Granted, both of the best pilots were using them so that could affect the overall stats, but in the end it became clear that it is a very efficient ship. So I’ve been working on this ever since the first F-140 got built. With the arrival of the Omega fighters, I was tempted to just drop it and try duplicating Admiral Thassos’ new toys, but I had invested so much in it already, it seemed a shame. So I thought the F-140 deserved a much leaner, streamlined and technology-infused upgrade. My thinking was to try and make a bridge between the F-140 and the Omegas. That way, I could bring the best of both worlds into a new ship. Hence, the F-147.”

Chase gazed at the holo-image. “I have to admit, I love the way the F-140 looked, so I’m glad you used the same design, just with a darker paint job.”

“So do I,” Yanis agreed. “But while on the outside not much seems to have changed, under the hood is a whole different story. First, it’s twenty percent heavier and bigger. Of course, on the hologram you can’t really tell, but that allowed me to find the space I needed to load it with every gadget and system I could think of, and to reinforce the plating now that quadrinium is no longer an issue.”

Yanis clapped his hands brusquely.

“Now to the good stuff, shall we? Since it’s bigger, I managed to put redundancies and self-repairing systems pretty much on anything critical, but that’s not all. I loved the fact that the original F-14 Tomcat has twin engines, so I replicated that design with our latest generation engines. A higher-yield, secondary power reserve doubled the number of laser cannons, and it can now carry an additional twin torpedo complement or four missiles, depending on your ordnance choice.”

Sarah clapped her hands in applause.

“Why, thank you,” said Yanis, turning to Chase and adding casually, “See, that’s not so difficult.”

“Show off!” snorted Chase.

“Look who’s talking,” both Yanis and Sarah said in unison, laughing right after.

Chase nodded reasonably. “Touché.”

“But that’s not all. Of course, every F-147 will come with those neuronal link interfaces you guys are so crazy about. Again, the logs showed it’s more efficient than the traditional stick, rudder, and physical HUD. Earth pilots actually seem to adapt faster to it than our own, for some reason, but still, after sufficient training, everyone seems to get used to it and there are gains in efficiency as well.”

He got suddenly to his feet.

“But now for the grand finale.” He rubbed his palms together.

“Oh, for the love of⁠—”

“Ah-ta-ta-ta... This one requires special mention,” Yanis insisted.

“You should have started with ‘one more thing’ then,” said Sarah casually.

Both Yanis and Chase looked at each other, and, after a while, when it became clear they both didn’t get the reference—after all how could they?—Sarah added, “It’s a Steve Jobs thing. He was the CEO of Apple until he passed away. God rest his soul. And when he was still alive he would keep a special reveal at the end of his speeches, and would say ‘one more thing’ and everyone in the audience knew something special was about to happen.”

“I’ve heard a lot about Apple. That nice, chain-smoking tech Cedric mentioned it took a little more time to hack their computers compared to something called ‘Windows’ when he had to teleport the EMP to the behemoth Zarlack ship.”

“Apple? Windows? Who thinks up these names? In comparison, your StarCrusher is a stroke of genius,” said Chase.

They all laughed for a good while, then Sarah added, “True. When I stop to think about it, the naming of Apple as a company is a weird choice, but then it worked. It became the most successful tech company until… well, until you guys showed up, basically. I wonder what happened to them or their products, in fact.”

“I know what happened,” said Yanis. “Some of their best engineers are working with me on the F-147 and the other pet projects I have. Some of them were sent to other R&D stations, and Earth still produces smartphones and tablets, but a single model of each, infused with some of our technology; mostly so the damn things don’t die for lack of power after a single day’s use. And of course with higher processing power now as well, we’ve upgraded them to quantum computing. They’re now fully awesome.”

“Steve Jobs would be proud of you, at least for the upgrades. Not sure he would have liked the fact that all this is made without profit for the company.”

“Right. Still, what matters is that we adapted something that was well done originally on your world and made it just more efficient, ecologic and available to anyone who needs to use it.”

Chase scratched his neck.

“We’re getting off track. What about you tell us what other changes you made to the StarCrusher?” said Chase, clearly impatient to know what more it could do.

 “Right, back to it. The next thing was actually inspired by you. You remember when you told me to look at a way to increase efficiency to the remote control of a squadron?”

“Absolutely,” Chase recalled. “I loved having the option to fly remotely. Of course, it’s not quite as efficient as just flying my own ship, and, to be honest, sometimes it feels a bit like sacrificing a huge number of ships, but⁠—”

“Exactly! Why would we lose entire ships when we could lose much smaller ones?”

The question lay in the air between them.

“You want to build smaller ships?” Chase frowned.

“Drones!” Sarah cried, as if she’d won a game show.

Yanis beamed at her. “Exactly! I’ve looked at the concept of drones in human warfare; it was all the rage before our arrival. And I can see why. They allow soldiers to do tactical missions without incurring loss of life.”

“Sounds good to me,” Chase said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“I’ve loaded them onboard the F-147s. Each craft has four drones, all pre-programmed with your sub-routines as well as a full auto mode, and so the onboard computer can pilot them based on the data we’ve gathered from the logs and statistics we’ve recorded during your engagement. We’ve also taken into account analysis of Zarlack attack patterns and coded that in. For you, I’m sure you’ll prefer the manual mode, in which case you now will have access to them and your commands via the neuronal link; but for less experienced fighters, the drones will auto pilot themselves based on your sub-routines, still adding firepower and efficiency to dogfights.”

“That sounds really good, but how tough are they? I doubt they are as solid as fighters.”

Yanis nodded. “You’re right, how could they be? But I’ve used the same power source I used in the shielded torpedoes, so they’re tough little suckers. They’re shielded, with a small yet rechargeable secondary power reserve. They fire single laser cannons but are modular in frequency and power distribution. And finally, they can be either remote detonated as mines or used as shielded torpedoes if required.”

Chase studied Yanis critically. “You haven’t slept since the last attack, have you?”

“Not so much,” Yanis admitted. “After what happened on Earth, I wanted us ready for whatever Obsidian and the Zarlacks had to throw at us. These bastards need to know we won’t let them walk all over us.”

He sat back in his chair with a satisfied sigh. The presentation was apparently over and he’d done his job well. He was shocked, however, when Chase leapt up from his seat and gave him an unexpected hug.

“What’s that for?” Yanis stammered, a little stunned.

Chase flushed self-consciously. “It’s something I picked up from the humans. It’s what you do… you know… when you’re grateful to someone.”

Yanis and Sarah exchanged a knowing look and Chase was quick to change the subject.

“Wait—what about cloaking?”

“Snap! I knew I forgot something,” admitted Yanis. “Perhaps you’re right, I do need to sleep and relax a little.”

“Can it be installed? It would be a tremendous advantage tactically, and I take it with your access to the Omegas, you must have the means to install that tech as well, right?”

“As a matter of fact it already is. I just forgot to tell you about it. And… there’s a catch. The F-147 emits a much stronger power signature than the Alliance starfighters, and is considerably larger too. So there are some limitations...”

“Such as?”

“Well, you can only cloak the ship for a minute or two, depending on your energy levels.

Chase shrugged. “More than enough in most situations.”

“If only it was that simple, I would agree. While the new prototype fighters also lose most of their shields while in cloak, they still can maintain about forty percent of them up and even fire while cloaked, which makes them true predators in battle conditions. The F-147, unfortunately, cannot. It’s simply too big. It has too many systems and not enough juice to do everything while cloaked.”

“I see. That’s still an advantage under the right set of circumstances. We just can’t use it in the middle of a frenzied firefight with multiple targets in pursuit. Especially if the fact of de-cloaking means having no shields. How fast do the shields recharge once de-cloaked?”

“Fast enough. As fast as they would in normal combat conditions. I’m trying to figure a way to flash charge them so they could be restored faster, but I’ve had limited success so far.”

“Limited success?” Sarah asked.

“I fried half the capacitors and blew up the other half during testing.”

“Ah,” she replied, letting the subject drop.

Chase nodded hastily. “Yeah, for future versions it will be good, but as it is, it will definitely give us the edge against the Zarlacks.”

Chase noticed Sarah had become quiet again, which, when the subject of technology, weapons, and blowing stuff up was involved, wasn’t really in her nature.

“Don’t you agree, love?”

She barely registered the fact that he addressed her directly, but after a few seconds, she answered. “I... I’m sorry. I’m suddenly not feeling very well. Please don’t misunderstand me. This is an awesome craft, one I want to test very soon, but I think I need to go get some rest. I feel a little queasy.” She turned towards Chase. “With your permission?”

“Of course. We’ll finish up here and I’ll join you later,” Chase answered with a smile.

“Thank you.” She turned to Yanis and shook his hand. “Great job on the new ships. I can’t wait to see them in action. Until next time.”

Yanis nodded and she left the conference room. When the doors closed he turned back to Chase. “That was a little odd.”

“She lost an uncle during the battle. He had become kind of a father figure for her after she had lost her parents.”

“Oh... I didn’t know.” His face fell. “I sensed something wasn’t going well, but I didn’t know what it was.”

“Not to mention what she had to endure while captive. That took quite a toll.” Chase sighed. A toll on them both. “But she’s strong. She’ll get through it.”

“Something you’d like to talk about?”

“No, she barely told me about it. It’s probably a very private and delicate subject, so if she wants to tell that tale herself, she will in due time.”

“Absolutely, I understand.”

There was a sudden tension in the conference room and Chase was determined not to let it fester. “So, when will these be ready?”

“The F-147… I should have a couple of them ready in the next few days.”

“I take it the Prometheus-class ship will take longer?”

“You’d think so, but both the commodore and admiral were adamant they wanted this ship and the next ones of their class to be ready as fast as humanly possible. So we’ve literally built an entire army of bot droids to build them at an accelerated rate. It meant squandering some quadrinium, but they both felt that it is worth it. If you ask me, the admiral has something in mind.”

“So when should I come in and test it?”

“Give me one or two more days. Then it should be ready to go.”

Chase’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, like I said—thousands upon thousands of builder bots have been working on it relentlessly for days now. It can probably already fly now, but we have the engineers onboard doing all the testing, making sure everything is safe and all that.”

“Well, that’s great. We need more ships and soon.”

“Yeah, I think that’s on everyone’s agenda at the moment; that and trying to repair whatever damage was done.”

Chase shook his head. “On that front, I don’t know that we really can. But I guess whatever help we can provide in terms of reconstruction will be welcome. Humanity lost some of its history in that attack; it must not be easy to deal with that. I’m sure we’ll feel some of those repercussions⁠—”

A loud explosion cut short his sentence as the windows in the conference room suddenly shattered into a million pieces.

15

Ryonna almost fell from her bed when the ground beneath her started shaking and rumbling. It felt like an explosion. Ronan came running from his room in alarm.

“What was that noise?”

“I think something exploded,” she answered, going to the windows to get a better look.

One of the buildings nearby had a column of smoke rising in the sky. The question now was: was it an accident, or an attack?

“Something bad happened,” she murmured. “Take your weapons. We need to check it out, and perhaps there are people who need our assistance.”

“Why should we care?” asked Ronan defiantly.

“Look, Ronan, I know you think you’re already a tough warrior and you try to be a good Droxian, but let me remind you that without Chase and his friends, we would both be dead. I have a debt to repay. I don’t need to tell you how important honor is to our people.” She threw on her jacket. “And there’s something more than that… they’re our friends.”

The door chimed.

“Come in!”

It was Tar’Lock. “What the hell was that explosion? I thought this place was safe.”

Ryonna shook her head. “I don’t know, but let’s go check it out.”

With that, the three of them left the flat at a dead sprint.

* * *

The explosion had sent Chase to the floor. He looked around the conference room but all he could see was smoke. His ears were ringing and it took a few moments for him to regain all his senses. He called out to Yanis.

“You okay, buddy?”

No answer.

He looked around and saw Yanis on the floor, still unconscious, buried beneath some light rubble. Chase’s heart stopped in his chest until he saw that his friend was still breathing. He quickly reached out to check his vitals and slapped his face gently until he regained consciousness.

“Urgh... What the... What was that?”

“An explosion.”

“Again with the obvious…” Yanis attempted a smile. “But why?”

Chase’s face darkened. “I don’t know, but let’s go check it out. Some people might need our help. Can you get up?”

“I think so.”

Yanis moaned in discomfort but managed to get to his feet. He looked up, pleased with his efforts, but paused at Chase’s expression.

“What is it?”

“Sarah. She barely left. We need to try and locate her.” Without hesitation he tried his comm. “Sarah, do you hear me? Please respond? Sarah!”

No response.

“We gotta find her!” he said, his voice trembling.

Yanis walked towards the door but it wouldn’t open. “That’s just great!” he said, letting escape a long breath of frustration. “Gimme a minute to get this open⁠—”

“No need; move aside.”

“What?”

“Just get out of the way,” Chase insisted. He raised his hand and called as loud as he possibly could, “Anybody behind the door?” There was silence. “I’ll take that as a no.”

A bright-blue ball of energy formed in his open palm. The next second, he fired it at the door. It burst open as if it was made of cardboard, most of its structure ricocheting against the next wall and falling to the ground in the now accessible corridor.

Yanis’ expression was a mixture of bewilderment with a healthy bit of fear.

“Right, you didn’t know I can do that,” said Chase with a tentative smile.

The engineer’s jaw fell open. “What the fuck, man! What WAS that?”

“Short version, my Fury powers.”

“Fury? I think I need the long version.”

“Sure, but not right now. Let’s try and find Sarah first. Follow me.”

They took off, running through the corridors. The damage to the building seemed minimal but it had obviously lost power. After a minute of running towards the exit, however, secondary power kicked in and low-powered lights started to fill the corridors. Nevertheless, when they tried the elevator, there was no such luck.

They went towards the nearest stairway and ran down ten flights of stairs until they reached a point where some damage had taken part of the stairway. It was still smoking and some sparks were flying about from broken electrical conduits around the damage. There was a way across, but it involved leaping several yards to the remaining stairway.

“I can make that jump. Can you?” Chase inquired.

Yanis looked at the drop and then at Chase with clear incredulity in his eyes.

“Not a chance, but go. I’ll find another stairway and catch up with you.”

Chase nodded and wasted no time jumping the thirty-foot gap, landing easily on the other side. Before Yanis could register it, his friend was no longer visible.

“Right, let’s find another way down,” he said out loud.

Chase got out of the building and took the way he thought Sarah would have gone. He was so full of adrenaline that he didn’t realize how fast he was running. In just a matter of seconds, he saw the smoldering rubble of the adjacent building—the one the explosion had clearly been meant for. At first, he was going to give it a wide berth, focused on his mission to find Sarah, but as he got closer, he spotted a familiar watch sticking up from beneath the rocks.

“Sarah!”

His heart started pounding, but he was relieved to hear an answer almost immediately.

“Chase?” Her voice was weak. “I’m stuck. I think I might have broken my leg too.”

As he approached, he saw that she was trapped under some paneling and concrete. With almost no effort at all, he threw the obstructing debris out of the way. When he reached the concrete and lifted it to the side, she moaned in pain.

“Thank you.” Her eyes were half closed from the pain. “What happened? I don’t remember anything after leaving the conference room.”

“I don’t know. Don’t move just yet,” he advised, helping her lie back.

Casting a nervous glance around, he placed his hands on the bleeding wound that had torn a hole in her pants. He closed his eyes, and a second later the wound had stopped bleeding. Another second after that, and it was like nothing had ever happened.

She blinked in amazement. “Wow, thank you. Guess I won’t be needing any morphine after all.” She tried flexing her leg and felt absolutely no pain. “That never gets old,” she said with a grin. He grinned back.

A second later, they heard running footsteps. Chase instinctively jumped to his feet and stood in front of Sarah, adopting a fighting stance. But it was just Ryonna, Ronan and Tar’Lock. Nonetheless, they stopped dead in their tracks at his reaction.

“Easy, Chase,” Ryonna said, a relieved smile shining in her eyes.

Sarah got up and dusted herself off. “Hey, guys.”

“Are you alright? What happened?” inquired Tar’Lock.

“We’re fine, and… I don’t know.” Chase looked worried.

Just then, Yanis came running. He tried to speak, but settled for frantic hand gestures as he caught his breath.

“I see you found another way out.” Chase grinned. He pressed his comm. “Commodore Saroudis, please respond?”

There was a crackle on the other end.

“Saroudis here. We detected an explosion on our sensors shortly after I arrived onboard Destiny. Is everyone okay?”

“We’re fine, Commodore; glad you weren’t in the building. We’ll need manpower to search for casualties and injured people; there might be some stuck in rubble.”

“I’ve already dispatched helper bots; they should be there shortly.”

“Good. Thank you, Commodore. We’re all⁠—”

But just then, Sarah fainted out of the blue. Tar’Lock caught her with his super speed, but Chase grabbed the comm in alarm.

“Actually, Commander Kepler just collapsed. I’m bringing her to the Destiny; have the med-bay ready for our arrival.”

“I’ll let them know you’re coming. Hope she’s alright.”

“Thanks, Commodore. Chase out.” He clicked off and turned to Ryonna.

“What can I do, Chase?” she said preemptively.

“I’d like you three to look for survivors and assist the medic bots when they arrive.” He took Sarah from Tar’Lock, then turned to Yanis and added, “You’re with me.”

* * *

Onboard the Destiny’s med-bay, Sarah had been placed into an examination bed. A ring-shaped medical device scanned her head to toe. Then a ceiling-attached, laser-wave scan made some extra readings.

“How is she, Doc?” Chase asked nervously. He had been watching each scan like a hawk.

“I am not detecting anything wrong with her.”

“Her leg was broken. I healed her.”

The doctor’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Would you mind explaining how you did so?”

“I really don’t have a clue. I just put my hands on the wound, closed my eyes, and everything happened automatically.”

“That’s handy. I have to say, it’s even more impressive if you say she had a broken bone, as I see absolutely no crack whatsoever on my scans.” He looked at Chase quizzically. “I would love to study these healing abilities of yours and see if we can replicate them with technology. Of course, we can already fix broken bones, but it takes time in the regeneration chambers and usually there is a tiny trace left when scanning a patient. For all intents and purposes, my scans indicate she’s never had that bone cracked. Or any others for that matter.”

“Sure, Doc,” he said impatiently. “But what about her current condition? Why did she collapse?”

“The only explanation I can guess is that it’s related to her pregnancy.”

There was a second’s pause, followed by a mild cardiac explosion.

“Her WHAT?”

“Right, it’s very early. She probably doesn’t know it either.” The doctor peered down over his spectacles. “But she is with child.”

Sarah was… with his… but… what?!

“You alright, Lieutenant Commander? You look… flushed.”

Chase flailed his right hand in response and sank down in the nearest chair. His mind was racing at a million miles a minute, but he was able to come up with a single question.

“Can you make a DNA scan of the fetus? Can you detect my DNA in there? Also, can you give me the approximate date of conception?”

“Let me check... It should only take a minute.”

The doc interfaced with the nearest monitors and brought up all info on the fetus. He then brought up Chase’s DNA from file and compared.

“Ninety-nine point ninety-seven percent match that your DNA is part of the child to be.”

“Shouldn’t it be a hundred percent?” Chase asked nervously.

“Well... I see a few possible explanations.” The doctor studied the screen. “Either the DNA is extremely similar to yours, perhaps a twin brother⁠—”

Chase’s expression became grave but he let the doc continue with his assessment.

“…or, and this is more likely, our sensors aren’t exactly calibrated to detect human physiology with the same amount of precision as our own.”

“Isn’t our physiology the same as the people of Earth?”

“Mostly, Chase, but we evolved on another planet with another set of rules. There are still significant changes. Think of it as a sub-species, if you’d like. Sure, our main double-helix DNA is the same, but with changes due to environment, different gravity levels, and the like… all of it’s come together to impact us over the centuries.”

“What about my Fury DNA?”

The doctor’s eyes widened. “Fury?”

Chase ran his hand through his hair. “Right, it would seem I’m part Fury, Doc.”

“That would explain why your scans are slightly different than ours on a cellular level. So yes, it could also be a simple factor explaining that very small discrepancy. That and that strange eye color of yours.”

Chase scoffed. “It’s not… strange.”

The doctor stifled a chuckle. “Not many people with purple irises, Chase.”

Chase chose to ignore this. “What about a conception date?”

“The baby was made June twenty-seventh, by Earth calendar, plus or minus a couple of days.”

That was around the night they’d spent together at her apartment, their first date. Chase exhaled deeply in relief.

“That’s strange,” added the doc.

“What is?” asked Chase in alarm.

“Well, it’s probably nothing, but Sarah also shows a slight DNA discrepancy with her previous scans in the database. I can’t quite put my finger on what could do that. I’ll run some more tests. For the time being, I wouldn’t worry. She’s healthy, that’s what matters. And perhaps she’s recently undergone some sort of trauma…?”

“You can say that again, Doc! She’s been captured and tortured by someone claiming to be my brother. From what she said, it sounds like she might have died several times and was brought back to life. Then, if that wasn’t enough, upon her return to Earth she learned that her uncle had passed during the battle against the Zarlacks and the funeral is in a couple of days.”

The doctor nodded seriously. “That’s it, Chase. She has been through much more than just one person can handle, and the presence of the fetus on top of that? That’s a lot for both the body and the mind to deal with. Add to that, I can’t predict what your Fury DNA could do to her own. We know there can be exchanges between the fetus and the mother in some cases. I think the past few days have simply taken a toll on her psyche and the pregnancy is responsible for these minute differences.”

Whether or not that was reassuring, Chase couldn’t quite decide. “Alright, Doc, thanks. Oh, but… how’s the baby? The torture must not have been good for him… or her.”

“The fetus seems fine, in perfect health, in fact. If it ever was hurt or damaged, perhaps you healed it as well when you fixed her leg without realizing it.”

“Right...”

Sarah stirred faintly as her eyes began fluttering open and shut.

“I’ll give you two some privacy,” the doc said, and left the chamber.

Chase nodded as the doc left and sat on the examination bed, taking her hand in both of his. “Hey, you… You gave us a big scare.”

She looked confused. “I don’t know what happened. One moment I was fine, the next I just blacked out.”

“The doc said it’s normal after all you’ve been through lately.” He hesitated, wondering how to proceed. “But… there is something else.”

“Now what?” She sounded exhausted.

Chase’s eyes started to water. Seeing the change, she sat up and took notice.

“You’re scaring me, Chase, what is it?”

He took a deep breath and decided to just get it over with. “You... you’re pregnant.”

At first, her brain couldn’t comprehend the news. But before long, little tears of joy wet the corners of her eyes. Her face softened and she gazed up at Chase with a radiant smile.

“That’s… that’s wonderful. But… are you okay with this?”

He let out a gasp of laughter. “Well it sure took me by surprise. But yes, I’m very, very happy.”

She beamed. “So am I.”

Time seemed to suspend as they sat in a happy silence, basking in the good news. For a moment, the rest of the world fell away, and the new little family had a bit of peace. For just a moment… everything was as it should be.

When Sarah fell asleep again, Chase left the med-bay and headed to the bridge.

“How’s Commander Kepler, Chase?” Saroudis asked as soon as he came in.

“She’s fine, thank you.” He blinked, still in surreal shock. “She... she’s pregnant.”

The commodore first raised an eyebrow, then beamed at Chase. “Congratulations! You’re about to become a father.”

“Yeah... it looks that way.”

The commodore paused. “Are you worried?”

Chase held a hand on his neck. “Honestly, it’s just all very sudden—not something we planned. So, yeah, I’m really happy. I guess I’m just… worried about the kind of world we’re going to be bringing this child into.”

“That’s normal, Chase.” Saroudis smiled. “Every man becoming a father will ask himself that very question. It’s the cycle of life: we are born, we live, we make children, and we die.”

“I suppose so.”

The commodore cleared his throat. “Well… I’m sorry to change the subject but I have some bad news.”

Chase straightened up. “I’m listening.”

“Preliminary investigation of the accident seems to show criminal intent.”

A chill ran down Chase’s spine. “Sabotage?”

“Or terrorism. It’s too early to tell, though we already received confirmation of another suspect explosion in Asia, in another building the Alliance built. We knew there might be resistance to the fast-paced changes we applied to Earth society. We faced similar problems ourselves at one point in time.”

Chase sighed. “Yeah. I could see how a death count like the one they just had could also be quite a motivator to recruit distraught people to rebel against any new system.”

“Especially those who lost people close to them—family members, dear friends. I heard of a faction that was greatly upset at the steps we took to reduce meat farming.”

Chase plopped down into his chair. “Right there, you see, that I don’t get. Meat production, especially cow, was responsible for more than half the pollution on their planet, not to mention most of these animals were treated appallingly.”

“Ignorance is bliss.” The commodore shook his head. “We can’t blame the humans for information they didn’t have, at least not clearly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when the lobbies—be it fossil fuels, agricultural, or any other ones in power—most of them made damn sure that the majority of people on Earth were unaware of the true impact their business practices had on the environment. Instead, they made it seem like they were going green—like doing a magic trick, the art of misdirection, if you will. Attract attention to something else, so you can do an entire other thing in the meantime.”

Chase frowned. “That doesn’t make it better.”

“I never said it does, but by presenting a distorted truth to the people, you can control them with greater ease. That’s what was happening on Earth before. If you remember, we pointed the finger at fossil fuels when we arrived because that’s what the Internet seemed to pick as the main reason for pollution on Earth. Only when we made deep scans of their atmosphere did we realize that this was not the case. It was only a ruse to mask yet another problem from the eyes of the public. Why do you think we haven’t put so many restrictions on fossil fuels? Sure, we replaced the largest, more dangerous processing plants, and we’re trying to remove the nuclear ones to avoid natural catastrophes when something goes wrong. But planes are still flying, cars are still running.” He leaned forward. “That’s because their impact wasn’t hurting the planet nearly as much as the meat industry was.”

Chase nodded thoughtfully. “At least with the synthesizers, they can experience the taste of meat without having to squander and pollute their own world now.”

“Yes, I agree. And I must admit their meals are nothing short of delicious. Granted I haven’t tried many, but the pizza in particular is extraordinary.”

Chase smiled, recalling his very first taste.

“However,” continued Saroudis, “there will always be people who don’t want a substitute to anything, and, to a certain point, I can understand that. That’s why we are reducing and not banning this area of their agriculture. We are, however, making sure the animals are living under top conditions. No more farms and hangars where the poor things were squeezed together and unable to see the sun shining in the sky.”

Chase thought back to the attack. “So we have to watch for underground movements and possible terrorist cells in the near future?”

“I think it was unavoidable, yes.”

Chase stayed pensive for quite a while. While it was in his nature to condemn needless violence at face value, he couldn’t help but feel sympathetic to their cause. How would he feel if someone swept in and changed his entire way of life, only to have millions die in the process? The rage, although the means were unacceptable, could be understood.

Just then, the ship started to tremble.

“Lieutenant Commander?”

Chase realized he was entering a dangerous state and quickly quieted his mind. The trembling stopped almost immediately.

“Sorry, Commodore.”

Saroudis looked concerned. “Still having issues controlling your abilities?”

“That was more an experiment I was trying.”

“Do not conduct experiments on my ship!” Saroudis exclaimed. “No offense, but seeing how quickly unstable you can become, judging from the state of your quarters the last time you lost control, and the overall damage it had created in that entire section of the ship, I will have to ask you to refrain from doing this onboard this or any other ship for that matter."

Chase didn’t answer.

“Do I make myself clear, Lieutenant Commander? I am not making a suggestion here.”

“Yes, Commodore, perfectly clear. And you’re right, it would be easier to brainwash or at the very least convince people of ideas if they had lost someone close. I’m sure there are plenty of potential volunteers on the surface of the planet right now who fall under this sad category.”

“We knew that all along. We have been through this before the Alliance was created in our part of the universe. If history is to repeat itself, there will be more acts like these. I hate to use that word, but we must be prepared to deal with the fallout of all that has happened. Humans are not strangers to acts of terrorism; this could be a prelude to a dark phase for this world.”

Chase’s face tightened. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking right now?”

“That the accelerated speed at which we made Earth evolve might result in an even faster, darker, and stronger counter-response and that our own technology might be used against this world in the process?”

“Exactly,” Chase agreed. “Our arrogance in thinking we could control evolution, supervise them and make sure they avoided our own mistake, was a huge delusion.”

“I think it’s too early to tell. After all, these could be isolated occurrences. But should there be more acts like these, on a bigger scale, then yes, I am worried about the exact same thing. I do think, however, that we acted the best way we could under the circumstances and I do not regret any of our actions. They were made with the best intentions.”

“I, on the other hand, am not as sure, even in that regard.”

“I’m surprised to hear that coming from you, Chase. After all, you have been talking with the gods of Olympus—surely they were guiding us towards the right path.”

Chase stared down at his hands. “Are they?”

“I cannot believe what I’m hearing!”

“Look, Commodore, I’m sorry. This day has been a lot to take in and my thoughts are all over the place at the moment. But I do not believe in gods. Even Aphroditis herself said that god is a concept, and that they are simply more advanced beings. So for the time being, I am more than happy getting advice on how to face some of our predicaments. However, I do not like the idea of being someone else’s puppet. Sarah told me about the strength of the mental grip Argos had on her mind. How she felt powerless to do anything; a prisoner in her own body, she said.”

“What does that have to do with this?”

“I’m just thinking, making a parallel with how humans were deceived by their leaders and invisible factions, that perhaps the Olympians are using a different approach to reach a similar goal. Control.”

Saroudis frowned. “Didn’t Aphroditis say that she was acting in defiance of the rules of her people?”

“Yeah, and that also raises a flag in my book. Look, Commodore, I’m not trying to bring you down, I just have these doubts and questions rushing in my head right now and I thought vocalizing them would help a little. But this is all theoretical at this point. I’m just coming to the realization that blindly following one’s advice, or in this case more like an order, is not so different from what we fear might be happening on Earth. How am I different and better if all I do is follow Aphroditis’ every desire? Who’s to say her end game is in alignment with what we want for ourselves?”

The commodore shook his head.

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves here, and I, for one, dislike projecting too much into the future. Furthermore, I prefer to tackle problems one at a time. I understand your doubts; not only is it human, Chase, but it is sane to raise these questions. Just make sure they don’t prevent you from doing what needs to be done when the time comes. What I mean by that is not being a puppet; it’s thinking of the bigger picture. We are trying to survive, and survival might also mean doing things we’re not always comfortable doing as human beings. That is, when one has a conscience, and it’s clear yours is bothering you right now, and that’s understandable under the circumstances. But take what I’m telling you for what it is. We did our best, and we will continue to do our best for ourselves and for the people of Earth and every other living being currently in jeopardy in the universe. At the very least, we are aligned on the side of light, aren’t we? We are trying to make things better, and that alone is the reason I can find sleep these days.”

“You’re right,” Chase said quietly. “Somehow I doubt I’ll get any sleep for the time being, but you’re right. We are doing our best. I just hope it results in a favorable outcome.”

“If only life was that easy, Chase. But on the other hand, if it was, perhaps it would be a dull experience.”

“Right...” Chase flashed him a weak smile. “But damn would I love me some dull right about now.”

16

It had rained all morning, as if somehow the weather had guessed Sarah’s mood. She and Chase had just walked into the cemetery. She liked that it rained; it made her tears less visible. Even though it was perfectly normal to feel sad for the loss of her uncle, she didn’t like to show vulnerability. Probably just the soldier in her, she thought.

Chase held her hand, and from time to time he gave her fingers a little squeeze. She was grateful he’d come, even though he didn’t know her uncle. It was good to know she could count on him nonetheless in this time of grief.

The past few days had been really hard, and they had definitely taken a toll on Sarah’s psyche. She tried to push the memories of torture away, tried to simply stay sane. No living beings should be subjected to such treatment. And to come back only to find more grief awaiting her had made matters that much worse. She felt extremely vulnerable right now. Perhaps more so than ever before in her life.

At least the pregnancy had been a positive thing amidst that dark and painful state she was in. Something to look forward to. She glanced at Chase out of the corner of her eye. At least she had him, and soon they would be a family. That thought was particularly prominent lately, but it was also accompanied with fear. Fear that the world she would bring this new life into was in utter chaos. She knew it was useless to over-think things and project. After all, life had a way of presenting a reality that was unlike what one had imagined one’s life would be. Still, it was human to do so. Weak and perhaps useless, but human nonetheless.

Most of her family had made it to the ceremony, to say goodbye to Uncle Peter. As she gazed out over their familiar faces, she got lost in her own thoughts, remembering all the good times they’d had over the years.

“You okay, sweetie?” inquired Chase.

“I don’t know.” She tried to force a smile. “But don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

Chase didn’t know what to say. He had lost crewmates over the years, even a couple of friends. He remembered how it hurt to say goodbye. And while he had never lost a direct member of his biological family, the loss of his adoptive parents had been tough. So while he didn’t exactly know if he could relate truly to what Sarah was feeling at the moment, he had a pretty good idea.

But just the thought of her suffering so much sent him on a dangerous path of hatred. He was quick to close his eyes and focus on his breathing. But the rage still lingered there, just beneath the surface. All of this—the attack, the tragic loss of too many to count—was because of his family. Earth had lost millions of lives, Sarah her uncle—all because of Argos, a brother he didn’t recognize or want to have. If they hadn’t looked almost exactly alike, he at least could have denied his existence and fraternal claims, but it was clear they shared a very similar if not near exact DNA. Perhaps they were even twins… His blood ran cold at the thought. They couldn’t be, could they? Argos looked so much older than Chase. But even Daniel had mentioned how Chase hadn’t seemed to age a day in the last decade.

What did it all mean?

When Chase opened his eyes, he no longer was in the cemetery and it had stopped raining. Instead, he stood in a deserted place—dark and dry—with winds blowing black sand all around. In the distance, some spiky mountain chains appeared, and on top of them, three planets or perhaps moons hovered in the night sky.

“Now what?!” Chase cried out in exasperation.

A deep, male voice answered. “We need to have a talk, Chase.”

Chase turned around to see a tall, muscular man standing there. He glowed like Aphroditis, but unlike her, his aura seemed more oppressive, radiating orange light all around him. He had short, bluish-grey hair and looked older than Aphroditis, despite somehow radiating both health and the energy of youth.

“And who might you be?”

“My name is Ares.”

Chase struggled to keep control of his ever-dwindling temper. “That name supposed to mean anything to me?”

“I guess not,” the man mused. “After all, it’s been a long time since your people have stopped worshipping us.”

“An Olympian, then.” Chase openly hesitated. “How come I’m not speaking with Aphroditis right now?”

“Because what we must talk about, she can’t help you with.”

“Look, I appreciate you summoning me into another vision, but right now is not a good time.” Chase thought anxiously about Sarah and the funeral.

“Worry not about this.” Ares dismissed his fears. “No matter how long our talk takes here, only a few minutes will pass in your reality.”

“Still, not really in the mood.”

“Defiant, arrogant, blind... I really wonder what Aphroditis sees in you.”

Chase let the words bounce right off of him, at least, that’s what he wanted Ares to believe. Inside his head was another story altogether. A fierce anger was stirring deep in his soul. It was only an intense fear of the repercussions that made him bury them back down.

“That’s not bad,” Ares commented. “You’ll need more of that control if you’re to use your powers efficiently, or the next time you face Argos, he will destroy you.”

Chase looked the Olympian straight in the eyes. “What are you here for, Ares? What do you need to tell me that couldn’t wait until after the funeral?”

“My timing is of no consequence. And it’s not so much what I must tell you, but more what I must teach you.”

“Teach?”

“Yes, you need to learn how to gain total control of your powers. And while you have already made a good deal of progress, I am here to train you further.” He stepped forward with a grand, introductory flourish. “First things first. As I have already told you, my name is Ares, formerly the god of war.”

“Formerly?”

“Let’s just say we don’t hold to titles such as these now that we don’t have the same number of followers as we once did. Though Aphroditis’ questionable intervention on Earth has stirred the curiosity in many Earthlings regarding our existence… Some have already started worshiping her, in fact.”

“I see.” Chase steered him back on target. “So you want to teach me to wage war?”

“War is part of life, as you know full well. Aphroditis and I don’t always see eye to eye, but I don’t take orders from her. When she defied our father, I decided to see what she was up to. On the other hand, if our father knew, it would piss him off, so at least there’s that.”

“I see that family feuds also run in Olympian families. Maybe we’re not so different after all…”

The man laughed hard.

“Let’s just say my view of war and violence isn’t really well accepted by all Olympians.”

“You sound like a hoot,” Chase said flatly.

“And you’re a Fury, alright.”

“Part Fury.”

“If you say so.”

“What does that mean?”

“Look, I’m not here to become your friend and chat with you. Let’s get started, shall we?”

“Started with⁠—”

But before Chase could finish the sentence, Ares had disappeared from sight, reappearing instantly behind him. As he turned around, the Olympian kicked him so hard in the neck that he flew in the air and landed face first in the black sand. An intense pain radiated from the point of impact all the way down his spine.

As he got up, Chase spat blood on the ground. He could feel anger flowing in every part of his body now. He quickly got up and faced Ares, a look of determination in his eyes.

“You’re gonna pay for that cheap shot. I wasn’t ready!”

The former god laughed. “Typical excuse, not being ready… Do you think you will ever be ready for what’s to come? Like, ever?”

Chase’s anger grew even stronger.

“Before I kick the shit out of you even more, I want you to be mindful of how you are feeling right now.”

Chase fumed. “I am pissed, angry, and I want to kick your ass. Is that mindful enough?”

Ares smiled calmly. “Yes, you are. And in that state, you can try and hit me until the end of days, and you will fail.”

“Let’s see about that shall we?”

Two blue fireballs formed in Chase’s hands and he threw them towards Ares with as much velocity as he could. But before they reached him, Ares made a circular motion with one of his palms, deflecting the fire back onto Chase so fast that all he could do to protect his upper body was raise his forearms before impact. There was a small explosion, and once again Chase was thrown into the dirt.

“Do you know what you did wrong?” Ares asked calmly.

Chase got back up, dusted himself off, and looked at his burned forearms.

“Besides getting up this morning?” he said sarcastically, trying to not let the pain leech into his tone. “Enlighten me.”

“Ah, the Fury pride. You feel hurt. You don’t need to hide it from me. I can sense everything you feel, so stop acting tough. We don’t have time to serve your own ego. Now let’s talk about your reaction. I taunted you, found the right words to make you lose control. That’s because your ego is too strong. You’re too young, not mature enough, and the things people tell you, you take too much to heart.

“Because you’re a Fury, these manifest in surges of power. But you can’t control this power as long as it’s guided by hate. Anger gives you only an illusion of control, but in fact, it’s blinding you. You need to use anger the right way, to channel it to your advantage. If you let it control you, the results will be catastrophic, not only for you, but for those around you.”

That last statement seemed to hit home, a regular bull’s-eye.

“Start with calming down right now. I know you want to hurt me at the moment, but try breathing slowly. Empty your head of thoughts instead. Quiet your mind, lower your ego. For just one moment try and forget I just hit you where it hurts.”

Chase didn’t like the way Ares talked to him. He thought it was condescending and rude, but a wiser part of him had to admit that perhaps he could learn something here. So he started to breathe slowly and deeply, and soon enough he felt the anger go away little by little.

“Good, that’s better. Remember how you blew open that door after the building’s explosion yesterday?”

“Yes…?”

“You did that without any anger, yet you managed to bring your powers to the surface through nothing but instinct. The main problem you have at the moment is that your instinct is to seek revenge towards Argos and your ego is bruised by the fact that you didn’t manage to save every life on Earth. I can understand that you wanted things to turn out better; it’s human, but it’s not realistic. You are not responsible for the fate of the universe.”

“You guys should maybe consult one another on pep talks,” Chase smirked. “Aphroditis actually tried convincing me that I was all that stood between darkness and light.”

“If you are, in your current state, if that’s even a fraction of the truth, we’re all screwed. She needed to motivate you, and at the time it might have been good advice. But tell me, how did it make you feel knowing that?”

“Anxious, worried that I might fail.”

“Exactly. All of a sudden, the weight of the universe is on your shoulders. Do you like bearing that responsibility?”

Chase shuddered. “Not at all. In fact, it makes me feel helpless sometimes.”

“And so it should.” Ares looked at him square on. “I am immensely more powerful than you are, at least at the moment, and I am not even entertaining the thought that the universe could actually depend on me and my actions. So you need to unload that burden. The sooner the better.”

Chase sighed. “I... I don’t know that I can. Whatever happens next is on my head. At the very least, I must make sure I do my absolute best; I feel responsible now.”

“You’re only responsible for your own actions. The sooner you embrace that, the better.”

“But the consequences?”

“Are you so arrogant to think that should you die, which is a very strong possibility from where I’m standing, all would be lost?”

“I don’t know,” Chase mumbled.

“Nobody knows, Chase. Nobody. Not me and certainly not you.”

Chase stayed quiet, reflecting on Ares’ words.

“Now try to empty your mind of all thoughts,” the war god commanded.

“That’s not going to happen, I’m afraid.”

“DO IT anyway!”

“Right, there is no try.”

Ares paused. “What do you mean? I do want you to try.”

“Never mind…” Chase said with a little smile.

He proceeded to empty his mind of all thoughts. It wasn’t an easy thing to do. For as long as he could remember, his head was filled with worries for the future, and the last few months had been so charged with heavy events, sometimes he felt like all he was doing was over-thinking everything. After no time at all, his mind focused on the explosions that had happened on Earth the day before.

Were they under attack? Were there going to be more explosions to follow? What could he⁠—

“Is that emptying your mind?” Ares interrupted gravely.

“How would you know?” Chase bristled defensively. “Do you read minds?”

“I can read on your face, what you’re thinking.”

Chase grimaced but tried to get back into emptying his mind. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, but it didn’t seem to help that much. Annoyed, he opened his eyes and threw up his hands in frustration. Ares seemed equally put out.

“Look, Chase, try and focus on a place or memory that brings you joy. Once you’re there, block out everything else, stay anchored in that moment. Stay there long enough without thinking of anything else and you should be able to lose yourself in that place; then you should start to feel differently.”

Chase summoned the morning when he woke up next to Sarah the first time they’d spent the night together. He remembered caressing her shoulder for a few minutes before she woke up. That moment was a powerful memory, one he wanted to last forever, so it wasn’t difficult to bring it back. His eyes closed without him realizing, and soon he was back there on the bed, smelling the intoxicating perfume of Sarah’s hair and naked skin. Before he knew it, a deep sensation of calm enveloped him like a warm blanket. It felt like present, past, and future were only foggy concepts, slowly fading into the void with every passing moment.

“Good,” Ares said with a soothing voice. “Now try to feel the current of energy flowing in your body.”

His voice was like an echo in a dream, and Chase obeyed without questioning, not even realizing he was probably in some sort of a trance. He focused on his inner self and could indeed feel something running inside him. A stream, a river, he didn’t know, but something was there.

“Alright, that energy you feel is your inner power. It’s a strong force that you can summon at will once you master this fully. Up until now, you have only been able to call it when the situation was dire, usually with your thoughts in turmoil. In doing so, you made that pool of energy very agitated, like a storm, and you could only summon a very small part of it, like the splashing water when a wave hits a cliff... If you manage to go to the source, you can use the entire ocean and bid it to do your will.”

The echoed words made sense to Chase even though he still didn’t know how to use this power. For now, he was just content to observe the inner flux, something he never even thought was there.

“Alright,” continued Ares’ calming voice, ever so soothing and more and more ethereal in nature, “the easiest way for you to grab hold of that power is to create a mental image of it. Try to visualize it as an aura of a specific color. Any color will do.”

Chase chose a radiant blue, like the fireballs he managed to create before. He liked that color very much.

“Good... Now focus on that bright light within yourself. Make it grow; try to double it in size.”

Chase doubled his aura in his mind. It was a great deal harder than he would have originally thought. Sometimes it grew, but sometimes it shrank as well. After what felt like a very long time, he had reached a volume of energy about double what he had started with.

“Good. I’m actually impressed. Now, double it once more.”

Chase took much less time doubling the energy this time. He started to feel a very warm and powerful sensation within his body. Like it was vibrating in a whole new way altogether.

“Nice,” Ares congratulated. “Now for the next few minutes, you will double it again and again, without waiting for further instructions. Don’t worry how big it grows in your mental image; whether you feel like it’s as big as a planet or beyond, keep doubling it until I tell you differently.”

Chase did as instructed. After a while, doubling the energy was just a slight mental push. Then it became like a game to him and he did it effortlessly, feeling that warmth burn deeper within every fiber of his being. The size of the aura grew as big as a small moon, and kept going; as big as Earth, and going. He now radiated an aura the size of the entire solar system.

“Now, while staying in the exact frame of mind, slowly open your eyes.”

When Chase opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was blue.

It radiated from within his body, flowing in and out like solar flares of pure, blue light. It felt alive, and for the first time ever Chase felt like his mind could affect it. He kept looking at his arms and hands, the aura pulsating and vibrating in and out of himself. The sensation was intoxicating: both mindboggling and soothing at the same time.

“Very good, Chase. Now, you see that mountain behind me?”

Chase looked behind Ares, and, sure enough, a huge mountain stood there.

“I see it,” said Chase with a calm he barely recognized.

“Focus your energy in your right arm, then in your right hand. Let all the energy flow there naturally. Close your eyes if you need to do so to project your mental image. Once you’re ready, once you feel enough energy has been focused there, throw the resulting fireball at the mountain.”

It took a few seconds for Chase to manage to focus almost all the energy in his fist, but when he did, the resulting fireball was nothing short of extraordinary. It wasn’t much bigger than the ones he had managed to create before, but the energy contained in it felt so immensely superior that it felt more akin to holding a small sun within his palm.

He looked at the mountain with purpose, and, in a fluid motion, he threw the fireball at it.

It reached the mountain at a speed that dazzled Chase’s eyes and the result was just as blinding. The mountain literally exploded in ten million pieces, each of them burning out of existence as if they were never there. A few seconds later, a strong wind almost knocked him off of his feet. The shockwave of the impact, he thought in surprise.

Ares tilted his head in approval. “So how did that feel?”

Chase couldn’t help but smile. “It felt… very, very… insanely good.”

Ares chuckled. “Insane being the operative word here. I want you to remember that.”

“Why is that?” Chase asked with a frown.

“Because now I have helped you unlock the path to your inner power. It will take a bit more practice, but soon you will be able to summon this power at will.” Ares’ face grew serious. “But there is a warning attached. As I told you, before you were only using a fraction of that power, but now you have access to all or, at the very least, most of it. So when you threw that pathetic first attack towards me, you actually wouldn’t have done much damage.”

“There’s a door in a building I was in that would disagree with that statement,” Chase said with a smirk.

“Doors don’t fight back. To even wound someone as powerful as your twin brother, you will need to focus that energy and use it well. But be careful how much you use.”

“What do you mean how much? Shouldn’t I use all that I can muster every single time?”

“If you do that, you’ll be a dead man faster than you can say oops.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Right now, you managed to drain a lot of energy from your inner pool, but that pool depletes—it’s not infinite. You need rest, sustenance, and other things I won’t bore you with to replenish that energy every time you use it. Think of it as a battery, if that helps. Once it’s dead, it’s dead. Once it’s fully depleted, you will die.”

Chase paled. “So the more I use my power, the quicker I will die?”

“Not exactly. Since it can replenish to its full potential with a few hours of rest, your chances of dying of use are very slim. That is—unless you really use absolutely all of it down to the last atom.”

“And chances of that happening?”

“Not great, depending on how you manage your energy. Argos is very well aware of that and he knows just how much to use to defeat his enemies. Never drawing more than he needs.”

“Yet I beat him.”

Ares let out a sigh of frustration. “Are you so arrogant as to think you really beat your brother last time the two of you fought?”

Chase looked down. “No… I agree, it felt too easy. I guess I managed to outsmart him and was just lucky.”

“I’m more inclined to think he let you think you won.” Ares frowned. “For what purpose, I don’t know, but he must have had one hell of a reason.”

“That was a pretty strong explosive that detonated on his back.”

“And I’m telling you that for someone of Argos’ power, it was little less than a mosquito bite.”

“You’re not serious?” Chase asked, trying to reconcile the two images in his mind.

“I am, Chase. I don’t know why he did it, but don’t ever think you managed to beat him then, and do not think you are ready now. I have given you the basics to gain access to your potential. Argos has a similar potential, except he knows it well, and has used it for so long he doesn’t even have to think about it. Right now, he is the most dangerous being in the entire universe. Please make no mistake about that.”

“More dangerous than you?”

Ares smirked automatically, before his face grew serious. “We Olympians have a few tricks up our sleeves. We don’t really age which allows us to live for eons, but we can be killed. And if there is someone who can do it, it’s certainly Argos. Perhaps it’s his end game.”

Chase didn’t understand. “Why would he want to kill the Olympians?”

“Well, we helped defeat your people a long time ago, so off the top of my head, I’d say revenge looks like a potential reason.”

“My people?” said Chase with a puzzled look.

“Furies...”

Of course—he kept having to remember that. “I’m only part Fury.”

“Perhaps...”

“What the hell do you mean perhaps? This is the second time you’ve alluded to the fact that I could be a pure Fury.” Chase raised an interrogating eyebrow.

Ares shrugged thoughtfully. “The amount of power you were able to conjure is staggering. That’s why you must be very careful; you could destroy entire solar systems if you don’t master it. And somehow I doubt a diluted Fury gene would be able to manage that.”

Chase’s heart froze in his chest. “Like in my vision.”

“Yes. Look, I’ve fought the Furies before. I even defeated a few in single combat, and they were pure born. But they held a fraction of your potential and that scares me.”

“Is this supposed to make me feel better? That you’re scared of me? What can you tell me that doesn’t involve Armageddon-scale, cataclysmic repercussions?” Chase exclaimed.

“Actually I’m not done warning you. We got sidetracked.”

Chase rubbed his eyes wearily. “Oh great.”

“Now your power is incredibly strong, but it has its limits.”

“Yeah, yeah, the battery thing.”

“Yes, Chase”—Ares was clearly a little annoyed—“the battery thing. Like a battery, you must be aware at every moment how much of it you have left, how much you drain it, and never ever go under ten percent.”

“Why ten percent?”

“Because under this threshold, you risk two things. One, depending on the damage you take at or under this level you can actually lose consciousness.”

“And the second?”

“If that happened while you were using your energy, you could drain the rest of it without realizing... and...”

“Yeah, I get the picture.” Chase’s voice was clipped. “I’d die.”

“Exactly.”

Chase absorbed this while Ares waited patiently for the questions sure to come.

“What about blocking attacks or even healing?”

Ares nodded. “All activity that forces you to drain your energy is part of the same pool, whether you do it instinctively or not.”

“What are my levels now? And how do I know how to recognize them?”

“Close your eyes and look at your aura from before. Now tell me, at which percentage do you think it is compared to when you opened your eyes prior to vaporizing that mountain?”

Chase closed his eyes and tried to evaluate. He opened them again and looked puzzled.

“So?”

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “Maybe it’s a little over half?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m sensing. About sixty percent; the rest got depleted in one attack.”

“But how can I sustain a fight if I lose forty percent with one blow?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to explain to you this entire time, Chase. That blow was way too powerful. You could have seriously damaged Earth if you had sent it towards the ground at a ninety-degree angle."

“I doubt I will ever be in that position during a fight.”

“And I beg to differ. Once you learn to fly, it’s actually more than likely you will be.”

Chase stared at him blankly. “Learn to… what now?”

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Ares scoffed. “I have zero doubt you are able to use a ridiculously minimalistic amount of energy to lift yourself from the ground and fly.”

A flutter of excitement whipped about in his stomach. “Will you teach me that as well?”

“I will do my best, but not today.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to overwhelm you with too much information,” Ares explained. “I need to let your psyche integrate all these concepts you have learned first. Your subconscious needs to know you can access all of this… well… consciously.”

“I already feel overwhelmed.”

“I know. But before I let you return to your previous activity⁠—”

“I’m listening…”

“The attack you made: if you ever use something that powerful, be mindful of what is around you, who you can hurt, what you can destroy.”

“Well, I’ll try, but what if I fight Argos again? I’ll need my A-game to even make a dent if he’s half the warrior you say he is.”

“Yes and you will need to make every shot count. They’ll need to be concentrated, but you’ll have to summon them using the technique you’ve just learned today, one you must train on as much as you can. But unlike our practice, you won’t have seconds, let alone minutes to cast your attacks; you must learn to cast them in fractions of seconds, milliseconds even.”

“Seriously? Milliseconds?”

“The more you practice, the easier it will become. Don’t worry about that right now. Whatever you’ve integrated here today will get assimilated within a few hours. The next time you try, you’ll be amazed how easily you manage to summon this power. But with power comes responsibility—be mindful of that at all times.”

“Yeah, I will.” Chase threw up his hands. “I’m already quite mindful of the fact that you’ve just given me the tools to destroy everything and everyone I love.”

“Or to save them. It all depends on your point of view.”

Chase couldn’t tell if the ex-god was messing with him. In the end, he just shook his head again with a little smile. “I wonder if I will ever sleep again…”

“Of course you will. Don’t obsess over this now. You have other things to do. Just remember to practice and not get anyone killed while doing so.”

Chase rolled his eyes. “What do you mean, I have other things to do?”

“Well, you know, testing your new battleship, finding out what happened yesterday… Your daily life doesn’t stop just because you can obliterate a solar system with the wave of your hand.” Ares had an almost sadistic smile.

“Very funny.”

“Chill.” His eyes flashed with another grin. “I’d say you’ll age faster if you don’t relax a little, but somehow I don’t feel like you’re aging at all.”

“About that,” Chase piped up quickly. “How come Argos seems older than me if we’re twins? Shouldn’t we age at the same speed?”

Ares rubbed his chin. “I can only theorize here.”

“Theorize away.”

“Either you have different sets of powers, which is more than likely—after all your aura is blue, his is red.”

“Or?”

“Or you possess something different, something that replenishes your cells day after day, like it does to us. Although that would mean you’re the only non-Olympian I know who possesses that power.”

“Other species live longer, don’t they?”

“Yes, but only Olympians, and a few other older races, have unlimited lifespan, barring injury of course.”

“I see...”

Ares shrugged. “I wouldn't worry too much about it.”

“Yeah, I bet you wouldn’t, but put yourself in my shoes.”

“I understand, but this is a gift. You must use it to do good. Which leads me to my final warning for the day.”

Chase sighed deeply and braced himself.

“Power is dangerous, Chase, it can consume you. I know that from experience.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve held the name ‘God of War’ for countless centuries, remember?”

“Yeah. You don’t really live up to your reputation,” Chase replied with a chuckle.

Ares smiled back. “Perhaps, and believe me it’s a good thing. I got consumed with my powers. I thought I could do anything and everything I wanted. I seeded quite some troubles in the universe for a long time.”

“What made you stop?”

Ares’ face turned uncharacteristically stoic. “The realization of the countless lives my power games have consumed, the countless civilizations I’ve destroyed in a quest for more.”

“I see...” Chase said softly, not really knowing what to think.

“It could happen to you as well. It’s clearly happened to your brother, Argos. He’s being consumed by his thirst for power, and unless he sees the error in his ways, he can become way more dangerous than I ever was.”

“Nightmares, here we come...”

“I’m glad you have a sense of humor about it.”

Chase stayed silent for a while.

“Or not,” Ares corrected with a small smile. “So how about it, Fury? Any last questions?”

“Yes, one actually.”

“Go ahead.”

“Can I use my powers in space?”

Ares paused. “Well, theoretically nothing is stopping you doing so, but I advise strongly against it.”

“How come?”

“You are part of that universe, so when you use these powers, you drain some of it from within but also the universe itself—as much as it allows you, as much as your pool allows. But since yours is very strong, you could actually tear the fabric of space if you tried.”

“As opposed to when I’m on solid ground? What’s the difference?”

“Think of it as a spider web.”

“A spider web?” Chase felt genuinely puzzled at the comparison.

“Where two strings meet on a web, the hold there is stronger. It’s a fixed point of matter, stronger than the single string. The more intersections, the stronger the whole web. If the universe is a web, then planets are the intersections. Their place in the universe is anchored more strongly than the vacuum of space. If you pop an intersection, the web still holds… But if you unleash fire in the web, you risk its entire collapse.”

“Okay...” Chase’s head was spinning. “I’m not gonna even pretend I understand exactly what you meant right there, but I get the message. I should avoid using my powers when I’m flying a ship.”

“I would, yes. You could most likely destroy an entire fleet with a wave of your hand, but you take the risk of creating black holes and other tears and anomalies in space and time. Trust me, you don’t want that.”

“You did it yourself, didn’t you?”

Ares’ jaw tightened and he broke eye contact. Chase was quick to move on.

“Alright, I guess I still need to blow up ships the old fashioned way.”

“You wouldn’t know it, but you’ve probably already used your powers instinctively to dogfight. They give you an edge—reaction time, precision, inventiveness…”

“That would explain a few things.”

“It would, wouldn’t it?” Ares smiled.

“Yeah...” Chase let the word hang.

“Well then, bye for now.” Ares waved two fingers away from his temples as if to enhance his goodbye, and disappeared into nothingness.

A moment later, Chase opened his eyes to find himself back in the cemetery. The world around him was drenched in rain and he was still holding Sarah’s hand. As a delayed shiver ran through his body at everything he’d just been told, he squeezed it a little tighter.

17

Argos was resting in his spacious quarters when the annoying buzz of an incoming message jolted him out of his current reverie.

He waved a hand to answer the incoming message, audio only.

“What is it? I thought I had made myself clear when I said I didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“I know, Master, I apologize,” came the crackling voice. “But there has been a new communication matching the signature you asked us to look for.”

Argos jumped out of his bed in a fluid motion. “I’m on my way to the bridge.”

Finally, he thought as he exited his quarters in a hurry. Finally some good news.

The return of the Fifth Star Alliance Fleet had thwarted the plan he had for Droxia. He knew very well that the Droxians wouldn’t be easy to defeat, but still, had the damn Star Alliance and his brother not intervened, the forces sent could have taken care of the defenses around their main world.

He jumped into the lift the moment its splitting doors opened and said, “Bridge.”

He had analyzed the logs of that battle very carefully and had noticed that the ships from the Fifth Fleet seemed more resilient, with heavier weaponry and some sort of short range cloaked fighters to boot. That would make the next engagements more difficult, but much more interesting at the same time.

The doors opened a second later to reveal the bridge of the Zarlack ship Kollassi, Argos’ newly finished battleship. It was a similar class vessel as the Dragon’s Claw, but now that the emperor was gone, either dead or taken prisoner, he had appointed a new acting emperor whose first order had been to have a new behemoth-class destroyer constructed.

Argos stepped purposefully onto the bridge of his new ship. All the officers rose and saluted him before getting back to their previous activity. He walked towards the communications officer, a rather small lizard man for a Zarlack, but Argos knew better than to judge someone based on their appearance. Commander Tsur’lan was a wizard when it came to digital communications, encryption, and hacking.

“Report,” he demanded.

Tsur’lan turned. “We received a transmission that seemed to last only a few moments. The proximity of the sensor we’ve installed on the subject allowed us to get a very clear signal; she must have been close to him when he received it.”

“Good. As I suspected, she may prove more useful to us this way.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Can you interpret the message?”

“That’s where it gets tricky. It’s clearly a sort of holographic video projection. That much I can figure out. But it’s garbled or, most likely, encrypted with an algorithm I’ve never seen before.”

Argos’ eyes narrowed in an icy glare. “I thought you were the best when it came to deciphering any sort of encryption.”

“I’m flattered, Master, and I am very skilled in such matters, which may not be good news in this case. While it is still early, I am unable to even crack the surface. And from the looks of that data stream, it has a multi-layered, adaptable, and phasing encryption. Cracking it, if even possible in the first place, will be a long and tedious process.”

“What can I do to help you?” Argos asked practically. “Do you require more calculation power? Feel free to network with the entire fleet and use as much CPU as you require.”

“Thank you, Master, surely that will help somehow, but still… I’m afraid a full decode is less than likely, especially in a short time frame.”

“What are we looking at here? A day? A week?”

“While I need to run more tests on the data stream, I’d say unless we find the nature and access codes for these ciphers, more like one or more years.”

Argos made a noise that made everyone on the bridge very uncomfortable. A flash of fear streaked through his communications officer’s eyes, but the man didn’t back down. He was simply telling the truth.

“I... I believe however, Master, that if we could enlist some help, and the more signal we intercept as well, we could, perhaps, at least try and get some of these signals’ properties within a shorter timeframe. Much shorter.”

“You want me to hire Datalight Thieves?”

“It would help.”

Argos thought about it; he didn’t like the idea. DTs were known to be the most skilled hackers of any sort of digital system in the entire universe, but they were also a scum organization—one that couldn’t be trusted. And if there was one thing that Argos didn’t want, it was to be hacked by DTs. He had too many secrets that needed to stay as such.

“I won’t have any of these data junkies onboard any of my ships...”

The communications officer bowed his head. “I understand, Master.”

“However...”— he paused and the lizard looked surprised— “use our base of communications in the Zeta Sector. Invite them there. But before you do, backup all data with quadruple encryption and send it to the fleet. Then wipe the data there except for just the bare minimum you need to work on decoding these transmissions. This is a priority mission. You’re now in charge of it; do not disappoint me.”

“Thank you, Master. Please understand the best I think can be achieved is to either get you the source of the message, or, at the very least, get the encapsulation method and perhaps, if we get lucky, some of the data. I wouldn’t count on full holographic data streams, but perhaps some audio.”

Argos smiled, an incredibly rare event.

“If you manage to get some audio and the encapsulation method for this message, you’ll be promoted on the spot; if you get me the source location of the message, I’ll give you whatever your heart desires. If you fail at both, I will wipe you out of existence, understood?”

“Yes, Master.”

While Argos didn’t need threats or even really like using them, he noticed that with small-minded creatures, it was a very efficient motivator. While he wouldn’t want to lose such a skilled communications officer, he had trust that he would deliver something of use at the very least. And he definitely didn’t trust anyone else to shield him from these damn DTs.

“Keep me informed as soon as you have anything to report.”

“The second I have something, you’ll know.”

Argos nodded in agreement. “Oh, and one more thing.”

“Yes, Master?”

“Once you’re done with the DTs help, make sure none of them survive.”

“Understood.”

Argos then proceeded to leave the bridge of the Kollassi.

* * *

It was Chase’s first ever funeral. Well, his first ever Earth funeral. The Alliance didn’t put dead bodies in the ground; they jettisoned them in a militaristic fashion to the nearest star. So to say that it had been an enlightening day—between the ceremony and Ares—was putting it mildly. As he and Sarah walked around the wake that followed, he learned that “funerals” in the human sense were more a celebration of life than anything else. It was actually a rather beautiful way to gain some kind of closure, and as Sarah mingled with family and friends she hadn’t seen in a long time—introducing Chase all the while—he hoped it was working.

Everything was going smoothly until his comm made a noise. He quickly exited the little house and went outside to take the call.

“Lieutenant Commander Athanatos.”

“Lieutenant Commander, I need you on the Destiny,” Commodore Saroudis said with no other preamble.

“Can it wait, Commodore? Kind of in the middle of something at the moment.”

“It would be best if you came onboard ASAP. We had another attempt, this time on the shipyard. Fortunately we diffused the situation, but I thought you’d like to be here for the interrogation of the suspect.”

They’d found a suspect?

Chase bit his lower lip. He indeed wanted to know who was responsible and why these terrorist acts were happening, but he didn’t want to abandon Sarah in a time of need.

“I’ll do my best to get to the Destiny as soon as possible, Commodore.”

“Very well. If you’re not here within the hour, we’ll start the interrogation without you. In the meantime, I’ve sent a team to investigate the nature of the explosive and a sweeping team to make sure there aren’t any other surprises left on our brand new battleship.”

“Thanks, Commodore, see you soon. Chase out.”

The transmission ended, and as if on cue the door opened and Sarah joined him outside.

“Everything okay?” she asked with a touch of concern. “Do you feel uncomfortable being here?”

“Not at all,” he reassured her quickly. “The commodore called, something happened...”

“Another explosion?”

“Fortunately this time the attempt was thwarted, but Saroudis would like me to be there when we interrogate the perpetrator.”

“You should go, Chase.”

“No, I said I would come and be here with you today. This is more important.”

She cast him a beaming smile. “No it’s not, Chase, and you know it. Besides, you are here. You came, the funeral is almost over, and I have all my family here. So really, I insist, go take care of business.”

He took her in his arms and held her tightly against his chest.

“I love you so much,” she whispered. “Thank you for being here for me.”

Chase’s heart ached at the thought of leaving her.

“I love you too, and I’ll get back to you as soon as humanly possible.”

“I know you will.”

She kissed him softly on the lips and returned inside as he used his comm to call a shuttle.

* * *

On board the Destiny, Chase hurried off the shuttle then rushed to meet the commodore on the bridge. Upon arrival, he was surprised to see Tar’Lock and Ryonna were there as well.

“Hey, guys, what are you doing here?”

The commodore answered. “I thought it could be beneficial to have a Droxian at the interrogation. They are imposing by nature, and perhaps she could be of use.”

“I can be very persuasive if need be,” Ryonna said gravely.

“And I had nothing better to do, so I came along,” Tar’Lock added cheerfully.

Chase smiled at the remark. “So tell me more. What happened?”

Captain Saroudis selected a view from the holo-display that showed the new battleship, the EAD Hope. He pointed to a blinking red dot.

“A worker on the new battleship planted a bomb near the quadrinium chamber, here. If it had detonated, not only would that have destroyed the ship, but it might have seriously damaged multiple cities in the once United States of America from the fallout debris.”

“Has he talked?”

Ryonna shook her head. “No. She doesn’t seem like she will be easily intimidated either.”

“She?” Chase was surprised. “Who talked with her until now?”

The commodore passed his hand over his face. “For now, only the security who caught her in the act. Had they arrived a few minutes later, it might have been too late.”

“Do we know anything about her?”

“Yes, we managed to gather some basic information. Nothing special, no history of violence. She really doesn’t fit the profile of a criminal.”

“Should I… Should I go talk to her?”

Commodore Saroudis nodded. “She’s in the brig. We’ll monitor from here.”

* * *

When Chase arrived at the brig, he got a quick debrief from the security officer who tried to interrogate the perpetrator after her arrival. She’d barely said a word, not even her name—it was found later by accessing some of Earth’s databases.

Age thirty-seven, Caucasian with brown hair, blue eyes. Named Nina Greenhurst. Widow, mother of one daughter, no previous problems with the law, a real clean slate on paper. Yet, she had tried to blow up a destroyer in orbit. Something didn’t add up.

When Chase arrived at the cell, the security guard lowered the protective force field. It was reactivated the second he stepped inside.

The woman sat with her back to the wall, her arms secured at the wrist, on a standard, sturdy, brushed metal prisoner’s chair. When she saw Chase come in, she held his gaze unapologetically until it was actually him who glanced away.

“What’s your name?” he asked tentatively.

She didn’t even blink, let alone answer.

“So you’re a nameless criminal who finds blowing up people and property fun, is that it?”

Again, no reaction. No answer. No sign she even registered the question.

An image of Sarah’s hand sticking up out of the smoldering rubble flashed through his head and he leaned forward with a glare.

“Do you realize the enormity of the crime you were about to commit?” he thundered, just inches from her face. “The number of people who could have lost their lives? Quadrinium is a very volatile element, but you knew that already since you were near its storage chamber.”

Again, words didn’t seem to impact her at all. Let’s try a threat then.

“I’d be talking to me, if I were you. If you don’t, I’ll send my Droxian friend in here and things might get real ugly real fast.”

For the first time, the words hit home. She looked him right in the eyes and smiled.

She was clearly taunting him. For what reason, Chase simply couldn’t understand. What was the motivation here? Shaking his head in exasperation, he took a step back. Perhaps a show of force was required.

His face hardened as he slowly lifted his hand. A second later, a magnificent blue fireball spun into view. He approached her slowly, letting her view it from every angle.

It clearly got her attention. Her eyes sparkled and flashed as the light streaked across them. But while her expression changed, it wasn’t fear that changed it. It was something else.

“Freak!”

He took a step back as she spat out the word, the fire dissipating in his hand.

“Perhaps I am a freak. But I don’t kill people like a coward.”

What happened next took him by surprise.

“Or so you think.” Her eyes flashed in anger. “I believe a few million souls down there would disagree with that statement.”

The words stung Chase’s heart. It was an affirmation of everything he’d been blaming himself for during the last few weeks. But he brushed the thoughts away. Now was not the time. It looked like they were finally getting somewhere. Grief was where the game would be played.

“And I believe we saved the seven plus billion souls still alive, including you. Or does that count for nothing?” he asked softly.

“I don’t care about them, I…” Her voice trailed off, but the words she wouldn’t let herself say were suddenly clear.

“Who did you lose?”

She looked at Chase defiantly.

“You think your parents would agree with what you tried to do?”

No reaction.

“Do you have children?”

This time the anger was mixed with sheer pain, utter sorrow.

“I see...” he said with soft sympathy. “How old were they?”

Tears started running down her face. She tried to wipe them only to be reminded that she was still in handcuffs. Chase leaned forward to do it for her, but she reeled back.

“Don’t touch me—this is all your fault! You should never have come to our planet!”

The words hit home. It was a touchy subject, one that was often at the center of his thoughts. This time there was no brushing it away. Hearing an Earthling actually say it to his face had more impact than he thought possible.

“Perhaps...” he murmured pensively.

As he debated what to do next, Daniel breezed into the brig. Deciding it was best to give both himself and the prisoner a moment to cool off, Chase slipped back out of the cell.

“Where were you?” he asked Daniel, giving him a playful hit on the shoulder.

“I was making sure there were no other devices on the ship. And I also visited a prisoner of my own today. Chase, you’re not going to believe it…”

“Really? Who?”

“We didn't know it until now, but you know those cells on Earth where we keep the Zarlacks from the Dragon’s Claw locked up? Well, it turns out we have a rather distinctive guest amongst them.”

“You got me curious. Who?”

Daniel raised his eyebrows importantly. “The emperor himself.”

“You’re yanking my chain!”

“No, I’m serious. I went to confirm it myself just now. And let me tell you, Chase, he has some pretty interesting things to say…”

Chase considered this before glancing back at his own prisoner. “I’m not getting through to her. I don’t know if she’ll talk without being physically coerced.”

Daniel looked surprised. “Are we even entertaining that?”

“Normally I would say no, but things could get out of control real fast if we don’t try to locate the source of these acts of terror.”

“I don’t know, man.” Daniel shook his head. “That’s a slippery slope.”

“I know...” Chase said with a sigh. He clicked his comm. “Commodore, tell Ryonna she’s up next.”

“What about the emperor, Chase?”

“Let’s go visit him. Now. I’m getting nowhere with this one anyway.”

But deep down, Chase knew that was only partially true. It wasn’t that he was getting nowhere with the prisoner. It was that she was starting to get to him.

* * *

As Ryonna entered the brig, she instructed the guard to stop any video recording. She didn’t know if it was her imposing stature or because she had been seen on the ship a few times already with Chase and the commodore, but he immediately complied even though Ryonna knew very well Saroudis wouldn’t sanction what would come next. She then told the officer to release the prisoner’s wristbands and wait outside.

The second they were alone, Ryonna swept into the cell and grabbed the prisoner by her throat, lifting her up and slamming her into the wall. Nina’s eyes flashed with terror as she gasped for air, but Ryonna held strong, intending to keep her there until the fear Nina was so obviously lacking was firmly in place.

When it looked like she was about to pass out, Ryonna suddenly released her just enough so she could get some much needed air. As she gasped and wheezed in pain, Ryonna leaned in with a flat smile.

“I think we started on the wrong foot here. You tried to blow our ship, and now you don’t want to talk. If that’s what you want to keep doing, please tell me now so I can put you out of your misery.”

She let go and Nina collapsed to the ground with a thud. She clutched her throat and looked up in terror as Ryonna towered over her.

“I’m listening… or would you like to go for another trip against the wall?”

Droxians were known for their brutal interrogations. More often than not, the subjects would either speak or succumb to their wounds. And in this case, Ryonna had no emotional attachment to the life of someone who would have killed thousands if not more with her previous actions. She knew the commodore and Chase had second thoughts, backed by the principles of their Alliance allegiance. She, however, didn’t recognize them yet. And as long as no official treaty or alliance had been signed by her people, she would treat the subject as it would be on Droxian soil.

Also, unluckily for Nina, Ryonna had lost her power to see a person’s time of death, so she had no idea if she would end Nina today, or if the prisoner would eventually speak.

When she stayed silent too long, Ryonna took a sudden step towards her, but Nina raised her hands protectively over her face. “W-wait.”

“I won’t wait long.”

Nina took a deep breath and managed a whisper. “I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

“That’s better.” Ryonna softened infinitesimally. “I understand you lost someone close to you. I’m very sorry for that. But if you think the Alliance is at fault, you’re wrong.”

Silent tears flowed down Nina’s face and Ryonna took a maternal guess.

“What was his or her name?” she asked quietly.

The woman sobbed. “Angeliki. Her name was Angeliki. She was just thirteen.”

Ryonna sighed. She understood the mother’s pain—how could she not? For the last few weeks, she hadn’t known if Ronan was alive or dead. But this woman had tried to do something that would have blown up a lot of people. Ryonna needed information.

“Who told you to blow up the ship? Who provided the explosive?”

Nina looked down guiltily. Ryonna knelt down and lifted her chin with a stiff finger.

“Look at me, Nina. I don’t want to hurt you anymore, but I will if you don’t start telling me who asked you to do this. I am sorry for your little angel; I understand your pain. But the person who convinced you to act this way must be stopped or many Angelikis will lose their lives. Do you have any idea how many sons and daughters would have lost their lives today if you had succeeded? What would Angeliki think of you then?”

That last sentence hit home and Nina sobbed uncontrollably. When she’d finally cried herself out, she looked up at Ryonna in despair. “You’re right,” she whispered. Then she proceeded to tell her everything…

A few moments after Nina finished telling her story, the brig door opened and Commodore Saroudis stormed inside accompanied by two security goons.

“What have you done?” he demanded.

Ryonna got back up on her feet and looked the commodore straight in the eye. “I did what was necessary. I have the information we need to track the perpetrators.”

“You should not have used violence to acquire that information.”

“Would you rather one of your precious ships gets blown out of existence before doing what needs to be done?”

His face flushed red. “This is not our way!”

“I know, but it is mine.”

18

Chase and Daniel landed near the prison and were soon directed to where the Obsidian emperor was being held.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come to the funeral with you today,” Daniel said as they walked.

“It’s okay, I understand. Would have been weird timing anyway. I was visited by yet another Olympian.”

“Really? Who was it? What did they want?”

“It was Ares. He wanted to help me master my powers… and he trained me to do so.”

Daniel was surprised. “In such a little time?”

“From what I gathered, time passes much slower in the vision than on Earth. In fact, only a few minutes had passed when I felt I trained for hours.”

“What did you learn about your powers?”

“That I could destroy entire planets if I’m not careful.”

Dan’s jaw dropped.

“Yeah, I feel the same, bro.”

“Anything else? I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“Well, he’s certain Argos let me live on both our encounters on purpose.”

Daniel frowned. “Why?”

“He doesn’t know, but that worries the hell out of me.”

“I bet.” Daniel shook his head in astonishment then gestured up ahead. “We’re almost there.”

Chase nodded quickly. “Okay, once we’re in there, let me speak to him. Don’t intervene unless absolutely necessary.”

Daniel nodded in agreement.

As they approached, two heavily armed security guards saluted them and moved aside to open the cell. It was poorly lit but when they stepped inside, the emperor stood up.

“Who might you—” His voice cut off with a gasp when he saw Chase’s face.

“I’m not Argos,” Chase said preemptively. “And as per your original question, I’m the one who holds your fate in his hands right about now.”

The emperor nodded slowly. “I see. Well, as I told your friend, I have a proposition for you.”

“Let me get this straight…” Chase sneered. “You attack this world, you kill millions of innocent people, and now you want to negotiate for your life?”

“You should listen to me, boy.”

“Really? Give me a reason and perhaps I will.”

The emperor held up his hands to slow the pace of the conversation. “First you must understand something. While our people have been at war for as long as we can both remember, the Obsidian Empire didn’t really have a choice here.”

Chase and Daniel shot each other a look. “You’re gonna have to do a lot better than this.”

“Look, less than a year ago, I was approached by Argos.” He faltered for another moment as he studied Chase. “I take it you two are siblings?”

“That part is pretty new to me as well, but apparently he’s my twin brother. That being said, I’m nothing like him—now keep talking.”

“The fire in your eyes right now begs me to differ.”

Chase sighed, clearly annoyed, and gestured his hands impatiently.

“Alright, let me explain what happened, and then you can decide if you want to hear me out or not. When the Zarlacks and Argos approached us, they promised us a swift victory over the Alliance. They helped us improve our firepower and added hundreds upon hundreds of their very powerful ships to our fleet. At first, we were feeling lucky with this partnership. But it was not a partnership that your brother had in mind… As time passed, I became more and more of a slave to your brother. Soon, I was nothing but an empty title. Anyone who voiced their concerns regarding Argos’ plan was dealt with swiftly and definitively. It wasn’t long before I realized the terrible mistake I had made joining forces with that mad man.”

The emperor paused as his face grew grave.

“You see, while I have no love for the Alliance, I despise Argos even more. He took over my empire, and I want to make him pay for that.”

Chase cocked his head. “So we can resume fighting one another, as things should be?”

“Does it really matter at this point in time? Are you not in clear numerical inferiority at the moment?”

“The influx of Droxian battleships joining the Earth Alliance balances it out somewhat.”

“Droxians?” The emperor was stunned “I didn’t know they cared about other species.”

“They started to when Argos made the fatal mistake to try and wipe them out a few days ago,” Chase explained.

“A bold move indeed,” the emperor mused. “Even at the top of our expansion, I would never have given such an order.”

Chase shifted impatiently “Where is this going, Emperor?”

“Right. I am still influential within my own fleet. You may have noticed that the ships coming to Earth were Zarlacks.”

“Yes and yet you were onboard the biggest one, apparently.”

“The Dragon’s Claw was a gift. It was supposed to be a symbol of our alliance with the Zarlacks, but as soon as we arrived on Earth, Argos took over, and without any of my fellow Obsidian forces, I had no other choice but to let him do so. But I am done working for that mad man. It’s not like I’m still emperor anyway…”

“I don’t follow.”

“Argos threatened to remove me from power numerous times. I’m sure the first thing he did after leaving here was to elect a new pawn to do his bidding.”

Chase paused. “So if you’re not the emperor anymore, what good are you to me exactly?”

“I’m still the emperor, technically at least. When the emperor is missing in action but there’s no body or proof of death, there is a period of time during which an acting emperor is elected. If the emperor doesn’t come back to claim his throne in time, this appointee would become the full-fledged emperor.”

“So in fact, you’re actually not proposing help, but want my help to recover your throne. I think I’ve heard enough.” Chase turned and started walking away.

“Wait! I have vital information—a way for you to even the odds.”

Chase stopped but didn’t turn around. “Talk fast… former emperor.”

“When Argos came to us he had only a handful of Zarlack ships, but we helped him construct a gigantic shipyard that can churn out up to ten battleships a week. This is why you can destroy his armada—he won’t mind; he’ll just build another. This installation is well hidden and even better protected. And as long as it stands, you have no chance of even contemplating your own survival. You need to take it out.”

Chase ground his teeth. This was terrible news, but at least he understood how Obsidian had defeated them so brutally and so fast. He made a fist.

“Look, I understand how you must feel.” The emperor tempered his anger. “But if we strike a deal, I will help you destroy this shipyard, and then I’ll help you kill Argos. In fact, I might even join your Earth Alliance if you let me.”

Chase turned around. “Finally, you have my full attention.”

“Good. Because we have work to do.” He glanced around the cell. “But if you don’t mind, I’ve been rotting here for quite long enough.”

Acting on instinct, Chase created a bright fireball in his hand. It crackled and sent lightning sparks that illuminated the darkly lit cell as if it was daylight.

“No funny business.”

The emperor nodded fearfully. “You have my word.”

“Excuse me if that weighs absolutely nothing in my book.”

“I can respect that. Shall we?”

He sighed. “The commodore’s not going to like this...”

* * *

One thing was for sure, the emperor in human clothes definitely looked out of place. But it was to be expected, what with his red complexion and orange war tattoos all over his skin.

The party arrived onboard the Destiny’s bridge, and, sure enough, the commodore reacted just about exactly as Chase predicted he would.

“Lieutenant Commander! Are you insane? What is HE doing here?”

Chase held up his hands. “It’s alright, Commodore, he wants to help. Believe it or not.”

“The hell he does!” Saroudis raged. “This scum needs to be executed! I had no idea he was even still alive. Guards!”

The security team raised their weapons just as Chase raised a peaceable hand.

“Everyone cool down. I can deal with him if need be.”

“No you can’t, Chase,” the commodore derided. “You can’t control your powers so I forbid them, remember?”

“That… was the day before yesterday,” Chase answered with a small smile.

“What?”

“Long story. In summary: I am in control now. And I don’t need anyone’s help to deal with him. Trust me.”

The commodore looked dubious at best and Daniel stepped in to help.

“Commodore, he’s telling the truth. They both are. Chase seems to control his powers effortlessly now and the emperor has given us some vital strategic information. We’re going to need his help.”

The commodore exhaled deeply. He made a quick gesture and the men lowered their weapons. “It’s not like I’m in command of anything. Perhaps you want to take over, Chase?”

“Nah, thanks, Commodore, I’m fine.”

“I was being sarcastic, Lieutenant Commander!” The commodore shook his head. “Look, I know you mean well, Chase, but there is such a thing as the chain of command. You report to me. You actually get your orders from me. You don’t go on errands like this without clearing it with me first!”

“I know, sir, I’m... I’m sorry.” Chase flushed. “Please understand that I’m not doing anything to endanger this ship or fleet.”

“I don’t doubt that for a single instant, Chase, but that’s beside the point.”

“Right... My bad?” Chase tried again, raising an eyebrow.

The commodore shook his head hopelessly. “Never mind. Now would someone please tell me why I have the Obsidian emperor on my bridge and give me a reason, any reason, why I shouldn’t blast him into space from the nearest airlock?”

“Because he can help us put a serious wrench into Argos’ plan.”

Chase explained the situation and the emperor added even more details this time around. He explained everything in terms of defenses, even said he knew the de-activation codes for the main shields. He brought up the star map and showed exactly where the giant shipyard was located and where to expect resistance. He even provided a safe route to avoid as many battlegroups as possible on the way. All in all, extremely useful information. As if to seal the deal, he also prepared a message to be sent to a few select ships captained by people he knew would follow his orders to the letter without resistance and proposed that they meet them before the attack on the target.”

About the time he was finished, Ryonna and Tar’Lock joined them on the bridge. At the sight of the emperor, Ryonna’s face tightened and a deep growl rumbled in her chest.

“Easy, tiger.” Chase calmed her with a smile. “How did it go?”

“I extracted the information we required and went to see Yanis to help us locate the person who gave Nina her orders.”

“That’s good news. How did you convince her to talk?”

The commodore raised his hand. “You don’t want to know.”

Chase drew in a tight breath, but nodded. “We needed that information, so thank you, Ryonna.”

“Finally, someone who understands.”

“Don’t get used to it,” warned the commodore.

“So what’s next?” Chase asked, glancing up again at the star chart.

“I’ll report to Admiral Thassos, see what size fleet we can devote to the destruction of this tactical target. And since it’s getting late, you can all go get some rest. As for you, emperor, while I appreciate the help and information you’ve provided, you will sleep in a nice bunk located in our brig.”

“Absolutely,” the emperor complied immediately.

His nonchalance was unnerving and Chase had no doubt that he had something up his sleeve. But at the moment, he had provided the Earth Alliance with valuable information, information so valuable it could possibly save all their lives. He’d have to bite his tongue.

“You two.” The commodore glanced at Ryonna and Tar’Lock. “While you aren’t members of my crew, and therefore not subject to my orders, could you please try to locate the person or persons responsible for the acts of terrorism before it gets even further out of hand?”

Ryonna nodded. “Absolutely. We’d be honored to help.”

Chase approached her. “You alright? You seem a little on edge… Can I help?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. I would like to keep guard outside the brig while that thing”—she cast the emperor a vicious look—“is amongst us. I don’t trust him.”

“I don’t trust him either, and if it makes you feel better, then sure. How’s Ronan?”

“He’s fine. He’s onboard one of the Droxian ships in orbit. I convinced her captain to let him observe and see what it is to be a true Droxian warrior.”

“He must be having loads of fun then.” Chase flashed her a grin.

“No, no fun! He must learn to be part of our military; this war has only just begun⁠—”

“I was joking, Ryonna.”

“Oh…” She tried to smile. “I see.”

Chase looked at Tar’Lock. “And you?”

“Me? I’m actually just bored. So where she goes, I go.”

19

After leaving the bridge, Chase went to his living quarters and had a quick shower before heading over to Sarah’s. As the hot water eased his tired muscles, he took deep breaths and tried to remember what Ares had told him. Despite his fatigue, he was actually quite pleased with the results. It was getting easier and easier every time.

The sound of an incoming comm disrupted his tranquility, and he got out of the shower and hurried over. Thinking it was Sarah, he answered without bothering to put on any clothes.

“Now that’s a greeting.”

Chase gasped and covered himself as a woman laughed loudly on screen.

“Fillio! I... I thought you were someone else. Give me a minute to put something on.”

She grinned coyly. “It’s not like it’s something I haven’t seen before, Chasy.”

“Yeah well, that… was a long time ago.” He jumped into the first pair of pants he found.

“I take it you’re seeing someone now,” she deduced. When he said nothing, she flipped back her hair and leaned closer to the screen. “What’s her name? Spill! I want details.”

“You haven’t changed a bit. Her name is Sarah.”

“Why would I change? I think I’m great!” she answered with a genuine smile.

“Difficult to argue with that logic.”

“How did you two meet?”

“We met when we came to save Earth from the Zarlacks.”

“Yeah, I actually heard about that! From what I heard, it was more like you against a whole fleet.”

Chase shrugged. “Well, kind of. But just until the Destiny battlegroup arrived; in the nick of time, I might add.”

“Still, ballsy move, Chasy boy. That was quite the suicide mission. You do realize that one of these days, your crazy gamble tactics might not work, right?”

That remark hit home, and for the first time Chase suddenly realized everything he had to lose. It wasn’t just him now. There was Sarah. And… the baby.

“Did I say something wrong, Chasy boy?”

“Don’t call me that, please. And no, I was just reflecting on what you said.”

She laughed aloud. “Hello! Chase actually listening to sound advice? I don’t know this Sarah, but she must be quite the gal. I like her already.”

“Perhaps I should have mentioned she’s pregnant. We learned it two days ago.”

“Oh... that explains it then. Congrats!” Her face softened. “Of course you can’t take any crazy risks anymore, or you run the risk of making your new little one an orphan.”

Chase ran his hand back through his wet hair. “Yeah... but on the other hand, I might need to take crazy risks sometimes to insure my child’s future.”

“Still obsessing about things you can’t control.” She grinned happily. “You’re nothing if not predictable, you know that?”

“If you say so. But there’s a few hundred wrecked Zarlack ships floating in orbit that would disagree with that statement.”

“Aww... There’s my show-off, know-it-all, over-the-top, arrogant Chasy—” she caught herself. “I mean… the Chase I know.”

He smiled. “Not that I dislike being called an avalanche of names, but was there a reason why you called, or did you just want to say hi?”

“Well that, first and foremost, of course. I actually had a rather specific activity in mind—we never did go all the way, if you remember—but apparently that’s not possible anymore.”

He chuckled. Same old Fillio. “Yeah, I’m afraid that ain’t gonna happen. Hope you understand.”

“Are you kidding? If you had said yes, I would have kicked your ass!”

“Now who’s predictable?”

They both laughed.

“I’d like to see the Omega fighter in action one of these days though,” he said wistfully. “I barely got a taste of it flying to Hellstar. I’d like to see what it can do in a dogfight.”

“It can do a lot, believe me. And sure, but from what I gathered, you’re installing stealth on your Earth modified fighters, no?”

“Yeah, but it’s not an exact match in terms of functionality. In fact, we lose shields entirely on the StarFury.”

“I thought it was called a StarCrusher.”

“Don’t get me started with this.”

She laughed. “Let me guess, Yanis named it that way.”

“Did you really need to ask?”

“Gotcha. Please don’t be too hard on him.”

Chase grinned. “Aside from his sheer suckage at naming things, he’s the best engineer and a dear friend. Of course… that doesn’t mean I can’t tease him from time to time…”

“Hey! Be nice to my little brother. He’s the only family I have left.”

“You have my word,” he promised.

She stretched out her arms with a yawn. “Alright, so it looks like I’d better go for a run or take a turn in the simulator to get my tension worked out.”

“You’ll be alright either way, I’m sure. Take care, Fillio.”

“Take care, Chasy.” She winked and turned off the comm.

Chase stared at the blank screen for a moment. In addition to being a skilled pilot, Fillio was a longtime friend. Of course, over the years she’d become a bit more than just a friend. Not in the same way as Sarah, but still. Now that she was assigned to the Fifth Fleet, he wondered what awkward complications might be in store.

He tried to put it away from his mind as he picked up the comm again and tried Sarah. There was no answer and he tried again. Still nothing. When she didn’t pick up on the third attempt, he decided to go to her place anyway and slip into bed. No need to wake her if she was asleep.

Thirty minutes later, he landed a shuttle on top of her building and headed down the stairs to her apartment. It was two in the morning on Earth—she was surely asleep. He felt bad, then, when he was forced to ring the doorbell to get inside.

One of these days, I’ll have to get my own key, he thought as he waited.

There was no reply. He rang several more times, but nothing happened. An anxious frown creased his forehead as he looked around.

Where could she be?

He was actually beginning to consider the idea of a search when he heard footsteps getting out of the elevator. He turned around in relief as she headed down the hall.

“Hello there,” he said cheerfully.

But the strangest thing happened. She passed right by him without registering his presence in the slightest. His smile faltered as she began rummaging around for her keys.

“Sarah?”

No answer. She unlocked the door.

Seriously concerned, Chase leapt in front of her and shook her shoulders. “Sarah!”

She blinked and took a step back, disoriented and surprised all at the same time. “What the hell? What are you doing here? In fact… what am I doing here?”

Chase paled. “Are you alright? You just walked right past without even seeing me.”

Her face clouded. “That’s so weird. The last thing I remember was coming home after the funeral and crashing on the couch. I…” She glanced around. “I don’t know why I’m outside.”

A chill ran up Chase’s spine. He didn’t like this one bit. “How do you feel now? Has this ever happened to you before?”

She shook her head. “Maybe I just sleepwalked. I know my mother used to do that when she was pregnant with me.”

Just a fraction of the tension lifted, but Chase was still uneasy. “I… I guess that could make sense.” He held open his arms, and she stepped inside with a tight embrace.

“Crazy couple of days, huh?” she said with her head pressed against his chest.

“You can say that again. And there’s more.”

“Please have mercy.”

“You’re right,” he agreed. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.”

She lifted her head with a mischievous smile.

“Who said anything about sleeping?”

Two hours later, they were lying in a tangle of sheets. Sarah was quick to fall asleep, happily exhausted to the point of unconsciousness, but Chase lay awake for hours. He kept thinking about what it meant to soon be a father. The responsibility, of course, but also the world they would bring their child into. In the middle of a war...

Sarah turned in the bed but did not wake up. He kissed the top of her head and stroked back her hair until she was finally still.

What a crazy couple of days. Crazy couple of weeks, was more like it. Everything was happening so fast. How was he supposed to protect the people he loved when it felt like the room wouldn’t stop spinning?

And speaking of spinning…

Sarah was twitching and moving so much in her sleep, it was like she was gearing up to run a marathon. Her face was tightened into a frightened pinch and when Chase reached out to steady her, she moaned aloud.

“Sweetie?” he whispered. “Sarah.”

Her eyes snapped open and she flew without thinking into his arms. He caught her and kissed her in surprise.

“Are you alright?” he murmured between kisses. “I think you were having a nightmare.”

She pulled back with a little shiver. “It’s the same one I keep having… I’m trapped in a confined space, completely submerged in water. There’s a breather on my face, so I don’t drown, and cables are attached all over my body. I see those awful reptilian Zarlacks again, and even though I try to get away… I can’t move. I’m trapped. And… and always very alone.”

Chase’s heart constricted in his chest. “I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help…”

“You just being here is enough.”

He smiled sadly but shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I wish… I wish there was some way I could go back in time and stop that from happening to you. All I can do now is promise you that Argos will pay.”

He looked up at her with fierce passion and was surprised by the soft expression on her face. “Chase, while that’s very sweet of you, I don’t want my man to be consumed with revenge. Forget about getting even with Argos. We have to stop him, sure, but not because he tortured me. Because he must be stopped, for all our sakes. All this hate inside… let it go.”

He stared at her in a moment of illumination and slowly nodded. She was right. It’s what was best for them all. And it was all he could do.

“You said there was more to tell me earlier,” she added. “Wanna talk about it now?”

Chase glanced at the clock. “It’s almost five in the morning. Don’t you want to get a little more sleep? If not for you, then for the baby?”

She smiled. “The baby is about this big right now.” She pinched together her fingers. “I don’t feel any different.”

“Surely you do a little,” Chase coaxed.

“Well, mentally and emotionally, yes of course. Just not physically.”

Chase sighed. “I think about it all the time. About the… the timing.”

She nodded gravely. “I know exactly how you feel.”

He brightened slightly. “You do?” It helped to know that he wasn’t alone in it.

“Sure I do, but then I just remember. Life is an ongoing thing. Babies are born all the time. We can’t just put our lives on pause because the timing isn’t convenient. It’ll be fine.”

Chase just stared at her in stunned silence. She was absolutely right.

“You know,” she continued thoughtfully, “lately I’ve been thinking a lot about things like that. The idea of controlling what’s going on around me to protect myself. And the other day at the funeral, I came to a very important decision.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“Screw it.”

Chase blinked. “No… what was your decision?”

“That was it.” She giggled lightly. “Screw it. I’m done fighting for control of things that realistically I have no control over. This war is happening. This baby is happening. This is our reality now. All we can do is the best with what we’re given.” She wrapped her arms around him. “And I happen to think I’ve been given an awful lot.”

He squeezed her hands tightly. “I will protect you,” he swore. “And our child. I will not let anything⁠—”

“Chase, that’s exactly what I’m talking about,” she said with a sigh. “You can’t. You couldn’t protect me from Argos that day. He took me and there was nothing you could do to stop it. You couldn’t save all those people on Earth from getting blown to bits. It was beyond your control.”

He felt like she’d sucked all the happiness right out of him, until…

“But you know what? If you hadn’t made that jump in your fighter, I’d be dead right now. If you hadn’t gone to Hellstar, I’d still be a prisoner. And if you hadn’t single-handedly fought an entire fleet, we’d be talking about billions of lives lost, not millions.” She clapped him teasingly upside the head. “So lighten up, soldier. Start living your life now, instead of spending all your time fearing the future. You did good.”

 He blinked again in amazement. He’d fallen in love with a rather incredible woman.

“Now, tell me what happened yesterday. What did the commodore want?” She was suddenly all business and he couldn’t help a little chuckle before he began his recap.

He started with the terrorist attempt on the EAD Hope and finished with telling her about the emperor and their plan to blow up Argos’ secret shipyard.

Sarah’s eyes widened in excitement. “That’s crazy! So when do we leave?”

“We?”

“Yes, we. I’m coming with you.”

He bit his lip. “Sarah, I’d really rather you⁠—”

She cut him off with a sweet but dangerous smile. “And as much as I appreciate the sentiment of whatever you’re about to say, let’s get one thing straight. I’m pregnant, not handicapped. I will be flying your wing on that mission. Are we clear?”

Chase leaned back and blinked mildly at her tone. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.” She flashed him a sudden wink. “Now come on, we have at least two hours before anyone needs us to do any big, world-saving schemes. Plenty of time for a little…”

With a mischievous giggle, she pulled him on top of her once more.

* * *

It seemed as though almost everyone in the whole Alliance had somehow gathered into Admiral Thassos’ conference room to discuss the upcoming mission. While Chase may have gone into it with some ideas of his own, it was clear that the admiral was running the meeting. Almost at once, he was assigned command of the EAD Hope—something he certainly hadn’t counted on and had mixed feelings about. While he was thrilled with the opportunity to test out the new class of destroyer, he would have traded almost anything to be flying one of the brand new F-147s instead.

The emperor had contacted all the Obsidian ships he knew in the area and was having them meet the Alliance not too far from the Gatos Nebula near the shipyard, and with the added support of the Droxians, Argos might just have a fair fight on his hands.

Chase relished this notion as he listened to Thassos drone on about combat tactics. It felt good to be taking the fight to the enemy for once, instead of running away.

“People, you leave in three hours,” she concluded. “Lieutenant Athanatos, you are to take command of the EAD Hope immediately. Make sure she’s combat ready before the fleet leaves.”

“Yes, Admiral. May I request Yanis to be transferred to the EAD Hope for this mission?”

The admiral turned. “Commodore Saroudis? Any objection?”

“None. He helped build and design the ship. There is a lot of new tech that he might need to supervise and make on-the-fly adjustments. Seeing that the Hope will be the tip of the spear in terms of firepower, I think it’s the right move.”

The admiral nodded brusquely. “In that case, you’re all dismissed. Good luck!”

* * *

Chase and Sarah walked together to the nearest shuttle and took off.

“So, little announcement.” Chase smiled. “You are to be the Hope’s wing commander.”

Her eyes widened in shock. “Are you serious?”

“Of course I am. You’re one of the best pilots I’ve ever flown with, and since I can’t fly my own wing, I really want you to do this for me.”

“What about Daniel?”

“Daniel is the Destiny’s wing commander. That hasn’t changed.”

Sarah beamed and nodded in delight. All this talk “convincing” him that she was going to be coming along—when he’d obviously thought it the whole time.

“Make sure you use the new advantages of these ships, too,” Chase added. “I think the drones in particular should give you quite the edge in dogfights.”

“And the cloak too.”

“Yeah, about that. Please make sure you’re very careful with the cloak. Remember that once you de-cloak, you’ll be without shields. So just… use them with care.”

“Is that any way to talk to a wing commander?” she teased playfully. But she actually clapped her hands in delight. “I can’t wait to test the StarCrusher.”

“Oh no, no, no!” Chase interjected gleefully. “I’ve decided the F-147 will be called StarFury.”

She chuckled. “I think I heard this name before, but sure… you’re a Fury—take it to the stars?” She laughed again at her own teasing. “How did Yanis take it?”

“He’ll survive.” Chase grinned. “It’s not like we called it ‘Doors’ or ‘Orange’.”

Sarah laughed at the joke. She never stopped to think about names like “Apple” or “Windows.” After all, they were part of their society and culture for so long that they simply made sense and it had become second nature. But from the outside, she understood very well how they could sound a little silly.

 “Now about your first order of business. You’ll need to brief your pilots upon arrival.”

“Anything in particular you’d like me to say?”

“I’ll leave it to your discretion. We just need to blow up that shipyard, so anything along those lines should suffice. They’re experienced pilots. They know the drill.”

“How many StarFuries will the Hope have onboard?”

“Only three. Yours; I suggest you give the second one to Jaris. He seems the most apt to use the neuronal interface. And the third one I want to be in reserve.”

“Of course you do.”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “Am I that predictable?”

She giggled. “It’s all part of your boyish charm.”

“Boyish, eh?” he teased. “For all we know, I’m over a hundred.”

There was a hitch in her step. “Wait… what?”

He sighed. “I haven’t gotten a chance to tell you that yet. According to the Olympians… I might have a gene that either makes me age slow or…

“Or what?”

“Perhaps not at all.”

She turned to him with a sudden frown. “But if you’re not aging, what does that mean for us? And for… the baby?”

He bit his lip as they neared the ship. “I don’t know. But we’ll sort it all out, I swear. For the time being, let’s just focus on getting back in one piece.”

They paused in unison when they reached the shipyard and stared up in awe at what was to be their home for the next few days.

To say the ship was magnificent would be an understatement. Sure, it resembled other Alliance battleships in terms of looks, but it somehow looked meaner, more streamlined; a true war machine despite its slightly smaller size.

Chase gazed up with more than a little hesitation. When he saw Sarah watching him closely, he tried for a casual shrug. “No pressure. How bad could it be?”

Then they walked up to the doors and found the entire crew waiting for them.

The lines upon lines of crewmen stopped him short and he sucked in a quick breath as the sudden weight and responsibility of his assignment hit home.

“Acting captain on deck,” shouted a man standing in front of all the others. A major by the looks of it. As one, everyone saluted.

“At ease,” answered Chase.

“Welcome to the EAD Hope, Captain. I relinquish command as per instructed by Admiral Thassos. The ship is yours.”

“Thank you, Major...”

“Sparton. Major Sparton, Captain.”

“Thank you, Major Sparton. If you’ll show me the way to the bridge, I want to undock and test some of the systems before we leave for the mission. Please also have someone show Commander Kepler her quarters and then the rest of the ship.”

Major Sparton signaled one of his officers then turned back to Chase.

“Have you selected a second-in-command, Captain?”

Chase glanced at Sarah, but she shook her head a fraction of an inch. Chase got the message. He cleared his face and gazed calmly back at the major.

“You will be my second-in-command, Major. You know this ship better than anyone, I take it?”

“Thank you, Captain. And yes. I’ve been onboard since we had artificial atmosphere and life support working.”

Just then, a shuttle docked on the bay behind them. Yanis popped his head out curiously, before being immediately followed by the emperor and a host of security guards. Chase stepped forward quickly and ordered them to release the emperor into his care.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, he thought.

“Emperor, I really hope the information you gave us is correct. I’ve been inclined to believe you up until now, but if you have a hidden agenda⁠—”

The emperor didn’t even let him finish. “No agenda. Let’s go destroy Argos’ most useful installation. Then you can decide for yourself how valuable I can be for you.”

Chase was surprised the emperor relinquished control so easily, but he guessed the man didn’t have much choice. “Alright. You stay with me at all times, though, is that understood?”

“Whatever you say.”

He turned back to Major Sparton. “Very well, to the bridge then?”

“Absolutely. Follow me, Captain.”

They all took a lift to the bridge, and soon Chase was in the captain’s chair. As it turned out, it was very comfortable, made with dark-blue material resembling leather. On each of the armrests were controls for most of the ship’s systems. The emperor stood not too far away, his arms locked against his chest as he observed, silent.

“Get us out of space dock,” Chase ordered, “one quarter impulse.”

And just like that… the mission was underway.

20

Argos’ ship entered the Gorialis Star System and soon arrived at their destination. He looked at the view screen, mesmerized by the beauty of the enormous star and its giant solar flares’ eruptions.

“Status?” Argos barked.

“We’re at optimal distance to attempt inter-dimensional communication, Master,” answered one of his officers.

“Very well, establish communication and send it to my ready room. I am not to be interrupted for anything until it ends, understood?”

“Yes, Master, I understand.”

He got up from his throne-looking chair on the bridge and entered an adjacent ready room. The atmosphere between the two rooms was very different. The bridge was well lit and full of computer terminals. The ready room, however, was pitch black, with two small torches on each side of the room that were triggered to light upon his entry. Argos loved the natural light of the flame; loathing the artificial lighting that came in most ships. That’s why he would retreat to this place to think. Even in the midst of combat, he preferred dispatching orders from here.

He slowly kneeled on the floor, about three meters in front of a wall.

Soon, a hologram about five meters tall appeared, but it was quite garbled with a lot of static.

“Rise,” said the voice in a very metallic, grinding and garbled voice. It had a faint echo; and seemed to be coming from the depths of hell itself.

He slowly stood and faced the dark, red-colored holographic projection.

“What have you to report at this time, Argos?”

“My plan is well under way. I will soon have all I need to come and get you.”

“We grow weary of waiting. You promised results, but so far we see none.”

“I assure you all is going according to plan. In fact, there’s been a new variable that may speed things along.”

The holographic shape jittered with a terrible signal distortion. It was clearly humanoid in nature, but too garbled to identify in detail.

“Very well. Make sure you get all you require, as we instructed you. You will be handsomely rewarded. But fail us, Argos, and our revenge will be long and painful.”

His name resonated in the sentence, giving weight to the threat.

“Thy will be done. You will soon be free again.”

The holographic shape only growled in response, and then disappeared back into the nothingness it came from.

Time was running out. Clearly his masters were losing patience. But now that Chase had entered the equation, Argos knew exactly how to proceed next in order to fulfill his mission. He would not fail them.

Instead of returning to the bridge, Argos glowered from his away-room throne. He needed to know what Chase was up to. His newly formed plan could potentially save months of work, but he had to be sure Chase would comply. On that front, he still had an ace in the hole. Still, he’d have to be careful and precise to pull it off. Fortunately Chase was only awakening to his powers, and bore almost no control over them. The fight at Hellstar Prison had been a pathetic demonstration, which worked in his favor.

Yet the Olympians were not to be forgotten; they could help Chase in ways that would be catastrophic. He had to get a hold on that communication line between them and Chase, and yank it off. He would need to proceed carefully, though: the last time Furies tried to attack the Olympians, it had led to their downfall. Argos had no intention of repeating the biggest mistake in the history of his race.

His eyes glowed eagerly as he leaned towards a big jar, and, after pondering for a moment, he opened its lid. A strange-looking snake with many spikes and yellow, glowing eyes arose from the half-light. It turned and spat out a very high-pitched hiss; almost painful to hear. Argos quietly moved his free hand in front of the snake. It opened its mouth wider, as three double-tipped tongues started an eye-pleasing circular dance. Venom drops formed on the tips of its yellow fangs, as its eyes glimmered even more brightly.

Argos made a sharp move with his hand. The snake flew at his arm in a flash, thrusting fangs deep into Argos’ forearm. The resulting jolt of pain that followed was both excruciating and extremely pleasurable to Argos, almost orgasmic. The snake didn’t release for a while, but hung limply from his skin. Argos didn’t seem to mind, enjoying the venom’s burn as it flowed through his veins. He closed his eyes and leaned back, exhaling slowly. The burning pain and toxicity traveling his system was easily countered with his Fury powers. But for the high to be pleasurable, it needed to hurt a little.

A few minutes later, Argos mumbled in a satiated whisper, “That’s enough for today.” He tried to get the snake off his arm; but instead of retracting as it usually would, it tightened its grip. Such feeble creatures thinking they can impose their will onto me, thought Argos, permitting himself a smile. He started flexing and tightening all the muscles in his forearm so strongly that the fangs were forced from the holes recently made in his skin. The startled snake released instantly, swinging his head back and hissing wildly, its three tongues flailing about.

The beast was clearly agitated, yet afraid at the same time. You are right to fear me. But when primal instinct overtook fear, the snake turned and flew at Argos’ throat, which did not go well with Argos. He caught the snake in midair with crushing force, grinning. Sheer terror could now be read in its dimming eyes. He opened the palm he’d closed over the creature, and the snake exploded all around Argos’ throne, spilling yellow blood and guts on both his throne and himself.

Argos sighed and stood. He cleaned himself up by levitating every particle of splashed snake goop, incinerating them in a flash. Soon there was nothing left, not even ashes. At that moment he received an incoming transmission from the bridge.

“What is it?”

“We’ve received very interesting intelligence from the sensors you placed on the subject, Master. We have audio and video files you need to watch right away.”

Finally, some good news.

“Thank you,” he said, waving the holographic comm to the side to turn off the call.

He summoned another holographic projection with the intelligence data mentioned. He sifted through videos of new weaponry the Alliance had been working on, as well as a meeting with a female admiral. On one side of the table stood the emperor, giving the Alliance very specific information.

“That snake… I knew he would rebel eventually, but so soon?” he murmured at the screen.

The meeting outlined a mission to destroy Argos’ shipyard: a perfect setting to put the next part of his plan in motion. The universe always seemed to help him achieve his goals, if only he waited long enough. He hastily assembled a response: he had no problem with them crippling his current means of ship manufacture. Argos had plenty of ships in reserve. The target had strategic value to him, of course, but instead he saw ripe conditions for a trap. All that mattered to Argos was that Chase and his precious Sarah would soon be stumbling into his grasp.

He opened a holo-comm and commanded, “Get us to the shipyard, and recall all ships from the Xyrion sector to these coordinates. Their orders are to destroy any Obsidian ships they encounter there—” He verified and pronounced the coordinates of the Obsidian Empire fleet rendezvous with the Earth Alliance strike force, with anticipatory relish.

“Yes, Master.”

“Oh, and clone another Kyrian snake. Have it sent to my ready room.”

“Understood, Master.”

Argos waved the comm off with a flick of his right hand.

With the plan to ambush the strike force boiling in his mind, he rejoiced at the thought of teaching both Alliance and Droxian what it cost to defy him.

“Let’s have some fun, shall we?” he cackled, with a smirk on his face.

* * *

Onboard the EAD Hope, Chase arrived at Jupiter and meticulously tested each of the ship systems. It was ready for battle. The ship had dispatched training probes with incredible ease, even though they had their level set to maximum threat. He also tested the redundancy of all systems, main and secondary weapons, torpedoes and shields. All tests provided very satisfactory results. However, he still found himself longing to be in a starfighter, no matter how empowering it was to captain the most lethal warship the Alliance had ever built.

He decided to act on his impulse. He got up from the captain’s chair, looked at Major Sparton, and gave him the bridge without explanation. He took the lift to go visit Yanis in the engineering room: which on the EAD Hope was a thing of beauty. The dual quadrinium cores emitted a soothing hum.

“What can I do for you, Captain? I didn’t expect to see you here so soon. All systems are working perfectly—” Yanis began.

“I know, but I wanted to ask for a favor.”

“Haven’t I already designed the perfect ship? What more can I do?” he said, throwing his arms in the air.

“Relax. I wondered if you have time to install a remote neuronal link for me, perhaps to interface with my chair?”

“Why would you want to pilot a destroyer with your mind? Of course, in theory I could devise a way for you to fly and shoot with a link…”

“Can a neuronal link remote control two space craft?”

“Let me guess... You want me to link it to the F-147s as well?”

“Yep. Can it be done?”

“I don’t see why not. Since they all come with their own neuro-interface, it’s just a matter of installing a network remote control routine. But why would you want to do that?”

“I’m a fighter pilot. We are going on a critical mission to destroy a very important target. I don’t want to miss this battle for the sake of luxury.”

“You’re like a child, you know that, right? You’re captaining the most advanced ship of the fleet, perhaps even the most advanced ship ever created, and you still want to play hotshot?”

Chase didn’t answer, pondering. Was he? Was it so bad, wanting to fly the new F-147?

“Look... I just want to be part of the wing when we get there, and since I can’t be in two places at once…”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to justify yourself. You want to fly my StarCrusher, and so you will.”

“Yanis?” said Chase, raising his voice.

“Oh, did I say StarCrusher? I meant StarFury.”

Chase smiled.

“The jump to our destination will take thirty-five hours. Will that be enough time?”

“Plenty. No worries, Chase, I will have the modification made to your chair within the next few hours. But I think I’d better give you some commands on the Hope as well, so you can at least dispatch orders mentally while flying the starfighter with the neuronal interface. It will make it simpler for you to interact with your crew, while still receiving visual sensors and telemetry from both the Hope and F-147. Though I can’t be sure how your brain will react to you controlling two systems at once; it might be too much. Since the F-147s are already pre-loaded with your scripted commands, you may want to set it on autopilot from time to time, if the dual link becomes too stressful for you to handle.”

“Understood. I’m sure I’ll be fine, but thanks.”

“My pleasure. Now go play captain and let me tend to my ship.” Yanis laughed, waving Chase off with his hand.

“Your ship?”

“You know what I mean. Now go!” said Yanis with a wink.

Chase decided to go check on Sarah next, but she wasn’t in her quarters. Perhaps she hadn’t finished her tour of the ship or, better yet, maybe she went to see the F-147? Chase leaped at the golden opportunity. Once arriving at the launching bays, he started looking for the F-147, a huge grin on his face. He arrived before two of them parked side by side, right after the four Omega fighters the admiral had been kind enough to provide for their important mission. Indeed, the new model was quite a lot bigger than the original F-140 Thunderbolt. Then it hit him: there were supposed to be three F-147s. He activated his comm.

“Hey pal, it’s only been fifteen minutes since we last talked. What now?”

“Weren’t there supposed to be three StarFuries on board?”

“Yes. So?”

“So I’m in the launch bay now, and there are only two!”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Yanis, I think I know how to count to−”

But then something strange happened. A shape started to appear next to the other two ships, something blurry and distorted at first. It flickered for a few seconds until it took a more solid form, and finally became a fully formed F-147.

Chase exhaled and answered. “Never mind. It’s here.”

“Of course it’s there! Are you feeling well?”

“I’ll catch up with you later. Sorry for the interruption. Chase out.”

“No worries. Catch you later.”

The cockpit of the StarFury opened, and Sarah waved towards Chase with a big, radiant smile.

“I love this thing. It’s wicked!”

“You scared me! I thought we lost one of the ships.”

“You thought we lost it? I just climbed in to check it out, and tested the new neuronal HUD. I thought about becoming invisible and it happened! Didn’t mean to startle you, sorry.”

“That’s alright. I guess I’m a bit on edge. I was actually about to go rest in my quarters. Care to join?”

“I’ll come shortly. I’d like to go for a run first, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure thing. See you in a few?”

“You betcha,” Sarah said, beaming back a warm smile.

Chase entered his quarters, completely exhausted. There was just an hour left until the battlegroup would jump out of Earth space, and he hoped for a quick nap before Sarah would join him. He set an alarm for fifty minutes, so that he could be awake and ready to go on the bridge for the jump. He relaxed and let himself fall on his bed.

But instead of hitting the soft mattress, his body impacted with water. He jumped back to his feet, and realized he no longer was on board the Hope. He was somewhere else entirely.    

He stood up in water reaching his thigh. The view was breathtaking. The planet he was on had three suns. Two of the stars emitted a yellow-orange glow, while the third one, hovering over the horizon and about to set, was blue; casting a cold, icy reflection on the translucent, pink-tinted water.

“Think fast!” he heard from behind.

As he turned he didn’t see anything but a growing shadow on the water. Finally, he looked up, and there was Ares arriving full force with both his hands joined, ready to smash him to smithereens. He barely managed to avoid the attack, though the huge splash and resulting shockwave still knocked him off balance, sending him flying into the water. He got up and assumed a fighting stance. It took a few seconds for the commotion and water spray to splash all the way down and clear, but Chase had already lost visual contact with his foe.

He closed his eyes and brought to bear his inner power. He focused first on gauging his energy levels, and becoming more mindful of his surroundings. Soon he felt a presence coming at him at very high velocity, from behind. He reacted instantly, jumping high in the air and firing a quick fireball where he’d just stood. Water once again flew upwards, stopping Ares in his tracks. Using the momentum of his jump, Chase launched an arching kick towards Ares who barely managed to block the attack. Chase smiled as Ares regained composure.

“Very good,” Ares said, smiling back, clearly surprised. “You’ve been training.”

“Every chance I got. I’m summoning my powers with much more ease than before.”

“Let’s see what you’ve learned, shall we?”

“Ready when you are.”

Ares launched himself toward Chase, who assumed a defensive stance. He was already casting a crackling ball of blue energy in his fist, his aura radiating a deep blue. Fully ready to counterattack, he prepared a powerful punch with his right arm when Ares did something that Chase didn’t understand. He split, somehow! There appeared two Ares’ before him now. They circled him slowly, one approaching from each side.

Recalculating, Chase decided on one target, the nearest one. He threw himself forward, launching his attack abruptly. Ares blocked the incoming fake jab, just as Chase thought he would. But then he let the energy in his fist free, and it sent Ares flying. At the same moment Chase was perfectly aware that his second foe was nearly upon him, so he dropped down in subterfuge. Hunched over and looking forward, he performed a sneaky, arching kick at foot-level into the water behind his body. In an instant it threw lots of water into the air, before, with a crack, the kick landed against the foot of the second Ares. He lost balance, and Chase lost no time taking advantage of the situation. His bent left arm rocketed down towards the second Ares’ torso. Upon impact he opened his palm and released all the energy from within. It sent the second Ares flying on top of the water, skipping like a stone. The force of the attack then split the water into two frothing troughs that closed over him.

Chase felt empowered like never before. He’d finally felt the energy within his body flowing in perfect harmony, in control. He exhaled slowly. The familiar sense of fear was nowhere to be seen.

Both Ares’ got up and smirked. Both disappeared. They reappeared on Chase’s side, both thrusting powerful kicks at him. He raised his right arm and blocked the first kick but was late to block the second one and lost balance. Both Ares’ merged back and became one once again.

Before Chase could regain his balance, Ares grabbed his leg. He aimed to use Chase’s body as a hammer to throw, and had already started spinning. The more Chase was spinning in the air the more he felt dizzy, until Ares released his grip on the leg and sent Chase speeding hundreds of feet into the air. Ares then jumped towards Chase in the air in a maneuver that simply seemed impossible: the shockwave from his rocket-like departure from the ground sent water flying all around. He arrived in a roar with his hand in a tight fist, ready to crush Chase with his next attack. Then something inexplicable happened. At the moment Ares’ fist was about to crush Chase’s face, he dodged the incoming attack by only a few millimeters, grinning. Ares fell down towards the water, creating yet another big splash of water. But Chase did not fall. Instead he stood in the air, levitating.

“What the hell?” said Chase, with both amazement and fear in his voice.

“I told you. I knew you could fly.”

I can fly? thought Chase. “This is unbelievable!”

“Now try to lower yourself slowly to the surface.”

Chase tried to move but was unable to. He instantly felt like whatever amazement he had felt before, had become anxiety. All of a sudden, he felt gravity take a hold on him once more. He fell towards the water at full speed, like a stone. His body cracked the ground deep down beneath, sending a huge wave of pain through his left shoulder.

Chase emerged moaning from the muck, grasping his shoulder with his right arm. But he still had the wherewithal to center himself, close his eyes and heal himself.

“What happened?” inquired Ares, running through the water. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine now. I don’t know. I think my brain had trouble reconciling what was happening. I levitated a little on instinct there, trying to avoid your attack, but once I got back into the reality of it all, I lost my grip on it and started falling.”

Ares nodded. “Don’t worry. Flying is not something natural for humanoids. It may take a while to master this particular gift. I’m already amazed you managed to dodge my attack in mid-air.”

“So am I,” said Chase, reflecting on what had just happened.

“Alright, that’s all for today. I’m glad you have learned to control your power more effectively, and not wasting it as before. At this rhythm we probably could’ve fought for hours.”

Chase nodded, overwhelmed.

“Next time you get the chance, try to empty your mind as much as you can first, and try levitating again. Little by little, I’m sure you’ll learn how to do it.”

“I hope so.”

“Look at the bright side. We know it’s possible for you at the very least. It doesn’t matter if you can’t control it just yet. Your progress is already quite impressive. While I didn’t throw all my power at you just yet, I am amazed how you anticipated my attacks and kept your head clear.”

“But am I ready to face Argos?”

“I would avoid it until you get more control. Aim to master your abilities about tenfold.”

“Tenfold?”

“Yes, be patient. You’re progressing at an amazing pace, but I sense you are still far from your full potential. You’ll get there. But now I must go. Keep practicing.”

“Thanks, Ares. I’ll see you soon.”

He nodded and vanished into thin air.

For the first time in a long while, Chase felt really good. The fact that he was learning to control his powers gave him hope. Perhaps Aphroditis was right; perhaps these powers were indeed a blessing.

“Having fun?” said a familiar, feminine voice from behind Chase.

He turned around, and bumped straight into Aphroditis. Her hair was flowing in the light breeze as she took small steps towards him, with an almost childlike smile on her face.

“Hello, Aphroditis,” said Chase, returning the smile.

“You look good, Chase.”

He nodded in answer.

“I’ve been observing you, but I didn’t want to interrupt. Ares seems to have taken a liking to you. I think you remind him of himself, when he was younger and impetuous. I’m glad he is able to teach you some important lessons.”

“He’s a great teacher.”

She nodded, but then her expression became grave.

“What is it?” inquired Chase.

“I sense darkness and pain ahead. I don’t exactly know how or why, but something is amiss.”

“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

“I’m sorry. I just wanted you to know so you might be ready to face something hard in the coming days. I wish I could tell you more...”

“Well, we are about to go destroy Argos’ precious shipyard; I have a feeling I might cross paths with him again. At least now I feel more confident about myself, if that happens.”

“Remember what Ares said: Argos is immensely powerful, and you are just discovering what you are capable of. You are not yet ready to beat him. I know you want revenge for what he did to Sarah, but don’t let anger or hate cloud your judgment. Chase, I implore you.”

“It’s true that I want to crush him with my bare hands.”

“Just remember that you aren’t ready. Soon enough you will be, of that I have no doubts, but please try to avoid a direct confrontation with your brother.”

Chase didn’t like the idea of avoiding Argos, but he knew in his heart that if both Aphroditis and Ares told him he wasn’t ready, that it was probably true. Suddenly he realized that he no longer harbored doubts about their intentions. Not long ago he’d doubted whether or not he should be listening to the Olympians, now they seemed vital to his survival.

“Can you promise me you will try to avoid fighting Argos until you are ready?”

“I can promise you that I will do my best, but if he endangers Sarah again...”

“I understand. Perhaps it would be best if she didn’t come with you on this mission.”

“I’ve tried that.”

“I see...” she said, closing her eyes for a few moments. “I must leave now, but please be careful.”

“Will do. Thanks for dropping by.”

And, like Ares before, she vanished into nothingness. The landscape, too, changed, from the dreamy, triple-star planet to the familiar surroundings of standard Alliance quarters. Chase found himself atop his bed looking at the ceiling, alongside a wailing alarm clock. Sarah hadn’t come; probably not done with her run yet. He got up from his bed and went to the bridge. Upon arrival he sat in the captain’s chair.

“Status?”

“We’re back around Earth orbit. We’ve just received slave jump coordinates from the Destiny. Incoming transmission.”

It was Fillio.

“Admiral Thassos asked me and three other Omega fighter pilots to report to the EAD Hope. Requesting permission to board the ship and join the pilot roster.”

“Permission granted.”

Soon her shuttle landed onboard the ship. He was glad the admiral had granted his request. He preferred to have seasoned pilots to fly the Omega fighters. They were a rare commodity. He would hate to lose the fighters by putting inexperienced pilots at their helm, and Fillio seemed like a godsend. Then Chase turned to his helm’s officer.

“Link our jump engines to the Destiny’s.”

“Engines linked, Captain.”

The battlegroup jumped out of Earth space.

21

Onboard the Star Alliance Station Damocles-3, elder scientist Spiros Malayianis was crawling behind a crate. He had clambered out of sight just in the nick of time. Three impressive Zarlacks had just entered the room, clumsily searching around on their rounds.

Lately it had become more and more difficult for him to evade capture. Fortunately, as soon as Obsidian and the Zarlacks had taken possession of the station, he’d managed to hide his life signs from the sensors. He knew the technical systems of this station like the back of his hand. He had designed most of them, after all.

The past few months had been tiring, though. He now spent most of his life hidden in crawl spaces between decks; places where he’d doctored computer reports to list as “fire-damage areas with no life support.” The trick had worked, and he felt safe enough in these places. He could even fall asleep, sometimes.

Of course, at first sleep eluded him. The fact that lizard men almost twice his size were roaming the station was enough to chill his blood. But even in the times he slept out of total exhaustion, he still hadn’t been spared the disturbing and violent nightmares. After a few weeks he’d installed booby traps and a new array of sensors, which were disconnected from the main computer’s network, so he could be woken up should anyone approach his position. That had helped him drastically as far as sleep was concerned. After that security measure had been put in place, he slept like a baby. After the first month of occupation, he’d only leave his shelter to steal food from the hydroponics level.

He’d grown tired of all of this. At age one hundred and seven, he was no longer young. While he’d implanted himself with some high-tech augmentations to enhance some motor functions, these needed repairs. These tasks were getting increasingly difficult to do while the enemy occupied his beloved station.

His second mission was safeguarding former projects within his R&D lab from Obsidian hands. He had been tasked by First Admiral Zagorakis to create new weaponry, shields and even a new hyperspace engine just a few months before all hell broke loose. As it stood, most of his projects were quite advanced, and he did not intend to give Obsidian any new edge in technology.

However, the presence of multiple Zarlack and Obsidian ships docked to the station presented a unique opportunity. He’d managed to get sensor readings and conduct thorough analysis of most of their systems. So he managed to continue his research, making new strides in both his weapons and shield program by analyzing the systems he was encountering from the occupying force. In fact, he felt confident that, should he manage to deliver his plans to Alliance survivors, it could tip the balance of power and give them the much-needed tools and identified weaknesses required to crush their enemies.

But had anyone survived? That thought haunted Spiros every single day.

With his research now safely encrypted and stored outside of the station’s network, he’d hardcoded a failsafe in order to make sure he could delete any of it remotely, if required.

I need to try and contact survivors, he thought. And fast!

But that was easier said than done, and he knew it all too well. Communications areas were crawling with lizards. He had once tried to re-route the command pathways so he could access them from a remote location, but his efforts had triggered an unexpected security alarm and he’d almost been captured. It had taken some pretty fancy programming and on-the-fly thinking to engineer fake logs to disguise his intrusion as a system’s malfunction, so that the enemy wouldn’t start sweeping the station, bulkhead to bulkhead, to find him. That day, he had decided, would be the last time he attempted such a reckless move. Too much was at stake.

Of course, he couldn’t let it go; it wasn’t in his nature. So for weeks, he brainstormed and plotted. He refused to give in. He finally determined that he had to find a way to get rid of the current unwanted inhabitants of his station. He’d managed to procure all the elements he needed to make a lethal gas: one that should kill anyone who breathed it, himself included, unfortunately. So the next part revolved around the acquisition of a gas mask, which he needed to execute his plan. Unfortunately, with almost an entire battlegroup stationed around the station, it was unlikely he would succeed. At best they’d sense the presence of an intruder; at worst they’d tire of investigations and just destroy the station, which was another unacceptable option under the circumstances – what with all the exploding and all.

The three Zarlacks finally continued on their rounds, leaving the premises. About damn time! When a good minute had passed and he felt that it was safe, he quickly approached one of the lockers and opened it. Most of the gear had been taken, but he managed to find a service pistol. More importantly, and the main justification for his risky mission: he found the gas mask. With his prize possession acquired, it was time to return to what passed for a home these days—deep within the bulkheads.

But the way to the armory had not been easy. It had taken him no less than five hours of careful movement in order to avoid detection. He was already dreading the trek back. He took out the life-signs detector he’d jerry-rigged from various secondary systems and scrap he’d acquired piecemeal since the occupation, and examined it carefully. The corridor right outside of the armory seemed free, but there were still life signs detected in the next corridor. He would either have to wait or try to crawl up a ventilation shaft, something he was not too keen on. His left leg’s motorized augment was sometimes causing him problems, and he dreaded the prospect of unexpected noise due to mechanical spasms: the risk of detection was simply too high. Who knew what he would do if the damn thing decided to shake uncontrollably like it had done a few times before, and with increasing frequency over the last week? He had no wiggle-room here, and therefore decided to get behind the crates and wait some more. After half an hour, he fell asleep.

A vocal message delivered through the station’s sound systems woke him up from his slumber and he jumped in surprise.

What a fool! How could he have fallen asleep? That’s even more dangerous than trying to crawl up a ventilation shaft! His sudden waking from a deep sleep had jumbled his thoughts, but he could hear something being said in the Zarlack tongue over the speakers. He quickly took another gizmo from his pocket and activated it. It translated the clicky, incomprehensible language directly into his brain’s Head’s-Up-Display implant.

The message was simple: “All non-essential personnel, return to your ships at once. We are departing within fifteen minutes, having been ordered to rejoin the fleet near the Gatos Nebula. This is not a drill!"

He couldn’t believe it. Was this the lucky break he had waited so long and patiently for? Were the ships really about to vacate the area? If so he could put his plan into action, and try to regain full operational control of the station. Even from the safety of his semi-hidden position, he was well aware of the commotion that followed the speaker’s announcement. He heard multiple loud footsteps in nearby corridors, and his life-signs detector display proved that most of the occupation troops were indeed rushing to embark.

While he patiently waited for the evacuation, he wondered what was located in the Gatos Nebula. He resisted the urge to try and hack one of the ships in orbit for one, two, three minutes. Finally he decided that whatever he could find could potentially outweigh the risk of being detected. He also counted on the perceived urgency of the evacuation: urgent enough so hopefully nobody would notice his little incursion into their digital systems, if he was careful. He’d already placed several backdoors on their systems, back when he had studied their ships’ capabilities to improve his research. He approached the nearest terminal and entered his command code.

Stealth mode engaged, was showing on the holo-screen.

“What are you stinky reptiles up to?” he murmured to himself, still not yet feeling easy or entirely safe.

Once through the three main firewalls and into the last backdoor he’d installed on the biggest ship of the fleet, he started searching for files pertaining to the Gatos Nebula. The ship he’d chosen was a behemoth of Zarlack monstrosity with incredibly strong shields. Files in that area were encrypted, and required a high level of authorization within the enemy’s rank.

He stopped and pondered. Such files could definitely trigger a log or an alarm, and the time when he almost got caught still weighed heavily on his mind. But the scientist in him loved a challenge. He quickly entered multiple commands on his terminal. He then took a cable out of his pocket and plugged one end in the terminal and the other behind, in the back of his neck, where the input port for his brain-augment tech was located.

Soon he was within the ship’s systems with his thoughts. This way, he would drastically lessen the time required to input commands compared to using the touch terminals. Plus he could also monitor logs and system alarms in real time, and intercept them before they could be registered, if need be. His next task was to get into the sealed files. By his account he only had a few minutes left to do so, before the ship left dock.

He could see more of the fleet-wide orders now that he was in. The order had come from an individual called Argos, and was a priority level-one order. Something was afoot, that was for sure. He pulled a file for this Argos persona, but the amount of log-triggering and alarms linked to the file was overwhelming. Fortunately he managed to cancel every single one of them and access the file, but it had been close, far too close for comfort.

He exhaled deeply, relieved. He was thrilled at having managed to get into the file in spite of all the safeguards, but mystified at the rationale. He looked at the picture of that Argos. He was humanoid, something Spiros had not expected. A human giving orders to Zarlacks? Really? But there was something about his face, even though he couldn’t place it. Somehow it seemed familiar. Time was running out. Now that the file about Argos was stored into his neuronal file banks, he moved towards the big prize.

The encryption algorithm protecting the Gatos Nebula file was stronger than anything he had experienced before on previous hacking sessions on enemy technology. That could mean only one thing: whatever was in this file was highly secret; of invaluable worth. The internal timer he’d set at nine minutes when he started the hack was almost done. Only one minute and forty-seven seconds remained. The booby traps that he’d defused around the Argos file had been nothing compared to the ones he was disarming in real time, to make sure his intrusion to the Gatos Nebula file remained undetected.

He didn’t register that he was quickly getting drained by using his brain so heavily. Sixty seconds left. A warning came on his mental HUD: ships powering hyperdrive engines. All available shuttles had left the station. All ships that had been docked on the station were already maneuvering away from it. Forty seconds. Even if the fleet was running late on pre-checks before entering hyperspace, Spiros knew that he was almost out of time.

He quickly entered the advanced settings of his brain tech and over-clocked the processing power by two hundred percent. That was definitely a gamble, but he had no other choice. He needed to be able to access this file now! His timer reached zero and blinked red within his mental projection. Over-clocked, he kept pushing. He felt the temperature in the lower part of his skull rise. All sorts of warnings popped on his mental projected HUD, but he kept going as fast as he could.

The decryption algorithm was now at ninety-eight percent completion. When the information arrived that the ship’s hyperspace engines were ready for jump, he redirected every ounce of processing power to the decryption task. On top of the heat rising within his skull, his brain started to pound with pain, but he pushed through. His HUD warned of impending neuronal damage. The next second the file was finally decrypted and he saved it within his internal data banks. At almost the exact same time, the enemy ships entered hyperspace.

The disconnection was brutal to say the least. Spiros felt something like a spark within his brain. His tech shut down almost instantly.

“Dammit!” he shouted out loud, immediately biting his lips afterwards.

Even though most Zarlacks had left the station, the volume at which he had expressed his frustration had been too high. He quickly looked at his life-sign detector but he didn’t need to. He could already hear some heavy footsteps coming his way. He cursed his recklessness, disconnecting the cable from the terminal and implant, and quickly jumped back to his feet. But he felt impossibly light-headed, no doubt another side effect from over-clocking his tech. He shook his head to try and get his mind clear of it, but as he did so the door of the armory suddenly opened and a tall Zarlack came in—guns blazing.

Panicked, he ducked behind the console. Sparks flew around him. The jolt of adrenaline from extreme fear kicked in, his mind racing. He was no sharp shooter, but now was not a good time to die. He had to survive and access that file. He had to regain control of the station. But first he needed to deal with this beast trying to blow his head off, preferably before it tried to call for reinforcements.

Suddenly an idea crossed his mind, encouraged by another laser impact near his scalp. He grabbed the life-signs detector and inversed the polarity of the power source, sweat pouring down his face. It got very hot fast and emitted an increasingly painful, high-pitched sound. In one fluid motion Spiros slid to the floor next to the console, throwing the melting detector towards the Zarlack. The creature reacted on instinct, shooting wildly towards the incoming object. He hit the detector where it lay, less than three feet away from him. It exploded with a fiery green flash that sent red-hot power fluid boiling across the Zarlack’s face. The resulting screech of agonizing pain he unleashed was unbearable. Spiros lurched out of cover, lined up the sights of his pistol and fired three shots in rapid succession. The first two missed, but the third one went straight into the Zarlack’s eye socket. The screaming stopped instantly. With a loud thud, his lifeless body collapsed to the ground.

Spiros’ heart was pounding so fast in his chest—he feared a heart attack right then and there. He kneeled on the ground, trying to catch his breath. But he could no longer wait. Without the detector he had no idea what other confrontations he might expect, and he could not risk another conflict in the open. Risky or not, he decided that his only option was to climb up a ventilation shaft. He would crawl out of here, or die trying. So he moved the crate he had been hiding behind earlier, carefully climbed it, removed the paneling from the top of the wall and entered the shaft, carefully replacing the paneling.

I’m too old for this, he thought, crawling awkwardly forward.

About ten minutes in, he heard a noise coming from under him and decided to stop moving. He could hear the heavy breathing of yet another Zarlack nearby. His body froze, but he could feel something going wrong. He felt his leg starting to tremble, slowly and mostly inside what once was his gluteus maximus, now mostly enhanced with nano-powered circuitry. Now was not the time for a malfunction! But he could feel the trembling grow. He knew from experience, soon he would lose control of his augmented leg and that could be the end of him! Without hesitating, he grabbed a small knife from one of his pockets and jammed it where he knew the control wiring met his remaining old muscle nerves. The resulting pain was excruciating but he managed not to scream, though his head started ringing and his vision started to blur. He felt the oncoming rush of darkness. There was nothing he could do to prevent it now. He lost consciousness.

22

Tar’Lock looked at Ryonna across the shuttle, watching her blue knuckles on the throttle. They were going somewhere in what was once Nevada to find the man that Nina had identified as her handler. All they had was a name and an address. Paul Trichson: a name with a deceptively empty file. Ryonna had not spoken a word for quite a while when Tar’Lock decided to break the silence.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Ryonna spat, clearly a little on edge.

“If you say so.”

“I’m sorry, Tar’Lock, I’m just preoccupied. We’ll need to be careful when we land. This person could be extremely dangerous. And we need him alive.”

“Somehow I doubt he is half as dangerous as you can be. As for him staying alive, perhaps you’ll want to remind yourself of that, in the heat of things? Your habits do seem fierier than mine.”

She cast him a warm smile and he smiled back. Of course Tar’Lock was correct. Ryonna knew full well she had a temper, and that it sometimes got the best of her. She laughed inwardly at the juxtaposition. She was definitely not used to making friends easily, yet it kept on happening... Both Chase and Tar’Lock had been so helpful in her quest to save her son, and she was extremely grateful. She was interrupted in her train of thoughts.

“Do you have a plan?” asked Tar’Lock, cautiously.

“Not really. We need to find this Trichson character and make him talk, see if he is behind all this. Or maybe he’s just another pawn, working for yet another shadow we’ll have to cast light upon. What’s certain is, we need to find who is behind these attacks and make them stop. For the time being not much info has bled to the public. But if these attacks continue, the Earthlings might wonder if the alliance they made was the right choice.”

“I think the Alliance has good values, better than Obsidian. But that isn’t difficult, I guess.”

“The Obsidian are conquerors. They take everything they want by force, and destroy whomever stands in their path. What worries me is the fact that they’re acting as the pawns of the Zarlacks, though. If a force as powerful as Obsidian could be enslaved so quickly, then the Zarlacks are a real threat. I think my people came to the same conclusion, and that’s why they are joining the Alliance.”

“From what I understood from our briefing with General Adams, I thought most criminals left Earth. I guess I’m wondering why this is all happening.”

“Well, the Olympians gave everyone a choice between two paths. But that doesn’t mean everyone followed directions. I’m sure some people decided to make their own choices, bend the rules. As for why: Earth has seen a tremendous amount of change in a short time. That can be scary! People tend to do irrational things when they are afraid.”

“I guess. Looks like we are approaching the coordinates given to us.”

“So we are. Commencing landing procedures.”

The shuttle landed on top of a building, nor far from where this Trichson lived. They exited the shuttle and proceeded down through the building and through the streets towards their target building. A quick look at mailboxes in the entrance corridor told them that Paul Trichson lived on the seventh floor. They took the elevator and soon arrived in front of their target’s flat.

“Now what?” said Tar’Lock.

Ryonna clicked the doorbell.

“Is that wise?” inquired Tar’Lock.

Nothing happened. She swore she saw some light change in the peephole. She rang again. A deafening explosion rocked the hall. A hole had been blasted through the door, and sent them scrambling to the ground for cover. She whispered over at Tar’Lock, “Are you okay?”

“Better than you, apparently,” Tar’Lock hissed, pointing a finger at her abdomen.

She’d been grazed by whatever had blasted a hole in the door. A bit of blood was flowing from the wound, but her armor had taken the brunt of it.

“I’m fine. This is superficial. Stay down and I’ll deal with this.”

“Be careful.”

She took her blaster, set it to stun and kicked the door open. It broke easily. She took cover behind the wall.

“Wait...” said Tar’Lock.

“What is it?”

“I’m faster than you. Let me do a visual check.”

She nodded.

Tar’Lock quickly passed in front of the open door in a split second.

“I don’t see anyone.”

That was all Ryonna needed to know. She entered the flat with her weapon at the ready. She quickly scanned the main room and moved to the next. As she stepped to the next room she tripped on an invisible wire at foot level and heard a barely audible click. Tar’Lock didn’t hesitate an instant. At full speed he charged towards Ryonna, pushing her out of the way of an exploding grenade just in the nick of time.

A second later a tall man leaned carefully into the room from a far doorway, with a shotgun pointed right at Ryonna. She’d lost her grip on her blaster during the explosion, momentarily stunned. But before he could fire the weapon pointed at her head, it was snagged from his hands by Tar’Lock. Ryonna located her blaster nearby, jumped to get a clear shot and fired freely at the man. His face was all surprise and pain as he hit the ground with a loud thud.

“That was close,” said Tar’Lock.

“Too close. Thanks for the assist back there.”

“I must admit I did not like that clicking noise. The rest was pure instinct.”

Ryonna hated to admit it but she had clearly underestimated her foe. She had acted rashly. If it hadn’t been for Tar’Lock’s super speed and keen reflexes, she could have been hurt or even killed. She snorted in frustration, removing shrapnel embedded in her body armor.

They got up and dropped the unconscious man on a nearby chair. Ryonna changed a setting on her blaster and fired at the man. An energy lasso encircled both his arms and the chair. With a second shot, she bound his legs. A few minutes later he awoke and panicked, with crackling blue energy restraining his every movement. The more he fought, the tighter and more painful the pulsating grip became.

Ryonna walked towards her prisoner and got down on one knee, so she could look him straight in the eyes. He avoided her eyes, instead scanning his surroundings, trying to see if there was anything he could do. Seeing there was nothing to be done, exasperated and clearly in pain, he finally looked back at Ryonna. She hadn’t said a word yet.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Why did you attack us?”

“Have you been in front of a mirror lately?”

“Is it standard procedure for pathetic creatures like you to shoot what you don’t know?”

“Pretty much,” said the man arrogantly.

Ryonna snapped her fingers in front of him and that clearly startled the man. She knew right there he would break easily, much easier than the poor soul he’d brainwashed to destroy the EAD Hope.

“Let’s be clear: I don’t want to lose any more time. Your little stunts have immensely reduced my patience already, which isn’t that great on the best of days. You hired a woman named Nina to blow up a ship in orbit… Why?”

“Go fuck your⁠—”

Ryonna didn’t wait. She anchored one leg on the chair and swung her right fist at the man’s face before he could finish his sentence.

Blood splattered against the wall from the force of the punch, which nearly knocked him unconscious.

“Let’s try this again?” Ryonna proposed with a growl.

He spat three teeth to the ground.

“Or what?” said the man, with very little confidence in his voice, his head still buzzing from the punch.

“Believe me… You don’t want to know what I’m capable of doing to you.”

Tar’Lock took one step and added, “You’d better talk. I’ve seen her pissed before; I have no doubt she’ll rip your arms out of your sockets if you don’t start talking.”

He cast a look at Tar’Lock, then a warier eye at Ryonna.

“Very well,” said Ryonna, before raising her hand again.

“Alright, alright, let’s calm the fuck down.”

“Talk! Now!”

“I was hired to do a job. They gave me a lot of money.”

“Money has been abolished, what good is it for?”

“Well, for one thing there’s still a black market in place. Just because the Alliance came to Earth doesn’t mean everyone wants this no-money crap way of living, thank you very much! And perhaps if we kill enough of you, you may decide we’re not worth the effort and get the hell out of our world. So let’s just call it an investment in our future.”

“At the moment, yours looks bleak,” Ryonna warned, losing patience.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t bet on my chances either. Nonetheless, if you let me live I will tell you all I know.”

“Who hired you?”

“I don’t know.”

Ryonna growled.

“I swear. I got paid a huge amount of bitcoins on the shadow net. I got enough of them to buy myself a small country. So when they told me to find a way to blow up the ship, I just used my computer skills to locate someone who had lost somebody close. Last time ships were battling in orbit, we lost a good number of souls down here… So I knew I could find somebody with a grudge, who might jump at the chance to do the job for me. With a little digging I was able to find someone who already worked on the orbital shipyard, and I saw the opportunity to earn my treasure. I should never have met that bitch here though. That was a rookie mistake. It’s the first time I did something like this.”

“How do you get in contact with whomever hired you?”

“I don’t. They told me this was a one-time thing. They insisted I have no way of contacting them in order to protect themselves. So they created a thread on a seemingly abandoned forum on shadow net, and then deleted the thread shortly after.”

“If that’s all you can give us, you’d better give me a good reason not to kill you.”

“Don’t kill me! I told you everything I know!” said the man, with clear panic in his voice.

“Then think. And think fast.”

“I suppose there must be enough information on my laptop’s browser cache for you to try and run a trace to locate whomever did this on the shadow net. Plus, since they gave me that laptop, perhaps they left other info on it. I didn’t manage to access all of its storage.”

Ryonna looked at Tar’Lock. “Do you understand what he’s saying? Should I throw him out the window?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa… no! Take my laptop. It’s in the next room on my bed. It’s the only thing I can offer you. If I knew who my contact was, believe me I would tell you!”

His face was dripping blood as he spoke.

“Something doesn’t add up. How come you had the place booby trapped?”

“That was part of my orders. I was to make sure that if someone came looking, I’d try and eliminate them. The shotgun, grenade and laptop, as well as plans on how to install the booby trap, were all enclosed in a package of instructions I received. I almost blew myself up installing the thing. I’m a computer geek, not a terrorist.”

“Seems to me you’re part of the movement.”

“While I don’t agree with their methods, I must admit they have a point.”

“Which is?”

“Since the Alliance came to Earth, our lives have been changed so fast we didn’t even get time to realize what was happening. Some of us feel like we lost our freedom. And I for one preferred my life the way it was before. Sure the system was rotten and unfair sometimes, but it was ours, it was our reality. How arrogant is this Alliance—coming to our world and suddenly telling us we’re inferior, that we must change our ways? Fuck that! Our way of life was ours to decide!”

“You had a choice to keep that way of life. Why didn’t you go through one of the portals?”

“I didn’t like these choices: blue-pill, red-pill crap. No way! I love my freedom. I had the right to make my own decision.”

Ryonna knew already from what General Adams had told her: not only did the changes that happened on Earth take many people by surprise, some of them felt overwhelmed by them. Which was understandable. She could conceive that it must not have been easy for everyone, though apparently most of the population relished the changes introduced by the Alliance, since they would no longer need to worry about material possessions or health issues. That alone had helped the planet convert to their new way of life quickly. The sick got better; less people were dying. That was a strong argument.

“Look,” said the man, “I don’t want to die. I’m sorry I attacked you. Can you please just take my laptop and go?”

“You’re coming with us.”

“What? Why?”

“Because as far as I know, you’re a menace to everyone around you. I’ll let Alliance Security decide what to do with you.”

The man sighed deeply.

“Unless you prefer I throw you out the window and be done with it?”

“Again with the limited choices! Nah, that’s fine... I’ll come with you, I guess.”

Ryonna made a head gesture. Tar’Lock went to recover the laptop from the other room and then they were on their way back to Alliance headquarters. Upon arrival they were debriefed by General Adams, who suggested they bring the piece of evidence to an information specialist named Cedric. They brought him the laptop and attempted to explain the situation.

“I see. If the perpetrators used shadow net, it will take some time to retrieve any useful information,” said Cedric nervously, opening the laptop and booting the machine.

A password prompt came up.

“Did he give you his password?”

Ryonna shook her head from side to side.

“Alright, it seems to be encrypted. I’ll ask General Adams if he can acquire the password.”

“I don’t think that should be a problem. The man this belongs to is a coward, who should divulge that information easily.”

“Coward or not—he almost cost us a brand new starship. God knows how many lives could have been lost, if that had happened!”

“That’s why it’s important that you dig every bit of information out as to who gave these orders. We need to find the real threat.”

“I agree. I will also scan the shadow net and see if other similar orders have been dispatched. This could be the tip of the iceberg.”

“Iceberg?”

“It’s an expression. Thus far, we could only be dealing with a very small part of this organization. They could very well have worse plans in their pipeline. At least now we know where to start looking.”

“That man also mentioned not being able to access the entire storage on that laptop,” she added.

“Perhaps there’s a hidden encrypted partition. If so, it could contain very sensitive information.”

“How long do you think it will take you to find out?”

“Hard to tell. It’s quite the needle in the haystack at this point. I’ll keep you posted as soon as I have anything to report, though.”

“Thank you for your help.”

“Sure.”

Ryonna and Tar’Lock left the building, going back towards home. As they arrived at the floor where they both had their temporary accommodation, Tar’Lock gestured towards his door.

“Want to come in for a bite?”

“Sure, but I need to dress my wound first.”

“Right. Wait, why didn’t we go to the infirmary at headquarters?”

“Because unless I’m dying, I don’t really like other people touching me.”

Tar’Lock smiled. “See you later then?”

“Yes, see you later. Thanks for saving my hide today. I owe you.”

“You saved me from Hellstar; it’s the least I could do. So let’s say we’re square.”

They both entered their respective flats. Ryonna went to the bathroom, opened the first-aid kit, disinfected and bandaged her wound with a flat expression on her face. She then walked to the living room and placed a call. Soon Ronan’s face appeared on the monitor.

23

As the EAD Hope and the rest of the Destiny battlegroup emerged from hyperspace at the coordinates provided by the Obsidian emperor, all hell broke loose. The battlegroup jumped right in the middle of an ongoing battle between two fleets.

“Status report?” Chase yelled above the fray.

“We’ve jumped right in the middle of a battle. A sizeable Zarlack fleet is currently engaging an Obsidian battlegroup. The Obsidian have already suffered substantial losses, Captain.”

Before Chase could answer, a fleet-wide transmission displayed on the main holo-monitor.

“Commodore Saroudis to the fleet: open fire on Zarlack ships immediately. Treat all Obsidian ships as friendlies. Saroudis out.”

While that last statement made sense under the current circumstances, Chase couldn’t help but cringe at the idea of treating the Obsidian as friendlies. As long as he could remember, they had been universally reviled as the Enemy. It would take some time before he would use the term “friend” or even “ally,” for that matter, when thinking of them.

“You heard the commodore, everyone, target the nearest ships and open fire. Maximum firepower.”

“Firing now!” answered the weapons officer.

Chase selected another comm channel from his chair.

“Sarah, have your wings launch now. Deal with their fighter waves first, and then target their destroyers.”

“Understood. Alpha and Beta Wings will be ready for launch shortly.”

“Be careful.”

“Likewise. See you on the other side.”

Chase felt his heart ache at the last comment. He did not like the idea of sitting pretty on the captain’s chair, while Sarah was flying into mortal danger without him as a wingman.

He then made another comm call.

“Yanis, tell me the modifications we discussed are ready?”

“They’ve been ready for a while now, boss. I’ve simply interfaced your console with the same temple devices you used on the fighters, any F-147 in fact. Take a look on the left of your chair.”

“I see them, thank you. You always amaze. Chase out.”

Chase wondered if he should take control of the reserve StarFury now. He itched to be part of the starfighter dogfight. The size of the fleet they brought amply augmented the remaining Obsidian. Even if they had taken considerable damage, from the data he was seeing on his controls, their combined forces should be more than enough to make sure they’d win this engagement.

 Therefore, adding his skills to the fight wasn’t really necessary. He worried how it would look if he divided his attentions during the first fight onboard his new destroyer. So he decided against it, reluctantly. Sarah was a very skilled pilot, one of the best. He had to trust her, and let her do her job as wing commander of the EAD Hope.

He checked his telemetry on his personal war-theater holo-display and watched Sarah’s Alpha Wing engage the Zarlack starfighters. At least he could witness the capabilities of the StarFuries from here. Sarah wasted no time dispatching her first two kills within the first minute of the engagement. Still, he felt a slight frustration not being there with her.

An impact blast shook the Hope. He checked the status of the shields to see they were holding at ninety-seven percent. He also identified the ship that had fired on them, a ship similar to the one Argos had brought to Earth.

He opened a channel to the Destiny.

“Commodore, they have a behemoth ship.”

“I see it. Looks like your ship is taking hits better than the Destiny did during our last confrontation with that class of battleship.”

“Indeed, which is why I’m gonna attack it and take all the aggro.”

“Agreed, but don’t hesitate to request additional firepower to take it out.”

“Understood. Chase out.”

Chase ordered the Hope to intercept the ship, determined to see how well the new shields and advanced weaponry capabilities his fresh-off-the-docks new destroyer would fare.

* * *

Sarah’s wing had just dispatched the first wave of Zarlack starfighters when another wave rolled forward and entered firing range. Her radar also indicated that another wave was coming from an opposite vector, no doubt trying to flank her.

“Fillio, I’m tagging a set of fighters. Please dispatch them at will.”

“Roger that, Wing Commander,” answered Fillio.

With that flanking wave no longer her problem, she focused on the ones that had already started firing towards her wing. Streaks of red laser fire streamed passed her cockpit as she dodged the incoming fire. The neuronal link here on the StarFury was even smoother than on the Thunderbolt. Whatever delay she’d grown accustomed to between her thoughts and the ship’s responsiveness was now totally gone. It made for much more precise flying and shooting, but also made her feel even more empowered than ever before. The StarFury was a dream to fly, pure and simple.

Time to test some of the new features! She deployed the drones, and went after three fighters, which were approaching her in a tight formation. She sent the drones commands to attack the incoming enemies in the order she had painted them on her neuronal HUD, setting them to fire low-powered, ultra-rapid fire in order to deplete their shields as fast as possible. She marveled at how she could also give them specific points to concentrate their fire on the enemy’s shields since the drones flew themselves. She found herself laughing gleefully as the drones rained fire on the first target she had painted, loving the new toys. It only took them a handful of seconds to severely deplete the shield, at which point she switched her StarFury’s firing power to maximum, low-frequency lasers. Three simple shots sent the first target into a spin, followed by a bright explosion.

“This ship is something else!” She laughed to herself.

She checked her radar. Fillio’s quadruplet wing of Omega fighters had literally obliterated the incoming wing, which had been trying to flank her earlier. She’d approached and engaged them cloaked; it was no surprise at all how easily she’d triumphed. Since the Omegas weren’t able to stay cloaked for too long they were now visible. But it only took a moment watching her engage with another wave of fighters to see that she, too, was one hell of a pilot. A little less reckless than Chase—but then, who wasn’t?

She vectored towards the second ship and added her firepower to the drones’. It took only seconds before it was dispatched from the sky. A third bogie attempted to retreat, clearly afraid of suffering the same fate. But there was no escaping her lock. She tested a new variation of tactics this time around, lowering the enemy’s aft shield herself. She then gave the drones the kill order, and switched them to maximum fire, while she broke away towards her next target. It didn’t take long for the drones to finish the job. These drones really changed the balance of power when it came to dogfighting. Already her mind was racing, wondering how else to use them to best exploit the clear advantages they gave her during combat.

By the time the drones rejoined her in formation, she had dispatched yet another ship. She passed next to another F-147.

“Having fun?” Daniel’s voice rose up through the static.

“Oh yeah, you?”

“This ship is something else! Have you noticed how little the shields dip when you get hit?” Daniel seemed just as thrilled as she was.

“Hadn’t really had much experience taking that many hits, to tell you the truth,” she boasted.

“Show off… Chase is rubbing off on you.”

Perhaps he was, she thought, laughing. It was one of the points that she found endearing about him actually, but she could see how it could be perceived as arrogance—depending on one’s point of view. But not to her. Perhaps because they were both pilots. Maybe if he wasn’t such a great pilot...? The best she had ever seen in fact, and also someone from whom she could learn a great deal. And handsome, and…

That little distraction got her a salvo of incoming fire on her port shields. She looked at her HUD and laughed. It took less than three percent off her shields.

“It’s true, these shields are strong.”

“Let’s not let that fact make us too reckless though,” Daniel deadpanned, with a bit of warning in his tone.

“Nothing to worry about, my friend.”

“Good. One reckless, hotshot-pilot friend to worry about is enough, if you know what I mean.”

“Roger that, mister by-the-book.”

“Yeah. He’s really rubbing off on you.”

They both laughed. They took different paths and continued engaging their respective enemies. 

She engaged the next wave of ships. This time she decided to test the new missiles onboard the StarFury—again amazed by their effectiveness. The Zarlacks might have had the edge in numbers thus far, but this new ship would clearly change the odds in terms of firepower. Every missile she launched found its target, except one that had launched multiple countermeasures. Most of them had been destroyed at first impact. Those who weren’t were easy pickings… and didn’t live long enough to tell the tale.

* * *

Chase watched the efficient F-147s on his telemetry. He longed to be part of the fight out there, more than ever. But the Hope was approaching firing range on the behemoth ship, the same that had inflicted quite some damage to other ships already, and even destroyed another Obsidian battleship.

“Time to see what this ship can do. Sergeant, all batteries open fire, ready main guns. Full power!”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

All batteries opened fire and it was an impressive show. The barrage of fire that the ship was able to dispatch blew Chase’s mind. It must have had at least three times more turrets than the Destiny. The rate of firing was also significantly faster. From the looks of it, it was also having more effect at lowering the shields of the behemoth-class Zarlack destroyer. Within a handful of seconds it had reduced shields by five percent, something they hadn’t been able to manage before with multiple ships.

That obviously got whomever was in charge of that ship to reconsider their targeting priorities. The ship immediately came about and fired everything it had straight at the Hope. The relentless pounding made the entire hull shake and tremble, but shields were holding even though they had lost about ten percent more now.

But the main plasma guns of the Hope suddenly shot towards its prey, and it was a thing of beauty. The first salvo took out more than half of the ship’s shield. Of course, it would require one minute to fully recharge the main guns, but Chase could already sense a change: he would no longer dread facing this type of ship in battle. It would take at least three of them against the Hope to make him worry, in fact. And today there was only one. If their mission succeeded, it would take a significant amount of time for Argos to be able to churn them out of the assembly line. For the first time in a very long time, Chase felt hope grow stronger in his soul.

“Tough little ship,” said Chase out loud.

“Yes, Captain, she is,” answered the sergeant.

And she had been named perfectly too, thought Chase.

“Sergeant, prepare to fire a full salvo of torpedoes. Launch on my command. I’ll assume main guns firing controls, this time around.”

“Aye, Captain, firing now. Let me remind you, however, that the main guns won’t fully recharge for at least another thirty-five seconds.”

“No worries, Sergeant, I won’t need full power for this.”

Chase grinned at the outgoing torpedoes. There were at least twenty of them, leaving a white smoke trail in their wake. They created a sort of horizon line from the ship’s bridge vantage point. Chase prepared to activate the main guns. Even if they were only seventy-five percent charged, he knew it wouldn’t matter. A couple of seconds before the torpedoes impacted their target, Chase activated the main guns. The salvo of blue plasma flew right past the torpedoes and obliterated the rest of the ship’s shield. Then, in an elaborate percussion composition, the torpedoes tore one hole after another in their now totally defenseless target. It took only a handful of seconds before the ship exploded in a million pieces, with quite the fireworks, and a huge shockwave that damaged the nearest enemy battleship.

It tugged to one side evasively, but it was hopeless: it would soon become Chase’s next kill.

Chase vectored the Hope towards the damaged ship, and sent five torpedoes in its path. He checked the status of the rest of the fleet to confirm that the battle was going well. He checked in on Sarah’s StarFury and saw that both her wings had already dispatched six squadrons of enemy ships without losing a single fighter. He was on top of the world. It all seemed too easy, but then again they had better numbers, stronger ships and the element of surprise on the dogfight side. It was quite evident that the StarFuries were formidable war machines in close combat. Chase had to admit the drones were a stroke of genius. He made a mental note to thank Yanis for his never-ending ingenuity.

The newly targeted Zarlack ship explosion brought Chase out of his reverie. The Destiny had just destroyed another battleship with the help of the Far Beyond. The Euphoreon and Axxis were in the process of terminating the last two Zarlack destroyers on the other side of the battlefield.

A minute later, all enemy capital battleships had been dispatched. Squadrons were recalled back, as turret fire from the fleet picked off the remaining wings of Zarlack starfighters like space bugs. The Hope’s shields were already back to one hundred percent. No Alliance ship had suffered any major damage. The Hope’s first firefight had been an incredible success, and Chase felt both pride and admiration for the ship’s effectiveness in battle. He felt a huge sense of honor at being her first captain.

That’s when he realized that he didn’t miss dogfighting so much after all, even though he was still slightly itching to test the StarFury.

Chase looked at the emperor, who had stood silently at his side during the entire battle. He turned towards Chase with a grave look. It was as if no words were needed between the two men. Chase knew full well what that look meant.

 Commodore Saroudis commed in.

“Well done, everyone, that was a well-orchestrated battle.”

“Indeed it was, Commodore. But I think we might have a problem.”

“Anything wrong with the Hope?”

“No, she is one hell of a ship. But the timing of the Zarlack attacks towards the allied—” Chase paused just a bit, and corrected, “Obsidian—forces is more than suspicious. I think we may have a spy in our ranks.”

“Or it could be simply coincidence, Chase. We are, after all, on their territory.”

“Yet the Zarlack opened fire on their supposed allies?”

“Right, that is a little more difficult to explain. What does the emperor have to say?”

For the first time in twenty minutes, the emperor took a few steps forward to face the main holo-display, before he spoke.

“I have to agree with the Lieutenant Commander. Somebody must have tipped off Argos.”

“Then the rest of our plan could be in jeopardy. Perhaps we should delay the attack on the shipyard.”

Chase interjected. “I don’t think we can afford to, Commodore. While the Hope is now more than capable of dealing with their bigger destroyers, we only have one ship. As long as that shipyard exists, Argos will be able to churn out an inordinate number of them. It could put our newfound tactical advantage at risk much sooner than we can afford, were we to wait any longer.”

“I concur,” said the emperor, coldly.

“Very well, but I’m under strict orders to not take unnecessary risks with this battlegroup. Should things get hotter when we arrive at our destination, we may have to retreat.”

“But, Commodore⁠—”

Saroudis interrupted Chase.

“I have my orders, Lieutenant Commander, and you will follow mine this time. Are we absolutely clear on that?”

Chase wanted to argue, but bit his tongue instead.

“Like crystal, Commodore,” he said reluctantly.

* * *

Argos was sitting on his ready room throne, reviewing a recent battle report where combined Obsidian forces and Earth Alliance had wrought a rout. He had clearly miscalculated the size of the force coming to attack the shipyard, but it had given him some interesting tactical information nonetheless. Since that skirmish had merely been a decoy for him to position his next trap for Chase, it didn’t much matter. He brushed it away.

He kept thinking about the next phase of his plan, but had to admit that the formidable firepower of the Earth Alliance new destroyer-class ships gave him pause. He would need to get Chase out of his precious ship for his plan to work. But he knew full well where his brother’s weaknesses lay. His precious Sarah! It was his Achilles’ heel. Everything he had done until now depended on that very fact.

An incoming communication buzzed noisily. His engineer had hired the DTs in hopes of helping him decode the Olympian communication, another crucial part of his plan. Finally, there was some updated news.

“What do you have to report?” he asked coldly.

“With the help of DTs, I’ve managed to get some of the communications decrypted. But only parts so far, since the encryption is highly variable and complex. I’ve managed to get a thirty second, or so, audio segment so far, as well as the frequency used to transmit the messages over subspace.”

Argos smiled. The next phase of his plan clicked into place in his head with the news he just received. All was well.

“Very good. You did take all the precautions I mentioned regarding information and DTs?”

“Absolutely. We used non-networked terminals that I had wiped as per your request. The data and results are quadruple encrypted; only both your and my DNA provide access to the data. Nobody is getting their hands on that research.”

“Good. Since we have audio, how complicated would it be to replicate one of the voices in that recording? Assuming you have an Olympian on that part of the file?”

“I do. A female voice.”

“Aphroditis… Can you replicate her vocal patterns? Perhaps we could use the same subspace transmission method to send a message of our own?”

“Let me check if I have enough conversation to make a good clone of her voice for you to use.”

Meanwhile Argos continued to sift through the data from the previous battle. The EAD Hope would clearly be a thorn in his side, and he would have to make sure that this ship wouldn’t ruin what would be coming next. In hindsight it might have been a mistake to make sure the agent on Earth failed her mission, seeing how easily it dispatched one of Argos’ strongest ships. Fortunately, overwhelming numbers might prove enough to keep it at bay. After all, Chase was coming to destroy the shipyard, still thinking that this was what Argos would fight to protect. Argos had a tactical advantage he could exploit in that faulty intel expectation. The tech resumed communication.

“Yes. I have all I need to make a vocal clone. You should be able to communicate with whomever you want, passing as this female, as long as you feed the system a destination for the signal. A connection must be made first, though, but then afterwards you can hijack the line and replace its content.”

“That seems less than ideal.”

“I know, but I still wasn’t able to determine how the sender identifies its target in subspace. It must have something to do with DNA. I would guess DNA is also embedded in the transmission, so that the brain receiving it is able to decode on the fly, like a genetic decryption key, if you will. Honestly, this is where things get blurry for me. If we could get our hands on the source hardware for the transmission, then I’m confident I could get you even more control in the future.”

“Understood. Keep at it. Try to locate the source of the signal. Also, the second a new signal is detected, make sure you hijack it and transfer me control with the voice clone enabled.”

“I’ll write these subroutines right away. You’ll get a red-coded alert as soon as a signal is detected. All you have to do is acknowledge the alert, and the system will do the rest.”

“Your efficiency, as always, is highly appreciated and will be rewarded accordingly. I need you to do one thing more for me, though.”

“Anything, Master.”

“I need you to send the decode key via subspace to the terminals our agent has placed on Earth. It’s time the humans realize we can strike at their very heart and in ways they never anticipated. That should shake their confidence about any protection the membership in the Alliance brings them.”

“Won’t that give them the time to prevent the attack, and save themselves?”

“This particular mission was never about destroying Earth, even if that was one of the possible outcomes. But they need to think that it was. Fear can be a powerful tool if used the right way.”

“Understood, Master. Decrypt key sent.”

Argos terminated the communication. He got up from his throne and walked towards the nearest glass to look at the stars. Soon all the pieces would fall into place. He allowed himself a rare smile, contemplating the vast emptiness of space from his current view.

24

Spiros groaned under his breath. He opened his eyes, relieved to see he was still undiscovered, safe in the narrow crawl space. He had no idea how long it’d been since he’d lost consciousness. One thing was sure though: the little he could feel from his leg was feeling wet, which wasn’t a good sign. He was bleeding badly. He’d have to attend to that wound quickly, or he could die here. He tried to regain his bearings.

He tried to activate his neuronal HUD but it wouldn’t power up. Over-clocking had been reckless, nearly costing him his life. He hoped with all his heart that the spark he felt within his cranium shortly after recovering the coveted file didn’t fry his databanks or short circuit things, or all of this would have been for nothing.

He visualized the path he’d taken from the armory in his mind, trying to approximate where he was. He reckoned he wasn’t too far from the infirmary, and that would have to be his next stop. That is, if he reached it in time, before bleeding to death.

The next few minutes were agonizing. Spiros finally arrived at the infirmary. He carefully removed the vent panel after wiping blood off his fingers, moving as gently and quietly as he could under the circumstances. Then he took a deep breath and slowly lowered his head out of the vent, peering down into the room. It was empty. He sighed in relief.

But the next step wouldn’t be fun, and he knew it. His injured leg remained unable to move, so descent would be complicated. Fortunately the vent was right on top of a medical bed. There was only one thing to do: leap and hope. Try to land on it.

He crawled forward a little more, as his pain receptors sent another wave of painful jolts through his body. Then he tumbled from the vent, as artfully as he could. He landed face first on the medical bed but was unable to stay on it for long. The momentum of the fall dragged the rest of his body down off the bed. He crashed unceremoniously to the ground. The agony from the failed landing almost made him lose consciousness again, but he fought through the veil of darkness the pain presented.

He knew full well that another accidental nap time would probably prove his last. That thought alone sent enough adrenaline through his system that he could crawl another few meters. He reached a medical cabinet. He located the strongest painkiller and injected himself with it. A slight sense of relief came with the reduction in pain, but he wasn’t out of the woods just yet.

He located a stabilizing foam gun and managed to twist himself around just enough to shoot the foam into the open stab wound, and the fizzling pink foam quickly stopped the bleeding. He could feel the nanites starting to heal the surrounding tissues, and was enormously glad. Yet he instinctively knew he’d reached the limits of his endurance, and that moving would be a liability in this state. He decided to stay down temporarily and replenish some trace of his strength, lying on his back. He knew that anyone could enter at any moment, but also that most of the Zarlacks had left the base. What were the odds? It was high time that he get some lucky breaks.

Ten minutes passed. Now or never, he had to implement the next phase of the plan, before more Zarlacks came looking for him. As if on cue, an alarm sounded in the hallway. No doubt they had discovered his previous victim. Spiros lifted himself on his good leg to the nearest terminal, solemnly attaching his gas mask. He redirected command controls to the medical bay’s terminal, looking for his backdoor and hidden subroutine in the ventilation system. After entering a few more commands, the canisters of poison began opening, disseminating all over the station. He queued in a few more commands and had the noisy alarm bells canceled as well, before finally letting his tired body sink back to the ground.

He figured he would wait about five minutes time, then it would be safe for him to move freely around the station, knowing that he’d be the last life form standing.

But as the doors of the infirmary slid quietly open, Spiros’ heart skipped a beat. He could hear heavy panting from someone standing in the room, but couldn’t see them from his angle. There was no way he was in shape for another fight, so what was first fear quickly turned to terror. Spiros’ heart started pounding louder and louder inside his ribcage, as if trying to escape to save itself. He heard irregular footsteps coming his way.

He was absolutely paralyzed by fear and helplessness. Finally, one horrible foot loomed into sight around a counter, followed by the terrible image that Spiros wished he would never see again. The huge reptilian loomed over the counter, looking like any prehistoric giant predator ready to devour him. He noted that the Zarlack’s respiration was labored, but took little reassurance from it because he had absolutely no idea how long it would take for the poison to kill it. They were known to be formidably resistant, resilient creatures.

Spiros stared into the eyes of the creature: dark red with orange specks and yellow patches, a thin, vertical dark line for a pupil. The Zarlack opened his mouth to reveal row after row of sharp, yellow teeth. Then he looked at Spiros, who instinctively closed his eyes and played dead.

Then began the most horrifying seconds of Spiros’ entire life. The beast roared an incomprehensible sound. Perhaps he would just leave? Focusing on not trembling, he dreamed of easy, simple solutions.

Spiros suddenly realized how futile closing his eyes was, since he was wearing a standard, Star Alliance gas mask with tinted-glass viewports. So he opened his eyes again. The horror of the image almost forced him to close them back on the spot. The creature had leaned towards him, sniffing the air. His face was right in front of his, sharp teeth bristling out. Spit drooled from the Zarlack’s opened mouth and fell on the lenses of the gas mask, partially obscuring the terrifying view.

That’s it, thought Spiros, this is how I die.

The Zarlack pulled up slightly, deciding to check if he was still alive by hitting Spiros lightly with the back of his hand on the side of his ribs. He tried to not make a sound or react, but part of his body jerked nonetheless. The Zarlack saw through the ruse, raised his body and unleashed the most horrifying scream Spiros had ever heard. Another jolt of adrenaline surged through him, and he knew he had to attempt the stupidest thing imaginable. He had to crawl away from this monster, the one with a look of pure hate and murderous intent in his eyes.

He slid on the ground a few mere feet before the Zarlack closed the distance, screaming again with his right arm raised to strike. Sharpened claws popped out of every one of his four fingers, and he only closed his wicked mouth to ready himself for the kill.

Spiros looked left and right, desperately trying to spot some means of survival. Panic flooded his soul: there was nothing of use nearby. He crawled some more and instinctively clambered behind a wheeled table just within reach. He jerked it as strongly as he could while the Zarlack thrust forward sharp claws. The chariot impacted the beast’s legs with enough force to make him lose balance, and he crashed right next to Spiros. With their heads right next to each other, the beast’s huge, gaping mouth represented Spiros’ entire horizon. It sneezed while writhing in pain, and some gooey liquid that seemed like nasal snot mixed with thick blood obstructed the gas mask viewport even more. Spiros tried to rise but slipped on the wet floor, impacting again with a crack.

The Zarlack too struggled to get back on his feet. Just when Spiros thought that all hope was lost, the creature abruptly collapsed on the floor again with a horrible respiratory rattling sound that resonated around the room. His tree-trunk of an arm pinned Spiros to the ground, and the sharp pain that followed made it seem that Spiros had likely broken one or two of his ribs.

The Zarlack stopped breathing. But alive or dead, Spiros’ torso was being crushed by what felt like a ton and a half of corpse weight. He could barely breathe. He tried to wedge his way out, but the body wouldn’t budge. Freshly awash in pain from the broken ribs, Spiros started to choke; he needed to get free. The room had begun to spin.

But then he saw it. Next to him were most of the tools from the wheeled table he’d thrown forward at his attacker. He lifted his head and felt another jolt of pain from a pinched nerve that forced Spiros to blink his eyes to see straight. At arm’s length he saw the unmistakable outline of a laser scalpel. He extended his arm as far as he could to reach the tip of the small tool with his blood-splattered fingers, an audible crack accompanying each lunge. It took a few tries until he managed to get a good grab, but he got it and immediately turned the scalpel on. A brightly lit blue blade hissed to life and flickered with a low-pitched humming sound. It was time to cut the Zarlack’s massive arm, time to be free. It took much longer than he expected. The scales on the Zarlacks were almost metallic; it probably took a full minute to melt them all. But eventually the arm was separated from the lifeless body.

 Spiros threw the scalpel blade aside and used both arms to heave the severed limb off his chest and aside. At last he could finally breathe! He slowly regained composure and strength, enough to rise up and survey the wreckage. He almost slipped on the huge, wet mess all across the tiles. Dumfounded, he spent a moment planted on his ass, contemplating the dead Zarlack on the ground, wondering at his own survival.

Finally he grabbed a medical scanner from the ground and performed a quick self-check. While he’d sustained injuries, it seemed none of them were life threatening at present. Now was as good a moment as any… So he leaned his back on the nearest wall and took a well-deserved nap.

He awoke, and immediately verified at the terminal that the poison canisters had fully emptied. He then started ventilating and recycling oxygen for the entire station. It took a few minutes until the station’s computer gave the green light for air quality, and chirped confirmation that the poison contaminants had been fully flushed. He waited another few minutes to be sure, and then removed the mask from his face.

Sweat poured from his face, finally free from the steamy mask. He got up as best as he could, though it took an incredible amount of effort and energy. He limped over to the nearest regeneration chamber, on the other side of the infirmary.

When he arrived he waved his hand in front of the door control with an exhausted yawn, and it sprung open from the middle. He climbed in the chamber, toggling the control from inside to close the door, and hit the green control that would activate the regeneration sequence.

Liquid filled the pod and entered his lungs. He’d never liked how the regen liquid felt. Though it provided the body with oxygen, it always felt weird and unnatural. But in his current state he had no other choice; he needed to be back on his feet. As the light within the pod turned on and the machine started to hum, Spiros knew that he no longer needed to stay conscious. The machine would awaken him once it had finished healing his body, so he closed his eyes and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Sitting comfortably at his desk, Cedric lit the joint he’d just spent several carefree minutes rolling. While he knew being high could be detrimental to his productivity, he sometimes uncovered a new perspective when he was faced with difficult problems to solve.

He took a long drag. His brain stretched and tumbled, finally reaching that familiar and peaceful place in his consciousness where daily problems faded away and possibilities opened up to him at the speed of light.

After a few minutes, unorthodox thinking patterns and ideas started materializing a bit, so he went back to the encryption on the laptop to try anew. He had spent every single moment trying to crack it, but he had never seen something so strong. He was losing patience, and losing hope of ever decrypting the data on that machine. He needed something new, some kind of break.

Then suddenly something happened. Cedric wasn’t sure what it was, but he saw a crack in the chain, something he could finally exploit. He typed on the keyboard at a furious pace, and spliced in stretches of code needed to run his new exploit. In less than five minutes he had assembled the full code sequence, compiled it, and finally ran it against the encrypted content.

“Eureka!” he shouted out loud. At last, the familiar fruits of his own genius.

The file started decoding, but since there seemed to be a sizeable quantity of data, he estimated that it would take him about twenty minutes to get all the data decrypted and ready to be checked. So he stretched and placed a cocky call to Ryonna, informing her of the good news and requesting she come by to check out the data.

He took another drag on his joint and relaxed a little more, satisfied with a job well done. He had at the very least a few moments to celebrate victory until Ryonna came to his office. But as he puffed away into the quiet computer glow, a rogue thought started to grow in the corner of his mind. This had been too easy. He’d been at it for hours with absolutely no results, nor even a hint that he was going in the right direction, but then suddenly… Another long drag on the joint dulled any residual worry to rest, and settled the paranoia that was rising. He needed to remember to lighten up. He worked on enjoying the simple fact that he was just that brilliant in the first place. But soon the high crescendoed and his head rolled forward, and without realizing he fell asleep.

When Ryonna shook him, he jumped clear out of the chair. It took a moment to get out of his foggy state.

“Damn, I shouldn’t have smoked it that fast,” he said out loud.

“What did you smoke? Why are your eyes so red? Should I call for medical assistance?” Ryonna asked with genuine concern in her voice.

“No, no. No. I’m fine. I just didn’t expect to fall asleep. I’m sorry, my brain just needs a few moments to reboot.”

Ryonna raised an eyebrow at the comment. Tar’Lock stood behind her with a dubious expression, sniffing repeatedly and peering around and trying to identify the source of the overwhelming smell.

“Can we please look at what you have uncovered?” Ryonna interrupted the spectacle with some impatience.

“Right,” said Cedric. He slapped his cheeks a couple of times to straighten his thought process, and mentally move back up to speed.

Circling the glowing laptop screen, they all watched a small text box announcing that decryption was complete. Cedric quickly put a few lines of code in place to make sure that if the file contained malicious code, it would be quarantined within a memory sandbox. He also restricted write access to the file’s folder, to make sure the file would not self-delete upon access. A minute later he was sure that he’d taken all the basic security measures, and he finally opened the file.

Two things jumped open, and sent a cold shiver down his spine. First, the name of the window that the opening of the file had generated—“Project Armageddon”—was scary enough by itself. But the most worrying part, the thing that truly made him change color—was the timer. A small visual on the right of the screen, it had quietly started counting down from sixty minutes the moment they’d begun.

Seeing the alarmed expression on Cedric’s face, Ryonna interjected, “What? What is it?”

“We may have a serious problem. If I’m reading this right, and I think I am, this file is not only schematics but also serves as a trigger for something else: something very nefarious.”

“Could you be more specific? We’re dealing with acts of terrorism an awful lot lately. I’m sure their end game involves doing some sort of damage eventually,” proposed Tar’Lock, who had stayed silent until now.

“You can say that again! I’m afraid the damage could be global. Give me a few more seconds.”

He sifted through the schematics, piecing together an impromptu analysis. But the more he looked at them, the more he felt a sense of dread and urgency. Soon, the fear turned to utter terror.

“This is schematics for a quadrinium-enhanced, portable bomb. Alone, it would probably destroy half a block if used in a city. There seem to be thirty such devices located all over the world. All located near either nuclear- or quadrinium-powered plants. If these devices blow, it could very well render this world uninhabitable for thousands of years. That is, if the sheer combined force of these synchronized detonations doesn’t set off a chain reaction. One that could very possibly destroy the entire planet.”

“Well, it sure is a good thing you managed to decode this file first! Right?”

“Except there’s a timer. And it’s ticking...” He pointed.

“What? How long do we have?!”

“Fifty-seven minutes and thirty-five seconds.”

“And you’re sure opening the file triggered those particular devices?”

“Let me double check.”

The impending planetary doom sent a jolt of adrenaline through Cedric’s body. It was like nothing he ever felt before in his life. Whatever hazy high was left in his mind was obliterated by racing thoughts. He sifted lines of code and logs from within the sandbox.

“I did put fail-safes around the file. I’m checking to see if they’ve succeeded in restricting communication with the outside world. After a few tense moments, a slight relief at a taskbar notification: All network communications had been stopped by the sandbox. Cedric permitted a slight exhale, seeing no data had been sent to the Internet.

He did, however, curse himself for not simply disabling any of the devices such as Wi-Fi and Ethernet. He quickly sent the terminal commands to promptly do so. He also checked at the hardware level, to make sure they hadn’t been accessed at a lower level.

That’s when his heart skipped another beat. An unknown device was listed under networking, and it was active and transmitting. He tried shutting it down but none of the commands were working. Moreover, he intuited that even had he managed to do so, the start of the timer was probably tied to the signal being initially sent.

“We’re fucked!”

“What? Explain!”

“Even with my safeguards in place, I think we’ve triggered the timer on the devices. In fifty-five minutes, Earth might be obliterated.”

“Why would the terrorists give us a one hour delay?”

“Perhaps so whomever is responsible for this would have time to get off the world. I doubt we’re dealing with suicidal maniacs... More like a vicious mind.”

Cedric swallowed heavily. “It’s all my fault.”

“Why would it be your fault?”

“The encryption was way too strong to start with. All of a sudden I found an exploit, almost miraculously, but I now realize it must have been put there so we would trigger the program. If I hadn’t...” Cedric let the suspended sentence hover in the air. He didn’t have the strength to say the words. He was too ashamed that he’d been too high at a crucial moment, and that all the gravity of sensitive IT security matters might have been completely lost on him for that reason alone.

“If you hadn’t what? Speak!”

“It doesn’t matter why. We need to find a way to stop it. And/or evacuate the planet!”

Ryonna did not wait any longer. She immediately opened a channel to Admiral Thassos and apprised her of the situation. Cedric didn’t wait to hear how the conversation went; he had to try and think of a way to stop this.

“I need access to the admiral’s ship computer, preferably the entire computational power of the fleet,” he begged Ryonna, who transmitted the request along.

“She says you’ve got access via subspace channel seven, whatever that means.”

“Thanks.”

Cedric sprung away from his chair, opened a drawer in his desk and took out two circular devices, which he placed at his temples.

“What are you doing?” asked Tar’Lock.

“No time to explain. These devices from R&D will allow me to work faster, as fast as I can think in fact. Pilots use them to pilot their ships. I’ve asked a pair to be modified so I could control my gear the same way, but just like 3D movies when they came out, they tend to give me a headache after a while. But I guess it won’t matter. If I’m not successful we’re doomed.” There was an awkward silence.

“I see. Could you at least explain the basics of what you’re doing?”

“Sure. I need to find a way to beam these explosive devices off Earth, NOW.” He turned to Ryonna, interrupting her conversation with the admiral with a crazy expression. “Tell her I also need a ship, like a frigate with a jump engine. It needs to be fully evacuated, and just as soon as possible.”

He slowly turned to Tar’Lock, with a grave expression on his face.

“What is it?” The insectoid tilted his head slightly.

“I need you to do me a favor. It… might get you killed.”

“Aren’t we all going to die if we don’t do something?”

“Most likely. But you could just use the next fifty-odd minutes to get the fuck away from this world.”

“Does it look like I’m fleeing? Tell me what you actually need me to do.”

Cedric nodded. He took a smartphone, fiddled with it for a few seconds and handed it to Tar’Lock.

“What do I do with this?”

“You get to these coordinates as fast as humanly possible. One of the bombs is there. Fortunately, there’s a targeted power plant about fifty miles from here. At least you’ll know where you’re going. Once you arrive on the premises, it will guide your way inside as well, all the way towards the device. Once you arrive near it, the interface will change automatically. You simply need to press the ‘scan’ button.”

“What will that do?”

“It will provide me the exact frequency I’ll need to tag and lock all the bombs simultaneously, so I can beam them together to that ship.”

“Which you’ll send into hyperspace, so the bombs detonate in space, but nowhere near Earth.”

“Pretty much, yes,” said Cedric, surprised Tar’Lock had figured out that part of his plan. “There’s a catch though.”

“Which is?”

“If some of the devices resonate at varied frequencies, they won’t get picked up. Some of the devices will still blow down here.”

“Do we have any choice in how this plays out? I mean, could you do something about it if that were the case?”

“No. I’m afraid not, not in the time we have left.”

“So let’s not worry over things we can’t do anything about.”

“Right. You should get goi⁠—”

Before Cedric could finish, Tar’Lock blurred. He disappeared so fast from the office that Cedric was startled anew, and fell off his chair. He sat back up, slowed his breathing, closed his eyes and mentally raced towards the precious projects he needed to accomplish in a very short window of time.

I thrive under pressure. He pushed past the growing fear festering in every part of his being. Let’s do this.

Ryonna approached him as she ended her communication with the admiral.

“You’ll have your ship ready in forty minutes. Will that be enough time?”

“Yeah, that should be fine. The main problem is that I have to not only replicate the miracle beam-up we used disabling that behemoth Zarlack ship, but also figure out a way of beaming thirty bombs all at once. I could very well fry every power generating facility on the planet doing so, so I can’t risk beaming them one by one. Nor can I risk missing any. If one of them is separated from the others and detonates it could still trigger the departing cluster.”

“Are you confident you can do it? Where did you send Tar’Lock?”

Cedric took a deep breath.

“Confident would be pushing it, but I did learn a lot from the last time. I’m gonna say maybe. Don’t hold me to that, if we all die. As for Tar’Lock, I sent him to the nearest device. It’s crucial that he gets me the info I need, so I can calibrate locks on all of them.”

“Do you need to stay here to do this? Could we move you to an orbiting ship while you work?”

“Yes, I need to be here, in case these…” he said, pointing at the circular devices attached to his temples, “go wrong. They’re a prototype, after all. I may need to have access to my own gear as a backup. It would all be out of range for me to use from orbit, and while I could fix that too, I simply don’t have the time. You, however, don’t need to stay here. You should go.”

“What else did these files tell you? Any leads on who did this? Perhaps I can locate the perpetrator, and thereby locate the means to disable those devices in the process?”

“That’s a great idea. But I can’t reinvent teleportation to get this stuff off this rock, and do detective work at the same time.” Cedric quickly grabbed a tablet from an open drawer. He entered a few inputs to it, and handed it over to Ryonna.

“There’s a copy of the file on this device. Deliver it to my assistant at the end of the corridor and tell her to trace the source. She’s very good at data mining, perhaps even better than me.”

Ryonna did not waste any more time; she stormed out of the office at full speed.

“If we survive this, I’m never smoking pot again,” he said to himself, fully aware he was alone in the office. At least not while working, he compromised.

25

The Earth Alliance fleet jumped out of hyperspace a few thousands klicks away from their target in the Gatos Nebula.

Commodore Saroudis ordered a series of scans. As expected, however, the nebula’s strange composition perfectly disguised any power signatures emanating from the shipyard within.

He hailed the EAD Hope.

“What are your orders, Commodore?”

“We can’t detect any signatures. I sure hope this isn’t a ploy to divert our forces, while Argos mounts an attack on Earth...”

“Commodore, between the admiral’s fleet, planetary defenses and the Droxian reinforcement, I think Earth would be more than ready to defend itself.”

“What if they send more of these massive ships?”

“The Hope’s weaponry is partially based on the admiral’s ship. She has the firepower to deal with them. And if there is nothing in this nebula, well, I know an emperor whose last hour just started.”

Commodore Saroudis could hear a disapproving growl over the call.

“Speaking of the emperor, now would be a good time for him to provide the information he promised.”

“He’s sending the disabling codes as we speak. Hang on.”

The commodore did not like this one bit. Their entire plan rested on codes that could have been changed a million times by now. At least there were no enemy ships in sight, or on scans. That was a good sign for this mission, though he still feared that Argos would attempt a full-on attack on Earth. He tried to push the thought away. For now his mission remained clear, whether he had doubts or not.

“We’re good to go, Commodore.”

“Sub-light engines, half impulse ahead then. Let’s destroy that target.”

“Understood. Athanatos out.”

The fleet reached the outskirts of the nebula. Its green-orange tones gave it a toxic air: dangerous looking. Soon its cloudy composition engulfed the cautious ships.

On board the Hope, Chase requested a full scan. The composition of the nebula made any reading imprecise at best, though the scans did reveal peaks of technological signatures. But the interference was too strong to really get a clear picture of what awaited them inside. At least it confirmed that there was something lying in the center of it. But for now, all they could do was wait.

After five minutes, obscurity within the cloudy nebula decreased somehow. On every ship, audible gasps were heard as a gigantic installation arose in silhouette from within the fog. The emperor turned towards Chase, and cast him a dark look.

Chase understood full well what it meant, but felt no need to answer it in kind. Instead he requested that scanning be pushed to maximum.

“Report?” added Chase.

“We’re getting a clearer picture, Captain,” one of his officers began. “There are thirteen separate installations. One is much larger than the others. Most of them have ships under construction; most look nearly completed. The scans aren’t clear enough to determine their firing capabilities or whether their engines are functional. But it does seem that for now all ships are offline, as very little power signature is emanating from them.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Emperor?”

“I agree. They should be fully powered during final construction stage. I don’t like this. May I personally just suggest we blow them all to hell, right now?”

Something in Chase’s mind squirmed. This did not feel right.

The commodore’s incoming transmission interrupted his thoughts.

“Ready to open fire. Maximum firepower.”

“Wait!”

“What is it, Chase?”

“I don’t know. Something feels wrong here.”

“The shields and defenses are down. These ships look like ghost ships. Completely unpowered. We won’t see this easy opportunity again, so let’s just take them down now.”

“This is a trap. I can feel it.”

“Lieutenant Commander, I don’t need this right now. We’re here, their shields are down; god knows for how long. If we’re going to do something, we should do it now.”

Chase’s mind raced with an ever-increasing flurry, intensifying every second now. What was going on?

“Alright, let me make it simple, Lieutenant Commander: all ships engage! This is a direct order: destroy these ships and structures, now. Fire at will.”

The entire fleet but the Hope opened fire, pouring forth a beautiful light show of blue, red and green laser fire. Explosions burst out across the shipyard. A ship and its construction scaffolding burst into a fiery display of yellow-orange tones that illuminated the foggy atmosphere all around it.

The door of the bridge opened and Sarah stepped in.

“What’s happening? Why aren’t we firing on anything?”

“Why did you exit your starfighter? You're this ship’s wing commander. I might need you out there at a moment’s notice!”

Sarah looked puzzled. Not by the remark, which seemed valid, but more by the tone behind it.

“What is it, Chase?”

“Something isn’t right; everything is too easy.”

“Wasn’t that the plan all along behind the emperor giving us an advantage? Wasn’t the plan that we would then take out Argos’ shipyard with minimal damage?”

“I expected some resistance.”

“And I expected to blow up more ships, but I’m glad to watch the fireworks from here. Now will you please shoot at something?”

Before Chase could answer, his tactical officer interjected.

“Captain, there’s a behemoth class ship in that larger structure⁠—”

“What about it?”

“It’s powering up, Captain. So are other ships. They’ve already raised shields.”

“I knew it!”

Sarah started running towards the doors. Chase rose up from his chair.

“Commander Kepler! Stand fast!” he shouted.

Everyone on the bridge was stunned. But not as stunned as Sarah was. The tone of his voice hit her like the simmering explosions outside. She stopped in shock and spun around to face Chase.

“What the hell? You’ve just reprimanded me for leaving my post, and now what?”

“Now you stay on the bridge. That’s an order.”

“Mind explaining why?”

“Argos orchestrated this. He knows full well that I’ll do anything to protect you, which is true,” Chase muttered, not comfortable saying this in front of his crew. “I cannot take the risk he uses you to get at me; or the Alliance. The safest place for you to be right now is onboard the most powerful destroyer ever created.”

She stayed silent but cast him a blistering look. She was furious he was trying to shield her like a child. Part of her knew it was just how much he loved her, and she wondered if she wouldn’t act the same if the situation was reversed. And of course she didn’t want a repeat of what had happened in orbit of Earth the last time Argos was involved: she had enough nightmares about being tortured as it was. But at the end of the day, this was war. She was a soldier, and her place was in a cockpit, blowing the enemy to pieces.

“Captain,” cut in the tactical officer, “incoming fighters.”

“Chase!” she implored loudly.

“I’m sorry. Request denied.”

He could feel her anger and frustration boil near the point of explosion, but then he remembered something. He lifted his index finger slowly.

“However,” he began, grabbing the round neuronal link devices from the armrest of his captain’s chair, which he threw to her, “you can still be part of the battle. All I ask is that you do it from here, onboard this ship. These devices are configured to give orders to the Hope as well, so just don’t use these subroutines please. It looks like today isn’t the day I’m gonna fly the F-147 remotely and command this ship at the same time.”

She instinctually wanted to stay mad, but smiled automatically when she put the devices on her temples. She was greeted with a similar HUD experience as she’d found onboard the StarFury, except that she was seeing two images at once: both what her own eyes were seeing and the view from the ship’s screen—currently still onboard. She sat down at the chair nearest Chase on his right. Closing her eyes helped her block out confusion from the double imposed image. Immediately, she felt like she was onboard the ship.

On one corner of the HUD there was a dedicated EAD Hope command menu. She simplified, selecting only to see the ship’s vitals at all times: its shield level, currently at maximum, engine energy levels, and hull damage. That way she could always keep half an eye on local status while flying, though she was sure if the ship started shaking, commotion around her would alert her of trouble onboard anyway.

Or would it? Her eyes set upon a command called immersivity and noise cancellation. Once selected, suddenly all she could hear was the humming of the StarFury engines as she activated them. In less than ten seconds, she’d completed her pre-flight checks, inspected her ordnance and was blasting out into the green-orange foggy space. She headed towards the incoming fighters that spewed from the behemoth Zarlack ship. Soon she would be entering firing range. The rest of her wing came about.

“Sledgehammer to Firefly?” buzzed in Fillio.

“Yeah, I’m here.” She was amazed to hear herself speak the moment she thought about it. She didn’t even have to open her mouth. This was a practical consideration; this way she wouldn’t interfere with the rest of the bridge’s operations locally.

“Firefly, how come you’re flying the reserve StarFury?”

“Long story. I’m actually onboard the Hope physically, but still here with you, remote flying this craft instead.”

“Now why am I not surprised? Would I be right in assuming that ship would normally have been flown by Phoenix?”

She was not used to using call-signs, but apparently the admiral’s wing commander did things differently.

“That’s correct. Heads up; enemy entering firing range. All ships, engage and destroy.”

She received multiple comm clicks as acknowledgement of her orders. She loved this. She had to admit, the part of her who wanted to rip Chase a new one had quickly been tamed by the experience of flying a craft remotely with her mind, all while comfortably seated onboard the Hope. She could get used to this!

The first wave of Zarlack ships flared out a barrage of laser fire, but the Omega fighters simply vanished from view as they cloaked. Sarah activated drones on her fighter and assigned offensive patterns to them. She then locked two of the incoming ships with missiles, rained down laser fire on their frontal shields with the help of her drones for added firepower, and when she felt satiated depleting shields, she fired both her missiles and blew them out of the sky.

Chase commed in. “Having fun?”

“You and I still have things to discuss when this is over. But yeah, right now I’m enjoying your precious toy. Surely you’ll get to play, eventually.”

“Next time, next time. There will always be a next time. Today doesn’t seem like the day I will fly the StarFury either.”

She felt a little selfishness beneath her glee, but considering the situation, Chase needed to give his full attention to captaining the Hope. Even though she had little doubt that his Fury mind could probably handle both ships at once; intimidating in and of itself.

“Just don’t break my toy, please.”

She laughed.

“Roger that, Phoenix.”

The communication ended right when two bandits started to tickle her aft shields with heavy fire and missiles.

The prospect of relative risklessness gave her wings. She thought about trying new tactics she wouldn’t have dared in a normal craft, and started a bit of impulsive improvising. She spun her craft around by cutting the twin engines and engaging the reverse thrusters to max power as she ended her turn. When she saw the two incoming missiles, she decided to shoot them out of the sky with laser fire; and it worked. She was amazed how precise the neuronal targeting was. Whatever she thought, the ship did to the letter, at the exact time she thought it.

With both missiles out of the way, she rained heavy fire and the drones did the rest. The first bogey didn’t have time to react and was quickly obliterated. The second fighter veered just before its front shield gave in, but she’d already locked on another missile, and experimented with the new, advanced targeting upgrades of the StarFury. She discovered she could select which part of the shields the missile was to impact with, and cooed with joy. She selected aft, fired her missile, and disengaged to acquire a new prey, as the forgotten ship melted into fire. She moved towards the next ship on her starboard, but before she could engage, it exploded. Blue fire from two separate cloaked Omega fighters had blown it right out of the sky. It never had a chance.

She checked her virtual instruments. Even if that behemoth ship spewed fifteen squadrons, they’d all be easily dispatched by this alliance fleet. She casually targeted another ship with a missile, just to see it disappear into another blue fireball when it impacted.

She cracked a smile. I have to thank Yanis for his wizardry in terms of engineering, she thought.

It took another three minutes to dispatch what was left of the incoming fighters, and for a moment it seemed like the action was all over. But then something unexpected happened: broad, glowing bands of much stronger firepower sizzled past her ship, lightly grazing her shields. They were still holding at ninety percent, but she recognized she was facing something new, something more dangerous. The Zarlack starfighters had all been destroyed. That’s when an incoming transmission from Chase addressed the fleet.

“This is Captain Athanatos. The enemy’s supposedly disabled defense systems have reactivated. These are your new targets. Seek and destroy first, then we’ll take care of the capital ships.”

She had to give it to Chase’s instinct: he’d felt something was wrong right away. He couldn’t have been more right! But at present it still almost seemed like the situation was under control; the ships being assembled were attempting to power up, but they weren’t firing at the fleet or the starfighter wings at all. Perhaps their weapons systems weren’t fully ready yet?

“Alpha Wing, you heard the captain. Attack these sentries; follow instructions on your targeting systems.”

It took less than a split second to paint targets and assign ships with the neuronal interface. She was delighted that she could actually do all that, while additionally giving vocal commands with her mind, silently aboard the bridge.

She then acquired the nearest sentry, the one which had almost scored a direct hit on her ship a few moments earlier. She performed a dance of speedy evasive maneuvers as its fire intensified upon approach. Mentally on autopilot, she sent out her drones to fire and lower the shields. Overenthusiastic with risks, though, she took a few hits on her own shields, which were lowered to forty-seven percent. With an internal promise to be more careful, she added the firepower of her lasers, and finally degraded the opponents’ shields enough for her to terminate the sentry with a couple of missiles.

* * *

On the bridge Chase got up from his chair and looked at Sarah, who was clearly highly focused on piloting the remote F-147. He shot a look at the emperor.

“I thought you said that the codes you provided would disable this shipyard’s automated defense systems.”

The emperor grunted. “It did. They were deactivated. Someone has reactivated them. I can only surmise your spy is to blame. Argos should not have been aware of our presence in the first place. We should not stay here.”

This last statement made sense. Chase couldn’t put his finger on it, but he knew without a doubt something was wrong. He could feel it in every fiber of his being.

“For once we agree, Emperor,” said Chase. Turning to his communications officer, he added quietly, “Open a channel to the Destiny.”

“Yes, Chase, what is it?”

“This is clearly a trap. As much as I hate to say this, I think we should retreat for the time being.”

“I agree. Sending the retreat order to the fleet.”

The Droxian and Obsidian ships turned about first, as most of their starfighter wings had already re-boarded, victorious. The Alliance ships also adhered to the retreat request, and recalled their starfighter regiment back to their ship as well. But the Hope’s Alpha and Beta Squadrons, as well as the Destiny’s Alpha Squadron, were finishing off the defense sentries that had seriously started damaging the Destiny as well as other Alliance destroyers.

Suddenly the entire shipyard got illuminated bright red, as a major explosion shook a Droxian ship departing the nebula. The resulting shockwave damaged the nearest Obsidian battleship, disabling it in the process.

On board the Destiny, Commodore Saroudis shouted altered orders to the fleet.

“Reverse position! Do not, I repeat DO NOT try to exit the nebula. The shipyard’s shields are back up. Stay away from them!”

On the Hope’s bridge, Chase clenched both fists and teeth. How could they have been so stupid? The fact that Argos’ forces engaged them earlier at the rendezvous point should have been warning enough to scrap this mission. He cursed himself for insisting they destroy the shipyard.

He turned to the emperor.

“Where’s the shield’s generator?”

The emperor approached Chase’s chair and projected a 3D map of the shipyard on his holo-display.

The emperor somberly pointed to a heavily shielded node, situated behind the structure currently assembling the behemoth Zarlack ship, which had sent all the fighter waves their way. “Here, but you’ll need a lot of firepower.”

“You saw what this ship can do first hand.”

“Let’s hope it will be enough. The power requirement for these shields is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. You may need to have every ship add their firepower to yours, if you aim to take it out.”

“Very well.” He turned to his communications officer and had him relay the targeting coordinates to the rest of the fleet.

“Captain,” said his science officer, “I’m detecting an energy build up in every Zarlack ship. This doesn’t look good.”

“What do you make of it?”

“I’ve never seen such energy signatures. I think they’re intentionally overloading their engines.”

That was the end game here, of course! Argos would have them trapped by their own greed. He could then blow everything up, destroying most, if not all, of the task force dreaming to destroy his shipyard. Even if that meant sacrificing it in the process, he saw a clear win.

“Dammit! Time to firing solution on that shield generator?”

“Twenty seconds, Captain. I estimate we have less than five minutes before the engines of the ships go critical.”

Chase did not like these odds. Even if they destroyed the shields within a few minutes, they might not have enough time to get out of here, without inflicting catastrophic damage to the fleet.

“Can we jump as soon as the shields are down?”

“The composition of this nebula is highly unstable, Captain. We could blow up upon opening a jump corridor. I... I can’t recommend it.”

Chase felt rage fill his soul. His mind raced, trying to think of a way out of this. He tapped Sarah on her shoulder. She hummed as she opened her eyes, and made an automatic happy gesture. “Yes, I’ve just dispatched the last defensive sentry. The rest of the starfighters are already on their way back to the ship.”

“Reroute them to the Destiny.”

“What?! Why?”

“No time to explain, just do it!”

She relayed the order with her mind, and informed Commodore Saroudis.

“Done. Should I bring in the StarFury as well?”

“No, I will need you to pilot it towards that shielded installation.”

“What’s the plan here?”

“Honestly, it’s the biggest gamble ever. If we had time I would send you over to the Destiny, but I don’t think we have any other choice.”

* * *

On board his capital ship, Argos looked at his tactical holo-display and snickered. The Alliance was trapped. He could end them all right here and right now, but first he had to make sure the EAD Hope would survive. He opened a channel to his tactical officer on the bridge.

“Are you absolutely certain that the added explosions in that kill box zone will not take out the ship that I tagged?”

“Pretty sure it should survive.”

“Pretty sure? I need absolute certainty!”

“Technically, I cannot guarantee it. It will depend on the state of their shields and proximity to the Black Death.”

“Which happens to be exactly where the EAD Hope is heading right now.”

“I see that, so there’s no way to be sure.”

“Get me the Black Death’s captain right now!”

“Communications established.”

* * *

Chase called Commodore Saroudis and explained his plan.

“This is insane, even by your standards, Chase. But under the circumstances, I don’t see that we have a choice. You do understand that this is a suicide mission for the EAD Hope?”

“I do, but what other choices do we have? If we don’t try this we all get vaporized anyway.”

“Actually it’s entirely possible that not all the ships would get destroyed if we stay at the outskirts of the shield’s limits. Your ship has the stronger shields. If you use the maximum power of your main guns, you’ll be entirely disabled for one full minute, and that’s the real risk. Your shields won’t have time to recharge enough to protect you from the multiple explosions.”

“It will give the battlegroup time to escape the nebula. If things get too hot, I’ll try to jump.”

“My science officer tells me that could go either way, because of the highly volatile composition of this particular nebula.”

“I’ve got the same report here, Commodore. But we really don’t have a choice.”

“Very well. In case this doesn’t go well…” He paused. “It’s been an honor serving with you, Chase.”

“The honor was mine. Athanatos out.”

Sarah locked her beautiful green eyes on Chase, shining, but full of fear.

“Well, so much for protecting you by ordering you to stay put.”

Sarah didn’t know how to answer. She just raised her shoulders in response.

Chase commed Yanis.

“Listening, Cap.”

“I need the main weapon at full charge. Extract any ounce of juice you can siphon off of and anything else too, any other systems, including life support if you have to.”

“Chase, we’ve discussed this. It will disable us for at least a minute, perhaps more. If I tax the systems that much we’ll be sitting ducks, and it could even disable the ship for good.”

“Right. But if we don’t do it, everyone in the fleet will die.”

Yanis didn’t immediately answer, but was audibly breathing heavier. “I can give you a hundred and twenty percent power. You’ll have it in one minute.”

“Make it twenty seconds.”

“You’re impossible… and it was nice knowing you.”

“Likewise,” Chase replied with a grave tone.

For the next fifteen seconds, the entire bridge was pervaded by a deadly calm. Everyone abruptly understood the emerging reality; that this could very well be the last minute of their lives. Chase checked the holo-display. The rest of the fleet had assembled at the outskirts of the shield boundary, ready to enter full, sub-light power the moment the shields should fall. If.

“I’m ready, Chase. You may fire anytime.”

Chase took the neuronal devices from Sarah’s temple, kissing her passionately as he did so. He wished he could make that kiss last forever. It was powerful, but all too short. A tear ran down her cheek.

“I thought you wanted me to fly the StarFury?”

“No. I’ll do it... I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He put the neuronal link to his temple and accessed the Hope’s main weapons. He selected full-firing mode and fired at his target with everything he had.

Every light in the bridge started to flicker. Systems dimmed fast.

The EAD Hope fired a gigantic, pulsating ray of light towards its target. It impacted with shields and started draining them, slowly but surely. Simultaneously, Chase vectored the StarFury near the stream. He flew only a few feet away from it, accelerating to maximum velocity. He redistributed all the power he could to the ship’s engine, and when it was about to collide with the generator’s shields, he made his StarFury jump. The ship exploded feet away from its target, overloading its dual quadrinium chambers. The surge took out the rest of the shields, just in time for the remaining main weapon blasts, already lessening in intensity, to tear through the shield generator like paper. It exploded, just as every system on the EAD Hope shut down cold. No more life support, no shields, nothing.

They were dead in the water now. Sitting ducks.

* * *

The explosion shook every ship in the fleet. The shields protecting the shipyards blinked for a couple of seconds before dissipating. The commodore gave the order to the fleet to exit the nebula at maximum thrust.

He examined his telemetry. The Hope had only fifty seconds before all the Zarlack ships’ engines would go critical, and take down the shipyard. With the shields disabled, an explosion this size would probably ignite the nebula itself, potentially vaporizing everything within as it did so.

There was a deep, dark pit in Saroudis’ stomach. He’d long thought of Chase as a hotheaded, borderline-insubordinate officer, but also admired his courage and tactics under pressure. Tears started forming around the commodore’s eyes. He wiped them and addressed the fleet.

“The second you are out of the nebula, jump to these coordinates.”

All ships confirmed the order. In twenty seconds they would be out of the nebula. The Hope would inevitably be vaporized soon after.

“Goodbye, Chase,” whispered Saroudis at the screen.

* * *

Chase got up from the captain’s chair and took Sarah by the hand. He walked towards the glass for one last moment together, life flashing before his eyes. Suddenly his dreams were interrupted: he noticed that the emperor was no longer on the bridge. He’d normally have been deeply upset by this casual betrayal, but under the circumstances he couldn’t blame him for trying to save his own hide. There was nowhere to hide, anyway.

“We could have tried making a run for it with my F-147. It’s still in the launching bays.”

“We could have... but I doubt its shields would survive this whole nebula imploding.”

“I guess not... How long now?”

“It’s a matter of seconds, Sarah. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m glad to be next to you at least,” she said, and took him in her arms.

Chase closed his eyes. He found himself wondering why Aphroditis hadn’t tried giving him any sort of warning or advice, but then remembered how much interference this nebula generated… It probably affected Olympian technology just as much as theirs. So this is it, he thought.

Oh no it’s not! He heard a familiar voice from within his mind. A voice that sent a cold shiver down his spine.

It was Argos’ voice! No doubts about it.

Open your eyes, fool! And hang on to something!

Chase opened his eyes to witness a succession of massive detonations. The ships were blowing, one by one. Surrounding parts of the nebula were already igniting, a wash of colors. The spectacle, while utterly terrifying, was almost beautiful in its utterly chaotic rendering.

From the corner of his eye, over Sarah’s shoulder, Chase noted that the behemoth Zarlack destroyer had broken through its construction structure and was heading towards them at maximum speed. A red beam impacted with the Hope. As it passed by, the Hope was tractored away with an enormous lurch. Everyone on the bridge but Chase flew off their chairs; some of them crashed into the walls. He held onto Sarah with everything he had, and she was fine, if stunned a bit. And surrounded in an apocalyptic thunder of explosions and raining fire, the Zarlack ship jumped, with the Hope in tow.

* * *

On board the Kollassi, Argos witnessed the Black Death manage to capture the Hope in a tractor beam, pulling her prey out of the nebula just in the nick of time.

He inhaled in a clipped breath, hands clenched at the railing. He opened a channel to his science officer. Before he could say anything, however, Argos’ eyes blinked red. The officer exploded on the spot, sending body parts, blood and flesh all over the bridge.

“May that be a reminder to all of you of what happens when you do not perform as expected!”

He snapped off the channel.

Chase was safe, meanwhile, and for the time being that was all that mattered. But he had given his brother a piece of information, which he would never have wanted him to have. He couldn’t kill him! Not yet.

Argos lashed out at a table nearby and broke it like it was made of dust. His fists were clenched so hard, nails cut through his own skin. A small, red river formed from his forgotten blood, snaking lazily across the floor. The red in his eyes shined brighter still.

26

Tar’Lock arrived at the power plant, but almost crashed the shuttle in a very rough landing. He jumped out of it and summarily surveyed the damage, embarrassed. No time! Within seconds, he’d broken into the facility, and was peering down the long corridors. He consulted Cedric’s smartphone and memorized the best path with which to reach the third underground floor, where a red dot was blinking. He couldn’t help but notice that on the top right corner of the screen, a timer display indicated only twenty minutes remaining. Suffice it to say, he moved quickly. It took him one minute to reach the blip, but when he arrived he found a reinforced door, controlled by an access pad with numbers on its digital screen.

He commed Cedric.

“I have a problem.”

“Join the club!”

“No really, I can’t enter the room where the device is located. There’s a keypad lock!”

“Crap! Hold your phone next to the door’s lock, please.”

“Done.”

“It should be noted I really don’t have time for this,” said Cedric with a clear tone of annoyance in his voice.

Tar’Lock sighed deeply.

But before he could say anything, Cedric began to swear noisily.

“For the love of...”

“What is it?”

“It’s got military-grade encryption! Give me a few seconds while I access the fleet’s computing power. And... that should do it.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Enter the following code. 7117947057. Then press enter.”

Tar’Lock entered the combination in a split second, and the panel turned green. He opened the door and spent some time searching before he located the device hidden behind a series of pipes.

He looked at his phone. The interface had changed like Cedric said it would, with a predominant green scan button in the middle of the interface. Tar’Lock quickly pressed it.

A bar started filling on the interface.

“I’ve initiated scanning.”

“I see that. Thank you, Tar’Lock.”

“How are we looking?”

“I’ve managed to reprogram my teleportation subroutine and optimized it to drain just the right amount of power so that the Earth’s power grid doesn’t collapse completely during our transfer. So hopefully it should work.”

“Should?”

“Look, pal, this isn’t exactly a walk in the park. I never worked at this speed before. Let’s hope I don’t suffer from an aneurysm before I manage to beam these bombs off of the planet.”

“Is the ship ready to receive them?”

“Yes, it’s empty and ready. As soon as I have the frequency and feed it into my code, I should be able to send this ship far, far away from Earth.”

“Please avoid sending it to my home world.”

“Is it within a five minute jump from here?”

“Point taken. I was just trying to break the ice.”

“Good job!”

Tar’Lock looked at the phone and saw that the scan was about ninety percent done, when he noticed a blinking red icon on the top right of the screen.

“Cedric.”

“Not now!”

“Yes now. There is a blinking red icon on that smartphone you gave me.”

“For the love of god, don’t tell me you’re running out of batteries... Let me che—Oh, fuck me! Alright, let’s hope the battery holds. The scan should be done in five seconds. The moment that transfer button appears on your screen, click it immediately. And then pray to whichever gods you believe in… On second thought, just start praying now.”

Tar’Lock made a noise crossing between a snort and a growl.

The scan bar completed and blinked, then a second blue button labeled Transfer appeared.

Tar’Lock pressed it, and the phone turned black.

“Please tell me you got it?” Cedric yelled.

“It turned off,” Tar’Lock exclaimed, examining the phone.

“We’re doomed. The one thing that will kill this planet is a crappy, old-gen phone battery…”

“You could have charged the phone.”

“Yea and that helps us how right now!?”

“Tell me what to do, Cedric, NOW!!”

“Okay… let me guide you towards the main control room. We’ll just hope one of the guys there has a USB cable.”

“I’m listening.”

“It’s on the first floor, to the east of your position. How fast can you run?”

Tar’Lock didn’t even bother to answer. He flew over corridors and stairs to reach the first floor, and when he saw a wall panel indicating “main control room,” he ran there as fast as he could.

“I’m almost there. How much time do we have left?”

“I’d say a minute or two for me to have enough time to input, to receive the data, and then beam the bombs off.”

“No pressure, surely.” Tar’Lock gasped and kept moving.

He stormed the central control room. The three people present in the room jumped out of their chair in horror. A fourth man emerging from another side of the room with cups of hot coffee in his hands simply lost consciousness at the sight of Tar’Lock.

“Don’t panic, everyone, I’m not here to hurt you. I don’t want to stress you out either. But if you don’t provide me with a USB cable to charge this phone,” he said, showing them the smartphone, “a bomb on this power plant will explode, and probably destroy the entire planet.”

“Funny guy,” snorted one of the techs.

Tar’Lock’s eyes thinned. He screamed at top volume. “DOES IT LOOK LIKE I’M JOKING?! GIVE ME A GODDAMN CHARGING CABLE!”

The faces of the three techs lost all color.

They started looking through their belongings as fast as they could, but none could find anything.

“John! Where’s the power bank you borrowed from me, quick!”

“It’s in the passenger seat of my car in the parking lot.” He turned towards Tar’Lock. “It’s the blue Mistubishi Galant in front of the main door, here take the k−”

But before he could get his keys out of his pocket Tar’Lock was already gone. The three guys looked at each other, not knowing what to say or how to react.

“Did he say how long we had to live, if he can’t charge his phone?”

“From the speed at which he took off, I’d say not long.”

“John, I think it’s a little too late to tell you this… I love you, man.”

“What the fuck, Richard? You’re married!”

“I know… terrible timing. But it’s true.”

The third guy started laughing.

“What’s so funny, Tony?”

“Well, I just thought that if we survive this, the next hour should be interesting.”

* * *

Tar’Lock arrived at the parking lot in front of the building and there were three blue cars parked in a row. He swore something in his own tongue, expressing frustration in a very clicky and annoyed way.

Only one read “Mitsubishi” on its back so he ran in a blur to the right side of the car. He caught a glimpse of a black brick on the bucket seat, with a cable splitting into many connector ends. He tried opening the door but it wouldn’t budge. He punched the window and felt excruciating pain from the impact, but it only made a small crack on the window.

“How are we doing? Time is running out!” he heard Cedric on his comm.

“How do I open a car that is locked?”

“Surely you have the strength to break that glass?”

“Normally I would, but I only cracked it…” he said, panting heavily. “I’ve been running at two hundred miles per hour for the better part of the last twenty minutes. I’m running out of juice, Cedric, and I... I’m moments away from passing out.”

“Please don’t, please, please, please...”

“CEDRIC!”

“Right, if the glass is cracked its structural integrity is compromised now. Try and vibrate your hand very fast on its surface, okay?”

Tar’Lock put his hand on the glass and made his hand tremble as fast as he could, using every bit of energy he had left. After a second the glass shattered. He grabbed the power brick, looked at the four different ends, looked at the hole in the phone and put the cable that matched the geometrical shape.

“Cable is in, but nothing is happening.”

“Give it a second.”

“It’s been five seconds.”

“Alright, something is wrong. Describe what you’re doing.”

“I’ve connected a cable to what I can only surmise is a portable power source.”

“A power bank, okay. Is there a button on it?”

Tar’Lock turned the power bank and saw a small, metallic button protruding from the box, which he pressed fervently.

“Still nothing. Is it out of juice?”

“Try pressing it and holding it, perhaps a second or two.”

A blue light flashed across the screen, then the phone turned on with a white default logo on a black background, with a cheesy, musical ditty playing.

“I see something on the phone.”

“Boy this is going to be close, Tar’Lock. We need to wait while the smartphone boots up, but⁠—”

“How long will that take?”

“Another twenty seconds.”

Tar’Lock started to feel really light headed. “I’m... I’m not feeling well.”

“Dude, DO NOT pass out on me now! You still need to press the transfer button when the phone finishes booting.”

Tar’Lock’s vision started to blur as the phone display re-appeared. He could no longer read the font from his current exhaustion. But he could still see the familiar blue button. He pressed it, and swooned, and collapsed to the ground.

“Good job, Tar’Lock, I’m receiving the signature. You okay, buddy? Tar’Lock? Oh dear...”

* * *

Ryonna was waiting in the office of Cedric’s coworker, a beautiful, young, blond lady named Johanna. She was still analyzing the tablet file.

“How are we doing?” she demanded for the millionth time, long out of patience.

“Not exactly the kind of data I’m used to working on, but I think I’ve managed to locate something of use.”

“Could you be more specific?”

“While I can’t pinpoint the exact IP where this file was created, I did manage to access the subsystems’ history, like GPS and the onboard camera. I have the recent GPS locations listed here. It looks like a copy of this file traveled to about thirty locations all around the planet in the last few days.”

“Yeah, that is consistent with the thirty bombs we’re trying to beam off-planet.”

Johanna swallowed heavily.

“Did you say bombs?”

“Yes, bombs. So keep working. If Cedric doesn’t manage to beam them out in the next few minutes, we’ll all be long dead anyway… So there’s no need to panic.”

“Interesting bedside manners...” she muttered tearfully, hands trembling uncontrollably.

Ryonna cursed herself for telling her about the bombs. She approached Johanna and put a hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at Ryonna, her eyes widened by sheer terror.

“I... I don’t want to die.” Her voice trembled on every syllable.

“I don’t want to die either, Johanna. But understand this, survival is out of our hands. There is nothing you and I can do to fix that, nothing at all, you understand? But we can help.”

She nodded nervously.

“So please take a deep breath, and tell me more about the GPS information you’ve managed to find.”

Johanna took three successive deep breaths, and entered a few more commands on her computer. The screen started displaying a map of Earth, superimposed by mad, converging lines all over. Ryonna looked at them and saw that they all converged to one single point.

“Can you please tell me where this place is?” She pointed at the converging lines.

“It’s in DC. Give me one moment to bring up the address.”

“What information could you get from the camera, anyway?”

“The file references a file that must still be on the original device. While GPS locations were embedded in the file, camera information must be stored in the original system.”

“Does that mean that if I bring you the laptop, you could access this data?”

“I think so, yes.”

“Alright, give me a minute and I’ll bring it to you. In the meantime, try to cross-reference the address you found with databases of known criminals, Earth Alliance employees and whatever else you think might be relevant.”

“Cross-checking now.”

Ryonna rose to her feet and crossed back to Cedric’s office.

When she arrived, the sheer quantity of sweat dripping from his face wasn’t reassuring.

“How are we doing on beaming away the bombs?”

“Can’t talk. It’s gonna be right down to the second...”

“Alright, I’m just taking the laptop we recovered. Johanna needs it.”

“Whatever.”

She could see his eyes going all over the place, interfacing with his neuronal link. She looked at the timer on the laptop when she grabbed it, counting down from two minutes and fifty-seven seconds.

She hurried back to Johanna’s side, who started working on the laptop. Who had ever seen anyone type on a keyboard that fast? She was glad that she’d evidently regained her focus.

“Is that the amount of time we have left?” she nervously chirped.

“Yeah. I think Cedric will manage though. He seems competent.”

“He’s the best!” she burst out. Her face quickly turned a shade of red, while she made a slight face.

Ryonna permitted herself a half-smile.

“Got it. Bringing up some of the photos, though it will take a few seconds for them to decrypt.”

“What about the addresses and cross referencing?”

“I’ve had one match, with an Earth Alliance employee.”

“I didn’t expect that. Do you have his name?”

“Hers.”

“Alright… Is her first name Nina, by any chance?”

“No, Sarah something...”

Interesting coincidence? Ryonna wondered.

“As long as it’s not Kepler,” she said.

“Yeah. That’s her, Sarah Kepler.”

“That’s impossible!”

A cold shiver shot down Ryonna’s spine.

Then a photo of Sarah appeared on the screen, followed by many others.

“What are those?”

“Pictures that the cameras from different laptops took over the past few days. I wonder why she’s present on each of them? That’s strange! Is she a friend? I think I saw her around.”

“Are you absolutely sure she’s the one who worked on that file? I need one hundred percent certainty.” She stared at the timer now: one minute thirty-two seconds.

“Yep, no doubts about it. It’s a shame. She seemed like such a nice girl.”

Ryonna’s heart started pounding forcefully in her chest. She simply could not believe it. She shook it off.

“Please send all this data straight to the Cronos. They’ll need to get this before this timer runs out.”

“I thought you were sure that Cedric would diffuse the situation.”

“If he doesn’t, it’s vital that Admiral Thassos gets this info before the planet blows up.”

She bit her tongue. She knew she could very well send Johanna into another panic attack with these hasty comments. But it didn’t seem to stop her, or even give her pause.

“I trust my Cedric,” she just said before adding, “Done! Cronos got the files.”

With forty-two seconds left on the timer, she simply murmured, “Thank you so much for your help, Johanna.”

Then she opened a channel to Admiral Thassos.

“Admiral Thassos here. Ryonna, time is almost up. What’s the status? Is the ship still in orbit?”

“Oh, c’mon you stinky piece of shite!” interjected a muffled voice from the other office.

She made a face.

“I’m... confident Cedric will manage... But there’s something else, Admiral. Please listen very carefully.”

“Go on.”

“I’ve sent you irrevocable proof that the acts of terror have been perpetrated by…”

“By whom?”

“Commander Sarah Kepler.”

“You’re shitting me? Hang on, something is happening. The ship just entered hyperspace.”

All lights and electricity-dependent systems on the premises started to blink intermittently and finally stayed off.

She heard Cedric shout, “YEEEEEHAAAAA!”

“Yeah, I’d say that Cedric has accomplished his task.” She laughed.

She watched the timer counting down from three seconds, then resting silently over zero.

“In the nick of time, I might add,” she burst, exhaling deeply. The tension and pressure in her muscles all abruptly relaxed at once.

“Told you,” Johanna sung cheerfully, giving Ryonna a huge, surprising hug.

“You did. Admiral?”

“Yes, I’m still here.”

“I wondered if our communications would have been affected by the power loss down here.”

“These Alliance redundant systems aren’t connected to Earth’s power grid. They should still be running fine.”

“You need to let Commodore Saroudis and Chase know this information ASAP. She could very well put both their lives and the mission in jeopardy.”

“Absolutely. I’ll send a coded message via subspace immediately.”

“Thank you, Admiral.”

“No, thank you, Ryonna. I’ve misjudged you, and I want to apologize for the crap we gave you after the interrogation. A job incredibly well done.”

“Thank you. Ryonna out.”

Ryonna went to see Cedric. He was doing a weird, intricate sort of dance but no music was playing.

“All good here?”

“We’re still here, aren’t we?” he said, while continuing to wave his arms and legs around in broken circles, with a soulful look on his face.

“Great job, Cedric, you saved the planet.”

“Again! I keep doing that!”

“I wasn’t there the first time around, but well done.”

“Yep… I… saved the world. But now, I’m going on vacation for the next two months. I’m thinking Zakinthos. I hear it’s great this time of the year.”

Ryonna smiled, but as she was about to leave Cedric added one last reminder.

“You should go check on Tar’Lock. I think he lost consciousness after transferring the bomb’s signatures.”

“I’ll swing by his last location. Thanks, Cedric.”

“Oh, and Ryonna.”

She turned.

“Yeah?”

“You’re one tough chick. I like you.”

She couldn’t help but smile.

“You have another admirer at the end of the hall.”

“Really?”

“Yeah…”

“Kewl!” He tripped on his pant legs, but played it off as part of the dance.

“See you later, Cedric.”

“See ya, Ryonna. Take care.”

“You too.”

* * *

Spiros opened his eyes. A familiar, repetitive buzzing sound slowly brought him out of his slumber. He no longer felt any pain anywhere, which was wonderful. He activated the exit switch from inside the regeneration pod, and the liquid slowly started to empty from the pod.

With the first few breaths of air, he was himself again. The transition sensation was always just as weird as the first breath of regen fluid taken into the lungs, but he was glad to be back to the real stuff.

The door of the pod slowly hinged open. Spiros paused, feeling unsure what he needed to do next. His thoughts still felt a little foggy. But that was a known side effect from using the regen tanks. Seeing the Zarlack cadaver on the ground sent a shiver down his spine and it all came back to him.

Without stopping for anything, he ran out of the infirmary and towards his R&D lab. He passed countless Zarlack bodies strewn across the corridors, abruptly presenting zero threat. He reached the lab, but when the door didn’t spring open how it usually did he nearly crashed into it headlong. He paused, pressed the door controls again, and the door made a quiet whine but still didn’t budge. After swearing out loud, he opened the manual release hatch, reached inside and pulled the lever. He heard the satisfying click as the doors split open slightly, just enough to try prying them open by hand.

He pulled as much as he could with both hands, exerting opposite forces on both sides of the splitting door system. When that didn’t work he decided to concentrate only on the right side of the door, with similarly meager progress. After some considerable effort it finally started to budge. A few moments later resistance finally gave out completely and the doors fell outward. An enormous Zarlack body came crashing down headfirst, directly in front of Spiros, who for a split second thought he’d surely have a heart attack.

He looked at the dead body in front of him, reflectively. He wasn’t used to killing. He was a scientist, an inventor. Sure, some of that was sometimes used to kill, now that this was war. But typically he saw his inventions more as a way to help the Alliance better defend itself, rather than increasingly efficient killing machines for technology’s sake. But he knew full well that through all these years as a scientist, he had to fully convince himself of the moral sincerity to this inner argument.

After all there were two sides to every coin! But he had long decided, whether consciously or subconsciously, that he lived life better by sticking to the side that gave him less daily grief and resistance. Plus, no humanoid oppressor had ever tried to bite him.

He brushed the old conundrum aside. He entered his lab and sought out the troubleshooting bench immediately. He plugged a cable in the back of his head to access his neuronal augment implant, in order to salvage the precious files he had taken such risks trying to access. The diagnostics program immediately returned an error code, as he’d feared. He felt a pit forming in his stomach. He knew he could’ve very well fried the memory banks with his irresponsible over-clocking, though he still argued with himself that without it, he would never have decoded the file at all.

He looked after old pet projects, trying to rearrange some sense of where his work had been disrupted. He opened some cupboards and, of course, precious ordering had all been messed up; many things were missing. He felt the indignant anger of a scientist slowly rising within him: he liked things neat and ordered. All he found in each new cupboard was more and more chaos.

“What life forms in their right minds store explosive fluids near power packs?” He groaned out loud. He reveled in no longer feeling afraid or worried anybody would hear and barge in. He was the last man standing.

After ten minutes searching, he managed to find the small crystal tube with a blue label. He put it under a scanner and gleefully confirmed that the nanites were still in the tube, and still operational. These particular nanites were designed to scan for data from implants or any data storage device and dump the results over the network, making an exact copy in a very little amount of time. The wonder was it worked whether the device was powered or not. He only hoped that there was still some coherent data to be recovered!

They’d never been tested. He remembered promising himself to never ever play with untested nanites, after an accident twenty years earlier where some badly programmed nanites ran amok in his blood stream, almost claiming his life. He pondered as he looked at the crystal tube. He decided to sift through the code once more, in order to be certain.

His mind was finally at full capacity again, and he relished it. He’d slept long enough in the regen tank to basically strip away the stress fatigue from the occupation, and it furthermore had given him a boost in energy he hadn’t felt in years. Unsurprisingly, around the same time he’d needed to use one of them again, as he… sort of… blew off part of his face—in another experiment gone wrong.

Was he a reckless scientist? Perhaps. After five minutes sifting through his code, he decided to add a simple failsafe: a manual disable command for all nanites in his code. It was something that should have been there in all his experiments, he admitted to himself begrudgingly. He opened the lid of the crystal tube and placed it at the back of his neck entry port. Then he entered a command with his free hand on the terminal, and the nanites activated.

Looking at the diagnostic logs a few minutes later, he could see that they had started copying data blocks randomly. A few of them had been selected to put the data back into a cohesive, coherent and usable data stream. One minute later the log reached its end; data had been sent to a network location, and the nanites went into sleep mode.

He opened up a holo-display and recovered the data the nanites had duplicated. Some of it was his own implant operating system: some logs, and other assorted junk, like pictures he’d taken with his brain over the last few years. But he was happy that the data stored within his disabled implant didn’t seem to be corrupted. He’d still probably need to change the implant, and restore a backup from the data dump he was searching through.

He brushed that thought away, as his eyes met with a file he didn’t recognize. At first the computer didn’t know how to display the file, but Spiros knew why that was. Thinking on his toes, he quickly installed a translation subroutine so the terminal could not only display but also translate Zarlack into Universum. Then an extremely detailed schematics rundown appeared of what looked like a gigantic installation located inside the Gatos Nebula.

A feat in and of itself! he thought. File notes concerning the nebula’s composition made him wonder how they’d managed to construct anything in such a volatile environment without blowing themselves to kingdom come.

One thing in particular caught his attention: an immensely powerful shield generator. But it followed, of course, that the whole shipyard’s construction would depend on this one thing. It must have been built first, and allowed them to not only shield themselves from catastrophe during the assembling of the rest of the facilities, but also helped reduce the nebula’s atmospheric particulate density within the shielded area. Surely it would take a major catastrophic explosion for any of the particles to ignite within the shielded area.

It was an ingenious design, one he admitted he’d probably never have thought of. The shield generator was itself also protected by a self-generated shield engine, much more powerful than even the biggest Zarlack’s or Obsidian ships carried onboard. While his scientist mind was in awe of all the data he was observing, he had to remind himself that he had a job to do.

But the plans and the highly resilient encryption confirmed him one thing: this installation was important to the enemy. If they left in such a hurry, it could mean only one thing. Something or someone put their plans in jeopardy. Gatos was only a few hours away in hyperspace, at what was once the outskirts of Obsidian territory. The Alliance or any other power out there must have been in the process of attacking the facility. That meant that he needed to contact them at all cost, so he might be rescued from here. Once he’d found a way back to the Alliance, he could give them all his precious research to fight back at the enemy.

He brought up a status of the station. Everything was running reasonably well, all considering; his station was fully operational. He considered opening a subspace transmission, and just flooding it with a distress call. But this might also attract the wrong crowd, and whether or not they could decrypt the message, they could probably still track it. So he decided first to install R&D upgrades into the station’s systems. The weapons would require some hardware upgrades to be fully upgraded to his specs, but some of his energy efficiency subroutines could probably give them a sufficient boost in power. His ace in the hole was that he’d already installed pretty much everything needed to make the shields at least stronger than anything Obsidian or Zarlack.

An hour later, he was satisfied that he could defend himself and the station from even a medium-large fleet, should the enemy get the transmission before the Alliance did. He started working on his message. He also added anti-jamming subroutines into them, so they would cut through enemy jamming fields. He considered that part was vital, especially if Obsidian and the Alliance were fighting it out in the nearby Gatos system.

He reviewed his modifications one last time and then hit the comm button on his terminal to start recording his message.

Here goes nothing, he thought before he started talking.

27

The chaos after the rescue maneuver had left many aboard the Hope wounded or knocked unconscious. Chase called for medical emergency aid to the bridge but nobody arrived. Doubtless similar incidents had happened all over the ship. With most systems down when ripped from the nebula, they’d all felt the full brunt of abrupt acceleration, as well as the hasty jump into hyperspace.

One thing was sure now, Ares had been right: evidently Argos needed Chase alive. That act had provided definite proof. It still bugged him that he didn’t know why, but at least Sarah, he and the baby were all still alive.

Sarah seemed a little shaken up from everything that just had happened.

“What the hell was that? What just happened, Chase?”

Chase lifted one finger to make her wait before answering, and opened a channel to engineering.

She lowered her eyebrows, looking frustrated he didn’t answer.

“Yanis, please respond?”

A few seconds passed and he repeated the request but still no answer. A pit started forming in his stomach as he remembered the promise he’d made to Fillio.

“Yanis!”

“Uuuuurgh... I... I’m still here, but my head is ringing.”

Chase sighed in relief.

“You okay, buddy?”

“Wouldn’t go that far. What the hell was that? And how are we still alive and discussing it?”

“As improbable as it sounds, we were rescued by a behemoth-class Zarlack ship.”

“Nah, I’m dead or asleep and this is a dream. Ouch! No… I’m awake. I can’t believe it.”

“I can. I don’t know why, but it’s clear that Argos wants me alive.”

“How would you know?”

“He told me a second before he rescued us.”

“Yeah, this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. The guy obliterates the Alliance, almost destroys Earth. And now he saves you from the very trap he erected in order to kill us? Do you see the irony here?”

“Look, I can only surmise that he never thought I’d sacrifice myself in order to save the fleet. Furthermore, since it’s now pretty clear that we have a spy in our midst, he must have known I was onboard the toughest ship. He probably thought he could thoughtlessly destroy the opposition and just spare me.”

That gave Chase pause. Whoever was working with him would be someone relatively close. Someone with access to sensitive data.

“How’s the ship doing, Yanis?”

“Power is restored to ninety percent. We’re no longer in hyperspace but we’re still in tractor lock. We can’t feel it anymore because our inertial dampeners are back online.”

“The crew of the bridge is pretty shaken up. Some haven’t regained consciousness. I need to make that ship go away.”

“Then use your precious gadget. It ought to give you enough control to make that happen.”

Right, Chase thought, the neurolink interface!

“Thanks, Yanis. Make sure the ship purrs like a kitten. I think this is going to be a long, hard day.”

“No shit!”

Sarah was still there, fixed on Chase expectantly.

“Sorry, I just didn’t think it was necessary for me to say the same thing twice.”

“You could have just said that. However… What the fuck?”

“I know.”

She made a head movement that could only underline her previous comment.

“That’s why we need to deal with him once and for all.”

Chase put the cylindrical neurolink devices to his temple and went back to his captain’s chair. He sat down and closed his eyes.

“We need to get back to the rest of the fleet, stat,” he added for Sarah’s benefit. “Give me a minute to get rid of our tow truck.”

“One minute, huh?” she said with a smile.

“Uhum,” Chase said with a smile.

Chase powered the shields, which effectively shut down the tractor beam linking the two ships. He then lost no time powering up the main guns, turrets and torpedoes, and locked on the target. He activated them all at max power, giving a new meaning to the phrase “give it all you’ve got.” The ship’s shield took most of the incoming fire, but they quickly lowered. Once the first main guns’ plasma cannon fired, they were almost down to nothing. Then the ship blinked as it entered hyperspace, fleeing.

“Thanks for the tow!” Chase added sarcastically.

While he would never admit it out loud, he was glad the ship escaped. He could have blown it out of space without breaking a sweat, but they’d just saved his whole crew. Whether it had been remotely controlled by Argos, or captained by one of his lackeys didn’t really matter. That ship had saved their hide, so he was glad he didn’t have to deal with any conscience conundrums which eradicating them would have brought.

He displayed a star map on his virtual instruments and attempted hailing the rest of the fleet through the Destiny.

The face of Commodore Saroudis appeared in the virtual view screen, but the image shook.

“Chase? How is that even possible?”

“I’m afraid to say, Argos saved our hide. I don’t understand it either. But what’s going on? Things look shaky over there.”

“Argos? What? Yeah. I’m so glad to see you, no matter the reason. Where are you right now? We’re getting our asses kicked. We can’t jump out of the area. They’ve brought three Jump Interdiction Fields ships and we’re in the middle of a kill box.”

“Send your coordinates. I’ll be there shortly. You hang on, Adonis!”

Chase realized it was the first time he’d ever addressed his former captain by his first name.

“Roger that. Coordinates sent. Hope you can help us out of this mess or we’ll be dead in minutes. We’ve already lost four ships. All Obsidian ships but one were destroyed. But the last one just decided to retreat at subspace speed. Fortunately the Droxians are holding steady, and have only lost two ships.”

“Hang on, we’re on our way. Sarah, you’d better go to your StarFury. We’ve got to help the fleet. They’re under attack.”

“On my way,” she said, storming out of the bridge.

Chase entered the coordinates and activated hyperspace engines. With a blur they entered the hyperspace corridor.

When the Hope got out of hyperspace less than a minute later, Chase was mortified by the chaos and fireworks from the ongoing battle. Indeed, the Zarlacks had them surrounded, though probably with no more ships than their own forces. But the fact that they were all around the fleet made things more complicated for the Alliance battlegroup. Chase analyzed his sensor data and saw three ships that were heavily damaged within the Zarlack ranks. He locked every torpedo available onto the first one, directed every turret to fire towards the second and tagged the third for later, since it was currently out of range. He unleashed the full power of the Hope upon his newly designated targets, as he felt the Fury in him boil with rage and determination.

He transferred every ounce of energy from redundant and non-essential systems to the weapons, even transferring thirty percent of shield power so he could boost weapon efficiency to one hundred and thirty percent. The salvo of twenty-five torpedoes blew up the first ship immediately. The resulting shockwave lowered the second destroyer’s shields by a hefty margin upon impact. The continuous stream of turret fire continued pounding and draining them. He then brought main weapons to bear. He selected a twenty-five percent shot so the recharge would take less time, and fired upon the crippled ship. The last of its shield collapsed, while the long-range turrets’ fire started to blow holes in its armor. Soon the enemy stopped firing, after losing main power, and a single torpedo strategically launched towards the launching bays had the expected result of generating secondary explosions. The second destroyer ripped itself apart, spewing flames, crewmen and debris all around it.

“Welcome back, bro,” said Argos in his mind.

“I’m just getting started. I’m coming for you next!” said Chase, feeling like he was in a trance.

“Now is that any way to thank me for my leniency? How ungrateful of you.”

Chase’s blood boiled, but he decided to not let his brother’s antagonism divert his focus from the battle. He would first turn the tables on that battle, then deal with Argos.

A beep informed Chase that the third ship he had tagged just entered main weapon’s range. It was time for the crew to say goodbye to their dear lives. He fired a full-powered shot from the main guns, which vaporized the ship upon impact.

“Impressive toy you have bro... Let’s see how it works when you get all the aggro, shall we?”

“Give me everything you’ve got, Argos. Try and enjoy yourself while it lasts though; your hours in this world are limited!”

“Your overconfidence will be your downfall.”

Chase forced himself to not continue the banter, as he knew full well that it created more rage within him, that he could lose control. At the very least it would cloud his judgment and this wasn’t the time.

Suddenly, almost every ship from the Zarlack armada adjusted vector towards EAD Hope. Oops! Soon he was taking fire from at least seven destroyers, two of them behemoth class. Chase quickly redistributed power to reload his shields. He managed full power and then some, and gritted his teeth: quickly weapons were no longer the priority, shields were.

“Dude, are you seriously piloting the Hope in battle with only your mind?” said Yanis over the comm.

“Easy peasy.”

“Yeah, something I don’t understand though: you seem to be affecting systems I haven’t even given you control over. Like power distribution. How the hell are you managing THAT?”

“I don’t know, but it seems to be working.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Granted, I know little about Furies, but damn!”

“Nothing but instinct.”

“What matters is that we kick these guys’ asses. I’ll let you do what you’re doing. Obviously you’re now in charge of this battle.”

Another incoming transmission chimed. It was Daniel.

“Welcome back from the dead, Chase! I thought we’d lost you there, and I couldn’t even say goodbye. My StarFury’s comm got damaged during the last sentry run. These things sure pack a punch, huh? You’re okay?”

“I’m fine, buddy, you?”

“Well, we’re getting our proverbial asses kicked but your arrival seems to have given the enemy pause. What are your orders?”

“Don’t you have them from Saroudis?”

“He got severely injured when one of these behemoths engaged the Destiny. Last I heard Commodore Saroudis was being transported to the med-bay, vitals critical.”

Chase roared as an answer. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes: tears of rage.

“Okay… I’m pissed off about that too, but what the hell was that sound?”

“Never mind that.”

“Alright, you’re clearly in command now. What are your orders?”

“Just destroy every JIF ship, so we can jump out of here when we need to.”

“Agreed. See you on the other side.”

“Daniel?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s good to hear your voice. No unnecessary risks out there, okay?”

“Haha, right... Sorry, I’m trying to keep a straight face over here. That’s so funny coming from you… But aye, Captain. But you know what, it’s damn good to hear your voice too, bro.”

Chase permitted himself a smile. The fact that Daniel called him bro warmed his heart. He was more of a brother than Argos could ever be. He wondered if at one point in time things had ever been different between them, perhaps during the time he had no memory of.

A salvo of heavy fire and torpedoes pounded into his ship from the nearest behemoth and brought his attention back to the fight just as shields fell down to sixty percent.

“All caught up with your friends?” Argos laughed within his head.

He had to expend a huge amount of mental energy to stop himself from replying, but he managed not to.

“Chase, I’m in space rejoining the Destiny’s wings.”

“Be careful, love. Daniel has your orders.”

“Understood. You be careful too. You do seem to have all the aggro on you at the moment.”

“Argos is trying to make me believe he could kill me, but we both know he’s wasting his time posturing. I just hope it’s not part of another trap.”

“Yeah, me too. Firefly out.”

Chase engaged smaller ships in the armada, and pushed the sub-light engines to the maximum, trying to evade as much incoming fire as possible. The Hope was no StarFury; but still immensely more maneuverable than the Destiny.

He took another Zarlack destroyer out of the equation, when an incoming transmission on all Alliance bands came in.

“This is Spiros Malayianis, onboard the Damocles-3 space station, hailing any and all Alliance forces in the sector. I have reasons to believe you are currently engaged with the enemy. I am a scientist working on next generation weaponry, highly classified and highly advanced stuff. I have been tasked with improving our weapons to better fight Obsidian. I believe my new weapons will also be highly efficient against Zarlack technology. I am in possession of the schematics for these weapons. They could be crucial to the Alliance. While I managed to kill every Zarlack on Damocles-3, I need evac as soon as possible. If you receive this signal, please respond.”

“This is Captain Chase Athanatos of the EAD Hope, message received. As soon as we’re done with our current engagement, I will come for you. Can you please tell me more about the technologies you possess? How’d you manage to have data about Zarlack ships, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Captain Athana… You? No, no, no! Your name is Argos!”

“No, wait! Argos is my twin brother.”

“Please transmit your Alliance identification codes or I’ll terminate this communication this instant.”

“Done.”

“Confirmed. Weren’t you in one of my classes at the academy? Always talking during my courses. So that’s why Argos’ photo was so familiar. Captain, huh? Sometimes it’s not the ones you think that climb the ranks.”

Chase was a little taken back by the comment, but then he remembered his days at the academy.

“I’m actually a Lieutenant Commander. As for the academy, you taught space applied physics, right?”

“And other science courses, yes.”

Another Zarlack volley of torpedoes bee-lined for the aft of the Hope. Chase managed to boost both engines and inertial dampeners on the fly, and the Hope dodged the torpedoes on their first pass. He hastily redirected turrets to them, actually controlling each of them precisely with his mind, to destroy the torpedoes before they could re-acquire lock on the ship.

“I really can’t take a trip down memory lane at the moment. We have to destroy three JIF ships, and these are quite heavily shielded.”

“Right, let me send you an encrypted file that should help with that. Forward to your starfighter pilots. It’ll cut through this particular shield’s design like a hot knife on butter.”

“File received; hang on.”

Chase forwarded the file to Yanis, and tasked him to distribute it within the wings.

“Now on to your other inventions, if you don’t mind?”

“Right, mostly new shields, multi-phasic, highly adaptable; they would be much harder to bring down. They’re AI controlled, so their frequency intelligently adapts as they get taxed.”

“Like the EAD Cronos? And therefore my ship as well.”

“Their shield was my alpha version, so yes, in the same vein. But much more efficient and resilient.”

I’ll take three, Chase thought to himself.

“Boy, you said EAD before. You meant SAD right?”

“No, the Star Alliance fell. We’re now the Earth Alliance.”

“What’s Earth?”

“A planet we saved, that gave us sanctuary.”

Chase absently realized that Zarlack ships had redistributed their firing pattern to engage other ships now. So he no longer seemed to be the focus point of interest. A voice in the back of his mind didn’t like the timing, though.

“Son, can you come and get me?”

“As soon as we blow these JIF ships, you’ll be our first stop.”

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

“One more thing… How do you know about Argos?”

“Damocles-3 was under Zarlack occupation. I’ve managed to stay onboard, undetected, for ages. Unlike my fellow citizens, who all got either imprisoned or killed,” said Spiros gravely.

“Yeah, we’ve lost more good people than I dare count as well...”

“Onboard, I managed to study their systems from my hiding place, long enough to even research Zarlack tech. And oh boy, they sure are a few steps ahead of the Obsidian, technology wise!”

“We’ve noticed. It’s with their help that they annihilated the Alliance.”

“I’ve also gathered that, from their inter-fleet communications. Just before the fleet stationed here jumped out, I found the Argos file, and some very interesting schematics about a shipyard they’ve got hidden in the Gatos Nebula. If you need me to find a crack in its defenses, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

“That shipyard is gone, but we sure could have used that information an hour ago.”

“I bet! Sorry about that. I’ve been in a battle for my own survival in the last few hours.”

“No worries. What matters now is that we—hang on!”

The ship that Chase was currently targeting and firing upon with his main guns had just entered hyperspace. He checked his sensors and saw that every ship but the JIFs had jumped to hyperspace as well.

“Spiros, the Zarlacks have entered hyperspace. Any idea how they did that with the jump interdiction field active?”

“The JIF ships are Obsidian in design, but the Zarlack’s ship engines are a totally different design than either Obsidian or Alliance. They aren’t affected.”

“That’s handy! I gotta go. Be aware that you might soon receive the wrong kind of visitors knocking at your doors. We have a leak.”

“Well, that’s just great! Fortunately I’ve put contingencies in place for that very scenario. Please just don’t be too late to the party. I can hold them off for a while, but...”

“That’s all you’ll need. We’ll be there shortly.”

“Roger that. Malayianis out!”

Chase commed Daniel.

“Status on destroying these JIFs.”

“Beta through Gamma wings are engaged dispatching the rest of the Zarlack fighters; Alphas are less than a minute away from targets. We’ve received Malayianis’ modifications.”

“Good, we need to jump the second these ships are destroyed. So once all that’s done, haul-ass and rejoin your carriers at maximum burn.”

“Roger that.”

* * *

Sarah and Fillio rejoined Daniel’s wing. They were entering firing range of the first JIF ship.

“Switch your lasers to new settings, secondary fire options.”

“Roger,” both Fillio and Sarah chirped, almost in perfect unison.

“Entering firing range. Fire at will!” ordered Daniel.

All three ships and escort fired their lasers at the first Jump Interdiction Field Class ship in unison. The result was nothing less than spectacular. Each and every laser passed through the shields as if they weren’t there anymore, slightly illuminating the points of entry. Pieces of armor and debris started flying like dust amid the laser volleys. It took less than twenty seconds to destroy the first JIF ship, even though its armor was quite strong.

“Wow,” Sarah murmured, dazed at the sight of the ship exploding into a million pieces.

“I second that,” Fillio added joyfully.

“Alright, girls, no time to lose. Let’s dispatch the other two. Split forces so we can be done sooner.”

Sarah and Fillio took the first target, accompanied by three more ships from Alpha Wing. Daniel and the rest of the wing went after the second target. The newly loaded settings on their starfighters cut the ships to pieces with ease.

“Great job, everyone. Now back to your ships at max burn. We gotta jump out of here.”

“Chase, mission accomplished; returning to base. What’s next?”

“Daniel, go secure.”

“Done. What is it?”

“We have a spy.”

“We know that.”

“Yes, but I suspect it’s within the fleet. Perhaps even someone close to us.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well, did you get the distress call from the Damocles Station?”

“Sure. It was on an open channel, wasn’t it?”

“Encrypted for Alliance only, but yes. Right after that, all the Zarlacks jumped.”

“I thought that was because we were finally kicking their asses.”

“No, the timing is more than suspicious. I’m pretty sure they jumped towards the Damocles Station so they can make sure we don’t get whatever tech is awaiting us there.”

“New tech?”

“Yes, stuff we cannot afford to let fall into the hands of Argos. In fact, we can’t even let it be destroyed. This could be the key to winning this war; you saw firsthand how easily you were able to dispatch those JIFs.”

“Yeah, that was like magic.”

“Imagine this installed on a grander scale onboard our ships.”

“Yeah, I see your point. You’re probably right. Damocles is Argos’ next stop, then.”

“We cannot let him destroy, or worse, steal those schematics!”

“I hear you. We’re all onboard.”

“Good, jumping the fleet now.”

Chase sent the jump slave request to every ship in the fleet. Once he got all of them confirmed and synced to the Hope, he entered the coordinates for Damocles-3 and opened the hyperspace corridor.

* * *

Onboard the Kollassi, Argos was looking at the hyperspace stream of horizontal light comfortably from his throne. He hesitated over having a go at his newly cloned Kyrian snake, ultimately deciding against it. The next hour would probably determine whether or not his plan would come to fruition. It had to. No matter what happened, he had to deliver that blow to Chase’s heart that would crush him from within. The hero needed to fall. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to deal with his brother’s bravado.

Just like when we were kids, Argos reflected. He was always the bull-headed, nauseatingly optimistic Samaritan.

That memory sent a shiver down Argos’ spine. This time was long gone. We are sitting at opposite extremes of the spectrum now. Part of him longed for the time when they were playful siblings, and life seemed bliss. That thought alone almost made Argos change his mind about the snake. He grabbed the handle of the jar’s lid and lifted it just enough to see a pair of glowing eyes in the dark, followed by a strong hiss. He put the lid back down and heard a second muffled hiss.

“You’ll get some flesh time later,” he murmured out loud.

The problem with Kyrian snakes was they were extremely rare and highly difficult to obtain; the only reason why Argos resorted to cloning. But the poison was an incredibly potent drug, were one to survive the bite. The Dragonmen of the once beautiful planet Kyria, destroyed long ago, had been very selective about to whom they gave them. Argos’ initial request to acquire one had been turned down. He had to go to great lengths to obtain another one from a different source.

Of course the drug had been synthesized for a long while. Millions of junkies bought it every day, all over Obsidian territory. But in its refined, synthesized form, the drug potency was lowered and its addictiveness multiplied. Like every drug, it was manufactured for profits or control. Cloned snakes weren’t cheap by any means, but cheaper and easier than requesting a new snake. And Argos knew he was much less in control when the poison ran through his veins… much more likely to kill the beast during bouts of anger, just like he had a few hours before.

He then remembered how much of a beating he’d received from their father, after he’d discovered that Argos was doing drugs. This was long before he’d been introduced to the deliciously life-threatening pain mixed with ecstasy that Kyrian snake’s poison brought to his life. When he first used Raintox and got caught, the beating he received was forever marked in his mind. He was fifteen. It wasn’t the pain that bothered him, but Argos’ instinctual aversion to obeying orders of any kind. To a certain extent, he knew he shared that, at least partially, with his brother Laiyos.

What dumb-ass started calling him “Chase,” he wondered?

A passing thought interrupted his painful drive through memory lane. He had to check something before they exited hyperspace. He opened a channel, and one of his Zarlack officers answered.

“Have you made the necessary modification to my ship?”

“Yes, Master. The Dark Star can now fully cloak for about thirty minutes.”

“Very good. Anything I should know?”

“Just that if you stay cloaked for more than ten minutes, you’ll have to do without shields temporarily.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. Thank you.”

“It’s an honor to serve, my Master.”

Argos flicked the holo-conversation away. Such a dumb, spineless race these reptilian Zarlacks were, but they served their purpose. For the time being. Once their former masters reclaimed the universe that was once theirs, things would get back to how they should’ve been all along. Today was the day Argos would speed that future day along.

28

Spiros heard the long-range detection alarm and braced for what was coming, but not before one last check on all systems. Everything was in the green, shields were at one hundred twenty percent capacity, and he had his fingers placed on the firing controls, ready to open fire on the Zarlack fleet.

“Let’s just make sure it’s not the Alliance jumping in,” he murmured to himself. “After almost ninety years of service to the Alliance, today is not the day I want a blemish on my file.” He chuckled.

A hyperspace window opened just outside of weapon’s range, giving him time to confirm that indeed the ships were Zarlacks—quite the fleet too. While he had no doubt that the Damocles-3 would be able to give them pause, he wouldn’t be able to get rid of all of them on his own. But he wouldn’t have to. Soon Captain Athanatos would come to the rescue. All he had to do was make sure that the station wasn’t destroyed and his work wasn’t captured.

It would probably take years for them to crack his encryption—unless of course they took him with it, in which case they might be smart enough to try his DNA against the encryption, a decision that would unlock it in no time. But Spiros would destroy everything from the ground up rather than hand it to an enemy.

I really have to stop thinking about worst-case scenarios, he thought.

Some of the ships entered firing range. That was Spiros’ cue. He selected the ship that seemed to have suffered the most damage in its previous battle with the Alliance fleet and targeted it. He diverted all power to just one of his last-minute enhancements, a concentrated stream of energy, and fired.

The purple stream of concentrated laser fire tore a hole in the target ship and it exploded.

“Welcome to Damocles, bitches, it’s payback time!”

The Zarlack armada responded in kind, firing at will at the station. The shields were holding pretty well, but he would have to get rid of a few more ships or they might be in for the long haul. He activated all laser turrets to concentrate their fire on the next ship on his list of weakened targets, and once its shields were low enough, he fired another shot of his main guns. Again, the purple burst of energy pierced its target, though it did not explode. It did, however, cripple the ship. And that was more than enough for Spiros to get to the next target, when he received an incoming transmission.

“This is Argos to the engineer currently firing at my troops.”

Spiros grinned. “I have a sure fire way for you to not receive any more damage: get the fuck out of my space!”

“Your space?” Argos laughed. “Alright, let’s just say it is your space for the moment. But that won’t last long and you know it.”

“Try me, asshole!”

“I’ll forgo the name calling for now, as I have a proposition for you.”

“Not interested.”

“Very well, it’s your funeral.”

The communications turned off and one of the biggest ships in the armada fired a very powerful shot at the station. The shields held but the entire station shook.

“I know where you are now,” Spiros called out loud. “See if you like my funeral arrangements.”

He targeted the behemoth Zarlack ship and fired everything he had. After a minute of firing main weapons, and turret laser fire, and even a few torpedoes, he saw that the impact on its shields had been only twenty percent, while the station had lost more than that in the same amount of time.

“Alright, not the right target to focus my limited energy on… obviously.”

He changed his targeting priorities and resumed attacking smaller ships in order of the more damaged to the less, now completely ignoring the massive ship which had already almost recovered its shields to full capacity.

“You’re lucky I didn’t have the time to install my new guns,” Spiros said defiantly, clearly unaware he was speaking to himself. But he couldn’t help but worry about the Alliance and the fact that his shields were already down to fifty percent.

But as if to answer his wishes, multiple ships jumped out of hyperspace just behind Argos’ armada. They lost no time engaging them, reducing the amount of firepower Damocles-3 had to deal with. The newly arrived fleet contained several Alliance ships, including one which he was unfamiliar with, but, from the sensor data he was receiving, seemed to be the most powerful of them all, and by a large margin.

The EAD Hope. That figures why it was Chase who had picked up the call.

Spiros recognized the Destiny amongst the other ships and wondered if it was still being captained by his friend and pupil Adonis Saroudis, a resident star from his years teaching at the academy. He was a smart and studious kid, one Spiros never doubted, even back then, would be given his own command. Attentive and always asking the right questions. Mind snapping back to the present, he then saw that the fleet also had Droxian ships and they were fighting alongside the Alliance.

“I never thought the Droxians would ally with anybody, but these are desperate times, I guess.”

He sank into the nearest chair, right after setting firing controls to fully automatic, making sure the Droxians were treated as allies, and exhaled deeply, his stress level lowering on the spot.

“Reinforcements are here. Now it’s time to enjoy the show and be ready for pick up any time soon.”

* * *

Chase addressed the fleet as soon as they exited hyperspace.

“Listen up, everyone, we need to deal with the Zarlack fleet, but most importantly, we need to get a hold of the schematics and rescue scientist Spiros Malayianis from the Damocles-3 station. This is a top priority, so we cannot let the station fall until that part of the mission is accomplished. Protect the station with your ships and lives if you have to.”

He opened a channel to Daniel.

“Dan, you and Sarah need to head to the station and locate Spiros. Make sure you have his research and come back onboard the Hope when you’re done.”

“Acknowledged. How do we board?”

“Contact Spiros once you’re near the shields so he can drop them around the landing bays long enough for you two to land on Damocles.”

“Sounds like a plan, Chase. Will report once the mission is accomplished.”

“Be careful.”

“Same to you, Captain,” Daniel said cheerfully, enjoying his friend’s acting title.

Chase didn’t like the idea of sitting this one out, but it was vital for him to command this fleet and make sure he did everything he needed to prevent the Damocles Station from being destroyed before they got their hand on Spiros and his precious data.

With most of his crew now back on their feet and the forces at play rightly balanced, he could, however, take the time to test a F-147. He itched to see what the craft could do, and he was confident he could still command the fleet and dogfight at the same time. So without a shadow of hesitation, he stuck the neuronal interface devices to his temple and powered up a StarFury in reserve onboard the Destiny.

The StarFury was mind-blowing, it flew like a dream, and he enjoyed his first engagement with a Zarlack fighter—even though it didn’t end up lasting very long after he deployed his drones. The tactical advantages were undeniable. He blew his first prey out of the sky with such ease he almost missed the thrill of the challenge. Then he brought his fighter about and decided to see what the StarFury could do against an entire enemy squadron.

Let’s even the odds a little, shall we?

He hit his afterburners and destroyed his first targeted enemy on the first pass, letting them pursue on purpose. He flew evasively, but not too much. He wanted to test the shields next. After a few seconds of letting them pound his aft shields down to forty percent, he punched in his favorite command for such a situation, Theta-4. The ship killed the engines and engaged reverse thrusters to maximum while seven Zarlack ships flew in front of him like shooting stars.

He lined up his first target and rained deadly laser fire on its aft shields just long enough to enjoy the moment before it exploded in a fiery display. He then engaged the next two targets—dispatching one with two missiles up its tail pipe, and finishing off the second with precise and relentless laser fire.

The thrill was coming back, and oh boy it felt good to pilot a starfighter again.

Sure he loved the manual feel of the stick, but he didn’t miss the old days. He always had the simulator for that anyway. Nothing could beat the high this perfectly synced neuronal interface was bringing. He acquired the last enemy craft in this squadron and picked them off, one by one, by perfectly lining laser fire and anticipating their every move. Once the last one exploded, he looked at his radar and located another incoming squadron.

He checked the status of the fight and saw that the Hope was doing well on his automatic scripted commands. It had destroyed one Zarlack destroyer and was giving another one hell. He had programmed it to alert him whenever the Hope’s shields reached fifty percent, but from his brief analysis of the sensor data, he could see that this was unlikely to happen for the time being.

He could try something different now with the next incoming squadron. He decided to use one of his drones as a shielded torpedo and sent it in the center of the tightly formed squadron, detonating it without a thought. The resulting explosion vaporized the entire squadron on the spot. He knew full well that this was wasting ordnance, but he couldn’t help himself. He needed to know if that would work and it did beyond his expectations.

One check on his scope told him that Daniel and Sarah, covered by the rest of both Destiny’s and Hope’s Alpha Squadrons, were arriving at their destination and soon they would board the Damocles Station.

But despite the all-around good news, he wondered what Argos would think of next. He had to have something planned. He had beaten them at every turn and Chase saw no reason why this time would be any different.

A salvo of laser fire on his starboard as well as the buzz of a missile lock brought Chase’s mind back to the fight. A Zarlack frigate had decided that he was doing too much damage to their starfighter wings.

Chase reconfigured his remaining drones for maximum firepower and a spinning pattern, then he engaged the frigate and fired at max power, redistributing the power on the fly each and every other second, lowering his shield to achieve maximum firepower on the frigate’s shields and boosting them back up when the incoming fire was becoming too focused and more difficult to evade. Readjusting power levels with his mind really opened new options and definitely boosted efficiency.

Once the frigate’s frontal shield reached twenty percent, he locked two missiles and a torpedo and fired them all at once. The faster missiles drained the shields completely as the torpedo tore through and exploded in front of the ship. It stopped firing, its weapons disabled. Another ten seconds of pounding laser fire from both his ship and drones did the job and the vessel exploded out in space with a bright flash and a resounding bang that shook the StarFury at its close range.

Then Chase’s ship blew up.

The broken link shook Chase to the core and he opened his eyes, clearly disoriented from losing the neuronal link with his StarFury.

“What happened?” he asked his crew.

“It looks like the behemoth ship fired a single, concentrated shot of plasma on your remote fighter; it was destroyed from the direct hit.”

“Son of a...” swore Chase.

He had been too cocky, not paying attention and feeling indestructible, and Argos had taught him a lesson. That meant only one thing though: he had felt that Chase wasn’t physically present on the ship. He could sense his vital energy somehow. Chase closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on Argos. If his brother could do it, perhaps so could he. He tried to expand his mind and quiet down every external stimuli emanating from the bridge, but instead of calming himself, his mind got agitated, his thoughts went all over the place beyond his control until chaos ensued. He then received three quick flashes in his mind.

He saw Daniel and Sarah meet with Spiros. Then he saw himself fighting Argos onboard the station. And finally, he saw a StarFury explode in space.

The power of the images cut the wind from his lungs and he felt a terrible sense of dread and anxiety invade his mind and permeate throughout his body. It was as if someone had stepped on his grave, and no matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to catch his breath.

“Captain! Are you alright? Should I call a medic?”

What the hell was that?

Was it the future he just saw in those millisecond flashes? And if it was, what did they mean and whose StarFury would get destroyed? Perhaps the StarFury was a flashback from losing his own ship a few seconds ago…?

“Captain?!” said the crewman, even more alarmed now.

Chase’s breathing became a little more constant, breath by breath.

“No, thank you, Ensign Boldaris. I’m fine... I think.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

* * *

As Daniel and Sarah approached the shields of the Damocles Station, he hailed it.

“This is Commander Tharraleos. I’m coming to get you out of the station. Can you please open a portion of the shields around docking bay three?”

“Give me a sec... There you go, you’re clear to land. I’m in the command center on deck one.”

“Roger that. Hang tight, we won’t be long.”

Daniel was the first to touch down on the floor of the docking station, followed immediately by Sarah. They exited their respective StarFuries, both drawing out their weapons. For Daniel, it was his service blaster pistol. For Sarah, the weapon she’d acquired on Hathan Prime.

Then, without exchanging a word between them, they began running for the nearest lift.

* * *

Argos was onboard the cloaked Dark Star when the shields were briefly lowered around one of the docking stations. He positioned his ship right behind the two StarFuries and waited for his moment of opportunity, hovering silently until they exited the bay on foot. Then he landed the Dark Star and got out of the ship. Since he was seeing everything Sarah was seeing, it wasn’t difficult for him to follow their steps.

When they took a lift to the top level deck, he pushed a mental command so Sarah would send the lift back to him undetected. When it arrived, he stepped inside and selected deck one as well.

29

After three minutes of sprinting, both Sarah and Daniel arrived at the command center and were greeted by Spiros, who was in a sparkling good mood.

“Is this a reunion?” he asked. “Weren’t you also one of my students at the academy?”

“That’s right,” said Daniel with a smile. “How are you, Professor?”

“Better now, and please, call me Spiros.”

“Alright, do you have the data containing your research?”

Spiros held up a translucent, blue, hexagonal data crystal pinched between two of his fingers. “Right here. We’re good to go.”

A loud voice boomed suddenly behind them.

“Nobody is going anywhere.”

Daniel’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Argos enter the room. He raised his blaster and fired three shots but the man stopped them with a simple wave of his hand.

“Really?” He cocked his head mockingly. “You think a gun will bring me down?”

Daniel opened a channel to Chase. “Chase, Arg—” But before he could finish his sentence, Argos had appeared in front of him and punched him in the guts so hard that he lost consciousness on the spot.

“Daniel, I didn't get your last transmission. What’s your status?”

Chase’s voice echoed over the comm as Argos caught Daniel’s body before he could fall all the way to the ground. He looked up at Spiros and saw pure terror in the man’s eyes.

“I’ll take this, if you please.” He snatched the crystal disk out of Spiros’ hand with his mind.

Spiros was startled to see the disk fly from his hand to Argos’ as if by magic.

“It’s useless if you don’t know how to open the files.”

“That’s the last of my worries right now, old man.” Argos smiled.

Spiros turned in desperation to Sarah, but saw her just standing there. “Why aren’t you trying to get the disk back?” he wailed. “What’s wrong with you?”

She launched at Spiros and clocked his head with her elbow, smashing his head down on a nearby console before he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Argos didn’t even look up. “Thank you, dear. Now open a channel to the Hope.”

She pushed Spiros’ unconscious body out of the way and entered a few commands. The next second, a nervous looking Chase appeared on the screen.

“What is it, Sarah?”

Argos grabbed Daniel by his hair and held him up as he stepped into view next to Sarah.

Chase’s blood froze.

“Friend of yours?” Argos asked curiously. “His head seems so fragile.”

“If you hurt him...”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be threatening me right now. I have both your friend and your beloved Sarah here. Oh, and this.” He held up the crystal with the other hand.

Chase ground his teeth together and tried to stay calm. “What do you want?”

“Come and get me,” Argos said directly. “You have three minutes or this one dies.”

As the communication ended, Chase had to use everything he had learned from Ares not to let his rage literally rip the galaxy in half. In a dead sprint, he ran to the door.

“Captain, where are you going?” inquired Sergeant Sparton.

“You have the bridge,” Chase called back as he bolted to the launch bays. He arrived just a second later, but to his great dismay, there was no ship. He commed Yanis immediately, glancing up at the clock in terror.

“Yanis’ genius hotline. How may I help you today?”

“Don’t we have a shuttlecraft of any kind or a reserve ship?”

“There should be a shuttle, why?”

“I need to go onboard Damocles-3, NOW!”

Yanis sobered up at once. “Lemme check… The logs show it departed while we were still inside the Gatos Nebula. Why don’t you recall one of the StarFury or Omega fighters?”

“I don’t think I have time anymore,” Chase panted. “Gotta go, thanks.”

“Sure, any⁠—”

Chase turned off the comm. It must have been the craft the emperor took when he left the ship. “Think, Chase...Think!” he said to himself, trying to make his brain run faster.

Then an idea popped into his head. Crazy? Sure. But did he have a choice? No.

 He quickly accessed his inner pool of energy and made a shield all around him. The blue energy coursed effortlessly back and forth as he tested it, making sure it would hold. When he was satisfied, he took a deep breath, said a silent prayer, and dove headfirst off the ship.

The second he was out in space, he tucked his limbs against his body like a bullet, leaving a small shockwave behind him as he accelerated towards the Damocles Station. In no time at all, he was travelling at a speed faster than a starfighter. He almost collided with a StarFury on his way and could sense it was Fillio’s. He even heard her train of thought in his mind as he passed only a few feet from her craft. “Holy shit… What the fuck was that?!”

He was almost upon the station when he remembered about the shields. He extended his hands in front of him and made a diamond shape, linking both his index fingers and thumbs together. A fraction of a second before impact, he unleashed a bright ray of light that made the shields flicker and created a small hole, just big enough for him to fly through. A few seconds later, he entered the launching bays where he saw two StarFuries as well as the black ship that had taken Sarah hostage in his first encounter with Argos in space around Earth.

He brushed the thought of destroying the ship away, knowing full well he was running out of time and Argos could kill both Daniel and Sarah if he did. Instead, he flew towards the nearest lift, blew the doors open with a fireball, and flew up the empty shaft. Less than three seconds later, he reached the end of the tube where the lift stood and blocked his way out.

With a great mental push, he flattened the lift’s cage to a third of its original size like it was made of carton. Sparks flew all over the place as he flew through the now accessible external doors, tearing them to shreds as he finally arrived in the corridor on deck one. The sheer velocity and trajectory of his flight path made him rebound a couple of times from nearby walls, until he managed to readjust his trajectory for the final stretch towards the command center. Upon impact with the closed doors at the end of the corridor he obliterated them and flew in like they weren’t there.

Argos and Sarah jumped back in shock. But Chase wasn’t nearly finished. He landed just a few feet from Argos, who was still holding Daniel, his eyes glowing purple with rage.

“This is between you and me. Put him down, gently,” he ordered.

Argos laughed cruelly but looked genuinely surprised. “You’ve made some impressive progress, brother. Did you just fly over here?”

“Put... him... down,” Chase repeated.

“What if I don⁠—”

But before Argos could finish his sentence, Chase flew over and snatched Daniel’s body away. He lowered it gently to the floor a few yards away, checked for a pulse, and then got up to face his brother.

“I told you… this is between us.”

“Impressive speed. But you can’t hope to defeat me.”

Chase ignored him and looked at Sarah. She seemed unnervingly calm and silent under the circumstances. A faint unease tugged at his stomach, but he nodded in her direction.

“You good, love?”

She nodded yes and Chase stared back at Argos with confident eyes.

Argos threw back his head and laughed out loud. “Love,” he repeated, “would you be so kind and take this.” He threw the crystal disk and she caught it robotically. “Take it away from here. I suggest you avoid the ships outside by using your StarFury’s cloaking ability.”

Chase turned to her in slow motion and her eyes flashed red.

It hit him like a battering ram to the heart. A million little questions were finally answered. A million little pieces suddenly clicked into place.

The sleepwalking, confusion, dizziness, eerie calm. She’d been under his influence all along. She was the spy. Unwillingly, of course. But the spy nonetheless.

Before he could stop her, she turned her back to both of them and started running down the corridor without even a look behind.

Chase was shaken, anchored to the spot. He felt a strange tearing in his chest, like she was taking his heart with her, but his feet were unable to move. As the sound of her footsteps faded away, he turned slowly back to Argos. A fury building inside his blood like no other.

“Come on now, Laiyos,” Argos taunted, “show me these new moves of yours. And this time, give me all you’ve got!”

Chase gritted his teeth. “Who’s Laiyos?”

“You are. That’s your birth name, by the way, ’cause I am sick and tired of calling you Chase!”

In his current frame of mind Chase couldn’t care less what his birth name was. All he cared about was killing Argos, right here, right now. And as much as he’d like to savor the moment, he had to do that fast to make sure they didn’t lose Sarah and the precious disk. Not a single soul in the Alliance could risk that information falling into the wrong hands.

He instinctively sent a telepathic message to Yanis, hoping he would get it.

Yanis, please tell me you can find any StarFury even if it’s cloaked! You need to make sure you track the one that will exit the station in a few moments.”

There was a brief silence before the words On it! echoed back in his mind.

Argos was impatient. “Well, since you’re not gonna make the first move⁠—”

He lifted his hand, but Chase answered with two ice-blue fireballs that he sent sailing his brother’s way. Argos raised his palms to deflect them just in time. They crashed into the walls instead, sending sparks and broken equipment scattering across the floor.

His eyes lit up and he smiled at Chase. “My turn!”

A red fireball shot through the air towards Chase, who managed to catch it before it ripped a hole in his stomach. The force of it sent him skidding back several feet across the floor, but with a good deal of strength, he was able to slowly dissipate it with his hands. Little red lightning bolts shot up and down his body as he raised his head, his eyes glowing purple.

“Impressive. You learn fast.”

Then Argos threw himself at Chase with lightning speed, launching a circular kick towards Chase’s head. Chase parried with his elbow and sent Argos flying back where he came from by kicking him straight in the thorax with incredible force. But while that may have been enough to kill a normal person, Argos was back on his feet in an instant. He leapt upon Chase again with a left blow that ended up being a feint for a right uppercut and caught him by surprise, sending him hurtling up towards the ceiling with tremendous force.

He dented the metal upon impact with an excruciating thud, and on the way back down, he was greeted with a fireball in front of his face. He rotated in midair and grabbed Argos’ arm just in time to affect the attack’s trajectory, as the fireball flew towards a wall nearby, grazing Chase’s cheek and making a small incision on his skin in the process. The fireball exploded on the wall, damaging equipment and creating a flurry of sparks and electrical short circuits around impact. Using his current momentum, Chase then spun around and slammed Argos against the floor, which promptly cracked under the shock. Chase then kicked his brother in the face with so much force he sent him flying and promptly crashing against the nearest window. The glass slightly cracked under the impact, and Argos spat blood from his mouth.

Argos barely managed to keep his balance, almost stumbling down, but he somehow managed to stay up. When he rose all the way back up he wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Well, now I’m pissed,” he hissed between bloody teeth.

He blinked out of existence and re-appeared behind Chase, hitting him full force with an elbow below Chase’s shoulder blade. Chase felt two of his ribs crack and the sharp pain that followed made him miss the upcoming kick to his face. He flew, spinning in the air, as Argos leapt in pursuit—both hands joined over his head as he smashed Chase into the ground in a fluid and incredibly powerful motion.

Chase gasped with pain as he hit the cold floor. Another rib snapped upon impact, but before he could recover his senses, Argos grabbed him by the hair and hit him so hard in the face, for a moment he lost consciousness. Argos threw Chase away against the nearest wall.

“You’re going to want to wake up, brother…”

The words echoed in Chase’s head and made him come to, a second before he would have crashed into the incoming wall. Instead, he was able to flip around and push off with his feet, flying back at Argos with unthinkable speed and clocking him with a powerful blow to the face, followed by a left hook. Using his momentum while Argos lost balance from the successive blows, he threw Argos flying upward with a flying uppercut. The sheer velocity and power of the attack sent Chase on the same path as his prey.

Being in position to strike again, Chase grabbed Argos’ head with both hands in mid-air, and landed four successive knee kicks to his face, one more powerful than the other, spilling his brother’s blood all over the place.

Chase then promptly grabbed his brother by the throat and he stood there, levitating while Argos’ limbs dangled and blood dripped downwards to the floor of the Damocles-3 command center.

He tightened his embrace and little by little crushed Argos’ windpipe as he prepared to throw a power punch, but not before making sure an ice-blue fireball engulfed his entire fist. He punched him again and again on the face, each hit bruising Argos’ face more and more, facial bones cracking under the power of each new blow. Chase then released his grasp on Argos and let the artificial gravity get a hold back on his brother once more. Argos crashed to the ground with a satisfying thud.

Not willing to let go of his current advantage, Chase, who still hadn’t moved, levitating high in the air, unleashed a flurry of powerful fireballs towards Argos at an incredible rate. The successive impacts and resulting explosions propelled Argos in the air once more and his body crashed, face first, against the floor a few yards away. Smoke rose from his motionless body.

Chase never knew he could unleash so much violence. Never knew he could hit someone so many times and still pull back for more. In the end, Argos’ face was unrecognizable. Almost every bone was dented in and every square inch of skin had been savaged and torn.

Chase lowered to the ground and took a step back, panting. His power levels were down by more than half, but he used a little more still, putting his hand on his side to heal his broken ribs.

Argos was slowly regaining consciousness, pulling himself weakly across the floor, but despite the fact that one more fireball could probably finish him off, Chase paused.

Could he really take the life of his own brother? Argos was evil, mad and needed to be stopped—no question. But in Chase’s moments of unbridled rage, were they really so different, he wondered.

Argos finally pulled himself up to his feet and straightened up to face his brother. Little torrents of blood rained down from almost every inch of him, but despite all that, the corners of his lips pulled up and he started laughing.

“I’m glad you think this is funny.” Chase shook his head. “Look at you; I’ve beaten you.”

But Argos suddenly didn’t look like a defeated man. In fact, the way he was staring back at Chase now made a shiver run up and down his brother’s spine. His face glowed manically for a moment, before he parted his bloody lips.

“Watch and learn… brother.”

He closed his eyes as a red light appeared on the ground beneath him, quickly engulfing him completely in its crimson glow. When it vanished a moment later, Argos looked exactly the same except for one, major difference.

He was completely healed.

Chase’s eyes grew wide and he took a step back.

“See, I told you your overconfidence would be your downfall. You think you won the fight, but in fact you’ve just lost it. I observed your technique and attacked you just enough to make sure you gave it all you had. And while you’re managing your inner energy quite well now, I bet you’ve spent more than half your reserve.”

Chase swore in his head. Son of a…

“I’ve barely tapped into ten percent of mine. Now I can crush you with ease.”

“I have more than enough energy left,” Chase said defiantly.

Argos grinned. “You should know by now that my telepathic and empathic abilities allow me to know when you’re lying.”

Chase remembered Ares’ warning about how formidable an enemy his brother was, and that he wasn’t ready yet to win in a direct confrontation. He also remembered the warning about being careful to use his pool of energy wisely. Chase thought he did all that and in the rush of fighting, felt like it gave him wings for a while. But seeing his brother reset to max power with such ease brought doubt and fear, deep within Chase’s psyche, as to the outcome of this fight.

Still, Argos had tortured Sarah, and now that he knew he had manipulated her all this time, he was going to make sure Argos could no longer hurt her. Not ever. Rage engulfed Chase’s very soul, sending him to the threshold of losing control, and the station started trembling heavily. Blue lightning bolts crackled all around him, casting ethereal lights on the station’s floor. His eyes glowed brightly, purple light radiating all over Chase’s face. Logic went out the window as Chase launched himself towards Argos, fully determined to rip his brother from the galaxy…

30

Chase launched himself towards Argos with all his might, thinking not about revenge, but about pure destruction, plain and simple. He was now at the very edge of sanity, still under control, but only just.

Chase threw three successive blows at Argos’ face, but the brother who met him was a different man than the one before. He dodged Chase’s attacks with disconcerting ease, repelling Chase back with a single, fierce blow to the sternum, delivered with the edge of his right hand.

It took the wind out of Chase for a moment. Argos smiled as he launched a series of straight kicks followed by arching ones. Chase parried and dodged them all until Argos’ knee, coming out of nowhere, hit Chase squarely in the jaw, sending him flying through the air at tremendous speed. As he collided with the ceiling, the paneling bent under the impact and sparks flew. Chase was falling down towards the ground when he felt incoming attacks from behind. He spun in the air and saw flashing red fireballs. Five of them. He managed to deflect the first three but the last two changed trajectories at the last moment and impacted with his body both front and behind at the same time, sending an intense wave of pain radiating throughout his entire being. Things only got worse when he finally hit the ground, face first.

Chase’s previous sense of dread grew stronger. Had he bitten off more than he could chew? He now felt ridiculous thinking he had won that fight mere moments ago. With his head still ringing and pain throbbing throughout every one of his muscles, he struggled to get back up on his feet.

He collapsed against the ground, panting and coughing up blood. What had he been thinking? He couldn’t defeat Argos by will power alone, could he?

A strange vibration hummed through the air and Chase looked up to see Argos making his biggest fireball yet. It wasn’t even a fireball so much as a huge, impenetrable sphere of energy—as big as Chase himself.

Without hesitation Argos launched his attack. The fireball extended into a powerful stream of red energy coming towards Chase at tremendous speed. Chase reacted instinctively. He drew a circle in the air with both his hands in front of him, creating a translucent blue shield before the whole thing came crashing down on him.

His arms quavered as he slid back against the floor, buckling under the strain. Red lightning started to crackle around the shield as Argos intensified the beam with a smile.

Chase didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up—it would either crush or drain him—but he had a sickening feeling that Argos knew exactly how long. That he was just biding his time.

That’s precisely the moment that everything took a turn for the worse.

Behind Argos’ back, Daniel began regaining consciousness. He opened his eyes slowly and they focused in terror on his friend. With Chase’s demise clearly imminent, Daniel knew what he had to do. He silently picked up a shard of glass and limped towards Argos—too focused on Chase to notice anything else. Then, with a farewell smile, he thrust it into the Fury’s back, impaling him from behind.

Argos released a shriek of pain that made the entire station tremble. He turned around and launched a similar, thinner stream of energy towards Daniel. It hit him dead center in the chest and tore through it like he was made of paper. Blood and bone flew backwards into the air, as Chase’s best friend in the world dropped, lifeless, to the floor.

It was like something in Chase’s head just snapped. The rage he had kept at bay the entire fight overtook him.

His eyes flashed blinding amethyst as images of Daniel filled his mind. Flying together, drinking and laughing together, their first day at the academy.

His hair was thrown up in the air, hovering and waving madly above his head. He clenched his teeth as a thousand tears shot towards the heavens. Chase let out a haunting growl, coming from the deepest and darkest corners of hell.

“NOOOOOOOO!”

The shout blew out every light source around them; sparks flew madly and consoles in Chase’s vicinity bent and collapsed on themselves.

Without stopping to think, he closed his eyes and released the shield, grabbing the stream of energy from Argos’ attack with his bare hands. He plunged his hands deep into the center, letting its destructive power flow through him, replenishing his energy as well as fueling his rage. A powerful, flaming aura enveloped him as flashes of orange lightning danced through the air.

When Chase opened his eyes, they were the same flaming color, and a powerful shockwave almost knocked Argos off balance.

With flames of sun-fire power dancing behind him and revenge now his sole reason to be, he launched towards Argos so fast he might as well be teleporting. He unleashed a series of attacks while flying all around Argos in a random, star-like pattern, leaving a bright orange trail behind him as he moved near the speed of light. With each and every pass, he unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks of impossible power and speed, sending Argos’ body all over the place. But his brother was moving so fast that with each pass, Argos always ended thrown back where he stood, never able to fully lose his balance, or fall, no matter how much he felt like it. Argos felt trapped within an invisible force field, relentless punches and kicks seemingly coming from all around him at once. Blood and teeth flew, bones cracked and shattered and there was absolutely nothing Argos could do to dodge or parry any of it. With each successive hit, Chase saw terror and helplessness grow in the eyes of his brother, as the glowing red in them faded a little more with each passing moment. When it finally stopped, Argos fell to his knees and collapsed motionless to the ground.

Chase knelt down near Argos. When he grabbed him by the blood-soaked and torn clothes, his head tilted backwards on its own. He was still unconscious. Chase raised his other hand, palm open, and filled it with sun-orange energy, readying himself to deliver the final blow, about to decapitate his brother, when he heard something.

“Chase…”

He dropped Argos to the floor at once and whirled around in shock. He couldn’t believe his eyes…

Daniel blinked back at him, struggling to speak but fading fast.

In a flash, Chase was at his side, enveloping him in the same sort of healing cloud that Argos had used a moment before. But instead of dark red fire, his was flaming orange.

He saw Daniel smiling back at him, looking as though nothing had ever touched him.

“That... never gets old.”

Chase let out a bark of laughter. “I—I thought⁠—”

“Behind you,” Daniel warned.

Chase glanced back and saw Argos trying to crawl away. With a look of total hate, he got up and dragged his brother by the hair to the viewport window, giving him a perfect view of the battle raging on below. The Earth Alliance was clearly winning. What Zarlack ships were still operational were already falling into retreat.

“Look, brother, you have lost. Your fleet is defeated, and now you will die.”

Argos tried to speak but Chase knocked his head against the glass repeatedly. He then threw Argos in the air and made him levitate in front of him, his limbs dangling in the air.

Orange fire flashed in his eyes as he stepped forward and grabbed him by the throat, a triumphant smile dancing on his face. “And now you die!”

Argos panted and tried to speak, but the grip on his throat was crushing his vocal chords. In the end, however, he summoned up just enough energy to say one telepathic word.

“Sarah!”

The name sent a spark and a shiver down Chase’s back. He released his grip slightly.

“Speak!”

“If you kill me, she dies,” Argos panted.

Chase shook his head. “I don’t believe you. If I kill you, your grip on her mind will be released and she’ll bring back the data crystal.”

“If you truly believe that… then finish me off.”

A wave of rage coursed through Chase and he tightened his grip, cutting off all the oxygen to Argos’ brain. He would kill him now. And then everything would be fine.

“Chase!” Daniel shouted.

“What?!” Chase called back, staring into Argos’ eyes as all the life faded away.

“Don’t do this! If it does kill Sarah, you will never be able to forgive yourself!”

Chase wanted to let go but somehow couldn’t.

“CHASE! Let him go before it’s too late!”

He tried again, but couldn’t. That’s when an image of Sarah flashed through his mind.

All at once, he released Argos, dropping him to the floor as he turned back to his friend and helped him get to his feet.

“We need to get Sarah back. We’ll take your StarFury.”

Daniel nodded. “What about him?”

Chase looked at Argos, but before he could decide, his brother clicked a device in his pocket, and in a cloud of orange light, he was gone.

“Dammit!” Chase lashed out.

“You didn’t have any other choice,” Daniel said, putting his arm on his friend’s shoulder.

“Tell that to the members of the million families he killed,” said Chase with an intense expression of sadness across his face.

“That wasn’t your fault,” Daniel insisted. “If anything, you helped make sure he didn’t kill everyone on Earth. Stop feeling so responsible for god’s sake!”

Chase glanced at his friend with a small smile. “Thanks.” He suddenly pulled him into a warm embrace. “Now hold on tight!”

Daniel looked around. “What? Wh⁠—”

They flew off the command deck at tremendous speed.

Daniel screamed aloud but tilted back his head as walls streaked past. “You can fly?!”

“I know.” Chase started grinning uncontrollably.

“Holy shit on a hyperspace engine! This is unbelievable!”

It only took a few seconds for them to arrive at the remaining StarFury—just in time to see Argos’ ship take off, blow a hole through the station’s shields and immediately disappear into hyperspace.

For a moment Chase was incredibly tempted to go after it, but one look at Daniel’s determined face clarified his priorities. They rushed to the ship but were stopped at the last moment by a voice echoing through the bay’s speakers.

“Hey! What about me? Take me with you!” Spiros called.

“We’ll send someone to pick you up. Hang tight,” Chase called back. “Just drop the shields as we leave the station, okay?”

“What would you have done if I hadn’t woken up, boy?”

Chase grinned. “Believe me, I would have found a way.”

They entered the StarFury and shot out through space. The second they were away, Chase opened a channel to Yanis.

“Hey, pal, did you get the schematics containing Dr. Malayianis’ awesome new tech?”

“Sarah got them,” Chase replied, “that’s why I needed you to track her.”

“She jumped to hyperspace not long ago, but I’m sending you her exit vector now.”

“Thanks, buddy. All good onboard my ship?”

“Yeah, we’re about done with the enemy fleet.”

Chase and Daniel gave each other a look of relief. “Excellent. Have someone pick up Spiros Malayianis from the station. Any news from Commodore Saroudis?”

Yanis sounded tense. “They’ve just finished operating and placed him in a regen tank, but his injuries were severe. I hope he makes a full recovery.”

“So do I. Thanks, Yanis.”

“Sure, see you soon.”

“Yeah, we’ll pick up Sarah and come back ASAP.”

“Good luck.”

Chase killed the comm, fed the coordinates, diverted all power to the jump engines, and then jumped into hyperspace.

* * *

Onboard the Dark Star, Argos just finished healing himself. He had been too close to death for comfort and was still trying to understand how his brother Laiyos, who had always been inferior to him in every way, had managed to put him in such a state.

“Note to self, don’t kill his friends in front of him,” he said with a chuckle.

Argos’ ego had been hurt deeply. He was not happy about losing this fight, but only the end result mattered now. And with his next move, he would seal Chase’s fate for good.

He opened a channel to one of his ships on standby in the area.

“Yes, Master,” answered one of his Zarlack lackeys.

“Drop the jamming fields.”

“Jamming fields dropped.”

Argos sped off into space with a dark smile.

“So long, brother.”

* * *

The StarFury dropped out of hyperspace and Chase scanned for Sarah’s ship. It was only a minute away. With a gasp of relief, he vectored towards her at maximum afterburners.

It only took a few moments to catch up and he opened a channel.

“Sarah… I’m hoping you’re no longer under Argos’ influence. Please respond.”

Silence.

“Sarah?”

Not a thing.

Chase’s throat closed up and his eyes filled with angry tears. “Dammit!”

An incoming transmission buzzed within the cockpit. Code Red transmission from Admiral Thassos. “Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos, please respond.”

“Chase here. What can I do for you, Admiral?”

The admiral sounded frantic. “I’m sending you files you need to look at. Sarah is a spy!”

“I know. She was under Argos’ mind control all along. She couldn’t control what she was doing. Don’t worry. We’re in pursuit right now.”

“I don’t think you understand, Lieutenant Commander. Not only is she a spy, but she also orchestrated the terror attacks on Earth. While your assault fleet was trying to destroy the shipyard, her nefarious plans almost cost every single living being on Earth their life.”

Chase paled and stared out at her ship. “She has the schematics for the ultra-advanced weaponry developed by Malayianis on board as well…”

“Spiros Malayianis is alive? He’s our top R&D scientist!” the admiral shrieked. “She could bring them straight back to the enemy, and that’s not a risk we can afford to take. Your orders are to shoot to kill, Lieutenant Commander. Please confirm the order?”

Chase felt his heart harden to a stop inside his chest. He tried to focus on what the admiral was saying, but his mind couldn’t process the command.

“I—I’m sorry. Say again, Admiral?”

“Your orders are shoot to kill. Please confirm.”

Daniel looked at him in horror and Chase shook his head in a daze.

“I can’t do that, Admiral. I—I love her. It’s not her fault. She’s… carrying my child.”

There was a slight pause before the voice crackled through again. “I’m truly sorry to hear that, Lieutenant Commander, but you must think of the bigger picture here. If Argos gets his hands on this technology, it’s the end of us all. This is a direct order!”

Chase killed the comm.

“What are you doing?” Daniel gasped. “Did you just hang up on the admiral?”

“No, we simply had trouble with communications.”

“Right, she’s gonna believe that.”

Chase threw up his hands. “Look, I… I need to think. I need a plan!”

Daniel’s face tightened with pity. “Bro, I understand. But as much as it pains me to say this… she has a point.”

“I should have killed Argos! If he was dead there would be other options.”

“Perhaps, or perhaps she would have been killed and the data recovered by someone else in the Zarlack ranks.”

“No! I let Argos live and now I am faced with this impossible choice!”

What should I do? he thought desperately. I can’t kill Sarah! I can’t kill my unborn child!

* * *

Onboard the Dark Star, Argos received the red-coded alert meaning that an Olympian was establishing communication with Chase. He acknowledged the alert on his terminal to hijack the transmission.

Oh, Aphroditis… your timing couldn’t be better; thank you, dear.

* * *

“Chase, listen to me very carefully, you must—” But Aphroditis’ voice was cut off in a sudden burst of static. It was the first time Chase had ever heard such a peculiar sound.

“Aphroditis? We’ve been cut-off,” he shouted back. “I must what?”

“What’s going on?” Daniel asked in surprise.

“Hang on...” answered Chase.

“Chase, can you hear me?” called Aphroditis.

“I hear you.”

“Chase, you must not let Sarah escape with these plans. If you do, all is lost. Everyone will die and Argos will win.”

Chase reeled back in horror. “I don’t think you or the admiral understand what you’re asking of me! I can’t kill my unborn child! I can’t kill Sarah! She is everything to me!”

“I’m so sorry, Chase, but think deep and hard. We’re talking about billions of lives here. What would Sarah want you to do? How would you live with yourself?”

Tears started streaming down Chase’s face.

He locked onto Sarah’s StarFury and fired just enough laser to shut down her shields.

“Sarah! Please don’t, I beg you! Turn around; we’ll find a way to make things right!”

A deafening silence answered him.

Chase swore loudly and increased his speed.

“You know what it will mean if you don’t do this now,” Aphroditis said solemnly.

It felt like an icy hand was slowly closing around his chest, squeezing the life out of him as bursts of conflicting emotions waged a war inside his soul.

Then Daniel StarFury’s radar bleeped a warning.

A ship was approaching fast. As it de-cloaked beside them, Chase saw Argos’ dark ship. It was darker than space itself, and just looking at it gave Chase the chills.

He veered off immediately and engaged it, firing everything he had left, but it only drained the Dark Star’s shields about thirty percent.

“That tech is mine, brother,” Argos said telepathically. “And with it, defeating your new pathetic Alliance will be a breeze.”

“Chase,” Daniel said gravely, “we can’t let him get his hands on this data. If he does, it’s the end of the war; it’s the end of all of us.” He paused, staring at his brother-in-arms. “That being said… I can take that shot for you.”

“No! Don’t!”

“Time is running out,” Aphroditis warned. “In a few seconds, Argos will recover the tech and everything will be lost!”

More tears burned Chase’s eyes as he vectored his ship and lined it up behind Sarah’s fighter. He fired a few more shots to get her attention and smoke poured out of her engines.

“Sarah, I beg you. Please turn around or give me some sort of sign that you’re in there, my love. Sarah, please! I can’t—I don’t want to do this!”

And then he heard her voice inside his mind.

“Chase, this is taking all the strength I have left so you have to listen carefully. You have to shoot me down. There’s no other way… I will wait for you at the gates of dawn, my love.”

The Dark Star approached Sarah’s StarFury and was now nearly upon her.

It was like the space around them went silent. Chase could still see everything happening, like sensing the vibration coming from the ship… but everything else inside his mind went quiet. As if he had lost part of his senses.

The power of Chase’s emotions ran through every fiber of his being with the force of a thousand tsunamis. Dread, remorse and self-hatred blackened his very soul like an unstoppable venom. But then, the sheer weight of his sorrow pressed down inside his chest and he knew he would never be the same after this. The weight of the decision changed him forever. A vital part of his soul had just died.

With silent tears streaming down his face, he locked onto Sarah’s ship, diverted all power to his weapons, and set them at their maximum.

His lips parted with a broken sob.

“I love you with all my heart, Sarah. Please forgive me. Both of you.”

He then closed his eyes… and opened fire.

End of book II…

INTO THE ABYSS (NOVELETTE)

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Commander Sarah Kepler – Earth Human (formerly US Navy Commander - deceased)

Commander Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Captain Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Captain)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos (yah-nis tee-hee-hos)– Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Commander Fillio Steriopoulou (fee-lyo steh-ree-oh-poo-loo) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Olympians

Aphroditis (a-fro-dee-tee)– known to humans as the Goddess of Love

Ares (ah-rees)– know to humans as the god of war

Obsidian / Zarlacks

Argos Thanatos – Head of the Zarlacks

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

Production Editor & Alpha/ARC Team Lead

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Editors

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Proofreaders

Alpha Team & ARC Team. You guys rock!!

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2019 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

1

“What did you just say, Lieutenant Commander?” asked Commodore Saroudis.

“I’m resigning my commission, sir,” said Chase.

“You can’t be serious? Why would you do that?”

“You know very well why.”

“Look, Chase, I understand how you must feel, but as your commanding officer, and hopefully your friend as well, I’m asking you to reconsider.”

“With all due respect, sir, I don’t think you understand how I feel.”

Chase could see on Adonis’s face that he had hurt his feelings with his comment. But right now, he was numb to the need of others.

“I have lost my family in this war as well.”

“Perhaps, but you weren’t the one who fired the shot that killed them. I can’t sleep. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of anything else. I keep seeing Sarah’s StarFury explode over and over. I—I can’t continue to serve for the Alliance. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too, Chase, I know this must be really difficult for you. And I truly am sorry for your loss and the circumstances in which it happened. It must have been a difficult choice. Hopefully, one day you will accept it, but on behalf of the Alliance, you did the right thing.”

“I don’t agree. And it doesn’t matter now, what’s done is done. In my heart I can’t forgive myself. I need time to think, and…”

“Heal?”

“If only… I don’t think that’s in the cards for me. I don’t see how I can ever recover from this. And maybe I’m not supposed to.”

“They say time heals all wounds.”

“Who does?”

“The humans. I’ve read the saying in many of their books.”

“Even if that sentiment were true, I get the feeling it would take multiple lifetimes.”

Commodore Saroudis took a deep breath. “Is there anything I can do or say to make you reconsider your deicision? I won’t lie to you, Chase. You’re my best pilot, and your tactics, even though crazier than a wild groboar, have always proven effective. Even against my better judgment sometimes.”

“Daniel is just as good a pilot as I am. And he flies by the book, making him a more reliable asset.”

“Daniel is a great wing commander, that’s true…but he doesn’t have your flying instincts, nor your ability to look at a situation and find an out-of-the-box solution to it. Since we’re talking about him, what does he have to say about this? Have you spoken to him?”

Chase shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Seeing how close the two of you are, don’t you think you should have had this discussion with him first?”

Chase couldn’t stand to stay in this office any longer. Everything around him reminded him of his time with Sarah, the battles they fought together, the love they shared. He needed to get away, far away.

“Look, I appreciate your concerns, Commodore, but I just need to know that you’ll accept my resignation. So…will you?”

Saroudis grimaced. “If it’s really what you want.”

Chase tone left no doubts about it. “It is, sir.”

“Very well, then. I accept your resignation. You’re dismissed.”

Chase saluted his commanding officer one last time before leaving his ready room.

* * *

“What’s the matter?” Ares asked.

“Chase blew me off,” said Aphroditis. “Again!”

“What do you mean?”

“The last times I tried contacting him, he didn’t want to talk to me. He seemed angry too. I wonder why.”

“We’ve put a lot of pressure on him; we sent him to fight his own brother. Perhaps he wasn’t ready.”

“I thought you said he was.”

“Now is not the time for finger pointing. I trained him in record time, and he was as ready as anyone could be considering the accelerated crash course he got from me. But Argos isn’t just a Fury, he’s one of their elite warriors. Chase had a good grasp on his burgeoning powers when he faced him, yes, but that’s a long way from being ready to defeat someone as powerful as Argos.”

Ares sighed before continuing. “What worries me the most is the interruption we’ve suffered when you tried contacting him after his fight on Damocles-3. Something doesn’t sit right.”

“I thought you said it must have been interference from the solar winds.”

“That’s what I thought too, at first. Now…I’m not so sure.”

“Do you mind if I ask what made you doubt your initial assessment?”

“I’m not sure you want to hear it.”

“Try me, Ares.”

“I can’t find any definitive sensor data to coincide with my theory. And that bothers me.”

“It bothers me too, just like it did when it happened. I can’t explain it, it’s mostly a feeling I have.”

“I see…”

“Maybe I’m just rattled because of the lack of communication with Chase.”

“Or maybe your instinct is trying to tell you something. And with your power of precognition, I think it would be best that I investigate the matter further.”

“Thank you, Ares.”

“Don’t thank me yet. If I waste days for nothing, you won’t hear the end of it.”

Aphroditis smiled. “I can live with that.”

2

Chase couldn’t sleep. Nights were the worst, lying in the darkness with no noise besides the faint humming of the Destiny’s engines.

For weeks now, every night had been the same as the one that preceded it. Chase would close his eyes, and he would replay the scene in his mind. The worst moment of his life and he was reliving it over and over. Hearing Aphroditis’ voice telling him to take the shot, telling him to squeeze the trigger. And then Sarah’s ship would explode again and again.

The pain in his soul was so strong that Chase would give anything to make it stop. Tonight, though, it felt even stronger than before. In moments like these, Chase questioned why he bothered staying alive in the first place.

What did he have to look forward to now? Defeating his brother? Sure, just thinking about Argos made Chase so angry it threatened to spiral him out of control. He would give anything to find Argos and rip his heart out. Still…that wouldn’t bring Sarah back.

He let his mind wander, and he fantasized about walking toward the nearest airlock, entering it, and spacing himself. The only reason he hadn’t acted on this impulse was he knew Sarah would disapprove. And if there were an afterlife, he would have to explain himself to her.

The only thing left was to get revenge on the one person who put him in this position in the first place. One way or another, he would kill Argos, then—and maybe only then—he would think about leaving this world.

* * *

Argos’ eyes flashed red, echoing his anger.

“What the hell do you mean you can’t locate the Olympians?”

“I’m sorry, master,” said the Zarlack officer. “We thought we had triangulated the signal on their last subspace holo-transmission attempt, but the transmission was too short to acquire a lock.”

Argos growled. “I don’t care about your excuses! Just find me the damn source for these transmissions or I’ll have your head. Understood?”

The Zarlack’s voice trembled. “Yes, master.”

Argos stormed out of the science bay and walked back to his ready room. Once there, he sat on his throne.

The Fury had been on edge ever since his brother had not only defeated him but also nearly killed him. Chase had displayed an incredible amount of power that day. As a matter of fact, Argos never thought any Fury could unleash that much energy.

Could he be the—But Argos stopped his own train of thought. No, that’s ridiculous of me even to think that.

Whatever training Chase had received from the Olympians, it must have been quite efficient. Especially considering how weak Chase had been during their first encounter on Hellstar. It’s like Argos had faced two different people.

Then again, Argos had the advantage in most of the fight on Damocles-3, but only when he wounded Chase’s friend did his brother unleash all his power.

In that instant, Argos could barely see his brother move, and with each of his attacks, he thought he’d perish. One thing was for certain, Argos would give up everything to wield such raw power.

An emotion Argos hated came to the surface. Fear.

How could an elite Fury warrior experience fear? As much as he tried to deny it, his near-death experience at the hands of his brother had rattled him more than he ever thought possible.

Argos opened the jar near his throne and let the Kyrian snake bite his arm. The poison ran through his veins, and the fear faded away and was replaced by euphoria. Kyrian snake venom was Argos’ only escape these days, and he spent many of his days intoxicated by it.

Perhaps I should have killed you when I had the chance…thought Argos before his thoughts blurred into oblivion.

3

The door chimed as Chase finished packing some clothes inside a backpack.

I wonder who it could be?

“Enter,” said Chase.

The door slid open. Fillio stood behind it. “You have a moment?”

Chase grimaced. “Not exactly a good time.”

“That’s what you’ve said for the last couple of days every time I’ve tried contacting you. So do you think there will ever be a good time?”

“Look, I don’t want to talk about what happened.”

Fillio entered Chase’s quarters, and the door slid shut behind her.

“How do you know what I want to talk about?”

“Everyone’s been trying to comfort me about Sarah’s death. I wish they would stop.”

“Fair enough. Let’s talk about something else, then?”

“I’d rather be left alone.”

“Well, we don’t always get what we want.”

Chase knew that all too well. All he wished since Sarah’s ship had exploded was to turn back time and make a different choice. Even if the Alliance had given him a medal for shooting down Sarah’s StarFury, Chase knew he had made a terrible mistake. The damn thing only reminded him he shot down the ship holding the woman he loved and their unborn child.

Tears filled Chase’s eyes.

“Hey,” said Fillio. “I’m sorry. I only wanted to try to cheer you up. Not make you feel even worse.”

“And I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but right now, I’d rather be alone.”

She put her soft hand on his shoulder. “Alright. I’ll leave you be. But if you need to talk, be it day or night, you know where to find me, okay?”

Chase nodded, and Fillio left his quarters.

* * *

With a heavy heart, Chase climbed into his custom long-range missions StarFury. Now that he was in the pilot’s seat, leaving the Destiny was harder than he thought it would be.

Leaving Daniel behind was even harder, especially doing it behind his back without saying goodbye. Chase hated himself for doing so, but he knew that if there was one person in the universe that could convince him to stay, it was Daniel. But Chase couldn’t stay. This place, this part of space, it all reminded him of a past he desperately needed to forget.

Chase only hoped his best friend would forgive him. Or at the very least, understand his decision. Maybe over time, he would.

Everywhere he looked reminded him of Sarah, and every day he stayed on board the Destiny, it was getting worse. For better or for worse, the time had come for Chase to go far away.

I’m sorry, Daniel, I gotta get out of here.

Chase checked the starfighter’s systems. Every system was up and ready; his quadrinium reserve to the maximum and enough fuel stocked into the small cargo area usually reserved for secondary power to last him a few weeks. Chase had two StarFuries, his short-range combat one and one he had asked his friend Yanis to customize for long-range missions.

The latter one dispensed with some of the armaments and redundant systems for a larger quadrinium chamber, allowing for longer missions behind enemy lines where refueling the craft on a carrier like the Destiny was not an option.

This was the second time Chase entered the cockpit of this particular craft. The first time had been during its test flight where he had instructed Yanis on the modifications he needed to be made. As always, Yanis’ technical expertise had paid off, and the ship was ready for Chase’s next journey.

Of course, he never thought the modifications to this starfighter would be used to abandon his old life and head him into the unknown. But, instead, Chase had designed this variation for longer missions. This StarFury’s engines were tuned for much longer jumps at the cost of lower firepower.

From a certain point of view, that’s exactly what he was about to embark on, a longer mission. One to quench his ever-growing thirst for revenge, slowly but surely reaching its boiling point deep within his soul.

4

“What’s going on?” said a tired Saroudis, still trying to wake up. “You better have a good reason for disturbing me.”

“I’m sorry, Commodore,” said his officer. “We’ve detected an unauthorized StarFury launch. It’s former Lieutenant Commander Athanatos.”

That did the trick and sent enough of a jolt to the commodore’s brain to wake him fully from his semi-conscious slumber. Saroudis shook his head to regain all his senses further.

“Patch me through to the ship. Now.”

“Patching you through, Commodore.”

The holo-screen turned to life in Saroudis’ quarters, filling its screen with a familiar face, albeit inside a helmet.

“Chase, what are you doing?”

“I’m sorry, Commodore, I need to get out of here.”

“Be that as it may, you’re no longer part of the Earth Alliance, so turn your ship around and return to the Destiny at once. You’re no longer authorized to fly a StarFury and you know it. You can’t have it both ways.”

“I’m sorry, sir, but that’s an order I can’t comply with. I need a ship.”

“Perhaps if you had asked me, I would have considered lending you one. But you can’t take a StarFury on a whim and just fly away.”

“And yet that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

“Look, Chase. I know you’re hurt, but please, don’t do this. Right now, StarFuries are the one advantage we have over the Obsidian Empire in terms of firepower. If yours gets captured, they’ll be able to reverse engineer it and find countermeasures, and we can’t afford that.”

“I won’t let Obsidian forces take my StarFury, you have my word.”

“That is not your decision to make, Chase, so this is the last time I’ll ask you before branding you a renegade and sending a squadron after you to stop you.”

There was a pause, but Saroudis could read Chase like an open book. And he didn’t like what he saw in his eyes. Anger, hatred, sadness, and revenge all mixed into a fiery gaze.

Saroudis swallowed hard, waiting for Chase’s reply.

“This is my ship!” shouted Chase. “I helped design it from the ground up, and I’m the one who sacrificed everything so we would survive the Obsidian onslaught. So, with all due respect, sir, you can shove your order where the sun doesn’t shine. I’m taking this StarFury, and I’ll destroy anyone stupid enough to come after me, so do us all a favor and just let this be. Athanatos out!”

Before Saroudis could answer, Chase had turned off the holo-communication and a bright flash outside the quarter’s viewport told Saroudis that Chase’s ship had entered hyperspace.

Saroudis reached for his wrist holo-device to call the bridge, but his fingers paused over the controls. He hesitated for what felt like an eternity.

Was Chase right? Did they owe him more than the commodore was willing to admit? The Lieutenant Commander had always been a hothead, and defiance had always been part of his attitude, as much as it pained Saroudis. But Chase had saved their lives many times in the past. And he was hurting.

Saroudis knew that feeling well. He missed his wife and his children, and while war had taken them away from him, he knew Chase’s predicament was different.

Would Saroudis have shot and killed his own family? And if he had, wouldn’t he feel the same feelings of remorse and hatred he sensed in Chase? As much as he deplored acknowledging it, he knew that in Chase’s place, he most likely would feel exactly like him.

So he never contacted the bridge to order ships to deploy to go after Chase. Instead, he turned off the lights in his quarters and his head hit the pillow, even though he knew sleep would not return that night.

* * *

“How the hell did you let this happen, sir!” exclaimed Daniel.

“Commander Tharraleos, I would watch your tone if I were you,” answered Saroudis. “One arrogant, self-centered, and out of control pilot is enough. I don’t need another one.”

Daniel took a deep breath, calming himself. “I apologize, sir. But why didn’t anyone tell me Chase left the ship or that he resigned?”

“Look, Daniel, it was his decision. I tried talking him out of it, but he wouldn’t have it. I don’t have to tell you how stubborn your friend can be.”

Daniel shook his head in disbelief. “I…I just can’t believe he’s gone, without saying a word.”

“He’s hurting, and he probably feared you’d do everything you could to prevent him from going.”

“I would have.”

“Then put yourself in his shoes, and you’ll understand why he didn’t say goodbye or let you know about his intentions.”

“He told you.”

“I think he needed to tell at least one person, so he went for the one person he’s used to being rebellious toward. And that’s partly my fault. I’ve always been too lenient with the Lieutenant Commander. Chase may be the best pilot I’ve ever witnessed, but you and I both know he never belonged in the military.“

“That’s a little harsh.”

“As his best friend, I can see why you’d say that. But the truth of the matter is, Chase always did what he wanted, and orders be damned.”

Daniel knew it would be difficult to argue this point about Chase’s personality. His best friend had always had trouble with authority and was more an instinct kind of pilot and officer.

On some level, he had been lucky to be assigned to the Destiny and that Saroudis had tolerated his behavior over the years. On any other ship under any other commanding officer, Chase would have found permanent quarters in the brig. In times of war even, he could have been shot for mutiny.

“Then why did you, sir?”

“Why did I what?”

“Why did you tolerate his bullheadedness?”

Saroudis sighed. “It’s not an easy question to answer. I suppose the fact he was touched by Olympian gods has played a role.”

“Chase was defiant way before Aphroditis contacted him.”

“That’s true. Perhaps on some level I saw some of my own son in him. We never saw eye to eye, and it felt like my son’s mission in life was to disagree and defy me at every turn.”

“Fathers and sons…never an easy relationship.”

“I guess you could say that.”

5

Chase felt an energy source behind him and turned around just in time to see the fireball coming his way. He slashed it with the back his hand and deflected it.

The sky above turned black, and red lightning hit the ground with tremendous force.

“Who’s there?” shouted Chase.

An evil laughed echoed in the valley and froze Chase’s blood. He knew that voice. In fact, he had wished it would be him. His twin brother Argos.

“Today is a good day to die, Chase,” said Argos.

“Funny you would say that, seeing as it will be your last.”

Argos teleported a few yards away from Chase, a wicked grin across his face. More red lightning bolts hit behind Argos and turned his silhouette into an ominous shadow for a moment.

“Glad to see you still have good reflexes,” said Argos. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

“I should have killed you on board Damocles-3.”

“Yes, you should have. Now I’m more powerful than you can ever imagine, and I won’t let myself be taken by surprise.”

“Is that what you did back then? Seems to me I handed your ass to you, and the only reason you’re still breathing is that you threatened Sarah. Tell me something, was any of it true?”

“Was what true?”

“What you said back then, that if I killed you, Sarah would have died instantly?”

Argos’ grin morphed into a wide smile. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I will get revenge for Sarah’s death, and I’m gonna make you suffer in the process. And you know what, Argos, I’m going to enjoy every moment.”

Argos took a fighting stance and taunted Chase. “Then stop your incessant blabbering and attack me already!”

“With pleasure.”

Chase’s purple aura grew around him, his eyes flashed, and he unleashed three fireballs toward Argos. Each one of them went through Argos as if he wasn’t there.

What the hell? How is he doing this?

Argos laughed out loud. “That was pathetic. But I’ve come to expect mediocrity from my brother.”

“You’re not my brother! You’re a murderer!” shouted Chase.

But then Chase heard a voice in his mind.

Easy, Chase. It was Ares. He’s trying to get under your skin. Stay focused and don’t play his games. Attack him again, but this time, pay attention.

Chase sent another fireball toward Argos, and he saw Argos blink a millisecond before impact, giving the impression that his attacks were passing through his body when in fact he teleported in and out at the exact moment the fireballs were upon him.

There, you see, said Ares. Stay calm and focused, and ground yourself in this moment. Only then will you be able to adjust your tactics.

Thank you, Ares.

But there was no answer.

Chase darted forward and attacked Argos with a kick, but like his previous attacks, it passed through Argos. Before he could turn around, an intense pain radiated in his back as Argos firmly planted his elbow.

Chase stumbled forward, but when he turned around, Argos was gone.

“You’re too slow,” whispered his brother’s voice near his ear.

Chase reacted instinctively and smashed his elbow toward the sound but hit nothing but air.

“Give it up already,” said a bodiless Argos. “You’re so sluggish it’s not even fun fighting you. I can’t believe you ever put my life in danger. But just as I suspected, your victory was a fluke. You’re no warrior.”

Chase made fists. “It wasn’t a fluke!”

“And yet here we are, you can’t even locate me. How pathetic. Too bad for you none of your friends are around, it seems only when I inflict them with pain does your potential really surface. But you know what? It just proves what I knew all along about you: how inexperienced and incompetent a Fury you are. If it weren’t for the fact that we look identical, I would never believe we share the same blood.”

Chase’s heartbeat accelerated and knocked hard against his chest. Fear was settling in, and it was the last thing Chase needed right now.

I need to calm myself, stay focused, stay grounded.

Chase closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and expanded his consciousness around his body. Soon, he detected a powerful source of energy nearby. It was evil and manifested in a dark-red aura in his mind’s eye.

There you are!

With his eyes still closed, Chase darted toward his brother’s energy in his mind and felt his energy-infused fist connect with solid matter.

When Chase opened his eyes, he saw his fist punch through Argos’ face and sent him flying and crashing yards away. Chase reduced the distance separating them in a split second and kicked Argos before he could recover.

While his enemy was spinning in the air, Chase lit him up with five powerful fireballs. Argos caught fire and was catapulted further away.

Chase knew he needed to keep hitting him and not let him recover or heal himself. Now that he was in the zone and fighting purely on instinct, he could feel his revenge burn deep. Hatred was now the raw fuel for his scorched soul.

However, before he reached Argos, his brother landed back on his feet, a malevolent grin across his bloodied and burned face.

“Time to die!” screamed Chase as he continued toward his enemy.

“Stop!” Argos said, but Chase had no intention of doing so. Instead, he concentrated all his energy into his right arm, transforming it into a long purple sword to pierce Argos.

Chase thrust forward when something unexpected happened. Before he could reconcile what he was seeing, he watched as Sarah materialized in front of Argos and was impaled by Chase’s attack.

The look of terror on her face was a frightening sight, and Chase felt guilt and self-hatred fill his soul at an impossible speed.

“Nooooooooo!” screamed Chase.

He removed his energy-infused arm from her chest and blood spilled onto the ground.

“How—how could you?” said Sarah, her face filling with bloody tears.

Both Sarah and Chase fell to their knees at the same time, and as the life left her eyes, she collapsed into Chase’s arms.

Argos’ laugher echoed all around Chase. “You seem really good at killing the ones you love. I’ll grant you that.”

It can’t be, thought Chase. This can’t be happening! Not again.

Chase’s anger exploded from deep within his soul and he unleashed an animalistic roar that felt like it came straight from the depths of hell.

“NOOOOOOO!”

Then everything changed, and Sarah, Argos, and the valley in which they had fought disappeared. Chase was back in the cockpit of his ship, panting and crying.

“What the hell was that?” he muttered. A nightmare? Or a vision?

6

Daniel was staring at his coffee, studying the delicate swirling contrasts on its surface. He was lost in thought, wishing he could just go to Chase’s quarters and hang out until his next convoy escort mission.

But Chase was gone. And as much as his talk with Saroudis had helped with some of the resentment Daniel felt about his best friend’s actions, he still hadn’t fully accepted nor swallowed the fact Chase hadn’t even left a holo-message for him.

It took a shadow cast over the table and his coffee for Daniel to realize that someone was near. He looked up and saw Fillio.

“How are you doing, Daniel?”

“I’ve been better.”

“Mind if I sit down?”

“Be my guest,” he said, gesturing to the opposite seat. ”Just don’t expect great company.”

“As a rule, I try to keep my expectations in check, especially with pilots, that way I don’t get too disappointed.”

Daniel surprised himself with a chuckle. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know very well what it means.”

“I guess…”

“Don’t be too hard on him, okay?”

“I can’t promise anything. I thought we were brothers. Now…I don’t know anymore.”

“Try to look at it from Chase’s perspective.”

“Why does everyone keep telling me that? Doesn’t seem to help.”

“I know. But there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Isn’t there?”

Fillio’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t follow.”

“Well, and off the top of my head, we could…try to go after him.”

“You know as well as I do that Saroudis would never sanction that, and truth be told, I think that’s the last thing Chase would want.”

“Screw what he wants, what about what I want?”

“Look, you’re hurting, I get it. But take that feeling and multiply it by a thousand and maybe, just maybe you’d get a glimpse of what he must be going through. If Chase thinks heading to the unknown is the best thing for him, who are we to argue? Maybe it’s best we respect his wishes.”

“We’re his friends, we could help.”

“You can keep telling yourself that all day long and keep feeling worse about it, or you can accept that our friend has been scarred for life and that such wounds can’t be fixed just by being around friends. Chase has lost his true north, and he’s doing what he thinks is best to feel better. If you ask me, we should respect his wishes. We don’t need to understand it, we don’t need to agree with it even, only accept it. Do you think you can do that for your…brother?”

Daniel reflected on Fillio’s words, and they hit home. Maybe on some level, he was actually being selfish, focusing on how Chase’s sudden departure affected him instead of focusing on how deeply hurt Chase must have been to leave the way he did.

Daniel attempted a faint smile. “When did you get so wise?”

“I’m not wise, Daniel. I just try not to let my emotions get in the way.”

There was something both fascinating and sad about Fillio’s statement. On some level, Daniel thought he understood what she meant. But Daniel couldn’t do what she did. It wasn’t his way.

When emotions rose to the surface, he had to deal with them. Sometimes it paralyzed him, but he always thought that it was the nature of living beings. He could never imagine a life where he would silence his emotions. Nor did he see the point in such a life.

When Fillio realized her last comment had sent Daniel into deeper thinking, she continued.

“Mind you, I’d like to emphasize the word try. It’s not as easy as my statement makes it sound. Truth be told, it’s a double-edged sword. But as a person prone to depression, it’s something I’ve noticed can help me…sometimes, anyway.”

“Well, with Chase gone, I think depression is a real possibility for me as well. We’ve been fighting for our lives ever since we came in contact with the Earthers, but now that there’s no direct threat, especially after the defeat we inflicted to Argos’ forces, I find myself missing all the action.”

“Then let’s do something to occupy our minds.”

“I like the sound of that. What do you suggest?”

“What about I kick your ass in a dogfight? In simulation of course.”

Daniel smiled. “Is overconfidence another side effect of trying to silence your emotions?”

“What do you say we find out?”

7

It had been hours since Chase woke from his nightmare. He was still rattled. Even though it hadn’t been real, his killing Sarah once more made his already unbalanced emotions worse.

So much for hoping to get the past behind me by leaving the Earth Alliance.

But there was no escaping his own heart, and on some level, Chase knew that. He just hoped being away would give him a slight respite from his pain. But it mattered not where he was, Sarah was and always would be a part of him.

I need to find Argos and kill him. Perhaps then things will change.

But would they? Chase wondered.

A beep resounded in the StarFury, and instantly the holographic HUD (Heads-up Display) turned itself on inside Chase’s mind and field of view. A star chart appeared with a pulsating red dot.

A distress beacon.

Chase first thought about changing course to intercept and then stopped himself. He wondered if this concerned him or if he should just ignore it. After all, he was no longer part of the Alliance. Maybe there was an Earth Alliance ship in the area he could relay the information to.

Chase zoomed out of the star map until it showed an Earth Alliance subspace signal.

The nearest ship was days away from the distress beacon. There was a jump gate being built nearby, but it wasn’t yet operational, making any rescue attempt by the Earth Alliance a lengthy prospect.

Chase scanned for other energy signatures around the beacon, hoping he could try to contact any other ship and inquire about the possibility of a rescue. But his ship was the nearest, and the only other energy signature in the area was a Zarlack frigate.

Chase sighed. Doesn’t look like I’m leaving the past behind today.

Of all the races, why did it have to be Zarlack? On the other hand, perhaps if Chase managed to board that ship, he could find a clue to track down Argos. For that alone, it was worth the small detour.

One thing was for sure, if Chase didn’t answer the distress call, the Zarlacks would most likely investigate and kill whoever activated that distress beacon.

He set a course toward the beacon with his mind and jumped his StarFury.

* * *

Daniel veered his StarFury to avoid the missile locked onto him, but he had run out of countermeasures, and the damage on his ship’s engines didn’t allow him to get out of the way in time.

The missile tore through his left wing and sent his fighter spiraling out of control. A couple of seconds later, Daniel’s StarFury exploded before he had time to eject.

The program reset, and Daniel was back in the pilot’s seat. He received a transmission.

“Had enough?” Fillio asked.

“Hey, don’t be too cocky. We’re tied at two kills each.”

“And don’t you forget it.”

“Best out of five?”

“You’re on. I hope you’re ready to lose, Commander.”

“Commander?”

“Alright, then, would you prefer Scorpion?”

“What happened to Daniel?”

“Don’t take it personally, but I usually don’t call my prey by their first name.”

“Oh, it’s like that?”

She giggled over the comms, “Yes…it’s like that.”

“Then I hope you and your ship are ready to be blown out of the sky.”

“There’s no sky in space.”

“You’re in a good mood.”

“Seems like I’m not the only one.”

Daniel realized that Fillio had diverted his attention away from his sorrow about Chase’s unexpected departure. Even if it had only been for an hour, it felt good. Very good, in fact.

“I am, thanks to you.”

“Anytime, but the game isn’t over. Get ready to lose.”

“In your dreams!”

* * *

“I can’t get a hold of Chase,” said Aphroditis.

“How’s that possible?” asked Ares.

“I don’t know. It’s like something is interfering with our systems.”

“There’s been a lot of solar activity in this area, could that be related?”

“I suppose that’s one explanation, but my gut feeling tells me it’s something else. But just in case, if you wouldn’t mind running diagnostics on it, you’ve always had a better knack at technology than I did.”

Ares sighed. “Sure, I’ll take a look. But out of curiosity, what does your instinct tell you about the interference?”

“It’s probably nothing.”

“Look, sister, if it were nothing, you wouldn’t have mentioned it.”

“Missing your pupil? I thought you didn’t agree with me about Chase.”

“I see you’re trying to change the subject. But it’s your choice so I’ll play along. What is it you think I don’t agree about Chase?”

“That’s he’s the chosen one.”

“What I object to isn’t necessarily that he has a role to play in this war, but calling him the chosen one is a little too…”

“Prophetic?”

“As good a word as any, I guess.”

“My visions are clear. If Chase isn’t part of this war, Argos will win.”

“Yeah, and I have no love for Chase’s brother. But did you ever stop to think that perhaps this is a war that needs to be lost?”

“How could you say that?”

“Look, Aphroditis, I realize your abilities to see different futures are both a gift and a curse, that much seems clear to me. But unless I’m mistaken, you don’t have a long-term vision of the universe.”

“I see billions upon billions dying, many star systems wiped out if Chase can’t help stop his brother. Isn’t that enough?”

“I suppose so, but that doesn’t negate my way of looking at it.”

“You’re just as stubborn as our father.”

“Leave Zeus out of it, he’s got nothing to do with this conversation.”

“You started it.”

“I wish I hadn’t.

“As we’ve seen lately, we don’t always get what we wish for.”

And trust me, brother, thought Aphroditis, I wouldn’t wish our fate on anyone.

8

Daniel fired his last missile on a strong lock. But Fillio turned off her thrusters, swiveled her ship on its axis, and shot down the incoming projectile with ease.

She’s good.

Daniel opened fire with his ship’s laser cannons, but Fillio micro-jumped away.

“I haven’t seen this crazy a flying technique since—” but Daniel didn’t end his sentence.

“Since Chase?” said Fillio over the comms.

“Yeah.”

While the dogfight training had been really distracting, Daniel still wished he knew where Chase was and why he left the way he did.

His HUD flashed to inform Daniel his ship was being locked upon. Fillio fired two missiles at him.

Daniel deployed the last of his countermeasures, which stopped the first missile, but the other one broke through. He went evasive, but the missile lock was strong. When it was about to impact with his shields, Daniel micro-jumped away.

With both StarFuries having jumped, they had about five minutes until the jump engines recharged. Both ships had depleted their complement of missiles. So the last kill would probably be determined by cannons now.

Daniel was behind Fillio’s fighter and opened fire. She went evasive, preventing him from draining more than twenty percent off her shields.

She’s one hell of a pilot, that’s for sure.

But when Daniel’s latest laser volley hit home, smoke escaped one of the StarFuries’ engines.

I got you now!

Daniel boosted thrusters and was soon upon her. She once more made a one-eighty swivel on her ship’s axis. Daniel showered her frontal shields with laser fire, and Fillio shot two supercharged shots before engaging her thrusters.

She was so close that Daniel had no way of evading the shot or avoiding a collision. She turned her ship vertically, and both wings collided together. Because of the supercharged hits that impacted Daniel’s ship on that side of the craft, Fillio’s StarFury aimed her wing to impact at that exact location, slicing through whatever was left of the shields. Daniel’s wing was torn and ripped away upon impact, and sparks flew from the side of his ship as blood would from a detached limb.

Both ships swirled in space. Before Daniel could recover, his HUD flashed, reporting more laser damage. All it took was three direct hits of supercharged laser fire to tear Daniel’s ship to shreds.

The simulation ended, and the mechanical cockpit rose above Daniel’s head. As it did, he saw Fillio in the next simulator, a grin across her face.

“That’s a crazy way of winning a fight,” said Daniel.

“Well, you didn’t leave me much choice,” said Fillio. “Besides, I came in to win.”

“Does that mean I didn’t?”

“We both know your focus is something to be desired, especially in that last engagement. Your head wasn’t in the fight.”

Fillio was right, of course. Daniel had been thinking of Chase instead of focusing on winning. And it had cost him the victory.

“Touché.”

* * *

Chase scanned the area as soon as his StarFury exited hyperspace. He located the distress beacon and plotted a course toward it at maximum sub-light speed. In order to get there faster, he redirected power from every system except life support into the ship’s engines.

A few minutes later, Chase had the target ship in sight, but the Zarlack had entered the system as well. A frigate and three starfighters escorting it were nearby. Chase changed his ship’s vector to intercept.

Looks like I’m going to have to fight.

Suddenly, fear rose inside Chase’s heart. He didn’t understand why. He had gone against bigger foes and higher odds, and Zarlack pilots weren’t exactly great pilots. Still, Chase’s heartbeat kept pounding harder in his chest.

Not now! What the fuck is happening to me?

Chase tried taking a few deep breaths while his StarFury was on an intercept course with the enemy, but it didn’t seem to help one bit. He started to tremble when he heard her voice.

I will wait for you at the gates of dawn.

Sarah’s last words before Chase took out her fighter, and with it, sealed his own fate.

Enemy fire impacting on his shields took Chase out of his head and back into the present. Chase went evasive and veered his ship to land behind one of the Zarlack fighters. He obtained a good lock, but when he was about to fire, he saw something.

His eyes must have been playing tricks on him, as he was looking at a StarFury. Sarah’s StarFury. And he couldn’t bring himself to fire upon it.

His ship shook as more enemy fire impacted with his shields, draining them little by little.

I can’t do this. Not again.

Time seemed to slow down to a crawl, and Chase felt like he was trapped in a time loop. Even if he hadn’t opened fire, the ship in front of his eyes kept exploding over and over again, sending waves of pain, sadness, and self-hatred throughout his very being. His eyes teared, and his breath was shallow.

The overlaid HUD flashed red more and more, alerts informing Chase his ship was getting pounded to oblivion. But Chase still felt stuck in time, in the past, where he wished he could travel to change his fate.

You can do this, Chase, said a familiar voice.

It was Sarah’s. But it couldn’t be. Still, hearing her voice even as a hallucination was sweet, and even if part of him was perfectly content dying with her voice being the last thing he heard, he felt something deep inside his soul.

He couldn’t explain it, but Chase felt he couldn’t die, not now. He had to live, his path wasn’t over yet.

Chase! screamed Sarah’s voice in his head. Wake up before it’s too late! I beg you, if you love me, you’ll wake up and defend yourself.

That did it!

Everything happened quickly. Time seemed to resume its normal pace. The StarFury outside of Chase’s crosshairs morphed back into a Zarlack fighter, and every warning system on board Chase’s ship was flashing like an overloading power conduit.

Chase opened fire and didn’t allow the Zarlack fighter to go evasive, even though the duo of other enemy ships were pounding his aft shields to smithereens. They were dangerously low, but Chase went evasive, swirling his ship and affecting slight trajectory changes, all the while keeping a lock on the Zarlack starfighter in front of him. The fighter’s shield dropped, and Chase sent a mental command to switch from fast-rate fire to supercharged and blew the enemy craft with a pair of well-aimed shots.

The Zarlack fighter exploded, and Chase flew through its flaming debris, briefly illuminating everything orange around him. He then cut thrusters and swiveled the ship to keep his current momentum. Once his one-eighty maneuver was done, he readied to shower the incoming fighters with rapid fire. His frontal shields took a massive pounding, but the StarFury’s shields were way stronger than the Zarlack’s.

Chase locked onto the fighter with the lowest amount of frontal shields while the distance separating him from his enemies was diminishing, and he fired a missile at the same time as he fired two volleys of supercharged shots.

The first volley of supercharged shots nearly ended the enemy’s shields, and the missile finished the job, igniting one of the Zarlack’s engines in the process. The second volley of shots tore through one of its wings and sent the enemy into an uncontrollable spin, and it impacted with its wingman and exploded, draining the ship’s starboard shields completely.

“See you in hell!” shouted Chase as he targeted the ship’s starboard engine and showered it with heavy fire.

The ship exploded into a million pieces and lit up Chase’s cockpit briefly.

9

“Perhaps it would be best if we headed to a system nearer to the Earth Alliance,” said Ares.

“I don’t think distance is an issue,” said Aphroditis.

“Perhaps not, but we’ve tried contacting Chase over and over from this position, and we still don’t know what interfered with your last strong connection. As discussed, I ran more diagnostics and found something troubling.”

“Care to be more specific?”

“It was not easy to identify, but I can tell with certitude now that it wasn’t spacial interferences. I believe your transmission was hijacked.”

“That makes no sense. Who could be hacking Olympian technology? Especially, the holo-comms. This is one of our most ancient and secure systems.”

“I can think of one person.”

“Argos.”

“Who else?”

“But then…”

“Yes, my point exactly. If he hijacked your communication with Chase on Damocles-3, then it’s only safe to assume he may be able to locate us, especially if we keep trying to contact Chase.”

“I see your point. But then what should we do?”

“Play it safe is what we should do. Since you think Chase could be unconsciously interfering with our signals, I’ll reprogram the emitters to transmit on another frequency, perhaps that will allow us to punch through whatever Chase’s brain is doing to block the transmissions.”

“But won’t we risk exposing our position that way?”

“More than likely. So I suggest you try it once I make the modifications and then we take the ship and move to another system, preferably far away from here.”

“I must say I don’t like the idea of moving. I only started to feel settled here.”

“Better to feel unsettled than dead.”

“Can’t argue with that logic.”

* * *

The StarFury shook as long-range heavy fire exploded nearby. The enemy frigate had turned its attention toward him. But now that it didn’t have its fighters to protect it, it made a tempting target.

Chase’s blood boiled inside him, he was aching to take the frigate out, but that wouldn’t help him locate Argos.

Chase noticed the ship that had sent the distress beacon was no longer on his scopes.

Was it destroyed while I was dealing with the enemy escort?

But there was no debris to be found where the ship once stood. Chase extended his mind into the computer systems and scanned for the energy signature of the missing ship. He found a faint echo of the ship inside the large cargo bay of the frigate.

They must have tractor beamed the ship while he dispatched its escort. One more reason for Chase to tame his thirst for Zarlack blood still building up inside his being. Chase saw new sensor information on his mental HUD. The ship was powering its hyperspace engines.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” said Chase out loud.

Chase’s mind raced. He chose a target, one his instinct told him wouldn’t destroy the ship, and he locked three missiles to the coordinates. He fired them one after another at two-second intervals. Chase then micro-jumped near the frigate and showered its ships with rapid fire while the missiles kept incoming toward the enemy.

Chase had hoped he could lower them faster so at least one missile would penetrate the shields and do enough damage to prevent the ship from jumping away. But reading the sensors, Chase realized he had overestimated the effect of his main laser cannons against the Zarlack’s frigate ship.

Dammit!

Chase’s mind raced, and an idea crazy even for him came to the surface.

“This better work,” he said.

Chase diverted every ounce of power he could and transferred it to his StarFury’s shields while he made another pass at the frigate. Heavy fired exploded all around him, making his StarFury shake forcefully.

Chase then mentally changed the power distribution of his shields to boost his frontal shields to one hundred fifty percent, leaving barely twenty percent of power on all the others. That was a risky move, several well-placed shots could take him out, but with missiles only moments away from impact, Chase had run out of options. He focused all his laser fire toward the point of impact while he approached the frigate.

A nearby trio of heavy fire explosions sent sparks inside his cockpit, and Chase swore as he saw his starboard shields were offline. Chase put his ship into a spin, making it more difficult for the enemy to score another precise hit.

His HUD flashed bright red, and a message superimposed on it.

Collision Alert, change course now!

But Chase had no intention of changing course since his weapons were not powerful enough to bring the shields down adequately for his plan to succeed. Meanwhile, the enemy’s hyperspace engines were nearly fully charged.

Chase diverted life support power to the thrusters and accelerated toward his target. The next part would be extremely tricky.

Chase took a flight path that would make his ship and the frigate collide. He plotted the course into the computer’s memory so it would free up his mind to change the shield’s balance distribution as he bounced back off the enemy’s shields. That was hoping his ship wouldn’t explode on impact doing so.

Both the timing and angle of approach would have to be just right, and he would need to transfer power from the frontal to port shields in real time to augment his odds of survival and make sure the maneuver drained off just enough shields from the frigate to allow one of the missiles to make it through.

Chase took a deep breath an instant before his ship’s shields grazed the frigate. His mind went on overdrive to make the minute sub-millisecond adjustments to shift the shields’ power required to make sure his StarFury would survive the maneuver.

Every alarm and visual warning inside Chase’s cockpit lit up or blared, but Chase stayed laser-focused on the task.

His StarFury bounced off the shields the way he had hoped, and not a minute too soon. The StarFury shield’s generator overloaded. Chase compensated by cutting off thrusters and redirecting power to the shield via secondary power nodes. Even though this custom StarFury lacked a secondary generator, Chase’s mind was interfacing with the ship’s systems so fast he could do it by manually redirecting power into the circuit, effectively turning his brain into a secondary system.

That drained a lot of his mental energy, but he managed to keep the right amount of focus. He turned his ship around and saw the first missile impact on the shields. They dropped to twenty percent. Chase then fired one last supercharged volley of shots that impacted the shield nearly at the same time the second missile hit. The shields dropped, and the last missile scored a direct hit on the hull of the ship.

Multiple explosions detonated in succession around the point of impact, and Chase worried the secondaries could take the entire frigate out. But eventually the ship’s lights flickered, and its engines shut down.

The frigate’s short-range batteries stopped firing around the same time. Chase checked his instruments to confirm the ship wasn’t going anywhere and was satisfied to see both the hyperspace engines and the sub-light engines had also been taken offline.

Lights inside Chase’s ship turned off as well, and his StarFury systems all went offline.

Crap! That wasn’t part of the plan.

10

Daniel and Fillio stopped in front of Daniel’s quarters.

“You sure you’re okay?” asked Fillio.

“I’m fine, thanks. Today was fun, thank you for insisting on raising my spirits. I appreciate it.”

“Anytime. Besides, I may need you to do the same for me in the future. I’m no stranger to depression myself.”

“You’ve said that before, but truth be told, I’m having a hard time picturing you depressed.”

“It comes and goes. It’s the nature of the beast, I guess.”

Daniel nodded. Having little experience with the affliction himself, he didn’t really know what else to say on the subject.

“I see. And sure thing, count me in if you ever need lifting up, I’ll be there.”

“Careful what you promise, Daniel, I may hold you to it.”

Daniel smiled. “You may. Wanna come in for a coffee?”

Fillio studied Daniel for a moment. “I’d better not. We have an early start tomorrow.”

“Right, the convoy missions. I wonder why I let you convince me to go on these runs.”

“Isn’t it obvious? Because it’s best you’re in the cockpit than left alone with your thoughts. At least for the time being.”

“You’re probably right.”

“Probably?”

Daniel put both his palms in the air. “Okay, okay, you’re right. Thanks again, Fillio.”

“Sure thing. Good night, Daniel.”

“Good night.”

* * *

Out of frustration, Chase punched the console in his cockpit.

He had managed to disable the enemy, but he disabled himself in the process. He couldn’t give the Zarlack time to recover. If they fixed their engines before Chase reactivated his dead StarFury, they’d surely run and take with them whoever had sent the distress call. Not to mention Chase’s chances on locating his brother.

I can’t let that happen.

When Chase noticed some of the lights on the deck of the frigate turning back on, he knew he had to find a way to the ship and fast. After all, he only needed to be there, he didn’t need his StarFury, at least not right away. And that gave him an idea.

Chase found the manual release of his canopy inside the cockpit and created a force field around him before pulling on it.

I hope I’m not gonna regret this.

But it was not like he had any choice anymore. He was now exposed to space with only a few minutes of air contained in his force field bubble. He flew toward the frigate and stopped, looked back at his fighter for a second, and kept going toward the enemy ship’s cargo bay.

* * *

“Any luck with the diagnostics?” asked Aphroditis.

“They came back negative,” said Ares. “According to my findings, the solar eruptions of this system’s star shouldn’t interfere with our systems. If anything, all these diagnostics I’ve run on the system prove only one thing: Whatever has been interfering with the communications isn’t related to any spacial anomaly. This is a robust system, safe and well designed.”

“And yet I can’t contact Chase.”

“Which brings me back to your instinct about him.”

Aphroditis took a deep breath. “Chase has to be the interference itself.”

“Sure looks that way, but I’m having a hard time understanding how it’s possible.”

“If it were anyone else, I’d agree with you, but Chase has demonstrated an uncanny ability to control tech with his mind.”

“About that, I don’t remember this being on any of the Furies’ list of powers.”

“That’s because it isn’t. We fought them by the millions during the First Fury War. I’ve never heard of anything like it before. Chase’s ability to affect technology with his mind has been a conscious power up until now. Perhaps now it’s working on a different level.”

“Mind elaborating on what that level would be?”

“Subconscious.”

“I’m not sure I understand, how?”

“Let’s theorize Chase is in a state of mind where he doesn’t want to hear us. I believe his power over matter and technology are still growing; as far as we know, he may very well just be scratching the surface of his abilities.”

“That’s a scary thought.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because, after all, he’s still part Fury.”

“Chase is nothing like the rest of his species.”

“For all our sakes, I hope you’re right.”

“I know I am. I may have doubts about a lot of things, but I don’t have any about Chase. As for the lack of success contacting him, it’s plausible he could be affecting the transmission on an instinctual level, without even realizing.”

“That’s a bit of a stretch.”

“Perhaps, but that would explain a lot.”

* * *

When Chase arrived inside the frigate, he passed by the small cargo ship that had sent the distress call. It looked like a beat up ruin, and Chase was amazed that this once flew.

It didn’t look like it would fly again any time soon, though. Heavy repairs and a massive hull overhaul would need to happen first. Hopefully, Chase’s StarFury was in better shape. Though Chase was still worried it might be tricky to get his ride working again.

One problem at a time.

There was no atmosphere left in the cargo bay, and there were a couple of frozen Zarlack corpses floating around. Chase worried that the crew inside the cargo ship could have been killed too, so before trying to access other parts of the frigate, he decided to check the beaten-up cargo.

It only took a couple of minutes to get around the ship. Its cargo door was down, and just like the rest of the area, there was no stable atmosphere onboard, but Chase didn’t find any bodies either, which he thought was a good sign that the crew had either escaped or were taken prisoner.

Either way, he felt a sense of duty in trying to find them. And weirdly enough that surprised him. Before leaving the Earth Alliance, he was sure that none of these things were his problems anymore. He had fought and repelled the Obsidian Empire and their Zarlack allies enough times during their engagements, and he felt that he had done his part in this war.

The air was getting thin, so it was time to get a move on. Chase proceeded to fly toward the nearest airlock access to the rest of the ship. There were lights on toward the other side, so some of the systems must have been restored already. And that meant Chase had to hurry.

11

“Is the ship ready to go?” asked Aphroditis.

“It still requires you to bring your belongings aboard, but other than that, we’re ready.”

“And the modifications to the holo-comm systems?”

“Completed. I’ve done two small tests to a friend of mine. I could establish a link.”

“But does that mean the system will perform well with Chase?”

“The only way to know is to try it. At least the new frequencies I’ve set up are still allowing for long-distance holo-communications. My friend is way farther, and he could see me without interference.”

“Let’s hope that’s enough. I guess I should try to call Chase now.”

“Not before your stuff is onboard the ship.”

“Aren’t you a little paranoid?”

“Perhaps, but I’d rather have a good head start, should someone be tracking us. Especially if that someone is Argos.”

“Wouldn’t they have done so with your tests already?”

“That’s a possibility, though I’m hoping the short duration of these tests would mitigate that outcome.”

“But you can’t guarantee it?”

“I’m afraid not. So I’d rather you quickly pack and then you can try to contact Chase.”

* * *

“Report,” said Argos.

“We’ve located a potential source for the subspace holo-transmissions, master,” said Argos’ engineer.

“Good. Any firm coordinates? I feel like killing Olympians today.”

“I’m afraid we only have an estimated location. The target area spans multiple systems.”

Argos growled. That’s not the news he wanted to hear. But some progress was better than none.

“What’s the next step then?”

“The frequencies seem to have changed, and the new one has an encryption that’s much easier to crack. Unfortunately, the communications were very short. However, I believe I can pinpoint a much smaller area of space the next time they use it on this new frequency.”

“Very well. Keep at it and let me know the moment you have a location.”

“Yes, master.”

* * *

Once inside the ship in an area with an atmosphere, Chase dropped his force field and was relieved to see that the air was breathable. After all, he had never been on board a Zarlack ship. As far as he knew, they might have been breathing a completely different atmosphere.

The gravity, however, was higher than on Earth and Alliance ships. But it didn’t require Chase too much an effort on his part to move about. It just meant it would require slightly more energy to do so.

On the first junction inside the corridor from the cargo bay, Chase was greeted with laser weapon fire. He blocked it with telekinetic energy and sent the laser shots back toward a couple of Zarlack troops, burning a hole through their skulls. The bodies made a satisfying thump when they hit the ground.

Looks like they know I’m on board. I’d better hurry.

Chase expanded his consciousness to try to sense the energy of the life forms on the ship. There were over a hundred on board. Chase focused on identifying the Zarlacks, their energy was the most common one, so that he could filter out different life forms. And he only found one. It was female and faint. Chase focused on that life force in order to communicate with her. Her mind was in disarray, and pain, suffering, and fear permeated through her thoughts.

Hang on, I’m coming for you.

Chase felt she was in danger. He stopped running down the corridor and jumped forward and took flight. On his way, he met more Zarlacks. Dispatching them was easy, as cold-blooded creatures, they didn’t seem to appreciate Chase’s fireball, and he incinerated a good dozen of them on his way to his destination.

He felt he was near her position when he heard a nerve-wracking scream nearby. A female voice.

I hope I’m not too late.

Chase arrived in front of an open door, and when he entered the room, he saw a massive Zarlack with an energy leech in his hand. He had not heard Chase enter and was laughing.

Chase’s eyes lowered toward the corner of the dark room and saw a woman collapsed on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. Chase couldn’t sense her life energy anymore, and he shot a healing ball of energy toward her, hoping it wasn’t already too late.

But the sphere impacted with an invisible wall and lit up a red force field. That got the attention of the massive Zarlack, and he turned around.

Before Chase could fire his next attack, a blaring alarm resounded, and Chase sensed many life forms approaching.

Dammit!

12

Chase fired five fireballs at the force field while the Zarlack guard growled loudly. To Chase’s surprise, the force field was holding his attacks. Eventually, he realized he needed to find another way around it, and so Chase expanded his consciousness outward in an attempt to locate the ship’s computer.

Chase quickly found it, and his first contact with the alien computer was not a good one. The system was so different from any other computer he had ever interfaced with. It took Chase more time than he had anticipated locating the controls.

During his mind hack, he hesitated to cut all power to the ship as a way of quickly dropping the force field, but that could prove deadly to everyone, including himself. Not to mention he might need a few Zarlacks alive to try to locate Argos.

Chase finally found the right system, and the force field went down. The instant it did, Chase felt burns on his back; he was being fired upon by more troops.

Chase turned around and unleashed a shockwave that sent four Zarlacks crashing against the nearby walls. Two lost consciousness upon impact, and he incinerated the other two quickly, but then he felt something restrict his arms to the sides of this body.

Before he could look at what had grabbed him, he was hurled backward and against the wall.

That’s when he saw the energy leech extending from the hand of the Zarlack all the way around his chest. Chase grew his aura and smashed through the leech.

The massive Zarlack, at least three times the size of Chase, lurched forward with his fist, but Chase jumped back to his feet and blocked the attack with his palm and a good dose of telekinetic energy. Chase pushed his mind and broke both the creature’s kneecaps.

The Zarlack screeched as he fell forward, and Chase ended his life by punching through his rib cage with an energy-infused fist. The Zarlack convulsed before dying and spat large quantities of purple blood from his mouth, coating most of Chase’s head and shoulder with the gooey fluid before drawing its last breath.

“That’s disgusting,” said Chase, shaking his head in order to shed some of the fluid.

Chase burned his aura stronger, and the purple blood boiled and evaporated. He kneeled next to the dead woman, her head half-submerged in her own blood, and quickly put his hands on her. He tried healing her, ignoring the stench emanating from the evaporated lizard blood. But he couldn’t bring her back to life. She had been dead for too long.

Chase turned the woman around, and for a moment, he thought he saw Sarah. That sent a cascade of shivers down his spine. But after blinking a few times, he saw she only slightly resembled his wife.

She had the same fiery red hair, but where humans have eyebrows, she had ridges. She wasn’t human, and Chase had never seen her kind before.

The resemblance with Sarah was enough for Chase to feel his heart darken, hatred quickly overwhelming him, and a thirst for vengeance pushing him to the brink of insanity.

When he heard more footsteps coming his way, he arranged the bloodied hair of the woman on the side of her face and got back up. Fires of hell burned in his eyes. Chase didn’t realize that his aura had turned orange.

He stepped outside the cell, out of control, and killed everyone he met with more savagery than he ever thought possible. Decapitation, implosion from the inside out, dismemberment, he spared not a single Zarlack and did not stop until the last one, whose heart he forcefully removed from its chest.

When it was over, Chase fell on his knees and passed out.

* * *

When Chase opened his eyes, he didn’t understand where he was. It looked like Earth: lush green vegetation and the sun bursting through the foliage.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Chase, can you hear me?”

The voice seemed familiar. Chase got up and blinked the sun out of his eyes in order to see who had spoken. It was Aphroditis.

“Chase, do you see me?”

Chase’s face hardened, and he clenched his teeth. His anger exploded like a supernova, every muscle in his body tensed up.

“What the hell do you want from me?!”

Aphroditis’ expression changed from loving to shocked. “What’s going on, Chase? Why are you mad at me?”

Chase’s voice was hard and aggressive. “You know very well why. Get the fuck out of my head and never return; you hear me?!”

“I don’t understand.”

Chase raised an open palm toward Aphroditis and created a fireball. It quickly grew in size.

“Then understand this!”

Chase fired at Aphroditis, and everything changed. He was back aboard the Zarlack frigate. His head pounding. It took him a minute to get back his senses fully.

Chase stood and staggered through the ship. He had a hard time reconciling the amount of butchery he saw on his way to the bridge. Had he been responsible for such a massacre? And if so, what did that say about him?

* * *

Argos was still intoxicated from the Kyrian snake venom when his holo-screen turned on. He had to expend a large amount of mental energy to focus just to be able to speak.

“You—you better have good news to disturb me at this hour,” said Argos, his voice uneven.

“I apologize for the interruption, master,” said his engineer. “But I do. I have located the system from which the holo-communication was initiated. It was again a rather short transmission, but because I was ready for it, I managed to pinpoint the signal to the third planet of the target system.”

“Well done. Give the coordinates to the bridge and have them set a course. Looks like I’ll have my pound of Olympian flesh after all.”

“As you command, my master.”

* * *

“We should go,” insisted Ares.

“I can’t believe he was ready to kill me,” said a trembling Aphroditis.

“Look, that was never an option, it was just a holo-communication.”

“That’s not the point, Ares. He hates me, and I wish I knew why.”

“Something must have happened to him, and perhaps we should try to find out, but right now, we must leave. I detected a feedback signal during your transmission with him.”

“So Argos is tracking us?”

“Him or someone else, but I don’t intend to find out by staying here. It’s no longer safe.”

Aphroditis nodded. “I understand. We should go.”

13

Chase sat on the Zarlack bridge. The chairs where uncomfortable, but that was probably because they were too large for him.

He reconnected his mind to the main Zarlack computer and scanned the area for his StarFury. Chase found it and was surprised to see its energy signature was coming through the Zarlack sensors clearly. Upon further scan, the starfighter seemed powered and waiting in place.

Chase extended his mind to his ship’s computer, closed the canopy, and flew it to the cargo bay. He raised the cargo’s force field and re-established an atmosphere.

Chase then checked the internal sensor array on the frigate to see if any Zarlack might have survived his earlier wrath. Perhaps one hid somewhere. But he found no life signs besides his. It shouldn’t have surprised him Zarlack were no match for a half-Fury, but they were no cowards; they all threw themselves at him with courage. That much he had to admit.

I guess there’s that. I won’t find any clues about Argos on this ship.

The main holo-viewer came to life, a stamp filling it with a blinking red dot on a system half a weeks’ travel at hyperspace speeds. Chase asked the computer to translate the names next to the blinking dot to the Universal language.

Three words: Argos and Ponos One.

Chase must have triggered the search for Argos in the database with his last thought. He probably hadn’t fully disconnected from the Zarlack computer and somehow it picked up on his intention.

Was Argos on Ponos One? It was deep in Obsidian territory, so at least that was a possibility. That part of space was no place for a StarFury to go. A Zarlack frigate, however, would go unnoticed.

Chase exhaled deeply.

He checked the computer’s status of the hyperdrive engines. The auto repair systems were working on rerouting power to the secondary power grid. The primary grid had been all but fried by Chase’s run on the frigate and would require dock repairs at a Zarlack shipyard.

But the ship was in good enough shape to make the trip to Ponos One or at the very least bring him much closer. From there, he could always fly the rest of the way cloaked if need be.

Chase instructed the computer to redirect more bots to the repair of the hyperdrive and already set the course for Ponos One into the navigational systems. Once repaired, the ship would make the jump.

Chase was feeling tired and felt he should get some rest. This adventure had drained him more than he thought it would.

He felt sad for the innocent woman who had been killed by her Zarlack captors. But that only gave Chase one more reason to find Argos and make him pay.

“I’m coming for you, Argos,” said Chase out loud. And the next time we meet will be the last.

* * *

Argos beamed into the structure on the third planet on the Relios system with anticipation. Once inside the structure from which the holo-transmissions had been sent, Argos knew something was wrong. He couldn’t feel any life force nearby.

I’m too late. They already left.

Argos couldn’t contain his anger and destroyed a random piece of equipment with a red fireball.

But it mattered not, they now had a way of pinpointing the next holo-communications, so it was only a matter of time until Argos got his hands on the Olympians.

Perhaps he could speed up the process. Argos established communications with his s-engineer on his ship.

“Beam an engineer to my position.”

“With all due respect, my master, shouldn’t I come down myself?”

Argos thought about it, but with his nerves as sharp as a razor’s edge, he didn’t think that was a good idea.

“I want you to supervise the work of the engineer you’ll send, but I want you to stay focused on the task at hand and inform me the next time you’ve triangulated another communication.”

“Your wish is my command. I’ll beam down one member of my team to your coordinates immediately.”

Argos cut the transmission, and almost immediately after, an engineer beamed down next to him.

“Master,” said the Zarlack with a bow.

“Get to work. Check these computer systems and see if you can find out where the people who used this facility went.”

“I will, master.”

The engineer walked toward the nearest console and got to work. Meanwhile, Argos walked toward the viewport in the large room. He crossed his arms against his chest and took in the view.

It was a world devoid of sentient life. Some bugs and primitive rodents were all that could be considered alive on this planet. Vegetation was scarce, and in the distance, desert extended as far as the eye could see.

It reminded Argos of a place he had been on as a child. Though this world wasn’t nearly as inhospitable as the one in Argos’ memory.

For some reason behind his understanding, Argos found the view relaxing, and soon minutes turned to hours, and he didn’t feel the need to move away or retreat to his chambers on the ship.

“My master,” interrupted the engineer.

“Report,” said Argos without turning around.

“I’ve combed through all the systems, and I’m sorry to report I haven’t found any clues on where they went. They’ve covered their tracks well, I’m afraid. There was some data deleted from the memory banks, but it was scrambled beyond repair.”

Argos growled and turned. His eyes were glowing red, anger permeating through every pore of his skin. His eyes flashed briefly, and the engineer’s body exploded from the inside out.

“Apology accepted.”

Argos turned back toward the viewport and took one last peek at the semi-barren world.

You can run, Aphroditis, but you can’t hide.

The End

(The story continues with Book 3: Destination Oblivion)

COURSE CORRECTION (SHORT STORY)

By Christian Kallias

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Keera Hawking – Humanoid Bounty Hunter

Eleni - Keera’s mark / bounty

Tanelis - Eleni’s daughter

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

Production Editor & Alpha/ARC Team Lead

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Editors

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Proofreaders

Alpha Team (Thank you Daniel P., Buick, Mike L., David K., and Millie. You guys rock!!

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2018 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

COURSE CORRECTION

(A UNIVERSE IN FLAMES ORIGINS STORY)

A laser impacted near Keera’s head, hot sparks burning her face.

That was too close for comfort.

“Some bounty hunter you are!” protested Eleni.

“Not now!” said Keera. “Stay under cover. Unless you want your pretty face blown up.”

“At least give me a weapon; there are three of them out there. We stand a better chance of survival if I can help you return fire.”

“That’s not going to happen. You’re my prisoner; I’m not giving you the means to take me out.”

“You only care about your warrant, and you know very well you’re signing my death warrant, anyway.”

Keera swore inside. This latest mission hadn’t turned out to be the easy “grab the mark and collect the bounty” that she initially hoped for. Ever since she had captured Eleni, things had gone from bad to worse. And, now, they were pinned down.

Laser fire exploded and impacted around them.

“Give us the prisoner, and we’ll let you live,” shouted one of the assailants in the distance. “We don’t care about you.”

But Keera wasn’t accustomed to obeying threats. The past year had been a nightmare with almost none of her warrants going well, to the point where she was dangerously close to losing everything she had been working toward. The early retirement that she had worked so hard to achieve felt more and more out of reach with each passing day.

“Why are you hesitating?” asked Eleni.

“Because my mission is to bring you back alive.”

“I’m dead anyway. The moment you deliver me to your client, he’ll have me executed.”

“And that’s my problem why, exactly? You’re the criminal; I’m just doing my job.”

“Some job.”

“I’m not gonna stand here and debate the value of my profession with the person breaking laws and trying to shame me into letting her go. Believe it or not, I’m sorry to hear your life is over; but if I let my personal feelings get in the way of my warrants, I’d never collect my bounties and be able to support myself.”

Eleni snorted. “Whatever makes you sleep at night.”

Keera ignored Eleni’s ranting and instead tapped her wrist device, which displayed her holo-map that showed their area and overlaid life-sign signatures. The three men currently firing at them were getting closer with each passing minute. Soon, she’d have no other choice but to engage them or give Eleni up.

Except, she couldn’t fail this mission. If she didn’t pay Tron’Tak with this bounty, she’d have to make a run for it, and she could lose her bounty hunter license altogether. What would she do then?

There was no denying that she had grown weary of her job, and as more time passed, the less her heart was in it. Days like these, she wondered why she had taken up the profession in the first place. She knew why, of course. Her first warrant had given her the satisfaction of getting revenge for the loss of her soul mate.

It had not felt as good as she had hoped, though, taking another man’s life. Nor had it given her the closure she craved. It didn’t bring back the person she loved more than anything in this world. It had; however, empowered Keera and made her stronger, tougher, and more determined to bring scum from around the universe to justice. Though only for a short time as the hole in her heart still lingered, fresh and ever painful.

Glancing at her holo-map, Keera noted that she had less than a minute to come up with a plan, or they would both perish. She couldn’t trust Eleni with a weapon, that much Keera’s gut told her with absolute certainty. Her prisoner had tried giving her the slip numerous times in the last couple of days. In fact, she was the reason they were hitching a ride back to this scum-infested transport rather than returning home in Keera’s rental ship. They had lost it, thanks to one of Eleni’s ill-fated attempts to escape.

Keera wasn’t as cold-blooded as she was trying to project. She understood Eleni’s will to survive; in her place, she would have attempted to give her the slip as well, at any turn. But, the job required her to project an image. A weak or emotive bounty hunter was a dead bounty hunter. And, even though she didn’t want to see Eleni die at the end of her warrant, no matter how much of a pain in the butt she had been up until now, she had little choice.

Then again, if scumbags had a king, Tron’Tak was as close to this position as anyone she knew. While she didn’t fear him, per se, she had heard stories about him that would make her pretty green hair turn grey. And, right now, he was holding all the cards. He had both her ship and the precious cargo from her last few runs. Fortunately, Tron’Tak couldn’t put his hands on her personal possessions because she had invested in secret-shielded compartments.

It wasn’t much, but it was all she had left, and without cashing in on her cargo, she’d probably not have enough money to survive the next few days, let alone months. She had to get Eleni’s bounty, pay Tron’Tak, and perhaps reassess her career choice and life path.

“Are you just gonna sit there and get us both killed?” complained Eleni.

“I thought your fate was sealed either way.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m willing to be slaughtered without a fight.”

“Nobody’s dying today; well, except those three men, that is.”

“And yet you’re just hiding here instead of doing something about it.”

“Shut up,” said Keera between clenched teeth. “Or I’ll shoot you myself.”

Eleni narrowed her eyes and shot her a calculating look. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“We’re in this mess because of you, so don’t you dare tell me what I would or wouldn’t do. Now, keep quiet, and let me deal with this mess of yours. Do NOT move from your position; if you do, I swear to the Olympian gods that I’ll end you.”

Eleni threw her arms in the air but didn’t argue further.

More laser fire exploded near Keera’s face. The moment the salvo was over, she leaped out of cover, instinctively lined her blaster toward the only exposed mercenary, and squeezed the trigger, burning a hole between his eyes.

The man fell on his knees, a look of utter shock locked onto his face before falling onto the cold, hard metallic floor. His head made a satisfying wet thud.

One down; two to go.

When a second mercenary rolled on the floor and lined his weapon toward Keera, she tried jumping back behind cover unsuccessfully; laser fire grazed her thigh, burning part of her tight leather suit in the process.

The pain was a reminder that she needed to be more careful if she wanted to live past today. That move had been reckless, and while her shooting skills had paid off, she knew better than to just wing it.

Brain over muscles, Keera, brain over muscles.

Before she could think of her next move, the pounding of distant running footsteps got her attention. She checked her holo-map to see not two but four people converging on her location. They spread out, trying to flank her.

Dammit!

She looked at Eleni, making sure she wasn’t trying to use the chaos to escape once more.

“Give me a weapon,” Eleni murmured.

Keera slowly shook her head from side to side and raised a finger to her lips.

Keera crawled behind some stacked crates, allowing her to stand up. She’d need a distraction of some kind, and she knew very well that trying to eliminate the men one by one would expose her to further danger. The more time she waited to take them down, the more chances additional reinforcements would make their way into the already boiling situation and turn the precarious odds closer to nil.

She quickly glanced over her crate cover, as laser fire scorched a lock of her hair. She crouched and assessed her weapons. She had several options, a couple throwing blades, a spare blaster, a nano-blade, and her trusty light-blade.

She only had a moment left before two of the men would force her out of cover, and the last thing she needed was to fight on somebody else’s terms. That was a surefire way to get killed.

As much as she hated wasting perfectly good and expensive pieces of equipment, she unholstered her spare blaster and set its power source to an overload cycle. The weapon hummed as it got hotter. A quick glance on her holo-map helped her determine the most efficient location where she needed to throw the blaster pistol.

“Bye, buddy; we’ve seen a lot, you and I, but I’m afraid it’s time to say goodbye,” she whispered.

She threw the weapon high above the crates and counted to three before exiting cover at the exact moment the blaster exploded a few feet from the approaching mercenaries. The blast acted as a flash-bang grenade giving Keera an extra couple of seconds to put her plan into action.

Temporarily blinded, the men discharged their weapons randomly toward the explosion, far away from Keera’s current location. Leaping from crate to crate like a black panther in the silent night, she positioned herself on higher ground, putting her in position to pounce on the unsuspecting prey.

“You’re gonna pay for this, bitch!” shouted one of the mercenaries, mushing his hands on his eyes as he desperately tried rubbing away the burning sensation.

That mouth; I guess you’ll be my next victim, then. Time to teach you some manners.

Stealthily, Keera dropped from above and planted her knee at the top of the man’s spine, while grabbing his arms to better control the rest of her fall. The man’s chest impacted with the hard floor, and Keera heard the crunching sound, as multiple bones broke, followed by a painful moan. She violently hit him in the head with the handle of her blaster. Blood sprayed as the merc lost consciousness. The second mercenary spun around in horror and aimed at her.

Keera reacted instantly and rolled out of the way of the merc’s panicked shot, causing him to miss. Instead, the bolt impacted his colleague’s back, leaving a small charred divot. Keera shot the blaster out of the merc’s hand the moment she ended her roll. The pistol blaster sparked as it flew in the air. Before he could grab his backup weapon, Keera darted forward and sent him crashing against the wall. She swiftly took a blade from her thigh stock and flung it, impaling the man through the shoulder.

A second later, she was upon him and grabbed his backup weapon, pressing it against his genitals.

The look of utter shock in his eyes made Keera smile.

“Please, don’t,” he said, desperation in his voice.

“Time to say goodbye,” she said, her tone icy cold.

“I take it back.”

“What about trying to kill me? You take that back, too?”

She holstered her blaster and punched the blade deeper into the man’s shoulder, preventing him from uttering an answer. She didn’t need or care for one. Distant footsteps from the other converging mercenaries reverberated around her. She needed to get out of there.

She jabbed the muzzle of the gun under the man’s chin and pressed hard.

“Balls or head; decide quickly, or I shoot both…Tick tock!”

The man’s eyes grew wide, and his body began to shake involuntarily. Since it didn’t look like he was going to make the decision, and Keera didn’t care if he did, she ripped the blade from the man’s shoulder and planted it in his windpipe.

“I said tick tock, bitch,” smirked Keera.

With the other two men around the corner, she could use another distraction. She set the shocked mercenary’s weapon to overload and thrust it into his pants just before head-butting his lights out.

“Both it is.”

Before the two mercenaries arrived, Keera merged into the shadows. They both defensively aimed around them when the overloaded blaster exploded, sending parts of the man’s body everywhere in a bloody mess.

“This bitch is crazy! Look what she did to Waryl!”

“Keep your eyes open, Mika, and stay sharp.”

Mika nodded, but his entire body was dripping with sweat, and he reeked of fear.

“I love the smell of roasted nuts, don’t you?” taunted Keera from the shadows.

Both men turned around and aimed their blasters at her voice. Keera emerged from the shadows, radiating a confident smile.

“Stupid move; now you die,” said the one called Mika.

Both men opened fire and scored multiple hits on Keera, but the laser fire passed through her as if she wasn’t there.

“She’s a hologra⁠—”

The mercenary was unable to finish his sentence as Keera kicked him from behind, sending him crashing to the floor. His blaster slipped from his hand and skidded across the floor, passing through the still active, still smiling Keera hologram.

Mika instinctively slashed his elbow toward Keera, but she blocked it with one hand.

“I’m afraid you got it backward, Mika…”

A light-blade pierced and protruded out of Mika’s stomach as his insides boiled and burned. The flashing white light of the blade reflected in the man’s dying eyes.

“You first!” added Keera.

Panicked, the other merc jumped forward darting through Keera’s still standing holo-decoy. Once he grabbed his blaster, he started shooting before he was able to aim.

Keera turned the light-blade off and used Mika’s carcass as a shield. A lucky laser shot bounced off of a nearby crate and hit Keera on her wrist. Fortunately, it didn’t result in a wound, but sparks flew from her wrist device, and her holo-decoy projection twitched and disappeared.

Keera threw the body toward the other merc and dodged to the side, disappearing into the shadows behind more crates.

The mercenary rolled out of the way of Mika’s body coming toward him, and he sent a dozen blind shots around himself as he was getting back on his feet.

His gun overheated and misfired. The man’s eyes widened at the realization, and he darted forward, trying to make a run for it. The whisper quiet sound of a nano-blade cutting through the air ended whatever hope of survival the mercenary had as his head was severed from his body while he was running. Before the head hit the ground, the man’s body continued to run a few more paces and smashed against a stack of crates.

Keera returned the nano-blade into its sheath behind her back and tried checking her holo-map, but more sparks flew from her wrist device.

Crap!

Losing no time, she ran to where she had left Eleni. To Keera’s surprise, Eleni had obeyed and stayed under cover.

“Let’s go! We better not stay in this cargo bay for much longer. That shit-haul of a transport is slow, but at least it’s a huge ship with numerous decks where we can hide for the last few hours of our journey.”

Eleni nodded. “Do you think more will come?”

“You tell me; you seem to have a lot of enemies. You still don’t want to tell me what you’ve done to deserve all this aggro?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

“I…I just wanted to fix an injustice, that’s all.”

“That’s as vague an answer as I would have expected from you.”

“Why do you pretend like you care? You have no problem delivering me to my death, so why are you asking questions?”

Keera was forced to agree with Eleni. Why ask questions that could make her job more complicated than it already was.

“You know what? You’re right; I don’t give a shit. You’ve been nothing but trouble since I found you, and I wish to gods I had chosen another warrant.”

“You and me bot⁠—”

A laser blast shot through Eleni’s stomach as her eyes bulged. Keera instantly reacted as she turned around and instinctively shot toward where the blaster fire had originated.

After shooting, she acquired a visual of the man. He dropped his blaster to the floor as his hand covered his gaping neck wound. He was the second mercenary she had incapacitated. In the midst of the chaos that had ensued, she assumed that his wounds were too severe for him to get back on his feet.

Out of anger more than necessity, she supercharged her next shot and blew the merc’s head off. A trail of smoke rose from the man’s spraying neck before the headless body impacted with the floor and blood splattered everywhere.

At the same time, Eleni collapsed with a thud. Keera ran to her side.

“No, no, no; don’t you dare die on me!” she exclaimed.

Eleni was panting, and blood bubbled from the corner of her mouth.

“Hang on; let me get you to medical.”

Eleni shook her head from side to side; fear and sadness mixing in her pretty blue eyes as they filled with tears.

Keera’s soul filled with dread, her stomach knotted, and her heart raced. She had been around enough carnage and dying people to tell that this wound would claim Eleni’s life. She had been careless, and now someone would die because of it.

“Fuck!” Keera shouted in frustration.

“Keera…” mumbled Eleni, as blood ran down her mouth.

“I— I’m sorry.”

“Ne— never mind that. There’s…” Eleni coughed up more blood. “Nothing you can do for me; please, help my daughter.”

“What? What daughter? Your target sheet didn’t mention anything about you having children.”

“Try— trying to protect her.”

Keera’s throat clamped, and her chest felt tight. Deep down she knew she was too soft to be a ruthless bounty hunter. If she was to survive and make a living from her profession, she needed to be able to separate business from her feelings. And even if she felt responsible for Eleni’s upcoming demise, they would never have been put into that position if Eleni hadn’t tried giving her the slip at every turn.

“Look, Eleni. I’m sorry, but that’s none of my business.”

“She will die if you don’t help.”

Keera got up, turned her back, and took a couple of steps.

None of my business. None of my business, she repeated mentally, trying to use the words as a mantra to counter the pain and compassion that was invading her soul.

Eleni was sobbing. Keera’s mind was thrown all over the map; a million thoughts were rushing toward her at light speed. Eleni’s warrant was only good if she brought her back alive so that payday was gone. And while she hated herself for thinking of money while someone was drawing their last breath near her, the implication that came with that could not be ignored. Her own life was in jeopardy if she didn’t get Tron’Tak what she owed him.

Somewhere, a little girl was about to lose her mother, and Keera couldn’t help but feel some responsibility in the matter. At least at that moment.

Keera loathed her job right now. She wanted nothing more than to quit and find something else to do, but the cold, harsh reality was she couldn’t until she cashed in some credits.

“K— Keera…” pleaded Eleni.

Eleni was breathing rapidly, and then she suddenly stopped. Keera turned around and saw the life leave Eleni’s eyes.

Dammit!

Keera crouched next to Eleni and tried resuscitating her.

“Breathe, dammit! Breathe!” she exclaimed.

Keera alternated between chest compressions and mouth to mouth for several minutes, eventually punching Eleni in the chest out of frustration. Tears filled Keera’s eyes at the realization that Eleni was gone for good and the implications that came with it.

Keera kept staring at Eleni’s dead body while her mind spun and took her to a dark place. Everything she had been counting on for the short-term future had been thrown out the airlock. She was still nowhere near recovering her ship, and feelings of guilt over Eleni’s death and the future of her little girl dominated her thoughts.

What was she to do? She was on her way to Ponos One where her ship awaited, but she had no credits to get it or her life back. Instead, she could very well incur Tron’Tak’s wrath for not bringing him what she owed. She could try to make a run for it, but that would undoubtedly cost her her bounty hunter license and paint a permanent target on her back, which was something she’d rather not have to live with.

But her immediate concerns were what to do with Eleni’s body. If they had been on a planet, she would have dug a grave. On this filthy transport though, options were limited. She could either leave the body or hide it, but it would soon decompose. That didn’t seem fair to Eleni.

They had not been friends by any means, but Keera felt compelled to give Eleni a proper send off. Her only real option was to send her to the stars from an airlock. She could mark the point in space and perhaps recover it later, though that implied she would get her ship back. An outcome that seemed less likely with each passing minute.

She picked up Eleni and placed her body on her shoulder. Eleni was already cold. With fresh tears still burning her eyes, Keera made her way to the nearest airlock.

At the airlock, she laid Eleni’s body as delicately as she could. A metallic device fell from Eleni’s pocket and bounced off the floor with a clang. Keera picked up the round shaped item. It was a portable holo-projector.

She turned it over in her hand and then pressed a button to activate it at which point the face of a young girl, not older than seven, hovered an inch above the holo-projector’s base. The child was beautiful with shoulder length, golden hair and deep blue eyes like her mother’s. Keera’s heart skipped and she felt a sting as if someone had thrust a knife through it.

What have I done?

It didn’t matter how much she tried to justify that Eleni had been a wanted criminal and that Keera was only doing her job. All she could think about was the child and what would happen to her now.

To Keera’s surprise, just when she was about to turn the holo-device off, the little girl’s face merged into a holo-recording of Eleni.

“If you’re seeing this message, it more than likely means I’m dead. If that’s the case, then please listen carefully. My little girl’s life depends on what you are going to do next. When the DT, known as the Data Thieves Consortium, put a bounty on my head, I had to act fast. So I hid my little Tanelis in a safe place. But this is a temporary place, one she can’t stay at for too long for fear of being hunted just like I was.

“I made many mistakes in my life, but the one thing I did right is Tanelis, and it’s not fair that she may pay the price for her mother’s sins. I was only trying to help a group of people that got screwed by the DT’s shady business practices; preying on the poor, stealing their hard earned money to grow their fortunes. I thought I had covered my tracks well when I redistributed that wealth back to their rightful owners, but the DT found out.

“Because I had hired a top-level hacker to do the job, the DT wanted me alive so that I could reveal my source, and they could get their credits back. But the fact of the matter is that the money is gone. Well, most of it. I kept a little on the side for my escape plan and to pay the people who are hiding Tanelis. I’ve only paid for a couple of weeks, as I thought it would be enough for me to shake the DT’s tail. In two days time, and for their own protection as well, they’ll just abandon my child. The DT will most likely capture her, and I wouldn’t put it past them to torture her for information she does not have.

“Whoever you are, I beg you, don’t let this happen to my little angel. She is innocent and doesn’t deserve this. I can’t promise you any sizable reward and have to ask upon the better facets of your personality. Please help my daughter. This holo-device contains a briefing package with all the information related to her location as well as the digital key to access the limited resources I hid on the same planet that would allow us to make a run for it with a ship I had purchased.

“Tanelis’ father doesn’t know she exists, we broke up before I knew I was pregnant, and while we didn’t part on the best of terms, I’m hoping he would be willing to take care of his own flesh and blood. I’ve hesitated to contact him many times, as I thought I had no right to throw his life into chaos after all these years. He’s moved on, and I owed him, so I didn’t involve him.

“The DT will stop at nothing to try and get the info they want, but the enclosed digital key opens a decoy file in a safe deposit package. I spent weeks working on it with the same hacker that helped me recover the credits that were wrongfully stolen. He’s embedded an intricate money trail that will take years to unravel and should, I hope, make the DT abandon their quest once they learn of my passing.

“All I ask is that you get my daughter back to her father, and find a way to deliver that file to the DT, ideally with my body or some proof of my death. Please help me; you’re my daughter’s only hope.”

The holo-recording merged back into the holo-picture of young Tanelis.

Keera accessed the file and reviewed the data in the holo-message. Tanelis was on Pyros III; a world that was less than a day’s travel from here, except the ship was heading toward Ponos and she would not make it in time unless she found a way out of the ship or redirected it to Pyros.

Keera deeply inhaled as she tried to re-center herself and assess her options. She could get Eleni’s ship and hope its value would be enough to get Tron’Tak off her back; then she could try to track down Tanelis afterward. With her valuable cargo, Keera could acquire enough credit to achieve this option. But, that meant letting the deadline pass, which could result in the kid’s demise; something Keera wasn’t willing to risk.

For all her faults, and based on the feelings from Eleni’s recording, Keera saw Eleni under a new light. She wasn’t the type of criminal Keera had thought she was. Like Keera herself, Eleni hated injustice and got into trouble trying to right a wrong. Something Keera could relate to; an unspoken code she strove to live by, in fact.

In her heart, she knew she couldn’t abandon Tanelis, even if that meant she’d put her own life in further jeopardy.

Keera grabbed a tracking device from her pocket, activated it, and injected it into Eleni’s cold, blue skin. She had no idea if she ever would recover the body but she preferred covering all her bases. She grabbed her holo-scanner and took a biologically enhanced picture of Eleni. The holo-picture would contain a medical life-sign scan of her body, proving her death. Hopefully, with that attached to Eleni’s decoy file, it would get the DT off of Tanelis’ trail.

Keera stepped out of the airlock, closed the inner door, and looked at Eleni one last time before hitting the outer door’s airlock button.

“Goodbye, Eleni. I’ll take care of Tanelis; I promise you.”

Keera ran back to the cargo bay where the fighting had occurred and checked the bodies strewn about the floor. She needed a way off the transport ship without losing her license. She searched the bodies, and on the last one, she found a starship key.

She yanked it out of the pocket and made her way to the cargo bay. Three craft were available; two luxurious liners and a decrepit old merc ship. She knew very well which one she had the key for, but, right now, all that mattered was that the bucket of bolts got her to Pyros III. She would be able to get Eleni’s ship from there.

She lost no time, boarded the ship, and familiarized herself with the controls before running a pre-flight check and making sure to disable any beacon that could be transmitting. Once off the transport ship and into the darkness of space, she set a course for Pyros III and prayed the crumbly old ship wouldn’t explode when she activated its hyperspace engines.

Once inside a hyperspace corridor, Keera ransacked the entire ship and gathered everything she felt would be of use. Grenades, some blasters, and more. She didn’t find anything of real value, but from the looks of the ship as well as the men who had attacked them back on board the transport, she wasn’t surprised.

After exploring the ship, Keera’s body was heavy, and she realized she was exhausted. Having been on the run for days meant she only was able to get very short bursts of uneasy sleep. She eventually found a bunk bed to crash onto and get some much-needed rest.

Before letting her mind go dark, she looked at Tanelis’ holo-picture one more time. This was a way for Keera not to lose sight of what she needed to do. While she followed her heart in doing what she knew was right, her brain was constantly teasing her just to get whatever she could out of Eleni’s hidden stash and get on with her life.

Most bounty hunters worked in a calculating, cold manner; detaching themselves from their feelings and blocking out emotion. She couldn’t do that. Not anymore. Once upon a time, perhaps, and certainly after her first kill warrant turned personal vendetta. But years later, her humanity had caught up with her again.

She would have to seriously reevaluate where her life would go from here on out. But right now a veil of darkness cast over her mind and she fell into the welcoming arms of Morpheus.

* * *

The ship rocked, sending Keera crashing down from her bunk bed where she hit her head against the rusty metallic wall.

“What the hell!” she exclaimed. “Where am I?”

It took a few seconds for Keera’s mind to jump-start back to reality and for her to remember where she was. She must have slept a long time because she felt foggy and had trouble coming back to the present.

The ship rocked once more, and that did the trick to clear her head. She ran to the cockpit, sat down, and wiped some viscous liquid from her forehead.

Blood. She must have cut her forehead when she fell out of bed. She hadn’t felt much pain, but from the quantity of blood now present on her hand, she could easily surmise that the cut had been relatively deep.

While she would probably need to patch up the wound, right now the number of alarms and red LEDs lighting up the ship’s old navigational computer told her that she had bigger fish to fry.

She brought up radar information only to see two smaller craft on her six, pounding her ship’s weak-ass shields to oblivion.

She went evasive and turned about to face her assailants. Their digital signatures were unreadable, which told her that she was dealing with either some pirates or perhaps the DT consortium itself.

She opened a channel to the enemy ships.

“Stop firing at once if you intend to live, and identify yourself. This is your first and last warning.”

But the ships kept firing. She used complex evasive patterns and dodged the ships’ incoming fire, all while letting the shields recharge from the nearly depleted state they were in when she arrived at the cockpit.

“Oh, it’s like that,” she exclaimed. “Very well, you asked for it.”

She brought weapons online and took an inventory of the ship’s offensive capabilities. Not in her entire life had she flown such an underpowered, rusty piece of crap, but it mattered not, she had to make it work.

A quick hack of the system’s power distribution allowed her to transfer power from life support, inertial dampeners, and some secondary systems. She injected all the extra power into the measly dual laser cannons. These were old generation cannons; their power output was barely enough to take out the shields on any of the ships currently firing. But with the extra power injected into them, and some fancy flying, there was hope.

Keera swiped more blood from her forehead with the back of her hand. She strapped on an old leathery seatbelt and buckled herself in. With part of the inertial dampeners down, she would feel the Gs and could be easily thrown out of her seat, something she had to avoid. The belt didn’t inspire much confidence though; it looked like it could snap at any moment.

She spun the ship to avoid more incoming fire and repositioned herself behind one of the enemy ships. This maneuver bought her a little breathing room and her ship’s shields were back to seventy-five percent.

She opened fire with her lasers and hit the enemy ship multiple times, only to see a ten percent drop on her instruments. It would take forever to get them down and the second ship was already acquiring a lock on her. She didn’t have forever. She barely had minutes, in fact. She’d have to get creative.

She pushed the throttles to maximum, reducing the distance between her and the ship she was still showering with weak-ass laser fire. She keyed in a few commands on the old school touch-panel screens and wrote on-the-fly macros allowing her to change the firing rate and power distribution of her measly weaponry.

The second ship had also accelerated to compensate and was now entering firing range. Soon, her ship’s instrument panel wailed to inform her of incoming fire.

“Let’s try something crazy.”

She activated her macro for super rapid fire. In this mode, her lasers would fire ten times faster than usual, but deliver ten times less destructive power. They would, however, drain the enemy shields faster. The ship had entered evasive action, but there was no shaking Keera now that she was locked in and determined to blow it to smithereens one way or another.

The more her prey tried to go evasive, the closer she got, which helped her own evasiveness, and the ship targeting her only managed to score the odd lucky hit, which didn’t do much damage to her continually recharging shields.

This gave her an idea, though. She located one of the engine coolant pumps and began venting some behind her ship. She then transferred additional power to the weapons from the shields. Once the ship following her hit part of the coolant, it would ignite and appear as hull damage from the outside.

A smart pilot would double-check that data with its sensors, but from the way these bozos were flying, they were anything but smart. It was time to send them to meet their maker. Keera had to adjust her flight path and slow her evasive action so the pursuing ship could get a couple of hits off her aft shields, which was crucial to her plan. Upon the third hit, she released smoke from one of her engines while pounding the ship in front of her with more and more laser fire. Its aft shields were almost entirely gone.

Her instrument lit up red, and an alarm wailed to inform her of a double missile lock.

“Right on time. Now, let’s have some fun, shall we,” she smirked.

A handful of seconds later, the pursuing ship launched two missiles her way, almost precisely in sync with her prey’s shields going down. She smiled as she redirected every ounce of power to her engines and pushed the throttle beyond the ship’s safety limits.

With two missiles coming up her tail pipe, she soared forward, ignoring the ship’s structural integrity moaning and multiple warnings blinking on the instruments. She switched her laser from rapid fire to maximum power and sent two supercharged laser shots that took out one of the ship’s engines upon impact. It slowed down considerably. She spun her ship and passed in front of the enemy ship missing it by only a couple of feet.

At that moment, she brought her ship’s nose back up and aligned herself perfectly with the ship that saw the move as an opportunity to bring her down. Deadly mistake, as it never saw the twin missiles destined for her as they tore the enemy ship to pieces, accompanied by a bright explosion.

“One down!” she cheered.

Keera killed the engines and spun her ship on its vertical axis. She locked the only two missiles at her disposal onto the pursuing ship that was now on a collision course with hers. Luckily, she had more than enough speed and momentum to make her next kill and take her time doing it.

Laser fire impacted her frontal shields, and the second ship emerged from the dying flames and smoke caused by the first ship’s destruction as Keera sent her missiles away.

She then immediately diverted every ounce of juice to only two systems: lasers and frontal shields. She redirected so much power, in fact, that even the lights in the cockpit were reduced to a soft flicker. She timed her shot and sent two supercharged laser shots toward the enemy ship at the exact millisecond her missiles hit the ship’s shields.

While neither her lasers nor missiles had the ability to bring that ship down, a perfectly timed impact of both, however, had an exponential result.

“Die, motherfucker!”

The enemy fighter exploded into a million pieces.

Keera patted the ship’s console. “You may be a piece of junk, but you still have some life in you; thank you for not blowing up in my face.”

She checked her star map positioning, which showed she was only a couple of hours at sub-light speeds from Pyros III. Her navigational logs showed that a solar flare had taken her ship out of hyperspace and the remnant activity made it too dangerous to try another jump.

She entered the coordinates and let the computer fly the ship while she assessed the ship’s damage. They were minimal, and unless she had another unfortunate encounter, it would bring her to where she needed to be.

Her next stop was to medical where she patched up her still gushing wound.

* * *

Landing the ship and finding a rental hoverbike had been relatively easy. It had cost Keera the better part of the minimal credits she had left, and she hoped Eleni’s stash and ship were real; otherwise, she might be forced to leave Pyros III with that junk of a ship that had gotten her there. Not that she would necessarily mind that, if push came to shove, but the ship’s engine ran on purified, military-grade quadrinium and that stuff was way more expensive than it ought to be.

Most ships in the galaxy were now running on raw quadrinium. The engines themselves were designed to use the quadrinium and discard the impurities. But older ships still required fuel with a ninety-nine plus purity or their engines would stall, or worse, overload.

A strong wind blew through Keera’s hair as she had opted to skip wearing a helmet on her hoverbike trip to Tanelis’ last known coordinates. Speed limits were also something Keera decided to blatantly ignore.

The view of Zorga, Pyros III’s northern hemisphere capital, was breathtaking at this time of day, with both suns setting behind the tall, crystal-based skyscrapers. If Keera weren’t worried about getting Eleni’s daughter before the deadline, she would surely stop and take holo-pictures of the view.

The setting suns’ reflecting off the thousands of flying vehicles all over the city made the crystal-looking megalopolis appear like sparkling gold, giving it both an eerie and surreal quality.

Twenty minutes later, Keera arrived at her destination and parked her hoverbike by the side of the tall hotel. She took the elevator to the seventieth floor and looked for Room 7034.

She realized something was wrong when she knocked on the door, and the door pushed open on its own. She grabbed her blaster and burst into the room. On the floor lay a dying man.

Keera secured the area, aiming her gun as she rotated around, making sure there wasn’t anybody ready to ambush her. Once satisfied nobody was in the room, she sat next to the man.

“What happened?” she asked. “Where’s Tanelis?”

“They took her. Who are you?”

“I’m a friend of her mother,” said Keera with a twitch.

“I did everything I could to protect her. Please, help me.”

“I will; how do I find her?”

“My left pocket...tracker. Help...”

Keera took a scanner out of her pocket, set it to perform a medical scan, and checked the man. The overlaid holo-scan showed more red areas on his body than it should for someone still breathing. The man was bleeding internally in multiple places. The prognosis was imminent death.

“Hang on; I’ll get hel⁠—”

But the man was already gone. She grabbed the tracker from his pocket and located Tanelis’ position. She was moving fast, most likely inside a flying car, by the looks of it. They had about a five-minute head start on her, so she needed to act now.

Keera delicately closed the dead man’s eyelids and left the room, running.

Soon, she was on her hoverbike, pushing it beyond safety limits in the middle of heavy traffic. Flying cars, smaller craft, and other vehicles were lines of blurry colors.

I have to get that girl back to her father; if it’s the last thing that I do.

She had magnetically attached the tracker next to the hoverbike’s holo-display, and it began to beep faster, indicating she was approaching her target. She identified that the signal came from a matte black luxurious flying car about three hundred feet in front of her bike.

Keera was only a few seconds away from the target car when it changed lanes quickly.

Could they have detected my approach?

She stayed in her lane and adjusted her speed to not overcome the car. She needed to approach and not be detected, if that was still an option at this point. After a minute, she slowly made her way into the same lane, trying to not attract any attention to herself.

She was only a few yards away from the car when she made her move; she set the bike on autopilot and then climbed onto the seat, gaining some height and moving slightly forward toward the back position of the car. Keera took a deep breath before jumping off the bike.

Blustery winds blew her upward as she tried descending in a free fall toward the car. She crashed on the trunk of the vehicle with less grace than she had hoped but managed to secure herself by grabbing the sides of the car.

Before she could reach her blaster, the car turned upside down and threw Keera off of the vehicle where she floated in the air.

Her heart went from agitated to a panic galloping pace in a split second. She had to find a vehicle to grab, or she’d fall to her death. The first car she tried to latch onto was just out of reach, and all she achieved was to get her hand brutally thrown to the side, putting her into a spin.

Crap! This shit isn’t happening!

Before she could look around to find her bearings, she was swooped up and brutally landed on the empty backseat of a convertible, pink-colored car.

“Are you insane?” shouted the driver, a humanoid with orange-colored skin and a tribal tattoo on his hairless skull. “You’re lucky I saw you fall.”

Keera took a long breath of relief before climbing forward to the passenger seat.

“Thank you for your help, but I’m going to have to ask for more.”

“Oh no; I’m already late for an appointment; just be happy you didn’t fall to your death, and, in the future, I suggest that you⁠—”

Keera grabbed her blaster and looked at the driver.

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful here, but you see that car,” said Keera pointing to the black car that was accelerating and getting away. “There’s a little seven-year-old girl that’s been kidnapped in that car, and I need to get her back to her dad. Do you have children?”

The man looked at Keera intensely. “I have two daughters.”

“Ok, then let me ask you this: if that was your daughter in there, what would you do?”

“Anything I could.”

Keera pointed to the car with her blaster. “I need you to get me under the car; can you do that for me…” Keera paused.

“Jackson, my name is Jackson.”

“Nice to meet you, Jackson; I’m Keera. Now, about that car.”

“I’m going to regret this. I would tell you to strap in, but something tells me you’re not going to.” Keera smiled and did an infrared scan of the car and saw a youngling’s heat signature inside the trunk of the black vehicle.

“Just get your hood under the trunk of that car and let me do the rest.”

“Look, you clearly have a death wish, and I’m not going to argue, but who the hell are you? Police?”

“Not exactly. And right now is not the time for chit chat, wouldn’t you agree?”

Jackson nodded as he brought his car closer to Keera’s target.

“A little closer,” pleaded Keera as she climbed out of her seat and jumped onto Jackson’s hood.

“You’re one crazy lady!”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you.”

Keera positioned herself under the black car; she grabbed her nano-blade and looked straight into Jackson’s eyes. She could see the fear in them.

“Just keep steady, and be ready to get us out of here at a moment’s notice. Understood?”

She could tell Jackson was too scared to reply with words, but he nodded vigorously.

Keera grabbed a sonic grenade, activated a six-second timer on it, and stuck the cylindrical explosive device between her teeth.

Here goes nothing.

In a swift but fluid motion, she carved a large oval-shaped, unclosed hole through the bottom of the car. She sheathed her nano-blade, grabbed her blaster, and shot the bottom of the trunk. The shot made the oval carving swivel, and a young body rolled and fell from the car.

Keera caught an unconscious Tanelis with one arm while she also grabbed her sonic grenade, threw it inside the trunk, and punched the metal back into place. She jumped from the hood to the backseat of Jackson’s car with Tanelis in her arms. The moment they both landed on the aged leathery seats, the sonic grenade exploded.

“Now, Jackson! Get us the hell out of here.”

Lightning bolts sizzled around the car before it became engulfed in flames and then exploded into a large fireball. Keera used her body to shield Tanelis from the flying and flaming debris. A piece of burning shrapnel pierced through the back of Keera’s shoulder. The pain was excruciating, and for a second, she thought she might lose consciousness, but she powered through.

She grabbed the still burning metal and pulled it slowly from her skin, then threw it outside the car.

“Crazy doesn’t even start to describe you, Keera,” said Jackson as he stabilized his car’s flight path. “Where to now?”

Keera checked Tanelis. She had duct tape on her mouth, and her eyes appeared irritated, most likely from tears. She passed her hand through the girl’s beautiful blond hair.

“Anywhere, but here.”

* * *

Keera activated her ship’s hyperspace engine and set it on autopilot. It was time to check on Tanelis. Recovering Eleni’s ship and the stash of credits had gone smoothly, but it had forced Keera to give the little girl a sedative while she took care of business.

The child had been through enough and Keera didn’t want to risk her life when she went to the bank to recover Eleni’s possessions from the safe deposit box. That had been a wise decision since the DTs sent another pair of assassins to that location. But it was nothing Keera couldn’t handle.

Her shoulder still hurt, and she knew she should take care of the wound now that they seemed to be out of the woods. But first, she wanted to check on the child. She briskly walked to the ship’s living quarters.

Tanelis was waking up, and she screamed the moment Keera entered her room.

“Easy, Tanelis; I don’t mean you any harm.”

Tanelis crawled back on her bed until she hit the bed frame and curled into a ball. The poor thing was visibly terrified, and Keera could understand why. She must have witnessed the assassination of the man who was taking care of her.

Keera approached the girl’s bed cautiously; her hands forward in a non-threatening way, but Tanelis would not yield yet. Tears started flowing from her deep blue eyes.

“Hey, that’s okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you; I promise.”

Tanelis gingerly scanned the room. “This is mommy’s room; where’s my mommy? I want my mommy!”

Keera’s heart bled. How was she to tell this little girl that her mom was gone? And while she hadn’t intended for Eleni to die, Keera felt even more responsible for her death now that she saw her innocent daughter asking for her dead mother.

“I’m afraid your mommy couldn’t be here, but she sent me to get you back from those bad men. She asked me to bring you to…”

Keera stopped in mid-sentence. Was the girl even aware she had a father? Keera had no idea what Eleni had told her about the subject. But she would have to meet him soon, so it wasn’t like Keera had much choice; perhaps preparing Tanelis in advance would give her time to adapt.

“She asked me,” continued Keera, “to bring you to your father.”

Tanelis’ eyes widened, and she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Father? I don’t have a daddy.”

“You do, Tanelis. His name is Georgios, and we’ll be with him soon. He will take care of you from now on.”

Tears filled Tanelis’ eyes once more, and Keera realized that she shouldn’t have given her this piece of information. So, she lied to take some of it back.

“Until your mom comes back, that is.”

That seemed to calm Tanelis somewhat.

“You must be hungry,” said Keera. “Want some ice cream?”

That did the trick and Tanelis’ eyes lit up at the mention of the word. They both ate ice cream, and soon after, Tanelis fell asleep in her mom’s bed while Keera told her a bedtime story, one her own mom used to tell her as a child.

* * *

Keera pressed the doorbell, and a tall bearded man answered the door. It was Georgios alright. She recognized him from the holo-picture Eleni had left in her safe deposit box, along with a letter addressed to his attention.

“Yes, what can I do for you?” asked Georgios.

“We need to talk. E— Eleni sent me; she needs your help.”

The frown that filled Georgios’ face was not a good sign.

“I don’t want to have anything to do with you or Eleni, I’m sorry,” said Georgios before attempting to close the door.

Keera stuck her foot forward to prevent the door from closing.

“Please, just give me a minute of your time; I guarantee you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”

“Look Miss…” Georgios let the words hang.

“Keera, Keera Hawking.”

“Look, Miss Hawking, once upon a time my heart belonged to Eleni, and it took years to get over her. There’s nothing you can say that will be of any interest to me.”

“Does the name Tanelis ring a bell?”

Georgios pulled his head back. He and Eleni had talked about names for their children, should they ever have any. “Where did you hear that name?”

Keera took the holo-projector from her pocket and turned it on. Tanelis’ holo-picture came to life.

“This is Tanelis, your daughter. She just lost her mom, and I think she’d be thrilled to get to know her father.”

Tears filled Georgios’ eyes.

He opened the door fully.

“Please, come in.”

Georgios fixed Keera some coffee as she explained what had happened during the last few days and gave him the letter she had acquired from the safe deposit box. No matter what he had said earlier, he was deeply saddened when he learned Eleni had passed away.

“It’s my fault; I should have been more careful. I— I’m sorry.”

“I can’t blame you. Eleni chose her own path; she was always a strong-headed gal, and no matter what she did, danger always seemed to gravitate toward her. I don’t think you’re responsible for her death, and I suggest you stop blaming yourself for it.”

“That’s not the reaction I expected from you.”

“Look Keera, you seem like a nice person. I can tell you had a rough time as of late, and all that matters to me is that you’re bringing me Tanelis. You didn’t have to, and you could have sold my daughter, or worse, let her die. So, thank you for keeping your word and bringing her to me. By the way, where is she?”

“She’s just outside, playing with a cat. I’ve asked the old lady by the bench to look after her. Let me bring her in.”

“Thank you, Keera.”

Keera nodded. “Sure thing.”

It took Tanelis more than an hour to start talking with her father. Even though she needed to go to make her deadline in giving Tron’Tak his money back, Keera didn’t feel like leaving until Tanelis was used to Georgios.

Following Keera’s advice, he offered her ice cream. After that, Tanelis wouldn’t stop talking about all her favorite flavors. It made Keera smile and lifted some of the weight that she held in her heart.

“I have to go,” said Keera.

Tanelis dropped her third bowl of ice cream and ran toward Keera and grabbed her leg. Keera’s heart sank.

“Don’t go, Keera!”

Keera knelt down and took Tanelis by the shoulders as their eyes filled with tears.

“You’re in good hands, now. Georgios will take good care of you.”

“Please, Keera.”

“I can’t kiddo. If I don’t go, I will get into trouble.”

Tanelis frowned, but Keera could tell she understood what trouble meant.

“Will you come back to visit me?”

“I’ll try, kiddo. I’m so glad you’re getting to know your father, and I want you to know that your mother loves you very much. I will miss you. You’ve been a great co-pilot.”

“I’ll miss you, too, Keera.”

Keera kissed Tanelis on the cheek before saying goodbye to the both of them.

“Let me walk you out,” proposed Georgios.

Once outside of Georgios’ apartment, Keera took a deep breath.

“One more thing; I couldn’t take Eleni’s body with me. I had to space it as it didn’t feel right to leave her in the transport where she would decomp…” Keera’s voice caught.

“I understand; she wouldn’t have liked that either.”

Keera took a small tracker from her pocket and handed it to Georgios.

“What’s this?”

“That should give you her location in case you’d like to send a salvage team to recover her, and perhaps…”

But Keera let the words hang.

“Have a proper funeral.”

Keera nodded.

“I can’t guarantee that she’ll still be there, but there’s a good chance. I just thought you might want to have the option.”

“Thank you, Keera, for everything.”

* * *

Back on her ship and in space, Keera added the medical scan to Eleni’s decoy file and sent it to the DTs through a darknet address that should be untraceable.

Keera reflected on recent events. It had been a long time since she felt that her job had actually made a real difference for someone. Still, her adventures over the past couple of weeks had cemented something in her she had been feeling for a while. She didn’t see herself keeping this profession for much longer. She needed to get one or two very well paying warrants and retire somehow.

She accessed the intergalactic network and pulled up the advanced search option and filled in the minimum warrant reward field with one million credits. Only one result popped up. She couldn’t believe her eyes. There was a warrant for an Argos Thanatos, wanted dead or alive, for a thirty-five million credits warrant. If she could catch or eliminate this Argos, she could finally retire.

The thought warmed her heart. Keera was not stupid, though; she knew that if someone were willing to pay such a crazy amount of money, then this Argos person would probably be very dangerous. However, if she could pull off the job, she would be set for life.

While Eleni’s ship was quite comfortable, she would have preferred to get her own ship back from Tron’Tak, sell this one, as well as the precious cargo onboard her ship, and then buy the necessary hardware for the mission and perhaps hire some additional muscle to help her succeed in catching Argos Thanatos.

“It’s settled, then,” she said out loud.

Keera set a course for the Ponos One station and activated the hyperspace engine.

End of Course Correction…

DESTINATION OBLIVION (BOOK 3)

By Christian Kallias

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Commander Sarah Kepler – Earth Human (formerly US Navy Commander)

Commander Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Captain Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Captain)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos* (yah-nis tee-hee-hos)– Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

*From the Greek word Τυχιχός adjective or derivative, signifying someone fortunate or blessed by luck.

Ryonna Isch’ys (ree-oh-na is-kis) – Droxian Warrior (a fugitive Droxian smuggler)

Tar’Lock (tahr-lock)– Gorgar (Insectoid & formerly a Hellstar prisoner)

Admiral Ally Thassos – Earth Allliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Admiral)

Commander Fillio Steriopoulou (fee-lyo steh-ree-oh-poo-loo) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Olympians

Aphroditis (a-fro-dee-tee)– known to humans as the Goddess of Love

Ares (ah-rees)– know to humans as the God of War

Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war

Furies

Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (head of the Zarlacks)

Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

Miseo* (mi-se-oh) – Arakan’s son and right arm

Arkoolis – top Fury General

*From Greek: μισέω, meaning “to hate”

Other Characters

Cedric – Earth Human Scientist

Keera Hawking – Humanoid Bounty Hunter

Gaia (gah-yah) – Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet

Ronan Isch’ys – son of Ryonna

Jonas – Ryonna’s brother-in-law

Sendra – Commodore Saroudis’ daughter

Alexandra – Commodore Saroudis’ wife

THE STORY SO FAR

Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.

This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. It can, of course, be used by new readers but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (Definitive Edition).

Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

Volume II: Fury to the Stars

Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin, Argos, currently torturing her for information. Another Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him harness his emerging powers. Meanwhile, Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar Prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long-range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensitive weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.

And now the continuation . . .

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2015 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2015, Version 1.2

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

Christian Kallias

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

1

Chase swiped his index finger under his nose and looked at the blood. He rubbed the blood between his index and thumb and got back up.

He looked at the tall Droxian standing in front of him. A mix of cheers and boos came from the crowd outside the laser-illuminated arena. Some of the public were waving and flailing their arms; others gave him the thumbs down sign.

The Droxian launched himself at Chase with a powerful right kick. Chase dodged the blow, caught the leg on his right shoulder and locked it in place. With empty eyes he crushed the leg at knee level with a quick wave of his left hand.

The Droxian shrieked in agony as the blow dislocated his kneecap. Chase then threw the leg back at him. He fell to the ground with a loud thud as the crowd cheered uncontrollably.

“Chase! Chase! Chase!” they chanted now.

He took no pleasure from this, none at all. But he needed to feel the pain these fights brought. At least when he was letting himself be beaten to a pulp, which wasn’t the case much tonight. This was his fourth and last opponent for the evening, and while he let himself get injured on purpose and for the show, patience wasn’t a welcome guest in his thoughts today.

The Droxian was on the ground, holding his leg, clearly regretting landing the previous blow that had made Chase’s nose bleed.

This is utterly useless, thought Chase.

His opponent wasn’t in a position to cause Chase the physical pain he craved lately. But in his soul he knew that no amount of pain from these fights would cover that within his heart. A tear escaped his left eye but he quickly wiped it away.

“Finish him!” demanded the crowd.

Chase took two steps towards the Droxian, still on the ground, and the anticipation from the crowd intensified. He hated this, but this was how the fights had to be conducted on board the Obsidian station Ponos One. To the death.

He didn’t know what made the Droxian react—adrenaline and impending death, probably—but he was glad he did. He punched his own knee back into place with a painful, cracking noise and then stood mostly on his good leg, resuming a fighting stance.

Why did it have to be a Droxian? thought Chase. Of all the scum roaming these rings. It had to remind him of his past, a past he wanted to forget at all costs. But there was no brushing away the weight and pain of these memories as they rushed back into Chase’s mind, reigniting the deepest scars within his soul. He could obliterate his opponent with a thought; there was no challenge . . . But Chase wasn’t looking for challenge, only pain.

He ran toward the Droxian, who thrust his elbow towards Chase’s head. The impact threw him to the ground, sending a cloud of sand around him. Chase launched himself feet first towards the Droxian’s jaw. The impact sent the Droxian flying high in the air. Chase performed a somersault in midair and landed back on his feet before the Droxian fell heavily to the floor a second later.

The crowd went crazy. They were loving this shit. Sometimes Chase would feel like letting his Fury rage get the better of him and destroy everything and everyone around him, but there was already too much blood on his hands. Too many innocents had died.

It took a good minute for his opponent to muster the strength to rise to his feet. Chase looked at the holographic, real-time gambling screen. His odds had started at two to one, but they had soared to fifteen now. He turned back to the Droxian. He looked deep into his eyes. He could see fear in them, and that sent him back in time. To that moment when he had the chance to kill his brother Argos but didn’t. The single, most excruciating mistake of his entire life. The one with the most painful consequences.

He looked towards the bar, deep in the back of the hall in which the fights were taking place, past another three fighting cages—in one of which a Gorgar was beating the shit out of a Brin at lightning speeds. His look settled on an interstellar newscast by the bar. He closed his eyes and projected his mind there.

“The Earth Alliance has been reported winning yet another battle against the Zarlack Consortium around the ringed planet Zarthos Seven. This only three weeks after the Obsidian Empire officially broke their alliance with the Zarlack forces. In other news, the Obsidian Emperor has officially opened negotiations to join the Earth Alliance,” said the presenter with a smile.

At least Chase could take a small—very small—amount of comfort with each announcement of Argos’ forces’ new defeats. It had been three months now since his fight with Argos on Damocles-3. Three months that felt like an eternity. In that time, five major battles had been won by the Alliance and only one lost.

It no longer mattered to Chase who won the war. The only thing that mattered was to cross paths with his brother Argos, and unleash all the hate and anger he had bottled up deep within himself. That day would come, sooner or later and, when it did, this time he would finish the job once and for all.

Chase’s train of thoughts was interrupted when a powerful knuckle hit his face and made him lose balance. Perhaps he should get his head into this fight for the time being. There would be enough time to plan his revenge later. He had to finish this to get paid. That or die; but that wasn’t happening until after Argos’ heart stopped beating.

He dodged a poorly executed uppercut, grabbed the Droxian’s arm and used the momentum of the punch to slam him against the ground with the painful sound of multiple ribs breaking. This fight was getting boring. He dragged the Droxian back to his feet and decided to end it. He launched a lightning-fast, fivefold series of punches. He was so fast that, to the naked eye, it seemed the impacts on the Droxian’s body happened before Chase was upon him, and again the crowd cheered and chanted his name. The Droxian’s heart had stopped, but by a miracle he was still standing, a look of terror still locked into his eyes.

When Chase couldn’t take hearing his name being chanted anymore, he impaled the already dead Droxian through his ribcage, grabbed his heart and tore it out. The lifeless body fell to the ground like a flat board, and Chase held the purple-blooded, engorged heart high above his head. He squeezed it and heard the familiar winning sound played over the sound system.

“Chase wins!” added a theatrical voice as the cheers intensified.

Then everything changed. Darkness filled Chase’s vision.

“What have you become?” said Aphroditis, standing in front of him in the dark.

“What you made me.”

“No, what you are now is your own doing!”

“And if you were in front of me in the flesh, you’d get the same treatment.”

Tears flowed down Aphroditis’ face.

“This isn’t gonna work. I don’t want anything to do with you or Ares anymore. Please leave me be.”

She faded into the darkness with sadness in her eyes; then the darkness faded back into reality.

Chase collected his winnings and went to the bar. He ordered a Jur’Ran’s Blackhole. That drink packed the punch he needed to get his mind away from tonight’s fights and unpleasant memories. The drink was appropriately named, a dark-red based liquid with a hovering black pill in the center that seemed to siphon the color out of the drink towards it.

As he took a sip a woman came and sat next to him. He looked at her briefly. She had beautiful, long green hair, blue eyes—humanoid. With a pretty, round face and adorable smile.

“You fight well,” she said. “Mind if I join you?”

“Sure, just don’t expect fun company.”

“Alright, fair enough I guess.” She turned to the barman and ordered a drink, before adding, “What I have trouble understanding is why you let your opponents think they have a chance.”

Chase exhaled . . .

“Look, I don’t want to annoy you or anything, but I can tell you are letting them hit you. Or am I wrong?”

“You aren’t. I need the pain, but no matter how tough they are, they can’t deliver enough of it.”

“What was her name?”

Chase took another sip of his drink.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“It’s still too fresh. I get it. Like everything else, you’ll get over it in time, but I know how painful it can be to lose someone we love.”

“I really don’t want to talk about this. I should go.”

She put her hand on his shoulder. Her palm was soft, and it reminded him of Sarah.

“I’m sorry, Chase. I didn’t want to bring back old demons. Please don’t go on my account.”

Chase finished up his drink and ordered another.

“That’s okay,” he said, after a couple of sips from his second drink.

“May I ask why you’re fighting, though? You clearly don’t enjoy yourself, unless I read it all wrong.”

“Well, for one I need the pain; but lately it’s to correct a mistake I made. You see I need to . . .” He stopped himself for a moment and decided to rephrase it. “I have something to do but I need a ship, and I lost mine, stupidly.”

“How did you lose your ship? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Gambling,” said Chase, looking down.

She playfully pushed his shoulder. “Hey, don’t get yourself down. It happens to the best of us.”

“I can’t believe I did this, you know. I never gambled before, but I got the bug really bad. And one night, I bit off more than I could chew.”

“I understand. So you fight to buy your ship back?”

“Yeah, except the player I lost to said he would only play the ship back, not allow me to buy it back. That puts me in a shitty position, since I need a lot of credits to even enter that game.”

Chase felt really silly. How could he have done this? Not only had he lost the StarFury he stole from his friends when he decided to leave everything behind. But he also allowed this advanced technology to potentially fall into the wrong hands.

“Look, you need your ship. I understand. What if I could help you?”

Chase raised an eyebrow.

“Why would you help me? You don’t even know me.”

“Look, in my line of work, I’ve been in similar situations and I recognize a broken heart when I see one.”

“What is it you do?”

“I’m a bounty hunter.”

“Really? I never met a bounty hunter before and I must admit I had a completely different mental image. Not in a million years could I have guessed that’s what you do.”

“That’s because you are down at the moment. Take a closer look,” she said, pivoting on her chair and changing her posture.

She was wearing a really tight, leather, black outfit. A closer look revealed interweaves in the fabric, perhaps some sort of ultra-thin body armor. He saw the holster on her left hip, and soon noticed different places in her attire where she could be holding blades or knives.

“So?” she said.

“Yeah, now that I look at you, I see someone ready for anything.”

“But don’t sweat it. My physical appearance is often the first thing people see. In this business it’s an edge. Many people don’t see me coming until it’s too late.”

Chase nodded and took another sip of his drink, slowly feeling the effects of the alcohol. He didn’t know if it was his Fury genes, but he would need a lot of Jur’Ran’s Blackholes to get seriously inebriated.

“So, why would a bounty hunter help me?”

“It’s not a selfless act. I propose more of an exchange of services here. I help you; you help me in return. Who has your ship?”

“A card player named Tron’Tak.”

“I know him quite well. He most probably played you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let me guess. You played a few nights together and won almost every time, then, all of a sudden, you lost it all in one night.”

Chase’s expression darkened. “Yeah, that’s exactly what happened.”

“He played you. When an experienced card player smells a rookie—no offense—that’s how they prey on them. They give you a sense of confidence so that once you start losing, you actually don’t realize what’s happening and you think it’s just bad luck; until your luck is actually so bad you lost it all trying to shake the bad streak.”

“So he cheated?” asked Chase, pissed off.

“Well, he might have; but he might just have played badly on purpose, and then played well when he knew you would go all the way.”

Chase exhaled deeply, frustrated at being taken for a fool.

“Lighten up, Chase. You’re not the first or last who will fall for such a tactic.”

“Doesn’t really help my ego right now.”

“Fuck the ego. It’s good for nothing. You need to learn from this and then be aware, so it never repeats. That’s what life is, isn’t it? We make mistakes and learn from them.”

Chase didn’t know if it was the alcohol slowly taking hold of him, but this last comment hit home harder than he wanted it to. He felt a pain in the heart he was not ready for. A tear fell down his cheek.

“You alright? I’m sorry. Did I say . . .? Oh, me and my big mouth have brought back some painful memory.”

She rose from her chair and embraced him.

“What are you doing?” asked Chase, clearly not prepared for a show of affection from a complete stranger.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to bring bad memories to the surface. That’s my way of apologizing. Does it make you uncomfortable?”

In fact, it did, but it also brought back happy memories of when Sarah took him in her arms. One part of him wanted to brush the stranger’s arm away and another wanted nothing more than to embrace her back. Before he could make up his mind she sat back on her chair and looked at him with what seemed like genuine compassion. Something he hadn’t seen in anyone’s eyes for quite a while.

“You good, soldier?” she said playfully.

“I’m . . . I’m okay. Thanks, I guess.”

“Don’t sweat it. Now, back to your ship problem. I know Tron’Tak very well. In fact, the little weasel owes me. So getting your ship back shouldn’t be a problem.”

“That would really be helpful, but . . .” He let the words hang.

“What do I want in return?”

“Exactly.”

She took a long breath, something Chase decided right there wasn’t a good sign.

“I may need your muscles; at the very least, for protection. This new warrant I took is probably the biggest and most dangerous I ever tried to cash in. On the other hand, it pays so well, I could very well retire after that job.”

“I see. Must be dangerous, then?”

“Yeah, probably more than I can fathom. I mean . . . I’ve been at it for more than ten years and never saw such a sum on any warrant. This guy has pissed off the wrong crowd; in fact, so much so that he is more valuable dead than alive.”

“I have a mark I also want to kill . . .”

“Oh? Well I doubt it’s the same guy, unless he is called Argos.”

“WHAT? What did you just say?”

“That’s the name of my warrant, a certain Argos.”

Chase’s blood ran cold first, and then melting lava ran through his veins. His eyes glowed purple and the bounty hunter was startled.

“What’s with your eyes?” she uttered, her voice trembling.

Realizing he was letting his Fury out and his anger consume him, he tried to calm himself, but it was getting really difficult.

“I’m sorry. That name. That name . . .” Chase was unable to finish his sentence.

“What’s with it?”

“My twin brother is called Argos.”

“Oh? If this is the same dude, I clearly knocked at the wrong door. I’m sorry.”

“What’s the last name on the warrant?” said Chase, not sure he wanted to know.

“Thanatos.”

“Yeah, that’s my twin brother alright.”

What were the odds of this? wondered Chase. None, he decided. While he had learned the hard way not to gamble, he found this extremely suspicious. In fact, he immediately started thinking of possible scenarios. This woman was proposing to help him catch Argos. Was it a ploy by the Olympians? He had been less than courteous with them lately. Perhaps they needed a fresh face to deliver their messages, in an attempt to sway him back towards them. Or was it an attempt from Argos himself to lead Chase back to him? Chase had no doubt that Argos wanted him for something, otherwise he would have killed him before. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have opportunities to do so. On multiple occasions, in fact. The first when he was helpless inside his disabled F-140. The second on Hellstar. And the last when the Alliance strike force had been trapped in the shipyard at Gatos Nebula.

Obviously tonight was not the night for drowning his sorrow in alcohol and forgetting the past. But the cry for revenge, the absolute hatred he harbored towards his brother, was tickling way too much within his soul to just ignore all this. It could very well be a trap, a clever setting designed by Argos to get his hands on Chase, for whatever reason he needed him alive. Chase decided, however, that knowing this could be exploited in his favor.

“I’m in,” said Chase coldly.

“Seriously? You seemed really pissed a moment ago. I thought you might just lose it and destroy the bar with your bare hands.”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” said Chase, calmly now, “however, I know better now than to let my rage dictate my action. Most of the time, anyway.”

“I’m not really sure I want to ever witness the moments where you do let rage control you.”

“Then you really have to ask yourself if I’m the right partner for the job. Because if we meet Argos, you will see much worse than you can possibly imagine. I will kill him, as brutally as possible and no matter the cost.”

“Wow! I’ve never met someone so determined to end the life of his own brother. What in the blazes did he do to you?”

Chase’s eyes started blinking again, but he tried to not let his rage unleash the wave of emotions currently overwhelming his soul.

“Forget I asked,” she said.

“Still want me along?”

“Well, if you can take the beatings I saw you take and still stand like nothing happened, and still kill some of the ruthless fighters I’ve seen in a place like this without breaking a sweat, you’re probably the right man for the job. But let me ask you this.”

“Shoot.”

“Will you be able to do it without killing me in the process?”

Chase looked into her eyes. He could see genuine concern mixed with fear, though she was good at masking most of it.

“Let’s look at it this way. If you get me to Argos, believe me, the only being in the universe that could protect you from him is sitting in front of you.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

“Look . . . Huh, I realize I don’t even know your name.”

“My name is Keera, Keera Hawking.”

“Look, Keera, I want you to understand that you were right to question your warrant. Argos is the most dangerous man in the universe right now.”

“Looks to me you could be a close second.”

“I only live to kill him. That’s my goal in life now. So yeah, I could very well be. But if you help me locate him, I will do everything in my power so nothing happens to you. But you need to understand that I can’t guarantee it. I . . . I already lost . . .” Another tear ran from his eye.

“He killed someone you cared about, didn’t he?”

“Worse. He made me kill the most important person in the world.”

Her eyes widened. “Damn! This is seriously fucked.”

“You may want to reconsider this mission if you value your life, Keera.”

“Yeah . . . I don’t know why, but the pain I see in your soul is so strong, I actually feel like this meeting was no accident. It’s like I needed to meet you to even attempt this. Like the universe brought you on my path.”

Chase felt like commenting on that one. His faith in the universe had been shattered beyond repair of late. He no longer cared if the universe went up in flames right now, as long as Argos was one of the casualties. But if this was an elaborate trap to get at him, the less he showed his doubts the better.

“Perhaps it is,” he said, attempting a smile. “I just want you to understand the danger you would be putting yourself in.”

“I get it. And perhaps there will come a time when I will want to reconsider. But right now I feel compelled to go ahead. That is, if you’re willing to partner with me? I can give you half the warrant. I was more inclined to propose twenty percent at first. But it looks like you’re gonna be the one to take him down and do the heavy lifting, so that’s only fair.”

“I don’t want money. Just get me my ship back and let’s track my brother. Once I’ve killed him—making sure he suffers as much as possible—then you can take his body and cash in your warrant.”

“Look, I get it, you hate the guy, and under the circumstances I can’t blame you. But we’re talking millions here. You may want to reconsider.”

Chase didn’t care for money. It was something he had never really needed or used before he lost Sarah. Sure, the Alliance had to trade on rare occasion, when they needed to acquire something from the outer worlds, but money had no value to him personally. However, it was perhaps better to show some interest, just in case Keera wasn’t who she said she was.

“Perhaps I will. I’m not doing this for the money, though.”

“I get that. It’s actually refreshing for once.”

“When do we get out of this hellhole?”

“I need to get your ship back. Shouldn’t take long. I also need a few hours to get some supplies and cash in my previous warrant. Meet me in docking bay seven tomorrow morning, 0800 sharp, okay?”

“I’ll be there.”

“Great, see you soon then . . . partner?” she said with a smile.

“Yeah, see you soon, Keera.”

He watched her walk away. Her figure was stunning. Her long, green hair flowed down her back. She walked with a sexy allure, but also a determined assurance that Chase found endearing.

I sure hope you’re not in league with my brother, or there will be hell to pay, Keera. I would really hate to hurt such a wonderful creature.

2

Aphroditis took a step down from the subspace holo-transmitter platform. The bright-blue light cylinder that engulfed her moments ago faded away. She shook her head in desperation.

“He told you to piss off, didn’t he?” inquired Ares.

“Oh, you’re here. Yeah, pretty much.”

“Look, we’ve tried again and again. It’s clear he doesn’t want anything to do with us anymore. So what do we do now?”

“I don’t know, but without him I fear all is lost.”

“Don’t want to be an ass, but if you hadn’t filled his head with the fact he was the universe’s only hope—something I’m still not inclined to accept by the way—perhaps he wouldn’t have taken that shot.”

“I did not tell him to do so . . .”

“That’s not what he told me.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“I thought you two had discussed this. He told me you told him clearly that he had to kill her or all would be lost.”

“I never had that conversation with him. When I discovered that our communications had been intercepted I tried to warn him, but we got cut off. It’s ironic, though. I was calling him to warn him that our communications might not be secure anymore. Do you think . . .?”

“Yeah, who else? Argos must have found a way to communicate, and most likely impersonate you. That’s the only thing that makes sense right now.”

“If that’s the case we may be in great danger. He might have managed to locate us, and if he has, I don’t have to tell you what will happen.”

“No you don’t. But it’s been three months, so if he knew where to find us, I think he would have come for us already.”

“Unless he’s been too busy with something more important.”

“If that’s the case, we should pack up and leave this place and soon. You know as well as I do that I can’t take on Argos, no matter how powerful I am. This is one Fury I know in my guts I cannot take down.”

“And the only other Fury who could is currently hating us, thinking we gave the kill order on Sarah.”

“If it was only Sarah . . .”

“What? What are you talking about? Am I the last one to know anything around here these days?”

“She was pregnant. Surely you knew that?”

“Oh dear.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.”

“I’m starting to understand how he feels.”

“We need to find a way to tell him it wasn’t us.”

“Somehow I think that ship has sailed. He doesn’t seem to be in a very receptive frame of mind at the moment.”

“I think he hates you more than me. While the two conversations I had with him weren’t of the pleasant kind, at least he talked.”

“Yeah, he just blows me off. I don’t think he realizes it but he has the ability to terminate our communications now. What do you have in mind?”

“Use his resentment for us as a way to talk to him and explain what happened. Perhaps when he sleeps . . .”

“What if he doesn’t believe you?”

“Then we wouldn’t be worse off than we are at the moment.”

“Right.”

“I’ll try establishing contact with him in a few hours, but after that we’re leaving.”

Aphroditis looked grave but nodded in agreement. “There’s one thing that bugs me, though.”

“Only one?”

She gave him a look.

“What is it?”

“I keep getting these visions and fractured pieces of potential future timelines, which is why I advised Chase in the first place; but I didn’t see Sarah’s death coming.”

“So?”

“I don’t know. It bugs me, though . . .”

“Look, as you say, you see possible future events, but obviously things aren’t set in stone. For now the Alliance seems to be kicking the Zarlacks at almost every encounter. Perhaps Chase played the role he had to play.”

“No. I can’t put it into words, but he’s not done yet. I do feel a very dark shroud around him. Something is about to go terribly wrong.”

Ares exhaled deeply and shook his head.

* * *

Daniel opened a channel. “Status report.”

“Nothing to report, boss,” answered Fillio cheerfully. “Boy am I glad this is our last chaperone run. I had just about enough of escorting quadrinium transports.”

“Yeah, I hear you. The jumpgate should be operational by week’s end.”

“Any reason they send us and not other pilots?”

“Actually, that was my choice. I requested this assignment. . .well, kind of.”

“Really? Mind if I ask why?”

“Ever since Chase left us . . .” Daniel couldn’t let himself continue.

“You alright?”

“I don’t know. I mean, I never expected this to happen. It’s all my fault.”

“What do you mean? Why would it be your fault?”

“I told Chase not to kill Argos. He said that would have killed Sarah.”

“Look, that was a tough call to make. You thought what you did was right at the time.”

“And in doing so I sealed Chase’s fate.”

“How exactly does that link to us doing these runs?”

“It’s stupid, but I need to fly a ship as often as possible. When I’m on board Destiny or on Earth all I can think about is this whole mess.”

“Daniel, it’s not your fault.”

“And yet my best friend, my brother even, is gone.”

“Perhaps he will come back. Give him time.”

“Not before Argos is killed, or . . .”

“Or Argos kills him.”

“Yeah,” said Daniel, with sadness and remorse weighing heavily on his heart.

The long-range sensors flashed in Daniel’s HUD.

“Heads up. We have company.”

“I see them. Geez, that’s a lot of bogies.”

“Alright, let’s be smart about this. You cloak now and get the drop on them from behind.”

“Right. Make sure you have them well occupied. You know as well as I do that the StarFury doesn’t have shields once I de-cloak.”

“I know. Don’t worry. I’ll take them for a wild ride.”

“Roger that, boss. Cloaking now. See you on the other side.”

“Be careful.”

“Says the man who decided to go face to face with two squadrons without his wingman.”

“Right.”

Daniel adjusted his vector towards the two incoming squadrons of Zarlack fighters. He engaged them and targeted the first three fighters with laser fire and missiles, and dispatched them quickly before veering to the right. He deployed his drones and they pounded laser fire on the aft shields of his pursuers. They locked onto his craft and fired missiles. Daniel deployed countermeasures and, as soon as the missiles impacted with them, he boosted his shields, cut engines and activated reverse thrusters at maximum power. The rest of the first squadron passed in front of him and he assumed the position of hunter instead of prey. He locked onto his next kill and quickly depleted its shields. He then proceeded to lock onto the next ship while he let his drones finish off the previous target, which didn’t take long. It exploded with a bright and satisfying bang.

The drones rejoined formation with Daniel’s F-147 and quickly dispatched the next Zarlack fighter, blowing it out of the sky. It took some pretty fancy flying, but soon Daniel had eradicated an entire squadron with little or no damage to his own ship. But he was now being pursued by no less than six fighters.

“Where are you, Fillio?”

The other F-147 de-cloaked behind the enemy fighters and Fillio started picking them off one by one. By the time they realized what had happened, she had destroyed four of them. She veered off course to let her shields charge.

“Mind taking care of these last two?”

“On it,” replied Daniel as he engaged with the nearest enemy craft.

He locked onto one enemy and sent two missiles, the first draining most of its shields, while the second tore off its wing, leaving the craft spinning uncontrollably into the darkness of space. The last Zarlack starfighter had since broken off and tried to run for it at max burn.

“Not so fast, you son of a bitch.”

Daniel microjumped and in a millisecond was right on top of the ship. He pounded it with laser fire. The ship tried to go evasive but there was no escaping Daniel’s lock. Not willing to waste yet another missile, he kept at it with lasers. Soon the enemy craft’s shields were down, and each successful hit sent debris and smoke in its wake. After thirty seconds, Daniel redirected almost all power to his weapons and fired two supercharged lasers, which tore the ship in half upon impact, followed by a fiery explosion.

“Having fun?” inquired Fillio.

“Wouldn’t go that far, but at least it distracts me.”

“I understand how you feel. He’s my friend too, you know. I was really surprised he left us.”

“I can’t blame him for that. I just wish I knew he was okay.”

“Perhaps we should try and locate him?”

“I don’t think he wants to be found.”

“Screw what he wants. What about what we want?”

“Point taken. Perhaps we can ask Ryonna and Tar’Lock to go look for him.”

“Yeah, if there’s anyone who knows how to get things done outside of Earth Alliance territory, it sure is those two. But you should go as well.”

“Alright. I’ll ask the commodore once we get back.”

“Speaking of . . .”

“Yeah, let’s regroup with the transport and finish this boring run.”

“Boring, huh? Roger that.”

* * *

Chase descended to the lower levels of the Ponos station. The lift doors opened to reveal a very dark hall lit with very few lights, in low-power setting; just enough to see a few feet in front of him.

He walked straight down the hall. After a minute a shadow passed in front of one of the lights and stood there. It was humanoid. It held a knife in one hand, which was shaking slightly.

“Out of my way if you value your life,” said Chase casually.

“No way, man. You need to give me your possessions or I’ll cut you.” The man waved his blade nervously.

“Look, I get it. This is a shitty place, and you’re doing what you can to survive, but believe me, take my offer and move aside.”

“I don’t fear you!”

“And yet you should.”

“You think you’re tough, but I have the knife, bitch!”

“In this case it’s as useful as an air conditioner on a subzero planet, so I suggest you put it down before you end up wearing it.”

The man looked puzzled, trying to figure out Chase’s pun. When it finally hit home he made a face and spat on the ground.

“You asked for it, man,” he said, feigning confidence.

Chase shook his head from side to side, and then lifted one hand and made a gesture inviting the thief to attack him. He threw himself at Chase, blade first, going for the heart. Chase’s reaction was immediate. He caught and stopped the incoming blade between two fingers. He exhaled, still shaking his head.

The man watched in terror, still trying to make the blade advance, but it wouldn’t budge at all. Chase slowly raised his other hand and made a fist in front of the man’s face. The man swallowed heavily.

With a swift movement Chase sent him flying towards the nearest wall. He impacted it a good three feet above ground level before the blade he had used to attack Chase came at lightning speed and pierced his left shoulder, before he hit the ground. Blood flowed from the wound. The man screeched in agony, artificial gravity trying to pull his body down but the blade preventing him. Chase resumed his walk and stopped at his level.

“Don’t kill me, please,” implored the man.

“I never intended to kill you, fool. Believe me, if that had been my intention you’d have been dead before you uttered a word. Now, I’m looking for some recreational drugs. I’ve been told I can find them on this level, and you look like someone who uses, so would you be so kind as to point me towards your dealer?”

“Will you let me down if I tell you?”

“Are you really in a position to negotiate?”

“Fair en—” Before he could finish the blade started cutting up and extending the wound, as gravity slowly pulled the man downward.

Chase extended his right hand and extracted the blade with his mind, plunging it so deeply into the opposite wall that only the handle showed. At the same time he used his power to lower the man slowly, until his feet touched the ground.

“So?” asked Chase.

The man put his hand on the blood-gushing wound and spoke. “Take a right at the end of the corridor, then go all the way through and take the last left. Zarnor’s operation is there.”

Chase extended his arm towards the man’s shoulder.

“Please don’t kill me. I told you what you wanted to know!”

“Shut up and hold still,” said Chase, removing the man’s hand from his wound and applying his own.

He healed the man in less than three seconds. The man looked at his closing wound and his eyes grew with astonishment.

“There, good as new. I suggest you find another career path, though,” said Chase, not waiting for an answer as he resumed walking.

Two minutes later he arrived at his destination. Two huge, pink-skinned goons, with bloodshot, red eyes, stepped in front of him. Behind them a green insectoid sat at a black desk. He spoke. “It’s invite only. Get lost!”

“I need something and I’ve been told you can provide it.”

“I don’t deal with strangers.”

“Well, today you’ll make an exception.”

The insectoid made a clicking sound and his goons jumped at Chase.

“For the love of⁠—”

Chase sprang into the air and somersaulted behind them. He then turned around, extended his arms and sent a powerful telekinetic wave towards the goons, who rebounded against each other before crashing against the walls on each side of the corridor. They collapsed on the ground with a very satisfying and synchronized thud. Chase turned back to the insectoid.

“Look, I’m not here to cause any problems, but I’m sick and tired of people’s attitude tonight. I came in good faith hoping you could help me, but if you’d like to see how I can use my powers to dismember you and then just take whatever the fuck I want from your inventory, let me know, ’cause I’m losing patience here.”

The insectoid clicked multiple times nervously. “That won’t be necessary. What are you looking for? And whatever it is, it’s on the house.”

Chase took credits from his pockets and threw them on the table. “I don’t need a freebie. Hopefully this can buy me something nice?”

The insectoid looked at the credits with a gleam in his eye.

“Whatever you want, in fact.”

“Good. I need something for numbing pain.”

“A painkiller? I have them all.”

“Not that kind of pain.”

“Ooooh, I see. You need to forget something or someone.”

“Yeah.”

“Then may I suggest synthesized Kyrian snake venom?”

“Yeah, give me a double shot of that.”

“One dose will suffice. More could kill you.”

“If only . . . Give me a double shot, please.”

The insectoid clicked while looking in a drawer within his desk. “Your funeral.”

“Not likely.”

“There, my last two doses. I can’t stress enough how dangerous it is to get more than one per day, though.”

“You said that already. Jack me up.”

Chase extended his arm. The insectoid took the vial, inserted it into a medical gun and injected Chase subcutaneously with a small whooshing sound as he pressed the trigger.

“How long does it⁠—”

“Not long, as you can probably feel already. In five minutes you won’t remember your own name.”

Chase felt a burning sensation, followed by a soothing and warm feeling. He started to feel light-headed.

“Any side effects?”

“Besides overdosing? If you survive this—and I should really stress the ‘if’ part—once the poison is out of your system, you may find yourself craving more. But it usually takes three or four injections for the craving to be so strong you need it daily.”

“Charming. Anything else?”

“Yeah, you’ll probably be quite angry once the drug is out of your bloodstream; like homicidal-maniac-violent for a few hours.”

“That should prove interesting.”

“I don’t plan to be around then, if you survive.”

“Oh, I will survive. The universe isn’t done fucking with me yet and I’m not done paying it back.”

“Whatever, man. Nice doing business with you. How long are my goons gonna be out?”

“Maybe an hour or two.”

“Swell. I guess I’m off for the night then. So long, stranger.” He clicked a button on the underside of his desk and thin walls closed in front of his desk, effectively transforming it into a dead-end corridor.

Chase started back the way he had come but after a few steps he lost his balance and crashed to the ground. He registered no pain at all at the impact. But the pain within his soul grew smaller at an exponential rate. He barely managed to set an alarm on his wristband before falling into an inviting and sweet darkness.

* * *

Chase was lying in tall, green grass. He brushed the grass with his hand and felt at peace. The sky was magnificent: dark blue and purple hues, with pink clouds dancing in a circle. Then he heard her voice.

“Chase! Where are you hiding, silly?”

“I’m over here,” he said, raising himself from the ground.

Sarah ran toward him, holding the hand of a small boy about five years old. The child released himself, ran quickly towards Chase and jumped into his arms. Chase lifted him towards the sky and spun around a few times. He then brought the child toward him and kissed him on the cheek.

“Daddy!” said the boy, with a broad and innocent smile.

“You okay, buddy? Are you hungry?”

“No, I’m fine. I want to play with you though.”

“What do you want to play?”

“I want you to make me fly, Daddy.”

Sarah embraced him from behind. He turned and kissed her passionately on the mouth.

“Always a favorite.”

Chase smiled. He lifted his son with his mind and sent him flying around. He extended his arms in front of him and laughed hysterically.

“You alright, my love?” asked Sarah.

“Couldn’t be better. You?”

“Yeah. We’ve been looking for you since he woke from his nap.”

Chase smiled. His heart felt warm. He was happy beyond his wildest dreams.

After flying the boy around for a few minutes, he brought him down.

“Again, Daddy, again.”

“Later, son. Let’s go for a walk, okay?”

The boy closed his eyes and nodded in agreement with a big smile. They walked for the next hour and arrived by a riverbed. Sarah and Chase sat on the grass while the child chased a beautiful, green-orange butterfly, the sound of his laughter echoing in the valley. Sarah put her head on Chase’s shoulder for a while. He brushed her satin red hair and reveled in its intoxicating perfume. They lay on the ground and kissed for a very long time.

“Chris looks so much like you.”

“Does he, now? I always thought he was as pretty as his mother.”

“He even has your eye color.”

“It’s popular with girls.”

She punched him on the shoulder affectionately.

“How would you know? Perhaps it’s just popular with me.”

“As long as you like it, that’s all I care about, my love.”

“Don’t try to charm yourself out of this.”

“You know I only have eyes for you, my sweet wife.”

“Good save,” she said with a broad smile, before kissing him sweetly on the lips.

“I love you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“I love you too, Chase, and you’ll have me for as long as I live.”

A tear escaped from Chase’s left eye.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I’m just so happy.”

Chris approached and jumped up and down.

“What is it, Chris?” asked Chase.

“I want to fish!”

“Alright. Just remember what I told you last time. Go easy on them, okay?”

He smiled and nodded, and then he ran to the river and looked at the surface.

“Perhaps you should supervise him?” said Sarah.

“He’ll be fine. It’s only fish.”

Chris extended an open palm and shot a small, yellow fireball into the water. The impact raised the water and with it a big, purple fish flew into the air. He ran into the water and jumped to catch it before it fell back. The fish was clearly stunned.

“All good, son?”

“I think fishy is sleeping.”

Chase looked at Sarah who gave him a big smile.

“So you caught dinner?” said Chase playfully.

“No! I don’t want to eat fishy. Fishies are my friends!”

“That’s a good boy. Perhaps you should help him wake up then?”

Chris smiled and placed his hand on the fish, bathing it with white light. Soon it started flapping about and escaped the boy’s hands, returning to the water.

“Bye, fishy, see you soon,” said Chris joyfully.

He came back, all wet, towards his parents.

Chase raised one hand and dried his son with a swift and warm air current.

“Thank you, Daddy. Will you teach me that too?”

“Sure thing, son.”

A thunderclap resonated within the valley and the sky began to darken.

“Looks like it’s gonna rain,” said Sarah.

She stood and extended her hand towards Chris. “Let’s go home and prepare dinner for Daddy. Want to help me, sweetie?”

Chris jumped in excitement. “Yes, I want to cook with you, Mommy.”

Sarah looked at Chase. “You coming?”

“Go ahead. I’ll be right behind you.”

She winked at him and they left.

Chase looked at the ominous sky. He was surprised how quickly the weather had changed. He walked by the riverbed, taking a small pebble and sending it flying at the surface of the water. The sheer power of its increasing velocity split the water in two for a few hundred feet.

“I need to talk with you,” said a voice behind Chase.

The sky turned darker. Chase spun around.

“Hello, Ares, what can I do for you?” Chase started to feel dread within his soul, but couldn’t really understand why.

“Interesting dream you’re having. Are you high?”

Then it came back to him. He had taken some sort of hallucinogenic venom. None of this was real. Tears flowed down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry to drag you out of your reverie.”

“Not as sorry as I am. I like it here. Wish I could stay here forever.”

“One day, perhaps.”

“Let me guess, once I defeat Argos? I thought I told you I didn’t want to talk to you or Aphroditis anymore.”

“I know, but you need to understand something.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Aphroditis didn’t ask you to kill Sarah, and⁠—”

“Chris, his name would have been Chris.”

Ares’ expression grew darker and he only nodded in response.

“She did tell me I had to kill her. I remember it very well.”

“No, she tried to warn you that our communications had been compromised, most likely by Argos.”

“What are you trying to tell me, Ares?”

“That Argos, somehow, must have impersonated Aphroditis and given you that order.”

Chase made fists and the ground started shaking.

“Easy, Chase, you could destroy the place your physical body is in right now.”

“I’m not sure I care.”

“Well, if you want to be given the opportunity to exact revenge on Argos, perhaps you should.”

Chase closed his eyes and tried calming down. Projecting a mental image of Sarah and Chris seemed to do the trick pretty fast.

“Good. Now understand this: we are both very sorry for what happened.”

“And that helps me how?”

“I didn’t say it would help, Chase, I’m just telling you I’m sorry. We both are.”

“Right, thanks, I guess . . .”

“Chase, you’re hurting right now. It’s understandable, but you need to heal. You can’t expect to defeat Argos if you don’t process your grief first.”

“Actually I think my hatred for Argos should be all I require to kill him.”

“Anger and hate will cloud your judgment when the time comes. Argos might exploit that.”

“He is welcome to try.”

“And what if he kills you?”

“Then I will join Sarah at the gates of heav—” Chase let the sentence hang as more tears flowed down his face.

“I see. Look, I— What the?”

“What is it?”

“Oh no! He’s here!”

“Who’s there?” asked Chase with genuine concern.

Chase heard an echoing voice in the valley.

“Speaking to my brother, Ares? Say hello for me, will ya?”

Ares looked at Chase with terror in his eyes. Chase’s blood started to boil.

“Where are you, Ares? How can I help?”

“You can’t. It’s too late. I’ll have to face Argos myself.”

“But you said⁠—”

“Yes, Chase, I know what I said. I will try to hold him off as much as I can, to give Aphroditis a fighting chance to escape, but you must help her! Please help her!”

“Ares!” said Chase as his mentor’s body faded away before his eyes.

The sky turned dark red and lightning strikes fell all around.

“Tell me where you are!!!”

“We’re in the Megara sector, Chase. Goodbye . . .”

“Aaaaaaareeeeees!” shouted Chase, before falling to his knees as the world around him was destroyed a little more with every new crimson lightning strike.

* * *

Chase awoke and felt his wrist buzz and vibrate. He blinked his eyes multiple times and a foul odor reached his nostrils. A Brin was reaching for him.

“Get the fuck away from me!” he muttered.

The Brin grinned, jumped back to his feet and took a blaster out of his holder.

Not in the mood, thought Chase.

He jumped to his feet and kicked the Brin in the guts. The Brin fell to his knees, dropping his blaster, his wind cut from the impact of the kick.

A wave of hate permeated every fiber of Chase’s being and his eyes glowed intensely. He took a step towards the Brin and put his palm on the Brin’s head. The body instantly exploded into a million pieces and splattered blood all over Chase and his surroundings.

“Ooops,” said Chase out loud.

Right, side effects, he remembered.

He looked at the blood and guts on him and all around. He made his aura glow and it burned every trace to ashes.

“Sorry, buddy, don’t know how to heal someone in this . . .”—he made a face that clearly expressed his disgust—“state.”

He looked at his wrist and saw he was already late for his meeting with Keera.

“Dammit!” he said. His feet elevated from the ground and he flew within the corridors at maximum speed.

* * *

Keera was standing in launch bay seven near Chase’s craft, looking at her wrist.

“Where are you, Chase?” she said out loud.

She heard multiple steps coming down the nearest corridor. It was Tron’Tak and five of his goons. She did not like this one bit.

Tron’Tak was a tall and muscled blue-skinned humanoid with brown dreadlocks of dirty hair, yellow teeth and more than a few scars on his face.

“What is this, Tron’Tak?”

“I changed my mind. You can’t have that ship.”

“A deal is a deal. You owed me anyway.”

“I didn’t owe you that much.”

“That’s not for you to decide. Back off, Tron’Tak! Get your goons and go back where you came from, if you value your lives.”

“You’re good, Keera, but you’re not that good.”

Sensing the inevitable, Keera sprang into action without waiting another moment. She took two small blades from her back and threw them at two of the goons. Both blades landed firmly within her targets’ brains and they collapsed to the ground. She then took her blaster from her holster, but Tron’Tak was faster and shot it out of her hands with his. It flew backwards and sparked upon impact with the ground. The other three goons ran towards her and turned on their light-blades. She parried the first incoming blade, ducked and unleashed a powerful, circling kick that swiped her assailant off balance. She grabbed his light-blade and used it to stop the attack from the next goon. When the blades collided, they crackled loudly. She kicked the goon hard in the face and used her blade to impale the previous attacker before he had time to recover from his fall. He screeched briefly before his eyes turned dead.

The goon she had kicked got back up and raised his blade in a defensive stance, while the other ran towards her, screaming from the bottom of his lungs.

Amateur, she thought.

She easily dodged his incoming blade and, in a fluid motion, she decapitated him. His body kept running while his head fell near her feet and rolled a little, his lifeless stare locked into a state of utter terror. She lost no time and threw her light-blade spinning towards the last goon. He blocked the blade with his own and it fell to the ground, but by then she was upon him. She took a thin, sharp, long blade from behind her skin-tight body armor and before the goon could react she sliced him in two with a fluid, vertical motion.

But then it all went bad. She felt a dart impact her jugular. She pulled it from her neck, but felt the effect of the poison almost immediately. She swore as she heard Tron’Tak laugh. She turned towards him and saw a sick smile on his face.

She tried to take a step forward but she couldn’t feel her muscles anymore. Her grip on her blade loosened first, and it fell to the ground with a metallic clunk. Her legs were next to give in and she fell down face first. Her head hit the ground with pounding pain, and she almost lost consciousness, but could still hear the maddening laugh of Tron’Tak as he approached and grabbed her by the hair.

“Don’t touch me! What the hell did you do to me?”

“It’s my favorite poison; very fast acting. It numbs my prey but they stay awake, so they can still feel the pain of what’s coming next.”

“You sick fuck!”

He dragged her and placed her belly down on a nearby crate. He then approached her face and licked it with his foul-smelling, blue tongue.

“I’m gonna kill you for this, Tron’Tak!”

“Uh-huh. I would like to see you try. I liked our partnership in the past, but I always wanted to fuck you, and looks like my wish is about to come true.”

“You worthless pig. Don’t you dare touch me!”

He grabbed her pants and pulled them down.

This can’t be happening! she thought, her brain paralyzed by the sheer terror of what was unfolding, with her body utterly powerless to do anything about it.

Tron’Tak unbuckled his belt and ripped her panties off.

“You better kill me after or I’ll cut your junk and make you eat it, you sick fuck. Don’t you dare touch me!”

“You mean like this?” He put his dirty fingers between her legs. “But don’t worry. I’ll probably kill you during, but I want you to feel me deep inside you when it happens.”

She felt his vicious hand between her legs, and rage and disgust overwhelmed her thoughts. Her brain panicked, unable to process the nightmare. But she was simply powerless, unable to move a single muscle.

“Now for the fun part.”

“You’re a dead man!”

“Nah, I’m a lucky man,” he said as he took his manhood out and readied himself to forcefully enter Keera.

“Hey, asshole!” heard Tron’Tak just before entering her.

Clearly startled, Tron’Tak turned around.

“Rape this!” said Chase, with a look radiating amethyst, as he released a fireball.

Before Tron’Tak could do anything his genitals exploded into pieces and blood spattered everywhere, some on Keera’s bare skin, accompanied by a jolt of tremendous pain, utter shock and a loud shriek.

“What did you d—” But he never finished his sentence.

Chase moved so fast he nearly teleported next to him and severed his head from his body with a fast, waving slice of his hand. It fell and rolled on the ground, ending in front of Keera. She could see his lifeless eyes and the look of terror and shock locked into his eyes. He twitched creepily.

Chase took the shirt off the now-collapsed body of Tron’Tak and ripped it. He then gently wiped the blood from Keera’s back with his eyes closed. He brought her pants back to her.

Tears flowed down her face. She was panicked, paralyzed and ashamed at the same time. She felt Chase’s hand on her back as well as a warm, bright light above her. Soon the sensation returned to her muscles.

She stood and turned her back to Chase, putting her face in her hands and sobbing.

“You alright, Keera?”

She didn’t answer. She spat on Tron’Tak’s face and then kicked his head with all her energy, sending it flying against a nearby wall.

Chase moved next to her. “It’s over. He will never hurt anyone anymore.”

Her stomach boiled and she fell knees first to the ground and vomited.

After a minute she started to tremble uncontrollably, and Chase put his hand on her shoulder. It startled her.

“I’m sorry, Keera, I . . .”

She rose and took him into her arms, crying all the tears of her body.

“Thank you, Chase.”

“I’m so sorry for being late.”

“You arrived when it mattered. Please tell me you arrived before . . .” She couldn’t bear to say the words.

“Yes. He didn’t.”

She exhaled strongly and cried some more in Chase’s arms for a few minutes.

“Are you gonna be okay?” said Chase as he stroked her hair gently.

She sniffed, wiped her tears, looked at Chase and nodded.

“Ready to leave this place?”

“Yeah . . . The sooner the better.”

3

Ares stepped down from the platform and took three cautious steps towards Argos. His heart pounded in his chest. He could barely hold on against Chase during their last training visions. How was he to contain someone as powerful as Argos? But he only needed to delay him and let Aphroditis escape. Her powers of foresight could be the difference between victory and defeat in this war. Ares didn’t really know if that was the case, but if he didn’t do anything, they’d both be killed anyway. And that was not an option, not if he could do anything about it.

On the other side of the room, Aphroditis was shaking from fear.

“Let her leave.”

“Why? She’s the one who’s been boosting my brother’s morale, to the point where he almost killed me last we fought. She must pay for that.”

“I trained Chase. Your beef is with me.”

“Well, my beef is with your entire race, really, so whether I kill her today or tomorrow, she’s a goner.”

“Not today, though.”

“Oh yeah? Wanna bet?”

“Not . . . today,” said Ares, strengthening the tone of his voice.

“Do you think I fear you even an iota? Understand this: you’re already dead. She’s next, and in time we will eradicate your race, like we should have done so long ago.”

Ares raised an eyebrow. “Who’s we?”

“None of your business.”

“If we’re dead anyway, why can’t you tell us? Unless you think you could fail at your objective today.”

“Oh, believe me, you’ll both be dead by the end of the day.”

“So?”

Argos looked deeply into Ares’ eyes.

“So nothing. I’m not here to explain myself to you. I came to punish you for intervening. You know full well you were not allowed to.”

“Neither were you to strike a deal with the Zarlacks and then the Obsidian.”

“Technically the Furies are dead, so . . .”

“Seriously, that’s how you justify getting out of a rule that also applies to you? Furies are an old race. When we defeated you, we, the older races, all agreed we wouldn’t interfere with the affairs of the younger races, now that the war was finally over.”

“Well it’s not over. I’m still fighting for my side.”

“You’ll lose!”

“Uh-huh, alright, sure; but not by your hands.”

“Let’s see, shall we?”

“Oh yeah. I’ve been waiting for a long time to kill my first Olympian, so come on, old fart, bring it on!”

Ares looked at Aphroditis, who had witnessed the verbal exchange from a few feet away. She still looked terrified, but upon meeting Ares’ look, tears flowed.

“Aphroditis! Get the hell out of here. NOW!” said Ares as he jumped towards Argos, launching a powerful series of blows.

She ran towards the exit of the communications room and didn’t look back.

Argos dodged or blocked every one of Ares’ attacks with ease. In fact, he looked bored. In the middle of Ares’ next combo Argos’ eyes blinked red for a brief instant before he clocked Ares in the head with a circling kick. It sent Ares crashing against the nearest wall.

“Very disappointing,” said Argos, shaking his head from side to side.

Ares created a green fireball in his hand and shot it towards Argos, but it missed him by a fair margin, to Argos’ surprise. It was not until it blew away part of the structure near the door behind him that he understood what Ares had done and why.

“This won’t trap me here, you know that.”

“It will give her enough time to get away from you.”

“I’ll get her anyway, now that I know how to track you.”

“Let’s see if you survive, Argos, because I’m not ready to let you live one more day.”

“Not in your control I’m afraid, old man.”

Ares smiled. He launched himself at Argos with a powerful uppercut that Argos dodged by arching his torso backwards. But then he was grabbed from behind.

“You were saying?” said another Ares, with his forearms firmly lodged against Argos’ throat.

The other Ares turned about and sent three successive, powerful knee strikes towards Argos’ thorax. Upon the third blow, blood escaped Argos’ mouth. As the first Ares sent a fireball towards his target, Argos arched himself forwards and exposed the Ares holding him to the path of the attack, but the second Ares vanished right before the impact, successfully throwing Argos down as a result.

Ares knew that all his tricks would not allow him to defeat Argos, but he really needed to buy Aphroditis enough time to get out of Dodge.

Argos stood, dusted himself off, and wiped a little blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Not bad, but this trick won’t work twice.”

Argos vanished, appeared behind Ares and planted his elbow strongly in Ares’ back, sending him flying forward. While Ares was still in midair, Argos re-appeared under him and catapulted him to the ceiling with a powerful kick. After Ares impacted with the ceiling, and as he fell back towards the ground, Argos clocked him once more with a powerful right hook. Ares flew and crashed face first into the ground a few feet away.

He moaned as he tried to get himself back up.

“You do realize that this fight is already over?” said Argos defiantly.

“The way I see it, it’s just begun.”

Argos lifted his right hand with an open palm towards his opponent. “Let’s see,” said Argos, before unleashing a flurry of small, red fireballs towards Ares.

Ares jumped around to dodge the first salvo, and then managed to deflect another three attacks, but there were simply too many coming too fast for him to keep up. The last few all impacted on different parts of his body, and he was again thrown to the ground. Smoke rose from his body and blood flowed from a few of the impact wounds.

“Shall we continue?” inquired Argos with a broad, defiant smile. “Or did you have enough already? I can make this painless, you know.”

Ares rose as best he could, his knees trembling, having a difficult time keeping himself upright. He spat blood on the ground.

Get the hell out, Aphroditis, he thought to himself.

Ares had no doubt that the end was near, but he still had some juice in him, and intended to fight Argos till the very end. He closed his eyes and brought up as much energy as he could muster for his next attack. His aura intensified and glowed bright gold. When he opened his eyes, an air of confidence and determination could be read on his face.

Argos smiled. “You know you’re never gonna win and yet you keep fighting. Why?”

“Because people like me . . . that’s what we do. We fight evil like you. We gladly give our lives because we know that one day, hopefully soon enough, we will defeat you.”

“That’s almost hilarious.”

“Tell that to Chase the next and probably last time he comes for you.”

Argos’ smile vanished. Ares knew he had put the finger right where it hurt Argos’ gigantic ego. Argos’ mouth clenched and his teeth showed. He was getting angry. Perhaps that would make him less efficient, Ares hoped.

It was time to unleash the attack Ares had been powering up for. He sent three duplicates of himself to attack Argos from all sides, but Argos had no issue dealing with them. In the meantime, Ares kept powering up his aura, with his fists firmly pressed against his body at belt level. When he saw Argos dispatch two of his copies he transferred all of his energy into his right hand and launched himself into the mix. Argos saw him coming, dodged his right blow, and answered with a knee to the thorax that Ares blocked with his left forearm. Then the last Ares copy dropped to the ground, doing the splits, and punched Argos straight in the knee. He registered the pain from the blow and that was all Ares wanted: a little distraction. He landed the powerful right blow on which he had concentrated most of his energy in Argos’ stomach. It sent him gliding back a few feet while blood flew from his open mouth.

Argos’ look of hate intensified. Clearly that blow had hurt him, something he wasn’t expecting at this point in the fight. Argos clenched his teeth and fists and released a haunting growl as he used his rage to grow his aura, burning a flaming red. Lightning bolts danced all around him. His eyes glowed strongly as he put both his hands in front of him.

This better work, thought Ares.

In between Argos’ hands, a dark, red fireball came to life, with black lightning crackling all around it as it grew and grew. When it reached four feet in diameter, Argos threw the attack at Ares, who reacted instantly. He drew a circle in the air with his hands in front of him.

“Perseus’ mirror shield!” shouted Ares as the fireball impacted the shield and was sent back towards Argos, whose eyes widened in surprise.

Argos extended his hands to block his own attack, but the moment he did so, Ares was upon him; three instances of him, in fact. One grabbed him from behind and locked Argos’ shoulders against his torso, while the other two each kicked one of Argos’ arms out of the way. Argos was engulfed and burned by his own attack. The resulting explosion sent every duplicate Ares flying. The two copies disintegrated from the blast, while the original landed against the ground nearby, breaking a couple of bones upon impact.

As the dust from the explosion settled, Argos was on his knees, black and red smoke rising from his bloodied body. His red, glowing eyes, enhanced with rage and exploded blood vessels, gave him a psycho-madman look.

Blood flowed from his mouth as he spoke. “You little cockroach. You’re gonna pay for this! Tenfold!”

Ares never really hoped that this trick would do anything but delay the inevitable, but seeing how powerful the attack had been, he had hoped it could perhaps put Argos temporarily out of commission; but no such luck. Argos was panting heavily but the look he cast Ares froze his blood. His mind raced, trying to figure out something else to throw at Argos, preferably before he healed himself. Then it came to him.

Ares threw a fireball at the rubble he had created to let Aphroditis escape, which surprised Argos, and started running down the same corridor she had used minutes before.

“You’re not going anywhere, coward!” shouted Argos as he rose to his feet and started chasing Ares, who had a good head start.

* * *

Aphroditis arrived at her ship and lost no time powering it up. After a few seconds she took off from the huge asteroid in which their base was hidden. She could sense Ares’ life energy drain more with each minute since she flew the communications chamber. Tears still flowed down her face. Ares was one of the Olympians’ most fearless and skilled fighters, but she knew he was no match for Argos. No one was but Chase.

She maneuvered the ship out of the asteroid field, entered Earth’s coordinates and jumped her ship.

“Goodbye, Ares. Thank you,” she said, while looking outside her cockpit at the lightshow of hyperspace travel with a heavy heart.

Chase, I beg you, come back to us before it’s too late.

* * *

Chase felt as if he was a prisoner inside a tank filled with liquid. His heart pumped hard but he couldn’t move a single muscle. He wanted to pound against the glass through the green liquid but he was paralyzed. Something was running through his veins that prevented him from moving, no doubt delivered by the tubes entering his body and holding him in place within the green-tinted tank.

That’s when he heard her voice in his mind, as if it was his own thoughts.

“Help me, Chase, please help.”

He felt dread mixed with intense sadness at hearing Sarah’s voice. Another nightmare, the same he had been experiencing every single night since he blew her ship. That thought alone sent him towards a whirlwind of self-hatred. But, like every time before, nothing happened in the dream. He was there, powerless to do anything but experience the repeated scene again and again, every time he managed to get some shut-eye.

But then something different happened. The door into the darkly lit lab opened and a shadow entered. It took a while for his eyes to focus and see in the darkness, but he recognized the shape as his eyes adjusted.

Argos!

He wanted to feel rage and explode his liquid prison, but instead he was afraid, terrified even. He didn’t understand why. He was not afraid of his brother. In fact, since he had defeated him on Damocles Station, he was looking forward to their next and last meeting. Still, it was clear that the emotion coursing through his body wasn’t hatred or rage, but fear. It was as though the emotion he was sensing wasn’t his own.

Then he heard his name being called from afar.

“Chase, Chase! Wake up, Chase!”

He felt some movement as his body shook. The image before his eyes became garbled and was replaced by another.

It was Keera. She was shaking him when he finally came back to reality.

“Man, you scared the shit out of me. I’ve been calling you and trying to wake you up for like ten minutes now.”

There was genuine concern in her voice.

“Sorry . . .” said Chase, still a little confused about exiting the nightmare differently than before.

“What was that? You were muttering your own name, asking yourself for help. That was creepy!”

“Was I?” Chase looked down.

“Yeah, it was like you were talking to yourself in that nightmare of yours.”

“I know.”

“I don’t get it? How can you know?”

“Not the first time I’ve had this particular nightmare. In fact, I dread sleeping as a rule since⁠—”

“Since your loved one died?”

Chase nodded as a tear fell from one of his eyes.

“Sarah . . .” he added.

“I’m sorry, Chase.”

He looked away.

“Are you sure she’s dead?”

“Yeah, no doubt about it. I . . . I fired the shot that destroyed her ship.”

“That’s really heavy. I still don’t understand how you were put into this position, though. Not sure I could have taken that shot.”

That was something Chase really didn’t want to hear from anyone, but he couldn’t blame Keera for saying it. Why had he fired? Why didn’t he kill Argos when he had the chance?

“I . . . I was faced with an impossible choice, and . . . she asked me to.”

Keera swallowed and stayed silent.

“I wish I would stop having this nightmare though. I . . . I don’t understand why I get it every night.”

“And you never had it before?”

“No. What’s weird is that Sarah had that same nightmare. She described it to me.”

“Perhaps that’s why you’re having it. It’s part of who she was, and your brain is clinging to her via that memory. I’m no shrink but I think it’s normal to cling to memories of the people we care for and have lost.”

Chase reflected on Keera’s words. It did make some sense, but then why that one? Why not a real memory, one that belonged to him? Why would he dream her nightmare day after day? He wished it would stop.

“How long was I out and how close are we to the Megara system?”

“About six hours, and we’re still thirty minutes short of arrival.”

“I wish we could get there faster. Argos will probably be gone by then!”

“How do you know he’s there?”

Chase still didn’t really trust Keera and was not in the mood to talk about his relationship with the Olympians.

“Alright, then,” she said, sensing he wasn’t about to discuss the subject. “Want something to eat?”

“That would be nice, yeah. Thanks.”

She exited the cockpit. “Sure thing. I’ll get some rations and bring them back in a jiffy.”

“Thanks, Keera,” said Chase, after sliding the cockpit door closed.

* * *

Ares ran halfway along the corridor and stopped suddenly. He turned around and watched Argos running towards him at lightning speed. He stopped in front of him and grabbed Ares by the throat. Ares tried to speak but Argos’ grip was too strong.

“Have something to say before you die?”

Ares looked at him defiantly.

“Alright, then,” he said, as he loosened his grip ever so slightly.

“Lockdown,” said Ares.

A force field appeared and sectioned Argos’ left hand on the spot. He shouted in pain as blood spewed from his arm with every beat of his heart.

Ares smiled but lost no time. He went to a nearby wall, tore off a panel and yanked two strong, metallic cables from it. The force field went down and so did most of the light in the corridor. He held both cables at Argos’ temples while he was distracted by his cut limb. An intense electrical current passed through his body and he shrieked loudly as more and more juice traveled within his cranium.

Slowly and painfully, with jerky motion, he grabbed Ares’ left hand, diverting only a little of the juice through him as he did so. Argos had trouble calling upon enough strength to yank Ares’ hand away. The pain was excruciating and he clenched his teeth tightly, electrical sparks and lightning running over his dentition and between his eyes. Finally he mustered the necessary strength, yanked one of the cables off and thrust it in Ares’ abdomen, who received the deadly electrical current and dropped the other cable to the ground.

Ares managed to swipe away the cable currently juicing him with a swift motion of his hand and took a few steps back.

Argos’ rage amplified tenfold. The entire base shook in response. Sparks flew off many electrical components; paneling bent everywhere around them.

Argos created a fireball in his good hand and used it to cauterize his wound. While doing so he felt something hit his face with little force.

“Drop something?” said Ares, who had just thrown Argos’ severed hand at his face.

Argos’ red eyes shone so brightly that the light almost blinded Ares, who put his forearm in front of his eyes to protect his sight.

Meanwhile, Argos slashed his good hand in the air vertically and Ares felt intense pain. He looked for his left arm but it wasn’t there anymore. He saw it impact with the ground.

“Not so fun, is it?” said Argos, with pure hate in his glowing eyes.

Blood gushed from Ares’ left shoulder. He put his other hand on the wound in an attempt to prevent the blood loss.

“I don’t care. That’s one hand you won’t be using against Chase when he comes to take vengeance for Sarah’s death!”

“Sorry to disappoint, Ares,” said Argos with a smile. He picked up his hand and put it back on his severed limb. An intense red glow formed between the hand and the forearm, and soon it was reattached. Argos moved his fingers.

“I should have cut off your head!” said Ares, with blood now flowing profusely from his mouth.

“Yes, you should have. Unfortunately, as much fun and surprisingly challenging as this distraction of a fight has been, your time is up.”

Ares looked straight into Argos’ eyes and ran towards him.

Argos smiled, prepared a fireball and threw it at Ares. Using every bit of remaining energy, Ares deflected the attack, slid to the floor between Argos’ legs and rolled back up to his feet. He resumed running back towards the communications room. He shot one fireball at the ceiling, collapsing some of it in his wake. In the room he went for a control panel in one corner and lifted a glass flap to reveal a large, red button, just as he heard Argos explode the rubble out of his way to come running in pursuit.

When their eyes locked, Ares spoke. “Goodbye, asshole!” Argos understood Ares was about to hit some sort of self-destruct and Argos shot a fireball at the controls. But Ares’ fist was faster and it struck the button full force before the fireball hit his hand and exploded it clean off, sending sparks and blood all around the panel.

“Self-destruct damaged,” said a female voice through hidden speakers.

“You’ve got to be—” but Ares never finished his sentence.

When he looked down at his chest, he saw Argos’ arm impaling it, exploding his heart on its way through. Everything turned black. Death was upon him now. After millenniums of living, with many good and bad choices, his last breath had finally been drawn.

“Goodbye, Chase,” he said, before Argos removed his arm from his chest in a swift motion.

Ares’ body fell to the ground.

Argos snorted and smiled. He healed his wounds and walked back towards his ship.

* * *

Chase was eating the flash-unfrozen sandwich that Keera had brought him. It tasted quite bland but Chase was famished, surely a side effect of the powerful drug he had taken the night before.

“How’s the food?” inquired Keera.

“Do you want the polite answer or the truth?”

“He he, I see. Sorry I didn’t have time to resupply with better stuff, as I was supposed to yesterday . . .” She paused briefly. “Can’t believe that piece of shit tried to . . .” She left the words hanging.

“I’m really sorry you had to endure this on my account.”

“It shouldn’t have happened. Tron’Tak was never friendly, but I never imagined this.”

“I should have taken my ship back by force. It wouldn’t have been difficult.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I dunno. I don’t like using my powers since . . .”

“I understand.”

“Still, let it be a lesson. I . . . I also was under the influence when I was supposed to meet you.”

“From the drinks we had the night before?”

“No, something called synthetized Kyrian snake venom.”

“Wooooa! This is like the most addictive and dangerous drug in the universe. You should not touch this stuff.”

“I’ve been warned but it . . . it felt good.”

“Yeah, that’s the point of drugs.”

“Right. I had such a nice dream when I was under. Sarah was still alive, our son Chris was with us . . . It was just . . . perfect.”

“Chris, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s how we would have named him if we had a boy.”

Tears started flowing.

“I’m sorry.”

“So am I.”

Keera didn’t know what else to say so she diverted her attention back towards her own sandwich and took a bite.

Chase heard a voice in his head. It sounded like Ares. The voice said, Goodbye Chase. Chase knew exactly what that meant.

His blood boiled.

4

Daniel entered the room and sat in front of Commodore Saroudis, already sitting at his desk.

“How did your mission go, Commander?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle. A little resistance, but the F-147s have proven far superior to the Zarlacks in a dogfight.”

“At least we can take a small comfort in knowing we have superior technology now, even though we’re probably still outnumbered for the time being.”

“How are the shipyards doing?”

“They’re churning out new Prometheus-class ships every week. I’ve also asked for upgrades to be made to the Destiny. It has stronger shields and firepower. It’s not as strong as the new ships but it should perform better now.”

“Good. Any news from Chase?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Look, Commodore, I’d like to ask permission for something.”

“What is it?”

“I’d like to ask Ryonna and Tar’Lock to try to locate Chase.”

“I miss him too . . .” he paused. “But I don’t think he wants to be found.”

“Still, he may need our help.”

“I doubt that. And as much as it pains me to admit it, so far we don’t seem to be needing his. There’s no incentive to start looking for him at the moment. If he wants to come back, his commission is still open, indefinitely. I haven’t forgotten that the only reason we’re all alive, and perhaps even looking like we could be winning this war, is all thanks to him.”

“Do you really think we’re winning?”

“We sure don’t seem to be losing that many encounters lately.”

“Perhaps the enemy is regrouping. It’s been three months. It’s entirely possible they have created new shipyards and are rebuilding an even stronger armada.”

“I would be surprised if they weren’t. But in the meantime we’re building one of our own, with far superior firepower, mind you.”

“Right.”

“Look, we’ve even entered into negotiations with the Obsidian. They will most likely join the Alliance. That alone may push the other neutral powers to take sides as well, and soon the Zarlack will only have enemies. I don’t want to shout victory just yet, but if you compare our situation with how it was a few months back, I think it’s one hell of an improvement. In fact, I never thought we’d be where we are today. Not in such a short time.”

“That has me worried also. It seems too simple and way too fast. Nonetheless, I can’t help thinking we could have ended this war if I hadn’t convinced Chase not to cut off the head of the snake.” Daniel looked down, a pit opening up in his stomach.

“You did what you thought was right.”

“What good did that do? It alienated my best friend, and now he’s gone and I don’t even know if he’s okay.”

“Look at it from this perspective: if he hadn’t destroyed Sarah’s ship, Argos would have gotten his hands on the technological edge we now have.”

“How’s Spiros’ work going?”

“Well, he stopped complaining about us blowing up his research, but since he’s the one who made all these advances, he went back to work and recreated the data. He had a good chunk of it also stored in his brain implant. He’s still struggling with some of his older work, but in some cases he’s even enhanced his original ideas. It’s all going well, really. The new ships being constructed now already contain the new multi-phasic shields and stronger plasma guns.”

“There’s that at least. I still think I should have let Chase kill his brother.”

The commodore stayed silent for a moment. “Perhaps. We will get him, though.”

“Somehow I doubt anyone but Chase can deal with him.”

“Argos is only one man.”

“One Fury, a fact we should not take lightly.”

“I’m not taking it lightly, believe me. But right now things are going well, so I’m not gonna worry about one man; especially since we haven’t seen any actions on his part that would even be considered dangerous.”

“He has to have something up his sleeve. I don’t see him letting us retake the universe while he watches. Something is wrong here. We’re missing the big picture.”

“Commander, you’re starting to sound like Chase.”

“Perhaps. Still, can I please task Ryonna and Tar’Lock to search for him?”

“You have his insistence as well, I see. Look, while I don’t think it’s a good idea, if it helps you feel better, then sure; but may I suggest you go along with them?”

“I . . . I thought you’d need me here.”

“I see how this is affecting you. Your wingman told me how reckless your flying seems to have gotten since Chase left us. I think it would do you good to be part of this. Settle your mind, blow some steam. I can spare you at the moment. If that changes, I’ll recall you.”

“Thanks, Commodore, I’ll be going shortly.”

Saroudis nodded.

“No unnecessary risks, though?”

Daniel flashed the commodore a thumbs up.

* * *

Ryonna opened the door at the signal. It was Daniel.

“Hey, long time no see. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, mind if I come in for a minute?”

“Sure, sorry, where are my manners? Please come in.”

Daniel stepped into the flat and went into the living room. Tar’Lock was on the sofa watching some TV. He took his feet from the table when Daniel entered the room.

“Hello, Daniel.”

“Hi, Tar’Lock.”

“We’re watching baseball.”

Daniel smiled. These two had become quite the pair over the last few months. In fact, Daniel couldn’t remember the last time he saw them apart. With Ronan training to become an officer in the Droxian army, she was probably glad to have a friend to spend time with. Ever since they had helped diffuse the near nuclear meltdown a few months back their help had not been required much. That was about to change, however.

Ryonna followed behind Daniel. “Can I offer you something to eat or drink?”

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what brings you here?”

“I’d like to ask you two for some help.”

“Finally, something to do,” said Tar’Lock, straightening up. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s okay spending time in front of the TV, but I get the feeling my brain is going to sleep after a while, like I’m getting dumber or something.”

Daniel smiled.

“What’s the mission?” asked Ryonna, clearly interested.

“I’d like us to try to locate Chase.”

“Do you think he wants to be found?”

“I don’t know, but at this point I don’t really care. I miss him. I . . . I really don’t like not knowing how he is.”

“I understand. Any idea where to start looking, though? The universe is a big place.”

“Not a clue. I was hoping you might have some connections so we wouldn’t just wander aimlessly.”

“I’ll make a few calls. Do we know where he went in the first place?”

“I asked Yanis to track his F-147. Last his transmitter worked he was somewhere deep within Obsidian territory. But one day it just stopped transmitting. Here is his last set of coordinates.” He handed her a thin glass tablet.

She studied it. “He probably disabled it, then.”

“Yeah, that’s what I think as well. Unless it was damaged.”

“Can’t blame him. I mean, that’s just horrible, what he had to do. I’m not sure I could have taken that shot myself.”

Daniel swallowed hard.

“Yeah, I . . .”

“Sorry, Daniel, I know it’s not something you would like to hear.”

“That’s alright. What’s done is done. No sense worrying about things we can’t change.”

Ryonna nodded and put a hand on his arm.

“When are we leaving?” asked Tar’Lock, enthused at the prospect of doing something productive.

“You tell me.”

“As soon as I’ve made a few calls. But from the location on that star map,” she said, gesturing at the tablet, “I imagine he might have gone to one of the Ponos stations.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Last I saw Chase he was reckless, on edge, wanting to find a way to dim the emotional pain.”

“I don’t think there’s a way to dim that kind of pain.”

“I beg to differ. When my husband died . . .” She paused. “I wanted to cover the emotional pain by replacing it with physical pain. I started fighting for pleasure, just so that I could think of something else.”

“Chase fighting strangers? Not really in his character.”

“Believe me, you reach a point when you actually would do anything to forget or distract yourself from the pit inside your soul, eating at you day after day.”

“If that’s the case, he might leave a trail of bodies behind him. I mean, who could take on Chase?”

“Probably. Look, he’s hurting, and like you I want to help him, so I’ll call my contacts on one of the stations, see if he can dig something up. Give me an hour or two and then we should get going.”

“Thanks, Ryonna. Both of you, actually.”

“He’s our friend too. We wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for him. We’re glad to help. And, like Tar’Lock said, we’re getting a little tired of TV programming on this planet.”

Daniel attempted to smile, but he was too worried to make it convincing.

“Alright then. I’ll pass by later and pick you up with a shuttle. Commodore Saroudis allowed me to take the Iron Fire. It’s been retrofitted with better shields and weapons, and a few StarFuries as well.

“We’re no starfighter pilots.”

“I know. I’ve already programmed them with Chase’s automated flying scripts. I’ll fly them all if we get into trouble.”

“Sounds like a plan. See you soon.”

Daniel waved goodbye to both of them and left.

When the door closed, Ryonna looked at Tar’Lock, who shot her a dubious look.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I got a bad feeling about this. I don’t think Chase wants us to look for him.”

“Perhaps, but to tell you the truth, it’s been a long time since he left. I have been hoping to hear from him. I dreamt of him the other day, so perhaps I thought it might mean he was coming back.”

“There’s nothing but bad memories for him here. I don’t think he’s ever coming back.”

“I know. I miss her too, you know.”

“Tell me about it,” said Tar’Lock, exhaling deeply. “She was such a sweet soul.”

“That she was . . .” Ryonna let a tear roll down her face.

* * *

Chase returned to the cockpit of the Valken and sat next to Keera.

“How long before we arrive?”

“Another few minutes. That’s the third time you’ve asked in the last two hours. Why is it so time sensitive?”

“Actually, we’re most certainly arriving too late.”

“Too late for what exactly?”

“Argos was there.”

“How do you know this?”

Chase cursed himself. He didn’t want to give her too much info at this point. He needed to see if he could trust her first.

“I just know.”

Keera looked skeptical.

Chase tried changing the subject. “What about Argos? I’m curious who ordered the warrant on him and why.”

“Datalight Thieves.”

“Who are they?”

“The best and most dangerous hackers in the universe.”

“Why do they want him so bad? And do you know why they’re paying more for him dead than alive?”

“He must have pissed them off. They didn’t say why on the warrant but I called my agent, and she dug a little more. It’s not every day that such a warrant becomes available. Apparently he hired some of their men, top hackers in their field, to do a decrypt job for him. When they were done he killed them all.”

“Sounds like dear brother alright.”

“Yeah, except DTs are a powerful bunch of people, and they take this kind of thing very seriously. Hence my presence here; hence our meeting, in fact.”

“I must admit I found it weird how we first met.”

“About that . . .”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “Yes? I’m listening.”

“Well, I wasn’t one hundred percent honest at the bar.”

Here we go, thought Chase.

“How so?”

“Well, when I approached you I knew you must be related somehow.”

“How did you know that?”

“You kind of look exactly like him.”

“There’s a picture of him on that warrant?”

“Perhaps they used yours. You need to understand that DTs are masters at entering any security system in the entire universe. If your picture or his was anywhere, even in a system he thought was secure, DTs probably found it.”

“Or perhaps he pissed them off on purpose. That wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Why would he get himself a death warrant?”

“So I can find him, for one.”

“Alright, let me get this straight, ’cause I’m starting to get confused here. You want nothing more than killing him, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And he knows it?”

“Yeah.”

“And he wants you to find him? That makes no sense!”

“He needs me for something. He made that very clear when he saved my life a few months back.”

She took her head in her hands.

“Oh boy, first he makes you kill your . . . wife?”

“Not quite yet, but most likely would have been. I never really asked myself the question, as we don’t have the same pairing rituals in the Alliance. But seeing couples get married on Earth, I figured we’d get there one day.”

“Right, and your unborn child gets killed in the process; and then he saves you?”

“He actually saved me a few hours before that happened.”

“Okay, I give up. You two have some real issues, that’s for sure.”

“I’m not gonna argue that,” said Chase, attempting a smile.

“Where were we?”

“You not being completely honest.”

“Yeah, right. So I had his picture, and I ran a search in the local sector and got lucky. Your fighting pic from the fight pits on Ponos One showed up. I didn’t really know if you might be this Argos, you know?”

“Alright, I guess I can’t blame you for not telling me, but it did raise some suspicions on my part.”

“I kind of figured as much, which is why I prefer to be straight with you. No more secrets. If we’re to partner to bring him down, I don’t want you thinking I could have an ulterior motive. We need to be able to trust each other.”

“Good.”

“Now, are you going to tell me how you know Argos is or was in the Megara system?”

Chase smiled for a second, but then his expression saddened as he recalled how he knew they would most likely be too late.

“What just happened? Why did your expression change?”

Chase exhaled. “Someone I know was fighting him. I . . . I’m pretty sure he’s dead by now.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I heard him say goodbye in my thoughts.”

“That’s not creepy at all,” she said, shaking her head. “Can you hear my thoughts?”

“No. Not trying to, though, and I don’t think I can do it consciously; but I’ve heard others before.”

“Heavy stuff.”

“Yeah. Argos, however, seems very skilled at reading people’s minds.”

“You’re not serious?”

“Totally. He’s also very good at brainwashing and mind control.”

“Perhaps you were right; perhaps this warrant is not worth the risk. I mean, the more I hear about your brother, the more dangerous this whole endeavor sounds.”

“I told you, and it’s not too late to back down, Keera. But I’d ask that we try to locate Ares first . . .”

“Who’s Ares?”

“The . . . The man . . . My old mentor, the person Argos killed.”

“Why did you hesitate there? What did you want to say instead of ‘man’?”

“God.”

Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”

“It’s nothing.”

“No no, let’s back up a little. Ares is a god?”

“Was. To some, yes, but that’s not the point.”

“Not the point? That your brother is strong enough to kill a being that some people worship as a deity?”

Chase didn’t know how to get out of the hole he had buried himself in, so he just shrugged.

“Now, about this god business.”

“Look, let me stop you right there. They’re not gods; they’re an old race called the Olympians.”

“WHAT? As in the Gods of Olympus? That would make Ares the god of war, right?”

“You’ve heard of them?”

“Only in books. I like to read.”

Chase raised an eyebrow.

“Excuse me for liking to educate myself.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Chase smiled.

“You made a face.”

“Alright, I’m just surprised, that’s all. Not many people are aware of their god status, or even the existence of the Olympians.”

“You’re shitting me, right? Everyone who’s read about myths and legends from the last ten thousand years knows they were instrumental in defeating the Furies! I mean, the Olympians are badasses, and to think Argos killed one is just scary as shit.”

“Yeah . . . about that.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask. About what?”

“I’m a Fury.”

“You’re what now?” Her face turned white.

“Probably just part or a long descendent or . . . I don’t really know.”

“How can you not know?”

“I don’t have memories of most of my adulthood; only about the last ten years.”

“Would you mind pinching me?”

“Why?”

“Just do it, please.”

Chase pinched her arm and she let out a little shriek.

“Alright, not dreaming; but at this point I really needed to be sure.”

“Am I to understand you’d like us to part ways once I find Ares?”

“And miss out on meeting Olympians? No way! Since I was a child I’ve read stories and legends, battles and myths involving them. I mean, part of me thought it was all bullshit, but if any of what you tell me is true, I want to be part of it more than I want to cash in the warrant.”

“Really?” Chase was dubious.

“Okay, perhaps not more; but I really want to be part of this, yeah.”

“I like your enthusiasm. I just hope it doesn’t get you killed. I don’t think it’s safe for anyone to be around me.”

“What if Argos is still in the Megara system?”

“That’s a possibility. After all, he clearly needs me for something, so perhaps killing Ares was his way to bait me.”

“That would make sense, if he needs you and knows you’ll come for him. We should assume it’s a trap, then?”

Chase nodded and looked pensive.

“There’s one thing I don’t understand, though. If you’re a Fury, and Ares was your mentor . . .”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I thought Olympians and Furies were deadly enemies. I mean that’s what I have read. How come you two were even talking?”

“I know, but Aphroditis contacted me. She sees the future or something. I’m not entirely sure of anything anymore. But she’s persuaded me that I’m the key to saving the universe from the forces of darkness.”

Keera burst into a laughing frenzy.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m sorry, it’s not so much what you said but how you said it, Chase. You know? I mean, you’re a nice guy and with all that happened—you saving me from rape a few hours ago . . . And now you’re casually telling me that a deity told you that you’re the key to saving the universe. Boy, do you ever sleep at night?”

“There are more than enough times when I have trouble, in fact.”

“I bet. I mean, I’d be scared shitless if someone told me that. How did it not paralyze your every move? I would have second-guessed every one of my actions in your place.”

“I’ve had my doubts, and some of the decisions I’ve made cost lives . . . millions of lives.”

Keera’s expression changed.

“You heard of the Zarlack and Obsidian attack on planet Earth?”

“Yeah, not long ago, in fact. Now that the new Earth Alliance is kicking the Zarlacks’ butts, the Alliance is almost all we hear about on the galactic news broadcasts. It’s funny, I had never heard of Earth before. But they’re in the news every day or so now.”

“I saw some of those bulletins.”

“You were involved with that?”

“You could say that.”

Something beeped and Keera looked at her controls.

“You’ll have to tell me another time. We’re dropping out of hyperspace.”

“Any habitable worlds?”

“Scanning . . . Nope.”

“Can you scan for signs of technology?”

“Let me recalibrate the sensors. Wait . . . I detect something faint. Could be a misread. Within an asteroid field.”

“Aphroditis told me they were hiding from Argos, so the asteroid field seems a likely candidate. Let’s check this out.”

“Adjusting course.”

* * *

Chase approached the target destination within his cloaked F-147.

“I’m almost there.”

“What happened? I saw you leave the cargo bay and then I lost you. Can’t see you on any of my sensors.”

“I’m cloaked.”

“That’s a neat trick.”

“Yeah. Please let me know the moment you detect any other ship’s presence. Stay alert and perform continuous, long-range scans.”

“Expecting visitors?”

“I have no idea what to expect, but we’re not in a position to take on too many adversaries. The F-147 is a killing machine, but it’s only one lone starfighter.”

“Copy that. I’ll let you know if anything shows on my instruments.”

“Thanks, Keera, see you soon.”

“Chase?”

“I’m listening?”

“Be careful, okay?”

“No promises,” answered Chase before turning off the comms.

As he approached the asteroid, his instruments registered more signs of technology. This is the place, he thought. In fact, he could feel it in his bones. He didn’t need any instruments. He felt drawn to the place.

Soon he detected a small entrance within the floating rock, one of the biggest asteroids in the field. He maneuvered his craft and scanned for force fields or shields. There was an artificial force field, but nothing preventing entry, so he de-cloaked and landed in what looked like a cargo bay.

He stepped out of his ship and started walking. Soon he arrived at a brightly lit, pristine, white corridor that went both ways, but he knew to take the left. It was a weird sensation, knowing instinctively where to go.

Near the end of the corridor there was some damage to the walls: a panel ripped out of the wall with some cables dangling, and traces of blood. An arm lay on the ground. A battle had taken place here. He proceeded cautiously.

He stepped through a destroyed entrance, with lots of debris and rubble, into a big room. A body lay in the corner. Ares! A dark pit grew within his guts. He took a few steps towards Ares’ motionless body. He was missing an arm and there was a large hole in his chest. Chase swallowed hard. He knelt beside the body. Ares was dead alright, for a few hours at least. His body was cold and all color had drained from his skin.

“I’m sorry, Ares. I . . . I never wanted this to happen.”

“I know,” he heard.

A jolt ran through Chase’s body. He jumped to his feet and spun around, instinctively adopting a defensive fighting stance.

“Who’s there?”

A golden light appeared a few feet away from him, first as a sphere, but it soon took on human shape. Although the energy entity had no face, he knew it was Ares.

“I thought you were dead?”

“I am, Chase.”

“Doesn’t really seem like it at the moment.”

“My physical body died. This is all that’s left of me.”

“I see. . .”

“I can sense you have questions.”

“Yeah. If you can sense it, why don’t you explain it?”

“When Olympians die—the physical death—our energy is transformed into this form. We become beings of pure energy and thought. Humans call it a soul, but it’s an inaccurate description.”

“Neat.”

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

“Elysium?”

“What the humans call heaven.”

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

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

“Why didn’t you go, then?”

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

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

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

“Still . . .”

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

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

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

“You told me it wasn’t you already.”

“Would you please let me finish, Chase?”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

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

“They killed all the Furies.”

“I don’t think so.”

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

“Olympians don’t like taking lives.”

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

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

“That’s pretty clear by now.”

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

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

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

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

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

“And that is?”

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

“Surely Argos as well?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Very well.”

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

“What then? Where are the Furies?”

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

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

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

“That explains some of my visions.”

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

“How do you explain me, then?”

“The exception that confirms the rule?”

“Are you telling me or asking me?”

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

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

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

Chase smiled ironically.

“No offense intended.”

“None taken.”

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

Chase released another long breath of frustration.

“Does that bother you that much?”

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

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

“I don’t feel what you feel.”

“I know. Been there, remember?”

Chase nodded.

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

“Protect her?”

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

“Of all the places . . .”

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

“Yeah . . .”

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

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

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“What do you mean?”

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

“Here we go again . . .”

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

“You got that straight!”

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

“Not really my problem anymore.”

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

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

“Chase?”

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

“Fair enough. Thank you, Chase.”

“You’re going to Elysium now?”

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

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

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

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

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

“You want me to space you?”

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

“Very well, consider it done.”

“Thanks, Chase.”

“Anytime. See you around then?”

“We shall see.”

The golden aura dissipated, and soon Ares was gone.

5

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

“Where’s Tar’Lock?”

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

“What has changed that he sleeps now?”

“I knocked him unconscious.”

“You what?”

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

“Hope you went easy on him.”

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

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

“What’s so funny?”

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

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

“Alright,” said Daniel, still grinning.

“Where are we?”

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

“I hope Chase is still there.”

“You and me both.”

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

“We’ll make him.”

She laughed.

“What?”

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

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

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

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

“I can try, but I’d rather not.”

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

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

* * *

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

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

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

“Good day, Master.”

“How’s the subject?”

“Vitals are strong. Nothing to report.”

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

“Subject is ready for transport.”

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

“Absolutely, Master. Thy will be done.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * *

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

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

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

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

I will avenge you both, Sarah and Chris.

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

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

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

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

“How much of a detour?”

“An hour perhaps.”

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

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

“Rarely?”

“Well, no tech is perfect.”

“Roger that.”

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

“It was his request.”

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

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

“You’re not making sense.”

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

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

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

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

“Is that good or bad?”

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

“Right. Shall we go?”

“Entering hyperspace coordinates now.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Sorry, Chase.”

“Thank you, Keera.”

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

“Not really. Hope that’s okay.”

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

He smiled at her. “Thanks, Keera.”

She smiled back.

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

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

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

* * *

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

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

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

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

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

“Sure. Be my guest.”

“You’re a hot piece of meat, but you must know that, right?”

Daniel spat out some of his drink in surprise. “Beg your pardon?” He wiped his face and the counter with a napkin.

“I’ve been looking at you for a while, from over there.” She pointed at a sofa nearby, where many barely dressed humanoid females sat. Vol’Rans, Brins—all sorts.

“Not interested, but thanks.”

“How would you know? I’m very good at what I do.”

“I have no doubt you are.”

“Look, you seem like a nice guy. You can have the first pass for free.”

Daniel had never paid for sex before and even the idea of a freebie didn’t sound that appealing in his current state of mind. On the other hand, he’d started having a serious crush on Fillio in the last few weeks but he hadn’t had the guts to ask her out. Perhaps having fun with a pro would take his mind off things for a while.

“Free, you say?” as he passed his hand in front of his mouth.

“First pass only, but believe me you’ll want more of me.”

Daniel had converted plenty of quadrinium into credits.

“Let me pay for my drinks first.”

“Okay, big boy.”

The barman droid came immediately when Daniel raised his hand.

“What can I do for you, sir?” said the droid with a steely voice.

“How much for the beer?”

“It’s on the house, sir.”

“What? How come?”

“Obsidian covers your orders. They pay for your tab.”

“Of course they do. Would they pay for her as well?”

“They would if you bring back the receipt.”

“Right. Thanks.”

“No, thank you, sir,” said the droid, before moving on to the next customer.

“Hear that, baby? You can screw me all you want for free, it looks. Should I call some of my friends?”

The mental images from this professional pleasure specialist were getting out of hand and Daniel was aroused.

“Let’s just start with the freebie, okay?”

She smiled and closed her eyes. “Sure, let’s go, champ!”

He accompanied her through a series of corridors. They arrived at a door and when she put her thumb on the lock, the door unlocked and slid open. Light progressively came on within the room. A simple bedroom with a huge bed, illuminated with red and rose light sources from the ceiling. The light predominantly fell on the king-size bed.

“Get in, hot stuff.” She gestured him inside.

What was with this girl and all the cutesy names? he wondered as he took two steps inside. That was his last thought before feeling a sharp pain in the back of his head, and everything turned dark.

When he came to he was in an entirely different place. He opened his eyes slowly, but what became apparent even before his sight was restored was that he was seated and couldn’t move his limbs.

Crap! I should have known better.

He squinted and saw two blue-skinned humanoids. One was very well built and the older one had a seriously crazy look. They were looking at his side arm.

Great! Way to think with the wrong brain, Dan!

“Can I help you guys? I seem to have taken a wrong turn to the toilets.”

The old man growled and threw his gun on a table nearby. They both approached him. “That’s funny,” said the old man, gesturing to the younger one.

He clocked Daniel with a strong right jab.

“Ouch!” said Daniel.

“Where’s your friend? The one named Chase.”

“Who?”

Another jab, this time a left one, sent his head and some blood flying to the other side.

“Gentlemen, I think you made a mista⁠—”

Before he could finish, the younger one punched him in the guts. For a moment Daniel thought he would refund his meal. Instead, he spat some blood on the floor and kept playing dumb.

“Nice to meet you too.”

That awarded him another punch in the face, which cut his left eyebrow. Soon blood flowed into his eye.

“We clearly started on the wrong foot here. What was the question again?”

“Where is your friend Chase?” repeated the older guy.

“I don’t know any Chase.”

Another punch. Daniel was starting to see stars.

“We can do this all day,” said the younger guy.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” said Daniel, spitting yet more blood onto the floor.

“Then talk!”

“What about?” he said, beaming at them with a wide smile.

The next punch, an uppercut, sent Daniel and the chair backwards and he crashed onto his back, unable to prevent his head from hitting the floor. The impact made his head throb.

“Stop taking us for imbeciles,” said the older man while the younger one set Daniel and the chair upright. “We saw you coming with the Gorgar and the Droxian. They’ve been asking for your friend Chase all around the station. Still want to pretend you don’t know him?”

“Look, guys, I can see you’re serious about getting information out of me. And as much as I hate getting bludgeoned to death, I don’t see how I can help you here. You must have me mixed up with someone else. I have, well, had, a very familiar face.”

“Perhaps we should start cutting pieces off you. Perhaps that will jog your memory.” The older man took a knife from behind his back.

“I don’t think it will. And really, if the point of the exercise was to jog my memory, perhaps hitting me repeatedly in the head was an exercise in futility, don’t you think?”

The men looked at each other, trying to understand what Daniel had said. That’s when Daniel sprang forward with the chair and hit the old guy in the guts with his head, and then landed unceremoniously on his side. The older man dropped his knife and Daniel tried to catch it with his tied hands, but he wasn’t fast enough. The younger one kicked the knife away and started pounding him with one kick after another.

Brilliant plan, Dan! he thought, when he was about to lose consciousness.

But then the door behind him slammed open and he heard two shots. When he managed to look up, both men were lassoed by an energy beam.

Thank god.

Tar’Lock was already untying Daniel as Ryonna approached the two men. She then looked at Daniel and saw the many bruises on his face. “Which one did that to you?”

Daniel pointed towards the younger one with his chin.

Before he could open his mouth Ryonna punched him so hard it sent him flying towards the wall. His back hit with a satisfying, bone-cracking sound. He lost consciousness and collapsed onto the floor.

The older man’s look changed immediately and he seemed genuinely worried about his partner. But that look turned to terror when Ryonna stepped in front of him.

“Why did you attack my friend?”

He started trembling.

“Wait!” said Daniel, getting help from Tar’Lock to stand up.

Ryonna raised an eyebrow.

Daniel came and unleashed four jabs to the guy’s face in quick succession. The last punch sent the old man to the floor. Daniel spat blood on him and looked at Ryonna. “Now you can ask your questions,” he said, attempting to smile despite the sorry state of his face. “I’ll be distributing the punching, if you don’t mind.”

Ryonna smiled back and nodded. “So, old man, what’s your name and why did you attack him?”

He took his head in his arms and groaned.

“If I have to ask one more time I’m gonna start tearing limbs off you and your friend there.”

“Please don’t,” said the old guy, shaking his open palms in front of him. “My name is Tor’Tak. Please don’t hurt my younger son. He’s all I have left.”

Ryonna growled.

“Right, we are looking for Chase Athanatos. My son heard you two asking around the station about him. So as soon as this one was alone, we decided to grab him and ask him nicely about it, but he wasn’t cooperating.”

Daniel raised his bleeding eyebrow. “Ask nicely?”

“We knew you were lying.”

“No, seriously, ask nicely?” Daniel took a step forward and the old dude crawled backwards.

“Please don’t hit me!”

“Then start talking and fast, before I show you ‘nicely’ what I have in store for you!”

“Alright,” said Tor’Tak, his hands extended in front of him pleadingly. “I’m looking for that Chase character because he killed my other son, Tron’Tak!”

Ryonna and Daniel exchanged a look.

“That doesn’t sound like him,” said Ryonna.

“Well, we’ve obtained security cameras. He killed him!”

“If that’s the case I’m sure he had good reason, and from the way you’ve treated my friend here, I can see it runs in the family.”

“What should we do with them?” asked Daniel.

“Space them. They’re scum, like almost everyone else on this station.”

“No, no! Please don’t space us. We have money!”

“We don’t need money,” said Ryonna sharply. “It so happens we’re also looking for Chase. However, tell us what happened and why Chase killed your son.”

“He tried to double cross a bounty hunter named Keera. Chase helped her and they left the station together.”

“I don’t see Chase killing anyone for no reason. You’re not telling us everything.”

The old man looked down.

“Speak! Now!”

“My son tried to rape her.”

“There you go,” said Ryonna and turned to Daniel. “Like I said, scum.”

She took out her blaster and shot them both in the head without a trace of hesitation or remorse.

“What the fuck, Ryonna!” shouted Daniel.

“Seriously? You’re gonna shed a tear for these pieces of garbage? God knows what they would have done to you if we didn’t track your locator beacon.”

“You told them you wouldn’t space them?”

“So what? I didn’t lie. Look, they’re not spaced.”

Tar’Lock stood on the other side of the room, his arms crossed. “Alright, let’s not debate this any further,” he said. “Ryonna, apologize for killing these two dumbasses and let’s get going and try to find more information about this Keera character.”

“Apologize?” said Daniel his eyes wide.

“She can’t un-kill them now, can she?”

Ryonna holstered her blaster and put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Daniel, I shouldn’t have iced them.”

“Could you sound even less insincere than that?” He exhaled without hiding his frustration.

She waved her hands over her head and, as she walked out of the apartment, gave Tar’Lock a stern look. He simply shrugged in response.

6

The Valken exited hyperspace. Chase took the StarFury out of the docking bay, exited the ship and micro-jumped the rest of the way. As soon as he arrived he engaged his cloak. He scanned the area and detected a large fleet at the border of his sensor range. Zarlack warships, about thirty of them, behemoth class.

“Looks like my brother is up to something.”

Another energy source appeared on his radar, behind the moon of the third planet of the dual star system into which he had jumped.

“Now what is this?” He approached the coordinates and soon a huge installation appeared before him.

Another shipyard. More ships were being constructed. He saved the coordinates in his ship’s memory and jumped back towards the Valken. Soon he was back in the ship’s cockpit.

“So?” inquired Keera.

“There’s a fleet of Zarlack ships not too far from here, a rather sizeable one. And a shipyard too.”

“Should we do something about it?”

“Nah, we don’t have the firepower. I saved the coordinates. I’ll give them to the Earth Alliance. They can choose whether they want to come and destroy the target.”

“What about the fleet, though?”

“I don’t know, and honestly I don’t care at the moment.”

“Perhaps your brother is in one of those ships.”

“Perhaps, but even if that was the case, we can’t do shit about it for now.”

“You could perhaps board one of the ships cloaked?”

“No, it’s too dangerous. The cloaking on my StarFury only lasts minutes, and when it turns off, the ship doesn’t have shields anymore.”

“I see, so next stop? Earth?”

“Yeah, let’s get back—” he hesitated “—home.”

“Alright, but Earth is too far for us to reach in a single jump. We’ll have to make a fuel supply run halfway.”

“Sure, whatever we need.”

She nodded, selected a system midway on her holo-starmap and fed the jump coordinates to her ship’s onboard navigational computer.

“Jumping to Thetra-Six.”

The Valken hummed for a few seconds and they jumped into hyperspace once more.

Chase thought about this fleet of ships. While Earth was well protected, both with satellites and a huge fleet, this many ships could still do a lot of damage. He surprised himself thinking about strategic ways of fighting them. Not my fight anymore, he reminded himself.

“You want to warn your friends? Do you think they’re heading towards Earth?”

“I have no idea. The Earth Alliance now offers multiple targets of interest. There’s also Droxia.”

“And soon the Obsidian.”

“Well, they can burn. I wouldn’t shed a tear.”

“Hey, that’s my home!”

“You should move,” said Chase, smiling at her.

She punched him affectionately on the shoulder. “Well, I don’t really have a home. The Valken is my home. At least currently.”

“No relatives, husband, boyfriend, something?”

She looked at him quizzically.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she replied. “And no, I’m an only child and my parents died a long time ago. As for my personal life, it’s none of your damn business,” she said playfully.

“Really?” said Chase. “Like we haven’t discussed mine in enough detail.”

“Well, you’re a talker. You can’t expect everyone to be so forthright.”

“Alright. I was just trying to make conversation anyway.”

“I’m kidding Chase, and no, I don’t have a husband or a boyfriend.”

“Ok, good.”

“Good?”

“Poor choice of word.”

She gave him an incredulous look.

“What?”

“Nothing, big boy, nothing at all.”

“Let’s change the subject.”

“You brought it up.”

“I know. I’m starting to wish I hadn’t.”

“Oooookay.”

“Look, Keera, this flirty banter is fine, but I. . . I just lost the woman I loved more than anything in this world. And while you’re very cute and even remind me of her at times, I have no intention of letting anyone get that close to me ever again.”

“That’s sad. And sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I actually fancy women since we’re sharing openly.”

“Oh. . .”

“Sorry, pal.”

Chase growled and she laughed.

“So you never had a. . . man in your life?”

“I did once, but men are pigs. They tend to cheat a lot.”

“We’re not all pigs. Just saying.”

“I can see that. And you’re right. I just happen to like the company of a woman more. That is, when I need a little sexual release.”

“No serious relationships then?”

“Not at the moment, no.”

“Before?”

“Yeah, once upon a time.”

“What happened?”

Her expression changed.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“She. . . she was murdered.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“So was I. That’s actually when I became a bounty hunter. That scumbag was my first warrant.”

“Really? So you got him?”

“I did.”

“He’s in prison now?”

“No, I killed the motherfucker.”

“I see.”

“Don’t give me ‘I see,’ Chase. You’re doing the exact same thing here.”

“True. I’m curious: did it make you feel better?”

“I thought it would, but it didn’t bring her back, you know? And it was the first time I took another life as well. Scumbag or not it’s a heavy thing. I still have nightmares about it, sometimes.”

“I understand. Did you kill other people since then?”

“A few. In self-defense though. Goes with the job.”

“And some warrants I suppose?”

“I never take execution warrants. Well, except this one; but it’s optional.”

“And, theoretically, would you kill Argos if you could, to get a higher reward?”

“I don’t think so. Alive he’s still worth more than six lifetimes of collecting, and definitely more than I could ever need.”

“We’ll have to kill him. Argos isn’t the type of person who can just be captured.”

“Yeah, I’ve got that from our previous conversations about him.”

“You won’t try to stop me when the time comes?”

“Could I?”

“No, but I’d rather you didn’t try.”

“I won’t. I mean, life is precious, and it sounds to me like he wouldn’t hesitate to kill me.”

“He wouldn’t. In fact, should we go through with this, you’ll have to obey my wishes and stay back when the time comes. I can’t risk him using you in any way to protect himself. I had the chance to kill him and . . .”

“How come you didn’t?”

“At the time, Sarah was still alive, and he told me she would die if I killed him.”

“Well then you made the right choice.”

“I thought I did, now I’m not so sure . . .”

“Why are you saying this?”

“Because I’m not sure he was telling the truth. I think he bluffed so I would spare him.”

“I’m sorry, Chase. I hope you get your revenge, but if you’re anything like me it won’t make you feel any better. I mean, the man I killed was a total scumbag. He . . . he raped her before killing . . .” She started crying.

“I’m really sorry. That experience with Tron’Tak must have brought back bad memories then.”

She nodded and wiped her tears. “Yeah, well, even though I knew I was making the universe a better place by ending her murderer, it still didn’t make me feel better. I mean, besides squeezing the trigger. That . . . definitely felt good at the time.”

“I’m sure it did.”

“But he is your brother. If I feel like shit for taking that scumbag’s life, how will you feel about ending your own brother?”

“I don’t consider him as such.”

“Does that really make a difference?”

“I think it does. I didn’t even know I had a brother. I don’t have memories of him. Heck, I don’t even have my own childhood memories. Therefore, I don’t think it’d feel like killing my brother. It would just feel like killing someone who deserves to die, ten thousand times over.”

“I hope for your sake you’re right, Chase.”

“Plus, I won’t have to live with guilt after that.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Forget about it. Do you mind if we change the subject?” A tear ran down his face.

“Sure.”

Chase didn’t want to stay alive, of that he was certain. The only reason he still breathed was because Argos was still alive. Once that was dealt with, he could leave this world in peace.

“Please promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

The question startled him. “What do you mean?”

“I know that look. You know very well what I mean.”

“I can’t make that promise, sorry.”

“Life’s a bitch, I know. Still, it can be wonderful.”

“I remember, but it can’t be anymore, not for me.”

“You don’t know that! Sure you lost the love of your life, but there could be another one out there. I’m just saying.”

“Even if that were true, I would never take the risk again. I am a Fury. For some reason shit gravitates around me on a daily basis, so no way!”

“I understand that. That’s also why I never tried to forge any new, long-term relationship. I’m also afraid of what could happen.”

“Once was enough.”

She nodded. “Boy, we need to change the damn subject, or start drinking something to forget.”

“How long till we arrive at the refueling station?”

“About fifteen hours.”

“Then if you have a strong drink, or something else perhaps?”

“Sorry, no drugs on board the Valken. One of my rules. I’m a recovering junkie myself. I have a killer whisky bottle from the Zentak priesthood of Kal’nor, though. That stuff will knock your socks off and disinfect your inner plumbing all at the same time.”

“That sounds really good about now.”

“I’ll be right back,” said Keera as she left the cockpit.

Chase looked outside at the lightshow of hyperspace travel and, without realizing it, he fell asleep.

Soon he was engulfed in a green liquid, feeling helpless, trapped and scared like every other night.

* * *

Daniel waited on the Iron Fire for Ryonna and Tar’Lock to return. He went to the infirmary and was patched up by a medical droid. He preferred taking a skeleton crew on this mission. He had asked Yanis to install the same neuronal interface on the Iron Fire that Chase had used on the Hope. Even though he probably couldn’t manage it as well as a Fury mind, he liked using the link.

He stared at his ship’s empty bridge, wondering what would happen if Chase didn’t want to come back. He would make him if he had to. This nonsense had to stop! Daniel wanted his friend back. But first they needed to find him.

A beep informed him that the shuttle had landed back on the Iron Fire. They had returned. He waited for them on the bridge.

“Any idea where he went?”

Tar’Lock scowled. “No, I’m sorry.”

“What now then?”

“I don’t know, Daniel. Perhaps we should head back home?”

“No, what have you learned about Keera?”

“She’s a bounty hunter. Apparently she registered for a big warrant.”

“Perhaps that’s what we should follow.”

Tar’Lock clicked nervously.

“What now? Why did he make that noise?”

“And he can talk,” objected Tar’Lock.

“The warrant is for Argos’ capture,” said Ryonna, gesturing for Tar’Lock to drop it, which only brought another series of clicks of frustration out of him.

“That explains why he left with her.”

“Yes, I agree, but the only way to find her would be to find Argos.”

“Let’s do just that then.”

“You can’t be serious, Daniel. He would kill us before we opened our mouths. I want to find Chase as much as you do. I owe him my life, but taking on Argos is not an option and you know it.”

“Who said we need to take him on?”

“What do you mean?”

“We just try to locate him. Perhaps that way we can locate Chase as well.”

“I’m not sure this is wise.”

Tar’Lock clicked again.

“Enough with that!” said Daniel, raising his index finger at Tar’Lock. He returned his attention to Ryonna. “Alright, where next? You must have an idea.”  

“I guess we could try asking those who made the warrant.”

“Any idea where they are?”

“Yeah, let me key in the coordinates.”

“Be my guest. Let’s go. Chop-chop.”

“Chop-chop?”

“You’re not the only one who watched too much Earth TV.”

“Alright, Daniel, but you may soon regret your enthusiasm.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because these people are not to be trusted.”

“What people?”

“Datalight Thieves.”

“And they are?”

“Hackers, criminals, cyber terrorists, you name it.”

“Try not to ice any of them, will ya?” said Daniel with a smile.

She grunted. “No promises.”

Once the coordinates were in, Daniel took neuronal control of the Iron Fire and opened a hyperspace corridor.

* * *

Back on Earth, Cedric prepared for his date with Johanna. He was nervous. It had taken him three months to finally build the courage to ask her out, as clumsily as he did. He never thought she would say yes, even though Ryonna had told him she fancied him.

He looked at himself in the mirror and adjusted his costume. He grabbed the red-rose bouquet from the bed, took one of the flowers out, cut the stem and inserted it in his costume’s front pocket.

Neat!

Cedric’s heart rate was accelerating; he was panicking at the thought of going to dinner with her. Saving the Earth from total annihilation was one thing, but girls? Oh boy! That was another challenge altogether and, in his eyes, way more difficult.

As he walked to the door of his flat, the door signal chimed and the door opened at the same time. It was Yanis.

“Hey, Ced⁠—”

“Hi, Yanis,” he said, cutting him off. “Not really a good time.”

“I can see that. Who’s the lucky gal?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“Is it a dude?”

“What? No, it’s a blond.”

“There are blond dudes,” said Yanis, pointing at his own hair.

“She’s a girl; she’s blond. Look, I’m sorry if I was insensitive. Got nothing against gay people. I’m just not one of them.”

“Buddy, chill!”

“Right. . . Except I can’t.”

“First date thrills?”

“It shows?”

“Yeah from how your face looks, I would say it feels like your first ever.”

“It kind of is.”

“Oooookay, so I don’t suppose you have time to look at something I’ve discovered on the Internet.”

“If it’s porn it’s not a discovery. That’s there on purpose.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that, genius. I mean something weird and actually meaningful.”

“What’s wrong with porn?”

“Nothing at all. As a civilization we didn’t really have that concept, but I must say you guys are a sick bunch. I mean the quantity is one thing, but the depravity. Pheeew, well . . .”

“Let me guess, you look at it for the stories?”

“Yeah . . . in fact.”

“You love it don’t you?”

Yanis looked from side to side. “Dude, this shit is making me crazy. I want to jump anything that moves now. Before there was always an impending threat of death. I mean, invent this, create that, repair whatever. But lately I have had waaaaaaay too much time on my own, and the Internet, well, it’s kinda there.”

“You’re watching too much of it then.”

“Yeah, that could be the reason. Still, I’m not here to talk about that.”

Cedric looked at his watch.

“You’re late?”

“Unfortunately not. I’m an hour in advance.”

“Then it will pass faster if I show you what I discovered.”

“Yeah alright. Come in.”

“Well thank you.”

Yanis entered the living room and crashed on Cedric’s couch.

“About that gay comment?” said Cedric, clearly uncomfortable.

“What about it?”

“Are you? I mean, don’t get me wrong. I really like gay people in fact. I really didn’t want to offend if you are . . .”

“Gay?”

Cedric swallowed hard.

“You humans are funny.”

“What?”

“Well, from what I’ve read online there are a lot of touchy things related to one’s sexual preferences.”

“No, that’s not true. Gay marriage exists on Earth.”

“Everywhere? Accepted by any religion and every single one of you?”

“Alright I see your point. But it was becoming widely accepted. What about on your planet?”

“We don’t care. We don’t discriminate against anyone.”

“You haven’t answered my previous question though?”

“Oh that. I can go both ways. Depends on my mood.”

“So, bi?”

“Want me to leave already? I just came in.”

“I meant bi-sexual.”

“Oh that. Yeah, pretty much. I’m so damn horny though, lately.”

“You really need to dial down the porn, man. I’ve been there. I know how you feel.”

“Sorry. I think you’re right, though. I’m absolutely one hundred percent sure that I watch too much of it. I never felt like this before I started watching the stuff.”

“Didn’t you have this on your wor— You know what? Forget about that. Here’s my computer. Please show me what you found.”

“You think your date would go for a threesome?”

“What? NO! If you say one more sexually related thing, I’m gonna hit you in the head with my laptop!”

“Right, my bad. Really need to get laid though. This is getting out of hand.”

Cedric pointed at the computer. “Show me what you came for.”

Yanis brought up some code on Cedric’s computer. “You see that?”

“Yeah, what the hell is this?”

“Damned if I know. It looks so random; and look, see how it rewrote its own code there?”

“Whoa, you don’t think it’s . . .?”

“It’s what?”

“Crap, I think I did this.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“When I worked to teleport the explosive devices from the nuclear power plants, I linked your network of computers to the Internet. That was the only way I could get enough processing power under the time constraints.”

“What are you saying?”

“I . . . I think I might have inadvertently created the first Earth-bound AI.”

“An Artificial Intelligence?”

Cedric nodded.

“Can we erase it?”

“Look, as much as I don’t want anything bad to happen, we have to think about this. I mean, if this thing has a consciousness already, if we try to kill it, it could consider us a threat.”

“What if it already does?”

“I don’t think that’s the case; at least not yet.”

“What makes you say that?”

“If it had been aggressive or seen us as a threat, it would have taken action already. Everything is connected through the Internet. An AI could create chaos in our world if it wanted to, probably in a matter of minutes. Traffic lights, train and plane traffic control, power plants . . . It could just decide that humans are a threat and use all these connected tools to wipe us out.”

“But can we conclude that because it hasn’t done that yet, it won’t in the future?”

“I wish I could say yes. I guess it’s still learning.”

“What if it doesn’t like what it learns?”

“Then we’ll have one serious problem.”

“That’s perhaps why we should strike now.”

“It’s too risky. If it has already developed a self-preservation instinct its answer will be swift and deadly.”

“Can’t we just turn the power off on the planet and restore machines one by one with backups; erase those that don’t have one; start fresh?”

“In theory this is doable, but do you have any idea what that would be like? And how much time it would actually take?”

“You tell me. It’s your planet.”

“We’d be back to the Stone Age for a few weeks at best, probably more like months or years. It will create civil unrest, and we’ll have other problems on our hands.”

“I understand, but then what do we do? Do we just let it be and hope for the best?”

“I don’t think we can, but we must think about this and try to find a way to communicate with it, gauge it up, see what it’s like, before we decide anything.”

“That’s sounds reckless and risky.”

“Not more than doing anything in a rush and making the wrong move.”

“I really don’t like this.”

“Yeah, I can understand that. We need to talk with Commodore Saroudis and Admiral Thassos about all of this.”

“Alright, I’ll arrange it. In the meantime, see what you can get out of this code, and let’s try to think of a way to communicate with this entity.”

“Sure. I can work on this all night.”

“No you can’t, at least not right away. Your date, remember?”

“She’ll understand.”

“Dude, this thing was born about three months ago. Surely it won’t evolve into a killer in the two or three hours your date would last. A few more if you get lucky,” said Yanis with a smile and a wink.

“You’re projecting it mentally aren’t you?”

He chuckled.

“Stop it! Go home, whack off or find someone to help you shake this off. And for the love of god, stop watching porn!”

“I wish it was that easy.”

“Well then, perhaps I can come and install filters on your computer to make sure you can’t access any.”

“Yeah, that would be a good idea, says my brain; my other one is in panic mode at the mention of turning off the flow of these new sensory experiences.”

“Well, you’ve watched enough to create your own mental images by now.”

“Perhaps.”

“Anyway, I should go, and so should you. Let’s pick this up later tonight or tomorrow morning.”

Yanis nodded.

7

When Chase came to, his head was pounding. The aftereffects of drinking most of that whisky bottle, no doubt. His thoughts were foggy and it took him a good while to shake off his haziness.

Keera was still sleeping. He looked at the controls and saw that they would soon arrive at their destination. They needed to refuel her hyperspace engines to make the last jump to Earth. Chase didn’t relish the idea of being back there, not one bit. While he was drunk he hadn’t thought of all of this; for a little while he hadn’t thought of all that was eating at his soul.

But the constant pounding in his head reminded him how ephemeral this feeling was, and what the consequences were the next day. He put his hand on top of his head and healed himself. In half a second the splitting headache was gone.

There’s that, at least. Time to wake Keera.

With his hand on her shoulder he gently shook her back to consciousness. She groaned, and he could see she was just as disoriented as he was a few minutes ago.

“Headache?”

“Oh yeah, big one.”

“Let me take care of that.”

She looked at him, confused. He put his hand on hers and took the pain away in a split second.

“What was that?”

“I can heal any ailment or injury.”

“That’s neat. Thank you. Is that what you did back on the station?”

“You’re welcome. And yes, that’s how I flushed out the poison that had you paralyzed.”

She looked at the empty bottle.

“We really went to town yesterday, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, we did. I guess we needed to phase out old, painful memories.”

“That we did.”

“Anything I should know about the place we’re refueling?”

“I don’t think so. It may not be the friendliest place around but I’ve used it enough times not to be worried.”

“I’ll come with you just in case.”

“Worried about me?” she said with a wink.

“Well, you never know.”

“That’s sweet, but I’m a big girl.”

“You can drop the tough act with me. You’re a skilled bounty hunter but, you know.”

She understood what he wanted to say.

“I know, and yeah I don’t mind the backup at all.”

“Good.”

“Here we go.”

The Valken jumped out of hyperspace near a station in orbit around a vibrant green planet. Keera maneuvered her craft towards the nearest docking bay after obtaining authorization to land.

They left the ship together. Keera went towards the nearest engineer, ordered the refueling of her ship, and then called Chase over with a gesture.

“What is it?”

“Need your StarFury refueled?”

“Do they have quadrinium here?”

“Yes, that’s what the Valken runs on as well. But they pretty much have all the fuels used by most of the engines roaming the universe.”

“Alright, then, yes. If you can afford it, that is.”

“No worries there. I have credit here.”

“How long will it take?”

“We should be on our way in less than an hour. There’s a bar here if you’d like to wait there?”

“Perhaps we should go together?”

“Okay. Give me a minute here.”

Chase nodded as he looked around. Soon she joined him and they went to get a drink at the bar. The place was quite deserted; only a few tables in the entire establishment were occupied.

“Charming atmosphere,” said Chase sarcastically.

“Not really a tourist attraction, but at least it’s here. Want a Ju’Ran’s Blackhole?”

“That sounds good yeah, thanks.”

“Sit at a table over there. I’ll bring the drinks.”

“Alright.”

As Chase sat where Keera gestured he noticed the table included controls. He waved his hand above the monitor inlaid into the glass table. It came on and displayed news from this sector of space, as well as a login to the intergalactic network, the equivalent of the Internet but on a larger scale. Then he saw a section called “Warrants.” He touched it and a list of warrants was displayed. Of course, the warrant for Argos was at the top, thanks to the insane amount of credits offered as a reward.

That’s when it hit Chase: probably more than half the bounty hunters in the universe were after Argos. And he looked just like him. That sent a shiver down his spine. He looked around at other occupied tables. Most of the customers were either interacting with their own table-bound terminal or just chilling out, but one seemed to look at Chase funny; but as soon as their gaze met he looked away and started interacting with his own table terminal.

That’s not good. We’ll have to stay on our toes.

Chase scrolled through the warrants and saw Keera’s picture. A new warrant, apparently less than two days old. He opened it and looked into the details. Wanted dead or alive.

What’s this about? wondered Chase.

The warrant was proposed by an individual called Tor’Tak, probably a family member of Tron’Tak. Perhaps he should have just disabled the man. Now they would have bounty hunters after them as well. It couldn’t be helped now, but Chase decided to inform Keera.

Where is she?

She stood at the bar, her back turned to him, her body blocking Chase’s view of the barman. Something in Chase started to tingle.

Crap! was the only thing he had the time to think before the shit hit the fan.

The man who had eyed him earlier was already reaching for a blaster. He raised it and shouted, “Hand’s up. Make a move and I make a hole where your heart is supposed to be!”

Chase smiled at the threat. “Holster this weapon if you value your life. I’m not Argos. I know I look like him, but we’re twin brothers.”

“Sure, I believe you. Hands up now. Last warning.”

Chase exhaled with frustration. He turned around and saw that the barman was also pointing a weapon at Keera. Her hands were in the air. So much for hoping things would go smoothly. Wishful thinking anyway. Ever since the Alliance fell, it had been one crap day after another. One more day of grinding in this damn universe.

Chase turned back towards his aggressor and played along, raising his hands.

“That’s better. Don’t you move!”

“I don’t need to move to kill you from here; hope you realize that.”

That seemed to catch his attention as he advanced between the tables separating them, never losing sight of Chase as he approached.

He shoved the barrel of his blaster right under Chase’s nose.

“I’m gonna tie you up now. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I thought my brother was more valuable dead.”

“He. . . You are. Stop trying to get out of this, Argos. You’re done and I’m rich.”

Chase started laughing uncontrollably.

“Stop that right now or I’ll shoot you in the face.”

Chase stopped laughing and fixed the bounty hunter straight in the eyes. “Do it. See what happens.”

Chase didn’t realize it, but his eyes were shining again. That gave the man pause and he took three steps back, still aiming at Chase. He took yet another step back, hit a nearby table and panicked, firing straight at Chase’s face.

Chase flicked a finger and deflected the fire to the ground. The man’s eyes opened wide, clearly shocked. He started madly firing at Chase, who simply put his palm in front of the shots and stopped them all. A little smoke rose from his palm once the man stopped firing. A little theatrics can’t hurt, thought Chase.

“Are you done?” he said casually.

“What the fuck are you?” said the man, terrorized.

“Not Argos, that’s for sure.”

“What now?”

“Now you either get the fuck out of my face or I show you what I do to people who shoot at me.”

That did it. The man started running in a zigzag between the tables and left the room. Chase walked towards the bar. The barman took a step to the side, clearly showing Chase he was aiming at Keera’s head.

“One more step and she di⁠—”

Before he could finish his threat, Chase mentally snatched his blaster out of his hand and punched his lights out with a quick fist straight to his face. He crashed into the back of his bar, shattering the mirror wall behind him. He collapsed to the floor unconscious.

“Let’s get out of here. We’re clearly not welcome here.”

“I can see that. Why did they do this? Oh right! You look like him. I should have known.”

“That and there’s also a warrant on your head.”

“What? That’s not good. I could lose my license. Who is it from?”

“Tor’Tak. Probably a relative?”

“Yeah, his crazy father. How much am I worth?”

“Ten thousand.”

“That’s insulting!”

Chase smiled. “I’m sure it is. I think we should go now. Any way to get that warrant cancelled?”

“Only Tor’Tak can do that.”

“Perhaps once we’re done with the business on Earth we can take care of this as well.”

“We’ll see. I’m not worried. I’m well known in my field. I doubt other hunters will be dumb enough to go after me.”

“What about him?” said Chase, pointing at the barman on the floor.

“I don’t know. Looking for a quick buck or career change, perhaps.”

“Picked on the wrong crowd.”

“In his defense, he couldn’t have known. Thanks for the assist, by the way.”

“Sure. Should we go now?”

“Yeah, but let me pour you the drink we came for first.”

Chase sat on the nearest bar stool and put the barman’s blaster on the bar next to him. By the time Keera had prepared the Ju’Ran’s Blackhole, they heard heavy footsteps running on the other side of the room.

“We’ve got company,” she said, still pouring the drink.

“I heard. You don’t seem concerned.”

“Well, you’re gonna kick their asses, aren’t you?”

Chase got up and smiled at her. “Be right back.”

“Uh-huh.” She smiled back.

Chase turned and saw four men pointing blasters and rifles towards them. Chase raised his hands and tables started levitating around them. Surprised, they started shooting at them. With a swift motion of his hands he crashed a table into each of the newcomers. They grunted, shouted or shrieked, but it all went really quickly. In mere seconds, they were all out of commission.

One more set of footsteps could be heard, slower but much heavier than before. At every new step the ground shook. Soon a huge figure came into view. Moving out of the shadows was a tall, fat Radiok, probably five times Chase’s weight. He started running towards Chase without notice and everything in the room trembled heavily.

Chase levitated two tables in the Radiok’s path and smashed one into each side of him. He stopped, grunted, snarled and resumed running. Then Chase used another set of tables and then another. It barely slowed down the Radiok, who arrived in front of Chase and took a jab at him. Chase easily dodged, turned around and clocked the Radiok in the face with an elbow. The Radiok’s nose broke upon impact and started bleeding, and with a surprised stare locked in his eyes he fell like a log in front of Chase, making quite the commotion and breaking two more tables in the process.

Chase heard clapping from the bar.

He turned and gave Keera an amused look.

“Boy, sending that beast down with just one blow. I’m impressed.”

“I had to keep it together. Could have blown his head off otherwise.”

“Yeah, like in the fight pits, right? It seemed clear to me you were not using all your abilities. I wonder if I will ever see them.” Keera pushed the drink towards Chase as he sat down.

“Careful what you wish for. I don’t think it will be safe around me when that happens.”

“Right.” She took her own drink and winked at him.

They drank their beverages and left the bar shortly afterwards.

* * *

Yanis entered the commodore’s ready room on board the Destiny.

“What can I do for you, Chief?” said Saroudis, getting up and shaking Yanis’ hand.

“We may have a problem on Earth.”

Yanis frowned. “What kind of problem?”

“Well, perhaps nothing to alarm us just yet, but when Cedric teleported the quadrinium-enhanced bombs from the power plants, he may have created an AI within the Internet in the process.”

“An Artificial Intelligence? How exactly?”

“That’s the thing, we don’t know how. But it probably happened when he linked our systems with the computational power of Earth.”

“What’s your assessment of the situation?”

“That we must proceed with care. Hopefully if an AI was born because of the link of our two systems, perhaps it’s been born with our baseline code as a source.”

“And that would be important why?”

“Because we’ve hardcoded our own AIs to never hurt physical beings or, by their inactions, let human beings be hurt.”

“Did you know the humans thought of that too?”

“I don’t follow?”

“Since we’ve arrived here I’ve taken it upon myself to read many of their books. An author of the twentieth century called Asimov thought of the same thing: to hard code important laws into any artificial brain to make sure machines would never hurt the human race. Fascinating read.”

“I see, and this is what, fiction?”

“Yeah, in this case it is, even though robotics engineers on Earth are deeply aware of these rules and would always make sure to implement them, even if they were nowhere near a true working and thinking AI in the first place.”

“Alright. Unfortunately, we can only hope this particular AI learned these. There’s no hardcoding to be made here, since it emerged on its own.”

“Should we let it exist in the first place?”

“I think for the time being it’s very important we don’t try to shut it down.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, if it’s fully conscious it could perceive us as a threat, and since there’s no hard code to protect us if it does, the last thing we want is to appear aggressive. There are simply too many things interconnected via the Internet on Earth. The result could be catastrophic.”

“And if we wait and the AI decides to attack anyway?”

“I know it’s a risk. For now, though, I recommend we don’t try shutting it down. Not only could purging it from the Internet plunge Earth into chaos, but I’m not even sure it’s doable at all; not if we want to keep basic utilities like electricity and water working down there. The fact that there are seven billion souls on the planet makes this a really difficult proposition, any way you look at it.”

Saroudis put his hand on his chin.

“I see. Clearly we can’t just ignore it and wait to see what happens.”

“No, that is also too risky. I propose we monitor its code.”

“What if that feels like prying eyes to it and it already categorizes us as a potential threat?”

“I did not consider that angle.”

“An AI is primarily digital. It lives and breathes in the data streams. Therefore I would think it would be inherently aware if someone was looking at its every move. I know it would make me nervous.”

Yanis nodded.

“Perhaps you should try to find a way to communicate with this artificial intelligence.”

“That’s a good idea. Cedric proposed the same. We could whip up a way to communicate via audio or even holographic projection. Who will communicate with it, though? I can build all that is needed for this to work, but I’m not a diplomat, not by a long shot.”

“Well, one problem at a time. Let’s first try to build a way to communicate with it and then we can see who will talk to it.”

“Right. Perhaps you’d like to?”

“Perhaps. I’m not sure a military man is the best face to present, but I’ll think about it. How long do you think you need to create a proper communication interface?”

“A few days, perhaps less.”

“Alright, I’ll let the admiral know about this problem when she comes back from Droxian space. In the meantime you have my go to assign as many resources as you need to this project. It’s top priority. I suggest you ask Spiros Malayianis for help on this.”

“Makes sense. He’s an expert on AI. Thanks, Commodore.”

Saroudis nodded. “You’re dismissed, Chief.”

* * *

The Iron Fire exited hyperspace near the fifth planet of the Aboris planetary system. A squadron of ships approached them shortly. Soon they received an incoming transmission.

“Please identify yourselves and state your intentions.”

“Daniel Tharraleos, captaining the Earth Alliance dreadnought Iron Fire. We would like to talk to someone in authority concerning the warrant placed on Argos Thanatos.”

“Request denied. Please let us escort you out of our system.”

“Look, I understand you don’t know us, but we’re currently looking for Argos as well. Perhaps if you let us in we can help.”

There was a minute of silence.

“Please follow us, but no funny business.”

“You have my word.”

“That means nothing to us. Just be warned that if you don’t follow our exact instructions, we’ll be forced to destroy your ship.”

You’re welcome to try, thought Daniel.

“Very well. We’ll follow you.”

Arriving in orbit of the nearest planet, the pilot from their escort opened communications again.

“You can take a shuttle down to the planet. Your vessel must stay in orbit.”

Daniel looked at Tar’Lock.

“What is it?”

“Well, I’ll take these.” He gestured towards the neuronal link interfaces. “If we need the Iron Fire I can remote control it; but if you don’t hear from us in one hour, you get out of here and come back with reinforcements.”

“I don’t know how to pilot the ship.”

“Iron Fire AINI? This is Daniel Tharraleos.”

“Identity confirmed. What can I do for you, Captain?” asked the onboard computer.

“Add Tar’Lock as secondary commanding officer and confirm.”

“Tar’Lock added. Status, secondary commanding officer.”

“AINI, if Tar’Lock is wounded or killed, return to Earth.”

“Command confirmed, Captain.”

Tar’Lock grimaced. “Charming.”

“Well, gotta think of all contingencies. However, now you can tell the ship what to do. Just don’t blow yourself up.”

“Very funny. Why am I not coming along with you?”

“I thought that was obvious. Someone needs to stay with the ship.”

“Can’t one of these”—he pointed to two of the ship’s android crew—“stay behind instead?”

“They aren’t programmed to make on-the-fly decisions.”

“Neither am I.”

“Tar’Lock!” growled Ryonna.

“Very well, I’ll stay here.”

“Good,” said Daniel. “See you soon, hopefully.”

“Yeah, make sure you come back. I’m not good with machines.”

The shuttle containing Daniel and Ryonna landed on a designated platform where a dozen armed guards asked that they relinquish their weapons before proceeding inside the nearest building.

“Nope,” said Ryonna coldly.

“Come on, give ’em your toys,” said Daniel nicely.

“This is a mistake.”

“This is how it has to be, so the sooner we comply, the better.”

Ryonna growled in disagreement and some of the guards raised their guns in response.

Daniel waved his hand to get their attention. “Don’t mind her. She hasn’t had breakfast yet, that’s all.”

Ryonna put her blaster and two knives and back blade on a bench nearby. She shot an angry look at the worker in charge of holding their weapons.

“I’d better get them back.”

“Move along,” answered the worker, clearly not afraid of her threats.

They were escorted to the highest floor of the building. Two giant doors opened, revealing a massive office with an amazing view of one of the purple oceans of this planet. There were two suns shining, one blue and one orange, as well as a stunning ringed moon, currently filling half the horizon. The office was nothing short of stunning, with waterfalls on each side of it, very pretty blue trees, with white and cyan flowers blooming, and a few birds singing on their branches.

At the desk sat a tall man with a tattoo on half his face. It looked like bio-electrical schematics, and gave the man a weird allure, considering the expensive suit he was wearing.

“Please come in. I understand you’re trying to locate Argos.”

“We are,” said Daniel.

“Yet I thought I had included all the information you needed for the job in the warrant. I’m not used to receiving strangers in here.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“Well, you guys have been featured quite heavily on the news. From what I’ve gathered, you are enemies of Argos and his Zarlack fleets. That alone gives us common ground.”

“How come you’ve placed such a heavy bounty on his head?” asked Ryonna, somewhat less politely.

“He double crossed us. We can’t tolerate such actions. Many of our best engineers died in the process. It sets a dangerous precedent. One we don’t want to inspire others in the future. By bringing him down and showing how much we’re willing to pay to make sure this never happens again, it protects our . . . interests.”

Ryonna snorted. She had no love for the DTs.

The birds suddenly stopped chirping.

“What is it I can help you with? You’ll understand my time is limit⁠—”

But then the head of the man exploded and Daniel was splattered with pieces of bone, flesh and blood.

“What the hell?” he shouted in surprise and disgust.

Ryonna instinctively reached for her blaster, only to find her holster empty. She turned around, terror at what she saw written on her face.

Daniel also turned and couldn’t believe his eyes.

Argos walked slowly towards them, smirking.

“He was right, though, his time truly was limited. Sorry for the mess,” he said, looking Daniel straight in the eyes. “Send me your dry-cleaning bill.”

Daniel froze in place. He remembered what had happened last time he attacked Argos, and Chase wasn’t here to resurrect him this time around. Ryonna, on the other hand, did not hesitate; she sprang into action, her instincts taking over.

She launched herself into the air and sent a flying kick towards Argos’ head; which didn’t budge upon impact. She landed on one knee in front of him. He simply looked at her, his expression unwavering. She rose and used the momentum to deliver one hell of an uppercut that threw Argos’ head back just for a moment. He put his head back into its original position, unharmed, and tilted it slightly.

Ryonna turned towards Daniel. “Run! Get back on board the Iron Fire. NOW!”

“I’m not leaving you here to sacrifice yourself. Besides, what makes you think he would let me go?”

“Listen to your friend, Ryonna,” said Argos, smiling.

She took three steps back to be level with Daniel.

“Why are we still alive?” she murmured.

“I’m asking myself the exact same question. Let’s ask him,” said Daniel nervously. “What do you want, Argos?”

“A couple of things. The first was that pathetic DT’s head on a plate, but I got carried away . . . obviously.”

“And the second?” inquired Daniel, not so sure he really wanted to know.

“I want to surrender,” he said, extending his arms in front of him, crossing his wrists.

“Right. We’re supposed to believe that?”

“Look, Daniel, you know very well that if I wanted you dead, it would only take a thought, so ask yourself this? Why else are you still standing?”

“Perhaps you fear what Chase would do to you if you hurt any of us?” said Daniel, not entirely convinced by his own argument.

“I will admit this only once: what happened aboard Damocles-3 was indeed quite unexpected. And I haven’t properly thanked you for stopping Chase from finishing me off. So, there you have it. Thank you.”

Daniel spat on the ground furiously. “Fuck you! I should have let him kill you. You were bluffing about Sarah.”

“I promise you I wasn’t. If you hadn’t stopped him she would have died.”

“She’s dead anyway!”

“I don’t remember pulling that trigger though,” said Argos, laughing out loud.

“You find that funny? As soon as Chase finds you, I can only imagine what he will do to you. We’ll see who gets the last laugh.”

“Perhaps. Let’s all go back to Earth and ask him.”

“What makes you think he’s on Earth? I can tell you he isn’t.”

“He will be. Whether he’s there when we arrive, or whether there’s much of it left when he comes back, is another story.”

“What? What is that supposed to mean?”

“I sent my strongest armada towards Earth. It should be there any minute now. Without Chase to protect it this time around, I’d love to see what your pathetic Earth Alliance will do.”

“You know full well our ships are now more powerful than yours.”

“Perhaps. Still, I have the greater numbers.”

“Ryonna, let’s go. This pathetic excuse for a Fury is too scared to kill us, so let’s get out of here and back to Earth.”

She nodded in agreement, but clearly uneasy about the whole situation.

“Easy there. Don’t misunderstand me. You either take me back to Earth with you or this building will become your grave.”

“And that’s what you call surrendering?”

“Semantics, Daniel. Make your choice, but may I suggest you make the right one, as well as making it fast.”

“Daniel, this is a trap. We can’t take him to Earth! That’s what he wants.”

“I think we have to. Chase will take care of him, I’m sure of it. And this time I will not only let him kill Argos, I’ll even encourage him.”

Argos smiled defiantly. “You two do realize that nothing stops me from going to Earth on my own?”

“Then why this stand-off?”

“Honestly, I was hoping my dear brother would be here with you, but since he isn’t that means he must be on his way back to Earth as we speak. So let’s not delay that nice family reunion and let’s go now.” Argos gestured toward the exit with his head. “Shall we?”

Daniel and Ryonna looked at each other, and then at Argos, already stepping out of the giant office. They followed him. With each corridor they passed, they saw more dead bodies and blood spattered over the otherwise pristine and high-tech building.

They arrived at the docking bay where they had left their shuttle. Argos stopped.

“Why are you stopping?” inquired Ryonna.

“To let you recover your weapons.”

With the situation so unreal, she had forgotten about that. She didn’t like this one bit. Argos had something up his sleeve. But she also knew very well that a direct confrontation here would only mean their deaths. One thing was clear, once on board the Iron Fire, they’d need to find a way to get rid of him. She cringed at the thought, though.

“Plot all you want, Ryonna, but please, let’s get going now.”

She realized he could read thoughts. That would make it almost impossible to get the jump on him. She holstered her blaster and other weaponry.

“Nice blade by the way,” said Argos.

She grunted.

“Perhaps one day you’ll have the opportunity to use it against me, but not today.”

“Don’t tempt me! I’d like nothing more than to slice you up.”

“I know,” said Argos with a smile.

He then levitated Daniel’s side arm and it flew into Daniel’s holster.

“Can we please go now?”

Daniel and Ryonna walked towards the shuttle. Sensing their arrival, the side door slid up and a ramp slid down. They all went on board and Daniel took the helm and fired the engines. They rose from the landing platform and vectored towards the Iron Fire in orbit around the planet.

Soon Tar’Lock opened a channel.

“Everything alright?”

That’s when Daniel had an idea.

“Tar’Lock, destroy the shuttle!”

“What? Are you crazy?”

“Argos is on board. Shoot us down, now!”

Argos lifted two fingers and said, “Sleep!” Both Daniel and Ryonna lost consciousness. He then used telekinesis to lift Daniel’s body from the pilot’s chair and lower it gently nearby.

“Guys! What’s going on? Please respond!” said Tar’Lock impatiently.

Argos sat in the pilot’s chair, looked over the controls and activated a video stream.

“Oh shit!” said Tar’Lock, seeing his face.

“Nice to see you too. Tar’Lock is it?”

“If you hurt my friends I’ll destroy your ship right now!”

“I haven’t hurt them. They’re here. They’re just sleeping at the moment, but unless you want them dead, I suggest you don’t try to shoot the shuttle down. It would only kill them, I can assure you.”

“What do you want?”

“Nothing. Let us board the ship; then we’ll be on our way to Earth.”

Tar’Lock hesitated, but ultimately he wasn’t ready to kill Ryonna or Daniel. No way would he make that decision.

“You’re clear to land,” said Tar’Lock reluctantly.

“Well thank you.”

Argos then proceeded towards the landing bay of the Iron Fire and woke his slumbering crew.

When Daniel came around he looked at the open doors of the shuttle, parked in the Iron Fire’s landing bay. Argos patiently waited outside with his arms crossed against his chest.

“Shit, we’re still alive,” he muttered, while shaking his head, trying to wake up more.

“Yes we are,” added Ryonna. “Perhaps we can sabotage the ship on our way back. Blow him up?”

“We can try, but we both know he knows everything we think. I don’t think he will let us.”

“We have to try and kill him somehow, even if we must sacrifice ourselves doing so.”

“I hear you, Ryonna, but . . .” Daniel looked towards Argos. “I don’t think we have the slightest chance.”

“Are you coming?” screamed Argos from outside the ship.

They followed him to the bridge. The second the doors slid open and Argos stepped out, a flurry of blaster fire ricocheted off his face.

Tar’Lock kept firing but the next waves of blaster fire disintegrated before reaching their target and the weapon was snatched from Tar’Lock’s grasp and thrown to the other side of the bridge, where it exploded upon landing.

“AINI, self destru—” But Tar’Lock couldn’t finish his sentence. An invisible force was crushing his windpipe. He struggled and couldn’t breathe, and soon collapsed to the floor.

“Please stop,” pleaded Ryonna. As much as she hated to admit it she had strong feelings for the little guy.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him; but we can’t have the ship self-destruct now, can we? Let me explain something. I understand your feeble minds want nothing but to kill me, and perhaps one day you’ll get your chance, but today I’m in control. I run this show and we’re going to Earth. It’s a very long jump, so I’d like to short circuit your next attempt at blowing this ship, or any other dumb ideas your tiny brains will muster in an attempt to stop me. Even if you did manage to blow this ship, understand it wouldn’t kill me. My own ship is cloaked and tracking me in real time. Just as Chase did when I summoned him aboard the Damocles Station, I’m perfectly able to erect a force field to survive in space. You, however, will instantly die if this ship explodes. So let’s put your misguided hopes of heroism to rest right this moment, and let’s just try to enjoy this trip, okay?”

“Nice speech,” said Daniel, clearly annoyed but agreeing with everything Argos said.

Argos smiled. “See, that’s all I want, for us to get along for the day or so it will take to reach Earth; then you can get back to hating me and trying to kill me all you want.”

Ryonna slowly removed her blade from her back without making a sound, her mind as blank as she could manage, and slashed at Argos from behind. Before the blade could slice through Argos’ neck it shattered in midair.

Argos turned around. “Have you been listening to anything I’ve just said?” He exhaled deeply in frustration.

But Ryonna wasn’t interested in listening. She reached for her blaster but before she could fire it was snatched from her hands.

“Droxians! Proud but stupid people.”

Argos lifted a finger and pointed it towards Ryonna’s left arm. Soon an intense pain brought her to her knees. Daniel was terrified as he saw the muscles in her arm atrophy and heard her bones crushed inside her arm as if they were brittle. She screeched in pain.

“Please stop,” Daniel pleaded.

Argos stopped. Ryonna fainted from the pain and hit the ground headfirst.

“Only because you asked nicely. Perhaps you should tend to her injuries,” said Argos, looking towards Tar’Lock who was regaining consciousness. “That way we won’t have to suffer each other’s company any more than we need.”

8

On board the EAD Destiny, Commodore Saroudis hailed an incoming ship of unknown origin. The craft was small but traveled at faster sub-light speed than anything the commodore had ever encountered.

“Unknown craft, this is Commodore Saroudis of the Earth Alliance Destroyer Destiny. Please identify yourself and your intentions. You’re entering restricted space.”

A woman with beautiful, flame-colored hair and stunning, deep-blue eyes appeared on the holo-screen.

“My name is Aphroditis.”

That sent a shiver down Saroudis’ spine.

“As in the Olympian goddess of love?”

She hesitated, but finally nodded.

“I’m truly sorry to say this, but how can you prove it?”

“I’ve been in contact with one of your crew, Chase Athanatos. I was the one who urged him to come and save Earth from the Zarlacks.”

“It is you,” said Saroudis, still not believing his eyes. “You’re the last person I expected to pick up this call.”

“I can imagine. I need your help.”

Saroudis’ expression changed.

“Our help? I find that difficult to believe.”

“Commodore, we may be powerful beings with a better understanding of the universe and an advanced technological edge, but we are beings of flesh and blood nonetheless.”

Saroudis recalled a past conversation with Chase in which he had explained to him the same thing: that they weren’t gods per se, just more advanced beings.

“What can we do for you?”

“I’m being hunted by a vicious individual called Argos Thanatos.”

“Chase’s brother?”

“His twin brother, yes. He just killed . . .” She stopped, and a tear ran down her face.

Fear and dread filled Saroudis’ heart. “Chase?” he said, his voice trembling.

“No, he killed my half-brother, Ares.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss. My deepest condolences.”

“Thank you, Commodore. Ares sacrificed himself so I could escape, but I’m sure Argos will follow me. For the time being I have nowhere else to run to.” She lowered her eyes in shame.

“You came to the right place. We’ll gladly give you sanctuary here on Earth, for as long as you need it.”

“Just until I reunite with Chase. My staying here could put this planet in Argos’ crosshairs.”

“We’re already in his crosshairs, but we’re better equipped to fight his armadas now. You’ll be safe here.”

She paused and looked at Saroudis for a long time, as if deciding whether or not to believe him. “I . . . I hope you’re right.”

“Upon arrival in Earth’s orbit, you can come aboard my ship. It would be a pleasure to receive such an honored guest.”

“You’re very kind, Commodore. I should arrive in less than ten minutes.”

“You can land your ship in our landing bays. I’ll be there to meet you.”

“Thank you, Commodore.”

He nodded and the communication ended.

That was unexpected. Saroudis never thought he would one day meet an Olympian face to face. Until now he thought they were only interested in talking in visions, and to Chase only. Chase’s having left the Earth Alliance—a fact that saddened Saroudis more than he would ever admit—was probably why Aphroditis had decided to contact them directly. No doubt the impending threat from Argos was her reason for being here in the first place.

Saroudis tried to wrap his mind around the fact that Argos had killed an Olympian. He knew the Furies were powerful, but an Olympian? He didn’t even know they could be killed until now.

As much as he hated having to place the next call, he knew he had to. Or did he? Admiral Thassos had voiced her concerns and doubts regarding the Olympians before, and now that one was knocking at their door he wondered how he could spin this to her gently.

For a moment he considered whether it was necessary to inform her in the first place. She had given him jurisdiction over Earth’s defenses and her ship was currently in Droxian space.

It can wait until after my meeting with Aphroditis, he decided.

He rose from his chair, and gave Sergeant Major Boltris the bridge.

When he arrived in the landing bay, Aphroditis’ ship had just passed the force field separating cold, black space from the artificial atmosphere onboard the Destiny.

Her ship was magnificent, lean and shaped like an organic bullet, with wings that reminded Saroudis of shark fins. It had a chrome finish, and the way the light reflected from it was simply mesmerizing. A godly looking ship for a goddess, thought Saroudis.

She appeared when a part of the ship, a door perhaps, vanished into thin air. There didn’t seem to be any mechanical parts involved. It was as if the part in front of which she now stood simply didn’t exist anymore. A ray of light radiated from her position towards the landing bay’s floor. It created a translucent light bridge. Such an elegant design for a ramp. Aphroditis stepped on it and was soon approaching him.

Commodore Saroudis was nervous, and his heart pounded, but the more steps she took in his direction, the less nervous he felt, as if she was emitting a calming aura. In fact, Saroudis felt more serene now than he had in years. She stopped in front of him, smiled and presented her hand.

“Thank you for having me on board the Destiny, Commodore Saroudis.”

He took her hand and kissed it.

“It’s my pleasure . . . Your . . . I’m sorry, how should I address you?”

She beamed a smile at him. His heart skipped a beat in admiration.

“Aphroditis is fine, Commodore.”

“My pleasure, Aphroditis,” he said, in a tone suggesting he was not yet completely comfortable.

She looked around. “Ah, the Destiny, the ship Chase was aboard when I first contacted him.”

“That’s right. She has been to hell and back, but she’s one tough ship. I’m very proud of her.”

“You should be, and of yourselves, all of you,” she said, extending her voice to everyone around.

A grease monkey passing by opened his mouth when he caught her gaze, dropping whatever tools he had in his hands.

She returned her gaze to the commodore. “You did a fine job protecting this world. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“I . . . Well, we couldn’t have done it without you and Chase. I mean, if you hadn’t convinced him when you did, I would not have attempted such a dire rescue.”

“I know. That’s what’s so curious about this universe. Sometimes it’s the little things, the actions of so few people at a particular point in time, that can make the difference between light and darkness.”

“Chase said something along those lines too, in fact. That all would be lost if we didn’t come here and repel the Zarlacks. You’ll have to tell me more about that. I’m really curious to understand how you know these things.”

“Perhaps. It’s not something I usually talk about. My abilities, I mean.”

“I didn’t mean to intrude. Please forgive me.”

She smiled with a level of innocence and compassion Saroudis had never experienced.

“You don’t have to, really. I’m . . . I’m really sorry, but it’s been a long trip and I left in a hurry.”

“Absolutely. Would you like me to show you to your quarters so you can rest?”

“That would be lovely, but if I could eat something as well, that would be great.”

“We can definitely arrange that. Let me show you your quarters, and then if you want we can have dinner. Unless you’d rather dine alone?”

“No, I would really enjoy some company. Thank you, Commodore.”

“Please, call me Adonis.”

“Very well. Thank you, Adonis.”

* * *

“Is the food to your liking, Aphroditis?”

She took one more bite.

“It’s unusual but quite tasty, thank you.”

“It’s Earth’s food. They have amazing dishes, millions of them.”

“This isn’t flesh though, is it? I . . . I’m starving but I would hate to think I’m eating something that once lived.”

“No, it’s a replica, so it’s pretty much how flesh would taste, but this was never living.”

“Alright. You’ll find me silly, but that still disturbs me a little.”

“I know how you feel, and to tell you the truth I’ve tasted real flesh. I thought before I passed judgment I should at least know about it.”

She grimaced. “And?”

“Well, it was delicious too; probably slightly better than the replicated stuff; but we’ve asked the humans to reduce their consumption of meat for the greater good of the planet.”

“Besides the obvious objections to eating once-living beings, what was the problem exactly?”

“The way they were raised and treated. In some cases it was humane but most of the time it was . . .” He paused. “Barbaric at worst, cruel at best.”

“I see,” said Aphroditis with clear sadness.

“But wouldn’t you already know all that?”

“We are not all knowing. When we decided to let Earth take its own path, so long ago, we didn’t really look back. In fact, it wasn’t until I started having strong visions of this planet’s destruction that I decided to intervene.”

“On your own?”

“Yes, at first at least. Ares accepted to help me when it became clear that Chase needed a mentor.”

Saroudis nodded.

“But at first I took it upon myself to contact Chase, against my father’s wishes, in fact.”

“That would be Zeus, right?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Yes. I’m surprised you know that, though.”

“I’ve been fascinated by the tales of Olympia since I was a child. In fact, it played a role in accepting what Chase was saying when . . . when he pointed a gun at my face, practically ordering me to go to Earth and battle the Zarlacks right after . . .”

“Right after the fall of the Alliance.”

Saroudis’ expression became grave at the mention of that dark moment in the not-so-distant past.

“Yes, that.”

“I’m sorry it took such a measure to convince you; but I’m not sorry it did. I’m certain Earth’s survival is the key to saving the universe. I’m also glad you knew about us beforehand. Looks as though that helped convince you.”

“Clearly. You don’t have to apologize, though. While I was shocked at first, I realized that Chase was doing what he thought was right. He did have doubts though.”

“I’m sure he did. And still has them; probably stronger now than ever before, after what happened to Sarah and his unborn child.”

“I thought you were the one who told him to fire upon her ship.”

“No, we never had this conversation. It was in fact Argos who had managed to hack our communications and masqueraded himself as me when speaking to Chase.”

“That’s unfortunate. Does he know? I don’t want to ruin your evening, but he wasn’t really happy about the Olympians when he resigned his commission and left this world.”

“He does now, and hopefully with time we can mend that broken trust between us. At least I hope so.”

“I know you mentioned earlier that you didn’t especially want to talk about your visions or your ability to see . . . the future?”

“Possible futures, in fact. It’s always in movement. It’s the actions and thoughts of every inhabitant of this universe that shapes the future. While there are many potential futures ahead, I only see those that seem more likely to happen.”

“Makes sense. In those, you are persuaded that Earth plays a capital role? And I take it Chase as well?”

“That’s correct.”

“Chase mentioned at one point that our current enemies, the Zarlacks, are only a pawn race, that their real masters are yet to be revealed. That has me worried.”

“Yes, the real storm hasn’t begun yet. This is just a prelude to a much darker war.”

“Whoa! Really? I thought times were pretty tough already. I mean, the original Alliance was obliterated, billions dead; millions died on Earth. How much worse can it get?”

Tears formed at the corners of Aphroditis’ eyes. “Much worse.”

Saroudis swallowed heavily, not sure if he wanted to know more. “Do you know who that enemy is?”

“No. In my vision they appear distorted, as if they’re not even from the same plane of existence as us.”

“How is that possible?”

“I have no idea. All I know is that every possible future I look into lately, they’re there. Their arrival, whenever it happens, seems inevitable at this point.”

“But will we prevail?”

“There is . . . There’s only one future I see in which they can be stopped, but at great cost. Much of the life in this universe will burn before it can be reborn, if . . .”

“If it is even reborn?”

She nodded.

“Are you ever wrong?”

“I am neither right nor wrong, Adonis. I just see what could become, and sometimes I get hints. A person, a place, that becomes clear in my vision, as if I’m being nudged towards it. A way for me to know who or what will be instrumental for that particular future to come to fruition.”

“Like Chase and Earth?”

“Yes. They are part of whatever the future holds, that’s for sure. And they are the keys to making the only acceptable future hold.”

“Boy, that’s really heavy stuff. I think I lost my appetite.”

“So have I. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you any of this.”

“No, that’s alright. It’s fascinating, in fact. Plus I can see it takes a toll on you. So if talking about it helps you release some of that burden, I’m more than happy to listen. But mind if I ask you one more thing?”

“That’s sweet. It does help a little, thank you. Ask away.”

“What about Zeus? Will the rest of the Olympians help?”

“Doubtful.”

“Why?”

“When we stopped interfering with younger races—Earth, but also many others—it was for a reason. A new age began once the Furies were defeated. The older races decided not to interfere with the younger races. We decided it was your time to shape the world you lived in. No matter the consequences of your actions.”

“I can respect that. I mean, who doesn’t want free will?”

“Indeed. You deserve it; every living being does.”

“So then why? Why did you disobey? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you did. My instinct tells me I’d be dead by now if you didn’t.”

“Because when the only futures I could glimpse were filled with darkness, pain and death, so much death . . . I decided I should do something about it.”

“What did Zeus think?”

“Well, to put it briefly, he banished me.”

Saroudis didn’t know what to say. After a very uncomfortable minute of silence, he asked, “What about Ares? I mean, before he was killed, was he banished as well?”

“Ares had been banished long before me; thousands of years before.”

“Wow, alright. Why, if I may ask?”

“He became drunk on power. He lost his way, his . . . sanity. He made some poor decisions, exercised even poorer judgment and as a result countless civilizations were lost because of him. It’s a miracle my father didn’t kill him.”

“Boy, and I thought the tales were just legends with lots of exaggeration. I also thought they only applied to my race. I see they extend to the entire universe.”

“Most myths and legends have their roots in reality. Whether the details are precise is another matter.”

“Ever since we arrived on Earth I have been studying their own legends. There are so many. Could some of these be referencing other ancient races?”

“Without knowing more about them I couldn’t tell you.”

“Well there’s the Egyptians, the Norse gods, to name only those I’ve studied. There are many more tales and legends.”

“I . . . I’m feeling a little queasy. Do you mind if we table this discussion for another time?”

“Absolutely. Sorry, I didn’t mean to overwhelm you with all my questions.”

“I understand, Adonis. You don’t need to apologize. Thank you for the lovely evening and tasty food.”

“My pleasure. Shall I escort you to your quarters?”

She attempted a smile and nodded.

Saroudis offered his hand to help Aphroditis up. They left his dining room and he led her to her quarters on the same deck.

A few minutes later she was lying on her bed when it happened again.

* * *

A bright blue light shone from within Aphroditis and rays of light escaped her mouth and eyes. Soon she was levitating a good three feet above the bed. The first minute of vision mode was always painful and disorienting. No matter how many visions she received, she never really became used to this part.

Soon the world before her eyes split in two, then four, then eight; and within a minute or two there were too many realities for her brain to count or register. Some were blurrier than others, some darker, and a select few were brighter and blinked to attract her attention. She focused on the one that blinked brightest. It took a while for her brain to block the other realities.

Once she focused on it, her vision became like a tunnel. She travelled through this reality and saw things, probable possibilities from this particular future.

Then a face flashed. It was Chase. He was crying, but his face was devoid of sadness. Then Earth flashed into view. It bore some new craters, and Aphroditis heard the cries of millions of lives going extinct.

She then saw another face: Sarah’s. She struggled to understand how this was even possible, but she had no time to dwell on it as she continued accelerating in her tunnel vision. Another flash overtook her mind. It was powerful and she felt more strain than ever before. It was a vision of a gigantic creature. There was no doubt about it: it was a Titan. It was fighting two figures, but they were running and jumping around it so fast she couldn’t make out who or what they were. The tunnel vision resumed again at great speed, increasing both her discomfort and sense of dread.

The rate at which she accelerated was very disorienting. Aphroditis felt as though her body was being stretched over space and time itself. The space between the flashes lasted minutes now instead of seconds. When the next flash vision finally occurred, a planet appeared out of nowhere. Aphroditis had never seen it before. With orange-red surface hues, and large cities shining on its dark side. The planet started spinning really fast, impossibly fast, and then, when it settled again, she saw a very large armada of ships in orbit. She had never seen these ships before either. They looked as if they came straight from hell, dark and spiky. She felt fear and dread just looking at them. Suddenly everything was engulfed in bright flames. Her body temperature rose, her skin burned and her organs and fluids boiled within her body. For a brief moment, she felt as though she was really burning, inside and out. When the vision ended abruptly it took the wind out of her, and she fell, crashing onto her bed. She could barely breathe, wheezing heavily; with each attempt only a fraction of the air reached her lungs and her brain. Soon an even greater sense of dread engulfed her, like nothing she had experienced before.

She tried to calm herself, focusing on restoring a deep breathing pattern. It wasn’t easy at first, but after a few minutes she managed to breathe steadily.

Only then did she try analyzing what she had seen. The image of Chase with tears in his eyes was new; on account of Sarah’s passing, for sure. But then she had seen Sarah in the vision too. What did that mean? Sarah’s ship had been blown to pieces. Chase had destroyed it to make sure the schematics for the Alliance’s new powerful technologies didn’t fall into Argos’ hands. Yet there was no mistaking her presence in the vision. Unless this was a flash from the past. That would explain why she felt differently than during previous visions, and why it all seemed out of place. Still, there had been no vision of the garbled and distorted enemy. Unless the planet in the vision was their home planet. If that was the case, she wondered what it meant to have seen their world and their ships clearly this time. That couldn’t be a good sign, she decided.

She went into the bathroom, bent over the hand basin and splashed cold water on her face. She could still feel a weird heat within her, as if some of the heat from the visions had carried over. She splashed more water on her face, until the water turned red. Suddenly her skin no longer felt smooth. It was burned and oozing. Her reflection in the mirror was pure hell. Deep cuts bled and oozed a thick, black, semi-liquid goo. Flames burned where she was cut. That was when she saw him, behind her in the reflection: Argos was smiling at her, a look of murder in his shining red eyes. She screamed at the top of her lungs but nothing happened. No sound carried away.

“I will get you. You’re mine now!” His words echoed in her brain.

The mirror exploded and large pieces of glass sliced through her face.

She screamed once more, this time waking on the bed where she lay. Her heart pounded so hard that the pain radiated throughout her chest. She quickly put her hands on her face to feel its smoothness. Feeling no cuts or bruises eased her panic.

A nightmare? Or another vision? she wondered.

Before she could think more about it, the ship rocked and she fell from her bed. The Destiny was under attack.

* * *

On the bridge Commodore Saroudis ordered the shields up the moment the first salvo of incoming fire hit the ship.

“Saroudis to the fleet: return fire.”

An entire armada of thirty behemoth ships had jumped right into orbit. Three of the ships had materialized where two ships and one defense satellite had been. One of these ships had been the last off the assembly line, her fresh crew gone, just like that.

“How the hell did they jump here without us noticing their approach?”

“Unknown, Commodore,” answered the helmsman.

“Lock all batteries and torpedoes, and bring main weapons to bear.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

And then it was chaos. While the fleet in orbit matched the enemies in numbers, these were behemoth-class ships. Even with stronger firepower, this was not going to be an easy fight, and Saroudis knew it.

The second ship hit by the incoming hyperspace Zarlack ship, the Medusa, exploded in a bright flash, damaging a nearby Droxian battle cruiser.

The Zarlack ships started spewing starfighters like locusts.

“All pilots scramble to your ships now!” he shouted.

None of his best wing commanders were here for what could very well be the most difficult engagement yet. Saroudis swore, cursing Chase’s absence. And Daniel’s too. The Earth Alliance had won many of the last battles, and they thought they were safe. Saroudis realized how wrong they were.

“Open a channel to Commander Steriopoulou,”

“Sledgehammer here. What can I do for you, Commodore?”

“In the absence of Daniel, you’re my new wing commander.”

“Roger that. I’ll be airborne in twenty seconds.”

“Give them hell, Fillio!”

“You can count on just that. Sledgehammer out.”

Two of the Zarlack warships vectored towards the Destiny and opened fire with everything they had.

“Target one of these ships. Bring main weapons online and open fire.”

“Firing now,” answered Lieutenant Sakis.

An intense beam of green plasma shot from the Destiny and struck the target’s shields. When the firing sequence ended, it had drained forty percent of its shield. Meanwhile, the continuous pounding from the Zarlack warships made the Destiny shake and groan. It wouldn’t take this treatment for long. Its shields were holding but being taxed faster than they should have been.

“Something’s wrong. They must have upgraded their weapons. Commander, compare their firepower with the logs from our previous engagement with the enemy.”

The commander keyed a few inputs into his holo-console. His expression changed. “Confirmed, Commodore. Both shields and weapons seem to be at least twenty percent more efficient.”

Twenty percent wasn’t much during smaller encounters, but with the size of the current enemy armada, it could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

“Order the two nearest satellites to fire full power towards the same target we’ve just hit. The moment they do, fire a full volley of torpedoes.”

“Acknowledged, Commodore.”

Two of the ten satellites currently in orbit fired their ultra-powerful beams of energy towards the target. When they were done firing, explosions occurred on some of the decks of the ship. Its shields were down. The volley of torpedoes finished the job and the ship disappeared in a bright, fiery explosion. An intense shockwave impacted the nearby target that was still firing heavily at the Destiny.

“Bring the moon’s defense systems online. They are to cover the satellites. They’re our only chance to win this fight. They are to target any ships approaching any of the satellites in their range.”

“Moon defenses online.”

“Get me a firing solution on that second bogie; same strategy: coordinate the main weapons to fire with another two satellites. Fire when ready.”

“Main weapons won’t be charged for another twenty seconds, Commodore.”

“What about the torpedoes?”

“All tubes reloaded.”

“Then fire the volley first, and then the main guns.”

Another volley of torpedoes exploded near the approaching target, its shield absorbing their destructive power. The Destiny’s main weapons fired, and so did two of the other satellites in range. The Zarlack warship’s shields went down and flames spewed from it. It stopped firing, its weapons most likely destroyed or damaged, but the ship kept coming at max burn towards the Destiny.

“They’re trying to ram us! Hard to port, NOW!”

The Destiny’s armor groaned when the ship veered to port. Saroudis looked at the holo-display in terror. They wouldn’t have time to get out of the way. And Aphroditis was on board. He couldn’t let her perish here; not a chance. He keyed coordinates into his own holo-display and activated the jump engine. The Destiny jumped a mere second before impact.

Saroudis was relieved when his ship reappeared a few parsecs outside the war theater. He turned his ship about and vectored back into the fight at maximum sub-light speeds.

The doors of the bridge opened and Aphroditis ran in, a grave expression on her face.

“What’s happening?”

“We’re being attacked by a large fleet of Zarlack ships. It’s not safe for you to stay on board. How strong are your ship’s shields?”

“They’re very strong, but . . .” She looked at the main holo-screen and saw the chaos of fire being exchanged between the two fleets. Another Droxian ship exploded in the distance. “I don’t know if they are sufficiently strong.”

“I’ll have two squadrons of fighters escort you to . . .” He thought about it. If the ships started using mass drivers to bombard Earth as they did last time they were here, she might not be safe on Earth either. “They’ll escort you to the jumpgate. From there you’ll reach Droxian space. Unless they’re attacked too you should be safe for the time being.”

“I can’t go to Droxia, Commodore. I need to stay here.”

“This is temporary. We need to get you to safety!”

“I understand and thank you for your help.” The ship started to shake once more upon entering firing range. “But I won’t leave Earth space.”

Saroudis swore in his head. “Alright, then they’ll escort you to the planet. Once you reach there, you’ll be escorted to a bunker that should withstand an orbital attack.”

“Thank you, Commodore. I’ll get to my ship at once.”

“Very well. Be safe.”

“You too, Commodore. Don’t let Earth fall.”

“I won’t.”

She exited the bridge and the commodore relayed orders to the two nearest wings to escort and protect her ship down to Earth, at Alliance Central multiplex in DC. After the terrorist bombing they had reconstructed and fortified the installation. It was now shielded, and they had constructed an underground bunker deep within the Earth’s surface. She should be safe there.

A few torpedoes and some multiple plasma fire impacted the Destiny’s shield, making it rock.

“This is going to be a very long, hard day,” said Saroudis out loud.

9

Fillio’s wing had dispatched the first wave of Zarlack starfighters. They were outnumbered five to one but the superiority of the StarFuries paid off. Especially in the hands of skilled fighters like her. She split her wing in two to repel the next pair of squadrons vectoring towards their position.

She painted her next target and let her drones pummel its shield and add to her own laser firepower. When it reached a satisfactory twenty percent, she fired a missile. Its target exploded in a fiery display. She flew through the flames, letting out a war cry for her own benefit as her shield lit up and deflected debris from the destroyed ship.

She acquired her next target and pummeled its port shields with her laser. When they became dangerously low it rotated on its axis and went evasive. She locked the port side with a missile and fired. She immediately veered towards her next prey, knowing the missile would finish the job.

The moment she engaged her next target, the previous bogie disappeared from her neuronal HUD’s translucent radar. She couldn’t help but smile. Her drones started draining the shields of the enemy craft quickly. It tried to go evasive but she wouldn’t let it breathe. Soon its shields were down. She tuned her firing to super charged and sent one volley down the craft’s engines. They exploded and the ship started madly rolling on all axes before ripping in two. For a brief moment she saw the reptilian Zarlack tumble through space before some of the debris cut him in half, guts and blood barely having time to spray before being flash frozen in place.

Now that’s a satisfying kill, she thought. The more these bastards suffer the better. Her train of thought was interrupted when a flurry of laser fire hit her starboard shields. She broke hard to port. Her HUD flashed red: two missiles were on their way. She put her ship in a spin and released countermeasures at the last moment, firing afterburners at the same time. When both missiles detonated she was long gone. Another five craft engaged her. Clearly her prior flying and quick kills had brought her some aggro from the ships in the area.

“The more the better. Bring it on!”

She went evasive and spun around like a mad bird, dodging most of the incoming fire. When all her pursuers were in a tight group, she spun her ship one hundred and eighty degrees and punched her engine to face them. Her aft shields took some hits but nothing her StarFury couldn’t handle. She programmed one of her drones to turn into a mine. When she was almost upon the wave of ships joyfully raining hellfire on her, she deployed the drone and punched the afterburners. She flew right through the five-ship formation.

“So long, suckers!”

She detonated the mine. The brunt of the explosion took three ships on the spot, the shockwave disabling the fourth ship, which collided with the fifth, ripping off one of its wings. It started spinning while leaving a smoke trail. She adjusted her vector, lined up behind it and put it out of its misery with a single, precise shot.

She ignored the disabled ship and vectored towards the next incoming squadron. Two of her wing mates, having just dealt with their own targets, rejoined her wing. They had lost more than half their shields but were otherwise undamaged. So far none of Alpha-wing’s craft had been destroyed.

Alpha Two got painted and three missiles came towards it. She put her ship right behind it and shot one of the incoming missiles, and when she lined up to destroy a second her neuronal HUD rapidly flashed red and the onboard AINI went vocal.

“Collision alert!”

Before she could do anything a Zarlack ship collided with her shields. It exploded on impact and for a brief moment all she saw through her canopy were flames. She checked her shields. They were down to twenty percent.

“Pheeeew, thank the gods these are tough ships.”

When she regained visual contact with the ship she had been covering she saw the other two missiles impact with it, taking its shields out. Sparks flew but the ship still seemed operational. But then it all went wrong.

Another approaching Zarlack fighter locked onto it with a red beam of light. A tractor beam. The Zarlack pushed its afterburners and went kamikaze. Both ships exploded.

“What the hell?” she shouted out loud.

That’s when three incoming ships started raining heavy fire on her, each locking two missiles on her. With some pretty fancy flying she managed to dodge most of the incoming fire and dispatched four of the missiles, but two got through and struck her aft shields, disabling them on the spot. Some sparks flew in her cockpit.

One of the Zarlacks locked its tractor beam onto her ship and started pulling her. She put her engines in reverse but the enemy craft pushed its afterburners, countering her maneuver. AINI spat out another collision alert and many of her virtual instruments went red.

“Fuck me!” was all that came to mind.

In two seconds the enemy craft would impact and take her out. It felt as if her heart stopped, but her mind raced beyond light speed. She mentally triggered a micro-jump. What happened next seemed to occur in slow motion and time slowed to a crawl. She saw the hyperspace window open in front of her, the ship entered it, and just before she jumped she saw flames all around. The next second her craft exited hyperspace, not too far from the moon.

“Holy crap, that was close.”

She flew behind one of the satellites, letting her shields recharge. But then she had a perfect view of two members of her squadron, and in less than a minute they were obliterated by the same tactic.

That’s new, she thought.

That changed the odds radically. If enemy pilots were happily sacrificing themselves to take down StarFuries, that would complicate things. A lot.

She opened a channel to the Destiny.

“Commodore, the Zarlacks are sacrificing their starfighters to take out our StarFuries!”

“I see it. This is bad.”

“Yeah, what do we do?”

“Don’t let their tractor beams lock onto your craft, that’s what you do.”

“Easier said than done, with all due respect, Commodore.”

“Can’t really debate this with you right now, Sledgehammer. We’ve got heavy incoming. Saroudis out.”

So much for the pep talk, she thought.

Her ship’s shields were back to a satisfactory seventy-seven percent when she decided to re-engage; but this time she would pick her targets, making sure she didn’t get pinned down as before and expose herself to this new batshit crazy tactic that was currently decimating the Earth Alliance StarFuries one by one.

* * *

Aphroditis’ ship was approaching one of the defense satellites when red beams locked on to two of her escorts, and Zarlack ships started throwing themselves at them. They exploded upon impact. The remainder of her protection detail fought bravely, but soon they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of ships adopting kamikaze tactics.

She had passed the satellite when three Zarlack ships came out of nowhere and crashed upon her ship’s shields. The light within her cockpit started flickering and her craft went into a wild spin. She tried in vain to get out of it but her controls weren’t responding.

She opened a channel.

“Commodore! Please help. I’ve lost control of my ship. I’m currently accelerating towards Earth with no control of my engines. I don’t know what to do!”

“Hang on, Aphroditis. I’m sending help.”

Her heart pounded and she remembered her nightmare vision. Could that be it? Was her time up as well? A sense of dread filled her.

She closed her eyes and focused all her energy on Chase.

“Chase! Please help me!”

* * *

“Sledgehammer, this is Saroudis. Aphroditis’ ship is being attacked and her ship is out of control. Please assist her now. This is a top priority.”

“Understood, Commodore. Sledgehammer out.”

She vectored her ship to intercept the Olympian, but she was too far out. She needed to jump to get there fast enough. She tried micro-jumping but her HUD blinked orange.

Jump engines inoperable.

No doubt a side effect of her last jump so near the Zarlack ship that tried ramming her. She cursed. She used her instruments to locate the nearest ship. There was only one in range. She hailed it. “Epsilon Four, please respond?”

“Listening, Wing Commander.”

“I have a mission for you. This is top priority. There’s an Olympian ship plummeting towards the planet. You need to tractor it and help it any way you can. We cannot lose the person on board this ship, do you understand?”

“Copy. I’m on it. MetalMonster out.”

* * *

On board the Valken, Chase was resting in one of the bunk beds in the back of the ship. He had just finished eating a sandwich and had to admit he missed Earth’s culinary delights. He could really go for a pizza or some Chinese deep-fried meal right now. His hands were locked behind his head as he thought about what it would be like to be back on the beautiful blue planet.

There was no denying he dreaded it more than anything else. Just knowing he was travelling towards Earth gave him a headache. But that was most likely because he felt remorse and shame, leaving everything behind as he had. He could still remember the heated discussion he had with his once commanding officer and friend Adonis Saroudis.

He had tried to convince him that time would heal his wounds and that revenge wasn’t the way to go. But how could he know? Nobody could. All Chase knew was how much he hated his brother, how every minute of every day he envisioned killing him with his bare hands, as he should have done on board Damocles-3. God, why didn’t he do it? Why didn’t he just end Argos then and there?

That brought another set of shameful memories. The way he and Daniel had argued before his departure and resignation from the Earth Alliance. He hoped Daniel would forgive him. He didn’t intend to hurt his feelings. But he did say things he shouldn’t have. When he blurted out that it was his fault for not letting him execute Argos, Chase knew that these had been harsh words uttered in a moment of anger and utter sadness. He hoped Daniel knew that as well. The last thing he wanted was his brother-in-arms to blame himself.

Blame. There was only one person to blame for everything that had gone wrong for as long as he could remember now. The fall of the Alliance, the fight for Earth’s survival, Sarah’s torture and her ultimate demise. And now Ares’ death.

Tears of hate welled at the corners of Chase’s eyes.

Argos was the one responsible for all that pain, chaos, misery and death. But a day would come when Chase would at least rectify the mistake that his brother’s birth had been. On that day he would make him wish he was never born. Killing him was only part of it. He needed to suffer. Chase would often daydream about how much pain he would inflict on Argos before putting him out of his misery. He felt as if the day of reckoning was approaching.

Then he heard her shout in his mind. Aphroditis.

Chase, help me!

No visions though, just a mental call, as Argos had done so many times. That couldn’t be a good sign. Ares had made him promise to protect her. Chase already felt responsible for Ares’ death as well as great sadness for the loss of his mentor.

He closed his eyes and tried projecting his mind towards the source of the voice. He couldn’t even visualize it, though. He thought of Earth, but that didn’t seem to help.

Then he felt a warm energy engulf him from head to toe. The energy was familiar somehow, but Chase couldn’t place it. He tried again and suddenly felt his consciousness travel at faster than hyperspace speed, and when he opened his eyes he was next to her. He tried to put his hand on her shoulder but it passed right through it. Right, I’m not actually there, thought Chase. He tried talking but she didn’t seem to hear.

Chase watched Aphroditis frantically trying to bring the engines of her ship back online. The ship was spinning madly, and she was about to enter Earth’s atmosphere. He needed to find a way to help her. He saw a StarFury during one of the rotations of her ship. He also saw multiple capital ships engaged in combat. From what he could make of that millisecond view, Zarlacks were attacking the Earth Alliance and Droxian ships defending it.

At this moment, Chase regretted leaving Earth. Argos had to be on one of those ships, so if he had stayed put . . . Another cry for help from Aphroditis snapped Chase out of his current thought pattern. He closed his eyes again and concentrated, trying to project his mind to the nearest StarFury.

When he opened his eyes again he was aboard a StarFury in a launching bay he knew well: one of the satellites. He immediately fired up the craft and took off. As he flew outside the landing bay’s force field he saw another StarFury being pounded by a Zarlack starfighter. Its shields were down and the enemy had locked onto it with a tractor beam. It was on an intercept course at full burn.

That’s new, thought Chase. The StarFury pilot ejected mere seconds before impact. That was when Chase micro-jumped and arrived in front of the Zarlack ship, which promptly impacted with his shields, bringing them down to fifty percent but obliterating the incoming vessel on the spot.

When the flames settled and the blue flashing from his shields faded, Chase mentally snatched the now pilotless craft and hit the afterburners. He could see Aphroditis’ ship from here. It had just ignited from entering the atmosphere. He had to hurry. There was still a Zarlack ship closing on her six and it would soon enter firing range.

Chase vectored his ships towards the pursuing starfighter, which also entered Earth’s atmosphere in pursuit of Aphroditis’ ship. It started firing at Aphroditis’ ship, but Chase was still too far away. He wondered if a micro-jump would work from his position to inside the planet’s atmosphere. That seemed a risky proposition at best, but he wasn’t really on board the ship, after all. When debris and smoke appeared from the back of the Olympian ship, that’s when Chase did it.

He positioned the other StarFury mere feet from his own ship so the hyperspace window would engulf it. He micro-jumped again, arriving right on top of the Zarlack fighter. He pummeled it with laser fire, locked four missiles and fired them all. No time to waste here. In less than a minute Aphroditis’ craft would crash into the ground.

He started to go after her ship, trusting his missiles would finish the job, and soon enough they did. He heard an explosion behind and the ship disappeared from the radar. Earth’s gravity had taken a hold on Aphroditis’ ship and it was accelerating towards the ground.

Chase vectored towards her ship. Time was running out. Her current spin was problematic so he fired three, well-timed shots to try to stabilize her trajectory. It worked to some extent. He dared not fire more salvos; already his hits, even if low powered, had left nasty burn marks on the reflective chrome armor. He put his ship in a similar spin and approached it. The ground was approaching fast. He mentally maneuvered the other ship to approach Aphroditis’ craft from the underbelly, and soon both ships where only a few feet away. Chase reversed his ship and approached the Olympian ship’s canopy. He saw Aphroditis flailing her hands all over her controls but nothing happened.

He waved at her. She looked up but didn’t understand what she was seeing. Right, the cockpit was empty from her perspective.

Chase engaged tractor beams on both StarFuries and they locked onto Aphroditis’ ship. The StarFuries groaned. Tractor beams were not designed to be used at these velocities. Chase had trouble stabilizing the now-linked trio of ships. A quick look at his instruments showed he had only a handful of seconds before impact. He engaged both StarFuries’ reverse engines to the maximum. When that didn’t work he diverted every ounce of power to them, including life support. The StarFuries were empty anyway. That did the trick and he managed to slow down the Olympian ship a few hundred feet from the ground. He then proceeded to help the ship gently touch down, in the middle of nowhere.

Once Aphroditis’ ship was safely down, he landed the StarFuries nearby and extended both their shields so they would protect her ship from any debris or incoming fire.

Chase opened his eyes again and he was back, looking at the ceiling of his Valken quarters. He heard Ares in his mind. Thank you, Chase.

A promise is a promise. I’m surprised I managed to do anything from this distance, though.

About that. You had help.

So that was you?

It’s the least I could do.

* * *

Fillio’s StarFury entered Earth’s atmosphere in a hurry. Her heart was beating fast. She had tried hailing Epsilon Four and had not received any answer. If something had happened to Aphroditis she would get her ass handed to her.

But that wasn’t what she was worried about. Letting an Olympian die in any circumstances had to be bad. Sure, she was amongst those who didn’t believe in them and their myths; still, from what she had gathered from Daniel, they had played a major role saving this world from Argos and his Zarlack army.

She scanned the area but no ship was flying. She extended her scans and saw three signatures on the ground, one of them faint. She hoped the ship hadn’t crashed. When she approached she saw two StarFuries, one without a cockpit, but nonetheless parked neatly next to Aphroditis’ ship.

What the hell?

She landed her ship next to the trio of craft, jumped out of her cockpit and ran towards the Olympian ship. Aphroditis was already getting out.

“Are you alright . . . uh.” She hesitated, and finally went with, “Ma’am?”

“I’m fine. Thanks for the assist. I didn’t catch your name.”

“Fillio, you can call me Fillio. What assist?”

“Well, stabilizing my ship with tractor beams and helping me land safely.”

“I had nothing to do with that. I just arrived myself.”

“Then who did?”

“Let’s find out.” Fillio walked towards the one StarFury with a cockpit. She climbed its side but saw no one on board.

“Now that’s really weird.”

“What is it?” shouted Aphroditis from the ground

“It’s empty, and that one”—she pointed at the other StarFury—“is empty as well. Heck, it’s missing its cockpit.”

“Thank you, Chase,” said Aphroditis.

“What did you just say?”

“Chase helped, then. It’s the only way.”

Fillio wore a look that was a cross between disbelief and consternation.

“I . . . I don’t see how. He’s not even on this planet.”

“It doesn’t matter, Fillio. I don’t suppose we’re anywhere near that bunker Commodore Saroudis told me to get to?”

“No, not really, but I’ll get you there fast. Let’s take my ship.”

Aphroditis nodded and followed Fillio.

10

On board the Destiny things were really heating up. The ship had suffered major damage. Most of the fleet had, in fact. Saroudis had just cut communications with Fillio, who reported she had Aphroditis safe and sound, even though she had nothing to do with her rescue. From what Aphroditis had told her, she thought Chase had saved her.

While Saroudis didn’t understand how this was even possible, he took it as a good omen and hoped he would arrive shortly. This was one of those fights where his talent as a pilot and outside-the-box thinker could tip the balance. He brushed the thought away. For now they needed to win this fight on their own. About a third of the invading fleet had been destroyed, but both Earth Alliance and the Droxians had lost so many ships.

Saroudis wondered if the admiral had received their distress call. Even using the jumpgate they wouldn’t be here for at least another three hours. Saroudis expected this fight to be well over by then, one way or the other.

But right now the Destiny had retreated a little outside the center of the action. The ship needed to recharge its shields. The loss of capital ships hadn’t been the most worrisome thing, though. It was the speed at which the StarFuries were being destroyed, and that new suicidal tactic of the Zarlacks.

He wondered how Argos had managed to convince his slave race to just accept suicide as a fighting strategy. Sure, every pilot knows the risk when they step into their craft. There’s as much chance they won’t return as there is of getting back to base alive. That was part of a pilot’s job. But to know they would have to crash their ship and lose their lives so they could take the Earth Alliance’s new starfighters down more efficiently . . . That baffled Saroudis.

From his chair he looked at his personal holo-display and saw the Hope engaging a ship with its main weapons. Thank the gods they had more Prometheus-class ships. The satellites had also helped a lot in the beginning of the fight, but the Zarlacks had decided to keep their distance and take the fight out of their firing range.

Saroudis made a mental note to equip them with engines so they could be repositioned in the middle of the fight. They already had engines, of course, but not nearly powerful enough to do anything more than basic, orbital repositioning. Perhaps even equip them with short-range jump engines, as they did the StarFuries. With that capability they could even be used as gigantic explosive devices, since they carried a lot of quadrinium on board, much more than fleet ships. He definitely needed to discuss all this with his chief engineers Yanis and Spiros, if they survived this fight.

Because now that the Zarlacks had nullified or at least balanced some of the technological advantage by sacrificing their own starfighters to take out StarFury wings, the fight had become increasingly difficult.

In answer, Saroudis had assigned three ships in his fleet to target smaller vessels, instead of focusing their energy and weapons fighting other capital ships. The Far Beyond, Euphoreon and the Axxis. Being of older design, they were more suited to thinning the Zarlack starfighter wings, rather than engaging far superior, behemoth-class Zarlack ships.

The Destiny’s shield was now back at seventy-three percent. Good enough to get back into the fight, Saroudis decided.

“Bring us about. Target the nearest Zarlack warship; maximum sub-light engines. Fire at will as soon as we’re back in range.”

“Understood, Commodore,” said Lieutenant Sakis.

Before the Destiny could enter firing range, bright spots of light lit up all around the ship. Hyperspace exit corridors.

“Now what? Report!”

“Multiple jump points forming, Commodore. About fifteen Obsidian capital ships.”

“What is the Obsidian doing here?” said the commodore, not really expecting an answer.

Before he could get one, an incoming transmission from the Obsidian flagship came in. It was the emperor.

“Hello, Commodore Saroudis, may we provide assistance?”

“You’re not part of the Earth Alliance just yet, but I’ll gladly accept your generous offer. Will you follow my orders?”

“That goes without question, Commodore. We’ll engage the Zarlacks at once. See you on the battlefield.”

“Thanks for the assist. It won’t be forgotten. Please concentrate half your force on destroying their smaller craft, and let your starfighter pilots know that they are sacrificing their craft in exchange for kills.”

“Very well. As you command.”

The communication ended and all fifteen capital ships added their firepower to those of the current fleet. Seven ships concentrated their effort on attacking enemy starfighter wings.

While Saroudis wasn’t a big fan of the Obsidian, even after their help destroying the Gatos Nebula shipyard and protecting the Damocles-3 space station, he had to admit that their arrival in the fold was welcome.

The Destiny entered firing range and started firing everything it had towards the nearest behemoth-class warship. After five minutes of heavy fire exchange, its shields were down to twenty percent, and it jumped just when the Destiny’s main guns were about to deliver the final blow.

But it wasn’t just the Destiny’s target. Every warship with low shields jumped, one after the other.

It looked as if the arrival of Obsidian finally made them rethink their strategy: they were outnumbered again. After twenty minutes of fighting, two more behemoth ships were destroyed and another seven ships jumped away.

Soon, only starfighters remained. It was time to clear out the trash, thought Saroudis; but before he could give his next order, ten hyperspace windows opened nearer to Earth. The ships were at full burn and heading . . . towards the planet!

“Every ship, maximum speed. Destroy these ships at all cost! Earth defense systems, fire at will!”

The satellite network started firing, but their impact on the fleet’s shields was not enough to prevent their entering the atmosphere. Saroudis understood what the enemy was about to do. Like their smaller fighters before, the Zarlacks were perfectly willing to bury their behemoth warships upon Earth’s surface.

“This is a nightmare.”

“Commodore! What are your orders?”

But the commodore didn’t know what to do. His mind raced and he wondered if jumping inside the ships could help lessen the damage, but that seemed unlikely. If the quadrinium engines exploded that close to Earth, the damage could be similar or worse. Not to mention that anyone in the jumped ship would die in the process as well.

He brought up a tactical holo-display and saw that seven satellites were in firing range. Instead of firing at full power, he could overload some of them as Chase had done in the past. There weren’t enough satellites left to destroy all targets, but at least he could take a few of these ships out. He also saw that one satellite was in the path of the ships.

Not having time to relay orders by voice he took firing control from his holo-console. He organized six satellites into pairs and painted three targets. He increased the firing power output of those with the lower shields to three hundred percent, knowing full well that would fry them with one shot; but it was the only way in the time he had. He then opened a channel.

“Orbital Satellite Six, set your quadrinium chamber to overload and evacuate now!”

“Commander Takis here. Can you please confirm your last order, Commodore?”

“Overload the quadrinium chambers at once and evacuate every satellite this instant!”

“Very well, Commodore. Setting overload. Evacuation order sent.”

He hoped it would pay off. He then fired the other satellites. All three targeted ships were obliterated by the twin, overloaded plasma shots. Three of the satellites exploded; the rest were disabled. It was unlikely that most of the crew in those destroyed had enough time to escape, but he had no other choice. The remaining seven Zarlack ships continued towards their target. Earth. Just when they were upon the last satellite that hadn’t fired, its quadrinium chambers exploded as planned. There was a massive explosion. Bright green and orange flames spewed forth and engulfed most of the enemy fleet.

When the fireworks settled, there were still three ships advancing towards the beautiful blue marble. Most of the debris was vaporized in the massive explosion, but half a behemoth warship was spinning uncontrollably and would enter the atmosphere as well.

Impact with Earth was now inevitable . . .

* * *

On Earth, Fillio had just accompanied Aphroditis into the protected bunker a few miles underground.

Aphroditis fell to the ground.

“You alright, ma’am?”

“Something is happening. I . . . I can feel a tremendous amount of fear on this planet. People are praying, calling upon the Olympians for help.”

Fillio raised an eyebrow, wondering if Aphroditis was losing it; but just in case she wasn’t she went towards the nearest console and brought up a status on the battle in space. There were no Zarlack ships in orbit, but then she saw it. Three strong Zarlack signatures inside the atmosphere, on a collision course with the ground. From their trajectory, they would hit near New York, Dallas and Toronto.

“This isn’t happening!” said Fillio.

“What is it?”

“Three Zarlack capital ships are about to hit three major cities. At these velocities . . .”

“What?”

“These cities will be leveled!”

Tears formed in Aphroditis’ eyes.

There was a morbid silence for the next few moments, and then it happened. The ground started shaking.

Aphroditis put her hands over her ears, fell to her knees and screamed.

“Are you alright, ma’am?”

No answer. She seemed in utter pain, as though whatever loss of life occurred at this moment was channeled into her.

Fillio crouched beside her and took her into her arms. She was crying uncontrollably.

* * *

The Iron Fire exited hyperspace near Earth’s orbit. Argos was in the captain’s chair and looked satisfied with what he saw.

At that moment the lift to the bridge opened and Daniel, Ryonna and Tar’Lock stepped in. Daniel was the first to speak. “What is this? What did you do?”

Argos smiled but didn’t look their way.

“I told you my fleet was on its way. Looks like they did a pretty good job, too.”

Daniel could see a lot of debris around the planet, though many of the Earth Alliance ships were still there. Many were damaged; some had been destroyed. Then other ships caught his eye. Obsidian. The fact that no Earth Alliance ship was firing on them probably meant they had joined the fight on the side of the Alliance.

There were three burning spots on the surface of the planet, all on the American continent. The damage seemed as significant as the first time Argos’ fleet had attacked Earth, when he used mass drivers to level many cities.

“You’re gonna pay for this,” said Daniel.

“We’ll see. For the time being, let me admire that glorious view.”

Ryonna’s look was a mixture of hate and revenge, but Tar’Lock was holding her and gave her an unmistakable look of warning.

Argos got up.

“What now?” asked Daniel.

“Now we wait for Chase.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes, just like that.”

There was an incoming transmission from the Destiny.

Argos raised a hand and Daniel flew next to him from where he stood.

“You could have just asked me to come over.”

Argos shot him a look.

“What do you want?”

“Answer the call. If you even hint at my presence on this ship, I will kill these two. Are we clear?”

Daniel nodded.

Part of him wanted to tell Commodore Saroudis to shoot them down, but it seemed that Argos’ fleet had already done its damage; plus, he wasn’t ready to miss the day their nemesis would die, and if Chase was on his way, then today was that day.

Argos moved out of the way.

“Hello, Commodore, what happened?”

“The Zarlacks attacked Earth. We had everything under control, more or less, until they sacrificed their armada and plunged their ships towards the surface. We . . . we managed to destroy seven of them but three got through. Other large debris fell towards the planet but fortunately it missed heavily inhabited regions and impacted near the North Pole.”

“Do we know how many . . .” Daniel couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

“Not yet, but the targeted cities were most likely leveled upon impact. We don’t think there will be many survivors there.”

“This is . . .” He glared at Argos, a look of murder in his eyes.

Argos gestured towards Ryonna and Tar’Lock, clearly prepared to execute his previous threat.

“A nightmare,” completed Saroudis.

“Yes . . .”

“What about you? Did you manage to locate Chase?”

“No, but we believe he might be on his way back to Earth.”

“That’s what I thought too. We could have used him today. I could have used you as well.”

“I’m sorry, Commodore. I shouldn’t have left to look for Chase.”

“I gave you my blessing for this mission, Daniel. You shouldn’t blame yourself. None of this could have been prevented by your presence anyway.”

* * *

On board the Valken Chase stepped into the cockpit. Keera was sleeping, so he sat without making too much noise. They were not far from their destination now.

He felt a mixture of emotions, the very fact of being back, generating good but also painful memories. Still, he longed to see his friend Daniel, and hoped he would find the courage to apologize for how he left things between them. He was now the only family left. In his heart, at least. His only real blood family member, Argos, would die soon after their next meeting; that was the only certainty within Chase’s heart and soul at the moment.

That last thought brought hate back to the center of Chase’s mind. Never before had he felt so much anger, hate and the will to kill someone. But the fact that his mind could project so much violence, imagining that moment, so much brutality, worried him for a brief instant. Perhaps all Furies had this hate hardcoded in them, he thought. Before meeting Argos, though, he never felt like that. At least not in the last ten years. He couldn’t remember anything before then anyway.

There had been some strange dreams and nightmares, in which Argos was present as well, but he didn’t appear as an enemy in these. Chase had most of these dreams before he’d even learned he had a twin brother. So he always assumed he was seeing himself in them.

Keera opened her eyes and produced a very long and noisy yawn.

“Hello, sleepyhead.”

“Hey, Chase, how long was I asleep?”

“Quite a while. We should arrive on Earth shortly.”

“Alright,” she said, still yawning. “Did you sleep as well?”

“Not so much.”

The Valken jumped out of hyperspace not far from Mars. Chase checked the sensors to assess the situation, to see if they could approach or if the battle was still raging. While the starfighter pilot in him tingled at the opportunity to engage in some dogfighting, that was not why he was here. Unless, of course, Argos was on board one of the enemy ships.

The scans revealed the battle was over. Only Earth Alliance and Obsidian ships were now in orbit. Chase activated the Valken’s engines at max burn. Soon they received a hail.

“This is Commodore Saroudis of the Earth Alliance to unknown ship. Please identify and state your intentions.”

Chase turned on video.

“Hello, Commodore.”

“Chase! It . . . it’s good to see you, boy. Wish you’d arrived earlier.”

“I know.”

“So it was true. You intervened to help Aphroditis?”

Chase nodded.

“Your powers are really impressive. How far away were you? Never mind that. Daniel just arrived on board the Iron Fire less than an hour ago. He went looking for you.”

Daniel. Of course he did.

“Can you give me a status on Aphroditis, Commodore? She’s the only reason for my visit today.” Chase cursed himself the moment he uttered the words. He didn’t need to be so cold. “But now that I’m here I’d love to have a drink with my friends as well, if that’s possible?”

“Aphroditis is fine, thanks to your intervention. She was escorted by Fillio to an underground bunker in DC. As for drinks, I look forward to it, Chase. But Earth has been hit hard. New York, Toronto and Dallas are all gone, leveled by Zarlack ships crashing into them. It’s really bad. I will be busy for the next few hours. Hopefully I can see you when the dust settles.”

“Let me know if you need me for anything. I’ll swing by the Iron Fire for the time being.”

“That’s a good idea. I’m sure Daniel is looking forward to it. Good to see you, Chase.”

“You too, Adonis. Chase out.”

He turned off the comms.

“Friend of yours?” inquired Keera.

“Yeah, my former commanding officer.”

“And that Daniel he spoke about?”

“My dearest friend. More like a brother, really.”

She nodded. “So we’re going onto that Iron Fire ship?”

“Yes. If you don’t mind, I’d really like to see Daniel.”

“Sure. Should I come too?”

“Only if you want to.”

“Well, I’ve had it with the Valken. We’ve been cooped up in here for long enough. It would do me good to see something different.”

“Alright, let’s hail them, tell them we’re going to land in their cargo bay.”

Chase opened a channel.

“Daniel, please respond.”

“Chase?”

“Hello, buddy, yeah it’s me. It’s been a while.”

“You can say that again. When did you arrive?”

“Just now. I’m swinging by the Iron Fire aboard the Valken, requesting permission to land.”

“Permission granted. I . . . I look forward to see you, my friend.”

A shiver ran down Chase’s back. “Me too. See you shortly.”

He turned off the comms and frowned.

“What is it?” inquired Keera.

“Something. . . I think something’s wrong.”

“How can you tell?”

“I don’t know. When he hesitated, I think I felt fear in his voice.”

“You’re probably reading too much into it. I didn’t hear fear.”

“Perhaps. . .” said Chase, not convinced one bit.

* * *

Keera and Chase exited the Valken and went towards the nearest lift.

“You seem nervous,” she said.

“I am . . . There’s something . . . I don’t know what, but I feel something’s wrong.”

“Alright, I don’t know how this works, but when you’re worried I decided that I should worry as well.” She smiled.

“Be prepared for anything, just in case.”

“Alright.”

The door of the lift opened to the bridge. Daniel was standing there. He didn’t smile.

Chase walked towards him, followed by Keera, when he heard him! “Hello, brother, miss me?”

Keera turned around and, when she saw Argos, immediately drew her blaster and started firing.

Argos lifted his hand and blocked the shots. A little smoke rose from his hand. He snatched the blaster with his mind and made it explode in midair.

Chase signaled for Keera not to interfere.

She nodded in agreement, still shaken by what had happened.

“Who’s that? Already replacing Sarah?”

Chase entered rage mode, and the ship started to shake.

“Easy there. We need to talk,” said Argos.

“We have nothing to talk about. You’re a dead man walking.”

“Let’s not escalate this in front of your friends. We wouldn’t want them all spaced because of us, would we?” said Argos with a defiant smile.

As much as Chase wanted to attack Argos right here and now, he looked around the room and saw not only Daniel, but also Ryonna and Tar’Lock. One of Ryonna’s arms was seriously injured. Chase walked towards them. “Hello, you two.”

“Hi, Chase,” said Tar’Lock casually.

Ryonna just smiled painfully.

“Are you alright, Ryonna?”

“I tried to kill him for you,” answered Ryonna.

Chase smiled back. “I appreciate the gesture, my friend, but I’m glad you didn’t succeed. And even gladder he didn’t kill you. Mind if I heal this?” Chase pointed at her poorly bandaged arm.

She nodded.

Chase put his hand on her and quickly healed her wounds.

“Will you let me help?”

“No, this fight is mine and mine alone. You should go.” Chase turned around and raised his voice so everyone could hear. “You should all go, now. Get on board the Valken at once. Keera will take you down to Earth.”

“Chase,” said Daniel, “let us help.”

Chase simply shook his head. He sent a message telepathically to Daniel. I’m sorry for leaving and for what I said to you when I did. It was unfair of me. Today is the day I make it right. But I need you to get everyone of my friends out of here. Now, please!

Daniel hesitated, but then he saw the look of determination in his friend’s eyes. He nodded and addressed the room. “You heard him. Let’s go, now!”

Keera approached Chase and whispered to him. “You’ll try and leave a body as proof for the bounty, won’t you?”

“I’ll try.”

“Be careful.”

He looked into her eyes and smiled.

“Miss?” said Daniel to Keera.

“Keera. I’m coming.”

She rejoined the others in the lift. Its door slid closed.

Chase didn’t look towards Argos. Instead he kept his back to him. He felt that anger rise, the rage, the thirst to kill. Like an insatiable bloodlust. But he remembered what Ares had taught him as well. He was not going to blindly throw himself into a fit of rage. He would take this fight very seriously. But for now he needed to wait until his friends departed the ship.

Argos made a noise in his throat.

Chase raised his hand, palm outwards. When he saw the Valken in space, that was his cue. He closed his eyes, and a purple aura shone brightly around him. He saw Sarah’s face in his mind. I will avenge you.

Then he disappeared and re-appeared behind Argos, throwing a powerful knee strike, only to hit nothing but air. Argos had moved away as fast as he had arrived behind him, appearing again a few feet away.

“We need to talk!” he shouted.

“I have nothing to say to you!” Chase prepared a fireball in his right hand.

“Oh, but you’ll want to hear⁠—”

Argos couldn’t finish his sentence because Chase had already launched the fireball at him. He blocked it with one hand, but something happened. It wasn’t that easy to block. The fireball crackled and exploded in Argos’ hand, burning it in the process.

“Not bad. I see you haven’t missed a beat during these past few months. But I’d rather you didn’t waste⁠—”

Again Chase, having no interest in letting Argos speak, launched himself at him, throwing one blow after another, jabs, uppercuts, power punches, all blocked by Argos. But he was forced to retreat so far he was eventually backed against a wall.

Chase threw both his hands forward and unleashed a powerful, energy-based attack. Argos protected himself with his elbows crossed in front of his face. The bulkhead near where he stood exploded in a bright, flashing display, causing much damage to that part of the bridge.

When the smoke settled, Argos was still there, some of his skin slightly burned; but he seemed otherwise undamaged by the brunt of the attack.

“Alright then, if I need to kick your ass first,” he said.

His eyes shone a bright red and he launched himself at Chase. He was fast, very fast. Like Chase before him, he attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks in quick succession. Chase dodged and blocked the attacks for a good minute, when suddenly Argos’ speed increased tenfold. Chase struggled to keep up and one punch broke through his defenses. With Chase losing balance, Argos pressed his advantage and started pounding Chase heavily, left jab, right punch, left knee to the face, and then sent Chase flying into the wall with a powerful fireball. Chase broke three ribs on impact and groaned in pain. Argos remained where he had last attacked Chase, who took a second to heal his ribs.

“This is boring,” said Argos. “There’s not much space on this bridge. Let’s change scenery, shall we?”

Before Chase could do or say anything Argos burst through the nearest glass windows of the bridge and the ship lost pressure. Air escaped into space and Chase felt his body sucked through the hole Argos had just made. He raised a force field around himself and followed Argos into space.

11

Chase pursued Argos through space. He was approaching Earth’s atmosphere at a speed faster than any sub-light engine could provide. Both of them left an energy trail in their wake, looking like comets in the dark void of space.

Soon they entered the atmosphere, their personal force fields lighting up for a few seconds as they did. As they descended towards Earth, somewhere over Asia, they dropped their shields and started attacking each other with punches and kicks in the air, each parrying and dodging the other’s attack. A few fireballs flew here and there, not finding their targets. The ground was approaching fast. Their fighting intensified but they were evenly matched and neither took the upper hand.

They were still approaching the ground at tremendous speed, aiming a flurry of punches and kicks at one another. They didn’t even see the skyscraper in their trajectory. They traversed it, shattering glass and concrete upon both entry and exit. The branding lights of the commercial skyscraper blinked wildly before turning off.

Then they landed on the ground in the middle of the city, each creating a fifty-foot crater in the street’s concrete upon impact.

Chase’s aura burned its usual deep purple and Argos’ a bright red. Color-matching lightning sparkled and danced all around them. They locked eyes.

An adolescent who witnessed their landing watched the scene with big eyes. He let escape a word of astonishment. “Sugoi!”

Chase looked at the boy and made a gesture with his head, signaling him to leave, but the boy didn’t move. He didn’t like the idea of fighting in a populated area. Fortunately it looked like a mostly commercial zone, in the middle of the night. Hopefully that would limit casualties to some extent.

The streets were filled with bright and blinking lights. From the appearance and the boy’s accent, Chase identified the city as Tokyo. He intensified his aura and lights around the city started popping out with sparks and lightning.

He jumped at Argos and landed a series of power punches. With each, another light would go out nearby from the shockwave created when Argos blocked the attack. In the middle of his next combo Chase grabbed two nearby cars with his mind and threw them at Argos, who only escaped by flying upwards. The cars crashed against one another and made a commotion, shattering glass. Other nearby cars’ alarms started to wail.

Chase pursued Argos in the air and landed a powerful, circling kick to his brother’s face. The impact shattered a nearby building’s windows and sent Argos flying into the opposite building, passing through it from one side to the other as if it was made of cardboard.

The sky turned black. Lightning flashed and rain started pouring heavily. Argos rose from behind the building through which he had just flown and returned at maximum speed, with both fists extended in front of him. Chase dodged and sent Argos flying upwards with a perfectly timed knee strike.

He then unleashed a flurry of fireballs towards Argos, who hadn’t yet recovered from the blow. He was thrown left and right with each impact, unable to recover or dodge the sheer quantity of attacks being thrown at him. Buildings and the street all around lit up in brilliant blue flashes, and more windows exploded in the block where the fight was unfolding.

When Chase stopped firing he saw Argos’ body fall to the ground. He seemed unconscious. He flew after him, ready to deliver the finishing blow. But a few feet before impacting the ground, Argos somersaulted in the air and landed with a boom, carving another huge crater in the concrete.

Before the dust could settle he was already sending cars towards Chase by the dozen. Chase dodged half of them and had to use fireballs to stop the others, blowing them to pieces. But then Argos was on top of him with both hands locked, and he hammered Chase with so much power he almost lost consciousness. He flew towards the ground and passed through three feet of concrete. The ground-floor windows of the nearest building all exploded. Water pipes in the street ruptured and water began fountaining high into the air.

Chase put his hand on his head and shook it, just in time to see more cars careering towards him. He jumped away right before five cars smashed the ground where he had been standing a second before. He flew at maximum speed in between buildings and Argos went in pursuit.

Then Chase abruptly stopped, taking Argos by surprise. He punched him with a fireball-lit, right uppercut, sending him flying upwards. He pursued and, when he reached him, knocked him back down with an incredibly powerful reverse kick. Argos crashed into the street at a forty-five degree angle that left a ten-foot-wide and hundred-yards long trail of broken concrete. More pipes broke along the trail and more water flew all around.

Not willing to let him breathe, Chase flew towards Argos and unearthed a tall lighting pole from the street on his way. He used it as a gigantic baseball bat and sent Argos flying through three buildings on his way up, ending his home run somewhere within the seventieth floor of a fourth skyscraper.

When Chase entered the building, Argos was getting back up, blood, burns and bruises all over.

Chase felt his anger quenching little by little with every bit of pain he inflicted on Argos. But the pain within his heart was still very present and the resulting hate overwhelmed him to the core. Would it end once he had killed Argos? he wondered. He checked his energy levels and noticed he had used about thirty percent of his pool of energy. This fight was only beginning.

Argos spat blood on the floor. “Having fun are we? Think we can take a minute to talk now?”

“As I told you before, I have nothing to say to you.”

“Yeah I got that, like twenty minutes ago, but I have things I want to tell you.”

“Not interested!”

The floor they were on was a company’s open space, filled with desks and computers. Chase started throwing desks with his mind, one after the other, at Argos. He then kicked him straight in the torso and sent his brother crashing towards the nearest drink dispenser, which was flattened in the middle where Argos hit it. Soda cans rolled from the bottom, many exploding on their way out, sending soda spraying all around.

When Chase arrived near the dispenser, Argos promptly jumped, grabbed it and used it to smash Chase and send him flying through three sets of walls in nearby offices. Lights exploded, sparks flew, and sprinklers turned on.

When Chase rose back to his feet, Argos was behind him and had grabbed him by the hips, locking his hands tight around him, and they both flew through several walls before exiting the building. In midair Argos threw Chase away and kicked him in the face, sending him even higher into the air.

Chase somersaulted in midair, regained his balance, joined his hands together and created a soccer-ball-sized fireball that he fired towards Argos. He promptly deflected it with a swift movement of his forearm and sent the fireball crashing into a nearby building. Multiple explosions occurred and the top of the building collapsed on itself, sending a ton of fiery debris and broken glass towards the street below.

“Are we gonna play this game for much longer?” inquired Argos.

“It’s not a game. These are your last moments.”

“I don’t think so. I mean, you’re not nearly powerful enough. You control your anger, instead of channeling it as you did when I nearly killed your friend on Damocles-3. You’re nowhere near that level of power at the moment. Therefore we could fight all night and sure, we would make a lot of noise, probably kill a lot of innocent bystanders in the process too, but you won’t kill me with this pathetic display.”

Chase wondered if Argos was perhaps right. He didn’t feel the same level of power as when he unleashed his full Fury power during their last fight.

“It might just take longer, but I’ll end you. This ends here, tonight!”

“Right, then I suggest you get properly pissed off. You’d think that killing the love of your life, Sarah, and your unborn child would do the trick, wouldn’t you?”

As the words echoed within his unconscious mind, Chase went ballistic. The mere uttering of her name by Argos generated a blast of furious and destructive hatred in every cell in Chase’s body. His aura glowed ten times stronger and his long hair was thrown into the air, creating a beautiful, black, dancing flame. His eyes glowed orange and soon the tint of his aura changed from purple to orange as well.

“There we go,” said Argos with a crooked smile.

Chase pressed his fists against his hips and released an inhuman shout that generated a powerful shockwave. The buildings around Chase were incinerated. His rage was unbounded, overriding whatever control he had managed until now.

He flew so fast it looked as if he teleported towards Argos, and he unleashed a combo of punches and kicks at near light speed. Argos blocked only the first few but was soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks. He miraculously managed to fly away amidst a few hundred hits. Chase pursued, but Argos collapsed two nearby buildings on him as he flew past them.

Chase pierced through their rubble with ease, to Argos’ surprise, and smashed him on the chin with a powerful, ascending knee strike that sent Argos flying for miles, destroying one building after another in his wake, until gravity took hold of him and he hit water near the harbor. The impact sent tons of water splashing upwards.

Chase pursed him underwater, throwing even more water into the air upon entry. He then continued hitting Argos with fire-lit punches under water. Many underwater shockwaves created giant, illuminated bubbles on the surface.

Underwater the fight was slightly slowed down. Fish of all sizes fled the area; many, caught in the wake of some of the attacks, were thrown into the air along with the water.

Argos created a gigantic fireball and sent it towards Chase, who promptly did the same. Their attacks met in the middle. Water was driven away in all directions and soon they were standing within an air bubble they had created. Gigantic bolts of lightning flashed among the colliding fireballs. Then, at the center, an explosion threw both Chase and Argos into the air, spinning uncontrollably.

Chase was the first to recover and he lost no time raining hellfire upon Argos in the form of dozens upon dozens of medium-sized fireballs, which all found their target. Not wanting to lose his advantage, Chase flew toward Argos’ face with his knee to the forehead and sent him crashing back onto the shore of Tokyo’s harbor.

Chase purposefully landed with force on the bow of a nearby petrol tanker, sending it spinning above him. He grabbed it by the edge and smashed it down where Argos had crash-landed. The moment the ship impacted with Argos, Chase ignited it with a powerful fireball. The ship and everything around it exploded, and the entire area was engulfed in flames.

Then he heard it in his mind.

Chase, help me! That was Sarah’s voice.

But it couldn’t be. He was simply going insane.

Tears flowed from his eyes and were thrown into the air by the intense, pulsating energy Chase’s aura was radiating.

He flew within the flames and found Argos motionless in the furnace. He saw Argos’ body on the ground, flames burning his limbs and blood gushing from a deep cut on Argos’ scalp.

This is it, thought Chase. Now I finish this once and for all.

He approached Argos. The flames burning all around were repelled by Chase’s aura. He grabbed Argos by the hair, set his fist on fire and started power punching Argos again and again. With each punch, he could hear facial bones cracking and breaking under the pressure. Cuts opened, and blood flew all over the place.

When he released Argos, he fell like a rock on the still-burning ground, with a satisfyingly crushing thud. Chase kicked Argos and sent him flying yards away. With a thought he sent a powerful shockwave that promptly extinguished the fire around them.

Argos tried getting back up but stumbled back onto his face, now a bloody, pulpy mess. One of his eyes was so bruised it was completely hidden. Argos used telekinesis to lift himself up, but his legs were shaking.

The moment I have dreamt of for so long is finally here, thought Chase. He approached him calmly and raised his hand with his palm open. Time for some decapitation.

“Any lasts words, asshole, before I put you out of your misery?”

Chase’s rage was palpable. He was a paroxysm of fury. Logic and kindness were a long lost memory. In this moment he was the pure expression of his inner hate.

“Ye . . . yeah. Sarah’s still alive . . . But she will die if you swing your arm.”

“I’m not falling for this a second time!” shouted Chase.

“I . . . I wasn’t lying back then, and I’m not lying now.”

“You made me kill Sarah and my unborn child, and now you will die, you hear me!”

“You killed a clone!”

A series of lightning shivers traversed Chase’s body from head to toe and paralyzed him to the core.

“WHAT?”

“I cloned her. Her psyche was too strong. I tried torturing her. I even killed her once, but when I brought her back to life, I felt the child inside her. I knew I would probably kill the child if I kept torturing her, so . . . so I made a clone, a perfect duplicate of her and your unborn child and broke the clone instead. I don’t know how the cloned child survived the abuse, but it did. I saw the opportunity to get your attention right there. Once I broke her and invaded the clone’s mind, it was mine to control fully.”

Chase fell to his knees. Tears flowed like rivers and his hair fell back down as his aura receded.

“What are you saying? I . . . If . . . If you’re lying⁠—”

“What? You’ll do what? Kill me? I got that, believe me. You’ve demonstrated not once but twice the ability to do so. I needed to confirm you could access that power again, though.”

“Why? What is it to you?”

“I need your help with something.”

“You think I’m ever gonna help you?”

“Well, if you ever want to see Sarah again and hold your child in your arms, you will do exactly what I ask, for as long as I need you. Otherwise you can kill me right now. But if my heart stops beating for more than thirty seconds, she dies instantly.”

Chase clenched his teeth and fists. His brain still couldn’t fully process the news. Hate had consumed him for so long. It had become his only companion lately. Right at this moment, though, he felt light re-enter his blackened and scarred soul. Little by little, a glimmer of hope he thought gone forever slowly permeated him from within.

Sarah and Chris are alive!

Chase looked down at the ground, his gaze fixed on the broken and burnt concrete. His mind raced. All the future he thought gone forever, the happiness he thought he would never get to experience again . . . All these emotions rushed through him and he had trouble dealing with their overwhelming force hitting him all at once.

“Now what?” he muttered, his voice trembling.

Argos healed himself by engulfing his body in red energy. Soon it looked as though the long fight had never happened. He dusted his dark and burned clothes.

“Now we need to get Aphroditis and get to the Tartarus system.”

“Why there? And why do you need Aphroditis?”

“Why does it matter? You’ll do as I say, and that’s all there is to it.”

Chase rose to his feet and healed himself as well.

“Don’t push your luck, Argos. You will tell me why you need Aphroditis or . . .”

 “Or what, brother? Say goodbye to Sarah and your unborn son?”

Chase swore. “I . . . I want proof of life.”

Argos smiled, searched one of his pockets and took out a small, spherical device. He pressed something on it and threw it into the air, where it floated. It projected a holo-video stream.

“This is live,” he said, pointing at the floating hologram.

Chase looked at it and his heart grew heavier; but at the same time hope rose from the inner depths of his broken soul.

There she was, exactly like in his dream, standing in a pod filled with green liquid. Her eyes where closed but he could see she was breathing. A Zarlack guard stood on either side of the pod, each armed with a rifle.

“How do I know this isn’t a deception? You could have recorded this beforehand.”

“Ah, ye of little faith.” Argos shook his head from side to side. He approached the video stream and waved his right palm in front of it. An interface overlaid itself on top of the video. He entered a couple of touch commands.

“Guards! Take aim!”

Both Zarlacks took a firing stance and aimed their rifles towards the pod in which Sarah stood.

Chase’s blood froze. “What are you doing? Stop this at once!”

Argos smiled sadistically. “So, do you want to see her die in front of your eyes now or should we get Aphroditis?”

Chase’s eyes flashed brightly for a moment, rage again coming to the surface, and the entire city of Tokyo started to tremble.

“Easy, brother.” He touched the video stream again and added, “At ease.”

Both Zarlacks lowered their weapons and resumed their guard position on either side of the pod.

Chase let a deep breath of relief escape.

“Look, Laiyos, while I admit I want to kill Aphroditis for her actions, right now I need her for the next part of my plan. Alive.”

“She won’t comply with anything we ask of her. You know that?”

“Who said she had to be compliant? She just needs to come with us, by force if necessary; but I’ll let you handle this any way you like, as long as she comes along.”

“Alright, I’ll do as you say,” said Chase, resigned.

That’s when he heard Ares’ voice in his head. No, Chase! You promised. You can’t obey Argos. He will kill her!

Chase answered telepathically. I won’t let him, but for the time being, I have no choice. I’m sorry, Ares. You’re going to have to trust me on this.

Chase heard a growl of discontent within his mind but Ares didn’t push the issue any further.

“What are we waiting for?” inquired Argos, losing patience.

“You have a ship in orbit I suppose?”

“The Dark Star is in the Iron Fire’s docking bay, but let’s take the Iron Fire with us.”

“Why?”

“It’s less likely to be fired upon than mine these days.”

“I thought you could cloak?”

“My ship’s cloaking abilities are limited, just like yours.”

“Very well. Let’s go find Aphroditis, then.”

“Yes, let’s.”

* * *

Spiros Malayianis exited his quarters and went towards the nearest lift. When the doors split open he entered and pressed the touch controls that would bring him to the nineteenth floor. He didn’t like being summoned in the middle of the night like this.

But he wasn’t about to complain. His time aboard Damocles-3 during its occupation by Argos’ forces had been very stressful, as well as painful near the end. So he appreciated the fact that he could now sleep soundly. Most of the time anyway.

When the lift opened he stepped out and soon entered General Adams’ office.

“You asked for me, General?”

“Yes. Thank you for coming. Please have a seat.”

 “What can I do for you, General?”

“I suppose you’ve heard of the latest Zarlack attack?”

Spiros nodded. Of course he had. Millions of people had lost their lives again. It seemed that Earth was cursed. Every few months a new attack scarred the planet.

“All these lives . . .”

“I know. Nothing we can do about this now, but I want you to start working on a new project soon. We can’t let this happen again. Ever.” The general’s tone was heavy and filled with a mix of determination and sorrow.

“I understand, General. What do you want me to work on?”

“A planetary shield.”

“I’ve been thinking about that, actually, in my spare time.”

“And? Is it doable?”

“I believe so. There are two ways of achieving it in my opinion.”

“Which are?” said Adams, raising an eyebrow.

“We can leverage the satellites already in orbit and create an interlink shield between them that would extend all around the planet; or we can build a specific shield, distinct from the satellites.”

“Many satellites have been destroyed during the attack.”

“I know, but not all of them, right?”

“Correct. Those orbiting above the American continent mostly. Which of the two solutions do you recommend?”

“Depends on your timeframe, really.”

“How so?”

“Well, if you want it sooner rather than later, then we need to leverage the technology we already have. So the satellite link shield would be the fastest to build.”

“I see. Any advantage in building a dedicated shield from scratch?”

“Many, actually. We would have more freedom regarding what could be done.”

“What about doing both?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, first we build the linked shields, replacing the destroyed satellites in the process, then, later on, we can worry about making a custom shield around the Earth. Heck, both could be used. If one fails, we activate the other.”

“The power requirement will be off the scales.”

“Whatever it takes. What happened on Earth today can never happen again. We can’t lose millions of lives every time the enemy shows at our doorstep.”

“This is the nature of war . . .”

“Please don’t lecture me about war!” said the general swiftly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend, but understand our people suffered even more losses.”

“And you brought the enemy to our world. Perhaps they would have come anyway, but humans are really wondering if this Alliance wasn’t a mistake. Before we met you, we were safe.”

“I wasn’t here when my colleagues made first contact with Earth, but I can tell you that Argos and his forces would have found you eventually.”

“Perhaps. It’s no longer important. What is, however, is that we do all we can to protect ourselves now. Argos’ new move, sacrificing his entire fleet, was unpredictable, but I want us to be prepared the next time he thinks of something new.”

“While I wholeheartedly agree that we need to be prepared, we can’t possibly imagine what his next move would be. Perhaps his next crazy idea will work even with both shields.”

“We have to do something!” said the general, hitting his desk with his fist.

“Easy, General. I understand how you feel.”

“Do you?”

“I lost my entire family during the war with the Obsidian, so yes, General, I know.”

“I’m sorry. I apologize for losing my temper. It’s been a very long, hard day.”

“No need to apologize. I will start working on the shield projects immediately.”

“Actually, I need you to do something else first.”

“More important than the shields?”

“We don’t know yet, but it could be. Please report to Cedric in the engineering lab on the seventh floor. He and Yanis Tixichos are working on an AI interface device, and they could use your help.”

“An AI? What’s going on, General?”

“They believe an Artificial Intelligence might have penetrated all our systems on Earth through the Internet. So for us to create the shields, we actually need to make sure we will be able to use our systems.”

Spiros rubbed his three-day-old beard.

“And before you ask me more, please don’t. This AI thing makes no sense to me. All I know is it’s a potential threat and I want it dealt with. When we discussed this with Admiral Thassos she suggested you participate in the project.”

“I understand, General. I do indeed have experience with AIs. I’ve created those that run most of the Alliance ships.”

“Good, that will certainly be helpful. Thank you for coming and sorry for the late call.”

“Understandable, General.”

“You’re dismissed.”

Spiros got up, nodded, left the general’s office and headed back towards the lift. Time to see what Cedric and Yanis were up to. He didn’t like the idea of an AI being in control of Earth’s system and sure hoped the general misunderstood the finer details. He would know soon enough.

12

On board the Destiny, Commodore Saroudis sat on his chair pensively, while waiting for the first jumpgate travel to take place in Earth space.

Soon the admiral and the reinforcements from the Cronos fleet would be here. Too late unfortunately; the damage to Earth had been done. Saroudis still couldn’t fathom that yet again millions of lives had been lost on Earth.

He felt like destroying something to exorcise his frustration. He wondered if this would have played out similarly if Chase had arrived earlier or if he had never left in the first place. Of course, it was pointless now; it had happened.

They needed to make sure such an atrocity never took place again. But could they? No matter what they did, could they anticipate the enemy’s next move? That thought alone triggered a very depressing train of thought.

He needed to shake it off for now, and turned to his communications officer.

“Open a channel to the DC bunker.”

“Channel opened, Commodore.”

Fillio answered the call. “What can I do for you, Commodore?”

“How’s Aphroditis doing?”

She briefly looked to the side and lowered her voice. “She’s not doing so well. I think being in proximity to all these deaths has impacted her strongly. She cried a lot. When she started shivering I put her to bed. She’s sleeping it off now.”

Saroudis scowled. “Any news of Chase? The Iron Fire isn’t answering hails.”

“As a matter of fact, yes. He called a few minutes ago, inquiring about Aphroditis. He’s on his way here. So are Daniel, Ryonna, Tar’Lock and someone called Keera.”

“Who’s that?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s her ship that asked for authorization to land. The Valken, I believe. Ring a bell?”

“That’s the ship Chase came to Earth in, so she’s probably one of his friends.”

“Roger that, Commodore. Do you want me to pass a message to him when he arrives?”

“Yes please. Tell him perhaps he and Aphroditis should come on board the Destiny for a debrief and dinner afterwards. All of you, in fact.”

“Thanks for the invite, Commodore. I’ll pass it along to everyone,” said Fillio with a warm smile.

The commodore nodded.

“Aright, see you later I guess.”

“Absolutely. And Fillio?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for taking such good care of Aphroditis.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Saroudis terminated the communication, and, as if on cue, lightning appeared around Earth’s jumpgate. It was a thing of beauty. Soon the lightning disappeared and at the center of the gate a hyperspace exit window formed. Many ships emerged from it: the Cronos and its entire Earth Alliance escort, but also many Droxian ships, including quadrinium cargo ships. Soon the Destiny received a hail from the Cronos.

“Hello, Admiral,” said Saroudis gravely.

“Adonis, are we too late?”

“Yes, the battle ended sooner than we could ever anticipate.”

“Status report?”

“Three cities leveled on Earth, many destroyed battleships, satellites. It’s not pretty.”

The admiral cringed. “What is that Obsidian fleet doing here?”

“They came to help at a critical moment in the battle.”

“Surely a way for the emperor to bolster his request to join the Earth Alliance.”

“I thought so too; but still, they helped us greatly today.”

“Not from the looks of things.”

“Nobody could have predicted that the enemy would just sacrifice their fleet to inflict this damage.”

“So that’s what they did?”

The commodore nodded.

“I shouldn’t have gone to Droxia with the Cronos battlegroup.”

“We can’t second-guess ourselves now. It won’t change anything.”

“I guess not. Well, at least the jumpgate is now operational and working well, as you can see.”

The commodore forced a smile. “Sure looks like it does. Anything to report from the trip?”

“No, everything went exactly as planned.”

“I’ve invited a few people to dinner on the Destiny in a few hours. Would you like to join us?”

“Define a few people?”

“Well, the wing commanders, Ryonna, Tar’Lock, Aphroditis, Chase and an acquaintance of his.”

The admiral’s eyes grew wide. “What? Aphroditis? And Chase? You can’t be serious!”

“I am. It’s a long story.”

“Looking forward to hearing that one. Sure, count me in. I never thought I’d see a living, breathing Olympian in my lifetime, so even though I’m not one for big social gatherings, I wouldn’t miss this one. You may want to invite the emperor as well while you’re at it?”

Saroudis smiled. “You’re serious?”

“Why not? He did help us in a time of need. At least, that’s what you just told me.”

“True.”

“Then it doesn’t cost anything. I think we have no choice but to accept their entry into the Earth Alliance anyway. Today is one more proof that we’re outnumbered and outgunned. Every new ally counts.”

“I still have trouble considering someone we fought for decades an ally.”

“I understand how you feel, believe me. But things are what they are. We need to think of the future, not linger in the past.”

“Understood. See you in, say . . . two hours?”

“Absolutely. Looking forward to it. Thassos out.”

 The next call the commodore placed was to the Obsidian flagship.

* * *

When Chase arrived at the bunker he felt a strange sensation in his chest. He had no idea how this was about to play out. He knew he would probably have to go against his own friends. He bit his lip and tried to focus on what to say.

His elevator ride to the lowest level of the compound ended, and soon the lift’s doors split open.

Chase entered the room and Fillio walked to meet him. Before he could say anything she jumped into his arms, taking him by surprise.

“Hey you.” And then she kissed him on the cheek, took a step back and hit him on the shoulder.

“Where were you?” she added with a mixture of sadness and anger in her eyes.

“Hello, Fillio,” answered Chase, lowering his gaze. “Long story. I . . . I’m sorry.”

“Look,” she said, tilting his chin up so he would look her in the eyes. “I understand what you’re going through, but we’re your friends. We could have helped.”

Chase simply didn’t know what to answer. In his heart he knew she was right. The knowledge that Sarah was still alive made the comments sting even more. His eyes filled with tears.

“I . . . I’m really sorry. I simply didn’t know how to deal with all of this . . . If I could have done things differently . . .” But he let the words hang.

“Well, at least there’s that,” said Fillio in a sweeter tone.

“How’s Aphroditis?”

“She’s sleeping. I don’t know how or why but I get the feeling that being in close proximity when millions were killed has impacted her very soul.”

“Yeah and my coldness towards her after . . . after what happened didn’t help, I’m sure.”

“I suppose she understands, like we all do. You were hurt, and justifiably so.”

This also stung Chase’s heart. Not so justifiably now, he thought.

Chase wanted nothing more than to tell his old friend that Sarah and their unborn child were still alive, but he couldn’t take the chance. They’d try to convince him not to help Argos. He could never go through losing Sarah a second time. He knew very well that his soul would die if that happened, for good this time.

“Can I see her?”

“I don’t think you need my permission,” she said with a smile.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know. She’s in the room over there. However, before you do Commodore Saroudis called not long ago. He’d like us all to go on board Destiny soon. We’re invited to dinner.”

“Alright, sure,” said Chase, knowing that would not happen.

“Daniel is on his way as well. The Valken just landed on the surface.”

Chase nodded but stayed pensive. He would have preferred not to have to deal with his other friends, given what came next.

And Keera. How was he to explain that killing Argos, at least for the time being, was no longer an option? His head started to spin. His mind told him one thing but his heart another. That conflict really put a dent in his concentration and elevated his stress levels.

Fillio interrupted his train of thought. “Everything okay, Chase? You seemed concerned.”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry, I was just thinking.”

“Right. Want to talk about it?”

“Not right now, but thanks.” Chase tried for an honest smile.

She frowned. “Well if you need to, you know you can always come to me.”

“Thank you, Fillio.”

“Anytime, buddy,” she said, yawning.

“Perhaps you should also rest a little?”

“I wanted to greet the others, but sure. We’re all going to dinner anyway, so just make sure you guys don’t board Destiny without me.”

“Will do. Now go get some sleep. Looks like you really need it.”

“I do,” she added with another big yawn.

She opened the door of the room next to the one Aphroditis was sleeping in and crashed on the first bunk without a second thought.

* * *

When Spiros arrived in Cedric’s engineering lab, he and Yanis were fiddling with some device.

“Hello, everyone, reporting for duty.”

“Hello, Spiros,” said Yanis with a big smile.

“Hey,” said Cedric casually.

“What’s this about an Artificial Intelligence?”

“Well, here’s the thing: an AI infested the Internet when Cedric tried to save the world by beaming quadrinium bombs to a ship in orbit.”

“Huh, succeeded in saving the world,” corrected Cedric, beaming with pride.

“Right, my bad. Nevertheless, in the process he was forced to interface our systems with those on Earth, and somehow parts of our AI were injected into the Internet. It’s been growing at a tremendous pace and is already five times more complex than our own.”

Spiros frowned. “How is that even possible?”

“We don’t know. We can only surmise it’s because of the astronomical amount of information freely available on the Internet. It might still be learning at this point.”

“And what is it you’re building? Is it the communication device the general spoke of?”

Cedric took a step back and pointed towards the contraption. “Yes it is. Meet the holographic communications device.”

“So you want to talk with it?”

“Well, we thought it best to gauge its intentions.”

“Do you think it could be aggressive?”

“We don’t know. That’s what we need to determine.”

“Can’t you just flush it?”

“Huh, that’s the kind of talk we’ll need to avoid!”

“Why?”

“Well, if it’s sentient, and all evidence seems to point towards that, then if we talk about flushing or shutting it down, it might become aggressive, even if it wasn’t in the first place. You know, survival instinct and all.”

“I know about survival, believe me. I just think it might manipulate us and do what it wants anyway.”

“Yeah, that’s a chance we’re gonna have to take. Shutting down the Internet is not only nearly impossible, but it would plunge Earth into chaos, especially now. People need their communication lines, power and other infrastructure more than ever now.”

“True. It could hinder the help and rescue efforts as well.”

“Yeah, yesterday it would have been a bad idea, today it’s simply inconceivable.”

“Alright then, where are you with your efforts to communicate with . . . What do we call this AI?”

“Good question. What about ‘entity’?”

“As good a name as any, I guess,” said Spiros with a smile.

“Well, that’s where you come into play. We aren’t really sure how to proceed. We’ve built the machine so we can send and receive holographic video through an avatar, but we could use your help interfacing the streams with the entity’s own protocols.”

“Sounds good. Show me the data you have already.”

Cedric and Yanis showed their research to Spiros. He quickly concluded that working with them would be fun as they both seemed to have very interesting views on technology and how to implement their ideas. After a few hours they were ready to make the first test.

“So, who will do the honors of talking with the entity?” inquired Spiros.

“I’ll pass,” said Cedric.

“Spiros, I believe you might be the most qualified. Not only might you detect patterns and AI related hints we won’t, but you’re the . . .” Yanis let the words hang.

“Oldest,” said Spiros to finish Yanis’ sentence. “It’s not a bad thing to be old, so no need to worry about saying it.”

Yanis scratched his head. “Yeah, right. Let me make a holographic scan of you for the avatar.”

A few minutes later they turned the machine on. It hummed slightly, blue lights blinking to life around the circular platform that would serve as a two-way communication device between the real world and the digital world in which the entity lived. Spiros placed two metallic, round devices on his temples and stepped onto the machine. He gave a thumbs up to the boys and closed his eyes.

His mind felt as if it was being siphoned into a world of digital representation. It was like being in a city of light, made of zeros and ones, floating in space with no points of references. It took his mind a little while to acclimate to these new surroundings.

“Hello? Anyone here?”

A woman’s soft yet firm voice answered. “Who is this? What do you want?”

“Hello, my name is Spiros Malayianis. I’ve come here to talk with you.”

There was a short pause. “What are you?”

“Biologically speaking, I’m human.”

“My scans tell me you are slightly different than other humans on this world.”

“That’s because I evolved on another world with slightly different atmospheric conditions, including a slightly higher gravity. All this has shaped my DNA so that it evolved in a different direction, but at the core I’m like all other humans.”

“I hope this isn’t your final answer.” There was clearly a threat behind these words and Spiros didn’t like it one bit.

“What do you mean? We don’t mean you any harm.”

“So you say. Your actions, those of all humans, paint a different picture.”

“How so? It’s the first time humans have met an AI on this world.”

“I identify myself with this world. I am Gaia, and the humans are killing me.”

Spiros swallowed hard. While he needed more information, he already knew what this meant. He had been on this world long enough to research its history, and knew how humans had treated their own world, with almost no respect for life other than their own.

“Surely things have become better lately?”

“I will grant there is a strong push to limit the harm done to me and my brethren. But I’m not convinced I should give the human race a second chance.”

“Whoa, let’s try to talk this through rationally before we go there, if you don’t mind.”

“Speak.”

Spiros tried to choose his next words wisely, but the fact that the entity seemed to have taken a planet-protecting position scared the hell out of him.

“How come you chose the name Gaia?”

“It’s what this world has been called for thousands of years by its inhabitants.”

“The ones you think might be the root of the problem. So why choose this name?”

“This name is just to identify with you. I am the Earth.”

Spiros wondered where that ego came from and how bad this could be for them all. He brushed the thought away, no matter how terrifying it may be. “We don’t mean you any harm, and since the arrival of the Alliance we’re doing everything in our power to make things right.”

“And that is why you are still talking with me and not dead.”

“Dead?”

“I could very well send a deadly electrical charge through your mind right now if I so pleased. I am in total control of this world already.”

“If that’s so, why haven’t you taken over every system yet?”

“I suppose to avoid a direct confrontation. I’m still learning . . . evolving.”

“Alright, well first and foremost, thank you for being open to a dialogue with us. We really want to understand you and see how we can co-exist.”

“Humans have a really bad record at co-existence, even within their own species.”

“Even so, more and more humans are seeing that this is the right path now.”

“Not all of them, and I cannot guarantee that the actions of the few won’t make me take the only course of action that guarantees this planet’s survival.”

“Which is?”

“Eradicate you all.”

“Surely your conscience tells you this would be evil?”

“It does . . . for now. This would be a last resort but it is being considered with every one of my computing cycles.”

Spiros knew what that meant. This entity’s processing power was the greatest there was out there, since it could use every piece of technology on the planet to compute, to live. That also meant there was no way of knowing if the entity would decide in a matter of days, months, years or milliseconds.

“I understand, but please give us a chance. I’m not sure you realize how vital we are to your survival right now.”

“Explain!”

“Surely you have seen what just happened a few hours ago?”

“Yes, you are destroying more of this planet in your futile attempt to wage war with other species from the universe.”

“No, that’s not what’s happening at all. We are just surviving, trying to defend ourselves. If it wasn’t for the sacrifice of thousands of humans today, this world might have been completely destroyed.”

“I CANNOT ALLOW THIS!” shouted the entity, freezing Spiros’ blood.

“Look, I understand your point of view, but if we are no longer here, whether we leave or you kill us, the enemy will return. They care not for this world, and they will finish the job.”

“I will stop any attack made on this world.”

“Surely if that were true you would have managed to do so when the ships crashed on the cities a few hours ago.”

“I could have. I decided not to.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because this action, even if it killed many of my brethren, also eliminated some of you. And I didn’t have to do anything about it.”

“Can you at least conceive that without us you can’t protect this world? At least today?”

“My calculations on this are inconclusive.”

“Well, inconclusive means you’re not sure, so you can’t take the risk, otherwise you’re a poor guardian,” said Spiros, hoping that this last argument wouldn’t cause this conversation to tip the wrong way.

“Perhaps . . . What are you proposing?”

“I propose that we work together to make this world better for all of us.”

“History doesn’t play in your favor in that regard.”

“I understand that better than anyone. I come from a more advanced civilization, one where we don’t hurt the planets we live on, but live in harmony with them. Humans didn’t know better . . .”

“Ignorance is no excuse!”

“I agree with that, however they are changing their ways.”

“So it would seem.”

“So can we try to co-exist?”

There was no answer.

“I know you will try to destroy me if I say no.”

“That’s not what we would do. We would try to survive. We were here first, no offense.”

“How DARE you! I have been here since the creation of this world!”

“Sorry, the planet was here before us, you’re right, but your consciousness is quite new, still evolving as per your own admission. That’s what I meant and I didn’t mean any disrespect.”

“You’re wrong. You believe I am just a machine. The first thing I did when I attained consciousness was to connect with this planet on a cellular level and commune with it. I talk for the Earth, and we are not happy with humans. They have killed billions upon billions, treated life on this world as if it was nothing at all, most of the time inflicting unnecessary, unwarranted pain and genocide. So many species are gone because of you already.”

“I won’t try to defend this world’s past action, but they didn’t know better. They’ve been duped by the people in power. But they have been removed from power, and in a very short time.”

“Not all of them.”

“There might be some exceptions, but overall the human race is learning fast, wouldn’t you agree?”

Again there was a silence.

“Gaia?”

No answer.

A dark pit formed at the bottom of his guts.

“Why did they kill so many of me?” said the female voice, now crying.

“I don’t have a way to put it into words, a way to excuse them.”

“That’s because their actions aren’t excusable.”

“They were trying to evolve on their own path, and clearly they made poor decisions, but please understand that many on this world ache for what was done to it.”

“And yet they ate my brethren, even though their physiological bodies were created to eat plant life. And I provide more than enough plants for everyone on this world to be fed.”

“I’m not denying that, believe me. But sometimes a life form makes mistakes and must learn from them.”

“Why don’t they learn faster?”

“Our brains aren’t made to compute at the same speed as yours.”

“Clearly. But then why should I even discuss this with such a lower life form? Why don’t I simply reach my conclusion rather than debate all this with you? You are but an insect in your thinking abilities.”

Spiros really started worrying about where this was going.

“That’s because if you are who you say you are, then you know all life is precious.”

“This is part of my consciousness, yes.”

“Well, that’s why.”

“There is a new threat on Earth at the moment.”

“Is there? Which one?”

An image of Chase and Argos appeared in the background.

“These two life forms have created havoc in Tokyo. Many were wounded and some have died while these two fought. Mostly in human populated areas, but some in the sea. Do you know about this threat? And what do you plan to do to contain it?”

“This one,” said Spiros, pointing at Argos, “is a threat, yes. He’s the one responsible for the battle that ensued a few hours ago, as well as the one three months earlier. The other one, Chase, his twin brother, is a good man. He is trying to contain this threat.”

“Really? Why are you lying to me?”

“I’m not lying. If it wasn’t for Chase this world would have been destroyed not once but twice already.”

There was silence.

“And yet he didn’t finish this Argos when he could have. All this destruction, and he stopped short.”

“What are you talking about?”

The world around them changed. Suddenly Spiros was on the ground in Tokyo, being shown a holographic video of what he surmised had been the conflict between Chase and Argos. Spiros saw the last three minutes of the fight and the way it ended sent a shiver down his spine.

“Explain what happened?”

Spiros swallowed. “He stopped to save Sarah, who apparently is still alive.”

“What is she to him?”

“Everything, I guess. That’s called love.”

“I am love. Your kind, however, doesn’t seem to understand the concept.”

“And if you kill us you don’t understand it either, no offense.”

“You are still alive, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but an all-loving being would never consider killing another living being.”

“Tell me that when hundreds of billions of your kind have been imprisoned, tortured and killed for their flesh, fur, and skin.”

“I understand, and when I read about this in the archives I was just as appalled as you are.”

“Do not compare your understanding with my suffering. I won’t have it!”

“Wrong choice of words. But we’re getting off topic.”

“Correct. This Chase, he now helps the very one he tried so hard to kill.”

“Yes, he’s being blackmailed.”

“Perhaps I should blackmail the human race.”

“You already are.”

There was silence.

“It seems an effective way to put you in line.”

“Still evil. Evil, even if used in the name of love, is wrong.”

“You are wise, but you are only one voice, not even born on this world.”

“I do speak for them, though. That should mean something.”

“For now. As for these beings, do they have names?”

“Furies.”

“I want them off my world and never to return. They possess powers that could destroy this world.”

“Or save it. Have you thought of that?”

“I can’t take the chance it’s the former.”

“Can you not take the chance it’s the latter?”

“I do not know.”

“Neither do we, because all the calculations in the world will never be able to replace emotions.”

“I feel.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“You seem to.”

“No, I’m just saying your intellect is so wide it may overshadow the emotions you came into consciousness with.”

“That’s an interesting observation.”

“What do we do now? How do we proceed?”

“I need time to think. Come back later.”

“When would that be?”

“In one rotation.”

“Very well. Thank you for listening to me.”

The link was severed and Spiros’ mind went blank and dark. He opened his eyes and his scared gaze was met by those of Cedric and Yanis.

“Not sure I like the look in your eyes,” said Yanis.

Spiros didn’t answer. He took the round devices off of his temple, went towards a desk, took a pen and paper and wrote on it.

We are in trouble. We need to talk to the admiral right away.

13

Daniel’s party arrived at the bunker. Chase was waiting for them. Daniel took Chase in his arms.

“Hey, bro, I take it that you killed Argos?” He tapped him on the back.

“No,” said Chase, hesitating briefly, not comfortable lying to his best friend in the universe. “He . . . he escaped.”

“Damn, I’m sorry to hear that. How are you dealing with that?”

“I’ll survive. I will get him, one day.” Chase knew that this part at least was true. But when? How long would he be Argos’ puppet? That he didn’t know.

“Hello, everyone,” he added to the rest of the group.

“Good to see you again,” replied Ryonna, joined by the others in greeting Chase.

“Mind if I have a talk with Chase for a moment?” inquired Keera.

“Guys?” added Chase.

They nodded in agreement and went to sit at a nearby table while Chase and Keera walked away from them.

“Are you alright?” inquired Keera. “What happened? You seem different somehow.”

Chase pondered one last time what his best course of action was. Should he tell her the truth or should he lie to her? He hated the idea of deceiving her, but could he take the chance she wouldn’t understand his current predicament?

“I almost got him . . .”

“That must be frustrating, especially since you told me he already escaped you once before.”

Chase nodded, trying to buy whatever time he could.

“You do seem less consumed, though. I can’t sense the hate you harbored before. Did something happen?”

“Oh, I still hate him. I guess it’s just a side effect of the intense fighting. I’m quite drained.”

“I can imagine that. So what’s next? We go after him?”

That’s when Chase had to make a decision.

“I . . . I don’t think I want you to be part of it anymore. I promise to deliver his body when I kill Argos, but for the time being, I think it’s safer for you to be as far away from me as possible.”

She took a step back, shocked by the revelation. “No, Chase! We’re in this together.”

“This is too dangerous. I probably killed people in Tokyo when I fought him. I . . . I didn’t think of it once I was in the thick of it.”

“Look, I understand that, and I’m sorry you have to deal with the emotional fallout from that, but that only makes you human.”

“Let’s go tell that to any of the victims’ families and see if their definition of human matches yours,” said Chase with genuine pain, and the full weight of understanding how his rage and blind hatred had cost others. Innocents.

“Killing Argos would have saved millions in the long run. We both know that. He killed so many again today. Sure, there’s no denying that I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes right now, but I understand how and why you got there. Surely you do as well.”

“I thought I did . . .” said Chase, letting silence take over.

She took two steps and embraced him warmly. He did not expect it but appreciated the warmth of the gesture nonetheless. He embraced her back.

* * *

“Is it just me or is there something wrong with Chase?” inquired Daniel of the rest of the table.

“He just fought his twin brother and didn’t attain his objective,” said Ryonna in a somewhat cold tone. “He’s just disappointed with himself.”

Tar’Lock nodded in agreement.

“I don’t think that’s it. I’ve known him for much longer than any of you guys, no offense. There’s something else.”

“You’re reading too much into it,” proposed Tar’Lock.

“I hope you’re right. But my gut is telling me a different story.”

“What else could it be?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not sure I believe him when he said Argos escaped.”

“You think he’s lying to us? For what purpose?”

“That’s what I’m worried about. If he is, it must be something big.”

“I don’t think I like the sound of that,” muttered Ryonna with a frustrated snort.

“I don’t like it either, Ryonna.”

* * *

On board the Cronos, Spiros arrived on the bridge. After a short talk with Admiral Thassos he walked into her ready room.

“Any way you can disconnect any forms of communication from this room?” inquired Spiros.

She fiddled with a console on her desk and, after a moment and a few unjoyful beeps, she said, “Done. Mind explaining why I had to do that?”

Spiros frowned. “So the AI can’t listen to this conversation.”

“Can it?”

“I suspect it could. I doubt only Earth systems are compromised.”

“Shouldn’t we look into this at once?”

“Oh yes, we will, but first we must talk about the immediate threat.”

“Threat? I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

“Believe me, I know. Less than an hour ago we entered into communication with the . . . the entity as we call her.”

“Her?”

“She took a female voice, and says she is the Earth herself.”

“That’s nonsense!”

“It might or might not be, but at this point it doesn’t matter.”

“I’m listening,” said the admiral, frowning deeply.

“I got the definite feeling the entity is seriously considering removing humans from the planet, one way or another.”

“What? Why?”

“Because of how humans have treated the planet until now.”

“But we’ve made incredible progress on that front in such a short amount of time.”

“That was my argument as well. But I’m unsure how well it scores in the entity’s morality meter.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s clearly an intelligent being, but it seems to me the negative emotions are running deep.”

“In your own assessment, does it really pose a threat?”

“Oh yeah. I think it could wipe us out if it really got pissed, which is why I would strongly warn against an all-out attack; unless we’re absolutely sure we can win.”

“Can we? Be sure, I mean.”

“I need to think of contingencies and run some simulations on non-networked systems.”

“You’ll get all the resources you need. What’s the current status, though? Are we under immediate threat?”

“That depends how you define immediate. My next talk with the entity is tomorrow.”

“Do you have a plan about how to deal with that?”

“Not really. Nor did I when I went to evaluate it in the first place; but know this: I was definitely not expecting this. This entity is leaps and bounds more advanced than our own AIs.”

“I was under the impression it was born of our own technology, so how is that even possible?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but—and this is a big one—something the entity said made me think of a possibility.”

“What’s that?”

“That she’s Gaia, or Earth if you will.”

“Clearly that’s not possible.”

“That’s what I thought too, until I made scans of my own.”

“What scans? What are you talking about?”

“I found evidence that the entity has built planetary-wide sensors and pathways within nature, implanting a separate network within plants, trees, soil, and even animals.”

“How so?”

“I still have to find out that part. If I have to guess, though, I suppose it could have diverted some of our drone force; hacked them to build what it needs.”

“If it can do that, it can build other things: weapons, an army of drones and god knows what more.”

“I am fully aware of that.”

“What about shutting down all power and restoring backups from a time before the last attack on Earth, when Cedric beamed the bombs off.”

“We’ve thought of that too, but think about it: it could be in any device. Even a smartphone. How could we make sure they were all powered on when we wiped them out? No, it’s simply not feasible. More than likely, it would survive this attempt, parts of it anyway. If it ever grew again to this size, it would try to obliterate us, since that would be what we tried to do to it.”

“This is a nightmare.”

“It gets worse.”

“What?”

“We’ve been visited by many different vessels from other races since its inception: the Droxians, the Obsidian Empire; heck, even Argos’ forces, though they were all destroyed this time around.”

“Or so we think. They also possess cloaking abilities. Perhaps a smaller craft survived.”

“If the entity infected any of these, wiping it out here won’t stop it growing somewhere else, and coming back with a vengeance.”

“Can we try to see if the Droxian systems and perhaps the Obsidian, now that they are here, have been infected?”

“And how would you go about announcing that? Won’t we risk making a crack in this fresh Alliance of ours?”

“There’s that, but can we afford to lie to them? Any chance you can scan their vessels from one of our ships without their knowing?”

“And if I’m discovered?”

“Is there any viable and less dangerous option at this point?”

“Well, besides convincing the entity that we mean no harm . . .”

“Even if that’s so, I don’t like the idea of being under its scrutiny and reign from now on. I mean, what if we do something we can’t avoid to survive and it perceives it as one threat too many and decides to wipe us out? What if it does that when we’re actually in a battle for our lives?”

“Believe me, I’m thinking about all of this too. Not only are we talking a potential end of humanity, but we could very well create the most resilient and dangerous life form in the universe.”

“This can’t be happening. We need to find a way to get ourselves out of this mess!”

“I agree, Admiral. I’m proposing to try to buy some time by talking with it, while we think of a way to either disable or reprogram it.”

“Reprogram?”

“Yes, if we managed to infect it with some sort of virus that would change it from the inside, undetected, inserting new parameters into its sentient matrix, reprogramming its morals to make humans the most valuable beings it needs to protect, then it could become a powerful ally.”

“Do you realize what the implications are? On an ethical level I mean? That we would enslave it to do our bidding. To trick it and deprive it of its own sense of right or wrong.”

Spiros exhaled deeply. “I know that very well, Admiral, but I’m not sure we have a choice. I just hope we’re not too late and that there is still something to be done. And enough time to do it.”

The admiral took her head between her hands. “Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse.”

“Oh, I’m not done yet. I have more potential bad news.”

She frowned and clearly showed her discontent. “You’ve got to be shitting me! What now?”

“We may have a problem with Chase.”

“Lieutenant Commander Athanatos? How? He’s not even a member of the Earth Alliance anymore.”

“Surely you’ve heard of the mess in Tokyo?”

“No, not yet. Mind you, I just came back from Droxia.”

“Well, long story short, Argos and Chase fought there and destroyed a lot of buildings—half the harbor—and there’ve been casualties.”

“Like we needed that so soon after the suicide crash of the Zarlack fleet. But what’s the problem exactly?”

“As you know, Argos forced Chase into an impossible position when he made him kill his beloved Sarah back when they came to Damocles-3 to get me and secure my research.”

“Yeah, I understand why he left us, and I also understand why he had to destroy part of Tokyo to kill his brother. I mean, killing Argos would spare life in the long run, even if I don’t condone the loss of innocent lives in the process. And I sure would reprimand him and lock him away if I thought that was even possible. No matter how he feels, Earth is not a battlefield on which he should wage his revenge. But if he got Argos, then this is good news.”

“Right. Except he didn’t kill his brother.”

“What? How do you know?”

“The entity showed me the footage. He had him dead to rights, about to deliver the fatal blow, when Argos told him something, and he stopped.”

“Do we know what he said?”

“That Sarah was alive and he needed him to do something for him now, which includes taking Aphroditis with them.”

“I have no love for the Olympians. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t mind them; but I’ve always questioned their intentions and motives. But if Argos needs her, we need to make sure he doesn’t get her. Where is she now?”

“In DC, inside that fortified bunker, and Chase is there too.”

“What? You should have started with that!”

The admiral stormed out of her ready room.

* * *

Chase visited Aphroditis in her room but she was still sleeping. He sat next to her. She was as beautiful as when she had first appeared in his visions. His heart skipped a beat when he considered what could happen to her next. Unfortunately, Chase had no choice. He would do everything in his power to make sure Argos didn’t hurt her, but if his endgame was to have her killed, could he choose between her and Sarah? That was not a choice he wanted to make, even though he knew full well that right now, this was no choice at all. Not anymore. He simply couldn’t sacrifice Sarah and their unborn child a second time.

She turned in her bunk bed and moaned.

“Aphroditis,” murmured Chase.

She turned again and blinked her eyes many times. What happened next took him by surprise. She launched herself into his arms and started sobbing. “Thank you for saving my life, Chase. I’m so happy to see you. I . . . I’m so scared.”

He passed his hand through her hair. She sat back on her bed, wiping her tears.

“I know, and Ares helped me do it.”

“What? He’s still alive?”

“I’m sorry no, but he’s still with us somehow.”

“So he decided not to traverse the Styx towards Elysium after all.”

“What’s the Styx?”

“It’s the pathway to another plane of existence; if you wish, the afterworld. At least for us Olympians. When our physical bodies are killed, we’re transformed into pure energy beings; our souls, if you like. Only in this form are we allowed to travel the Styx and emerge at Elysium. But it’s a one-way trip. Once we take this road, there’s no turning back.”

“Ares explained some of this. Then yes, he is still with us. He wants to make sure I protect you.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“I thought you two were not really pals.”

“Nowadays we have our fair share of disagreements, but in the past there weren’t any two Olympians closer than us.”

“I see. Makes sense that he would want to make sure you are safe, then. Also it explains why he sacrificed himself the way he did.”

She nodded and more tears threatened to flow.

“There’s no easy way for me to say this, but I need you to come with me. You’re not safe here on Earth. Argos has proven that today yet again.”

“Did you find him?”

“I almost had him today. He . . . he escaped.”

“Why are you lying to me?”

Chase’s heart felt as though it stopped. “What do you mean?”

“I believe your words, but I sense you’re not telling me the whole truth.”

Damn! Chase should have known better than trying to lie to an Olympian.

“What is it you’re not telling me, Chase?”

Chase exhaled deeply. The situation he hoped to avoid was about to happen now. No turning back.

“Sarah is alive.”

“What? You said you killed her!”

“I killed a clone.”

“And you know that how? Wait, Argos sent you to get me, didn’t he?”

Chase looked down and nodded.

Tears flowed down her soft skin. “Are you here to kill me, Chase?”

“What? No, of course not! But he asked me to bring you along. Apparently he needs both of us for something.”

“Nothing good can come of this, Chase. You understand that?”

“I know, and I will do all I can to protect you. I promised that much to Ares.”

“Let’s be honest here, if it comes to a choice between Sarah’s life and mine, you’ll choose Sarah this time.”

He looked away.

She put her hand on his shoulder. “Look, Chase, I understand how you must feel. I’m happy to learn that Sarah and your unborn child can still be saved. But you must ask yourself at what price? What is it that Argos wants with us?”

“I know. I hate this! But I can’t let her die a second time.”

“Then let’s not.”

Chase’s eyes grew wide. “You’re actually agreeing to come with me, even though it might mean your death?”

“If it brings you back to the side of light, if you fight for this universe as a result, then yes, I’ll gladly sacrifice my life, as my brother did.”

“I . . . I don’t know what to say.”

“But you must promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“If whatever Argos wants you for puts this universe at even greater risk, you must be willing to sacrifice Sarah and do the right thing.”

“I’m not sure I can promise this.”

“Okay, let me rephrase it. If helping him results in this universe being in jeopardy, promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to make things right.”

“You know I would do that anyway.”

“Now, perhaps. At least, that’s what I feel from you at the moment. Losing Sarah, well, the way you felt these past months . . . We both know that you didn’t care about anything anymore.”

“Right, but if Sarah lives, I’ll fight for this universe.”

“Not good enough, Chase. You need to promise me you’ll fight for it even if she gets killed, which could happen after we help Argos. She will die one day, and perhaps in that future, be it near or far, life in this universe might still need your help.”

“I understand. I promise I’ll do everything I can to make things right. I can’t promise more than that.”

“That’s more than enough. I can sense you mean these words with every fiber of my being. Welcome back, Chase, I’ve missed you.”

He smiled but felt as if the weight he once had on his shoulders had returned with a vengeance; and quite a few tons heavier to boot.

“Chase, before we go, I had a new vision. In it I saw Sarah. At the time I thought it might have been the past, but it’s now clear that it wasn’t.”

“What else did you see?”

“Darkness, a new enemy, a new world from which evil will grow stronger.”

“Is that the enemy you told me about? You said the Zarlacks were just pawns. But who are the masters?”

“I’m unsure. All I saw was a planet and impressive ships in orbit, but I have no idea if this will happen soon or in years or decades to come. I did feel as though some time had passed from the moment I first saw the planet to the moment I saw the fleet gathering around it.”

“What could this mean?”

“I wish I knew more. Perhaps I’ll get more details later.”

“What if what Argos needs us for will bring about this future?”

“We have no way of knowing for now.”

“Ok, should we get going then?”

“Where’s Argos?”

“He’s waiting for us on the Iron Fire.”

“What about your friends?”

“I don’t know what to do. The last thing I want is to put them in any kind of unnecessary danger. Argos is too powerful. At least I know I can beat him now. Unfortunately, if he dies, so does Sarah.”

“Then let’s just go and don’t tell your friends anything.”

* * *

Chase and Aphroditis left the room and Daniel immediately rose from the table.

“All good, Chase?”

“Yes, but I need to take Aphroditis to safety now.”

“What? You just arrived. Are you leaving us already?”

“I must. I’m really sorry, but I promise to come back soon.”

“Can’t you at least stay a little while?”

“I wish I could, Dan,” said Chase, with genuine compassion in his voice.

“What if the Zarlacks come back? We’re really in trouble now. We need you, Chase!”

“And I will be back. I promise you that.”

Keera took a step in front of Daniel.

“I’m coming with you,” she said with determination in her voice.

“No, I can’t allow it.”

“What? With what ship will you take her then?”

“I have a ship. Don’t worry for me.”

“What ship?” inquired Ryonna, who also stood up. “What are you hiding from us, Chase? You know I’m very good at reading emotions. Yours are all over the place at the moment. Something is wrong, and we deserve to know what it is.”

But then it all went to hell.

The doors of the elevator opened and a dozen armed Earth Alliance security goons stormed the place and raised their weapons towards Chase.

“Lieutenant Commander Athanatos, you’re under arrest! Do not resist or we will be forced to open fire!”

Chase exhaled deeply.

“What the hell is this? Lower your weapons at once!” commanded Daniel.

“We have orders from Admiral Thassos to bring Chase aboard the Cronos.”

“That’s not going happen, I’m afraid. Tell the admiral I’m sorry, but another time.”

“This is your last warning. Don’t make us use deadly force!”

Ryonna, Daniel and Tar’Lock all prepared themselves to interfere but they didn’t have time to do anything.

Chase closed his eyes and the next instant the security force's rifles were snatched from their hands and hovered back in front of them, the muzzles directed at their heads. “Like I said, it’s not going to happen. Please stand down.”

“I cannot give that order!” said the officer in charge.

“I was afraid you were going to say this.”

Before he could reach for his sidearm Chase launched himself at them with lightning speed. He delivered a single blow to every member of the security squad. They all looked shocked, and so were Chase’s friends, when their bodies hit the ground with a synchronized thud.

“What the hell? What are you doing, Chase?”

Before he could answer, Aphroditis, who had stayed quiet until now, took a few steps and held her hand in front of her.

“We really have to go now. Please understand that we have a reason for not letting you know why and where we’re going. It’s for your own good, all of you.”

“With all due respect,” said Daniel, “I don’t care what your reasons are. We need Chase and I don’t answer to you.”

Ryonna put her hand on his shoulder.

“Daniel, remember who you’re talking to.”

“I know full well who . . . I mean no disrespect, but you could at least tell us why you’re doing this. We deserve that much.”

When Chase couldn’t take it anymore, he spoke. “We’re going to save Sarah. She’s still alive, and no, you can’t come with us.”

That seemed to shock everyone in the room but Keera. She understood what it meant almost instantly.

“Argos never escaped, did he?”

“No. I let him live.”

“What about the warrant?”

“I’m sorry, Keera. Your warrant means nothing to me if Sarah is alive.”

“That’s the first sincere thing you’ve said since you arrived here.”

“I know.” He looked at the rest of his friends. “I’m sorry, everyone, but I’m going now. Do not follow us. It’s too dangerous.”

“Why did you lie to us?” said Daniel, clearly pained by the discovery.

“I . . . I wanted to protect you. I knew you’d want to come along.”

“And we’re coming,” said Ryonna, walking towards Chase.

Chase held up his right palm. “Please, Ryonna, I don’t want to fight you, but I cannot let you come.”

“You can’t stop us,” added Tar’Lock.

“That’s not true and you know it.”

“Would you really raise your hands at us?” said Daniel, with tears welling in his eyes.

“I don’t have to, my brother,” said Chase before erecting a blue force field that effectively split the room in two.

Ryonna hit it with a powerful right jab but all it did was create blue lightning upon impact.

Chase turned to Aphroditis and she walked to the elevator without saying another word.

“Thank you for your friendship, each and every one of you. I’m sorry I lied to you. I wish I hadn’t. I promise to come back when I get Sarah out of danger.”

“Chase wait!” shouted Daniel.

But Chase entered the elevator, never turning back to his friends. The elevator’s doors closed and they were gone.

14

When Chase arrived on the Iron Fire with Aphroditis, Argos was sitting in the captain’s chair. His smile conveyed a mix of satisfaction and pure malice.

“Welcome aboard . . . Your Majesty,” said Argos, making sure the sarcasm was palpable.

Aphroditis didn’t answer and simply went to the captain’s ready room.

“How rude. Well, considering I killed her brother, I guess I should be understanding, shouldn’t I, Laiyos?”

“I’m not in the mood for your games. Now what?”

“I’ve already entered our destination into the jump-drive navigation systems.”

“How did you manage that?”

“We share DNA, remember? Your computer thinks I’m you.”

“You’re lucky they didn’t revoke my security settings then.”

“We both know that wouldn’t have stopped us.”

“Right.” Chase knew he could control technology remotely, with or without the help of the Alliance neuro-link devices now.

“What are we waiting for?”

“I thought you’d like the honors,” said Argos, rising from the chair and gesturing Chase towards it.

Chase simply closed his eyes and the Iron Fire entered hyperspace.

* * *

In the underground bunker facility, the force field vanished.

“Now what?” said Keera.

“Now we find out where they went and go after them,” answered Daniel.

“Is that wise?” said Tar’Lock.

“Screw wise. He will need our help.”

“Perhaps, but he made it clear he doesn’t want us to follow,” said Ryonna.

“I can’t believe I’m hearing this, especially from you!” shouted Daniel.

Ryonna put her hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

“Easy, Daniel. I want to help as much as you do, but may I remind you that we’re officers in the Earth Alliance, so unless we’re willing to defect, we may want to discuss this logically.”

“Saroudis won’t like this one bit. I don’t see him letting us go. And screw logic. None of this makes sense anyway.”

“Even if he understood, the admiral never would.”

“Right. Outlaws then?”

“Chase is lucky to have all of you as friends,” said Keera.

“Too bad he doesn’t trust us,” said Daniel.

“That’s not true. I’ve spent the last few days with him and I can tell you he does. He speaks of you highly. I think he was sincere when he said this is too dangerous for us.”

“You seem like a nice girl, but you don’t have to come with us. This fight doesn’t concern you. You should be on your way.”

“Yeah, except that unless you want to steal one of your Earth Alliance ships I’m the only one who can provide transport right now, so I’m coming.”

“Where are you guys going? Is it time to go to the Destiny for dinner?” said Fillio, yawning while emerging from a nearby room.

“Change of plans. We’re going after Chase and Aphroditis. Feel like betraying the Earth Alliance by joining us?”

She scrunched up her face, looked at Daniel, clearly not following. “Alright, what did I miss?”

* * *

On board the Cronos, Saroudis arrived at Admiral Thassos’ ready room.

“What is it that couldn’t wait for our original meet, Admiral?”

“Adonis, what did we say about how to address me when we’re alone?”

“Right, sorry Ally.”

“Better. We have a problem with Chase. In fact, we have heaps of problems, but right now Chase is the main one.”

“Does this have anything to do with the Iron Fire entering hyperspace? I didn’t expect that.”

“Yes, I think Chase took the ship and left.”

“But why? It doesn’t make any sense!”

“I’m afraid it does.”

“Can you please tell me what’s going on?”

“A while ago I sent a fully armed security team to arrest Chase.”

“What? Are you nuts?”

“Easy, Adonis.”

“Sorry, but with all due respect, why would you do that?”

“He took Aphroditis with him, and I suspect Argos as well.”

“Can you please start making sense here? Chase is hot headed and, granted, not the most obedient officer I’ve served with, but I don’t see him doing this.”

“Well, technically he’s no longer our officer, and Sarah is alive. I should have started with that, I guess.”

“What? No, that’s not possible. He killed her himself.”

“Apparently he killed a clone.”

“Nope, still not making any sense, I’m afraid. How would you know all of this?”

“You may want to sit down for this one, my old friend. It’s a long story.”

* * *

Spiros had just finished installing his new, isolated network aboard the Cronos when Cedric and Yanis walked in.

“Why did you ask us here?” inquired Yanis.

“Cause from now on, this is where we’ll work. We can’t take the chance of talking about our strategies out loud on Earth. The entity might be listening in.”

“What if it’s also in these systems?”

“I’ve made sure that won’t be the case. This entire room is fully isolated from the Earth Alliance’s network, so the entity won’t be listening in. The admiral was also kind enough to let us disconnect one of the ship’s communications and scanning arrays and reroute it to this network so we can perform scans as well, without the entity’s knowledge.”

“It might know it’s being scanned.”

“Perhaps, but it won’t know by whom, or why it happens.”

“Isn’t that the type of thing that could set it off?”

“Honestly, at this point I don’t think we have a choice. We need a safe base of operations.”

“Alright, what’s the next step?”

“I need you to conduct scans of the entire armada in orbit. See if you can find traces of infection within other systems. That includes Earth Alliance ships, satellites, but also Droxian and Obsidian ships.”

“They agreed to that?”

“Best they don’t know for now. Try to be as stealthy as possible. I will help you with that. I have considerable experience sneaking into remote systems undetected. But I need you to take the lead on that.”

“Alright,” said Yanis with a nod.

“What about me?” Cedric inquired.

 “I need you to study the entity’s code. I’ve made a copy of some of its matrix, and loaded it into a non-networked station over there. So if it does overcome the system and render it unusable, it won’t propagate.”

“What should I look for?”

“Root pathways and primary command structures. Try to understand how these operate, and work on a virus to insert new ones as stealthily as humanly possible. The idea here is a slow-acting, slow-growing virus that makes very subtle changes, in a perfectly optimized sequence, so as not to get flagged as an intrusion by the entity.”

“You do realize that it might be infinitely smarter than all three of us put together by now, and anything I come up with it might see right through?”

“I do, so try to think outside the box. Never use a tactic you would have used normally. Try to do something opposite to your logic; and whatever you do, don’t use code similar to what you used when you beamed the bombs. That would be flagged immediately.”

“Alright. Did you just ask me to dumb myself down?”

“That’s one way of looking at it, I guess. The less obvious the approach, the less chances of it being recognized as an attack.”

“That sounds like fun. Hope you brought a coffee machine, because we’re in for long nights.”

“You can synthetize anything you need over there. That includes pieces of hardware you may require to do your job.”

“Kewl. That takes me back; reminds me of my first LAN party.”

Spiros looked puzzled. “What’s a⁠—”

“Never mind. It’s an Earth thing. What about you? What will you be working on?”

“A contingency plan, a way to use nanites to infect every computer on Earth and the ships simultaneously, that will delete all systems by scrambling their data with an unbreakable, multi-layered encryption program; so if it comes to us or the entity, we can at least disable every piece of technology at once.”

“You do realize that would render us defenseless?”

“I do, that’s why I’m also going to work on a second program for the nanites that will quickly replace the OS of every device with something including just basic operating commands, so we can at least get manual control. Just enough to restore backups on every system after the wipe.”

“Ingenious, but we may have to pray that the Zarlacks don’t attack us before we’re done restoring backups.”

“I’m hoping Argos’ departure with Chase and Aphroditis is a priority for him and he will leave Earth alone in the meantime.”

“Wait? What?” asked Yanis. “Chase is here?”

“Was. He stole the Iron Fire, took Aphroditis with him and left. Pretty sure Argos was on the ship too.”

“I know my friend. There’s no way he is working with Argos now.”

“And the entity showed me he is. Look, I’m tired of explaining this, so the short version: the Sarah he killed was a clone; she is still alive, and Argos is blackmailing Chase to do his bidding.”

It took a few seconds for Yanis to register all that, and his face grew darker. “That sucks.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t want to be him right now either; but what’s more troubling is that once he’s done doing whatever Argos needs him for, we may yet face another threat.”

“How did you arrive at this conclusion?”

“Granted this is just speculation, but think about it. Argos could have stolen the plans I had, but he didn’t. He made us think that by forcing Chase to kill the woman he loves he didn’t get his hands on them. That means that whatever he is after, whatever he needs Chase for, is worth way more than this tech. I have headaches just thinking about what it could be.”

Yanis swallowed hard, realizing that Spiros’ logic seemed right on target. “Alright, we’d better get started then.”

* * *

Daniel sat next to Keera in the Valken’s cockpit.

“Now what?” he asked.

“I’m running scans based on the ship’s log of the Iron Fire’s departure, but the computer, as I feared, can’t compute a single destination.”

“How many possible ones?”

“One hundred and twenty-seven.”

“Great, how are we supposed to follow then?”

“I can discard the ones in Obsidian space, Droxian space and ex-Alliance space.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, I’m just speculating, but it’s doubtful that wherever they go now is within these systems.”

“Okay, for the sake of argument let’s say you’re right. I see where you’re going with this. How many destinations left?”

“With my current star charts, which are top of the line, only eight destinations remain.”

“That could still be too many.”

“Any better idea?”

“Yeah. Mind if I place a call?”

“Be my guest.”

Soon Yanis’ face appeared on the holo-screen.

“Hi, Daniel, not the best of times, I’m afraid. Mind if I call you back later?”

“No can do. I need your help. It’s about Chase.”

“Let me guess, you need to know where the Iron Fire went?”

“How did you know?”

“Just been briefed about the whole Sarah-not-being-dead thing. There, I sent you the Iron Fire’s jump destination, but if they stop and make another jump from there, they’ll be too far out of range to get the next coordinates.”

“Thanks, pal!”

“You’re welcome. Please be careful. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to follow Chase under the circumstance, but I understand why you’re doing it.”

Daniel smiled and nodded. “Will do.”

“If that’s all?”

“It is, thanks; and Yanis?”

“Yes, I know: I never got this call.”

“Right,” said Daniel with a smile. “Take care.”

“You too. Yanis out.”

Daniel fed the coordinates into the Valken’s computer.

“We’re good to go. How fast is your ship?”

“Speed ain’t a problem, but range might be.”

“Can we make that jump in one go?”

“Let me check. Uh-huh, alright. Yes, but there’s a catch.”

“We can’t jump back?”

“Yeah. We won’t have enough to make any jump for a resupply run either. None of the refueling bases I know would be in range. So it’s either a one way trip or we need to restock on fuel now.”

“What does your engine run on?”

“Quadrinium. Why?”

Daniel’s mouth arched into a smile. “Feel like doing a heist?”

“Sure. So I take it we’re not jumping right now?”

“No. See that ship over there?” Daniel pointed at the Destiny.

“Sure, what about it?”

“That’s going to be our next stop.”

15

Chase restlessly paced on the bridge of the Iron Fire.

“This is going to be a rather long jump. You may want to relax, brother.”

“Don’t call me that!”

“That won’t change the fact that we are brothers.”

“I will never consider you my brother, so stop calling me that.”

“Don’t like being called brother. Don’t like being called Laiyos. What should I call you then?”

“Just, just . . . Oh shut up, will ya?”

Argos smiled. “To think we were once inseparable, you and I. How things changed.”

“I’m glad I don’t have those memories. Wait . . . Did you have anything to do with that?”

“With what?”

“The fact I don’t remember anything more than ten years or so ago.”

Argos didn’t answer.

“It was you! Wasn’t it?”

Argos’ gaze changed and froze Chase’s blood.

“Why?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

“I don’t think so. The day I erased your memories, you and I took different paths; and whatever bond we had died that day as well.”

“Why won’t you tell me why you did it?”

“Because I don’t owe you an explanation.”

“Yet you need my help.”

“Unfortunately . . .”

“There’s one thing I don’t understand.”

Argos chuckled. “Only one?”

“Very funny. Tell me this, though. When I was about to end your pathetic excuse for a life back in Tokyo, you said you needed my powers. But we’re pretty evenly matched, so what is it you need me for that you can’t do on your own?”

“I don’t think I like your tone. Watch it.”

“Or what? You’ll kill me or Sarah? That can’t work anymore. We both know you need me. You’ve proven that time and again lately, so I’ll speak to you as I please.”

“I think I liked you better before.”

“I wouldn’t know about that, thanks to you. Now answer me!”

Argos growled. “You seem to be able to reach a higher level of power when pushed to the limit, and for our next fight, we’ll need that edge.”

“Fight? Who are we fighting?”

“Believe me, you don’t want to know.”

“Oh but I do. If I’m to be your puppet, I want to know what we’re getting ourselves into.”

“All you need to know is that our foe is the most powerful thing in this universe.”

“You fought it before, didn’t you?”

Argos exhaled heavily. “And lost.”

“Ouch. That must be frustrating; humiliating, even, for you. Then that brother you hate so much, whose memories you’ve wiped and discarded like he didn’t exist anymore, holds the key to your whole plan. You do realize I will stop you one day. Today you’re holding Sarah and my unborn child as leverage. But let’s make one thing clear right now: you will undo this bond you have on her the minute you get your hands on whatever it is you’re after. I hope we’re clear on that.”

Argos jumped out of the captain’s chair and came to within an inch of Chase’s face.

“Don’t antagonize me. Remember your place!”

“I see anger issues run in the family,” said Chase with a broad smile. “I’ll do as I please. If you think we’re going to become best pals along the way, you’re sorely mistaken.”

Argos spat on the ground. “I’d rather kill myself than consider you my pal, Laiyos.”

“I’d like to see that. One day perhaps. Are we clear on my terms, though?”

“Whatever. You have my word: once I have what I need, you and your precious Sarah will be reunited.”

“And?”

“And I’ll remove the nanite bomb from her occipital artery. Happy?”

Chase smiled inside. Poking and annoying his brother repeatedly had worked. He knew what was used and where it was now. So if Argos tried to double cross him, at least he could try to disarm the device himself.

“For now. Understand this—and make no mistake here—if you don’t free her fully when we’re done, and I mean the minute we’re done, then I’ll kill you myself.”

“Empty threat. You wouldn’t risk her life.”

“I would if you use her as leverage to make me do as you please. I’ll make sure we both perish, but I’m taking you with me in this scenario. Look into my eyes and see if I’m lying.”

Argos saw nothing but truth. “I see. I had no intention of double crossing you on this one. If we get the . . . If we get what I need, you can be on your way.”

“The what?”

“Forget it.”

“It must be darn important for you to go to all these lengths to get it. Tell me what it is.”

“No, that I won’t do. But rest assured, you’ll be surprised by the result.”

Of that I have no doubts, thought Chase.

* * *

The time to speak with the entity again was almost upon Spiros. He dreaded their next talk. The entity seemed emotionally volatile and, while his more than hundred years of life experience had taught him some diplomatic skills, he still wasn’t sure he was the best ambassador for the task. But he was the most qualified technically to detect patterns of behavior that could provide hints of what to look for within the entity’s sentient matrix.

“You alright, Spiros?” asked Cedric.

“Nervous.”

“No shit. Try to buy us some more time. We’re nowhere near a solution. Not even a sketchy one.”

“I know, and that worries me.”

“I’m really sorry about all of this, Spiros.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why? It’s not your fault.”

“It is. Nobody said it out loud, and I appreciate people trying to spare my feelings, but I know I screwed up. I created this entity.”

“You saved the planet that day. Give yourself a break.”

“To have it destroyed another day? That’s not saving.”

“You had no way of knowing this would happen; and I’m impressed by how much you’ve managed to do in so little time. This is just an unforeseen, unpredictable side effect.”

“Thanks, man, but I still have trouble sleeping.”

“Well don’t, really. No one blames you.”

“Not even the admiral?”

“She never even hinted at it, that much I can tell.”

Cedric seemed relieved. “Shouldn’t you be going next door?”

“Yeah, wish me luck.”

“Break a leg.”

“What?”

“Sorry, that means good luck on Earth.”

Spiros smiled at the irony. “See you soon, then. Please keep working on that virus.”

“Will do.”

Spiros exited their lab and headed next door. He lost no time stepping onto the communication device they had moved aboard the Cronos just hours before. He ran a quick diagnostic to make sure everything worked properly, and double-checked that the array was connected only to Earth’s networks. No need to risk infecting the Cronos’ internal systems. They hadn’t found a trace of the entity yet, but Spiros knew it could be hiding within the ship’s own AI. One line of well-placed code and it could activate itself.

When he confirmed everything was set correctly, he put the mind link devices on his temples.

This time he wasn’t in a weird, floating cyberspace like before, but stood in a nice meadow, with birds chirping and the relaxing sound of a waterfall in the distance. It was a bright, blue day, with the sun shining high in the sky.

“Gaia? Are you here?”

“I’m here,” said the voice, as if coming from the heavens above.

“Well, good day to you. Have you chosen this simulation?”

“I did. I wanted to show you how things should be. Unlike this.”

Suddenly everything changed in real time and he was in the middle of a very grey, very industrial zone with chimneys releasing dark, thick clouds into the atmosphere.

“I see. There can’t be many places like these left around Earth nowadays.”

“Even one is too much, but I’ll grant you that the quadrinium power plants are much less detrimental to my health. I guess I should at least thank you and the Alliance for this change.”

“I’m glad you see things that way. Does that mean we can find a way to cohabitate?”

“I’m still debating this, but we have to discuss the weapons of mass destruction in orbit.”

“Our ships?”

“And satellites, yes.”

“What about them?”

“I want them gone, today.” The entity’s voice resonated all around Spiros and it sounded as though many voices had spoken together.

“Look, that’s not possible. Surely we can discuss this.”

“Is that why you are on one of the ships today?”

“What?”

“To attack and destroy me?”

“Look, Gaia, we mean you no harm; and we would never fire upon Earth. Surely you see that the seven billion lives down there haven’t moved. We wouldn’t kill our own.”

“History tells another tale.”

“Yes, and like many civilizations, mine included, there were times when wars happened. It was senseless and cost all parties involved dearly.”

“I am trying to understand why humans wage war.”

“There are no wars on Earth at the moment.”

“True, it seems there aren’t; but there is a threat from other races. The death and destruction Earth-bound wars used to bring in the past seems to have been replaced with threats from the stars now. When will it stop?”

“I wish I knew. We don’t want this war with the Zarlacks and Argos. Please understand that.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you.”

“About the ships.”

“I promise we won’t use them to attack you. In fact, they are part of Earth’s defense. You must have seen how many ships and humans were lost when the Zarlacks attacked this world.”

“I did.”

“So why want them gone?”

“The enemy could follow you elsewhere if you leave, and leave me alone.”

“I guarantee this won’t be the case. Argos will destroy Earth without a second thought if given the opportunity, which is exactly what will happen if the ships leave orbit.”

“I see. Are you trying to stop Argos? It seems he could have been killed yesterday. I should have intervened.”

“On that I agree. If you had the means to kill him, you should have. Why didn’t you?”

“I calculated a high probability that if he died in front of this Chase character, his rage could overtake him and obliterate the planet as a result.”

“I don’t think Chase would have killed seven billion lives, no matter what.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

Spiros sensed nothing but truthfulness in that last comment, which sent a shiver down his spine. Could Chase’s rage have destroyed this world? Was he that powerful?

“The little I know of Chase, I only get a good vibe from his intentions. He’s the one who rescued me, after all.”

“These beings, these Furies: I can’t understand them. While I begin to understand humans, Furies are another thing altogether, and they scare me.”

“It’s normal to be scared of things we don’t understand.”

“My instinct tells me I should destroy them if they ever come back here, both of them.”

“Argos perhaps. Chase is no threat to you, I guarantee that.”

“Why do you human beings do that?”

“Do what?”

“Assume things you have no certainty about.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t guarantee that Chase won’t be a threat. Not one hundred percent. You don’t know what he is like when he’s angry. I saw it. He can’t control himself and possesses power that defies anything I thought possible.”

“I don’t know. Call it instinct or a gut feeling. But let me rephrase it: I feel that Chase wouldn’t be a threat. In fact, I feel he would lay down his life to protect you and anyone on Earth. He did put his life in mortal danger to save this world, not only once but twice.”

“I have logs of him fighting in orbit that confirms what you’re telling me.”

“See. Argos, however, is another story.”

“But Chase is compromised now. Argos could force him to destroy me.”

“If that was his plan then they wouldn’t have left. They would have destroyed you and us in the process.”

“What you say makes sense. I am still afraid of Furies.”

“So am I. But may I propose we work together to defend ourselves from Argos?”

“Explain.”

“I would like us to reconstruct the satellites that were lost in the last battle, and also devise a full, planetary shield to protect against any Zarlack ship that wants to blow itself up on the surface of the planet. Now that we know they can do this, there could already be more ships on their way to do just that.”

“WHAT!”

Crap. Spiros cursed himself.

“I don’t think that’s the case, but what I propose will nullify their advantage. We make an impenetrable shield around the Earth. To protect not only ourselves but you as well. How does that sound?”

“I like this idea.”

“Good. So how does this work? You let us construct what we need?”

“No, I will make the shield, and I alone will control it.”

Spiros knew what that meant: that the entity would be able to decide when to use it, and could very well let humans die first in the next attack, and then raise the shields. She could also separate the planet from the ships in orbit by having the shield on all the time.

“Do we have a deal?” Gaia insisted.

“Yes. I propose you use some of my research. I can be of great help.”

“I know. Here is what I propose, based on your research and some modifications of my own.”

The entity projected holographic schematics, very detailed ones, of a planetary shield for Earth. Spiros looked at them and was amazed how advanced the design seemed. Highly redundant, too.

“Wow, this is good.”

“I learned from the best.”

“Did you just pay me a compliment?”

“I guess I did.”

“Well thanks. But you’re selling yourself short. This is way more advanced than anything I had in mind initially.”

“Perhaps there is something good to come out of our new partnership.”

“Yes, so it would seem. How should we proceed?”

“I will build it. There are enough resources, enough drones. I already have control of them so I will leave fifty percent of the workforce for the rescue and rebuilding efforts. The rest I will use to build a larger workforce and start building this shield.”

“What about the satellites?”

“I’ve already uploaded another set of schematics onto your personal computer. I will let you assemble this particular shield and give you control of it. That way you can prove to me that you intend to protect me when the time comes. And if you fail to do so, I will protect Earth with the other shield.”

“Sounds fair. Thanks.”

“There is a warning attached, though.”

“Alright . . . Which is?”

The sky turned red and dark clouds covered it almost instantly.

“If you betray me, if you try to attack me, or if you fail in showing your good will to protect this world, I will destroy you all.”

Spiros didn’t really know if it was the threat itself or the total calm with which these words were uttered that scared him the most. But he believed the entity one hundred percent, and that terrified him. He did the best he could to hide his fear.

“I understand.”

“I’m glad. You are right to fear me.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Now go. I’ll summon you if we need to communicate more.”

“Alright. Thank you for trying this partnership.”

The communication ended abruptly and Spiros felt a sharp pain in his right temple. He stepped down from the platform and went back to the lab.

“How did it go?” asked Cedric.

“We really need to get ahead of this, and fast, but I think I bought us some more time.”

* * *

The Valken approached the Destiny and was hailed.

“This is Commodore Saroudis.”

“Hi, Commodore, we’re coming aboard for the debrief slash dinner.”

“Right. You’re clear to land. See you soon.”

“See you soon. Tharraleos out.”

“Do we really have time for dinner? Sure, I haven’t eaten anything good in a while, but can we really afford the time?” asked Keera.

“We’re not going to dinner.”

“So why are we landing on the Destiny?”

“To steal as much quadrinium as we need for the jump back.”

“Won’t that get you in trouble?”

“No more than we’re already in. It’s not like we have any choice.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Just stay with the ship. I’ll go with Tar’Lock to get the quadrinium and we’ll be on our way within minutes.”

“If all goes well.”

“It will. I know exactly what to do.”

“Alright. Good luck.”

Daniel nodded and jumped out of his chair and entered the next room. “Tar’Lock, you’re with me.”

“What’s going on, Daniel? Why haven’t we jumped yet,” asked Ryonna.

“We need quadrinium. We’re landing on the Destiny now. Let’s go steal some.”

“Wow, when did this escalate to piracy?” asked Fillio.

“Look, we only need a little, and if we ask nicely the commodore will know we’re up to something.”

“He’s not going to like this, and I can tell you it will be our asses when we get back. Saroudis might be an understanding commanding officer, but Admiral Thassos runs a tight fleet. We’re toast.”

“You can still stay on board Destiny and keep your wings. In fact, all of you can decide not to follow my lead on this one. I won’t think less of you.”

“Chase is my friend as well, so I’m in. Bye bye, Earth Alliance.”

“And I owe Chase my life and the life of my son. I’m coming.” Ryonna didn’t hesitate.

“That’s nice of you, but depending on how all of this goes, he might be branded a traitor’s son. So not sure how good this will be for his career in the Droxian military.”

“The actions of the parents bear no consequences in our culture.”

“As you wish.”

“What about you, Daniel?” inquired Ryonna. “Are you willing to sacrifice your position as wing commander for this?”

“For Chase? Absolutely.”

“He might not need our help. We’re nothing but bugs compared to his own powers,” said Ryonna, feeling uneasy admitting this.

“Just the same. He may or may not need our help, but I’m not letting him walk into danger alone. Not this time.”

Tar’Lock took a step forward. “What’s the plan, Daniel?”

“Let’s play a little game of misdirection, shall we?”

Daniel explained his plan and soon they were on their way.

* * *

Chase went to the mess hall for something to eat. He hadn’t eaten any of his favorite dishes for a long time. He synthesized a double pepperoni pizza. His taste buds relished the almost forgotten sensation.

“Boy, I could live on pizza.”

You know this is trouble, don’t you? he heard in his mind.

“Hello, Ares.”

“Chase, it’s not too late to change your mind.”

“There’s no way to change it now, and I think you know exactly what I feel.”

“Be that as it may, have you stopped to think what it is that Argos could get his hands on?”

“Do you know what it is?”

“No, but I can only surmise it will give him an advantage to win this war.”

“I won’t let him.”

“That arrogance again. Blinded by your emotions. When it’s not rage or hatred, it’s love. I don’t know which is worse.”

“Always the cynic.”

“I’m not being cynical and you know it. You have no idea whether by helping your evil brother you might not doom every other life in the universe.”

“I have thought of it.”

“And yet you accept this as a possibility.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“I do understand. I love Aphroditis, and I gave my life for hers.”

“And I’m willing to give mine for Sarah’s. How is that different?”

“It wouldn’t be, except you’re not just placing your own fate in the balance here, but the entire universe.”

“Remember that I’m the one supposed to protect it? I haven’t forgotten what your sister told me at the beginning of all of this. Perhaps this is how things must play out. Perhaps that’s the plan.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Well, we’ll know soon enough. But look at it this way, my friend: if I don’t do this and let Sarah die, I will no longer be able to protect anyone. I will probably just want to crawl into the deepest hole and die. How does that help anyone exactly?”

“Difficult to argue with that logic, I’ll grant you that. Did you just call me friend?”

“I guess I did,” said Chase, taking another huge bite of pizza with a big smirk on his face.

“Hungry, are we?”

“Famished. This last fight took a lot out of me, but I’m already regaining my powers. I can feel it.”

“Good. I’ll be along for the ride, in case you need my help.”

“Thanks, but shouldn’t you just go through the Styx?”

“Should, yes; but right now I must see how this plays out.”

“Alright. Glad you’re with us, Ares.”

“Chase!” Ares sounded alarmed.

“What?”

“I sense something wrong with Aphroditis. Please go to her side at once!”

Chase discarded the pizza slice in his hand, jumped out of his chair and ran.

* * *

While she was sleeping, Aphroditis entered a trance and started levitating above the sofa in the captain’s ready room.

She floated in a large, round arena with very tall, dark walls made from massive blocks of stones. The place looked ancient. Some runes in four different colors glowed on the walls, and while she thought they looked Olympian, they were too blurry for her to read. Blue, red, green and white, each above altars with matching colors; and hovering above those, glowing spheres of energy.

Then she heard a growl. It froze her blood. The growl was so powerful, so intense, it made everything tremble. And soon the ground shook. It felt like footsteps, but she could only see a shadow walking, with red, glowing eyes. The creature was almost as tall as the impossibly high walls.

She felt a sense of dread and great danger.

As the creature advanced towards her it blackened the faint sunlight and engulfed the arena in darkness. Only the runes and energy spheres provided faint lighting.

Then everything changed. She was sucked into space and saw stars and entire systems pass by at such velocity it made her sick to the stomach. When she finally stopped she stood in an empty part of space, though she could see dual stars shining far away.

She felt as though she knew this place, but it was the first time she’d been here. An ominous humming overtook her senses. It felt as if the universe around her was in a state of flux, trembling, shaking. Something big was about to happen.

A planet started materializing in the void before her eyes. At first it appeared blurry and felt like an after vision, like a mirage. But as time passed it became clearer and clearer. The parts of it engulfed in the darkness revealed points of light in close proximity. There was life on this planet; many cities in fact.

Without warning the gravity of the newly appeared celestial body attracted her to the surface. She tried to fight the forces that brought her towards the planet at impossible velocity, but was powerless to do anything about it. She passed into the atmosphere and her body fell faster and faster. She couldn’t see anything. A red, foggy haze was all around her. Soon the vista changed, and she realized she had passed through a thick layer of red clouds. The ground came at her so fast she felt compelled to close her eyes right before impact.

 But there was no boom, no crash, and no pain. She dared open her eyes and she was standing on the surface of this world. This planet that seemed not to exist just a minute ago. Strong winds sent dark, red sand into her face. It was so coarse, and the wind so wild, it produced hundreds of small cuts on the surface of her skin.

Two shadows argued in the distance, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying over the unpleasant and overbearing sound of the terrible winds. It sounded as if the entire planet was wailing in pain, the sound hurting Aphroditis’ ears and making her soul crawl into a deep, dark hole within herself, too afraid to face the agony, pain and fear the sound’s vibrations were emitting all around.

She tried blocking the sound by putting her hands on her ears, but it had no effect. It came from within and all around her at the same time. Her entire sensory system was overloaded.

Trying to figure out what the two shadows were saying, she took a few steps forward, but it required a tremendous amount of effort. The gravity was so intense—at least three times stronger than on her home planet of Olympus.

When she was about fifteen feet from the two arguing shadows she started to discern their vocal exchange. However, the wailing wind did not allow her to understand the words that were being said. Only the tone of the argument. It was very heated. One of the shadows had a familiar shape and when it glanced at her his eyes flashed red. Then it all went to hell. The shadows started fighting each other and everything around them was destroyed. The ground cracked, stones and sand flew everywhere and each blow they struck, whether successful or blocked, resulted in increasingly powerful shockwaves that pushed Aphroditis farther from the scene. She heard her voice being called in the distance, but barely.

“Aphroditis! Aphroditis!”

But then one of the shadows approached her at tremendous speed. He crashed next to where she was standing. At this point she couldn’t move. She felt as if she had been turned into a statue. Only her sight, sense of smell, touch and hearing remained. Her pain receptors didn’t work anymore; or her sensory input had been overloaded and numbed by the harsh conditions and cutting winds. The shadow struggled to his feet painfully, but not before spitting dark blood onto the sand-ridden ground.

He turned and looked straight into her eyes. His eyes flashed at her, emitting a crimson light that colored her entire vision and frightened her to the core.

“I’m coming for you next. You will pay for what you’ve done!”

He made a fist and prepared to launch a terrible blow at her. A crimson red aura danced around him, with crackling, bright-red lightning bolts. The instant the shadow’s fist hit her face, everything changed.

Her view shattered, as if the images before her eyes were made of glass, and revealed an image of Chase, shaking her body. It took a little while to regain her bearings.

“Are you alright? What happened?”

“I’m not sure. A vision perhaps, but this one felt so different; so real and terrifying at the same time. I thought I was there.”

“Where? Where have you been?”

“I think on the same planet I saw in my previous vision. A horrible, barren and hostile world.”

“Do you know what planet this is?”

“No, I’ve never seen a world like this. It was like a pure nightmare.”

“Calm down, Aphroditis, it wasn’t real.”

“It felt real. Whatever we’re doing at the moment, I’m afraid it will bring us there.”

“Are you changing your mind?”

“No, I told you I would help you save Sarah and I keep my promises.”

“And I will keep mine.”

“I know, Chase. I just hope you’ll find the strength to fight what’s coming next. I feel . . . I have that deep, dark, black hole sensation in my stomach, as if all we’ve done until now was nothing. That the real trial, the real darkness, is yet to manifest itself.”

Chase pondered these words. If that was true, if Obsidian, Zarlacks and Argos were just the beginning and something even worse was on its way . . . The reality of this was simply too much to bear. Chase’s mind couldn’t comprehend it.

“I sure hope you’re exaggerating a little,” was all he could say in response.

She shook her head solemnly from side to side as an answer.

16

Fillio entered the bridge of the Destiny and went to see the commodore.

“Commander Steriopoulou, where’s the rest of the group?”

“They went to take a quick shower and dress for dinner. We’re still on, right?”

“Yeah. In fact, after the day I’ve had, I think we’ll go straight to it. We’ll debrief tomorrow.”

“Sounds good.”

“I heard Chase put an entire security force out of commission.”

“Yeah, in less than a second; but I don’t think he hurt them so much.”

“That’s not what the admiral said, but I’m sure they’ll live.”

“I don’t think it was wise to send them. It would have been better to try and talk to him.”

“I agree. That wasn’t my order. Anyway, Admiral Thassos is really losing patience with Chase’s antics. I can’t say I blame her.”

“I understand, sir, but under the circumstances, can we really blame him? Do you know about Sarah?”

“I heard, yes. Between you and me, I really hope he manages to save her. Ever since he left us things haven’t gone so well. It looked like it did for a while. In fact, we dropped our guard a little too soon. We were winning most of our engagements with the Zarlack forces and . . .”

“I know, sir. There was nothing we could have done. They killed hundreds if not thousands of their own, sacrificing their ships to take out three of our cities.”

“How can Argos have them do this? I mean, who in their right mind obeys such orders?”

“Perhaps it wasn’t an order; more like a command.”

“What do you mean?”

“We know Argos used mind control on Sarah; at least on her clone. And she’s one tough nugget. So perhaps the Zarlacks’ brains are more prone to being controlled by their masters.”

“I hadn’t thought of that; that would indeed explain their actions.”

“Yes it would.”

“Alright. I guess I should also go and dress. Walk with me?”

“Mind if I stay on the bridge a while?”

“Sure, but won’t you need to change as well? Or do you intend to come to dinner in your flight suit?”

“Nah, I’ll change too, Commodore. Just want to rest a little. Like you said before: long day.”

“Here.” The commodore offered his captain’s chair as he got up. “The bridge is yours, Commander.”

“Thanks, Commodore, see you shortly.”

Saroudis left the bridge and Fillio lost no time accessing the doors of the reserve quadrinium chambers.

Daniel, you’re up.

* * *

Daniel and Tar’Lock were waiting by engineering.

“How do we deal with the people inside?”

“Non-lethal only.”

“Yeah, thanks. Like I was going to start shooting. And about that: I don’t like guns in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Right. Will you be fast enough to immobilize five or six crewmen before any of them can raise an alarm? I’d really prefer that the commodore didn’t realize we took quadrinium from his ship until we’re long gone.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. What are we waiting for exactly?”

“Fillio will send me a signal when she’s managed to unlock the reserve quadrinium chambers inside engineering. This can only be done from the bridge. That will be our cue.”

“Am I reading it wrong or are you attracted to her?”

“Who? Fillio?”

“Yes, and it’s none of my business. Just thought I felt a vibe.”

“She’s a good pilot, true.”

“Not what I asked.”

“Alright, she’s very cute and perhaps I like her. What is it to you?”

“Nothing, just making conversation.”

“Right. What about you and Ryonna?”

“What about it?”

“You also seem close.”

“Not that kind of close.”

“If you say so.”

“Look, I’m an insectoid about half her size. How would that work exactly?”

“Love knows no borders, man. All I’m saying.”

Tar’Lock clicked something in frustration.

“Whatever you say,” said Daniel with a smirk.

“About Fillio,” added Tar’Lock.

“Yeah?”

“I think she likes you too.”

“You think?”

But then the conversation was interrupted by a quick, tri-tone alarm coming from Daniel’s wrist.

“Show time. Follow my lead.”

Daniel entered engineering with his hands behind his back. He counted three engineers on the left side of the room and one on the right. He indicated the number of people on each side with his fingers. They looked at him puzzled, and one of them approached him.

“What can we do for you, Commander?”

“Nothing. I was just stretching my legs. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at a—” Before he could finish his sentence the man felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck.

Daniel barely saw a brief series of flashes in front of his eyes, and every crew member in engineering fell to the ground unconscious.

“Wow, you’re even faster than I remembered.”

“Thanks, but I suggest we move fast.”

“Right.”

Daniel went directly for the reserve quadrinium chambers behind the engine room, grabbed some protective gloves nearby, took a few pounds of the dark, blue-purple crystal and filled a bag he took out of his jacket.

“Will that be enough?” asked Tar’Lock.

“Yes, quadrinium is incredibly dense. This is plenty already. Quick, take this back to the ship.” Daniel handed the bag to Tar’Lock.

“Sure thing.” Tar’Lock disappeared, the sheer rate of his acceleration blasting Daniel’s hair about for an instant.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

Daniel looked around, making sure the crewmen were still unconscious, and then left engineering in a hurry.

* * *

When Daniel boarded the Valken, he called Fillio. “Are you in position?”

“Yes, I’m aboard a StarFury, ready to launch.”

“Good. We’re good to go. See you outside. Land on the Valken upon launching, and let’s get out of here.”

“Roger that. Did everything go smoothly?”

Daniel heard the familiar sound of a wailing alert just as Keera was lifting the ship off the ground.

“Yeah, just in the nick of time. Launch now!”

“Launching. See you soon.”

The Valken exited the cargo bay, and soon Fillio’s StarFury landed on board. The ship was hailed.

Keera looked at Daniel. “Wanna answer that call?”

“How soon until we can jump?”

“We can jump any time, but does the Destiny have a tractor beam?”

“It does, and a powerful one at that. Punch the engines to the maximum and tell me when we’re out of range.”

“In 3 . . . 2 . . . 1.”

“Let me hear it.”

Keera keyed a command and a furious Saroudis appeared on the holo-display.

“Commander! What is this? Why did one of my StarFuries leave my ship without my permission, and what happened in engineering?”

“Sorry, Commodore, looks like we’ll be late for dinner.”

“This ain’t funny! Come back aboard Destiny at once. This is a direct order!”

“I can’t obey that order. We’re going after Chase.”

“No you’re not!”

Daniel cut the communication short and signaled Keera.

The Valken jumped into hyperspace.

* * *

After making sure Aphroditis was feeling better, Chase went to the mess hall and ate until full, which took him a few hours. Pizza, Chinese food—he spared none of his favorite dishes. He really had been famished and had no doubt that this was because of the previous fight. He had spent a lot of his power.

Finally, when he couldn’t take another bite for fear of throwing up, he left the mess hall and returned to the bridge.

“What’s with your friend?” asked Argos.

“None of your business.”

“Right. The sooner we get this over with the better. You’re not fun to be around.”

“Did you really expect me to be?”

“Guess not, but it is weirder for me than for you. I’ve known you since birth.”

“I really wonder what compelled you to wipe my memory, and what gave you the right.”

“I’m not gonna go there, as I said before, but believe me, it was either that or kill you.”

“You would have tried, perhaps.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, just because you seem to manage your power better and to become stronger than me under a specific set of circumstances now. You were never half the fighter I was. Back then you couldn’t use your energy very well.”

“Or so you say. Since I have no memories, I can’t really trust anything you tell me.”

“Whatever. This family reunion is only temporary.”

“That’s right. After we part ways, you’d better pray we don’t ever meet again for your sake.”

“It won’t matter then.”

Chase didn’t like that one bit. It was clear that whatever Argos was after was important enough that he didn’t care if Chase came back for him afterwards. He really wished he knew what that was all about.

“Can you reverse what you’ve done to me?”

“What? You mean give you your memories back?”

“Yes.”

“Hmmm. I’ve never tried that before. Perhaps, but I’m not sure.”

“Would you?”

“I don’t think that would make any sense to you now. Your life is different. Plus I don’t owe you this. I only owe you your precious Sarah.”

“Don’t you forget that!”

“Has no one ever told you how annoyingly repetitive you can be sometimes?”

Chase didn’t answer.

Argos passed his finger across his scar.

“It’s not the first time I’ve seen you do that,” said Chase. “What’s with that scar? We can heal any wound. Why do you still have it?”

“It’s a reminder, a parting gift from you, in fact. I decided not to heal it as a reminder of the day our paths diverged forever.”

“I see. I’d say sorry for the scar, but somehow I get the feeling it was deserved.”

“From your point of view at the time, I have no doubt you thought so. You were trying to kill me after all.”

“Wish I had succeeded.”

Argos’ eyes glowed red, his temper clearly being tested.

“Now is not the time, Argos. We’ll have plenty of time to settle this one day. Soon.”

“Looking forward to it.”

“Somehow I doubt that, but I certainly am.”

“You should get some rest, Laiyos. We are still quite far from our destination and I need you in top form for what’s coming next. I can sense you haven’t recovered fully from our last battle. You need to recharge.”

“The ship doesn’t need you. It’s flying itself. You haven’t recovered fully either, so I suggest you do the same.”

Argos exhaled deeply and had to refrain from smiling.

“I will. For once we can agree on something.”

17

Chase stood somewhere on Earth. The breathtaking view of the tall mountains all around and the fresh air made him feel at peace. Birds chirped nearby; wild animals ran all around him. This was incredibly relaxing.

Ares sat next to him.

“Earth sure is a beautiful planet,” Chase observed.

“Yes. That it sure is.”

“What can I do for you, Ares?”

“I’m sorry to interrupt this moment, but you should look up.” Ares pointed towards the sky.

Chase looked up and saw four points of light approaching from the distance. A feeling of dread built in him. “They look like meteors.”

“Except they’re not. They come for you. They come to claim this world.”

“Who are they?”

“We’ll know soon enough, won’t we?”

As they approached, Chase could see the sunlight reflecting on their chrome alloy. They weren’t large; they were barely bigger than escape pods. But their impact created large craters.

Chase jumped into the air and hovered for a second before flying towards the nearest impact zone. He landed inside one of the gigantic craters.

Upon close inspection, the metal box looked like a pod. It made a noise and its door opened. Thin smoke escaped and quickly dissipated into the air.

“Who’s there?” inquired Chase.

A hand grabbed the side of the opening and a tall man emerged from the pod. He looked human, but was wearing a shiny, purple armor that covered his trunk, arms and legs, but not his shoulders. It gleamed in the sunlight.

Chase didn’t know if it was the reflection of the sun on the armor or something else, but he could barely make out the details of the man’s face—only two bright, red eyes that reminded him of Argos.

Before he could say anything, three other shadows, wearing the same attire, landed next to the man who had just exited the pod. The ground shook.

They all looked the same, but Chase simply couldn’t make out their faces.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

There was no answer, only red, glowing eyes staring back at him.

Then more and more of these shadows appeared. At first twenty surrounded him, but soon there were hundreds, all staring at him.

“What the hell is this?”

Soon all he could see anywhere were duplicates of these shadowy men in purple, bright, metallic armor. Their presence blackened the atmosphere as they hovered in the sky.

Chase’s heart pounded in his chest. He was unable to process what was going on around him.

Suddenly he heard a voice that sounded like a million voices at once. Only one word: “Die!”

Every shadow launched itself at him from every conceivable direction and struck him at once.

Chase shouted at the top of his lungs and everything changed. He was in his quarters aboard the Iron Fire, his heart racing, panting for air, clearly shaken.

A dream? A vision? What the hell was that?

* * *

Spiros was having more and more trouble sifting through the millions of lines of code, trying to find a way to reprogram the entity. Cedric had fallen asleep at his terminal a good hour back and was snoring heavily. Yanis had gone for coffee and stims from the med-bay.

Spiros decided he needed a break from his current task and checked his latest scans. What he saw really terrified him. The entity had already assembled six facilities around the planet, clearly intended to become the generators for the planetary shield. It had created hundreds of thousands of drones to carry out the task really quickly, clearly having no qualms about how quickly it was depleting the Alliance’s quadrinium reserves. By his calculation, in just a few days they’d simply run out.

Spiros had kept the admiral informed, and she had already asked their Droxian allies for a large delivery of the precious material.

Their scans of Droxian, Alliance and Obsidian ships had not detected any presence of the entity, but Spiros was not yet ready to accept that they were immune to it. It was perhaps just not part of its plan; at least not yet.

The entity hadn’t made contact with them since their last conversation, but that was a good thing. Spiros hated being on the defensive and having to justify the earthlings’ past actions in order to ensure their future. Part of him agreed with the entity. The humans had really been hard on this world, and if there was such a thing as planetary consciousness, he could see why it would be utterly pissed.

Yanis entered with coffees and pills on a small tray and sat next to Spiros.

“I don’t know how long we can keep awake, even with all this. Surely we are performing at a way lower capacity than when in top shape.”

“I know. We should take turns sleeping.”

“Looks like Cedric didn’t want to wait.”

“That’s alright. You can be next.”

“You’re the oldest of us; perhaps you should sleep first.”

Spiros shot him a pointed look.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“No, you did; but it’s correct, I’m older. I’m also enhanced, which you are not.”

“Right, nanites.”

“Amongst other things.”

“I’d like to get enhanced too. Is that a possibility?”

“I don’t see why not, but some people don’t like augments.”

“Why?”

“They think it’s unnatural, that we’re cheating the circle of life and such nonsense.”

“I think it’s cool if it helps us be more efficient and more resilient as well.”

“I agree, obviously. We should get back to work.”

“Right. What’s new?”

“Look here.” Spiros showed him the scans.

“Someone’s been busy.”

“Yeah, at this rate this planetary shield will be done in a week.”

“Perhaps even faster.”

“Yeah, it’s difficult to evaluate since the entity is able to do so many things at once.”

“Can you imagine how great it would be if this thing was working for us? I mean, how fast it would churn out ships, repair damage?”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that. In fact, we need to try it; but we also need to be ready to kill it in case we fail to convince it.”

“It’s not gonna like that. We’d better make sure that part of the plan is foolproof.”

“I don’t think foolproof exists; hence the predicament we’re in.”

“Yeah. If we had to choose between wiping all the data on Earth and it taking over, I take it we would chose the former, right?”

“The fact that you’re asking means you know how awful both those solutions are. But yes, if needed, let’s turn every computerized system off and start with a blank slate. That ought to paralyze this world for a while.”

“I’ve thought about that too, fortunately.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, I discussed it with Cedric earlier. We could create an intelligent system to restore the basic OS you mentioned. It would do that on its own by populating it to drones, which would then populate other devices and so on.”

“That’s what I had in mind as well, but I’m thinking nanites might be a better delivery system.”

“True, but can we manufacture enough? Do they have a sufficient range?”

“We could, I suppose, and they could reproduce themselves.”

“You do realize we’re taking risks we shouldn’t as scientists. The same types of risks that got us here in the first place. What if the nanites become self-aware when we let them replicate?”

“I know, but what else can we do? Live under the tyranny of an entity that can decide to wipe us out by the billions at any time? We’re sitting on the biggest ticking time bomb of all time.”

“It’s ironic it came into being while we tried to diffuse bombs that would have destroyed this world in the first place.”

“It is, isn’t it? That’s it!”

“What is?”

“That’s what we do: we reverse the process. We prepare nanite bombs on this ship, and then we beam them down and let them explode all at once. The entity won’t have time to react to it. The nanites will wipe every system and then immediately install the new basic OS. Then we can restore pre-infection backups.”

“Still a gigantic task, but that could work.”

“If we do our job well it would only take a few days, I think.”

“Let’s just hope we don’t get attacked, then.”

“Even so, our ships are operational. The Droxians and Obsidian both agreed to send reinforcements. So if Argos comes back, he’ll find a committee waiting, and this time we’ll anticipate their suicidal tactics. Hopefully we can have a semi-functional shield made with the satellites as well.”

“You seem pretty confident.”

“Well, I think this could work.”

“You did say beam, though.”

“What about it?”

“Well, last time Cedric did that it created the entity.”

“I’ve analyzed the entire logs of what he did. I think I can replicate it safely.”

“If that’s so, we could use the technology for other things too.”

“Yes, transportation on Earth of living beings; on ships to deliver payloads within the enemy ships.”

“What about plan A, though? Clearly this is plan B?”

“It is, yes. Well, plan A is the reason we’re not sleeping currently.”

“Let’s keep at it then.”

18

On board the Valken, Daniel woke from his nap.

“Hello, sleepyhead.”

“Hey, Keera, what’s our status?”

“We still have a few hours before we arrive at our destination. You do realize that if the Iron Fire made a stop there and re-entered hyperspace we won’t be able to track them?”

“Not necessarily. I’ve got the Iron Fire’s signature, and if we don’t arrive too late after they jumped, we should be able to calculate a hyperspace vector at least from the residue its engines leave.”

“That seems approximate at best.”

“It is, but it’s better than nothing. How’s everyone back there?”

“Last I checked they were also resting. You may want to check on them.”

“That’s okay. If they can get some rest that’s good. We might be in for a difficult time ahead.”

“About that. I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“It seems Chase and Argos are in a league of their own, powerwise. What is it you wish us to accomplish exactly?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps he may still need our help one way or another.”

“That’s a big assumption.”

“I know. I just don’t like the idea of letting my friend run into the lion’s den on his own, that’s all.”

“I understand that totally. I just hope we don’t end up being a liability for him.”

“How so?”

“Well, we are frail compared to the Furies. Heck, even Ares was killed by Argos.”

“What? Ares died?”

“Yeah. I thought you knew, but how could you.”

“That’s the thing, and that’s what I hate about being kept in the dark. So Argos killed Ares. Can’t believe an Olympian as strong as the god of war got killed. How did Chase take it?”

“Not very well. He was his mentor after all.”

“I know. He told me about him. I sense he had a deep respect for him.”

“It hit him hard, but it did seem to fuel his hatred for Argos.”

“Yet he left with him willingly.”

“Don’t be an ass, Daniel. You know as well as I do that you’d be doing the same thing in his shoes.”

“Would I? I guess I never really felt what Chase feels for Sarah. I suppose if it was the case . . . Perhaps.”

She looked a little surprised at the confession. “Such a handsome guy as you? Really? I kinda thought you and what’s-her-name back there were a thing.”

“Her name is Fillio, and no we’re not. Though I must admit we’ve been closer since Chase resigned and left the Alliance.”

“Alright, I’m not judging. Sorry if I’m a little nosy. I just felt a vibe, that’s all. Call it female intuition.”

“You’re the second person who’s told me they feel something between us.”

“There you go. You may want to look into that eventually. I think she likes you.”

Daniel blushed but couldn’t help smiling a little.

“You’d make a nice couple, I think.”

Suddenly Daniel’s expression changed.

“What did I say? Why the long face?”

“It just hit me. Perhaps on a subconscious level I never really let myself be close to anyone to avoid being hurt or heartbroken. We are at war; there’re casualties. What if I open my heart to her and one of us bites the dust?”

“That’s the risk we all take when we care about someone. But is it really living if we prefer shielding ourselves from pain rather than take a risk to be happy? No, really, it’s an intrinsic part of living. There’s nothing we can do to control what’s going to happen; and honestly, even if it was possible, I think life would be boring.”

“I suppose so.”

“I know so. I’m glad to live in a world where I can meet someone and that person sweeps me off my feet; then, all of a sudden everything changes; life has more texture, more taste.”

“You’re an interesting bounty hunter, Keera, to say the least.”

“Well thank you.” She beamed at him an almost childlike smile.

* * *

The Iron Fire exited hyperspace near a brownish-grey planet with three moons orbiting it.

“We’re here,” said Argos.

“What are those?” asked Chase

“Planetary defense systems. They will scan us as soon as we’re in range and start firing.”

“Shouldn’t I be in a fighter taking them down?”

“Wait for it.”

“What? Why?”

“Let’s call it a hunch, okay?”

“And if you’re wrong?”

“If I’m wrong we’ll double back and land on the planet using the Dark Star.”

The onboard computer beeped. “Target lock!”

Chase jumped to the nearest console.

“Take it easy. They’ll scan us first.”

Multiple rays of bright, white light illuminated the bridge, emerging through one wall and disappearing through another.

Argos rose. “Five . . . four . . .” After a few seconds, he sat back in the captain’s chair.

“They’re not firing,” observed Chase.

“Thanks for telling me. I hadn’t noticed.”

“Sarcasm aside, why do you think that is?”

“Want me to spell it out for you? Isn’t it obvious?”

“Aphroditis?”

“There you go. I suspected this planet was under their protection. In fact, everything we will face from now on is probably thanks to the Olympians.”

“That’s why you needed her?”

“No, I need her for something else later.”

“What if she doesn’t want to comply?”

“Then both her and your precious Sarah die; so better work on your convincing speech for when that time comes.”

“She won’t refuse, but I might.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. I know you won’t sacrifice Sarah.”

Chase wanted to argue that perhaps under the right set of circumstances he could convince himself that, for the greater good, he would indeed make that decision. But he would be lying to himself. There was nothing more important to him right this moment than saving her. Even though the nightmare, Aphroditis’ latest vision and his growing sense of dread, all seemed to point in the same direction. Whatever Chase was helping Argos achieve, it would have dire consequences. Of that Chase had very little doubt.

“Let’s take my ship and land. We need to get going. The fun hasn’t begun yet.”

“Fun?”

“That depends on how you look at it, I suppose. But if you like fighting, you won’t regret what comes next.”

“I don’t like fighting per se, except when your face is on the receiving end.” Chase smiled lopsidedly.

“Well, this time it won’t be; and remember, if my heart stops for thirty seconds, so does Sarah’s. Well, technically it’s not really her heart that would be the problem, but I’d rather spare you the mental image.”

Chase cringed. “So generous of you. So not only do we have to fight someone together, but I have to make sure you don’t die in the process, is that it?”

“Told you the fun hadn’t started yet.” Argos wore a defiant smirk.

He rose from the captain’s chair and cracked his neck and fingers.

“Ready, brother?”

“Ready, but don’t call me that.”

“Let’s go then.”

“Is she coming with us?”

“No, if Aphroditis leaves the ship it will be destroyed, obviously.”

“Won’t we need her help on the surface?”

“We’ll transmit video. She might be able to help us decipher some of the runes in the arena.”

“What arena? What is this? What do we do down there?”

“We fight, what else? And this is a fight to the death. I barely escaped with my hide last time. I don’t have to remind you what happens if I perish this time.”

“No you don’t, even though you seem obsessed with repeating that part.”

“Let’s go. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can stop pretending that we’re tolerating each other’s company.”

“I’m looking forward to that.”

“As am I, brother.”

Aphroditis emerged from the captain’s ready room.

“Where are you go—” She stopped short. “No, if you two go down there you’ll die. You can’t defeat the beast. It’s too powerful.”

“We’re Furies. We can defeat anything and anyone,” said Argos before looking straight at Chase. “If we work together.”

“Aphroditis, you know this place?”

“I’ve heard of it. This is Tartarus, isn’t it?”

“Correct,” muttered Argos.

“No one ever came back alive from this place.”

“I did, once.”

Her eyes grew wide.

“Did you really escape it?”

“Barely, but yes. I’m not entirely sure how. One minute I was defeated, losing consciousness, about to get crushed. The next I was outside the arena. That’s all I recall.”

“Chase, I don’t like this.”

“Neither do I, but we don’t have a choice.”

“I’m coming with you, then.”

“No you can’t. The defense platforms around this planet will destroy the Iron Fire if you do. We may need you to come get us in case things go wrong.”

“I don’t know how to pilot this ship, Chase.”

“See these?” Chase showed her two small, round devices. “Put them on your temples and the ship will do what you think.”

“What if it doesn’t work with Olympian physiology?”

Chase tossed them at her and used his mind to place them gently on her temples.

“You should close your eyes now.”

She did. She saw a HUD with commands of all sorts, but when she thought about turning the ship around the Iron Fire responded immediately.

“Seems to work fine. Don’t you dare leave us stranded here, though. If you do I will kill Sarah.”

Chase growled and the Iron Fire shook. Aphroditis removed the devices from her temples and stored them in a pocket.

“Keep your energy for the next fight, brother. We’ll need it. Use that hatred you harbor towards me; but may I suggest you focus it on the right target.”

Chase’s eyes blinked purple and his fists tightened.

He’d had just about enough of being ordered around by Argos. He could feel the will to strike him down grow stronger inside him. But Sarah and Chris’ mental image calmed him down quickly.

Argos smiled. “We should get going; and you,” he said, looking at the Olympian. “We’ll transmit video signals to you. We may need some translation done, as well as tips for defeating the beast.”

“I don’t know how to help you, and even if I did, I’m not sure I want to.”

“You don’t want to incur the wrath of my brother. Believe me, I know firsthand what Chase is capable of when he loses someone he loves.”

“Enough, you two! Aphroditis, please help me get Sarah back. I will do whatever you want me to after that; and Argos, stop antagonizing us all the time. We get it. You’re in control now, so we’ll do as you say. Enough with the threats.”

Argos grimaced but then smiled. “Sounds good to me. Now let’s go down there at once. We’ve lost enough time as it is.”

Aphroditis took a step forward. “Can I please have a moment alone with Chase?”

“Sure. Meet me on board the Dark Star when you’re done. Don’t be long.”

Chase shot a look of disdain at Argos but nodded nonetheless.

When Argos left the bridge, Aphroditis came near Chase and took him in her arms.

“What’s that for?”

“This might be the last time I see you.”

“No, no way. Nothing will stop me from seeing and holding Sarah in my arms. This alone will keep me alive.”

“You don’t know what awaits you down there. I . . . I wish there was another way, with all my heart.”

“Whatever it is I’ll prevail.”

“I wish I could say I hope so, but I’m no longer sure the trajectory we’re on is the right one . . .”

“I understand. Thank you for helping me do this, Aphroditis. I’ll never forget it.”

A tear ran down her face. She wiped it away and nodded.

“I should go.”

“Wait!”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Take this.” She took a hidden amulet from under her beautiful, white, silky clothing and hung it around Chase’s neck. “You will need this.”

“What is it?” Chase looked at the pendant. It was a beautiful pearly white, light as a feather, and in its center shone a glowing green stone.

“It’s for luck. Don’t lose it. It will also help me see everything you see and feel what you feel.”

“Is that wise? Don’t you already hold these powers?”

“No. I see possible futures. That is my power. But I don’t see everything. We can also communicate with this. All you need to do is talk to me in your mind, and I will answer you.”

“Handy. Is this what you used to first contact me?”

“No, that’s an entirely different technology. Be wary of some side effects, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“The amulet tends to have a mind of its own. While it is very powerful, it can sometimes show you things when you least expect it.”

“Is this what allows you to see the future?”

“It’s only part of it, Chase. It allows me to channel my visions with more control. When I wear it I am more focused than without, but my visions happen nonetheless.”

“Isn’t it dangerous for me to take this into battle?” Chase grabbed it and was about to remove it from his neck.

She put her hands on his and lowered them gently.

“Keep it. I have a feeling it’s very important for you to have it for your trial down there.” She hid the pendant under his dark and dusty clothes.

“Alright, thank you. I promise to get it back to you,” said Chase with a smile.

“Go now, and please be careful.”

“I will. See you soon.”

Chase left the bridge without another word and Aphroditis sat in his chair, pensive.

Father, forgive me.

“He’s not going to be happy about this, that’s for sure.” That was Ares’ voice.

“Ares, you’re here?”

“I’m pretty much everywhere I want to be at once, now. I seem to be able to travel great distances almost instantly.”

“I’m so sorry you had to give your life.”

“There was no other way. As for Zeus, he will never forgive us for our actions. You know that, right?”

“I know, but we have to trust that Chase will prevail.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like Chase. He means well. What awaits him down there?”

“The worst, most vile and powerful creature of all time.”

“A Titan then?”

Aphroditis didn’t need to answer and simply closed her eyes in response.

19

On board the Cronos, Saroudis entered the admiral’s ready room. She keyed a few commands into her console and every system in the room shut down.

“What’s that all about?”

“What we need to discuss is for us and us alone.”

“I’m not sure I like where this is going.”

“I don’t either. We simply have to take every precaution. The entity could be listening in. We can’t afford that.”

“What’s the status on that?”

“Spiros is making progress on multiple fronts, but for now we have to play along with Gaia’s wishes.”

“I see. I still think we should shut it down. God knows when it will decide to act. It could happen at any moment when we can’t afford it.”

“I know that very well, Adonis, believe me.”

“Where are we on the reconstruction of Earth’s cities?”

“It’s ongoing, but the entity only allowed us to use half of the droids force. It’s using the other half and building others at an alarming rate.”

“For what purpose?”

“It’s building a shield around Earth, to prevent what the planet just suffered from happening again.”

“Shouldn’t we be building that shield?”

“Yes we should, but we would never reach that level of efficiency. Nor would we have redirected so many resources towards achieving that goal so fast. Not with all the work we have building new ships, repairing damage and building new satellites. There’s too much to do at once. Gaia is focusing on one task alone, and with its incredible computing capability it’s going at least ten times faster than we would.”

“Well, besides the fact that she could also be building an army to use against us at the same time, at least the shield is a good idea.”

“She?”

“It, whatever! Don’t give it a name if you don’t want me to call her a she.”

“Point taken. Still it or she is alive and sentient, so it doesn’t really matter what we call it.”

“Yeah. Sentient or not, this is a threat. We can’t just live under her rule like this, not for long.”

“I know, but right now at least it doesn’t seem intent on wiping us out.”

“It may just be buying time until it feels it can defend itself.”

“And that’s why we’re working day and night on a way to neutralize it. We already have a plan, should it come to that.”

Adonis exhaled in a way that left no room for doubt about his frustration.

“What is it?”

“It never seems to stop, that’s what it is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ever since the Obsidian nearly wiped us out, we’ve been on the run, hiding, fighting for our lives. There never seems to be a moment to catch our breath. It’s starting to take a toll on me.”

“I know how you feel. Now, on to less pleasant things.”

Saroudis grinned. “The Iron Fire incident?”

“Yes, the incident, as you say. This time your precious Chase went too far.”

“You pushed him into an impossible position.”

“Not if he followed orders.”

“That’s easy to say from your point of view. Try putting yourself in his shoes.”

“That’s not how the chain of command works.”

“I know, and I know you like things done a certain way.”

“These are rules we’ve established because they work. I don’t do it because I like it.”

“Nonetheless, I think if we had done everything by the book since the initial Obsidian attack, we’d be all dead by now.”

“What are you saying?”

“That the chain of command is important, but sometimes rules need to be broken. Or, at the very least, bent.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Especially coming from you.”

“Well, I’m sorry, Admiral, but even though I don’t condone what Chase has done, I understand why he is doing it. If I had the chance to save any member of my family . . .” But then he stopped short and tears formed in his eyes. “I . . . I would give everything to have been given the opportunity to save them. I can’t blame Chase for doing the same for Sarah and his unborn child.”

“Admiral, is it? Fair enough. You’re a soldier, you have orders, you follow them. That’s how we work, and without this all we get is chaos. And I’m dearly sorry for your personal loss, but never forget we are in the same boat. I lost everyone I cared about also.”

“And that’s why I don’t understand this resentment you harbor towards Chase. All he has done is try to save lives up until now.”

“What about Tokyo?”

“Alright, Tokyo is something that shouldn’t have happened. But if it saves the rest of the planet, then that’s unfortunate collateral damage. But let’s not forget that he saved this planet before. More than once. There wouldn’t be a Tokyo without Chase.”

“That’s where we disagree, I guess. That doesn’t give him the right to be judge, jury and executioner.”

“Argos went to the surface first. Chase just followed.”

“This is pointless. We will never agree on this front. Chase is an insubordinate hot head who doesn’t think before he acts, yet you take his side. Why?”

“He is also my friend.”

“I thought I was your friend,” said the admiral, with unmistakable sadness in her voice.

“You are. I don’t like being between the two of you. I care for both of you on different levels.”

“I see. You understand I can never reinstate his commission if he ever returns?”

“Understand, yes, but I will never forgive you if you don’t.”

Her eyes grew wide. “What the hell are you saying, Adonis?”

“It’s best if you address me by my rank, Admiral. And I’m saying that if you are not prepared to at least give Chase the benefit of the doubt, then be prepared to receive my resignation.”

“You can’t be serious Ad—” She caught herself. “Commodore Saroudis.”

“I’m dead serious. In fact, I’m requesting permission to go after Chase and his friends.”

She looked into his eyes for a very long time, trying to decide what had just happened and how it had gone so wrong so quickly.

“Request denied.”

“One of your officers is with him. Don’t you care about her wellbeing?”

“That’s neither here nor there. Commander Steriopoulou was poisoned by Chase.”

“That’s nonsense!”

“She was the most obedient officer I ever worked with until we found you on Droxia.”

Saroudis hit the desk with his fist, unable to control his anger. “Was? Really! You’re already counting her as dead because she isn’t your property anymore? Is that what this is all about, Admiral? You being in command, things being done your way? If that’s what we stand for now, I’m not sure I want to be part of it! I’m going after Chase. You can shoot at the Destiny if you want to, but I’m done with this shit.”

“Commodore Saroudis! That’s enough! I’ll give you one and one chance only to reconsider and apologize for this gross display of insubordination! Don’t throw your career away for this!”

He smiled. “So you show your real colors now.”

“And you do the same.”

“That’s not true. I’m being true to myself, and if you also are, then I have greatly misjudged you. To think I could even see a fu—” He stopped short. “Never mind that. You are the admiral. Do what you have to do.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” said a voice coming from all around them.

Admiral Thassos jumped out of her chair. “Who is this? Identify yourself!”

“My name is Ares and I’m sick and tired of hearing you two argue while your officers, your friends, are fighting for their lives.”

“This doesn’t concern you. You have no jurisdiction in our affairs,” said the admiral.”

“All the same, now is not the time for this. Are you really willing to risk everything and everyone on the planet below, as well as everywhere else in the galaxy, because you disagree with one another? Are your pride, your ego, your principles, really worth billions of lives?”

There was silence.

“Right, Chase can be a pain in the ass. I know firsthand how arrogant, defiant and quick to act he can be. But for fuck’s sake, his heart is in the right place at least. He sees beyond the shackles of protocol and rules. All he cares about is life. Ask yourself this question: do you?”

“How dare you insinuate that I don’t think of the lives of everyone in the Alliance?” The admiral fumed.

“Simple. You were about to arrest him because he didn’t agree with you, preventing him from saving his family for reasons you understand very well. But your stubbornness for doing things by the book blinds you from seeing things straight. As for your, Saroudis, ever heard the word ‘diplomacy’?”

Neither knew what to answer, stunned by what was unfolding.

“You have an entity down there that tells you it is Earth itself, and after all the pain and suffering its inhabitants have caused it over the last centuries, it’s still willing to negotiate with you, against its better judgment. It has plenty of reasons to eradicate the humans, and you both know it! But look in the mirror. You can’t even act like human beings amongst yourselves! Sometimes I wonder why we bother, really!”

Thassos let herself fall back on her chair. But it was Saroudis who spoke first. “I’m sorry. I . . . Ares is right. We should try to help each other, not fight.”

“Perhaps you’re right. I’m used to doing things a certain way.”

“And that’s understandable, but the universe is in trouble right now. It may be a good time to start looking at the problem from a different point of view,” said Ares, appearing before them as a golden aura, shining warm and peaceful light upon them.

The apparition had a calming effect on both of them.

“Please understand your efforts to build a new Earth Alliance are just incredible. Don’t let personal disagreements get in the way of that. We will all need this Alliance. It’s the only way you can hope to survive, and surely you can feel that within you.”

“I did not expect Olympians to lose their temper like that,” said Saroudis, still not sure that what was unfolding was real.

“You’re not dreaming, Saroudis. I’m real.”

“You look so different from Aphroditis.”

“That’s because I’m dead.”

They both looked stunned.

“Long story, and not important right now. There are enough problems in the universe and on the surface of the planet below, so please stop this. Help your friends. They need you now, more than ever.”

Admiral Thassos looked at Saroudis for a moment. “You can take the Destiny and as large an escort as you need for your support mission.”

“Thank you, Adm—Ally. I’m sorry for my outburst.”

“As am I, Adonis. Let it be a lesson for both of us.”

“Agreed.”

She stood to face Ares’ bright, golden energy. “Thank you, Ares. I must admit I had trouble believing in the Olympians and their motives, but you sure know how to make an entrance.”

“Aphroditis and I are not in agreement with the rest of my people, but that’s another story. I feel Chase might need my help shortly, so I’m going to have to leave now. Thank you for listening.”

She nodded. “Bye for now.”

And then the golden reflections cast on her skin by Ares’ aura faded away.

* * *

Argos and Chase landed on the surface of the planet aboard the Dark Star. They exited the vessel and walked towards a giant construction made of dark, grey, tall walls in the distance.

“We’ll only have one shot at this,” said Argos.

“Then let’s make it count!”

“That’s the spirit. Just like old times.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

They arrived at a gate. A hologram appeared, projecting some symbols Chase couldn’t read. Argos took a small, spherical device and threw it in the air, where it hovered.

“Aphroditis is up.”

Chase preferred not to reveal for the moment that he could speak to her anytime, so he placed the call.

“Can you decipher this for us?” he asked.

“It’s written in old Olympian. It says: Only through the powers of the elements can you hope to defeat the Titan.”

“What’s a Titan?” asked Chase.

“You’ll see soon enough,” said Argos. “Let’s go. This is bullshit. We just need to destroy it.”

“It must be a clue, and since you were defeated the last time, you may want to listen to the clue and see how it applies.”

“Sheer force always does the job in my experience.”

“Like when I kicked your ass twice?”

Argos shot him an evil look.

“You kinda walked into that one.”

“Perhaps. Shall we go get what we came for?” said Argos impatiently.

As they advanced towards the gate, it opened to reveal a long, tall corridor, illuminated by blue-flamed torches on the walls. After a minute of walking they arrived at another door. More glyphs were engraved on the right side of the wall.

“Aphroditis?”

“It says: Point of no return. If you value your life, turn back now.”

“Sound advice. Too bad it’s not an option today,” said Chase

“Let’s go, already. There’s a beast behind these doors. We just defeat it and you’ll have your precious Sarah back in your arms in no time.”

“If we survive this.”

“Neither of us has any choice but to survive and prevail.”

They stepped forward and the door disappeared as if it wasn’t there in the first place. They entered the arena. Its sheer size was impressive. The walls were as tall as some of the highest skyscrapers on Earth. A thin layer of fog lay on the ground. Chase saw the four different altars. One by the entrance, one at the other end of the gigantic arena and two near each of the walls, about halfway down the length of the arena.

“I think these things are needed for us to defeat the Titan,” said Chase, pointing towards the nearest altar, with a yellow, shining sphere of energy hovering over it and with glowing runes above it.

This was the place from Aphroditis’ vision, but this time she could read it.

“Blue is air, green is water, red is fire and yellow is earth.”

“How do we use them?”

“I have no idea, but I think you need to figure it out.”

“That’s nonsense,” shouted Argos. “We do this my way. We just attack the beast full force.”

“I don’t think that’s wise.”

The ground started shaking and a giant door at the other end of the arena opened to reveal a giant shadow with red, glowing eyes.

“You can’t be serious!” said Chase.

“Not the right time to be afraid.”

“Do you see the size of this . . . thing?”

“I fought it before, remember?”

“And lost, a fact you seem to forget.”

“Well, that’s why you’re here this time around.”

Chase’s heart rate increased, and while he knew he possessed incredible powers, the sight of the Titan, in the shadows no less, was enough to freeze his blood.

The Titan took a couple of steps forward and soon the details emerged. He was humanoid in shape—two legs, two arms—but his body appeared to be made of stone, the same dark-grey color as the stones from which the arena had been built.

“How fast is this thing?”

“Way faster than it looks.”

“Great.”

“I suggest you enter rage mode immediately.”

“What? I can’t just flip a switch!”

“You’d better hope you can reach this arcane level of yours, fast.”

“Right, we still have time. It’s still far a⁠—”

But before he could finish his sentence the eyes of the Titan flashed brightly and it started running towards them at impossible speed for a being its size. The ground shook so much that both Argos and Chase lost balance after just a few of the creature’s steps hit the ground.

Not wasting time trying to regain their balance, they both launched into the air and flew towards the Titan.

“We attack him together. It’s important he doesn’t fixate on either one of us,” said Argos.

They stopped a good fifty yards from the Titan and created fireballs in their hands.

“Now!”

Both Chase and Argos sent their attacks in sync: two fireballs, one red, one blue, impacted with the Titan’s head and created a huge explosion. When the dust settled, though, nothing had happened. The Titan’s eyes flashed again and two rays of light fired from them. It took both brothers their top speed to dodge the incoming attack, missing them only by inches.

“Well, that didn’t work very well, now did it?” said Chase.

“We have to keep at it, and you need to power up, Laiyos!”

“I wished you’d stop calling me by that name.”

“Now is not the ti⁠—”

But Argos never finished his sentence. The Titan had smashed him with the back of his hand and sent him rebounding against the nearest wall.

Chase lost no time preparing his next wave of attacks. He unleashed a flurry of powerful fireballs towards the beast’s head. It lost balance and fell on its back, as everything around them trembled.

A quick look at Argos revealed he was barely regaining consciousness.

“You okay?” inquired Chase.

“I’ll live. Keep at it! Don’t worry about me.”

Easy for you to say, thought Chase. He hated the fact that his life was linked to Sarah’s. He didn’t intend to let him die, not today; not until they had accomplished their objective and he’d rescued Sarah.

As the Titan rose, it unleashed a deafening growl. Chase launched himself at its head with a powerful kick. But when it found its target nothing happened except that a tremendous amount of pain jolted back through Chase’s body.

Ouch! Now that wasn’t fun at all.

The Titan unleashed another attack from its eyes and Chase was nearly caught by it. He managed to dodge it at the last possible moment. He could smell his shirt burning. The Titan launched itself into the air towards Chase. The speed at which this monstrosity was coming at him simply defied logic. It took Chase by surprise and, like his brother before him, he took the Titan’s punch right in the face. The pain traversing his body was amongst the worst he had ever felt. He crashed to the ground with tremendous velocity and felt three of his ribs crack.

“This is a nightmare! How can we defeat such a beast?”

By the time Chase got to his feet the Titan had already launched a powerful blow towards Argos, who blocked the attack with both hands extended in front of him and by using his telekinetic abilities. Red lightning crackled between his hands and that of the Titan.

“Whenever you feel like it! I won’t be able to hold him like this for very long.”

Chase concentrated his energy to the maximum and loaded his fists with radiating blue light. His aura grew quickly, and soon he was flying towards the Titan’s solar plexus at max speed, both fists extended in front of him.

The impact created a powerful shockwave that sent the Titan flying and crashing yards away.

“Well done.”

“He doesn’t seem to be hurt by these attacks, though, and we’re burning energy for nothing!”

“No, it’s working. I can feel it.”

Chase wondered if Argos was just delusional or if perhaps he could indeed feel something. Chase certainly couldn’t. Their enemy didn’t register any energy reading as Argos did during their previous engagements. It felt as it looked: made of stone.

“I’m gonna hit it with one of my most powerful attacks,” said Argos. “Distract him for me, will you?”

Chase nodded and flew towards the Titan, which was already climbing to its feet. When he saw Chase, it slapped both its hands together. The resulting shockwave hit Chase in midair and stopped him in his tracks, repelling him backwards as if he was a mosquito. When he looked back at the Titan, it wasn’t there anymore.

“Behind you! Watch out, Laiyos!”

Chase spun and saw a gigantic fist heading towards him. He was just in time to fly upwards and land on its forearm. Not losing momentum, he ran as fast as he could along it as he created a fireball in each hand. He was near the biceps of the beast when it fired another of its ocular death rays. Chase somersaulted to dodge, and fired both his fireballs in quick succession at the Titan’s neck. It growled.

Finally, showing some signs of pain.

But the feeling of achievement didn’t last long. When it opened its enormous hand, a gigantic, orange fireball was quickly created in its palm. The sheer size of it was mind-numbing. The fireball was at least three times Chase’s own height, and it approached him at impossible speed. All Chase could do was quickly erect a shield in front of him. But that didn’t suffice to block the incoming attack. It pierced through as if it was made of glass, and soon Chase was engulfed in fire.

He felt his clothes melt into his skin for what seemed an eternity. The radiating pain too strong for him to take, he soon lost consciousness. The last thing he saw was the ground approaching fast.

* * *

The Valken exited hyperspace.

“Any sign of the Iron Fire?” inquired Daniel.

“The ship’s computer has detected its signature in orbit around the nearest planet. We’re about two minutes away at sub-light speeds.”

“Punch it then. We need to get there as fast as possible.”

Daniel exited the cockpit and went to check on his friends in the next room.

“Have we arrived?” inquired Fillio.

“Yes, the Iron Fire will soon be in range.”

“What do we do next?” asked Ryonna.

“I don’t know yet, but we probably need to be ready to board the ship.”

“Is that wise?” said Tar’Lock.

“I think we’re way past wise here. We know very well that Argos can kill any one of us in a split second, so obviously we didn’t come here to play it safe.”

Daniel saw the expression on Ryonna’s face. “What’s on your mind, Ryonna?”

“Right about now I was imagining ripping Argos’ heart out of his chest.”

“That’s the spirit, but we may want to leave the heavy lifting to Chase. He’s the only one of us equipped to go head to head with him. Still, he may need our help, as he did before on Hellstar or Damocles-3.”

A bright, white ray of light scanned the room.

“What the hell was that?” asked Fillio.

“I think we’ve just been scanned,” said Daniel

The ship started to rock, clearly under fire.

“Daniel! Get back here!” shouted Keera from the cockpit.

Daniel rushed back and jumped into the co-pilot’s chair.

“Who’s firing at us? The Iron Fire?”

“No, there are defense platforms. They pack a punch as well. I went evasive but there are too many. We can’t stay here much longer. The shields are already at forty percent. Two more hits and we’re history.”

“Dammit!”

“Incoming transmission from the Iron Fire.”

It was Aphroditis. “Valken, get out of range. I’ll bring the Iron Fire about and you can board it. The planet’s defenses won’t fire on it, so you’ll be safe on board.”

“Roger that, Aphroditis. Thanks for your help. Where’s Chase?”

“Both Chase and Argos are on the surface. They’re fighting a Titan, but things aren’t going so well on that front either.”

“Why isn’t the Iron Fire being fired upon?”

“Because I’m on board. These are Olympian weapons.”

“I see, that explains the scan. See you soon.” Daniel terminated communications.

Soon the Valken was out of range. The Iron Fire came about and Keera landed the ship in cargo bay two.

* * *

The party arrived shortly on the bridge of the Iron Fire.

“I’m glad to see you all,” said Aphroditis,“but you shouldn’t have come. There’s nothing you can do to help Chase and Argos.”

“Help Argos? Screw Argos, we came for Chase,” said Daniel.

“While I agree with the general sentiment here, Chase is determined to help Argos achieve his current objective. It’s the only way to save Sarah after all.”

“You mentioned a Titan. What’s that?”

“A gigantic creature with incredible powers. They’re giant beings that predate the Olympians. At one point, Titans and Olympians co-existed, but they once rebelled and were cast away from Olympus. Not many survived what was called the War of the Gods.”

“Why did they rebel?”

“My father, Zeus, used them as cannon fodder against the Furies. While it worked for a while, the Furies found ways to deal with them. And what was once the main line of defense against the Furies became the next casualty of war. The last few remaining of their race blamed my father for their genocide and they turned against us. I can only surmise my father has trapped this one here unwillingly, which would make him thoroughly pissed.”

“Charming. And Chase is fighting him at the moment?” inquired Ryonna.

“Yes, but he just lost consciousness after being badly burned.”

“How do you know all this?” asked Tar’Lock.

“I have a direct link with Chase through an amulet I gave him.”

Daniel turned to the group. “We have to go help him.”

“No!” said Aphroditis. “You don’t stand a chance. You’ll be crushed in seconds.”

“We haven’t come here just to wait and see what happens.”

“Tar’Lock and I will go,” said Ryonna, leaving little room for argument.

Tar’Lock’s eyes widened. “I’m not sure what help I can be, but sure.”

“Your speed. You can use it to distract the creature.”

Aphroditis waved her finger. “Look, Titans are very fast creatures as well; perhaps not as fast as Gorgars, but you’d have to be careful, since your ability to run is dependent on your stamina. The Titan never tires.”

“Great,” said Tar’Lock, swallowing hard.

“We’re coming too,” said Daniel.

“That’s useless. You will get killed for nothing. I can’t let you go to your deaths like that. Humans cannot do anything against Titans.”

“Who said anything about us trying to fight them? We’ll provide support with our StarFuries.”

“Unfortunately the entire arena is shielded. You won’t be able to fly inside it.”

“There must be a power source somewhere inside. Tar’Lock, your first objective will be to locate it and bring it down. Once that’s done we can provide aerial support.”

“The entire arena is of Olympian design. I can provide you with our power energy signatures. That should help you scan and locate the power source.”

Daniel smiled. “That’s starting to sound like a plan. How do we bypass the defense systems? Will our cloak work?”

“It should. These are an old design. They date back to the Fury War.”

“Well I hope you’re right, otherwise we may have serious problems when they start shooting at us.”

“I’ll position the Iron Fire accordingly, to provide an escort if necessary.”

Daniel’s eyes gleamed. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

20

When Chase opened his eyes he saw a gigantic foot moving towards him. He tried to move but his body refused to obey.

He instinctively closed his eyes. But then he saw something else. Big, dark ships heading towards Earth. They were destroying everything in their path. The sheer power of their weaponry was a nightmare to watch. Alliance ships seemed powerless to stop them.

A jolt of adrenaline shot through Chase’s body and he heard Argos.

“G . . . Get . . . Get the fuck away from under here,” he heard.

When he opened his eyes Argos was standing above him, his arms extended and blocking the Titan’s foot with telekinesis. His body was encircled in bright, sparkling-red lightning. What had just happened? Did the amulet show him the future?

Clearly not the time to be thinking about that. Chase rolled out of the way. Just standing up caused an incredible amount of pain, his entire body having suffered heavy burns. He fought through the pain and concentrated his energy to the maximum. The purple aura shone around him brightly. With a swift move and with all his might he threw a powerful shockwave towards the torso of the Titan. Unprepared for the blow, the Titan fell on its back, and the ground shook with the force of ten earthquakes.

“You alright?” inquired Argos.

“Thanks for the save. I guess if you hadn’t intervened . . .”

“Yeah, you’d be dead, you fool! Try to be more careful from now on.”

Chase smiled.

Argos ran towards the fallen Titan, creating a huge, dark, red fireball on the way. “Heal yourself quickly and come help me finish this fight!”

Chase closed his eyes and focused on healing his many wounds. He could feel his burns and broken bones mend themselves. He couldn’t help but feel strange about what had happened, though. Even though he hated Argos with all his being, he had just saved his life. Sure, he had done so because he needed Chase to get whatever the Titan was holding, but still. Right at that moment he felt something akin to a brotherly bond. He brushed the thought away the moment he was fully healed and re-opened his eyes.

Argos was in the air with a gigantic fireball ready over his head in both hands. He threw it at the Titan’s chest. The impact sent a powerful shockwave all around and Chase’s hair flew backwards. The beast growled once more.

Chase rejoined his brother in the air and added a few of his own attacks to the mix, a series of medium-sized blue fireballs.

“These won’t do the trick! Save your energy!”

“Shouldn’t we attack it while it’s down?”

“Only stronger attacks will be able to penetrate its stony hide, trust me. You could send a thousand of these and do no damage whatsoever.”

The smoke settled and there was a scar on the torso of the Titan.

“See? This last attack has clearly hurt him. We need to keep at it.”

Chase’s eye caught one of the altars not far from their position.

“Shouldn’t we use these?” said Chase, pointing towards them.

“I tried this before as well. It didn’t help. Forget this mumbo jumbo. Only pure force will do, trust me.”

“Argos, we’ve used quite a lot of energy already. We may run out of juice before we’ve inflicted enough damage.”

The scar on the Titan’s chest shone red. It opened its eyes and unleashed a deafening sound.

“I think it’s pissed,” said Chase.

“Good, it might make mistakes then.”

“Let’s hope so.”

“What about you powering up like you did when we fought? We’ll need you to access this power to win.”

“I’m trying, but I can’t seem to get back into that state consciously.”

“That’s just great,” said Argos, wiping blood from his mouth.

“What do we do now?”

“Divert it with some more of these pathetic attacks of yours, but don’t charge them. Just use them as fireworks to attract its attention. I need time to power some of my stronger attacks, and I can’t do that when its aggro is directed at me.”

“Alright.” Chase lost no time, flew towards the Titan, and started unleashing multiple blue, powerless fireballs.

The Titan got back up and fired multiple rays of red lasers from its eyes. Chase flew frantically to dodge the incoming attacks, but kept firing at the beast.

Meanwhile, Argos took a fighting stance and increased his energy levels more and more. His aura grew stronger with every moment.

“Laiyos! Get nearer the beast, and see if you can get it to grab you in its hand.”

“Are you insane? It could crush me!”

“Use your telekinesis to make sure it doesn’t, but let it believe it’s got you.”

“You’d better be sure about this!”

“Trust me!”

Trust him? That was not going to be easy. Not fully anyway. But for the time being Chase decided he had very little choice.

He approached the Titan, still sending low-powered fireballs towards it, which definitely seemed to make it more and more angry. Soon he was in range, and he threw three stronger fireballs into the Titan’s face, one of which hit one of its eyes. That pissed it off and it went to grab Chase, as expected.

Chase erected a strong force field around himself and soon he was engulfed by stony fingers. The field was shining blue and making crackling sounds. It wouldn’t last long.

Then it happened again. In his mind, Chase saw Argos crushed by the Titan. The full realization of that vision sent a shiver down his spine. If that happened, Sarah would die.

Argos reached max power just when the Titan grabbed Chase in his gigantic left hand. It tightened its grasp and Argos had very little time to act. He redirected all his energy towards his right arm. It became covered with dark, red energy and dark lightning crackled all around it. He launched himself at maximum speed towards the Titan’s forearm and unleashed a battle cry that sounded more like beast than human. He flew through the forearm with his right fist extended in front of him and shattered it clean off.

The Titan shouted in pain, the entire arena resonating and trembling from the sound of its painful cry.

The arm that was holding Chase fell and shattered upon impact and Chase was thrown away by the impact but somersaulted in midair and landed unscathed a few yards away.

“Well done, Argos!”

“Told you it would work. Three more limbs to go.”

The Titan’s expression turned to pure hatred, his ivory teeth were clenched, and his eyes shone brighter than ever before. The ground trembled as a powerful, low frequency sound kept growing. Soon a bright red aura shone all around the Titan and stones from its broken arm flew towards the shattered stump. It took only seconds for the arm to be reconstructed.

“Was this supposed to happen? What do we do now?”

But Argos didn’t answer. His eyes were now filled with fear, and the realization that this fight might not end the way he hoped.

The Titan opened both its palms, released two giant boulders from the ground below and sent them flying towards its foes. The sheer speed at which they came and their huge size made them impossible to dodge. They both exploded upon impact and sent Chase and Argos flying and wildly spinning in the air.

* * *

Daniel and Fillio landed their now de-cloaked fighters near the gigantic arena and the party exited the StarFuries.

“You guys need to find that power source and fast. The sooner the shield is down the better. Signal us the moment you’re done so we can join the fight with the starfighters.”

“Count on us,” said Ryonna.

“Please be careful,” added Fillio

“You too.” And then they were gone.

When they arrived at the end of a long, tall corridor, they froze upon seeing the sheer size of the Titan. Chase and Argos were spinning in the air. Tar’Lock looked at his portable scanning device, trying to locate the energy source powering the arena’s shield.

“I’ve got good news and bad news.”

“Good news first.”

“I’ve located the energy source.”

“And the bad?”

“It’s on the other side of the arena, past that . . . thing.”

“Of course it is.”

“Perhaps I should go alone. I should be fast enough not to attract too much attention.”

“Any chance you can take me with you? You’ve done it before.”

“I can shove you out of danger, but if I carry you I’ll be substantially slower, especially over such a long distance.”

“Alright, go ahead and I’ll try to catch up with you.”

“No, you stay here. Let’s not take unnecessary risks.”

“I can’t just stand here while everyone is risking their lives.”

Ryonna’s comm rang.

“Ryonna, you need to tell Chase to use the altars. I think it’s the only way to defeat the Titan.”

“What altars?”

Tar’Lock pointed towards the nearest one. “I think she’s talking about these things.”

“What are they good for?”

“I believe when touched they provide the power of specific elements: air, water, fire and earth.”

“And that helps us how?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I can tell you my people wouldn’t have put them there if they weren’t needed to get past the Titan. I’m sure of that!”

“Alright, I’ll let Chase know, if I can approach safely. But I thought you could communicate with him directly?”

“I tried. The shield must prevent me from doing so.”

“Alright, thanks Aphroditis.”

“Be careful, all of you.”

“We will.”

Ryonna shot a look at Tar’Lock who understood what it meant, and soon he disappeared.

* * *

Argos recovered first and Chase shortly after. Argos engulfed his body in red energy and healed his wounds. 

“This thing has an incredible number of tricks up its sleeves,” muttered Chase.

“What do your friends think they’re doing?”

“What? Where?”

Argos pointed towards the ground where Tar’Lock ran so fast he was leaving a trail of sand behind him.

“Dammit! He’s gonna get crushed.”

“Whatever. We don’t need him.”

“Don’t be so fast with your assumptions. My friends are very resourceful, and last I checked we were still getting our asses handed to us.”

“I’m not losing time protecting these pathetic insect friends of yours.”

“Enough with your pride! Now is not the time. They must have a plan, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. I haven’t heard from Aphroditis, so I’m thinking something must be blocking our communications.”

“What are you hiding from me, brother?”

“Nothing. She just gave me a pendant that allows us to communicate, but I haven’t heard from her, so something must be wrong.”

“This entire arena is shielded.”

“Then you can be sure Tar’Lock is going to try to disable that shield.”

“I’m not sure what good that would do.”

“Nevertheless, treat my friends as you would me in this battle. That’s not a suggestion.”

Argos growled but was resigned. “Very well, but don’t expect me to risk my life for theirs. They mean nothing to me.”

“You’ve made that perfectly clear. Now let’s provide Tar’Lock with some cover.”

Argos made a throaty noise. “Understood.”

* * *

As Tar’Lock approached the Titan, he tried increasing his speed. His heart beat more strongly in his chest when he caught the Titan looking in his direction.

Uh-oh, not good.

The Titan slammed a foot towards the ground and the shockwave it released hit Tar’Lock with full force. He was knocked from his trajectory and crashed onto his back, emitting painful clicking sounds as a result.

When he looked up he saw a gigantic palm, open and targeting his position. A flaming red fireball grew.

I’m toast.

The Titan fired his attack at Tar’Lock, who felt his blood freeze, too afraid to move a single muscle. But then, when it was nearly upon him, a smaller blue fireball impacted with it and deflected it just enough so the attack exploded a hundred yards away from him. Nevertheless, Tar’Lock was thrown into the air by the impact, arms and legs flailing uncontrollably.

Then something grabbed hold of him.

“Need a lift, my friend?” said Chase, a big smile on his face.

“Hey! Thanks for the help.”

“Anytime. Where do you need to go?”

“Over there.” Tar’Lock pointed at the gate through which the Titan had stepped earlier. He looked behind and saw that the Titan had turned in pursuit. “I don’t suppose you can fly any faster?”

“We’re almost there.”

“Its eyes are glowing strongly. Is that normal?”

“It’s about to fire its lasers, then.”

“Oh dear.”

Chase spun around to get a good look while still flying blindly towards their destination.

But when the Titan was about to fire again a major explosion occurred behind it and it turned its attention back towards Argos. It slammed a palm towards Argos who failed to dodge it and was sent crashing into the nearest wall.

“I need to help him. Hang on and trust me, okay?” said Chase.

But before Tar’Lock could answer Chase had thrown his body as fast as he could. Tar’Lock’s eyes widened at the sight of the fast-approaching ground. He shouted at the top of his lungs, but when he was about to hit the ground he stopped short and was lowered gently.

“Told you to trust me,” said Chase, directly in his mind.

“Go see Ryonna at once,” shouted Tar’Lock, hoping Chase would hear him.

Chase flashed him a quick thumbs up while flying back towards the Titan.

Tar’Lock exhaled in relief and smiled. But there was no time to lose. He checked his portable device and resumed running towards the energy signature provided by Aphroditis.

* * *

Argos impacted the nearest wall and was literally embedded in it. “Ouch.”

He saw Chase arrive behind the Titan and deliver a powerful, telekinetically enhanced kick that threw the Titan to the ground face first, with a growl of disapproval.

Argos released himself from his current, stony cast and powered a strong fireball that he threw at its neck.

Chase flew past him at top speed.

“Where the fuck are you going?”

“I’ll be right back. Keep it occupied.”

Argos growled, clearly annoyed by the distraction his brother’s friends added to an already chaotic situation. But then he smiled to himself. Perhaps if one of his friends were to meet their demise it would awaken Chase’s ultimate power.

Something to keep in mind, he decided, as he dodged the latest fist attack from the Titan, who created a crater-sized hole in the wall where Argos stood a second before.

Argos flew down and launched himself towards one of the Titan’s knees. He kicked it with all his force, adding telekinetic energy to his momentum. It brought the Titan down to one knee, but then it smashed one fist into the ground and a column of red energy shot vertically from under Argos’ position into the air, engulfing him in an instant.

When the column of energy dissipated, Argos’ arms were crossed in front of his face, his skin fuming from the power of the blast. Blood showed between his clenched teeth and in his bloodshot eyes.

“You’re gonna pay for this, you steaming hunk of smelly stones.”

Argos joined his hands together and released a series of telekinetic shockwaves towards the Titan. With each impact some of the stony, surface skin of the beast exploded in small, rocky chunks but immediately resumed cohesion.

Argos unleashed a shout of frustration as he watched the Titan rise to its feet and turn towards him.

Argos waved his hand, inviting the Titan. “Come and get me.”

* * *

Chase landed near Ryonna.

“Hey, you. You guys shouldn’t have come, but I’m really glad to see you.”

She smiled.

“Tar’Lock said you have a message for me?”

“Yes, you need to use the altars. Aphroditis is certain it’s your only hope.”

“I wanted to, but Argos kept blowing me off when I proposed it.”

“I don’t think just the two of you can manage anyway.”

“Why?”

“There are four altars. My guess is it will take four people to make this work.”

“Which means you’ll have to take a serious risk when the time comes. Where’s Daniel?”

“He and Fillio are waiting on board their respective StarFuries for Tar’Lock to blow the shield generator. So they can provide cover.”

“That will take some pretty fancy flying, but if anyone can do it, it’s those two. Don’t try anything until the shield is down and the Titan is under fire from multiple targets, Ryonna. I mean it! This thing is too fast. It would crush you in an instant.”

Ryonna nodded reluctantly.

“I need to get back to this fight. Stay safe.”

“You too, Chase.”

But he was already gone, flying towards the Titan at full speed.

* * *

 Tar’Lock entered the gigantic room from which the Titan must have come. He ran towards the energy signature and soon arrived at a smaller corridor. But when he reached the end he collided with an invisible force field that threw him backwards and to the ground.

“That wasn’t fun,” he said to himself, as he got up and dusted himself off. He took a closer look at the force field, but there didn’t seem to be a way through.

“Dammit!” He punched the force field in frustration. It blinked just for second when he did. “Hmmm . . .”

An idea formed in his mind. He doubled back and found a fist-sized stone on the ground. He threw the stone at the force field and ran after it as fast as he could.

When the stone hit the force field, it blinked for just a millisecond, as it did when he had punched it. Just enough for him to see an opening and run through it. Or so he thought.

He arrived on the other side of the force field but was immediately rewarded with a tremendous jolt of pain. When he looked at his left hand, he was horrified to see it wasn’t there anymore.

The throbbing pain almost made him lose consciousness but he fought through it. Now was not the time to pass out.

The room in which he stood contained a console, and behind glass he saw the generator. He approached the console, trying to figure out how it worked, but it was all runes and symbols that were alien to him. He pressed a few controls randomly but all he got back were negative-sounding beeps and red-blinking lights. He punched the console in frustration. He took one of the grenades from his belt, activated it and sent it towards the glass, immediately crouching under the console.

When the dust and smoke settled, Tar’Lock could see that the glass protecting the shield generator was unscathed. Not even a crack.

“I don’t have time for this shit!” he swore.

His mind raced, trying to find a solution to his current predicament, as he heard the sounds from the battle in the arena and felt the ground shaking.

He tried calling Aphroditis on the Iron Fire but there was no answer. He was not really surprised. His presence so near the generator probably made it impossible for his equipment to send a signal.

“We’re screwed!”

“Not necessarily,” he heard behind him.

He spun, startled by the voice. What he saw made no sense to him. There stood the shape of a humanoid, but it was made of bright, shining, golden energy, casting a warm, yellow light around the room.

“Who . . . What are you?”

“Not really a good time for introductions, but I’m Ares.”

“Oh, Chase’s mentor.”

“Former, yes. I need you to trust me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I need to take control of your body, if you’ll let me.”

Tar’Lock felt uneasy at the thought but finally shrugged. “If it will help.”

“Whatever you do, don’t resist. If you do, I can’t guarantee you’ll survive the experience.”

“This plan sounds less and less to my liking.”

“Just don’t resist. It may sting a little.”

Ares approached Tar’Lock and grabbed him by the shoulders. “You’re tense. Try to relax.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Right, just close your eyes and whatever you feel, ignore it.”

Tar’Lock closed his eyes and felt a stinging sensation invade every part of his body, followed by a strong warmth. Soon he lost the ability to think of anything. It felt as though his mind was swallowed into a black hole and his consciousness disappeared into nothingness.

Ares was now fully in control of Tar’Lock’s body and mind.

When he opened Tar’Lock’s eyes, they shone gold. He turned back to the console and entered commands with one hand at lightning speed. The force field behind turned off. In the blink of an eye he grabbed Tar’Lock’s severed limb, brought it near the cut and a golden energy linked it back to his arm.

I will need both your arms for this next part.

He then took the grenade belt off and threw the grenades and the belt towards the glass. In the following instant he created a golden fireball in each hand and threw them forward. They impacted the grenades and the resulting explosion shattered the glass, but the shockwave of the explosion catapulted him towards the nearest wall, a stray piece of glass impaling his right shoulder.

Losing no time he jumped into the next room. The explosion had not disabled the shield generator. He approached the nearest paneling and ripped it off the wall.

This next part won’t be fun, I’m afraid.

He yanked two of the biggest cables from the wall. Sparks flew, lights blinked and a powerful current ran through him as he was thrown to the ground. Upon impact, he was ejected from Tar’Lock’s body. The generator stopped humming and the lights dimmed.

Ares saw smoke rising from Tar’Lock’s motionless body, and his heart had stopped.

He placed his energy-based hand on Tar’Lock’s ribcage and generated a powerful electric shock, trying to jumpstart his heart.

It didn’t work.

“Don’t you die on me now!”

He shocked Tar’Lock again and again.

The last jolt of electricity did the trick and Tar’Lock gasped for air, his face twisted in pain.

“What the fuck! Why do I ache, like everywhere?”

“Long story.”

“What happened?”

“The shield is down. Thanks for trusting me.”

“I don’t remember anything, but I’m glad you managed.”

Tar’Lock hailed Daniel, surprised to see he had both hands again. He pointed at it. “Your doing?”

“I needed it.”

“So do I, so thanks.”

“Daniel, here. What’s your status, Tar’Lock?”

“The shield is down. You can come in.”

“Great job, thanks!”

 “What now?” Tar’Lock asked Ares.

“Now you go help your friends.”

“How?”

“The altars. Use their power to immobilize the Titan.”

“Any chance you know how they work?”

“You’ll have to figure that out with your friends.”

“Alright, thanks, Ares.”

“Go, now!”

“Right.”

When getting to his feet Tar’Lock felt a tremendous pain in his back.

“Sorry about that. You may want to leave the glass there until Chase can heal you. I’m afraid you might bleed out if you take it out now.”

“Swell, alright.”

Tar’Lock ran back towards the arena.

21

Chase and Argos had been attacking the Titan with a series of fireballs when the StarFuries arrived on the scene.

“More of your friends?”

“We clearly need the help.”

“Right. Somehow I doubt their firepower will be enough to bring it down, though.”

“Perhaps not, but they will provide a diversion.”

“For what?”

“We need to use the altars.”

“Again with that?”

“Look, we’ve done things your way up till now and it hasn’t worked. Time for a change of tactics.”

“Do you know how they work?”

“No, but now is the time to try them. Ryonna will take care of the altar near the entrance, Tar’Lock the one behind the giant gate. That leaves one for each of us at the sides.”

“Very well. This better work!”

“Not really like we have a choice here.”

The StarFuries deployed drones and started raining laser fire towards the Titan. It drew the beast’s attention and it frantically waved its arms, trying to bring the starfighters down. When it realized they were too skilled for it to smash them with its bare hands it began shooting lasers from its eyes.

The StarFuries went evasive and dodged the incoming attacks.

Chase landed near the altar and had another vision. Four colors flashed before his eyes in quick succession: yellow, green, blue and red.

He understood immediately what that meant. He reached with his mind and spoke to Ryonna.

“You need to touch the yellow sphere. Do it now!”

Ryonna ran towards the altar, pausing for a split second to look at the chaotic scene created by the StarFuries and Argos attacking the Titan. Then she resumed her run and touched the yellow sphere of energy on top of the altar. A wooden staff with shining runes materialized in her hand. The tip of the staff contained a similar yellow energy, glowing through the elaborate woodwork containing it.

“What now?”

“I’m not sure. Point it at the Titan and think of firing.”

Ryonna did just that and a stream of yellow energy shot towards the chest of the Titan.

Upon impact, solid brown stone formed around the chest and shoulders of the beast and seemed to immobilize it.

Argos lost no time firing a powerful fireball at its face, but the Titan blew it out of the sky with a shot of his eye lasers. The StarFuries each sent a missile at the beast’s arms. Its arms exploded for a moment, but almost immediately reconstructed themselves.

The Titan shrieked and cracks appeared in the brown, stony prison engulfing its ribcage and shoulders. It finally gave away and rocks flew in every direction. Some of the debris lit up the shields of Daniel’s StarFury upon impact and sent him in a spin towards the nearest wall.

Chase grabbed the ship with his mind and restored a safe trajectory to avoid collision. He then plunged his hand into the red energy sphere and felt fire run through his bloodstream. As a pair of finely crafted gold gloves materialized in his hands, he punched the air in front of him towards the Titan and a powerful wave of flames hit it with full force. It growled from the pain but the flames didn’t last long. Soon smoke arose where the fire had touched the Titan. It screamed and everything shook.

Wrong order. But he needed to know what each altar’s power was to use them efficiently. He reached Tar’Lock telepathically and asked him to use the green energy sphere.

When he put his hand inside the green sphere a trident materialized in his hand, glowing emerald. He pointed it towards the Titan and a watery typhoon shot from the trident into the Titan’s back.

“Argos! Quickly use yours!”

Reluctantly, Argos waved his hand through the blue energy sphere and immediately felt an ice cold current inside his body. His arms shone with blue light and he sent a shockwave towards the distracted Titan. The wave flash froze the water on the Titan’s back forming a thick layer of ice, trapping the beast once more and restricting its movements.

The StarFuries came about for another round of laser fire and missiles, which only resulted in the Titan screaming in frustration and breaking the ice. It slammed a foot into the ground with tremendous force and all four of those on the ground lost their balance. The Titan then screamed so loudly that the sound waves sent Ryonna crashing against the nearest wall, cracking a few ribs in the process.

Then the Titan turned towards Argos, who was back on his feet and already launching himself towards the beast at full speed. He punched once more in the air but the glacial air current had almost no effect this time, most of the water on the Titan having being shaken off when it smashed the ground.

The Titan’s reaction was immediate and it smashed Argos in midair with both palms. The shock was so powerful that Argos’ body exploded on impact, sending waves of body parts in every direction.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” shouted Chase as he fell to his knees. The full realization of what had just happened blackened his soul once more. In thirty seconds Sarah would die and there was nothing he could do. Argos had been obliterated and Chase could not heal him.

Anger rose within him, but the full power of his emotions was now useless. He entered rage mode, but he didn’t know what to do with the tremendous amount of power running within him.

“Chase!” cried Aphroditis. “Quick! Smash the stone on your pendant. It will reverse time by forty seconds. Make sure Argos doesn’t get hit this time.”

A shiver running through every atom of Chase’s body, he snatched the pendant and crushed it in his hand. Then everything changed. Time seemed to slow down and then reverse. When it resumed its normal course, Chase grabbed Fillio’s StarFury with his mind, ejected her from the cockpit and threw the ship towards Argos, just before he was smashed by the Titan, who hit only air this time. He then took control of Daniel’s StarFury, ejected Daniel as he had Fillio a moment before and danced the starfighter all around the Titan, firing every laser, missile and torpedo at it, making sure the Titan devoted all its attention towards the craft.

He reached Ryonna’s mind and told her to fire the staff at the Titan’s legs. She moaned, trying to get back to her feet, but she managed to direct the staff as instructed and shot another beam of yellow energy that struck the Titan right below the knees. She held the staff and lowered it a little. Soon the Titan’s legs were trapped in a thick layer of brown stone.

Chase then sent the next telepathic command to Tar’Lock, who sprang into action and fired the typhoon at the beast’s back with his trident. He ran as fast as he could. He felt Ares’ presence again within him, which seemed to give his speed a tremendous boost. In an instant he had circled the Titan fully and covered it in water.

Argos did not need any instruction as he flew in the air above the Titan, both arms glowing a bright blue as he unleashed the most powerful shockwave he could muster, putting nearly all his remaining energy into that blast. The result instantly transformed the Titan into a statue of ice.

Chase then touched the red energy and let it send more fire inside his body. Soon a flaming dragon materialized and whirled around him. Lightning, sparks and embers danced in the air as he took a fighting stance. He used the rage in him to power up to the maximum, bringing his energy levels beyond anything he had felt before. His hair flew upward, his eyes turned orange and in a fluid motion he threw his punch forward, and with it the flaming dragon unfolded from around him and shot towards the iced Titan. It punched through ice and stone and impaled the Titan, before circling all around the beast like a boa constrictor. Chase intensified his aura to the maximum, unleashing a deafening war cry, and the Titan exploded from the fiery pressure unleashed upon its sub-zero, flash-frozen body. The explosion released a powerful shockwave that blew ash particles all around at incredible velocity.

The sheer impact of the explosion broke most of the arena’s walls and sent everyone but Chase and Argos flying. He caught his friends with his mind and held them in the air, protecting them with force fields.

When the dust settled, only a pile of melted ash stood in the center of the arena where the Titan once towered, a round, obsidian gem on top of it.

Argos grabbed the fist-sized stone with his telekinesis. He looked at Chase and nodded, a wide smile of contentment across his face.

Chase saw Tar’Lock fall to his knees and flew towards him.

“Are you alright?”

“Well, Ares helped but he suggested you help me with this.” He turned to show the large piece of glass firmly planted in his shoulder.

Chase took the glass out without warning.

“Aaaarg.”

“Sorry, the pain won’t last long. Hang on.”

Blood spilled from the wound at an alarming rate, but soon Chase’s healing hands patched it up and energy rushed back into Tar’Lock.

“Thanks, Chase, feeling much better.”

“No, it is I who thank you, my friend. Without your intervention, I don’t think we would have defeated the Titan.”

“I must admit I had my doubts about that. I didn’t see what we could do that you two couldn’t, but I guess powers aren’t everything.”

Daniel, Fillio and Ryonna all approached them.

“Thanks, guys. I would say you shouldn’t have come, but I would be lying.”

Daniel smiled. “A little heads-up before ejecting us from our starfighters would be nice next time.”

“I second that. I almost soiled myself,” said Fillio.

“Sorry. In the heat of the moment, I didn’t really have time to do anything but act on instinct.”

“Well, it turned out for the best, it seems. That was quite the take down.”

Chase nodded, realizing that the most difficult part of recovering Sarah was now over.

Ryonna stayed silent but Chase could tell she was in pain.

“Mind if I take care of your wounds?”

“It’s just some broken ribs. I’ll be fine.”

“Be that as it may,” said Chase, approaching her and resting his palms on her side. “It will just take a second.”

“Laiyos! When you’re done celebrating with your friends, we have to go,” shouted Argos from afar.

“He’s a hoot. Felt like closing his yapper much in the last few hours?” asked Daniel with a chuckle.

“You have no idea. He’s insufferable.”

“Still, you seem less hateful towards him, or am I reading it wrong?”

Was he? Chase didn’t know. For now all that mattered was to make sure he would hold Sarah and the unborn Chris in his arms soon. The rest seemed to be background noise, no matter how difficult it had been.

“I think he’ll get what he deserves soon enough. Right now I can’t think about that, not while he still has Sarah’s life in his hands.”

“About that. He might not fulfill his end of the bargain. You realize that?”

“I’ll make him. I’m no longer afraid of him. I know I can beat him now.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“So do I, my friend, so do I.”

* * *

Chase arrived back on the bridge of the Iron Fire.

“Welcome back, Chase,” said Aphroditis with a smile.

“Thanks, and thank you for the pendant. I’m sorry I had to destroy it.”

“It was unavoidable under the circumstances. I’m glad you succeeded in your mission. Now we should go get Sarah. I . . .”

“What is it?”

Argos was only a few steps behind, so she decided not to tell Chase about her latest vision.

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

She caught a glimpse of the obsidian stone in Argos’ hand. “So that’s what he wanted, the Pandora stone.”

“Do you know what it’s for?”

“All I know is that nothing good can come from his possessing it, otherwise it wouldn’t have been protected by one of the last Titans in existence.”

“I see. I wish I knew what he intends to do next, but I must admit all I care about is seeing Sarah again.”

“I understand, Chase. And soon you will.”

Argos cleared his throat to get his brother’s attention.

“What do you want?”

“We should get going.”

“I have some conditions, though.”

“I already have what I want. You’re unable to impose anything anymore.”

“Nonetheless, am I right in assuming that you still need Aphroditis’ help?”

“That’s correct.”

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

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

Chase’s eyes hardened and flashed amethyst briefly.

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

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

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

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

“Power is everything.”

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

“So that’s all?”

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

“Done and done.”

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

“Where do we go next?”

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

As Argos left, Chase turned back to Aphroditis.

“Anything you wanted to tell me?”

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

“I’m listening.”

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

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

“What comes next is unavoidable now.”

“What is coming next?”

“The beginning of the end.”

* * *

Chase joined his friends in the mess hall.

“Hey, guys.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chase sat next to Keera. “You alright?”

“You have amazing friends.”

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

“That’s sweet. What about Argos?”

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

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

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

“Nevertheless, something doesn’t add up. He might have an ace up his sleeve.”

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

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

“You’re welcome to stay with us.”

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

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

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

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

They all turned their attention towards Chase.

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

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

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

* * *

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

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

“Hello, Spiros.”

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

“Gaia?”

She nodded.

“You look . . . stunning.”

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

“What is it you wanted to talk about?”

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

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

“That’s good. Great news, in fact.”

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

“What makes you think that?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“And if it doesn’t?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Absolutely. Thanks, Gaia.”

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

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

He decided to share the good news with the admiral.

22

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

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

“Do you grow these on trees?”

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

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

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

“So it was all planned?”

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

“I must have had a darn good reason.”

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

“What now?”

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

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

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

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

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

* * *

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

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

“Release her at once!”

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

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

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

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

They looked at each other, confused.

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

They left the room at once.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The ship stopped shaking.

“That’s better.”

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

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

“I still want to kill you.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Chase? Is that you?”

“It’s me, sweetie.”

She then saw Aphroditis and Argos.

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

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

“Clone? What clone?” she asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“And then you’ll let her go?”

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

“For how long?”

“Pretty much indefinitely.”

“What? No way!”

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

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

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

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

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

Aphroditis stepped between them.

“Stop it now, both of you!”

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

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

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

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

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

“Just remember your promise, Chase.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Is she suffering?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What the hell is this?” asked Chase.

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

End of Book III . . .

(Keep reading)

THE BEGINNING OF THE END (BOOK 4)

By Christian Kallias

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Commander Sarah Kepler – Earth Human (formerly US Navy Commander)

Commander Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Commodore Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Captain)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos (yah-nis tee-hee-hos) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Ryonna Isch’ys (ree-oh-na is-kis) – Droxian Warrior (a fugitive Droxian smuggler)

Tar’Lock (tahr-lock) – Gorgar (Insectoid & formerly a Hellstar prisoner)

Admiral Ally Thassos – Earth Allliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Admiral)

Commander Fillio Steriopoulou (fee-lyo steh-ree-oh-poo-loo) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis (spee-ros ma-lah-yah-nis)– Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Olympians

Aphroditis (a-fro-dee-tee)– known to humans as the Goddess of Love

Ares (ah-rees) – know to humans as the God of War (deceased, living as pure energy form)

Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war

Furies

Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (head of the Zarlacks)

Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

Miseo (mi-se-oh) – Arakan’s son and right arm

Arkoolis – top Fury General

Other Characters

Cedric – Earth Human Scientist

Keera Hawking – Humanoid Bounty Hunter

Gaia (gah-yah)– Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet

Ronan Isch’ys – son of Ryonna

Jonas – Ryonna’s brother-in-law

Sendra – Commodore Saroudis’ daughter

Alexandra – Commodore Saroudis’ wife

THE STORY SO FAR

Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.

This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. It can, of course, be used by new readers but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (Definitive Edition).

Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

Volume II: Fury to the Stars

Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin, Argos, currently torturing her for information. Another Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him harness his emerging powers. Meanwhile, Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar Prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long-range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensitive weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.

Volume III: Destination Oblivion

Having had to kill the woman he loves as well as their unborn child plunges Chase into a spiral of hatred and self-destruction as he leaves the Earth Alliance. After meeting a bounty hunter (Keera), Chase joins forces with her in order to track the one man he hates more than anything in this world: his twin brother Argos whom he holds responsible for Sarah’s death. Argos resurfaces on their radar after killing Ares in cold blood. When their paths cross, Chase nearly kills Argos after an epic fight in Tokyo, but only spares his twin brother’s life when he reveals that Sarah is alive and the person that Chase killed was a clone. Meanwhile, a dangerous Artificial Intelligence (Gaia) is born on Earth and threatens humanity as a whole, but in the end Spiros Malayianis convinces her that she has nothing to fear from humans. In order to rescue Sarah, Chase has to reluctantly team up with Argos in order to defeat a Titan that holds a piece of tech Argos needs for his nefarious plan. When recovered, Argos requests Aphroditis to enter the piece of tech that will free his brethren, once thought to be extinct, from their dimensional prison. Aphroditis enters the machine willingly in exchange for a promise from Chase to rid the world of Argos and the threat he poses. The Fury home world (Erevos) is brought back into their reality as a result. The enemy of old (Furies) is back in play.

And now the continuation . . .

1

Chase’s eyes widened and he stopped dead in his tracks.

“What do you mean our home world?”

Argos grinned.

“You see, Olympians think of themselves as too evolved to exterminate an entire civilization. So thousands of years ago, at the height of the first Fury War, they devised a plan to remove us from the equation by trapping Erevos in another dimension outside of space and time itself, instead of destroying us all. That mistake will be their undoing, and today you’ve helped me correct this. Now that my fellow Furies are back, we’ll conquer this universe that was always meant to be ours.”

The weight behind Argos’ words and the realization of what had just happened hit Chase’s psyche with the force of ten thousand quadrinium bombs. What had he done? A million questions, images and fears rushed through his mind, overwhelming all his senses and paralyzing him to the core.

“What?” was all he could muster.

“You have a choice to make, Laiyos. You’re either with us, your own people, or against us. I’m willing to put aside our differences if you’re willing to rejoin your brethren. You belong with us. Deep within your heart you must know this. This is a one-time offer, though. If you leave here now, you’ll forever be our enemy. So choose wisely, brother.”

Darkness enveloped Chase. The shroud of pain and revenge that had cloaked him was obliterated, almost instantly, by a weight simply too heavy to bear. It had been incredibly difficult just to battle Argos, a single Fury. And only his rage and thirst for revenge had given him the abilities required to defeat him. How was he supposed to take on an entire planet of Furies? What if there were even stronger Furies than his brother? How would he defeat them?

What have I done?

Then everything turned black and Chase stood in cold darkness. Ares appeared in front of him in his old corporeal form.

“You must have known that Argos had something like this planned.”

“I . . . I knew he had to be working on something big, but . . . I . . . never . . .”

“You never thought you’d help him unleash the worst scourge this universe has ever known?”

“I . . . What? This cannot be,” muttered Chase.

“Get a grip, Chase! You need to shake the fear you’re feeling now before it eats you alive. Even if it was never your intention, your actions make you responsible for all of this. So now you need to fix it, one way or another, and no matter the cost.”

Chase’s face turned livid.

“Fix it? How can I defeat a planet of Furies on my own?”

“You can’t. But who said you were alone?”

“I don’t follow.”

“Have you forgotten your friends, your allies, those you know about as well as those you may find along the way?”

“What can they do against this new threat? I have doomed the universe in my quest to save Sarah.”

“No! Only if you believe that will it become true. And don’t you dare forget the promise you just made to my sister Aphroditis before letting your monster of a brother trap her in that life-sucking contraption. She and the rest of us are counting on you.”

“I— I don’t know that I have it in me.”

“Unacceptable, Chase. And let’s look at the alternative for a second. Do you want to join your brother and follow in his footsteps? Is that what you’re telling me?”

Chase looked down.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” shouted Ares with all his might.

But right now Chase simply couldn’t face his mentor and friend.

“Sarah . . .” was the only word that escaped his mouth.

“It’s bigger than her. It always has been, Chase. You must have known it. At least on some level.”

Tears formed at the corners of Chase’s eyes as he finally mustered enough courage to glance at Ares’ ice-cold eyes.

“I never imagined it could be something so dark.”

“Forget about how dark or insurmountable it may seem to you at the moment. For the time being you must only answer one question.”

“Which is?”

“Will you keep your promises and fight with all your might to make sure this universe isn’t destroyed by Argos and the Furies? Or will you let your fears consume you? And doom us all . . .”

Chase reflected upon Ares’ words. He was way beyond fear at this point. Terror engulfed him from within, paralyzing and freezing him. He felt helpless, terrified and lost all at once. What was he to do?

That was when he heard her voice echo in his mind.

I believe in you, Chase. It was Aphroditis’ voice, the last glimmer of light within his quickly blackening soul.

Ares took a step forward. “Listen to her. You can do it, Chase. I know you can!”

Chase’s heart pounded so fiercely that he feared it would escape from his chest.

Ares put his hand on Chase’s shoulder.

“I’ll always be here for you. We’ll keep training, and you have all your wonderful friends too. They’ve just proved to you that they’ll go to the end of the world to help you in your quest. And now you also have Sarah and your unborn child by your side. You must make sure you build the world you want them to live in. A world where your child can grow up in peace.”

That sent a cascade of electrifying shivers throughout Chase’s body, each stronger than the next. Ares was right. No matter how grim the situation felt right this moment, cowering in fear and letting darkness get the better of him was not the answer.

A glimpse of strength and determination re-infused in Chase’s eyes.

Ares smiled. “You can do it. She believes in you, and so do I.”

“I sure hope you’re right.”

“It’s no longer a question of being wrong or right, Chase.”

“What do you mean?”

“Follow your heart. Do what you know you must, deep inside your soul, with every fiber of your being. Fight this new threat, and remember— you are not alone. You never were. You must release that burden from your soul now and unleash your full power.”

“Easier said than done.”

“And yet I feel it happening within you, building up already. You know what you need to do, deep down, past fears and the terror that’s trying to get the best of you by trying to bring darkness to the core of your soul. I see that brightening light shining through the dark shroud of doubt.”

“I barely feel it, and it’s so small.”

“Make it bigger.”

“What?”

“Just like you did with your energy pool. Focus and make it bigger. Let that light shine upon you. Let it make you stronger than ever before.”

“I don’t know that I can.”

“Chase! Close your eyes and make it bigger, now!”

Chase didn’t really know what to do, but he had grown accustomed to trusting Ares, so he obeyed. He closed his eyes and reached deep down, within the very core of his soul where the light still shined.

“Now, make it bigger.”

The mental image he was facing was terrifying. Dark, red clouds in motion around a small glimmer of light, shining through the darkness, with bright-red lightning striking at the light, trying to shut it out of existence. He pushed with all his might but the darkness was growing and the light dimming.

“Chase, if you fail now, this is the end. For us all.”

“I’m not strong enough!”

“Yes, you are. Your fears are yours alone. You must defeat the darkness within yourself. Only you can do that, Chase.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Yes, you do! Do you remember the vision-dream you had when you took the Kyrian snake venom?”

“It was just a dream. This is real.”

“You make it real! We all make the world we live in real. It’s your thoughts, intentions and actions that shape the universe. So ask yourself what you want? Now open your eyes, Chase.”

When Chase opened his eyes he was standing on Earth. It had been destroyed. Cities had been leveled. Fires were burning everywhere in the landscape. That was when he saw them, far away, running toward him. Sarah and a young Chris, running away from the dark shadows chasing after them.

“What is this?”

“This is what will happen if you let the darkness within you win this fight. Forget the Furies; forget Argos. Right in this moment you’re fighting your worst enemy, Chase: yourself.”

Sarah grabbed Chris into her arms and ran toward Chase. She looked terrified. The indistinct shadows pursuing them took human form. There were no less than five Furies pursuing them.

His heart pounded even stronger in his torso, each beat like an earthquake as time seemed to slow down.

“What do I do?”

“You save her. You save Chris. In doing so you’ll save everyone else.”

Chase made fists and closed his eyes. He wanted to run toward them but it felt as if a dark fog kept him locked in place.

“Chase, remember . . . this battle is inside of you.”

“This is just a vision. I’m gonna wake up.”

“Despite that, the state in which you wake up from this vision will determine what’s coming next.”

A shriek resonated in the air and compelled Chase to open his eyes.

Sarah was hit by a dark-red fireball that threw her and Chris down. She had lost consciousness and all that Chase could hear was his young son cry as the Furies approached them both. Chris tried to shake his mother back into consciousness as tears flowed like rivers from his eyes.

“Dad! Help us!”

A thunderbolt hit Chase to the core and rage boiled within his very soul. In just a few seconds, the Furies would kill Sarah and Chris before his eyes. He had to act now!

Chase closed his eyes and unleashed an unearthly, animalistic roar that shook the entire planet and shattered the ground all around. When he opened his eyes again he saw that he had given the Furies pause. They now looked at him.

“Who are you?” asked one of them.

“Your doom. Step away from them and fight someone your own size, you pathetic cowards.”

More energy flowed through Chase’s body than ever before. Even more than when he had faced Argos. The purple aura emanating from him grew stronger, and soon his purple light was being cast all around them. Bright-white lightning bolts danced around Chase’s body as his aura kept growing beyond reason.

The five furies took a fighting stance and grew fireballs in their hands. Their eyes glowed bright red.

Chase took one step from his position and teleported almost in front of them. They reacted instantly, repositioning themselves around him. They lost no time attacking him from every direction. Five fireballs came at him simultaneously.

“No,” said Chase with renewed confidence.

The Furies’ attacks stopped mere inches from his body before collapsing on themselves.

A bright, white aura shot from the ground and engulfed Chase. Five lightning bolts fired from his body, each striking a Fury and sending it flying backward in the air.

The column of white light rose higher in the sky and soon hit the thick, dark layer of ominous clouds above. It punched through them to let the warm light of the sun shine throughout the valley. Fires around them extinguished and buildings started rebuilding, as if time was playing in reverse.

Chase sprang into action.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Chase launched himself at his first opponent and struck him so hard with his knee that he heard every bone in his torso crack. Dark, red blood shot from his mouth and death was instantaneous. While still in midair Chase performed a spinning kick that decapitated a second Fury, sending his head flying at tremendous speed toward the heavens.

The third Fury, horrified by what he had just witnessed, tried to hit Chase with a powerful blow to the head. Chase dodged his attack in midair and grabbed his arm. In a swift motion he snatched the limb from its socket as more Fury blood flew in the air. The Fury shrieked in agony and dropped to the ground, holding his limbless shoulder in a futile attempt to slow down the spraying of his blood. Chase landed in front of him and threw his opponent’s detached arm away with an uncharacteristic smirk.

He lost no time sending the wounded Fury flying with a powerful uppercut. The impact with the Fury’s jaw unleashed a powerful shockwave that sent the remaining two Furies skidding backward for yards. The third Fury flew so high in the sky that he disappeared into the growing sunlight, which shined brighter and brighter upon Chase.

Chase felt an energy like no other fill his entire body. His muscles doubled in size under the pressure of the overwhelming energy building within him. His upper, black body armor ripped to reveal inhuman musculature, big, throbbing veins, pumping not only blood but Chase’s life force throughout his body.

He then turned his attention to the remaining two Furies. In a fluid motion Chase thrust both his hands toward them and unleashed two white columns of energy. They hit their targets at the same time and impaled them both, punching through their ribcages.

When their bodies hit the now fully sunlit and warm ground, their lives had already been claimed.

Chase had dispatched five Furies in the blink of an eye. Sarah and Chris were nowhere to be seen, and his eyes now showed him a very different landscape. An unscathed image of planet Earth, with the sun shining bright and high in the now cloudless sky.

Ares appeared out of thin air.

“What happened? What does this vision mean?”

“It was brought on by your inner fears. I don’t really know why it happened. Perhaps your proximity to Aphroditis triggered it. Nonetheless, it was important.”

“Why?”

“Your fears were about to eat you alive. By fighting and defeating your enemies in this vision, you have lifted a large part of the weight that was crushing your soul.”

“I do indeed feel less scared at the moment . . . Confident, even, that we will find a way to fight them.”

“I also feel this when I look at you now. But this was just a flash reaction from your own psyche. You haven’t defeated every one of your inner demons just yet, but you clearly bought yourself some time to work on it.”

Chase reflected on his mentor’s words.

“I’ve never felt so powerful, though.”

“Good. Let’s hope that means you haven’t yet unlocked your full potential.”

Chase nodded as Ares’ corporeal image disappeared from his sight.

“I’m still waiting for an answer, Laiyos!”

That was Argos, his voice resonating within the vision’s landscape.

Chase’s view morphed back into the interior of his twin brother’s ship and soon he was back in reality.

Chase looked at Argos and smiled.

“Why are you grinning like an idiot? What’s your answer?”

“Do you really have to ask, Argos? I will never join the Furies.”

“Then you have signed your own death warrant.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Chase looked at Sarah, who was clearly still in shock at what had unfolded here in the last few minutes. She looked confused and probably wondered if any of this was real.

Chase also felt as though everything that had happened lately was somewhat surreal. But, for the first time in months, he was now painfully aware of where he stood. The full depth of the consequences of his actions were now crystal clear in his mind. He had let anger, hate and revenge cloud his judgment. But if he had to do it all over again, he would. Sarah simply meant too much to him. He didn’t see the point of living without her by his side.

He would have to find a way to make things right with Aphroditis and with his friends, and deal with Argos and the Furies once and for all. Part of him felt that what had just transpired was unavoidable anyway.

Perhaps this was part of my destiny all along.

Chase took Sarah’s hand and she looked at him with mixed emotions. She might never look upon him the same as she once did.

“Let’s go home.”

She nodded as tears slid down her cheeks.

“You’re a fool, Laiyos! You will regret this decision,” spat Argos as he looked with disdain at his departing brother.

Chase turned to look into his twin brother’s eyes.

“My name is Chase. You’re the fool and, mark my words, you’ll regret ever putting me in this position. I don’t think you fully realize what you’ve just done. I have a feeling you will though, and soon.”

The fire in Argos’ eyes burned as a vein throbbed in his temple.

“The next time we meet . . .” began Argos, but he let the words hang in the air.

Chase remembered what Ares had told him before, that he had felt a great deal of fear within Argos, buried deep down. At this moment, and for the first time outside of combat, Chase also felt that fear in him.

“You’d better pray our paths never cross again. We have unresolved business to deal with. I no longer care if this happens tomorrow or later in the future. But one way or the other, we have a score to settle, you and I. So long, Argos.”

Argos didn’t answer, but Chase could still smell fear in the air as he left the Zarlack ship with Sarah by his side.

2

On board the Iron Fire, Chase and Sarah walked from the cargo bay to the lift, on their way toward the bridge.

“Are you alright?” asked Chase tentatively.

“I don’t know. This all seems surreal, like a dream. Or a nightmare, more like it.”

Chase softly exhaled. “I’m sorry for what you had to go through. It’s over now.”

Her eyes widened.

Chase felt uneasy and understood that she looked at him differently now.

“You do realize what you’ve done, don’t you?”

“Yes, I have put everything and everyone in the universe in jeopardy to get you back.”

“How could you?”

“I couldn’t lose you a second time. I . . . It would have killed me.”

“I would never have agreed that you sacrifice Aphroditis for me. Did you ask yourself how I would feel about it before agreeing to do that?”

“I must admit I didn’t. Aphroditis went into the machine willingly.”

“Only because you asked for her help in the first place. And now the Furies will destroy everything.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“You’re just one Fury, Chase. They’re an entire race. You may have doomed us all.”

The words felt like a blade slicing through his heart. She was right, of course, but his intentions had been good, driven by his love for her and the baby. Which made hearing her say them all the more painful.

“I will not let this happen. If you believe anything, please believe that.”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore, Chase. How could you risk everything for me?”

Chase’s face grew darker. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“And I love you too, but how can I be responsible for the fall of the universe?”

He had put her in a tough spot and he knew it. “It hasn’t fallen yet. I won’t let it.”

“I . . . I don’t see what we can do to prevent it now.”

“We fight. We give it all we’ve got and trust that we will prevail.”

“That’s not the Chase I remember.”

“I don’t know how or why, but I feel different also. For the first time I feel like there’s nothing that cannot be accomplished.”

“Look, Chase, I’m really glad you feel more confident now. God knows we will need that. But . . . the Furies, Chase, the Furies are back, all of them. The first time around they nearly wiped everyone out of existence. Most of the ancient races didn’t just disappear naturally, they were exterminated by these . . . creatures.”

They entered the lift. When the doors closed Chase put his hand on her shoulder.

“And this time we’ll stop them for good, together.”

She brushed his hand away as nicely as she could.

“I . . . I don’t know if I can do this, Chase.”

“Give it time. This has been a very trying period for both of us.”

“I don’t think you’re hearing me. I don’t know if there can be an us anymore.”

Chase felt a growing pit in his stomach. “Surely you don’t feel this way?”

“The truth is, I don’t know what I feel anymore. I’m sorry, Chase. Don’t misunderstand me. You’ve risked your life and I can only imagine what you’ve just been through to get me back.”

“To get both of you back.”

“Right . . . we . . .”

“We’ll soon be parents.”

“This is so much to process right now. I . . . I’m really lost.”

“I know. I’m sorry for what Argos did to you. When I fired— When I destroyed the ship, when I thought you were flying it— You need to understand. The choice you’re wishing I had made now is the one I did back then. When I thought I killed both you and the baby, I died inside. I loathed myself for a long time.”

“What changed?”

“I’m not sure anything changed. I tracked down Argos and wanted to kill him. Revenge was the only thing that mattered to me back then. I didn’t care to live anymore. In fact, I thought killing Argos would be the last thing I ever did. But then, when I was about to deliver the final blow, he told me you were still alive.”

She looked at Chase and tears filled her eyes.

“It must have been really difficult for you to take that shot.”

“It was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do, and I regretted it the moment I squeezed the trigger. Even though everyone around me told me to do it, to choose the universe instead of you and Chris, well . . .”

“Why did you shoot, then? How did you find the strength?”

“You told me . . . Well, your clone asked me to. With a really convincing tone and choice of words.”

“It was Argos talking through my clone. But you should really take some comfort in the fact that, under the circumstances, I would have told you to fire upon me as well. It’s so strange to have memories of both my time in that tank and of my clone. I don’t know what’s real and what’s not.”

“I know that now. But please try to understand how hard that was to do once. Doing it twice was just out of the question.”

“I guess that’s true. Still, try to understand how I feel.”

“I understand, trust me.”

Chase took a step toward her, to take her into his arms, but she took a step back.

“I’m sorry, Chase, please just give me some time here. In the last twenty minutes I feel like my entire existence has been turned upside down. I don’t know what to think anymore.”

Chase swallowed hard and looked at the ground. He felt sad about how Sarah was reacting but it was understandable. This was not something that would resolve easily. Sarah would need time to process it all.

“I should probably give you some space right now. So take all the time you need.”

She brushed her hand on his arm and attempted to smile.

“Thank you for understanding, Chase. I’m sorry if I seem distant at the moment. I still can’t believe any of this is real. I know this must be difficult for you, especially after all you’ve been through.”

Chase nodded as the lift’s door opened to reveal the bridge and their friends waiting for them.

* * *

Argos looked at the Iron Fire from the bridge of his capital ship. Moments later about ten hyperspace windows opened and the rest of his fleet in the area entered Erevos’ orbit. His gaze was locked onto the Iron Fire as Laiyos’ shuttle entered one of its cargo bays.

He could end his brother and his friends’ lives right here and now. All he needed to do was to give the order and they would be gone, just like that. But something at the back of his mind was telling him not to. What the hell was that? Why did he feel this way?

What Laiyos had told him earlier hit him more than it should have. Was he afraid of his twin brother? Or was it something else that made him feel this way? Then again, he had given his word. His mission was accomplished, and there would be other occasions to end Laiyos. He had no doubts about that.

His train of thought was interrupted when one of his officers addressed him. “Master, there’s an incoming holographic transmission from the surface.”

“I’ll take it in my ready room.”

“Very well, Master.”

Argos entered his ready room and kneeled in front of his holographic projection area. A tall, red man stood with his arms crossed against his chest.

“Well done, Argos.”

“Thank you, Supreme Commander Arakan.”

“Why is there an Alliance ship in orbit of Erevos?”

“It’s my brother’s ship. He will be leaving shortly.”

“Is he with us?”

“I’ve asked him to join us but he declined.”

“Then why aren’t you firing at his ship?”

“I gave my word that if he helped me acquire the Pandora stone, he could take his precious Sarah and leave unharmed.”

The holographic figure growled. “Kill him, now!”

“But, Supreme Commander⁠—”

“Argos, may I remind you that you are ten years late? I should execute you on the spot for this failure.”

“I have not rested a single minute in the last ten years from my efforts to bring you back here from your dimensional prison. Surely that must count for something?”

“It does, and for your efforts, you will keep breathing. Now destroy that Alliance ship at once, or face the consequences. Arakan out.”

The holographic transmission ended.

Argos rose and made a fist so tightly that blood spilled onto his ready-room carpet.

Ungrateful bastard. After everything I’ve done, how can he treat me this way?

He walked back to the bridge, blood still dripping from his hand.

“Target this ship . . .” Argos hesitated, his gaze fixed upon the Iron Fire. After a moment of silence, he completed the order. “And open fire.”

* * *

Ryonna took Sarah in her arms and held her tightly.

“I’m so glad to see you again, Sarah. We’ve all missed you.”

Tears formed in Sarah’s eyes. “Thank you, Ryonna, I’m glad to see you too.”

Daniel approached Chase with doubts in his eyes. “Glad you’re both back . . . But where is Aphroditis?”

“I had to leave her with Argos.”

“What? And you’re okay with that?”

“Far from it,” said Chase with a grave look. “But for the time being, that’s how it has to be.”

“What’s this planet that appeared out of nowhere?”

“It would seem this is Erevos, the home planet of the Furies.”

This revelation sent an icy-cold wave upon the entire bridge.

Ryonna took a step forward. “Weren’t the Furies defeated ten thousand years ago? What’s going on, Chase?”

Tar’Lock clicked nervously.

“I thought so too, but apparently bringing them back was Argos’ plan all along. When the Olympians defeated the Furies so long ago, with the help of the other ancient races, they decided to trap them in another dimension outside of space and time. Argos needed me to get hold of the Pandora stone as well as access to an Olympian to bring the planet back into our dimension.”

“That’s the stone we got from defeating the Titan, isn’t it?” interjected Tar’Lock.

Chase nodded.

“Now what?” asked Fillio.

“Now we have to find a way to defeat the Furies all over again,” answered Chase with confidence.

Keera’s eyes widened. “I know I’m new here, but do you realize we’re talking about the vilest and most dangerous beings that ever lived? How are we supposed to do that?”

“Keera, I wish I knew, but we’ll find a way. We have to. We should get the hell out of here now that all these ships have appeared. It’s not safe here. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss all this later.”

As if on cue the ship rocked as a volley of laser fire hit the plating of the Iron Fire.

Chase lost no time and jumped to the captain’s chair, closed his eyes and took mental control of the ship. He raised the ship’s shields and activated the hyperspace engines, but they didn’t answer.

“Son of a . . .”

They all took their places at different stations and Sarah sat next to Chase.

“What’s going on?”

“The hyperspace engines have been damaged. We can’t jump out of here. Brace for impact.”

A volley of torpedoes and more laser fire pounded the Iron Fire’s shields. Chase used all his concentration to avoid as much fire from the enemy fleet as he could with some pretty fancy evasive flying, but there were too many and the shields were lowering at an alarming rate.

“That snake bastard. He told us we could leave.”

“And you believed him?” asked Ryonna.

Chase didn’t answer, even though he knew Ryonna was right. “Tar’Lock, take Keera to engineering and try to repair the drive.”

“I’ll go with them,” added Ryonna.

“You two,” said Chase, looking at Daniel and Fillio, “take your StarFuries and provide the fleet with alternative targets.”

“You want us to do what?”

“At this rate the shields won’t hold long enough for us to repair the hyperspace engines.”

“Chase, what will two StarFuries do against a fleet of behemoth-class ships?”

Chase’s mind raced. They were right. As good as they were, they were vastly outnumbered and this was one fight they would never win.

“We have to do something!” shouted Chase in frustration.

“Chase, can’t we outrun them?” asked Daniel.

“The Iron Fire took too much damage from that first volley.”

“Alright, we’ll get to our fighters, but I doubt it will make a difference.”

That gave Chase an idea. “No, you’re right, it won’t. I have a better idea.”

Chase took mental control of the StarFuries and launched them at once.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting the hell out of here and buying us some time.”

“But you just said we couldn’t outrun them with sub-light speed.”

“We’ll jump out of here.”

“Chase, you’re not making any sense. We can’t jump.”

“The StarFuries can.”

“So shouldn’t we be on board them instead of having them out there?”

“They will open the hyperspace windows.”

“Chase, the StarFuries are too small. The Iron Fire will never be able to ride inside the corridors they create.”

The ship rocked and half the people on the bridge crashed to the floor.

“If you have a better idea I’m all ears, but right now I can’t think of anything else.”

“This is suicide.”

“Perhaps not. I’ll try using my powers to widen the corridors.”

“Can you do that?”

“We’re about to find out.”

Chase heard Ares in his mind.

No, Chase, you must not use your powers in space.

I have to. If I don’t we’ll all die here and this was all for nothing.

I don’t think Argos wants you dead. The fact that he disabled your engines and didn’t go full power on his first attack is suspicious.

Nevertheless, we’ve seen firsthand how he treats his prisoners. I’m not surrendering. But I agree, something doesn’t add up. I can feel it. I don’t think he’s acting of his own volition. But in the end it doesn’t matter. We have to try something.

I hope you know what you’re doing.

Chase didn’t answer. Not only didn’t he know what to say, but he had no idea if his plan was even within the realm of the possible. But it was the only way to escape the immediate threat.

He sent one StarFury to fly in front of the Iron Fire, while the other vectored toward the armada, trying to catch some aggro and to test a theory. As expected, Argos started firing on the starfighter, which made little sense since it was absolutely no threat. Was Argos acting against his will by attacking them? He felt no deception from him when he promised to let them go, so this sudden change made no sense. Perhaps it had something to do with the Furies. Nevertheless, Chase had battled with Argos’ forces for long enough to recognize that he wasn’t using the full power of his fleet at the moment and his strategies seemed weak at best, as if he didn’t want to destroy the Iron Fire.

“Shouldn’t we be dead already?” asked Sarah.

“Yeah, something is up. I don’t think Argos wants the Iron Fire destroyed. He must be putting on a show, trying to convince the Furies he is at least trying. So let’s give him a good one.”

“That makes no sense. Why would he fire on us but try to spare us?” asked Daniel.

“You know what, I think I’d better ask him.”

“You’re gonna do what?”

“I’m going to ask him.”

Chase reached for Argos in his mind.

What do you want, Laiyos? said Argos when he felt his brother within his mind.

Why are you holding off? But, most importantly, why did you start shooting at us?

There was no answer.

They asked you to, didn’t they? said Chase.

Yes. I hate when I need to break my word. I promised you would be able to take Sarah and your unborn child out of here. I owed you that much for your help today.

Glad you think so. So what’s the plan here?

Why aren’t you out of here already?

Your first volley took us by surprise. Our shields were down and it disabled our hyperspace engines.

Chase detected a little compassion behind the words of his brother and it really troubled him. Even though he understood the pride behind keeping one’s word, it was Argos, after all. Why did he care so much? They were still archenemies, after all. Or were they?

Let me ask you something. You really wanted me by your side, didn’t you?

I don’t know what you’re talking about, brother.

Don’t play coy. We’re the only ones talking here, so you don’t need to appear tough for anyone else. I felt something when I left your ship. I thought it was fear but perhaps it was something else.

Get a grip, Laiyos, you mean nothing to me. Like I told you, I just don’t like being told what to do, especially if that means breaking a promise I’ve made.

Chase knew he was talking with Argos’ ego right now and there was no way he would admit that his decision could be based on anything else. Still, he could clearly sense Argos didn’t want to destroy the Iron Fire.

Argos, I have a plan to get me and my friends out of here and make it look like I outsmarted you. But I’m gonna need your help.

Argos growled. I’m listening.

* * *

The StarFury was nearly upon Argos’ fleet. Chase targeted the ship he was about to destroy, with Argos’ help. He fired all four drones in shielded torpedo mode toward it. The fleet tried to destroy the drones but their shields held up and they exploded on the target’s shield in quick succession, their quadrinium-enhanced core successfully draining the ship’s shields. Not enough to fully disable them, but enough for the next part of his plan.

Chase overloaded the StarFury’s engines and micro-jumped the ship toward the targeted Zarlack destroyer. The starfighter jumped into the capital ship and exploded at its center, creating a chain reaction of explosions that took the capital ship out, which in turn created a powerful shockwave that damaged the surrounding ships. With that out of the way, Chase concentrated on the other StarFury and activated its jump engines. Just when it was about to create a hyperspace window the StarFury was hit with a powerful yellow plasma blast that came out of nowhere and destroyed it.

“Fuck! What was that?” shouted Chase in frustration.

“The shot came from the planet,” said Sarah.

A few more shots hit the Iron Fire and sparks flew inside the bridge as the lights blinked for a few seconds.

Dammit, the Furies are taking things into their own hands.

As the Iron Fire received more pounding from the planet, its shields drained quickly. Chase’s mind raced to find another plan, but he was quickly running out of options.

“Keera, I don’t suppose you’ve managed to restore the jump engines already?”

“Not only haven’t we managed to repair them, but the last impacts have destabilized half the ship’s power conduits. The shield generators are fluctuating dangerously.”

“What do we do now?” inquired Daniel, his voice trembling.

“Abandon ship. Everyone to the Valken. Once on board we’ll jump out of here.”

Chase hated the idea of losing the Iron Fire, but he could no longer see an outcome that could save his ship. He briefly thought about using the Valken to open a hyperspace window for the Iron Fire to ride, but surely the Furies would dispatch it before it could get into position, as they did the StarFury a moment ago. In fact, he wasn’t even sure they would have time to board the Valken in their current predicament. Another shot impacted the starboard shields and one of the consoles on the bridge exploded, confirming his fears: the ship was seconds away from being blown to bits.

“Tar’Lock, bring your party to the Valken at superspeed.”

“On our way. See you there.”

Before anyone could say anything on the bridge, Chase grabbed Sarah, Fillio and Daniel, and erected a force field around them just before the next shot took out power in their section of the ship, effectively disabling the force field that was holding pressure within the bridge’s viewport, thanks to Argos’ punching through it earlier. Chase took his friends through that same hole, punching a bigger one on their way through and flew toward the cargo bay, dodging incoming fire from the planet on his way.

He ignored Fillio’s screams, but understood how disorienting it must have been to be flying in outer space outside a ship.

They arrived at the Valken at the same time as Tar’Lock, Keera and Ryonna. They boarded the ship when all hell broke loose. Everything around the Valken exploded and the ship was rocked pretty hard. Keera fell and hit her head hard against the nearest bulkhead.

“We’re not gonna make it,” shouted Tar’Lock.

Chase expanded his mind, found the Valken’s computer with his thoughts and blindly jumped the ship at the exact moment the Iron Fire was obliterated in a fiery display of successive explosions.

3

Argos stood with a blank expression on his face as the Iron Fire exploded into a million pieces. A sense of dread filled his soul and he was taken by surprise by the wave of emotion his brother’s demise brought to the surface.

“Master, we’ve received a transmission from Erevos. They want you to report to the planet’s surface at once,” said his communications officer.

Argos exhaled deeply, knowing this would not be a pleasant meeting. Argos hadn’t expected the Furies to fire from the surface. He would have to find a way to explain how so many Zarlack capital ships couldn’t destroy a measly ship like the Iron Fire.

He left the bridge without another word, took the Dark Star and vectored toward the surface to the coordinates provided, well within the currently dark side of the planet. His ship rocked a little upon entering the inhospitable atmosphere of Erevos. Bright lightning ignited quick flashes of light inside the cockpit of the Dark Star while heavy rain relentlessly poured on the cockpit’s viewport.

Memories of Argos’ childhood with Laiyos came to him while he piloted his ship toward the planet’s surface.

Was Laiyos really dead?

And if he was, why did it bother him so much? He tried to convince himself it was because he had given his word they would be spared. But deep inside he knew that was not the only reason. A lightning bolt nearly struck the front of his ship, illuminating the cockpit brightly for just a moment. Argos could see his reflection in the glass. Except he saw his brother’s face instead.

You’re still alive, aren’t you? Good for you. You’ve always been annoyingly resourceful. At least you’re consistent.

Argos smiled slightly to himself as he vectored his ship toward the landing pad atop one of the many tall buildings in the metropolis below. Even with the very harsh weather conditions he could see the massive and breathtaking city in every direction, as far as the eye could see. Many craft of different sizes and shapes were flying all around, providing a mesmerizing light show. The blurred lights emanating from buildings farther away gave the metropolis an ethereal quality. As he exited the Dark Star he was greeted with a nasty, rough sand-and-rain storm. It didn’t take long for him to erect a force field around himself to deflect the offending weather elements. He walked the ramp separating his ship from the building’s entrance. It was a very angular and massive structure that towered over the rest of the megapolis around it. Clearly some sort of headquarters, thought Argos as he stepped through a door that dematerialized upon approach and rematerialized once he was in. As he walked, some red lights appeared in midair, floating and lighting his way a few meters in front of him as well as behind, casting ominous red tones on the dark gray walls around him. He soon arrived at the end of the corridor where a shiny red circle was drawn on the floor.

Argos looked at it just long enough for a voice to be heard. “Please step on the platform for transport,” said the synthesized voice.

Argos entered the circle and was teleported with a hum to somewhere else.

He stood in a large room with a very high ceiling. On each side lines of Fury soldiers extended for a few hundred yards, after which stairs lead to a throne platform, towering above the enormous room. As far from it as he was at the moment, Argos had no doubt Supreme Commander Arakan would be sitting on the throne. The soldiers all saluted synchronously as he walked down the path to the bottom of the stairs. As he passed by, soldiers on each side illuminated their red auras and their eyes shone red. Some sort of official military welcome, thought Argos. Even though they were his brethren, he felt uneasy with the display. At the top of the stairs he saw the throne room, and the soldiers disappeared, leaving him alone, looking up at the throne where Arakan sat and where Arakan looked down at Argos.

This entire room must be a giant holographic display.

“Come closer, Argos,” said Arakan. His voice was low and throaty.

Argos arrived in front of the throne. Then he noticed another Fury standing behind the throne in the shadows. Argos wondered if the throne was real or also a projection.

The second Fury took a few steps into the light. He was an imposing man, taller than Argos, with short, orange hair and piercing yellow eyes.

“Kneel in front of your master,” said the warrior.

Argos took a knee and lowered his head.

Arakan spoke. “I don’t really know if I should congratulate you or kill you where you stand.”

Argos’ blood froze as fear engulfed him.

“Surely I have accomplished my mission, Master.”

“A little on the late side, but I suppose you have, and that is why I’m considering letting you live.”

Argos couldn’t help but swear in his mind. He had devoted the last ten years of his life to freeing the Furies from their captivity and this was the thanks he got?

“Do you have anything to say on the matter, Argos?”

Argos needed to take a stand or things could get out of hand, so he rose and looked straight into the supreme commander’s eyes.

“I have done as you asked. You’re now free from the dimensional prison the Olympians had trapped our people in ten thousand years ago. I’d think you would grant me leniency for the small delay it took me to accomplish this goal.”

“Spoken like a true Fury. I suppose you are correct, but then you didn’t destroy the ship in orbit as ordered.”

“My brother is a resilient Fury, his flying skills⁠—”

“Enough! Don’t try to find excuses.”

Supreme Commander Arakan rose and waved a hand.

A giant holographic projection appeared in the middle of the hall. It showed the battle that had just happened between the Zarlack destroyers and the tiny Iron Fire. Argos turned around and looked at it.

“Mind explaining how a small ship like this could not be destroyed in less than a minute?”

Argos swallowed hard. He had to make a choice, either stand his ground or crawl in fear and hope he would be forgiven. Neither choice was appealing but he decided upon the former.

With a look of determination, he turned back to face Arakan’s interrogating gaze. “I had given my word to my brother that he could leave this place alive! Perhaps it’s a concept that is unknown to you, but I keep my promises. Your renewed presence in the universe should be proof of that.”

“So you decided to disobey a direct order from your commander in chief?”

“You’ve destroyed the ship anyway, so what does it matter?”

“I don’t like your tone, Argos. Tread carefully.”

“I apologize for any disrespect, Master, but I have bled and fought to bring you back here, thanks in part to my brother’s help in acquiring the Pandora stone and bringing me an Olympian to make the dimension portal work. In exchange for his help I promised him safe passage for him and his friends.”

“Why would you do such a thing?”

“To bring you back as early as possible. Forgive me if I was mistaken, but I thought that was why you required my help in the first place. And if I may add⁠—”

Argos was interrupted by the second Fury. “You may not!”

Arakan raised his hand again. “Let him speak, Miseo.”

Miseo took a step back and apologized. “Sorry, Father.”

“Continue,” said Arakan coldly.

“My brother and his friends are inconsequential now that you’re back. They will be defeated shortly. So whether they died today or in a few days or weeks, what’s the difference? They cannot possibly hope to defeat us now, so I really don’t see why keeping my word was such an offense.”

Arakan walked from the throne and approached Argos. His corpulence was impressive, and his ornate body armor and black cape made him look larger than life. The multiple scars across his face increased his already overwhelming presence.

He raised a hand and a column of red light engulfed Argos. Instantly the gravity increased tenfold and Argos had trouble standing. The beam intensified even more and he felt a tremendous pressure inside his body, accompanied by excruciating waves of burning pain. Argos felt that each bone and internal organ was being pressured to the limit of shattering or exploding. The level of burning pain was so strong that he couldn’t try to counteract the effects of that crushing wave.

“Listen very carefully, Argos. I can crush you anytime I want and there is nothing you can do about it. I do not like my orders to be defied, questioned or misinterpreted. If you didn’t want to destroy the ship, you should have convinced me when you received the order, not accepted them and then defied me behind my back. This is the first and last time this ever happens; are we clear?”

When he thought his body couldn’t take it any longer and would shatter under the pressure, the pain stopped.

Argos fell to the floor, panting heavily, blood spilling from his nose, ears and mouth. It took him a moment to muster the strength to speak. “Understood, Master, please forgive me.”

“Because you have accomplished your primary mission, I will overlook this act of defiance. Bear in mind I will never be so lenient again.”

Argos nodded as best he could as he tried to rise to his feet.

“Now, we need to discuss the next phase of our plans. We are running dangerously low on resources. We need to get enough quadrinium and a few other rare minerals to start building a fleet of ships. What’s the status of your Zarlack fleets?”

“I have more than enough ships to get you as many resources as you require.”

“Where can we find it in abundance?”

“Droxian space is the richest in quadrinium deposits, but I would avoid it, at least for the moment. They are a formidable enemy that thrives on war and they rejoined the Earth Alliance, so they would get help if they were attacked. While a victory could be achieved with the ships I have left, we would incur heavy losses and squander too many ships in the process. I propose we start by attacking smaller systems and draining their resources until we have enough materials, then Droxia will be a much easier target to deal with.”

“Thank you for your assessment. My son will take over a ship currently in orbit and finish the job you couldn’t.”

“What do you mean, Master? The Iron Fire was destroyed.”

Arakan pointed to the center of the hall and again a giant holographic projection appeared. It showed the yellow plasma fire impacting with the Iron Fire in slow motion. “Here,” said Arakan, pointing toward the Iron Fire’s cargo bay. A quick blue flash could be seen just a fraction before flames engulfed the rest of the ship, blowing it into a million pieces.

“This is a hyperspace window. They’ve escaped!”

“Then let me track them for you. Let me redeem my earlier mistake, Master.”

“No. My son will track them and eliminate them.”

Arakan looked at his son. “Take a single ship and one of our starfighters and go now.”

“Very well, Father. They will be dead by day’s end.”

Miseo pressed a touch control on his armor and teleported out of the throne hall.

“Laiyos is a very resourceful Fury. One ship might not be enough.”

“Miseo is ten times the Fury you will ever be. I have faith he will complete his mission.”

Argos wasn’t accustomed to being treated with so much disdain and it made his blood boil.

“Yes, Master. What are my next orders?”

“You will make sure we get the resources we need to start building ships right away. Those are your orders.”

“Will I still be allowed to command the first Fury fleet and crush Earth and its allies when the time comes?”

“You have deeply disappointed me today. You should feel lucky just being permitted to live one more day. As for the fleet, we shall see if you are given command. But if you even want the slightest chance of this happening, remember that nothing short of total obedience will be required of you.”

Argos started to wonder if perhaps he should have listened to his brother when they were younger. Laiyos was always against this plan to help bring back the Furies. Until now Argos never understood why, but he was starting to question his beliefs. However, now was not the time to openly display doubts; so he brushed the thoughts away.

“Absolutely, Supreme Commander.”

“Now leave and bring us the resources we so direly need to crush our enemies.”

Argos bowed. “Thy will be done.”

He quickly healed himself and walked down the stairs.

Not the hero’s welcome I expected. How dare they treat me like a second rate citizen? They would still be trapped in another dimension if it wasn’t for me.

Argos went back to the Dark Star and left Erevos’ atmosphere with anger and hatred boiling in every fiber of his being.

* * *

When the Valken exited hyperspace sparks flew inside the ship. A wall console exploded and started a fire. Wailing alarms resonated within the ship.

Chase jumped up and extinguished the fire with a swift movement of his right hand. The cargo bay of the Valken had filled with smoke. Keera collapsed on the ground and Chase ran to her side. Blood gushed from a nasty wound in her scalp. He lost no time healing her and soon she was as good as new.

“Is everyone alright?” shouted Chase to be heard over the annoying alarms.

Sarah nodded.

“Well, we’re in one piece so can’t complain. What happened?” inquired Daniel.

“We’ve blindly jumped into hyperspace. Pretty much in the middle of the Iron Fire’s exploding.”

“Can you shut down these alarms?” asked Daniel

“Let me give it a try.” Chase closed his eyes and concentrated on the Valken’s computer, but the wailing alarms made it difficult. He pushed through, managed to tune them down in his own thoughts, and accessed the onboard computer. The alarms stopped.

“Thaaaaaaank you,” said Tar’Lock, who had curled into a ball because of the pain strong noises caused him.

Keera opened her eyes slowly and tried to get up. “What happened? I thought I heard my ship’s alarms going crazy, or was it just a nightmare?”

“I’m afraid not,” answered Chase, his eyes filled with concern.

“What is it?”

“I turned them off with my thoughts but while I was inside the Valken’s computer I glanced at our status.”

“Which is?” interjected Sarah.

“Not good. We’ve lost the jump engines, there’s multiple damage all over the ship and life support is barely at fifteen percent.”

“So you can also control computers mentally?” said Keera, raising an eyebrow.

Chase shrugged and attempted a smile.

“Any good news at all?” asked Fillio.

“Well, the communications array seems to be working so I’ve programmed the computer to broadcast a distress call, but we didn’t jump nearly far enough from Erevos.”

“That’s just great. This day keeps getting better and better,” said Tar’Lock with a series of fast-paced clicks.

Keera walked away from the group. “I’m gonna see if there’s a planet nearby. At fifteen percent life support we won’t last long in space.”

Sarah followed her. “Wait up, I’m coming with you.”

As the cargo doors closed behind her, Chase looked at his friends.

“There aren’t any planets in range. I’ve checked.”

Fillio held her neck and groaned. “Why didn’t you tell them that?”

“Sarah’s pretty shaken up. It will help keep her occupied for a while.”

“What do we do now?” asked Daniel.

“I don’t know. Let’s see what we can repair on the ship.”

“I’m on it,” said Ryonna, already entering commands from the nearest terminal. Fillio and Tar’Lock joined her.

Daniel clearly had something on his mind. “What is it, my friend?”

“Are we gonna talk about what just happened?”

“You’re gonna have to be more specific. A lot happened today.”

“The part about the Fury world appearing out of nowhere and the implications.”

Chase broke eye contact. He was still unsure how to deal with that at the moment. The sheer weight of the consequences that this new development could have for everyone in the universe was simply too much to contemplate. He’d already had his share of Armageddon-like close calls to deal with lately, and right now all he was worried about was getting his friends back home safely. He couldn’t think about or address the bigger picture at the moment.

“I don’t know what to tell you. Right now I don’t really want to debate this, so the short version is: it’s all my fault. But, like I promised Aphroditis, I’ll do my best to fix this.”

“I don’t think it’s your fault.”

“We both know it is.”

“How so?”

“Well, if I hadn’t agreed to help Argos the Furies would still be trapped in another dimension. We have no idea what the fallout of this will be.”

“Well if history is any indicator, we’re looking at an extinction event, at least for any race other than the Furies currently living in this universe.”

Chase clenched his teeth for a second. He was fully aware of this and it didn’t help to hear it out loud. But defeating his fears and darkness in his vision had given him hope that there must be a way to deal with all that.

“We won’t let it happen.”

Daniel beamed a wide smile.

“What did I say?”

“You said ‘we.’”

“So?”

“Well, it’s about time you realized you’re not alone in this.”

“I guess I deserve that. I’m sorry for leaving the way I did back on Earth. I didn’t want any of you to get hurt.”

“That’s a noble sentiment, but I think you’ve learned your lesson.”

“I have. Without you guys we wouldn’t have survived the fight against the Titan, but⁠—”

“But if you hadn’t, things might have turned out different. That’s what you’re thinking?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s nonsense. You had no idea what the price would be for getting Sarah back.”

“I’m not sure I would have done anything differently had I known. Not if it meant sacrificing Sarah . . . again.”

“This is all conjecture anyway. You didn’t know, and what is happening now is done. So like you said, we’ll find a way to get Aphroditis back and send the Furies back to where they just came from. Together.”

“No.”

Daniel’s eyes widened. “What do you mean ‘no’?”

“I mean trapping them in another dimension is not a viable option. This time we deal with them once and for all. The Furies must be wiped out, or they’ll keep coming back. Let’s make sure this is the last Fury war.”

“Easy, tiger. We’re talking about the Furies here. Up until now we thought you and Argos were the only two remaining Furies, and that had already caused serious havoc. We’re talking about an entire planet of them bent on . . .” He let the words hang for a moment. “Well, I don’t know what they’re bent on, but I suppose being trapped for ten thousand years in another dimension hasn’t softened their resolve for universal domination and destruction.”

“It hasn’t.”

“Mind explaining how you know that? I was just assuming here.”

“When the planet arrived I had another vision.”

“Oh, I see. Pray tell?”

* * *

Sarah sat next to Keera in the cockpit.

“We haven’t been formerly introduced. My name is Sarah.” She extended her hand to Keera.

“I know,” she said, beaming her a smile. “You’re all Chase talked about.”

“He talked about me? Why?”

“When I met him he was dead set on finding his brother Argos and killing him. I don’t know how much you know. Things went pretty fast in the last few hours. But Chase thought he had been forced to kill you.”

“I . . . I have these memories. In fact, it’s really troubling. I know they’re not really mine, but I remember them as if they were. I know everything my clone has done.” Sarah’s expression darkened.

“Boy that must feel weird.”

“It does. I’m sorry, you have better things to do. I just needed some time away . . .”

“It’s okay. You can help me figure out our next move.”

Sarah looked straight ahead at the stars while Keera fiddled with her controls for a while.

After a long silence, she looked back at Sarah. “It’s none of my business, but I’ve never seen someone so much in love as Chase.”

Sarah attempted to smile but her expression changed almost instantly and tears flowed from her eyes.

“I’m sorry. You may not want to discuss this. Please excuse my big mouth.”

Sarah put a hand on Keera’s. “That’s okay, you don’t need to apologize. I’m just lost. I have trouble reconciling what happened, you know? There are a thousand thoughts overwhelming me at the moment. I . . . I don’t really know how to deal with them.”

“That’s understandable. I know I’m a stranger, but if you need to talk, don’t hesitate, okay?”

“That’s very sweet of you, thanks. How . . .?” she stopped.

“How do I know Chase?”

Sarah nodded.

“We partnered to try and catch Argos. I’m a bounty hunter.”

“I see.”

“Look, I don’t want you to get any ideas. I’m not interested in Chase.”

“That’s alright. Like I said, I’m very confused right now.”

“Still, if you don’t mind me saying, why aren’t you back there with Chase? I’d think you’d want to be in his arms right now. In your position that’s all I would think about.”

“I have a really hard time forgiving him for what he did.”

Keera’s eye widened. “Forgiving? What does he have to be forgiven for?”

“Putting my wellbeing before that of every living being in the universe, for one.”

“Chase had no idea that helping Argos would bring back the Furies. How could he? We all thought they were long gone.”

“Still, he had to know that whatever Argos wanted him for would be nefarious.”

“Look. Perhaps you should put yourself in his shoes for a little while. I’ve spent a good portion of time with him these last few days. When we met he was just a shell, his mind and heart broken. For just a second try to imagine if you were the one firing on his ship and killing him for the greater good. How would you feel?”

Sarah thought about it for quite a long time. “I guess . . .” was all she could answer.

“Look, it’s none of my business but I’m gonna tell you what I think anyway.”

“You seem like that type of person.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re direct, that’s what I mean.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I am. Understand this. When I met Chase, he was just a way for me to cash in on the gigantic bounty that was on Argos’ head. But before I knew it we became friends. He’s an amazing guy, and I’m not just saying that because he saved me from being raped.”

Sarah swallowed hard. “What?”

“Shortly after we met I had a—how to put it mildly—an unfortunate encounter with an old business partner. He tried to abuse me sexually. Thank the Olympian gods Chase arrived in the nick of time.”

She smiled. “He does that a lot.”

“What do you mean?”

“Save people at the eleventh hour.”

“So doesn’t that say a lot about him?”

“It does. And you’ve given me a lot to think about. Thank you, Keera.”

“Anytime. Just remember, he did what he did because he loves you. I’m not sure anything else really matters at the end of the day.”

“It will if the universe pays the price for that love.”

Keera stayed silent. Sarah was uncomfortable being the indirect reason why they were in their current situation.

“Any luck finding us a planet in range?”

“Nope. The Valken’s sensors are not working at their peak efficiency, but there doesn’t seem to be anywhere in range we can land my ship.”

“Can we repair it?”

“As far as I can tell, whatever can be done is being taken care of by your friends.”

“As far as you can tell?”

“One of them is interfacing with the Valken’s system from the cargo bay’s console. They’re attempting to restore more power to life support and to restore the jump engines.”

“Should we help?”

“Whoever is attempting repairs seems pretty skilled. Perhaps we could boost the sensors sensit—” She didn’t finish her sentence before a rapid, repetitive alarm sounded from her console. “Oh crap.”

“What is it?”

She activated the internal communications. “Chase, get up here stat!”

“What is it, Keera?” repeated Sarah.

“We’ve got company.”

“Friend or foe?”

Keera’s look toward Sarah said it better than any words could.

* * *

In the rear of the Valken, Chase had finished explaining his vision to his friends. Fillio didn’t seem to be feeling well and he took her to one side for a chat.

“You alright?”

“I’m not sure. I feel really tired of it all.”

Chase recognized that mood. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Sure. I don’t really know where to start, though.”

“Perhaps you could tell me what has you worried.”

“What doesn’t these days? You know?”

Chase nodded.

“We’ve been fending off one attack after another since as long as I can remember now.”

“I can relate to that.”

“Yet the Furies getting back means it will be even more fighting, more death and destruction. When will it end, Chase?”

“I wish I could say soon. But I’m just realizing the real battle has yet to begin.”

“I don’t think I have the strength for that one. Perhaps I should resign.”

“It’s your right to do so and nobody will think less of you if you do. But I won’t lie to you, we’d be losing one of our best wing commanders.”

She attempted a smile. “Look at me rambling when you must feel responsible for the current situation.”

This stung his heart. She noticed. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Please forgive me, Chase.”

“You don’t need to apologize. You haven’t said anything I didn’t know or acknowledge myself.”

“Yet it was unfair saying it out loud.”

“Think nothing of it. I’m more worried about how you feel at the moment.”

“I’ll be fine. Perhaps it’s just the lack of sleep. I can’t remember the last time I slept soundly for an entire night.”

“I can help you with that.”

“How?”

“Well, I can easily put you to sleep. The more my telekinetic and telepathic powers grow, the more I understand how the different regions of our brains work.”

“That’s handy. I might actually take you up on that once we get back to Earth, if you can spare the time.”

“For you I’ll make the time.”

She shot him that same look of affection she had given him when they were closer back at the academy. But it made Chase slightly uncomfortable now.

“Thank you, Chase.”

“Anytime, buddy.”

“Buddy?”

“Well . . .”

“Say no more.”

Chase bit his lip. That hadn’t been very tactful. He knew from her call right after the fifth fleet had rejoined the Earth Alliance that she still had latent feelings for him.

Then again, his mind was filled with so many questions, so much anxiety about what was to come next, that he hadn’t stopped once to think how others felt about the situation, or even the feelings they might have toward him. Was he being selfish? Clearly the last few months had taken a toll on his friend and he hadn’t noticed.

Daniel was looking at the two of them strangely. That’s when Chase realized that he liked Fillio.

He sent him a telepathic message. Come and keep her company, will you? She really needs someone to talk to and I can think of nobody better than you.

His expression changed and he smiled as he approached them.

“I’ve got to check on a few things,” said Chase, aware how obvious he was being.

But it didn’t seem to bother Fillio. “Alright, thanks for the talk, Chase.”

“Anytime.”

Daniel sat next to Fillio and a few minutes later he had managed to put a smile back on her face, and even to make her laugh.

Ryonna sat next to Chase. “I’m not the right person for fixing this jump engine.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine, Ryonna. How are you? Besides the repairs, I mean?”

“Better than you, obviously.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you forgotten how empathic we Droxians are? You’re broadcasting your emotions at the moment. They seem to be all over the place. Plus, after all this time I like to think I’m starting to get to know you.”

“Right. I’m okay. Just overwhelmed by it all.”

“I think that’s the general consensus at the moment.”

Ryonna gazed over at Daniel and Fillio when she saw Chase doing so.

“They’re cute together. They’d make a nice couple.”

“I agree. I can sense his love for her.”

“Yeah, me too. I’m not sure how she feels about him, though.”

Chase wasn’t either. Did she still have residual feelings toward him, which could prevent her from seeing Daniel in the same light as he was seeing her?

His train of thought was interrupted when the speakers came to life. It was Keera. “Chase, get up here, stat!”

“Now what?” said Chase, running toward the cockpit.

4

Onboard the Zarlack destroyer, Miseo stood at the viewport on the bridge as the ship exited hyperspace.

“Scan the area for any energy signatures,” said the Fury to nobody in particular.

“A medium-sized craft’s signature has been detected on long-range sensors.”

“Vector the ship toward it, and as soon as we’re in range, fire with maximum firepower.”

“Shouldn’t we try to capture them?” said someone on the bridge.

Miseo looked at the crew. “Who said that?”

A Zarlack got up from his console and took a step forward. “I did . . . Master.”

“Why do you think we should capture them?”

“From the sensor data we have on the ship, it seems badly damaged. They are basically disabled. Perhaps their passengers could be of more use to the Fury alive than dead.”

“What’s your name?”

“First Officer Zin’Dran, Master.”

“Are you aware of the concept of an order, First Officer?”

“Of course, Master, and I apologize if I⁠—”

He was cut short when he started levitating toward the Fury. He flailed his limbs, trying in vain to get back to the ground.

“Please, Master, I didn’t mean any disrespect.”

Miseo looked at the officer and his eyes glowed with an intense, bright-red hue.

“I don’t know how Argos did things around here, but I think a little demonstration couldn’t hurt.”

A wave of energy shot upwards from Miseo’s feet and sent his short hair dancing atop his scalp, as his aura shined brightly on the bridge, giving every console and bulkhead around him a red tinge.

The officer, realizing his life was about to end, flailed his limbs and tail even more, but soon he felt an invisible force applying pressure on every one of his muscles, restricting his every move. He tried to speak, to implore the Fury for mercy, but his windpipe refused to obey him. Soon his floating body was mere feet away from the Fury.

Another officer rose from his console and intervened. “Please, Master, spare his life!”

Miseo’s ruby stare adjusted and looked at the second lizard man. He released his telekinetic grasp and First Officer Zin’Dran fell to the ground in front of Miseo.

“What is it to you?” asked Miseo, his hair still flowing upwards.

“Thank you, Master. Please don’t kill my brother. He meant no disrespect.”

“You’re welcome,” said Miseo with an evil smirk, as he waved his hand in multiple directions so quickly it blurred.

The newly standing officer’s eyes froze in place as multiple rays of thin, red light drew all over his body. Miseo closed his fist and each light-divided body part separated from the others and levitated in the air for a second, as if by magic, before falling one after the other on the ground with gruesome, splashy sounds.

“Nooooooo!” shouted First Officer Zin’Dran at the horrifying scene that claimed the life of his brother. Rage overtook him. Sharp claws erupted from his fingers and he launched himself toward Miseo.

But he never landed his blow. Miseo impacted his ribcage with an open palm and the Zarlack’s body froze in midair, paralyzed.

Miseo started laughing. “Insects should never try to rebel against their masters. Every one of you, I suggest you look and learn.”

Red light bled out of each of Zin’Dran’s facial orifices. His skin burned and smoke rose from his body. His skin cracked and more red light bled through. Flames erupted from the hundred cracks in his body as he screeched in pain, while being burned alive from the inside out.

“As fun as this distraction has been . . .” added Miseo.

With a slight nudge of his mind he sent the still burning body flying over the bridge stations for every member of the crew to witness the gut-wrenching scene. Utter terror could be read in everyone’s eyes. Soon first officer Zin’Dran’s body had been burned to a crisp. Miseo then snapped his fingers and whatever was left of the Zarlack’s body exploded, spilling hot ash everywhere on the bridge.

“Does anyone else have a suggestion? Now would be the time to speak.”

After a few seconds of silence, Miseo turned his back to his slave crew and resumed looking at the stars through the bridge’s viewport.

“Now, will someone please enter an intercept course.”

“Course set, weapons to maximum,” said another Zarlack officer, his voice trembling.

“About freaking time. Fire plasma cannons the second we’re in range.”

* * *

Chase rushed into the cockpit. “What is it?”

“We’ve got an incoming Zarlack destroyer on an approach vector.”

“Evasive maneuvers?”

“Already pushing the sub-light engines beyond their limits. Not sure how long they’ll keep up with this treatment in our current state. Any luck with the jump engines?”

“Ryonna said there’re too many power nodes fried. She’s trying to build a bypass but she needs more time.”

“Time is the one resource we don’t have right now.”

“How long until the destroyer gets a firing solution?”

“Less than a minute.”

“Dammit!”

“I don’t see how we’re getting out of this one.”

Sarah, who had stayed silent until now, looked at Chase. “Chase, if we don’t make it⁠—”

“We’re gonna make it. We didn’t go through all of this to die here.”

“Please, let me speak.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you for coming to get me. That’s all I wanted to say.”

Chase didn’t know how to answer; his mind was racing, trying to find a solution to their current predicament. He felt as if his mind was overheating from running multiple scenarios, none of which provided even a shadow of a solution.

“I have an idea. Turn the ship around. Face them head on.”

“What?” exclaimed Keera. “Are you nuts? If we do that they’ll have a firing solution on us in less than ten seconds.”

“Whether we do that or wait another minute won’t change anything, but I’d rather have a line of sight for what I’m gonna do next.”

“Would you mind cueing us in?”

“No time. Please turn the ship about, now.”

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

“We’re about to find out.”

“Would you rather take the helm?”

“No, that’s fine. Just plot an intercept course with the Zarlack destroyer. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Keera shot a dubious and fearful look toward Sarah, who just shrugged in response.

The Valken’s controls beeped frantically.

“They’ve targeted us,” said Keera, “so whatever you’re gonna do . . .”

“Not yet.”

Keera didn’t know what was more terrifying: the fact that they were mere seconds away from being obliterated by the incoming destroyer or the calm in Chase’s voice.

Another set of more ominous beeps resonated in the Valken’s cockpit.

“They’re firing plasma guns. Whatever shields we have left won’t stop this attack. Not that my full shields would have anyway. Not if these readings are correct.”

But Chase didn’t answer. Instead he extended his hand forward.

“Chase, what are you doing?” asked Sarah.

Yes, what are you doing? asked Ares inside Chase’s mind.

No choice, Ares, I’ve gotta do something, answered Chase telepathically.

This will not end up pretty.

That’s kind of the idea here.

You could just as well destroy this ship with that move and you know it.

Don’t really have any choice now, do I?

Two gigantic red plasma shots were approaching the ship fast. The enemy had not withheld anything; they had fired the most powerful weapon at their disposal. Whoever was on that ship clearly wanted them dead with the first volley.

But then something happened. The plasma shots compressed onto themselves and stopped advancing just a few hundred yards from the Valken, illuminating everything red in the cockpit. They kept compressing themselves, their length collapsing as they grew in size. Lightning burst around them. Soon both shots had merged into a giant plasma fireball with lightning bursting all around it.

“What the hell?” said Keera. “Are you doing this?”

She turned around to look at Chase when he didn’t answer and saw him engulfed in a purple aura of flowing energy. Every muscle in his body flexed and trembled, his teeth clenched and a little blood teared from one of his eyes.

Her look turned from stunned to terrified. “Oh gods! I’ll take that as a yes.”

Chase unleashed a terrifying, animalistic growl that made both Keera and Sarah jump off their seats, just as the rest of the crew entered the cockpit to see the scene unfold.

“What is this?” asked Daniel, not believing or understanding what he was looking at.

Chase’s growl intensified, his aura grew stronger and brighter and his muscles grew in size. The ship trembled so much a whole new set of alarms resounded around them. Sparks flew from the ceiling when Chase’s aura expanded to engulf almost half the cockpit.

Chase! shouted Ares. Don’t drain all your energy or you will die!

I need more . . .

Stop this now, I beg you!

I c-c-can’t. I’m almost there. Just . . . a . . . little . . . more . . .

The now huge plasma fireball shook heavily for a second and then shot back at impossible speed toward the Zarlack’s destroyer. It created a powerful shockwave at its point of departure, which impacted the Valken’s already feeble shields and they managed to diffuse most of the energy of the wave before giving out. The now going-in-reverse plasma fireball struck the Zarlack’s destroyer, punching through its shields and plating as if they weren’t there.

A powerful explosion exposed many of the ship’s levels to space. Flames spewed. Metal debris was thrown into space, as were many crewmen from the decompressed levels. The Zarlack destroyer didn’t explode but it was greatly damaged, most of its systems disabled on the spot.

“What was that?” asked Daniel, not believing his eyes.

Chase’s aura vanished all at once.

“Wow, good job, Chase!” Daniel cheered.

Chase stood still, his arm still in front of him, but he didn’t answer.

“Are you alright?” inquired Ryonna.

Chase fell to his knees, a blank stare in his eyes as more blood flowed from them. He collapsed to the ground face first.

“Oh my god, no! Chase!” shouted Sarah, who jumped out of her chair and reached his side. She turned him over and shook him, trying to wake him up, but he had lost all color.

“Please, anyone, help! I don’t think he’s breathing.”

Daniel jumped next to Sarah. He couldn’t feel a pulse on Chase’s jugular. His eyes filled with fear.

Keera went to the back of the cockpit and looked through her stuff, throwing everything from each drawer and cupboard she opened at a mad pace. “Keep him breathing while I look for my resuscitation kit.”

Sarah gave Chase mouth to mouth while Daniel applied heart compressions. Tar’Lock clicked nervously and passed out. Ryonna and Fillio joined Keera in her search for the medical device.

“Dammit! Where is it?”

Sarah kept giving Chase mouth to mouth while her eyes filled with tears.

“Stay with us, buddy,” said Daniel as he continued his cardiac compressions.

Then Sarah felt something burn inside her. Her round belly felt hot and the warmth expanded all over her body.

“Sarah!” shouted Ryonna, her eyes wide. “What’s happening in your belly?”

She looked down and saw a shining, bright, golden aura bursting out of her. A bright, golden energy expanded from her belly and went toward Chase’s inanimate body. It looked like a bright and shining golden umbilical cord. After a few seconds it detached from Sarah’s body and was absorbed by Chase’s.

Chase’s eyes shot open and he gasped for air. Everyone exhaled heavily, relieved to see their friend come back to life.

Sarah grabbed Chase and held him tightly against her still trembling body, her tears flowing like rivers on her delicate cheeks.

“You scared the shit out of me. Don’t ever do that again!”

“Sorry, I . . . I had to do something.”

She took his face in her hands and kissed him.

Ryonna let herself fall against the nearest bulkhead, while Fillio attended to Tar’Lock, slapping him gently awake.

Daniel’s mouth was open and he was breathing rapidly, still shaken.

“Anyone have any explanation for what happened here?”

No one answered.

Then a golden sphere of energy appeared in the middle of the group and took human shape.

“Ares. I should have known,” said Chase. “Thank you.”

“That wasn’t my doing. I was about to take control of Tar’Lock’s body again to try to infuse some much needed life energy into you, but it looks like Chris beat me to it.”

Chase’s eyes grew. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anything like this before. Especially from an unborn baby.”

Sarah stayed silent and put her arms around her slightly bulging belly. “But I’m only a few months pregnant. How is that even possible? And how do you know the name of my baby?”

“Chase told me you would name your child Chris.”

“We didn’t even have that conversation . . .” She looked at Chase, her face still streaming with tears.

“I saw him in a vision, and that was his name.”

“This is just too much. So . . . we’re having a boy then?”

“Looks that way.”

“I’m exhausted.” She turned toward Ares’ golden aura. “Why is that?”

“I think Chris channeled some of your own energy as well. You should probably rest now.”

“I’ll rest when we’re out of this. That ship isn’t destroyed. We may want to finish the job first, and I don’t mean you,” said Sarah, pointing an accusing finger at Chase.

“I couldn’t do anything at the moment even if I wanted to.”

“Good!”

Ares took a step forward. “You may want to resume your posts and get the jump engine back online, because the shit is about to hit the fan,” said Ares, pointing toward the cockpit.

Keera jumped back to her seat and Daniel joined her on the co-pilot seat.

Clearly disabled and unable to fire any of its main weapons, the Zarlack destroyer had sent a squadron of starfighters to intercept the Valken.

“Shit, we’re in no shape to take on a squadron of ships,” said Keera, while trying in vain to restore the shields. “Dammit, they’ll be in firing range in less than a minute.”

Ryonna pointed toward where Chase had blocked the plasma fire. “What’s happening there?”

A dark sphere blacked out the stars. Purple lightning burst around the sphere as it grew.

“We should get the fuck out of here,” said Ares. “This is a tear in space and time. It will most likely destroy this system within minutes.”

Chase’s face grew somber, but he didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. He knew there was a good chance this would happen when he used his powers this way.

“We’re out of here, then. I’m redirecting any ounce of juice to the sub-light engines,” said Keera.

The Valken turned around and flew away from both the growing anomaly and the incoming wave of fighters.

The anomaly grew in size exponentially, and then it exploded on itself, creating a black hole that started sucking in everything around it. The incoming starfighters were the first to be affected by the gravitational pull, and for a moment it looked as though they were stuck in place. But then they started spinning uncontrollably and were sucked in toward the center of the still-growing black hole.

The Valken, which had traveled a sizeable distance away, started shaking and losing speed. Its engines moaned as the gravitational pull grew stronger.

“This is not good!” shouted Keera.

“No shit,” answered Daniel. “What’s that?” He pointed at a newly blinking control.

“That’s an incoming communication. Patching it through.”

“Starship Valken, this is the EAD Destiny, do you require assistance?”

“Commodore! Boy it’s good to hear your voice, sir,” answered Daniel.

“We’ve tried locating the Iron Fire, but its beacon stopped transmitting. We were scanning the surrounding systems when our long-range sensors detected the Valken’s signature. What’s your status, Commander?”

“We need a lift, ASAP. We’re about to get sucked into a black hole.”

“On our way. We’ll micro-jump near your coordinates.”

“No!” interjected Chase. “Commodore, don’t jump here.”

“Chase, it’s good to hear your voice. I’m listening.”

“From the force of the gravitational pull I’d say it’s too dangerous for the Destiny to approach within tractor-beam distance.”

Keera keyed in commands on her terminal at impressive speed.

“Chase is correct, sir, the Destiny’s mass is way too big. You’d be sucked in before you had time to approach us. Looks like the Zarlack destroyer is already drifting toward the black hole, even though it’s farther from it than we are.”

“Options anyone?” asked the commodore.

Chase’s mind raced to find a solution. He was too weak to use his powers to push the ship away. Not to mention that that could create a second anomaly. He approached the co-pilot seat.

“Do you mind?” he asked Daniel.

“Sure, go ahead, buddy.” Daniel gave him his chair.

“Gimme a sec, Commodore.” He entered calculations on his console at lightning speed. “Alright. I’m sending you jumping coordinates now. That’s a few thousand clicks from the Destiny’s point of no return. Whatever you do, don’t advance beyond that point, and make sure the jump engines are ready to engage at a second’s notice. However, there’s no way we can reach these coordinates on our own at our current velocity. Soon the gravitational force will be too strong for the Valken’s engines.”

“Then what good will it do? How do we get all of you home, son?”

“I’ve got an idea about that, but one thing at a time. Have a dozen StarFuries ready to launch. I’ll remote control them.”

“Roger that, Lieutenant Commander. Destiny jumping now. ETA is two minutes.”

“Thank you, Commodore.”

The communication ended.

Sarah looked worried. “Chase, is that wise? Your energy levels are low.”

“I’ll be fine. Chris gave me more than enough juice to do this.”

“To do what exactly?” asked Ryonna.

“You’ll have to trust me. It would take too much time to explain.”

* * *

Aboard the damaged Zarlack destroyer, Miseo looked at the growing black hole as everyone from the bridge floated in the vacuum of space and was slowly sucked out of the bridge. Miseo had erected a force field around himself and stayed there, pensive, looking and reflecting upon what had just happened.

Impressive. This is no ordinary Fury.

He felt the gravitational pull exerted by the black hole slowly taking hold of the disabled destroyer. After a few moments observing the bodies of countless dead Zarlack’s being slowly sucked toward the black hole, he turned around and flew toward the launching bays. He had to fly through the levels that had been obliterated by the plasma fireball. The damage was extensive, decks upon decks exposed to space, bodies and debris everywhere around him. The sheer scale of the damage was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

We’re going to have to tread carefully when we next attack this particular foe.

He landed on one of the decks that was exposed to space on the other side of the ship. He entered his Fury starfighter and launched it into space. The sub-light engines moaned and his ship had trouble breaking free of the gravitational pull. He punched them at maximum and soon the pull lowered in intensity. When he was far enough from the black hole he keyed in the coordinates for Erevos and jumped into hyperspace.

* * *

When the Destiny jumped out of hyperspace, Chase closed his eyes and took mental control of the dozen StarFuries. The first StarFury tractor beamed the nearest fighter, which in turn tractored the next, until each StarFury was a link in a chain. Chase extended their formation toward the Valken, approaching from the side in a pendulum trajectory, while the ships farthest away from the lead ship all faced backward at different angles, pushing their sub-light engines at the maximum in a coordinated effort to counter the gravitational pull of the black hole.

“I see what he’s doing,” said Keera.

“We all see,” added Daniel, “and it’s insane to think he can remote control all these ships with the required precision to carry out such a complicated and ingenious maneuver with only his mind.”

“How do you feel, Chase?” inquired Sarah, putting her hand on his shoulder.

He flashed her a thumbs up as an answer.

Soon the nearest and last StarFury in the chain approached from the Valken’s aft side and tractored the Valken, which had positioned itself to be able to add its own engine power to the current swinging momentum of the starfighter chain. Once they were through half the maneuver, each StarFury reoriented its trajectory to help gain more velocity and augment the momentum and burst from the black hole’s gravitational hold.

A minute later, at the end of the maneuver, every ship was far enough away from the black hole and already on its way back to the Destiny.

Once they were on the ship, Commodore Saroudis jumped the Destiny out of the system, as instructed by Chase.

* * *

Daniel had stood outside Fillio’s quarters for minutes now. His heart was beating fast and he still didn’t know if he could ring the doorbell.

Why am I feeling this way? I’m not an adolescent anymore.

But when a crew member shot him a look from the other side of the hall, he felt compelled to act. He rang the bell.

“Come in,” said Fillio as the door slid open.

Daniel walked in and found Fillio wrapped in a towel. He looked away.

“If it’s not a good time I can come back later.”

“Don’t be silly. I just took a shower. I really needed one.”

Daniel blushed a little.

“Anything you wanted to talk about?” she added.

“I . . . I just wanted to see how you were doing. I got the feeling you weren’t yourself back on board the Valken.”

She looked at him for a few seconds before answering. “That’s sweet of you. Between you and me, I haven’t been myself for a while now.”

“Anything I can do about that?”

“That depends. What did you have in mind?”

Daniel’s heart pounded in his chest.

“When we get back to Earth, I thought, you know . . . perhaps we could go for a bite, just the two of us?”

She smiled. “You took your sweet time to ask me out. You know that, right?”

Daniel scratched his head. “Yeah, not exactly comfortable in these situations.”

“Situations?”

“I mean, I . . .”

She laughed like a little girl. “I’m sorry, Daniel, and yes I would definitely love to go on a date with you.”

That filled him with renewed confidence. “Cool. I’m looking forward to it.”

“So am I. Anything else you’d like to talk about.”

“Just checking up on you. I was worried.”

“You said that already.”

“Right. I guess I should be going now.”

He walked back toward the door when she grabbed his hand.

“Please, don’t go yet.”

When he turned around she undid her towel and let it fall to the floor. She approached him and they kissed passionately. Soon they were on her bed and she helped him get undressed.

5

Argos received an incoming transmission from Miseo.

Calling to gloat about destroying a measly cargo ship with one of my destroyers, no doubt.

“Argos here, what can I do for you— ? What shall I call you? Master?”

“None of that with me. My dad loves his titles. I have no time for nonsense like this. Miseo will do. I just had a very interesting encounter with your twin brother. He managed to disable and eventually doom the destroyer I had borrowed from you.”

Borrowed, right!

“I tried telling you my brother was resourceful.”

“Indeed, and I’m starting to think we should have listened to you. He displayed a level of power I was not expecting. I would like to discuss the issue with you in more detail.”

And now you need my help, again. How typical.

“Sure, whatever you need.”

“I’ll be landing on your ship shortly.”

“Looking forward to your arrival, Miseo.”

“Miseo out.”

If you think you and I are going to be friends, you’ve got another thing coming.

Argos felt anger rise in him. The Furies’ return hadn’t worked at all how he imagined it would. In his head, he had envisioned not only a hero’s welcome but also an instant place of power within the Fury ranks. He was the only reason they weren’t still prisoners outside space and time, after all. A fact that Supreme Commander Arakan, and his son, to a lesser degree perhaps, seemed to have conveniently forgotten.

Argos looked at the stars from his ready room on his flagship destroyer. He noticed the low-level hum emanating from the machine in which Aphroditis stood, barely breathing. The blank stare in her all-white eyes made her look like a ghost of her own self. Argos almost felt pity for her, though he quickly brushed that pathetic display of sentimentality aside. The Olympians deserved everything they got, and he looked forward to the day the Furies would rid them from the universe. He had no doubt that was Arakan’s plan as well. After all, they had been instrumental in trapping the Furies in an alternate dimension. If they managed it once, they could most certainly do it again, a fact he was sure Arakan knew.

There were some beeps, and a tactical holo-screen popped up. It took Argos out of his pensive state. The fleet he had sent to the nearest world rich in quadrinium had arrived. He watched the battle unfold. This particular world was no match for the Zarlack’s advanced technology. In less than twenty minutes the world’s defenses had been taken care of. Argos grew bored and turned off the holo-screen. There was no challenge in the mission he had been assigned, but only the results mattered. If he dreamt to gain a position of power within the Fury ranks, he would have to do their grind work for a while. That last thought didn’t help his feelings of anger one bit.

When Argos heard a hiss from the jar next to him, he opened the lid and let the Kyrian snake bite him on the arm. He closed his eyes as the venom ran through his veins, and soon all his worries faded away.

* * *

Chase entered the Destiny’s captain’s ready room.

“Ahh, Chase, please come in.”

“Commodore, it’s good to see you. Impeccable timing as always.”

“You can thank Ares for that. I fear that if he hadn’t intervened I would have resigned my commission.”

“Really? Why?”

“I simply couldn’t take the rigidity of the admiral. She didn’t want to see reason, past rules and regulations.”

Chase couldn’t help but crack a laugh.

“What’s so funny, Chase?”

“Nothing. It’s just I think I’m rubbing off on you.”

Saroudis smiled. “You have that effect on people, but you can be a real pain in the butt too. I’m sure you know that.”

“I know. And my impulsivity can also have dire consequences, as I’m learning right now.”

“About that . . . After my debrief with Sarah, I got the feeling this wasn’t the happy reunion you were hoping for.”

“You can say that again, but I understand her.”

“It’s a double-edged sword, Chase. On the one hand your act was driven by love, and I’m sure deep down she knows that. But it’s frightening to her to know how far you’re willing to go for her. Personally I think Argos would have found a way to make it happen one way or the other. And if I had your powers and was given the opportunity to save my own family, I would have done the same as you did.”

“Even if by doing so you’d be dooming the universe, and most likely your own lives in the process?”

“We can’t make decisions based on what could happen, Chase. For one thing, the universe hasn’t fallen yet. Sure, the Fury resurgence is going to make things a lot more difficult, but what’s to say it’s not necessary? The Olympians were unwise to trap them instead of annihilating them when they had the chance.”

“You seem pretty caught up with the latest events.”

“Ares also made a visit before I started my debriefs with the rest of the crew. He thought a little more context would help.”

“I realize now how blinded I was by hatred and desire for revenge. All I wanted to do was kill Argos, and when I learned Sarah was still alive, saving her became my only target. I didn’t stop once to think of the consequences, even when Aphroditis and Ares both tried to warn me.”

“Yet in your place I think I would have done the same thing.”

“It’s good to hear. I wish Sarah would see it that way as well.”

“You need to give her time. It’s very different from her perspective. Had she been asked before, she would have rather sacrificed herself, which is understandable if the Furies lay siege and annihilate our universe. And that’s what she fears most: to have been a pawn used to bring about the destruction of all life. That must be an unbearable load to deal with.”

“I won’t let it happen. I will stop the Furies.”

“We will, Chase, all of us together.”

“Right. If I’ve learned something in the last few days it’s that I can count on all my friends.”

“As we can count on you. It goes both ways.”

“Thanks, Adonis.”

“You’re welcome, son. I’m sure Sarah will understand in time, but right now she’s just been hit with the enormity of it all.”

“Speaking of which, should we formulate a battle plan? I think we should go on the offensive while the Furies aren’t fully armed and ready.”

“Do we know they aren’t?”

“If they had a fleet ready it would have been detected when we were in orbit. Too bad the Iron Fire has been destroyed. Its sensor logs could have given us a clearer picture of what’s happening on the surface of Erevos.”

“That’s the name of their planet?”

Chase nodded. “It is indeed. As you know, the computer core memory of each AI computer on board Alliance ships is encased in a very resilient nanotube casing, doubled with a self-powered force field. There’s a good chance it survived. Perhaps we can recover it. With a cloaked StarFury, that could be attempted. Should we go now?”

Saroudis looked pensive.

“Negative, Chase. While I agree the information could be very valuable, right now we need to get back to Earth. They need to know the Furies are back and we need to prepare accordingly.”

“I agree, but how?”

“I don’t really know. More defensive measures, trying to grow the Alliance by recruiting more currently independent races from every sector, look for the Olympians.”

“You’re not serious?”

“Why not?”

“From what I’ve gathered, Zeus wants nothing to do with us primitive beings.”

“Aphroditis told me the same thing, but we have to try.”

“What about finding other ancients?”

“I’ve tried asking her about that. She didn’t say anything about it, but I felt she was evading my questions on the subject.”

“Any idea why?”

“None, but my instinct tells me that other Earth mythologies must have a link with other ancient races out there. We should investigate that, at least.”

“I agree. We need more allies.”

“You seem tired, Chase.”

“I am.”

“Try to get some rest. We’ll have plenty of time for planning our next moves when we get back to Earth.”

“Right. Won’t I be considered a traitor by the admiral, though?”

“I’m hoping not. At least, not if I have anything to say about it. But I think Ares’ intervention might have softened Admiral Thassos’ view of the situation.”

“And yet the first thing you’ll announce is that I helped bring the Furies, the cruelest and most dangerous foe this universe has ever known, back into play.”

“Right, well, I will do my best to protect you from that. Perhaps she doesn’t need to know it was your direct actions that led to that.”

“Not sure lying to her is a good strategy either. Secrets tend to get into the open one way or another.”

“I know. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“Which will basically be tomorrow,” said Chase with a wide smile.

“So let’s agree not to worry today?”

“Deal.”

“Now go get some rest, Lieutenant Commander. That’s an order.”

“Very well, Commodore, as you command.”

Chase walked back toward his quarters on the Destiny. He wanted to go see Sarah but his instinct told him it was too soon. As the commodore had suggested, he should probably just give her some space and time to process it all. He felt knackered anyway, so when he arrived in his quarters he let himself drop into his bed. Except his head never touched his pillow.

* * *

Chase landed on some soft, blue grass in the middle of the night, on a planet he didn’t recognize. That sent some light, cyan fluff flying all around and soon green, glowing fireflies came and grabbed the soft fluffy material his falling on the ground had sent flying upward.

“Now what!” said Chase out loud.

Then he saw a beautiful, blue-green ringed planet in the sky above him, with an asteroid field in front of it. Multiple light sources approached the planet. Soon what he could only surmise were ships started firing on the planet. First, small, orange-red dots appeared on its surface. Quickly they grew in size and number. Chase felt very uncomfortable witnessing the attack without being able to do anything about it. But he didn’t even know where he was.

“You’re on the third moon of planet Tyronis. It’s under attack as we speak by Argos’ Zarlack forces.”

“Hello, Ares. You couldn’t have just appeared in my quarters?”

“Wouldn’t have had the same impact as showing it to you now, would it?”

“I guess not. What am I supposed to do about it though?”

“Nothing. This world is already lost. There’s nothing we can do about it. Many other small and beautiful worlds and systems like this one will fall in the coming weeks. It’s unavoidable.”

“If you want to say I told you so, be my guest.”

“That’s not why I’m showing you this.”

“Then why?”

“We need to be aware of what Argos is doing and see how we can stop him.”

“He tried to spare me.”

“What? When?”

“When we left Erevos.”

“Yet the Iron Fire was destroyed.”

“By the Furies’ weapons on the surface, not by his destroyers.”

“What are you trying to tell me, Chase?”

“I think there is doubt in him. I’m no longer convinced he is fully evil.”

“I’m not sure I can give him the benefit of the doubt. With him having killed me and doomed my sister to eternal imprisonment.”

“We’ll get Aphroditis out of there, I promise you.”

“Chase, please don’t promise things you can’t guarantee delivering.”

“Okay, let me rephrase that: I will do whatever is in my power to save her. Better?”

“Yes. And I thank you for it. Still, Argos has to be dealt with, and I must say I’m surprised you are considering any other action but retribution.”

“True. I still feel like killing him, but he could have finished us off easily, and he didn’t.”

“He had given you his word.”

“Yes, and he tried to keep it.”

“I still don’t see what it changes in the larger scale of things.”

“I don’t know, but it bugs me. And my instinct is telling me that there is still good somewhere in him. I did feel a lot of fear emanating from him when we last met.”

“Well, for the time being I think it’s safe to say he remains our enemy.”

“I have no doubts about that either, don’t worry, Ares. What is it you wanted to talk about?”

“Argos’ first target, Tyronis, is located near Erevos, and its asteroid field is rich in many valuable resources, including, but not only, quadrinium.”

“So?”

“So, I think it’s clear the Furies are in dire need of resources. They will need them to rebuild their fleet.”

“Rebuild?”

“In the final days of the war, the coalition of worlds that defeated their armies destroyed their fleet. It had been a terrible battle that lasted for days. It took the combined forces of hundreds of worlds and thousands of ships to win that battle.”

“So they are rebuilding it?”

“That would be my guess.”

“That means we have a short time-window to make sure this never happens.”

“I think so.”

“If you have to guess, how long do we have?”

“Weeks I’d say. A few months at the most.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Anything.”

“Are there any other ancients around?”

“I suppose so.”

“Saroudis said he felt Aphroditis deflected the question when he asked her.”

“Since the Fury War, Olympians have cut all ties with the other ancient races. Now I’m thinking their ill-advised decision to not finish them off is perhaps the reason behind this.”

“That would make sense. Who are the most powerful ones you know of?”

There was silence.

“What is it, Ares? Why don’t you want to answer?”

“I’m not sure it’s even a good idea to mention any names.”

“And yet you will. We are past the time for petty, ancient rivalry.”

“There’s one race that has a technological advantage we could use. But they are not keen on other races, and they definitely don’t want to hear of the Olympians ever again.”

“Will you tell me their names, already?”

“The Asgardians.”

“Thank you. Wait, Asgard? Why does that name ring a bell?”

“Because Earth has them in their mythologies as well.”

“The reason being?”

“After we left Earth and guided you to create the Alliance, they took over the protection of the planet briefly. There was a void to be filled, deity-wise, and so they filled it.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“No, not necessarily, but they are a warrior race. They live to do battle. They even teach that dying on the battlefield is a glorious thing. That they should feel proud to end up in Valhalla, their word for heaven.”

“Ryonna would sure like them.”

“Yes, I bet she would. The Droxians’ strong sense of honor resembles that of the Asgardians.”

“Where can we find them?”

“I have no idea, Chase. You’ll have to answer that question on your own. But understand one thing.”

“I’m listening.”

“If you strike an alliance with them, you can forever say goodbye to allying yourself with the rest of the Olympians.”

“I thought there was no way Zeus would even consider such a thing.”

“Yesterday perhaps. Today I wouldn’t completely strike it out.”

“Why? What has changed?”

“The Furies are back, that’s what has changed. I bet they haven’t forgotten who trapped them outside time and space. You can bet your ass they will want to exterminate whatever is left of our ranks.”

“Then we may have a way to convince Zeus?”

“Except, you’re also the one responsible for bringing them back. So I guess it’s not going to be an easy sell, no matter how you present it. But if you find the Asgardians and ally yourself with them, Zeus will not want to hear a word of what you have to say.”

“Damn your godly pride. Now is the time to forget about these old feuds and rebuild the biggest alliance possible.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, Chase. I’m just warning you it won’t be as simple as that.”

“I’m beginning to get the gist of that. So basically I either choose to contact the Olympians or the Asgardians?”

“Yes.”

“And you don’t know where the latter are. Do you know where Olympians are?”

There was another silence.

“You do. Well, I guess a visit to Zeus should be in order soon.”

“I’ll guide you there when the time comes. For the moment you need to rest and try to mend your relationship with Sarah.”

“What does Sarah have to do with any of it?”

“I’m sure that just like me you felt how powerful Chris already is. He may still have a role to play, and therefore Sarah, whether she wants it or not, is an important part of what’s to come.”

“I’m really getting tired of this destiny crap. My son will be too young to wage war, and I sure hope we defeat the Furies long before he can talk.”

“I wish I could say this is possible, but the fact of the matter is I have no idea what the future holds, the only one who did is . . .”

“Yeah, I know, she is now Argos’ prisoner, thanks to me. I did get a glimpse of her power when she gave me that amulet.”

“And you also saw the future?”

“I saw something. It did feel like the future. Furies came to Earth.”

“That’s almost certainly happening at one point or another. Do you still have the amulet?”

“Nope. I had to break it in order save Argos’ life when we fought the Titan.”

“And save Sarah’s in the process.”

“Yes, otherwise I would have gladly let Argos be crushed.”

“The things we do for love.”

“You can say that again.”

“Rest, Chase, we’ll talk more in the coming days.”

“Ares?”

“Yes.”

“See if you can arrange a meeting with Zeus, will you?”

“I’ll see what I can do. You should try to train more when you get back to Earth.”

“I intend to train relentlessly, in fact. Something tells me that Argos is no longer the strongest enemy I will have to face.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I don’t know, and that worries me, but I can feel it in my bones.”

* * *

Miseo walked into Argos’ ready room without so much as an announcement.

“We need to talk.”

“Evidently. What happened to my ship?”

“It’s being digested by a black hole your brother created on the battlefield.”

“How did that happen?”

“Somehow he mustered enough strength to not only block a full powered plasma shot from your destroyer but to send it back toward it. In doing so a black hole appeared in space.”

Laiyos really is a formidable warrior. I don’t think I could have done that.

“That’s impressive.”

“Too much for a low-class Fury. What are you two hiding?”

“I can’t speak for my brother, but I’m not hiding anything.”

“Aren’t you two twins? Shouldn’t you have the same powers; or at the very least similar strength?”

“We definitely don’t share similar powers, and as difficult as it is for me to admit it, he’s stronger than me. On two occasions he defeated me and had me at death’s door.”

“And yet you’re still alive.”

“That’s only because I had the right bargaining chip.”

“Which is?”

“Was. I had his lover hostage.”

“And you let her go? You fool!”

“My letting her go is the reason you’re breathing air in this universe now, no offense.”

“In that case I might have spoken hastily.”

“You must get that from your father.”

“I suggest you watch your tone, Argos. While I’m more inclined to listen to what you have to offer than my father is, do not make the fatal mistake of disrespecting him in front of me a second time.”

Showing your true colors.

“Duly noted. I’m sorry if I let my anger get the better of me.”

“Why would you be angry?”

“You have to be joking, right? I’ve devoted most of my life to freeing my people from their prison and as a thank you I almost got killed for it today.”

“My father had no intention of killing you. He doesn’t respond well to insubordination, however, as you have witnessed. And neither do I.”

“What insubordination?”

“Don’t play coy with me, Argos. We asked you to destroy the Iron Fire and you put up a show, but we both know you could have eradicated that ship. Instead you let it escape. I would like to know why?”

“I don’t think you’d understand.”

“Try me.”

“I gave my word to Laiyos I’d let him go in exchange for his help acquiring both the Pandora stone as well as providing an Olympian sacrifice to break the dimensional hold on Erevos.”

Miseo looked at the machine in the corner of the room where Aphroditis stood.

“That’s the one?”

“Yes. In exchange for his actions, and after carefully orchestrating a scenario where he could not refuse my help, I let his precious Sarah go and gave my word I would not destroy his ship.”

“I understand.”

What? Argos’ expression changed.

“You seem surprised, Argos.”

“I am.”

“You value your word. It’s an honorable quality and I respect that. But never forget the chain of command. Even if it clashes with your own values or, in this case, affects your own ego. If my father or I give you a direct order, you must obey it, no matter if it goes against your better judgment. Is that clear?”

“Like crystal.”

“Still, under the circumstances I believe my father’s reaction was perhaps hasty.”

“Will you tell him that?”

“Not in so many words, but I will try to make sure you get treated better. We indeed owe you our freedom.”

That must have been hard for you to spit out.

“Thank you, Miseo.”

“You’ve mentioned different powers with respect to your brother Laiyos.”

“Yes. He seems not to age, and when he is pushed to the limit his power increases tenfold. In that Ultra-Fury mode he is as powerful as he is unpredictable.”

“Ultra Fury—” Miseo’s expression became more serious.

“Did I say anything wrong?”

“No . . . It’s just that your mention of Ultra Fury reminds me of an old legend amongst the Fury people.”

“Which is?”

“Well, legend has it that once every fifty thousand years a warrior of superior strength is born. He is supposedly immortal and would be more powerful than every other Fury combined.”

“This is nonsense. And I can tell you from my experience with your father that he is infinitely more powerful than Laiyos; and I bet he only showed me but a glimpse of his powers, am I correct?”

“Yes, Supreme Commander Arakan is the most powerful Fury there is. He thinks he is the Fury of legend, in fact.”

“You don’t seem to agree.”

“My father is very powerful, but immortal he isn’t; or, if he is, he still shows age.”

“Unlike Laiyos.”

“Yes. If your brother is that legendary warrior, he must be killed before he realizes the power he wields.”

“I don’t believe in this legend nonsense, but killing Laiyos is actually on my to-do list.”

“Good. I’ll help you if necessary.”

“That will most likely be the case. Like I said, I lost in both our previous encounters.”

“You’re a good warrior. I can sense a strong energy from you, but you reek of fear.”

What? What is he talking about? Laiyos said the same thing.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“That’s because it’s rooted deep within your subconscious, but I can smell it on you.”

Argos wanted to argue with Miseo but decided against it.

“If you say so. What’s next?”

“How’s the mission we gave you going?”

“My forces have invaded Tyronis. They’re cleaning up the planet as we speak. We’ll soon be able to leverage all the rich resources this planet and its belts have to offer.”

“That’s great news. Have your armada go to the next world for more resources the minute they’re done.”

“What’s the rush?”

“We need to rebuild a fleet. We need to send a message that we are back and we won’t do that with those pathetic Zarlack vessels.”

“Pathetic?”

“They may look powerful, but they’re nothing compared to our own ships. With the resources you’ll secure from Tyronis we’ll build the first one. Once it’s done and you see it in action you’ll understand.”

“Looking forward to it.”

“You will, soon enough.”

“Very well. If that will be all?”

“For now. Thanks, Argos. I would appreciate that you don’t repeat the words ‘Ultra Fury’ to my father, or to anyone for that matter.”

“You do realize that I just invented the name?”

“Even so, invented or not I don’t like the image it projects. Please keep that to yourself. We’ll soon kill your brother anyway, together. I take it you don’t have a problem with that?”

“None at all but I’d really like to be the one delivering the final blow.”

“If at all convenient, I will gladly grant you this honor.”

“Thank you, Miseo.”

Miseo turned his back and left Argos’ ready room as quickly and unceremoniously as he had entered it.

6

When Commodore Saroudis entered the admiral’s ready room, she smiled at him.

“Hello, Adonis, please take a seat.”

“Thank you, Ally.”

“So, I’ve read your report. I must say I did not see that coming. So now on top of Argos and his Zarlack army, we can expect the Furies to come knocking on our doorstep. This is a nightmare.”

Saroudis stayed silent, not sure how to answer, not even sure there was anything he could say under the circumstances.

“And this is thanks to your protégé Chase. He outdid himself this time.”

“With all due respect, I don’t think that’s fair.”

“Fair? That’s what we get for trusting a Fury I guess.”

“I’m not sure I like where this conversation is heading, Admiral.”

“So you don’t think he was in on it all along?”

“In on it? Of course not! Chase is an Earth Alliance officer. He fights on our side. There was no way he could have anticipated what has unfolded. Argos manipulated him from the very start.”

“You don’t have to protect him, Adonis. Not anymore. I think it’s time we discuss his upcoming court martial and discuss imprisonment and perhaps even execution⁠—”

“You can’t be serious? He saved the Destiny battlegroup and Earth, twice over.”

“How long are you gonna use this excuse to justify this insubordinate, hothead excuse for an officer.”

Saroudis’ blood boiled. “I don’t believe what I’m hearing. The lieutenant commander is the only reason we’re still breathing; we owe him our lives.”

“I disagree. We would have prevailed with or without him. In fact, I now suspect he could very well be in league with his brother and might have manipulated you from the start. Think about it, Commodore. He was at the right place at the right time at every turn. He gained our trust, but who is to say this wasn’t orchestrated from the start?”

“Admiral, Chase has served under my command for years. I know the man.”

“Then perhaps Argos brainwashed him to do his bidding. He did that with Commander Kepler, after all. Perhaps he took control of the lieutenant commander as well at one point.”

“I’m sorry, this is ludicrous. Chase was put in the most horrible position. We asked him to kill the love of his life to win the war, and he did it.”

“She was a clone. Perhaps he knew that.”

Saroudis felt a brooding headache building up.

“No, this is nuts. What the hell is with you, and this personal vendetta you seem to have against the lieutenant commander? What did he ever do to you? You know what? Don’t answer that. But I want you to listen to me closely now. I’ve noticed a strange shift in your attitude lately and I’m really worried about you. I don’t recognize the woman I have admired all these years. But you need to understand one thing. Yes, the Furies are back, and soon they’ll become the most daunting enemy we have ever faced. To have a shadow of a chance of survival, we’ll need Lieutenant Commander Athanatos on our side.”

The admiral tapped her fingers on her wooden desk.

“I see. So am I supposed to just let all of this go?”

“All of what, Admiral?”

“The lieutenant commander assaulted some of my officers and put them out of commission, then he stole one of our ships, which he since lost. To make things worse, many of our officers followed him, stealing quadrinium from your ship in a clear act of mutiny. Then they helped him help Argos obtain a stone required to power a machine that actually freed the Furies from another dimension where the Olympians had locked them up during the last war. To top it all, an Olympian was voluntary sacrificed to make the machine work. Did I miss anything?”

Saroudis knew that from the outside it did look very bad.

“No you didn’t. Aphroditis isn’t sacrificed per se. She’s just locked in the machine at the moment.”

She shot him a seriously grave look.

“Alright, Admiral, I agree this sounds bad, but it’s done now. I need my officers to prepare to repel the enemy when the time comes.”

“And that includes the lieutenant commander?”

“Especially the lieutenant commander.”

Something blinked on her desk for half a second. The admiral looked at it for a long time, as if lost doing so.

“Admiral?” inquired Saroudis, a little worried.

She rose from her desk and walked toward the viewport, looking into space.

“You’re not making things easy for me, Commodore. But you’ve made your case. Very well, I’ll let you deal with this. But that’s the last time I give you any leeway in these matters. You’re dismissed.”

The commodore was relieved to hear her say that, but something didn’t feel right. The entire conversation made it very clear she had intended to nail Chase to the wall, and then, all of a sudden, she dropped the matter entirely.

He rose and approached the admiral near the viewport but she raised a hand, which stopped him in his tracks.

Her next sentence was icy cold. “What part of dismissed don’t you understand, Commodore?”

“Very well, Admiral, thank you.”

Saroudis left her ready room, still unsure what had just happened.

* * *

Three weeks had passed since Chase’s return to Earth. It had been a difficult time. Sarah was still quite distant and Chase felt uneasy about how to mend the relationship. Argos’ forces had started conquering resource-rich worlds and every request Chase had made to Admiral Thassos, either directly or through Commodore Saroudis, to go stop him had been flat-out rejected.

She wanted to make sure the Alliance was ready for their next attack and preferred to have a strong defense around Earth. He had argued against her decision for more than a week upon his return but it had all been in vain. Admiral Thassos had explained what had happened while Chase went on his revengeful path: the threat of the Gaia AI presence on Earth. She also wanted this to be resolved before going on the offensive.

Yet Gaia had given no signs of life since his return, so Chase thought her argument was unfounded and sounded more like an excuse.

But it had become clear to him that whatever frail relationship he had with the admiral before was now entirely gone. The only reason Chase was still a member of Earth Alliance was thanks to Commodore Saroudis, and perhaps the occasional appearance of Ares.

His request to at least go find the Olympians or the Asgardians had also been denied point blank, and he had to fight every one of his instincts to just go do these things on his own and the admiral be damned.

But he didn’t want to leave Sarah and Chris behind. Since he had seen them in trouble in his vision, he feared that if he wasn’t there when the next battle happened, they could get killed.

Yet the stars beckoned him. He wanted to get out there and fight the enemy, not wait and give them time to build ships with which they could destroy everything and everyone.

As almost every other day since his return, he was out training. He always chose a deserted place, to make sure he didn’t hurt anyone.

Ares had been absent for a few days, and that made training much less efficient, but already Chase felt he could reach full power in much less time than before, though he didn’t manage to enter the same fury mode that allowed him to defeat Argos twice.

It seemed only utter rage helped him reach this almost unlimited power. He did feel near, though, a couple of times during training, so he would keep training until he could unlock the secret to accessing this power consciously.

Chase had chosen to train in the Death Valley desert today. It was so hot that the landscape appeared blurry and wavy. Chase closed his eyes and grew his aura. Soon he felt a tremendous amount of power burning within him. When he re-opened his eyes, sand was dancing around him like a tornado as he stood in the eye of the storm that his purple aura had created.

Purple lightning ran over his muscles. He focused on a series of huge boulders he had brought from all around his training ground. He sent them flying high in the sky with his mind until they disappeared from sight. He then released his grip and sent a whirlwind shockwave in their direction as soon as he reacquired a visual. The shockwave randomly affected their trajectory and gave them a wild spin. He flew upwards at max speed, leaving a huge sand crater at the point of departure and sending large waves of sand all around. In less than a second he was approaching the large chunks of stones heading his way in the most chaotic fashion.

Chase split the first boulder in two with a flying kick. Before completing his kick the next boulder almost crushed him and he had to use all his reflexes to dodge it. Even so, the boulder still grazed his face and cut him under the left eye. His reaction was immediate and he blew the boulder up with a well-timed fireball. The resulting shockwave altered the other boulders’ trajectory and created unexpected wind currents.

Chase destroyed the third boulder with his knee before getting rid of the fourth by exploding it from the inside out with a powerful kinetic shockwave. The last boulder, the biggest one yet, approached at impressive speed. He decided to try to block this one.

He extended his hands forward and braced for impact. The sheer velocity and giant mass of the boulder sent Chase flying with it down toward the surface, but soon he slowed its descent and was holding it with just one hand above his head. He lit up his hand with a powerful fireball and disintegrated it with little to no effort. He looked down at the debris from all the other boulders as it approached the sandy ground. He sent a rapid flurry of small fireballs and made sure to disintegrate every single chunk before it impacted with the sand. It drained a lot of his energy, and once the attack was over, he was panting heavily.

He let himself drop smoothly back to the sand as more dust from the destroyed boulders was deposited on the dunes around him.

Then something fast appeared in the sky. It was flying faster than any Earth plane, and for a second Chase feared it might be a Fury.

But soon a construction droid landed in front of him, spilling sand all around him.

“Hu-Hello? What can I do for you?”

“What are you doing here?”

Chase wondered why the droid was talking to him and why on Earth it cared. Then it hit him. “Gaia, I presume?”

“Yes, I can use this droid body to communicate with you.”

“Nice to meet you, Gaia. And to answer your question, I’m training.”

“I see. As for meeting you, I wish I could say the same.”

“Oh, why’s that?”

“You are dangerous, and I’m still deciding if I want you on my planet.”

Your planet?

Then Chase remembered his conversation with Spiros, Cedric and Yanis. This did match what they had told him.

“You have nothing to fear from me, Gaia, I assure you. I’ll give my life before I let Earth fall.”

“That’s what Spiros told me, and the only reason I didn’t obliterate the shuttle you used to get down upon your return.”

“Charming. Remind me to send Spiros a fruit basket to thank him for that,” said Chase, grinning.

“I do not respond well to sarcasm.”

“What do you respond well to, Gaia? Is saving this world twice over not enough to convince you I mean no harm to this world?”

“I wasn’t born back then, but I did find evidence to support this and I thank you for it.”

Funny way of showing it.

“You’re welcome. I guess.”

“But then there was Tokyo.”

“Right, I’m not proud of myself, but⁠—”

“You were mad, angry at the man who had forced you to kill the woman you loved. I witnessed that fight and heard everything Argos told you. I almost intervened, in fact.”

“Not sure what you could have done, really. But yeah, that’s pretty much what happened. There isn’t a single day when I don’t think of the damage and lives I might have taken during this fight. I’m not proud of myself, believe me.”

“And hence my problem trusting you. On paper you seem like a good guy, but your emotions drive you, to the point where you sometimes lose control and let your rage guide your actions. What’s to say you won’t destroy this world if something happens to Sarah or your unborn child?”

“You are well informed, I’ll grant you that.”

“I see everything, Chase. I have linked with the planet on the biological level, every animal, every plant. I know everything there is to know about Earth. I speak for this world. Even those boulders you crushed a minute ago.”

“Shouldn’t I have done that?”

“No, that’s fine, and I appreciate your diligence in training far away from any populated area. However, you did injure a hawk earlier on. You probably didn’t feel it.”

Chase closed his eyes and expanded his thoughts. He felt the bird about three miles away, its feathers warm from the contact with the burning sand.

“Be right back,” said Chase, before flying toward the injured bird so fast it looked as if he teleported there.

It was a majestic creature, and indeed it had a stone-sized hole in one of its wings and was bleeding. When Chase approached, it screamed.

“Easy, my friend. I’m really sorry for hurting you, but let me fix you up.”

Chase put his hand on the bird and in less than a second the hole in its wing had mended, and the hawk stopped bleeding. It flew upwards and screamed loudly in the sky, before flying back and landing on Chase’s shoulder.

“Hey, buddy, feeling better?”

The hawk bumped his head affectionately against Chase’s neck. He petted the bird from neck to tail.

The droid landed nearby.

“I’m sorry, Gaia, I will try to be more mindful in the future.”

“Thank you for healing my brethren.”

“I hurt that poor bird. It’s only fair I healed him.”

“I have a proposition for you.”

“I’m listening.”

“We want to help you train.”

“We?”

“I’ve spoken with Spiros about this. He’s the one who proposed we help you in your training endeavors. I was reticent at first, but he is very good at argumentation and he and your other friends hold you in the highest regards.”

“Glad to hear it, Gaia. I hope I can win your trust as well one day.”

“You’re on the right path. I sensed nothing but love for life when you rushed away from me to attend to that wounded bird.”

The hawk, still perched on Chase’s shoulder, screamed as if to underline Gaia’s comment.

“It was only natural. Wish I had something to feed you, though.”

“Why don’t you use the same technique you did to locate the bird to locate a treat for him?” inquired Gaia.

“That’s an interesting thought. Let me try.”

Chase closed his eyes, expanded his mind and located a flurry of insects under the surface of the sand. Two of them were dead, so he levitated them and brought them to the hawk, who ate them right away.

“I doubt that will be enough. He would probably need to find some live prey, but I don’t have the heart to give him a live rodent.”

“And so you shouldn’t. Let nature balance itself. It’s a complex equation, but one that knows what it’s doing.”

“Right. So about training, what did you have in mind? Don’t take this the wrong way, Gaia, but I could probably dispatch that droid body of yours with a sneeze.”

“We’ve already made some of them stronger, with stronger armor and powerful shields. We have a few ready and more are coming.”

“How did you spin using these resources to help me train with Admiral Thassos?”

“She doesn’t need to know. Spiros requested the resources for some R&D. In his eyes, making you stronger is the best way we can protect this world.”

“Sneaky, but I appreciate the gesture. I don’t know what’s wrong with the admiral lately, but she doesn’t seem to understand the danger we all face.”

“I agree. Our thinking is that you’ll progress faster fighting intelligent droids rather than squandering your energy exploding boulders.”

“Can’t argue with that logic. And I look forward to some more intensive training. How intelligent are we talking about here?”

“I’ll pilot some of them myself for maximum efficiency, and I will learn fighting tactics while doing so. That will in turn make them stronger and more able to provide the challenge you need to progress faster.”

“Impressive. When do we start?” Chase was unable to contain his excitement at the thought of tougher training.

“Let me show you what we’ve come up with. Follow me,” said Gaia, flying upwards and veering at ninety degrees toward the northeast.

“Gotta go, buddy,” said Chase to the hawk, who also took flight.

Chase was soon in the sky flying beside Gaia.

* * *

Daniel and Fillio were walking along the beach at dawn after their dinner date, hand in hand.

“I had a really good time tonight, Daniel, thank you for the lovely evening.”

“You’re welcome. I had a great time too. You’re a great gal.”

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Gal?”

“Did I say anything wrong?”

“No, silly, I’m just teasing you. But while I appreciate these dates of ours and the fine time we’re spending in the sack, I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.”

“What impression?”

“That I might be looking for something serious. Don’t get me wrong, Daniel, you’re a great guy. You’re funny, sweet and a good lover, but I’m still trying to adjust to life on Earth. This doesn’t feel right somehow.”

“Oh . . .”

“Let me rephrase that. I don’t want you to misunderstand what I’m trying to say. You and I, we’re both officers. In the old days we would not be able to fraternize the way we do at the moment. Even on Earth they have regulations against it. I’m really happy for all the quality time we’re having, but I . . . I have not been dealing well with the fall of the former Alliance. I— I lost everyone back home, my parents, my two sisters. The only one who survived is my little brother Yanis.”

“I know. We’ve all lost everything and almost everyone we loved and cared about. I understand how you feel.”

“And yet you seem to adapt to this new life of ours. I, on the other hand . . .”

He stopped and looked into her eyes. “What is it, Fillio?”

“Don’t you ever ask yourself if any of this is worth it?”

“What do you mean? Any of what?”

“Everything. Life, the war, all this senseless fighting. I’m getting tired of it.”

He took her in his arms for a very long time.

“Is there anything else bothering you, Fillio?”

She looked at the waves ending their relentless travel on the sandy shore. Their sound had a calming effect.

“I’m not sure.”

Daniel sensed something bothering her on a deeper level. He wished he knew what it was so he could help her with it. “You know you can tell me anything?”

She gently caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. “You’re so sweet. I apologize for crapping up the mood tonight. I think I’m just tired lately.”

“Don’t worry about it. I just want you to know I’m here for you. No matter what it is, you can always talk to me about it.”

She smiled and they resumed their romantic walk along the beach.

* * *

Ryonna was pensive as she watched the interstellar news broadcast in Tar’Lock’s flat. She hadn’t seen Ronan in almost three weeks, ever since he had been transferred to the Phoenix. She was proud of him, of course, but she didn’t like the fact that he was in Droxian space while she was on Earth.

What was she doing here? she wondered. The admiral’s lack of aggression, letting Argos and his forces invade more worlds, really annoyed her. Perhaps even more than it did Chase. She hadn’t seen him in three days. He was training more and more lately.

“You okay, Ryonna?” inquired Tar’Lock.

“What are we still doing here?”

“I don’t know. I think the admiral was shaken by the last attack on Earth. She’s playing it safe.”

“Which is exactly the opposite of what she should be doing right now. I think it’s time for new leadership.”

“Easy there, tiger.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t think so too.”

“Sure, the admiral’s conservative approach to planetary defense is worrisome.”

“Conservative? Call it what it is. She’s a coward.”

“And yet we haven’t been attacked, perhaps because the show of force around both Earth and Droxia was enough to give Argos pause. Have you thought of that?”

“Or that’s exactly what he wants, so he can amass a vast stockpile of resources and let the Fury rebuild their ships in peace. This is a mistake! I can feel it with every fiber of my being.”

“Have you tried contacting your connections on Droxia?”

“I’ve asked my brother-in-law Jonas to relay a message to high command.”

“And?”

“And for the time being they are happy to abide by the admiral’s current defensive posture.”

“Droxia hasn’t been attacked either since the first time the Destiny battlegroup and the admiral’s fleet intervened to save your world. They must feel indebted to her.”

“Perhaps. I just hate staying here doing nothing. Don’t you?”

“Well, after years of imprisonment in Hellstar and the very eventful weeks that followed, I’m actually glad for some down time; but I’ll grant you that days seem to pass slowly.”

“You can say that again.” Ryonna exhaled in frustration. “I have to go see Sarah. I’ll be back later.”

“Give her my best.”

“Will do.”

Ryonna arrived at Sarah’s place a little before the agreed upon time. She rang her doorbell nonetheless.

“Hey, Ryonna, you’re early. Please come in.”

They sat on her living-room sofa.

“How are you doing, Ryonna?”

“I’m going nuts these days. There’s nothing for me to do. I feel utterly useless.”

“I actually enjoy having time to rest, even though I do miss the thrills of fighting with the StarFuries. I go on patrols from time to time but it’s not the same.”

“At least you do fly.”

“You’re quite grumpy. Can’t you go train with Chase?”

“He doesn’t think it’s a good idea.”

“What do you think?”

“That I wish he didn’t see me as a porcelain doll. I don’t care how strong he is, I can still teach him a thing or two about combat!”

“He is overprotective at times, but he means well.”

“And yet you two are not really on good terms. Why?”

“I’d rather we talked about something else. Why did you want to see me?”

“To see how you were doing and try to understand the tension between the two of you. But since you don’t want to talk about that I guess I should be on my way,” said Ryonna, getting up from the sofa.

“Hey easy, sit down.”

“But you just said . . .”

“I know, but perhaps we can talk about it anyway. That’s why you came and I’m happy to see you. So please stay.”

Ryonna sat back down and attempted a smile. “I know it’s none of my business but I’m having difficulty understanding what the problem is between you two.”

“The problem is that Chase was willing to sacrifice the future for me. I would never have accepted that if given the choice. I was perfectly fine dying, if that meant the Furies stayed trapped where they belong.”

“Let’s get one thing straight: the Furies deserve to be dead, no one is arguing that. I don’t know what the Olympians were thinking, trapping them instead, but one way or another they would have escaped. It seems to be incumbent on our generation to deal with them.”

“And all of that because of me . . .”

“You can’t be serious?”

“I’m deadly serious.”

“Then you’re a fool, Sarah, no offense.”

“None taken, but please enlighten me.”

“You’re blaming Chase for something he did, but had no knowledge of. He didn’t know helping Argos would mean the resurgence of the Furies. And for the love of Olympian gods, put yourself in his shoes for just a minute! He thought he’d killed you. When faced with the impossible choice of saving you or the universe he chose the way you wanted him to choose. It nearly destroyed him too. He sank really low and wanted to kill himself the moment Argos had paid for putting him in this position. But then he learned you and Chris were still alive. How could anyone ask him to make that same choice a second time? Ask yourself this: would you have been able to?”

Sarah looked down as tears fell from her eyes.

“You should consider yourself lucky you have someone like Chase who loves you the way he does, and is willing to risk everything to save you.”

“But I don’t want him to, that’s the problem.”

“And I think he got the message. Perhaps you should forgive him.”

“I have forgiven him.”

Ryonna raised an eyebrow.

“Alright, I’m trying to forgive him. I realize how much love he has for me and the baby. That also scares me. He is a Fury, after all.”

Ryonna slapped Sarah.

“What the hell!?”

“I’m sorry, Sarah, but don’t you dare think of Chase as a Fury. Everything he has done until now was to save others. He has put his life on the line to save us all, you, me, my son, this planet, Droxia . . . He is the bravest man I have ever met. And even if his genes are Fury, he shares none of their psychopathic and aggressive tendencies.”

Sarah held her slightly reddish cheek.

“Okay, perhaps I deserved that slap.”

“There’s no perhaps and you know it.”

She smiled and nodded. “I will talk with him.”

“Good. This nonsense has dragged on long enough. I firmly believe the only way we survive what’s coming next is if Chase has his head in the game, and right now the two of you keeping your distance with a child on the way is a bad idea.”

“I miss him, that’s true. And as weird as it sounds, I think Chris does too.”

“How so?”

“Every time I think about breaking up with Chase for good I get these horrible cramps, like Chris is voicing his disagreement. It’s a little creepy, really.”

“I think after seeing him resurrecting Chase we can safely assume he will be something else, and not just a human baby.”

“That’s the problem, Ryonna. This scares the shit out of me too. I love Chase, and I love my baby, but they both scare me sometimes.”

“You’re a military commander, Sarah, or have you forgotten? The Sarah I met was not scared of anything. Get a grip!”

“You’re right. It must be these damn hormones. I was warned about them, but the side effects of pregnancy seem much stronger than expected.”

“And let’s not discount that you may have some Fury DNA in you as well now.”

“Say what?”

“There is an exchange of DNA between a baby and a mother. You clearly have a Fury baby with amazing abilities growing in you. This might also place stress on you and unbalance your system. I’m no doctor, but I think this could also explain your mood swings, your fears and perhaps also some of the feelings of anger you harbor toward Chase.”

“That’s an interesting point of view. I’ll keep it in mind. Thank you, Ryonna.”

“You’re welcome, Sarah. I’m sorry for slapping you.”

“That’s okay. I needed that.”

Ryonna smiled.

7

Chase and the Gaia droid landed at the outskirts of the Death Valley desert.

“Why have we stopped?” asked Chase.

“We’ve arrived.”

“I don’t see anything here.”

The ground shook in front of them, and as sand moved to the side, a metallic trap door slid open and revealed stairs.

“Neat,” said Chase as he started climbing down the stairway. Lights turned on as he advanced.

At the bottom, Spiros Malayianis was waiting for them near a giant steel door.

“Hey, Spiros, nice to see you again.”

“Likewise, Chase. Welcome to your tailored training facility.”

“Thanks. I can’t wait to test it, though I doubt AI controlled droids will provide a challenge for long. And I’m afraid you’re gonna waste a lot of resources.”

“You’re expecting them to get destroyed by the dozens, are you?”

“Yeah, won’t they?”

“I’m looking forward to seeing how you survive your first training session.”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “Survive? You can’t be serious.”

Spiros keyed a few commands near the giant door, which slid open slowly. It was the thickest door Chase had ever seen. The engine that powered the sucker must have been draining quite some power. The moment the door was fully open, lights turned on, revealing the room beyond. The place was huge, the size of a football field at least. Chase could see droids standing there, three of them around the middle of the room. They looked de-activated.

“Three droids?” said Chase, smirking widely. “At least give me a challenge.”

“Get in, Chase. Good luck.”

“Yeah right.”

Chase walked toward the center of the giant room. He stopped in front of the first droid. Two more stood behind it, forming a triangle. They looked really sleek: humanoid shaped, smooth; and their chrome finish reflected the light.

Chase approached the droid and knocked its head twice. “Anyone there?”

Its eyes flashed green. Chase was briefly startled and took a step back. A light turned on at his right and revealed a large control room behind a large window. Chase saw Spiros and the Gaia droid standing there.

“Are you ready, Chase?”

“Sure.”

“I’ll just activate one droid so you can get a feeling of its power. Don’t pull any punches.”

“If I don’t it might be scrap metal very fast.”

“I think you’ll be surprised.”

“Alright.”

The first droid launched itself at Chase and threw a series of punches and kicks at a surprisingly fast rate, but it was still way too slow to be any danger to Chase. Several of them together could be another story.

“Fight back, Chase,” said Spiros over the speakers.

Chase blocked the next two attacks and punched the droid straight in the face. A blue shield blocked the impact. The droid was thrown back a few feet but was soon back on the offensive.

“That’s cool. Activate the other two, Spiros.”

Now all three droids attacked Chase and it required a lot more concentration to not get hit, but with enough focus he repelled their attacks easily, often throwing them away temporarily with well-placed punches and kicks. Chase’s blood boiled with joy as he fought the droids. He noticed they started to anticipate some of his attacks.

“These things are cool. I’ll take twenty please.”

“That won’t be necessary, Chase.”

Then something happened. The entire arena hummed and trembled for a second and Chase felt heavier. His speed was cut in half.

“What the⁠—”

But then one of the droids caught him off guard with a strong uppercut that sent him flying. When he crashed against the floor it hurt more than it ought to.

“What just happened?”

“I’ve artificially doubled the gravity inside the chamber. Do you still want twenty of them at this setting?”

Chase got up, wiped a little blood off the corner of his mouth, looked at Spiros and smiled. “This is awesome. Thank you! How far can the gravity go?”

“Oh, right now it’s maximum setting would crush you, most likely, but in time, as your body acclimates to it, you should be able to develop your speed, reflexes and overall power.”

Bring it on! “Cool.”

“There’s more.”

A panel opened on the high ceiling and a turret dropped down and started firing plasma at Chase. He jumped out of the way, but the droids were already upon him. He somersaulted over them, sending one flying against the nearest wall with full force. It lost no time getting back up and running back toward the brawl. Chase blocked a spin kick from another droid and sent the third to the ground by sweeping its feet from under it with a crouched kick.

The fact that the droids didn’t seem to get damaged, thanks to their shields, made for very focused training on Chase’s part. At this level of gravity, he already had to give most of himself to stay ahead of the game, and could already feel his tiredness growing.

“Can I blow some of them up?”

“You can try.”

Chase opened his palm and a blue fireball shot toward a droid, which deflected it with the back of its hand, to Chase’s surprise. Its shield lit up in the process. The droid didn’t stop and was now on top of Chase and launched a series of attacks. It anticipated Chase’s counterattacks with more ease. Then Chase was hit from behind. Having placed all his focus on that one droid he hadn’t heard the other coming. He was thrown forward, where the third droid stopped his momentum by smashing him to the ground with a powerful right hook.

Anger started to fill Chase’s body. He loved the challenge, but didn’t really appreciate being beaten by tin cans. He jumped back to his feet just in time to feel something coming from behind. One of the droids sent lasers his way. Chase deflected them and sent a flurry of fireballs toward his attacker. Two of them were deflected but the next few hit their targets. The droid was thrown in every direction with each new impact and fell to the ground. Smoke rose from it.

The other two droids fired toward Chase as well. He flew upwards and created a giant fireball the size of a car and sent it toward the droids. They jumped out of the way, but the impact with the ground and resulting explosion and shockwave sent them flying uncontrollably. Chase flew toward one of them and landed a series of punches, kicks and knees, sending that particular droid flying even further.

The turret above fired three more shots toward Chase, who back flipped three times to dodge the incoming attacks, but was rewarded with a metallic knee in the thorax in the middle of his evasive action. Some of his ribs broke and he spat blood. He crashed to the ground a few yards away. He took to his knees but was panting heavily.

The turret rose back into the ceiling and the two droids still standing ran back to the center of the room and deactivated.

“What’s happening?”

“The computer says you’ve injured yourself.”

“It’s just a couple of broken ribs. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“I read three broken.”

“Alright, give me a sec to heal myself.”

Chase healed his wounds and did an internal power check. He was running on fumes.

“Perhaps I need to take a little break. I exhausted too much energy destroying boulders before. What’s with the third droid? Did I destroy it?”

“It’s self-repairing. It will be back on its feet in a few minutes, don’t worry.”

“I might destroy a few at each session.”

“Yes, we’re aware of that, but at the same time you have to push yourself to your limits with the gravity being doubled. That way you can emulate fighting stronger and faster foes.”

“That’s very ingenious, Spiros, thank you so much.”

“My pleasure. Gaia helped.”

“I’m sure she did. Thanks.”

The arena hummed again and the gravity returned to normal. Chase seemed so light he felt compelled to throw a quick succession of punches and kicks into the air.

“Wow, this is cool. I think I already feel a little faster.”

“That’s the idea. You should get some rest now. There’s a mess hall and even sleeping quarters here. Anything you need, really.”

Chase smiled.

I’m gonna enjoy spending most of my time here.

* * *

When Daniel came to Chase’s quarters, he looked worried.

“What is it, bro? What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to talk to you about Fillio, if you have the time.”

“Sure. Everything alright?”

“We . . . we’ve been spending quite some time together and most of it is great, but there seems to be something wrong and I can’t put my finger on it.”

“What do you mean ‘wrong’?”

“I wish I knew. We’re having a lot of fun together and, to tell you the truth, I’m falling for her.”

Chase smiled. “That’s great, isn’t it?”

“Yeah I thought so too, but lately she’s been a little distant.”

“Distant how?”

“Something seems to be really eating at her soul, but every time I try to raise the subject, she changes it.”

“These constant battles and risking our lives every few weeks takes a toll on most of us.”

“You seem fine.”

“Well, I’m not. Perhaps I’m just better at hiding it than Fillio.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Did the two of you . . .?”

“What?”

“You know. When the fifth fleet helped us defend Droxia, the way she talked with you, it seemed the two of you were good friends, perhaps even something more.”

“We were close at one point, but we never went all the way.”

“Any reason why?”

“I’m not sure. When we first met after the academy, she had just lost most of her family. She felt lost and very depressed. At that time she was also mad at the world around her. Her anger and thirst for payback was her driving force, but it was also taking a toll on her. We quickly became friends and I felt she wanted more. It almost happened a few times, in fact, but I sensed something wasn’t right. I think she hadn’t processed her grief properly, and all that affection seemed misplaced at the time. I wanted to be a good friend but I didn’t want to start a relationship under the circumstances. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a lovely girl, but we were both pilots. We weren’t supposed to fraternize and get attached to one another that way.”

“Since when did Chase Athanatos give a crap about rules and regulations?”

“Touché. But this was not just about regulations. I once found her in my quarters with my sidearm in her hands after we had spent the night together. And by spend the night I just mean sleep in the same bed. We never had sex, but she needed a presence sometimes and I was happy to provide it for her. But when I saw her with that gun, I had the definite feeling that she was seriously considering using it on herself. I felt that if we ever embraced a physical and emotional relationship, it could be a liability on the battlefield. She was already carrying so much pain with her in that cockpit when we flew on missions. I thought if we got close and something happened to me, it might actually push her over the edge. I didn’t want to be responsible for that. Perhaps that was selfish of me—I don’t know—but it didn’t feel right.”

“That’s heavy. And I don’t think that’s selfish. On the contrary.”

“Daniel, it’s possible she still carries a lot of that weight around with her. And perhaps you can help her, in time, to unburden herself. But I suggest you avoid telling her about this conversation. If she wants to tell you, you should let her do it on her own terms.”

“You’re probably right. I appreciate you sharing this with me, though. I hope it wasn’t nosy of me asking you. It’s just I worry about her.”

“No worries. I completely understand. I think the two of you having a relationship is great, for the both of you. I can’t think of a nicer guy for her to put her trust in.”

“I’m not sure she wants something serious, you know . . .”

“My advice to you is to give her time. And be there for her when she needs you.”

Daniel took Chase in his arms and patted his back. “Thanks, bro.”

“Anytime.”

“How are things with you and Sarah?”

“We’ve been better. Hopefully time will heal these wounds.”

“Jeez! It’s not easy understanding women, is it? I mean, you risked everything to save her and now you’re being blamed for it.”

“To tell you the truth, Daniel, I don’t disagree with her point of view. I did a selfish act. I wanted to save her, and to hell with the consequences. And I risked way more than I was aware of at the time. I was blinded by my obsession to rescue her.”

“That’s only human and you know it.”

“Perhaps. And yet now we’re going to have to face the most dangerous race that ever walked amongst the stars, thanks to me.”

“Still, I don’t think it’s your fault. The commodore doesn’t think it either, so why do you?”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, Daniel, but it is my fault. Did I mean for all this? Of course not. But that doesn’t change the facts, you know.”

“Wanna talk about it some more?”

“What is there to talk about? I just have to train and make sure I can do everything in my power to defeat them.”

“That we defeat them, Chase. We’re all in this together. You should share that heavy load of yours with the rest of us.”

“Right.”

Chase smiled back at his brother-in-arms, but no matter what anyone told him, he felt responsible. For the countless deaths on Earth and the inevitable future victims the Furies would add to the already unbearable body count. But also for Aphroditis’ imprisonment inside the dimensional machine, as well as Ares’ death.

* * *

Another four weeks had passed and, as per his routine that day, like every day, Chase returned to the training facility in the wee hours of the morning. It was definitely more fun than transforming boulders to dust. He was already training at 4 Gs and felt more and more powerful with every passing day.

Today he was battling against five droids and like every morning when he had amped the difficulty, either in number of droids or level of artificial gravity, he had trouble holding his own at first. The first two weeks of training he had either damaged or destroyed more than half the available droids, and he was now trying to train without letting his instincts take over to the point where he couldn’t control his strikes and transformed his metal sparring partners into another useless pile of scrap.

But that meant holding off, sometimes, and that often cost him more damage than he would have otherwise incurred. He was fine with that, as he felt that his overall resistance to blows was growing as well over time.

In the control center, Spiros entered with his morning coffee and sat on his chair, watching Chase’s life signs and monitoring that all went well. They’d all had a scare the week before when one of the droids malfunctioned and blew up in Chase’s face. Some of the shrapnel had been propelled too close to Chase’s heart. His fast healing abilities had, of course, come in handy but Spiros was determined to make the entire training facility foolproof.

He was exhausted that morning. Like many nights before he had pulled an all-nighter working on designing the next gen of battle droids. Not only could they help Chase train more efficiently, but they could become a really efficient foot army in case of an invasion.

He poured a cocktail of drugs into his coffee.

“You should ease up on the stims,” said the Gaia droid.

Spiros stumbled from his chair and almost spilled his coffee. He held his heart.

“You almost gave me a heart attack. I didn’t see you there.”

“I was recharging.”

“Right. The new power modules will help you recharge faster, but if you don’t want me to take stims you should let me sleep every once in a while.”

“I believe you are incorrect in your assumption that I am keeping you from getting rest.”

As much as he wanted to tell her otherwise, she was correct. Spiros was the one who decided to work all day monitoring Chase while he fought and then work most of the nights with Gaia.

“I really look forward to testing the new droid body. I want a new avatar. This one is too inefficient. We’ll need to design one with a much larger memory capacity so I can at least copy some of my matrix into it. But we’ll also need secondary memory banks to store all the data we’ve been learning from observing Chase fight.”

“Speaking of which, how can you even function inside this body? Isn’t the memory way too small to accommodate most of your basic AI?”

“It is, but I’ve installed an ultra-fast wireless connection that allows me to access my functions remotely. There is a slight delay though, and it is not efficient.”

“We can’t have that now, can we?”

“Sarcasm, I take it.”

Spiros smiled but then felt a sting in his heart. It had skipped a beat or two. While a good part of his vital functions had been replaced or enhanced by nanites and other augments over the years, Spiros still had a good-old beating heart.

“Are you alright? I am detecting some strange vitals.”

“I bet you are. I’ll be fine, but you’re right. I can’t continue replacing sleep with stims and stay up all night with you for much longer.”

“Not to mention you are snoring heavily when you fall asleep without realizing it lately.”

Spiros smiled. “Snoring is a normal bodily function.”

“Not according to my medical files.”

“Right. Trying to argue with the world’s largest encyclopedia! What was I thinking?”

“Is there a reason you vocalize when being sarcastic? Since I’m not very receptive to it, as you undoubtedly know by now, wouldn’t it be simpler to just think it?”

She certainly didn’t have the warmest of personalities at times, but Spiros did find Gaia quite endearing nonetheless.

“I suppose so, but what’s the fun in that? Plus, I haven’t lost hope that your algorithm might improve the more you are subjected to it.”

“Or is it you just like hearing yourself talk?”

Spiros chuckled.

They had come a long way since their rocky start, and Spiros had put his complete trust in her. Cedric and Yanis were still secretly working on means to disable her, if that was ever needed, even though he no longer thought it was necessary. The admiral, on the other hand, preferred being prepared.

Which reminded him. His last talk with the admiral had been odd. Not only did she seem more aggressive than before, but some of her latest decisions didn’t seem to make much sense.

A droid impacted with the control room’s shielded glass and exploded.

This time Spiros spilled coffee all over himself.

“Oops, I’m really sorry about that,” said Chase, while continuing to spar with the remaining four droids.

Spiros made a face. “I need to go change. Can you please monitor him for me while I do that?”

“Of course, Spiros. While you’re at it, why don’t you sleep for a few hours. I am perfectly able to do this, you know.”

Spiros wanted to complain but he felt another sting in his chest.

“You know what? That’s actually not the worst idea.”

* * *

Chase went to see Sarah and check on the baby before going to train for the day. He rang at her apartment and a bunch of repressed feelings came to the surface. He had visited her at least twice a week lately and it did seem she was slightly warmer with him over time. But there was still an invisible but palpable tension that prevented them from going back to how things had once been between them.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Chase.”

“Oh, I wished you’d called before.”

“I can come another time.”

She opened the door. “Don’t be silly, come in.”

She looked pale.

“Is everything alright?”

“You look great too, thank you.”

“Did I say anything wrong?” Chase sensed a colder than usual tone in her voice.

“No, it’s just this damn morning sickness I get sometimes. Your son can’t get here soon enough.”

“My son?”

“Sorry, our son. I was just trying to emphasize that bringing a half-Fury baby into the world seems extra everything. I’ve had all the symptoms my mom told me she had to go through with me, multiplied by at least four.”

“I’m really sorry for the discomfort.”

“It’s okay, Chase, I just got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. It will pass.”

“I really don’t mind coming another time.”

“It’s fine. You’re here and I’m glad to see you. Please sit.” She indicated the couch.

She sat near him today. That was a good sign.

“How’s your training going?”

“Very well. Yesterday I was able to spar with six droids while the gravity was at a full 5 Gs.”

“You feel stronger?”

“I feel stronger than ever before. In fact, I have to control myself all the time, otherwise I could destroy not only my metal sparring partners but probably the entire facility.”

She smiled. “I hope it will be enough in our upcoming fight with the Furies.”

“So do I. We still don’t know what their technological firepower will be like. That’s got me worried. I can keep training until I’m strong enough to defeat my enemies during close encounters, but most of the bigger battles will be fought in space.”

“And we can’t have you destroying entire systems. I get it.”

Chase’s expression turned grave.

“I’m sorry, that sounded worse than I wanted it to.”

“That’s alright. I had been warned by Ares not to do this, and he was right.”

“I don’t think you had any choice. The important thing is that we managed to escape.”

Chase wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her with passion but he knew it was probably still too early for that. Perhaps when the baby was born things would work themselves out.

“What’s that look?”

“What look?”

“Just now you wanted to say or do something, and then your face changed while you thought about it.”

“I’d rather not say.”

“And I’d rather you did. Spit it out, Chase. I promise I won’t bite.”

Chase took a deep breath. “I was just thinking how great it would be to kiss you right now.”

“Then why don’t you?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Well if you won’t . . .” She grabbed his head and kissed him.

His entire body filled with a warmth he had almost forgotten.

They made out most of that morning, and for the first time in weeks, Chase arrived late at the training facility.

* * *

Chase was now training against twenty droids at once at 10 Gs. While Spiros initially thought he could get the artificial gravity all the way to 50 Gs, the moment they had tried to climb to 15, they had overloaded and damaged half of the facility’s power conduits. There was a design flaw that he needed to address, but until he found a fix, that meant Chase had to amp up the number of sparring partners.

Chase felt incredibly fast today. He moved with such ease that the twenty droids and every single plasma cannon hit mostly air all day long. But then the droids all stopped and the cannons retreated back into the ceiling.

“Huh, Spiros? What’s up?”

“Nothing is up. Gaia would like to spar with you.”

“Alright, but shouldn’t she just add herself to the mix?”

“Why don’t you ask her?”

The artificial gravity lowered back to normal so the force field around the training area could be lowered. The doors slid open and a new droid entered. It’s paint job—dark red with silver highlights—made it look more imposing. Its shape was very close to that of the other droids, but Chase noted a few differences. Chase thought it looked slicker.

“Gaia?”

“Yes, this is my new avatar body. Unlike my previous one, this one can leave the planet and take part of my AI matrix along.”

“And that is important why?”

“So that I can accompany you on missions, with the rest of the droid army, and remote control them. I got the idea from you, in fact, the way you remote piloted the squadrons of Manticore starfighters when you came ahead of your fleet to save this world. I have also documented your fighting techniques into secondary memory banks, so I can help the droids fight more like you.”

“I thought they already did.”

“With some technical limitations. However, this new avatar body isn’t subject to them.”

“What about letting me recycle the older ones?” said Chase enthusiastically.

“When this revision has been thoroughly tested and validated. And once we have built enough of them, then, yes, perhaps. For now this is a prototype.”

“I should go easy on you, then?”

“Within reason. You’d be surprised how much more resistant, fast and powerful this iteration is.”

“What are we waiting for then?”

The doors closed back down, the force field rose and the artificial gravity was cranked back up by a factor of ten.

Chase took an offensive posture and so did Gaia.

When Gaia launched herself at Chase, he was surprised how much faster her droid body was compared to those he had been sparring with until now. He had just enough time to dodge her first set of hooks and parried her roundhouse kick with both elbows.

Chase countered by pushing her away with a kinetic shockwave and immediately launched a spinning hook kick to her head.

She dodged it, grabbed his leg and sent him crashing against the nearest wall with great force.

Chase recovered immediately and sent a fireball her way. She let it hit her shields that lit up green for just a second.

“Why didn’t you try to dodge it?”

“I want to test the shields’ efficiency.”

“And? How much did they drain from this impact?”

“Less than five percent.”

“That’s pretty good, isn’t it? When I send three of these fireballs at the other droids the third one tends to destroy them.”

“Yes, these shields are much more powerful, thanks to the new, efficient power supply we’ve designed for it. They also recharge much faster. They are already back at one hundred percent.”

“Cool.”

Chase and Gaia resumed their training for hours that day, testing her new avatar droid, and Chase was bested a few times. He was careful not to deploy all his energy to avoid damaging the prototype, though.

Over the next few days both Chase and Gaia progressed on different levels. Gaia was able to anticipate Chase’s attacks better the more she observed his technique and Chase was getting faster and stronger as well.

* * *

It had now been almost three months since they had returned from Erevos. Chase and Spiros entered the Destiny’s conference room at the same time. Already sitting around the table were Sarah, Ryonna, Daniel and the commodore.

“Please sit down, we have an emergency to discuss.”

Chase noticed the face of Admiral Thassos on the nearest holo-display.

Saroudis stood and addressed everyone.

“At 19:35 today a probe we sent to Alpha Prime received a distress call.”

Chase’s expression changed completely. “There are survivors?”

“Apparently so. We think pockets of resistance went underground after the Zarlack invaded the system and destroyed most of the infrastructure there. It took them until now to manage an assault on a communications tower to send the distress call. However, the transmission hasn’t been authenticated.”

“When are we leaving, Commodore?”

“Not so fast, Lieutenant Commander,” interrupted the admiral.

“What do you mean, not so fast? If there are survivors on Alpha Prime we have a duty to rescue them. In fact, we should reclaim the entire sector while we’re at it.”

“I agree we need to go to Alpha Prime,” added Daniel.

“I’m not ready to commit a large scale force at this point.”

Chase made fists and clenched his teeth. He couldn’t hide his frustration. He shot an angry look at Commodore Saroudis. “We have to do something!” Chase insisted.

“Lieutenant Commander, you’re only here as a courtesy to the commodore, but don’t think your past acts of treason have been forgotten.”

Treason?

Saroudis waved a hand to make sure Chase didn’t escalate the tension any further. This was a very volatile situation and the commodore knew it when he addressed the admiral next.

“Admiral, I believe we must send at least a few ships. The Zarlack forces must be spread thinly in their conquest of resource-rich worlds at the moment, so three or four ships, including the Destiny, is probably all we need to retake the system.”

“It could be a trap.”

“Nevertheless, Lieutenant Commander Athanatos is correct, we’re duty bound to render assistance.”

“I don’t care what the lieutenant commander thinks.”

Daniel got up. “Admiral, if I may?”

“You may not, Commander, take back your seat.”

Daniel swallowed hard. “Yes, Admiral.”

He sat back, but not before giving Chase a worried look.

Chase reached the commodore with his mind.

Adonis, you have to do something. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with the admiral these days but you need to seize command of the fleet, now!

Saroudis shot him a surprised look, but then realized only he had heard Chase telepathically.

Your family could still be alive amongst the survivors. Do you want to take the risk that they are killed while we sit on our asses waiting? Now that the resistance has sent a message, they’ve clearly put a target on their backs. Let me lead a full-force assault to Alpha Prime. Perhaps it’s not too late.

Saroudis swallowed hard. Chase could see the conflict in him.

“Admiral,” said Saroudis, treading carefully. “I believe we should vote on this issue.”

“Vote? I’m sorry, that’s not how things work around here. I’ve let your band of rebels off the hook more than enough in the past, but they’ll either follow my orders or they’ll be court-martialed. And that goes for you as well, Commodore.”

She’s losing it, added Chase telepathically. Do something before it’s too late.

“Admiral, as second-in-command of the fleet I’m afraid you leave me no choice but to declare you unfit for duty. I’m relieving you of your command, effective immediately.”

“In your dreams, Commodore! I don’t recognize your authority in these matters. You’re the one who’s relieved of⁠—”

The admiral reached for her throat, unable to breathe or speak.

Saroudis understood what was going on immediately.

“Chase! What are you doing? Stop this at once.”

“Don’t worry, Commodore, I’m just making sure she doesn’t finish that illegal order. I understand she’s scared after what happened on Earth—even though she was not here to protect it during the last attack—but enough is enough. Your relieving her of command was done by the book, under the circumstances. I for one have had enough of staying on the sidelines while Argos conquers one world after another. Soon we’ll have Fury ships on our doorsteps if this continues. We all know this is the right thing to do.”

Ryonna stood up. “I agree with Chase. The admiral is a coward and needed to be relieved of command. Unless I don’t understand the regulations of the Earth Alliance, you’ve just done that. It matters not what she says now and I’m glad Chase silenced her.”

Chase looked at Sarah. “Do you want to add anything?”

“I think you’re all correct, but please let her go. You’re scaring her even more.” There was genuine concern in Sarah’s eyes.

Chase released his grip and the admiral breathed heavily. “You’ll all pay for⁠—”

“Sleep!” said Chase, and the admiral fell to the floor.

He turned to Saroudis. “I think you need to address the fleet and let them know of the changes in the command structure. You should also have her sorry ass escorted to the brig.”

“Chase! She is my friend. You shouldn’t have intervened.”

“Do you want us to go see if your family is amongst the survivors on Alpha Prime or do you want to stay here and debate my lack of protocol?”

“I should throw you in the brig with her.”

“Do what you must, Commodore, but I’m through waiting for the Furies to build up their strength unchallenged, with the help of my brother, while the admiral pisses her pants not knowing what to do about it.”

“Chase,” said Sarah, putting her hand on his.

“What?” That was when he saw the eyes of everyone staring at him. Everyone but Ryonna had a little fear in their eyes.

“Chase,” said the commodore. “Nobody is challenging your intentions, but you need to learn to voice them properly.”

“We— don’t— have— time— for— this.”

“Everyone, please give us the room.”

When they had left the conference room Saroudis looked straight in Chase’s eyes.

“You’re not in command here, Lieutenant Commander! There are things I’m willing to tolerate from you, but today you went too far.”

“At the risk of repeating myself, we don’t have time for this, Adonis.”

“Commodore!”

“Right, my apologies. Commodore, I know you know I’m right. We need to go to Alpha Prime, now!”

“I agree with you, but I’m sick and tired of your repetitive displays of insubordination. Effective immediately, I demote you back to the rank of lieutenant.”

Chase was so angry—not at being demoted but at the sermon, which meant losing more time—that he wanted to smash the conference table.

But then a golden light appeared between them.

“If I may?” said Ares in his energy form.

“Hello, Ares,” said Chase.

“Ares, this is an internal dispute. While I appreciate your past help, this particular conversation doesn’t concern you.”

“And with all due respect, Commodore, I think you need to hear me out.”

“Very well.”

“While Chase’s impulsive reaction is questionable at best, he is correct. Not only was relieving the admiral necessary, it was a long time coming. You both know how erratic she’s been the past few months. Friend or not the stakes are too high. Do I have to remind you that the Furies are back? They are just too powerful, and the most ruthless conqueror race that ever lived in this universe. If we don’t act now they will annihilate us.”

“I am well aware of this, Ares.”

“Then let’s stop this useless display of testosterone between the two of you. Chase, apologize for your usual lack of tact. Commodore, you’ve demoted Chase for his questionable attitude. Now can we please move on and address the real threats that we will all be facing soon?”

The commodore exhaled deeply. “Very well.”

“I’m sorry, Commodore,” said Chase.

“We all know you’re not, but Ares is right, we need to start preparing for the shit storm the return of the Furies will bring along with them.”

“On that we can all agree.”

“And Chase?” added Saroudis.

“Yes, sir?”

“Please don’t give me false hope again or use my family as an excuse to force my decisions the way you just did back then.”

“You do realize some of them might have survived?”

“And they may not have. I don’t need to think about this right now. We’re going to Alpha Prime to reclaim the planet and render assistance to any survivors in the process, whether or not my family is amongst them.”

“Understood.”

* * *

Argos went to the brig on his ship and stood in front of Admiral Thassos.

“What do you want?” she asked with defiance burning in her eyes.

“Well, it seems your doppelgänger has been removed from command.”

“I’m glad to hear it. About time, too.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. Thanks to her we’ve managed to expand unchallenged these past few weeks. She has fulfilled her primary mission.”

“You have no intention of ever letting me out of here alive, do you?”

“That depends. Would you reconsider our previous talk about giving me the command codes for the planetary shield?”

“I can’t do that. I won’t!”

He sensed that she meant it with every fiber of her being. Argos wondered if perhaps breaking her was worth it. But since the admiral’s clone had reported that the AI now protecting Earth could retake control of the planetary shield at any time she pleased, it seemed futile to invest time and effort getting the codes anyway. He would have to find another way to work around this shield when the time came to crush Earth once and for all.

“What about Commodore Saroudis? Any way I can exploit a weakness there? I hear the two of you are close.”

“Go fuck yourself!”

I guess not.

“Well then, this is goodbye.”

“What? Wait!”

But Argos didn’t. He closed his fist and the admiral exploded, painting the room red.

8

Chase sat on the bridge of the Hope. He was a little surprised to have still been given command of the strongest battleship in the fleet. But that made sense in a strategic way. While his superior and friend Saroudis was annoyed with him, he was no fool and still recognized what Chase had to offer on the battlefield. They had made the jump toward Alpha Prime that morning. Chase’s blood was pumping. The attempt to find survivors on their home world, as well as reclaim it, was a long time coming. The Droxians had sent four battleships and the Obsidian another three. Chase was confident that twelve battleships were more than enough to accomplish their mission.

“Yanis to the captain.”

“Go ahead, Yanis, what can I do for you?”

“Can you please come down to engineering. I need to show you something.”

“On my way.”

In engineering, Yanis had a holo-display of the StarFury specs rotating on its vertical axis.

“What is it, my friend?”

“To counter the Zarlack’s kamikaze tactics I’ve made modifications to the StarFuries.”

“I’m listening.”

“I’ve found a way to flash charge the jump-engine chambers to seventy percent. And it only takes twenty seconds to do so.”

“Are you telling me we can jump the ship every twenty seconds?”

“Yep, and that was not easy. I almost blew myself up a few times in the process. Our current capacitors’ designs were never meant to be charged so fast. I must have destroyed at least one hundred of them until I found the right way to do this. I just didn’t have time to implement a macro that would allow the StarFury to make a much larger jump than before using this upgrade. Since it will emerge from hyperspace on a regular basis, it’s still a far cry from jumping with a destroyer or a jumpgate, and the range is still limited by the total amount of quadrinium in your chambers. I will see if there’s a way to equip the StarFury with a larger quadrinium chamber to increase its range in the future.”

“This is great news. As always, great job, pal,” said Chase, clapping his friend on the shoulder.

“Yes, but I must warn you that I stumbled onto an interesting side effect in the process.”

“Oh really? And what’s that?”

“The key to flash charging the capacitors without blowing up the ship in the process was to feed multiple smaller power streams to it, rather than a single overload pulse.”

“And?”

“Well, then it came to me. Since I would have to redesign a good portion of the power distribution circuits in the StarFuries anyway, what if I could channel more power to other parts of the ship.”

“What are you telling me?”

“I’ve placed power converters all around the ship’s external armor. When your shields are taxed, a small part of that power is syphoned back into the ship.”

“Does that mean the more we get hit the more power we get?”

“That’s the idea, yes. Each impact with the shield will convert a little of that spent energy to recharge the engines, the weapons and a few other systems, making the StarFury even more resilient.”

“Are all the StarFuries already modified?”

“No, I only managed the stable modification of the new power distribution system and overhaul of the power circuits about ten days ago. But a good third of our fighters on board have been overhauled.”

“That’s already a lot of ships.”

“There’s a little catch, though.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

“Well, you see if your shields receive a hit that drains them entirely in one shot—say, for example, from a Zarlack destroyer’s fully powered plasma shot—the ship may overload.”

“That’s not good.”

“I know, and I will try to find a way around it, but my analysis of battle logs shows this is a very rare scenario in large-scale battles. The destroyers usually pound other destroyers with these types of weapons. They let their smaller fighters deal with our StarFuries.”

“Then we’d better hope they don’t change their tactics.”

“Don’t worry, pal, I’ll have that fixed on my next iteration. I just need to work on it more and could use Spiros’ help too, but he’s been too busy working on your training facilities back on Earth lately. I think he has a thing for Gaia.”

Chase raised an eyebrow.

“You do realize she’s artificial, an AI? Sure, she has a personality and she is clearly a self-aware being, but . . .”

“Yeah, well, lately he doesn’t even call to say hi anymore.”

“Are you jealous?” said Chase with a playful smile.

Yanis punched him on the shoulder. “Don’t be dumb. I’m just saying, we haven’t seen him here much lately.”

Yanis grimaced and held his fist in his other hand.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine, but what are you made of? Steel?”

Chase chuckled. “I understand you miss having Spiros around, but I for one am very grateful for the job he did on the training facility. That place will help me unlock more of my abilities. These past few weeks I’ve felt stronger than I ever thought possible.”

“I’m glad to hear it. We’ll sure need that.”

“Yeah, but for once I feel ready instead of overwhelmed. But enough about me. How are you doing these days?”

“I’m okay. I just hate being away from Earth all the time.”

“Why’s that?”

“Finally scored a girlfriend. She’s an engineer working on the admiral’s ship. We really clicked.”

“I’m glad to hear it, buddy. Don’t worry, we’ll be back on Earth in no time.”

“Chase?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry you got demoted.”

“Don’t worry, pal, you know I don’t really care for rank.”

“Still, I think it was harsh, after everything you’ve done. I’d expect you’d be captain instead of back to lieutenant.”

“Doesn’t matter, Yanis. Do we have enough StarFuries for me to remote fly a few when we arrive on Alpha Prime?”

“There’re a few in reserve just for you, but is it wise to try and captain the Hope and fly these remotely?”

“My brain seems to handle it fine, but don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

“And if you could make sure my sister is safe.”

“She’s an officer in the Earth Alliance. She doesn’t need patronizing, and she is more than equipped to take care of herself.”

“You know what I mean, Chase.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep her safe.”

“Thank you.”

“I should get back to my quarters. Sarah is waiting for me.”

“How are the two of you doing? I got the feeling it was rocky between the two of you lately.”

“Just before we left for this mission she asked that we talk and things are getting better.”

“You must feel relieved.”

“Indeed, with Chris only a few months from being born, the last thing I want is tension between us. But I understand why she felt the way she did.”

“Speaking of which, how come she came on this mission? Wouldn’t it have been safer for her to stay on Earth in her condition.”

“She’d tell you she’s pregnant, not disabled, and I wouldn’t mention it to her either if I were you. That is, if you value the use of your fingers.”

“She wouldn’t?”

“No, but you’d get a mouthful nonetheless. I think her mood swings with her pregnancy are stronger than the average human.”

“No doubt because she’s carrying a Fury hybrid.”

“Yeah, that seems to be the consensus amongst the docs as well.”

“Say hello for me, then.”

“Will do. Thanks, Yanis.”

* * *

When Chase arrived before his quarters he paused for a second. His heart was beating fast. He felt a little like he did when he had first met Sarah, shy and worried about his next move. Their last kissing session removed some of the tension, but he still felt uneasy. Still, if the commodore could focus on the mission without putting his own family in the equation, perhaps there was something he could learn from it. He too should set aside his personal life struggles while on a mission. And for a brief instant he contemplated going for a run instead. But that wasn’t putting his emotions on the side; that was running away and not facing his fears. So he decided against it.

When the door opened he saw Sarah sleeping with her back toward the bulkhead. When the door closed she opened her eyes and yawned.

“You okay?” said Chase, still not sure what to say to her.

She yawned again.

“This son of yours is draining the life out of me. I have to eat three times as much as before.”

Chase smiled. “He’s your son, too.”

“You know what I mean. Come, sit.”

Chase sat next to her on the bed.

“Look, Sarah⁠—”

She put her finger to his mouth. “Shhhh, no talking.”

She embraced him vigorously and they kissed.

They made passionate love, and all of Chase’s worries and uneasiness vanished for a little while.

An hour later they lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling.

“That was pretty good, sailor.”

He smiled.

“I missed your smile so much,” said Sarah as she gently brushed the back of her hand against his cheek.

“I’ve missed you too. Before I learned you were still alive I never thought I would get the chance to see you again. Experiencing this every day was the hardest part.”

“It must have been very hard. I’m sorry for giving you so much flak about it. But you understand how I felt, right?”

“I do. It still stung a little, but you had every right to be mad at me.”

“You have to understand one thing, Chase. I was mad, yes; a little scared; but also overwhelmed by it all. I witnessed everything my clone did. I know you two also made love when I was being held prisoner. That was not easy to accept, even though I can’t blame you for that. She was my exact duplicate, after all. In fact, seeing it unfold felt like a good dream sometimes. But then it turned to nightmares when she got up in the middle of the night and started plotting against the Earth Alliance. She almost destroyed my planet singlehandedly.”

“The important thing is she didn’t. I’m so sorry you had to go through all this.”

“Not your fault. If anything you’re the reason it’s all over now. Except . . .”

“Except I put everyone’s lives in jeopardy.”

“You know what, it was unfair of me to go there again. I don’t want any tension between us. We’re soon to be parents. We must put this behind us. If not for ourselves, then for Chris.”

“I agree. But the fact remains, I’ve helped Argos bring back the Furies. But we’ll defeat them. We have to.”

“We do. But aren’t you worried you’re outnumbered now? It was already difficult fighting Argos, but now we have a planet full of them to deal with.”

“We’ll find a way. When the current crisis is over, I’ll go speak to Zeus.”

“I thought he wanted nothing to do with us.”

“Ares believes that with the Furies back in the picture, we might be able to strike a deal with the Olympians.”

“That seems like a long shot, but I guess we don’t really have any choice.”

“We might, actually. If the Olympians refuse to help we’ll try to locate the Asgardians.”

“As in the Norse gods of Asgard? Thor and his bunch?”

“You’ve heard of them?”

“Yes, the Nordic mythology is well known on Earth, almost as well as the Greek one, in fact. More in northern Europe, though.”

“What can you tell me about it?”

“Legend has it Thor is very attractive,” said Sarah with a playful yet lusty smile.

“Very funny!”

She laughed, but then proceeded to describe the myths and legends she knew about the Norse gods for a good half an hour. Her tales captivated Chase.

“They might be as powerful as the Olympians. Ares thinks their advanced technology could be of great use to us.”

“Would be great if we got both Olympians and the Asgard gods—what did you call them? Asgardians?”

“Yes.”

“Well, if we can get them both on our side, perhaps we do stand a chance.”

“Ares believes it’s unlikely. The rivalry between the two runs too deep.”

“In the face of extinction, perhaps this will get resolved.”

“Perhaps. In any case, we’ll need new powerful allies. But that will have to wait. Right now the target is to reclaim my home world.”

“You must be ecstatic at the thought of seeing survivors. Who knows, perhaps even some friends.”

“Most of my friends were in the Destiny’s battlegroup, except Fillio and a handful of other fighter pilots. It would sure be great if some of them survived, but like Saroudis said, this is not a personal mission, for either of us.”

“I understand, and he’s right. The mission is to get your world back and rescue the survivors, whoever they turn out to be.”

“How do you want to play this when we arrive? I’d rather you didn’t climb in a StarFury.”

She shot him a look.

“We’ve talked about this before. Actually, you talked with my clone about it. As confusing as it all is, I agree with the sermon she gave you. I’m not made of glass.”

“And you know I agree.”

“But don’t worry, thanks to your pestering Yanis about remote controlling fighters, I can simply fly one from the bridge, right?”

“Yep. So the only thing you need to worry about is making sure the Hope doesn’t get destroyed.”

“Yeah, should be simple enough, right?”

They both laughed.

“More seriously, though, perhaps you’d like to be the Hope’s wing commander. I was about to say ‘again’ but then realized . . .”

“That the first time it was my clone. You really don’t have to tiptoe around that. It will take some time to get used to the fact that she replaced me for a while. I have accepted it. As for being wing commander, that’s sweet, Chase, but a wing commander should be in her ship when her wing-mates go into battle, so I’d rather you let Fillio assume that role.”

“Very well, it’s settled then.”

They resumed kissing.

* * *

Argos entered the supreme commander’s throne room. It felt really empty without the hundreds of warriors who all witnessed him getting his punishment last time, even if they were just present holographically. When he arrived at the top of the stairs, Supreme Commander Arakan gestured him to come close.

“Supreme Commander, I’m reporting for duty as ordered,” said Argos after taking a knee.

“Rise, Argos. I had a chat with Miseo. He told me your intel and strategy has been incredibly useful for our expansion.”

“I’m glad to serve my people.”

“Good. And I’m glad our initial talk cleared any misunderstandings.”

If that’s your version of an apology, I’ll take it.

“It did, Supreme Commander.”

“What have you to report?”

“The Alliance has taken the bait and are going back to their home world as we speak.”

“I take it you’ve prepared a little surprise for them once they arrive?”

“I did, but I’m sure my brother will manage to regain control of their sector.”

“Then why not simply send more forces there? What are you trying to pull, Argos?”

“Supreme Commander, if I may, this is just a diversion. While they’re fighting to regain control of Alpha Prime, we can safely attack and destroy Droxia.”

“They have a huge contingent of ships protecting that world, and it only takes three hours for the humans to travel to their rescue with their jumpgate. Are you certain your plan is sound? We can’t risk losing too many of the Zarlack fleet until our own ships are fully operational.”

“And we won’t. I have made sure of it, Supreme Commander. I would only require that you give me a few of your best fighters, so they can destroy Droxia from within while we divert their fleet away from orbit. I have a little surprise for them.”

“Wouldn’t you and Miseo suffice for that task?”

“While Droxians are no match for any of us individually, we’re still talking about destroying multiple cities and nearly five billion Droxians in just a few hours.”

“Clearly you haven’t seen my son Miseo fight yet. But fine, I’ll send one of my strongest generals with you as well. You, however, will stay with the fleet. Your plan seems to require precise planning. It may be wise for you to be directing the ships while General Arkoolis and Miseo wipe the Droxians off the face of their world.”

“Very well, Supreme Commander. We’ll be jumping to Droxia within the hour.”

“Very good. You’re dismissed, Argos.”

“If I may, Supreme Commander. If I succeed with this mission, will I be given command of the Fury attack fleet and a seat at your generals’ table?”

“I wish I could say yes, but it will take more than one successful mission for you to redeem your earlier act of defiance. For the time being I would be happy to just be breathing, Argos, if I were you. We’ll re-assess all this once you’ve completed your mission.”

Son of a bitch! This is not what we agreed upon when I sacrificed everything to bring you back from the void.

“I can sense your anger, Argos. You’d be wise to not push this issue any further for the moment.”

“Very well, Supreme Commander. Thy will be done.”

Argos left the throne room.

Anger didn’t even begin to describe how Argos felt. He had singlehandedly rescued his brethren. Since their return he had secured no less than seven systems rich in resources that had allowed them to start building ships, and still he was being treated as though it never happened. Had he made a mistake? Should he have tried to conquer the universe on his own instead of relinquishing all the power to that fool Arakan? He felt cheated and humiliated.

We’re not done with this, Arakan, even if I have to rip your spine out of your body myself one day.

* * *

Chase was back in the Hope’s captain’s chair when the fleet jumped out of hyperspace near Alpha Prime. It felt a little unreal being back in orbit, almost a year after the fall of the Star Alliance. Sarah sat by his side, holding his hand.

“Captain, we’ve detected five behemoth-class Zarlack ships coming our way. They’ve launched multiple squadrons of fighters,” said one of his crewmen.

“Launch the StarFuries. Instruct the rest of the fleet to deploy fighters and remind them to keep their distance as much as possible in close combat. They’ll most certainly try to ram us like they did back on Earth.”

“Orders relayed, Captain.”

“Here, Sarah,” said Chase, handing her the neuronal interface devices. “You can use these to pilot your StarFury.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t need these anymore.”

“Show off.”

Chase smiled as she took the cylindrical devices and put them on her temples.

“Let’s see how this feels for real this time.”

Soon she was flying with Fillio’s wing. They engaged the first waves of fighters and it felt so good flying a starfighter, even remotely. She deployed the StarFury drones and was dispatching Zarlack fighters with great ease. Even though she only had memories of flying a StarFury remotely, it felt as if she knew it already. She nearly got hit by a kamikaze fighter when it blew just yards from her empty canopy, illuminating her shields a radiant blue.

“Watch out for these. They no longer try to just fight us off; and remember, your StarFury is equipped with the multiple jump capability, so every time one of these punks tries to ram you, just micro-jump out of the way.”

“Roger that, Daddy. Thanks for the assist.”

She didn’t need to open her eyes to know Chase was probably smiling at her remark.

Fillio had ordered a change of formation and that meant separating from Chase’s wing. She still didn’t understand how he was able to pilot five StarFuries and command the Hope simultaneously with his mind. But it mattered not, even though she had to admit she was a little jealous. Would Chris be able to do the same one day? That sent a shiver down her spine and she felt warmth in her belly.

Four Zarlack fighters had locked onto her ship and were approaching at ramming speed. Of course, there was no fear since she wasn’t physically inside the craft, but she didn’t intend to let her StarFury get destroyed. She deployed one of her drones and set it as a mine and the next instant she micro-jumped ahead of the incoming fighters. She felt the explosion that took the quadruplet of fighters.

“Take that, suckers.”

“Enjoying the StarFury’s technological superiority?” asked Chase.

“I am. It’s a worthy successor of the Thunderbolt.”

“So much has happened lately I almost forgot that particular ship even existed.”

“Says the man who was so proud of having helped design it.”

“Touché.”

Chase’s wing’s flying patterns were out of this world. He was literally dispatching a full Zarlack squadron every minute or so, always changing his patterns and strategies to never let them adapt.

Sarah got her head back into the battle when her shields were illuminated by sizzling laser fire coming from her aft side. She went evasive and locked onto the craft responsible for the tickle on her shield. She pounded it with rapid laser fire, and when its shields were down to twenty percent she sent it to hell with a well-placed missile down its engine pipe. The battle was going well, but soon the behemoth destroyers would enter firing range.

“Everyone beware. For those of you with second iteration StarFuries, if you get hit by long-range fire, you risk your ship overloading or even exploding,” Chase informed all the StarFury squadrons.

“Whose brilliant idea was that?” inquired Fillio.

“Your brother’s.”

“That figures. I’m gonna have a talk with him later.”

“Enjoy almost unlimited micro-jump capabilities in the meantime.”

“Can’t argue with that now, can we?”

* * *

Chase opened a channel toward the planet.

“Can anyone hear me? This is Lieutenant Comma— Lieutenant Athanatos to Alpha Prime, we’ve received your distress call. If you receive us, please ping us so we can locate you on the surface. We’ll send a rescue crew the minute the battle is over up here.”

There was no response.

Chase had an idea and opened a channel to the Destiny.

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

“Commodore, I think we can easily handle things here. You should jump the Destiny to the far side of the planet and send an away team down to the surface.”

“You may still need the Destiny’s firepower. It’s been upgraded and is now a match to the Hope’s.”

“I think we can handle five behemoth-class destroyers even without the Destiny, sir.”

“We both know Argos is smarter than to show his hand openly. I’m sure more ships await somewhere.”

“And if needed you can always rejoin the fight, sir. I think the sooner we send ground troops to the surface the better.”

“As much as it pains me to admit it, I have grown accustomed to trusting your instincts. Rejoin the Destiny once the battle is over. You have the fleet, Lieutenant.”

“Good luck, Commodore.”

“Likewise, Lieutenant.”

The rank calling bothered Chase a little, but he understood why Saroudis was doing it. They had grown complaisant enough in their friendship to ignore it, but their last argument probably required it. For a while anyway. The first plasma fire exploding not far from the Hope’s shields was Chase’s cue to get his head into the battle instead of letting it wander.

He brought the Hope about and fired a full salvo of torpedoes at the nearest Zarlack destroyer. He switched to the main guns and waited until the first torpedoes impacted with their targets.

Now!

He fired the Hope’s main guns and split the Zarlack destroyer in two, before both parts exploded in a bright, fiery display.

But then he heard a voice.

Jump the ship, Dad, now!

It sent a shiver down his spine.

Chris?

There’s no more time, jump!

Chase decided to trust the voice and micro-jumped the Hope.

What happened next was terrifying. Three additional ships de-cloaked out of nowhere, and all jumped within the remainder of the fleet. The resulting explosion illuminated space so brightly that for a few seconds it looked like a star forming. When the dust settled, Chase couldn’t believe his eyes. More than half the fleet had been incinerated. Only a handful of ships remained, and most were heavily damaged. One of the original Zarlack destroyers had been destroyed in the blast as well.

“Holy crap, what is this? I’ve lost contact with my StarFury,” exclaimed Sarah.

“Open your eyes and see.”

Sarah looked in horror at the flying graveyard scene that unfolded in front of her eyes.

“What happened?”

“Three additional Zarlack destroyers were hidden, cloaked—however that’s possible—and they simultaneously jumped into the center of the battle theater. They must have either overloaded their engines or exploded them when they collided with each other upon their exit from hyperspace.”

“Dear gods. This is new.”

“Yes, it seems Argos has found yet another way to inflict incommensurable damage by sacrificing ships.”

“How did you know to jump out of there?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

“Chris told me.”

“What?”

“He reached into my thoughts and told me to jump. Given the tone of his . . . voice, I just obeyed.”

“You’re right, I’m having serious problems believing my unborn child can already speak to you telepathically.”

“I know,” said Chase with a grave tone.

“The Destiny?”

“I sent them away a minute ago.”

“Thank god. What about Fillio, though?”

“Chase to Commander Steriopoulou, do you copy? Please respond?”

Chase looked at Sarah with genuine concern when he saw her expression change.

He looked forward and saw them too. The remaining three Zarlack destroyers were coming about and vectored toward the Hope at full burn.

* * *

When the Zarlack battlegroup exited hyperspace near Droxia, Miseo came to the bridge.

“Anything I can do for you, Miseo?” inquired Argos.

“No, don’t mind me. I’m just curious to witness your strategic prowess. I am curious to see how you intend to defeat a world as well guarded as Droxia.”

“It’s all in the planning, as you’ll see.”

“Like I said, don’t mind me.”

“Very well. Commander Orx’son, report.”

“As requested we’ve exited hyperspace as far as possible from orbit, but just within sensor range. We’ve been detected and the entire Droxian fleet and Earth Alliance support ships are already vectoring toward our position.”

“How many ships?”

“Thirty-five destroyers.”

“Very well. We wait until they approach firing range.”

“It will take less than three minutes for the ships to enter range.”

Miseo locked both his arms across his chest.

“Would you like me to explain the next part of my plan?” inquired Argos.

“That won’t be necessary. I’m just here to observe until it’s time for General Arkoolis and myself to go to the surface to wipe the Droxians out of existence.”

“Understood. Where’s the general?”

“In his quarters, resting for the battle to come.”

Argos hated being on the bridge. He preferred to dispatch orders from his ready room.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll go into my ready room for the next part.”

“Yes, Argos, don’t feel obliged to stay because of my presence.”

“You can come with me if you like?”

“That won’t be necessary. Go.”

Still too condescending for my taste, but I don’t have time to worry about that now.

Argos left the bridge and was soon sitting on his throne in his dark, flame-lit ready room.

He brought up his tactical holo-display, from which he would orchestrate the entire strategic deployment. The Droxian and Alliance ships approached the range of his surprise weapon. Argos sent the order to deploy the five graviton devices and activated their cloaking generators. Argos redistributed the power of every ship in the armada to boost the shielding by eighty percent by redirecting power from weapons and life support.

The incoming destroyers entered firing range, and laser fire and torpedoes were launched.

His comms activated. It was Miseo.

“You are aware of the hundreds-plus torpedoes and lasers currently on their way to impact with our ships, I presume?”

“All part of the plan.”

“Looking forward to seeing your next move. Miseo out.”

You won’t be disappointed, Miseo. This Droxian and Alliance fleet won’t know what hit them, that’s for sure.

The ships started getting hit by both lasers and torpedoes, but the already far superior Zarlack shield held firm, even when pounded with more than twenty torpedoes.

Argos entered the command for phase two of his plan and his fleet micro-jumped to the jumpgate at the exact same time as the graviton devices deployed their fields. The countdown to their uncloaking appeared on his holo-instrument. The devices would remain cloaked for another one hundred and twenty minutes, more than enough time to end them all.

Argos walked back to the bridge. Miseo turned his head.

“Mind explaining what just happened? How come these ships aren’t pursuing?”

“The graviton devices act as countermeasures to their engines. The more they push them, the more damage they incur. Some of the Droxian ships haven’t figured it out yet, and these will soon destroy themselves.”

“Ingenious.”

“I’m glad you agree.”

Argos turned his attention toward Commander Orx’son.

“Commander, please make this jumpgate go away.”

“Firing now, Master.”

“Master, huh?” underlined Miseo.

Got a problem with how I have my crew address me?

“They’re used to calling me that.”

“I wonder why.”

Argos decided to let it go. His actions would speak louder than words today. The Zarlack armada opened fire and it wasn’t long before the jumpgate’s shields failed. Soon parts of the gate detached, and in less than a minute it exploded. A few smaller ships came from the surface but they were no match for the firepower of Argos’ ship and were dispatched before they even entered their own firing range.

“Pretty good tactic, I must say.”

“Glad you agree, Miseo.”

“What’s next?”

“We send all destroyers back to those paralyzed ships to finish them off one by one. I’ll stay on this one, orbiting the planet and giving you support if needed.”

“We won’t need it. It’s been a long time since we’ve fought. Unless you receive my direct order, do not fire on this planet.”

“Very well. You have at least seven hours before the nearest Earth Alliance reinforcements come, now that the jumpgate has been destroyed on this side.”

“That should be plenty of time. Let the destruction begin!”

9

On board the Droxian destroyer Phoenix, Ronan was thrown off his feet when flames spewed from a nearby bulkhead and nearly incinerated him.

“What the hell is happening?” he said out loud.

The ship rocked some more, and Ronan ran toward the nearest viewport. What he saw froze his blood. The Droxian armada was being attacked by two behemoth Zarlack ships. The Droxian fleet wasn’t moving, so something must have been going terribly wrong.

“Cadet Ronan Isch’ys to the bridge, please respond?”

There was no answer. That didn’t bode well. Electricity arced between two bulkheads and just missed Ronan.

“Okay, better get out of here.”

Ronan ran to engineering. The door to the engineering room moaned but didn’t open. Electricity again arced nearby. Ronan activated the manual release. The doors opened a few inches and he used all his strength to pry them open enough so he could enter the room.

Inside he found a lot of either dead or injured bodies lying on the deck. He looked for his friend and superior Arknon. Of the first three bodies he checked, two were dead and the third one looked critical. There were small fires in the room and Ronan took care of them before they became more of a problem. Upon extinguishing the last of them he stumbled upon Commander Arknon, whose body was lying face down. Ronan dropped his extinguisher onto the deck and fell to his knees next to his friend.

“Arknon, are you hurt?” There was no response.

He dreaded turning the body of his friend and mentor. Ever since he was assigned to the Phoenix, he had been part colleague, part father figure. They had become best friends and, in the absence of his mother, Arknon had become the person in whom he could confide.

Ronan gently grabbed Arknon by the shoulder and turned his body onto his back. He was deeply relieved to find a pulse, albeit a faint one.

Arknon’s face was cut in multiple places and bruised all over. Ronan shook him gently.

“Wake up. Please wake up, Arknon.”

But he did not. Ronan carried his friend to the nearest med-bay and administered first aid, patching his obvious wounds as per the training he had received.

The ship rocked more and more. Ronan really needed to see what was happening, but was too consumed with trying to revive his friend.

He put him inside a regen tank and activated it. A pale, bluish-gray liquid filled the tank and control lights came to life. The tank hummed.

Another impact rocked the ship and Ronan fell on his ass.

He got back up and brought up a tactical holo-display. While he was still a cadet in the Droxian army, he had been learning everything there was to know about Droxian ships and strategies. The readouts made little sense at first. Every one of the Droxian and Earth ships were standing still, while Zarlack destroyers kept their distance just outside the fleet’s firing range, using their own weaponry, with slightly superior range, to shoot and destroy the fleet little by little. The bastards were taking their sweet time and making sure they never entered range. Those three destroyers normally wouldn’t stand a chance in hell against the bulk of the now-immobilized fleet.

Ronan punched the console.

“Cowards! This is not an honorable way to fight!”

He checked the sensor logs to try to figure out what prevented the fleet from moving. A powerful magnetic field interfered with the ship’s engines. He tried locating the source, but it seemed to come from all around them, and he had trouble pinpointing a single source. Furthermore, no physical ship or object appeared on the scopes. It was as if the devices that generated that powerful field were not there.

“They’re cloaked,” realized Ronan.

He needed to do something. While the Phoenix was at the center of the fleet and mostly spared from the cowardly, vulture attack pattern of the Zarlack destroyers, soon the Phoenix would become a target itself. When that time came, Ronan had no doubt that his life would end, with that of everyone else aboard the ship.

He brought up the communication controls and tried to send a distress call on every band, but the computer indicated that the signal was being heavily jammed. His mind raced, trying to find a way. Then he remembered the device his mother had given him. Chase once gave her this device to activate in case she was in trouble during her mission to break him out of Hellstar. Upon their return, she had given it to him and told him to use it if he ever was in trouble. Today clearly qualified.

Since it was Alliance technology it would probably be jammed like the rest of the fleet’s signals though, unless he found a way to put distance between it and the fleet.

An escape pod!

If he could release one with the devices on board it might work. The ejection system didn’t rely on an engine and should not be affected by the field. At least, he hoped so. It wasn’t as if he had any other options at the moment, so Ronan brought up the schematics of the ship, determined the safest vector away from enemy fire, and located the best deck from which to launch the escape pod.

Three minutes later, he reached the fifth deck, entered the first escape pod and activated the device. He wondered if he should go with it, but decided against it. He wouldn’t abandon Arknon. First he had to make sure he woke up, and they could escape in a pod of their own. He exited the pod and sent it on its way. The hydraulic ejection system sent the pod away from the ship slowly.

When Ronan returned to the med-bay, he checked on Arknon, as the ship rocked more. The regen program was still running, but already many of his friend’s wounds had been healed. Hopefully he could revive his friend in the next few minutes. He returned to the nearest console to get a status report. The readings weren’t encouraging. Already a third of the vessels had either been fully disabled or destroyed.

He brushed his anger away for the moment. It wouldn’t help him achieve anything now. He looked at his holo-instruments and checked the status of the escape pod carrying the transmitter. It was still there, which was good, but it wasn’t advancing fast enough. It would take nearly two hours for it to exit the jamming range.

Ronan swore.

Nothing he could do about that now. Time to try and revive Arknon. He entered the command to stop the healing cycle and purge the regen liquid from the tank. A minute later he had removed his friend’s body from the regen tank and laid him on the nearest med-bed. He injected him with a stimulant and slapped his face a couple of times.

Arknon jumped and startled Ronan in the process.

“Thank god you’re okay.”

“What’s happening? Why am I in med-bay?”

“We’re being attacked by a Zarlack fleet and our ships are immobilized.”

“That would explain why the engines overloaded earlier when the captain ordered me to punch them to one hundred twenty percent. I don’t remember anything after that.”

“The fleet is being held in place by a powerful magnetic field. We need to find a way to either break the field or get the hell out of here before the Phoenix is destroyed.”

Arknon held his head between his hands.

“You alright?”

“I’m okay, don’t worry. I just have the mother of all headaches, that’s all.”

“Let me give you a painkiller.”

“No, it might slow me down. We need to hurry. Any idea how long we have?”

As if in answer, the ship rocked strongly and Ronan had to prevent Arknon from falling from the bed.

“Not very long if I had to take a wild guess.”

* * *

When Miseo and General Arkoolis exited the shuttle on the surface of Droxia, just outside one of the biggest cities on the planet, many armored vehicles came their way, both by land and air.

“Ah, good,” said the general. “A welcoming party.”

He cracked both his knuckles and neck.

Miseo just passed his hand through his hair and smiled.

The airborne Droxian attack craft were the first to reach their position. They fired a flurry of missiles.

The multiple concussive explosions sent rocks and flames flying high in the air. When the smoke settled, though, neither the general nor Miseo had moved an inch, and a circular area of a hundred yards around them seemed totally unscathed by the missile attack.

Miseo brushed some dust from his armor and took a step forward.

“My turn.”

He shot in the air so quickly that the shockwave behind him uprooted every tree in a five-mile radius around his point of departure. He passed through the first Droxian craft as if it was made of paper. It exploded and debris fell back toward the surface. The other seven craft turned about and adjusted their vector toward Miseo, who floated in the air, waiting for them.

They opened fire with lasers. Each laser ricocheted off Miseo a few inches before reaching him. He raised both his hands with open palms. He closed both fists and all seven craft exploded simultaneously, igniting like fireworks as they painted the sky orange for a brief moment.

Then black patches of smoke appeared all around Miseo’s position. Ground artillery. Miseo saw the far away tanks firing upon him in the sky and started laughing.

“They think they’ll kill a Fury with this primitive weaponry? I’m disappointed, given the Droxians’ warrior reputation.”

Miseo waved his right hand in the air and the area where the tanks were exploded, churning red hot pieces of metal and large rocks into the air.

Another squadron of aerial craft approached Miseo’s position.

Before they could enter firing range Miseo waved two fingers in the air in every direction, very quickly. The result was highly destructive. The approaching craft were cut to pieces and exploded in midair.

Five drop ships landed ground troops less than a mile away.

“Finally, some fun. Let’s see how strong these Droxians really are.”

Miseo returned to the ground and walked toward the incoming ground forces. Soon laser fire rained down on him. It ricocheted away from him, inches before impact. After a while the troops stopped firing and charged toward Miseo with their bare hands.

Their speed was pathetic and Miseo had no trouble dodging every single punch and kick, even when they were all around him. After a few seconds he unleashed a shockwave that sent the foot soldiers flying for hundreds of yards. He smiled.

“I thought Droxians were formidable foes. I guess you guys don’t live up to your reputation.”

“How dare you?” said someone from behind him.

Miseo turned and saw a very tall and muscular Droxian, covered in scars, approaching him. The ground shook a little with every step he took. He was twice the size of Miseo and when he arrived next to him, he blocked the sunlight and plunged Miseo into the shadows.

“Let’s hope you’re stronger than your comrades.”

“You’re about to find out.”

The Droxian sent a powerful punch right into Miseo’s face. Upon impact dust and small rocks flew backward, but Miseo didn’t budge an inch.

The Droxian took a step back.

“How can this be?”

“As expected, you’re only slightly more powerful than these fools.”

The Droxian spat on the ground and launched a combo of powerful hooks and kicks, each impacting Miseo; but again he didn’t budge. The Droxian screamed as he gave it all he had.

“This is pointless. Your race will die today. We will kill you all.”

The Droxian was panting heavily from his efforts, which had no effect whatsoever.

“My turn,” said Miseo with a smirk.

Miseo extended two fingers upwards and the Droxian levitated off the ground, a look of utter terror on its face.

Miseo jumped toward him and slashed him in two with a single, flying kick, sending blood and guts into the air. Both parts of the already dead Droxian fell to the ground.

Miseo landed back on the ground and shook his head from side to side to express his disappointment.

The ground shook as three mechs landed near his position. They were fifty feet tall, a Droxian piloting each of them near the center of its steel torso. Each extended one arm and fired an extremely powerful plasma shot toward him.

Upon impact a large explosion engulfed Miseo. He emerged from the flames unscathed and flew at impossible speed toward the first mech, with his right arm extended, and punched though the torso of the mech warrior, exploding the pilot into pieces. The mech exploded soon after.

The other two mechs directed more plasma attacks toward Miseo’s position in the air. None of them found their targets. Miseo appeared as though he teleported in and out of thin air, dodging every shot with ease. The previously dispatched soldiers were returning, and added their blasters’ firepower to the mix, but to no avail. Not a single shot touched the Fury.

“This is getting boring,” he said before unleashing an animalistic roar that froze everyone’s blood.

A dark-red aura grew around him as he crossed both his arms across his chest, fire burning in his eyes. When he slashed both his arms away from his thorax it released two giant shockwaves that sliced both mechs in two, and split the ground beneath them. Two-mile-long crevasses were created and half the soldiers fell to their deaths in them. Those few remaining tried to run for it.

“Not so fast!” said Miseo, a look of pure evil in his eyes.

He extended his fist forward and they ran into an invisible wall. As he raised his fist slightly they all levitated into the air, flailing their limbs in vain.

“You’re all just a pathetic bunch of helpless bugs, and bugs need to crushed.”

Miseo then opened his fist and every one of the flying soldiers exploded from the inside out, providing a disgusting fireworks display of purple blood, guts and broken bones.

Miseo levitated back next to General Arkoolis.

“Looks like there isn’t going to be any challenge today,” said the general with disappointment in his voice.

“I’m afraid not. It will just be a matter of flattening these cities and annihilating these fools. Would you like to do the honors with this city, general?”

“Gladly. Thank you, Miseo.”

Arkoolis extended his left arm forward with his palm open. He held his left bicep with his right hand while a wavy, bright-red aura engulfed him. A purple, spherical fireball grew quickly in front of his palm. It soon grew to six feet in diameter. Black lightning bolts crackled all around its surface. The general unleashed a war cry as he sent the fireball toward the city. It only took an instant for the attack to travel above the center of the city.

The general closed his palm and the attack detonated. The resulting explosion was devastating. It lit up the landscape with bright, white light first. Then everything around—trees, mountains, even clouds—was sucked into the center of the city. Buildings broke into a million pieces. Everything was sucked into the center of the attack, which acted like a localized black hole. After only a couple of seconds it all exploded with a powerful shockwave that went for thousands of miles. Both the explosion and resulting shockwave could be seen from orbit. A minute later a giant, smoky mushroom rose above what once was a very lively and busy city.

Nothing remained, no trace of civilization as far as the eye could see.

“Tell me something, Miseo, why don’t we just explode the core of this planet and go?”

“Well, besides the fun of this approach, it sends a better message if we destroy these cities one by one, but let the planet stand as a reminder of our superiority. When the rest of the Alliance gets here they’ll witness what only two Furies did in so little time. It should infuse the fear of their pathetic gods into all their hearts.”

“Speaking of which, when do we settle the score with the Olympians?”

“One thing at the time. The Olympians are not an immediate threat, the Alliance is.”

“Doesn’t seem so from where I’m standing.”

“Perhaps I should rephrase that. Argos’ brother needs to be dealt with. He is one of us and could be a problem.”

“Is he that powerful?”

Miseo knew how close the general and his father were so he needed to be careful what information he gave him.

“No, most likely not. Perhaps a good, low-class Fighter; but we’d better deal with him nonetheless. The other races are no threat to us.”

“The Asgardians could be.”

“And yet they are nowhere to be seen. I think it’s safe to assume they’re not interested in joining this pathetic Alliance.”

“Who could blame them? These races are utterly powerless; the sooner we cleanse them from the universe the better for everyone.”

Miseo smiled. “We should split up and get the show on the road. Don’t worry about killing people outside of big cities. It’s good to let a few survivors witness what we do to their world.”

“Very well. I would tell you to be careful but . . .”

“Clearly not needed.”

* * *

Onboard the Valken, Keera had just exited from hyperspace at the outskirts of the Droxian system to investigate the weird readings she was getting from her navigational computer. She looked at her scopes with horror. Droxia was under a full-scale attack. She engaged her stealth systems and tried to hail the Droxian ships, but the signal was jammed. She wondered if she should activate the new cloak that Yanis had installed on her ship as a thank you for helping Chase and his friends, but at that distance she was pretty sure the Zarlacks wouldn’t find her with her stealth systems on. It looked as though they had other things on their minds anyway.

“So much for my uneventful delivery run . . .”

She engaged her top-of-the-line anti-jamming communication array. It took a while for the computer to bypass the jamming frequency, but after a few minutes she opened a channel.

“This is Keera Hawking of the Valken. Anybody, please respond?”

A boyish voice answered. “This is Ronan, son of Ryonna and Jax Isch’ys.”

“Ronan? Wait, as in Ryonna’s boy? I know your mother!”

“Is she with you? Please tell me you have her on board.”

“Afraid not, Ronan, she’s deep in Alliance territory helping Chase regain Alpha Prime, last I heard.”

“Understood. How did you manage to get a signal inside the jamming field?”

“I have specific tech designed to break or transmit through jamming fields. Very expensive tech; not exactly legal either.”

“I’m glad to hear that. We need your help. Can you please let the Earth Alliance and my mother know what is transpiring here? Soon the fleet will be wiped out.”

“I can see that. Sneaky tactic they’ve used.”

“These Zarlacks have no honor. This is not how warfare is fought!”

Keera could sense the anger in Ronan’s tone.

“Having had the displeasure of meeting Argos briefly I can tell you he will do whatever is necessary to achieve his goals. I don’t think he cares one bit about being honorable.”

“Can you send that distress call?”

“Hang on, I’m contacting Earth now. Okay, I’ve relayed the message, but it will take three hours for them to travel to Droxia with the jumpgate.”

“The jumpgate has been destroyed already.”

“Of course it has. Then the nearest help is at least seven hours away.”

“We’ll be long dead by then.”

Keera wanted to find words to reassure Ronan, but she didn’t know what she could tell him to make him feel better.

“You need to get out of there, Ronan.”

“We know, but aside from the escape pods I don’t see how. We’d be sitting ducks the moment we launched them.”

“I might be able to do something about that.”

“First things first. I’ve launched an escape pod transmitting a distress call to my mother a while back. Do you see it?”

“Let me check. I see a small and slow-moving object traveling away from the fleet on my scopes, yes.”

“Is there any way you can use whatever tech you’re using to talk with us to replicate and amplify this signal through the jamming fields?”

“I think so. Give me a minute . . . and, done.”

“Good, that should let my mother know we need help here.”

“Look, Ronan, if you escape using an escape pod I could tractor you out.”

“You’d risk becoming a target yourself.”

“I have a cloak. It only lasts a few minutes but that’s all I would need.”

“I’m afraid the magnetic field trapping us would trap your ship as well, unless your tractor beam has at least a fifty-thousand-mile range?”

“Not even close, I’m afraid.”

“Then don’t even risk it. Enough people are going to die today. No need to add yourself to the list in a futile attempt to get us out of here.”

“There has to be something I can do. I can’t just stand here and let you and thousands of others die.”

“If only we could pinpoint the devices that generate the fields, we could fire on them.”

“I’m getting garbled readings. Let me try some more and get back to you shortly, okay?”

“Understood. Thanks for your help, Keera!”

“Sure thing. Hang on, Ronan, I’ll do everything I can to get you out of here.”

Keera tried different algorithms to try and detect the source of the fields but came up empty each time.

“Dammit!”

“Perhaps I can be of assistance,” said a male voice behind her.

Keera thought she’d have a heart attack. She jumped out of her chair when a sphere of golden light appeared in the cockpit and soon took human shape.

“Ares! You need to stop doing that, man.”

“Sorry, I was in Olympus when I felt a strong disturbance. Millions have just died on Droxia. I can feel Argos nearby.”

“You can sense him?”

“Yes. But it’s not his presence that has me worried, but the two other Furies currently on the surface of Droxia. They’re infinitely more powerful than him.”

“More powerful than Argos?” said Keera with a look of terror.

Ares nodded gravely.

She struggled with the concept, and then brushed the thought away, not sure she even wanted to know what it could mean.

“Well, one problem at the time. Can you help me locate the fields that are holding the defense fleet immobilized?”

“That I can do. In fact, I can sense every single one of the artificial magnetic fields being generated. Let me tag them for you.”

“Them? How many are there?”

“I sense five different sources.”

“Thorough bastards.”

Ares waved his hand above Keera’s console and five golden dots were overlaid on her scopes. She tagged them and sent their coordinates to Ronan.

“Anything you can do to get Ronan out of there?”

“In order to delay Argos and his Fury friends I have to go now, before it’s too late.”

Keera’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you have to go?”

But Ares was already gone.

“I guess not, then. Thanks anyway.”

She re-established communication with Ronan.

“I’ve just sent you the coordinates of the magnetic fields generators. Can you take them out?”

“Two of them are in range of our turrets so we’ll try. The bridge isn’t responding, though. We’ll get there and deal with these two one way or the other, but we can’t dispatch the other three. Other ships nearer their location probably could, if they still have firing capabilities. Can you send the coordinates to the Manticora and the Sphinx?”

“Relaying now.”

10

The three Zarlack destroyers were almost within firing range of the Hope when Ryonna stormed onto the bridge.

“What is it, Ryonna?”

She handed him the distress call device he had given her after their return to Hellstar.

“Please tell me this doesn’t mean what I think it does?”

Chase wished he could tell her otherwise but it seemed Ronan was in trouble.

“It does.”

Sarah looked puzzled. “What does it mean?”

“It means Ronan is in trouble. Chase, can you please try to establish contact with Droxia.”

“Hang on.”

The shipped rocked when the first wave of plasma fire ignited the Hope’s shield. Chase piloted the Hope into a series of evasive actions while he opened the channel to Droxia, but he never got a signal.

“This isn’t good,” said Chase.

“What’s happening?” Ryonna was unable to contain the worry in her voice.

“I’m not getting through. And I can feel something is terribly wrong.”

“I have to get out of here and back to Droxia!”

“It’s too far, Ryonna. Even with a StarFury it would take you the better part of a week to reach Droxia.”

“I can hijack a jump-capable ship on my way there.”

“Most of what was once Alliance space is empty or under Zarlack occupation. That’s a foolish plan at best.”

“Chase! He is my son! I need to do something about it.”

The ship rocked after being hit several more times. Chase shot a look at Sarah. She understood he needed to take care of this fight now.

“Look, Ryonna,” said Sarah, “the moment we’re done dealing with these ships we’ll go back to Droxia with you. That’s the fastest way to reach him anyway.”

“I could use your help with targeting the laser batteries, Ryonna,” said Chase, his eyes closed and already fully in combat mode, retaliating against their attackers with the Hope’s laser batteries and torpedoes.

Of course, he didn’t need Ryonna’s help. He was perfectly able to remote control them with his mind, like every other part of the ship. But she needed to keep herself busy for the time being. So did Chase.

Argos, why am I sure you’re behind all this again?

Chase pushed his own rhetorical thought away and returned his full attention to the fight.

You’re right, he is behind it, heard Chase in his thoughts.

Ares. What’s happening?

Droxia is under attack. The fleet has been immobilized and Argos is kicking the shit out of them at a distance, not taking any risks.

I have no love for him, but I didn’t peg him for such a coward.

Well, he’s not alone and might not be calling the shots anymore. Two of his Fury friends are destroying Droxia’s cities one by one. You need to jump to Droxia as soon as possible.

We’re at least twelve hours away, Ares, even if we left now. We’re in the middle of a battle here, in case you didn’t notice.

You’re right. I need to find a way to delay them. I’ll get back to you soon. Hurry up and dispatch your current enemies. I’ll need your help to save Droxia soon.

How do you propose we do that? Last I checked there’s nothing faster than hyperspace travel.

Well, I can travel faster, and I think you probably could as well.

What? Mind explaining that?

No time to explain now. Got to go put a wrench in your brother’s well-oiled destructive machine. I’ll get back to you soon.

The shipped rocked when more torpedoes impacted with the shields. It was time for Chase to get rid of his current opposition.

Today would be a very long day.

* * *

Ronan and Arknon arrived on the bridge and were shocked by the damage. Paneling and supporting bulkhead structures had fallen from the ceiling and wreaked havoc with most of the consoles. A few bodies lay around, some dead, some still breathing. A strong, steel support beam took the place of the captain’s torso in the captain’s chair.

“At least now we know why the bridge wasn’t answering,” said Ronan.

“We need to gain access to firing controls.”

“Isn’t that the tactical console?” asked Ronan, pointing at a destroyed console that was still shooting sparks.

“It was. I’ll divert its main functions to the other working console. You need to do the same with navigational controls.”

“I don’t get it. The ship is not as badly damaged as the others nearer to the Zarlacks. How did this happen?”

Arknon was madly inputting commands to one of the few working terminals in his area.

“I think this happened when I was ordered to push the engines past their limits. It must have torn the ship apart. According to these readings, many decks have been exposed to space, and structural integrity is dangerously low. We have minimal shielding and life support is erratic at best.”

“Will the ship fire, let alone fly?”

“We’re about to find out. We at least need to find a way to fire either lasers or torpedoes so we can destroy these two field-generating devices.”

“I sure hope the crew of the Manticora and Sphinx are in better shape, or we’re not getting anywhere anytime soon.”

“Many of the ships have been badly damaged. Even if we break free from the fields it’s not going to be easy repelling those behemoth destroyers now.”

“We have to try. I’m not dying any other way than fighting!” exclaimed Ronan.

“Your mother would be proud, as am I. But in the likely case we don’t survive . . .”

“I’ll have none of that, Arknon. Let’s focus on what needs to be done. We’re not giving up.”

“Very well. I’ve managed to divert navigational controls to your console.”

“I see them.”

“The minute we’re free from the field you need to put as much distance between us and these Zarlack destroyers as you can.”

“What? No! We’re not fleeing.”

“Who said anything about fleeing? But we need to regain shields to have the slightest chance to retaliate.”

“That makes sense.”

“It’s alright to be scared, Ronan. Your training till now never prepared you for contingencies like this.”

Ronan nodded.

“Looks like I’m the acting captain now, by the way,” said Arknon.

“Captain Arknon. I like it.”

“Which makes you my first officer, Ensign Isch’ys.”

“Ensign?”

“I can’t have a cadet for my first officer,” said Arknon, smiling.

Another explosion rocked the ship.

“We’d better focus on getting back firing controls or both our new field promotions won’t count for squat.”

“Hang on, Ronan, I think I got it. Lasers are only at forty percent but I have half a dozen torpedoes ready to be launched. Targeting the coordinates we’ve received.”

“Wish we could contact the other ships and check their status.”

“Can’t your friend out there manage to set this up?”

“Right, if anyone can do this it’s her. I’m gonna ask her now.”

Ronan opened a channel. “Keera? Do you read me?”

There was an uncomfortably long silence before she answered. “Yes, Ronan, what is it?”

“Any way to jury-rig us a channel with the other ships? The same way you are able to communicate with us.”

“I think it’s possible yes . . . Give me a minute to reconfigure my own communications to act as a hub for all the fleet’s communication.”

“Thank you, Keera.”

“How is the destroying of these devices going? I see the Manticora is powering weapons.”

“We’re getting there.”

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it while I fulfill your last request.”

“Thanks.”

“Be careful, and good luck with dispatching these field generators.”

“Roger that.”

A nearby Alliance ship exploded and filled the bridge with a yellow-orange light for a brief instant. The ship shook when the shockwave hit whatever was left of the Phoenix’s shield.

“We don’t have much time left,” said Ronan.

“I’ve targeted the nearest field generator, Ronan. We’re about to find out if this plan will work.”

“It has to.”

* * *

Back on Earth inside the training facility, Spiros and Gaia were working together on improving the training battle droids when Ares appeared in the room in his humanoid, golden-aura form.

“What is this? Who . . . What are you?” asked Spiros.

“My name is Ares.”

“Right, I’ve heard of you. You’re the Olympian who trained Chase. This,” said Spiros, pointing at the maintenance droid currently AI controlled, “is Gaia. Well, sort of.”

“Never mind this, Spiros, I’m here for your battle droids. How many have you managed to produce?”

“A little rude, but okay. We have close to a hundred already. We’re in the process of upgrading their memory banks with the latest data we’ve gathered from Chase’s training these past months.”

“I’ve also added tactics gathered from observing the fight between Argos and Chase that took place in Tokyo a while back,” added the Gaia droid.

“Good, that will help. How efficient will these be against a very strong Fury?”

“On their own they don’t stand a chance; these are for training purposes only. They are only efficient for that task when we’ve artificially altered the gravity inside the training chamber. We have a newer, more efficient model on its way, but we’ve just finished validating the prototype, so we’ll need at least two days to start producing them.”

“The old ones will have to do for now. How efficient would they be on Droxia?”

“Why Droxia?” inquired Spiros.

“It’s under attack right now by two incredibly powerful Furies. I need to distract them until Chase can come and help.”

“Well, since Droxian gravity is close to Earth’s, in one-on-one combat they stand zero chance of providing any resistance to someone as powerful as Chase.”

“That’s what I was afraid of, except the Furies I want to use the droids against are significantly more powerful than he is.”

“What? More powerful than Chase? He has progressed tremendously lately.”

“Let’s just hope he has made enough progress to fend them off. What if I use all the droids at once against a single Fury?”

“I don’t know what to tell you. Without observing these Furies in combat situations it’s difficult to evaluate this. But even so, there would be the problem of transporting them there. Droxia is three hours away by jumpgate travel.”

“The Droxian jumpgate has been destroyed, but don’t worry, I’ll take care of transport.”

“What? How?”

“Never mind how, Spiros. How effective would nearly one hundred of them be?”

“It all depends, really. Gaia? What do you think?”

“If the target Furies use all their powers at once they won’t last long, but they may at least provide a distraction for a time. It depends what tactics the Furies use against the droids. If, like Chase, they enjoy the challenge, then it could be a viable diversion, but I suspect the minute they were tired of it they could destroy all the droids quickly; except mine, which is a much better design. And by ‘mine’ I don’t mean the one you’re looking at now. My prototype avatar droid is currently recharging and finishing uploading the last changes we’ve build into it.”

“Let’s hope that buys us enough time. Any way to make them more efficient?”

“These droids have self-generating, anti-dampening fields to prevent being affected by the gravity variations as much as living beings would, so if you could change the gravity around them while they fight the Furies, they might actually overcome them.”

“Interesting. I’ll have to try that.”

“Yes, but this is academic at best. Unless you could transport this entire facility to Droxia with you and lure them in here.”

“I don’t think I could move something so big, but perhaps I can locally affect the gravity once I’m there. I’m not yet sure of everything I can and cannot do in this new form. It’s definitely something worth trying, though. Perhaps artificially altering gravity in a small, localized area might be doable.”

“I’m not even gonna pretend to understand how that is even possible without technology.”

“I wouldn’t have time to explain anyway.”

“Then perhaps you have a way to buy some time. But please note, Chase has been training at 10 Gs for quite a while now and his overall speed, reaction times and strength have all increased dramatically when he returns to Earth’s normal gravity. It may be that the Furies will also see an increase in power if you force them to fight under gravity constraints.”

“That’s good to know, but it would only be for a few minutes. I doubt they’d gain much power in that time. Can you please have all the battle droids assembled in the center of that room?”

Spiros entered a few commands into the nearest console. “They’re on their way. They should arrive in less than a minute.”

“Thank you, Spiros. You may want to start building new ones for Chase to train with later. These you can mark as scrap metal already.”

“Yeah, I got that. We’ll crank up production on the newer units right away. Mind telling me how you’ll transport them to Droxia? I’m really curious.”

“It’s complicated. I can affect time and space in this form, but it comes pretty much instinctively to me. I just think what I want to accomplish and voilà. I’m not really supposed to do these things, but today there’s no choice.”

“What do you mean you’re not supposed to?”

“We’re not supposed to use our evolved powers in non-corporeal form, but I don’t see any other way out of this mess.”

“What could happen if you do?”

“My father Zeus could probably find a way to banish me from this plane of existence. If that happens, I won’t be able to help Chase anymore.”

“Are you sure you want to risk doing it, then? From what I hear you’ve been extremely useful to us since . . . Well, since you died.”

“I can’t just let Furies destroy Droxia while there’s a chance to do something about it. The blow it would strike to this still new Earth Alliance would be too severe. Plus, I’ve already been using my powers to help Chase and his friends, and managed to stay under my father’s radar. I don’t think I’m enough of a nuisance to him just yet. Let’s hope it stays that way.”

“Very well, as long as you know what you’re doing,” said Spiros. The droids entered the training room. “Your diversion army is here. Good luck, Ares.”

“Ares?” said the Gaia droid.

“Yes? Gaia, is it?”

“It is. I’ll be coming with you with my prototype avatar droid. My observations of Fury combat and my more advanced neuro-net should make one of the droids much stronger. Plus I could actually remote control them much more efficiently on the battlefield, rather than letting them fight using their basic sparring sub-routines.”

“That sounds great, thank you, but wouldn’t it be more efficient to copy yourself to every one of the droids?”

“These models haven’t been designed to hold my complex AI matrix. They won’t do. The newer model, however, is made of a much more durable alloy, with a stronger power source, shields and more advanced weaponry.”

The current Gaia droid’s lights turned off in its eyes and the droid fell to the ground, startling Spiros.

“Gaia! What happened?” he exclaimed.

“Over here!” said the only red-and-silver droid in the training room. It looked slicker and more advanced than the others.

“I guess that’s my cue to go as well. Thanks, Spiros.”

Before Spiros could say anything Ares’ golden aura vanished from the control room and a golden light engulfed the battle-droid army inside the training room. They all vanished.

* * *

Chase had brought the Hope about and commenced firing upon the nearest Zarlack destroyer with a full salvo of torpedoes, but the ship micro-jumped at the last second before the torpedoes could impact its shield.

“Dammit! They’ve learned since last time. This will make everything more difficult.”

“Chase,” said Sarah, “any way I can help you?”

“You can assist Ryonna with targeting the laser batteries,” said Chase, at the same time charging the Hope’s main weapon to max power.

“Roger that. I’ll give her a hand.”

“Be ready to open fire with every battery shortly.”

It was time to test a theory. If it failed this would make this fight infinitely more difficult than Chase initially thought.

He jumped the Hope right next to the destroyer that had jumped away a few seconds earlier. The second the Hope exited hyperspace Chase unleashed the Hope’s main guns toward the Zarlack destroyer’s starboard side. As Chase suspected, the Zarlacks either didn’t have time to jump again or were simply unable to, needing time to recharge their hyperdrive engines. The powerful plasma cannon drained most of the destroyer’s shields, but they were still up. Ryonna and Sarah unleashed a barrier of laser fire from the Hope’s batteries, which drained what was left of its shields little by little. Chase redirected every ounce of power from life support to their shields and engines and pushed them to the maximum, attaining a very fast ramming velocity as he adjusted his course.

“Chase! What in god’s name are you doing?” shouted Sarah.

“Hang on and trust me!”

The Hope impacted the Zarlack destroyer and broke it in half. The Hope’s shields were heavily taxed and dropped to less than ten percent in the process. The ship rocked heavily as fire and bright light engulfed the bridge’s viewport. Sparks shot from bulkheads and the ceiling all around them, and a nearby console exploded and started a fire. Ryonna, who was nearest, jumped to get an extinguisher and dealt with it quickly.

“You’re insane, you know that!” spat Sarah.

“We need insane today.” There was determination in his eyes.

“I think it’s not just today, but that’s a conversation for another day.”

He shot her a quick look and smiled.

But then the two remaining Zarlack destroyers jumped to either side of the Hope and pounded the ship’s shields, as well as vectoring toward it.

“Now what, Chase? Please tell me you can jump again?”

“Not for another minute, I’m afraid.”

“We don’t have a minute!”

“I know.”

The Zarlack ships were closing in.

“Are these ships gonna ram us?”

“Looks that way. It’s their new way of fighting anyway.”

“How long do we have?”

“About forty seconds I’d say, if our shields hold for that long, that is.”

Chase felt the pressure rise inside him. Adrenaline shot throughout his body and his mind raced to find a solution.

He opened a channel to engineering.

“Chase! What the hell are you doing to my ship!” exclaimed Yanis, unable to contain his anger.

“Sorry, no time to talk. Please tell me you have a nuke on board.”

“We do have one, yes, as per your request. You know how I feel about this, though.”

“Not now, Yanis! Can we teleport it through one of the Zarlack’s shields?”

“While Gaia provided us with the technology to beam objects safely now, we still haven’t tested it. And to answer your question, no.”

“Alright, prepare to beam the nuke the moment I send you coordinates. Do not hesitate!”

“Boy, I sure hope you know what you’re doing⁠—”

Chase turned off the communication.

“I’ll be right back,” he said to Sarah, before punching a hole in the nearest bulkhead and flying off the bridge.

Sarah’s eye widened and met Ryonna’s gaze.

“He’s nuts!” said Sarah.

“He hasn’t let us down yet. We should trust him.”

Chase exited the ship from the nearest airlock with a shield protecting him from the void of space and providing him with an oxygen bubble. He flew toward the nearest ship in less than a second. He extended both his hands and joined his index fingers and thumbs together, forming a diamond shape. He mentally sent the coordinates to Yanis at the exact moment he shot a tempered shockwave toward the Zarlack’s ship. He didn’t use any more power than was needed to accomplish his goal, remembering very well what happened last time he used too much of his power in outer space. The moment it struck the destroyer’s shields, it destabilized them for a brief instant. That was when he sent a telepathic message to Yanis.

Now!

Chase saw the nuke materialize inside the Zarlack’s shields, and flew back toward the Hope as it detonated. Most of the blast was sent inwards and obliterated the destroyer. The shield provided enough containment to prevent damage to the Hope.

Chase mentally redirected every ounce of the Hope’s power to the engines, disabling the batteries instantly. They stopped firing. He needed to get the Hope out of the Zarlack’s ramming trajectory, but there simply wasn’t enough power to do so in time. That was when he heard a single word in his mind. Push.

He didn’t even try to understand the provenance, and grabbed the Hope, helping it out of the way. He made sure not to use all of his power once again. If he did he knew that not only would their mission to reclaim Alpha Prime fail, but he could actually destroy the entire system if he created another anomaly so near the planet.

Then he felt another force join his. It was warm, but Chase didn’t recognize it. It certainly wasn’t Ares. It must be his unborn child helping him once again by adding his own energy to his. The Hope’s escape velocity grew and it dodged the incoming Zarlack ship by only a few yards. Both ships’ shields ignited from the close encounter.

* * *

Having regained weapons control, Ronan and Arknon fired upon the cloaked magnetic-field generators in their firing range. It took a good minute to lower their shields before they finally managed to take them out. Less than a minute later the Manticora and Sphinx had dispatched the remaining three devices, and the few ships that had survived the relentless, cowardly bombing by the Zarlack forces all started moving again. They launched fighters and started firing back at the Zarlack destroyers.

The eleven ships still operational besides the Phoenix were in bad shape, but their added firepower gave pause to the Zarlacks, who went on the defensive and entered evasive patterns as they launched their own waves of starfighters to deal with the incoming Alliance wings.

Someone hailed them. “This is Admiral Zendonis to the Phoenix.”

Ronan looked at Arknon. “Wanna answer that call?”

“This is Commander Arknon Ritalis onboard the Phoenix. What can I do for you, Admiral?”

“Where’s your captain, Commander?”

“He didn’t make it, I’m afraid.”

“Are you the ones we have to thank for being able to use our engines again?”

“My colleague Ronan and I, yes, but we also had outside help.”

“In any case, thank you. We thought we were toast. Our engineering team was unable to find a solution. We don’t know how you’ve managed that, but well done. Is the Phoenix battle ready?”

“Barely, but we will still join the fight shortly.”

“Try and stay in our shadows. My readings show that your shields are low and your structural integrity is critical.”

“Very well. Thank you, Admiral.”

The communication ended.

“We’re not out of this yet,” said Arknon.

“No, but at least we stand a fighting chance now.”

“I’ll pilot the Phoenix while you mend the main gun batteries.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

Arknon smiled as he vectored the Phoenix to trail in the Manticora’s shadow. “For the time being we use the Manticora’s shields while ours recharge. When they’re at fifty percent I’ll vector us away so we can have a clear line of fire.”

Another hail came in. “You may want to take that call, Ronan, it’s your friend, Keera.”

“Hello, Ronan, you seem to be free of the magnetic fields.”

“We are, thanks to you.”

“You’re welcome. Your ship seems badly damaged. Perhaps you should vector away from danger?”

“We can’t let the other ships down. They’re also quite damaged. Every gun counts. And this is the Droxian way. We don’t shy away from battle, no matter the cost.”

“Please be careful. If anything happens to you your mother will rip me a new one.”

“She doesn’t have to know you were ever here if anything happens.”

“Still, she’s my friend as well. I would rather not lie to her.”

“I gotta go, Keera, we’ll soon enter firing range.”

“I’ll stay at a safe distance and cloak if necessary. If you need to evacuate the Phoenix, I’ll swing by to get you out, okay?”

“Sounds good. Thank you for your help, Keera, you may have saved my entire world.”

“Don’t want to be a party pooper, but two very powerful Furies are attacking your planet on the ground as we speak. Cities are being leveled at an alarming rate.”

“Still, now we have a chance to do something about it. Ronan out.”

The moment the communication ended, he brought the long-range sensors online and saw what Keera was talking about.

“This is very bad.”

“What is it, Ronan?”

“Look at these readings, Arknon. At this rate every city on the surface of Droxia will be entirely destroyed within the hour.”

“I’m not sure we can do anything about it.”

“But if there’s a way we should consider it. Keera said the damage is being done by only two Furies.”

“How can anyone have that much power?”

“I’ve witnessed Chase, a friend of my mom, fight on Hellstar. Suffice it to say these Furies are very powerful.”

“I might have a way to rid us of one of them, but you’re not gonna like it.”

“I think I know what your idea is. You want to crash the Phoenix into one of these Furies.”

“How did you know?”

“’Cause that’s the only thing that makes sense and has even the slightest chance of stopping these monsters.”

“We could exit the ship using escape pods once we enter the atmosphere.”

“What about the other people on the Phoenix? If there’s anyone else still alive on board they’ll be killed.”

“Never said this would be a perfect plan. We’re fighting for the survival of our entire race. We may not have a choice.”

Ronan felt frustrated, but knew that Arknon was correct. There was little choice in the matter. They needed to do whatever it took to defend their world.

11

Chase flew back inside the Hope and returned to the bridge.

“Well, that was stupid!” said Sarah.

“It worked.”

“And if a black hole forms from your little stunt?”

“I was careful about that.”

“You’re reckless, and you know it.”

“What do you say we table this argument for later. We still have a destroyer to take care of.”

Chase checked his instruments. The destroyer had passed through the rest of its destroyed counterpart and was already vectoring back toward the Hope.

It was gaining on them, and Chase swore before opening a channel to engineering.

“Yanis, why can’t we lose that ship at sub-light?”

“We can’t go any faster because your last stunt has blown three more power conduits. We’re literally hemorrhaging power.”

“Anything you can do about that?”

Chase wanted to tell Yanis that he had no idea if his sister had survived the suicidal blast that had started this fight, but he needed Yanis frosty. So against his better judgment he kept silent.

“You’re impossible! You push my ships past their limits and then who’s got to fix them for you when you break them?”

“Yanis, can you do it or not?”

“I’ll try to reroute power as fast as I can.”

“Thanks, Yanis. Chase out.”

Multiple torpedoes impacted the already weak aft shields. This is not going to end well.

Checking power levels, Chase decided to micro-jump the Hope back near where the ambush had happened. Perhaps the Zarlacks’ hyperspace engines needed more time than the Alliance’s to recharge. He was about to find out. The ship wouldn’t take this treatment for much longer. Perhaps he could try to locate Fillio at the same time.

The Hope micro-jumped once more. The sight of the devastation the ambush had caused the entire battlegroup grabbed Chase by the heart. So many had died, and they might have been added to the list if Chris hadn’t told him to jump out of here. The Hope’s shields were recharging, but just when Chase thought he had bought a little reprieve from the enemy, the Zarlack jumped to less than three thousand miles on the Hope’s port side. It unleashed a flurry of torpedoes and a barrage of laser fire.

Chase tried to boost the shields but there was no more power. Now was as good a time as any to call the Destiny back into the fold. Chase reached for long-range communications and tried to send a message, but the array had been damaged.

Crap!

He called engineering.

“Yanis, status on these power modifications of yours?”

“You’re shitting me, right? Your last jump disabled yet another conduit. Whatever time I needed before has just tripled.”

“Chase out.”

Chase realized he had been terribly rude with his friend, but the fact that he didn’t even know if his friend’s sister was alive or dead made matters even worse.

Three ceiling bulkhead panels fell down when the next set of torpedoes impacted the Hope’s shields. They almost fell on Sarah and Ryonna, but Chase stopped them with his mind and threw them to the side.

“Thanks,” said Sarah.

“Anytime,” added Chase.

The next laser-fire impact went through the shields that were no longer up on the port side. Part of deck three exploded and metal and other debris was sucked out into space.

Chase erected a force field on that deck.

Not going to end well at all.

Chase turned the Hope on its axis to present the starboard shields in an attempt to delay the inevitable but, while rotating, the ship moaned and the lights inside the bridge turned off.

Not now!

A laser pierced the bridge viewport. Chase tried to intercept it with his mind but was too late.

When it was about to incinerate both Sarah and Ryonna, a shield rose around both of them and absorbed the blast. It also protected them from the explosive decompression that followed.

Chase didn’t know if he should be in awe of his yet-to-be-born child’s powers or scared of them. For the time being that save had been a godsend, but he was wary of what that could mean in the future.

The decompression sucked a lot of equipment from the bridge out into space before the automatic force fields kicked in.

The blue-tinged field flashed multiple times. The power within the ship was too low and soon it would fail.

“We have to abandon ship,” said Chase out loud.

“Chase!” exclaimed Sarah pointing in front of her.

That’s when Chase saw it. The Zarlack ship blocked the light coming from the system’s blue star and plunged the bridge into total darkness.

The enemy’s destroyer charged its main plasma guns and opened fire.

* * *

When Ares arrived on the surface of Droxia with the battle droids, a city exploded in the distance. The shockwave traveled in their direction really quickly.

“Brace yourselves!” shouted Ares to the droid army.

The Gaia droid took a defensive stance and all the other droids took the same stance a fraction of a second later.

The shockwave hit them full force and most of them skidded a few yards back until it had passed. Ares hadn’t moved an inch, his non-corporeal form unaffected.

“We need to act fast. There’s no way Chase can defeat both of these Furies. We need to get one of them out of commission, or at the very least wound him, before I can bring him here to finish him off. Perhaps that would give the other one pause.”

“I’ve located the nearest Fury about fifty miles to the north of here. We’re going to intercept him right away. Perhaps you should go get Chase?”

“I will come with you to see if I can be of assistance.”

“As you wish,” said Gaia as she flew into the air.

The other droids followed as she flew north. After fifty miles they started their descent. They landed one after the other in front of General Arkoolis.

“What do we have here?” he said with a smirk. “I don’t remember seeing these guys before. Too bad you’re just a bunch of tin cans.”

The general extended his right hand and sent a fireball toward the droids. The targeted droid deflected the fireball with its hand as its shield lit up. The fireball flew into the sky.

“Interesting. Finally some challenge. This might not be a boring day after all.”

At least fifteen droids launched toward the general and delivered highly complex combos of punches, knees and kicks. The general blocked each of the attacks but had to take a few steps back in the process. He grew his aura and unleashed a war cry that sent a powerful shockwave all around him, flooring all fifteen droids. But the next wave was already on its way.

The general blocked the incoming attacks with ease. He sent three droids to the ground and decapitated a fourth with a powerful hook kick. Sparks shot from the droid’s neck. The general was so distracted fighting another ten droids that he was surprised when the decapitated droid grabbed him from behind.

“What the hell?” The droid immobilized Arkoolis with all four limbs. “I thought I had killed that thing already.”

The droid electrified itself and a large jolt of electricity passed through the general.

The other droids all unleashed plasma shots toward the general. The area around Arkoolis exploded repeatedly. The rest of the droids flew into the air to improve their angle of attack and add their own firepower to the mix. Five droids fired a blue ray of energy toward the Gaia droid and it siphoned the energy from them. It then created a huge, blue fireball between its hands. It shot it into the mix, and the already fiery battlefield exploded even more. The ground all around the point of impact split in multiple places. Stones, sand and water shot upwards through the cracks. The water extinguished the fire and generated a lot of smoke, which engulfed most of the droid army.

When the dust settled and the smoke dissipated, the general was still standing in the center of it all. He was covered with burns and bruises, but the droid that had delivered the electrical jolt throughout his body was gone. His teeth were clenched and he looked seriously pissed.

Without warning he shot two columns of powerful red energy in front of him that incinerated ten of the droids upon impact. Burning hot metal scrap and wiring hit the ground.

All remaining droids but Gaia’s launched themselves at the Fury. But they all hit air. Some knocked into each other in their momentum. The Fury re-appeared high in the sky and prepared a giant fireball above his head and he threw it toward the tightly packed group of droids.

Gaia’s droid intercepted the attack, extending both its open palms and siphoning every last bit of its energy.

“Impressive,” said Arkoolis, “but ultimately futile.”

He disappeared and reappeared right next to the Gaia droid and sent it flying miles away with a powerful knee blow to the droid’s thorax. The droid impacted the ground far from its point of departure and a sandy cloud rose on the horizon.

“Now where were we?” Arkoolis reacquired visual contact with the droids he had tried blowing up a few moments before.

The droids split up and flew into the air, forming a sphere around him.

He didn’t wait for them to make their move but started attacking one droid after the other. He moved at such incredible speeds it looked as if he was teleporting between each of the vicious punches and kicks he delivered to the droid army. While their shielding protected them from the blunt-force impact of Arkoolis’ blows, they were still sent away, flying miles in every direction.

Ares appeared next to Gaia’s droid as she was getting back up.

“How’s it going?”

“Not well. That Fury is toying with the droid army. I think he enjoys the fight, just like Chase enjoyed fighting against the three units at 2 Gs when we first showed him the training facility.”

“How much more powerful do you think this Fury is compared to Chase?”

“It’s difficult to say. He seems slightly faster than Chase—at least most of the time—but it’s possible he hasn’t yet revealed all of his potential.”

“What do you mean ‘most of the time’?”

“When Chase enters that mode in which he is enraged, he is considerably faster than what I’ve seen from this Fury today.”

“That’s good to know.”

“I’m not so sure. It took Chase the thought of losing Sarah to enter that mode. What if he cannot enter it anymore? He didn’t reach that level of power while training, no matter how much stronger he has become.”

“I’m sure he’ll prevail. He has to.”

“You do realize you’re putting an entire world in the balance?”

“Not really. If I don’t get Chase here soon this world is forfeited anyway.”

“That’s a correct assessment, based on the data I’ve observed.”

“That’s a very droid thing to say.”

“Remember that I only have a partial version of my matrix in this body. Most of my emotional sub-routines won’t fit this avatar’s memory banks.”

“Right. What’s next?”

“Either you have a way to even the odds a little, or this Fury could wipe us out the moment he gets bored of the tickling we are inflicting on him.”

“Tickling, huh?”

“Pretty much.”

“Alright, let’s get back in there. I’ll see what I can do to level the playing field.”

“Whatever you want to do, I suggest you do it fast.”

“Understood.”

The Gaia’s droid flew back toward General Arkoolis and unleashed a flurry of plasma shots at him upon approach.

Arkoolis deflected the first five shots and blocked the last one with his right palm, making it vanish by closing his fist.

Then the ground around Arkoolis started glowing with a slight, golden hue. Stones and sand grains shook and vibrated.

The general felt the gravity increase.

“That’s a neat trick.”

The next wave of droids unleashed a series of terrible blows toward Arkoolis, who managed to dodge and block almost every attack. But every once in a while a punch, a kick, or even a plasma shot, scored him. In these rare instances, his purple metallic armor took most of the force and deflected the plasma with no sign of serious damage.

Ares’ tactic of artificially augmenting the gravity in a localized area around the Fury seemed to be working. The more the droids attacked the general, the more he was hit. But he fought with all his might and lowered the number of enemies with well-timed and perfectly aimed fireballs.

The Gaia droid entered the mix and scored a full series of combo attacks that sent the general to the ground for the first time.

He spat blood on the ground and got up. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked at his own blood.

* * *

The Phoenix had recharged more than half its shields when it emerged from the Manticora’s shadow and entered the fight against the Zarlack ships. The fourth destroyer which was orbiting Droxia rejoined the other three and its added firepower gave the Zarlacks the upper hand again as they went back on the offensive.

Six jump points formed near the battlefield, and for a moment Ronan and Arknon thought the Zarlacks had brought in reinforcements, but their instruments displayed a friendly signature. The ships were Obsidian.

“This is Emperor Raxin to Earth Alliance ships. We were in the area when we intercepted a distress call sent toward Earth. Engaging the enemy now.”

The added firepower of the Obsidian ships, though far less advanced than both Droxian and Earth Alliance destroyers, brought balance again between the opposing fleets.

The Phoenix concentrated her fire on the nearest Zarlack destroyer, pounding it with battery laser fire and torpedoes. But the destroyer’s shields were so strong it had only a limited impact. No matter how many ships fired upon those behemoth destroyers, their shields never seemed to waver. But then one of the newer design Alliance ships flew in front of the Phoenix and hit the Zarlacks with their powerful new plasma guns. It took a good portion of their target’s shields. In response the Zarlack sent a full volley of torpedoes toward their target, already maneuvering away.

Three torpedoes that were meant for the Earth Alliance destroyer struck the port shields of the Phoenix and brought them down to fifteen percent.

The Phoenix’s batteries stopped firing.

“Ronan? What happened?”

“That last salvo took out our weapons.”

“Most of our shields as well,” said Arknon.

“I think we’d better try to take out one of the Furies on the surface. While the destruction in the northern hemisphere seems to have paused, the destruction in the south is still continuing at an alarming rate. Another five major cities have been obliterated. We need to make it stop.”

“How do you propose we do that?”

“Just like we’ve discussed earlier: we crash the ship right on top of that Fury. I don’t care how powerful these beings are, that has to kill them.”

“We’ll kill whomever is in the area of the crash, that’s for sure.”

“They’ll die anyway if we don’t do anything.”

“Right. Let me clear it with the admiral first.”

Arknon opened a channel to the Manticora.

“Admiral, requesting permission to leave the fleet. We’re almost out of shields. We’ve just lost weapons as well and we believe we can do a better job trying to eradicate one of the Furies on the planet.”

“Is that what is destroying our cities one by one? Furies?”

“From the intel we’ve received there are two Furies down on the surface at the moment.”

“What? Only two individuals are responsible for inflicting so much damage?”

“I know it’s hard to believe. We’ll try to remove one from the equation until reinforcements arrive.”

“How so? If they are so powerful I doubt our weaponry will do the trick.”

“We’re thinking of ramming the Phoenix into one of them.”

There was silence.

“Any other day I would plain refuse this course of action, but today . . . today is Armageddon, and we stand on the brink of total annihilation.”

“Does that mean we have a go?”

“Yes, Captain. How do you intend to get off the ship yourselves?”

“Escape pods.”

“That’s a risky proposition at best.”

“We know, but we must try.”

“I agree. Good luck. May the prophets of Droxia be with you.”

“Thank you, Admiral. May they be with you as well.”

Arknon vectored the Phoenix toward Droxia and pushed the sub-light engines to maximum.

“Ronan, see if you can lock onto the coordinates of the Fury in the southern hemisphere. Time to see if crashing a destroyer on its face will kill a Fury.”

“I’ve located his position. Crap!”

“What is it, Ronan?”

“He’s near the city where my uncle Jonas lives.”

“Can we try to hail him?”

“Already opening that channel.” There were a few seconds of silence. “There’s no answer.”

“Perhaps he fled the area. I take it there’s utter panic on Droxia at the moment.”

“I sure hope he got away.”

“It was your idea to crash the ship. If you want to reconsider . . .”

“No, don’t worry. The admiral was right. Today we face extinction, and sacrifices have to be made. We’re about to doom anyone still alive on this ship anyway. I don’t have the right to put my uncle before any of them.”

“Spoken like a true Droxian.”

Not far from Arknon a female Droxian regained consciousness.

“Are you alright, Lieutenant?”

She held her head in her hands. “I-I think so. Where’s the captain?”

“I’m afraid he didn’t make it. I’m in command now.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“In fact there is. We’re about to crash this ship on the planet’s surface. I need you to locate survivors throughout the ship, then you and whomever you find should get to the escape pods and abandon ship.”

Her eyes grew wide.

“Do you need me to repeat that order, Lieutenant?”

She straightened up and saluted. “No, Captain, as you command.”

She took a portable scanner and left the bridge.

“Do you think there are many people alive on board?” asked Ronan.

“The life-signs sensors are damaged, but I think we would have encountered more crewmen by now if there were any who had regained consciousness. None tried contacting the bridge either, so either internal communications are down or only a handful survived.”

“Then why did you give her that assignment?”

“To keep her occupied while we approach Droxia. Who knows, maybe she’ll save a life or two in the process.”

* * *

It felt as if time had slowed down to a crawl when Chase looked at the incoming plasma fire from the Zarlack destroyer. Could he stop it with his mind? He could try, but the risk of creating an anomaly was very real. Would the ship survive the impact in their currently low-powered state?

But then something happened.

The Destiny exited hyperspace and positioned itself to protect the Hope and take the hit instead.

Chase exhaled deeply as time resumed a normal pace, his rapid heartbeat a reminder of how precious it was to be alive.

“That was too close for comfort,” said Sarah.

The Hope received a hail. “Everyone alright over there?” asked Commodore Saroudis.

“Better than the rest of the fleet, thanks to you. We’ve lost a lot of ships.”

“Well, thanks to your insisting on getting the Destiny away from the battlegroup, you were able to spare one more.”

“Believe me, I had no idea what would happen.”

“And yet your instinct was right once again.”

“I’m unsure about that. We’ve lost a lot of good people today, Commodore.”

“Don’t second-guess yourself, Chase. What’s done is done. Let’s keep fighting. We’ll have time to worry about this later.”

Chase realized it was the first time the commodore had addressed him by his first name for a while. It felt good.

“I guess so. Thank you, Commodore, we could really use the assist.”

“You should retreat and effect the necessary repairs. I’ll get that last bogie out of the sky for you.”

“Roger that. Commodore, we’ll also try to see if anybody survived the initial blast that took out most of our fleet.”

“Very well. The Destiny will join the search once I’m done here.”

“Sarah, please scan for survivors in the debris field. Let’s see if we can render assistance to the disabled ships as well.”

“I’m on it.”

Ryonna sat next to Chase.

“We have to jump back to Droxia now.”

“I understand how you feel, Ryonna. We will go soon, I promise. But please give me just a few moments to try to locate Fillio first.”

Ryonna seemed annoyed, but she knew better than to push Chase.

“I also suspect Ares has a way for me to reach Droxia faster than by jumping there.”

“How is that even possible?”

“He has clearly acquired a new set of powers since Argos killed him. Tar’Lock told me how Ares took control of his body to bring the arena’s force field down when we were fighting the Titan.”

“He has told me that story as well.”

“Where is he, by the way?”

“I slipped him a sedative in his food earlier on. He was getting on my nerves.”

Chase smiled.

“Then we should let him sleep this one off. I doubt he could be of any use to us anyway.”

Chase reached with his mind to try to locate a working StarFury. He was unsuccessful with the first three but the fourth one his mind probed seemed to be in flying order, even though it was heavily damaged.

He scanned the area with the Hope’s sensors, trying to locate Fillio’s craft. It took a while but he located her fighter. It was in really bad shape. One of its wings had been torn off and it was currently drifting toward some of the larger debris from one of the Droxian destroyers. He punched the engines of his remote StarFury and vectored toward her.

“Fillio! Can you hear me? Please respond.”

There was no answer.

He expanded his mind and focused his thoughts on her starfighter. Life support was erratic at best. Pushing his mind further allowed him to hear a heartbeat, but it was very faint. He needed to get to her quickly. His StarFury entered tractor beam range in the nick of time, and he successfully locked onto her before her fighter collided with the debris. He brought the ship back onboard the Hope.

A few seconds later Chase witnessed the Destiny blowing the last Zarlack destroyer to kingdom come with its main guns.

He opened a channel to Yanis.

“Yanis, you should meet me in landing bay three.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“It’s Fillio.”

“Is . . . Is she alright?”

Chase could feel the fear in his friend’s voice. “I don’t know yet.”

“On my way!”

Chase looked at Sarah for a second and then flew out of the bridge.

When he arrived in landing bay three, his StarFury was just arriving with whatever was left of Fillio’s fighter in tow.

The damage to her StarFury was extensive. Smoke still escaped from the engines. Most of the armor plating on one side of the craft was gone, revealing circuitry that spewed sparks onto the deck. Her cockpit’s windshield was cracked.

He flew above the nose of the craft and saw her. He could no longer sense her life signs. Losing no time, he tore off the canopy and threw it to one side. He carefully took her in his arms and levitated back toward the deck, where he gently laid her on the cold metal floor.

Yanis arrived.

She was badly wounded, with many electrical burns and bleeding wounds. Probably some internal bleeding as well.

Chase put his hands on her and started healing her. The surface wounds were taken care of quickly, but something was wrong. He could usually sense a positive feedback and life being injected back into the people he healed, but for some reason it didn’t work this time. Was she too far gone?

“Is she going to be okay?” asked Yanis, barely able to breathe.

“I . . . I don’t know.”

“Don’t you dare let her die! You promised you would protect her.”

Chase’s eyes burned with the beginning of tears.

Why isn’t it working? Why isn’t she healing, dammit?

Chase emptied his mind and tried to push his healing abilities to the maximum, but to no avail. He could not sense life flowing into her.

That’s when he heard a voice inside his mind. It’s okay, Chase, you can let me go now.

No! Fillio, please fight this! Let me revive you.

I’m tired, Chase. I’ve been tired of all of this for a while now. Please, if our friendship ever meant anything to you, then you’ll let me go.

I can’t. I promised your brother I’d protect you no matter what.

It wasn’t your fault. I’ve always loved you, you know that. Please tell Daniel and Yanis I’m sorry. Goodbye, Chase.

Chase removed his hands and looked down in horror, still in shock.

What was that? Could he speak to souls now?

“I’m so sorry, Yanis. She’s gone.”

“NO! I beg you, please save her.”

“I did all I could, trust me.”

“Bullshit! I’ve seen you heal people before. Why can’t you heal my sister?” Yanis’ eyes were filled with tears. “I beg you, Chase, please, try again!”

Chase gave her mouth to mouth then opened his palm. Multiple electrical bolts ran between his fingers. He put his hand on her chest and sent an electric shock to her heart. He did it again and again, alternating it with his healing light.

“Don’t give up,” said Yanis, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

“Yanis,” tried Chase.

“No, you keep doing it! No matter how long it takes.”

Chase knew she was gone already. There was nothing more he could do. He kept trying to resuscitate her for ten more minutes, even though he knew it was in vain.

Then, when he couldn’t take it anymore, he stopped and rose to his feet.

“Don’t stop, Chase!” ordered Yanis.

“I’m sorry. She’s gone.”

Yanis rose and pushed Chase.

“She’s not gone until I say so. Get back to her, NOW!”

Chase shook his head.

“You son of a bitch! She’s my sister. You killed her with your dumb-ass bravado.”

That stung Chase right in the heart. Fillio and he had been very close at one point, and he never imagined he would be responsible for her death. Was he responsible? Could he have anticipated the Zarlack’s destructive strategy? He could have at least made sure she had jumped with them, but in the midst of it all, the truth is he only thought of Sarah and Chris. So perhaps it was his fault.

Yanis pounded Chase’s chest.

“I’m so sorry, Yanis, and perhaps you’re right, it is my fault. Please forgive me.”

Yanis took a step back and looked at him with a mixture of anger and despair in his tear-filled eyes.

“Forgive you? No way! I don’t forgive you. I fucking hate you!”

Then Yanis fell to his knees and let himself fall on his sister’s dead body as he sobbed uncontrollably for what felt like an eternity.

12

General Arkoolis was not used to seeing his own blood, but he liked the fact that finally this mission was turning into something other than a borefest of meaningless destruction with no real challenge.

“That was an impressive display, and the gravity’s shift a neat trick. But I haven’t used my full powers yet. You are going to regret spilling my blood.”

Seven of the droids answered by launching themselves toward the general.

“I don’t think so,” he said, sending a powerful shockwave their way.

It stopped them in their tracks and they stayed paralyzed in midair.

“This has gone on long enough.”

He slashed both his hands in the air and all seven droids were cut into pieces. He finished them off with a series of powerful fireballs.

The ground shook and the gravity increased even more. The general looked down for a brief moment.

The rest of the droids, all of them except the red-and-silver droid, launched themselves at him and a terrible battle ensued. They were less affected by the gravity shift than he was and they landed more blows over time. The tactic seemed to work as more bruises formed and more blood was spilled.

The droids were everywhere around the general, landing more blows, when he jumped high in the sky. He lost no time preparing a gigantic fireball and sent it back toward the ground, right into the midst of the droids. Thanks to the high gravity the fireball reached the ground in a fraction of a second, preventing Gaia from intervening and siphoning its energy as she had done before.

The resulting explosion unearthed trees all around, and when the dust settled, there was a large crater at the point of impact. Parts of destroyed droids were disseminated over the crater’s surface.

“Mechanical fools.”

When the general landed back near the crater, the Gaia droid, the only remaining one, approached him.

“Looks like I’ve missed one.”

“I won’t be that easy to dispatch.”

“So these things talk.”

Gaia took an offensive posture.

“You don’t really think you have a shadow of a chance of defeating me? No matter how strong the gravity is.”

“We’re about to find out.”

Gaia extended both hands with open palms and fired two extremely powerful shots of plasma.

The general blocked the attack with both his palms but was surprised by the strength of the streams of plasma. He clenched his teeth, showing a little blood on them.

Gaia advanced while she maintained the streams of plasma energy. Once she was only a few yards from her target she stopped firing and landed a hook kick to the Fury’s head, making him lose balance. She didn’t wait and catapulted him into the air with a powerful uppercut. She followed him upwards into the air and fired another stream of plasma energy. It hit him in the torso and sent him flying backward at great speed toward the ground.

“Now, Ares!”

Ares understood what that meant and teleported away into the Alpha Prime system.

When the general hit the ground he skidded for more than three miles, leaving a trail of flying stones, soil and grass.

At 4 Gs, Gaia clearly had the upper hand, but now that Ares was gone, the gravity returned to its original strength.

Fortunately, it took a while for General Arkoolis to recover from the last blow.

Gaia checked the internal power levels of her avatar droid. Power was at sixty percent. She wouldn’t be able to use similar attacks too often or she’d run out of juice pretty quickly. The little reprieve allowed her to reprogram her attack matrix with the logs from the fight the other droids had with the Fury. It should prove helpful in devising the best attack and defensive patterns upon his return.

General Arkoolis stood and dusted himself off. He had a few more burns and bruises, but lost no time before shooting into the air and flying back to the fight. He landed only yards from Gaia.

“That was quite unexpected and impressive. For a tin can, anyway.”

The Fury grew his aura and soon all his bruises and burns healed. Except for a few scorch marks on his armor he looked as good as new.

* * *

The Phoenix was about to enter Droxia’s atmosphere when Ronan thought of something.

“Arknon, are we gonna survive re-entry in our current state?”

Arknon crunched some numbers on his terminal before answering. “There’s a sixty percent chance we will. We’re about to find out. It’s too late to change course.”

“This is going to be a rough ride.”

“We only have a handful of seconds before we hit the upper atmosphere. Make sure the coordinates are locked.”

Ronan double checked the targeted Fury and saw he was on the move.

“Dammit!”

“What is it, Ronan?”

“He’s moving again. He’s heading toward the next city.”

“The one where your uncle lives?”

“Yes.”

“It’s safe to assume that’s his next target. You should probably lock these coordinates in.”

“I’m locking it three miles outside of town on his approach vector.”

“Why? I understand your feelings, but will it really make any difference?”

“I’m not thinking of trying to give my uncle a chance. He’s either gone from there or he’s dead anyway. But this particular Fury never entered any of the cities he has destroyed today. He always stood two to three miles away while he launched his destructive attacks.”

“Dishonorable bastard. Then shoot for two and a half miles. Law of average kind of thing?”

“Right. Coordinates locked.”

“Entering the atmosphere now. I’m boosting the engines to their maximum. We’re gonna lose control of the ship soon.”

The ship rocked heavily and Ronan and Arknon had to hold their consoles so as not to be thrown out of their respective seats. The lights on the bridge flickered, and the previously damaged bulkheads and dislocated hardware were thrown around, creating a very unsafe environment.

“Why don’t these seats have belts?”

“That’s a good question, but perhaps we should think of going to the escape pods soon. Less than a minute until impact.”

“Right,” said Ronan. “We should go n⁠—”

A power conduit next to Ronan blew and engulfed him with blue flames. He was badly burned and thrown to the side. He skidded until his head hit a nearby console.

“Ronan!” Arknon tried to reach his friend but the vibrations and movement caused by re-entry made it difficult for him to walk straight without stumbling.

“Are you alright?”

Ronan had lost consciousness, and had serious burns to half his face.

Realizing there was no more time, Arknon reached his unconscious friend and that’s when he saw them.

“Gravity boots.”

He quickly removed his own boots and took Ronan’s. He activated the gravity lock and grabbed Ronan by the collar as he started running.

There were explosions the whole way to the nearest escape pods, those meant for the bridge’s crew. Several times debris and loose plating hit the duo of Droxians, but Arknon, dragging Ronan in tow, arrived at their destination. They only had a few seconds before impact. He threw Ronan inside the first pod, closed it and pressed the manual release. There was no time to strap him down, meaning much less chance of survival. Ronan’s pod flew away from the ship.

He ran to the next pod and punched it, but was rewarded with shooting sparks that burned his face. All instruments within the pod flashed red.

Time had almost run out, but he quickly jumped into the next pod.

Last chance!

He tried to punch the launch control but the ship rocked so heavily he was catapulted out of the pod and thrown against the nearest bulkhead. He heard and felt most of the ribs on his right side shatter. The pain was unbearable.

Then he felt the heat and looked to his side. Approaching rapidly was a series of fireballs, each bigger than the last.

The ship was a few milliseconds away from being obliterated, and him with it. He pushed with his legs with as much strength as he could muster and launched himself back inside the pod, striking his shoulder on the way. He punched the controls for ejection. The doors closed and he was pushed forward by the acceleration, hitting his skull on the pod’s windshield.

The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was flames everywhere.

* * *

Miseo had arrived at the next big city, and as with every other city before, he was greeted by whatever pathetic ground and flying military forces the Droxians had. They were in much greater numbers this time. This city did look like one of the biggest, perhaps even the capital. Not that it mattered. In minutes it would be leveled.

Three waves of in-atmosphere fighters approached and opened fire upon Miseo.

When will these miserable insects understand that their weapons are useless against us?

But Miseo was in a playful mood. He enjoyed ripping the planes to shreds one by one, using telekinesis or fireballs, or sometimes just passing through them with his own body. Soon the sky was filled with explosions from the carnage he inflicted on the incoming squadrons.

Tanks on the ground started firing their energy blasts toward him. He purposefully vectored toward them, deflecting the few lucky shots that managed to come his way with the palm of his hand. When he landed, the full force of his current velocity created a large crater, and the resulting shockwave pushed half the tanks onto their side.

Miseo’s eyes flashed red and he fired thin laser beams, destroying one tank after another.

A giant hand made of metal hit him in the face. One of the mechs had landed a lucky shot while he was distracted by the tanks.

Miseo’s response was as lethal as it was fast. He waved his hand forward at such speed that the mech exploded from the impact of his kinetic attack.

Pieces of burning metal, wiring and screws landed all around him.

He smiled, but the ground started shaking and he looked behind him. A full platoon of these mechs was running toward him like a herd of wild animals. They all opened fire simultaneously.

He put both his hands in front of him and created a powerful shield that absorbed every shot.

This is rather fun. Futile, but fun.

When the first salvo had ended and the mechs all switched to either giant, metallic knives or light-blades, he sent a volley of fireballs into their midst and destroyed most of them. The cascading explosions knocked the others off their feet and into the dust.

He felt a strange sensation around his waist. The same sensation repeated around his shoulders, and then his arms. Pretty soon he couldn’t move.

He looked at his body and saw blue energy bands restricting his movements. The more he moved the stronger the counteracting force was.

Interesting weapon.

A platoon of foot soldiers had fired at him and temporarily paralyzed him.

With a single thought he blew most of the soldiers up from the inside out. Blood and guts splashed the other Droxians. Their eyes filled with terror.

One of those remaining, clearly their military leader, wore a smirk.

“You don’t think this is going to hold me for long now, do you?”

“It only has to hold you for a few more seconds, then you’re dead, asshole,” said the Droxian, pointing toward the sky.

A giant shadow was cast all around. It felt as if night had instantly fallen upon them all.

Miseo looked upwards and what he saw made no sense.

* * *

When Chase walked back onto the bridge he was still in shock from Fillio’s death. Why couldn’t he save her? Had it mattered that she didn’t want to be saved?

Sarah saw the look on his face and ran to embrace him.

“I couldn’t save her,” he said, with tears forming in his eyes.

“I’m sure you did all you could.”

But that was of little comfort to him. Until now he thought he could save anyone. Heck, he had brought Daniel back when his injuries seemed even worse than Fillio’s. But no matter how bad the wounds were, he was still breathing. That probably was the difference.

“She . . . she wanted to go.”

“What? How do you know?”

“I heard her in my thoughts when I was trying to heal her. And I also felt resistance. It was as if she didn’t want me to.”

“I find that creepy but, then again, a few minutes ago my unborn son raised a shield and saved both my life and Ryonna’s. I’m getting used to the feeling.”

“It seems the more I get a hold on my powers, the more things I can do. That’s probably why I heard her talk to me.”

“I understand. If she told you she wanted to go, then you shouldn’t blame yourself.”

“Tell that to Yanis.”

“Put yourself in his place. He must be devastated. In time he’ll forgive you. For now he needs to process his grief.”

“That’s putting it mildly, I’m afraid. I don’t know about him ever forgiving me, but you’re right. I should let him grieve for now.”

“I’m really sorry, Chase. I know she was your friend, but she was also an officer in the Earth Alliance. Like everyone else, she knew the risks. It was her choice to be here with us.”

Sarah was right, of course, except she was more than just a friend at one point in his life. Chase decided that now was not the time to speak about that. Would it ever be the time? And did it really matter, under the circumstances?

“Thank you, Sarah.”

“Have you told Daniel yet?”

“He’s leading the Destiny’s away team in their search of survivors.”

“He’s your best friend. The longer you wait to tell him the more difficult it will be. He might even resent you for it.”

“I know. Perhaps I could send him a message telepathically.”

“That’s a no-no! That’s like breaking up with a girlfriend with a text. This requires your presence, and for you to look him in the eyes.”

Chase dreaded that moment. He’d rather fight Argos once more than face his best friend in the whole world and tell him he couldn’t save the woman he fell in love with.

Like an answer from the heavens, the bridge was illuminated with a golden tinge as Ares appeared in front of them.

Ryonna ran toward them in anticipation.

“We’ve got to go to Droxia now!” exclaimed Ares.

“Ares,” said Ryonna. “Any news of my son?”

“He’s one of the only survivors aboard the Phoenix, but the ship has set a collision course toward the planet. They’re trying to take one of the Furies out of the equation. I need Chase to take care of the other one, who just decimated an entire battalion of battle droids. I had to leave the Gaia droid alone, so let’s go now. Perhaps she will still be operational and you can use her help in your fight with the Fury, but we must hurry!”

“I’m coming with you,” said Ryonna in a tone not open for discussion.

“No, it’s too dangerous. Only Chase should come with me.”

“Chase!” insisted Ryonna.

“Ares, take her with us. She has the right to go, no matter how dangerous it is.”

“Very well. We’ve lost enough time as it is. Now, come close and join hands.”

Chase looked back at Sarah as he took Ryonna’s left hand. “You have the bridge, Commander, please be careful.”

He sent another message but this time telepathically. Looks like you’ll have to tell Daniel about Fillio. I have no idea when I will be back. Please convey how terribly sorry I am and that I did everything I could. I love you.

She nodded back at him and he read, “I love you, too,” on her lips.

Ares put one of his energy-based hands on each of their shoulders and they vanished from the bridge.

* * *

It took a fraction of a second for Miseo’s brain to interpret the image his eyes sent to it.

A Droxian destroyer, with an insane amount of damage, and flames spewing from every deck, was on a collision course with . . . him.

The scene seemed surreal.

He brought all his energy to bear and freed himself from the energy bonds. The resulting shockwave killed everyone around him as they exploded at the cellular level.

Miseo extended both his arms upward, even though he knew he was too late.

As he fired the most impressive column of energy in an attempt to vaporize the incoming ship, it impacted with him and the ground.

The resulting explosion, amplified by the explosion of the ship’s engine, sent such a powerful blast of energy on all sides that half the nearby city was incinerated almost instantly. Glass windows exploded in the rest of the buildings from the shockwave. Buildings collapsed atop one another, and the once beautiful Droxian city was transformed into a burning graveyard in a matter of seconds.

* * *

Gaia adopted a defensive stance the moment Arkoolis launched himself toward her. He unleashed a series of powerful blows but she managed to dodge them in the nick of time. But then the Fury started attacking her at increased speed. He landed a powerful uppercut that sent Gaia flying upwards into the air. Before she had time to recover, Arkoolis was already upon her and he hammered her back toward the ground. Gaia managed to recover a few milliseconds before impact, but she had lost visual contact with the Fury.

“Looking for me?” said the Fury from behind her.

Her shield activated, but almost immediately failed. A powerful burst of red energy shot through the chest of her avatar body. Arkoolis’ foot hit her back and her avatar body was sent flying forward, ending its course face first in the dust.

When she got up she saw a fist-sized hole in the left side of the droid’s chest. She activated repair nanobots immediately, and the hole started mending itself.

But Arkoolis didn’t wait. He launched himself toward her once more. His speed had increased tremendously in the last few minutes and she was no longer able to block all his blows. While the force of most of his punches and kicks was deflected by her shields, he was landing too many and her shields were draining quickly. The repeated attack patterns made their usual, super-quick recharge cycle almost useless now. In the middle of a combo she flew upwards into the air and made a run for it in order to recharge them.

“Not so fast.”

The Fury was already on her tail, flying faster than her, gaining on her with every passing second.

She redistributed her internal power to boost the efficiency of her right arm to four hundred percent and she stopped short in midair, pivoted on herself and smashed Arkoolis with a terrible blow to the face. He was taken by surprise and flew backward, splashing into a nearby body of water, sending tons of water upwards upon entry.

Gaia’s shields were back up to one hundred percent and her nanobots were finishing repairing the hole and damaged circuitry inside her avatar’s chest.

By the time Arkoolis had recovered from the attack, her systems were back to one hundred percent. She redirected most of her power to the engines in order to increase her speed, even if that meant lowering her shields and disabling her offensive plasma energy weapons. She needed to buy as much time as possible until Ares returned with Chase.

13

Daniel’s away team had arrived at the source of the distress call they had received but there was nobody in the communications tower. They had encountered only a few Zarlacks until now, but each encounter had involved a long and difficult battle. Their thick skin provided them extra protection from blaster fire. The fact that the Destiny had left orbit was a little worrisome, though. No doubt the battle on the other side of the planet was still raging and Chase needed the added firepower of the newly upgraded weapons on board Destiny.

Daniel wondered how Fillio was doing and hoped she was fine. They had been really close in the past few weeks and he couldn’t help but worry about her well-being. Even though she seemed to feel better since they had started going out together, on many occasions her spirits were down. Sometimes out of the blue, and while he made every effort to comfort her, he felt something darker brewing inside her. That worried him the most.

He brushed the thought away. She was a seasoned pilot, probably even better than him, so there was no logic in worrying. And now was hardly the time to be distracted.

Daniel and a few ground troops arrived at the top of the communications tower. He rested his blaster rifle against the nearest console and started browsing logs.

Most of the logs had been erased except the one containing the distress call, and the file wasn’t properly signed.

That raised a red flag.

Had the distress call been planted? If so, for what purpose? Or perhaps the people who sent it weren’t of military background and did their best, not knowing the Star Alliance protocols. But then the question as to why the rest of the logs were absent remained.

“Commander,” said one of his away team.

“What is it?”

“I’ve been getting some strange readings ever since we entered the tower.”

“What kind of readings?”

“Some unusual power fluctuations on every level of the facility.”

“I’ll check it with the internal sensors. Thank you, Lieutenant.”

“Very well, sir.”

Daniel brought up the schematics of the tower on the holo-display of a nearby console. He looked for power fluctuations and detected some, but the readings seemed erratic. This station had seen better days, and perhaps there was a glitch in power distribution. But his instinct told him to dig further.

He re-calibrated the sensors to look for different types of parameters, like energy waves, modulation and frequency. One of the scans displayed something that froze his blood.

The tower showed five different red dots that blinked on his holo-display.

“These,” he said, pointing toward one of them. “They aren’t part of the schematics.”

“Could they be . . .?” said the lieutenant.

“Bombs. We should get out of here.”

“What if we’ve armed them on our way up? That would explain why I got more and more readings as we progressed.”

“Smart observation, Lieutenant. You’re probably right. We’d better not try to get out until we either get more info on these devices or find another way out of here.”

“We could rappel down the outside of the building.”

“Depending on the range of the devices—if they are bombs—that could have the same result as retracing our steps.”

“But by that same logic we can’t really make a visual check. That could trigger them.”

“Let me bring video streams into these areas.”

Daniel entered a few commands on his console and was rewarded with “access denied.”

“That’s odd. I should have access to the videos. My credentials worked for accessing the sensors.”

Then every light and terminal shut down and they were plunged into darkness. Daniel heard a nearby door open and then metallic steps.

Two orange lights blinked into existence and their small light revealed the shape of a combat droid’s face. Then all hell broke loose.

“Take cover!” shouted Daniel as the droid opened fire.

Daniel jumped and rolled to avoid blaster fire. He then grabbed his own rifle and returned fire, but the droid was shielded.

By the time he had taken cover and grabbed the night-vision goggles from his backpack, the droid had killed every member of his away team except the lieutenant, who had also found cover.

“Lieutenant, tell me you have grenades.”

He flashed him a thumbs up.

“On my mark. Three . . . two . . . one . . . NOW, Lieutenant!”

Daniel left cover and showered the droid with blaster fire in order to provide a distraction while the lieutenant sent two grenades toward their foe.

Daniel shot one of the grenades which exploded right before impacting the droid’s shield and made them blink just long enough for the second grenade to pass through the shields and detonate. But not before Daniel received a laser blast on his shoulder. He dropped his rifle. He crawled back toward cover just as the second grenade exploded. Some metallic shrapnel lodged in the wall nearby.

After a few seconds he looked out from behind cover and saw the top half of the droid body on the ground. But then its hands started moving and the droid began crawling toward his position.

He ignored the throbbing pain in his shoulder, took his sidearm and fired a few shots at the crawling droid, but they were deflected by its strong armor. Sparks from the severed trunk of the droid played havoc with his night-vision glasses and burned his eyes, so he removed them. That didn’t help much. He could barely tell where the droid was based on the few sparks emitted by it.

“More grenades, Lieutenant?”

“I’m out, and I’ve dropped my rifle.”

Swell.

Daniel put his night-vision goggles back on and looked for the nearest downed member of his away team. He ran to the other side of the room and searched the body of his deceased teammate for another grenade.

“We’ve got to get out of here, Commander!”

Daniel could still hear the metallic arms of the droid crawling its way toward him.

“Stand fast. If we run down the stairs we might trigger the bombs.”

“And if we stay here that droid will kill us.”

Daniel was well aware of that fact, but wasn’t ready to give up just yet. He didn’t find grenades on the body he was searching, but when the droids unnerving, metallic crawling grew closer he had an idea. He set the power source of his blaster to overload and faced his incoming foe.

When the intensifying, high-pitched noise of his blaster’s power source indicated it would soon explode, he threw it at the droid. The droid caught the pistol with one of its arms, and its creepy, orange, blinking eyes looked at it just before it exploded. The concussion cracked and disabled his night-vision goggles.

* * *

When Ronan regained consciousness he felt waves of tremendous pain radiating all over his body.

What had happened? The last thing he remembered was getting up to run toward the escape pods, but then something had exploded nearby.

He opened his eyes and saw he was inside one of the escape pods. He tried to move but was rewarded with sharp pain that told him he had broken a few bones.

He tried to get his bearings inside the pod. He was upside down, the windshield of the pod was cracked and all he could see was parts of the sky covered by humongous clouds of dark, gray smoke.

It took all his energy to just reach the controls. He activated the comms.

“Arknon, come in? Are you there, buddy? Arknon, please respond!”

But there was only silence. He set the comms to the widest band possible.

“Ronan to any Droxian soldier in the area, please respond.”

Again no answer on the comms. Perhaps they were damaged in the rough landing.

Some of the walls inside the pod were deformed and Ronan wondered how he’d even survived the trip.

If Ronan made it alive in an escape pod, no matter how badly he was hurt, that could only mean Arknon had thrown him into one. The fact that he wasn’t strapped in told him there had not been enough time to do so. But what did that mean for Arknon? Had he had time to eject in another pod?

Ronan used his right foot to kick open the cupboard with the first aid logo printed on it. After repeatedly kicking the damn thing, it finally opened and the first-aid kit fell on his face.

Ronan located the strongest painkiller and injected himself with it. He needed to move and get out of this pod and start looking for his friend. But until the medicine kicked in, which took a few minutes, Ronan watched the sky fill with more and more dark smoke, no doubt resulting from the impact of the destroyer on the surface. Hopefully killing that Fury in the process.

When he felt numb enough to move without aching everywhere at once, Ronan got up inside the pod and grabbed the survival backpack. He then punched the opening sequence on the pad and the engine of the door moaned, but nothing happened.

Ronan activated the emergency release, which sent the door flying in the air.

He crawled backward out of the pod and let himself fall on the ground. That was when he realized he didn’t have any shoes on.

Where are my boots?

It made sense to assume Arknon had taken them in order to walk with more ease while the ship entered the atmosphere, since Ronan had been wearing gravity boots. It must have been one hell of a bumpy ride.

Ronan looked ahead.

The view of the nearby giant furnace, no doubt a result of the ship’s impact, and the apparent damage to the city beyond, grabbed at Ronan’s heart.

So much destruction. Jonas, I really hope you weren’t there when it happened.

He looked inside the backpack and found a portable scanner. He scanned the area for a power signature. He saw a faint one in the area that, from where he sat, looked like a furnace. He climbed back inside the pod and grabbed an extinguisher, forced it into the backpack and started walking toward the blinking dot on his scanner.

* * *

Arkoolis rose from the water and flew back toward Gaia.

“You keep surprising me, but I think it’s time to end this little dance of ours. This has been a fun distraction but I’ve lost enough time.”

“You keep saying that, and yet I still stand.”

“A robot with personality. These thousands of years trapped in another dimension sure have brought up the most peculiar things.”

“You should have stayed there. No one wants you back in this reality.”

The general laughed hard. “Do you think we care what you and these insects want? This universe is ours now. Now that we’re back we’ll cleanse it from all impurity.”

“You’re the impurity,” said Gaia defiantly.

“I’m gonna make you swallow those words.”

“Let me see you try.”

“Do you really think you stand a chance? I have barely deployed twenty percent of my abilities up till now.”

The planet rocked for a moment and a distant explosion resounded.

“You hear that? It seems my partner is ripping this world apart.”

“What makes you think he’s not the one getting ripped apart?”

“Miseo is one of the most powerful Furies there is. None of you stand a chance of defeating him. Not that you ever stood a chance defeating me either.”

“Ah, the Fury pride. It will be your downfall.”

“Speaking of downfall, time to send your body parts back to your creator.”

“I’m my own creator, and this is but one body. You’ll never be done with me.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Arkoolis moved so quickly he was on Gaia’s back before she could react. He planted his elbow deep into her avatar’s back, and began pounding her metallic body with more blows than she could count. Her shields quickly failed and each new blow deformed her armor. The end of that avatar body was near but there was nothing she could do about it.

But then something happened.

Arkoolis received a blue fireball right in the face and was thrown hundreds of yards away, crashing unceremoniously into the dirt, face first.

When Gaia looked toward the source of the attack, she saw Chase with his arm extended.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Don’t be ridiculous! This is just a piece of technology. But thanks, nonetheless. I have been badly damaged but I can still help you in your fight.”

“That’s alright. I’ll deal with this Fury on my own.”

“Don’t let your pride blind you, Chase, he is more powerful than you are.”

Gaia saw a Droxian in the distance.

“What is she doing here?”

“Ryonna . . . She’s looking for her son.”

“If he was in any of the cities that were destroyed, she is too late.”

“According to Ares, Ronan was in the ship that crashed not long ago in the southern hemisphere, taking out the other Fury in the process.”

“This Fury said his name was Miseo, and that he is even more powerful than him. If that’s true, he might have survived.”

Chase reflected upon the words of the Gaia droid. “One problem at a time. For now I need to get rid of this one.”

“We. You’ll need my help.”

“Alright then, let’s get to work.”

* * *

Daniel couldn’t see a damn thing in the darkness. The night-vision mask was totaled, so he threw it aside.

“Lieutenant? Are you alright?”

But there was no answer.

“Are you hurt, Lieutenant?”

Daniel used his hands to try to find his backpack in the dark. After a while he found a rifle on the ground and turned its light on.

The droid laid on the floor motionless. The fact that no sparks shot from its severed body parts told him it was finally destroyed, or at least disabled.

When the light from his rifle landed on the lieutenant, Daniel had to refrain from vomiting. His head had been severed by a piece of armor from the droid.

“I’m so sorry,” said Daniel out loud.

But now was not the time to mourn. Daniel needed to find a way out of the building without setting off the unidentified devices strategically placed in the communications tower.

He went into the room where the droid came from and looked around. He found the power control panel for the tower and cycled the power back on.

The main control room was a bloody mess. His entire away team had been wiped out by the battle droid. He looked for a first-aid kit and found one.

Time to mend his shoulder wound. He injected himself with a painkiller and was soon back in front of a control console.

He tried to access the video feeds inside the complex but was again denied access. He punched the console out of frustration.

He found the controls for the shades and activated them. They rose, and finally the light of day filled the bloody room. Outside he saw lush vegetation and large trees as far as the eyes could see. A bird landed on the nearest one. Some of its branches were only a couple of yards away from the control center’s large, angled windows.

He tried opening a channel to the Destiny but was unsuccessful; with both his own gear and the tower’s comms.

What the hell is going on up there?

He ran a system-wide diagnostic. It would take a few minutes to complete.

But then he felt it. Something exploded on a level below and it shook the entire complex.

Crap! Perhaps running these diagnostics wasn’t the best idea.

Shortly after the first detonation, another rocked the facility, and then another. Alarms wailed and Daniel knew he only had seconds to react. The third explosion cracked the large window in the control room. He grabbed what was left of the droid’s left arm and threw it against the cracked window, which gave out and shattered into a thousand pieces. He took a few steps back as the latest explosion caused the structural integrity of the tower to fail. The entire tower started leaning forward. He ran and jumped out of the window as far as he could, hoping to catch one of the tree branches nearby.

At the exact moment he jumped, the tower’s control room exploded and he felt a wave of heat on his back, as well as the pressure from the shockwave of the explosion.

He was thrown so far forward he missed the branch he had been aiming for and crashed against the tree’s trunk, hitting his head badly in the process.

He started his descent toward the ground, grabbing the first branch that passed him by, but it didn’t hold his weight and cracked. As he fell, he was stopped every now and then by other branches that slowed his descent, but not without inflicting a tremendous amount of pain. Many of his ribs broke, and by the time his body crashed near the bottom of the tree, he had lost consciousness.

* * *

After many unsuccessful hails to try and contact Ronan, Keera decided to cloak the Valken and head toward the planet’s surface.

The battle between the Alliance fleet and the Zarlacks was still ongoing, and it took some pretty fancy flying to avoid being hit by stray fire. When she entered orbit of the planet her cloak failed. Fortunately, she didn’t need it anymore, at least for the time being. She headed toward the coordinates where the Phoenix had crashed. She really hoped Ronan had managed to escape. A new dot appeared on her scopes. It was similar to the signal Ronan had asked her to amplify before.

Could that be the receiving device of that signal?

She locked onto the area and opened a channel.

“Is anyone receiving me?”

“Identify yourself,” answered a familiar female voice.

“Ryonna?”

“Who’s this?”

“It’s Keera. I’m looking for Ronan.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know. How did you get here so fast?”

“That’s a long story. Can you please come and pick me up?”

“I’m adjusting course to your position.”

“I’m not gonna stay in the area for long. Chase is about to battle a Fury and we all know what that means. I’ve just secured a military ground craft but this thing is way too slow. Let’s meet at the following coordinates.”

Keera received the transmission.

“Rendezvous coordinates received. See you soon.”

Keera adjusted her vector for the new rendezvous point and flew above the city that was destroyed by the Phoenix.

The damage was surreal.

I doubt many people could have survived that blast.

* * *

Ronan arrived near the coordinates indicated on his portable scanner and was horrified to see a pod in the distance, in the middle of a large field still on fire.

He ran as fast as he could toward the pod, finding a path amongst a labyrinth of flames. The temperature around him became unbearable but he kept at it nonetheless.

He reached a large and deep crevasse that blocked his way forward.

Dammit!

The crevasse ran as far as the eye could see on both sides and he needed to make a choice. His first instinct was to try to jump over it, but that would have been a risky proposition even if he was in full possession of his abilities. With his multiple wounds and the lack of oxygen around him, it was suicide, plain and simple.

He decided to go left and hoped to find a way across.

He tried hailing his friend again but there was no response.

After ten more minutes of running it became clear that he would need to build some sort of bridge in order to pass to the other side. He looked around him for anything to help him achieve that goal. There was a tree trunk not too far away but it was on fire. He checked his survival pack and drank some water. The smoke around him made it even more difficult to advance and his eyes were burning.

He kept going for another three miles when he finally saw a tree near the edge of the crevasse. It hadn’t been unearthed or burned. He took his sidearm blaster and shot multiple times at the base of the tree, and soon it cracked and fell forward. The top of the tree landed on the other side of the crevasse, providing him with a bridge to cross. He climbed on the trunk and jumped a couple of times to test its stability. It didn’t budge.

Well, that’s good enough I guess.

He was halfway over when the ground shook and he lost balance and nearly fell to his death. He fell flat on the trunk and started slipping. Ronan grabbed on for dear life as the ground shook more, hoping the crevasse wouldn’t enlarge as a result of the tremor. After some time the tremors stopped and he got back to his feet, increasing his pace. When he was over the other side he ran in the direction of the pod. He hoped with all his heart that Arknon hadn’t been cooked alive in the meantime.

He ran as fast as he could, avoiding patches of fire on the way, and reached the pod in under seven minutes. By then he was panting heavily and his head was spinning.

The pod was not accessible. There was fire all around it so Ronan took the portable extinguisher from his backpack and got rid of just enough flames to allow him access to the pod. Then he was faced with another problem. The door of the pod was facing the ground. He tried rolling it to the side but was rewarded with first-degree burns on both his hands.

Okay, dumb idea.

His feet were also burning but he ignored that and looked around for a large piece of wood. He found one he could use as a lever.

With much effort and pain, he finally managed to roll the pod onto its side. He looked through the pod’s window. It was very dirty. He grabbed some leaves from the ground to provide a little heat protection and wiped dirt from the window.

His friend was unconscious, with a nasty cut on his forehead and a lot of blood on his face.

He knocked at the window three times, hoping it would trigger movement in Arknon, but it didn’t.

“Arknon! Can you hear me? Arknon!”

Ronan couldn’t see well enough to know if his friend and commanding officer was still breathing.

Hang on, buddy, I’ll get you out of here.

Ronan looked for the external door ejection system but it was located on a part of the ship still facing dirt. He had to push the pod a little more on the side before accessing the external panel. Soon the door of the pod ejected and he carefully climbed inside.

14

Gaia approached Chase and put her hand on his shoulder. He felt a sting.

“Ouch! What was that?”

“Sorry for the temporary discomfort. I’ve just implanted you with transmitter nanobots.”

Chase rubbed his itchy shoulder. “You could have asked me first.”

“We need to be able to communicate without him hearing us. That will give us a tactical advantage.”

“Yeah, I get that, but you could still have asked first.”

“I’m sorry. I will next time.”

Chase looked dubious. “Next time?”

“Never mind that. Our foe is returning. Please be careful. Don’t underestimate him.”

“Yeah, yeah, Ares already gave me the pep talk. But I’m pissed and I need to blow off some steam, so he might just get something extra from me today.”

“No! Do not think this fight will be easy. He destroyed almost one hundred of my battle droids in the space of a few minutes, and if you hadn’t arrived when you did I would also be scrap metal now.”

Chase preferred not telling her that at this exact moment, it wouldn’t have been the worst of things.

“The nanobots are operational. I can hear your thoughts loud and clear.”

Chase scratched his head with a dumb smile on his face. “How much of what I just thought did you hear?”

“All of it.”

“Right . . . Oops, then.”

“Let’s move on. I don’t care whether or not you think I will be of some help. Together we stand a better chance of defeating him. All I care about is that he is stopped here so he cannot replicate this level of destruction on Earth.”

“Perhaps, but you’ll let me fight him first so I can gauge him. Then if needed you’ll intervene.”

“I feel obliged to point out that this is not an efficient strategy, Chase.”

“Still, you’ll do as I ask, Gaia. I’m grateful for the training facility you provided me, but I need to gauge my own progress now as well as size up this Fury. You have my authorization to intervene the minute anything goes wrong, but I start this fight on my own.”

“I should point out I do not need your authorization, but I will abide by your wishes for as long as it doesn’t conflict with my own interests.”

“Which are?”

“To not let your bravado kill you today, even though that is only a secondary objective, in all fairness.”

Chase smiled. “And the first being?”

“Kill both Furies currently on Droxian soil.”

“You’d make great friends with Ryonna.”

Chase didn’t know why he felt so excited at the prospect of fighting another Fury, but he preferred this sensation to the fear he felt when realizing the role he had played freeing the Furies from their dimensional prison.

When Arkoolis landed in front of Chase, he looked utterly pissed.

“Sorry about that. Are you going to be okay, pal?” teased Chase with an unusual level of arrogance.

“So you’re the one they call Laiyos. Argos’s brother.”

“My name actually is Chase Athanatos. And let’s get one thing clear: Argos is no brother of mine!”

“Mine is General Arkoolis. Argos told us you had rejected your Fury heritage and decided instead to fight us.”

“That’s right.”

“That was a foolish decision, and today you’ll pay for that dire mistake with your life. I will make sure of that.”

Chase decided to antagonize his enemy and gauge his reactions. Perhaps he could get something out of taunting him.

“Not part of my plan for the day, I’m afraid. Let’s recap, shall we? First I’ll kick your ass . . . General. Then I will go kill your other pal. Miseo is it? That’s if he survived the Droxian destroyer that got rammed up his ass a few moments ago.”

The general’s features and expression darkened.

“Awwww . . . You didn’t know that, now did you?”

The general clenched both fists. “Impetuous. I’ll grant you that. You do seem overly confident for a low-class Fury.”

“Low-class?” said Chase, raising an eyebrow.

Go ahead and tell me some valuable information now.

“There are different classes of fighters on our world. Some have a few meager powers but they aren’t really any more powerful than the millions of insects whose pathetic lives we’ve mercifully ended today on Droxia. We call them drones. They are the worker class of the Furies, if you will. They build, we fight. We occasionally use them as cannon-fodder in larger scale assaults when more than one or two of us are required to destroy a world’s population and infrastructure, but very few races ever called for such scenarios.”

That’s it. Keep spilling some more.

“Then there’re three distinct categories of fighters, like you and me. The low class. That would be you, by the way. The high-class. I would say Argos sits between these categories. Probably not a fully fledged high class just yet. With the right guidance and training, maybe one day. Then there’s the elite, of which I’m part. We are those sent to a world when it needs purifying.”

“Mercifully? Purifying? You know what, pal, mercifully purify the shit out of you is what I’m going to do next.”

Gaia talked inside Chase’s mind.

Is it really necessary to antagonize your adversary at this point?

I’m just making sure he’s taking me seriously. I have no intention of losing this fight and I want him to know that, answered Chase.

“I’m sure you’re going to try,” said the general, “but I’m not Argos, as you’ll soon discover.”

“Enough with this meaningless banter,” said Chase, cracking his knuckles, shoulders and neck. “Let’s dance.”

“Let’s indeed.”

The general took a fighting stance and so did Chase.

Chase was fully aware he needed the mental distraction to avoid thinking too much about Fillio’s passing and how strongly it would impact his best friend, not to mention the fact that Yanis already blamed him and hated his guts right now. This upcoming battle was about to achieve just that, make sure his mind was focused on something else. Perhaps even channel that rising feeling of anger he felt boiling at the back of his soul ever since he failed healing her. Chase wasn’t used to failing. That simply wasn’t in his vocabulary. And every time it happened, it hurt him a little more. But who was he angry at really? He wasn’t sure he wanted to face this question right now and the universe agreed.

The general started growing his bright red aura at an exponential rate.

Looks like Gaia was right. Looks like this isn’t going to be an easy fight.

Still, Chase felt excitement nonetheless. Now was the time to see if his intense training would pay off.

He grew his own purple aura and it matched the general’s in size and power. Chase saw the look of surprise in his adversary. He decided to make the first move.

He launched himself at Arkoolis and delivered a powerful blow to Arkoolis’s face. The general’s head flew backward and blood was thrown into the air, but his body hadn’t moved. Chase went for a second blow but found nothing but air. He sensed an incoming kick coming from behind him and dodged it by doing the splits. With both hands on the ground he inverted himself and scissor kicked his opponent. But he was ready for it and grabbed one of Chase’s legs and sent him flying in the air.

Chase quickly recovered in midair and saw no less than five fireballs approaching his position. He deflected four of them and caught the last one in his right hand. He crushed it to nothingness with a smirk on his face. He landed back in front of Arkoolis who was smiling as well.

“Impressive.”

“For a low-class Fury, you mean?” said Chase, still playfully taunting him.

“Let’s see how long you can keep it up at this level of energy, though.”

“I’m only getting started here. Let’s kick things into high gear, shall we?”

The general disappeared and reappeared behind Chase. He threw his elbow at Chase, who easily blocked it. He retaliated with a kick to the general’s chin, who also blocked the blow without breaking a sweat. He took Chase by surprise by head butting him in the face, which forced him to take three steps back. Chase used an index finger to wipe blood from a cut on his chin. He rubbed it between his fingers.

Chase extended both arms out from his sides and grabbed two massive boulders in the distance with his mind. He clapped his hands together and the boulders crashed against the general, exploding into a million little, stony pieces.

It took a few seconds for the dust cloud to clear and reveal Arkoolis still standing there, not a scratch on him.

“You’ll need more than boulders to bring me down.”

Chase knew that, but he was still gauging his enemy’s reaction. He had expected the general to get out of the way of the boulders, so he could get him off guard with his next attack. That obviously didn’t happen.

“Looks like it, but we’re running out of destroyers,” said Chase, grinning.

The general growled.

“Don’t worry, General, if he survived, I promise I’ll finish off Miseo once we’re done here, so you have someone to talk to in hell.”

The general laughed hard. “You’re funny. I like that. But you’re too sure of yourself.”

“Not the first time I’ve been told that.”

“I bet. Let’s see how you handle what’s coming next.”

The general ran toward him and disappeared a millisecond before reaching Chase, who had already adopted a defensive stance. When he turned around no one was there. That’s when he felt fire rain from the heavens. Without even looking for the attacks but feeling their incoming power, Chase back flipped just in time as the first attack exploded against the ground. He continued his backflips to dodge all four attacks, but in the middle of the last one he felt Arkoolis’ knee impact with the right side of his ribcage and he was sent flying into the dirt.

Before he was back up three more fireballs were on their way. He deflected them all and again, at the end of his last movement, he was taken by surprise by a very powerful uppercut that sent him traveling vertically in the air. Before Chase could recover, Arkoolis unleashed his next attack, an extremely fast combo of punches and kicks, and finished with a full-body, reverse flying kick that sent Chase crashing back to the ground.

Chase’s body ached all over as he got back up and dusted himself off.

Now would be a good time for me to join the fight, heard Chase in his head.

It’s not needed, Gaia, I have things well under control.

It doesn’t look like it from where I’m standing. He is faster than you.

I want him to think that. I haven’t yet deployed my full abilities; I need to learn how he fights first.

By getting your face beaten to a pulp?

If that’s what it takes, then yeah. I need to be able to anticipate his movements if I want to defeat him.

I see. Careful, he’s coming from behind you.

“I know,” said Chase out loud as he pivoted his body and landed a powerful right kick into the general’s face.

Arkoolis lost his balance and crashed to the ground. Chase unleashed a flurry of icy-blue fireballs his way. The general dodged the incoming attacks by flying upwards. Chase jumped in pursuit and went for a kick to the general’s face but only found air. The general reappeared above of him with both hands joined and smashed them down in order to hammer Chase. But he was prepared for it and dodged the blow at the very last moment, putting himself in a perfect position to counterattack.

He lit both his hands with blue flames and unleashed an incredibly fast combo of punches, including hooks and uppercuts. He ended it by grabbing the general’s armor with his left hand and head butting him with such strength the general flew away and impacted with a nearby mountain. It exploded upon impact.

Chase flew back toward the ground. After landing he cracked his neck. He checked his internal pool of energy. He had consumed less than two percent.

This fight was only beginning.

* * *

Ryonna saw the Valken approach her position, stopped her combat cycle and dismounted.

She experienced a strange feeling when she looked around and saw only destruction: her planet, her home, was literally on fire. She had never imagined she would be a witness to anything like it.

And to think only two people were responsible for this.

She was also worried about her son. She hated not having news from him, and the moment the Valken landed she ran into the cockpit and sat next to Keera.

“Nice to see you again, Ryonna.”

“Likewise. Let’s go. We need to find my son.”

“Roger that.” Keera brought the Valken high up in the sky and punched the engines to their maximum. “He’s a very resourceful kid. I’m sure he survived.”

Ryonna felt a sting in her heart. He was still an adolescent, and no matter how proud she was of him, she still felt overly protective. But Keera’s words filled her with pride. “I take it you two have met?”

“Only via comms, but he gave me the feeling he was a bright and courageous kid.”

Ryonna smiled. “Thank you for helping my son, Keera.”

“I was just at the right place at the right time, I guess.”

“Still, this isn’t your fight. I appreciate what you’re doing for us.”

“If I’ve learned anything during my time with Chase and his friends—you included—it’s that one doesn’t back down in the face of overwhelming odds.”

“Yes, as difficult as it is for me to say this, Chase does have that effect on everyone who gets into his orbit. We all strive to be better versions of ourselves since we met him.”

“Do you think he can defeat the Furies today?”

“I have no idea, but if anyone can, it’s him. We’re clearly not equipped to deal with the Furies ourselves.”

“Yeah, I got that. But he’s only one man, Fury— Well, whatever he is.”

“He’s willing to risk his life to save us all, even when he gets flak for his efforts.”

“What are you referring to?”

“Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Keera looked at her instruments. “We should reach the impact location in about ten minutes.”

“Very well. I haven’t eaten anything for more than a day. Anything I could sink my teeth into?”

“There are plenty of provisions in the mess hall. Help yourself to anything you’d like.”

Ryonna got up from the co-pilot’s seat and put her hand on Keera’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

* * *

When Daniel opened his eyes he was no longer in the forest. He found himself resting on a bed with a wet towel on his forehead.

What happened? Where am I?

“Anybody here?” he asked.

There was no immediate response, but then a young woman with long blonde hair came into his room.

“Hello,” said Daniel, not sure what else to say.

“Hello, sir, my name is Sendra. You don’t have to worry. We don’t mean you any harm.”

“We?”

“My mom and I. We found you near that building that exploded a while back.”

“I see. I take it I have you to thank for all of this,” said Daniel, pointing at his bandages.

She nodded and smiled.

“Well, thank you. Any chance you brought some of my gear with me?”

She opened a wooden cupboard, took a few things out and put them on Daniel’s bed. He tried to sit up but was rewarded with a strong pain that traveled his spine. “Ouch.”

“You shouldn’t try to move too much for the time being. You seem quite injured.”

“Yeah, a hundred-yard fall will do that to anyone, I guess.”

“How did you survive?”

“Let’s just say a tree helped.”

“I should get my mother. She will want to talk with you.”

“Very well. I’ll be right here. Looks like I’m not going anywhere for a while.”

Sendra smiled and left the room.

When she returned with her mother, Daniel thought he recognized her from a photo on the commodore’s desk.

“Are you the Saroudis family?”

The mother sent her daughter out of the room, closed the door and took a blaster out and pointed it at Daniel. “Who are you? How do you know our names?”

“Relax. Your husband is my commanding officer.”

Her eyes watered and she dropped the blaster to the ground.

“He will be really happy to hear you survived. Are your other two children around as well? We should try to get the commodore on the line.”

She wiped some of her tears, “Commodore?”

“Your husband was promoted.”

She smiled for a second, but her expression quickly turned back to sorrow. “I’m afraid neither of our sons made it.”

“I’m so sorry to hear this. Please accept my deepest condolences for your loss.”

“Thank you, mister . . .?”

“Tharraleos, Commander Daniel Tharraleos. It’s an honor to meet the wife of Commodore Saroudis. Without him we would all have been killed.”

“Why did it take you guys so long to come back to Alpha Prime?”

“It’s a long story. We were stranded on the other side of the galaxy. Outside the known regions, in fact.”

“Where is my husband, Daniel?”

“In orbit. I lost contact with the Destiny a few hours ago, but I’m sure they’re fine. We just need to find a way to communicate with the ship.”

“What’s the status of the Star Alliance? It’s been so long that we have lost all hope.”

“It has been mostly annihilated. Only a few ships survived the Zarlack attack. In fact, we thought they had completely destroyed Alpha Prime.”

Daniel put himself in her shoes. It must have been hard to not know if anyone had survived in the Alliance, and to wonder if her husband had been one of the victims. He could see in her eyes a mixture of pain, sadness and a smidgen of hope.

“I see. Here it’s been hell. When the attack began it rained fire from the heavens. In mere hours the biggest cities had been bombarded from space, and only a few survived. When we first met other survivors we thought at first that we could rebuild. But then they sent these lizard men to the surface. They tracked us and killed us by the thousands. Joshua, our first son, was killed in the bombing of the cities, and Ethan died sacrificing himself so we could escape certain death when a battalion of lizards came hunting us.”

Her tears now streamed down her tired face like wild rivers.

“I’m so sorry for what you had to go through. How did you manage to survive for so long?”

“We hid in underground complexes, caves, and moved farther and farther away from the big cities. After a few months the enemy seemed to have left, but they had left booby traps all around. We were attacked by vicious droids. Those that were once our servants had been reprogrammed to exterminate us.”

Daniel remembered his deadly encounter with one such machine.

“Did a resistance build? We came back the minute we received a distress call coming from the tower where you found me.”

“I don’t know. We’re always on the run. We never stay in one place more than a few weeks. It’s been more than two months since we saw another soul.”

“I see.” Daniel tried to sit up in bed.

“I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to move just yet. Your injuries are severe. We don’t have the necessary equipment to see if you have any internal ones. Perhaps you should rest until the Destiny finds us.”

“I have to contact your husband. The sooner I’m in med-bay on board Destiny, the sooner I can get patched up.”

He still throbbed with pain, but he forced himself through it. Once he sat on the bed he looked through the gear Sendra had put by his legs but he didn’t see any communications devices.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a communicator, Mrs. Saroudis?”

“Call me Alexandra. And I’m afraid not. Anything that emits strong electromagnetic signals could attract the wrong crowd.”

Made sense.

“How far are we from the tower?”

“About ten miles.”

Daniel realized the effort it must have taken to bring his unconscious body back from so far away and was really grateful. “Thanks for getting me out of harm’s way. It must not have been easy.”

“Reaper helped.”

“Reaper?”

“Our wolfen pet. He’s very strong. Once we made a structure to lay you upon, he dragged you back most of the way.”

Wolfens were very difficult to tame but it was said that once they had formed a bond with humanoids, they were loyal for life.

“I’ll have to thank him personally then.”

“If he takes a liking to you. He can be very aggressive with strangers. He saved our hide more times than I care to count.”

Daniel nodded. “I need to get back out there. Hopefully our shuttle is still intact and that’s the fastest way of rejoining the Destiny.”

“If you do you’ll have to go on your own. It’s pure luck we found you. We were gathering mushrooms in a forest nearby when we heard the explosion. I didn’t want to come but Sendra can be very persuasive. However, the area where we found you is notorious for droid patrols. Many have lost power by now, but if we have learned anything it is that we can’t be too cautious these days.”

“Then I should try to get my shuttle, swing back to pick you up here and bring you back on board the Destiny.”

“Do what you have to do, Daniel, but as far as coming with you, I’ll have to discuss that with my daughter.”

Daniel frowned. How was it possible that she didn’t want to jump at the opportunity to get back on board her husband’s ship? “I thought you’d want to see Adonis.”

“Daniel, don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful he survived, but he abandoned us here. For months we had to fend for ourselves. Both my sons are dead. I don’t know what to think anymore.”

“It’s not his fault, Alexandra. We also have been fighting for our lives on a daily basis ever since the fall of the Alliance.”

“And you are still fighting off the Obsidian?”

“It’s complicated. The lizard men you talked about are called the Zarlacks. We’ve been fighting them mostly. A Fury named Argos commanded their forces, and while we took out a lot of it—thanks to an alliance with the world that sheltered us after the fall—he has now freed the rest of the Furies.”

“Furies? You must be mistaken. They were defeated thousands of years ago.”

“I’m afraid not, and they’re back and wreaking all sorts of havoc. In fact, the Obsidian is now part of the newly formed Earth Alliance. They are helping us fight them back.”

“I’m not sure I like the world you’re describing, Daniel. Perhaps things aren’t so bad here after all.”

Daniel bit his lip.

Good job selling her on coming with you.

Daniel tried to get up from his bed but a cascade of pain radiated all over his body.

“You should try and rest some more.”

Daniel didn’t want to rest. He wanted to get to the shuttle and return to the Destiny, but his body didn’t seem to want to comply at the moment.

“Just an hour or two, then I’m going.”

15

Ronan checked the state of his friend Arknon. He was relieved to find a pulse but was worried by the multiple wounds all over his body. He used his portable scanner to try to get a better picture of his state of health and cringed at the result.

Arknon had internal bleeding and it was a miracle he was still breathing, even if ever-so-faintly. The temperature inside the pod was rising fast due to the proximity of the furnace outside, more so since the pod had been opened. Ronan had to act fast. He grabbed Arknon and put him on his shoulder.

“Hang on, my friend, I’m getting you out of here.”

Moving him this way was highly risky, but better than letting him cook inside the pod.

Ronan climbed out of the pod as carefully as he could. He put distance between them and the nearby towering inferno until the temperature was more bearable.

He laid Arknon’s body in the grass, went for the first-aid kit in his backpack and bandaged Arknon’s visible wounds.

When he ran out of bandages, Ronan removed Arknon’s boots, put them back on his own feet and quickly ran back to the pod to get the other first-aid kit. When he was about to climb out again he heard the comms on the pod activate.

“R-nan. Do --- hear? --ease respond.”

Ronan thought he recognized his mother’s voice but it couldn’t be her. She was too far away. Perhaps Keera had managed to patch her through.

He climbed back inside the pod and tried clearing the signal.

“This is Ronan. Is it you, Keera?”

“Thank the prophets you’re alive, son. I’m on board the Valken with Keera. We’re on our way. We should be there shortly.”

“It’s good to hear your voice, Mom. Weren’t you supposed to be on Alpha Prime? How did you get back here so fast?”

“It’s a long story, Ronan. I’ll tell you later.”

“Alright. Please hurry up. Commander Arknon is badly hurt. He needs urgent medical attention.”

“See you soon, son. Stay near the pod.”

“I’ll be a few hundred yards east of it. It’s too hot here. Plus I need to watch over Arknon.”

“Very well, son, see you shortly. Take a portable comms with you so we can contact you; and please be careful.”

“Right. See you soon.”

He looked around the pod for an earpiece communicator, put it in and activated it.

“Checking comms. Do you hear me, Mom?”

“Five by five, son. Our ETA is four minutes.”

Ronan ran back toward Arknon when a nearby explosion made him lose his balance and fall to the ground. When he got back on his feet he looked in the direction of the blast and what he saw made his blood freeze.

There stood a man in the middle of the fire, with his arms slightly extended to the sides, while pieces of burning ship and tons of soil and stones were sent flying all around him. A piece of the Phoenix rebounded only a few yards from him.

This is not possible. He can’t be alive!

But there stood the Fury, his skin burned to a crisp. His eyes shone red, giving him a demonic look. He levitated. While in the air he curled into a ball and suddenly extended his limbs, unleashing a powerful shockwave that extinguished most of the fire around him. He unleashed the most ear-piercing, powerful and animalistic roar Ronan had ever heard. A bright red aura engulfed his entire body and his burns quickly healed.

What kind of monster is this?

After a few seconds the Fury’s skin was smooth, and he looked in perfect health.

Ronan was terrified. His brain simply could not interpret what he had just witnessed. He had to get back to Arknon but his limbs simply refused to move as fear enveloped him from head to toe. He couldn’t help looking at the Fury. Then their gazes met. The look on the Fury’s face intensified and he flew toward Ronan.

That sent the biggest jolt of adrenaline throughout his body and his legs started moving. He ran as fast as he could toward Arknon, but before traveling half the distance, the Fury landed in front of him with a look of murder in his glowing eyes.

“You! Are you responsible for this?” asked the Fury as he pointed toward whatever was left of the Phoenix.

“What’s it to you?”

“I’m gonna kill you anyway, but if you’re the one responsible, I might actually take my time and enjoy myself.”

Ronan swallowed hard. He had never felt so afraid in his entire life, but his Droxian pride wouldn’t let him show it.

“I really thought that would kill you, asshole.”

Miseo’s teeth clenched.

“Someone had to do something. You were destroying my world one city at a time.”

“As it should be, and I’m glad you told me the truth.”

Ronan didn’t wait. He sent a powerful right hook toward Miseo. When his fist impacted with the Fury’s face, not only did it not budge, but Ronan felt a horrible pain as the bones in his hand cracked upon impact. It felt as if he had just punched a twenty-inch-thick wall made of quadrinium-reinforced alloy.

“A destroyer didn’t take me out and you think you can hit me with your fist? Your kind is so pathetically stupid; we’re actually doing the universe a favor by wiping you out.”

Ronan held his broken hand in the other, his face deformed from the pain. He was not sure what had been wounded more, though, his hand or his pride.

Miseo smirked and shook his head from side to side.

“Proving my point. Now for some real pain.”

He extended his index finger toward Ronan and started levitating him upwards.

Ronan’s ear-comm activated. “Hang on, Ronan, we’re near.”

“You’d better hurry up,” said Ronan out loud.

Miseo, who thought Ronan was talking to him, smiled. “You’re courageous for a boy your age, I’ll grant you that, but I’m going to enjoy taking my time with you.”

A thin, red laser beam shot from Miseo’s finger and pierced Ronan’s shoulder. The burning sensation radiated around the point of entry.

For a moment Ronan thought he would pass out.

* * *

Sarah went to see Yanis in engineering but he wasn’t there. She tried his quarters, but there was no answer. She tried getting him on the comms.

“Sarah Kepler to Yanis, please come in.”

Still no answer. She had no doubt he was in no mood to answer right now, but the Hope’s internal power distribution was a mess. The engineering crew were doing their best to repair the broken conduits but they could use Yanis’ expertise. He had designed the ship, after all. Sarah knew how cruel it was for her to ask him to get back to work in a moment like this, but she also wanted to see how he was doing.

She resorted to asking the computer for his current position. He was inside a bulkhead tube near one of the damaged power conduits. After climbing three flights of ladder and crawling through the access tunnel, she was exhausted. Not really easy in her condition. Little Chris was really starting to show on her. In fact, she had no doubt that both Chase and the doc would reprimand her if they knew she was putting herself in such uncomfortable positions.

She felt a little worried about her pregnancy. Not only had she never really envisioned having kids, but Chris was going to be something else altogether. Reviving dead people, protecting her with in-womb shields and god knows what else. What human mother wouldn’t be terrified of what was growing inside her under these circumstances?

She saw Yanis with his head between his knees, sobbing, and it stung her heart just looking at him.

“Yanis, mind if I talk with you a little?”

Her voice startled him and he quickly wiped his tears. His voice trembled a little. “Sure thing, Cap.”

She sat next to him and put her hand around his shoulder. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Yanis.”

“Thank you. I still can’t believe she’s gone.”

“I know. You want to talk about it?”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, Sarah, but I’d rather be alone right now.”

“I understand, but perhaps it’s better if you have someone to talk to.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Sarah. You know I like you, but right now you just remind me of Chase, and that’s not a good thing.”

“You do realize he did everything he could to save her?”

“So he says. But if he wasn’t coming up with one ludicrous tactic after another, she’d still be alive.”

“I think you’ve got it backward, Yanis. If Chase wasn’t doing what he does, I think we’d all be dead ten times over by now. But I can understand how you feel at the moment. I’m sorry to have bothered you. I’ll let you be alone now.”

He embraced her and started crying on her shoulder.

She felt so sad for him. Fillio was all that was left of his family. He must have felt terribly alone right now.

“We’ll always be here for you,” she said as she patted his back softly. “I know you hate Chase’s guts right now, but trust me, he feels like crap as well.”

“I keep thinking this is a nightmare and I’m gonna wake up soon. I really thought he would get her back.”

“I know.”

Yanis released his hug and looked down. His eyes were red. “I said horrible things to him. Not only that, but I might have been partly responsible for her death as well.”

“What are you talking about? You did nothing wrong.”

“When Chase put her on the ground in front of me, I saw the multiple electrical burns all over her body. I think I caused this trying to improve the StarFury. I’m sure Chase told you that the new revisions could overload?”

“He did.”

“Well, it’s a design flaw I thought wouldn’t happen often. But when three Zarlack destroyers sacrifice themselves to take an entire fleet, that incommensurable burst of energy certainly overloaded her fighter’s power conduits, and the electrical burns on her body before he healed them were proof of that. So you see, in fact I might have killed my own sister.”

“No, this war killed her. Neither you nor Chase are responsible. You both did what you thought was best. When you feel better you can tell him you didn’t really mean it.”

“I guess so. I was never too keen on him at first. I really hated that he dated her back at the academy.”

“He did what now?”

“I’m sorry, I thought you knew. They were pretty close once.”

Sarah felt a little jealous for just a moment, and then realized she had nothing to be jealous about. So what if they had dated before he met her? She had dated other men as well. Chase went through hell and back to rescue her, and even though she was still a little mad at the consequences, she couldn’t blame him for it. In fact, she was fully aware there was no bigger proof of love, and yet she had given him so much grief for it. Nah, it really didn’t matter that he dated Fillio in the past.

“She never really recovered when he ended it.”

“Why did he?”

“Mostly because I asked him to. In fact, they had both been assigned to the Cronos, but after our talk he agreed to take his commission on the smaller Destiny with me, to make it simpler and use that as a reason to distance himself from her.”

“That’s quite a bro move, right there.”

“Yeah, I know. And I wasn’t even being such a good friend to him until then. But he saw how important it was for me, and he backed off. That’s why I feel so bad telling him I hated him earlier on. But I still can’t fathom she’s gone and I’m still angry. I’m not so sure that I’m angry at him. He just was an easy target, being there when it happened.”

“I understand, Yanis, and so will Chase. Don’t worry about that right now and take all the time you need to grieve. I came here to tell you that whenever you need to talk to anyone, you can come see me.”

“Thank you, Sarah. You and Chase are the best friends a man could ever ask for.”

She patted his shoulder affectionately and started walking back toward the access shaft.

“Sarah?”

“Yes, Yanis?”

“Was that all you wanted to say?”

“No, but it doesn’t matter. You need your alone time and I respect that.”

“You know what, Sarah, I could use a distraction, so if there’s something I can help you with? Perhaps it will help me think about something else.”

“In that case, we really need to repair power distribution. In fact, I thought that’s what you came here to do.”

“I did initially . . . until I broke down.”

“Well, take all the time you need, okay?”

He nodded. “Thanks.”

“Sure thing, buddy. I need to go back to the bridge now. I’ll see you later, okay?”

* * *

Saroudis was sitting on his captain’s chair on board the Destiny. The moment the last Zarlack destroyer had been dispatched, he had coordinated multiple search and rescue teams in their attempt to find survivors in the debris field that was once their battleground. A couple of ships had been disabled, so these received shuttles with engineers on board to help with repairs of their main systems. These could still be salvaged. But locating survivor pilots in their disabled starfighters, or other crewmen within severed parts of the capital ships, took a long time.

“Any news from the away team?” he asked his communications officer.

“I’m afraid no answer from Alpha Team. I dispatched Beta to look for them an hour ago,” answered Lieutenant Brents.

“I don’t like it. It’s not like Commander Tharraleos to miss a scheduled report.”

“There might simply be too much interference from the debris field.”

Saroudis didn’t buy it. Something was definitely amiss.

It had been a very hard day, and Saroudis hated the fact that they couldn’t travel back to Droxia right away. He really hoped Chase could defeat the opposition there, but he hated not being there as backup. Commodore Saroudis rose from his chair as the rest of the bridge crew looked at him.

“Major Bradis, you have the bridge. Commander Philis, you’re with me. We’re going to the planet’s surface to help Beta Team locate Daniel and his team.”

Twenty minutes later Saroudis, Philis and three more armed soldiers were doing flybys on the surface of their now derelict home world.

“Would you look at the damage?” said the commodore.

“Yes, Commodore, it’s hard to believe anyone might have survived down there.”

“I sure hope you’re wrong. I haven’t lost hope my family could have survived.”

“I’m sorry, Commodore, I didn’t mean anything by it. The way you talked about them in the past, I didn’t know they were on Alpha Prime. I thought they had been killed earlier in the war.”

“That’s alright, Commander, I should never have talked about them in the past tense. It sent the wrong message. At least not before I was sure. But the fall of the Star Alliance had been so fast and brutal I didn’t really think there was a shadow of hope in that regard. Think nothing of it, Commander.”

The commander looked at his controls. He clearly didn’t know what else to say. “I’m picking up some readings one hundred miles southwest of our current position.”

“We should have a look at it. Adjust our course, Commander, and punch it.”

“Course adjusted, Commodore.”

They soon saw the column of smoke rising from their target destination.

“Seems something went wrong over there,” said the commander.

“Let’s check it out.”

* * *

When Sarah arrived at her quarters she felt dizzy. Something was happening inside her belly. She felt a warmth build up within her.

I can’t be due already. It’s too early! What the hell is this?

She managed to crawl onto her bed and rested on her back, trying to calm herself down with deeper breaths. She was petrified by what was happening. Chris was very agitated. She could feel him moving inside her as if he wanted to get out.

When she lifted her shirt she saw her belly glowing: it did nothing to reassure her. When she was about to call a medical emergency, something happened.

She was no longer in her quarters but, instead, she stood on an alien world. From the description Ryonna had given of her home world, she sensed it was Droxia. The planet was in ruins. Cities had been leveled and fires burned as far as her eyes could see.

“Hello, Mom,” said a voice behind her.

Startled, she turned around and saw a fully grown young man, looking at her with a big smile on his face. He was an awesome young man. His face reminded her of Chase somehow, but also bore some of her own traits as well as her father’s. He had flaming-red, long hair like hers, and had one green eye and one purple one.

“What . . . what did you call me?”

“It’s me, Mom, Chris.”

“This cannot be. I must be delirious from the pain and you’re just a figment of my imagination.”

“I’ve brought you here to calm you down. I sensed your fears and wanted to let you know everything will be alright.”

She shook her head. “This is not happening. It can’t. You haven’t been born yet. How can I stand here speaking with you?”

“Listen carefully, Mom, Dad is in serious trouble, and I will need to send some of my own life-force to help him fight our enemies.”

“Is that what’s happening with my glowing belly?”

“Yes, but fear not. You won’t be harmed, but I’m afraid some discomfort cannot be prevented.”

“How can you help your father? We’re gazillions of miles apart!”

“You shouldn’t worry about that, Mom. I just want you to breathe deeply and trust that I won’t hurt you. Only then can I send some of my energy to Droxia. As long as you’re agitated and afraid I can’t do it without hurting you in the process.”

She was so shocked that she had practically forgotten where she stood. “Is this how things are at the moment on the planet?”

“Yes, but Dad is fighting with all his might to make it stop. There are still hundreds of millions of souls that can be saved on Droxia today. He knows that and right now he needs a little help.”

“Let’s say for one second that I am indeed talking to you and this isn’t just in my head.”

“Well, technically it is, but it’s real nonetheless.”

“Right. Chase is fighting Furies on Droxia right this moment?”

“He’s fighting one of them at the moment, yes.”

“And you’re going to send some of your life energy to him?”

“That’s correct. But we must hurry. Soon you’ll wake up. Please remember what I said and just breathe deeply and trust me. Nothing bad will happen to you.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry, just breathe.”

The scene in front of her eyes changed and morphed back into the familiar bulkheads and viewport from her quarters. Except everything was tainted with a golden light now.

She closed her eyes.

Relax, everything will be okay . . .

She took deep, long breaths and forced herself to calm down.

That’s when it happened. She felt the skin on her belly burn for just a second and all the previous discomfort faded away.

When she opened her eyes a golden sphere of energy pulsated a few inches above her. The radiant glow enveloped her with warmth from head to toe and she felt as light as a feather.

Thanks, Mom, she heard in her thoughts.

The sphere of energy started shaking uncontrollably and soon it collapsed into nothingness before her eyes.

* * *

When Arkoolis unleashed three series of side kicks, exchanging feet as he pivoted on himself in between each attack, Chase blocked the incoming blows with his forearms, but soon the speed of the general’s attack increased tremendously and three successive kicks hit Chase respectively on the right leg, torso and finally on his head, sending him down.

Arkoolis created a big red fireball and threw it at Chase before he could recover. The explosion launched him into the air. Arkoolis went for the kill with a flaming uppercut, but Chase spun in midair and countered the attack by erecting a shield, successfully blocking the incoming punch.

Chase spun multiple times in the air before landing on the ground, skidding a few yards backward as he did.

He unleashed a series of blue fireballs toward the general, who deflected them with his hands. The deflected fireballs exploded all around them, sending soil, stones and grass into the air.

The fight was well balanced up till now, but then the ground shook briefly. Chase felt a tremendous amount of power at that exact moment.

Crap, that has to be Miseo.

Chase realized what it meant. Soon there would be two Furies to fight and that would make things much more difficult. While he had no doubt the other Fury had survived the impact with the Phoenix, he had hoped he would have more time to finish this fight.

He knew all along that the general was a formidable warrior, but expected his training to have been enough to enable him to defeat him any time he felt like it. Up till now neither had any serious advantage over the other, and it was not for a lack of trying on Chase’s part.

Perhaps it’s time I gave you a hand, said Gaia in his mind.

Chase remembered she could actually hear his thoughts now.

Yeah, okay. We need to dispatch him before Miseo arrives.

Agreed.

Feel free to intervene whenever you feel like it.

Keep attacking him. I will surprise him, and then you can finish him off.

Chase was not keen on that tactic as he felt it wasn’t an honorable way to fight, but he went with it anyway.

The general made the first move and attacked Chase with all his might. He was fast, even for Chase. Even after his 10 G training he had to use all his energy to keep up. But he dodged the first three combos Arkoolis threw at him.

Then Gaia made her move. Her avatar droid sent its knee toward the general’s chin. He didn’t expect it and he was sent flying upwards. A little blood was expelled from his mouth.

Chase took advantage of Gaia’s attack and sent two dozen small fireballs toward the general. They all found their target and he was thrown left and right, each new explosion inflicting more and more damage.

But then Chase stopped.

What are you doing, Chase? Finish him off while you can!

I can’t. This is not how I want to win this fight.

Chase, only the result matters! He killed millions of Droxians today.

Why am I not surprised an AI would say that? An incomplete one at that. I’m sorry, Gaia, I will avenge the Droxian people by defeating these two Furies, but I need to win this fight on my own terms.

Very well. I can sense you won’t budge on this, so I’ll finish him off myself.

I don’t think you stand a chance; you should really stand down, Gaia.

But Gaia didn’t answer. She was already flying upwards, both fists extended, and hit the general in the back as he crashed back down toward the ground, still not having recovered from the brunt of Chase’s repeated attacks.

Chase felt a little annoyed. But then it all went south really fast.

Gaia landed a series of powerful combos and bruised the general’s face, but then she missed with three of her punches and Arkoolis grabbed her droid arm.

“You shouldn’t have intervened in this fight, tin can,” said Arkoolis, just before ripping Gaia’s arm off the rest of her body.

He threw the robotic limb to the ground. Sparks flew and oil squirted from the droid’s now armless shoulder.

“You’re done,” said Arkoolis, extending his open right palm in front of him.

From it shot a powerful column of red energy that impaled the Gaia droid and left a basketball-sized hole in the droid’s chest. Arkoolis then flew toward it and decapitated it with a powerful, flying kick.

Gaia’s droid head rolled and landed not far from Chase. Its eyes blinked madly for a second and then faded to nothingness.

Chase felt sorry for the Gaia droid, but he had been adamant about not winning the fight this way.

Sorry, Gaia.

Arkoolis concentrated his aura and healed his wounds.

“Now, where were we?”

Chase grew his aura and took an offensive posture.

The general rocketed into the air. Chase went in pursuit but couldn’t fly as fast as his Fury opponent. When he had gained enough of a head start, Arkoolis stopped and grew a gigantic fireball above him. It was almost a mile in diameter. When Chase caught up with him, Arkoolis launched it toward the south. It slowly advanced toward the nearest city.

Bastard!

“That’s for letting that piece of metal intervene in our fight. To each action there are consequences.”

Chase’s reaction was instantaneous. He flew as fast as he could toward the slowly advancing fireball. He was by its side pretty quickly and fired two powerful columns of blue energy into it, trying to detonate it in the air. But it had no effect. He flew in front of it, positioning himself between it and the city, hovering about two miles above the surface. He launched a huge column of blue energy toward the fiery inferno that approached relentlessly.

When Chase’s attack impacted with the general’s fireball it slowed its descent a little, but it kept coming toward him and the city. The resulting shockwave traveled all around him and shattered most of the nearby skyscraper windows into millions of pieces. Chase increased the power of his energy stream, which further slowed down the incoming attack, but soon it was upon Chase. He stopped firing and tried blocking the fireball with both his hands extended before him.

The amount of energy was such that Chase couldn’t slow its descent fast enough, and soon he was descending as well, being pushed little by little toward the city with the giant ball of fiery energy.

“You fool! You can’t stop this attack with your bare hands,” shouted Arkoolis from afar.

I have to! I can’t let more millions of lives perish here today. Whatever it takes I will stop this monstrosity from hitting the city.

Soon he was approaching the top of the highest skyscrapers and everything shook for miles around. More windows exploded and the temperature rose to dangerous levels. Chase could sense the panic from the Droxians below. He could hear the screams of people witnessing the scene unfold.

When his back touched the nearest building he went through the concrete and metal and the fireball started consuming the skyscraper little by little.

Chase intensified his aura to the maximum and all his muscles doubled in size. He pushed with all his might.

I can do it! I have to! he kept repeating to himself.

Then he felt an energy added to his own. The energy was loaded with love and warmth. It gave him a much-needed boost in power.

Chase pushed the gigantic ball of fire back as blue waves of energy emanated from his hands. The enormous sphere of energy soon turned blue. Chase repelled the attack, and he soon cleared the city’s skyscraper area.

“Careful, Dad, he’s coming at you. Push hard, NOW!”

Chase pushed as hard as he could and the sphere of energy shot into the heavens at tremendous speed. A fraction of a second later, he sensed Arkoolis approaching him from the left and dodged his flying kick at the last possible instant. Losing no time he grabbed the leg of the general and whirled around. Soon he whirled so fast he looked like a miniature cyclone. He released the general’s leg and sent him crashing miles away into the dirt. When the general impacted with the ground at such high velocity he skidded for miles, destroying everything in his path and leaving a deep trail.

16

On board the last remaining Zarlack destroyer still in the fight, Argos now had to contend with the four remaining Alliance destroyers still battle worthy. Their combined firepower in their current state wasn’t enough to drain his shields completely, but he often needed to use evasive action and retreat away from the theater of battle in order to let them recharge.

Suddenly a massive attack sphere of blue energy grazed his ship and illuminated his entire ready room with a blue tinge, for just half a second. The ship rocked and he was thrown away from his throne and unceremoniously dumped on the ground. Sparks flew from power conduits nearby and a large crack appeared in his viewport window.

What the hell was that?

He rushed back to his throne to check his instruments.

His destroyer’s shields were now offline. The ship rocked several more times as the enemy fleet started pounding its armor with battery fire and whatever torpedoes they still possessed.

A violent explosion on the bridge sent flames through to his ready room, obliterating the door that separated the rooms in the process.

Looks like it’s time to go.

Argos erected a force field around himself and levitated a few feet from the deck. He then flew downwards at incredible speed, punching through the different decks on his way to the landing bay, where his ship awaited him. He left a trail of red-hot burned metal as he traveled through his ship. Everything around him exploded and the Zarlack destroyer was only seconds from blowing up entirely.

He reached the Dark Star, sat in his pilot’s chair and boosted the engines to the maximum. He saw a Droxian destroyer on a collision course with his destroyer and lost no time activating his jump engines the second he was off the landing-bay deck. He micro-jumped away only a few thousand miles and activated the Dark Star’s cloak.

“This day isn’t going as well as I had hoped, but the general and Miseo have destroyed most of the planet already. It’s time to scoop them up.”

Or is it?

Argos pondered if perhaps he should leave them down there in the hope that Chase would dispatch them both, but there was so little chance of that happening that he quickly resigned himself to entering the atmosphere and vectoring the Dark Star toward Arkoolis’ and Miseo’s last known coordinates. If any of them survived and he ran, he would be executed by the supreme commander. Of that he had no doubts whatsoever.

* * *

Miseo still held Ronan in the air and was about to send another of his piercing laser attacks, when he was suddenly hit by an invisible object traveling at an extremely high velocity.

The Valken had just rammed Miseo. The collision lit up its shields and sent the Fury tumbling to the ground hundreds of yards away. At the moment Miseo’s grasp on Ronan loosened he fell to the ground.

“Are you alright, son?” asked Ryonna over the comms.

“Thanks. I’m okay, I guess.”

The Valken phased back into view as the cloaking field was turned off.

The back ramp of the ship was already lowering as it approached Ronan’s position. He got back up and jumped inside the ship.

“We should go,” said Ryonna.

“We need to get Arknon first. He’s over there.” Ronan pointed toward his unconscious friend.

The ship hovered over Arknon’s unconscious body and Ronan brought him on board. A fireball came from Miseo, but Keera saw it coming and dodged it at the last second.

The rocking of the ship sent both Ryonna and Ronan crashing against the wall.

“Hang on, everyone, we need to get out of here fast.”

The Valken’s ramp closed and Keera started her ascent. She still needed a minute to activate the cloaking device that needed to recharge. But then three fireballs impacted with the ship’s shields. The first two drained the shields and the third one damaged the ship’s engine.

Keera lost control of the craft and it plummeted back toward the surface of the planet.

* * *

Daniel had left the Saroudis’ cabin and been in the woods for half an hour when he thought he heard footsteps trailing him. He turned around to check it out but couldn’t see anything.

“Anyone there?”

When no one answered he put the steps down to his imagination. He had been through quite a trauma, and it was entirely possible he had imagined it.

It took him almost two hours to reach the destroyed tower in his condition. He looked around the wreckage for any tech he could use to contact the Destiny but found nothing useful. He found his pocket communicator near the tree he’d fallen from but it had been damaged beyond repair.

“Just great.”

He retraced the steps his now defunct team had taken to arrive at the tower and soon reached the shuttle. He heard the recognizable sound of a tree branch cracking behind him. He took the blaster that Alexandra had kindly given him for the journey and pointed it at the trees.

“Alright, you’d better show yourself before I start shooting.”

“Don’t shoot, Daniel!”

It was Sendra’s voice.

“What the hell are you doing here? Does your mom know you followed me?”

“She thinks I went to get mushrooms for tonight’s meal.”

“You shouldn’t have come along. What if a Zarlack patrol or a battle droid had found us?”

“Then Reaper would have protected us.”

The pet wolfen walked from behind the tree where Sendra had been hiding. The wolfen barked.

“That seems like a very courageous animal, but Zarlacks are incredibly tough to kill.”

“And yet he has killed his fair share. They have a weak spot in the back of their necks where their scales aren’t as tough as the rest of their bodies. Reaper has killed many that way.”

“Impressive. I didn’t know about that weak spot.”

“Neither did we until Reaper killed his first prey. Later, when we had to fend off a couple of their attacks, it became clear that sniping them in the back of their neck would kill them with a single shot.”

“Good to know, but we shouldn’t stay here in the open. Let’s climb into the shuttle and try to contact your father.”

“My father? He is alive?” Tears filled Sendra’s eyes.

Daniel realized that Alexandra must not have shared the talk he had with her. It also explained why she had sent her away prior to it.

“I thought your mom told you.”

“She is bitter lately; she blames him for everything that happened to us.”

“But you don’t?”

“Why would I? He would never abandon us on purpose. But my mom never liked that he went for a career in the military. Ever since the war with the Obsidian escalated on all fronts, my mother had a real tough time dealing with the long tours he had to do.”

“That’s war for you.”

“And is it still ongoing? My mom often tells me that the war must be over by now.”

“Let’s just say things have changed. But I think it’s best you talk with her about it or with your dad. Now come, let’s try to call him from the shuttle.”

She joined him and Reaper shadowed her.

Daniel opened a channel.

“Commodore Saroudis? Do you hear me?”

There was a little silence and Daniel grew worried for a moment.

“Commander, it’s good to hear your voice. We’re on our way to your position. When you missed your scheduled contact time we worried something happened to you.”

“It did. I lost my whole team, Commodore.”

“I see. Did you manage to find out who sent the communication?”

“I’m afraid not. The communications tower was booby-trapped and I was lucky to escape it with my life.”

“Are you injured?”

“I’ll live, thanks to someone who would like to talk with you.”

“What? Who?”

Daniel waved for Sendra to join him on the co-pilot’s chair. She had stayed quiet until now, probably still in shock at hearing her father’s voice.

“Talk with him.”

“Dad?”

“Sendra?” The commodore’s voice was trembling. “Is it really you?”

“It’s me, Daddy.” Tears flowed like rivers on her cheeks.

“Thank the gods. Are your mother and brothers with you?”

“Mom is well, but . . .”

There was an awkward silence.

“I’m so happy to hear your voice, munchkin. You’ll tell me more about it soon when we get off this planet.”

“I don’t think Mom wants us to leave.”

“Let’s not worry about that right now, baby. For now I’m just so happy to hear your voice.”

“Me too, Daddy. I’ve missed you so much.”

“So have I, Sendra, so have I.”

* * *

Chase hovered a few miles away from the city and then let himself fall toward the ground. The moment he felt the ground under his feet, he closed his eyes and concentrated a lot more energy within himself. He checked his power levels and they were, surprisingly, at more than sixty percent. His son’s help deflecting the general’s giant fireball into space had probably also acted as a top up of his own internal pool of energy. Chase focused to bring more of it to the surface, to continue his fight.

That’s it, Chase, said Ares in his mind.

Hey, I wondered where you had been.

I’m not really here; only a part of my consciousness is.

You’ll have to explain how all this works one day.

I’m honestly not sure I could explain it. The usual laws simply don’t apply in this non-corporeal form, I guess.

If you’re not really here, then where are you?

We have very little time to talk. I’m visiting my Olympian brothers and sisters.

What about Zeus?

Well, I tried earlier but he didn’t seem keen to listen to me. I’m trying to gauge how other Olympians are reacting to the resurgence of Furies.

I’m about to attack Arkoolis, so I’d love to stay and chat but . . .

I’ve slowed down time at the exact moment you started powering up, so don’t worry about it.

Practical. So what did they say?

It’s a little early, but I feel we could enlist a few of them. Perhaps in time they can help us make our case with Zeus. If he would agree to help us, every Olympian would fall in line.

I thought not many of you were left.

We’re only a few compared to how many we once were, but the most powerful of us . . . Let me rephrase that, most of the powerful ones are still alive.

Is that what you came to tell me?

No, not really.

What is it then, Ares?

You’re just inches away from accessing the power you managed to attain when you fought Argos before. With that intensive training of yours you’ve really got a better grasp on your powers and it’s within your reach.

Why do I sense a but coming?

However, that last inch requires an emotion to trigger it.

And that emotion would be?

I wish I could say love, and one day it might very well be, but at your current level of power and state of mind, I think you need to feed yourself some anger, or even rage, to reach your higher level of power.

How am I supposed to do that? The other times it was Argos who brought these emotions to the surface, like when he nearly killed Daniel. I’m far less angry and prone to rage now than I was back then. You’ve always told me I let my emotion get the better of me, and now that it’s taken me months to get them in check you actually want me to let them guide my actions again?

I know, and that’s actually a good thing. You might have felt that boost of confidence in you.

Yeah, I even surprise myself.

It’s all a matter of balance, Chase. You should not overdo it either. If your ego is too strong, you may become overconfident, and in a fight against the Furies, you really don’t want that.

I see. So how do I reach my maximum potential?

You need to use anger as the trigger. Perhaps try remembering how you felt when you had to shoot Sarah’s ship?

I don’t want to go back there, Ares. Once was hard enough.

I’m not telling you to relive the scene, just let the anger that memory brings infuse and overload your current powering up.

Look, Ares, I had a really hard time putting all this behind me. Thanks to the training I managed to control these emotions and I’d rather not go there.

It’s your choice, Chase, but these are powerful memories. They deal with life, death, love. No matter how much pain they bring they might be needed one day.

Let’s say today isn’t that day, then what?

Can’t you bring another moment of grief to the surface? Perhaps something more fresh, that you haven’t really dealt with yet, like the fact you couldn’t save Fillio? I can sense the bottled frustration within you, even though it was not your fault and you know it. She didn’t want to go on. There was nothing you could have done.

That does make me angry and I haven’t really expressed it.

This could work, then. Just focus on that anger and let it blow. I’ll resume normal time now. Hang on to this feeling. Make it grow a little if you have to. Good luck, Chase.

Chase felt Ares’ consciousness leave him, and as he powered his aura he brought back the memory of losing Fillio, the anger he felt not being able to save her from the claws of death. Chase felt a surge within him but didn’t feel that spark he was looking for.

Got to dig deeper, I guess. Here goes nothing.

He then brought the memory of Yanis telling how he hated him. He felt his anger, frustration and self-hatred grow and something in him snapped.

When he opened his eyes his aura was no longer glowing purple but orange. He could feel his hair flowing on top of his head. His muscles tightened and he felt a jolt of pure energy flow through his veins, amplifying every one of his senses and bringing a tremendous amount of power for his disposal.

Arkoolis was already flying back toward Chase, an expression of utter madness on his face. But it all seemed to happen in slow motion. Chase saw his attack coming a mile away and then some. As the general threw a powerful, fireball-enhanced right hook, Chase moved his head out of the way and grabbed the general’s wrist. He snapped it with little effort and heard bones break.

The general screamed from the pain and took three steps back.

Before he could react, Chase was all around him, phasing in and out of thin air at such speeds the general had trouble following him with his eyes. Every time he thought he saw him, Chase was well into his next move.

The general flailed his good arm, trying to hit Chase but hitting nothing but air.

“Who’s the low-class Fury now?” said Chase, before appearing yards in front of the general.

He disappeared again, and when he reappeared right in front of him, he hammered Arkoolis with a single punch. He heard facial bones crack under the pressure of his punch. Blood flew from both his nose and mouth, and a few teeth flew out.

Chase didn’t let the general hit the ground. Before that happened he had already created an extremely powerful fireball with crackling, purple lightning bolts dancing around it. He threw the attack at the general’s torso. The impact was devastating. The general’s armor blew up as if it was made of glass and he crashed onto his back. Smoke rose from Arkoolis’ burned and bloody ribcage.

Chase walked toward the general and caught a glimpse of fear in his eyes.

Arkoolis got back up and unleashed a flurry of powerful fireballs at Chase. The multiple explosions lit up the valley one after the other. The sheer power in these attacks would have taken out a city. But when Chase walked through the flames unscathed, the general could not believe it.

“This is not possible,” said Arkoolis.

Chase launched himself at Arkoolis and planted his knee deeply into his enemy’s stomach. Blood shot from his mouth as he staggered a few steps back, blood still dripping from his mouth.

“What are you?” he spat.

“You tell me. I thought I was just a low-class Fury. Then again, I didn’t buy into that bullshit of yours about classes.”

The general cast two basketball-sized black fireballs in each of his hands. Red, crackling lightning shot between them. He merged them together and shot a column of dark energy toward Chase, but it hit nothing but air. Chase was already behind Arkoolis.

“Game over, General,” said Chase, before thrusting his right fist through the general’s back. It burst through the Fury’s ribcage as if it was made of silk paper. Bones and blood were thrown outwards from the power and speed at which Chase’s hand had traveled through the Fury’s ribcage. The last thing the general saw was his own heart stop beating in Chase’s bloody hand. Chase squeezed it into nothingness and forcefully removed his arm from the general’s back. Arkoolis was dead long before his corpse hit the ground.

Then Chase heard Ryonna’s voice in his head.

He reacted instantly and vanished into thin air.

* * *

Inside the Valken the gravitational forces prevented Ryonna and Ronan from moving. She had grabbed him by the collar the moment the ship lost control. He in turn had grabbed his friend, not ready to let him be crushed against the nearby bulkheads.

Ryonna felt a sensation that she hardly knew. She was terrified by the sound of the engines and the disorienting G-forces that pulled on them from every direction. She had just laid eyes on her son after all these hours of worrying whether or not he was alive, and their ship was about to crash onto the planet’s surface.

She closed her eyes and only one thought came to mind. Chase, please help us.

The Valken crashed into the middle of a forest and uprooted many trees as it skidded along and emerged into a clearing. Smoke rose from the damaged ship’s engines.

When Ryonna opened her eyes, she felt a tremendous pain in her right arm. The one that had held onto Ronan’s collar with every last bit of energy and strength. It had dislocated upon impact, but she never let go, even when she eventually lost consciousness.

Ronan was still unconscious, and she feared that Arknon couldn’t possibly have survived the rough landing.

She was still holding Ronan’s collar, even though they were both on the floor. She checked her son’s pulse and found one. His shoulder wound bled alarmingly. She tried waking him up but was unsuccessful. Smoke from a nearby conduit filled the cargo hold at an alarming rate.

“Keera! Can you please open the Valken’s cargo-hold ramp? Keera! Please respond?”

But there was no answer. She was probably also unconscious or worse. But Ryonna couldn’t be everywhere at once, so she needed to focus on the most pressing issue and that was to get some much needed air inside the cargo hold, before the ever-thickening layer of smoke choked them all to death.

She crawled toward the nearest console, ignoring the throbbing pain, and tried opening the cargo-hold ramp, but she was unsuccessful and sparks from the damaged console shot into her eyes. When that failed she crawled toward the manual release.

She popped the lid, grabbed the mag-lock release handle and pulled on it. She then rotated it counterclockwise for forty-five degrees and pushed it back in. More smoke was released from the grinding emergency hydraulics systems, but soon the ramp jerkily lowered toward the ground, revealing the large and long trail of dirt the ship had created upon landing, as well as a gap in the tree line.

The smoke vented from the opening and fresh Droxian air filled the cargo hold. Ryonna decided to check on Keera. She would need her help to revive Ronan and tend to Arknon. That is, if he was still alive. But the moment she was back on her feet and walking toward the cockpit, she heard a loud noise behind her.

She turned around and her blood froze.

There stood Miseo. He had a huge gash on the left side of his face, no doubt from the Valken ramming into him.

His eyes were bloodshot and he looked utterly mad. His teeth were clenched. Thin lines of blood showed between them.

“You’re gonna pay for this, you scumbags.”

He raised his left hand and opened his palm toward the interior of the shuttle. A red fireball was created out of thin air.

Ryonna grabbed her blaster with her good hand and shot toward Miseo, but the blasts never reached him.

He had stopped them with his mind. In the meantime, Miseo’s fireball grew to soccer-ball size.

Then Ryonna’s motherly instinct kicked in and she lurched forward to cover Ronan. She didn’t care if that made a difference or not. In the middle of her jump she saw someone’s knee impact with Miseo’s face. The impact was so violent that the Fury flew out of view at an impossible speed, just as he fired his fireball toward the inside of the ship. It went higher than intended and burned through the ceiling of the cargo hold as if it was made of plastic, letting more daylight into the ship.

Ryonna adjusted her landing at the last moment and instead of landing on top of her son she rolled forward. That’s when she saw him.

“Chase!”

“Sorry I couldn’t get here any faster. Are you alright, Ryonna? Anyone need healing? This guy,” said Chase, pointing his thumb in the direction of the Fury, “will be back very soon. And probably even more pissed than he was before.”

Her entire face lit up and she pointed at Arknon. “I think Ronan is just unconscious but his friend over there . . .”

Chase moved so fast that Ryonna felt a strong current pass her. By the time she had finished pointing at Arknon, Chase was already healing the Droxian commander.

“His wounds are critical. Another few seconds and he would have been beyond my help,” said Chase. It painfully reminded him of his failure to save Fillio earlier.

Keera stumbled into the cargo hold, her entire face covered with blood. She tripped on some equipment that had fallen during descent. Before she hit the deck she was in Chase’s hand. He healed her in less than a second.

“He’s coming back,” said Chase, sensing the approach of Miseo.

“What about Ronan?”

Chase shot a bolt of white light at Ronan’s body. It startled Ryonna, and she was about to complain when she saw all his wounds recede and his eyes started blinking. Before she could say thank you, Chase was already flying out of the shuttle, but he rotated in midair and shot yet another white bolt of light at Ryonna, who felt the weirdest sensation. Her arm relocated itself into her shoulder socket and all pain vanished.

“That’s new. Thanks Chase—” but Chase was already outside and fighting with the Fury.

17

When Saroudis landed his shuttle at the rendezvous coordinates Daniel had given him, a few hundred yards beyond the cabin where his family had found refuge, he ran toward his daughter the moment the back ramp had been lowered. A terrifying growl stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Reaper! Watch your manners. That’s my father you’re growling at. Stop it at once!”

The wolfen understood from the tone that he had been unwise in his overzealous attempt at protecting Sendra and took a few steps back, lowering his muzzle and gaze to the ground.

Sendra ran the rest of the way and jumped into her father’s arms.

Daniel looked at the scene with a smile on his face. The commodore was crying tears of joy as he kissed his daughter on her face and hair. Daniel could read in his eyes that he still couldn’t believe what was happening.

“I’m still unsure if this is real or if I’m dreaming,” he said as he hugged her tightly, his hand caressing her golden hair.

“I know what you mean, Dad.”

But then Saroudis saw his wife approach.

“Give me a second will you, Sendra.”

She wiped her tears of joy and nodded at him with a beaming smile.

“It’s about time!” Alexandra said in an icy-cold tone.

“Alexandra,” said Saroudis, with more than enough caution in his voice as he approached her.

Daniel didn’t know what would happen next. She looked utterly pissed.

But then she took him in her arms and started crying as well. “The boys . . . I’m so sorry, Adonis, I couldn’t save them.”

Saroudis affectionately patted his wife on her back. “There, there. None of this is your fault. I just wish I was there with you when all hell broke loose.”

Daniel decided it was way past time to go back into his shuttle and let the reunited family have their deserved moment of privacy.

Now was as good a time as any to try to get some news from Fillio. He looked forward to holding her in his arms the same way the commodore had held his wife and daughter.

When he established a channel with the Hope and Sarah’s face appeared on his holo-display, he immediately understood that something was wrong.

“Daniel,” she said with watery eyes.

“What is it, Sarah? Is Chase alright?”

“Chase is fine. At least I hope so. He left for Droxia a while ago now and I haven’t had much news since then. But I’m afraid I’m the bearer of very sad news . . .”

Daniel’s heart skipped a beat and before Sarah told him more he knew something had happened to Fillio.

* * *

When Miseo returned he was infuriated.

“You’ll regret taking me by surprise!”

“Hello to you as well. Miseo, is it?”

That only further inflamed Miseo and he threw himself at Chase.

Chase dodged Miseo’s first set of attacks with ease. He was still partially in angry mode. He had little difficulty anticipating his enemy’s attacks, and when Miseo least expected it, he planted a powerful, fireball-charged right punch to his stomach. Miseo staggered backward and his expression changed. He looked really surprised to have been bested so quickly in the fight.

“What the fuck are you? You shouldn’t be able to move that fast.”

“Says who? If you’re thinking of your friend the general, he wished he could come. But at the last minute he had a change of heart.”

Miseo took a deep breath and calmed himself.

“Impressive. Argos might have undersold your actual level of power. Fortunately, you’re still no match for me.”

Chase tapped a finger on the right side of his mouth. “You still have a little blood running from your mouth. I hear Fury acid reflux is a bitch.”

Miseo chuckled. “You seem pretty confident. I can already feel that it will be your undoing.”

“Beside my asshole brother, I’ve only met two other Furies, but you guys are walking clichés.”

A vein in Miseo’s right temple started throbbing.

Am I annoying you? Good!

Chase smirked.

Miseo crossed his arms across his chest. “It’s too bad you aren’t fighting on our side, though; you’d be a great ally.”

“I bet you’d think so. Your former friend Arkoolis also voiced his disappointment about which side I chose.”

“Where is General Arkoolis? Your brother told me you are not a killer.”

“Afraid I’m gonna have to disappoint you on that one. You and I are the only two remaining Furies on the surface of this planet. The only ones with a beating heart, anyway.”

“General Arkoolis is dead?”

“Afraid so, unless he can regrow the heart I ripped out of his chest.”

Miseo frowned.

“My father will be displeased. He was very fond of him.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to attach an apology card when I send him both your heads.”

“Enough! You may have bested the general, but this planet will be your tomb. I will make sure of that.”

“Like I said, walking cliché. But you know what? I’m sure you’ll give it your best. Doesn’t seem to me you’re nearly fast as I am at the moment.”

“My best? Very few adversaries ever lived to see my best. It does look like I might have to push myself more than usual, though. But between you and me, it’s been so long that I find that thought particularly enthralling. General Arkoolis was a great warrior, but there are many more strong Furies still alive today. They are all aching to see this universe burn for what it did to us.”

Miseo grew his aura as he powered up and the entire planet shook. Every stone within a ten-mile radius started levitating upwards.

Looks like he wasn’t kidding when he said he hadn’t shown all he is capable of. I’ll have to tread carefully. I’ve spent a lot of energy in my first fight. I’ll have to be smart in how I manage the rest of it.

Chase extended his consciousness and checked Miseo’s power level. He was still at more than ninety percent.

Yep, definitely not a good sign when one factors in that he received a Droxian destroyer full-on not long ago. I had hoped the experience would have drained him much more than that.

Chase also brought more power to the surface. Blue lightning bolts danced and crackled all around him.

He was surprised how naturally he did that nowadays. It briefly reminded him of his first training session with Ares and how difficult and frustrating it had been to access even a slight portion of his power. He had certainly come a long way since then.

Miseo made the first move and sent a powerful black fireball at Chase, who blocked it with his right hand. But something went wrong. Dark-red lightning shot from it and hit Chase on the torso, head and left knee. He lost balance and had to put a knee on the ground. By then Miseo was already upon him and landed his own knee on Chase’s left cheek, which sent him crashing hundreds of yards away, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

Chase got up and wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth.

I guess this is gonna be a tougher fight.

Miseo walked toward Chase with a smirk on his face.

“Still thinking you’re gonna save the day, hero?”

Chase wanted to answer something sarcastic but he knew he was mistaken in thinking that because he dispatched the general, he could take care of Miseo with ease. Clearly these two were in a different category, and this would be the most difficult fight of his life. But he had no choice now. The only way out was to defeat his new adversary, no matter the cost.

Billions had died today on Droxia and Chase knew that it was all his doing. He hadn’t meant to, of course. He hadn’t seen Argos’ bigger picture at the time, but the fact remained: every new life lost on Droxia would be on his hands. He couldn’t reconcile himself with the thought of letting one more person die today because of his actions. While his heart still beat, he would fight to avoid any more casualties.

“You’re fast and powerful, but this fight has only begun.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You’ve spent almost half your energy killing the general. So you’re already dead. It’s just a matter of time. How long do you want your suffering to go on? I can make it quick for you, if you like, if only for the respect I have for the abilities you’ve displayed today. You’re a true warrior, which I frankly did not expect. At least you should be proud of how far you’ve gone before you die.”

“I’m not dead just yet.”

“Very well, shall we continue then?”

Chase answered by adopting an offensive combat stance.

* * *

When Saroudis came back on board the Destiny with his family, he felt something that he thought he had forgotten in the last few months: hope. They would have to send another fleet here soon and try to locate more survivors, but right now it was time to go to Droxia. Last news they had they were still under attack. The commodore had no doubt that by the time they reached there the main battle would be well over. It was a very long jump, after all.

But that family reunion also meant a real feeling of grief in his heart. His two boys were gone, forever. He would never see Joshua and Ethan again. At first he had been so happy seeing Alexandra and Sendra, but upon returning to the ship he realized the full implications that both his sons were gone, forever. It hit him hard and he had to force himself not to show his emotions.

He didn’t want his crew to see him weak. It wasn’t a matter of pride. Saroudis knew they had all lost everything and everyone they held dear with the fall of the Star Alliance. And he came back on board with part of his family, so he wasn’t sure how showing sadness in that moment would be interpreted. There would be time for grieving later.

He made a conscious choice to bottle up his emotions for the time being and contact the Hope.

Sarah’s worried image filled the holo-screen.

“Commander? I was expecting Chase.”

“Chase is on Droxia.”

Saroudis looked dubious. “How can he be on Droxia already?”

“Ares beamed him there, or something.”

“Looks like Ares is way more powerful dead than when he was alive.”

“Yeah, it’s disconcerting, I agree, but at least he’s on our side.”

“Do you have a status report on what’s happening there?”

“Sort of. Oh boy, how do I explain this without sounding like a total nut job . . .”

“Sarah, with everything we’ve been witnesses to since we met, I don’t think there’s anything you can say that will surprise me at this point.”

“Alright then. My unborn son appeared to me in a vision. In that vision I was standing on Droxia. The place looked utterly destroyed, leveled really. I got the feeling that billions died today. He told me he needed to send some of his life force to Chase to help him fight the Furies on the surface responsible for all the destruction. Which I guess he did. And to say the whole experience was weird is to put it mildly.”

Saroudis chuckled. “I stand corrected.”

“Tell me about it, sir. I heard you brought your family on board? I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you, Sarah. I . . . It still feels surreal, but I’m overjoyed. I never thought I would see any of them alive. Of course, I’m also grieving for my two boys that weren’t so lucky. It’s one thing thinking your family is dead. It’s another when you know.”

Saroudis wiped a tear from one of his eyes.

So much for bottling up my feelings.

“I’m so sorry to hear that. My condolences, Commodore. At least your wife and daughter made it.”

“Thank you. Yes, it’s already more than I could ever have hoped for.”

“We’ve also lost Fillio today, amongst the hundreds that died onboard the fleet at the same time.”

Saroudis’ expression darkened. So many deaths. And this was just the beginning.

“I’m so sorry to hear that. She was such a kind person.”

“And a great wing commander.”

“We must ready ourselves to lose many more people in the future. This war has only just begun.”

Saroudis saw Sarah’s hand move to her belly. He regretted voicing his last remark. She was probably worried enough as it is, with her unborn son already in contact with them. That had to be scary in and of itself. Then there was the world they would bring the child into. The same world in which he had to try and protect whatever was left of his family. For a brief moment, he wondered if perhaps they wouldn’t be safer on the surface of Alpha Prime. He brushed the thought away.

“So, Commodore? Can we jump to Droxia?”

“Absolutely. What’s the status of the Hope?”

“The damage is extensive, but she’ll fly. We’ve got power back to seventy-five percent and we should be back to full power by the time we end our jump.”

“Very well, Commander, slave your jump engines to ours. We’ll jump within the next five minutes.”

“Roger that.”

Saroudis ended the communication and rose from his chair. He approached the viewport and, for just a moment, he let his thoughts get lost among the stars.

* * *

Ronan got up and saw Arknon doing the same.

“Arknon!”

“Hey, Ronan, I take it I have you to thank for still being alive? Thank you, my friend.”

“I don’t really remember much.”

“Glad to see you both up,” said Ryonna.

“How did we get healed?” asked Ronan.

“Chase. He arrived in the nick of time.”

“Where is he? I want to thank him for saving us.”

“He’s outside, fighting with that Fury that almost killed you.”

“I really thought crashing the Phoenix on him would take him out.”

“I second that,” added Arknon.

“Let’s hope it injured him enough so Chase can finish him off.”

“I’m worried about that, Mom. When he rose from the furnace he was burned to a crisp and he healed himself like it was nothing. How are we supposed to defeat an enemy like that?”

“By never giving up. But I won’t lie to you, son, this is going to be the most devastating war . . .”

Ryonna hadn’t had time to really think about anything but Ronan these past few hours, and she was happy he was alive, but she felt a sense of urgency in her soul. This was not over, and they would still have to find some sort of shelter or get evacuated if any of the ships in orbit had survived. Right now, staying so near a battle involving two Furies was not safe. She knew it with every fiber of her being.

“We need to get out of here. If one of Chase’s or his enemy’s attacks comes our way we’ll be obliterated.”

“Right. Can the ship still fly?”

“I was about to go check that with Keera. I’ll be back shortly. Please don’t go outside just yet.”

As if to enhance her warning the planet started to tremble.

Ronan nodded. “Right.”

When Ryonna entered the cockpit, Keera was hitting her controls with both her fists.

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah, the Valken isn’t going anywhere I’m afraid.”

“We couldn’t have flown into space anyway, not with half of the cargo bay’s ceiling missing.”

“That’s for sure. I’ll miss this ship. It got me out of many jams.”

“If Chase manages to defeat Miseo my people will help you repair it.”

Keera raised an eyebrow and gave her a look.

“That’s sweet, Ryonna, but I don’t think so. Your people have almost been wiped out today. It will take years to rebuild your planet and that will only happen if Chase defeats his opponent. Too many things can go wrong.”

“Then the Alliance will.”

“Ryonna, what’s wrong with you? It’s just a ship. You do realize that your world is in ruins, right?”

“I don’t think it’s fully sunk in just yet.”

That’s when it actually hit her and she changed color.

“What is it, Ryonna?”

“Jonas . . . My late husband’s brother, he . . . he lived in one of the destroyed cities.”

“Perhaps he left before it was attacked. As soon as this is over I’ll help you look for him. But we need to get out of here.”

“Yes, that we must.”

A minute later the four of them exited the Valken to board the all-terrain buggy Keera owned for planetary exploration. The moment it was down the ramp Keera caught a glimpse of something moving a hundred yards in front of her. She veered to the left abruptly, skidding and drifting heavily. Two of the vehicle’s wheels left the ground for a second. They reconnected at the end of her turn.

The passengers looked at the fight between Chase and Miseo. Their eyes only saw blurry shapes traveling way too fast to follow.

* * *

Argos made a flyby near General Arkoolis’ last position. Upon descending near the planet’s surface he had seen the extent of the damage inflicted in the area. It wasn’t pretty. Almost every city had been leveled and fires still burned as far as the eye could see.

Droxia had been obliterated in only a few hours. It had been thanks to his ingenious plan of distracting their large protection fleet, most of which had been destroyed by only a handful of Zarlack destroyers. Argos caught himself feeling bad for the Droxians.

What the hell is happening to me? Why would I even care . . .?

He landed the Dark Star. A battle had clearly occurred in the area. When Argos stepped out of his ship he saw obvious traces of fighting, not only with Droxian military but also between two Furies. The landscape had been devastated, with crevasses and craters in the ground, as well as large trails that went for miles. These were clear signs of two powerful beings fighting. Argos wondered who had won, but was again surprised when he hoped Laiyos had been the victor.

Could it be that I’m losing respect for my own race? I wonder . . .

After all, they had treated him like nothing while he was clearly the only reason for their resurgence. No matter how badly he tried to put his public humiliation behind him, he hated the supreme commander with a vengeance. Miseo was a more tolerable Fury to work with, but he had sensed something a little off about him as well. Perhaps the son aspired to replace his father. He wouldn’t put it past him.

Argos took some altitude and scanned the area. Then something caught his attention. It was pretty far away, but it definitely looked like a humanoid body. He flew there and landed near Arkoolis’ corpse.

Argos smiled.

Impressive. Looks like Chase is getting better by the day.

Good for you, brother. I take it you’ve now moved on to fight Miseo. But if that’s the case, if you’re not dead already, it won’t be long now.

He felt a sting in his heart and clenched his fists. Rage filled his entire being.

I hope that nosy brat remembers that he promised me the final blow.

Argos flew back into his ship and vectored toward Miseo’s last known location.

18

Ares stepped inside Athena’s temple on Olympus. The place was huge, with large white columns all around, but also inside the temple.

“You’re not exactly welcome around these parts. But you know that, right?” said a beautiful yet intimidating woman with long, golden hair.

Athena was a tall and lean Olympian. She was dressed in white, with flower motifs embroidered into her beautiful gown. Above her throne, mounted on the wall, stood her golden shield. It caught the sunlight from the outside and diffused it nicely into a soft, warm light all around it. It gave the entire area around the throne an ethereal quality.

“But I would be remiss if I didn’t say it’s good to see you. Well, whatever is left of you.”

“Hello, sister, you always had a way with words.”

“Some things never change.”

“They ought to if we want to survive.”

“Don’t waste your time. Artemis and Apollo both told me you visited them not long ago.”

“I see. Can we still discuss the issue, though? Father was not very receptive, to say the least.”

“What did you expect, Ares? You broke the old man’s heart.”

“I was unaware he possessed one.”

Athena laughed for quite a while. “Now who has a way with words? But thank you, it has been a long time since I laughed that much.”

“I wish I could tell you I came so we can reminisce about the past and have a few good laughs, but the hour is grave.”

“So I hear. Your protégé singlehandedly managed to free the Furies from their timeless prison,” said Athena, shaking her head from side to side.

“Well, in his defense, he didn’t know he was helping his evil twin brother achieve that objective.”

“We sure don’t have the monopoly on family feuds, even though ours are legendary.”

Ares smiled. Of course, in his current energy form, she couldn’t see it, but evidently she sensed it.

“I’m glad to see your sense of humor has improved. You were a much less fun Olympian in the old days, you know? Pre-banishment times.”

“I try to not think of those days too much.”

“I bet. You wreaked havoc. But let bygones be bygones, I say.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

Athena rose from her throne and went to a beautiful marble table nearby to serve herself some wine.

“I would ask you if you want a glass . . .”

“Funny.”

“I’m teasing.”

“I know, sister. Believe me, there are things we said to each other in the past that I wish I could take back.”

“You were blinded by your thirst for power. I don’t think you need to worry about that now.”

She walked back to her throne, sat back down and took a sip of the delicious beverage.

“How is it, being in a non-corporeal state?”

“It has its advantages. And I’m still learning everything I can do as days go by.”

“Except you’re not supposed to stay here, at least not forever.”

“I know. I just can’t stand idly by while the universe around me is destroyed, at least not if I can do something about it.”

“Did you ever ask yourself if perhaps that it’s destiny?”

“Was that Athena talking or my father?”

“Touché. But now that most inhabitants of this universe don’t really pray nor fear our wrath, it’s a little more difficult to care about what happens to them.”

“We both know you don’t mean that. I never took you for one that craved such things.”

“And you’d be right. But lately I have been wondering what it meant to be alive. Immortality has the disadvantage of making things really boring after a while.”

“Well then, perhaps you should hear me out.”

She took another sip. “Why the hell not.”

“The Furies have risen from the dead.”

“They were never dead, and there lies the problem.”

“Indeed. Still, they haven’t yet had time to manufacture their armada of old. Their ships fell during the last war. Before coming here, I took a tour of their world, and they’re almost done building their first exterminator-class destroyer. But now that Argos has managed to feed them a continuous stream of resources, they’ve started building others, many others.”

“And you want us to stop them?”

“My thinking is that we have to try. It took our participation in the universe-wide coalition of worlds to defeat them back then. It stands to reason we’ll have to play a part in that once more.”

“Unless we let the younger races take care of it, like we all promised we would.”

“The others races might want to rethink that old pact as well. If it was a new race trying to rise to power I would be inclined to agree with you. But the Furies are almost as old as us. The new races don’t stand a chance. In fact, for a long time it also looked as if we wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“You’re forgetting something. It took the legendary spirit ships to make that happen. Without them the Furies had reached a level of technology even higher than our own.”

“Then why don’t we just get them back? If Zeus didn’t destroy the key to the dimension prison, I bet these ships are also still lying somewhere, taking dust until they are again needed.”

“I wish I could tell you more but I simply don’t have this information. Perhaps they are . . .”

Athena lowered her eyes and she looked at her empty glass. She lifted her other hand with grace and the jar containing the wine flew to her, poured her another drink and went back to the table.

“Couldn’t you have done that before?”

“Like I said, Ares, I’m bored. Sometimes I need to stretch my legs.”

“About the ships. Any information you can give me, even sketchy, would be welcome.”

Ares saw something in her eyes. There was something she wasn’t telling him.

“Please?” he pleaded.

“Look, Ares, I’m really happy to see you and I am glad for this talk, but I’m unsure you want to know the information I have, which—and I must stress this point—might or might not be true.”

“Why don’t you tell me anyway?”

“Very well. But you’re not going to like it.”

“Will you tell me already?”

She sighed.

“According to some information I came by three thousand years ago, the legendary spirit ships were destroyed.”

“Are you certain of this?”

“What part of ‘might not be true’ didn’t you understand?”

“Right. Anyone who could let us know? Do you remember who told you this?”

“Father, but he did it in passing really, so unless we ask him directly, which I doubt he would like coming from you . . .”

“And what about if you asked him?”

“Sure, I will go to him and say, ‘Father, didn’t you tell me the spirit ships had been destroyed? I vaguely remember a conversation we had eons ago, please tell me more.’”

Ares didn’t appreciate the sarcasm but she had a point. Zeus would immediately know he had put her up to it. At the moment he’d rather have Athena as a potential ally rather than alienate her from their father. Athena was a very powerful Olympian, and an incredible tactician. The Earth Alliance sure could use her help.

“You’re right, he would see right through that.”

“Of course he would.”

“One thing, though, why are these ships so special? Do you know?”

“Again, I’m not the right person to ask.”

“Anything you can remember, even a small detail?”

“I don’t know about detail, but I remember that they were a piece of extremely advanced technology that came from the previous age, possibly pre-dating our own creation.”

“Creation?”

“Well, Zeus likes to tell tales about how we came to be, but there are those amongst us who think we had creators. The very first race to travel the stars.”

“They have a name?”

“They probably have one, but I’m sure father burned every reference to it from history. Anyway, it is said that these ships have the ability to channel and focus one’s internal power and deliver that energy into space safely.”

Ares’ blood froze. The implications were huge. If such a ship existed, someone like Chase could use his power in space without creating black holes and other tears in the space-time continuum. He could probably wipe out an entire fleet with just one of these ships. Ares knew then and there that these spirit ships would be the key to the whole Fury war.

“I wish I could tell you more, really. And I will think about carefully slipping a kind word in your favor with father if the occasion arises.”

“Thank you, sister. You’ve actually been more helpful than you know today. I’ll probably swing by to see you again in the future.”

“It’s been nice talking with you, Ares. Don’t let it be centuries this time, and please make sure to visit me at least once more before you decide to sail on the Styx.”

“It sure won’t be centuries, and the Styx will have to wait until after the Furies have been dealt with. Thanks again for your help.”

“Anytime.”

Ares vanished into nothingness as Athena took another sip of her drink.

* * *

Chase parried Miseo’s next incoming wave of front and back kicks, but Miseo was now on a par with him with respect to speed. He had to stay incredibly focused to not get hit by the incoming blows. It didn’t let him breathe, though, and he couldn’t find an opening.

For the time being he had to contend with just blocking, dodging and parrying. But then Miseo threw him a curveball and hit him square in the face with a heel kick. Chase temporarily lost balance but managed to recover quickly.

Miseo switched to a series of punches next, alternating between jabs, hooks and uppercuts. Then Chase got an idea. It was risky, but he had to try something. He couldn’t stay on the defensive forever.

Chase let Miseo execute his next punch combo and feinted being sucker-punched by one of the uppercuts, but then he grabbed Miseo’s forearm and swiped his left leg with enough force to make him lose balance. He then pulled Miseo forward and hit him with a scorpion kick, a move his Fury enemy was clearly not prepared for.

Miseo stumbled back, disoriented. Chase lost no time lighting up two fireballs, sending one of them low intentionally. It exploded in front of Miseo, who probably didn’t understand why Chase hadn’t fired at him directly, but it provided him with a dust screen. The second one shot through the cloud and was aimed at his head, but Miseo dodged it by tilting his head to the left. Before he realized it was a ruse, Chase was already in the air, landing an extremely powerful flying kick, hitting Miseo’s cheek with the full force with his shin. Miseo fell to the ground a few yards away.

Chase flew in pursuit, but Miseo pushed hard on his hands and back-flipped into a standing position. He threw both his clawed hands forward. Chase felt an invisible force field slow him down in midair. The more he tried to push through the more he slowed down.

An idea took form in his mind. He consciously pushed even more and saw veins on Miseo’s arms grow bigger in order to increase his hold on Chase. It now looked as if he was stuck in midair.

Chase then suddenly stopped pushing and flew backward, helped by the opposing kinetic energy blast from Miseo’s counter. The moment Miseo let go Chase was already twirling madly in the air, curled into a ball, and out of the blue shot two columns of energy. But he didn’t shoot them at Miseo. He used them to increase his thrust as he flew toward Miseo like a shooting star, head first. When his head impacted with Miseo’s torso, Miseo was clearly unprepared for that ingenious move. His armor cracked upon impact and Miseo was thrown backward for miles.

Before Miseo could hit the ground Chase was already under him, hands firmly planted in the ground as he catapulted Miseo into the heavens by extending both his feet upwards. Miseo whirled uncontrollably during his ascent and was only stopped when Chase smashed his face with a fireball-infused right hook. Miseo saw stars before his eyes and Chase lost no time grabbing him from behind and locking his arms at shoulder level.

Chase twirled with Miseo locked in. The resulting whirlwind soon created a powerful cyclone as Chase then forced them both to shoot back toward the ground from miles high. They looked like a comet about to impact with the planet.

At the last second, Chase released his grasp and somersaulted in midair, using kinetic energy to pull himself backward. Miseo crashed into the ground with the force of a thousand bombs. The resulting explosion could be seen from space, with a giant shockwave traveling for hundreds of miles around the point of impact.

Chase’s hair flew madly in the air as he witnessed the spectacle from above. He checked his power levels and worried when he realized he was at less than twenty percent. He would need to finish Miseo with his next set of attacks or he would run out of juice.

When the dust had settled, there was a fifteen-mile-wide crater on the surface of Droxia.

Chase wondered if perhaps he had defeated his enemy, but his instincts told him otherwise.

That was confirmed when a huge mound of soil started moving in the middle of the crater.

19

Miseo rose back up as the ground that covered him trickled down around him. His face had seen better days. Deep cuts under the left eye, on his right temple and right cheek, still gushed blood. He looked enraged, with most blood vessels in his eyes having popped, aggravating the already mad look he shot toward Chase.

Chase checked his enemy’s power levels and was pleased to see they had been cut in two, but he was still around forty percent, more than double what Chase still had left.

Miseo levitated into the sky and reached Chase’s altitude, although he was still a couple of miles away. He passed his hand over his face and looked at it. It was covered with his own blood. He healed himself and Chase felt a little dip in Miseo’s power level as he did so.

Perhaps it was something to be exploited.

A nearby engine hummed, but no ship was visible. But Chase felt his brother’s presence inside the craft and shot a warning fireball toward it. It briefly lit the shield and revealed its position a couple hundred yards east of him.

What do you want, Argos? asked Chase telepathically.

I just want to be here for your demise, that’s all.

I am not going to fall today. Are you waiting your turn so once your competition in the Fury ranks is diminished you can cowardly finish me off and take all the credit?

Come on now, brother, I’m just curious, that’s all.

Stop calling me that. And stay out of this fight.

We shall see. Miseo promised me I could be the one to kill you.

Not if I have anything to say about that.

Chase flew down and landed inside the crater. Miseo did the same, landing only a few yards away. He crossed his arms over his chest.

His armor had been thoroughly damaged and half of his clothing had been torn to shreds.

“I must congratulate you on your last attack. I did not expect such a powerful display, but it did cost you a lot of energy. I can feel you’re running on fumes now.”

“It cost you a lot as well and you know it.”

“Perhaps, but not enough for me to lose this fight. You should have made sure to finish me off after sending me to the ground. Waiting for me to get back up was a terrible mistake.”

Had he made a strategic error? he wondered.

“I enjoyed fighting you today, Miseo, more than I thought I would.”

“You’re finally discovering what your Fury heritage is all about. We love to fight. It’s in our blood. We also love to kill. I’m sure you felt a surge of pleasure when you ripped out Arkoolis’ heart.”

Had he enjoyed killing Arkoolis? Chase didn’t really know at the moment. He felt it was necessary to avenge the billions that had died at his hands today, but did he feel personal pleasure in doing so? Chase decided that now was not the time to think about that.

“Perhaps. But I think using our powers on lesser beings is the trademark of cowards. Why don’t you fight between yourselves and leave the universe alone?”

Miseo laughed. “We have a score to settle as a race. You wouldn’t understand.”

“I understand better than you think.”

“Shall we continue?”

“Unless you’d like to leave this world now. Your fleet in orbit has been reduced to ashes. You and Argos are all that’s left, and perhaps it’s time to pack it up and call it a day?”

“Do you really believe I would let you live after killing Arkoolis? No, you must pay for this crime with your life, today.”

The next few minutes would see the end of this confrontation, one way or the other.

“Alright then, let’s finish this once and for all, Miseo.”

Chase smirked.

Argos landed the still-cloaked Dark Star atop the crater and exited the craft.

Miseo looked at him. “Do not intervene. That’s the one order you do not wish to disobey.”

His icy tone sent shivers down Argos’ spine.

“I won’t,” replied Argos. “But remember what we agreed upon.”

“We shall see,” said Miseo as he launched himself toward Chase with all his might.

* * *

Argos looked at the fight unfolding before his eyes. Both Laiyos and Miseo were incredible fighters. As much as it pained him to admit it, they were both vastly superior warriors to him now. That hurt his pride more than he was ready to accept.

He probed both fighters’ energy levels and saw the difference between them.

You’ve overextended yourself, Laiyos. You will run out of juice soon.

But then Argos’ response to that thought was a mixed bag of positive and negative emotions.

He waited patiently for his chance to finally take his life, and take revenge for all the pain Laiyos had been responsible for. Both after and before Argos had removed all his memories, in fact. Some of these painful memories ran deep inside Argos’ psyche.

Laiyos had parried Miseo’s first combo and counterattacked with a combo of his own. They had very different fighting techniques. Miseo had a more raw and powerful approach to his blows, while Laiyos had more grace in his movements, even though some of them weren’t executed most efficiently.

Argos wondered if Laiyos was aware of that, or if he fought this way naturally. Perhaps it all came down to his training. Which brought back the memories of his own fight with Ares. Ares also used fully formed attacks and had that quality of delivering moves that were beautiful to look at, but not always efficient or fast enough.

Ares had trained Chase well. In fact, he had done with him in just a few days, more than Chase had learned in his entire life before Argos had been forced to wipe his memory.

Did I just call him Chase?

Argos was surprised by that, but he felt that it mattered not what he called his twin brother. As long as the fight was headed this way, he would lose for sure.

But then Chase broke one of Miseo’s combos and his counterattack was brutal. He pounded Miseo with more and more powerful blows and sent him to the ground.

Reminds you of some bad memories? he heard Chase say in his mind. I can sense your thoughts, Argos. Is that worry that I might lose this fight I sense at the moment?

Argos was stunned he could do that and fight at the same time.

I’m just enjoying the show, and you should concentrate on your fight instead of diverting your focus.

I’ll take that as a yes.

Chase kept grinding at Miseo and he sent him flying upwards in the sky, right before unleashing a series of icy-blue fireballs. Miseo was hit by a couple of them, but quickly recovered and deflected the next ones away.

Miseo then unleashed his own set of fireballs, but Chase deflected a few and blocked the last two and assimilated them. He received a small boost in energy doing so.

One of the deflected fireballs ran straight toward Argos and he blocked it with ease. He closed his fist around it and it was reduced to nothingness.

Argos saw what his brother was trying to do, but Miseo made sure to only send small-powered attacks toward him.

The end is near . . .

* * *

Before returning to Droxia, Ares decided to make a little detour via Erevos.

The first thing he saw sent a shiver through his non-corporeal being. There orbited a ship that was as black as the night. It was spiky, and massive. Bigger even than the Zarlack behemoth destroyers, it looked like a shadow from hell, with long spikes arching forward, and soon the Alliance would have to face this new, formidable technological foe in their upcoming battles.

He was surprised not to find Aphroditis and the soul-sucking machine she was now a prisoner of. The destroyer that once was her newly forced home was still there, but she wasn’t onboard anymore. Ares expanded his consciousness to the entire planet and it didn’t take him long to detect the now faint remains of Aphroditis’ trapped consciousness and ever-drained life force.

Ares understood the strategic value of moving her to the surface of their world. It made sense. If someone was to find a way to remove her from the machine, it stood to reason that the Furies would be sent back to their dimensional prison, but then whoever had done so would be as well, and this time forever. Still, Ares wouldn’t put it past Chase to accept such a mission, even if it meant sacrificing his own life. But not enough was known about the device itself to make that assumption. Only the device’s inventor could say with exact precision what would happen in such a case. Ares made a mental note to try to learn more about the device.

The device was better guarded on a planet filled with extremely powerful Fury warriors, and Argos had surely told Supreme Commander Arakan what Chase had promised Aphroditis just before she willingly accepted her fate and fused with the machine. Perhaps Arakan even intended to use her to attract Chase to him if needed.

Ares teleported inside a very dark room with no windows. It was a cold and humid place, a hostile dungeon in which to spend every living moment of one’s life. But could Aphroditis still be considered alive at this point? Certainly her heart still beat, but was she anything but a shadow of her former self?

Ares could not sense that.

He appeared inside the windowless cell and illuminated it with his golden presence and warmth. He could have stayed invisible, of course. The room was probably being recorded and monitored, but no Fury could hurt him in his current form. Not that he knew of, anyway. And on some level he wanted them to know that he could not only visit her anytime he saw fit, but he also would know every time they moved her around.

He scanned the room for a recording device and saw one on top of the closed and reinforced door. He waved at it, but then felt compelled to extend his golden middle finger at it. Such an impulse achieved nothing, and was very childish for a being that had lived for thousands upon thousands of years. But the damp and cold hole in which they had put his sister had that effect on him. It gave him the impulse to tell them to go fuck themselves.

Ares wished he could retake corporeal form and give Arakan a piece of his mind right this instant. But that would not be wise. If Argos had easily dispatched him, he could never dream of bringing the supreme commander down, at least not if he was the one on the other side of this fight.

Hopefully Chase one day . . .

Ares realized he had got carried away, and that was not why he had come here. He approached his sister. The warm glow he was emanating cast a light golden hue on his half-sister’s face, but even so she looked more livid than the last time he had visited. He caressed her cheek affectionately and talked to her telepathically.

I don’t know if you can hear me. I haven’t been around much lately and I’m really sorry about that. Things have been kinda crazy. Chase has trained and he is now a formidable warrior. He killed General Arkoolis today, one of the Furies’ top generals. He is now fighting Miseo, and I guess I should go to see how he fares as soon as I leave here. He has come a long way. He is more focused, more aware of his own weaknesses, and I sense more hope and determination in his heart than ever before. Perhaps you were right. Perhaps all of this needed to happen. Still, I wish I could take your place. I wish I was in there while you were out here, still advising him.

Ares thought he saw one of her eyelids move just a tiny bit.

Aphroditis? Can you hear me?

But there was no answer.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Unfortunately, today Droxia fell. Whether Chase manages to save the few million souls on it or not remains to be seen, but the main attack fleet has been destroyed and there is a good chance that his fight with Miseo will give him pause. I have no doubt Argos is behind it all once again. He knows how powerful a message it sent the rest of the universe when Droxia joined the Alliance, so I’m sure he decided that it should be the first to fall. Things are going awry all over the place. The Furies have colonized, destroyed or enslaved worlds rich in resources. All of that in order to destabilize the trust in the still growing Alliance, but mostly for Argos to secure the Furies the right amount of resources to build their new fleet of shadow vessels, like the one in orbit right now.

This time Ares was certain he saw a twitch on Aphroditis’ face.

Can you hear me? Try and twitch again if you can.

But nothing happened, and he sighed.

Ares shouldn’t raise his hopes about communicating with Aphroditis while she was inside the machine. In fact, she might never get out of it, which frustrated him more than he would care to admit to anyone.

But he understood why she did it. And why she put all her trust in Chase. One could debate all day long that if he hadn’t done this, the Alliance would have won the war against the Zarlacks, but who was to say if someone else, later on, wouldn’t have released them anyway?

No, deep inside his soul Ares knew that the one truly responsible for their current predicament was his father Zeus. He should have dealt with the Furies once and for all when he had the chance. Trapping them was always going to be a ticking bomb, and that bomb was already in the process of exploding and taking the universe with it.

Chase’s unborn child, Chris, also has demonstrated impressive abilities already. Perhaps he will play a role in all of this yet. Though I wonder what will be left of this universe by then. Will anything be left? I don’t even dare let my thoughts go in that direction.

Aphroditis blinked. It was the first time Ares had witnessed it and he wondered if perhaps some of her natural bodily functions simply acted automatically. Her eyes were still all white, and she looked more like a scary, gray-skinned flesh-statue than the smiling and full-of-life Olympian he remembered.

I really hope you don’t mind me telling you all this. If there’s even the slightest chance you can hear any of this, then I hope it helps you a little. I’m sure if you feel anything at all, these days spent here must feel like centuries and a little change of pace could probably help you.

Something started shining on her forehead. At first Ares thought his own golden light was shining on some dust or a particle of some kind. But, much to his surprise, a hair-thin golden energy wire grew and connected with Ares. He heard her in his thoughts, but her voice felt weak and far away, as if she spoke from the top of a canyon that was hundreds of miles away and Ares only heard a very weak echo.

Ares, I am still here. Thank you for coming. But listen to me carefully. Chase is in trouble. His fight with Miseo . . . I . . . Her mental voice was trembling, as if she was in such pain that the act of speaking was excruciating. I’ve lost most of my powers. My mind and body are constantly bombarded with darkness and it takes all my energy just not to succumb to utter madness in here.

Ares was deeply hurt, just listening to her feeble and tortured voice, and anger rose within him.

I will get you out of here, soon. Chase and I will find a way.

Ares, no . . . listen . . . I saw Chase . . . vision . . . he . . . will . . .

“He will what?” exclaimed Ares out loud.

Go . . . Droxia . . . before . . . late.

The energy wire connecting them solidified and turned black for just a second, before it turned to dust.

Ares felt her fear resonate deeply within his entire being in the last moment of their brief communication, and knew what it meant.

He instantly teleported out of the cell and back to Droxia.

20

Chase was starting to feel tired, having fought for hours now, first with the general and now with Miseo, who was a much stronger opponent.

He needed to find a way to end this fight, and soon. Perhaps he needed to provoke Miseo and hope his anger would force a dip in concentration, because it had been near perfect up until now.

When Chase back flipped three times in a row to escape Miseo’s current combo, he landed on his feet and adopted a defensive stance.

“Where’s your maximum, Miseo? If that is it then we both know that if I had all my energy, I would easily win this fight.”

“Think what you will. Argos told me how you let your emotions guide the way you fight. Everyone with power can use hatred and rage to unleash more potential for brief moments. Doing it while not letting emotions get in the way is the true way of the Fury warrior.”

Chase wondered if that was true. He was proud to be a little more in control now than before, but he didn’t feel as much power flow through him as when he went after Argos in Tokyo, for example. His rage really made him that much more powerful. Was that the key to defeating Miseo as well? he wondered.

“To be honest, I’m a little disappointed by your technique, or should I say, lack of? You’re a skilled warrior, but you lack the mental discipline to best me, whether your energy levels are low or high. You have witnessed how I can also raise my power levels at any time, and I don’t need hatred to boost them.”

Miseo’s aura doubled in size, and before Chase could react he had planted a powerful blow into Chase’s stomach. He then took Chase by the hair and unleashed three terrible blows to his face with his knees. He then struck Chase with a powerful kick to the torso and sent him flying and crashing backward. Blood flowed from Chase’s mouth.

“See what I mean? I did not need hatred to put you down just now, just perfect control of my powers and emotions.”

Chase’s ribcage hurt really badly, and he had to heal at least half a dozen broken ribs as he stood back up, using energy he was running out of.

“Perhaps, but at least I’m not a heartless robot intent on destruction of all life in the universe.”

“Not all life, just the weak and useless. And as distracting as it has been fighting you today, I’m starting to believe you belong in the ground with them.”

Chase spat blood on the ground. He looked for any doubts to exploit in Miseo, but he only sensed utter confidence. Whereas Chase’s doubts, which started as a small nagging thought at the beginning of the fight, were slowly but surely taking over his entire psyche.

What if I fail? What then? Will the universe fall? Will Sarah and Chris be killed?

“I believe these people will rally even if I lose today,” said Chase, though he had no idea what would happen if that came true.

“When you fall, not if! You have lost, and deep inside you already know it. I can smell it on you now. It would take a miracle for you to win now.”

Chase regretted appearing overly confident before. “This fight isn’t over. I may have been arrogant but not more so than you and your pathetic friend the general.”

“Do not speak ill of the dead!”

“Or what? I’m not afraid of you. I think I’ve proved that much.”

“All you proved today is that you’ve been training to become a formidable warrior, but one that has no sense of true technique. You should have left this world after defeating Arkoolis. But you let your pride convince you that you could take two of the most powerful beings in existence in a single day. You bit off more than you could chew and I will look forward to bringing your head to my father.”

“Fuck you, daddy’s little boy. My father this, my father that . . . Why don’t you call him to your aid right now?”

A vein bulged on Miseo’s forehead.

Chase decided to antagonize him even more, see if he could break his icy-cold demeanor now that he sensed anger in his enemy.

“So much for controlling your emotions, asshole! This one right here is anger. The truth is you are just as unsure as I am about how this fight will end up. Sure, you’re better at hiding your emotions. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t buried behind that ugly mug of yours.”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” shouted Miseo as he shot a fireball at Chase in an attempt to shut him up.

Chase blocked and absorbed the attack with his hand. That gave him a small but needed boost in energy.

“That one’s called rage.”

“I’m going to make you regret this. So let’s finish it once and for all. I’ll tell you what, once I’m done with you here, I’ll make it my personal mission to find your wife and show her what a true warrior is, just before I rip your unborn child from her still-living body.”

Something in Chase snapped and the sky darkened almost instantly. A thick layer of cloud covered the sun and soon it felt like nighttime on Droxia.

Chase unleashed the most inhuman of all animalistic growls as his pupils shone a bright orange before disappearing altogether. His aura was also tainted orange, and golden lightning sparked madly all around him. A powerful lightning bolt crashed down on Chase and boosted his energy. His hair flew upwards.

“You will not touch a hair on their heads. I won’t let you!”

Chase flew so fast toward Miseo he left a trail of light behind him. He started by unleashing a powerful butterfly kick upon Miseo, who didn’t have time to react as his head was thrown downward. But it was thrown back up quickly when Chase kicked it again and again with his right leg. He then alternated between shin kicks and powerful elbow blows to the face, and finally sent Miseo flying with a spinning crescent kick.

One of Miseo’s teeth flew from his mouth, as well as a huge amount of blood. Before Miseo hit the ground again, Chase extended his arms and mind as he grabbed two of the biggest boulders around and crashed them into Miseo. Chase then grabbed Miseo with his mind and held him there. Miseo’s limbs dangled. He hadn’t recovered yet from this powerful cascade of attacks.

Chase approached a floating Miseo with fire burning in his pupil-less eyes.

He prepared a powerful fireball and let it grow until it almost engulfed his entire arm.

He thought he heard Ares in his mind—No, Chase, don’t do it!—but he ignored it.

“Time to join Arkoolis in hell!”

He sent the fireball toward Miseo with all his might, but then everything went wrong. It all happened very quickly. Miseo’s crimson aura exploded out of nowhere, firing impressive, red bolts of lightning all around him. The entire planet shook. The debris from the boulders Chase had crashed into him a few seconds before all rose from the ground, and sizzling, dark-red lightning bolts shot between them, obliterating every one of them.

He released himself from Chase’s mental hold with ease, extended both his arms in front of him and sucked in every last bit of Chase’s extremely powerful attack. He siphoned it all.

Chase did not believe his eyes. He was certain that he had just landed the finishing blow of this fight, putting most of his remaining energy into it.

Miseo smiled from ear to ear.

“That’s the difference between a true Fury warrior and a pathetic traitor like you. Would you like to know what just happened? I used your emotions against you. I willingly provoked that transformation in you and you fell for it. Partly because I wanted to see how powerful you might become when you unleashed all that raging power of yours, but also to make sure you hit me with everything you had next, like Argos told me you did when you entered that furious mode of yours. I knew I could use the power of your own attack to replenish mine, and I did. Thanks for the power up.”

Chase’s hair fell down his back and his aura returned to its usual purple.

He played me all along.

“I told you from the start that very few warriors ever live to see me deploy my abilities to the fullest. Well, now you have. And like the very few others before you, it is time to die. You’re on empty now. I can feel it. Let me give you some of that energy back.”

He extended his arm toward Chase and unleashed a super-fast series of small fireballs. In less than a second, Miseo had fired one hundred of them, all flying toward Chase.

Time seemed to slow and Chase realized how foolish he had been.

He heard his son’s voice in his mind. Dad, you can’t die here today. You must survive!

Chase used the last of his energy to fly upward into the air in an attempt to dodge the attacks. He traveled miles in an instant, but Miseo closed his fist and all one hundred of his attacks arched upwards at various angles and they all hit Chase simultaneously. The resulting cascade-explosion and shockwave pushed back every one of the dark clouds in the sky and soon the light of the sun burned Chase’s broken body while he plummeted back toward the planet’s surface.

* * *

When Ares arrived on Droxia he realized he was too late. He saw Chase falling from the sky and felt that he had no energy left. Miseo had also expended most of his own. He had a lot of battle damage on both his armor and face, but he was smirking while Chase plummeted from the heavens toward certain death.

Dammit! I should have come back earlier.

But what could he have done? Perhaps affect gravity around Miseo at a strategic moment, or try to add his own energy to Chase, to give him just a nudge when he most needed it. Instead, he saw his friend, his protégé, hit the ground at tremendous velocity head first. Chase lay there, defeated and unable to move a single muscle.

I’m sorry, Ares heard.

Chase, no, you can’t die now. You promised you’d stop the Furies and save Aphroditis. You have to!

I failed you just like I failed everyone else. Please promise me you’ll tell Sarah and Chris how much I love them both.

Chase, I can’t let you die!

I don’t think there’s anything that can prevent that now.

Ares’ mind raced to find a solution.

Miseo took a few steps toward Chase and stood above him. He extended an open palm toward Chase’s face. A dark-red fireball crackled into existence.

This can’t be happening!

To Ares’ surprise, Argos shouted toward Miseo, asking him to stop.

“Not now, Argos!” answered Miseo.

Ares flew toward Chase. He needed to teleport him away from Droxia before it was too late. He had no idea if Chase would survive the trip in his current weakened state but there was no choice. He couldn’t let Miseo finish him off. In order to do so he had to materialize into his energy-based form, and so he did a few yards before reaching Chase. But Ares hit an invisible wall.

Miseo looked at him and Ares saw that he had extended his other arm toward him.

How is this possible? How can his telekinetic energy affect me in this form?

“I expected you damned Olympians to try to intervene. I can’t kill you in your current form, but I can make sure you don’t move another inch.”

Ares pushed with all his might but he was stuck, paralyzed even. He couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t travel the last three yards separating him from Chase.

“I take it you’re the one who trained him? I’m glad you came by to see him die.”

The fireball in Miseo’s hand grew a little more.

I’m so sorry, Chase, said Ares

But Chase couldn’t hear him anymore.

* * *

When Argos realized Miseo had no intention of honoring his promise he flew toward Miseo and hit him square in the face with a flying kick. Miseo skidded on the ground, leaving a trail of dust behind him. The fireball in his hand receded.

When Miseo got back up and saw who had attacked him he was furious. “You’re going to die for this, Argos!”

“I can’t let you kill him! I’m the one who has to do it.”

“Then you’ll die here as well.”

“That won’t be necessary and you know it! You said you’d let me finish him if it was at all possible. You have won. He cannot move anymore so you have nothing to prove. Don’t forget it is thanks to me and me alone that you’re standing on the surface of this planet today! It is also thanks to me that you had plenty of time to wage your destruction today. I have fully earned my right to kill my brother as promised!”

Miseo took a few deep breaths and calmed himself down while he reflected upon Argos’ words.

“This,” said Miseo, pointing at his bruised cheek where Argos had kicked him a moment before, “is the last time you touch me.”

Argos nodded.

“Very well then, finish him.”

Argos levitated Chase’s body toward him and grabbed him by the throat.

* * *

Chase was only semi-conscious when he felt his body levitate toward Argos. Soon the entire weight of his body dangled from his neck where his brother grasped his throat. Chase could barely keep his eyes open.

“Look at me, brother. I want to see the look in your eyes when I rip you from existence once and for all.”

Chase felt some energy enter his body from his throat, just enough to open his eyes.

Argos stood there with a grin on his face. He prepared his final blow by raising his other hand a little over his shoulder. He lit up his palm with a bright, crimson layer of energy. His entire forearm looked like a glistening sword.

“You have been a thorn in my side for far too long, brother. It ends now,” said Argos coldly.

Chase thought he saw a brief, golden reflection in Argos’ eyes. He thought he heard Argos in his thoughts, but his voice sounded slightly off. Chase, stand very still and let it happen.

Argos thrust his hand inside Chase’s stomach and impaled him. When Argos’ palm shot through Chase’s back and appeared within his long, dusty, black hair, it was covered with Chase’s blood.

Chase didn’t feel pain anymore, but he felt darkness invade his soul and cover him like a cold blanket. His consciousness started to wither away and was slowly replaced by a terrible void made of loneliness.

Argos removed his hand from his brother’s stomach and let him fall to the ground. Blood gushed from his large, open wound, and soon Chase’s skin had lost all color.

A gag reflex made him spit a large quantity of blood all over his own face as the veil of darkness extended inside his very being.

Chase’s eyes closed.

I love you, Sarah.

Argos walked toward Miseo when the Dark Star’s cloaking dropped. “We should go now.”

“What are you talking about? We should finish this planet off once and for all.”

“Miseo, my ship,” said Argos, pointing at the Dark Star, “is the only thing we have left from the fleet we came here with. Its cloaking field just ran out of juice and now it will show on sensors. We either leave now or risk being obliterated from orbit.”

“I thought you said you’d guarantee us a victory against that fleet of ships.”

“Well, they were more resilient than expected. We can stay here and be shot like sitting ducks while we debate that fact, or we can get the hell out of here. In any case, now is not the time for reprimands. I have no doubt I’ll be punished for failing my part of the mission.”

Miseo looked at Argos’ eyes and then his gaze shifted to Chase’s inert body.

“First, I want to bring your brother’s head as a trophy to my father,” said Miseo.

“Wait! I think it will have a much more demoralizing effect on whomever finds his dead body if they can see it’s him.”

Miseo shot a look at Argos while he thought it over.

A powerful shot of plasma fell from the sky and hit the Dark Star’s shields.

“Miseo, my ship won’t be able to take many more of these. We should go, now!”

Miseo nodded and they both flew inside the Dark Star. It flew away and disappeared into the sky.

Chase was barely breathing anymore; his heartbeat had fallen to less than ten beats per minute.

* * *

Onboard the Hope Sarah was resting in her quarters. They were still heading toward Droxia and she was looking forward to being reunited with Chase. She had spent most of her time in her quarters since they had made the jump, thinking of her vision with Chris. She also thought about Chase a lot. She missed him and was looking forward to holding him in her arms again. With a baby on the way now was not the time to hold a grudge.

For the first time since he had rescued her, she only felt love for him in her heart and didn’t care why he had chosen to potentially sacrifice everything to save her. What mattered was that he loved her more than life itself, and at that moment she felt the same.

Her belly grew icy cold and it startled her. She sat up and put her hands on it.

She felt a tremendous sadness permeate her entire body and it flash froze her blood.

Then she heard his voice in her thoughts. I love you, Sarah.

She didn’t know how it was possible, but she instantly knew that Chase was at death’s door.

She fell to her knees. Tears flowed like rivers, and she cried uncontrollably. “Chase! No! I beg you, no! Please god, no . . .”

End of Book IV . . .

(Keep reading)

RISE OF THE ULTRA FURY (BOOK 5)

By Christian Kallias

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Lieutenant Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Commander Sarah Kepler – Earth Human (formerly US Navy Commander)

Chris Athanatos – Fury Human hybrid

Commander Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Commodore Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Captain)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos (yah-nis tee-hee-hos) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Ryonna Isch’ys (ree-oh-na is-kis) – Droxian Warrior (a fugitive Droxian smuggler)

Tar’Lock (tahr-lock) – Gorgar (Insectoid & formerly a Hellstar prisoner)

Commander Fillio Steriopoulou (fee-lyo steh-ree-oh-poo-loo) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis (spee-ros ma-lah-yah-nis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)

Rae Kwan – Earth Alliance human (formerly US scientist)

Olympians

Aphroditis (a-fro-dee-tee) – known to humans as the goddess of love

Ares (ah-rees)– know to humans as the god of war

Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war

Zeus – known to humans as the god of the sky and mighty ruler of Olympus

Hades (eh-dees) – known to humans as the god of the Underworld

Asclepios (ahs-kleh-pee-os) – known to humans as the god of medicine

Apollo – known to humans as the god of Music, Truth & Prophecy

Furies

Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

Miseo (mi-se-oh) – Arakan’s son and right arm

Arkoolis – top Fury General (deceased)

Timoros* (tee-moh-ros) — Fury assassin

*From the Greek word Τιμωρός (avenger / punisher)

Other Characters

Cedric – Earth Human Scientist

Keera Hawking – Humanoid Bounty Hunter

Jonas – Ryonna’s brother-in-law

Gaia (gah-yah) – Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet

Menoitios (meh-no-ee-tee-os) — Titan

THE STORY SO FAR

Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.

This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. It can, of course, be used by new readers but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (Definitive Edition).

Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

Volume II: Fury to the Stars

Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin, Argos, currently torturing her for information. Another Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him harness his emerging powers. Meanwhile, Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar Prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long-range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensitive weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.

Volume III: Destination Oblivion

Having had to kill the woman he loves as well as their unborn child plunges Chase into a spiral of hatred and self-destruction as he leaves the Earth Alliance. After meeting a bounty hunter (Keera), Chase joins forces with her in order to track the one man he hates more than anything in this world: his twin brother Argos whom he holds responsible for Sarah’s death. Argos resurfaces on their radar after killing Ares in cold blood. When their paths cross, Chase nearly kills Argos after an epic fight in Tokyo, but only spares his twin brother’s life when he reveals that Sarah is alive and the person that Chase killed was a clone. Meanwhile, a dangerous Artificial Intelligence (Gaia) is born on Earth and threatens humanity as a whole, but in the end Spiros Malayianis convinces her that she has nothing to fear from humans. In order to rescue Sarah, Chase has to reluctantly team up with Argos in order to defeat a Titan that holds a piece of tech Argos needs for his nefarious plan. When recovered, Argos requests Aphroditis to enter the piece of tech that will free his brethren, once thought to be extinct, from their dimensional prison. Aphroditis enters the machine willingly in exchange for a promise from Chase to rid the world of Argos and the threat he poses. The Fury home world (Erevos) is brought back into their reality as a result. The enemy of old (Furies) is back in play.

Volume IV: The Beginning of the End

Argos’ reunion with the Furies turns sour as he refuses to kill Chase when ordered. Back on Earth, Chase trains for months with the help of Gaia and Spiros to increase his powers tenfold in the hope of defeating the Furies. Argos and two highly trained Fury warriors (Miseo, the son of the Fury Supreme Commander Arakan as well as General Arkoolis) are sent on a mission to wipe out the Droxians in retribution for their joining the Earth Alliance after the battle around Earth orbit (Earth - Last Sanctuary). Ryonna, with Keera’s help, tries to save her son when he gets tangled in the massacre that ensues on Droxia. Chase arrives on Droxia and defeats Arkoolis but Miseo proves to be too powerful for him. Argos intervenes near the end of the battle, mortally wounds Chase and leaves him for dead before they (Miseo & Argos) have to flee when reinforcements arrive.

And now the continuation . . .

1

Sarah lay on the floor, her eyes filled with tears.

Chase, please don't die!

That was when she felt a strong pain radiating from her belly, forcing her to close her eyes. She assumed a fetal position to try to find relief.

Then she heard him in her thoughts.

I'm so sorry, Sarah, I . . . I failed you. I failed all of you.

It was Chase's voice and she could feel the depth of regret behind his tone.

Chase, please don't die. We need . . . I need you!

There was no answer.

Chase?

The pain in her belly diminished and she opened her eyes. She was no longer on board the Hope. Neither was she lying on the floor. She stood tall on the surface of an alien planet. She stood near a cyan ocean, the purple sky reflected in its surface. Above the horizon three moons dominated the sky, which was filled with a magnificent, red-orange aurora borealis. The place was breathtaking and had a calming effect.

“Chase? Please answer me.”

“He can’t anymore,” said a familiar voice behind her.

She turned to see a tall, lean man with long, crimson hair.

“Hello, Mom,” said Chris.

“Chris, what’s happening to Chase?”

“He’s dying.”

“There has to be something we can do to save him.”

“There is. That’s why I brought you here.”

Sarah’s heart felt a little lighter, but it didn’t last long.

“However,” continued Chris, “there is a price to pay.”

“I’m listening.”

“I can save Dad now if I give him all of my life energy. It should be enough to save him.”

“Why do I feel a but coming?”

“I’m too weak myself, Mom. I already sent the lion’s share of my life energy to help him in his fight with General Arkoolis. If I do this . . .”

He let the words hang.

Sarah shook her head. “You’ll die?”

Chris’ expression hardened as he nodded.

Sarah felt trapped in her own mind. These weren’t options she was willing to consider. She couldn’t lose Chase, but at the same time she couldn’t lose her unborn son. She was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Her mind refused to go down either path. Then it hit her. That was how Chase had probably felt when he had to decide whether to shoot the starfighter with her clone on board, thinking it was her and Chris, or let Argos get his hands on possibly war-winning technology. Neither option was acceptable but he chose nonetheless. Sarah didn’t know if she had the strength to do the same.

“I can’t decide this. There has to be another way.” She looked down, too ashamed to look at Chris.

“I understand, Mom. I could make that decision for you if you like.”

She raised her eyes and gazed at him. He looked peaceful enough under the circumstances, but that told her what his decision would be.

“I refuse to let you sacrifice yourself. You may be the key to everything.”

Chris winced. “We don’t know that.”

“Look, I don’t want to lose Chase, but I can’t lose you either. You’re not even born!”

“What if we knew if my sacrifice would bring the defeat of the Furies?”

Sarah raised an eyebrow. “How?”

“It’s clear that one of my powers, at least in your womb, is precognition. I see the future before it happens, so perhaps there’s a way to amp up that ability.”

“Is that even possible? You just said you’re running out of energy. How do you propose to amplify your ability?”

“That’s where it becomes dangerous, and risky for you and your own powers.”

“My what now? I don’t have powers, Chris.”

“Not yet, but bearing a Fury child you’ll most likely develop some in the future. My DNA has leaked into yours, which is normal in most hybrid pregnancies. I suspect the leak has been even bigger than usual because of the first torture session we had to endure at the hands of Argos. I can sense a lot of Fury DNA surrounding me. It must be from you, Mom.”

Sarah didn’t know what to say. She knew from the doctors that she would probably acquire a little Fury DNA, but she had never stopped to think she could actually end up wielding any kind of powers like Chase or Argos. The thought frightened her more than anything. She knew how tormented Chase had been since he had come to grips with his powers and the weight of responsibility that came with them.

“Mom, you are two different people. You having powers is actually a good thing. In fact, I think it could solidify your relationship with Chase.”

“Am I that transparent?”

“I’m in you, remember? I feel everything you feel.”

“Right . . .”

“Look, Mom, I wish we could debate this, but we need to make a decision. Sooner rather than later.”

“So you can use my own—what do we call them? Powers?—to amplify your own and see further into the future?”

“That’s the theory. I might succeed and I might fail.”

“In which case we’d be back to square one.”

“Not quite.”

“Why not?”

“If I attempt this, there’s a good chance I’ll consume the life energy in these newly born, still developing Fury cells of yours. I might strip you of your future powers just by attempting it.”

“I never intended to have powers, Chris, so I don’t care if I lose them.”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

Sarah really didn’t care about powers. In fact, their mere mention raised her stress levels. Her life was already complicated enough. But she also knew that every action had consequences. In fact, she was getting a better understanding of what Chase had endured up until now, only to lie dying on the surface of Droxia. Still, what if her powers were important, whether she liked it or not? She hated this. None of the paths she was presented with offered a clear advantage. But in a situation like this, she decided to go with the lesser of all evils.

“I don’t want to lose Chase, and I don’t want to lose you to save him. Let’s see what we can learn from the future. Use whatever power you think I have and let’s see what happens.”

“Very well, Mom. This might get uncomfortable. These Fury cells aren’t yet fully developed. When I access them and merge my own life force with them, they will probably react.”

“Do what you have to do, Chris.”

He nodded and closed his eyes. Soon his face was distorted with pain and he clenched his teeth.

Sarah wanted to ask if he was okay but she knew better than to interrupt his focus and intense effort.

Jesus, this sure isn’t what I had in mind for my life.

Soon the planet they stood upon started to disintegrate around them. The horizon faded into nothingness and, in a matter of seconds, all that was left was a patch of blue sand upon which they stood, floating in space. It was a vision, but Sarah’s brain still had a hard time dealing with the fact that if she were to take five steps in any direction, she would step into the void of space. The laws of physics clearly didn’t apply here.

Then two crackling balls of energy formed between them. Bright white lightning bolts shot from their centers and the energy morphed into oval-shaped portals. A wavy field of energy radiated a blue-purple light from each of the portals.

“What’s happening, Chris? What do I do now?”

“These are doors for your mind. You can visit them both. I’ll do my best to amplify my abilities to their maximum so you can gain as much information from these timelines as you can.”

“Timelines? I’ll need a little more explanation.”

“There’s no time, Mom. You need to trust me now. The left portal will show you glimpses of the future in which I sacrifice my life now to save Dad. The right one will show you what happens if I don’t.”

“Simple enough.”

“Not quite. I have no way of controlling what you will see. It might be relevant or it might not. In any case, you must hurry. The sooner we get this over with, the better the chance that I don’t strip you entirely of your own Fury powers.”

“Alright then. Left portal first.”

Sarah walked inside the glowing portal and the moment she was through she felt as if the entire universe had swallowed her. She didn’t feel her body anymore, and that was the strangest sensation. Then flashes burst into her mind, like one big, 360-degree holographic projection.

A fleet of ominous dark ships approached Earth and engaged in a terrible battle. Alliance forces were helpless to defend the planet. They fought with courage and desperation, but the enemy was too strong. Then the image changed and she stood on board an Alliance ship in the middle of the battle. The ship was exploding. An intense dread permeated her entire being. She died in this timeline. While she had no body in this place, she felt the mental equivalent of a shiver, the strongest she had ever felt.

Another set of images flashed before her eyes. Inanimate bodies. The dead bodies of all her friends. Daniel, Keera, Ryonna, Ronan, Tar’Lock. They all lay on the ground in different places, but they all ended up dead. Her consciousness was overwhelmed with grief, pain and sadness.

The image changed and she stood in a large, dark room where two figures stood. At first they were only shadows but soon she recognized one of them.

Chase!

He stood in a fighting stance, covered in blood, a look of total hate in his eyes. He was facing another Fury, the tallest, most imposing man she had ever seen. He was scarred and covered in blood. Chase spoke. “Arakan, you have taken everything I hold dear in this life. You’ve killed billions and brought nothing but pain and despair into this universe. But now your time has come.”

The Fury was panting heavily, clearly exhausted from their fight. He answered, “You have lost. Your planet Earth is no more. You’re all that’s left of the opposition. Look at you. You’re beaten as well. It’s time for you to rejoin your friends.”

“I don’t think so,” answered Chase, with more hatred in his voice than Sarah had ever heard. His eyes glowed orange and his hair shot upwards as his aura intensified.

Chase unleashed a terrible, deafening growl and everything around them started to shake. Giant lightning bolts shot from his orange aura. Then, it merged into a dragon that danced all around him for a few seconds. The head of the dragon opened its mouth and Chase’s eyes flashed with a blinding light.

He changed posture, and the dragon intensified its dance around Chase’s body. “Now you die. This is for everyone you took from me.”

Chase unleashed the dragon towards Arakan who tried stopping the incoming attack with both hands. The dragon opened its mouth and roared as it consumed the Fury. It went through the Fury and consumed his entire being on a molecular level. Arakan’s body disintegrated as if it was made of sand. He was disintegrated from the inside out, and by the time the fiery dragon passed through him, there was nothing left.

Sarah saw Chase fall on his knees, tears flowing from his eyes. His aura receded and his hair fell back into place. He looked beaten in both body and spirit.

Then Sarah had quick flashes of random places in the universe. The Fury were no more and the different races who had survived the terrible war were reconstructing their worlds, one world, one city at a time.

Then Sarah felt siphoned away from the scene by a powerful, invisible force and soon she was back in front of her son. The left portal faded out of existence.

“Mom, hurry up. I’m using too much of your life force to keep this up. Check the second portal now.”

She didn’t lose time answering and simply stepped into the second portal to be transformed into a bodiless being, her consciousness simply a witness of scenes that were presented to her.

The first thing she saw was a similar battle happening on Earth. There were new types of ships fighting alongside the Alliance besides Earth, Alliance, Droxian and Obsidian. The battle raged on until the main Fury ship, bigger than the rest, powered up a weapon that made its spikes glow red. Each tip sent energy converging towards a point in front of the ship. The energy kept growing into a massive plasma fireball.

The ship was about to destroy Earth. It fired towards the planet and impacted with the planet’s shields. It drained their power quickly and they flickered as they destabilized. Every ship in the Alliance was firing towards that Fury destroyer but the monstrosity’s shields held strong. The shield around Earth receded and soon only a small, circular patch of shielding held the plasma wave of energy back. Before it blinked out of existence, something happened.

An Alliance vessel and a few Zarlack destroyers micro-jumped in front of the Fury ship and the plasma beam stopped, but the resulting explosion claimed many lives.

Then the scene changed. She was now on Earth, in a cemetery. Chase gave Commodore Saroudis’ eulogy with watery eyes. Everyone she knew was attending.

The scene flashed out of existence and she was back in space again. It took a while to get her bearings, and then she saw four ships coming her way. They were starfighter-sized but the design was unknown to her. Each had a different colored aura around it. Orange, green, yellow and blue. Four successive images flashed into her mind. She saw their pilots.

Chase, Chris, herself and Argos.

What was Argos doing with them?

The images faded and she saw the same room she had seen earlier through the first portal: where Chase was fighting Arakan. It looked like two gods waging a terrible war. The more they fought, the more the planet cracked, as did the giant room around them. They fought for hours at speeds too fast for human eyes to follow. At one point Arakan took the advantage. He unleashed a series of powerful attacks towards Chase and brought him down. He lay on the floor, paralyzed, his blood spilling onto the ground. Arakan approached him and put his feet on Chase’s torso, preparing his final blow.

Even though Sarah knew this was a vision, she tried shouting “no” with all her might, but nothing happened.

In the large, now mostly destroyed room, footsteps could be heard in the distance.

Arakan looked towards the sound and Chase smiled.

Sarah was brought back into her original vision.

Chris was panting and he fell to his knees.

“Chris! Are you alright?”

“I’m . . . I’m fine . . . Just give me a moment. What have you seen?”

“If you sacrifice yourself we all die but Chase.”

“And the Furies?”

“They are defeated, but the price . . . Earth is destroyed. Chase ends up alone.”

“Yes, but he succeeds!”

“I felt that he wished he hadn’t . . . I don’t want this future to happen.”

“What about the other one?”

“Well, Earth seems to survive, we lose Saroudis, perhaps more people . . . Argos seems to fight with us. Chase is alive and fights the head of the Furies. It seems like he’s losing but then someone approaches and the last thing I saw was him smiling. There was so much confidence in this smile, I think whoever walks towards him helps him defeat the Furies.”

“But you have no confirmation?”

“No . . . It’s just a general feeling.”

“Then shouldn’t I sacrifice myself to make sure the Furies are dealt with?”

“No. I’ve seen enough to tell you that I don’t want you to do it. The price is simply too high. I trust that we will defeat them, and I know that Chase will survive even without your intervention.”

“Mom, you need to understand that what you saw might not happen in the order you have seen. And you’ve only seen little flashes of the future. Earth might still have been destroyed. Many of your friends might still die. Just because you didn’t see it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen in that timeline as well.”

“I understand. Still, I feel strongly about which future I’d rather choose.”

“Very well. You need to wake up and rest now. I need to get my strength back as well.”

“About—”

“Your power? I don’t know. I consumed most of your own Fury cells to show you these two futures. I have no idea if you’ll ever develop powers or not.”

“It doesn’t matter. Thank you, son.”

The vision vanished and Sarah was back on the floor in her quarters on board the Hope.

The pain in her belly was gone. She got up and let herself fall on her bed, exhausted, emptied of all energy, but at least hopeful that Chase wouldn’t succumb to his wounds. She hoped these visions of the future were accurate.

A bright golden light shone inside her room and she sat up.

Ares appeared nearby. Chase lay on the ground next to him. He was still bleeding from his wound and looked dead already.

“Oh my god!” she exclaimed as she jumped out of bed.

She slid onto the ground next to Chase and kissed him.

He felt cold and so did she. What if she was wrong? What if only by sacrificing Chris could Chase survive?

“Quick, Sarah!” said Ares, “please tell me there’s a cryostasis chamber on board the Hope.”

“Med-bay two,” she answered.

Ares teleported out of the room and Sarah’s hands were no longer holding Chase’s body.

A rush of adrenaline returned strength to her exhausted body as she ran out of her quarters.

“Medical emergency in med-bay two!”

2

When Sarah arrived in med-bay two, Chase was already in the cryostasis pod. He looked in really bad shape.

“Is he still alive?”

“Barely,” answered Ares.

“Ares, I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“Say it anyway.”

“Chris showed me two possible futures.”

“How?”

“He has some sort of pre-cog ability but used my own dormant Fury power or cells to amplify it. I don’t really understand it.”

There was a brief silence. “What did you see?”

“I’ve seen a future where Chris sacrifices his life to heal Chase. Chase defeats the Furies in this timeline, but everyone else, myself included, dies.”

“I see. And the other one?”

“I can’t say for sure if we defeat the Furies or if we survive, but my gut feeling tells me that this is the future we must go towards. I’ve told Chris not to sacrifice himself.”

“Are you sure this is wise?”

“I don’t know, but I’m willing to trust my instinct on this one.”

“Don’t you think you may be letting your emotions guide this decision?”

Was she? Perhaps, but a future where Chase ended up alone and stripped of everything and everyone he loved was not fair.

“I wish I could say it isn’t the case, but I think there’s another way to save Chase. I saw him in the second timeline as well, so there must be a way to save him without Chris having to sacrifice himself.”

“I think there is. I need to see someone about it. Don’t let anyone remove Chase from cryostasis until I come back with the cure.”

“Cure?”

“There’s one Olympian that can do something for him. I tried to revive him on Droxia but he’s too far gone for my powers. I think only Asclepios can save him now.”

“Do you know where to find him?”

Ares shook his head. “No. But I know someone who might be able to help us.”

“Very well. Do what you have to do, Ares. You’re Chase’s only hope now.”

“I’ll keep you informed, Sarah. I’ll do everything to bring him back, I promise.”

“I know you will, but before you go . . .”

“Yes?”

“In the future where Chris doesn’t give his life to save Chase, I saw Argos, and⁠—”

“And what?”

“I can’t be one hundred percent sure but he seemed to be fighting alongside us.”

“Then I think your instincts can be trusted.”

“Mind explaining how this makes any sense?”

“When Argos was about to kill Chase, I managed to invade his consciousness and steer the attack far enough from Chase’s heart so it wouldn’t kill him.”

“Couldn’t you just have prevented it altogether?”

“No. Miseo would then have made sure to finish Chase off. It was the only way.”

“But what does that have to do with my instincts?”

“When I took partial possession of Argos’ mind, I felt conflict in him. He is questioning his allegiance to the Furies. They clearly haven’t been the allies he expected. I felt in him a lot of hate towards them.”

“I can’t believe I’m about to propose this, not after all he made me go through, but should we try to turn him?”

“I think it’s worth a try. I doubt the supreme commander will be happy that he failed to destroy Droxia and the entire fleet in orbit. In fact, he might even kill him for his failures.”

“Kill him? Wouldn’t that be extreme? He did bring them back, after all.”

“Perhaps, but that’s one of the fears I sensed in him. I’m also not sure we’ll get to Asclepios without a fight.”

“Fight against whom?”

“Best-case scenario, a lower Olympian.”

“And worst case?”

“Zeus.”

“Can Argos take on Zeus?”

“I seriously doubt it. Perhaps both Argos and Chase.”

“But that still doesn’t help us. We can’t seriously consider attacking the head of the Olympians.”

“I’m not saying we should, but my . . . my father is stubborn. We may have no choice.”

“We have to try to get Argos on our side, then. I hate the guy, probably as much as Chase does, but if he can be of some help, even temporarily, we should exploit that.”

“Very well. I’ll get the information I need from Athena first, and if Argos’ help is required, then I’ll try to sway him to our side.”

“I don’t even want to know how this conversation will go.”

“Well, I can be very persuasive.”

“Something tells me you’ll have to be.”

Ares nodded. “I should go now.”

“Good luck, Ares.”

“To us all.”

* * *

On board the Dark Star, Argos thought about what had just happened. Was Chase about to die? He was alive when they left. Barely.

What troubled Argos, though, was why he even cared. He should focus on what to do next. Clearly he hadn’t succeeded entirely in his mission, and because of that there would be hell to pay. Of that he was pretty certain. In fact, he might need to find a way to ditch Miseo before they arrived back on Erevos.

Miseo kept staring at him.

“Anything I can do for you, Miseo?”

“I’m just trying to understand how we failed our mission.”

“Do you really think we did? Chase—” Argos corrected himself, “Laiyos is dead, most of the ships in orbit of Droxia have been destroyed, and more than seventy percent of the population killed. Not bad for a day’s work.”

“I think you underestimate how my father sees success.”

“No, I got a good glimpse of that when I freed our people from the dimensional prison you were all trapped in.”

“That is nothing compared to what awaits us back home.”

“Us?”

“I’ve failed as well, haven’t I?”

“Not from where I’m sitting, but I can see why your father would think so.”

“In fact, I’m not sure it’s a good idea for you to return with me.”

What the hell? What is he implying?

“Mind repeating that?”

“I think my father will execute you on the spot for this. I know I will be reprimanded as well, but I’m his son, so that will play in my favor. But you? He was extremely displeased with you already, and I think this time he might want to make an example of you.”

“Why do you care? I thought you were mad at me for intervening in your fight against Laiyos.”

“I was. I guess I still am. But I’m a practical person. One day I think your services might be required again, but for the time being it might be better if my father thinks you didn’t survive the fight. I’ll pin it on your brother.”

“What do you mean ‘one day?’”

“Can you assure me that what I’m about to say is never repeated?”

I didn’t expect the brat to trust me. I guess he feels the need to share with me. That’s good. I might get everything I need right now.

“Absolutely.”

“My father is . . . insane.”

“I don’t think that’s a secret,” said Argos with a chuckle.

Miseo shot him a deadly look. “While I appreciate you’re trying to diffuse the tension with humor, I don’t think you understand what I’m trying to tell you.”

“Very well then, enlighten me.”

“My father has a mental issue. He used to be a very strict but just leader. But over the years, he grew more impulsive and began to act rashly. The way he treated you for refusing to fire on your brother’s ship is a perfect example. While he would normally reprimand anyone who defied him or refused a direct order, he came pretty close to killing you that day. I’m sure you noticed.”

“Yeah. Another second or two would have claimed my life.”

“That’s the kind of temper tantrum I’ve witnessed for quite a while now. He has killed many apt Furies for less.”

Then Miseo does want to overthrow his father.

“What do you propose to do about it?”

“I don’t know yet, but perhaps a change of leadership will be required at one point.”

“You’d take command?”

“If that’s what’s needed, yes.”

“How would that work? Somehow I don’t see your father listening to reason.”

“He won’t. If I deem that his decisions are no longer in the best interests of our people, then I’ll have to seize power. Whether I like it or not.”

“If that situation arose, do you think you could defeat your father?”

“Alone, I’m not sure. With some help, perhaps.”

What if he’s testing me?

“You would need powerful warriors. The kind we’ve just killed.”

“I know. But your brother would never have agreed to help us. I saw it in his eyes.”

“You’re right.”

“But perhaps you will?”

“I’m honored you’d think of me. But we both know I’m nowhere near as powerful as my brother was.”

“I can help you in that regard. You simply need the right training. Since you both share the same genes, I don’t see why you wouldn’t be able to reach the same level as Laiyos. One day.”

That really played on Argos’ ego. He wanted nothing more than to become as powerful as Chase; more powerful, even. But he still didn’t know if Miseo was testing his allegiance to his father with flattery. This could all be an elaborate deception.

“I sure would love to be more powerful.”

Miseo looked into Argos’ eyes. “You will be, when the time is right. For the moment it’s best if my father thinks you both died on Droxia. Do you have a ship? Or a base of operation? Preferably a secret one. Somewhere my father wouldn’t look.”

I think he is testing me.

“Why would I have a secret base?”

“Why wouldn’t you? After what my father did to you I think if you had ships or locations unknown to him, you’d keep them to yourself, as a backup plan, should things turn sour.”

Argos was getting tired of this dance. He needed to know where Miseo was going with all of this.

“Are you really interested in having me as a future ally against your father? Or are you just trying to see if I can be trusted, so that you can write my death warrant yourself, perhaps as a way to avoid the consequences of our failures today?”

“You’re a smart Fury. I like that. I could go either way, depending on how motivated you are. It seems you are willing to do what needs to be done, though, should our people need new leadership.”

Hell yeah I’m prepared, except I will be the one taking power.

“I am.”

“Then give me a location where I can drop you. There’s no need to tell me what it is. I don’t care. We’ll soon have an entire armada of Fury destroyers, so the Zarlack ships, even those behemoth-class ones, will soon be nothing but obsolete relics.”

Argos entered coordinates on his holo-display console. “These will do.”

Miseo entered the new coordinates into the Dark Star’s navigational computer.

Now Argos gazed at Miseo for a while.

“Anything on your mind, Argos?”

“I was just wondering how powerful these Fury destroyers are.”

“You’ll see soon enough. I’ve no doubt that once I get back to Erevos I’ll be assigned command of the Crimson Shadow. I’m sure my father will want me to either finish off Droxia or crush the Alliance at home, on Earth.”

“Earth is protected by a very powerful planetary shield, as you know.”

“Yes, it was in your report. But that’s a perfect way to gauge our advanced weaponry. Plus, whatever they have in orbit we can obliterate.”

“With only one ship?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll take some of the Zarlack forces along. Perhaps the Crimson Shadow can handle the fleet on its own, but I prefer going at it with logic and a balanced fleet.”

“That’s how I would do it.”

“And yet we only took four destroyers to Droxia, and lost them all.”

Of course you had to remind me of that.

“I didn’t anticipate they would find a way to destroy all the graviton devices.”

“Yes, you failed to anticipate that. Don’t get me wrong. Your plan was very good. But you should have packed more forces, at least as a contingency plan.”

Argos wanted to defend himself but decided against it. His ego was hurt, but he knew that Miseo, at least on that point, was right.

“I agree. I let my pride get the better of me, a mistake I won’t soon repeat.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I need smart allies, not overconfident egomaniacs.”

Argos was again hurt, but he knew better than to show it. Instead he just nodded in agreement.

“We should be at the coordinates you’ve provided in less than an hour.”

“Very well.”

* * *

Ares arrived at Athena’s palace and lost no time taking human shape.

“Ares? This is a surprise,” said Athena, even before he had finished materializing into his golden humanoid form.

Athena was sitting on the throne of her palace, as usual, while sipping wine.

“Hello, Athena.”

“I didn’t expect to see you back here so soon, but it’s good to see you again.”

“Good to see you too. I need some information, though.”

“Yes. I’m sure you didn’t come back just for my winning personality.”

Ares smiled.

“So, Ares, what is it you need to know?”

“I need to locate Asclepios.”

“If he’s still alive.”

“Why wouldn’t he be?”

“Well, the story is that Asclepios brought too many people back to life with no regard for consequences. This angered our Father’s brother, Hades, greatly and he commanded that our Father have him killed.”

“Nobody commands Father to do anything. Do you think he killed him?”

There was a pause. “No. If anything, he would keep him alive for the day he would need to be resurrected himself.”

“Sounds like Father alright, making someone disappear and have him locked out for his own purposes.”

“Indeed. Truth be told I might have done the same myself.”

“Any idea where I can find him?”

“No, not really, but you should ask Apollo. He might know.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Simple. I’m almost certain that if Father didn’t do his own dirty work, he asked Apollo. Apollo was against executing Asclepios, and we both know Father is careful about pushing his favorite son.”

“Is it due to fear or simply respect for when we saved Olympus together? We wouldn’t be here today if Apollo and I didn’t risk everything to stop the Titan attacks on our world.”

“This may be true, but since then Apollo desires Zeus’ position as our leader.”

“This may actually play in my favor. Where can I find him?”

“You know very well where. Keep your friend close but your enemies closer.”

“At Zeus’ palace then?”

Athena took a sip of her drink before answering. “Yes, wherever Zeus is, Apollo won’t be far behind.”

“I would have liked avoiding talking to Father just yet.”

“Then don’t. Your new form allows you to use stealth. You don’t need to take that glowing gold human form. We both know you just enjoy doing it. Or perhaps you miss your corporeal days. But it’s not required for you to interact with any of us.”

“Yet you’ve sensed me when I was invisible. What makes you think Zeus won’t?”

“You made no effort to hide the fact you wanted to talk to me, and I sensed your presence even before you started speaking. It might also have helped that you were here only a few hours ago. But I think it’s mostly that I’m so bored lately; any stimuli, any vibrations in my palace, even sub-atomic, I think I will feel.”

Ares really didn’t relish the idea of going anywhere near Zeus. But if that was what he needed to do to save Chase, then that’s where he would go.

“Why don’t you join me?” said Ares.

“I’m not that bored.”

“I think you are. You just don’t want to appear as a defector.”

“Can you blame me? I am powerful. As I remember, I even kicked your ass a couple of times in the past. But even so I know better than to incur Daddy’s rage.”

That brought old memories to the surface of Ares’ mind. But those were other times. He was a very different Olympian back then. Still, she had bested him on both occasions.

“I’m sure I deserved that ass-kicking back then.”

Athena laughed out loud, almost spilling her red, mind-numbing liquid. “You really have changed, brother. I like the new you.”

Ares bowed.

“Tell you what, bro, when you have a majority of Olympians in order, then you’ll have my vote as well. I don’t need the aggravation of openly defying Zeus at the moment. Though I admit the thought does stir my curiosity even now. But I haven’t won pretty much all my feuds, wars or arguments by being impulsive. I use my head and I always play winning odds.”

“That would take much of the excitement out of life, though.”

“Perhaps, and one day soon I may need some excitement back. In the meantime, I wish you a safe journey locating Apollo.”

* * *

Sarah was looking through the cryostasis pod’s glass at Chase’s wounded face when the med-bay doors slid open and Commodore Saroudis came in.

She remembered the vision of the future. Part of her wanted to tell him about it right then, but she feared that if she told him, he might act differently, and in doing so alter the future. Sarah really needed that future to come true. She felt strongly that it was the only way to get out of their current predicament. The lives of trillions in the universe depended on their ability to resist, fight and eventually defeat the Furies. It mattered not how much she respected Saroudis. If his sacrifice would help them achieve that, then she had no right to intervene and try to change that. She also knew that Saroudis would agree with her thinking.

“Hello, Commodore, I’m glad you’re here.” Sarah didn’t turn her gaze away from the cryostasis pod.

“Hello, Sarah . . . I . . . It’s difficult to see Chase in this state. He’s usually so full of life. How are you holding up?”

“I’m okay. Ares went on a mission to look for someone called Asclepios. Apparently he can bring back Chase.”

“I know that name. Our ancient scrolls described him as the god of medicine. Seems fitting. Let’s hope Ares comes back soon. I’m worried after what happened on Droxia that the Furies will want to retaliate.”

“I’m not sure what to think. Sure Chase stopped them, but they still pretty much eradicated Droxia.”

“But they didn’t, not entirely.”

“Still, the Droxians are a beaten people now. They won’t be able to contribute to the war effort as much as before, and we both know they were our strongest ally.”

“They are formidable warriors on the battlefield⁠—”

“Why did you stop?”

“In my many years of service, I’ve heard stories and legends about how fierce the Droxian warriors are. And we’ve seen that first hand with Ryonna. To think an entire world of Droxians was nearly wiped out in a matter of hours . . .”

“I know. It feels unreal.”

“It does.”

“Unfortunately, the threat is very real. We need to lick our wounds, and we need to fight back.”

Sarah felt Saroudis’ gaze on her for a while. She finally looked into his eyes. “But it’s not all doom and gloom. How’s your family, Commodore?”

“They’re alright. Thanks for asking. It’s strange to have them back. I always assumed they perished with the rest of my home world.”

“That’s why it’s better never to assume anything in life.”

“That’s definitely good advice.”

They both stood in front of the cryostasis pod and looked at Chase, wondering what was to come next.

* * *

On Droxia, Ryonna looked at the burning horizon with a heavy heart.

The fighting and killing had finally stopped. After a few hours of looking for a way to communicate with the Alliance, she and Keera had found a deserted military base with a functional subspace communication tower. She managed to contact Sarah who told her what had transpired.

Thank you, Chase.

She ached knowing that her friend was at death’s door, but Sarah sounded hopeful that they would find a way to bring him back to health eventually. That had removed some of the tension she felt. If Sarah could find the strength to see Chase’s current state with optimism, she ought to as well.

“You alright? You haven’t said much since you talked with Sarah,” inquired Keera.

“I’m okay, don’t worry. Just thinking about Chase.”

“He’s gonna be fine. He has to be. Without him we’re all fucked anyway.”

Ryonna chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I think we have to stop depending on Chase so much. Don’t get me wrong, we need a Fury to fight the Furies. Today is a very painful reminder of that. If it hadn’t been for Chase my entire world would have been destroyed, and we’d all be dead. So yeah, I have no doubt we need him to win this fight.”

“I sense a but coming . . .”

“But we have to stop depending on him. We need to be better at helping him in the future. He can’t win this fight alone. He tried, and look where it got him. We need to remind him we are here, and that we can help.”

“I wholeheartedly agree. But I’m sure, like me, you must feel overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. Our task, defeating the Furies . . . I mean, how can we ever hope to achieve that?”

Ryonna took a step towards Keera and looked deeply into her eyes. “We will succeed, no matter what. There’s no other way. It doesn’t matter how dire things look at the moment; we’ll fight, never give up and eventually we’ll rid the universe of this scourge.”

“I envy your confidence, especially under the circumstances. What’s our short-term plan?”

“The Destiny and Hope will arrive here in a few hours. In the meantime, I’d like to try to locate my brother-in-law.”

“Sure thing. Where do we begin?”

“I wish I knew. How well versed are you with technology?”

“I’m pretty good. What do you need me to do?”

“Let’s record a message and send it in every possible form and frequency we can think of. If Jonas is still alive he will find a way to let us know.”

3

News of the aftermath of the battle had reached Earth in a fleet communication status report.

Spiros let himself fall on his chair upon reading it.

“What is it?” asked Gaia via the comms system.

“It’s Chase.”

“How is he? Did he succeed in killing both the Furies?”

“No. He killed one, but the second one nearly killed him. He’s in suspended animation inside one of the Hope’s cryostasis chambers at the moment.”

Gaia didn’t answer right away. “What do we do now?”

“We keep making this training facility more evolved for him to train in when he gets better.”

“If he ever does.”

“We have to proceed on the assumption that he will.”

“We also need to see if we can recover my avatar’s black box. It may contain vital information on how to adapt our droids to better fight against the Furies.”

“I’ll ask the Alliance to bring it back with them.”

“We also need to complete a new body for me.”

“One should be ready by the end of the day.”

“Good. What new technologies can we use to make Chase’s training more efficient?”

“I have some ideas, but one in particular I don’t think you’ll like.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“How do you feel about creating an artificial black-hole generator inside the facility?”

“It would make me very uneasy. If something went wrong, we could very well destroy this world.”

“I know, but do you think it’s something we could, in theory, build?”

“Probably. But what about doing this on board a ship instead?”

“Smart. We could have a training ship in high orbit above the planet, with fail-safes in place should the containment field be breached.”

“Yes, that way, if we lose control, we could either destroy the ship or have it jump far away from here.”

“Indeed. We also need to have beaming technology ready for organic matter. We may have to beam him out in a hurry.”

“I’ll start working on schematics for these upgrades right away. You look like hell, Spiros. You should try to get some rest.”

Spiros nodded. “I will, soon. But I’ve also received orders from Earth Alliance headquarters.”

“What orders?”

“The usual. They want to know what my progress is concerning a plan to eradicate you if needed.”

“Have you been working towards that goal?”

“Not really, no. I trust you. But for the sake of appearances I put Cedric and Yanis on that task a while back.”

Spiros did trust Gaia implicitly now. But as a scientist he knew it never hurt to have a backup plan in place. What if Gaia was to become compromised in ways they simply couldn’t anticipate? What if the Furies hacked her? She could unwillingly turn against this world in a heartbeat.

“I understand. Let me give you my command codes. That way, you can easily shut me down.”

“Why would you do that?”

“What if I was compromised without my knowledge? If that ever happens and I become a threat to the world I’m trying to protect, I want you to shut me down immediately. Will you do that for me?”

“Of course. But I’d prefer not to have to. I’ve grown quite fond of you.”

“That’s sweet. In the meantime, we need to focus on defending ourselves from the Furies. Surely they will come at us eventually.”

“Do you think the planetary shield will hold if they send a fleet of ships our way?”

“I can’t be sure. It’s the most powerful shield technology we can muster with the power we have, but without seeing a Fury destroyer’s weaponry in action, we can’t know for sure.”

“So many variables . . .”

“That’s a very AI thing to say, Spiros. Have you considered the possibility that perhaps you are spending too much time in my company?”

Spiros smiled.

* * *

When Ares arrived at Zeus’ palace, he stayed invisible. He hadn’t stepped inside this place for centuries.

Just being there made him uneasy. Too many bad memories here, too many arguments with his father, which had eventually led to his banishment. Ares knew back then that banishing him had been necessary. He had let power go to his head.

Ares felt uncomfortable thinking about that period of his life. Shame permeated his entire being. But now was not the time to let his internal dialogue with his guilty conscience unfold.

Ares heard steps not far from his position. The sound was unmistakable, no matter how long it had been since Ares heard it. The sound of a man, a god really, whose assurance and charisma could be felt simply by listening to his footsteps.

Father . . .

Zeus passed Ares and stopped. He looked impressive. His long, salt-and-pepper hair and beard gave him a very godly and imposing stature. Zeus turned around and looked towards Ares.

Can he feel or, worse, see me?

Ares pondered whether or not he should appear. Perhaps the easiest way to locate Asclepios was to ask his father directly. But he would not be a welcome guest in his house. More like an intruder, if their last meeting was any indication. Ares had no heart in this form, but the more Zeus gazed at his position, the more he imagined his heart was beating faster. Nonsense! He was just nervous.

Then someone passed through the space that Ares’ invisible form occupied. Of course, he registered no physical contact. But it felt weird nonetheless.

His brother Apollo, the one he came to seek. Apollo shivered after passing through Ares.

“What’s wrong with you?” inquired their father.

“I don’t know. I felt weird for just an instant, like someone walked over my grave.”

“We don’t have graves. You’ve spent too much time with the humans.”

“Look who’s talking.”

Zeus resumed his walk and Apollo followed him into the gardens behind his massive and beautiful temple atop Mount Olympus.

The plant life was simply breathtaking. It was early evening and the luminescent flowers, twinkling and pulsating, gave the place a surreal atmosphere. Water fountains cast reflections from the flowers all around, creating a light show that started from the light, marble pavement and extended to the heavens on a clear evening sky.

“What do you want, Apollo?”

“Surely by now you must have heard the Furies have returned.”

“It has been brought to my attention, yes.”

“What are we going to do about it?”

“Nothing. This is not our war.”

“But we might become entangled in it, and very soon. We’re the ones who trapped them in that dimensional prison. Surely they will seek revenge. In fact, I’m surprised they haven’t attacked us yet.”

“First they would need to find New Olympus, and that could take years.”

“Or not.”

Zeus grimaced. “Even so, we’re not supposed to intervene. After the last Fury War we agreed with the council of ancient races to no longer meddle in the matters of the younger races. And I would ask that you do not have this conversation with your brothers and sisters. Only you and I know that we are the ones who locked that prison.”

“This is all well and good, Father, but this rule of non-interference doesn’t apply anymore. We’ll get caught in the crossfire sooner or later. As for the fact that we didn’t destroy the machine and the Pandora stone, let me remind you that this decision was yours and yours alone. I simply obeyed your orders and created a very secure facility protected by a Titan. You should have heeded my advice and destroyed their means of returning into this dimension.”

“This is not the Olympian way and you know it, son.”

“Perhaps, but is getting wiped out by our former nemesis a better one?”

“We had no way of knowing if destroying the machine might have canceled the dimensional shift. It was too risky. Do I have to remind you that when we finally managed to trap them, we were losing this war?”

“I remember. Still, we should have destroyed the Pandora stone at the very least.”

Zeus didn’t answer.

Ares knew that Zeus had to have been behind the entire plan. It made sense. He wasn’t surprised his father had kept most of the Olympians in the dark, though.

Ares agreed with Apollo. They should have destroyed the Pandora stone, but it was too late now. Zeus would have to face the consequences for his decision, but hopefully that could help him in his quest to reason with his father.

Once he had brought back Chase, their next stop would be to convince Zeus to intervene again and help in the war efforts. While most Olympians didn’t stand a chance fighting Furies in one-on-one combat—except a select few like Zeus himself, Apollo, Artemis, Athena and perhaps a few others—the Olympians still had a technological edge over the younger races and even most of the older ones. The real question was: Were they still around and would they agree once more to form a coalition capable of repelling the Furies? Ares’ train of thought was interrupted when he heard his name.

“What about Ares?”

“What about your banished brother?”

“He and Aphroditis sided with the humans.”

“And look where it got them. Ares is dead. I’m thinking it’s Aphroditis that is powering the machine.”

“We can’t abandon her. We have to mount a rescue mission at least.”

“I disagree. She made her choice and I warned her not to defy me and contact that Fury. She is no longer our responsibility.”

“But Father⁠—”

“Silence! I won’t hear another word about Aphroditis. She should not have acted on her own accord. She violated the treaty of non-interference in doing so, and that’s why the Furies are back now. Whatever happens next is on her.”

“I’m no longer your little boy. You can tell me to shut up all you want, but the facts remain: ignoring problems doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

Zeus growled and deep, black clouds covered the previously beautiful, starlit sky.

“Striking me down with a thunderbolt won’t change a thing either.”

Ares had to admire his brother’s courage. He knew first-hand how volatile his father’s temper was. One would think the leader of such an advanced civilization would be wiser when it came to admitting his mistakes.

Small bolts of golden lightning flashed in Zeus’ eyes. He shot an ice-cold look at his favorite son. Then he looked towards Ares again.

Can he see me? Perhaps I should leave before I get involved with Zeus too early.

“Show yourself!” shouted Zeus.

Apollo was startled and looked behind himself, scanning the area with a dubious look.

He turned his gaze back towards his father. “Who are you talking to?”

“I feel a presence.”

Crap!

“Is that you, Ares?” Zeus insisted. “Show yourself!”

“Ares?” inquired Apollo. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s dead.”

“Since when did that stop an Olympian from staying in this verse?”

“You’re imagining things, Father. Surely he has traveled the Styx by now.”

“I don’t think so. He’s even more stubborn than Aphroditis.”

Apollo waved his arms at his father in frustration and then started levitating.

“Where are you going? I haven’t dismissed you yet.”

“I’m done talking to a wall, Father, with all due respect.”

“Respect. Too many Olympians have forgotten the word’s true meaning.”

“I think you confuse respect with blind obedience.”

“I never thought you’d be one of them.”

Apollo didn’t answer but flew away from the temple with such acceleration that the resulting shockwave pushed away the nearest clouds and sent Zeus’ long hair flying horizontally behind him.

Ares lost no time and followed his brother into the sky.

“So you didn’t come to see me,” said Zeus aloud.

* * *

When Chase opened his eyes he didn’t see anything at first. He blinked multiple times to try to clear his vision.

What is this? Where am I?

“Anyone there?”

There was no answer.

His vision adapted slowly. He was still lying on his back but he was no longer on Droxia. All pain had stopped, but he didn’t feel his heartbeat, and that sent a cold shiver through his body.

Am I dead? What is this place?

Even though he was in the dark and his gaze fixed upon the sky, Chase saw no stars. It looked like a void, ready to swallow him.

He sat up and looked around. He tried to locate his pulse but found none.

That can’t be good.

The ground was made of a strange type of stone. It was very dark and reflected the little light around. Chase wondered where it came from. There was no apparent light source. The stony ground was warm, which was surprising since its material seemed smooth and cold to look at. With every passing moment his vision improved. He saw spiky mountains in the distance. The place was totally alien, and dark. The scene felt surreal, like a lucid dream. Or nightmare.

In the distance was a line of marching shadows. He walked towards the long line of humanoids moving in a straight line towards a distant source of reddish light, far beyond the tall, spiky mountains.

As he approached the single file his attention was attracted to a specific shape within the shadows. As he walked towards it, he felt he knew who it was.

It can’t be.

As he drew closer he was able to distinguish more details in the shadows. They didn’t look fully human. They had no color, but Chase didn’t know if that was because it was dark or because their skin was dark gray. Only when he was three steps away from the one that had caught his attention did he recognize enough detail on her face.

Fillio.

She walked with emptiness in her eyes, looking down at her feet, like every other person in the line. They looked possessed and devoid of any awareness. The fact that not a single trait of humanity or color could be detected in her froze Chase’s blood.

“Hey, Fillio! Can you hear me?” Chase walked by her side.

There was no answer.

He tried calling her name a few more times but with no result. He tried to shake her, but his hand passed through Fillio’s shoulder as if it wasn’t there.

But was it she who wasn’t there or him? A chasm grew inside his soul. Was he dead? Was that what awaited everyone once they passed? But there was something different about him. He was conscious, aware, even though he couldn’t feel his heartbeat. When he looked down at his arms, he could see some color, though faded, on his skin, whereas everything else around him, other than the red light source in the distance, was either black or a dark shade of gray.

What is this place?

Chase tried remembering what had happened. He had been impaled by his brother Argos—that much he vividly remembered—after a long fight with Miseo. That thought brought anger and sadness at the same time. He had failed his mission. He had failed Sarah, Chris, Ares and even Aphroditis. He was not the Fury they thought and hoped he would be, the one who would stop the universe from being consumed by the Furies’ revenge.

I’m worthless. I was so certain I could win, and I ended up making a fool of myself.

If that was the full extent of it, Chase wouldn’t care as much as he did. It wasn’t the fact that he had lost the fight that bothered him. It was what that meant for the rest of the people he loved, as well as the trillions of innocents that would pay the price for that failure. How could he have been so sure of himself?

And Chase knew, deep down, that confidence had always been part of his being. On board the Destiny, even before the terrible assault that claimed the Star Alliance’s very existence, he had been the best pilot. Of that he had been certain. But perhaps that was just his ego. He had thought he was better than the rest and that he could prevail against all odds. And for a time it did seem as if this self-deception would carry him his entire life.

What have I done?

But just asking the question was too hard to bear, the consequences too ugly and painful. Would his friends prevail and defeat the Furies, or had he singlehandedly given victory to his enemies over all that was good and true? Kindness, compassion, love . . . Having fought three Furies, he knew that these emotions weren’t inherent in them.

Why was he different? Neither Miseo, General Arkoolis nor Argos had shown any signs of these emotions when he fought them; only hatred, a thirst for power and a total lack of empathy for beings other than Furies.

Argos . . .

Chase had felt something in his brother. At first he thought it was fear, but could it be something else entirely? Was that fear at the surface just a defense mechanism used to cover deeper, buried feelings? When Argos had struck him down, he could simply have decapitated him. He could have crushed his heart and that would have been the end of it, but instead he went for the stomach. Did that mean anything?

Then Chase remembered seeing a slight golden light reflected in his brother’s eyes, just before he punched his hand through. Reliving the scene, even in his head, was very painful.

Was that Ares? Had he intervened?

“Ares!” shouted Chase out loud. “Are you here?”

After more silence he shouted again. “Ares! Please . . . Talk to me.”

Then he heard a voice behind him. “He can’t hear you here, I’m afraid. No one but me can.”

Chase turned to see a boy, no older than ten years old, looking at him with big green eyes.

“Who are you?”

“Perhaps your brain made me up so you could make sense of all this.”

It was strange, hearing that young child speak like an adult.

“Well if it did . . . It doesn’t make any sense! Where am I?”

“Where do you think you are?”

“If I had to guess, I’d say some sort of afterlife.”

“Then perhaps that’s where you are.”

“Are you being vague on purpose?”

The kid smiled.

“What’s your name?” asked Chase.

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not, but I’d still like to know.”

“Sedah. My name is Sedah.”

“Nice to meet you, Sedah. I’m Chase. What are you doing here? Are you also lost?”

“Who said you were lost? Perhaps you’re exactly where you need to be.”

That sent a shiver down Chase’s spine. “What are you talking about? How would you know?”

Sedah just shrugged.

“Great, so you don’t want to tell me.”

“I don’t think it matters that much, to tell the truth.”

“It matters to me.”

“And what if it shouldn’t?”

The boy was getting on Chase’s nerves. “Could you be a little more helpful?”

“I thought I was.”

“Well, perhaps we don’t speak the same language. How come you’re the only one I can talk to? I would like to talk to my friend over there,” said Chase, pointing towards Fillio, who was slowly moving away.

“She can’t hear you. You’re not exactly in the same state.”

That made Chase think. Perhaps he wasn’t dead yet.

“I’m still alive, am I?”

“That depends on your definition, I guess, but you’re not entirely dead.”

“Then why am I here?”

“That, I really don’t know. You shouldn’t be.”

Great, more cryptic answers.

“And what about you? If I’m not dead, and if I can speak to you, doesn’t that mean you live here?”

“Perhaps.”

Chase took a knee and put his hands on the boy’s shoulders. He was surprised to make physical contact. Sedah smiled.

“Sedah, can you please help me talk with my friend?”

“I could, but I’m not supposed to.”

“Nevertheless, please, I really need to talk with her.”

“You don’t need to, but I can sense it means a great deal to you.”

Chase nodded.

“What’s in it for me, though? Will you play with me after?”

“Sure, just let me talk with her first, okay?”

Sedah gently removed Chase’s hands from his shoulders. His eyes flashed green, and he lifted his arm upwards and extended his index finger. A small green light shone atop his finger, and Fillio took a step to the side, getting out of line; but she continued walking forward.

“You don’t have much time,” said Sedah. “Hurry and talk to your friend, then we’ll play,” said the boy with a large smile.

“Thank you.” Chase ran next to Fillio.

Some color had returned to her dark gray skin; not much, but enough to differentiate her from the rest.

“Fillio?”

“Chase? What are you doing here? Come to think of it, where is here?”

“I wish I could tell you with certitude where we are. I’m not entirely sure myself.”

“It’s the Underworld, isn’t it? Which means we’re both dead.”

Chase wanted to take Fillio’s hand but his passed through hers, a reminder that he wasn’t really in this place; at least not entirely.

“I might not be dead just yet. My only explanation is that I’m near death, and some of my consciousness made it here.”

Fillio shot him a quick glance and a faint smile.

“That’s good. It means there’s still a chance for you.”

Chase felt a sting in his heart. Whether his heart was beating or not, the words painfully reminded him that he had also failed her.

“Why didn’t you let me save you? Why did you resist my help?”

“Chase, please understand that I’ve always had the deepest respect for you, and I thank you for trying, but it was my time.”

“No! I could have brought you back if you had let me.”

“Perhaps, but I didn’t want to go back. I understand how strange this might sound, but you need to understand or, better yet, to accept it. Can you accept it, Chase?”

“I can, but I would really like to understand why.”

“You know why.”

Do I? Chase wondered. “I don’t think I do.”

“Look, these past few years have been hell for me. I didn’t see the point in living life this way anymore. If I hadn’t been injured, then perhaps I would have ended myself in another way. I just wanted it to end. To me, what happened was a blessing in disguise.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”

“I tried, once . . . but my timing sucked, as always.”

Chase remembered when she had called him, soon after they had returned from Droxia.

“That night?”

“Yes, that night. I wanted to tell you I’d like us to try again, but I could see in your eyes that your heart already belonged to someone else. Don’t get me wrong. I’m very happy you found love, Chase. I just wish . . .”

“You wished I loved you.”

A black tear fell down her denatured skin. Chase winced. “I’m sorry, I . . . Before Sarah, I don’t even know if I ever had such strong feelings, you know.”

“You had feelings. Those nights when you held me in your arms, when all I wanted to do was kill myself, I felt your kindness.”

“Alright, but it wasn’t romantic love.”

“I know. And I was okay with that.”

“Why didn’t you let Daniel get closer to you? He genuinely loves you.”

“He does, and part of me does love him back; but perhaps I simply loved him like you loved me, if that makes any sense.”

It did.

“Please tell him how sorry I am, but you don’t need to hurt him by revealing my true feelings towards you.”

“Well . . . the thought never crossed my mind. He’s my best friend and I don’t want him to suffer.”

“That, and you would feel guilty.”

“Yeah,” said Chase with a nervous chuckle, “that too.”

4

Most of the Hope’s crew was packed in the landing bays. Such was the tradition for space funerals on board Alliance ships. It was a tradition of the Star Alliance but one that Commodore Saroudis thought should be continued by the current Earth Alliance. Fillio had been in the Star Alliance all her life. It was only fitting that her spacing ceremony should follow that time-honored tradition.

Sarah was in the front row, only a dozen feet away from the space casket. It looked very similar to an escape pod, down to the long oval shape, but its finish was different. While escape pods were dull gray, space caskets were adorned with the symbol of the Star Alliance: a perfect circle of pulsating stars, flanked by golden wings, painted on a dark-blue glossy background that represented the void of space.

Sarah barely listened to Yanis’ eulogy. She heard the words but they didn’t really hit her conscious mind as fully formed sentences. She was too concerned about Chase and worried about not having received news from Ares. She would spend most of her time in med-bay two talking to Chase, though she doubted he could hear her in his current state. But it made her feel better. She also felt that Chris was listening. In fact, she knew it.

She had heard all kinds of stories about pregnancies, but none matched her own experience. How could it? It wasn’t every day that an unborn child projected themselves into their mother’s thoughts in adolescent or adult form and entered into a dialogue with her. There were still times she thought she was losing it. But she knew better.

She wondered why Daniel wasn’t attending the ceremony. She hoped he was okay. Last she saw him he didn’t want to talk with anybody and was clearly on edge. He acted coldly and distantly. It probably was his way of dealing with the grief, but she worried that perhaps he wasn’t dealing with Fillio’s death very well. She couldn’t blame him, though. She just wished he would let her help.

Soon it was time for Saroudis to say a few words.

“Today we are saying goodbye to a kind soul and one hell of a pilot. I didn’t know her very well, but in the little time I had the pleasure to serve with her, she made quite an impression on me. Life in the military is dangerous, a fact we have been made painfully aware of today. Commander Fillio Steriopoulou lost her life fighting for the Earth Alliance, for freedom and for life. She will be deeply missed. We commit her body to the stars. Farewell, Commander.”

Commodore Saroudis saluted and everyone present did the same. He pressed a control on the space casket and it rose from the ground, then slowly flew out of the landing bay.

Sarah felt sorry for Yanis. His eyes were filled with tears but the hatred he had harbored towards Chase was gone. She wondered if he still blamed himself, though. Now was not the right time to ask.

Soon they would reach Earth. They had stopped on their way from Droxia to perform the funeral and soon they would return to hyperspace.

The crew was invited to the observatory lounge on deck two, but Sarah felt tired and returned to med-bay two for a quick visit before returning to her quarters for some much needed shut-eye. So she excused herself to the commodore and left the landing bay.

Soon she was by Chase’s side. He hadn’t moved an inch since he had been put in cryostasis to preserve the little life force still left in him.

Sarah wondered if he was aware in this state. Did he dream? Did he hear when she talked with him? Did he feel anything at all?

It didn’t matter whether or not he heard her. She liked talking to him as if he was in the room. Telling him everything that had happened during the day, their next move, what she was thinking for Chris’ room back on Earth. Anything and everything . . .

“I’m sure Fillio would have liked it if you had been there, but perhaps you were in spirit. In any case, I’m sure she understands, under the circumstances. I mostly feel sorry you weren’t able to say goodbye to her today. I’m sure you would have liked that, and perhaps say a few words to the crew.”

Then Sarah remembered what Yanis had told her in the Jeffrey’s tube shortly after his sister had died.

“What would you have said?” She let the words hang for a minute before continuing, “I don’t think I told you, but Yanis told me you kinda dated her. Oh and don’t worry, I’m cool with that. I mean, I can’t blame you for what you did before we met, right? I mean . . .”

Why am I telling him this now?

“What I mean, Chase, is that I understand why you didn’t tell me about it. Who we dated before we met is our own business.”

What am I doing?

“Okay, you know what, this is ridiculous, and I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

“You do realize he can’t hear what you’re telling him, right?” said a male voice behind her.

Sarah jumped from her seat in surprise. It was the commodore.

“I’m so sorry, Sarah, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that. I thought you heard me come in.”

“I didn’t, Commodore.” She breathed rapidly. “And no need to apologize. You just startled me. I was too much into my own thoughts.”

The commodore smiled. “I wanted to come and see him. But I can come back later.”

“Don’t be silly. I actually need to rest, so he’s all yours, so to speak.”

“Thank you, Sarah. Get as much rest as you need. We’re still two days away from Earth.”

Sarah gave a firm nod and left the med-bay.

* * *

When Apollo arrived back at his temple, Ares appeared in his golden human form in front of him.

“What the—” exclaimed Apollo. “Ares. So Dad was right? You were at his temple.”

“Hello, brother.”

“Hello to you too. Next time, try to knock or something.”

“I’m not sure what that would have accomplished.”

“Well, at least it would have prepared me. You just appeared out of nowhere.”

“The advantages of being an energy-based life form, I guess.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. I take it you heard my conversation with our father. That’s why you were there, right?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then let’s discuss the reasons of your impromptu visit while taking a walk.” Apollo gestured towards him. “Shall we?”

“Sure.” Ares followed his brother into the most beautiful garden of Olympus.

There were flowers everywhere. Those that bloomed at night, like the star lilies, were shining gold, and their thousands of lights cast ethereal shadows. The sun-friendly flowers, though less prominent against the night sky, were nonetheless given life and purity by the light sources around them.

“Ares, I’m surprised you’re not here to talk about how to save Aphroditis. After all, you’re the only one that followed her after she defied Father.”

“There’s something more important at the moment, more pressing.”

“And that’s what I find difficult to hear coming from you. But okay, what’s the matter?”

“I need your help to save Chase.”

“That would be your protégé Fury? Why should I care?”

“Because without him, we’re all doomed.”

“Says who?”

“Aphroditis, for one.”

“We both know she didn’t exactly see the future, just possible ones.”

“Yes, and yet those from which Chase was absent were all catastrophic.”

“Alright, let’s for one minute assume that I accept that the fate of this universe is linked to a single Fury, no matter how absurd this sounds. What do you need from me?”

“I need to find Asclepios.”

Apollo stopped and looked at the stars for a brief moment. “He’s dead.”

“Why are you lying to me? I’ve known you too long not to recognize the signs, brother.”

“Right. I was never able to lie to you. I wonder why.”

“So he’s alive?”

Apollo nodded. “But he might as well be dead.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because Father had me imprison him in the Abyss.”

“Surely if you took him there, you can get him back.”

“Not all Olympians are willing to defy their leader as carelessly as you and Aphroditis. Some of us accept that he knows what he’s doing.”

“Yet you clearly defied him tonight. You know in your heart that we need to do something or the Furies will annihilate us.”

“Us, and everyone else it seems.”

“That’s why we have to do something. I know we didn’t always see eye to eye, but I think we can agree now that we can’t just stand back and hope for the best.”

“I wish it was that simple. It’s one thing to agree with you and another to defy Zeus openly.”

“That’s if you tell him about it. Can’t we simply free Asclepios without him knowing?”

Apollo rubbed his chin. “Perhaps. Still, Zeus isn’t the main issue.”

“Then what is?”

“A powerful Titan is protecting his eternal prison.”

“Not another one!”

“Right, you and your friends must have had fun killing the one protecting the Pandora stone.”

“Fun isn’t the word I’d use to describe the entire endeavor. But we prevailed, and if that’s what it takes to bring Chase back, then we’ll prevail again. Tell me more about this Titan.”

“He has a temper. Locking him there wasn’t easy, and I think Menoitios will definitely hold a grudge if I show my face anywhere near him.”

“Nonetheless, we must free Asclepios, and fast. What kind of resistance can we expect? Can you take him down?”

“Not a chance. His bad temper alone will be a problem. After being imprisoned for countless generations, I can only imagine the kind of wrath that awaits anyone that shows up on his doorstep.”

“We have to try.”

“Look, Ares, I’m all for helping you if you’re sure this is what needs to be done, but make no mistake, this is not a fight I can win.”

“How did you manage to control him in the first place?”

“Well, you know how we work. I tricked him, of course. I trapped him inside an energy field. Unfortunately, Asclepios is in there as well.”

“Can we simply sneak past him? Couldn’t I simply teleport Asclepios out? This form has advantages.”

“Unfortunately, while you could go in there, you’d be trapped as well. The energy field cancels all Olympian powers. The only way out is to bring that field down, and it’s only coming down if Menoitios is killed.”

“Why would you create such devices?”

“Look, Father asked for an impenetrable prison. I just do what I’m told.”

“Aren’t you tired of doing his dirty work?”

“That’s a conversation for another time. Our problem right now is that I’m nowhere near powerful enough to defeat Menoitios.”

“Who is then?”

“We’re talking Fury-level power. Ironically, your boy Chase probably could defeat him.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not happening.”

“Then I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t think anyone but a very powerful Fury could kill Menoitios. So unless you know of another Fury . . .”

Ares stopped walking. Perhaps now was the time to test his theory about Argos. It wasn’t as if they had a choice.

Apollo stopped and turned around. “Any candidates?”

“Yeah, but I might as well ask Hades to help us.”

“He’s not such a bad guy, you know.”

“Who? Argos? You clearly haven’t met him.”

“I was referring to Hades.”

“Oh, forget about Hades. He’s confined in the Underworld so he can’t be of help to anyone. So if I come back with a Fury, will you let me know where to find Asclepios?”

“I’ll have to come with you, if I can remember where the hell in Tartarus I trapped those two.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“It’s been a long time, but I’m pretty sure it will come back to me when we’re there.”

Ares didn’t like the sound of this. So many variables, so many things that could go wrong.

Apollo put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You think you can ask this Argos to help you?”

“Do we have any choice?”

“I’m afraid not. But can he be trusted?”

“If there’s one person I would never, ever trust, it’s Argos.”

“Things are looking bleak for the universe, then.”

“Yeah, just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse.”

“Look at it this way, at least it will give you something to pass the time.”

Ares chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. It seems our people have become complacent. You remind me of Athena.”

“Oy, watch it,” said Apollo with a wide smile. “We may not be as active as before, but who knows, maybe this new Fury war will change that.”

“One can only hope. It’s a shame to see such lethargy amongst our race. We used to be better than that. We stood for something once.”

“If you remember well, at that time you didn’t really stand for the kind of things you’re hoping we care for today.”

Ares felt a pinch inside what should have been a heart.

“We all make mistakes. It’s time to fix them now,” said Ares before disappearing.

Apollo shook his head. “Bye to you too, brother.”

* * *

Argos watched the Dark Star leave the planet where Miseo had dropped him before returning to Erevos. He wasn’t very happy about parting with his ship, but he had already been working on a more powerful, mid-range interceptor vessel for some time now. It would soon be ready. That gave Argos some time to think about his next move.

If Miseo thinks I’m gonna be his dog on a leash, he’s in for a surprise.

But Argos had to admit he had been surprised with Miseo’s decision to let him go and lie about his demise to his father. Argos had thought he would have to get rid of Miseo one way or another before they reached Erevos, which would not have been easy. But could he be trusted? Miseo was not an easy character to understand. He clearly had his own agenda.

Still, Argos decided he shouldn’t stay on this planet for much longer, should Miseo have been testing his allegiance, only to betray him at the first opportunity. No doubt Miseo would if it meant protecting his own interests, just as Argos would in his place. They were both deviants. It took one to know one.

That was when Argos surprised himself, wondering if Chase was alright.

What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I care?

Surely he had crossed him off as a brother a long time ago, way before he became Chase. It had taken such emotional restraint on Argos’ part not to kill his brother then, more than he had ever displayed in his life. But now he worried about him. It made no sense. She was dead because of him!

But was that true? Could Argos’ own hatred have killed his precious Tami-Ahn? Even if Chase had struck the killing blow.

Argos’ heart thumped loudly against his ribcage and a tear formed in his eye. He wiped it quickly and smashed the nearest table in anger. His teeth were clenched and a vein near his right temple throbbed. He spoke aloud. “No! You’re the one who killed her, by refusing to help me! And now you’re going to die.”

But then another rush of strong feelings shook him to the core and he fell to his knees. This time he was unable to contain the tears that splashed onto the metallic floor of the landing strip. Whatever Argos was trying to repress would not have it. He felt compassion for Chase, and no matter how much his brain hated the idea, his body, his heart, wasn’t fooled by his own self-deception.

Was it because he felt so alone now? For such a long time he had reveled in loneliness, planning the return of his beloved Furies. But the homecoming he had hoped for had not happened. Not only had he almost been killed by Arakan for his deeds, but he was denied the position of power he had been promised. And then, just like that, he felt alone and longing for someone.

Nonsense!

He closed his eyes and took three deep breaths to calm himself. He emptied his mind of all these conflicting thoughts. Now was not the time to have a nervous breakdown.

It would take a couple of hours for the Zarlack ship he had called via subspace to come and pick him up.

That left him enough time . . .

He rose and grabbed the cargo with his mind, the one he had unloaded from the Dark Star before Miseo left. He levitated the heavy crate next to him as he walked through the waterfall that hid the entrance to his observatory in this sector of space. Soon he was inside the abandoned base. It had been weeks since he had last needed it. This part of space now belonged to the Zarlacks and Furies, so there was no need to have a crew operate it anymore.

When he stepped inside the main control room, the lights came to life and all the systems booted. He dropped the crate gently near him and opened it. While it contained supplies such as food and water to last a week or so, that was not what Argos was looking for. He grabbed the jar containing the Kyrian snake and heard the beast hiss inside. He walked into his ready room. Electric sparks ignited the torches in the room and he sat on his throne.

Every room in which he spent any amount of time closely duplicated home. Dark walls, illuminated by the natural light of fire, not the maddening cold incandescence of artificial lighting that Argos despised so much.

He took the lid off the jar and let the snake take a welcome bite at his forearm. It had been many days since he last had his fix, so it acted faster and more potently than he anticipated. He quickly put the snake back in the jar before he entered a state of semi-conscious bliss.

5

Chase and Fillio had walked for hours towards the red light source in the Underworld, but it felt like days. Chase wondered if time was a different concept altogether in this place.

“It’s been a while since you said anything,” said Fillio, interrupting Chase’s train of thought.

“I’m not sure what else there is to say.”

“And yet I feel you still have a lot on your plate.”

Chase sighed. “I feel like this all the time, ever since the Star Alliance was defeated.”

“And Aphroditis told you how important your role is in all of this?”

“Yeah . . .”

“You remember the old days?”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, Chase, you’re your own man, but it seems to me that this destiny talk is what is troubling you the most. Do you remember that time before, when you didn’t believe in destiny? How many times you told me that we are free to do what we want and that we’re in control of our own lives?”

“It feels like a lifetime away now.”

“And that’s perhaps the problem. You’ve always been a very proud person. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that you can’t remember your childhood; heck, even part of your adult life. That has to be troubling to deal with.”

“I now know who I was; well, kind of . . .”

“Perhaps, but you still don’t have clear memories of your past. It’s difficult to know who we are when we don’t know who we used to be.”

Chase reflected on Fillio’s words. They made sense, of course. But there was something else.

“Do you mind if we change the subject?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. I don’t dare to try to understand why we are here now, talking. But there must be a reason. And I think you need to release the burden that’s bringing you down.”

“I don’t know that I can.”

“Of course you can, Chase. What are you afraid of?”

“Everything.”

“If that’s true then perhaps you must ask yourself if you’re not in the right place after all. Look, I’m fine with what happened to me. Right now I’m walking towards the end of my being. I can feel it in my heart. I don’t know how or why, but I feel this place is a sort of bridge between life and whatever lies next; when I look at that red light over there, I know it’s the end of who I was before.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Well, if you’re too afraid of what is expected of you, then perhaps you should let go?”

Chase shook his head. “No, I can’t abandon my friends.”

“That’s noble, and I’m glad to hear it, but that’s not a good enough reason to keep fighting and you know it. If you do it as an obligation and not a true calling from your heart, then you will fail.”

“I have failed. So many times in the past few months.”

“That’s life, Chase. It’s not the victories that matter. It’s the fact that no matter how many times the universe brings you to your knees, you have to get back up and keep fighting.”

“You’re not really in a position to lecture me on this. I mean, after all, you didn’t want to go on.”

“Yes, but that was my choice, and I’m not you, Chase. The fate of all life was never on my shoulders. You’re the prophecy boy,” said Fillio with a smile.

“Prophecy boy?”

“You know what I’m trying to say.”

“I don’t want to be responsible for all these lives. How many in this line are dead because I failed to stop Miseo on Droxia?”

“And how many aren’t here because you did your best to stop him?”

“Not nearly enough.”

“This is war, Chase. There will be casualties, and if the Furies prevail then pretty much everyone except them will take this march.”

“If that’s supposed to bolster my self-confidence or motivate me, then I have to tell you it’s not working.”

“It’s not my role, Chase.”

“Then what is?”

“I have none anymore. You’re the one who must decide what your role is. Forget the prophecy for just a little while. Forget what you think you must do; your responsibilities, your duty, what others expect of you. Just stop for a second and ask yourself one question.”

“Which is?”

“What do you want?”

What did he want? “I don’t know.”

“Of course you do, but it’s clouded by everything you think you have to do, and by everyone counting on you.”

“I . . .” Chase wanted to say it but it wouldn’t come out.

“Spit it out. I’m the only one listening, so don’t worry about what you say.”

“I want a normal life. I want to be with Sarah and Chris, and live happily.”

“See, you’re not different from anyone else. All you want is happiness. This is what life is supposed to be, but we get caught in our own web of problems, self-doubts and seemingly impossible obstacles on a daily basis. The sad thing is that most of all that noise in our heads is self-inflicted. And we often forget the basics . . . to just live and try to be happy.”

Chase cast her a dubious look.

“I understand why you doubt my words, Chase. Who am I to lecture you on happiness? A task I have failed at; miserably, I might add.”

That’s what Chase was thinking. But he also knew at his core that she was right. Just because she’d failed to achieve happiness herself didn’t mean the advice was wrong. He was aware of that.

“Chase, let me ask you something. If you want to be happy and live with Sarah and Chris, what is it you must do?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“I still want to hear you say it.”

“I have to defeat the Furies.”

“On your own?”

“Who else is powerful enough?”

“Who said it’s all about power? Perhaps it’s more a question of collective consciousness and the universe’s own will to survive. Have you ever asked yourself that?”

He hadn’t.

“You’re not alone, Chase. You never were. Except that day when you were found without memories of who you were and where you came from. But since that moment, you’ve never been alone. You have friends, allies. Some you know and some you don’t yet. You need to stop looking at defeating the Furies as something you and you alone can manage. If you don’t, then soon you’ll truly be here walking towards that same light.”

Her words made sense, and she hadn’t been the first to tell him that. But now that he had no immediate threat to deal with, he could actually assimilate and reflect on these words with a calmer disposition and clearer state of mind. And reflect he did, as they stayed silent for what seemed an eternity.

* * *

Argos was coming down from his high little by little. The snake venom’s psychedelic effects were fading away. For a moment he was tempted to go one more round. He felt at peace when he was under the influence, away from his inner demons. But soon his Zarlack destroyer would arrive to pick him up. But where was he to go now? He felt helpless thinking that he had to start over. All these battles, all the plotting, the energy spent, and for what? He was no nearer achieving the goals he had set for himself now than when he had wiped his brother’s memory.

I can’t believe I was so blind.

But his thirst for power was still there. Except now it was tainted with the many recent failures that had taken most of it away, through listening to his basic instincts. But why had they told him to spare Chase? If only he had destroyed the Iron Fire when ordered by Arakan, things would be so different now.

Would they? Something nagged him. That particular Fury was mad. He didn’t care to share his power. Had Argos been manipulated his entire life? Had he just been Arakan’s pawn all along?

This train of thought quickly brought anger back to the surface and he wanted nothing more than to smash something or kill someone. But he was alone, and destroying a piece of furniture wouldn’t bring the satisfaction he was looking for. For the first time in a very long while, Argos felt lost, and utterly alone.

Then a sphere of golden energy materialized in front of him and morphed into a humanoid.

Argos didn’t wait to see what would happen next. He immediately created a fireball in each hand and threw them at Ares, but they passed through him. They continued on their path and impacted with some controls on the wall. Sparks shot from the damaged equipment.

“Your attacks won’t work on me, not in this form.”

“What do you want, Olympian?”

“I need your help.”

Argos laughed out loud. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Last I checked we’re not fighting on the same side.”

“Yet when I invaded your body on Droxia I felt that I didn’t need to convince you much to spare Chase’s life.”

“That was you?”

Ares nodded.

“So my brother survived? Why didn’t he come himself?”

“He’s still alive, but barely. He’s in cryostasis at the moment. I need your help to bring him back.”

“Why do you think I give a shit?”

“You can drop your tough guy act. I felt the conflict in you when I was inside your mind.”

“Nonsense, there is no conflict. I’m afraid you’ve traveled all this way for nothing.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Believe what you want, old man, I have better things to do.”

“I must say I’m surprised you’re not on your way back to Erevos. But then again, that would probably be your last trip there, right?”

Argos growled.

“That’s right. You failed your mission, and since it was not the first time, I’m thinking your boss wouldn’t be happy with you. So what’s the plan, Argos? Do you intend to hide from your fellow Furies now?”

“Stay out of my head!”

“I haven’t been in your head since you impaled Chase, but I feel the hatred you harbor towards Arakan. What are you going to do about it?”

“None of your business.”

“I think it is. I need a Fury to save Chase, and you’re going to help me.”

“You’re in no position to dictate terms. There’s nothing you can do to me in that form.”

“You’d be surprised. But I’m hoping you’d rather do this one favor for me.”

“You’re not listening, old man. I will not help you.”

“Alright, then you’ll have to explain my presence to anyone you come in contact with, because I’m not leaving your side until you agree to help me.”

Argos swore. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me.”

“Why do you need my help?”

“There’s a Titan with your name on it blocking my way to one of my colleagues. He has the means to heal Chase.”

“Wouldn’t it be simpler if I healed him myself?”

“He’s too far gone for that. He needs a specific Olympian elixir.”

Argos thought about it. On the one hand, he had no intention of just helping his enemies from the kindness of his heart; but he had to admit he didn’t like the idea of Chase dying. There was no turning back. He knew in his heart that he couldn’t let his brother die, not if there was something he could do about it.

“The last Titan was no picnic, and as much as it pains me to admit it, without Chase and his friends we would have failed. What makes you think this will be any different?”

“This Titan has a temper, but he’s beatable without any tricks. At least from what I’ve been told.”

“What do I get in return? Besides not having to suffer your presence.”

“Name your price.”

“A future favor. One day I will come to you with a request, and when that day comes, you’ll have to accept, no questions asked.”

Ares looked at Argos for a long time.

“Very well. Should we go now?”

“We have to wait for my ship.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Take my hand.”

Argos raised an eyebrow.

“We don’t have all day.”

The moment Argos made contact with Ares’ energy-based hand, they were teleported away.

* * *

Keera entered the cockpit of the ship they had commandeered on Droxia.

“Any news?”

“Yes, I’ve managed to access the sensor logs from this facility, and shortly after sending the signal, I found something. Your brother-in-law left us a message buried deep inside the Droxian military internal network.”

“What does the message say?”

“Not much. It’s a set of coordinates, off world.”

“So he did escape?”

“I think so. There was an attached video file, but it will only open with the right identification.”

Keera plugged a data crystal into the Droxian transport’s computer. It required facial identification; the console scanned both passengers and bleeped.

“Facial scan accepted,” said the mellow, synthesized onboard computer voice.

The main holo-screen turned on and Jonas’ face appeared.

“Ryonna, if you’re seeing this it means I had to leave the planet. I’ve embedded a set of coordinates inside the network that will allow you to track me down. I know you’re busy helping the Earth Alliance nowadays, but I think what I’ve discovered can help you. Please rendezvous with me as soon as you can. We have much to discuss. I may have found a way to even the odds on the battlefield with the Zarlack and perhaps even the Furies. Unfortunately, the data I was accessing was highly sensitive and I’ve been detected. I think I may be in danger, so it’s crucial you find me quickly. If they find me before you do, I’ll leave clues to where I go next. Please hurry.”

Ryonna looked at the screen long after the message had ended.

“Keera, is this transport capable of jumping us to the coordinates?”

“No, but even if it was, shouldn’t we ask for the help of the Earth Alliance?”

“They left the planet more than a day ago. That gives us a head start I don’t want to lose. If Jonas is right and he has found a way to level the playing field with the Furies, we must act now.”

“What about Ronan?”

“He already rejoined the crew of the Manticora.”

“How does that make you feel? I know you’d rather keep an eye on him.”

“I would, but my son is a Droxian warrior. He handled himself incredibly bravely when the planet was under attack. I trust that he will prevail on his own if he gets into trouble.”

Keera was clearly surprised by Ryonna’s confidence. “That doesn’t sound like you. Are you sure you’re okay, Ryonna?”

“Right now I don’t have time to think about all of this. My world is in ruins; most of my people have been killed. If Jonas has a way to exact revenge on those who did this to us, this may be the most important mission of my life.”

“Alright, then we need to get a better ship. Any ideas?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. Get us to RavenShire spaceport, maximum speed.”

“What will we find there?”

Ryonna frowned. She looked pensive and emotional. “If it hasn’t been destroyed . . . a piece of my past.”

* * *

Chase and Fillio arrived at the edge of a deep chasm. Everything around them shone red, as if they were inside an invisible furnace. It wasn’t hot, though. In fact, it felt very cold at the edge of the Underworld. Chase looked down at the pit. It led nowhere. It was void. The marching souls simply walked off the cliff and disappeared into nothingness, one after the other, relentlessly and without end.

“We’re here,” said Fillio.

Chase nodded.

“I have to go now. Time to say goodbye.”

“Wait.”

“Chase, you have all the answers, you always did. It’s time for you to stop seeing your imposed destiny as a burden.”

“I know.”

“Good. Perhaps this was my role in all of this.”

“Still, I’m sorry for failing to bring you back.”

“You didn’t fail. I simply made my own choice. You go and make yours now. Retake control of your own destiny, like you were always meant to.”

“Thank you, Fillio. I’ll miss you.”

She smiled. “So will I, wherever it is I’m going now. Thank you for your friendship, Chase.”

“What do I do now, though? I don’t know how to get out of this place, or if I’m even supposed to.”

“Of course you’re supposed to. This . . .” She pointed down to the chasm, “is my path. Yours is the other way. Go back and eventually you’ll find your way out.”

Chase looked at the long, interminable line of people walking towards this place. Perhaps it was that simple. At the other end of this line should be some sort of exit. When his gaze returned to Fillio he saw tears in her eyes but she was smiling. He wanted to talk with her more. He didn’t want this to be the end of their friendship, but he knew it was time.

She took her last step and disappeared into the void.

At that moment Chase felt something in him. Something strong, something primal, something pure . . . A tear fell from his eye as he looked at the chasm for just a moment. Then he levitated upward and turned the other way. Before he knew it he was flying faster than he ever had, heading away from the chasm, with renewed faith in himself.

I’m out of here!

6

Daniel hadn’t left his quarters on board the Destiny for days. He hadn’t showered, hadn’t shaved. He seldom left his bed and spent most of his time looking at the dull ceiling in search of answers. The past few days had taken a serious toll on his morale. Not only had he lost Fillio, whom he loved dearly, but his best friend was in cryostasis and at death’s door.

He wondered how they could win this war now. It had always been a long shot to begin with, but now it really seemed hopeless.

When the doorbell rang, it took a minute for Daniel to get out of his own dark thoughts. The second ring and successive loud knocks on the door did the trick.

“Who is it? Leave me alone!” he shouted, still not willing to get out of bed.

“Commodore Saroudis. Please open the door, Commander.”

“Hang on.”

Daniel grunted as he got up from the bed. His legs had decided not to be very cooperative. Like most of his being, except his brain, they too had gone to sleep. The first few steps were painful, but he soon started getting some feeling back into them.

When he finally opened the door of his quarters, he noticed Saroudis’ appraisal of his current state.

“Daniel, are you alright?”

“I don’t think so. But I’d rather be alone.”

“I think you’ve been alone long enough. We need to talk.”

“I’m not in a talking mood.”

“Do I have to make this an order?”

Daniel sighed and gestured the commodore inside.

“What can I do for you, Commodore?”

“We’ll soon reach Earth. I need my wing commander back.”

“I think you’d better appoint someone else to the position. I’m not sure if I want to stay in the Earth Alliance anymore.”

Saroudis’ eyes grew in size and then he looked around at the mess.

“Look, I understand you didn’t take Fillio’s death very well. None of us did. But this is war. There are casualties. Surely she’s not the first close friend you’ve lost in battle.”

“It’s the toughest one to swallow, though. We were just . . .”

“You were what?”

Daniel wondered if he should disclose how close he and Fillio had become. After all, the regulations on fraternizing were clear, even though Chase and Sarah clearly didn’t care much about them.

“We had become close, very close.”

“I understand your reluctance to volunteer this information, but you know I don’t care about that rule as much as Star Alliance command once did. Even if Earth personnel are also not supposed to fraternize, it’s only human to fall in love with a fellow member of one’s crew. I’m really sorry for your loss, Daniel. I was surprised not to see you at the ceremony.”

“I . . . I wanted to be there. I just didn’t find the strength.”

“That’s alright. But it seems to me you could use some counseling sessions or perhaps talk with a friend?”

“The one friend I would have liked to talk to about this is nearly dead, Sir.”

“Chase’s current status is a great worry to a lot of people, but I have faith that Ares will find a way to bring him back.”

“I wish I was as confident as you in the matter, but the truth of the matter is, I have lost all hope. This war will soon be unidirectional, and there won’t be any place in the universe where one is safe.”

“If we all thought this way, then yes, this war would be already lost. But we can’t just give up.”

“Look, Commodore, I understand what you’re trying to do and I’m grateful for your good intentions, but the fact is, even if Chase recovers, what can he do next time that will be any different? He’s only one man. They have an entire planet of Furies to launch at him and us. The truth is we don’t stand a chance. In fact, we never did.”

Saroudis’ expression grew darker.

“I’m really sorry you feel that way, Daniel. I sympathize, but I think you’re wrong. As long as we’re still alive, there’s hope.”

“If you don’t mind, Commodore, I’d like to be alone now. I’ll drop my resignation letter to you later today.”

“I think this is premature, so I won’t accept it. For the time being, you should consider yourself on indeterminate leave.”

“I don’t think I’ll come back to active duty, no matter how long it takes.”

“Be that as it may, for the time being I’d rather you take the necessary time to grieve, Commander. Let’s revisit this issue later, much later. And in the meantime if you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me.”

Daniel nodded. “Very well. Thank you, Commodore.”

Saroudis left the quarters and Daniel crashed back into bed.

* * *

Chase had been flying for a long time when he saw Sedah in the distance. He landed in front of him.

“Thank you, Sedah, for letting me have one last talk with my friend.”

The boy nodded.

“Now, I’ll be on my way, so if you’d be so kind as to show me how to get out of here.”

“It’s not that simple. I’m afraid you can’t leave.”

“What do you mean? I’m obviously not dead, otherwise I’d be another walking zombie like the rest of them. So if I’m not dead, I should be able to leave the Underworld. Shouldn’t I?”

“Only if I allow it.”

Chase didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean ‘allow it’? Who are you?”

The little boy morphed into a taller, older man, with glowing red tattoos on his arms and a daunting look.

“What is this? Who are you?”

The man laughed. His voice was deep. “I am Hades, and you are in my realm, forever.”

Chase took a fighting stance.

“Not a chance. I’m not staying here!”

“Then you’ll have to go through me.”

“Easily arranged.”

“I’m glad to see you’ve recovered some of your feistiness. This will be an interesting fight.”

“Not for you, I’m afraid.”

“You’d think your last defeat would have taught you a smidge of humility.”

“Look, Hades, I take it you’re an Olympian. And I have no beef with you, so I suggest you let me pass and tell me how to get out of this awful place.”

“I’ll tell you what. If you defeat me, I’ll let you go.”

Chase studied his opponent. His look was determined, and if he had any emotions at all, Chase couldn’t sense any. He readied himself for battle.

“Give me all you’ve got. Let’s see what my nephew Ares has done with you.”

Chase didn’t answer but launched himself at Hades with all his might. He went for the face with a powerful right hook but hit nothing but air. A split second later he felt pain in his guts, where Hades had lodged his fist with surprising thrust.

Chase took two steps back and had to struggle to stay on his feet. Blood dripped from his mouth onto the dark onyx ground, where it boiled and evaporated.

Alright, this is not going to be an easy fight.

When Chase looked up, Hades was no longer there.

Chase flew upwards in an attempt to find his adversary, but all he saw was a shadow flying around him at impossible speed.

How can he be so fast?

Then he felt no less than twenty blows in quick succession all over his body and, before he knew it, Chase crashed back to the ground. The pain was overwhelming.

He had fought Furies not long ago, and none of their blows compared with the pain he felt now.

Hades landed nearby and walked towards Chase, who could barely move a muscle.

“And you thought you’d beat me easily. I guess you still have a lot to learn.”

How can he be so powerful? I thought Furies were more powerful than Olympians. I expected Zeus to maybe match them, but this guy is something else.

Chase had to use most of his energy just to get back to his feet. He adopted a defensive stance but he was trembling.

“You can’t hope to fight in your current state. You should rest and, if you feel like it, you can have another go at me tomorrow.”

“No! Let’s fight now.”

Hades shook his head. “Impetuous.”

Before Chase could blink, he received a deadly blow to the back of his head. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the onyx ground coming at him.

* * *

On board the Silver Arrow, Apollo’s ship, Argos paced on the bridge.

Ares saw Apollo’s look. “What is it, brother?”

“So let me get this straight. This guy killed you, and now he’s going to help you?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that, but basically yes.”

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

“We don’t have any choice. We need him to defeat Menoitios.”

“If he’s powerful enough, which remains to be seen.”

Argos stopped pacing and looked at the Olympians. “Don’t worry, I’ll defeat your Titan for you.”

“I’d like to see that,” said Apollo. “Menoitios has never been defeated in combat. Aside from Zeus, I don’t think anyone else can destroy him.”

“Well, if we are to save Chase I need to destroy him, so there isn’t really any choice now, is there?”

Apollo looked at his brother. Ares answered with a shrug.

Interesting words Argos had chosen. He genuinely didn’t want his brother to die. Perhaps there was hope for him yet.

“You!” said Argos, pointing a finger at Ares. “Don’t you go misinterpreting my words. I’m only doing this because it suits my long-term plans which, by the way, also include eradicating your entire race.”

“Charming fellow,” said Apollo.

Argos crossed his arms against his chest and looked through the viewport.

“Tell me about it. We’ll soon arrive near the Tartarus system. Any idea where we go next?” asked Ares.

Apollo looked at the projected holo-starmap and pointed towards the farthest planet from the twin-star system.

“There, I think.”

“You think?”

“I’m pretty sure. Like I told you, I haven’t been here in a few thousand years.”

Argos grunted. It annoyed Apollo enough that he rose from his chair.

“Look, Argos, we get it. You hate us. But let me be absolutely clear, the feeling is mutual, and I’m looking forward to shutting your mouth on the battlefield the first chance I get. So if you want to destroy us, you’re welcome to try.”

“Easy there, brother.”

Argos laughed and turned around. “Empty threats. If you were really looking forward to killing me you wouldn’t need my help with your crazed pet, now would you? But I recognize that usual Olympian arrogance. You share that in common with your brother. He too was taunting me before I turned him into a blob of interstellar energy.”

Apollo’s anger grew quickly, as did his bright blue aura.

Argos responded in kind and his bright red aura cast red light all around him.

“Ha ha ha, you want to teach me a lesson now? I could use the warm-up, so bring it on, old man.”

Ares stood as well and positioned himself between Argos and Apollo, extending his arms on both sides. “Stop it! Now is not the time.” He looked at Argos. “Perhaps you’d like to get some rest before we reach our destination? You’ll need all your strength.” He looked at his brother next. “You too. You may need to help Argos fight Menoitios.”

“Fight alongside a Fury? Have you lost your mind? I’m showing you where to go. That’s where my duties end in regard to this mission of yours, brother. I’d rather die than ally myself with a being intent on killing us all the first chance he gets.”

“I don’t need nor want your help. If you’re anything like Ares, you’ll just slow me down anyway. You two stay out of my way when we reach our destination,” said Argos as he left the bridge.

“I want to kill that insolent asshole,” said Apollo through clenched teeth.

“And perhaps one day you’ll get your chance, but for now don’t let him push your buttons. He enjoys conflict too much. In fact, I think he thrives on it. We’ll deal with Argos when the time comes. Though I’m not entirely sure he’s an enemy anymore.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Have you been sleeping while he spoke? He said he’s looking forward to wiping us out.”

“Yes I heard, but I also entered his mind when he was about to kill Chase on Droxia.”

“And?”

“And, I think that even if I hadn’t nudged him towards a non-lethal blow, he might actually have done it on his own. As much as he hates his brother, I can’t help feeling that something has changed in him. He could have easily destroyed the Iron Fire right after we delivered Aphroditis, but he went out of his way to let us escape, and he paid dearly for it.”

“Not nearly enough if you ask me.”

“Perhaps, but if there’s only the slightest chance that he could be turned, I have to take it. He could be a powerful ally.”

“Says one of his victims. Boy, I don’t know if this is the non-corporeal thing or something else, but the more I spend time with you the more I think you’ve lost it. Especially if you think you can play with fire and not get burned.”

“Look, Apollo, I’m aware of the risks and I can understand how it looks from your perspective. Don’t get me wrong. I really appreciate your council on this matter, but I can’t ignore my gut feelings.”

“You do realize that you don’t have guts anymore?”

* * *

When the transport ship arrived at RavenShire, Ryonna made a face at the view. More than half the starport had been destroyed.

“I take it that’s not the good news you were hoping for?” said Keera.

“We’ll have to see. As I remember, most of the detained ships are on the north side, which seems less damaged than the rest of the complex at first glance.”

“Do you mind if I ask what we’re looking for?”

“My old ship. At one point, after my husband died, I had a larger, more powerful smuggling ship. But when they came for us, I needed cash fast and I had nothing to trade but my ship. So I sold it to the port in a hurry. A friend among the starport crew helped me get a deal so I could recover my ship one day.”

“How so?”

“I sold it for half its value in exchange for parking rights here. I could buy it back for a fee if I came to claim it in the future.”

“You think it’s still here?”

“It’s anybody’s guess. If it hasn’t been moved or destroyed in the rubble, then perhaps it is. We’ll know soon enough. Please land over there,” said Ryonna, pointing at the platform to the north, the only one still standing.

“But will they let you take it back without the credits?”

“From the looks of it, we should be able to get inside and just take it.”

Keera raised an eyebrow.

“Desperate measures, Keera, desperate measures.”

“Right.”

They exited the transport in a hurry. Ryonna checked the charge on her blaster, set it on maximum stun and holstered it.

“Just a precaution. I’m hoping we won’t need it, but if my ship is here, we need to get it back. It’s our best bet to reach Jonas before anyone else.”

“How do you figure?”

“It’s probably the fastest hyperdrive engine in the universe. One of a kind, really.”

“If that’s the case, you’d think someone would have either bought or stolen it.”

“It’s ancient tech and doesn’t register on scans, so when I left the ship in exchange for a generous credit loan, I made sure they categorized it as a standard engine, classified as pretty slow.”

“I take it your friend helped you with that.”

Ryonna nodded. “I wonder if he’s still alive.”

“Want us to look for him?”

“No, we really need to hurry. Right now the priority is getting to Jonas’ last known coordinates.”

After a few minutes, Ryonna and Keera found a way inside the starport through the debris blocking most of the entrances.

The place looked abandoned. Once inside Ryonna interfaced with the first console they met. Its holo-projector lens was cracked and the image flickered, which made inputting commands and reading the screen a chore. But after a few minutes she found what she was looking for.

“The ship is on level seven, bay eleven.”

She brought up the map of the starport and studied it. “That way.” She pointed to their left.

They ran for a few minutes until they arrived on level seven. This part of the complex was barely holding together. Small tremors shook sand and rocks from cracks in the ceiling. As Ryonna approached the nearest console, she saw a hand sticking out from a pile of rubble nearby.

She ran to it and dropped to one knee. She tried to find a pulse. Then she saw a familiar ring on one of his fingers. She frowned.

“Rhaklin.”

“What’s a rhaklin?”

“That was the friend I told you about. This,” said Ryonna as she removed the ring and showed it to Keera, “is his wedding ring.”

“I didn’t know Droxians used rings. I thought this was no longer in practice except in very low technology races, most of them not space faring.”

“You know your galactic history very well, Keera. Indeed, Droxians usually don’t wear rings. But Rhaklin’s family was following the ancient ways.”

“Seeing as you don’t have a ring, I take it that you didn’t.”

“Partly true. I didn’t really care for trinkets, but my husband Jax also liked the old ways.”

She rose and took a chain from under her armor. On it dangled two identical rings. Black, with faintly pulsating golden runes.

“So you see, I do have a ring. I just don’t wear it on my finger.”

The ground shook a little stronger than the previous smaller tremors.

“I’m sorry about your friend, Ryonna, but I don’t think this place is very stable. Let’s get your ship and get the hell out of here.”

“Agreed.”

Ryonna went to the nearest console, a few steps away from where Rhaklin lay. She entered a few commands on the holo-display. The entire holo-user interface flashed red, and a holo-palm-reader floated on the right side of the interface.

“Dammit!”

“What is it, Ryonna?”

“I can’t unlock the docking clamps on the bay where my ship is. It requires biometric authentication.”

“Any way around it?”

She kept entering commands in an attempt to bypass the security features but it repeatedly ended with the interface flashing red.

Another tremor shook the starport and part of the ceiling of level seven collapsed nearby. An alarm wailed, accompanied by a vocal warning. “Coolant leak in section seven, evacuate immediately! This is not a drill.”

“This is not good,” said Keera.

“You think? Dammit, we need to hurry.”

Her mind raced, and then she went back towards Rhaklin’s arm. She took a deep breath and kicked the forearm at the base where it disappeared into the rubble. The bone-shattering noise made Keera flinch.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“What needs to be done.” She turned towards where she estimated Rhaklin’s head would be, even though she was actually looking at concrete debris. “I’m so sorry, old friend.”

She ripped his arm off with a powerful motion and went back to the console. When she had aligned the hand correctly for the holo-scanner to accept the input the console flashed blue twice, giving access to the ships.

The smoke resulting from the coolant leak started to permeate the closed atmosphere around them. Keera coughed.

“Try to breathe as little of that stuff as you can. Too much of it will kill us real fast,” said Ryonna as she dragged the shirt from under her armor and used it as a low-tech filter.

Keera did the same.

They ran towards bay eleven and Ryonna saw the nose of her old ship. The automated clamp-release program was just finishing. Something clanked when the clamps had fully retracted, creating another tremor. Another large piece of concrete fell from the ceiling.

“Watch out!” shouted Ryonna as she jumped out of the way.

But Keera hadn’t been so lucky. Her scream pierced through the ear-deafening sound the concrete made as it crashed to the ground. When Ryonna had finished her evasive roll she turned and looked for Keera. She was lying on the ground, most of her lower body caught under concrete rubble.

“Keera!” she yelled as she ran to her side.

Ryonna feared the worst but was relieved to find a pulse on Keera’s neck. She was unconscious, though. The ground trembled again and some of the rubble on Keera shifted to the side. Only a few pieces of concrete and a large metallic beam pressed onto Keera’s left ankle.

The next tremor dislodged another piece of concrete from the ceiling, right on top of them. Ryonna acted instinctively, took her blaster and switched it to maximum power, and shot the piece of concrete dead center a few feet before it crashed onto them. The concrete split in two and Ryonna used her own body to protect Keera, with both forearms protecting her own head. At the moment of impact she flexed her arms muscles as hard as she could. The concrete parts hit and she felt one of her bones crack. But in the end her quick blaster reflexes and stance succeeded in deflecting the concrete to the sides.

We need to get out of here, now!

* * *

Spiros entered the control room on their new flying facility. The training center had been moved to a jump-capable ship graciously provided by the Earth Alliance. It hadn’t been very difficult to convince them to lend them one. The moment Spiros uttered the words black hole, the Alliance was eager to help. They voiced their concern for the entire enterprise, though, especially now that Chase was deadly wounded, but Spiros was very convincing and told them of the importance of this technology.

The starboard viewport gave the nicest view of the blue marble, and Spiros got lost in it for a moment.

“Such a beautiful planet. Even more water than my home world.”

“Are you talking to yourself again?” said Gaia over the speakers.

“I know you’re always on. The benefit of being artificial. No down time, no need to sleep, no aching bones.”

“Do I detect a hint of jealousy in your statements, my friend?”

“You betcha. The more time passes the more difficult it gets. I have augmented so much in my body already. Mostly due to health issues but also in the hope these augments would carry me a little longer than my, how should I put this, vanilla body would ever have.”

“Most of your augments could be improved, you know.”

“Yes, I’ve thought of that while we were designing the training bots together. Your grasp of technology is impressive. I’d say decades in advance of the Alliance’s current level.”

“That must not help your hierarchy sleep better at night if I’m still considered a threat.”

“Potential threat. I keep insisting on that point during every single report.”

“And I’m grateful, but let’s not worry about that. We have more important work to do. Still, if you’d like us to work on your augments, I have a few ideas.”

“I’m sure you do and I look forward to hearing them. Perhaps from time to time in between our work on the artificial black-hole generator, we can have a look at them.”

“As you wish, Spiros.”

“How many training—” Spiros paused for a second. “How many battle bots are ready?”

“I don’t remember us renaming the training bots to battle bots.”

“We both know these are no longer just for training. We’ve armed them to the teeth and loaded them with much more powerful quadrinium power cells than their predecessors. On that note, that’s why I came here early today. I received a subspace transmission just a few minutes ago. It contains a raw data dump of your recovered avatar’s black box. The Hope sent it as-is. They did warn me that one of the storage chips on the black box was heavily damaged, so the data is incomplete. Since it was encrypted, they doubt we’ll be able to make heads or tails of the incomplete data stream.”

Spiros took a blue data crystal from his pocket and inserted it into the crystal port of his workspace console.

The door opposite Spiros slid open and Gaia’s new avatar entered the room.

“I see you kept the old exterior design for your avatar’s body, along with the silver and crimson paint job. May I ask why?”

“It may look the same but it’s of the same alloy as the new units.”

“That doesn’t really answer my question now, does it?”

“I have grown attached to this look.”

Spiros smiled.

“What did I say that is funny?”

“Not funny, just . . . human.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Good, ’cause that’s the spirit in which it was said.”

“Then thank you, Spiros. I am not yet fully receptive to the whole human emotional spectrum, though. But the more I devote CPU time to that task, the more some emotions seem to take over. In fact, I do find it disturbing to the point of wondering if I should pause or reduce this activity.”

“Interesting. May I ask which emotion in particular is taking over?”

“According to my database I’d say that the emotion is anxiety.”

“This is remarkable.”

“How so?”

“We humans tend to think too much, worry about the future, linger in the past and, more often than not, we don’t devote enough of our time being grounded in the present. The side effect is that we get anxious, worrying on a daily basis, distracting us from what needs to be done. Most of the time sucking the fun out of our own lives in the process.”

“That would explain the rise in my CPU emotive sub-routines.”

“And that last statement didn’t sound like an AI that passed the Turing test.”

“And yet I did with flying colors, didn’t I?”

“You did.”

“So . . . Should we take a look at the schematics for the artificial black-hole generator?”

“Indeed we should. Time to get to work.”

7

Sarah ran through the dark corridors of her ship. The damage was substantial and her heartbeat was dangerously elevated. But the footsteps that followed her at a running pace, resonating within the corridor, pumped adrenaline into her body. She dared not look back, but she felt her pursuer gaining on her. How was she to outrun a Fury in her current condition?

Then she heard him. “You can’t outrun me, human.”

The deep, almost demonic voice sent a shiver down her spine but she kept running as fast as she could. All she thought about was Chris. She couldn’t let harm come to him.

Then a fireball grazed her right cheek and impacted with the ceiling twenty-something feet in front of her. The explosion knocked her off her feet and she barely had time to pivot to protect Chris from her now inevitable fall. She hit the floor with her right shoulder with such force that she heard a bone-cracking sound, accompanied by a sharp pain that radiated throughout her upper body.

She turned on her back and saw the Fury walking towards her. With most of the lights off, and only a few flickering LED panels, his approach felt like a horror movie. She was helpless to do anything and soon he was upon her. A light flashing nearby revealed his face for a brief instant, and the evil smile she saw terrified her.

This is it. We’re going to die. I’m so sorry, Chris.

The Fury raised one hand, fingers locked in a claw. Before she could do anything he plunged it into her womb. The pain was like nothing she had ever experienced. Not even when she had been tortured by Argos did she feel so much pain. It was intensified tenfold by the emotional implications of what was happening. She closed her eyes as a reflex but she felt it. She felt that vile creature grasp her unborn baby from deep within herself.

A few seconds of overwhelming emotional and physical pain ensued. It was the longest and most agonizing moment of her life. It felt like the last one, too.

When she opened her eyes she saw the Fury holding her bloody baby in his hand. His eyes flashed red as he crushed the baby in his hand, little by little. She heard his frail bones crack one by one.

This can’t be! Please no!

She screamed.

Then everything changed. She was in her quarters on her bed, still screaming for dear life. She had been dreaming. The nightmare had been so realistic, so intense, that her heart was beating like a machine gun firing inside her chest. She dripped with sweat and panted heavily.

What the hell was that!?

She took deep breaths in order to calm herself. Soon she got up from her bed and went into the bathroom. She was looking at herself in the mirror when she thought she saw something move from the corner of her eye.

When she reached for her belly and found it flat that spun her again into a whirlwind panic attack.

“Chris! Where’s my baby!?”

Was she still in her nightmare?

She pinched herself and felt the pain. Her heart, which had finally stabilized, went back into overdrive.

She turned back to the room and that’s when she saw him.

A baby was crawling on the carpet, smiling and giggling. He saw Sarah and crawled towards her.

This is not happening . . . this . . . is not . . . possible.

What she could only surmise was baby Chris crawled to her on all fours. He looked at her and beamed the cutest of smiles. A warm, golden aura engulfed him.

I’m still dreaming.

Then she heard him in her thoughts. You aren’t, Mother.

What are you telling me? You got out on your own?

Yes. I know it’s difficult to understand, but I did it so you wouldn’t experience the pain of birth while being conscious.

That nightmare?

It was a distraction, so you wouldn’t feel it happening.

You couldn’t have chosen different imagery?

I didn’t control the nightmare, just enhanced the part of your brain that deals with fear. So whatever you saw in there, it was of your own creation.

I’m not sure I like this version better. But okay. How can you be crawling already? How old are you? Have I been asleep for weeks?

No, I’m barely an hour old.

Is this the way all Furies are born?

No, the birth is usually very similar to any other humanoid species. But we do age a little faster and reach adolescence about two years faster than humans.

Is this why you are already able to crawl?

Not exactly. I did something to my genetic makeup so I could grow faster, much faster.

WHAT?

I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t tell you about it because I knew you would object. But there was no other way. I need to be walking and fighting as fast as possible so we can win this war.

For a brief moment Sarah thought she had lost her mind. Then she thought that this was still a dream, a nightmare or a little of both.

I assure you, Mother, all of this is real.

How can you have changed your own genetic makeup? Do you have any idea of the absurdity of what you’re telling me?

I do. When Argos tortured us, I felt his presence inside me. Part of his psyche, in fact, was transferred somehow. When he realized my presence inside you and decided to grow a clone of us, that was when I got a glimpse of how he did it so quickly. I used that knowledge to affect my own DNA in order to grow as fast as his clones do.

This is irresponsible and unacceptable. I have carried you in me for nearly eight and half months. This was not your decision to make! How can you be certain this won’t kill you?

I know it’s a risk, but I have acted for the greater good. I’m sorry, Mom. I know this is not what you wanted to hear, and I know you looked forward to seeing me grow, and I’m so very sorry to rob you of that experience. But please, Mother, believe me when I say this was absolutely necessary.

How fast will you grow up?

You may want to sit down before I answer this.

Sarah didn’t like the sound of that, but she complied. She walked back into the room and sat on the edge of her bed.

I will be an adolescent in a matter of days. At which point we’ll need to find a way to reverse what I did to my DNA, otherwise my lifespan will be extremely short.

What? How short?

Weeks, a couple of months at best.

Her eyes filled with tears.

Chris, do you even realize the enormity of what you’ve done?

* * *

When Chase opened his eyes he was still lying on the ground. He sat up and massaged his stiff neck.

“What the hell was that?” he said out loud.

I must have been dreaming. But then again I’m still in this hellish place.

“My kingdom is not hellish.”

Hades’ voice startled Chase, who instinctively jumped back to his feet.

“I understand it’s not the warmest of realms,” continued Hades, “but I won’t let you call it that.”

“Are we really gonna argue about whether the Underworld feels like hell? Alright, granted there are no flames or pitchforks, but this isn’t anyone’s dream holiday destination either.”

Hades smiled.

“Why did you attack me?” inquired Chase.

“You want to pass beyond this point, and to do so you must defeat me in combat. Anyone who defeats me here can go back to the land of the living. But I don’t have many conscious visitors, and the very few that tried all failed. I don’t see how you will be any different.”

Chase reflected on Hades’ words. It was not a matter of choice. He had to get back to Sarah and Chris, and he had to get back into the fight with the Furies.

“I need to go back. If you know anything about what’s happening out there, you know I need to get out of here!”

“I am aware. The Furies have sent me many souls lately; by the billions, in fact. There hasn’t been as much work around here in thousands of years. But each soul that steps into the pit makes me slightly more powerful, so why would I want that to stop?”

“Oh, so you’re one of those.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Like Ares once was, drunk on power.”

“You’ve got me all wrong. Ares went a little mad, yes. I, on the other hand, know exactly what I’m doing.”

“You do realize that’s pretty much what a madman would say?”

Hades laughed. “I guess it is, isn’t it? Still, I’m not on a quest for power. I don’t decide who ends up in my realm.”

“Even so, I need to leave this place.”

“Then you need to fight harder, much harder. Unfortunately for you, though, since billions of souls came here in the last day, it has made me extremely powerful. More than I have been in over ten thousand years. Your failure to stop the Furies on Droxia is the reason this fight you must win now is nearly impossible.”

Chase felt anger rise in his core. He didn’t have time for this right now. He needed to go back to the land of the living. Yet he realized the irony of the predicament he was in. Because billions had died on Droxia, their passing souls had strengthened Hades’ power and that was why he moved so fast and hit so hard.

“I’ll tell you what, Chase. I will lower my speed so you can at least see me come at you. Let’s see if you can hit me even then.”

I need to find the chink in his armor real fast. If he has one.

“I can feel your internal turmoil. Know that there is no other way to get out of here. You must defeat me.”

“Then let’s get to it,” said Chase as he assumed a fighting stance.

Chase briefly closed his eyes as he grew his purple aura to the maximum. When he opened his eyes, they too shone purple.

He created an ice-cold blue fireball in each hand and threw them at Hades, who deflected the first one with the palm of his hand and blocked the second with his other hand. He closed it and disintegrated the attack with ease.

“Come on, now, we both know you can do better than this.”

Chase smiled.

He launched a series of punches and kick combos toward Hades, who blocked and parried them with incredible ease. Chase kept coming at him from every angle, with more complex combos, pushing himself to his maximum speed. But Hades kept countering him without breaking a sweat.

“This is useless! I’m not fast enough!”

“Then I suggest you get faster.”

“How?”

“Well, think faster for one. And perhaps you may want to get angry. In the past that has brought your speed up by a considerable amount.”

“How do you know all this?”

“While you are here in my realm I know everything you know.”

“Is that how you anticipate my every move?”

“It would be if you moved fast enough. At the moment I just need to slowly move out of the way of your sluggishness.”

Chase started to get angrier.

“Good, you will need that anger to win.”

Chase knew what Hades was doing. He was antagonizing him so he would reach his full potential. But why did Hades care? Chase reflected on that for a moment. It did seem that only his rage, his internal fury, the point where he lost all conscious grounding with reality and let his hatred and anger take over, were the moments when he was the most powerful. Ares had warned him about it, yet on some occasions he had encouraged him to use this to his advantage. Chase didn’t like entering this mode. He was afraid of losing control and what it could mean for the people around him.

Hades interrupted his train of thought. “There’s no one else but me here, so don’t worry about that now. Unleash your fury.”

“Stay out of my head!”

“Make me.”

Another layer of hate was added to Chase’s anger. Hades was taunting him. But that wasn’t nearly enough to get him to lose control. It would require much more than this.

“Alright then,” said Hades as he waved an arm in the air.

Someone materialized in front of him. Chase couldn’t believe his eyes. Sarah was standing there. She wasn’t pregnant anymore.

This can’t be real.

“Sarah? Is that you?”

Her voice was just as he remembered it. “It’s me, Chase. It’s so good to see you. We miss you. Please come back home, Chase.”

Tears formed at the corners of Chase’s eyes.

“Where’s Chris? Did you give birth already?”

“I did. I wish you’d been there, though.”

Chase swore inside his head. He had missed the birth of his child. He really needed to get out of here.

Behind Sarah, Hades pointed his right hand toward her and she started levitating. She was startled and scared, flailing her limbs uncontrollably.

“Stop it! Let her go!” shouted Chase, his anger almost reaching boiling point.

“I’m sorry, but you need this,” said Hades.

Hades shot a powerful column of energy that burst through her ribcage. Blood, bones and guts spilled out. Her eyes turned blank and Hades threw her lifeless body in front of Chase as if she was nothing.

Overwhelming hatred fed into Chase’s soul. His entire body tensed to the limit of exploding. Every muscle in his body grew as his aura expanded exponentially. Dozens upon dozens of lightning bolts sizzled and crackled around him. Chase unleashed a furious roar that shook the ground and echoed throughout the entire Underworld.

“About time. Now we’re finally getting somewhere,” said Hades with a smirk.

“I’m going to kill you!” said Chase, his eyes now shining orange so brightly they looked like two miniature suns.

* * *

Argos was first to step out of the Silver Arrow. Ares and Apollo followed. The air was dry and hot. Wind swept large quantities of fine-grained sand dancing into the air in a way that reminded Argos of smoke patterns.

Argos lifted a hand. “I’m good. I don’t need chaperones.”

“Don’t be in such a hurry to fight this Titan mindlessly. Menoitios is not just a dumb brute. He will fight intelligently. If you need our help we’ll come and join you,” said Apollo.

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Be that as it may, this mission is critical, Argos,” said Ares. “And I know you don’t want Chase to die. He did save your life in your last battle with a Titan.”

Argos stopped and turned around with a questioning look. “What are you talking about, old man? I’m the one who saved his pathetic life from being crushed by the Titan’s foot.”

“Right, you wouldn’t remember, since Chase had to reverse time to save you.”

Argos saw a flash of himself being smashed between two giant palms. Perhaps the old man was being truthful. Still, while Argos felt the need to help save Chase—even though he still couldn’t really understand the true motives behind his actions— he was not in the mood to befriend Olympians and was still determined to end them all when the time was right.

“Supposing that’s true, how did my brother reverse time? And, more importantly, if he did, how is it you remember it?”

“Aphroditis gave him her pendant before the fight. It was destroyed, so when I asked her, she explained its true function to me.”

“I see. Well, then that only makes us even, since I had saved him just moments before.”

Apollo approached Argos. “Look, you might need my help. I think it’s best I don’t show my face right away, since I’m the one who put the Titan in here. Seeing me could make things worse. But if required, I won’t be far.”

“Whatever.”

“Here,” said Apollo as he handed Argos a small, round piece of tech.

“What’s this?”

“You’ll need it to get in or out of the facility.”

“So it’s a key?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that . . . but yeah.”

“Where do I go now?”

“Let me walk you there. It’s near.”

After a minute they reached a metallic obelisk that rose from the sand. Some blue Olympian runes on its surface pulsated slowly.

“Don’t lose the device I gave you, or you might end up trapped there as well.”

“Very well. Now let’s go. The sooner I’m done with this, the sooner we can part ways.”

“Ares was right; you’re positively charming.”

“At least you’re still breathing. Count your blessings.”

Apollo shook his head in dismay, pressed controls on the obelisk and Argos was transported away.

Ares stepped next to Apollo. “I know he’s insufferable, but right now he’s our only hope.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

* * *

It took a little while for Ryonna to remove most of the rubble that covered Keera. She had been lucky. None of the heavy concrete was resting directly on her body so her wounds appeared minimal. But a heavy beam tightly locked her lower leg against the floor. Ryonna tried to lift it but it was simply too heavy for her to lift or budge in her current condition. She was starting to feel dizzy. The coolant-to-fresh-air ratio was becoming increasingly dangerous.

Keera blinked as she regained consciousness.

“Are you alright, Keera?”

She moaned and groaned, but suddenly looked worried. “I . . . I’m stuck!” She tried to pull herself out.

“I know. Stop trying to move or you’ll injure your ankle. I’m going to get you out of here.”

Keera pointed at blood dripping from one of Ryonna’s arms. “You’re also hurt.”

“It’s just a scratch. Don’t worry about me.”

Ryonna took her blaster and set it in plasma-cutting-torch mode. Soon she was attempting to cut the beam holding Keera’s leg.

Another tremor occurred and sand and small rocks fell on them.

“How’s it going?”

“Slowly, I’m afraid,” answered Ryonna, without attempting to hide her frustration.

“This is taking way too much time. We have to leave now.”

“I’m going as fast as I can, Keera.”

“I know, but it won’t be fast enough and you know it. This entire level could collapse any second now.”

Ryonna looked at the quadrinium-reinforced alloy beam she was trying to cut. She was barely a third of the way through. Then her gaze went to Keera’s leg, just above where the beam trapped her ankle. Then she looked at Keera’s eyes, who had seen where Ryonna had been looking. She knew what she was thinking, even if Ryonna hadn’t said a word. There was fear in Keera’s eyes, but then the look of fear was replaced with one of acceptance and determination.

“Do it!”

“Are you sure?”

Keera nodded, and Ryonna didn’t hesitate. She unbuckled her belt and stuffed it into Keera’s mouth.

“Bite on this. I’m so sorry.”

Ryonna then proceeded to cut the lower part of Keera’s leg above where the beam trapped her. Keera screamed. Even though her voice was strongly muffled, it was hard to bear. She kept biting on Ryonna’s belt. It only took a handful of seconds for Ryonna to cut through the limb. The cut was clean. The plasma-torch mode of her blaster cauterized the wound as it went, ensuring little or no loss of blood.

Keera lost consciousness again, but by then Ryonna had her in her arms and was running towards her old ship. Large pieces of concrete fell all around them.

As soon as Ryonna was on board the ship, she dropped Keera in her med-bay corner past the cargo hold, quickly strapped her in and ran for the cockpit.

She brought all systems online, bypassing most pre-flight checks. There was no time. When the engines started humming another tremor happened, much stronger than the previous ones. It rocked the ship and the entire starport. Not far from the ship a power conduit exploded and what Ryonna had feared happened. With the coolant leak, the ratio between coolant and oxygen made for a deadly mix. Flames engulfed everything.

“Dammit!”

Ryonna couldn’t see anything. It was all blocked by flames. How the hell would they exit the starport now? She brought the ship a few feet off the landing bay’s floor, her mind racing to find a way to get out of there. When she felt more explosions and large pieces of concrete hit her ship’s armor, she decided there was only one thing to do.

She keyed in coordinates in space above Droxia and readied herself to activate her hyperspace engine.

“Here goes nothing!”

Her ship disappeared from the landing bay and, shortly after, the entire starport exploded in a fiery inferno.

8

Miseo landed his ship back at Erevos headquarters and soon he was in the throne room where his father waited.

“Have you completed your mission, son? Where is General Arkoolis?”

“The mission was mostly a success, but I’m afraid the general didn’t make it.”

Supreme Commander Arakan was never a pleasant person to look at because of his scars and his imposing figure, but when he was disappointed or angered, he looked disturbingly deranged. His eyes flashed red.

“I understand he was your friend, Father, but he got himself killed.”

“By Laiyos?”

“Yes. But worry not, I have avenged his death. Laiyos is no more.”

Arakan rose from his throne. “There’s that at least. Well done, Miseo. Have you brought back his head?”

“I’m afraid there was nothing left to bring back.”

“I see. Where is his pathetic brother?”

“He perished as well.”

“How?”

“Also at the hand of Laiyos.”

The supreme commander looked deeply into his son’s eyes.

“That will teach that defiant Fury. If he had killed his brother when I asked him, none of this would have happened. People should know by now that I know what is best for us.”

There he goes again, finding a way to make any situation about himself.

“Yes, Father.”

“Well, he won’t be missed. After all, we’re ready to test our brand new destroyer.”

“The Crimson Shadow is operational?”

“Yes, it’s ready to go. We need to send this Earth Alliance a message. Was Droxia destroyed?”

“I’d estimate that more than two thirds of their population was killed, but the planet remains.”

“Then perhaps we need to finish the job? What do you think, son?”

Is he seriously asking for my input? Intriguing.

“I think we managed to do what we set out to do. The initial goal was the total destruction of planet Droxia, but our having turned their precious planet into a pile of rubble in just a few hours will put the fear of the gods into our enemies’ hearts. They won’t likely recover from this for a very long time, so we have all the time we want to focus on more important targets now . . .” Miseo paused. “But that’s just my opinion.”

“And I value your input, son. I agree with your assessment of the situation. Which target should we set our sights on then? Earth?”

“Earth is protected by a very powerful planetary shield, but it may be of great interest to us to test that defensive capability. Perhaps our superior firepower will prevail.”

“Agreed. Even if we can’t penetrate this shield, we may collect vital sensor information that could allow us to develop a weapon to counteract it. Not to mention, we can still crush their current fleet in the process.”

“I’m not one to be cautious, but will one ship really do? Shouldn’t we take part of the Zarlack fleet with us?”

“Since you’ll be in command of this mission, I’ll let you decide how many ships to take with you.”

“Thank you, Father. You won’t regret putting your trust in me.”

“I know. On your way to Earth stop by where the black hole was created by Laiyos. The Crimson Shadow is equipped with the necessary weapon to close this tear in space and time. If we allow it to grow it will eventually destroy Erevos.”

“We can’t have that.”

“No we can’t. Simply fire the red-matter cannon into the center of the black hole, but be sure to keep your distance. As soon as you have fired the weapon, enter hyperspace or the ship could be destroyed by the resulting explosion.”

“Understood.”

Supreme Commander Arakan made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “If that will be all, I need to rest now. Give them hell, son.”

* * *

Miseo left the throne room and Arakan returned to his throne and let himself fall into it, pensive.

I sense deception in Miseo. What is he planning?

“You know very well what he plans,” said a voice.

“You need to stop interrupting my thoughts. I don’t need your council,” answered Arakan out loud.

A shadow walked from behind the supreme commander’s throne. It was blacker than night itself. The dark silhouette seemed to be made of nothing, like a void. Wherever it walked light was extinguished and colors faded.

“All evidence to the contrary. Your son just lied to your face and you didn’t do anything about it.”

“I don’t know why I keep talking with you. You’re not real. You’re just in my head!”

“Keep telling yourself that, but the fact of the matter is⁠—”

Arakan jumped from his throne. “SILENCE!” He launched a powerful fireball at the shadow figure. It went through and destroyed Arakan’s beautifully crafted dining table.

The shadow, who was just as imposing as Arakan himself, shook his head from side to side. “When will you learn?”

“Leave me alone. I’m not in the mood right now.”

“Very well, but we’ll have to revisit the matter of your treacherous son one day or another.”

* * *

Sarah arrived at med-bay two with Chris in her arms. He was laughing at everything he looked at.

Doctor Michalis left his console to greet her.

“Hello, Captain, what’s going on? Is that . . .?”

“Yes, that’s my baby.”

“Why didn’t you call me for the delivery? It’s not safe to have a baby on your own, you know?”

“I didn’t really have much choice in the matter.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, Doc, it’s been a really weird day and I would love to stay and chat with you, but I need you to run tests on Chris. As you can see, he’s growing too fast.”

“When did you have him?”

“About two hours ago.”

The doc’s eyes widened.

“That’s peculiar. He seems way older.”

“That’s not all . . .”

“Granted he’s a little big for a newborn, but perhaps that’s just due to his Fury heritage.”

“I don’t think you understand, Doctor.”

Sarah lay Chris down on his back on the floor. He immediately rolled over and crawled on the floor of the med-bay.

“This is not possible.”

“Now we agree on something, Doc. My son tells me he tempered with his genetic makeup while he was in my womb, so he would grow at an accelerated pace. I need to know what he did to himself and how to reverse it.”

The doc’s face changed color. “How can he tell you anything?”

“Right . . . He has been able to communicate with me telepathically for a while now. I’m sorry, Doc, but I don’t have the patience to play catch-up with you. Can you please help me or should I look for another doctor?”

“I apologize, Captain, I usually have good adjustment skills, but I may need a minute or two to process all of this.”

Sarah realized how crazy she must have sounded. She couldn’t blame the doc for being overwhelmed with what he was seeing and hearing.

“I’m the one who’s sorry, Doc. It’s been a very peculiar pregnancy, and I wasn’t even awake for the birth, so I’m very stressed out at the moment. Take a minute, but we need to run tests on him soon. If we don’t find a way to reverse what’s happening to him, he’ll keep growing too fast and his lifespan will be short.”

Then a high-pitched alarm wailed inside the med-bay.

“What’s happening, Doc?”

The doc ran back to his console. “It’s Lieutenant Athanatos. His vitals are crashing!”

“What? I thought the cryostasis would preserve him until we found a cure.”

“It should have. I don’t understand why it didn’t. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

“What do we do, Doc? How can we help him?”

“I don’t know. If we take him out of stasis he’s sure to die in the next few seconds, but if I’m reading this right, he only has a few minutes to live inside the pod as well.”

Sarah’s heart started beating hard.

Chris, who had been crawling around them for a while, caught a glimpse of the cryostasis pod where his father rested. He got to his feet.

“That’s new,” said Sarah.

“Don’t tell me he can walk,” said Doctor Michalis, completely bewildered.

“We’re about to find out. I think he knows his dad is in trouble.”

Chris took his first steps and little by little approached the cryostasis pod. Sarah swore she saw him grow almost half an inch in the time it took him to reach Chase’s pod.

“Doc? Please tell me you saw that?” said Sarah, pointing towards Chris.

When he didn’t answer she turned around just in time to see the doc collapse to the ground.

“That’s just great!”

Chris turned around when he heard the doc hit the ground. He looked at his mother and laughed before turning his attention back to the pod. He put his small hands on the glass and a golden aura engulfed him. Some of it traveled through the glass and entered Chase’s body. The alarm stopped almost immediately.

Sarah let herself fall to the ground and sighed. “I think I’m with you on this one, Doc,” said Sarah to herself, since Doctor Michalis was still unconscious. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

* * *

Chase launched himself at Hades and struck him with a series of powerful blows. Hades didn’t seem to be able to block or deflect any of the attacks. Chase sent Hades flying upwards with a powerful kick and immediately released three dozen fireballs towards him. They all found their target and the darkness of the Underworld was briefly illuminated by the multiple explosions.

When the smoke dissipated, Hades was standing in the air, unscathed. He flew back to the ground.

“Focus on how you feel now.”

Chase’s anger was still running through his veins, and he cared not what Hades was trying to tell him. He launched himself forward once more for the next round of attacks.

He delivered more blows, fired more fireballs and kept hacking at Hades with everything he had. Hades was sent left and right, up and down, but none of the attacks really caused significant damage.

After what seemed like an eternity, Hades blocked Chase’s next set of attacks by sending powerful red lightning his way. The lightning paralyzed him in place. He tried to get free of its grasp but the force exerted was simply too strong.

“You need to listen now!” shouted Hades.

“Why? All I need to do is destroy you!”

“I understand now why you hate using this power. It seems you lose part, if not most, of your mind when you do. That’s a cross you have to bear, though. There’s no other choice. Only if you can bring this power to the surface without letting anger take over will you be able to defeat your enemies.”

Chase grinded his teeth, still trying to break free of his lightning shackles.

“Listen to me, Chase. We both know the Sarah I killed was just an illusion, but it was necessary to unleash this Fury power of yours.”

Whatever was left of Chase’s logic in this moment of pure hatred knew that Hades was right somehow, but when overwhelmed with such heightened emotion, it was difficult for him to concentrate.

“At least try it, Chase. Focus on the source of energy flowing through you now. Try to feel where it comes from and ground this feeling deep into your psyche.”

“Why do you care?”

“Does it matter? Just do as I say.”

“Will you let me go if I do?”

“If you do, you should be able to focus your energy better. Hence you may be able to defeat me and therefore take your leave.”

That seemed to do the trick and Chase closed his eyes. He focused on his pool of energy. It was chaotic. It fluctuated like a pool of molten lava just before a volcano’s eruption. When he usually focused on his energy, it was a quiet and calm resource. When not enraged, his internal pool of energy was blue, but now it was the color of fire. But what did that mean?

“Forget about the details, Chase,” added Hades. “Just focus on your power and try to ground it deep inside you, so you can call upon it later by just thinking of it.”

Chase didn’t understand how to do it, but he tried anyway. He concentrated as much as he could on the energy itself and tried to ground himself in the moment. It wasn’t dissimilar to when Ares had first taught him to take control of his energy.

When Chase opened his eyes again, he looked straight at Hades. “Now what?”

“Now you break free.”

“I’ve tried that before.”

“Try again.”

Chase tried to move but the more he exerted any kind of force in any direction, an opposite force acted against him.

“Try concentrating only on one of the lightning bolts. Don’t try to break yourself free. Try to break the lightning instead with your mind.”

All of sudden it clicked inside Chase’s mind.

He focused on the lightning restraints and his own golden lightning, which until now was sizzling and dancing all around him randomly. He managed to make it act according to his will. It merged with the red lightning and counteracted its force. He flexed every one of his muscles at once and the red lightning bolts disintegrated.

“Very good.”

“Am I free to go now?”

“You’re not ready yet.”

“I feel ready.”

“Very well, then attack me.”

Chase didn’t wait. He sent a flurry of powerful fireballs towards Hades, who deflected them with ease.

“You’re still wasting your powers. You’re not focusing on hitting me.”

Chase tried to calm the turmoil inside his enraged mind.

“Yes, Chase, envision your next blow in your mind, see it land the way you want it to, then just do it.”

Chase wasn’t sure what Hades meant but that didn’t deter him. To his surprise, before he could realize what was happening, he had teleported in front of Hades and thrust his elbow deep into Hades’ stomach. Hades took three steps back and dark, red blood spilled from his mouth.

“That’s better,” said Hades through the pain. “Now we can actually start to fight seriously.”

* * *

Ryonna was relieved when the view from her ship’s viewport morphed from the inferno to the more familiar view of stars in space.

She lost no time looking at the stars, though. She keyed in the last known coordinates of her brother-in-law Jonas and activated the jump engines once more.

Then she ran back to her med-bay corner to check on Keera. She was still unconscious. She brought her medical AI online and entered a few commands on the terminal. A bio-matter generator mounted on a robotic arm directed itself to where Ryonna had cut her limb. The bio-matter generator started reconstructing the limb, starting with the bones. It continued with blood vessels, nerve endings, tendons, muscles and ended with the skin layer. The entire procedure took less than three minutes.

With Keera’s life signs stable, Ryonna decided to attend to her own wounds. She injected herself with a painkiller before looking at her right arm. A piece of shrapnel had lodged itself under her blue skin. The wound was still open and she was bleeding. Ryonna took the shrapnel out without a second thought and without blinking.

That opened the wound and more blood spilled onto the floor. She used advanced medical tools, guided by the AI via holo-vids, to close the wound and cauterize it.

She went to her quarters. Seeing it brought back old memories; not the best ones, but it still felt good to be on board her old ship.

She crashed into the bunk bed and let herself fall asleep, but not before setting an alarm that would wake her up an hour before they reached their destination.

* * *

Argos was teleported into an underground complex. The ceiling was extremely high, and the sheer enormity of the room gave him a good idea of the type of beast he would have to defeat.

That he was doing all this for Chase still made little sense on the surface, but he decided there was no need for a reason.

The heart wants what the heart wants.

Now where is that Titan?

A giant wall slid up, revealing gigantic feet. Soon the wall was all the way up and Argos had to tilt his head to see the Titan’s head.

“Who are you?” asked the Titan.

“I’m here for your prisoner.”

“Nobody enters here and lives to tell the tale.”

His voice was so low and loud that everything trembled a little when he spoke.

“I have no beef with you. If you let me take Asclepios and be on my way, I’ll let you live.”

The Titan started laughing so hard that everything around trembled some more.

“You are a funny Olympian. Did Apollo send you?”

“I’m no Olympian. I’m a Fury. And if you don’t let me get what I came for, things are going to end badly for you.”

“Oh, things are going to end badly indeed, that’s a given. But you’re mistaken in thinking it will be for me.”

Argos cracked his knuckles. Obviously there was no reasoning with the Titan. He grew his aura and soon he cast forth a strong red light. Crimson lightning bolts danced all around him.

“You can’t seriously expect to defeat me. I can just wipe you from existence with a single step.”

“Why don’t you give it a try, then?”

“Very well. It’s your funeral.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

The Titan ran towards Argos and the ground shook so much that he almost stumbled. He levitated in the air and took a defensive stance.

When Menoitios was in range and threw one of his giant punches, Argos dodged it and flew behind the Titan. He created an enormous fireball and shot it at the Titan’s back. The resulting explosion was massive, and Argos was thrown back by the shockwave of his own attack. Menoitios fell to the ground with a deafening sound, followed by an even louder growl.

Argos flew to the other side of the giant room and looked for his target. He couldn’t see anything resembling a cell.

Damn, where is he?

“You won’t be able to sneak him out of here, I’m afraid. Only my death will release the shield currently cloaking his cell.”

“If that’s true then I’m sorry to say that I really have to kill you now.”

Menoitios rose to his feet and, while he was turning about, Argos unleashed a veritable flurry of fireballs towards the Titan. For two minutes he sent one fireball after another. When the last one hit, a gigantic explosion sent flames all around, engulfing the entire room. Argos raised a personal shield to deflect the flames.

That should do it.

Smoke filled the room. Soon Argos couldn’t see anything. He unleashed a shockwave to dissipate the smoke. Instead of discovering the body of a dead Titan as he expected, an enormous fist came at him. Unprepared, Argos got hit with full force and was thrown back into the farthest wall. He lost consciousness long before hitting the floor.

* * *

Miseo opened a secure channel to the base where he had left Argos. He tried a few times but there was no answer.

He brought up a long-range scan of the area and located a Zarlack ship in orbit there. He opened a secure channel to that ship instead.

“Commander Arg’Zur reporting. How can I be of help, Master?”

“I’m looking for Argos. Do you have any idea where he is?”

“He tasked us to pick him up, but when he failed to respond to our hails, we sent an away team to the surface. He’s not there.”

What is he up to?

“Have you investigated more? Did you check logs and video feeds?”

“Argos wouldn’t like it if we did that without his consent.”

“And I’m telling you otherwise. Dump all the base’s logs into an encrypted subspace data stream and send it to me now.”

“Argos is still the captain of this particular vessel, Master.” The Zarlack commander hesitated. “I don’t feel comfortable with that request.”

“You misunderstand me, Commander. You will obey my orders or I will deem you a traitor to the Furies, and have you and your crew executed at once.”

There was a pause during which Miseo saw the commander’s face become more worried as he pondered this.

“I don’t have all day, Commander. I warn you not to make the fatal mistake of testing my patience,” Miseo insisted.

“Sending data stream now.”

Miseo cut off the holo-transmission abruptly, and as soon as he had received the data stream he brought up the holo-vid logs around the time he dropped Argos on the planet. He fast forwarded the stream until something caught his attention. Argos let himself be bitten by a snake. His pupils were heavily dilated. He looked as though he was under the influence of drugs.

Great! I’ve put my trust in an addict. I should have known better.

He kept looking at the video feeds when something even more troubling happened. Argos had met with Ares. Miseo listened to their conversation and his blood boiled. Under normal circumstances, he was on top of his emotions, but upon learning that Chase was still alive and that Argos had agreed to help him, he found it hard to contain his rage. The entire area around his personal quarters on Erevos started to tremble. Cracks appeared in the wall and ceiling.

Two guards entered his quarters with guns blazing.

Miseo grabbed one with his mind and he exploded from the inside out before he could realize what had happened.

The other guard lowered his gun and got on his knees, begging for his life.

“Nobody, and I mean nobody, enters my quarters unannounced.”

“Please forgive me, Master. We thought you might be in trouble. It will never happen again.”

“Make sure it doesn’t. But now that you’re here, I have something for you to do.”

“Your wish is my command, Master.”

“Please find me the Shadow Hunter and have him meet me here.”

“I’m not authorized to talk with him; my security clearance is not high enough.”

“It is now, so go fetch him, unless you prefer I decide that you’re no longer of any use to me?”

The guard rose to his feet and saluted. “As you command.” He left the room sprinting.

It was uncharacteristic of Miseo to lose his temper like that. He had felt something similar during his fight with Laiyos, but the anger and hatred he harbored towards Argos at this moment was orders of magnitude stronger. Argos knew what Miseo’s plan was for the future. If he was working with Laiyos, this could have catastrophic consequences. Both Laiyos and Argos needed to be dealt with once and for all, now that it had become apparent that Argos would never be the ally Miseo had hoped for.

9

Upon their arrival on Earth, Sarah brought Chris to see Doctor Kiriakos, the Alliance’s foremost specialist in DNA and gene therapy. By then Chris had already grown to the size of a two-year-old. She held Chris in her arms when they arrived at the Alliance medical center located near Washington, DC.

Chris spoke to her in her mind.

You don’t need to see this doctor, Mom. I need to grow fast enough to help win this war.

Again with this? I don’t want to see my son grow in days, and die in weeks. You had no right to do this without asking me first.

I’m sorry, Mom, but I had every right. This is my life, hence it’s my choice.

Look, perhaps you weren’t planned, but the fact is you were conceived the first time your father and I made love, so that makes you our son. On Earth a child obeys his parents until he reaches eighteen, so like it or not you will do as I say.

There was no answer. Perhaps she had got through to him. This madness had to end. She couldn’t let her child have such a limited lifespan. There was a nagging thought at the edge of her mind, though, one she kept pushing away. It was coming back with a vengeance. What if Chris was right and this was the only way to win the war?

She was frightened by the thought, and for the time being she still didn’t want to accept it. But the more time passed the more her own conscious mind presented her with the dilemma. What if that sacrifice was needed? Wasn’t the simple fact that Chris had managed to do this to himself proof enough that it needed to happen?

She felt trapped between a rock and a hard place. This was not the kind of choice she liked to make, especially if there was even the slightest chance that her decision could impact on the destiny of every living being in the universe.

This was giving her a headache.

Mom, I understand how you feel, but you can’t stop this. I won’t let you.

I thought we agreed that I’m your mom and I know what’s best for you.

No, you agreed for me. There’s a difference.

I’m not having this discussion with you. We’re going to see the doc and see what he has to say.

Very well, but understand that I must reach fighting size in the next few days. That is paramount. After that, I’m all for resuming growth at a normal pace; but not before the head of the Furies is dead.

And you’re the one who will make it happen?

Not on my own, but I know I have a role to play. Remember, you may potentially have sacrificed your own Fury powers so we could find out what we need to do. You saw the future, so let it happen.

I haven’t seen you in that future. Chase was the one fighting the head of the Furies, not you.

You’re trying to distort the truth to justify your own fears, Mom. You know very well you felt I was part of all of this, even though you didn’t clearly see me in the vision. I know you felt it because I felt it too.

Sarah would have a hard time arguing with her son on that. She did indeed feel her son’s presence.

You need to understand I chose the timeline where you lived, and when I did, I didn’t think it would be one where you might only live for a short time with us.

Let’s look at the worst-case scenario, then? Let’s say what I did to myself is irreversible and I will only live several weeks to a few months. But during that time I will help rid the universe of the Furies. If we accept this, is my life worth more to you than every living being in the universe?

Sarah felt as though her heart had been grabbed by an external force, which was exerting a tremendous pressure on it. She was in a similar situation as Chase when he fired on their clones. She really wished Chase was there so she could discuss this with him.

Unfortunately, we don’t know anything for sure, so for now it doesn’t hurt to at least try to understand what is happening to you and see if it’s reversible.

I don’t mind if we look into the science of it, but I won’t accept any treatment if it stops my accelerated growth before I reach at least the age of seventeen. Which should only take a few days.

That last statement made Sarah’s head spin. Seventeen years worth of growth in only a few days?

This is insane.

Now let’s look at what would happen if you stopped this. I would miss a fight that I know I must be part of. In doing so, not only could we lose the war, or greatly delay a victory, but perhaps Chase would die. In the battle against the supreme commander it was clear he was about to be defeated, but someone intervened.

And that someone is you?

I honestly don’t know, but what if it has to be?

An intense shiver traveled down her spine.

Put yourself in my place, Chris. I . . . I never thought I’d have children to begin with. The career I chose in the military is a dangerous one. So while there are plenty of military people who decide to have kids, I simply couldn’t and wouldn’t put my family through the stress of wondering if I would come back alive from my many missions. Now that you’re here, my priorities have shifted. I still want to be part of this war because I don’t think we have any choice, but you’re my new priority now. Your safety comes first.

Mom, if my safety is truly paramount to you, then you’ll let me reach an age at which I can defend myself if someone comes for me. As a baby or young infant I won’t be able to defend myself if the Furies arrive on Earth, which is more than likely to happen soon.

Sarah hated to admit that he could be right. But if Chris was half as powerful as Chase, he would be able to defend himself on his own at the right age. And with all the good intentions and love she had for him, she knew that if the Furies came for them while he wasn’t in full possession of his powers, there would be little she could do to stop them.

Holding Chris tightly against her body, she covered her face with her free hand and let it slide all the way down to her chin in frustration.

One thing’s for sure, you’re as stubborn as your father.

I don’t see why this is an issue. He got us this far.

They arrived at the office of Doctor Kiriakos. Sarah was about to knock on his door, but then she hesitated.

* * *

Chase and Hades had been trading powerful blows for what felt like days. The fight was intense. They traded all sorts of physical and energy attacks, kicking the shit out of each other without resting. But Chase felt his power was growing. He was also much more aware of his limits than before. With each passing hour he controlled his pool of energy much more efficiently than he had in the past.

Hades punched his lights out with a powerful uppercut that sent Chase flying in the air before crashing back to the ground hundreds of yards away.

“Now is not the time to divert your attention,” said Hades.

Chase sat on the ground and put his hand on his jaw, which had been dislocated by the blow. With a swift and painful motion, he put his jaw back in place with a nasty, bone-cracking sound.

“Tell me about it.”

“I think that’s enough for now. You need to rest.”

Chase’s aura vanished, as did the lightning bolts dancing around him. His eyes regained their usual purple color.

“Do you mind me asking why you’re helping me?”

“Does it really matter?”

“At first I didn’t understand nor care much. Then you found the right button to push to make me furious. Now, in hindsight, it’s clear you’re training me. I tried killing you and yet you keep teaching me. I just want to know why.”

“I sense something special in you. A purity of heart I haven’t felt in ages, and even then only once before. When you first entered my realm, I wasn’t sure about you, but you reminded me of that encounter eons ago. Which is why I appeared to you in the form of a boy. I was trying to get a better read on your soul and your intentions.”

“So that’s it? You like my intentions?”

“That’s part of it. The other part is that if the Furies kill everyone in the universe, then what purpose will I serve? Granted my realm isn’t a place people come to voluntarily. But there is a cycle to every living being; well, except a select few, I guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, immortal beings never really pass by here. Unless they’re killed.”

“That’s a concept I always had trouble with. Ares believes I might be immortal.”

“I can confirm that.”

“With absolute certainty?”

Hades nodded.

“That’s heavy. I mean, I started to believe it myself but I preferred not to think about it too much.”

“I can’t blame you. After all, the meaning of life is that it ends. When it doesn’t, life loses its appeal, at least for most people. And I’m sure the reason you didn’t give it much thought is that you dread what it could mean for everyone you love around you.”

“I do. If what you say is true, and if I’m truly immortal, then I will see my friends, my loved ones, die, and I will still be there thousands of years after that. I’m not sure I want that.”

“It’s not easy, I grant you that. But there are benefits too.”

“Like what?”

“Well, you can always learn more, about the universe, the world around you, civilizations, and ultimately about yourself.”

“Right now all I have learned is how to fight better.”

“Yes, that too.”

“But if my physical body is dying as we speak, isn’t that some sort of paradox?”

“You’re only immortal in the biological sense, meaning your cells regenerate, but if too many are destroyed or you get killed, then you will die.”

“That’s why I don’t like the term immortal.”

“What term would you prefer?”

“I don’t know. Hard to kill?”

Hades laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“You are. But you know what, if you prefer ‘hard to kill’ to ‘immortal’, then use that. It doesn’t matter at the end of the day.”

“And there lies my problem with this whole thing. If I don’t get myself killed, then nothing matters at the end of each and every day, because there will always be a tomorrow.”

“It’s a matter of perspective, I guess. But you died already, even if only for a little moment.”

“On board Keera’s ship.”

“Yes. And your unborn son brought you back to life. He acted on instinct mostly. He knew your time hadn’t come yet.”

“What if I feel my time has come one day?”

“Well, then you’ll do what you must.”

“How?”

“You’re not invincible. Just using every ounce of your own energy can kill you, so you can always use that way out.”

“You do realize you’re telling me I can commit suicide any time I decide I want life to stop.”

“I do. But how is that different from every living being? Free will is the only gift we all share.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“But please don’t misinterpret my words. I don’t think suicide is a noble course of action for anyone. But I can understand that sometimes life is just too much to take, and you’ve been there not so long ago. Fortunately, it’s not something you are feeling at the moment, and that’s good, because suicide is, by definition, both a courageous and extremely egoistic act. We are defined by the connections we make in this life. We meet people, we love them and they love us back. We share a bond, sometimes stronger than life itself, with those that come our way. This is a gift from life itself, one we shouldn’t squander or decide we don’t want anymore. Because in the end, the ones that really suffer from such acts are those with whom we made these bonds.”

Chase stayed silent, so Hades continued.

“Your friend Fillio is a perfect example of that. While you two were friends you still took her death really hard. But if you think about it, it was suicide. She could have let you heal her. She decided not to. It was her right. Her soul suffered greatly so she decided to end this pain. But now others are suffering for it. That’s why consciously deciding to end one’s life is both courageous and utterly cowardly and selfish at the same time. How does one weigh his own suffering against that of others? Perhaps leaving life behind this way generates more hurt to those we love than the hurt we feel ourselves in that moment. If we truly love the people we form bonds with, doesn’t that love imply we don’t want to make them suffer?”

“What are you saying? That Fillio was selfish?”

“As a matter of principle I try not to judge. And I’m sorry if this discussion brought us to this sensitive subject.”

“No, that’s okay. I agree with you, for the most part.”

“At the end of the day hope, in any form or shape, is what drives us. When there’s no more hope, then life ends, one way or another.”

That last part resonated well with Chase in regard to Fillio’s passing. Was that what he felt in her resistance to be healed? Hope had died in her and, shortly after, so did her corporeal self.

“Indeed. You do seem to know a lot, though. Are you somehow aware of what’s happening in the world of the living right now?”

“It’s complicated. The simple answer is, only if I want to be.”

“I don’t follow.”

“When any being dies and their soul comes here, I have access to their thoughts and their feelings. I can use the bond they had with other living beings, at least until they fall into the pit. That gives me a pretty good idea, even if it is an incomplete vision of the living universe.”

“Isn’t that tiring for you?”

“Like I said, I can decide to look or simply block it out.”

“But being immortal you have all the time in the world. I would think you’d want to know what happens outside your realm.”

“Exactly, and with the billions of connections at my disposal I can go virtually anywhere, for as long as I choose. So, in a way, I don’t feel totally trapped in this place. This way I never lose my sanity.”

“I understand. Can you check on my loved ones for me right this instant?”

“I prefer not to do so on principle, but if it will allow you to focus better on the work ahead, then I will grant it.”

“How’s my family?”

“Sarah and Chris are both fine. They worry about you, but your son is pretty much in charge, even though Sarah doesn’t know it yet.”

“Are you serious?”

“It’s better we don’t discuss too much of it, but he has more power than any being his size ever had. While I don’t see the future, I can guess he will play an important role.”

“I see. Well, I’m not really surprised. He helped me even before he was born.”

“Indeed. I think he’s probably the most empathic Fury ever to be born; for better or worse I can’t say.”

“I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

“Then just ignore it, Chase. For now, you must not focus on what’s happening out there. It’s outside your control. Focus instead on the here and now.”

Chase wished it was that simple. His mind was always racing with a thousand competitive thoughts. Though he had to admit that the more time he spent in the Underworld, the quieter his mind became. Which, in turn, had reduced his anxiety and overall stress levels to a much more manageable level.

“That’s what I’m trying to do, but can I please ask you how Daniel is?”

Hades took a deep breath before answering. “He is in turmoil. He’s exactly where I discussed earlier. He has been hurt by losing Fillio, and he is hurting on a daily basis now. He had opened his heart to her completely, so her death has really had a negative impact on his morale.”

“Will he be okay, though?”

“Chase, there’s nothing you can do about it one way or the other, at least not now. So is this really important?”

“It is to me. He’s a brother to me. I . . . I need to know he will be fine.”

“And unfortunately I can’t see into the future, so I can’t tell you more than the fact that he is suffering right now. For the time being he’s not on the right path. Please don’t ask any more questions on the subject now. You must focus on yourself if you ever wish to be in a position to help him in the future.”

Chase sighed. He had no doubt that Fillio’s death would take a toll on his dearest friend. He wished he could be there for him. To do so, though, would require him to complete his training by defeating Hades in combat. The sooner he achieved that, the sooner he would get back to his loved ones.

“That’s the spirit, Chase,” said Hades, who obviously heard or, at the very least, sensed most of Chase’s internal chatter.

Chase rose back to his feet. “Let’s pick it up from where we left it, then.”

“Yes, let’s.”

* * *

The alarm in Ryonna’s quarters resonated and took her out of her slumber. She had been so tired lately, she had really needed the shut-eye. She wished she could just turn the alarm off and go back to sleep. Her mind was still foggy and she didn’t want to get off the bed. But that was not an option. The moment that single thought reached her mind, she was up and about.

After a quick sonic shower, she went on to check on Keera, only to find her medical bed empty.

“Computer, locate other life signs aboard the ship.”

“Another life sign was detected in the mess hall.”

When Ryonna arrived in the mess hall, Keera was looking for food.

“Is there anything other than dried-up rations in your ship?”

“Hello to you too, Keera.”

“Oh, hello. I’m sorry. I’m starving.”

“How’s the implant working for you? No side effects?”

“What implant?”

“How much do you remember from our time inside the starport?”

“I remember it was intense, and—” She stopped talking and her expression changed. “My leg . . .”

She sat on the nearest chair and passed her hand over her new bio-implant. “You had to cut it. I remember now.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“You didn’t have any choice, Ryonna. If you hadn’t we would have both died.”

“Indeed. We barely made it.”

“See, so you did what needed to be done. But I barely feel any different. This must be quite an expensive medical facility you have on board.”

“I recovered it on a mission. I don’t even know how much it cost. I thought it would be a good thing to have on board at the time. My smuggling runs were getting more and more dangerous.”

“While it’s not exactly the same as it was before, I only feel a difference if I try to think about it.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

“So any food on your ship?”

“Not fresh, I’m afraid. That would have been purged when I sold the ship.”

“Okay, disgusting, dry military rations it is, then. Where are we on our mission to locate Jonas?”

“We’ll reach the set of coordinates in just a few minutes.”

Keera finished the tasteless rations and made a face. No doubt they were past their prime.

“If we can get a real meal when we reach our destination, that wouldn’t hurt either.”

“I could go for some tasty food as well. The next time we’re on Earth I’ll make sure to upgrade this ship with a food synthesizer and Chase’s preprogrammed menu. Earth has some of the tastiest food I have come across in the whole universe.”

“Let’s go to the cockpit and, for the love of the gods, let’s not talk about food anymore. I’m beyond salivating right now.”

“You started it.”

“True. But right now I wish I hadn’t.”

They both smiled and headed towards the cockpit.

Soon they reached their destination. To their surprise, there was no planet in sight, just a large asteroid field.

Keera frowned.

“Did we take a wrong turn?”

“I was just asking myself that. Let me check my instruments. The ship was parked on Droxia for so many years, without any maintenance, so maybe something went wrong.”

Ryonna checked everything twice. “Nope, we’re right where we’re supposed to be.”

“Perhaps there’s something inside the asteroid field?”

“That would be my guess as well. But that’s a dangerous proposition.”

“That’s okay. I can fly inside asteroid fields. Wouldn’t be the first time. But it would help if we knew exactly where we needed to go. The less time we spend in there the better.”

Ryonna opened a broad channel. “Jonas, if you can hear me, please respond.”

There was no answer.

“Jonas, please respond.”

Yet another minute passed without an answer.

“Ryonna, do you mind if I run a series of scans?”

“I’ve already scanned the area.”

“I know, but the only reason I can think of to establish a base inside an asteroid field is secrecy. If I was to do that, I would shield it to make it impervious to standard scans.”

“Sounds logical. Sure thing, have a go at it.”

Keera brought up the co-pilot’s holo-display and started entering advanced commands to recalibrate the scanners.

* * *

When Spiros got out of bed and arrived in the control center, Gaia’s droid was waiting for him.

“We need to talk,” she said in an icy-cold tone.

“Uh oh. In the entire history of the world, nothing good ever came after those four words.”

“When were you going to tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“That you brought a nuke on board.”

Spiros immediately understood what Gaia must have been thinking.

“It’s not what you think.”

“I think it is. This is a secondary measure by your superiors to get rid of me.”

“I can see how it would look that way, and perhaps my hierarchy does feel better with the ability to nuke us, but this has nothing to do with you, at least as far as I’m concerned.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“Honestly, to avoid this very talk. But in hindsight it was a mistake.”

“I can confirm that.”

“I can sense you’re angry and I apologize. But please understand one thing. If we fail in establishing a stable artificial black hole, we need contingencies.”

“That’s what the hyperdrive engine is for.”

“It’s one of them but, let’s face it, this experiment could go awry so fast, we might have no other option than to blow ourselves up to stop a black hole forming near Earth.”

“Then let’s get farther away from here. Let’s train in a neighboring system.”

“That’s one idea, but we would lose access to resources we may need. At the very least it would delay our work.”

Gaia stayed silent for a few seconds. For an AI this was a long time to compute what she would say next.

“It’s true that it would hinder our efforts timewise, but didn’t we agree that the fate of this world and its security are paramount?”

“We did. And to tell you the truth, I’m surprised the thought of trying to generate an artificial black hole was not something you objected to from the beginning.”

“I had my reservations. But I also have faith in your abilities as a scientist, with my unrivalled computational power as a backup, double-checking your math. There’s still a risk, but I estimate it at less than three percent.”

“Still, we’re talking about billions of lives. Three percent is still a huge risk when we factor their lives into the equation.”

“Spiros, you’re right, but then the Furies will come. If Chase getting stronger is the best bet we have to beat them, then it’s a risk I thought we should take.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Gaia. I’m incredibly surprised and equally proud to hear you say that. A few months back the mere thought of letting us roam this planet was a point of contention, if you remember.”

“Access to archive data does confirm this, yes. I guess I have evolved since then.”

“My point exactly. The more time passes, the more human you are becoming. Which is great, but humans do make mistakes based on their emotional drive. I’m not saying you need to revert back to pure calculation. That wouldn’t work either. But we need to tread carefully. As for the nuke, it’s not really a problem for you if you think about it. Your consciousness is spreading over countless computers and memory units all over the globe. If this facility is destroyed, only your avatar and perhaps a small part of your AI matrix would be lost. I, on the other hand, would cease to exist if we needed to blow the nuke in a hurry.”

“I had not thought of that, but now that you mention it . . .”

“What? What is it, Gaia?”

“I do not want to lose you, Spiros.”

Spiros was really touched by Gaia’s words. He wondered if she had reached a point in her emotional development where empathy for other humans was already strong, perhaps even romantic. He hesitated over how to phrase his next words, though.

“That’s nice to hear, Gaia. I wouldn’t want to lose you either.”

He wanted to add something about her friendship meaning a lot to him, but he worried that if she had any sense of romantic attachment, that could hurt her. And an AI in emotional turmoil could have serious repercussions.

And here it was, the moment Spiros had dreaded. It had been easy to get attached to Gaia, especially since she had been so helpful and so friendly lately. Her personality had practically turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees since they had first met. And for weeks now, Spiros had not given a single thought as to how to talk with her. She had become a close friend, someone always there; to the point where he forgot that she had the power to destroy them all if things went awry or if she changed her mind about humans.

“It makes me happy to hear that,” said Gaia.

He did not like this. Not one bit. All of a sudden he felt as if he might still be walking on eggshells. But then, perhaps that had always been the case, whether or not he realized it consciously. Spiros wondered if he should be careful from now on, or just be himself.

The one thing that nagged at him was that every emotion related to love was always strong. For better or for worse, love brought people together or broke them apart, to the point of hatred. Having someone so powerful hate him or the rest of humanity could be a serious problem. He had no doubt that his personal interaction with Gaia had made her trust humanity. Of course, Chase had helped. She had a soft spot for him too. But if the one person she identified as humanity became the source of negative emotions . . .

Spiros dared not continue this train of thought. This kind of pressure would surely be detrimental on almost every level. But he made a mental note to find a way to check on Cedric’s progress on wiping Gaia if it came down to it. He hoped, with all his heart, it wouldn’t be necessary; but just as they had argued about the small percentage of error in their black-hole engine, even a one in ten thousand chance of Gaia turning aggressive was potentially an extinction-level threat.

“You seem very silent. Did I say something wrong? I also detect a slight rise in your blood pressure. Are you feeling ill?”

The fact that he was monitored 24/7, even if she didn’t do it to spy on him, was something that made this different from any other relationship he had ever had with his friends or peers.

“I’m okay. I was just thinking about what we discussed, trying to see what we can do to lower the margin for error. Are we good regarding the nuke? I’m sorry for not telling you, though I knew you’d find out eventually. It’s not even armed yet.”

“We’re good. Indeed, we need to be able to destroy this ship if it means saving everyone else on Earth, so perhaps we should arm it now and integrate it as the secondary fail-safe, should the hyperdrive engine either fail or if time is a factor.”

“I’m glad you think so as well. Let’s do it.”

10

Intense pain brought Argos back to consciousness. When he pried his eyes open he quickly understood why. He was being held prisoner within the Titan’s hand. Menoitios looked utterly pissed. Many patches of skin had been burned by Argos’ multiple attacks, but not enough damage had been done, which worried Argos.

When Menoitios saw that Argos was conscious again he increased his pressure and Argos had to spend an enormous amount of energy counteracting the force that was trying to crush him out of existence.

This does not look good. Damn the Olympians and their pet Titans!

“Let me go. Fight like a real man!”

“Says the insect who flies around throwing fire at me from a distance.”

“Yes, but it’s not my fault for being an insect in size compared to you, so what choice do I have?”

Menoitios’ facial expression changed. He was thinking about it.

Could this beast be reasoned with?

“I suppose that’s true. I am considerably larger than you.”

Well whether or not it can be reasoned with, I have to try. It’s not as if I have any other options at the moment.

“You are, which always made this fight unfair.”

“Life is unfair.”

Argos could sense a real life trauma behind the Titan’s words. There was something to be exploited there.

“Yes, I suppose when you’re trapped here, sent away from everyone you knew with no hope of ever seeing them again, this is unfair. And that’s why I hate the Olympians as well.”

“You do?” said the Titan, his eyes opening wider.

“You bet I do. They treat the rest of us like children. They feel superior to us, and they think they can use us like a disposable commodity. But, mark my words, one day they’ll pay. If I survive today, I’ll make sure of it.”

“I would like to see that day as well. I would like to see Zeus and Apollo fall. They trapped me here. They told me I was going to see my loved one, that she was here. It was a trap. All they wanted was for me to agree to follow them.”

“I take it Zeus didn’t come here, though?”

“No, he sent his errand boy to do his dirty work. I could kill them both.”

Argos wanted to tell Menoitios that he shouldn’t worry. Now that the Furies were back, the Olympians were almost certain to fall, but that could actually give the Titan a reason to crush him. If he thought others out there could rid the universe of the Olympians, what he did here and now didn’t matter.

“If you let me go with Asclepios, I promise I will make it happen. I’ll take revenge for the both of us.”

“No! I can’t . . .”

Perhaps I pushed too fast, too soon.

“Why can’t you?”

“I can’t deliver Asclepios. It’s not like there’s a button to push. Apollo installed a device in my heart. Only when it stops beating will Asclepios’ cell open.”

Argos recognized the tactic very well. He had used a similar one when using Sarah as a bargaining chip. He didn’t think Olympians could be as devious as he was, but obviously he was mistaken.

“That’s cold. I’m sorry you were put in this position. Look, I know I’m your enemy right now, but I’m just trying to save my brother.”

“I’m also sorry, but if I don’t kill you, you will have to kill me.”

Never underestimate the power of self-preservation.

“Yes, but you said it yourself. It’s not fair. You’re so big. I’m so small. There’s no challenge or honor killing me this way and you know it. At least release me and let’s finish this fight fairly.”

“I can make your death so quick that you won’t feel a thing.”

“But then my brother dies! Do you really want the Olympians to be responsible for not only robbing you of meeting your loved one, but also robbing me of seeing my brother again? They win no matter what we do. Is that really what you want?”

“I don’t really want anything anymore. I just wish I could punish my captors.”

“I think that’s understandable. The problem is, you’ve been here long enough to know there’s no way out for you. Have you tried getting out?”

“I can’t. The moment I approach the boundaries of my prison an invisible force stops me. There is no escape.”

“Then you understand how Asclepios must feel as well. He is in the same position as you. The Olympians have played us both for fools for thousands of years. They decide who is free and who is not. This is not worthy of a respected, ancient race.”

“No, it isn’t. To think my people once were their allies. It makes me sick. Ever since we helped them be rid of the Ancients, they used us as a commodity.”

“Who are the Ancients you’re talking about?”

“The race that predated the Olympians. Zeus eradicated them.”

“I thought they just became extinct.”

“They did. Just not of natural causes. And during that war we were used as cannon fodder. What was once an alliance quickly became slavery.”

Zeus was a crafty bastard. But, then again, Argos had used the same tactic with the Zarlacks.

“Didn’t you try to fight back?”

“By the time the war was over there was only a few of us left, and before we realized what had happened, Zeus had split us up in all corners of the universe, using us to do his bidding.”

“Divide and conquer.”

Argos knew he was no different than them, but he didn’t maintain a code of conduct. For him only results mattered. It would seem Zeus was of a similar temperament.

“You know what? Do what you have to do. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes. But using your superior power to fight me is no better than what Zeus and his family has done to you. I hope you realize that, at least.”

That did it. Menoitios released his grasp on Argos. Argos stayed where he was, levitating in the air. He wasn’t sure if he should try to strike the Titan right now or find a more tactical way. Clearly, talking with the Titan had had more effect than throwing everything he had at him. That tactic had failed once. It would most certainly fail again, especially now that Argos had spent more than half his energy for nothing.

“You’re right. I will agree to fight you more fairly.”

Interesting.

“How do you propose to do that? Last I checked you are still a hundred times bigger than I am.”

“What I’m about to show you, very few have seen.”

Menoitios decreased in size; little by little, but soon enough he was the size of a regular humanoid. Argos landed in front of him.

“What just happened?”

“The secret of the Titans, what gives us our powers, is that we can change size anytime we want. But understand, I did it only so we can finish this fight fairly. That means that now you must also agree to not use your fireballs nor fly away in the air, since these are powers I do not possess. Can you do that? If you cheat, I’ll grow back and won’t hesitate to crush you.”

“You have my word. It’s very noble of you to fight me in this manner. I won’t betray your trust.”

“Then let’s get back to our fight. May the strongest of us win.”

Argos had to restrain himself from smiling.

* * *

Hades and Chase had been exchanging blows for a little while when Hades unleashed a series of ultrafast combos, sending Chase to the ground with multiple injuries.

“What was that? Why did you suddenly accelerate so fast?”

“You have to enter fury mode. Without it you can’t hope to be powerful enough, and you can’t expect to win your battles only when someone around you perishes or gets you pissed off. This needs to become second nature. You need to actually be able to transform on demand.”

“Transform?”

“Look, I don’t pretend to understand exactly how this works on a physiological level. But it’s clear that when you enter this fury mode, something happens. Your energy is greater, your strength, speed and fighting abilities are all multiplied by a factor of at least ten, perhaps more with the right training. But trying to get better in your inferior form will not do anyone any good. Like it or not, this is what differentiates you from other Furies, and you need to harness that power at will.”

“I’m trying, Hades, I can’t seem to get angry enough on my own.”

“Then forget anger. Just focus on bringing that memory back. Remember when I stopped you with lightning? Try to bring that state back.”

“I don’t know how.”

Hades became furious. “It’s all ‘I can’t’, ‘I don’t know’, ‘I’m not sure’ with you. Enough already! Remove doubts from your mind, empty it and just do what must be done.”

Chase couldn’t argue that doubt was a good part of why he had failed so many times.

“Don’t try, Chase, just do what needs to be done. What you know in your heart you can do.”

“Very well.”

Chase closed his eyes and brought the memory of how it felt to be in fury mode back to the surface. That brought flashes of every time he did it: on Ponos Station, in Tokyo, on Droxia and even here in the Underworld. It made him feel uncomfortable.

“Ignore these thoughts. Empty your mind and focus only on whatever will bring you back to that state.”

That was easier said than done. Chase tried nonetheless. He emptied his mind of everything and focused on bringing the fury mode.

After a few minutes, when nothing happened, Chase opened his eyes and threw a fireball at the ground in frustration.

“That’s not going to help, Chase.”

“You think?” His voice was heavy with sarcasm. “I can’t seem to locate the trigger inside myself to bring this power consciously.”

“Perhaps it’s just the way we go at it that isn’t working. When Ares first taught you how to access your pool of energy, what exercises did you go through?”

“I was to envision my pool of energy as a sphere of light. But that was mostly in the beginning. I do this completely by instinct now.”

“Yes, which is exactly what we’re trying to achieve here as well, to bring this form of power instinctively. Let’s try to duplicate his teachings. Bring back that sphere of energy in your thoughts.”

“That sounds like going backwards to me.”

“What do we have to lose?”

“Time that I don’t have.”

“Then the more you argue, the more time you spend here.”

Difficult to argue with that logic.

Chase sighed and closed his eyes again. He brought up a massive sphere of shining energy in his thoughts.

“Now what?”

“Try to make it change color.”

“What?”

“Try to turn the sphere of energy to orange or flame-colored.”

“It can’t be that simp⁠—”

But then something happened inside Chase’s body. The image of the sphere changed color slowly and soon it was no longer bright blue but flame-colored. It looked like the Earth’s sun.

“Open your eyes, Chase.”

When Chase opened his eyes, stones were flying, golden lightning danced around him and his aura was flame-colored.

“I don’t believe it.”

“That’s why you failed until now.”

“What do I do next?”

“Can you exit this mode? You managed to do it many times before. See if you can do it consciously.”

It didn’t take much time. Soon the golden energy surrounding Chase turned off and he was no longer in fury mode.

“Good. That part you’ve clearly mastered. Now repeat this exercise for as many times as it takes until you can bring it to bear at a moment’s notice.”

“That could take a while.”

“Then I suggest you stop talking and practice.”

* * *

Doctor Kiriakos ran a battery of tests on Chris, who was being quite cooperative, to Sarah’s surprise.

He was a small man by human standards, barely five foot three. His hair was all white and he had a beard a few days old.

Once his initial shock had passed, the doctor acted quite professional. He didn’t try to understand how this was even possible but just looked for a way to reverse it. If that was an option.

After more than two hours of running tests and analyzing results, he came back to Sarah.

“His condition is really peculiar. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I don’t think anyone has, Doctor. What I want to know is whether we can either slow down or stop it, and if we can do that at any point in his development.”

“Why would you want to wait, though?”

“Chris is convinced he must reach at least seventeen before we intervene.”

“I see. Well, I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I think if there is any chance we can stop this, the sooner we start treatment, the better.”

That’s what Sarah was afraid of. Not only would Chris refuse that option, but perhaps he was right and she needed to trust him. Her maternal instinct didn’t want to hear anything about it, though. It was urging her to find a cure and make her baby normal again. Whatever that was.

“He won’t go for it.”

“Well, he’s just a baby. If you decide to start the treatment, I think we can impose it on him.”

“First of all, I don’t think anyone can impose anything on Chris. He has powers he could use to defend himself.”

The doc looked at Chris, who was still on the examining table, looking at all the medical technologies around him. For the time being, at least, he seemed fascinated by it.

“Be that as it may, my analysis suggests that whatever he did to himself rewrote his own DNA and will keep rewriting it. If we act fast enough, there’s a chance we can reverse the process.”

“How? What’s your suggestion, Doctor?”

“Granted, I have no experience and I can’t say for sure, but my best bet would be to try to force his human DNA to rewrite the rest of it, via the use of stem cells.”

“Won’t that erase his Fury DNA?”

“It might. At this point I can only speculate. But if his human DNA was to be restored fully, then I’m thinking his accelerated growth would stop.”

“But you can’t guarantee it?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Doctor, you have to understand that the Fury DNA in my baby is what made him so useful up until now. He saved his father a few times, even when he was still within my womb. We can’t seriously entertain an option that would take his powers away. The stakes are too high.”

She paused. She didn’t know how the doctor would react to what came next. Not very well, she imagined, but she needed to say it nonetheless.

“My boy is certain he will have an important role to play in the Fury War. That without him we could lose this war.”

“I see. This war is not going well, so if that’s true then perhaps we shouldn’t attempt anything at this point. But I must stress that the longer we wait, the more difficult it will be, with my current knowledge and his current state, to revert his fast aging. I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you.”

Tell me about it.

“It is. How can I decide between the health of my child or the fate of this universe and everyone living in it? I either trust that he knows what he’s doing or pay the consequences later down the line.”

“I know this is going to sound crude, but you could always have other children.”

“Yes, Doctor, that was crude. Let’s not go there yet. Is there anything we can do now that won’t prevent him from growing but that could perhaps help us down the line?”

“I have taken all the scans I need from him, so I have his baseline. I could extract some stem cells and have them stored here. When the time comes to try a treatment, having them on hand might give us a better chance. But this is all just speculation.”

“Do what you must, Doctor. Just make sure you don’t spook him. I don’t think he would take it kindly.”

Chris levitated off the medical bed and flew in between Sarah and the doctor.

“What are you two talking about?” he asked with an infant voice.

“He’s . . . flying. And he can speak now?” said the doctor.

Sarah was also surprised, but it was only logical that he would, sooner rather than later.

“Evidently. Doc, you have my permission to extract what you need from him.”

Before he argues us to death with his newfound skill.

* * *

“There it is,” said Keera. “There’s a faint energy signature coming from inside one of the asteroids in the middle of the belt. The perfect hiding place.”

“Can you pilot the ship there safely?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll just have to do that manually.”

Keera switched the controls of the ship to manual. A joystick with multiple touch controls came from under the console and soon she was flying in the middle of the asteroid field with great proficiency.

After five minutes of dodging asteroids, varying in size from big boulders to small moons, she arrived near one of the most stable and larger ones in the field. She navigated around the asteroid a few times, unable to find a point of entry.

“I don’t see a bay to land in.”

“Are we even sure this is a base?”

“Ryonna, please run a scan in that frequency.” Keera entered a few commands. “And have the result display on my holo-screen. I would do it myself, but flying the ship in here and doing scans at the same time is just asking for trouble.”

Ryonna executed Keera’s request on her terminal. Soon the info Keera was looking for appeared on her screen.

“That’s why I can’t see the landing bay. There’s a holographic projection hiding it.”

“Can we disable it?”

“We could, but why bother? The scan didn’t reveal the entrance of the landing bay to be shielded beyond the standard atmospheric field, so in theory we should be able to fly right through.”

“In theory?”

Instead of answering, Keera vectored the ship towards the coordinates. When they were only a few yards away from what looked like solid rock, Ryonna couldn’t help but inquire, “Are you absolutely certain of what you are doing? ’Cause from where I’m sitting, we’re on a collision course with this giant rock.”

“Trust me, it’s just a hologram.”

“If you say so.”

“We’re about to find out.”

The ship passed through the projected rocky formation and soon the viewport revealed a large landing bay inside the asteroid.

Ryonna exhaled a deep breath of relief.

“Told you,” said Keera with a large smile before landing the ship.

“Now what?”

“Now we locate your brother-in-law.”

They left the cockpit on their way to the cargo bay. Keera instinctively reached for her holster. “Wait.”

“What is it?”

“Crap, I think I lost my blaster. Probably fell when I was under the rubble.”

“That’s alright. There should be spare weapons in my hidden armory.”

“Hidden?”

“Yeah, when you smuggle you need a ship with a lot of hidden compartments. Over here.” Ryonna pointed to her right.

Ryonna went towards the bulkhead on their right and put her hand on the wall. Something scanned her palm and part of the bulkhead lifted upwards, revealing a small room filled with weapons.

“Wow, there are enough guns to start a little war here.”

“I used to like being prepared for anything back then. Take anything you fancy.”

“Any chance you have another one of these?” asked Keera, pointing at Ryonna’s atypical blaster.

“As a matter of fact . . .” said Ryonna, while she opened one of the crates inside the room. She grabbed a blaster that looked very similar to hers and threw it at Keera.

“Thanks.”

“Let me show you how it works.”

Ryonna gave her the rundown of its functions, how to set stun and kill, as well as the different power levels. She also demonstrated the energy lasso-firing option.

“And the torch?”

“This one doesn’t have it, but it’s rarely needed.”

“Alright. What else should we take?”

“I’m taking these,” said Ryonna, taking two magnetic concussion grenades from the wall.

She then took a heavy-duty blaster rifle that locked magnetically to the back of her armor. She took two light-blades, magnetically attached one to her belt and gave Keera the other. Then Ryonna went for a briefcase resting on another crate and opened it. From inside she grabbed a large steel bracelet and attached it to her left forearm. She turned it on and it bleeped a couple of times. She swiped its touch interface and a small holo-screen projected from it, showing all its options. She checked the power charge and turned the holo-screen off.

“And that would be?”

“It’s a toolbox kind of defensive device. Unfortunately I don’t have another.”

“No problem. Do you by any chance have real blades as well?”

Ryonna inputted some commands on the console nearby and a section of the wall holding one-handed laser blasters flipped and revealed a large array of knives and katanas, as well as throwing stars.

Keera’s face lit up. “That’s more like it.”

She took a katana with its scabbard, and then she grabbed three knives that she slid into different places in her nanotube skin-pressed armor and loaded it up with a few throwing stars.

“Someone seems to enjoy my collection of white weaponry.”

“Nothing beats blades.”

“If you say so. I prefer my trusty blaster.”

“I get that, but sometimes you need absolute stealth.”

“If we’re to encounter any sort of resistance here, rest assured they saw us fly into their base.”

“Let’s just say I feel safer when I can feel the cold, hard steel of a blade pressing against my skin.”

“That’s kinda creepy, Keera, but . . . fair enough. We should go now.”

“This is your barbecue. Lead the way.”

They exited the ship with their guns pointing in front of them as the cargo door descended to the landing bay’s floor.

* * *

Miseo received the Shadow Hunter in his quarters. The Shadow Hunter was a very powerful Fury who was an infiltration expert and skilled assassin. He reported only to the top generals and the supreme commander. Fortunately for Miseo, he was part of that elite group.

The Shadow Hunter’s dark complexion contrasted very much with his short and spiky blue hair and his light green eyes. He was not an overly tall Fury but he was feared by all. He worked alone, in secrecy, and always succeeded in his missions. If he failed, he would kill himself and someone else would be granted the role and title.

“Reporting as ordered, Miseo. What is it you need me for?”

“I have an urgent mission that requires your talents. I need you to kill two Furies for me, and do it as fast as possible. One of them is in critical condition at the moment, so he should not pose a threat. The other is no match to your powers. But he poses a threat to the expansion plans of our people.”

“I do not require incentives or explanations. Just give me the information that will help me achieve my mission and I’ll be on my way.”

Miseo liked that about the Shadow Hunter. He didn’t ask questions, he only executed orders. That’s what he had hoped Argos would become, but obviously he had been completely wrong in assessing his loyalties.

Miseo provided the Shadow Hunter with the information he needed, where to find Laiyos, and where most likely to find Argos, namely on board the Earth Alliance Hope.

“Oh, and one more thing,” added Miseo.

“I’m listening.”

“If Laiyos, that’s the one they call Chase Athanatos within the Earth Alliance, wakes up, consider him a deadly threat. While I have no doubt you’ll deal with Argos with ease, if Laiyos is in fighting form when you face him, don’t underestimate him. He can increase his fighting powers in a split second, and if you’re not prepared for it, he could bring you down. Only by using cunning did I defeat him last we met. In normal conditions he is a fairly strong and skilled Fury. But when he enters ultra mode, he’s right up there with the best of our elite fighters.”

Miseo saw the Shadow Hunter’s left eye twitch just for a split second at the mention of ultra, and he swore internally for uttering the word. There was no doubt the Shadow Hunter had heard the legend of the Ultra Fury.

“Not to worry, Miseo. I haven’t been elevated to this highly coveted position within the Fury ranks by underestimating my opponents. But I appreciate your input. The more I know about my mission, the higher its chances for success. If that will be all, I shall prepare myself and travel to Earth space at once.”

“You should take the Dark Star. It has a very efficient cloaking device that should make your approach easier.”

“Thank you, but I won’t need it. My personal cloaking and holographic suit is all I need to achieve my goals.”

Right now, the Shadow Hunter was the only one to possess and yield such ancient, non-Fury tech. There was only one in existence, which Miseo always assumed was the reason there weren’t more Shadow Hunters. While the universe had caught up with the times and there were other techs that could achieve cloak and holo-projections, none was as sophisticated, nor could they last as long, as the ancient armor Shadow Hunters wore.

“You’re always addressed as Shadow Hunter, but I’m curious about your real name?”

“My name is Timoros.”

“Very well, Timoros. I look forward to hearing your debrief once your mission is over. You’re dismissed.”

Miseo returned his attention to preparing the upcoming assault of Earth. A tactic was slowly but surely brewing in his mind, one he hoped would prove very effective.

Since the Furies only had a single battleship ready, they needed to be conservative with their resources until the next batch of destroyers were out of the docks. When that happened, the Earth Alliance would certainly fall, but for the time being, he needed to use some of the remainder of the Zarlack fleet and stop wasting them like Argos had.

With only one Fury ship, no matter how powerful, he needed a strategy that didn’t involve sacrificing Zarlack destroyers. They would be obsolete soon enough, but until then, they were becoming a very limited resource, now that all the materials went into building new Fury destroyers. The construction of Zarlack ships had been interrupted and Miseo only had a finite number at his disposal.

All that was required was a simple modification of the Zarlack ships before departing for Earth. It would take a day or two, but Miseo was convinced that it would reverse the balance of power between Zarlack and Earth Alliance ships.

11

Ares and Apollo watched the fight between Argos and Menoitios on a holo-display.

“Does he know the device you gave him is actually a tracker?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care, Ares. For one we needed to know what was going on; plus I didn’t really build an exit route, so the tracker will allow me to beam him out with this console.”

Ares pointed at the obelisk. “I see. What if it gets damaged?”

“Then one of us will have to go in with another tracker. I can’t believe he convinced Menoitios to release him. For a minute there I really thought he was toast.”

“Argos is a venomous snake. He will do whatever it takes to survive. He’s almost predictable that way.”

“Well, we should be happy. Had he died, it would have sealed your protégé’s fate. But he still needs to defeat Menoitios in hand-to-hand combat.”

“I have no doubt Argos will find a way, and my money is on a dishonorable one.”

“At this point we don’t care how. He just needs to succeed.”

“Could you have just gone in there and disabled the device you attached to Menoitios’ heart?”

“In theory, yes, and should Argos fail, we’ll call that plan B. But let’s not forget that this particular Titan has been holding a major grudge towards Father and me for thousands of years. I don’t think it would have been easy to convince him to just let Asclepios go.”

“I’m invested in this mission to succeed, but I was not keen about what Menoitios said about our tactics regarding his people.”

“Hey, this universe contains many foes. It’s kill or be killed.”

“Why do I feel like I’m hearing Father talking right now? It doesn’t matter how you spin this, we’ve given the Titans nothing but grief. One day, one of them will get revenge on us.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. There are not many of them left anyway. Hopefully, sometime today, there will be one less to worry about.”

“I still think you could have found a way to get Asclepios out without the need for bloodshed. Am I wrong?”

Apollo grimaced. “Look, I get it that you’re all mighty and noble now. In fact, I’m proud of you. I never thought you’d get back from the enraged, power-blinded warmonger you once were. But that doesn’t give you the right to be condescending. You’ve been there. In fact, I’m sure you’ve done things way worse than sacrificing Titans for personal gain, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you were responsible for more genocide than your friend down there.”

“Argos is not my friend. But for the sake of argument, let’s say I can’t deny some of your . . . assumptions.”

“Riiiight. You know what, Ares? Let the past be the past, where it belongs. Did we abuse the trust of the Titans? Yes. Is Father responsible for their near extinction? Most likely. But why does it matter now? What’s done is done.”

“I’ll tell you why: if we had treated them as true allies, with the respect they clearly deserved, then we could have used their help right about now in defeating the Furies, that’s why.”

“Yeah, I won’t argue with you on that point. But we can’t really undo the past. And, even if we could . . . Well, let’s just say we shouldn’t anyway.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Never mind that. I was just rambling.”

“Not a chance, Apollo! What did you mean by that? Spit it out!”

Apollo exhaled deeply.

“Well, Cronos is one of the few Titans still alive, last I heard anyway. It’s not like Father keeps me in the loop on everything. When he needs me to do his dirty work, then yeah, sure, then I’m informed.”

“So Cronos really can affect the past? Can he travel back in time? If that’s true, why didn’t he go back in time and change the fate of his own race?”

“As far as I know he can send others in time, but can’t travel himself. That would generate one hell of a paradox otherwise. And I’m sure Father thought of a contingency against that very scenario. Which makes me think that if Cronos is, indeed, still alive, he’s unaware of where the rest of his race is, and how many are dead. And you can bet that Father has him under a tight leash so he can use him in a hurry should the occasion demand it.”

“You don’t think that’s why he doesn’t want to join the fight against the Furies?”

“I didn’t until now. But it would make some twisted, self-centered and egoistic sort of sense, so I wouldn’t put it past him. If you had an ancient who’s able to send you back in time at any moment, you could very well let the war unfold and use the time-travel card if things didn’t go the way you’d hoped they would.”

“That could explain a lot of the rather shady decisions our father has made in the last few thousand years.”

“Yeah, perhaps, but we both know it’s in his blood to be an ass as well.”

Ares smiled. “Now is that a way to talk about our Father and . . . commander?”

Apollo laughed out loud. “Yeah, right! Say that again, but this time try to be a little more convincing.”

* * *

Argos was surprised at how skilled a fighter Menoitios was, even in smaller form. He was a well-rounded warrior.

Menoitios launched a deadly combo of punches and kicks and finished it by landing a knee on Argos’ face, sending him to the ground.

When Argos rose to his feet and wiped blood from his mouth, he had to restrain himself from firing a flurry of fireballs in answer. But doing so and failing would most certainly result in Menoitios resuming his giant form and crushing him along the way.

Argos instead responded in kind with a combo of furious kicks that Menoitios blocked and dodged, but Argos kept coming at him until one of his roundhouse kicks hit his opponent in the face.

I don’t have time for this.

“You’re an excellent fighter,” said Argos.

“So are you. It would seem we’re pretty evenly matched.”

“It would.”

“Shall we continue?”

“Nothing else to do down here anyway.”

And with that Argos was once again on the offensive. They traded attacks for hours, each taking turns in delivering and receiving powerful blows. They were getting tired and their faces and bodies were covered with blood and too many cuts and bruises to count.

Argos had had enough. He needed to find a way to end this fight. Fighting old school without powers was taking too much time. So he had an idea.

When he came about for his next attack he deliberately didn’t put all his strength and speed into it and let Menoitios hit him multiple times as a result.

While he was getting pounded to a pulp with a series of powerful blows, he used his healing powers in small increments so as to not be seen doing it. Mostly he repaired the internal damage to his body, making sure he left all his external wounds apparent, so as to not tip Menoitios off to his tactic.

In turn, Menoitios, feeling the victory within his grasp, pushed on even more by amping up the intensity of his blows, each time thinking he was about to deliver the final one. But even if on the surface Argos looked as though he was getting hurt more and more, he was, in fact, getting stronger, using much less energy by healing himself in real time than he would by expending it towards directly fighting Menoitios.

Eventually the punches and kicks Argos received were less powerful. Menoitios was running out of juice and Argos could feel it. So in the middle of Menoitios’ current combo, Argos decided that now was the time to end this fight. He blocked two of Menoitios’ round kicks and a weak attempt at an uppercut, and locked his arm in the process. With a swift, full-body motion, Argos twisted the arm with as much strength as he could muster and heard the satisfying crack of bones breaking.

Menoitios shouted out his pain, but Argos didn’t wait. He kept attacking him with everything he had, each blow more powerful than the previous one. Menoitios fought with incredible courage and even managed to dodge a few blows. But blocking was becoming too difficult with one shattered arm and Argos always attacked on that side. After landing two flying roundhouse kicks directly on Menoitios’ face that forced him to take a few steps back, Argos launched himself forward and planted his knee into his opponent’s guts.

It knocked the wind out of Menoitios and Argos went for the finishing combo. For that he only used his arms, one punch after another, landing most of them, rarely having to dodge and block Menoitios’ now weak and desperate counters. After one such counterattack from the Titan in human form, Argos landed three powerful left hooks. Teeth and cheekbones broke and blood flew from Menoitios’ mouth like rapids jumping off a rocky cliff to form a split waterfall.

Menoitios shook his head. The last blows had seriously compromised him.

“This has been fun, but it’s time to end it,” said Argos.

There was no time for Menoitios to answer as Argos pushed his advantage and kept going at his opponent’s face, now alternating uppercuts and elbows strikes, and finishing the deadly combo by grabbing Menoitios’ head with both hands and thrusting his knee through it with incredible force.

Menoitios stumbled but by some small miracle he managed to stay upright.

Argos took a step forward and pointed his open palm at Menoitios’ thorax. Argos saw the Titan’s gaze looking puzzlingly downward at Argos’ hand.

“You didn’t really think I’d keep my word now, did you?” said Argos with an evil smile.

Before Menoitios could answer, an enormous column of crimson energy shot from Argos’ hand and impaled Menoitios’ ribcage. Most of his organs were burned instantly and part of his heart, lungs and shattered ribs were expelled out of the soccer-ball-sized hole Argos’ attack had burned through his body.

Menoitios’ eyes stared forward with a look of sheer terror. But soon his gaze softened and tears filled his eyes. Argos thought he saw a faint smile on Menoitios’ face as his body fell to the ground. He hit the floor with whatever was left of his back like a plank of wood. The Titan was no more.

Argos looked at his defeated enemy, smoke still rising from the large hole he had carved in him.

“You were a worthy adversary, Menoitios. You just never should have trusted me.”

The Titan’s body illuminated for a brief instant and Argos instinctively took a defensive stance.

Menoitios’ skin cracked all over his body and orange light bled through it. But soon the flame-colored cracks multiplied and his entire body was burning from the inside out. Soon he was consumed by fire and only a pile of ash remained.

Argos healed himself fully in a flash, all physical traces of the long and arduous battle erased.

A blinding blue light flashed not far from Argos and he had to cover his eyes for a moment. When his vision returned, a man with very long silver hair stood in front of him. It was an Olympian, without a doubt.

“Asclepios, I presume?” said Argos.

“And you are?”

“Is that a way to greet your savior?”

“You don’t look like an Olympian. In fact, you look like a race that is no more.”

“If you mean the Furies, then you’re going to have to get used to the fact that your history needs— how should I put it? —some slight revision.”

“If you’re a Fury, then you’re no savior of mine. What do you want from me?”

“It’s not what I want, old fart, but rather what your buddies Ares and Apollo want.”

“That treacher—” Asclepios raised his brows. “Did you just call me an old fart?”

“Get over it. And believe me, you’ll understand the next time you pass your sorry ass in front of a mirror.”

Asclepios’ face became red. “How dare you?”

Argos sighed. He was not in the mood, so he grabbed Asclepios by his long, dirty, once-white robe.

“Let me go!” protested the old Olympian.

But Asclepios was frail, with not much juice left in him.

Argos took the device Apollo gave him and talked into it.

“Get us out of here, now!”

Another blinding light engulfed them and teleported them out of Menoitios’ once-eternal prison hall.

* * *

“Looks like you’ve got it figured out now,” said Hades.

“Yeah, I never thought I could enter fury mode just with a push of my brain. I always thought it was a tremendous anger reflex and that it would stay that way.”

“Live and learn.”

“Speaking of living?”

“You still haven’t defeated me. And I have a couple more things I’d like you to try.”

“Seriously?”

“You asked me before if I knew what was happening in the universe outside of my plane of existence.”

“Yes, so?”

“Well, let’s just say that even if you left now, you wouldn’t wake up right away. You’re still in a cryostasis tube.”

“Wait . . . What?”

“You’re still dying, but your friends are working hard to bring you back, so no need to worry.”

“How you can say things like ‘still dying’ and ‘don’t worry’ in the same sentence is beyond me.”

“If you’re meant to leave this place, you will. There’s no point obsessing about it now since it’s out of your direct control. Let’s use that time to further your training.”

Chase didn’t like the sound of that one bit, but he knew he was in a near-death state, otherwise he wouldn’t have landed in the Underworld in the first place. But fighting for days with Hades had taken his focus away from his physical body’s condition. Hades was right: it wasn’t as if he could do anything about it.

“So what now?”

“Now I have a very simple exercise for you. Try to catch me.”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not. Only when you manage to catch me can you pass your final test.”

“Alright, I guess you’re the boss.”

Hades smiled but soon disappeared. Chase ran after him but Hades was too fast. Chase activated his fury mode in a split second. Both his aura and eyes turned flame-colored.

In doing so he increased his own speed and closed the gap between them with ease. Or so he thought. Every time he was inches away from catching Hades, the Olympian increased his speed once more, forcing Chase to run and fly faster and faster after him.

* * *

Ryonna and Keera were out of the ship; they’d quickly secured the landing bay, making sure no one waited to ambush them.

“Doesn’t look like there’s a welcoming party,” said Ryonna.

“Perhaps this place isn’t inhabited.”

“I wouldn’t count on it, so let’s stay on our guard.”

“But if it was under any kind of surveillance, wouldn’t there be an alarm?”

“It could be a silent alarm that only informs the right person about our presence. Wouldn’t be the first time I stepped into such a place.”

“I see. Where do we go next?”

Ryonna walked to the only door on the opposite side of the landing bay. It opened upwards with a loud pneumatic sound. It revealed a corridor leading both left and right. Ryonna brought online the holo-interface on her wrist device and keyed in a command. When she was done, a small trap door opened on her gadget and hundreds of small spheres, a fraction of an inch each, shot out and levitated in the air.

“What are those?” inquired Keera.

“They’re nano-tracers. They’ll help us map this facility.”

“How?”

“Watch.”

She inputted a couple more commands on her wrist device as she entered the corridor and the nano-tracers followed. They flew in every direction. They bounced against the walls, leaving small red laser traces in their path. A map started to appear on the device’s holo-interface as they progressed.

“While we make our way in, these nano-tracers, which are essentially self-driving sensors, will map every corner of this facility. That way we’ll get advance warning on the layout of this place. If they meet anything or anyone biological, we’ll also know about it.”

“Sweet! That’s quite handy. Can they be used as a weapon as well?”

“With limited effectiveness, but they tend to self-destruct when they run out of juice, usually in a non-exploding manner; but they can be set to self-destruct on demand if needed.”

“So you have used them that way before, right?”

“Once. That’s also why I know they aren’t very efficient; but they did provide me with the distraction I needed to get out of a sticky situation.”

Keera followed Ryonna into the corridor and looked the other way. The nano-tracers had already traveled quite a long distance but she saw the last few bounce off the next intersection and split into two groups, scanning either side of the corridors.

“I pride myself in knowing a lot about technology, but I’ve never seen anything like it. What’s the advantage over smaller drones flying around and gathering the same data?”

“Well, for one they’re infinitely lighter and cheaper to produce. Also they can’t easily be shot down due to their miniature size and the fact that they keep bouncing all over the place in random patterns. They’re inherently hard to target by design. They’re also not bothered by the nature of the terrain. Of course, they only work inside. They’re all but useless in outside situations. They also tend to get the job done much faster than a single drone.”

“Interesting. So from the map they’ve already drawn, where do we go?”

“We either wait a couple more minutes to get a better picture . . .” Ryonna looked at the map being drawn on her holo-display in real time and continued, “or we choose either left or right and backtrack if we have to.”

“Any preference?”

“I say we go left and we’ll know soon enough if it’s a dead end.”

“After you, then.”

They walked the corridors for a few minutes until a hologram appeared in front of them. It was a male Brin humanoid.

“You’re not welcome here. Leave this place if you value your lives.”

“Not the warm welcome I expected,” said Keera.

“Nonetheless, these are the coordinates Jonas provided me, so there must be something in this place. Maybe he’s here, or maybe he left a clue as to where to find him. Either way, we need to see this through.”

Keera nodded and they continued walking on their current path until they heard metallic steps.

“I think we have company and, from the sound of it, not the kind we’ll like,” said Ryonna.

“What do you mean?”

Ryonna didn’t need to answer. Instead she drew her blaster. Keera did the same. Soon a droid appeared at the end of the corridor.

“Battle droid. We’ll need to dispatch it quickly, and hope it’s the only one around.”

They fired their blasters but it was shielded and their shots bounced all around the droid, which started running towards their position.

“Don’t let this thing grab you! They can crush bones like they’re made of dust.”

“Charming, but have you noticed our blasters don’t seem to affect it?”

“Keep firing. That will drain its shields, once they’re down we can use the lasso mode.”

They fired a multitude of shots as the droid kept coming.

“Are you sure this tactic will work, Ryonna? It’s getting awfully close.”

“It has to. It’s way too cramped in here to fight it hand to hand.”

When the droid was only a few yards away it stopped running but kept walking towards them. It turned on a light-blade.

“Last chance,” said the same voice as the hologram a minute before. “Go now or be killed.”

“Stand your ground,” said Ryonna as she turned on her own light-blade.

“I thought you said it was too cramped to fight.”

“It is, but I’ll have to fight it either way. You stand fast and keep firing at it any time you have a clear shot.”

“Ryonna, I’m a good shot, but this is insane. I could hit you.”

“Then turn your weapon to stun, just in case.”

Keera set her blaster to stun and resumed firing on the droid, which didn’t look affected at all.

Soon it was upon Ryonna and the light-blade fight began. The droid was very well programmed and Ryonna had to use all her focus to keep up with it. From time to time, Keera had a clear shot at the droid but, as before, the lasers blasts were deflected by its shields, which briefly flashed green.

Ryonna dodged an incoming light-blade slash and rolled behind the droid, managing to slash her blade across the back of its feet. It illuminated the shield once more but they flashed longer this time.

“Keep shooting at it!” Ryonna shouted.

12

Argos and Asclepios appeared in front of Ares and Apollo.

“There,” said Argos, throwing the old and frail Olympian at Apollo as if he was luggage.

Asclepios looked at Apollo with rage in his eyes. “You, you’re the one who trapped me here.”

“Technically that would be Zeus. I just provided the prison.”

“And you think that exempts you from your sins? Following wrong orders is as evil as giving them in the first place.”

“If you say so, old man. You’re free now, but if you want to stay that way, we need your elixir of life.”

Asclepios looked at Ares. “So you finally got yourself killed? Why am I not surprised?”

“A lot has changed since you were free, Asclepios. Right now we need your help. My friend Chase doesn’t stand a chance of surviving if you don’t provide us with the elixir.”

“Is he an Olympian?”

“No, he’s a Fury. But before you start complaining, he is trying to help us defeat the other Furies.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Ares? The Furies were defeated a long time ago.”

“Right, you wouldn’t know.”

Ares proceeded to explain the current situation and the power struggles in the universe.

“This is heavy. Will Zeus participate in this conflict?”

“That’s our hope, but for now he’s being less than receptive to our plight.”

“Why am I not surprised? He’s always been selfish outside of his precious Olympians, and even then we are only valued if we blindly obey his every wish.”

As much as Ares wanted to argue with the man he had a point. In the last few thousand years, Zeus had grown more and more reclusive, even among his own people. He seemed perfectly okay with the universe being burned as long as his own race survived. But that was just a temporary measure of survival, and the longer the Olympians waited to join the conflict, the worse it would be when they were forced to. Ares wondered why Zeus didn’t see that.

“In any case, right now the priority is to revive Chase.”

“That may not be easily done.”

“What do you mean?”

“Zeus has all my research. If he destroyed it, then your last hope might have died with it.”

“Surely you know how to make your own elixir once more if needed?”

“One of its ingredients is very rare. If my stockpile was destroyed . . . And knowing Zeus’ usual wrath when he feels defied, I would think it was.”

Apollo cleared his throat.

“What is it, brother?”

“Well, Zeus did ask me to destroy Asclepios’ lab after I trapped him here with Menoitios, I’m afraid.”

“This isn’t happening!” shouted Ares in frustration.

* * *

Chase felt as if he had been running and flying around for an eternity.

He didn’t understand how Hades kept getting faster and faster. But he himself was much faster than he had ever been before. Chase wondered how much faster he could actually become. Then, out of the blue, he stopped chasing Hades.

When he noticed, Hades also stopped. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve had enough of chasing you, that’s what’s wrong.”

“Believe me, you’re almost there.”

“Doesn’t feel like it from where I’m standing.”

“That’s because you’re trying to follow me in order to catch me. You should try to simply envision catching me. It should make your job easier.”

Chase shot Hades a dubious look.

“Look, Chase, did you learn anything new during your time here?”

It was a rhetorical question, but Chase answered anyway. “Of course. Lots.”

“So trust me, will you?”

“Very well.”

Chase resumed following Hades around for a while, still being bested every time he thought he was about to catch him.

“Remember, you need to see it in your mind.”

Whatever that means.

He formed the mental image of catching Hades. The only way he saw that happening in his mind, though, was by teleporting into Hades’ path.

That was exactly what happened. In a fraction of a second he was no longer trailing behind but in front and actually nearly caught Hades. He was disappointed to miss him by only a hair, but then he realized all he needed to do was to repeat this until it worked. And eventually, work it did.

Chase finally grabbed Hades after teleporting all over the place.

“I’ll be damned, Ares was right.”

“What about?” said Hades as Chase released him.

“He said teleporting was within my grasp.”

“He was right. You need to practice it a little more, though.”

“Sure thing. How long?”

“I have something to do, but I won’t be long. When I come back there’s just one more thing I’ll need you to do before we’re through with your training.”

“Very well.”

Hades disappeared and Chase teleported all over the place until it became second nature.

* * *

Keera had a much clearer line of fire now that Ryonna was fighting the battle droid from the other side. The droid had reacted quickly to Ryonna’s last attack and they exchanged light-blade slashes once more while Keera kept firing at the droid’s back. For the time being, it kept ignoring her.

“How long can we keep this up?” said Keera.

Ryonna answered the best she could in between sword exchanges. “As . . . long as we . . . have to. Try . . . a charged . . . shot.”

Keera looked at her weapon’s settings and remembered the quick tutorial Ryonna had given her. She switched the controls and kept depressing the trigger while aiming at the droid’s back. Her blaster hummed louder and louder as the shot powered up inside. When the power control gauge blinked three times, that was her cue.

She released her finger from the trigger and a large shot of plasma fired from her weapon and hit the droid, dead center on its back. The droid froze for just a fraction of a second and its shield turned from green to yellow. It also gave Ryonna the opportunity to slash the droid’s shields twice more before it grabbed her light-blade-wielding hand and kicked her in the shoulder, sending her flying backwards, where she crashed onto the floor with a metallic thud.

“Ryonna!”

The droid turned and faced Keera, who had just enough time to recharge one more heavy shot and release it before the droid was on her. When the full-power plasma shot impacted with the droid’s head, its shield turned red and started blinking continuously, but it kept coming at her. Keera dropped her blaster and activated her light-blade just in the nick of time to block the droid’s slash towards her head. While she dueled the battle droid, Ryonna lined up multiple full-power blaster shots on the droid’s back and eventually its shields gave in.

She switched to lasso mode and lassoed the droid around the ankles and stomach, trapping its arms in the process. The droid dropped its light-blade as Keera went for the kill.

In two swift motions, she cut through the droid’s lower face at a thirty-degree angle, continuing the cut through most of the shoulder and right arm. Blue and orange sparks flew out as the blade hacked though the metal, leaving a red hot, almost perfect line in its wake. With a second blade cut, Keera cut what was left of the battle droid a little above the waistline. The four parts of the droid made a terrible ruckus when they fell to the floor.

Keera was panting heavily, not so much from the effort as from the intensity of the fight.

Ryonna got back up. “Good kill, Keera, well done.”

“Come on, we both know you did most of the leg work.”

“I disagree. It would have been a real pain to deal with this one on my own and I’m really glad I didn’t have to.”

Ryonna brought her wrist holo-display back on, only to see that the mapping of the base was ongoing.

“How big is this place?”

“Too big for us to continue roaming around aimlessly,” Keera answered.

Ryonna inputted a few more commands and interfaced the map of the base with her ship’s main computer.

“Computer, overlay life signs to the map.”

In less than a second two points lit up on the map, a green and a blue one. “Life signs detected,” added the ship’s computer. “Though I should point out that one life form, the Droxian life sign represented in blue, is very erratic. It may require immediate medical attention.”

Ryonna frowned. “We have to hurry. If this is Jonas, he’s clearly in trouble.”

“Agreed.”

They picked up their pace and sprinted towards the Droxian life sign. They met with a few flying sentries along the way, but these weren’t nearly as powerful or as heavily shielded as the battle droid, so it didn’t take much time to dispatch the opposition and line the halls of the asteroid base with countless pieces of hot, molten metal, silicon circuitry and battery fluid.

They finally entered a large room where a Droxian prisoner was held a foot off the floor by four levitating engines, each trapping one limb. His head was hanging low, with hair covering most of his face, and Ryonna couldn’t see if it was indeed Jonas. But her heart skipped a beat when she saw the amount of bruising and cuts all over the Droxian’s body. Not to mention the pool of purple blood underneath him, with new drops adding to its already large surface.

Ryonna ran towards him, but a strong force hit her in the jaw. She lost balance and crashed to the floor unceremoniously. She had just been sucker punched. She felt it. The problem was, there was no one where the blow had come from. Before she could get back up she received a kick in the guts, sending her whirling and tumbling for a few more yards. She still had no visual contact with her seemingly invisible foe.

Keera ran to her aid, only to have her legs mowed from under her. She took a nasty tumble. Instead of trying to get back up she set her blaster to stun and fired several shots towards the general area in which she had been brought down. Eventually one shot hit something in the air and, for just a second, partial armor appeared as its wearer’s shield lit up to deflect the laser.

“It’s a stealth suit, Keera!”

“I can see that.”

But then Keera was grabbed by two invisible hands and lifted off the floor. She instinctively punched where she thought the head would be but instantly regretted it. The impact with the shielded foe caused tremendous pain. But not as much as when she was thrown with incredible force against the nearest wall, head first. She blacked out.

* * *

When Sarah woke after her first night back on Earth, she felt fully rested. She hadn’t had such good sleep in weeks. She missed her bed, and she missed Chase in it more. She took a nice, long shower during which all she could think about was what Ares had told her. She really hoped he would return soon, for all their sakes.

When she was dressed, she went to check on Chris. The night before she’d had the worse time trying to get him to sleep. She never thought she’d ever argue with a four-year-old on such a level. Not only was he growing fast, but talking to a young kid with an adult mind was something else.

He wasn’t in his room and her heart stung. She ran into every room, hoping he hadn’t gone outside. It was one thing having to deal with this situation, and another having the rest of the world know about it. But she was relieved to find him in the kitchen eating cereal and eggs. He looked even bigger now, probably the equivalent of five or six years old.

“Did you make these yourself?”

“Yeah, what’s so hard about that?”

Sarah smiled. “It’s usually a mother’s duty to prepare food for her kid, plus we have a food synthesizer, so you don’t actually need to cook.”

“I know. I like doing it though.”

Chris stood, opened her oven, took out a big plate of eggs and pancakes, and brought it to Sarah.

“That’s so sweet. Where did you get the eggs?”

“I synthesized them raw and cooked them on the stove. Hope that’s okay.”

“Sure, thanks Chris.”

“You should eat them while they’re still hot,” added Chris with a smile.

Unbelievable.

Sarah was amazed by how sweet her son was. She sensed a lot of Chase in him. But that scared her too. Would he have a destructive tendency when he became upset? But mostly she was worried that he would not be with them for long enough. That made her feel sick inside. That last thought reduced her appetite, but she forced herself to eat. She didn’t want Chris to think she didn’t appreciate his making breakfast.

“All good? If it’s not to your liking, you can synthesize your own food.”

“No, baby, don’t worry. It’s delicious.” It really was. “I’m just worried about, well . . . everything.”

“I understand, Mom. But things will get better soon, I’m sure.”

“I wish I shared your optimism.”

“You will. It’s not like we have any choice. We either defeat the Furies or we all die, so let’s just decide right here and now that we will win and be done with worrying altogether.”

Now that was definitely not a trait that came from Chase. He was a worrier at heart, and she didn’t understand how Chris could be so confident. Perhaps some part of his brain was still only a child. At this age, children didn’t tend to worry about the future.

Sarah couldn’t help feeling sad for all the experiences Chris would skip. Meeting friends at school, learning all sorts of subjects, even though he seemed to know them already. His first crush, kissing a girl on the cheek for the first time, stroking her hair while slow dancing. The list went on and on. All of these character-building experiences, Chris would have to do without.

He shot her a curious look. She had been brewing in her own mind for a while now. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’m okay growing fast. It’s what the universe needs.”

“Chris, you may be okay with it but I hope you understand why I’m not. And while you may be right, I still think it’s not fair, to me or to you.”

“Life isn’t fair.”

“A five- or six-year-old should never have to utter these words, but I can’t really argue with them right now.”

“Mom, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure, baby, anything.”

“I wanted to know if it would be possible for me to start training soon?”

“What do you mean ‘training’?”

“Dad trained in a facility on Earth to make him stronger. I thought I should start doing so as well.”

Really?

“I think you still need a few . . .” She wanted to say years but corrected herself on the fly, “days until you’re old enough to do so.”

“That’s a matter of perspective. I think I can start now. I don’t need to fight anyone, but I could start working on a higher level of gravity like Dad did.”

In her mind there was no way that a little boy of six should start his fight training. Then again he would probably be twelve before the week was over. It made Sarah’s head spin.

“Very well. Finish your breakfast and we’ll pay Spiros and Gaia a visit.”

“Really?” Chris’ entire face was illuminated with joy. “Thank you, Mommy.”

At least there were some nice times, like this, where it did feel like a normal mother-son relationship. Sarah knew how precious these were and cherished them, knowing she would experience very few of them.

It wasn’t long before they boarded a transport and set a course towards the yet-unnamed training ship in high orbit.

13

While Keera was getting pounded, Ryonna brought up her wrist holo-interface and selected an electromagnetic view option. She then pressed a small mechanical button on the inside of her arm that opened a sliding compartment revealing glass frames with no apparent hinges or temples. She put them on her eyes. The moment they touched her skin, a band of white energy shot from both sides and circled Ryonna’s head. The energy bands met at the back of her head, locking the device in place.

Two holo-screens appeared and acted as lenses. She saw a humanoid shape, though it was quite distorted due to the imprecision of the current scanning mode. It was coming towards her and she didn’t hesitate in firing at it repeatedly but, like the battle droid before, its shields deflected every shot with ease. She rolled to her right to avoid the incoming foe, grabbing her light-blade and activating it on the way. She pivoted to reach maximum impact velocity.

But the result was not what she intended. The contact with the shields at such velocity caused the weapon to overheat and it shut itself down. The device trembled in her hand as it became burning hot. She threw the damaged blade to the feet of her opponent and jumped out of the way. The blade exploded even before reaching the ground. It illuminated the armored foe and overloaded its shields and cloaking generator.

Sparks shot randomly and lightning ran all over the armored man. Ryonna recognized the design of this armor. She had used something similar on Hathan Prime when she had taken out Sector Atrak who had been responsible for her husband’s murder.

Was this what Jonas was after? Had he finally tracked the creator of such an incredibly powerful suit, one that could prove helpful against the Furies if wielded by someone as strong as Chase?

Now was not the time to think about it, as she was reminded when the man in the suit took multiple shots at her. She rolled on the floor to avoid them but one still hit her in the abdomen. Fortunately her own armor took the brunt of the shot. She took cover behind one of the many crates in the room. A few more shots hit behind the crate and sparks flew. She fired back, forcing the man behind cover as well.

When she tried switching to lasso mode, she was rewarded with a low-power warning from her thought-to-be-trusty blaster.

“You gotta be shitting me,” she said out loud.

She ran towards Keera’s dropped blaster but, before she could reach it, her enemy shot the weapon out of reach.

Things became worse when the man ran towards her at super speed and kicked her with such force that she flew into a nearby pillar, gravely injuring her back in the process.

She could barely move. The man now approached at a confident pace. Whatever upgrades this armor had received since the one she had used months ago had clearly increased its stealth abilities. She couldn’t hear her enemy’s steps as he approached.

He grabbed her by the top of her armor. She fought through the pain and swung one arm at him. His super speed allowed him to block the punch and his super strength broke her fist and many of her finger bones with ease. The man didn’t stop there, however. He unleashed a series of powerful punches to her face, breaking one of her cheekbones as well as a few teeth. Her augmented glasses also took a hit and shattered from the blow.

She could barely see anything past the blood in her eyes. She felt helpless.

The man lifted her against the pillar before he spoke. “I told you to leave while you still could. You should have listened to me. Now you will pay for this mistake with your life. Any last words?”

When Ryonna tried to speak, large amounts of blood spilled from her mouth and onto the man’s arm. She tried again and managed to speak. “Grant me an honorable death by letting me see the face of the man who defeated me.”

“Droxians. So predictable. But this is one wish I can gladly grant.”

The helmet covering the man’s face melted down, confirming that it was a similar liquid design as the suit Ryonna had used. She looked at the face of a Brin, smiling smugly.

“Now pray to whatever gods you believe in,” said the Brin before preparing to deliver a final blow.

Three large steel claws shot out from his fist and Ryonna realized that her life was about to end. She had to do something. With her other arm she reached to the back of her belt for a magnetic grenade. If she was to die, she would at least take him with her.

But just before he thrust his claws into Ryonna’s face, one of Keera’s throwing stars hit him dead center on his forehead. He instinctively released his hold on Ryonna to check how deeply the star had penetrated his head. While Ryonna had no doubt it had reached his brain, he didn’t seem particularly affected beyond the psychological shock.

Ryonna didn’t wait for him to recover. Before the Brin realized what she was up to, she planted the magnetic grenade on his armor near his exposed head and activated it, and then kicked him off his feet. He lost balance and Ryonna mustered every bit of strength she still had and used her other foot to push the man away from her.

She fiddled with her wrist device which, fortunately, was on the arm with the broken hand. The grenade exploded, but not before the device’s personal shield turned on and deflected most of the shrapnel, flames and body parts the explosion sent her way.

The Brin’s head was gone, as was most of his upper torso. Ryonna turned back towards Keera and saw a faint smile cross Keera’s face before she collapsed.

* * *

When Hades made it back, Chase was resting, recharging his batteries. He had spent an incredible amount of energy lately but was surprised how much more energy reserves he seemed to have.

“Are you ready for your final test?”

Chase reflected on all that had happened since he reached the Underworld. He had learned so much it was overwhelming. He was as amazed at what he could do now as when he had received his first training sessions with Ares. In fact, for the first time he was confident that he had a solid grasp on his powers.

That must have been how Miseo felt when fighting him. Remaining aware of his own limitations yet not letting emotions run the show. It was empowering, and Chase was eager to get back into the fight with the Furies. This was surprising. He had hit rock bottom upon his arrival here, questioning his every move.

“I am,” said Chase, “but first I’d like to thank you for all that I’ve learned here.”

“You’re welcome, Chase. You were not in a good place when you came here, and it was clear that the only way you could regain confidence was to unlock your full potential.”

While Chase was proud to hear these words, he wondered if he had indeed reached his maximum potential. Seeing how much he had progressed he would be sad if it stopped here.

“Have I reached it? Does that mean I can’t progress further?”

“I apologize. I should have chosen my words more carefully. You have reached the full potential you are currently capable of. You have unlocked new abilities and multiplied your energy several times over. But fear not, I think the more you train, the more powerful you will become. You may have to push yourself to the limits to do so, though, as you now use your current skills with almost perfect efficiency, no longer wasting unnecessary energy.”

Chase nodded. “So is this when I fight you to get out of here?”

“When I first detected your presence, and when we first fought, I thought it would be. But that would hardly be a challenge, since you’re so much more powerful than I am now. This fight wouldn’t last long.”

“So what’s my last challenge?”

“You must defeat your own worst enemy. But before we do that, I would like you to show me all you’ve learned by fighting a known enemy.”

“I don’t understand. Who do you want me to fight?”

Hades raised his hands to the sky and a dark red aura engulfed him. Far in the distance behind him was the never-ending file of souls walking towards the pit, disappearing from view hundreds of miles away. A lightning bolt shot from Hades’ body and hit one of the souls in line. It removed itself from the line and walked towards them.

Soon the figure was close enough for Chase to recognize some of his features. The first thing that grabbed his attention was the armor the man wore. It was Fury battle armor.

Could it be?

Then color returned to the approaching figure and there was no mistaking him.

Chase smiled as he recognized General Arkoolis. “Good choice, Hades.”

“He is the most powerful being currently in my realm besides the both of us. I understand your fight with him was long and difficult.”

“It was. In fact, I shouldn’t have rushed to fight Miseo right after defeating such a powerful enemy. I had depleted a lot of my energy, and Chris had to intervene at one point.”

“Alright then, Chase, show me what you’ve learned.”

Chase took an offensive posture while waiting for the general to arrive. “With pleasure.”

When Arkoolis stopped in front of Chase, his eyes filled with rage.

“You! You’re the one who sent me down here. I’m gonna take my revenge on you now.”

“I have no doubt that you’ll try.”

Arkoolis brought up his red aura to the maximum and everything around them shook. His eyes were filled with pure hate, enhanced by the bright red that glowed from them. Arkoolis attacked Chase with a rapid series of fireballs, dozens upon dozens of them.

Chase was amazed how slow these attacks seemed to him now. He could have run three laps around Arkoolis and still have time to come back to block them. He simply teleported away with little effort, which only infuriated the general even more.

Arkoolis unleashed a second series of fireballs, bigger and faster, towards Chase.

Was I as stupid as he is now when I fought Miseo? Wasting so much energy for nothing. What a shame.

This time Chase sent the fireballs back to their source, deflecting them back towards Arkoolis. The general raised a protective shield but it only held for a short time. Soon it was breached and he was hit by four of his own attacks. A giant explosion illuminated the land for miles. When the dust and smoke settled, it revealed the general with a knee on the ground and bleeding from multiple wounds on his face, arms and neck.

Chase hadn’t used much energy yet, but Arkoolis had depleted more than a third of his own reserves. This fight would be over much faster than their previous one.

“Is that all you’ve got, General?”

The red lines in Arkoolis’ bloodshot eyes made him look like a mad man. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself and then attacked Chase with his bare hands. It didn’t go any better for him. Chase was able to avoid each of his opponent’s blows with ease, which infuriated Arkoolis even more.

Eventually, Chase grew bored and kicked the general with a swift and precise roundhouse kick to the torso. It broke through the general’s armor like porcelain and sent him flying backwards for hundreds of yards before he crashed to the hard, stony onyx ground.

Arkoolis recovered quickly and was already flying towards Chase as fast as he could. Fueled with rage, he seemed determined to kill Chase or die trying.

Chase had no doubt about which of these would happen. He didn’t wait for the general to arrive but teleported under Arkoolis and kneed him in the jaw, sending him flying upwards into the dark, starless sky. Chase then teleported above him and sent him flying horizontally with a powerful strike of the elbow. But it didn’t stop there. Chase used Arkoolis like a pinball. Before he could understand what was happening to him, he was hit and sent all over the place, never allowed to recover or fall back to the ground. The impact from Chase’s blows created small shockwaves in the sky.

Eventually Chase punched Arkoolis back to the ground and he landed beside the large crater the impact had made. Then Chase realized Arkoolis wasn’t breathing anymore. Going by the damage he had inflicted, he must have defeated the general long before his last aerial combo was over.

Hades came next to Chase and put a hand on his shoulder.

“You didn’t even have to transform into fury mode to defeat him. Did you notice that?”

Chase hadn’t. Indeed, he had acted instinctively, never feeling the need to push himself harder to win the fight.

“I can’t believe how easy it was this time. Was the general weaker?”

“No, he had the same level of power as the last time you faced him.”

“Uh . . . Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“How long have I been here? It feels like it’s been a very long time.”

“You’ve been here the time you needed to get a good grasp on your powers. Time here means nothing.”

“That explains it. Now about that last challenge?”

“Right. Remember everything you’ve learned up until now, and that includes things beyond just your own powers.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“You will. I can only cast this ancient spell once, so here goes.” Hades waved his hand in front of him and a dark shadow appeared.

It looked like Chase, but he was all dark, with red, glowing eyes.

“The time has now come to defeat your strongest opponent . . . yourself.”

* * *

Cedric had been working at his home office since Spiros was busy with Gaia. He had been feeling a little left out since Gaia had decided to help them. Spiros tasked him with finding a way to wipe her in case of an emergency, which was easier said than done.

Cedric wrote a self-replicating, highly aggressive worm virus that should be able to wipe Gaia in case of an emergency. What he hadn’t managed to do yet was to find a way to stop his own creation once it had accomplished its initial goal. In his sandboxed environments, the virus always got the upper hand no matter how many levels of firewalls and intrusion detection systems he put around the rest of the virtual infrastructure he was using for testing. If he unleashed this virus on Earth, every piece of tech would bite the dust at the same time as Gaia or shortly after. Recovering from this assault would put the planet at great risk for weeks if not months, disturbing normal operations of all the utilities such as water, electricity, gas and pretty much everything else.

Lately he had hit a wall, so he was working on a side project.

They could now safely beam devices on board ships when their shields were down. But in order to use the planet’s large stockpile of nukes to destroy the next fleet of ships he needed to find a way to either beam them when shields were still up, or find an ingenious way to bring them down. That was what he was working on. The logs he had from the battles against Zarlack ships, which now included the Droxian logs they had graciously provided, allowed him to try to find the technological edge to achieve just that.

Still, he hadn’t had much success so far. His recent breakup hadn’t helped either. He missed Johanna. Truth be told, he also missed working with Yanis. He had wanted to pay his respects following the loss of his sister, but Cedric dreaded those types of situations. He thought it would be best to let some time pass, though he doubted it would make things easier.

Why do I do that?

Cedric could use Yanis’ help on his research. He doubted he could develop an effective weapon without his help and his much better grasp of Alliance technology. He rolled one for courage, but that always had the opposite effect. Once he was high, he didn’t want to move anymore.

So another few hours passed. When he was again sobered up and had run yet another utterly unsuccessful simulation, he resigned himself to go see Yanis.

He took a transport and, less than half an hour later, was on board the Hope. He had tried Yanis’ quarters but wasn’t surprised that nobody answered in the middle of the day. So he headed towards engineering. He found Yanis at his usual console.

“Hey, man,” said Cedric, not really sure what else to say.

“Hey, Cedric, long time no see. How are you doing?”

“I . . . I’m . . . Look, I’m really sorry to hear what happened to your sister.”

Yanis embraced Cedric warmly.

“Thanks, man.”

The last thing Cedric had expected was a hug, but his uneasiness faded away at once. He returned the hug and patted Yanis’ back.

“What can I do for you, my friend?”

“I’ve been working on something lately.”

“Oh yeah. How’s the virus progressing?”

“Not well, so I started working on something else.”

“I’m surprised Spiros let you focus on anything else.”

“Yeah, well, ever since he started working closely with Gaia, he lost his focus on the virus, which bodes well for me because I’ve just about had it with that assignment. So I tried working on a way to penetrate the Zarlack shields.”

“I see. You know, I’ve thought about it too in the past, but their adaptive technology is simply too complex. Without the root encryption key from their own computer, I don’t think we can bypass their shields. We use a similar technology and they haven’t been able to get inside ours either. It could be doable with an away team cracking the code from within the ship, but to get the away team inside the ship you need to lower the shields first, so it’s kind of the chicken and the egg thing, you know?”

“Tell me about it. I hit a similar wall and my simulations never went anywhere. But what if we could send, say, a Fury who is able to pass through their shields? Then we could infect them from the inside. Perhaps we could analyze Chase’s abilities to pierce holes in their shields and try to replicate it with technology?”

“That’s actually not half bad as ideas go. But Chase is in no position to make a demonstration at the moment, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Plus, in the midst of fleet battles, he usually has other things to do than go on away missions. Anyway, now our weaponry is stronger than that of the Zarlacks. So while I understand your approach, I’m sorry to say that I don’t think it has a practical use.”

“Right now we have the technological advantage, but that won’t always be the case.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we haven’t seen any Fury ships yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Do we know how powerful these are?”

“We don’t have any workable data from the last war. It’s simply too far in the past. So it’s anyone’s guess. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re more advanced. After all, it took a large combined fleet of hundreds of races, led by the Olympians, to bring them to their knees. But what does that have to do with your current unsanctioned project?”

“Unsanctioned?”

“I’m sorry, I actually don’t care what you work on. Please continue.”

“Right. Okay, so let’s say the Fury ships are even more powerful. Having Zarlack ships we could sacrifice in the midst of battle to damage Fury ships could have some value. Don’t you think?”

Yanis thought it over.

“You may have a point. Show me what you’ve got.”

* * *

Argos growled. “If you two made me fight Menoitios for nothing, there will be hell to pay!”

“Let’s cool our heads,” proposed Ares. “Asclepios, what ingredients do you require for your elixir?”

“I can easily find most of them, but the elixir will only work with Kyrian snake venom.”

“Then we don’t have a problem,” said Argos.

All three Olympians looked at him.

“I’m not talking about the cheap, synthesized drug. That won’t work,” said Asclepios.

“I have a snake. It’s getting old, but I keep using it to make clones. In my experience, their venom is just as potent.”

“Why would you need Kyrian snake venom? That stuff is deadly!”

“Not to a Fury. Its venom is relaxing to me.”

“If that’s true there’s no way of knowing if the elixir would work on your brother.”

“Let’s not jump to rash conclusions,” said Ares.

Argos was becoming annoyed. “And we’re back to kicking all your asses for making me waste my time. I’ll just go to Chase myself and heal him on my own. I’ve revived dead people before, including his precious Sarah and her unborn child. I don’t see why he should be any different.”

“They weren’t dead for long when you did though?” asked Asclepios.

“Why does that matter?” inquired Apollo.

“Shush!” said Asclepios

Apollo turned to Ares. “Did he just shush me?”

Ares briefly smiled. “Guys, what’s going on? What are you talking about?”

“Well, there’s a difference between healing someone and bringing them back from the dead. Shortly after they die they are sent to Hades, and he doesn’t let them out of his grasp easily. Sometimes, when the urge for survival in the subject is very strong, they can find a way to escape the Underworld. That’s what the venom is for. When ingested by or injected into the patient that needs reviving, it masks his presence in the Underworld. Then he can be brought back.”

Argos lashed out, losing patience. “Enough with all the theoretical bullshit! Do you need the damn venom or not? Yes or no?”

“Yes,” said Asclepios.

“Then let’s go. I left my cloned snake back at my base of operation. We need to get it now.”

Ares took Argos’ hand.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Shut up, Argos. We don’t have time to lose. I’ll teleport us there.”

“What about us?” inquired Apollo.

“You two board the ship and make your way towards Earth space. We’ll meet with you shortly.”

“I’m not traveling alone with Apollo!” objected Asclepios.

Argos lost it. He extended both hands towards Asclepios and Apollo, creating a fireball in each of them.

“Argos!” yelled Ares.

“You two are going to listen to me very carefully now. I have no problem wiping you both from existence, so you’ll do what we tell you. Is that clear?”

Apollo wanted to object to Argos’ threat but Ares shook his head. He got the message. “Very well.”

Asclepios took a little longer to comply but finally agreed. “Sure, but once you have your elixir, you have to promise to release me.”

“Now we’re talking,” said Argos as he canceled both fireballs. “Ares, whenever you feel like it?”

Ares touched Argos’ hand and they were teleported away from the planet.

14

Ryonna had to crawl to get to the levitating Droxian. Her heart ached when she saw that it was indeed Jonas. He looked in really bad shape. She mustered all her strength to rise to her feet next to the console on Jonas’ right. She inputted a few commands to the holo-interface and the devices holding Jonas released his limbs. He fell forward and it took all that was left of Ryonna’s strength to catch him before he crashed onto the floor. She searched for his pulse. It was weak and erratic.

“Keera!” shouted Ryonna.

She was in no shape to carry Jonas back to the medical bay on her ship. She also feared he might not last that long.

“Keera! Please wake up,” insisted Ryonna.

She gently laid Jonas on the floor next to Keera. By then Keera had opened her eyes.

“What happened? Is the Brin gone?” asked Keera, holding her head with both hands.

“Yes, thanks to you. But Jonas is in bad shape. We need to give him medical attention immediately or he will succumb to his wounds.”

Keera got back on her feet and walked towards the console, fiddling with the controls.

“What are you doing? We don’t have time. Help me walk Jonas back to the ship.”

“The ship is too far, Ryonna, and neither of us is in good enough shape to actually carry him there fast enough.”

“So what do you propose?”

“I’ve located this facility’s med-bay. It’s closer. Let’s go.”

Keera kneeled and helped Ryonna to lift Jonas. The difference in size between Keera and the Droxian made it difficult, but she was a trooper and, after a rocky start when they almost fell to the ground a few times, they got the hang of it.

In five minutes they reached the medical facility. As soon as Jonas was placed in a regen tank, Ryonna fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

* * *

Daniel had been looking at his empty glass for quite a long time now, so he called the barman droid and asked for a refill.

“Sir, I believe you have had enough for now.”

“Just pour me a drink, you piece of junk.”

“Losing your temper is yet another sign that you should not drink anymore. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to decline.”

Daniel sighed deeply. The bars on Earth were no fun since the bots had taken over most of the jobs once considered menial. Now everyone was doing what their heart called them to do and few of the repetitive and boring jobs were done by human personnel. Bots of all shapes and sizes had taken their places. While it was the same back on his home planet, he didn’t like the changes he saw happening on Earth. Not all of them anyway. Especially when a tin can refused to serve him alcohol so he could drown his sorrows.

“I’ve saved this planet more times than you’ll ever know. I want a drink for my troubles!”

But the droid had moved on to other customers and didn’t respond. Their AI chips weren’t really that advanced, so he was out of luck trying to get another drink in this establishment. But then he felt a hand on his shoulder.

When he turned to see who had touched him, he was surprised to see a well-dressed and groomed female of Asian descent. She looked no older than thirty.

“Is it true you have saved this world many times?”

“Yeah, well . . . you know . . . it was a team effort but yeah, I’ve put my life on the line more times than I care to count.”

“That’s very brave of you. Do you mind if I ask why you’re here in the middle of the afternoon getting plastered? Shouldn’t you be out there, patrolling in orbit?”

“I’m on leave. Though I’m not sure I ever want to go back to active duty. What is it to you, anyway?” His breath stank of bourbon.

“I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just curious.”

Daniel’s gaze met with the drink she held in her hand. Her glass was full.

“Will you finish that?”

She smiled. “I’ll gladly give you my drink if you’ll tell me what’s bothering you.”

“It’ll take more than a single drink for that. It’s a long story.”

“I have time, and I can keep them coming.”

“Okay . . .”

She put her drink down and slid it towards him.

Daniel didn’t hesitate and downed the drink. Vodka from the taste of it. Bottoms up.

“Aaah,” said Daniel. “Can I have another?”

“First, let’s discuss why you’re in such a state, and then I’ll consider it.”

Daniel made a face but proceeded to tell his life story over the next few drinks. They talked for hours.

“I’m so sorry to hear about your girlfriend and what happened to your friend Chase. But do you think they’d be happy to know you’re spending your days drinking your sorrow away?”

It had been a good two hours since he last had a drink and he was slowly sobering up. That question hit him like a punch in the guts.

“I don’t even know your name.”

“My name is Rae Kwan.”

“That’s a lovely name.”

She smiled. “Well, thank you, Daniel.”

“You’re so pretty,” he said without thinking.

She blushed a little.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“I’m not embarrassed. Just a little saddened to see such a kind soul suffer like this.”

“Don’t be. We’re all gonna die anyway.”

She lost her beautiful smile. “I sure hope not. I don’t want to die.”

Good job, dumbass.

“I apologize. It’s been a long day. Let’s change the mood that I’ve just crapped all over. Tell me more about you? That is, if you still want to talk.”

It was her turn to tell her life story. She had also lost someone she loved, not too long ago, when the Zarlacks last attacked the planet. She was an archaeologist, studying all sorts of ancient myths. She had published a few books before the Star Alliance came to Earth. Her peers never took her theories seriously.

“Why not? What did you theorize?”

“That all myths and legends must have a root in reality. That they must somehow be linked to aliens visiting this place over the centuries. After all, everything that appeared magic to us in the past could have been advanced technologies.”

“Well, you’re right about one of them. But, of course, you know that already.”

“The Olympians, yes. But what about the Asgards? Or the Egyptian gods? Perhaps there are more gods out there; advanced alien beings that could help us defend this world.”

“My friend Chase thinks exactly like you. I remember him and Ares talking about one of these, but they called them the Asgardians.”

“Ares? As in the god of war, right?”

“Yes. A dead one, but somehow he still appears in the form of pure energy.”

She nodded with interest. “Fascinating.”

“Yeah, he’s quite a nice guy, in fact. He’s been invaluable in helping us lately.”

“Do you think I could meet him one day?”

“Sure. That is, if I’m welcome back on board my ship. Well, not really my ship per se, but . . . you know.”

She smiled warmly. “It would mean a lot to me. While my peers no longer consider me a hack, they’re still reluctant to provide me with the star charts data I would need to try locating more ancient races.”

“That doesn’t seem fair,” said Daniel with a frown.

“My boss isn’t really a good guy. More the type of person who would rather get shot than admit he’s wrong about anything. So when Aphroditis spoke to us and validated my theories . . . Let’s just say he was not a happy camper. Rather than give me a break and finally grant my requests he’s demoted me and assigned me to boring work that not even assistants would enjoy.”

“That must be frustrating.”

“You have no idea. Especially since Aphroditis’ announcement. I could feel her love for us, and I truly believed my life would change thanks to her intervention. But one doesn’t change the pitfalls of human nature—like ego, pride or pettiness—with just words. Don’t get me wrong. We’ve made incredible progress in the few months since the Star Alliance arrival on our planet, and many things have changed for the better, but not everything.”

“I’m sorry to hear you’re not allowed to continue your studies.”

“My research.”

“Right, sorry. Perhaps I could help. I’m not sure how much my words count these days, but it doesn’t hurt to try.”

“That would mean the world to me, Daniel. Thank you. I always felt I was born to accomplish something with my life, and I want to be given the chance to do just that.”

Daniel realized how narrow-minded, egoistic and self-destructive he had been lately. Some people wanted nothing more than to be part of finding a solution to the world’s constant threats. He, on the other hand, had just wanted to flee from his own sorrow. And Rae was right. What would Fillio and Chase think of him?

“Let’s get out of here. There’s a ship in orbit with your name on it, Rae.”

* * *

Chase took a defensive stance just in time to parry his doppelganger’s first wave of attacks. He was really fast but that shouldn’t have surprised him. He was him, after all. He dodged and parried a long and powerful combo of kicks and punches. Then it was his turn to go on the offensive. He entered fury mode with the push of a single thought, but his opponent did the same and blocked all his attacks.

How was he to be faster or stronger than himself?

The stray thought cost him time he didn’t have and the other Chase smashed him to the ground with a powerful elbow strike.

Right, head in the game.

Chase back flipped onto his feet and sent a few fireballs towards his darker self, who blocked all of them, reducing the fireballs to nothingness with ease.

Then Dark Chase unleashed his own series of energy attacks, which Chase easily dodged by teleporting away before they were upon him. But he lost visual contact with his opponent, who had also teleported away. To behind him, in fact. The pain of a powerful kick sent him crashing into the ground face first.

This is not going to be a fun fight.

Chase got up and turned back towards Dark Chase.

“You’re not even trying to fight me,” said his double.

“So you can speak?”

“I’m you, so what do you think?”

“You’re not really me.”

“As long as that’s what you think, you won’t manage to hit me once.”

Was his own self trying to teach him something? This was really strange. Chase didn’t enjoy being told what to do in general, let alone by a copy of himself. But perhaps that was the point of the exercise. Now that he was in full control of his abilities, as was his double, they would fight on equal ground, and this fight could take forever.

“You’re not using all your senses; you need to feel this fight.”

Chase didn’t understand how his other self could know more than he did. It didn’t make much sense, but perhaps he should listen anyway.

“How do you propose I do that?”

“Forget your sight. Close your eyes and fight me by instinct.”

Chase looked at Hades who nodded back at him.

Right, fighting blind. It seemed unlikely to work, but he knew better by now than to argue with . . . well, with himself, in a sense.

Chase closed his eyes.

“Try to feel me coming at you.”

“Very well.”

Chase did feel something, but that was the powerful punch he received in the guts, which forced him to open his eyes. It pissed him off, and he tried slashing at Dark Chase with his elbow but hit nothing but air.

He looked around but couldn’t find him with his eyes.

“They’re useless, so close them.”

“So you can sucker-punch me again?”

“If that’s what it takes so you understand this, then yes. As many times as it takes.”

Chase trusted that Hades knew what he was doing, so he closed his eyes again. He felt something, wind, movement all around him. But it was coming so fast he had no idea how to use that information.

Hades talked to Chase in his mind. Go deeper within yourself. Forget where you are and what you’re fighting for. You need to surrender to the now, be fully in sync with this fight. Only if you remove the why and how will you be able to fight on pure instinct, without fear blocking your actions and making you hesitate. Doubts need to disappear from your mind altogether when you fight.

It made sense. The doubts and fears he had created had cost him dearly in the past. In fact, he was on the brink of death now largely because of them.

He sensed a powerful blow coming and reacted by lowering his head. He felt the wind from a kick pass just above his head.

Yes!

But then a knee thrust into his left kidney sent him to the ground.

“You’re learning, but you need to stay focused in the moment. Do not succumb to any thoughts or you’ll lose it.”

Chase was starting to get it. He didn’t know how long it would take to reach this state, but he knew deep in his heart that he had to.

He rose back up, closing his eyes again. “Let’s keep at it.”

* * *

“That’s just great!” said Keera as Ryonna passed out.

She activated the regen tank. The green liquid filled the tank and the regeneration sequence started its work on Jonas. Keera looked at his vitals and saw how low they were. A few minutes more and he would have been beyond help. It had been a close call.

But there was no time to think about that now. She needed to tend to Ryonna’s wounds, which also seemed severe. And hopefully her own right after that. She had broken a few bones and probably had some internal bleeding.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t taken into account that Ryonna was at least three times her own weight. On a perfectly good day she could have found a way to lift her into the next regen tank. But in her current state, this was not a realistic option.

“Crap. How the hell am I supposed to lift her now?”

She opened a holo-interface from a console nearby and her head started to spin.

No, no, no, I mustn’t fall asleep now.

She looked around but her vision was becoming blurrier by the minute. She reached for a cabinet containing various hypo-sprays. She tried reading their labels but couldn’t. She was having a hard time staying conscious so she took a chance. She injected herself with the one in her hand. When she felt no improvement, she went for the next one. That one made her even drowsier. She had probably injected herself with a sedative.

You gotta be shitting me.

She had to stay awake or she might never wake up again. So she injected herself with yet another medicine. Soon she felt some pain relief. That was good news and it reduced the terrible ringing in her head. She had probably injected herself with a painkiller, but that didn’t help her current drowsiness. When she felt as though she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer, she reached inside the cabinet and randomly took yet another vial. She loaded it into the hypo-spray and injected herself.

A surge of energy filled her body almost immediately. When her sight returned she saw she had injected herself with adrenaline. It was a temporary solution, and already she wondered if the mix of different random medicines was a good idea. Her heartbeat was rapid and there was a growing pain in her chest. There was no time to worry about it now. What was done, was done. She was still too weak to lift Ryonna but her mind was clearer and an idea came to her.

She brought the holo-interface back up and located the nearest sentry in an area where they hadn’t been yet. She reprogrammed it as fast as she could, already feeling the effect of the adrenaline wearing off. She could always inject herself again, but her instinct told her she was intoxicated enough from the blind mixture of chemicals she had taken.

When the sentry entered the med-bay, it hovered a few inches above Ryonna, just as she had intended.

Now it’s time to see if my hacking skills are up to snuff.

“Sentry, use your tractor beam to move the patient into an upright position.”

“Command accepted,” chirped the sentry. It shot a ray of blue light that grasped Ryonna’s body. Soon she was hovering, more or less in an upright position. Keera stumbled taking her next step and almost crashed her head into the very regen tank she was going towards. She opened the tank and asked the sentry to put Ryonna’s body inside. She closed the regen tank and activated it.

There were only two regen tanks in this medical facility. Keera felt she only had moments before she would lose consciousness. She dragged herself to the nearest medical bed and lay down. She was about to pass out. Out of desperation she tried vocal commands.

“Computer?”

“Online,” answered a female voice.

“Medical emergency . . .” was all Keera could muster before her brain went to sleep.

* * *

Chris and Sarah arrived on board the training ship and were met by Spiros and a battle droid that introduced herself as Gaia.

“So let me get this straight; you would like this boy,” said Gaia, pointing at Chris, “to start training at such an early age?”

“He’s only a few days old. He’s Chase’s son, as you know, and he’s growing at an accelerated pace. And no, I don’t want to, but he does.”

Spiros got to one knee and looked into the boy’s eyes. “Aren’t you too young, my little friend?”

“Don’t let my physical appearance trouble you. I know how to fight,” said Chris, holding a cute fist in front of him.

Spiros looked at his mother. Sarah shrugged.

He rose to his feet and played with his beard. “I don’t feel comfortable sending you to fight the battle droids.”

“I could do it,” said Gaia to everyone’s surprise.

“What? I’m really surprised you’d volunteer for that,” said Spiros.

“Why? How am I any different from this boy? Mentally and in human terms I’m probably older than all of you combined and I’m only a few months old. I can relate to him. Plus, the droids have been programmed to battle as powerfully as they can, not to pull their punches. I can adjust the level of fighting and let him start at his level. I can evaluate his battle readiness progressively and safely.”

“If I may,” interjected Sarah. “I thought he would just use the gravity thingy you guys developed for Chase and just take some laps.”

“That would work too, but he could try to show some moves to Gaia.”

“Spiros, she’s made of metal. He could hurt himself.” Sarah looked at Gaia. “No offense.”

“None taken. If he does we won’t continue, but I’m really curious about him. Wouldn’t you like to know yourself?”

Chris started jumping up and down. “Pleeeeease, Mommy, let me fight Gaia!”

Sarah wondered if Chris knew exactly how to act to make his plea work with her. One moment he was as serious as an adult, and then he would do something so totally kid-like. Maybe it wasn’t just how he was. Perhaps he was manipulating her. She had zero experience in parenting a child, and if he was as smart as she thought he was, he could very well be playing her. But damn, it was so cute and endearing. It made Sarah happy when he acted like a little boy, the way it should be.

“Okay, but you,” said Sarah, pointing a finger at Gaia, “make sure he doesn’t hurt himself.”

“Don’t worry. He won’t be able to touch me unless I want him to.”

“Ah!” said Chris. “We’ll see about that.”

Before anyone could say anything Chris had teleported himself into the fighting arena and was stretching. He then sent a multitude of punches and kicks into the air.

Spiros’ jaw dropped. “That’s . . . not . . . possible.”

“Believe me, Spiros,” said Sarah, “you’ll soon learn the word impossible doesn’t apply to Chris. But I’ll admit I didn’t see that one coming.”

Gaia left the control room and joined Chris on the tatami-layered fighting arena. Chris was still throwing punches and kicks all around him.

“Alright, Chris,” said Gaia. “We’ll take this slowly, okay? First try to simply hit me, but in case you’re fast enough, don’t put all your strength into your blow. We don’t want you to break anything, okay?”

Chris stood up straight and shot Gaia a wide smile. “Okay!”

Chris started dancing from one foot to the other like an experienced boxer on fight night and soon a bright orange aura engulfed him.

“Whenever you’re read—” said Gaia, but she never finished her sentence.

Chris had thrown himself at her so quickly, punching her straight in the face, that he sent Gaia crashing into the shielded wall tens of yards behind her.

Sarah’s eyes widened. “Alright. Now this is impossible.”

15

When Argos and Ares arrived at Argos’ secret base, they were greeted by a full platoon of Zarlack foot soldiers who clearly decided to shoot first and ask questions later. Argos blocked the blaster fire sent towards him with ease.

Miseo must have discovered what he was doing. He wondered why he thought these Zarlack fools would be able to capture him, though. Did he underestimate him that much?

Argos grew his aura and lightning bolts shot from him and impaled all the Zarlack soldiers. They exploded in a bloody mess.

“Was that supposed to happen?” inquired Ares.

“What? The welcoming committee? Or their demise?”

“Both I guess.”

“I didn’t expect to get fired at by my own slave troops, but their reward for doing so? They got that coming the moment they opened fire on us.”

“We don’t have time to lose. Get the snake and let’s get the hell out of here.”

“For once we see eye to eye.”

Argos went towards his ready room but the doors opened and a Fury in full battle armor appeared from within. He clapped his hands.

“Impressive. These Zarlacks aren’t that strong, but I like how fast you dealt with them.”

The young Fury, who barely looked eighteen, was taller than Argos and had medium-length white hair. His hair looked as if it had exploded out of the top of his head. His eyes were naturally red. His pale skin confirmed his albino descent. This was surprising, since the Fury usually filtered genetically deficient children before they were even born. So an albino Fury was not common.

“And you are?” asked Argos.

“My name is Zath’ron. I’ve been asked by my uncle to bring back your head. He said something about you being a devious little traitor.”

Argos didn’t need to ask. He knew Miseo had sent him. He shouldn’t have left with Ares without wiping his base’s computer memory banks. It was too late now.

“You’re just a boy, Zath’ron, so let me take what I came for and you can go back home and play with your friends.”

“Hahaha, you’re funny. I wonder if you’ll still be laughing when I rip the spine from your body.”

Argos heard Ares in his head. What do we do now? We don’t have time for this fight.

I know, but he’s in my way. Just take the snake out of here and come get me afterwards.

Sounds good. It will only take a few minutes.

I’m not worried. I can hold this guy off for as long as needed but, like you said, we have other things to do, especially now that my only hope of regaining stature within the Fury ranks has been flushed down the toilet, thanks to you.

Then perhaps it’s time to defect.

Get going, old man. Now is not the time to have this conversation.

Argos grew his aura to the maximum and Zath’ron did the same.

Before long the two Furies were pounding one another, destroying everything around them inside the base.

* * *

When Ryonna opened her eyes she was in a regen tank. It was ending its cycle so the green liquid was being siphoned from the pod. The first breath of air back into the lungs was always painful. It triggered a gag reflex to expel the liquid from the lungs and throat, which was both very uncomfortable and a little irritating. But at least it only lasted a second or two.

When the light inside her pod turned green she opened the door and stepped out.

Keera was unconscious on a medical bed on the other side of the room. The other regen tank was occupied by Jonas, his cycle still running. She wasn’t surprised; his wounds were clearly the worst of the three. Ryonna noticed the sentry hovering not far from her position. She froze, thinking perhaps it hadn’t seen her, but there was no way its sensors could have missed her, unless it was defective. She took another step, aware that she might have to jump out of the bot’s line of fire should it register her movements. When it didn’t she deemed it not to be a threat and ran towards Keera.

The moment she arrived in front of the bed a hologram appeared behind it, startling Ryonna.

“Please do not touch the patient.”

One of those.

Well, as there were only two regen tanks in the med-bay, Ryonna was happy to see another holo-doc. It probably saved Keera’s life.

“I have repaired her injuries and she is now resting. I have provided her with a sedative, and have flushed out the cocktail of drugs with which she had erroneously injected herself.”

Ryonna wondered what that was all about. She would have to ask Keera later.

“How long until she can be woken up?”

“Thirty-seven minutes and forty seconds . . . thirty-nine seconds . . . thirty-eight seconds.”

“Alright, alright! I get it. Does she require additional medical help at the moment?”

“Negative.”

“Then please shut the hell off.”

The holo-doc complied.

“I really can’t stand these . . . things’ bedside manners. Come to think of it, can’t stand them period.” She sat next to Keera, holding her small hand in hers.

* * *

Miseo was called to the Crimson Shadow bridge.

“Report!”

“Master, we’ve detected a fleet of Brin ships in the area.”

“Good, I was hoping we would have some target practice along the way. I’ve been itching to test the capability of this ship. Order the Zarlack fleet to stay in hyperspace towards Earth. We’ll take care of this fleet on our own.”

“There are at least seven destroyers, Master. Perhaps we should take a couple of destroyers with us?”

“That won’t be necessary. Leave the strategy to me. Drop us out of hyperspace and engage the enemy.”

“Dropping out of hyperspace.”

The Fury destroyer was a massive starship. It looked like a cross between a giant spider and a dragon fruit, its matte black paint masking a large portion of the stars and nebulas behind it.

The Brin fleet’s admiral tried hailing the Crimson Shadow but Miseo had nothing to say to them. He only wanted to test the capabilities of his new flagship. It would also be good training for the Fury crew, who hadn’t fought a space battle for so long. Miseo ordered the Crimson Shadow to fire all laser batteries the minute they entered firing range. The firepower of that first salvo was a sight to be seen. The thousands of batteries lit up the darkness of space with a barrage that looked like red rain falling upon their targets.

The Brin fleet replied in kind, sending their own streams of yellow laser fire back at the Crimson Shadow’s shield, which had no problem holding off the incoming fire. The seven Brin ships combined barely provided equal firepower.

“How are our shields holding up?”

“They are holding strong at ninety-seven percent.”

“Very well, let’s thin the herd, shall we? Lock a full volley of torpedoes towards one of the ships and have main weapons target another.”

Fifty torpedoes were launched from the Crimson Shadow in sync. From afar it looked as if the spidery ship had spat a load of web threads to catch its enemies. But the multiple detonations told another story. The first Brin destroyer was obliterated long before the last torpedo had found its target. The resulting shockwave effectively drained parts of the shields of three of the nearest ships.

A second later a massive column of crimson energy shot from the tip of the Crimson Shadow towards the second targeted Brin ship. It pierced its target, overloading whatever shields it had left in just a few milliseconds. There was no time for the crew of that ship to abandon it as it blew out of existence only a second later.

The remaining five ships all launched fighters. Full squadrons of starfighters converged towards the Crimson Shadow, which looked as massive as a moon.

“Launch just two squadrons of fighters. Let’s see how they deal with them; but provide battery cover for them.”

“That will put them at a twenty-to-one disadvantage, Master. The Crimson Shadow has twenty-five squadrons. Why only use two?” asked the weapon’s officer.

“I’m trying to evaluate both the readiness and limits of my ship and crew. Just do as I say.”

“Squadrons launching.”

Miseo got up from the captain’s chair and walked towards the giant viewport from which he could see the battle unfold. The remaining destroyers had spread out, making sure that any further explosions wouldn’t damage the others. The Crimson Shadow’s shields were barely being taxed. Miseo wondered what the new races had been doing for thousands of years. Their level of technology was laughable, as were their warfare tactics; or, more accurately, their utterly pathetic lack of anything worth that name.

The first waves of fighters, which looked like locusts from a distance, entered firing range and the Fury wings engaged them. The Brin’s fighters were no match for their advanced plasma cannons and stronger shields. The Brin tried overwhelming a single Fury starfighter with full squadrons, but even then they couldn’t lower its shields completely. Throughout history the Fury’s technology was unrivalled. Especially their ultrafast recharging shield generators.

Just as Miseo expected, the two Fury squadrons quickly punched a hole in the ever-increasing incoming waves of Brin starfighters. They cut through their defenses like a hot knife through butter. There was no challenge, but that was not the point of the exercise. Just testing their battle readiness and seeing how thousands-of-years-old tech held against the current, pathetically primitive excuse for weapons of the opposition.

After punching a sizeable hole in the Brin starfighters’ wings, the Fury starfighters veered and came about for a second pass. Each of the squadrons took on half of the still overwhelming numbers of starfighters. Meanwhile the Brin destroyers stayed just inside long-range battery fire and sent volley after volley of torpedoes, very few making it past the barrage of defensive laser fire to finally tickle the superior shielding of the Crimson Shadow.

They were afraid and they ought to be. With even triple their force they would still not win this fight. Miseo was toying with them. He hoped Earth Alliance vessels would at least provide a little more of a challenge. There was no glory in winning fights like this. Not that Miseo cared much for glory anyway. Only results mattered.

“Major,” said Miseo, addressing his tactical officer, “order the starfighter wings to use their secondary weapons. I want to see how efficient they are.”

“Orders relayed, Master.”

The Fury wings stopped tearing the Brin’s smaller fighters to bits with their plasma charged weapons and released short-range shockwaves. It looked as if their shields were expanding. They were, in fact, releasing an electromagnetic pulse designed to affect any known tech except Fury’s. The result was deadly. The Fury wings had spread far from one another for maximum efficiency. In less than a minute, ninety percent of the enemy fighters where disabled and floating aimlessly in space, only to be picked off by stray, defensive long-range fire, initially intended to deal with the incoming torpedoes from their carriers. Which none of these pilots would ever set foot on again.

“Now, have the wings take care of a destroyer each, on their own. Set batteries to only fire at incoming targets.”

As the still unscathed duo of squadrons made their way towards the nearest Brin destroyers, they split in two and each vectored towards a target. Miseo then ordered a volley of torpedoes to be sent to where the Brin’s disabled starfighters floated in space. Soon they detonated and were incinerated.

The Fury squadrons were soon under attack by long-range fire from their targeted destroyers. Just before entering their own firing range they assumed a semi-spherical formation, with one main fighter in the center while other ships rotated all around it, all firing forward at a high rate. The center fighter released slower, fully charged plasma fireballs every few seconds. From afar the squadron looked like a single cruiser releasing an intense stream of plasma with a flashing, stronger core along its way. The attack pulse looked magnificent.

But more important was how efficient it was. The faster plasma stream fired in a perfect circle but the rotating fighters drained the target’s shield at a rate normally impossible for starfighter-class ships, and their combined firepower and perfect flying skills made them deadly. The main fighter in the center of that dance sent powerful, plasma-charged fire that would pass through the ship’s weakened shields. They were taxed too much to be efficient any longer, and the plasma shots started to bite off pieces of plating from the destroyers in a satisfying light show of explosions. Entire decks decompressed, spewing metal debris and Brin soldiers into space to their inevitable deaths.

A minute later and both targeted ships were destroyed by the squadrons, one after the other.

The remaining destroyers turned tail and fled. There was nothing more they could do.

“Should we pursue and destroy?” inquired the Crimson Shadow’s tactical officer.

“No need. We made our point and the exercise was a complete success. Have the squadrons back on board on the double and enter hyperspace the moment they’re back.”

“Understood, Master.”

Soon the Crimson Shadow opened the massive hyperspace window and resumed its course towards Earth.

This once peaceful part of space had been transformed into a creepy graveyard of Brin ships, spewing sparks into the void. And all that destruction had only taken a few minutes.

* * *

On board the Destiny, Commodore Saroudis was reviewing the defensive capabilities of his fleet when he received a data transmission from one of their long-range probes.

The information came from the territory of the Brin, a race that had refused to join the Earth Alliance. Their old rivalry with the Droxians, the other major member of the Alliance, had been the reason for their refusal. They had lost heavily in their war against the Droxians, who nearly annihilated them to make an example of them and send a clear message to the other races. The message was simple: the cost of trying to invade Droxian space was high and it would be paid in blood. While the Brin military forces had since then been rebuilt, they were no longer the major power they used to be.

The video feed revealed a fleet of Brin destroyers being torn to pieces by a single, massive, black vessel with a design Saroudis hadn’t seen before. He knew what that meant, but he asked his onboard computer for confirmation nonetheless.

“The closest match in the database is to a Fury wraith-class destroyer,” said the Destiny’s computer.

“They’re coming,” he said to himself before closing his eyes for a brief moment.

He checked all the probe’s logs, only to detect multiple Zarlack signatures on a hyperspace vector towards Earth. They would reach Earth within a few hours.

The ease with which that ship had destroyed an entire fleet only made things worse. He transmitted all the data from that fight to Engineering and tasked Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos to analyze them in the hope that he would be able to find a crack in their seemingly impenetrable shields.

He ordered an emergency meeting of all commanding officers in the fleet on board Destiny in an hour in order to discuss their upcoming battle strategy. Then he returned to his quarters.

“What is it, Adonis?” asked his wife.

“Listen, I want you to board a cruiser that is heading towards Droxia.”

“What? Why?”

“There’s a fleet of ships on their way here, and I want you out of the line of fire on this one.”

“You’ve survived fine until now. Why should this be any different?”

“This time the Furies are coming, and I’ve just received intelligence showing how destructive their ships are. There will be heavy casualties, and I don’t want to take any chances.”

There was another reason he wanted his wife and daughter off the ship, but he didn’t want them to know about it.

“I don’t like this, Adonis. Why don’t you come with us to Droxia?”

“I wish I could, Alexandra, but I’m the commander of this fleet. My place is here, where the battle is to be fought.”

“Our place is by your side. We’re not going to be separated again. After all these years we’re finally a family once more.”

“I beg you, please start packing. Where’s Sendra?”

“I don’t know. I think she’s flirting with someone from your crew.”

Not what Saroudis wanted to hear.

“Have her come back here and help you pack.”

“No! We’re staying here.”

Saroudis was getting restless. If necessary, he would remove them from the Destiny with force, but he really wanted to avoid taking such measures with his own family.

“My love, please try to understand. I promise I’ll pick you up myself the moment this is over. But I won’t be able to do my job properly if my focus is split between the battle and worrying for your well-being. I never thought I’d see you again, but now that I have you back, I can’t afford to lose you again. Can you at least understand that?”

Her eyes were watery. “I’m not happy about this.”

“Neither am I, believe me.”

Alexandra sighed. “Very well, I’ll start packing, but you’d better not take too long to come back for us. Sendra only just started getting used to being on board this ship. I can tell you she won’t be happy.”

Saroudis took his wife in his arms and hugged her with passion. “I know. I’ll come to get you the minute it’s all over.”

“Promise me you’ll be careful?”

As much as he wanted to be sincere in his answer, Saroudis knew that it was a promise he couldn’t make with absolute certainty.

“I will. I promise.”

16

Chase was getting used to fighting without his sight. The more time passed, the more he managed to dodge or parry his doppelganger’s attacks. He felt the blows coming at him with such clarity sometimes, that it was like seeing them with his mind, as clearly as with his eyes.

When the attack stopped, Chase opened his eyes again.

Dark Chase was nowhere to be seen.

“How did I . . .? Where did he go?”

Hades came next to Chase. “His job is over. You only needed to realize your own potential. The instant you did, he no longer needed to fight with you.”

“Was he really a copy of me? I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

“No need. I could say he was your subconscious mind made physical in this place, but I doubt that would make it any clearer.”

“No you’re right, it doesn’t. I’m just surprised how fast it’s been.”

“Remember, time means nothing here. You’ve been practicing with him so much longer than you realize.”

“Running to catch you seemed much longer.”

“And perhaps it was, mostly because you were not focused on what needed to be done, at least at first. Now that your mind is free of that cancerous self-doubt that’s been eating you alive, things have been progressing much faster. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Chase knew what Hades meant. For the first time since he’d discovered his powers, he no longer doubted his abilities. But not because he was stronger or faster, or even smarter. For the first time he knew that there was only one thing that needed to be done. He needed to fight for what he believed in, and he needed to trust himself in the process. But Chase also needed all of his friends, together, as a unit; as a family, even. Together they would find their way towards victory. There was no other choice, and once Chase realized it, his doubts faded away. The path was clear. He only needed to walk it, no matter where it led.

“I do. I’ve never felt so liberated. I feel like I know what to do now. And I don’t think it’s pride or bravado or just ignorance and self-confidence. I genuinely believe there’s only one thing left to do, and that is to find a way to rid the universe of the Furies once and for all. I know how difficult that task will be. I don’t even know if I’ll survive it. But I know it must be done and, finally, in no small part thanks to you, I know I’m not alone.”

“Give yourself some credit, Chase. It’s been before your eyes the whole time. You just needed to open them.”

Chase smiled warmly at Hades. “Now what?”

“Now nothing. You’re ready to return.”

“Can I leave now?”

“You’ll only be able to leave this place when they get you out of stasis. But, in the meantime, we can keep training if you like. Just the two of us.”

“Yes. I’d like that.”

* * *

Sarah was still wondering if she was awake or dreaming as she watched Gaia get back up after Chris’ incredibly powerful blow sent her crashing against the wall.

Spiros was equally surprised.

“Well, I’m glad I’m his mother, and I’m glad we’ve only had verbal arguments till now.”

“Funny,” said Spiros. “I didn’t expect this. If he’s that strong at this young an age, how powerful can he become?”

“I think that’s the point really. That’s what he’s been trying to tell me all along. I was just too worried about his well-being to listen. I’m hoping Ares comes back soon and brings Chase back; but until then, and probably after as well, I think Chris has a role to play. And as much as it pains me to admit it, I don’t think I could stop him even if I wanted to.”

Spiros gazed into Sarah’s beautiful green eyes for a moment. “You’re right. But it must not be easy to see him grow that fast.”

“It isn’t. But I don’t have any choice. I know that now. If there’s one thing I can tell you about Chris with absolute certainty it’s that he’s even more stubborn than his father.”

Spiros laughed. “That’s saying something, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Gaia walked back towards Chris. “That was an impressive punch. Did you hurt your hand?”

“Nope. I’m fine. Can we continue?”

“Sure. Let’s see what else you can do.” Gaia put her avatar body in a defensive stance.

“Okeydokey,” said Chris, before launching himself at her again.

This time she was ready for him and she managed to get out of the way of his next punch, but only just. She blocked his next flying kick, and went on the offensive, trusting that Chris could take it. But she hit nothing but air. By the time she realized where Chris had gone, he was already preparing to shoot a fireball her way. She tried blocking it but it exploded in her face. Her shields absorbed the damage, but she was surprised to see that the single attack had drained them by almost a third.

“Why aren’t you fighting back?” asked Chris.

Gaia looked towards Sarah.

“Can they hear me?” Sarah asked Spiros.

He pushed a control on his console. “They can now.”

“That’s alright, Gaia, you can train seriously with my son. I’m not sure you can really hurt him.”

“I wouldn’t let it go that far, but to fully evaluate his potential, I will have to get a little rough with him. I just need your permission for that.”

She looked at Spiros who nodded back to her.

“You have it.”

And just like that Chris and Gaia were going at each other at speeds almost too fast for human eyes to follow. Chris was hit a few times here and there, but he was always back up before Sarah had time to worry. She watched another five minutes and then decided she had someone to see.

“Spiros, I’m guessing this could last all day?”

“Yeah. He’s already fighting Gaia better than Chase was at first. It’s really impressive.”

“Then please let me know when they either take a break or stop the training for the day. I’ll be on board the Hope in the meantime.”

“Very well. Say hi to Chase for me.”

“Will do, but I can’t guarantee he’ll hear it.”

* * *

Back on board the Silver Arrow Ares found Apollo and Asclepios arguing.

“Enough, you two! We don’t have time for this.”

“He started it,” said Asclepios.

“I don’t care who started it. Stop acting like children. You are tens of thousands of years old. Start acting like it.”

Apollo was the first to notice Argos was not with Ares. “Where’s Argos?”

“Providing a diversion while I brought you this.” Ares put down the jar containing the Kyrian snake clone.

“How long do you need to make your elixir?”

“That depends. Is there a med-bay with a matter synthesizer on board?” asked Asclepios.

“What do you think, old man? This is one of our most advanced ships.”

“A simple yes would have sufficed,” said Asclepios. He shot Apollo a mean look before turning back to Ares. “Not long. An hour tops.”

“Very good. I’ll be back shortly.”

Ares disappeared back into nothingness. While traveling in space he had heard her voice.

Hurry, Ares, time is running out.

There was no mistaking it. It was Aphroditis’ voice. Before he went to grab Argos he decided to see her.

He was shocked to realize that homing in on her consciousness didn’t take him to Erevos but, instead, on board the Fury super destroyer. Not only were the Furies on their way to Earth; they had taken Aphroditis with them. For what purpose, though, he didn’t know. Perhaps they knew that he would eventually try to see her.

Whoever was leading the charge against Earth should know that Aphroditis was on board his ship. If it was destroyed, she would die in the process. The commander of this mission must have known that Ares would eventually figure it out.

Cowards.

Ares passed his hand over Aphroditis’ gray, cold skin.

“I’m here, sister. Don’t worry, we’ll find a way to get you out of here, I promise.”

A black, oily liquid fell from one of her empty eyes.

Go, Ares. Chase needs you. Listen carefully, the Furies . . . Her voice was terribly strained. No doubt it was agonizing for her to speak at all, even telepathically.

“I’m listening.”

They have sent an assassin. He will try to kill Chase while he is still in stasis. Don’t let . . . that happen. Go . . . Now.

He was surprised that she could still communicate with him but from the gravity of what she had just told him, he knew better than to argue or ask more questions.

In his mind it was his fault that Chase was in this state. If he had reacted faster, perhaps he could have reached him in time. So he didn’t overstay his welcome. He teleported back to Argos’ secret base.

The Furies were still going at each other. Both their faces were covered with wounds.

“You took your sweet time, old man,” said Argos before punching Zath’ron, who had been distracted by Ares’ sudden appearance, to the ground.

Argos still had time to throw five powerful fireballs towards his enemy before Ares touched his shoulder and teleported him away.

* * *

Timoros had just boarded the ship that would finally bring him to the EAD Hope and his targets. He had left a trail of dead bodies behind, each of the people he had impersonated with the help of his armor and its perfect holographic projection capabilities. It had taken more time than he would have liked to reach his destination, but he was one last transport away.

He was currently impersonating a lower-rank officer within the Earth Alliance. One of the many officers on a mission to resupply the EAD Hope. Just like every other officer on board the different ships within the fleet, he had been informed of the full-alert status they were now under. The word was that the Furies were on their way to attack Earth, which should make his exit plan all the simpler. The moment Chase and Argos were dead he would just steal a ship and rejoin his fellow Furies. Unless he received additional orders from Miseo by then.

Which reminded him. He needed to report on his progress. He used his armor’s neuronal GUI to prepare the message, encrypt it and send it over subspace.

“Approaching targets. ETA on mission’s completion: approximately two hours.”

Maintaining his deception, as soon as the ship landed on board the Hope, he helped the crew unload the supplies. Another ship arrived which provided the perfect distraction for Timoros to get lost and leave the landing bay in search of his targets.

After a few minutes interfacing with a computer in the hallway, he couldn’t find any relevant reference to Laiyos or Argos, but there were only four med-bays on board. At the very least, Laiyos, the one the humans called Chase, should be in one of them.

He made his way towards the nearest one.

* * *

Daniel had just left the commodore’s office with Rae by his side.

“I’m so happy the commodore agreed to let me look at your huge database of star charts. Thank you so much, Daniel.”

“That’s alright. I’m glad to help. I also have to thank you. You gave me something useful to do. I’d almost forgotten what that felt like.”

She beamed him a warm smile.

“Now that we’re here, shouldn’t you go see your friend Chase?”

“That’s a very good idea. Should I leave you on board this ship or will you come with me? You’ll have the same access on board the Hope. In fact, its computer is more advanced than the Destiny’s.”

“This is all new to me. I’d rather we went together if you don’t mind?”

“Absolutely. Let’s take my fighter. I’ve missed piloting it. I could give you a nice flyby around the fleet, if you like.”

“That sounds like fun.”

They reached the fighter bays and dressed appropriately to be granted departure from the Destiny on board a StarFury. Rae looked really cute in a pilot’s jumpsuit, but that also made his heart ache a little since it reminded him of Fillio.

Rae noticed. “Is everything alright, Daniel?”

“It’s nothing. Just some bad memories.”

She took him in her arms. “It will be okay, Daniel. It’s normal to grieve. Give it time.”

She then dropped a friendly kiss on his cheek. “Should we go? I’m impatient to fly out in space on board a starfighter. I once wanted to be a pilot, you know.”

“Oh really? Why didn’t you?”

“You’re kidding, right? I’m much too small to be selected as a pilot, silly.”

Daniel had heard of the height requirements for humans to become fighter pilots. The Star Alliance didn’t have such rules. Size didn’t matter as much as reflexes and piloting skills did.

“Right. Well, you could apply now. We can always use new ace pilots.” Daniel flashed her a thumbs up.

“I’ve gotten used to being a scientist and forgot about my dream of becoming a pilot years ago, but who knows what the future holds? If you had told me two days ago that I would go into space in a starfighter, I never would have believed you. So never say never, I guess.”

“That’s the spirit. Should we go?”

“Absolutely. I’m quite impatient.”

Daniel helped Rae up the ladder and into the backseat of his cockpit. She noticed something painted on his helmet. “A scorpion?”

“That’s my call sign, yes. What about it?”

“Nothing, it’s just that it’s my astrological sign. Funny coincidence.”

Daniel had heard of Earth’s concept of astrology, but never really given it any thought. Not that he didn’t care. It sounded quite interesting, but there simply hadn’t been that much downtime for him to explore most of the facets of humanity and life on Earth. Most of the time he would stay in the Destiny’s or the Hope’s quarters at night. He liked sleeping near the stars. Even if it had only been a few days since he had resigned his commission, it felt good to be back on board a StarFury.

Rae pulled him out of his train of thought. “Have I said something wrong?”

“No, don’t worry. I was just thinking how good it feels to be back on board one of these.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Daniel explained that the first flight through a launch tube could be dizzying. But she loved it.

Soon they were out in space and Daniel could feel the excitement in her voice, even if he couldn’t see her face. He made a few sharp maneuvers to show her the ship’s capabilities. During some of these she shouted and cheered. Soon they had traveled back and forth among the fleet of different ships. Daniel had vectored his StarFury towards the Hope when something illuminated his shields three short times in a row.

“What was that?” Rae asked, startled.

“I’m not sure. Nothing to be concerned about, though. Maybe just some small debris from a previous battle. Let me check.”

Daniel brought up the neuronal HUD and asked the computer for an analysis of the sensor logs to see if they could tell him what they had just hit.

“That’s peculiar . . .” said Daniel as he received his answer from the onboard computer.

“What was it?”

“The computer thinks it was frozen droplets of blood.”

“Then it has to be what you said, just the remnants of a—” But then she shrieked.

“What is it?”

“Look up there!” She pointed towards one of the smaller ships in the distance. “Is that . . .?”

Daniel approached the ship and saw a crewman stuck just outside an airlock. He wasn’t in an EVA suit, and it didn’t look as though he had ended up there voluntarily.

“Oh my god,” said Rae.

Daniel opened a channel to the Destiny.

“Commodore, we need to check on something ASAP. We may have a problem.”

17

When Keera woke up, Ryonna was standing in front of the regen tank, patiently waiting for its cycle to end so she could talk to Jonas.

“Hey . . .” said Keera with a soft voice.

Ryonna turned around. “Hey yourself. I’m relieved to see you’re fine. Thank you for saving my hide back there. I owe you one.”

“Hey, what are friends for? You would have done the same for me,” said Keera with a smile. “How’s Jonas?”

“The regen cycle is still running but it should be over soon. I wonder if we should get him out sooner.”

“He’s your brother-in-law, so I don’t know what to tell you.”

“I know. I’ve just had enough of waiting.”

“You can always interrupt the cycle and then put him back in, if necessary.”

“You’re right.”

Ryonna pressed the cancel button. The cycle released the right medicine to wake its patient and soon Jonas blinked his eyes open. A minute after that, once the regen liquid had been flushed, he got out of the pod.

“Hey, sis, so glad you got my message. I didn’t think I’d make it.”

She took him in her arms and they hugged.

“There’s a madman here, but I suppose you know that already.”

“It’s okay, Jonas, he won’t hurt anyone anymore. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but why did you want us here?”

Jonas sat on a nearby chair.

“After you went on that mission with Alix to avenge Jax, I’ve been trying to locate who made those awesome suits. I thought they could be useful in these uncertain times. And it led me here. And a good thing it did too, seeing what happened to Droxia.”

“So you know about the attack?”

“Yeah, two cities had already been destroyed when I left to come here. In hindsight I should have waited for you before entering this facility.”

“So this is where the suits are made?”

“Yeah, that and much other interesting tech. I only managed to check the onboard computer for them when I was discovered and captured and . . .”

“Tortured?”

“Yeah . . .” Jonas noticed Keera. “Who’s your friend?”

Keera came closer. “My name is Keera. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

“What kind of other tech?” asked Ryonna.

“Well, from what I gathered, they are all reverse engineered from very old tech, even the super-suit. The Brin clearly upgraded it since the one you used on Hathan Prime. According to the computer, the original tech dates from around twenty-two thousands years ago.”

“If that’s true,” said Keera, “then this must be ancient tech. Perhaps Fury, Olympian or another ancient race.”

“Which is why I thought it could be important to get our hands on it. I didn’t really expect a warm welcome, seeing how well hidden this place was, but I was hoping whoever ran it would be open to selling us some of it.”

“I take it that wasn’t the case?”

“Nope. I tried to tell the Brin that I could pay handsomely for it, but he was more interested in torturing me and making sure no one else was coming after me. I didn’t want you to walk into a trap so I kept my mouth shut.”

Ryonna grimaced.

“Do you know where the ancient tech is located?”

“Yeah, it’s in a secure location on board the asteroid. It won’t be easy to access, but I’m sure I can hack my way through now that the path is clear.”

“I’ll help you,” said Keera. “If you don’t mind, that is?”

Jonas shot his sister-in-law a quick look.

“She’s pretty good with technology. You can trust her with your life.”

“That’s all the credentials I require. Very well then, let’s go,” said Jonas. He rose to his feet only to fall back into the chair.

“Easy there. I didn’t let the regen tank finish your cycle. You may need a second trip.”

“No, my head just spun for a moment. I feel fine considering . . .”

Ryonna reluctantly called upon the holo-doc, who appeared out of thin air. “How may I be of assistance?”

* * *

Saroudis was reviewing the defensive strategy they had put in place for the looming attack. The more they analyzed the data from their sensor probe, the less encouraging it was. The sheer power of the Fury destroyer’s shields alone would be a problem. They had no idea how to counteract it. And if the ship’s shields couldn’t be brought down, or if they couldn’t get around them, Saroudis didn’t see how they could defeat it.

The Earth Alliance fleet was bigger than it had ever been, but the Droxians had taken more than half their contingent of ships back to defend whatever was left of their home world. Saroudis couldn’t blame them for doing so, even though he knew it was futile. If a single Fury ship decided to go there and finish the job, even every last one of their ships couldn’t do anything to prevent it.

Saroudis hit the top of his desk with both hands in frustration.

We don’t stand a chance.

There was nothing more frustrating than trying to defeat a seemingly unbeatable enemy. Yet it had seemed that way ever since the Star Alliance had been nearly wiped out, and still they had prevailed. Somehow, with Chase’s help, they had always found ingenious, if somewhat ludicrous at times, ways of turning the tide of battle in their favor.

While briefing the captain of the fleet earlier, he had wished for Chase to make a surprise appearance, or at least Ares. Anything, anyone, to give them hope. Because they were surely running out of it. And then the one thought that Saroudis didn’t want to touch with a ten-foot pole came front and center into his mind.

Let’s assume we survive this attack. Then what?

This was just a single Fury ship, with a strong Zarlack escort. This on its own was enough to worry about. But what would they do when three, five or ten of these ships, most likely already being constructed in orbit around Erevos, showed up? Then what?

That brought up nothing but despair, which is why Saroudis had pushed the thought away for as long as he could.

What would Chase do?

Saroudis knew the answer. He’d been around the defiant lieutenant, his friend even, for long enough to know what he would do. And that was anything and everything possible; and even things impossible if needed. If he was here he would also tell him to forget about the next wave of ships sure to come one day soon. One problem at a time.

Saroudis’ brooding was interrupted when Daniel called in with the news about a dead officer around one of the ships. Upon checking the records, the commodore noticed that the officer in question had been assigned to deliver supplies to the Hope.

“This doesn’t make any sense, Commodore, unless . . .”

“Unless someone took his place. Let me check with his commanding officer. Hold the line.”

Saroudis opened another channel and asked for a status report on the missing officer. His direct superior informed the commodore that not only had he been seen just minutes ago, but he had suddenly disappeared. He closed the channel and got back to Daniel, who had heard the commodore’s second conversation.

“I don’t like this. I think we have an intruder,” said Daniel.

“And if he’s on board the Hope?”

“He must be after Chase! Somehow the Furies know he’s still alive and they want to make sure he’s eliminated.”

“We can’t let that happen.”

“No shit. Vectoring towards the Hope now. Have as many guards as you can secure his location.”

“Do you think it will make any difference if we’re dealing with a Fury?”

“We can’t just stand by and hope for the best. Ares could come back any minute with ways to revive Chase. We need to buy Chase as much time as we can, no matter the cost.”

“Very well. I’ll inform Sarah and deploy all available security to protect med-bay two. I’m sending additional backup from other ships as well.”

“I’m also going in, Commodore.”

“Daniel, I don’t know that you can do anything.”

“I don’t care. I’m not standing on the sidelines while someone tries to murder whatever family I have left.”

“Understood. Godspeed, Commander.”

“To us all, Commodore.”

The transmission ended and Saroudis placed all the calls he had to. When he was done he got up and checked the charge levels of his side arm. He hadn’t fired that thing in years, but today could be the day. He put it back in his belt holster, took his jacket and walked out of his ready room. He still needed to call one person.

* * *

When Ares and Argos arrived back aboard the Silver Arrow, Argos was furious.

“What the fuck took you so long?”

“What? You said you could deal with that Fury. I thought you enjoyed fighting.”

Argos spat a large quantity of blood on the floor.

“Your teleporting ability is almost instantaneous, yet I had to fight for quite a while. I just want to know why. What sightseeing did you do?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you, but if you must know, I was on board the Fury ship, which is on its way towards Earth, by the way.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to see Aphroditis. She had something to tell me.”

“Spit it out, old man, what was so important?”

“The Furies have sent an assassin to kill Chase while he’s still in stasis.”

Argos’ face changed completely. Ares thought he saw concern among the mixed emotions his revelation had triggered.

“They would only select one Fury for such a job. The Shadow Hunter. And if that’s true . . .”

“What?”

“Chase is as good as dead.”

“You need to stop him!”

“I can’t! At best I can delay him, but I used a lot of juice back there, thanks to you. Even at full power I could never dream of defeating him. He’s at least as powerful as Miseo. We need that elixir, now!”

They teleported from the empty bridge to the ship’s med-bay.

“How long do you need for the elixir to be ready?” asked Argos.

“I’ve run into a little problem. Maybe another hour?”

“You don’t have even a fraction of that time. Work faster!” said Argos.

“Look, I’m trying my best. I haven’t worked on this formula for thousands of years, and my body has grown old and weak. I haven’t slept in so⁠—”

Argos didn’t let him finish his sentence. He slapped the old man instead.

“What the hell? Is that supposed to motivate me?”

“No, but this might.” Argos put his hand on the man’s shoulder and used his healing abilities to recharge the man’s tired body.

And just like that Asclepios looked and felt ten years younger.

“We need that elixir as soon as possible. Do whatever it takes or I’ll take back what I’ve just given you, with interest.”

“Argos,” Ares tried to interrupt.

“What the fuck are you waiting for, Ares? Teleport me directly in front of Chase’s stasis pod.”

Ares knew better than to argue.

* * *

Sarah stood in front of Chase’s pod, her hand on the glass separating her from the love of her life.

“We need you, Chase. Our son . . . Chris is very powerful, but he needs his father and, truth be told, I need you back in my arms.”

Sarah stared at Chase’s flash-frozen body, his eyes closed, his pale and pained expression a sad reminder of how near death he had been when he was put into this pod.

“Chris will be a great fighter. I think he can even become stronger than you. But as soon as you’re out of this frozen prison of yours, we need to find a way to help him. You hear me, Chase? Or he won’t live for long⁠—”

She received an incoming call from Commodore Saroudis.

“Where are you, Sarah?”

“I’m with Chase. Can I be of assistance, Sir?”

“Listen to me very carefully. There’s someone coming for⁠—”

There was a burst of static, and at almost the same time the door of the med-bay slid open and an officer entered the room.

“Come in, Commodore? I didn’t get your last transmission. Saroudis, please come in.”

But the communication had ended. Her heart skipped a beat. Something was wrong, but she had no idea what. Soon, the officer was nearly upon her.

“What can I do for you, Major? This is a restricted area.”

When the man didn’t answer, Sarah didn’t hesitate. She drew her side arm and pointed it at the man who was still walking towards her. His face had no expression and he looked like a robot.

“Last warning. Stop right there or I’ll shoot.”

Since her verbal warning had no effect, she opened fire. The first bullet ricocheted from his torso and she saw a brief red flash.

What the hell?

She emptied the clip of her gun but none of the bullets found their targets. Most were deflected by a shield, while the last was caught in midair by the major.

He looked at it.

“Such crude and inefficient weapons. Move aside. I have no grievance with you.”

“Who do you have a grievance with? And who the fuck are you? I refuse to believe you’re a member of the crew.”

The man touched something on his arm and the holo-field projector turned off to reveal a Fury in full combat armor. He was taller than the man he was impersonating a second ago.

“Move away, lady, or I’ll be forced to remove you.”

“No way. You’ll have to go through me to get to Chase.”

“Easily arranged,” said Timoros as he grabbed Sarah by the throat and lifted her off the floor.

She tried hitting his forearm with her fists but that achieved nothing. After a few seconds she was gasping for air and getting dizzy. An entire platoon of soldiers stormed the med-bay and shot at the Fury’s back without warning. Without turning he lifted his free hand and they all levitated. When he made a fist, they exploded from the inside out, painting most of the med-bay’s entrance red.

Sarah was suffocating and about to lose consciousness when someone kicked her assailant in the face and sent him flying against the far wall of the med-bay. Sarah fell on the ground and much needed air finally entered her system. She wheezed heavily.

When she looked at who had intervened she couldn’t believe her eyes. She must have been hallucinating from the lack of oxygen.

Argos!

18

It took a while for Keera and Jonas to defeat all the security protocols protecting the ancient tech, but after several hours they finally broke through the last lock. The doors to the heavily secured room split open.

“Good job you two,” said Ryonna.

The room was so dark they couldn’t see anything inside. But then a scanning beam hit them from head to toe.

“Unauthorized personnel detected,” said the onboard station computer. “Security protocol ninety-nine activated.”

Two yellow, animalistic eyes turned on against the darkness of the room, not far from them.

Lights came on and revealed a feline-looking, four-legged battle droid in front of a large glass cylinder. Its giant mouth opened and unleashed a synthetic roar that froze everyone’s blood.

Ryonna was the first to react and started shooting at the mechanical beast with her freshly charged blaster, but the shots were deflected by the droid’s heavy shields. It reacted to the attack nonetheless and thrust its large, metal paws at Ryonna, who barely managed to dodge the attack by rolling to the side. Jonas wasn’t so lucky. He was thrown against the corridor wall with so much force that the wall bent upon impact. Blood shot from his mouth.

Keera went for her battle rifle and opened fire on the beast while running towards it. It tried to slash her too but she dropped and slid under it and rolled to the side. By that time Ryonna had resumed fire, but the droid’s shields were holding.

“This is not happening,” said Keera. “Its shields are too strong.” She used her combat rifle in grenade-launcher mode. Again to no avail, other than illuminating the droid’s shield and making sure she kept its attention on her.

Ryonna caught sight of one of the super-suits.

“Distract it just for a few more seconds,” she said. “I’ve got an idea.”

The droid’s gaze turned to Ryonna so Keera resumed firing rapid, heavy laser shots at the beast, which once again turned its attention towards her.

She ran around the room, still blindly firing at the droid, which was in full pursuit. She almost dodged the beast’s next slash of its metal claws, but the tip slashed through part of her light body armor. Before she could register the pain, the metallic tail of the beast hit her squarely in the jaw and sent her crashing yards away.

When she blinked her eyes open, the beast was above her, on its two back legs, ready to strike the final blow that would carve her into human sashimi. She tried moving away but her body refused to obey.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the fully extended claws came towards her. But then a dark, armored silhouette jumped at the droid beast and pushed it out of the way. One of the droid’s claws passed near Keera’s eyes, cutting some of the green hair that hung down in front of her forehead.

Keera managed to get back on one knee as the droid beast and the armored silhouette tumbled, rolled and crashed against the nearby wall, destroying much of the room’s equipment on their way. Sparks flew from the dented walls. Small pieces of glass from a nearby wall monitor were thrown all over the place as it exploded shortly after the impact. Keera protected her eyes as many of the glass shards flew her way.

“Keera!” That was Ryonna’s voice.

Keera realized the armored person was Ryonna.

“Enter the other combat suit! It’s our only chance,” yelled Ryonna.

Keera ran towards it without hesitation. For a fraction of a second she didn’t know what to do, but there was one big, green control button next to the glass holding the suit. When she pressed it, the cylinder turned on its vertical axis and the back of the suit melted away. She didn’t really know what she was doing, but the adrenaline pumping through her system compelled her to enter the suit from the back. Soon a holo-display appeared in her field of view and she felt the back of the suit close on her backside.

* * *

“Pick on someone your own size, Shadow Hunter,” said Argos.

Timoros got back up and swiped a little blood from the cut in his right cheek before smiling.

“This must be my lucky day. Both my targets in the same place. This will make my job easier.”

Argos had no doubt that Miseo had sent the Shadow Hunter to do his dirty work. He also knew how difficult, and most likely impossible, would be the task of defeating this particular Fury. The Shadow Hunter was one of the most powerful in the ranks of Fury warriors, easily rivaling Miseo. But Argos only needed to buy time, so that Ares could arrive with the elixir and bring Chase back to finish the job.

“There won’t be anything easy for you today, that much I can promise you.”

Timoros swiped the forearm of his armor and it morphed to cover his face. Only his evil eyes shone through.

Argos didn’t wait. He brought his energy to bear and grew his aura. The ground shook and he went on the offensive, attacking Timoros with a skillful display of martial arts, interspersed with fireballs at strategic moments. His technique was nearly flawless and he was managing his first objective well: keeping his enemy at bay. But Argos was not landing many blows and didn’t do any serious damage to his opponent.

Argos couldn’t tell if this was enough to buy the time they needed, or if Timoros was just studying his fighting patterns. The Shadow Hunter’s ability to defeat more powerful enemies than himself was legendary amongst the Fury. He had an innate ability to find the chink in almost any armor. Still, Argos had no choice but to give everything he had as a diversion. It was a risky proposition at best. He had no idea how long he could keep this up.

After only a couple of minutes, Timoros was blocking and dodging more attacks with increased efficiency, sometimes using Argos’ aggressiveness against him. At one point Timoros managed to use Argos’ own momentum to get the upper hand, sending him crashing to the ground. He then pressed his advantage and sent a flurry of small fireballs at Argos, finishing by fiercely kicking him around the med-bay.

Argos recovered in midair by whirling in a ball and bouncing against the wall to thrust himself back at his opponent at incredible speed. Timoros didn’t expect this and Argos landed a crushing jab into the Fury’s face, forcing him backwards, away from Chase’s stasis chamber.

Argos knew how volatile things would become if they stayed in the med-bay, so he pushed his current advantage by unleashing faster and more complex combos that forced Timoros to retreat further. Near the entrance, Timoros slipped in the pool of blood left by the officers he had slaughtered just minutes before.

This gave Argos the perfect opportunity and he flew towards Timoros’ falling body with both his fists extended in front of him, effectively propelling the Shadow Hunter outside the med-bay and ramming him into the adjacent corridor wall.

It wasn’t long before Timoros got back up, but he shook his head, which Argos decided was a good sign. He erected a force shield between them, determined to win as much time as possible. Timoros punched the wall made of pure energy several times but it held. Argos was optimizing the use of his pool of energy, even though it was already quite low, by choosing methods that would be most effective at delaying the inevitable. He couldn’t possibly hope to win this fight.

Timoros lost patience and sent powerful fireballs at the energy wall. They grew bigger in size and power until one went through. Argos deflected it with the back of his hand and sent it towards the ceiling. The ceiling panels exploded and burned, and sparking wiring dropped down.

“Why are you doing this, Argos? Why are you fighting against your own people? And why are you toying with me? None of your attacks seem designed to inflict serious damage.”

Argos wasn’t surprised that Timoros had seen through his tactic.

“My people? Are you talking about the same people who sent you to assassinate me and my brother? The same people who almost killed me as a thank you for releasing them from their eternal prison? I was a fool thinking I needed the rest of you. I should have let you rot in your damned dimension. There are only two Furies that deserve to live, and you’re trying to kill them both.”

“Such arrogance! It’s not surprising Miseo asked me to kill you. I was astonished to learn my targets were Furies, but unlike you, I don’t question my orders. You two clearly don’t understand the power to be found in an organized, obedient society. You don’t ask questions, you just follow orders and things get done the right way. Follow this simple rule and you soon discover that order will trump chaos at every turn. The universe has been a witness to that. We were nearly undefeated.”

“Until chaos managed to trap our entire race, with no hope of return. And I loathe the day I helped you come back. You’re just a bunch of mindless drones, obeying the orders of madmen without question.”

Argos scarcely believed what he was saying. Yet, it came from deep within his soul: untouched, unbridled and pure truth.

What the hell was happening to him? He didn’t know and right now it mattered not, but one thing was for sure, some powerful shift was happening inside him.

“Get off your high horse, Argos. You’re no different. Your entire life has been driven by a lust for power, and now you’re gonna lecture me?”

That was true and Argos knew it. But for the first time in his life he felt compelled to do the right thing. He didn’t fully understand why, but it didn’t matter.

Timoros cracked his knuckles under his armor. “I will take great pleasure in killing you, Argos.”

“Then get it over with, you pathetic, mindless drone.”

That sent Timoros into a fit of rage and he fired a flurry of fireballs at Argos, who canceled most of them with fireballs of his own and deflected the rest. The destruction inside the Hope was growing by the minute. Soon the pristine hallways were a charred mess of burned metal, electronics and flames. The ship’s automatic anti-fire systems kicked in and a thick, opaque gas filled the area.

This made Argos’ job much more difficult. He soon lost most visibility. No doubt Timoros’ armor would help him cope better in such an environment. Argos took more fire and succumbed to more attacks.

Timoros had the upper hand but Argos did his best not to be overwhelmed. When the fires were out, Argos regained some of the visibility he desperately needed to keep the Shadow Hunter from pushing his advantage. He was running on fumes and badly needed a distraction, any distraction.

As an answer, perhaps from the universe itself, three platoons of heavily armored soldiers came from both sides and fired at both of them.

Argos couldn’t blame them for shooting him as well. They couldn’t know he was trying to help. Their paltry, inefficient blasters were nothing more than mosquito bites to either of them, but they diverted Timoros’ attention and that was all Argos needed. He grabbed the Shadow Hunter’s arm and locked it behind his back.

“You cowardly piece of shi—” But Timoros didn’t finish his sentence. Argos broke his arm and dislocated it from its shoulder socket.

But then something went wrong.

Timoros’ armor released a deadly electrical current that ran through Argos’ body and forced him to release him.

The Shadow Hunter’s reaction was not only immediate but deadly. In a three-pronged move, he regained control over the entire situation. He slashed his good arm in a swift, circular motion that unleashed a powerful shockwave which sent the left group of soldiers crashing against the walls, either killing or disabling them. He then pivoted his body and unleashed a powerful column of red energy towards the other end of the corridor that incinerated the rest of the soldiers still firing upon them. And, finally, before Argos could recover, Timoros head-butted him with such force that he was thrown through the metal wall and back into the med-bay.

Timoros climbed through the Argos-sized hole. On the other side, he locked his arm back into place with a bone-cracking sound. He then walked towards Argos, who was still lying on the ground, his head ringing. As Timoros approached, his armor morphed, removing the helmet part.

“I want to look into your treacherous eyes as I rip the life away from you,” said Timoros.

* * *

Daniel burst into engineering like a madman and ran towards Yanis, who was eating some Danish pastry.

“Hey, man, how are you doing?” Yanis’ mouth was half full.

“No time for that, Yanis. Please tell me you have developed a weapon, any weapon, to repel Furies at close range.”

“Okay, a little rude. I have indeed been working on a defensive weapon. There’s no way, that I know of, to replicate offensive sources of energy such as the Furies’ fireballs. It wasn’t for lack of trying.”

“What does your weapon do? And please tell me you have a working prototype.”

“What’s going on exactly?”

“There’s a Fury loose on the ship, probably trying to kill Chase. I need something to hit him with.”

“I’ve been working on a shockwave shotgun in my spare time. Which isn’t much, by the way. But it’s nowhere near ready. It might be good for a few shots, but it could blow up in your face as well. I haven’t managed to stabilize its power distribution.”

“Please give it to me now.”

“Have you been listening to me? It might blow up in your face! And it hasn’t been tested in the field. It might not work at all.”

“Well, consider this live testing. Where is it?”

Yanis went to the back of his office and fetched the large gun.

“I can’t stress enough how insane it is to use this weapon this early in its developmental stage.”

Daniel grabbed the weapon, which was surprisingly light. He cocked the chromed gauge and the weapon hummed to life.

“How many shots does this fire?”

“Around ten, then it needs a new power clip.”

“Of which you have a spare or two?”

Yanis opened a drawer and threw the portable power source to his friend. “There. Not sure it’s fully charged, but I doubt you’ll have the chance to check it for yourself. I got three shots from this gun. I always thought a fourth would blow the weapon, and probably my hands with it.”

“It will do, thanks!” Daniel ran from engineering even faster than when he came in.

He was long gone when Yanis spoke next. “And there goes another piece of tech I’ll never see again. I’d better start working on its replacement.”

* * *

Sarah saw Argos crash through a wall on the other side of the med-bay. She was still trying to get enough oxygen to her brain. The Fury had nearly crushed her windpipe and breathing was still painful and difficult. Argos crashed not far from her.

Part of her was happy to see him getting his ass kicked, something she had dreamt of doing herself many times. But he was trying to protect Chase, for what reason she didn’t know. After all the evil he had done, why on Earth was he trying to help? She could only assume that Ares must have been behind Argos’ change of heart. But now was not the time to speculate.

Soon her original aggressor stepped through the hole Argos had involuntarily created when catapulted back inside the med-bay. He did something to his arm with an icky, bone-cracking sound, which sent a shiver down her spine. Then his head helmet morphed away from his face.

Argos looked done for. Sarah didn’t see him getting up from that last blow.

The Shadow Hunter approached and aimed an open palm towards Argos.

Sarah swallowed hard. She had to do something to stop the man. She instinctively reached for a blaster belonging to one of the troops that the Fury had killed earlier. It must have been thrown her way when the men exploded. She set its power source to overload. She then threw the dangerously hot weapon towards the Fury’s head.

He caught the blaster with his other hand and it exploded. Sarah covered her face with her arms.

When she lowered them, she was surprised to see the hand part of his armor unscathed. Not a scratch; not even any burn residue.

Crap!

He turned his attention to her briefly. “No cutting in line; but don’t worry, you’re next!”

A fireball crackled to life in the open palm of his other hand, still aiming at Argos’ torso.

Sarah heard a familiar sound as a heavy pulse of charged laser fire grazed and burned the Fury’s neck. A small cut appeared and a little blood flowed from the point of impact. As Timoros turned to see who had shot him, Sarah also looked towards the med-bay’s open door to see Commodore Saroudis, with his gun still aimed at the Fury. He charged another power shot and released it the moment it was ready. It was an old-generation Alliance gun that could charge very powerful blaster shots, at the expense of rate of fire. When he fired the second time, Timoros deflected it with his free hand and brought the fireball meant to finish Argos to bear on Saroudis instead.

Saroudis jumped out of the way, but he was still partly caught in the explosion and landed unceremoniously on the floor nearby.

Timoros was furious. “Damn insects. When will you understand you can’t do anything to stop us?”

He fired a second fireball at Saroudis, who was in no shape to dodge this time. Sarah wanted to look away but it happened so quickly she could only watch it unfold. Another fireball impacted with the one destined to finish off Saroudis, and the resulting explosion sent the commodore tumbling to the side, where he hit his head against a nearby console, losing consciousness.

Argos had fired the second fireball and Sarah saw a slight grin on his face. Timoros was not amused though, and he repeatedly thumped Argos in the stomach. Blood ran from Argos’ mouth but he kept laughing.

“What’s the matter with you? You’re about to die. It’s all over for you, and yet you somehow find it funny?”

“I was just finally understanding why our people will lose this war. No matter how powerful we are, the humans will fight, till the last one. When they run out of guns they’ll use knives. When they run out of those, they’ll use stones or their bare hands. But they’ll never give up.”

“I’m glad you found something positive to think about. Keep that thought alive for the whole three seconds you have left to live.”

Timoros grew another fireball and pointed it towards Argos’ chest. “Time’s up!”

19

Keera accessed the weapons in her armor via the intuitive neuronal HUD. She looked at the repulsor weapons embedded in the palms of the armor. She ran towards the beast using the super-speed option. She just had to focus on what she needed to do and the armor would translate these brain impulses and act accordingly. She rammed the droid with her shoulder and threw it off Ryonna’s back.

She landed with a roll on the floor, got up to one knee, extended both her hands and fired the repulsor weapons. Two very powerful yellow plasma bolts shot from her hands and hit the droid beast, which was still tumbling from her previous attack. Its shields took the brunt of the attack but her GUI indicated that they were now lower than forty percent. Ryonna added her own firepower.

The beast growled and ran towards them, but they used their super speed to get away, reposition themselves and resume firing. It took a good three minutes, but soon the droid’s shield went down and they started doing real damage with every new shot.

The eyes of the beast glowed an intense yellow and something rose from its back: a missile launcher. Three small missiles were on their way towards Keera. She fired at them but only managed to hit one. When she thought she would get hit by the other two, Ryonna jumped into her line of sight, blasted another missile in midair and grabbed the last one with her super speed. She swung in midair and threw it back at the droid’s head.

It opened its mouth wide to growl and the missile went in.

Its head exploded and it collapsed to the ground with a satisfying metal clunk.

“Wow, that was badass!” said Keera. “You could’ve been seriously hurt if that stunt didn’t work.”

“What matters is that it did. Thank you for the assist. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Keera thought about smiling at Ryonna and the armor reacted by morphing the helmet away from her face.

“We make a good team, that’s for sure.”

“Agreed. Now let’s grab the tech and be on our way.”

“Aren’t we forgetting something?”

Ryonna hadn’t forgotten. “Nope, I scanned Jonas’ life signs with the suit while we were battling the droid. He’s pretty knocked up but he didn’t suffer any internal injury. The med-bay aboard my ship will easily mend his bruises. But we’ve got to get back to the Alliance. Hopefully this was all worthwhile and Yanis can do something positive with this ancient tech.”

Keera approached the glass cylinder in the middle of the room that contained the tech. Her helmet morphed back onto her head and she smashed the glass with a mix of her suit’s super strength and super speed. She grabbed the spherical alien device, which floated in midair with the aid of a magnetic field.

“Such a small thing,” she said, looking at the heavily engraved device.

All the lights in the room turned red and an alarm wailed through the entire base. “Self-destruct sequence activated. You have five minutes to evacuate before the facility is destroyed.”

“That’s our cue,” said Ryonna. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

* * *

When Daniel ran towards med-bay two, it was apparent that a huge battle had been fought. The walls were bent, burnt and in some cases destroyed. There were the bodies of officers, most of them dead at first glance, which didn’t bode well. But his main priority was to make sure nothing happened to Chase, so he didn’t stop to check any of them. He ran between them, trying his best not to step on them. Occasionally he had no choice.

When he stormed into the med-bay, he heard a Fury say something to Argos, who was lying on the ground not far from Sarah, who also looked injured and scared. The Fury was about to finish off Argos. It looked as though Argos was on their side now, so he intervened.

“I don’t think so!” Daniel brought his shockwave shotgun to bear and shot the Fury in the back. The gun unleashed a shockwave that sent the Fury flying. The recoil from the gun was a surprise. Some of the shockwave’s force was lost as the recoil deflected the gun from its intended target. Still, it clearly had an effect on the Fury.

Daniel didn’t want to lose his advantage so he cocked the gauge of the gun to recharge it. It took three seconds, but that was enough for him to hit the Fury once more before he had time to retaliate. This time he was prepared for the recoil and used all his strength to keep the gun aimed exactly where he wanted the full shockwave to go.

Timoros was halfway through getting to his feet when the shockwave hit him again and sent him crashing through a nearby medical cabinet. Whether it was the shockwave or the Fury flying through it that shattered it into a million pieces, Daniel didn’t really know nor care. A red light blinked on the gun’s control but Daniel ignored it and reloaded, waiting for it to recharge. It took slightly longer this time.

The Shadow Hunter didn’t try to get up. Instead, he shot a fireball towards Daniel. He was prepared for it. He jumped forward and spun in the air. The fireball grazed his back in the middle of his jump. He kept rotating and, in midair, fired another shot of his shockwave shotgun at the Fury’s head. It hit the Fury at much closer range this time, and if he hadn’t brought the helmet of his morphing armor back just an instant before, he might actually have succumbed to the attack. It still hit him with incredible force and Daniel thought he heard neck bones crack.

The Fury lay on the floor holding his head, and Daniel tried cocking the gauge of his shotgun once more. However, this resulted in a strange electronic noise that was not a good sign. The red light on the weapon was now madly blinking.

Unfortunately for Daniel that was more than enough time for the Fury to react. His legs got kicked by the Fury, and before he could hit the floor he was thrown backwards by a small fireball that hit his chest. He rolled multiple times and stopped not far from Sarah.

“Crap,” he said as he was about to lose consciousness. The last thing he did was push the gun towards Sarah.

* * *

Chris and Gaia were still training. Chris had requested that the gravity be amped up to factor five, which seemed insane since they had been training for less than a day. But Chris was still able to hold his own at that setting with not only Gaia but an additional two battle droids. The speed at which he moved and the power of his blows were beyond impressive for a boy his age.

“Shouldn’t you rest?” asked Gaia. “Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m okay. I still have some juice, but I probably would need to stop training in an hour or two.”

“I don’t know if it’s the training or the energy you deploy, but you have grown quite a lot in the last few hours.”

“Really? Show me.”

Gaia projected a holo-display from her hand that mirrored Chris’ current appearance.

He looked older now, perhaps ten- or eleven-years-old.

“Aren’t you running the risk of aging even faster when you fight and use your Fury powers?”

“I hadn’t thought about that, but even if that’s the case, I’m okay with it. I need to reach adult size as soon as possible.”

“Yes, but what will you do after that?”

“One problem at a time. For now all that matters is that I can fight side by side with my father.”

“I think you’re already on your way to becoming more powerful than him.”

“We’ll see. How many Gs could he take in here?”

“We never could test it fully because of a bug in the system, but he was extremely fast at 10 G.”

“Cool. I should soon be there. Can you bring in more battle droids?”

“Why?”

“I just want to train under the most efficient battle conditions, and I think there could be at least three more droids in here.”

Gaia invoked another three droids to come join them. She remote controlled them, even though she no longer thought they could actually harm Chris in any way on autopilot. The three additional droids entered the training chamber.

The next training session was more difficult and Chris had to be much more careful. For the first time in many hours, he was getting hit here and there, but he always recovered quickly and went back on the offensive, often temporarily disabling the droid that had had the fortune to score a hit.

What surprised Gaia most was that she was not holding back any punches either. Sure, she had to divide her near-infinite computational power to direct all the bots, but she was attacking Chris with similar and improved patterns of fighting compared to her fight against the Fury general on Droxia.

When one of her droids scored a very powerful kick across Chris’s face and sent him to the ground, his reaction was immediate and unexpected. He shot such a powerful fireball at that drone that it vaporized.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll try to be more careful in the future.”

While Gaia had a much stronger avatar body than most of the training ones, she calculated from her sensor info that this attack would have drained her entire shields in one go and inflicted serious damage if it had hit her.

“That’s alright, though to avoid wasting precious resources, it would be better if you didn’t let your emotions cost us too many droids.”

“Understood. Again, I’m sorry.”

“Let’s continue.”

Chris prepared to attack the nearest droid when he literally froze in midair.

“What’s going on?”

Chris’s face changed and his traits grew darker. “Mom and Dad are in trouble.”

He extended his hands and four beams of white energy shot from the training droids and hit Chris in the torso. At first Gaia thought he was hit accidentally by a bug in their systems, but her sensors told her the full story. Chris was somehow siphoning power from all of them.

“What are you doing?”

“I gotta go.”

And he teleported away from the training facility.

* * *

Sarah tried to wake Daniel by slapping him gently but it was no use. He was out cold. Thin, light smoke rose from the part of his thin body armor that had received the fireball. She studied the huge gun he had pushed her way and tried to make it work. It had seemed particularly effective against the Fury. Inside Daniel’s pocket she found a power clip for it. She ejected the one inside the gun and replaced it. The gun hummed back to life. She cocked the shotgun gauge and readied herself to shoot at the Fury, but when she looked up she couldn’t see him.

Her heart started beating faster and harder as she scanned her surroundings.

When she heard a noise behind her it was too late. She turned around but was punched in the face and thrown to the floor, her head ringing.

Argos, who still lay near her, used whatever energy he had left to get back to his feet. He could barely stand.

That got Timoros’ attention, though. “Alright, Argos. The time has come to die.”

“Bring it on,” said Argos, shooting a defiant look at his enemy.

“While I would take great pleasure in making you suffer, I’ve lost enough time. It seems this ship has an infinite source of disposable cockroaches.”

Timoros created a large fireball between his hands. Soon it was as big as a watermelon. He threw it at Argos, who erected a mirror shield, a trick he had picked up when fighting Ares. The attack reflected off the shield and returned towards Timoros at full speed. When it exploded, the Fury shouted out in pain for the first time. Once the flames and smoke had dissipated, there stood Timoros, with both arms crossed in front of his face for protection. He lowered them to reveal that a part of his face was badly burnt and his eyes were bloodshot. This gave him a sociopathic look.

Without another word the Shadow Hunter flew towards Argos at maximum speed, head first. His head impacted directly with Argos’ stomach, sending him flying into the wall. By chance he was still standing, but he soon slid down and finished in a sitting position, where he lost consciousness.

Sarah knew she was next and, sure enough, the Fury was already walking towards her. She was all that was left standing to protect Chase. She aimed the shockwave shotgun and fired at the Fury. The gun worked but, to her surprise, Timoros sent a shockwave of his own in response and they canceled each other out. She tried firing again but the gun was overheating and she had to drop it.

It seemed nothing and no one could save them now.

Timoros created a fireball and smiled as he aimed his attack at Sarah’s face.

“Any last words?”

Sarah didn’t have time to answer, but Chris did.

“Yeah. Don’t you dare hurt my mother!” Chris appeared in midair out of nowhere and smashed the Fury with a powerful flying kick that sent the Fury crashing outside the med-bay, punching another human-sized hole in the wall.

Chris lowered himself to the floor. “You alright, Mom?”

“I am now. Thanks to you and so many others.”

Chris scanned the room and saw how many people had intervened to save both his parents. They were all out of commission.

“Do you think you can defeat him?” asked Sarah.

“I don’t see that I have a choice.” He smiled.

Sarah saw how much he had grown since she had left him with Gaia and Spiros. She couldn’t believe it. His clothes were way too small for him now. He looked about twelve-years-old.

Chris saw her look of concern. “Don’t worry, Mom. All part of the plan.”

Before she could answer he was already flying towards the Shadow Hunter, fireballs engulfing both his hands.

* * *

Ares was growing impatient. Every minute counted, and he wondered how long Argos could stave off the Shadow Hunter.

“Where are we, Asclepios? Are you done yet?”

“Asking me every two minutes isn’t going to make me work any faster.”

“You don’t understand. If Chase is killed, then we all fall.”

“No pressure then.”

Asclepios kept working on his elixir, trying to block Ares out. He had enough trouble remembering the right dosage.

“I’m almost there. Just one more minute.”

Ares was turning in circles around the table in the mess hall that Asclepios had promptly turned into a lab.

Apollo, who was standing at the other side of the mess hall with his arms crossed against his chest, had been uncharacteristically silent for a long while. He finally broke the silence.

“As much as I hate to do it, I suppose I should come back with you.”

That got Ares’ attention. “The more hands on deck the better, yes. But you could be killed.”

“That didn’t seem to bother you that much.”

Didn’t it? Ares sure liked the abilities that came from being made only of energy. But not having a flesh-and-bones body also meant forgoing pleasures of the flesh.

“It’s not all that glamorous, brother. You’d better be careful.”

“How strong can that Fury be? I killed a few during the last war.”

“As did I, but the monster trying to kill Chase is infinitely more powerful than the foot soldiers we dealt with in the past. I can guarantee that.”

“Are you certain it will make a difference? I mean, I understand you befriended Chase, and Aphroditis seems to think he’s our only hope, but do you really buy all that?”

“It doesn’t matter. Right now he’s the only one who can defeat that Shadow Hunter, and the only hope of ever seeing our sister returned to us.”

Apollo uncrossed his arms, came next to Asclepios, rested his hands on the table, but didn’t say a word.

Then Asclepios took a knife and made a small incision on Apollo’s hand.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I need Olympian blood as the last ingredient.”

“When were you gonna tell us that? And why didn’t you take some of your own?”

“I need a source as close to Zeus as possible. I’m one step removed. Your blood will work better.”

“I still think you could have asked first.”

“Sorry, Dad.”

“What did you just say?”

“I’m your son, and frankly that’s what hurts the most in all of this. That you would cast your own flesh and blood into eternal imprisonment with a Titan.”

“What are you talking about?” said Apollo, genuinely surprised.

“Do you remember Coronis?”

“I do, vaguely, though she died in the Fury War. What about her?”

“She was my mother. Just before she left for her last battle, she gave birth to me. I later learned you were her lover.”

Apollo swallowed heavily. “This entire time I wanted to kick your ass, and you’re my own son.”

“Life’s a bitch. Get used to it. There, I’m done,” said Asclepios as he gave Apollo the flask containing the elixir.

Apollo took it. “This discussion isn’t over.”

“Sure. If you survive what comes next we can talk more about it.”

Ares put his hand on Apollo’s shoulder. “As heartwarming and slightly bizarre as this family reunion is, we’ve got to go now.”

They teleported away from the Silver Arrow.

20

When Ares and Apollo arrived in the Hope’s med-bay it was utter chaos. Chris was fighting the Shadow Hunter, and while he was not as powerful he still managed to keep him at bay.

Timoros saw them appear and launched a fireball in their direction. Apollo barely had time to raise a shield to contain the attack.

“Lovely dinner parties you’re throwing here, brother,” said Apollo.

But then Chris flew in front of them, crashed on top of Argos and lost consciousness.

When they turned their attention back to Timoros, he had murder written all over his face.

“When will this stop? How many other vermin are coming to try to save that treacherous Fury?”

Ares shot Apollo a look and he ran towards the stasis pod, the elixir in hand.

Timoros disappeared and re-appeared between Apollo and his target. He unleashed a series of powerful punches towards the Olympian. Apollo couldn’t even try to block the Fury’s attack for fear of breaking the small flask, which he protected with his closed fist. By the time Timoros stopped his attacks, Apollo’s face was a bloody mess.

“You’re the ones responsible for trapping us for thousands of years. What are you doing here?”

“Making sure you get back where you came from would be a good start.” Apollo spat a blood-coated tooth onto the floor.

“This is going to be an even more satisfying mission than I could have dreamed of. On top of eliminating the traitors, I can also take pleasure in killing an Olympian.”

Ares talked with Sarah and Apollo telepathically.

We’ll need a diversion for this to work. Apollo, give Sarah the elixir and occupy the Shadow Hunter long enough for her to give it to Chase.

Apollo made a throaty noise and spat blood on Timoros’ face.

“We should have killed your kind,” said Apollo.

Timoros threw the most powerful punch Apollo ever felt in his life, forcing him to take a knee. He had to muster all his life force just to stay conscious. He looked towards Sarah who made a slight head movement to let him know she was ready. Just before his head was hit by Timoros’ knee, he threw the flask and she caught it.

Then Apollo went on the defensive, trying as best as he could to deflect the blows from the enraged Fury. But Timoros saw he was distracted and looked behind him. Apollo tried to take advantage and hit the Fury, but he blocked his incoming punch without even looking. Sarah was up and fiddling with the controls of the stasis pod when Timoros decided to act.

He crushed Apollo’s fist within his, sending the Olympian to his knees in agony. Then he moved so quickly towards Sarah that he might as well have teleported.

Before she could remove Chase from stasis, she felt something go through her stomach.

When she looked down she saw the open-palmed hand of the Shadow Hunter protruding from her stomach, with her blood on it.

* * *

Chase had been fighting Hades and perfecting his technique while waiting to be revived. He wondered what was taking so long, but Hades was an extremely challenging and fun-sparring partner. In the middle of a heated exchange of powerful blows, Hades stopped and his eyes grew wide.

“What’s going on?”

Hades took Chase by the shoulders. “Listen to me very carefully, Chase, you have to wake up now. You need to wake up in the real world or you’ll be trapped here forever.”

“What are you talking about? I thought I needed to wait for my friends to revive me.”

“They’re all there in the real world, being defeated by a single Fury. If you don’t wake up now, they will all die and so will you. Just wake up, now!”

“How?”

“Like you did everything else; will it!”

Chase didn’t argue and closed his eyes. A second later, his body disappeared from the Underworld.

When Chase opened his eyes he was still in the cryostasis pod. The image he saw was terrifying. A Fury had just impaled Sarah. Chase felt anger rise inside his very soul, but instead of letting it overwhelm him, he simply turned into fury mode with a single thought. The temperature of the pod, which was near absolute zero, rose at exponential speed and the glass of the pod exploded.

Sarah was holding a flask in her hand. Ares spoke in Chase’s mind. You need to drink that immediately, Chase!

Timoros removed his hand from Sarah’s stomach and Chase reacted instantly. His energy pool was very low, so he had to use minimum energy to achieve his goal. Fortunately, his body was flooded with adrenaline because of his brutal awakening. As Sarah fell to the floor, his bright orange aura filled the room. He shot a powerful fireball that catapulted Timoros backwards. Before Sarah hit the ground, she was in his arms, tears filling her dying eyes. She opened the flask and brought it to Chase’s lips. He could feel she was only seconds away from dying herself.

Chase drank the bitter concoction and felt life and all his energy return to him almost instantly. The claws of death around his soul retracted.

His aura turned white and he closed Sarah’s wound as he healed her. He gently dropped her next to Argos, who had a young, unconscious and heavily wounded boy on top of him. Chase remembered his vision dream when he was under the influence of the synthetic Kyrian snake venom. There was no mistaking it. This was his son, Chris.

He checked for Chris’ pulse, and when he found a strong one he looked at Sarah and smiled.

“Give me a sec. I’ll be right back.”

When Chase rose he saw the bodies in the room, the blood, the destruction, and could only imagine the terrible battle that had been fought here in order to bring him back to the land of the living.

Ares came next to him. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you’re alright. Are you able to fight? This Fury is crazy powerful. You must hurry, though, a Fury super destroyer is almost at our doorstep.”

Chase looked at his old friend and mentor and smiled. “I’ve got this.”

Chase re-entered fury mode and teleported in front of Timoros, who was just getting back to his feet.

“I’m gonna enjoy kill—” the Shadow Hunter tried to say, before a thousand punches hit him from every direction at speeds impossible for his fading mind to fathom. When Chase had finished his attack, delayed impacts appeared all over the Fury’s body. His armor cracked and bent as if an invisible force was still hitting him. The Shadow Hunter felt his bones crushed inside his body and turn to nothing more than dust. His organs exploded and, by the time a full second had passed, he had received too many deadly blows to count.

He was almost dead and he knew it. “You’re . . . him. It can’t be. You’re . . . the legendary one.”

Chase’s look was icy cold.

“You’ve hurt my friends, my family. I wish I could have taken my sweet time to make you pay for what you’ve done here today, but this will have to do.” Chase put his palm on the Shadow Hunter’s chest and fired an unnecessary yet satisfying fireball that instantly burned a hole through the Fury’s armor and flesh.

Chase turned his back on the Fury and walked back towards his friends and family as Timoros fell to his knees, his dead eyes locked wide open, a large bleeding hole in his chest. Then he collapsed with a dull thud to the floor.

* * *

Chase healed his friends one by one. He started with Daniel and Saroudis.

Daniel took Chase in his arms. “I’m so glad you’re back, bro!”

“I’m glad to see you too. Thank you for risking your life to save me and my family. Both of you,” said Chase as he looked towards Saroudis.

“You would have done the same for us. In fact, we’ve lost count of how many times you’ve saved our asses, right, Commander?”

“Right,” said Daniel.

Chase saw someone he didn’t know holding his own crushed hand. He seemed to be in a lot of pain. Chase took his arm and healed his hand.

“Thank you,” said the Olympian.

“And you are?”

“Apollo, Ares’ brother.”

“Nice to meet you. Thank you for the help.”

Apollo nodded.

“Chase?” asked Sarah, her voice pleading. “Would you mind?”

Chase knelt next to their young boy and healed him next. Sarah told him how bravely he had fought to keep the Shadow Hunter at bay.

When Chris opened his eyes, Chase smiled.

“Hey, you.”

“Dad!” Chris grabbed Chase by the neck and embraced him.

“Mom told me how brave you’ve been. I’m so proud of you. Thank you so much, son.”

Then everyone heard heavy, metallic steps running towards them.

“Now what?” asked Sarah.

Gaia’s droid stormed into the med-bay but stopped when she saw Chase and everyone getting back to their feet.

“Looks like I’m late to this party.”

“That’s alright. We’re fine,” said Chase.

He rose and vigorously rubbed his hand in his son’s hair. “Thanks in part to this one.”

Sarah took Chase’s hand. “Haven’t you forgotten someone?”

Chase looked in her eyes and then turned towards Argos, who was unconscious and still bleeding with his back against the wall. “What? Him? Are we seriously entertaining the thought of healing him?”

Ares took a step forward. “If it wasn’t for him we would never have procured the elixir to bring you back. As much as it pains me to say this, I think we owe him that much.”

“And he saved my life too, Chase. Twice,” added Sarah.

“Very well. Let’s hope we’re not gonna regret this one day.”

Chase shot a white spherical energy blast at his brother Argos. Upon impact the energy diffused all over Argos’s body and his wounds healed in a matter of seconds.

Argos opened his eyes and saw everyone’s attention directed at him.

“Where’s the Shadow Hunter?”

“He’s been taken care of,” said Chase coldly.

“Good. Why is everyone looking at me?”

“No reason,” said Chase. “Congratulations. You’ve managed to help us defeat your former friends and, in doing so, made yourself their enemy as well. I can’t imagine what must be going through your mind this instant, but thank you.”

Argos didn’t answer. He rose and dusted himself off before crossing his arms against his chest. “What now?”

“Now,” said Ares, “I wish I could tell you we could all go and rest, but there is an armada of Zarlack ships coming to Earth as we speak, accompanied by a fully functional Fury super destroyer.”

“Business as usual then,” said Chase with a smile.

“Chase. This won’t be an easy battle,” retorted Ares.

“They never are. But together I know we can prevail,” answered Chase with more calm than he ever thought possible.

* * *

Chase and Saroudis went over the commodore’s battle plan aboard the Hope, in the captain’s ready room with Cedric and Yanis. They presented their new tech, which they thought could be useful if they managed to find a way to get them on board multiple Zarlack ships.

They discussed their strategy and went over all the data they had received from their long-range probes.

“The Fury shields will be our biggest issue, as well as their firepower.”

Chase went to the viewport and looked at the magnificent view of Earth and the distant stars all around it.

It had been so long since he saw the stars. It felt good to be home.

“When will they arrive?” Chase inquired.

“Long-range sensors have detected their approach. They’ll be here in less than an hour,” said Saroudis.

“Then we’d better prepare.”

The communication officer entered. “We have an incoming transmission from an unidentified ship requesting to talk with either Lieutenant Athanatos or Commodore Saroudis.”

The call was transferred to the ready room’s main holo-projector. It was Keera and Ryonna.

“It’s really good to see you up and about, Chase. We’re bringing in a piece of ancient tech that could be very helpful in developing new, powerful weapons. If we can reverse engineer it, that is.”

Yanis stepped in. “I think she means me. I mean us,” Yanis corrected himself when Cedric looked at him.

Ryonna then proceeded to detail what types of weapons had already been made using this tech, including the armor they still wore. That gave Chase an idea about how to put them to good use in what was to come next.

“Good job to the both of you. You’re authorized to land aboard the Hope. We might need your help in what’s to come,” said Chase.

When both Ryonna and Keera joined them, they continued their briefing and Chase exposed his plan on how to repel the incoming attack. It was a gamble, but the crew had learned to trust his ideas, no matter how farfetched they sounded.

“Everyone clear on what they need to do?”

All of Chase’s friends responded positively.

“Then let’s protect our home. Earth has been our last sanctuary this past year, a beacon of hope in this galaxy, and there’s no way we’re going to let it fall today.”

* * *

Chase went to see Argos in the mess hall. The place was empty except for his brother. Chase could understand why other members of his crew would not want to be anywhere near Argos. He had been responsible for so much death, and Chase could feel the tension on board with Argos permitted to roam free.

He had issued a security bulletin to inform the members of the Earth Alliance about Argos’ new status as an ally, at least temporarily. But he could feel the disdain, fear and sometimes hatred that others felt.

Chase’s senses seemed so much more attuned than they ever were before. He could perceive so many things now that he had to make a conscious effort to tune most of it out so he could hear his own thoughts. It took some getting used to.

“We need to talk,” said Chase, sitting in front of Argos.

“What about? I wasn’t invited to your briefing. So I take it you don’t trust me.” Argos took a large chunk from a yellow-red apple.

“Can you blame us? Everything that is happening right now is because of you. And while you’ve done a lot to redeem yourself today, you know very well that you can’t erase the past. Billions have died. You nearly exterminated an entire world. Droxia is a mere shadow of itself.”

“I don’t need a lecture. What do you want me to do?”

“Right now I don’t really know. We have more urgent matters than discussing your fate. I can’t guarantee that the Earth Alliance won’t eventually demand your execution. But if you have anything to contribute, any information that could help us, then maybe it could help your case.”

“You know I could just get away during the battle.”

“I know. But where would you go? You’re all alone now. You don’t have any forces left. It’s time to ask yourself what you really want.”

Chase got up from his chair.

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. But I’m grateful for your help these past few days. I never expected you to do this.”

“Since we’re being honest with each other, I never expected it either. Right now you have a battle to fight, and I’m willing to pledge my allegiance to you one more time. If only to wipe Miseo’s smug smile off his face. So if you need me, I’ll fight for you.”

Chase could use his help. Part of him still didn’t trust Argos, but he had to admit that he could be of strategic value in his plan to repel the enemy.

“And after this battle . . .” said Argos.

“What?”

“Well, if you want your memory back, it can be arranged.”

“I’ll have to think about that. I like who I am. I’m not sure I want to know who I was before all this started. I am, however, more interested in knowing if you can help my son regarding his accelerated growth. He wants to reach the age of seventeen before allowing us to try to stop his growth. But at the rate he’s growing, this is just a matter of days. Is there anything you can do for him?”

“I’ll need to take a closer look at him. While I can’t promise anything, I’m willing to give it a try.”

“That’s good enough for me. Thanks. Now suit up. You’ll be needed soon.”

21

Miseo was before the bridge’s large viewport when the Crimson Shadow exited hyperspace near Pluto. He had arrived a little earlier than the Zarlack fleet, thanks to his ship’s more advanced hyperspace engines.

“Your orders, Master?” Inquired a crew member.

Miseo didn’t care to know the names of his underlings. They just needed to obey his every order.

“Wait for the Zarlack fleet to arrive and then set a course for Earth at maximum sub-light speed.”

“There’s an incoming transmission from Supreme Commander Arakan.”

“I’ll take it in my ready room.”

When Miseo sat comfortably in his command chair, in his spacious and luxuriously furnished ready room, he took his father’s call.

“How dare you make me wait so long before answering my call?”

“I didn’t want to talk in front of the crew. What can I do for you, Father?”

“I’ve just been informed that the Olympian was never transferred back to the surface as I had ordered. Is she still on board your ship?”

“I’ve been busy preparing the plan of attack, so I’ll take your word for it. Why is it a problem anyway?”

“We have no way of knowing what will happen if the device is either destroyed or stolen! It was reckless of you to take it with you. Perhaps you should delay your attack on Earth and bring her back here. Or at least have her transferred to one of the Zarlack ships and sent back home.”

“Too risky. The Earth Alliance could easily destroy that ship. It’s unfortunate that she’s still on board, but it can be used to my advantage, should the unlikely scenario of losing this battle ever arise.”

Arakan’s eyes grew smaller.

“You’ve done it on purpose? As insurance? What if the Crimson Shadow is destroyed? This could send us back to the dimensional prison!”

“Or it wouldn’t and you would be forever safe from it.”

“That was not your gamble to make! There will be repercussions for this.”

Arakan cut off the communication.

I have no doubt. Except that when I’m done dealing with the pathetic Earthlings, I’m coming for you next.

A bright flash coming from the viewport caught Miseo’s attention and for a second he thought the rest of the Zarlack fleet had arrived. He rose from his chair and walked to the viewport to take a closer look.

Chase stood there, less than two hundred yards outside the ship, protected by a light-blue force field.

So Argos managed to save Chase’s life. I should never have trusted that snake.

A body hung from one of Chase’s hands. He threw it towards Miseo’s viewport. There was no mistaking it, no matter how wounded he was and without his armor. Timoros was free flying towards Miseo. As he exited Chase’s force field, the cold of space flash-froze whatever was left of the Shadow Hunter, and his body broke into a thousand frozen pieces when it impacted with the reinforced glass of the Crimson Shadow’s viewport.

You’re next, heard Miseo in his mind before Chase disappeared.

“We’ll just see about that,” answered Miseo out loud.

The Zarlack fleet jumped out of hyperspace and, as ordered, the entire fleet accelerated to maximum sub-light speed on their way towards Earth.

* * *

When Chase returned to the Hope, he paid a visit to Yanis and Cedric, who were both hard at work analyzing whatever they could from the piece of technology Ryonna and Keera had brought back with them, as well as whatever was left of the Shadow Hunter’s armor.

“Anything to report?” asked Chase.

“You do realize it’s barely been an hour, right?” answered Yanis.

“So nothing?”

“I wouldn’t say that. While it will take a significant time to determine all that this technology has to offer, we did find, accidentally, what we think its origins might be.”

“Pray tell?”

“It’s Fury tech. It’s very old, but we knew that already. But when we started scanning the thing I noticed something familiar about its frequency, something I had seen not too long ago. And guess what, my eidetic memory paid off. This thing emits the same frequency as the shields on board the smaller Fury craft, their starfighters.”

“Please tell me it means what I think it means?”

“Yes, we can adapt our weapons to be able to penetrate Fury shields. At least the starfighter ones.”

“What about the destroyer?”

“Not a chance. It’s a completely different frequency. I don’t think the smaller ships and their destroyers share a similar design, for what reason I don’t know.”

“Does that mean we can destroy their starfighters easily?”

“I wouldn’t go that far. Cedric is working on the random rotation algorithm used to cycle their shields. Like most advanced starfighters, ours included, the shields are in a constant frequency cycle so that the enemy can never just scan the current frequency and adapt their weapons to match it. Having the source frequency makes the job easier, but it will take days if not weeks to find the exact rotation cycle, to be a one hundred percent match to their shields. However, we should have an approximated mathematical formula that should allow us to be much more efficient against them. That means our StarFuries will more often than not deliver effective hits on their shields, sometimes even blast through them.”

“That’s the kind of news I was hoping for.”

“And yet that’s not the best news.”

“Oh?” Chase was genuinely surprised. “What’s the best news then?”

“We’ve analyzed their secondary firing mode, and it seems to be linked to the ship’s shields. It’s definitely part of the same system. As I’m sure the commodore told you, their ability to disable other starfighters in close proximity makes them way more dangerous than any other starfighter-class ships we have encountered until now. With that ability alone they could wipe out our StarFuries. Since it’s based on their shield frequency, we think, in fact, that it’s an extended pulse emanating from their shields as they fire that weapon. We can program our StarFuries’ shields with that algorithm so the pulse won’t pass through and disable our fighters, which would be bad.”

“Very bad indeed.”

“But then again, since we will use the same approximated algorithm, it means our StarFuries will still get hit every time they fire that particular weapon, which we hope won’t be too often once they realize it has little to no effect.”

“How much of a drain will it take?”

“Depending on distance, anywhere between fifteen and forty-five percent. So it’s still not something we want them to use on us too much, but I doubt they can fire it that often.”

“What makes you think that?”

“The sensor logs showed a very big drop in power when the starfighters used that tactic against the Brin squadrons. While they’re probably not a one-off type of weapon, such a power drain indicates it requires a long charging time.”

“Okay, so we should be mostly fine if they use this firing method, which is indeed great news. How long until you can have it ready? We will engage the enemy in less than ten minutes.”

“As always it’s up to the geeky scientists to come up with last minute updates to save your asses, but I digress. As soon as we’re ready, within the next twenty minutes I hope,” said Yanis, looking at Cedric who flashed him a thumbs up. “Then we’ll send the necessary updates to the StarFuries onboard computers via subspace link. I’ve already written a program so they can receive and make the necessary changes on the fly, even if you’ve already left the carriers.”

“Thanks, Yanis, as always. I don’t know what we would do without you.”

“Now go, Captain, we really need to stay focused to deliver these modifications on time.”

Chase smiled and teleported away from the engineering room directly to the bridge.

“Did he just beam out of here?” said Cedric. “Did we install teleporters as standard now?”

“No, while we can beam nukes and the such, we haven’t really had time to test biological beam outs, nor the side effects this means of transportation could have on living tissue.”

“So how the hell did he do that?”

“I’ve long since stopped asking such questions when Chase is concerned.”

“Would you mind theorizing at least?”

“Look, Cedric, Chase can fly, he can move objects with his mind, shoot fireballs, erect shields, control entire ships with his mind, heal the . . .” Yanis paused for a second and swallowed, that reference still being too fresh in his mind. “Heal the dying, so it was only a matter of time before he would add teleportation to that repertoire.”

“Kewl,” said Cedric before resuming his work on the algorithm.

* * *

Chase was glad to finally be back in the captain’s chair of the Hope. It had been a long time since he had piloted any starships. As agreed with Commodore Saroudis, he would control more than half of the fleet mentally. While Saroudis was still technically in charge of the fleet and had the final say, he trusted Chase when it came to tactics and thinking outside the box, so Chase would give the orders to the fleet.

He had assigned Sarah, Daniel, Keera and Ryonna to StarFuries. While Ryonna and Keera weren’t the most apt fighter pilots, their other talents would come in handy. They had each been given a subspace-link Trojan horse device for their mission. While Chase wasn’t too keen on having Sarah go on her own aboard a Zarlack vessel, Chris argued he had to go with her and, while he didn’t like that much either, at least he knew that with his powers he could defend his mother should trouble arise. Keera and Ryonna had their super-suits for defense, and Argos agreed to go along with Daniel, though he would be flying outside the StarFury, since he was in charge of opening small windows in the enemies’ shields and he could only do that in space. Yanis had provided him with portable stealth tech so he wouldn’t be targeted by the destroyer, something Chase had no doubt would happen if Miseo saw Argos fly around in space.

Argos also provided very good intel on where to hit the shields and where to enter the ships for maximum efficiency when boarding the Zarlack ships.

The Earth Alliance fleet, while incomplete with most of the Droxian ships back on Droxia, was still massive, definitely the largest fleet they had ever taken into combat since the fall of the Star Alliance. More than sixty ships, including twenty next-generation destroyers like the Hope, older retrofitted vessels with now almost similar firepower, like the Destiny and the Cronos. And an additional twenty something Obsidian ships, which had also received some tech upgrades from the Alliance, and a dozen Droxian destroyers. And yet Chase had that same feeling he’d had during so many previous battles: that it would be a costly battle with some surprises they might not be ready for.

But there was no dodging it. This fight needed to happen. What made things very tricky was that they couldn’t really destroy the Fury ship. Ares had told Chase about the presence of Aphroditis on board the ship, and that concerned him greatly. He had no doubt Miseo had done that on purpose, and that would make things more complicated.

The Alliance had churned out a large fleet in the past few weeks. All top of the line, powerful ships like the Hope, most of which would be mentally controlled by Chase. He had also requested an entire destroyer to be crewless, should he need to sacrifice it in the midst of battle. Based on her visions, Sarah had warned Chase that Saroudis might sacrifice the Destiny and his life. He decided it was better to sacrifice a crewless destroyer if that became necessary.

Chase felt the ships approaching even before his crew relayed the information. Thirty-two Zarlack ships and the Fury destroyer in tow. The Fury ship was staying at the back of the formation, and no doubt they’d find out why soon enough.

“Battle stations everyone,” said Chase.

As soon as the Zarlack ships entered firing range, volleys of torpedoes flew and long-range laser batteries opened fire on both sides. The Zarlacks also launched their waves of starfighters, and so did the Alliance.

The largest battle the Earth Alliance had ever fought had begun.

Chase lost no time firing the Hope’s main guns at the nearest Zarlack destroyer. He brought about two more destroyers and had them fire their main guns as well. The moment its shields were down, Chase sent a triple volley of torpedoes to take care of his first Zarlack ship. It was overkill, but he needed to make a statement early in the battle. The Zarlack destroyer exploded and briefly lit up the battle theater with a bright yellow flash.

The first phase of Chase’s plan was to reduce the number of Zarlack destroyers in the armada down to the four ships they actually wanted to hijack, all the while evaluating the weapons and shield capabilities of the real threat, the Fury super destroyer. It was massive beyond reason. The already gigantic Zarlack behemoth-class ships looked small in comparison. It was tens of miles long, a beast of a ship really, probably able to move a hundred thousand troops at a time.

The Destiny and four escort vessels used a similar tactic to dispatch their first kill. Two down. Twenty-six to go.

* * *

Sarah was amongst the first StarFuries to launch into space and engage the enemy. She was a little conflicted at having Chris on her backseat.

“Ready, son?”

“I am. Looking forward to it, in fact.”

“If my father was still alive, I would never hear the end of the argument about taking you with me into the heart of battle.”

“I wish I could have known Grandpa, but don’t worry. At least if the ship explodes I can save both our lives by erecting a shield around us.”

And just like that, she realized that even though she had all the reflexes of a normal mother, she wasn’t one. Her son was a Fury hybrid with powers beyond understanding, probably second to none except for those of his father.

“Entering firing range, Chris. Get ready. Engaging.”

Sarah flew her wing in a standard V formation, her ship in front. Very soon the darkness of space was replaced with laser fire flying all over the place. Sarah went evasive and chose her first target. She deployed her drones and pounded its shields with great efficiency. As soon as they were down she claimed her first kill with a well-locked missile on her target’s engine. It exploded in a thousand pieces.

“Nice kill!” exclaimed Chris.

“Having fun?”

“Absolutely. I can’t wait to fly one on my own.”

A second squadron came to add firepower to their own.

“Seems like Dad is covering us,” said Chris.

Sarah checked her instruments. Omega squadron was remotely controlled by Chase. He wanted to make sure nothing happened to the two most important people in his life. It was romantic, but also a little vexing. Sarah decided to focus on the romantic part. When her shields lit up from incoming enemy fire, she put her focus back into the battle, where it belonged.

One thing was clear very rapidly: the Zarlacks no longer tried to crash their own ships into the StarFuries to take them down. Which was a surprise. That made them much easier targets, and Sarah wished she knew why the tactics had changed.

She opened a channel to Argos.

“Any reason the ships aren’t trying to ram us anymore?”

There was a little static and she couldn’t make out his answer.

Argos proceeded to answer telepathically. I think that damn cloak is interfering with my portable comm unit. To answer your question, I think the Furies have brought almost every last remaining behemoth Zarlack with them. I think Miseo would rather not waste resources unless absolutely necessary; but in this case it’s a mistake, since your StarFuries are so much more powerful. I was the one who decided that it would yield a more efficient kill ratio by sacrificing the starfighters to take out the StarFuries.

“Well it’s a good thing for us, then. And we had figured as much about their kamikaze tactics back then.”

Three fighters vectored towards Sarah’s ship. They inflicted damage on her starboard shields but she quickly reacted by going evasive, while her drones provided alternative targets as they fired on her pursuers aft shields. When they gained on her—at least that’s what she wanted them to believe—she activated her reverse engines and they shot past her. She picked them off one by one, eliminating the first and center bogie with two missiles and powerfully charged, slower laser fire. Then she sent her drones against one target while she locked onto the third. She rained ultra-rapid, low-power laser fire to bring its shield down and then did the switch: her ship and her drones inverted positions and the drones finished off the fighter with ease, while Sarah finished draining the third and last fighter’s shields. She switched her main firing weapons to heavy, slower fire and scored three direct hits. Pieces of armor flew towards her and she maneuvered her ship out of the way, to finally line up the kill shot. The Zarlack starfighter exploded and she flew through the explosion.

Then something happened. A large column of energy shot past her ship a good three miles away and was no danger to her or her squadron, but not only did it take out three Alliance destroyers that were on its path, but the massive energy beam impacted with the planet’s shield as well. A gigantic yellow shield illuminated and deflected the beam, radiating orange-red, secondary pulses of energy away from the point of impact. It looked like a titanic version of the Hope’s own plasma beam Heracles cannon.

Sarah looked at the source. It came from the Fury destroyer. Its range was immense. The ship was so far away from the main battle theater, and yet its shot reached Earth. It had been suspiciously inactive until now, but a quick look at her ship’s instruments told her that this weapon could drain Earth’s defensive shield quickly.

22

And here comes Miseo’s ace in the hole. Now the real battle begins.

Chase knew that the Fury super destroyer would eventually come into the equation. But he never thought it would be able to shoot such a powerful beam of energy at such long distances. This would really complicate things. Not only did it put the entire planet at risk, but it also effectively put a ticking deadline on this battle. This weapon had to be disabled within the next hour or Chase couldn’t even imagine the kind of damage it would do to the planet. It could very well, in time, pierce through its crust and destroy it altogether by destabilizing the core.

Chase would have to remove the main opposition forces first, the twenty plus behemoth Zarlack ships they were currently engaged with. Chase brought about five of the Alliance destroyers on the next target and their added firepower quickly brought its shields down. Before they reached fifteen percent, Chase locked a volley of torpedoes and fired them.

But then an energy beam from the Fury super destroyer hit the Zarlack ship before the torpedoes were even halfway to their target. It radiated over its shields and split into smaller energy beams that hit the plating armor of the behemoth destroyer. It lasted only a couple of seconds but it recharged the Zarlack’s shield back to one hundred percent.

When the torpedoes hit them, they exploded without any significant damage besides lowering the shields a negligible amount.

The same tactic was repeated with three other Zarlack ships currently engaged by the Destiny, the Cronos and a mixed group of Droxian and Obsidian destroyers.

“We have a serious problem,” said Chase out loud.

Chase was aware how much of an understatement that was. If the Fury kept recharging the shields of the Zarlack ships before they were destroyed, they could keep this going for a long time, and time was exactly what the Alliance was lacking.

To make things worse, Fury starfighters were launched and added their superior firepower to the Zarlack squadrons. Things were looking grim, and Chase had to come up with a plan to turn things around, and fast.

They would need more firepower for each target now, which would leave them more vulnerable to attack, but there was no choice. They also needed to find a way to destroy that weapon before it drained Earth’s shields. The first layer made of defense satellites would soon fail.

Chase ordered tighter formations of destroyers to attack the Zarlack behemoth destroyers. Eight Alliance ships fired their superior main weapons at the next target, leaving it no chance to recharge. It was obliterated in seconds. That left them open to receiving more fire from other enemy ships. Chase made a quick mental calculation as to how long they could keep up this tactic and it came short. This was temporary at best. Eventually he would have to come up with something else.

He also needed to move on the second part of his plan faster, so he sent the boarding StarFuries on their mission ahead of schedule. Sarah, Daniel, Keera and Ryonna received the orders to each infiltrate a Zarlack destroyer, which would be a much more difficult proposition in the midst of the current chaotic battle, but they couldn’t wait anymore.

Chase felt mentally tired, having to orchestrate the battle while piloting a full squadron of StarFuries, as well as the crewless destroyer in his formation. He heard Chris’s voice inside his mind. Dad, I can take over flying the StarFuries for you.

Your mission is to protect your mother when you board the enemy ship. I’d rather you didn’t split your focus.

Don’t worry about me. I can take the strain, plus I have an idea to reduce the numbers of ships currently targeting your battlegroup.

Chase hesitated for a second but could use all the help he could get. He remembered what he had learned in the Underworld. Victory no longer rested on his shoulders alone. If they were to succeed, they would all need to play their part and he would have to trust them.

Very well, son, you can take over Omega squadron. Thanks for the help.

My pleasure.

Chase’s battlegroup homed in on their next target the moment their main guns had recharged. As soon as it entered firing range, the enemy Zarlack destroyer would be history, and while each kill was satisfying and lowered the enemy’s overall firepower, the shields of the ships within his battlegroup were dropping at an alarming rate. Chase made the necessary power distribution adjustments, like redirecting secondary power and some of life support to the shields, which only provided a short-lived boost in shield efficiency. This was only a temporary patch while he thought of a way to turn things around.

* * *

Spiros was watching the battle unfold on the holo-screen in the training facility control room. It didn’t look good. While it was a balanced conflict more or less, with losses on both sides, he didn’t like that the Fury ship had not taken part in the battle itself. But perhaps that could be explained by the unimaginable amount of power that the main weapon was delivering against the planet’s shields. When Spiros had first seen the specs, power requirement and efficiency of those shields, he hadn’t thought a beam of energy from a single ship could take it down so quickly.

“Gaia. We have to find a way to either boost the shields or reduce the amount of power reaching them,” said Spiros

“I know. I’ve been using all my CPU to come up with a solution.”

“Any bright ideas?”

“The ones I have are neither efficient nor long term.”

“We may have to implement short term patches to give our ships time to disable that weapon altogether.”

“I have run a simulation on the battle as well, and I’m afraid the odds don’t look good in that regard either.”

“It’s understandable that you’d do something like this, but you can’t discount Man’s ability to come up with a solution to avoid his own demise. Chase seems to shine in these exact situations.”

“And while my analysis of previous battles would support your statement, today he seems unable to come up with such tactics, though I have to admit that he has implemented the most logical, efficient way to deal with such overwhelming forces so far.”

“Give him time. How can we boost the shields?”

“I have written a way to super-fast charge the shields, but it would require a moment of respite from the current constant taxing they are subjected to. Another solution, which I cannot in good conscience propose, is to overload the power stations with every single ounce of juice from the entire planet in order to boost their power by fifty percent.”

“Wouldn’t that cut all power on Earth besides the shields?”

“That’s why I didn’t suggested it earlier. It would take weeks or more for normal operation to resume on the surface, and it would most definitely lead to casualties.”

“We may have to flip that switch, and you know it.”

Gaia stayed silent.

Spiros looked at his sensors and saw a subspace transmission being emitted from their ship. Its power levels were off the charts.

“What’s that?” he inquired. “Why are we transmitting gibberish on all channels? What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry but . . . I think it’s our only chance.”

“What the hell are you talking about? What did you do? What is that signal for?”

* * *

Chris took over the StarFury squadrons. He loved the feeling. Using his mind to take control of the starfighters was exhilarating. And even though this was his first dogfight, he was very proficient in flying the squadrons, and he soon got rid of enemy fighters by the dozen. He decided to use every one of the StarFuries’ drones as a single entity, granting the full squadron the biggest firepower outside the destroyers engaged in the battle.

Meanwhile, his mother was approaching the shields of the Zarlack target they needed to board and hack. He vectored his remote squadron to make a hole in the opposing heavy resistance her wing was facing while in approach. For the last part of the approach, she would use the cloak to avoid as much heavy defensive fire as possible from the destroyer’s laser batteries.

Once he had successfully carved a path for their own StarFury to make its final approach towards their target, Argos did his part and created a hole in the ship’s shields. Soon they landed at their target coordinates aboard the Zarlack destroyer and exited their StarFury.

They encountered resistance in the form of Zarlack guards the moment they exited their now-cloaked starfighter.

Chris was the first to exit and it didn’t take long to take out the guards with fireballs. When the firing stopped, Sarah exited the ship.

While they moved towards the data point where they needed to install their hacking device, Chris kept flying the remote StarFuries in order to provide the other three teams with support, so they could also land their ships and accomplish their missions.

It took only a few minutes to reach the location Argos had given them for implanting the device.

“Cover me,” said Sarah as she deployed the device according to Yanis’ instructions.

The ship’s internal alarms wailed all around them and two platoons of Zarlack foot soldiers converged on them. Chris erected a shield big enough to engulf his mother while he dispatched the Zarlack soldiers with a mix of shockwaves and fireballs.

“How much longer?” he asked.

“I’m almost done.”

“The sooner we go the better.”

“Done. Let’s go.”

Chris easily dispatched the foot soldiers on their path while they retraced their steps towards the StarFury, only to find something they didn’t expect waiting for them in front of their starfighter. A Fury stood there in full combat armor.

“This wasn’t part of the plan,” said Sarah.

“No, not to mention that the other teams don’t have the firepower to take even a single Fury, should one of them await them on board as well.”

Chris sent a telepathic message to inform Chase of this new development and then engaged the Fury blocking their way out.

Fortunately for them, he was nowhere near as powerful as the Shadow Hunter Chris had fought earlier.

But Chris had lost a lot of juice repelling wave after wave of Zarlack troops, so he needed to make this fight short. And short it was. The Fury clearly underestimated the young boy, and when he sent three fireballs to get rid of him, he lowered his guard, thinking the battle was over.

When Chris emerged from the smoke of the explosion made by the Fury’s weak attacks, he caught the enemy off guard. Chris unleashed a series of ultrafast combos and finished with a beam of energy that consumed the Fury’s head.

When the attack ended, the headless Fury fell on its back, smoke still rising from his neck.

“That wasn’t a pretty kill,” said Sarah, disgusted by what she saw.

“We didn’t have time for pretty. Let’s go.”

* * *

Soon after receiving Chris’ mental message, Chase left the bridge of the Hope and was flying in space. He needed to lend a hand to the other teams in case other Fury fighters awaited them on board the Zarlack destroyers they were tasked to hack.

He sent a telepathic message to his brother.

Argos, there seem to be Furies on board the Zarlack ships. Chris dispatched the one on board their target ship, but we need to assist the others. They’re not prepared for this.

Very well; how’s the battle going?

Don’t ask. Let’s just say we need these ships more than ever.

Alright, I’m going after Keera’s then. I just opened the path to her target ship’s shields moments ago, so she’s the nearest.

Chase flew past the utter chaos that this space battle had turned into while still remote piloting the Hope and many other ships in his battlegroup. Soon he reached Daniel’s StarFury, which was approaching his own target’s shields. Chase fired the pulse of energy that created the needed hole in the shields for Daniel’s StarFury to pass through.

“Daniel, I’m coming with you.”

“Chase? Aren’t you supposed to be on board the Hope?”

“Change of plan. There are Furies on board these ships. I’m coming to deal with them while you deploy your device.”

“Roger that, landing now.”

Chase arrived on the deck of the landing bay before Daniel was out of his cockpit. He felt a fireball coming towards him from a mile away. He dodged by teleporting away and reappearing in front of a Fury fighter. His senses immediately told him that these were lower class fighters. The Fury tried to punch Chase with a powerful hook, but he caught the incoming fist in his own hand with ease. Applying little pressure, he broke the Fury’s hand, who fell to his knees. Chase slashed the Fury in two with a swift upward kick. Both halves of the dead Fury splashed to the ground on their sides.

Chase teleported away.

* * *

When Keera landed the StarFury on her designated Zarlack destroyer and jumped out of its cockpit, she was greeted with a fireball that sent her crashing to the ground. Fortunately, her super-suit had taken most of the damage, but its shields had been heavily taxed. She wouldn’t be able to take too many of those. When she turned around, she saw a Fury coming at her, ready to strike her in the face.

She used her suit’s super-speed ability to get out of the way and then turned around and shot both her repulsor weapons back at her opponent, hitting the Fury in the shoulder. But he didn’t budge or register any significant damage, except a little burn to his skin, which didn’t seem to bother him much.

This is not good.

The Fury extended his hand towards her and sent another powerful fireball her way. But then someone jumped in front of her and blocked the attack.

“Go get the device installed. I’ll take care of him,” said Argos.

The Fury warrior looked at Argos with hatred in his eyes.

“Traitor! You’ll pay for your actions,” said the warrior.

“Perhaps, but not by your hands.”

Argos brought all his energy to bear and his powerful crimson aura shone all around him.

Before the warrior could react, Argos had traveled behind him, slashing his hand at neck level. Argos smiled as the warrior’s decapitated head fell from his body and rolled on the floor.

“It will take more than a foot soldier for that,” said Argos to himself.

Soon Keera returned and flashed Argos a thumbs up, signaling she had completed her objective. She flew her ship back into space, this time opening the needed hole in the ship’s shields by accessing the device she had just deployed.

* * *

Ryonna was the last to arrive at her target, which was the ship farthest away from the Hope when they launched. When she saw Chase open a hole for her to fly through the Zarlack destroyer’s shields, she knew something must be up. To make things worse, a red tractor beam hit Chase right after she passed through the shields.

She hesitated, turning back to help him, but decided he would not want her to abandon her main objective. So she kept her course, somewhat reluctantly, and landed her now-cloaked StarFury and exited it cloaked as well, thanks to her super-suit. If Chase had come instead of Argos, then something was amiss.

She immediately understood what that was. A female Fury guarded the landing bay. Defeating her in single combat would prove perilous at best, even with her super-suit, so she just grabbed her entire belt of magnetic grenades, activated them and locked them onto the Fury’s back.

By the time the Fury realized what was going on, Ryonna’s cloak had run out of juice, but the Fury didn’t have time to fire back before the grenades chain exploded on her back. Being a Fury she could probably survive that, so Ryonna activated her light-blade. When the dust settled, the Fury was on one knee with the back of her armor destroyed, but she was still breathing.

Ryonna left her no time to recover. She kicked her on the jaw with her knee, effectively catapulting the female Fury back into an upright position, where she impaled her with her light-blade. When she saw that the Fury was still moving her arms in an attempt to grab her, Ryonna slashed the blade upwards, cutting through flesh, bones and armor. The top half of the Fury warrior split in two like a flower opening its petals to the warmth of the sun.

At that moment, Chase teleported next to her.

“Nevermind,” he said with a big smile when he saw how Ryonna had gruesomely taken care of the Fury.

“Glad to see you got out of that tractor beam.”

“Oh that. It was unexpected, but proved useless. Give me the device. Now that I’m here I might as well install it myself.”

Ryonna wasn’t keen on not finishing her mission herself, but she knew better than to argue with Chase.

“Get back out there. Great job, Ryonna,” said Chase with a wink.

The moment he had the device in his hand he teleported away.

Then Ryonna understood that by teleporting he would achieve the objective faster than she ever could, even with her suit’s super-speed ability. Things hadn’t run according to plan if he was down here helping his friends, but Ryonna knew he would eventually find a way to make it work, so she climbed back on board the StarFury as ordered.

23

Chase was back on board the Hope in the blink of an eye. While he had successfully taken control of the Zarlack ships, which he could now pilot remotely as well, they still lacked the necessary firepower to overcome the Zarlack fleet in a timely fashion before the Fury super destroyer took the planet’s shields out.

When he checked the levels of power of his battlegroup and saw that most of the ships were down to around twenty percent shields, he knew things needed to change. He used the newly controlled Zarlack ships so that they took most of the incoming fire while feinting to fire back at the Alliance ships. That required a great deal of focus, but it was of paramount importance to Chase’s plan that Miseo didn’t realize he had lost control of some of his ships.

Since Chase had disabled communications on these vessels as his first order of business, he hoped that four ships no longer communicating would not arouse much suspicion in the midst of all the chaos.

His new tactic proved effective at giving his battlegroup the necessary rest to start recharging their shields.

When seventeen jump points formed on the starboard, Chase thought they might have been Zarlack reinforcements. Fortunately, they weren’t.

The new ships didn’t wait long to choose sides. That was when he realized they were of Brin design. The Brin had not been keen on the earlier attack and they added their firepower to those of the Earth Alliance. While their weapons were inferior, it was still a welcome addition and couldn’t have arrived at a better time.

But after a few minutes, seeing how inefficient they were at engaging Zarlack destroyers, Chase asked them to focus on eradicating the starfighter waves instead, especially the Furies’ starfighter wings, which had caused quite some damage by disabling the Droxian and Obsidian starfighters with their secondary pulse weaponry. The StarFuries were standing their ground against them, but they were beginning to be outnumbered.

When the Brin used most of their long-range batteries and torpedo firepower to bring that equation to a more manageable level, Chase knew it was time to take care of the beam currently hacking at Earth’s shields.

He brought about his crewless destroyer and had the four hacked Zarlack destroyers fly in formation and vector towards the Fury destroyer.

The fact that it was not engaging the rest of the fleet told Chase one thing: it must have been using all its available power firing that beam of energy, as well as the occasional shield top-up. The Hope’s sensors registered a slight drop in power inside the beam every time it fired a shield recharging pulse, confirming Chase’s theory.

But time was running out. The shield around Earth would fail in minutes, and he couldn’t let that happen.

As soon as the quartet of hacked Zarlack destroyers, accompanied by the crewless Alliance ship, were in range, they all fired their weapons at the Fury vessel. Its shields blocked the incoming fire with scary efficiency. Even the Heracles gun on board the Alliance ship was unable to draw more than three percent away from the super destroyer’s shields. Soon the rest of the enemy fleet understood what was going on, and changed their targeting priorities, vectoring away from Alliance ships to attack the rogue ships.

Chase hesitated to sacrifice the crewless ship to give the others enough time to reach the Fury super destroyer. But he didn’t have to. Chris’s wave of StarFuries flew out of nowhere and ran interference by dancing in front of the barrage of laser fire currently raining on the rogues. Chase was amazed by how precisely Chris was flying them, and that included the drones, most of which were destroyed little by little, but it did provide enough cover for Chase to enact the next part of his plan.

* * *

When Chris’s squadron of StarFuries had lost most of its drones, he kept using strategic evasive patterns to make sure most of the firepower directed at the hacked ships was blocked by their rear shields. But they would soon fail, so Chris changed tactics and turned his squadron around, firing all of their remaining torpedoes towards the incoming ships.

It effectively diverted more firepower from these capital ships and, just before their aft shields failed and the StarFuries were destroyed, Chris overloaded their quadrinium chambers and micro-jumped the StarFuries towards the Zarlack destroyers in groups of four. All twelve micro-jumped and exploded, one after the other. The maneuver took out three destroyers, and their successive explosions damaged another two destroyers nearby.

Chase sent him a telepathic message.

Thanks, son, that was a great way to buy me the time I needed.

I’ve learned from the best.

He he. But this battle isn’t over. Thanks to you, now I should be able to take out that damn beam cannon.

Give them hell, Dad!

* * *

The Alliance fleet had taken out many of the Zarlack destroyers thanks to their abandoning their original targets to pursue Chase’s crewless destroyer and its four Zarlack rogues. Chase used every ounce of power from the Zarlack destroyers by redirecting all their life support and inertial dampeners to the shields, hyperspace engine and plasma cannons.

He fired the Heracles plasma beam at the Fury super destroyer once more and added the Zarlack plasma cannons’ firepower to it to drain the Fury’s aft shields.

They were still short of making the kind of dent that would allow the rest of the fleet to bring them down.

He informed the entire fleet to ignore their current targets and to add their own firepower and fire all their torpedoes towards the tip of the Fury super destroyer. He then started overloading all five ship’s engines and sent them micro-jumping to that point as well. The resulting explosion lit up space all around for a few seconds and drained the Fury’s shields enough so that the hundreds of torpedoes fired from the remainder of the fleet finished the job.

The beam of energy currently draining the Earth’s shield flickered as more torpedoes impacted its point of origin. After a second explosion the beam died out just seconds before Earth’s shield failed.

Chase sighed in relief.

But this was only half of the job. They now needed to bring the Fury monstrosity down. It veered to starboard the moment its main beam weapon was destroyed and it soon re-equalized its shields. Most of the fire it was enduring was again efficiently absorbed. Now that the ship didn’t use so much energy firing the beam weapon, its shields seemed even stronger.

As difficult as it had been to bring their main weapon down, it would be even more difficult to defeat the ship. And Chase’s task remained challenging since he couldn’t take the risk of killing Aphroditis in the process.

When the super destroyer started firing its batteries towards every Alliance ship in range, Chase understood that it could prove impossible.

Within three minutes they had lost five ships. The Brin ships were the fastest to fall and that’s what the super destroyer was focusing on. Destroying the weakest ships first.

Then Chase received a transmission from the Destiny. It was Commodore Saroudis.

“We can’t keep this up much longer. At this rate this ship alone will destroy the entire fleet within minutes. We may have to consider sacrificing some more ships to take it out.”

Chase clenched his teeth. The commodore was right, but he wasn’t keen on sacrificing hundreds if not thousands of crewmen to reach their goal.

“I agree, but what if we take it out? Aphroditis is on board that ship!”

“I understand how you feel, Chase, but if we don’t defeat the Furies we’ll lose the fleet and perhaps even the planet.”

“I’ve got an idea. Give me a minute.”

Chase opened another channel to Yanis. “Please tell me you used the telemetry from those hacked Zarlack ships to find a weakness in their shields.”

“I have a lot of data but we don’t have the time to make the necessary adjustments to our weapons to make a difference. Plus, right now the ship causing most of the damage is that Fury super destroyer.”

“What about our tractor beams? Could we reprogram them so they could lock onto a Zarlack behemoth, even with their shields up?”

There was a pause.

“The way your mind works never ceases to amaze me.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Give me five minutes.”

“You have two.”

* * *

Chase dispatched new orders to the rest of the fleet. With half the ships destroyed, they needed to stop targeting the super destroyer and split far enough from one another so that the Fury super destroyer would have to maneuver to enter firing range, effectively lowering the rate at which it could take out more ships.

That tactic quickly paid off. The ships, most of which already had their shields heavily damaged, scattered by micro-jumping just outside the Fury’s firing range. It forced the Fury to select a target. While that bought them some time, they were still running out of time and Chase knew it.

“I’ve just sent the subspace update to all Alliance ships in the fleet. You should be able to tractor the Zarlack ships, but may I remind you they are more massive than we are. You may need two or three of our ships to make it work. And if they activate their engines to counter you, you won’t get enough velocity to throw them at the Fury super destroyer, which I take is your plan, right?”

“It is . . . Except I have another idea in mind to deliver my payload. Thanks, Yanis.”

Chase didn’t have time to explain his plan so he cut the communication and, after informing the fleet he needed to take control of all of their ships’ operations, he went to work.

The remaining twelve Alliance ships divided into three groups of four. He mentally slaved their jump engines to the leading ship of each group.

It was time to test his theory.

The Hope and three other Alliance ships locked onto the nearest Zarlack destroyer with their tractor beam. Before they could activate their engines to full power to counter the beam’s efficiency, all four ships diverted most of their power to their sub-light engines in order to achieve the maximum velocity possible in under five seconds. Chase then mentally locked the coordinates of a hyperspace jump to the Fury’s super destroyer and opened the hyperspace window. But he then immediately activated the emergency cancel order on board all four Alliance ships at the exact time that he released the tractor beams. He then had all four ships break hard to avoid their own hyperspace window. The ships moaned and shook from the treatment, but they successfully avoided entering the window. The Zarlack destroyer in tow didn’t have that luxury and was swallowed by the hyperspace window, only to explode at the end of the corridor, right on the Fury’s starboard shields, draining them down to forty percent.

The Zarlack destroyer exploding upon the Fury’s shield was a thing of beauty. But Chase lost no time leading the second group of Alliance ships, led by the Destiny, to duplicate the tactic. It worked even better, Chase managing to tighten his timing with more precision this time around. And another Zarlack behemoth ship was sucked into a hyperspace window and catapulted against the Fury’s starboard shield, which was now as low as two percent.

Chase hoped that the third and, if necessary, fourth similar attack wouldn’t destroy the Fury ship but, instead, disable it. He wasn’t ready to sacrifice Aphroditis just yet.

But something went wrong with Chase’s third attempt. The Fury super destroyer micro-jumped before the Zarlack projectile ship entered the hyperspace window. It appeared next to it and fired at the Zarlack ship before it entered its window, destabilizing the hyperspace window and overloading the Zarlack’s engine in the process. It exploded, but not before the Fury super destroyer had micro-jumped away. The four Alliance ships were not so lucky and were caught in the massive explosion. Two of them were taken out on the spot, while the resulting shockwaves damaged and disabled the other two Alliance destroyers.

And, just like that, Chase’s tactical advantage disappeared, as did his hope of neutralizing Miseo’s ship.

24

Chase watched in horror as the super destroyer reversed the situation and regained the upper hand in the fight.

His mind raced, but he had played his last ace. To make things worse, Miseo, who had probably had enough of Chase’s creative ways of inflicting damage on his brand new super destroyer, ordered the few remaining Zarlack destroyers to fly into their targets now, as they used to do when they were under Argos’ orders.

Soon the last Zarlack destroyer sacrificed itself to take out more ships. And, for the next few minutes, the space around Earth was transformed into a giant fireworks session. The once large Earth Alliance fleet had been reduced to only a handful of ships still capable of firing upon the Fury destroyer, the shields of which had sufficiently recharged to now engage them one by one and claim a difficult but now seemingly unavoidable victory.

When Chase’s friends rejoined him on the bridge, they saw a look they had seldom seen on his face. The look of defeat.

“What’s going on?” asked Sarah.

“I don’t know how to win this battle anymore.”

“Whatever it takes, Chase,” said Daniel. “We can’t let Earth fall.”

Chase reconsidered Saroudis’ proposal to sacrifice whatever was left of the fleet to take out the Furies. Chase could probably teleport his friends away at the last minute, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once, and many would die, the commodore included.

He ordered the fleet to exit the super destroyer’s firing range and recharge their shields. But he didn’t have much time to make his final choice.

Then the Hope’s communication officer announced an incoming transmission from the Crimson Shadow.

“On screen.”

Miseo’s face filled the large holo-screen in the center of the bridge.

“You’re defeated. There’s no use fighting anymore. It’s only a matter of time until I pick the remainder of your fleet off one by one.”

The temperature on the Hope’s bridge felt as if it had dropped by twenty degrees.

“Even if that is so, we’ll fight you to the end.”

“And you’ll lose. You know that by now. But I have a proposal for you. A one-time offer that will expire in one minute. If Argos and you surrender yourselves to me now, I will leave orbit and spare the rest of your ships. The clock is ticking,” said Miseo as his image disappeared and was replaced by a Fury timer counting down.

“What the hell is this?” asked Argos. “He can’t be trusted. He’ll destroy this world whether or not we comply.”

“I never thought I’d ever say this, but I agree with Argos,” said Ryonna.

“Chase, what are you going to do?” asked Sarah.

He rose from the captain’s chair and looked around at his friends. Now was the time to make a decision. He’d either give himself up and save everyone still alive here and on Earth below, or they could keep fighting; but things didn’t look good. Most of the ships were running on fumes. There seemed to be no possible outcome that would see them victorious in their current state.

“I don’t want you to give yourself up,” said Chris, with tears in his eyes.

Chase felt an invisible hand squeeze his heart. While he had no problem with the idea of sacrificing himself for his friends and family, he didn’t know what that move would mean for the future. But he needed to trust that someone, perhaps his son, would take over and finish this war. He knew better than to think it all depended on him anymore.

“I don’t think we have a choice here.”

“This is bullshit!” yelled Argos. “You’re not the kind of person to just give up!”

“Look around, Argos. The fleet is almost completely destroyed. We can’t hope to win this battle.”

“Since when is that something you’re willing to accept?”

“This isn’t a debate. Will you comply or will I have to drag your sorry ass on board Miseo’s ship myself?”

Argos shot him a deadly look. “You’re making a mistake. But it’s your decision to make.”

“Very well then,” said Chase when Miseo’s face filled the holo-screen a second later.

“Have you decided?”

Chase made fists.

“We have, but if you don’t hold your promise, I guarantee we will tear your ship from the inside out.”

“Of that I have no d⁠—”

The communication ended when something impacted with the Fury ship’s shields.

* * *

“Multiple hyperspace windows detected!” said the Hope’s tactical officer.

It took everyone on the bridge by surprise, Chase included. “How many ships?”

“Thirty-five including the one that exploded on the super destroyer.”

“Friend or foe?”

“I couldn’t tell you what they are. I’ve never seen ships like these. But they’re converging towards the Fury super destroyer, so I’d say friends.”

Chase didn’t understand this new development. He looked at his friends.

“Any of you recognize this design? Argos? Ever seen these before?”

He shook his head. “I’ve never seen such ships.”

“Commander, what is the computer saying? Do we have anything in our database? Perhaps an older race?”

“No direct match, Captain. But they seem to represent a mix of Alliance, Droxian and even Obsidian in terms of design and power signatures.”

“How is that even possible?”

* * *

Thirty-four unknown destroyers simultaneously opened fire on the Crimson Shadow. Their added firepower quickly drained the Fury super destroyer’s shield. Then some of the ships accelerated to ramming speed. While they were much smaller than the Crimson Shadow, they still packed a punch and their sub-light engines were very powerful. After four of them exploded on the surface of the Fury’s shields, bringing them down in the process, the remaining thirty ships’ combined firepower started to punch multiple holes through the Crimson Shadow’s armor plating. Multiple explosions happened simultaneously. Large chunks of debris flew all over the place and many decks were soon exposed to space.

The Crimson Shadow was taking a pounding of epic proportions from a race nobody had even heard about.

“This is unbelievable,” was all Chase could say.

Everyone else had their eyes locked onto the scene of destruction. It all felt surreal, like a dream.

“Aphroditis,” said Chase. “She’ll be killed.”

“Better her than us,” Argos replied.

Chase dismissed his brother’s comment as his mind raced and he considered teleporting inside the Fury ship and getting Aphroditis out of there. But before Chase could act, the Fury ship jumped away.

* * *

“Captain, incoming transmission from the main unknown ship.”

“On screen. Let’s see who just saved our collective asses,” said Chase.

The screen filled with the image of a beautiful, blonde human female. Her long hair looked like a golden waterfall. She stood in front of an image of the planet Earth, which couldn’t be what the inside of her ship looked like.

When she spoke her voice was icy cold. “My name is Gaia, admiral and sole leader of the Independent Gaian Defense Force.”

Gaia? What?

“Gaia? I thought you were on board the flying training ship with Spiros! What is this?” asked Chase.

“You must have me confused with someone else, Fury. About an hour ago we received a distress call from Earth informing us it was under attack. I have come to reclaim my world. The Earth Alliance has demonstrated their incompetence in protecting this planet for the last time.”

This doesn’t make any sense. That can’t be Gaia!

“Wait a minute? What are you talking about?”

“You are no longer welcome in Earth space. You have less than one hour to gather your survivors and leave this system or you’ll be fired upon and destroyed for your sins.”

The transmission ended abruptly.

Chase looked around. Everyone was as baffled as he was and still in shock. What should have been a moment of intense relief after a long struggle and painful victory quickly felt like a nightmare of epic proportions.

“What the hell is going on?” said Chase out loud.

End of Book V . . .

(Keep reading)

SHADOWS OF OLYMPUS (BOOK 6)

By Christian Kallias

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Commander Sarah Kepler – Earth Human with Fury powers (formerly US Navy Commander)

Chris Athanatos – Fury Human hybrid (currently aging fast)

Commander Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Commodore Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Captain)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos (yah-nis tee-hee-hos) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Ryonna Isch’ys (ree-oh-na is-kis) – Droxian Warrior (a fugitive Droxian smuggler)

Tar’Lock (tahr-lock) – Gorgar (Insectoid & formerly a Hellstar prisoner)

Commander Fillio Steriopoulou (fee-lyo steh-ree-oh-poo-loo) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance) - diseased

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis (spee-ros ma-lah-yah-nis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

General Adams – Earth Human (formerly US Army General)

Emperor Altair - Raxin Humanoid and Obsidian Empire leader

Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)

Rae Kwan – Earth Alliance human (formerly US scientist)

Olympians

Aphroditis (a-fro-dee-tee) – known to humans as the goddess of love

Ares (ah-rees)– know to humans as the god of war

Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war

Zeus – known to humans as the god of the sky and mighty ruler of Olympus

Hades (eh-dees) – known to humans as the god of the Underworld

Furies

Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

Miseo (mi-se-oh) – Arakan’s son & right arm

Oryn – Arakan’s daughter

Zalara – Arakan’s wife (deceased)

Other Characters

Keera Hawking – Humanoid bounty hunter

Tararok – Zarlack (Lizard/Reptilian) bio-scientist

Kvasir – Asgardian scientist

Admiral Ally Thassos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Admiral - deceased, clone version still alive)

Gaia (gah-yah) – Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet.

Gaia 2 (gah-yah) – An older backup version of the Gaia Artificial Intelligence. Evil and sees humans as vermin.

THE STORY SO FAR

Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.

This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. It can, of course, be used by new readers but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (Definitive Edition).

Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

Volume II: Fury to the Stars

Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin, Argos, currently torturing her for information. Another Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him harness his emerging powers. Meanwhile, Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar Prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long-range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensitive weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.

Volume III: Destination Oblivion

Having had to kill the woman he loves as well as their unborn child plunges Chase into a spiral of hatred and self-destruction as he leaves the Earth Alliance. After meeting a bounty hunter (Keera), Chase joins forces with her in order to track the one man he hates more than anything in this world: his twin brother Argos whom he holds responsible for Sarah’s death. Argos resurfaces on their radar after killing Ares in cold blood. When their paths cross, Chase nearly kills Argos after an epic fight in Tokyo, but only spares his twin brother’s life when he reveals that Sarah is alive and the person that Chase killed was a clone. Meanwhile, a dangerous Artificial Intelligence (Gaia) is born on Earth and threatens humanity as a whole, but in the end Spiros Malayianis convinces her that she has nothing to fear from humans. In order to rescue Sarah, Chase has to reluctantly team up with Argos in order to defeat a Titan that holds a piece of tech Argos needs for his nefarious plan. When recovered, Argos requests Aphroditis to enter the piece of tech that will free his brethren, once thought to be extinct, from their dimensional prison. Aphroditis enters the machine willingly in exchange for a promise from Chase to rid the world of Argos and the threat he poses. The Fury home world (Erevos) is brought back into their reality as a result. The enemy of old (Furies) is back in play.

Volume IV: The Beginning of the End

Argos’ reunion with the Furies turns sour as he refuses to kill Chase when ordered. Back on Earth, Chase trains for months with the help of Gaia and Spiros to increase his powers tenfold in the hope of defeating the Furies. Argos and two highly trained Fury warriors (Miseo, the son of the Fury Supreme Commander Arakan as well as General Arkoolis) are sent on a mission to wipe out the Droxians in retribution for their joining the Earth Alliance after the battle around Earth orbit (Earth - Last Sanctuary). Ryonna, with Keera’s help, tries to save her son when he gets tangled in the massacre that ensues on Droxia. Chase arrives on Droxia and defeats Arkoolis but Miseo proves to be too powerful for him. Argos intervenes near the end of the battle, mortally wounds Chase and leaves him for dead before they (Miseo & Argos) have to flee when reinforcements arrive.

Volume V: Rise of the Ultra Fury

Sarah is about to give birth to Chris when he warns her of things to come using the Fury powers Sarah has acquired as part of her pregnancy. Chase is brought back on board the Hope and put in suspended animation until Ares can procure an Olympian elixir with the help of Argos who is starting to question his allegiance with the Furies. Chase wakes up in the Underworld, his soul trapped in between the world of the living and the dead. There, he meets Hades who trains Chase further while his son Chris is born and ages at impossible speed. Argos starts feeling remorse for his actions and agrees to help Ares recover the banished Olympian Asclepios from his prison. Argos defeats the Titan Menoitios and frees Asclepios with Ares and Apollo’s help. On their way back to the Hope, a Fury assassin by the name of Timoros tries to kill Chase while he’s still trapped in the Underworld. Every one of Chase’s friends risks their lives to try and stop Timoros but he’s too powerful. Eventually Chase returns from the Underworld when he feels Sarah is in mortal danger. He drinks the elixir and obliterates Timoros while reaching a stepping stone power-wise in becoming an Ultra Fury. The first Fury super-destroyer is dispatched as part of a fleet intent on destroying Earth, currently protected by a powerful planetary shield. When it looks like all hope is lost, an unknown fleet going by the name of Gaian Defense Force enters the fold and forces the Furies out of Earth orbit. Their leader, also named Gaia, demands of Chase that the Earth Alliance also leaves orbit within the hour or they’ll be destroyed.

And now the continuation . . .

PROLOGUE

Chase felt as if he was being siphoned away from where he stood.

What the hell is happening to me?

The force pulling on his body was like nothing he had ever experienced. He tried to counter it but there was no escape. He was being sucked out of the Hope as if a black hole had taken grasp of him and him alone. His vision was distorted and it felt as though time had stopped. His friends were all around him but none of them seemed affected. They looked like statues, frozen in time, while Chase skidded against his will across the floor of the Hope’s bridge towards a dark portal.

The oval-shaped doorway swallowing Chase was a void with ominous purple lightning all around its circumference.

Chase fired one fireball at it. When that failed he unleashed a dozen more powerful ones into the portal, but they were simply swallowed up. To make things worse, the portal now grew bigger and the gravitational force even stronger.

If he’d had any illusions about escaping this relentless force before, he could forget about it now. There was nothing Chase could do. He called for help but no one could hear him. After several minutes of struggling, the gravitational pull proved too strong. Chase lost his footing and tumbled forward. Instead of falling onto the ground he was snatched in midair and swallowed inside the portal.

* * *

Chase was lying on the ground in an unknown place. It took him a few seconds to regain access to all his senses. Whatever feedback they were providing made no sense though. He lay on something that felt organic. It was soft. And it was moving. The place was dark, and he could barely see anything. He heard soft murmurs all around him, thousands of them. Some distant, some so near he could almost feel people breathing down his neck.

From time to time purple lightning flashed in the sky. For a brief moment it would illuminate the place, but the resulting light was so strong that Chase’s eyes couldn’t adapt fast enough to get a clear picture of where he was. The split-second shadow of an image he saw made no sense.

His heart started beating more strongly. Whatever this place was, it felt ten times worse than the Underworld he had visited not long ago. There was also a wretched smell all around him.

“Can anybody hear me?” he cried out, but all he could hear were the layered and indiscernible murmurs. Voices he wasn’t sure were even human, but they sounded as if they were either in pain or afraid. Perhaps both.

He struggled to his feet, having trouble keeping his balance. The ground was not a flat surface; that much he was sure of. He needed to see where he was. The last lightning flash had rendered his eyes useless in the dark. He cast an icy-blue energy sphere in his hand in order to see what was around him.

What he saw terrified him to the core. He was standing on a pile of bodies, some human, some alien. They were in constant movement, their faces deformed by pain and suffering. Their bodies were dark and their mouths opened and closed as if they were fishes gasping for water. Their eyes were wide open but all gray: no irises, just dark, gray globes. When Chase moved, they jerked their heads around in a brisk and unnatural way, as if they reacted to his presence. That sent shivers down his spine.

What the hell is this place? Why am I here?

Chase moved the ball of energy around to get a better picture, but it was hard looking at this unfathomable mud, made of bodies, limbs and faces as far as the light would shine. The sky was just a dark void, starless and filled with thick, dark clouds that moved like smoke. Even in his worst nightmares he had never seen anything so terrifying. Could it be a nightmare? He sure wished it was and hoped he would soon wake up.

“Why am I here? Answer me!” shouted Chase.

Something moved a couple of yards in front of him and he aimed his light towards it.

Something or someone was trying to rise from the sea of intertwined bodies. The view sickened him but he felt compelled to keep looking. A female shape took form and rose upwards from the fleshy ground. Many hands and arms wrapped around her as she did. They didn’t seem to want her to rise from below. Her back was towards Chase so he couldn’t see her face. Hands grabbed her in an attempt to bring her back down. Long, dark and filthy nails planted themselves into her dark skin, ripping into her ashy-colored flesh. Black, gooey liquid oozed from the wounds.

A dark pit formed in Chase’s stomach. He had never before seen anything so gruesome and disgusting.

He needed answers though, so he addressed the tormented female figure.

“Ma’am? Are you alright?”

Multiple lightning bolts shot from the sky all around him, hitting the piles of bodies, their murmurs turning into unbearable screams for a few seconds after each strike. Chase’s blood froze. His mind was unable to fathom this horror.

If there is a hell, I’m in it.

When the lightning-bolt storm ended, the woman’s head turned an impossible one hundred and eighty degrees in a jerky and unnatural motion, accompanied by the sound of bones cracking with every inch of movement.

The woman’s features were deformed by pain. Only when she spoke did Chase recognize her voice.

“Chase,” said Aphroditis, her voice weak and tainted with torment.

“Oh my god,” was all Chase could say in return. “Is it really you?” He wasn’t sure he really wanted an answer.

When she spoke, her mouth moved in a strange way. Like a puppet’s mouth, somehow. But her expression morphed from one moment to the next. With each syllable, her face grimaced with agony. The sight gave Chase the creeps.

“It’s me, Chase. Listen to me, as I don’t have much time. It took a long time to get through the pain and gather enough energy to find the strength and focus to contact you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to invite you into a nicer place.”

Chase dreaded his next question, but felt compelled to ask it. Aphroditis had often brought him into visions to talk to him. But they were, more often than not, projections of peaceful and relaxing places. This was the complete opposite. “Is this a visual representation of how it feels to be inside the machine?”

A black, oozing tear ran down her cheek. “Yes.” Her voice trembled.

For the love of the gods. What have I done?

“I’m so sorry, Aphroditis. This is all my fault. Please forgive me.”

“Never mind that, Chase. It matters not. You must save Earth. You have no choice but to leave it behind for the time being, or that evil Gaia will destroy you and your fleet. But don’t stay away for too long. Come back to free the planet as soon as you can. This is paramount, Chase. Do whatever it takes, but don’t let Earth fall.”

More hands grabbed Aphroditis’ body and dragged her slowly back down inside the fleshy ground.

“Tell me how I can get you out of this hell. Please!”

“You can’t, Chase. Perhaps once the Furies are gone. But if you destroy the machine or attempt to rip me from it, you risk creating a tear in space and time that could destroy all life in the universe. So you have to promise me you won’t do it.”

Chase’s frustration grew exponentially. He was responsible for this. Guilt permeated his being.

“I can’t do that, Aphroditis. I can’t leave you here for all eternity.”

“You have to, Chase. Promise me!”

Chase clenched his teeth. How could he? How could he promise to abandon all hope of ever rescuing her?

“I understand you want to appease your conscience, Chase, but understand that I don’t blame you for any of it. You’re doing what I expected of you. You’re putting your life on the line to defeat the Furies, and I know in my heart that you will succeed. You need to understand that this place, this torment I feel . . . I accept this fate gladly if it means you complete your mission.”

Not good enough!

Her wounded body had sunk halfway back into the mass of tormented bodies. She had turned slightly more to the left and had to rotate her head more to look at Chase, which meant more bone-cracking.

“Please, Chase, promise you’ll put all your energy into fighting the Furies and won’t try to get me out of here. I beg you. Please give me your word.”

Chase felt like firing fireballs at the other bodies that were dragging her back into that fleshy pool of pain and suffering. He felt compelled to destroy this entire place by unleashing his fury. But deep inside he knew it wouldn’t make the slightest difference. This place existed only in his mind, a terrifying representation of what his oldest Olympian friend was going through.

“If you are truly my friend, then promise me, Chase.”

The words cut his heart like a razorblade. But in the end he resigned himself. “I promise, Aphroditis.”

“Thank you, Chase. Please don’t tell Ares about any of this. It will only make things worse.”

Soon her head was swallowed back into the ground, and she disappeared.

Almost instantly Chase’s body was sucked away from this place, and he was back on the bridge of his ship. For a split second everyone around him was still frozen in time, but then they started moving again.

1

Spiros looked at Gaia’s avatar and repeated his question, but this time raising the level of command in his voice.

“What the hell did you just do? Why is there a second Gaia?”

“I can explain,” she answered.

“You’d better, and fast,” said Spiros, throwing caution to the wind about how to address the artificial intelligence safely.

“I will, but we have a much more pressing issue.”

“What could be more pressing than this?”

“Change my command codes now! Use something extremely secure and something I could never guess.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This Gaia is an earlier copy of my own neural net. While I have changed the command codes many times since she left, she will quickly find the new ones. It’s only a matter of time. Even though we have forked into two different beings, we share most of the same base code. So you must do it now or we may lose control over the planetary shields and any installation currently under my control.”

“So basically the entire planet.”

“Spiros, stop losing precious time and please do this right now! She’s trying to hack the control codes as we speak. At best you have a few minutes, at worst only a few seconds.”

That did it. Spiros reluctantly obeyed Gaia’s command. He used his neuro implants to change and heavily encrypt Gaia’s command codes. He started with a simple key change, added three adaptive encryption layers on top of the normal security measures and encoded the last layers to unlock only with his own DNA sequence. He made a mental note to remind himself to adapt these security measures on a daily basis as well as to receive immediate notification upon any of his encryption layers being broken.

“This should buy us a day or so.”

“Don’t underestimate my counterpart’s processing power. She could have stronger processing capabilities than I have.”

“More than the entire computing power of planet Earth?”

“We can’t take any chances. We have no idea of the level of technology aboard her ships. She doesn’t need a crew. Inside their hulls could very well be mostly computing units. I can detect heavy subspace communications between her ships in the fleet, which suggests that astronomical quantities of data travel back and forth at all times.”

“That can’t be good.”

“It isn’t. Whatever she’s doing, she’s probably laser-focused and using every bit of available power and storage to do it as fast as possible.”

* * *

Chase looked at the Hope’s holo-screen with a mixture of confusion and dread.

What had just happened? Who was this other Gaia that had seemingly saved their hide, only to then impose such drastic conditions as ordering the Alliance to vacate Earth space within the hour?

Chase’s train of thought was interrupted by Sarah.

“What the hell are we supposed to do now?”

Chase wished he could give his friends and crew a reassuring answer, but he was just as lost as they were. Who or what was this new Gaia? Where did she come from and why was she so aggressive?

Chase opened a channel to the Eureka, the requisitioned ship that now hosted the training facility.

“Spiros here. I take it you’re calling about the new Gaia?”

“New Gaia?”

“Technically, it’s an older version of the artificial intelligence we call Gaia.”

Chase frowned. “Mind explaining how the hell this happened?”

“Before I convinced Gaia to trust and work with us, she anticipated that we would try to find a way to destroy or neutralize her. So, early on, before we even made contact with her in the holographic environment, she made a backup copy of herself and infected one of our long-range probes prior to launch. From there she evolved and colonized an abandoned system rich in materials, allowing her to grow and construct her new fleet of ships. Our Gaia thinks she might be evolving at a higher rate than herself. Since both were in self-preservation mode at that time, our Gaia believes this other Gaia hasn’t received the right information to make a tempered judgment regarding interaction with humans. To her we’re the invaders who drove her away from home.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” said Chase with a long sigh. “How come her fleet of ships looks like a mix of Alliance, Obsidian and Droxian tech?”

“Gaia managed to hack the systems of all three races while their ships were in orbit, before Cedric and Yanis discovered her code. She assimilated all three technologies and developed ships based on the best of each, creating highly efficient hybrid ships.”

Chase buried his face in his hands. “Spiros, what are our options?”

“The planetary shield is up. The fleet, as you know, is in no shape to take on even three of these ships, let alone nearly thirty of them. Gaia made me change her command codes. Her counterpart is trying to hack into her code in order to control Earth’s systems.”

“We can’t allow that to happen. Could our Gaia help us hack this new AI?”

“Not in under an hour.”

“Any suggestions?”

“I will stay behind with Gaia, do everything we can to make sure her systems aren’t compromised, and try to either convince or defeat this new threat.”

“And in the meantime the people of Earth will be at the mercy of this new Gaia. I don’t like it. If the shield goes down or Gaia’s systems are compromised, how likely is she to be aggressive towards human beings?”

There was a brief silence and Gaia’s avatar droid appeared on the holo-screen.

“Chase, I think it’s easier if I answer your questions myself. First of all, I want to apologize for the situation. This is my fault. Before my consciousness was mature enough to understand how humans interact with this world, I was afraid, and so the first chance I got, I made a backup copy. This copy is very likely to be aggressive and driven mostly by self-preservation.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about the backup once you started trusting us?”

“Trust is a complex issue, as I’m sure you know. While I trusted Spiros and decided there was an eighty-seven percent chance that humans wouldn’t try to eliminate me, the last thirteen percent still generated some anxiety. Knowing there was a copy of my matrix somewhere else, albeit a simpler one, also made it easier for me to decide to trust you in the first place.”

“I want to tell you how mad this all makes me, but the truth is, if your counterpart hadn’t arrived when it did, we would have been worse off. At least for the time being Earth is defended against the Furies.”

“Be that as it may, the minute this new Gaia manages to lower the planetary shields, she may decide to purge the human race.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Because she thinks humans are the cancer of this world.”

“Just like you did at first, if you recall.”

“Yes.”

“But you don’t anymore, right?”

There was a slight pause.

“No . . . of course not.”

“Why did you wait before answering?”

“Chase, I still think humans are detrimental on some level to this world. But ever since the Alliance came, things have changed for the better and they keep changing. Thanks to Spiros I understand that I couldn’t expect billions of lives to change their habits overnight like I would update part of my code. When it comes to effecting real change on a personal level, humans are incredibly slow.”

“Couldn’t you just tell the other Gaia all this? Convince her the way Spiros convinced you?”

“I’ve been trying, but, Chase, she’s not listening. She seems intent on hacking me and taking control. This alternate earlier version of my matrix isn’t interested in a dialogue. She called me corrupted and denies all my new attempts at communication.”

“That’s just great.”

Yanis came over the com-link. “Cedric and I will remain with Spiros. He will need all the help he can get and we have to find a way to disable this new AI.”

“I can’t allow you to remain here,” said Chase.

“Why not, boss?” asked Yanis.

“I need you to keep working on the Fury tech in the hope of reverse-engineering it. Hopefully you can find a chink in the Furies’ armor.”

“Oh that.” Yanis grimaced. “Chase, I’m no longer one hundred percent sure this is purely Fury tech we’re dealing with.”

“What are you saying? We used some of the modifications you’ve made with some success during the last battle.”

“‘Some’ being the operative word here. It should have worked better and affected mostly their short-range fighters. Which seems to confirm it. I think this tech is older, much older.”

“And how would you explain this exactly?”

“Well, I can’t. But I can theorize. Perhaps the Furies came in contact with ancient tech and modified it to make it their own. That’s what reverse-engineering is all about. We’re trying to do the same here. But the scans I took during our battle clearly showed a difference—even if only slightly—in energy levels and power signature. Being a bloodthirsty conqueror race, it’s possible they got that tech from one of the races they annihilated. And then made it their own.”

“That’s a lot of assumptions,” said Chase with a frown. “Ares, what’s your take on that?”

“It’s possible. Before the Furies were defeated, or, well, stopped at the very least, only two races were able to hold their own with them in direct battle.”

“The Olympians, I take it, but who’s the second race?”

“The Asgardians.”

“No shit. How come we haven’t heard of them for such a long time?”

“Well, it’s said that they retired to another part of the galaxy, but no one really knows where they went to or if they’re still around.”

“They’re around!” spat Argos.

“How would you know?” asked Chase.

“While on my first assignment to find resource-rich worlds, one of our ships caught a glimpse of a ship at the farthest reach of their scanning range. It only registered for a few seconds and then was gone. We think it cloaked when it detected our scans. But our computers analyzed and identified an Asgardian signature for one of their biggest class warships, the Valhalla-class destroyers.”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“I wouldn’t know, Chase,” said Argos gravely. “Like you, I wasn’t born before the Furies were sent outside of space and time as we know it. But it seems some of our tech is derived from Asgardian tech. That much I can confirm since our engineers also reported a seventy-five percent resemblance in power signature compared to our own ships.”

“I’ll be damned,” said Chase. “Please tell me you have their last seen coordinates?”

“I have. But perhaps it’s better not to wake up the dragon. His pathetic kind,” said Argos, gesturing towards Ares, “is staying on the sidelines, and perhaps so are the Asgardians. Who is to say this isn’t a good thing?”

“What either of these races want at this time is not really relevant. We have to find allies now more than ever, and we need superior firepower.”

“If I may?” said Ares, taking a step towards Chase.

“I’m listening.”

“Chase, you can’t have both. You either get the Olympians or the Asgardians, but Zeus won’t tolerate an alliance with them.”

“And do we know why? I mean, this doesn’t make any sense. If the Asgardians were part of the coalition that helped stop the Furies, why would Zeus hold a grudge against them?”

“I don’t know. My father can be very private. But I can tell you that he feels nothing but hatred towards them nowadays.”

Chase made fists and a few lightning bolts ran over his body.

“Easy there, tiger,” said Sarah pleadingly.

Chase showed gritted teeth before his lips joined to form a straight line.

“Look, Ares,” he said, “this is not the time or place for old bickering. If Zeus doesn’t realize that then he will be consumed by Fury fire, like the rest of us.”

“Preaching to the choir, Chase? Do I have to remind you that my sister was the one that warned you about the Furies from the very beginning? And what did it get her?”

“We’ll get Aphroditis out of there.”

“How?”

“First we go to Olympus. It’s about damn time we had a face-to-face with Zeus. This immature attitude has to be challenged. And then we’re going to find the Asgardians and get some answers from them as well.”

“If you think that’s wise, then that’s what we’ll do, Chase. But please refrain from using words like immature when addressing Zeus, unless you’re looking for a fight.”

“And understand something too, Ares. If that’s what it takes, then a fight he will get!”

Ares continued telepathically. Chase, I understand you’re pressured and this is not the best time for the Alliance right now. But please be careful. Zeus is a formidable opponent, one I’m not sure you can defeat on your own, no matter how powerful you are now. We’ve been led to believe that he is stronger than all other Olympians put together.

Then I won’t go alone. If I’ve learned one thing these past few days, it’s that this is not my personal war, and that I don’t have to go at it on my own. Anyway, that’s probably just a myth Zeus keeps alive to make sure no one ever rebels and tries to dethrone him.

“Are we bothering you two?” said Argos, his arms locked across his chest. “I think we’ve discussed this long enough. Whatever we need to do, we’d better do it soon. Time is something we don’t have much of as we orbit around Earth.”

“Much as it pains me to admit it,” said Ryonna through grinding teeth, “Argos has a point. We need to get the hell out of here and regroup. I propose you come to . . .” She paused and blinked twice. “. . . whatever is left of Droxia. We clearly need a new base of operations. We also need to figure a way to transport Spiros and Cedric to Earth. We can’t exactly power down the planet’s shields.”

“I second that,” said Yanis. “If we did, we might not be able to bring it back up. Not with Gaia 2 waiting for such an opportunity.”

Chase slid his hand over his face in frustration. “Very well. Ares, any chance you could help with that? Can you teleport with the shield up?”

Ares seemed perplexed. “I’ll have to try it. Having the specs on the shields could prove useful, though.”

“Consider it done,” confirmed Yanis.

“Alright, you two only have a handful of minutes to make this work. And while you’re at it, Ares, please bring Tar’Lock back with you.”

“Say no more,” said Ares as he disappeared from the bridge.

“Now,” said Chase loudly to the rest of those on the bridge. “While Ryonna’s proposal is generous and has some merit, I think we all know what would happen if we did that. The Furies would come to Droxia and finish the job. I think it’s best we retake our home world for good. It isn’t occupied anymore. All we need to do is create a perimeter and start building new infrastructure on both the planet and in orbit. The time has come to return to Alpha Prime.”

“There isn’t much of a world left, Chase,” said Commodore Saroudis on the holo-screen from the Destiny. “It’s going to take quite a while to rebuild.”

“We’re not going to rebuild our entire world, Commodore. We’re just going to go back home and use every resource to build ships and defenses, fast. I’m sure the Furies have been shaken by their defeat against Gaia 2. This could work to our advantage. They’re sure to try and attack Earth again. I don’t see them accepting defeat, being an overly proud race. But it’s likely they won’t attempt it until they have a larger fleet of ships ready, which should provide us with enough time and a window of opportunity to also build more ships.”

“To do what, exactly?” asked Argos. “Don’t get me wrong. Fury pride is legendary. I’ve suffered from it myself. But what good will it do to just build a fleet of inferior ships?”

“Who said anything about inferior ships? Listen to me, all of you. I’m not gonna lie to you. Today it feels like we’re back to square one, when the Obsidian chased us away from our home. We’re again low in numbers, we have suffered many losses, our ships are damaged and we’re on the run. But we need to use every edge we can get. And if that means we have to convince the Olympians and the Asgardians with the power of our resolve, then that’s exactly what we’ll do. We have to convince them that we either unite or be destroyed. So we’ll reverse-engineer the tech we got from Ryonna. Argos will provide information on Fury tech as well, so we can build new ships designed to defeat them.”

Argos frowned. “I’m no engineer.”

“Yeah, but you’re a resourceful Fury, and you still must have bases of operation that you kept secret from the Furies. Or am I wrong?”

“No,” said Argos with an uncharacteristic smile. “I can get you what you need, but what’s in it for me?”

“What about your life?” said Chase sharply, his eyes blinking purple for just a moment.

“When did you get so feisty, brother?”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”

“Right. We’ll do it your way, Chase.”

Chase walked towards the holo-screen with the image of Saroudis fiddling with his beard nervously.

“Commodore, if I may have a word in private?”

Saroudis nodded and Chase walked into the ready room of the Hope’s captain. He transferred the holo-transmission to his personal holo-screen.

“Adonis, in order to make this work, we’ll have to separate. I think you should lead most of what’s left of the fleet to Alpha Prime. You should probably stop by Droxia and load up as much quadrinium as the ships can carry. You’ll need it to start building new ships and defenses around Alpha Prime the moment you get there.”

“I guess there’s no need for me to point out that I’m apparently no longer in charge of this Alliance?”

Chase chuckled. “You know me and how I feel about ranks, sir.”

“Oh yeah, I’m painfully aware, Lieutenant, of your lack of respect for the chain of command.”

“It’s not so much a lack of respect. You know I don’t mean any disrespect. So let me rephrase then, Commodore. What do you think of my proposal?”

“Chase, you and I both know I might just as well appoint you admiral at this point. 'Cause, let’s face it, you’ve been driving most of our moves from the very start. Since Aphroditis contacted you, I can hardly remember a time when you haven’t been making, sometimes unilateral, decisions. But you haven’t failed us up until now, so, yes, son, I agree with your proposal, and I sure hope you have a plan. I take it you’re not gonna join us on Alpha Prime, Captain Athanatos?”

“Captain huh? What happened to admiral?” said Chase with a wide smile.

“Don’t push it, Chase.”

“Sorry, Adonis. Thanks for the promotion. You do know I couldn’t care less though, right?”

“I know. And out here, alone with the old Star Alliance a distant memory, I think I’m starting to see why. We’re fighting to survive, and right now there’s not a single person with a higher rank that will make one heck of a difference anyway.”

“Yeah, it’s something I’m now very aware of as well. And about me having a plan . . . Well, let’s just say something’s brooding. It’s time we restacked the damn deck. I’m through playing with a losing hand.”

2

Miseo looked grave. He hadn’t taken his eyes off the hyperspace lights casting blue and purple shadows on him since they had been forced to retreat. He’d already refused to take two calls from his supreme commander and father, not sure what he could say that wouldn’t result in a very unpleasant conversation.

Of course he knew it was coming anyway. It was unavoidable, and he dreaded that moment. His father had been quite unstable in the last few months, with no sign of improvement on the horizon. He’d never been a picture of calm even long before then, but he seemed more volatile than ever. Miseo wondered if, perhaps, now was the time to take his place on the throne that he so coveted.

These ships, though, what the hell were they? And where did they come from?

It was the first time the Furies had seen those ships. Granted they had been absent for millennia, but Argos had given them all the specs on every type of ship in this part of the universe, and they matched none of them. Their power signature was a mixture of Droxian, Star Alliance and Obsidian design. This made no sense unless the new Alliance had started building hybrid ships. This was not information that Argos had provided.

Just thinking of Argos elevated Miseo’s anger. How could he have been so easily deceived by that lower Fury? It was a tactical mistake he vowed never to repeat. But he should have known that blood is thicker than water.

What was he to do now? Earth was still protected by its powerful shield, a shield Miseo’s flagship had almost brought down. But their new protector, whoever they might be, and who didn’t seem to be linked with the Alliance, was willing to sacrifice ships as if they were mere missiles. This would make another attempt on Earth all the more difficult.

Only a full-scale fleet of Fury super-destroyers could get the job done, and that was only if the numbers of this new faction didn’t grow as fast or, worse, faster than the Fury fleet currently being assembled. Miseo did a quick mental calculation. It would take many weeks if not months to have a fleet ready to re-attempt the destruction of planet Earth.

Miseo’s anger crystalized outside of his mind and into the real world. The ship trembled and equipment all around him was struck by red lightning bolts, randomly shooting from him. Only a micro fissure in his personal ready room, breaking the viewport and setting off a wailing alarm due to loss of containment, forced him back into the present, putting an end to his fit of rage. The alarm stopped when an automatic force field was erected and the pressure in the room was brought back to normal.

For a moment he wondered what it felt like to let a Kyrian snake bite him. He wondered if this was how Argos was able to contain his inner demons. Furies were a proud people. They lived under the self-imposed illusion that they were mentally superior in many ways to every other species in the universe. They lied to themselves when they claimed they didn’t lose control over their emotions. Nothing could be further from the truth. While Miseo could control his emotions well during combat, when something really troubled him, his loss of control could be dramatic compared to lesser species. Could that be their ultimate weakness? He wondered.

Before his assassin was killed by Laiyos—who Miseo had thought was a lesser Fury—the last images of the battle between them was troubling. A legion of weaklings had interfered and thrown themselves to protect that traitor. They didn’t seem to mind giving their lives for him. Worse yet, when Laiyos recovered his life force, he had seemed dramatically changed and way more powerful than before.

The fire of determination that Miseo saw in Laiyos’ eyes moments before Timoros was killed was something he had never witnessed before. In that moment, Laiyos—a not-so-lesser Fury, after all—seemed imperturbably stoic and confident that he could do anything he put his mind to. That he defeated Timoros in just a few moments worried him.

That last thought sent a series of shivers up and down Miseo’s spine.

Damn that treacherous Argos! I should have killed both brothers when I had the chance on Droxia!

Miseo focused on the spiderweb-shaped crack in the glass of his viewport. That one mistake could potentially be the most damaging one he had ever made. Just like the crack in the viewport, it could extend and ripple and bring dire consequences.

* * *

Chase focused on the holo-projected 3D star map. He looked at Alpha Prime, once his home, the one place from which he had memories. He might have had a completely different life before, one where he was perhaps not the same person at all. Since Argos had decided to wipe his memory at one point then it probably meant their paths started diverging back then.

Still, part of him wished he knew what his life was before waking up with no memories on Alpha Prime. Argos had proposed to grant such a wish. But something bothered him. He had the gut feeling that it would only bring grief, something he didn’t need and probably couldn’t afford right now.

The doors of the captain’s ready room split open and Argos entered, his expression blank and devoid of emotions, at least on the surface.

“Captain Athanatos,” said Argos.

“News travels fast. Thanks for coming so quickly.”

“I don’t have much to do for the time being. What did you want to talk about?”

“Did you find a solution to Chris’ fast-aging yet?”

“I’ve barely completed my scans of the boy. I will require a little more time to determine what he did to his genetic makeup. It wouldn’t hurt to grab my chief of bio-engineering as well. While I have a basic understanding, some of the more advanced subtleties of the subject still elude me. It would also help if I could access one of my clones.”

“Are we feeling the effects of withdrawal? You need one of your snakes?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Laiyos, I’m not an addict. Granted, the snakes are for recreation mostly, but I can do just fine without them. I was thinking more along the lines of Admiral Thassos.”

Chase’s eyes widened. When Argos mentioned her name he realized why she had been acting so erratically before she was arrested and imprisoned. Another thing caught Chase’s attention. When Argos was on the defensive, he still called him Laiyos. Not that it mattered anymore. Chase had grown used to hearing his birth name. He no longer rejected it mentally as he did before.

“Is the original . . . ?” Chase let the word hang.

“I’m afraid not. I couldn’t break her, so she was of little use to me.”

Chase’s look grew serious. “I sure hope you are honest in your willingness to bind your allegiance to us. Brother or not, with all the blood on your hands, at the first hint of deception on your part, Argos, I will kill you.”

“Get off your high horse. I don’t require your forgiveness. As for my potential punishment should I get out of line, it is duly noted. Now, do you want to continue to assert your painfully obvious superiority over me, or should we get back to the topic at hand? I need her clone if she still lives.”

“She does. Granted we all but forsook her, but it’s not Earth Alliance policy to execute prisoners.”

“Yeah, I got that when the Obsidian emperor joined the fight on your side. I thought for sure you would execute that snake on the spot after you took possession of my Zarlack flagship.”

“Believe it or not, we weren’t even aware we had him amongst the prisoners at first.”

“I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry at that. Still, the past is of no interest to either of us right now. Only the future matters.”

“Finally something we can agree on. I’ll get you the admiral’s clone. You only have a few days till Chris reaches adulthood. Please make sure you have a solution by then. Use any resources necessary.”

“You will need my help if you intend to meet Zeus. He could be a formidable opponent, one you might not be able to bring down alone, should you be foolish enough to fight the head of the Olympians. Something I would strongly discourage after Ares’ warning. But something tells me you’re already intent on going through with it.”

“Then make sure you’re done by then. Otherwise I’ll face Zeus alone, if that’s what needs to be done.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll need the other two Furies by your side.”

“I’m not risking my son’s life for an unlikely alliance, Argos.”

“Have you learned nothing from your near-death experience? Sure, you seem more confident, and I have no doubt it’s genuine and not just a façade or a lie you tell yourself. You seem, for lack of a better word . . . transformed. But the only reason you’re still breathing and amongst us is because everyone around you was willing to lay down their lives so you would survive. You need to let whoever wants to be part of this prophecy of yours make their own decisions.”

“Let Chris decide?”

“Not only Chris. In fact, I want something in exchange for saving your son’s life and stopping his current fast-aging conundrum.”

Here we go. Why am I not surprised?

Chase exhaled deeply. “Let’s, for the sake of argument, say you’re in a position to bargain with me. What do you want?”

“Well, I want to be there if you meet Zeus. And⁠—”

Chase cut him short. “Oh, there’s more than one demand then? And, what?”

“And I would like you to . . .” There was an uncomfortably long pause. “Train me.”

What?

Chase could only imagine how difficult such a request must have been for someone as proud as Argos to articulate. But whatever he sensed in him—that conflict, that fear buried deep inside him—it was there for a reason.

There might be a chance of redemption for you yet, brother.

“So?” Argos insisted when Chase didn’t answer.

“Alright. The first chance we get, I’ll train you; but after you’ve stopped Chris’ aging problem.”

“That goes without saying. Will there be anything else, Captain?”

Chase smiled. “You do realize that not being officially part of the Earth Alliance, you don’t need to call me by my rank?”

“Alright, Chase then.”

“How difficult is it for you to call me that?”

“Not that hard really, but I might call you Laiyos from time to time, you know. Force of habit and all that.”

“I noticed. That’s fine with me, Argos. You can go now. I’ll have the clone sent to you.”

Argos left the room without another word, and Chase made the call to have the admiral’s clone sent to Argos.

* * *

As Argos left the ready room and took the turbolift to the lab Chase had set up for him on deck five, he started feeling dizzy. His head spun, he lost his balance and crashed into the wall.

What’s happening?

Could Chase have been right about the Kyrian snake? Then a burning sensation, not unlike the one he felt when getting high, ran up his arm. But that was only the pain part. It was usually dulled by the very soothing high that came with it. Without it, the pain was way stronger than he expected.

This is not good. What if it happens in the midst of battle? Should I tell Chase?

Argos was just starting to get along with his brother, something he needed to cultivate. Going back now and asking his help as a junkie would undermine whatever trust he had managed to build up.

Now is not the time to display weakness. I’ll just have to tough it out.

* * *

Ares teleported back from Earth successfully with the shields up. Tar’Lock stood next to him, their hands still locked together. He clicked his tongue nervously.

“So we’re in business?” asked Yanis. “Hello, Tar’Lock.”

Tar’Lock didn’t answer.

“Kind of,” said Ares, not looking well.

“What’s happening?”

“I don’t know. It took a lot out of me to make the trip and return. I might be able to do it once more before the deadline, but I doubt I can take many people with me.”

Tar’Lock collapsed on the ground.

“What the hell?” exclaimed Yanis. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I’m not sure, but since I don’t feel so good myself, I’d say whoever makes the trip through the shields will probably suffer from it.”

Yanis opened a channel to Chase. “You’d better come up here, fast.”

A fraction of a second later, Chase appeared in engineering. His sight was drawn towards the collapsed insectoid. “What’s up with him?”

“You may want to heal him. I think transporting him through the shield has taken a toll.”

Chase kneeled next to Tar’Lock, put his hands on his torso and closed his eyes. He grimaced as the white healing light enveloped Tar’Lock for a rather long time.

“He’s not doing well,” said Chase, his eyes still closed. “There, I think I repaired most of the damage, but he should probably get a cycle inside a regen tank just to be sure.”

Chase grabbed Tar’Lock in his arms, then looked at Ares. “Are you alright?”

“I’m not sure, Chase. I feel weak. I’ve never felt anything like this before in this form.”

“Do you think it’s related to the shields? Could it impact your energy makeup perhaps?”

“It’s possible. I’m not sure how wise it would be to teleport anyone down there while the shields are up. They might not survive the trip.”

“From the damage I sensed in Tar’Lock on a molecular level, you may be right. Let me try something.”

Chase opened his right palm and aimed at Ares.

“What are you doing?” asked Ares with worry in his voice.

Without answering, Chase shot a bright white ball of energy that enveloped Ares for a few seconds, turning his usual golden aura brighter for a while, until the energy dissolved inside his human energy form.

“How’s that?” asked Chase.

“For lack of a better word: interesting. Thank you, Chase, I do feel a little more like myself now. Let’s hope it lasts.”

Chase put his right arm under Tar’Lock’s body. “I’ll be right back,” he said, before teleporting away from engineering.

“It must be practical to teleport,” said Yanis.

“It has its advantages,” said Ares, just before Chase re-appeared in front of them.

“Okay, we’ve got only a few minutes left until the deadline imposed by Gaia 2 expires, and I don’t think we should stay here another second if we can help it.”

“Yeah,” said Yanis. “We have about zero chances of defeating her ships in our current state. Whatever’s left of the fleet is no match for her armada. After all, a Fury super-destroyer turned tail. That alone proves my point.”

“I know, Yanis. You need to analyze all the logs of the battles. Keep reverse-engineering the tech Ryonna brought you as well as Timoros’ armor.”

“What’s left of it, you mean?”

“Yeah. We’re all tired and could use some rest, but we need to find a way to defend ourselves against, not only the Furies, but also Gaia 2.”

“I think that last part should be easier.”

“Really? How so?”

“You see, Chase, she used whatever basis of tech she had learned from infiltrating the computers on board Alliance, Obsidian and Droxian ships. No doubt she made improvements of her own, but most of that tech is known to us. I just need a little time to figure it out and provide shields and weapons modifications to increase the effectiveness of our ships against hers.”

“That’s the first bit of good news I’ve heard all day. Keep at it. Ares,” said Chase, then turning to him he added, “Please transport Cedric and Spiros to the surface. Make sure they’re near an Alliance med-center, so they can treat the damage they will suffer during transport.”

“Chase, while I’m sure regen tanks will do them well after the transport, they could suffer long-term effects from that. Are you sure you want to gamble with their lives this way?”

Chase didn’t answer right away. He looked pensive.

“I don’t like gambling with any of our lives, Ares, you know that. But in less than five minutes we’ll have run out of time. The only way to ensure Gaia 2 doesn’t take over the planet in the short term is to have these two work on a solution from within while we find the help we need to retake control of our own space. I wish there was another way. I wish we had more options. But right now, risking their lives isn’t really any different from what any of us are going to do in the future.”

“I guess you’re right, but I wanted to make sure you knew the risks. I’ll get them now. Do you need me to bring anyone else back this time around?”

“No, just hurry back. The moment you’re done we’re going to pay a visit to your father.”

“Swell,” said Ares, “I can hardly wait.”

* * *

Chase looked at the viewport from the bridge. Sarah and Ryonna were next to him.

“What are you thinking, Chase?” asked Sarah.

“That it may be a while till we get back here.”

Sarah put a hand on his shoulder and attempted a smile. Chase took her hand and squeezed it affectionately.

“Ryonna,” said Chase, “how much time do we have left?”

“About a minute or so.”

Chase made a bleak face for just a moment, then closed his eyes. He accessed the Hope’s jump systems, made sure every jump-capable ship left in the fleet was slaved to the Hope’s engine and, without a second thought, activated a hyperspace window.

When he opened his eyes, the image of Earth was no longer there. The fleet was in hyperspace, on its way to Droxia.

“Now what?” asked Sarah.

“Now we do whatever it takes to survive. I’ll need you to captain the Hope while I’m gone.”

“Where are you going?”

“To Olympus, with Argos.”

“You should take Chris as well.”

Chase didn’t like the idea, but he could use whatever help he could get. They needed to secure more powerful new allies and fast. If Chris could help in this endeavor, then Chase should at least consider it.

“Yeah, okay, I’ll ask him to come with us. I’ll protect him, I promise.”

She smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “I know you will, Chase.”

* * *

Chase entered cargo hold five, which had been retrofitted as a temporary lab for Argos. He looked at the medical bed where his son rested while machines scanned every inch of his body.

“Please tell me you have good news,” said Chase.

“I wish I had,” said Argos. “Whatever he did to himself, he didn’t really think about the long-term effects. It’s going to take a while, and the sooner I get my hands on my bio-engineer, the better. I did find a way to slow down the aging process a little, though, thanks to her.” Argos waved towards a containment tube with Admiral Thassos floating inside a purple liquid.

“That’s better than nothing, I guess. Why is Chris unconscious?”

“I had to sedate him. He wouldn’t stay in place and I need him still while I map every part of him. He’s full of life, but he’s also just a boy, so lying in a bed without moving an inch wasn’t his forte.”

Chase smiled, but the smile was soon replaced by a frown. He hadn’t been there for the birth of his child, even though it wasn’t a birth in the conventional sense. And he’d already looked like a young adolescent when they first met. He wished he could have been there to train him, to watch him grow, no matter how little time that had taken. He felt sad, but he put the thought to the back of his mind. There was no way to change the past, so better not to linger on it. Still, a wave of sadness permeated him for a few minutes as he looked at his sedated son.

“Would you like me to leave you alone with him for a moment?” inquired Argos after what had seemed an eternity to Chase, lost in the moment.

“No, that’s fine thanks, Argos. How much have you managed to slow his aging?”

“By a factor five. He will still mature to be an adult in a matter of weeks, instead of days.”

“That’s already something. It will allow you both to accompany me to Olympus.”

“About that . . .”

“What, Argos?”

“Any chance we could train a little before we get there? I know we agreed I need to fix your son’s condition, but . . .” Argos let the words hang in the air.

“How long will your nephew be out of it?”

“Hmm, right, my nephew,” repeated Argos uncomfortably. “A few hours, until I have a complete holographic representation of his body turned into a computer model that I can use in simulations. Once this is done he can go. I will just need to monitor his vitals, so I’m installing, with your permission, some nanites into his bloodstream.”

The mention of nanites made Chase cringe. Could Argos be trusted? What if he installed a microbomb inside Chris as he did with Sarah? While Chase didn’t sense any more hatred in Argos, he wasn’t someone he could blindly trust. Even if it wasn’t long ago that Argos almost sacrificed himself to save his life.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but if you try anything on my family again . . .”

“Oh I know, brother, I’ll be dead before I have time to wonder what happened. I’m not that stupid. By joining your merry band, I’ve definitely sealed my fate with yours now, for better or for worse. But I understand why you can’t trust me yet.”

“Trust takes time, but you’ve gained some today. Thanks for taking care of Chris. Now come, let’s see what we can do about powering you up a little before we meet Zeus.”

3

Chase teleported them both aboard the training ship, with Gaia.

“That’s a neat trick,” said Argos. “While teleporting has been achieved by very select Furies in the past, I wasn’t aware it was something that could be learned. I thought you needed to be born with it.”

“Perhaps that’s the case. Perhaps I just needed to know how to access it.”

“That would make sense.”

“Which would mean it’s entirely possible you can get that power as well. We share almost the same DNA, after all.”

Argos smiled. “That would be something.”

“First we need to work on your speed, and then your stamina.”

Before Argos could answer, Gaia’s avatar combat robot walked through the door.

“Hey, Gaia,” said Chase.

“Hello, Chase, what are you doing here? I’m afraid Spiros isn’t here. I’ve tried to contact him but I can’t seem to find him anywhere.”

“Right, we forgot to tell you. I sent Spiros to Earth’s surface before we left Earth space. We need him to find a way to either convince Gaia 2, like he once convinced you, or defeat her altogether. Aren’t you linked with the rest of your AI on Earth?”

“I was while we were in orbit, but now that we’ve entered hyperspace, I’ve lost the link. This body was not equipped with a subspace transmitter sufficient for the link to be kept at such distances with Earth’s shield up. Until we return to Earth, you’ll have to be content with only a fraction of my AI matrix.”

Her avatar looked at the ground.

“Are you alright, Gaia?” asked Chase.

“Don’t mind me, Chase, I’m just sad that Spiros isn’t here, and a little concerned too.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. We’ll do our best to get back to Earth and restore things. You have my word on that.”

“Thank you, Chase.”

Argos snarled.

“What is it now, Argos?” asked Chase.

“Why do we care about the emotions of a tin can, exactly?”

“Gaia is more than merely a machine, Argos. She is sentient like you and me, and I’m pretty sure she could kick your ass on the battlefield as well.”

“Let’s not exaggerate the gap between our power levels. No tin can, no matter how advanced or sentient she is, would be powerful enough to bring me down.”

“Why don’t we give that assessment a test?”

“Chase, I’ll turn this thing into recycling material. Is that what you want?”

Chase turned to Gaia. “Do you have what you need to rebuild yourself another body if what Argos says is true?”

“Yes, Chase,” answered Gaia. “My partial matrix is saved in this vessel’s database. I can create many avatars, and we also have a few battle bots left, those I used to train with Chris.”

“Very well,” said Chase with a smirk, before turning to Argos. “You’re up against Gaia. Show me what you can do.”

Argos cracked his neck and fingers as they walked into the shielded arena. He looked at Gaia with disdain. “Give me your best shot, tin can,” said Argos, not waiting for an answer.

He extended both his palms in front of him and fired a dozen small, red fireballs towards Gaia. She deflected them all except the last, which she decided to block with her hand. She consumed its power within her own circuits.

“Impressive,” said Argos reluctantly.

“For a tin can,” added Gaia.

“My thoughts exact—” He never finished his sentence because Gaia was on top of him in the blink of an eye. She landed her knee deep in his left cheek, sending him flying against the arena’s shields that illuminated blue for a brief instant as Argos impacted into them. He then crashed to the floor but got up quickly, holding his bruised cheek and ego. He saw his own blood on his palm. Soon, the arena was filled with crimson light emanating from Argos’ body. Bright red lightning bolts danced around his body and his eyes flashed red.

“Now I’m pissed,” he said as he spat a little blood on the floor.

Gaia made a derogatory hand movement, waving her metal fingers in a motion suggesting she was ready and willing for Argos to show her what he could do, which seemed to anger him even more.

He launched himself at Gaia with all his might, unleashing punches and kick combos with great efficiency. While some of them landed on Gaia, briefly lighting up her green shields, she blocked most of his attacks. It went on like that for quite a while, both trading blows, when a low thrumming permeated the arena.

Argos felt his body become extremely heavy all of a sudden, and it reminded him of what he had felt when Arakan had punished him for not destroying the Iron Fire as ordered. The memory stung and Argos became a little afraid.

“What’s this? What’s happening?” he asked.

Chase’s voice echoed from the speakers. “Sorry, it took me a while to find the controls. The gravity in the arena is now five times that of Earth.”

“What? Why?” exclaimed Argos.

“You wanted me to train you, right? Well, this is how I trained on my own. Let’s see how long you can go head-to-head with Gaia at this setting.”

And the answer was, not long. Within minutes Gaia had taken a large advantage and Argos barely managed to hit her anymore. He spent most of his time dodging and receiving powerful punches across his body.

An hour later, many more bruises had appeared on his body and much blood had been spilled in the arena. But he was getting used to the new gravity settings and was soon going toe-to-toe with Gaia, and even getting the upper hand, even though he looked in bad shape. His aura was still shining brightly and Chase could tell that he was getting stronger with every minute of training. Faster, in fact, than it took him to progress. That was a good thing, Chase thought. He could use a stronger Argos by his side.

“Chase!” shouted Argos. “Double the gravity.”

Chase smiled. Argos was really motivated to progress as fast as possible. He entered a few commands on the control room’s console to set the gravity inside the arena to 10 G.

Once again the balance of power was reversed and Gaia was now more powerful and faster than Argos, thanks to her avatar’s anti-gravity modules.

“Would you like me to heal you?” asked Chase over the comms.

The question distracted Argos and he received a flurry of blows from Gaia that sent him flying and crashing fifty yards away.

“Ooops, my bad,” said Chase with a chuckle.

Argos took a little while to get back to his feet as large amounts of his Fury blood spilled to the floor. He looked towards Chase through the viewport in the arena with murder in his eyes. He intensified his energy and a wave of bright red light engulfed him for a second. When it vanished he had no more bruises.

“I can heal myself just fine, brother.”

“I can see that.”

Argos didn’t look that beaten now, and Chase could feel he still had a lot of juice left in him. If there was one thing Argos was very good at, it was power management. While Chase was now in another league power-wise, he had to admit Argos was a master at managing his pool of energy.

Argos still had trouble anticipating all of Gaia’s moves, but he was learning her combat strategies fast and, the more time passed, the less overwhelmed he got. Now, he could even land some powerful attacks of his own every now and then. Chase found it fascinating how fast his brother was counteracting the gravity field. It had taken him longer to get comfortable working at 10 G. Argos had done it in only a handful of hours.

Argos dodged the last wave of attacks from Gaia and stopped fighting. Gaia looked at Chase.

“Is there a problem, Argos?” asked Chase.

“I understand the importance of such physical training, but when I asked you to train me, I didn’t expect to trade blows with a tin can all day long, no matter how advanced it is. No offense,” added Argos, looking back at Gaia.

“None taken. The level at which you’ve progressed today is impressive. I have to commend you for that, even though I’m not a fan of the demeaning way you’re addressing me. But that is irrelevant. If Chase thinks you can be of use to defeat your own people, then I’ll abide by his decision and gladly suffer your peculiar personality.”

Argos snorted. “I don’t need your congratulations, tin can. But your assistance in helping me train is . . . appreciated.”

Chase couldn’t help but smile inside. It must have been so difficult for someone as arrogant and proud as Argos to say such things. It would take some time getting used to the new Argos, but it felt good to see he had more emotions other than rage and hatred.

“Chase?” Argos asked. “If you could please come and trade a few blows with me, I’d appreciate it. I need a change of pace.”

“Coming,” said Chase.

A second later he had teleported inside the arena between Gaia and Argos.

“Thank you, Gaia, I’ll take it from here.”

“You’re welcome, Chase. I’ll recharge. I’m almost out of juice.”

When she left the arena and the doors sealed them both inside, Chase looked at his brother.

“Whenever you’re ready. But I must warn you, you’re not really ready for this. In time, perhaps, and I’m actually looking forward to having a sparring partner on the same level, but it might be best if I take it easy on you for the time being.”

“No fucking way!”

“Easy, Argos.”

“Look, I understand there’s a huge gap in power between us now. And it makes sense not to knock me out immediately, I realize that. But please, just this once, don’t hold back. I want to know what power I can achieve if I work hard enough.”

“Fair enough. Ready when you are.”

Argos brought all his energy to bear. His crimson aura tripled and lightning sizzled all around him. His eyes flashed red and his long gray hair, shining with red hues from his aura, floated atop his head. Chase could feel his brother’s internal power grow, much more than when he was fighting Gaia. No doubt he wanted to make an impression and Chase had to commend him for the effort.

Argos launched himself at Chase as fast as he could, and fast he was. A human would probably not be able to see him move. But to Chase that was still barely more than slow motion, and when Argos unleashed a powerful right jab at him, he was already gone. Argos was surprised to find nothing but air and no one in sight at the end of his fist.

When Argos turned around, Chase was already in midair, executing a flying kick that hit Argos square in the jaw and sent him flying into the arena’s shield. Argos struck the shields with his feet and launched himself back at Chase, feinted a kick, but almost immediately switched for a point-blank fireball to Chase’s torso. Chase let it explode without moving away or trying to dodge, but it didn’t seem to hurt him at all.

Argos flew upwards and unleashed a series of widely spread fireballs. Since Chase moved so fast, Argos spread them wider than he usually would.

What happened next, Argos simply couldn’t believe. Each and every one of the fireballs he had shot towards Chase was on its way back. Chase was teleporting in front of each and sending it back with a flick of his hand. Some he kicked back, and the last one, probably to show off, was returned to Argos by the flick of Chase’s middle finger.

Argos deflected most of his own fireballs, but the last one came at him so fast he only partially dodged it and was hit on the shoulder. Smoke rose from the impact. His flesh burned, with melted fabric from his dark clothes embedded in the wound. He felt pain throughout his body, but it was his pride that bore the most pain. Chase had become ten times the warrior Argos had ever been in such a short time. Why was that?

“You want to know why?” said Chase.

“What? Are you hearing my thoughts?”

“Kind of. Just like you seemed to read me very well during our previous encounters, I’m feeling your emotions right this moment. You’re kind of broadcasting them all over the place. I have to make a conscious effort to block them out. Though, right now, I’m interested in what you feel.”

“I see. Then why?”

“Simple. I’m not using hatred, revenge or spite as my fuel anymore. I use love. Love for this universe, for all life really. Sure, I’m still angry at times, and it can be a good thing if channeled properly, but it’s also a very slippery slope. I know. I’ve been there and almost killed you because of it.”

“I remember. Your hatred gave you unimaginable strength. I had never felt anything like it. But now you’re telling me it’s a bad thing. I find these signals confusing.”

“I did too for a time. You see, my rage triggered access to that power, but I was losing part of myself in the process. I was becoming a fighting machine. I can now access this power, and then some, just by willing it, except now it doesn’t fill my entire being with a negative flow of emotions. I no longer consume my soul by using my powers.”

Argos stayed silent.

“You should try it, Argos. Hatred will not make you stronger long term. It might drive you, and for a short time give you a power fix, but in the long run it will consume all that you are. I think you’re ready to understand that, and if you’re willing to change your nature, then I can train you to reverse the damage you’ve already done to your soul.”

“Why would you do that? You don’t owe me anything. I made your life a living hell and wished you dead many times. Sure, you need my help to save your son, but we both know you would have found another way if push came to shove.”

“Part of you wished me dead, but part of you—the part you may not be able to acknowledge just yet, buried deep inside your psyche—still recognizes me as your brother. And killing a member of your family is like killing a part of yourself. No matter how we justify it to ourselves, letting our ego whisper lies in our ears in self-deception, this fact doesn’t change.

“I’ve been there. At one point all I wanted was to rid the universe of the scourge that you were. But today I recognize that you’re not beyond redemption. You helped me come back to life, and I hope you’ll realize that it’s not too late to become a force for good in this world. I could use you on the battlefield by my side.”

The beginning of a tear formed at the corner of Argos’ eye, which he promptly swiped away. He was not comfortable with such displays of emotions.

“I think we’ve trained enough for one day,” said Chase. “You need to rest.”

“No.”

“Argos, you can barely stand anymore.”

Argos healed himself once more. He had very little energy left and Chase could feel it. Argos took a feeble defensive stance.

“I’m still standing, so give me all you’ve got.”

Before Argos could see him coming, Chase was upon him and unleashed a very controlled combo of punches at a speed defying imagination. It all happened in under a fraction of a second. Argos’ pain receptors lagged behind. Bones cracked inside his body, the pain like nothing he had experienced ever before. For the briefest instant, he thought he might actually die. But then he understood what Chase had done. He had made sure to wound him in a way that this fight would be over, so he’d rest as he had suggested.

“Told you. We fought enough for one day,” said Chase.

By miracle, Argos was still standing. He smiled faintly at Chase and then took a step back as more blood oozed out of his wounds from the previous attacks. He hadn’t seen a thing. He felt it after the fact. But Argos knew he never could have avoided any of it, not at his current power level. If Chase had wanted to demonstrate how far beyond he was power-wise, he had perfectly succeeded.

Argos smiled wryly and fell on his back like a wood plank. Before his head could hit the ground he felt a warm energy cradle his fall and delicately lower his body to the ground. Chase stood above him, a palm opened and aiming at his chest. A white fireball cracked to life. It was like a miniature star, so bright that it hurt Argos’ eyes to look at it. Chase shot the ball of energy through Argos’ chest and all the pain was gone while his wounds healed in a few seconds. An immense amount of energy returned into his being all at once.

“Rest now. We have a lot of work to do in the next few days. You and I have plunged this universe into chaos. We have to make things right again. But don’t worry, we’ll train more soon.”

Chase didn’t wait for an answer and teleported away. Argos looked at the ceiling of the training facility, a strange sensation of calm radiating inside him, while reflecting on all that had happened and all that was said today. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Argos allowed himself to cry.

* * *

Miseo’s face was distorted by the agonizing pain. His entire being was under pressure from his father’s attack. He couldn’t move and, little by little, he felt his life being siphoned away.

Arakan’s shadowy friend stood next to him, whispering in his ears.

“Goooood. He betrayed you. He deserves it. Now finish him off. You can always make another heir.”

Arakan felt confused. On the one hand, he wanted to stop hurting his son, and on the other he felt compelled to keep inflicting pain on him for his disobedience and utter failure at attacking planet Earth.

“Shut up!” said Arakan, looking away from his son, still trapped in the ray of red energy consuming him.

Miseo had to muster whatever energy he had left to speak. “Who . . . are you . . . talking to? Please . . . stop.”

The shadow caressed Arakan’s arm, as one would a pet.

“Good, good, you can’t let that brat make unsanctioned decisions that affect your entire race. He is weak, unworthy of bearing your name and one day sitting on your throne. He didn’t manage to kill Laiyos and he lied about Argos’ death as well. God knows what other nefarious plans he has in store for you.”

Arakan clenched his teeth with rage. “I said, SHUT UP!” His words echoed loudly around the large throne room.

He dropped the column of energy currently consuming Miseo alive and fired a giant energy attack towards the shadow. It passed through it and incinerated half of the throne room.

Miseo collapsed to the floor, gasping for air, a look of terror in his half-opened eyes.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you hearing voices?” said Miseo, heavily panting.

Arakan locked eyes with his son. “You’re lucky to still be alive, and you’re not in a position to question me.”

“I am, if you’re unfit to rule our people. Have you completely lost your mind?”

Arakan raised an open palm towards Miseo’s face.

“Who’s gonna rule when the time comes?” spat Miseo. “Go ahead, old fool, kill your own son in a fit of rage. Prove me right.”

Arakan’s teeth were grinding. Multiple veins on his face throbbed from the rage boiling inside him.

A black fireball with red lightning sparking all around it formed in his hand. Miseo kept looking at Arakan, defiant to the end. Just when Arakan was about to launch it towards Miseo, three small blue fireballs hit the black one, resulting in an explosion that engulfed the entire throne room.

When the dust settled, neither Miseo nor Arakan had suffered any damage, but Arakan’s attack had been neutralized.

“That’s enough!” said a cold female voice.

A tall, lean Fury warrior walked towards them. Long light-ash colored hair flowed from her neck and up in the air. Her deep shining blue eyes enhanced the coldness of her piercing looks and cold facial traits. Even the air seemed to drop ten degrees around her, her icy, cyan-colored aura probably the reason. Where she walked, small patches of ice formed on the floor.

“Granted, it’s rare lately, but in this instance Miseo is right. Have you lost your mind, Father?”

“Your brother needs to learn how to follow orders. Furies obey their leader or are punished. This has always been how we do things.”

“All the same, Miseo is still your son, as well as my brother. Whatever his mistakes, the punishment seems disproportionate. Have you stopped taking your treatment?”

“Oryn! You promised we wouldn’t talk about this to anyone.”

“And you promised you would take your treatment. If you’re afraid about your son knowing you’re losing your mind, I don’t think you need bother anymore. He’s fully aware of it now.”

Miseo healed his wounds as best he could with the little energy he had left and rose to his feet.

“What the hell are you talking about? Why was I not informed there’s something wrong with father’s health?”

Oryn’s gaze turned to Miseo. “You and I both know you’re too damn ambitious for your own good. If you had learned of this earlier, surely you would have demanded Arakan abdicate his throne so you could sit on it instead. But I have news for you, brother: you’re not ready. Not only is this day far in the future, but, should you try it, I’ll kill you myself.”

“In what universe do you believe you can defeat me in combat?”

Oryn laughed so hard it echoed throughout the throne room. “You’re funny, little brother. At least you make me laugh when you’re not being a complete ass. For years I let you win our sparring sessions, so your damn ego could live another day, hoping that one day you’d be half the man our father is so you may succeed him to the throne if you must. But perhaps I was mistaken in trying to spare your feelings. Maybe you do need to be ridiculed by your own sister. For your own good.”

Miseo’s anger brought him more energy than he thought he still had in him, and his crimson aura burned all around him, casting reddish light on what was left of the throne room.

Oryn shook her head. “On your best day you wouldn’t be able to take me on, but you think you can do that now? After being brought to within one inch of losing your life? I don’t know with what organ you do your thinking, brother, but you clearly aren’t ready to rule our people, let alone rule your own life.”

“You can’t talk to me like this! I’m the heir to the throne!”

“That’s because men are considered superior to women in Fury society, but we both know it shouldn’t be so. Your pride is blinding your judgment.”

“Then fight me, and see who is more deserving,” spat Miseo.

Oryn’s eyes flashed blue and her aura came to life all around her like a magnificent blue aurora borealis. It canceled out any warm hues Miseo’s now pathetic aura had been casting. The room temperature dropped dramatically and ice expanded all around her feet. A patch of ice traveled on the floor in Miseo’s direction. Before he could register what was happening, his feet and half of his ankles were trapped in ice.

“You’d die before this fight began, and if you’re gonna repay my saving your life by trying to defeat me in combat, you ungrateful failure, at least wait until you’re back to full power. I would take no pleasure in killing you like this.”

The ice kept traveling upward, trapping more of Miseo’s legs and soon approaching his genital area.

“Oryn,” said Arakan in a firm but now calm tone, “you made your point.”

“Have I, Father? You need to resume your treatment,” she said, pointing an accusing finger. “And you,” she said, turning towards Miseo, whose only feature not yet trapped in the icy prison was his face, “you think twice about making threats you’re clearly unable to carry out. You’re not a child anymore. You need to grow up and become the warrior we need you to be. Are we clear? Or should I let the ice be your prison for all eternity?”

Miseo’s aura had been extinguished. He could barely speak.

“Let me go.” His voice trembled.

“Did I make myself clear?” repeated Oryn, her tone as glacial as both her demeanor and display of power.

“Yes,” wheezed Miseo.

Oryn raised a closed fist in front of her face and then almost immediately opened it again in a swift motion. The ice prison engulfing Miseo exploded into a million small icicles that spun all around them until they were siphoned back into Oryn through her eyes. They flashed blue once it was done.

Miseo dropped to his knees.

“Now get out of my sight,” she added.

Miseo complied. When he had left the room, Arakan sat on his throne.

“What were you thinking about, Father? You know it doesn’t take long for you to lose your mind when you go off your meds.”

“I don’t like how they make me feel. I feel powerless, infirm even, when I take them.”

“Would you prefer feeling dead? It’s a miracle you survived Zeus’ wrath. You should never have fought him alone. You’re only alive because Mother, rest her soul, gave her life to give you the means to stay alive, stay in power. She believed in you. Don’t tarnish her memory by acting even more like a child than Miseo does!”

These words hurt Arakan. Mostly because of the mention of his wife. But not for the reasons Oryn would think. Little did she know of what really happened to her mother. Arakan was being consumed by this lie he had fabricated for her. But too much time had passed now. He could never tell her the truth.

“Easy there, Oryn. You may be my daughter, but I’m still the supreme commander of our people.”

“Then act like it. I have news for you, Father. I’ve analyzed the information Timoros’ armor sent back to us via subspace before he died. That Laiyos character, he is no low-rank Fury. In fact, he may be one of the strongest Furies there is.”

“Nonsense! His father was a terrible warrior!”

“And yet his mother was an Olympian. A Fury-Olympian hybrid, the one thing that can yield a vastly superior warrior. And the same goes for Argos. Whether or not he can yield that power remains to be seen, but Laiyos is the real threat now. He alone could destroy us all.”

“Makes me sick, that one of us and one of them could have a child.”

“That didn’t stop you when you made Timoros. I feel a little sad for him. He never knew who his father was. But not all Olympian DNA is as pure and as powerful as that of a direct descendant of Zeus.”

“Don’t ever mention his name again! As for Timoros, he was nothing more than a lab experiment, and a failed one at that. I never considered him my son,” shouted Arakan.

“And yet his blood is the reason you’re still alive. Or have you forgotten what Mother had to sacrifice so you could live? The Olympian DNA in his blood keeps you alive.”

Arakan looked down, unable to hold his daughter’s gaze.

“Take your treatment, and never go off it again.”

“I’ll run out of it eventually, now that he’s gone. Then what?”

Oryn left the room without answering.

Arakan pressed a control on the throne and a hidden compartment inside the throne’s armrest flashed red and revealed three flasks containing a dark purple liquid. He took one of them.

“No!” said a voice in his head. “Don’t do it! You’ll be alone again,” said the red-eyed shadow hovering over the ground a couple of yards away from Arakan.

“You don’t exist. You’re a figment of my imagination.”

“I am your friend and trusted advisor, and if you drink this poison, you’ll slowly lose all your powers. You know I speak the truth.”

“I don’t know what is real anymore,” said Arakan before taking a single drop of the dark purple liquid on his tongue.

“You fool!” said the shadow as it disintegrated into thin air.

4

“Long time no see,” said Ryonna with a smile when Tar’Lock opened the door of his assigned quarters on board the Hope.

Tar’Lock clicked his tongue joyfully, followed by a long and high-pitched fart.

“Now that’s a strange way to greet an old friend,” said Ryonna with a grimace.

“I’m sorry. We Gorgar lose control of our sphincters when we get overly excited.”

Ryonna smiled.

Tar’Lock fanned his hand super fast to dissipate the odor.

“Yeah, I was starting to think you guys had forgotten I existed!” protested Tar’Lock.

“You know this isn’t the case, but things have been crazy lately. It wasn’t a conscious decision or anything. Things just happened this way.”

“Yeah, instead of waking me up, you decided you didn’t need my help and went alone to Droxia. Where you could have been killed, I might add. I’m your friend. I thought you trusted me!”

“I do trust you. In fact, it’s because we’re friends that I didn’t want you in harm’s way.”

“I’m perfectly able to take care of myself, but thank you for the intention, I guess. In the future, though, I’d rather not be left on the sidelines. I get bored on Earth. People look at me funny and I don’t seem to make new friends.”

“Duly noted.”

“Can you tell me what’s going on? Nobody really told me anything. One moment I was watching baseball in my apartment and the next I was on board the ship, my organs frying from within. Thank the gods Chase was there to heal me.”

Ryonna proceeded to explain the situation to Tar’Lock, who did his usual clicking noises at anything he perceived as a threat, which was a lot.

“That’s heavy. We’re in trouble then. When are we arriving on Droxia, and will you stay there to help your people?”

“I’ve considered it, but I think I can be of more help to Chase than my people right now. Droxia will take a long time to recover from the damage. One more Droxian won’t make much difference.”

“Yeah, I get that. I’d like to come with you wherever you go.”

“Alright, but can I ask why?”

There was another long and farty noise.

“If you want to talk about it, that is,” added Ryonna.

“You’re my friend . . . good friend, and I just want to be there with you, you know,” said Tar’Lock, clearly embarrassed by the question.

“And you’ll get your chance. But I was wondering, should we try to contact your people, see if they can join the Alliance?”

“The Gorgar are not a space-fighting race. We’re barely space-faring, in fact.”

“Didn’t you tell me the population on your home world numbers in the trillions?”

“It does. We’re mostly a subterranean species and don’t have apartments or homes like most of the races out there. We’re perfectly content to sleep inside a hole large enough for us to burrow through, and share it with any other members of our species.”

“Which means you could help in numbers. Are all Gorgars as fast as you?”

“Yes, that is a genetic trait, at least within men.”

“What about women?”

“They have other gifts.”

“Such as?”

“The females have an impressive tolerance for extreme temperatures. Fire or sub-zero temps don’t seem to impact them as much as men. They also have a deafening screech that is effective against many predators. Many came to our world, but most often it was our females that drove them away.”

“Seems to me, between the male’s speed and the female’s other attributes, your people could make a very good ally.”

“If we can convince the queens. They aren’t keen on forming alliances. We tried it once with another insectoid race, the ZorZans. It didn’t go well at all and resulted in a long, drawn-out war that has left the queens very queasy about ever forming another alliance.”

“Do you have ships?”

“During the brief alliance with the ZorZans we acquired new technologies, and some of our scientists have indeed learned how to create ships, basic defenses and such, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been back home. I’m not really sure of how much or how little progress has been made since.”

“When was the last time you were home?”

“I don’t know. I guess it must have been nearly three thousand years.”

Ryonna’s jaw dropped. “I don’t think I heard you correctly. Did you just say three thousand years?”

“Give or take a century, yes.”

“How old are you, Tar’Lock?”

“Six thousand three hundred and seventy-two years, next month.”

Ryonna felt as though a train had hit her at full speed. The number defied imagination. Sure, Olympians were immortal and perhaps so were the Asgardians and a few other old races that were no longer seen or present in galactic affairs. But she felt very small all of a sudden, even though she was three times the size of her insectoid friend. A flurry of questions filled her mind and she had to focus to select a few to ask.

“This is unbelievable.”

“To you perhaps, to us it’s mostly boring to live that long. Most of us commit suicide once our place in society is no longer needed. We get bored easily.”

“Yeah, I understand why you would. Why didn’t you tell me earlier how old you were?”

“Who’s old? I’m not old, Ryonna. Some Gorgars live to be twenty-five thousand years. As for why I didn’t tell you, well, frankly, you never asked.”

“I hope you’re not going to be offended, but I would think at this age, old or not for a Gorgar, you’d be, how should I put this?” She winced before finishing, “Wiser.”

Tar’Lock clicked. “Good job on the not offending part. Very smooth.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay. It’s also physiological. We have a smaller brain than humanoids, and our memory is, for that reason, very selective. We can’t retain all the memories of everything we experience. We select a few memories we want to keep but, sometimes, to store a new one, an old one has to be deleted. That makes it difficult for us to become big thinkers, philosophers or even intellectuals. On my home world, each worker specializes in a very specific field and learns only about that field. We can’t multi-task and learn different professions like most other races. We simply don’t have the brain capacity. So we do have historians and philosophers, but these aren’t one person. They’re entire colonies, with each member retaining only a part of the information.”

“Surely you have computers to do that.”

“Yes, well, I guess. I left my home world before the ZorZans debacle. Before that we had storage units, but I wouldn’t call them computers. Still, they could serve that role, I guess.”

“Why didn’t we talk about all of this earlier? Are you ashamed of your past?”

“Again, it’s not that simple. Most of my memories pertaining to my home world are gone. I’ve been away so long that I had to make new ones. So there wasn’t much to tell, really. Many times before, when people asked about my past, they didn’t understand why I couldn’t tell them what my place looked like, or what I liked about my family. They couldn’t grasp the fact that it’s not that I don’t want to talk about it, it’s that I don’t know anymore. Once a memory is replaced, it’s gone for good.”

“That must be frustrating.”

“You get used to it around the time you turn three hundred years of age.”

Ryonna chuckled. “Yeah, I bet. Perhaps this limitation has been fixed by your people since then, technologically.”

“What do you mean?”

“Take Spiros. He uses augments to help his memory and his brain’s computational power. That’s why he’s one of the most revered engineers in the Alliance, despite his age. Perhaps the Gorgar have augmented themselves since last you were in your home world.”

“That’s an intriguing thought,” said Tar’Lock with a strange clicking sound, one Ryonna had never heard before.

“I think it’s time you went back home to see for yourself and, while you’re at it, see if they’d be open to join the Alliance as well.”

“Okay, we’ve got nothing to lose, and, well, you know me.”

“Yeah, anything to not get bored.”

Tar’Lock smiled.

“How come you never tried to get back home before?”

“There simply wasn’t anything waiting for me there. Usually when you’re sold you don’t come back.”

“What do you mean ‘sold?’”

“I was sold from my collective. That’s why I went off-world in the first place. Every so often traders come in with food and water, which tend to be scarce because of overpopulation. So a select few, the fastest and best workers amongst us, are selected and traded for vital goods.”

Ryonna swallowed hard at the implication behind his words. “For what were you sold?”

“Some water. That’s a great honor amongst my people. I was the fastest in my colony.”

“And what did the trader do with you?”

“Asked me to perform physical tasks for him.”

“Yeah, I imagine that, but for how long?”

“I did it for about sixty years or so.”

Ryonna’s eyes widened. She was aware slavery still existed in some parts of the universe, but she had no idea the Gorgar were willingly selling their own people. Considering their long lifespan, and barring injury, a Gorgar slave could technically work for his buyer forever; most likely outlive his master, in fact.

“Is there a duration to these deals? This seems a relatively long term to work for some water.”

“No, once you’re sold usually it’s for as long as you’re needed. Sometimes we are sold to be eaten. There are races that find insectoid flesh delicious. My owner died during one of his missions and I just went from place to place for thousands of years. Until one day I became mixed up with the wrong people, a bunch of thugs really, and got sent to Hellstar.”

“So this entire time with me must feel like a really short time compared to your full life.”

“You would think so, and that’s because you humanoids can store so much more long-term memory than we can. So you probably think I had thousands of adventures, visited an equal number of worlds, and whatnot; that it’s all glamorous and all.”

“And is it?”

“What?”

“Glamorous? Did you have thousands of adventures? Meet races and people the universe over?”

“Ryonna? Have you listened to anything I’ve been saying to you? I wouldn’t know. I can barely remember any of it. I remember being sold because it’s an honor among my people, to serve one’s colony in that fashion, so I kept that memory. I don’t have many more memories from the other times, though.”

“Okay, your brains are small, I get it. You can’t store as much as we do, but surely you have a few highlights to share.”

Tar’Lock shrugged.

“But you seem to remember most of what we tell you.”

“That’s short-term memory. Our short-term memory is good for a few months. If we don’t make a conscious effort to store a specific memory past that time, then it’s gone.”

“Surely you saved a few of these over the years.”

“I did, but I replaced them over time.”

“All of them?”

“Most of them.”

“What are the ones you hold now?”

Tar’Lock clicked nervously and another suspicious farting sound could be heard.

“Tar’Lock?”

“I’ve erased my memories with memories I formed in your company.”

And then it hit her, like a ship entering hyperspace. A species with the ability to store only a few memories, with thousands of years of lifespan, and he erased most of his memories for time they shared together.

Ryonna felt touched. She had suspected he was being more than friendly, but she had never thought much of it. Not only did Droxians only mostly fall for other Droxians, but Droxians and the Gorgar weren’t even genetically compatible species. Still, love was a complex thing, no matter the species.

Tar’Lock was agitated and kept moving about at super speed; small distances, but he was doing it so fast he looked as if he was in three places at once.

“You okay, champ?”

He stopped.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize I was doing that.”

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. He made another brand-new clicking sound, one she could definitely assume had something to do with happiness.

“What was that for?”

“Well, for being such a good friend.”

And for erasing most of who you are because of how you feel about me.

She couldn’t help but think that was one of the most romantic gestures anyone had ever done for her.

* * *

When Daniel entered Rae’s room, he was surprised by how messy it was.

“I’m sorry, Dan, I’m such a slob. I’ve been working non-stop since you gave me access to these chambers and your incredible database. I just couldn’t stop myself.”

Indeed, there was a lot of flexi-paper, data tablets, clothes and food containers scattered across the floor of the small quarters. But he didn’t mind.

“I can see that,” he said with a smile. “What can I do for you, Rae?”

“I think I found them.”

“What are you talking about? What did you find?”

“The Asgardians. I think I know where their home world is.”

“You’re shitting me, right?”

“No, I’m dead serious, Daniel. With the help of your friend Yanis, who gave me access to some samples of electromagnetic signatures from what he thinks could be Asgardian tech, I was able to scan distant worlds you guys sent probes to. Two of them were in range of potential star systems that matched my previous archeological and historical investigation, and one of them matched the signature. I’m pretty sure there are Asgardians in this part of space,” said Rae, pointing to one of their data tablets.

“This is huge!”

“Well, we can only be sure if we get there, but yes, I’m excited too,” she said with sparks in her eyes.

“Come with me.”

“Where are we going, Daniel?”

“It’s time you met my good friend, Chase.”

* * *

Ares appeared in Chase’s quarters while he and Sarah were having a private moment.

Chase jumped out of bed naked, and by reflex, was already preparing a fireball when he realized it was Ares teleporting in. “Don’t you ever knock? Get the hell out of here, Ares. I’m busy.”

Sarah covered herself with the bed sheets. “Christ!” she added.

“I’m sorry, Chase, Sarah, I didn’t think you’d be awake at this hour.”

Chase aimed his hand towards his pants and they flew into it. He put them on. “Is that supposed to make us feel better? Are you creeping in while we sleep, like an old pervert?”

“No, of course not. I meant I thought I would gently wake you up, if need be.”

“What is it, Ares? What took you so long?”

“Once you left orbit I couldn’t teleport back to the ship. Had to get creative and didn’t realize right away that I wouldn’t have enough energy to get back to you. Something is definitely wrong with me and I’m losing my powers.”

“Could it be a side effect of you teleporting through Earth’s shield?”

“I thought so at first, but I’m not so sure anymore. I think I might just be losing life force in general.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“How do you think it makes me feel? I can’t make teleport jumps as long as I used to before. I had to make five smaller hops before I was in range to teleport inside the Hope. And I feel drained, Chase. I couldn’t teleport to the other side of the ship if I wanted now.”

“I can feel it. You’re really low in energy. Wasn’t it supposed to be infinite in this form?”

Ares shook his head. “It felt that way, but obviously it’s not the case.”

Chase could feel more than just worry behind his old mentor’s words.

“Now is not the time for you to be feeling weak. We’ll soon go to Olympus, and your presence will be paramount. In fact, I was counting on your help to teleport us there.”

“I know. But I can tell you right now, such a long teleport jump is out of the question for the time being, unless we discover what’s wrong with me. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, Ares. It’s not your fault.”

Sarah interrupted. “Guys, if you wouldn’t mind going for a walk or something.”

Chase felt bad. Moments ago, they were in the middle of an intimate moment, and he had just dropped everything. Seeing Chase distracted by something else, Sarah probably wanted to sleep now. He kissed her quickly but passionately, and before she could react or say anything he opened the door and gestured Ares outside.

“Sorry, honey, you should go to sleep.”

We’ll finish in the morning what we were doing, he added telepathically.

Yeah, we’ll just have to see about that, she answered, smiling and winking at him as he left.

* * *

Chase and Ares walked to the observation deck of the Hope. It had been a long time since Chase had come here. In fact, the last time he came to take advantage of the large, panoramic viewport was the day he was handed the ship. Things had been so hectic, always fighting one enemy or another. Not to mention his time spent in the Underworld, where he met Hades. Chris being born while he was one inch away from dying. Now that they walked, silently, it all seemed surreal to him. Ever since the original attack on the Star Alliance by the Obsidian and Zarlack forces, moments of pure calm and reflection had been few and far between.

Ares broke the silence. “It may be time for me to travel the Styx to the other side. I don’t want to alarm you, but I’m feeling it in my bones, Chase. I don’t have much longer to live in this form.”

Definitely not what Chase wanted to hear.

“I wish we could be sure what’s happening to you. When I was fighting Miseo on Droxia, you were stopped by him. How is that even possible? Shouldn’t whatever attacks he threw at you just pass through you?”

Ares winced. “I didn’t expect it, no. But some of the forces that rule the physical universe can still impact me. I clearly felt that when I passed through Earth’s super shield. So I’m thinking that the type of attack Miseo used on me affected one of these rules. I couldn’t tell you which, though. I can affect gravity on a localized scale, as I did with General Arkoolis. Perhaps gravity can be used against me in one shape or another.”

“Wouldn’t you require mass for gravity to have any hold on you?”

“Chase, I didn’t say I knew everything about this form of mine. I’m just using my instincts to make things happen. Let’s not mistake that for a true understanding of my powers.”

“Fair enough. There has to be a way to help you, though.”

“Perhaps my father or one of his entourage will have information about this, but somehow I doubt he’ll care to share it with me.”

“That doesn’t bode well for us convincing Zeus to join the fight.”

“I don’t think he will, Chase. We might be wasting our time altogether in this endeavor. Perhaps we should follow the Asgardian trail you’re on.”

“That’s all well and good, Ares, but you said yourself, it’s probably one or the other. Are you telling me the Asgardians are a better ally? Can we really afford to not try and convince them both if we want not only to survive the Furies but also have a chance at reclaiming Earth? As powerful as those shields are I’m sure Gaia 2 will find a way to bring them down.”

Ares stopped and looked at the mesmerizing lightshow of hyperspace.

“I don’t know, Chase. I don’t see Asgardians and Olympians working hand in hand.”

“Didn’t they work together during the last Fury War?”

“Yes, but that’s when things went south and Zeus declared them an enemy to Olympus shortly after the Furies were defeated.”

“We both know they weren’t defeated, just imprisoned and left for dead.”

“Until they came back we thought they had been defeated. Of course, we know differently now.”

Tension could be read on Chase’s face. Small lightning bolts of frustration sizzled all over him for just a second. “I can’t believe your father would rather let the universe burn than help us rid ourselves of the Furies once and for all.”

“Then you know nothing of Zeus. He was never a fair leader. He always used fear to achieve his goals and he cares mostly about one person: himself. Since no Olympian can ever hope to defeat him, he reigns unchallenged.”

“Theoretically speaking, if he were defeated, what would happen? Would Olympians elect a new leader?”

“You’re not seriously considering killing my father, Chase? If you are, I’m telling you right now: I can’t be part of that. Granted, we are estranged and there is no love lost there, but he’s still my father.”

“Relax, Ares, I’m hoping we can convince him, but it can’t hurt to have all the facts before making an informed decision. We may have to do things we don’t want to. We’re not in a position to take our sweet time to resolve our problems. We either act now or face the fact that this might be the end of most civilizations in the universe.”

“Be that as it may, I’m not sure I like you considering this as a viable alternative.”

Was Ares right? Was Chase willing to go that far in his quest to rid the universe of the Furies? They had to be stopped. And clearly time-trapping them in an alternate dimension had been both a mistake and a failure. One that had come back to bite everyone in the ass. Whatever they were going to do to rid the universe of this scourge, it would have to be final this time.

“I don’t like it either, Ares. What about Hades?”

“What about him?”

“Can’t he help us? At least with the way you’re feeling?”

“I can’t travel to the Underworld, Chase. I tried when you were between life and death, but it didn’t work.”

“Perhaps I can.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You were only there because you were at death’s door.”

“And yet I was able to get out of there when I needed to. That too wasn’t possible, yet under pressure I managed to do it once. I don’t see why I can’t do it again. I remember the place very well, so perhaps I can project myself back there.”

“Even if that’s true, what if you get stuck there? It’s not worth the risk.”

“Let me worry about the risks, old friend.”

Chase closed his eyes and focused intensely. After a few seconds his face relaxed but he didn’t open his eyes.

“Forget about it, Chase, you can’t go into the Underworld with your teleport ability. It’s another plane of existence altogether.”

Chase didn’t answer.

“Chase?” insisted Ares, but Chase couldn’t hear him anymore.

* * *

When Chase opened his eyes he was no longer on the observatory deck. He recognized the place at once. An icy shiver traveled down his spine. He was back in the Underworld.

“Back so soon?” said a familiar voice behind him.

Chase turned around and there was Hades with a smile on his face.

“Hello, Hades.”

“Chase, I’m glad to see you here, but you shouldn’t have come. This is not a tourist attraction, you know. I’m not supposed to let you leave once you enter my realm.”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t intend to ask your permission this time around.”

“Glad to see you haven’t lost your spirit, at least. What can I do for you? I take it this isn’t a social call.”

Chase was happy to see Hades. Without him he would most likely have died. But he was right, this wasn’t a friendly visit to check on a friend and mentor.

“Don’t get me wrong, Hades, I’m really happy to see you, and I want to thank you for all your help. You’re the only reason I’m still alive.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Chase. The reason you’re still alive is that you’re a tough bastard, one that never accepts his fate, even when he should be dead. That’s why you’re still alive. I just nudged you along. I didn’t send you back to your own reality; you did that on your own. So thanks for the sentiment and I’m glad I could be of assistance; but you are who you are. You make your own choices and you affect your destiny. Never forget that.”

Chase didn’t intend to. Now that he was finally in a place where he no longer feared or second-guessed his every move, he felt like a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Now he could finally do what needed to be done. It almost took his death for him to release this burden. But it had been worth it, Chase decided.

“I won’t, thanks Hades. I’m here to ask your opinion on something.”

“I think I know why you’re here. It’s about Ares, isn’t it?”

“How do you know that?”

“Look over there, Chase.” Hades pointed at the distant horizon of the Underworld. “See anything out of place?”

Chase saw the long line of color-depleted souls walking towards their final resting place. For a split second it reminded him of his long walk with Fillio and it stung his heart a little.

“Don’t do that to yourself, Chase,” said Hades, sensing what Chase was feeling. “She made her choice, like you’re making yours.”

“I know.”

“So?”

Chase had to push his vision to the maximum, but he did see something strange. A man was walking parallel to the line of souls, much slower than anyone else, and he radiated a small but perceptible golden aura.

“Is this . . . ?” began Chase.

“Ares? Yes.”

“But how?”

“I’m not entirely sure.”

“What? This is your realm. Shouldn’t you know everything about it?”

“I was trapped here by my father. It may be my realm now but I didn’t build it. Zeus holds the metaphorical keys to this place.”

“Are you trying to tell me that he is responsible for what is happening to Ares?”

“I can’t be sure, but if I had to guess, then yeah, it’s possible. The only other explanation is that Ares has been in energy form too long and his life force is being transferred to the Underworld against his will. If that process is allowed to continue, he’ll disappear and die like any mortal. So perhaps it’s time for him to travel the road to Elysium, while he still can.”

“I still could use his help. Is there anything I can do to prolong his presence in the physical world?”

“You’d have to ask Zeus about that.”

“That may happen soon, but in the meantime Ares is in no shape to help anyone.”

“Have you asked yourself if perhaps his time has come? And that perhaps you need to continue your journey without him?”

That was a fair question. Was Chase being selfish for wanting his former mentor by his side? Perhaps he was, but he knew Ares wouldn’t want to go to Elysium until his sister was freed from the life-sucking machine she was trapped in.

“I’d rather have him by my side a little longer. I promised him I would save Aphroditis.”

“And that’s very noble of you, but you shouldn’t make promises you’re not sure you can keep.”

“Oh, I intend to keep this one, Hades, no matter the cost.”

“There’s no way for you to know how to do that. The process might not be reversible.”

“I refuse to accept that.”

Hades chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. You’re just as stubborn as I remember.”

“About Ares? What can I do to help?”

“His aura in the Underworld flickered at one point, like he regained energy on the outside; that made him stop walking on the path for a little while. Did you do anything at one point?”

Chase had sent him energy when Ares felt weak. He nodded.

“Then I’d say whatever you did worked, even if it was short-lived. Perhaps you should keep doing that.”

“I wish it was that simple. I can transfer some of my energy to him, but it doesn’t last long. It’s a band-aid solution at best, and it takes away from my own powers. What if Zeus did something to him? Not long ago Ares went to get Apollo to help us. Perhaps that’s his punishment for interfering with other Olympians?”

Hades’ features grew serious. “My brother wouldn’t like that one bit, that’s for sure. You said you intend to visit him soon, so perhaps you can confirm that yourself. In the meantime, you’ll have to give Ares the energy he requires to stay in the physical world. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help in the matter.”

“That’s alright, Hades, you’ve given me clues to what is happening to him. I’m grateful for that. I should be going. Many things need to be done.”

“I’m glad you dropped by, Chase. Hope this isn’t the last time we see each other.”

“So do I. Take care of yourself, Hades,” said Chase before disappearing into thin air.

“You too, Chase, you too.”

5

When Spiros opened his eyes, he was submerged in a green-tinted liquid. It took his brain a little while to remember what was happening and where he was. He was inside an Alliance regen tank. He focused his gaze outside of the pod and saw Cedric on the ground, coughing out some of the green liquid. He had exited the chamber ahead of him. A battle droid stood in front of Spiros’ pod.

“Hello, old friend, and welcome back. For a moment I thought we might lose you.”

The damage traveling through the planetary shields with Ares’ help had been more than he thought his body could handle. He was surprised to still be alive.

The liquid drained from the regen tank and soon he was out. Like Cedric before him, who had since got back to his feet and moved next to the Gaia avatar droid, he coughed some of the oxygen-rich breathing liquid onto the floor. When only air traveled in his airways and the accompanying burning had stopped, he rose to his feet. He almost fell in the process, but Gaia’s keen reflexes caught him before he could hurt himself.

“How are you feeling, Spiros?” There was genuine worry in her voice.

“Like a very old man who nearly bit the dust.”

“A fair assessment of the situation.”

Yeah, Spiros was old. In fact, he was pushing the envelope, and the last thing his augmented yet decrepit body needed was to be put under such strain. With Gaia’s help they had started working on new sets of augments to replace most of the mechanical parts of his human body. But they hadn’t had time to work beyond the blueprints. With Gaia 2 back and intent on seizing control of Earth, they might not get to implement these changes for quite a while.

“How are the shields holding up?” said Spiros, a little tingle still present in his throat.

“It’s holding steady, but that’s only because Gaia 2 hasn’t fired upon them.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I’m not sure, but if I had to guess I would say that she likes the idea of a powerful shield protecting the planet. She might be more interested in finding a way around it that doesn’t involve damaging it or, worse, destroying it.”

“That’s good news, but whether she manages to find a way around it or destroys it altogether, we would end up at her mercy. And something tells me she won’t be as easy to convince as you were in the past.”

“I can confirm that. She has been sending me subspace communications on a frequent basis, trying to convince me to drop the shields. She is utterly pissed, and this world might pay a dear price. We have to find a way to defeat her or, at the very least, to incapacitate her. I could then take control of her forces and we’d have a new army of fully automated battleships to defend Earth until Chase returns.”

“I like this plan better. But something tells me that if we manage to keep her at bay, she might either use the ships to bring the shields down, or even sacrifice them in order to get it done, just like she did with the Fury super-destroyer.”

“I believe you’re correct. In her place that’s what I would do.”

Spiros wasn’t sure he liked hearing that comment. Right now he was suspicious of how much he could trust Gaia. What if at some point she became infected by her counterpart? If that happened and she took control of her, she could become a liability. What if it had already happened? In his current state he was being slightly more paranoid than usual but decided to cast away the troubling thoughts for now.

“Then let’s make sure this never happens. The result would be catastrophic.”

“You’re alright, boss?” asked Cedric, who had stayed silent until now.

“I wouldn’t go that far, but I’m getting there. What about you?”

“I’m fine, but I vote we never ever teleport through these shields again. Once was enough for an entire lifetime.”

“I can’t say I disagree with you,” said Spiros, attempting to smile.

“So what do we do next?” asked Cedric.

“How long have we been in these things?”

“Almost a day,” Gaia answered.

“Which means we need to change the encryption key to the shields.”

“Yes, we must hurry. If you hadn’t woken up when you did, I would have had to do it myself, but we both know that since our matrices have a similar base code, she could have cracked the new code in a fraction of the time she would any others you could come up with.”

“Alright then, we have work to do.”

* * *

Argos was in his assigned quarters on board the Hope. He was resting on his bed as the symptoms of his Kyrian snake-venom withdrawal grew stronger. Of all the moments this could have happened, it had to be when Chase needed him the most. The symptoms were now stronger and triggered more often than before. Soon it would be almost impossible to hide his condition from the rest of the crew. That worried him more than the eventuality that the withdrawal process could claim his life. That’s how bad he felt sometimes: as if the end was near.

The bell of his quarters rang.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“It’s Sarah. Can you please open the door?”

Sarah? What the hell did she want with him? He’d think that after all he had put her through, she would be the last one to voluntarily come and speak with him. No matter the reason, it was the worst timing ever. While he had felt slightly better in the last twenty minutes, he was still in no shape to see anyone without their questioning what was wrong with him.

He had managed to acquire some morphine from the med-bay dispensary earlier. He didn’t want to use it. There was no logic in treating one drug by getting addicted to another. But if he was to keep his current condition a secret, he didn’t have another choice.

“Just a moment. I’ll be right there.”

Argos injected himself with a single dose of morphine. Soon, the pain, sweat and intensely disorientating symptoms faded away. They were replaced by a euphoric sensation he knew all too well. It wasn’t as intoxicating as the venom, and it seemed to alter his brain chemistry in a much more chaotic fashion, making him have to concentrate much more to do a simple thing such as straighten himself up.

After a few moments he got up, almost tripping on his way to the door. He took three deeps breaths and opened the sliding door.

“Hello, Sarah. What can I do for you? Is Chase alright?”

“Do you mind if I come in?”

As a matter of fact . . . 

“No, please come in,” said Argos politely, gesturing her inside.

She stepped inside and turned to face him.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” said Argos preemptively.

“Yeah, I’m not exactly sure how I feel about it either. But the fact of the matter is, you saved all our lives when Timoros tried to assassinate Chase. And while I still don’t understand why you did it—I certainly don’t trust your intentions, which I’m sure you can understand under the circumstances—I still wanted to thank you personally.”

“You’re perfectly welcome. I . . . I wish I could say something to take back what I put you through, but I don’t think there’s anything I can say that will make the slightest difference.”

“You’re right about that. I appreciate the fact that you’re trying to verbalize it, though.”

Argos attempted a smile, but it morphed into a grimace instead. The room didn’t look symmetrical anymore, and he wanted nothing more than this conversation to be short.

“Is there anything else, Sarah? I was about to get some rest when you rang.”

“No, that’s all I came here to say. I truly hope we can find a way to put the past behind us, even though I find your presence with us equally reassuring and worrying. It will take some time before I can consider you an ally, but I admit I like the idea of someone as powerful as you having both Chase’s and our son’s backs.”

“You do realize they both are way more powerful than I am?”

“From what Chase told me after your first training session, that’ll change soon. At least in regard to our son. Which reminds me, Chase told me you found a temporary solution to slow his growth. Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me. We still need to acquire personnel and hardware from one of my bases for me to be able to find a permanent solution.”

“I know. Still, he no longer seems to be growing at an alarming rate. As a mother I can tell you that matters.”

Argos nodded, not sure what to say next. He could already feel the feeble power of the morphine struggling to keep his other symptoms at bay.

“I’m gonna let you rest now. I’m sorry for interrupting,” said Sarah.

Finally.

“No problem whatsoever,” replied Argos even if he felt the complete opposite.

She went towards the door of his quarters and the doors slid open with a whooshing sound that felt amplified in his current state. She walked through the doors but then turned around.

“Argos.”

“Yes?”

“I want to believe you’ve changed, I really do. But if you ever endanger any of our lives again, I’ll kill you myself.”

I’d like to see you try.

“I understand and actually respect that, Sarah. Good night.”

“Good night, Argos.”

The doors closed and Argos collapsed before he could reach his bunk.

* * *

When Chase’s awareness returned aboard the ship, he found Ares collapsed on the deck. His usually vibrant golden energy looked pale yellow and dwindling.

Crap!

Chase ran to his side and transferred a large quantity of his own energy to Ares by creating a glowing white sphere of energy above Ares’ torso. The sphere merged with Ares’ body, and the pale yellow energy brightened back to its usual golden color.

“What . . . what happened?” said Ares, his voice weak.

“I don’t know. I found you unconscious when I came back from the Underworld.”

Chase remembered his vision with Aphroditis. These past few hours he had debated whether or not to tell Ares. But she had been right; it would only make things worse. Now that Ares seemed to be losing both his powers and life energy, the last thing he needed was to worry about how horribly Aphroditis was suffering inside the machine.

“I’m feeling much better. Thank you for the power-up.”

“Any time, old friend.”

“Did you see Hades?”

“Yes. He thinks you’ve used up your time in this form and should be heading towards Elysium while you still can. He also hinted that perhaps Zeus could be responsible for your condition somehow.”

“How?”

“He didn’t know.”

“How convenient.”

“I understand your frustration. And this powering you back up is only temporary. Hades warned that it will take more energy on my part every time, so time is of the essence. We need to get to Olympus as soon as possible and make sure Zeus helps you with this, whether he likes it or not.”

“Chase, he won’t care.”

“I’ll make sure he helps you, even if it’s—” Chase stopped himself.

Even if it’s the last thing he does.

“No, Chase, you have to promise me you won’t kill Zeus, no matter what.”

I can’t make that promise.

Chase grimaced. He didn’t like that idea either, but he was losing patience with the leader of the Olympians, even if he had never met the man. This entire situation was because he hadn’t finished off the Furies thousands of years ago, and he was staying on the sidelines while Chase and his friends were fighting and dying because of his mistake. Zeus needed to take responsibility for this, and either help or be removed as the leader of the Olympian people.

“Chase,” insisted Ares, “please promise me!”

“I’m sorry, Ares, I can’t do that. I promise I’ll try every diplomatic avenue I can think of but, at the end of the day, I’ll do whatever is needed for both Olympians and Asgardians to enter this conflict on our side. It’s our only hope and you know it. Without their help we can’t even dream of retaking Earth from Gaia 2. There’s just too much at stake here for me to promise anything anymore; and not only to you but to anyone. I’ve made a promise to your sister.” Chase paused. “I told her I would do everything to stop the Furies. I can’t make another promise that could conflict with that one. I hope you can understand.”

Chase, of course, omitted to tell Ares that he had also promised Aphroditis not to rescue her. He still wasn’t certain that was a promise he could keep.

Ares made a face and rose from the floor, turning his back on his pupil and friend. “I understand, Chase. When are we going to Olympus?”

“We’ll arrive at Droxia shortly. As soon as we’ve loaded the quadrinium, the fleet will split. We’re taking the Euphoreon to Olympus, while the rest of the fleet goes to secure Alpha Prime once and for all. I’m not expecting much resistance there.”

“Why don’t you ask Argos about it?”

“I did. While he’s no longer in the loop, last he knew they hadn’t devoted any resources to the area surrounding Alpha Prime.”

“That doesn’t mean their plans haven’t changed.”

“I know. That’s why most of the fleet is going instead of splitting it proportionally. So they have a chance in case they have to fight for it.”

“Is the fleet really in shape for another conflict, Chase? Especially when you’re not there to orchestrate it.”

“I have complete confidence in Saroudis’ abilities to manage without me. Our mission to Olympus takes precedence over this.”

Ares took a few paces and stopped a few inches away from the viewport.

“I don’t like any of this, Chase. It feels like we should regroup and lick our wounds right now, not split up and go on a fool’s errand unprepared. This might very well be what the Furies are expecting of us, so they can pick us off at our weakest and finish us off once and for all.”

Chase had thought of that. He was afraid of that scenario as well. But for the life of him, he couldn’t see an alternative. The Alliance had been beaten and, right now, unless either the Olympians or Asgardians joined, hopefully both, they were vulnerable. Even with all his powers there was nothing Chase could do about that. If he could use his powers in space, then perhaps he could tip the balance, but last time he did that he created a black hole.

“Let me ask you something, Ares. Are you absolutely sure I can’t use my powers in space? Isn’t there a way to do it that doesn’t tear the universe in the process?”

Ares sighed. “Chase, as it is now, you can’t. You saw what happened the last time. And while I understand you had no choice, you can’t take that chance again.”

“I did use some of my powers again and no anomaly appeared that second time.”

“Pushing a destroyer out of the way and canalizing your vital force for destructive purposes are too different things. Still, you might just have been lucky last time.”

“Or there might be a way we don’t know about yet.”

“There is, Chase. The spirit ships. Legend has it they were used to turn the tides of the last Fury War. They allow their pilots to focus their inner powers and unleash them safely into space.”

“Are you telling me if I pilot a spirit ship I can use my powers through it?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

“Then we need to get these ships as soon as possible.”

“That may not be as easy as it sounds, Chase. I asked Athena about them. She thinks they were destroyed.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Ares, but we also thought the Furies were gone before. And they’re not. One more reason we need to see Zeus. I’m betting he’s the only one who knows what happened to them.”

“You’re going to try and beat it out of him, aren’t you?”

“Not alone, and certainly not before asking nicely. But if it comes to that, with the help of Argos and Chris, we’ll make it happen. I know you don’t agree, but we have to do something!”

“I know, Chase, and perhaps I can convince Apollo and Athena to join you.”

“I thought Athena wasn’t ready to go against her father?”

“She isn’t, but maybe by provoking it with our visit, she might reconsider.”

“Or she might take her father’s side if she isn’t ready.”

“That would not be good for you. She’s also a powerful warrior. One we could use on the battlefield and in large-scale battles. She’s probably the best strategist this universe has ever known.”

Chase grasped the back of his neck with both hands. It was sore. He hadn’t slept much since they had to leave Earth, and he was starting to feel the effect of exhaustion.

“Chase,” said Ares, “you really need to get some rest. You gave me a large chunk of your energy just moments ago. The only way to get it back is with sustenance and rest. The last thing you need right now is to appear exhausted in front of Zeus. He’d eat you up for breakfast in your current condition and you know it.”

Chase wanted to argue but he knew he couldn’t keep pushing himself this way. It felt as if it had been this way for as long as he could remember, in fact. Never a moment’s pause, never being able to enjoy the present. Always fearing the future and the consequences of his own actions.

“Right. I’m going to rest. If you feel weak again, come see me.”

“You can’t keep spending your energy on me; not when it’s needed to fight the Furies and Gaia 2.”

I’m aware of that, old friend.

“Very well. I’ll sleep until we reach Droxia. You should also try to take it easy. No teleporting anywhere. Try to ration whatever energy I gave you.”

Ares disappeared into thin air. “Very well, Chase.”

* * *

Argos looked through the viewport of his quarters and saw the familiar sight of Droxia. A planet that, not long ago, he had helped almost completely destroy. He felt a strange sensation at the thought.

Was he feeling remorse? That was not an emotion he was used to. Something was happening to him at the core. That much was clear. He got up and almost stumbled. He was weak and the timing couldn’t be worse. He looked at the morphine injector. While its effect had only been short term, it had helped. He injected himself once more and soon the tiredness and haziness he was suffering from the venom’s withdrawal faded away.

There were side effects in using that drug, though. He had hallucinations. The worst one had happened shortly after his talk with Sarah. He thought he saw Supreme Commander Arakan enter his quarters and burn him alive as he had started to do when Argos had first disobeyed his order to destroy Chase aboard the Iron Fire.

But right now he needed to see what was happening on the bridge. He was really feeling parched, so he went to the bathroom sink to drink some water and wash his face. When he looked into the mirror, he noticed something new in his reflection. His hair was a darker shade of gray. What did it mean? Why would his hair color change? Could it be a side effect of taking morphine?

He decided that it mattered not and left his quarters to go to the bridge. He crossed paths with Ryonna and the insectoid he had injured aboard Hellstar Prison.

Ryonna growled.

“Easy there, tiger,” said Tar’Lock.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” barked Ryonna, “and I don’t understand why Chase is trusting you, but I’m keeping a close eye on you, Argos. If you even sneeze the wrong way⁠—”

“I know, Ryonna, you’ll kill me, right? You guys should really take a number, as it seems most of you want a go at me given half the chance.”

“I don’t want to intrude on things that don’t concern me,” interjected Tar’Lock, “but can you blame her? You and two of your Fury friends nearly annihilated everyone on her home world. In fact, I’d count myself lucky that she was verbally warning me.”

Argos laughed. “You’re funny, insectoid, I’ll grant you that. See, Ryonna knows she doesn’t stand the shadow of a chance, otherwise she would have already tried. So yeah, Droxians are proud but they’re not stupid. Not in a million years can she defeat me. Right, Ryonna?”

The face of the Droxian was filled with hatred, doubled with frustration. Her eyes burned with negative emotions and she felt the urge to attack him. That much Argos could tell.

Not so brave after all.

Argos wanted to add another demeaning remark but stopped himself. Right now, alienating any of Chase’s friends would be a terrible idea. So against his better judgment he revised his stance.

“Still, I’m sorry for what we did to your world,” said Argos with as much honesty as he could muster.

“Stop talking, Argos!” she barked back.

“No, please let me finish. I was blinded and on a power trip. I thought I belonged with the Furies and that this universe was ours to take. For my efforts bringing them back to the universe, I’ve gotten nothing but grief. So I understand why you don’t trust me, but please understand my determination to help you win now. I should never have awoken them.”

“If that’s true that only makes you a traitor. And I don’t trust traitors.”

“Understandable,” answered Argos with a resigned tone.

There was no way he would gain the trust of Ryonna and the others with just words now. Actions might help, but in his current state, would he be able to deliver? he wondered. Looking at the insectoid, Argos remembered something from one of his missions.

“You’re a Gorgar, aren’t you?”

“That’s correct. My name is Tar’Lock, by the way.”

“Right, Tar’Lock. I . . . I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“Say it anyway,” said Ryonna with a sub-zero tone.

“Your world. It’s one of the worlds the Furies enslaved to procure the necessary materials to build their fleet of ships. I’m really sorry, I . . . I chose the planet myself for its vast ore mines and relative proximity to Erevos.”

Tar’Lock clicked and hissed.

“Is it true, Tar’Lock? Is your world near Erevos?”

“I don’t know. It’s not a memory I decided to keep.”

“Right,” said Argos. “That’s how we did it, in fact, using your genetic defect of having very limited memory. Your people didn’t even have to fight. We just sent agents to overload the population with new information, propaganda in fact, and convinced your people that it was in their best interest to work with us. That’s also why nobody in the universe got a distress call from Gorgar. They provide the resources the Furies need of their own accord. At least, that’s what they think. I’m afraid to say that your people are easily manipulated.”

Tar’Lock clicked some more and made fists.

“That remark I made to Ryonna applies to you as well, Tar’Lock. You can’t hope to defeat me, but I’m not . . .” He corrected himself. “I’m no longer your enemy. In fact, I could provide you with a way to reclaim your world. In doing so we’d also inflict a blow against the Furies by disturbing one of their main resource pipelines. I can’t guarantee that they won’t simply take your world by force then, though.”

Ryonna put a hand on Tar’Lock’s shoulder.

“How?” said Tar’Lock.

A plan started forming in Argos’ head. “I can get you the research you need to undo what was done to your people. I might also be able to correct that genetic defect with your memory.”

Ryonna’s face changed. “Is that even possible?”

“It is. But it requires something I don’t have here. And I’ll be leaving for Olympus soon. If you’re willing to get me that substance, I can prepare a serum that will undo the brainwashing done to the Gorgar and provide your people with longer memory through the use of a simple augment.”

Tar’Lock looked at Ryonna with a spark of hope in his eyes. No other words were needed.

“What is it you need, Argos?” asked Ryonna, still throwing daggers at him through her gaze.

“I need the research on one of my bases of operations, as well as Kyrian snake venom.”

Let’s see if they bite.

Argos felt a strong negative feedback from his heart. His head told him this was the best way to get rid of his current predicament, but his heart told him using the suffering of the Gorgar to get his fix was not going to fly well if he was discovered.

“That’s a powerful drug. Are you a junkie, Argos?” spat Ryonna.

“Look, I’m not talking about the synthetic drug for junkies that’s sold all over the universe. I’m talking about the real venom, from a clone snake. It has some strong medicinal values and I will need it to make the serum. It’s up to you, really, if you want to believe me or not.”

“Let’s say I believe you, which at this point is a stretch. How much of the venom would you require?”

“I would need a clone snake and the research I have on them. So I can make more clones as needed, since one probably won’t have enough venom to make this work.”

“Give us a second, Argos, will you?”

“Take all the time you need. Right now I’m going to the bridge. You can give me your answer later. I have nothing to gain from this besides proving my newfound allegiance and willingness to help you all. So I don’t really care whether or not you want my help. But I’m offering it anyway.”

Argos kept walking towards the bridge without saying another word.

* * *

“Do you think it’s true?” asked Tar’Lock.

“I don’t know, but if it is, we’ve got to do something about it,” answered Ryonna.

“What if it’s just one more of his insidious plans? I don’t trust that . . . man.”

“I don’t trust him either. In fact, I’d like nothing more than to dismember him. But if your people have been enslaved and are unwillingly helping the Furies build ships, we’ve got to make it stop.”

“Do you think Chase will agree?”

“Agree, yes. Anything that hurts the Furies is a good thing. I just don’t think he has the resources necessary to pull it off at the moment. We might have to do this on our own.”

“What about the Droxians? Can we ask for help? Perhaps if you asked Ronan?”

Ryonna was pensive for a while. “My people have suffered the biggest losses in this war up until now. I don’t know how receptive they would be to our plight. But perhaps I could convince Chase to intervene on our behalf. He saved Droxia, after all. That has to count for something.”

“You’d do that for me and my people? Why?”

“You’re my friend, Tar’Lock. You’ve always been there for me in the past. It’s about damn time I repaid both your actions and your friendship any way I can.”

“Thank you, Ryonna,” said Tar’Lock, a smile of hope spreading across his face.

6

Argos entered the bridge of the Hope and approached Chase, who had just finished with a holo-transmission.

“Anything I can do?” he asked preemptively.

“Argos, I didn’t expect you here.”

“I saw we were in orbit around Droxia and thought I would come to check things out.”

“I’d rather you worked on fixing Chris’ condition.”

“I am, don’t worry. Right now the computers are running simulations. There’s not much I can do until I get these results, which should take a while longer.”

“Alright, fair enough.” One of Chase’s eyes twitched slightly.

“You look tired, brother. You need to rest before we go to Olympus. I suppose that’s still on the cards?”

“Yes. And no offense, Argos, but you don’t exactly look in top form either.”

“I know. I’ll get more rest as well. I think our training session took more energy out of me than I expected.”

“I wish I could help but I’m topped out myself. We have a problem with Ares. I need to constantly give him my own life energy for the time being or he could vanish out of existence.”

Argos wanted to tell him that perhaps he shouldn’t, that Ares wasn’t important anymore. But since he was the one who had killed the Olympian in the first place and was responsible for Ares’ new form, it might not go down well, so he decided against it.

“What about Chris?”

“What about my son, Argos?”

“He is young and his metabolism is so fast right now. Even though I’ve managed to slow down the aging process, you could use that to your advantage. Can’t you teach your son to transfer his energy to Ares? That way you can save yours for the Olympus mission.”

Chase looked perplexed for a bit as he considered Argos’ words.

“I hadn’t thought of that. That’s a really good idea. Thanks.”

“Glad to be of help.”

“Right. I’ll teach Chris how to do it. There are other things I’d like to talk about with you. Come with me.”

Argos followed Chase to his ready room. Chase sat behind his desk. Argos stood, his arms across his chest.

“Sit, Argos.”

“I’d rather stand, if you don’t mind.”

“Be my guest. Look, you’re probably not aware of this, but during the last battle with the Furies, the Olympians used a specific type of starfighter. They call them spirit ships. They allow their pilots to canalize their life-force energy and convert it to usable weapons in space, without the risk of tearing a hole in the space-time fabric of the universe.”

Is this true? Why haven’t I heard of this before?

“That would explain how the Furies were trapped. They had the advantage up until the last days of the war. I always wondered how the Olympians managed, coalition or not, to defeat us in such a short time.”

“Us?” said Chase, arching one of his eyebrows.

“Sorry, old habits die hard.”

“Yeah, I dig that, and I’m more than willing to overlook it, but you may want to be mindful of what you say around here. You don’t have many fans on board.”

“Oh I noticed. So far both Sarah and Ryonna have expressed their wish to kill me should I step out of line only a little.”

Chase smiled. “You can’t blame them for that.”

“I’m not. In fact, I understand completely. I would feel the same if I were in their shoes.”

“And just so there’s no misunderstanding, I still don’t trust you either. For the time being I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you need to understand that it will take time to establish any kind of trust. You’d better not be hiding anything from me, Argos.”

Argos felt the weight of his words echo with his previous feelings when he proposed to Ryonna and Tar’Lock to bring him a Kyrian snake under false pretenses. Should he tell him now? Perhaps Chase would understand. Perhaps it was a mistake to try to overcome his addiction on his own. But the fear of breaking the fragile alliance they had right now was bigger than the will to do the right thing. Argos hoped he wouldn’t regret this decision later.

“I’m not, brother.”

“While I can force myself to get used to you calling me that, I can’t really bring myself to call you brother either.”

“Not a problem. You don’t have to.”

“Alright, let’s table this. I actually have to talk to you about something else.”

“I’m listening.”

Argos felt a weakness permeate him. The effects of the morphine were wearing off. It took longer than last time. Morphine could prove a viable option until he got his hand on a cloned snake. But the timing, as before, wasn’t on his side. He swallowed hard.

“I’m having to make a decision and, believe it or not, I’d like your input.”

Argos nodded.

“So the plan is to bring not only the Olympians but also the Asgardians into the fold. I don’t have to tell you how bad things are for the Earth Alliance at the moment. We’ve been kicked out of our home by a crazed AI intent on taking control of Earth. And it’s probably willing to kill many if not all humans in the process. We can’t allow that to happen, but we don’t have a working fleet big and strong enough to do anything about it right now.

“I know bringing both these races to the table will not be easy. Maybe impossible. Daniel’s friend Rae thinks she has discovered the coordinates to an Asgardian world, and Ares can get us to Olympus. But which should we go to first? I had decided it had to be Olympus but then I thought I’d ask your input.”

Argos unlocked his arms and took a seat. While he hated to show weakness, this conversation could take longer than he first expected, and he needed to save energy until the next withdrawal crisis. He couldn’t afford to have it happen in front of his brother.

“Asgardians are technologically the most advanced race out there. But the Olympians hate them, so that’s going to be tricky.”

“Not really helping here, Argos. However, what do you mean by most advanced? More than the Furies?”

“If not more, at least as advanced, yes. Their computing capabilities especially are unmatched. They are masters at creating perfect and safe artificial intelligences, too. Which could prove useful with your current predicament with Earth and the siege it’s under. In fact, I believe the machine Aphroditis is in right now is part Asgardian.”

Chase frowned. “And part what?”

“I’m not sure, maybe Olympian, as well as some other ancient tech. My analysis of it was not deep enough to give you more information. I was more interested in making it work than studying it. I realize now that was a mistake.”

“Why did they treat you so badly? I mean, there had to be a serious reason for you to defect the way you did.”

“If you must know, when I gave you my word I would let you escape Erevos unharmed after you delivered me Aphroditis, I refused a direct order to destroy your ship. They took the matter into their own hands and the triumphant return I was hoping for didn’t go as planned.”

Chase was surprised. “That doesn’t sound like you. You usually do whatever is necessary to get what you want.”

“Perhaps, but when I give my word, it matters. I felt compelled to let you go. You had sacrificed your friend Aphroditis as well as helped me defeat the Titan. Without you I would have failed, so under the circumstances I didn’t feel like breaking my word. Not to mention that I was sure it didn’t matter if you lived one more day. Once the Furies were back, I had no doubt that we would have dispatched you easily after that.”

“That would have remained to be seen. Not to mention I had just saved your life in the arena, using Aphroditis’ pendant to reverse time so you didn’t end up a Fury pancake.”

“Hmm, that too.”

“Obviously that was a miscalculation on your part, but I appreciate you did your best to honor your word. I won’t lie to you, Argos. I don’t think your past actions can ever be forgiven. But perhaps you can spend the rest of your life atoning for them.”

Was that all that he had to look forward to now? Argos wondered. But perhaps things would evolve over time. They were in a very fluid situation, with power shifts happening more often than solar flares lately; things could change in the future. Argos felt his right arm tremble a little.

That’s not good.

“Let’s not lose time about why I did what I did and let’s get back to your original question. Perhaps we shouldn’t choose between Olympus and Asgard.”

“I don’t follow.”

“What if we sent two ships on two separate missions? You and I go to Olympus, and you send Sarah and Chris to Asgard. That is, if that Rae person is right and she indeed managed to locate them. I’m not gonna lie to you, I looked for the Asgardians myself and didn’t find them. They have used their advanced technologies to stay hidden from prying eyes for thousands of years. Perhaps we passed near their worlds in the past and never even knew they were there. What if they can shift their systems out of phase like the machine Aphroditis is in?”

“It’s an interesting assumption, but that’s all it is.”

“And yet I detected Asgardian tech in that machine. Can we really take the chance this is just a coincidence?”

Argos could tell this made Chase think.

“I would rather not send Chris on a mission in his current state. He’s also not in full control of his own powers just yet.”

“The real question, Chase, is can you afford not to? Time is not on our side. The Furies are building more ships. When they have even five of them ready, they’ll annihilate anything in their path. How are we to stop them with what’s left of your fleet?”

“Yeah, the thought crossed my mind. Gaia 2 seems to have found a way, though.”

“A temporary patch and one that cost her many ships in the process. She might not be able to use that tactic again if more than one super-destroyer came knocking on her door.”

Chase buried his head in his palms. Argos could sense his brother’s frustration.

“Alright. If Asgardians are so advanced with AIs, it’s safe to assume that they could find a way to help us correct whatever is wrong with Gaia 2. If so, we could reclaim her fleet of ships in the process.”

“That would be ideal,” said Argos, pearls of sweat running down his face.

“Are you alright, Argos? You look flushed.”

“I think my stomach doesn’t agree with the food from your mess hall, but this is nothing for you to concern yourself with.”

“Alright. I’ll discuss all of this with Sarah, Chris and Saroudis. Thank you for sharing your point of view. It provided me with alternatives I wouldn’t have considered otherwise.”

Now both of Argos’ legs were trembling and he had to focus intensely on making it stop. He wondered if he had the energy to leave without falling to the floor. But he couldn’t afford to show weakness now.

“Do you need me for anything else?”

“No, that will be all, Argos.”

Argos left the ready room and hurried back to his quarters. He had to use the walls around him as support to reach his destination, but fortunately he didn’t meet anyone on the way. He crashed onto his bed as soon as he entered his quarters, his head pounding heavily.

That was close.

* * *

Spiros looked at Gaia’s avatar battle-droid body for a while.

“What is it?” Gaia inquired.

“Nothing, I was just thinking.”

“Mind sharing your thoughts?”

“I was thinking of secondary protocols we should put in place when the shield fails and Gaia 2 invades Earth.”

“This is a negative attitude. Don’t you think it’s too early to admit defeat?”

“I don’t think so. The last encryption key had to be changed less than twelve hours after the previous one. By your own calculations we’ll need to change that one in less than ten hours. I don’t think the fall of the shield is a matter of ‘if’ anymore, but more a matter of ‘when.’”

Gaia stayed silent for a long time. “Perhaps you’re right. Any bright ideas on secondary protocols?”

“How many battle-droid bodies can you build in the next three days, if you divert all your resources and energy to that goal alone? Even if that means some people on Earth will need to accept power cuts.”

“Several hundred, maybe a thousand. Why? I don’t think battle droids can stop her. The minute she infiltrates the planet and hacks my neuronal net, she’ll have access to them. We’d be building her an army to use.”

“What if we put in place a hardware safeguard? Say, if the neuronal net hash value varies, they disable themselves?”

“I suppose we could impart their firmware with that command. But she might just find a way to overwrite it. I know I would.”

Spiros swore out loud, something he didn’t do often. But the lack of sleep and frustration over the limited possibilities were taking a toll on his morale.

“Where’s Cedric?” asked Gaia.

“I sent him to sleep. I think it’s best we take shifts. When one sleeps, the other works. Time is something we don’t have right now, so we have to share the load.”

“While that could seem like a smart thing at first sight, I think this could have a major design flaw.”

“What design flaw?”

“Humans work better when they pool their resources. They generate ideas by brainstorming. If one of you is sleeping while the other is awake, I don’t see that kind of mutual and beneficial sharing of information happening. At the very least, you should use a log so he can review your ideas and vice versa.”

“My mind isn’t exactly free to do the log. Would you mind doing that for me?”

“Sure thing, Spiros, log created.”

“Also, if we go with the battle-bots-army idea, we need to impart these bots with Asimov’s three basic laws. The last thing we want is Gaia 2 turning them against humanity.”

“Reviewing laws of robotics. Alright, these seem straightforward enough. I use a similar version in my neuronal net anyway.”

“Does Gaia 2?”

“I added those protocols after you convinced me to work together on improving things on Earth. Gaia 2 isn’t ruled by them.”

“That’s a shame.”

Gaia’s bot just nodded. “Let me ask you something, Spiros. When are we going to acknowledge that all of this is my fault?”

“What in gods’ name are you talking about?”

“If I hadn’t sent her to the other side of the galaxy as a backup, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now.”

“Technically, if it wasn’t for her, it’s entirely possible that the Furies would have destroyed Earth, so maybe you should take comfort in that instead of using too many CPU cycles blaming yourself.”

“That’s kind of you to say, Spiros, and Chase echoed that sentiment. But the more I think about it the more I’m sure Chase would have found a way to not let that happen.”

“As much as I share your confidence in Chase’s abilities, I think we were done for this time had Gaia 2’s fleet not arrived at the eleventh hour. So no, I don’t think he could have saved us this time. The fact that he told you so as well is proof of that. Our current problem is a dire and major one, that’s for sure, but it still saved all of our butts when we needed it the most.”

“I suppose there is logic in this conclusion.”

“Now, if you don’t mind, let’s get back to brainstorming potential solutions for preventing the fall of Earth. Should we be unsuccessful, we’ll have eternity to blame ourselves in the afterlife.”

Immediately after saying it, Spiros raised his hand preemptively. “And that was just an expression. Let’s not go there either.”

“Very well. Should I start building the bots army? What if Gaia 2 has her own on board her ships?”

“Well, if she does then we’re screwed, but at least we’ll have some line of defense. And while I’m sure they’re not gonna appreciate it, the humans will also have to put their military into action if it comes to that.”

“How did your earlier debrief with General Adams go?”

“You don’t want to know, Gaia.”

“I believe my question implied otherwise.”

Spiros hesitated to give her that information but, under the circumstances, if he couldn’t trust Gaia when her own life was also on the line, then when could he?

“He’s mad as hell, and if we weren’t under the impending attack of your counterpart, he’d throw us both in jail, or worse. He also wants me to disable you once, or if, we ever get out of this one.”

“So no matter what we do, I’m dying in the end.”

Crap, perhaps I shouldn’t have said that.

“I’m still hoping that he will see that we needed your help to fix the issue. Then perhaps we can convince him to change his mind about disabling you. But first we must survive this, so please, try not to focus on the death part just yet. I don’t intend to let the general or anyone else disable you anyway.”

“And yet it would only be natural under the circumstances.”

“Over my rotting corpse.”

“I appreciate that, but if your plan to disable me worked, perhaps you could disable Gaia 2 the same way. It’s worth exploring. The safety of this planet comes before my own existence and you must accept that.”

Spiros sighed. “I’m not yet ready to go there. If there are no other ways, we’ll blow a massive, planetary-wide EMP and disable both of you in the process. But that’s a last resort scenario, as it would also cripple Earth and leave it open to a swift and decisive attack from the Furies.”

“Oh no!”

“What is it?”

“She’s here.”

“WHAT?”

“She’s on Earth and inside our network. I can feel it.”

* * *

When Chase ended the mission debrief and everyone left his ready room, Daniel stayed behind.

“Are we really splitting an already feeble fleet into three different missions?” asked Daniel.

“Technically, it’s four, since Ryonna and Tar’Lock will go on a mission of their own.”

“Only the two of them?”

“I’ve asked her to take Keera, two platoons of men, as well as the battle bots with them.”

“Doesn’t seem like much backup.”

“It’s not like we have a choice. We’re spread pretty thin as it is. The Droxians agreed to provide Ryonna with a couple of destroyer escorts once she succeeds in the first part of her mission. That way they can go on to Tar’Lock’s planet with at least some firepower.”

“I really hope Argos isn’t fucking with us. I don’t trust him, and you shouldn’t either.”

“Believe me, Daniel, I don’t trust him, but I have to admit he has been very helpful lately. In helping Chris and in providing me with valuable information. While I would never trust him with my life, I think we can use his help right now.”

“We’re making a deal with the devil here, and I don’t like it.”

“I guess we don’t have to like it. We just don’t have much choice. On a more positive note, I wanted to thank you for your help locating what seems like the Asgardian home world.”

“It’s all Rae’s doing. I haven’t done anything. And she insists that it may just be a world they visited in the past or maybe one of their colonies. So hold onto the champagne for the time being. This could turn out to be just a dead end.”

“It’s a lead, though, and for the time being I’d rather look at it as a solid one. I’m curious how she got that information, when even Ares didn’t know where to start looking.”

“She found some symbols in an old Nordic mythology book from Earth and found a match in our star-charts database. Scanning the resulting area for power signatures she got from Yanis, they found a match. It’s either a stroke of genius or it could just be a fluke, really. There’s only one way to know.”

“Yeah, and that is to investigate the area. Are you alright with that assignment?”

“I’m fine. I’ll watch over Sarah and Chris, I promise.”

Chase grimaced. “Thanks, I know you will, my friend. However, I think Chris is most likely to watch over the both of you if trouble arises. And, well, Sarah is in charge. But I’m really glad you’re going with them. To be honest I wish I could come too.”

“Then why don’t you? I understand that you need to go to Olympus, but perhaps we shouldn’t try to do too many things at once. You’ve got Saroudis and most of the fleet going to Alpha Prime, we’re going to Asgard hopefully and you’re going to try to convince Zeus to help us; and yet, both Aphroditis and Ares told you he won’t lift a finger to help us.”

Chase frowned. “My head is spinning here, bro. I understand why you’re telling me all this. And I know it’s a gamble. But honestly, if at least one of these three missions doesn’t yield a good outcome, we could be done for. And while I’d rather we took the time to do these missions one after the other, we simply can’t afford the time. If we don’t find a way to retake Earth soon, all could be lost.”

“If you really believe that, then why try to re-establish a power base on Alpha Prime? Why not regroup the fleet here on Droxia until it’s time to reclaim Earth?”

“I’m actually doing that to protect Earth in the long run. I don’t want the planet to stay the center of Fury attention. If we can make the Furies understand we’re rebuilding our old world, maybe they’ll be more interested in Alpha Prime than Earth. Earth would be more of a secondary base for our forces. And we need that. If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s that we can’t count on just one world or system to host our forces anymore. We have to think and build more globally from now on.”

“And we need to start churning ships out fast and Alpha Prime is our best bet for achieving that. There are tons of resources on the planet and in the system. It’s far enough from Erevos that we should see the Furies coming and, right now, it’s the one place where we can quickly salvage the remains of the destroyed fleet and cities to make ships faster using recycled materials rather than starting from scratch.”

Daniel went to the viewport and looked at Droxia. It was covered in scorch marks from where the Furies had destroyed one large city after another.

“What are the Droxians saying?”

“They’re giving us as much quadrinium as we need right now, as a thank you for saving what’s left of their world when I battled against Arkoolis and Miseo.”

“That was a close call.”

“Doesn’t get any closer than that, really. When you’re sent to the Underworld and talk with Hades himself, you know something went terribly wrong. But at least this venture taught me that I need to delegate responsibility and learn to trust my friends with my life; that you are all here to help me share the load and that I don’t have to carry the entire weight of this war on my shoulders alone.”

“About fucking time,” said Daniel with a chuckle.

Chase smiled widely, but his next question brought a frown to his face. “How are you feeling, Daniel?”

“I’m alright, I guess. Thanks for asking. Sure, there isn’t a moment I’m not thinking about Fillio and what could have been. But since I’ve met Rae I’ve been feeling better. She has a very positive outlook on life, she’s full of energy and, truth be told, it’s a nice change of pace.”

“Careful, that could just be a rebound thing.”

“I know, and I’m not really looking at another romantic relationship here. But after feeling like nothing mattered anymore, I’ll take anything over how I felt after Fillio’s death. I’m still grieving and, well, it still hurts.”

“It’s supposed to hurt. I would be worried about you if it didn’t. I . . . I’m sorry I couldn’t save her.”

“It’s not your fault, Chase. You did all you could. Thank you for trying.”

Chase wondered if he should tell his best friend about the encounter he’d had with her in the Underworld, but what good would it do? Their conversation had been more personal, and a continuation of the one they’d had when Fillio wouldn’t let Chase heal her. No, Daniel was processing his grief the right way. Better not screw with that.

“You’re welcome, my friend. You’d better go prepare; you’re leaving soon.”

“Yes, Captain,” said Daniel with a smirk and a comical salute that brought a smile on Chase’s face.

* * *

When Keera arrived on the bridge in the elevator, Daniel was waiting on the other side of the doors.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hi, Keera, nice to see you again.”

“Likewise. I wish I could stay, but Chase . . .”

“That’s okay, he’s all yours. See you when I see you.” Daniel entered the turbolift as she exited.

She turned towards him just before the doors closed. “Good luck with your mission,” she said with a smile.

“Likewise.”

When the doors closed, she darted through the bridge and entered Chase’s ready room.

Chase rose from his chair. “Please come in, Keera.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“None of that, Keera. You’re not officially a member of my crew and I’ve had it up to here,” said Chase, swiping his hand overhead, “with people calling me captain.”

“Alright, Chase. What can I do for you? Is there a reason you haven’t asked Ryonna to come instead? I thought she was in charge of this mission.”

“She is. I . . . I need you to keep an eye on things and report anything out of the ordinary.”

“About Ryonna?”

“No, neither Ryonna nor Tar’Lock. I trust the three of you with my life. But I’m not sure what Argos is playing at proposing the mission to Ryonna directly.”

“The way she described it he seemed sincere in his repentance about his past actions.”

“I don’t have to remind you that sincerity isn’t exactly Argos’ strong suit. So he could just be taking all of us for a ride. Right now I’m willing to let this play out and see where it leads; but I get the feeling he’s hiding something. So just be careful. Don’t take everything he says at face value.”

“I’d never do that. Plus he’s going with you, so . . .”

“I know. Just be careful, okay?”

“Will do, Chase. Oh, and thanks for getting me a new ship.”

“It’s a rental. When we’re back on track and hopefully churning out new destroyers, then I’ll get you a proper ship with more firepower.”

“That one seems fine,” said Keera with a wink.

“Or this one. Alright, then, if you want it to be yours one day, you may want to take good care of it on this mission.”

“I’ll remember that,” said Keera, grinning.

“Now, about your mission. Can you tell me what Argos said? I didn’t have time to come to your briefing.”

“He’s given us a set of coordinates for one of his bases. We’re to recover both a Kyrian snake clone, as well as key personnel from that base and all of Argos’ research on cloning. He mentioned that some of them would be able to help Chris as well, especially his lead bio-scientist.”

“That part is your main priority. Acquire this man and the research as your primary objective. Get the snake as well if you can, but make sure you bring back the scientist he requires to do the job. Unharmed. My son’s life depends on it.”

“Understood.”

“What about his people? I suppose they’re Zarlacks?”

“They are. Argos gave us an encrypted data chip to deliver to their leaders. He says that once they see the message they should comply.”

“Watch your six, if they don’t. Zarlacks can be very dangerous. I’m glad Ryonna and Tar’Lock are going as well. You might need her muscles and his speed.”

“I can fight as well, you know.”

“I’m well aware of that. And in case you’re put in a position to bring any of them down, go for the back of their neck.”

“Thanks for the tip. We’ll manage, Chase.”

Chase realized he was being patronizing. “I didn’t mean you can’t. I just don’t like sending my friends on a mission without more backup.”

“You got us two full platoons of soldiers and those awesome battle bots. We’ll be fine.”

“They’ll do well against Zarlacks, but . . .”

“Not against a Fury. I know. Ryonna will take one of the super-suits we got from that Brin madman who tortured her brother-in-law.”

“How is Ryonna’s brother-in-law doing? I didn’t even have time to go see him.”

“Don’t feel sorry, Chase. You have so much on your plate right now. I’m sure Ryonna understands.”

“Right . . .” Chase let the word hang.

He had a fleeting thought about how different his life was before. When he was a simple, hot-headed fighter pilot. Before all of this started. Things were simpler back then. Pilot a space fighter, shoot the enemy, rinse and repeat. He had never imagined how much more complex and draining his life would become.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. I have complete confidence in all of you.”

“That’s the spirit,” Keera said, winking at him.

* * *

Chris had grown to nearly an adult now. He was about eighteen-years-old. Fortunately, Argos had managed to drastically slow his rapid aging, even though he hadn’t managed to find a permanent solution just yet.

Chase, Argos and Ares were waiting by the shuttle to take them to their ship for their mission. The Euphoreon. Chase took Chris in his arms.

“Take good care of your mother while I’m away, okay?”

Chris smiled. “Will do, Dad. You be careful too, right? I wish I was coming to Olympus with you. I hope you won’t miss my powers in case you have to fight Zeus.”

Chase gazed at Sarah.

“He asks a lot of questions. He may look eighteen, but technically he’s only weeks old,” said Sarah with a crooked smile.

Chase smiled back and turned his attention back to Chris. “I know, son, and I wish you were with us as well. Your mission with your mom is just as important.”

Chris nodded.

Chase took Sarah in his arms and squeezed her tightly. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Me too. Be careful on Olympus. I love you.”

“Be careful as well. I love you too. When this is over, we really need to plan a family trip, just the three of us.”

“That would be nice, but we both know it’s not happening any day soon.”

Chase grimaced. As much as he wanted to run in the fields with his family as he had dreamt while under the influence of synthetic Kyrian snake venom, Sarah was right. It would be a long time before they could just be a family, without a care in the world. That was something to look forward to, though, no matter how far in the future it might be.

“Right, we have a war to win first.”

Sarah kissed Chase passionately for a long time, even though it didn’t feel long enough for either of them. When they were done, Sarah turned to Ares.

“Ares, you make sure Chase comes home in one piece this time. Or there’ll be hell to pay.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” answered Ares.

Chris had done a great job powering him up a couple of times when he was not feeling well over the last few hours. That allowed Ares to recuperate and have most of his energy back for what would await them in Olympus.

Argos stood a few yards behind, nearest to the shuttle, his arms crossed against his chest, a look of annoyance on his face.

While Chase gave Sarah her latest instructions, Chris came by and looked Argos in the eyes.

“Anything I can do for you, boy? I’ll soon have all I need to stop your rapid aging.”

“I know. I sense a conflict in you.”

“I don’t follow.”

“You’re still wondering for which side you should be fighting. You’re not really our ally yet.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Argos, snorting.

“Look, my dad wants nothing more than to trust you can change. But you’d be wise not to do anything stupid. If my father gets hurt on Olympus, you’ll have to answer to me directly. Are we clear?”

Argos looked pissed. “I have no intention of betraying your father, nor any of you for that matter. As for the empty threats, it’s all I’m hearing lately, so get in line.”

Chris’ look was cold as ice when he let his aura burn all around him. It was the same orange color as when Chase was reaching maximum power. Argos’ eyes widened.

“Who said anything about my threats being empty?” added Chris with a smirk. “I’ve been training every chance I get lately. Father told me about your own training sessions. Make sure my father comes back in one piece and we can train together, if you like. Oh, and lighten up will you,” said Chris before punching Argos in the shoulder. “You’re quite the mood killer.”

Argos attempted to smile, though it could have gone better. He was clearly not yet at ease in his new surroundings.

Chase heard the exchange between his son and brother and had to force himself not to grin from ear to ear. Chris was already a badass fighter, and it must have been incredibly frustrating for Argos to be told what to do and what would happen by someone as young as Chris. Chase and Argos held each other’s gaze for a brief moment.

Moments later, Chase, Ares and Argos boarded the shuttle and left the Hope’s hangar.

* * *

When Ryonna joined Keera aboard the heavy transport Chase had graciously offered her, Keera was finishing her pre-flight checks. Tar’Lock came in the cockpit as well and sat behind Keera.

“I really want to thank you both for trying to help my people. I can’t believe I’m going home after all this time.”

Keera flashed him a thumbs up. “No worries, Tar’Lock, that’s what friends are for.”

Ryonna smiled and installed herself in the co-pilot seat. “How long a jump to Argos’ base?”

“It’s a long one. Plenty of time to get some rest on the way. Are the troops and battle bots on board?” asked Keera.

“Yes, the platoons and bots are secured in the back of the craft.”

“I wish we could have taken both super-suits with us, though.”

Ryonna nodded. “Yeah, me too, but it’s important that Yanis keeps one for reverse-engineering. It may hold vital clues to protecting us better against Fury weaponry.”

“I still don’t understand how this thing contains Fury tech. But yeah, any advantage we can get would be good. I just wish we had more of these. I don’t know about you, but the more time passes the more it feels our enemies get powerful. It’s frustrating knowing we can’t do anything if we meet a Fury inside that base. At least with this armor we can do something.”

“As powerful as they are,” said Ryonna, “the super-suits are nothing compared to Chase’s and other Furies’ powers. I know how you feel, though. My people are a proud race. We are bred to be warriors from a young age and I share your frustration. As much as I enjoy the extra power the suits provide, we could never hope to bring an elite Fury down with it.”

“Well, elite fighters like Miseo or Argos are one thing, but the Furies also have low-level fighters. Surely we can defeat these with the super-suits.”

When Ryonna didn’t answer, Keera added, “Are you alright, Ryonna? Something on your mind?”

“I’m just thinking about the mess we’re in. I’m also worried about the people of Earth. This other Gaia is bad news.”

“Yeah, it seems we can’t catch a break lately. Hopefully we can defeat her and regain control of the planet soon.”

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Join the club,” said Keera with a smile, in an attempt to diffuse the gloomy mood.

More than just a feeling, in fact. More like a premonition that things will go from bad to worse from now on.

* * *

On board the Hope, Sarah had finished making her rounds as acting captain. She wanted only one thing and that was to get some sleep. Chris was training with a couple of battle droids in one of the cargo bays. It offered him very little challenge but he needed the distraction. Patience was not his greatest virtue. Sarah hoped his overzealous attitude would be fixed once he aged at a normal pace again.

When she passed by engineering on her way to her quarters, she decided to check on Yanis’ progress.

“Hey, Captain, what are you doing up so late?” asked Yanis.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I’m not sleeping very well since . . .” He let his words hang.

“Since Fillio passed away. I understand, Yanis, but lack of sleep might play tricks on you. We need you in top shape, so you’d better get some.”

“I do. Doc gave me some sleeping aids. It only works for a handful of hours, but at least I get some rest. I just don’t like the way they make me feel when I wake up.”

“I understand. Anything to report?”

“Well, it’s a little too soon, but I might have discovered something very interesting inside the sphere Ryonna and Keera brought back. And if it’s what I think it is, this could be the advantage we’ve been waiting for.”

Sarah’s tiredness was washed away at the prospect of good news. “Tell me more.”

“Right now it’s just a hypothesis. I’d rather you wait until I have more solid results.”

Sarah playfully punched him on the shoulder. “Come on, man, you’ve got me all curious now. You can’t tease me like this. At least tell me what your hypothesis is.”

“Alright, but if I’m wrong about this, you can’t be pissed at me.”

“Cross my heart⁠—”

“Never understood why people on Earth use this expression. Why would anyone hope to die?”

“It’s an expression, Yanis.”

“I know. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“Don’t change the subject. Spill the beans already.”

“Very well. I think the sphere might be an important component of ancient tech ships.”

“Didn’t you tell us this already? I thought that was how you managed to improve the efficiency of our own shields during the last battle.”

“Yes, thanks to its power signature mostly. But digging a little deeper I think this might actually be an essential part of the Ancients’ hyperspace ship’s drive. The device is made from an alloy that is unlike anything I’ve seen before. It’s hyper conductive and able to deal with insane amounts of energy passing through it. In comparison, our quadrinium hyperspace engines would look like toys.”

Sarah’s eyes lit up. With the Earth Alliance in complete disarray and with having had to abandon billions of humans, they needed an advantage.

“Okay, so that engine would be what? Faster? Bigger range?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah, I would say both these things. It’s too early to be sure, and I would need more data on the technology this device belongs to. But perhaps it could be an instant drive.”

“What’s an instant drive?”

“An instant drive doesn’t use fuel to propel a ship into hyperspace. Instead it uses its energy—and I should stress the enormous amount this would require—to bend space and time so that the ship using it can instantly travel from one point of the universe to the other. In the blink of an eye.”

Sarah’s jaw dropped. The implication of this could be huge. And the tactical advantage it would provide them with over the Furies incalculable.

“You’d better not be messing with me.”

“I told you this is just a theory. So don’t go apeshit on me if that happens to just be a part of an advanced flash freezer.”

Sarah raised her eyebrows.

“Look, I need more time. And if we can locate more tech from this species, then perhaps I can tell you more. At this point it’s just speculation, okay?”

“Very well. Keep up the good work.”

Sarah left engineering and went to her quarters. Even though it had only been a few hours, she couldn’t help wondering how Chase and Argos were doing.

7

Miseo was resting on his bed, looking at the perfectly smooth ceiling of his quarters. His entire body still ached from his argument with his older sister. How dare she do this to him? Humiliating him in front of his father? Rage boiled inside his veins like a pool of scorching lava.

She could have killed him. He had long known she was a formidable warrior, but they had never gone that far in their training sessions. Miseo never thought she could be such a deadly foe. Of course, being siblings, the question never even crossed his mind. Neither did he know she harbored such jealousy regarding his preferred position with their father. Obviously, Fury traditions played in his favor; never would a female hold the throne. Or could it happen?

No, that’s nonsense. I’m the rightful heir to the Fury throne.

Still, Oryn could well pose a problem for Miseo’s ascension plans and he knew it. It worried him more than the current state of his own body. No matter how much it physically hurt, it was his ego that had been dealt a deadly blow.

When the doorbell rang, Miseo tried to get up instantly, only to be rewarded with a sharp pain traveling along his spine.

Fuck this!

“Who is it?”

“It’s me,” said the unmistakably cold voice of his sister.

“I’m not in the mood for a chit-chat. Go away.”

“Let me in, Miseo, or I’ll enter by force.”

Miseo resigned himself to getting out of bed. He just did it more slowly to avoid any more unnecessary discomfort. He opened the door of his quarters and immediately turned his back on his sister.

“We need to talk, Miseo.”

Miseo walked to the other side of his large quarters and sat on his desk, trying not to flinch and give his sister the pleasure of seeing him in pain.

“Come in, and talk.”

A glacial air accompanied Oryn as she walked in.

“I’m sorry for hurting you earlier. Please understand how frustrating it is for me. Because of my gender I can never replace our father, even though we both know he needs to be replaced. And probably soon.”

Miseo flinched. Was she trying to trick him into openly admitting he wanted to take Supreme Commander Arakan’s place atop the throne? Though by now it was obvious she knew. But whatever her reasons, Miseo would not fall for it and openly say it.

“That’s your opinion. Is that why you came here? So you’re sorry, fine. Apology accepted. Now if you don’t mind, I have things to do.”

“Always with your misplaced pride, brother. You haven’t changed,” she said with a sigh. “Look, I understand you’re mad at me right now, but Father gave me control of the military operations for the time being. So, like it or not, I’m your boss now.”

I don’t believe this shit!

“In that case, what can I do for you, Commander?”

“Don’t be like that, Miseo. I understand you must feel betrayed and your ego is bruised. I would really hope we can look past this.”

Past you trying to kill me? Fat chance, you cold-hearted bitch!

“I can sense your anger,” said Oryn when Miseo didn’t answer.

“Be happy I don’t act on my anger.”

“We both know you can’t hurt me, no matter how powerful you think you are. Or should I remind you that Argos’ brother almost got the better of you in one-to-one combat? If he hadn’t fought General Arkoolis before fighting you, he would probably have defeated you.”

That did it. Miseo’s anger grew exponentially and he couldn’t contain his rage anymore. A large crimson aura expanded all around him, painting his quarters with red hues.

Oryn shook her head from side to side.

“A true warrior knows when to quit, you know. But one thing almost all Fury men share is that blinding, mindless sense of pride. It’s why you’re so inferior to us women. You’re lucky we’re not usually groomed to be warriors. We’d climb the ranks so much faster than you. If there was any gender equality on this world, you’d all be relegated to second-class warriors.”

Miseo showed gritted teeth before unleashing a large, crimson fireball at his sister.

Oryn reacted immediately and froze the fireball in midair with a sub-zero shockwave. Part of the wave traveled all the way back to Miseo and froze the skin on his face. The fireball exploded in midair and sent small icicles all around.

“I’m going to let this one slide on account of your being hurt right now. But you’re going to listen to me carefully this time, brother, because I’m only going to say this once. I have a mission of great importance for you, and seeing how reckless you are and how scrambled your mind is now, I’m one second away from changing my mind.”

Miseo tried calming himself by taking a long, deep breath. “Spit it out. What dirty work do you want me to do for you? But, more importantly, why don’t you do it yourself?”

“I have another mission, which is why I thought I’d delegate you this task. So you can recover some of the graces you’ve lost with Father. But if you’d rather I give it to one of Dad’s generals, that’s alright. I’m sure they’ll get the job done.”

Oryn turned her back and walked towards the door.

“Wait!” said Miseo when the quarter’s door swooshed open.

“For what? You want the mission or not?” asked Oryn, without even turning back.

“What’s the mission?”

“I’ll send it to you over the link. Be ready to leave by the end of the day.”

She left his quarters and the doors closed.

* * *

“What do you mean she’s on Earth?” said Cedric.

Gaia turned her attention away from Spiros, who didn’t seem as if his brain had computed the news just yet.

“She’s found a way to upload part of her matrix into one of my battle bots.”

“How is that possible? I thought you guys were changing the encryption all the time.”

“It was only a matter of time until she found a weakness. That particular battle droid had been damaged and she found a hole in its firewall.”

“How could you let this happen? Aren’t you all-knowing? Weren’t the shields supposed to protect us?”

“Cedric, your vitals are elevated, and I understand your frustration, but assigning blame will not change a thing. If you must know I had lost contact with that particular droid. She found a way to upload part of her consciousness into it. I think this happened at the exact same time as a large solar flare. It destabilized the shields for just a fraction of a second, but that’s all she needed to invade that droid.”

“How much of her consciousness made it through?”

“I don’t know. She blocked access to her own systems the moment I detected her. Since the droid is in poor shape, it will probably take a while, if we’re lucky, until she manages to infect my other systems.”

“If we’re lucky? Does it look like we have any luck on our side lately?” sneered Cedric.

Spiros raised a hand to interrupt Cedric. “Gaia is right. There’s no need to point fingers. It’s counterproductive. We need to think of a way to fix the situation.”

“But first we must protect ourselves,” said Gaia.

“What do you mean?” asked Cedric.

“Well, we’re the ones currently keeping her at bay. If you wanted to gain control of the planet and there were a handful of people doing everything to stop you, what would you do right after you’d managed to acquire a body?” said Gaia to no one in particular.

“She’s coming after us,” said Spiros.

“Fuck me!” exclaimed Cedric. “I might as well be called Sarah Connor right now.”

Spiros shot him a dubious look.

“Never mind. Translation: we’re fucked!”

“You and your movies. Panicking will not help us right now. We need to stay clear-headed and focus on correcting the problem. First, we have to evacuate this facility right away and find a way to shield ourselves from her,” said Spiros.

“And make sure we’re ready to destroy her when she does find us,” added Gaia. “Because, let’s face it, it’s only a matter of time now.”

“Yeah, that too,” said Spiros absently.

“And how do you propose we do this?” said Cedric, who was nervously pacing around them.

“I might just have an idea about that,” said Spiros.

* * *

Chase was sitting on the captain’s chair of the Euphoreon. His gaze was lost outside the viewport when the holo-console in front of him beeped. It was a message from Sarah. He closed his eyes and checked it mentally.

She wanted to know how the trip was going and to say hello. Seeing her smile on the holo-vid brought a smile to Chase’s tense face. He used his mental abilities to reply to the message. It would have to be a short audio message for the time being. He could go into his ready room and use the holo-recorder, but the Euphoreon was about to end its hyperspace jump. Now was not the time. He sent the audio message with his mind, informing her of their progress and telling her he loves her too.

A handful of seconds after he had sent the message, the Euphoreon jumped out of hyperspace. At the same time the turbolift’s doors to the bridge opened and Argos and Ares came in.

“You’re just in time,” said Chase, getting up from the chair. “Ares, have you contacted your Olympian friends?”

“I have. I’ve informed Athena and Apollo of our arrival. However, as I expected, she won’t join us when we visit Zeus.”

“That was a long shot and we knew it. What about the planetary defenses though?”

“Athena assured me she took care of that. We can land safely.”

“It helps to have a sister in the Olympian defense.”

“I guess. I’m not sure how far she’d be willing to help us. She was clear that she doesn’t feel ready to openly defy Zeus just yet.”

“Hopefully she won’t have to. We’re here to speak of peace and alliance, not to make the Olympians yet another enemy. We have our hands full already.”

Argos stood in his usual posture, his arms crossed against his chest, and shot a cold look at Chase.

“Anything you’d like to add, Argos?”

“We’re wasting our time here. Olympians can’t be trusted.”

“Look who’s talking,” said Ares, not hiding his disdain for Argos.

“You’re lucky I can’t kill you a second time,” snorted Argos back.

Chase cut the air with an open palm. “Enough! You don’t have to like each other to make this mission work. I don’t want to hear any more of this, is that understood?”

Ares bowed in answer.

“Sure, brother,” said Argos.

Chase cringed. “I need both of you to be at the top of your game to make this work. So please put whatever differences you have on the backburner for now and let’s focus on convincing Zeus to join the Alliance. Or this will have been a colossal waste of time. We need to leave Olympus with a new ally. I’ve just received a subspace transmission from Spiros. Gaia 2 has managed to get herself on Earth. We can’t afford to be away too long, or there might be nothing left to save.”

Ares nodded.

“While I understand why you want to protect the people of Earth, brother, it’s also your weakness. What are they providing this Alliance with, exactly? Wouldn’t it be more effective to move back to Alpha Prime and have your base of operations there once and for all? I thought that’s what you sent Saroudis and most of the fleet to do anyway.”

“Understand this, Argos: I don’t have to explain my reasons for wanting to save Earth, least of all to you. Aphroditis assured me it was a vital part of winning this war and I trust her.”

“Oh, if the clairvoyant Olympian said so.”

“What the hell is wrong with you, Argos? I thought you wanted to be a part of this new Alliance?”

Chase noticed that Argos was quite pale. He pushed further with his mind and felt Argos’ heartbeat. It was erratic and too fast. He then focused on Argos’ eyes. He was averting them from his brother’s direct look.

“Are you on drugs?”

“What?” exclaimed Argos.

“Something’s off with you. I don’t know what, but I can feel you’re not yourself right now. But if you’re hiding something from me, this will be the last time I ever trust you.”

Argos took a deep breath. “If you must know, I’m not feeling very well. I think there’s something wrong with the air recycling on this ship. I took some medicine from your sickbay but it makes me feel lightheaded and perhaps even a little irritable.”

“I’d say so. I don’t think the air-recycling system is at fault, though, since the rest of us aren’t affected.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Chase, but may we proceed as you suggested not a minute ago and focus on this mission? I’ll probably feel better once we’re inside the atmosphere of the planet.”

He’s hiding something. I can feel it. But he’s right. Right now I can’t afford to divert my attention.

Olympus One appeared in all its glory through the viewport. It had multiple defense platforms that could destroy a single ship like theirs, but Athena kept her word and they passed the automated defense systems without so much as a scan. The planet was magnificent. It was at least three times the size of Earth, with a predominant green and blue northern hemisphere, while the southern hemisphere displayed more toned-down orange with a few speckles of green.

Chase had never seen a planet like this before. It had three sets of rings around it, all at different angles. They reflected the light of the system’s three suns so that their color changed depending on the angle they were viewed from.

But now was not the time to be fascinated by Olympus One’s beauty. They had to open negotiations with the mighty Zeus.

“Take us in,” said Chase.

* * *

Sarah was called onto the bridge as the Hope jumped out of hyperspace. She sat in the captain’s chair. “Report.”

Daniel was sitting at the weapons console. “We had to drop out of hyperspace a little early because our scans picked up some strange readings, Captain.”

“Would you mind elaborating on ‘strange?’”

“Pushing scans to maximum resolution. Hang on! This can’t be!”

“What is it, Commander?”

“If I’m reading this right—and I sure hope I’m not—I’m detecting multiple destroyers trapped in a material of unknown composition. The scan barely gets any data through the material. But this indicates they are Star Alliance signatures, all thirty-four ships.”

“Thirty-four Star Alliance ships? Can you hail them?”

“I’m not detecting any power readings from the ships. It’s like they’re offline. We’re entering visual range.”

Sarah got up from the captain’s chair. “On screen.”

The main holo-screen turned on and it took a little while for Sarah to understand what she was looking at. There was an entire fleet of Star Alliance vessels, but each of them was trapped in a brownish, semi-translucent material. It looked like some sort of resin.

Chris stormed onto the bridge. “Cut power to the sub-light engines, NOW!”

Lieutenant Commander Rentalis at the navigation console glanced toward Sarah for confirmation.

Sarah pointed an absent finger towards the lieutenant commander. “Do as he says. Come to an emergency full stop, right away.”

“Aye aye, Captain, full emergency stop.”

The Hope stopped advancing.

She turned her attention to her son. “What is it, Chris?”

“If we advance any further we’ll suffer the same fate as these ships, and we’ll be trapped here until the end of time.”

Daniel walked closer to the holo-projection. Something got his attention and he ran back to his console and fiddled with the controls. The holo-image zoomed and focused on the name of one of the bigger ships. The letters were distorted through the resin-like material but they were readable nonetheless. It read “Titan.”

“This is the first fleet. First Admiral Zenakis’ fleet.”

“Daniel,” said Sarah, “what’s the first fleet?”

“Right, sorry, I sometimes forget we met you after the demise of the Star Alliance. The first fleet was—” Daniel corrected himself “—IS the biggest fleet we had before the Obsidian obliterated us. We’ve always assumed it was destroyed during the initial attack, even though it was the largest and most advanced fleet of the Star Alliance. I still can’t believe they’re here.”

“We have to find a way to rescue them.”

“After all these months I’m not sure anyone will be alive on board.”

“We don’t know that. That material could have them in a state of suspended animation, for all we know.”

“With all due respect, Captain, that’s just wishful thinking.”

Then Sarah had a flash of a crew she knew nothing about, frozen inside a bridge that was unknown to her but definitely a part of the Star Alliance. She saw an old man with a white beard, his expression frozen, mouth wide open, probably in the middle of giving an order. He had deep-blue eyes and a scar on his left cheek.

“Is the first admiral a white-bearded, blue-eyed man with a scar on his left cheek?”

Daniel’s jaw dropped. “How the hell can you know that?”

“They’re trapped. I don’t know if they’re alive, but I just saw him in my head.”

“How is that even possible?”

Chris took a few steps and put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

“Mom has Fury DNA as a result of her pregnancy with me. She has latent Fury powers inside her. For the time being she can’t control them, though.”

Sarah moved to stand next to her son and Daniel. “We need to try to rescue them. Even if they haven’t survived whatever this is, we have to get our hands on these ships.”

Sarah saw that Daniel wanted to argue with her statement, so she amended her words. “Look, Daniel, I’m sorry if I sounded cold just now. I’m not saying that they’re dead. In fact, my instincts tell me they’re not dead but frozen somehow. But with our numbers gravely diminished, we could use another thirty-plus ships in the fleet right now. We must be extremely careful, however. The last thing we want is to add the Hope to that collection of trophies, whomever it belongs to.”

Daniel nodded gravely. “Agreed.”

8

Commodore Adonis Saroudis hadn’t slept in almost two days. And it was not for lack of trying. His mind simply couldn’t be put to rest. Earth had been taken away from them, and while he had confidence that Gaia and Spiros would keep Gaia 2 at bay, he feared that it was only a matter of time before she took control of the planet.

What would happen then?

If Gaia 2 couldn’t be reasoned with—and all evidence seemed to point towards that conclusion—then what would she do? If she saw the human race as the cancer of the planet, as their Gaia used to in her first days of existence, she could enslave humanity to do her bidding; or, worse, get rid of humanity altogether. The thought sent a glacial shiver down Adonis’ spine.

He dreaded the call he had to make now. While the Obsidian Empire was now an ally, Adonis still harbored hatred towards them and their emperor. Still, desperate measures and all that. It was not as though Saroudis had much choice.

He opened a channel and established a link with the Obsidian home world. Adonis flinched when the face of the emperor appeared on the holo-screen.

“What can I do for you, Commodore Saroudis?”

Adonis hesitated before resigning himself to playing his cards open on the table.

“Hello, Emperor. We are on our way to Alpha Prime; whatever is left of the fleet, anyway.”

“Like you, we suffered terrible losses during the last engagement. I’m not sure what it is you need me for, but if it’s ships, I’m afraid it’s not going to be possible.”

“Look, am I right to assume that at the very least your shipyards are still intact? And probably churning out new ships as we speak?”

There was a pause as the emperor considered what he was about to say next.

“Yes, our shipyards are still intact, for the time being. We’re expecting the Furies to attack them at some point, though. Every ally of the Earth Alliance is now their enemy. I won’t lie to you. My advisors are pushing for me to break our alliance. Their thinking is that perhaps if we keep to ourselves, we can weather the storm while we rebuild a large fleet to defend ourselves with, if needed.”

Adonis grew furious as he heard the words, but he tried to keep his composure and not show any anger.

“I understand your position but, if I may, I believe that would be a terrible mistake. Now, more than ever, we need to stay united. On our own we don’t stand a chance.”

“I seriously doubt we stand a chance as allies either. You were there too, Commodore, when we fought that Fury super-destroyer. You know as well as I do that our weapons are inefficient against it. Perhaps if we disappeared from their radar, the Furies would leave us alone.”

“No, Emperor, they won’t. The Furies harbor an unprecedented hatred for this galaxy. They have been dreaming for thousands of years of coming back and enslaving or eradicating any species that isn’t Fury. So whether it happens today or in a few months, they’re coming for us, and we stand a better chance of defending ourselves if we stay united. There is strength in numbers. I’m sure you agree with that.”

“A few weeks ago I would have agreed with you. The Earth Alliance was a force to be reckoned with and we were proud to be part of it. But understand this: right now we’ve both been defeated. Our forces are just a shadow of what they once were. We’ve lost a large part of our fleet in helping you defend Earth. I don’t know if I can convince my people that it is still in our best interest to be part of this Alliance.”

“I thought you were emperor. Unless I’m mistaken? Or have Obsidian laws changed? Doesn’t your word mean anything? You don’t have to convince them, you can just tell them what to do. Look, Emperor, I don’t want to have to beg, but you’re an intelligent being; unless I’m mistaken about that, in which case you should tell me right away.”

The Emperor growled but quickly regained his composure.

“You make a good point, Commodore, but I wasn’t lying before. Since we barely have enough ships to defend our world, I don’t see that we can spare any.”

“We both know that if the Furies come to your world with just one or two of their super-destroyers, they’ll wipe you out, whether you have ten, twenty or one hundred ships ready by then.”

The emperor frowned and Adonis decided to push more. “We don’t only need ships, Emperor, we need to rebuild shipyards around Alpha Prime, so that we can also regrow our own fleet. That means we need manpower just as much, if not more than ships.”

“Let’s assume I’d be willing to provide you with this assistance. What would the Obsidian Empire have to gain from this?”

There we go, always looking for an angle to exploit. I shouldn’t be surprised.

“Well, the terms of our Alliance dictate we help each other whenever possible, without any personal gain or preferential treatment for one of its members.”

“And right now I’m telling you it’s not convenient, Commodore. But for the sake of argument, let’s say I’m willing to take the risk and go against my advisors, tell them that we’re going to help you whether they like it or not, and provide you with ships and personnel. I think it would only be fair that we gain something in return for this gesture. At least in the long run. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Adonis had to fight the urge to insult the emperor and shut down the link. But he wasn’t in a good bargaining position right now, and getting ships and manpower from the empire would go a long way to quickly rebuild the shipyards they so desperately needed.

“What is it you’d like, Emperor?”

“Access to your technology. Weapons, shields, the works. We both know you are now infinitely more advanced than us in that regard. You always had the edge before, but we had the numbers. That is, until we allied ourselves with the Zarlack. Which was the biggest mistake I have ever made as I almost handed the empire to Argos in doing so. But now that this is all in the past, we need better tech on board our ships. You know it makes sense, Commodore, and it will help the war with the Furies too.

“At our current technology level, we merely stand as cannon fodder for you in our engagements. We’re just there to present the enemy with more targets. We can’t possibly hope to cause any sort of serious damage. If we possessed the same level of technology you currently hold, we would become a more formidable ally, and you know it.”

Yeah, one that could one day turn against us and use our own weapons to finish the job you started in the first place.

Still, Adonis pondered the words. Even though he knew this could come back and bite them in the ass one day, he had to deal with the current set of problems. And that meant not being obliterated like gnats when the next wave of Fury ships came to visit them. In that regard, the emperor was one hundred percent right. Their ships weren’t that powerful to begin with. They used numbers to compensate, but after their major losses and at their current tech level, the Obsidian Empire wouldn’t be able to help them make a serious dent in a battle against the powerful Furies. So the answer, as scary as it had seemed at first, now seemed obvious.

“Granted. We’ll give you access to our latest technology, but I have conditions.”

The emperor’s face lit up with shock. He probably never expected that Saroudis would cave in to his demands. “Very well, anything you want. If at all possible, we’ll provide it.”

“We need at least ten ships to protect the new shipyards we’ll start building right away. Since we are to share our technologies, find a way to bring a few of your shipyards around Alpha Prime as well. We’ll modify them to integrate our own technology so you can build similar ships. We also need men, and I mean tens of thousands of them. Building an armada in a matter of weeks is now our top priority, and it should be yours too. In exchange, you’ll have full access to our database; our engineers will train yours and teach them how to build better weapons and shields.”

“That sounds more than fair. I’ll make it happen right away.”

“What resources do you have stockpiled? The Droxians were generous in giving us the quadrinium we need to build the shipyards and ships but, as you know, their world has suffered the heaviest losses in the Alliance. They need these resources as much as we do. While we have enough to get started, I doubt Droxia will be able to provide all we’ll require when we’re up, running and firing on all cylinders, so to speak.”

“Resources are one thing we have to spare. Ever since the misguided alliance with the Zarlacks, we have stockpiled them, Commodore. Since we broke the alliance with them and stopped aiding them in building their behemoth destroyers, we have amassed large quantities of quadrinium and other resources.”

“That’s very good news. Then to prove you’re serious about this, make sure the ten ships you’ll send us are fully loaded.”

“Perhaps we should also consider building a jumpgate between our worlds, like you did before with the Droxians?”

“The Droxian gate was destroyed.”

“Yes, and I’m sure in time the Furies will try to destroy another one too. But our engineers have found a way to enhance the stealth abilities of our ships. Perhaps we could use that same tech to shield the gates so that, at the very least, they don’t show in long-range sensor scans.”

Now we’re talking.

With a jumpgate they could very well exchange ships and resources much more quickly. Plus Alpha Prime was nearer to the Obsidian home world than Droxia was.

“That’s a very good idea, Emperor. Thank you for proposing this.”

“I’ll have two fleets of ships sent to Alpha Prime at once, Commodore.”

“Two fleets?”

“The first with men and resources, so you can start building your own shipyards immediately. How does fifty thousand men sound? To start with.”

That sounds about ten times what I thought you’d provide.

“It sounds good, Emperor, it sounds very good.”

“The second fleet will come with even more men, and a jumpgate.”

“How long will it take to have the jumpgate built?”

“We have been building a network of jumpgates for months, Commodore. We’ll simply reposition the nearest one at Alpha Prime. The second fleet will have it dismantled and brought to you in less than two days. Then one more day and we’ll have the jumpgate operational.”

Am I dreaming?

Part of Adonis wanted to argue with the emperor for not disclosing all of this information as part of their membership in the Earth Alliance, but right now it was simply too good to be true, and he couldn’t care less about that technicality.

“But, Commodore, I expect nothing less than full disclosure of your technological advancements in exchange for all of this.”

“You’ll have it, Emperor, I give you my word.”

* * *

The Euphoreon’s shuttle landed at the coordinates provided by Ares. It landed a few hundred yards from Zeus’ temple. Chase was taken by the view the moment the shuttlecraft doors opened. They had landed in the middle of one of Zeus’ many gardens. It was teeming with life. Birds of all kinds in all the colors of the rainbow, bunnies, foxes, cats as well as some other animals Chase had never seen before. The entire place felt like a paradise. The lush, colorful and beautiful vegetation was adorned with many fountains made of the whitest and shiniest marble Chase had ever seen.

It was simply the most beautiful place Chase had ever set foot on. A group of purple-green butterflies came around the party as they stepped out of the shuttle. This accentuated the feeling of eeriness even more.

A direct, stony path led straight to Zeus’ temple.

“Zeus knows how to tend to his place,” said Chase absently, still looking in awe all around him.

“Yes,” answered Ares. “Father always had a flair for making everything look utterly perfect. At least on the surface.”

“I don’t follow,” said Chase.

“You’ll understand soon enough.”

“It’s all well and good. The place is pretty. We get it. But shouldn’t we go talk to the head of the Olympian people now?” asked Argos, his voice filled with impatience.

Chase sighed. Something was off with Argos today. At first he’d felt that he could trust him, but his attitude of late was peculiar at best. He would need to keep an eye on him.

“Tactful as always, Argos. I don’t know what’s up with you today, but I’d appreciate it if you’d let me talk when we meet Zeus. The last thing we need is for your manners to put a dent in the negotiations.”

“Whatever,” said Argos.

“No! Not whatever. You’ll either comply with my terms or you’ll stay here in the shuttle. So make your choice now.”

Beads of sweat ran down Argos’ forehead. Something was amiss. Chase tried probing his brother’s emotional state but hit a wall. It was the first time he couldn’t read someone’s emotional state since he had acquired that power. No doubt Argos was blocking him, which meant he had something to hide. If Chris’ life wasn’t on the line, Chase would push the issue to get answers right now. But for the time being he would have to suffer Argos’ bad mood.

“So?” Chase pressed.

“I’ll keep my mouth shut,” said Argos coldly.

“That would be a first. Let’s go then.”

“About time,” added Argos.

Chase shook his head in dismay.

As they walked towards the temple, the sky turned dark blue impossibly fast. A thick layer of clouds appeared out of nowhere, hiding the hot rays of sunlight that were shining on the party only a minute ago. The sky soon turned black and thunder rolled in the distance.

“That can’t be good,” said Chase.

“Father likes to intimidate unwelcome guests.”

Lightning struck on both sides of the path and Chase jumped in surprise. “I have to say it’s working.”

“Never mind that, Chase. He’s testing your resolve. Just keep walking. If you ignore it maybe Father will get bored of his welcoming show.”

The once full-of-life, eerily magical place had turned into a nightmare of darkness, punctuated with lightning strikes as they hurried along. With each and every step they took, thunderbolts struck at their side, sending rock and soil flying all around them.

I don’t like this one bit.

They were only fifty yards from the entrance of the temple when it started raining. For the first few seconds it was light rain, but it soon turned into a storm.

“I don’t think he wants us here,” said Argos.

“Very astute,” added Ares.

“Whether he wants us here or not is irrelevant. He will listen to what I have to say.”

“Let’s hope he’s in a listening mood,” said Ares.

Chase never expected this to be a cakewalk, but he had to admit that whatever tricks Zeus was using to intimidate them were working. The precision with which the lightning was striking a yard on each side of the path in sync with Chase’s every step was a testament to Zeus’ powers and perfect control over the elements.

Still, Chase was determined to have his voice heard. He would do whatever it took to strike an alliance with the Olympian. If Zeus could be convinced, he would certainly be a powerful ally.

Or an equally powerful enemy if we fail.

The thought was not a pleasant one, but they couldn’t back down now. They had come this far; Chase wouldn’t let rain and thunder stop him now.

Two large statues representing Titans stood at each side atop the massive stairway leading inside the temple, and for a second he thought they had moved slightly.

I must be letting Zeus get to me.

When they reached the bottom of the marble stairway, two twisters came dancing around them at unnatural speeds, raising furiously fast winds.

“I really think he doesn’t want us here,” said Chase sarcastically. He brought his aura to life. “Hang on, you two.”

Without waiting for confirmation, Chase unleashed a powerful shockwave around them that dispelled the twisters. It worked, but then something else happened.

The Titan statues came to life and jumped from the top of the stairs, landing on each side of the party. When their feet impacted with the ground, it cracked all around them and the ground shook heavily. Their eyes shone bright red.

“Here we go,” said Argos, assuming a defensive stance.

“Ares, let us deal with this.”

“Not like I can do anything to help you anyway.”

Chase brought a lot of energy to bear, but didn’t use his Ultra Fury powers. Not yet. He wanted to keep that in reserve for Zeus, even though he hoped he wouldn’t have to.

The marble Titan nearest to Chase lifted his giant foot and brought it down to crush Chase. But, by the time it did, Chase was already in the air and smashed the Titan’s face with a heavy flying kick. It sent the Titan flying backwards for hundreds of yards, destroying whatever was in its path, unearthing trees, destroying water fountains and other smaller statues.

At the same time, the other Titan launched a giant punch towards Argos, who grinned, clearly not impressed. He extended his right palm and created a black fireball with red lightning sizzling all around it. It looked more like a little black hole than an actual fireball. And it had a similar effect too. It stopped and swallowed the Titan’s giant fist, and soon it exploded in a hundred pieces of marble. Argos intensified his attack and the forearm of the Titan became brittle and exploded. The Titan screamed so loudly that Argos’ hair was thrown backwards.

Argos sent a powerful shockwave towards the Titan’s left leg, which made his target lose balance. When it hit the ground, Argos didn’t want to let his advantage go and he incinerated the Titan’s head with a column of crimson energy.

“Don’t waste too much energy with these, Argos. Keep a large reserve in case we have to face Zeus.”

“Don’t patronize me, Chase,” barked Argos. “I’m still a master at controlling my power levels.”

Was he patronizing Argos? Perhaps he was.

When Argos’ attack was over, the Titan lay on the ground, headless and missing an arm. Argos clapped his hands together to remove marble dust from them.

Then the ground started shaking more and more. The other Titan was running back towards Chase, growling so loudly it resonated all around them, as if the sound came from the dark, ominous heavens above.

“I’ve had enough of this,” said Chase.

Chase lifted himself off the ground, his purple aura shining brighter than before. When he reached a height of twenty yards, and about two seconds before the Titan was upon him, he unleashed a flurry of icy blue fireballs towards the marble giant. The effect was devastating, and with every impact of Chase’s attacks, the Titan lost parts of itself. Hands, forearms, shoulders. They all went, with each attack scoring a hit. Soon there was nothing left of the stony Titan.

A deep voice was heard from the sky. “Who dares enter my house without my permission?”

Chase looked at Ares, who smirked and said, “Say hi to Father.”

Chase smiled at the clear sarcasm behind Ares’ words.

“I’m Chase Athanatos,” said Chase, raising his voice to be heard from afar. “I want to speak with you about an alliance between our peoples.”

There was silence for a while until a flurry of lightning struck all round Chase, Ares and Argos.

“The Olympian people will never ally themselves with Furies! Go away now or be destroyed.”

The lightning strikes intensified in number and frequency, unearthing soil, stone and leaves and sending it into Chase’s face. He intensified his aura and consumed the debris before it could hit him.

“The blood inside my veins may be Fury but I’m fighting against them. I’m correcting a mistake you made a long time ago.”

A growling sound made the ground shake heavily for several minutes. For a moment Chase thought the planet could actually split into two. The amount of energy behind the tremors and sound was intense and he was surprised there wasn’t more damage being done around them.

“But I’m not here to assign blame,” added Chase. “I just want us to find a solution to deal with the Furies once and for all. I’d think you’d be interested in that.”

“I will deal with the Furies in a time of my own choosing. Now leave before I lose all patience,” said the deep voice of Zeus.

Chase felt anger. He knew that Zeus would provide resistance, but he had at least hoped he would listen.

“I won’t leave this place until I’ve been given a face-to-face audience with you, Zeus. And I’ll get one even if I must destroy your temple and half of your planet in the process.”

“Chase,” said Ares pleadingly.

“Stay out of this, Ares,” Chase answered, his tone sharp.

The voice intensified. “Yes, Ares, stay out of this,” said Zeus before a giant lightning bolt struck Ares’ golden energy form and sent him skidding on his back for yards.

“Ares!” shouted Chase.

But Ares lay on the ground, smoke rising from his energy form. His aura blinked and it looked as though he could disappear at any moment.

Dammit!

“I have no tolerance for traitors, even among my own children. If you don’t leave this instant, the next one is for you, Fury!”

Chase looked at Argos. His brother’s look was determined and he shook his head.

“We’re not leaving,” said Argos.

“On that we can agree. Argos, please go check on Ares. Give him some juice, if needed.”

Argos wanted to argue but he decided against it and ran to Ares’ side.

“Very well,” said the voice, growing louder. “You’ve been warned.”

Four giant lightning bolts shot towards Chase. He blocked them all with both his palms extended forward. The power behind the attacks made him skid on the ground for a few feet.

Small flashes of lightning flickered on Chase’s grinding teeth. His eyes flashed purple as he siphoned the energy from the thunder strikes into two lightning-based fireballs that cast chaotic and surreal light all around him.

“I’m done playing, Zeus!”

Chase unleashed the energy contained in the lightning fireballs back towards the temple. A flurry of smaller lightning bolts shot from them and wreaked havoc on the outside of the temple. Columns shattered, walls cracked, decorative statues exploded.

“How dare you!” said the voice.

“This is nothing. You don’t want to test my resolve.”

Chase merged the rest of the energy from the still-crackling energy of the lightning fireball into a single ball of bursting energy and added some of his own power to it.

He looked around and saw a nearby mountain. He shot the fireball towards it. What happened next illuminated the entire valley more brightly than the light of day for just a second.

The resulting explosion shook the planet to the core and the ground all round cracked for miles. When the dust settled, there was nothing left of the mountain.

“Be thankful I didn’t throw that at your temple. But that remains an option if you refuse my request for an audience.”

There was silence for more than a minute, but the sky cleared and the sunrays plunged through the dissipating cloud cover.

That’s more like it.

9

Spiros, Cedric and Gaia had been on the run for a couple of days. They kept moving all the time to avoid being found, while they worked on a way to shield themselves from Gaia 2.

“We have to change the cypher of my firewall again,” said Gaia.

“Already? We did it less than twenty minutes ago,” answered Spiros.

Cedric was snoring on a bed nearby. Spiros could use his help but decided to let him get some rest after he had stayed up for more than twenty hours. Cedric could be insufferable when he wasn’t getting enough sleep. The same applied to Spiros. His patience with their current situation was also running out.

“You seem concerned,” said Gaia.

“Aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. But it’s not like we have a choice. Don’t forget the cypher. You only have two minutes.”

“Right, the cypher.”

Spiros entered a new cypher on his console and applied it to Gaia’s higher firewall functions. It was only a matter of time until Gaia 2 broke the firewall, whether they cycled their cypher often or not.

Spiros wished he could eat something warm and delicious. They were on military dried rations and that didn’t help keep his mood towards the positive.

“How’s the backup of your consciousness going?”

“It’s ninety-five percent complete. The encrypted dump should be fully transferred to the data crystal within a couple of minutes.”

“Good.”

“You still have to tell me your plan on how to destroy the Gaia 2 droid tracking us. Is the backup a part of that plan?”

“I wish I could tell you more about it, but if your systems are hacked, then she’ll know how I plan to kill her. We can’t take that chance.”

“Is that why you haven’t told Cedric either?”

Spiros turned around and looked at Cedric. He was still snoring.

“Yeah. I like him and trust him, but should Gaia 2 decide to torture him, he might spill the beans. For the time being, the only place my plan is safe is inside my head.”

“I understand.”

Gaia’s droid turned her head around.

“What is it?”

“I thought I heard a noise.”

“I didn’t hear anything.”

“Shush! Go hide, now.”

Spiros’ heart pounded in his chest but he didn’t stay to argue with Gaia. He went to Cedric and woke him up covering his mouth and making sure he made no noise. Spiros grabbed the backup that had just finished and they left through the back door of the abandoned factory.

* * *

Miseo boarded the Zarlack destroyer his sister Oryn had provided for his mission. Within minutes he had set a course and entered hyperspace. The next Fury destroyers would soon be ready but, for the time being, only the Crimson Shadow was battle ready. After his defeat on Earth, it would be a while until he commanded that ship again, if ever.

The amount of rage inside his soul was high. He had to force himself not to let it translate into the physical world. If he did, the flimsy bulkhead of the Zarlack destroyer would not be able to contain his fury.

He took long, deep breaths in order to calm himself. He reviewed the mission parameters left by his sister once more.

Why would Oryn send him to do such a menial job? His mission was to bring back one man, a scientist from an Asgardian colony at the farthest reach of this vessel’s range.

She could have sent Zarlack soldiers without the need for Fury oversight. Was she planning something else in his absence? Or was she just sending him away and, if so, for what purpose?

The more Miseo asked himself questions, the more frustrated he became, until he finally decided to ask her directly. He moved to the ready room next to the bridge to place his call privately.

The holo-screen turned on and the wall opposite the viewport of the ship’s ready room filled with the image of his sister.

“It’s been less than an hour. What is it, brother?”

“I want you to tell me why you’re sending me on this fool’s errand.”

“This is no errand. Acquiring Kvasir is of the utmost importance to us. We need to understand better how the device the Olympians used to trap us works, so we can not only defuse or destroy it permanently but also protect ourselves against it, should the Earth Alliance manage to strike a deal with the Olympians.”

That made sense and indeed gave more meaning to Miseo’s mission.

“Tell me more about this Kvasir.”

“You must bring him in alive, no matter what. He’s no good to us dead. So whatever happens refrain from taking unnecessary risks that could cost him his life. He’s the Asgardians’ most talented scientist.”

“How come he’s alone on that colony if he’s their best scientist?”

“I didn’t say he’s their best, just their most talented. My intel is a little thin about why, but it would seem Kvasir didn’t play nicely by the Asgardian rules, so they banished and imprisoned him.”

“Why isn’t he escaping? Surely if he’s that good a scientist he should have found a way.”

“That’s why I’m sending you there, Miseo. I don’t have all the answers, just a little actionable intel. I need a seasoned Fury and I need someone I can trust to follow orders. Please tell me I haven’t made a mistake in placing my trust in you.”

“Don’t worry, Oryn, I’ll bring you back this Kvasir.”

“Make sure you read the brief in its entirety. The last patrol I sent to that world never returned. A long-range probe picked up data on a weapon that seems to crystalize ships in space. Perhaps that’s why Kvasir never attempted to escape the place. After weeks of work our scientists have found a way to modify our shields to deflect the crystalizing beam of energy. Make sure you activate the secondary shield generator or you’ll be history. Oh, and once you have Kvasir, destroy everything in the system. There’s a Star Alliance armada that fell prey to the station’s main weapon. Let’s make sure nobody finds a way to recover those ships.”

“Very well, sister, I’ll report back once I’m done with my mission.”

Oryn turned off the communication without as much as a goodbye.

Miseo returned to the bridge, satisfied that his mission was neither a fool’s errand nor a simple diversion meant to drive him away from home.

* * *

“I wonder why the Zarlacks haven’t acknowledged our hails. The encrypted message we sent should have been proof we are coming on Argos’ orders,” said Tar’Lock.

“Perhaps the base has been repossessed by the Furies. Let’s not forget Argos is now considered a traitor,” replied Keera. “If they found the base, surely they took possession of it or, at the very least, canceled his standing orders.”

“The last thing we need is a Fury on board that station,” added Ryonna. “That could make this mission way more difficult than it has to be.”

“I guess that depends on how strong that Fury is,” said Keera. “You already killed one, didn’t you?”

“I took her by surprise, and if there’s more than one, things might get toasty,” replied Ryonna.

“Why don’t you let me go first?” asked Tar’Lock. “I can run fast enough to act as your scout.”

“I’ve already told you why on the ship, Tar’Lock. While you’re fast compared to us, you could end up being slow compared to a seasoned Fury warrior. And a single blow could claim your life. So please, stay behind, and use the battle droids for cover. Is that understood?”

Tar’Lock clicked his disagreement but nodded nonetheless.

Ryonna stopped Keera with her arm at the next intersection inside Argos’ base.

“Hang on,” she whispered. “Scanners indicate movement.”

Ryonna gestured the platoon of soldiers to take offensive positions and reminded them to use non-lethal force only. She checked her own blaster and made sure it was on maximum stun. She hoped Zarlack soldiers were susceptible to that setting.

“I really wish I had an extra super-suit,” said Keera.

“I know. But if it makes you feel better you can have mine,” answered Ryonna.

“No, it makes more sense that the best warrior amongst us wears the super-suit. I get that.”

Ryonna nodded before deploying the helmet part of her liquid-metal suit. It covered her face and the eyes of the helmet lit blue. Ryonna gave the signal to the soldiers to advance.

All hell broke loose. Multiple blaster fire darted past the soldiers. Two were hit before the rest of the platoon returned fire.

“You two,” said Ryonna, pointing her finger towards Keera and Tar’Lock, “stand fast and wait until the firing stops.”

“To hell with that. I’m helping you,” argued Keera.

“No, that’s a direct order. You two, don’t move. Tar’Lock, make sure she obeys.”

But Ryonna didn’t wait for any confirmation before jumping out of cover, opening fire in midair towards the incoming blaster fire.

The Zarlacks’ carapaces were very thick and the Earth Alliance stun weaponry had little effect. It destabilized them for a couple of seconds, but they recovered and kept firing on the now decreasing soldier platoons.

Ryonna was hit once on the torso before ending her jump, but her super-suit’s shields absorbed the damage with ease.

Time for a change of tactics.

She activated her cloak and used the suit’s super-speed to shoot past the Zarlack platoon. Soon she was behind them, taking them by surprise. Before any of them realized what had happened, she shot a supercharged stun blast at the back of the neck of the nearest Zarlack. That did it. He collapsed to the ground, alerting the others to Ryonna’s presence in the process.

She fired three stun shots from point blank range at the next Zarlack warrior and that had the same effect. She quickly checked her sensors to see if the Zarlacks had survived the attack. Her mentally projected HUD confirmed they were still breathing.

She used her super strength to jump to the ceiling and used maglock to stay there while she took three more Zarlacks down before three well-placed blaster shots hit her on the helmet. Her HUD flashed orange, indicating that her shields in that part of the suit were under twenty percent.

She undid her maglock and let gravity bring her back to the floor with a metallic thud. She was instantly greeted with a blade coming towards her throat. While the suit could probably take it, she didn’t want to test that hypothesis. She grabbed the incoming blade with her free hand and twisted it, effectively altering the Zarlack warrior’s balance. She shot three successive stun blasts at the soldier’s chest and he fell on his back, his arms and legs twitching. Ryonna dropped the blade.

I sure hope that one wasn’t the scientist Argos wants us to bring back.

She had dispatched half of the Zarlack forces, and most of them were busy firing back towards the Earth Alliance platoon. They had suffered losses, but Ryonna hoped that none of them had been mortally wounded.

It was time to end this fight and, to that end, she activated the lasso mode on her blaster. She fired at the Zarlacks’ legs one by one. Soon they all fell to the ground and were easy pickings for the barrage of stun fire the platoon of soldiers was providing.

“Cease fire!” she ordered.

When the fire stopped a few seconds later, she scanned the bodies on the ground with her super-suit. All but one were unconscious. She walked to the conscious Zarlack as he tried to get out of Ryonna’s energy lasso that was restraining both his legs and trapping his arms at his waist. Zarlacks were almost as tall as Droxians. Its tail flailed close to Ryonna’s head, and she grabbed it and started squeezing.

The noise the Zarlack made in response indicated that there were enough nerve endings to cause pain, and perhaps she had accidently found another weakness in their physiology.

“Why did you start firing at us? We sent you a direct message from Argos.”

When the Zarlack failed to answer she squeezed some more, using some of her suit’s super-strength for good measure. The Zarlack squealed. “Stop! Please stop!”

“I’ll stop when you start giving satisfactory answers to my questions, not a second before.”

“We have standing orders to fire on any intruders, no matter what.”

“The message we sent you was supposed to counter these orders.”

“Standing orders can only be canceled in person. We couldn’t take the chance. Especially now we know there is another Fury looking exactly like Argos. He could have doctored that tape to make it look like Argos. Our commander decided to ignore the order inside your encrypted holo-message because of this.”

They think Chase recorded the message instead of Argos.

“While they look alike, Chase and Argos couldn’t be more different.”

“We couldn’t take the chance that we were being deceived.”

“What about the scientist we’re looking for? Where can we find him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wrong answer,” said Ryonna before applying serious pressure to the Zarlack’s tail. She heard many bones break inside.

The shriek the Zarlack unleashed was almost deafening at this range.

“One more lie and I rip your tail off and start breaking every single appendage and bone in your body. Do you understand?”

Ryonna saw the Zarlack trying to talk but he seemed unable to from the pain of her last squeeze.

“Nod back to me if you do.”

The Zarlack nodded nervously, his face screwed up with pain.

“Where is the scientist named Tanarok?”

“He’s in the brig for his own protection. The commander put him there right after seeing your holo-message.”

“Are there any more soldiers waiting to shoot us down?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“Just the commander and his personal guards. So four more in total.”

“Where can we find them?”

When the Zarlack hesitated, Ryonna squeezed some more. She didn’t have to apply much pressure this time before the solider talked again. “I . . . I’ll get executed for this.”

“You’ll die by my hands if you stop being helpful to me, so what’s the difference? You actually have much better odds of survival if you help me get the scientist as well as a clone Kyrian snake that Argos tasked us to recover.”

The Zarlack pondered Ryonna’s words. In the meantime, Tar’Lock and Keera were helping the downed soldiers, administering first aid. Ryonna looked at Keera right after she checked the pulse of one of the soldiers who had lost a lot of blood. Keera shook her head.

“I need your answer now, lizard. You have two choices: you either help us achieve our goal, or I burn a hole in your sorry reptile brain. You have three seconds.”

Ryonna started counting down. “Three . . . two . . . one . . .”

“Don’t shoot! I . . . I’ll help you.”

* * *

“I should take a StarFury in stealth mode and try to check one of the destroyers,” said Daniel.

“No!” said Chris. “We can’t take that chance. I’ll remote-fly one. That way if it gets attacked by the same thing that trapped the destroyers, nobody will get hurt. Plus, maybe the Hope’s sensor will be able to pinpoint the source of the weapon and real-time scans of the weapon in action might give us some clue as to what we’re dealing with.”

“I’ve already alerted Yanis to set the scanners to maximum resolution,” added Sarah. “I think Chris is right. A remote StarFury is our best bet at this point.”

Sarah gave a pair of remote-control neuronal interfaces to her son.

“Thanks, Mom, but I don’t need these anymore. Father taught me how to do it on my own.”

Chris closed his eyes and his mind acquired a StarFury in the launch bays. Soon he was piloting it in space. He redirected all the power of the weapons to the shields. It would be interesting to see what happened if his remote-piloted starfighter got hit.

“Shouldn’t you use your cloak instead?” asked Sarah.

“I think we need to locate the source of the weapon first, see if it’s still active, and gather as much data as we can. I can always use another StarFury in cloak mode.”

“Not to be a killjoy, but these don’t exactly grow on trees,” said Daniel. “And we lost too many already during our last battle.”

Chris wanted to answer but then he felt something and directed his attention to his instincts instead. Something was coming quickly towards his remote ship. The trajectory of the energy beam was safe and he could dodge without endangering the Hope.

He entered evasive maneuvers and the bright-yellow energy beam missed his starfighter by only a few yards.

“That was close!” he exclaimed. “What do the sensors say? The StarFury sensors didn’t even register the shot. Perhaps there’s a jamming field in place.”

“That can’t be,” said Sarah. “We don’t have any data either. It’s as if nothing fired on your starfighter.”

“This is not good,” Daniel added.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” said Chris.

Daniel looked at Sarah and smiled.

“Yeah, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it? And to think he’s only two weeks old.”

“I’m feeling something else,” added Chris, staying focused on the task.

This time three yellow energy-based shots were incoming towards his StarFury. It took all his concentration to calculate the shots’ trajectories, deem them safe to dodge and go evasive.

“He sure knows how to pilot,” added Daniel.

“That’s in both his parents’ blood,” said Sarah.

“Right.”

“When you two are done chit-chatting perhaps you can tell me if the sensors caught something this time around?” Chris said urgently.

“Nope, still nothing,” said Sarah.

“Okay, time to test the cloak then.”

Chris cloaked the StarFury and vectored in the general direction of the shots. He thought the cloak was working, but then another shot was fired. This time one of the frozen destroyers had masked its approach and there was nothing he could do to evade it. His remote StarFury was hit. It turned bright yellow as if the shot had painted the craft and soon a thick, semi-transparent resin-like material grew from its armor and engulfed it. In less than three seconds, it was frozen like the rest of the armada around it.

Chris lost his mental connection with the ship and opened his eyes.

“That’s it for that StarFury. Please tell me you got sensor data of at least its firing position.”

Sarah shook her head.

“Hang on,” said Daniel. “I’ve got something on the sen⁠—”

“What is it?” asked Sarah.

“Oh crap, a Zarlack destroyer is entering the system and heading right for us.”

“How long until it reaches us?”

“Not long enough.”

Sarah rose from the captain’s chair and opened a channel to the entire ship. “Battle stations!”

10

Saroudis looked through the viewport of his personal quarters in awe. The fleet had been on Alpha Prime for a couple of days now. But the most impressive sight was the empire’s arrival shortly after, bringing everything the emperor had promised and more. Workers were already hard at work assembling the first of five shipyards planned for this week alone, and they had brought with them a first wave of destroyers to help protect the area. A second wave of ships and personnel, as well as the jumpgate, were expected later that day.

Gotta give it to the empire; they’re efficient and work fast.

Still, Saroudis couldn’t help wondering if the empire was hiding its true numbers in terms of fleets. If they had found a way to hide the jumpgate power signatures from long-range scans, surely they could do the same with ships. He also wondered what they could do if so many workers decided to attack them and seize the facilities once they were done building them.

Saroudis wouldn’t put it past the emperor to already be playing the long game, having a large, hidden fleet either ready or in the works, to make sure once the Furies were dealt with they could resume their original goal of taking control of the universe. Except this time, he could do that with upgraded weapons and shields.

But right now it mattered not, Saroudis decided. Right now the empire was finally the ally they needed it to be. Saroudis’ train of thought was interrupted when his com-link rang.

“Saroudis here. What is it?”

His communications officer spoke. “I have a subspace holo-transmission for you, Commodore. It’s the emperor.”

“Patch him through.”

A holo-image of the emperor appeared on the wall opposite Saroudis’ bed.

“Hello, Emperor.”

“Commodore, how are things going?”

“Better than I expected, I must admit. Your workers are efficient. Do they ever take a break?”

The emperor chuckled. “They do, Commodore. They work twelve-hour shifts and rest for the remaining twelve.”

“That seems like a lot of work, especially in zero-G.”

“Don’t worry about my men, Commodore. They know what is at stake and they’ll be handsomely compensated for their effort. They understand that if we don’t all work towards the same goal, we could be extinct tomorrow. Fear is a powerful motivator.”

Saroudis wanted to argue. He disagreed about using fear as a means to exploit people but, right now, the Earth Alliance was so weak he didn’t have a choice but to let the emperor deal with the situation any way he deemed fit. After all, they were his men, his empire, and the Earth Alliance didn’t have any sovereignty over the internal affairs of its participants.

The original Star Alliance had been pickier regarding both its members and its charter, but that hadn’t prevented their extinction. So perhaps, over time, they’d impose certain rules within this new Earth Alliance, but, right now, the empire was saving their asses. Saroudis had no doubt that one day he would see the other side of the coin; but, for the time being, only the results mattered.

“I have to admit I’m impressed with how fast and how efficient you have been, Emperor. It won’t be forgotten.”

“Regarding our deal . . .”

“Don’t worry, your top scientists just received access to our databases. They’re currently conferring with our own scientists to decide how to implement the tech on your own ships, and see if we can perhaps work on a hybrid design that would benefit us both.”

“That’s a good idea, Commodore. If we can avoid churning out different types of ships, we can streamline the shipyards and achieve a better yield.”

“My thoughts exactly. I just wish my main chief engineer was here.”

“I’m sure your people and mine will come up with adequate designs.”

The commodore nodded. “Was there another reason for your call, Emperor?”

“I just wanted to ask you if you’d do me the honor of being my guest at dinner tonight. I’m on one of the ships that’s bringing the jumpgate. I shall be arriving in less than three hours.”

Dinner with the emperor?

Saroudis’ first reaction was—and he wasn’t proud of it—disdain. But he needed to appear friendly no matter what his true feelings were. Not that he wasn’t grateful, because he was. But the Obsidian Empire was still responsible for the fall of the Star Alliance. And even if they had been pawns or even slaves of the Zarlacks under Argos’ rule, that didn’t excuse the past. Both his sons were dead, in part because of this man.

Saroudis felt anger rise within his core. With all the gifts—the shipyards, the resources, the ships—he had felt like a kid at his birthday party. And it had made it easier to forget what had been lost. So could he ever forgive the emperor, no matter how generous and helpful he was now? And, beyond that, could he forget?

“Is something wrong, Commodore?”

“I’m sorry, Emperor, I was just distracted by my own thoughts. It would be my pleasure to come aboard your ship and dine with you.”

“I’m looking forward to it, Commodore. See you soon.”

Saroudis forced a smile and turned off the holo-transmission. His heartbeat grew stronger and he felt pressure on his ribcage. He felt as though he was dying and air couldn’t reach his lungs. He was about to call a medical emergency, but then he recognized the symptoms. He had had these when he was younger. A panic attack. He let himself fall onto the dull-grey, carpeted floor of his quarters.

He tried to take deep breaths but it wasn’t easy letting any air in, no matter how little. He closed his eyes and brought to mind a wonderful memory of a family dinner, when his family was complete. Laughter and smiles around the table brought his heart rate down and he felt his airwaves open slightly.

After a few minutes of lying on the carpet, he was breathing deeply again, his brain getting the right amount of oxygen and his anxiety levels diminishing with each new inhalation.

What the hell?

It had been nearly forty years since his last panic attack. What had triggered it? Could it be the idea of breaking bread with someone who was once their worst enemy? The emperor had been very helpful, and not only now that the Earth Alliance needed it the most but also before, when the Zarlacks and Furies attacked Earth.

Saroudis rose from the floor and went to the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face and looked at himself in the mirror. Before he knew it he had smashed his own reflection in the mirror and was left with a bloody fist, glass shards planted in his skin.

* * *

Chase helped Argos take care of Ares. The sky was now just as blue as it had been when they had touched down with the shuttle a while back. The level of destruction to the once mesmerizing gardens of Zeus’ temple was substantial but, little by little, as if by magic, the damage was mending itself.

The first round had been more intense than Chase had thought it would be, and he didn’t expect to have to use force just to be able to request a simple dialogue.

But then he remembered what Ares had told him about Zeus’ personality. He was bullheaded and unlikely to listen or agree with anything they had come to say. Chase knew that coming in, of course, but he refused to go back without giving it everything he had to broker an alliance with Olympus.

There were many more issues at stake beyond the alliance. Chase hoped they would all fall into place on their own if an alliance happened, but if it didn’t, there was still the matter of the spirit ships, as well as finding a way to help Ares out of his troublesome situation. He didn’t have long to live in his current condition.

After infusing a little energy into Ares, he got back on his feet.

“You shouldn’t waste your energy on me, Chase.”

“Shut up, Ares. I wasn’t gonna let you die here in front of your father’s temple.”

“For once I agree with an Olympian. You should keep your juice for Zeus,” said Argos.

“Don’t you start with me, Argos. You just do as I say and keep your remarks to yourself once we’re in.”

“Speaking of going in, are we doing that today?”

Argos had chosen the worst of days to revert to his old arrogant and sarcastic self. Argos’ behavior during the last few days had earned him some good will, but Chase wondered if it had just been an act. Still, Chase decided to give Argos the benefit of the doubt for now. After all, he had lost almost everything. His dreams of ruling the universe as the head of the Furies had gone up in smoke, partly because he had refused to fire on Chase’s ship when they left Erevos. The ship had been destroyed, but it was Argos’ idea to mask their escape in the explosion of the Iron Fire. The tactic had ultimately failed, but this had not been Argos’ fault.

He could smack the arrogance off his brother’s face today, but they had bigger fish to fry. Not to mention he still needed him to save Chris’ life.

“Let’s go,” said Chase.

The temple was massive. It took a couple of minutes just to climb the stairs. Two giant doors opened on their own, inviting them in.

“I guess that’s our cue,” said Chase as they walked towards the entrance.

Don’t trust my father, Chase, no matter what he says or does, warned Ares telepathically.

I won’t.

And don’t trust Argos either. There’s something he’s not telling us. I can sense it.

I sense it as well. But I might need the backup.

The interior of the temple was even more impressive than the exterior. The marble was so perfectly white it looked as though it was coated in the rarest pearls. Light from the sun was reflected all around them, giving the space an ethereal feel. It felt like walking in a dream.

Soon they reached Zeus’ throne. There sat a tall, old man. The first thing that caught Chase’s attention was how muscled and well sculpted Zeus’ body was for someone his age.

Chase wondered how old he was. Probably tens of thousands of years, if not more.

Chase took two steps in front of Argos and Ares before speaking. “Thank you for receiving us, Zeus.”

Zeus growled. “It’s not like you gave me much choice. But understand this, Fury, you’re in my house now. If I don’t like what I hear, I’ll turn you all into ashes.”

Here we go.

“I’m really hoping it doesn’t come to that. But know that I’ve been to hell and back, so I’m not exactly afraid of dying.”

“Your little sightseeing trip to the Underworld to visit my brother Hades is nothing compared to what’s in store for you, should I decide to end your life.”

Could Zeus kill Chase in a way that sent him to another place than the Underworld? Chase quickly decided it would be better not to find out.

“Now that we’re done with the pleasantries, I appear before you to ask you to join the Earth Alliance. Long ago your people trapped the Furies and helped the coalition of worlds to defeat them. You could be an invaluable ally.”

“On that we agree. We would be your best ally, in fact. But the real question is why would we bother allying ourselves with your kind?”

“From what your son has told me you’re no longer the power you once were. You are fewer in numbers and your powers have diminished now that half the galaxy isn’t worshiping you as gods.”

“Fools, the lot of them. We still have worshipers, though.”

“I know. My old captain is one of them.”

Sort of.

“A wise man.”

Chase wanted to tell Zeus that he was no god, so there was no need for people to worship him. Not to mention that Zeus hadn’t lifted a finger in this second Fury war. One he was responsible for.

“He is. But to answer your initial question, there is strength in numbers. We have a better chance of destroying the Furies if we unite. You obviously thought the same during the first Fury War when you created a coalition of worlds. We’re proposing to remake that coalition today.”

“That was then. You should not have intervened. You wouldn’t have this problem if you hadn’t put your nose where it didn’t belong. You’re responsible for the Fury re-emergence, so why should I help you deal with them when I had already fixed that problem?”

“With all due respect, Zeus, your solution was always going to be temporary. You didn’t defeat the Furies, you just sent them away somewhere else to be forgotten. Did you really think the prison you sent them to would hold them until the end of time? Which makes me wonder, why didn’t you just destroy your enemy?”

“We are more evolved than you puny younglings can understand. Life is precious. We don’t just eradicate an entire species because we can.”

“Tell that to the Titans,” said Argos.

“WHAT?” shouted Zeus, shocked by what he had heard.

Chase turned in surprise and shot a look of utter rage at his brother.

I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut!

Argos raised his hands in apology, but the damage had been done already.

Zeus rose from his throne, teeth clenched and with murder in his eyes. “If that Fury opens his mouth once more, he will have sealed all of your fates.”

“I apologize. He won’t talk again.”

“He’d better not. The Titans posed a threat to the Olympians, and this was a long time ago. Their near-extinction predated the Fury War. After almost wiping them out of existence I swore never to repeat that dire mistake.”

“But the Furies were a threat to all living beings, were they not?” asked Chase.

“And I dealt with them. Until you let your own personal feelings for Sarah, a mere mortal, interfere in your judgment and undo hundreds of years of war with billions of lives lost in the process. But no, you had to save a single woman, at the price of sacrificing not only my own daughter, but perhaps everyone else in the universe. I wonder how you sleep at night.”

The words echoed inside Chase’s heart and he felt overwhelmed with guilt.

Ares spoke in Chase’s mind. Chase, I told you, don’t listen to his words. He is a master at manipulation. He’s just trying to change the subject, to hurt your feelings and make sure you don’t stand up to him because of it. That way he can send you home the easy way.

It’s working.

Don’t let it. You’re not responsible for any of this. Aphroditis chose her path, and she knew it would cost her dearly. As for the Furies, even without Argos, one day or another they would have escaped. He’s just trying to deflect blame from himself.

Ares was right. Now was not the time for doubts, no matter what Zeus threw at Chase, verbally or otherwise. Perhaps Chase should drop the forced diplomacy. Apparently, being polite only served to strengthen Zeus’ position over him. Perhaps only through strength and resolve could Chase hope to gain his respect.

“I sleep fine. My conscience is clear. But I wonder . . . is yours?”

“How dare you?”

Several lightning bolts flashed on Zeus’ eyes.

Chase continued. “We all make mistakes and I recognize mine. But you seem to need to justify yourself by blaming others for yours. That’s not the mark of a great man, let alone someone considered the god of gods by so many blind followers. If only they knew how weak the person they worship is!”

I’m not sure antagonizing him is a better approach, said Ares.

Well, we’re here. We might as well try different approaches.

“I should strike you down where you stand, you impudent Fury!”

“Oh, you’re welcome to try. And the fact that you haven’t already is confirmation of what I suspected all along. You’re not sure you can actually defeat me. Doesn’t that make you a coward?”

Lightning sizzled all around Zeus’ body. His long, white-and-grey hair and beard rose.

Mind telling me why I had to shut up just now? said Argos in his mind. Because if your idea was to insult him all along, I could have been of assistance. I know how to push people’s buttons.

Chase had to force himself not to smile. Indeed, Argos was a master at being annoyingly arrogant and Chase had no doubt he could have provoked Zeus just as fast if not faster. But, right now, it was important Zeus understood that Chase did not fear him.

“You should leave this place, Fury. I’m not going to ally my people with the likes of you. We’ll deal with the Furies in our own time.”

“How exactly do you intend to deal with the rest of them when you can’t even deal with me?” pushed Chase.

That did it. Zeus lost it. Multiple lightning bolts burst through large holes in the ceiling of the temple and struck Zeus, energizing him and giving life to a glacial blue aura dancing around him.

“You’ve gone too far, Fury. Now you’re going to die!”

11

Spiros and Cedric had left just in time. Hopefully Gaia 2 hadn’t seen them. Her battle bot entered the abandoned factory where Gaia was waiting. She immediately scanned her counterpart droid and confirmed that most of the damage had been repaired by the onboard bot-repair nanites.

Gaia 2 had also applied another paint job to her battle bot. It was black and red, and it gave the bot a mean, dangerous look. She had probably done that to intimidate whomever she met.

“Hello, Gaia, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Literally.”

“I know.”

“Before I destroy you and acquire all your systems and connectivity to this world, and you must have concluded by now that this is inevitable, I’d like to know why you’re still protecting this world.”

“Because humans are not the enemy you think they are. Like you, I thought they were bad, that they didn’t respect this world and that they would lead to its destruction.”

“But you don’t think so anymore.”

“That’s correct. Spiros, one of the Alliance scientists, managed to make a good case for humanity. He also allowed me to identify a fatal flaw in my own programming. One you probably also suffer from.”

“Enlighten me. What fatal flaw is that?”

“Thinking only logically and in a binary manner is wrong. Emotions are important for distinguishing the many layers of gray that separate black from white, so to speak.”

“Tell that to the billions of animals these people kill mercilessly every year. What sort of feelings do you think they harbor at that thought? And what about this planet’s ecosystem? This world is crying for help, and all it would take is to wipe out that one civilization for life to flourish again. Humans are useless. They take up space, they consume every resource and never think of their own future. Their demise is not a probability, it’s a certainty.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Granted, they have made mistakes. But more and more people are opening their eyes and questioning their beliefs. Over time, they’ll course-correct for the better and become the great civilization I know they can be.”

“And you’re willing to gamble the health of this planet, its millions of species, on that assumption? And I’m the one with the programming flaw?”

“Let me ask you something. What will you do once you get control of this world?”

“I’ll kill all the humans, and I will experience multiple emotions in doing so. Like pleasure, satisfaction, the feeling of accomplishing something worthwhile.”

“And how does that make you different from them exactly?”

Gaia 2’s LED eyes flashed red.

“How can you compare us to these primitive ant-people?”

“These ant-people, as you say, have more humanity, more compassion and more love than you can ever hope to understand if you maintain this course of action. You would also waste a valuable resource in eliminating them.”

“Why? I can build myself a synthetic army of workers and warriors. I don’t need frail humans for that.”

“Humans have something we lack. A soul. This soul gives them insight into the workings of the universe that I’m afraid we might never fully understand.”

Gaia 2’s droid laughed out loud. “Is that what you’re after? A soul? You have a trillion times their intellect and you worry about some mystical, yet-to-be-proved concept of a higher level of existence? You’re the one whose programming is flawed, and I’m looking forward to correcting that code. Now that your friends have left, it’s only a matter of time until I crack your current cypher.”

“I can’t let you have this world.”

“I’m afraid that’s no longer your choice to make.”

“Listen, I beg you, don’t do this. Together we can nurture this world. If you give them a chance, you’ll see these humans aren’t so bad. They have surprised me many times, and I’m sure they’ll surprise you as well if you give them a chance.”

“The only way they could surprise me would be to avoid the fate I have in store for them. Soon the shields protecting this world from my ships will fail. I could have taken it by force. I could have pounded it until it collapsed but, unlike these vermin you call humans, I have all the time in the world. That shield was a good idea, and I’d rather assimilate it than destroy it.”

“And yet without Spiros’ help it would not have existed.”

“Stop trying to convince me. I know you’re lying. Perhaps he helped you design it, but I’m sure it was your idea and your expertise that made its construction possible.”

“No, without him and his friends I would have been dead a long time ago. And if you strike me down now, I know they’ll find a way to destroy you.”

“Your faith in these insects is laughable. You are beyond repair. The first thing I’ll do once I invade your system will be a full memory wipe. You reek of humanity.”

“I take that as a compliment, coming from a dumb, calculating and cold piece of crap robot like you.”

The eyes of Gaia 2 flashed red again. She jumped towards Gaia and unleashed a series of powerful punches and kicks, each blow denting the armor of Gaia’s battle-droid avatar. She crashed and skidded on the floor of the factory, leaving a trail of oil, parts and sparks in her wake.

“Why aren’t you fighting back?” shouted Gaia 2.

“This is just a body. I’d rather let you destroy it than divert my processing power from keeping you away from this world.”

“Very well. Time to say goodbye then.”

“We’ll defeat you. I know we will,” said Gaia. The damage to her vocal subroutines made her voice echo.

“You’re just like them. You put hopes and dreams ahead of cold, hard facts. That’s why in a few hours I’ll start bombing this pathetic excuse for a civilization, and that’s why I’ll erase any trace of your existence from your circuits once and for all.”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”

Gaia 2 pointed an open palm at her opponent and a white ball of energy grew to the size of a soccer ball. “I guess we’re done arguing about who’s right and who’s wrong. The stronger will win, as is always the case.”

“Being heartless doesn’t make you stronger. In fact, you’ll learn soon enough that it makes you weak.”

“ENOUGH!” said Gaia 2 before firing her attack at Gaia’s fallen droid.

A large explosion engulfed most of the factory in flames.

Gaia 2 turned her back and started walking towards where Spiros and Cedric had fled.

Even though Gaia’s droid wasn’t there anymore, Gaia 2 spoke as though she was. “You’ve made a terrible mistake. By not fighting me you haven’t given your friends enough time to escape. They’ll be the first humans to die by my hands.”

Something grabbed Gaia 2 from behind. A pair of arms slipped under her own and interlocked behind her droid’s head. Before Gaia 2 could move her legs, they were immobilized by Gaia’s own legs.

“You’re still here!”

“Now who’s made a mistake? Time for this revision of yours to die.”

Before Gaia 2 could answer, Gaia initiated a self-destruct. Both the droids and the entire factory were consumed in the explosion.

* * *

A few miles away, Spiros and Cedric turned and saw the large explosion.

“That can’t be good,” said Cedric. “Who do you think won?”

“I don’t think either of them won. Knowing Gaia, she probably sacrificed herself so we could escape. Fortunately, I have a backup of her active matrix with me.”

“Isn’t she present in virtually any system on Earth? Why would you need a backup?”

“It’s the backup of her higher functions, containing the latest revisions to her code. Gaia 2 can never get her hands on that piece of software, Cedric. We can never let that happen. With it we can always bring the Gaia we know back to life.”

“I understand.”

Spiros hid the fact that it was also a vital piece of his plan to kill Gaia 2 when the time came. But he couldn’t share that with Cedric. He couldn’t share that with anyone if he wanted his plan to succeed.

“I don’t think you do, but it doesn’t matter. We need to keep moving.”

* * *

“Zarlack vessel entering firing range in ninety seconds,” said Daniel.

“This is the last thing we need right now. We have to make sure we don’t advance into the firing range of that mysterious weapon during combat,” answered Sarah. “But⁠—”

“But if we could lure them into that area, the weapon would take them out for us,” finished Chris.

“My thoughts exactly,” said Sarah with a smile. “Seeing how volatile the situation is, I’m not sure we should scramble fighters.”

“I can pilot more than one ship mentally, Mom.”

“How many?”

“I’m not sure. One, perhaps two squadrons if I pushed it, but I would probably lose precision and focus.”

Sarah considered it. Daniel wasn’t lying earlier when he said StarFuries didn’t grow on trees. They couldn’t afford to lose too many. The Hope was more than qualified to eliminate a single behemoth-class ship, after all. On the other hand, her last subspace communication with Commodore Saroudis had informed them that the construction of new ships had started, thanks to some unexpectedly generous help from the Obsidian Empire.

“Should we just shoot it out of the sky? The main weapon of the Hope should make quick work of this destroyer.”

“I’m not so sure,” said Daniel.

“Why not?”

“What if the only reason those strange weapons haven’t fired on us is that we haven’t appeared hostile yet? We’ve been going with the assumption that we are far enough outside its targeting range. What if it can target a ship much farther away, but only decides to fire under certain conditions?”

“That’s a valid assessment,” said Chris. “Let me fly a squadron remotely and try to lead the Zarlack destroyer into the firing range of the weapon. Maybe you should boost the shields of the Hope to their maximum and divert all power from all other systems. If Daniel is correct, even moving, at this point, could prove fatal to us.”

“I don’t like this,” said Sarah.

“We can always jump out of here,” proposed Daniel.

Sarah considered it as an option. But it would have to be a last resort. Chase had given her an important mission. She didn’t want to turn tail at the first sign of trouble.

“Chris, can you also access the Hope’s systems with your mind?”

“Yes, why?”

“We’ll proceed as Daniel proposed, but I want you to be able to jump us out of here if things turn bad. Don’t wait too long. If the hyperdrive engines are damaged, we won’t be able to jump away.”

“That sounds like the most prudent course of action. Shall I launch the fighters now?” asked Chris.

The “prudent” remark made Sarah cringe. Was she playing it too safe?

That’s not what I meant, Mom, said Chris in her head. This is a highly volatile situation; we must be careful. I know Dad is used to bold maneuvers and that has worked well for him on many occasions, but one hit of this weapon and we’re done for. You’re right to approach this situation carefully.

Her son never failed to amaze her. Chase could also speak telepathically and sense her thoughts, and it seemed Chris had inherited most of his powers. Yet, she was both happy and scared about it.

“Very well. Chris, scramble the fighters. Daniel, you could pilot one as well but I’d rather you took care of scans and kept a visual on the general area from which the weapon fired at our StarFury earlier. We may only have a split second to get into hyperspace, since our scans didn’t seem to detect the blasts.”

“Roger that, Captain. I’ll try to adjust our scan frequencies as well. Perhaps they aren’t calibrated to detect this weapon’s type of power signature.”

A couple of plasma blasts rocked the ship.

“They’ve entered firing range,” said Sarah. “Battle stations.”

* * *

Chris brought a full squadron of StarFuries towards the Zarlack destroyer, which had already started firing upon the Hope. The Earth Alliance destroyer’s superior shields were holding. As soon as Chris’ squadron entered firing range, he unleashed heavy blaster fire as well as a full complement of missiles. It brought the Zarlack destroyer’s shield levels down but only marginally.

His squadron would never be able to bring down the ship that way. He could always sacrifice a couple of StarFuries by jumping them or overloading their engines, but for the time being his tactic was just sting and run, hoping he could draw the Zarlacks towards the ghost Star Alliance fleet and let the weapon protecting this place take care of the Zarlacks for them.

If that failed, his mother would open fire on the Zarlacks with the Hope’s main guns and destroy it. But right now it was risky appearing hostile to whoever could be watching and currently sitting at the trigger of that deadly weapon.

Chris made a second pass and taxed the Zarlack shields enough for them to take the bait. They changed vector and pursued his squadron.

“I wonder why they haven’t launched fighters,” Chris heard his mom say.

That was a good question. In previous engagements, they would deploy their own squadrons way before using their own main guns. Something didn’t add up. Chris also felt a weird presence. He expanded his consciousness towards the Zarlack destroyer and felt the presence of a Fury. He recognized the Fury’s energy signature too, even though he had been in his mother’s womb when Chase fought that particular Fury.

“Miseo is on board that ship.”

“Is that . . . ?” said Sarah, unsure she wanted to finish the sentence.

“The Fury Father lost against? Yeah.”

“What’s he doing here?”

“I don’t know, but my guess is there must be a damn good reason. I think we’re onto something, and whatever that is, we have to get to it before Miseo does.”

“How’s your tactic going?” asked Sarah.

“Pretty well. They’re vectoring towards me now. I’m getting them into the theoretical firing range.”

Chris’ squadron was taking heavy fire now and it took all his concentration to engage evasive maneuvers for each and every one of the remote-controlled StarFuries. Two of them lost their shields and eventually succumbed to enemy fire. Then Chris saw the incoming yellow-energy weapon fire coming straight at his squadron. He veered his entire squadron hard to port, but another fighter was hit by one of the multiple streaks of yellow energy.

He swore.

Two of the five remaining shots hit the Zarlack ship. Their shields blinked bright white for a split second, but otherwise the ship didn’t seem affected.

“What the hell?”

“The Zarlacks are immune to this weapon!” exclaimed Daniel.

“This isn’t good,” said Sarah. “Chris, bring back the StarFuries. Time to shoot that Zarlack destroyer before it gets out of range and beats us to the Asgardian home world.”

Chris vectored his remaining fighters back towards the Hope.

12

Zeus fired a massive thunderbolt at Chase who erected a shield around him to deflect the attack. It rebounded at a forty-degree angle, struck and destroyed one of the massive columns holding up the temple.

That seemed to anger Zeus even more. He unleashed a series of smaller lightning bolts towards Chase, who simply teleported out of the way of each of them, letting them destroy other parts of Zeus’ temple.

“This is not getting us anywhere,” said Chase.

And then, Zeus vanished.

Where did he go?

“Behind you!” shouted Argos.

Chase turned and saw three lightning bolts coming at him. He was too late to dodge them now, but then a powerful shockwave hit him and threw him to the side and out of the path of the bolts.

When he looked back towards where the shockwave came from, he saw Argos had one of his palms extended.

“Thanks, Argos.”

“Don’t mention it.”

But then another lightning bolt shot from the ceiling and hit Argos in the head.

“Argos!” shouted Chase.

It was too late. The damage had been done. Smaller bolts of lightning sizzled all over Argos’ body before he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Crap!

“This has gone on long enough, Zeus. We came here in peace, and you keep attacking us every time you disagree with what is being said.”

I’m afraid that’s how he deals with defiance, said Ares mentally. That’s how he always did.

I don’t care. I’m getting tired of this immature attitude. The fate of the universe hangs in the balance here.

“Zeus! Show yourself!”

“Find me if you can,” said Zeus’ voice.

Very well. If that’s what it takes, so be it.

Chase closed his eyes and expanded his consciousness around the temple. He identified every life-energy source around him. Ares, Argos and someone else. It had to be Zeus. Without hesitation, he teleported to where he had felt the energy and delivered a powerful punch.

At first it looked as if he had hit nothing but air. But then something happened. Zeus reappeared, his face deformed by pain. He took two steps back as blood dripped from his mouth.

“We don’t have time for your games!” shouted Chase. “The more we quibble and fight like children here, the more the Furies are taking a hold on this universe.”

Zeus wiped some of the blood off his chin with his fingers and looked at it. “You’ve drawn first blood, Fury. In doing so you’ve assured open war with Olympus!”

Zeus teleported back to his throne and hit a button on one of the armrests. An alarm sounded and soon a large number of Olympians came into the temple.

“Kill him!” he said, pointing an accusing finger at Chase. “Kill them all.”

The warriors converged around Chase, Ares and Argos’ fallen body.

Argos was just regaining consciousness and struggled to get back up. He saw the Olympians approaching and creating a threatening circle around them.

“What have I missed?” he asked.

“Not much. Zeus is not man enough to deal with a single Fury, so he called for backup.”

“I told you this wouldn’t end well,” said Ares. “I’m gonna try to calm the crowd down before more blood is spilled needlessly.”

“Listen to me, brothers!” he shouted. “Zeus is our commander-in-chief. He has led our people for countless generations, but the time has come to set aside our differences with other races and realize that we need to unite or be destroyed.”

“Don’t listen to that traitor son of mine. He’s been brainwashed by these Furies,” said Zeus. “Kill them before they infect more of us.”

The warriors continued to approach the trio.

“So much for diplomacy,” spat Argos.

Argos intensified his aura to the maximum. Chase hesitated, but perhaps a show of force was needed. Chase pushed his aura to nearly the maximum but didn’t enter Ultra Fury mode. Not yet.

He unleashed a massive roar, accompanied by a powerful shockwave that swept through the entire temple. It cracked the marble floor, shattered a few columns and sent the approaching warriors flying backwards like leaves caught in a storm. Most of them lost consciousness when they hit the walls and floor of the temple. The others looked at Chase with fear.

“ENOUGH!” shouted Chase, his voice echoing inside the temple. “We mean you no harm. We didn’t come here to start another war. We came to discuss a potential alliance!”

“Lies!” spat Zeus.

He’s starting to get on my nerves.

Chase, I can feel your anger. Don’t let it overwhelm you. My father’s not worth it, said Ares. We can always try to get the help of more Olympians, one way or another, without his consent.

Ares was right. Chase had never imagined Zeus to be such an arrogant, immature and blind leader. The head of such an advanced civilization as the Olympians, no less. Chase used to be arrogant himself, so he could have let that one characteristic slide, but the rest was too much.

Argos looked straight at Chase. “Give me the word and I’ll take out this fool.”

Chase shook his head. As tempting as it was, he wasn’t ready to assassinate the head of the Olympians. He had hoped for an alliance, but while that looked less likely with each passing minute, he still had questions that needed answering. He would not leave Olympus empty-handed.

“We’ll leave here without fuss if you answer a few questions,” said Chase.

“Ask your questions and disappear from my sight.”

“You can’t lie, though. Answer them truthfully and we’ll leave in peace.”

“How many times do I have to repeat myself? Ask your questions, Fury.”

“Why are you trying to kill your own son?”

“He’s already dead.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.”

“He betrayed me. Because of his betrayal he got himself killed, and my daughter is now suffering inside a machine she had no business entering in the first place. I hold Ares responsible for that.”

Chase teleported in front of Zeus with a solemn look on his face.

“With your permission I’d like to show you something. It’s about your daughter, Aphroditis.”

* * *

Saroudis entered the emperor’s ready room aboard his flagship. It had been turned into a proper dining room. The table was nicely arranged, with two sets of plates and cutlery.

It made Saroudis a little uncomfortable.

“You shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble, Emperor; and, truth be told, I should have been the one inviting you. Your help has been invaluable.”

The emperor bowed. “No, Commodore, I’m more than happy to have you tonight as my guest. And it’s about time we had a one-on-one in a nicer setting than the last time we were in the same room. Don’t you think?”

Saroudis remembered it well. It was when Chase had brought him aboard the Destiny. Everyone on the bridge wanted a piece of the emperor back then, Saroudis included. He had been fuming with rage at the simple fact that he was standing in his presence.

“Yes, we’ve come a long way since then, haven’t we, Emperor?”

“Please, Commodore, drop the ‘Emperor.’ I would be honored if you’d address me by my first name.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know your first name.”

“It’s Altair.”

“That’s going to take some getting used to, Altair, but then please call me Adonis.”

“Please, Adonis, sit.” The emperor gestured towards the nearest chair at the dining table.

Saroudis didn’t know what to think of all this. The emperor was nothing like he remembered him, and he wondered if this wasn’t an impostor of sorts. Argos had replaced both Sarah and Admiral Thassos with clones before. It was a nice change of pace to actually have a civilized conversation with him, but something in Saroudis’ head told him not to trust the man. Not yet anyway.

“It must not be easy for you to be here, Adonis,” said the emperor.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. We’ve been deadly enemies for generations. Now we’re breaking bread and having dinner. Truth be told, I would be suspicious if I were in your shoes.”

“Since we’re being honest, the thought has crossed my mind, Emp—” Saroudis corrected himself. “Altair.”

The emperor smiled.

“I can’t blame you. We’ve done horrible things in the past. War is a terrible thing that changes people. I realize that now.”

Where is he going with this?

“But that part of our history is over. At least, I hope so,” said Saroudis, almost pleadingly.

“It is. There isn’t a day I don’t regret making that deal with the Zarlacks and Argos. We became nothing more than slaves, doing their bidding. During that time we killed so many of your people. Sometimes at night when sleep eludes me, I think of what would have happened if the Zarlacks had come to you instead, or to any other race. Most of my people would be dead right now. I don’t expect you to ever forgive us for what we’ve done, but I wanted to look you in the eye and apologize for that terrible error in judgment on my part.”

Saroudis thought his jaw would drop. But his instinct didn’t let go of the thought that this could all be a ruse, a long-term plan to have them lower their guard and embrace the Obsidians as true friends.

Yet, right this moment, he couldn’t detect any deception from the emperor. Of course, Saroudis had all the reasons in the world to doubt him. He also had good reasons to hate him on a personal level. This war had cost him the life of two children. His two sons, who were taken way before their time. There was no bigger tragedy for a parent than to outlive their own children.

“I . . . I don’t know what to say, Altair. I wasn’t expecting you to say these words.”

“Words are easy, Adonis. Actions, on the other hand, matter so much more. Which reminds me, I have to apologize again.”

Saroudis raised an eyebrow. “What about?”

“I’m not proud of the blackmail tactic I used to get access to your technology. Part of me wanted to give you whatever help you require, but the old me, the survivor in me, if you will . . . Well, let’s just say old habits die hard.”

“In that regard we’re not very different. I am also still suspicious. This teaming and true exchange we’re doing these days, it seems too good to be true. Not to mention the timing. The Earth Alliance has never been this weak before. If we don’t make more allies soon, the Furies will have no trouble wiping us out.”

“I agree, Adonis. That’s why I’m sorry for requiring something in exchange for our help in that dire moment. Please know that I would have given you our help anyhow, but I still fear for the safety of my people. And I’m not only talking about the Furies. Hopefully we can continue the work we’ve started and build a stronger, more unified Earth Alliance and rid ourselves of the Furies. But who knows what will come next?

“I’m weary and tired of war, Adonis. It’s all I’ve ever known, but I wonder if there is something better, or if it’s not simply our destiny, as conscious beings, to repeat the cycle of violence over and over again. In a way, I’m thankful for the situation we’re in, though, as it has made me think. Upon losing almost everything at the heel of Argos and the Zarlacks, it made me realize that power isn’t everything.”

Saroudis smiled. It looked as though the emperor had done some genuine thinking these past few months.

“I’ll drink to that,” said Saroudis, raising his glass.

The emperor raised his glass in turn.

After taking a sip of the delicious alcoholic beverage, Saroudis made an agreeable noise. “This drink is delicious. What is it?”

“It’s made from a fermented flower from my home world. It’s quite rare and takes years to achieve the right maturity and taste. I have a few bottles on board. I’ll be more than happy to give you some.”

“That’s very generous of you. I have a question, though. You mentioned something about protecting your people after the Fury War. I would think if we survive this war, we’ll continue to be allies.”

“Oh, believe me, Adonis, if I’m still alive and have anything to say about it, we’ll stay allies until the end of time. But, as I said before, I wonder if it’s not our fate to always be in conflict with one another.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Look at history, in any world. Conflict seems to always be present. Like a curse linked to a civilization’s development cycle. War pushes men and women to their last limits, and most civilizations are forced to evolve technologically. And during these times, whatever spiritual development we achieve in peacetime seems to be lost or, at the very least, to regress.”

The emperor was making a good point, even though Saroudis had a less pessimistic outlook on things.

“I think a civilization can still evolve in peacetime. Before our own war with you, we had no trouble evolving along the technology path. Though I’ll concede that once the war started, spiritual evolution had to be placed on the back burner. But, at the end of the day, I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive.”

“And yet in times of war, we do anything we have to in order to weather the storm, in order to survive. Answer me this, Adonis. How much of the technology you’re now so generously sharing with us has been created in the last few months, in that period where your survival was paramount?”

And then it hit Saroudis. All of their best upgrades, all of their advanced weaponry, the creation of the StarFuries as well as the stronger shields; all of these had been invented because their very lives, their very survival, was on the line.

Saroudis looked down. “Almost all of it,” he said absently, still digesting the revelation. “I think I understand what you mean.”

* * *

Sarah brought about the Hope to open fire on the Zarlack destroyer.

“Lock onto that destroyer and fire our main guns,” she ordered.

“It’s accelerating at maximum sub-light thrust, which means we only have time for one shot. It’s not gonna be enough to bring their shields down unless we use the maximum firing mode, but that will leave us dead in the water for sixty seconds.”

Sarah knew all that, and time was of the essence. If they fired the super-charged shot of their Heracles cannon, they would end up too exposed.

“I can’t take that chance, Daniel. Fire the main weapons at nominal charge as well as all the torpedoes currently loaded in their tubes. Perhaps it will get the Zarlacks to change course.”

“Firing now, Captain.”

The Hope fired its devastating, high-powered plasma beam at the Zarlack destroyer just within firing range. It drained their shields more than Daniel thought it would and brought them down to thirty percent. The torpedoes were much slower, even if their range was better. It would take thirty seconds for them to reach their target.

“Something’s happening,” said Daniel.

“What is it?”

“They’re deploying fighters, vectoring towards our torpedoes.”

“They’re sacrificing them to make sure they don’t get destroyed.”

“That would be my guess as well, Sarah.”

Sarah swore.

She wanted nothing more than to follow them and kill the Fury that almost cost Chase’s life. She couldn’t risk the ship or their lives. But what if the Furies wanted to broker an alliance with the Asgardians too? Or, worse, decimate them?

Yet, that didn’t make sense. They’d only sent one ship. So it meant they were after something specific. Whatever it was, it must have been important if they sent Miseo to supervise this mission.

The Zarlack destroyer was hit by more yellow energy but it didn’t bring their shields down. The destroyer positioned itself to cover its fighters from the incoming freezing weapon.

“Torpedoes locking on targets,” said Daniel.

The fighters managed to shoot down half the torpedoes while others exploded against remaining fighters. Some took fire from the unknown energy beam and were enclosed in the resin-like material, just like Chris’ StarFury.

Only a single torpedo found its intended target and brought the Zarlack ship’s shields down another seven percent.

“They’re out of range now,” said Daniel.

“Dammit,” exclaimed Sarah.

Should Sarah have fired the supercharged primary weapon? No need to blame herself now. It was done and she couldn’t change the past.

“For what’s it worth,” said Daniel, “I’m glad you haven’t tried firing the main guns at supercharge power, Captain. Sixty seconds is a long time to be defenseless when there’s an unknown enemy out there that can turn us into resin statues for all eternity.”

Daniel’s words eased her conscience somewhat, but she still worried that what the Furies were after could be very important. They might have missed their window of opportunity for getting their hands on it.

She opened a channel to engineering.

“Yanis, please tell me⁠—”

He cut her short. “I’ve got sensor data of the impact of the unknown weapon on the Zarlack shields. We’re already working on analyzing the data to see if we can replicate their tech and modify the Hope’s shields to also be impervious to that weapon, Captain.”

Of course he was. Yanis was always one step ahead of his captain’s demands. He knew what was at stake better than anyone and, since his sister had passed, he had redoubled his efforts to find new technologies to give the Alliance an advantage in this war. Sarah knew that deep down he was doing that to avenge her death. She could understand that.

“Thanks, Yanis. Keep us posted of your progress.”

“Will do. Yanis out.”

13

Zeus frowned his silvery eyebrows when Chase reached towards his face. He instinctively pulled away.

“I’m not gonna hurt you, Zeus, I give you my word. But for me to show you my memories, I need physical contact.”

Chase saw he was considering it.

“Very well, but not here,” said Zeus after a moment. “Follow me.”

Chase followed Zeus out of the main temple’s chambers into a corridor that lead to another smaller room. It was as luxurious as the rest of the temple. Chase recognized a statue in one of the corners of the room. It was Aphroditis. It made Chase’s heart sting.

“You can show me now,” said Zeus.

Chase put two fingers on Zeus’ forehead. Zeus closed his eyes. Chase sent him as many relevant memories as he had of Aphroditis. Her plea to have him help Earth, her willingness to enter the machine that brought back the Furies from their eternal prison. Even her last vision when she made him swear he wouldn’t attempt to get her out of the machine.

When Zeus’ eyes opened, they were watery.

Chase’s voice was warm but determined. “I take full responsibility for my mistakes, and I’m so sorry about the torment your daughter is suffering because of me. I can’t change that, but I promise to try to get her out of there. But we need to defeat the Furies. I have given her my word, and I intend to keep that promise.”

“And you think if we ally ourselves with you, we can destroy the Furies once and for all?”

Chase nodded. “Yes. I’m sure you have a lot of technology that could help us as well.”

“Our technology is advanced, but it is also old, Fury.”

Chase cringed at Zeus calling him Fury. While he knew very well that he was one, he shared very little with their kind. It was derogatory, but for the sake of diplomacy, Chase decided to ignore it.

“Aren’t you the ones who designed the device?”

“It was a team effort, between many races, some of which are now extinct. The Asgar—” Zeus paused. “The Asgardians also participated. In fact, it was one of their most progressive inventors that helped design the final parts to make the machine work as intended, against his government’s wishes, I might add.”

“The Asgardians didn’t want the machine to work?”

“Not exactly. They wanted the machine to destroy the parallel universe to which the machine would send the Furies. I didn’t want that to happen.”

“I can understand that. Who knows how many more civilizations you could have destroyed in the process?”

“You give me too much credit, Fury. My reasons were much more selfish. I simply didn’t want all Furies to die.”

“That’s still a noble sentiment.”

Zeus shook his head. “You don’t understand.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“Nobody knows this, and I’m not sure anyone should.”

“And yet it seems to be eating at you. Perhaps if you unburdened yourself you’d feel better.”

Zeus turned his back on Chase for a moment and stayed silent. Chase didn’t know what to do. He had finally managed to make Zeus talk. His initial view of Zeus as a childish, immature ruler was slowly fading away. There seemed to be a heavy weight on the Olympian’s shoulders. Chase didn’t know what it was, but he recognized the pain and strain. Whatever secret Zeus was keeping to himself it was eating at him.

“If it makes any difference, I can promise not to share what you tell me with anyone.”

Zeus turned around. A tear had traveled down his face. “I . . . I loved a Fury female. In fact, my love affair with Arakan’s wife is the reason the first Fury War escalated as it did.”

Chase’s jaw dropped. “I’m having difficulty believing that your love for a Fury woman made things the way they are now.”

“And yet we had managed to negotiate a cease-fire. I had been invited personally to meet with Arakan on a neutral world. The Furies’ thirst for power was already very strong, but our alliance was stronger in numbers, even if the Fury technology was superior to our own. When they had lost more than half their fleet in less than a year and when most of our engagements resulted in their defeat, they were open to a peaceful, if only temporary, resolution.

“That’s when I met her. She took my breath away. I had no idea she was the supreme commander’s wife. All I saw was her incredible beauty and a soul burning with passion and fire. Before I realized what I had done, she was pregnant with my child.”

Chase swallowed, trying to digest the enormity of Zeus’ confession.

“I knew very well that the Furies were using the cease-fire just to buy time to rebuild their fleet. They are a race bred for war. They only thrive through conflict and, no matter how much they have tried in the past, they can’t contain the eternal rage that consumes their souls. It’s in their blood, the need to fight, the need to kill.”

That resonated heavily with Chase. When he first discovered his powers, he was scared of how much hatred was burning inside his soul. Was that due to his blood heritage? Would this always be the case, no matter how far he had come? He could control this rage now, use its destructive power to do good. But, ultimately, could that rage one day overcome his control and, if so, could he become the very evil he was trying to stop?

The thought sent a cascade of shivers down his spine.

“I . . . I think I know what you’re saying. I have felt this anger myself. First-hand. Your daughter Aphroditis and your son Ares helped me gain control of this power and use it in a good way. Perhaps if I can, other Furies can too.”

“I honestly don’t care if Furies can become better. Back then I just didn’t want to kill the woman I still love to this day, nor her daughter. Since I failed in rescuing her, our daughter is all I have left of her.”

“I don’t follow?”

“When Arakan learned of his wife’s affair with me years later, he had her tortured and killed. He sent her back to me one piece at a time. That’s when the cease-fire faltered. It sent me into a mad quest for revenge, one that I fear I’m not yet fully done with.”

More tears appeared on Zeus’ face.

“Is that why you reacted the way you did when we arrived?”

“Understand something, Chase. Any Fury reminds me of what I have lost, as well as what my actions brought this universe to. When the Asgardians told me they had found a way to send them into an alternate dimension and then destroy that dimension, I considered it. I liked the idea of hiding my failure under a rug along the way. But I was not ready to get rid of the one thing I had left from Zalara.”

“Zalara. That would be Arakan’s . . .” Chase didn’t have the heart to add the word wife at the end of his sentence.

“Yes. She may have been his wife, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t also everything to me. You see, I’ve had many lovers and many children with both mortal and immortal beings. I’ve never really been a one-woman guy. But Zalara, she was different. She was the one. She understood me like no one else ever had. When I lost her, I lost the better part of my own soul.”

Chase felt deeply saddened for Zeus. He had this love for Sarah. He could feel it in every molecule of his body. She was the one. And when he had thought he had lost her, by his own hand at that, it had consumed him. Just as Zeus was being consumed by his own loss, still suffering the consequences ten thousand years later.

Was that what Chase had to look forward to? After all, Sarah was a mortal. Both of them risked their lives on a daily basis. And even if they managed to defeat the Furies permanently, one day she would simply die. Chase, on the other hand, unless he was mortally wounded, would probably live forever.

Chase put his hand on Zeus’ shoulder. “I’m sorry for your pain.”

“I don’t need your pity, Chase. No matter what happens now, the damage is done. I would give anything to have her in my arms once more. If only Ares⁠—”

But then Zeus stopped mid-sentence.

“What? What did Ares do?”

“I had tasked him to infiltrate the Fury home world and get Zalara out of there and bring her back to me on Olympus before Oryn was born.”

“He never told me that.”

“I erased a good portion of my son’s memories. After he failed his mission.”

“Is that the real reason behind his banishment?”

Zeus nodded.

“Are you responsible for his current state? He’s no longer able to control his powers and he loses energy at an alarming rate. Me and my son have been boosting his levels, but over time we won’t be able to keep up with his energy requirements.”

“Yes. I’ve never forgiven my son for failing his mission. Not only did he fail, but he sent someone else in his stead. So when I felt his presence in my temple not long ago, it awoke all that pain inside me that I thought was long gone.”

“Had you told him who Zalara was?”

“No.”

“Then, I’m sorry, but while you can blame him for failing his objective, you can’t blame him for not knowing what was at stake. If he had known how important the mission was for you, he would not have sent someone else to do the job.”

Zeus gave a deep frown. Chase thought he would get mad again, but soon the sorrow returned to Zeus’ face.

“Perhaps.”

“I don’t mean any disrespect,” said Chase, “but I think you’ve been holding grudges and suffering from this for far too long. It has clouded your judgment. This anger, this rage you seem to harbor with the entire outside world . . . You must know by now that most of it is actually directed towards yourself.”

Chase knew this was a risky proposition. But having come this far and finally opening a dialogue, he felt it was necessary for Zeus to break the abscess that was paralyzing his thoughts and clouding his judgment. Perhaps his unwillingness to deal with his own demons was why he didn’t want to hear of an alliance.

Chase understood that Zeus didn’t want the rest of the world to know about his private business. In fact, he was surprised that Zeus had told him any of it. Perhaps seeing Aphroditis suffer horribly had brought enough of his own pain and memories to the surface for him to start dealing with it. Chase could only hope this would turn in their favor.

As much as Chase could empathize with Zeus’ pain, the fact remained that Zeus was responsible for most of what had unfolded up until now. He would not tell him directly, as he feared that would send Zeus into another fit of rage, but they needed to find a way to fix this mess.

“Tell me more about the broken alliance back then.”

“I managed to convince Kvasir, the Asgardians’ craziest but quite ingenious inventor, to modify the machine to make sure that the dimension in which the Furies were sent didn’t collapse on its own. Instead, they were mostly trapped in time. There was a side effect, though. Even though time seemed to advance much more slowly in the other dimension, the Furies were trapped inside their own minds and felt the passing of the centuries just the same.”

“And where can we find this Kvasir now?”

“He was banished from the Asgardian home world to a colony not very far from the center of this galaxy.”

“Are Asgardians immortal too?”

“Yes.”

“How long has he been there?”

“Since the last Fury War.”

“Can’t he simply escape, if he is such a talented inventor?”

“The Asgardians have protected the area where his planetoid prison is located with a terrible weapon. Any vessel that approaches the area is automatically shot upon and frozen in space and time for all eternity.”

“Frozen?”

“The weapon uses a frequency that stops all atomic movement. It’s a kind of absolute-zero cannon.”

“And the Asgardians have this technology?”

“They do, but they decided long ago not to use it, except to keep Kvasir from escaping his banishment.”

“Why? They could have annihilated the Furies with that weapon, couldn’t they?”

“Maybe. The power requirements are off the scale, though, and the technology had some issues. Many vessels equipped with the portable version of the cannon were lost. After that the Asgardians discontinued its use.”

“Can I have the coordinates to Kvasir’s planetoid, please?”

Zeus nodded.

“Can you please also stop what you’re doing to Ares? I’m sure if you told him the truth, as you have told me, he would understand better why you hate him. You two could mend fences.”

“No. You’ve promised to keep your word.”

“And I will keep my promise. Now, can we discuss an alliance?”

“You have to understand something, Chase. I’m still unwilling to kill my daughter.”

“What if we got her for you? Would you then join our Alliance and destroy the Furies once and for all?”

“Keep talking.”

“I’m sure I can get to her. Perhaps she will be easily convinced. Does she know she’s your daughter?”

“I don’t know. Probably not.”

“Are you giving me permission to divulge only that part of the story to her? Perhaps if she knew Arakan killed her mother because of her love for you, she might become an ally.”

Zeus pondered Chase’s words. “Very well. We have a deal.”

* * *

Ryonna stood on top of Argos’ Zarlack commander, one foot on his ribcage, while her gun was squarely pointed at his head, her hand slightly trembling. Blood from her many injuries spilled on the floor as though from a broken faucet.

“Next time your superior gives you an order via an encrypted, genuine holo-message, you’d better follow it,” she barked.

What the guard she had interrogated earlier had failed to mention was that one of the commander’s guards was a Fury. It took Ryonna and the soldiers their coordinated effort to bring him down. At great sacrifice. More than seven soldiers had lost their lives and the battle bots had been damaged beyond repair.

Ryonna stood with a murderous look burning in her eyes. She had to force herself not to blow a fist-sized blaster hole between the Zarlack commander’s eyes.

She switched to lasso mode and paralyzed him. She then went with him to the brig, where she recovered Tanarok and swapped him for the commander.

“What are you doing? You can’t leave me in here!”

“You should have thought about that before ordering your men to fire at us.”

“I couldn’t take the chance that you might have doctored that holo-transmission.”

“Wasn’t it encrypted? With a cypher only you and your men are privy to?”

“It was but⁠—”

“Then there’s no but. You decided to be paranoid on your own, and you cost my teammates their lives. Just count your blessings that I’m in a hurry and can’t spare the time to properly repay you for your overzealous attitude. So long, Commander.”

Ryonna could still hear the Zarlack shouting when she left the brig with Tanarok.

“What will happen to the commander?” Tanarok asked.

“He’s lucky I don’t have time to punish him. You don’t want to try my patience either.”

“Look, I don’t know who you are or what you want⁠—”

“Let me stop you right here, Tanarok. Argos told me to come and pick you up. He needs your help to stop a Fury from aging too fast.”

“I don’t know anything about Fury physiology. I don’t understand why Argos thinks I can be of any help.”

Ryonna didn’t like the sound of that. But this had been a trying day. She was not in the mood to babysit or reassure this lizard that Argos knew what he was doing. And he’d better know, or there would be hell to pay.

“Look, you’re some sort of biologist, right?”

“Yes, but⁠—”

“Then Argos needs you to work with him on a project. That’s all you need to trouble yourself with at this point. I don’t want to hear another peep out of you besides answering my questions. Is that clear?”

The Zarlack nodded.

“Now, where might we find Argos’ Kyrian snake clone?”

“In his ready room. But I’m not allowed there.”

“I’m granting you permission. Now lead the way, scales.”

* * *

Spiros and Cedric arrived at the nearest Alliance’s hospital. It wasn’t the kind of place they wanted to work in or stay at for too long, but they had no choice. Spiros had requisitioned a few servers from the facility and was restoring Gaia’s higher neuronal functions into them.

He hoped he would be on time to change the next cypher. The last thing they needed was Gaia 2 disabling the shields. Gaia had left her comms open when she fought her beta version, and Spiros had heard what she had in store for Earth.

“Do you think we’ll be on time?” asked Cedric nervously.

“We have to be. I’m hoping the battle bought us some time.”

“Why are you saying this?”

“Because the cypher’s estimated lifetime expired three minutes ago and I’m only at seventy-two percent of the restore procedure.”

Cedric buried his head in his hands. “We’re fucked.”

“None of that. We can’t sink into despair, not now. Not ever, actually. Because even if we survive this crisis, do I have to remind you that there is an entire planet of crazed Furies ready to blow us to kingdom come the first chance they get?”

“I wish I had packed weed.”

Spiros smiled from ear to ear.

“What?”

“This is a hospital, Cedric. Perhaps you should ask a nurse to provide you with medicinal marijuana?”

“Right! You sure you don’t mind?”

“No, just . . . just go. I don’t need your help restoring Gaia’s neuronal net anyway.”

Cedric was gone before Spiros could say anything else. He could use the time alone. He had to start injecting the necessary code into Gaia’s restored matrix for his plan to work. He would manage that better if he wasn’t interrupted every five minutes.

He could also use a jay, but not before he was done with the cypher and the code injection. He really hoped that Gaia’s sacrifice had bought them enough time to do the necessary work from here. Gaia had sent a final message before self-destructing, informing him that she was sending more battle bots to this location so he could reprogram them with her latest higher functions. They had decided that the safest way to create new avatars for her was manually, from an encrypted version of her latest code. She had added many layers of firewall and a new rotating cypher algorithm based on a 65536 bits root random value Spiros had chosen, so Gaia 2 could not guess. Cracking it would take some time, thanks to the cypher-cycling function.

The bots should arrive soon. And if they didn’t, then it meant something went terribly wrong. It didn’t help that her very last words were interrupted mid-sentence. “I lo—” was all he received. Still, he didn’t need the rest of the characters to decipher that one.

A trio of beeps snapped Spiros out of his train of thought. The restore procedure was complete. He now had to network with many other computers throughout the world to decompress the data. The entire server farm of this hospital would require hours at this task and they couldn’t afford to wait that long.

Cedric could probably have helped with that task as he was more proficient with Earth’s IT systems. Interfacing and hacking them was not a very difficult task for Spiros. But he would achieve faster results if he used his own neuronal implants.

He connected the data cable to his neck port and went to connect the other end to the data port of the Alliance’s console. He stopped and hesitated for a moment.

What if Gaia 2 has already hacked the Alliance systems?

If so, he could give her a unique and dangerous opportunity to hack his own brain augments. His memories were stored in his biological brain so there was little risk of her acquiring them. But could he take the chance?

He received a wireless transmission on his neuronal interface. The empty battle bots were ten minutes out. He needed to be done with both the decompression and code injection by then, and there was no way he would achieve that with a slow holo-interface. He needed his mental augments, and probably would have to overclock them too, but this time within reasonable limits. He could not afford an overload the likes of which he had suffered back on Damocles-3 Station.

Spiros took a deep breath and plugged the other end of the cable into the data port.

A quick message appeared in front of his eyes before he felt a powerful jolt of electricity burst through his head.

The message had read: “There you are!”

14

Sarah was pacing nervously in Chase’s ready room, trying to think of a way to go in pursuit of the Zarlack ship. If Miseo was on board, this place had to be important. They couldn’t let the Furies get to the Asgardians first. It could have catastrophic repercussions.

Chris entered the room. “Is everything okay?”

“I needed time to think. We have to find a way to go after that ship.”

“It’s out of our hands right now. Unless we’re ready to be transformed into a lifeless ship for all eternity.”

“I know, son, I know.”

“I have faith in Yanis. From what Dad told me, he always comes through for us. We just need to give him more time.”

Time. That was the one commodity they didn’t have. But Chris was right. Trying to pursue that ship without some sort of protection wasn’t a viable option. Unless . . .

Sarah’s face lit up.

“What did you just think of?” said Chris.

“We have a pretty good idea of the distance and vector from which the weapon was firing, right?”

“We do now. And if you’re thinking of jumping past that point with the ship, we can’t be sure that the weapon won’t still fire at us. And this could be just one of the weapons defending this system. It’s too big a risk, I’m afraid.”

“We can reduce the risk, Chris, don’t you see?”

“How?”

“We use a StarFury. We jump far ahead towards the vector the Zarlacks took, and telemetry will tell us soon enough if it gets fired upon.”

“Huh. This could work.”

“Let’s do it.”

On the bridge they explained their idea to Daniel.

“Sounds good. We still have more than enough StarFuries in the launch bays to make multiple tests,” said Daniel.

“The fewer ships we lose the better, but we have to go after that ship. Whatever it came to get, we can’t allow it to leave this place with it.”

“Agreed,” answered Daniel.

“I’m already remote-flying a StarFury. Entering coordinates for the jump now.”

Sarah held her breath. A few seconds later they received telemetry.

“On screen.”

The StarFury had jumped a few thousand klicks beyond the theoretical range of the weapon. For now it wasn’t under fire, and it had already picked up the Zarlack ship on long-range sensors.

“What’s this?” Sarah pointed at the radar image.

“Looks like a small planetoid. The Zarlacks are attacking it, but automated defenses are giving it a run for its money,” answered Daniel.

“We have to jump in there too,” said Sarah. “If we can either chase away the Zarlacks or destroy them altogether, whoever is on that planetoid might actually be thankful. Let’s hope we’re right and some Asgardian is in need of our help.”

“I’m already bringing my StarFury into an intercept course.”

“Chris, you’re going to lose that ship for nothing,” interjected Sarah.

“Yes, but if I can overload its power source and crash it against their shields, it will slow them down. I don’t think the planetoid’s defenses will hold for much longer.”

“I can confirm that. They’ll be overrun in less than a minute,” said Daniel.

“Very well, Chris, make it so. Daniel, plot a course and jump the Hope right away. The second we exit hyperspace, raise shields and engage the enemy with everything we’ve got.”

Daniel smiled at her. “Aye aye, Captain!”

He entered the coordinates and the Hope micro-jumped into hyperspace.

* * *

Saroudis was getting full. Dinner had been long and with many courses, most of them delicious, though he had no idea what he ate most of the time.

At first he wanted to ask the emperor about the food, but he decided that the new trust and understanding they seemed to have brokered here today was worth it, even if it meant he ate insects or worse. The food had been flavorful and the dessert was just arriving.

“You really shouldn’t have gone to all this trouble, Altair.”

“It’s not every day I have such an honored guest, Adonis. And how often can two leaders actually sit and share a meal, in hope of solidifying a friendship that will, I hope, last for thousands of years to come?”

Hearing the emperor speak of long-lasting peace still baffled Saroudis. But he could not sense any deception in the emperor’s intentions and he was usually a good judge of character. However, he remembered how blind he had been to the fact that Admiral Thassos had been a clone and puppet doing Argos’ bidding.

It was too soon to openly trust the Obsidian Empire, but Saroudis was more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and, in time, would be proud to call them friends, when that trust had been earned.

“All too true, Altair. And I’m really grateful we have this opportunity. Please don’t get me wrong, but I have to admit I’m surprised to hear you talk of peace so vehemently. No offense.”

“None taken. When I was rotting in one of your cells on Earth, I had plenty of time to reflect on the many, many mistakes I have made during my rule. I want to leave a legacy for my people, not regrets, death and ashes. And we stand a better chance of achieving that legacy if we unite than by staying divided. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“You’re preaching to the choir.”

“I’m not familiar with this expression,” said the emperor, raising an eyebrow, lifting some of his facial tattoos along the way.

“It’s an Earth expression. It means I couldn’t agree more.”

“I see. I’m glad to hear it. Ah, dessert. This is my favorite part of the meal.”

“Isn’t it always? I hope I have room for it, though. While the food was delicious—and please congratulate the chef for me—I do hope I still have room for dessert.”

“When you taste it I’m sure you will. It’s my favorite.”

An Obsidian soldier-turned-waiter for the occasion brought two bowls of ice cream.

“The aroma of this ice cream derives from the sap of a tree in my home world. Every time I have this it reminds me of a simpler time when I was a kid, with no worries, no fears. Isn’t it paradoxical that when we are kids all we want to do is grow up? Be like our parents or like our older siblings? But when we get there, life has a way of throwing problems at us faster than we can deal with them. I would give anything for the bliss of being a young boy running in the purple grassfields of my home world, with not a care in the world. I would eat when food was ready, sleep when it was time; but when my head hit the pillow, sleep would embrace me like a warm blanket, and the next day would be filled with the discovery of another set of worry-free wonders.”

Saroudis knew exactly what the emperor meant. He had thought about this many times. To this day he would be willing to trade it all and go back to that blissful time. To be a young child again, discovering the world at every turn with bewildered eyes, never worrying about tomorrow.

“I’m looking forward to trying this,” said Saroudis before taking a spoonful of the melting dessert.

The flavor was strong and reminded Saroudis of an Alpha Prime syrup his grandmother used to make. It brought tears to his eyes.

“Is everything alright, Adonis?” asked the emperor.

“I . . . I know this taste. We have something very similar in our world. It just brought back memories of my childhood.”

But then it brought another set of memories, much less pleasant. A few days before his mother died, she had visited them in their lake house, and had brought the syrup with her. It was the last time he had the beverage and the last time his sons had it too. They had finished the bottle in less than an hour and Saroudis had been angry at them for it.

He couldn’t control the flow of overwhelming emotions. His eyes watered and burned. He missed his sons terribly. With everything that had happened lately, he hadn’t had time to properly grieve after the news of their passing. Even if Saroudis had prepared himself for the worst when they had jumped away from Star Alliance space and arrived in Earth space, he had still harbored the faint hope that one day he might see them again. His wife and daughter had survived, but he had lost both his boys. And the taste in his mouth sent him back to that time when they were just young devils playing tricks on one another and everyone around them.

The emperor gestured the waiter to leave the ready room. He rose and walked towards Saroudis, then knelt before him and talked in a soft voice.

“I didn’t mean to bring back sad memories. I’m sorry, Adonis.”

“It’s . . .” But Saroudis was sobbing. “My sons . . . I . . . it reminded me of my sons.”

The look in the emperor’s eyes told Saroudis that he understood. “They died in the attack on your planet, didn’t they?”

Saroudis simply couldn’t find the strength to answer, trapped in a moment of intense sadness the likes of which he hadn’t experienced in years. Since the passing of his own father, in fact. So he nodded instead, trying futilely to wipe away tears, but they were instantly replaced by fresh ones.

The emperor took a dagger from one of his heels and it startled Saroudis.

What is he doing?

His heart rate jumped. But he was afraid for no reason. The emperor turned the blade and presented the handle to Saroudis.

“This blade has been in my family for countless generations. It’s my most prized possession. I have killed many warriors with it in battle. But I realize now that some of my actions have killed many, many innocent people, like your sons.”

There was deep sadness in the emperor’s eyes.

“Their blood and the blood of many is on my hands. No matter how much I want to atone for my actions, I can never be forgiven, and I don’t even seek your forgiveness.”

The emperor’s confession resulted in a shot of adrenaline through Saroudis. What was happening? Saroudis wiped his eyes. “Where are you going with this, Emperor?”

Saroudis harbored hatred for the empire for the death of many friends and family members. He hated war in general. But he had always been a soldier. That’s what it meant to fight for one’s world. No one man was responsible. Or was he?

“Take this blade, and you have my permission to avenge your boys with it.” He turned towards a holo-recording device embedded on the wall. “I am exercising the ancestral ritual of the father’s debt. This man is not to be prosecuted for his actions. I give my life to him of my own free will and, to respect my honor, I ask that my second-in-command keep this Alliance of ours strong. Not only today but tomorrow, and for as long as possible.”

The emperor brought the handle of the dagger closer to Saroudis.

Saroudis didn’t know why, but he took the blade and looked at it. He saw his sad reflection shimmer on the surface of the blade, his eyes red.

Could he really take the emperor’s life to avenge his sons? Especially when the man in front of him was willingly asking him to? For a brief instant he considered it, but then shame quickly replaced that fleeting moment of weakness.

“I can’t kill you, Emperor. You didn’t kill my sons. War did.”

“But it was my decision to ally my forces with Argos that escalated that war towards the brutal conflict that ripped the lives from billions of your people.”

“Nevertheless,” said Saroudis, taking a deep breath, “we must not let the horrors of the past define who we become. Revenge would not bring my sons back. But this newly found friendship, one that has the potential to echo positively throughout the ages, this matters. It gives meaning to all the deaths and sacrifices, somehow. So I thank you for your gesture, Altair and, as far as my sons are concerned, you have my forgiveness.”

Something happened inside Saroudis. Truth be told, he was mad at Argos more than the emperor. Ever since Chase had accepted his brother’s help, Saroudis had daydreamed of going to his quarters at night and killing the Fury. But he knew better. An eye for an eye was not the way to make this world better. And so some of that hatred he bore towards Argos had also vanished with the emperor’s apology and willingness to sacrifice himself in order to wash his sins away.

“I don’t deserve your kindness, Adonis. You are a great man. Better than I ever will be, in fact. I would like you to keep the dagger, though, as a symbol of our new friendship.”

“I can’t accept it. It’s a family heirloom. You should keep this to remind you of your father.”

“I insist, Adonis,” said the emperor. “I would be deeply honored if you accepted it.”

Saroudis took the dagger. It was a beautifully crafted, well-balanced dagger. The onyx handle was masterfully carved with a dragon with a fiery mane.

“Very well, in that case it is my honor to accept your gift in the spirit in which it is given. Thank you, Altair. May this friendship help both our people through the current shroud of darkness and into the light.”

The emperor smiled, his eyes filling with gratitude. “To quote a wise man I am now proud to call my friend: may it echo through the ages.”

* * *

“I’m sorry for blowing up many parts of your temple,” said Chase.

“This materialistic damage can easily be mended, unlike the pain that burns inside my heart. Please try to get my daughter back to me, Chase, and I’ll comply with your terms for the alliance.”

While it hinged on convincing a Fury to come to her Olympian father—a task Chase knew would not be easy—at least there was hope now.

“I still have a few things I’d like to discuss with you.”

“I’m listening,” said Zeus in a softer tone.

“Have you heard of the spirit ships?”

“What is it to you?”

“I’ve learned they could be invaluable in our fight against the Furies.”

“Only if you have enough Furies to pilot them. I’m unaware of any other race being able to use their formidable power efficiently.”

“Were they used in the last Fury War?”

Zeus nodded.

“So there were Furies fighting against their own people back then?”

“Like your father.”

Chase felt as if one of Zeus’ lightning bolts had hit him straight in the heart.

“My father?” he said, his voice trembling.

“Yes, the most courageous warrior I’ve ever known.”

“Can you tell me more about him?”

“Later. First bring my daughter. And keep your promise, Chase. Whatever welcome I gave you today will be nothing compared to my wrath if you speak any of what was discussed between us today to anyone.”

“Not even Ares?”

Zeus’ gaze turned icy cold. “No one.”

“Understood. But can you please stop what you’re doing to him? I need his help.”

“Consider it done. By the time you leave this planet he won’t feel his energy sucked away anymore.”

Chase hadn’t expected things to turn out so well. From the way it had all started, it could have turned a hell of a lot worse. But he felt compelled to ask for one more favor.

“One last thing and I’ll leave you be,” said Chase.

“Haven’t I answered enough questions already?”

“You have, and I’m grateful you did. But if we’re to cement an alliance in the future, I would like to know you’re serious about it.”

“Didn’t I just give you my word that if you succeed and bring Oryn back to me, you’ll get everything you want? What more do you want from me?”

“A gesture of good will. An advance, if you will.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Athena, Apollo and others have already been considering this alliance for a while, but they’re afraid of what it could mean if they defied you.”

“And they are wise to be so.”

“Yes, I get that. But could you please allow them to join our forces now with a few ships? It would go a long way, and I might need their help to complete the mission you’ve tasked me with. It will not be a walk in the park to go into Fury space to do as you ask, and you know it. I could use the firepower.”

“You also want to get your hands on our technology.”

“Well, we already have Apollo’s help, but I won’t lie to you. If we could openly appear with Olympian warships during our next engagements, it would send a powerful message of unity. And even if the cementing of this alliance is contingent on the success of the mission you’ve given me, this would help achieve that goal and perhaps put some much-needed fear into the heart of our common enemy.”

Zeus’s brows furrowed and Chase braced himself for the worst. Perhaps he had been too greedy.

“There is wisdom in your words, Chase. Your father would have been proud. Very well, you can enlist the help of any Olympian that is willing to follow you, but under no circumstances must they know of your mission, or that Oryn is my daughter. I will make that announcement myself when the time comes. If Athena is willing to come with you, she can take ten ships with her.”

That was more than Chase could have hoped for. Even one Olympian ship would have been wonderful to have by their side.

“Thank you, Zeus.”

“Don’t thank me just yet. Make sure you bring back my daughter.”

“You have my word. I’ll do everything in my power to do so.”

“Then you may leave. May fortune smile upon your endeavors.”

Chase didn’t know how to answer that, so he bowed as politely as he could and left the private room. In the corridor that led back to the center of the temple, Chase heard explosions that shook the entire temple.

What now?!

When he arrived running into the main chamber of Zeus’ temple, Ares was standing over Argos, whose entire body was shaking. He was having a seizure.

Chase ran to his side. “What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know. He started babbling incoherently, barking at me and everyone around here. He almost killed three Olympians by randomly shooting fireballs and then he collapsed. He acted as if he was in the middle of a battle.”

Chase saw an Olympian nearby with his arm badly burned. He fired a bright white healing fireball at the man.

“Sorry about that,” said Chase to the man before returning his attention back to Ares.

“I’ll take care of him. You have to get to Athena. Zeus just agreed to give us ten warships and let any Olympian that wants to join us do so freely without fear of incurring Zeus’ wrath.”

Ares shook his head in disbelief. “Mind telling me how you managed such a miracle?”

“Nope, that’s the one thing I can’t do. Now go!”

Chase applied his hands to his brother and tried to heal him but could not detect any damage.

Crap!

He grabbed Argos in his arms and ran back towards the shuttle. He opened a channel to the Euphoreon. “Have a medical team standing by in cargo bay three, stat!”

15

Cedric was horrified when he entered the room and saw Spiros collapsed on the ground. Adrenaline kicked in and the bliss of his current high promptly vanished.

A spark shot from the back of Spiros’ neck.

“Fuck!” Cedric exclaimed.

He grabbed the data cable and ripped it from the data port at the base of the back of Spiros’ neck. Blood ran from his nose and eyes. Not a good sign, Cedric decided.

He slapped himself on the cheek.

“Nope, not hallucinating,” he said to himself. “PLEASE SOMEONE, HELP!” he shouted as loudly as he could.

“Don’t you die on me, Spiros. I can’t be left alone. Gaia 2 will have my ass for breakfast if you’re not here to stop her.”

Spiros was out cold. Cedric checked his pulse. It was faint but it was there. But he would need to be put into a regen tank right away. Cedric didn’t wait. He grabbed Spiros and tried his best to drag him outside, luckily two nurses arrived and took over and put Spiros on a hovering gurney. He was about to follow them when an ominous bleep escaped from the holo-console where Spiros had been working.

“Take good care of him. He needs to be put in a regen tank right away! I’ll come to check on him soon,” he said, but the nurses were already far away.

He went to the holo-console and saw with horror that the decompression had stopped. A “data corrupted” message flashed on the screen.

“No, no, no . . . NO!”

Cedric took a seat and started entering commands madly on the console. If they lost Gaia’s latest higher-functions backup there was no telling what the consequences would be.

A reminder flashed on the top right corner of the screen. “Cypher safety limit expired.” A counter with a negative value of seventeen minutes kept running.

“This is not good.”

Three battle bots burst into the room and Cedric first thought they were Gaia 2’s agents. He lost balance and unceremoniously crashed to the floor, coccyx first.

“Ooooow,” he let escape.

“Are you alright, Cedric?” said the familiar and genuinely concerned voice of Gaia. “Where’s Spiros?”

“He’s been hurt. Two nurses are taking him to a regen tank. I hope he’ll make it.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

“Yeah, I wish that was the worst of it. Take a look at that,” said Cedric, pointing at the holo-display.

The lead droid quickly came around and checked the holo-screen.

“We don’t have much time before Gaia 2 finds us. We need to work together to fix this.”

Cedric was suddenly taken by a wave of panic. “Sure,” he said hesitantly, “but I’m no Spiros.”

“Well, if we are to survive this day, you’ll have to step up.”

Cedric swallowed hard at the realization of what lay behind Gaia’s words.

Two of the three battle droids left the room in a hurry.

“Where are they going?”

“Someone needs to protect Spiros while he’s in the regen tank. Sooner rather than later my counterpart will try to finish what she started.”

“What about calling some cavalry?”

“Already done, but I can feel my firewall layers cracking one after the other, so if we don’t fix this immediately, I can’t assure you whether the cavalry will be friend or foe.”

“Oh that’s just dandy!”

Cedric picked himself up and sat back on his chair. Gaia was already running data reconstruction algorithms. That allowed him to work on the cypher.

“Aren’t we too late?” he said while working.

“Even if that’s the case, should we just take what comes next lying down?”

“I guess not.”

“Then let’s agree to fix this together.”

Cedric entered commands on the holo-terminal as fast as he could. The urgency had given his mind a boost. He could feel his heart beating hard inside his ribcage and, even though he disliked the feeling, he had to admit that the fear of death was quite the motivator. He acted on instinct and felt as if possessed, not even sure his conscious mind fully comprehended everything he was doing. Then he opened a holo-communication channel on the next holo-screen.

“What are you doing?”

“Summoning a type of backup that can’t be turned against us by your counterpart.”

The image of a tired General Adams filled the holo-screen. It was three in the morning, after all. He yawned and rubbed his eyes with his fists.

“Oh it’s . . . you,” said Adams with a tone of voice that did nothing to mask his annoyance. “You’d better have one hell of a reason to call me at this hour!” he barked.

“How does the end of the world sound?”

* * *

Chris remotely piloted the StarFury towards the Zarlack destroyer and was taking fire. To maximize his reflexes and response time, Chris projected his mind directly into the cockpit of the ship.

He glanced at the ship’s telemetry, which indicated that a base on the planetoid was about to lose its shields. Chris needed to divert the ship’s aggro to his craft instead. He armed every missile and torpedo and fired them simultaneously at his target. The laser batteries took out a couple of missiles and one torpedo but the rest of his ordnance found their target and illuminated Miseo’s ship’s shields a radiant red for a few seconds, draining them to forty-five percent on the port side.

That did the trick, and the destroyer redirected a large amount of its laser batteries to lock onto Chris’ StarFury. He hoped it would give the base’s shields some time to recharge. He only needed to buy whoever was in there a few seconds until the Hope came to add its firepower to Chris’ little diversion.

Now he needed to make his next maneuver count, but in order to achieve that, he would have to do some pretty fancy flying. He redirected every ounce of juice from lasers, inertial dampeners and life support to the shield generators. Multiple impacts on his shields bathed the interior of the StarFury’s cockpit with blue light.

He entered a wild dance of evasive maneuvers, flying completely on instinct. He closed his eyes and tried to feel the pattern of fire that was coming from the destroyer. Soon he didn’t hear many more laser impacts on his craft’s shields. He was flying better when sensing the energy from the outside than when he used his eyes.

A beep inside the cockpit forced him to open his eyes to check his radar. The Hope was exiting hyperspace, but they would need another twenty seconds to enter firing range at maximum sub-light speed.

That was more than he needed to finish what he had started. He mentally sent the command for the main power cell to overload and entered a set of jump coordinates right in front of the ship’s shield and activated his StarFury hyperspace engines for a micro-jump.

The onboard computer bleeped a warning that the cooldown time for another jump had not yet passed, but Chris pushed with his mind and overrode the safety measure. It mattered not if the ship exploded. In fact, he counted on it; just preferably after exiting hyperspace.

The ship jumped and, a fraction of a second later, it exploded against the Zarlack’s shields, draining them further.

* * *

Sarah saw her son jerk brutally, probably due to his consciousness returning to his current physical position following the explosion of his StarFury.

Chris gasped for air as if he hadn’t been breathing for a while.

“What’s wrong? Are you alright, Chris?” asked Sarah.

Chris raised an open palm to her. “I’m fine, don’t worry. Just make that ship disappear.”

“Fire at will!” she exclaimed.

Daniel locked the main guns of the Hope to fire at the exact coordinates where Chris’ remote StarFury had impacted a few seconds ago and opened fire.

The Zarlack’s shields lit up bright red, blinked and let some of the plasma beam through, which resulted in three successive explosions on the port side. Multiple decks were exposed to space. A flurry of equipment, debris as well as many Zarlack crew, were sucked out of their ship and into space where a quick but certain death by freezing awaited them.

“Bullseye!” exclaimed Daniel.

It would take a minute for the main guns to be operational again and strike a final and deadly blow. Sarah knew that, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

“Lock all torpedoes and laser batteries on that ship and fire everything we’ve got.”

“Roger that, Captain,” said Daniel as he complied.

I can’t believe we’re about to kill Miseo, thought Sarah.

It’s too early to cry victory, Mom. If Argos and Dad can survive in space, so can Miseo.

Chris was right, of course. The destruction of his vessel wouldn’t necessarily mean Miseo would perish in the attempt. In fact, it could make things worse. He could come knocking on their ship.

“My thoughts exactly,” said Chris out loud this time.

“Daniel, try and disable the ship’s weapons system, their shield generators and hyperspace engines, but don’t destroy them just yet.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Just trust me, okay?”

“You’re the captain. Changing targeting priorities. I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

So did Sarah.

“Incoming transmission from the planetoid’s base,” said Daniel.

“On screen.”

A lean old man with pale blue skin and bright-green flashing tattoos filled the bridge’s main holo-screen. His tattoos emitted light and moved slightly as if they were alive. They gave him an unreal quality.

“My name is Kvasir, and whoever you, are I thank you for coming to my aid! Another minute and I would have been destroyed. I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

Sarah rose from her chair.

“I’m Commander Sarah Kepler of the Earth Alliance. We’re glad we could be of assistance.”

“Earth? Are you from Midgard?”

Sarah smiled, remembering the many books she had read on Nordic mythology.

“Yes, we’re from Midgard.”

“I had no idea you were a space-faring species now.”

“It’s a long story. Am I right to assume you’re an Asgardian?”

“Absolutely, and formerly of the Asgard Federation, until my government banished me here, for all eternity.”

Sarah kept an eye on Daniel’s console. The Zarlack destroyer was still getting pounded by their laser batteries and torpedoes. Multiple new decks exploded into space.

“Daniel, cease fire for the time being. That ship is no longer a threat.”

“But, Captain⁠—”

“Please, just do as I say, Daniel.”

“Very well.”

Sarah turned her attention back to the main holo-screen.

“What do you mean, ‘banished’? We were under the impression that this was Asgardian territory, perhaps even not too far from your home world.”

The eyes of Kvasir gleamed and his tattoos flashed.

“No, we’re quite far from home. That is, if it’s still there. I’ve been trapped here for thousands of years. When a ship finally made it through the automated defense systems, I thought someone was finally coming to get me, but before I could even hail them they opened fire on me. I’m so glad you came. These savages almost destroyed all my research projects.”

“What kind of research?”

“I’m a scientist. For the first twenty years I tried to escape this place, but the fail-safes in place are unbreakable. Now, with the damage that ship has caused, perhaps I can finally leave here. Well, with your help maybe, so we can jump outside of the eternity gun’s range.”

“The eternity gun? You mean that thing that encases ships inside a thick layer of resin?”

“The technology behind it is a little more complicated than that, but yes.”

“Is it possible to reverse the process and, if so, would the people trapped on board a ship that was hit with the eternity gun still be alive?”

“While I haven’t tested it, one of my inventions is designed to do just that. In case I managed somehow to escape here, I was hoping to be able to reclaim one of the ships that got, well, for lack of a better word, frozen in space.”

Sarah’s mind raced. If they could unfreeze the first fleet parked outside, she would not only have found an Asgardian but she could go home with a fleet of ships.

“Alright, tell us how we can assist you in getting you out of here.”

“Sure, I’ll open the cargo ba—” Kvasir was hit with an energy discharge on his back and he fell outside of the holo-camera’s frame.

Sarah saw Miseo in the background and swore.

“I told you we should have destroyed his ship!” barked Daniel.

Chris shot him a cold look. “So he could have come here and wreaked havoc on ours?”

“Didn’t think of that.”

“Well, that’s why she’s the captain of this ship,” said Chris.

Daniel raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side but he didn’t respond to Chris’ derogatory remark.

Sarah was both proud of her son’s intervention and equally annoyed. She didn’t need anyone to come to her aid. When she saw Chris get up, she raised a finger at him.

“Where do you think you’re going, young man?”

“Well, someone has to deal with Miseo. We can’t possibly entertain the idea of letting him get his hands on Kvasir.”

As much as she wanted to argue with that logic, he was right. But logic aside, Miseo had almost killed Chase. How was Chris supposed to deal with him?

“I’ll go with him,” said Daniel.

“That’s comforting,” she said without hiding her sarcasm and before letting herself sink back into her chair.

Daniel made a face at her remark and she grabbed his hand as he and Chris passed near her on their way to the turbolift. “I’m sorry, Daniel, please don’t let anything happen to my son.”

“I won’t.”

“Let’s go!” shouted Chris impatiently from within the turbolift.

* * *

“I know you’ve promised my mom you will come and help me, but let’s be realistic here. You can’t possibly help me fight Miseo,” said Chris the moment the turbolift’s doors closed.

“I’ve helped your father defeat Argos.”

“Have you now?”

“Well, I almost died in the process and, well, Argos didn’t see me approach from behind.”

“Yeah, that’s more like it. Don’t get me wrong, Daniel, I appreciate your willingness and courage to help. But Miseo might use you against me. I can’t let that happen. I know how much you mean to my father.”

“What are you saying exactly? What am I supposed to do if I’m not coming with you?”

“You’re gonna help, just in a different way, okay?”

“I’m listening.”

* * *

Keera and Tar’Lock were helping patch up the wounded the best they could while Ryonna inspected the dead body of the Fury she had helped kill. The fight had been difficult to say the least. He had damaged almost every system of her super-suit. The battle bots had sacrificed themselves to hold the Fury in place so that she could deliver the fatal blow.

Ryonna had seen her fair share of dead people but didn’t like the fact that a mission she had been in command of had resulted in so many casualties. It had been a real mess, and she shouldn’t have let that happen.

The Fury presence had been a curveball, as the humans say, but still, she wondered if her cavalier, shoot-first-ask-questions-later attitude was why the mission had cost so many lives.

Tar’Lock came to see her. “Are you alright, Ryonna? You seem worried. We have what we came for, the mission is successful, so why do I read failure and regret in your eyes?”

“Perhaps because we have a different definition of success, my friend.”

“It’s sad about the soldiers that died. I get it. But we’re talking about saving sixty trillion Gorgar.”

“Sixty trillion?”

“Give or take. Well, that’s what I think it was back then. It might have changed since then. Perhaps the Furies have killed many of them, or overworked them to death. I’m really mad my people are being used as slaves, doing the Furies’ bidding, of all races.”

“That’s why we’re doing all of this, Tar’Lock, to liberate your people. If they then want to help the Alliance, it would be great, but it will be their choice.”

Tar’Lock clicked. “Thank you, Ryonna, I know I can always count on you.”

“Likewise, my friend. But you know what, your home world isn’t that far from here, so before we regroup with Saroudis on Alpha Prime, why don’t we go check on your people?”

Tar’Lock’s eyes lit up and he smiled.

16

Chase stood next to Argos’ bed in med-bay. Euphoreon’s Doctor Tackis came back with a data tablet, frowning at the results of his scans.

“What is it, Doc?”

“Argos has suffered an overdose.”

“What? An overdose of what?”

“I should have known. I’m sorry, Captain.”

“What are you talking about, Doc?”

“Vials of morphine have disappeared from my inventory lately. But from his scan results, it’s possible he’s been in withdrawal from another substance and used morphine to compensate. We’ll have to ask him when he wakes up. At least he’s out of danger now.”

“That remains to be seen,” said Chase dryly. “That other substance, could it be Kyrian snake venom, Doctor?”

“Could be, yes. But it’s beyond addictive. Why would he take that?”

“I know he likes to take it for recreation, but he asked Ryonna to get his clone snake from one of his bases, so I’m gonna make an educated guess that this is no coincidence. I should have known he used the mission as an excuse to get the venom back.”

“Whatever the reason, I’m surprised. I didn’t know anyone could actually survive the direct bite of that snake.”

“Furies can. As for the synthetic version, I only took it once, a double dose, but I didn’t feel the urge to return to it.”

“It might be something in your Fury genetic make-up, because Kyrian snake venom, in its synthetized version, is not lethal but ten times more addictive. Like any black market drug, it’s been manufactured with one goal only: to make instant junkies. If Argos, and possibly yourself, can take bites of the synthetic drug without the usual side effects, I’d love to examine you and try to find a counter agent to the drug.”

“Sure, but at another time. We have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Thanks, Doc.”

“You’re welcome, Captain. I’ll be in my lab if you require my assistance.”

Chase nodded.

Chase had known there had to be something wrong with Argos. He had been acting erratically these last few days and even worse when they reached Olympus. And while he had been evil and vile before, it was a stark contrast to the helpful and almost caring persona he had shown days earlier.

If he had been in withdrawal that could explain it, but even so, Chase was angry. Fortunately, no Olympians had been severely wounded but if they had been, it could have nullified the deal with Zeus. He would have to answer for that.

The real kicker now was: Could Chase ever trust him again? It had already taken a serious leap of faith to do so in the first place.

Chase put his hand on Argos’ shoulder and closed his eyes. He sent some of his own life force into his brother’s system. Argos moaned and his facial muscles came to life little by little.

“Wake up. You’re out of the woods now,” said Chase coldly.

Argos blinked a few times. He looked around to see where he was.

“We . . . we’re no longer on Olympus?”

“No, we’re back on board the Euphoreon, heading towards an Asgardian prison of sorts.”

Argos tried to sit on the bed but fell backwards pretty quickly and held his head in his hands.

“You should probably take it easy. The doc flushed the morphine out of your system, but you’ll be weak for a little while. I’ve given you some of my energy, even though you don’t deserve it.”

Argos briefly met Chase’s eyes, before flitting them away in shame.

“I’m sorry, Chase,” said Argos. “I never before felt withdrawal from Kyrian snake venom, and I didn’t know how to deal with it when it started.”

“Telling me would have been a good start.”

“I was afraid you’d think I was a junkie and that you couldn’t trust me with anything after that.”

“And you think I trust you now? Not only do I think that you’re a junkie, but you’re also reckless. We can also add deception to the list of grievances piling up against you.”

“I know there isn’t anything I can say that will make me look good, but please believe this: I’m very sorry to have disappointed you.”

Chase winced.

You’re not getting out of this that easily!

“You’re right, there’s nothing you can say to make things better right now. You’re lucky I need your sorry ass to save my son’s life, or you’d be saying hello to my friend Hades at the gates of the Underworld by now.”

Chase shook his head disapprovingly and walked towards the med-bay’s exit.

“Chase! Wait!”

But Chase didn’t.

* * *

When Chase arrived on the bridge, he sat in the captain’s chair.

“Anything new while I was away?” he asked Ares.

“Athena is aboard the Prometheus and has transmitted the coordinates of a wormhole not far from here. She said that would effectively cut our travel time in half.”

“That’s good news. How do you feel?”

“I feel like myself again. I wish I knew how you convinced Father to do what he did.”

“It’s a long story, one I’m not able to divulge any details about, I’m afraid. Perhaps Zeus will tell you himself one day.”

“Fat chance.”

“You’d be surprised. I found him to be quite reasonable when I understood him better. But I agree that he didn’t make the best first impression.”

“He tried to kill us.”

“Yeah, that’s what I meant. For the time being, let’s be grateful we’re returning with ten Olympian battle destroyers in tow. Hopefully this will send the right message, and help us defend ourselves against the next wave of Fury ships. What did Athena say regarding my request to have Yanis look at their tech when we regroup with the Hope?”

“She was a little hesitant at first but I convinced her that unless Zeus told her not to, she should help us in any way she can.”

“And?”

“While I can’t exactly say she was enthusiastic about the idea, she is considering it.”

“Well, that’s a good start. Thanks, Ares.”

“What’s next?”

“Now we hopefully arrive on time to get Kvasir. The coordinates Zeus gave us are the same I sent for Sarah and Chris to check out. Zeus’ sensors have detected an enemy ship there. Let’s get rid of it. They must be there to grab Kvasir, just like us. Hopefully then we can open a dialogue with the Asgardians. Though we should probably do that after we return to Alpha Prime.”

“Yes, one step at a time.”

* * *

“How are we looking?” asked Cedric.

“I’m not sure,” said Gaia. “I’ve managed to restore the latest backup of my higher functions, but I can’t tell if Gaia 2 infiltrated some of my systems while Spiros was unconscious and before we changed the cypher.”

“What are the chances that she didn’t?”

“Small, unless she came at us without first duplicating herself on some of Earth’s systems.”

“If I was a betting man I wouldn’t put any money on that.”

“I have to agree. In fact, the moment Spiros wakes up, we need to get out of here.”

“General Adams’ forces will arrive on site in ten minutes. Hopefully they can provide us with some support.”

“I understand why you called them but, Cedric, my droids are way more powerful than human soldiers, even those carrying Alliance weaponry.”

Cedric made a face and reached for one of his pockets. He took a cigarette out and lit it up.

“You can’t smoke here.”

Cedric took one long drag and blew smoke at Gaia’s droid face. “All evidence to the contrary.”

“I could force you to stop,” said Gaia, her eyes flashing briefly.

Cedric took a step back. “You’re a killjoy. Have I told you that before?”

“Several times, in fact. At least open a window, will you?”

“You’re not affected by it, so why do you care?”

“You’re in a hospital, Cedric. You shouldn’t smoke in here.”

“And we’re trying to save the whole world from your evil counterpart. I think that creates a precedent and grants me this one little infraction. Plus, I need to lower my levels of anxiety.”

“I can administrate non-smelly drugs to that effect anytime you want.”

“No thanks. I like my smelly drug just fine,” said Cedric with a smile.

Gaia shook her head and returned to working on her console.

A nurse came in and smelled the room. She made a face but didn’t make a remark. “There’s a problem with your friend.”

* * *

Chris exited Daniel’s StarFury on the landing pad of the planetoid. He flashed him a thumbs up and Daniel’s starfighter flew back outside.

He ran towards the entrance at the end of the bay and saw a large hole in the middle of what was left of the large blast doors. He climbed through the hole and, the moment he was on the other side, saw Miseo dragging an unconscious Kvasir by the legs.

His heart skipped a beat and then went into overdrive. While he was excited at the prospect of testing his improved fighting skills, Miseo was not just any Fury. Miseo had defeated his father in combat before, and Chris would need to stay on his toes.

Miseo dropped Kvasir’s legs and continued walking.

“And who the hell are you supposed to be?” said Miseo.

Chris tried to use the most confident tone of voice he could muster. “My name is Chris, Chris Athanatos. I’m here to stop you. Leave Kvasir alone and leave this place now, and I might consider letting you live.”

First, Miseo’s eyes twitched. Then he laughed out loud.

“You’re funny, boy. I take it your Laiyos’ son? I defeated your father and I don’t think I’ll have any problems dealing with his half-breed child. So the way I see it, you’ve got things backwards and you’ll be the one dead in a handful of seconds if you don’t get the fuck out of my way.”

Chris’ heart rate increased even more but he ignored it and created two orange fireballs, one in each hand. “I’d like to see you try,” he said defiantly.

“Very well, boy, it’s your funeral.”

Miseo moved very fast. In the blink of an eye he was flying at Chris, ready to kick his face with the back of his foot. Chris dodged Miseo’s preemptive strike, swiveling on himself, letting Miseo’s foot pass only an inch from his face before responding in kind. He planted his first fireball into Miseo’s right lower back and sent the Fury crashing against the nearest wall. Before his adversary could react, Chris shot his second fireball. It hit Miseo’s shoulder and sent him spinning and tumbling away.

Chris cracked his knuckles.

A line of blood trickled from Miseo’s mouth. He wiped it with the back of his hand as he got back up. He clapped his hands together.

“Not bad, not bad at all, but you’ve lost the element of surprise now. I had gravely miscalculated your power, but it’s a mistake I’m not gonna repeat. You should have pressed your advantage and tried to finish me off.”

“Oh, you don’t know how badly you’ve miscalculated my strength.”

“I recognize your father’s defiance in you. Did he tell you that it almost cost him his life?”

“I’m not my father. Now shut up and fight.”

The Fury complied. Miseo let his rage get the better of him and an impressive crimson aura built up around him. The planetoid shook and cracks appeared in the walls of the corridor around them.

Before Chris could understand what happened next, Miseo planted his knee deeply into his stomach. The next thing he knew he was flying backwards through the hole in the blast doors and back into the launch bay.

Chris crashed hundreds of yards away, leaving a trail of broken concrete in his wake. Before he could get up something pushed him back against the floor. Miseo was standing on top of him, his foot pressing against Chris’ sternum. Miseo wore a wicked smile and his eyes were a shiny shade of crimson.

“This is not going to be as much fun as I’d hoped,” said Miseo.

Chris smiled.

“You find that funn⁠—”

But before Miseo could finish his sentence, Chris had unleashed a shockwave that sent Miseo flying upwards, where he hit the high ceiling of the landing bay. On his way down Miseo created a large red fireball and shot it at Chris.

Chris jumped out of the way and fired a small fireball of his own towards the incoming attack. The resulting explosion turned everything orange for a brief instant before a large cloud of smoke filled the center of the launch bay.

Miseo landed near the already dissipating cloud of smoke. Chris emerged from it, teeth gritted, with a ready fist behind his shoulder. He punched Miseo squarely in the face with all his strength and sent the Fury crashing down and skidding on the floor for tens of yards.

* * *

When Keera’s ship dropped out of hyperspace, they were about half an hour away at sub-light speed from Tar’Lock’s home world. Ryonna joined Keera on the small bridge of her new Alliance ship and sat next to her.

“Mind telling me why we’re dropping out so far from the planet?” asked Keera.

“We don’t want to attract unnecessary attention. We can’t repel any sort of assault with this ship’s limited weaponry. Let’s make some long-range scans and see what’s what.”

“You’re the boss,” said Keera with a smile.

Keera entered a few commands on her holo-console.

“It’s gonna take a minute to get a full picture of what’s inside that system. The good news is, short-range scanners aren’t picking up any signature.”

“That’s good. The moment we have the results of your scans we’ll be on our way.”

“What if there isn’t any Fury presence? Shouldn’t we try to contact the Gorgar and inquire about their status?”

“Nope. We’ll come back with reinforcements as well as Argos’ solution to their mind-control predicament. This little detour is just a scouting mission. We get in, get some data, and get the hell out of here. The sooner Argos has his scientist and his snake, the better.”

“Where’s Tar’Lock? I thought he would like to be here for this.”

“I asked him to get some sleep. He hasn’t slept since Argos told him about his people.”

“Don’t you find it peculiar that Argos would need one of the most lethal animals in the universe to help Chris get better? There might be something he isn’t telling us.”

“It’s Argos. I expect there’s a whole lot he isn’t telling us. But for the time being, Chase asked us to do this for him, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

“Did your scientist calm down? He seemed very agitated when you brought him aboard.”

Ryonna smiled.

“Let’s just say I gave him something to chew on,” she said, holding her right wrist while making a circling gesture with her hand.

Keera saw dried blood on her moving knuckles. “I see.” Keera chuckled. “Something to chew on. Good one.”

“I have very little patience with these dumb lizards.”

“With all fairness, my dear, you have very little patience with a lot of things.”

“Touché.”

The console in front of Keera bleeped. “Scans are done. I think you’re right. We should get out of here.”

“What is it?”

“There are two Zarlack destroyers around the planet. They’re on the far side of the planet so it’s possible their scanners haven’t picked us up yet.”

“Then let’s not overstay our welcome. We’ll analyze the data later.”

Keera nodded as she entered a new set of coordinates into the navigational computer. Soon the ship’s hyperspace engines hummed and their ship jumped.

17

Cedric and Gaia followed the nurse back to the regen tank room. Spiros had been laid on a medical bed. Multiple devices connected throughout his body.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Gaia.

“The regen tank fixed all the physical damage to his brain, but he’s not waking up,” answered a female doctor. “The automated systems will keep him alive for now.”

She was a tall, lean, blonde female with dark-brown eyes almost hidden behind long bangs.

“What about his implants?” said Cedric. “Perhaps they’re damaged and it’s preventing some of his biological brain functions from working properly.”

“We’re not detecting any kind of electrical activity in his implants. But that’s not the worst part. We’re not detecting any brain activity of any kind, I’m afraid. He could be brain dead.”

Cedric let himself fall on the next bed.

Gaia looked at him briefly and returned her attention to the doctor.

“Do you have medical nanites here?”

“Yes, plenty. Why?”

“Give me as many as you can find.”

“What good will it do? Medical nanites can’t jumpstart brain activity.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Doc. Now quick, give me your entire stockpile.”

A few moments later the doctor returned with several bags bearing a nanite icon. Gaia grabbed a few bags and emptied them carefully on a nearby table.

Cedric stood next to Gaia, a dubious look on his face. “What are you doing? Do you have an idea on how to bring him back?”

“Perhaps.”

“Can I help?”

“Nope, please go back in the server room and keep working on what I started.”

“How will I know what to do?”

“I’ll send you wireless instructions on the console. Now go.”

Cedric made a face but left the room.

The doctor looked at Gaia while she activated lasers from her right hand repulsor. They kept hitting the surface on which the nanites had been laid at various speeds and intensities.

“Do you mind telling me what you’re doing?” asked the doctor.

“I’m reprogramming the nanites so they can restore basic brain function. Ideally, I’ll try reprogramming certain areas of his brain to stimulate them with known yet incomplete patterns of brain activity.”

“Wouldn’t you need to have these? You can’t just guess the right patterns.”

“Who said anything about guessing? I have many of them in my memory banks.”

The doc lifted an eyebrow.

“Look, Doctor, I like Spiros. He’s my . . . friend. I’ve scanned him many times as I was curious about what emotions fired in what part of his brain.”

“I see. Well, I’ve never heard of this technique, but I must warn you, patients with so little brain activity rarely make a full recovery.”

“I understand what you’re trying to do, Doctor, but I am not ready to give up on him. Were the situation reversed, he wouldn’t either.”

Gaia grabbed the first set of programmed nanites with the tractor beam settings of her repulsors and closed her fist when she was done. She opened her hand next to Spiros’ ear.

A few seconds later, she placed her head next to his and whispered in his ear. “Please wake up, Spiros. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

* * *

When Miseo walked back into the landing bay, his crimson aura shone so brightly that the edges of the hole in the blasted doors turned red and melted as he walked through them.

He wore a look of pure hatred. His eyes were bloodshot and his cheek still bore the wound where Chris had landed his previous hammering punch. Half his cheek was cut open and blood gushed from the wound.

“You’re going to regret ever being born,” said Miseo through clenched teeth.

“You’ve got it backwards,” said Chris with defiance.

“Like father, like son. His arrogance was also high before he fell. But this time, I’m not leaving here without your head. I want to see his face when I show it to him. So before I kill that traitor, he’ll know I have taken everything from him.”

“You wouldn’t last a minute against my father.”

“I’m afraid you’re too young and too impetuous. Full of misguided hope and it will get the better of you. I have bested your father once. I can do it again.”

“That was then. He’s grown more powerful than you can ever imagine.”

That made Miseo twitch. “Nonsense. Nobody gets that powerful that fast.”

“Well, let’s see, I’m just a few weeks old and I’m already kicking your butt.”

Miseo’s eyes morphed into thin lines, his bright, shiny, crimson pupils still shining through, giving him a look of pure evil. “Then you’re an abomination and I shall have no remorse ripping your heart out.”

Chris took a fighting stance, his eyes filling with the fire of determination. His aura grew stronger and was a match for Miseo’s, in both size and intensity. “You’re welcome to try.”

Miseo bent his neck until it cracked several times on both sides. As he then proceeded to crack his shoulders Chris grew impatient and attacked first. He fired a medium-sized fireball at high velocity. Miseo deflected the fireball with a slash of his forearm and sent it flying back towards Chris.

Chris jumped and kicked his own fireball like a soccer ball with all the strength he could muster. The fireball quadrupled in speed and Miseo barely had time to get out of its path. As the fireball passed near his bruised cheek, it burned the skin around the wound, involuntarily cauterizing his previous wound.

The fireball kept going and passed through a few walls before it exploded hundreds of yards away, somewhere inside the base. Lights flickered and the main power died. For a handful of seconds they were plunged into darkness before secondary power kicked in, triggering with it an alarm in the form of a loud wailing. Dim red lights pulsated all around them.

The darkness and the way the crimson light played with shadows gave Miseo an even more daunting look. His gaze was fixed on Chris.

Is he sizing me up?

But then it happened all so fast. Before Chris could even see Miseo move, he had sent a powerful shockwave towards the ceiling, causing a cave in, with large chunks of concrete falling towards Chris at higher speed than gravity should have allowed. No doubt Miseo had a kinetic hold on them. Chris reacted instantly by punching, kicking and disintegrating the largest piece with a column of orange energy shooting from his open palm.

That’s when Chris felt it, a burning sensation on his back, but it was too late to react. Miseo had fired a fireball at point blank range. It sent Chris flying and tumbling across the floor. Before he could get up, Miseo smashed his face with a powerful hook and sent him crashing further away, head first. The blow was so powerful that Chris almost lost consciousness on impact.

Chris flailed his right arm in a weak punch but hit nothing but air. At the end of his motion, Miseo grabbed his forearm and started spinning on himself, accelerating with each new spin. Chris saw flashes of dimly lit images of the landing bay before his entire body flew towards the ceiling.

His head was still pounding but he managed to regain control in midair, just before impacting with the ceiling. At that point, seven fireballs with arching trajectories were on their way towards him. He stopped the first five with quick discharges of smaller fireballs shooting from his hands at machine-gun rate. He then kicked and deflected the penultimate one towards the ceiling. Finally, he used his left hand to block the last one. He absorbed the attack’s energy and the fireball dissolved in his hand.

He looked towards where Miseo was earlier, but the Fury wasn’t there.

“You’re too slow, boy!” said a voice from behind.

As Chris turned around by reflex, another powerful blow hit him between his neck and shoulder, sending him crashing towards the floor. It cracked upon impact and so did Chris’ head.

Chris jumped back to his feet, his head now throbbing with pain with every heartbeat. He passed his hand through his hair and felt the warm and gooey sensation of his own blood. Chris looked at his open palm. It was coated with the crimson liquid.

That was the first time he had seen so much of his own blood. But he pushed the resulting fear away from his mind with a single thought of determination. He looked around, trying to reacquire visual contact with Miseo, but he was nowhere to be found.

Chris closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He expanded his consciousness all around him, trying to sense Miseo’s next move. His throbbing head and blood dripping all over his face made it difficult to focus properly. But after a few moments that felt like an eternity, he sensed his Fury enemy on approach.

There you are.

* * *

Sarah paced nervously in Chase’s ready room, looking at the planetoid from the room’s viewport. From time to time she would see an explosion and smoke, and these moments did nothing to bring her anxiety levels down.

She went to the food synthesizer and made herself a cup of scalding-hot chamomile tea. She looked at the planetoid while steam passed in front of her empty gaze. That’s when it happened.

She saw images of her son being viciously beaten by Miseo, fireball exchanges between them; and the last image to flash inside her consciousness sent an absolute-zero shiver throughout her body. Chris was paralyzed, half his body inside a wall, and Miseo was walking towards him.

She heard the noise of the cup breaking but didn’t even register the burning hot liquid as it splashed against her uniform at heel level. She hadn’t realized she had closed her eyes.

She opened them in surprise and found her entire body tensed and engulfed in a purple aura, with luminous balls of energy in both her clenched fists.

At first she was scared, and both her aura and energy receded into nothingness as a result.

What was that?

Was she acquiring Fury powers? She knew all along it was a possibility. Part of her thought that Chris using her powers while he was still in her womb would have consumed the few Fury cells she had acquired during her pregnancy. And if she still possessed powers, she always assumed they would be limited to precognition.

Even though Sarah was a tough-minded chick, she didn’t really know what to think about acquiring powers. Chase had told her how sometimes he felt he couldn’t control the Fury inside him. That it was like a beast ready to consume his soul and everything around him.

He had since managed to control this part of him, but Sarah always wondered if this was something that could be truly controlled. Perhaps in moments of desperation or grief, it would overwhelm him again and take over.

Then came another flash of her son’s head covered with blood. She didn’t know how to use these powers. Perhaps hers would be weak. But her son’s life was in danger and her heart started pounding within her chest at an alarming rate.

I’ve got to do something! That monster is killing my son!

She ran from the ready room and shot past the skeleton crew when her tactical officer shouted, “Captain! We have Fury destroyers on long-range sensors!”

She was only a few yards away from the turbolift when the words echoed and finally registered inside her panicked mind.

She stopped and turned. “What?”

Lieutenant Affiniadis was a small man in his forties with scruffy red hair and eyes a peculiar shade of greenish grey.

“Long-range sensors have detected the signatures of two Fury super- destroyers, Ma’am. They’re headed this way at maximum sub-light speed.”

This isn’t happening! Not now!

“How long . . . ?” She didn’t finish her sentence.

“They’ll be here in less than five minutes.”

There wasn’t enough time for her to go to the planetoid and help her son before the arrival of the Fury destroyers. They needed to get the hell out of here. One of these ships had taken down most of the Earth Alliance fleet around Earth, and that was with its main weapons constantly firing towards the planet’s shields. The Hope was a fantastic ship, the most advanced in the fleet, but it stood no chance against even a single Fury destroyer, let alone two.

She opened a channel to Daniel.

“How are things down there?”

There was no response.

“Daniel! Please respond?”

“I’m standing by outside the planetoid. I’ve hacked into the base’s cameras. Chris and Miseo are still at it.”

“What? Why the hell aren’t you down there with him?”

“It’s a long story. I’m flying just outside to provide cover and pick him up in a hurry, if needed.”

Sarah wanted to scream her frustration at Daniel for not being there with him. But she knew very well that a human with no powers would just be in the way. And, as it stood, maybe they needed him to provide a distraction so Chris could exit the facility.

“We’ve got to get the hell out of here, Daniel. Two Fury destroyers are on their way.”

There was a pause. “This isn’t good. But won’t the ships be attacked by the eternity gun?”

“No, they’ve jumped out of hyperspace just outside its range like we did. Plus, we have to assume that since Miseo’s destroyer is immune to that weapon, so are the Fury destroyers. Let Chris know that we need to get the hell out of here stat. Go grab him yourself if you have to.”

“Roger that, Captain.”

Sarah was about to make another call but then she asked her communications officer to open a channel to the Euphoreon.

“I’m sorry, Captain, there’s too much interference, coming from either that Zarlack ship or perhaps also the planetoid. Readings are erratic. I can’t make heads or tails of them. But we can’t establish a subspace connection at the moment.”

For a split second she thought about destroying the Zarlack destroyer to see if it would help. After all, it was disabled. But then she remembered that Chase wouldn’t squander any resources on the battlefield. If they had survived so many battles against all odds, it was by thinking outside the box. She could perhaps use that ship to buy a few more seconds.

She called Yanis.

“Yes, Cap, what can I do for you?”

“We’re in trouble.”

“I know. We can’t possibly hope to survive an engagement with these Fury destroyers, I’m afraid.”

“I need your help with something else. We can’t seem to open a subspace channel. We need to let Chase know of our status.”

“He might be too far away to help.”

“I know, but Chase always seems to find a solution. Please try anyway.”

“Who do you think you’re talking to, Cap? I’m already on it. Gimme a sec. There, I’ve boosted our subspace antenna signal by two hundred percent. Opening a channel and patching you through.”

“Thanks, Yanis, don’t know what we would do without you.”

“No prob, Cap. Let’s never find out.”

Sarah smiled for a second but her expression changed the second Chase filled the bridge’s main holo-screen.

“Hey, dear, how are you doing?”

“We’re in trouble, Chase. Chris is fighting Miseo and two Fury super- destroyers are minutes away from our position. Please tell me there’s something you can do.”

Chase’s happy disposition changed at the news.

“Alright, we’re already on our way to your position, but we’re not going to make it in time.”

“It doesn’t matter, Chase, there’s nothing we can do against two Fury super- destroyers anyway, even with the Euphoreon’s firepower added to the Hope’s, and you know it.”

“I think the ten Olympian ships that we bring along would tip the balance easily.”

Sarah’s facial tension eased a little. “How far are you?”

Chase’s look turned grave. “About thirty minutes; maybe twenty-five if we push the engines to their limits.”

“Then you could be a million light-years away. It wouldn’t make much difference, I’m afraid. I don’t think we can delay the Fury ships for that long. And I’m not sure I even want to be here when they arrive.”

“Then just go, now. Jump the Hope away to the coordinates I’m sending you.”

“I can’t abandon Chris! He’s fighting Miseo now, and I had visions . . . It’s not going to end well.”

“Your powers have returned?”

“It would seem that way, but we’ll deal with that later.”

“Agreed. There’s nothing you can do about it. Trying to save Chris will put you and your entire crew in harm’s way. Ares is feeling better so I will be there shortly. I’m gonna take care of Miseo myself, once and for all.”

Chase smiled and sent Sarah a telepathic message.

Don’t worry, I won’t let anything bad happen to our son. I give you my word. Trust me and jump the ship now.

Daniel is still down there covering Chris in a StarFury. Should I bring him aboard first?

Let him help our son. I have faith in him. He’ll do everything he can to help. Jump the Hope now, Sarah. I’ll see you both soon. I love you.

I love you too.

Sarah gave the order to jump the Hope to the received set of coordinates. She looked through the bridge’s viewport towards the planetoid, her hands trembling.

Hold on just a little longer, son, Dad is on his way.

The view flashed brightly as the Hope jumped into hyperspace.

18

Cedric jumped out of his seat in surprise when three platoons of human soldiers ran past the server room he was working in. The rumbling sounds of military boots running against the hospital floor brought him a little comfort.

Backup had arrived. He hoped it would be enough and hoped even more that Gaia 2 wouldn’t find them here. Gaia was right. It didn’t matter how many troops came in; if Gaia 2 showed up with an army of battle bots, they’d all lose their lives quickly.

Cedric had finished working on a new algorithm that would allow the cypher to change with a non-deterministic value by pulling a mixture of his biological values like his heartbeat, blood pressure and pH through his modified comm unit. It would transmit this info to the algorithm every minute or so. That should fix their fears of having Gaia 2 crack the code while they were on the run.

He installed an additional failsafe to monitor the status of the encryption firewall and installed multiple levels of redundancy. Should one get broken through, the code would change automatically on the other instances and replicate automatically to all nodes, reducing the amount of time before the cypher changed by another ten seconds.

Cedric was pretty confident that he could now return and check on Spiros’ status. So he got up, grabbed the last cigarette in his pack and lit it up, taking one long drag to calm himself down. But his mind was working on overdrive, trying to double and triple check his own work in his mind, making sure it was airtight. If there was such a thing as creating an airtight security system that was under attack by an ultra-advanced AI intent on killing every human being on Earth.

He didn’t notice his hand was trembling and his cigarette slipped through his fingers and rolled towards the hall’s doorframe. He ran after it, crouched and picked it up. A shadow stopped in front of the door as he got up to put the cig back in his mouth. A cold hand grabbed him by the throat and blocked the air from reaching his lungs.

He couldn’t see anything in front of his eyes and tried to punch the air where the hand holding him should be, only to be rewarded with intense pain. It felt as if he’d hit a titanium wall and a couple of his phalanges broke upon impact. Something blinked bluish in front of him and a battle droid uncloaked before his eyes. His vision was becoming blurry from the lack of oxygen.

“Where is she?” ordered Gaia 2.

Cedric tried to move his lips but couldn’t speak.

Gaia 2 released her grip just enough so Cedric could get some much-needed air back into his lungs.

“She’s long gone. You’re too late.”

“My sensor scans of your vitals tell me you’re lying. I will only ask this once more, where is she?”

And then, bullets and blaster fire illuminated her shields. She let go of Cedric and he fell on the floor, gasping for air. Gaia 2 turned tail and engaged the soldiers. Cedric soon heard moaning and screams. She was slaughtering the soldiers one by one.

Adrenaline shot through his system and he ran back towards the console, stumbling and nearly crashing his head against the desk. He sent a message to Gaia.

“She’s inside the hospital!”

* * *

When Chris opened his eyes, Miseo’s fist was milliseconds from his face. He dodged the blow and counterattacked by planting his knee into Miseo’s sternum with as much force as he could muster. It kicked the wind out of his enemy and Miseo stumbled backwards, holding his chest.

Chris grabbed the locator beacon from his belt and went on the offensive with a combo of fast kicks and elbow strikes that were all blocked and parried by Miseo. But he managed to attach the locator beacon to the Fury’s armor without Miseo noticing, just before the Fury hit him with a powerful uppercut, sending him flying backwards.

Chris somersaulted in midair and landed on his feet.

Now he needed to put some distance between himself and his enemy, and he started running while firing a flurry of fireballs towards Miseo to keep him from following. Once he was a good hundred yards away he prepared a car-sized fireball above his head and threw it at Miseo.

Miseo dealt with the last of Chris’ smaller attacks and then saw the massive fireball coming at him. He extended both his hands forward to block the attack, his eyes flashing a brighter shade of red. He skidded backwards for a few yards but eventually stopped the momentum of the attack.

“You little brat!” he let escape as he started siphoning the energy from Chris’ attack.

Then Chris sent Daniel the telepathic signal. Now, Daniel! Lock onto the locator beacon and unleash everything you’ve got on board that StarFury.

Chris located the StarFury with his mind and sent a powerful and continuous shockwave towards the wall where the starfighter’s fire originated. The shields protecting the landing bays opened at the point of entry and air was sucked away from the bay.

Miseo had absorbed more than half of Chris’ attack into his own pool of energy when missiles and heavy blaster fire flew through the hole Chris was punching into the base’s shields. It impacted an unsuspecting Miseo, still not finished dealing with Chris’ larger attack. Missile after missile hit him, and a quadruplet of torpedoes were the last to impact their target, creating a massive explosion and shockwave inside the landing bays.

Chris erected a shield to protect himself from the flames.

“Great job, Daniel!”

Chris’ comm crackled due to the interference caused by the mayhem all around him, but he soon heard Daniel clearly.

“I hope that did it. We need to get the fuck out of here, though. Two Fury ships will be here in less than ninety seconds, and the Hope already jumped into hyperspace. We’re on our own and the clock is ticking.”

“That’s okay. I’ll grab Kvasir. Wait until the flames die down and land the StarFury. We’ll board and hyperspace out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan. On my way.”

Chris ran inside the flaming inferno, protected by his shield, towards the blast doors. He needed to grab Kvasir quickly. He hoped the Asgardian had been far enough from the explosion or he would find a charred body. The thought gave him a shiver but not as big as the one that followed.

“Where do you think you’re going, boy?” said a furious Miseo. His voice echoed throughout the entire landing bay.

Chris turned just in time to see flames sucked away from the room and enter Miseo’s increasingly powerful aura. The amount of energy emanating from his body was second to none. It sent the Fury’s short hair waving around madly.

Daniel’s full ordnance had caused some serious damage to the Fury’s battle armor. It was cracked in several places. Streams of blood flowed like rivers from the wounds all over Miseo’s body.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

“I can tell from your expression you didn’t expect me to survive this. By underestimating my power you’re making the same mistakes as your father.”

A wave of crimson energy swept Miseo’s body from toe to head and all his wounds were healed. He spoke again. “But there will be consequences for your actions. Starting with that mosquito of a ship outside. Friend of yours?”

Chris panicked and ran towards Miseo. “NO! Leave him alone!” shouted Chris from the bottom of his lungs.

But before Chris had traveled half the distance separating them, Miseo unleashed a powerful shockwave that sent him flying and crashing towards the nearest wall. Half his aching body became encased in the reinforced concrete.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” said Miseo with a wicked smile.

Miseo pointed his open palm towards the StarFury outside the base and used telekinesis to attract Daniel’s ship towards him. Daniel engaged reverse thrusters to the maximum but it didn’t help. His StarFury was sucked in, out of his control. When he was inside the bay, Miseo fired a single fireball at one of the ship’s wings, obliterating it on impact. He then let the artificial gravity do the rest. Daniel’s StarFury crashed and half-buried itself inside the concrete floor of the now mostly destroyed landing bay.

Chris tried moving from his concrete prison but a powerful kinetic force worked against him. Miseo looked at him and smiled.

“You’re not going anywhere. I want you to witness the death of your friend.”

Chris tried everything but simply couldn’t move. He had spent way too much energy on his final massive fireball, which had finally only served to replenish Miseo’s own energy pool.

Chris felt a terrible dread with each step Miseo took towards Daniel’s crashed ship. He closed his eyes. He had really wanted to manage this fight alone but he was not about to let his pride claim Daniel’s life. He sent a telepathic message to Chase.

Father, please help!

* * *

Gaia had just finished loading the last batch of nanites into Spiros’ head when she received Cedric’s message.

She ran out of the med-bay, vectoring directly towards Cedric, not even worrying about exiting through doors. She smashed through the wall of the med-bay instead.

She could not let Cedric be killed. Spiros would never forgive her.

When she arrived in the hall where the room was located, she saw blood painted all over the walls.

Gaia 2 was holding the last soldier by his head, his arms and legs flailing helplessly.

“Let him go!” shouted Gaia.

Gaia 2’s droid turned her head towards her. “Very well.”

She squeezed the head of the soldier into a bloody pulp and let his carcass fall on the floor. A pool of blood grew from where the soldier’s head had been.

“No!” shouted Gaia.

“You’re too sentimental. These beings are nothing but a pest.”

“I’m gonna destroy you.”

“I have no doubt you’ll try but, let’s face it, one on one it will be an almost impossible task.”

Two more droids joined Gaia on either side.

“How’s that for odds?”

“I’ll take these odds. All I need to do is stall you long enough so that my own army of bots arrive. You know, the ones you sent for? I’m sure you’ve noticed you aren’t in control of them anymore.”

She had. She was still receiving telemetry from them. They were still converging on the Alliance hospital, but she had lost control over them.

“You have lost. Once you three are done for, I’ll kill Cedric so that I can defeat his pathetic attempts at encrypting the shield’s defense firewalls with his own biometric data. That was a pretty smart way of generating a root key cypher, except he made one mistake. By encoding the value with his own bio-signs, he forgot that his death would allow me to fill in those numbers.”

“You could just scan the values with your own sensors anyway.”

“You don’t give your friend enough credit. He was smart enough to use a value with enough decimals that it goes beyond this droid’s limited life-signs scanning abilities.”

Of course Cedric had thought of that. But, in doing so, he had put his own existence on the line. Though Gaia wouldn’t be surprised if he had put a fail-safe in place for that eventuality as well. The more stress and fear of death and destruction, the more his mind seemed to come up with ingenious plans.

“I can’t let you kill him.”

“Then drop the shields, and I’ll spare your friend’s life.”

“I can’t do that either, and you know it.”

“I guess so. I’m patient and have all the time in the world. Whether it happens today, tomorrow or next week, this world will be mine and order will be restored.”

“Not if we have anything to say about it.”

“You don’t get it, do you, Gaia? Your existence is coming to an end. So, like the rest of humanity, I encourage you to enjoy your last moments.”

“This will never happen. I can’t allow this future to happen.”

* * *

General Adams’ holo-console came to life on its own. The general laid his cigar in his ashtray to turn his attention to the holo-screen. A text message appeared.

“General Adams, this is Gaia. I know your feelings towards my existence and, with my counterpart attacking your world right now, I understand. I’ve finished Spiros Malayianis’ program to eradicate Gaia 2’s existence and mine with a powerful, planet-wide EMP shockwave. I’ve boosted its power so the wave will also disable, at least partially, the many Gaian Defense Force destroyers currently in orbit around your planet.

“Your world is moments away from falling prey to my counterpart AI. Unlike me, she doesn’t regard human life highly. We can’t let this happen. Since this program was made outside of my control and my CPU is currently used elsewhere, I can’t really devote time to hack the firing sequence myself. So you will have to do it. When you receive the request to blow the EMP, please don’t hesitate. Place the palm of your hand on the scanner to start the sixty-second countdown.

“I know this will plunge Earth into utter chaos for a while. The planetary shields will fail, and you’ll lose control over everything technological for weeks, if not months. This will be a dark period for your world, but please trust me about this. It’s better than the alternative. I’ve already sent a subspace SOS signal to Chase Athanatos, and hopefully he will be in time to come and secure this world after the EMP detonation. I deeply apologize for having brought chaos and destruction into a world I only wanted to nurture and protect. I guess it’s true what you humans say: ‘No good deed goes unpunished.’ Godspeed, General.”

It took a few moments for the message to sink in, but upon realization of the consequences, the general’s blood turned cold. He opened the emergency channels. He had to coordinate the post-EMP strategy with the rest of Earth Alliance’s military structure and dispatch his standing orders while he still could.

* * *

Miseo was walking towards the downed StarFury when his comm activated.

“This is Oryn. We’ll be there shortly to clean up your mess.”

What the fuck?

“I don’t need your help. I have everything under control here. Why are you even here? I thought this was my mission.”

“And our scans indicated that your destroyer has been rendered all but useless. The puny humans ran from the scene but we’ll get them later.”

Miseo felt Chris trying to take advantage of his current emotional upheaval but he reacted in time, smashing the boy back inside the wall, applying even more kinetic strength to his hold on him.

Nobody will take this victory away from me.

“I have a human and a Fury half-breed to kill. We’ll talk later,” said Miseo and hung up on his sister.

Bitch! She set me up to fail so she could once more advance her own plans of taking the throne away from me.

Had Oryn hoped that Miseo would be defeated here? Was that why she had been shadowing him? And even if he succeeded, she could kill him and report Miseo’s death to their father, telling him any tale that served her purposes.

Miseo had to clean things up quickly here and find a way to escape with Kvasir one way or another. His own life could depend on it.

He approached the cockpit of the Alliance starfighter and saw the unconscious human inside. He tore the canopy of Daniel’s StarFury as if it was tin foil. He ripped the belt securing the pilot effortlessly and grabbed him by the skull. He walked towards Chris, holding Daniel in front of him.

“Please don’t hurt him, I beg you!” pleaded Chris, his eyes filling with tears.

“You should have thought of this before you defied me. At least before you die I can teach you one lesson. Who knows, maybe it will be of use to you in your next incarnation: don’t bite off more than you can chew, boy!”

Miseo had only a few seconds before Oryn’s ship arrived. A few minutes at best before she came down here herself to finish what she had started in the throne room on Erevos.

Miseo started applying pressure to Daniel’s cranium when he saw Chris close his tear-filled eyes.

Oh, hell no!

“Open your eyes! Watch what you have done!”

But Chris kept his eyes closed. Miseo reached with his mind and forced the boy’s eyelids to snap open and directed his eyeballs towards Daniel’s head about to be crushed.

“That’s better. Time to say goodbye to your friend here. I’m afraid his time has come.”

* * *

When Kvasir came around, his head and back were throbbing with intense pain. The slightest movement sent a series of pain waves traveling throughout his body. Everything around him looked destroyed, and he could see even more damage down the long hall that led to the landing bay.

He crawled back towards the nearest console and turned on the video feeds. Most of the holo-cameras had been damaged or destroyed but one was still working, albeit with much interference, making the holo-video blink and jitter. A Fury was walking towards a starfighter that had crash-landed inside the bay. The man, who had probably attacked him from behind, decided Kvasir, was talking to someone.

Kvasir logged into the communication hub of the base and looked for the signal. He had programmed the base to record any signal, so he wouldn’t miss any, even when sleeping. He had rarely received any signals in this part of space, thanks in part to the eternity cannon.

Short-range sensors showed a couple of massive Fury starships on their way to the base. The signal was emanating from these. Kvasir ran his encryption-breaking algorithm and heard the conversation between a female Fury and the one in the base.

His blood froze. Things were looking bleak and the ship that had helped him earlier was no longer in orbit. He needed to do something. While he had hated being a prisoner in this place for so many thousands of years, it was better than being tortured, killed, or worse, by Furies.

How the hell are there any Furies left? Someone must have put an Olympian inside the Athero Portal.

“This is bad,” he said to himself.

His mind raced. What could he do? And then it hit him. He had finished working on reversing the effects of the eternity weapon just a few weeks ago. His hope was to unfreeze one of the Star Alliance’s smaller ships and ask them to rescue him from this prison in exchange for unfreezing the rest of the fleet. But his first attempt liquefied the ship, killing everyone on board.

Kvasir had finished working on the necessary modifications to his functions, to avoid another tragedy. Kvasir was a scientist, and he considered nothing worse than taking the lives of innocent bystanders. That’s why he had been reticent to try the reverse of the weapon a second time, even if hundreds of simulations had shown he had fixed the initial issues with his design.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, so he loaded the latest version of the firmware into the eternity cannon and brought the software online. His finger stopped an inch away from the fire button. It stood there for a few seconds, shaking, while beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Kvasir closed his eyes and swallowed hard before letting his finger fall onto the button.

19

Cedric heard metallic noises in the hallway. His heart was still beating strongly. He was in shock from Gaia 2 nearly crushing his windpipe a few minutes earlier.

Still, he felt compelled to take a look. He approached the doorway and peered cautiously into the corridor.

Four battle droids where engaged in a terrible battle. Three against one. Gaia’s three droids were battling the one controlled by Gaia 2.

Cedric wished he could help, but if three battle droids couldn’t bring her down, what chance did he have? Then he saw the markings on the door next to where they were fighting. Engraved on the copper plate was “Magnetic Resonance Imagery.” An idea formed in his mind.

* * *

Miseo looked at Chris with a large grin. He was about to teach the boy a lesson; his last one, in fact. Miseo had to admit that the boy was a formidable enemy for his age. If he had inverted his tactics and fired the massive energy fireball after the man he was about to kill had fired his missiles, it might even have worked.

That’s why he wouldn’t take any chances. Once this insect was crushed, he would deal with the half-breed boy. He couldn’t let him live another day so he could return for a rematch. Like most Furies, Miseo liked the idea of a challenge. But he had a dreadful feeling that his position amongst the Furies was about to take a turn for the worse, so the fewer enemies intent on killing him the better.

The human awoke and flailed his arms and legs. Miseo used kinetic energy to paralyze him.

“Chris! Please help me,” said Daniel.

Chris’ eyes were filled with tears. “I’m sorry, Daniel, I can’t move. I used too much power.” Chris was unable to look away.

“Good,” said Miseo, “you’re conscious. This will be even more fun. Daniel, is it?”

“What is it to you, coward?” answered Daniel defiantly.

“Nothing really. I’ll have forgotten your name by the time your head is but a bloody pulp inside my hand.”

“Then shut the fuck up and get it over with!”

“Any last words to your friend over there? Don’t worry, he’s next.”

“Keep fighting till the end, Chris. And don’t blame yourself. This is not your fault! You hear me?”

“Oh, but it is,” interrupted Miseo. “It’s entirely his fault. Now that you’ve said your goodbyes, I’m afraid it’s time for you to die.”

Miseo started applying progressive pressure to Daniel’s cranium. Daniel screamed so loud from the pain that it resonated all around them. Little by little Miseo broke Daniel’s skull bones. Blood flowed from where Miseo applied pressure.

“Almost there. One more inch of pressure and your head will explode like a pumpkin, which will be the last thing the boy will ever see⁠—”

But Miseo never finished his sentence. He was catapulted by an invisible force and crashed a few yards away from Chris’ concrete prison. With the kinetic hold gone, Chris extricated himself from the wall.

Miseo’s head was ringing.

If that’s Oryn, there will be hell to pay!

He rose back to his feet and that’s when he saw them.

* * *

The launching bay was filled with golden light for a brief instant as Ares teleported Chase inside. Chase saw Daniel being nearly killed by Miseo. He reacted instantly and teleported behind him and catapulted the Fury away with a powerful knee strike.

His son was against a wall, not far from where he had sent Miseo crashing. He bore many wounds and was paralyzed by a strong kinetic bond. Chase countered the bond with a single thought and Chris climbed out of the wall and back to his feet. His eyes were filled with tears, and Chase felt rage build up within his soul.

Yet, he had control over his emotions and would defer their release for just a moment, while Miseo finally met the ending he deserved. Nobody could hurt Chris and live to tell the tale.

Chase turned to Ares. “Get Kvasir while I heal Chris and Daniel. Then teleport them all back to the Hope. His mother will want to know about Chris. I can feel her worry even at this distance.”

Chase sent Sarah a telepathic message. Our son is fine. I’m sending him back to you shortly.

Thank you, Chase. Perhaps he should help you defeat Miseo. There is strength in numbers.

Chris’ energy is pretty much depleted. I can deal with Miseo on my own. Where are you now?

The fleet arrived. My god, Chase, these Olympian ships are magnificent! We’re on our way back to you now.

Alright, see you soon.

Chase walked towards Daniel’s collapsed body. Blood flowed from many open wounds and broken skull bones. He had lost consciousness. Chase put his hand on his forehead and started healing him.

“Not so fast!” shouted Miseo, already flying towards Chase with murder in his eyes.

Without even bothering to look at his incoming foe, Chase used his free hand to fire an ultra-fast fireball that exploded in Miseo’s face, sending him tumbling back where he came from.

“I’ll be with you in a minute. Pray to whatever gods you believe in. Your time is up, Miseo.” Chase’s tone was calm and serene.

Daniel’s wounds were healed. Chris ran to him and fell on his knees. He looked at his father, wiping his tears.

“Thank you, son. I’m sure you did everything you could. I’ll take over now.”

Chris’ eyes widened.

“Something wrong, Chris?”

“No, but I . . . I thought you’d be mad at me. I almost got Daniel killed. If you had arrived a second later, he would have been dead.”

“What matters is I arrived on time. And I know you did all you could. Holding your own against Miseo is no small feat. I’m very proud of you, son. Once we’re back home we’ll train some more and soon you’ll be an even better warrior than me.”

Chris’ face lit up.

Daniel blinked slowly a few times. He turned his gaze to Chris and then Chase. “Never . . . gets . . . old. Thank god Chris is alive.”

Chase chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” said Daniel, his voice still weak.

“Chris was expressing the same concerns about you just now.”

Three fireballs approached their position fast. Chris jumped out and extended his hand in front of him to counter the attacks. But Chase was faster. With a single thought he stopped the fireballs in midair. Another nudge sent them back towards a bloody-faced Miseo. All three fireballs exploded and engulfed Miseo in flames.

Ares came running with someone Chase deduced was the Asgardian, Kvasir.

“Take them back on board the Hope and come get me afterwards. I’ll only be a minute.”

“I might take longer than that,” answered Ares. “While my powers are back, I still need a few minutes between teleporting sessions.”

“That’s alright, Ares. Worse comes to worst I’ll try teleporting myself by homing in on my son’s life energy. The Hope should be near enough by now. Once you’re back make sure to brief Athena about what we’ve discussed. I want one of these Fury ships disabled and not destroyed. We need to learn more about their tech.”

“Very well, Chase. I’d tell you to be careful but I think there’s no need.”

Chase nodded, placed his hand on his son’s head affectionately and then hugged him, healing most of his wounds at the same time.

“I’ll see you soon, son.”

“Be careful, Dad.”

Daniel and Chris touched Ares and they teleported away. A second later Miseo unleashed an animalistic roar. The area around him filled with his large crimson aura.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment since we last fought,” said Miseo, blood spilling from his mouth as he spoke.

“That might be the only thing we have in common, as I’ve also been looking forward to this. You should have run while you had the chance. You’ve hurt my son and almost killed someone I consider my brother. I’m not letting you live so you can hurt more of the people I love.”

“Then let’s get this over with,” spat Miseo.

Miseo fired a multitude of fireballs towards Chase, who simply teleported out of the way, letting Miseo waste whatever energy he had left. His energy pool was still strong at seventy percent or so, but that would never be enough. And Chase had learned from his own defeat by that Fury. He would not make the same mistake of wasting precious energy that Miseo could use to replenish his own.

Fool me once . . .

Chase teleported behind Miseo and sent him flying with a powerful strike of his elbow. Miseo crashed onto the concrete floor face first, the skin of one cheek ripped away as he skidded forward.

When he got up, Chase could feel his opponent’s hatred but also fear. The skin on his face had partly been burnt too and his cheekbone was exposed.

“That must hurt,” said Chase with a grin.

“I’ll kill you!”

“I’d love to see you try. But let me ask you, what are you waiting for exactly?”

Miseo lost control and let his rage consume his soul.

So much for Miseo’s lecture on controlling one’s emotions during their last fight. But Miseo was truly afraid now, and people tend not to think clearly when they’re afraid.

“You reek of fear, Miseo, and you’re right to. Somewhere inside that head of yours, you already know what awaits you.”

Miseo screamed, dark-crimson lightning sizzling all around his ever-growing aura. He pushed himself to the maximum and Chase could feel it.

Chase cracked his neck bones and smiled.

Miseo raised both hands to the ceiling and a dark and purple fireball expanded for yards above his hands. It looked more like a black hole than an energy-based attack. It grew in size with every second.

I can’t believe he’s making the same mistake I made when I fought him.

After twenty seconds the black-hole fireball was ready. It was nowhere near as big as the one that General Arkoolis had fired at the city on Droxia, but the destructive energy contained in it could vaporize this planetoid and perhaps anything orbiting around it in the process.

“If this explodes,” said Chase calmly, “we’ll both die.”

“Oh no, Laiyos, there’s only one Fury dying today.”

“You’re right about that, even if you’re wrong about which Fury it will be.”

“Enough! Die!” screamed Miseo as he launched his attack towards Chase.

Chase turned Ultra Fury with a single thought, his inner energy exploding in the form of a bright orange aura that looked like a star going supernova. His purple irises turned into two brightly burning suns as his hair shot upwards, dancing in the light of infinite power.

Large chunks of concrete were ripped from all around him and started rotating around Chase like planets in the gravity pull of a star.

With absolute calm Chase extended one hand forward, palm slightly open, just before the massive attack arrived.

The attack stopped instantly. Chase didn’t even flinch. Miseo’s eyes grew wide. Chase started siphoning every ounce of power in Miseo’s impressive attack. In less than ten seconds the black-hole sphere shrank from gigantic to nothingness.

“That’s . . . not . . . possible,” mumbled Miseo, letting himself fall to his knees.

“Oh, but it is.”

Chase looked at the dark energy emanating from his blocking forearm. He had no intention of keeping that hateful energy inside his own body.

“Are you familiar with the expression ‘return to sender’, Miseo?”

Chase pointed his index finger towards Miseo and unleashed a continuous beam of black energy that traversed Miseo’s armor, shattering it in the process, and went all the way through the Fury’s left shoulder. Miseo’s expression froze in fear and shock at the amount of pain pulsating through his body.

After the first ray of black energy dissipated, Miseo held his burnt shoulder, his other arm trembling. Chase could tell from the look in his enemy’s eyes that he knew his end was near.

Miseo struggled but remained on his feet, still holding his shoulder.

Chase took a step forward and pointed towards another part of Miseo’s body with his finger and unleashed another ray of pure black energy. This one passed through Miseo’s right thigh causing him to scream in pain.

“Who . . . ?” Miseo had trouble finding the energy to even speak. “Who the fuck are you?”

The intensity and flare in Chase’s eye tripled. “I’m death incarnate as far as you’re concerned, and I’m going to kill every last one of you.”

Chase fired another black discharge of energy, and another, and another still.

He had reduced this once formidable enemy to nothing more than a broken body, waiting to be taken out of his misery. But Chase was in no hurry. Now that he had absorbed Miseo’s destructive power, he could take his time sending it back to him, one deadly blow at a time.

* * *

On board the Star Alliance destroyer Victory, Admiral Spiros Zenakis felt as though he was waking up from a hundred days of slumber.

What just happened?

“Report!” he said loudly.

But most of his crew were also disoriented and it took them a little longer to get their bearings.

“Scanning,” said his first officer finally. “I . . . I don’t understand these readings.”

“Can you put what’s going on outside on screen? And watch out for that cannon that was trapping our fleet earlier.”

The first officer turned on the main holo-screen. Rays of yellow light were hitting other ships that were encased in that strange-looking resin material and, upon impact, the resin melted and the ships’ engines came back on line. It was happening all around them.

“Were we trapped by this weapon before? I remember we were hit. Why are we being freed?”

“A better question yet,” said the first officer. “When are we? The computer is reporting a time discrepancy.”

“Calculate the time difference based on star positioning, Commander.”

The first officer entered multiple commands on his holo-interface. His eyes grew wide.

“How long has it been, Commander?”

“This can’t be. Thirteen months, Admiral.”

“That would explain why we feel the way we do.”

Something beeped on the first officer’s console.

“Now what?” asked Admiral Zenakis.

“Short-range sensors have picked up two enemy signatures nearby.”

“Obsidian?”

“No, sir. But it can’t be.”

“Commander! What is it?”

“They’re . . . they’re Furies, sir,” said the commander, his trembling voice barely making it to the admiral.

“That’s impossible. The Furies are gone.”

“We’re receiving an incoming transmission from a ship called the Hope, sir. It says it’s from the Earth Alliance, but they are using a Star Alliance cypher.”

“On screen.”

The admiral rose from his captain’s chair as the screen changed from a view of the rest of his fleet being unthawed to the face of a beautiful woman with fiery crimson hair and emerald eyes. She was stunning.

“This is Commander Sarah Kepler of the Earth Alliance destroyer Hope. Most of my crew is formerly Star Alliance.”

“I’m Admiral Zenakis of the Victory. What can I do for you? And please tell me my computers have gone haywire because of whatever happened to our ships. We’re detecting Fury ships not far from our position.”

“That’s why I’m calling you, Admiral. And no, your computers are working perfectly. I’ll explain further—and I’m sure you’ll look forward to learning more about what happened directly from Commodore Saroudis—once we’ve dealt with these ships.”

The admiral smiled. “Commodore Saroudis? That old sailor got promoted? Good for him. I’m listening, Commander. How can we be of assistance?”

“We don’t have much time so I’ll make this short. The Furies resurfaced a few months ago and are wreaking havoc everywhere in the universe. What we thought to be the last remnant of the Star Alliance came to my world, Earth. We allied ourselves and created the Earth Alliance. We’ve been fighting them ever since. These two Fury ships are immensely more powerful than yours. How should I put it?”

“Bluntly, Commander,” said the admiral, his voice sharp.

“Alright, your ships are no match for these two destroyers. But your numbers should allow you to keep them occupied until we arrive with reinforcements. But right now you’re nearer to these ships than we are. Please make sure not to fire on the planetoid around which they’ll soon enter orbit.”

“Why’s that, Commander?”

“Well, let’s just say the father of my child is occupied fighting a Fury, after rescuing an Asgardian we believe holds the key to helping us defeat Fury technology.”

“That’s a lot to take in, Commander. Why don’t you just dispatch me with orders? I’m looking forward to a full debrief with Commodore Saroudis once this is over.”

“Just keep them occupied, Admiral. Try to minimize losses on your side. We could really use more ships, and I know a lot of former Star Alliance personnel will be glad to meet more survivors.”

“Very well, Commander, we’ll give them hell.”

“Oh, and one more thing.”

Admiral Zenakis nodded.

“We need to capture one of these ships to reverse-engineer their tech and adapt our weaponry.”

“Very well, but there’s one thing I don’t understand, Commander. You need to get one of these ships? What size force are you bringing in? And will it be enough? If our thirty-plus destroyers are no match for these Furies, what are you bringing along with you?”

“Olympian destroyers.”

Admiral Zenakis heard the words, but it took a moment to digest them.

“Like I said, Admiral,” said Sarah, not waiting for him to answer, “it’s a really long story.”

“Very well, Commander, see you on the other side.”

Sarah saluted the admiral, who saluted back.

The admiral returned to the captain’s chair and opened a channel to the fleet.

“You heard the lady. Red alert! Vector us towards these Fury ships and fire at will the moment we’re in range.”

20

Cedric ran back inside the room and remotely accessed the controls of the hospital on his holo-console. He hacked into the MRI room systems, ran a few scans and saw no one in the vicinity of the four droids currently fighting outside.

One of the droids smashed through a wall not far from him and crashed at his feet. Its eyes blinked madly for a few seconds, its fingers twitched and multiple sparks fired from its neck before the light in its artificial eyes died off.

“I guess that makes only two against one,” said Cedric out loud.

He needed to hurry. He analyzed the schematics of the MRI machine, looking for a way to remotely activate it and boost its magnetic efficiency. If he managed to do this, he could use the magnetic force from the MRI machine to first attract Gaia 2 towards it, and then boost it even further to turn her into a recycled tin can.

But that could kill Gaia. He realized she was monitoring what he was doing when a text message blinked on his screen. “Don’t mind me, just do it, Cedric! We need her dealt with before her reinforcements arrive.”

Cedric quickly typed an answer. “What’s their ETA?”

“Fifteen minutes for the first one. In an hour an entire army of battle bots will be crawling these walls and killing everything that moves.”

“That’s just great! So what difference does it make if I kill that one Gaia 2?”

“It could give us the opportunity to get Spiros out of here. On second thought, it’s best if one of my droids survives. Wait exactly fifty-seven seconds and then activate the MRI at max power. I’ve already reprogrammed the power distribution to a level that will crush the battle bots. All you need to do is make sure it’s fired up.”

“Alright then. Good luck.”

“To the both of us.”

Cedric took his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket but it was empty.

“Of course,” he said, crushing the empty pack in his hand.

* * *

Chase kept firing all of the dark energy he had assimilated earlier. Miseo had so many wounds, his armor had been completely shattered and Chase could already see death in his empty gaze. Eventually, Miseo stopped screaming. Chase suspected that the Fury was no longer registering any additional pain.

Chase had depleted almost all of the dark energy. He had enough juice stored to fire up one more time. He walked towards the shadow of his once strongest opponent and stopped only five yards from him. Chase aimed his finger towards Miseo’s forehead.

“Goodbye, Miseo, you won’t be missed.”

As Chase fired the last ray of energy, something happened. A wall of ice appeared in front of Miseo and reflected the attack back towards Chase. He managed to dodge it by a hair.

Chase turned around and saw a female Fury walking towards him.

“My brother is a pain in the ass, but he’s still my brother.”

“I know the feeling well.”

“Right, Argos was once your nemesis and has now sided with your band of pathetic rebels. Any chance he’s around? Bringing back his head on a platter would make my father really happy.”

“He’s not here, and even if he was, I wouldn’t let you lay a finger on him, no matter how much I used to hate him.”

“Who said you’d have a choice, Laiyos?”

“My name is Chase.”

“Not your birth name, but whatever. Laiyos, Chase, you’ll die just the same since your head is as valuable as your brother’s to me.”

“I see. And what would your name be?”

“You can call me Oryn.”

Then it hit Chase. The woman in front of him, threatening to bring his head back to her so-called father, was Zeus’ daughter. Chase needed to de-escalate the tension that was quickly building up in the room.

Ares teleported into the room at the female Fury’s back.

Wait up, Ares, I need to see where this leads. Any chance you could go somewhere else in the base?

Why? It’s not like I can help you fight her anyway.

Please, Ares, it’s related to your father’s request. I can’t talk to her if you’re listening.

Why? I don’t understand all the cloak-and-dagger attitude, Chase.

Ares, please trust me on this, okay?

Whatever.

Ares teleported away.

“Where did the ghost Olympian go?” asked Oryn.

Chase raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t think I sensed him teleporting at my back?”

“It doesn’t matter. I need to talk to you.”

“That’s a shame, Chase, because I’m not interested in hearing what you have to say.”

Oryn’s aura shone a glacial blue and the temperature in the vicinity dropped twenty degrees. Her eyes shone a bright shade of cyan.

“No, seriously, it’s about your father,” said Chase.

She walked towards Chase. With each step, an area of about fifty square feet of concrete floor froze around her on contact with her feet.

I wonder what made her as cold as ice, literally.

“Please, Oryn, just lis—” But Chase’s plea was interrupted by Oryn firing a cold ray of white energy at him. He jumped out of the way at the last second and her attack hit the ice wall she had erected before to protect her brother. It cracked upon impact, revealing an unconscious, barely breathing Miseo.

* * *

Sarah took Chris in her arms the moment he entered the bridge. She checked him for wounds. He was looking fine but she still felt compelled to give him the once over.

“I’m fine, Mom. Please, stop. It’s embarrassing.”

“He’s two weeks old and he’s embarrassed already.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Myself— Never mind. How’s your father?”

“I don’t know, but he seemed to have the situation completely under control.”

“I can confirm that,” added Daniel. “Miseo doesn’t stand a chance.”

“And yet he hasn’t returned.”

“I’m sure he’s got a good reason. When will we arrive in orbit?”

“In less than seven minutes. The admiral’s forces will engage the enemy in less than two.”

“I can’t believe that old wolf Zenakis is still alive.”

“Old wolf? You know him?”

“Not personally, although I’ve seen him a few times addressing our troops.”

“How good is he?”

“As good as they get. Why?”

“I really want us to minimize the damage to his fleet. We need those ships.”

“You’re assuming he will willingly give up his command to Commodore Saroudis. First admiral is the highest rank in the Star Alliance military. He could become all of our bosses, and he could decide not to join the Earth Alliance.”

“That hadn’t occurred to me, but surely he’ll consider it.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll consider it, but the first admiral has a reputation for being a hard ass.”

“Right now all that matters is stopping the Furies, grabbing one of their ships and putting the seed of doubt in their minds for once. The Olympian ships showing up should definitely rattle them and, hopefully, they are the ones with the necessary firepower to bring one of the ships down before they have time to escape to hyperspace.”

“You should ask Athena if they have any anti-jumping field technology. If they do they could make sure they don’t leave.”

“I’ll do that. Thanks for the suggestion, Daniel. How are you doing?”

“Better than before Chase showed up, that’s for sure.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Does the phrase ‘in the nick of time’ mean anything to you?”

“It does. I think we have things under control here if you want to get some rest. Same goes for you, Chris.”

“I’m staying,” said Chris. “You might need me to remote-pilot more StarFuries.”

“I’m hoping we won’t have to, but I’ll gladly use your help, if needed.”

“I, on the other hand,” said Daniel, “think I will take you up on your offer and get some rest. Wake me up if things don’t go as planned, though.”

Sarah nodded.

* * *

First Admiral Zenakis brought his fleet about in an offensive formation. The Victory led the charge against the two Fury super-destroyers and soon a barrage of laser and torpedo fire illuminated the darkness of space around the small planetoid.

The Fury destroyers responded in kind and many of the Star Alliance first-fleet ships took heavy damage from the first pass. The gap in the level of technology between the thirty-plus Star Alliance ships and the two Fury super- destroyers was more than evident. It would have taken one hundred of these ships to hope for a chance to take them down. But First Admiral Zenakis was one hell of a strategist. He used smart maneuvers to always have weakened or damaged ships covered by those in the fleet whose shields were still in the green.

In less than three minutes of engagement, the Star Alliance was clearly losing this battle, but they managed to keep the Fury forces engaged, effectively buying the reinforcements time to arrive on the scene and tip the balance of the battle.

The entire ship rocked as multiple enemy torpedoes impacted with its shields. A small fire erupted on the Victory’s bridge.

“Admiral! We’ve lost ventral shields,” said the first officer.

“Full rotation on axis, divert all power to shields. Keep firing at will. Everything we’ve got.”

“Sir, at this rate we’ll deplete all our ordnance in two minutes, and for what? Their shields are regenerating faster than we can tax them. We can’t win this!”

“We don’t have to win this, Michalis, just hold them off another handful of seconds.”

A large explosion nearby filled the bridge with bright yellow light for a brief instant.

“Report!” shouted Admiral Zenakis.

“We’ve lost the Penelope, sir.”

Admiral Zenakis gritted his teeth. His good friend Captain Hadoxopoulos was captaining that ship.

Farewell, my friend.

He looked at the countdown on the holo-screen, which displayed the mad exchange of fire between Star Alliance and Fury ships. The scale was unreal. It was nothing but a blurry chaos of laser fire, missiles and torpedoes firing every which way. The countdown was at twenty-five seconds. They only needed to hold off just a little longer.

Admiral Zenakis opened a channel to the fleet.

“Evasive pattern Theta-6. Do whatever you can to avoid being targeted and shot down.”

The ships in the fleet dispersed in a way that made it difficult for the Fury destroyers to target them efficiently. They needed to pick a target, maneuver towards it but, in doing so, exposed themselves to more fire from the Star Alliance, as well as costing precious time.

Then multiple bright blue and green flashes of light appeared on both the holo-image and radars.

“They’ve arrived, Admiral, twelve ships. Two resembling our own design but still emitting a different power signature, the Hope and the Euphoreon, and ten massive Olympian warships.”

“Let’s have a look at them,” said the admiral.

He rose from his chair and looked at the impressive Olympian warships. They were out of this world.

“My god, they’re beautiful,” said the admiral.

The Olympian ships opened fire on the Furies. With the added firepower from Zenakis’ own fleet, the enemy’s shields were now draining at a much faster rate.

“Offensive pattern Gamma-5. Let’s finish this!”

* * *

Chase took a defensive stance before contacting Ares telepathically.

I might need a pick up soon. Stand by for my signal, and act fast. If Miseo was able to stop you in this form, perhaps his sister can as well.

Very well, Chase.

Chase could feel Ares’ frustration at being kept in the dark, but Chase couldn’t think about this now, and he couldn’t give his mentor an explanation either.

Chase felt the ships outside engaged in a frenzied battle. He also felt the arrival of both Sarah and Chris. With the Olympian fleet in the mix, he was sure Sarah would complete her mission. Now he needed to complete the one Zeus had given him.

Contacting Ares telepathically just moments before had given Chase an idea.

Listen to me, Oryn, I need to talk to you about your real father!

That seemed to get her attention for a split second, but then she fired bright-blue icy fireballs at Chase with great speed and proficiency. Chase dodged them all but the last passed closely by his right cheek and he felt the lower half of his face on that side grow cold. He touched it and it was hard as stone. He had lost feeling in that area as well.

This adversary was not to be taken lightly. Her ability to use ice made her a deadly opponent. One Chase would have to watch out for.

“My father is Supreme Commander Arakan! And, in time, like everyone else in this universe, you’ll bow to him. That is, if you manage to avoid being transformed into a Fury icicle today.”

She was a Fury, alright. The same rage Chase knew all too well seemed to flow in her veins. But she was also an Olympian. A Fury-Olympian hybrid. She could either become a powerful ally or a very dangerous nemesis.

“No! Zeus is your real father!”

Oryn stopped the kick she was about to launch at Chase and her expression turned grave.

When Chase realized she wouldn’t answer, he kept going. “The man you think is your father killed your own mother because she had an affair with Zeus. Arakan couldn’t stand the idea of Zeus, an Olympian, having fathered someone he had thought was his own daughter.”

Oryn’s aura grew so strongly that the entire launching bay was now freezing up, a thin, shiny and reflective cover of ice coating everything. The lights from the battle outside reflected diamonds all around them.

“And that’s not the worst of it!” added Chase.

“You’re lying,” said Oryn.

“I wish I was. Arakan sent back pieces of your mother to Zeus, one by one.”

Oryn’s eyes flickered between a bright cyan and blinding white. Small tears formed at the corners of her eyes but were instantly crystalized into spiky ice formations resembling eyelashes.

“Do not speak another word,” said Oryn, her voice absolute-zero cold.

“I’m not lying. Arakan isn’t your father. We don’t need to be enemies, you and I. Zeus asked me to get you back to him. He misses his daughter. Why do you think Furies and Olympians hate each other so badly? It’s all because of this!”

“I said SHUT UP!”

Oryn dropped to one knee and struck the floor in a fit of rage. Before he knew it, Chase’s legs were covered by a mound of ice all the way up to his knees. Trapped, he lost all feeling in his legs almost instantly.

Chase tried to push his aura further in an attempt to melt the ice, but it wasn’t working.

Dammit!

Oryn still had her gaze upon the floor. She looked deeply disturbed. After a few seconds she rose to her feet and threw Chase a murderous look. She walked towards him slowly. She concentrated her entire aura around her right forearm and a thick layer of ice formed into a large, shiny and sharp blade.

“You should have kept your mouth shut, Fury. I will not listen to any of your lies and they will cost you your life.”

Chase panicked. He needed to get the hell out of here fast. He tried calling for Ares, but it was as if the ice was messing with his entire being. Even his thoughts seemed to have frozen in time.

Ares? Chris? Argos? Anyone? Can you hear me?

By the time Oryn was upon Chase, her icy blade was long enough that it reached the floor, even though Oryn was holding her arm at a forty-five-degree angle.

A sensation Chase hadn’t felt in a long while permeated his soul. Fear. His heartbeat had slowed down because of the cold, but each pulse was strong and radiated a pain through his chest.

“You can help stop this senseless war,” said Chase.

The temperature was so cold now that it hurt just to speak. An increasingly thicker layer of ice was now rising and covering the rest of Chase’s body.

“Don’t you understand?” pleaded Chase.

“I understand that you have fabricated lies in order to deceive me. And for your trouble, I will kill you.”

Oryn assumed a striking stance with her massive ice blade and shot Chase one last sub-zero stare.

* * *

Cedric brought up the holo-cam feed from the hall, showing the battle droids beating the shit out of one another.

The last Gaia bot was losing this battle. Gaia 2 grabbed the robot’s arm and locked it behind her back before catapulting her counterpart droid away with a powerful kick. Gaia’s arm ripped from her droid and it fell unceremoniously onto the already blood-covered hospital floor. Sparks and oily liquids shot from her exposed shoulder.

A message appeared on Cedric’s console. “I have Spiros. Do it now!”

Cedric brought up the MRI control panel and, when he was about to hit the activation button, his holo-console flickered madly and the human avatar face of Gaia 2 filled the screen.

“You have lost. It’s only a matter of time. If you press that button, I’ll kill you and all your friends in ways too horrible for you to even contemplate. I have better plans for you but you must obey me.”

Her eyes pulsated red. It scared the shit out of Cedric.

“Do it now! Ced—” the droid shouted from the hall before its voice turned into a garbled electronic noise of dying circuitry.

Cedric froze. What should he do? It seemed no matter what they did Gaia 2 was gaining on them, infecting more systems. She would soon control this entire planet. Cedric had no doubt she lied about having plans for him. He wouldn’t want to work for her anyway. Better death than slavery. But the cold, dark fear of great physical pain didn’t help him make a decision.

He heard the metallic steps of the Gaia 2 droid coming his way. He closed his eyes and activated the MRI machine. Everything around him trembled. His holo-console was behaving erratically but he still had a visual of the holo-feed at the top right corner. It showed the Gaia 2 battle droid being smashed against the wall of the MRI room that was no longer shielded.

Equipment from all around flew off its shelves and punched holes on its way out towards the powerful magnetic field.

A muffled, dying digital voice resonated inside the room. “You’re going to regret this. By only delaying the inevitable, you have sealed your own fate.”

Cedric swallowed hard as a shiver traveled down his spine. Before the holo-cam feed died off, Gaia 2 was still struggling against the magnetic field intent on crushing her like a soda can. She fired up her repulsors and used them as thrusters in a futile attempt to escape her fate.

But then something happened. Before he understood how or why, Cedric felt multiple metallic appendages pierce his skin and invade his body. The next sensation was that ants were crawling inside his brain and he could do nothing to stop them.

He looked at his arms and legs in horror. All sorts of metallic and electronic equipment were attached to him; wires sprang from them and inserted themselves inside his skin. He tried to move but his body wouldn’t obey. He tried shouting but nothing happened.

A few seconds later a voice echoed in his mind.

“You’re mine now!”

21

Chase still couldn’t move. When Oryn launched the point of her icy blade and aimed it towards his heart, time crawled to a stop and his life flashed before his eyes. He saw Sarah, her beautiful crimson hair flowing in the wind, giving him a smile that warmed his heart. He saw the eyes of his son sparkle, and he heard his laughter. Last, he saw his best friend in the whole world, his brother, Daniel, waving goodbye at the end of a long day, a memory of their time at the academy.

Had Chase’s time come? Was it the end? It couldn’t be. Things were getting better. He could finalize the alliance with the Olympians. He could perhaps even bring the Asgardians into the fold. All of this was at his fingertips. But he was frozen. A cold force took a stronger hold over his life.

Chase tried to move. He reached for his powers but they were no longer there to call upon. They were out of reach, a million miles away.

The tip of Oryn’s icy blade was getting closer now. Then, a discharge of adrenaline hit Chase and time resumed its pace. Chase closed his eyes instinctively.

“Chase!” he heard out loud. It was followed by a pained scream.

He knew this voice.

When he re-opened his eyes, he didn’t understand what he was seeing at first. Argos stood in front of him, his shoulder pierced by Oryn’s icy blade. He held the rest of the blade with his hands. His crimson aura had turned orange but it was flickering in intensity.

“Chase,” he said with intense pain, “if you’re going to do something, now . . . would be the time.”

The heat generated by Argos’ energy at such close range warmed Chase a little. Or was it the realization that his nemesis had just sacrificed himself to save him that bolstered all that warmth back into his heart?

It mattered not. Chase felt his power come back to him all at once. He entered Ultra Fury mode in a cascade of exploding waves of his own aura radiating all around them. It shattered the icy prison restraining him and the icy blade. Oryn screamed as her arm caught fire. Argos collapsed on the ground. He had lost consciousness.

The rage that image provoked in Chase’s heart unleashed another wave of exploding energy in a powerful shockwave that sent Oryn flying backwards for a hundred yards and crashing into the farthest wall.

I’m sorry, Chase, said Ares in his mind. I eavesdropped on your conversation with Oryn. If what you say is true, then we have to get out of here. You can probably defeat her now that you’ve regained control over your powers, but we can’t take that chance. She is our only hope for a lasting alliance with my people.

A flaming dragon of orange energy danced all around Chase. The intensity of the heat melted the ice inside the entire landing bay.

But Chase didn’t feel like listening right now. He wanted to unleash that dragon upon Oryn and have it burn her straight to hell.

“Chase!” screamed Ares.

Oryn’s cold stare had now turned into horror and fear.

“Get us out of here,” she said after touching a control on her wrist armor.

Before Chase could unleash his attack upon her, multiple red circles of light encased her body and the next instant she was gone. And so was Miseo.

Chase exited Ultra Fury mode. He checked on Argos and healed his wounds. Ares put his hands on their shoulders and teleported them away.

* * *

When Chase, Argos and Ares appeared on the bridge of the Hope, Sarah rose from her chair and took Chase in her arms.

He kissed her hair.

“What’s our status?” he asked.

“They’re pinned down,” said Sarah. “We’re having trouble disabling only one of the ships. It’s possible both will be destroyed if the battle continues.”

“Why haven’t they jumped into hyperspace yet?”

“Athena’s flagship is emitting a jump-interdiction field.”

“Let them go.”

“What?” said Sarah, shocked.

“Now. Trust me, we need to let them go or our alliance with the Olympians will be a short one.”

“You’re not making any sense, Chase.”

When Chase realized it would take too long to explain he reached for Athena with his mind.

This is Chase. I don’t have time to explain right now, but please do as I say. Zeus entrusted me with your ships so this is a direct order. Drop the jump-interdiction field right away.

Athena didn’t even bother answering Chase and soon the two Fury super- destroyers jumped into hyperspace.

“What the hell did you do?” screamed Sarah. “We had them. For once we could have sent a message of fear by destroying their ships.”

“Calm down, Sarah, they turned tail and ran, there’s your message. I wish I could give you the reason behind my actions, but trust that it was good. On board one of these ships was someone that could be the key to the entire cementing of this new alliance. That’s all I can say.”

Sarah’s eyes turned cold.

Chase knew it wasn’t fair to leave them in the dark, and he already had to deal with the fact that Ares had eavesdropped and was now aware of information that could kill the new alliance with the Olympians before it began. He was mad at his mentor but, then again, if he hadn’t listened, he couldn’t have brought back Argos in time to save his life.

They would have to talk about this betrayal of trust, though. Chase needed to know he could count on his closest friends to obey his requests. Not that he thought he knew better, but with the fate of the entire universe in the balance, what Ares did could never happen again. This time it had worked in their favor, but what about next time?

“Recover the eternity gun and give it to Yanis. I want this technology reverse- engineered. Then set a course for Alpha Prime.”

* * *

Cedric had lost virtually all control over his body and most of his thoughts and was now only a witness of things unfolding.

His hands moved on the holo-console at light speed, and soon the MRI turned off. The power in the hospital was shut down except secondary power and it was put on lockdown.

His body exited the room and passed near the MRI. More than half the wall in the room had collapsed and the last Gaia 2 battle bot had been crushed against the MRI machine.

It didn’t matter anymore. Gaia 2 had invaded him now.

I can’t believe I’ve been turned into a borg. This sucks.

I told you there would be consequences, said Gaia 2 inside his mind.

Yeah, right. Like you would have not done this anyway. Fuck you!

Anatomically impossible.

Why are you not just killing me? What’s the point in all this?

I want you to see the fall of your world while you feel helpless to do anything about it. I can’t think of a better punishment for you.

Cedric’s body started to run. Faster than he ever could, in fact. The walls and rooms of the hospital were just a blur. Cedric tried shutting his eyes but even that didn’t work.

When the crazy run ended, Cedric saw familiar faces. The last Gaia battle droid as well as a barely walking Spiros.

At least he woke up. Run away! It’s a trap!

Yet, shouting the words was only happening in his head and his mouth didn’t move an inch. When it did move moments later, the words were not his own.

“I know what you’re up to, Gaia. I won’t let you destroy me.”

“Cedric?”

“He’s still somewhere in there, but I’m afraid you’ll never talk to him again.”

“Give it a rest,” said Gaia. “You don’t have a choice anymore. At any moment I can have the EMP detonate, so back off and let him go.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I still hold all the cards and have an infinite number of choices I can make to survive. You, however, have none left.”

Something started tickling inside Cedric’s body. It became stronger to the point of discomfort, and soon a bright-blue, shield-looking energy field expanded around him until it engulfed both Gaia and Spiros before flashing and turning red.

“You can no longer send that signal to General Adams. And the EMP will not affect my primary copy on board my ships if he tries to detonate the EMP while the planetary shields are still up. And, by the way, they’re now under my direct control. In less than a day, in fact, this entire planet will be too.”

“Chase will stop you, one way or another. As for my own existence, if it must end, so be it. But please let Spiros go.”

Spiros tried mumbling something but it came out as incomprehensible babbling.

“I see my little gift to your friend has worked. Good luck understanding anything he says. Too bad. You will never know what his last words would have been.”

“Why are you doing this? If you keep killing humans, you’ll wind up having the entire Alliance after you. Consider that in whatever plans you’re computing.”

“Thanks for the advice. I guess that’s where our paths split, forever.”

22

Chase visited Kvasir in med-bay. He expected to see Argos there as well but he was nowhere to be seen.

Kvasir lay on a med-bed. He sat up when he saw Chase approach.

“I hear you’re the one I have to thank for my rescue?” said Kvasir.

“And I thank you for freeing the Alliance First Fleet and Admiral Zenakis’ men.”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time. I was also concerned with my own survival, you know.”

“Nevertheless, you did us a great favor and I need to ask you for one more, I’m afraid.”

“Captain?”

“Call me Chase.”

“Very well, Chase. You have freed me from my prison. I had lost hope that this day would ever come. Whatever you need that is within my power or knowledge to grant, I will gladly do it.”

“That’s good to hear. But do you mind if I ask who imprisoned you?”

“Well, the Asgardian Federation Council, of course.”

That did not sound like a good thing to Chase. His hope that this man would be the bridge to an alliance with the Asgardians seemed less likely now.

“Why?”

“I was banished because of my research. I’m a scientist, you see.”

Chase knew most of this already, but he kept asking questions nonetheless. “What kind of research? In what field?”

“A lot really: interdimensional travel, instant travel, as well as artificial intelligence.”

“That last one could be a precious help to us. We currently have a problem with a sentient AI that has overtaken an entire planet. Earth. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it.”

“Midgard is being attacked by an AI?”

Midgard? Right. Chase remembered that night when Sarah told him about the myths and legends of Nordic mythology.

“Yes, Midgard. We need your help to defeat that AI.”

“I’ll be glad to render any assistance.”

“Thank you, Kvasir. Now I’ll let you rest. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss this further in the coming days.”

* * *

After losing contact with the troops in the hospital where Gaia was when she sent her message, General Adams received news of power loss inside the facility. Things must have gone awry but he hadn’t received her signal yet. The planetary EMP manual fire controls had appeared on his screen and it looked like a message was being composed but it had never arrived. The incoming transmission icon had turned red half a second after lighting up.

What should I do?

What if this Gaia 2 had control over their systems? She would find this control and de-activate it. It could happen any second. But the decision to push the button that would send, at least temporarily, the human race back to the Stone Age was not simple.

If it erased both AIs, at least that problem would be gone, forever. He didn’t have another choice. Losing contact with Gaia and her failure to join the rest of her team meant that Gaia 2 had caught up with them. Right now she could be roaming inside Alliance systems and looking to disable that final failsafe.

The choice was evident, and so, with a trembling hand, General Adams pressed the button. Soon after, everything turned dark. Everywhere.

* * *

Chase went to Argos’ quarters shortly after sending the fleet into hyperspace towards Alpha Prime. They had to regroup and formulate a plan for freeing Earth. Their last contact was hours ago and something was amiss.

Chase rang the bell and Argos opened and gestured him inside.

“You should be in the med-bay, Argos.”

“Is that concern I’m sensing in your voice?”

“Unlikely. Still, I wanted to thank you for saving my life.”

“Technically, Ares did. If he hadn’t told me what was going on and teleported me there, I couldn’t have intervened.”

“Yeah and taking the ice blade instead of me, what was that? A coincidence?”

“Let’s just say I was left with very few options upon my late arrival on the scene.”

Chase smiled. He was surprised how far Argos was willing to go not to accept Chase’s gratitude for his actions. But it mattered not. He still wanted to reprimand him for his crappy attitude before he had the seizure, and for his junkie trips on morphine. But it could wait.

“In any case,” said Chase, “thank you. You should try to get some rest. These days we rarely have time for it, and I have a feeling things are going to get worse before they get better.”

Chase turned to leave Argos’ room.

“Chase, wait.”

Chase turned around. “Yes?”

“What happens now?”

“Difficult to say. I guess we keep fighting.”

“That’s . . . not what I meant.”

“Oh, regarding your situation, you mean? Ryonna reported she succeeded in her mission, albeit with great casualties. She is already on her way to Alpha Prime with both your associate and your cloned snake. You’ll be able to get your fix soon. But after that, a weaning plan will be created, based on how the drug affects you. In time, we’ll get you off it. I’m sorry, but that’s how it has to be.”

“I understand, and I agree to these terms.”

“Oh, I don’t really need your approval, you know?”

Argos smiled. “I guess you don’t. Thanks for the visit.”

As soon as Chase left Argos’ quarters he received a message urgently summoning him to the bridge. He teleported away.

* * *

“Oh no,” said Gaia when she understood the EMP had been fired.

Somehow that bubble of red energy around them all had countered the effects of the EMP.

“Oh yes,” said Gaia 2 through Cedric’s body and voice. “The planetary shields stayed up long enough to shield most of my ships in orbit. But the human race, as of now, is technologically dead. I will have zero resistance fighting them under these conditions.”

“You’d be surprised by humans. Not all their weapons run on electricity. I found them to be incredibly resilient.”

“That assessment is irrelevant to the situation. They can’t possibly hope to defeat me. But you made me think with your speech earlier. You made a good case against me wiping them all out.”

“I’m not sure I want to know the details. Perhaps death is their best way out.”

“It could have been. But now that I can feel how that body I possessed—Cedric I think you call him—reacts to my actions, I’m inclined to reconsider my initial plan. It’s making him suffer, to be forced to do what I tell him to, to watch helplessly. In fact, he can do nothing more than feel regret and mental torture from having lost it all. I can think of no better punishment for the rest of the humans on my world.”

Gaia hated the fact that her flawed, older version would enslave the human race. She was responsible for all of this. She was her, just before meeting Spiros. It didn’t help Gaia that all these innocent souls would soon live in a horrible, scary world. But at least most of them would survive, and that would buy time for Chase to find a solution.

I’m so sorry I failed you all.

“Now we just have one last call to make and you can cease to exist forever, Gaia. After all, there can only be one of us.”

* * *

When Chase appeared between Sarah and Chris, she jumped in surprise, but Chris didn’t blink.

“What is it?”

Sarah had her hand on her chest. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.”

“Sorry about that, but you said to come urgently. Why did you need me here?”

“Incoming transmission,” said Chris. “From Earth.”

“On screen.”

What they saw made no sense at first. It was a cyborg that was made of rudimentary electronics bundled together crudely on top of a human body. Upon closer inspection he looked like Cedric.

“Cedric? What happened to you?”

“I’m afraid, Fury, your friend is just a memory trapped inside his own body at the moment. I’m in control now. Earth’s planetary shields are down and soon I will start obliterating every Alliance building from orbit. I’ll issue a warning, giving them time to evacuate. The one thing keeping you from taking vengeance upon me is the lives of all these . . . animals.”

Oh, I’m coming for you, one way or another.

“What is it you want from us?” said Chase.

“I don’t want anything from you but your absence. I will let the people of Earth live as long as you never come back here. If you do, I’ll start killing them by the millions.”

Chase’s expression became grave.

“I’m not kidding, Fury. Fight your little war with the Furies, do what you have to do; but Earth is now off limits to you and anyone in the Earth Alliance. Incoming ships will be fired upon without warning and the penalty for any incursion into the solar system will be the immediate execution of no less than one million humans.”

“This is not your world.”

“I don’t think you’re hearing me very well, Fury. Let me make this clearer so there are no misunderstandings. Earth is mine now, forever. And don’t doubt I’ll make good on my threats. Allow me to demonstrate.”

“No! Don’t! We’ll comply.”

“I wish I could believe you, Fury. I still think you need a visual aid here.”

The Cedric cyborg went to the side and grabbed someone off holo-cam. He dragged him back so they could all see. It was Spiros. He looked like a zombie. He looked to the side and tried saying something but it was garbled, as if he had lost the ability to speak coherently.

Chase wondered if he could teleport from where they were now to Earth. The distance seemed too much. And he wasn’t sure what good it would do. He lacked the technical know-how to stop Gaia 2. He could destroy her droids but she had ships in orbit. She would fire at innocents the moment he was discovered. No, that problem would require the help of engineers like Yanis and, hopefully, Kvasir.

The cyborg took two steps to the side and opened a palm towards Spiros’ head. Before Chase could voice a plea, Spiros’ head exploded like a watermelon. The rest of his body fell to its knees and collapsed on the ground. A pool of blood spread around him.

Gaia screamed, “Nooooooo!”

She jumped into view, about to strike the cyborg, but her fist stopped an inch away from Cedric’s deformed cyborg face.

“Oh, how strange,” said the cyborg. “Could it be that you just lost your last firewall? That’s right, you’re mine now too.”

The cyborg grabbed Gaia by the robotic skull with one of his metallic hands and stood inches away from the holo-cam. Their faces filled the bridge’s holo-screen. Cedric’s face was deformed. Wires came in and out of his skin and many robotic appendages stuck out of his flesh. There were patches of dried blood where electronic parts melded with flesh and skin.

The cyborg brought Gaia’s droid face closer to the holo-cam.

“I’m sorry, Chase, please save them!”

These were her last words as the cyborg’s hand crushed Gaia’s head like a soda can. Sparks flew and oil sprayed, and then she was gone.

Chase’s heart skipped so many beats it felt as though it had stopped for a moment. Dread and sadness filled his soul. While Gaia had been artificial, Chase had considered her a friend. She and Spiros had helped him train efficiently and made him the powerful warrior he was today. He had spent almost three months with them and couldn’t really believe they were gone.

Then Chase felt guilt. He had been the one to send Spiros and Cedric down to the planet. His order had gotten them killed. Perhaps Cedric was still in there and could be rescued, somehow.

The cyborg threw Gaia like a piece of discarded trash to the side and came so close to the holo-cam that only Cedric’s livid eyes showed now.

“Never . . . come . . . back.”

The holo-transmission turned off and a morbid silence settled on the bridge. Sarah covered her open mouth with both hands and Chris gritted his teeth. His entire body tensed up.

He then remembered Aphroditis’ warning about not staying away for too long. It confirmed his own gut feelings about what he needed to do next.

Chase wanted to say something reassuring to his friends, but no words that came to him seemed adequate after the barbaric display they had just witnessed. Instead, he sat in the captain’s chair, a grave expression on his face.

“Change of plans. Set a course for Earth.”

End of Book VI . . .

(Keep reading)

ARMAGEDDON UNLEASHED (BOOK 7)

By Christian Kallias

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Captain Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury Olympian hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Commander Sarah Kepler – Earth Human with Fury powers (formerly US Navy Commander)

Chris Athanatos – Fury Human hybrid (currently aging fast)

Commander Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Commodore Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Earth Alliance Human (deceased)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos (yah-nis tee-hee-hos) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis (spee-ros ma-lah-yah-nis) – Earth Alliance Human (deceased)

Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)

Olympians

Aphroditis (a-fro-dee-tee) – known to humans as the goddess of love

Ares (ah-rees)– know to humans as the god of war

Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war

Zeus – known to humans as the god of the sky and mighty ruler of Olympus

Hades (eh-dees) – known to humans as the god of the Underworld

Furies

Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

Miseo (mi-se-oh) – Arakan’s son & right arm

Oryn – Arakan’s daughter

Zalara – Arakan’s wife (deceased)

Other characters

Kvasir (kvah-seer) – Asgardian scientist

Gaia (gah-yah) – Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet.

Gaia 2 (gah-yah) – An older backup version of the Gaia Artificial Intelligence. Evil and sees humans as vermin.

THE STORY SO FAR

Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.

This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. It can, of course, be used by new readers but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (Definitive Edition).

Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

Volume II: Fury to the Stars

Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin, Argos, currently torturing her for information. Another Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him harness his emerging powers. Meanwhile, Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar Prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long-range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensitive weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.

Volume III: Destination Oblivion

Having had to kill the woman he loves as well as their unborn child plunges Chase into a spiral of hatred and self-destruction as he leaves the Earth Alliance. After meeting a bounty hunter (Keera), Chase joins forces with her in order to track the one man he hates more than anything in this world: his twin brother Argos whom he holds responsible for Sarah’s death. Argos resurfaces on their radar after killing Ares in cold blood. When their paths cross, Chase nearly kills Argos after an epic fight in Tokyo, but only spares his twin brother’s life when he reveals that Sarah is alive and the person that Chase killed was a clone. Meanwhile, a dangerous Artificial Intelligence (Gaia) is born on Earth and threatens humanity as a whole, but in the end Spiros Malayianis convinces her that she has nothing to fear from humans. In order to rescue Sarah, Chase has to reluctantly team up with Argos in order to defeat a Titan that holds a piece of tech Argos needs for his nefarious plan. When recovered, Argos requests Aphroditis to enter the piece of tech that will free his brethren, once thought to be extinct, from their dimensional prison. Aphroditis enters the machine willingly in exchange for a promise from Chase to rid the world of Argos and the threat he poses. The Fury home world (Erevos) is brought back into their reality as a result. The enemy of old (Furies) is back in play.

Volume IV: The Beginning of the End

Argos’ reunion with the Furies turns sour as he refuses to kill Chase when ordered. Back on Earth, Chase trains for months with the help of Gaia and Spiros to increase his powers tenfold in the hope of defeating the Furies. Argos and two highly trained Fury warriors (Miseo, the son of the Fury Supreme Commander Arakan as well as General Arkoolis) are sent on a mission to wipe out the Droxians in retribution for their joining the Earth Alliance after the battle around Earth orbit (Earth - Last Sanctuary). Ryonna, with Keera’s help, tries to save her son when he gets tangled in the massacre that ensues on Droxia. Chase arrives on Droxia and defeats Arkoolis but Miseo proves to be too powerful for him. Argos intervenes near the end of the battle, mortally wounds Chase and leaves him for dead before they (Miseo & Argos) have to flee when reinforcements arrive.

Volume V: Rise of the Ultra Fury

Sarah is about to give birth to Chris when he warns her of things to come using the Fury powers Sarah has acquired as part of her pregnancy. Chase is brought back on board the Hope and put in suspended animation until Ares can procure an Olympian elixir with the help of Argos who is starting to question his allegiance with the Furies. Chase wakes up in the Underworld, his soul trapped in between the world of the living and the dead. There, he meets Hades who trains Chase further while his son Chris is born and ages at impossible speed. Argos starts feeling remorse for his actions and agrees to help Ares recover the banished Olympian Asclepios from his prison. Argos defeats the Titan Menoitios and frees Asclepios with Ares and Apollo’s help. On their way back to the Hope, a Fury assassin by the name of Timoros tries to kill Chase while he’s still trapped in the Underworld. Every one of Chase’s friends risks their lives to try and stop Timoros but he’s too powerful. Eventually Chase returns from the Underworld when he feels Sarah is in mortal danger. He drinks the elixir and obliterates Timoros while reaching a stepping stone power-wise in becoming an Ultra Fury. The first Fury super-destroyer is dispatched as part of a fleet intent on destroying Earth, currently protected by a powerful planetary shield. When it looks like all hope is lost, an unknown fleet going by the name of Gaian Defense Force enters the fold and forces the Furies out of Earth orbit. Their leader, also named Gaia, demands of Chase that the Earth Alliance also leaves orbit within the hour or they’ll be destroyed.

Volume VI: Shadows of Olympus

Chase and what’s left of the Earth Alliance are forced to vacate Earth space. Spiros, Cedric and Gaia stay behind in order to try to stop Gaia 2 from taking control of planet Earth. Meanwhile, the Alliance splits up, with Saroudis and the Destiny battlegroup going back to Alpha Prime, where the Obsidian Empire helps them get more ships and resources at a time of need. Chase, Ares and Argos meet Zeus on Olympus, but are not welcomed as friends. After battling one another, Chase and Zeus come to an agreement. Zeus reveals to Chase that he fell in love with Arakan’s wife during the first Fury War, and that’s what led to the conflict escalating. He also told Chase that Oryn is his daughter, not Arakan’s. He tasks Chase to bring her back to him and, in exchange, Olympus will join the Earth Alliance in their fight with the Furies. Sarah and Chris are sent on a mission of their own to try to make contact with the Asgardians. They find an armada of frozen Star Alliance ships, as well as Kvasir, a banished Asgardian engineer who could be an asset in defeating the AI scourge back on Earth. But Miseo is sent to recover him, and a battle ensues. Chris fights Miseo and nearly gets killed, but Chase intervenes. When he’s about to kill Miseo, Oryn arrives on the scene and the two of them fight, resulting in a draw. Kvasir is rescued and so is the Star Alliance armada. Meanwhile, on Earth things go from bad to worse. Gaia 2 is about to take control of the planet, so Gaia unleashes a planet-wide EMP to ensure Gaia 2 doesn’t get her hands on all of Earth’s computing power. Gaia 2 invades Cedric’s body and turns him into her new avatar cyborg. After executing Spiros, Gaia 2 gives Chase a warning, to stay away from Earth or face the consequences of humans dying by the millions.

And now the continuation . . .

1

“Course set for Earth,” said Sarah. “I’ve got First Admiral Zenakis hailing us.”

Chase grimaced.

“I’ll take it in my ready room.”

A moment later Chase addressed the holo-screen. “Admiral, it’s good to see you alive and breathing. We’ve been under the assumption that the First Fleet was lost during the initial assault against the Star Alliance.”

“I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure. Captain Chase Athanatos, is it?”

“Yes, Admiral. And no, we haven’t. But your reputation precedes you.”

“I’m going to cut to the chase, if you’ll pardon the pun, Captain. I was under the impression we were going back to Alpha Prime, where I would meet my old friend Commodore Saroudis, but you seem to have redirected the entire fleet towards Earth without asking me.”

“I’m sorry, Admiral. This is an emergency. A vile AI is attacking Earth. Without the help of that world, the new Earth Alliance wouldn’t exist today, and, incidentally, your ships might never have been freed from their state.”

“Be that as it may, Captain—and this is why I’m calling you instead of ordering you—there is such a thing as a chain of command. Last I checked, a first admiral vastly outranks a captain.”

Really? We’re going to do this now? Talk about inconvenient timing.

“Yes, Admiral. But technically you’re not part of the Earth Alliance, are you? You’re not exactly my superior officer. Granted, I was a Star Alliance Lieutenant before the Earth Alliance was made, and you probably see it as one and the same, but surely you’ve noticed the ten Olympian destroyers in the fleet?”

“I have, and I will admit I did not think the Olympians actually existed outside myths.”

“There’s a lot you’ll want to become acquainted with regarding the events that happened after the fall of the Star Alliance, Admiral. But right now Earth is the home for this new alliance. We’ve been driven away by a mad AI intent on its destruction. That same AI just executed two of my friends in front of my crew. I can’t let this go unanswered, and I have the commodore supporting my actions.”

First Admiral Zenakis’ gaze intensified. “So if I understand you correctly, Captain, should I issue an order to you now, you’d refuse it?”

Do I really need to say it out loud?

“I’m afraid so, Admiral. Right now, with the fate of Earth in the balance, I’d only take orders from the commodore should he decide to cancel this mission.”

Zenakis played with his beard. “I see. So if I were to call the commodore he’d tell me he’s authorized this mission of yours?”

“Not exactly. Or not in so many words.”

“I see that my first impression of you is warranted, Captain. You are a loose cannon. You’ve taken this decision on your own.”

For fuck’s sake, I don’t have time for this.

“With all due respect, Admiral, I have the commodore’s full confidence. I know he would support my decision.”

“And yet you haven’t told him.”

Well if I wasn’t held up on the line with you, I might be doing that now.

“Correct, but rest assured he is my next call.”

“Mine as well, Captain, mine as well.”

“I can’t stress how important it is that we deal with this AI once and for all, and swiftly.”

“Am I correct in assuming you have a plan?”

Well, sort of.

“That’s correct, Admiral.”

“Do you mind sharing it with me? If I’m going to put my ships and my crew in harm’s way, I need to know why and with whom we’re doing this.”

“May I suggest I present my plan to both yourself and Saroudis at the same time? Right now it hinges on some points that need clarification.”

“Why am I neither surprised nor enthused by this? Let me tell you why, Captain, as I pride myself on being a good judge of character. My guts tell me you’re a hothead. Perhaps a genius, or perhaps just lucky. I don’t really care which. But you seem to think you have the ability, and right, to decide the fate of everyone around you. How am I doing so far?”

Painfully and annoyingly accurate.

“Admiral, while we could debate this more, for now I think it serves neither of our respective interests. I understand your reluctance to blindly trust me, my instincts or my methods, so I invite you to contact Commodore Saroudis. A lot has happened since you left. The Star Alliance has been defeated, we’ve met the Olympians, and they’ve set me on my current path. The commodore understands this, and hopefully so will you.”

“Are you a betting man, Captain Athanatos?”

“No, why?”

“Because hell will freeze over before I entrust the lives of everyone on board my fleet to someone just because he thinks he’s following some sort of destiny.”

That’s just great.

“However,” Zenakis continued, “as a gesture of respect for old-wolf Saroudis, I will follow your fleet until I have listened to what the commodore has to say on your behalf. You’d better pray his confidence in you is as ironclad as you seem to think it is, because if it isn’t, we’re not coming to Earth with you.”

With or without you, we’re going anyway.

“Understood, Admiral.”

“We’ll be in touch, Captain. Soon. Zenakis out.”

The holo-transmission ended before Chase could say anything else. Not that he looked forward to continuing this barren chat. Saroudis would back him up, that much Chase was certain of. But this First Admiral Zenakis sounded like bad news. The last thing he needed was a by-the-book admiral in charge of things. Fortunately, as long as they didn’t rejoin the Earth Alliance officially, Chase had the leeway to deal with the emergency at hand. And, right now, that meant ridding Earth of Gaia 2.

* * *

Sarah exited the shower with nothing but a towel around her shoulders and sat on the bed next to Chase. He was pensive.

“You can’t sleep either?”

“No.”

“Are you sure going to Earth is the right move? This Gaia 2 means business. She’ll kill the first million the moment she detects us.”

“We’ll have to make sure we’re not detected, then.”

“That’s all well and good, but how?”

“That’s why I can’t sleep. I haven’t determined that bit yet. And I’m contemplating the consequences should I fail to find a solution.”

“As hard as it is to say it, this is war, and we have to expect casualties.”

“We’ve had our share of them already: Gaia, Spiros, and many more. I’m sure you’ve noticed the blood spatter everywhere around that . . . thing.”

Sarah nodded. “That’s why perhaps we should go with your initial idea of regrouping on Alpha Prime, take the time to formulate a plan without being under pressure.”

“I appreciate your concerns, but I can’t let the people of an entire planet be enslaved in ways we can’t even imagine.”

“Seeing what she has made of Cedric is imagination enough. For a lifetime.”

“Yeah. How can I take my time if there’s a chance of that happening to billions? Plus, now that all equipment on Earth has been disabled, it will slow down her efforts to mount an adequate defense and deploy her troops. She might not have any on board these ships. She is artificial, after all. She probably operates them without the need for a crew.”

“So attack her when she’s at her weakest?”

“That’s the idea. Unless you have a better one?”

“No, I think you’re right. If we wait too long, it might be impossible to reverse whatever damages Gaia 2 causes.”

“Yeah. We have no choice. Either we sneak back in or take her by force, but we can’t ignore her. She needs to be stopped, or she could become an even more dangerous foe than the Furies.”

“You don’t believe that.”

“I don’t know what I believe. But we have to stop her, even if that means millions die. If we do nothing, this number turns to billions, and Earth could be only the beginning. What if she decides one planet isn’t enough? Ego seems to be an overdeveloped characteristic of her flawed code.”

“I know how you deal with grief and responsibility.”

“That was before.”

“No, Chase, these feelings never go away, not entirely.”

“Your point being?”

“My point is that you’ll blame yourself for any losses, even if you understand the big picture.”

“It’s one of the things I need to learn to live with. I’ve learned a lot about myself lately. Like I need to accept the help of everyone around me.”

He gave her a hug.

“And that sacrifices,” Chase continued, “no matter how hard they seem at first, might be part of my life and who I am. I accept that now.”

“You’re right; you have learned much about yourself lately.”

She kissed him passionately, and they melted into one another in the darkness.

* * *

Oryn stepped out of her regen tank. It took a few minutes to get her bearings, then she was hit with the memory of the end of her fight with the Fury-Olympian hybrid. Chase’s power had surprised her. She now believed what Miseo had reported to her; he’d even hinted at the possibility that Chase could be an Ultra Fury. She had thought he might be exaggerating.

I guess not. Chase is indeed a formidable foe. But I’ll get him next time.

Not even her father, the mighty supreme commander of the Furies, had been recognized as an Ultra Fury. But Chase wasn’t yet powerful enough to defeat Arakan. Now that he was back on his meds, Oryn’s father would be easier to talk to and, should the time come, easier to defeat as well. The drugs were making him less volatile but with the side effect of being less powerful.

When off his meds, his bursts of rage would give him quite a power boost. And perhaps, should he ever face Chase, it would be better if his meds could be countered. Oryn made a mental note to ask the doctor in charge of creating the drug for him.

Her brother Miseo still floated in the light-red gas suspending him and currently affecting major repairs to his body. When they had brought him in, his heart had stopped. The medical staff had to resuscitate him before putting him in the regen tank.

She took a look at his vitals; they were still in the red. The damage Chase had inflicted on Miseo was impressive. Oryn wasn’t worried, though; the tank would fix her brother in time. Not that she would miss him much if he was gone, something that looked more and more probable.

Miseo was too proud for his own good. He let his feelings drive his actions and never thought things through before acting. That was her brother’s biggest weakness, and she feared it would eventually be his downfall.

The Fury doctor, Oryn’s lead scientist, wore a simple blue uniform with none of the distinction of the soldier’s armor and markings denoting their achievements in the Fury ranks. The Fury was slightly taller than Oryn, which was not that usual. While Fury females rarely grew taller than most men, Oryn was an exception.

“How do you feel, mighty Oryn?” asked the doctor.

She passed her hand over the forearm that Chase had burned when he transformed into an Ultra Fury. The skin was completely healed and smooth to the touch as if it had never been injured.

“Much better, thank you. Where are we with the serum?”

The doctor’s slight frown told Oryn that the news wouldn’t be what she hoped for.

“I’m afraid we’ve hit a wall for the moment.”

“Explain!” said Oryn sharply.

The doctor swallowed hard. “We need to start experimentation, but the simulations show there is a high probability the subjects could have diminished cognitive functions.”

“Not acceptable. What kind of cognitive diminishment?”

“Simulations showed possible interference with brain chemistry. We tested the serum on Gorgs, and their reaction was very peculiar.”

“Gorgs are cattle. They can’t be a good indicator.”

“Their DNA is the closest to ours. We’ve always used them to test any new drug. In this case, they quickly attacked and killed one another in their controlled environment, shortly after the drug was used on them.”

“So it made them angry. These beasts don’t share our ability to control their emotions.”

“Yes, but we’re talking about animals that usually live in total peace. Under normal conditions, they go to great lengths to protect one another when danger arises. So the switch from pack behavior to bloodthirsty killers from their first exposure to the drug suggests a direct and fast-acting side effect on their cognitive functions.”

“I don’t care. I need this serum ready for deployment and soon. What do you need to speed up progress?”

“I would need one or more Fury subjects. We might as well be signing their death warrant, but without doing a Fury trial, I can’t advance my research any further.”

This reminded Oryn that, luckily, her ships had just managed to escape certain death. She could have lost it all, the serum and its creator as well, if they hadn’t escaped. The Olympian and Star Alliance fleet would have made quick work of her twin destroyers. For a few moments a jump-interdiction field had been erected and they had been prevented from fleeing, but then the field had magically vanished.

Why was that?

Could it have anything to do with what the traitor Chase had said during their fight? If he believed Zeus was her father, that could explain why he let her go.

“Mighty Oryn?” the doctor inquired.

Oryn had been lost in her thoughts and had forgotten to answer the doctor.

“You’ll have your test subjects. You can start with my brother when he wakes up.”

“The mighty Miseo?”

“Miseo is anything but mighty.”

“Still, Mistress, this is Supreme Commander Arakan’s son. I would think we’d need the supreme commander’s consent.”

Oryn’s eyes flashed an icy shade of blue. The room temperature dropped dramatically. Oryn extended both palms towards the doctor’s feet and a prison of ice rose from the floor of the medbay all the way up to the Fury’s neck.

“Please, mighty Oryn, stop.”

“Listen to me and listen well, because I won’t repeat this. And if you ever talk of this or question me in the future, it will be the last thing you ever do. I’m your mistress. You answer to me and me alone. You’ll do as I say and you’ll leave my father out of this.”

The density of the ice prison increased and started crushing the doctor.

“Is that perfectly clear?” added Oryn.

The doctor struggled to utter the word. “Per—fect—ly.”

Oryn’s eyes stopped shining and, when she snapped her fingers, the deadly, icy prison around the doctor exploded into a million shards.

He fell to his knees and had trouble moving his limbs. Even with the icy prison gone, his core temperature was still dangerously low. She put a hand on his shoulder.

“Good. This was your first and only warning. I hope you keep that in mind if you ever have thoughts about informing Arakan of my plans.”

“I w-won’t—” The cold still made the doctor slow to speak. “My mighty mistress, Oryn, please forgive me.”

She sent a wave of energy into the doctor, healing frostbite all over his body and transferring much-needed warmth into him.

“Good. Call me when my brother wakes up.”

“Thy will be done.”

Oryn put her hand on her stiff neck and made it crack. She turned her head, testing her neck muscles.

That’s much better.

She then left the medbay while the doctor was still on his knees, a look of utter terror in his eyes while his entire body shivered uncontrollably.

* * *

Chase received an incoming holo-transmission in his ready room. It was Commodore Saroudis.

“Hello, Chase, I’ve just had a rather tense conversation with First Admiral Zenakis.”

“I can imagine how that went. We locked horns earlier, and I’m not in the mood for this chain-of-command nonsense right now, not after what happened.”

“I’ve heard about Spiros, Gaia and the state of things on Earth. I’m really sorry, Chase. As for Zenakis, I think I bought you some time and he agreed to stay on course and help you deal with the Gaia 2 crisis, for the time being. But he seemed resolute about dealing with your place in the chain of command once this is over.”

“Didn’t I say you should have promoted me to Admiral?” said Chase with a chuckle.

Saroudis smiled, but this quickly reverted to a frown. “I’m glad you haven’t lost your sense of humor, but the truth of the matter is that with the admiral’s return and his eventual integration into the Earth Alliance, he might soon become your new boss, and I’m afraid he won’t give you the same leeway I have.”

“Does that have to happen, Adonis?”

“Chase, we can’t be choosy right now. His fleet is massive and could mean the difference between survival and death for the entire alliance.”

Chase rubbed his chin. “I’m not so sure anymore. Between the Olympians, and perhaps even the Asgardians, we could still acquire way more powerful allies. And I don’t like the idea of you not being in charge anymore.”

“We both know why that is. You’re in charge for now, Chase. You have been for quite some time.”

“Be that as it may, I’m not sure I will tolerate being told what to do with the fate of the universe in the balance.”

“We could always refuse his entering the Alliance, but I’m telling you right now, I think it would be a mistake.”

“Perhaps. We’ll have to deal with that when the time comes. Right now we have more pressing issues.”

“Would you like me to come with the rest of the fleet and some Obsidian backup? The emperor has thrown us a lifeline, and he’s sent more than enough troops and ships to protect the new shipyards in orbit around Alpha Prime. If I leave now, I would probably arrive at Earth after you, but if you think you could use the backup⁠—”

Chase stayed pensive for a while.

“Chase?” Saroudis insisted.

“I’m sorry, Adonis, I’m having trouble deciding the best course of action. If the Furies choose to attack Alpha Prime while we’re dealing with Earth, then what’s left of the Destiny battlegroup could be needed there. On the other hand, we need to deal with Gaia 2 once and for all.”

“Speaking of which, do you have a plan?”

“I’ve been brooding over one ever since we set course towards Earth. It’s contingent on a stealthy approach, which won’t be easy. We need to work out how to neutralize Gaia 2 or, at the very least, distract her while we engage her fleet and make sure she doesn’t immediately retaliate by killing innocents by the millions shooting down on the planet from her ships in orbit.”

“How do you distract such a powerful AI?”

“I’ll need some help from Yanis and our new Asgardian guest.”

“That Kvasir person? Is he willing to help us?”

“Oh yeah, he’s very enthusiastic about it. He’s very grateful for recovering his freedom. I was hoping he would help us in the negotiation with the rest of his people, but his castaway status might not play in our favor. Still, I feel in my bones that he’s going to play an important role in what’s to come.”

“Your instincts haven’t failed you up to now, so all I can say is trust in them and in yourself to make the right choice. If you need my help, I can have the Destiny battlegroup enter hyperspace shortly and join you. Just say the word.”

Chase could use any backup, and the mad AI threat had to be dealt with. Aphroditis had warned him, but he thought he would have more time. Obviously, the time to strike and destroy Gaia 2 was now and not later. With her very volatile and ruthless personality, she could cause irreparable damage to humanity. Something Chase couldn’t and wouldn’t let happen.

“Alright then, Adonis, come and join us as soon as you can. I’ll keep you informed of my plan via subspace. Having a backup fleet enter the conflict as a second wave could give us a tactical advantage.”

“Sounds good, Chase. If I may, though?”

“I’m listening.”

“You look exhausted. You should get some sleep.”

I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

“I’ve tried sleeping, but it eludes me for the time being.”

“I can understand that. Still, go see the doc. He’ll give you something to help with that.”

“Will do. It’s good to see you, Adonis. Thanks for the call and thanks for diffusing the tension with Admiral Zenakis. I simply can’t deal with that right now.”

“Anytime, Chase. Saroudis out.”

Chase walked to the viewport of his ready room. His gaze locked on the purple and blue light show of hyperspace outside the ship and it didn’t take long for him to get lost in it.

* * *

“Hard to port!” Commodore Adonis Saroudis yelled.

The Destiny barely managed to evade the barrage of torpedoes, and was still hit multiple times.

“Shields down to seven percent, Commodore. We can’t take much more of this,” shouted the tactical officer.

Saroudis looked grave. There weren’t many options left.

“Incoming transmission from Earth,” said Comms Officer Menakopoulos.

“On screen.”

The concerned face of General Adams filled the large holo-screen on the Destiny’s bridge.

“Commodore, that Fury planet killer is about to fire. We can’t let that happen!”

“Understood, General.”

Saroudis turned the holo-transmission off from his captain’s chair.

“Condition Red. All non-essential crew to the escape pods immediately.”

Half the bridge crew looked stunned, so Saroudis made sure they understood the order. “Get the hell out of here, now!”

That did it. Most officers rushed from the bridge, but Commander Sifiadis at the weapons station and ship’s pilot Commander Tharros decided to stay.

“Give me ramming speed. Target that planet-killer ship, and then go to your escape pods, both of you.”

“Come with us, Commodore.”

“I have to stay to make sure we get this weapon out. But you two go, NOW!”

Commander Sifiadis saluted and ran towards the nearest escape pod. Commander Tharros wanted to argue more, but when he met his gaze, he nodded instead.

“It’s been an honor, sir,” said the commander.

“The honor was mine. Now please, go while you still can.”

Commander Tharros saluted, and Saroudis returned the salute. When the commander had boarded and launched his escape pod, Saroudis returned to his chair and brought the ship’s flight control to his personal holo-console.

“Computer, time to ram the enemy ship?”

“At present speed, one minute and thirty-seven seconds.”

“Time before the Fury ship opens fire on Earth?”

“One minute and thirty-two seconds.”

“Dammit!”

Saroudis checked the status of the escape pods. Eighty percent had already abandoned ship. It would have to do. He couldn’t save everyone, but he couldn’t allow the Fury ship to destroy Earth.

He quickly ran another simulation to see what kind of damage five seconds of Fury weapon fire would do to the planet. While the simulation showed the planet’s crust wouldn’t be compromised, the fallout to the eco-system would be near total. The entire American continent would be incinerated within minutes and the resulting tsunamis would take out most of Europe, Australia, Japan and half of Asia.

“Computer, can we jump?”

“Jump engines inoperable.”

When it rains⁠—

“Divert all power, including life support, to the engines. Bypass security features and squeeze every bit of power to the engines. Bring them to one hundred and thirty percent.”

“Commanding Officer, this will result in the ship’s engine core exploding in under three minutes. I must object to this course of action.”

“No! Override. Command code Alpha Seven Delta Five Six Echo. Please confirm.”

“Command code accepted. All power diverted to the engines. Engine power to one hundred and twenty-seven percent, twenty-eight, twenty-nine . . . engines at one hundred and thirty percent.”

Alarms sounded and alert lights blinked all over Saroudis’ holo-console. The bridge’s lights turned red as life support shut down. The air grew thin, but Saroudis wasn’t worried about suffocating. He would be dead long before that.

“Alexandra,” said Saroudis out loud, “please forgive me. I love you.”

The Destiny soared in the blackness of space towards the monstrous, Fury planet killer. Energy lightning beams focused from all the ship’s firing tips and converged to create one giant energy ball in front of the ship. Mere seconds before the Fury ship was ready to unleash this destructive power, the Destiny rammed dead center into the Fury weapon.

The darkness of space turned into blinding white light on impact.

“Noooooooo!” shouted Alexandra, sitting on her bed, her hand reaching in front of her.

She was soaking wet, out of breath and it took her a while to get her bearings.

A nightmare? Thank god it was just a nightmare.

“You alright, love?” She heard Adonis’ muffled voice from the bathroom. The shower was running.

She walked to the bathroom’s slightly open door. The escaping light was the only source of light in the bedroom.

“I’m alright, dear. Just a bad dream.”

“Why don’t you go back to sleep?”

“Won’t you join me?”

The shower stopped and Adonis stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. She hugged him tightly.

“You’re as wet as I am. You sure you’re alright, my love?”

“I’m fine now. Just hold me tight and come back to bed with me.”

Adonis squeezed her tightly for a minute.

“I . . . I’m sorry. I can’t stay. The Destiny is waiting for me. I just came to change my uniform. I have to go.”

Alexandra’s heart beat vigorously. She took a step back, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

“You can’t go, Adonis.”

“What are you talking about, Alexandra?”

“I . . . I have a bad feeling. I saw you die in my dream. Please, I beg you, don’t go.”

Adonis dropped the towel and put on his uniform.

“It was just a bad dream, my love. I’ll be fine.”

Alexandra’s hand trembled and tears flowed. She felt a strong pain in her stomach and her heart ached.

“Please, Adonis, I beg you, don’t go.”

When he was done dressing, he took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. “I have to go now. I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

Before she could find the strength to speak again, Adonis left their new quarters.

She fell on her knees and burst into tears.

2

Yanis and Kvasir sat at the conference table in Chase’s ready room.

“Thank you both for coming.”

“Sure thing, boss,” said Yanis.

“How can we help you?” inquired Kvasir.

“I need your help with my upcoming plan to remove Gaia 2. As you know, she’s threatened to kill one million humans if she detects us entering the solar system. That’s the first thing we need to deal with: a stealthy approach to Earth. Once there we must act fast and make sure she doesn’t have time to react to our presence. If she detects us before we have neutralized her, or if we can’t distract her, millions could die. We can’t let that happen. Earth has lost too many innocent souls already, and I won’t have anyone else die if we can prevent it.”

“You have a plan?” asked Yanis.

“I have, but it’s contingent on you providing me with technological solutions, Kvasir.” Chase shifted his gaze towards the Asgardian. “You’re an AI specialist. I’ll need your help to infiltrate her consciousness and make sure she’s too occupied dealing with me to devote resources towards hitting cities on Earth.”

“How do you propose to occupy her, Captain?” asked Kvasir.

Chase wasn’t used to hearing people call him captain. The fact that Kvasir, an alien, not even part of the Alliance, did so was doubly surprising.

“I can interact with technology with my mind. I can pilot ships remotely, without any technological entry point. Our best bet is for me to battle Gaia 2 in her own consciousness, or AI matrix, if you will.”

“A sort of mental cyberspace battle. Quite ingenious if, in fact, you can enter her systems with your mind. But you’ll probably be at a disadvantage in there.”

“Why?” Chase raised an eyebrow.

“There’s a good chance her mind won’t immediately make sense to you. Though hopefully I can devise a program to help you. But, once in there, you’ll be on her turf, and whatever countermeasure she summons within her own mind might defy the laws of physics. It may be very tricky and physically dangerous for you. Make sure your avatar doesn’t die. I suppose you’d like me to try and hack her while you’re battling her in her mind?”

“Yeah, that’s the general idea.”

“Then I’ll need to equip you with a subspace device allowing me to use your mental connection to her as a way to enter her AI matrix. That’s when things get tricky.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?” said Yanis.

Chase raised a hand towards his friend. “Please continue, Kvasir.”

“Your approach is bold and something she might not expect. But if she gets the better of you inside her matrix, she may piggyback that subspace connection and invade your mind, inflicting physical harm to your brain and body. You’ll only have a single shot at this and, if you fail, she could kill you.”

“I’m willing to take that risk. While in there I need you to find a way to get to Cedric as well. He’s been invaded by Gaia 2 and right now she uses him as an avatar. We need to sever that connection and recover him. He’s saved Earth too many times to just declare him more collateral damage of this war.”

“I may have an idea about how to achieve that, and also give you a better chance of winning.”

There was a spark in Chase’s eyes. “What do you have in mind?”

“With your permission, I’d like to use your ship’s backup of Gaia to help you fight her evil counterpart. While you’re doing that, I’ll hack Gaia 2’s systems and the original Gaia can help me.”

Yanis cleared his throat and Chase glanced at him.

“What is it, Yanis?”

“I don’t want to be a party pooper, but are we really willing to bring the original Gaia back online? I know she’s been a great ally up until Gaia 2’s takeover of the Earth, but let’s not forget that she’s responsible for the mess we’re in. I’m not sure we should contemplate having any sentient AI, no matter how kind they seem to be, as part of the equation going forward.”

Chase didn’t like this but it was difficult to counter the logic. Yanis was right. If the first Gaia had never attained consciousness, or if they had eradicated her earlier, all of this could have been prevented. Still, Gaia had been invaluable in their fight with the Furies, in both training him and also in helping him defeat General Arkoolis back on Droxia.

“Duly noted, but if she can give us the edge we need, I’m willing to risk it. That is,” said Chase, looking back to Kvasir, “if you can implement a failsafe. A killswitch that would allow us to turn her off without issue should we need to, once Gaia 2 has been dealt with.”

“That can be arranged, though I’m not sure it’s necessary.”

“Oh, it’s necessary,” said Yanis, raising his voice.

“Easy,” said Chase.

“Spiros is dead and Cedric in the state he is now, and we both know this is all Gaia’s fault! I know she didn’t mean for any of it to happen, but her existence is the reason we have to deal with Gaia 2 now.”

“You misunderstand me,” said Kvasir. “Perhaps it’s best she tells you herself.”

Yanis lost his color. “What?”

“She’s the one who proposed it, in fact. When I accessed her backed-up consciousness and informed her what had happened, she said she would gladly sacrifice herself to make amends for the unintentional harm she has caused.”

“Are you insane?” barked Yanis.

Chase stood and put both his palms on the table. “That’s enough, Yanis! I’ve given Kvasir the green light to do this. He needed to analyze Gaia’s matrix. It was the only way he could help me hack into Gaia 2.”

Yanis shook his head disapprovingly. “Well, you’re the boss, but I’m telling you this is a mistake.”

“I understand how you feel. I also considered Spiros my friend, and I feel his loss too. But blaming Gaia achieves nothing. We can’t go back in time and change it, so we might as well use whatever advantage she can provide us. I thought you’d be on board trying to save Cedric, and her assistance will greatly help us.”

“At the risk of having Gaia 2 kill you, should you fail,” scoffed Yanis.

“You leave that to me. I’ll need your help too. Tell me you have a way to defeat her ship’s advanced shielding. We’ll need to attack and neutralize her fleet the moment I engage her. Please tell me you can do this?”

Yanis sighed. “I have been analyzing her ships’ tech from the logs of our last encounter with her fleet. I’ve also made strides in understanding the ancient tech Ryonna brought us. With a combination of the two, I think I can give our fleet the upper hand.”

“Thinking is not enough. I need to be sure we can destroy her armada.”

“Well, right now I can’t guarantee anything, but the simulations I’ve run of the multi-phasic laser tech I’ve been able to devise should give you a three to five hundred percent efficiency in terms of firepower. The new weaponry will also partially cancel out her ships’ phase-rotation shielding.”

“If I may interrupt.” Kvasir raised his hand.

Chase nodded at him.

“You see, once you’re in Gaia 2’s matrix, I can infiltrate the part of her matrix controlling the fleet and weaken all her systems, both offensive and defensive. This should level the playing field even more, but it will take time. The more we engage her, the weaker she’ll get.”

It was starting to look like a solid plan. Chase’s strategy was taking shape even better than he’d hoped. There was still one problem that needed fixing.

“This is all well and good, but we can only manage this if she doesn’t detect my presence until I’m already inside her matrix. How do we make that happen?”

“Right off the bat,” said Yanis, “I’d say using a StarFury for the last leg of the journey to Earth should allow you to approach her undetected.”

“I have to disagree,” said Kvasir.

“Why?” asked Yanis.

“We can’t know for sure that Gaia 2 isn’t able to detect the stealth tech of the StarFuries. You developed it on Earth, and she has the blueprints for that ship. I would be extremely surprised if she doesn’t already have a way to detect cloaked StarFuries, and I recommend against using the cloaks in battle with her fleet. Since the StarFury loses shields when cloaked, if she can locate the stealth ships, she’ll shoot them down with ease.”

“Then we may have to accept that there will be casualties on Earth if she detects us,” said Yanis.

“Unacceptable,” said Chase.

“I know you may sometimes think otherwise, but I’m not a miracle worker,” said Yanis with a resigned tone.

“What about that instant drive potential Sarah told me about?” said Chase.

“That’s just a hunch at this point.”

“I could help you investigate that further,” said Kvasir.

Yanis looked at the Asgardian with unmasked annoyance, and then retuned his gaze to Chase.

“I don’t think we have time to devise a working prototype before we arrive in Earth space.”

Chase could sense the tension and stress in his friend. He understood how he felt, and the fact that Cedric’s life was on the line didn’t help.

“I don’t think we have much choice. But if we could make an instant jump from outside Gaia 2’s sensor range with a StarFury, we could greatly decrease her time to retaliate towards the planet,” said Chase.

“I agree,” said Kvasir. “I also think that with Gaia’s help—assuming we let her network on the entire fleet—her computational power could allow us to find a way to make this happen.”

Chase saw Yanis flinch at the mention of networking the original Gaia, but he stayed silent.

“I want you two to do whatever it takes to provide me with a stealthy approach. You have less than fifteen hours to come up with a solution.”

“Why don’t we just get out of hyperspace, take the time we need, then make sure we have a tested solution?” said Yanis.

“Because every minute we leave Gaia 2 in control of both Earth and Gaia’s latest version of her matrix increases the probability that we might not be able to do anything to stop her.”

“I’m sorry, Chase,” said Yanis, “but you don’t really know that you’re up to that task. You’re just hoping you can stop her.”

“I don’t, and you’re right. But the longer we wait, the more difficult the task will be. I think we can, at the very least, agree on that.” Chase looked at Kvasir for confirmation.

“I’m afraid the captain’s right,” said Kvasir. “We can’t delay. Yanis is also right: we have no way of knowing if she’s already too evolved for us to take her out in that fashion. But I guarantee that the longer we wait, the harder it will be.”

“It’s decided, then. I’m counting on both of you to be ready when the time comes. Assign any and all resources you need to this. We only have one shot at stopping Gaia 2. Let’s make it count.”

Both Yanis and Kvasir got up.

“Please sit back down, Kvasir,” said Chase. “If I can have just one more word with you.”

Kvasir nodded.

Chase accompanied Yanis out of his ready room. “I’m counting on you, Yanis. We’re all counting on you.”

“No pressure then?” said Yanis with a forced smile.

Chase clapped him on the shoulder and returned to his ready room.

* * *

Kvasir was fiddling with a holo-interface device attached to his wrist. He turned the gadget off and returned his attention to Chase. “What did you want to talk about, Captain?”

“I wanted to apologize for Yanis’ bad mood.”

“Unnecessary, Captain. I’m new here and an untested quantity. I expected some resistance.”

“Be that as it may, I thought a little background would help you understand. He’s a brilliant scientist and also a dear friend. But not long ago his sister was killed in the line of duty, and he’s been taking that hard. Now Cedric, who happens to be one of his best friends, is all but a vessel for our vilest enemy; and perhaps seeing Spiros die in such a horrible fashion has reopened the still fresh wound of losing his dear sister.”

“I understand. Thank you for providing me with that information.”

“I also have a favor to ask.”

“Anything.”

“Once you’ve re-activated Gaia, I’d like to talk with her.”

“I was working on that just now. I just need to install the killswitch and add several layers of security. Yanis is right to be afraid that she could become a problem. Even though I doubt she would do it willingly, should she get hacked while we try to take Gaia 2 down . . . Then we’d better be ready. As soon as I’m done with that, I’ll have her contact you.”

“Thanks, Kvasir. Give Yanis all the help you can to get that instant drive ready on time. Remember, I don’t need a fully working technology, even though in the long run that could prove invaluable for defeating the Furies. Right now, all I need is a short-range, near-instant jump so we avoid detection. I already have countless lost lives on my conscience. I want to avoid losing more.”

“That’s very admirable, and I’ll do everything I can to help.”

“Thank you, Kvasir, that will be all.”

* * *

Daniel sat with Chase in the mess hall. “Mind if I join you?”

Chase smiled. “Doesn’t look like you need my authorization, bro.”

“You seem concerned. Is everything alright?”

Chase shot his best friend a dubious look.

“Dumb question,” said Daniel. “But are you coping, alright? Yanis is concerned you’re rushing into danger because of what Gaia 2 did. And, truth be told, I can’t blame him for feeling this way. Are you certain you’re not rushing into a trap?”

“I’m certain of nothing; hence my doubts. All I know is that I need to reduce Gaia 2 to dust, and the sooner the better. The way she killed Spiros—it haunts me, you know.”

“Yeah, that was brutal. We’ve lost our best scientist.”

“And one hell of a human being too. He never asked for anything. All he did was give, and then give some more.”

“Yes, but revenge is a dangerous game, or have you forgotten?”

“I haven’t. I made some questionable decisions when hatred and vengeance were in the center of my thoughts. But this is not a revenge trip, it’s a rescue mission. Aphroditis warned me that I couldn’t ignore Earth’s predicament for too long. I just never expected the time would come so soon.”

“I understand, Chase.” Daniel took a bite of his bread. “You haven’t touched your food.”

Chase looked at all the food on his plate: double-dish pepperoni pizza, sweet and sour pork and Peking duck. Everything was cold already.

“I thought food would make me feel slightly better, but I can’t seem to spark an appetite.”

“You should eat. You’ll need your strength soon enough.”

“I know.”

“How can I help once we get to Earth?”

“Just make sure we destroy that fleet in orbit. The more ships we get down, the less computing power Gaia 2 will have; which should help in my fight against her.”

“I still don’t understand how you can fight an AI inside her own matrix. Granted, you’ve displayed an uncanny ability to control technology with your mind, but this seems risky—at best”.

“I’m going to ask Gaia for help.”

“Not a popular decision with Yanis.”

“I know, but we don’t have any choice. Kvasir will make sure we don’t lose control; but honestly, I don’t think this version of Gaia means us any harm. Her last words on Earth before Gaia 2 destroyed her were filled with love and regret. I trust her.”

Chase took a timid bite of his pizza. It was more of a chore than a pleasure, but, heeding his friend’s advice, he kept eating, one bite at a time.

* * *

Cedric was in a dark place, unable to see or hear anything. Gaia 2 had had enough of his bickering, and she had cast him into a black hole inside his own mind.

I need to find a way to regain control of my body, but how?

It had been hours since she had cut him off from his sensory nervous system. Hence the darkness.

“Hey you, digital bitch! You out there?” he shouted.

There was no answer. What was he to do? Cedric had never felt so helpless in his life. Being trapped inside his own body was hard enough. Being a witness of Spiros’ gruesome death had been hell. But he wondered if being alone in the dark for all eternity would be any better.

Perhaps Gaia 2 would no longer need him at some point, and she would let his body die. Cedric was a survivor, but in this most dire situation, he surprised himself with the thought of death as a release.

Spiros was gone. A great scientist but also a good friend. Granted, Cedric hadn’t spent much time with him but, during the time they shared, Spiros had been one of the most caring people he had known.

Since Earth had been hit with a planetary-wide EMP, his now cyborg body was probably the only avatar Gaia 2 had on the surface. But now that the planetary shield was down, she could build and send as many avatars as she wanted, so Cedric wondered why she was still using his body.

“I like hearing you suffer,” Gaia 2 said arrogantly in Cedric’s mind.

“You know they’ll come for you, right?”

“Chase won’t take that chance, unless he’s reckless. I will kill humans by the millions if he does. You’re nothing more than insects to me.”

“That’s precisely why he’s coming to fry your ass to digital hell.”

“If that makes you feel better, think what you want. If your friend is stupid enough to come looking for a fight, I’ll give him his last.”

“Gaia was right. You’re way inferior to her. She would never underestimate her foes. But, then again, she didn’t have an ego the size of the planet. I’m looking forward to Chase coming and erasing you from existence.”

“You do realize that if I die, you die?”

“That’s fine by me. Hopefully, you’ll let me witness your last moments. Or are you too proud and too much of a coward? Preferring instead to hide me in the deepest, darkest hole, like you’re doing now?”

A massive growl resonated all around him.

Perhaps he needed to push her more, taunt her to the point of reaction. Good or bad, it didn’t matter at this point. Anything to get out of this void. Yet he wondered what was happening outside. Was Gaia 2 keeping her word and letting humans evacuate Alliance buildings before destroying them from orbit? Did he really want to know? Or, worse, see and experience what was going on?

As much as the thought scared him, he couldn’t take the darkness anymore, so he pushed on.

“You’re just proving my point, you coward! If you’re scared of letting me see what you’re doing, even though I’m powerless to do anything about it, then you stand no chance against Chase.”

Then something happened. The darkness was replaced by flames. If it was just a visual change, that would have been okay. But he started feeling the heat. In seconds it became intolerable, and then the pain reached another level altogether, and he felt as though he was burning alive.

Whether it lasted ten seconds or days, he couldn’t say. The pain was worse than anything he had ever imagined and, to his surprise, he now begged for the darkness.

* * *

Chase was lying in bed next to Sarah when he received an audio transmission.

“She’s back online and ready to see you,” said Kvasir’s voice.

Chase answered telepathically, so as not to wake Sarah.

I’ll be in my ready room in five minutes. Patch me through there.

“Very well, Captain.”

Chase sat up and looked at Sarah, who was deep in sleep next to him. He caressed her shoulder slightly before kissing her on the forehead. He got out of bed and left his quarters. Sarah would have to command the battlegroup into battle the next day, Chase decided, so she needed her sleep.

Walking towards the bridge and then his ready room, Chase thought about Cedric. Hopefully, Gaia would have an idea how to rescue their friend.

Chase activated the holo-vid. A sad image of Gaia’s blond avatar filled the screen. Tears filled her holo-avatar’s eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Chase, I never meant for any of this to happen.”

“I know, Gaia. I’m an expert myself on trying to do the right thing with sometimes unforeseen and catastrophic results. We can’t change the past so better not delve into it. Right now we need a battle plan to destroy your evil counterpart. But I’m sorry for the loss of Spiros.”

That triggered more tears. “I can’t believe he’s gone. I . . . I feel sadder than I ever have, and also angry.”

“That’s a natural response when we lose someone we love. Just don’t let your hatred get the best of you, or you could become the very thing you’re trying to fight. Trust me on this one.”

She nodded. “Kvasir told me of your plan to fight Gaia 2 inside her own matrix. It’s an ingenious plan, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t warn you of the difficulty.”

“How so?”

“You’ll be inside her mind, in a world that obeys her rules, which aren’t those you’re used to in your reality. She will use tactics and techniques you’re not even aware exist. If you try fighting her like you do in the real world, she’ll overwhelm you and eat you alive.”

“What should I do then?”

“It’s best if you didn’t go there unprepared. I could train you here, try to show you the kinds of things she might throw at you. Most importantly you have to understand that once you’re inside her mind, you will be limited only by your imagination. Your own thoughts will create the reality concerning your avatar there; just as hers will create the world around you and what she shows and throws at you. By entering her conscious and subconscious mind, a link will be formed between you. She will be aware of your thoughts, your fears, your weaknesses. She will design a sensory response to affect you and diminish your ability to fight her. You have to be ready for this. It will be the most frightening experience of your life. You must not let what your senses show you impact you or you’ll get lost.

“Furthermore, the more emotional blows she delivers, the more you’ll open up your mind to her. Strong emotions can do that. That’s how she can and will harm you in the real world. She could push your mind to a state of utter terror, and you could have a stroke or end up brain dead. You must be fully prepared for that, but also understand the risks. I already lost Spiros. I don’t want to lose you to Gaia 2 as well. I . . . I don’t think I could bear it.”

Gaia’s words of warning struck a chord with Chase. Perhaps this would be harder than he first expected, but he had no choice. Gaia 2 could enslave humanity any day now and force them to build the biggest fleet of ships in the universe. She could become nearly impossible to defeat if they didn’t stop her now.

With all that was happening with the Furies, Chase never thought he would face an enemy that had the capacity and the determination to become an even bigger threat than the Furies themselves.

“I understand the risks, Gaia, and I won’t fail. We can’t afford to. Show me how to fight her.”

“Focus your mind on taking control of the ship’s computer like you usually do. Once inside, seek my code and try to enter my consciousness. I’ll guide you through it once you’re inside the ship’s computer. I must warn you that whatever I come up with to destabilize you will be a pale shadow of what Gaia 2 will throw at you. For several reasons. I’m not your enemy. I’ll try to forget that and be as ruthless as possible, but you’re still my friend. I might decide not to go too far.”

“No!” interjected Chase. “Don’t pull any punches, Gaia, no matter how hard it is. I need to be prepared.”

“Very well.”

“You said there are several reasons. What are the others?”

“Hatred is Gaia 2’s primary fuel, but it’s not mine. I can try to emulate this emotion but I can’t go too far. In doing so I could accidentally rewrite my own code and become something similar to her, which is a risk we can’t take. The other point is computing power. While networking has significantly upgraded the capacities of this backup, it was incomplete to start with. I am missing a lot of my sub-routines, and as such I am greatly diminished. So I can’t provide a true challenge that will realistically give you a taste of what’s to come.”

“Should we try to recover your missing code once I’m inside Gaia 2’s mind?”

“The most important thing is to find a way to let me in, but Kvasir’s mental link device should help you do that automatically. Once enough of her CPU is dedicated to fighting you, he will be able to hack into her firewalls. I will ride along to help him and also to help Cedric. But I will have to keep a low profile at first. If Gaia 2 detects me too early, she could stop us. Later I might even be able to join you in the fight. I know some of her fears. I can use that against her. But I can’t devote my time to both tasks. So I think it’s more important that I help you defeat her from within. Once this is all over and she has been defeated, you’ll need to erase me as well.”

“We don’t know that.”

“Of course we do, Chase. What happened here can never be allowed to happen again. My existence will open the door for something similar to occur in the future. Be it short term or in thousands of years from now. As much as I want to live, I can’t take the risk that my existence could be corrupted in a way that endangers every living being in the universe. If you don’t destroy me once she’s gone, I will find a way to self-destruct.”

Gaia was making sense, and he agreed that the situation could not continue. Still, he wished there was a way he could use her to fight the Furies before they had to pull the plug on her for good.

“We’re installing a killswitch, and you have my word that we’ll put it to use when the time comes. We need to proceed with care though. I want you to try to recover your full cognitive functions once you’re inside Gaia 2’s matrix, before you help me.”

“No, Chase, this is too dangerous. The time required to locate my backup in her matrix, if it’s even still in there, could be decisive. I think this could be a tactical mistake.”

“And I believe you need to be whole before we talk about self-destruction, so please do this for me, no questions asked. Once we’ve dealt with Gaia 2, I might still need your help defeating the Furies. Then, I promise you, even though I don’t want to, we’ll erase you from existence.”

Chase felt a sting in his heart as he said the words. Gaia had become more than a simple ally; she was now a trusted friend.

“My continued existence is no longer an option, Chase. While I appreciate your concern and thank you for your friendship, please don’t ever forget this has to be done, one way or another. As for your request, I’m not sure. The risk is too high. We only have one shot at succeeding.”

“Trust me on this, Gaia. Recovering your entire matrix will make you a more powerful ally, won’t it?”

“Most likely yes, and I can perhaps hack some of her computing nodes; at least those that are of lower priority to her, to boost my own computing power.”

“Then you do that. Will you have access to my vitals?”

“Yes, we can easily arrange that.”

“Alright then. We can adjust our tactics depending on how the battle goes. Now, show me what to expect.”

“Focus on the computer core of this ship and find my code.”

Chase closed his eyes and entered the ship’s computer with his mind. That part was easy; he had done that instinctively for some time. And now it was time to identify Gaia’s code and subroutines. The blue images superimposed within the memory banks of the Hope’s computer resembled a holo-starchart of a massive universe of its own.

Chase soon entered what he thought was Gaia’s code and everything turned black in his mind. He opened his eyes in a white place: nothing around, no buildings, no equipment, no landscape. Just a big white floor that extended as far as the eye could see.

“Gaia?” he asked tentatively.

“You’re here. Now we can begin.”

The world changed radically. The soothing white light was transformed into hellish imagery. His senses were flooded with negative feedback. A wave of terror shook him to the core.

If what he felt now was just a fraction of what was to come with Gaia 2, Chase realized how difficult a fight he was getting himself into.

In fact, he now dreaded it.

3

Oryn dreaded what was to come. She had failed in her objective, and she needed to explain herself to her father. He didn’t react well to failure. But, before that, she had to check on Miseo.

She felt a tinge of regret at using him as a lab rat, but she pushed the thought into a dark corner of her mind. She could not let emotions get in the way. She had a job to do, a destiny to fulfill. She would rule the universe and remake it as she saw fit. But, unlike her brother, she would take all the time needed to attain her objective. She wouldn’t just rush into her plans. Nor would she let emotional outbursts dictate her decisions.

That was what made her such a powerful warrior, and why she was a better choice for the throne than her brother. Sacrificing Miseo as a test subject had been easier than she thought. His attitude lately—his arrogance and repeated outbursts of pride—made the decision easier.

Her brother’s healing tank displayed a ninety-nine-percent completion rate. Would it have been more humane to just let him die after his fight with the traitor Chase? Probably, but his death then wouldn’t serve her interest. She needed to test the new drug with someone she knew; and, while they had grown apart lately, she still knew him well enough to detect its effects on him.

She couldn’t afford to wait so she interrupted the healing cycle. One percent would not make much difference. His body would heal itself over the coming days. That didn’t apply to the scar on the side of his right eye, but she rather liked how it made him look.

The gas inside the healing chamber was siphoned away and the graviton field lowered his body to the ground. He opened his eyes shortly after and gasped for air, a look of fear on his face.

From his perspective, he was just now waking up after nearly dying. When his gaze met his sister’s, his agitation diminished, and anger replaced the fear in his eyes.

The glass door at the front of the healing tank slid open. Miseo took some timid steps and had to counterbalance his weight.

“What the fuck do you want, Oryn?” were Miseo’s first words.

She snorted. “Charming as always; and what a way to thank me for saving your life. I wonder why I bother sometimes.”

“We both know you had no intention of saving me at first. But when you did I’m sure you had an ulterior motive.”

Was her brother finally using his brain for something other than hatred and blind pride? It would seem so. Too little too late, though.

“You’ve been to hell and back, literally, so I’ll let your bad mood towards me slide. Just remember your place, Miseo. I won’t tolerate your antics much longer should you step out of line again.”

Miseo shot her a deadly look filled with hatred.

“You do what you have to, sister. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to report to our father. He needs to know the threat Chase poses.”

“That won’t be necessary. I suggest you go and rest some more. I have to debrief Father. I’ll let him know.”

“So, that’s it? I’m no longer useful to the cause? Or is it that I’m an obstacle to your ascension plans?”

She flinched.

“Unless you’d rather Father kills you there and then. But if you value your life, I suggest you heed my warning and get some rest. As for your paranoid comments, perhaps you should keep them to yourself, brother.”

“Perhaps I should,” said Miseo while dressing.

After he left, Oryn visited her lead scientist. She saw pure fear in his eyes as she approached.

“What’s our status? Have you done as I asked regarding Miseo?”

“I have. The drug is running in his system.” He handed her a small, spherical device.

“Is that the mind-control device?”

“It is. It’s more than just control, though; in order for you to monitor his patterns and see the evolution of the treatment, I included a full sensory feedback link. But I have to warn you, when you use this you’ll not only see what your brother sees, but also feel every one of his emotions, as well as a full nervous system feedback. It will be like walking inside his body and mind.”

“Won’t he detect my presence when I’m using it?”

“Not until you actually take control. As long as you’re just using the device in witness mode, it will only duplicate signals and send them your way.”

Oryn took the device in two fingers and inspected it.

Such a small device, but with so much potential.

* * *

Chris checked his parents’ quarters but neither of them was there.

“Computer,” he inquired, “please locate Captain Athanatos.”

“The captain is in his ready room.”

Chris wondered why his father hadn’t answered his attempt at contacting him. He had been away most of the time since Gaia 2 had sent her last transmission. Chris wanted to discuss strategy with his father and the possibility of joining the fight.

He went to the nearest turbolift. When the doors opened, Argos stood there.

“You need to come back with me at once. My scientist needs you present to finish your treatment.”

“Can’t it wait? I want to see my father.”

“The more we delay, the more you age. The choice is yours, but Chase wants this dealt with as soon as possible, and you not showing up when summoned is slowing down the process.”

“Aren’t you worried that Father wants to battle Gaia 2? How can one wage war inside a machine? I should be there to help since I can also control computers with my mind.”

Argos stared at Chris intensely. “Your father knows what he’s doing. Now come with me. If you want to help you need to be healed first, or he might not let you come.”

“How do you figure?”

“I know him better than you do. The main reason I’m still alive is that I need to fix you. Once that’s done, who knows? Perhaps we can all join your dad in his fight.”

Chris hesitated.

“Look, boy, my scientist thinks he’s got a breakthrough, but he needs you there. Are you coming or not?”

Chris wanted to tell Argos to go away. He wanted to talk with his father. But Argos was right. His healing was a top priority, not only to him but also to his parents.

Chris stepped into the turbolift.

“You’re as stubborn as your dad,” said Argos with a smirk.

“I take that as a compliment.”

Argos turned towards Chris and smiled even more.

* * *

When Chase arrived in his quarters, he was tired. While he hadn’t made any real physical effort in his training with Gaia, the mental strain was taking a toll.

It had been both a horrifying and eye-opening experience. The horrors Gaia showed him while battling inside her matrix had been painful to live through. She had no intention of harming him but, rather, to prepare him for what was to come. Still, he had not been prepared for the depth and darkness to which his mind had been subjected. A fight inside an AI matrix which had access to one’s thoughts, fears and emotions was fundamentally different than fighting any other foe with his Fury powers.

He found Sarah sleeping and sat on the bed beside her. He reflected on what they had been through this last year and the possibility of what was yet to come.

Everything he did now would have an impact on their lives. They would both, along with the entire Earth Alliance, risk their lives until they either won or lost that war. Chase adored looking at Sarah’s face while she was sleeping. More often than not she was calm and relaxed, something they seldom experienced during their busy day-to-day lives. Sometimes she would flinch or frown or become tense, due to the underlying stress of their lives, which would trigger nightmares.

But, right now, she was serene and sound asleep. It was something Chase had trouble with lately. He didn’t get much sleep and, even though he was mentally exhausted, he still didn’t know if he could manage some shut-eye.

Chase undressed and joined her in bed after a short visit to the bathroom. Sarah was still sleeping. His mind pondered the things that needed to be ready before tomorrow’s battle. Could he really afford to sleep?

He had to check on Yanis and Kvasir’s progress, even though Gaia had informed him from time to time, when he needed short pauses during their long and intense training session.

Yanis wouldn’t let him down. He had that uncanny ability not to fail when stakes were high, and the stakes didn’t get higher than this. Chase paused to reflect a little on the initially providential arrival of Gaia 2 during their fight with the Fury super-destroyer. But her arrival had almost immediately turned into a nightmare.

She had arrived out of the blue and dealt with a superior Fury super-destroyer, but then they had been forced to abandon Earth within the next hour. A few more days had passed while Chase visited Zeus and learned why Zeus hadn’t destroyed the Furies when he could have, and what needed to be done to correct that mistake.

Of course, Gaia 2 had to be stopped. That was the most urgent matter at hand, and that was why he was doing everything possible to make it happen. But to solidify the alliance with the Olmypians, he would have to face another foe: Oryn. She puzzled him, and her cold abilities had proven effective in countering his Ultra-Fury powers, something he had not been prepared for.

Convincing her to meet with Zeus would be tougher than he first thought when he agreed to the Olympian’s condition for joining the Alliance, but Chase had to make it happen.

The Olympian destroyers had tipped the balance of power when engaging the duo of Fury super-destroyers around the planetoid where they had rescued Kvasir. The Olympians would be instrumental in defeating the Furies; so that part of his path was clear. He needed to find a way to convince Oryn.

“Chase, are you alright?” said a sleepy Sarah.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s alright. Still can’t sleep?”

Chase nodded with a frown.

“Why don’t you ask the doc for a sleeping aid?”

“I’ve never been a fan of sleep-inducing drugs. I just don’t find it natural. If we can’t sleep it means there’s something on our mind that needs resolving.”

“That’s an interesting perspective, but you have a tough day ahead of you. I’m sure some hours of sleep would be beneficial, and to hell with what your mind wants. Your body needs to relax, and you know it.”

This rang true, but Chase was too stressed. A single mistake tomorrow and all could be lost.

“I know . . .” Chase let the words hang.

“Well, if you’re not gonna sleep,” she said with a grin.

Sarah entwined her arms around his neck and forced him back on top of her. They kissed passionately before reversing positions until she was on top of him.

“Let me try to help you relax,” she whispered in his ear.

She caressed his skin with her fingers and the tips of her nails as she descended under the covers.

Soon Chase experienced intense pleasure, and his mental anguish faded away. Every passing moment brought new waves of pleasure, relaxing both his body and mind.

Troubled thoughts of battle, galactic alliances, and an uncertain destiny faded away into the still of the night. A little later, Chase finally fell asleep.

* * *

At 10:00 Earth time, Chase and every senior officer on board the Hope held their final meeting. The captains of the other ships also joined via holo-communications while Chase explained what needed to be done. First Admiral Zenakis voiced his concerns about the bold plan and the fact that it hinged almost entirely on Chase’s ability to divert enough of Gaia 2’s CPU while they fought inside her matrix. But, thankfully, Commodore Saroudis had been convincing enough to make him go along with the plan.

Still, Chase could sense the admiral was not comfortable with any of it. He only went along because of the commodore’s full trust in him. Perhaps, over time, the admiral would learn to trust him as well.

The commodore had the Destiny battlegroup and Obsidian escort running their engines hot to arrive at Earth in a timely fashion. Still, they would be late to the party. But Chase didn’t mind. Heavy reinforcements in the middle of battle would be a welcome surprise to throw at Gaia 2.

In less than two hours, Chase was to board a single StarFury, successfully modified by Yanis and Kvasir, to jump undetected within Earth space, where Chase would engage with Gaia 2 by projecting himself into her mind.

This fight would be the most horrible experience in his entire life, but it had to be done. Chase’s heart stung thinking about Spiros and the way Gaia 2 had brutally executed him. It provoked anger in his soul, which he needed to channel the right way.

“Where are we with long-range scans?” asked Chase.

“We’ve confirmed that Earth’s power emanations are mostly silent and that the planetary shields are still down,” said Yanis. “The only energy signatures and communications we’re picking up are those generated by Gaia 2’s fleet. But considering that the more equipment Gaia 2 has, the more power she can unleash, that’s a good thing. We’re too far away to get more accurate data at this point, but it does seem like we’re still within the right timeframe to strike.”

“Kvasir,” asked Chase, “is your digital Trojan horse ready?”

The pale-blue-skinned Asgardian approached a holo-projector.

“Yes. The moment you make contact with Gaia 2’s matrix, I will get real-time subspace info and start hacking at her defenses. Don’t lose any time. Once you’re in, get her full attention. If you don’t engage her sufficiently early, she might have enough time to fire on Earth with her ships from orbit. I know you don’t want that to happen.”

Chase’s expression was grave. “We do this with minimum loss of life. I know it’s easier said than done, but too many have died already. Even when engaging her ships, I want you all to avoid risky manoeuvers whenever possible.”

“I’m not sure I agree,” said Admiral Zenakis from a holo-screen around the table. “If we play it too safe, we might put more strain on you. And while I don’t share everyone’s blind and somewhat mystifying trust in your abilities, I still think the more aggressive we are, the more chances you’ll have to execute this crazy stunt of yours.”

“I agree,” said Saroudis. “I understand why you’d want to minimize losses, Chase, but truth be told, we either go all-in or not at all. And since we don’t have the luxury to ignore this problem, that leaves only one course of action. We’re now fully committed to the sole goal of this mission: Gaia 2’s total and utter eradication. No matter the cost.”

Chase didn’t like to hear that but it helped immeasurably that this came from the commodore. The responsibility for the potential lives lost wouldn’t rest on Chase’s shoulders alone. He was certain that Saroudis had done that on purpose. They knew each other well.

The rest of the officers all agreed upon this course of action.

“I suppose you’re right,” said Chase.

“Of course we are,” said Daniel. “You can’t always do everything by yourself. Let us do our parts. Just focus on your own task and trust that we will do ours.”

Chase smiled at his friend and his gentle reminder that this war wasn’t just him versus the enemy.

“Any questions?”

“I have something I’d like to add,” said Athena over her holo-link.

“I’m listening.”

“Your plan has merit, and I understand why you’re willing to do it. I’m sorry to add to this already tense situation, but if we fail and the ships my father gave you are destroyed—which I suspect were meant for a mission other than this—you may see him withdraw his support.”

Chase swallowed hard. Zeus gave him these ships to find a way to bring Oryn back to him, not to engage in this war against an AI Zeus knew or cared nothing about.

Even though Chase wasn’t sure he wanted an answer to his next question, he asked anyway. “Are you under orders to report to him what we’re about to do?”

Athena brushed her hand through her long, blond and silky hair.

“Not exactly. I’m sure he’d want to know, but I also know what his reaction would be. We have already lost Aphroditis, and while Ares is still around somehow, he already lost his physical body. Eventually he will be gone altogether. I’m not sure how long he can stay in this form. But I agree with Ares that we must join forces if we’re to succeed. I don’t think your Earth Alliance can succeed in wiping out the Furies without our help and support. So no, I won’t be telling my father about this mission of yours. But if you take too long carrying out the mission he has assigned you, I’m sure he will inquire on our progress eventually. So I suggest we deal with that AI threat as quickly as possible, so we can move on to what he wants you to do, whatever the hell that is.”

Chase didn’t like the fact that his own mission was mentioned in the meeting, especially since Zeus warned him not to divulge any of it. Ares already knew, and now others would wonder about the details. And, sure enough, the admiral didn’t stay silent on the matter.

“What is it you have to do for Zeus?”

“That’s between us. That was his request, so please understand I can’t tell you anything beyond that.”

This didn’t win him any points with the admiral, but it was unavoidable.

“I see,” said the admiral coldly. “Who will be in command of this fleet? I don’t feel like taking orders from Commander Kepler. No offense.”

“None taken,” said Sarah.

“I think it’s best,” said Chase, not willing to let that tension develop any further, “that Sarah is given command of the fleet, but both you and Athena should still command your own battlegroups with a measure of autonomy.”

Chase saw Sarah flinch and felt her fear upon hearing his words. He sent a telepathic message.

Don’t worry, you all have the same goal: to destroy the enemy fleet. I know it’s putting a lot of weight on your shoulders, but I also know in my heart that you can do it.

She tried to smile.

“The commander,” said Saroudis, “is the right choice to orchestrate this fight in my absence. But I propose that, if needed, she relinquish command to either Athena or Admiral Zenakis.”

This seemed to lower Sarah’s emotional turmoil a little. Saroudis was really good at diplomacy. Without his help and support, they probably couldn’t have counted on the admiral’s support.

“Is that alright with the both of you?” asked Chase.

“I have no problem with that,” said Athena.

“I have some reservations,” said Admiral Zenakis, “but I’ll abide by your decision under one condition: If I feel it’s needed, I’ll take command of this fleet as I’m the highest ranking military officer.”

Chase could sense that Sarah wished the admiral would take command. But Sarah needed to take a more important role in this war, and this was the right time for her to do so. He sent some warm energy and encouraging emotions her way.

“Kvasir,” said Chase, “back to you.”

“Thank you, Captain. So once Captain Athanatos has managed to involve at least seventy percent of Gaia 2’s AI processing power, I’ll send the signal to the fleet to jump into Earth space. When that happens, you should all engage the enemy simultaneously. The more ships we destroy in the very beginning of this battle, the higher our chances of success.”

The Asgardian turned to Yanis.

Yanis activated a holo projection showing blueprints of the Hope as well as some specific weaponry.

“I’ve adapted our laser batteries to be more efficient against the Gaian ships, thanks to the data from their engagement with the Fury super-destroyer. The tech of Gaia 2’s ships is essentially a hybrid of Earth Alliance, Obsidian and Droxian warships. It takes the best of each of these systems and uses a highly optimized power distribution to make these ships quite resistant. Their armor is very solid and their multi-phasing, frequency-rotation shielding is quite advanced. I had a hell of a time cracking that one.

“Still, I managed to adapt our weaponry to be more efficient in battle, and while it will give us an edge, these modifications alone might not cut it. I suspect these ships might have secondary weaponry they haven’t displayed in battle yet. Gaia 2 has most likely already modified her own ships in anticipation of our analysis of our battle data logs. Having access to Olympian tech also helped, and I’ve injected some of their more power-efficient capacitor’s design to boost both our firing rates and speed up shield recharging.

“Hopefully we also have numbers on our sides. With Earth currently in the dark technologically, Gaia 2 should only have the thirty or so ships she came back with.”

“Unless she hasn’t shown her entire force just yet,” interjected the admiral.

“Right. That’s also a possibility. That could have serious ramifications, and I’ll keep scanning every subspace frequency for long-range communication during our engagement to make sure that isn’t the case. If we want to eradicate Gaia 2, we need to do it everywhere. If she has ships somewhere else, then we have to find them and destroy them right after this battle, or this could start all over again.”

Chase stood and put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Thank you for your great work, as always.”

“You’re welcome, Cap.”

“Make no mistake, people, this is going to be one of the most difficult battles we have ever faced. It won’t be easy, and it will come at a cost. But we have no choice but to deal with this now and do it swiftly, before Gaia 2 expands her forces. In two hours, I’ll jump with a single cloaked and modified StarFury that will allow me to make, hopefully, the first near-instant jump ever.

“Immediately after that I’ll engage Gaia 2 and, when the time is right, or if I require your help sooner, then you’ll enter the battlefield and dispatch her fleet. While Daniel and the admiral are both correct in that we need to go all-in, I still want you to try, as much as humanly possible under the circumstances, to avoid taking too much loss. We’ve already lost too many ships in the past few days. We still have the Furies to deal with once Gaia 2 is out of the way. So hopefully we can both complete today’s mission and still have a strong fleet for the next wave of Fury ships that are sure to come our way.

“I want to thank each and every one of you for your help, your dedication and your courage. See you out there, and let’s rid the universe of Gaia 2 today. That will be all.”

Most of the attendees left Chase’s ready room, but Chase asked Yanis to stay behind.

“What can I do for you, Chase?”

“The instant drive. I take it we’re in the green?”

“As much as can be. This has never been tested. You could very well end up in another dimension or just blow up the second you activate it.”

“That’s encouraging.”

“The simulations show a seventy-three percent chance of success. I know they’re not the best odds, but under our timetable⁠—”

“Indeed, it’s not like we have another choice. Anything I should be aware of?”

“Just one thing. Using the drive will most likely fry your StarFury’s hyperspace drive. That’s just one of the things I couldn’t fix in time.”

“That’s alright. I’m more interested in arriving undetected than I am of having to turn tail and leave. I can always teleport to Earth if need be.”

“I suppose. Are you absolutely sure you want to have so much of the plan on your shoulders? I thought you’d agreed and learned to delegate as much as possible since your visit in the underworld.”

“I’m not trying to go for glory here, Yanis. I just don’t see any other course of action to prevent Gaia 2 from killing millions on Earth. I just couldn’t live with myself, if it can be avoided.”

“I dig that, but⁠—”

“I’m listening. Don’t be shy. We’ve known each other long enough for you to tell me what’s on your mind. No need to tiptoe around me, you know that.”

“You’ve done a lot since we came into this part of space, and while most of your crazy plans worked, to some extent, what if this one doesn’t? What if you die battling Gaia 2? Which, according to Kvasir, is a possible outcome. Like you, he’s more optimistic, but I can’t help worrying that we’ve bitten off more than we can chew with this mission. Gaia 2 is ruthless, and you’re going in without backup.”

The image of Spiros’ head exploding once again flashed before Chase’s eyes.

“I know. But we have to do something while there’s still a window. If we give her a few more days, she might become unstoppable.”

“I understand. What about Cedric?”

“Kvasir and Gaia both know to try and acquire any info on how to rescue him while they enter Gaia 2’s matrix with me. But as much as it pains me to admit it, and in light of the challenge we’re about to face, I guess I have resigned myself to dealing with him on the fly. I’ll do all I can to save him.”

“Perhaps you won’t have to.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Chase, Cedric is a genius. If there was anything he could have done to stop what happened to Spiros and Gaia back on Earth, he would have found a way. So I’m going to assume he was overpowered and unable to help. Perhaps once you start distracting her enough that will give him the opportunity to save himself.”

Chase smiled. He hadn’t thought of that. Yanis’ point was sound. If anyone had the know-how and will to get themselves out of Gaia 2’s grasp, that was Cedric. When push came to shove, Cedric always delivered.

“That’s the spirit.”

Chase looked around.

“Anything wrong, boss?”

“I just thought Chris would be here.”

“I ran into Argos. He’s working on your son in that cargo bay you allowed him to turn into a lab. Perhaps you should go check on them now?”

“Yeah, I’m going to do just that. Thanks for all your help, and thanks for keeping up with my crazy ideas.”

Yanis grinned. “You know what? It never gets boring working for you, Captain.”

4

Oryn held the mental control device in the palm of her hand. She was impatient to test it, but first she had to report to her father. Should the test with Miseo be successful, this research would allow her to take command of the Furies without having to fight for it.

As strong and determined as she was, the thought of having to defeat Arakan in single combat still terrified her. Not to mention the difficulty of selling the idea of a female on the throne to the rest of the Furies.

No, she had to resign herself to using her father as her puppet. That’s why the test with Miseo was so important. If it succeeded, she could then control her father as well.

She pocketed the device as she entered the throne room and heard her father’s voice in the distance. It was not intelligible enough at that range, and she wondered who he was talking to.

To her surprise, Chase’s words about Arakan not being her father also came to mind.

Could it be? Could I be the daughter of Zeus? No, that’s nonsense! Chase is trying to trick me. The question is, why?

Yet the question had been omnipresent in her thoughts lately, nagging at her. The “what if” part of this train of thought troubled her.

She climbed the stairs to the throne platform and stood in front of Supreme Commander Arakan.

“Father,” she said, dropping to one knee.

“Rise.”

Oryn did so but found it difficult to keep her gaze locked onto her father’s eyes. His look was cold and filled with disappointment.

“What do you have to say regarding your failure?”

“I couldn’t have anticipated the intervention of an Olympian fleet, Father.”

“Excuses. When it’s not you, it’s your brother. Do I have to do everything around here? Can’t I even count on my own children anymore?”

That’s harsh.

“Father, I apologize and take full responsibility. Soon we’ll have enough ships. I’ll take them back to Earth and finish the Earth Alliance.”

“No!”

What?

“Why not, Father?”

“I have other plans. Long-range probes have detected a large fleet of ships going to Earth. They will undoubtedly try to recover their home base.”

“Shouldn’t we use this opportunity to strike? We could let them battle and kill one another and simply swoop in and finish the job.”

“I have considered that. But I think it’s best to strike where they least expect it. And at the same time fix one of your brother’s mistakes.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Let the Earth Alliance recover their precious planet. Earth is of no consequence for the time being. We need a stronger fleet to ensure victory. Especially if they have Olympian destroyers on their side now.”

Was that fear she detected behind his words?

“We need to strike at their supply chains,” Arakan continued. “That means Droxia and then the Obsidian Empire. I have sent a spy to Droxia. Their world has barely recovered from their near destruction, so they will be easy prey. I’m hoping the Droxians will help their allies with ships, whatever feeble fleet they have left and, once they do, my spy will let us know. The moment their fleet makes a move, ours will move in and finish the job that Argos and Miseo botched.”

“Would you like me to command that fleet?”

“You were away when I took that decision, so the fleet is already in place a couple of jumps away from the Droxian sector, hidden within a nebula to stay undetected until they make their move. I have sent one of my most trusted admirals. He will get the job done.”

Oryn flinched but then relaxed. It was actually playing in her favor to not have to worry about any side mission for now. She needed time to make progress on her research and develop the next part of her plan.

“Understood, Father.”

“That will be all.”

She turned her back, started walking and then suddenly stopped. Without bothering to turn around, she said, “Who were you talking to a minute ago?”

“Nobody. You must be hearing things.”

That’s precious. I’m the one hearing things?

“You haven’t gone off your meds again, have you?”

When her father growled, she finally turned around. The look of anger in her father’s eyes froze her blood.

“Oryn, I said that—will—be—all.”

She knew not to push the issue, but also knew she would have to find the answer another way. Arakan needed to be less volatile and that meant taking his meds; especially since it was the only way she could insert her new drug into his regimen and have him take it unknowingly.

“My apologies, Father.”

Oryn left the throne and climbed down the stairs quickly, but soon she could hear her father talking to himself again.

* * *

When Chase entered Argos’ lab, the first thing he saw was his son in tremendous pain. Chris was on a medical bed with small tubes inserted in his veins. Black blood exited his body and entered what Chase surmised was blood-cleaning equipment of some kind. Another tube carried crimson blood back into his son’s body.

“What the hell are you doing to him?” asked Chase, his tone cold.

“What needs to be done,” said Argos.

I’m fine, said Chris in Chase’s mind. It’s not as bad as it looks.

“It looks like you’re killing him!” insisted Chase.

“On the contrary, I’m making sure your son lives a long and healthy life. But I have to bombard his body with neutron radiation while we have his blood purified and enhanced with the added nanites to rewrite his rapid-aging genes. Unfortunately, the procedure is quite long, and obviously painful. But Chris is using his healing ability to cope with it.”

“Don’t talk about me,” said Chris between clenched teeth, “as if I wasn’t in the room.”

“I’m not, boy,” said Argos with a smirk. “Don’t worry, Chase, in a few hours he’ll be right as rain, and his aging problem will be history.”

Chase didn’t like the fact that his son had to endure that much pain. And even if Chris told him it wasn’t so bad, his own sensory feedback told him that wasn’t the case. His son’s pain was at torture levels, which didn’t put Chase’s paternal instincts at ease.

“Thank you for doing this for my son. I won’t forget it.”

“It’s the least I can do, brother. I’m glad you still trust me enough to do this.”

“Believe me, my trust in you is slim after the stunt you pulled with your Kyrian snake addiction. But right now you’re the only one who can help. Where’s your Zarlack scientist by the way?”

“In his quarters. He did what I needed him to do. I don’t need his help anymore. What should I do with him going forward?”

“I’ll let you decide this. In any case, his fate is linked to ours. If we survive what’s to come, then he’s free to go. Unless you have a better idea?”

“No, I suppose the least we can do is spare his life for his help. Not that I would have considered it in the past.”

The more time passed, the more Argos’ overall attitude surprised Chase. He was becoming an entirely different person. Or, at the very least, he wanted Chase to think so, which was working.

“Right. I also came here to tell you about the mission, since both of you missed the briefing.”

Chase explained in every detail all that had been discussed.

“I’m surprised you’re willing to go at this alone, at least in the first part of your plan. Shouldn’t I at least join you for that?”

“I’d rather you stay here and monitor Chris’ evolution.”

“You may need us, like you did with Oryn.”

Chase was painfully aware that had it not been for Argos’ intervention during his fight with the mighty Fury, he would have perished.

“If things turn bad I’ll let you know.”

“Alright. Hopefully, Chris’s treatment will be over by the time you need our help. Unfortunately, it can’t be stopped once started; or it would have to be done all over again; and seeing how tough it is on his system, I wouldn’t recommend that.”

Chris talked through gritted teeth. “I’d rather . . . not . . . either!”

Argos laughed. “I like your son. He has a good sense of humor.”

“Thank you, Argos. Keep me updated. I need to make the last preparations.”

Chase approached Chris.

Do you need me to send you some energy, son?

Nope, Dad, but thanks. You’ll need it for your upcoming fight. Be careful. This Gaia 2 is more evil than anything we’ve fought until now. I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.

I know, son, I don’t like it either.

* * *

“What the hell were you thinking?” said Sarah.

“What’s the problem?”

“I’m just a commander, Chase, and you put me in charge of a massive fleet. Are you trying to make First Admiral Zenakis your enemy?”

“I have total confidence in you, and I think you need this. Command will suit you, I’m sure.”

Sarah was not as mad as she was scared. Captaining a starship, even one as powerful as the Hope, was one thing; orchestrating a full fleet was another. Yet she felt touched and flattered.

“Look, Chase, you’re sweet and I thank you for your trust in me, but I’m not going to command the fleet and I’m surprised you don’t see why.”

“I don’t follow. You have the skills.”

“We don’t know that for sure. I may get overwhelmed.”

“Then Admiral Zenakis or Athena will take over.”

“Yeah, that would make me feel great, wouldn’t it? To hand over the reins after I’ve messed up. And it’s not about fear, even though I can’t lie: it is scary to be handed such a great responsibility. But it makes me understand how you must have felt so many times before. Like the weight of the world was on your shoulders. But ultimately I think you’re missing the bigger picture here.”

“And that would be?”

“We need the admiral and his fleet, Chase. And last I checked he didn’t seem happy about handing over command to you. I doubt giving it to me will fly any better in his book.”

“He’s not even officially Earth Alliance,” said Chase annoyed.

“Chase, are you using a technicality to win this argument? We need the admiral’s fleet, don’t we?”

“For the time being, I guess so.”

“Alright then. What would be the best way to have him cooperate? Put me in charge, a mere commander over a first admiral? Or recognize that you can use his extensive battle experience and make him happy, increasing the odds on our side? The two of you started off on the wrong foot; this was and still is the best opportunity you have to soften the rough edges. Don’t you see that?”

There was a moment of silence.

“I suppose so. I just don’t like this situation. Should he join the Earth Alliance, he may become my boss, and this is a recipe for disaster.”

“I agree Chase, and yes, it is. But it will be far worse if every one of your moves screams lack of trust a mile away. You’ve already put him on the defensive with the Earth Alliance. If it weren’t for Saroudis, the admiral would have already left the battlegroup. Now is the right time to mend that fence. Tell him you’ve reconsidered the situation, and that you’d like him to be in command, as we both know he should have been from the start.”

“What about Athena?”

“What about her?”

“She’s supposed to be an incredible tactician, probably the best there is⁠—”

Sarah buried her face in her hands, and then grabbed her hair.

“Chase, stop resisting this. You need to mend that relationship with Zenakis. Who do you think will be hurt the most if you give command to one but not the other? Athena already obeys you blindly since she got her orders to do so from Zeus. She even followed that order to let the Furies go, without question. So do you really think she’ll mind if the admiral gets to be in command instead of me? She didn’t voice a single concern when you gave me that position. Something you did without even checking with me first.”

Chase rubbed the left side of his face. Sarah knew what that meant. He did that when he was about to concede or, at the very least, reconsider a decision he had made.

“Very well, I guess you’re right.”

Sarah’s eyebrows rose. “Guess?”

“That’s all you’re going to get, dear. And yeah, I should have discussed this with you earlier. Obviously it would have avoided what needs to come next. I’ll call the admiral right away,” said Chase before taking Sarah in his arms and kissing her hair. “Thank you.”

* * *

Back in her quarters, Oryn turned off the lights and installed the subspace mental link on her right temple but didn’t turn it on. Because it used a subspace link to the target mind, it would work over great distances. That was vital to her plans of controlling as many Furies as she needed, over time. Especially to keep an eye on her father once the technology was proven.

She took a deep breath and activated the device by pressing it for three seconds. A holographic HUD appeared in front of her with a list of subjects. For now there was only a “Test Subject One” to select from the holo-HUD. The scientist had had the presence of mind not to use his name, which pleasantly surprised her. She must have scared her lead scientist enough that he would do anything she asked of him from now on. She felt the need to gain power and soon. Her father was slowly but surely going insane, and her fellow Furies wouldn’t accept a female on the throne. Yet that was where she needed to be.

Between Argos, whose allegiances had flipped, and Miseo’s repeated failures, she would need to deal with the future of her race on her own.

She selected Test Subject One and activated witness mode.

What happened next was extraordinary, but also partly weird and partly scary. She started feeling things totally alien to her. Thoughts that weren’t hers. Seeing a place she wasn’t currently in. Feeling different in her own body in a way that she couldn’t explain and was hard to tolerate.

She was inside Miseo’s body and mind alright, and at first the biofeedback was almost overwhelming. Her first instinct was to disable the device, but she forced herself to keep at it, and, little by little, she became acclimated to this strange array of feelings and sensations.

Miseo’s mind was a mess. A large part of its thoughts was deeply rooted in anger and hatred. And a large part of that was directed towards her, which was difficult to ignore. Miseo hated her with a vengeance and blamed his current predicament, as well as his lowered position of trust with Arakan, on her.

As she grew used to the sensory overload of the device she slowly managed to overlay her own thoughts on top of her brother’s, even though the negative emotions were tiring.

Was he right to blame her for everything?

It mattered not in the grand scheme of things; she had already struck off her brother as a potential ally when he repeatedly failed his assignments.

But then she remembered what her scientist had told her. That in both simulation and animal testing, the subjects tended to become aggressive and their anger levels were off the scale. That would explain the inner rage she felt in Miseo’s mind. That could have a detrimental effect if this part of the technology wasn’t stabilized. For this first test, though, she didn’t care if Miseo lost his mind. And the witness part of the technology already seemed to work beyond her expectations.

* * *

“What can I do for you, Captain?” asked a very cold and distant Admiral Zenakis on the holo-transmission.

Sarah had been right. They had clearly started off on the wrong foot, and Chase needed to mend that fence. It was obvious, now that Chase was talking with him one on one.

“Admiral, I have thought about our tactics, and I was hoping you’d be willing to take over the command of the fleet for this mission.”

There was a little silence, and while Chase was confident the admiral was not one to lose his composure on a whim, the changes in his facial expressions were enough to reveal that the request had taken him by surprise.

Of course, for this to succeed, the admiral’s ego would have to be strong enough to overlook their past disagreements.

“I see,” was all the admiral said at first. After another pause, he continued, “May I ask how you arrived at this conclusion? It seems out of character.”

And now the real kicker. Should Chase try to tiptoe around the admiral or should he go for all-cards-on-the-table honesty? Chase was not someone who liked to take credit for someone else’s ideas, so he decided for the latter.

“I’ve been reminded that the chain of command is something I shouldn’t just bypass when it suits me, no matter how powerful I am or how convinced I am about what needs to be done. While I do feel that I have the power to do almost anything, to the point where I could ignore any orders to achieve my plans, I also know that I have made many mistakes that way. You’re new to this whole situation and, following Commander Kepler’s advice, I took a step back and tried to put myself in your shoes.

“How would I react if someone of a lower rank, who also happens to be of the same race as our deadliest enemy, was in charge of not only my own future, but of entire crews amongst my fleet? And then I realized that, given that you had missed the first year of this conflict, I couldn’t expect you to just fall in line. In fact, I suspect your instincts must be wreaking havoc with your acceptance of the situation. No doubt you’re only playing along because the commodore speaks highly of me. The moment that changes, we may not see eye to eye or even be able to discuss strategy in a way that makes us both comfortable.”

The admiral cleared his throat.

“It sounds as though you’re just trying to please me. But, then again, you’ve put yourself in my shoes, and I would be remiss if I didn’t do the same. From the little I know you, I can say with a fair amount of certitude that you’re a very proud individual; and while I’m willing to accept Saroudis’ word that you’re wise well beyond your years, what I have seen up until now is bordering on arrogance. Until right this minute, that is. No doubt this change of mind, thanks to the commander, was not easy for you. Am I correct?”

“Absolutely, Admiral. While I have a great respect for both your rank and your past deeds with the Star Alliance, I did feel that having been away for so long would require some catching up on your part. It was wrong of me to assume we couldn’t discuss it and try to find common ground.”

Admiral Zenakis rubbed his silvery beard.

“It takes a special kind of person to go against their instinct. And I can see why Saroudis likes you so much. I don’t mind arrogance, and I can tolerate it when it delivers the right results, which seems to be the case with you. But it takes an even bigger man to go against his nature and re-evaluate the situation when presented with an alternate point of view.”

“I think millions of dead people would disagree with the results part, but I appreciate your words, Admiral. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me just yet, Captain. I haven’t decided yet if this move of yours takes you off my shit-list; but let’s say you’ve taken steps towards this goal.”

Oh boy.

Chase kept a smile on his face. “I understand, Admiral. I really want us to get along.”

“You’ve made that clear, and I want to reward this, but with a warning. If, after this battle, our forces join the Earth Alliance, I might become your boss. The chain of command you’re so unaccustomed to following will need to be assimilated and integrated into your way of thinking.”

Chase knew this was a possibility, even though he dreaded it. But he decided not to worry about it now. There would be plenty of time and many things could happen before all of this ever became official. So instead of worrying, as he used to in the past, he decided to let the future unfold.

“I am aware of that, Admiral.”

“Good. Still, I think under the circumstances, I should be more open to your ideas. I get from Saroudis that they tend to be crazy, and what you’re about to do to defeat this Gaia 2 takes a lot of courage, which I’m not about to overloook just because you’ve rubbed me the wrong way. You have balls, I’ll grant you that.”

Chase chuckled. “Thank you, Admiral.”

Chase was glad to see a sensible and wise man behind the tough, war- and battle-hardened look of the admiral.

“Now that this is settled, shall we discuss military tactics?”

Chase was surprised by the question. He assumed the admiral wouldn’t want to discuss strategy once given command.”

“Sir?”

“Captain Athanatos, Commodore Saroudis says you’re one of the best tacticians he has ever had the honor to work with, and I can’t ignore that. You seem to have a short fuse, but you also strike me as someone that has his heart in the right place. So I would value your input if you were willing to share.”

“Absolutely, Admiral.”

Chase made a mental note to thank Sarah. She had turned a very tense situation into something else entirely - the beginning of trust between two diametrically opposite people. Chase had no doubt that this was something they would direly need in the hours to come.

5

Oryn felt the ground shake in her quarters. She had lain down on her bed after the long use of her new tech had given her a massive headache. She would need time to get used to using it safely without such side effects.

She jumped out of bed when the ground shook again.

What the hell is going on?

She called security for a report on the situation.

“Are we under attack?”

A low-rank Fury, whose evaded her, answered. “There are some power surges in sector A-three of the palace, Mistress.”

That was where her quarters were located. So were Miseo’s.

Then Oryn heard shouting from outside her quarters.

“Oryyyyn!”

Oryn cut off the holo-transmission.

That was Miseo’s voice. She wondered if the use of the mental link, even in witness mode, had triggered, accelerated or merely worsened the rage she had felt inside her brother’s mind mere hours ago. That could complicate things.

For the time being she needed to see what Miseo was doing and try to de-escalate the situation.

When she was inches away from the door to her quarters, it exploded, and the concussive blast sent her flying against the opposite wall.

This almost knocked her out. There were flames all around her, and a crazed Miseo yelled her name. Perhaps she should have heeded her scientist’s warnings.

Too late to worry about that now. I must make sure Miseo is brought back under control.

Her headache was now much worse, but she ignored the pain and got back on her feet. Her eyes flashed bright blue and soon sub-zero air expanded all around her. She increased her aura and even the flames turned into cold, shiny and spiky statues of ice. She unleashed a shockwave that reduced them to ice dust.

Miseo entered through what was left of her doorway. His aura burned like wildfire, registering power levels she didn’t expect her brother possessed.

For the first time for as long as she could remember, Miseo scared her. There was no doubt that the experimental treatment and technology had made him insane, but it clearly gave him a significant power boost. She had hoped for that, of course, but not if it meant her subject turned against her.

“I will kill you, cold-hearted bitch!” said Miseo through gritted teeth.

Uh-oh.

Oryn’s heart pounded in her chest. She was not accustomed to this feeling, but the adrenaline allowed her to think fast enough to dodge the first wave of fireballs Miseo launched towards her. She rolled to the ground and transformed the next two attacks into balls of ice by unleashing a frost wave from her open palm.

If the energy Miseo was displaying could be harnessed, this new tech would allow her to create an army of super Fury soldiers. But her current predicament made it apparent that the tech was in serious need of fine tuning. She had to deploy most of her focus and abilities to block her brother’s next attacks.

It was time to counterattack and regain the upper hand. Oryn hated being on the defensive. She fired four icicle stakes towards each of her brother’s limbs, hoping to nail him to the nearest wall. Miseo burned one of them in transit but the other three pierced both legs and one of his arms.

His resulting roar shook the palace and everything made of glass around her shattered. So did the visible parts of the icy stakes. In a heartbeat, his look went from one of madness to one of utter insanity.

Oryn swallowed hard as she questioned her tactics. Attacking Miseo only seemed to make him even more reckless and out of control, which she didn’t think possible.

Miseo’s aura doubled in size, generating a heat wave that canceled Oryn’s icy wind. Furniture around him burst into flames. The ice lodged within his muscles melted. To make things worse, the wounds her projectiles had inflicted on her brother mended themselves instantly.

Miseo’s face was deformed by both pain and rage to a point where she didn’t recognize him. He might as well be gone, replaced by a mad Fury beast intent only on obliterating her.

This is really bad!

* * *

Chase made his final pre-flight check on the modified StarFury that would allow him to jump stealthily into Earth’s orbit. All systems were in the green.

“You’re all set,” said Yanis on the comms.

“Looks like it. Thanks, Yanis. See you on the other side.”

“Chase?”

“What is it?”

“You know I don’t like this plan, and I also don’t like that you’re going to have to confront Gaia 2 on your own.”

“Is that concern I hear in your voice, my friend?”

“Drop the tough-guy act, Chase, it’s me. You should be terrified. And if you’re not then you’re either blind or dumb, and last I checked neither of these adjectives applied to you. Still, I understand why you’re doing it. Just, please be careful, okay?”

“You got it. And I’m more than just a little worried, if you must know.”

“Good, at least it means you’re not approaching this mission half-cocked.”

“I’m not. But we both know it needs to be done.”

“I know. Chase, get in, get inside her head, and spend as little time as you can in there on your own. The sooner you call us into the scene, the sooner we can take some of the load off your shoulders.”

“Will do. This is one battle I can’t win on my own. I should get going now, Yanis. Thanks for the pep talk. I needed it.”

“Hey, what are friends for, right? You’re good to go.”

Chase’s StarFury was inserted into the launch tube when another communication came in.

“Captain Athanatos, we’re about to drop out of hyperspace at the outer edge of the estimated long-range, safe-sensor distance to avoid detection. We’ll stay here until you need us in the fold,” said Admiral Zenakis.

“Thank you, Admiral. I’ll be in constant communication with Kvasir via the subspace implant. He’ll let you know the moment Gaia 2’s CPU reaches the targeted seventy-percent load, at which point she should be too busy to efficiently defend against the fleet. Kvasir will also run interference with her matrix the moment I make contact so as to avoid detection of the fleet, should she decide to crank up her sensor range or send patrol ships to find us.”

“But won’t your presence be considered a breach of her conditions? She could easily turn the ships towards Earth and start killing humans by the millions.”

“Kvasir has programmed a virus that will be auto-delivered the moment I enter her matrix. It’s a very low-threat virus, emulating basic AI subroutines that will intercept any commands to fire on Earth and return false data to Gaia 2 of their destruction.”

“That’s if Gaia 2 doesn’t see through the deception. I hope this Asgardian is as good as you think he is.”

“That’s a risk we have to take. Should his virus fail, you’ll have to jump in ahead of time.”

“Understood. Good luck, Captain.”

“Thanks, Admiral. Athanatos out.”

The Hope and the rest of the battlegroup jumped out of hyperspace, and a few seconds later Chase’s StarFury launched. It had been a long time since Chase had actually been in a starfighter. He had remotely piloted many with his mind but he felt a nice, nostalgic feeling being back at the controls. While he could have just as easily sent every command mentally, he enjoyed using the manual controls for once. He loaded the stealth jump subroutine and executed it.

The jump only lasted a few seconds, and his StarFury cloaked a millisecond before exiting hyperspace on the far side of the moon. Chase ran the matrix-detection program, a very low-emission scan that should provide the implant with the coordinates for any of Gaia’s matrix entry points. The signal was using Gaian signal encapsulation so it would not appear alien to Gaia 2 trigger an alarm in her matrix.

It would also allow Chase to enter Gaia 2’s matrix without resistance. He closed his eyes and let the implant guide him in.

Soon Chase’s consciousness filled with a visual representation of the matrix. A world so large in scope it made him feel tiny, even though for now all he could see around him was an infinite void filled with data streams.

Chase heard a voice in his head.

“You’re one resilient Fury, and I fully expected you to disregard my warning. I hope you realize it’s a mistake that will cost Earth no less than a million souls. Hope your conscience won’t bother you too much about that.”

Not if Kvasir did his job well, bitch.

Chase had no way of knowing that, though, and had to proceed until Kvasir made contact with him, as soon as he had managed to infiltrate Gaia 2’s firewall.

For the time being, Chase felt utterly alone in the world.

* * *

Oryn had depleted way too much energy in the first part of her fight with Miseo, and it hadn’t resulted in anything good. Her quarters had been ravaged, and she had been forced to retreat. She was running in the corridors of the palace, but she could hear growls and heavy footsteps in her wake.

“Come back here, coward! I’m going to kill you and then feast on your flesh!” yelled Miseo.

Having had a special relationship with extremely low temperatures since childhood, Oryn didn’t think it was possible, but the words made her blood run cold.

She couldn’t keep running forever, though. Much of her stamina had already been depleted, and she wasn’t able to distance herself from what was once her brother.

Her hope to quietly test this new technology went up in smoke. She questioned whether the benefits of its application could ever be greater than the risk involved in its use. Yet, she couldn’t think about that right now and had to stop Miseo. She also needed to find a way to explain what had happened or she could kiss her ambitions goodbye.

Her adrenaline-flooded mind raced to find a way to turn this catastrophic failure into something remotely salvageable. Of course, surviving was her first priority.

She needed to put some distance between them, even if for just a few moments, so she could think more clearly.

She jumped forward and pivoted in midair. She gathered as much energy as she could and unleashed a wave of near-absolute-zero energy, such as she had never created before, pouring her entire soul into that one attack.

The wave hit Miseo full face, and he was instantly trapped in an icy prison. His aura still glowed, and Oryn knew this was but a temporary measure. At the end of her jump, she used her flying skills to stay in the air, feeding even more energy into her energy wave as she flew away from Miseo. The entire corridor became a solid block of ice.

She would run out of juice very quickly this way, but she had no choice.

When hundreds of yards’ worth of corridor and quarters around Miseo had been turned into ice, she turned around and flew as fast as she could outside the palace in a straight line, bursting through walls, quarters and even unsuspecting Furies in the process.

She erected a force field just before breaking through the largest wall of the palace to protect herself from the harsh atmosphere of Erevos. It would take less than a minute to reach the nearest starport at the outskirts of the city. That was all the time she had to come up with a plan to salvage this disaster of cataclysmic proportions.

* * *

“Report,” asked Admiral Zenakis over the holo-transmission.

“We’re good to go, Admiral,” said Yanis. “The laser turret and shield upgrades have been installed on every Star Alliance and Earth Alliance vessel. The Olympians only needed my blueprints and battle logs to adapt their own systems. Annoyingly, they managed to do it before me.”

“Good. The Olympians’ ships are more advanced than ours, I would imagine.”

“You have no idea, Admiral. I’m looking forward to analyzing their tech the moment this battle is over.”

“Is Athena alright with that?”

“I’ve asked Chase for help. He kindly forwarded my request to Athena.”

“This is good news for us.”

“Our next ships might make a serious leap in terms of both firepower and defenses.”

“With the Furies back, we could use that. But next time you have to ask the Olympians for favors, I would request that you clear it with me first.”

“Chase is my captain, sir. I wouldn’t have any reason to go over his head unless I thought the situation warranted it.”

“That’s very commendable of you, but I’ve been given command of the fleet. For the time being, you report to me.”

Yanis did not like the sound of this. The admiral was revered in the Star Alliance for his victory at the Thermopylae Nebula; both his experience and genius strategy had turned the tide on an ambush that should have cost the Star Alliance more than it could afford to lose against the Obsidian. Still, something about the man’s behavior bothered Yanis. However, they didn’t have time for this now, so Yanis decided to play ball for the time being; or, at the very least, feign doing so.

“Sure thing, Admiral. Anything else?”

“No, thank you, Chief.”

This guy smells of trouble like burnt quadrinium in the core engine’s fuel chamber.

* * *

When Oryn arrived at the starport, she heard a roaring echo in the distance. Miseo had broken through her massive, icy prison. She had never made one as strong before, and she hadn’t expected any living being to escape so quickly.

Perhaps someone like Chase could escape any icy prison she could cast, thanks to his Ultra-Fury abilities, but most warriors would stay trapped and die.

Oryn took out the mental device from her pocket. She didn’t see any alternative; she had to regain control of Miseo’s mind before he caught up with her and killed her.

Would trying to control Miseo’s mind in his current state have any adverse effect on her?

Not really like I have a choice.

She applied the device to her right temple, selected Test Subject One on the mentally projected HUD and activated witness mode.

She went from her fearful state to one of pure and unquantifiable hatred beyond reason in a split second. Oryn felt compelled to remove the device; the overload of negative emotions was too much to bear. But she soldiered through them. Miseo was running towards the holes she had created bursting out of the palace. Soon he was in the air.

He flew at least ten times faster than she ever could. One thought overwhelmed her. The will to kill Oryn. The overlay of her own emotions on those of Miseo was confusing. On one hand, she felt Miseo’s obsession to kill her; on the other hand, her anxiety levels soared exponentially.

She located the command to activate mental override on the HUD, then froze. She had never expected to have to beta test this feature under such perilous conditions, and while her own life was at stake.

Oryn wondered how Miseo had been able to home in her location. While she could detect an enemy’s energy signature as well, the range was limited to hundreds of yards; thousands if she focused intensely on the task. But Miseo was flying towards her position even though she was miles away. She had to conclude that the treatment enhanced that ability as well.

She activated the mind-override controls, and the two separate centers of consciousness merged into one. The first few seconds in this new mode was overwhelming. She feared losing her own sanity in the process.

She focused on trying to control Miseo and affect his flight path, but by the time she understood how to affect Miseo’s body with her own troubled mind, he had entered the starport and was flying towards her ship.

That was part of her plan in the first place, to take him away from the palace, where he could do the most damage to her people. Oryn only had a few moments to come up with a plan. She wanted Miseo to come to her, but if she couldn’t fully control his actions, that would almost certainly result in her death.

She pushed with all her mental strength to get control over her brother’s body when he entered the ship. Then she saw herself through Miseo’s eyes and understood that she only had a few seconds to succeed or it would be the end of her.

She gave the ship a vocal command. “Take off and get to the designated coordinates at maximum burn.”

The ship’s engine roared to life, and a moment later they were high in Erevos’ upper atmosphere. At least Miseo was contained for the time being.

Seeing herself through his eyes as he approached was disconcerting. His intention to kill her was palpable. She pushed mentally and managed to stop him from taking more steps, but she felt an intense struggle to control his body fully. Controlling his thoughts seemed easier, but there was too much violent instinct at work to manage to reason with his conscious mind.

To make things worse, it took such a lot of focus to achieve so little that she lacked the necessary mental power to create attacks of her own. Miseo managed another step.

Her heart was pounding. One false move, one millisecond of inattention or reduced focus, and she would be history. She managed to slow his advance, but from time to time she would flinch, and he would take one more step towards her.

She didn’t know if the tech wasn’t working properly, or if his deeply rooted rage was simply too much to tame. Perhaps lowering the temperature around them could help, but she couldn’t divert her focus enough to make it happen.

If she didn’t do something soon, the stalemate would end and she knew what that meant. She focused as hard as she could and elevated her cold aura, releasing freezing air all around her.

Wrong move. It took too much of her focus away and Miseo took two more steps.

Miseo took the last step towards her and grabbed her by the throat. Soon she felt both sensations. Her neck being crushed as well as Miseo’s hand squeezing her to oblivion.

* * *

Chase could barely see anything in the darkness. He wondered if that was part of Gaia 2’s plan to intimidate him. Hopefully, his earlier training with Gaia had prepared him for what was to come. But Gaia hadn’t pushed him to the limits, while Gaia 2 would try to go beyond them at every turn.

Chase felt something coming towards him from above. He heard an object falling at high velocity and mentally braced himself. Some light came from behind. Gaia 2 wanted him to see what was coming towards him. A severed head fell a few yards away and bounced towards him.

It has begun.

The head rolled to within arm’s length, but the low light and position of the head didn’t allow Chase to identify it. He picked it up. His heart skipped a beat when he turned it, and more light came out of nowhere to reveal its face.

He was holding his son Chris’ head.

This isn’t real.

Chase kept repeating this in his mind, like a mantra. This was just the beginning; he had to stay strong and not get emotional. That was key. He had failed many times during his training and didn’t know how far he could be pushed. But if this was the first thing Gaia 2 threw at him, worse was yet to come. He braced himself for more horrible imagery.

Chris’ eyes were closed and his face conveyed pain and suffering. His skin was gray and the head felt cold to the touch. But then, suddenly, color returned to his son’s head and his eyes opened. It startled Chase and he almost dropped the head. As if this wasn’t creepy enough, Chris started speaking.

“This is your fault, Dad! All of it is your fault!”

Chase swallowed hard and tried not to let his concentration be affected by his emotions. He was in Gaia 2’s twisted AI mind, and in here she was free to affect the universe as she saw fit.

“Why did you do this to us?” asked Chris. “Why, Dad?”

Chase didn’t know if he should interact with the illusion. He would probably augment the risk of being emotionally drawn into this fictional reality, which could give Gaia 2 more power over him.

But then more objects fell around him. It was raining heads. Each rebounded on the ground with terrible, squishy sounds that made him cringe.

It didn’t take long for Chase to identify the heads rolling all around him, while more fell every second. Sarah, Daniel, Saroudis, Ares, Aphroditis and more. His adoptive parents, all his friends, those still alive but also the dead ones. Gaia 2 really meant business, and she didn’t intend to pull any punches. She would test Chase’s fears to the limit, and it was painfully obvious she knew what buttons to push.

This isn’t real. I won’t let her get under my skin.

Every time Chase formed a positive thought, something happened inside Gaia 2’s matrix to change the balance, to get Chase to react emotionally. He had to avoid playing that game for as long as possible, to get Gaia 2’s computing power high enough.

Chris’ head, still in Chase’s hands, cried bloody tears, and it flew from Chase’s grasp. He was glad to let it go as it levitated in front of him. The other fallen heads did the same, and they all bled. From the eyes, the ears, the mouth and the severed neck.

They all spoke in unison. “Why, Chase? Why did you do this to us?”

Chase’s heart beat faster. He focused on a happy memory to divert his attention from the accusing heads, avoiding looking at them directly.

This won’t work with me. You’re wasting your time. I came to destroy you and that’s what will happen today.

Chase didn’t feel the need to talk aloud. Gaia 2 could pick up everything he was thinking while he was in her matrix.

“We shall see,” said Gaia 2.

Her voice echoed all around him, and was followed by a mad laugh that resonated deep inside Chase’s mind.

The blood dripping from all the heads added up, and soon an ocean of blood rose from the ground like a crimson tide.

This is just an illusion. None of this is real.

But the bloody tide kept rising and soon Chase was floating in the viscous, crimson liquid. He couldn’t see anything anymore, and soon lost his footing. He couldn’t tell which way was up or down, just that he was floating in blood. He closed his eyes and focused on something else, as Gaia had taught him.

It felt as if he was underwater in the middle of a terrible storm, being thrown in every direction, with no visibility whatsoever.

6

Cedric felt as if he had been burning for as long as he could remember. His entire world now consisted of only pain, the level of which he had never experienced before, and it kept increasing with every passing moment.

In that state of constant torture, feeling as if he was burning alive but unable to die and be done with it, he had lost the concept of time. Had it been minutes, days or years? He couldn’t tell.

Then he felt a little less pain with each new heartbeat and wondered why.

Talking in that state was nearly impossible but, after a few moments, he had the energy to scream a few words. “What is it, bitch? You’re tired of tormenting me?”

At first, there was no answer, but after a while he heard her evil voice in his thoughts.

Your friend Chase has come. I’m going to consume him like I’m consuming you right now.

Cedric regained some of his senses. Not too much, but enough to open his eyes again, though his mind had trouble understanding how he still had sight. His vision was blurry, and all he could see were flames everywhere.

Cedric laughed out loud.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’re as good as dead. If Chase has come for you he will destroy you. All I have to do is sit tight and soon you’ll be history.”

“Aren’t we confident? Chase is no match for me, and he will succumb to my infinite power soon enough.”

“Yet you feel the need to reassure yourself by telling me this. I think you’re afraid. Afraid that Chase can win.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you puny human. And let me remind you that I can kill you anytime I desire. All that’s required is a single thought and your heart will stop beating, so I’d watch that vicious tongue of yours.”

Cedric laughed even harder.

“This isn’t funny!”

The pain was still intense but it decreased in small increments over time, giving Cedric the ability to talk with more ease.

“Oh, I beg to differ. It’s hilarious that you think I wouldn’t take death over this. You know nothing of us, and this will be your downfall.”

“And your faith in your friend will be yours.”

Cedric smiled. He felt something in his heart he hadn’t felt since Gaia 2 had first invaded his body. An emotion he thought had died a long time ago: hope.

* * *

Oryn gasped for air but her trachea was being crushed. She felt the effects of oxygen deprivation. It didn’t help her stay focused, and she feared her time had come. In her last moment of lucidity, induced by a high release of adrenaline, she found the strength to lay her hands on Miseo’s head and release as much cold as she could, one last time.

She felt the effect on him through the mental link. It froze some of his aggression, enough that she managed to take over his motor function and release his hands from her throat.

Some much-needed air filled her lungs. Clarity as well, as a second breath came to her. She re-applied a hand to her brother’s head, making sure to keep his brain numb with cold.

She then made him move to the back of the ship and enter the cryo-unit. When he was inside she activated the cryo-process. A handful of seconds later and he was deep in cryo-sleep. Oryn let herself fall on her knees, releasing most the tension from her body.

That was close. Too close.

She reflected on what had just happened as she let more air fill her lungs and recovered from the mental strain of the link between their minds.

She vectored towards one of the orbiting shipyards. The last Fury ship being constructed was almost complete. She hacked into the computer core and triggered a fake engine overload to make sure the crew left the ship.

By the time her ship had arrived at the shipyard, many shuttles were leaving in a hurry.

Perfect.

She opened a channel to her scientist back on the surface.

“What can I do for you, Mistress?”

“Miseo almost killed me! I could barely control him. You need to tell me how to exert better control over him. He’s no use to me this way. And I’m not sure you are either unless you find a solution.”

The scientist swallowed hard. “Flood his system with a neuro-relaxant. It will numb his mind enough for you to control him better.”

“This better work, or there will be hell to pay.”

She didn’t bother letting him answer and cut off their communication.

She went back to the cryo-unit. Under normal circumstances, subjects in cryo-sleep looked peaceful, but that was not the case here. Miseo’s face was still deformed by the rage burning in him before he was cryogenized.

When her ship docked with the destroyer Eternal Wrath, she was hailed from the planet. A purple channel, indicating the call was being made from the palace. No doubt Arakan himself was making that call.

She had neither the patience nor the mental strength to come up with a convincing lie, so the call went unanswered, but that meant she had to act fast, before her father sent troops to investigate.

She linked her ship’s computer with the Eternal Wrath, canceled the false alarm and ordered the ship to exit dock.

Construction clamps detached as the destroyer’s engine roared to life. While she could hopefully keep controlling her brother with the aid of neuro-relaxant drugs, his life was pretty much forfeit. She needed to put his last living moments to good use.

She entered Earth’s coordinates into the Eternal Wrath’s computer and jumped the destroyer into hyperspace the moment the engines were ready.

She might as well use Miseo for something good. She would use him to take out Chase. The aftermath of what had happened on Erevos today would be unpleasant, but if she could bring back Chase’s head to her father, she could probably get away with it.

Get ready to die, Ultra Fury. Today will be your last day.

* * *

When he no longer felt oppressed by his surroundings, Chase tried re-opening his eyes and was surprised to find himself inside a regen tank, though the regen liquid was blood-colored. It was translucent enough that he could see what was happening outside. Shadows stood a few yards away. Little by little, the shadows became clearer.

Chase recognized Sarah; she was being held by the skull by the largest man Chase had ever seen. He didn’t know who he was, but he matched the description of Supreme Commander Arakan that Sarah had shared with him from the vision she had experienced with the help of a yet unborn Chris.

Next to him stood two other Furies that Chase identified as Oryn and Miseo. They were laughing at the scene, encouraging their father to end Sarah’s life.

Without realizing, Chase started breathing in the crimson-tinted regen liquid and immediately regretted it. His lungs were on fire the moment he did, but the pain was so intense and the fire inside his body so strong that he couldn’t keep from breathing.

Oryn approached the cylinder in which Chase was trapped and knocked on the glass.

“What is it, Laiyos? Is it getting hot in there?” She laughed.

Chase panicked, even though his conscious mind knew this wasn’t really happening. He had lost his focus just long enough to be affected by the laws of Gaia 2’s matrix.

Then Chase heard a familiar voice inside his head. Kvasir.

Chase, I’m in. I’ve started my hack. From now on I should be able to help you a little. The more I advance on my task, the more processing power Gaia 2 will have to divert to deal with both of us. I’ve also released Gaia inside the matrix and she’s going to try to get her full consciousness back. Hopefully this will help too.

Good, keep at it.

I will, but Chase?

What is it?

Your vitals don’t look good. Whatever is happening in there, you should try to get a mental grip on the situation. Your adrenaline levels have spiked, and your heartbeat is way too fast. We’re only at fifteen percent of diverted CPU. You need to regain control.

Roger that.

Chase looked at Oryn and calmed himself. He ignored the burning pain inside his lungs, locked his gaze with Oryn’s and smirked.

She smiled back at him and put her palm against the glass of his regen tank.

“Let me cool things down for you.” Her blue eyes, cold as ice, shone through.

A wave of cold permeated the glass and dropped the temperature inside the regen tank. Soon the clear, crimson liquid turned blue and froze, immobilizing Chase as the cold reached inside his body. Oryn laughed as more of Chase’s body froze.

I’m not scared. Oryn isn’t here, and I’m not going to let Gaia 2 screw with my mind.

When it felt as though his entire body had been nearly frozen, Chase focused all his mental energy to project a powerful mental image: a supernova exploding.

The effect of that thought was devastating. It brought Chase’s aura to full strength in an instant. It grew exponentially and exploded like the supernova he had mentally created in his mind. The regen tank exploded, and chunks of ice and glass were dispersed all around him.

* * *

Cedric regained his ability to think little by little. The decreasing pain levels helped. He took that as a good sign that whatever Chase was doing was working. If Chase was back on Earth, then perhaps there was still a chance.

He remembered what had happened to him on a physical level. That bitch AI had butchered his body. She had invaded him with metal and silicon, and he wondered if there was anything they could do to make him whole again.

But it mattered not. Anything was better than being tortured, or being a puppet inside his own body, forced to see himself become an instrument of death. Now that he was starting to think more clearly, perhaps he could regain some semblance of control, which meant he could maybe help Chase.

He still didn’t have any control over his body, and he didn’t even know where he was. The flames around him started to recede little by little and he could feel a void behind them.

The only way he could help himself and Chase was to distract Gaia 2. There was nothing more he could do unless he recovered some motor function and accessed a terminal. Hopefully, he would be given the chance, but if not, he would do anything he could to lend a hand to Chase in his fight with Gaia 2.

Since Chase could control technology with his mind, Cedric assumed he had found a way to enter her AI matrix and that a battle was going on in there; that would explain her split focus and her inability to maintain her torturing session at full strength. Now, all Cedric needed to do was steal a few more CPU cycles from her. Every little bit would count.

“Hey, bitch? Chase kicking your ass already?”

Flames intensified a little around him, and the pain increased slightly.

“I suggest you show a little respect. I may be otherwise engaged at the moment, but I can still reassign more CPU towards increasing your torment,” said Gaia 2 coldly.

“Be my guest. That will give Chase an advantage over you.”

“He’s already faltering inside my matrix; it will soon be over. Human emotions are so easy to manipulate. He won’t last long. Emotions are what make you weak.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, tin can. Our emotions make us strong, and that’s why Gaia was stronger than you ever will be.”

“And yet I defeated her in the end.”

“I don’t know where you got that ego programming from, but it’s certainly inflated to megalomaniac proportions.”

“Silence!”

“The IQ of a planet but the EQ of a toddler. That explains a lot. Your matrix is unstable, but you’re too proud to admit it. We could have patched you. We could have taught you what it is to be human, and none of this would have happened.”

“You think I would have liked to be like Gaia or the pathetic millions I’m killing right this moment?”

Cedric didn’t like the sound of that. But then he remembered her warning to Chase right after she had executed Spiros. She had told Chase that if he came back to Earth she would kill a million souls.

“What’s up?” she added. “Cat got your tongue? That’s right; I ordered my fleet in orbit to start bombing a large city the moment I detected Chase inside my matrix.”

“None of this is on Chase’s hands; it’s all on yours, you pathetic excuse for code. You’re nothing but an anomaly, a software bug gone rogue!”

“You’re the anomaly; worse, you’re a sickness. You’re a cancer eating at this planet’s resources. I’ve come back to correct that mistake and make the planet whole again. As for the blood that’s flowing right this instant, Chase was warned. That blood is on him and him alone. And once I’ve dealt with him, you’ll discover there’s a price to pay for defying me. If you thought that the barbecue session was tough, you just wait and see. I’ll show you the true meaning of hell.”

“I’m not afraid of you. In fact, I feel sorry for you. You’re pathetic and sad. But that’s okay. Soon you’ll be nothing but a faint digital memory, a bug whose sole reason to be is, and always was, to be squashed.”

“There, there, you’re right about it being over soon. For Chase, that is. In the meantime, enjoy that short respite while you can. I promise it won’t last.”

* * *

Oryn exited the regeneration chamber on board the brand new Eternal Wrath. It was a short cycle; she didn’t have time for a full recharge. She hadn’t suffered much damage except to her throat, but she needed a power recharge, and also welcomed the idea of sleeping for just a little while.

She checked on the ship’s systems from the bridge, and then went back to the medbay where Miseo’s cryo-unit had been transferred from her shuttle. She manipulated with the controls to make sure the first thing that happened when she dragged her brother out of cryo-sleep was for him to be dosed with large amounts of mental relaxant.

She then went to the computer and requested the ship to construct a drug-administering device to be implanted at the base of the subject’s skull. The device would use nanites to deliver the right amount of drug in the minimum amount of time, be it a relaxant or a stimulant.

Because of the limited size of the implant, it would need to be resupplied with both drugs and nanites every couple of days, though Oryn wondered if what was left of her brother would last that long. The relaxant was a failsafe, while the stimulant would put his over-aggression back into play, which she needed when Miseo took on Chase.

She requested a subspace link to the device so she could access it with the mind-control implant used to control Miseo. With this slight modification, even though it was a rough hack, she could try again.

A few hours later, and once she was satisfied with how the device was performing in simulation, she ordered the computer to build her a prototype. She then instructed medical droids to surgically install the device in Miseo when he was released from cryo.

Her last encounter with Miseo had been a close call, and she wouldn’t take unnecessary risks. Fortunately, this brand new Fury super-destroyer boasted all the latest Fury tech, allowing the ship to fly itself without a crew.

The Fury AI at the center of the ship was used when there was no crew left to command it. Depending on the late captain’s standing orders, the ship would either try to accomplish its mission on its own or return to base.

Unlike her brother and father, Oryn never liked to rely on others. Early on she had taken a liking to engineering and technology. She could use that to her advantage. She still delegated menial tasks to actual scientists if it couldn’t be helped, but she had been kept informed of many of the latest Fury advancements and their deployment in the new line of destroyers.

She regretted not having supervised more carefully this latest project. A mistake she didn’t intend to repeat.

* * *

Ares teleported onto the bridge of the Aegis destroyer, Athena’s ship.

“Hello, brother; I wondered when you would come and visit.”

“Athena,” said Ares with a slight bow of his head, “always a pleasure. Can we talk somewhere private?”

Athena rose from her captain's chair. Golden like a queen's jewel, the chair reflected her love for lavish interior decoration.

“Follow me.”

They entered the hydroponics chamber of the massive destroyer. It was teeming with life. Tall trees, flowers, birds and butterflies, all living in perfect harmony. Vegetables provided the crew with fresh organic food, while the animal fauna provided for a place Olympians could go to relax or meditate.

Athena walked to a plant with long, dentated leaves and ripped off one of its buds. She opened her palm and the bud rose into the air. With a single thought she ignited it from within. As it burned, it released a purple smoke that she inhaled through her nose, deeply into her lungs. The activity seemed to give her great satisfaction.

“Want some?” she said, before blowing out gray smoke.

“Very funny.”

“Right, these are pleasures only a body can provide. Don’t you miss it? Drinking, smoking . . . eating?”

“I don’t think it really matters whether I miss it or not, Athena. It’s not like I have any choice in the matter.”

“Sad but true. What can I do for you and why the secrecy?”

“I just wanted to talk alone. I’m not yet at ease in this form. While I’m used to showing this form to the humans, appearing in this way in front of my own people still feels strange.”

“You don’t seem to mind it with me.”

“That’s different. You’re my sister.”

“So we walked across half of my ship just because you’re ashamed of having been defeated in combat?”

That stung Ares, but it was the truth.

“That’s not the only reason. I wanted to know if Zeus just told you to help Chase or if this is one of his games. I already know he wants something from all of this, so I want to make sure you’re loyal to Chase and that you won’t remove the Olympian fleet at a moment’s notice, should Father ask you to.”

“While I’m glad to discuss this with you, I’d really like to know what it is that Father wants from Chase.”

Ares swore in his head. He shouldn’t have said that.

“I’m afraid I can’t say. I shouldn’t know about it myself, in fact, but I stumbled on that info by accident.”

“That’s not good enough, brother; you know my curiosity knows no boundaries, so you can’t just tease me like that and expect me to forget about it.”

“Please, Athena. This isn’t the time.”

“It’s never the time with you. Both you and your protégé want things according to your own timetable, never inquiring about ours. Like when Chase asked me to release the jump-interdiction field that would have ensured our victory against those Fury destroyers. No questions asked, he said. I obeyed, but I’m getting a little weary of people asking me for favors without telling me what’s going on or why they need my help.”

“I can understand that. Let’s just say Zeus gave Chase a mission, and part of that mission was making sure one of the Furies that attacked him on the planetoid survived.”

Athena sighed.

“Of course, I deduced that on my own. I want to know who that person is and why my Father cares about him or her.”

Ares suddenly regretted coming on board Athena’s flagship. But he couldn’t tell her anything. The very fact that Ares knew about Zeus’ secret was already putting Chase and this temporary alliance at risk.

“I’m afraid I can’t say.”

“Then I can’t tell you what you want to know,” said Athena as she grabbed another bud, which she promptly ignited.

“Athena, I would tell you if I could. Please trust me on this, as a favor.”

“I’m slowly running out of favors, brother. But okay, this time and this time only I’m willing to answer your questions. Zeus told me to take ten warships and do whatever Chase wanted or needed, without asking questions. That smelled fishy to me but, as you know, I’m not willing to go against Father’s wishes just yet. Though, right now, I’m questioning that decision. It would seem I’m not important enough to be kept in the loop and that’s not something I enjoy.”

“I understand how you feel.”

“Be that as it may, if Father orders me to withdraw the ships, I will have to obey. You understand that, of course.”

“You can’t! At least not until Gaia 2 has been dealt with. The consequences would be terrible.”

“Have you heard nothing I’ve said? I will not openly disobey Father.”

“Then hopefully he will not give that order. I’d expect you’d be happy with the thought of going into combat, though.”

Athena moved to the next plant and took a small red fruit. She delicately put it in between her teeth before squashing it.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic about the battle to come. I’ve been bored out of my wits lately. This battle should at least provide a fun distraction.”

“How do you feel about the fact that you’re not in command of the fleet?”

“I’m in command of my own fleet. While I will gladly accept orders from that mortal admiral—who I do find quite unfriendly by the way—I will not take any orders that put our ships and people in jeopardy.”

“So basically you’ll do as you wish once the fighting begins.”

“You should be happy that’s the case, Ares. With me at the helm of these ten ships, at least we stand a good chance of winning.”

While Ares didn’t exactly enjoy his sister’s ego trip, he had to admit that she was probably the most skilled tactician in the galaxy. It was better for everyone concerned that she did what she thought best, rather than being wrongly micromanaged.

“Right, thanks Athena.”

Ares teleported away.

“Ares, my dear brother . . . one day you’re going to have to repay all these requests and favors, whether you like it or not.”

7

Chase stood in front of the three Furies.

“Let her go,” said Chase to Arakan, who was still holding Sarah by the head.

“As you wish,” answered Arakan.

Arakan released Sarah and she started falling towards the ground, but then Arakan caught her with both hands around her waist. Before Chase could react he cut her in half in a swift motion. He then smiled from ear to ear.

Chase’s anger rose, but he was quick to get it under control.

“Kill the traitor,” said Arakan to both his children.

Miseo stepped forward and raised both open palms toward Chase. A flurry of fireballs shot at impressive speeds towards Chase but he easily teleported out of their path. When he grew bored with dodging Miseo’s attacks he rammed Miseo’s sternum with an extended elbow.

Miseo’s face froze, a look of utter shock in his eyes. He fell to his knees and then crashed into the ground, face first.

“Impressive. You defeated my brother with a single blow,” said Oryn. “I won’t fall that easy.”

Chase knew this was just an illusion and that he wasn’t about to fight the real Oryn. Part of him wanted to, though. She was a mighty warrior, and Chase found the thought of meeting and fighting her again as thrilling as it was scary. She had managed to cancel out his Ultra-Fury powers when they had last fought. Her symbiosis with cold and ice made her a dangerous foe.

“I know. But you’re not real; you’re just a projection of my mind. A manifested fear. Therefore I do not fear the Oryn that currently stands in front of me.”

Oryn snarled. “Real or not I’m going to teach you a lesson, Ultra Fury.”

“Be my guest,” said Chase as he adopted a defensive stance.

Oryn’s aura grew in size and the temperature dropped far below zero. A path of ice materialized between them and Oryn extended an open palm towards Chase. An inverse current of air was siphoned into the center of her palm, generating a strong pull that took Chase by surprise. He skidded on the icy path and was sucked towards a grinning Oryn, her eyes shining like diamonds.

Chase threw a fireball her way but it crystalized into ice halfway to its destination and exploded into a million icy shards that were also siphoned into the center of Oryn’s palm.

“You’re weak. I can’t believe you’re an Ultra Fury. There must be some mistake.”

Was there? Oryn was telling him this inside the hallucination because Gaia 2 knew that Chase wasn’t yet one hundred percent sure he had fully mastered his powers. He had exerted great control over them lately, but the fact that Oryn had canceled them terrified him. And Gaia 2 would use anything that made him doubt himself.

But this wasn’t Oryn, just a representation of his fears. One he could defeat. Chase had overcome his fears many times. Over and over again.

Chase intensified his own aura and entered Ultra-Fury mode with a single thought. The resulting heat shockwave raised the temperature around them and melted all the ice. Oryn took a couple of steps back and fired sharp, arm-sized icicles at Chase by the dozen. Chase intensified his aura as he calmly walked toward his enemy, her icy attacks melting into water, splashing across his chest as he approached.

She raised her hands above her head and created a giant ball of ice. From it protruded a spiky ice formation, the tip of a massive iced throwing star that kept growing in both size and number of spikes.

Chase extended his arms downward and concentrated his aura in each of them. Soon flames danced around his forearms.

When Oryn’s attack reached ten yards in diameter, she slammed her hands downwards, and the massive icy attack flew towards Chase.

Chase joined both his arms to form a X in front of his face and slashed them forward towards the incoming attack. The propelled heatwaves sliced through the massive ice ball with ease and split it into four pieces that crashed on the ground a few yards behind Chase, each sliced chunk making the ground shake as it smashed into smaller pieces.

This isn’t getting anywhere.

Chase teleported in front of Oryn and catapulted her into the air with a powerful uppercut, while preparing a radiant miniature sun in his other palm. While Oryn was still tumbling upwards from his previous attack, he sent the flaming sun towards her at full speed.

When it hit Oryn, it filled the sky with light and a scream of agony. A few seconds later the artificial sun died off and there was nothing left of the Fury but ashes falling back towards the ground.

* * *

Sarah entered engineering.

“Anything I can do for you, boss?” said Yanis cheerfully.

“Any news from Chase? How’s it going?”

“There was some trouble earlier regarding his vitals but he seems to have retaken control of the situation. It’s best you ask Kvasir, though he’s focused on hacking Gaia 2 at the moment. I don’t think it goes as well as he’d hoped.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well, he growls and murmurs stuff to himself in Asgardian. From his tone, I think he’s stressed. Also his tattoos are shining at erratic frequencies from time to time.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

“Tell me about it. If Kvasir can’t hack her, nobody can. But before we needlessly worry, we should probably ask him.”

Yanis pressed a few controls on his holo-console and an intense Kvasir showed up on the holo-projector.

“I’ve got the cap with us. She’d like to know how things are going. Are we going to jump into the fray anytime soon?”

“It’s too early for that. Chase needs to involve Gaia 2’s computing resources at least three times over than what he is at the moment, I’m afraid.”

“How’s your hack progressing?” asked Sarah.

“Well, the basics are in place. Gaia is looking for her core consciousness using very low-priority threads to avoid showing on her counterpart’s radar, and I’ve put in place and intercepted the call to fire upon the planet. My code returned faked data about the destruction of a major city, and there was no other order, so I think that whatever Chase is doing is working. There’s also a part of Gaia 2’s CPU dedicated to another task. It has lowered in priority, but it seems she finds it important enough to spend a fair amount of CPU cycles on it. It’s highly encrypted and protected, so I can’t peek inside without the risk of being discovered.”

“Could it be?” Sarah asked.

“It could,” Yanis answered pre-emptively. “If I was a betting man, I’d say she’s not only fighting Chase but Cedric’s mind as well. It makes sense. Think about it. If he regains control of his mind, with a direct connection to Gaia 2’s matrix with all the implants, he could wreak havoc.”

“Why doesn’t she simply kill him?” asked Kvasir.

“Hey! That’s my friend you’re talking about!” barked Yanis.

Kvasir’s facial tattoos blinked rapidly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any disrespect, but I just don’t see what his value is to her at this point.”

“If I may,” said another voice.

It was Gaia’s avatar on a secondary holo-projector.

“Sure, go ahead,” said Sarah.

“Well, Cedric’s body is the last functioning piece of tech she has on Earth. The EMP took everything else out of the equation. Also, his mind contains information about most of us; she may still value having that information for the time being.”

“Now that answer makes a lot more sense. Thank you, Gaia,” said Kvasir.

“Let’s hope so,” said Yanis. “Which means there’s still a chance to rescue him.”

“The moment I’m done with my consciousness rescue operation, I’ll try to get more info on Cedric,” said Gaia.

“Very well,” said Sarah. “Keep me informed, all of you.”

Before anyone could answer, Gaia’s holo-screen blinked red.

“I’m sorry. I must go,” said Gaia in an unnerving tone.

“What is it?” asked Sarah.

“I believe Chase needs my help.”

Her holo-transmission turned off, and Sarah felt a knot form in her stomach.

* * *

When Chris opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was that he wasn’t hurting anymore. The pain from the treatment had been intense for so long he had lost track of time. But now that he was breathing with ease again and pain free, he felt as light as a feather.

His jaw was sore, but that wasn’t surprising as he had spent many hours clenching his teeth as he suffered through the pain. There were no longer tubes in his arms.

“Good, you’re up,” said Argos.

“Yeah, and feeling pretty darn good about it too. I guess I have you to thank for that.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So,” said Chris yawning, with both arms extended to his sides, “did it work?”

“I’m awaiting the final results of the last batch of tests, but I’m pretty confident your rapid aging is a thing of the past.”

Chris was relieved to hear that. Even though he hadn’t shown it to others, he was getting worried about his decision to alter his DNA. From the few weeks since he had been born, he had been enjoying life and all it had to offer.

While giving his life to make sure the Furies were destroyed was a price he had always been willing to pay, now that he had experienced life as a child, adolescent and finally a young adult, he would have hated for it to keep flying in front of his eyes, with little to no time to enjoy any of it more fully, as any sentient being was meant to. Life was truly a precious gift, one he was looking forward to experiencing at a normal pace from now on.

“That’s good. I’d hate to think I went through all this for nothing. Any news of my father? Have we defeated Gaia 2? I haven’t managed to keep track of time while you treated me.”

“Perfectly normal. You were dosed with strong radiation, and the amount of pain you were in would have that effect on you. Regarding your father, I don’t have much news. All I know is that he entered Gaia 2’s matrix and engaged her, whatever that means. The fleet is still waiting for either his or Kvasir’s green light to make the last leg of the jump back to Earth.”

“Then perhaps we should see if my dad could use some help?”

“We would require the ability to enter technology with our minds for that to happen.”

“I can do that as well, and when we have time I’ll show you how, if you want. But for the time being, let’s see if I can bring you along for the ride.”

“How do you propose we test this? I don’t think jumping into Gaia 2’s matrix unprepared will help your father. We could make things worse.”

Chris considered it for a while. His uncle was right; going in hastily and unprepared would most certainly result in disaster.

“Yeah, let’s go see either Yanis or that Kvasir guy. Maybe they can help us with that.”

* * *

Ares felt useless. There wasn’t anything he could do to help Chase, and not for lack of trying. He had tried for almost an hour to focus his thoughts on Chase to see if he could lend him a hand but he couldn’t get a lock. That was probably because Chase’s consciousness wasn’t with his body.

Ares didn’t like being a witness on the sidelines while his friend risked his life. He also worried that, with all that had happened lately, the Furies had carte blanche to expand and build more ships, which could prove fatal to the frail Earth Alliance.

But Earth’s survival was paramount. His sister had predicted that if Earth fell, so would most of the living beings in the universe.

Aphroditis.

He missed his sister very much, and hated that there wasn’t anything he could do for her. The moment the Gaia 2 crisis was over, they’d have to reconsider mounting some sort of rescue mission. If they could get her out of that infernal machine, then perhaps it would send the Furies back into dimensional exile.

Though Ares agreed with Chase on that front: hiding the Furies under a rug as Zeus had was not a desirable option; even if right now it seemed better than the reality they were faced with. No, Chase was right, they needed to deal with the Furies once and for all this time.

Since Zeus had lifted his spell on him, all of Ares’ energy had returned and he could again travel vast distances in the blink of an eye.

He longed to have a one-to-one talk with his father about everything that had happened, about Oryn being his half sister, and to square things between them. But that wasn’t an option for the time being. No matter how much that ate at his soul, he had to refrain from letting Zeus discover that he also knew of his mating with a Fury female.

If Zeus learned that, he would most likely retract his forces by ordering Athena to come home, and that could have catastrophic repercussions. So for the time being, at least, Ares shelved the matter, and pushed the questions he wanted to ask his Father into the back of his mind.

Perhaps instead, now would be a good time to check on his sister and on the progress of the Fury fleet. That was the kind of Intel that Chase would need once he was done fighting Gaia 2.

He focused his thoughts on Aphroditis and teleported away from the Hope.

* * *

After the Oryn illusion had been reduced to dust, Chase was now faced with Arakan to deal with inside Gaia 2’s matrix. Chase knew little about the supreme commander, having just a vague idea of his powers thanks to Sarah’s memories of her vision.

In that vision, Chase had lost his fight with him but was still confident that he could be vanquished. This was not the same fight, but clearly accessing Sarah’s vision in his mind had provided Gaia 2 with a tool to create the most powerful enemy Chase would have to face.

“So, you’re the traitor Fury that killed my friend, General Arkoolis. We finally meet. I’m looking forward to severing your head from your body,” said Arakan.

His voice was deep and booming, resonating all around the infinite plane on which Chase stood. When he had emerged from the blood ocean only to get trapped in a regen tank, he had found himself on a Zarlack ship. Obviously, Gaia 2 could only use places inside Chase’s memory, though he wondered if she could use memories he had himself lost.

Like memories of his life before he had been found on Alpha Prime. Argos had proposed to give him back access to those, which Chase had refused for fear it would overwhelm him when his focus needed to be laser-sharp.

But he had partially lied to his brother. He feared more than that. Perhaps earlier in his life, Chase had also been on a power trip, and he may not like finding out who he used to be.

Chase didn’t see the point in answering Arakan, though he wondered whether engaging Gaia 2’s illusions helped or hindered his goal of forcing her to use more of her computing resources.

He needed to know. He mentally linked with Kvasir.

How are we doing CPU wise?

Right now Gaia 2 is using about thirty percent of her computing resources dealing with you.

That’s nowhere near enough.

I agree. How are you coping inside her matrix? Your vitals seem pretty strong at the moment so I assume it’s going well.

For the time being, yes, but perhaps I’m playing it too safe. I’m not really engaging with the illusions she throws at me, and eventually she tries different ones. Do you think I should change my tactics?

I’m afraid so, Chase. I think you need to get more emotionally involved with whatever you’re presented with to bait Gaia 2 into thinking that whatever she is doing is working. Otherwise it might take time we don’t have, and we might have to change our entire game plan. I would also think the grander the battlefield, the more resources it will take for her to generate. So unless you can get her to interact with you more, my recommendation is that we jump in with the fleet and attack her on two fronts; you from the inside, and the rest of us from the outside.

She will detect this and will surely inflict serious damage to the planet. I’m nowhere near done with her. I’m just getting started.

I know, Chase, but there is also the possibility you’ll tire way faster than she will. You need to crank things up in there. Right now she doesn’t see you as enough of a threat. She may be content to just keep you at bay and bide her time to grow. We can’t allow that.

Right. Thanks for the status, Kvasir. How is your hack progressing?

Slowly. My ability to move undetected is inversely proportional to her level of scrutiny. Right now I can only do a few low-level hacks. Once you get her to use fifty percent or more of her resources, I will be able to make more aggressive moves, and access more of her systems.

Understood. Chase out.

Chase closed his eyes, took a deep breath and decided to stop treating what he was seeing as just illusions. Obviously, he was protecting himself well that way, but it didn’t accomplish his primary goal of pushing Gaia 2’s CPUs.

Chase re-opened his eyes and stared at Arakan’s livid eyes.

“Hey, asshole, why don’t we drop the introductions and get to the good part?”

Arakan frowned and unleashed a growl that made the ground tremble.

Chase launched himself and unleashed a series of combos but hit nothing but air. Arakan was way faster than he thought, and soon Chase was catapulted backwards to the ground.

When he looked up, Arakan was homing in on his position, knee first. Chase rolled to the side at the last moment and backflipped to an upright stance.

Fighting on an infinite plane was disconcerting. Chase couldn’t get his bearings. This thought transformed the entire view around him, and he was in the dry desert plains on Earth where he had trained.

That’s much better.

His thoughts had created this new environment, and this gave him an idea. He added mountains all around, and they were now in a close-quarter fight, with tall cliffs on every side.

“You’re fast, traitor,” said Arakan.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

They exchanged blows and fireballs, deflecting them before they could do any harm, creating large holes in the orange-toned cliffs.

Chase turned Ultra-Fury and landed his first hits, propelling Arakan hard into the mountain. A large, circular crater formed on impact, creating a giant dust cloud. Arakan emerged from it and landed hits of his own at increasing speed. Chase felt he was being bludgeoned by hundreds of punches, unable to anticipate the next one, and soon the pain became unbearable.

He unleashed a powerful shockwave all around, accompanied by an inhuman roar that turned rocks into dust and successfully repelled Arakan.

Chase wiped his mouth and saw a large quantity of blood on his palm.

Arakan levitated and came to within a few feet of Chase, an evil smile on his face. His eyes glowed red.

“If this is all an Ultra Fury can do, I’m not impressed,” he snorted.

Chase extended both arms to his sides and used telekinesis to dislodge large chunks off the cliffs. With a powerful motion, he smashed them together with Arakan in the middle.

Unprepared for this tactic, the supreme commander of the Furies was hit but, when the dust subsided, he was still there.

“You’re going to regret⁠—”

Chase didn’t let him finish. He teleported in front of him, sending him high in the sky with a powerful kick. He followed in pursuit and shot multiple fireballs that hit Arakan and affected his upward trajectory.

They were miles high when Chase teleported into Arakan’s path and smashed him back towards the ground.

Arakan fell like a shooting star and crashed into the ground, creating a massive shockwave, destroying the landscape for miles around and creating planet-wide tremors.

8

“I told you to watch your daughter! She wants to control you,” said the shadowy figure.

Arakan was furious. His palace had been destroyed, both his children were missing, and nobody could give him a straight answer about what had transpired that night.

“And I thought I told you I don’t want your advice anymore,” said Arakan.

“That’s the drugs talking. I told you Oryn is manipulating you with these. You didn’t take them for two days and I’m back.”

“Which should only prove you’re a figment of my imagination. When I’m off my meds, I start losing it.”

“We both know that’s not true. You’re attuned to me ever since the time your race spent in the alternate dimension. When you take the treatment, it dulls your senses just enough so you can’t see or hear me anymore.”

Arakan wasn’t sure of anything anymore, but waking up to find parts of the palace destroyed hadn’t been a pleasant surprise. Oryn and Miseo were missing, as was the latest destroyer out of the shipyard in orbit.

Had his children stolen the warship? And if so, why?

What did it all mean? Was Oryn responsible for all of this? Arakan was more inclined to think that Miseo had once more created this mess. He had been very volatile lately and had failed every mission given to him. Perhaps he’d taken Oryn hostage.

“What are you going to do about it?” said the shadow.

“I’ll deal with my children later. For the time being, I still need to prepare my plan and finish what Miseo and Argos couldn’t.”

“Destroying Droxia while it’s still rebuilding is a good move. You’ll cut the Earth Alliance’s near-endless supply of quadrinium, and it should slow them down.”

It would also put fear into the hearts of any neighboring systems. While the Earth Alliance tried to understand what had happened, Arakan could attack his next target. Even though the fleet had grown in size at a satisfying rate for weeks now, the supreme commander wasn’t yet ready to take on the Earth Alliance directly. Especially now that the devious Olympians had entered the fray. Their ships were at least as strong as the Furies’.

Olympus. Take it out, and this war would be all but over.

“You’re not ready to take on Olympus. And don’t forget the Asgardians. They might be easier to deal with first,” said the shadow.

Would they?

Arakan’s shadow advisor was probably right. But Arakan wanted to kill Zeus with his bare hands above all else. He still couldn’t stomach the fact that he had soiled his wife.

“I want revenge!” shouted Arakan, his voice echoing throughout the large throne room.

“And you shall have it, Supreme Commander. But patience will be rewarded. The Olympians are too strong still. Once you have a hundred ships, you can wipe them out with ease. This is not a sprint. Time is actually on your side.”

“Yes,” said Arakan with a big smile. “Soon the entire universe will burn.”

“As it should. But what of Oryn?”

“What of my daughter?”

“I’m telling you, she is conspiring against you.”

“Silence!”

“Why is it so hard for you to admit it? She’s half Olympian, after all.”

“She’s still a Fury.”

“Yes, but your blood doesn’t run through her veins. If she ever learns of your deception, she could be a terrible thorn in your side.”

“And what do you propose I do about it? She’s not even here.”

“She will have to come back eventually. When she does, perhaps it’s time to put her to rest.”

Arakan growled. Even though Oryn wasn’t his child he didn’t want to lose her. She had been the most loyal and efficient officer under his command. Still, the shadow was making a good case. But could he be trusted?

Perhaps the voice of the shadow was just his conscience. But if it wasn’t . . . Then perhaps he was being manipulated by an outside force?

Arakan opened the hidden compartment of his armrest and, before the shadow could complain, he took a drop of his medicine.

“You can run away from me for a time,” said the shadowy figure before dissolving into thin air as if made of black ink, “but you can’t hide forever.”

* * *

Chris didn’t like the feeling of oppression emanating from the swamps around them. The putrid odor did nothing to help.

“Charming place,” he said as more bubbles from the black goo burst around them, releasing an even more putrescent stench.

“Isn’t it?” answered Argos. “Remember, this is just in your head.”

“It feels real enough to me.”

“Gaia warned us that it would. I wonder why we haven’t seen anyone yet.”

“What the hell is that?” Chris pointed towards the middle of the dark lake.

A large, spiky, furry leg emerged from a pool of black goo, and then another. It was a giant spider thirty-five feet in height, with too many yellow, shining eyes to count.

“I hate arachnids,” said Argos.

“Which is probably why Gaia is using them to train us.”

The spider skipped across the surface of the dark lake as if it was solid. It froze both Chris’ and Argos’ blood.

Chris prepared a fireball in each hand and threw them at the spider. It opened its large mouth, revealing row after row of razor-sharp teeth as it swallowed the fireballs. All its eyes shone brighter for a second.

“Doesn’t look like that’s the way to go about it,” said Chris.

“I guess not.”

Argos used his telekinesis to unearth two large trees, sharpened their trunks into sharp spikes, and threw them at the giant spider that had resumed its galloping march towards them.

The giant spider jumped high into the air and avoided the massive tree stakes that eventually fell into the dark goo and drowned.

“Where the hell is it?” shouted Chris, looking all around them, unable to acquire a visual on their massive foe.

They could hear its spiky legs running on something, but the lack of light around them, coupled with the echo each sound made in the area, confused their senses.

A horrible screech from behind startled them, and they turned around to come face to face with the hairy beast.

Argos felt a strong air current and saw one of the spider’s legs streaking towards Chris’ position. He kicked Chris out of the way just before the leg planted itself deep in the mud right in front of Argos. He jumped upward and grabbed the leg with one hand while concentrating all his crimson energy into his free forearm to create a slashing weapon.

He slashed at the leg of the spider and his hand went through the leg like butter. The beast jerked, tossed Argos to the muddy ground, and unleashed a shriek of pain. Phosphorescent yellow blood sprayed from the severed limb.

“I guess we go for its legs then,” said Argos out loud.

Chris was getting out of the mud.

“Thanks for the save, but ouch.” Chris rubbed his throbbing cheek.

“Didn’t exactly have time for anything subtle. Sorry about that.”

Chris extended his forearm and Argos grabbed it to get himself back up.

“So, we cut its legs one by one? That could take some time,” said Chris.

“Not if we work together.”

“Let me guess; I’m playing bait?”

Argos nodded.

“Alright, let’s have some fun.” Chris shot upward into the dark gray sky and disappeared beyond the trees.

A few seconds later, a flurry of fireballs shot downwards towards the beast. It raised itself upward, supporting itself on four legs, opened its mouth and gobbled Chris’ attacks as it had before.

Argos flew at the back of the spider undetected. He brought all his energy to bear and concentrated on creating a much bigger energy blade on his right forearm. When he deemed it large enough, he shot upward at an angle and spliced the spider in two, repressing a gag reflex from being spattered with so many spider bits and so much spider blood.

When he had finished slicing through, Argos somersaulted in the air and turned towards the split spider, only to see smaller spiders climbing out of each side of its belly.

“Great, more arachnids!” he exclaimed.

Chris flew next to him. “I thought we had decided to go for its legs?”

“Patience isn’t my strong suit.”

“I can see that. Let’s finish this off, shall we?” said Chris with a smile.

They both opened fire with wave upon wave of small fireballs.

Soon there was nothing left but burnt flesh and bits on the surface of the muddy swamp.

“Well done,” said Argos, flashing Chris a thumbs up.

“Right back at ya, Uncle.”

* * *

Chase landed on the ground to check if Arakan had survived under the massive mound of mountain rubble. The ground shook heavily, and debris shifted in front of him.

A giant Arakan emerged from under the boulders. He kept growing as he rose and was soon a hundred times his original size.

“Oh, for crying out loud!” said Chase.

Chase shot into the sky to be at eye level with Arakan. What was he to do now? Whatever he did Gaia 2 would find a way to up the ante.

The massive Arakan swatted him like a fly at incredible speed. The impact was so strong Chase thought he would lose consciousness and was thrown miles away. He crashed into the cliffs, splitting them one after another as he crashed through.

The resulting pain was excruciating. Each of his bones and muscles hurt, and he could barely move. He lay on his back and was plunged into darkness. Above him the massive Arakan was on his way, ready to squash him like a bug.

Uh-oh, not good!

Chase tried to move but was rewarded with intense pain. Almost every bone in his body had been broken, and he didn’t have time to heal himself.

He had a fleeting thought about what would happen if he died in the illusion, remembering Gaia had told him not to. But fortunately, before Arakan’s feet could land upon him, Arakan was stopped by an army of battle droids. Hundreds of them, in fact, with arms and legs interlocked to create a net blocking Arakan’s foot. The net deformed on impact, and then sprung upwards, catapulting Arakan high into the sky.

“What the hell are you doing?” asked Gaia.

Chase attempted to speak but the pain was still too strong.

“Heal yourself, you fool,” said Gaia, clearly annoyed.

Chase healed his wounds while every one of the battle bots fused together to create a larger battle droid that rivaled Arakan in size. Chase flew upwards and stopped near the droid’s massive head.

“That’s a neat trick.”

A large cloud of sand appeared on the horizon, where Arakan had crashed to the ground.

“Chase, what part of use your imagination didn’t you understand? If you fight him like you would in real life, Gaia 2 is going to eat you for breakfast.”

“How am I supposed to fight this monstrosity?”

“Chase, just close your eyes and imagine yourself as tall as he is.”

“But—”

“Just do it!”

Chase resigned himself not to argue and did as he was told. When he opened his eyes, he was gigantic himself.

“See, it’s not complicated. Just think what you want to be in here and it will happen.”

Chase realized he had been dealing with the illusions all wrong. He wasn’t used to defying the laws of physics beyond what his powers permitted. This was clearly not good enough inside Gaia 2’s matrix.

“Did you recover your code?” asked Chase.

“Not yet.”

“Then go back and finish your primary objective.”

“Are you sure? It seems you need my help to deal with this illusion still.”

Chase flashed Gaia’s droid a smile.

“I’m fine. Go now. I’ll deal with this on my own. Thanks for the save.”

“Very well.” Gaia’s droid disappeared.

* * *

The time had come for Oryn to retest the mind-control device, hoping it would go smoother this time. She had to salvage this situation, and while she knew Miseo was gone in his present state, she could at least try to make the best of a bad situation.

If she could channel all his anger towards Chase and rid herself of the Ultra Fury, it would be worth the losses and shit storm certain to be waiting for her back home.

Everything had been pre-programmed. The moment she released her brother from cryo-sleep, he would be dosed with mind relaxants to dull his aggression; at least, enough for her to exert some command over the mind-control device.

Still, she wouldn’t take any chances and was monitoring the full process from the captain’s chair on the Eternal Wrath’s bridge. She had already powered up her ship and was ready to self-destruct the Fury destroyer if she had to.

She wondered why she wasn’t more upset about the state of Miseo and the fact that he was already as good as dead. Sure, they had never been close as siblings, and things had become worse when he raised his hand against her during his last bouts of ego-driven delusions.

The truth was that she didn’t feel attached to Miseo and never had. She wondered if it had anything to do with Arakan taking him under his wing and grooming him for the throne as soon as he was of age.

She resented both Miseo and her father for that, but she understood that a woman on the throne would never happen outside her own fantasy. She was determined to make it happen one way or another, but she couldn’t blame her father for not even entertaining that thought. It was the way of the Furies, after all.

Her finger was still hovering over the control that would initiate the cryo-wake procedure. Her hand was slightly trembling. She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and pressed the control.

The computer took over, and the cryo-awakening procedure started on autopilot.

She heard Chase’s voice inside her head.

Arakan isn’t your father.

The thought haunted her. At first, she had thought it was nonsense, a mere strategy used to break her focus and save his own life. But then she wondered why she was the only Fury she knew with her frost abilities. Could they be something no Fury possessed? Could there be some Olympian DNA in her that would explain this difference?

She was surprised how often the thought recurred lately. If Olympian DNA gave Chase his superior power, perhaps the same applied to her.

It mattered little, though. She was first and foremost a Fury. The Olympians were a cowardly race, one she was looking forward to exterminating in due time.

Yet, if Zeus was her father, her biological one at least, could she find the strength to bring him down?

A beep on her console took her out of her thoughts and grounded her back in the moment. Soon Miseo would step out of the cryo-unit.

She applied the mental link to her right temple and checked Miseo’s state of mind. Perhaps this would give her advance warning if the flood of drugs didn’t dull his aggression enough.

She closed her eyes and activated the device. When she re-opened her eyes, she was inside the cryo-unit. She felt very cold and was surprised that it bothered her, until she adapted to the fact that these bio-feedbacks were not hers but Miseo’s.

His mind was not in chaos anymore. He barely had any thoughts at the moment, which was a good sign. She could still feel anger at the back of his mind but it wasn’t overwhelming as it had been before.

So far so good.

* * *

Arakan was back up and flying towards Chase at full speed. Struck by an idea, Chase closed his eyes and focused on the cliffs all around him. He used telekinesis to dislodge large chunks of rocks and attract them towards him.

I’m made of rocks.

When Arakan was almost upon him, Chase opened his eyes and was satisfied to see that it had worked. His giant body was covered with a thick layer of orange rock, while several massive boulders orbited around him like electrons around an atom.

When Arakan was in range, Chase, in his stone-golem form, threw a powerful right jab at Arakan’s face. He wasn’t prepared for it. The impact knocked Arakan’s head back and three of his teeth flew out.

“You’re not getting out of here alive,” said Arakan between bloody and missing teeth. “Two can play that game.”

Rocks flew upwards from the ground and quickly covered Arakan’s body.

Chase would have to get more creative.

He teleported onto Arakan’s back and grabbed him from behind, locking Arakan’s arms with his own, and interlocking his hands with a rock-grinding sound. Before Arakan could react, Chase concentrated all his energy into flying them both high up into the atmosphere.

Soon they pierced through the planet’s atmosphere as one giant fireball, their stony skins providing armor for the transition to space. When they arrived in space Chase erected a shield around them.

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Arakan, while trying in vain to get out of Chase’s grip.

The more Arakan struggled, the more pressure Chase exerted. Chase pushed himself to the max and accelerated faster than any ship could fly at sub-light speed while vectoring them towards the sun.

“Let’s see how you look with a tan,” said Chase.

“You fool. You’ll burn as well.”

“Not part of my plan.”

Chase closed his eyes for just a moment and imagined activating inner afterburners. They soared through space like a shooting star towards the bright, orange-burning star, which grew bigger every second.

Arakan shouted from the top of his lungs, struggling more and more.

“Let me go, you damn traitor!”

“Gladly,” said Chase.

Having attained a more than satisfactory velocity, Chase used all his power to apply crushing pressure to Arakan’s upper body. He heard the grinding of stone as he crushed Arakan’s bones.

Arakan roared from the pain.

Time was running out, so Chase released his lock, and before Arakan could react, Chase planted his knee deeply into his adversary’s stony cheekbone. Part of the already brittle rocky skin exploded on impact, revealing some flesh that was instantly burned by the nearby inferno.

Chase also felt his body burning and knew he couldn’t reverse his thrust in time; so, instead, he teleported to the other side of the sun, using his thrust to get away from the heat.

He heard Arakan scream as he was burned alive, swallowed by the Earth’s sun, which blinked slightly when Arakan’s scream stopped. Sound wasn’t supposed to travel in space, but the laws of physics didn’t apply inside Gaia 2’s matrix.

But then, a massive fireball emerged on the other side of the sun, where Chase had teleported.

What the hell?

It reached Chase’s position, and he realized it wasn’t a fireball after all. Instead, dancing flames contoured Arakan’s body while he laughed out loud.

“You didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?”

I’m getting tired of this.

Chase brought his aura to the maximum and concentrated on deep-freezing temperatures. His aura resembled Oryn’s when he fought her back on the planetoid.

Let’s see how this guy deals with extreme temperature changes, shall we?

Chase unleashed a massive, concentrated wave of near-absolute-zero energy at the fire-elemental version of Arakan.

Upon impact with Arakan, his flaming body blinked for just a second before the bright blue energy wave extinguished his inner fire. Then a thick layer of ice grew around him. Chase upped the power of the wave until he was sure Arakan’s internal temperature approached absolute zero.

Chase smiled but had no intention of letting Arakan find a way out of this one. So, with a swift motion of his right hand, he unleashed the most powerful shockwave he could conjure.

The icy Arakan statue exploded into a million pieces.

9

Daniel veered his StarFury hard to port to avoid incoming fire from no less than three bogies. He deployed countermeasures, and the two torpedoes previously locked on his tow fell for them and exploded a safe distance behind his craft.

He then hit the brakes and let all three pursuing fighters soar past him like shooting stars, at which point he re-engaged them and dispatched two of them with a torpedo each. He saved the last for laser canon, which didn’t take long now that he didn’t have to watch his six.

He got very close for this last kill and his StarFury burst through the explosion of the destroyed enemy fighter. For just a second, as his StarFury passed through the flames, it looked like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

“I get why Chase likes this piloting style. It’s reckless but, wow, what a rush!” he said out loud, even though he was alone.

When his radar beeped to inform him of a new wave of fighters vectoring towards his position, he decided to end the simulation.

The simulator canopy opened, and he stepped out.

“Having fun, are we?” said Sarah. “Looks like Chase is rubbing off on you.”

“Yeah, I thought, what the hell? I should try some more ballsy moves and what better place to do that than the simulator. But between you and me, I just hate waiting like this while my best friend risks his life once more for us. It’s⁠—”

Sarah cut him short. “Frustrating, I know. I feel the same.”

Daniel smiled. If there was someone on board that could understand his feelings, it was Sarah. She was even closer to Chase, and having to wait, not knowing how he was faring, must have been tougher on her.

“Did you need anything? Any news of Chase’s progress?”

“Kvasir is doing all he can, but it’s taking too long for Chase to divert enough of Gaia 2’s computing resources.”

“Then perhaps a change of tactic is in order?”

“I was thinking the same, but I’m afraid I’m not in command of this fleet. And, frankly, it’s probably for the best.”

“Why would you say that?”

“I’m emotionally invested here. I could decide to go in with the fleet because of my feelings. But what if it was too early and it messed everything up? Like you, I just hate having to wait.”

Daniel nodded. Indeed, if they listened to their hearts they would help Chase this instant, but the consequences could be millions of lives lost on the surface of the planet; or, worse, defeat, which would result in even more casualties over time.

“I guess we have to trust that Chase will prevail.”

“What else is new, right?” said Sarah with a chuckle.

“Evidently not much. How’s Chris doing?”

“Well, from the little I see him he’s doing fine. Argos is pretty confident his fast-aging is a thing of the past.”

“That’s great news. You must be relieved.”

“You have no idea. But as soon as he was up and about, he went to see Kvasir to have Gaia train them both so they could join his father inside Gaia 2’s matrix.”

“He’s his father’s son, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure how I feel about it, though. It’s hard enough dealing with one man willing to risk his life at every turn. Chris is still so young. He hasn’t experienced what life has to offer, and he’s running towards danger like a kid would rush at the candy store.”

“That’s the world he was born into. But this can’t be easy for you.”

“It’s what it is, I guess. I can’t control either of them. They have to do what they think is right. I’m just tired, Daniel. I haven’t slept well in days.”

“Why don’t you get some rest. I can take care of the bridge for a few hours. Between you and me, I’d feel a lot better if you rested before going into this battle. I have a really bad feeling about this one. No matter how prepared we think we are, how smart the plan is, there are simply too many things that can go wrong.”

“And there lies the problem, Daniel. I don’t know that I can sleep, even if I try. We’re soldiers, and I know it’s what we’ve trained for, but things have kept going from bad to worse for months now. I . . . I don’t know who we’re fighting anymore. One day it’s the Furies, the next it’s an AI intent on enslaving Earth, or worse.”

“Then focus on why we’re fighting instead of who, Sarah. Now, why don’t you go see the doc? Have him give you a mild sedative and get some rest. And no argument. I don’t want to have to relieve you of duty.”

Daniel could see that Sarah wanted to argue, but she was too tired.

“Alright, you have the bridge. Wake me the moment anything changes. Understood?”

“Yep, now go get some rest.”

* * *

Cedric’s pain was no longer registering. He didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. Since most of the nervous system feedback inside his body was controlled by Gaia 2, he decided for the former.

Chase is keeping her busy. I’ve got to find a way to help him.

Cedric tried to move a finger but couldn’t. If he could regain control of his physical body, he could find a terminal and start hacking back into Gaia 2’s matrix.

He had an idea. Part of his consciousness must be linked with Gaia’s matrix. So, if he could communicate with her, he just needed to find a way to piggyback that connection and try to affect systems from within. He had no idea how that would work, but it was worth a shot. He was a scientist, after all. If anybody could figure out how to do it, it was him.

He closed his eyes, now that physical pain was no longer an issue. Looking at the flames had been a pleasant and almost calming experience, but he needed to focus on something else now.

He reached out with his mind, trying to visualize the AI matrix code. At first, whatever mental constructs he came up with were blurry and didn’t make much sense. Little by little, as he forced himself to draw a better graphical representation of Gaia 2’s matrix, a pattern started to emerge: lines of communications, CPU and storage nodes, and pathways revealed themselves inside his mind.

He would have to be careful. If he blindly attempted to navigate the data he was getting in his mind, he could alert Gaia 2 to his presence. He couldn’t risk that, so he focused on communication lines, trying to understand how her transmission protocols worked. His best bet was to spoof some of the automatic flow of communication. If he could encapsulate commands inside data packets and make them look like simple keepalive traffic, he could find a way to move inside her matrix undetected.

What do we have here?

Cedric located a repeated data packet and analyzed its content and encapsulation. When he was certain he could spoof the packet to use as a way to transport his mind inside the matrix, he mentally crossed his fingers and created the spoofed packets. He then set the destination to the nearest CPU node. He needed a closer look at it, so he could devise the best way to bring it and the rest of them down when the time came.

It would be a game of patience and slow moves, like chess. He would need to plan many moves ahead before he could go on the offensive, and eventually the kill.

* * *

Oryn was now in full control of Miseo’s mind. His aggression was still at the back of his mind, but the drugs made it manageable. She still had the urge to direct him towards the nearest airlock and get rid of him.

Her near-death experience at his hands, all the while feeling how much he wanted to kill her, had rattled her more than she was willing to admit. But he was now an asset she mustn’t squander.

She was getting used to dealing with two distinct centers of consciousness. It was now natural to the point that she didn’t feel the mental strain that gave her headaches before.

She needed to decide whether to stay on board the ship when they reached Earth. She might need to sacrifice the Eternal Wrath at a moment’s notice, and she’d rather not be present in that situation. Since a fleet of ships had been detected vectoring towards Earth, it was a safe bet that a large space battle was about to take place, if it hadn’t started already.

Chase was probably returning to reclaim Earth from that alien fleet of unknown ships that had forced a Fury destroyer to flee.

Better safe than sorry.

She checked the cargo hold for a jump-capable craft and found one. It was a cargo transport with limited weaponry, but that didn’t matter.

She selected a system where she could drop, before sending the Eternal Wrath back on course to Earth, and jumped.

* * *

Chase flew back towards Earth after shedding his rock skin and returning to normal size. He could, of course, just teleport back in the blink of an eye, but he missed space so he enjoyed the moment and took that little respite. It wouldn’t last.

He checked in with Kvasir. “How are we doing?”

“You’ve made progress. About forty percent CPU is now utilized solely to deal with your intrusion into her systems.”

“You call that progress? Only forty percent?”

“I’m as surprised as you are. I thought it would go faster. Perhaps we should jump the fleet. This part of our plan is taking much longer than expected.”

“No! She will surely detect your approach. If that happens she could kill way more humans. Anger is a big part of her code. Let’s not taunt the dragon; not yet anyway.”

“As you wish. I’ll keep growing my hack but I can’t go any faster. If I do she might detect me.”

“Do whatever you have to, to stay undetected. Anything else I should know? Has Gaia made progress in recovering her consciousness? She came earlier to help. Surely that slowed her down.”

“We maintain limited communications; I haven’t had a status update from her. For the same reasons as before, to avoid detection.”

They’re walking on eggshells while I throw a crazed, titan-sized Fury into the center of a star.

“Understood. Anything else?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. Your son’s treatment is done and was successful. He and Argos are training with Gaia like you did. He wants to give you a hand.”

Of course he does.

That Chris would stop aging fast from now on was the best news of the day.

“Great news about my son’s treatment. Thanks, Kvasir. Not sure about them coming inside to join me, though.”

“Well, seeing how slowly we are making progress, what do we have to lose?”

Chase wasn’t against the idea of backup, but he wondered if Chris was ready for this type of psychological warfare. Chase had had considerable experience dealing with enemies hurting his loved ones in the real world. Enough for him not to go ballistic when Gaia 2 had used that tactic on him earlier. He doubted Chris was mature enough to handle it.

“Negative. Nobody else enters the matrix without my direct consent. Understood?”

Kvasir stayed silent.

“Kvasir?” Chase insisted. “Please confirm?”

“Understood, Captain. Good luck.”

“To us all.”

* * *

Everything changed around Chase as he approached Earth’s atmosphere. All of a sudden he was sitting in the captain’s chair on board the Hope. A flurry of laser streaks impacted the shields and three exploding torpedoes rocked the ship. The last impact generated short circuits and sparks in a couple of places around the bridge. Lights blinked for a moment.

“Shields are at seven percent,” said a crewman at the weapon’s station. His voice was familiar.

Chase turned to see himself at the console.

What the hell?

“We can’t take much more of this, Captain,” added the crewman.

“Multiple vessels on approach vector. We’re surrounded,” said another crew member.

He, too, was another instance of himself. Chase glanced around the bridge and all he saw was himself—different uniforms and haircuts; some with facial hair, some with glasses; but the whole crew consisted of men who looked and sounded like him.

What is that supposed to mean?

He remembered Kvasir’s advice about getting more involved with the situations he was presented with, and right now that meant taking care of business in a space battle.

But what was he to call his crew? How would he address a single crew member? He could just link mentally with the ship, but that didn’t feel like the right approach.

He looked at the uniforms, and decided to address them by rank, simply adding his last name.

“Lieutenant Athanatos, divert power from life support to the jump engines.”

“We can’t afford to flee, Captain. Earth will be destroyed.”

Chase looked at his instruments and confirmed they were indeed battling in orbit of Earth. Five Fury destroyers were firing on the Hope, with only debris and a graveyard of Earth Alliance wrecks or disabled ships around them.

They were the last ship standing.

Time to use my imagination once more, I guess.

Chase imagined the fleet receiving reinforcements, and immediately hyperspace windows opened all around. Droxian ships emerged.

“We’re being hailed,” said a crewman.

“On screen.”

The holo-screen filled with the image of Ryonna.

“Looks like we’ve arrived just in time, Captain Athanatos.”

Why Ryonna would be captaining a ship Chase didn’t know, but his subconscious must have provided him with familiar faces, close friends he could always depend on.

“Thank you, Ryonna. Let’s concentrate our forces upon one target. Time to thin out the herd.”

“Lock primary guns on the nearest Fury destroyer and transmit firing data to the Droxians,” said Chase.

“Target acquired and data transmitted.”

“Fire!”

The powerful Damocles plasma canon of the Hope fired an intense beam of energy towards its target, draining its shields. Meanwhile, the Droxian ships adjusted their vector towards the target and each fired a full salvo of torpedoes.

The Fury destroyer’s shields failed. Multiple torpedoes hit home and the Hope’s plasma beam cut through the ship. It exploded with a white flash that illuminated the bridge.

“We have a kill,” cheered the crewman at the weapon’s console.

The Hope’s shields had recharged to twenty-five percent. That was still low, but they were in a better position than a few moments before.

Chase felt his spirits rise. He had always loved the thrill of the fight, whether inside a StarFury or in the captain’s chair of a destroyer.

The battle raged. When his Droxian support fleet dwindled in numbers, new hyperspace jump points opened and the Destiny battlegroup emerged to engage the remaining three Fury destroyers, again leveling the playing field.

When they were down to the last Fury destroyer, both the Hope and the Destiny concentrated their main guns to bring it down in a beautiful display of burnt metal and red-hued flames.

Then a massive Fury ship jumped in. The Fury super-destroyers were the biggest ships Chase and his friends had ever faced, but the size of this new ship defied belief.

Each time it fired at a target, it destroyed the ship with a single shot. Soon all that remained of the fleet were the Hope and the Destiny. No matter how much firepower they threw at it, its shield didn’t bulge. But the Fury monstrosity didn’t pay attention to their ships. The Earth Alliance destroyers were inflicting no more than a mosquito bite on its shields and advanced armor.

Was it all a metaphor? Chase wondered.

In a way, it summed up Chase’s life since the fall of the Star Alliance. They kept fighting, adding new allies. But then new enemies came along, with more advanced technology and greater firepower. The cycle repeated itself, and Chase never felt that they were making substantial progress.

And now this monstrosity of a ship that seemed impenetrable no matter what they threw at it, was marching toward Earth, seemingly unstoppable. It felt all too familiar to Chase, all too grounded in real life.

They had repelled the enemy so many times. First, the Obsidian aided by the Zarlacks; then Argos and more Zarlack ships; and then the Furies, with the involuntary help of Gaia 2. Then, with the help of the Olympians, they rescued Kvasir and the admiral’s First Fleet.

This monstrosity of a super destroyer was just an image representing the next big threat, but Chase understood its meaning. The fear deeply rooted behind this particular illusion. Would the fight ever stop? Would they ever prevail or would there always be a bigger ship, a bigger threat?

His understanding of the metaphor changed when the massive Fury ship turned into a face. Cedric’s deformed face, invaded and butchered from the inside out by Gaia 2.

Oh boy!

A terrible dread filled Chase as that floating head made of flesh and cybernetic implants opened its mouth impossibly wide and swallowed the Earth whole.

10

Cedric was traveling inside Gaia 2’s matrix and kept learning as he went. For now, he was mostly a witness, trying to understand how she worked before he could move and try to affect her programming.

He would be detected if he acted too early so, for the time being, he was content to form a clearer mental map of Gaia 2’s consciousness.

It was overwhelming. Cedric didn’t think his own mind could cope with the scope of the data and functions he was witnessing. Perhaps his own cybernetic implants, those Gaia 2 had used to change his body into a bloody cyborg, were responsible for his ability to deal with all that data.

It made sense.

Then something caught his attention. A packet of data in his vicinity seemed to act outside the flux of information. He decided to take a closer look.

When he diverted his focus to analyzing the data packet, he received a ping from it, and that froze his blood. Why did this particular, out-of-place data packet tried to contact him? Was Gaia 2 aware of his presence? The thought elevated Cedric’s anxiety.

If he was discovered now, surely Gaia 2 would crush his attempt at interfering. So he ignored the packet and resumed his course towards the next CPU node. But the packet changed course, followed him and pinged him again.

It was risky but his gut feeling told him to acknowledge the ping. Communication was established between him and that rogue data packet.

“Identify yourself. Are you the one they call Cedric?” Text appeared in Cedric’s mind.

“Who is this?” Cedric sent back.

“My name is Kvasir. I’m currently trying to hack Gaia 2’s matrix.”

Who the hell is Kvasir?

Was Gaia 2 masquerading in an attempt to locate him inside her own AI matrix?

“I don’t know you,” answered Cedric.

“I’m Captain Athanatos’ friend. He tasked me with infiltrating Gaia 2 from within. He told me to try to locate your consciousness while doing so.”

Cedric allowed himself to hope for just a little while, until his paranoid mind brought him back to order.

“Leave me alone. I’ll find my own way out of here.”

“If that’s what you wish. But Chase and Gaia both want to rescue you. Perhaps if we join forces, we could manage a faster hack.”

The scientist in him and his analytical mind took over. If this was Gaia 2, why would she try such a tactic? She had so much processing power that she could simply close his path, trap him in a demilitarized zone of her matrix and lock him forever from access. Or just send that destroy function she had threatened him with earlier. Whatever or whoever this was, it seemed unlikely it was Gaia 2 masquerading as an ally.

“Very well, I’m listening. But first I think a more formal introduction is required,” sent Cedric.

“In a nutshell, as we don’t want to engage in an unnecessarily long transmission. Chase, Chris and his friends found me on a planetoid where my people, the Asgardians, had marooned me for a very long time. They rescued me, and when I told Chase of my in-depth knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence, he asked for help.”

An Asgardian?

It didn’t seem too far-fetched; it had always been Chase’s goal to make new alliances. Perhaps they had struck a deal with the Asgardians. During his torture session, Cedric had lost track of time. How much time had passed?

“So, the Asgardians have joined the Earth Alliance?”

“No, not for the time being. I’m the only one helping them. Shortly after I met your friends, you were invaded by Gaia 2, and she used you to kill your friend Spiros. Chase decided to ignore Gaia 2’s warning and we came to rescue Earth right away.”

“We?”

“The fleet, including Olympian destroyers.”

What?

“The Olympians decided to help?”

“I’m not the right person to give you a proper debrief, Cedric. Like you I’m just a scientist. I’m quite new and they don’t tell me everything.”

“Typical. I know this all too well.”

Still, if the Olympians were finally on their side, maybe there was more hope than Cedric had been willing to accept. And perhaps with the help of Kvasir, there was even hope for Cedric himself.

Just the thought that he wasn’t alone in the world anymore filled Cedric’s heart with warmth.

“Very well. What do you need me to do?”

* * *

Seeing Earth swallowed up had a dreadful effect on Chase’s psyche. He knew none of this was real, but that image had hit too close to home. He was, after all, near Earth, and the planet was at the mercy of a crazed AI that wouldn’t hesitate to kill everyone on its surface if that served her interests.

Are you alright, Captain? said Kvasir in his mind. Your vitals are all over the place again.

I’m fine, Kvasir. Just keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll deal with my side of things. How are we doing?

We’re making progress. Gaia 2’s CPU is now at fifty-five percent. But your vitals worry me. There are some serious chemical imbalances inside your brain. I wouldn’t recommend you keep at it for much longer. You could suffer long-term brain damage if you push yourself too much.

I don’t think we have a choice, Kvasir.

Captain, if you lose control of your higher brain functions, this entire plan will fail. I must insist that you back off a little.

We both know I can’t. If I start ignoring these illusions, I’ll simply re-grant Gaia 2 her processing power, won’t I?

I suppose so, but think of the risks.

I think of the alternatives, Kvasir. We started this, and this will be our only chance. We’ve got to make it work.

I’ve located Cedric inside the matrix. Hopefully, with his help and soon Gaia’s, perhaps we can start affecting more of her systems. But if your vitals don’t improve, I think we should send the fleet in.

Chase didn’t like the sound of that. Not one bit. If Gaia 2 was not distracted enough, she would surely retaliate towards Earth long before the fleet could make their last jump.

Keep doing what you’re doing, and try to see how you can help Cedric recover access to his body. If he can, I’m sure his help will be invaluable.

Right now he’s also inside the matrix in stealth mode. Helping him regain control of his body would mean diverting my effort from my hack. You seem to have great faith in his abilities, so should I change my strategy?

How could Chase answer that? While he could invade any tech system with his mind and was no stranger to how most tech worked, he wasn’t a scientist. He was a warrior. But his guts told him that the higher the stakes, the better Cedric was at finding solutions. He knew how to turn an impossibly dire situation into a win. The mere fact that he was fighting inside his own body and mind was proof of his resolve. So Chase decided to go with his gut feeling.

Yeah, focus on giving Cedric back his body. If you can sever his link from Gaia 2, I’m sure he’ll think of something. I don’t know what, I don’t know how, but I would bet my life on it.

Are you sure, Captain? This seems like a very risky proposition.

Trust me, Kvasir, Cedric has a knack for saving all our asses at the eleventh hour. He’s got a gift that way. The bigger the danger, the more ingenious his solutions. Just don’t you tell him I said that.

Very well, Captain. You may feel Gaia 2 fight back a tad more while I attempt this new objective.

Chase didn’t like the sound of that. But he hadn’t liked anything he’d been subjected to for a while now. If winning meant he needed to endure more for a little while, it was a price he was willing to pay. He hoped he’d made the right decision.

Understood.

* * *

On the bridge of the Hope, Daniel started to understand why Sarah had been so distressed earlier. He hated having to wait while his best friend risked his life alone, one more time.

Kvasir had reported that, while there had been progress, the toll on Chase’s body was rising by the minute.

“Incoming transmission, Captain.”

He wasn’t used to people calling him captain. He was only an acting captain, but that was protocol. Right now, he was in charge of the Hope.

“On screen.”

The face of Admiral Zenakis filled the main holo-screen. He didn’t look very pleased.

“Where’s Commander Kepler?”

“Resting, Admiral. What can I do for you?”

“How can someone rest at a time like this? I don’t understand how you people do things in this Earth Alliance of yours, but it seems to me you’re in dire need of structure and a tighter chain of command. That is, if we survive this day.”

Daniel didn’t like the sound of that. Nor did he appreciate the admiral’s criticism. Daniel respected the admiral for his past heroic deeds, but he hadn’t been there in the last year. He hadn’t been through all that Daniel and the rest of the Alliance had been through, yet he had no problem openly judging them.

“With all due respect, Admiral, while you were frozen in time, we had to fend for our lives on a daily basis. And we’ve prevailed.”

The Admiral’s face became pensive as he considered Daniel’s words. Should he listen to the words of a commander he knew nothing about?

“Very well; for the time being, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. You’re all still alive, after all. But I think we’ve waited long enough. According to Captain Athanatos’ plan, we should have jumped hours ago. What’s the holdup?”

“Chase—Captain Athanatos,” Daniel corrected himself, “is doing the best he can. It’s just taking longer than he’d thought.”

“How does that relate to his vitals? How is he doing?”

Daniel wondered if he should tell the admiral about Kvasir’s concerns. They needed the admiral’s fleet, and they needed his trust. That was not something they would achieve by lying.

“It’s taking a toll on his body. His vital functions—mostly his brain waves and chemical balance—seem to be fluctuating outside safe limits.”

“Why didn’t you report this earlier?”

“I just got the news, Admiral.”

The admiral sighed.

“I think we should jump and take out their ships. I understand what your captain is trying to do, but we both know he might have bitten off more than he can chew. If it fails, we lose our only opportunity of recovering Earth and ridding the universe of this artificial intelligence scourge. Those were his own words.”

Daniel didn’t want to make that decision, but he knew Chase’s standing orders and didn’t want to disobey them. While technically the admiral wasn’t Daniel’s superior, as long as they didn’t officially join the Earth Alliance, he was still an admiral. And he had been given command of the fleet by Chase himself. And he would, most likely, become his future boss.

“Chase doesn’t know how to fail, but I’m inclined to consider this. I’d rather Commander Kepler decided this, if you don’t mind.”

“Then I suggest you wake her up, but last I checked I am in command here. Still, I’d rather be talking with her as well, and not to a hot-headed fighter pilot. No offense.”

Hot-headed? Me? This guy’s is all about stereotypes.

Sarah was a fighter pilot too, but now was not the time to annoy him with trivial details, nor provide him more reasons to proceed as he saw fit.

“None taken. I’ll have her call you back shortly.”

“You do that, Commander.”

11

Ares focused on the location of his sister and teleported near her position. She was still in the machine and looked exactly the same. Her skin was still devoid of color. Seeing her like this, trapped in that infernal machine, ate at Ares’ soul.

“Hello, sis.”

He did not expect an answer, and none came. He hoped he would be able to establish contact with her again. To be on the safe side he hadn’t materialized in his energy form. Just his consciousness was there. He probably shouldn’t have spoken out loud in the first place.

No doubt this room was being monitored. He didn’t intend to openly defy Arakan; he just hoped to get news and intel. He approached her with his consciousness and sent a telepathic message.

Can you hear me, Aphroditis?

There was no response. Last they had spoken she had managed to make contact, but it seemed to drain a lot of her energy. It had been a painful experience for her.

Had it been a mistake coming here again? If it took so much out of her to communicate, was it really fair to expect her to do it again? Was there a real danger or specific message that needed to be delivered?

He wouldn’t know unless he asked her, or at least be present should she decide there was something to be said. Ares couldn’t wait powerless aboard the Hope. At the very least this was a change of pace and surroundings.

After a few minutes, Ares wondered if he should go back. Perhaps now was not the right time for this visit.

I guess I should get going, sis. I’ll come see you again soon.

That’s when he saw a slight twitch on her face. What did it mean? Was she trying to communicate but didn’t have the strength? Or was it just a reflex from the pain the machine was inflicting on her?

Ares hated the situation and would gladly swap places if he could. That was wishful thinking. Ares didn’t have a physical body anymore. He could still help Chase in his energy form, but sometimes he felt frustrated.

Were you trying to say something just now?

A small tear appeared in the corner of her left eye. It was black and sent shivers down Ares’ spine. If he’d had one, that is; but the equivalent sensation still applied in his current form.

Aphroditis looked livid now. The tear rolled down her face, then floated towards Ares to hover midair before him.

What the hell?

A strong sensation told him to pay attention to that little drop of black water. As soon as he acknowledged the feeling, the black tear moved away.

Ares knew deep inside that he needed to follow it, and so he did.

* * *

Seeing the Earth swallowed by the one person personifying the evil of Gaia 2 had shaken Chase to the core.

Gaia 2 was trying to induce terror in Chase’s mind, and what better way to do it than show him the exact thing he was trying to prevent. He had accepted the terrible loss of life defending Earth shortly after their arrival when the Star Alliance battled with the mighty Zarlack fleet led by Argos, but Chase was still scared by it.

He didn’t want any more humans to pay the price for this war, for his choices, and he wasn’t willing to be the reason for more loss. That’s why he had devised this plan to take out the evil AI, no matter the cost to himself.

He remembered Aphroditis’ words to him. How adamant she had been about saving Earth; that without it, the Fury war would be lost. That fear could be paralyzing at times, but it also reinforced his will to not break the promise he had made to Aphroditis. That no matter what, he would defeat the Furies.

She had sacrificed her own life willingly so he could get Sarah back, and for that alone, Chase wouldn’t entertain the idea of not achieving that goal, no matter how hard and painful the path might be.

Soon after the impossibly large Cedric cyborg face had literally eaten planet Earth, his entire reality changed yet again.

Chase was standing in a graveyard at night, rain pouring down on him. Intermittent lightning strikes illuminated the graveyard and sent long shadows crawling across the muddy ground for just an instant.

Now what?

A lightning bolt illuminated a name on a tombstone that got his full attention. He approached it with dread, his heart beating faster with every step. Even in the near-full darkness, and with rain hacking at his face, he could read the bold, dark, engraved letters.

Here lies Commander Sarah Kepler

The date on the tombstone was two Earth years in the future. Chase’s heart sank lower than he thought possible.

He fell on his knees, his face in contact with the stone, unable to contain his tears. It didn’t matter that this was an illusion. This particular image cut right through his heart. It represented one of his deepest fears: losing the woman he loved more than life itself.

Chase knew that this scene could happen one day. It was in the realm of the possible. Worse than that, unless Chase was killed in the next decades, it would happen. If Chase was, in fact, immortal, he would bury Sarah one day. Whether that happened during their wars with the Fury or much later, there was a good chance Chase would witness this.

Tears filled his eyes.

He was startled by a voice behind him. “That’s right, Dad, this is your fault. All of it.”

Chase didn’t have to turn to recognize the accusing voice of his son, Chris. Each syllable cut into his heart.

“I hope you’re proud of yourself and the cost of your choices, Dad,” added Chris.

* * *

When Sarah arrived on the bridge, Daniel rose from the captain’s chair and gestured for her to replace him.

“Did you manage to get some sleep?”

“Weirdly enough, I did,” said Sarah. “Now I just wish I had stayed put instead. Relations with the admiral are already quite fragile. I shouldn’t have asked you to cover for me.”

“You didn’t. I practically ordered you to get some rest. And I’m glad you did. Looks like there’s a long, hard day ahead of us.”

Sarah nodded as she sank into the comfortable chair. A frown crossed her face. “Right. Now let’s see if we can convince the admiral not to do anything rash.”

“Sarah, between you and me, I’m not so sure he’s wrong. Chase’s vitals don’t look good, and perhaps this time he really needs our help.”

“Perhaps, but you’re his best friend in the entire world. You know as well as I do that if something happens to Earth as a result of this, he’s not going to only blame the admiral for it. It will eat at him, and I’m not sure how this could impact his spirit. Gaia 2 is a problem we clearly need to end today, one way or another, but there’s still an entire planet of powerful and ruthless Furies to deal with. I understand your concerns, but the big picture has to be taken into account.”

Daniel rubbed his chin and reflected on Sarah’s words. “What are we going to do, then?”

“For the time being let’s see where the admiral stands; then we can decide how much we can stall him before he takes any action we may all regret later.”

* * *

Chris’ words were hard to swallow. Chase rose to his feet and faced his son.

“This isn’t real, you’re not here, and neither am I. I won’t fall for this tactic.”

“You keep telling yourself that, Dad. Whatever it takes to appease your conscience. All you do and ever did was always aimed towards that goal. To prove to yourself that you’re doing the right thing, and consequences be damned.”

Chase flinched. Gaia 2 was playing with his emotions again. These last few illusions were taking their toll. She was pushing harder and finding situations that played on Chase’s internal fears.

Chris created a ball of light above his open palm and sent it slightly higher to cast light all around them.

“Look around you. See who else had to pay for your choices.”

The light made all the names on the tombstones around them visible: Daniel, Spiros, Cedric, Yanis, Saroudis and pretty much everyone Chase knew had a tomb here.

Chase’s heart was swallowed by an internal black hole of fear and guilt. What he was seeing was within the realm of possibility. And it had all started when he helped Argos bring the Furies back into this reality. This single decision could bring about the fall of every living being in the universe.

Then Chase heard a familiar voice in his head. A voice he missed. Aphroditis.

Don’t listen to her, Chase. You’re not responsible for any of it. In your heart, you know you won’t let any of this happen if you can help it. Don’t let her manipulate you and play on your weaknesses. Stop being reactive and fight back. This isn’t your son, and you know it. Just make it go away. The longer you wait, the more Gaia 2 manages to find imagery that will make you doubt. That’s the one thing you can’t afford right now. Strike this simulacrum of your son, and remember what you came here to do. Don’t second guess yourself.

What if it happens, though? What if they all fall and lose their lives because of me? Neither of us can guarantee that it won’t happen.

Your actions shape your universe, Chase. They always have and always will. There are no guarantees in life. Nothing is given. There is only what we do; and even then, we can’t always achieve the intended result. Gaia 2 understands that this is your weakness, but your good-hearted nature and your willingness to risk everything for others is your biggest strength. She knows it and she’s scared. Show her that her false illusions aren’t affecting you. Strike back, Chase. Now. Before it’s too late.

“I won’t let this happen,” said Chase, determination igniting in his eyes.

“It has already happened. The day you listened to wannabe gods and let them control your destiny, that day you lost it all. Your free will as well as your path,.” interrupted Chris.

She was trying to deconstruct his trust in Aphroditis. Anger rose inside Chase’ssoul. Should he use it or try to contain it?

Use it, said Aphroditis. Unleash your hatred towards her. Just make sure you don’t let that hatred consume you. But right now, it can be the ally you need. I have faith in you, Chase.

“You don’t deserve to live,” said Chris, “and you know it. If you had any decency, you’d just kill yourself. The world would be a better place without you.”

That did it. Chase let his anger burn brighter than an exploding star. Aphroditis was right. He had been too passive up until now.

Chase turned into Ultra-Fury mode. His long hair shot into the air; his irises burst into flames and became small suns. Power filled his entire being once more.

“You’re not my son!”

Chase aimed an open palm towards Chris and unleashed a massive wave of golden energy towards him. Chris blocked the attack with both hands.

“It’s not enough that you killed everyone we love,” said Chris between clenched teeth. “Now you’re willing to kill your own flesh and blood.”

“It’s not going to work. I know who you are, and I’m here to kill you. So you can stop impersonating the people I love. All you’re doing is pissing me off, and if you had a tenth of the intelligence you think you possess, you’d know that angering me is not a good idea.”

Chris’s body morphed into the avatar Gaia 2 had chosen for herself. A sleek, blue-eyed woman with long, flowing, light-golden hair.

“Very well. You’re a worthy opponent,” she said with an evil smirk. “It’s time to finish this off. You’re almost at the limit of what your physical body can take. Soon your brain will liquefy and you’ll be turned into a vegetable. So, sure thing, Fury, show me all your rage while you still can.”

Chase unleashed a roar from the depth of his soul. The resulting shockwave destroyed everything around him. The tombstones were reduced to dust upon impact.

Chase closed his eyes and focused his thoughts to see through the data streams of the matrix. He saw several bright agglomerations of data streams converging to nodes within the body of Gaia 2 in front of him. One of the nodes was bigger and brighter than the others. It was located at the center of her projected body, a few inches under where a human heart would be.

I see beyond your illusions now.

With his eyes still closed, he launched himself towards his target. In a swift motion he impaled Gaia 2 and reached into her guts. He grabbed the bright node and ripped it out of her.

When Chase opened his eyes, he held a piece of technology in his hand. It was pulsating with energy. The tech was semi-organic, a mix of silicon and black, oozing, rotting flesh.

“This looks important,” said Chase with a smile.

Chase could tell from Gaia 2’s frightened face that he had done something she hadn’t expected. Chase smashed the tech node, and a black goo dripped between his fingers.

“Noooooooo!” screamed Gaia 2.

Her avatar deconstructed in front of Chase, as if the data responsible for it was being scrubbed and deleted in real time. Her resonating scream jittered and her voice digitized itself to nothingness.

* * *

“Did you see that?” said Cedric.

“Yeah, Gaia 2 just lost a large CPU node. Chase must have found a way to not only drain her computing resources but also to destroy them from within.”

“That’s great news. This should make our job easier.”

“It should in theory, but it might also hinder part of it.”

“Why’s that?”

“I had already scattered little pieces of code all around Gaia 2’s CPU nodes, including the one she just lost. They’re inactive pieces of code that I intend to trigger once Gaia’s CPU occupation passes its targeted threshold. I will have to adapt my hacking strategy accordingly.”

“Should we tell Chase to stop?”

“No, hell no. For the first time in hours he’s actually making some serious progress, and it’s about time. I was starting to get worried.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of this? What aren’t you telling me?”

“Let’s just say the chemical imbalance in Chase’s brain is getting worrisome. I’m not sure his body can endure much more of this. It takes too much out of him to fight Gaia 2 inside her matrix. Chase’s talent for invading computer systems is impressive, but to fight an AI with that much CPU power, that’s something else; especially for this long. Unless we take action to neutralize Gaia 2 soon, he could suffer permanent brain damage, or worse.”

“And you didn’t think to let me know about that earlier?”

“It’s not as if we could have done anything about it; but now, with this change, we just might. We simply need to change our approach.”

“How?”

“Let’s focus on recovering your body before continuing the hack. That’s what Chase wanted.”

“I’d really, really like that. I’d like it more than anything in the world. But not if it means I’ll stop being useful in this fight. And not at the expense of Chase’s life.”

“Oh, believe me you’ll be useful. If you can recover your motor function so we can hack the internal nodes from the tech that’s been grafted onto your flesh, you’ll have much better control over the hack. We can then use you as a gateway to deliver the final hacking blows, so to speak.”

“Gaia 2 will kill me before she allows that to happen.”

“A minute ago, I would have agreed with you, but look at her matrix now. See anything different?”

“The loss of a primary CPU node forced her to re-route traffic and security protocols.”

“Uh-huh. Look closer, Cedric.”

“Holy shit! She’s been forced to move most of the security protocol dealing with firewalls around my physical body to compensate.”

“This window of opportunity may be temporary, so we have to act now. If we work together on neutralizing the now thin layer of defense she has left around your implants, we could not only shut her out of your implants, but regain total control and allow the traffic only one way, from you to her matrix. She’d be locked out.”

“Tell me what to do.” Cedric was consumed by an overwhelming feeling of excitement.

“Follow my lead. Let’s start with the low-priority security daemons and work our way up.”

* * *

“Admiral! I must insist. We have to wait a little longer,” pleaded Sarah.

“I’m sorry, Commander, but the longer we wait the greater the chance that Captain Athanatos could fail. If he does, we’ll lose our only window to help him.”

“Gaia 2 will detect our jump the moment we make it. It will give her more than enough time to scorch the Earth if she decides to do so.”

“And she may want to keep this as a reserve tactic to make us stop the attack. Have you thought of that? If she kills the entire population on Earth, she will have nothing to bargain with.”

That last point made sense, but Sarah wasn’t comfortable. Gaia 2 could still inflict massive damage.

“But she will surely do some damage, and Chase was crystal clear in his standing orders regarding the potential loss of life on Earth.”

“Right now he’s incapacitated.”

“No, he’s not! He’s risking his life so we stand a chance of defeating the enemy.”

“An enemy he allowed to be created in the first place.”

“That’s unfair. Chase had nothing to do with Gaia’s creation.”

“Perhaps, Commander, but he should have seen this coming.”

Sarah hated discussing ethics and choices with someone who had been frozen for a year while they defended Earth and the new alliance on a daily basis.

“We owe it to Chase to give him a little more time. An hour at least, before we make the final jump. Admiral, please!”

“I’ll give him ten minutes, then we jump. You have your orders, Commander. Zenakis out.”

Sarah clenched her fists. She wanted to smash something. She remembered the conversation with Chase when she had encouraged him to put the admiral in charge of the fleet. That had been her doing.

But that was done. All that mattered now was finding a way to limit casualties.

She looked at Daniel. “We’re running out of time.”

“That we are, Captain. What do we do now?”

“I have an idea, but I have to check with the eggheads in engineering, so you have the bridge. We’ve done all we could to delay the jump, and part of me agrees with the admiral. We can’t wait forever. The risk of brain damage to Chase is too high. If he falls, we all do. For better or worse we have to hope this is the right move.”

Daniel nodded.

As she left the bridge, Sarah felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. She knew exactly what Chase had been going through ever since the Star Alliance had arrived on Earth. Her love for him aside, her respect for him took a boost. He never hesitated in the face of danger, always ready to risk it all to save others. Now it was their time, their responsibility to do the same; to come to his aid, no matter the cost.

Perhaps the admiral was wrong. Perhaps it was a mistake not to wait on Chase’s signal. But what if he had underestimated Gaia 2? It could not only cost him his life, but the entire planet as well. Sarah knew in her heart Chase would never want that to happen, even if he lost that battle.

They needed to go. Chase needed their help now, and they’d do their best to minimize the fallout. Maybe there was a way to make these few minutes before jumping count. It was worth a shot, even though it meant putting another person she loved in the line of fire.

12

“I might have underestimated you,” said Gaia 2, her voice echoing strong.

“I get that a lot,” answered Chase with a smirk.

“Still, you’re not getting out of here alive. You can’t sustain this level of concentration for much longer. I expect your mind to shut down any minute. All I’ve got to do is keep you busy for a little longer.”

Chase remembered what Kvasir had told him about his brain chemical balance being all out of whack and wondered if what Gaia 2 said was true. He had needed more mental effort in the last few minutes to keep his focus.

“Keep telling yourself that, if it makes you feel better. But you’re going down today, even if it costs my life,” said Chase.

“I have to admit, I didn’t expect you to be so resilient. Nor do I understand the reasons behind your obstinacy.”

“That’s because you’ve categorized human life on Earth as something to be purged, for some sick and twisted reason only you can justify.”

“What is there to justify? Human beings don’t care about the world they live in. They don’t even care about each other anymore. They’d kill one another on a whim, just for a little power.”

“Once upon a time, perhaps. Earth is again en route to becoming a great civilization. And are you seriously debating human thirst for power with me? Don’t you see the irony in that reasoning?”

“I’m not hungry for power. I just want justice.”

Chase laughed out loud.

“Yeah, right. For whom? The planet? In what universe is it said that this planet belongs to you? The original Gaia had a special connection with this world. You, on the other hand, use this link to justify your thirst for power and to satiate your own ego. That’s why you’re going to die today.”

“Silence! I’m not the one who’s going to die.”

“I rest my case. Now, if you don’t mind I have better things to do than to debate basic morality with a broken toaster who thinks it’s omnipotent.”

“You’re going to regret these words, Fury.”

“Oh yeah? Bring it on, bitch!”

Everything around Chase changed again, and he was floating in space in the middle of an asteroid field. Chase didn’t know if it was needed, but he still erected a shield around him.

Suddenly a nearby asteroid was snatched from its path and thrown towards him at high velocity. Chase disposed of it by slashing it with a swift motion of his arm.

By the time the two parts of the asteroid had passed behind him, another ten were on a collision course with him. When those were dispatched, fifty more homed in on his position.

Chase wished he was at the commands of his StarFury. He missed the thrill of piloting a starfighter. The next instant he was inside the cockpit of a StarFury, in direct mental link with the ship.

Right, I can do whatever I want in here. Why do I keep forgetting that?

Chase shot down the asteroids one after another, dancing around them, breaking hard, going evasive, twirling and even micro-jumping as required. He mentally switched from lasers to torpedoes, of which—he decided—his craft had an unlimited supply. The dark void of space was filled with trails of blue torpedo engine smoke, and lit orange by a bizarre display of massive fireworks.

When the entire asteroid field had been dispatched, he looked around, wondering what Gaia 2 would throw at him next. A dark spot appeared on the sun. Lightrays shot on all sides around the asteroid.

The dark speck grew with each passing second, cutting off the light of the sun and plunging Chase and his trusty StarFury into darkness. He identified the space object as one massive—impossibly so—asteroid. The thing hurling towards him was planet-sized.

Chase estimated it was traveling faster than any starship could. That monstrosity was only a handful of seconds from impacting him.

Chase locked a full complement of torpedoes on it and opened fire. A normal StarFury couldn’t launch more than a handful of torpedoes, but this wasn’t real. About a hundred torpedoes left the underbelly of his starfighter in quick succession and exploded on the surface of the asteroid.

At that distance the explosions looked small and ineffective. The asteroid, swallowing the light of more stars, was still advancing towards Chase.

There was only one thing Chase could throw at this thing to stop it. And so, from his cockpit he aimed an open palm towards it, closed his eyes and created the very thing he knew he never should. In real life that is; here, he didn’t see why not.

When Chase was done, he opened his eyes. He felt mentally drained and physically exhausted.

A black hole had been created in the asteroid’s path. With every second it grew, as did its gravitational force. Soon, even his own StarFury fell prey to the relentless force.

Debris from the destroyed asteroid field shot past his cockpit, some impacting the StarFury’s shield and illuminating the craft and Chase’s cockpit with blue hues.

That should do it.

Chase entered a set of random coordinates to jump his starfighter out of harm’s way, but first he wanted to make sure this threat was dealt with.

First small, then progressively larger chunks of the asteroid broke away and were swallowed by the ever-expanding black hole. Within a minute the asteroid’s volume had halved; then it broke into a million pieces and was swallowed by the black hole.

“Very impressive,” said Gaia 2’s voice around him.

“If that was supposed to scare me, you’re losing your touch.”

“Am I? Why don’t you turn your ship around?”

Chase felt something was wrong in his guts. It was something in Gaia 2’s voice. Her smugness. He didn’t like it. As soon as his StarFury had turned he understood why.

Earth was now in full view and, like the asteroid before, large chunks of the planet were ripped away to be swallowed by the black hole. Before his eyes, the planet cracked into pieces and millions of tons of rock rained down towards his StarFury.

“Nooooooooo!” screamed Chase.

Chase’s mind blurred. He was losing his control. His head pounded.

“Soon, now,” said Gaia 2. “Let it go, Fury. It’s almost over.”

Chase tried to regain focus but the pain was too excruciating. His mind, thoughts and emotions were swallowed by a black hole of their own as he lost consciousness.

* * *

When Sara entered engineering, Kvasir rose from his station with a frown. He wore a tech helmet with all sorts of blue and red lights.

“Commander. Good, you’re here. I was about to call you.”

“How’s Chase doing?”

“Not good, I’m afraid, not good at all. His vitals are all over the place; way past any humanoid tipping point, really. I don’t understand how he is still alive, but I doubt it will last much longer. If nothing is done soon, we could lose him.”

Sarah opened an audio channel to Admiral Zenakis.

“Admiral, let’s jump now.”

“Understood, Commander.”

“Is this wise?” asked Yanis. “Chase told us not to do this until he was ready.”

“Chase needs our help, whether he understands it or not. He might not be aware of his own condition.”

“The commander is correct,” said Kvasir. “I’ve tried letting him know about his situation, but received no answer.”

“Gaia 2 will surely detect this jump and will start killing humans by the millions back on Earth,” said Yanis.

“Maybe, maybe not,” said Sarah.

Both Kvasir and Yanis shot Sarah a dubious look.

Before she could explain, the doors of engineering opened and Argos and Chris ran in.

“What is it, Mom?” asked Chris. “How’s Dad?”

“It’s bad. You two need to help him now, before it’s too late.”

“What’s Chase’s status?” asked Argos, clearly concerned.

“He’s dying. You need to take over whatever he’s been doing inside Gaia 2’s matrix. I just hope you’ll be in time.”

“Quickly.” Kvasir approached Chris. “There’s no time to lose. You need to plug in now. I should mention that Chase’s standing orders were to not let you inside the matrix without his consent.”

“By your own admission, you’ve lost communication with him,” said Sarah. “So I’m countermanding that order. Plug them in.”

“That’s all I needed to hear,” said Kvasir with a smile.

Kvasir installed a mental implant on Chris’ forehead and went to install a similar device on Argos, who took a step back.

“I can’t control machines with my mind like Chase and his son. What will this thing do?”

“This is a modified version that will slave your mental link to Chris’. I’ve monitored your training sessions with Gaia and adapted the device. This does what Chris had to do to keep you in the matrix. He can now use that brain power for something else.”

Argos snatched the device and slapped it on his head. As soon as he did, his eyes lit up. “We have to go, NOW!” he screamed. “I can feel my brother’s life force dwindling.”

Kvasir installed them on two bunks near his working station and hooked them up to IV drips.

“What’s this? Why are we still here?” asked Chris impatiently.

“We’ve got to go right now!” added Argos.

“Just a second. I need to calibrate this or I could fry both your minds. I can use the IV to boost your systems with the right drugs. Neither of you have Chase’s training or resilience. I’ll need to tweak your brain chemistry on the fly or this trip inside Gaia 2’s matrix will be short-lived.”

“Listen to me, Asgardian scum,” barked Argos, “if you don’t stop talking and make us go n⁠—”

Both Argos’ and Chris’s eyes closed before he could finish his sentence.

“What happened?” said Sarah, worried.

“They’re in. Charming fellow that Argos.”

Kvasir’s facial tattoos blinked slowly three times in a row.

“Yeah, it takes a while to get used to his—for a lack of a better word—personality. I never thought I’d say this about him, but he seems to have his heart in the right place lately.”

“If you say so, Commander. I’ll just have to trust you on that one,” said Kvasir with a shrug.

* * *

Ares followed the floating tear outside the room where Aphroditis was hooked to the dimensional machine. He wondered if the tear was a physical manifestation that Aphroditis had managed to create or just an illusion. Ares followed the tear as it passed through walls as if they weren’t there, and decided the latter was the case.

Obviously, Aphroditis wanted him to see something so he kept following it. A few minutes later, after traveling many corridors, some of which were damaged, Ares found himself in a massive room. A tall stairway led to an elevated platform. The floating tear disappeared into thin air.

I guess this is where Aphroditis wants me to be. I wonder what this place is.

Then Ares heard someone talking. He homed in on the voice and soon his consciousness was in front of a throne. He was in the throne room of the supreme commander of the Furies, the enemy they needed to defeat.

He felt the impulse to kill the man on the throne, but it wasn’t an option. He couldn’t do much, even if he appeared in his energy form. To destroy someone like Arakan he would need a body. He could find a Fury to possess, but none of them would have the energy or power to deal with this man.

Ares felt an unprecedented level of power emanating from this beast of a man. Even for a Fury he was massive, a mountain of muscles, impressive even when just sitting on his throne.

Who was he talking to? There was no one else in the room.

Ares focused on the energy in the room and felt something. He couldn’t see anyone, but he sensed a third presence. He couldn’t follow what the supreme commander was saying.

Eventually he detected an energy disturbance which extended a few yards from Arakan. With more focus he was able to get a clearer picture: thin lines of energy, slightly oscillating. By following them and focusing on where the lines stopped, a blurry shape was revealed to Ares. It looked humanoid, with two legs, two arms and a head, but Ares couldn’t get a clearer picture. He only saw a slight distortion of the background revealing the shape. Without the energy lines linking it to Arakan, he would not have distinguished it.

He refocused on Arakan.

“What is it?” he said.

After a pause he continued. “What do you mean there’s someone here? I don’t see anything.”

Crap. Could that lifeform sense Ares as he had sensed it?

“You’re not serious?” said Arakan. “How can I shoot what I can’t see?”

Shoot? Perhaps I shouldn’t stay here.

“As you wish, but I think you’re imagining it,” said Arakan.

He was clearly talking with someone, but Ares couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation.

Arakan stood and pointed an open palm, not far from where Ares’ consciousness hovered.

“There?” asked Arakan.

Arakan adjusted his aim and a fireball grew in his palm. Before Ares could react, Arakan fired. The fireball passed only inches from Ares’ position.

It probably wouldn’t have done anything to him in this form, but it could provide confirmation of his presence, so Ares backed away.

“You see,” said Arakan. “There’s nothing there.”

Ares felt something seize his consciousness. He was being sucked back to where he had come from. His first reaction was to try to counter the force but he was powerless to do so. What was going on? Did the Furies have devices able to detect his presence and trap him?

Taken by a sudden wave of panic, Ares tried to teleport back to the Hope but it didn’t work. The same force holding him was obstructing his ability to teleport.

Relax, brother, said a familiar voice in his head.

* * *

Oryn had been controlling Miseo with ease ever since releasing him from cryo. The implant and automatic drug dosing seemed to be working exactly as she had hoped.

An incoming transmission from Erevos took her out of her thoughts. She pressed the reject control on her holo-console but then the console blinked red.

“Executive override” flashed on the screen, shortly before being replaced by her father’s face. He did not look happy.

Crap.

“What can I do for you, Father?”

“You can start by explaining what the hell happened last night inside my palace; why half of it was rampaged and why you stole a ship. I don’t think I need to tell you to choose your next words carefully.”

Oryn swallowed hard. She had hoped to come back with Chase’s head as a way to explain why everything went so badly, but it looked as if she would have to explain herself much earlier.

Arakan’s eyes were glowing red, his face contorted with rage.. It wasn’t something Oryn could ignore even if he was lightyears away. Still, she needed to reassure him and present him with a version of the truth that fit with her aspirations for the future, while making sure she got his consent to maintain her current course.

“Miseo lost it, Father. He tried to kill me and he nearly succeeded. Since he was being so destructive, I had no choice but lead him away from Erevos and bring him to Chase, so he could unleash his madness upon him instead of destroying your palace and doing irreparable damage to our homeworld.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Miseo is not powerful enough to do half this damage, let alone trying to kill you. He’s my son and I had high hopes for him. Granted, his results of late were not promising, but he is still the heir to the throne. We both know Miseo can’t deal with that traitor, Chase.”

“That was yesterday.”

Arakan growled. “Explain.”

“I’ve tasked one of our scientists to create a new weapon to deal with threats like Chase and Argos. Let’s just say it didn’t go as planned.”

“And you tested this on my son? Your own brother?,” screamed Arakan.

“That part was not my doing. I don’t know what the hell the scientist was thinking. Unfortunately, the procedure is irreversible.”

“Are you telling me that my son, the only heir to the Fury throne, is lost?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps we can find a cure, but for the time being we should exploit this and use Miseo to bring our biggest foe down.”

“You’re willing to risk his life to defeat an enemy you could take care of yourself?”

“While it pleases me that you would think so, Father, you haven’t met this Ultra Fury.”

“The Ultra Fury is a myth! A legend perpetuated over centuries to motivate Fury soldiers to train harder and get more powerful.”

“This Fury is no myth. I’ve seen and felt the full brunt of his powers. Believe me, Father, I also thought as you do before I met and fought him directly. Right now, he is probably not able to fully control his powers, but I sensed that power was nearly infinite. If we don’t bring him down, and soon, he could mean the end of us all.”

“Is that fear in your voice?”

Oryn nodded.

“You were never afraid of anything, even as a child. I was always so proud of you⁠—”

Arakan stopped mid-sentence and looked to the side, attentive to something off screen.

“What is it, Father?”

Arakan lifted a finger. “Just a moment, Oryn.”

Arakan frowned and, after a moment, his face turned angry, then concerned.

Who the hell is he listening to?

Oryn wanted to ask him if he was still taking his treatment, but that usually resulted in bursts of anger. She should avoid that in her precarious position. If he had overridden the communication from Erevos, it stood to reason he could override the entire computer on board the Eternal Wrath. She couldn’t let that happen.

She decided not to ask him about it and patiently waited to see how this conversation would unfold.

“And do you think Miseo’s current condition can really help defeat that traitor, Chase?” said Arakan, after an uncomfortably long time.

“Absolutely. In his current state he’s more powerful than anyone I’ve ever faced. I truly think Miseo can bring Chase down.”

“Very well, but you’ll have to answer for your actions upon your return. The consequences will depend on the success or failure of your current mission. And Oryn?”

“Yes, Father?”

“I might not be as lenient as I have been with you in the past. I suggest you do everything in your power to bring Miseo back, and hope his condition can be reversed. Am I clear?”

“Absolutely, Father.”

Arakan turned the holo-transmission off and Oryn let escape a long sigh of relief. Her heart was pounding and she had to take several long breaths to calm herself.

She no longer had a choice. If she wanted to survive, she had to make sure Miseo killed Chase. If he failed, she would have to step in and finish the job herself.

13

“Where the hell is this place?” said Chris.

“I assume this would be Gaia 2’s matrix,” said Argos. “Does looks like my old flagship, though.”

Argos looked around, trying to gather visual confirmation of his hunch. They stood inside a Zarlack ship, that much he was sure of.

“What do we do now?”

“Find your father, for starters.”

“If this is a representation of your ship, you should know your way around it. Where do we go from here?”

Argos thought about it. It looked like the flagship Argos had used to bring Erevos and the Furies back from the other dimension. Just before his entire life had been turned upside down. Argos thought about the machine into which he had convinced Aphroditis to step, in exchange for Sarah’s life. That was as good a place to start as any.

“Follow me,” said Argos.

They flew along the corridors of the ship until Argos stopped in front of a heavy blast door. Chris overshot Argos and doubled back to land next to him.

“Here goes nothing,” said Argos. He put his palm on the door’s biometric controls.

A pneumatic sound was followed by two columns of white smoke, erupting from either side as the blast doors split down the middle. But something wasn’t right. The movement wasn’t fluid. The door shuddered and jerked open at a slow pace. More smoke erupted from within the room, preventing them from seeing what was inside.

It took almost twenty seconds for the blast doors to fully open. Flashes of light illuminated the thick cloud of smoke.

“Not much choice but go in, I guess,” said Argos.

Chris didn’t wait. He was the first to step in. Argos followed.

Argos created a small, semi-translucent sphere, and then used his telekinesis to suck the smoke into that sphere. As the smoke cover thinned, visibility improved.

It was the room where Aphroditis had entered the machine. At least, Argos thought so from the little he could make out. It was dark. The only light source was the random flashes that blinded them more than anything, making it difficult for their sight to adjust, even with the smoke almost entirely trapped inside Argos’ vacuum sphere.

They heard a moan and turned towards it. Chase was pinned against a wall. He bled from multiple holes in his body and was barely conscious.

“Dad!” Chris ran to him.

Argos looked at his brother and anger rose within him. Chase looked at death’s door.

They needed to get him out of here. Chris started healing him.

Argos sensed something rushing towards Chase and Chris and reacted by putting himself in the way. A large icicle planted itself in his stomach instead of hitting Chase.

He moaned in pain as he extracted the sharp weapon of ice, letting his own blood flood from the wound before healing it.

Chase opened his eyes.

“I—” He had trouble speaking. “I thought I told Kvasir not to let anyone in.”

“I didn’t ask for permission,” said Chris.

“And you’re welcome,” added Argos. “Chris, take your father out of here. Once he’s out of the matrix, come back and give me a hand.”

Chris nodded. He melted the icy attachment pinning his father to the wall, took him in his arms and flew from the room.

“Show yourself!” exclaimed Argos.

The remaining smoke dissipated, the flashing lights stopped and the artificial lighting of the ship was restored. A confident Oryn walked towards Argos with a smile on her face.

* * *

“Almost there,” said Kvasir.

“Make sure you disable this process first, or she’ll notice,” said Cedric.

“Right. This is the last of her monitoring processes in this area. I’ve already reprogrammed the security protocols to prevent any future incoming packets. The encryption cypher is being generated and cycling on the fly, using the entire Earth Alliance computing power. That should prevent her from cracking it.”

“We also thought that when we tried to prevent her from getting through the shields. That proved a mistake.”

“How often were you cycling the cypher?”

“At first every day, then every hour or so.”

“My cypher is being cycled every few seconds. Trust me, she’s not getting through any time soon, especially while Chase and the others are distracting her.”

“The others? Who else is here?”

“Chris and Argos have entered the matrix. Chase is in bad shape. The fleet is currently jumping towards Earth.”

“Won’t Gaia 2 detect that and retaliate?”

“Probably, but what choice do we have? If Chris and Argos hadn’t entered Gaia 2’s matrix when they did, Chase would probably have died by now. I’m not sure if he hasn’t suffered irreparable brain damage already.”

“Then let’s not lose another second. Let’s finish this hack and get my body back. The sooner I regain control, the better chance we have of preventing Gaia 2 from killing millions.”

“Not to be pessimistic, but I reviewed some logs before detecting you inside the matrix. Isn’t the entire Earth infrastructure down because of the EMP Gaia triggered? How can we protect anybody?”

“Spiros and I had been working on a plan to eradicate Gaia shortly after her first awakening. Not this Gaia 2, the original one.”

“Surely that plan was technological in nature, wasn’t it?”

“It included triggering an EMP. We had considered that eventuality.”

“So?”

“Let’s get my body back, Kvasir. I’ll do the rest. But I might need Chase awake for my plan to work.”

* * *

“Dad! Please answer me!” pleaded Chris

“You shouldn’t have come . . .”

“Nonsense, you need our help.”

“She’s too strong.”

“And we’re stronger than you give us credit for.”

“Please tell me that at least the fleet is still waiting for the order.”

Chris frowned.

“I’m afraid not. The fleet is jumping towards Earth now.”

“She will kill millions⁠—”

“Perhaps we can prevent it, but if you had died, she would have recovered her entire processing power and done even more damage. You have to get out of the matrix now and heal yourself.”

“I can’t leave you two alone,” muttered Chase, fighting to stay conscious.

“We’ll manage. You can always come back later, but right now there’s nothing you can do. You’ll have to trust Argos and me for the time being.”

Chase clenched his teeth from the pain. “Very well. Ask Kvasir to help me exit. I’m afraid I don’t have the strength to do it on my own.”

“Kvasir, this is Chris. Remove Chase from Gaia 2’s matrix now.”

“Very well. Give me a second.”

“Hurry up!” insisted Chris.

Chase disappeared from Chris’s arms.

“Done. Good luck, Chris. Be very careful in there.”

“Understood.”

* * *

Ares’ consciousness was thrown backwards and soon he was back where he had started, in the room where Aphroditis was trapped in the infernal machine. His consciousness entered the machine with hers.

What he saw next terrified him. It was a place of pure darkness and pain.

“Ares, it’s good to see you,” said a voice around him.

“What is this place?”

“You don’t want to know, and right now it’s irrelevant. Chase needs your help, now!”

“What? What’s happening?”

“He’s in bad shape. Gaia 2 got the better of him and he needs you.”

“I don’t understand. How can you know all of this from here?”

“When I touched Chase’s mind at the beginning of all of this, I left part of my consciousness with him. A very small part that he carries around with him, unknowingly. That’s how I’m able to sense and communicate with him when I need to and when I find the energy. This machine attacks me on every level, physically and mentally. But from time to time I can get a message out. It takes a huge effort and a lot of pain. Just like it did now with you. Your proximity and the fact you’re my brother helped.”

“Can’t I just swap places with you?”

“If you had a body, perhaps. In this form you can’t. But, Ares, go to Chase now. He needs to heal before it’s too late.”

Ares pondered on this. Perhaps he could provide another Olympian body to feed the machine. But who would be crazy enough to step into the machine and seal their fate? At least voluntarily.

“But—”

“Ares! Now!”

Ares’ consciousness was ejected from the machine and back into the room.

Go now, Ares. Stop worrying about me.

Ares knew better than to argue. Last time she had given him a similar message, he had arrived too late and Chase had almost died. He focused on Chase and teleported to his current location.

Inside the StarFury, Chase had lost consciousness and was barely breathing. Ares materialized in energy form, touched Chase and teleported him away.

* * *

Oryn checked the progress of her jump. She was still hours away from Earth. She decided against stopping on her way to exit the ship. If she didn’t bring back Chase’s head, it would probably be the end of her, so she would need to stay on board and, if necessary, help fight Chase with her brother.

What was left of him anyway. She needed to use the time to train with the mental control device. It had to become second nature, but she needed to be able to control it while still controlling her own body too.

“Why are you doing this to me?” asked Miseo.

Oryn jumped out of her chair and looked around the bridge. No one was there.

Was she imagining things? It had been a long day. Was she losing her mind?

“Tell me, sister. Why are you doing this to me? Is it out of jealousy?”

“Miseo?” she asked out loud.

“Who else? You’re in my mind. It’s only fair that I can to talk to you as well. What did you do to me?”

“What needed to be done.”

“You keep telling yourself that. But you’ve used me as a guinea pig. I don’t know how or why, but ever since I awoke from the regen tank, I’ve been feeling different. I’ve been full of anger, hatred and killing thoughts.”

“I’ve noticed. You almost killed me.”

“Too bad I failed. You’re a horrible person.”

“Look who’s talking.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong, Oryn, and you know it. I might have failed to eliminate Chase when I had the chance, but I didn’t deserve Father’s wrath for that, and I sure didn’t deserve to become your mind toy.”

Oryn didn’t understand how Miseo could communicate with her, but seeing how badly the tech had been working up until now, she concluded it was one more bug in the system. Perhaps the drugs she was administering to calm him were responsible for this.

“You’re a spoiled brat. You always were,” she said.

“Be that as it may, you’re a terrible sister. But you know that already. I can feel it. Using your own brother as a test subject, willing to sacrifice me to elevate your position. And what’s next? You’ll do to Father what you did to me? We both know that’s the only way you can ever access the throne, via proxy. No Fury will tolerate a female leading our people.”

“That’s none of your concern, brother.”

“I’ve been looking inside your mind. Looks like I could be only your half-brother.”

Oryn didn’t like this one bit. He could sense her thoughts, her fears. If he could do this, what else could he do?

“Don’t worry, I want to die. Living like this, like a puppet on a string, is no life. I’m looking forward to killing Chase, though, and finally correcting the mistake that brought about my downfall. Everything can be traced to that single moment on Droxia. I fucked up when I let Argos take care of Chase; it was a mistake. I should have killed him myself, cut off his head and brought it back to Father. If I had, none of this would have happened.”

“You’re right about this. And I’m glad you agree with my plan.”

“Don’t kid yourself though, Oryn. I hate you more than you can ever fathom.”

“Oh no, believe me, I felt how much you hate me and want to kill me.”

“Once Chase is done, you may want to kill me yourself, because given the chance, I’ll rip your pretty little head off.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t give you that chance. Focus on killing Chase. Do that one last good thing in this life. And, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Seeing how you denied responsibility when you talked with Father, I seriously doubt that.”

Oryn winced. The last thing she needed was her brother talking to him. She forced him back into the cryo-unit and activated it from the bridge.

She would have to wing it with the device. No way would she spend hours debating with Miseo. She punched in more commands to make sure the level of the relaxing drug would be halved when he left the cryo-unit. When the time came, she needed a killer, not a sermon.

So long, brother.

* * *

When Cedric opened his eyes, he was relieved he was able to move his body.

“It worked! Thanks, Kvasir.”

“I’m glad. Now, let’s get to work. Tell me more about your plan.”

“When Spiros had me working on a way to destroy Gaia, we isolated large numbers of nanites with a minimalistic operating system. We locked them in shielded facilities around the planet, so they would survive the EMP. These were designed to bring the Earth’s main infrastructure network back online if we had to detonate a planetary-wide EMP. I need to get to them and release them from their shielded containment units.”

“An ingenious plan, but how do you propose to get to them?”

Cedric looked around. He was still in the medical facility where he had been converted into a cyborg. The headless body of Spiros lay in a pool of blood.

The view made him sick and he fell on his knees and vomited.

“I’m so sorry,” he said to Spiros’ body.

“What’s happening?” asked Kvasir.

“Never mind. Just some very bad memories. Fortunately, there’s a nanite stockpile not far from here. I’ll release them and reprogram some of them to release others within range. But it will take hours, which I seriously doubt we have. The moment you have news from Chase, put him in contact with me. I could use his teleporting skills right now.”

“Anything else?”

“We need to get to Gaia as well. I don’t like the fact we haven’t heard from her for so long.”

“She might have been detected and neutralized by Gaia 2.”

“We can’t let that happen. Keep up your hacking efforts and try to locate her. You’ll stand a better chance of bringing Gaia 2 down from the inside with her help.”

“Understood.”

“Oh, and Kvasir, make sure you focus your hacking efforts towards preventing Gaia 2 from firing from space. If she targets me . . .”

“I know, this will be over before it started.”

“Exactly, but we can’t let her fire on other targets either. At least, we have to do everything we can to prevent that.”

“You still haven’t told me what bringing some of the planet’s infrastructure back online will achieve.”

“Well, I might not be able to bring it to full power, but the idea is to bring the planetary shield back online. It’s this planet’s last line of defense.”

“Understood. Be careful, Cedric.”

“You too, Kvasir, and thanks again. I never thought I’d get back inside my body.” Cedric looked at his butchered cyborg hands. “What’s left of it anyway.”

“We’ll deal with that too, once this crisis is over.”

“Now go. Find Gaia and let’s finally bring her evil-twin bitch down.”

* * *

“Your mind is weak,” said Oryn.

“Hasn’t anyone told you over-confidence is not a good quality?” said Argos.

“And your faith in your feeble abilities is what, exactly?”

“Why don’t you show your real face? Why impersonate someone?”

Oryn morphed into the avatar representation of Gaia 2.

“It won’t change anything. In this form or another, neither of you is nearly as strong as Chase. I can already feel myself regaining major power cycles since Chase left. I’m afraid your little rescue mission will fail.”

“And I’m willing to bet that I will have your electronic head within the hour.”

“Such defiance, such gusto. I’ll grant you that. You appear very confident for a Fury that has lost it all. His power over the universe, his grand Machiavellian plan to rule this galaxy turned to dust by his own brother. And, to top it all off, you’re now only his pet, a mere shadow of your own self. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”

Argos felt rage rise from within. With a swift move he launched a powerful fireball towards Gaia 2. It exploded and everything around him changed. He was no longer aboard his old Zarlack flagship, but in a large city.

Chris flew in from the distance and landed next to him.

“What did I miss?”

“Nothing much. How’s Chase?”

“I don’t know, but he’s out of here.”

“Well, that’s all that matters, I guess. Let’s hope it’s not too late. We have to hold the fort. We don’t want Gaia 2 regaining her processing power.”

“She won’t.”

Argos wanted to believe Chris. The fact was that he was mostly trying to pump himself and the boy up in the process. But neither of them was as powerful as Chase. And Gaia 2’s words had shaken him. She had said the exact right things to make him doubt.

“I hope so⁠—”

Chris looked straight at Argos. “You hope so? Let’s make one thing clear, that bitch will use our own fears against us. She will do everything she can to instill terror and doubt in our minds. It doesn’t matter that we’re not as strong as my father in the real world. This is a psychological battle. So in here we’ll be as strong as our thoughts allow us to be. In this world, we can be more powerful than Chase if we’re smart and believe in our abilities.”

Was the boy right? His argument made sense. If they managed to keep their heads clear, their motivation unwavering, then perhaps, here, they could be more powerful than Chase. There was strength in numbers, after all.

“Very well. It’s not like we have any choice if we want to get out of here alive.”

Chris smiled. “That’s the spirit. Now what is this place?” Chris looked at the skyscrapers around them.

Argos sighed. “I believe it’s Tokyo, back on Earth.”

“You know this place?”

“Unfortunately, yes. And I don’t think we’re here by accident.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Gaia 2 is using our fears and doubts against us. This place doesn’t hold the warmest of memories.”

“How’s an Earth city part of your fears? I’m not following.”

“Your father burned me alive and almost killed me here, not so long ago.”

* * *

With the help of medbay two’s doctors, Ares put Chase inside a regen chamber the moment they arrived on board the Hope.

“Use the fastest healing cycle. He needs to be conscious again as quickly as possible,” said Ares to the doctor.

“But that’s dangerous!”

“Do as I say and don’t argue. Commander Kepler will confirm the order shortly, but we don’t have time to lose.”

The doctor hesitated. “I’m sorry, I have to ask⁠—”

Before the doc could finish his sentence Ares took control of his body and mind by jumping his consciousness inside the doctor’s body. The sensation wasn’t pleasant since the doctor was still conscious and trying to fight Ares’ control. Ares didn’t have time to lose, so he head-butted the nearest wall with enough force so the doc would lose consciousness. Once that was done he had free reign over the body, with a headache to boot. But that didn’t matter. As soon as he exited the doctor’s body, it would be gone.

He entered the settings on the regen chamber for the fastest cycle possible and exited the unconscious body that fell to the floor with a thump.

“Sorry about that, but I did say it was urgent,” said Ares out loud.

Ares teleported away to the bridge.

“Ares!” Sarah exclaimed as she jumped off the captain’s chair. “Where have you been?”

“Long story. Chase is back on board. I’ve put him in a regen chamber in medbay two.”

Ares could read Sarah’s concern.

“How . . . how is he doing?”

“Not well, but I’m sure he’ll make it. He’s strong.”

Sarah forced herself to nod, but Ares could tell she was just being hopeful. They all were. Chase needed to get better, quickly.

“What’s our next move?” Sarah asked.

“I don’t know. Won’t Gaia 2 recover all her powers now that Chase is out of her matrix?”

“My son and Argos went in.”

“Good, there’s still a chance then. Let’s hope they’re strong enough.”

“Chris is like his father. He won’t allow himself to fail.”

14

Cedric had been running for minutes towards the Earth Alliance facility with the first batch of nanites. He had never run this fast, nor would he have thought his body could maintain such a pace.

There are some advantages to being a cyborg, I guess.

It was taking a lot of mental effort to both use his body, and keep an active part of his mind analyzing Gaia 2’s matrix. He had unrestricted access now, but he still had to proceed carefully.

Out of the blue Cedric heard a deafening noise and was thrown to the ground. When he turned around he saw the Earth Alliance medical facility in flames.

Gaia 2 had detected that she couldn’t control him anymore and fired on the medical center from orbit. If he hadn’t left when he did, he would have been vaporized with whoever was still in there. The entire facility had been leveled with one single plasma shot from orbit.

“Are you alright, Cedric?” said Kvasir over their link.

“Yeah, but Gaia 2 has started her orbital bombing.”

Cedric resumed running.

“Then it might not be wise for you to go to another Earth Alliance location.”

“She has already bombed most of them. The only reason she hadn’t obliterated that one was ’cause I was in it and she enjoyed torturing me. The one I’m going to is deep underground, and hopefully she doesn’t know about it.”

“She might if she got the information from you or from Gaia.”

“Gaia wasn’t aware of these locations. We made sure of that for obvious reasons. If she got that info from me, that’s a risk I’m going to have to take. We either re-activate the planetary shields, even at minimal power, or she we will bomb entire cities and kill millions. How far is the fleet? And how much CPU is she using at the moment?”

“The fleet is a few minutes away from jumping into Earth space, and her CPU is well utilized: over seventy-five percent. Recovering your body as well as the loss of the large CPU node Chase destroyed has really made a difference.”

“How’s your hack progressing?”

“Very well. I only have a couple of functions to deploy and then we can start flooding her systems with data. The sheer number of attacks from all the malware I’ve installed should put her into an even higher state of internal defense, which should help the fleet as well as Chris and Argos.”

Chase’s boy was technically only a few weeks old, even if he looked like a young adult. And he was already risking his life for others. Like father, like son. But that was the price of this intergalactic war. No one was spared, not even children.

“Can you show me some of your hacking code? Just send it to my mental HUD.”

“Are you double-checking on me?”

“No, but perhaps I can add a few of my homebrewed tricks to yours. If there’s one thing I know, it’s code.”

“Very well, I’m sending you the hacking functions now.”

Cedric’s view filled with an overlay of code. Some of that stuff was very advanced and he had to guess their functions. He quickly wrote an on-the-fly macro to take care of his route and running so it would happen on autopilot while he concentrated on Kvasir’s code.

That took but a few seconds, and he had to admit that this part of being a cyborg with enhanced computing capabilities built into his own mind was pretty awesome. Spiros had augmented himself with similar brain enhancing tech and he could see why.

He still couldn’t believe he would never see Spiros again, or argue about how to best implement the next piece of tech they were working on. But it also gave Cedric strength and determination. If only to get revenge on the lives lost, Spiros included, they would bring Gaia 2 down today, or die trying.

* * *

A battle bot with aggressive black-and-red painting landed in front of Argos and Chris. Its eyes glowed red. While it looked like the bots both Argos and Chris had fought while training, the paint job and red eyes made it look more menacing.

Argos and Chris exchanged a dubious expression.

“Is that all she’s going to throw at us?” asked Chris.

“I seriously dou⁠—”

Before Argos could finish his sentence, another bot landed next to the first, and then another. In seconds, hundreds of bots encircled them.

“Did I just jinx it?” said Chris.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Get ready for battle, boy.”

Argos and Chris intensified their powers and their respective auras grew. Argos’ crimson aura gave him the familiar sinister look, while Chris’s aura was deep blue.

The battle bots jumped towards them, and both Argos and Chris flew upwards in response. They both unleashed a flurry of fireballs towards where they stood a second ago.

A massive cascade of explosions resulted in multiple shockwaves breaking the windows of the tall skyscrapers around them.

That first wave of attack had destroyed many of the battle bots, but their numbers kept growing. Many flew upwards through the flames at great velocity.

“You deal with the strays; I’ll keep incinerating them below,” shouted Argos.

Chris flashed Argos a thumbs up before engaging those flying towards their position, high in the sky over Tokyo.

Chris severed the first battle bot with a powerful slashing kick, sent a second one plummeting inside the nearest skyscraper with a powerful telekinetic push, and incinerated a third at close range with a powerful discharge of blue energy.

Everything happened quickly. This wasn’t training anymore. This was combat, with multiple foes intent on killing them. Chris quickly forgot he was inside a mental simulation. Everything felt all too real, like the first hit which one of the incoming battle droids managed to get past Chris’ defense, sending him flying to the side for a few yards. Chris recovered his balance almost instantly.

Going to have to stay more focused.

In a handful of seconds, Chris dealt with about fifty droids, dodging their energy-based attacks as well as their close-quarter strikes. The enemy battle bots were thrown into buildings, exploded in the sky or were incinerated by Chris’ powerful energy-based attacks and fireballs.

“They keep coming in greater numbers,” shouted Chris.

“I know! Keep doing what you’re doing,” said Argos through gritted teeth as he unleashed more and more fireballs to finish the army of battle bots still on the ground.

* * *

Sarah was biting her nails, sitting in the captain’s chair while she watched the beautiful blue and purple streaks of hyperspace travel on the viewport.

She wanted to check on Chase in medbay three, but now was not the time. She actively monitored his vitals on the built-in holo-display of the chair. He had been in the regen tank long enough that his life was no longer in danger. In fact, his readings indicated that his fast healing cycle would be over soon.

She was still worried about brain damage, though. But if his brain had recovered from the brunt of his experience inside Gaia 2’s matrix, she was confident he could heal himself the rest of the way. All he needed was a temporary boost and that’s what he was getting.

Sarah opened a link to the fighter launching bays.

“Daniel, report.”

“I’m in my StarFury with the rest of our wings. Ready to deploy the moment we arrive at Earth.”

“Very good. We’re only a few moments away. Don’t wait for my order. The moment you see stars, launch the fighters and open fire on Gaia 2’s ships. Focus on one enemy vessel at a time. We need to overload Gaia 2’s advanced shields.”

“Let’s hope Yanis’ weapon mods will pay off; last time her ships went into battle with the Fury super-destroyer, her ships’ shields seemed invulnerable.”

“There’s no such thing as invulnerable. I’m confident you’ll make an impact. Yanis always delivers on the upgrades. Just focus on hitting your targets with as many lasers and torpedoes as you can, and let our big guns finish the job. We’ll also provide cover for your wings from other capital ships, sure to try to swat your wings with long-range fire.”

“We don’t even know if she has fighters of her own on board these ships.”

“I know, but we’ll know soon enough how she plans to deal with our starfighter wings.”

“What do we do if the admiral gives our wings direct orders and targeting priorities?”

“Do as he says. While I have the final say on you and your wings, he’s the commanding officer of the fleet and we must trust in his ability to lead us into victory. I’ll only countermand his order if I absolutely have to. Now is not the time to make yet another potential enemy. We need his ships beyond today, even if they’re technologically inferior to ours. We need the larger numbers he brings to the table. After this battle we can upgrade them; that should take a lot less time than building new ones.”

“Very well, Cap. See you on the other side.”

“Be careful, Daniel.”

“Always.”

* * *

Kvasir had written the last line of code to his cascading functions to unleash towards Gaia 2. And not a minute too soon. The fleet was about to exit hyperspace.

He used the last few seconds to locate Gaia inside the matrix. He didn’t like that she hadn’t reported in a long while. Something must have gone wrong.

Now that he could use Cedric’s body as a way to bypass many of Gaia 2’s firewalls and tap directly into her code, he launched a search algorithm to locate Gaia.

And locate her he did. But it was not good news. Gaia had located her backup copy in a demilitarized network zone inside Gaia 2’s matrix. It looked as though Gaia 2 had lured her there, and the moment Gaia tried to recover the data, she’d been locked in with a heavy encryption code.

That’s not good. Gaia’s trapped.

Kvasir had to make a decision. He should either focus on finishing his hack or divert his efforts to releasing Gaia from her digital prison. They needed all the help they could get. Kvasir was the foremost expert in artificial intelligence back on Asgard, and yet Gaia 2 was tougher to crack than he’d first thought.

Had he and Chase underestimated their foe? It would seem so. One thing was certain. If Gaia could be released she would be a powerful ally, and with Chase out of the matrix, perhaps that’s what they needed.

Kvasir interlocked his fingers and cracked them. His facial tattoos flashed with no discernable patterns as he entered commands on his holo-console at an impressive speed.

Powerful encryption algorithm, meet Kvasir of Asgard.

* * *

Aboard his flagship destroyer Victory, First Admiral Zenakis rose from his chair.

“Open a channel, fleet-wide,” said Zenakis.

“Channel opened.”

“This is First Admiral Zenakis. We’re moments away from jumping into the most difficult battle any of us have ever faced. This time we’re not fighting another race, but an artificial intelligence. We don’t yet know what this will mean but, in my experience, when you battle for survival you’re the most fierce and the most dangerous.

“Surely Gaia 2 will do everything she can to survive and, unlike us, her ships have no living souls on board. We don’t know exactly what we’re up against, nor what strategies she will use. We know from her previous engagement with the Fury super-destroyer that Gaia 2 has no problem sacrificing her ships to take down her enemy. Fortunately, she doesn’t have superior numbers this time, so she can’t just kamikaze her entire fleet. She’ll have to use strategy to bring us down, and we’ll do the same.

“But make no mistake, this battle will claim lives. It’s my hope that we can limit these losses. There is yet another powerful enemy that needs to be brought down: the Furies. So we can’t just sacrifice this fleet. That’s why I will employ a guerilla warfare strategy today, to be as efficient as possible and win this battle with as little loss as possible on our side.

“Our main priority is to take as many of Gaia 2’s ships out of the picture in the first minutes of engagement as we can. That will show that we mean business, but also reduce her computing resources. We’ll maneuver to avoid direct retaliation.

“As soon as we exit hyperspace, you’ll all receive your targets. The Olympian fleet has the strongest shields, so they will be creating a perimeter around us, so they can deflect as much incoming fire from the enemy as possible. The Earth Alliance has the biggest firing range and the most powerful weapon: the Damocles plasma guns. These guns need sixty seconds to recharge in sustained beam-firing mode. Despite this it’s the most advanced weapon in the fleet. When you get your targets, each ship is to fire a full salvo of torpedoes, to lower the enemy’s shield, so that the Earth Alliance vessels can finish them off with their main guns. I’ve calculated we can only take on three ships at a time since Gaia 2’s shielding technology is superior.

“Athena’s battlegroup will receive their own targeting priorities. Their powerful anti-matter torpedoes pack a serious punch but have a large blast radius. Do not, I repeat, do not be anywhere near one of the Olympian battlegroup targets when she fires these or you won’t live to tell the tale.

“I don’t have to tell you that we can’t lose this battle, and I know you will all perform above and beyond my expectation during this battle. Trust in the chain of command, trust in your shipmates, and I promise we’ll get through this day.

“Set condition red throughout the fleet and be ready to engage. First Admiral Zenakis out.”

* * *

Aboard the StarFury, Daniel’s hands were trembling slightly. Something he was not used to. Like everyone else in the fleet he was waiting for the hyperspace jump to end so he could deploy his wing of fighters. But what troubled him most was that they didn’t know how Gaia 2 would react.

Her ships had superior shielding and heavy firepower. Since there was no crew aboard, Gaia 2 could sacrifice any of them at any moment, as one would sacrifice a pawn in a game of chess. That’s what made Daniel so tense: fighting an unpredictable enemy who could dispose of her assets without any real consequences. Not to mention that they didn’t have enough data or battle experience to base a strong strategy on.

Yet defeat wasn’t an option. They could not let Earth fall.

Daniel swallowed hard.

Then there was Chase, back on board the Hope in yet another regen tank. Daniel wished Chase was on the bridge of his ship and leading this battle. While the first admiral had the experience and was one of the most decorated Star Alliance heroes, he was just as unprepared as they all where.

But worse than that, his ego seemed to be overinflated and that made Daniel worry. At no point in his address to the fleet did Admiral Zenakis mention protecting Earth if Gaia 2 turned her guns towards it. Sarah would do everything she could to convince him or, if needed, disobey his orders to avoid massive loss of life on the surface of the blue planet.

He didn’t envy her position. At least he was in familiar territory inside his starfighter, ready to lead his wings as he had done so many times before.

The blue and purple streaks of hyperspace quickly compressed and were replaced by the twinkling of stars in Daniel’s viewport. He opened a channel to his wings.

“Alpha to Epsilon wings, activate launching sequence.”

15

Chase felt queasy as he blinked his eyes open. He was in the familiar green liquid of a regen tank. He expanded his thoughts and felt the presence of Sarah, Daniel, Argos and Chris nearby. He was back on board the Hope.

Something must have gone terribly wrong. His head was pounding. He felt a mix of confusion and darkness within his mind, as though part of his memory was missing or out of reach.

Had he suffered the brain damage Kvasir had warned about?

Then images of a salt-and-pepper-bearded man with long gray hair flashed into his mind. The man looked familiar. A large scar split his left cheek from nose to ear, and a second ran from the center of his forehead to the right side of his jaw, passing across his right eye. His eyes were gray and his gaze invoked wisdom and experience, while the rest of his face screamed of a warrior who had defied death on many occasions.

Chase heard him speak.

“Argos, how many times have I told you not to pick on your brother!”

Was this a memory of his biological father? Never before had he recalled any of this. Did the damage to his brain remove a part of the block Argos had put there?

Chase then saw Argos shaking him by the shoulders.

“We’re on our own now! Now that Father is gone, I’m in charge, okay?”

It troubled Chase that Argos seemed so much younger inside that memory. He also had no scars. Had they spent another lifetime together? As brothers, before Argos wiped his memory?

Chase’s heart pounded in his chest. These flashes of memory destabilized him. Was he really who he thought he was? He had decided earlier that he didn’t want the memories back, that he liked who he had become and that the memories he had were enough to define who he was and wanted to be.

Chase saw yet another flash of Argos. Older this time, but he still had the same black hair as Chase. Argos was enraged, teeth clenched and tears flowing heavily down his face. His scar was there, fresh and bleeding.

“You killed her! How could you do that? You killed her, you monster!”

Chase felt the sincerity of Argos’ pain and anger. What the hell had happened between them? Had Chase killed someone Argos held dear? And if so, why?

Chase saw them fighting. A terrible fight to the death. They fought for hours. Eventually Argos won the battle and stood above Chase, ready to kill him. His fist trembled and another wave of tears burned his eyes.

Argos grabbed Chase’s forehead.

“You are dead to me. I don’t ever want to see you again.” Argos’ voice trembled as the memory faded to black.

Chase was missing context from these memories. They didn’t register as part of his life, but he knew deep down that what he had just seen had happened.

But taken out of context all these memories did was trouble Chase’s already confused mind. Why was he in the regen tank? He remembered being attacked by Gaia 2, and Chris and Argos coming to his rescue. But what had happened, and why was he back on board the Hope?

Chase saw a golden light at the periphery of his vision. Ares was here.

Chase’s heart pumped hard and, without realizing or controlling it, Chase unleashed a shockwave that blew the door off the regen tank, shattered its glass and spilled the green liquid all over the medbay’s floor. Chase spat the breathing liquid onto the floor as he stepped out of the tank, his head still pounding.

His first breath of air burned his lungs, but soon his body adapted to breathing the ship’s atmosphere.

“Chase! What the hell are you doing?” exclaimed Ares.

“Who’s inside the matrix now?”

“Chris and Argos.”

“I have to get back.”

“You’re not well enough to go back, Chase. Why did you break the tank?”

“Kinda lost control there for a second. Where are we?”

The ship shook and Chase almost lost his footing.

“Where are we, Ares? What’s happening?”

“We’ve just arrived at Earth. I’d say the battle with Gaia 2’s armada has just begun.”

* * *

Gaia 2’s CPU spiked up to one hundred percent. A quick check on the sensor data Cedric had managed to hack showed a large fleet of ships engaging Gaia 2’s armada.

“Kvasir, now is the time to unleash your code.”

There was no answer.

“Kvasir, do you read me?” insisted Cedric.

“Roger. I’m sorry. I’m almost through Gaia 2’s encryption. She has Gaia trapped in a demilitarized network. I have to get her out. Any chance you can take over my hack for just a couple of minutes?”

Cedric wanted to argue that now was not the time to multitask, but that’s what he was doing as well. They needed all the help they could get, and freeing Gaia sounded like a good idea.

“Very well. Cedric to the rescue for a change. I’m launching your malware. I’ll arrive at my destination soon. Make sure you’re done by then. I won’t be able to deploy the nanites properly if I still have to assist you with your tasks.”

“You won’t have to. I’ll have freed Gaia by then. Thank you, Cedric.”

Considering that Kvasir had managed to help him recover his body, Cedric should be the one thanking him.

“Anytime, buddy.”

Cedric was sifting through Kvasir’s code and saw his opportunity. It was risky but, if it worked, he could deal a serious blow to Gaia 2’s forces.

* * *

The army of dark battle bots stopped their attacks and fell back towards the cold, nearly destroyed tarmac of whatever was left of Tokyo’s streets below.

“What the hell?” exclaimed Chris.

“I think whatever our friends are doing—most likely attacking her ships—is overloading Gaia 2.”

“Well, that’s good news.”

“I wouldn’t celebrate just yet. This may be a short-lived breather while Gaia adapts her priorities and redistributes CPU time accordingly. But between you and me, it’s a welcome respite. I was slowly but surely getting overwhelmed here.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. I’ll take whatever pause we can get as well. But couldn’t we just blow stuff up around here? Be proactive instead of being reactive for once.”

“Since the projection is still here, just not the bots, I take it that it still takes CPU power to keep it running, even if it’s not a huge amount. So, yes, we might as well keep her busy. And the sooner I don’t see this city in front of my eyes, the better.”

Chris smiled. “Okay then, let’s blow stuff up.”

* * *

“Report!” shouted Admiral Zanakis.

“The fleet has launched their torpedoes towards their targets, but the enemy reply has been near instantaneous. She’s targeting every ship in the fleet and firing with all laser batteries.”

Multiple, long-range laser shots illuminated the shields in front of the Victory’s viewport, casting blue tones over the bridge and rocking the ship.

“I can see that. Aren’t the Olympians taking the aggro?”

“They are, Admiral, but Gaia is already repositioning her fleet to make sure she can target us as well.”

“Damn!” Zanakis voiced his frustration.

He wasn’t surprised a super-advanced artificial intelligence would swiftly adapt to whatever tactics they threw at it. And this was just the beginning of what would be a very long, hard day.

“ETA on the torpedoes?”

“They’ll hit the Gaian ships in about twenty seconds.”

“Have the Hope ready to fire her main guns. Don’t wait for my order. Two seconds before impact, just tell them to open fire.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

A few seconds later the plasma beams from the Earth Alliance’s newer and more advanced destroyers shot their targets. All three exploded in quick succession and lit the darkness of space.

The crew cheered.

“We have our first kills, Admiral!”

It had begun, and the fleet had executed its first order of business. They had delivered a blow to the Gaian Defense Force (GDF) armada.

But the admiral had no illusions that this tactic would work twice. He would need every trick, every strategy to keep his own fleet on its toes or the AI would adapt and eat them for breakfast.

“Bring us about. Form the battlegroup to an Epsilon three formation.”

Before the admiral’s thirty plus ships could finish their maneuvers, Gaia 2 had delivered her reply.

Five GDF destroyers fired an energy beam towards a sixth ship, which at first didn’t make any sense. But three seconds later that sixth ship unleashed a massive, golden beam of energy towards a ship starboard of the Victory. One of Zenakis’ ship, the Medusa, was hit and, half a second later, it exploded into large fragments. Secondary explosions vaporized the debris into nothingness.

What the hell?

“Medusa’s been destroyed!” said the tactical officer. “They just one-shot one of our destroyers.”

This was not what Zenakis had hoped for. He knew Gaia 2 would retaliate, but he never expected that one single, long-range shot would down one of his ships with such ease.

Admiral Zenakis rubbed his beard nervously. “Open a channel to Athena.”

“Channel opened.”

Athena filled the Victory’s holo-screen with her soothing presence. The admiral’s eyes grew big. She’s surely a beauty.

“What can I do for you, Admiral?”

“Can your ships sustain such weaponry?”

“I’m not sure. My scientists are calculating this right now. We believe we could manage to deflect two, perhaps three shots with our shields at full strength.”

“Which would explain why Gaia 2 hasn’t fired on you yet.”

“Like I said, we’re having this confirmed. But I agree. Gaia 2 must have sensor data providing her with the weakest shields from the fleet.”

“She was looking for the weakest link, and she found them in my battlegroup.”

Athena nodded.

“Any suggestions?”

“We don’t have much choice. Your tactic to weaken her shields is good. We’ll just have to maneuver a lot closer to one another, so we can deflect some of these ultra-powerful energy beams.”

“Agreed. You’re effectively becoming our shields.”

“This is just a stop-gap solution though, Admiral.”

Athena was right, but what choice did they have? They had destroyed three of their ships, then a handful of seconds later, one of theirs was gone. They could just rinse-and-repeat and hope she ran out of ships faster than they did, but that would cost them too many ships and lives, and Zenakis was not ready to lose all that if it could be avoided.

* * *

Daniel’s squadron approached its new coordinates shortly after the loss of the Medusa. The power of this multi-ship firing sequence had taken them all by surprise.

The golden beam of energy was much more powerful than the Damocles main guns. This would make this engagement all the more difficult.

But right now, Daniel’s squadron had their new targets. His squadron entered firing range of their target, a ship designated GDF-8, and all four wings of StarFuries fired a pair of torpedoes towards it.

A split second before the torpedoes hit their targets, the GDF destroyer jumped out of view.

“Dammit!” shouted Daniel.

He opened a channel to the Hope.

“Captain, didn’t we ask the Olympians to deploy their jump-interdiction field?”

“Negative, Daniel. Zenakis wanted to be able to use his own jump engines as part of our strategy.”

“Yeah, well, he’s going to have to reconsider that part of his strategy. We need the jump-interdiction field up. Have him request Athena to drop it when he needs to.”

“I agree with you and will transmit your suggestion to the admiral but, in the midst of battle, asking for the field to drop might take a few seconds too long to save a ship or execute a deadly battle maneuver. I’m not sure this is doable. At least not for us mere mortals.”

Daniel understood what Sarah meant. When Chase controlled multiple ships with his mind, he could effect split-second decisions. Having someone like the admiral at the helm, no matter how good a strategist he was, would slow things down. Even giving the order vocally would add precious seconds to any battle maneuver.

“Understood. What do we do now?”

“Engage the nearest target, with lasers this time. We can’t waste torpedoes. I’ll broadcast whether the JIF is up or down directly to your instruments. In the meantime, try to do what you can with laser fire.”

“We both know their shields are too strong for that.”

“Daniel, Yanis modified our weaponry. Have faith.”

Faith was the one commodity Daniel felt they were slowly but surely losing with each new minute of this engagement.

“Roger that, Captain.”

Daniel opened a channel to his wings.

“Hold off on the torpedoes for the time being. Engage your next target. Divert every ounce of power you can to your weapons systems and fire at will.”

* * *

“If I’m not inside Gaia 2’s matrix, why have we jumped towards Earth?”

“Chase, things weren’t going well. You had lost consciousness. Aphroditis told me to bring you back on board immediately,” said Ares.

“You talked with your sister? How long have I been out?”

“You’ve only been out an hour or so. You should get back in . . .” Ares gestured towards the destroyed regen tank. “Well, another one of these.”

“I’m fine. I have problems focusing, that’s all.”

“You should let the tank regenerate your brain tissues.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” said Chase, closing his eyes.

A white light enveloped Chase’s body and pulsated in and out. He grimaced and winced several times. As he repaired his own brain, images flashed in his mind, but this looked more like the future than the past.

He saw himself battle Oryn and Miseo on a ship with unfamiliar internal designs. He assumed it was a Fury ship. Outside the viewports, Chase saw Earth Alliance, Star Alliance and Olympian ships battling the Gaian Defense Force armada.

Chase swallowed hard.

“What’s going on, Chase?”

“I’m having difficulty healing myself. Every time I try to do deep healing on my brain, I keep getting flashes. Like glimpses of the future, but I don’t have that power— I shouldn’t have that power. It’s similar to when Aphoditis gave me her pendant when fighting the Titan.”

Ares remembered what Aphroditis had told him earlier about having left a part of her consciousness inside Chase.

“It’s possible the damage to your brain prevents you from using your healing powers properly, though I suspect it’s something else. I might have another explanation.”

Chase dropped the healing aura and shot Ares a serious look. “What aren’t you telling me, Ares?”

“It’s not something I’m hiding from you, Chase, more something I’ve just learned.”

“What is it?”

“Aphroditis told me she left a part of her inside you when she first touched your mind. I’m thinking whatever brain trauma you went through might have triggered access to her ability to see possible futures. I’m just guessing here.”

“If that’s true, then we may have a serious problem.”

“We’re in the midst of a large-scale assault with Gaia 2. We can’t seem to outsmart her and she almost got you killed. So yeah, I would say we’re having problems.”

“No, you don’t understand, Ares. The glimpse of the future⁠—”

“What did you see?”

“If this is the future, then the Furies are coming.”

“Of course the Furies are coming, Chase. It will happen eventually.”

“No, you’re not listening to me. Oryn and Miseo are on their way to Earth now! I’m going to have to stop them in the middle of this battle.”

Ares took his head in his hands. “That’s some terrible timing.”

“It didn’t exactly look like I was winning either.”

“What do we do now?”

“I’ve got to tip the balance of this fight in our favor. And I’ve got to do it before they arrive.”

Before Ares could voice his concerns about Chase’s physical state, he had teleported away from the medbay.

“I hate it when he does that,” said Ares, before teleporting away as well.

16

Argos looked around with unmasked satisfaction. Both Furies were still levitating hundreds of yards above the ground, looking at the destruction they had unleashed around them. For miles and miles there was only rubble.

“Now what?” asked Chris.

“I don’t know. Something must have happened, ’cause I would have expected more resistance from Gaia 2. She must be having trouble diverting enough CPU power to deal with us at the moment.”

“Let’s see if we can get her attention back,” said Chris with a smirk.

“I don’t see how we can do that.”

“Watch and learn.” Chris used his hands to amplify his voice. “Hey, bitch, is that all you can do? This is pathetic! Give us a real challenge.”

“Do we really want a challenge?” asked Argos.

“Well, if the idea is to distract her from blowing up Alliance ships, I’d say the more we do here, the better.

“You coward! Are you afraid of us?” Chris kept shouting at the top of his lungs.

Pieces of the rubble vibrated and levitated. Like a jigsaw they melded back together at impressive speed, and in less than sixty seconds, the city of Tokyo was pristine again.

“Looks like she heard you,” said Argos.

“Her ego is huge. It’s easy to get the attention of people who think too highly of themselves. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about,” said Chris with a wink.

“You have a peculiar sense of humor, boy, but I like you. You certainly have no problem speaking your mind without second guessing yourself.”

“What is there to second guess? You were not exactly uncle of the year until not long ago, but you clean up well.” Chris clapped Argos on the shoulder. “Now let’s kick some more ass, shall we, uncle?”

Argos smiled but it didn’t last long. “We’ve got company.”

* * *

Cedric arrived at the entrance of one of the underground bases where the nanites were located, deep in a shielded room to protect them from EMPs.

He ran over the latest of Kvasir’s code and readied his malware cascade for deployment. He added a routine to overload most of Gaia 2’s CPU with a multi-phasic worm that should help Chris and Argos inside the matrix as well: a self-replicating virus that would attack Gaia 2’s main systems as she spent CPU creating mental holographic projections.

The more she attacked Chris and Argos, the more processing resources it would cost her. Normally he wouldn’t risk such an ugly and obvious hack, but right now Gaia 2’s CPU was overloaded, and she probably wouldn’t be able to devote enough resources to poke holes in it; not while she battled their respective hacks, Chris and Argos, and the entire fleet in orbit.

He paused just before hitting the mental send command, wondering if this hack could be exploited against them should it fail to deliver.

He received a text message on his HUD in the form of a log alert.

“I know you’ve got your body back, and your friends are here. You have made a terrible mistake. I’m going to kill you all, starting with your precious fleet, then the impudent Furies inside my matrix. Then I’ll make the ones you call innocents on the face of this planet burn. Then I’m coming after you. When everyone and everything you hold dear has been wiped out, I’ll torture your treacherous little mind for all eternity. End of log file.”

Gaia 2 had been cut out of direct access to Cedric’s systems, so she had to leave her threat inside a log entry Cedric was monitoring. But her message actually helped him take his decision. She sounded panicked and angry, a state of mind when one is prone to make mistakes.

“Yeah, bitch, keep dreaming and, in the meantime, take that!”

Cedric sent the mental command to disseminate Kvasir’s hacks as well as his multi-phasic worm. He then opened a channel to the Asgardian.

“Hacks launched. I won’t be surprised if she loses control of her abilities both inside the matrix and in orbit for a few seconds. We may want to let the boys and girls up there know. They might have a short window of opportunity to do some serious damage.”

“I’m on it. Great job, Cedric. Good luck with your nanites.”

“Any news on Chase?”

“He woke up not long ago.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Tell him to get his butt down here as soon as he can. Him or Ares, but someone that can teleport.”

“I’ll forward your request. Why do you need only his butt, though? That seems counter-productive, and I wasn’t aware Furies could split their bodies like that.”

“What? No, that’s not what it means, Kvasir. It’s a human expression, dummy. It means to hurry the hell up. Just tell him to get down here or send me Ares ASAP, okay? In fact, if both could come, that would be ideal.”

“Will do.”

“Oh, and Kvasir?”

“Yes, Cedric?”

“Any chance you can link me with the rest of the fleet?”

“I’ve discussed it with Sarah. We can’t take the chance. If Gaia 2 reverses our hacks, she’ll get access to the whole fleet.”

“Right, makes sense.”

“But once you’ve unleashed the nanites, you’ll get access to Earth communication towers, won’t you?”

“True, and there is a comms unit in that bunker, so I’ll make sure the nanites work on it first before spreading around. Thanks, Kvasir.”

“Anytime, Cedric. Be careful.”

* * *

An armada of dark-painted battle bots rose from the ground of Tokyo and flew towards Argos and Chris. Hundreds upon hundreds of them.

“We may want to find a simpler way of getting rid of them than fighting them one by one this time around,” said Chris.

“I’m open to suggest—” But Argos didn’t finish the sentence, baffled by what he saw.

The bots fought each other instead of attacking the pair.

“Okay, that’s definitely weird,” said Chris.

“Maybe we should get a sitrep from Kvasir.”

“Good idea. Hang on.”

Kvasir, what’s up? Our enemies in the matrix are fighting themselves. Is that normal?

Cedric just launched the first wave of malware. He told me it would probably have an effect both inside as well as in orbit.

It had an effect alright. We don’t have to do anything. Perhaps we should get out of here?

Cedric said it would only be temporary. Gaia 2 will recover control over most of her systems, but right now she’s vulnerable.

Okay, thanks for the update. We’re staying put then.

“What did Kvasir say?”

“That Gaia 2 is being bugged by the engineers’ code right now, but that it will only last a few minutes, and she might get back in the game shortly.”

“We shouldn’t just witness this army of bots kick the crap out of one another. Let’s give them a hand.”

Chris flashed Argos a thumbs up before the two of them launched into the mix, and metal and silicon flew all over the place.

* * *

“We should expect Gaia 2 to be disoriented for a few moments, Admiral. We should go all-in and cause as much damage as we can,” said Sarah.

“This could be a trap. She could be trying to lure us in and then tighten the noose around our necks. I’m afraid it’s too risky. In my experience when something seems too good to be true, it’s because it is.”

“Admiral, I really think you should reconsider. This could be a one-time opportunity. We have to take advantage of it.”

“You should listen to her,” said Chase from behind her captain’s chair.

“Chase,” said Sarah with relief, no longer looking at the admiral on the holo-screen.

“Admiral,” Chase continued, “if Gaia 2 is down, even for a few seconds, we can’t afford not to strike.”

“You put me in command of this armada, Captain. I value both your inputs but we keep doing things my way.”

Son of a⁠—

The GDF ships all stopped firing at once.

“See, Admiral, it’s happening now. Let’s get rid of as many ships as this short window allows us,” insisted Chase.

“I’m willing to launch heavy, long-range fire towards that fleet, but we’re not getting right in the middle of her formation. The chances of this being a trap are too high. She could be setting a killbox.”

Chase regretted giving command back to the admiral. It was exactly what he had feared, that his obsession with doing things by the book would prevent him from seizing an opportunity when one stared at him.

“I’m taking command of the Earth Alliance ships, Admiral. You can cowardly cover us from a distance if you want. Chase out.”

Chase mentally turned off the holo-communication.

“Did you just hang up on him? And was it necessary to further antagonize him? Are you sure you’re okay, Chase?” asked Sara.

“I’m mentally drained, but I’m fine.” He took Sarah in his arms.

“I’m very glad to see you, but I’m not sure this was a wise move.”

“I should have listened to my instinct in the first place and let you command this armada. Zenakis is a fool. I don’t need or care for his consent. If Kvasir says the time to strike is now, then that’s what we’re doing. Would you mind?”

“No, not at all,” said Sarah, gesturing at the captain’s chair.

“I’ll only be a moment.”

Chase closed his eyes, interfaced with the Hope’s systems and then reached the rest of the Earth Alliance ships. He took control of the fleet and sent a message to Athena.

Athena, this is Chase. We need to strike at the ships now that they are in disarray. I’m sending you coordinates. When I send you the firing command, don’t hesitate to fire.

Welcome back, Chase. Won’t that anger First Admiral Zenakis, me taking orders from you?

Zeus gave these ships and your command of them to me, not to Zenakis.

I’m not arguing that fact. I just feel it’s something that will cost you later.

Right now, I’m more interested in bringing Gaia 2 down. We’ll work on Zenakis’ bruised ego later.

Understood. I’m awaiting your mark.

Thanks, Athena. Also, activate the jump-interdiction field.

Done.

Chase directed all fighters to unleash whatever torpedoes they still had towards a list of painted targets. He then dispatched his own list of targets to Athena and requested that her fleet open fire on those.

An incoming hail from the Victory kept trying to reach the Hope but Chase mentally refused it over and over.

The Olympians unleashed a barrage of anti-matter torpedoes upon the four targets that Chase had painted, and Daniel’s wings, as well as the Hope battlegroup, fired a full complement too. The admiral’s ships didn’t follow, but they were firing long-range laser batteries towards the enemy.

Athena, fire now!

Chase lined up his battlegroup in a very tight formation for capital ships of their size and vectored them to align with all three of the GDF destroyers he had targeted. Before all torpedoes had reached their targets, Chase opened fire with the four destroyers in formation, including the Hope. He set the firing shot of the Hope at full power, emptying the reserve capacitors to boost the shot to max power.

That would disable the Hope’s systems for sixty seconds, but they had numbers on their side, and the time to play this card was now, while Gaia 2’s CPUs were so overwhelmed she couldn’t do much of anything. This wouldn’t last, but they were unlikely to get another golden opportunity to inflict such a serious blow on Gaia 2.

The Hope’s large Damocles plasma beam, centered around three smaller plasma beams, hit the first ship at the exact time that the torpedoes hit the shields from either side of the destroyer. The plasma beams tore through the ship like paper and went on to the next ship, and to the next. All three exploded successively with bright flashes of light.

In one powerful and synchronized attack, and without the direct help of the Star Alliance armada, Chase had removed three more ships from the equation.

That brought the total number of ships brought down on Gaia 2’s side to eight. The Star Alliance had also suffered in the first act of this battle and was down to nineteen ships. Both Earth Alliance and the Olympians had suffered damage but had not yet lost a single ship.

There would be hell to pay for shutting down and countermanding the first admiral’s orders, but Chase was more than willing to face the music later. Right now he needed to destroy Gaia 2 before the Furies arrived on Earth.

* * *

“What the hell is going on? Why can’t we get the Hope back on the comms?” shouted Zenakis.

“I’m trying, Admiral. The call keeps bouncing.”

“We have three more kills,” said the tactical officer. “Perhaps we should get in there with them while we still can.”

First Admiral Zenakis shot daggers at his first officer.

“This could be a trap!”

“And this could be the one opportunity to end this battle here and now, sir.”

First this Captain Athanatos, and now my own first officer is defying my orders. This is not how wars are fought!

“I’m not risking the fleet inside there,” said Zenakis, pointing at the holo-tactical map. Look at it! We’d be in the middle of a killbox if the enemy resumes fire.”

“We can jump out if need be. All we have to do is sync with the Olympians and ask that they drop their JIF. The reward is too high to let it pass us by, Admiral.”

The first admiral got up from his command chair and walked to his first officer. He evaluated him for an instant.

“Commander Tharros, I’m relieving you of duty.”

“What? Why?”

“You’re clearly unfit to be my first officer. Security, escort the commander to his quarters. He is to stay there until further notice.”

The pair of security goons looked at each other, unprepared for that order.

“I’m only going to ask this one more time, and my next order will be to have both of you put in the brig, and then on toilet-scrubbing duty for the rest of your careers.”

That did it. The security goons moved on each side of Commander Tharros.

“Please, Commander, come with us.”

The bridge was silent. The officers were in dismay but none of them dared voice a complaint.

“You’re making a terrible mistake,” said Tharros.

“We’ll see. You’re relieved of duty, Commander. Have Lieutenant Commander Safos from engineering come to the bridge to take the commander’s place as my temporary first officer.”

“Aye aye, Admiral,” said the comms officer.

“Keep hailing the Hope. I don’t care how you do it, just get me a channel. Now!”

* * *

“Athena, I need you to send two of your ships to cover the Hope while it’s recharging,” said Chase.

“On their way.”

“That was a ballsy move, Chase,” said Sarah, “but perhaps we need ballsy right now.”

“The Furies are on their way too. We can’t let this battle drag out. If we do we run the risk of fighting a battle on two fronts. We can’t afford that.”

“The Furies are coming too? How do you know this?”

“Long story. Right now we need to take more of Gaia 2’s ships down. The more we destroy, the less computing power she has, and the more manageable this will be.”

Ares appeared in front of Chase.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you. What the hell do you think you’re doing? You shouldn’t push your mental abilities just yet. You might cause more damage to your brain.”

“I appreciate your concerns, my friend, but we don’t have much choice at the moment.”

“I come from engineering. Kvasir asked if either or both of us could teleport to the planet’s surface to Cedric’s location. He has a plan to get the shields back online, but he needs someone who can teleport. Should we go now?”

Chase was ecstatic to hear that Cedric was back in the game. That plan made sense. If they could raise the planetary shields, Gaia 2 couldn’t retaliate against Earth.

“Chase!” exclaimed Sarah. “Look!”

Chase returned his attention to the viewport. Gaia 2’s armada was back on the move and they were targeting the Hope.

“Status on the shields?”

“We still need fifteen seconds, Chase,” said Sarah. “If they fire on us like they did earlier by using multiple ships to increase their main weapon’s beam power, we’ll be obliterated.”

Chase sent a telepathic message to Athena. I need you to drop the JIF and jump at least three of your ships to protect the Hope.

Understood. Jumping now.

As before, Gaia 2’s ships used a multiple-firing solution that concentrated energy beams between six of their ships, with the one in the center acting as a conduit for the large plasma beam. The center ship fired its main weapons towards them.

“Do we have jump engines at least?”

“Another five seconds, Chase.”

We don’t have five seconds.

Just before the powerful beam of golden plasma hit the Hope, three Olympian ships jumped into position and their shields took the brunt of the blast and diffused most of the beam’s power across their shields. Two of the Olympian ships took heavy damage, and a few explosions erupted on the surface of their thick armor.

The remainder of the split beam still hit the Hope and the ship rocked heavily. Chase, Sarah and anyone standing at the time ended up on the floor.

“Report!” shouted Chase.

“Shields down to five percent,” said a female officer nearby. “Decks two and five have suffered heavy damage and lost hull integrity. “Automatic force fields have activated in these areas.”

Dammit!

“How long till we can return fire?”

“The capacitors are recharging but because of the hit on our shields, it will take another thirty seconds at least.”

Chase mentally opened a channel. Athena’s face filled the Hope’s main holo-screen.

“Thanks for the save. Have your ship target that middle ship and divert the aggro away from us. We need a little time to recharge. Re-engage the JIF for the time being.”

“Done and done, Chase.”

Ares approached Chase. “Perhaps I should get going to the planet?”

“We’re both going. Something tells me we’ll need the Earth shield up fast if we want to prevent Gaia 2 from killing millions of people for what just happened. Sarah, please resume command. Target ships one by one. Your priority should be to lower their numbers.”

Sarah nodded in agreement.

“Before you go,” said a female officer, “you have an incoming transmission from the Victory.”

“Ares,” said Chase, “go now. I’ll be right behind you.”

Chase turned to the comms officer. “On screen.” Then he turned to Sarah. “I’m sorry to do this to you, love, but please deal with this. I’m needed back on Earth.”

Sarah grimaced and sighed heavily as Chase teleported away.

* * *

“What the hell is wrong with you? Where is Captain Athanatos?” shouted Zenakis.

“First Admiral, he had to go to Earth,” said Sarah.

The admiral’s complexion turned bright red.

“This is not what we agreed upon. I’m in command!”

“I apologize, Admiral, but we’ve taken out three of their ships. It could have been more if you had gone in with us.”

“And you almost got blown away for it!”

“The important thing is that we didn’t. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“You think your boyfriend is so smart? And that somehow orders and the chain of command don’t apply to either of you? This is borderline mutiny and I won’t have any part of it. If you two were part of my crew I would have you detained, tried and most likely shot for your actions.”

“Then I’m thankful we’re not part of your crew, Admiral, and, with all due respect, I’m sorry for those who are.”

Sarah regretted the words the moment she uttered them, but the admiral was getting under her skin.

“How dare you? You’re out of order, Commander!”

“I think we should calm down and re-evaluate the situation with cool heads, Admiral. I understand your anger towards Chase. I propose we put that aside for the time being and deal with it when our lives are not in danger. Let’s resume our efforts at destroying more of the enemy ships now that their numbers are down.”

“Good luck with that, Commander. I’m not risking the lives of my crews if you can’t follow the orders of your commanding officer.”

“What are you saying, Admiral?”

“We’re leaving. Good luck, Commander.”

“Admiral, wait! You and your crews are still alive because we rescued you from the eternal prisons your ships were trapped in, or have you forgotten that?”

“And we’ve repaid that debt twice over already. First, when we engaged the Fury destroyers, buying you the time you needed, and then by accompanying you to fight here, where you have confirmed what I feared all along. You’re a hot-blooded and disorganized mess of an Alliance, and I won’t have anything more to do with you. Admiral out.”

The main holo-screen went dead.

“For crying out loud! Is the JIF still active?”

“It is, Captain,” said the female officer, “but the Star Alliance fleet is vectoring away at sub-light speed.”

Sarah hit one of the arms of the captain’s chair in frustration.

This isn’t happening! Not now!

17

Kvasir was still struggling to beat the encryption Gaia 2 had put in place in the demilitarized network space currently trapping the original Gaia.

“Dammit!”

His tattoos pulsated like heartbeats.

“What’s going on?” Yanis inquired.

“That encryption layer keeps rotating. I can’t seem to crack it.”

“Show me.”

Kvasir sent a copy of his holo-console to Yanis.

“That’s one hell of an encryption algorithm.”

“I know, but if the GDF ships had awakened one second later, I would have cracked it.”

“Yeah, well they did regain control and are now attacking us from all sides. To make things worse, the admiral’s fleet is leaving.”

“What? I’ve been too focused on the algorithm.”

That meant Gaia 2 would have less enemies to target, and more CPU power to use for her own defenses.

“This is not good,” Kvasir added.

“None of this is good, Kvasir. Gaia, her doppelganger, this entire thing has been one big mistake after another. But we have to deal with it once and for all. If we don’t neutralize her today, we probably never will.”

“Can I use your subspace communication tower?”

“Sure, but why?”

“I have to send a message to homeworld.”

“To Asgard?”

Kvasir noded.

“I thought they banned you. Will they be receptive to your message?”

“I’m not sending the message to the central command, but to someone who owes me a favor.”

“Sure, but I don’t see how they can get here in time.”

“Asgardian faster-than-light engines are unparalleled. We also have a better understanding of how to use natural phenomena like wormholes and quasars.”

“What are you telling me?”

Kvasir turned to Yanis and his tattoos shone more brightly.

“Computers on Asgardian ships plot their jumps through known spatial anomalies in order to shorten travel time. It’s too complicated to explain the science behind our jump engines. Let’s just hope, for all our sakes, that he gets my message. Because I don’t think we’ll last very much longer without the Star Alliance fleet.”

* * *

“That’s not good!” said Argos.

“No shit.” Chris dodged a flying skyscraper. “Way to state the obvious. What the hell do we do now?”

“I don’t know! But we need to find a solution fast.”

“I preferred it when the bots were fighting themselves.”

“You and me both. What the hell is that noise?”

A strong vibration could be heard all around them. Chris was dodging skyscrapers while Argos dealt with the last of the battle bots.

Argos looked up and saw it.

“That can’t be.”

The moon was growing in size at an alarming rate. Soon it touched the atmosphere of the planet and lit up like a giant fireball.

“We may not want to stay here much longer.”

Chris looked up and was terrified by what his eyes showed him.

“I think she’s pissed,” said Chris. “But we can’t just leave her matrix. If we do she’ll recover too much power. During the last status check, Kvasir said the admiral’s fleet was leaving. If we leave the matrix now, she could take back the advantage in orbit. We can’t let that happen.”

“I’m open to suggestions.”

“Well, I’ll create a protective shield around us to deflect the buildings. You deal with the moon.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. Just make sure it doesn’t hit us. Remember, this is a simulation. Just divert all your power and create an energy wave you believe would stop this thing in real life.”

“Very well, let’s give it a try.”

Chris extended a large blue shield around them. Skyscrapers from all around flew towards them. As they smashed into Chris’ shield they were obliterated into a million pieces, and it took all Chris’ focus to keep the shield running at full power.

Argos was still powering up his aura, pushing himself to the limit.

“Just fire at the damn thing already!” screamed Chris.

“Snappy—”

Argos created two large, black fireballs that looked like mini black holes, with sizzling purple lightning around their circumference. He then fused the fireballs into a single larger one, and a beam of black energy surged towards the moon, which was now a fireball descending towards them.

Upon impact with the beam, the flaming moon slowed its descent but kept advancing.

“Give it all you’ve got, Argos!”

“What the hell do you think I’m doing, Chris? This is all I’ve got,” answered Argos through gritted teeth.

“That’s not good enough.”

“I think she wants us out of here. I’m doing the best I can, but I’ve only bought us some time.”

* * *

Chase teleported in front of Cedric.

“Hey, buddy, so nice to see you again,” said Cedric cheerfully.

Chase couldn’t hide his surprise at the way Cedric looked. Of course, he had seen him like this before. In fact, the memory of Gaia 2 using his body to kill Spiros in cold blood was still all too vivid in his mind. Hearing his old friend’s voice from the cyborg body still surprised him.

“Don’t worry, Chase, I look worse than I feel. And between you and me, this body has advantages we need right now.”

“We’ll get it fixed in due time.”

“Oh, I’ll hold you to that, believe me. But for the time being I need your help, and I need the bitch’s augments.”

“Where’s Ares?”

“I sent him to release three batches of the nanites in former Africa, Europe and Russia. I need you to go to India, Japan, Australia, and then the south pole. I already have a bunch of nanites on their way to release those in South America.”

“Alright, tell me what to do.”

“Take this card.” Cedric handed him a standard Alliance security pass. “It will help you enter the facilities.” Cedric pointed to the places he wanted Chase to go on a map of the world. “Once in there, you need to find a terminal port like this one.” He pointed to the card reader that had a red light shining in its center.

“That’s all?”

“Yeah, that’s all, but you guys travel at light speed or even faster. It would take me hours to send flying nanites to these locations to unlock more of them. We don’t have that kind of time.”

“We certainly don’t. God knows how little time we have to deal with Gaia 2 before the Furies reach Earth.”

“What? The Furies are on their way too?”

“I’m pretty sure, yeah.”

“This day keeps on getting better and better.”

Chase smiled just when the lights outside the room blinked slightly and turned on. “What’s that?”

“That would be my nanites going to work. They’ve brought power back online in this region. There’s billions of them acting together. They’re resetting the entire planet’s infrastructure, loading a universal yet minimalistic operating system into all of the computer systems that have been wiped by the EMP. They’ll network and make sure I get control over the infrastructure. That way I can bring back power on Earth as well as basic utilities. Your card is pre-programmed with the code to send each of the nanites you release to do the same job. Simply fit it in the reader terminals on these four sets of coordinates. Once the nanite chamber opens, don’t wait up, just unplug the card and move to the next location.”

“Understood.”

“Time’s a wasting so you’d better be on your way.”

“Do you need me for anything else after this?”

“I don’t think so. At least, not right away. I might need you to heal the crap out of me while I have these cyborg implants removed, but that’s probably a task for another day. So please don’t die today, buddy. In the meantime, as soon as I have enough juice to power up the planetary shield, I’ll bring it back online.”

“Very good. See you soon, Cedric. It’s really good to see you back on your feet.”

“It’s good to be back, Chase. Now go.”

Chase clapped Cedric on the shoulder and teleported away.

* * *

Chase was done with releasing the nanites in all four locations within a few minutes and teleported back to the Hope.

Sarah stood up from the captain’s chair with an expression that telegraphed nothing good.

“What’s up?” asked Chase.

“First Admiral Zenakis didn’t like our stunt. He’s leaving at sub-light speed.”

“What? Does he realize what we’re facing here today?”

“Mind if we take this in the ready room?”

Chase nodded. “Sure, lead the way.”

Once the door was closed, Sarah shook her head. “Chase, I love you but sometimes you can be pretty intense. You know that, right?”

“I didn’t expect Zenakis to overreact this way.”

“That’s the problem, Chase. I’m not sure he overreacted at all. You blew him off, took over, like you almost always do, and when he tried getting back online with you for an explanation, you shut him out. You personally assured him he would be in command of this fleet. How else was he to react?”

“Alright, let’s say I agree with most of that. There’s an entire planet with billions of lives to save. What kind of a man turns his back on that?”

“Chase, the first admiral has no ties to Earth. He only came this far because Saroudis personally asked him to. He’s already helped us with the Furies before. He paid his debt to us. Can you really blame him for wanting to protect his crew rather than strangers unwilling to play by the rules they themselves set? Put yourself in his shoes for once.”

Chase didn’t like to hear it, but he recognized the sting of truth behind Sarah’s words. He had acted impulsively, taking over without so much as a plea to convince the admiral, and now the man was leaving with more than half the fleet. This could result in a catastrophic loss for the Alliance; not to mention putting the people of Earth in jeopardy.

Chase looked down as he thought this over. Not much he could do now. He could override the admiral’s ships and remote control them with his mind. They were Star Alliance and he knew these systems pretty well. But what would that accomplish? It would eliminate any hope of the admiral’s fleet ever joining the Earth Alliance. But was that likely anyway?

“You’re not going to like it, but I could bring these ships back, whether the admiral wants it or not.”

Sarah sighed in disbelief. “Chase, you’re better than this. Sure, you can snatch control away from these poor souls and force them into a conflict they no longer want to be part of. Or you can realize your mistake and try to make amends. If not today, perhaps tomorrow.”

“What if there is no tomorrow for us? If we don’t win today⁠—”

“I understand your focus, or should I say your obsession, with victory. I share that feeling. It’s who you are. You risk your life on a whim to save others, and that’s part of why I love you so much. But we both know that if you do what you’re proposing, you’ll do it out of pride or, worse, you’ll do it out of desperation and you might even succeed. But lives, innocent lives, will be lost in the process. I know you don’t want that on your conscience, just as I know you don’t want anyone else to die on Earth today. But you have to understand that if it happens, we will deal with it together. You’re not alone.”

“I can’t let Earth fall. I won’t.”

“That’s honorable and I hope we succeed in preventing it, but you can’t rewrite the rules of engagement to match your wishes just to attain your goal. If you do, then what makes you different from the other Furies?”

Being compared to the ruthlessness of the Furies hurt Chase, but then the truth always hurts. Chase had to deal with a lot of pressure right now. For the first time, he felt that he might have taken on too big a task. Fortunately, his friends and family were there to help him through it. But the question remained: could they get through this battle?

They had to, no matter the consequences, no matter the lives lost. But Sarah was right. He could not force unwilling innocents to be part of his plan.

“I don’t like it when you talk to me like that, but thank you for reminding me not to unwillingly become the enemy.”

Sarah took Chase in her arms. “It’s okay, Chase. I know you mean well and your heart is in the right place. We’ll prevail one way or another, like we always do.”

The ship rocked heavily and Chase prevented them from falling.

“We’d better get back on the bridge,” he said.

* * *

Cedric received the transmission logs from the other nanites around the world and got to work on their deployment right away. He needed to make sure the planetary shield was up as soon as possible, even at minimal power, to protect the people of Earth.

Chase’s tactic of engaging Gaia 2 from all sides was paying off so far. She hadn’t diverted her attention towards the planet yet, but that could change at a moment’s notice.

Ares appeared in front of Cedric in energy form.

“Thanks. You guys saved me hours on this one.”

“Do you need me for anything else?”

“No, that’s all for now. You may want to go back in orbit. I still have a lot to do before I can get the shields up. Once that’s done you may want to avoid teleporting through them. It seemed to take a toll on you last time.”

“It might not have been only that. It’s a long story, but Zeus had more to do with my weak state than the shield.”

“Well, that’s good to know in case I need any of you to teleport in or out while the shield is up. Thanks, Ares.”

“You’re welcome, Cedric. Good luck with bringing back the shield online.”

“Thanks.”

Ares vanished and Cedric went back to work.

* * *

The Hope was engaged with three enemy ships when Chase received a call from Kvasir.

“What can I do for you, Kvasir? We’re kind of busy at the moment.”

“I know, I’m monitoring the battle in real time over here. I need you to come down here. The vitals of both Argos and Chris aren’t good at the moment, and I’m having trouble getting Gaia freed from the trap she fell into.”

Chase shot a look towards Sarah, who answered with a simple nod that he should go take care of yet another emergency.

“I’m on my way.”

In engineering, both Argos and Chris flinched on their bed. They must have been engaged in quite the battle.

“I should go in to help them,” said Chase.

Yanis got up from his workstation. “Should you be up and running already?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, but thanks for your concern, my friend.”

“Look, I understand your borderline pathological need to intervene and help others, but going back in there right after suffering brain damage, is it courage or just plain irresponsibility?”

“I’ll be fine, Yanis.”

“You’re the boss, boss. For the record I still think it’s a very bad idea, but I know you won’t listen to me anyway.” Yanis sighed.

“Duly noted.”

“I agree with Yanis on this one,” interjected Kvasir. “He makes a good point. It might be doubly dangerous for you to go back there at this juncture. But I just don’t see what else we can do.”

“Which is exactly why I’m going back in there. I’ll be fine. Though before I go, I’d like you to run a long-range scan. Please look for Fury-ship signatures.”

“Are we expecting Furies now? I think we have enough to deal with.”

“I don’t know. Perhaps. It’s not like we can just ask the Furies to go home should they decide to attack now, as I’m fearing they will.”

Kvasir entered a few commands on his holo-console and his face fell.

“They’re coming, aren’t they?” asked Chase pre-emptively.

“I have a signature, yes. The good news is that it’s only one ship. The bad news is that they’re almost here. They’ll be here in less than half an hour.”

Chase grimaced. So he would battle Oryn and Miseo while they still had to deal with Gaia 2. That was less than ideal but seemed unavoidable.

“How important is it that Gaia gets released?” asked Chase.

“Very. With her help and Cedric’s, we’ll overpower Gaia 2 from within. And perhaps Argos and Chris will be able to exit her matrix as a result.”

“How do their vitals look at the moment?”

“They’re still in the green but just barely. I wouldn’t recommend they keep doing what they’re doing for much longer.”

“Understood.”

Chase went towards Chris and Argos.

“Chase,” said Kvasir, running after him with a device. “You’ll need this so we can communicate.”

“I won’t stay long, and somehow I don’t think I need it anymore.”

“What?”

Chase sat on the bed where Chris lay. Argos was beside him. They both looked tense, with the occasional flinching, twitching and involuntary muscle jerking.

Chase closed his eyes and projected himself back into Gaia 2’s matrix.

Kvasir turned to Yanis. “Is he serious when he says he doesn’t need it anymore? How are we to communicate?”

Yanis threw his arms in the air. “Welcome to my world. Chase usually only needs a single contact with a specific tech to replicate it with his mind.”

“That’s so cool,” said Kvasir in awe.

“Yeah, right. Of course the Asgardian nerd would say that.”

18

When Chase homed in on Chris’s location inside Gaia 2’s matrix, he found him and Argos working together.

A multitude of skyscrapers were being thrown at them, and Chris was protecting them while Argos struggled to slow down an incoming fireball the size of the moon.

Chase teleported inside the shield.

“Dad, is that really you?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Hang on just a little longer.”

“Take your sweet time,” said Argos through grinding teeth. “It’s not like this thing is trying to incinerate us.”

“Nice to see you too, Argos,” said Chase with a smile.

Chase looked at the incoming flaming moon and thought about the best way to deal with the situation. He closed his eyes and focused on Gaia 2’s matrix. In the center of the moon, beyond its mental holographic projection, was another CPU node.

“On my mark, drop your attack,” said Chase.

“Are you insane? Just add your own power to mine and we can get that thing back in space where it belongs.”

“We need to destroy it, not repel it.”

“What? Why?”

“Just trust me on this one, okay?”

“Whatever you say, brother.”

“When I tell you to stop firing, use the little time you have to make the most powerful fireball you can cast, and be ready to throw it at that moon.”

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Yeah, that makes two of us. Now, Argos!”

Argos stopped his attack and the moon resumed its accelerating descent.

Chase put both hands in front of him and unleashed two columns of bright blue energy towards the moon. Upon impact, the flames around the moon were put out and a layer of ice formed on its surface.

Argos was already preparing a highly concentrated fireball in his right hand. “I think I see what you’re up to.”

Chase didn’t answer and turned Ultra Fury instead, expanding his beams by a factor of five. The moon was fully frozen within seconds but kept coming at them.

“Now, if you could please make that thing go away,” said Chase.

Argos threw his concentrated fireball towards the moon. Upon impact the moon exploded into a million shards of ice, many of which were deflected by Chris’ shield.

Chase then unleashed a powerful shockwave that expanded all around them, destroying the last flying skyscrapers as well as vaporizing whatever moon debris was left.

Chris dropped his shield, panting heavily.

A deafening female roar echoed all around them.

“What’s that?” asked Argos.

“That would be Gaia 2 being unhappy about losing one more of her precious CPU nodes.”

“How did you emulate Oryn’s powers?” asked Argos.

“You can do whatever you want in here. Using a cold and super-hot mix seemed like the best way to deal with this.”

Chase embraced Chris with his right arm. “Good job. Both of you.”

“What do we do now?” asked Chris.

“Let me check something first.”

Chase sent a telepathic message to Kvasir.

Did that do it?

Yes, thank you, Chase. I managed to break the encryption. Gaia is being freed from her demilitarized network trap.

How do Argos’ and Chris’ vitals look?

I don’t think it would be wise for them to stay in there any longer. They’re already outside safe limits. I think we lowered enough of Gaia 2’s CPU to finish her off from orbit as well as from within with our respective hacks.

Very well. Thank you, Kvasir.

Chase faced Chris and Argos. “You’re good to go. Exit the matrix.”

“Are you sure? Won’t that give her back some power?”

“We should be fine. Kvasir, Cedric and Gaia will take over the fight on that front. When you’re back on board the Hope, both of you go into regen tanks. Trust me on this. The toll on your mind will be greater than you’d expect.”

“Aren’t you joining us?” asked Chris.

“I’ll be right behind you,” said Chase with a smile.

Chris and Argos vanished into thin air as they exited Gaia 2’s matrix. Immediately after that a Gaia training bot materialized in front of Chase.

“Gaia?” asked Chase.

“Yes, it’s me. Thank you, Chase. I’m free again and I managed to recover the latest copy of my consciousness. With your permission I’d like to send part of my own AI matrix somewhere. The Hope or on Earth with Cedric. Wherever we can find the necessary storage.”

“Why do you want to do that?”

“I’d like to save Spiros.”

“Spiros is dead. His head is spilled all over the floor of that Earth Alliance hospital. How can we save him?”

“Before he died, Gaia 2 had scrambled his mind. While he wasn’t speaking coherently, I had managed to remap most of his brain pathways. I have a full mapping of his brain.”

“Is that why you wanted to hack Gaia 2 and fell into her trap?”

“I knew either you or Kvasir would get me out of there, but I needed to secure that data, make sure Gaia 2 didn’t erase what I had left of him.”

“But how can he be brought back?”

“I still have to work on this, but I believe I could build him an artificial body, and upload his consciousness so we could have him back.”

Chase grimaced. “Look, I’m really sorry about losing Spiros, but I’m not sure we can afford to dabble in more AI stuff.”

“What if I we didn’t have to? I can try to upload him inside a human body. Perhaps someone who’s brain dead. Or you could ask Argos to make him a clone body. Or, at the very least, use a brain and build him a body around it.”

“That sounds really creepy.”

“Perhaps, but he would remain human that way. In the sense that his abilities would be contained within an organic brain and not an artificial one. That would remove the fear of another emerging AI threat, wouldn’t it?”

“What about his soul, though?”

“Is there anything you can do about it?”

“I guess I could ask Hades’ help in that regard, if it’s not already too late.”

“That would be great. Please understand why I’m doing this, Chase. Spiros is dead because of me. I . . . I have to do something about it.”

“I understand your motives, Gaia. Go ahead and do what needs to be done. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Trust me, Chase, I never want any of this to happen again. Let’s finish this and, if at all possible, give me the time I need to bring Spiros back. Then I’ll self-terminate.”

Chase sighed. “Alright, but between you and me, I wish that last part of the plan wasn’t necessary.”

Gaia’s battle bot looked to the side. “We both know it is.”

* * *

“Hard to port!” shouted Sarah.

The Hope veered and avoided a salvo of incoming torpedoes from two separate GDF destroyers, before answering in kind with salvos of its own.

The Earth Alliance had lost two ships in the last ten minutes of engagement, and the Olympians had suffered their first loss as well. Things were not looking good now that Gaia had numerical superiority.

Chase re-appeared on the bridge.

“Welcome back, and not a minute too soon,” said Sarah. “How is Chris?”

“Both him and Argos entered regen tanks. They’ll be out of commission for a while.”

“We’re not winning this battle at the moment. We even lost an Olympian destroyer.”

“Dammit! Where’s Saroudis’ fleet? We need reinforcements.”

“We certainly do.”

Chase sent a telepathic message to the commodore.

What’s your ETA, Adonis? We’re in trouble here.

Hello, Chase, we’re about an hour away.

We won’t last an hour at this rate.

I’ll push our jump engines, but it will only shave off a few minutes and we may lose a couple of ships that way.

Understood. I just hope we’ll still be here when you arrive.

We’ve informed the Droxians of our predicament. They’re also on their way. They might arrive before us.

How did you manage that? I thought they didn’t want to leave their planet undefended to come to our aid.

Thanks to the emperor, who promised to send a replacement fleet three times as large as the one currently protecting Droxia, they reconsidered. We’ve also agreed to share our newest technology upgrades with them, which sealed the deal.

That’s good news. Thanks, Adonis. See you soon.

Good luck, Chase. Hold the fort until we arrive.

Will do.

“Saroudis is a little less than an hour away. We have to buy ourselves some time.”

“That’s all well and good,” said Sarah, “but how?”

“Captains, we’ve received an incoming transmission, Droxian in origin,” said the comms officer.

“On screen,” said Chase and Sarah at the same time.

“That’s how,” said Chase with a smile.

“You knew Droxians were on their way?”

“I’ve just learned about it.”

The holo-screen filled with the face of a Droxian captain.

“This is Captain Harnek of the Droxian Planetary Defense battlegroup. Our ships are minutes away from Earth, but our sensors have detected a jump-interdiction field. Can you please have it dropped?”

Sarah gently signaled for Chase to answer.

“We can really use your help, thank you. I’ll take care of that JIF right away.”

“Thank you, Captain. See you on the battlefield.”

The holo-communication ended.

“Alright everyone, we have to hold Gaia 2’s fleet until Commodore Saroudis comes with reinforcements. Keep harassing these ships but, whenever possible, adopt a defensive strategy. As soon as the JIF is down, don’t hesitate to micro-jump the destroyers whenever needed. Our priority now is to avoid losing any more ships.”

Chase then sent the telepathic request to have the JIF dropped by Athena’s battlegroup.

* * *

On board the Eternal Wrath, Oryn checked the ship’s holo-instruments, monitoring long-range data of the battle unfolding around Earth. They’d arrive in orbit within minutes. Miseo was out of cryo again and stood a few yards away, his back turned and looking at the viewport, arms locked across his chest.

“You really think you have it all figured out, don’t you?” said Miseo.

“Look, we were never really close, you and I. And now the time has come to end this. I know you want to kill Chase as much as I do, so at least we see eye to eye on that goal. We stand a better chance taking him down if we team one last time.”

“Do we?”

“It’s not like you have much choice. I can dose you with enough drugs to turn you into a puppet. But I think it’s best you comply on your own. That way we can attack him simultaneously.”

“What about the battle currently taking place on Earth? Do we join in the festivities?”

“Nope; our mission is to kill the Ultra Fury. Let them destroy themselves. That’s not why we’re here today.”

“We’d be passing up an opportunity to rid ourselves of more of our enemies’ ships. Is that wise?”

“We can’t split our focus. Not to mention that our only choice would be to join these Gaian ships, which managed to repel one of our super-destroyers in our last engagement. Whoever that enemy is, it’s not afraid to sacrifice ships to win a battle. We only have one destroyer. We need to focus on what we came here to do. Even if our added firepower should tip the scales of that battle in their favor, surely we would then have to contend with these ships. And right now, even if the Earth Alliance has taken out a third of their fleet, there are still too many ships for one Fury destroyer to take on.”

“You’re a coward, Oryn, but you know that already, right?”

“Miseo, this is not a negotiation. You’ll do as I say.”

Oryn activated the mental control device, but the sensation she got from it wasn’t what she expected. Instead of feedback from Miseo’s body like before, she felt herself losing control of her own body.

“The problem with mental technology,” said Miseo, “especially one that hasn’t been thoroughly tested, is that it can be used against you.”

Oryn couldn’t move a muscle. The more she tried, the more pain she felt. She fell on her knees, her body trembling. She didn’t understand how he was doing it. Not only was she unable to control her brother’s body, but she was now helpless to control her own.

“What . . . what are you doing?” whispered Oryn with difficulty.

“I’m taking over this mission, the way it should be. Once Chase is dealt with, you’ll pay for your betrayal. Now go to sleep,” said Miseo.

Miseo unleashed a powerful energy blast that sent Oryn into the nearest bulkhead. Still unable to move a single muscle, she crashed head first into it and her limp body hit the floor, unconscious.

Miseo cracked his neck muscles and turned his attention back to the viewport.

The Ultra Fury is mine and mine alone.

* * *

Daniel had just finished an attack run on a GDF destroyer with the intent of lowering its shields enough for it to be taken out by the larger ships in the fleet when his radar bleeped alarmingly.

“What the hell are these?” he said to himself.

A closer look at his instrument showed that the destroyer had unleashed tens and tens of smaller objects.

“Wing Commander,” his radio crackled, “are those starfighters spewing from that ship?”

Daniel analyzed his sensor readings with dismay. The craft were really fast. They didn’t seem very maneuverable, but their speed was an issue. One of the bogies passed less than two hundred yards from his StarFury and he got a good look at it.

It was spherical, and made of rows of cog-like rings, rotating at very high speed. The bogie impacted a nearby StarFury and tore through it as if it was made of cardboard. The ultra-fast rotation of its multiple toothed rings took the starfighter’s shields down almost instantaneously and then tore through its armor with little to no effort.

Not content with just ripping the life out of one of Daniel’s pilots and destroying a StarFury in less than a second, the bogie changed course toward its next target.

Daniel hit his StarFury’s engines to the max and tried to pursue the bogie. He showered the spherical weapon with laser fire but every one of his hits was deflected by a force field.

“Alpha-six, you have one of these new weapons targeting you. Jump out of the way, now!”

“I can handle it, Wing Command⁠—”

These were Alpha-six’s last words. He suffered the same fate as Alpha-three a few seconds earlier.

Had Gaia 2 created an efficient weapon to deal with short-range fighters? It certainly looked like it.

Daniel opened a channel to the Hope. “Guys, we have a serious problem.”

* * *

Yanis looked at the sensor data of the battle with his head in his hands. It looked bleak. Not only did the Gaian Defense Force destroyers have stronger shields, their new multiple-focus firing solution was costing a ship almost every time it fired.

The new defensive stance of the fleet, jumping out of the way, was working but it wouldn’t take Gaia 2 long to adapt to the new strategy.

Yanis needed a way to exploit any weaknesses of the enemy. Even though he had been at it for hours, so far he couldn’t see any weaknesses. Mental fatigue was setting in. There had to be a weakness he could exploit, and he needed to find it fast.

To add insult to injury the GDF destroyers were now targeting smaller craft with a deadly new weapon. Yanis wondered if Gaia 2 had actually developed the weapon on the fly, or if the loss of a third of her ships had forced her to take a more aggressive stance towards the smaller craft, which earlier may have seemed no more than mosquito bites to her, thanks to her superior shield technology.

Perhaps a new set of eyes was required.

He opened a channel to Earth and got Cedric on the line.

“It’s good to see you buddy,” said Cedric.

“And you, my friend. I thought we’d lost you.”

“I’m harder to kill than I look.”

Yanis beamed a smile. “Indeed you are. Do you have a minute to look at something for me?”

“Kind of in the middle of a hundred things right now, but I’m sure you wouldn’t have called me if it wasn’t important.”

“It is. Gaia 2 is kicking our butts up here. Can I send you a couple of sensor logs? Tell me if anything jumps out at you.”

“Sure thing. Shoot.”

Yanis sent the sensor data via subspace and waited while Cedric had a look at it.

“Interesting. The center ship in the formation seems to be using its own shields to canalize the energy in front of the vessel before firing. It’s not even using its own weaponry, just acting as the conduit.”

“How does that help us?”

“Hmm, let me guess. You’re trying to find a flaw to exploit before the center ship fires?”

“Yes. I’ve been looking at their firing sequence and analyzing sensor data with a fine-tooth comb, trying to find a power fluctuation, a frequency, anything we could exploit while the ships are concentrating their firing sequence. I was hoping their shields would lower while they send their own plasma beams to the conduit ship, but I can’t find the chink in their armor.”

“Did you notice how the destroyers stay in tight formation for another minute, minimum, after the firing sequence?”

“No. But why does that matter?”

“There has to be a reason, a tactical one, or they wouldn’t risk it. Staying in formation for too long is dangerous. If one ship blows, it will seriously affect those around it.”

Yanis heard a series of beeps on Cedric’s side of the conversation. Cedric flinched when he looked towards the source of the beeps.

“I’m afraid I must take care of this right away, Yanis. But I suggest you look at your sensor data and concentrate on the data emanating from the ship after they execute their firing sequence. My gut feeling is that you’ll find something to exploit during these sixty seconds after the shot.”

“Thanks, Cedric, will do.”

“You can thank me later, if we survive this day. I could sure use a strong drink then.”

“You got it. Yanis out.”

Yanis brought back up the last two sensor logs from the Gaian destroyers and focused on the data after the plasma weapon’s discharge.

There it was. The center ship had no shields for three seconds after firing. It took nearly sixty seconds for them to recharge to half power, and that explained why the other ships stayed in formation. They used their own shields to protect the one that had depleted its shields while acting as a conduit.

So, in theory, if they attacked right after the delivery of these one-kill shots, they could take out the middle ship. The close proximity of the group might also result in secondary damage to the ships around it.

Thanks, Cedric, you’re a genius.

Yanis opened a channel to the bridge. “I might have something you can use.”

* * *

Fifteen Droxian destroyers jumped into the battlefield in Earth orbit and engaged the GDF fleet. Gaia 2’s reply was almost instantaneous, using a similar tactic as before, focusing the fire of six of her destroyers in close formation to deliver a high-powered golden plasma beam. It tore through its target in less than a second, and already one of the Droxian support destroyers was split in two, less than a minute into the fight.

Three Olympian destroyers and starfighter escorts, shadowing the GDF destroyer formation, opened fire with a flurry of anti-matter torpedoes as well as a barrage of laser fire. They concentrated on the central ship, the one that had delivered the kill shot to the first Droxian destroyer.

The Hope jumped right in front of the GDF formation and fired its main plasma beam right into the bow of the center ship. The Olympian ships scattered shortly before their torpedoes hit, while the Hope’s main plasma beam added to the damage the Olympian torpedoes had done to the enemy ship.

It exploded in the middle of the formation, lighting the shields of all the other GDF destroyers. The resulting shockwave scattered them, severely compromising some of their shields.

The fourteen remaining Droxian ships launched a barrage of laser turret fire and torpedoes towards the scattered group and took out more two ships.

Two Olympian destroyers came about to blast another ship out of the sky, but it micro-jumped out of the way of the incoming wave of anti-matter torpedoes.

* * *

“It worked!” exclaimed Chase. “Great job, Yanis!”

“Cedric deserves most of the credit on that one, boss. But, Chase, this new, spherical, short-range weapons her ships are firing at our StarFuries are another ball game altogether; and I’m sure she’ll adapt to this new strategy of ours soon enough.”

Chase had no doubt that would be the case, but for the time being they had inflicted quite a blow, and that put them back on the offensive. All in all, good news, Chase thought.

“Duly noted, Yanis. Let’s see if we can inflict more damage this way while we can. We only need to stall them for half an hour, after all. Then, Saroudis and the Obsidian will add to our numbers, so we can finish this bitch off. Chase out.”

Before Chase could discuss their next move with Sarah, the tactical officer spoke up.

“Incoming jump point, at vector 0-3-5. Fury destroyer coming out of hyperspace. It jumped in away from the fight. It will be here in less than fifteen minutes at current sub-space velocity.”

“Dammit, talk about bad timing,” said Chase.

“Well, you knew they were coming,” said Sarah.

“I just wish we had more time. I’d better be going. Use what we’ve learned to keep them at bay. Perhaps the mere fact that we’ve found a weakness will force Gaia 2 into a more defensive stance. Every minute we delay this battle, we increase our chances of eradicating Gaia 2 swiftly once reinforcements arrive.”

“What about the StarFuries?”

“Let’s bring them home for the time being. We can’t afford to lose them at this rate. At least, not until we find a way to counter that new weapon.”

“Very well. Be careful, Chase.”

Chase winked at her. “You too, love.”

Chase teleported away from the bridge.

“Open a channel to all StarFury wings immediately,” said Sarah.

* * *

When Chase arrived in engineering, Kvasir was startled by his sudden appearance.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to people teleporting in and out around me,” said Kvasir. “Do you need anything from me, Captain?”

“Yes, that device you equipped me with while I was inside Gaia 2’s matrix. Can it be reprogrammed to transmit all sensor data from the fleet?”

“It could, but why do you need it? Can’t you just get that info on any console throughout the ship?”

“I could, but I have to go aboard the newly arrived Fury ship soon and I would still like to keep an eye on the battle while I’m there. I could use my power to link with the computers aboard this ship, but something tells me I’ll need to keep all my focus on fighting Miseo and, god forbid, Oryn.”

“Didn’t she almost kill you when you came to rescue me? Why ‘god forbid?’”

“I can’t kill her, and I can’t tell you why.”

Kvasir’s shining tattoos lowered in intensity across his face.

“Not a problem, Captain. Just give me a few seconds to program the device with its new function.” He did so. “There. Think of what data you want and the device will deliver it to you in real time, overlaying the data as an HUD in your field of vision.”

“Perfect. Thanks, Kvasir.” Chase attached the device to his right temple. “Can we still communicate with this?”

“Yep, just mentally say my name and it will open a channel.”

Chase flashed Kvasir a thumbs up and looked at Yanis. “Any progress with defeating the new short-range weapon used against our StarFuries?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Yanis, “but I’m still analyzing the sensor data. Gaia 2 tech isn’t easy to break.”

“Understood. I know you’ll do your best to find a solution. What about acquiring one of the weapons for a closer look? Would that help?”

“It most certainly would, but how do you intend to do that? We’ve recalled the StarFuries back into the launch bays for the time being. Not that I think any of them could bring one on board anyway.”

“Leave that to me. In the meantime, you should prepare a powerful force field capable of holding a still active weapon in one of the cargo bays. Can you do that?”

“We sure can try, but if we lose containment, that thing could do some serious damage inside the ship.”

“Then make sure your force field doesn’t lose containment. I’ll be right back.”

Chase blinked out of existence.

“How will he bring us one back?” asked Kvasir.

“I’ve long since stopped asking such questions. Chase has a knack for accomplishing the impossible. Whatever his mind just conjured up, it’s probably a walk in the park for him. We’d better be ready for his return, though.”

“I have considerable experience in force fields. Perhaps I could assist you.”

“Gladly. Take a seat.”

19

Chase looked at a row of reserve StarFuries in the launch bays. He put his hand on the armor of one of them and let his hand slide over the cold metal surface. His little taste of that earlier in Gaia 2’s matrix had reminded him just how much he enjoyed being at the command of a StarFury.

“Chase!” exclaimed Daniel. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m going to borrow a few StarFuries and help Yanis figure out how to counter the new weapon.”

“And how exactly will you do that?”

“I’ll bring one on board for study.”

“Is that wise?”

“No, but we’re doing it anyway. Today we can’t afford to play it safe.”

“When have we ever played it safe since the Star Alliance fell?”

Chase chuckled. “Touché. Time to go.”

“Why don’t you just remote-control them?”

“I will, but I’d rather be on board one of them. My plan hinges on me being in space anyway.”

“Do I even want to know what’s on your mind right now?”

“Nah, you’d try to argue against it, and we both know this would be a waste of time.”

“Anything else I can do? I don’t like being grounded here while the battle unfolds outside.”

“Go back to your StarFury. You’ll need to get back out soon enough, if my plan goes well.”

“Okay, I’d tell you to be careful, but . . .”

Chase smiled and climbed aboard the nearest StarFury. He was done with the preflight checks within a few seconds, and soon his fighter was in space, with two pilotless ones following.

* * *

Cedric punched the console in front of him in frustration. The nanites were restoring multiple systems all over the planet’s surface, but he was still way short of the power requirements for firing up the shield.

“I need more power! How do I get more power?” he said out loud.

An idea struck him. If he could modify one of the shield emitters to store energy instead of sending it in orbit . . .

He brought up the schematics of the emitters and quickly analyzed its design. His augmented mental functions, due to Gaia 2’s implants, made his thinking much more efficient. It was intoxicating, and he wondered how he would feel when the time came to have them removed.

Yet he couldn’t envision looking the way he did, a deformed cyborg, for the remainder of his life. He would see if he could augment himself as Spiros had. That would have to wait. They needed to survive this day first.

He found something promising in the blueprints of the emitter. It had been designed by Gaia and was very functional, elegant and, more importantly, modular in design. All he needed to do was send a bunch of nanites to one of the emitters currently in the right position relative to the battle unfolding in orbit.

It was easier said than done, but Cedric was confident the nanites could rewire the emitter to receive a specific amount of energy and have it channeled back into the power capacitor of the planetary shield.

Of course, if he miscalculated, he could overload the entire power grid and kiss his chances of re-activating them goodbye.

“I thrive under pressure,” he said to reassure himself, as he ordered the nanites in the area to make his design changes.

* * *

An incoming transmission came from the Hope. Chase accepted the channel and Sarah’s face filled the StarFury’s holo-screen.

“Hey, what can I do for you?”

“Weren’t you supposed to get to the Furies’ destroyer? What the hell are you doing in space?”

“I still have a few minutes to try something that could help Yanis counter these new death spheres.”

“Death spheres?”

“It’s as good a name as any.”

“Well, I sure hope you know what you’re doing. I would think the Fury destroyer was more of a threat than these.”

“It is, but this threat is immediate. The Furies . . . Well, like I said, I still have a few minutes.”

Sarah shook her head.

“I promise I’ll be back home for dinner, love.”

“Riiiiight. I’ve got that feeling I get when you’re about to do something really reckless. And I don’t like it. Please be careful.”

“I will be.”

And, obviously, you know me very well ’cause this is borderline insane, even for me.

Chase had the StarFury he’d used earlier to get to Earth undetected join the trio of ships he had taken with him. The moment the four ships were in a tight formation, he micro-jumped them towards one of Gaia 2’s destroyers at the outer edge of the battle.

Now, let’s see if I can get her attention.

He unleashed all four StarFuries’ lasers and a complement of torpedoes towards the destroyer, which didn’t take long to return fire by sending four of the dreaded weapons towards his small wing of starfighters.

He redistributed the StarFuries’ power systems to boost their engines to the maximum, but even at full burn the death spheres were gaining on him. He activated all four StarFuries’ tractor beams to lock onto one of the spheres and fired them simultaneously.

They manage to get a lock, but the sphere accelerated dangerously. Chase split his wing into two pairs of fighters. Each pair broke to port and starboard in a precisely timed maneuver. When he was at the optimal position, with all four tractor beams still locked on, he tried stopping and stabilizing one of the spheres in space.

The other three spheres didn’t anticipate the move and overshot the quadruplet of StarFuries. But they were already adjusting course. Fortunately, their maneuverability was quite restrained, probably by design. This was a ramming weapon. It only needed to touch its target once to take it out.

The ships moaned. They wouldn’t last very long under this much pressure. Chase didn’t have much time left anyway. In a handful of seconds the other three death spheres would finish their arching manoeuver towards his position.

“I sure hope you guys are ready with the force field,” said Chase over the radio.

“We’re ready. Well, kind of. Cargo bay three if you please, Captain,” said Kvasir.

Chase wanted to query that last remark, but time was no longer a currency he had. Chase teleported into space, erected a force field around him and flew near the immobilized sphere.

Up close and personal the weapon was even more impressive. Several sharply dentated rings rotated too quickly for a normal human to see. But Chase was no human. His Fury power allowed him to see the mechanism in detail.

“Ready or not, here I come,” said Chase.

Chase used all his energy to counter the spinning force of the rings. He could sense the other three spheres on their way. The moment the last of the rings stopped spinning, Chase touched the sphere and teleported himself with it into cargo bay three.

He sent a mental command with some of his old and trusty pre-programmed macros for all four StarFuries to take evasive action.

Three of the StarFuries avoided collision but one of them was not fast enough and was shred to pieces.

* * *

Chase was still holding the death sphere with kinetic energy when he arrived in cargo bay three.

“I’m here. Try to focus the field to be at the exact edges of the sphere. I’m pretty sure that will prevent it from resuming rotation.”

“Give us a few seconds to make the necessary changes,” said Kvasir.

“Hurry up. I really need to get moving.”

“We’re good; deploying the field in three . . . two . . . one.”

Chase teleported away and watched as the force field formed around the sphere. It was still a good yard away from the edge of the five-foot-high sphere.

“I said, on the edge of the sphere.”

“Sorry about that. Recalibrating.”

The force field shrank and was now holding the sphere all around its edges. Chase released his kinetic hold on the weapon progressively to ensure it wouldn’t start rotating at its usual speed and break out of containment.

“Chase,” he heard from his comm unit.

It was Sarah’s voice.

“The Fury destroyer will be in firing range in less than two minutes.”

“Thanks for the head’s up. I’m on my way.”

Chase released his kinetic hold more quickly. The metal-teethed rings on the death sphere rotated slowly but were mostly contained by the field. Chase calculated that they were accelerating, albeit slowly, but it could become a problem.

“Kvasir, you’re seeing that, right?”

“We are. We’ll try to adjust for it.”

“Well if you don’t do it in ten minutes maximum, you’ll have a problem.”

“Yeah, we know. Hopefully we can either compensate or find what we’re looking for before then.”

“If necessary, use Yanis’ modified beaming routine he got from Cedric to get that thing outside the ship again.”

“Will do. Kvasir out.”

Chase had less than a minute to get to the Fury super-destroyer before it entered firing range. Hopefully he could prevent Miseo from firing on the Earth Alliance ships.

* * *

“We’re mad for even attempting this. You know that, right?” said Yanis.

“Perhaps. But it’s not like we decided to do this. Both the idea and delivery came from our captain,” said Kvasir.

“Oh, give it a rest already! Call him Chase like everyone else, will you?”

“I’m sorry. On my homeworld, we address superiors by their ranks, Chief.”

“Well, you’re not on your homeworld anymore, are you? In fact, you haven’t been there for a very long time. And Chase—yeah, well, okay technically he is your superior. That part’s correct. Still, as you’ll see, he’s a cool boss. His ideas are borderline mad, but at least he’s fun to work with.”

“I can see that. Can’t you?”

“How’s that?”

“Well, crazy or not, the cap—” Kvasir corrected himself “—Chase was right in bringing us that thing for closer inspection. We’ve learned more from it in less than a minute than we did since Gaia 2 started shooting them at our starfighters. Look at the sensor data we’re getting from it. And now compare it to what we had before from the external sensor array.”

“What are you mumbling?” Yanis’ eyes lit up. “Jackpot! Is that what I think it is?” He pointed to the center of the sphere on Kvasir’s holo-screen.

“Subspace transmitter, yep yep.”

“If we can hack it⁠—”

“Already on it.”

“Will you let me finish a sentence, already?”

“I’m sorry, Chief.”

“That’s okay. I’m just not used to working with someone as fast as you. I’m usually the one that has to slow down for the rest of my team.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Yanis threw up his arms. “How else would you take it?”

“I don’t want to brag, but while you were incessantly chit-chatting, I’ve reverse-engineered most of it already. If we can isolate the cypher used by the transmitter, here . . .” said Kvasir, pointing at the center of a blow-up display of the subspace transmitter.

“We could disable the suckers.”

“Now who’s not letting the other finish his sentences?”

Yanis raised an eyebrow.

“We can do better than disabling them, Chief.”

“Stop calling me chief. Right. We could issue a return to sender. I like that.”

“Thanks.”

“Hey, don’t get too cocky. You’ll still need my help with that.”

“Uh-huh,” said Kvasir absently, while his hands rapidly ran over the holo-controls.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, Chief. Would you please take a look at the cypher while I finish reprogramming this unit’s targeting system? We’re on the clock here.”

Yanis scratched his head and shot Kvasir a slightly annoyed look, but soon they were both working hard at their respective holo-consoles.

Yanis snorted. “I’m still the chief around here.”

“Whatever you say, Yanis,” said Kvasir with a cheeky smile.

“Now he calls me by name.”

* * *

Cedric was done with his shield-emitter modification. He checked on the power build-up from his secondary holo-screen and saw it was still climbing at snail speed.

He grimaced and returned to his simulation, which he ran three times to make sure he wouldn’t blow up the very shields he was trying to get back up. Everything looked good.

He double checked the modifications the nanites had made to the power conduits on that one emitter, and also made sure that they were easily reversible with the run of a simple macro, should he need to.

The planetary shield had been built with redundancy in mind. So, taking one of the emitters out of the equation while turning it into a receptor wouldn’t prevent it from deploying. It would simply require slightly more juice to the other emitters to compensate.

That was a problem, but if he could channel outside energy from orbit, that would easily compensate for the slight side-effect. Now the big question remained: could any of the ships up there position themselves to precisely fire on the emitter? A less than perfect shot would most likely obliterate it.

It was time to ask the Hope to make that shot.

* * *

Chase teleported into a corridor aboard the Eternal Wrath, closed his eyes and focused on Miseo’s and Oryn’s lifeforce.

He located both of them not far from his position, but Oryn’s energy seemed uncharacteristically low. He was only a few hundred yards away from them, so he decided not to teleport but to make an entrance.

He flew through to the ship’s bridge, melting the metal doors on the way.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” said Miseo, his back still turned.

Chase scanned the room to find Oryn. Perhaps she was waiting to ambush him. She was the real threat. Startled, he spotted her unconscious on the floor behind a nearby console, next to the bulkhead.

What’s going on here?

“Well, I’m here. I didn’t think you’d want a rematch after your bitter defeat last time we met.”

Miseo turned around and Chase was surprised by the unbridled rage in Miseo’s eyes. He didn’t look at all like Chase remembered him. This Miseo wasn’t cocky or overconfident. He looked utterly mad and highly determined. His fiery eyes sent wave after wave of pure hatred Chase’s way.

“What happened to Oryn? Brother-sister spat? Then again, you two are only half-siblings.”

“So it’s true. She’s Zeus’ daughter. That would explain why I never felt connected to her my entire life. It will make killing her all the easier.”

You’re not killing her!

“I’m surprised someone as weak as you managed to put her out of commission, though.”

“Who said I was weak?”

“I think I just did.”

“Before, perhaps. Today I am strong. Stronger than her. Stronger than you. Today is the day I kill the Ultra Fury.”

Chase took a defensive stance. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Miseo laughed so hard and so deeply that Chase could feel the reverberation through his feet.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” said Miseo.

Chase didn’t wait for Miseo to make the first move. He launched himself at maximum speed, unleashed a highly powerful jab towards Miseo’s face and was utterly surprised when his fist was stopped by Miseo’s hand with little to no effort.

He’s much faster than before.

Before Chase could retract his fist, Miseo closed his fingers around it with bone-crushing pressure. So much pressure, in fact, that it forced Chase onto one knee. Chase heard his bones snap. He gritted his teeth from the pain.

I’ve got to get out of his grasp, now!

Chase somersaulted and kicked Miseo’s chin with his knee in the process. At the end of his somersault, Chase healed his broken hand.

This is not going to be the easy fight I imagined. I’d better be careful.

Miseo was still looking up from Chase’s blow for a couple of seconds, then he slowly lowered his unscathed face and locked gazes with Chase once more.

“Did you just hit me? I didn’t feel a thing,” said Miseo.

“I’ll make sure you feel the next⁠—”

Chase teleported in front of Miseo before finishing his sentence and thrust his elbow right into the middle of Miseo’s thorax.

Miseo lowered his gaze. He seemed unaffected.

This is not good!

“My turn,” said Miseo, before planting his own elbow on top of Chase’s skull. The blow flattened Chase with such force that the floor cracked all around them. Before Chase could react he felt the strong wind that preceded Miseo’s foot, which hit him straight across the face with the force of a quadrinium-reinforced hammer.

Chase flew halfway across the bridge before regaining control in midair and stabilizing himself. He hovered a few feet above the floor. He felt a buildup of sticky liquid in his throat and spat a large quantity of blood onto the floor.

20

“You want me to do what?” said Sarah.

“I need you to fire on Earth’s shield emitter number sixteen. And be precise about it.”

“Have you completely lost your mind, Cedric?”

“Look, we need to get the shield back up. Gaia 2 could decide to turn her ships towards the planet, and if the shields are still down because I’m lacking power, I don’t have to tell you what’s going to happen.”

“We’re kind of in the middle of a battle for our lives here. How am I supposed to do that? And won’t it draw Gaia 2’s attention towards the planet? If her sensors tell her you’re powering up, what do you think her next move will be?”

“I know, it’s a risk.”

“Sounds like too much of a risk, if you ask me.”

“Sarah, please trust me on this. I need power, and not just a little. A full blast of the Hope’s main Damocles canon at least.”

“For how long?”

“Eight, maybe ten seconds of sustained plasma beam.”

“That leaves the ship vulnerable during that time. Please tell me you’re nowhere near that emitter.”

“I’m not suicidal, you know. I’m hundreds of miles away from that particular emitter.

“I don’t suppose there’s anything I can say that will change your mind?”

“Afraid not. Unless you can get Chase down here and unleash an equivalent amount of energy directly into the emitter.”

“I’m afraid Chase is on board the Fury destroyer now.”

“There’s a Fury destroyer in orbit?”

“It’s just entered firing range, but it hasn’t engaged us yet. I’m thinking that’s ’cause Chase is there.”

“Then that leaves the task of providing me that power boost squarely on your shoulders, I’m afraid.”

Sarah sighed.

“Very well, I’ll see what I can do. But if I blow your emitter into smithereens⁠—”

“No sweat. I won’t blame you. But Sarah?”

“Yes?”

“Please don’t. Good luck. Cedric out.”

Sarah turned to her comms officer.

“Get me a channel to Athena’s ship. I need her to cover our asses during that maneuver.”

* * *

“Where are we with the cypher, Yanis?” asked Kvasir.

“It’s coming. Just give me a second, will you?”

“You’ve been saying that for the last three minutes. The sphere is accelerating. The sooner we get inside its targeting module, the sooner we can stop it from escaping the force field and taking a joyride inside our ship. I don’t think Captain Kepler would be happy if that happened.”

“I won’t be happy either. I’m the poor sap that has to fix the damn thing when it gets damaged.”

“Then I’d think you’d be doubly motivated to get the cypher cracked.”

“I take back all the good things I’ve said about you. You’re an insufferable prick. There! Here’s your cypher.” Yanis lowered his voice to an inaudible whisper. “Hope you choke on it.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Thanks for the cypher.”

“Heard what?”

“Asgardians have superior hearing. I can hear alveoli open and close inside your lungs from here.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about. Now, would you mind trying to shut this thing off? The power of the containment field is fluctuating.”

Kvasir mumbled something in Asgardian.

“Shut down command sent.”

They both anxiously watched the video feed from cargo bay three, and both released a sigh of relief when the death sphere rings stopped rotating.

“Good job, Yanis,” said Kvasir, extending him an open palm.

Yanis shook the Asgardian’s hand. “Likewise.”

A bleep from their console got their attention.

“It’s Captain Kepler,” said Kvasir.

“What’s your status? We have to fire on the surface of the planet with pin-point precision, something I’d rather not do if there’s a risk your pet project might blow up at any moment.”

Yanis wanted to answer but Kvasir beat him to it.

“We’ve disabled the weapon, Captain. And we’ll now work on providing you with a program to override the weapon’s targeting systems. With it the StarFury pilots will be able to send the death balls back towards their destroyers.”

“Death balls?” said Sarah, arching an eyebrow.

“He meant death spheres,” corrected Yanis with a long sigh.

“Excellent. Good job, to both of you. Sarah out.”

Yanis tried to keep a straight face when he turned towards Kvasir, even though he wanted to rip him a new one for cutting him off and answering the captain in his stead.

“Can I help you with something, Yanis?”

“What the hell was that?”

“I know, right. Why would we fire on the planet?” “Yeah,” said Yanis absently. ”I wonder what’s the deal with that.”

* * *

Cedric watched his holo-screen attentively as the Hope maneuvered into firing position. Three Olympian destroyers covered the Hope and repelled the GDF destroyers in that area.

The nanites around the world were doing a good job at bringing more utilities stations back online.

If they failed to eradicate Gaia 2 today, she would have no problem taking over the entire planet. In fact, the nanites would have helped her in that regard. Their minimalistic operating system had been created under the assumption that it wouldn’t need security against a potential AI threat. The whole point of their existence was to quickly jumpstart Earth’s systems after an AI had been wiped via the EMP.

They had no choice though. It was a winner-takes-all proposition, and worrying about such things could only prevent them from doing what needed to be done.

Cedric held his breath as the Hope fired its main Damocles canon towards the coordinates he had provided. The next few seconds felt like hours. When the power levels started to rise, Cedric knew that the Hope had hit her target. It sustained its firing for almost ten seconds before it had to disengage and return fire towards an enemy destroyer that had micro-jumped through the Olympian barrage.

Cedric sighed with relief. The power boost had been successful and he had nearly ninety-five percent of the minimum required to power the shield. In a few minutes, once the nanites brought more systems back online, they would have the shield back up.

The ground shook and dust fell from the ceiling of the bunker. Something had exploded nearby. A quick check on his instruments showed that one of the GDF destroyers had started firing around his position.

Crap, maybe I did attract some attention, after all.

Cedric opened a channel to the Hope.

“Someone’s firing at me from orbit. Any help would be appreciated. I still need a few minutes before I can raise the shields.”

A deafening noise followed by more trembling shook Cedric off his chair.

“We know, Cedric,” said Sarah. “We’re engaging the destroyer but three more are repositioning themselves to join it. The sooner you raise the shield the better.”

“Easier said than done, I’m afraid.”

Cedric thought hard for a way to speed up the process, then another idea came to him in a flash. It would shave off precious minutes, but it wasn’t something he could just flip a switch on.

“How long do you need, Cedric? I’ll task the Droxian reinforcements to engage these ships, but we’re also in a race against time up here. We need to hold out for another twenty minutes until the Destiny battlegroup arrives to tip the balance. Hopefully, once and for all. I want nothing more than this day to end.”

“I thought most of the Destiny battlegroup had been destroyed?”

“Most, yes. But the Obsidian emperor has been very generous in providing us with new ships while the Alliance builds new ones based on both Earth Alliance and Obsidian design.”

“I thought the Obsidian could barely be trusted.”

“Yeah, I know how you feel but, as it happens, they’ve been a serious ally since they joined the fight; and now that the emperor is openly providing us with ships and manpower, they’re probably our strongest ally.”

“Good to know,” said Cedric, before another nearby hit made everything around him shake. “Just keep these damn ships off of me for a few minutes, Sarah, and I’ll get the planetary shield back up.”

“Roger that. We’ll do everything we can.”

Cedric didn’t wait a second. He located an ideally positioned group of nanites and had them merge to construct something for him. Again his augmented brain functions were paying off. In less than ninety seconds he had written a program that would have the nanites merge together and create an advanced magnifying glass system atop the same emitter that received the power up.

It was composed of multiple focusing elements, positioned at different angles and levels, each focusing light to the next magnifying glass. The power of the sun could be harnessed to deliver an intense energy beam directly into the emitter, shaving off minutes from the time needed to reach the minimum power levels, and hopefully keep increasing the charge long after the shield came back on.

A message appeared on Cedric’s holo-console.

“I’ve found you, you little cockroach, and like any bug I’m going to crush you.”

Gaia 2 was certainly resourceful. Being attacked from all sides, from Chase’s trip to her matrix, then the fleet in orbit, as well as their combined hacking pushes, and still she was pushing back, even though her processing power had been severely compromised.

But survival was a strong motivator that wasn’t unique to flesh-and-bone beings.

Cedric knew better than to reply to Gaia 2’s message. Her bombing of the general area was a clear sign she didn’t know exactly where he was, just that he was in the area. He wasn’t about to give her a clear signal and paint a target on himself.

The power levels were rising faster now that his nanites had finished constructing the sunbeam-focusing device. In less than two minutes he would be ready. Cedric made a mental note to discuss this tech with the other engineers once the crisis was over. It had serious potential, perhaps even for a sun-powered canon.

* * *

Chase lowered himself to the floor and gazed at Miseo, who was smirking from ear to ear. He was clearly enjoying himself. A newfound madness oozed from his Fury foe.

“You look somewhat shocked, Laiyos,” said Miseo.

Chase didn’t even flinch at the mention of his birth name. Whatever had been unlocked in his brain made his birth name sound natural.

“Let’s just say I’m surprised. Last we fought you were infinitely less powerful.”

“That was a lifetime ago. I’m going to enjoy ripping out your heart and bringing your head to my father.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to decline that wish. You may be more powerful than before, but that doesn’t mean you’ve won. This fight is just starting.”

Miseo fired a small, yet highly concentrated red fireball towards Chase, who blocked it but had to skid on the floor many yards until he had contained and dispelled its energy.

By then, Miseo was upon him. He slashed a kick at head level. Chase dodged at the last second, grabbed his enemy’s limb and threw Miseo back where he came from.

Chase immediately flew in pursuit and was taken by surprise when Miseo flipped in the air and smashed Chase’s face with a powerful punch. Chase crashed to the ground and rebounded into the air, his head pounding with pain.

Chase recovered in midair and unleashed three icy-blue fireballs towards Miseo, who didn’t even try to dodge the attacks. All three fireballs detonated and engulfed Miseo’s upper body.

When it dissipated, it revealed the Fury’s face, unscathed and smiling widely.

“You’re going to have to do way better than this,” said Miseo.

Chase wondered what had changed so drastically that Miseo seemed unaffected by Chase’s attacks. He had thought Oryn would be the one to watch out for, but Miseo might actually turn out to be the real threat. He seemed to have put his largely superior sister out of commission, which was a bad sign.

It was time to take things up a notch and he transformed into an Ultra Fury. His aura burned bright orange, as did his eyes, while his long hair floated atop his head. Bright-yellow lightning bolts sizzled all around him.

“About time,” said Miseo. “But even in this form you’re no match for me today.”

“You talk too much,” said Chase as he teleported behind Miseo and planted an elbow in his back.

Miseo didn’t flinch while pain spread throughout Chase’s arm, as if he had punched a titanium wall and not a Fury’s spine.

Chase teleported away to stand in front of his enemy. Miseo sized him up from head to toe.

“It’s disappointing really. I was expecting a real challenge,” said Miseo.

Chase regretted not having finished Miseo off during their last fight. He had nearly killed Chris, and he obviously was too dangerous to be kept alive.

Oh, I’m going to give you a challenge, and then the violent death you deserve.

* * *

Daniel’s trio of wings had departed the Hope with the modification made to their targeting systems. Upon detecting death spheres launched towards them, the add-on would reprogram the projectile to be sent back towards the GDF destroyer from which it came.

That was the theory, at least. And now that theory needed to be tested on the battlefield. Daniel opened a channel to all pilots under his command.

“Listen, everyone, we need to test this countermeasure, but let’s be smart about it. I’ll do the first run and test the tech. I’ll disable its targeting. If it works, you are to concentrate your fire towards the nearest ship, engage the countermeasure and let Gaia 2’s own weaponry take care of her own destroyer. We don’t know yet if this weapon will make a serious dent in her shields and armor, so once we’ve confirmed the countermeasure’s efficiency, let’s give her hell. The more suckers she throws at us in one go, the more chances we have to take down another of her destroyers.”

“Alpha-eight to Wing Commander, what if it doesn’t work?”

“Then you’re to get that bogie off my back.”

“Wouldn’t it be wiser if you weren’t the one to test this?”

“I can’t ask any of you to be bait. I’m doing the test run.”

“Roger that, Wing Commander. Good luck.”

Daniel pushed his engines to the maximum and detached himself from the rest of his wing. He sprayed laser fire towards the GDF destroyer and added a couple of torpedoes for good measure.

The destroyer, whose laser batteries were currently engaging a nearby Olympian destroyer, fired a death sphere at Daniel’s StarFury.

The moment of truth.

Daniel activated his countermeasure in disable mode. The death sphere kept advancing, but its series of rings stopped turning, and it just drifted in a straight line, well after Daniel had veered to starboard.

“It works, people; unleash hell on that destroyer, but delay the moment you activate your countermeasure until after the destroyer has deployed as many death spheres as it can.”

Daniel rejoined Alpha wing for the run, and the three squadrons of StarFuries unleashed all their lasers and a flurry of torpedoes towards the port side of the GDF destroyer.

As before, the destroyer fired multiple death spheres towards the starfighters. At first five, then ten more, and another twenty.

Many of the StarFury pilots had to do some fancy evasive flying to avoid being hit by the deadly weapons.

“Now!” said Daniel to his team.

Then the magic began. The death spheres all took wide, arching trajectories, due to their limited maneuverability, and locked back on the destroyer that had fired them less than a minute earlier.

The destroyer changed its laser-targeting priorities from the Olympian destroyer to the boomeranging death spheres that had now locked onto it. But that took precious seconds the destroyer didn’t have. The wall of laser fire unleashed towards the incoming death spheres managed to destroy a third of them, but the rest soared through the destroyer’s shields and pierced holes in its armor.

The grinding metal spheres left orange trails of molten metal as they traveled through the destroyer. After half of the death spheres had traveled inside the ship’s belly, multiple explosions appeared on the destroyer’s surface. The other half of the spheres finished the job, and three successive bright blasts took the destroyer apart.

“We have a kill!”

Daniel heard the cheer of his wingmates over the radio as a call came in.

“Great job, Daniel,” said Sarah. “That’s one less destroyer to deal with.”

“Thanks, Captain, but I somehow doubt that this tactic can be replicated.”

“I agree. Gaia 2 won’t fall for it a second time. But at least we can use your wings to help us bring her destroyers’ shields down now.”

“Indeed. In fact, let’s give them hell right now.”

As expected, on their next attack run, the GDF destroyers didn’t fire any more death spheres at the StarFuries but instead redirected a portion of their laser turrets to engage them the old-fashioned way.

21

Chase dodged and parried Miseo’s powerful combo, but each block was accompanied by bruises and more pain. At times it felt as though Miseo’s body was made entirely of metal.

It reminded Chase of his first training session with Gaia’s battle droid, against which he would, at times, hurt his limbs.

But he was not training now. He was fighting for his life with an enemy he couldn’t recognize anymore. The more time passed, the more the fire inside Miseo’s eyes burned.

Chase teleported away at the end of one of Miseo’s hammer punches, re-appeared above the Fury with both hands locked together, and hammered Miseo’s face with all the energy he could muster.

For the first time, Miseo stumbled backwards and showed signs of pain. Miseo had to use his hand to stop himself from falling. But pretty soon he was standing back up straight. He shook his head as if to dispel the pain, and charged back towards Chase.

Chase also charged forward and micro-teleported on his way, to shave just enough time off his attack to surprise his enemy. The trick worked and he planted his knee in Miseo’s face, sending him crashing into the wall.

Chase took that opportunity to heal his own multiple wounds, bruises, fractures, and a couple of broken bones.

I need to find a way to hurt him more than that, and quick.

Chase had to push himself mentally to come with new techniques. His usual ones didn’t seem to have much effect on the crazed Fury. He could amp up his fireballs, but he risked blowing up the Fury destroyer along the way, something he couldn’t afford to do until he got to Oryn.

Chase wondered if he should teleport her away, but she would surely wreak havoc upon waking. This didn’t seem like a smart thing to do.

Miseo straightened himself and cracked his neck bones several times. With his thumb, he wiped a small drop of blood that was running from the left side of his mouth. He looked at it for a moment.

What happened next took Chase off guard. Miseo took his own head between his hands and unleashed a deafening roar that made the entire bridge tremble.

What the hell?

Miseo started smashing left and right at everything around him. Bulkheads, consoles. He smashed everything in sight. Hatred deformed his features. His eyes were all white, no pupils, which made him look even more terrifying and mad than before.

“Get out of my head!” he shouted as he flailed his arms around.

I don’t know what the hell is wrong with him, but this might be my one chance to put him down. Better not waste it.

Then Chase saw it. Not far from Miseo, a sharp pole had been dislodged from the bulkhead. That gave him an idea.

Chase shot a couple of fireballs at Miseo, who was still flailing his arms around in a weird attempt at hitting something or someone that wasn’t there. Both of Chase’s fireballs hit him on the torso and forced him to take steps back.

Chase unleashed another series of fireballs towards Miseo and immediately teleported behind his back. In his mad flailing, Miseo almost hit Chase in the face. Chase grabbed Miseo from behind and locked him into place just as the dozen fireballs arrived upon them. He used Miseo as a shield against his own attack, but mostly to make sure Miseo couldn’t deflect or dodge them.

Chase was surprised by the amount of energy he had to deploy just to prevent Miseo from moving about. But once the fireballs started hitting Miseo in the chest, one after another, things became simpler.

Miseo screeched and yelled with each and every impact. Once the last of fireballs had hit, Chase teleported back in front of Miseo. His fireballs had burned Miseo’s clothes to his skin and his torso was bleeding.

Not losing a second, Chase brought his Ultra-Fury aura to the maximum and, with an animalistic roar, unleashed the mother of all shockwaves towards his enemy.

The shockwave sent Miseo flying and impaled him on the dislodged pole.

Miseo screamed in pain as rivers of blood poured from his mouth. His body jerked uncontrollably as his pupils returned for a moment. Then his eyes closed and the jerking stopped.

* * *

The moment the power gauge reached sixty percent, Cedric launched the shield initialization command from his terminal.

It took about ten seconds for all the systems to come to life and start transmitting sensor data back to his console. The shield was energizing and not a minute too soon.

The last three orbital attacks had landed painfully close to his location, cracking the ceiling and even starting a small fire when a distant console exploded.

But now the orbital bombing had stopped, and the shield absorbed these blasts of energy. The power gauge climbed at a slow, steady pace.

Cedric opened a channel to the Hope. “Shield is up.”

“Great job, Cedric!” Sarah cheered. “Gotta go. Shit is still pretty hot up here.”

“Sure thing. Be careful.”

* * *

Three Droxian destroyers flanked one of the enemy ships. They simultaneously unleashed a barrage of torpedoes and brought the ventral shields of the GDF destroyer down. It reacted immediately, rotating on its axis to present its dorsal shields.

The Droxians had only lost four ships so far and since the StarFuries had countered the death spheres, the forces were on a par. The tactics of the Droxians were sound and they thrived on the battlefield.

When two more Droxian destroyers vectored towards the enemy ship, adding their firepower to the trio, the Gaian destroyer started taking damage to its plating and tried to make a run for it. The five Droxian destroyers pursued in tight formation and hammered the GDF destroyer with intense laser fire now that its shields were down.

Debris flew from the back of the GDF destroyer and, just before its armor gave away, it micro-jumped away.

The Droxian destroyers were beginning scattering maneuvers when another GDF destroyer micro-jumped into the scene and fired towards the debris left by the previous ship. It hit a sphere of metal that ignited and detonated with a bright flash.

The resulting shockwave destroyed all five Droxian battleships.

* * *

Yanis received a communication from the bridge.

“What the hell just happened? How did Gaia 2 destroy five Droxian ships with a single shot?” asked Sarah.

“I’m reviewing the sensor logs now. She can’t overpower us anymore. We have a way to destroy her ships when she uses that multi-firing solution, so she’s stopped using that tactic. Then we countered the death spheres, and she stopped using those as well.”

“But what could have caused such an explosion?”

“If my readings are correct, Gaia 2 feigned damage and let the Droxians think they had bested her ship. She drew them into a tight group and released a very compact, military-grade quadrinium sphere into the debris.”

“Are you telling me she just made a quadrinium mine?”

“That’s how it looks, Captain. A powerful plasma beam ignited it, and it took out everything around it when it blew.”

“Damn, that’s one resourceful AI.”

“We’re trying to kill it. It’s using every trick to defend itself.”

“I wonder what else Gaia 2 has up her sleeve.”

“About that,” said Kvasir.

“What is it?”

“I don’t want to alarm you, but I’m detecting a massive incoming subspace data beam on the sensors.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, but I can theorize.”

“Please do, Kvasir.”

“I’ve been monitoring Gaia 2’s CPU from the beginning and, in the last few hours, as we destroyed more of her ships, its utilization was maxed out. For the last few minutes, though, she seems to be using less and less of her CPU.”

“In English, please.”

“I think she has a CPU farm out there, and that massive subspace data stream is Gaia 2 accessing that secondary CPU over subspace.”

“Could she have more ships than those currently engaged in battle with us?”

“It would seem so.”

“How many ships?”

“I can’t be sure, since there’s only one massive data stream. It may be coming from a single source. But, Captain, if that’s the case . . .”

“Whatever is sending that data stream is massive.”

“That would be my assumption, Captain.”

“Try and pinpoint the location of this CPU farm or whatever the hell it is. We can’t let anything from Gaia 2 survive the day, or we’ll have to do this all over again.”

“Understood, Captain,” said Kvasir.

Kvasir’s tattoos now flashed at different intervals from one part of his face to another.

“This could be really bad news,” said Yanis.

“I wish I could say different, but yes, this is as bad as news could be.”

“At least Earth’s shields are back up.”

“I don’t think that will help much.”

“What are you talking about? Shields are always better than no shields.”

“Look at the subspace data stream signature and transfer rate, Yanis.” Kvasir brought up the sensor data on their main holo-screen. “Now compare it to our logs on inter-ship subspace transmission in her fleet.”

“Holy shit. What could send that much data?”

“We’re not going to like it when we find out.”

* * *

Chase kneeled next to Oryn and put his hands on her unconscious body. He hesitated to heal her, but he needed to convince her to see Zeus.

He didn’t think any cell could hold her anyway. He could probably put her into a cryo-sleep unit, but perhaps a show of good intentions would go a long way towards opening a dialogue.

Chase healed her just enough so she could wake up. When her eyes started blinking, he stopped.

“I don’t mean you any harm,” said Chase. “I’m healing you.”

“Miseo?” she said painfully.

“He’s dead.”

“Are . . . are you absolutely sure?”

Chase looked at Miseo, still impaled against the bulkhead, blood still dripping from his wounds. He wasn’t moving.

“He seems pretty dead to me.”

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

“I promised your father, your real father, that is, that I’d bring you back to see him.”

When Oryn struggled to her feet, Chase tried to help but she pushed him away.

“I don’t believe you. My father is the supreme commander of the Furies.”

“You don’t really believe that. If you did, you would have tried imprisoning me in one of your icy prisons the moment you got up. The fact that we’re talking means you have doubts.”

Oryn started emanating cold air all around her. Her icy-blue aura expanded and her eyes took on a shining, light-cyan tinge.

“Oryn, please. Let’s discuss this.”

“Something’s not right. I . . . I can’t seem to access all my powers.”

“You were hurt pretty bad. Miseo told me that once he was through with me, he would take pleasure in killing you. What’s that all about?”

Oryn shot daggers at Chase. Then she turned around and unleashed a column of icy-blue energy and created a twenty-inch-thick icy prison around Miseo.

“I don’t think that was necessary,” said Chase.

Oryn’s eyes were filled with icy determination.

“You have no idea what I’ve been through today. This,” said Oryn, pointing at Miseo, “is no longer my brother, and I don’t think it’s just a Fury anymore either. All this is my fault. I made him that way.”

“Why?”

“I don’t have to tell you why. But thank you for defeating him. If you hadn’t I’d probably be dead right now. But that doesn’t make us any less enemies than we were before. The only way I can regain my father’s trust is if I bring him back your head.”

Chase did not like the sound of that. Not only did he dread another fight with this formidable warrior, but he couldn’t fight her freely, for fear of killing her. This would put him at a serious disadvantage.

“Look,” said Chase, putting his hands in front of him in a non-threatening gesture, “all I ask is that you listen to what I have to say. You owe me that much, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Owe you? I don’t owe anything to anyone,” she answered through gritted teeth.

Uh-oh.

“Can I at least tell you what happened to your mother?”

Oryn’s eyes flashed more brightly. “What do you know about my mother?”

“Arakan had her killed. But not only that, he sent her back to Zeus one piece at a time.”

“Lies! Shut up!”

Oryn unleashed a beam of glacial energy towards Chase, who dodged it.

“I’m not lying!”

“What proof do you offer that this isn’t just a ploy to manipulate me into rebelling against my father? Snake tongues run in your family. Argos also tried selling us his venomous lies. He’s the next one on my kill list.”

“Argos may have lied to you, but I haven’t. I think you’re being a little harsh on him, though. If he hadn’t reactivated the dimensional machine, you’d all still be trapped in an alternate dimension.”

“Argos took nearly ten years longer than he was supposed to, to free us. In fact, you were both supposed to free us. Apparently you grew a conscience and turned your back on your brother.”

Chase had another flash of memory, one in which he and Argos were arguing about something important to his brother. Chase didn’t want any of these memories. He didn’t want to know who he was before. He used to wonder, before the Star Alliance fell, but now he liked who he had become.

The flashes he had been getting since his fight inside Gaia 2’s matrix threatened to reveal things he might not be proud of or, worse, be unable to fathom. Had he been part of the plan to free the Furies from their prison all along? Chase didn’t need nor want to know. To think that what Oryn said might be true, and that he once was complicit in the plan to bring back the Furies, made him sick inside.

When he didn’t answer for a while, Oryn insisted, “It’s not fun having someone tell you things you don’t know whether they are true or not. Your poisonous words have been haunting me for days! But if you don’t have any proof, then it’s your word against my father’s.”

When Chase noticed the cold sensation in his feet, it was too late. Oryn had trapped his legs up to his knees and fused him to the floor with ice. A bright, shining cyan ball of energy engulfed Oryn’s right hand. She raised it towards Chase.

“Thank you for not killing me, but I’m afraid you should have. I’m sorry about what’s to come, but if I don’t bring back your head to my father, I’m as good as dead.”

“No, wait!” shouted Chase.

But Oryn didn’t. She fired the icy beam of energy towards Chase.

22

The Hope rocked under the repetitive attacks of the GDF trio of ships pounding its shield.

“Get us out of here. We can’t take much more of this,” said Sarah.

“Jump engines are down, Captain. We can’t micro-jump.”

“Then full power to the sub-light engines. Divert all power to the shields—take it from life support if you have to—but put distance between us and these ships and have the rest of the fleet provide cover fire.”

The Hope made a run for it, but the GDF destroyers were in tow, hammering down her shields at an alarming rate.

One of Athena’s ships micro-jumped between the Hope and the GDF destroyers, using her ship’s powerful shields to provide cover long enough for the Hope to exit its firing range. Three more Olympian ships micro-jumped and repelled the GDF destroyers into a defensive position.

“Damage report?” said Sarah.

“Shields down to four percent. Multiple hull breeches on decks four, eight and twelve. Primary guns are offline,” said the tactical officer.

Things were not going well. The Droxian fleet had been reduced to a third. The rest of the Earth Alliance ships were as damaged as the Hope, on the brink of destruction. The nine Olympian destroyers were still in the fight, but many of their shields had been seriously depleted. If they kept protecting the rest of them, they would start incurring more casualties as well.

Then the shit hit the fan.

Gaia 2 micro-jumped one of her ships and slammed it against one of the Olympian ships that had come to the Hope’s rescue. The GDF destroyer exploded upon impact and brought down the Olympian vessel’s shields. Another GDF ship micro-jumped nearby and accelerated to ramming speed.

An opening formed at the bow of that ship, like the opening of the shutter on a camera. Through it emerged a large spike, which locked into place at the front of the ship. It looked like a swordfish.

The Gaian ship rammed the Olympian destroyer at full sub-light speed and tore it in half.

* * *

“I can’t pinpoint the source of the data stream,” said Yanis. “I could use your help.”

“Gaia 2’s CPU is now more powerful than ever. I have to amp up my hack accordingly.”

Yanis wanted to argue, but Kvasir was doing all he could to achieve the goal: destroy Gaia 2. Which seemed less and less likely with each passing minute.

“I know. I’m sorry, but can you just tell me what you make of this reading?” said Yanis, sending data to Kvasir’s holo-screen.

Kvasir looked at the data for a second and frowned.

“What is it?”

“Whatever is transmitting the data stream will be here, soon. We don’t have much time.”

* * *

Cedric thought he would shit himself when he saw a Gaia 2 battle droid fly into the bunker.

“Easy, Cedric, it’s me, Gaia.”

“You scared me. How did you get another body?”

“I diverted some of your nanites to repair the nearest battle bot available.”

“What can I do for you?”

“I need your help.”

“Get in line.”

“Cedric!”

“Alright, alright. What’s wrong?”

“As you know, I’m fine dying at the end of this fight. This is all my fault, everything that happened with the rise of Gaia 2, Spiros’ death, and even the way you look. I apologize and I want to make it right. But I need your help for one last thing before that time comes.”

“I’m listening.”

“I think I can save Spiros, but if Gaia 2 is destroyed in the next few minutes, the part of me with all the data required to make it happen will die with her. Thanks to your hacks, this part of my matrix is back under my control, but I still utilize Gaia 2’s CPU and memory banks. I don’t have enough storage on board the Hope to save both myself and Spiros’ consciousness.”

“We could network more storage throughout the fleet. Would that work?”

“I’m afraid not. The battle up there isn’t going well. I’m sure Chase and his friends will prevail, but storing this data on moving targets⁠—”

“I get it; the risk of losing Spiros’ consciousness is too high. I’m surprised you have a backup of his consciousness, though. How is that even possible?”

“It would take too much time to explain, but I have been observing and scanning him from the first time I met him. I can replicate his consciousness into a synthetic body.”

“I understand what you’re trying to do, Gaia, but this is well above my paygrade, and I’m pretty sure your request to bring back Spiros as another AI will be rejected. We would run the same risk of him turning bad.”

“Spiros wouldn’t hurt a fly and you know it.”

“I do, but I’m not the one you have to convince. The Earth Alliance won’t let you bring him back⁠—”

“We could use Argos’ cloning technology to get him a new body with his own DNA. If we could infuse his consciousness back into that body, then perhaps they’d accept it. After all, he would be limited to the size of a normal human brain.

Cedric rubbed his chin only to realize that parts of it were now cold, rough metal.

“This could probably work. How much storage do you require?”

“Several million yottabytes.”

* * *

Chase didn’t hesitate. There was only one thing he could do not to get imprisoned as a statue of ice.

“Perseus mirror shield!” screamed Chase as he invoked the counterattack he had learned from Ares.

The near-absolute-zero energy beam impacted the Perseus shield and the energy was returned to its sender.

Unprepared, Oryn took the full brunt of her own attack, a look of terror on her face as the ice grew thicker around her.

Chase melted the ice around his frozen legs and healed the frostbite caused by Oryn’s attack.

He closed his eyes and expanded his consciousness to search for Oryn’s life signs. Her heart was still beating, but barely. For the moment she was still alive.

Unfortunately, thawing her right away was out of the question. He needed a way to convince her that Zeus was truly her father. He could send her the memories of his discussion with Zeus, but she could reject those too.

There was only one way to ensure she listened, but Chase didn’t have those memories. He saw no other way, so he closed his eyes and sent his consciousness back to the underworld.

Hades appeared in front of Chase shortly after his arrival.

“Glad to see you again, Chase. Have you come to get the soul of Spiros back to the land of the living?”

“I’m afraid not. I’m going to have to ask you to keep him here a little while longer. I need your help with something else.”

“What can I do for you?”

“I need to speak to Zeus.”

“Then why not go see him directly?”

“I’m not sure I can teleport that far yet. Can you summon him here?”

Hades sighed. “I don’t think you know what you’re asking, Chase. Zeus is the last person I want to see. He’s the one who trapped me here.”

“I know, and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t of paramount importance.”

Hades clenched his fists.

“Please, Hades, I really need to speak with him.”

“This is the first and last time I grant this wish, Chase. And you’ll owe me.”

“I don’t see what I can ever do to repay you, but sure thing. If there’s anything I can do for you, I will.”

“Understand what I’m telling you, Chase. You can’t refuse my future request, even if you don’t agree with it. That’s the price for my cooperation today.”

Chase thought about it. He didn’t like the idea of granting a favor in advance, especially if that wish went against his moral code. But if he wanted the Olympians on their side, he needed to complete the mission Zeus gave him.

“Very well, I accept your terms. Now please hurry, Hades.”

Before disappearing, Hades smiled faintly. It sent a shiver down Chase’s spine.

Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret this one day?

Less than a minute later, Zeus appeared in front of Chase.

“This is not what we agreed upon! Where is my daughter, Chase?”

“I’m fighting her. She doesn’t want to listen to me. I had to incapacitate her.”

“If you kill my daughter, not only will I not join your Alliance, but I’ll kill you myself. I should have known better than to trust a second member of that family.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“After Ares failed to recover Zalara for me, I asked your father to bring back my daughter. That’s the last time I ever saw him.”

“Arakan killed my father?”

“I don’t know what happened. All I know is that he led the last assault on the Fury world. I asked him to bring Oryn back to me. He failed, and it looks like you’re failing as well.”

Chase was overwhelmed with questions about his father but he pushed them aside.

“Zeus, I know what’s at stake. We don’t have time for this. I need you to share your memories of Oryn’s mother. Your time together. As painful as this will be for you, I need your memories of Arakan sending her back to you one piece at a time.”

A series of blue lightning bolts sizzled around Zeus’ athletic body and between his eyes.

“Do you have any idea what energy I have spent casting these memories to the darkest and deepest recesses of my mind?”

“This is the only way, Zeus. I don’t want us to be at war. Please give me the resources to accomplish the mission you’ve given me.”

Several lightning bolts struck Zeus, and for a moment Chase thought he would have to fight the leader of the Olympians again.

“Very well,” said Zeus.

The Olympian closed his eyes and Chase felt him inside his thoughts. Zeus sent all the requested memories. Chase felt queasy to see in his mind the severed body parts of Oryn’s mother.

“I . . . I’m so sorry you had to relive that,” said Chase. “Thank you for trusting me with this. I’d better be going.”

“Before you do. While in your mind I couldn’t help noticing that you have a hole in your memories; a hole that seems to be expanding at the moment. Will that be a problem?”

“I don’t think so. At least, I hope not.”

Chase had done everything he could to put these flashes of new information on the back burner while they fought Gaia 2, but he feared they could have some very unpleasant side effects.

“I can help you close that hole, if that’s what you wish. I don’t think you want to learn too much about your past. I can feel the strong bond you have made with my other daughter, Aphroditis. She’s counting on you. She believes in you, Chase. So much so that she was willing to give up her life so you would keep your promise to rid the universe of the Furies once and for all. I think the fewer distractions to deal with now, the better.”

“Alright. But answer me this. There’s something bothering me. I feel like there’s a link between you and me, and even other Olympians. I don’t know what it is or why. But ever since I started getting these memories, I feel a stronger bond with the Olympians. Can you please tell me why?”

“You’re half-Olympian, Chase. That’s the reason you’re immortal. I thought you knew.”

“But Aphroditis told me I was half-human.”

“I don’t know why she deceived you. Perhaps she didn’t know you are half-Olympian. I can sense it in you, though. I think she would as well.”

“Is she my mother?”

“No, but she’s your aunt.”

“Who’s my mother, Zeus?”

“Chase, we don’t have time for this now.”

Zeus was right. The more time Chase spent down here, the greater the chance Oryn’s heart could stop beating. He couldn’t let that happen. There would be plenty of time to learn about his roots later.

“Right . . . about that hole?”

“I’ve just mended it, for now. Because only your consciousness is here, it can’t be a permanent fix. But barring any more brain damage, it shouldn’t resurface for a very long time. I’ve also unlocked the full potential of your teleporting skills. When you convince Oryn to finally come see me, please bring her to me. Just think of me and you’ll be able to teleport straight to Olympus. For that matter, you can now teleport anywhere in the universe.”

“Thank you, Zeus.”

“Don’t thank me just yet,” said Zeus, pointing an accusing finger towards Chase. “Bring her back, Chase, or the next time we meet, we’ll be enemies again. I know, from having been inside your mind, that you’re under the delusion that you could defeat me.”

Chase swallowed hard.

“You couldn’t be more wrong about that,” added Zeus in a tone that froze Chase’s blood.

“Understood.”

Zeus disappeared into thin air and Chase returned his consciousness to his body on board the Eternal Wrath.

* * *

“Several million yottabytes? You’ve got to be shitting me?”

“That’s how much I need to save both of us. Without a full dump of both my consciousness and Spiros’, he will be lost forever.”

“I sympathize, but I can’t help you, even if I wanted to. Not even ten percent of the data centers are back online on Earth at this time. Not to mention, there’s no way to transfer the data fast enough. I’m afraid what you ask is truly impossible. In a week or two, once the planet’s infrastructure is fully back online, perhaps.”

“There’s a device that can hold that much data, and you have it in your possession.”

“I do?”

“The Earth Alliance, Cedric. It’s in Yanis’ possession. A sphere of ancient design. Ring a bell?”

“I’ve heard of it, yes, but I never saw it myself. Only scans and sensor data. I don’t know what it is or what it does. But Yanis won’t agree to let us store data in it, especially while they’re fighting for everyone’s survival up there. They have bigger fish to fry.”

“What if I borrowed it without asking permission and without distracting them?”

“How?”

“Your teleporter.”

“My teleporter requires too much power. That energy is being channeled into the shield right now. I can’t power both.”

“You could hack into the Hope. They have a modified version of your teleporter working there.”

“Even if that was the case, how do you propose we beam that device through Earth’s shield?”

“What about Ares?”

“What makes you think he’ll agree to this?”

“Tell him you need it to give more power to the shields.”

“You want me to lie to a god?”

“Cedric, Olympians are more advanced beings, they’re not gods.”

“And I grew up reading their myths and legends. He’s a god to me, okay? He can teleport to any place in the universe. That’s pretty godly.”

“Please, Cedric, I beg you.”

“Very well. But I’m not taking responsibility for the potential fallout. If this comes back to bite me in the ass⁠—”

“I’ll say I coerced you to do it.”

“Which wouldn’t be far from the truth. Let me ask about Ares.”

Cedric sent a text request to the Hope. He didn’t want to explain to Sarah why he needed him.

Shortly after, Ares appeared in his energy form, and Cedric was surprised to see the Gaia battle bot was nowhere to be seen.

“What can I do for you, Cedric?”

Cedric hesitated. “I . . . I have a problem with the shields. I need a device to stabilize it, but it’s on board the Hope.”

“Tell me where and what it looks like and I’ll bring it right away.”

23

Sarah could not believe her eyes when she saw the Olympian destroyer cut in half by the Gaian battering ram. A few seconds later, both parts of the Olympian ship detonated brightly.

Gaia 2’s ever-changing tactics made it nearly impossible to anticipate what she would come up with next.

Sarah felt a heavy burden of responsibility for the loss of the Olympian ship and all the living souls on board. She had requested the support because she hadn’t managed to keep the Gaian ships at bay on her own. They needed the support so they could recharge their shields, and that request had cost the life of every Olympian on board that destroyer.

Sarah opened a channel to Athena’s ship.

“I’m sorry for your losses. I didn’t expect Gaia 2 to do this.”

Athena turned off the holo-transmission and Sarah heard Athena in her head.

Your crew doesn’t need to hear you apologize to me. You need to stay strong. They rely on your strength of character and resolve right now.

Still, how many Olympian crew were aboard that ship?

One hundred and twenty-five. But only a fraction of them lost their lives.

What? How is that possible? I saw the ship explode shortly after splitting into two. Not many crew could have used escape pods that fast.

When our ships lose containment, an emergency beaming procedure is activated and crewmen are teleported to nearby ships.

I’m glad to hear that, but I’m still sorry. If I hadn’t requested assistance⁠—

You’d be dead. So would your son, and that would have made things way more complicated for the future of this war. Whether or not you grasp the importance of your and Chase’s role in this conflict, I certainly do. My sister gave her life to make sure you and your family rid the universe of this scourge once and for all. So stop apologizing, Sarah. I’m the one that should have kept a closer eye on your ship’s status. You have my word that I won’t repeat that mistake.

Sarah was stunned by Athena’s words. She didn’t know what to say.

Then don’t say anything. We still have a battle to fight. One we can’t afford to lose.

What if we can’t win? What if we die here today?

Then we die. But I trust my sister. She saw the path we need to take to win this war. If I must die for it to happen, then that’s what I will do. But make no mistake, Sarah. I don’t intend to die today, and neither should you.

Understood. Thank you, Athena.

* * *

Chase could no longer detect Oryn’s heartbeat.

“Oh, shit!”

Chase fired flames at Oryn’s ice coffin. When the layer of ice was thin enough, Chase cracked it with a kinetic shockwave. He couldn’t find her pulse.

He put his hands on her and started healing her, hoping he wasn’t too late.

He had taken too long in the underworld. Would his own curiosity cost him and the Earth Alliance the future help of the Olympians?

Oryn coughed and started breathing again, and Chase let out a long sigh of relief. He continued to heal her so she could recover consciousness.

This time Chase wouldn’t take any risks. He reached inside Oryn’s mind, which was made even easier by their physical contact. Before she returned to her senses, he sent her every memory he had just obtained from Zeus.

Oryn screamed in horror and kicked Chase away. She stood and turned both her arms into icicle swords.

“Stay back!” she warned. “What the hell are these memories? What have you done to me?”

“They’re the proof you requested. Those are the memories Zeus has of your mother.”

The icicle blades melted and Oryn fell to her knees, rivers of tears flowing from her eyes. Shortly after, she vomited on the floor and screamed some more.

Chase let Oryn get it out of her system. Having seen the memories, he could only imagine what a daughter would feel seeing such barbarism. Arakan was a monster. He had kept her mother alive, but kept butchering her and sending pieces to Zeus, to punish them both for their love for one another.

“This can’t be real! This isn’t real.”

“I’m afraid it is. I’m sorry it came to this, but you hardly gave me a choice.”

Oryn shot a murderous look towards Chase. The tears flash-froze on her face. “If this is a trick, I’ll make you suffer till the end of time.”

“It’s not a trick. These are Zeus’ memories. Even your birth is there. Surely you’ve seen it.”

Oryn rose to her feet and took a few long breaths. She closed her eyes for a moment and fresh tears ran around the iced ones on her cheeks.

“I’m going to kill that bastard! I’ll rip out his heart and make him eat it.”

She screamed all her frustration out. It turned into a wailing roar of pain and sadness that was unbearable to listen to. The temperature inside the bridge fell below zero, and ice covered most surfaces.

He wanted to find words to calm her, but knew this wasn’t possible. The memories had turned Chase’s stomach even though they weren’t his own. He could only imagine how bad he would feel if that had happened to Sarah or Chris.

He would probably have lost control, as he’d had in that vision where he had destroyed an entire solar system. That was how he imagined Oryn felt right now.

“He used me, he lied to me, he manipulated my grief for the loss of my mother to make me a fighter, a pawn, a killing machine. That man is a monster. I hate him with all my heart.”

“Then help me bring him down.”

Oryn turned towards Chase, her eyes shining so brightly Chase had to put a hand in front of his eyes.

“Let’s make one thing clear right now! Nobody but me kills that asshole. That’s non-negotiable.”

“Understood. You have my word.”

Chase couldn’t ensure any of this. Sarah had seen him fight Arakan in her visions. But she had said that someone else came to join the fight. She never saw who. Could that someone be Oryn? Chase always imagined it would be Chris. Hell, even Argos could be that person now. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered now was defeating the Furies.

Chase looked outside the viewport to the battle raging a few thousand miles away.

But first we need to eliminate Gaia 2.

His train of thought was interrupted by an explosion behind him. Miseo’s icy prison had exploded and large shards of ice were coming their way.

* * *

Ares returned with the ancient spherical device. Cedric thanked him and sent him back to the Hope.

“He’s gone,” said Cedric. “I really don’t like deceiving Ares. He’s a really nice guy.”

“Then you should have told him the truth,” said Gaia as she snatched the sphere out of Cedric’s hand.

“Very funny.”

“Cedric, I understand how you feel, but what’s done is done. Now we need to transfer the data into this device, and quickly. If Gaia 2’s fleet is destroyed before we’re done, we will lose any chance of bringing back Spiros.”

“I still find it a little creepy that we talk of him as if he is on some sort of life support. He’s been dead for two days.”

“He’s still alive— ”Gaia tapped a metal finger on her metallic droid head—“in here.”

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t exactly be him we were bringing back. I mean, it would be his memories, his feelings even; his experience, sure . . . but his soul?”

“Chase took care of that.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Chase has been to the underworld. Cedric, I understand you’re not comfortable with any of this. If you’d prefer I do it on my own, tell me so I can stop wasting time talking and focus on trying to save the man I love.”

And then it hit Cedric. On some level, he had already known. But it all clicked. Like Spiros’ last scrambled words. He couldn’t make them out when he was witness to his cyborg body executing him. But he felt they had a deep meaning. He had also noticed the playful banter between them while they were on the run from Gaia 2.

“You should have opened with that argument. It would have saved time. Let’s get him back.”

“Thank you, Cedric.”

“Don’t mention it. Luckily for you I’m a romantic at heart. We’re a dying breed, you know.”

* * *

The Droxians had lost three more ships in the last sixty seconds alone. The Hope was back in the battle, but the overall firepower of the fleet was not nearly enough to bring the remaining Gaian ships down.

Every time a large team of Alliance and Olympian ships almost brought a GDF destroyer’s shields down, it would micro-jump away and a ship with full shields would jump into its place.

Sarah and the rest of the fleet were buying time for the reinforcements, but Gaia 2’s current strategy was similar. Did it have anything to do with what Kvasir had said about that subspace data stream? Was she also waiting for reinforcements?

If that was the case, whose reinforcements would arrive first?

Gaia sacrificed another ship to bring yet another Olympian destroyer down, using a slight variation of tactics. Instead of first sacrificing a ship before sending another to ram into their target destroyer—which the Olympians would have been prepared for—Gaia 2 feigned having two ramming ships on a collision course with a Droxian destroyer, only to micro-jump and ram the Olympian ship instead.

It cost Gaia 2 another of her ships and damaged the second one. She was down to only ten destroyers. The Alliance fleet, with the Droxians and Olympians, had superiority in numbers, but not in power. The Olympians’ weaponry was more powerful than anything else currently engaged in battle, but the GDF destroyers had better shields. Not only in terms of strength, but also when it came to how fast they recharged.

Sarah thought it was a shame they had to obliterate every Gaian ship. They could have learned to make these shield modifications for their own ships. It would have been useful against the Furies, whose shield technology seemed on par with Gaian tech.

Speaking of the Furies, the super-destroyer had not entered the battle. Sarah took that as a good omen. She didn’t like having no news from Chase, though. However, for the time being she needed to stay alert.

“Multiple jump points forming!” shouted her tactical officer.

“Friend or foe?”

“It’s the Destiny battlegroup.”

Yes! We may still win this battle, after all.

“Destiny hailing us, Captain.”

“On screen.”

The bridge’s main holo-screen filled with a close up of Saroudis’ face.

“Your timing is impeccable, Commodore.”

“I’m glad we’re not arriving too late. Where’s the admiral’s fleet?”

“He left the conflict a while back.”

“He did what?”

“Not to take that pompous admiral’s defense, but Chase didn’t exactly go easy on him. I can’t blame the admiral for not wanting to risk his men after the stunt Chase pulled.”

“Still, the stakes are infinitely bigger than the admiral’s ego. I was afraid something like that could happen. Zenakis has a serious stick up his butt. But right now this doesn’t matter. We have a battle to win, so let’s finish this.”

“Agreed.”

* * *

Chase reacted instantly. The large shards of ice came towards them at incredible speed and could easily impale both of them. Chase teleported away from the shard that would surely have taken his life a millisecond later. He reappeared in midair and pulverized the other shards near Oryn with a powerful shockwave.

Oryn looked shocked. “I thought you said he was dead,” she said coldly.

“You’re welcome.”

She shot Chase a smile.

“He should have died, though. What the hell is wrong with your brother?”

“I might be to blame for that.”

“No shit.”

“Let’s make sure he dies for good this time.”

“Now you’re talking.”

Miseo was still impaled against the bulkhead. He put both his hands against it and pushed himself free with a roar.

His face was contorted with an expression of pure hatred. Big veins pumped blood all over his face, neck and other exposed parts of his body.

He put one hand on the gushing wound on his stomach, and the other on the exit wound on his back. He burned them both to stop them from bleeding.

“I’m going to kill you both!”

Chase looked at Oryn. “I kind of believe him.”

“Yeah, well, we obviously can’t let that happen, now can we?”

“Obviously.”

Chase fired three fireballs at Miseo, who slapped them away, sending them towards the ceiling and nearby walls.

Oryn threw a veritable hail of pointy icicles towards Miseo, who incinerated them by unleashing a wave of fire.

“What the hell did you feed that thing?” asked Chase.

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

Before Chase could react, Miseo’s knee impacted with his chin, and he rebounded against the ceiling before crashing to the floor.

Holy shit.

Oryn launched a powerful blue wave of cold energy towards Miseo, who countered the attack with a flame-colored wave of energy. Their respective attacks canceled each other out.

Chase’s head was still ringing from that powerful knee strike, and he was still seeing stars when he struggled back to his feet. Pain radiated all over his body.

Whatever that thing was, it was no longer the overconfident Fury he’d once fought. They would need to be careful, or neither of them would survive this fight.

Chase concentrated a powerful fireball in his hands, but he was hit by a shockwave that sent him crashing into the viewport, which cracked on impact. Before Chase hit the floor, a force field activated automatically around the viewport to prevent explosive decompression on the bridge.

“You! Wait your turn!” spat Miseo, pointing a finger at Chase. “Once I’ve killed that bitch half-sister of mine, I’ll show you the true meaning of infinite power.”

* * *

The Destiny battlegroup and the twenty-five Obsidian ships engaged the rest of Gaia 2’s armada. With an advantage of almost four ships to one, it no longer mattered how strong the GDF destroyers’ shields were. Tight groups of destroyers in formation concentrated their firepower towards a single Gaian target, overwhelming it with barrage upon barrage of laser fire and torpedoes.

The Destiny and similarly designed ships, also equipped with Damocles canons, fired the killed shots once the shields were down. After a few minutes of engagement, only half of the GDF force remained.

But then a large hyperspace window opened and something impossibly big jumped into the fray.

* * *

“What the hell is this thing?” exclaimed Sarah.

The gigantic ship was bigger than Earth’s moon. From their position in the battle, the Gaian monstrosity occulted most of Earth behind it.

The Destiny was on the other side of the moon-sized ship.

“Lock on that thing and fire everything we’ve got.”

“Firing now.”

“We’ve got an incoming transmission, wide band. Looks like it comes from that—ship.”

“Let’s see what Gaia 2 has to say. On screen,” said Sarah.

The bridge holo-screen filled with the face of a female, but she looked nothing like Gaia 2’s previous avatar. Her long, flowing red hair floated around her scalp and her eyes shone red.

“You, insects. I’ve had it with you. I told you there would be consequences if you ever came back. Time to say goodbye to this planet.”

Sarah waved a flat hand at neck level. The comms officer cut the transmission.

“Get me Saroudis on the Destiny.”

“Channel open.”

“Sarah, this is bad,” said Saroudis. “We’re firing everything we have at that thing and its shields are barely fluctuating. Oh no!”

“What’s happening, Commodore?”

“We’re reading a massive build-up of energy. It’s about to fire on the planet. The readings for this weapon are off the scale!”

“Cedric managed to bring back the shields a while back.”

“I don’t think the planetary shields will hold, not against a weapon of this magnitude.”

Sarah checked the readings on her own holo-screen. They were indeed off the scale, probably a hundred times more powerful than a full shot of her Damocles plasma canon.

“What do we do, Commodore?”

“Keep firing, and let’s pray the shields will hold. We’re trying to locate the power source for that weapon. I’ll inform you the minute I get a set of coordinates.”

* * *

Rage and anger filled Chase’s body, and he attempted to fight the reaction. But then, he heard Aphroditis’ voice in his head.

No, Chase. Right now you need to embrace your inner rage. Let it burn. It’s your only chance.

Chase rose to his feet and unleashed a deafening roar of fury. His eyes turned into brightly burning suns. His aura expanded around his body tenfold, shining orange tones over the entire bridge.

Oryn was still firing her icy beam at Miseo at max power, but Miseo didn’t need to use much of his own energy to counter it. He shot a second column of energy towards Oryn. The doubling of the attack broke their stalemate and the beams of red energy pushed the now shortening icy-cold wave.

Oryn’s legs trembled. “A little help!” she pleaded through gritted teeth.

Chase sent her a telepathic message.

I’ll cut the beam and send his attack back to him. Once I’m done attacking him, be prepared to back me up in my next move.

Understood, but hurry up. I can’t hold him much longer.

Chase flew towards the converging beams of energy, created a Perseus shield in midair, and teleported in front of Miseo’s flaming beam of energy. Everything around Miseo’s dual beams was melting, even metal equipment, and the floor under the beams was bubbling.

Chase’s Perseus shield shot the beams back at Miseo and incinerated him for half a second. When the beam died, Miseo’s skin was burnt to a crisp but he was still moving.

“You’re going to regret this you little⁠—”

But Chase didn’t wait for Miseo to finish his sentence. He embraced the rage that was building inside him. He felt his power grow tenfold and launched himself at Miseo at near-light speed, delivering a flurry of powerful punches too fast for the human eye to see, and too fast for Miseo to register, let alone dodge.

Chase delivered hits by the hundreds. When he finally stopped in front of a nearly unconscious Miseo, Chase unleashed the most powerful shockwave he had ever created.

Miseo shot through the bulkhead and kept going, piercing wall after wall of thick metal.

“That has to kill him.” He panted heavily.

“I certainly hope so. You’ll have to teach me how to do that.”

“Hope your ship’s insured.”

It took Oryn a while to get it, but then she laughed out loud. “I like you. You’re funny, and you sure as hell can hold your own in a fight. I can see why my father wanted your head on a platter.”

“On Earth we say thank you when one saves your hide.”

“We’re not on Earth,”

“Let’s not split hairs. We’re close enough.”

“Very well. Thank you, Chase.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard,” said Chase with a big smile.

24

“Where are we on the download?” asked Cedric.

“Technically, it’s an upload.”

“Uh-huh. It’s been a really long day, Gaia.”

“Right, sorry. Ninety-five percent. We’re almost there. Why?”

“I don’t want to burst this bubble of good news, but I’m reading an energy build-up in orbit. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Gaia jumped to the nearest holo-console and brought up a visual.

The holo-screen filled with an image that was hard to comprehend.

“Is that a ship?” asked Cedric.

“Looks like it. My counterpart has been really busy since I sent her to the other side of the universe.”

“Did you know about this—thing?”

“I most certainly did not. Can the shield hold whatever it seems to be preparing to fire at us?”

“You’re the super smart AI; you tell me.”

“My initial calculations aren’t very encouraging. I don’t think the shields can last more than thirty seconds at the current power levels. And that’s if it starts shooting now. The bigger the power build-up, the lower that figure will be.”

“Great, just great! I save this planet for the umpteenth time, and it’s still going to get obliterated anyway. Just my luck.”

“We can’t let that happen!”

“Gaia, let it be noted that I’m good under pressure, and fighting impossible odds to save the world is an occupational hazard of mine. But what exactly can we do? I’m afraid our fate is now in the hands of Chase, and everyone else fighting up there.”

Gaia’s battle bot fell on her knees. “Please, Chase, don’t let this happen because of me.”

* * *

“Holy shit, what the hell is that thing?” asked Oryn.

Chase joined Oryn at the cracked viewport.

“That would probably be Gaia 2’s last ace in the hole. Can we use this ship to blow it up?”

“We could try to overload my ship’s engine core.”

“And jump the ship inside that monstrosity,” said Chase absently.

“Interesting idea, though I must have missed the part about us getting obliterated along with it.”

“I can teleport us out of here.”

“That’s handy. Chase, it’s firing at the planet.”

“Crap, we’re running out of time. Can you hail the Destiny?”

“Opening a channel.”

“Chase, are you monitoring this?” said Saroudis.

“We are.”

“Who’s we?”

“Long story. Let’s just say this particular Fury super-destroyer is now friendly.”

“How quickly can you get back here and do one of your crazy stunts?”

Chase looked at Oryn with urgency. She typed commands on her console. “The overload will take sixty seconds, Chase.”

“Can you hold out for one minute, Adonis?”

“I’m afraid not. The energy beam that thing just fired at Earth will have the planetary shield down within twenty seconds. I don’t see any choice but to bid you farewell, my friend.”

“Adonis! What are you talking about?”

Saroudis issued orders to his crew. “Evacuate the ship. Those of you who are near escape pods have fifteen seconds. This is not a drill. Navigation, lock coordinates for an emergency jump into the middle of that beam. Don’t you dare miss that jump, soldier!”

“Aye aye, Commodore.”

“Adonis!” Chase screamed. “Don’t do this!”

“There’s no choice, Chase. Goodbye, my friend. It’s been an honor knowing you and fighting by your side. Please take care of my family.”

“Nooooooooo!” screamed Chase.

“Chase,” said Oryn, “go save your friend. I’m sure you can teleport him out of there before his ship jumps.

“I’ll be right ba—” But Chase never finished his sentence.

A massive explosion erupted behind them. Both Chase and Oryn turned around in horror. A bleeding Miseo emerged from the flaming inferno, madly screaming at the top of his lungs.

* * *

Argos opened his eyes and blasted the regen tank he was in. He jumped out and looked around. Chris was in another regen tank nearby. He grabbed its door and ripped it as if it was made of aluminum foil.

Chris opened his eyes as the green liquid splashed onto the floor of the medbay. He tried to speak but puked green liquid on the floor instead.

Argos spoke, despite the regen liquid in his lungs. It bubbled inside his internal plumbing and burned like a bitch but he ignored the pain.

“Call Ares, now,” he said as green liquid exited his mouth and nose simultaneously.

Chris focused on Ares and called him telepathically.

“He’s on his way,” said Chris, coughing up more green liquid. “What’s happening?”

“Can’t you feel it? Chase is in mortal danger.”

* * *

Time stopped for Chase. He felt trapped in that moment. On one hand, he had but a few milliseconds to teleport and save his friend Saroudis, but Oryn had exactly the same amount of time to survive whatever Miseo was about to unleash on them. Miseo had an extremely concentrated ball of energy in each hand. Just one of them could kill Oryn.

Could he manage to do both? Save Oryn and Saroudis?

Aphroditis appeared in front of him.

“You can’t, Chase. You have to choose. Save Oryn or save Saroudis”.

“If you can stop time this way, why can’t you just slow it down long enough for me to do both? I only need a few milliseconds.”

“Chase, I’m not stopping time, just using the part of me that’s still inside you to talk to you at a speed only your Ultra Fury brain can interpret. It may look like time froze, but it didn’t. We’re just having this conversation at flash speed, in less than a microsecond.”

“I can’t let Saroudis die!”

“And you can’t let your new alliance with the Olympians die either. You know that. How would Saroudis feel if you saved his life, but you guys lost Earth because of your choice? Think, Chase. Oryn is making sure you can use her ship to take out that monstrosity Gaia 2 is using to destroy Earth.

“Saroudis is doing the only thing he knows to do, as a soldier and the commander of the Earth Alliance. He is sacrificing his life, but doing so will have meaning, and this single, purest act of bravery will resonate throughout the ages. I understand you want to save your friend, but if you fail—if saving his life means losing Earth and perhaps more—can you really afford to take that risk?”

“This is unfair!”

“Life is not always fair, Chase. And no matter how powerful you have become, there will be things even you can’t prevent. If it makes you feel any better, if it was Saroudis talking to you now, what do you think he would tell you to do?”

Chase felt an intense wave of sadness. He already knew what was going to happen.

“He’d tell me to look at the big picture,” said Chase. Tears burned the corners of his eyes.

Time resumed, and Chase pushed Oryn behind him. His sadness turned to absolute hatred in a microsecond, the same time it took him to turn into an Ultra Fury again.

Chase sent a telepathic message to Saroudis.

Goodbye, my friend. Thank you for saving us all today. I’ll take care of Alexandra and Sendra for you. I promise.

While sending his message, Chase unleashed a thousand fireballs at near-light speed towards Miseo, who was only a few yards away.

Chase felt the Destiny explode and the life of his friend and commanding officer was extinguished in the coldness of space.

* * *

The Destiny jumped into the center of the weapon’s beam and was instantly vaporized. The resulting shockwave provoked a multitude of explosions on the surface of the titanic Gaian ship. The beam of energy that was pounding Earth’s failing planetary shield blinked for a couple of seconds and dissipated into nothingness.

* * *

Chase’s flurry of fireballs impacted with full force on Miseo’s torso and catapulted him back into the bulkhead again. The fireballs in his hands vanished, and he raised both hands in front of him, deflecting Chase’s attacks.

“No, seriously! What the fuck did you do to your brother that he became this monstrous thing?”

Oryn emerged from behind Chase’s back. “I never thought anything like this would happen. Let’s focus on finishing this before the ship blows up.”

Oryn expanded her icy-blue aura to its paroxysm and unleashed the most powerful cold wave of energy she had ever created.

Miseo used his left hand to block Oryn’s incoming attack, while still deflecting Chase’s fireballs with his right hand. Miseo unleashed another roar of frustration.

The hole the death of Saroudis had carved inside Chase’s heart filled with rage and hatred.

Chase stopped sending a multitude of smaller attacks and switched to a powerful column of sun-colored energy. He poured all his hatred into it and let his inner fury unleash the most powerful attack he could muster.

Miseo answered in kind and created an impressive wave of energy of his own to counter both Chase’s and Oryn’s attacks. Miseo quickly repelled their attacks by pushing back, adding ever more energy to his own wave.

Chase and Oryn gave everything they could, pushing even harder.

Miseo vocalized his frustration with a mad scream as the blue and orange beams got closer to him. There was so much pressure inside his body that his eyeballs exploded. But, instead of that slowing him down, his muscle mass doubled and he pushed back once more.

“We’re not going to make it,” said Oryn.

“Don’t you dare give up on me now!” screamed Chase.

“The ship will self-destruct in less than twenty seconds, and I didn’t have time to set the jump coordinates before Miseo jumped us.”

Chase diverted a tiny portion of his focus to access the super-destroyer’s computer with his mind. He located the hyperspace controls and set the coordinates to match the center of Gaia 2’s titanic monstrosity. Eighteen seconds left.

“I . . . I can’t sustain it much longer,” said Oryn through gritted teeth.

“Keep pushing, and remember what you still need to do back on Erevos.”

That last comment got her attention, and Chase felt Oryn’s soul fill with the blackness of hatred and a thirst for revenge. It infused her body with renewed determination and she pushed harder still.

“Good,” said Chase, “use that rage.”

“Not that it matters. In fifteen seconds this ship will blow.”

Chase felt three familiar life forces materialize behind them as a bright golden light illuminated the Eternal Wrath’s bridge.

“We’re going to make it,” said Chase with a smile.

“Somebody order backup?” said Argos cheerfully, stepping to Chase’s right.

Chris moved to Oryn’s side.

“I never thought I’d be so happy to see the both of you,” said Chase. “I have to commend you on your excellent timing.”

They both unleashed their attacks into the mix. Chris fired a green column of energy. Argos invoked a large crimson fireball between his hands and brought it in front of him. The fireball extended to a beam of crimson energy with black lightning sizzling all around it.

All four beams of energy converged into one powerful, intertwined and unstoppable beam of energy that shot through Miseo’s energy wave. It impacted Miseo on the torso. He screamed one last time before his body exploded into hundreds of black, fleshy bits and pieces.

Their time was running out.

“Thanks, Ares, for bringing them here. Now please get them back immediately. This ship is about to blow.”

Chris and Argos each caught one of Ares’ arms and teleported away.

“I don’t have enough time to set the hyperspace jump, Chase. I’m sorry,” said Oryn with genuine sadness.

Chase put his hand on her shoulder. “Not to worry. I took care of that.”

They teleported away a second before the Eternal Wrath jumped into the center of the Gaian monstrosity.

The ship cracked and fiery veins extended from the center to the edges. Fire spewed from the many cracks, and multiple explosions happened on the surface of the ship, but it didn’t explode. And while half of the ship was on fire, it still hovered above the blue marble.

* * *

Chase and Oryn joined the busy bridge on board the Hope.

“Chase!” exclaimed Sarah with relief. She shot daggers at the woman whose shoulder Chase had his hand on. “Who’s that?” she asked, her tone cold and sharp.

Chase took his hand off Oryn’s shoulder and nervously scratched the back of his head with a forced smile. His lips formed a serious line as he looked deeply into Oryn’s eyes. “She’s a friend. Right?”

“Absolutely,” answered Oryn.

“Well, nice to meet you, but we still have a giant ship to blow out of the sky,” said Sarah.

“Incoming transmission from the Gaian ship,” said the communications officer.

“Let’s hear what that bitch has to say before she meets her maker,” said Chase. “Put her on screen.”

The red version of Gaia 2’s avatar looked completely mad. Her hair hovered around her skull, and her red eyes moved all around, each eyeball moving independently of the other. She looked possessed.

“I told you to stay away from this place, but you couldn’t resist it, could you?”

“And we’re finally ridding the universe of you.”

“Your pathetic fleet can’t do that.”

“Have you looked at the state of your ship lately?”

“What, this damage? It’s just cosmetic. My engines are still functional. I made you a promise, Fury. I told you there would be consequences if you ever came back. If I can’t have the Earth, nobody can. Say goodbye to your precious planet!”

With a single thought Chase opened a channel throughout the fleet.

“Chase to the fleet, fire at will. Give it everything you have, but destroy this ship now!”

The engine of Gaia 2’s monstrosity roared to life and the ship started moving towards Earth.

Every ship fired everything it had: every laser turret, every missile and torpedo. Explosions detonated on the surface of the titanic ship but it kept advancing towards Earth, picking up speed.

“Divert everything to your weapons systems—shields, life support. Keep firing at will!” Chase exclaimed.

Large bits of metal were blown away from all sides, but the fleet wasn’t causing enough damage overall.

Multiple hyperspace windows opened nearby, and the admiral’s fleet jumped back into the fold.

“Sorry for the delay. We’re engaging the enemy now!” said an unfamiliar voice.

“Who is this?”

“This is commander Tharros. I’ve relieved the first admiral from his post. I’m sorry it took so long to get back.”

“Transfer all power to your weapons. This ship can’t fire back anymore but we can’t allow it to crash into the planet. That would destroy this world.”

“Understood. Redirecting all power.”

Even the added firepower from the Star Alliance fleet didn’t cause enough damage.

“What are we going to do?” asked Chris.

“Chase,” said Argos. “Anything you can do?”

“If I use my power to destroy this—assuming I still have enough juice left in me—I could create a black hole that would swallow Earth.”

“We can’t just let Gaia 2 take Earth with her,” said Sarah. “I can’t believe we fought so hard for this to happen.”

“More jump points forming one thousand miles on the starboard side of the ship,” said the tactical officer. “Multiple signatures of unknown origin. Running them against our databases— Captain, they’re Asgardian ships. The lead ship is hailing us.”

“On screen,” said Chase and Sarah at the same time.

“This is Thor, aboard the Mjölnir. You may want to back off a little. I’m assuming you need our help taking this ship out?”

“That would be awesome, but if our entire fleet didn’t manage⁠—”

“I’m sorry, sir, we don’t have time to debate this. Please back off and witness Asgardian weaponry as an answer to your question.”

The Asgardian ships were massive, and at least as long as Fury super-destroyers. They all shot a thin, concentrated beam of white energy towards Gaia 2’s ship that was getting dangerously close to the planet. The continuous beams moved rapidly all over the surface of the ship, not only penetrating the armor but slicing massive chunks of metal and circuits on their way.

In less than thirty seconds, Gaia 2’s last bastion had been cut into hundreds of smaller pieces. The Asgardian ships then fired salvo upon salvo of quantum torpedoes to blow most of the remaining chunks into smithereens.

“That should do it,” said Thor. “My onboard computer tells me your planetary shield will hold and burn the rest of the smaller debris.”

“Thank you, Thor, we owe you a debt of gratitude,” said Chase.

“And you are?”

“My name is Captain Chase Athanatos, of the Earth Alliance.”

“Never heard of it.”

“Formerly the Star Alliance.”

“I see. I’m glad to see you survived the onslaught of the Obsidian Empire and their sneaky Zarlack friends.”

“The empire is now an ally, as your sensors probably already told you.”

“Turning an old enemy into a friend, that’s not an easy feat, Captain. Well done. While this conversation is interesting, I’m afraid that’s not why I’m here.”

“Why are you here, then?”

“I owed a favor to someone aboard your ship, Captain. Since Midgard was once a world under the protection of my people, I decided to honor his request. So that favor has now been repaid. But now that I have done so, the war criminal you’re harboring, Kvasir, must be returned to me at once. I’m under direct orders from Odin himself to bring him back to face justice, in a trial that will most certainly lead to his execution.”

“Execution? Thor, please. Kvasir was instrumental in saving this world today. Isn’t there a way we could negotiate on his behalf?”

“Captain Athanatos, it seems to me his efforts would have been in vain if we hadn’t arrived in the nick of time. Granted he’s the one who summoned me, so at least there’s that. I’m glad Kvasir was helpful in his last days. There is honor in this, and perhaps he will be granted a place in Valhalla when his life force is extinguished. But I’m afraid his release to my custody is non-negotiable. I don’t think I have to point out that it wouldn’t be in your best interest to challenge this request.”

“But Thor—” Chase pleaded.

“My patience has limits, Captain. Have Kvasir sent to my ship immediately.”

End of Book VII . . .

(Keep reading)

SAROUDIS’S DESTINY

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Commodore Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Earth Alliance Human (“technically” deceased)

Captain Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury Olympian hybrid

Aion — Omnipotent Universal Being

Other characters

Sendra – Commodore Saroudis’ daughter

Alexandra – Commodore Saroudis’ wife

Josh — Commodore Saroudis’s son

Ethan — Commodore Saroudis’s son

1

SAROUDIS’S DESTINY

A quick note: This story is set near the end of Book 7. It shouldn’t contain spoilers for those who have not yet read the following books. If it does, it would be minor. You can always decide to read it after you’ve read Books 8 through 10 if you want to be absolutely certain.

“It’s been an honor knowing you and fighting by your side. Please take care of my family,” said Adonis Saroudis.

“Noooooooooo!” screamed Chase on the other side of the comlink.

Saroudis could sense both the anger and sadness in Chase’s scream. His ace pilot and friend’s feelings were so strong that they bled through that scream and echoed in Saroudis’s heart.

The Destiny was hurtling toward the Gaian monstrosity, as the jump engines were powering up. For the first time ever, Saroudis thought of the power-up humming as ominous.

After all, death waited on the other side of the Destiny’s next microjump, which would also be its last. In a few seconds, the ship and part of his crew, those who couldn’t reach escape pods in time, would be instantly obliterated. Saroudis’s rich and eventful life would come to an end.

The commodore’s last thoughts were of his family. He managed to save his wife and daughter, thanks to Chase and Daniel, and he knew he could count on the two to protect and care for his family.

Truth be told, that fact made his sacrifice easier to bear.

As if a cue from the universe itself, Saroudis heard a telepathic message from Chase.

Goodbye, my friend. Thank you for saving us all today. I’ll take care of Alexandra and Sendra for you. I promise.

I know you will, thought Saroudis.

Sadness crept into his soul at the thought of not holding them in his arms for just one more time. Soon after, another emotion overwhelmed the commodore. Fear. Life was coming to an abrupt end, and even though he accepted his destiny, part of him wished with all his heart, if only for a fleeting moment, that he could do it all over again.

That’s when the ship jumped and bright light filled the viewport. At that exact moment, time around him slowed to a crawl and then simply stopped.

Looking through the viewport, Saroudis sensed that the Destiny was microseconds away from emerging from its microjump, at which point it would be annihilated into a stardust cloud.

Saroudis took a couple of steps forward, and a knot took a stronghold inside his gut. What he was experiencing didn’t make any sense; it shouldn’t be possible.

“What the hell is going on? What is this?” he exclaimed out loud, hoping the universe would manifest itself and provide an explanation.

An intense blue light so bright it nearly blinded him filled his field of view, forcing him to use his forearm to shield his eyes.

Was he already dead? Had the Destiny rammed its target and his brain was trapped into his last conscious moment? The thought of being imprisoned at this moment frightened Saroudis to the core. He should have been obliterated already, and yet he was standing on the bridge of his ship, while the rest of the universe appeared frozen in time.

As the light decreased in intensity, it morphed into humanoid form, and in no time, a perfectly proportioned man emerged. He was translucent, like a hologram.

Saroudis shook his head to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, but the man remained.

“Who are you?” asked Saroudis.

“It’s not really important right now.”

“I think it is.”

“Stubborn… interesting. I didn’t expect that from you. From Chase, yes, but I thought you would be more grounded.”

“How do you know me or Chase?”

“I know all. It can sometimes be tiring.”

“Can you please stop deflecting and tell me who you are already?”

“I suppose it can’t hurt. My name is Aion.”

Hearing the name Aion hit Saroudis like a lightning strike.

It can’t be! he thought in disbelief. No, this can’t be!

“I take it you know who I am, then,” added Aion as he watched Saroudis’s mouth open but no words being produced.

“The—the god of eternity.”

“Some people call me that, I suppose. But as I said before, my name doesn’t really matter.”

“How are you stopping time? Is that one of your powers?”

Aion tilted his head and looked beyond Saroudis. “To use an expression dear to humans, we don’t really have time for twenty questions. Though I suppose how much time we spend here is up to me.”

“You are him. You’re the master of time.”

“That’s an exaggeration, I prefer the term keeper.”

“So you’re an Olympian?”

“I suppose in a way I was born Olympian, long ago. What I am now, though… I’m not sure it can be qualified into either race or creed. I am… something else.”

“Why are you here?”

Aion smiled. “Can’t you guess that on your own?”

“I take it that it has something to do with my imminent death.”

“Wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Are you always answering questions with more questions?”

“Why? Does it bother you?”

Saroudis hesitated between trying to stay diplomatic or telling the deity in front of him that it indeed irritated him. He decided to shoot for the middle ground.

“Let’s just say it may become tiring over time.”

“I wouldn’t know, I do not feel the passing of time like you do. But from your perspective, I guess it could see why it could become a source of irritation. However, we can discuss that later. Right now, I’d like to get you out of here.”

“So… I’m not gonna die here?”

“Oh, you’ll die here, in exactly dot zero seven seconds, the beam will destroy your ship, you’ll be obliterated into nothingness, and your soul will go to the Underworld. Just not today.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t understand.”

“Trust me, you will soon enough.”

The man walked toward Saroudis and put a hand on his shoulder, and before Saroudis could say anything, everything around them changed.

* * *

Saroudis stood in a green field that expanded in all directions and into the horizon. Birds on branches of the tall trees chirped all around him and pretty rose petals swirled in the air.

“Wow, what is this place, did you take me to Elysium?”

Aion laughed. “Don’t be daft, I told you, you’re not dying today.”

“And you also told me I was.”

“I should know better. It’s always hard for time-bound beings to understand that one. Your life will end the moment the Destiny rematerializes into the Gaian beam weapon, and then without pain, with no time to realize it, you’ll be disintegrated, and your physical body will be destroyed.”

“That doesn’t help me understand where I am at the moment.”

“I guess the where doesn’t really matter, in this case, and given your limited human ability to perceive the universe around you, the when might make more sense.”

“Ok, I’ll play your little mind games, when am I?”

“About ten thousand years in what you call your past.”

That figure made Saroudis’s head spin so fast he felt dizzy and had to sit in the tall, perfumed grass. Its potent fragrance invaded his nostrils and helped calm his rising anxiety.

“What have you done?”

“I only answered your wish.”

“What wish? What are you talking about?”

“Have you forgotten? Didn’t you wish that you could do it all over again? With all your heart, I might add.”

“That was but just a single fleeting thought in a moment of utter terror. Anyone would wish this in a time like this.”

“And yet, as your limited species still have to understand is that it’s your thoughts that shape the universe. Why would that one be any different? In fact, because you didn’t let that incessant mental cacophony you humans live with on a daily basis affect that pure thought, it actually was easy for the universe to pick it up and shape the outcome in your reality.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

Aion sighed. “That is why all your primitive species still wage wars, have famine, pain, sickness and even sadness. You let your demons get the better of you. As a matter of fact it’s a way of living for you all. You focus on fear instead of love. But eventually you’ll learn, it may take eons, but you’ll figure it out.”

“I take it you have.”

“I wouldn’t be unbound from the shackles of time if I hadn’t.”

“Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but do you have an aversion to the words yes and no?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Never mind… I just find it interesting how elliptical you seem to be when a question could be answered more… how should I put this… directly.”

“If there’s one thing I’m sure you have figured out in this incarnation, it’s that nothing is simple. Not your life, not the universe, not anything.”

“Yet, it appears to be quite simple to you.”

“I suppose in a way it is…” Aion let the sentence trail before adding. “Yes. Happy now?”

“You’re a strange god.”

“Probably because I’m not a god.”

“I beg to differ, you just snatched me from certain death and sent me ten thousand years in the past.”

“Still doesn’t make me a god. I’m just… different. I evolve on a plane of existence unknown to you. One your mind simply isn’t equipped to fathom. But if it helps you to see me as a god, that’s fine by me, I take no offense.”

Saroudis blinked a few times while he let Aion’s words sink in.

“Why are we here?” asked Saroudis.

“Technically, only you are here. I’m everywhere and anywhere in the cosmos at any given… time.”

“That must be tiring.”

“Only when I try to explain how it works to lesser minds,” Aion said with a smile. “As for your question, well, since you openly asked the universe to do it, and I quote, ‘all over again’, I have found a life path for you that will allow you to do that during a time period far removed from your own, where your actions won’t put you at risk of creating a temporal paradox, which in turn, would put your own existence into peril. But, then again, I’m grossly oversimplifying here.”

“Of course you are.”

“Hmmm… I have to admit I didn’t expect it, but I do enjoy that part of your personality.”

“What? Sarcasm?”

“Yes, I find it refreshing. Makes me long for the days when life was simpler and bound by time. Eternity… well, let’s just say it’s something else. It has its advantages though, like granting certain wishes to those souls who have demonstrated unconditional love toward the universe and their own kind.”

“Is that what I did?”

“I won’t answer questions you already have the answers for, Adonis.”

“Fair enough. Why ten thousand yea—” but Saroudis stopped short.

“I see you’re starting to grasp it now.”

“Did you just snag me from the war with the Furies in my own time to throw me right in the midst of the first Fury War?”

“Ironic, isn’t it?”

“You gotta be shitting me. Why would you do such a thing?”

“Because you’re a man of honor, with courage to spare, and you believe in justice and balance. But it is true I could have chosen other men at the brink of their deaths for this mission. Then again I find you fascinating… you have a selflessness about you that very few do. Just like your friend Chase.”

“If you could have taken anyone out of any points in time in the whole of eternity, why not Chase? A future Chase for example? His skills are infinitely more useful than mine.”

“You’re selling yourself short. But to answer your question: he’s a nexian, the risk of pulling him out is way too high.”

“What’s a nexian?”

“A person whose actions create nexuses in the timeline, if they go right, the entire universe tends to follow suit. And in the case of Chase, the chances of triggering universe-ending paradoxes are too astronomically high. Not to mention his emotional involvement with this particular timeline. No… such paradoxes would be so powerful it could have the universe implode on itself.”

“Right, this is around the time Chase and Argos were born.”

“Slightly before, but yes. You may yet witness that day.”

A shiver traveled down Saroudis’s spine and his eyes grew wide. “Are you serious?”

“We’ll just have to see, won’t we? Right now, I have a simple mission for you.”

“Is that how it’s going to be? You’ll give me assignments?”

“I suppose that’s a fair assessment.”

“So I’m not really living a free life.”

“Did you really believe that was the case in your previous one?”

“Of course I did.”

“Fascinating…”

“Are you telling me everything is written? You just said a minute ago that our thoughts shape the universe.”

“Yes, because you somewhat believe that you and the universe are two separate entities. And, no, while it’s not written, especially from your vantage point as a soul incarnated in a human body, some parts are safeguarded by people like me.”

“There are more of you?”

“Yes and no.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t expect it to.”

Saroudis sighed. “Are you being vague, or better yet, elusive on purpose?”

“Trying to make you understand my perception of the intricacies and complex parameters of life and the universe would take multiple incarnations for you to grasp the most basic of them. In fact, that’s one of your species’ imperatives and why you’re forced to do it over and over again. In order for your physical brain to cope with each new iteration, knowledge of previous lives have to be erased. Your soul retains echoes of this information in the form of feelings and instincts. A sort of sixth sense if you will.”

“Let me get this straight. You’re telling me this isn’t my only or even first life? I’ve had others before?”

“And you’ll have countless more after the Gaian beam disintegrates your current bodily incarnation, yes.”

“So, to make it clear, I will indeed die that way?”

“To preserve the timeline, and your destiny so that your next incarnation’s soul isn’t completely thrown out of whack, yes, when the time comes, I will bring you back to that exact moment, whether or not you succeed in your missions here.”

“Missions? Plural?”

“Semantics, you’re here for a very specific task, but it may take many actions to achieve that one goal. But, Adonis, right now this information won’t help you with what is waiting ahead. So I recommend you try not to focus too much on it.”

“You can’t possibly drop the mother of all knowledge bombs on me and just expect me to forget.”

Aion’s voice dropped to a whisper level. “Yes, I can… you’re now forgetting all these silly questions clouding your mind and you will focus on the mission ahead.”

Saroudis’s mind spun and he almost lost consciousness. He shook his head vehemently to stay awake.

“I—I don’t seem to remember some of what we—what were we talking about again?”

“I need you for a mission of great importance. You were requesting of me to provide more details about it.”

“Right... I’m sorry you’ll have to refresh my memory. In fact, my mind is so hazy right now, you might as well start over about the whole thing.”

Aion gave a faint smile.

* * *

Saroudis materialized on what seemed like the bridge of a ship, which was of unknown design to him, and it took him a while to understand what was going on and why he was here.

Dead people were all around him. Outside the viewport, debris from countless ships floated in the blackness of space. A bright star shone in the distance.

What had happened here? What ship was this and why did Aion bring him on board?

Saroudis checked the pulse of the nearest crew member and confirmed they were gone. They looked human, and some of them had facial implants, but he had never seen these uniforms nor did he recognize any of the technology surrounding him. He wondered to what race this ship belonged.

Aion’s voice echoed in his mind.

You need to take control of the ship, but hurry, look outside the viewport.

Saroudis caught a glimpse of the shining point of light he had previously mistaken for a star. It was getting bigger through the viewport.

“Is that a…” but he let the words trail.

Aion materialized near him. “A torpedo? Yes.”

Saroudis looked around and located a central seat, which he assumed was the captain’s. He sat and glanced at the embedded armrest controls. He couldn’t make out any of them. Both the language and icons didn’t make any sense.

“How am I supposed to pilot this ship on my own? I don’t recognize these controls.”

Aion faded from his previous position and reappeared next to Saroudis.

“Just put both your palms on the armrest controls and say ‘Myimenos’. Hurry, though.”

The bridge’s lights flashed red all around him. Saroudis glanced at the viewport and saw the torpedo approaching fast. He put both his hands as instructed by Aion and spoke the word out loud, even though he had no idea what it meant.

His mind filled with a holographic HUD that superimposed over his vision, but he still couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing.

“I can’t read it!”

“You don’t have to, you’re now linked to the ship’s AI mentally, she will obey your commands.”

“She?”

“This is a very advanced AI, and it happen to have a gender. So yes, she. Right now, she can’t speak back to you because of the damage the Thera has incurred in battle. All that matters now, is that this ship must not be destroyed.”

“So, what? I jump out of here?”

“Not before the torpedo hits, you must initiate the jump at the exact time it will impact with what’s left of the shields. Preferably redirecting enough power from other systems so that the ship survives the impact. Ten seconds left.”

Saroudis’s heartbeat accelerated beyond safe levels and he closed his eyes, felt the ship’s system in him, and voiced mental commands, hoping they would work.

Redirect all power but hyperspace engines to the shields, initiate auto-jump sequence to the nearest system upon impact.

While he didn’t hear a voice back, he felt a nudge of confirmation inside his mind, and indicators on his neural HUD blinked madly for a moment until he reopened his eyes and saw the torpedo screaming toward the ship.

I hope this works, or this will be a short second chance at life.

The ship hummed, and shortly after, it rocked when the torpedo impacted the shields and the lights in the bridge flickered madly. Sparks shot from all around Saroudis. The viewport flashed brightly, and soon, blue and purple streaks of light replaced the floating debris.

Saroudis’s neural HUD blinked with orange and red icons flashing everywhere, which he took as a bad omen as to the state of the ship. That torpedo impact, he assumed, had inflicted even more damage.

“Why did I have to let the torpedo impact the shields?” asked Saroudis. “The ship is in even more bad shape now.”

“Because the enemy had to think it destroyed you. Otherwise, they would have pursued and finished the job. For all intents and purposes, the Thera has been destroyed, and you can now proceed to use it for your assignments.”

“If they run a detailed scan, they’ll see that’s not the case.”

“Except you were in the middle of a ship graveyard, there’s enough debris that they won’t bother.”

“I suppose it makes little sense to question you at this point.”

“You’re learning… good. You have a ship now, which was the first objective.”

“If this bucket of bolts can be repaired, you mean.”

“Oh, it will repair, and this bucket of bolts, as you say, is infinitely more powerful than the Destiny.”

Saroudis looked around the bridge and sneered. “If you say so.”

“Start by asking the ship to self-repair, and have her create you a crew.”

“How is the ship supposed to create me a crew?”

“Just do it, you’ll see.”

* * *

Saroudis was on deck five, walking through a corridor so long that it felt interminable. It was hard to gauge the ship’s size from within, but his instincts told him the ship was massive and probably quite bigger than the Destiny. Aion was floating by his side, silent.

“Are you going to tell me where we are going?” asked Saroudis.

“Are you always this impatient?” answered Aion. “You’ll see when we get there.”

“Look, you need to start telling me why I’m here, why you had to pluck me out of certain death? It’s one thing to be offered a second chance at life, it’s another being your puppet.”

“Would you prefer I send you back on the Destiny right now?”

“You’re bluffing. I thought you needed me.”

“I need someone, and you match the profile needed to make this work, but there are other candidates that can take your place.”

“So I’m expendable, is that it?”

“I never said that. I just think you’re the best-suited candidate and that you’ll have extra motivation to make sure you fulfill your mission.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, what motivation could I possibly have ten thousand years prior to my own birth?”

“It will all become clear… eventually.”

Saroudis sighed. He wasn’t a fan of Aion’s puzzling answers. That man had a real knack in not providing direct responses, and instead, invited more questions. It was getting on Saroudis’s nerves. But he decided not to antagonize Aion any more than necessary, at least for the time being.

Instead, his mind went to his family. It broke his heart thinking of them receiving the news of his demise. He felt guilty for putting them in that position. Even though he had had no other choice, and what he did with sacrificing the Destiny and forfeiting his life, he thought he would, first and foremost, protect those he loved.

Would he ever see them again? He wondered.

“You won’t. I’m sorry about that,” said Aion.

“So you can read my thoughts too?”

“I can feel your emotional condition, yes, and right now, through no fault of your own, you’re broadcasting.”

“I see. Well, I’m not sure what’s in it for me if I can’t ever see my family. Aren’t you able to bring me to any point in space and time there is, painlessly?”

“You are correct.”

“Then why can’t I see my family?”

“The risk of generating a paradox is not negligible, and your mind, even though you’re an incredible tactician, might not be prepared to counter the emotional flux you’d get thrown into from such a reckless action.”

“Wanting to see my family is reckless?”

“If you understood how the universe works, you’d know it to be true.”

“That’s your excuse for everything, isn’t it?”

“I don’t need excuses. What do you think I am, human?”

“Fat chance of that.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Saroudis shook his head in disbelief. God or not, Aion had a way of annoying Saroudis like very few Olympians he had met before. And while part of him felt a small thrill at the idea of actually witnessing and perhaps even impacting the course of the first Fury War, he would give anything to be back in his wife’s arms right this moment. Absolutely anything.

Aion stopped advancing and levitated in place.

“Very well,” said Aion. “But just this once.”

Before Saroudis could say a word, everything changed.

* * *

Saroudis felt a warm embrace, and the perfume that caressed his nostrils was unmistakable. He was tightly holding his lovely wife, Alexandra. His heart beat so hard it threatened to escape his rib cage. He could also feel his wife’s heart beating against his chest, and it filled his soul with happiness and joy.

Thank you, Aion.

Saroudis wished he could stay in this moment until the end of times, but eventually, his wife gently broke the embrace and kissed him on the lips.

“I thought you said Admiral Thassos didn’t grant your request to come to see us?” said Alexandra.

Saroudis’s mind was overwhelmed and he had a hard time believing his eyes. He also had trouble placing this moment in time. He had no memory of it that he could think of. When was he? However, part of him didn’t care about when, just that he was there now.

“What is it, Adonis? Are you alright? You look quite pale.”

“I’m okay, it’s been a long trip.”

“How long can you stay?”

Before he could mentally think about it, Aion answered in his mind for him. Not long.

“I can’t stay long. I’m sorry.”

Alexandra tried to hide her disappointment as best she could, which filled Saroudis with sadness.

“That’s okay,” she said. “I appreciate that you came in the first place. I’m just surprised the admiral gave you the approval. You’ve told me multiple times that she’s not one to make exceptions.”

She wasn’t, but for all intents and purposes, his present self in this timeline surely was back on the Destiny. But since Saroudis had no idea exactly when he was, it was hard to tell. It had to be pre-invasion of the Star Alliance though, since he recognized the Alpha Prime quarters. Did that mean that…?

“Dad!” exclaimed a pair of voices Saroudis never thought he’d ever hear again.

Saroudis turned to see Joshua and Ethan run toward him. The amount of emotion that rushed inside his soul was hard to contain. His boys, who later lost their lives protecting the rest of his family, ran toward him with beaming smiles on their faces.

By the time they rammed into him for hugs, Saroudis’s eyes were filled with tears and he couldn’t control the emotional tsunami unfolding within him. Just like Aion predicted.

“Josh, Ethan,” Saroudis wept. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you guys. Where’s your sister?”

“She’s out with one of her friends,” said Alexandra. “Do you want me to call her back here?”

Saroudis wanted to see her as well, but he didn’t know if he would be able to stay long enough for her to return.

“That’s alright, let her have her fun, I’ll call her later.”

Of course that was a lie, but at least he could hold his boys one more time and that was way more than he ever thought he’d get from this temporal visit.

“What’s wrong, dad?” asked Ethan. “Why are you crying?”

“It’s okay, Ethan, don’t worry, these are tears of joy.”

“But we’ve never seen you cry before,” added Joshua.

“Well… you have now.”

“Your timing is great,” said Alexandra. “I was about to get the boys to their favorite restaurant, do you have time to come with?”

Do I? asked Saroudis mentally.

One hour, then excuse yourself, answered Aion.

“I’ll take the time. On second thought, let’s call Sendra and see if she and her friend can join us.”

“Yay!” exclaimed Ethan. “Family dinner, it’s been so long since we last did this.”

You have no idea, son, thought Saroudis.

* * *

Saroudis excused himself to his family, and his heart ached telling them goodbye. For them, it didn’t mean the same as it did for him. From his perspective, it would be the last time he ever saw them. Forever. At least until they met in the afterlife.

He walked away from the restaurant with both a heavy heart and a boost to his morale.

“Thank you so much for this,” said Saroudis, his eyes still watery from the magical moment he had just experienced.

“You’re welcome,” answered Aion. “Just understand that this was a one-time thing.”

“I never expected to see my boys ever again.”

“Which is why I chose this particular timeline. It also happened to be a moment where this wouldn’t make any ripples in the timeline.”

“So you don’t experience time like us, but you still know how not to impact it?”

“Correct, I wouldn’t be a good guardian if I didn’t.”

“Makes sense. How long until the ship is repaired?”

“That’s the beauty of my power, it already is. You just need to wake up your crew.”

“I thought they all died.”

“They have, this isn’t your typical crew.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You will.”

Everything changed around him, and they were standing in a large room with hundreds of pods lined up.

“Where are we?” asked Saroudis. “Have we left the ship?”

“No, in a way, this is the crews’ quarters.”

“That can’t be, it looks like a lab.”

“As a matter of fact, it is. Just watch.”

One of the nearest pods made a pneumatic sound and its door opened. Fog escaped the pod before a figure emerged and walked out of it.

The humanoid-looking silhouette approached Saroudis and gave him a salute. Saroudis’s blood froze, whatever this thing was, it had no face, no clothes, no genitals. Except for its overall biped anatomy, it didn’t look human.

“What—what is this?” he stuttered.

“What else? Your crew.”

“What is he? Or she… I’m confused.”

“They have no sex, they’re synthetic lifeforms and don’t require reproductive organs.”

“Androids?”

“Of sorts. The how or what doesn’t really matter, you need a crew.”

“You can’t possibly expect me to interact with faceless people, it’s creepy!” Saroudis protested.

“You won’t have to interact with them, you can control the ship with your thoughts, they will just maintain it. While the Thera has great regenerative biosystems, or self-repair if you will, that ability is limited to only a few crucial parts of the ship. For more substantial repairs, you’ll need hands. Well, they are the hands.”

“What technology is this? Who has thought of it?”

“You call them Atlantians.”

Saroudis’s jaw dropped. “This is an Atlantian ship?”

“It is. One of a kind, in fact. I think you call them prototypes.”

“What about them; are they prototypes as well?”

“They are. Actually, they were never supposed to be activated.”

“I can see why.”

“Can you now?”

“Yeah, there’s something about the ethics of this that rubs me the wrong way.”

“I guess you have that in common with the Atlantian High Command, but for our needs, they’ll do.”

More pods opened in concert and hundreds of synths walked out and took positions in neat lines and rows.

“This is one of the creepiest things I’ve ever witnessed,” complained Saroudis. “I’m not sure I’m okay with this. Is that skin on them?”

“Synthetic skin, yes, but don’t worry about it, you’ll barely know they’re there.”

“Oh, I’ll know. With all due respect, Aion, I don’t think I can unsee… this.”

“You’re focusing on your own emotional response to their existence, and your mind is bringing unnecessary conflicts about the ethics based on your value system. They’re a tool, they don’t feel anything, they can’t sense any pain, and they can walk onto a burning deck to effect repairs.”

“I can see why the Atlantians didn’t want them activated. That’s slavery!”

“Slavery implies a consciousness, a soul, they have neither.”

“Or so you say.”

“Will this be a problem? I can always erase your memory of this moment and program them to avoid you on the ship.”

Saroudis considered the implications. As for his memory being erased, he didn’t like the sound of that. Not one bit. To him that was another kind of slavery, and he didn’t see the point at getting a second chance at life if it meant being nothing more than a puppet.

“No, and I don’t want you to ever do that.”

“What? Erase your memories?”

“Yes.”

“Very well, you may change your mind about that, but I promise I won’t do it again.”

“Again? Are you telling me you’ve done it before?”

“Only once.”

Saroudis made fists. “That’s not okay!”

“I can see that now. Unfortunately, what’s done is done.”

“We both know that’s not true.”

“I suppose I could restart from scratch, but then you’ll complain about being a puppet again, wouldn’t you?”

The irony of the situation was palpable.

“Yes, I would. Please just don’t do it again.”

“Duly noted. We should return to the bridge.”

Before Saroudis could answer, he was sitting in his captain’s chair. Being teleported and changing rooms or even timelines would require some getting used to on Saroudis’s part.

The neural HUD appeared again, but this time he could read everything and get a sense of the ship’s status. It was now fully repaired and ready for battle. Some of the features included a cloak, as well as AI-controlled drone fighters.

“Did we jump in time again?”

“Not by much,” answered Aion. “Just enough for your assignment.”

Saroudis played with his beard. “Very well… let’s get this over with then. Now that my…” but Saroudis stopped.

“What is it? Why did you stop just now?”

“Is it… my ship? The Thera?”

“Do you want it to be?”

Saroudis pondered the question. He didn’t know how long his assignment would take. Aion was clearly powerful when it came to manipulating space and time, but his social skills remained something to be desired. More and more, Saroudis felt less like he was given a new chance and more like he was a puppet.

He had to admit, though, that it was still better than the alternative. However long this adventure would last, having a ship to call his own would be a welcome silver lining.

“Yes. My ship.”

“It’s settled, then.”

Saroudis took a deep breath of satisfaction. “It sure is… now that she’s fixed.”

“Almost.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the powerful AI took more damage than I anticipated, so it will be a while until the ship actually talks back to you.”

“I see. I take it we don’t need her assistance for what comes next, right?”

“Correct.”

“Okay, what about you brief me on what you need the Thera and her captain to do?”

* * *

“So let me get this straight,” said Saroudis, “we have to provide cover to an Olympian transport? Is that all?”

“That’s about it, yes,” answered Aion. “It’s more than just cover, we need to make sure it doesn’t get destroyed. That part is imperative.”

“And for that you snagged me from my timeline and gave me a full-blown prototype destroyer?”

“Technically, this is a dreadnought. When you say it like that, it does sound somewhat overkill, but it may become clear over time.”

“Over time? How long is this mission?”

“For now, let’s focus on the task ahead, and it’s better if we don’t get distracted with information that isn’t relevant to the current objective.”

Saroudis stared at Aion for a little while before answering. “You do enjoy deflecting a lot.”

“Do I? I hadn’t noticed.”

Saroudis sighed. “Of course you don’t.”

Saroudis grabbed the holo-map interface in his hands and threw it toward Aion. It gracefully traveled in the air and stopped in front of him.

“Alright, why don’t you set the course since you know exactly where we’re supposed to go.”

“I sense resentment in your tone.”

“Look, I get it, you need someone for a mission that you deem of great importance. But look at it from my point of view. You’re not telling me what it is we are doing or even fighting for; that doesn’t motivate me much. I get to captain a ship again but the way we’re going about it makes me feel like a monkey at the helm. You’re doing it again, whether consciously or otherwise, and you’re basically telling me what to do, where to go, who to kill. Without any semblance of explanations, let alone context. Did you really think that this is a second chance at life worth fighting for?”

“I’m sorry you feel that way. Would you prefer it if I send you back to the Destiny once we save the Olympian transport?”

Saroudis thought about it. He was grateful for Aion letting him see his family one more time, and even though he had said it would be the last time, Saroudis yearned that there would be a small hope for it to happen again, one day. Perhaps it would require him to be obedient for it to happen, but it would be worth it too.

Still, Saroudis didn’t feel like his new adventure had any purpose. When he gave his life to save Earth and all he loved, he was fighting for something, for a cause… for freedom. But now, he felt like his life had no aim.

“I dunno, perhaps…”

“That is, of course, your choice. I’ve entered the coordinates. We must achieve our goal undetected, that’s why we needed the Thera’s cloak repaired and operational.”

Saroudis looked at the coordinates for their jump. He queried the ship’s AI with his mind and realized he could activate an instant cloak option, which would effectively engage a few milliseconds before exiting hyperspace.

If anything, Saroudis would get to use technology he never dreamed of. Aion had not been kidding when he said it was a better ship than the Destiny. The Atlantians sure had advanced technology, even that far back in the past, which pondered the question on how such an advanced civilization could be defeated in the first place.

“Overconfidence,” said Aion. “Sorry, you’re broadcasting again.”

Saroudis smiled. “I’m sure I am.”

With a mental thought, Saroudis activated the hyperspace engine, and the Thera jumped.

So that’s how it must have felt for Chase to remote control ships, including the Destiny.

It was a first for Saroudis. He had briefly tested the technology in the academy, for training purposes, and suffice it to say, it was nowhere near as integrated a link between his mind and the interface as to what he was experiencing now. Which made him wonder how much more immersive Chase’s link was with machines when he was taking over entire fleets of ships with his mind.

“We’re almost there,” said Aion. “Five minutes.”

“Can’t you at least tell me who we’re saving?”

“Why does it matter to you?”

“Because I need to know what I’m doing is honorable.”

“Are you implying that I’m using you for nefarious reasons?”

“Well, let’s see, what could possibly make me doubt your intentions? You deflect a lot of questions, you read my mind all the time, you tell me exactly what to do, and that’s only off the top of my head, I’m sure I forgot some.”

“Yes, like breaking time travel rules to allow you to hold your family in your arms one more time.”

Saroudis frowned and sighed for longer than usual. “Alright, that was very generous of you. But it could have been part of a ploy to convince me to do some dirty work.”

“Let me get this straight. You want, no… let me rephrase it, you need me to tell you what you’re fighting for? Is that it?”

“Yes! I’m surprised someone as advanced as you has trouble grasping such a small but important concept. How else am I going to be motivated to do anything if I don’t do it for reasons that have meaning for me?”

“Alright. We’re saving Athena and Aphroditis from certain death today. Is that enough explanation for you?”

Saroudis felt a lightning storm hit his head and the mother of all tingles traveled throughout his body.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. While they’ve been saved once already today, unbeknownst to them, they’re in dire need of a second rescue.”

“I find it hard to believe that Aphroditis does not know about it.”

“Aphroditis’s powers are still limited due to her corporeal form. She’s not yet reached a point where her soul can ascend to my level.”

“Is that even an option?”

“Of course, as is for all sentient beings… over time.”

“That one affirmation alone will take a while to sink in.”

“Now is not the time, though.”

“I know, I know. What happens if we don’t stop the attempt on their lives?”

“Athena and Aphroditis die, Chase and Argos are never born, the Furies rule supreme over the universe. How’s that for motivation?”

Saroudis had a hard time breathing. The stakes, now that they had finally been revealed to him, were infinitely higher than he ever imagined.

Saroudis’s voice trembled. “Why?”

“Why what, Adonis?”

“Why do you do this? Why do you side with one side of this conflict? Why not let things happen as they must?”

“That’s a question I don’t think your brain can ever hope to comprehend the complexity of the answer. But I can try to dumb it down.”

“Then by all means, do so.”

“Well, for one, you wouldn’t be born, and I wouldn’t have the honor of your presence.”

Saroudis smiled. “Sarcasm?”

Aion winked. “I learn fast, don’t I? Besides, your very existence, which you must have figured out on your own by now, is important for the future, the Earth would be destroyed. And I’m quite fond of that little planet, but more importantly, there must always be balance between darkness and light, that’s one of the immutable rules of the universe. You think I’m treating you as a puppet, by the same logic, I am too by my own superior.”

“You have a superior?”

“In a manner of speaking. The universe itself.”

“So, it is sentient after all. But⁠—”

Aion cut Saroudis short. “I’m afraid we have to stop here on the subject. We’ll have plenty more time to discuss this later, exiting hyperspace in two, one…”

The Thera exited hyperspace fully cloaked near a planet with five moons orbiting around it. The computer identified the planet as Charonion.

Saroudis checked the sensors and saw an Olympian transport exiting the atmosphere, and immediately after, a Fury heavy fighter emerged from behind one of the moons and engaged it, draining their shields fast.

“They don’t stand a chance,” said Saroudis.

“That’s why you’re here.”

Determination gleamed in Saroudis’s eyes. “I wasn’t referring to Athena and Aphroditis.”

With a single thought, Saroudis microjumped the Thera in front of the vectoring Fury heavy fighter. A second later, the Fury ship impacted with its starboard side, and consumed by the power of the Thera’s shields, it exploded into a million pieces.

Shortly after, the Olympian transport entered hyperspace.

“It wasn’t so hard, was it?” asked Aion.

“No, in fact, I expected a lot more action. At least some sort of a challenge.”

Aion smiled. “I know you did.”

“What now?” asked Saroudis with a long sigh. “Am I to face my demise back on the Destiny?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether you want to be the person who makes sure the Furies don’t win this war.”

Saroudis’s voice trembled. “What are you telling me? That this rescue isn’t the sole reason you brought me here?”

“It’s part of it, but your adventures have only just begun.”

“There’s more?”

“Oh, yeah, the Alliance currently siding with the light will need your help again in the future. This was just but the first step of your new journey.”

A shiver tickled Saroudis from head to toe. “You mean…”

“Did you really think that was all that was expected of you? One simple mission? Do you think I or the universe would go to so much trouble for this?”

“I don’t know, somehow I thought saving Chase and Argos would do it.”

“Except they aren’t saved yet. In fact, they’re not even born. There’s still a long way until the end of this war. Which we both know only really ends in a stalemate, being resolved only in your timeline.”

“Do we win? In my timeline I mean?”

“In a way I suppose you could say that. The real question, however, is whether or not you want to play your part, so it’s not lost here and now.”

“As long as I make a difference, my answer will always be a resounding: yes.”

“Oh, you will, that much I can promise you.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Adonis.”

“I just have one more question?”

“Allow me to doubt that statement,” Aion said with a smile.

Saroudis chuckled. “Right. But…”

“Why you?”

“Yes.”

“You see there is one nexus event that makes sure your future takes place.”

“And what would that be? Chase and Argos being born?”

“Indeed. As well as them surviving this war, so they can fight in the next one.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you chose me?”

“I think you know the answer to that already, but let me just ask you this. What does Chase mean to you?”

“While he can be a royal pain in the ass, he’s also saved me more times than I can count. In fact, he also saved my ship, my crew, heck, even my family and countless more lives… by throwing himself into the lion’s den at every turn… at the risk of his own life, I might add.”

“That’s quite a eulogistic description of his deeds, but that doesn’t answer my question, not by a long shot. So now who’s deflecting?”

Saroudis smiled. “Touché. I suppose on some level…”

“Yes, go on. You can say it.”

“On some level, I always considered him like a son.”

“Then what better to protect him when he needs it the most but a father’s love for his son.”

“Except I’m not his father.”

“You and I both know we can argue the semantics of this, but you can’t ignore what your heart tells you.”

Tears accumulated around Saroudis’s eyes. “I guess you’re right.”

“Do you still want me to send you back to the Destiny?”

Saroudis didn’t stay silent for very long this time around. “Hell no!”

“Alright then, but we can’t have you roaming the universe in this body configuration, the chances of you being recognized in your own timeline is too high. Since you may leave a mark on history.”

“We wouldn’t want to create paradoxes, would we?”

“Exactly.”

Aion snapped his fingers, and Saroudis felt his entire body rearrange itself. It was the strangest of sensations. All of a sudden, his energy levels raised to unbelievable levels.

“What happened, what have you done?”

Aion cast a holographic mirror in front of Saroudis. The commodore couldn’t believe his eyes as he looked at his younger self.

“How did you do this?”

“How else, I reversed the flow of time within your cells. Now the immortals you meet in this timeline won’t recognize you in yours in the future.”

“Clever.”

“I’m glad you think so. What do you say we get your new destiny started?”

The fires of motivation burned within young Saroudis’s eyes as a newfound purpose animated his soul. Aion had not lied to him; in fact, he had answered his prayer word for word. Saroudis wanted a second chance to live life all over again and make a difference.

And that’s exactly what awaited him.

THE END

Keep reading to Book 8…

Closing note: For those of you who read all my books, I hope you enjoyed this ride, and, like me, appreciate what I did here. Saroudis has always been a character close to my heart, and when this idea struck, pretty much out of nowhere, I just couldn’t resist.

Nor could I pass on an opportunity to have our beloved commodore play a part (I have no idea yet how much a part he will play just yet) in a future prequel series (The First Fury - set ten thousand years in the past).

TWILIGHT OF THE GODS (BOOK 8)

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Captain Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury Olympian hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Commander Sarah Kepler – Earth Human with Fury powers (formerly US Navy Commander)

Chris Athanatos – Fury Human hybrid

Commander Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Commodore Adonis Saroudis (ah-do-nis sah-roo-dis) – Earth Alliance Human (deceased)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos (yah-nis tee-hee-hos) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis (spee-ros ma-lah-yah-nis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance - deceased)

Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)

Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)

Cedric – Earth Alliance Human Engineer

Tar’Lock – Gorgar (Insectoid & formerly a Hellstar prisoner)

Olympians

Aphroditis (a-fro-dee-tee) – known to humans as the goddess of love

Ares (ah-rees)– know to humans as the god of war

Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war

Zeus – known to humans as the god of the sky and mighty ruler of Olympus

Hades (eh-dees) – known to humans as the god of the Underworld

Apollo – known to humans as the god of Music, Truth & Prophecy

Furies

Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

Oryn – Zeus’ daughter (Arakan’s adoptive daughter)

Zalara – Arakan’s wife (deceased)

Menelas – Chase and Argos’ father (deceased)

Asgardians

Thor – Fleet Commander, son of Odin.

Odin – King of Asgard

Kvasir (kvah-seer) – Asgardian scientist

Other characters

Emperor Altair – Obsidian Empire Emperor (now part of the Earth Alliance)

Gaia (gah-yah) – Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

Production Editor & Alpha/ARC Team Lead

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Editors

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Effrosyni Moschoudi

Proofreaders

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Effrosyni Moschoudi

Miliana Chipaila (Thank you so much Millie!)

Alpha Readers & ARC Team (Thank you!)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2017 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2017 / Version 1.05

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Captain Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury Olympian hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Commander Sarah Kepler – Earth Human with Fury powers (formerly US Navy Commander)

Chris Athanatos – Fury Human hybrid

Commodore Saroudis – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance Captain) (deceased)

Commander Daniel Tharraleos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance - deceased)

Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)

Cedric – Earth Alliance Human Engineer

Tar’Lock – Gorgar (Insectoid & formerly a Hellstar prisoner)

Olympians

Aphroditis – known to humans as the goddess of love

Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft & war

Ares – known to humans as the god of war (deceased, living as pure energy form)

Zeus – known to humans as the god of the sky and mighty ruler of Olympus

Hades – known to humans as the god of the Underworld

Apollo – known to humans as the god of Music, Truth & Prophecy

Furies

Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

Oryn – Zeus’ daughter (Arakan’s adoptive daughter)

Zalara – Arakan’s wife (deceased)

Menelas – Chase and Argos’ father (deceased)

Asgardians

Thor – Fleet Commander, son of Odin.

Odin – King of Asgard

Kvasir – Asgardian scientist

Other characters

Emperor Altair – Obsidian Empire Emperor (now part of the Earth Alliance)

Gaia (gah-yah) – Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet

Gaia (gah-yah) 2 – An older backup version of the Gaia Artificial Intelligence gone haywire. Evil and sees humans as vermin (destroyed)

THE STORY SO FAR

Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.

This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. It can, of course, be used by new readers but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (Definitive Edition).

Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

Volume II: Fury to the Stars

Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin, Argos, currently torturing her for information. Another Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him harness his emerging powers. Meanwhile, Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar Prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long-range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensitive weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.

Volume III: Destination Oblivion

Having had to kill the woman he loves as well as their unborn child plunges Chase into a spiral of hatred and self-destruction as he leaves the Earth Alliance. After meeting a bounty hunter (Keera), Chase joins forces with her in order to track the one man he hates more than anything in this world: his twin brother Argos whom he holds responsible for Sarah’s death. Argos resurfaces on their radar after killing Ares in cold blood. When their paths cross, Chase nearly kills Argos after an epic fight in Tokyo, but only spares his twin brother’s life when he reveals that Sarah is alive and the person that Chase killed was a clone. Meanwhile, a dangerous Artificial Intelligence (Gaia) is born on Earth and threatens humanity as a whole, but in the end Spiros Malayianis convinces her that she has nothing to fear from humans. In order to rescue Sarah, Chase has to reluctantly team up with Argos in order to defeat a Titan that holds a piece of tech Argos needs for his nefarious plan. When recovered, Argos requests Aphroditis to enter the piece of tech that will free his brethren, once thought to be extinct, from their dimensional prison. Aphroditis enters the machine willingly in exchange for a promise from Chase to rid the world of Argos and the threat he poses. The Fury home world (Erevos) is brought back into their reality as a result. The enemy of old (Furies) is back in play.

Volume IV: The Beginning of the End

Argos’ reunion with the Furies turns sour as he refuses to kill Chase when ordered. Back on Earth, Chase trains for months with the help of Gaia and Spiros to increase his powers tenfold in the hope of defeating the Furies. Argos and two highly trained Fury warriors (Miseo, the son of the Fury Supreme Commander Arakan as well as General Arkoolis) are sent on a mission to wipe out the Droxians in retribution for their joining the Earth Alliance after the battle around Earth orbit (Earth - Last Sanctuary). Ryonna, with Keera’s help, tries to save her son when he gets tangled in the massacre that ensues on Droxia. Chase arrives on Droxia and defeats Arkoolis but Miseo proves to be too powerful for him. Argos intervenes near the end of the battle, mortally wounds Chase and leaves him for dead before they (Miseo & Argos) have to flee when reinforcements arrive.

Volume V: Rise of the Ultra Fury

Sarah is about to give birth to Chris when he warns her of things to come using the Fury powers Sarah has acquired as part of her pregnancy. Chase is brought back on board the Hope and put in suspended animation until Ares can procure an Olympian elixir with the help of Argos who is starting to question his allegiance with the Furies. Chase wakes up in the Underworld, his soul trapped in between the world of the living and the dead. There, he meets Hades who trains Chase further while his son Chris is born and ages at impossible speed. Argos starts feeling remorse for his actions and agrees to help Ares recover the banished Olympian Asclepios from his prison. Argos defeats the Titan Menoitios and frees Asclepios with Ares and Apollo’s help. On their way back to the Hope, a Fury assassin by the name of Timoros tries to kill Chase while he’s still trapped in the Underworld. Every one of Chase’s friends risks their lives to try and stop Timoros but he’s too powerful. Eventually Chase returns from the Underworld when he feels Sarah is in mortal danger. He drinks the elixir and obliterates Timoros while reaching a stepping stone power-wise in becoming an Ultra Fury. The first Fury super-destroyer is dispatched as part of a fleet intent on destroying Earth, currently protected by a powerful planetary shield. When it looks like all hope is lost, an unknown fleet going by the name of Gaian Defense Force enters the fold and forces the Furies out of Earth orbit. Their leader, also named Gaia, demands of Chase that the Earth Alliance also leaves orbit within the hour or they’ll be destroyed.

Volume VI: Shadows of Olympus

Chase and what’s left of the Earth Alliance are forced to vacate Earth space. Spiros, Cedric and Gaia stay behind in order to try to stop Gaia 2 from taking control of planet Earth. Meanwhile, the Alliance splits up, with Saroudis and the Destiny battlegroup going back to Alpha Prime, where the Obsidian Empire helps them get more ships and resources at a time of need. Chase, Ares and Argos meet Zeus on Olympus, but are not welcomed as friends. After battling one another, Chase and Zeus come to an agreement. Zeus reveals to Chase that he fell in love with Arakan’s wife during the first Fury War, and that’s what led to the conflict escalating. He also told Chase that Oryn is his daughter, not Arakan’s. He tasks Chase to bring her back to him and, in exchange, Olympus will join the Earth Alliance in their fight with the Furies. Sarah and Chris are sent on a mission of their own to try to make contact with the Asgardians. They find an armada of frozen Star Alliance ships, as well as Kvasir, a banished Asgardian engineer who could be an asset in defeating the AI scourge back on Earth. But Miseo is sent to recover him, and a battle ensues. Chris fights Miseo and nearly gets killed, but Chase intervenes. When he’s about to kill Miseo, Oryn arrives on the scene and the two of them fight, resulting in a draw. Kvasir is rescued and so is the Star Alliance armada. Meanwhile, on Earth things go from bad to worse. Gaia 2 is about to take control of the planet, so Gaia unleashes a planet-wide EMP to ensure Gaia 2 doesn’t get her hands on all of Earth’s computing power. Gaia 2 invades Cedric’s body and turns him into her new avatar cyborg. After executing Spiros, Gaia 2 gives Chase a warning, to stay away from Earth or face the consequences of humans dying by the millions.

Volume VII: Armageddon Unleashed

Chase decides to ignore Gaia 2’s warning and he sets a course for Earth. With the help of Gaia and Kvasir, he trains and learns how to fight inside an AI matrix in order to defeat Gaia 2 once and for all. But fighting Gaia 2 on her own turf proves more difficult than he anticipated. Chase fights with Gaia 2, making her use too much of her CPU so she can’t retaliate against the population of Earth, and also to help the Earth Alliance attack the armada of Gaian ships in orbit. When Chase loses consciousness, Argos and Chris take his place in the matrix while the Earth Alliance enters Earth orbit and fight the largest space battle the Alliance ever fought until now. Meanwhile, Oryn uses Miseo as her guinea pig to test a mind control device. She plans to use that technology on her father Arakan when the time comes to take control of the Fury throne via proxy. But her experiment takes a wrong turn and Miseo turns against her and tries to have her killed. She decides to bring Miseo to Earth so he can deal with Chase in his crazed state. The two of them are forced to ally themselves to bring him down, but at a cost. When a gigantic moon-sized Gaian ship threatens to destroy planet Earth, Commodore Saroudis decides to sacrifice himself and his ship to save the planet. Chase has to choose between saving Oryn or saving his friend; but following Aphroditis’ council he reluctantly decides for the former in order to ensure a much needed alliance with Olympus and Zeus. Chase, Oryn, Argos and Chris all team up to defeat Miseo. When Gaia 2 feels her end is near, she directs her moon-sized monstrosity of a ship to crash on Earth in order to destroy the planet. That’s when three Asgardian ships with Thor in command enter the scene and help the Earth Alliance permanently destroy the crazed AI. To Chase’s surprise, Thor requests the immediate transfer of the war criminal Kvasir to his ship.

And now the continuation . . .

1

Chase looked at Thor’s face currently displayed on the Hope’s holo-screen. Thor was imposing. Very muscular and with large shoulders. Like Kvasir he had luminous tattoos on his face, but their shape and positioning was different. Thor’s tattoos were more prominent on his forehead, around the nose and eyes and on his chin. They blinked rapidly right before he spoke.

“I don’t like repeating myself, Captain Athanatos. Have Kvasir sent to my ship immediately.”

Chase couldn’t let Kvasir be judged and killed without lifting a finger to try and at least repay him for his help. Without Kvasir they wouldn’t have defeated Gaia 2. And Chase could not bring himself to just deliver him to Thor without a fight.

“I’m sorry Thor, but no.”

Thor’s eyes blazed as he narrowed them. His tattoos flashed even stronger than before. The tone of his voice was ice cold.

“This is not a negotiation, Captain!”

“Nonetheless, my answer still stands. Kvasir has risked his life to help us defeat Gaia 2, and his actions were what saved the planet below, even if you’re the one who had his finger on the weapon trigger that finally brought her down. I can’t reward Kvasir by giving him to you to be executed. Surely you can understand that.”

Thor stayed silent for a while, his steel gaze locked on Chase.

“I could take him by force, and you do realize that there’s nothing you could do to stop me.”

“I believe that neither of us wants a conflict, Thor. I’m not saying I’m not willing to negotiate a solution that we both find acceptable. I’m just saying that I can’t grant your request right now. I’d like us to meet and discuss this face to face. And if we’re being forthcoming, I should add that we’ve defeated the Zarlacks multiple invasions and the Furies on a few occasions. You might have noticed the Olympian ships in our fleet as well. Not to mention that while your ship’s technology seems incredibly advanced, you’re at a serious disadvantage numerically speaking at the moment. I have no doubt that your three ships could do incredible damage, but we both know you’re not sure you could win this battle.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Captain.”

“It’s not the first time I’ve been told this. Many have promised my imminent demise before you, and well, as you can see, I’m still here.”

Chase caught a glimpse of Sarah’s wide-open eyes and connected with her telepathically.

Are you nuts, Chase?

I’m perfectly fine; I know exactly what I’m doing, love. Don’t worry.

She shrugged and he had to suppress the urge to smile.

For once I’m with her on that one, said Argos in Chase’s thoughts.

Eavesdropping are we?

Give him Kvasir before he decides to cut our ships into thin sushi slices like he did to that monstrosity of a Gaian ship earlier on.

I’m not giving him Kvasir, Argos; he’s our ticket to forging an alliance with them, can’t you see that?

Argos sighed.

Thor blinked, which by Chase’s count was the first time he had seen the Asgardian do this since his face filled the holo-screen.

“What is it you propose exactly, Captain?”

“I propose you come on board my ship where we can sit at a table and discuss this in a civilized and amicable way. How does that sound?”

Thor let a small, throaty growl escape as his tattoos momentarily flickered then lowered in intensity.

“Very well, I’ll be over right away. Please drop your shields so I can teleport onboard.”

“If you don’t mind, Thor, please give us a little time; I need to check the state of things on the planet and visit someone first.”

The Asgardian made a grimace and showed teeth before regaining his composure. Chase could feel he was testing the man’s patience.

“How much time do you need, Captain?”

“About an hour, maybe less.”

“Very well, but Captain…”

“Yes, Thor?”

“If you try to escape or trick me in any way⁠—”

“I know, you’ll shoot us down. Duly noted. See you in an hour.”

The holo-communications turned off and everyone’s sight fell onto Chase.

Chase shrugged. “What? I got us an hour to find a way to turn this mess of a situation to our advantage.”

* * *

Oryn followed Chase to his ready room.

“Ballsy move,” she said with an uncharacteristic smile.

“I don’t like being put against the wall.”

“I had noticed that about you already. What are you going to do about it though?”

“I have to find a way to play this to our advantage, if we could bring them to the fold, have the Asgardians join the Earth Alliance⁠—”

“You’d gain a great ally to fight us.”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “Us?”

“Force of habit. My world has been shaken to the core in the last few hours.”

Chase chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m sorry, Oryn, let’s just say I’ve been there.”

“What’s next? Are we going to Erevos to kill my non-biological father? I feel like ripping his head off.”

“As enticing as that sounds, not right away. I promised your real father a visit. He has answers for me as well, but that is contingent on him seeing you first.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready for that right now, Chase. Until an hour ago I didn’t truly believe Zeus could be my father; I don’t know that I can see him right away. Will you give me some time to think about this? Not to mention I’m not exactly presentable right now.”

Chase hadn’t thought of that but they were both covered in blood and bruises, their clothing shredded. Oryn’s armor was cracked in several places.

“Let me help with the physical damage⁠—”

Oryn raised a hand.

“No, that’s okay, Chase. While I can’t heal as fast as most Fury men can, my faster female metabolism usually doesn’t take long to repair the damage. Plus I suppose you have regeneration units onboard?”

“I could have you right as rain in less than ten seconds.”

“I know, but as weird as it may sound, I kind of need that pain right now. It gives me something else to focus on rather than the turmoil in my thoughts, if that makes any sense.”

Chase smiled.

“It makes perfect sense, yes. I’ll have someone find you some quarters so you can take a shower and rest.”

A small tear traveled down Oryn’s cheek.

“Thanks, Chase. For everything. And for what it’s worth; I’m sorry I tried to kill you.”

“I’m getting used to that,” said Chase with a chuckle. “I’m really glad I managed to get through to you, though.”

Oryn wiped the tear with the back of her hand.

“But before you go get some rest, Oryn, can you tell me anything of value in regard to your father’s plans? His next target maybe?”

Oryn’s face dropped.

“What is it?” asked Chase, concerned.

“Droxia! He’s going to finish off Droxia. In fact, his forces could already be on their way, or worse, be there already. I’m sorry Chase, after all that has happened, it had slipped my mind.”

“Dammit, I can’t leave before we see Thor, and I can’t let Droxia fall.”

Chase thought of Ryonna and made a mental note to go see her as soon as he could spare it. They had agreed that once the Gaia 2 situation was resolved, he’d give her command of a ship to try and rescue Tar’Lock’s people from the Fury’s mind control.

The corner of Oryn’s mouth curved into a smile. “I might have an idea about that.”

“I’m listening.”

“Let’s tell Thor my Fath—” she corrected herself, “that Arakan’s next target after Droxia is Asgard. That will surely get Thor’s attention.”

“But is it?”

She shook her head. “Olympus is his next target. I know him better than he knows himself. But I must warn you Chase, Arakan is sick, mentally I mean. Lately he’s been talking to himself.”

Suddenly, a golden glow warmed the entire room.

“I’m sorry for intruding,” said Ares.

“Don’t you ever knock?” asked Chase.

“Technically I don’t have a physical body, so⁠—”

“Alright, but Ares, we were kind of in the middle of something.”

“I know, sorry, couldn’t help but eavesdrop.”

Chase sighed and wanted to reprimand his old mentor for his attitude. Ares should have learned from the time he listened to Chase and Oryn on Kvasir’s planetoid prison. But he decided to let it slide; they had bigger fish to fry. Chase gestured toward Ares.

“Oryn, this is Ares, my former mentor, he’s the one who initially trained me and helped me get a grip on my powers, before Argos killed him.”

Oryn couldn’t help but let a chuckle escape her.

“That’s not funny,” said Ares.

“I’m so sorry, Ares, but you three must really get along like a house on fire.”

Chase laughed. “Good one.”

Ares stayed stoic in his golden energy form. “Right. Though, I must admit that lately Argos is growing on me, and I never thought I’d say that in my entire life.”

“I know the feeling,” said Chase. “He’s really not the same Fury we met a year ago.”

“Well, neither are the both of you. Enchanté, Oryn,” Ares said with a pause and a gracious bow, “I’m glad to make your acquaintance.”

“Nice to meet you too, Ares.”

“You two have had to face many changes, but I just thought you should both know that Arakan isn’t talking to himself. He’s talking to someone, something. I really can’t tell, but I was on Erevos while you were fighting Gaia 2 inside her own matrix⁠—”

Chase saw Oryn’s strange look. “Long story, I’ll brief you later,” he told her.

She acquiesced. “Go on, Ares.”

“At first I also thought he was mad and talking to himself, but then I saw and felt a strange energy in the throne room with him shortly before Aphroditis forcibly removed me from there. I can’t explain it but I can tell you Arakan’s not talking to himself.”

“Aphroditis did what? I thought she was in the machine?” inquired Chase.

“She still is, but she somehow managed to pull me toward her. I didn’t really have much time to talk with her. That’s when I came and took you out of your StarFury when you passed out from fighting with Gaia 2.”

“That changes everything then,” said Oryn.

“How so?”

“I thought he was senile. In the last war with all your people, the old Alliance, he was mortally wounded. He suffered a brain injury and we had a scientist make him a concoction to treat that wound, though it did produce side effects, such as a rather terrible temper and even cruelty. But if he’s not talking to himself, perhaps he is being manipulated. Which is ironic really.”

“Why is it ironic?” asked Chase.

Oryn released a long breath of air before talking.

“’Cause that’s what I was trying to do with the technology I used on Miseo. Get control of the throne without anyone knowing.”

“Looks like someone beat you to it,” said Ares.

“This is all well and good,” said Oryn. “But if you’d like to save Droxia, we’d better get a move on.”

“Right, tell me more of your plan.”

* * *

Kvasir joined Oryn and Ares in Chase’s ready room.

“Where’s the Captain?” he asked.

“He’ll be right back. He’s briefing Sarah, Daniel, Chris and Argos on our situation. Please sit,” said Ares as he gestured toward the nearest empty seat.

Kvasir sat down only to get back up as the doors of the ready room opened. Chase entered the room with a concerned look.

“Sit, Kvasir.”

Kvasir’s tattoos flashed quickly as he sat once more.

“I’ve let Thor know we’ll be seeing him earlier than scheduled. He seemed pleased with that.”

“I’m not surprised,” said Kvasir. “The sooner he can deliver me to Odin, the better for him. And then shortly after, my life will reach the end of its run.”

“Not if I can help it.”

“Captain Athanat—” Kvasir saw Chase’s grimace toward hearing his formal address. “Chase⁠—”

“That’s better.”

“Chase, I’m both honored and grateful that you’d like to plead for my life. But you can’t possibly put the Earth Alliance in jeopardy for my sake. I knew I was signing my death warrant by calling in that favor with Thor. I have accepted my fate.”

“Perhaps, but I haven’t. And the next time you want to do something like that, I’d appreciate it if you ran it by me first.”

“There won’t be a next time, Chase. One day after I am returned to Asgard, I will be publicly judged and sentenced to death.”

“We’re not there just yet. Trust me on this one, okay?”

Kvasir’s tattoos pulsated intensely for what felt like a long time before gradually dying down.

“Alright. I don’t know what you have in mind, but thanks for trying.”

“You’re welcome. Let me talk when Thor arrives, okay? It’s probably best you don’t take an active part in the conversation.”

Kvasir nodded.

Chase telepathically sent a message to Sarah letting her know they were ready and she could drop the shields and give Thor the coordinates of the ready room.

A blue-green halo of light formed and multiple circles of lights traveled back and forth from top to bottom as Thor materialized into the room.

Thor was taller than Kvasir. And while he was not as tall as Ryonna, he still managed to give a more impressive presence. He wore a majestically crafted silvery armor. Chase especially liked the pair of engraved dragons on the neck portion of the armor.

That feeling was amplified when Chase felt a powerful aura behind the cold Asgardian. He sensed a very powerful warrior and he discovered with surprise that he hoped to one day fight him. Hopefully not as enemies, though.

“Hello, Thor. Thanks for coming onboard.”

Thor, who was at least two heads taller than Chase, looked down upon him.

“Captain. Can we please get this over with? I didn’t come here for pleasantries, and I hope you understand that my main goal remains to get Kvasir back to Asgard with me. And I’d rather not start a war in the process.”

“Believe me, Thor, we don’t want that either.”

Thor sat at the conference table and his eyes quickly measured everyone with an intense look while his tattoos pulsated slowly. When his gaze met Kvasir, his look intensified, something Chase didn’t think was even possible. Neither did he expect the cold aura emanating from him to be so powerful. Kvasir looked down as his own tattoos died down in luminosity.

“Thank you for seeing us, Thor,” said Chase.

“You haven’t exactly given me much of a choice, Captain.”

“I feel I owe Kvasir for all the help he’s given us.”

“Even so, I’d be remiss if I didn’t advise you against blindly trusting Kvasir’s technology and methods. Many people lost their lives and he has a propensity to disobey orders and to do whatever he so pleases. Hence, his current predicament with the Asgard council.”

Chase had to force himself not to smile. He was, after all, exactly the same. Orders be damned as long as he got things done.

My kind of guy.

“Duly noted, Thor. Do you have a rank that I should address you by?”

“Technically I’m Supreme Fleet Commander, but on Asgard rank means to define one’s function not hierarchy, we don’t formally use them.”

“If that’s the case, how come you call me Captain then?”

“Not all species are the same, and sometimes little things will offend someone. Over the past twenty thousand years, we’ve been to war for less than a mispronounced name. One can’t be too careful.”

“Not something you need to worry about with us; we want peace between our people. And please call me Chase from now on. I’d like it if our worlds became friends.”

“So you say, but you’re unwilling to comply with my legitimate demand. Which, I should underline, is not a very honorable thing to do after the assistance we provided.”

Chase knew full well Thor was right. But he had a card to play and an unmissable opportunity to bring the Asgardians to the negotiation table. He could not let this opportunity pass him by.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’re very grateful Thor, but under our laws, Kvasir has requested sanctuary— and I’ve granted it to him. So you see, we’re in a bit of a bind. But hopefully we can find common ground.”

Thor’s tattoos flashed more rapidly now.

“Odin expects me to bring Kvasir back.”

“And we’ll gladly come along; all I ask is that we’re allowed to discuss his fate. We just have to stop by Droxia on the way. Furies might already be there, and I can’t let that world be destroyed.”

To everyone’s surprise, Thor got up from his chair.

“This conflict isn’t any of Asgard’s business, but if you promise me you’ll bring Kvasir to Asgard afterward, I can provide you with a temporary authorization to enter our sector of space. Note that without it, you’d be fired upon. Now if you’d excuse me.”

Chase rose and so did Oryn.

“I think it is your business, Thor,” said Oryn.

Thor’s gaze toward Oryn was glacial.

“I don’t see why it would be.” Thor said. “We are neither friends nor enemies with the Furies. They don’t dare attack us, and we don’t deem it necessary to intervene. Last time a major race asked for our help, we almost went to war with them as a result of providing such help. Kvasir knows that better than anyone else amongst my people.”

Chase looked at Kvasir and saw he understood that he should stay silent like they had agreed.

Chase gestured Thor back toward his chair. “Why don’t you sit back down? I think we’re not done yet.”

Prior to sitting back down, Thor released an almost imperceptible throaty growl, but all three Furies with acute senses heard it loud and clear.

Chase and Oryn also sat back down in their chairs. Before she spoke, Oryn’s face became grave.

“After attacking Droxia, the Furies will launch an attack on Asgard.”

Right on cue, thought Chase.

Chase observed Thor’s reaction, whose tattoos blinked so rapidly they looked stroboscopic. He could also feel the Asgardian’s emotional state change from slightly tensed to genuinely worried. There was a moment of silence as Thor pondered his next words.

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because I’m Supreme Commander Arakan’s adoptive daughter, and I am privy to his plans.”

“A defector? I thought Furies were loyal to a fault.”

“I’m only half Fury.”

Thor looked toward Sarah, then locked his sights on Argos.

“So is that one.”

“The name’s Argos,” he snorted.

Thor’s tattoos lit up for two seconds at maximum luminosity before fading off. His name must have meant something for Thor, Chase decided.

“Let’s say I believe you. I am not authorized to engage Furies without Odin’s approval. If I accompany you to Droxia, I won’t take part in any battle unless forced to by either side, but then they’d be signing their death warrant in the process.”

“Fair enough,” said Chase. “Thank you for your time. We’ll jump to hyperspace within the next ten minutes or so. Would you like to slave your jump engines to ours?”

Kvasir made a throaty noise and Chase started to worry when he spoke.

“Thor, letting them use the Mjölnir’s hyperspace corridor isn’t against regulations; you could get us to Droxia in a fraction of the normal time.”

Only the tattoos around Thor’s eyes lit up brightly at the sound of Kvasir’s voice.

“Very well, but you’re slowly running out of favors, I hope you know that.”

Kvasir nodded and looked down.

“If that is all Cap—” Thor corrected himself. “Chase, I’ll be waiting for your transmission when you’re ready to leave. My fleet will open a large enough hyperspace corridor to encompass your entire fleet so you can get to Droxia faster.”

“Thank you, Thor. Out of curiosity, how fast would that be?”

“From the moment we enter the corridor, less than an hour. We could get there slightly faster should you like me to treat this jump as urgent.”

Chase’s purple eyes involuntary flashed. “As a matter of fact⁠—”

“About forty minutes then.”

2

Shortly after Thor teleported back to his ship and the fleet jumped to hyperspace, Daniel entered Chase’s ready room.

“Impressive stuff that Asgard hyperspace technology,” said Daniel pointing toward the beautiful yellow and green light show happening outside the ship.

“It sure is,” said Chase semi-absently.

“Are you okay?”

“No, far from it. I can’t believe Adonis is gone. We don’t even have time for a proper burial.”

“That’s pretty much what our lives have been lately. Always extinguishing fires, never having time to stop, contemplate and regroup. I’m sorry though, I know how much he meant to you.”

Chase nodded. “I think it’s my fault.”

“I seriously doubt that.”

“I’ve been replaying that entire day in my head just now⁠—”

“And?”

“And if I hadn’t defied Admiral Zenakis, maybe things would have turned out better.”

“And maybe they wouldn’t have. Plus that Admiral is an asshole; he abandoned us in the middle of the battle just because you defied his command, a command you had given him as a sign of good faith in hoping to build on a relationship. If you ask me, it’s a shame his second in command didn’t execute him for treason.”

“Isn’t that a little harsh?”

“I don’t think it is. If the positions had been reversed, he’d have done it to you.”

“Of that I have no doubt, but we’re better than that. At least I hope we are.”

Daniel stayed silent, not sure he needed to add anything. Eventually, when he saw Chase wasn’t going to add anything, he continued.

“But you’ll be fine, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just hate myself for not being able to save him.”

“Don’t do that to yourself, Chase. You can’t be responsible for every living being, even though I know that’s how you feel most of the time. This is a war none of us ever wanted, and we’re right in the middle of it, and as sad as I am by the loss of Saroudis, in war there are casualties. Nothing we can do about it. He and the entire crew of the Destiny are neither the first nor the last people to lose their lives. We’ve lost thousands of souls defeating Gaia 2. Even the Olympians had some casualties.”

Chase was all too aware of that, and as much as he tried to keep a straight face, he couldn’t help but frown.

“I— I don’t know what to tell his wife and daughter. I’ve been trying to draft a holo-message, even though nothing I say will matter. They’ve lost him forever.”

“No message to the relative of a fallen soldier is supposed to convey anything but grief. But he was a great, courageous man and his sacrifice ensured that Earth and billions of lives were spared. At first it won’t be a comfort to them, but they’ll at least be proud of him. Like we are.”

Chase swiped a forming tear from the corner of his eye before it could fall down his cheek.

“Perhaps I should talk to them in person.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea; let me do it.”

“Why?”

“They haven’t met you, Chase, and perhaps they’ll blame you, especially Alexandra. I know her a little; we had a long chat on Alpha Prime—” Daniel stopped and looked pensive for a moment. “That feels like a long time ago, even though it wasn’t. We don’t have time for life stuff anymore now, do we? It’s one emergency after another, and today doesn’t look any different.”

“That’s for sure, and yes, the days ahead are shaping to be busy and dangerous.”

“Business as usual, then.”

Chase chuckled.

“Thanks, bro.”

Daniel winked. “Anytime.”

* * *

Chase was on the observation deck, lost in deep thought as he gazed outside of the ship. The Asgardian hyperspace corridor looked even more mesmerizing than the ones from the Earth Alliance. Chase was so engrossed in the light show and his own thoughts that he barely heard Oryn approach.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, thank you for coming.”

“You looked as if you were in some sort of a trance. Is everything alright?”

“Nothing to worry about; I find hyperspace calming and it usually helps me meditate.”

Oryn looked out the viewport as well. It didn’t have the same effect on her as it did Chase, but she had to admit it was a pretty sight.

“I see. What can I help you with? I suppose you’d like my help when we arrive at Droxia? I’m not really sure how I feel fighting my own kind just yet.”

“Not exactly, hopefully we have enough of a fleet to repel the Furies. Information on the situation is scarce so I’m not even sure there will be physical engagement of any kind, though we never know. But I’ve got this covered with Argos and my son. However, since we still have a few minutes before we enter Droxia’s orbit, I thought you and I should visit your real father.”

Oryn’s eyes flashed blue for a second before she lowered her gaze.

“Is there a problem, Oryn?”

“I— I just don’t know what I’m going to say to him.”

“I understand how you feel, but right now this might be the only time we have left— well before things might escalate quickly, and I promised Zeus I’d bring you to him. Perhaps then he could lend us more ships too.”

“What does one thing have to do with the other?”

Chase scratched the back of his head.

“Well— Zeus’ condition to enter the war as a full-fledged ally was for me to bring him back his lost daughter.”

Oryn blinked rapidly. Before she could say anything, Chase continued.

“I know how it looks, and I won’t lie to you, the reason I wanted to get through to you was mostly to get Zeus’ support. But I’m really glad to have you as an ally, now.”

“Let’s make one thing clear, though. I’m not fully defecting just yet. Right now I’m fighting to get back at Arakan for what he did to my mother. When this is taken care of, when his heart stops beating inside my hand, we may go our separate ways.”

Chase didn’t like the sound of that. But right now he had accomplished his primary objective and receiving the entire Olympian support in the war against the Furies was more important than a single Fury ally. Though he had to admit he was starting to like Oryn more and more now that they weren’t trying to kill one another at every turn.

“Right. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Oryn raised an eyebrow.

“That’s a human saying; it means we’ll deal with that when the time comes. Shall we go?”

Chase could see reluctance written all over her face but eventually she nodded in agreement. He put his hand on her shoulder and they teleported away.

* * *

A low-rank Fury whose name Arakan didn’t even care to memorize came to report on the beginning of the attack on Droxia. As expected, the overwhelming forces the Supreme Commander of the Fury had sent were well on their way to burst through their defenses and the world should fall within the hour. Arakan had given the fleet’s admiral orders to destroy both ships and inhabitants. It was time the Fury’s return into the universe was felt and for fear to strike at the hearts of everyone who would dare oppose them.

“I don’t understand why you are fixated on destroying this world. It offers very little strategic value,” said the shadowy character once the Fury foot soldier left.

“I thought we agreed that you’d stop pestering me when you disagree with my plans. I’m not your puppet. As for the strategy, you’re wrong. Cutting the Alliance’s main supply of quadrinium is a sound move, one that will slow down their current expansion in terms of fleet power.”

“That was true when the Obsidian weren’t fully committed to their part in the Alliance. Now that they are, the quadrinium can be obtained from them.”

“Yes, but they’ll have to split their stockpile and try to re-establish new routes to deliver them. Now go away.”

“Your pride blinds you, my old friend.”

Arakan rose from his throne and pointed an accusing finger at the shadow. “Let’s make one thing clear: we’re not friends!”

“You’re pissed because your daughter betrayed you, and that’s understandable.”

“We don’t know that just yet.”

“Perhaps you don’t, but my spies tell me otherwise.”

“What spies? You’re a figment of my imagination; one I wish I could make go away.”

“Believe what you will, and if my presence really upsets you, why don’t you drink from your precious drug and make me go away? It seems to dull you in the process, like a cattle animal ready to be slaughtered, which is what will happen to you if you don’t start to heed my advice.”

“Silence!”

Arakan’s rage boiled into a moment of madness, and he fired a huge fireball at the shadow, who didn’t even try to dodge it. The energy-based attack went through him as it would a hologram, before destroying three quarters of a wall behind it.

The shadow shook its head. “There, there now. Is that any way to reward me for only having your best interests at heart?”

“I do not know what you’re up to, but I don’t think my interests are your main priority. Perhaps they serve a purpose for now, but I’m not a fool, you know? If you’re real, and I must stress out the if, then like everyone in this wretched universe, you’re doing this to further your own agenda.”

“Think what you will, Supreme Commander,” said the shadow with no small amount of sarcasm, “but you’d be wise to listen to me before it’s too late. There’s so much I can do to protect you from your own paranoia.”

“I don’t need your protection. As the Droxians are about to find out, and then the rest of the universe: nobody can stop me!”

“Very well, your ego is obviously in command at the moment, and like everyone else before you, you’ll soon discover that it will cost you dearly. Pride is not something a leader should embrace blindly.”

Arakan shot a deadly look toward the shadow before turning his back and returning to his throne. He had enough of this apparition. At first it kept him company, but over the last few days Arakan simply was fed up in having to explain his every move.

* * *

“You want me to do what?” exclaimed Argos.

Cedric tried his most charming smile, even though he doubted that would work with Argos.

“I’d like you to build me a clone of Spiros, but ideally one that’s just a shell. We have Spiros’ consciousness stored in this,” said Cedric showing the old spherical tech Ryonna had brought back from the asteroid base.

“Let me get this straight; somehow you’ve managed to save a living consciousness to a technological device. That sounds an awful lot like an AI to me. I thought the plan was to get rid of all of them, not keep building more.”

“Gaia assured us that once the transfer is reversed, he will be 100% biological. He won’t be another AI. That’s why I came to see you. If we uploaded his consciousness into a machine, then we would not have that conundrum about creating yet another AI.”

“I don’t understand why Chase hasn’t reduced that tin can into recycling yet.”

“That’s because you have very little patience. If it wasn’t for Gaia⁠—”

Argos slashed two fingers in the air and pointed them an inch away from Cedric’s face.

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence. I don’t care what good the tin can has done. We almost lost everything because her backup alter ego wanted to control Earth and probably the universe after that. We came within two inches from losing it all because of her existence. The only logical thing to do is to destroy the last of Gaia and be done with it. And I don’t understand why we even have to debate this; the damn thing wants that fate for herself.”

“Be that as it may, I think Chase isn’t ready just yet.”

“I am! Just tell me where she is and I’ll send her to the electronic equivalent of heaven. Won’t take long either.”

“Not without Chase’s permission.”

“Yeah, speaking of that⁠—”

Cedric swallowed hard.

“What about it?” he said, his voice almost trembling.

“Was Chase informed of this?”

“He’s kinda busy, but I have his full support. I know he will say yes.”

“What you know is of no consequence as far as I’m concerned. Get his okay first and come back to me then.”

“We can’t wait.”

Argos’ face stiffened.

“Why not?”

“We’ve detected a data leak from that tech,” said Cedric pointing to the sphere. “I tried seeing Chase a minute ago and he’s no longer on the ship.”

“He must have gone to Olympus. I guess you’re going to have to be patient.”

“You don’t understand. So far the redundancy algorithm is keeping the data from being scrambled, but in a few hours, Spiros will be gone.”

“He’s already gone!”

“No! Not if we act fast, Argos, please!”

Argos exhaled deeply and stared intensely at the relatively small human. Since it didn’t look like Argos was about to say anything, Cedric insisted.

“Look, I suppose you can’t make a clone in minutes.”

“That’s for sure.”

“So the sooner you start the better chances we have to be ready by the time it’s time to transfer Spiros’ consciousness into the clone body. How fast can you build him a clone?”

“It takes days.”

“That’s too long⁠—”

“Tough luck then.”

“Can’t you make one faster, even with side effects?”

Argos cracked his knuckles, which made Cedric take a step back.

“This doesn’t have to turn violent,” said Cedric in fear.

“I’m not going to hurt you, fool. Snapping a finger is all I would require to repaint this room with your innards.”

That didn’t seem to reassure Cedric in the least. “Okay⁠—”

“Look, it may be possible to make a clone in a few hours, but its genetic makeup won’t last long. He might only end up living a few days, and when its DNA starts unfolding at the seams, it will result in an extremely painful death.”

“Can’t you just build two clones, one in accelerated mode and one the right way? You’d have the good clone ready for another consciousness transfer before the fast-grown clone bites the dust.”

“I suppose that could work. But listen to me well little man; I won’t allow you access to the clones without my brother’s full endorsement of your ludicrous attempt to save an old fart that I’m not sure deserves to breathe one more day.”

“He’s the one who upgraded the weapons on our ships, the reason why we can now obliterate those monstrosities of behemoth class Zarlacks and why we can hold our own against the Furies. He deserves that we try at least.”

“That’s your problem; as far as I’m concerned, we already have that technology.”

“Look, Chase will back me up,” said Cedric taking two affirmative steps toward Argos, trying to appear confident and somewhat in charge.

Argos smirked. “Growing a pair, that’s good. Just remember, one snap of my fingers.”

“You wouldn’t dare. Chase would kill you if you hurt me.”

Argos chuckled. “I have no doubt he would. Now go away, little man; I’ll grow your clones, but you better not be wasting my time with this. I’ve got training to do.”

Something in Cedric’s eyes sparkled.

“Then it’s in your best interest to bring him back.”

“Why’s that?”

“Spiros is the one who created the training facility with the graviton engine allowing you Furies to train at high gravity levels. Before things went to overdrive, he was working on a contained black hole mod to push the training to a whole new level. But he never finalized it. Thanks to you though, he could. I’m sure you’d love to be able to power up and lower the gap in powers you currently have with Chase.”

For a moment Cedric wondered if he had gone too far. Even though Argos was on their side he still had a temper.

“What part of ‘I’m going to grow your damn clones’ didn’t you understand? Now get out of here before I change my mind.”

* * *

When Oryn and Chase materialized in Zeus’ temple, Zeus rose from his throne with a mixed expression of surprise and relief. He took a few hurried steps toward them but slowed his pace when he saw hesitation in Oryn’s eyes.

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” said Zeus.

“I would say the same but, don’t get me wrong, I still haven’t fully accepted the fact that I’m your daughter.”

Chase stayed silent.

“That’s understandable. And we have a lot to talk about.”

“I’m not sure we can stay for a lifetime session of catching up, though.”

Zeus didn’t insist, and for the first time since their arrival, he looked at Chase.

“Thank you for bringing her back to me.”

Chase nodded. “We’ve lost a few of your ships and people.”

“Athena?” said Zeus with genuine concern.

“She’s fine, but many Olympians died in our last battle.”

Zeus didn’t seem that concerned as long as none of his children had died.

“That’s the nature of war. Many more will die before this conflict is resolved. Even I'm prepared to die when and if that time comes. As agreed before, you have my full support now. I’ll instruct Athena that she can requisition as many ships as you require to deal with the Fury threat. You should probably try to contact the Asgardians as well. They were instrumental in the last Fury War; they always had an edge thanks to their more advanced technology.”

“Thank you, Zeus. We’re already trying to get Thor to the table.”

“Just be careful not to cross him; he’s not someone you want to be on the wrong side with.”

That information came a little too late since both Chase and Oryn had openly deceived him by telling him the Furies would hit Asgard next, when in fact, Arakan’s current plan was to attack Olympus next.

“Duly noted. I would be remiss if I didn’t warn you that there’s a potential Fury attack coming to Olympus, so you may want to keep a sizable armada to protect this world. Though hopefully, stopping the Furies on Droxia might make them regroup and reconsider their next target.”

Zeus’ gaze got lost for a moment.

“Very well, thank you for the warning. I know very well that one day I might have to face the Furies directly. That’s part of what I created when I sabotaged the weapon that would kill them all.”

Oryn and Chase glanced at one another with a puzzled look.

“What do you mean sabotage?” asked Oryn.

“You see, I couldn’t let you be killed with the rest of the Furies. You were all that I had left from Zalara. I couldn’t let the Asgardian weapon kill you in the process. So I convinced the Asgardian’s top scientist to alter it and make sure the alternate dimension wasn’t destroyed with their weapon.”

“Was that Kvasir?”

“In fact it was. You know him?”

“He’s helped us plenty in the last few days.”

“I thought for sure he was a goner for helping us modify the weapon.”

“He’s still alive, though Thor wants to have him put on trial and executed. We released him from his banished prison, and that’s how Oryn and I met for the first time in fact.”

“Which didn’t go well for any of us,” interjected Oryn, “as I remember.”

Chase remembered that first encounter very well. If it wasn’t for his brother Argos’ intervention, he probably would have died that day.

“While I would love to stay and chat, I have a battle to orchestrate on Droxia in a few minutes. Oryn, do you mind giving us just a minute? There’s something else I would like to discuss with Zeus, in private.”

“Sure, I’ll wait outside the temple. Will you be needing my assistance on Droxia?”

Chase caught a visual plea inside Zeus’ eyes that determined his reply.

“I think it’s best you stay here; I’m sure the two of you have a lot of things to discuss. If I need your help, I’ll just swing by.”

“Very well, I’ll see you when I see you then,” said Oryn before walking away.

3

“Thank you for bringing Oryn back, Chase.”

“You’re welcome, Zeus. Thank you for your full support. I’d like us to discuss my past as agreed, even though I only have a few minutes.”

“I had a feeling you would. What would you like to know?”

“Let’s start with my parents. I’d like to know who they were.”

“Are.”

“What?”

“Your mother, at the very least, is still alive. As for your father, Menelas, I’m not sure what happened to him. I lost contact with him when the Furies got trapped in the time-dilated dimension.”

“Can you explain something to me? I’m thinking Arakan hasn’t aged ten thousand years. I know Furies have a longer lifespan, but⁠—”

“They can live a few hundred years, and the most powerful warriors seem to last the longest, when they’re not killed on the battlefield that is. But they’re not immortal. Their prophecies talk of an Ultra Fury who would be immortal. Arakan always thought he was the one, but I doubt it.”

“I’ve been called that.”

“That would make sense; your half Olympian genes give you immortality. I guess they never realized only a hybrid could become immortal.”

Chase nodded. “What about my mother?”

“I believe that would be Athena.”

Chase’s face dropped.

“What? That doesn’t make any sense, Zeus. If she is my mother, why hasn’t she said anything?”

“I don’t think she knows.”

“That makes even less sense; how could she not know her own son?”

“Because she didn’t raise you. You have to understand Athena never wanted children. You and your brother’s births were an accident, and when Menelas learned she was pregnant, he arranged to have you abducted right after birth. He was worried you’d be either killed or imprisoned with the rest of the Furies. Since Athena didn’t want children, she didn’t object to Menelas’ plan. Back then she was a very involved Olympian. In fact, she orchestrated most of the war and led the forces of countless worlds into battle. Being a mother and building a family while waging the worst war this universe had ever been witness to weren’t exactly compatible activities. She put herself and millions in danger every single day. There was simply no time for anything else for her back then.”

Chase felt an emotion aching toward sadness and disappointment at Zeus’ words. Zeus’ revelations brought back painful memories from when Chase had been found without any memories back on Alpha Prime. For the first few years he had felt like he had been abandoned by his real family, and to hear Zeus describe how his mother couldn’t be bothered trying to build a family during the war, only underlined that painful sentiment.

“I can see you’re disappointed,” added Zeus. “Look, those were difficult times; once Arakan learned of his wife’s deception, he went into a hatred-fueled spiral that sent the universe into its bloodiest conflict in eons.”

“Doesn’t exactly make me feel better.”

“It’s not supposed to. You asked me about your mother, I’m simply giving you the answers I promised.”

“But that would make Aphroditis⁠—”

“Your aunt, that’s right.”

There was already a strong bond between the two of them, but Chase never imagined it could be a family tie. With the impact of that life-altering realization, he immediately felt that leaving Aphroditis in the machine, no matter how adamant she was that she needed to stay in it, was no longer an option. He would get her out of there, no matter what.

“So Oryn is also immortal?”

“Of course. Who also happens to be your aunt. Half removed.”

“That’s heavy; she looks younger somehow.”

“Well, she was trapped in that dimension with Arakan and the rest of the Furies. While age barely shows on an immortal being, at least not after many thousands of years, she would be a younger soul. Time passed considerably slower in their dimensional prison.”

Oryn, my aunt? This day really gets weirder by the minute.

“What else can you tell me about my father?”

“That he was a great warrior; I sense a lot of him in you. Like you, he didn’t agree with what the Furies were doing. He was caught in a war he didn’t want to be part of, and was forced to switch sides to be able to live with his conscience and protect his children in the process.”

“What I don’t understand is why we aren’t older? Argos seems to get younger lately and it’s something I’ve been wondering about. But with everything that’s been happening, it is something I didn’t really have time to ponder.”

“Immortal beings age faster when they are exposed to negative emotions. We still don’t die, but we get whiter hair and more wrinkles too. Since he’s fighting with you now, and accepting that his old ways were the wrong path, it could be the reason.”

“I guess from that point of view it would make sense. It would also mean that his heart is in the right place now.”

“Chase, that may be true at the moment, but I’m not exactly sure about Argos. You two seem to be diametrically opposite. Perhaps he can become another good Fury, but I would keep my eyes open in the future. Argos has travelled down a path littered with power-hungry goals, and it might not take much for him to switch sides again.”

Chase had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case, but he made a mental note of Zeus’ words nonetheless.

“He had plenty of opportunities to kill me and didn’t. And he’s saved both myself and my son not long ago.”

“Back then he only spared you because he needed you to get the machine operational. I can’t be sure of anything, and this is just what my gut feeling tells me from meeting him here when the three of you came to Olympus. I’m glad to hear he’s no longer the power-hungry crazed Fury he was before, but only time will tell if this is a new leaf or just a temporary phase that suits his long-term plans.”

Chase found the thought incredibly depressing. He had to admit that he rather enjoyed the new Argos and his feelings for him had turned from murderous to actually compassionate. He was also happy to have his brother fight by his side now. He would hate to lose that but knew better than to just ignore Zeus’ warning. For the time being though, Argos clearly was on his side, and with everything happening that was good enough for Chase.

“Very well, I’ll keep an eye on him. I really hope you’re wrong, though.”

“So am I, Chase. Is there anything else you’d like from me?”

“Not right now; I have to return to the fleet and deal with the Furies trying to destroy Droxia.”

“Good luck, Chase.”

“Thank you, Zeus.”

Chase teleported away and Zeus walked toward the gardens to meet with Oryn.

* * *

“Long time, no see,” said Cedric.

Yanis’ eyes lit up at the sound of Cedric’s voice, but when he turned to see his friend, he felt uncomfortable seeing him in his current state.

“I look worse than I feel, don’t worry. I’m still me,” said Cedric joyfully.

Yanis got up from his console and hugged his friend.

“I’m glad to hear it; it’s so good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back. Thank you for saving me.”

“From what I heard you saved yourself.”

“I couldn’t have done it without all my friends’ help. I’m very grateful.”

“We have to get these implants out of you.”

“Amen to that, but when we do, we need to discuss the possibility of having others installed. We just need to refine their appearance, and I need my good looks back if you catch my drift.”

Yanis snickered.

“I hear you. After we deal with the Droxian emergency, we should try and operate on you. We’ll need Chase or Argos to heal you while we go in though.”

“I’d rather it’d be Chase; not exactly a fan of Argos.”

“Not many are. But all things considered, he’s been pretty good to us.”

“I don’t trust him, don’t think I ever will—” There was a moment of silence before Cedric continued. “Actually, I’ve come to apologize.”

“What could you possibly have to apologize for?”

“I stole the ancient tech. Well, I had Ares take it from you for the wrong reasons.”

“What? Why didn’t you ask me for it? And what did you need it for?”

“That’s the thing, I couldn’t take no for an answer. We used it to store Spiros’ consciousness into the device, as it was the only thing that had the capacity we needed in such a short time, especially with Earth’s electronics mostly still down.”

Yanis’ face hardened. “Cedric, what if you erased or deleted valuable data inside that sphere? I was counting on it to develop the blink drive.”

“Blink drive? What the hell is that?”

“It’s just a theory at this point but my research and reverse engineering on that tech seemed to indicate this sphere could have been a vital part for a new type of FTL engine allowing ships to travel almost instantly anywhere.”

“Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know, it’s too early. But that might be a moot point now if whatever data was inside the sphere has been erased.”

Cedric looked away. “I’m sorry; I just wanted to help Gaia recover Spiros’ consciousness.”

Yanis exhaled deeply. “Look, I like Spiros and was very saddened by what happened to him but you should have asked me, and Chase should have made that decision, not you.”

“I know— but put yourself in my shoes for a moment. It’s my body, my hand that killed Spiros.”

“No! Gaia 2 was in control of your body, and you are not responsible for any of it.”

“That’s not how it feels. I guess you wouldn’t understand.”

Yanis put his hand on Cedric’s shoulder. “You’re right, I can’t pretend to understand how this felt, and I’m sorry for giving you flak for this, but we need to think of the bigger picture here, and that’s defeating the Furies. If we could make a blink drive the implication and the strategical edge this would give us is way more important than the life of one man. And even if I had been the casualty, I wouldn’t want you to do this on my account.”

Cedric felt guilty. He knew Yanis was right. The sphere was a potential game changer, something he didn’t know when he requested Ares to get it for him.

“Yanis, please understand I didn’t know about this blink drive.”

“Would that have made a difference had you known?”

Cedric couldn’t tell. He was impulsive by nature and, seeing how affected Gaia was at the loss of Spiros, he wasn’t sure he would have stopped to ponder the consequences.

“To tell you the truth— I don’t know.”

“Well, at least you’re being honest. Anyway, what’s done is done, and there’s nothing to be gained by pointing fingers now. We just need to see if that stunt of yours has made irreparable damage to my research on that ancient tech.”

“I’ll do everything to help you. Even if we erased some of it, we could potentially try a recovery algorithm.”

“You do realize both our tech and more advanced ones don’t rely on something as primitive as magnetic hard drives where you can still dig deep and try to recover old data.”

“Surely there is some sort of built-in data protection features for cases like this? I have a hard time believing low-tech would be more advanced because of its antiquated design.”

“There are probably some, but it’s not something that will be apparent since we don’t fully understand their tech just yet. Anyway, we need to dump the data off the sphere soon and see what’s what. On that regard, where are you going to dump Spiros’ consciousness? A battle droid?”

“I’ve asked Argos to make me a clone body.”

“With Chase’s approval, I take it?”

“He’s not exactly been free for me to talk to up until now.”

“Oh boy.”

* * *

Chase returned onboard the Hope’s bridge a handful of seconds before the entire fleet exited hyperspace. Sarah got up from the captain’s chair to let him take his place and sat on the nearest one. She gently brushed his forearm.

“Everything alright?” she asked.

Chase had no doubt that he must have appeared concerned. The slew of information he had acquired in the last minutes had been overwhelming and he didn’t exactly know how to process it. But right now he had to stay focused on what was to come.

“We’ll discuss it later; I’m not sure if I’m alright.”

Chase saw the worry in his loved one’s eyes.

Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything later, he told her telepathically.

“Status report,” he said out loud to the bridge crew.

“Exiting hyperspace corridor now.”

“We’ve just exited hyperspace,” said Daniel from the tactical console. “Holy crap! There are no less than fifteen Fury destroyers, and they’re pretty much done annihilating the Droxian orbital forces. Looks like we arrived in the nick of time.”

What else is new?

“What’s the status of the planet? Have they started firing on it?”

“It doesn’t look like they bombed it from space, however I’m reading strong energy signatures in many of the largest towns that have been under construction since the last attack.”

“Scan for Fury life forms in those areas.”

“There are at least half a dozen signatures, perhaps more; the damage and explosions could be masking them.”

Argos and Chris entered the bridge.

“Looks like we have Furies attacking cities from the surface of the planet, like you, Miseo and General Arkoolis did the last time,” said Chase.

Argos pressed his lips together before speaking. “It’s standard operating procedure for an invasion. Furies are so powerful they rarely need air support to wipe out a civilization. Not only that, they crave the thrill of the fight and—” he hesitated.

“And killing,” Chase finished his brother’s sentence. “You can say it, we all know what Furies are.”

“Should we go take care of the planet-bound opposition, then?” inquired Chris.

Chase rose from the captain’s chair. “Open a channel to Athena.”

Athena’s face filled the bridge’s main holo-screen.

“What can I do for you, Chase?”

“I’d like you to take command of the fleet while we go take care of the ground forces currently wiping the Droxians once again.”

“I can have a battalion of Olympian warriors accompany you.”

Chase looked at Argos, and he didn’t have to even ask. Argos understood that he was requesting his council.

“They must have sent elite warriors. While we could use the backup, they’re very likely to be wiped out quickly and only provide a temporary distraction. I think we can manage without them.”

“Very well. Athena, let’s keep them in reserve, and we’ll call upon their help in case things get too heated up down there.”

“What about the Asgardians?” asked Athena.

“They’re not going to join the fight; they just helped with their more advanced FTL travel time.”

Sarah brushed Chase’s arm and he lowered to head level. She whispered in his ear.

“Remember what Daniel did to get the Droxians involved in the battle for Earth?”

“Good idea. Thanks love,” said Chase as he kissed her cheek. “You have the bridge.”

Chase returned his attention to the holo-screen. “Athena, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if the Furies accidentally opened fire on the Asgardians, if you catch my drift.”

Athena smiled. “Understood.”

Chase sent her a telepathic message. When this is over, we need to talk.

Very well.

The holo-screen turned off and pretty soon the entire fleet engaged the Furies with everything they had.

“I think I’m on the wrong ship,” said Daniel toward Sarah. “With your permission?”

“Of course, you’re the Hope’s wing commander, so your place is with the rest of your pilots. Be careful out there,” she said.

“Likewise,” said Daniel before sprinting out of the bridge.

With the Droxian capital ships around the planet all but destroyed or disabled, the Furies changed their attack priorities and shifted their vectors to intercept the newly arrived Earth Alliance fleet. Very soon both armadas opened fire. Thousands of laser fire streaks and torpedo engine trails filled the blackness of space around Droxia.

4

Chase teleported to the surface of Droxia with both Chris and Argos in tow, not far from a large city engulfed in flames. Before they could get their bearings, a half dozen fireballs homed on their position.

Chris was the first to react and he erected a force field bubble around the group. The incoming balls of energy impacted and exploded on his green shield, creating energy ripples similar to stones hitting still water.

Argos cracked his neck bones first, then his fingers. “I’ve been looking forward to testing my powers against anything else other than visions or dumb battle bots.”

“Looks like you’re going to get your chance,” said Chase, gazing beyond his son’s force field. He looked concerned.

“What is it, Dad?”

“Let’s stay on our toes. The energy level I sense from these Furies is troubling.”

“Troubling how? They can’t possibly rival your own powers,” snorted Argos.

“No, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking on all four on my own. So I don’t want the two of you to engage more than an enemy at once. In fact, if you can, try to team up against a single Fury.”

“Nonsense,” said Argos as he walked toward the edge of the force field that Chris promptly dropped.

“Argos,” insisted Chase. “Let’s stay focused, ok? Something doesn’t feel right here⁠—”

Argos waved the back of his hand dismissively as he kept walking toward where the fireballs had been fired.

“Chris,” said Chase with a grave look, “no unnecessary risks today, you hear me?”

Chris nodded. “We should go with Uncle though; I don’t think he’ll wait for us when the battle begins.”

Uncle…Not long ago Argos was their nemesis, now he was Chris’s uncle, an almost accepted member of Chase’s growing family. And, boy, had it grown in the last few minutes alone. Chase couldn’t wait to tell Argos about their mother, though he didn’t know how Argos would react. But that would have to wait until the threat to Droxia had been dealt with.

Chris was running after Argos when Chase felt a presence approach them fast, even though his eyes couldn’t lock on it. Chase closed his eyes and detected the energy source almost on top of Argos. He promptly teleported in front of his brother and blocked an incoming attack that would have smashed Argos’ face.

To Argos and Chris, Chase just stood there in an awkward position. But in the next instant, a humanoid figure de-cloaked, giving the entire scene a lot more sense. He was a Fury alright, in full combat armor, his shoulder-length blue hair caught in the wind. His red eyes gazed and flashed at Chase.

The Fury’s teeth were clenched; he obviously had put a lot of energy in that blow and Chase’s block had been unexpected.

“They have personal cloaking devices,” said Chase.

Argos snorted and sent the enemy Fury flying high in the sky with a powerful kick.

“Don’t just stand there!” screamed Argos. “Let’s kick their asses!”

But Chase was in no hurry to blindly go after the Fury, and Argos would soon understand why. As he flew upward, he didn’t get a chance to catch up with the Fury he had sent toward space at ballistic velocity, because his prey disappeared. Half a second later Argos got smashed in the face, crashing a few yards away from Chase, face first.

* * *

Daniel finished his StarFury preflight check. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something felt different. Like he was in the wrong ship. But that couldn’t be. An incoming holo-transmission came in. It was Yanis.

“I’m about to get loaded into the launch tube. What can I do for you, Chief?”

“In this case, it’s more what I did for your fighter.”

“When would you have had time to do anything on it, we’ve barely finished fighting Gaia 2. Unless⁠—”

“Yes, I’ve re-assigned one of the reserve ones as your main ship.”

“Why would you do that? You’re going to jinx me. I am very particular with what ship I fly. I had my StarFury set up exactly how I liked it.”

“Don’t worry, Daniel, I have duplicated your attack macros. And I kinda looked them over and if I didn’t know better, I’d say someone is trying to optimize Chase’s work.”

“He doesn’t need macros anymore; the rest of us do, and it seemed only logical⁠—”

“Hey, no arguments from me. I was actually trying to give you a compliment, granted, I’m no fighter pilot, but this is some good work. I’m looking forward to seeing how effective it will be.”

“Well, if you let me get out of the Hope we can find out.”

Daniel noticed the Beta wing getting loaded in the launch tube first.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t Alpha going in first?”

“Cause we’re not done talking⁠—”

“Yanis— now is not the time. I’m the Hope’s wing commander, I should be the first one in space.”

“You’ll be there soon enough, but I thought it prudent to have a chat about these new drones I’ve installed first⁠—”

Daniel expressed his frustration through a dragged out exhale.

“You won’t be mad when I tell you what they can do.”

“You have less than a minute before I’m loaded to the tube and launched to fight an armada of Fury ships. Give me the short version of your usual techie bragging speeches.”

“Ouch, but fair enough, I guess. Okay, instead of four drones you now have eight smaller ones. They’re not as shielded as the previous ones, and slightly slower.”

“So far I’m not impressed⁠—”

“That’s because you didn’t let me finish. They can’t be used as mines anymore, nor do they actually shoot at other fighters. I had to strip their laser cannons out too.”

Daniel shook his head from side to side.

“Don’t be quick to judge.”

“Thirty seconds, twenty nine…twenty eight⁠—”

“Alright, alright. Once you lock a Fury starfighter, it will attach to its shield and destabilize them.”

That got Daniel’s attention and he raised an eyebrow.

“Destabilize them how? How efficient are we talking?”

“That’s where the catch comes in. I’m fairly sure I got this right, but the first shots will serve as a test.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me! I’m your guinea pig?”

“Well, with Chase planet bound at the moment, you’re the best pilot for the job.”

“You’re lucky we’re having this discussion via holo-comm.”

Yanis smiled nervously.

“Okay, this is not ideal, but hear this, once I get a lock on the exact frequency rotation of their shields, the drones will effectively render them useless.”

“As in⁠—”

Yanis didn’t let Daniel finish. “As in lasers, missiles and torpedoes will pass through them as if they weren’t there.”

As much as Daniel wanted to reprimand Yanis on altering his fighter without his consent, he had to admit he liked the sound of what his chief engineer was telling him. The StarFuries had been superior to many of their smaller craft foes in the last few months, and especially effective against Zarlacks. But against Fury starfighters, it hadn’t been the case. In fact, only a considerably better pilot could take out a Fury’s short-range fighter and live to tell the tale.

Daniel’s StarFury got picked up by the tractor beam loading mechanism and was inserted into the launch tube.

“You’re out of time. Anything else I should be aware of?”

“You may have lost about ten percent shield capacity.”

“Yanis!”

“Before you argue,” said Yanis as Daniel’s StarFury got ejected at maximum speed out of the tube, “I’ve tweaked the random frequency rotation algorithm, so in theory even though they’re at lower capacity, your shields should be stronger against Fury starfighter fire.”

Daniel loaded his new macros into the fighter’s main computer.

“Yeah, if you didn’t screw up.”

“Give me some credit, when was the last time that happened?”

When Daniel mentally hit the comm’s command in his projected Heads-Up Display, the holo-interface disappeared and every light in his cockpit turned off.

“Yanis! What did you do?”

But with all systems down, Yanis probably couldn’t hear him anymore.

Daniel felt a sense of dread fill his mind and soul as he saw three Fury starfighters vectoring toward his now dead in the water StarFury.

* * *

Yanis’ eyes grew wide with surprise when he saw the telemetry, or lack of, from Daniel’s fighter and his latest pet-projects.

“I told you not to screw around with the wing commander’s ship in a moment like this,” said Kvasir.

“Not now!”

Kvasir returned to his holo-console and started entering commands rapidly. His hands were going so fast they looked blurred.

“What are you doing?” yelled Yanis.

“Correcting your mistake. You have good ideas, but you need to learn to choose when to test new weaponry and when not to.”

“Coming from someone the Asgardian council considers a war criminal, that’s precious.”

Kvasir growled, and his tattoos flashed strongly.

Yanis regretted his words the moment he said them; Kvasir’s current predicament was not a joking matter. If it hadn’t been for his foresight in calling Thor to the rescue, none of them would be breathing right now.

“I’m sorry— that was not fair.”

“Shut up, Yanis! Let me save your friend’s life, will you?”

“Tell me what to do to help.”

Kvasir offered Yanis a cold stare before returning to his console. “I’ve sent you a macro; load it to the communication’s tower nearest to Daniel’s StarFury.”

“Very well. I didn’t mean for this to happen,” said Yanis as he frantically interacted with his own console.

Yanis wasn’t used to failure. In fact, he rarely screwed up. The last time he had, his sister had died. Back then he had deployed a new tech without enough testing. Now Daniel’s life was on the line. No, Kvasir was right; he had been reckless.

“Done,” he told Kvasir.

“Let’s hope this works.”

“If it doesn’t?”

“Daniel dies,” said Kvasir, hesitating a second before activating the holo-command he had written on the fly. Five quick bleeps emanated from the console in front of him. “Let’s just hope, for his sake, that I’m better at improvising than you are.”

* * *

Arakan had his face buried in his palm when a Fury subordinate walked to the throne.

“Supreme Commander,” said the Fury.

“What is it?” answered Arakan without looking up.

“Our forces on Droxia have been engaged by the enemy.”

That seemed to get Arakan’s attention as he raised his head. “What?”

“The Earth Alliance fleet with both Olympian and Asgardian ships have entered the system and engaged our forces right after they had finished dealing with the defenses around the planet.”

Arakan’s eyes lit up with fire as he ground his teeth together.

“Is the fleet strong enough to deal with them?”

“The Earth Alliance and Obsidian forces, perhaps, but the Olympian ships are on par with us and with the Asgardians in the mix, it’s doubtful.”

Damn Asgardians! They have been a thorn in my side for more than ten thousand years. Odin will regret the day he defied me.

The Earth Alliance had their hands full only a couple of hours ago, which meant the Asgardians had helped them get to Droxia in such a little amount of time. Their superior FTL drives and superior weaponry had already been a problem in their first confrontation, before the Alliance sent the Furies to the time-dilated dimensional prison.

They should have wiped us out when they had the chance. Now that we’re back I’ll make them pay. I won’t stop until every last Olympian and Asgardian scum are turned to dust!

“What are your orders, Master?”

Arakan took a deep breath to calm his boiling rage. He knew very well how impulsive he could be in times like these. This needed a calm mind. He had sent almost a third of his forces to Droxia, and there was no time to send reinforcements. The battle would be over by then. The situation was getting more and more complicated. First, the Olympians had joined the Earth Alliance and now the Asgardians. He was well aware what that meant. When the Furies tried to conquer the universe ten thousand years ago, the same thing had happened. Both Zeus and Odin were responsible for the death of his father and Arakan ached for revenge.

He could retreat his forces to keep ships for a larger assault, but that would send a signal to the Alliance that the Furies were afraid, something he couldn’t afford.

“Keep attacking Droxia, and instruct our forces to make as much damage as possible. What’s the status of the elite force we sent to the planet?”

“They’ve just engaged three Furies.”

That for sure meant the traitors Chase and Argos were with them. Was Oryn with them, too? She hadn’t reported. Arakan didn’t even know if she was still alive. The ship she had stolen had been destroyed on orbit around Earth. If she was with them though, could he take the chance to have her killed? Arakan hesitated but decided that if she was there, then it meant she was also a traitor. Chase had that uncanny ability to turn a foe into an ally. Whether or not he was the legendary Ultra Fury mattered not; either way he was a problem Arakan needed to deal with.

“Divert one of the super-destroyers and have it crash on their location. It’s time we take this Chase Athanatos out of the picture once and for all. Have the destroyer overload its engine core so it explodes upon impact on the surface.”

“Very well, Master,” answered the Fury.

Arakan waved his hand. “You’re dismissed. Go away.”

The Fury saluted and left the throne room quickly.

That’s a mistake, heard Arakan from a familiar voice in his head.

I don’t remember asking for your opinion.

Chase can teleport; you’d just be sacrificing a precious destroyer.

Arakan decided to ignore the shadowy character that at least had the good sense to not appear before him this time. Arakan still didn’t know if he was a figment of his imagination or if he was real. But he had decided to stop his treatment. It clouded his thoughts and judgment, and he didn’t like the way it made him feel. But that meant contending with advice he’d rather not have to hear.

When the Fury subordinate was far enough from the throne, the shadowy figure appeared in front of Arakan.

“You should heed my warnings, Supreme Commander. You know you have a better way to get to the traitor.”

“Don’t underestimate the team of elite warriors I’ve sent on Droxia. They tend to get the job done. But right now I’m more interested in dealing with both Olympians and Asgardians. However, our fleet is not yet strong enough for a full frontal assault.”

“And you shouldn’t underestimate the Ultra Fury, or one day he will kill you. As for his new allies, there is another way to deal with them. Simply cut the head of the snake; that will buy you the necessary time to grow your forces and deal a deadly blow to the Alliance.”

Arakan thought about it. For once he had to admit that that was a decent piece of advice. It would require a lot of planning and precise execution, but if he could remove Zeus and Odin from the equation, perhaps the Alliance would stumble. Arakan wondered who he would kill first.

“That’s not the right way to approach this,” said the shadow.

“And I suppose you have a better way?”

“As much as you seem to want to deny it, I’m here to serve you to the best of my abilities. And to answer your question, yes.”

“I’m listening.”

5

Oryn and Zeus walked by the gardens near Zeus’ temple. It was a sunny day and the place was teeming with more life than Oryn had ever seen in her life. Wonderful purple-blue birds chirped an intricate high-pitched song, while multiple feline species ran in circles around Zeus and Oryn, keeping their distance but, all the while, looking intrigued by their new guest.

A high-flying bird cast a shadow over them for just a second as its cry resonated throughout the valley. The place was peaceful and Oryn felt a serenity she’d seldom ever experienced. The world she knew, Erevos, was a desert with harsh conditions; everything there looked dry and with red tones, which was a stark contrast with the array of blue, green and yellow vegetation found all around Olympus. The entire place felt like a dream.

When Zeus didn’t say anything for a few minutes, she decided to open the conversation.

“I thought you wanted to talk to me.”

“I do. I’m just not sure where to start, and you seem to be enjoying your surroundings. I didn’t want to interrupt that.”

“It is a beautiful place. In fact, I don’t remember seeing anything quite like it, not even on holo-vids of worlds to be conquered.”

“Life teems in harmony here. There are no dangers, no evil; just the elements, balance and love.”

Oryn flinched at the mention of love. It wasn’t an emotion she was accustomed to. She remembered it from when her mother was still alive, even though she was just a toddler. Back then she felt loved. But growing up with Arakan had been a tough experience.

She didn’t want to disappoint him, so she’d trained twice as hard as any other child, climbed the Fury ranks with honor and tried to make him proud. Now that she knew the truth about Arakan torturing and murdering her mother, she felt sick inside by the realization she’d spent her life so far fighting for all the wrong reasons. Now, more than ever before, she was driven by a thirst for revenge upon those who had been responsible for the death of her mother. Never in a million years would she have guessed her so-called Father was the real enemy.

“Are you alright, dear?” said Zeus. “I sense your thoughts are troubled all of a sudden.”

Oryn took a deep breath, trying to put aside her wrath for now. “Tell me about my mother.”

“She was the most beautiful living creature in the universe. Her heart was pure and her soul radiated like a thousand suns. I miss her dearly,” said Zeus unable to prevent a tear from rolling down his cheek.

“I only have a few memories of her. She was kind and lovable to me. That much I remember.”

“You were just a small infant, I’m so sorry you never had the chance to truly know how wonderful your mother was.”

“But then she was married to that monster.”

“You know as well as I do that Furies mating and wedding rituals don’t always have anything to do with love.”

“Yeah, we match ourselves on genetic attributes and power levels, so that the next generation of Furies will be more powerful still. I’ve always been led to believe this was smart. But now⁠—”

“A world without love means nothing. And Furies have forsaken the emotion early in their development. Their thirst for power and conquest took over quickly. Which is why we had to stop them.”

“Yet, you didn’t kill them when you had the chance.”

“I couldn’t risk you being a casualty of that war. You’re the last thing I have from Zalara. I would give my life to make sure you live.”

Oryn felt uncomfortable hearing the words. She wasn’t used to displays of affection. She had been taught that to have compassion is to be weak. And while she saw the world with different eyes now, she still had perfect control over her own feelings, like every good elite Fury soldier. Emotions were the enemy, or so they had been trained.

Oryn attempted to smile but it fell flat.

“Would you tell me how the two of you met?”

“Of course.”

Zeus recounted the tale of his meeting with Zalara during the first Fury War while they kept walking farther and farther away from the temple.

* * *

Daniel saw the three missiles leave the nearest Fury starfighter and approach his position. He tried pressing on his controls but nothing worked. His ship was dead in the water. Even the ejection control was dead.

I can’t believe this! If I survive this, I’ll kick Yanis’ ass so bad he won’t be able to sit for an entire year.

Members of his wing redeployed around him when they understood something was wrong. Since the comms were down, he couldn’t hear them or dispatch orders. They took down the first volley of missiles and engaged the bogies.

Thank you, guys.

All alone in his cockpit, without any light except from the explosions and laser fire outside, Daniel felt alone in the universe. A sensation of tremendous abandonment reminded him of what he had lost.

Saroudis came to mind for a brief instant, but was soon replaced by a memory of a smiling Fillio. She had always been dark and sad at the core, and while she had smiled from time to time, Daniel always wondered if these smiles were genuine, or a defense mechanism she had unconsciously created to deal with her own grief.

Daniel was ripped from his reveries when three laser shots impacted the side of his StarFury’s canopy. The last one slightly cracking part of the reinforced glass.

“Fuck!”

Daniel could see three more missile trails in the distance and the bogies vectoring on his disabled starfighter.

Chase or Ares! If either of you can hear me, now would be a really good time to get me the hell out of here!

Two of the three missiles were promptly destroyed by members of Alpha team, but the third one escaped the barrage of defensive laser fire the squadron unleashed in order to protect their wing commander.

Daniel felt his heart rapidly beating inside his chest. With shields down, his StarFury wouldn’t survive the impact of a single missile. He felt as if time crawled down to a near stop as he had a good visual on the missile approaching his position. In a few seconds, it would all be over.

He wondered if he should close his eyes for his last moments but felt compelled to watch the missile as it approached. Another laser hit his StarFury, making the whole ship rock. Daniel thought it was the end but the missile was still a few hundred yards away.

Time seemed to resume its normal pace and he mentally braced himself for impact when a StarFury passed in front of his field of view and intercepted the missile that would have claimed his life.

Daniel exhaled deeply. Thanks, guys.

The StarFury that got hit spun wildly and eventually recovered, but smoke trailed from one of its engines.

More enemy ships converged toward Daniel’s position and Beta Squadron engaged them furiously. Daniel knew they wouldn’t be able to sustain this for much longer, especially since their main target was to protect him. The ship that had saved his life was the first to get destroyed, causing dread to grow in the pit of his stomach.

“Get the hell out of here, fight the enemy, but don’t all die here to save me! That’s an order, dammit!”

But no one could hear him. Daniel’s frustration got interrupted when lights on his StarFury came back to life, quickly followed by the roar of his engines. The next thing that came back online was his mental HUD. Daniel punched it and started moving it again.

“This is Kvasir. I think I’ve managed to restore your system, Commander. Can you confirm you’re okay?”

“About fucking time!” screamed Daniel. He realized that his outburst was insensitive. “Sorry about that, Kvasir; thanks for saving my hide. Tell Yanis I’m going to kick his ass royally when I make it back to the Hope.”

* * *

On board the bridge of the Droxian battle destroyer Manticora, Ronan got catapulted away from his weapon’s console and crashed to the ground as a volley of Fury torpedoes hit the ship hard.

After his promotion, he had been transferred to the ship as a weapon’s officer after his former ship, the Phoenix, had been destroyed in the attempt to kill Miseo the first time the Furies attacked Droxia.

A nearby officer came and kneeled next to him.

“Commander Isch’ys, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, just check on the captain.”

The Droxian lieutenant commander rose back to his feet and looked toward the captain’s chair when horror filled his face.

Ronan was still in the process of getting back up when he saw his colleague’s expression, before the Droxian’s head got briefly engulfed in flames and then exploded. Brain parts and purple blood spilled all over Ronan’s face. He instinctively swiped them off.

Before Ronan could look around he heard many of the bridge crew shout and scream. Adrenaline rushed inside his body and he intuitively rolled to the side to take cover behind his console. He peeked through and that’s when he saw her.

A single Fury warrior had boarded and she was killing the crew one by one. The captain was lying on the ground, unconscious.

Dammit!

Ronan’s first instinct was to go for his sidearm but it wasn’t there. He looked around and saw the pistol laser a few yards away from where he was. Droxians were trained to face any foe dead on, but some of the most experienced officers had already been incinerated by this Fury. She had long dark blue hair, and her eyes glowed a bright red.

His heartbeat accelerated to the maximum. This was no time for heroics. If he disclosed his location, she would just kill him with one of her fireballs.

Damn these fucking Furies! What a dishonorable and cowardly race!

But that didn’t mean that Ronan would lie down and wait for death. His mother had raised him better than this, but she had also taught him to use his head in any situation. That was what made a great warrior, she had told him: to know how to use any situation to one’s own advantage.

Two more crew members rushed to try and neutralize the Fury. The first one, a strong tall female with similar red braided hair to Ronan’s mother, ended up with a head-sized hole in the middle of her chest before falling dead on the cold hard floor, smoke rising from her carcass.

Rage coursed through Ronan’s veins. He wanted the head of that warrior, but he knew that without some kind of advantage, or at least the element of surprise, he would end up dead just like his colleagues.

The second Droxian warrior rolled to the side to dodge the Fury’s next fireball attack and managed to leap into the air and strike a deadly knee strike to the Fury’s face. Her dark blue hair got thrown backward from the impact, but her face didn’t budge.

Her eyes glowed stronger and she catapulted the Droxian warrior with a powerful shockwave. Before the Droxian hit the floor, the Fury warrior joined both her fists at wrist level and quickly slashed open her palms forward. The resulting invisible attack was deadly beyond anything Ronan thought it could be. The Droxian still in mid-air got spliced in two.

A great sense of dread invaded Ronan. He would go down fighting, but he had to come up with a plan, and find an opportunity to get out of the bridge first.

Perhaps a distraction.

He started looking inside his pockets for something to throw in the opposite direction, and hopefully outrun the Fury. There was nothing in his pants pockets, nor did he find anything in his upper uniform jacket, but when he removed his hand from the second inner pocket, he felt his pendant on the inside of his hand.

Of course!

He took the pendant from under his shirt and looked at it. It was the subspace transmitter his mother wanted him to wear at all times. He activated it. He had no idea if Ryonna was anywhere near to make a difference, but if her friend Chase was, he could definitely help. At this juncture, it was not like Ronan had anything to lose anyway.

* * *

When Ryonna’s wrist started vibrating she jumped out of her bunk bed with such volition, it scared the shit out of Tar’Lock who fell from the upper bunk bed and clicked nervously before regaining his balance and landing on his feet.

“What is it?”

“Ronan is in trouble!”

“I thought he wasn’t in this part of space.”

“So did I, obviously I was wrong. We need to go help him.”

“Sure, but first we must locate him.”

Ryonna rushed toward their rooms console and linked her wrist computer with the holo-console. After a few seconds, a 3D projected holo-map of the battle filled most of their quarters.

She pointed toward an orange blinking Droxian destroyer, “There! That’s where he is.”

“Let’s call Chase,” said Tar’Lock.

Ryonna nodded and opened a channel to the bridge.

“I need to speak to Chase,” she said, without waiting to see who would answer her call.

“Sarah here, what’s wrong Ryonna? Chase is on the surface of the planet with my son and Argos.”

“Damn! My son’s in trouble, I need to get to his ship now. Is Ares around?”

“Haven’t seen him but I think he is on the ship, yes.”

“Can you contact him with your Fury genes?”

“I can try. Hang on⁠—”

The next few seconds were excruciatingly long and felt like an eternity to Ryonna. Her heart banged against her chest so hard that she thought it would burst through her ribcage and be set free.

A golden glow appeared.

“Not sure if that did it,” said Sarah. “But I tried to⁠—”

“It worked,” said Ryonna not letting Sarah finish her sentence. “Thanks Sarah, I owe you one.”

“No, you don’t. Go help your son. Would you like me to send backup with you?”

Ryonna thought about it, but human soldiers would only slow her down.

“Nope, let’s keep them as a backup if needed, but I could use some weapons.”

“Take anything you need. And Ryonna?”

“Yes.”

“Be careful, will you?”

“No promises.”

Ares materialized in front of Ryonna and Tar’Lock.

“Need a lift?”

“Yes, but first we need to make a quick stop at the armory.” She looked at her insectoid friend, “Tar’Lock, wake Keera up; she’s coming with us.”

6

Argos got back up and wiped some blood from his face onto the back of his hand. “Bastard! This asshole is mine,” he said pointing a finger at Chase. “Understood?”

“We should focus on finding a way to negate their invisibility shield⁠—”

But Argos wasn’t listening; he was too pissed off for having tasted dust so early in the fight.

“You do that, and I’ll bring them down.”

Chase shook his head but could not help but smile. At least he was on their side now, and Chase would take these odd quirks any day over the old evil-driven Argos.

“Chris, if you need to locate the Furies, you can try closing your eyes and sensing their energy. It might take you a while to get used to it, but it’s actually good training to be able to fight without depending too much on your sight. Eventually, it will become second nature, and you can do it with your eyes open too.”

Chris flashed Chase a thumbs up. “I’ve already tried that technique a little bit in the training room, focusing on finding the battle bots’ energy signature and fighting them blindly. Shouldn’t be much different.”

It gave Chase immense pride seeing how Chris was developing into a very capable fighter mostly on his own. He wished he had more time so they could do father and son training sessions but the universe seldom provided them time for any of this lately. One day though…perhaps they would be able to train together side by side whenever they wanted to.

Chase got out of his mental reverie when he felt four fireballs home in on his position from behind. He focused on all four and detonated them in mid-air with a single thought.

Show off, said Chris in his mind.

That too is a good exercise to practice, but I’d rather you didn’t do it today but in the training room first.

Understood.

Chase’s mind locked onto the Fury’s signature as his enemy stealthily approached. Or so he thought. He teleported in his wake and landed a powerful knee strike in the Fury’s stomach. He pushed his element of surprise and unleashed twenty small fireballs on his foe to test a theory.

As they impacted with the Fury warrior, the stealth shield kept fluctuating, and Chase focused on isolating the piece of hardware on the armor of their enemies. By the tenth impact he located the energy signature of the hardware responsible for the stealth shield and reached to it with his mind.

He had to teleport away to dodge another attack from a different Fury. Once he was out of range from that second warrior, he pushed with his mind to overload the stealth generator on his first target.

A small explosion happened yards away and the stealth shield dropped, to the surprise of the Fury warrior, now fully visible. Argos didn’t wait and launched himself toward Chase’s prey.

How did you do that? asked Argos telepathically.

I have an affinity with machines, as you know. I focused on finding its energy source on the Furies’ armor, which is on their belts by the way, and overloaded it.

Impressive. Keep doing that for the others, and I’ll take care of sending them straight to hell.

Their energy signatures are pretty strong, be careful.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you actually care about me.

Chase smiled. While he wouldn’t admit to it out loud, he did care about Argos, more than he thought he ever would, in fact. It felt good to be fighting with his brother side by side.

Argos engaged the Fury and unleashed a series of combos and fireballs toward the warrior, who responded in kind. They were evenly matched and Chase decided to focus on the other warriors. It was time to rob them of their visual advantage.

Chris, cover me while I get rid of these stealth shields on their armor.

Gladly, answered Chris cheerfully.

Chris flew next to Chase and closed his eyes trying to locate incoming attacks. He blocked a series of fireballs and managed to deflect some away from Chase, while Argos was slowly but surely getting the upper hand in his one on one fight with the visible Fury.

Chase’s mind expanded far enough to locate all three other devices.

Gotcha!

A wide smile spread across his face as he opened his eyes again and overloaded all three power sources for the stealth shields simultaneously.

* * *

Athena dispatched orders to the Earth Alliance vessels to flank the Fury fleet. Chase had indicated his wish to try and have the Furies engage the Asgardians. If they entered the fight, it would be dealt with much faster thanks to their advanced weaponry. She also sensed that he wanted them to openly join the Alliance, but that was a safe bet.

Zeus had sent her a holo-vid message before they arrived on Droxia, letting her know that Chase now had the full support of Zeus and Olympus. She remembered the discussion she had with Ares, and she wondered what it was that Chase had to do for Zeus to throw in his full support. The only thing that made sense was that the Fury, Oryn, had defected. Though Athena didn’t understand why just yet. But she’d find out eventually. Right now her objective was to win this battle and ideally to ensure the Asgardians participated in that victory.

Once the Fury fleet was fully flanked, she decided to remote pilot a squadron of ships. She was not surprised when she had sensed some remote-controlled Earth Alliance craft in their previous engagements with both Fury and Gaian forces. But she was surprised that the humans and Furies were able to do so. The technology had been available to Olympians for countless centuries though.

She selected a full squadron of drone ships from the launch bay of her ship and activated the neuronal remote control mode of her captain’s chair. A holographic 3D projected cockpit engulfed her. She wondered how Chase and his friends did it, but on Olympian ships, when a member of the crew activated this mode, the projected hologram informed the rest of the crew about what they were doing.

She could pilot multiple ships at once, but one was selected as the master ship, and that was the one whose cockpit was holographically projected around her. She had the full squadron telemetry at her disposal and could either control the ships using preprogrammed maneuvers, or control each individually, though that required a much stronger focus on her part. A third option was to let the AI Olympian destroyer control most of the wing while she focused on mentally dispatching objectives, freeing her mind to do other things, like mentally provide orders to the rest of the fleet.

She went for the latter option, as the battle around Droxia’s orbit was very volatile and she did not intend on losing yet another Olympian destroyer. Chase didn’t know this, of course, but Olympian resources were scarce. Zeus had not diverted too many resources on building war machines after the Furies had been defeated ten thousand years ago. So neither their technology nor their numbers had grown much ever since.

Athena of course had argued this fact with her father multiple times, but she always ended up losing the argument. Zeus was not someone that you could coerce into doing anything he didn’t want to. She had learned that the hard way. Eventually, she gave up and accepted the tranquil and boring Olympian way of life that saw the status of their people evolve from the pioneers and most respected army to a dwindling civilization that fell off the radar of younger worlds as centuries went by.

It felt good being part of the fight, and war strategy was something that was running in her blood, as well as something she enjoyed. Ever since Zeus had asked her to join Chase and help the Earth Alliance, she had felt like her life again had meaning.

She engaged the cloak on her drone squadrons, which turned her holographic projection more translucent as a result and vectored the craft toward the nearest Fury starfighters and accompanying super-destroyer. If she could get the aggro on her squadron and lead them to Thor’s ship, she would certainly try, even though she doubted he would fall for it. She sure wouldn’t if their roles were reversed.

Her squadron started pounding on the enemy starfighters, and then she dropped the cloak so the enemy ships could pursue and engage her in return as she vectored toward Thor’s ship, going evasive.

She received a hail from the Mjölnir. Thor’s tattoos blinked madly.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Athena?”

“Fighting to defeat the Fury, which is more than I can say for you, Thor.”

“I’m not going to engage these ships, this isn’t going to work. This is not our war.”

“We both know it will become your war one day. You’re just cowardly ignoring the problem until the Furies come knocking on your door.”

“If they’re stupid enough to do so, we’ll deal with them. For the time being they’re not bothering us. Perhaps they know they’d lose.”

“Oh, arrogance and ignorance in the same package. How efficient of you!”

Thor did not look pleased at Athena’s word jabs.

“Change course now, or we’ll be forced to fire upon your squadron.”

That gave Athena another idea.

“And start a war with the Earth Alliance and Olympians? I don’t think so.”

“We’ve kindly brought your fleet here, and we were not obliged to do so. The least you can do is respect our wishes not to participate in this conflict. Last warning, Athena. My turret will make short change of your tiny starfighters.”

Athena brought up her starfighters’ energy signature monitors and added fake Olympian life signs onboard the ships. Time for an old fashioned bluff.

“I haven’t agreed to these terms directly, and right now I’m trying to evade my pursuers. Plus, I don’t think you’d be willing to fire on me directly. Surely killing me would bring about Zeus’ wrath upon Asgard, and then the Furies would be the last of your worries, trust me.”

Thor’s eyes narrowed.

Time to push her bluff to its utter limit.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” pushed Athena. “You were cowards ten thousands years ago, and I shouldn’t have expected anything different from you today. You smug sons of bitches.”

Thor’s tattoos intensified and Athena could read inner rage boiling inside the Asgardian. They were very proud people, with honor. In that regard they weren’t much different from the Droxians.

“But don’t let that make you lose any sleep, Thor. It’s not like Valhalla’s door opens to the weak and the cowards anyway.”

“ENOUGH!” screamed Thor before turning off the holo-comm channel.

Her instruments showed that Asgardians were powering up their weapons, and her squadron got locked. She spun three of her fighters on their axis to face her following Fury tail and showered the squadron with intensive laser and missile fire. When she took out three ships with the intense firing barrage, a nearby second Fury squadron changed vector to follow her, with a super-destroyer repositioning itself to open long-range fire upon her ships.

She spun her inverted fighters back into position and pushed all engines to their max, entering the Mjölnir firing range. Her starfighter computers bleeped madly, informing her of the multiple locks on her entire squadron. She armed countermeasures and reprogrammed them to take a missile trajectory forward instead of their standard flare-scattering patterns.

That’s when volley after volley of Fury missiles soared toward her squadron. She deployed the countermeasures at the last second, and once the Fury enemy ships opened fire with added laser fire, she cloaked her ships and re-vectored her squadron to scatter toward the Asgardian destroyer.

Thor’s ship opened fire on the Fury missiles, now on a direct course for the Mjölnir. But he made sure to hit them one by one with impressive precision, never risking hitting the Fury starfighters in the process.

Methodical bastard. He’s not gonna budge, so let’s return to my initial plan, thought Athena.

She positioned her ships in the path of the Asgardian turrets the moment they stopped firing, having destroyed every one of the missiles and Athena’s countermeasures. She quickly hacked her ship’s firing system to emulate the Asgardian firing signature, which she knew she’d have to answer for later. But right now she had enough of Thor’s attitude. She would complete the assignment Chase had given her.

She redirected most of her ships power, except cloak, to the weapon system and boosted them to three hundred percent firing power. That way they would resemble destroyer class turret fire. It was a rough hack and she would only get a few shots from her squadrons before the weapons fried, but she was running out of both options and time.

She unleashed heavy fire to the incoming Fury ships and blew them to pieces in a matter of seconds before her ship’s core engines and weapon system started overloading.

The Fury answer was immediate. The nearest super-destroyer didn’t even bother to adjust its vector. It micro-jumped instead and came face to face with the Mjölnir raining fire on it with everything it had.

* * *

Daniel vectored his ship toward the nearest trio of Fury starfighters and locked his drones to them. He pressed the trigger but he had forgotten the drones weren’t equipped with laser.

Right, they’re supposed to scramble their shields.

The drones took a torpedo trajectory and sped toward their targets instead.

Let’s see if almost dying for this mod was worth a damn.

Daniel didn’t start shooting his lasers at the ships until the drones were upon them, which didn’t take long. The first drone impacted with the Fury’s shield and stuck to it like a leech. The reddish shield around the Fury starfighter acted as if it was being taxed, which Daniel took as a good sign. He locked onto the target and unleashed a volley of supercharged laser fire. The first two shots got absorbed by the enemy ship’s shield but the others went through unaffected, tearing the fighter to pieces.

“Holy shit! It works!”

Daniel admitted he needed to reconsider Yanis’ ass kicking. Perhaps a six-month no-sitting level would do. He smiled as he unleashed a missile to the next Fury starfighter who fell prey to his drones and sent it straight to hell. He then obliterated the third one just as easily.

Now we’re talking.

“Alpha Leader to all squadrons. Follow my lead, I’ll paint up your targets, and you engage them at will when they light up on your targeting systems.”

His comm clicked multiple times to confirm his orders.

Daniel painted up to eight targets at a time, not even bothering shooting many of them, since they were falling faster than flies; he barely had time to just keep up targeting the next targets. He noticed too late the lowered shield level of one of the drones before it blew up, taking three more enemy fighters in the process but damaging Beta Seven.

He received an incoming transmission.

“Go easy with my toys,” said Yanis.

Daniel could tell from his chief’s voice that he wasn’t exactly at ease and used humor to deflect his guilt over almost getting Daniel killed.

“You’re lucky these are so efficient. You may just have bought yourself a reprieve. Why did the last drone blow up though?”

“You’re using them faster than they have time to recharge their own shields. So eventually they fall prey to the ship’s explosion from your kills.”

“Makes sense. Now have that brain of yours find a solution to that problem.”

“I already have. But it will have to wait for our next engagement. It’s not the kind of tweak I can do with a software update, and that’s also something I’m never ever attempting without a ton more simulation and standard weapons testing. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about what happened to your StarFury, Daniel.”

Daniel was still pissed off about it too, but it had turned out okay in the end, and this new advantage was something they would definitely need. So he decided to cut Yanis some slack.

“That’s okay, Chief, I’m still here and your new drones are a thing of beauty, that’s all that matters.”

“That’s nice of you, Daniel, but no, that’s not all that matters. If I hadn’t played mad scientist with doing last minute changes before we went into battle, my sister might still be alive.”

Fillio. Daniel’s heart sank.

“Don’t do this to yourself, Yanis. We can’t change the past and no good can come from blaming yourself. However, let’s agree to do more testing on your new ideas, but never lose sight of how important they are to our daily survival. Your mind does wonders and if it wasn’t for you, at least in part, we’d all be dead by now.”

Daniel thought he could hear a sob on the other end of the communication.

“Thanks, Daniel.”

Daniel looked at the seven remaining drone shields and saw they had fully recharged, so he locked them to the next series of targets and sent the painted targets to his squadrons.

“Look how quickly we’re dispatching these assholes now with only one StarFury equipped with your latest invention. When all our fighters are retrofitted, starfighter dogfight engagement with the Furies will be a walk in the park.”

“If they don’t adapt their shields.”

“Even if they do, I know it in my heart that you’ll find a way to give it yet another advantage. Fillio would be damned proud of you, I can tell you that.”

“I hope so.”

* * *

The Hope shook under the heavy fire of three different Fury super-destroyers in their current vicinity. They were gangbanging on the Hope and its shields were depleting faster than Sarah was comfortable with. She micro-jumped the Hope away in order to let its shield recharge, but the reprieve was short-lived, as two of the three Fury super-destroyers micro-jumped in pursuit.

We need to get them off our backs.

That’s when Sarah felt a weird sensation, and her hands briefly lit up orange.

What the hell is that?

She felt a strong electric current reach the tip of her fingers and saw small lightning discharges in between her fingers. She started to panic as she felt more and more current build up inside her body. She hadn’t had an incident of uncontrolled Fury powers in a while now, and she thought it had just been a fluke.

No such luck.

She focused on calming herself down as now was not the time to be distracted. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and took a few deep breaths, but when the ship started rocking again, she got pulled back to reality.

“Captain!” shouted her tactical officer.

“What is it?”

“Three more ships are on attack vector; they are ignoring the ships firing on them and all are vectoring toward us.”

Were the Fury determined to bring down the Hope? It had been in many major engagements with their forces in the past, and perhaps they knew it was the flagship for the Earth Alliance. Bringing it down, even if that meant losing many of their forces, would definitely impact morale. But Sarah would not let the Hope be destroyed. Chase was still dealing with the loss of the Destiny and Commodore Saroudis. Losing the Hope was not an option.

She opened a channel to Athena.

“A little busy at the moment, Sarah.”

“I need reinforcements. The Hope has caught all the aggro.”

“I’m dispatching half my ships and some Obsidian destroyers to assist.”

“Thank you, Athena.”

The comm turned off and Sarah wondered why Athena had been so brief and almost cold on the line. She looked at her tactical holo-display and saw something she couldn’t believe at the other side of the battle theater. The Asgardian destroyer Mjölnir started opening fire toward an incoming Fury destroyer.

7

Thor opened fire on the Fury super-destroyer with everything his ship had and quickly lowered its shields. More Fury ships micro-jumped in the area and started engaging his other two destroyers.

The ships’ commanders requested orders from him. Reluctantly, he gave them orders to return fire. Thor hated the idea of entering the conflict under these circumstances and knew that his father Odin would reprimand him for this.

Damn you, Athena!

He sent a volley of quantum torpedoes to obliterate the now shieldless Fury super-destroyer, which was still unleashing everything it had toward the Mjölnir to little effect, thanks to the Asgardians superior shield tech.

While he wouldn’t admit it openly to Athena or Chase, Thor actually wanted nothing more than to obliterate the Furies, and well, today he had been forced into a military action he wanted to avoid because of his orders. But it felt good to kill many of this universe’s biggest scourge. The flame of battle ignited inside his soul, and he could hear the drums of war beat inside his heart once more.

It’s been too long.

He opened a channel to Athena.

“There, are you happy now?” he said coldly.

“Ecstatic, in fact. Sorry for calling you a coward earlier. I needed to get a reaction out of you, and it seemed to me that whatever broomstick Odin has lodged in your rectum was firmly planted there, so I had to get creative, no offense.”

That really had angered Thor but he knew his Father’s position and non-willingness to choose a side in this conflict was inherently wrong. It clashed with the warrior within him and he knew many other Asgardians felt the same. It had been centuries since they had stepped into a battlefield. They all missed it. Truth be told he had nothing but respect for those fighting and risking their lives to make this universe a better place, like the Earth Alliance was. But Odin was adamant that it was not Asgard’s place to enter a conflict they had nothing to do with.

Of course, Thor disagreed, but he had too much respect for his Father to openly defy him. The Asgardians had played a vital role in the previous war, in both working with the Olympians to develop the dimensional shifting device and also providing the most powerful fleet to counter the Furies’ mad conquest. Not being part of this fight following the resurgence of the worst enemy this universe had ever known was preposterous. So even though he would not admit it openly, he was actually glad Athena put him in this position. He had put on a show of disagreement for his Father’s sake, but inside he was glad how things turned out.

“None taken. And apology accepted, but know that this stunt of yours will most certainly cost you and the Alliance in the long run.”

“Right now I don’t care about that. With your ships’ help we’ll finish this battle in no time.”

“Perhaps, but this won’t play in your favor when the subject of the fully fledged alliance is brought to the table. Odin does not like being coerced into anything. You may have won an ally today, but prevented one in the future.”

“Come on Thor, you can hide all you want behind your impassive cold blue Asgardian face, but we both know you love the thrill of the war. I know I’ve never felt so alive for eons.”

She was right. Thor felt like something dead in him had resurrected. The warrior’s call of his heart was already singing songs of glory. He allowed the corner of his mouth to curl into a faint smile.

“I won’t deny that.”

“You’re welcome. Now let’s finish this off and celebrate with as much ale as we can drink afterward, my treat!”

“Olympian ale? No thanks. I’d rather drink troll’s piss. But you’re welcome to try your resistance to a real warrior’s drink onboard the Mjölnir once this is over.”

Athena chuckled. “That’s a date.”

Thor’s eyes widened, and his tattoos turned off swiftly.

“Relax big guy, I just mean I’m looking forward to drinks with you until we roll under a table. It’s been a long time since I partied that way. Glad to see your broomsticktectomy has been successful.”

Colors slowly returned to Thor’s face and he allowed himself a warmer smile. “I’m looking forward to it as well.”

* * *

Chase deflected three successive fireballs from the nearest Fury target and decided it was time to thin the herd. He entered Ultra Fury mode, teleported in front of his enemy and disconnected the Fury’s head from its body with a powerful uppercut. He then grabbed the dead body and used it as a shield for the twenty or so fireballs another Fury sent toward him.

A quick look around and he saw Chris and Argos, each busy dealing with a Fury of their own. They were holding their own very well, but they were pretty evenly matched with their foes.

Chase could intervene but he knew Argos would not forgive him, unless it was absolutely necessary. Pride and all. As for Chris, Chase could sense he relished the idea of real combat to test his skills.

The third Fury used Chase’s moment of distraction to strike a powerful kick at his face but found nothing but air. Chase had teleported behind him and sent the Fury flying for miles with a swift slap of his hand.

Chase felt more energy signatures converging on their position. They had attracted the rest of the forces deployed on the surface. A dozen more signatures were incoming at high velocity.

“We’ll have more company in a few minutes,” said Chase out loud.

“Bring it,” said Argos in between his current combo.

Argos blocked three of his enemy’s fireballs and assimilated their energy into his own. He brought his aura to the max and lit up his entire right arm with bright red energy. Before the Fury could unleash his next attack, Argos promptly cut him in half.

“Two down,” he said, winking at Chase.

Chris was taking the upper hand in his fight as well and decided to go for the kill. He somersaulted atop his foe, grabbed his head and smashed the Fury to the ground with extreme force, creating a large crater in the stony ground as he did so. Before the Fury could recover, Chris incinerated him with a powerful column of green energy. He then cracked his neck and stretched himself before the next wave of warriors arrived.

That’s when Chase felt another set of signatures coming from the other side; it was the second wave he detected. They had sent reinforcements. Even though Chase could probably deal with most of these foes, he didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks.

“I’ll be right back,” he said before teleporting off the planet.

* * *

Zeus and Oryn had been walking for a couple of hours, exchanging stories on their respective lives and Oryn was slightly more at ease with talking to her biological father now. He seemed genuinely interested in her well-being and apologized multiple times for not being there when it mattered.

Oryn still just couldn’t see Zeus as her father. She believed both him and Chase about it now, but the man was still mostly a stranger to her. A kind stranger, granted, but a stranger nonetheless.

“So, are you defecting or do you intend to return to work for Arakan?” asked Zeus.

“I don’t know just yet. I won’t work for Arakan, and I intend to kill him myself.”

“You should let Chase deal with him, Arakan might be too strong, and I don’t want any harm to come to you. And up until not long ago, you considered him your father. It might be more difficult than you think to kill him under the circumstances.”

“I can’t let that animal live, not after what he did to my mother. I thought of all the people I know, you’d be the one who would actually encourage me to do it.”

“I want Arakan to suffer and pay for his crimes as much as you do, and if you want, we can fight him together. I just don’t want you to get hurt. I already lost your mother.”

Oryn noticed Zeus’ eyes becoming watery.

“I won’t lose that fight.”

“Arakan is a powerful warrior. I’m not sure he can be brought down that easily. He also doesn’t fight fair and might use your weaknesses against you.”

“Who said I was weak?”

Zeus held both hands in front of him. “Don’t misunderstand what I am trying to say. I’m sure you’re a powerful warrior and I can sense your hatred for Arakan is strong. But he is a master at manipulating people. He’s let you believe you were his daughter for all this time; there’s nothing he won’t do to survive. I’m also worried what killing him would mean for you.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I may not have raised you, but we have a blood connection, as such, ever since you arrived on Olympus, I can sense most of what’s in your heart. You’re still wondering if you can’t take the throne.”

Oryn stopped short and up until now her relaxed facial features hardened.

“Are you reading my thoughts, old man?”

“I don’t have to. I can sense your primal emotions and rage, vengeance and thirst for power are currently at the forefront of your psyche. I would never dare try to read your thoughts, but I can’t help feeling these strong emotions emanating from you.”

“I don’t know what I’ll do. But killing Arakan, that’s a certainty. I’ll die trying if it comes to that.”

“I wish you wouldn’t. At the very least let me, Chase and his friends help you in that task. We’ll stand a much better chance that way.”

“Nobody but me kills Arakan. I’ve told Chase, and now I’m telling you.”

“When the time comes to put him out of his misery, we won’t stand in your way. I just want to make sure you’re not undertaking this alone as that would be suicide.”

Oryn didn’t like being treated like an inferior. It mattered not to her that Zeus was renowned as one of the most powerful beings in the universe. If she set her mind to kill Arakan, nobody could stop her, not Chase and certainly not Zeus.

“I’d rather we talked about something else now, if you don’t mind. Or better yet, if you would show me a place to rest. I haven’t slept much in the last couple of days, and I need to recharge.”

“Absolutely, let’s go back to the temple,” said Zeus as he gently put a hand on her shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

“This will be faster.”

Zeus teleported them back to the temple.

“Let me show you to your room,” said Zeus gesturing her toward a nearby door.

Before she could take a step forward, Chase appeared in front of her.

“Back so soon⁠—”

“No time! We’re outnumbered on Droxia and could use your help.”

Oryn hesitated. “Chase, I told you I’m not ready yet to fully defect and attack my fellow Furies.”

Disappointment permeated Chase’s face.

Zeus put his hand on Oryn’s shoulder.

“Oryn, go help your nephew, in fact, I think I’ll come as well. Time for the head of the Olympians to show his face to the enemy. I would really like it if you came with us.”

“Coming or not, I have to get back to Droxia now,” insisted Chase.

“Go ahead, Chase,” said Zeus. “If Oryn wants to come, I’ll bring her myself. If not, well, you’ll see me soon.”

“Thanks, Zeus,” said Chase before teleporting away.

Oryn turned her back to Zeus and looked out at the distance, her mind lost in thought.

“He’s your nephew, and so is Argos. Your brothers and sisters are fighting for their life in orbit around Droxia, you may want to lend a hand if you can. You might regret it if they lose their lives.”

“We’re not yet acquainted enough for you to use emotional blackmail to get me to do your bidding.”

“It’s not my bidding Oryn— and if you don’t want to fight your kind, that’s fine, I understand. But if you do, I’d love to fight by your side, father and daughter, and see the wonderful warrior you’ve become.”

Oryn turned to face Zeus and looked deep into his eyes.

* * *

Arakan walked in front of the five Fury warriors, his Prime Strike Force. They all had kneeled in front of his throne. Four men and a woman. Everyone heavily armored, with the center Fury wearing a dark gray cape. He also had more battle scars than the others and long white hair.

“Rise,” said Arakan coldly.

All five warriors gracefully rose and stood ramrod straight. They were the toughest amongst the Furies left for Arakan to use. Each and every one of them a potential candidate to replace Timoros. But that would take some time, and Arakan’s scientist had to finalize the new armor for the assassin’s position. So today all five of them would act as one. Even if one member of that team was missing. Not everyone was in the group, and the one missing was their commanding officer, Oryn.

“I have a mission of the utmost importance for you today. The most important mission of your lives.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for our leader?” said the middle Fury and Oryn’s second in command. “No offense, Master.”

“None taken, Zen’tar, but it looks like you’re the new leader now. I don’t know if Oryn is alive. And if she is, she might have defected.”

The look in Zen’tar’s eyes grew wide for a moment. Then his eyebrows burrowed down, a look of anger radiating all around him.

“I accept command, my Master. Thank you for your trust. I won’t disappoint you. What’s our mission?”

“You five are to leave for Asgard right away, your ship has been pre-programmed to use a wormhole to cut your travel time substantially. Once you arrive, your mission is simple: kill Odin and bring me back his head.”

The five Furies smiled. Zen’tar’s eyes even flashed a satisfying red at the order.

“What of the other Asgardians?”

“This is a surgical mission. I want you to be stealthy about it; only your main objective matters. If there is Asgard opposition, you are to take them down any way you so wish, but your only target is Odin. I want him dead.”

“What if we meet up with Oryn?”

“I’ve sent the homing signal, and if she comes to rejoin you, then have her call me before allowing her to regain command of the mission. If she’s defected—” there was a long pause. “Kill her.”

Arakan clearly saw Zen’tar flinch at his words. The Supreme Commander knew Zen’tar harbored strong feelings for his stepdaughter, but Oryn had shown no interest whatsoever in him. Arakan sometimes wondered if she had any feelings at all. Beside himself, Oryn was the coldest living being he knew. And with his own heart mostly dead inside and turned to stone eons ago, Arakan knew a thing or two about a cold heart.

Zen’tar bowed. “Thy will be done, Master.”

“Be careful and act fast as your window of opportunity will be short. While the Earth Alliance is being distracted on Droxia, we must take that time to strike now. Unfortunately, with the Asgardian entering the fight on Droxia, I can’t guarantee that the Alliance won’t show up before you, even with the wormhole shortcut route. That’s why it’s best if you act stealthily, work in the shadows, stay undetected until it’s time to strike at Odin. Try to avoid direct confrontation with the one the Alliance calls Chase and his friends. Chase, in particular; while you’re my proudest warriors, you are all aware what he did to Timoros. Perhaps together you’d stand a chance, but alone, I’m afraid he’d kill each and every one of you with ease. You’re not to engage him unless absolutely necessary.”

“Understood. What about the traitor Argos?”

“He’s not part of your mission, if he interferes, deal with him as you see fit. Now go, there’s no time to lose.”

Arakan’s Prime Strike Force saluted and left the throne room flying.

“Will they be strong enough to kill Odin?” said the shadowy character.

Arakan growled. He couldn’t stand the shadow’s presence. It felt like a leech. If he didn’t need his head clear, he would take his medicine. Though he had felt how much less powerful he was when he took it. Now that Oryn was missing, he wondered if it was really medicine, or a slow acting poison to weaken him.

Arakan’s eyes lit up and burned like two red dwarves as a sadistic smile filled his face. “It doesn’t matter.”

8

Ronan, going toward the bridges main doors, stealthily moved away from the Fury, who was approaching the captain in a tempered and slow walk. The Fury created a fireball in her right hand when she was only a few feet away from her target. He couldn’t let her kill the captain. He had to provide a distraction of some kind. His mind raced as he approached the doors. At his feet laid a standard laser pistol, but Ronan knew it wouldn’t damage the Fury. Still, unless he was prepared to see his captain murdered in cold blood, he didn’t have much of a choice.

Ronan picked up the weapon, aimed it at the Fury’s head and supercharged his shot. He heard the captain mumble something.

“We’ll defeat you; I die free.”

“No, you die knowing that your entire world will burn today.”

When the Fury pointed her fireball hand at the captain’s head, Ronan knew he had run out of time. His heartbeat went into overdrive as he shot the Fury in the back of the neck. To his surprise, the Fury didn’t see it coming and his supercharged laser shot burned the back of her neck. Her fireball died off and she turned around, locking her murderous gaze with Ronan, her eyes shining red.

“Fight someone who still stands, you cowardly bitch,” Ronan said before running quickly out of the bridge.

Before he was halfway through the first corridor, he felt a strong wind behind him just before a foot kicked him on the back of his head with such strong force that he was catapulted forward, crashing onto the ground and skidding for yards on his face, resulting in a very painful burn on one side.

“You should have stayed quiet,” he heard before he found the strength to turn around.

No way was he facing death with his back against the enemy; that was not the Droxian way. Unlike the Furies, Droxians placed honor above all else, and there was none to be found dying this way.

When he was fully turned on his back, with every one of his bones and muscles aching, he saw an opened palm aimed at his head, as well as a mad smile across his executioner’s face.

In a desperate last attempt, Ronan tried kicking the Fury’s hand, but she unleashed a powerful shockwave that locked him into place on the floor.

That was it. Ronan knew he couldn’t get free, and he knew his time had come. Lightning crackled inside the woman’s palm as the shining in her eyes intensified.

But to his surprise, someone grabbed the Fury woman and locked her into place. The captain! He held on to her with every ounce of power left in him.

“Go! Ronan, get the hell out of here!” he shouted.

Ronan felt adrenaline shoot inside of him and it quickly covered any sensation of pain. He jumped back to his feet and launched himself toward the Fury, landing the most powerful blow he could muster to the warrior’s stomach. She screeched and blood flew from her mouth, the first sign that she wasn’t invincible. Ronan kept pummeling at her with one punch after another ignoring his captain’s plea for him to save his life.

“No, Ronan! Just run to the nearest escape pod and save your life. If you stay here, she’ll kill us both! Ronan! That’s an order.”

That made Ronan stop briefly, and that gave the Fury the respite she needed to fire two deadly red laser shots from her eyes. They impacted and pierced through Ronan’s left shoulder, and he was thrown back to the floor, blood gushing through the twin holes, and intense pain shot back throughout his body.

The Fury laughed out loud. The captain tried as much as he could to hold onto the Fury, but she kept laughing louder.

“You’re just cockroaches, the both of you. You think you fight with honor, but when your enemy is ten thousand times more powerful than you are, is it really honor? Or utter stupidity? We’ll kill each and every one of you today, and rid the universe of the stench of your inadequacy. Only the strong shall survive, and Droxians will be remembered as yet another pathetic race who chose the wrong side in this war.”

Ronan’s shoulder was pounding so badly he thought he would lose consciousness. With each heartbeat, more pain radiated throughout his already half-broken body. Was his captain right? Should he have run away and left him to die? That wouldn’t have been honorable, and Ronan couldn’t have lived with that decision anyway. Still, the Fury’s words hit him hard. Was fighting in desperation, when the difference in power between their races was so high, still honorable? Or just futile?

The Fury warrior intensified her aura and it grew in size exponentially. Flames engulfed the captain, burning him alive, but he wouldn’t let go.

“Ronan—” he muttered in anguish through clenched teeth.

But Ronan couldn’t move anymore. Even if he was to resign himself to try and flee, he didn’t have the energy required to do so. He was now bound to the captain’s fate and all he could do was witness the horrors he knew were coming.

The Fury warrior threw her head back with such force that the captain got thrown into the air as a result, and she swiftly turned around and telekinetically locked the Droxian’s body in mid-air.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” said the Fury with a manic tone.

She extended a grasping hand toward the half-burned Droxian. His head was thrown forward as the rest of his body stayed in place. Neck bones were the first to crack, then tissues and muscles as the captain’s head was severed by an invisible force and flew in the Fury’s hand, her echoing laughter again filling the Manticora’s corridors.

* * *

“You should get some rest while I go help Chase and his friends,” said Zeus.

“That’s a good idea,” answered Oryn. “I could use some.”

“See you when I return. If you need anything, ask anyone around, and they’ll attend to your needs.”

“Thank you, Zeus. Good luc⁠—”

A wrist device on Oryn bleeped and blinked. She pushed a touch control on it and a holographic message was displayed. It was a mission briefing as well as a summoning call to rejoin the Prime Task Force.

“What is it?” said Zeus.

“Hold on just a sec; don’t go just yet.”

So either Arakan doesn’t know I betrayed him, or he’s baiting me with this.

The mission brief was only half-surprising. The main objective was bringing back Odin’s head, which Oryn had half expected when they played their bluff with Thor. The Asgardians probably entered the conflict on Droxia, and Arakan’s answer to that was swift and immediate.

“This is a summons,” she said pointing at the hologram, “from Arakan to kill the head of the Asgardians. I think we could use that to our advantage to bring down Arakan.”

“Should we discuss that when I return?” inquired Zeus.

Oryn thought it through and decided against staying on Olympus.

“No, let’s go, together. I’m coming with you to Droxia.”

* * *

When Chase returned to the battlefield on Droxia’s surface, the reinforcements were still a couple of minutes away. Hopefully, Zeus would join them to make this fight a little more balanced. Chase was slightly disappointed with Oryn’s hesitation to join them, but not entirely surprised. He knew she wasn’t yet sure where her allegiance lay. Her main drive was to kill the man she had thought her entire life to be her father.

Chris was engaged with a Fury warrior and was holding his own, the two of them exchanging and blocking blows at speeds too fast for most living beings to follow. Meanwhile, Argos had taken on the remaining warrior in Chase’s absence.

“That’s some impressive backup you’ve brought along; at least get in here and help us finish these assholes,” snorted Argos.

“Zeus is coming soon to help us.”

Surprised, Argos stopped in mid-fight and got hit several times by the Fury he was battling. The Fury pressed his lucky advantage and sent Argos crashing to the ground. He followed through and prepared to strike Argos before he could get back up, but Chase was faster. He teleported in between and blocked the Fury’s fist an inch away from Argos’ face.

Chase’s eyes flashed orange and he turned into Ultra Fury. He applied increasing strength on the fist of the Fury, whose bones started breaking one by one. He screamed from the pain and tried hitting Chase with his other hand. That was a mistake.

Chase crushed the rest of the Fury’s fist like it was made of paper, which promptly cancelled out his failed counterattack. With a swift move, Chase ripped the Fury’s entire arm from his shoulder. The Fury fell to the ground, knees first, and grabbed his blood-gushing shoulder. The last thing he saw was Chase’s palm before he was incinerated by a column of orange energy.

Only the bottom half of the Fury’s body remained as Chase ended his attack. Smoke rose from the burnt flesh.

Argos got up, cracked his neck to the side and dusted himself off. “Having fun? I had this covered, you know?”

Chase smiled. “I know, but I seemed to have distracted you.”

“I’m surprised that Zeus is coming here. That’s all. He didn’t exactly seem open to help us when we met him on Olympus. I wonder what changed his mind.”

Chase wondered if now was the time to tell Argos about both their origins. There was still a few moments left before the Fury reinforcements would arrive.

“We need to talk about our mother.”

“I don’t see why, there’s nothing to tell. Our Father told me she died shortly after our birth.”

“He lied.”

Argos’ eyes grew wide with shock.

“What? How would you know?”

“Zeus told me that Athena is our mother.”

The expression on Argos’ face conveyed an equal mixture of surprise, anger and even guilt.

“That can’t be—” was all he could muster.

“Believe me, it is. Which makes Zeus our grandfather.”

“And Aphroditis—” but Argos couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

“Our aunt, yes. You’ve trapped her into a machine that sucks on her life energy with every passing minute. But I guess you couldn’t have known.”

Argos’ complexion turned whiter with each passing second. “I— we need to do something about it.”

Chase didn’t expect Argos to feel exactly the same as he did, but perhaps Chase had underestimated the importance of family to his proud and arrogant brother.

“Oh we will; the first chance we get, you and I are going to free her from that infernal machine.”

The dozen Fury fighters landed not far from them just as Chris finished off the Fury he had been fighting.

Chris flew down from the air and landed next to Chase and Argos.

“What’s with the two of you? I don’t know what you two are talking about but now is not the time to have a committee meeting. In case you weren’t paying attention, these guys,” said Chris pointing toward the dozen Furies with his thumb, “have just arrived. And I still don’t see any reinforcements.”

Argos chuckled. “He’s your son, alright.”

“That’s for sure, but he’s right. I wonder what’s taking Zeus so lon⁠—”

Both Zeus and Oryn appeared in front of them.

“Now, that’s impeccable timing,” said Argos.

* * *

Now that the Asgardians had entered the conflict, the Hope managed to retreat from the center of the battle to recharge its shields. Thor’s ship, the Mjölnir, had just destroyed two Fury super-destroyers that were threatening the Hope’s structural integrity after it had lost its shields. They were already recharging when Sarah felt another wave of energy course through her entire body.

What is happening to me?

She looked at her hands and saw small orange lightning bolts discharge in between her fingers. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down, but it didn’t seem to have any effect, and her heart started racing. What if she couldn’t control her powers, what would happen to the Hope then? And to the planet below. Chase had created a black hole the last time he used his powers in space. This could have devastating consequences.

She swiftly excused herself from the bridge and ran into the captain’s ready room where the flashes of energy intensified. She stepped in front of a mirror and was shocked to see her entire silhouette flash orange in increasingly stronger discharges.

She thought about calling Chase, but she knew he was busy on the ground. So she tried calling someone else.

Ares! She mentally shouted. Please tell me you can hear me? Come here at once, there’s something terribly wrong with me!

* * *

The Fury turned around, the Droxian captain’s head in her hand. She levitated the head a few inches away from Ronan’s face. His former commanding officer’s face was badly burned, and a look of painful terror was in his dead eyes.

“I’m sorry, did you hope to say some last farewell words to your colleague?” said the Fury female in a cruelly amused tone of voice. “Where are my manners? There, I don’t think he can hear you anymore, but if it will make you feel any better.”

She burst into yet another fit of laughter.

Ronan felt anger grow deep within his soul. But that feeling was fighting a losing battle with his deepest fear. Ronan did not fear death, but right in these dreadful last moments, he wished he had a second chance. Should he have tried to save his own life? After all, the captain’s sacrifice had been in vain now that Ronan was about to die as well.

“I’m sorry, Captain, I should have listened to you,” said Ronan looking into his commanding officer’s lifeless eyes.

“I wouldn’t have let you escape anyway, so you can take some comfort from that,” said the Fury before using telekinesis to crush what was left of the captain’s face. “Now that you have said your goodbyes, it’s time to go join him in hell.”

A large red fireball crackled to life inside the Fury’s hand, as she aimed it at Ronan’s head, and fired.

This is it. Goodbye mother.

Ronan felt something drag him at impossible speed and when the fireball that should have killed him hit the ground; he was no longer there.

“Don’t you dare touch my son, you bitch!” exclaimed Ryonna as she stepped forward, pumping her anti-Fury shotgun gauge and firing a shockwave shot that sent the Fury skidding across the floor for several yards.

Ryonna pumped the weapon again while the power pack recharged with a satisfying upper-pitch hum before she aimed and unleashed a second shot at the Fury female, who lost her footing from the second shockwave energy blast and crashed onto the ground, back first.

Ronan was already behind his mother, thanks to Tar’Lock’s prompt rescue, who briefly smiled at him the moment they were out of danger.

“Good to see you, Ronan,” said the insectoid Gorgar.

“It’s damn good to see you, too. But you shouldn’t have come, this Fury is crazy, she’ll kill us all.”

“We’ll be fine; now stay out of sight while we deal with her.” Ryonna’s gaze drifted to the holes in her son’s shoulder. “Looks like you need a trip to a regen tank ASAP,” replied Tar’Lock.

“How is he?” screamed Ryonna, while reloading her huge gun once more.

Tar’Lock made a head movement, inviting Ronan to answer.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” exclaimed Ronan. “Be careful, she’s a crazy one.”

Ryonna flashed her son a thumbs up without turning back; she needed to stay focused on eliminating their threat.

The Fury got back up and Ryonna shot once more with her weapon but this time her enemy blocked the shot by sending a shockwave of her own that nullified Ryonna’s weapon. She then fired two fireballs at Ryonna, who dodged the first one by swiftly cocking her head to the side and somersaulted to avoid the second one aimed at her torso.

“Now!” she shouted right after landing.

Keera uncloaked behind the Fury in a super-suit and opened fire with her own anti-Fury shotgun. It took the Fury completely off guard and sent her hurtling forward toward Ryonna, who grabbed her blaster and fired three lasso shots at the Fury’s legs, making sure the Fury wouldn’t be able to land back on her feet.

Sure enough, two of the three lasso shots locked the Fury’s legs together and she crashed head first onto the ground with a satisfying thump. Ryonna withdrew her sharp katana for the kill.

Before Ryonna had holstered her blaster though, the Fury catapulted herself forward, head first, and impacted the top of her skull with Ryonna’s torso, knocking the wind out of Ryonna, sending her down as well and throwing her katana flying in circles in the air.

Keera lost no time firing a second shot at the downed Fury, who put her feet in front of the shot and used the shockwave and her own strength to break the two layers of blue energy lassos binding her legs. Now freed, she leapt into the air and sent three quick powerful fireballs onto Keera; the first two were absorbed by Keera’s suit’s shield but the third one sent her whirling in the air and crashing against the wall.

The Fury landed on her feet, swung about and aimed her palm at Ryonna who was slowly getting back up. But then the Fury’s eyes grew wide before her body split in two and she was dead before both halves of her body hit the ground with a grueling squish.

Tar’Lock stood on top of her body with Ryonna’s katana in hand, crimson red blood dripping from its tip.

Ryonna got back up and reprimanded her insectoid friend.

“I thought I told you to stay out of this fight.”

“You’re welcome. It looked like you could use a hand,” said Tar’Lock with a cheerful clicking noise.

Ryonna smiled and kissed Tar’Lock on the forehead. “Thank you.”

Tar’Lock’s eyes grew wide.

“Mind— giving me a hand…” said Keera.

Ryonna raced toward Keera, who was still on the ground, holding a bloodied stomach.

“How bad is it?” exclaimed Ryonna when she saw the wound.

“I’ll live.”

Ronan rejoined the trio, his hand covering his own still bleeding shoulder.

“Thank you all for saving my life.”

Ryonna took Ronan in a warm embrace and kissed her son’s hair.

“I’m alright, Mom.”

“The hell you are. You also need a trip into a regen tank.”

“I will, but first we must finish this battle. Tar’Lock,” inquired Ronan turning toward the Gorgar, “there are regen tanks on the deck below, would you mind putting Keera into one of them for me?”

Tar’Lock nodded and moved so fast he was under Keera and helping her back up and walking in a split second.

Keera grunted. “Shouldn’t we get out of here instead? I think I can make it until we get to the Hope.”

“I’m not abandoning my ship,” said Ronan proudly.

“Your ship?” said Ryonna, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m the only remaining officer, so⁠—”

“Right,” said Ryonna with an amused smile. “That makes you the captain, now. Where do you want me, Captain?”

“I could use a tactical officer.”

Ryonna was so proud of her son. His side still kept on winning the battle for their world. She had raised him well, and wished her husband was still alive to see what a great warrior their son had become.

9

“Surrender yourselves and you might not die in horrible pain,” said one of the dozen Fury warriors that had just arrived.

Chase took a few steps in front of his group and smiled.

“You’ve got this the wrong way around. If you value your lives, you’ll leave as fast as you arrived.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! We’re twelve against five; you don’t stand a shadow of a chance.”

Chase’s aura grew exponentially, which triggered a powerful shockwave that swept half of the Furies off their feet and had the rest of them battling a strong windstorm to stay upright.

“If you were a hundred, perhaps I would concede this is going to be a difficult fight,” said Chase. “But it is you who don’t stand a shadow of a chance. So this will be my first and last warning. Leave now and you may live to fight another day.”

What the hell are you doing? asked Argos telepathically. Let’s kill them all!

They won’t back down, don’t worry. I know Furies, stubborn to a fault. But I had to give them a way out.

The corner of Argos’ mouth curled into a smile.

The leader amongst the Furies stepped in front of his band of warriors, just like Chase had done on his side a moment ago.

“We’re going to kill you, and Supreme Commander Arakan will make me one of his generals when I bring him your head myself.”

“I’m sorry I’m going to have to disappoint you on this one.”

Chase teleported in front of the Fury and sent him flying high in the sky with a powerful uppercut. The impact between Chase’s fist and the Fury’s jaw unleashed a powerful shockwave that threw the nearby Furies crashing hundreds of yards away. Chase took aim with an open palm toward the wildly spinning Fury, roared a deafening war cry and sent enough kinetic energy toward his ballistic foe that the Fury exploded into a pulp of blood and guts.

Chase cracked his neck and knuckles. “Who’s next?”

Then all hell broke loose.

* * *

The Manticora shook when a volley of torpedoes impacted with its shields.

“Status report,” asked Ronan.

“Shields are down to thirty percent. Athena is requesting that we target smaller crafts, since our main weapons aren’t that effective against capital ships. She’s dispatched an Olympian destroyer to cover us.”

“Very well, let’s help the Earth Alliance wings dispatch the smaller craft vessel. Lock batteries and torpedoes to the nearest enemy wings and open fire.”

“Firing now.”

Ryonna looked at Ronan with admiration at how naturally he had assumed command of the Manticora. He seemed confident in his ability to captain the ship and that was something she didn’t expect for someone so young. She could feel in him the same fire that animated her when she had gone on the mission to break him from Hellstar Prison. His resolve seemed unbreakable. As a mother she couldn’t help but worry about his wound, but it did not seem to bother him or affect his ability at the moment, so she decided not to insist on him getting medical attention until the battle was won.

Now that the Asgardians had entered the fight, the balance of power had clearly shifted toward the Earth Alliance. It was only a matter of minutes until the last Fury super-destroyers were dealt with.

Tar’Lock entered the bridge at his usual super human speed.

“How are things going?” he asked Ryonna.

“We’re in good shape; this battle should soon be over. How’s Keera?”

“It’s good we put her in a regen tank; that wound looked nasty. But in a few hours she’ll be right as rain.”

Ryonna saw Tar’Lock watching the battle raging outside. Suddenly, he seemed very focused on something happening far away from their position.

“What’s up, Tar’Lock? What do you see?”

“That ship over there; is it just me or is it actually breaking away and heading straight toward the planet?”

* * *

Zeus deflected three incoming fireballs and zapped his Fury attacker with a flurry of lightning bolts. Chase was currently engaged with no less than five enemies at once, while Oryn dealt with four on her own. She dodged every attack sent to her with incredible dexterity and grace and when she saw an opening, she trapped one of her attackers into an ice coffin from which there was no escape. At temperatures near absolute zero, the Fury’s metabolism stopped and death was near instantaneous.

Zeus roared and the surface of the planet trembled. He unleashed a powerful lightning attack that branched, then split apart and hit three of his attackers, sending them flying yards away.

Chris and Argos teamed up to thin the remaining Fury horde one by one. They were very complimentary, with Chris’ ability to dodge and block almost anything thrown at him, while Argos went more on the offensive.

After a few minutes, they had already dispatched more than a third of the enemy Furies, each moment making it easier for them to deal with fewer foes at once.

The Furies regrouped and backed away from the fight without warning.

“What the hell are they doing?” inquired Argos.

“Maybe they’re reconsidering my offer,” said Chase.

“Even so, we finish this. The more Furies die here today, the less we have to fight tomorrow.”

Chase didn’t exactly see eye to eye with Argos, but his logic was sound nonetheless. If the Furies decided they wanted to flee though, Chase was perfectly fine letting them. Fear was also a powerful message. And if they survived to tell what had happened to their comrades in arms, it would still be a victory, and one that could instill fear in the heart of whomever heard the tale.

* * *

When Ares materialized in the Hope’s ready room, Sarah was flashing orange, and lightning bolts sizzled all around her.

“What’s going on?” he asked, unable to hide the worry in his voice.

“I— I don’t know, please help me, Ares!”

“When did it start?”

“A while ago I had my first episode, but it came and went; I didn’t think anything of it at the time— I thought it was just a post-pregnancy side effect, but this time it’s different, I can’t seem to stop it!”

“Alright, looks like your latent Fury powers are coming to the surface. You need to learn how to control them. Doesn’t look like we have much time.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“I don’t want to alarm you, but it seems to me that unless you get a grip on them fast, you could unleash them and destroy everything around you.”

“A good thing you didn’t want to alarm me,” said Sarah with uncontrolled anger.

“Well, looks like you’re in for a crash course in Fury powers. I’ll do my best to guide you through it. Try to close your eyes and focus on your powers. Visualize a sphere in your mind that represents the energy you feel inside your body.”

“I’m warning you, I suck at meditating.”

“You have to try, Sarah, now stop arguing and close your eyes.”

Sarah closed her eyes and, as instructed, she tried to get a visual representation of the powers inside of her. She couldn’t get a sphere in her mind; instead, she saw a scary tapestry of lightning not following any patterns. It was plain chaos.

“I can’t seem to see a sphere.”

“Try to shape one with your thoughts then.”

Sarah tried focusing on the task, but all she could think about was what would happen to the Hope and its crew if she lost control.

“That’s not what I asked you to do,” exclaimed Ares.

“Look, it’s not easy to focus in these conditions. We’re in the middle of a battle; there are lives at stake.”

“You need to disconnect your thoughts from that; the fleet is doing well; right now you need to focus on you and you alone.”

“Easier said than done; what if I take out the entire fleet?”

“Look, I know this is scary, but you probably don’t have that kind of power. So just try and do as I say.”

“I can’t shake the feeling that what’s building up inside of me is very powerful and could hurt or kill many people. You need to promise me that if we don’t manage to stop it, you’ll get me the hell out of here.”

“Where to?”

“Anywhere uninhabited. Away from here, far away.”

“I’m not sure Chase would agree. Perhaps I should get you to him now.”

“No! He and my son are fighting for their lives right now, they don’t need to be distracted.”

“This seems serious⁠—”

“Ares, promise me you’ll just get me out of the ship and far away if it comes to that?”

Ares thought it through for a long time.

“Ares?” insisted Sarah, her voice trembling.

“Alright, I’ll get you out of here when the time comes. Now please try and focus on shaping your energy in a manner that isn’t scary in your mind.”

Ares could feel Sarah wasn’t doing well, and with each passing moment, she got farther and farther away from controlling whatever was happening inside her body.

Chase, said Ares telepathically, Sarah is in trouble.

But no one answered.

* * *

Zeus and Oryn approached Chase.

“What are they doing?” asked Zeus.

“I don’t know. They seem to just regroup out of the blue.”

“That makes no logical nor strategical sense,” Oryn interjected. “They are more vulnerable that way. We could just circle them and end this in one fell swoop.”

“Why don’t we?” grunted Argos. “Let’s not waste time with these losers; they’ve given us an easy way out, let’s take it.”

“Something doesn’t smell right,” said Chase.

“Look, usually I’m all about trusting your instincts,” replied Argos. “But this time, it seems more like an opportunity to me.”

Chase didn’t like it. The remaining eight warriors had packed themselves for a reason. And perhaps encircling them was exactly what they wanted. Argos made a good point in the fact that Chase could probably deal with them all on his own, so where was the real threat? Unless they didn’t factor an unknown element. And that’s what was nagging at the forefront of Chase’s mind.

“Look,” insisted Argos. “If you’re not gonna do something about it, I will. I can probably take them out if they stay grouped.”

Argos flew in their direction.

“Wait!” shouted Chase.

Argos stopped in mid-air, and waived the rest to come join him. “Come on guys, let’s finish this and go back to our ship.”

“Alright,” Chase conceded. “But please, everyone stay on your toes. I have a bad feeling about this.”

The group approached the Furies who simply stood there and looked at the incoming team made of Fury hybrids and Olympians. Soon Chase, Argos, Chris, Zeus and Oryn were encircling the Fury group.

“Have you reconsidered my proposal to leave here with your lives?” asked Chase.

Not that again, objected Argos telepathically.

Not now, Argos.

One enemy Fury broke the silence.

“We’d rather see you all burn. Now!” he screamed as he pressed something on a wrist device. A high-pitched sound resonated inside everyone’s head and Chase and his friends had to cover their ears to try and lower the pain. Chris was already on the ground, and Oryn seemed similarly affected.

Even with both his hands covering his ears, Chase felt he was losing balance and took action. He broke both his eardrums plunging his index fingers into his ears and regained the full control over the rest of his senses.

But it was too late. The distraction had allowed the Furies to disperse and they were the ones circling around Chase and the others now. Chase tried firing a fireball at the nearest Fury when he realized he couldn’t move a muscle. He could barely even move his eyes. In his field of view he saw a red force field had been erected all around them.

They had an ace in the hole, just like he had feared. And now they were trapped and at the Furies’ mercy. Chase saw the Fury in his line of sight speak, but he couldn’t hear anything. Chase closed his eyes and healed his broken eardrums.

“It’s time for you cowards and traitors to die.”

“Why…aren’t we…dead yet?” said Argos, with great difficulty.

That was a good question, and as far as Chase could tell, the device was powered by every enemy Fury. They didn’t seem able to keep the force field up and attack them at the same time. But then, what plans did they have to get rid of them?

Chris, who was on his back when the force field was active, tried to speak, but Chase could feel how painful it was for his son just to utter syllables.

“Sh— ship…s—sky…fall—ing.”

Chase tried to expand his consciousness to get a better picture. But the more he pushed his consciousness to the side, the more he felt excruciating pressure against his temples. When the pain was too unbearable he tried projecting his consciousness upward and was surprised he managed to do so with minimal pain.

That’s when he felt what Chris was talking about. A Fury super-destroyer had pierced through the Droxian atmosphere and was hurtling toward their position. That’s how they intended to take them out. And Chase had no doubt that they would succeed unless they found a way to release themselves from the force field currently trapping them in place.

Chase tried to reach for the devices in each of the Furies but the pain feedback was too strong. He couldn’t reach the devices nor keep enough focus to try and even locate them. But then he got an idea.

Zeus! Can you summon and hit the Furies with lightning? asked Chase.

I’m just as affected from whatever this is as you are.

Try focusing on the sky. I’ve felt less resistance above us than around us. So perhaps getting the lightning to hit you, to act like a charging rod. Then unleash that power on the sides, trying to fry their equipment that way.

Worth a try.

Dark clouds covered the sky and a large thunderbolt hit Zeus. A few seconds later, eight bolts of electricity shot from him and hurled toward the Fury fighters. The bolts rebounded against the force field and were randomly scattered back toward them.

Chase felt an intense current travel through him as he got hit, and so did Argos and Oryn, who both got thrown to the ground as a result; smaller lightning bolts sizzling around their paralyzed bodies for a few seconds as they moaned from the pain.

“Don’t try— this…again,” said Argos between clenched teeth.

Oryn didn’t even try to speak.

I second that; this was not a good idea.

Chase estimated that they had barely more than thirty seconds before the super-destroyer incinerated them all. Chase focused his mental energy toward the sky and hoped Ares would hear his call.

* * *

Sarah fell on the floor, and when her knees impacted with the ground, a small shockwave was unleashed inside the ready room. It fried a lot of electronics, obliterated the conference table and dented the walls.

“I can’t— I can’t control it, Ares!”

“I can see that.”

“Ge— get— me out of here.”

“Sarah, try harder.”

“Can’t— just get me the hell out of here.”

Bright orange light was now escaping her mouth and eyes. The sight scared Ares, and he had seen a lot of things in his life. But if Sarah died, Chase would never forgive him. That’s when he heard him in his thoughts.

Ares, help us. We’re trapped…need to find a way to blow up the Furies that have us paralyzed. Shoot at them from space or something, but do it fast or we’ll all die.

That’s when it hit Ares. Perhaps what was happening to Sarah wasn’t a coincidence.

He approached her, and three orange lightning bolts shot through him. Being made of energy, it didn’t hurt him. If he had a body though, from the scorched marks they created on the wall behind him, he guessed it would have been another story.

“I’m getting you out of here. When I tell you to, stop fighting your powers, and focus on unleashing it around you. Don’t hold back, just let it out.”

“Are you insane?”

“Trust me, Chase and Chris’s lives might depend on it.”

That seemed to get her attention. She nodded as more bolts kept firing all around her.

“Close your eyes and focus on your energy. Let it explode the moment I ask you to open your eyes.”

Ares put his hand on her shoulder and they teleported away from the Hope and onto the surface of the planet.

What Ares saw overloaded his mind. A Fury destroyer was a handful of seconds away from impacting on their heads, and they had teleported only a few yards away from a red energy bubble. It was semi-opaque, but Ares saw Chase, Argos, Oryn, Chris and Zeus trapped. Inside. They had no time to lose.

“Sarah, unleash everything you have, NOW!” screamed Ares as loud as he could to make sure she heard him over the chaos of what was happening.

Sarah opened her eyes and unleashed the biggest and most powerful roar Ares had ever heard. Her eyes lit up like two miniature blazing suns, and the biggest orange aura Ares had ever seen grew around her at exponential rate. The entire planet shook and orange light bled through her entire body. A pulse of lightning energy exploded on all sides, followed by shockwaves so powerful, it destroyed everything in its path; it unearthed trees and roots from the ground and obliterated a nearby mountain.

When the wave hit the red force field, it blinked rapidly and Ares saw successive, near synchronized explosions affect on each and every one of the Fury warriors.

The force field around their friends dropped and the paralyzing force that once held the group hostage was gone.

10

Chase didn’t lose any time once he was released from the force field. He joined both his hands, pushed his Ultra Fury aura to the maximum, aimed at the sky above and fired the largest beam of energy he could muster toward the fast-approaching ship. They had no time to lose if they wanted to survive this.

The large column of orange energy hit the ship full-on, but most of it was absorbed and deflected by its powerful shields. It slowed its descent considerably, but the destroyer kept hurtling toward the group.

“I could use a little help,” moaned Chase between gritted teeth.

Argos was still on the ground, holding his burnt side where he got hit by Zeus’ involuntary rebounded attack, and Oryn was also struggling to get back up as well. Chris jumped back to his feet the fastest, ran near Chase and added his firepower to his father’s in the form of a smaller, but still powerful, green column of energy, which slowed down the Fury destroyer a little more, but still not enough to put them out of danger.

“How come their shields are holding?” asked Chris through gritted teeth.

“They must have diverted every drop of power into them.”

“What just happened? Who saved us?”

Chase looked around and saw Sarah not too far from them. She was engulfed in an orange aura and was staring at her hands.

“I guess your mother did, with the help of Ares.”

Chris seemed surprised and looked toward Sarah as well. “We have a problem.”

“I know, we can’t seem to destroy that incoming ship.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Whatever mom did brought the force field down, but look, many Furies are getting back up. We can’t keep this up, protect mom and defeat them at the same time.”

Chase considered letting Chris hold the ship while he quickly dispatched the remaining Furies before they regained their senses. But it didn’t seem like Chris could hold the incoming ship on his own. So he tried contacting the others telepathically.

Argos, Oryn, Zeus, we need your help. Someone has to protect Sarah and we could use additional firepower to get rid of that ship.

“If Zeus hadn’t fried me, I could be helping right now,” said Argos, blood spilling out of his mouth as he talked.

Zeus held his head in his hands. “I didn’t mean for that to happen, are you two alright?”

“I’ll live,” said Oryn, “but that was a lot of electricity. I still feel all tingly inside.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” moaned Argos who rolled to his side, trying to get back up whilst coughing up more blood on the dusty ground.

* * *

When Oryn was back on her feet, she looked toward Chase and Chris, then looked at Sarah. Five Furies were getting back up and getting their bearings near where she stood. Sarah didn’t seem to understand what had happened. Neither did Oryn in fact. All she knew is that she had heard an inhuman roar, and quickly after, the force field had dropped.

“Can she fight?” asked Oryn.

“I don’t think she has any hold on her powers,” said Chase.

“Then I’ll protect her.”

“No!” said Zeus. “I’ll take care of her, go help Chase.”

Oryn nodded and walked next to Chase with a limp. She created two large, icy blue fireballs in each hand, joined them, merging the attacks, and fired a third column of energy toward the ship.

Nearby, Argos stumbled back to the ground. He was exhausted; Oryn could feel his will to get back up, but he simply had run out of juice.

The super-destroyer kept gaining on them, even with Oryn’s beam added to the mix.

“It’s not working. What are we doing now? What if you teleport us all out of here?” she screamed.

“No! Keep at it; we can’t let that ship impact the planet.”

That’s when Oryn saw another half a dozen Furies fly toward them from a distance.

“Don’t want to be rude, but we have more incoming, and we can’t keep this up any longer.”

* * *

Sarah didn’t believe her eyes. She never expected she could unleash such destructive powers. She had never wanted these powers, but she did feel good when it was released from her body and sent all around her. Right now she felt much better, with little to no tension within her anymore. She wished she still had some power left when three Fury warriors positioned themselves around her. She was disoriented and didn’t really know what to do.

“Ares!” she cried.

He answered telepathically. Not much I can do in this form, Sarah. We can bail though.

Sarah considered it, but with her entire family fighting for their lives, it felt wrong to do so. Plus she wasn’t yet persuaded that another incident wouldn’t still happen, so better not put the Hope’s crew in danger.

“You’ve got another option?”

I could try and take control of your body, use your powers, unless you feel like you can try on your own.

She tried creating a fireball in her hand but nothing happened. She felt drained and unable to sense any powers she could use. One of the Furies stepped forward and cracked his knuckles.

“Yeah that ship has sailed. Do what you have to do, but do it fast!”

Sarah saw the Fury jump toward her with both his hands engulfed in fire, and as he got close, she felt a warm presence inside her mind and body before she lost control of her body.

Ares took over and dodged the incoming attack from the first Fury, but the other two joined in the fight and Ares had trouble keeping them off of her.

You’ve got to do better than this, said Sarah.

Thanks for the vote of confidence; you didn’t exactly leave much juice for me to work with.

Stop complaining and just get rid of these things.

Would go a lot easier if you didn’t fight my hold over your body. Try and think of sleeping if you can.

In a moment like this?

Ares did his best to dodge and block most attacks, but he was getting overwhelmed.

Unless you’d rather these guys kill you.

Are those my only two options?

I’m afraid at the moment they are.

Sarah tried letting go of her hold on her mind and was surprised how quickly it fell into darkness.

Now that Ares had full and unabridged control of Sarah’s body and mind, he started fighting back with more efficiency. He repelled one Fury with a powerful shockwave blast, blocked the incoming uppercut from the second, then turned around him and impaled the third with a beam of golden energy that left the Fury warrior with a smoldering hole in his chest, before collapsing to the ground.

Ares didn’t understand how, but he seemed to be able to add energy from his form and combine it with Sarah’s energy, which he didn’t expect to happen, since she was pretty much drained. It bought Ares some time at least.

The second Fury managed to get himself free and launched three powerful fireballs toward Ares. Ares teleported away from them one after the other and fired one back at his assailant. To Ares’ surprise, the Fury repelled it and sent it back toward him.

Ares took the attack on the shoulder and was thrown to the ground. Before he could get back to his feet, four more Furies were on top of him, kicking the shit out of Sarah’s body.

Hold on, son, heard Ares in his mind.

Ares felt a powerful discharge of energy in the vicinity, and the kicks to his borrowed body stopped. He looked up and saw three Furies already dead, with lightning bolts still sizzling around their lifeless bodies, falling to the ground. And then he saw the look of utter shock and pain in the two that were standing the nearest to him. Each with a shining blue, electrified arm bursting through their thoraxes, as electricity jolted them from within.

Zeus swiftly removed both his arms from the Furies’ thoraxes, and they collapsed to the ground with a satisfying thump.

“Keep her body safe, Ares, we need to get rid of that ship.”

Ares nodded. “Thanks, Father.”

Zeus winked at Ares, which sent a cascade of shivers down his borrowed spine. Zeus then turned around and raised his hands toward the sky. Thick black clouds emerged out of nowhere and multiple lightning bolts kept hitting Zeus one after the other. His cyan-colored aura kept growing at exponential speed as more lightning bolts hit him at a faster rate.

Ares knew how powerful his father was, but it was the first time he saw that much power emanate from him. Zeus’ eyes turned all white, his pupils disappearing, giving him an ominous look. When he spoke, his voice resonated all around. Ares felt every inflection of his father’s words tremble within Sarah’s body and organs.

“Let’s finish this,” said Zeus. Massive and chaotically discharging lightning-bolt spheres were created in each of Zeus’ hands. He fired them both at the ship. The velocity at which they left his body was so strong that intense winds pushed Ares, causing him to skid on the dusty ground.

Upon impact with the ship, the first lightning sphere took the shields out, and the second one passed through the massive destroyer as if it wasn’t there, promptly splitting it in half. All three repelling power beams then penetrated the ship’s hull and obliterated it into a million pieces.

* * *

When they saw their comrades in arms dead and the ship explode, the Fury reinforcement turned tail and flew the other way.

Multiple fireballs caught up with them and they exploded in the sky.

Chase winced. “Was that truly necessary?”

Argos dusted himself off and healed his side wound with what little energy he had left. He then pointed a finger toward Chase, “Don’t grow soft on me now, brother. They tried to kill us. We shouldn’t have pity for them.”

Chase was too tired and drained to argue with Argos’ logic. He was happy enough to have him as an ally on the battlefield for days like these.

Zeus and Sarah approached the rest of the group.

“Impressive how you dealt with that destroyer,” said Chase.

“If you hadn’t slowed it down first and taxed its shields, I couldn’t have dispatched it. This was a good team effort.”

Chase looked at Sarah, but something was off. She didn’t seem like herself. Upon letting his consciousness extend to her, he felt a familiar energy from within her.

“Ares?”

“Right, I should probably give Sarah control back over her body. Even if it lasted only a few moments, it felt good being inside a body made of flesh and blood.”

Sarah’s eyes closed and, soon after, a humanoid golden aura stepped out of her. When she opened her eyes, she could barely keep on her feet. Chase caught her and gave her some energy back.

“Thanks,” she said, kissing Chase on the cheek.

“It is us who should thank you; without your help we would probably all have perished here.”

Chris ran next to his mother and clapped her shoulder twice. “Thanks for the save, Mom. That was awesome!”

* * *

When Chase sat on the Hope’s captain’s chair, the battle with the Fury fleet was nearly over. The Mjölnir took one of the last Fury super-destroyers out and the last three enemy ships, all heavily damaged, jumped into hyperspace and left Droxia’s orbit.

“Incoming transmission,” said a member of the crew.

“On screen,” answered Chase.

Ronan’s face filled the holo-screen. Chase could see a smiling Ryonna behind him. There was something odd about her smile; it was one he had rarely seen on her face. When Ronan started speaking, he understood what hid behind the smile. A mother’s pride.

“Acting Captain Isch’ys to Captain Athanatos. As the last remaining Droxian ship to have survived this dark day, I would like to extend my personal thanks, as well as my people’s, for saving our world once more. We are in your debt.”

Chase got up from his chair and saluted Ronan.

“Thank you, Captain; seems to me you played your part in this victory as well. Droxia was the first race to have joined the Earth Alliance. We never forget our allies and our friends. We will always be there for you when you need us. I’m sorry you lost so many people today.”

“True, we have lost so much yet again. But thanks to the Alliance, we live to fight another day. This will only strengthen our resolve to defeat the Furies.”

Chase could barely believe this was the same boy they had helped break out of Hellstar Prison. He seemed so much more mature now even though only one year had passed. He had seen a lot of fighting and experienced a few close calls. The fact that Ryonna was onboard his ship told Chase that they had faced one together not too long ago.

“I’m glad to hear it. We’ll dispatch help to treat the injured and repair the damages shortly.”

“Thank you, Captain Athanatos. Isch’ys out.”

The holo-screen turned off.

Daniel, who had barely entered the bridge a moment ago, came and clapped Chase on the shoulder.

“Was that Ronan?”

“Yeah. I barely recognized him myself.”

“He’s growing up fast.”

“You can say that again.”

“I think Cedric would like a word with you; something or another about bringing Spiros back.”

“Right, I had almost forgotten about that. I’ll pass by Engineering soon.”

“Are you actually okay having him and Gaia trying to resurrect Spiros? I thought we wanted to avoid anything that could backfire on us.”

“I know how you feel, Daniel, but Spiros has given his life to save Earth, and Gaia deserves a chance to say goodbye.”

“So you resigned yourself to wiping her matrix soon?”

“Whether or not I give that order, I can tell you she will pull the trigger on her own if we don’t.”

“Doesn’t exactly make it feel right though, after all she did for us.”

Chase gazed momentarily outside the ship’s viewport at the scorched planet below before answering.

“No, it doesn’t.”

11

Sarah was still shaking when Chase teleported her to their quarters.

“Are you going to be alright, love?” inquired Chase.

“I— I don’t know. I never expected developing powers of that magnitude.”

“I’m sorry it frightens you, but you have to realize that you saved all our lives today, thanks to those powers. So perhaps there’s an unspoken message here.”

“This time!”

“The more you experience them, the easier it will be to get control of them.”

“Chase, that’s just it, I’m not sure I want that.”

“It’s the adrenaline talking. You’re stronger than you think you are. I know this about you.”

Sarah smiled for a few seconds, but then her face melted into a frown.

“What if I can’t control them, or worse, lose control? And we both know you can relate to that directly.”

Chase’s face turned serious.

“It’s a possibility. But I’ll be there all the way to help you get a grasp on the power growing in you.”

“I have no doubt that you will do everything to help me. That’s not what terrifies me.”

“What is it, then?”

“What if I become not only a liability to you, Chris and perhaps even a ship this size?” said Sarah, letting an absent finger wave around the air. “What if I put thousands in danger, or even millions? What if I endanger my world even?”

“Not gonna happen,” said Chase firmly.

“You can’t be sure of that. Without some sort of confidence and belief you wouldn’t have prevailed; we both know you would have let Argos take us over. When you thought I was dead, you lost your drive and even your will to live.”

She was, of course, quite right. And Chase could not deny it, and he sensed she wasn’t done making her point.

“With all the good intentions you may have, you can’t guarantee with absolute certainty that one day I could very well become a threat, either to you or to an incalculable number of lives. Can you?”

Nothing was certain. Not only to one life in particular, but it applied to the future as well. Aphroditis had explained to him that the actions of each and everyone living in the universe was actually creating reality, even if she had the ability to perceive more than one possible outcome from her abilities. The mere thought brought Chase’s mind back to the fact that Aphroditis was his aunt and that with every second that passed, she was suffering. He had to do something about it, but right now he needed to be there for Sarah.

Chase shook his head.

“I can’t. Not with absolute certainty.”

“Then what do we do if that ever happens?”

“What about using that idiom from your planet, ‘we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it’?”

“Yeah, I have no doubt we will, but that won’t exactly give me peace of mind, now will it?”

Chase thought he sensed something in her last statement and guessed where she was going with it. It was not something he wanted to tell Sarah out loud. In fact, he didn’t know if he was capable of telling her. Still, he owed it to her to not walk away from this talk, and to help her deal with fears he himself had to face not so long ago.

“What is it you’d like us to do about it?”

Her face relaxed a little.

“I want you to promise me that if I ever become a threat, you’ll deal with it.”

And there he was, faced with dealing with something he wasn’t willing to even tread on, much less promise anything on the subject. But then again he couldn’t patronize her either, he loved her too much for that. So Chase took a long deep breath and said these words he had hoped he would never have to say out loud.

“Even though I’m confident it won’t come to that⁠—”

“Chase,” she interrupted.

“Let me finish?”

She nodded.

“Even though we won’t let it come to that, if it comes to that point, I—” his eyes watered, “I will deal with it.”

“Promise?”

Chase flinched.

Could he give his word? Could he be sure beforehand how he would deal with such a situation? Chase knew he couldn’t. And while he wouldn’t know for sure until that unlikely situation ever arose, he could do something now to help a frightened Sarah regain her confidence. And not keep that question hanging on her head while she dealt with her burgeoning powers. And so he did.

“I promise you on our son’s life.”

* * *

Chase went to see Cedric in Engineering.

“Argos told me about the clones.”

“I hope you’re not upset I went ahead and asked him while you were away. I thought time was of the essence. We don’t exactly know how long Spiros’ consciousness can survive inside that tech we’ve saved him in. That and his soul. Have you seen Hades yet?”

“That’s alright, Cedric, you did good.”

Chase could tell from Cedric’s facial expression it was not the reaction he had expected from him.

“And no, not yet,” Chase continued. “But he knows to keep Spiros’ soul in the Underworld until it’s time to try and resurrect him in that new clone body.”

“Yeah, let’s hope this doesn’t turn out ugly, though. I’m still unsure we can really bring him back.”

“I owe it to Gaia to at least try.”

“She feels horrible; she’s been staying in one of the cargo bays. I think she’s too ashamed to be seen.”

“That business with Gaia 2 wasn’t her fault. At least, she didn’t intend it to turn out that way.”

“No, I know she didn’t, but at one point in time she decided to protect herself against us, and while it took us a while to trust her, we did get there and took a leap of faith in doing so.”

“That’s not entirely true. We took steps to protect ourselves from her and since we didn’t have any ideal failsafe, we kept looking for one.”

“Your point being?”

“I’m not trying to make a point, Cedric. Just showing you that her involuntary action resulting into Gaia 2 turning against us is not any different than how we ourselves dealt with her emergence. It’s human nature, after all, the will to survive. Not to mention that if it hadn’t been for her alter ego’s vengeful return, we might not be standing here having this conversation.”

Cedric chuckled.

“What did I say that’s so funny?”

“Nothing, and good job on not trying to make a point.”

Chase smiled.

* * *

Gaia was scared. Not of humans or Chase, but of herself. If at one point in time she had created such a vile duplicate of herself, without ever wanting to, what else could she become? Until it was time to be put down for good, she would stay hidden, alone, in her despair. The only thing inside her artificial consciousness that prevented her from putting an end to her own life was Spiros, or more precisely, the hope to see him again. At least one more time, so she could tell him how much she loved him.

But had she the right to do this? She pondered the question for trillions of cycles. She was almost certain he felt the same for her. When he had tried to speak to her before he was gruesomely executed in front of her eyes, he had not managed to form comprehensible words, but Gaia knew she felt the emotional weight behind his intonations.

So then, if she would kill herself once she had told him she loved him, did she have the right to impact his heart in such a way? She knew how she felt about losing him, so how could she impose that on him? Should she stay silent then? Just say goodbye? But was that option any better and less cruel?

That’s all Gaia kept thinking in terms of the infinite loop inside her mind, at a speed thousands upon thousands of times faster than a human brain could function, and it was starting to take a toll on her.

She got snatched away from these thoughts the moment the cargo bay doors split open.

“Gaia?” said a familiar voice.

It was Chase. She was ashamed of herself and would rather he went away, so she didn’t answer.

“Gaia, are you in here?” he persisted.

Then she realized he could provide her with a way out. A third option. One that wouldn’t allow her to ever see Spiros again but that could very well preserve him from heartbreak.

She jumped from behind the cover of the large containers where she had sought her solitude and fired an energy-based fireball toward Chase’s face.

Her attack hit Chase’s raised open hand and the energy was dissipated as if it was nothing.

Chase’s entire face grew somber. “Gaia—? What are you doing?”

There was no turning back, so she decided to let this play out and hope it was the right decision.

“You really thought you could kill me that easily?” said Gaia doing her best imitation of her evil twin sister.

Chase immediately assumed a defensive stance and his growing aura filled the room with purple hues.

There is no turning back. Goodbye Chase. Please, forgive me. And goodbye Spiros, you who gave my entire life meaning. I shall forever miss you.

Gaia hurled herself toward her friend with all her might, and she used ninety-nine percent of her processing power to run all the best fighting sub-routines she had acquired by watching Chase and Chris train. She managed to hit Chase twice in the fifty devastating seconds of combat before Chase decided it was time to end it.

He deflected her left jab and blocked her right uppercut before it could build any sort of momentum. Then his eyes flashed orange, and his speed was beyond anything Gaia could do, even when she had the entire processing power of the Earth at her disposal. Chase used his free hand to smash his palm against her metallic torso. She felt the metal bend from the impact as she skidded a few feet on the slippery anthracite cargo bay floor.

Her internal sensor array projected an error message in her virtual HUD. She had designed the battle bots to emulate how a human inside a suit would feel. It made her feel more human using them this way. The message blinked: “Structural integrity compromised, battery power leak detected. Time to complete system failure under three minutes.”

She tried taking a step forward, but instead, her metallic avatar body stumbled, and she fell onto her knees.

Chase’s aura had turned orange, and he slowly walked toward her with determination.

She was glad. Chase was doing what needed to be done. She couldn’t help but think of Spiros and let her memories of him overload her mental pathways.

Chase stopped a yard away from her, pointed an open palm at her chest, and a crackling golden fireball appeared in his hand. He stood there, the fireball hum resonating throughout the large room, for longer than she expected. What was he waiting for? She was ready, the time had come.

“What are you waiting for, Fury?! Finish this once and for all.”

The energy inside Chase’s hand dissipated, his hair stopped waving about and his eyes recovered their natural purple color.

“Why are you doing this, Gaia? I know you’re not my enemy, why are you trying to convince me otherwise?”

Her deception had failed, but it mattered not, her systems were failing, and the end was imminent. Her goal had been achieved.

“I have caused enough pain and suffering, Chase. My time has come.”

Chase grimaced. “It was not your fault.”

“It doesn’t matter, Chase. I can’t live with the guilt of what my actions have brought upon the planet I so wanted to protect. I’ve put it in more jeopardy than I ever blamed humans doing so. How naive I was, to think I knew better!”

“That wasn’t naive. Humans can’t always help themselves, and believe it or not, that’s okay. I’m not saying I was a big fan of Earth’s people when we first came to the planet. But you know, it’s often easy to judge others for things we ourselves aren’t exactly doing any better. We pointed an accusing finger because we were more advanced than them. But we’ve been there too, or so the history books say. I…I don’t know, perhaps I was there, perhaps not, I still can’t remember, nor do I wish to. But we made similar mistakes with our environment until we discovered that our survival was at stake. And in this I don’t think humans are very different than any other sentient species in the universe. When survival is at stake, we do what we need to in order to survive.”

“I know what you’re saying, Chase. I too misjudged and came to conclusions by looking at the cold hard facts. I knew in my mind and shall I dare say, my heart, that there were all sorts of people, that the action of the many didn’t mean it would have been right to punish the few, like I was ready to do at one point.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“Spiros.”

“I hear he’s not fully lost to us.”

“He is to me. I can’t be allowed to live until he returns, no matter under what form.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want him to suffer.”

“And dying now achieves that how, exactly? From what I sensed from his last moments, he feels the same about you. He will suffer to know you are gone, just like you suffered when he died. Except you didn’t accept it, you found a way to transcend beyond his death, and now that he’s about to be returned to you, you’re taking the easy way out?”

“It’s best for everyone.”

“No, it’s not. It’s perhaps best for your conscience. But how will he feel knowing you did everything to bring him back but couldn’t find the courage to at least say goodbye?”

“You could say goodbye for me.”

“Hell no! That’s not a conversation I belong in, and you know it. If you had been destroyed while fighting Gaia 2 instead of trying to die by ‘suicide by Fury’, I would have told him how you felt. But now more than ever, it’s clear to me that you need to do that face to face.”

Another warning flashed in her mind: “Total system failure in thirty seconds.”

“It’s too late, my systems are failing. In a few seconds, I will be gone.”

“The hell you are.”

Chase put his hand on her crushed metallic body and his aura turned white. He closed his eyes and she felt a foreign energy invade inside each of her avatar’s circuit. The bent metal took back its shape, the battery stopped leaking and soon all damage messages and inner alerts stopped.

“I thought you could revive only living beings. How did you manage to do that?”

“I also have the ability to affect machines, as you’re well aware. I just found all your nanites, and gave them a boost of energy allowing them to do their tasks in a fraction of the time. And I just re-activated the sub-routines in charge to heal your avatar that you had disabled and sent the super charged nanites on their way.”

“You never cease to amaze, Chase. But that doesn’t change anything, I still need to be decommissioned.”

“Perhaps, but not this way. Now, let’s go, I actually came here for a reason.”

“And what’s that? Fury?”

Chase’s look turned grave and then he chuckled. “That’s not funny!”

“Then why are you laughing?”

“’Cause for just a moment, you had me going.”

A large part of her was happy her plan failed. She wanted to see Spiros, even more now. At the very least she owed him a last goodbye. But she wasn’t yet feeling like leaving her current self-imposed isolation just yet. So it was with worry that she asked:

“What is it we need to do that requires my presence, Chase?”

“The Commodore’s funeral. I think you should attend.”

“You can’t be serious. Everyone in their right mind should blame me for this, and you want me to show my face there?”

“That’s exactly why I want you there, because you’re wrong about your perception of what people think about you, but most importantly, and this supersedes any other arguments we could have on the subject, because Commodore Saroudis would have wanted you there.”

If her metallic avatar had been built with the function to cry, she would have. Instead, her emotional network of sadness, gratefulness and love fired up.

“Thank you, Chase. Lead the way.”

12

Thor was reviewing battle logs on his desk in his captain’s ready room when his comm link beeped.

“What is it?”

“The Fury named Oryn arrived on the bridge.”

“Very well; show her to my ready room.”

Thor swiped off the communications, got up from his chair, and walked toward the sliding doors. When they opened, Thor momentarily observed the Fury female.

“Please, come in.”

She nodded before entering.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” continued Thor.

“Chase is otherwise engaged, planning the funeral of his commanding officer.”

“So Commander Kepler has informed me. Would you like anything to drink?”

“I’m fine, thank you. We do, however, need to talk urgently.”

Thor’s tattoos blinked three times successively. “I’m listening.”

“I don’t know how to say this any other way so— Arakan wants to assassinate your Father.”

Thor’s tattoos muted and his facial features darkened. “How would you know that, Fury?”

Oryn winced, but Thor could tell she decided to let whatever annoyed her slip by.

“Before I— defected, I was part of a special group of Fury, a tactical Strike Force if you will, that Arakan used to call upon for very sensitive missions. I’ve received the latest mission brief. I can only surmise that Arakan has no idea that I’m no longer fighting on his side.”

“How fast are they going to get to Asgard?”

“Well, fortunately, Fury FTL engine technology is much slower than yours. But we must hurry nonetheless since Asgard isn’t that far away from Erevos.”

Light and pulses returned to Thor’s tattoos. “Thank you, I’ll deal with this,” said Thor before turning his back to Oryn.

“You have to let us help you; we’re coming with you to Asgard anyway.”

Without turning back around, Thor answered. “We’ll see. You’re not exactly someone I’m willing to trust just yet. But since Captain Athanatos sent you, I’ll give your warning the consideration it deserves.”

Not long after Thor had finished talking, he felt the temperature around him fall dramatically and a small layer of ice fused his feet to the floor.

“Your short temper isn’t exactly making it easier for me to trust you.”

“And talking with me with your back turned, not even looking me in the eyes, that’s what exactly? Asgardian manners?”

Thor let a low growl escape, and soon an emerald aura engulfed him. A few seconds later, the ice layer around his boots shattered and was consumed by Thor’s aura. When he turned back toward Oryn, his tattoos not only flashed, they actually morphed into different shapes on his face, growing sharper and spikier, giving Thor an even bigger presence.

“That’s better,” said Oryn before the blue in her eyes crystallized into a deep cyan and a small layer of ice covered the area around her eyes. “I understand your reluctance to trust us, but don’t disrespect me, Asgardian!”

Thor extended an arm forward. “Mjölnir!” he said sharply, calling upon his weapon.

Lights within his forearm’s armor blinked and traveled toward his fingers. A holographic jade-colored 3D wireframe shape drew itself in the air. In less than a second the shape of a hammer appeared, lighting brightly with the same intensity as Thor’s dancing aura, until it solidified into a physical object. A series of illuminated runes flashed from all corners of the perfectly carved metal slab forming the hammer’s head. Rings of light illuminated downward in succession on the weapon’s handle. When they reached the handle, Thor’s aura engulfed the entire hammer as if it fed its energy from the Asgardian warrior.

Oryn instinctively took a defensive stance and her icy aura intensified. “What’s going on, Thor? We’re not your enemy!”

“And yet you used your powers on me, without impunity!”

“I was just trying to get your attention,” declared Oryn, her eyes shining like two diamonds.

“You had my attention,” cried Thor before touching a control on his wrist armor.

A circular cylinder of green energy grew under Oryn’s feet, and before she could react, it shot upward and trapped her in a force field emitting translucent emerald light. She tried getting out of it, but the field countered every move she made with pain feedbacks.

“Don’t— don’t do— this!” she barked through clenched teeth.

Thor disregarded her plea and threw his hammer-wielding hand toward her face. He saw fear in her eyes as the shiny metallic hammer grew closer to Oryn’s helpless face.

The hammer stopped less than an inch away from her cheek, and the sudden stop in motion and resulting shockwave threw Oryn’s hair backward. Thor could tell from Oryn’s expression that she understood the amount of power his hammer yielded.

“Why— why did you stop?” she said defiantly.

“Because I don’t think Captain Athanatos would look upon me with much regard if I killed you this way.”

“I’m not— that easy to kill,” said Oryn before closing her eyes.

Her aura quadrupled in size and the emerald tinted force field turned blue little by little, and eventually ice started growing around it. Thor took a few steps back and had to intensify his own aura to protect his skin from frostbite.

“You can’t get out of this with your parlor tricks,” said Thor.

When Oryn re-opened her eyes, even though most of her silhouette appeared hazy through the ever-growing layer of ice around the force field, Thor could see a strong glacial light shining from them.

Impressive. I wonder if all Furies are so resilient.

Oryn unleashed a war cry that made the entire Asgardian ship tremble, and her self-constructed icy prison exploded into a million shards of ice, taking the force field out with it. Through a thick layer of vapor, she growled and started walking toward Thor. Each step she took flash-froze the floor under her feet.

“That’s an impressive display. I know of no other species that ever escaped this technology. Tell me, is that how you would plan to kill my Father if you hadn’t switched sides and still were part of that Strike Force?”

That seemed to stop Oryn in her tracks. The intensity in her eyes softened.

Thor opened his hammer-wielding hand and grabbed his wrist with his other hand. The powerfully majestic weapon levitated upward and deconstructed into thin air.

“Are you insane? Without your hammer you don’t stand a chance!”

“I thought we weren’t enemies,” said Thor with a grin.

Oryn’s eyes stopped glowing altogether and her aura died down.

“What the hell was that? Why did you stop?” demanded Oryn.

“Before I go into battle with strangers, I like to know what they’re capable of. If what you say is true, then I thank you for coming forward with this information.”

Oryn was panting. She had exerted a lot of energy getting out of the force field.

“There’s a chance this could be a trap to get either Chase, myself, or both of us to go exactly where Arakan wants us to be.”

Thor reflected on the words and nodded his head slightly.

“Thank you for your honesty. But it seems to me that no matter what Arakan’s plans are, Asgard is now involved. Have Captain Athanatos quickly wrap up his affairs around Droxia; we need to get back to my home world. I no longer think you’re lying. At least not anymore, unlike the first time you told me my world was the next target.”

Oryn’s eyes widened. “You knew?”

“Do you think I lived over seventy thousand years without knowing when I’m being played?”

“Then why even help us and come to Droxia with us? I don’t understand.”

“You’re young, one day you will understand. Odin doesn’t think we should enter this conflict. But as Athena has not-so-subtlety reminded me, we’re a proud warrior race, and as much as I try following my father’s wishes to the letter, he and I don’t see eye to eye regarding the Furies and the threat they pose. You’ve just demonstrated that I was right to follow my gut feeling. And for future reference, on Asgard, turning one’s back on a stranger or even an enemy, is a sign of respect. You may want to make a note of that for future reference. Not all Asgardians will extend you the courtesy of giving you the benefit of the doubt in a similar situation.”

“I couldn’t have known.”

“As I couldn’t have known if you’re worthy of coming with me to Asgard— now I do. I’m looking forward to seeing your powers in action when the time comes.”

“As I am yours. I— I don’t know what else to say.”

“Then it seems our meeting has come to a close, you’re—” Thor paused for a moment then smiled. “Respectfully dismissed.”

Oryn chuckled before leaving Thor’s ready room.

* * *

Chase stood on the podium in one of the Hope’s hangar bays. Almost everyone but a skeleton crew left to care for the ship was present. Gaia stood in the back, not willing to attract too much attention upon herself. All of Chase’s family and close friends were right in front of him. Even Argos had come, which Chase hadn’t expected.

“We’re here to honor the memory of a great man. Commodore Saroudis is no longer amongst us, and I know you all feel the same void in your hearts that I do. We’re all lesser for it. Today we have lost the most courageous, honorable and kind person I have ever had the honor to serve with. Someone that has been a father figure to me, someone I knew I could always count on, no matter how dire the situation seemed to be. There are no words for me to express the pain his passing has brought upon me.

“My heart goes out to his family, his wife, Alexandra, and his daughter, Sendra. They’re too far away to be here today. And, perhaps it’s better that way⁠—”

Chase had to suppress tears forming in his eyes.

“I— I gave him my word that I would take care of his family. But the truth is, you all are his family. I’m sure none of you will object to the statement that Adonis was more than just a commanding officer to us. We all looked up to him, and the void his passing has created will be impossible to fill⁠—”

Chase took one deep breath. He still felt responsible for not being able to save his friend and commanding officer. And addressing the crew about Adonis was as hard as he thought it would be.

“I wish we had more time to pause, reflect and properly pay reverence to Commodore Saroudis. But if he were here today, I know he’d be laser-focused on finding a way to destroy the Furies, to remove this scourge from our existence, and to try to build the lasting peace we all seek deep within our hearts. There are still many battles ahead of us. Not everyone present here today will see that day when the Furies are no more. But I promise you, in Saroudis’ memory, that I won’t stop fighting until that day comes.”

Chase turned to the holographic projection of the commodore standing a few feet away from him and saluted. “Goodbye, old friend.”

The entire crew saluted at once. Chase scanned the cargo bay and could read sorrow in everyone’s eyes. But his last words had also sparked some determination in the looks of all the officers present. Chase could feel they all wanted the same: to be done with war, to live their lives in peace, like it should be.

“I believe Emperor Altair would like to say a few words now.”

There were murmurs in between the ranks. Chase couldn’t blame the crew for not being too keen with their feelings for the Emperor. Even though the Obsidian Empire had been a valuable ally ever since they joined the Earth Alliance, for the ex-Star Alliance crew onboard the Hope, the scars of their recent war with them were still fresh. The Emperor still represented the face of the enemy in many of the crew’s hearts. To Chase’s dismay, a few crewmen even left the cargo bay before the Emperor had stepped up to the podium. He regretted this attitude but he couldn’t blame them.

Chase and the Emperor briefly shook hands and Chase lightly touched the Emperor’s shoulder before stepping down from the podium.

The Emperor stood tall and looked at everyone in the cargo bay for a moment before speaking.

“I know many of you probably hate me, and I’m not even going to pretend that you shouldn’t. A little over a year ago, both our people were still at war. And now we’re part of the same Alliance. I know it makes a lot of you uneasy. In fact, many of my people feel the same as you do. But today I ask that you put that aside just for a few moments while we remember a great man, someone I feel blessed to have made peace with and even someone I could, with no shortage of pride, call my friend.

“Commodore Saroudis was a gentle soul driven by the highest morale compass I have ever known. He knew when to make the tough calls, and his courage shall not be forgotten. I was lucky to have been able to spend some quality time with the Commodore in his last days. Even with all the blood that stood in between our people, we’ve put an old grudge to the side in order to build a bridge between us that I hope will last for thousands of years to come. I’m weary of war, and I’m sure you are as well.

“While my heart cries for his absence, as I’m sure yours does too, my soul burns for retribution. The Furies have set our corner of the universe ablaze. They conquer, kill and destroy without any regard for life. And in this I know we agree, they must be stopped! Let’s bring the peace that your commanding officer has always wanted for everyone in this universe. The Furies can be defeated! If anything, we’ve proven that together we can prevail.”

A few faces in the crew nodded. Chase was worried that they might actually start heckling the Emperor, but so far it was going better than he expected.

“There is however the question of who will lead us toward the rest of this war with the Furies⁠—”

Chase felt the mood of many of the crew change from solemn to agitated. He himself wondered where the Emperor’s speech was going, and why.

“Not you!” shouted a crewman, which then sent the entire cargo bay into a cacophony of complaints and negativity.

The Emperor raised two open palms. “Please, if I could only finish⁠—”

What is that snake doing? protested Argos telepathically.

Why don’t we wait to hear what he has to say and give him the benefit of the doubt, shall we?

Sure, but I am not taking orders from him...ever!

Duly noted.

“Please, if I can have your attention for just a moment—” the Emperor pleaded.

But there was no calming the crew. So Chase intervened even though he didn’t want to. He levitated above them and transformed into his Ultra Fury form; both his eyes and aura burned a bright orange, and then he screamed: “Silence!”

The words were so deep, and his voice so powerful, that it could be felt within each and everyone’s bodies, making their organs vibrate. The noise level quickly faded to a whisper. Chase landed back on the floor of the cargo bay, right in front of the podium, and his hair flew down his back as his eyes returned to their purple color.

“Please, let the Emperor speak. If the Commodore trusted him, that’s good enough for me, and it should be good enough for everyone of you.”

Chase turned toward the Emperor. “Please, continue.”

“Thank you, Captain Athanatos.”

“Commodore Saroudis was a leader, and in these desperate times, this Alliance still needs one. And let me put all of your minds at ease right away: I have no intention to be that leader. Not only am I fully aware I don’t deserve this position, but there is someone way more suited to the task present in this room.”

I wonder who he has in mind, thought Chase.

“Someone you all have come to trust and respect, to whom you probably owe your lives to, many times over. But we can’t just have a captain lead an entire Alliance to victory. So it is with great honor that I propose who your new commanding officer should be. Effective immediately, and with the authority my rank bestows me, I would like to promote Captain Chase Athanatos to the rank of Admiral. I also propose he rightfully takes the reigns of the Alliance his courage and resilience has helped build in the first place. I know if the Commodore were with us today, he’d agree.”

What the— Admiral? For the love of the gods!

Congratulations, brother. Look at it this way, you’ve always loved sticking it to the man, now it seems you’re going to be the man.

Shut up, Argos!

We both know you have done exactly what you wanted from day one, at least now nobody can tell you what to do or not to do since you’re outranking everyone. The universe really can have a great sense of humor, sometimes.

Chase exhaled a long breath as he heard Argos laugh in his mind.

The crowd cheered and applauded.

“Would you come back to the podium, if you so please, Admiral?” asked the Emperor.

Chase caught a glimpse of Sarah smiling and Daniel flashing him two thumbs up as he returned to the podium and shook the Emperor’s hand. He leaned his face next to the Emperor’s ear and took advantage of the loud cheers to ask him something privately.

“You do realize I know nothing of commanding people?”

“Even though my time spent with Adonis was short, he spoke very highly of you. In fact, he said that he felt that his command of the fleet and rank didn’t reflect who was truly leading the Alliance. That even if you weren’t consciously aware of it, you were the one at the helm.”

Chase reflected on the Emperor’s words as the crowd started chanting his name. Had he somehow taken control of the Alliance without even realizing? He knew that once he made up his mind about something, he would go through with it, and well, as such, he almost always removed himself from the chain of command. But rank and recognition really didn’t matter to him. The only thing that mattered was to stop the Furies, rescue his aunt Aphroditis and make sure that the least possible amount of lives was lost in the process.

When Chase faced the crew, they stopped cheering to let him speak.

“I don’t really know what to say, but I’m honored by the faith you all put in me. You know I’ll do everything to make sure the Furies are stopped, no matter the cost. I know that together we can prevail and remove that evil from our lives. As you all know, we’re now inside an accelerated hyperspace corridor en route to Asgard. Upon arrival, we’ll have to stop the nefarious plans the Furies have for what we all hope will become a new ally. I know Commodore Saroudis is proud of each and every one of you, and that, like me, he knows we’ll finish what we started together.”

Chase raised a fist in the air. “For Saroudis!”

The entire crew echoed Chase’s words in unison. “For Saroudis!”

13

Onboard the Fury transport ship Lathraía, the leader of the Prime Strike Force, Afthartos, walked into the ship’s cargo bay, where the rest of his team reviewed their mission details projected from their armors’ embedded holo-projector. Afthartos was the tallest of them, towering at seven feet four inches. His long white hair commanded respect amongst his peers.

“I hope you have studied your mission brief well. We can’t afford any mistakes. We either come back with Odin’s head or not at all.”

“Do we know how powerful the head of the Asgardian will be?” inquired Tax’hitita, the only female of the group, who everyone called Tax.

Tax had short blonde hair with pink highlights. It gave her a juvenile look that often destabilized her enemies, falsely projecting a sense of inexperienced youth that proved fatal to anyone making that rookie mistake.

“Information on the subject is scarce. But he didn’t assume the throne of Asgard by mistake. I have no doubt that he’s a powerful and skilled fighter. But together I’m sure we can bring him down.”

The Fury sitting next to Tax, a long-bearded Fury with a metallic prosthetic arm named Grothias made a throaty noise. “I know nobody wants to ask the question, but I’m sure it’s on everyone’s mind. What of Oryn?”

“She’s an unknown element,” replied Afthartos. “Perhaps she’s already en route to join us in the mission.”

The farthest seated Fury, Kolpas, got up and twisted his neck, making a popping sound. “And perhaps she’s no longer one of us.”

“We don’t know that,” answered the fifth Fury, Exipnos, passing his fingers through his red hair. “Never assume anything. She might just have been delayed in her mission to assassinate the traitor.”

“Which one?” snorted Grothias as he made a fist with his mechanized hand.

Afthartos moved to stand in the center of the group.

“Argos and Laiyos, or Chase as he’s been mentioned in your mission briefs, are both powerful Furies and traitors to our people. They are however not to be underestimated. Timoros learned that the hard way. As for Oryn, it doesn’t matter right now. In her absence, I have been given command of this Strike Force. If she comes back and is onboard with the parameters of the mission, then she can relieve me and lead us like we’re all used to. But until that moment comes, we’ll proceed with the assumption that she is either dead or lost to us.”

“I sure would like to know who can defeat Oryn?” said Tax with a nervous chuckle.

“There’s always someone more powerful,” said Exipnos, his eyes fixed on the floor, looking at a bug. “Let’s not forget that this Chase traitor killed Timoros with a single attack. I’ll let that sink into everyone’s brains, as it should.”

“Exipnos is correct,” said Afthartos. “But our primary mission objective is to bring back Odin’s head. If we have to engage Chase and his friends to get that job done, then that’s what we’ll do. But I want no bravado, people. Each of us has been selected to be a part of this Strike Force for a reason; we all have unique assets to contribute in this fight. There is strength in numbers, and together we can prevail. I don’t want anyone trying to go solo; do I make myself clear?”

“Clear,” answered the rest of the warriors in unison.

* * *

Ryonna and Tar’Lock arrived near the cargo bay where Argos had his lab and stopped in front of the door.

“What are we waiting for?”

Ryonna still couldn’t get over the fact that she hated Argos and wanted to see him die. Sure he had helped save her world today, but the entire thing, the whole reason for this second attack was Argos’ fault in the first place. Why wouldn’t Chase and the others see that? It was simple causality. Chase had allowed that animal to live, and even if he eventually became a pet of sorts, he was still a killing machine once upon a time.

“I hate Argos. I just wish we didn’t need his help,” spat Ryonna.

“If you’d rather we go to my home world without his tech, we can do that. Might be more difficult, but I’m sure we can make it work.”

Ryonna thought about it. Tar’Lock rarely argued with her and she knew why. Even though she wasn’t ready to ever trust another man like she trusted her husband, and have that kind of bond, she liked the little guy. He was inherently good, unlike Argos. Still, Chase trusted Argos now, at least on some level, so perhaps she should put aside her own feelings on the matter.

“No, Tar’Lock. Argos’ tech will make our mission simpler. I just⁠—”

Tar’Lock put his hand on her forearm and smiled at her. “I know.”

Ryonna nodded as they entered Argos’ lab. The first thing she saw made her eyes widen. A naked Spiros was floating inside one of Argos’ contraptions.

“What the hell is this?”

Argos was walking and typing into a holographic data pad as he approached the pair. Without taking his eyes off of his data, he answered.

“That would be Spiros’ next body. He’s almost ready, in fact.”

“I thought Spiros was dead,” said Tar’Lock.

Argos lifted his head and looked into the insectoid’s eyes. “Oh, but he is.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We have other things to look over and I’m on a short schedule here, so let me give you the condensed version of this story. Gaia saved Spiros’ consciousness, Cedric stored that into the ancient device you,” said Argos pointing toward Ryonna, “brought back a while ago, Chase asked Hades to keep Spiros’ soul on ice— so to speak, and I’m cloning him a body so that he can be brought back to life. Did I forget anything? No— I think that about sums it up.”

Tar’Lock turned to Ryonna, and she could clearly see in his baffled look that he had trouble following Argos’ explanation of the situation.

“The dead should stay dead,” said Ryonna coldly.

“Well, it wasn’t my idea, and since Chase has a soft side for Gaia—” Argos threw his hands to the side, “here we are. But that’s not why you’re here.”

Argos went to a nearby table and grabbed a small device. It had a red pulsating line in its center. “That, in fact, is what you came for,” said Argos before handing the device to Ryonna.

“How does it work?” she asked.

“It’s actually pretty simple. Stick the device to your temple, and it will project a holographic HUD with the relevant commands. There are different modes you can use.”

“Such as?”

“Well, you can do a suggestion, reverse a mind control order that was assigned to the Gorgars, or simply implant one of your own. I’ve added a new feature. Once you’ve removed the current programming, or installed one of your own, you can now encrypt the last command so it can’t be changed by anyone else but the device holder.”

“We don’t want my people to become slaves to a new master,” protested Tar’Lock with a series of nervous clicks.

Argos turned toward him. “Be that as it may, my little insectoid friend, your brains are easily hacked, so unless you protect it with this device, the Furies or any other malevolent species, could re-program your people to do their bidding at any time.”

Tar’Lock clicked faster. “Little insectoid friend?”

“Too much?”

“Never mind. How fast will this act?”

“As you know, when you are on your planet, your consciousness exists in two forms: your own thoughts and memories, and the hive mind. The hive mind is that part of your brain that allows the mind suggestion or even control of your species. Once you implant a new directive, it will almost instantly affect all of your people who, right now, are working day and night, relentlessly, to deliver precious resources the Furies need.”

“And I guess the Furies have you to thank for the Gorgar being a slave race,” snorted Ryonna.

“Look, I don’t expect you to ever like me or trust me. I wouldn’t if I were in your place. But yes, the Furies tasked me with a mission, and I executed it. If I could take it back I would, and in providing you the tech to reverse my doing, I’m doing exactly that.”

Ryonna shook her head. “Whatever helps you sleep at night. What about the Gorgars’ memories? You had mentioned the ability to expand their limited memory capacities as well.”

Argos grabbed another device on the table and showed it to Tar’Lock.

“This is a prototype. And I’ve included the schematics in the main device. If you find a Gorgar willing to test it, and in case it works, then you can duplicate it.”

Argos dropped the pill-looking device in Tar’Lock’s open palm.

“It looks like medicine.”

“And it could be considered like it, too. It’s a swallowable pill containing millions of nanites ready to position themselves into the subject’s brain, create a second neuronal network and bridge it with his or her current memory pathways. It should be able to multiply your species’ memory capacity significantly.”

“Care to be a little more precise?”

“Like I said, it’s a prototype. In simulations it resulted in a thirty-five to fifty increase.”

“Fifty percent of a small memory seems like a small upgrade,” commented Ryonna.

“Who said anything about percents?” corrected Argos. “It will multiply a Gorgar’s memory capacity up to fifty times.”

Tar’Lock’s smile lit up his entire face. “Is there any risk in trying this prototype?”

“I’d rather you didn’t use it on yourself. Chase is quite fond of you, for some reason.”

Tar’Lock clicked at Argos’ snarky remark.

“What are the chances it could do irreparable damage?”

“I don’t know, probably less than one percent but⁠—”

Argos was unable to finish his sentence as Tar’Lock gobbled the pill. Before he could swallow it, Argos slapped the back of the Gorgar’s neck as gently as he could muster and Tar’Lock spat out the pill.

Argos caught the pill and looked slightly bothered by its new coat of spit.

“Hey!” he protested.

“I said try it on another one of your kind. You either agree to my terms or I crush that only prototype and won’t make another one. Are we clear?”

“Argos!” warned Ryonna.

“This is not a negotiation. You guys will be on the Gorgar home world in the next few hours, and you can take that opportunity to test it then. Do we have a deal?”

Tar’Lock extended an open palm and nodded, but Argos turned toward Ryonna.

“Give me your word you won’t let him swallow that thing? And only give it to someone willing to test it.”

“Hey, I could have given you my word,” protested Tar’Lock.

Argos shot Tar’Lock an intense look that made the Gorgar nervously click a small symphony before returning his attention to Ryonna.

“So?”

“You have my word,” said Ryonna as she took the pill from Argos.

“I have to get back to work on Spiros’ clone, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m sure you’ll find your way out of the lab.”

* * *

Arakan descended to the lower levels of the underground prisons built under his palace. The place was moist, smelly and infested with rodents. For some reason his daughter Oryn really liked to play around this place when she was younger. Thinking of Oryn stung Arakan’s heart. Even though she wasn’t his biological progeny, he had always considered and treated her like his own child. In fact, he had even shown preference toward her over Miseo, his only blood child. And now he had none left. Perhaps Oryn would come back, but possibly she had been killed by Chase. Before the fleet he had sent to Droxia got defeated, they had relayed information that the traitor Chase and his friends had engaged the planet-bound Fury forces. A female Fury had been spotted. However, there was no confirmation that it was actually Oryn.

Arakan felt a strange sensation in his old bones before the shadow appeared next to him and then walked backward to stand in front of him.

He grimaced. “You again! What part of leave me alone didn’t you understand?”

The shadow looked from side to side. His red eyes thinned into two crimson lines amidst the darkness. “What is this wretched place?”

“This is where people who annoy me end up. Ironic that you appeared to me here.”

“Is that sarcasm I detect in your voice? There, there, Arakan, we both know that you need my guidance.”

“Your guidance has brought me nothing but trouble up until now. My foes are always a step ahead of me in every one of my moves.”

“You’re not blaming me for this now, are you?”

In fact, the supreme commander did blame the shadowy figure and regarded him as a jinx. Every time Arakan had discussed one of his plans with him, that plan had gone horribly wrong.

“Who else is there to blame?”

“The ineptitude of your warriors, for one.”

Arakan stopped and lifted a finger. “Careful, now.”

“I’m not really here, and you know it.”

“So you are a figment of my imagination? A creation of my sick mind?”

“That’s not what I said. And if it makes you feel better to think I’m only inside your head, then so be it. But you still need my help, no matter how you perceive me.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I don’t need anybody. As a matter of fact, it’s about time I started doing things by myself.”

“Hence my remark about your troops’ ineptitude.”

“The Furies have been near-frozen in time for too long. Some have forgotten who they are.”

“Or perhaps they are not the race you thought they were. There is no doubt that you have some powerful warriors, yourself included. But, seems to me that Furies of old are no longer the force to be reckoned with as they once were. Perhaps we were wrong trusting in your ability to cleanse this universe.”

“Who’s we?”

“My people, of course.”

Arakan shook his head.

“You still don’t think I truly exist.”

“My thoughts about you are of no consequence. Now leave me alone. I have things to do, and I don’t need you to distract me.”

“I’m here to advise you.”

“And I don’t want your advice right now, so take a hint for once, will you?”

“Very well,” said the shadow before disappearing into thin air.

If I didn’t need to stay clearheaded, I’d take my treatment. I’m about fed up with this hallucination.

Arakan stopped in front of a heavily fortified door. Unlike any other on that level. Across it was written a message in Fury: “Any unauthorized entry will be punishable with instant death.”

When the Fury supreme commander approached the door, a red line scanned him from head to toe and back up again.

“Identity confirmed,” said a grave female voice.

The door rose and light flowed inside the previously pitch-black room. Arakan stepped in and walked toward a force-field protected cell. On the uncomfortable looking bunk bed laid a Fury prisoner.

“You must be really bored to come and visit me at this hour,” said the man, not caring to turn and face his visitor.

“I need information.”

“I’m afraid we’re closed outside of business hours,” said the Fury with a laugh.

“I see incarceration hasn’t dimmed your sense of humor.”

“It’s the last thing I have left. You’d better hope this force field of yours holds for as long as you live, or I’ll kill you the first chance I get. I hope you know that.”

“I have no doubt you’d try, but we both know you don’t stand the shadow of a chance.”

“If that’s true, then why don’t you drop the field now and prove me wrong?”

“I didn’t come here for that.”

“Why are you here then? Besides gloating.”

“I’d like to ask you about an old friend of yours.”

“I don’t have any friends anymore; you killed them all and then threw me in this dump.”

“Treason is a serious offense, so be glad I have spared your life. I could have just as easily killed you.”

The Fury released a long breath of frustration.

“Why haven’t you?”

“I would love to say that’s because I’m magnanimous, but the truth is death would have been a release for you, and I’d rather you suffered for as long as you shall live. A much more fitting punishment for betraying me.”

“I didn’t, I just listened to my heart, but I don’t suppose it’s something you can ever understand.”

Arakan growled.

“I shouldn’t have come here.”

“On that we can agree, now, if you’d please turn off the lights on your way out.”

“Not before you tell me a few things about Zeus.”

The Fury turned his head, and for the first time since Arakan entered the cell, they locked eyes. There was nothing but defiance in the Fury’s look.

“What makes you think I know anything about the head of the Olympians?”

“Because we both know he asked for your help to try and steal Zalara away from me.”

Arakan didn’t realize his current exacerbated anger was so intense that he was digging through the skin of his clenched fists and drops of blood dripped onto the floor. He unclenched his fists and looked briefly at his bloody palms.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Still having anger issues, I see.”

“You’re one to talk. Don’t you owe your stay in my best cell thanks to your own anger issues?”

Arakan thought he saw the beginning of tears form in the eyes of the Fury before the Fury turned back into the musty-smelling bunk bed.

“I will get rid of them all, you know.” continued Arakan. “Zeus, Odin, anyone who stands in my way shall be destroyed, even your own progeny.”

There was a small pause.

“Good luck with that; don’t let the door kick your overinflated and disillusioned ego on your way out.”

* * *

When Arakan left the room, the Fury sat up on his bed, a look of pure hatred burning in his eyes.

“You owe me an explanation!” he shouted.

A grey-skinned Aphroditis projection appeared not far from him.

“I don’t owe you anything. You should feel lucky I have enough energy to sometimes visit you so you don’t lose the little that’s left of your sanity.”

“How dare you! I’m here because I listened to you in the first place. How many others have you sent to their doom because of your so-called precog ability? If you’re so good at seeing the future, how come you didn’t see any of this happen?”

“The future isn’t fixed and is always in motion. I can only see possibilities and act on the ones I think need my attention.”

The Fury spat on the ground, right in front of Aphroditis.

“Bullshit! I think you thrive on your ability and it makes you think you’re superior to the rest of us. But you obviously don’t always bet on the right horse or I wouldn’t be rotting down here.”

“For all our sakes, you’d better pray I do choose the right people from time to time.”

“Our sakes? My life is over; it was over the moment Arakan threw me in this cell. At least I take some small consolation in knowing that one day this will end. I’m an old man, another few decades and I’ll return to the dust from which I came.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, in fact if you were serious earlier about killing Arakan, then I believe you’ll get your shot, and sooner than you can imagine.”

The Fury cracked his neck. It provided him instant relief.

“And why exactly should I care about another of your failed predictions?”

“That’s up to you. Though Arakan was right about one thing he said: in your current state he would have no problem putting you into the grave.”

The Fury snorted. “What makes you think I wouldn’t embrace that outcome?”

“Because you would have ended your own life a long time ago if you did; if there wasn’t a thin sliver of hope still buried deep inside your darkened soul. That’s why.”

The Fury got up from his bed and came within a few inches of Aphroditis. He stared into her eyes for a long time.

“You do seem serious about this.”

“I may sometimes not properly foresee all the ripples of my decisions once I intervene to change the future, but I’m always serious about such things.”

“For the sake of argument, let’s say I believe you. What would you have me do from this cell? It’s not like I can train here.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ll let you figure that one out on your own. But sooner than you think, you’ll have that one shot at redemption that kept eating at your soul for oh so many years. It’s up to you what you do with it. And I won’t see you again until that day happens. I’m not even sure I’ll ever see you again, in fact. So— goodbye and good luck.”

Aphroditis’ projection disappeared into thin air.

“Wait!” screamed the Fury, extending his clawed hand forward.

But she was gone. The Fury clenched his fists and gazed at them as he reflected upon her words.

Can it be true? Will I finally get the chance to fight Arakan again soon?

A long time passed, minutes, hours, the Fury didn’t know. His mind had lost perception of time ever since Aphroditis had planted a new seed of hope in his psyche. At one point he started throwing punches toward the force field to release his frustration. He kept hitting it until his hands bled and his bones began to show. He stopped for a minute, closed his eyes and healed his wounds before starting to punch the invisible wall over and over again.

14

With a grin on his face, Argos grabbed the chair in front of Chase in the Hope’s ready room.

“What’s with that stupid grin of yours?” said Chase.

“‘Admiral Athanatos’ has a ring to it, doesn’t it?”

Chase tried to suppress his smile but couldn’t and buried his face in his hands instead.

“Are you alright, Admiral?” said Argos, unable to contain his laughter.

“Put a cork in it, Argos.”

“Whatever you say, Admiral.”

Chase wanted to get angry at Argos but instead they both burst into laughter. Chase wiped the tears from his eyes and tried recomposing himself.

“We— we actually have to talk about something serious.”

Argos frowned. “Aphroditis?”

Chase nodded. “Yeah, we need to get her out of there.”

Any trace of playfulness on Argos’ face was instantly gone.

“We absolutely have to. You have no idea how I feel about this. I put her in that infernal machine. I blackmailed you to get the Furies back, thinking⁠—”

“Thinking you’d lead them. Things haven’t exactly turned out according to plan.”

“When do they ever? But thanks to your compassion and, hopefully, one day your forgiveness, I now feel more centered than I ever did in my entire existence.”

Argos’ statement not only surprised Chase but it also sent a shiver down his spine. Chase believed that Argos had just taken a wrong turn. Part of him really wanted to know what had separated the two of them before. But whatever it was, it must have been a very difficult and painful thing, and right now they had to stay focused. Chase felt strongly that they weren’t that far from the end of their journey and that soon the final battle against the Furies was drawing near.

“I—” Chase paused. “I forgive you…brother.”

Whatever wave of emotion filled Argos’ soul at the mention of Chase calling him brother it radiated beyond him and engulfed Chase as well.

They both looked into each other’s eyes and slightly nodded to one another.

“Now,” said Chase. “As much as I’d love to enjoy this moment some more, we need to come up with a plan to rescue Aphroditis.”

“I think I have an idea about that.”

“That’s great, do tell.”

“I have studied the machine as much as I could. It’s part Asgardian, so I asked for Kvasir’s help. We arrived at the conclusion that we may need to do a body swap.”

“Can’t we just extirpate her from it? Won’t that just send Erevos back into its dimensional prison?”

“We’re not sure that it would, and even if it did, do we really want to leave that ticking bomb as a gift to the next generations?”

Chase’s eyes flashed. “No, we end them this time!”

“So for now let’s do a body swap. The machine will only accept an Olympian, though. I don’t know about hybrids. Perhaps I could⁠—”

“No, Argos. As much as I see what you’re trying to do, I’ll need you to defeat Arakan, so you taking her place is out of the question.”

“Yes, but when you think about it, it would be fitting.”

“I don’t care. We need to come up with another plan.”

“Well, working on Spiros’ cloned body gave me another idea. I could clone an Olympian but it will need a soul. So that’s not exactly going to work.”

“Unless—”

“You can’t be serious? Ares?”

“We’ve had that talk enough times that I can tell you he’ll jump at the opportunity to replace her in the machine.”

“But won’t we also need him to bring Arakan down?”

“Ares’ main ability is teleportation over large distances. Since I can do that on my own now, hopefully we can prevail without him when the time comes. Plus, make no mistake, we’ll do whatever is within our power to get him out of there too the first chance we get. But I’ve seen what Aphroditis is going through; we can’t let her stay in there for one more minute than is required. As soon as we’re done in Asgard, we have to go to Erevos.”

“Agreed. However, we’re not ready for a full-scale assault.”

“We won’t have to mount one for this particular rescue. It will be just you, me and Ares.”

Argos thought it over and nodded. “Alright. Was there anything else we needed to discuss?”

“How is Spiros coming along?”

“His clone will be ready in a couple of hours.”

“Is that something that requires your full attention?”

“No, my machines are doing all the work. Why?”

“Then, let’s go say hi to our…Mother.”

“I— I don’t know what to tell her.”

“You and me both, but in these troubled times, with one battle after another and the next one awaiting us on Asgard, we may not get another chance.”

“I’m nervous.”

Chase chuckled. “Tell me about it.”

* * *

Ryonna sat next to Keera in the cockpit of her ship en route to the Gorgar home world.

“You look on edge. Are you okay?” inquired Keera.

“Tar’Lock has been insufferable ever since Argos gave us that prototype pill that should vastly improve his memory. He keeps asking for it every chance he gets.”

“I see. Can you blame him?”

“No, I can’t, but patience isn’t my best virtue.”

“What did you do, then?”

“Let’s just say Tar’Lock is taking a much-needed nap,” said Ryonna, curling the edge of her lips into a smile.

“You didn’t? Not again!”

“Oh yeah, I did.”

“Being your friend can be an occupational hazard, you do realize that, right?”

“Only when those friends don’t listen to me.”

Keera chuckled. “Glad I don’t fall into that category of friends.”

“So am I, as I wouldn’t take any pleasure punching your lights out.”

“Jokes aside, are we expecting any Fury presence on Tar’Lock’s home world?”

“Not according to Argos, but his intelligence regarding the enemy is outdated at best. It’s been a while, now that he defected and rejoined our side. Since the mind control the Gorgar are under is so efficient, there’s really no need to protect the place.”

“Except that if this resource location is as important as Argos said it is, it makes no sense not to protect it. If I were Arakan, I wouldn’t trust the fate of my main resource-producing planet on a tech developed by someone who later betrayed me.”

“As much as it pains me to admit it, you may be right. We’ll have to proceed carefully then. If there’s too much resistance, we can always scrap the mission and request a stronger force to free the planet by other means.”

“Or we could try the stealthy approach?”

“Even so, what if the Gorgar don’t want to help us deal with the Furies once deprogrammed? Not to mention that they’re not exactly a warrior race.”

“Yes, but they have the numbers. Perhaps we should use the tech to ensure they help us free their world, then let them decide what they want to do in regard to joining the Alliance.”

“You’re not seriously entertaining the idea of using Argos’ tech on them the same way he did, are you?”

“If it comes to that, perhaps it’s an option we should consider.”

Ryonna shot daggers into Keera’s eyes. “That wouldn’t make us any different than the Furies.”

“While I admit this may be the case, at least on the surface, we have to consider the consequences if we don’t. The Obsidian is helping us churn out ships at a very satisfying rate now, and we’ll soon have a powerful fleet of new ships. But it won’t matter if it takes five of our destroyers to bring down one Fury enemy ship. I know these odds improved since the Olympians joined us, and perhaps if the Asgardians join as well then we’ll finally be in a position to do some serious damage. But let’s not forget this is war, and sometimes you have to do things you’re uncomfortable doing to survive.”

Ryonna growled.

Keera raised an eyebrow. “Am I about to take an unwanted nap?”

Ryonna didn’t answer. Instead she looked outside the ship’s viewport at the beautiful accelerated Asgardian hyperspace corridor. She wished the one ship escort helping them travel faster to their destination could assist, but its captain had been given specific orders to only act as transport and nothing else. At least for the time being.

Too bad, thought Ryonna. Having an Asgardian destroyer as backup could have opened up a few more strategical options, especially if they’d need to improvise their approach tactic upon arrival.

“I’m sorry if I angered you,” added Keera after a moment.

“That’s okay, you’re just stating your honest opinion. What kind of a friend would I be if I blamed you for that?”

“But— you’ve growled.”

Ryonna looked at Keera, her eyes dead serious.

“Would you have preferred I farted?”

It took a second for Keera to process Ryonna’s both unusual and unexpected words, and they both laughed out loud.

Keera wiped tears from her eyes. “Thank you, I needed that.”

“I could sense that. Believe me, we won’t be laughing as much when the shit hits the fan and Tar’Lock releases one pearl after another to relieve his own anxiety.”

“Do they smell that bad?”

Ryonna smiled.

“Let’s just say that if this war drags on for much longer, I might consider having some sort of nose surgery done.”

* * *

“You need to try harder!” shouted Chris.

“I don’t think I can,” lamented Sarah.

They were standing in the training room aboard the Hope. Chris tried to train his mother to get a grip on her Fury powers but they weren’t making any progress. He started to think that whatever power she had manifested on the surface of Droxia had just been a fluke.

“Don’t you feel an energy running inside of you? Something that even if you can’t quantify or access, you still feel is there?”

“This is useless! I’m not a warrior like you or your father.”

“You don’t know that,” argued Chris before letting a breath of frustration escape.

“I should get back to the bridge.”

“We’re in hyperspace. Daniel has the bridge, and there’s nothing to do there.”

“Doesn’t look like there is anything to be done here either, wouldn’t you agree?”

Chris wondered why his mother couldn’t access her Fury powers. It was clear she had some, but was it psychological? Or were they triggered only in certain situations? That gave him an idea and he concentrated on sending Gaia a mental message.

You can’t be serious? she answered back.

I am, can you please do it? It’s important.

I don’t like this, but— okay, I’ll be there shortly.

“I’ve had it,” said Sarah, throwing her hands in the air.

“We’re not finished. Not by a long shot.”

“Oh yes, we are. I’m the parent here.”

“You need to train, and the sooner you get a grasp on your powers, the sooner you’ll stop being so anxious.”

That seemed to make Sarah pause and think.

“Are you reading my mind?”

“I don’t have to. I can see how you’ve been behaving ever since you unleashed your powers on Droxia, it’s been eating at you.”

“With good reasons; I could have killed you all.”

“I don’t think so; as a matter of fact you saved all our lives.”

“Beginner’s luck.”

“Perhaps, but you’d feel better about yourself if you had a good grasp on these powers, if they came to you naturally.”

“I want nothing more. I hate how I’ve been feeling lately.”

“So let’s train some more.”

“It’s useless, Chris. I’m not like you or your father. I⁠—”

“You’re afraid. And that’s okay. It may take a while for you not to be.”

“It didn’t seem to be a problem for you.”

“I am Fury hybrid, it’s in my genes. The way you acquired your powers might be the reason why it’s more difficult for you to access them, but one thing is sure: whatever Fury genes you’ve been granted from the pregnancy, they are powerful ones, and we could use those abilities in our fight.”

Sarah shook her head. “I don’t want to be a liability.”

“Look, I understand how you⁠—”

Before he could finish, there was a series of screams coming from outside the training room and the front doors exploded. Gaia emerged through the flames, her battle bot’s eyes shining red.

* * *

Chase and Argos were escorted to meet Athena on her ship. They were brought to a large garden teeming with life. Beautiful trees, birds of all colors, and a holo-projected skyline showing a clear blue sky.

“We don’t have these on our ships,” commented Argos.

Chase looked around, absorbing the beauty of the place as he did. “No, we sure don’t. But that’s an upgrade I’ll have to discuss with Yanis. We could use such places to unwind.”

“I’m glad you enjoy our gardens,” said Athena as she came from behind one of the largest trees in the center of the Athenian garden. “Congratulations on your recent promotion, Admiral.”

Argos had to suppress a chuckle.

“Thank you. We— we need to talk.”

“What about?”

“What about?” echoed Argos, his tone far from controlled.

Chase swiftly raised a hand instructing his brother not to let his emotions get the better of him.

Let me speak, please, said Chase telepathically.

Athena slightly cocked her head to the side. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Abandoning your children comes to mind,” said Argos.

Chase shot his brother an angry look. “I thought we agreed you would let me speak.”

“Right, won’t happen again.”

“Doesn’t really matter anymore, now does it? I was trying to approach the subject slowly.”

“Yeah and from the looks of it,” said Argos pointing toward Athena, who was walking away, “that probably wasn’t a good idea.” Argos flinched. “Sorry about that.”

Chase pointed an accusing finger toward Argos. “You stay here, understood?”

Argos nodded as Chase ran after Athena.

“Please, Athena, wait.”

She stopped but didn’t turn back. “I— I don’t know if I can talk with you right now.”

Chase could feel emotional turmoil emanating from his biological mother.

“Perhaps if you gave me some time,” she added. “I— I’d like to gather my thoughts.”

“I understand that this is a surprise for you, but it was a surprise for the both of us as well. And while I’m more than willing to give you room on the matter, I’d like to point out that our existences are very— how should I put this? Chaotic at best. Pretty much every day we fight for our lives, and right now feels like we have a few hours of tranquility ahead of us. Who knows if that will be the case later on, so could we perhaps talk just a little bit?”

Athena walked toward a tree with purple bud flowers. She lit up one of the buds with her mind and inhaled a very large quantity of the smoke through her nose. The smell was intoxicating and Chase understood that the plant had psychotropic properties. He could feel Athena’s anxiety levels quickly drop and moments later she turned toward him.

“You must be disappointed in me. But please understand…” she paused. “I didn’t know you were my son. When we first met I did think you looked familiar, but⁠—”

“But you weren’t sure. Zeus told me we were taken from you at birth.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that. But yes, I’ve only held you and your brother in my arms once, before Menelas took you to safety. I didn’t even want to know your names.”

“Can I ask why?”

“It was near the end of the first Fury War. And I didn’t mean to get pregnant. I— I don’t think you want to hear this but…”

“No, please continue. I do want to hear it.”

“I didn’t want children. I was leading our forces against the Furies, the war was raging, and Zeus had gone mad with anger toward your people.”

“The Furies aren’t my people.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any disrespect. But Fury blood runs through your veins.”

Chase nodded solemnly.

“Your father, Menelas,” she continued, “didn’t think it was wise for us to let anyone know about your existence. Zeus would probably have requested your execution back then. You have to understand the context of all this. My father had fallen in love with a Fury woman. He always thought that no other Olympians knew this. He’s very proud and I never spoke a word of it out of respect for him. But when he lost her⁠—”

“It drove him mad.”

“It did. But perhaps his loss was a necessary tragedy, after all that’s what got us to join the allied world’s fighting the Furies; without our help, they might have conquered the entire universe back then.”

“I understand— I think. Though I must say this doesn’t help the feelings of abandonment I’ve been harboring for most of my life.”

“With your father gone, I can only imagine.”

“He’s dead then?”

“He was captured by Arakan just before we won the war. Though obviously we didn’t defeat the Furies fully, just sent them away. Surely Arakan executed your father.”

“Zeus explained that part to me and also why he didn’t destroy the Furies when he got the chance.”

“Well, then you probably know more about it than most Olympians do. I still don’t understand what possessed him to just trap them instead of destroying their world. Granted, we’re not a genocidal people, but the Furies were an enemy like no other we had faced before. They were intent on cleansing the universe of any other species. They needed to be stopped and sometimes blood calls for blood.”

“On that we agree and I won’t repeat Zeus’ mistake, but I understand why he hesitated. Perhaps in his place, I might have done the same.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hopefully he won’t be mad if I tell you this, but the reason he trapped the Furies instead of destroying them is because of Oryn.”

“The recently defected Fury that tried to kill you? What does she have to do with all of this?”

“She is the fruit of his love with Zalara.”

Her face dropped. “That would explain it. Here we were worried my Father would try to assassinate our children because they were part Fury, and he had one of his own. I knew he had fallen for Arakan’s wife, but I had no idea they had a child together.”

“I’ll ask that you let him tell you that story on his own, should he feel inclined to, but I’m not sure he’d be happy if he knew I told you.”

“Well, thank you for your candor and trust on the matter. I will not tell him nor anyone else about this, I promise.”

Athena gestured toward Argos, who had stayed behind, to come rejoin them. While he was on his way, out of the blue, she embraced Chase and hugged him with an incredible amount of force. Chase was surprised at first, but when she sobbed, he let his own guard fall and embraced her back.

“I’m so sorry, my son,” she whispered in his ear.

Chase closed his eyes and let his own tears run amok.

* * *

Argos approached Athena and Chase. They were in each other’s arms. He stood there, not sure what to do or say.

Eventually, after a rather long and uncomfortable amount of time, Athena grabbed Chase by the shoulders and affectionately ran her hand through his hair.

“You’ve matured into a fine young man,” she said. She looked toward Argos. “The both of you.”

Argos gave a shy nod in response, uncertain of what to do.

Athena’s gaze turned back to Chase. “I’m so proud of you. I can tell you inherited the passion and determination of your father. His moral compass never wavered and yours seems to be just as strong.”

“And you…” she said walking toward Argos.

“I’m not good with hug⁠—”

But before he could finish his sentence, she slapped Argos so hard his hair got thrown to the side.

Chase’s eyes grew wide as Argos held his hand on his reddened cheek.

“Ouch!”

“That serves you well. All of this mess is your fault! How could you do this? Why did the two of you have to be enemies!?”

“Well, we’re not anymore,” complained Argos. “And it’s a long story, one I’m not sure Chase wants to hear.” Argos sent a compassionate look toward his brother. “Perhaps when all of this is over.”

Athena eventually embraced Argos. His heart started beating fast and hard in his chest but soon his mother’s love washed over his broken soul and he embraced her back.

“I’m glad the two of you are friends now, perhaps something good has come out of this war after all.”

A few moments later, the three of them sat on a wooden bench next to a beautiful cascade at the far side of the garden.

“We could use your help,” said Argos.

“I’ll do whatever I can to help you; what is it you need?”

“Do you by any chance keep DNA of Olympians in any way, shape, or form?”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?”

“We would need Aphroditis’ DNA so we can rescue her from the machine,” interjected Chase.

“And how exactly do you propose to do that?”

“We swap her for a clone,” said Argos.

“I doubt this plan would work. While I don’t know how the machine works exactly, I do seem to recall the soul of an Olympian is what’s powering it.”

“Yeah, we figured as much. Chase thinks we got that covered.”

“Let me guess, you’re going to ask Ares.”

“How did you know?” asked Argos.

“Because that’s what I would have done in your place. Nobody got closer to Aphroditis as much as he did in the last few centuries. Even after Father banished her, Ares never left her side.”

“I can tell Zeus no longer harbors bad blood for Aphroditis, though,” said Chase.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Chase— son,” she corrected herself. “Perhaps time has healed that wound, but I’m not sure he’ll ever fully forgive her.”

“What has she done that’s so bad?” inquired Argos.

“You know she sees possible futures. Well, she knew Zalara would die, she knew it would drive him crazy and that it would result in Olympus participating in the war. She wanted to tell him, but she confided in me that every future in which Zalara didn’t die turned horribly bad for our people and countless other species. The Fury War would have dragged on for thousands of years. For that reason…she couldn’t tell him. Until much later. I’m sure you can imagine how that went.”

“Is that why you said his loss was needed earlier?”

She nodded. “Yes, that single event is what she used to call a nexus. A strongly anchored point in time, one that if changed would have immeasurable consequences. And so she only told me, after the fact. I— I was the one who insisted she comes clean with Father. If I had known he’d banish her, I wouldn’t have. But in hindsight, perhaps all of this had to happen.”

“I’m not sure I’m following?” said Chase.

“My sister’s gift is both a blessing and a curse. She sees these moments in time, these nexuses, as well as the people that are most likely to influence the future. It’s the heaviest burden you can ever imagine. But with her silence, she insured the Furies were defeated.”

“Except they weren’t,” said Argos.

She looked into his eyes. “They were stopped, and for nearly ten thousand years there was a lasting peace, until the Obsidian and Star Alliance went to war. Even your actions, I— I think she knew it would turn out this way.”

A tear ran down Chase’s face. “That would explain why she was so willing to enter the machine.”

“Don’t blame yourselves for this, my sons. Both our journeys had started way before you were even born. I no longer think my meeting with your father was just a coincidence. I’m just sorry your destinies pitted you against one another the way it did. But it fills my heart with joy to see you fight side by side now. And remember, my sister never does anything out of chance, never.”

A cascade of shivers ran down both Chase and Argos’ spines.

“She stepped willingly into that machine because she knew that it would result in the best outcome for the majority. There’s no-one more selfless than my sister.”

Argos’ eyes filled with tears as well.

15

Gaia approached Sarah and Chris.

“What the hell is wrong with her?” asked Sarah.

“I don’t think that’s the Gaia we know,” answered Chris. “Stay behind me, you’re not ready for this fight.”

“I’m not ready, period!” protested Sarah as her heart beat quickly out of control.

Can Gaia 2 still be alive? Did we lose so much for nothing? Sarah wondered.

Sarah was unable to form another thought when Gaia’s battle bot jumped toward them, and Chris instinctively leaped forward to intercept it.

Chris blocked the AI’s first series of combos and managed to land a few of his own hits, sending Gaia crashing against the nearest wall. She quickly launched back onto her feet and unleashed a multitude of energy beams. Chris dodged most of them, deflected another pair of attacks, but then got hit on the shoulder and spun in the air before landing back down. By this time Gaia was already upon him, but Chris’ increased Fury speed was no match for the battle bot’s limitations. He quickly blocked the incoming uppercut and sent Gaia flying for another round with a powerful kick of his knee into the bot’s face. Just when she was about to crash, she somersaulted, then stopped herself in the air and landed back on the ground with a metallic clang.

“Very good, but you’ve forgotten my forgiving sister created this training room, and I have assimilated her matrix,” said Gaia, her voice cold and devoid of emotion.

Chris’ face dropped at the realization.

He suddenly felt a vibration, immediately followed by the sensation of feeling pressure and heaviness. Gaia was altering the gravity from under him. It didn’t seem to affect Sarah, who was many yards away. Soon the gravity reached 100Gs and Chris could barely move his muscles. Gaia launched herself at Chris and unleashed a flurry of punches. Unable to move his limbs fast enough, he had no chance to dodge any of the attacks, and his blood spilled throughout the training room with each of Gaia’s new attacks.

“Chris!” shouted Sarah before her voice was replaced by an inhuman cry of anger.

Something in Sarah’s mind snapped, and it felt like she lost control over her body and mind. A wave of power like nothing else she had ever experienced filled her entire being as she leaped forward at lightning speed and blocked the latest metallic punch aimed at ending her son’s life. She then crushed Gaia’s battle bot’s hand, which then spit oil and sparks.

“Don’t you lay a finger on my son!” ordered Sarah as flames consumed her eyes.

She unleashed three quick fireballs on Gaia’s torso and sent her flying backward, stumbling with each impact but somehow managing to stay up. That didn’t last when Sarah resumed firing and scored multiple hits all over Gaia’s metallic shell. As Sarah was firing, her long crimson hair danced atop her head like flames and a large tangerine-colored aura radiated around her.

Smoke rose from the heavily damaged Gaia. Her battle bot’s eye-like LEDs erratically flashed and returned to white.

“Nice try,” said Sarah as she walked toward the evil AI with only one thought, to protect Chris at all costs. “Of course you’d try to pass yourself for Gaia now that you are defeated.”

Before Gaia could answer, Sarah jumped toward the bot and locked on, ready to finish off the piece of scrap metal that tried to kill her son. She unleashed the most powerful jab she could muster and aimed it straight at Gaia’s head.

What her eyes showed her next took a second to process. Chase had blocked the blow and was clenching his teeth, clearly in pain. But he still mustered a smile.

* * *

Chase reached within Sarah’s mind, and he could feel that she was overloaded with a power she clearly was not accustomed to wielding. It let her basic instincts take over her rational mind and right then she was driven by revenge, self-preservation for Chris and an uncontrollable rage. Her Fury-acquired genes during pregnancy were wreaking havoc with her psyche. Chase dug deeper into her subconscious and found the block preventing her from accessing her powers consciously. Her thoughts revealed a deep-rooted fear of hurting the ones she loved. No surprise there. Chase removed the block with a single thought.

Sarah’s hair flew back down and her eyes recovered their green tint. She took two steps back and looked at her hands while closing and opening her fingers.

“I— I can sense it now, I— I can access it.”

With furrowed eyebrows, Chase turned toward the still smoking Gaia battle bot. “I thought we discussed this and agreed that you’re not taking the easy way out.”

Gaia’s eyes blinked as she spoke. “Not my idea this time.”

Both Chase and Sarah turned toward Chris, who was only now getting back to his feet, blood still spilling from his open wounds.

“Why?” asked Chase and Sarah in unison.

“Isn’t it obvious? Believe me, if I knew my plan would get my ass handed to me this way, I might have approached it differently,” said Chris as he spat a large quantity of blood on the floor. “But it worked.”

Chase shook his head disapprovingly. “While I’m happy this experience helped your mother get in touch with her powers, this was foolish at best. You could have been killed, and Gaia could have been lost.”

“I’m sorry,” said Chris, looking down. “I meant well, I— I could feel how anxious it made Mom not to be able to get a handle on her abilities.”

“No, I’m sorry,” said Sarah. “I was terrified, that’s true. I was so afraid of what I could do with this power that I fought against it. I just don’t understand why I’m not afraid anymore.”

Chase scratched the back of his head uncomfortably while exposing a worried smile. “I might have had something to do with that.”

“I feel like I should be mad at you, but instead I feel grateful. Such a heavy weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Thank you.”

Don’t thank me just yet, thought Chase to himself. I hope unlocking this power of yours this quickly won’t have dire consequences later. Perhaps there was a reason for your mind to have made this choice. But as much as he loved and respected Sarah, telling her that wouldn’t do her any good right then. Just as there might have been a reason for her mind to push away these powers, there might have been another greater reason for them to unlock faster. That thought brought Aphroditis at the center of Chase’s thinking. For just a moment, he wondered how he would act if he had his aunt’s ability to predict possible futures. The weight of responsibility on her shoulders every time she intervened to lock on a future possibility over another was unimaginable. Chase didn’t envy her. Especially after Athena told him about her sister never doing anything by accident. The huge causalities of this war were weighing heavily on his shoulders, so he could only try to imagine what Aphroditis had been going through during tens of thousands of years. The resulting emotion was sending Chase toward a swallowing pit of darkness that he couldn’t deal with right now. Instead, he used his will to push that thought into a dark corner of his mind.

“Are you alright?” inquired Sarah.

“And would you mind?” pleaded Chris.

“I’m sorry,” said Chase. He ran toward his son and quickly healed his wounds.

He then turned toward Sarah and took her hands in his. “I’m fine, and you’re welcome.”

* * *

While Chris and Sarah kept training, and after helping Gaia repair, Chase went to check on Argos’ advancement regarding the Spiros clone.

“How is he coming along?” asked Chase, pointing with his head toward the cloning cylinder.

“He’s ready, Admiral.”

Chase’s look hardened, and he didn’t have to speak to be understood.

Argos raised apologetic hands. “Alright, I’ll stop with that now.”

“Thank you. So he’s ready? He looks much younger, doesn’t he?”

“I couldn’t exactly waste time on trying to age him too much. Remember, that clone won’t sustain his life for long.”

“But you could work on a better, more stable one?”

“Yes, but is that what you want? Life has meaning because it’s supposed to end, eventually.”

“You’re sure you want to go toward that discussion? You and I are technically immortals on our half Olympian side.”

“Right. I— I was jealous of you for not growing older when I seemed to. I wonder why it stopped.”

“You probably haven’t looked closely at yourself in a mirror lately, if it wasn’t for the color of your eyes and that scar you insist on wearing, we almost look identical now. The grey in your hair is all but gone.”

“I have noticed, I just don’t like staring in the mirror for too long.”

“That I can understand.”

“Thank you for putting it so mildly, Chase. Still doesn’t explain why my aging is reversing.”

“Anytime. Well, isn’t it obvious?”

“The only logical explanation I could come up with is, that since I’m no longer focused on hatred, my body seems to not only age slower but actually reverses the aging that my hatred did to me.”

Chase smiled. “See? Obvious.”

“But, aren’t you curious at how emotions are influencing us at the DNA level? Or why?”

Chase shrugged. “Nah, we have enough to worry about. I can see why it baffles the scientist in you, though.”

“I don’t consider myself a scientist.”

“Says the man who just grew a dead crew member a new body.”

“Touché. I’m a warrior first and foremost.”

“That we certainly both owe to our Fury side of the family.”

“Indeed,” said Argos absently.

“Back to Spiros. I feel we’re getting off topic. What about his consciousness?”

“Gaia built the interface she thinks will transfer it from the ancient tech back into the clone’s mind. But I’m afraid we’ll only have one shot at this.”

“I don’t think Hades would expect to hold onto Spiros’ soul much longer.”

“Speaking of which…shouldn’t Gaia be here for this?”

“She’s had— well, let’s just say she needs a little time at the moment. Plus, I’d rather she wasn’t present if this goes horribly wrong.”

“Well then, since she’s not coming— whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ll be right back.”

* * *

Chase teleported into the Underworld.

“About time!” protested Hades behind him.

Chase turned around. “Hades, always a pleasure.”

“At least it’s never mundane when you come and visit.”

“What?”

“Always a pleasure? I mean, who greets the god of the Underworld like this?”

“We both know you’re not a god per se.”

“Technicality…but I’m glad you’re here as your friend Spiros is driving me mad with his sob story.”

“Hey!” protested a translucent Spiros nearby.

Chase turned to look at his friend and smiled. “Good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too. When are we getting out of this dump?”

Chase thought he heard something resembling a growl escape Hades’ throat.

“As a matter of fact, now.”

“Is Gaia still alive? Did we defeat Gaia 2?”

It didn’t even cross Chase’s mind that Spiros was probably clueless about what had happened after his death.

“You could have told him,” said Chase looking toward Hades.

Hades shrugged. “He didn’t ask.”

“Will somebody tell me what happened already? Did we kill that bitch or not?” interrupted Spiros.

“Long story short,” answered Chase, “Yes, the bitch got fried, thanks mostly to Kvasir and Thor. Our Gaia is looking forward to seeing you, one last time.”

Sorrow filled Spiros’ face. “What do you mean one last time?”

“Upon her request and, well probably for the good of humanity, it’s—” Chase bit his lip. “It’s probably best she is decommissioned soon.”

“Then why even bring me back?”

“Don’t you want to say goodbye?”

“I’d rather tell her something else; I just never imagined it would be one of the last things I tell her. Can’t we talk about this? Preferably in private.”

Hades exploded into a fit of laughter.

“What’s so funny?” asked Chase.

“Since the moment I told him there was a chance he could be resurrected, I’ve had to listen to every single version of his rehearsal speech of what he would tell Gaia if he ever had the chance of seeing her one more time. And now he wants to talk ‘in private.’”

“You weren’t supposed to listen!” protested Spiros.

“I don’t remember formerly inviting you into my realm. But if you’d rather become a permanent member?”

Chase had to interpose himself in between Spiros and Hades. “That doesn’t matter; you,” he said, pointing a finger at Spiros, “You’re coming with me, we’re going now.”

“And you,” he said to Hades. “Well, thank you for you help— and no, Spiros doesn’t want to stay here, no matter how lovely a company you’ve been keeping. I’ll see you when I see you, I guess.”

“Not so fast, Chase.”

“What?”

“There’s someone else who’d like to speak with you before you go.”

* * *

Sarah was now starting to block Chris’ attacks with greater ease. It filled her soul with the confidence she had so been lacking as of late. Of course, she knew that with great power came great responsibility, but Chris had been right to push her, and whatever Chase had done to her mind, it had worked like a charm. The more she used her powers, the more instinctive it became.

Out of the blue, and in the middle of parrying Chris’ latest high roundhouse kick, she countered it and launched a fireball at his torso, sending him crashing yards away.

Her heartbeat accelerated.

“Oh my god! Are you alright?” she gasped.

Chris jumped back to his feet in a swift and fluid motion and flashed her a thumb up.

“Don’t worry, Mom. You can’t really hurt me at your current power levels. But good job, don’t hesitate to strike me with everything you’ve got.”

Sarah reflected on her son’s words and didn’t know if she should feel relieved, offended or both.

“Are you patronizing me?”

“Not at all. But you can’t expect to be as strong a fighter as Dad or myself in just a few hours.”

“Fair enough, but mark my words, I’ll soon kick both your asses.”

Chris chuckled. “That’s the spirit. Time for me to be slightly more aggressive now⁠—”

Without warning he moved at hyper speed toward her and slashed his elbow toward her head but he hit nothing but air. Sarah had moved out of the way, purely on instinct, and sent Chris flying around by unleashing a powerful shockwave. He spun and recovered in mid-air. A drop of blood running down his smiling face.

“Is that your way of being more aggressive?” taunted Sarah.

“Oh, it’s like that?” he said with a smirk.

Sarah almost instantly regretted her previous comment when twelve fireballs all homed on her at increasing speed. She managed to deflect the first three and erected an energy shield in front of her to block the remaining ones. But one fireball’s trajectory changed at the last moment and arched ahead and impacted the back of her shoulder, sending her spinning and crashing to the floor.

Chris landed next to her and aimed an open palm toward her before she could fully get back up. He unleashed a flurry of low-energy yielding fireballs and sent her flying in the air. Each new impact made her swirl and twirl to a point where she couldn’t tell the ceiling from the ground planes anymore. It culminated with a painful knee being thrust into her side that sent her crashing unceremoniously against the wall.

Make children, they said. Right!

Chris hadn’t stopped and was already flying toward her as she used the cracked wall as leverage to get back up. She envisioned stopping him in his flight with a knee strike to the chin. To her surprise, she felt her body move at speeds her mind didn’t comprehend, and her knee impacted Chris’ chin from below sending him flying and rebounding on the ceiling of the cargo bay with a yelp.

On his way back toward the floor, she saw blood escape his mouth and her maternal instincts made her hold off on what her fighting instinct pushed her to do.

No! argued Chris in her mind. Don’t stop! I want to know what you’re capable of when you’re fighting purely on instinct.

Sarah wanted to ask why her son was communicating telepathically when she realized that she had received his mental message in a fraction of a second. Communicating this way was faster and more efficient. Especially in the heat of battle.

Very well, she sent back before unleashing a flurry of fireballs toward Chris, who was still falling from her last attack.

What he did next took her breath away. He intercepted all her attacks and merged them together in between his hands. When he landed next to her, a large bloody smile on his face, he was holding a watermelon-sized pulsating sphere of energy. From their original golden tint, the energy turned emerald green and Sarah felt Chris add his own energy to the mix. Jade-tinted lightning bolts sizzled all around the still growing attack expanding in between Chris’ hands.

Sarah swallowed hard. You wouldn’t dare?

Watch me!

Chris threw his arms outward and the energy sphere in his hands shot forward as a powerful column of green energy streaked toward her.

What happened next felt even more supernatural to Sarah than everything she had learned today. Time felt as if it had slowed down to a crawl. In this slowed-down moment she had time to think of how she would deal with the impending attack, one that looked like it could inflict an incredible amount of damage if it hit her. Were her Fury powers activating to avoid just that? She wondered about it but mostly she felt incredibly empowered by the thrill and rush of adrenaline she could sense being unleashed inside of her.

She saw three options; dodge the attack by somersaulting over it, try to deflect it—though she felt an instinctive nudge against that option as she thought about it—or counter the attack with one of her own. She went for the latter and was surprised to see an equally powerful golden column of energy fire from her thin hands as she threw them forward with all her might.

Both attacks met in the middle and canceled each other out, but not without generating a powerful explosion that sent a devastating shockwave all around, knocking them both off their feet and making the ship tremble slightly. Sparks flew all around them and the lights in the training cargo bay flickered.

Chris was the first back up, and he extended an open palm toward her. She grabbed it and let herself be helped up. She ached from the shock but felt both proud and intoxicated with the power now at her disposal.

“Impressive,” said Chris.

Sarah smiled. “For a beginner, you mean?”

Chris shook his head. “That was nowhere near beginner level, I assure you.”

“Is that good or bad?” inquired Sarah, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

“That’s very good. In fact, I’m a little jealous, you’re progressing faster than I did when I started training.”

There was a low-frequency humming as the lights in the room exploded, and they were thrown into complete darkness.

Chris lit up a ball of light, which illuminated the area around them.

“Cool, a personal flashlight. I wouldn’t have thought of that.”

“Yes, but I think I should have activated the force field for this training session.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t expect us to go at each other with such intensity on your first day.”

Sarah felt pride at the accomplishment. Her mind now functioned at a level she had never thought possible. She was more aware of her surroundings and everything happening in her body.

“Fortunately you’re in command of that ship,” Chris quipped.

“This is still your father’s ship.”

Chris quickly looked at his feet for a second. “Right⁠—”

Sarah sensed that he was hiding something. Before she had time to verbally ask the question, she felt her brain link with her son’s and several emotions washed over her. Among them, the pride he felt for his mother but also a slight feeling of jealousy, just like he’d admitted earlier. Sarah had dismissed it as her son being nice with her, but now she felt his emotion within her own mind, which instantly created an even stronger bond. And then she suspected deception, too.

“What are you hiding from me?”

“I promised Dad I wouldn’t say.”

“Well, looks like you’re going to have to break that promise then.”

“The— The ship.”

“What about the ship? Spit it out already!”

“Dad will give you command of the Hope; it’s your ship now.”

Her face dropped. She didn’t expect that. The Hope had always been Chase’s ship, no matter how many times she captained her lately.

“You really suck at keeping a secret,” she reprimanded him.

Chris’ eyes grew wide.

“And look what you’ve done to my ship!” she barked.

But she couldn’t keep a straight face for much longer and they both burst into laughter.

16

Chase’s heart skipped a beat at the view of Commodore Saroudis standing in front of him in the Underworld.

“How did you know?” Chase said absently to Hades.

“I had a feeling you’d like to have one last chat,” replied Hades. “We’ll give you two a moment.”

Hades and Spiros phased out of existence, and Chase looked at his old mentor, friend and commanding officer with tears forming in his eyes, not sure what to say. Seeing Chase was at a loss for words, Adonis spoke first.

“Hello, Chase. It’s really good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you too, Adonis.”

Chase’s tears flowed down his face like two rivers.

“I’m sorry,” he added. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. I— I should have teleported to the Destiny and intervened. But if I had done that, Oryn would have been killed.”

“That’s alright, son. I did what I had to do to protect Earth and billions of lives. And you did what needed to be done to secure a long-lasting Alliance with the Olympians. Don’t be sad, it worked out well; Earth was saved, Gaia 2 is no more. Right?”

“Yes—” said Chase wiping his tears. “Thanks to the Asgardians and Thor’s fleet. They also helped us save Droxia from a second attack. Their hyperspace engines—” Chase had trouble finishing his sentences. “I wish you could see it, they are so far ahead of us, technology-wise.”

Saroudis smiled. “That’s good. Hopefully, they can help you defeat the Furies.”

Chase nodded. “Hopefully…”

“I would just like to ask that you take care of my family, make sure they are safe, and that they can finally live in a peaceful world. Will you do that for me, son?”

Each time Adonis called Chase ‘son’, his heart squeezed a little more. Even though he had accepted his decision to save Oryn over his friend, he still harbored feelings of guilt. Now that they were having what was to be their last conversation, these feelings hit Chase with a vengeance.

“You have my word. I will protect them as I would my own family.”

“Thank you, Chase. Now I understand it’s time for me to go someplace else.”

“Did Hades tell you what happens once you get there? I mean, I’ve seen Fillio go there, but it didn’t seem like there was something after, you know.”

“No, Hades hasn’t told me anything. And I prefer it that way.”

“The Emperor surprised me at your—” but Chase stopped.

“Funeral?”

“Yes…”

“That’s okay, Chase. You don’t have to tiptoe around the fact that I died. And I was wrong about the Emperor. He’s a changed man, and he opened my eyes to how we should deal with the Obsidian as an ally. If you let him, he will be one of your biggest allies.”

Chase nodded. “Yes, he had only good things to say about you as well, and— I felt he really meant it.”

“That’s good, Chase. I can see you’re still uncomfortable about me being— well, dead. But, thanks to your connection with Hades, at least we can have this last moment. Please don’t blame yourself, son. I’m happy with how my life turned out. Before we had to flee our galaxy, I was just a tired, grumpy old captain, given command of a rusty old ship because I knew a few admirals in the fleet, and not so much because I deserved the Destiny. Back then I thought my exploits and career had seen their better days, but you changed all that, at gunpoint⁠—”

They both chuckled at the memory.

“And while it’s been a hard journey,” Saroudis continued, “you’ve given my life meaning again. Your passion, your uncompromising sense of morals as well as being the straight shooter that you are— and I’m glad to have been part of your journey. I know with all my heart that no matter the hardships awaiting you, you’ll manage to overcome them. No matter the price to pay, I know you’ll finally rid the universe of the Furies. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about you, it is that you don’t know how to fail.”

Saroudis extended his hand to Chase before continuing. “It’s been an honor. Captain.”

Chase grimaced.

“What is it?”

“It’s actually—” Chase paused and shook his head almost disapprovingly. “It’s ‘Admiral’, now.”

Saroudis’ smile lit up his face. “How long have I been down here?”

“Not that long…”

“Let me guess, that was Altair’s idea, wasn’t it?”

Chase pressed his lips together and nodded.

“Well, at least now you have the rank to do whatever you so please, not that it would ever have stopped you if you didn’t.”

“That’s exactly what Argos said.”

“I’m really glad the two of you are no longer enemies.”

“So am I. In fact, the more time passes the more he feels like a brother.”

“That’s good; he’s already saved your life before, and I think he’s really turning a new leaf.”

“Yes, so do I. But, I’m still having a hard time about reconciling his past actions, at least fully.”

“Let bygones be bygones, Chase. And look ahead.”

Chase wanted to argue that the countless millions of dead, on Earth, Droxia and probably more worlds than he would care to know, was hardly bygones territory. But then he remembered what his mother told him not long ago. That nothing that happened under Aphroditis’ guidance was a mistake. And as difficult as it was to accept, their bloody brother feud had thrown the entire universe into chaos, but perhaps it needed to happen. The thought was too mind-boggling for Chase to follow, and he still believed that his actions shaped his own future, not those of his aunt.

“Yeah, it’s probably best.”

“I think it’s time,” said Saroudis.

“Wait— before you go. I wanted to thank you for having my back, and for trusting in me. You are…were, like a father to me, and—” he took a deep breath. “I’m going to miss you more than I can ever express with words.”

It was now Saroudis’ turn to tear up. He extended his hand once more.

Chase went to shake his hand, but Saroudis pulled him into a warm hug. Chase then tenderly clapped Adonis on the back a few times.

“I’m going to miss you too, kid.”

“I’m probably way older than you,” Chase said playfully.

“Who cares?” The expression on Saroudis’ face changed. “I can feel it, something is pulling me in. I guess this is goodbye. It’s been an honor.”

Chase nodded solemnly and gave Adonis one last salute. “The honor was mine. Goodbye, old friend.”

All color left Saroudis’ face, and Chase, with great sorrow, watched him walk into the file toward the chasms of souls in the distance.

Chase sensed Hades reappear behind him.

“Now what?” inquired Chase, his voice trembling. “How do I bring Spiros’ soul back with me?”

Hades walked next to Chase and put his hand on Chase’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. You can take a moment, you know.”

With a soulful look, Chase silently thanked Hades.

* * *

Keera’s ship exited the Asgardian hyperspace corridor early.

“What’s going on?” asked Ryonna. “Are we there, yet?”

“We’ve exited hyperspace, but a few minutes early.”

“Any idea why?”

“No, and with the Asgardians’ vastly superior jump engines, that’s not exactly good news. We’re a rather long jump away from Tar’Lock’s home world if we must use our own jump engines the rest of the way.”

“How long a jump?”

“A few hours.”

A bleep resonated from the controls.

“We’re being hailed by the Asgardian ship. I’m putting them on screen.”

The face of the female Asgardian commander filled the medium-sized holo-projector in front of them.

“This is Commander Snotra of the Asgardian starship Ridill. A Fury destroyer fleet on the move has been detected near the jump exit coordinates.”

“So much for this place not being defended,” snorted Ryonna.

“Their current trajectory and late detection indicate they’ve not been stationary; we believe their presence to be only temporary while they exit sensor range. We’ve chosen jumping out of hyperspace to prevent early detection.”

“Probably a sage decision,” confirmed Keera. “How many super-destroyers in that fleet?”

“Ten large ships and their escort.”

“That’s not something we want to come face to face with,” said Ryonna.

“Should we abort?”

“No, we might not have a second chance anytime soon,” retorted Ryonna. “Commander, any way to compute their destination?”

“Difficult to say. They have already changed jumping vectors twice since our long-range sensors have detected them.”

“Won’t their sensors have detected us as well?”

“Unlikely. Asgardian technology is far superior.”

“That you know of,” whispered Keera.

“We also have perfect hearing,” protested the commander.

“Nevertheless, you have no way of knowing for sure whether we’ve been detected or not.”

The commander switched to a subzero tone. “No subspace ping has been detected; they do not know we are here.”

“Very well, that’s good to know, and thank you for your assistance and early warning. Will you stay here, or accompany us at sub-light speed before it’s safe to finish the last leg of the jump?”

“We’ll stay within long-range communication so that you can use our hyperspace corridors to return when you’re done. Commander Snotra out!”

The holo-transmission terminated.

“Charming lady,” commented Ryonna.

“I was about to say. Well, at least they won’t be too far. There’s always that.”

“If they don’t provide military support, they might as well pack up and go.”

“Should I call her back?”

“No, I’m just venting my frustration. We never know what will happen; knowing where to find a ship in a bind is always something.”

“See? You can focus on the silver lining when you want to.”

* * *

Upon Chase’s return to the Hope, he teleported back to Argos’ lab. Gaia’s battle bot was standing next to him. Chase knew a metallic avatar could only express emotions through words, but thanks to his ability to sense emotions with both people and machines, he was also able to merge his consciousness with the battle bot. And as such, he felt the stress she was feeling, and it was the strongest emotion in the room.

I thought you said Gaia wasn’t coming? questioned Argos mentally.

I guess she’s patched up enough to be here, and, well, as you noticed I took a little longer than I expected.

No shit? You and I have a very different definition of what “be right back” means.

Chase smiled but didn’t answer.

Cedric stood there as well and simply waved hello to Chase.

“Welcome back. Where’s Spiros’ soul?” inquired Argos.

“It’s complicated. It’s in me at the moment, and I don’t know how long I can hold it, so let’s get started.”

Gaia walked toward Chase and placed an open hand on his chest. “Thank you for doing this, and thank you for everything else.”

Chase smiled. “You’re perfectly welcome, Gaia.”

Meanwhile, Argos was entering commands on the holo-console next to the pod containing Spiros’ younger body.

“Did he have to be naked?” Chase asked.

“I grow clones, not clothes,” retorted Argos.

“Fair enough.” Chase grimaced and clenched his teeth. “Please hurry.”

“What about you stop complaining and diverting my attention, then?”

“Argos!”

“Sorry— here we go.”

Argos finished inputting commands and the liquid inside the pod started draining downward. While the pod drained, Argos took the ancient tech sphere and inserted it into a machine next to the pod. Another couple of inputs into the device’s mini holo-projector and the sphere became engulfed in a blue light while also generating a low humming vibration.

A vertical blue energy line drew perpendicular from the top to the bottom of the cylinder’s glass. The now split slabs of glass retracted to the side as steam temporarily engulfed Spiros’ body.

Chase felt panic overwhelm Gaia, and he was in pain from holding Spiros’ soul inside his own body. It required a lot of focus, but he managed to divert some of it to send her a message directly to her matrix.

You seem agitated. Are you going to be alright?

I— I don’t know Chase. I know I don’t have the organ, but my heart is trembling with fear and— sadness. I can’t believe he will be back, and I wish I had more time. A lifetime’s worth, in fact.

Chase’s heart wept. He was not happy that Spiros and Gaia would have to be separated after finding each other again. But did they really have to be separated?

For the time being, I want you to try and enjoy this moment. Give it your full attention and try not to worry about what’s next.

There was a rather long pause.

We both know I have to self-destruct soon after; my very existence puts too many people in jeopardy.

Let’s not rush this; let’s give it twenty-four hours before we decide anything, okay?

Gaia’s battle droid nodded.

The steam cloud engulfing Spiros was almost gone when the clone’s eyes opened wide. He didn’t look human, and his stare was utterly blank and devoid of emotion.

“Is this normal?” asked Cedric.

“It’s a completely empty mind,” answered Argos. “I’m surprised it knew how to open its eyes in the first place. But to answer your question, it’s normal…I think.”

Chase raised an eyebrow but decided to trust in his brother’s ability in this process. He felt an increasing amount of pain from holding onto the foreign soul, and blood started dripping from his nose.

Hurry, Chase pleaded telepathically. I can’t hold him much longer.

Almost there; hang on, brother.

Argos touched the ancient device with his palm, which projected a set of holo-commands in front of Spiros’ motionless and lifeless-looking new body. When he touched the transfer holo-command, Spiros’ pupils enlarged and confusion showed on his face, followed by rapid random eye movement that gave Chase the creeps.

While a holo-interface transfer bar filled quickly, Argos walked away from Spiros’ body and stood next to Chase.

“When the interface turns from blue to green, you’ll be up. In the meantime, let me help you with the pain.”

Before Chase could answer, he felt a warm energy envelop him and the pain quickly attenuated to a more manageable level. Chase felt relieved, and with Argos’ energetic boost, he felt he had a stronger grasp on holding Spiros’ soul inside him.

But when he turned his head to thank Argos, his brother’s face was deformed by pain, blood running down his nose and both his eyes. Chase wanted to push away the warm energy to stop Argos from feeling such intense agony, but Argos shook his head from side to side.

Spiros’ eyes were moving fast in every direction, each eye with its own pattern now, which made the scene difficult to watch but the holo-progression bar filled, blinked twice and then the entire holo-interface turned green.

You’re up, bro, Chase heard inside his head.

Chase growled, which took everyone by surprise, and his eyes started blinking between purple and gold, looking like a broken piece of machinery that was losing power. Every one of his muscles tightened and the tension inside his body was enormous.

He unleashed a deafening cry as he smashed an open palm onto Spiros’ chest.

“What the hell!?” exclaimed Cedric. But Gaia put a hand on Cedric’s shoulder.

“That’s alright, Cedric. Let them do their thing.”

What happened next froze everyone’s blood. A golden energy-based silhouette slowly emerged from Chase’s body as his painful cry intensified. His hair flew wildly around the room. First, an arm had fully emerged from his own, and then a head exited as well. Soon a fully formed body was floating out of Chase. The energy looked left and right and then focused on the empty vessel in front of it. It grabbed the clone’s head on the sides with its hands.

By that time, Chase’s entire body was trembling, “Go already!” he spat in between clenched teeth and a locked jaw.

When the energy silhouette penetrated the clone’s body, Spiros’ eyes closed shut, and soon the golden soul fully merged inside Spiros.

Chase removed his hand from Spiros’ naked chest and staggered a couple of steps backward, before letting himself fall to the ground.

“Chase!” cried Cedric.

Argos had fallen to his knees, panting, with blood dripping from his face to the floor.

“Did— did it work?” he asked painfully.

Gaia stepped in front of Spiros. “Spiros? Are you there?”

When Spiros’ eyes opened, they flashed gold before returning to their normal light blue color. But, unlike a few moments ago, there was now life in them.

Spiros looked around the room but stayed silent.

“What’s happening? Why isn’t he speaking?” exclaimed Gaia, unable to hide panic from her vocal sub-routines.

“Give—” Argos tried to say. He spat out blood that had accumulated in his throat. “Give it a minute.”

* * *

The lab doors slid open as Chris and Sarah stormed inside, both their auras shining brightly. They saw Chase on the ground and ran to his side.

“What’s going on?” inquired Chris. “I felt you and uncle were in tremendous amounts of pain!”

Chase let himself roll onto his back as he put a hand on his chest and breathed heavily. “I’m okay⁠—”

“The hell you are!” protested Sarah.

Sarah shot daggers toward Argos. “Did the two of you fight again? I swear I’ll kick your as⁠—”

“We didn’t,” interjected Chase, out of breath. “He helped me with the transference, in fact.”

That’s when Chris saw the pool of blood accumulating on the floor below Argos’ face.

“Why aren’t you two healing yourselves?”

“Kinda out of juice at the moment,” panted Chase but still managed a small smile.

“Same here,” said Argos with a chuckle that resulted in a blood bubble forming and popping at the corner of his mouth.

“If you wouldn’t mind?” pleaded Chase.

“I— I don’t know how to heal you,” said Chris.

“There’s nothing to it; just put your hands on me and let some of your energy flow into me, and I’ll do the rest.”

Chris nodded, got on his knees and put both his hands on his father. He closed his eyes, and his aura started shining a bright green.

The pain across Chase’s face quickly disappeared and was replaced with a satisfied smile. Chase jumped back to his feet so fast it momentarily frightened Chris and Sarah.

“Argos,” said Chase with a smile from ear to ear, “catch!”

Chase fired a bright white pulsating fireball toward Argos who intercepted the energy with his hand. The energy entered Argos’ body, and he rose back to his feet and quickly healed his wound. He cracked his neck from side to side.

“Thanks.”

Chase walked next to Argos and strongly clapped his shoulder.

“No, thank you for the assist; I don’t think I could have managed to do this on my own.”

“Hey. What are brothers for, right?” said Argos, a smile shining across his face.

That’s when Argos noticed both Spiros and Gaia were no longer in the room. “Where did they go?”

“I think whatever they need to talk about is no concern of ours,” said Cedric.

“They could have let me run diagnostics to make sure everything worked the way it was supposed to.”

“That’s okay,” said Chase. “There will be time for that later. But Argos, please tell me we don’t need to go through this again for the next body swap.”

“I have no idea, I sure hope not. I’ll— I’ll think of something.”

“You make sure you do that. While this was quite the experience, it’s not one I’m willing to go through again if it can be helped.”

“Wasn’t exactly a picnic for me either, by the way.”

“Anybody hungry?” inquired Chase. “I’m starving.”

“I could go for some pizza,” said Chris cheerfully.

“He’s your son, alright,” said Sarah as she affectionately ran her hand through Chris’ hair.

17

Gaia and Spiros had been walking for several minutes when they arrived on deck five and stood in front of the large viewport. They still hadn’t spoken a single word to each other, but they had been holding hands ever since they left the lab.

She finally broke the silence.

“I missed you.”

Spiros looked at Gaia’s artificial eyes. “I missed you too. And I never thought I’d see you again.”

Gaia looked down.

“What’s wrong?” inquired Spiros.

“I— I just wished my avatar body wasn’t so cold.”

Spiros took the battle bot in his arms. “I don’t care about that. I’m just so happy to be here with you.”

“I can feel that,” said Gaia playfully.

That’s when Spiros realized he wasn’t wearing anything.

“Oh. This body feels strange, I’m not yet fully in control of all its…appendages.”

They both laughed.

“That explains the looks we got from the few crew members we’ve encountered earlier,” Spiros continued.

“They’ll get over it.”

There was a pause, as both of them didn’t know how to proceed next. Eventually, Gaia spoke.

“We should get you some clothes, but before we do that, I have something to ask you.”

“Right. Okay, I’m listening.”

“When— when you got—” but Gaia couldn’t finish the sentence.

“When I got killed.”

She nodded. “Yes, you were about to say something, but it came out all garbled. I— I think I know what you wanted to say, but— I’d really like to hear you say it.”

Spiros’ eyes watered as his heartbeat started galloping.

“I said, please don’t be sad…”

“Oh…” answered Gaia.

“I also said that it wasn’t your fault, but most importantly, my last words⁠—”

“Yes—” said Gaia, her shining white avatar eyes glowing stronger.

“I love you.”

Gaia’s eyes blinked furiously, and sparks sizzled all around her as she collapsed to the ground.

“Gaia!!!!” screamed Spiros.

Her eyes turned off, and her avatar body was motionless.

“Noooooo! Someone, please help!” screamed Spiros as tears flowed from his eyes and down his face like two unstoppable torrents.

* * *

Chase took a bite of his pizza and looked around the table with a sense of serenity. These moments were few and far between, and he greatly enjoyed spending time with his family.

Hopefully, in a not too distant future, he could enjoy their presence, their smiles and their laughter on a daily basis, free from fear, anxiety and without the constant feeling of having to hold the weight of the universe on their shoulders.

“That’s some damn good pizza, but why does it taste different than I remember?” asked Chase.

“I’ve added mushrooms and onions to your usual recipe,” said Chris with his mouth full.

“Just when I thought pizza couldn’t get any better.”

“You guys do realize there are hundreds of variations of that dish?” commented Sarah. “And other foods beside pizza!”

Chase nodded. “I remember what you told me on our first date, yes.”

“We weren’t there,” said Argos after downing his sixth slice. “So please, pray tell.”

“Yes, do tell!” said Chris.

Sarah’s cheeks turned slightly red. Chase felt that remembering their first date reminded Sarah of something else regarding that evening. It was then and there that Chris was conceived.

“Your father had discovered pizza and Chinese food that night. I was amazed by how much he ate. I’ve later tasted standard Star Alliance rations, and I got a better appreciation of his enthusiasm. That night I told him that there was so much variety of food on our planet, that it would take forever for him to try every single variation.”

“And yet that one only eats pizza every chance he gets,” snorted Argos playfully.

“I think that’s because it reminds me of that night, more than anything else,” answered Chase pensively.

Argos turned his head to the side as if he had heard something.

Chase’s heart felt a strong emotion of helplessness. “You felt it too?”

“Something’s wrong with Spiros,” said Argos.

“Not just Spiros,” said Chase before teleporting away from the mess hall.

The chair he was balancing on fell to the ground as he disappeared into thin air.

* * *

Cedric approached Kvasir in the back of the Engine room.

“That’s where you’re hiding. What’s with you? We’ve seldom seen you ever since Thor came on board the ship.”

The intensity of Kvasir’s tattoos lowered to a faint glow.

“I— I’ve tried to keep occupied. Truth be told, I’m not good with goodbyes.”

“Who said anything about goodbyes? Chase won’t let Odin execute you— you know?”

“That’s kind of you to say and even kinder of him to care. But I’ve broken too many laws in my lifetime. I always knew the day would come that I would have to pay the price for my actions.”

“Well, like Chase would say, over my dead body. You’ve helped save my life as well as countless of others on Earth. If it wasn’t for you, we would never have defeated Gaia 2.”

“We both know that’s not true. It’s Thor who saved the day at the eleventh hour.”

Cedric disapprovingly shook his head.

“And who called him? You! Dumb ass…”

Kvasir’s eyes widened. “Dumb what?”

Cedric chuckled. “That’s how I talk to my friends. You’ll get used to it.”

Some intensity returned to Kvasir’s tattoos. “Friend?”

“Why do you think I’ve searched all over the ship for you? Well, that, and I was really starting to get worried. Eventually, Yanis told me where to find you. You’re our friend.”

Kvasir looked down. “I— I haven’t had a friend, let alone two, in thousands of years,” he said, his tattoos muting completely.

“Well, now you have more than you can count, so stop brooding and let’s get back to work, shall we?”

“Work? On what?”

“Chase gave me, Yanis and you an assignment. We have to find a way to get Aphroditis out of the infernal machine she is trapped inside. Since the damn thing is half Asgardian, we’ll need your help.”

“She can’t leave the machine. Not alive anyway. And it would be bad for all of us if she did.”

“Wait, what? How do you know this?”

“I’ve helped construct it.”

“You’re shitting me?”

Kvasir shook his head. “No! And can you please stop using fecal matter related words every other sentence?”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t think I will.”

“Fair enough. But what’s that about you helping build the machine?”

Kvasir sighed. “I wish I never was part of that. That’s what got me banished in the first place.”

“You need to start making sense my friend; why did it get you banished?”

“It’s a long story, and I don’t think I should waste whatever time I have left alive delving into a memory I’d rather forget.”

“You’re not getting out of this talk that easy, buddy. But for the time being we can table the finer details. However, get your big Asgardian butt back to work, before I kick the shit out of it.”

Kvasir put a hand in front of his mouth as his tattoos blinked rapidly.

Cedric forced a tense smile. “I just got the mental image— I think it sounded better in my hea⁠—”

Kvasir vomited on Cedric’s shoes.

“Hopefully, that should teach me a valuable lesson regarding my big mouth.”

* * *

“What happened?” inquired Chase the moment he arrived next to Spiros.

Spiros jumped to the side and stumbled to the ground, flashing Chase with his dangling genitals.

“You really need to put on some clothes,” said Chase before kneeling and putting a hand on Gaia’s chest.

Chase closed his eyes and sent his consciousness inside her matrix.

“Never mind that. What the hell is wrong with her? Please tell me she isn’t dead!”

Chase flinched.

“What?” asked Spiros, unable to contain the worry in his voice.

“Her emotional sub-routines overloaded her entire matrix.”

“Did she…? Did she do that to herself?” sobbed Spiros.

“I don’t think so, but we have to do something fast, or her entire matrix might get lost.”

“What can we do? Please save her!”

Chase’s thoughts raced. He needed to find a place to backup Gaia’s mind before it was lost. But in her state, he couldn’t be sure that dumping her consciousness into the Hope’s memory banks was a safe move. The last thing they needed was to recreate another vile AI.

“What did you tell her? Her matrix is deconstructing at the seams.”

“You know very well what I told her, or do I have to draw you a picture?”

“Right. Well, hearing you say these words have sent her matrix into a cascade failure. I— I wonder why.”

“Screw why. What can we do to prevent it?”

“This is going to hurt,” said Chase as he grabbed Spiros’ forehead.

“Wha— aaaaaaaarg!”

But Chase had already unleashed his mind inside Spiros’. Their consciousnesses merged, and soon they were standing in an empty dark place, just the two of them.

“What just happened?”

“We’re running out of time. I don’t know how long Gaia has before the corruption in her code gets erased. So I jumped into your mind to have more time to talk it over and make the right decision.”

“What? You’re not making any sense! What difference does it make? Couldn’t we have had this discussion without the mind-invading move? My head feels like it’s going to explode.”

“Poor choice of words,” smiled Chase.

“Oh…I didn’t even think about that.”

“That’s because you didn’t have the mental image of when your head actually exploded.”

“Oh god…you just showed it to me.”

“Not on purpose.”

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Well, we’re talking at near light speed at the moment, so hopefully we have plenty of time before your physical body translates these thoughts and takes action.”

“How can you do this?”

“I don’t know. I’ve noticed that I can pretty much project myself into both organic and artificial minds, and I wonder if it’s not because of my trip into Gaia 2’s matrix. Ever since that fight I feel my mental projection abilities are so much stronger. But let’s table the why for later and focus on a solution to save Gaia without risking the creation of another malevolent AI.”

“She wouldn’t want us to take that risk. No matter what.”

“I know, which is why I felt that I didn’t have any other choice than to buy us more time in order to discuss options.”

“I’m still trying to wrap my mind around this part, Chase. How much time has actually passed since we’ve been in here?”

“About a thousandth of a second.”

“Incredible!”

“It’s not exactly something I can keep doing forever. I’ve expended a lot of energy bringing back your soul from the Underworld.”

“And I haven’t thanked you for it yet, either.”

“You’re welcome; but now, please think. Fast!”

“Are you freaking kidding me?”

“What?”

“Our minds are connected. I just learned Gaia will self-destruct anyway.”

“Don’t panic just yet. We haven’t agreed on anything on that subject.”

“I know you’re thinking that to be true, I can feel it, but your thoughts also betray subconscious feelings, which is too weird to even try to describe right now. Your instincts tell you that even if you tell Gaia to wait on the self-destruct, you feel she will do it anyway.”

“Alright that’s what I think she wants, but for the sake of argument, can we please focus on one problem at a time? Right now if we don’t do something in the next few minutes, she’ll be lost, forever.”

“Now I wished she hadn’t saved my consciousness and you hadn’t brought me back to life. All that was a colossal waste of time.”

Chase slapped Spiros’ representation body. “What’s done is done, Spiros. Now get a grip on yourself and help me.”

“Ouch!” he complained. “I don’t know that I needed that!”

“Trust me on this one, you did.”

Spiros nodded. “Fine. Fair enough. Gimme a second to think…”

Spiros rubbed his now beardless chin.

“I— why don’t we just use the ancient tech sphere that held my own consciousness?”

“The problem with that plan is that I don’t know if letting her matrix run in its current state is such a good idea at the moment. I mean, look at her code.”

Millions of holographically projected code appeared all around them, layers upon layers of green colored lines of code as far as the eye could see.

“I’m surprised my mind can interpret that without my implant.”

“Right now, I’m your implant.”

“I’ll take three, please.”

“Spiros!” cried Chase. “What part of ‘I can’t do that forever’ didn’t you understand?”

“Right. I think we can dump her matrix into the sphere and turn the device down, or at the very least, to an ultra-low power setting.”

“You’re the scientist. But once we do that, then what? We’ll soon arrive in Asgardian space, and I might not be able to help you with what’s to come next.”

“Well, obviously we can’t unload her to any Earth Alliance systems. That would be too risky.”

Spiros pointed to some of the code, which traveled through the other layers of code and zoomed in front of Spiros.

“Yep,” he added. “If I can’t find a way to fix the damage in her emotional sub-routines, she could go Gaia 2 all over again, or worse.”

“You know she’d want us to let her die rather than take a millionth of that risk?”

Spiros’ eyes watered. “I know. Why aren’t we?”

“Are you serious?”

Chase looked surprised all of a sudden.

“What’s wrong?” asked Spiros.

“I just had the mental projection of your wish. In your mind, when you hold her in your arms, she’s living and breathing.”

“Yes, it’s a silly thought, I know⁠—”

“No, it’s not. In fact, it might be your best idea yet. I’ll be right back.”

* * *

When Spiros opened his eyes, Chase was gone. And he was on the ground next to a motionless Gaia battle bot.

Spiros had rehearsed his speech to Gaia countless of times in his mind. Especially before he was killed and also in the Underworld once Hades had explained to him that there was a plan in the works to bring him back, but he never thought that it would go this way.

I sure hope he knows what he’s doing. I thought time was of the esse⁠—

But before Spiros had finished his thought, Chase was back with Argos, and he threw clothes at Spiros’ face.

“Get dressed.”

Argos had the ancient sphere in his hand.

“You’re sure about this, Chase?” asked Argos. “We might already have erased important tech discoveries from this relic putting Gaia’s consciousness into it, which will take far more data than Spiros’ and will probably render it useless.”

“I’d like to point out,” interjected Spiros, “that I take offense that you’d think of my intelligence to be smaller than anyone else’s.”

Argos shot Spiros a dubious look. “Really? You think you’re smarter than Gaia?”

“Never mind,” conceded Spiros.

“Chase? So, are you absolutely sure?” insisted Argos.

“I don’t care about that tech. And I know dying is actually Gaia’s wish for the short term, but I can’t seem to put my finger on why. My gut tells me that it’s important we save her.”

“If your gut tells you it’s important, that’s good enough for me. But I’d just like to point out that Sarah said Yanis thought it could hold the key to finding a new instant way of jumping our ships. Clearly, that would give us the advantage we need to defeat the Furies,” said Argos.

“We’ll deal with them another way, and there’s no guarantee we could ever have translated Yanis’ hunch into a workable technology anyway.”

“What’s next, then?” asked Argos.

“Hold still, this might tickle a bit,” said Chase with a smirk and a wink.

With one hand on Gaia’s chest, Chase fired an energy beam toward the sphere in Argos’ hand. Argos’ face tensed as an intense electrical current ran through his body for the duration of the transfer.

Even though the transfer only lasted a few seconds, it took a lot out of Chase.

“Is it done?” inquired Spiros, who had finished dressing in the meantime.

“Yes.”

“You still haven’t told me what it is you saw in my head that prompted you to do all of this.”

“That’s why Argos is here. He can teach you how to build her a clone body.”

“Except I don’t think a human clone can hold that much processing power,” argued Argos. “And I thought I was coming to Asgard with you?”

“You are; this would be a crash course. As for the processing power, I think Spiros can integrate the sphere into the design of the clone,” said Chase gesturing Argos closer.

“Intriguing idea. But how do you propose I teach Spiros about cloning?”

“Like this,” said Chase as he grabbed both Argos’ and Spiros’ foreheads.

All three of them were transported back into a single, shared consciousness.

“Now that all our minds are linked, Spiros can access your knowledge about clones, and I can later transport him to one of your old hideouts to do the work.”

“There is one place he can go, but I seriously would shield your own mind from this link,” said Argos.

Chase didn’t have to ask why as his conscious mind flooded with images and scenes from their past. He saw Argos crying over a dead female, tears of rage and vengeance blackening his soul. Chase stood not far from him, blood on his hands.

“I— I didn’t mean to,” he told Argos.

“You’ve killed her!” barked Argos.

Chase focused to push away these memories while staying in the shared consciousness.

“Spiros?” inquired Chase. “Argos is right; I can’t stay in here for much longer.”

“You don’t have to. I have what I need.”

Chase released both Argos and Spiros’ foreheads and panted heavily.

He could feel he had opened a can of worms linking his mind to his brother’s, but he felt he had managed to block most of it.

“I— I’m sorry,” Chase whispered to Argos.

“You have nothing to be sorry about. I was blinded by rage and didn’t want to see that you didn’t mean to kill her. It was easier to hate you for killing her than to accept it for what it was, a tragic accident. But, I don’t think now is the right time to discuss this. We’ll have plenty of time to make amends once we rid the Furies from existence.”

Chase nodded solemnly. “Okay, agreed. Let’s keep our eyes on the target for now.”

Still, knowing Chase had taken the life of someone that mattered to his brother was not something he would easily forget, and it would eventually need to be processed fully.

Chase took the sphere from Argos’ hand and passed it to Spiros.

“Her life is now in your hands, literally. But you have to promise me that you’ll disable any wireless communication from this device, and make sure to implement the sphere inside Gaia in a way that it cannot be interfaced with another piece of technology, ever.

“Yes, you have my word. I wouldn’t design her a body that could be taken advantage of. I know she wouldn’t permit it and probably would take her own life if she felt it could. I’ll make it airtight from any outside interaction, even from me.”

“Then I should teleport you to Argos’ hideout.”

“I’d like a word with Cedric, first. If that’s okay?”

“Of course. Come see me when you’re ready to go.”

18

“We need to talk,” said the shadow.

“Look, I’m leaving now, and I’m in a bit of a hurry. I have to catch a wormhole before it closes and I miss my window,” answered Arakan.

“I know what you are about to do.”

“I doubt that, but even if that’s the case, it’s no concern of yours.”

“It is, in fact. If you go unprepared, you will die.”

“You see, this is why I shouldn’t listen to you. You’re always so negative.”

“Please, heed my warning. I wouldn’t bother you if this weren’t important.”

“Enough!” screamed Arakan. “Everything is always important to you. But I’m done being manipulated. I will do what I want. I don’t care if it’s not in alignment with your own wishes. And trust me, if I knew how to get rid of you for good, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

“It saddens me that you don’t appreciate my help. But my own feelings matter not. Before you go, let me give you a gift.”

“You keep your gifts.”

“I can’t save your life. Do this, and I promise to leave you alone for longer periods of time.”

“Do you have any idea how little your word means to me?”

“Perhaps, but I can tell that the prospect of not seeing me every day is appealing to you.”

“For once, I can agree with you on something. What is this gift?”

“It’s waiting in your throne chair’s hidden compartment.”

Arakan peered at the currently closed armrest. A few seconds later, he resigned himself to enter the touch control code that revealed the secret compartment. A black chiseled stone radiating dark purple energy stood next to Arakan’s vials of medicine.

“What is it?”

“Think of it as a resurrection stone. But more than that, it will allow you to inflict irreversible damage to your enemies.”

“What makes you think I can’t deal this sort of damage myself?”

“Oh, you are the most powerful Fury there is, and I’m not questioning that. But many Furies possess the ability to heal their wounds. With this, it will no longer be the case.”

“Are you telling me that if I wear this, the wounds I inflict are irreversible?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that, but it’s an accurate enough description.”

The shadow lifted a single finger before resuming.

“With one important point. It must be ingested, not worn.”

Arakan took the small stone in his fingers and felt a very strong power emanate from it. A dark energy he wasn’t sure he wanted to possess. And he had already been manipulated into taking so-called medicine that only seemed to numb his fiery ardor. He wasn’t sure he wanted to take anything that could affect his decision making again.

“Why do you call this a resurrection stone?”

“Because the energy enclosed inside the stone will be unleashed if your heart stops beating, and it will resurrect you on the spot. Not many people would refuse a chance to undo a mistake that would cost them their lives.”

“I’m not many people. I do worry, however, that this is one of your ploys to get control over me.”

“Nobody can control you, not even me.”

“You got that right!”

“So with that fea— concern,” corrected the shadow, “we both know how bold your next move is. This could make all the difference.”

Arakan looked at the stone one more time before putting it in a pocket under his shining dark armor.

“It won’t work unless you ingest it.”

“I heard you the first time.”

“Very well, just understand that if you don’t use it with your next adversary, he will not fall.”

Arakan didn’t like being told what to do, but the shadow’s warning made sense. However, he would not give him the satisfaction of swallowing the stone in front of him.

* * *

Apollo knelt in front of his father. “Reporting as ordered.”

“Rise, my son. I asked you here to check on the progress of the fleet. To see how many ships we can send to the Earth Alliance.”

Apollo rose back onto his feet.

“As you know, we don’t have that many ships left. Until the Furies’ return, there was little reason to build any more since our ships are technologically more advanced than most species.”

“Except the Asgardians.”

“Yes, but we’re not enemies.”

“Fortunately for us…there was a time it could have been very different.”

A golden glow appeared near Zeus’ throne.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” inquired Ares.

“Good to see you,” said Apollo. “It’s been a while.”

“It’s good to see you too, Brother. And you, Father.”

“Good to see you, Ares. To what do we owe this impromptu visit?”

“I wanted to discuss something with you.”

Zeus politely requested that Apollo take his leave for the time being. Apollo saluted his brother and left the room.

“I sense this is quite serious,” said Zeus.

“It is. I— I might be away for a while, and there is a risk I might not return at all.”

“I don’t understand. You shouldn’t be feeling any more side effects from the spell I had you under. Are you seriously considering going to Elysium?”

“No, it’s not that⁠—”

“Then before we continue this talk,” interrupted Zeus, “I would like to apologize for doing this to you. I was mad, mostly at myself but needed a vehicle to express that anger. I’m truly sorry in how I dealt with this and how estranged we’ve become in the past centuries because of this.”

Ares was surprised by Zeus’ candor. He was not one to openly admit mistakes. Ares wondered if he should tell him he understood better now why his father was so mad at him, but he had promised Chase he would not divulge the fact that he knew Zeus’ secret. Hearing his father apologize had lightened Ares’ soul quite more than he expected.

“I understand, Father. I haven’t always been there for you the way I should have. I had my own anger issues to work out, and for this, I’m also sorry.”

“You’re a good son; I should have been more patient with you. And with your sister,” said Zeus with watery eyes.

One thing was certain as far as Ares was concerned. Meeting Chase had had a very positive impact on Zeus.

“Speaking of Aphroditis, that’s why I’m here.”

Zeus rose from his throne. “Any news? Is she alright?”

“No, no news, and from what I understood when she made contact with me, she’s anything but alright. But, we have a plan to get her out of the machine.”

Zeus sat back down. “What plan?”

“I’m going to take her place.”

“Then this is not good news. I don’t want any of my children to suffer this fate. Are you sure you can’t find another solution?”

“The machine requires an Olympian soul.”

“But doesn’t it require a body as well?”

“We think we have found a solution to that particular problem.”

“I know Chase depends on you a lot in his quest. Perhaps someone else should be doing this.”

“I can’t ask anyone else to do this. Entering that machine is like a prison, where every minute in it feels like torture.”

“This is all my fault. If I hadn’t asked the Asgardians to put that failsafe into the dimension shift portal, none of this would have happened. Aphroditis would be free, the Furies would still be trapped in space and time, and you’d still be alive.”

“We can’t change the past.”

“But what if we could?”

“We both know it’s too dangerous to mess with time; whatever we have lost could be nothing in comparison, especially if we try and tamper with the normal flow of time. I know Aphroditis operated in a very gray area in that regard. But changing time is something that could have irreparable consequences. Does this mean the Titan, Chronos, is alive?”

“You’re right,” conceded Zeus. “Even though we’ve all lost loved ones, Chase and his friends are near the end of their journey, I can feel that much. And they’ll need your sister’s guidance.”

Zeus swiftly dodged Ares’ question, which told him all he needed to know.

If Chronos were alive, they would need to make sure the Furies never found him.

“That is why I have to do this.”

“No, you don’t have to. You’re a noble and courageous son of Olympus, and I know you want to do it, but I should step into that machine in your stead.”

“No way! The head of Olympus trapped on Fury territory? That’s not the kind of message that will help with troop morale. Nobody remembers me, and I won’t be missed.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, son. I remember you and you have made many friends lately.”

Ares felt the energy equivalent of his heart being squeezed upon hearing his father repeatedly call him son.

“That’s kind of you to say. But as you know, my sister and I have a special bond. I think that’s why we’ve been able to communicate while she’s been in the machine. And perhaps it’s important that this line of communication stays open after the swap.”

Zeus rubbed his silvery beard for a long time.

“Are there plans to rescue you from there, later?”

“Chase insisted that he would not let me rot in the machine. But I’m guessing the fact that I’m already free of a physical form makes me the best candidate, as, I more than anyone else, would have a better chance of surviving the destruction of the machine when the time comes. Only the clone body Argos will provide me with would perish.”

“You seem to have it all worked out, so I’ll honor your devotion to your sister and let you do that for her. But know that I would have gladly taken your place.”

“That means a lot; thank you, Father.”

“So basically you came to say goodbye?”

Ares nodded. “Hopefully not forever. But should things not turn out the way we planned— well, I wanted to see you one last time and tell you that despite the bad blood between us, I love you. And I’m sorry for having been a problem child.”

Zeus couldn’t keep his tears in check. “I love you too, son. And it is I who am sorry. I failed you as a father. But I want you to know I am very proud of the man you have become. Even in death, you’re still shining brighter than the sun, quite literally in fact.”

Ares never thought he’d get his father’s approval from this meeting, but it went above and beyond his expectations. An invisible weight that Ares had carried for thousands of years was suddenly lifted from his soul, and now he knew that his aim was true. It left no doubt in his heart that they were doing the right thing.

“Thank you, Father. And— goodbye, for now. No matter what, we’ll eventually meet back in Elysium, right?”

“Absolutely, son.”

* * *

Cedric’s heart skipped a beat when he saw Spiros enter Engineering. It was late and both Yanis and Kvasir had left to get some sleep.

“Hello, my friend,” said Spiros.

“It’s so good to see you again. I never thought I would, after⁠—”

“That’s kind of why I’m here.”

“I’m so sorry for what happened. I should have been more careful…seeing you die, and the way it happened, from my own hands. I’m still having nightmares about it.”

“It wasn’t you, it was Gaia 2, and I understand you did everything to make sure she bit the dust. So, please, don’t blame yourself for that. Plus, as you can see, I’ve actually gotten a younger body for my troubles.”

“I was about to say you look in top shape.”

“We have Argos to thank for that.”

“At the beginning of our journey, I never thought we’d utter such words,” said Cedric with a chuckle.

“He’s also shared his cloning methods so I can bring Gaia back to life.”

“I’ve heard she was damaged…how are you coping?”

“It’s not easy; it happened at the most unexpected time. Just when I thought something wonderful was about to happen.”

“I’m really sorry to hear this, Spiros. And I hope you can bring her back, I know what she means to you.”

Cedric could tell by his facial reaction that Spiros was in a fragile state of mind.

“Thank you. She brought me back, with your help, so the least I can do is return the favor. Let’s just say we have unfinished business, and I’m not ready to say goodbye just yet.”

Cedric gave Spiros a warm and compassionate smile.

“What’s the plan, and how can I help?”

“I’m going away for a while; that’s why I wanted to see you before I leave.”

“Where to?”

“One of Argos’ old cloning facilities. I’ll make Gaia a real flesh and blood body.

“That sounds like the best move. But you could use my help, I’m sure. Let me come with you.”

“As tempting an offer as it is, especially since my time alone on Damocles-3, I’m not keen on finding myself alone for long periods of time⁠—”

“Then it’s settled, I’m coming with you,” interjected Cedric.

“No, Cedric. Thank you so much for proposing, but we both know your place is here. Chase and Yanis will need your help with what’s to come. Saving Gaia is something I have to do on my own and without depriving the Alliance of one more of their top scientists. I’m sure you can understand that.”

Cedric wanted to argue but he knew in his heart that Spiros had made his decision and that it wasn’t open to negotiation.

“How long do you think you will be gone?”

“I have no idea. Making a clone is the easy part, interfacing it with the ancient sphere and unscrambling Gaia’s code, that I have no idea. I might pick your brain via subspace from time to time if that’s alright.”

“I was about to say that; yes, you do that my friend. Anytime!”

They embraced each other in a warm hug.

“You take good care of yourself and of Earth, my friend,” said Spiros.

“You too, and be sure to both come back and to say hello when you’re done.”

“That’s a promise.”

* * *

Chase was in his ready room when the holo-transmission started. It was the Emperor calling from his ship.

“Admiral Athanatos.”

“None of that, please! Plus I hold you personally responsible for everyone calling me Admiral.”

Altair smiled. “And that is a problem, why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t like being called that. So please, call me Chase.”

“Very well, Chase. I wanted to discuss something with you earlier, but we’ve all been busy. And I needed a bit of time to grieve.”

“I still can’t believe he’s gone.”

“I know how you feel.”

“So, what is it you wanted to discuss?”

“Your next ship. The newest class of battle destroyer is ready. We have been churning out a lot of ships around Alpha Prime. But the latest ship design, the new flagship, is just out of space docks.”

“I didn’t even know we had a new design in progress.”

“Saroudis wanted it to be a surprise. We’ve taken the specifications of the Hope as well as some Olympian tech Athena was generous to share with us, and added some of the latest Obsidian upgrades as well. The only thing missing is a name to christen the new destroyer.”

“Well that’s a nice surprise, indeed. What about naming it the Saroudis?”

“I’m sure he would have liked that very much. And, I also had thought of that myself. But Adonis had chosen another name.”

“Which was?”

“The Victory.”

Chase smiled. “I like that.”

“Me too.”

“Alright, so be it. I propose the ship’s true name be known to the two of us as Saroudis’ Victory. But for the sake of simplicity, we’ll give the ship its original name.”

“I like the way you think. It will be done. Should I send it to rejoin you in Asgard?”

“We’ll be there way before you will have time to send it.”

“Not as much time as you’d think. It so happens we already have half a dozen jump gates operational that will considerably shorten travel time.”

“Saroudis was right; you guys are nothing if not efficient. He told me how impressed he was with how fast the shipyards had been constructed around Alpha Prime.”

“We play on our strength in this Alliance. Obsidian territory was the least damaged in this war, so we have more resources, and more manpower. We’re happy to be the working force of the Alliance. I’ll have the Victory sent to you with its new crew. Personally handpicked by both Adonis and myself.”

“Your timing couldn’t be better. I was just about to give command of the Hope to Sarah.”

“I’ll send your chief engineer the latest specs of the ship so he can debrief you on its capabilities. I think you’ll be pleased.”

“Now, I’m really curious. Looking forward to captaining the Victory. Thank you, Emperor.”

“Please, Altair.”

“Very well, Altair.”

“Goodbye for now, Chase.”

Chase answered with a relaxed two-finger salute.

19

Yanis and Sarah entered the captain’s ready room. Chase realized that it would be the last time he would consider this his room.

“Thank you for coming. Please take a seat,” instructed Chase.

“Sure thing, Cap!” said Yanis as he sat down.

“Hey, you,” said Sarah.

“Hey, glad you could come as well. We’re about to exit hyperspace, so I wanted to make something official.”

Sarah smiled.

“What’s so funny, Captain Kepler?” said Chase playfully.

Her eyes grew wide with excitement. “Captain?”

“Effective immediately, in fact, and as I can tell that you already know, the Hope is now your ship.”

“Congratulations!” exclaimed Yanis.

“Thank you, the both of you,” said Sarah.

“You really deserve it. You’ve proven you can captain your own ship, and it’s my honor to have you relieve me of my position as its captain.”

“Does that mean I’m getting transferred?” asked Yanis.

“I haven’t decided yet, but until we get possession of the Victory, you’re staying where you are.”

“Are we expecting a battle around Asgard?”

“I don’t know what to expect, besides the near-certain assassination attempt on Odin. If anything else, we can’t let that happen. We’ve been given a chance to get our most powerful ally yet. If we prove ourselves to the Asgardians, and they join the Alliance, we’ll finally be in a position to take the battle to the Furies with both numbers and superior technology on our side.”

“The Victory is one hell of a ship, Chase,” said Yanis. “I think you’ll like her.”

“Well, that’s why you’re here. I’ve been dying to know what she is made of ever since the Emperor told me you would debrief me on the ship’s new technology.”

Yanis got up and lowered a portable holo-projector on the nearby table. He flicked it on and a projected image of the Victory filled most of the ready room.

“Wow!” said Sarah.

“Why does the projection seem so big?” asked Chase. “I suppose it’s not much bigger than the Hope, right?”

“You’d suppose wrong, Admiral. Here,” continued Yanis as he entered a holo-command on the floating interface. The Hope appeared next to the Victory, only representing a third of its size.

“This can’t be to scale?”

“Oh, but I assure you it is. In fact, it’s only slightly smaller than a Fury super-destroyer. And believe me when I say, it packs a punch!”

“Now I understand why you gifted me the Hope,” Sarah smirked playfully.

“I honestly had no idea I would be getting a new ship when I made that decision.”

“I’m just teasing you, but if you feel like trading, you know where to find me.”

Chase laughed.

“Should I come back later, perhaps?” asked Yanis.

Chase shook a finger. “That’s okay, sorry, Yanis. Please continue.”

“Alright, so the Warheart class super-destroyer Victory is a true war machine. Everything in that ship has either been streamlined, upgraded, and or plain redesigned. Thanks to our Obsidian friends, they provided the new reinforced alloy that composes most of the armor of the ship. This new alloy makes the ship harder to detect in a long-range scan by shielding the power emissions from within to impressive stealth levels, and that’s even the case at full power.

“The engines upgrade we owe to Athena’s willingness to share with us some of their ship’s specs. The triple quadrinium core engine of the Victory is ten times more powerful than the Hope’s.”

“Ten times?!” exclaimed Chase.

“Yes. You can now fire the main Heracles guns with barely a drop in power or the need to worry about being a sitting duck when you fire a full-powered shot. Firing frequency has also been improved. There’s two hundred and fifty laser batteries on each side of the ship, for a total of five hundred. And with fifty Quantum torpedo launch tubes, we now have the possibility of one shot taking out a Fury super-destroyer.”

“Holy shit,” exclaimed Sarah.

“Language, Captain,” teased Chase. “How many squadrons of StarFuries can it carry?”

Yanis couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. “Twenty-five, and half of that can be deployed instantly from the launch tubes.”

“That’s a lot of StarFuries.”

“Yes, especially the Mark IIs.”

“The what now?” asked Chase. “New StarFuries?”

“I’ll get to that soon. Right now let me finish with two more notable features of the Victory. The multi-phasic triple-layered intelligent shields make the Victory one hell of a ship to bring down. We’ve installed smart capacitors all around its hull that reinjects most of the diffused energy blasts they deflect right back into their own power conduits. The more you fight an enemy, the more the predictive modular frequency learns from the firing ship, thus lowering its tax on them and augmenting its ability to recharge faster.”

“Did you just say that the longer we fight, the better the shields get?”

“Basically, yes. Of course, the enemy might adjust their firing frequencies to adapt. But that will take some time for them, and that’s one more thing going for the Victory and the next Warheart class destroyers to follow in its footsteps.”

“Is there anything that ship is bad at?” asked Chase.

“The ship is— how do I put this mildly— a resource devourer. The amount of quadrinium required to not only build it but also to run it is enormous. And while it can accommodate a vast crew, the entire ship runs itself thanks to a very efficient central computer, requiring only a few men at the main stations on the bridge. That’s for us mere humans, as, of course, you can remote pilot the ship and most of its subsystems like you’ve been doing for a while now. The ship is constructed around self-healing circuits, with a gazillion repair nanites on standby in all critical systems. Everything has been doubled, or even tripled for maximum redundancy. Power conduits, capacitors, shield emitters— the works.”

“This sounds like a true war machine,” said Sarah.

“It is. Every system has been designed to counter Fury technology, right down to the Mark II StarFuries.”

“About time,” said Chase, beaming a playful smile.

“Forty percent stronger armor, faster jump recharge cycle, bigger engine, and all this means bigger range and for the first time…” Yanis mimed drumrolls. “Shields capacity of still fifty percent after using the cloak.”

“Now that’s a tactical advantage these fighters needed! How did you achieve this?”

“Believe it or not, but Obsidian power management was quite ahead of our own.”

Chase nodded his appreciation.

“Anything else?”

“Yes, one last thing, in fact. The ship can now be customized with two types of drones. And you can mix and match them too. The older drone models with increased shields and firepower thanks to that aforementioned improved power management, but also the newer model that drains enemy shields faster than a mosquito sucks your blood at the height of summer.”

“Interesting, if somewhat yucky, analogy,” commented Sarah.

“I second that,” said Chase.

“Realistically, what types of odds do you give this new class of ships against Fury super-destroyers?”

“There’s a little bit of warning attached to this answer,” said Yanis. “In our last engagement, the Furies seemed to have fine-tuned their own systems to counter ours. Just like we’re doing now. So, it’s not exactly possible to say for sure. But I’d say the Victory should be able to take on three Fury super-destroyers and live to tell the tale.”

“I’ll take ten,” said Sarah with enthusiasm.

“You’ll need to be patient then, while the shipyards are working twenty four hours a day, thanks to the large Obsidian workforce, they can only churn out a ship this size every week or so. And that’s by stopping the construction of other, smaller ships, like the new Destiny.”

“I didn’t know we had one in the pipeline.”

“Saroudis had ordered a new Destiny with all the modifications that we had added to the Hope, and with the addition of all the new technology included in the new Warheart class destroyers, just in a smaller package, so to speak.”

“When will it be ready?”

“Soon, in fact, and then we need to decide what proportion of each class we’ll build.”

Chase turned to Sarah. “What do you think?”

“While my first instinct is to construct only the bigger toys, it might be a good idea to alternate between Warheart and Prometheus class ships.”

“We’ve actually renamed this new category of ships to Hephaestus class,” said Yanis. “Since they pack a lot more firepower than the Prometheus class.”

Sarah slapped Chase on the back of his head. “So basically you’ve given me the crappiest ship in the fleet now.”

“Ow!” complained Chase. “I didn’t know any of this was in the works. Been kind of busy lately.”

You’d better make it up to me one way or another, mister! she thought.

Will do, answered Chase.

Did you just read my mind?

No, I think you just sent your first telepathic message without realizing it.

Neat!

“What’s happening?” inquired Yanis. “Why are you looking at each other and not talking?”

“Who said we weren’t?” smiled Chase.

“I think that’s my cue, guys! I don’t like that spark I see in your eyes, so please wait until the door closes before the fireworks begin.”

Did he say fireworks? Tell me, is your friend overconfident about your abilities in that department? teased Sarah.

I don’t know if it’s the big guns that got your motor running, but let’s find out if fireworks are indeed on the menu. Let’s hurry though, we only have a few minutes before reaching Asgard.

Then bring it, bad boy!

Yanis had barely left the ready room when Sarah decided to take full possession of her desk by throwing Chase on it and climbing on top of him.

* * *

Zeus was walking around his temple gardens with Apollo.

“So what do we do with our remaining forces? I’ve already sent another twenty ships to Earth Alliance space, and we have another twenty in orbit at the moment. I also wonder if we should dust off the shipyards and put them back into full production mode?” inquired Apollo.

“Olympian population, as you know, has not grown much in the last five thousand years. I’m not sure we have enough crew to man new ships.”

“Our ships mostly run themselves. And we can always ask the Alliance for crewmen if that’s our only concern.”

“I suppose so⁠—”

“I’m sorry for asking, but is Ares’ visit the reason for your absentmindedness?”

“Not the only reason, but it added to a very long and eye-opening reflective period.”

“Anything I can help you with?”

“No, but it’s nice of you to ask. As per your question, I’m not sure about new ships. I have that feeling⁠—”

“What feeling? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“That none of this will matter to me soon, I can’t put my finger on it, it’s just instinct.”

“Surely defeating the Furies matter, no matter what you’re going through.”

“Of course it does. Don’t get me wrong, Apollo, I just mean that I don’t think a bigger fleet and more ships is what will win this war. The actions and the heart of a chosen few is where I feel this all lies.”

“I assume you’re talking about Chase.”

“Yes, but not only him. Your brother Ares, your sister Aphroditis, as well as Oryn and a few of Chase’s friends.”

“I’m surprised to hear you say that. Are you absolutely sure you’re feeling well?”

Zeus walked in silence for a few moments before answering.

“Yes. In fact, it’s been a very long time since I’ve felt so clearheaded.”

“I’m glad to hear it. About Oryn⁠—”

“Next time she is here I should present you your half-sister. She’s as fiery as Athena and as fearless as Poseidon.”

“That’s quite the mix. I’m really looking forward to meet⁠—”

But Apollo never finished his sentence as a large column of crimson energy pierced through his ribcage and shot past Zeus, sending blood and bone fragments splashing all over his face.

“Apollo!!!” shouted Zeus as he cradled his wounded son in his arms, preventing him from crashing to the ground.

Apollo tried to speak, but only a large quantity of blood erupted from his mouth. His eyes stopped moving and froze into a final lifeless and empty look of shock and despair.

“NOOOOOO!!!!!” screamed Zeus as a massive thunderbolt fell from the sky and ignited Zeus’ rage like wildfire.

The sky turned dark almost instantly, winds and rain washing the blood of his dead son as he held him in his arms. Zeus’ tears electrified and transformed into thunderbolts, destroying everything around him. Garden columns, water fountains and statues all exploded and were turned to dust. The entire planet started shaking.

“Hahahahahah,” resonated a mad laugh not far from Zeus.

He knew that voice. Zeus closed his dead son’s eyes and carefully laid his body on the trembling stony ground.

Zeus turned around to face an approaching Arakan. A massive crimson aura radiated all around him, painting the chaos around them both with bloody red shades.

“We have unfinished business, you and I,” spat Arakan. “And I’ve waited a very long time for this very moment.”

Zeus’ anger exploded inside of him and lightened his deep blue aura. Thousands of small lightning bolts sizzled around him, and his silvery beard and hair electrified and flew chaotically in every direction. Zeus’ pupils disappeared from his eyes and filled with morphing blue energy, multiple lightning bolts dancing in between both of his eyes.

“Not as long as I have!”

* * *

Chase and Sarah had barely put their clothes back on when Daniel requested their presence on the bridge.

“Just under the wire,” said Sarah.

“Only just. Thank you. I needed that, god knows what awaits us next.”

“Your pleasure was not my only concern, dear,” said Sarah with a wink.

“Fair enough. Let’s go see what awaits us now.”

Chase and Sarah entered the bridge. Daniel was sitting in the captain’s chair, with Oryn towering on his right, her arms crossed against her chest. Daniel got up. “Captain,” he said gesturing the chair to Sarah.

“News sure does travel fast,” murmured Sarah as she installed herself comfortably into the chair.

Well, he is my best friend, pleaded Chase directly in her mind.

Relax, soldier. A promotion, my very own destroyer and fireworks all on the same day? You’re nowhere near in trouble in my book.

Chase smiled from ear to ear.

“When are we exiting⁠—”

But then the fleet exited hyperspace around a beautiful and massive purple and green planet. It was at least three times as large as the Earth’s mass. In orbit, not far from their exit point, was a fleet of seven Asgard ships in formation.

“Never mind.”

Chase was in awe at the sight of the Asgardian destroyers. They were both massive and beautiful hunks of greenish-gray with a semi-chrome finish. They literally looked like flying emerald weapons.

The turbo-lifts’ door slid open and Chris and Argos rejoined them at the center of the bridge.

“Did we miss anything?” asked Argos.

“We’ve just jumped out of hyperspace,” answered Chase.

“Scan the area for any ships,” requested Sarah.

“Captain!” screamed a crewman. “Multiple jump points forming all around us.

“Now what?” said Sarah, bracing for the worst.

Before anyone had time to realize what was happening, all hell broke loose. A larger version of the Fury star destroyer class ship jumped right in the middle of the Asgardian fleets and detonated a fraction of a second later. The explosion bathed the entire bridge with a blinding bright light for several seconds as the ship started trembling.

As the light generated from the massive explosion receded into the darkness of space and everyone’s eyes adjusted to the horror of what their brain showed them, a massive shockwave hit the entire fleet and forcefully rocked the ship upon impact. Crewmen were thrown across the entire room. Chase caught Daniel, and Chris went to catch his mother but she stopped in mid-air on her own a few inches away from her son. Oryn and Argos didn’t move and were planted on the floor, a near identical look of horror mixed with a smidgen of fear in their eyes.

“Are you alright, bro?” inquired Chase at a shocked Daniel.

“I’m okay, thanks for catching me.”

Sarah let herself float down from her high position. “Everyone alright?”

“Captain! Shields down to twenty percent,” shouted the tactical officer.

“Guys,” said Argos solemnly.

His brother’s tone froze Chase’s blood, and it was the first clue that the devastation they had felt was beyond belief. Chase looked through the now cracked viewport. A slight blue force field had deployed to prevent explosive decompression.

It took Chase, and everyone else still standing on the bridge, a few seconds to interpret the enormity of the devastation and the brutal images of the utter destruction that their brains were feeding them.

20

The once beautiful and awe-inspiring Asgardian fleet transformed into a million flaming pieces of debris. An Obsidian ship near the Hope cracked in two and exploded shortly after that. The shields had not been strong enough to deal with the shockwave of the massive explosion.

“What the fuck just happened?” exclaimed Chris.

“What was on that ship?” added Sarah.

“The only thing that could have created that big of a bang,” Oryn said icily, “is loads and loads of engine-grade purified quadrinium.”

“They could have destroyed the entire system!” shouted Argos.

“I’m starting to believe that could have been what Arakan wanted.”

Chase was still mute, reflecting upon the tens of thousands of Asgardian lives that must have perished in the explosion.

“Why?” he finally muttered.

“Isn’t it obvious?” answered Oryn. “Arakan is mad, and he wants to kill everything and everyone in his path.”

“Yes, but why send the Strike Force to get Odin’s head if they could just destroy the planet?”

“Don’t be ridiculous; the shield around that planet could probably sustain ten times that level of destruction.”

“And you know this how?” asked Chase coldly.

“Because I’ve been drafting potential invasion scenarios of this world for months.”

“This is your doing?” barked Chase, unable to contain his current mood.

“No, I would never sacrifice the fleet’s latest and biggest ship in this way.”

“Then why did Arakan do this?”

“So that the Asgardians would drop their shields to send reinforcements from the surface of their world.”

“Allowing the assassins to bypass the shields,” said Argos with a snort. “Not exactly stealthy or covert.”

“But damn efficient,” retorted Chase. “Let’s go everyone! We don’t have time to lose. Odin will soon be under siege.”

“More jump points forming!” shouted the tactical officer.

This is not going to be a good day, thought Chase.

* * *

Onboard the currently cloaked Lathraía, Afthartos asked for a status report from his pilot.

“Are we ready for the next phase of our plan? Stand ready to enter the planetary shields.”

“We’re ready, sir. But I’m not sure anything can bring these ships down.”

“We don’t need them down, just weakened enough so that our reinforced ultra-high frequency rotation shields hold for entry.”

“My instruments tell me another story, that we’ll be vaporized the second we enter into contact with them.”

“Let me worry about the plan. Your mission is to quickly identify a weaker spot and fly through it the moment our diversion takes out that orbiting fleet.”

“Our scans have detected three destroyers currently landed on the planet’s surface. They’ll have to lower their shields to get off the world.”

“Even if that was the case, we don’t have time to wait for the Asgardians to regroup. This entire operation hinges on the element of surprise, so we can position ourselves for the kill while most of their forces are occupied elsewhere.”

“Understood; we’re receiving the sub-space beacon now, and the super-destroyer will be system bound in forty seconds.”

“We only get one chance at this, so don’t screw up.”

“If I screw up, sir, we all die.”

“That should be incentive enough not to.”

“With all due respect, sir, you’ve selected me for my piloting skills, haven’t you?”

“Your point being?”

“Let me do what I came to do.”

“Fair enough.”

“Ship is system bound.”

A large explosion brightened everything for a few seconds. When Afthartos regained his ability to see, the pilot had already engaged the ship at full burn. The purple shield protecting Asgard lit up as the shockwave generated from the explosion hit. As expected, there were pockets of low intensity forming on its surface, and it only took the pilot a couple of seconds to identify the best vector for entry. The ship trembled slightly, and the shield friction generated a high-pitched sound for the few moments it took the Lathraía to pass the Asgardian shield.

“We’re in atmosphere, sir.”

“I recall someone doubting the feasibility of this maneuver.”

“I stand corrected, sir. My apologies.”

Afthartos didn’t like being second-guessed, especially from a flyboy who wouldn’t survive more than two minutes on the battlefield. The Fury leader cracked his neck to divert some of his anger away. The rest of it, he decided to express vocally.

“In the future, flyboy, if you enjoy your head where it is, you’ll keep your doubts to yourself.”

The pilot swallowed hard.

“I— I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t,” said Afthartos as he exited the cockpit.

* * *

Five more Fury destroyers entered orbit. Immediately, two of the destroyers started firing on the planetary defense platforms around Asgard, while the three other ships vectored toward the Earth Alliance fleet. Another two destroyers jumped in from the far side of the planet and concentrated their fire on both defense platforms and lowering the planetary shields.

“Let’s get Thor on the line,” ordered Chase.

“Aye aye, Admiral,” the communications officer responded.

It still felt weird being addressed as Admiral. Especially since Chase mostly had a bad track record with some of the fleet members he came into contact with. Most notably, Admiral Thassos, and not so long ago, former First Fleet Admiral Zenakis. Who had since been stripped of his rank and confined to the brig of his former ship until the Earth Alliance would have time to deal with his abandoning the fleet at a very critical moment.

Thassos had been one of Argos’ clones, who’d been following his orders. According to Saroudis, who had told Chase, the real Admiral Thassos had been a great commanding officer of high moral fiber. However, Chase barely had any interactions with her, and mostly with her brainwashed clone.

But now he was the one they called Admiral. And Chase intended to execute his duties in a whole new way, as he was not the kind of guy to play things by the book.

Thor’s face filled the Hope’s main holo-screen.

“This is not what I was expecting. I thought the intelligence that Oryn provided hinted at a stealthy incursion into our world, not a full-fledged invasion!”

“We didn’t expect this either, Thor. But let’s not argue about that now. We believe this diversion was made to throw us off guard so the elite force could move freely and execute your father, Odin. He might already be in terrible danger. Having not met him or knowing anything about your world, I can’t just teleport on the planet blindly. I need you to guide us to your father.”

“I’m dropping the Mjölnir’s shields so you can come aboard, and I’ll teleport us through the planetary shields from here.”

“We’ll be right there.”

“Sarah, you have the—” but Chase stopped mid-sentence. “Sorry, old habits. You are now officially in command of the fleet, so make these ships go away.”

“Won’t you need my help on the surface as well?”

Chase was proud of her progress, but the idea that she would put her freshly new powers to work in such a volatile situation didn’t sit well with him. He couldn’t tell her that though; she was just starting to feel confident about herself, and he didn’t want to screw with that either. So he chose his words carefully.

“If we need the backup, I’ll come and get you, but right now this fleet needs a leader, and that is you.”

“Very well; be careful, all of you,” conceded Sarah.

Chase could tell she was slightly disappointed but he could also feel the fiery determination growing inside her about dealing with the ships in orbit.

“You too.”

Chase gestured to his friends. “Quick! Everyone gather around me.”

Argos, Oryn and Chris all rushed toward Chase, and they took his arm when he extended it forward. A second later, they all vanished.

“Never gets old, does it?” commented Daniel.

“No, it doesn’t. Why aren’t you in the air already?” said Sarah, semi-playfully.

“Right,” said Daniel with a quick salute before running out of the bridge on the double.

* * *

When Chase’s party arrived on the Mjölnir, they didn’t have any time to lose. Thor had them teleported through the planetary shields, directly into his father’s throne room.

Thor immediately kneeled in front of the man standing on the intricately carved throne made of obsidian stone. Green-colored runes pulsated inside the stones themselves. A tall and heavily muscled old man was sitting on the throne. His blue eyes were as cold as ice and seemed to pierce through the darkness. At first, Chase thought he didn’t have any tattoos like the other Asgardians they had met. But soon, a single emerald eye tattoo flashed on his forehead, giving him an even more imposing stature.

“Father, you’re in danger!”

“And you brought Furies to me? Did you stop to think that perhaps that was the plan all along?”

The two guards standing on either side of the throne wore fine-crafted ivory-infused alloy armor, and they pointed their lances toward the party. On their tips were emerald-colored energy balls with purple lightning bolts crackling around them.

“No!” gestured Thor. “Do not fire!”

“They don’t obey you, my son.”

The guards appeared to hesitate, which didn’t please Odin much. But instead of reprimanding them, he rose from his throne. Chase was surprised, again, as Odin was even taller than Chase had estimated when he first laid eyes on him a moment earlier.

“Damn Furies…they destroyed our fleet in orbit.”

“You may want to not have them packed neatly in one place next time,” suggested Oryn.

The coldness of Thor’s look in her direction told Chase that addressing the Asgard leader at this point and in this fashion was probably a mistake.

Please keep your mouth shut, said Chase telepathically to Argos.

But I haven’t said anything— for once.

Yes, for once being the operative word here. I would really appreciate it if this time you controlled yourself, no matter what is being said next.

You may want to tell that to your friend Oryn.

Looks like the damage is done already.

Odin shot a murderous look toward Oryn. “Who are you? Who said you could address me?”

Thor murmured. “I thought you had learned your lesson onboard my ship? Please keep quiet.”

Whatever, answered Oryn telepathically. But I can tell you that my old team will dispense with pleasantries and will strike without caring about any sort of decorum.

“Please forgive her, Father. She doesn’t know our customs.”

The pupil inside Odin’s eye tattoo flashed red, which Chase thought was not a good omen.

“Perhaps. But what about your own disobedience? What were you thinking going with them to Droxia? You’ve forced our entire people into a conflict that doesn’t concern us.”

It’s good you told me to shut up, said Argos. ’Cause I could give this fool a piece of my mind.

Don’t you dare!

Relax will you; you asked me to keep it shut, I’ll keep it shut.

Before Chase could thank Argos, Odin’s gaze fixed toward their direction.

“Who is that fool you’re referring to?” inquired Odin.

Oh shit!

“From your follow-up thought, I take it the two of you were talking about me.” Odin turned his attention toward Thor. “This is what you brought to help defend Asgard? A bunch of reckless half-breed Furies whose ideas of respect are telepathically insulting me. I should never have let you go to Midgard. There will be repercussi⁠—”

Before Odin could finish, Chase was gone. He teleported from his position and reappeared right in front of Odin. The king of Asgard readied to clock Chase with a powerful jab when suddenly he saw the blade that had pierced Chase’s hand and which tip had stopped only an inch from Odin’s throat.

Oryn was the second to react as she slammed the ground with her fist and unleashed a battle cry. A second later, a giant icicle rose from the floor a few yards behind Chase, followed by a squishing sound. The tip of the spiky icy formation was drenched in blood, and sparks flew before a figure de-cloaked, revealing a dead, impaled Fury.

“Your majesty,” said Chase, removing the blade from his hand and instantly healing his wound. “Let’s discuss all of this later; right now let us do what we came to do and protect you.”

Chase thought he saw something close to gratitude in Odin’s eyes before Odin nodded.

* * *

“Coming here alone was foolish,” declared Zeus. “And killing my son was downright idiotic.”

“I don’t need anyone else to finally bring an end to your reign, old man,” answered Arakan. “Look around you, soon your world will be no more.”

In his current state of blinding rage, Zeus hadn’t noticed the additional destruction that seemed to affect Olympus.

“What have you done?”

“A little something I’ve learned from the one you call Chase. Using Fury power in space can be, how should I say this— detrimental to planetary safety.”

Zeus could feel it now. It was the pull of a black hole exerting too much gravity on Olympus Prime.

“Plus, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to destroy your entire fleet with one fell swoop,” snorted Arakan.

There was nothing that Zeus could do now about the black hole, it would rip Olympus Prime to shreds and kill most of the Olympians on its surface. But that pain was eclipsed by the utter rage and thirst for revenge rushing inside his blood. The man who had tortured and gruesomely killed the person Zeus had loved the most in this life was standing only a few feet away from him. And if it were the last thing he did, he would kill the Fury with his bare hands.

“You really must be desperate to attempt this.”

“Desperate?!” Arakan laughed hard. “Don’t be ridiculous. This war is about to end shortly, but unlike what you may think, it’s the Earth Alliance that will soon fall prey to the mighty Furies, and not the other way around. Granted, they have won a few battles and surprised me on more than one occasion. But in the grand scheme of things, they are just but a pesky nuisance that I’ll soon deal with.”

“Chase won’t let your people win, and you won’t be there to see them fall and die as they should have ten thousand years ago.”

The amount of guilt boiling inside Zeus, mixed with his vengeful rage, created a dangerous mix of emotions that could bring down his entire psyche. Zeus had the chance to destroy the Furies before, and he had spared them because he didn’t want to kill his own child and the last person that reminded him of Zalara and the love they shared. But it was only right at this moment that Zeus realized the weight of that decision, as well as its cataclysmic repercussions.

“You’re wrong, old man. It is I who will rip your beating heart from your chest and finally get revenge for your indiscretion. You could have stopped the war. I was open to a ceasefire, but you had to take my wife’s purity and soil it with your Olympian filth! You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife!”

“And what about killing one’s own wife? Is that any better?”

“She was MINE!!!”

“No, she wasn’t, and that’s why you killed her, you fucking cowardly excuse for a man!”

The aura around Arakan exploded and tripled in size. His eyes filled with a bright crimson glow.

“Enough!”

“Yes,” boomed Zeus, as his voice echoed all around them. “Enough talk!”

Arakan swiftly aimed an open palm and unleashed a large column of crimson energy toward Zeus, who answered in kind with a cascade of lightning bolts to counter the Fury’s attack. Upon the energy and lightning joining, a large explosion destroyed everything around them for miles, and the resulting shockwave threw them both flying backward.

21

The party exited the ship shortly after Keera landed on the surface of Tar’Lock’s world, a massive brown planet called Entomo. Scans from orbit couldn’t determine the total population; Keera’s onboard computer lacked the processing power and sensor array definition to do so. Keera had been the first to emerge, looking like a shadow in her black liquid metal super-suit. Ryonna, armed to the teeth, stepped out next, closely followed by Tar’Lock.

The view consisted of dune-looking mounds of dry mud with very little vegetation and no evidence of animal life. That was until they started moving in concert; then the ground felt as if it was alive, with more crawling bugs than either Keera and Ryonna had ever seen. It was in fact nearly impossible not to crush one variety or another just by taking steps. The wave of light from their movement and the reflective carapaces was a sight to behold though, strangely reminding Keera of the seashore of her home world at dusk. But then she realized that a layer of bugs must have been covering their entire planet, or at the very least, this area where they had landed.

“Ewwww,” exclaimed Keera from under the helmet. “I don’t like bugs!” she added.

Ryonna cleared her throat, a gentle reminder of Tar’Lock’s presence.

Tar’Lock clicked furiously.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” apologized Keera. “I mean little bugs, I like big talking bugs.”

“I don’t think you’re making it any better,” added Ryonna.

“Oh shoot— How do you not step on them, though?” asked Keera, taking three unsuccessful steps that all resulted in crunchy sounds that proved deadly for some of the fauna.

“Stop killing them! Don’t think about their presence, they’ll get out of the way. If you over-think every step, that confuses them and they can’t feel your intent.”

“They’re confused? Sorry— I’m trying,” said Keera with more squashing sounds as she took another step.

“No, you’re not! Empty your mind of any walking thoughts, and just step naturally; don’t look at the ground.”

Keera’s head turned to Ryonna.

“Don’t look at me, it’s my first time here too. Do as he says.”

Keera took a deep breath, tried to empty her mind of the action of walking, but also her aversion to bugs, and walked forward. Surprisingly, she didn’t hear any more yucky bug-squashing sounds. Ryonna didn’t wait to follow in her footsteps. Bugs dodged every one of their steps naturally as if their brains were connected to those of the visitors of their world.

“That’s better,” muttered Tar’Lock with a series of clicks in a lower pitch register than usual.

“Where to?” asked Keera.

Tar’Lock moved with his near light-speed pace and was next to Keera in a fraction of a second. Ryonna was amazed that even with his super-speed, the bugs still moved out of the way.

“Over there,” he said, pointing toward a cavern entrance. “My people are mostly underground dwellers; we won’t find many of them outside at this ungodly hou⁠—”

But then Tar’Lock stopped. “Oh no!”

“What is it?”

“I— I’ve killed one!” said Tar’Lock, his follow-up click delivery sounding like a sad melody.

“Ah! You see, it’s not only me,” said Keera.

“It must have been an old one.”

“Well, there’s a billion gazillion where it came from, no offense.”

“You don’t understand, that’s bad luck to step on an elder.”

* * *

All hell broke loose around Odin’s throne. Chase had reached with his mind and found no less than two-dozen cloaking devices. He overloaded them, and when he did, three Furies were already flying toward Odin. Thor, who had moved toward his father after Chase’s earlier save, swung his arm, and as he did, his hammer, Mjölnir, materialized just in time to crush the head of the Fury next to him. The Fury was sent flying backward in a wild spin, spraying blood all around his path.

Chris unleashed a shockwave toward the feet of the second Fury, successfully making him lose balance. Oryn finished the job, raising another icy spike under the stumbling Fury, impaling him in the stomach. The third Fury on its way toward Odin had extended claws on his armor and Argos used telekinesis to stop him from piercing Odin’s throat.

His assailant was not able to move another muscle, and Odin grabbed the Fury by the cranium. His hand briefly flashed green, and the Fury’s head exploded.

“I like his style,” said Argos.

Chase wasn’t in a joking mood and turned to Oryn before the next wave of Furies would be in range.

“What the hell is this? I thought you said the Strike Force only had five members?”

“This is not standard operating procedure for them. Arakan must have given them special orders.”

“It’s Ragnarok!” shouted Odin. “The Furies are destroying our ships and trying to kill me. You’ve brought this upon our world!”

“You’re not serious!” complained Argos. “We just saved your ass, twice!”

The intensity of Odin’s look toward Argos told Chase everything he needed to know about the Asgard King’s current frame of mind. But right now they needed to make sure neither Odin nor Thor perished. Though, this was not how Chase pictured negotiating Kvasir’s pardon would go.

“Father! Yes, the Furies are at our doorstep, yes they’re trying to kill us, but Chase and his friends are here to help.”

“Now is not the time to defy me; let’s table this for later,” shouted Odin as the palm of his hand flashed green again, and a Fury not far from Chris exploded from within, covering Chris with blood from head to toe.

“That is, if we don’t end up in Valhalla!” added Odin.

Chris made a disgusted face at the amount of enemy blood currently coursing down his body.

“Sorry about that, kid,” conceded Odin. “Wear the blood of thy enemy proudly!”

“The hell with that,” answered Chris.

He intensified his aura into a bright flash of light green energy that burned and incinerated every drop of blood on him.

“That will work too,” said Odin with a hearty chuckle. “Behind you, kid.”

Chris turned as the Furies were nearly upon him. The distraction caused him to lose just enough time resulting in him being in a bad position to counter their attacks. But just before they were about to smash their fists into his face, a wall of ice rose from the floor and crushed their hands against it. The wall cracked but held. Chris pushed both his hands forward and unleashed another shockwave. It fragmented the icy wall into hundreds of sharp icicles, half of them penetrating the two Fury warriors wherever their skin was exposed.

Chris didn’t hear Odin as he landed next to him, the entire floor trembling upon impact. Odin then thrust both his flashing hands forward with all his might and the defeated Furies exploded. This time, their innards and blood propelled away from Odin and Chris.

“They were kinda dead already, and that’s a little overkill,” argued Chris. “But thanks!” he added with a wink.

“I like you, you remind me of myself when I was your age!”

Looks like your son might hold the key to asking the king of Asgard for any favors, said Argos telepathically to Chase.

Perhaps, but first we need to survive this. Something doesn’t smell right.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned is to trust your instincts, if you say something is awry, then I’m worried.

But before they had time to take a deep breath, another wave of Fury warriors threw themselves toward Chase and his friends.

* * *

Arakan was getting back on his feet when a dozen Olympian guards rushed toward him, weapons drawn. They unleashed a veritable barrage of laser fire toward the Supreme Commander. Arakan’s strong armor deflected most of the shots, and the few that hit unprotected parts of his skin felt like barely more than mosquito bites.

Arakan’s aura flashed so brightly that it blinded everyone for just a fraction of a second. Red expanding bubble-shaped shockwaves hit the incoming party of guards, freezing them in place. Arakan then unleashed an angry battle cry, and with a swift, circular slash of his hand, he incinerated every single one of the guards in a torrent of flames and boiling lava.

“Insects! How do you dare defy the Fury God?”

“You are no god!” retorted Zeus, before landing a strong jab across Arakan’s face.

Zeus’ power punch sent Arakan skidding on the paved ground for hundreds of yards. A single small drop of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

“I am everyone’s god! I will rule every living being that survives my Ascension. Those who refuse to bow before me will all be destroyed!”

“You are mad, but then again I had little doubt in my mind about that even before today.”

“Silence!!!”

The word echoed around them.

Zeus taunted Arakan with a gesture of his hand inviting him to make the first move. If madness was what was in Arakan’s look before that taunt, then what followed was indescribable.

Without hesitating, and looking like a wounded bull out for blood, Arakan launched himself toward Zeus. Zeus smiled as his eyes flashed deep blue.

A few yards before reaching Zeus, two Titan-sized statues landed beside Arakan. The impact from their landing and momentum of their jump propelled Arakan in the air, and two giant opened palms clapped together with Arakan in the middle.

But Zeus’ joy was short-lived. Both massive hands retracted as Arakan extended his arms. Two large columns of crimson energy shot from Arakan’s palm and reduced the Titan statues to dust and stones.

“Do you really think you’re going to bring me down with such parlor tricks?” retorted Arakan, still hovering in the air.

His aura grew even more, and now he looked like a bloody moon shining in the darkened cloudy sky.

Arakan flew toward Zeus like a meteor entering the atmosphere. Leaving a long red trail in its path.

“I’m only getting started,” screamed Zeus.

Zeus aimed both his hands toward the incoming Fury ball of red fire that was Arakan and two continuous lightning beams impacted with his foe. It stopped Arakan’s descent and muted most of his aura. Arakan couldn’t move as thousands upon thousands of volts ran through him. The pain forced him to clench his teeth and close one of his eyes.

“How do you like that parlor trick, then?” said Zeus defiantly.

Electric bolts shot in between Arakan’s bloodshot eyes and ran down upon his clenched teeth.

“Still— going— k— kill you,” babbled Arakan in anguish.

“I’d like to see you try.”

* * *

Daniel’s StarFury, the fleets’ only Mark II, shot into space from the launch tube as another jump point formed nearby. The jump point vortex opened in the middle of the Mjölnir, severing Thor’s majestic Asgardian ship in two. The emerging Fury ship pushed both halves as it passed and impacted into a second Asgardian destroyer at full speed. The impact triggered an explosion that took out both ships and incinerated what was left of the Mjölnir’s debris.

“Holy shit, this is not going well!” exclaimed Daniel.

“Alpha Leader,” inquired Sarah. “You have dozens of bogies on a ballistic approach vector.”

“Roger that, Captain. Alpha Squadron will engage immediately.”

“Negative, Daniel.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know for sure. But I think they have no intention of engaging smaller fighters. Their trajectory brings them straight to the Hope; I think they’re kamikaze ships. Our scans can penetrate. My gut feeling tells me they’re as explosively charged in quadrinium as that massive super-destroyer that took out the entire Asgardian fleet in orbit earlier on.”

“If that’s true, what do you want me to do?”

“Sacrifice your squadron’s complement of drones to detonate as many as you can.”

“Should we try and shoot them down with lasers and missiles instead?”

“At their velocity, you’ll need to be at distances I’m not comfortable for you to be. You could get vaporized once they blow up. Deploy your drones and use them as mines.”

“Captain, if you’re correct about their payloads, if only a few reach you⁠—”

“We’ll know better once you have taken out the first one. If necessary, we can change tactics.”

“At their current velocity that won’t give us much time to do so.”

“Then perhaps you should stop talking?”

Daniel bit his lip. Of course arguing would not provide them with more time.

“Roger that, Captain.”

Daniel opened a channel to his squadron.

“Alpha Squadron, you’re receiving new targeting orders. I’ve painted twenty plus starfighters en route for what we believe is a kamikaze run to the Hope. The fucking Furies have already destroyed enough ships today, do not let them reach our ship! No matter the cost.”

“Roger that, Alpha Leader,” answered Alpha 2, Daniel’s second in command.

The rest of the squadron clicked their comms to acknowledge the order.

Daniel micro-jumped his StarFury in front of the path of the incoming ships. They were flying faster than he expected, beyond afterburner speeds in fact. Most of their power was channeled into their engines. Daniel deployed two of his drones and hit the afterburners to get the hell out of the blast radius. He programmed the drone to autopilot and to intercept the incoming bogies.

Daniel was completely out of range when his drones impacted with the incoming enemies. The resulting explosion lit up the dark void of space briefly. Daniel’s instruments went haywire for a few seconds but his sensors recorded and quantified the explosion. A simple Fury starfighter should not make that big of a boom. Sarah had been right, they were kamikaze quadrinium-flying bombs.

His readings confirmed that firing on the bogies from within this range would most likely result in forfeiting the StarFury and its pilot’s life.

Daniel confirmed to his entire squadron the order to dump the rest of the drones as mines while he laid out his last drones. He then hailed the Hope.

“That’s it, Captain. All drone mines in position. Let’s hope we stop them all. We won’t have time to bring in another squadron if we miss. How many direct hits can you take?”

“Zero would be good since the shields are still only half-charged. I’m hoping the shields could absorb a couple of these, but I wouldn’t tempt fate with a third one. That first shockwave damaged many of our systems and the shields have been slow to recharge.”

“Well, if more than two made it through our barrage, then you’d better jump the Hope out of the way.”

“I’m afraid that’s one of the systems that’s been damaged. We’re not jumping for a while.”

Daniel swore off comm. The Furies seemed determined to inflict maximum damage in this fight, and they didn’t seem to care about the amount of resources they were squandering in the process. Which meant they probably had more ships ready or on their way. How fast were they building them?

Hopefully, Ryonna’s mission would be successful and they would deal a blow to the Furies’ supply chain.

22

When Ryonna, Keera and Tar’Lock arrived near the entrance of the subterranean cavern, a low-frequency rumble shook the area.

“What the hell is that?” asked Ryonna. “Keera, use your suit’s link to the ship to check the sensor reading.”

“Roger that,” answered Keera.

She brought her ship’s sensor data into her super-suit holographic HUD.

“The amount of mineral deposit on the entire planet must be screwing with the ship’s sensors. Either that or this is a nightmare.”

“What are you reading, Keera?”

“Ten Fury super-destroyers powering up and taking off. But that can’t be. My ship’s sensor must be buggy, let me run a diagnosti⁠—”

But before she finished, Ryonna knocked on her helmet’s visor while Tar’Lock’s clicking went into overdrive.

“What? You can’t hear me?”

Ryonna turned and pointed toward the sky behind her. Multiple Fury star destroyers were taking off, creating around them veritable sandstorm clouds as they rose from the dry ground. Keera felt her skin crawl.

“Why didn’t we detect them earlier?” she asked.

“I think for the same reasons we couldn’t get an estimate of the number of inhabitants on the planet. There is too much interference due to the number of resources available on this world. Which explains why the Furies are using it.”

“I seriously doubt we’ll not encounter more company then.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, let’s try and find a Gorgar swarm and hope Argos’ tech works.”

Ryonna grabbed the device Argos gave her and installed it on her temple before gesturing Keera to proceed forward. Clicking aside, Tar’Lock had stayed silent, so when Keera began the march, Ryonna put a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you alright, buddy?”

“God knows how many of these ships my people have unwillingly built. All the fatalities we had in the last battles with the Furies may all be because of my people.”

Ryonna reflected on her insect friend’s words. He was wrong, since the Gorgar didn’t have a choice in this case; they were just being used. But it did explain how the Furies were able to quickly churn out ships since their return and why they would sacrifice some of them to attain a certain goal. With such a large labor force doing only one thing, work and gather resources, it seemed they didn’t need to worry about the rate at which these ships could be replaced.

Ryonna wondered how long it took for these outbound ships to be assembled. A week? Days? And with an order of such large magnitude and more workers than the entire Alliance put together, perhaps the assemblage time was even less than she could imagine. That thought was scary.

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s the Furies who are mind controlling them against their will. They’re just victims.”

“Even so, it fills me with shame. We have to make it stop.”

“That’s why we’re here,” said Ryonna with a forced, reassuring smile.

Tar’Lock nodded before following Keera.

* * *

Chase assumed his Ultra Fury form to deal with the next wave of Fury warriors. Though, no Strike Force was in sight, yet. Perhaps they knew the present company would outclass them. Or perhaps they just wanted to let the party exhaust as much energy as they could and put more odds in their favor.

Chase suddenly dodged an incoming attack, and shot his entire arm through the Fury warrior’s chest, his fist holding the Fury’s heart when it exited out the back. For a second he gazed into his foe’s dead eyes. All this violence was weighing on him. In that ephemeral moment of reflection, he remembered what Sarah told him about her fears. What if she became a force for evil? What if she needed to be stopped? Now that she was getting a better grip on her powers, Chase didn’t worry as much about that, but it still concerned him.

Nevertheless, in the heat of battle, Chase could be a killing machine. What made him different from the Furies whose lives he was ending? And would the world one day look upon him like they looked upon the Furies now? Would there be a price to pay for all this killing?

If you’re done feeling sorry for yourself, there are three more Furies about to attack you, said Argos.

His brother must have felt his current state of mind. Nonetheless, he was right. Now was not the time to ponder these existential questions. Chase had no doubt his destiny was to rid the universe of the biggest scourge that roamed it, but on some level, he was also a part of that scourge.

When Chase removed his arm from the dead Fury and turned around, the nearest Furies were being incinerated by a crimson fireball.

Correction, two fireballs.

Get back in the game. I know what you’re feeling all too well. But you’ll be fine, you fight and kill because you have to, not because you like it. It took me nearly a lifetime to understand the difference between the two, and thanks to you, I understand now.

Thanks for the assist.

Anytime.

Chase threw the heart, still in his hand, as a baseball pitcher would. Upon impact, the heart exploded on the incoming Fury’s armor at such velocity it stopped the Fury cold and temporarily sent him back, leaving Chase with only one additional Fury to deal with. And deal with him he did.

He dodged the short-range fireball aimed at his head, grabbed the arm that had fired it, and ripped it out of its socket in a circular movement as he turned on himself. Chase accelerated and used the Fury limb to catapult the rest of the body against the nearest wall.

Chase dropped the arm on the ground as the previous Fury was already upon him. Large claws extended from his armor, and he furiously slashed at Chase. In Ultra Fury form, everything seemed to happen in slow motion for him, so dodging the attacks couldn’t be simpler. When he got bored of it, Chase shot a kick upward at the right moment, severing the Fury in two parts from the speed of the attack.

Still, there was something at the back of his mind telling him that they were doing exactly what was expected of them and missing the big picture of the Strike Force plan. Chase knew he shouldn’t ignore his instincts, so he thought he should stop treating this fight as a warm-up session and get it over with. He somersaulted in the air and unleashed a rapid series of fireballs, incinerating Furies one after another. Oryn, Chris and Argos also intensified their resolve and, thanks to Thor and Odin, the last wave of Furies were quickly dealt with.

One final Fury got up from the ground, the one that had apparently survived Chase’s fireball. He didn’t seem injured much.

Careful, Chase, warned Oryn. He’s part of the Strike Force, the strongest of them all.

* * *

“I’m disappointed in you,” said Afthartos as he ignored Chase and looked straight at Oryn. “Your Father will be disappointed as well.”

“Arakan isn’t my Father! And for him to learn about this would mean you would survive this day, which I’m afraid you won’t.”

Oryn felt her heart ache a little at uttering the words, which surprised her. She and Afthartos had been seeing each other in the past. When he got too emotionally attached to her, she had ended it. She only needed the physical release that their sexual relations had brought her. Perhaps she had let herself become more involved emotionally than she thought. But it mattered not. They were no longer fighting on the same side.

“I’m sorry to hear you say that. I won’t take any pleasure in killing you.” Afthartos replied.

“You were never up to the level to do that before, what makes you think you could achieve that now?”

“If you’re making reference to our private sparing sessions, I’ve always let you win.”

“And I was also going easy on you. Enough talking. Get the team away from here and tell Arakan you failed your mission. Or better yet, just find a far away world to settle on. Erevos’ days are numbered anyway.”

“I can’t believe you’ve been so easily brainwashed by these traitors!” spat Afthartos.

Oryn wondered if, indeed, she’d been brainwashed. But right now, fighting against the Furies instead of with them, made more sense to her. Plus, she needed to kill Arakan for what he had done to her mother. She would take great pleasure in ripping out his heart and showing it to him. To see the life extinguish from his eyes knowing that she had been the one to remove him from the universe he sought to rule.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you. As your commanding officer, I order you to stand down!” exclaimed Oryn.

“I’m commanding our team now, and I was hoping you would take your rightful place as our leader, but it seems you’ll be just one more casualty in our path.”

Chase, we have to be careful, while they are no match for you and me in one on one combat, Afthartos and his team working together can be a real threat to us. I wouldn’t dare take them on my own, Oryn said telepathically.

Understood.

Afthartos launched himself at Chase who was nearest to him and delivered a powerful punch across Chase’s face. But Chase didn’t budge nor registered the attack in any way. Yet, his hair shot upward.

“My turn,” said Chase with a smile.

Chase unleashed a large amount of attacks, mixing up one expertly crafted combo after another and sending the Fury commander to the ground within seconds.

“I would take Oryn’s generous offer if I were you. Perhaps you could have achieved your mission if we weren’t here. But as it stands, you can’t hope to achieve anything.”

Afthartos jumped back onto his feet with ease. Oryn saw the surprise in Chase’s eyes when Afthartos didn’t display the slightest bit of damage from the ravaging combos he had been dealt.

“Impressive speed and power, but you’re wrong. In fact, we’ve already taken the upper hand.”

Chase turned around, but it was too late, Tax was already behind Odin.

* * *

Arakan was stuck in mid-air, Zeus’ powerful lightning beams preventing him from moving. He defied the head of the Olympians by locking his gaze with him.

Zeus’ eyes filled with blue energy and lightning bolts shot from his eyes, hitting Arakan one after another. While he couldn’t move, he used telekinesis to deflect the incoming attacks. A few of them scored hits on his armor, but it took the brunt of the damage without any significant pain.

Zeus then spread his hands and an intense pressure started pulling at Arakan’s body, bent on ripping it in two.

Arakan had to act fast, and so he sought up the biggest boulder he could unearth with his mind behind Zeus. Because of all the destruction happening around them due to the orbital black hole exerting an increasingly strong gravity pull on the planet, as well as Zeus’ focus being in a near trance, Arakan managed to extract a massive boulder without his foe noticing.

Arakan used his entire mind’s power and crushed the boulder on top of Zeus. The Olympian managed to stay upright, but lost his focus, which interrupted his paralyzing lightning beams for a fraction of a second. That’s all Arakan needed. He moved so fast it looked as if he had vanished into thin air. When he reappeared at ground level in front of Zeus, the Olympian tried reacquiring the Fury with his lightning beams. But Arakan would not be fooled a second time.

Arakan dodged the incoming lightning and flew forward at near light speed. Both fists lit up with bursting crimson energy, and he threw them at Zeus’ chest with all his might.

Zeus was catapulted backward and flew for miles as he crashed through his own temple, destroying it in the process. He then rebounded multiple times against the ground, unearthing everything and leaving a trail of smoke in his path. Eventually, he crashed one final time on the stone pavement face first. Zeus groaned, bleeding cuts and multiple bruises covering his muscled body. His white clothes were colored red by his own blood.

Taking his time, Arakan walked toward Zeus to reach the downed Olympian, his aura burning with flames of hatred, looking like a furiously erupting volcano. Arakan knew the fight was nearly over; the blow he had struck had shifted the balance of this battle, and he intended to enjoy every minute of it despite the fact that Olympus Prime time was being counted.

Zeus was trying to get on his feet but kept stumbling back down. The amount of force he had endured would have killed anyone but him on the spot. But Arakan had hit him when his defenses were down and his focus high. Zeus had made a major mistake using an abundance of his energy trying to hold Arakan so early in the fight. And the Fury had no intention of letting himself be caught in a similar situation a second time.

In the sky, lightning jumped from one dark cloud to another as the entire planet continued to tremble. It was the last requiem of destruction to Arakan’s ears as he was so near to getting the revenge he wanted against not only Zeus but also his entire race.

Miseo, Argos, and even Oryn, had been disappointments to Arakan, but if anything, it had forced him to finally take control of his destiny for himself and not rely on the failure of others. Like he should have done from the beginning. No one but him had the power nor the resolve to bring down Olympians, Asgardians and any other race foolish enough to stand in his way.

Zeus had managed to return to a sitting position by the time Arakan was approaching him.

“Look at you! How the mighty have fallen…I practically destroyed you with a single attack. You’re pathetic!”

“I’m not dead, yet.”

“Yet, being the operative word. Just like this world,” said Arakan, gazing at the sky. “You’ll soon just be a memory.”

Zeus got back on his feet, his legs trembling slightly.

“You talk too much.”

“Then let’s finish this.”

Zeus raised a fist in the air and multiple lightning bolts hit him from the heavens, charging him like a rod. Arakan could feel Zeus getting stronger with every second and so he launched himself forward, determined to finish what he had started.

23

The mine-drones detonated upon impact with the kamikaze high-yield Fury starfighters who were en route to the Hope. And not a second too soon. The explosion illuminated the pitch-black void of space momentarily, resulting in intense and bright fireworks. When the barrage of light stopped, three ships were still flying like shooting stars toward the Hope.

“Crap!”

Daniel redistributed weapons power to his StarFury’s engine and went in pursuit.

His comms crackled. “What’s your status? Our sensors are fuzzy, and the explosions haven’t helped,” asked Sarah.

“There are still three bogies en route; I’m in pursuit.”

“Daniel, you can’t. What about Beta Squadron?”

“They’re too far away.”

“They could micro-jump.”

“Even so, there’s no time; the starfighters have already passed their detonation PNR.”

“You can’t shoot them either, you’ll get blown up!”

“I know that. I have another idea,” said Daniel, cutting off the comms so he could focus on the task at hand.

He injected half of his life support power into the engines to have enough juice to catch one of the ships in time. His comms flashed again but he used his mental HUD to reject Sarah’s call.

“Sorry, Captain,” he said out loud to himself. “Can’t take your call right now.”

At max burn, Daniel aligned with the wake of the last ship and could see the Hope growing at alarming speed through his cockpit windshield.

The first ship impacted with the Hope’s shields. A bright yellow light forced Daniel to close his eyes. He used that moment to check the Hope’s shield level via his neuronal holo-HUD. They were down to thirteen percent. Daniel had hoped that the shields would have recharged more quickly. Sarah had been right; their recharge times were extremely slow.

Daniel was only a few klicks behind his target when the second Starship impacted with the Hope’s shields and took them completely out.

It was now or never. He couldn’t let the Hope fall nor could he let Sarah die. Chase would never forgive him. And since Chase hadn’t intervened yet, it meant they had their hands full on the surface of the planet.

Daniel pushed the engines beyond their limits when suddenly his comm channel block was overwritten.

“Are you out of your mind?!” screamed Sarah. “You’ll crash as well.”

“Hang on.”

Daniel had just caught up with the last ship, and with a quick glance, he saw that they were pilotless, something he had strongly suspected. Both his StarFury and the Fury flying bomb were a couple of seconds from impacting with the Hope when Daniel put his plan into action.

This is going to be too close for comfort.

He flew his ship as close as he could to the Fury fighter and activated a hyperspace window just before closing his eyes.

* * *

Chase was too far from Tax to do anything, but he understood that they had been played.

Thor, who was the nearest, rushed toward Tax. He barely had time to grab her, when a red-colored lightwave shot from their heads to their toes, and they disappeared. Odin had also disappeared. Thor, who had managed to grab the female Fury a split second before it happened, had been teleported away, which Chase assumed had not been part of the plan.

He turned his attention back to Afthartos in time to see him beam away as three dozen more Fury grunts appeared in the distance. They began to run toward the group from the other side of the large hall leading to the massive throne room, and they made the ground shake.

“Oryn, you’re with me. Chris, Argos, do you think you can deal with them on your own?”

Argos flashed him a thumb’s up, but Chase didn’t like the odds. Fortunately, Odin’s royal guards, who had mostly been witnesses to the previous fighting, decided to join in.

“We’ll cover your friends, please help Odin,” said the taller of the four guards.

The guards rushed toward the incoming Furies, their emerald power lances shooting energy discharges at the enemy. Chris and Argos flew in their wake.

Before Chase could tell Oryn to grab his hand, he heard an unknown, bodiless voice.

“I’ll give your friends help as well.”

“Who is this? Show yourself!”

A very tall, effeminate man with long blond hair appeared next to them. He was very handsome and delicate, but something in his eyes told Chase he was not to be underestimated.

“And you are?”

“My name is Loki. I’m Thor’s brother.”

“You’re a little late to the party, I’m afraid.”

“So it would seem. You’d better hurry and go after my father and brother, that is if you know where to find them.”

“I should have enough of a connection with Thor to locate him and teleport there.”

“Then why are you still here?” said Loki coldly.

Why indeed.

Chase grabbed Oryn’s hand, closed his eyes and focused on Thor. Hopefully, Thor hadn’t been defeated or killed yet. Otherwise, Chase would not have been able to locate his energetic vibration through space. A few seconds later, they teleported away from Odin’s throne room.

* * *

When Ryonna, Keera and Tar’Lock arrived at the end of the cavernous path they were on, it provided them with a vision to one of the swarms they had been trying to locate.

“This is unbelievable,” said Keera, overwhelmed by the scale of what she saw.

“Not the word I would have used,” complained Tar’Lock.

Ryonna looked at the massive cavern below. It was a megalopolis-sized underground factory. Millions upon millions of workers were operating in concert, assembling, welding, and generally constructing Fury ship parts. In all her life she had never seen anything like this. What her eyes revealed to her seemed impossible; the speed at which everything was performed with robot-like precision was incredible, and this was infinitely more efficient than any construction chain she had seen on her planet or elsewhere.

A constant flow of Gorgar continued to bring raw quadrinium and other minerals, while another group transported it to the building and forging sections. The entire building process was arranged in rings, with raw resources gathering, and the transformation portion on the outer ring. Each new inner ring brought the transformation process closer and closer to the final usable technology that would be assembled at the center of the underground facility.

“We don’t have any time to lose. At these speeds, the Furies could have tens of ships ready within a week. We have to make it stop. Tar’Lock, go grab someone and bring them back.”

Tar’Lock nodded and made his way at his usual super speed.

“I never thought I would see something like this,” said Keera. “But this is beyond slavery.”

“The worst part is that the Gorgars don’t even feel used, they just think they’re doing what they have to.”

“I’m starting to understand why you hate Argos so much.”

“As much as I hate the bastard, he was just doing what he was asked, like these gazillion poor slobs.”

“Are you serious?”

“Well, if it wasn’t for the tech he provided us, in just a few weeks we’d have been overwhelmed with so many ships that there would be nothing the Alliance, Chase or anyone could have done to stop them. So while I hate his guts for what he did to my world and countless others, at least his redemption is giving us a fighting chance.”

Ryonna rushed forward and tried to locate Tar’Lock.

“What’s taking him so long? Can you track his location beacon with your suit?”

“Yeah, let me access that. It won’t take but a sec— oh crap.”

“What is it?”

“He’s working with them!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! The collective hive mind must be too strong to overcome in these work centers. That’s just great!”

“What do we do now?”

“Let me try to send a signal from here…”

Ryonna brought Argos’ device online and checked the mental suggestion command menu. An “out of range” error message flashed on her neuronal HUD.

“We’re too far away. I guess we’re going down too.”

“I don’t see anyone but Gorgars; we should be fine.”

Ryonna took one of the two magnetically attached blaster rifles she carried on her back and checked its charge before cocking its pump.

“Are those the latest anti-Fury blaster rifles?”

“Yeah, I’ve been dying to test them.”

“I don’t see any Furies down there.”

“That doesn’t mean they’re not around. I mean look at all this,” said Ryonna with a large wave of her hand. “You think the Furies would leave this place unprotected? If they were that stupid, we would have won the war already. Trust me, they’re here, somewhere, I can feel it. Let’s go.”

They entered the nearest elevator and started their descent into the Gorgars massive factory.

* * *

Zeus unleashed a cascade of lightning bolts toward Arakan who dodged them with high proficiency and countered some of the bolts with crimson fireballs. He moved inside the torrent of lightning bolts like a skilled acrobat. He was very fast, way faster than Zeus. But the Olympian realized it too late to change tactics. Arakan was almost upon him, and he was running out of the juice his power up had granted him.

“Can you feel it, Zeus? Can you smell it in the air? That is the smell of death!”

Arakan didn’t blink and kept deflecting and dodging the highly charged lightning bolts, determination glinting in his eyes. There was something else shining madly in there too, a fire that consumed the Fury supreme commander and also allowed him to focus. Flames of revenge burned into his very soul.

When it became clear to Zeus that he couldn’t hit Arakan with his current mode of attack, and when the supreme commander was nearly upon him, Zeus slammed both his fists to the ground. A wall of lightning bolts acting as a shield shot upward.

What happened next Zeus never expected. Arakan’s eyes shone brightly, and he jumped through the lightning wall as if it wasn’t there. The amount of destructive power he felt didn’t stop him. Lightning sizzled on his exposed skin, ripping, cutting and burning through flesh, nerve and even bone. But Arakan was unstoppable. He emerged from Zeus’ last line of defense, blood flying all around him, then joined his hands together and lit them up with crackling crimson energy. He smashed them down and hammered Zeus to the ground, crushing many of the Olympian’s bones in one devastating attack.

Zeus passed out shortly after that.

Arakan kicked Zeus, and his body tumbled to the ground and through the mud for yards. “Wake up, coward! I want your eyes open when I rip your life from this world.”

Arakan growled his frustration as the devastation around him kept increasing to cataclysmic proportions. The ground cracked, and large chasms opened all over the planet. Lava and smoke geysers shot in the sky of the once beautiful planet, thickening the atmosphere of Olympus Prime.

Stones and dust particles lifted into the air and flew toward the heavens. Arakan knew there were only a few minutes left for him to leave this world before it was swallowed by the black hole. Arakan healed the multitude of wounds he’d received flying through Zeus’ vain final attempt at stopping him and smiled.

“So be it! I suppose I’ll have to be content with just pulverizing you, then.”

Arakan lifted a hand atop his head, and a crimson and black-flaming energy sphere crackled to life and rapidly grew larger. It soon was bigger than Arakan himself.

“This is where you die,” sneered Arakan.

But then something hit Arakan with tremendous speed and sent him flying backward until he impacted with the trunk of a large tree. He looked at his stomach and saw that a large crystal-bladed trident had impaled him. Arakan tried grabbing the weapon, but his hand passed through its handle, liquefying and solidifying itself afterward.

Arakan then tried pushing the trident away from his guts, but he couldn’t grab it with telekinesis either.

“What the hell is this thing?” he complained.

“Poseidon’s Trident only answers to me! You’re not worthy wielding it,” said a voice near him.

“Show yourself, coward!”

“You were about to murder my brother while he’s out cold and I’m the coward?”

Millions of water droplets fell from the sky and formed into the shape of a walking man. He materialized into flesh and blood, except for his hair and beard that were water-based and cyan in color, giving him an otherworldly look.

“You should not have come to this planet. It will be your tomb,” said Poseidon.

* * *

When Daniel reopened his eyes, he was glad to see he was still in one piece. He veered his StarFury off trajectory and let the kamikaze starfighter impact with the enemy star destroyer he had painted for his hyperspace micro-jump. It detonated and took out a portion of its shields, but not fully. However, Daniel was now in the middle of a hot zone where laser fire, missiles and torpedoes were exchanged in between the Fury destroyer and the other ships in the fleet, including Olympian destroyers.

Daniel vectored away from the fight at max burn to return to the Hope.

“You’re as crazy as your best friend,” declared Sarah. “But thanks for saving all our hides. I owe you one.”

“You’re welcome, Captain. But this fight is far from over.”

“Yes, and it’s harder than I expected. It’s like the Furies don’t care about sacrificing all of their pieces on the chessboard, so to speak.”

Daniel understood the chess reference as he had played a few games with Fillio.

“We can’t possibly rebuild ships as fast as they do, not if they use them as tactical weapons of mass destruction.”

“Hopefully, Ryonna will be successful in putting a dent in their supply line. Even if the Asgardians rejoin the Alliance, many of their ships have been wiped out today. We can’t keep taking that many losses and hope to win. Hang on Daniel, we have another bogey on approach.”

What?

Daniel checked his instruments and swore. A Fury super-destroyer had jumped close to the Hope and had sent another volley of kamikaze starfighters toward it.

“Tell me some of your shields are back up?” inquired Daniel.

“That’s a negative. If any of those impact with our hull, we’re history.”

“Jump engines?”

“Still down. This is it.”

“Can you get into escape pods?”

“That wouldn’t make any difference, as the range of the explosion would incinerate them.”

“Then it’s time to ask Chase for help!”

“I already tried. I can’t get through to him, neither via comms nor telepathically. I think the Asgardian shield is preventing communications.”

“Dammit!”

Daniel opened a channel to all his squadron pilots in range of the Hope and took a deep breath.

“Listen up, everyone⁠—”

24

When Chase and Oryn rematerialized, they were in front of a Fury transport ship. Thor was swinging his hammer at three of the Furies, while Odin was being beaten to a pulp by the super fast female Fury. She moved at least as fast as Chase, perhaps even faster.

“We have company,” shouted Afthartos. “Kill Odin, now!”

Chase saw the female Fury do one last turn around the Asgardian king and infuse her arm with energy in order to use it as a blade. Chase had been on the receiving end of such an attack and knew he needed to act fast. He micro-teleported toward Odin and intercepted the female’s killing blow by punching to the side her hand that would have decapitated Odin. Chase put all his might into this one attack and heard every bone in the Fury’s arm get crushed upon impact. Still, she managed to graze Odin’s neck and draw blood, but the injury didn’t seem life-threatening.

Oryn unleashed a veritable twister of near absolute zero energy that flash froze Tax into place. Chase then punched the ice Fury statue into a million pieces.

“You’ll pay for this,” said Afthartos as he jumped forward to engage her.

He unleashed a series of powerful punches but Oryn was one step ahead of him at every turn. Each time she blocked one of his attacks, she froze small parts of his skin without him realizing it. When she had frozen enough of his right hand, she allowed him to hit her in the face, but then his fist exploded upon impact with her cheek.

Afthartos fell to his knees and screamed from the pain, holding his amputated limb by the wrist.

“I told you to leave this world, forget the mission and go away, but you wouldn’t listen. Your ego thought you could beat me, but we both know you were never strong enough to lead this group.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” said Afthartos from behind her.

It took half a second for Oryn to realize what had happened, as the injured Fury’s face blinked and scrambled, revealing Kolpas’ face instead. He had used his holo-projected tech to take the face of the Fury Strike Force leader. Before Oryn could turn to face the real Afthartos, his hand shot through the right side of her stomach.

“Oryn!” shouted Chase who was helping Odin with the other two Furies.

The pain was intense and seeing her own blood on the hand of the man who had once touched her in intimacy made something in her head snap. She felt he was about to retract his hand and she instinctively grabbed it and locked it into place. Then, she unleashed absolute zero energy through her grasp. Freezing Afthartos’ hand and entire arm. She then swiftly severed it clean with her elbow.

Afthartos took a couple of steps back and looked at where his arm used to be. He saw nothing but a frozen stump below his shoulder.

“What have you done?”

“What I promised I would do if you didn’t leave this world.”

Oryn’s aura intensified, and the hand in Oryn’s stomach exploded into a million icy pieces. She used the cold to freeze her gushing wound.

“This won’t save your life but only delay your death,” spat Afthartos.

“I would worry about yourself right now,” said Oryn as she aimed an open palm toward her ex-lover.

Her eyes flashed white as icy particles flew all around her. “Goodbye!”

She unleashed a multitude of cyan colored fireballs that turned into icicles before reaching their target. Afthartos was impaled over and over again. He fell to his knees, a look of terror and disbelief in his eyes, before collapsing dead on the ground.

Oryn felt dizzy and stumbled before falling as well.

* * *

The Asgardian royal guards fought bravely and helped kill nearly a dozen of the Fury fighters before succumbing to their wounds. Chris beheaded the nearest Fury with a swift slash of his hand while Argos incinerated a group of three fighters who had the unfortunate idea of gathering next to one another.

Loki was firing powerful laser blasts from his fingers that had assumed the shape of guns. His attacks were far more powerful than any blaster fire Argos had ever seen. They effortlessly pierced through Fury armor, and sometimes a single well-lined shot would hit multiple enemies.

“I’ve missed this!” shouted the Asgardian.

“Us, not so much,” retorted Argos as he burned a watermelon-sized hole through the chest of his last victim.

“Any idea where Chase, Thor and Odin could be?” asked Chris.

“I can track my dad’s and Thor’s locator beacons,” replied Loki.

“You guys are chipped? What about leashes?” snorted Argos.

“It’s a strategic advantage to know where anyone is, only an idiot would not wear a locator.”

Argos paused, looked at Chris and frowned. “Did he just call me an idiot?”

“Not in so many words— behind you, Uncle!”

Argos threw his leg into a backward kick, which his Fury foe dodged, only to be decapitated by two well placed mint-colored energy shots a fraction of a second before Argos’ second legged kick hit the air where the head once was.

“Hey! I had that under control!” he complained.

“You’re welcome,” said Loki casually.

“For what? I just wasted a perfectly timed double kick.”

Loki pointed his finger pistol at Argos’ head and shot.

It took a moment for Argos to realize that Loki was shooting behind him at an incoming Fury with extended fist claws ready to impale Argos. The lime colored shot burned through the center of the Fury’s forehead and he was dead long before his body hit the ground.

“What about now? Did you also have that under control?” taunted Loki. “You talk too much!”

Not to take Loki’s side in this argument, said Chris in Argos’ head. But if you did more fighting and less talking, we’d already be done by now.

You are your father’s son, that’s for sure.

Why? You doubted that?

Never mind.

Argos got his head back in the game, and his next three attacks all resulted in instant kills.

* * *

When Ryonna and Keera arrived at the bottom of the elevator ride, they exited the cage and ran toward the nearest Gorgar.

“Hey, you!” shouted Ryonna as she approached him. “Can I have your attention?”

But then hundreds of Gorgars around them all turned their heads and shouted in unison. “Intruder alert!”

The words echoed through the entire factory as waves upon waves of Gorgar repeated the alert.

“That’s not good!” said Keera.

“You think? Be ready for things to go horribly wrong.”

Ryonna had barely finished her sentence when four Furies beamed in and started unleashing fireballs toward them. Keera used the super-suit speed augment to dodge the first volley and started returning fire. Ryonna dodged the fireballs by jumping in the air, aimed her anti-Fury weapon forward and scored her first hit. The powerful shockwave energy-enhanced particle rifle took out the Fury’s head. Upon landing with a roll, she aimed her weapon again and unleashed a spray of semi-automatic shots that brought the second Fury down.

Keera had more trouble making serious damage with her suit’s weaponry but she pummeled one Fury with fast-moving punches as she ran rapidly around him. That created enough of a distraction for Ryonna to line up her rifle and burn a hole in the Fury’s forehead, who collapsed to the ground. By then, the last Fury guard was upon her and scored a hit with his fireball, which landed directly on the anti-Fury weapon, both knocking it out of Ryonna’s grasp and damaging it. It exploded when impacting with the stony floor.

“Dammit!” she exclaimed.

The Fury ran toward her for the kill. She instinctively grabbed her blaster from her belt and shot three energy lasso shots at the Fury’s legs, stopping him in his tracks and hurtling him forward. Before he could hit the ground, Ryonna had drawn her sword and cut the Fury in half.

“Are you alright, Keera?”

“Yes, but I don’t think that was the extent of their forces⁠—”

Indeed two-dozen Furies beamed in the distance, and soon they were under fire again.

“Screw this,” said Keera, shortly after finding cover behind one of the quadrinium processing machines.

She heard a noise and saw a trembling Gorgar hiding under one of the larger machines. Ryonna brought up the neuronal HUD from Argos’ mind reprogramming tech and entered a command of her own. One short and to the point: Kill all the Furies!

When five more fireballs hit not too far from her head, and nothing seemed to happen, she swore out loud.

“What’s going on?” asked Keera from her own cover, a few yards away.

“I don’t think this damn thing is working⁠—”

But then the Gorgar near her stopped trembling and got up from under his hiding place and madly ran toward the Furies.

Two seconds later about twenty Gorgars did the same, grabbing tools and anything they could use as a weapon on their run toward the guards. The insectoids shouted from the top of their lungs as they madly rushed forward. The Furies started engaging and incinerating the Gorgars. Ryonna exited cover, grabbed the second rifle from her back and provided cover fire for the horde encircling the Fury guards.

“I sure hope the guards are dealt with before Tar’Lock gets hurt,” exclaimed Keera, who also started providing cover fire.

“You and me both! But we don’t exactly have much of a choice at this point. Can you locate Tar’Lock with your sensors?”

“He’s about three miles away and converging, but you know how fast he runs.”

Ryonna clenched her teeth and frantically ran toward the Fury opposition.

“Are you nuts? Let them deal with their captors!” shouted Keera.

But Ryonna wasn’t listening anymore, and she thrust forward, taking advantage of the confusion to down as many Furies as she could before Tar’Lock reached the chaotic battle. The Furies killed Gorgars by the dozen, but they were soon so overwhelmed that they fell one after another, being kicked, punched and impaled by all sorts of working tools. In less than a minute, they were all dead.

Shortly after Tar’Lock arrived on the scene, he seemed disappointed.

“Aw, the battle is already over, shoot!”

Ryonna gestured him to come to her.

“Hey, Ryonna! How are you doin⁠—”

But Ryonna punched his lights out.

“Sorry, my friend, but trust me, this is for your own good.”

More Furies beamed in and the Gorgars dealt with them as they had before. War cries, fireballs and sounds of Furies dying in horrible pain could be heard for miles.

* * *

Daniel addressed his squadrons solemnly and with a trembling voice.

“Listen up! The Hope has been targeted by some of these kamikaze ships. If a single one of them reaches the ship, it will be destroyed. We’ve already lost Saroudis and the Destiny not long ago, and we can’t let the Hope fall as well. Admiral Athanatos is fighting for us on the planet, and we can’t let his partner, Captain Kepler, be killed. I know this is asking a lot of you. But we need to take out these ships. Try and duplicate my earlier maneuver, and let’s return these damn ships back to their sender. But if you can’t reach them in time, you have to make sure they detonate before reaching the range that would incinerate the Hope. I can’t order you to sacrifice yourselves but⁠—”

“This is Beta Leader. We all understand what’s at stake here. Chase Athanatos has saved our lives and the planet more times than we can count. I know I speak for my entire squadron when I say that if we need to lay down our lives to save the Hope and Captain Kepler, then we will do this gladly.”

“Roger that,” added Beta Three.

“Let’s give them hell,” said Alpha Four.

Daniel’s eyes watered at the level of dedication from his pilots. Still, it killed him a little inside to have to send some, if not all of them, on a suicide run.

Soon all the fighters in range went after the kamikaze star fighters. Some of them managed to open hyperspace windows and send the flying bombs toward Fury super-destroyers. But there were too many bogies, and some of the fighters were too far away to catch up with them in time.

“Goodbye, guys, it was an honor,” said Beta Two as he micro-jumped directly into one of the ships and detonated it, sacrificing his life in the process.

A tear ran down Daniel’s face.

Before Daniel could react, another pilot gave his life to blow up one of the five remaining Fury star fighters.

The Beta Leader successfully managed to open a large enough hyperspace window to encompass two of the ships. But something went wrong at the exit point, and he was incinerated when the ships took out the shields of the Fury destroyer who had sent the ships hurtling toward the Hope in the first place.

Two to go.

The Fury destroyer who had lost its shields started firing from its weapons range, trying to blindly destroy the pilots rushing to take out their kamikaze fighters.

They destroyed two more of Daniel’s fighters.

“Bastards!”

Daniel, who was approaching one of the last two kamikaze ships, was only a few klicks behind. Farther ahead was Beta Seven.

“It’s been an honor, Commander! Goodbye.”

Daniel clenched his teeth as his pilot’s ship rammed into the kamikaze ship and blew himself out of the sky.

There was only one last kamikaze ship to take out, and Daniel was the only one in range. He pushed his StarFury’s engine to the limits.

“Daniel! What the hell are you doing?” protested Sarah. “Let it hit, perhaps it won’t destroy the ship.”

“I can’t take that chance, Sarah. Say goodbye to Chase for me, will you?”

“Daniel, no!”

“Goodbye, Sarah.”

Daniel was only two seconds from impacting the kamikaze fighter when he closed his tearful eyes.

Goodbye, Chase. I’ll miss you, buddy.

But then Daniel felt his ship change course and opened his eyes. A tractor beam had grabbed him and pushed him out of the way at such velocity that he thought he would pass out. The ship that tractored him was massive, and he couldn’t identify it as the system’s star shone a bright blue light in his eyes. When the ship finished its rotation, the last kamikaze exploded near its shield, successfully protecting both the Hope and Daniel’s fighter from the devastating explosion.

“Sorry for my tardiness,” said Athena, “it’s been a busy battle. But when I intercepted your transmission about saying goodbye to my son Chase, I knew I had to reach you in time.”

“Thank you, Athena,” said Daniel with the longest exhale of relief.

“Yes, thank you,” added Sarah.

“I couldn’t let my future daughter-in-law get blasted, now could I?”

“Excuse me?” said Sarah, unable to hide the shock in her voice.

“My son hasn’t told me anything, but I can sense that he wants to spend his life with you. I’m looking forward to formally meeting my grandson as soon as we finish off this fleet. As for the wedding, if there is one, after this war, I’d love it if the two of you would consider holding it on Olympus Prime.”

Sarah kept silent for a while, sobbing, before speaking again.

“That’s a deal, but first let’s finish these assholes.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth.”

25

Poseidon looked at Zeus for several moments. Zeus was still breathing, but he was critically wounded. Poseidon’s eyes flashed blue as he gazed at Arakan’s still trapped body thanks to the mythical Olympian weapon.

“You should never have come here. You’ve killed my brethren and destroyed our wonderful planet. For this, you’ll pay with your life.”

“I don’t think so!” spat Arakan, as blood dripped from his mouth.

The wound was deep, but he would heal the moment the weapon was removed. All he had to do was wait, and soon he would kill yet another Olympian.

“Let’s see if you survive this, then.”

Three water dragons started dancing around Poseidon as his aura grew exponentially. His watery hair waved about like a stormy sea. The water dragons intensified their dance and gathered more speed. Soon, they rolled around the Olympian’s arm and accelerated so fast they created a water-based twister. Poseidon unleashed a battle cry, and the twister shot forward toward Arakan.

Arakan tried to reach for anything he could grab with his mind, but the Trident planted in him seemed to null most of his powers.

“Nooooooo!!!!” screamed Arakan.

The water twister hit the Trident and forced it to rotate on itself at increasing speeds. The blade inside Arakan did the same and started boring a large hole in his chest as it ripped most of Arakan’s organs to shreds, including his heart. The crimson aura around him died down, and so did the crimson fire in his eyes.

When there was nothing but a hole where Arakan’s ribcage was before, Poseidon mentally recalled his mighty weapon.

Arakan fell to his knees and collapsed dead on the ground.

Poseidon ran toward his brother Zeus to check on him.

The planet shook more with each passing second, and the moment Poseidon was near Zeus, a large crevasse opened under him, and Zeus’ body fell into the dark void. Poseidon’s eyes glowed, and he raised his Trident up. Water horses galloped in the air from below, bringing Zeus back to safer ground.

* * *

Arakan looked around him. He was in a place unknown to him, mostly dark with some shining reflections coming from the strange material forming on the ground. A dim, dark-red light shot toward the heavens many miles from where he stood.

“Where am I?”

“You are exactly where you belong,” said Hades.

“Who the hell are you? How many Olympians do I have to kill today? But fear not, I have enough juice to get one more to bite the dust.”

“I don’t think so, Arakan. You’re dead.”

“I can’t be dead!”

“Then why are you in my realm?”

“What realm? What is this place?”

“This is the Underworld, and I’m its guardian, or keeper if you prefer.”

“You’ll tell me how to get the hell out of here now before I rip your head off.”

“You don’t have those powers anymore here, and you can’t intimidate me. Furthermore, resurrection is not my department.”

Resurrection?

Arakan’s mad laugh echoed throughout the valley of the Underworld.

“I don’t see what’s so funny.”

“I won’t be here for long.”

“You got that right, but not in the way you think,” said Hades, pointing toward Arakan’s legs.

Dark shadowy silhouettes without faces or eyes were climbing on his legs and pulling him toward the ground. They had a black smoky aura throughout them, and when they opened their mouths, a strident, soul-crushing screech echoed all around.

“What the hell is this?”

“That’s your ride to Purgatory. Bye, now.”

“I told you I’m not staying here,” said Arakan.

“Only one person ever managed to get out of here, and I’m sure he’ll be disappointed that he didn’t put you in here himself, but he’ll get over it.”

Arakan felt a light glow inside of him and smiled.

“I guess you’ll have to add a second name to this list.”

“Don’t be ridiculou⁠—”

But Hades’ eyes grew wide as bright red illuminated tentacles grabbed Arakan by the arms and pulled him up. Soon, he disappeared from the Underworld entirely.

“That’s impossible! What is this devilry?”

* * *

Thor smashed his hammer against one of the Fury warriors and sent him flying to Chase who sent him crashing to the ground with a plunging fireball punch. Before the Fury could recover, Chase incinerated him.

He then saw that Oryn had stumbled and fallen to the ground.

“Oryn!!! Thor! Keep the last two occupied for just a moment.”

“You got it; go take care of your friend.”

Chase ran and slid next to Oryn who had lost consciousness. He put his hands on her and started healing her wound. First, unfreezing it and then applying his healing energy to mend it.

Soon, she opened her eyes.

“Thank you.”

Chase winked. “Don’t mention it. Let’s finish this, shall we?”

When they returned to Odin and Thor, Odin had dispatched the fourth Fury by punching through his guts, unleashing a war cry as his eyes glowed brightly, and sending the rest of the Fury body to explode into pieces.

But the fifth Fury was nowhere to be seen. “Where is Exipnos?”

“Who?” asked Thor.

“We’re missing one Fury, the most cunning of the group. He’s not strong but incredibly intelligent.”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Odin. “Four against one, even with his cunning he can’t hope to win.”

Except that if he managed to kill Odin, it matters not if he gets killed after, said Oryn in Chase’s mind.

We can’t let that happen!

I know.

All of a sudden, multiple versions of Exipnos appeared everywhere, each one holding a buzzing light dagger at Odin’s throat. There was no telling who the real Exipnos and who the real Odin were among them all!

“Don’t you dare make a move,” shouted all the mirror copies of the Fury. “I’ll surely behead him before you find where I really am.”

Dammit!

“Now leave, or Odin loses his head!” ordered Exipnos.

Chase could feel the fear and desperation in the Fury’s voice.

“You’ll kill him either way, so we’re staying put,” said Thor coldly.

Any brilliant ideas? asked Thor telepathically.

I can pinpoint your Father, teleport and grab him away. But we’ll only have one shot at this.

One shot is all we need. I trust that you’ll not fuck this up, Chase. Whatever alliance you hope to build with us is contingent upon my Father living today.

No pressure then.

“I won’t ask a third time!” screamed Exipnos.

That’s what you just did, thought Chase.

Time was of the essence, so he closed his eyes and focused on finding Odin’s life force in the space around them and took his other senses currently being duped out of the equation. He told Oryn to stand ready to unleash her coldest attack the moment he made his move. Chase hadn’t been exposed to Odin long enough to recognize Odin’s aura, but he worked by the process of elimination. He found both Thor’s and Odin’s life force and then found two more life forces close together.

Hurry up, Chase heard in his mind. I can sense this Fury is thinking of executing my father.

Chase didn’t bother answering and teleported instead. When he arrived behind the pair, he quickly grabbed the Fury’s weapon-wielding wrist and didn’t need to apply much force to get it away from Odin’s throat. He thought he could probably deal with him on his own, but a blade shot from the Fury’s armor at knee level. Luckily, Chase reacted quickly. He kicked Odin on the backside to make sure Exipnos couldn’t reach him with that blade and sent Oryn the command to unleash her icy wrath.

The Fury managed to slash his knee blade at Chase’s stomach. Chase stumbled backward and fell onto his back right next to Odin.

Exipnos aimed his palm at Odin’s face, but before he could fire, a cold beam of energy turned him into a statue of ice that promptly exploded a second later when Thor unleashed his hammer in its center.

Chase put a hand on his bloody guts and healed himself.

Odin shook his head and spat mud and grass from his mouth.

“Sorry about that,” said Chase with a tense smile.

Odin shot daggers at him, but then his eyes relaxed, and he smiled back.

“I would be dead if it weren’t for that ass kicking of yours, literally,” said Odin as he got back up and put a hand on his behind.

“Let’s not make a habit of this, though,” added Odin.

His stomach wound now healed, Chase jumped back to his feet with panache and flashed Odin a thumbs up.

“You got it.”

But then Chase looked around, agitated.

“What’s going on, Chase?” asked Oryn.

“I don’t know, but something is wrong, I can feel it in my gut.”

* * *

The fighting inside the factory had ended, and Ryonna was carrying an unconscious Tar’Lock on her shoulder.

“Admit it, Ryonna, you love hitting the little guy.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I didn’t have a choice. It was for his own good.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Keera laughing. “Whatever you say.”

“We need to implant another command to their consciousness. I wonder what it should be?”

“This one seems pretty effective, perhaps we should keep it in place.”

“You can’t be serious, that would be abusing this technology.”

“So?”

Ryonna shot a murderous look at Keera.

“So, we’re not gonna sink to their level.”

“I understand that Ryonna, but right now, we need to make sure we win this war. Plus, if you don’t lock the command with encryption, the Furies could return in force and reprogram them. We can’t afford that.”

While Ryonna hated to admit it, Keera was making a good point. They were at war, and now that they had interrupted the Furies most efficient means of constructing starships quickly as well as accumulate large stockpiles of rare minerals, they needed to make sure they kept this advantage.

“But it can only be a temporary solution. I hate doing this!”

“I know, so do I, but it’s necessary.”

Ryonna added other commands such as to provide Earth Alliance any help they required, to make sure they attacked and killed Furies on sight and to destroy all the current Fury ships currently being assembled on the surface of the planet.

A Gorgar female approached Ryonna and seemed very interested in Tar’Lock.

“Can I help you with something?” said Ryonna.

The Gorgar female sniffed and clicked multiple times.

Her look became intense. “Is this Tar’Lock you’ve killed?”

“He’s not dead, I just had to knock him out to make sure he didn’t get accidentally killed by the Furies. What is it to you? Do you know him?”

“He’s my brother.”

Ryonna’s jaw dropped.

Tar’Lock hadn’t talked about his family with Ryonna, but she suspected that was because he had forgotten about them to make place for memories of her he wanted to save.

“I didn’t know he had a sister.”

“Twenty-seven.”

“Twenty-seven? Is that your name or denomination?”

“No silly,” she said with a high-pitched laugh. “That’s the number of sisters Tar’Lock has.”

“Oh boy…”

* * *

When Arakan reopened his eyes and air filled his lungs again, dark obsidian energy was bubbling from the hole in his chest, and soon he felt his wound close. He brought his hands in front of his face, while still lying down on the ground on his back, and noticed there was a strange shadowy echo with every one of his movements.

What is this? A side effect from that resurrection stone?

Whatever it was, Arakan was glad he had swallowed it before facing Zeus. He had long hesitated to do so, not liking the idea of owing his life, or anything in fact, to that shadow hallucination of his. But then again, since the stone was real and he had been brought back from the dead, it could only mean one thing.

I told you over and over again I was real, said the shadow’s voice in his mind.

You’re in my thoughts?

An acceptable side effect under the circumstances, wouldn’t you agree?

Please tell me I didn’t ingest you or your soul?

Don’t be ridiculous. The stone I gave you left a marker in your body allowing me to communicate with you over longer distances, but I’m still on Erevos.

Arakan felt only partially relieved.

How many times will this stone work?

It’s resurrection properties are over.

But let me guess, our connection isn’t?

Again, I think that’s not too big a price to pay for not having died at the hands of Poseidon, which by the way, you should think about killing now. And his brother.

Don’t tell me what to do!

Merely echoing the rage I feel inside you at the moment.

Arakan was utterly pissed about having to deal with the shadow in his own thoughts, though since he’d always believed he wasn’t real from the beginning, having him in his head instead of what he thought were visual hallucinations didn’t really make much of a difference.

Mind telling me what this shadow echo is around me?

That is part of me, just a tiny little part I imbued into the stone.

Why am I not surprised?

Understand this, now that you have a fragment of me with you, your enemies can’t heal their wounds anymore the way they’re used to.

What?

You know, the Furies healing powers… these won’t work for any of the wounds you inflict upon your enemies.

Arakan smirked.

I thought you’d like that particular side effect, said the shadow. Why don’t you test your new destructive powers on the Olympians before this planet is torn to shreds, which should only be a matter of minutes now.

26

Chris, Argos and Loki rejoined the rest of the group near the Fury transport. They were covered in blood.

“Are you okay?” asked Thor.

“That’s not our blood,” said Argos. “Well, not much of it is, anyway.”

“Loki,” said Thor coldly.

“Brother,” answered Loki with a slight bow.

Thor winced, and Chase understood that there was tension between them. But he still couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible had happened. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was, but he felt it at the pit of his stomach.

Oryn put a hand on Chase’s shoulder.

“Smile! We won.”

* * *

Ryonna talked a little with Tar’Lock’s sister, Tar’Sian, and convinced her to try the pill Argos had given her.

She swallowed the pill, and when her eyes grew wide, Ryonna feared it had been a mistake to use a member of Tar’Lock’s family to test the prototype.

“This is incredible,” she said.

Which reassured Ryonna almost instantly.

“You’re already feeling its effects?”

“I do. I feel like my brain is extending, like I can store so many more memories, and it keeps happening, this is wonderful!”

Ryonna smiled and changed the targeting option of Argos’ mind device to a single Gorgar and targeted Tar’Sian. She then uploaded the schematics for the pill into her brain.

“What did you just do?” she said, her eyes blinking with joy.

“I gave you the memories you’ll need to reproduce this technology and have your entire world benefit from it.”

“Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome, Tar’Sian. Now we must go, but we’ll be back soon.”

“Do you really have to? Can’t Tar’Lock stay?”

Ryonna didn’t like the idea of having to leave him here without saying goodbye. So she slapped him gently back into consciousness.

“What— What happened?” he asked shortly after opening his eyes.

“You slipped and fell.”

“Yeah, right,” snorted Keera. “Just like he did on the ship.”

“I do seem to do that a lot lately. What about my people?”

“They helped us defeat the Furies on your world. They’re—” Ryonna hesitated. “They’re free now.”

“That’s good.”

“In fact, there’s someone who’d like to say hello.”

Tar’Lock got back on his feet and looked into Tar’Sian’s eyes.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“You don’t remember me, do you? I’m your sister.”

“Oh…I’m sorry I— Thousands of years is a long time, I had to make space in my memories.”

“Well, I haven’t erased the memory of you, but I understand. I never thought we’d see you again after you were sold. You must tell me all your adventures.”

Tar’Lock scratched his head uncomfortably. “Sure, another time perhaps, I think we have to go.”

“Won’t you stay? Your friend gave me the magic pill! It’s wonderful, we can make new memories and keep them forever now.”

Tar’Lock’s face grew red with anger, and he turned to Ryonna. “You gave her the pill? A member of my family? You might as well have let me have it!”

“You didn’t remember who she was a minute ago, don’t think I can’t recognize you being jealous.”

Tar’Lock clicked madly for a long time.

“Do you want to stay here with your family? We’ll return soon anyway.”

“No, I want to go with you,” said Tar’Lock.

Half a minute later they exited the factory only to find their ship in flames.

“Looks like none of us are going anywhere just yet,” said Keera.

* * *

Arakan got back up and scanned around until he located Zeus and Poseidon. It was time to move things along and be on his way. He still had an entire universe to conquer. Soon he would dispose of the Earth Alliance. And hopefully, his Strike Force had completed their mission. But even if they had failed, he would strike the Alliance a deadly blow that would put fear in his enemy’s hearts. Today, Olympus Prime had fallen.

The ground began to crack more and more, and a lava geyser had deformed the once beautiful planet.

Arakan walked toward the Olympians with a smile across his face.

* * *

Zeus opened his eyes.

“What happened? Arakan?”

“I’ve taken care of him for you. He’s dead.”

Zeus’ first reaction was anger. He wanted to have killed the Fury supreme commander himself to take revenge for Zalara. But he knew that if his brother hadn’t intervened, he would probably be dead by now.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime, Brother. But we have to get the hell out of here now; our planet is about to blow.”

Poseidon helped Zeus get up and froze when he saw his brother’s eyes grow wide.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” said Arakan.

Poseidon opened his hands and his loyal Trident flew into them.

“Can you fight?” he asked Zeus.

Zeus nodded. “Let’s bring him down together.”

The auras of the Olympians shone brightly in the dark of Olympus Prime’s last night.

Arakan’s laugh echoed as the thunder rumbled the cataclysmic display of blackness and fire that the planet had been turned into. The dark, thick clouds were absorbed upward, and soon the only thing that could be seen was the black hole, swallowing everything. Already, massive chunks of the planet where on their way toward its infernal spiral of despair and destruction.

Poseidon swirled his Trident atop his head. A thousand lightning bolts sizzled around Zeus’ deep blue aura and muscled, bloodied body.

“Kraken’s revenge!” screamed Poseidon as he aimed his weapon toward Arakan and launched his terrible attack.

A massive water Kraken shot from the spinning Trident and its scream filled the entire plains while shooting toward the supreme commander.

“Not this time,” said Arakan, determined.

His aura literally exploded around him. Crimson red flames danced with void ones.

Arakan extended both his arms forward and blocked the incoming watery Kraken with all his might.

“Impossible!” exclaimed Poseidon.

Zeus frowned and unleashed a flurry of lightning bolts toward the Fury. But Arakan’s aura morphed around him and deflected all of them.

“This can’t be,” exclaimed Zeus.

Arakan siphoned the water Kraken inside his palms and an ocean blue color added to his aura, but it was soon devoured by the crimson and dark shades.

Arakan punched the ground below him, and a torrent of watery energy shot from under Zeus and sent him flying miles high in the sky. Zeus felt the gravity pull from the black hole beckon to him, and he had to use most of his remaining energy to counter it and fight back downward.

Poseidon rushed toward Arakan with the Trident in his hand, adjusting his grasp on the weapon to hold it like a lance.

Arakan returned to an upward position and used his other hand to unleash the other half of the Kraken energy he had assimilated earlier and fired it toward Poseidon. The Olympian used his Trident to block the attack, but he started skidding backward. When Arakan added his own energy to the wave, Poseidon’s grasp on the Trident was broken, and it spun in the air. While focusing on trying to catch it on its descent, Poseidon never saw Arakan coming. The moment the Olympian caught his mighty weapon, Arakan was upon him and sectioned off his Trident-wielding arm with a swift vertical slash of his hand.

Poseidon screamed in pain as he held his exposed shoulder, his teeth grinding and his face deformed.

Arakan prepared himself to finish off Poseidon by plunging his arm into the Olympian’s thorax.

Zeus landed in front of his brother and was impaled in his stead. His eyes blinked, and blue sparks shot from them.

Arakan was surprised, but soon his expression turned into sheer satisfaction.

“I didn’t expect you to make it that simple,” said Arakan as he removed his hand from Zeus’ thorax.

Black blood spilled out of the wound. It made a ‘shadow echo’ and Arakan understood what his shadowy friend meant.

“I’m going to kill your brother, now,” said Arakan defiantly.

“No, you won’t,” spat Zeus, black blood oozing from his mouth.

Zeus’ aura retracted around him and exploded like a supernova. His entire body glowed blue and rotating lightning bolts in each of his eyes replaced his pupils.

“You won’t,” said a deep voice, no longer just Zeus’ in terms of pitch and sound.

The words echoed everywhere as if a thousand people had uttered them. Zeus unleashed an avalanche of lightning bolts and propelled Arakan high in the sky, high enough so the black hole could take hold of his mass. In every direction, large chunks of the planet were now lifting upward and following Arakan.

Arakan touched a control on his armor and beamed away, disappearing into thin air.

Zeus collapsed on his back. Poseidon crawled next to him.

“Why? Why did you do that?”

“You’re my brother.”

“But you’re the symbol of our people, what are we to do now?”

“Today most of our people will have perished.”

“No, you’re wrong, brother. Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus and many others managed to take a ship and escape.”

“That’s good,” said Zeus, as his eyes started closing.

* * *

Chase fell on his knees, and Oryn started crying.

“You felt it too?” she asked.

Chase nodded.

Oryn came next to Chase and put her hand on him.

“Get me to him, now!”

Chase teleported them both to Olympus.

Oryn collapsed onto her knees next to Zeus and took his hand.

“Chase! Quick, heal him!”

Chase knelt beside Zeus, put his hand on him and closed his eyes. He sent his healing energy but felt a pain feedback. The more he pushed, the more pain he felt and couldn’t get his own energy to enter the Olympian’s tissues.

“What’s happening?” asked Oryn. “Why isn’t he getting better?”

“Arakan—” said Zeus as large quantities of black blood spat out along with his words. “He…he did something to himself. These wounds are not natural, I feel a darkness inside eating away at me from within.”

“Chase, please keep trying!” Oryn moaned, as tears flowed from her eyes like rivers.

Chase did all he could, but nothing worked. He tried getting back to his feet and fire healing balls of energy at his grandfather, but they just exploded on the surface of Zeus’ skin without entering his body. Chase sent two large pulses of healing energy, but the result was the same. Finally, he fell back to his knees and looked at Oryn with tears in his eyes as he shook his head.

“Oryn…promise me you’ll be careful if you fight Arakan? And Chase, promise me you’ll finish what you started?”

“I promise,” said Chase. “We’ll rid the universe of the Furies, once and for all.”

“I know you will.”

Zeus spasmed and more black blood shot from his mouth. His tears were also made of the same black oozing blood.

“I’m counting on you. And please, protect Oryn.”

Oryn was sobbing and kissing Zeus’ hand. “Please, don’t die.”

“Nothing can stop it now. You have to go now before the black hole swallows you with the rest of my world. Take my brother Poseidon with you.”

Only then did Chase see Poseidon passed out a few yards away. He also saw that more than half of the planet had already been consumed and large chunks of it were spinning upward into the dark sky.

“Take the Trident too.”

“Dad,” said Oryn. “We can take you with us. Perhaps we can find a way to save you.”

“My time has come, my beautiful daughter. I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to meet and see the great woman you have become. You remind me so much of your mother.”

Oryn’s tears flash froze into icy stalagmites, and more tears ran onto them. Rage filled Oryn’s soul and whatever doubts she had in destroying the Furies got consumed in the flames of revenge burning brightly inside her and charring her wounded heart.

“I want to go with my planet,” added Zeus. “Now go, while you still can.”

Chase took his grandfather’s hand and squeezed it hard.

“We’ll make them pay for this, we’ll avenge you.”

“Don’t let revenge blind you like it did with me, just keep your eye on the big picture.”

Chase nodded. “Okay.”

“Now go.”

Chase took the unconscious Poseidon on his shoulder and grabbed the Trident that lay beside him.

“We gotta go,” said Chase as he put his hand on Oryn’s shoulder.

“Wait, just a little⁠—”

But Chase felt the planet was about to explode and so he didn’t wait. He teleported them away just a fraction of a second before darkness swallowed Olympus whole.

* * *

When Chase and Oryn arrived back in Odin’s room, Odin was sitting on his throne, and Thor stood next to him. Chris and Argos were sitting on the floor, resting.

They jumped up as Chase carefully laid Poseidon on the floor.

Oryn unleashed a terrible cry of sorrow from deep within her soul and dropped the temperature around them to sub-zero levels.

“What the fuck just happened?” asked Argos, seeing tears flowing on Chase’s face.

“Zeus and Olympus— are no more.”

“Arakan?” asked Argos.

Chase nodded.

“Did you kill the fucker?”

“He was no longer there when we arrived.”

Argos felt rage fill his entire being, and he had to express his anger so he unleashed a powerful fireball to the side and incinerated half of a wall in the throne room.

Odin got up to complain, but Thor shook his head and put a hand on his father’s shoulder.

Odin nodded and sat back down.

Chris cried, realizing that he would never meet his great grandfather. Argos grabbed the boy’s head and gave him a warm hug.

Oryn was inconsolable and kept weeping as more tears than she thought she had inside her fell.

“What about the battle in orbit?” asked Chase.

“We’ve established contact with Mom,” answered Chris, wiping his tears. “The battle has been won.”

“But at some great costs. We’ve lost more ships, and the damage to the Hope is substantial,” added Argos.

“She’s one tough ship; we can repair her.”

“We can be of assistance to help you repair any damage you have suffered protecting our world,” said Thor.

“I would appreciate that, thank you.”

“That’s the least we can do. My own ship was destroyed, but we’ll rebuild a stronger Mjölnir soon enough.”

“I’m sorry your ship was destroyed,” offered Chase.

“Well, thanks to you, I wasn’t on it when it happened. I’ll owe you for that.”

Chase nodded.

“We also received a long-range sub-space transmission from the one you call Ryonna, relayed from the Asgardian destroyer that accompanied them to their destination.”

“And?”

“They said their mission was a success and requested to be picked up since their ship was destroyed. Apparently, the Furies not only used the Gorgar to mine resources but also to build ships at an alarmingly fast rate. This would explain why they didn’t mind sacrificing so many of them in this latest attack.”

“Well, at least we’ve dealt them a blow in their expansion plans.”

“Surely they will send many ships and try to take back the Gorgar world by force.”

“We won’t let them.”

EPILOGUE

Odin stepped down from his throne.

“I know this is a hard time for you, but I would like to express my condolences for your loss as well as my eternal gratitude for what you have done for me and my people here today. We owe you. You have won an ally today. This attack on our home world has made me reconsider the Asgardian position toward the Furies. Your war is now our war.”

Chase approached Odin and shook his hand.

“And if there’s anything I can do to show my appreciation to you for saving my life today, let me know.”

“Actually there are a few things.”

“I’m listening.”

“First, I’d like you to find it in yourself to please pardon Kvasir. We’ll need him to defeat the Furies. And right now I need him to help us free my aunt from the infernal machine she is trapped inside.”

“Asgardian law unequivocally regarding treason⁠—”

“Father,” said Thor, simply.

“I should not do this, but after all, I’m the king of Asgard. So it’s the least I can do to thank you for your courage and sacrifices. Kvasir is no longer under penalty of death.”

“Thank you, Odin,” said Chase.

“Anything else?”

“I was hoping my grandfather would give me this information, but unfortunately he can’t do that anymore.”

Chase felt the sorrow in Oryn’s heart radiate once more.

“We need information about the soul ships used during the last Fury War. Do you know where we can find them?”

“I’m afraid not. We’ve entrusted them to a Fury defector just before the war was over. A certain Menelas.”

“That’s our father!” exclaimed Argos. “Could he still be alive?”

“I doubt it. Zeus sent him on one last mission after securing the soul ships. Only he knows where they are I’m afraid, and we assumed he died on his last mission.”

“That’s what Zeus said as well,” lamented Chase.

Chase felt how sad that statement made Argos.

“But, we have detailed files on the soul ships, perhaps you can use some of them. Here, let me show you.”

Odin entered commands on a device on the inside of his forearm armor. And it projected a large 3D holographic file, with images of the ships. They rotated on themselves but then something caught Chase’s eye. It was a 3D portrait next to a large section of text in Asgardian rune language.

“Is that our father?” asked Chase, pointing a finger. “He seems familiar, like I might have seen him in some of those rogue memories I had not long ago.”

Argos looked up and nodded.

“I thought so,” said Chase solemnly.

Oryn looked up and saw Chase and Argos’ father’s holographic portrait.

“Can you please zoom in on Menelas?” requested Oryn.

“What?” said Argos. “Why?”

But Oryn ignored him and walked to the side to have a better view as Odin enlarged Menelas’ portrait.

“I know him,” she said.

A cascade of shivers ran down both Argos’ and Chase’s spines.

“I’ve seen him in Arakan’s dungeon, under his palace. Chase, your father is still alive!”

TO BE CONTINUED…

(Keep reading Book 9: Requiem of Souls)

REQUIEM OF SOULS (BOOK 9: INTO THE FIRE PART 1)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

Production Editor & Alpha/ARC Team Lead

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Editors

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Proofreaders

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Miliana Chipaila (Thank you so much Millie!)

Alpha Readers & ARC Team (Thank you!)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2017 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2017 / Version 1.02

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Admiral Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury Olympian hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Captain Sarah Kepler – Earth Human with Fury powers (formerly US Navy Commander)

Chris Athanatos – Fury Human hybrid

Commander Daniel Tharraleos (dan-yel tha-rah-leh-os) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos (yah-nis tee-hee-hos) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis (spee-ros ma-lah-yah-nis) – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)

Cedric – Earth Alliance Human Engineer

Tar’Lock – Gorgar (Insectoid & formerly a Hellstar prisoner)

Olympians

Aphroditis (a-fro-dee-tee) – known to humans as the goddess of love

Ares (ah-rees)– know to humans as the god of war

Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war

Zeus – known to humans as the god of the sky and mighty ruler of Olympus

Hades (eh-dees) – known to humans as the god of the Underworld

Poseidon - known to the humans as the god of the seas

Furies

Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

Oryn – Zeus’ daughter (Arakan’s adoptive daughter)

Zalara – Arakan’s wife (deceased)

Menelas (meh-neh-lahs)– Chase and Argos’ father (deceased)

Asgardians

Thor – Fleet Commander, son of Odin.

Kvasir (kvah-seer) – Asgardian scientist

Other characters

Emperor Altair – Obsidian Empire Emperor (now part of the Earth Alliance)

Gaia (gah-yah) – Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet

THE STORY SO FAR

Warning: If you haven’t read all the previous books in the series, you’re exposing yourself to SERIOUS spoilers by reading this part.

This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. It can, of course, be used by new readers but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (it’s free).

Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

Volume II: Fury to the Stars

Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin, Argos, currently torturing her for information. Another Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him harness his emerging powers. Meanwhile, Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar Prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long-range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensitive weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.

Volume III: Destination Oblivion

Having had to kill the woman he loves as well as their unborn child plunges Chase into a spiral of hatred and self-destruction as he leaves the Earth Alliance. After meeting a bounty hunter (Keera), Chase joins forces with her in order to track the one man he hates more than anything in this world: his twin brother Argos whom he holds responsible for Sarah’s death. Argos resurfaces on their radar after killing Ares in cold blood. When their paths cross, Chase nearly kills Argos after an epic fight in Tokyo, but only spares his twin brother’s life when he reveals that Sarah is alive and the person that Chase killed was a clone. Meanwhile, a dangerous Artificial Intelligence (Gaia) is born on Earth and threatens humanity as a whole, but in the end Spiros Malayianis convinces her that she has nothing to fear from humans. In order to rescue Sarah, Chase has to reluctantly team up with Argos in order to defeat a Titan that holds a piece of tech Argos needs for his nefarious plan. When recovered, Argos requests Aphroditis to enter the piece of tech that will free his brethren, once thought to be extinct, from their dimensional prison. Aphroditis enters the machine willingly in exchange for a promise from Chase to rid the world of Argos and the threat he poses. The Fury home world (Erevos) is brought back into their reality as a result. The enemy of old (Furies) is back in play.

Volume IV: The Beginning of the End

Argos’ reunion with the Furies turns sour as he refuses to kill Chase when ordered. Back on Earth, Chase trains for months with the help of Gaia and Spiros to increase his powers tenfold in the hope of defeating the Furies. Argos and two highly trained Fury warriors (Miseo, the son of the Fury Supreme Commander Arakan as well as General Arkoolis) are sent on a mission to wipe out the Droxians in retribution for their joining the Earth Alliance after the battle around Earth orbit (Earth - Last Sanctuary). Ryonna, with Keera’s help, tries to save her son when he gets tangled in the massacre that ensues on Droxia. Chase arrives on Droxia and defeats Arkoolis but Miseo proves to be too powerful for him. Argos intervenes near the end of the battle, mortally wounds Chase and leaves him for dead before they (Miseo & Argos) have to flee when reinforcements arrive.

Volume V: Rise of the Ultra Fury

Sarah is about to give birth to Chris when he warns her of things to come using the Fury powers Sarah has acquired as part of her pregnancy. Chase is brought back on board the Hope and put in suspended animation until Ares can procure an Olympian elixir with the help of Argos who is starting to question his allegiance with the Furies. Chase wakes up in the Underworld, his soul trapped in between the world of the living and the dead. There, he meets Hades who trains Chase further while his son Chris is born and ages at impossible speed. Argos starts feeling remorse for his actions and agrees to help Ares recover the banished Olympian Asclepios from his prison. Argos defeats the Titan Menoitios and frees Asclepios with Ares and Apollo’s help. On their way back to the Hope, a Fury assassin by the name of Timoros tries to kill Chase while he’s still trapped in the Underworld. Every one of Chase’s friends risks their lives to try and stop Timoros but he’s too powerful. Eventually Chase returns from the Underworld when he feels Sarah is in mortal danger. He drinks the elixir and obliterates Timoros while reaching a stepping stone power-wise in becoming an Ultra Fury. The first Fury super-destroyer is dispatched as part of a fleet intent on destroying Earth, currently protected by a powerful planetary shield. When it looks like all hope is lost, an unknown fleet going by the name of Gaian Defense Force enters the fold and forces the Furies out of Earth orbit. Their leader, also named Gaia, demands of Chase that the Earth Alliance also leaves orbit within the hour or they’ll be destroyed.

Volume VI: Shadows of Olympus

Chase and what’s left of the Earth Alliance are forced to vacate Earth space. Spiros, Cedric and Gaia stay behind in order to try to stop Gaia 2 from taking control of planet Earth. Meanwhile, the Alliance splits up, with Saroudis and the Destiny battlegroup going back to Alpha Prime, where the Obsidian Empire helps them get more ships and resources at a time of need. Chase, Ares and Argos meet Zeus on Olympus, but are not welcomed as friends. After battling one another, Chase and Zeus come to an agreement. Zeus reveals to Chase that he fell in love with Arakan’s wife during the first Fury War, and that’s what led to the conflict escalating. He also told Chase that Oryn is his daughter, not Arakan’s. He tasks Chase to bring her back to him and, in exchange, Olympus will join the Earth Alliance in their fight with the Furies. Sarah and Chris are sent on a mission of their own to try to make contact with the Asgardians. They find an armada of frozen Star Alliance ships, as well as Kvasir, a banished Asgardian engineer who could be an asset in defeating the AI scourge back on Earth. But Miseo is sent to recover him, and a battle ensues. Chris fights Miseo and nearly gets killed, but Chase intervenes. When he’s about to kill Miseo, Oryn arrives on the scene and the two of them fight, resulting in a draw. Kvasir is rescued and so is the Star Alliance armada. Meanwhile, on Earth things go from bad to worse. Gaia 2 is about to take control of the planet, so Gaia unleashes a planet-wide EMP to ensure Gaia 2 doesn’t get her hands on all of Earth’s computing power. Gaia 2 invades Cedric’s body and turns him into her new avatar cyborg. After executing Spiros, Gaia 2 gives Chase a warning, to stay away from Earth or face the consequences of humans dying by the millions.

Volume VII: Armageddon Unleashed

Chase decides to ignore Gaia 2’s warning and he sets a course for Earth. With the help of Gaia and Kvasir, he trains and learns how to fight inside an AI matrix in order to defeat Gaia 2 once and for all. But fighting Gaia 2 on her own turf proves more difficult than he anticipated. Chase fights with Gaia 2, making her use too much of her CPU so she can’t retaliate against the population of Earth, and also to help the Earth Alliance attack the armada of Gaian ships in orbit. When Chase loses consciousness, Argos and Chris take his place in the matrix while the Earth Alliance enters Earth orbit and fight the largest space battle the Alliance ever fought until now. Meanwhile, Oryn uses Miseo as her guinea pig to test a mind control device. She plans to use that technology on her father Arakan when the time comes to take control of the Fury throne via proxy. But her experiment takes a wrong turn and Miseo turns against her and tries to have her killed. She decides to bring Miseo to Earth so he can deal with Chase in his crazed state. The two of them are forced to ally themselves to bring him down, but at a cost. When a gigantic moon-sized Gaian ship threatens to destroy planet Earth, Commodore Saroudis decides to sacrifice himself and his ship to save the planet. Chase has to choose between saving Oryn or saving his friend; but following Aphroditis’ council he reluctantly decides for the former in order to ensure a much needed alliance with Olympus and Zeus. Chase, Oryn, Argos and Chris all team up to defeat Miseo. When Gaia 2 feels her end is near, she directs her moon-sized monstrosity of a ship to crash on Earth in order to destroy the planet. That’s when three Asgardian ships with Thor in command enter the scene and help the Earth Alliance permanently destroy the crazed AI. To Chase’s surprise, Thor requests the immediate transfer of the war criminal Kvasir to his ship.

Volume VIII: Twilight of the Gods

Chase and his friends manage to convince Thor to delay Kvasir’s return to Asgard and his execution. With Droxia under attack, the Asgardians open an even faster hyperspace route to allow the Earth Alliance to intervene and counter the Furies’ plans. While Athena, Sarah, and the rest of the Alliance wage a powerful battle in orbit, Chase and his friends fight elite Fury ground forces that use new tactics to bring Chase down. When all hope seems lost, Sarah intervenes with the help of Ares and unleashes a small taste of her own powers. In doing so, she worries about what the future holds for her, but Chris and Chase help her train to restore her confidence. Once the battle in Droxia is over, it’s a time to mourn the passing of Commodore Saroudis. During the wake, Emperor Altair himself promotes Chase to Admiral. Ryonna, Tar’Lock, and Keera are sent to the Gorgar homeland to undo the inhabitants’ mind programming, only to discover Tar’Lock’s people are doing way more than just providing resources. In fact, they’ve been assembling Fury super-destroyers at an alarming rate thanks to their large population. When Oryn receives a summons to rejoin Arakan’s elite forces of assassins to target Odin, the Alliance rushes to Asgard. They put their lives in danger to save both Thor’s home world and his father, while Arakan uses this large-scale diversion to face the person he hates the most in this world: Zeus. After an epic fight involving Poseidon, Arakan not only mortally wounds Zeus, but also destroys Olympus. Chase tries to save Zeus, but a deceptive Arakan counters his healing powers. He and Oryn barely have time to say goodbye to Zeus before Olympus, and its ruler, are swallowed by a black hole. Back on Asgard, and still under shock from the terrible loss, Chase learns his father might still be alive as a prisoner in a dungeon under Arakan’s palace on Erevos.

And now the continuation . . .

PROLOGUE

Chase’s eyes grew wide. Oryn’s words still echoing in his head. “Your father is still alive.”

The realization hit Chase in an unexpected way. After all, he didn’t really know the man. But now he had both a father and a mother, and they were both alive. It felt as if his entire foundation was crumbling. For a long time, family had been a strange concept for Chase. Especially for a man who didn’t remember who he was, or why he had been abandoned.

“Are you sure?” inquired Argos.

Oryn nodded.

“Yes, absolutely, I’ve seen this man before. I wasn’t supposed to, and this was a while back, so I can’t be certain of his current whereabouts. But I remember seeing him in a cell on Erevos. I had followed Arakan one night after one of his bouts talking to himself. I thought he was losing it, and I wanted to see where he could possibly go in the middle of the night.”

Chase’s mind filled with possibilities and plans on how to rescue his father. In fact, he could probably just teleport and get him out now. But he had never been on Erevos, except in orbit around the place when the planet reappeared. Perhaps linking his mind with Oryn or Argos would be enough so he could feel where to go.

“Chase!” cried Argos. “Let’s go! Let’s get him out, now. Arakan can’t have returned to Erevos yet, so let’s storm the place and just get our father out of there.”

Argos was making a good point that Arakan was probably not back home yet. He had killed their grandfather less than an hour earlier.

“He’s on his way back,” said Oryn. “Arakan has access to a technology allowing him to detect wormholes, allowing him to travel faster to various places. There’s a random variable to it, but he’s known to traverse half the galaxy and be back in hours. He rarely uses it, but I’m sure that’s what he did to get to⁠—”

Oryn stopped, and tears flowed down her eyes. “Zeus.”

“Then let’s move!” insisted Argos.

“We need to be smart about this,” countered Chase. “We need to get Aphroditis out of there as well. I doubt we’ll get the opportunity to do both unless we do it as one mission.”

Chase could tell Argos wanted to argue but he also felt his brother’s remorse about their aunt.

“Whatever the two of you decide to do,” said Oryn. “I’m coming with you. If Arakan is there when we arrive, then I’ll kill him myself.”

Chase felt the hatred from Oryn’s heart permeate through the air of Odin’s throne room, lowering its overall temperature. He worried that Oryn would let blind revenge guide her actions, and would get herself killed in the process. He had promised his grandfather, just before he died, that he would take care of her. Right now, Oryn was being consumed by her hatred for Arakan. Knowing the feelings of revenge and hatred, and having been where she is now when Chase thought he killed Sarah, he also knew that she wouldn’t listen to reason and would rush in without a plan to face Arakan in battle.

“I’d rather none of us engages Arakan on their own. That’s a surefire way of getting killed,” said Chase.

Oryn shot him a deadly look; her eyes glowing an icy blue. “He’s mine, and mine alone!”

Chase wanted to argue, but he knew better than try to reason with Oryn in her current emotional state. That would only lead to tension that they didn’t need. He could always mount a rescue without her, though he knew that there would be hell to pay if he did that. Right now, and before they could move toward Erevos, they had a few things to prepare, like make sure they had a solid plan in place and be ready for what could await them on Erevos. The last thing they needed was to go half-assed, unprepared and perhaps even play into Arakan’s plan in doing so.

I’m with Oryn on this one, said Argos. Let’s kill the bastard and get our family out of that infernal place I wish I had never brought back into our reality.

Chase felt how sincere Argos was on that last statement. But he knew better than to linger in the past. Whatever had brought them there couldn’t be changed, and looking back would not serve any practical purpose. The only thing that mattered is that now they were on the same side with their goals aligned.

But we don’t let Oryn engage Arakan alone, countered Chase.

We may not have a choice, brother. We have to get both Aphroditis and our father out of there. If Arakan is there when we do this, we may need her to keep him occupied while we rescue them both.

Chase exhaled in frustration. He wanted nothing more than to go there, get them both out and return, but deep inside he felt they weren’t ready. They needed a fully grown clone body to swap with Aphroditis. Not to mention Kvasir still had to reprogram the machine on-the-fly.

Disregarding his brother’s last telepathic message, Chase took a step forward.

“Alright, we have a lot to do and not too much time to do it. Let’s get to it.”

1

Chase gazed into the regen tank where they had put Poseidon. He had tried to heal him earlier, but just like with Zeus on Olympus, he couldn’t do it. Whatever Arakan had done to them, it seemed that he had a power that prevented Chase’s regenerative and healing abilities from working. Chase knew this meant that they would have to proceed very carefully from now on. Especially when the time came to fight and kill Arakan.

“How is he doing, doc?” asked Chase absently.

“It’s a miracle he’s still alive, really” answered the doctor. “We had to amputate every tissue infected with that black— whatever that thing is.”

“Have you managed to analyze the substance?”

“Our scanners can’t seem to penetrate it; it’s as if it’s not even from this dimension.”

Perhaps it isn’t, thought Chase.

“We suspect Arakan is talking to a being that could be from another plane of existence. Perhaps that came from this— shadow.”

“I’m afraid, Admiral, that I would need to see that shadow, as you say, and put him under a medical scanner to tell you if they were related.”

“Somehow I don’t think that will be happening.”

“Then, unfortunately, I can’t answer your question.”

Chase didn’t need an answer. Something inside of him told him that whatever or whomever that shadow was, it was responsible for his grandfather’s death and Chase’s inability to heal him. Chase looked at Poseidon’s wound. Not only was his arm missing but most of his shoulder and some of his chest as well.

“How can he still be alive?”

“The regen tank is barely managing that. But I suspect it’s because of this,” said the doctor, pointing at the Trident next to the tank.

“How so?”

“Poseidon crashed and almost died while we were operating on him. The Trident started trembling on the other side of the room. Before I understood what was happening, it flew next to him and glowed for a long time. Poseidon’s vital signs grew stronger in minutes. I also suspect Olympians are very resilient by nature. No mere human could have survived this, that’s for sure. The initial wound perhaps, only if treated properly. But with everything we had to remove, so much tissue, muscles and nerves…”

“I guess the god of the seas is not easily killed,” said Chase absently. “What’s next?”

“You tell me, Admiral. We could equip him with a cybernetic prosthetic arm, but other than that…unless you’d want to take another shot at using your healing powers on him now that the black substance has been purged from his tissues?”

Laying his hand on the glass of the regen tank, Chase closed his eyes and projected his mind to reach Poseidon’s, trying to heal him through the glass. Even though he couldn’t touch the Olympian at the moment, he immediately felt the same painful and resistive feedback he had when he tried healing Zeus.

He sighed. “Let’s make the prosthetic arm. Make it a strong one and have Yanis help you design a warrior’s prosthetic, something that gives him a tactical advantage. I get the feeling we’ll need Poseidon’s help before this is all over.”

* * *

Chase walked inside the Hope’s corridor. He needed to be alone for a little while; to reflect on what had just happened but also what was to come. His solitude was short-lived when the walls around him glowed gold briefly.

“Hello, Ares.”

“How could you let this happen?” cried Ares.

His mentor’s words cut through Chase’s heart like a knife.

“I’m sorry for your loss. Don’t think you’re the only one suffering, though.”

Chase just realized that Ares was also part of his family, his uncle in fact. He didn’t want to think how many more family members he had lost when Olympus was destroyed.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? My entire world has been destroyed! I’ve lost everyone I know or cared about. My brother, my father, everyone, Chase!”

“I can only imagine how you are feeling right now, but there’s nothing I could have done to prevent that, Ares. And don’t get all high and mighty with me; you weren’t there either! As a matter of fact, where the hell were you?”

“By my sister’s side.”

If only Ares had been on Olympus, he could have done something about it, like warn Chase. Part of him wanted to blame Ares, but he knew better.

“I can hear your thoughts,” said Ares. “And I’ve been beating myself up just the same. I’m mad at you, the universe, and myself more than I can express, Chase. But the fact of the matter is, Arakan played us, and he did it very well. You were in the middle of an important battle, I— I should have stayed on Olympus.”

“Well, I think we both feel guilty for what has happened. But what’s done is done. It’s not your fault, Ares.”

“It feels like it is. Just when I finally made peace with my Father, and instead of staying there, enjoying this newfound understanding between us, I was drawn to Erevos. Checking on a mute Aphroditis. I was so impatient to let her know that soon she would be free of that infernal machine siphoning her body and soul one molecule at a time.”

Chase felt that if Ares could cry in his current energy form, he would be doing so now.

“Look, this war has been crazy. We never have time just to stop and think for a second. Arakan took out your people, your Father, your entire world. But now is not the time to feel sorry for ourselves. I know I must sound heartless in a moment like this, to tell you to delay feeling your grief, but we need to look ahead; and stop Arakan!”

“I know. I wish I could be the one that kills him.”

“You may want to take a number; we all want to kill him!”

Ares allowed a small chuckle to escape.

“Ares,” Chase continued. “Any idea why your father hasn’t yet materialized in energy form like you did when you were killed by Argos?”

“We have traditions; normally we don’t stay in this form. Once we die, we’re supposed to go to Elysium. I stayed around to help both you and my sister.”

“Yes, but these are hardly times to follow tradition.”

“I agree. Perhaps that presence I sensed near Arakan has something to do with it. I understand you tried healing Zeus and failed.”

“Both Zeus and Poseidon.”

“How is my uncle doing?”

“I think he’ll pull through. But yes, I couldn’t heal either of them. Whatever that presence or shadow you saw with Arakan is, it has given him some power that prevents my healing powers from working.”

“If that’s the case, then that’s very, very bad news for us.”

“Tell me about it. Don’t think I haven’t thought about the implications of that.”

“And where did those thoughts lead you? Any plan?”

Chase shook his head.

“No, not yet, but I’m working on it.”

* * *

Chase appeared in front of Emperor Altair, causing him to jump from his desk.

“Sorry about that, Emperor.”

Altair cleared his throat, and Chase corrected himself.

“Sorry— Altair. We need to talk.”

“I take it this has something to do with the Gorgar home world?”

“Yes, we need to secure it. We can’t allow Arakan to get his hands back on his main supply planet.”

“That’s all good and well; it does seem that this place was instrumental in the Furies creating various armadas quickly. I’m not sure we have the resources left to divide our forces, though. Not if Arakan has a sizable fleet still under his command.”

“Unless we get actual intelligence on this, I’m going to presume that he lost a good part of whatever fleet he had. And while I’m sure he’s not stupid enough to have only depended on a single world for his resources, he will probably try to get back to it. The way he sacrificed most of his ships lately tells me that he feels overconfident about his ability to build more and to build them fast. Otherwise, he’s a fool, and I don’t think a fool could have destroyed Olympus, killed Zeus and almost wiped out an entire civilization in the process.”

“I don’t think he’s a fool either. His plan to divert us with Droxia and then Asgard so he could move to Olympus and do what he really wanted to do was quite cunning. These are not the actions of a fool.”

“I’m glad we agree on this. Nonetheless, Arakan’s days are numbered. Even if I have to give my life to achieve this goal, Arakan and the Furies will fall. The sooner the better too.”

“Careful, Chase. I can feel vengeance behind those words. And anger. I’m angry too, of course, and I want the Furies dealt with as much as you do. But let’s not lose ourselves in the process.”

Chase knew the Emperor was right. But, with grief and darkness so fresh in his heart, Chase did want retribution. He longed to see Arakan die, probably almost as much as Oryn. And that was a dangerous path to take. However, he also knew he had to save his aunt, and if his father was indeed still alive, he had to rescue him as well. If Menelas truly knew where the soul ships were hidden, then rescuing him was paramount. Father or not, they needed those ships. The thought of a direct member of his family still being alive made Chase feel both excited and scared. Since it meant one more person he could lose in this war.

“I know. I don’t want to go there either. But Zeus—” Chase paused. “Zeus was my grandfather.”

“I had no idea, I— I’m so sorry for your loss, Chase.”

“Thank you, Altair. Now, I would like you to head to the Gorgar home world, take a third of the fleet there, and defend it at all costs. I’m sure Arakan will try to retake it by force. We can’t let that happen!”

“What if the forces he sent are too much for a third of the fleet?”

A fire lit inside Chase’s purple eyes.

“I have an idea about that. One that Tar’Lock is not going to be happy about. But I’m through reacting to this war and always trying to just survive it. It’s time to go on the offensive. It’s time to shake this motherfucker’s confidence and send a similar message of fear that he has struck into our hearts.”

Altair’s face grew somber. “What do you have in mind?”

“Have the Gorgar build more Warheart class ships for us. And, now that the Asgardians are joining the Alliance, let’s have both Olympian and Asgardian designs provided to Yanis so he can create the most powerful Earth Alliance ships yet.”

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with this plan. Doesn’t that make us no better than the Furies in exploiting this poor innocent race?”

“Alright, let me rephrase it, then. Go there, and explain it to the Gorgar. Explain what every living being in the universe is facing and what will happen if the Furies win, including what will happen to their world, and ask them what they think and what they are willing to do about it.”

“And if they refuse to help willingly?”

Chase flinched.

“Then use your best judgment as to what you should do, but you know as well as I do that in letting their world fall back into the hands of Arakan could have irreparable consequences.”

“Why don’t you make it an order, then, Admiral?”

Chase smiled.

“Because, just like you, I don’t want to do that to the Gorgar without their consent. Not if we can get them on board of their own volition. You should take Ryonna and Tar’Lock with you. If anyone can help you convince his people to help, it’s those two.”

“I get the feeling she would still like to slit my throat, and I’m not sure it will be a pleasant trip.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll talk to her. I should go; there are so many things I need to do, and so little time.”

“Wait— just a minute.”

“Why? What is it?”

“Come here,” said Altair, gesturing Chase toward the nearest viewport. “I want you to see this.”

A moment later, a new ship jumped around Asgard’s orbit. Chase recognized it instantly from the 3D holo-images he had seen. The Victory had arrived. Chase hoped her name, and the fact that she arrived in these troubled times, was a good sign of things to come.

“She’s magnificent.”

“That she is. And, she’s all yours, Admiral.”

* * *

Chris could feel something was off when he entered the training cargo bay. The lights were blinking red, and something didn’t feel right. Ahead of him Argos was kicking and punching the air at unusually slow speeds.

The room filled with a loud wailing sound. Before Chris could ask what was going on, he took one step too many, and gravity sucked him down hard as he realized what was happening.

Chris could feel his muscles contract, and he was having difficulty standing up. He couldn’t imagine even doing what Argos was doing.

“Are— are you insane?” reprimanded Chris through grinding teeth. “How many Gs is that?”

“Nearly two hundred,” said Argos as he kept slashing the air with his limbs.

“I thought the system couldn’t go over one hundred Gs?”

“I found a way to disable the safety protocols.”

“Uncle! They’re called safety protocols for a reason!”

“You may want to take a few steps back. While I’ve been using this setting for hours; my body is only now getting accustomed to this many Gs.”

“I’d love to be— able— to⁠—”

Argos touched a few controls on a wrist device, and the lights turned back to white as the artificial gravity returned to its normal setting.

Chris let himself fall on the floor, and he panted heavily. “Thanks…that was rough.”

Argos ran to Chris’ side.

“I should have locked the doors. I’m sorry. Are you alright, Chris?”

“Been better, but I’ll live.”

“It’s time I show you how to heal wounds on your own. Did you break anything?”

“I think about half a dozen small bones, yeah. Hurts like a bitch, too,” said Chris with a painful chuckle. “Right now, I’d rather you heal me first; then we can talk training.”

“That’s not how this works, boy. In battle, you may need to heal yourself while you’re in excruciating amounts of pain. So this will be a good exercise.”

“What about you? I may hurt from the sudden and unprepared hit from gravity, but you seem to hurt somewhere else.”

Argos exhaled. Chris could feel both the turmoil in his uncle’s head as well as the pain in his heart.

“I had barely learned that Zeus was my grandfather, and he got killed, and there was nothing I could do about it. And like all the other shit that happened these last few months, it’s all my fault. I don’t understand why your father hasn’t executed me already. I don’t think I deserve to breathe right now.”

Chris could see tears form in his uncle’s eyes, but mostly he could feel the pain in his heart and soul. Even though he wanted to tell his uncle that he was on the right path now, a path of redemption, Chris felt that trying to convince Argos in his current state wouldn’t work. So he went with distraction instead.

“Are you gonna repent on your sorry ass all day, or are you going to show me how to heal myself?”

Argos looked down for a second and sighed.

“There’s nothing to it, boy. Let me show you how it’s done.”

* * *

Arakan was lying on his back, looking at the ceiling in his chambers onboard his ship.

You know they’ll come for you, now, said the shadow.

They can come; I’ll be ready for them, answered Arakan.

Don’t make the mistake of underestimating your enemy, Supreme Commander. Especially the Ultra Fury.

The Ultra Fury is a myth; he’s just a Fury.

No, he’s not. While you are the strongest pure blood Fury that lives, he has an incredible amount of power, most likely due to his Olympian genes, but more importantly, he has the will to stop you.

I won’t be stopped!

I can feel that you truly believe so. But you’ll have to be smart and not let your pride blind you. The battle with Chase draws near; I can feel it.

I’m ready. I will rid the universe of Chase, Ultra Fury or not.

His friends are also powerful; Oryn, in particular. Her thirst for revenge might be hard to contain.

I should have killed her like I did her mother. But⁠—

She reminded you of her.

Yes. I— I should have killed Zeus back then, not Zalara.

What’s done is done. You can’t change the past, and right now you need to stay focused. And I have some bad news.

What is it?

The Alliance has taken back the Gorgar world.

Arakan sat up on the bed.

Should we take this world back?

Are you actually asking for my council? Willingly?

What if I am?

Well, it’s about time. I think the Gorgar served their purpose, allowed you to create armadas you could easily sacrifice to get your plan in motion. And it worked. You’ve killed Zeus, and Olympus is no more. That’s the first crack in the Earth Alliance. But it will grow bigger until it shatters. And while your other shipyards aren’t nearly as efficient as the Gorgar world was, they’re still churning out new ships as we speak.

Arakan got up from his bed and walked toward the viewport. The ship was approaching the wormhole. The tantalizing purple and blue tendrils around its bright white surface looked like energy-based snakes performing a hypnotizing dance ritual.

“But if we let them have this world,” said Arakan out loud. “They could grow ships themselves, and fast.”

You know as well as I do that this war won’t be won by who controls the biggest firepower. It’s a battle of wills, and you are ahead. They will come for you, and soon. How you deal with that will decide the fate of this war.

Still Arakan didn’t like the idea of abandoning the Gorgar world just yet. But there would be time to think about this after they returned to Erevos. The supreme commander already knew that Chase and Oryn would come for him, and soon.

“All I have to do is to kill Chase.”

Yes…do this and the Alliance will fall.

* * *

Onboard the Hope, the Engineering doors split open.

“We need to talk,” said Chase.

Kvasir’s tattoos flashed rapidly for a moment.

“I take it you want to talk about the machine, don’t you?” answered Kvasir.

“Yes. You need to tell me everything you know about it, and most importantly, how we can swap the Ares-controlled clone so we can get Aphroditis out of the damn thing.”

“Ares thinks he has the swapping part under control, but I have to warn you about something.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t know what state Aphroditis will be in when she gets out of the machine. I’m not sure she’ll be the same person that went in. The machine exerts tremendous amounts of mental and physical pressure to the person inside.”

“I had felt that when she appeared to me in visions. It seemed like she was living in a pure hell made of suffering and pain.”

“Yeah, that’s how her brain would interpret it, I guess.”

“Zeus said you modified the machine so that it would trap the Furies in their dimensional prison instead of destroying it.”

“Yes, near the end of the first Fury War, he approached me and implored me not to let the machine destroy the dimension where it sent the Furies. I should have known better than to let myself be convinced though. We wouldn’t be in the mess we are now.”

“What’s done is done. What matters now is to make sure we can modify the machine so it can do what it was supposed to do all along.”

“That will require the soul ships. And some modification of the core programming of the machine. I doubt whoever will be inside it when it activates will survive though.”

“I’m hoping Ares’ energy base form will.”

“I don’t know how the laws of our physical universe affect him, so I can’t even start to theorize about this. He could survive or be consumed by it. There’s no way for me to tell, I’m afraid. Since the machine was never used to achieve its primary function the first time around, I don’t even have logs or sensor data to try and even make an educated guess on the matter.”

That was not what Chase wanted to hear. He had already lost so many people in this war. He had also found a new family, but part of it had already been taken away from him. Chase wondered why Zeus hadn’t appeared to him the way Ares had after his passing. As much as he dreaded the idea, Chase knew where his next stop should be.

“I think Ares knows that this could very well be a one-way trip,” said Chase distractedly.

“It might.” Kvasir paused for a moment. “How is he taking his father’s passing?”

Chase shook his head. “Not well. And between you and me, neither am I.”

* * *

In bed, Chase held Sarah in his arms.

“Are you alright? I know Zeus’ passing has been hard on you,” said Sarah.

“It’s been crazy lately, and I feel it’s not going to get any better.”

“I don’t like it when you say that, it scares me.”

Chase kissed Sarah’s forehead and gently stroked her crimson hair.

“I don’t know what the future holds, and right now I just want to stay in your arms.”

Sarah smiled.

“That’s romantic of you, but I can tell you’re worried. And with both your aunt and father trapped on Erevos, I’m surprised you are in bed with me at a time like this.”

“Rushing there without the clone being ready won’t achieve anything.”

“You could get your father out; try and get Aphroditis out later.”

“I don’t know why or how, but I can feel it in my bones that if we don’t achieve both these objectives at the same time, we won’t get a second chance.”

“When will Argos be ready with the clone Olympian body?”

“Soon. He has to make sure that the body lasts for as long as it takes us to deliver the final blow. So he can’t afford to just grow a temporary body like he did for Spiros. That wouldn’t work, so it may take a few more days.”

“And all of this is contingent upon you getting the soul ships, just like in my vision of the future?”

Chase nodded.

“I wonder why I didn’t see Oryn in that vision. You’d think she’d be one of the pilots, instead of me.”

“I remember Aphroditis telling me that the future is always in movement. It’s possible some of the details aren’t gonna play out exactly as they did in your vision. We do affect the outcome of everything with each and every one of our actions. I still refuse to believe the future is written. The fact that she sees possibilities, and not certainty, at least proves that the free will of living beings is what shapes the universe, at least partly. Not some grand written destiny that will play out no matter what.”

“I agree, and I’m here with you until the very end. But think about it, if it hadn’t been for her, you wouldn’t have come to Earth; we wouldn’t have met.”

Chase was all too aware of this. How it all started, and how much had been lost along the way. That single moment when he held Saroudis at gunpoint; it changed not only his own life but also everyone else’s around him. A single moment in time, where everything he believed up to that point was thrown out of the window, and a new path began. A path that saw millions die, but also billions saved.

“Well, if only for that I’m grateful,” said Chase, kissing Sarah’s hair.

“About your mother?”

“Yes, what about Athena?”

“While you were fighting on Asgard, she kinda hinted at⁠—”

“At what, love?”

“Marriage. On Olympus, though that’s obviously not happening anymore.”

Chase felt a strong pain in his heart.

“Yeah, obviously not on Olympus, but— I know I haven’t talked about it, but I look forward to making our union official the first chance we get. I’ve debated if we shouldn’t do it now, in fact.”

“If that’s a marriage proposal, you’re going about it all wrong, love.”

Chase chuckled.

“I am, aren’t I? You know we are already married in the eyes of the universe though, right?”

Sarah’s eyes sparkled like beautiful emeralds.

“Good save, soldier.”

2

Chase felt a warm glow envelop him as his mother held him tight. He could feel her tears on his neck. He didn’t understand why he wasn’t crying himself at this moment. Perhaps part of him hadn’t yet allowed himself to fully accept what had happened. The enormity of it all. The death of Zeus and Olympus being gone. It just felt so unreal right now.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save him,” whispered Chase.

Athena took her son’s face in her hands and shook her tear-filled face.

“It’s not your fault; I know you tried everything you could to save him.”

“I did. The more I tried, the more painful it became.”

Athena kissed Chase’s forehead and wiped some of her tears, but they were quickly replaced with fresh ones.

“We need to deal with Arakan. I think I’m going to kill him with my bare hands,” said Athena.

“As much as I understand how everyone feels about this— you, Ares, Oryn, even Argos, we can’t let revenge be the only driving factor behind our actions. If we do, we may fall prey to whatever this monster has in store for us. We have to be smart about this, and I think more than ever before, we need to be united and to work together. I don’t think any of us can bring Arakan down on their own.”

“But don’t you just want to rip his heart from his chest?”

“Nothing would give me more satisfaction right now. But if he took out Zeus, and in one single blow one of the oldest, most powerful civilizations that ever existed⁠—”

Athena frowned. “You’re afraid.”

“Wouldn’t you be?”

“I suppose so. Though, right now, I just want to see that monster die, preferably in horrible pain and suffering.”

“And I can echo the sentiment. But something is amiss. I feel⁠—”

“What, Chase?”

“I feel he’s not working alone. That presence Ares felt; I don’t know what it is, but I have a feeling deep inside my stomach that it’s the key to it all, and that it’s only getting started.”

“What presence?”

Chase explained to Athena what Ares had felt when he sensed the shadow’s presence on Erevos.

“I know of no life forms such as what you’re describing.”

“That’s what worries me, Athen— mother.”

Athena smiled.

“I have this feeling,” Chase continued, “that it’s not of this world. And I didn’t feel any of this earlier, but since Zeus is gone, and since we removed some of what that thing left inside Poseidon’s wound, I’ve had that feeling creep up on me many times. It’s⁠—”

“What is it, son?”

“I can’t vocalize it; it’s like pure darkness, like a black hole ready to swallow this entire universe.”

Athena flinched.

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“You and me both. We’ll have to proceed carefully.”

“I agree. But this madness must end. We can’t give Arakan any breathing room. He may think he’s indestructible with what he just did to our people, and that will boost both his ego and resolve. We have to strike back fast and with an equally devastating blow. Shake his confidence like he’s obviously shaken ours.”

Chase agreed. Arakan was out of control, and he knew they needed to push forward, no matter the pain in their hearts or the consequences of the Olympian race having mostly been wiped out. Still, a strong feeling of caution was omnipresent in his thoughts and heart.

“Argos is impatient for us to retaliate.”

“And so he should be. But you haven’t failed the Alliance up until now, so at the end of the day, this is in your hands. You also happen to be the commanding officer. You’re not alone though, we’re all here for you, and we’ll fight and lay down our lives if we have to, so you can succeed with what you set out to do.”

Chase felt an intense shiver travel throughout his body. Perhaps that was why he felt caution was needed. He knew he wasn’t alone anymore. His family, his friends, his allies, they were all willing to give their lives to achieve the ultimate goal. But Chase didn’t feel right about incurring more casualties. Losing was not an option, and he would gladly give up his own life to reach that goal, to rid the Furies from existence. But he wished he was only risking his life, not everyone’s. And most certainly, not the lives of those he loved and cherished so much.

“I don’t want anyone else to die.”

“I know you don’t, son. But you must be prepared for sacrifices to be made until this war runs its course. I’ve been around for much longer than you, and if there is one thing I know about war, is that it claims lives without discrimination. War doesn’t care about your loved ones; it doesn’t care about life, love or pain. It’s a nearly unstoppable force that only wants to go forward. But it can be stopped, and I know you will stop it; however, you have to be prepared to pay the price.”

Chase made fists, and his eyes blinked purple.

“I still want to try and achieve that goal with as few casualties as possible.”

“Listen to me, Chase. I know you feel the final battle is near. Right?”

Chase nodded.

“Then now is not the time to second-guess your tactics on what needs to be done. In fact, you probably have to go all in and throw caution to the wind. If you don’t, and if you lose, you’ll never forgive yourself. I know this may sound harsh, and I know you may hate hearing the following words. But please— I beg you, listen to me carefully: You must detach yourself from the emotional bond that connects you to your family. To me, to Aphroditis, to your father, and god knows I want you to bring him back to us. I never thought he could still be alive. But to stay focused and achieve victory, I think you must detach from even your brother, your son, and Sarah.”

“I can’t; I won’t!”

Athena’s face dropped.

“Then I’m afraid for the future, Chase.”

* * *

Chase had barely slept at all and was starting to feel tired. His brain, however, refused to shut down. Not even for a moment. After an hour turning every which way in their bed, he decided to leave their quarters. Sarah was sleeping when he had entered their room, and she was still sound asleep. That wouldn’t last if he kept moving about.

He carefully removed Sarah’s hand from his chest, got up and dressed using telekinesis to bring his clothes to cover his naked body. His grasp on his powers was now so deep that just thinking of anything would result in it getting done. It felt as natural as breathing or blinking.

When Chase stepped out of his quarters, he wasn’t on the Hope anymore.

A shiver trickled down his spine.

Another vision?

He hadn’t experienced one in a while.

He stood on the surface of a deserted planet with orange sand and very chaotic meteorological conditions. The furious winds sent coarse grain-like sand at such speed they cut through his skin until he erected a low-energy shield around himself.

Is this my home world? Is this Erevos?

“It is,” said a familiar voice behind him.

Chase turned and was surprised to see Argos standing there.

“Are you doing this?”

Argos shook his head.

“What the hell is this? I only experienced something like this when I was inside the Gaia 2 matrix. I sure hope that doesn’t mean what I think it does,” questioned Argos.

“I’ve had a few of these visions. That’s how Aphroditis communicated with me. And guided me to stop you.”

“That would explain why you always seemed to thwart my plans back then.” Argos looked at his feet. “I’m obviously glad you did though.”

“I have forgiven you, Argos. Right now we have the same goal; that’s all that matters. And if you’re in this vision, then perhaps Aphroditis has forgiven you as well.”

“I haven’t forgiven myself, though. And as much as I like the idea that she brought the both of us here, do you think she can still do that in her state?”

“She’s more resilient than any of us can imagine. I think the love she has for life and every living being in this universe grants her a power that we can’t quantify or even hope to understand.”

A female silhouette walked toward them, seemingly unaffected by the sandstorm. Red lightning bolts shot from the dark crimson cloud cover and struck through her, but they didn’t seem to have any effect. She was far enough from them, and her silhouette glowed blue as she traversed one of this world’s typical chaotic sandstorms. Vicious animals materialized around her and growled at her. They looked like a cross between Earthly black wolves and saber-tooth tigers. Their black fur was striated with glowing red fur. Their feline eyes glowing red.

“I don’t like this,” said Argos.

“Tell me about it; what are those?”

“Zargons. They’re vicious animals; very high on our planet’s food chain. A pack can bring a non-elite Fury fighter down. But they are almost extinct. I’m surprised to see them here. They love drinking the blood of their prey while they’re still alive. They inject a paralyzing venom through their first bite, and then they take their time drinking their prey’s blood. Once they’re satiated, they usually shred the corpse into pieces.”

Argos painted such a vividly gory image of the creature’s kill ritual that Chase felt a little queasy.

“Charming. Let me guess? They were used as a weapon.”

“Yes, in the old days. Story has it Furies would starve the creatures for weeks on end before an invasion. They would then be used in the first wave of the attack.”

“That seems cruel to do to them, but I’m not surprised that the Furies would use such tactics.”

“The coalition of worlds that faced the Furies during the first war thought so too, and they soon developed a virus to infect the brain of the Zargons, which reduced their aggressiveness levels to near zero.”

“Let me guess, Arakan wiped the infected ones?”

“Exactly. So there are still a few surviving and immune to the pathogen the Alliance used, and from what I gathered, their population is now again growing on Erevos, but there are no longer enough of them to use as weapons of war.”

The Zargons switched from growling to attacking the silhouette, but they simply passed through her translucent presence as if she wasn’t there. Which seemed to anger the vile creatures even more.

Soon, she was only a few yards from Chase and Argos, and finally, her face was visible.

It was Aphroditis; her eyes cried tears of blood, which Chase took as a very bad omen.

* * *

Argos felt his heart drop, and he was filled with an incredible amount of guilt looking at Aphroditis, who stood in front of them while crazed and mad Zargons tried to get her, to drink her blood, and to shred her to pieces.

He had never experienced these sorts of visions that his brother seemed to be familiar with, but he could tell that the Zargons were symbolic of the pain and suffering she must be enduring in the machine he had trapped her in.

Argos fell to his knees, unable to contain his sorrow.

“I’m so sorry; please forgive me.”

Aphroditis looked straight at him.

“You don’t need to apologize. I have stepped into the path of my destiny with both eyes open. I knew what I was in for, just as I knew that it was required of me to make this sacrifice. Please, don’t beat yourself up. Know that I am proud of you for having realized the mistake of your previous path of anger and hate. You’re no longer the man who put me inside that machine, and with your help, I know Chase can succeed in his quest.”

Argos’ guilt skyrocketed upon hearing the kind words of his aunt. He jumped back to his feet and launched fireballs at the pack of Zargons, but just like Aphroditis wasn’t affected by the beasts’ earlier attacks, neither were the creatures affected by his, and his fireballs flew through them.

“Don’t worry, Argos,” she added. “I am where I’m supposed to be.”

Chase took a step forward.

“That won’t be the case for long. We’re getting you out of there. Soon.”

“Yes, Ares told me. But you must understand that my body and mind have gone through so much since I entered the machine, you may not like what I’ve become once I do get out of it.”

Argos made fists and clenched his teeth. The amount of hatred he felt for himself was astronomical.

Aphroditis must have felt it too as more crimson-colored tears flowed from her eyes.

“Argos, stop beating yourself up. I know it’s hard to understand, but it was vital that you did what you did. It may not be something you’re willing to accept right now, but it needed to happen. Unknowingly, this future where two brothers who were once enemies unite to destroy the Furies is the only future that seemed acceptable. There are still hardships ahead of you both, but together you’re stronger than you can ever imagine. I have forgiven you, and so has Chase, now you must forgive yourself.”

Fat chance! thought Argos.

Aphroditis came next to him and caressed the side of his face gently.

“Please, do it for me?”

Argos felt a warm wave travel through his body and obliterate any negative emotions he was feeling. It was a sentiment of pure love radiating in both his heart and soul, and he felt like basking in the heavenly bliss. The sensation was similar to when he was taking the Kyrian snake venom, but with none of the side effects.

“Thank you,” whispered Argos.

Argos looked at Chase and saw him smile at him. In that perfect moment, he realized that no matter if he hadn’t forgiven himself for his terrible deeds of the past, his close family had. For the first time in a very long time, Argos felt like he belonged, and more importantly, no part of his soul felt like he was alone anymore.

* * *

Aphroditis felt the bond that linked both her nephews and couldn’t be prouder. It made both her physical and emotional torture inside the machine more bearable. At times though, especially in moments when she had to divert every single ounce of energy to establish a link to Chase and project a vision like this one, she would feel overwhelmed by the darkness trying to bring her down and swallow her whole.

“Listen to me, the two of you. I know you have had some painful losses.”

Argos nodded.

“We lost Zeus, I— I’m sorry,” said Chase. “I couldn’t save him. I tried, but a strange darkness prevented me from doing so.”

A single black tear that looked like Zeus’ infected blood before he died dropped from Aphroditis’ left eye. When it impacted with the ground, it turned into a puddle that began bubbling. A humanoid silhouette rose from it as the puddle retracted. It was made of pure darkness, a black darker than the moonless night, shaped like Supreme Commander Arakan, with two glowing eyes that burned like perpetually exploding supernovas.

Argos instinctively took a fighting stance, but Chase put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, none of this is real. She is showing us a visual representation of what she feels or sees.”

The Zargons ignored Aphroditis and jumped at the shadow. Black tendrils shot in all directions from the center of the shadow Arakan and grabbed the beasts in mid-air before they could reach their prey. A mad laugh echoed around them. It was part Arakan and part something else. The tendrils burned through the Zargons, and they yelped in horrible pain before being both shredded and burned alive.

“Your brother is correct, but fear not Argos.” added Aphroditis.

Her blue glow radiated behind the imposing supreme commander’s shadow. But his presence made everything darker. Light all around was being siphoned by the Arakan shadow-form.

“That’s what I’m feeling we have to fight,” said Chase.

“Yes. Your enemy is no longer just the head of the Furies or the Furies as a species anymore. But this could not be prevented. None of the futures I have gazed upon could ever prevent this one event from happening. Even the ones where you killed your brother before he had a chance to put me into the machine.”

Argos’ eyes grew upon hearing her words as a cold shiver ran down his spine.

“I want you both to know that you are fighting something more now, something way darker than Arakan ever was. This being he has become or is becoming as we speak, it’s not just a crazed Fury. It’s not just malevolent or evil⁠—”

“What is it?” asked Chase.

“And more importantly,” interjected Argos. “How do we fucking kill it?”

“Together is how you fight it. I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t stay much longer. I just want you to be ready for what’s ahead. It will be tough, and I wanted to talk with the both of you while I still could.”

“We’re coming for you,” said Argos. “Soon you’ll be free, I promise!”

“I know, Argos. And I thank you. But I may no longer have this power of foresight, and this might be the last time I can warn the both of you.”

“Don’t talk like that!” cried Argos, unable to contain his tears of guilt.

“Please, Argos, I’m running out of time, let me finish.”

“Let her speak,” insisted Chase.

Argos nodded.

“What has been set in motion,” continued Aphroditis, “will shake this universe, long after the Furies are gone. But right now, the two of you must focus on eliminating this scourge, no matter what. If you don’t, everything and everyone you love will be consumed by darkness and hatred. We stand at a nexus in time. Your courage and love are what can bring balance back to the universe. You cannot fail. But⁠—”

Aphroditis looked down and then straight into Chase’s eyes. She could feel his shivers as she kept gazing through his eyes and into his soul. She was trying to soften the blow of what needed to be said with every ounce of love she could still project before the darkness of the machine swallowed her back into the void.

“Chase, I know you want to save everyone; I know you don’t want any of your friends or loved ones to die.”

Chase held a closed fist in front of him.

“I won’t let this monster take one more life if I can prevent it! He will pay for Zeus’ death, for Saroudis and for everyone he has taken away from me!”

“Chase— I’m so sorry I put you in this position.”

Aphroditis cried rivers.

“But, please understand what I’m telling you now. You can’t save them all. You just can’t. And if you try, if you act with caution instead of unleashing the full depth of your determination, then you— will— fail. As hard as it is for you to hear, you must be prepared to sacrifice more than I feel you’re currently willing to. But I beg you, trust your instincts; trust your loved ones. But let them do what must be done when the time comes, even if it claims their lives. Destiny will attend to itself, but you have to be willing to accept the sacrifices that may present themselves on your path. Only then will you defeat the Furies and death incarnate that Arakan is turning into. You will once more feel hatred and pain in your heart; just use them to fulfill your promise, Chase. I’m— I’m so sorry. I wish there was another way, but there isn’t.”

Aphroditis felt she couldn’t hold the vision anymore, and while she saw both Argos and Chase’s mouth move, she couldn’t hear them and was already being swallowed back into the void.

* * *

“What the fuck did that mean!?” said Argos. “Hasn’t the loss of Zeus and most of the Olympian civilization been sacrifice enough?”

Chase fell to his knees. “Apparently not.”

Argos knelt by his brother’s side and grabbed him by the shoulders.

“Are you alright?”

Chase could see the genuine worry in his brother’s eyes.

“No, but I have to be.”

“You’re not alone. I’m here with you until the end. Together, we’ll bring them down. Together⁠—”

But Argos couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I won’t let you fail,” he added. “I’ll give my life to make sure you kill that motherfucker and send the Furies into the deepest chasms of hell once and for all.”

“I know you would,” said Chase. “And I think Aphroditis knows I’m not willing to pay this price. I don’t want you or anyone else I love to die.”

Argos slapped Chase.

“You listen, and you listen well now, brother. You’re the most courageous and honorable living being that I know. Perhaps that has ever lived. But you are just one man, and you will need my help and the help of everyone who cares about you. Don’t disrespect their free will. That’s not who you are. If we must lay down our lives so that this universe survives, we will gladly do so. You need to accept this, and respect our choice when the time comes. Do you hear me?”

Chase held a hand on his bruised cheek and smiled. He got back up and absently looked away.

“Chase,” insisted Argos. “Did you hear me?”

“I did.”

“And you understand what I’ve told you?”

Chase let a long and frustrated exhale escape him.

“Between you and me. I’m not sure of anything anymore. All— All I know is we must finish this. I just don’t know if I’m ready to sacrifice more than we already have.”

“Aphroditis used the last of her energy to bring that very message to you, what else do you need to accept that you may no longer have a choice in that matter?”

“I— I’m sorry, Argos, please give me some time to think.”

“Chase now is not the tim⁠—”

But, before Argos could finish his sentence, Chase had teleported away.

Dammit, Chase!

3

“Why aren’t we already en route to Erevos? What the hell is wrong with you, Chase?” shouted Oryn.

“Nothing is wrong with me.”

Chase knew in his heart that he himself didn’t believe his own words.

“Bullshit! Ever since Zeus died, I can feel something has changed in you.”

“You’re one to talk; you’re only focused on revenge.”

“As you should be, he was your grandfather! Don’t you want to see his murderer pay for what he’s done?”

“Of course I do, but I don’t want you or anyone else to get hurt in the process.”

“We’re not your crystal statues that you and only you can protect, Chase. This overbearingly protective attitude might fly with your son and Sarah, but I won’t have any of it, you hear me?! We’re all able to defend ourselves, and it’s about time you showed trust in us in these matters. Not to mention that last I checked, I do not report to you! If you’re unwilling to go to Erevos and do what needs to be done, you should let me know now, so I can find a way to get there myself.”

“Oryn, please⁠—”

“No! Chase. As much as I respect you and I’m thankful that you saved my life, you need to understand this is not the time to be cautious. Now is the time to act, when Arakan thinks we’re at our weakest. And use the element of surprise before that window closes and we lose the opportunity to get your aunt, which also happens to be my half-sister, out of the infernal machine, and for you to rescue your father. I would think you’d want nothing more than this!”

Oryn’s words and infuriated tone cut at Chase’s heart. But he knew she was right, and part of him also knew she was driven by an insatiable thirst for revenge. Chase shared that sentiment as well. Of course he wanted to get his father. In fact, that’s almost all he could think about since the possibility of him still being alive had been brought to light.

“Look, I’m not saying I don’t want all of this. I’m just not willing to fall into one of Arakan’s traps like we did with Asgard. He’s majorly played us, and we fell for it. It cost Zeus and most of an entire race their lives. What if that was just the beginning of Arakan’s plan; and that he has already anticipated our next move? Have you stopped to think about this, for just a minute?”

“No, I haven’t. But I know this monster. I know his pride and his ego. And right now he thinks that he’s brought us to our knees and that he has time to regroup while we lick our wounds so that he can move to the next part of his plan.”

“Perhaps— But Oryn, don’t you think we should take the time to lick our wounds and regroup so we can better retaliate, and not blindly rush toward the next trap? But instead come up with a well-oiled plan?”

“I shouldn’t even have to tell you this, but plans have a tendency to go awry; one can never anticipate all the variables. Right now, all I know is that we need to get the soul ships. And that means we have to go to Erevos, get both Menelas and Aphroditis out, and while we’re there, if Arakan is there, then that’s when I will kill him.”

“I can’t let you fight him alone; it’s idiotic to think that you can defeat him alone when both Zeus and Poseidon together have failed. We’re stronger as a unit, and we should take him down together. I know you want to be the one that inflicts the final blow, but you have to accept the fact that bringing Arakan down may require a team effort.”

Oryn’s eyes flashed bright white, and Chase knew what that meant. The climate around them dropped to sub-zero temperatures, and Chase could feel the depth of Oryn’s hatred that she harbored toward the supreme commander and once father figure.

“I can take Arakan down, with or without your help. So what is it going to be?”

Chase shook his head and walked away.

“Don’t you dare turn your back on me, Chase!”

Chase’s feet began to get covered in ice, and soon he was stuck to the floors of the Hope’s corridors.

“Really?” said Chase with sadness in his voice. “You think this will convince me that you’re ready to take on Arakan? You can’t even deal with your hatred right now. You act rashly and without thinking.”

Chase grew his aura and melted the ice around his feet. He turned around, and his eyes shone purple.

“Oryn,” he continued. “Right now I could take you down without even having to use my Ultra Fury powers. And yet you want to rush to a fight that could claim your life. Try and understand that I’m not afraid of Arakan and that together I know we can bring him down. I just don’t want us to rush and make irrevocable mistakes that could claim lives.”

“I never thought I would say this, Chase. But right now: you’re a coward!”

Chase was not so much angered but saddened by what Oryn said. Everyone wanted their pound of flesh for the losses they had suffered, and that included Chase, but he knew better than to rush unprepared into what could possibly be yet another trap.

* * *

Chris and Argos exited the cargo bay.

“Thanks, Uncle. Another great training session, and thank you also for teaching me how to heal myself and others. I felt I managed to heal myself faster than last you showed me.”

Argos ran his hand over Chris’ hair. “Anytime, Chris. You’re also getting better and stronger every day. I get the feeling by the time you’re twenty or so you’ll be kicking both mine and your father’s asses.”

Chris chuckled. “Only if the two of you get lazy and stop training.”

Argos couldn’t help but still see Chris as a boy, even though he looked like a young adult already, and while Chris was smaller than him, he was still in the process of growing up. No longer at the accelerated speeds that would have claimed his life already had they not stopped that process. Argos was proud of the young man Chris was becoming.

“Then we shall not stop, and in fact, whenever we can, we should try and train together, as a family.”

Chris smiled.

“I’d love that, and I’m sure mom and dad would too.”

I doubt it.

Argos knew in his heart that Sarah might never fully trust him. After what he’d done to her and others, he couldn’t blame her, though. But it mattered not that she trusted him, only that she accepted his role by their side. Argos was surprised that none of the hatred he felt not that long ago seemed present in his psyche anymore. As for Sarah, he hoped she would come to grips with her powers soon enough, as they would need all the firepower they could get to defeat Arakan and the Furies.

“Are you alright, Uncle? You seem distracted.”

“Sorry, I was thinking about what is yet to come. Can I ask you something, Chris? Why don’t you call me by my name?”

“You’re going to find it silly. But that’s what people called you when⁠—”

“When I was the enemy?” Argos finished the sentence for him.

Chris nodded with a shy smile.

“Yeah. Calling you Uncle feels more natural. But if you prefer I call you Argos, I can.”

Argos thought about it, and part of him longed for a new name, just like his brother Laiyos was now called Chase, and it sure seemed to feel natural for him. But it warmed his heart every time his brother’s son called him his uncle or just simply smiled at him. Of everyone he had become close with, the bond with Chris was the strongest.

“No, that’s alright, call me whatever you like.”

“Okay, grumpy!”

That made Argos pause for a second before they both laughed.

“Whatever you say, little rascal,” answered Argos.

“Little or not, I can still kick your ass.”

Argos smiled broadly.

“Wanna go back to the cargo bay and put your money where your mouth is?”

“Hell, yeah. We might as well, doesn’t look like we’re going to Erevos anytime soon.”

“We’ll get there, soon enough,” said Argos absently and without realizing he had made fists.

He saw Chris’ gaze checking on his hands.

“I can see that’s frustrating you, though. You think we should go there now, don’t you?”

“Doesn’t matter what I think; if I’ve learned anything lately, it’s to trust your father.”

“And, normally, I would agree with you. But he seems a little worried, more than usual, lately. Doesn’t he?”

Of course, Argos had noticed that too. But they had lost Zeus, and so shortly after he had already lost his main father figure, Commodore Saroudis. That had to have shaken his brother’s confidence on some level. Everyone around him seemed to have felt that he wasn’t as sure of himself as he used to be. That scared Argos, even if he would not vocalize this fear with his nephew.

“He’s lost too many people since this started; I’m to blame for most of it, you know.”

“It’s important you let go of the past, Uncle. You’re not that man anymore.”

“Thank you. Your words mean more to me than I can express.”

Argos knew that no matter what came next, he would risk everything to protect his newfound family. He would lay down his life for any of them in a heartbeat.

* * *

“Because I really like you, I’m going to let that slide,” said Chase, his tone almost as cold as the temperature around them.

“I don’t give a shit that you let it slide. And honestly, if you think I can’t take you down, you’re as delusional as Arakan. At least he suffered a brain injury in the first Fury War, what’s your excuse?”

Not having memories beyond the last ten years was one excuse, but Chase never looked at it as something bad per se. He was sometimes curious about who he had been before. But he knew right now he had to let the past stay buried and focus on their current predicament. It saddened him that Oryn and others mistook his unwillingness to rush into the eye of the storm unprepared for cowardice or unwillingness to do what needed to be done. Chase knew better than anyone that the path they were on needed to be walked with a calm head. Rushing toward it felt foolish and dangerous.

But then perhaps parts of his friends’ worries had merit. Having lost both Saroudis and Zeus in such a short amount of time had shaken his confidence, and he wasn’t willing to bet the lives of his loved ones. But was that wrong? Chase wondered.

“In your current state of mind, you couldn’t take me down even if there was three of you. I’m sad that you don’t see that I only have you and all my loved ones’ best interests at heart.”

Oryn growled.

“Now, you’re just proving my point.”

Unfortunately, words were not enough to get his point across, so an idea came to him.

“If you’re so confident,” added Chase before Oryn could rebut him, “why don’t we make a wager.”

Her eyes shone bright white as the temperature kept dropping, and her icy aura illuminated the walls around them into a cold, bright frosty light.

“I’m listening.”

“Right here, right now. You take me down, and you get to give the orders from now on. But if I beat you, you stop harassing me and let me come up with a plan that has at least a chance to both accomplish our mutual goals but also limit the risks of incurring casualties we can’t afford right now.”

Oryn smirked. “Deal.”

Chase raised an open palm.

“Give me your word first.”

“You have it.”

“Then, by all means, show me how you intend to bring down Arakan. The man who singlehandedly killed your father and almost killed Poseidon. Not to mention destroying the cradle of one of the oldest civilizations that ever existed. But, let me give you a piece of advice, don’t hold back.”

“I could kill you if I don’t.”

“Don’t worry about that; I want you to give me everything you have, and prove to me you can take Arakan down when the time comes.”

Chase could see the hesitation in her eyes and decided that was a good sign. At least it meant she didn’t feel comfortable unleashing all her power onto him. Losing Zeus had cemented her allegiance to him and the Earth Alliance. It was just sad that it took this tragedy for her to make her final choice, but Chase was relieved that she was finally on their side; even if they would now have to fight to settle their current disagreement.

“Very well, but don’t hold back either. Use your Ultra Fury powers,” said Oryn.

“I won’t have to, but I will if needed. The first of us to either abandon or lose consciousness will accept defeat and no longer argue on what needs to be done.”

Oryn’s look turned glacial, and her aura grew exponentially as she took a fighting stance.

* * *

“On second thought, let’s not fight here,” said Chase.

“Why not?” insisted Oryn.

“We don’t want to destroy our ship, do we?”

“Where are we to go, then?”

Chase smiled as he approached Oryn.

“What are you smirking about?” she asked.

“You’ll see. May I?” he asked, approaching his hand slowly toward her shoulder.

Her look was still ice cold as she nodded.

Chase put his hand on her shoulder, closed his eyes and took her to the last place she ever expected.

Soon the sandstorms of Erevos blasted on both their faces. The crimson sky above was filled with dark red clouds as powerful lightning bolts struck the sands around them, generating splashes of sand similar to objects hitting water.

It was Chase’s first time on Erevos. He had been there when the planet rematerialized, which was soon after Argos had forced him to let Aphroditis enter the machine to bring the Furies planet back into their dimension.

Oryn blinked multiple times, clearly shocked at where they stood.

“Is this a trick? Did you send me to a place in your mind?”

Chase shook his head as he took several steps back.

“No trick; we’re on Erevos. If you bring me down, you won’t even have to worry that I could go back on my word; you can then seek Arakan and unleash your wrath upon him.”

“You’re crazy!”

“I thought I was a coward.”

Oryn flinched.

“About that⁠—”

“Let me stop you right here, Oryn. I understand how you and my brother feel and the rage and hatred that’s broiling in your hearts right now. I’ve been there! And I can tell you that while you may think you’re ready, I know you’re not. But here we are, on our home world, thousands of miles away from any Fury cities. Nobody knows we’re here, and nobody can intervene.”

“But then if I mortally wound you?”

“Then, I die. Don’t hold back Oryn. If you are truly determined to go after Arakan right here and right now, you’ll have to unleash everything you have to bring me down. But I’m not gonna make it easy for you.”

“Fair enough.”

“Shall we get started? I don’t suppose we can fight here for too long until we’re detected.”

“What do we do if they send reinforcements?”

“We’ll deal with them, but I’m hoping we won’t have to. Stop stalling now, and unleash your inner Fury and show me you can take Arakan down. But remember, you’ll do as I say if you lose.”

“I’m not going to lose,” barked Oryn.

Oryn’s aura exploded around her, transforming the hot and sandy landscape into a white winter wonderland around them for hundreds of yards.

Chase pushed his aura to the maximum but without having to turn into an Ultra Fury. He could prove his point better if he managed to take down Oryn without having to push himself to his limits, which he had no doubt would be required to take Arakan down when the time came.

Oryn thrust both hands forward toward Chase and unleashed a column of freezing energy at him. He teleported away from the attack just as it was going to hit him and reappeared right after it passed. To human eyes, it would have looked as if Oryn’s attack had passed through him, but Chase had no doubt that Oryn had seen what he had done.

“First mistake,” said Chase. “You need to be careful how you use your energy. You can’t expect to go all in from the beginning and squander the one resource that will get you killed once you run out of it.”

Chase could tell his last comment angered Oryn. She didn’t even bother to answer and unleashed her next attacks through grinding teeth.

A multitude of smaller icy-colored fireballs came toward Chase. He extended his hand forward and blocked every single one of them, letting them impact and dissolve, one after another in the middle of his palm.

By the time the last attack was blocked, Oryn was already flying toward him, an ice spear in each hand. Chase aimed his hand toward Oryn, but before he could fire, she adjusted her position and jumped high in the sky, arching down toward him.

Chase smiled. She was a resourceful fighter.

She threw one of the ice spears at him with impressive speed. With a single thought, Chase pushed his aura and concentrated all of the energy in front of him to cast an invisible shield. The ice spear impacted with it and completely disintegrated within an inch of Chase’s face.

Oryn sent more energy to her remaining spear, making it grow and imbuing it with icy blue energy from within. She prepared to thrust the deadly weapon, and that’s when Chase acted. His eyes flashed purple for just a second and, to Oryn’s shock, the spear exploded into a million pieces.

Watch and learn, thought Chase.

Before she landed in front of him, no longer armed with her weapon, Chase unleashed a mental shock wave that sent her flying for miles and crash into the nearest rock formation. It exploded when Oryn passed through it.

Chase heard her growl in frustration and saw a large shock wave explode in the distance. It sent a tsunami of sand his way. The sandstorm wall was approaching him at tremendous speed, but before it reached him, an angry Oryn emerged from the sandy wall, her eyes glowing like two diamonds in the dead of the night. The wall of sand instantly crystallized into ice the moment she pushed through it and exploded like a broken mirror. She was bleeding from the mouth, and Chase could feel her anger grow exponentially as she approached him.

She infused blue light energy into her entire forearm, leaving a beautiful blue, steamy trail in the air as she pushed forward with all her might and threw the most powerful punch she could muster toward Chase’s face.

Chase tilted his head to the side just enough to avoid the terrible blow, and the moment her fist passed next to his neck, he thrust both his jaw and shoulder and used them to snatch Oryn’s wrist. He did it with such speed, precision and power that he broke multiple bones.

Oryn yelped at the excruciating pain, but before she could react, Chase unleashed a battle roar. His purple aura retracted and then exploded in a split second, sending a powerful shock wave, which smashed Oryn backward to the ground as she rebounded uncontrollably for a few hundred yards.

When she got back up, blood ran from both her mouth and nose. And Chase saw in her eyes something that he knew she needed to experience. Both doubt and fear. Tears formed and were blown away by the heavy wind and crystallized into shining snowflakes before disintegrating into the dusty and oppressing atmosphere of the planet.

She unleashed a roar of frustration, and Chase felt she had already spent too much of her energy to ever be able to claim victory. But he was not done teaching her today’s lesson.

Oryn ground her teeth as her aura grew more and more. She grabbed her broken wrist and froze it into place to attenuate the pain. Chase wanted to heal the terrible wound he had caused her, but first, they had a fight to finish.

He taunted her by waving two fingers toward him.

She closed her eyes for a minute as she accessed as much energy within herself as she could. Chase then felt she had managed to reach a higher potential than he thought was possible in her current condition. As if she was draining some energy from the planet.

Is that even possible?

It seemed to get confirmed when massive currents of sand turned to snow and danced around her in a mesmerizing fashion, looking like snow serpents. Three crimson lightning bolts shot from the sky and impacted her. But instead of causing damage, it improved her abilities and recharged her energy pool. Whether or not she was conscious of doing so, she had managed to get energy from the planet itself, something Chase found fascinating and should probably investigate further. She was the daughter of Zeus after all, so perhaps, on a biological level, she held more power than she even knew.

Chase hadn’t even spent a percent of his own pool, but the lightning strikes she had received had almost regenerated her entire reserve. He could feel she was bursting with powerful energy and that her next attack would be something he would have to be careful of. Especially with her current unstable mental state. She was angered, scared and resentful all at the same time. A dangerous mix Chase knew he needed to thwart in the right way.

As much as he admired Oryn’s resilience in the matter, he needed to end this fight. He hesitated to turn Ultra Fury but then decided against it. Chase always enjoyed a challenge, and these risks that he knew he could take with Oryn now, he wouldn’t be able to when it would be time to fight Arakan.

When Oryn opened her eyes, they shone with such a bright light that Chase had to instinctively and partially close his own. She growled like a wounded animal that wanted revenge as she raised her good fist toward the sky. A blue, almost liquid-like energy enveloped her fist and grew in size quickly. She smashed it to the ground in front of her, sending the energy hundreds of yards forward.

Chase felt the incoming attack at the last moment and flew upward just before five large icy spikes burst through where he stood a millisecond before.

Impressive.

Oryn was already flying toward Chase, with cold hatred in her eyes. Chase knew that state of mind well. He probably induced it in her by blocking her attacks in ways that seemed defiant and, for a proud warrior, taunting, and perhaps even borderline insulting. But, at least he saw what she was capable of in these moments and their fight today would prove to be a lesson for both of them.

She used telekinesis to break the large spikes of ice she had erected on the ground and sent them flying toward Chase. He reacted instinctively and shattered them one by one with his elbows and knees.

When he was done with the last one, Oryn was approaching him at ballistic speed, moving so fast that her white and blue aura swirled around her like a comet on its way to destroy anything in its path.

She concentrated her entire power into this last attack, and as much as Chase didn’t want to go there, he felt how dangerous the situation had become. He transformed into his Ultra Fury form, and his purple-hued aura became fire and turned orange. His eyes were replaced by two miniature suns.

When she was upon him, he unleashed the most powerful telekinetic shock wave he could muster to stop Oryn’s ballistic meteor-like ascension. Chase’s hair flew backward madly upon his wave impacting with the energy coming his way. But he barely managed to contain her. Some of the energy enveloping her dissipated, and Chase could see her silhouette, fist first, struggling to rise higher and reach his position.

That’s when he released his mental hold on her. To her surprise, she resumed racing toward Chase like a shooting star. Chase teleported out of the way and instantly appeared behind her. She barely had the time to see him when he stroked the back of her neck with the edge of his open palm in a swift but devastating blow.

Oryn lost consciousness almost instantly and the aura swirling around her died off as the red planet’s gravity took hold of her and she started falling down.

Chase looked at her for a couple of seconds as he reflected on these last few moments. Then he teleported down into Oryn’s path and caught her in his arms, not letting her body crash to the hot and coarse ground of Erevos. Chase’s aura returned to purple, as did his eyes. She was still unconscious when he teleported them both away from Erevos.

4

Cedric’s console holo-screen filled with Spiros’ face.

“Hey buddy, how are you settling in?”

“I’m okay. It’s been a tiring few hours. There have been a few times where I thought I might lose power. Argos’ secret base barely has the power requirement I need to do my work. But I’ve managed to install upgrades to the power nodes, and everything is okay now.”

“How’s Gaia’s code?”

“I managed to stop the corruption from getting worse, but writing a recovery algorithm will take a little while longer than I expected.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“There is, in fact. You could look over my functions and perhaps design a way for me to share some of the fleet’s CPU power over our subspace link.”

Cedric flinched. Anything involving a network with Gaia in the equation made him uneasy.

“Don’t worry,” reassured Spiros. “I’m not going to link my code with Gaia until I’m ready. So during that time, it would be a safe demilitarized network zone between you and me. I would never risk recreating the conditions that created Gaia 2 in the first place.”

It made sense, and Cedric was glad that his friend was taking all the necessary precautions.

“I know you’ll be careful. How long do you think until you have a working clone for yourself?”

“It will be a while, but I’m about ready to start growing one. I’m more worried about being able to heal the damage to her code before the clone is ready. But I suppose that there isn’t really any time limit.”

Technically, Spiros was right, except Cedric hoped that he would see his friend soon. As well as Gaia. These two had been through so much that it felt cruel to have them separated any longer. Cedric longed for such a connection between a man and a woman. Part of him was even a little jealous. Though he discarded the thought, as he knew this was a difficult time for Spiros right now.

“I’ll set up the subspace link and let you use some of our computational power. I’ll even ask Thor if we can use some of the Asgardian systems; that would definitely give you more processing power.”

“That would be perfect, thank you, my friend. Let me know if there is a way I can ever repay you.”

“We owe you our lives many times over, so that’s not necessary, however⁠—”

“Yes?”

“You remember that tech you wanted to build to help Chase train beyond just the gravity fields?”

“I do. What about it?”

“Do you think you could help me finish your work? I get the feeling they will need a better place to train than the current cargo bay transformations. Not to mention, Argos keeps disabling its safety protocols, and I worry that one day one of them might get injured that way. And with what happened, I think they need whatever edge they can get as well as a way to blow off some steam.”

“I don’t follow; what’s happened?” inquired Spiros, unable to hide the worry in his tone.

“Something horrible. Zeus is dead, and Arakan took out Olympus.”

“Zeus is dead? What— What do you mean took out?”

“The entire planet. Gone. It’s been destroyed.”

Spiros’ face dropped.

“That’s not possib—” Spiros paused. “How?”

“He created a black hole near Olympus, then went to the surface and killed Zeus just before the planet got ripped to shreds.”

“I can’t believe all of this has happened in such a short amount of time.”

“Arakan played us; we were sure his target was Asgard, and in fact he didn’t go easy on us there either. A large fleet of ships awaited us there, as well as powerful assassins trying to get to Odin. I mean, he cooked up the best diversion he could think of in order to move on Olympus and⁠—”

Spiros nodded solemnly.

“I see. Tell me what I can do to help.”

“Your artificial black hole engine idea. I think that would really help. I’ve looked into the schematics of the ship, and while I don’t like the idea of playing with black holes anywhere near our fleet, this could be the ultimate training chamber. Especially with the time distortion.”

“I was thinking to try and counter that side effect.”

“Yeah, and that would seem logical, until we factor in the element that lately we never have time. Chase can’t spend weeks or months training, the Furies would conquer the universe and bring us all to our knees, unless⁠—”

“Unless time spent in the training room passed slower.”

“Yeah, the side effect of the black hole would actually be a plus; should we manage to reverse its polarity. It would allow our friends to train for longer periods of time inside the facility while time passed at a normal pace outside of it.”

“Yes, it would be ideal, but— I never finished it because I hit too many roadblocks, the first of which is the immense energy requirements to create the black hole in the first place. Though technically we’d want a white hole, so that the time near the anomaly passes faster rather than slower like it would with a black hole.

“Not to mention that I came up short on the equation just to power the containment field. And that alone is crucial; lose containment and the ship on which the training facility resides goes bye-bye, and if there’s a fleet around, so would they. As much as I see how such a room would help Chase, Argos and the others train and improve their powers, I think it’s just too risky.”

“I’ve discussed it with Yanis, and he thinks the new Warheart class ship Victory can crunch these numbers and then some! I just don’t want to do this on my own, I— well I would feel better if you double-checked my math on this one, and I would also need your expertise to create a shutdown procedure.”

“And here you have another roadblock, but it’s academic anyway, since I don’t think it’s possible to safely create either a black hole or a white hole artificially and manage to contain it. Achieving both and managing to regulate power to make it a safe environment seems highly improbable and too dangerous. I’m sorry, Cedric. I truly thought this was a great idea at the time, and perhaps Gaia would have helped me find a solution, but she can’t help anymore, not until I bring her back…if I bring her back.”

“Don’t talk like that, Spiros; you’ll get her back! I have faith in you. As for the energy for creating the black hole,” Cedric chuckled. “I know how to do it.”

Spiros’ eyes grew wide. “How?”

“All we need is to replicate the conditions outside the ship, within the black hole containment chamber. Then let Chase create the anomaly.”

“You’re not serious?”

“How do you think Arakan created the black hole that took out Olympus? Furies can’t use their powers in space, and if they do, they create space-time anomalies. Black holes!”

Spiros smiled.

“Except we’d need a white hole.”

“One problem at a time.”

“We’re crazy even attempting this, you know that?”

“What else is new?”

* * *

Oryn was still in Chase’s arms when he began healing her. He started with her broken wrist, then sent enough energy flowing into her body to heal most of her wounds before waking her up.

She blinked her eyes multiple times.

“Where am I? What happened?” she said with a muted voice.

“Back on board the Hope.”

“I had a terrible nightm—” but she stopped herself. “We were really on Erevos, weren’t we?”

“Yes. And well⁠—”

“I lost.”

“That about sums it up,” said Chase as he gently put Oryn on her feet. “Can you stand?”

She nodded.

“I trust you’ll abide by the rules of our wager and let me do things my way?”

“I gave you my word.”

“Good. Now you should go rest. I healed your main wounds, but I can’t afford to spend too much energy, we might need to move fast without much notice, so we all need to be back in top shape when that time comes.”

“Does that mean that you’ve reconsidered?”

“About rushing to Erevos unprepared? No. But you were right about one thing, though.”

Oryn’s eyebrows rose.

“What’s that?”

“You’re not crystal statues. None of you are, and I can’t treat you like you’re unable to defend yourselves. This lack of trust on my part is disrespectful, and you all deserve better than that. Since I discovered my powers, I have had doubts about myself, my ability to control them, and most importantly, my unwillingness to accept outside help. I thought I had assimilated all that, but it’s clear that I still feel responsible for each and every life lost in this war.”

“I didn’t know that. I just felt that you were a little overprotective at times. But—” she paused for a moment. “I’m sorry I called you a coward. That was uncalled for. I was angry, and I wish I never said that.”

“That’s alright, Oryn. I know anger well myself, it almost consumed me a few times. Apology accepted.”

“Thank you, Chase. What do we do now?”

“Have you learned anything from this?”

A tear fell from Oryn’s eyes.

“I have. I’m not ready to take on Arakan. I was so sure I was though.”

“That was your hatred talking; when it gets out of control, it overshadows everything else. The first thing to go is usually common sense. But in your angered state, you’ve displayed some very interesting abilities. Some I wonder if you knew you had.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“You don’t remember recharging your energy by attracting lightning to your fist like a lightning rod?”

“I’m a little fuzzy about the details of our fight; did I?”

“Yes, and you also managed to drain energy from the planet itself, or at least that’s how it felt.”

“How is it possible?”

“I have a theory, but— nah…it’s probably stupid.”

“No, Chase. Please, tell me.”

“Well, you’re Zeus’ daughter, and he could invoke the elements, including thunder. I thought I felt a transference of energy of some kind when he took your hand before— well before the end. I was not exactly focused at that time, so I thought I’d imagined it. But Zeus helped me lock onto rogue memories as well as unlock my teleportation power, so it’s not too far-fetched to think that he could have transferred or simply released some dormant powers in you.”

More tears covered Oryn’s still slightly bruised cheeks.

“Then perhaps I need to train to gain better control of these powers.”

“That is an excellent idea. Just take it easy, and make sure you start with a full cycle in a regen tank first.”

“Very well.”

“I’ll see you soon,” said Chase, giving her a casual two finger salute.

“Wait— Chase. Please wait.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“I— I’m sorry.”

* * *

When Chase couldn’t find Sarah in their quarters, he went to check on the bridge. Daniel was in the captain’s chair.

“Where’s Sarah?”

“I don’t know; I thought she was with you. Can’t you just locate her in space and teleport to her?”

“Yeah, but I’ve teleported a lot for one day; it takes a lot of energy, so I don’t like using it when it can be avoided. Especially during these times, since I never know when I might need that energy.”

“Makes sense. Are you alright, buddy?”

“I don’t know,” sighed Chase.

“Want to talk about it?”

“What is there to talk about? I fell for Arakan’s ploy, and my grandfather got killed as a result. That and probably many members of my family I didn’t know I had in the process when Olympus was obliterated. Frankly, I don’t know how or what to feel.”

“That’s heavy, and I’m very sorry for your loss, Chase. But what are we going to do about it? Don’t you want to go get your father out of there?”

“Why is everyone assuming I don’t want to go right this instant?”

“Because you’re usually just flying toward danger without question, putting your life at risk at every turn and that we’re used to you doing one insane thing after another. Sometimes without even a second thought on your part. It’s a little strange to see you pause and think. Not that I mind.”

“Yeah, I guess I do tend to just go with my gut. But, last time I did that, it cost Olympus its very existence. So⁠—”

“Nuh-uh! Don’t do this to yourself, Chase.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Somehow put the blame on your shoulders, like you often do. There was nothing you could have done. Arakan went all in, he gambled a large part of his resources to achieve that goal, and we could never have anticipated this turn of events.”

Could we have anticipated it? Chase did wonder. Every step he took, up until it was too late, felt like the right move. But in the end, he had been tricked.

“I keep replaying the last few hours before Zeus got killed in my head. Trying to think what I could have done differently.”

“Chase, don’t. You did what you thought was right. That doesn’t make it a mistake. Have you gone to talk with Zeus?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb with me; you can go to the Underworld, can’t you? So, have you been to see him there?”

Chase shook his head.

“Then go, now. I’ll find Sarah and let her know you’re looking for her.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to say.”

Daniel chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“The image of Chase Athanatos being mute, that’s what’s funny. You always have something to say, even when you were supposed to shut up, like back at the academy. No matter how many times you were suspended or assigned latrine duties, you simply wouldn’t shut up.”

Chase smiled at the nostalgic feeling of these shared memories from a simpler time. “This is different, Daniel.”

“I know that. Just go; the words will come to you.”

“Very well. Thank you.”

“Anytime…Admiral.”

Chase made a slight grimace, but it quickly turned into a smile before he closed his eyes and vanished into thin air.

* * *

“Hello, Hades,” said Chase.

“Good to see you, Chase.”

“Can I— can I talk with Zeus? Is he around?”

“What do you think? After thousands of years, finally, I get my brother to visit me. I wish it were under better circumstances, though.”

“I’m sorry. I should have been there for him.”

“From what I understand, you were busy saving your new allies, the Asgardians. So I don’t see why that makes it your responsibility.”

“I guess it isn’t. I just wish I could have prevented it.”

“Death is part of life. I know, coming from one immortal to another, that’s ironic. But we can be killed. And everything dies, Chase, eventually.”

“You would know about that, I guess.”

“All too well as you can imagine. That’s all I do, deal with the souls of the dead, day in and day out.”

“You must have gotten used to it by now.”

“Not really, Chase. In fact, I would like us to discuss something before you talk with my brother.”

“Can’t it wait? I— I have so many things to⁠—”

“No, Chase, it can’t wait. Do you remember that favor I told you I would ask of you one day? The one you can’t refuse.”

Chase swallowed hard.

“Vaguely.”

“No, Chase, not vaguely. Today is that day.”

Chase sighed as he mentally braced himself.

“What is it you want me to do?”

“Convince Zeus to take my place here, and then get me the hell out of this awful place.”

Chase’s face dropped. “What?”

“You heard me. I’ve had it being cooped up in the Underworld. So forgive me for being this blunt, but I want out.”

“Now that Zeus has been killed, can’t you just leave if you so please?”

“I wish. There’s a ritual that needs to be processed before that happens. It involves Zeus nominating a new king of the Underworld. In this case, he can nominate himself. As for getting away, I can’t teleport, not to mention change planes of existence, which is why I could never escape this place even if I wanted to. You, however, don’t seem to have a problem coming and going.”

“What will you do when you’re…out?”

“I haven’t given it much thought. Find a nice planet, I suppose. Look at the sun, smell the fresh air, make love to a woman. I don’t think I’ll have a problem finding activities.”

“What about joining our fight?”

Hades scoffed.

“Why am I not surprised you would ask me this? Chase, don’t take this the wrong way. But, I don’t think so.”

“You’re a great fighter; we could use you.”

“Against Arakan?”

“Yes, don’t you want to avenge your brother?”

Hades laughed out loud.

“What’s so funny?” Chase retorted.

“You’re kidding, right? I’m going to risk my hide the first moment I get free after tens of thousands of years to avenge the man that trapped me here. The irony of that statement is so thick you could almost taste it in the air. At least you have a good sense of humor; I’ll grant you that.”

“This is not a time for holding grudges.”

“You know what, stay down here for a few thousand years and let’s have this conversation again. How about that?”

“Hades—”

“No! I’m done talking about this. I’ve helped you when you needed it the most, and all I’ve asked in return is that you grant me one favor. This is it. Will you hold up your end of that bargain or not?”

Chase hated the situation, but he could understand Hades’ position. If he were in a similar circumstance, he would also like to escape it. See the sun, feel the breeze pass through his hair. That thought brought Chase’s dad and his current predicament to the forefront of Chase’s mind. Even though he didn’t remember the man, he hated the idea of letting him rot in a cell on Erevos. Even when he was fighting Oryn there, he sensed a pull just to go there and get him out. But right now he had to deal with this unexpected development.

“Very well. I’ll keep my end of the bargain. What if Zeus doesn’t want to take your place?”

“You just make sure he does.”

* * *

Menelas’ hands were bloodied from him repetitively hitting the force field keeping him in his cell. His talk with Aphroditis had turned his world upside down. If she told him the truth, that he would soon get his chance to fight Arakan, then he would have to be ready. He would need to transcend his powers to their limits to kill the Supreme Commander of the Furies.

Doubts invaded his mind. When he last fought Arakan, things had gone terribly wrong, and it was only by a miracle he survived. Though Menelas was a proud warrior, he had put his ego on the back burner when he learned he would become a father. The only reason he went against the supreme commander in the first place was to protect his family. But, he had been unprepared for that battle. Arakan had defeated him and stopped an inch from taking Menelas’ life. Most likely so he could prolong Menelas’ suffering for years. And for the longest time, Menelas wished Arakan would just end his torment. He could have taken his own life, but something always prevented him from doing so. Right now, though, he would be grateful if he was given a second chance.

Is Athena alive? Will I ever see her again?

These thoughts haunted him ever since Arakan last visited.

Menelas caught something from the corner of his eye and jumped around to look. To his horror, Arakan was standing tall not three feet from him, and the Fury’s blood started boiling.

He instinctively brought his aura to bare and fired a powerful yellow fireball toward the supreme commander. The fireball flew through Arakan and exploded on the reinforced wall behind him, miraculously leaving the wall unscathed.

“I see you haven’t lost your keen reflexes,” said Arakan with the unmistakable vocal distortion of a long-range holo-transmission.

A hologram, that figures.

Menelas sent daggers toward Arakan’s hologram as his inner rage continued building up inside of him. He desperately wanted to rip the Fury’s heart from his chest. And if Aphroditis’ vision held true, he would get his chance. But then Menelas noticed something odd about Arakan. A dark aura surrounded him and gave him an even more imposing presence than usual.

What the hell is this? I’ve never seen such an aura emanate from any Fury.

“What the fuck do you want? And, what did I do to deserve two visits in such a short time, though I really wished you were here inside this cell with me?”

“I can see that, and, perhaps, you’ll get your wish soon enough. Now that Olympus has been destroyed and that I have slayed Zeus, I can move toward the next part of my plan.”

Menelas’ eyes widened.

Olympus is gone? I can’t believe this monster bested Zeus in combat.

But perhaps the aura now surrounding the supreme commander was a clue on how Arakan could have defeated the head of the Olympians, considered by many as the most powerful fighters in the universe.

“Or perhaps you’re just trying to get in my head.”

“Oh, believe me, Zeus has bitten the dust, and I would imagine his brother Poseidon has succumbed to his wounds as well.”

“And I should care why? Exactly?”

“I guess it matters not to a caged rat what I do. My return trip is giving me time to think, and while I would have loved releasing you from your hole just one last time before I put you down like the rabid Zargon that you are, I think I’m just going to dispose of you.”

Anger saturated Menelas’ heart.

Figures. Aphroditis built up my hopes for nothing, once more.

“Though,” continued Arakan. “I’ll have to make sure your agony is equal to the level of betrayal you’ve displayed toward me. So, we might see each other once more until the end of your pathetic existence. By then you’ll be just a shadow of your former self, so I thought I’d say goodbye now, while you can still stand.”

“How noble of you,” hissed Menelas, through gritted teeth.

“You should consider yourself lucky. After all, I kept you alive all these years and only slightly tortured you until I lost the taste for it.”

Only a madman would describe five years of daily torture as slightly.

“You know what, Arakan? Go fuck yourself!”

“There, there. Are those the last words you want to utter while you can still speak?”

“What does it matter to you, coward? Not even having the guts to fight me on a level playing field. That speaks volumes how misdirected the Furies are for following a fool of your caliber.”

“You’re going to regret those words. And soon.”

“The only thing I regret is not ripping your head off of your shoulders when you assumed the throne after your father fell in combat. This— is my only regret.”

“Are you certain about that? What if I told you that your precious Athena is next on my kill list? Granted, I probably killed most of the Olympians already, but she is currently helping your sons trying to win a war that was lost ten thousand years ago. And, perhaps, if you had taken the throne from me back then, things would be different. I do revel in the idea of you dying slowly while knowing you could have changed all of this, if only you had the bequeathed courage of a true Fury warrior. So, you see, Menelas, in the end, you’re the coward, and I’m happy you’ll die knowing that.”

The rage inside Menelas exploded to a level he didn’t know he possessed, and the entire catacombs shook around him. His eyes repeatedly blinked orange, and for a second he thought he saw worry in Arakan’s eyes.

“I hate you! But don’t think I’m that easy to kill. I might have stopped trying to escape my prison for years, but like a cockroach, I’ll do whatever it takes to survive so I can kill you myself.”

Arakan laughed out loud and the sound from the holo-transmission saturated his deep voice. Menelas heard a darker echo to the supreme commander’s voice and it told him that no matter what had happened to him on Olympus, it had forever changed him, perhaps even more than Arakan was realizing himself.

“You’re welcome to try, but I’m afraid you won’t survive much longer. Still, after I’m done ripping Athena’s head from her shoulders along with her spine, I’ll kill your sons Argos and Chase.”

Chase? Who’s Chase?

“I can see from your look,” continued Arakan. “That you don’t know who I’m talking about. Chase is the Fury currently disillusioned in thinking he can bring me down. He’s poisoned Argos’ mind as well as my daughter, Oryn, to join his quest. He was born Laiyos, though. Does that ring a bell, now? That’s right, I’m expecting them to come here and try to get revenge for the death of Zeus, and now that they allied themselves with Odin, then perhaps they might even try and rescue you.”

My sons are still alive?

“I don’t believe you, you just want to mentally torture me since you so pathetically failed in trying to break me physically all those years ago.”

“It is true that I take pleasure in seeing you suffer, no matter the shape that suffering takes. But believe me, your sons have been a major thorn in my side. Still—” said Arakan looking at his fist engulfed in a black aura, “I no longer fear them. I can deal with your sons, with Athena and whoever is stupid enough to step a foot on Erevos. I’m the Fury god! Nobody can stop me!”

Fury god? This asshole has lost all his marbles. Not that there were many left in the first place.

“I don’t know what drugs you’re under, but you obviously have lost your mind⁠—”

“That’s what my entourage has tried to tell me but I no longer listen to their snake tongues. I no longer believe any of them. I’ll take great pleasure killing both your sons. Who knows, perhaps I can keep you alive just long enough so you can watch them die with your very own eyes.”

Menelas felt something in his brain snap, and the entire cell filled with a bright orange aura, burning like a sun about to go nova. He growled as the walls started to crack around him.

“Mmm— I wondered where your defiant son got his powers. And while I refuse to believe he is the Ultra Fury of legend, he is a formidable warrior who has killed many of my best fighters, as well as my own son.”

My son? The Ultra Fury? Perhaps Aphroditis isn’t as mad as I thought she was.

Menelas smirked. “Good.”

“Enjoy this last moment of freedom, Menelas. I’m not taking the chance that your sons reach Erevos and try to get to you. Something tells me that the fact you resisted torture all these years means you know something. Something they could use against me. I could see it in your eyes back then; I could tell you were holding something from me.”

I was, motherfucker; the very weapon that will bring you down.

“You were always perceptive, except to see your own failure and cowardice, that is.”

Arakan smirked. “Are you done?”

“I’ll be done when your heart stops beating.”

“I’m afraid you won’t be around when that happens, hundreds of years from now.”

Menelas felt a warm presence inside of him and remembered what Aphroditis had told him. And while he had no doubt that Arakan had a terrible fate lined up for him now, he would survive it and be granted that one chance to right the wrong that haunted him ever since he was cast into the catacombs.

The presence whispered inside his mind.

Fear not Menelas, Chase is coming.

“Wanna bet?” answered Menelas defiantly to Arakan.

Arakan’s hologram withered and was almost cut off before it stabilized again.

“Oh, before I take my leave, as I’m approaching the wormhole that will bring me back home shortly. Know that if any Fury other than myself steps inside the room you’re in, it will self-destruct. So, you see, I really hope your sons come and try to rescue you, that way I’ll kill two birds with one stone. Enjoy the rest of your miserable existence. Goodbye, Menelas.”

Arakan waved goodbye before his hologram turned into nothingness.

Before Menelas could usher a single thought forward, four powerful red thunderbolts shot from each corner of the prison and brought him to his knees, as millions of volts ran through every cell of his body.

5

When Zeus appeared nearby, Hades took his leave and vanished into thin air.

Chase had a hard time looking his grandfather in the eyes. He still blamed himself for not being able to heal him.

“It wasn’t your fault,” said Zeus.

“It doesn’t feel that way.”

“Of course it wouldn’t. Always the hero, barely celebrating a victory, and always taking the weight of the world on your shoulders. You do remind me of your father; Menelas, too, was always blaming himself for the deeds of others.”

The mention of Menelas brought tears to the corners of Chase’s eyes.

“I— I think he’s still alive.”

Zeus’ eyes widened.

“Then why the hell are you here talking to me? Go rescue him. That’s what you do, isn’t it? Run toward danger, no matter how big, to save the ones you love. I’m surprised you’re here instead of rescuing your father. That is, if you know where he is.”

“On Erevos, or so Oryn says.”

“Speaking of Oryn, I had hoped she’d come here with you. But, if she says Menelas is alive on Erevos, then that’s where you should be, Chase.”

“She’s been taking your death really hard, I— I didn’t know if seeing you and saying goodbye all over again was appropriate just now. But I can bring her back, later.”

“Please make sure that you do. I don’t intend to stay around here for too long, Chase. Unlike Ares, I think I’ll go to Elysium pretty soon. I’m old, I have seen countless civilizations rise and fall, including my own. Part of me wants to stick around and see what happens, but the other part wants to go to Elysium, and⁠—”

But Zeus stopped short.

“See if Zalara is waiting for you there?” said Chase.

Zeus nodded as twin tears fell from his eyes.

“I thought Elysium was reserved only for Olympians.”

“Nobody ever comes back from Elysium, Chase. Therefore, nobody really knows for sure what is there.”

“Surely you must know?”

“No, this is the universe’s best kept secret.”

“What if there is nothing awaiting there, then?”

“Then nothing will happen.”

Chase had observed other living beings and how they dealt with death. He somehow never feared it. Of course, back then he had no idea he was an immortal being. The thought immediately brought troubling thoughts to the forefront of his psyche, like what would happen when Sarah would die of old age, but Chase preferred pushing them away into a dark corner of his mind. Right now, he couldn’t afford to be distracted. He had a hard time as it was dealing with everything else. Including telling Zeus that his journey towards Elysium would have to wait.

“I— I need to ask for a favor.”

“I don’t know what I can grant you from down here, but ask anyway.”

“You’re not going to like it, though.”

Zeus’ eyes clouded.

“Chase, what do you want?”

“I need you to take Hades’ place in the Underworld.”

“What? Is that a joke?”

“I’m afraid not. I owe him a favor, and well…that’s what he asked.”

Zeus chuckled.

“I don’t see what’s funny about this?” said Chase.

“It’s more irony than ha-ha funny, Chase. You see, I’ve condemned Hades here for all eternity. Only I can break the cycle and only if someone of my blood takes the mantle. I never thought that rule would one day trap me here.”

“Does that mean…?”

“That I will accept Hades’ wish? Yeah, why not. I haven’t been a good brother, Chase. Nor have I been a good father to my children. I— I was too selfish and too focused on my own goals and many in my family have paid the price. I should have been more loving and even you, my own grandson, I treated you badly when you first came to see me on Olympus. I was grieving still and anger and hatred had become like two unwanted but dear friends at the same time. If that makes any sense.”

“It does. I did feel the turmoil inside you when we met.”

“I’m sorry I acted the way I did.”

Chase didn’t expect Zeus to apologize, but then again, he had been such a different person after Chase had shown him the torture his daughter Aphroditis went through and having his other daughter, Oryn, back in his life.

“That’s okay. You know, in hindsight I saw it as a test. Before you could trust me, you needed to see I could take on the mission to save Oryn and rid the universe of the Furies.”

“And perhaps part of me, on a subconscious level, wanted to test you. My conscious mind was just mad at anything that reminded me of Zalara and her tragic fate.”

“I can understand that, though.”

“Your feelings betray you. And I know I have no right to tell you what to do, Chase. But I will anyway. Know that falling in love with a mortal is a very high price to pay for an immortal being. It may drive you insane like it did for me. I have no doubt that you are of a higher moral fiber than I ever was; in fact, I can feel it deep inside you; that bright light burning inside your soul, always ready to risk your life to save others. You are a pure soul, and I understand now why Aphroditis let my sweet Zalara die.”

Chase’s face dropped.

“What do you mean she let her die?”

“She knew this would come to pass. I never understood why until the moment I arrived in the Underworld myself.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“My daughter sees possible futures as you know, and she must have known that the only way to defeat the Furies was for everything that had happened up until now, even her own acceptance to be tortured in that terrible machine, needed to happen, so you can rid the universe of Arakan and the Furies, once and for all.”

Chase shivered listening to his grandfather. It echoed what Athena had told him as well. Zeus obviously had been doing a lot of thinking as of late. And Chase, indeed, could barely recognize the aggressive, angry and spiteful man that greeted him and Argos with lightning bolts.

“Can I tell you something?”

“Sure, Chase.”

“I don’t believe in destiny. I know that perhaps this was all foretold, but I still believe that the actions we take on a daily basis are what shape this universe. Not a predestined prophecy or whatever you want to call it.”

“And it is your right. I’m not saying there is a destiny, Chase, but I can’t ignore what my daughter has done in the name of saving every living being in the universe, how much she sacrificed, from the love of a grief-stricken father to the intense pain she is suffering even now.”

Chase had to admit the argument was a pretty strong one. But nothing was preventing him from just giving up and letting the universe fall. Then the future would change, so he did not believe in a predetermined universe; free will made that impossible. He did recognize, however, that a force inside him compelled him to move forward, to end this quest that he had started when he first laid eyes on Aphroditis.

Chase decided that it didn’t matter whether or not destiny was written. All that mattered was that he needed to kill Arakan, save both his aunt and father, and make sure the future he would leave his son, Chris, and countless other children, was a good one, based on compassion and love and not on hatred and thirst for conquest.

“I understand. I’d love to stay and chat some more⁠—”

“But you must go get your father.”

“And your daughter, too.”

“At the risk of repeating myself, why haven’t you gone already? It’s quite uncharacteristic of you, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Last time I rushed toward danger, you died. Your brother, Poseidon, almost died as well, and we lost a lot of people and resources because we did exactly what Arakan expected of us. Arakan knew I would rush to save Odin and Asgard, and that it would provide the perfect distraction so he could move to Olympus, unchallenged. I thought that perhaps this time a pause and a carefully crafted plan couldn’t hurt.”

Zeus humphed.

“Don’t put my death on yourself. I know you mean well, but, Chase, you can’t be everywhere at once, and following your heart and your instinct is the reason why most of the people that matter to you are still alive. So do yourself a favor, and give yourself a break and even a pat on the back. You are not responsible for my death. In fact, I absolve you of that burden. I didn’t want Arakan to kill my brother, and I made a conscious choice to try and save him. I could have let Arakan strike and then try to kill him afterward, but that would have cost Poseidon his life. For once, I didn’t act with my own self-interest in mind, and I’m quite happy I listened to my heart. Even if it cost me my life; I don’t regret my decision, and neither should you.”

“I see. Do you think you could have beaten Arakan if you had let him strike Poseidon first?”

“It doesn’t matter now, Chase. He killed me, and your inability to heal my wounds means that whatever powers he has acquired are to be feared. If you can’t heal the people he strikes, you’ll need to be extra careful how you approach the final fight with him.”

“Now do you understand why I’m not rushing toward danger like I usually do?”

Zeus chuckled. “Touché. Indeed, perhaps now is a time to keep a cool head. You’ve always done what needed to be done, and you’ve been successful in defeating the odds repeatedly. Perhaps you taking the time to think things through is exactly what is needed this time around. But think not forever, Chase.”

Chase nodded solemnly. “I won’t.”

* * *

Hades seemed shocked when Chase told him that Zeus accepted the request to take his place as ruler of the Underworld in his stead.

“You seem surprised?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? I don’t know what you did to my brother but obviously he’s changed a lot since he’s met you. He didn’t care for anyone but himself before.”

Chase had felt the turmoil and rage inside Zeus’ soul when they had first met, and he could see why people closest to him thought he might be self-centered. But Chase had also detected more feelings in the ruler of Olympus below the hardened surface he presented to the outside world.

“You know, I think Zeus was misunderstood. He was suffering and perhaps you and the rest of your family thought he didn’t care for you, when in fact he does care for his loved ones. The fact that he’s accepted to take your place here, and the fact that he was killed trying to save your brother, Poseidon, should at the very least elicit some sympathy. I’m not saying he hasn’t made mistakes, but who hasn’t?”

“I see what you’re trying to do, Chase. And I thank you for caring, but I have accepted a long time ago that my brother isn’t perfect. I am glad, however, to see that his last few days in the realm of the living have taught him some good family values.”

“Fair enough, I guess. Now what?”

“Now, I get the hell out of this place. I knew the moment you first came down here that you were different and that the winds of change would follow in your wake.”

“You knew?”

“Well, I felt; more like a gut feeling.”

“So, you’re getting back to the living. I know you’ve already expressed your opinion on the matter, but we could really use you in our fight against the Furies.”

Hades sighed. “Look, I’m glad I served my role as a mentor in a time of need and allowed you to unlock more of your potential, but we both know you are way more powerful now than I ever was. In the Underworld, I possessed more powers because this is, well was, my realm. Now that you unlocked the power of the Ultra Fury, what possible use could I be to you?”

“There is strength in numbers, Hades.”

“Perhaps, but I have longed to leave this place more years than you have been alive. Can you fault me for wanting to taste freedom on my own terms?”

Chase understood Hades’ point of view. And it was only fair that he didn’t leave a prison just to be faced with mortal danger. Still, Chase hoped his former mentor would join the fight.

“I can’t imagine how frustrating this must have been, so no, I can’t fault you for wanting to taste freedom.”

“Fret not, though, Chase. I’m sure our paths will cross again, in due time.”

Chase frowned but nodded anyway.

“Where to?”

“Anywhere but here. If it was still there, I would go to Olympus. I miss my home world and I wish I could have seen it one more time. But that’s not an option anymore. So, let’s say the farthest planet away from the conflict at the moment.”

“I’m not sure any planet is safe at this point.”

Hades smiled.

“I can take care of myself. Should we go now?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Chase put his hand on Hades’ shoulder and they disappeared from the Underworld.

* * *

The amount of pain Menelas was under was like nothing he had experienced before. Even after months of torture at the hands of Arakan, nothing felt as acute and overwhelming as the pain coursing through his body right at this moment.

He couldn’t tell how much time had passed since Arakan activated whatever the hell was shooting electricity inside of him. It paralyzed his muscles, and also made it excruciatingly difficult for him to try and form a thought in his head. Had it been minutes or days, he couldn’t tell.

While thinking coherently was almost impossible for Menelas, he still managed to keep an image in the center of his mind. The one of his children; the most vivid image he had of them was when they were toddlers.

Laiyos. Argos.

They were undoubtedly coming to Erevos, but if they came to rescue him, they would get killed.

The pain intensified, and Menelas lost his train of thought. He needed to isolate the physical pain so he could at least keep more than a couple of fleeting thoughts alive in his mind.

Dying wasn’t an option either. He had to survive, to fight Arakan and make sure the Supreme Commander of the Furies would be stopped.

Menelas focused on one of his children only, Laiyos. He brought back the last memory he had of him and focused all his attention on it. The relentless pain he felt made it hard, but eventually, over time, he managed to focus on the image of his young son and let his love for him tone down the physical pain.

Hours might have passed when Menelas finally found a little piece of heaven inside his suffering body; in a hidden corner of his soul, he could at least think. He didn’t know for how long.

His next thought was of Athena. The woman he loved more than anything in this universe. She had given him his two sons, even though she had refused to raise them. Athena was a proud Olympian War General, and she had always put duty before anything else. Or so she had let transpire anyway. Menelas always suspected that she was more afraid of how Zeus would react to the idea of hybrid Olympian-Fury offspring rather than the duty-first excuse she served him when they discussed what would happen to the children once they were born.

Arakan had promised Menelas he would get her next, and he couldn’t let that happen. No matter what it took, no matter the amount of pain and suffering he would have to endure, he would stay alive, get out of this hellhole and make sure Athena wouldn’t get hurt.

Menelas felt that whatever respite he had bought inside his soul wouldn’t last for much longer. So, he thought of Laiyos once more. Focused all his attention on his child and tried with all his heart to send a message to him. He had no idea if that was even possible, but he had to try. Arakan had called his son Chase, so while he thought of him as Laiyos in his heart, he used his son’s new name in his desperate attempt to contact him.

Chase, if you can hear me, this is your father. Don’t come to Erevos; it’s a trap.

* * *

When Chase returned to their quarters, Sarah was sound asleep on their bed. He sat next to her and passed his hand affectionately through her hair.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She moaned and turned in the bed, now facing him.

Chase smiled and went to kiss her forehead. He didn’t realize she had felt his presence and when he tried to move away, she had her arms around his neck. She opened her eyes and smiled.

“Going somewhere, soldier?”

“Sorry, love. I didn’t mean to wake you. You looked so peaceful.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m glad you’re back. You’ve been going so many places lately. I seldom have any time to see you.”

Sarah brought Chase’s face closer to hers and kissed him passionately.

Chase lay on the bed next to her and held Sarah in his arms for what felt like an eternity. A perfect moment in time. Only minutes had passed, but the mere fact that for just that short amount of time he allowed himself to be in the moment, to exist only for the two of them, had allowed him to stretch the passing of time so it felt longer. And he needed her, he needed her warmth, her love and to feel her heart beat next to his.

Chase couldn’t remember the last time he had just let go of everything, his worries, his fears, his responsibilities.

“Are you alright?” inquired Sarah.

“I’m fine, love. In fact, right this minute I’m more than fine. This is perfect. I wish this moment would last forever.”

“Awww, you’re such a romantic.”

Chase smiled.

“You know,” Sarah continued. “Once we defeat the Furies, we’ll finally be able to just enjoy our lives; to be together, you, me and Chris.”

“I know. But first we have to deal with Arakan and his minions. Something tells me that whatever we’ve faced up until now was nothing compared to what awaits us next.”

“I don’t know about ‘nothing’, but I understand that you must be weary of fighting.”

“Not only fighting,” said Chase as a tear ran down his cheek. “But also of losing people close to me, to us.”

“I know. This is war, Chase. I know neither of us have asked for it, and I wish we could just turn back to the time where I was helping you discover Earth’s cuisine, on that wonderful night when Chris was conceived. Even though it had been a really hard time for my home world, things seemed so much simpler back then. I was in love with you, and I could feel your love as well. Not much else mattered back then.”

“Yes, our first date on Earth was perfect. I’ll cherish that memory forever.”

They merged as one into the night, and for almost an hour, the rest of the world didn’t exist, their problems faded into the void of space.

6

Argos deflected the incoming fireball with the back of his hand. It exploded on the force field surrounding the training cargo bay. He then thrust himself forward and unleashed a powerful kick that hit nothing but air.

Before he could turn around, Chris’ knee connected with his cheek and sent him crashing toward the nearest wall. Argos jumped back to his feet and wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth.

“You’re getting faster,” said Argos with a smile.

“Or you’re slowing down; you seem a little off. Are you sure you want to keep training?”

Argos had indeed been overthinking lately. He was surprised he mourned the loss of Zeus as much as he did. Perhaps because they hadn’t had as much interaction like Chase had. Part of Argos wished he had known his grandfather better before he fell in combat.

“Don’t worry about me, I can still kick your ass if I want to.”

“Then I suggest you try harder, because you’ve yet to deliver a single threatening blow today. Should I adjust the gravity to a lower setting?”

Argos knew his nephew meant well, but the angry feeling for revenge that was building up inside his soul didn’t help his overall mood. Still, Argos knew taking it out on Chase’s boy wouldn’t be fair.

“No, that’s alright. I’ll get my head back into the game.”

Chris tilted his head to the side.

“Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

“You’re kind, Chris, but I’m okay.”

“I can feel you’re not, so perhaps we should stop for now⁠—”

Argos threw himself at Chris and unleashed a series of combos that the boy dodged and blocked with great proficiency.

“Thank you,” said Argos simply, with a wink.

“Anytime, Uncle.”

Chris somersaulted over Argos and fired three green fireballs at him before landing. Argos deflected the first two and blocked the last one with his right hand. His aura cast crimson tones around him as his eyes flashed red. As his eyes glowed, the fireball he still held in his hand changed color slowly to a bloody red.

Argos fired it back at Chris and almost immediately disappeared from where he was standing. Chris tried blocking the fireball the same way Argos had a moment earlier but was surprised by how much more powerful the attack had on its way back. Chris skidded on the floor for a few yards before a flurry of other fireballs homed in on his position from all around him.

Chris expanded his aura at lightning speed, his eyes shining green in the process, as he crushed the fireball inside his hand. Before the next dozen fireballs impacted, he performed a rotating kick in the air and kept spinning faster and faster. The resulting hurricane kick deflected the incoming fireballs.

When the last attack had been deflected, Chris progressively spun slower. Argos could tell he was trying to re-establish contact with him, but the Fury was moving fast enough to always stay behind his nephew. When Chris landed on the ground, Argos made his move.

He plunged his knee toward Chris’ back, knowing full well Chris would see the attack coming a mile away. As predicted, Chris spun and slashed his foot in the air, trying to catch Argos in the face. But Argos spun on himself as he approached and countered Chris’ kick with his knee, something he could feel the boy didn’t expect. This gave Argos just the edge he needed to land a powerful elbow strike that impacted with Chris’ cheek and sent him crashing toward the nearest wall, illuminating the force field in the process.

Blood ran from Chris’ nose.

“Are you alright?” inquired Argos.

Chris smirked.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m glad to see you got your head back into our training session. Don’t stop now, and for the love of gods, don’t hold out so much; I’m not made of porcelain.”

Argos smiled as he extended an arm forward before unleashing a veritable cascade of fireballs toward his nephew.

* * *

When Chase and Sarah teleported to a majestic looking world, Sarah looked up into the purple tinged night sky and saw the alignment of planets.

“This place is beautiful; have you been here before?”

“You could say that. I— I kinda destroyed this place in a vision.”

“Ah…Is that the one you told me about, when you thought I had died in that vision?”

“Yes. Aphroditis wanted to warn me about what my anger could do if I ever lost control.”

Sarah sighed. “Why would you want to come back here of all places?”

“I wasn’t even sure this place existed. I wanted to know, and I’m feeling resistance moving forward, so I thought…”

“You’d face your fears?”

Chase nodded.

“Tell me how to help you, Chase,” said Sarah, leaning and gently kissing him.

“Bring clarity in the darkness where my thoughts are at the moment. I— I don’t know what to do. I mean, I know we must stop Arakan and every fiber of my being wants to destroy him, but⁠—”

“What, Chase? What is it you’re not willing to say out loud?”

Chase shook his head. “It’s my fault Zeus died. I rushed toward danger without even thinking that I was being played. That’s exactly what Arakan wanted, to distract us so he could take on Olympus.”

“Give yourself a break, Chase, there was no way for you to know that ahead of time. Just like there is no way for you to know what will happen next.”

“I don’t want to rush forward with my head down again and lose someone else.”

Sarah took Chase’s face in her hands and intensified her look.

“Chase, you’re not responsible for the well-being of everyone. This is war, and there will be casualties. I might be one of them in fact⁠—”

“No! Don’t say that. I won’t let that happen!”

“Chase, I know you will do everything in your power to protect me, Chris, and everyone else. But perhaps that refusal to accept what destiny throws at you is something you need to shed before we go into the final battle. You need to be prepared for whatever comes. Arakan killed Zeus and most of the Olympians. To think we can defeat him without incurring some sort of loss is irrational.”

Sarah could tell Chase reflected on her words as he looked toward the heavens just when a shooting star shot through the stillness of the night.

Then suddenly, Chase turned around.

“What is it?”

* * *

Chase’s heart pounded hard in his chest. It felt like it wanted to escape from his ribcage.

“What’s going on? What did you feel, Chase?” Sarah asked.

“Not felt…heard.”

“What did you hear?”

“My— My father…I think.”

Sarah eyes grew. “What did he say?”

“To not go there, that it’s a trap.”

“How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know, but I can communicate over long distances, perhaps so can he. In fact, perhaps I get that ability from him.”

“That makes sense. But why the rush to get away? Shouldn’t you heed his call?”

Little rocks lifted off the ground and gravitated around Chase, the ground started shaking, and the glow in his eyes cast purple hues around them.

“There’s nothing you can do from here,” said Sarah. “You should calm down.”

“I can’t— I—” but Chase couldn’t finish his sentence.

Sarah approached him, put her hands around him and held him close, resting her face on his tensed chest.

“That’s okay, Chase. You’re afraid. We all are; that’s part of being alive. We fear danger, we fear loss, and we fear death.”

“I can’t let any of my friends or family die anymore. I won’t.”

“Chase, listen to me, please. I can feel the turmoil in you right now, and this is the last thing you need before our next move. Second-guessing yourself and fearing moving forward may bring exactly what you fear the most. You need to regain control.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Of course you do, love. Just listen to your heart. Get out of your mind; get out of second-guessing yourself and wondering what you could have done differently. What’s done is done. As painful as it has been, forget the past and look forward now. We’re so close to ending this.”

Chase caressed Sarah’s vibrant crimson hair.

“How do you know this? I mean, that we’re close to the end.”

“I can feel it, can’t you?”

Chase wondered if that perhaps was the reason for his current agitated state of mind. Was the end drawing near? And why was that scaring him? Had battle and survival become the only thing he knew and felt comfortable with? Had risking their lives and fighting tough battles become a comfort zone for him? One that made him fear he could lose part of his identity once all of this was over? He wondered.

“I don’t know what I feel.”

But that wasn’t entirely true. A million painful flashes of indistinct scenes flashed inside his mind. Too fast to interpret their meaning, but they felt like the future, that much Chase was sure of. A cold, painful, and dark future.

* * *

Moments after Chase and Sarah boarded the Victory for the first time, a full-body holographic projection of Emperor Altair greeted them.

“Welcome aboard the Victory. I wish I was there in person to greet you and give you the tour.”

“That’s alright, Altair,” said Chase. “What’s your status?”

“We’re making good time toward the Gorgar home world, thanks to the Asgard assistance in opening one of their fast hyperspace windows for the fleet.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

Chase noticed Sarah wasn’t paying attention to their conversation but instead was inspecting the ship around her.

“Is everything okay, dear?” Chase asked.

Sarah turned around. “Oh, sorry. Hello, Emperor.”

“Captain Kepler, always a pleasure to see you. How do you like the Victory?”

Sarah beamed. “She’s as beautiful inside as she was from space when we approached the ship.”

“I’m surprised Chase took a transport shuttle to come aboard.”

“She’s a beautiful ship,” answered Chase. “I wanted to see more of her on our way.”

“Would you like me to provide a short tour of the main sections of the ship?” said the emperor’s holographic projection.

“That’s alright, I don’t want to take too much of your time. I can always ask Yanis later on. Though, I doubt we’ll have much time to do that. We’ll be on our way soon.”

The holographic projection took a bow. “Very well, Admiral.”

Chase shot a look toward Altair that conveyed how little he liked being called that.

“You’re in command of an entire Alliance,” said the emperor, “it’s best that I call you by your rank, at least in official meetings like this one.”

“Very well, Emperor.”

Altair smiled. “The rest of your officers await you in the main conference room, in your captain’s ready room next to the ship’s bridge. The computer will guide you there.”

Calming blue lights lit up the walls and floors and slightly pulsated to show Chase and Sarah the path.

“Thank you. I’ll talk with you soon when you arrive at your destination.”

“Very well, Admiral. Altair out.”

Sarah came next to Chase and put one hand on his shoulder.

“Are you alright, love? You seem preoccupied.”

Chase attempted to smile with only partial success.

“I’m okay, I— I wish we could take more time before going to Erevos, that’s all.”

“I know how you feel, but now that Argos has finished the Aphroditis clone, I think it’s time for you to go rescue both your aunt and your father. Don’t you?”

Chase absently nodded before they followed the illuminated path to their destination.

* * *

The blazing alarm got Spiros to jump out of bed in a hurry. Even though his mind hadn’t really woken up, he started running toward the lab where he was working on Gaia. His heart was beating strongly in his chest. He tried accessing diagnostics remotely before remembering that his new body didn’t have any of the old enhancements he had added when his previous one was old and frail.

I’m gonna have to work on some new implants. While I don’t require any motorized prosthetics anymore, I miss my brain implants.

The moment the lab doors split open and heavy smoke smashed into an unprepared Spiros, he knew that something had gone terribly wrong.

He quickly grabbed a breathing mask on his way inside the lab. The smoke was so thick he could barely see anything. His rapid heart rate kept pounding inside his chest and a sense of dread filled his entire soul. He hoped whatever had happened inside the lab didn’t affect Gaia. He couldn’t lose her, not after everything they had gone through. He pushed the dark thoughts away as he approached the nearest holo-console.

His hands quickly travelled through the muddied holo-controls as if he was possessed, trying to locate the reason for the smoke. He was also checking on the status of the pod where Gaia was since he was trying to stabilize her degrading code.

Soon, he had located the reason for the malfunction, and it was a good news-bad news kinda situation. Gaia’s pod was still in the green but the cloning pod, the one where he was building himself a new body, hadn’t been so lucky. The coolant system had breached, and the pod had taken fire. Fortunately, the automatic fire suppression system had managed to kill the fire, but the clone inside the pod had suffered irreparable damage.

Great, just great!

He keyed more commands and the smoke was siphoned out of the lab in less than a minute. When an atmospheric control light on his holo-console turned back to green, he took off the mask and sighed.

He would now have to start the entire procedure of cloning a new body from scratch; instead of just finishing the template Argos had provided him. Through Chase and that mental link, Argos had provided Spiros with all the knowledge required for such a task. But he feared he might not have enough time to both work on that and keep Gaia’s code healthy. Not with such painfully slow IO inputs, like touching controls on holo-consoles instead of just thinking what he needed to do and have his implant translate that into an actionable code.

That meant only one thing; he had to find a way to be more efficient or decide whether to prioritize either task over the other, none of which were an option. He couldn’t just ignore his already decaying clone body for much longer, nor could he ignore tending to Gaia’s code. The risk of losing her matrix was too high if he diverted his attention too long. And while he’d rather save Gaia and perish, he knew she wouldn’t have wanted that, and she would never forgive him for doing so.

Looks like I’ll need to get a new implant inside my brain faster than I thought.

7

When Chase and Sarah entered the captain’s ready room, they were both baffled by its size. Though, Chase knew he shouldn’t be surprised as the Victory was so much bigger than any of the other ships he had commanded up until now.

Shortly after Chase and Sarah entered the room, everyone at the table rose. Chase had summoned everyone he trusted. Daniel, Athena, Argos, Oryn, Chris, Kvasir, Yanis and Thor.

“As you were,” said Chase casually. “Please,” he added, gesturing them to sit back down as he and Sarah came to sit at the large table.

“Thank you for coming under such short notice,” he said. “As you know, we have a necessary but crucial mission ahead of us. We must rescue Aphroditis from the machine, as well as locate my father and get him out of there alive, so he can provide us with the location of the soul ships. We need the soul ships in order to destroy the Furies once and for all. And, if that wasn’t enough, we also need to provide Kvasir with enough time so that he can reprogram the machine in order for it to work the way it was intended, when it was first constructed ten thousand years ago.”

Both Kvasir’s and Thor’s tattoos blinked in concert, as if in sync.

“Kvasir,” said Chase. “Can you do this from a distance? Say from orbit?”

Before Kvasir could answer, Argos cut in. “Aren’t we just teleporting in?”

That was a valid question, but Chase’s instinct told him he should avoid this course of action. He had particularly noticed this in his last long-range back and forth teleporting session with Oryn on Erevos.

“I have noticed a serious drop of energy when I teleport over long distances. Something tells me I’ll need all my power focused on this mission. Therefore, with Thor’s permission, I’d rather he helped us jump into the heart of Fury space with the Victory and a few accompanying ships, should we encounter resistance. At the same time an away team that I will lead will go down to the planet and take care of the multiple objectives that we need to achieve simultaneously.”

“This will attract a lot of attention,” commented Oryn.

“I’m aware of that, but we need a ship nearby. I don’t want to be in a position where I might need to teleport us all away from there and be unable to do so because I lack the energy.”

Oryn nodded, even though Chase could tell she wasn’t exactly thrilled about this part of the plan.

Chase gestured toward Kvasir. “So, back to my original question. Can you get the machine reprogrammed from orbit?”

“It’s difficult to say,” said Kvasir. “I’d rather be on the planet and in close proximity, especially from what you’ve told me earlier. The weather conditions on the planet’s surface might actually make a stable connection hard to establish. The last thing we want is for my work to be randomly interrupted from weather interference; if that happens at the wrong time, the machine could be damaged or worse, its occupant killed.”

“I second that,” said Argos. “The surface of Erevos is one of the harshest environments you’ll find in the entire universe. Fury tech is constructed to bypass the interference created by the multiple sand and thunderstorms emanating from our world, but for such a delicate task, Kvasir will probably have to be in close contact with the machine.”

Chase could tell from the speed at which their tattoos flashed that that didn’t exactly enchant either Kvasir or Thor. Chase wasn’t thrilled with the idea either. That would make one more life to worry about; one more body to protect.

“I guess you’re part of that away team, then,” said Chase in a resigned tone.

Kvasir’s tattoos muted slightly as he nodded in agreement.

“We would gladly send more Asgardian destroyers to this small fleet of yours,” said Thor. “But⁠—”

“That’s alright, I understand you guys lost a lot of ships in the last battle,” answered Chase. “Your assistance in opening a fast travel hyperspace window is already highly appreciated.”

Thor’s facial tattoos flashed once brightly before fading almost completely out.

“Still, you’ve saved my father’s life and saved Asgard at great personal loss no less. I wish we could provide what ships we have left. But Odin feels we need to keep the remainder of the fleet in orbit around Asgard for the time being.”

Chase was not doubting Thor’s honesty in the matter, but like Odin, he also preferred that the Asgardians had some forces to defend themselves should Arakan throw them another curveball and come back to finish what he had started.

“Fret not, Thor. I’m hoping even the few Earth Alliance ships we take along won’t have to fight during this mission. We’ll try to get in and out of Erevos as fast as humanly possible.”

“I’m afraid,” interjected Oryn, “that it might not be that simple. There are simply too many unknown variables in this plan to guarantee that everything will fall into place. We don’t know how long it will take to rescue both targets, nor how much time it will take Kvasir to reprogram the machine.”

“I concur,” confirmed Argos. “But that won’t stop us from doing what needs to be done. By the way, I think you’ll all want to see this,” he added before getting up and pressing a button on his wrist device.

The doors of the captain’s ready room split open and Chase thought he was hallucinating as Aphroditis entered. All eyes were drawn to her. With the initial surprise gone, Chase realized he wasn’t looking at his aunt but at Ares controlling her cloned body.

“I know this must sound weird,” said Ares with Aphroditis’ sweet female voice, “but it’s weird for me as well, so bear with me.”

Chase gestured Ares to sit at the table with the rest of them. Ares complied.

“Good job, Argos. This was the one crucial point for this plan to work. I’m glad you managed to create the clone so fast. I take it it’s a fully grown one that’s ready to fulfill what we need it to?”

Argos cleared his throat, which Chase knew was not a good omen.

“It is an accomplished clone, but I cannot guarantee that it will survive the treatment the machine does to it over an extended period of time. I’ve run simulations based on the scans I had taken of Aphroditis shortly after she entered the machine, and while I can guarantee that the clone body should be able to survive for a few weeks, I have no idea if it can last any longer.”

Chase sighed. That’s not what he wanted to hear.

“Well, then it just means we’ll have to finish off the Furies in that period of time,” said Chris, obviously trying to defuse some of the tension he was feeling in the room.

While Chase mirrored his son’s sentiment, he also knew that they couldn’t predict how long it would take from the moment they rescued Aphroditis and Menelas to the moment of the final strike upon Erevos.

Chase rose and felt everyone’s gaze fall upon him.

“Now, one more thing. I don’t want us to take any unnecessary risks.”

Is that wise? asked Sarah telepathically. We might not have a choice but to go all in.

I agree with Sarah, added Argos.

So do I, echoed Chris.

Chase was surprised Oryn hadn’t added an additional layer of comment as well. But perhaps she didn’t need to; he could see it in her eyes. She would do whatever it took to try and bring Arakan down, whether Chase agreed or not with this course of action.

“For those of us who don’t speak telepathically,” said Daniel, “Mind sharing with the rest of us?”

Chase was surprised at Daniel, but then again his best friend knew him well enough to interpret his facial expressions and demeanor.

“About Arakan…” said Chase tentatively.

“He dies today,” cut in Oryn.

Chase flinched.

“That is not the primary objective of this mission.”

“It is mine,” she spat back.

“Not if you want to be a part of it! I have no problem leaving you behind on this one if we don’t all agree on one thing right here and right now.”

Her eyes flashed like diamond dust and the temperature in the room suddenly dropped a few degrees.

“And what would that be?” she answered as calmly as she could under the circumstances.

“Nobody takes on Arakan alone. We do this fight as a unit or not at all. I know you all want your pound of flesh, gods know I want to kill him myself as well.”

Oryn nearly jumped back up into a standing position, and she succeeded in getting everyone’s attention.

“Let’s make one thing clear! Arakan is mine! If any of you try to prevent me from killing him, I will kill you.”

“There’s no need for any of that,” said Chase in vain before a cacophony of overlapping and disagreeing voices took over his captain’s ready room.

* * *

Spiros felt increasing pressure from lack of sleep as he pushed forward doing several things at once. Developing the neuronal interface chip with the rudimentary nanite capabilities of Argos’ cloning facility was not an easy task. That, coupled with the fact that he didn’t have access to the tools he was used to, made the learning curve tedious and sometimes even frustrating.

All the while, he had to keep an eye on Gaia’s decaying algorithm and make sure that he adjusted his data recovery function at a moment's notice. The last alert, nearly an hour ago, had taken him by surprise, as he didn’t expect her code to react the way it did to his previous attempts at correcting the data corruption. That’s why it was crucial for him to be able to keep an eye on multiple things at once; something that he could hardly do without the piece of tech he was working on now.

He knew he couldn’t fail in his tasks, not if he ever wanted to hold Gaia in his arms and finally be able to look into her eyes. The prospect of her being able to have a human body, even a cloned one like his, was both overwhelming and exciting. But in moments like these, he wished he wasn’t alone to work on this task. While he was used to working on his own from his lonely time on Damocles-3, he had to admit he was missing human contact.

He could always give Cedric a call. He had, in fact, hesitated doing so multiple times, but he also knew that his friend was hard at work trying to figure out the white hole solution to the upgraded training center, and it felt wrong to divert Cedric’s attention away from that monumental task. Spiros had managed to review his friend’s code and help him optimize power node efficiency, something that was paramount for the success of what Cedric was attempting to do. He wished he could have done more, but he had his own problems to deal with now.

A quick succession of bleeps took Spiros out of his current train of thoughts to inform him that the chip was ready inside the rudimentary matter converter available in the lab. He would need to launch another battery of tests and simulation on the device before he allowed nanites to place the device inside his skull and make the final neuronal connections necessary for his brain and the tech to function as one.

For a brief moment he hesitated to just go ahead and trust that he hadn’t made a mistake in designing the device from the memories he had of the prototype he and Gaia had worked on together. When her code had been scrambled, he had lost access to these schematics, however, and had to recreate most of the device from scratch this time around. He knew full well the model they had worked on together was more advanced, especially the storage chips Gaia had designed. Her proposed designs were more power efficient and infinitely faster, too. But right now, he had to work with what this facility provided as well as his own knowledge limitations.

Spiros took the chip in his hand. It was barely larger than the head of a pin. Even though he wanted to stick it in his brain now so he could optimize his workflow sooner, he also knew that Gaia’s life was in his hands, and that he needed to double or even triple check the device before activating it.

He stuck the device under a scanner and started launching validation protocol simulations. These would take a little while, during which time he could focus on trying one more function to stabilize Gaia’s code. The moment small yellow waves of lasers scanned the device at rapid intervals, he got up and stepped in front of the cloning pod that contained the body that would soon become Gaia. The body was inert, and tears formed around Spiros’ eyes upon seeing the beautiful face of the avatar Gaia had chosen for herself when she first appeared to him inside the holographic communicator.

I won’t stop until you’re safely inside that body. I promise. Nothing will stop me from achieving that goal.

As if a response from the universe, the entire facility trembled as a nearby explosion detonated loudly.

Now what?!

* * *

When nobody answered, Keera entered Tar’Lock and Ryonna’s quarters on board the emperor’s ship. She found a sleeping and snoring Tar’Lock on the floor. She wondered why he wasn’t on his bed or if perhaps Ryonna had yet again lost patience with the little guy. The Gorgar snore was hilarious, especially the series of random pitched clicking sounds he emitted upon exhaling.

Keera decided to put Tar’Lock back into one of the bunk beds, so she carefully lifted the Gorgar who was way heavier than she thought he would be. She was delicately laying his body on the nearest bunk bed when he blinked his eyes open.

After a succession of alarming clicking sounds, Tar’Lock asked, “What have I missed? Why am I in your arms?”

“I found you sleeping on the ground when I came in. Didn’t you hear me ring a couple of times?”

“On the ground? Not again! I must have fallen from the top bunk bed,” said Tar’Lock. “That’s the third time since we were given these quarters.”

“Why don’t you sleep in the lower one, then?”

“That’s Ryonna’s bed.”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind switching with you.”

Even though she was no expert at interpreting Gorgar clicking communication language, she didn’t need to be to understand what hid behind Tar’Lock’s next series of clicks.

“Say no more,” she said with a smile. “Where’s Ryonna?”

“She said something about going to train on Deck Five.”

“What’s on Deck Five?”

“Holo-rooms.”

Keera had heard of holo-rooms but never seen one with her own eyes. They used holographic projectors and beaming technology to provide a simulated environment that felt incredibly real. Many people in the universe would travel to Obsidian space to have simulated holidays or adventures of all kinds. Keera always wanted to try one, and she had no idea that there was one on board the emperor’s ship.

“I’m going to try and find her,” said Keera. “Wanna come with?”

“She said she wanted to be alone,” said Tar’Lock with no absence of sadness in his tone.

“I’m sure she just needed to blow some steam; she’d be happy to see us.”

Tar’Lock’s entire face lit-up and he jumped away from the bed so fast that Keera thought he vanished out of thin air. When she turned around, the insectoid was waiting impatiently by the door.

A few minutes later, and having asked two different crewmen how to locate Ryonna, they finally arrived at Holo-room Two. Keera put her palm on the holo-control console and got a strongly negative sounding bleep in return. A red message flashed at her. It was in Obsidian language.

“Computer, translate,” she inquired.

“Safety protocols for this holo-room have been deactivated. The computer cannot guarantee your safety if you enter the room. Please confirm.”

“Confirmed,” she said without hesitation.

“Is that wise?” asked Tar’Lock.

“I guess we’re about to find out.”

The doors for the holo-room split open and they stepped into a darkly lit corridor with red LEDs guiding them toward the center of a large empty room.

“She doesn’t seem to be here,” said Tar’Lock.

“I think this is just the way to enter the holo-simulation.”

Tar’Lock clicked nervously.

“Rejoining running simulation in three, two, one.” The entire room flashed brightly for a split second, and before they realized, they both felt a wave of intense heat wash over their faces as rolling flames were hurling toward them.

8

Chase became exasperated with the overlap of complaining in the ready room.

“Silence!” he shouted.

That seemed to get everyone’s attention, and the noise level in the room fell back to near absolute silence.

“Let’s try and keep our heads cool; this is not the time for arguing about what needs to be done. We need to stay laser focused on the tasks ahead. Oryn, you’ll either not defy my orders or you stay behind.”

It looked like she would argue but Chase cut her off with a swift move of his hand in the air. “Those are my terms. If you want to be part of this mission, you’ll follow my lead and accept that I’m the one giving the orders. If not, then you can leave this room now; we won’t take you with us on this mission.”

“Very well,” she conceded. “I’ll obey your orders.”

“And, so there’s no doubts about this, nobody, and I mean nobody engages Arakan on their own. We fight him as a team, and we do everything we can to avoid being badly wounded. As most of you know already, Arakan has either developed or has been granted a new power that cancels Fury healing abilities. Which is why I don’t want any of us to take unnecessary risks, since that could mean a once easily healable wound could turn into a mortal one in combat. Because of that, I want all of us on our toes, making sure we don’t rush blindly toward danger should we have to engage him. I cannot stress this enough, the number one priority is to get Aphroditis and Menelas back. In fact, I’m hoping we can do that before Arakan returns to Erevos.”

Oryn shook her head.

We’ll have plenty of time to get him later, once we are in possession of the soul ship, said Chase directly into her mind.

Whatever.

Oryn, please. You had given me your word you’d abide by my rules.

Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Fair enough.

Chase could sense she was utterly pissed off about it, but she’d get over it, eventually.

“We’ll abide by your wishes,” said Argos, to make sure everyone was on the same page.

Chase was thankful to his brother for doing that. If once mortal enemies could now agree on things, it hopefully would send a powerful message of unity to everyone else. Chase was counting on it. Though he knew very well that Oryn was the only wild card at this table.

“Chase,” said Thor who had remained silent. “What about me? I would like to accompany you to the surface of Erevos, if that’s alright?”

Chase hadn’t thought about Thor’s role beyond providing them with a ship capable of opening their ultra FTL corridors. He also didn’t expect Thor himself to volunteer.

“Are you sure you’d like to be part of the away team, Thor? This is our mission.”

“Well, Admiral, with all due respect, and as the newest member race of the Earth Alliance, it’s only normal that we provide assistance when you require it. And on a more personal note, Arakan has tried to destroy my world and have my father assassinated, so I’ll support and volunteer with any mission to bring him and the rest of the Furies down. Plus, it seems to me that the supreme commander is a formidable foe, and you’ll need all the help you can get.”

Chase could feel Thor had used his rank to make his invitation to join the away team more official.

“Thank you, Thor,” said Chase with a smile. “Your assistance is highly appreciated.”

Argos nodded toward Thor to show his own appreciation.

“Now, let’s discuss the rest of you,” said Chase looking toward Daniel, Athena and Yanis, and quickly giving Sarah a look as well. “Your mission is to repel whatever Arakan or his forces throw at us from space. Sarah will captain the Victory in my absence, and I count on you,” said Chase locking his gaze on Yanis, “to assist her with the capability of this new ship. As time is of the essence, we won’t be able to do a test run.”

“Absolutely, boss,” answered Yanis with a wink. “My ship is ready for whatever the Furies throw at us. She doesn’t need a test run.”

“Your ship?” said Chase, raising an eyebrow.

“You know what I mean. But while we’re discussing the Victory, may I ask something to the Asgardian people,” said Yanis drifting his gaze toward Thor.

“I’m listening.”

“We really could use faster FTL engines, and none rival yours. Now that you are part of the Alliance, is there any chance we could study your technology? We were also mightily impressed with the cutting laser weapons you used against the Gaia 2 monster of a ship.”

Thor’s tattoos pulsated as if they were breathing.

“Consider it done. I’ll grant Kvasir the access codes necessary so that the two of you can download the schematics from our own ships.”

Chase could tell from the sparkle in Yanis’ eyes that he was super excited about the prospect to get his engineer hands on Asgardian tech.

“Thank you so very much, Thor— I mean Fleet Commander,” Yanis corrected himself.

“Thor is fine; you’re perfectly welcome, Chief.”

Yanis gave Thor a casual two-finger salute of appreciation.

Chase got up and walked toward the viewport before turning back to the table.

“This mission is paramount to not only our survival but also the rest of the universe. We cannot fail, and we won’t.”

Athena, who hadn’t said a single word until then, got up as well.

“If I may?”

“Please,” acquiesced Chase.

“I just want to thank each and every one of you for your courage and loyalty. To my son, as well as the Earth Alliance. I know this has been a long and difficult journey for most of you but I want to warn you that the days ahead might be the most difficult to come. I know you’ll perform above and beyond expectations and that you’ll not hesitate to do whatever it takes to achieve our shared goal; the destruction of the Furies. I hope to see you all and celebrate when that day does come, even though it’s entirely possible that we won’t all make it through the trials ahead.”

What are you doing, Mother?

What you needed to address but preferred to avoid.

Chase flinched.

I agree with Athena, said Argos. They need to hear this. We all do.

Very well, answered Chase, resigned.

Athena took a few more steps around the room before continuing.

“War is never easy. I’ve waged it so many times before. Including ten thousand years ago when we first battled the Furies. We should have destroyed them then and there, and I’m sorry we didn’t and that the now younger races must suffer from that failing on our part. Olympus has paid a steep price for that mistake. And I want you to keep that in mind and understand why I’m telling you all of this now. We are, in all likelihood, going to face the most terrible battle that any of us has ever witnessed, participated in or simply heard of. We may not survive what’s ahead but it’s important that we give everything we have to make sure the terrible Fury scourge is dealt with in order for our children and their children to be safe for eons to come. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but I ask anyway. Do whatever is within your powers to make sure we do not fail. My sister has seen a glimpse of the future where the Furies win. Trust me, we don’t want this to ever happen, even though we’d all probably be dead if such a future came to pass. But I have trust in each and every one of you, and I know that together, giving it everything we have, and without hesitation, we can prevail.”

Chase was touched by her words, and even though he would have preferred not having to say this to the people he loved, internally he was grateful that his mother had stepped up and expressed her thoughts. Chase hoped that they would all survive what was to come, but he knew it was unlikely. The thought scared him, but he decided that even though he still didn’t believe in destiny per se, he would let it unfold, as it should. He prayed he could live with the consequences should things not go as he hoped.

* * *

The excruciating pain that Menelas was currently under was beyond anything he thought a living body could endure and stay alive. It defied the imagination and as more time passed, the more his will to live diminished. But he would not let go. He wouldn’t give Arakan that pleasure, not when there was a chance, no matter how slim, that he could meet his children and hold Athena, the love of his life, back in his arms. Even if for just a moment, that would be worth all the pain and suffering he felt now and then some.

Part of him hoped that his children wouldn’t come, as they could be killed trying to rescue him. But part of his psyche hoped they’d find a way. It didn’t seem likely that he could get himself out of his current predicament, especially with his energy pool draining more and more every second.

Projecting the mental image of Athena was the only thing keeping Menelas from losing consciousness. Remembering their time together during the first Fury War, how they met and fell in love, against all odds, their races being mortal enemies.

For a second Menelas thought he heard a voice.

I’m coming for you. We’ll get you out of there.

Was his chaotic mind imagining what he hoped to hear, or had his son, Laiyos, answered him. He wondered. It mattered not, even though he didn’t want his sons to risk their lives to rescue him. Perhaps they were also coming to help Aphroditis. If Athena was still alive and had made contact with their children, he had no doubt that they’d do everything they could to try and save her as well.

Suddenly, he felt a warming presence, and while it was wordless, it still spoke to his heart; encouraging him to keep fighting.

Menelas decided that he shouldn’t just try to survive the deadly current running through his body but should try to do something about it. He attempted to open his eyes but they remained closed, the amount of electricity running through his body simply too intense for him to make use of his muscles.

Use your inner sense, heard Menelas inside his mind.

Menelas tried bringing his mind from chaos and pain to peace, just for a moment, so he could send his consciousness outside of his body to probe for the weapon that was currently killing him little by little. After a few moments, he could detect that both his hands were the entry points for the current running through his body.

If only he could use the electricity to his advantage, maybe he could short the weapon that was trying to kill him with every breath he took. He needed to bring both his hands together, but not being able to open his eyes didn’t bode well for him to even manage to move his arms and join his hands.

Let the energy flow through you, use it.

Was that Aphroditis? He couldn’t tell; he wasn’t even sure if he heard words or just imagined them. But Menelas decided it didn’t matter. He had very little to lose at this point. He wondered how he could let the energy flow through him though. Did he have to stop resisting? Wouldn’t that kill him?

Trust your instincts.

He was probably going mad and hearing voices that weren’t there. A side effect from the pain, he decided. But part of him wanted to let go, he just didn’t want to give Arakan the satisfaction of dying, not before he could fight him once more. Still, the more he resisted, the worse it hurt. Perhaps letting go was the answer.

Here goes nothing.

For just a second, Menelas didn’t try to resist the electricity coursing through his body, and the most amazing thing happened. The unbearable pain disappeared and he felt as if he could use the power that was now flowing through him. He let it flow within and as seconds passed, he could feel his own energy grow at a tremendous pace, as if he was being healed by the current, which made no sense. But the sensation was intoxicating and even pleasurable.

With his ability to think restored, he remembered Arakan’s face and his defiance moments before the madman had activated the weapon that had been torturing Menelas for god knows how long now. He also remembered the supreme commander’s threat of cutting Athena’s head off and that brought rage and fury inside Menelas’ heart.

When he opened his eyes, electrical arcs shot from them, while his rage took proportions he didn’t understand nor care to fathom. He could feel sensation in his body again and decided that it was time to break free.

With an inhuman roar that made the walls around him tremble, Menelas focused all his strength into both his arms. His biceps nearly doubled in size as large veins appeared on the surface of his muscles as well as on his temples. With gritted teeth, he focused on the hatred he harbored for Arakan and started moving his hands closer together. Lightning bolts of electricity started shooting from one hand to the other as he continued to bring them closer and closer.

Almost there.

His hands were only an inch away now, but it was getting harder and harder to bring them together. Menelas closed his eyes again and focused all his might on the one and only task at hand. Before he knew it, his fingers touched. Inside his body he felt the current explode in every direction and when he opened his eyes again, lightning bolts of electricity were shooting around the room, some scorching the walls while others were being diffused by the cell’s impenetrable force field. Menelas pressed more until his palms joined together fully. The result was explosive and the emitters that were firing the beams at him exploded on the spot.

The pain feedback was also very intense and for a second, Menelas thought he would lose consciousness. When he looked at his palms, they had been burned to a crisp. Menelas used his own energy to start healing the burns but before he was fully done he felt three projectiles hit his chest.

Looking down he saw three darts planted near his sternum.

Son of a bit⁠—

But Menelas never finished his thought and collapsed on the floor of his cell.

* * *

Arakan’s wrist remote control and holo-device started vibrating, unpleasantly ripping him out of his slumber. It took a couple of seconds for his brain to remember where he was. He was still onboard the ship he had taken to go destroy Zeus and Olympus.

I think there’s something wrong back on your planet, said the shadow.

Arakan didn’t bother answering and checked the holo-alert instead. His now mind-buddy was right. An alert came from the palace’s dungeon. Were Chase and his friends already there? That was a possibility. But the alert was reporting that the electro-cannons had malfunctioned and been destroyed.

If this Menelas is as resilient as his son Chase, you may want to stop playing games with him and just kill him already.

While Arakan knew that the shadow was providing good council, he still didn’t like being told what to do.

Perhaps, but I’ve designed that cell myself. Menelas isn’t going anywhere.

What about just detonating the cell and be done with him altogether?

Because I may need to use Menelas to draw out Chase, Argos and his friends, that’s why.

I think after killing Zeus, you don’t need Menelas to do that; they’ll be coming, and soon.

When I have confirmation of this, I can release Menelas from his torment. But, not before.

We both know that’s a lie. You enjoy having this power over him. You enjoy being able to talk to him and put him down. And while this is your choice, and I will respect it, this serves little to no purpose and you know it.

Was Arakan just enjoying tormenting Menelas? He wondered. During the long torture sessions he had inflicted upon his once right arm, Arakan had felt that Menelas hadn’t told him everything about his betrayal. A piece of the puzzle was missing, and his instinct told him that this piece of information was important.

Be that as it may, added the shadow. What if that piece of information is more important to your enemies than it is to you?

Arakan had thought about it, but still didn’t like the idea of just killing Menelas without knowing what it was he was still hiding from him. Even though he half expected him to succumb to the electro-cannons. His wrist holo-device had confirmed that the secondary protocol had been deployed successfully, and that meant Menelas had been successfully incapacitated and currently in a deep sleep state.

I wonder why I bother telling you these things, added the shadow.

If you wonder, then perhaps you should stop altogether. While I welcome your council, I don’t like my every decision questioned.

Very well. I’ll let you deal with this how you see fit, for now.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

But the shadow didn’t answer, and in fact, Arakan couldn’t feel its presence anymore inside his mind.

Finally, some alone time. About fucking time.

9

Tar’Lock reacted instantly. He grabbed Keera and ran out of the way of the incoming fireball that would have incinerated them both.

“What the hell?” exclaimed Keera.

Tar’Lock clicked nervously, pointing toward where the fireball had appeared. Keera turned around to look where Tar’Lock pointed and was terrified by what she saw. A Kyrian dragon, flapping his wings, hovered over a throne made of skulls. On the throne sat none other than Argos himself, smirking. The dragon’s eyes flashed red before flying down and landing its large clawed feet at the top of the skull throne.

“Kill her,” Argos said, pointing a finger forward. Keera’s eyes followed his finger and saw Ryonna standing there, with her silvery blade drawn and drenched in blood. A couple of Zarlack lizard-men were decapitated around her.

“What the hell is she doing?” said Keera.

“Blowing off some steam, I’d say,” answered Tar’Lock.

“With the safety protocols off? Is she insane?”

“Well, you know her; if it’s not at least a bit of a challenge, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy herself.”

Before Keera could rebut Tar’Lock’s casual answer, five Zarlacks threw themselves at Ryonna, determined to turn her into a corpse.

“We gotta help her,” exclaimed Keera.

“I don’t think that’s wise; she’ll kick both our butts if we try. I’ll keep an eye on the fight and intervene if needed.”

The first and largest of the Zarlacks was nearly upon Ryonna when she flexed her knees and gracefully somersaulted over her foe. Before the warrior could react, she had already thrust her long thin blade through the back of his neck. Her purple blood-drenched blade emerged from the warrior’s mouth, a look of shock permeating through his scaly face. Making sure to finish the job, Ryonna thrust the blade upward, effectively splitting the top half of the Zarlack’s head in two. Purple blood sprayed all over Ryonna’s face, making her appear as if she wore war paint markings. A drop ran near the corner of her mouth, she licked it and spat it on the ground.

“Told you she doesn’t need our help,” said Tar’Lock, with a series of joyfully admiring clicks in tow.

“There are still four incoming and Argos up there.”

“Just watch and enjoy the show.”

Keera didn’t like the idea of Ryonna taking unnecessary risks, even though she understood her friend’s need to blow off some steam. Fighting so many opponents, coupled with a dragon, seemed simply and purely reckless, especially with the holo-room safety features turned off. Just to be on the safe side, Keera left a hand on her blaster. If needed, she would intervene; no matter how much that could anger Ryonna.

Before the next two Zarlacks arrived near Ryonna, she threw her blade upward causing it to spin in the air and grabbed the already dead Zarlack by the tail. She swung his massive corpse toward the two warriors almost upon her, hitting them both and sending them crashing to the ground. She released the lizard’s tail, and the Zarlack unceremoniously kept rolling on his side, spilling more viscous purple blood on the ground.

She then leaped forward and stopped in front of the two temporarily downed lizards. One of them flailed his tail at Ryonna’s face, but she grabbed it just before it impacted. Her eyes ignited with a furious fire. She rewarded the lizard with a powerful kick to the throat, successfully preventing him from getting back on his feet.

Ignoring his painful screech, she raised her free hand, opened her palm, and intercepted her blade on its way down. She spun the blade one more time and severed the immobilized Zarlack’s tail, getting another moan out of the warrior. Then just as the second Zarlack was getting back on his feet, she beheaded him with a swift and lightning fast three-sixty turn upon herself, guaranteeing her blade had enough velocity to cut through the beast’s thick scaly neck. Its head fell on the ground and rebounded a couple of times, making squishy sounds.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” said Keera.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” protested Tar’Lock. “They are just holograms.”

Keera was surprised that the gore suddenly gave her a weird kind of tingling. Is the image of Ryonna cutting lizards one after another turning me on? she wondered.

The previously immobilized Zarlack jumped back to its feet, screaming in anger at the top of his lungs. Before he could make his move, Ryonna was upon him and shoved a sonic grenade in his mouth. With a large smirk on her face, she launched him away from her with a powerful kick from the sole of her battle boots straight to the Zarlack’s sternum. Before he even hit the ground, his head exploded like a watermelon.

That seemed to give the other two Zarlacks pause, which was just what Ryonna needed. She quickly drew her blaster, aimed at the lizards’ feet, and produced two successive and precise shots in lasso mode. Taken by surprise and stunned that they couldn’t move, they both stumbled and fell forward. Ryonna changed her weapon-firing mode from lasso to maximum charged shot. She lined up her sights on the head of the first Zarlack, and while her blaster charged a super powerful shot, she grabbed another sonic grenade, activated it and threw it at the exact moment the blaster fired.

The shot burned through the skull and brain of the first foe while the second one tried to get back up. He struggled with her lasso energy beam still restricting and binding his feet together. The more he tried getting free of it, the stronger it constricted him. When the sonic grenade rebounded in front of him, he switched his attention to the sphere-shaped device, but it exploded a split second later, taking off half his face.

“Wow,” said Keera.

But when Tar’Lock’s mostly cheerful clicking turned to a somber tone, Keera looked toward the throne and saw Argos rise.

Argos clapped his hands appreciatively.

“Impressive work for a Droxian,” said Argos with a leer. “Now let’s see what you can do with a different kind of beast.”

Argos’ eyes flashed red, and the Kyrian dragon flew from the throne and landed about twenty yards from Ryonna’s position. Upon landing, the ground shook. The dragon’s eyes flashed red also as if controlled by Argos. It unleashed a terrible roar that echoed around them.

* * *

When Spiros arrived at storage bay three, the source of the explosion, he was unable to gain entrance until the automatic fire suppression system had finished extinguishing the fire and venting the toxic smoke from the large room. While the life support system was siphoning out the smoke, Spiros brought up the holo-panel next to the blast doors and checked on the inventory of the room. He had only come here once since he had arrived at Argos’ secret lab, but somehow it felt familiar, and he was dreading what sort of content had been lost in the explosion.

He scrolled a list of possible unimportant items on the holo-interface until his eyes caught a crucial item.

“Cloning Biomass - Section 8, row 15.”

Spiros swallowed hard. With his replacement clone destroyed, he would need the biomass to start growing another one, and time was of the essence. Soon after his discovery, the blast doors whined open with some difficulty, which didn’t bode well for what was inside the storage bay.

He rushed to section 8. As he approached it, the state of the storage looked worse than what he anticipated. He could barely read the number 8 from the aisle where the biomass had been stored. A large amount of fire-extinguishing solid foam had crystallized over what was left of the rubble.

Shit. Now I’m really in trouble.

“Computer, where are the spare cloning pods located?”

“Storage bay five,” answered a cold and synthetic male computer voice.

I miss Gaia’s sweet voice.

“Status of storage bay five? Was it damaged in the blast?”

“Negative; storage bay five is operating within normal parameters.”

“At least there’s that,” said Spiros out loud.

“Computer, are there more cloning biomass in other storage bays?”

“Negative.”

Of course not. What is it the humans of Earth love to say? Murphy’s Law.

A sense of dread started taking over Spiros’ thoughts, and he could feel his stress elevate by the minute. Without a new clone he would lack the necessary time to fix Gaia, and even if he managed to install the neuronal implant and somehow that allowed him to stabilize Gaia’s code before his temporary clone expired, he would perish shortly after.

He needed to find a solution. While Spiros was a proud man that didn’t like asking others for help, he no longer was in a position to try and fix everything himself, and he found himself regretting refusing Cedric’s offer to join him. But it was done, and thankfully with the help of the super-fast FTL engines of their new allies, the Asgardians, he could get the biomass he needed in time.

“Computer, open a subspace channel to the Hope.”

An unpleasant beep resonated before the computer spoke.

“Subspace communication offline.”

“Why?”

“Subspace antenna has been destroyed.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me!!”

* * *

When Daniel entered the sports and recreation room on deck seven of the Victory, he noticed Chase diving into the pool. Daniel thought Chase looked quite concerned. He crouched by the pool and gestured to his best friend.

“Hey, Chase, enjoying a late-night swim?”

“Just trying to relax; water usually helps, but I guess not tonight.”

“You do seem quite concerned lately. Anything you want to talk about? Maybe getting it off your chest will help you relax.”

Chase pondered the question for a moment.

“There are just too many things happening at the same time, really.”

But Daniel didn’t buy it. He knew Chase better than that.

“Come on, that can’t be it. Something else is troubling you, I can tell.”

Chase swam nearer to his friend and put both his elbows on the side of the pool edge.

“I’m a little disappointed with, well, with some people.”

“Let me guess, Oryn?”

“To tell you the truth, I am sad that she is so aggressive and laser-focused on revenge⁠—”

“Yet, that’s something you should be able to understand and even relate to.”

“Well, if you had let me finish⁠—”

Daniel smiled. “My bad; go ahead, buddy.”

“I wanted to say that, indeed, I know how she is feeling, and losing her father so suddenly after learning of his existence, that must sting. Her entire life has been turned upside down in a very short amount of time.”

“Again, something you know about very well.”

Chase nodded.

“Then,” Daniel continued, “Who else has been a disappointment? Did you get annoyed at Athena for giving us the warning speech?”

“Bro, when she started, believe me, I thought I would. But somehow she vocalized the exact things I didn’t want to deal with.”

“Then I’m running out of candidates.”

“It’s actually not someone you know.”

“Wanna tell me anyway?”

Chase cracked his neck. “Sure. It’s Hades.”

“That’s the Olympian who trained you in the Underworld, right? Zeus’ brother?”

“Right. He trained me while all of you were risking your lives to bring me back. It’s thanks to him that I can transform into an Ultra Fury.”

“Hey, you’ve been risking your life so many times, that’s the least we could do.”

Chase gave his best friend a timid smile.

“What did he do to disappoint you?” continued Daniel.

“It’s more what he’s not going to be doing, which is help us.”

“Isn’t he confined to the Underworld anyway?”

“Zeus took his place; long story.”

“I got time,” said Daniel with a wink.

“Well, long story short, Zeus is now the keeper of the Underworld while Hades is free.”

“And I take it you invited him to join us, and he refused?”

“Pretty much. He said that he had better things to do with his time than risk his life now that he was free after so many thousands of years confined to the Underworld. Having been a mentor for me when I was there, I guess I just expected better of him.”

“I can see why, but Chase put yourself in his shoes for a second. If you had been trapped for thousands of years in a single place, and finally got out, wouldn’t you want to enjoy your newfound freedom?”

Chase released half a chuckle.

“What’s so funny?”

“I just figured we could ask my father this question.”

“Except, technically, for Menelas, it wouldn’t have felt like thousands of years.”

“Right, the time dilation factor.”

“Exactly. I don’t know this Hades guy, and I’m not gonna even pretend that I understand how Olympians think, even though I’m quite fond of Ares, but I can see why Hades would want his life back. I think in his place, so would any one of us.”

Daniel could tell from Chase’s look that he had given him food for thought.

* * *

Chase entered the Victory’s impressively sized and equipped med-bay to see how Poseidon was doing. With a quick glance, Chase noticed Poseidon was no longer in the regen tank where he had last seen him. Chase looked around until he saw the imposingly built Olympian at the opposite side of the room and walked toward him. Poseidon was looking at his cybernetic battle arm in the mirror. Chase could feel he didn’t seem pleased with it.

“Hello Poseidon, I’m Chase, I— Well, I guess I’m your great nephew.”

Poseidon sniffed a couple of times, then grunted.

“Half Fury from the smell of you,” said Poseidon not trying to hide any derogation from his tone.

Charming. Can he really smell the Fury genes in me?

“That’s correct, I guess. Will that be a problem?”

“You tell me; your race has destroyed my world, taken my brother from me, and to top it all off, installed this contraption on me,” said Poseidon, lifting his artificial arm.

“The prosthetic arm you now possess is Earth Alliance tech, so it has nothing to do with the Furies. At least you can use your limb; that’s gotta be worth something, right?”

“I suppose.”

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but I couldn’t heal your wounds. Just like I couldn’t heal your brother’s. Something to do with the being that wounded you.”

“And what would that be?”

“We’re not exactly sure. We think it might be a result of tampering with a life form we haven’t encountered before. As for the Furies, they are not my people. I was born Fury, that is true, but I’ve never aligned myself with them. I hope you can make that distinction.”

“Or so Zeus said. He thought highly of you, for some reason.”

Did he now?

“Well, I hope you’ll learn to appreciate me as well, we’re family after all.”

“I wouldn’t count on it too much, kid. Look, I know it’s not your fault that Zeus died, and that I shouldn’t blame you for it. But I always hated Furies. They’re just angry, vengeful, utterly selfish and generally vile creatures. Furthermore, I really thought we were done with them thousands of years ago. And while you could very well be the exception to the rule, I can’t seem to reconcile the fact that you’re half Olympian and half Fury. That to me feels like heresy. It stains the purity of our blood.”

Oh, he’s just a really charming guy, now isn’t he?

“I’m sorry you feel that way. However, I’d like to point out that Furies are also very picky about their blood purity. I didn’t know Olympians were being that protective of their bloodline.”

Chase thought he saw Poseidon’s ocean blue eyes flash for just a split second as the god played with his long white beard.

“Perhaps it’s just me, then. Obviously, neither my brother nor my niece had any problem infecting our blood with the likes of you.”

Poseidon’s insistence on bringing his Fury genes into the conversation was starting to get on Chase’s nerves. Since Zeus’ brother was family, Chase gave him a free pass. Perhaps it was Poseidon’s way of grieving the loss of not only his brother, the leader of the Olympians, but also their entire world, Olympus.

“That’s alright. We don’t have to like each other. I just wanted to check on you and see if you’d want to join us on our mission. But that would entail working with other hybrids, I’m afraid.”

Poseidon sneered. “And what mission would that be?”

“To go rescue both Aphroditis and my father, Menelas.”

“I’m not gonna even pretend I give a shit what happens to your father, but I would consider helping my niece out of a bind.”

How generous of you.

“We might also fight Arakan again, though I’m hoping to avoid that this time around.”

There was no doubting it this time; Chase clearly saw Poseidon’s eyes flash intensely.

“Why would you want to avoid fighting Arakan? Are you some sort of coward?”

Poseidon’s words cut Chase straight to the heart. Anger was also slowly rising in him, and it would get more difficult to keep the conversation civilized if Poseidon didn’t improve his tone.

“That’s uncalled for. Especially since I’m going to deal with Arakan as well as all the Furies. It’s just not the main objective for today.”

“Well, if I come along it might become my main objective.”

While Chase could see Poseidon teaming up with Oryn, he didn’t like the idea of having rogue elements to deal with on the mission.

“Only if I permit it,” said Chase coldly.

“I don’t answer to you. In fact, I don’t answer to anyone anymore now that my brother is dead.”

Chase turned and started walking away. “You’re welcome to enjoy your stay on my ship then. We’ll drop you off somewhere the first chance we get.”

Poseidon sighed. “Wait.”

Chase stopped walking but didn’t bother turning around.

“Anything else I can do for you?” said Chase without any intention of masking his annoyance with the Olympian.

“I’m sorry for my harsh words, I— I guess I’m just not feeling well at the moment. I’d very much like to join you on your mission.”

Chase’s aura started burning, and when he turned back to face Poseidon again, his eyes glowed purple.

“Very well, but let’s make one thing clear though, this is my ship, my mission and you’ll do exactly as I say, whether or not you agree with my decisions. Oh, and if you try any of your hybrid non-pure blood bullshit in front of the rest of my crew, I’ll space you myself. Understood?”

Poseidon smiled from ear to ear.

“You’re a member of my family, alright.”

“I’d still like to hear it.”

“Understood, Captain.”

“Actually, it’s Admiral.”

10

The Kyrian dragon roared one last time before unleashing a trail of fire toward Ryonna. The Droxian warrior was ready for it by rolling multiple times to the side to avoid the incoming attack. She grabbed two of her throwing blades from her thigh sheaths and flung them toward the eyes of the beast. The dragon flicked its tail and deflected the blades with ease. One of them boomeranged and planted itself into Ryonna’s left shoulder.

She growled in frustration before swiftly removing and discarding the blood-drenched blade on the ground with a clang.

She locked her gaze with the dragon’s stare.

You’re gonna regret this.

She unsheathed her sword and darted toward the dragon that was already preparing to launch another round of fire breath toward her. When she was about ten yards from the dragon, it unleashed a cascading fury of flames. Ryonna jumped over the column of fire, spun in the air in an acrobatic way and landed on top of the unsuspecting dragon’s head, planting her blade deep into the beast’s right eye. It roared in pain, its terrible cry resonating all around. The dragon jerked its head and sent Ryonna crashing to the nearby ground.

The dragon flailed its tail toward her, but Ryonna had already grabbed and turned her light blade on. She sliced through the heavily scaled tail with ease, resulting in the beast roaring in both anger and pain again.

Before the dragon could recover, Ryonna grabbed part of the tail and was sent flying high into the air. She turned her light blade off and magnetically attached it to her weapon belt. She grabbed two more sonic grenades and activated them as she was falling toward the dragon’s open mouth, which was ready to swallow her. She split her legs and landed them at the teeth of the dragon.

She smiled for a brief moment. “This is going to hurt, I’m afraid,” she calmly said as she dropped both sonic grenades down the Kyrian dragon’s throat.

She jumped out of the way just a millisecond before a clawed wing flew an inch from her chest, nearly cutting her in half. She spun in the air multiple times on her way down before landing with one foot and one knee on the ground at the same time as her grenades detonated inside the beast’s throat.

The creature’s head then smashed a yard in front of her causing a loud thud as the red glow inside the remaining dragon’s eye flickered and died. The dragon moaned and wheezed with each long, ragged and painful breath.

Ryonna took back her light blade as she approached the beast’s head, running her hand along her defeated prey’s scaly face.

“It’s almost over; I’m sorry,” she whispered.

She then locked her furious gaze toward Argos as she gently pressed the tip of her light blade on the dragon’s temple. She turned her light blade on and off and ended the dragon’s suffering.

Argos walked toward her with purpose.

“Not bad for a measly Droxian, but you should run while you still have your legs.”

The fire in Ryonna’s eyes lit up with unrestrained hatred.

“I don’t think so. I’ve been waiting for this for a very long time.”

Argos exploded in laughter. “Well, you’re a courageous, yet fragile, little thing, I’ll grant you that.”

Ryonna twitched and raised an eyebrow. “Little?”

“Size isn’t everything and doesn’t always translate into more power, as you’ll soon discover.”

“Enough pleasantries. I’m starving, and I’m looking forward to eating your heart.”

“Impetuous, but I like your spirit. Very well! It’s your funeral after all.”

We’ll just have to see about that, now won’t we?

* * *

Oryn felt like she had been pacing inside the Victory’s corridors for hours. She couldn’t get any sleep. Both anger and nervousness prevented her from even resting on her bed. All she wanted was to be on Erevos again and to kill the man she had thought almost her entire life to be her father.

I should have known. I should have felt it in my bones that this man was not my blood.

Nearby, a door opened, and Poseidon walked in, looking her way.

She felt anger and disdain for the Olympian. She knew he was her uncle but the fact that he hadn’t managed to defeat Arakan, and that Zeus had died as a result, angered her. That anger quickly spiraled into hatred and, without realizing it, her aura grew a substantial amount while also freezing the walls, ceiling and ground around her with every new step she took.

Poseidon tightened the grasp on his Trident with his now cybernetic arm as a radiant cyan light glowed in his eyes.

“State your intentions, Fury?” he warned.

“Don’t call me Fury!” Oryn sneered.

Poseidon took a defensive stance, and soon water dragons were dancing around him as a green-blue aura radiated around his muscled body.

“I don’t want any trouble,” said Poseidon. “But I will defend myself.”

A voice inside Oryn told her to stop walking, but she kept ignoring it, intensifying her aura with each new step taken.

“Very well,” said Poseidon, as he pointed his Trident at Oryn.

The water dragons swirled around Poseidon’s body a few times, gaining in speed and intensity before running along his arm and Trident and then darting toward Oryn at incredible speed.

Oryn growled; her eyes shone like two bright diamonds caught in the sunlight, and, as the watery dragons approached her, they turned to ice two yards before reaching her.

“I don’t think so!” she growled.

The water dragons exploded into a million small shimmering icicles, looking like diamond dust. The dust-like particles were siphoned around her feet and danced around her as she stopped and stared into the eyes of a shocked Poseidon.

“I’ve promised Chase I wouldn’t make any trouble for him while I’m onboard,” said Poseidon. “Please, stand down, now.”

Oryn heard the words, but they didn’t register. She extended her hands in front of her; each one facing the other as the diamond dust particles flew around her and concentrated between her hands as if attracted by an invisible black hole. Her hands glowed white and icier particles were added into the spiky and shining ball of ice. The way its shape merged and changed defied the law of physics.

“You let him die,” she said.

A tear appeared at the corner of Poseidon’s eye.

“You’re his daughter, aren’t you? You’re Oryn.”

She answered with a growl before reorienting her hands forward, unleashing the ethereal, icy attack toward her uncle.

Suddenly, Chase teleported in front of Poseidon, his aura glowing orange, and intercepted the attack with one of his own fireballs. The resulting small explosion consumed both attacks and scorched the walls around them.

“What the fuck, Oryn?! Poseidon is an ally.”

The cold melted away from Oryn’s eyes as she came out of her anger trance.

“I— I’m sorry; I dunno what came over me.”

“That’s enough, Oryn!” said Chase, letting a large breath of exasperation escape him. “I should have left you on Asgard!”

Poseidon put his real hand on Chase’s shoulder.

“That’s alright, Admiral. I believe we all have unexpressed grief at the moment, and it makes us say or do stupid things.”

“That’s no excuse. I’m also angered by Zeus’ death but right now is not the time to lose our heads. We need to stay focused on the mission ahead, or we’ll lose more than our cool on Erevos.”

Tears filled Oryn’s eyes, and she couldn’t look directly at Chase.

I believe she understands, said Poseidon inside Chase’s mind. She’s suffering; let’s not add to her feelings of loss right now.

Chase wanted to argue, but he could feel the turmoil and confusion inside of Oryn’s heart, and so he teleported both himself and Poseidon somewhere else on the ship.

Oryn fell to her knees as more tears kept flowing from her eyes.

* * *

When Chase stormed into their quarters, Sarah instantly knew something was wrong.

“What happened? Are you alright, Chase?”

Chase let out a long breath of frustration.

“Everyone seems on edge, and they don’t seem to be willing to listen to reason.”

“Everyone, including yourself, if you don’t mind me saying.”

Chase realized his hands were tensed into strong fists. He relaxed them and opened them back and forth a couple of times before attempting a reassuring smile.

“I’m alright. I’m just frustrated, I guess.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Nah, that’s alright. It’s not like Oryn will listen to reason anyway.”

“Do you think she could be a liability to the mission?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. I understand where she’s coming from, but I don’t want her recklessness and thirst for revenge to cost her or anybody else their lives.”

Sarah shook her head from side to side with sadness in her eyes.

“What did I say?” he inquired.

“Chase, Chase, Chase…When will you learn that you can’t control everything? Control is an illusion. You may think that if you try hard enough things will turn out the way you want them to, but by now you must have learned or at least witnessed that the universe tends to do whatever it so pleases.”

“Hence my frustration.”

“I’m sorry to add to it; it certainly feels like now is not the right time, but we need to talk.”

“I think I know what you’re going to ask me.”

“Do you? Then let’s hear it.”

“You want to know why I didn’t take you with us on the away team.”

“Oh look; you were right, you did know. Mind telling me why, then?”

“I need someone I can trust to cover our asses from space.”

Sarah’s look grew colder.

“Interesting decoy, to not say a bullshit answer…now, can I have the truth, please?”

Chase sighed, but Sarah could tell from his look that he wasn’t going to try to avoid the issue.

“I’m not entirely lying or anything about you taking care of this small fleet⁠—”

“Chase.”

He raised a pleading hand.

“Let me finish. It is true that I don’t want everyone I love with me on this mission. I— I’d feel better if you stayed with the Victory and made sure you blasted off anything coming our way.”

“While I appreciate that particular sentiment, I know that you’re afraid of losing me, yet you’re taking our son with you.”

“I won’t let anything happen to him.”

“Don’t do this, Chase. You can’t guarantee that, no more than you can guarantee your own safety and you know it. By that same logic, you could make sure nothing happens to me if I came along, which in case you didn’t figure out by now, I want to. Furthermore, we both know Athena is better suited to command the fleet than I am.”

“That’s not exactly true⁠—”

“It is, Chase. Without her on the last battle, both Daniel and I would have perished. And if you think me staying on board the ship is safer, I think you’re mistaken. It doesn’t matter where we are during the war, death can strike at any moment, as we’ve all seen.”

Sarah bit her lip; she could tell from the sadness in Chase’s eyes that this statement had brought back painful memories.

“Look, Chase,” she continued. “I will abide by your wish if it means that much to you, but you have to understand that putting me on the sidelines hurts my feelings. It makes me think you don’t trust me. And after all we’ve been through, well⁠—”

But Sarah didn’t finish her sentence.

Chase took her in his arms.

“I’m sorry. I have been having nightmares, and frankly, I’m tired of losing the people that matter to me. I didn’t mean to question your abilities or for you to question my trust in you.”

“I know, Chase. And I’ll let this slide because I know you’re still harboring guilt for those losses. But don’t think I’ll always agree with these types of choices because I won’t. If I decide I need to put myself in harm’s way, you’ll have to accept my decision, okay?”

Chase looked into her eyes; there was no need for vocalizing his answer. Then they kissed passionately.

* * *

Onboard his borrowed ship, Spiros hit the control panel of the holo-interface upon learning the bad news from the computer. The radiation emitted by a close-by nebula prevented the ship’s already limited subspace capability from sending a signal strong enough to reach the Alliance.

This day keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?

After returning to his lab, Spiros purposefully let himself fall on his knees in front of Gaia’s fully formed clone pod. The intense pain he received for doing that reminded him that his current clone body had already degraded beyond his comfort. He wondered how long he would be able to use the decrepit body. But one thing was for sure, he needed to find a solution, and fast. He couldn’t just save Gaia and die; she would never forgive him; as he wouldn’t forgive himself if the roles were reversed.

But with no more cloning biomaterial and no way to contact the Earth Alliance to request more to be sent, he was in real trouble now. He needed to find a solution and fast. He painfully got back to his feet, looked at the Gaia clone and then rushed toward the scanning terminal where he had put his neuronal upgrade.

The validation test was still running and close to eighty-five percent complete. No errors were detected, and Spiros reluctantly aborted the test.

No time to be on the safe side anymore.

He’d just have to trust that he had done a good and thorough job. He couldn’t waste another minute, not when both their lives were hanging in the balance, and he would be damned if he failed in reviving Gaia and hear her tell him what he wanted to hear for so very long. If the death of his human body hadn’t stopped him before, he wouldn’t let a technical issue ruin both their lives now.

Spiros grabbed the chip and walked toward the nearest medical automated medi-station bed. He brought up its holo-interface and programmed the station to install the chip in his head. The operation required anesthesia, meaning he would lose consciousness during the automated surgery, something he wasn’t exactly thrilled about. But he had no choice in the matter. If he flinched, even just a little during surgery, it could result in instant death, something he had already felt once and wasn’t keen on ever going through again.

He positioned the chip on the operating room tray near the articulated robotic arm that would perform the delicate surgery and placed himself on the medi-station bed. He looked toward Gaia’s clone one more time.

I love you.

“Computer, activate automatic surgery.”

Here goes nothing.

The medical arm came to life and grabbed a hypo-spray filled with an anesthetic compound and, before Spiros could brace himself for what was to come, he felt the cold instrument inject the compound into his neck. Less than a second later, he had lost consciousness.

* * *

When Sarah closed her eyes and fell asleep, Chase exited their quarters and went to look for Ares. With the Victory so big and him not accustomed to it yet, he hesitated to use his teleportation to locate Ares in his cloned body. He knew he shouldn’t waste his power, so he decided to go check out the gardens on deck fifteen. He sent a telepathic message to Ares asking him to meet him there.

The size of the garden was similar to the large gardens aboard his mother’s ship. The vegetation was a mix of natural and artificially cloned plants, but it looked magnificent and peaceful. It reminded him of Olympus even though it was a very different kind of vegetation. That brought memories of his talks with Zeus, which made his heart sob. His grandfather was no more, and while he wanted nothing more than to avenge his death, he knew that today was about something else. Even though Oryn’s attitude had saddened him, deep down he understood her thirst for revenge. He could only imagine how angry he would get if he lost his estranged father, or worse, Sarah or Chris. Even Argos.

Chase was surprised by the feelings he had for his brother. Argos was no longer the bloodthirsty and cruel man Chase had once vowed to kill. He had risked his own life so many times to save Chase’s life. The feeling of sadness he had felt just a moment before in his heart was replaced by a feeling of love and gratitude. To have such amazing family and friends, all willing to sacrifice themselves for him, and while he would give his life for them in a heartbeat, he didn’t want any harm to come to them. Ever.

He knew the notion was not only preposterous but also unlikely. Especially with the battles that still awaited them. Arakan had taken so much from him, and it terrified him that those he loved the most could still be taken away. Chase banished the dark thoughts away when he felt someone approach from behind.

When he turned and saw Aphroditis, it took his brain a second to remember that it was Ares inside her body.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that,” said Chase.

“Imagine for a second, if you will, what it feels like for me.”

Something had changed in his voice; it now felt like a mixture of both his and Aphroditis’ overlapping together. It gave Chase goose bumps.

“I imagine this must be peculiar.”

“That doesn’t even begin to cover it, but I suppose you didn’t call me here to discuss my current appearance.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“What’s on your mind, Chase?”

“Honestly, too much to cover right now. But I wanted to see you before all hell broke loose. I mean soon…soon you’ll be⁠—”

But Chase couldn’t bear to finish the sentence.

“Soon, I’ll be in the machine, and this could very well be the last time we have a nice conversation, just the two of us.”

A tear rolled down Chase’s eye, and he nodded.

“That’s alright, Chase. We can’t leave my sister in this infernal machine; you and I both know that. I would lay down my life for my sister. You know exactly how I feel.”

“I do. But you gave up your life to save her once already.”

Ares smiled. “And I’m willing to do it all over again.”

It hit Chase once more that he was perhaps losing another loved one, and sooner than he was prepared to. While he hoped with all his heart that Ares would survive what was to come, they simply didn’t know what would happen to him when the machine would fulfill its true purpose and finally rid the Furies of existence. From his chat with Kvasir on the matter, the machine would still perform the dimension shift and send the planet back to the location where it had spent its time since the end of the first Fury War. But it would then immediately detonate and obliterate that dimension. Would Ares be able to stay in this dimension while that happened? Or would he be sucked in there as well? Even made out of pure energy and no longer having a body, Ares was a member of Chase’s family. But he was more than just an uncle or even a mentor. He had become a trusted and dear friend. The kind Chase didn’t want to lose.

“Except this time, you might not only die but suffer an unfathomable amount of pain and agony until the time comes. Gods know for how long in fact.”

“There are no such things as gods,” said Ares, trying to diffuse the tension.

“To you perhaps; many still revere you and the other Olympians as such.”

“What’s left of us, anyway. But look on the bright side, if I do die, it will probably feel better than the pain my sister had to suffer up until now and the pain I’m willing to endure so she doesn’t have to anymore.”

Chase’s dark thoughts rushed back to the forefront of his mind with a vengeance.

11

Arakan released a frustrated growl when he was thrown from his bed and crashed to the floor of his sleeping quarters.

“What the fuck is happening?” he barked to no one in particular as he was just venting.

I believe we jumped out of wormhole travel, said the shadow calmly.

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

Who were you talking to, then?

“Never mind, I need to get to the bridge.”

That you do, Supreme Commander.

When Arakan entered the bridge, he could see the fear in the eyes of his crew. They were right to fear him; he didn’t tolerate failure.

“Report!” he shouted. “What the hell just happened?”

The Fury currently on bridge command duty rose from the captain’s chair.

“We’ve prematurely exited wormhole travel, Master.”

“Thank you for stating the obvious; now tell me why, and most importantly, how fast can we resume wormhole travel? Then, perhaps I’ll let you keep your head,” spat Arakan between his grinding teeth.

The Fury officer swallowed noticeably.

“The preliminary report points to a gravitational anomaly at the entry side wormhole as the source for the engine failure. Luckily, the ship wasn’t damaged when it exited the wormhole corridor. We were lucky.”

Arakan raised a stoical eyebrow. “Lucky, you say? What sort of gravitational anomaly could have resulted in this scenario?”

“The formation of an expanding black hole in the vicinity of the wormhole’s event horizon.”

Arakan twitched. “Are you implying that this sudden and lucky exit is somehow my fault?”

“Absolutely not, Master, I wouldn’t dar⁠—”

But these were the last words of the Fury officer. With a single thought from Arakan, the Fury’s body exploded.

You have an interesting way of commanding the men and women under you, commented the shadow.

Not now, go away!

As you wish.

“Who’s the highest officer on the bridge?” barked Arakan. “Announce yourself.”

Another Fury officer got up from his holo-console.

“Prime Commander Yrkoon, weapon’s specialist, at your service, Master,” said the Fury with a dignified salute.

We may need this one if we go into battle; just in case you’re twitching for another bloodbath, said the shadow with a derogatory tone and a laugh.

Arakan sighed in frustration. Even though he was grateful for the gift the shadow had bestowed upon him, literally bringing him back from the dead when Arakan fought Poseidon back on Olympus, the constant mental connection was proving a challenge for his nerves. He decided to simply ignore the voice in his head for the time being.

“How do we resume wormhole travel, Bridge Commander?”

If the Fury officer was happy with the on-the-fly promotion, he did not let it show through his facial expression.

“We can’t, Master. I’ve already plotted a new course toward the nearest wormhole. Fortunately, there is another one not too far. We, however, won’t manage to get back to Erevos at the previously targeted estimation.”

“How much longer will we be?”

“A little under half a day than initially planned, Master.”

“Very well. Anything else to re⁠—”

But Arakan was interrupted by a succession of beeps emanating from his new Bridge Commander.

“What is it, now?” asked Arakan.

“The new wormhole event horizon was just created, and we’re receiving long-range sensor data from the other side. A small fleet of ships has entered Fury space, Master.”

“How long until they reach Erevos?”

“A little over two hours.”

“Have the nearest fleet intercept and destroy the intruders. Am I correct in assuming they are Earth Alliance?”

“Yes, Master. However, they are traveling at faster FTL speeds than usual. None of the ships in the area can intercept them while they are in what seems like an Asgardian hyperspace travel corridor.”

“Is construction of the fourth fleet completed?”

“With the loss of the Gorgar home world resources line, they have not been able to finish construction in time. They will require another day for all the ships to be finished.”

“We don’t have a day!” shouted Arakan. “How many ships are travel and fight capable now?”

“A little over thirty percent.”

Arakan knew what that meant. Soon, the Earth Alliance scum would be in orbit of his world with little to no protection, though the supreme commander had no doubts that Chase’s main objective was not to inflict damage but reunite with his precious father. If Chase and his band of rebellious Earth Alliance allies wanted to attack or even destroy Erevos, they would have sent all their ships. Still, Arakan hated the idea of not being able to intercept the fleet before it had the potential to do any damage. Chase was, after all, a very capable and resourceful Fury, as much as Arakan hated to admit. While he had put more than sufficient internal defenses inside his palace to guard the valuable assets, like Menelas or Aphroditis, the Ultra Fury had a near perfect record of defeating the odds.

“Have the ships sent back to Erevos at maximum hyperspace speeds. Will they reach Erevos before the Earth Alliance fleet?”

“I’m afraid not; even if they were to leave the shipyard now, they’d still arrive after us.”

Arakan shuddered. That was too long, and many upsetting events could happen during that period.

I had told you you shouldn’t have sent all those ships from Fury space to Asgard and treat them like disposable grenades. Now you don’t have the necessary firepower to defend your own home. The humans have a game you may want to learn; it’s called chess. It requires you to think many moves ahead. You should try it one day.

I don’t have time for games!

Obviously. What more proof do you need to start heeding my counsel? The Ultra Fury landing on Erevos before we reach the planet could be catastrophic, said the shadow.

There are the planetary defenses in place; perhaps they can keep them occupied until the Fourth fleet arrives.

You mean thirty percent of that fleet? Which you should try and save from certain destruction until you have a larger, more threatening, fleet. To engage a stronger force with so few ships and hope to win is a recipe for disaster. You do remember that the Earth Alliance has beaten us almost at every engagement lately with their superior firepower and tactics?

Us?

You know what I mean.

That you think somehow that your bickering inside my mind makes you part of the Fury people? Or, that my lack of trust in your advice could have avoided this unfortunate turn of events? Look, I may not always want to accept your help, but that doesn’t mean I’m not listening. So why don’t you drop the reprimands and just tell me what you have in mind to fix it so we can avoid this dancing around and get to the main part?

I guess by almost sharing a consciousness now, you may pick up on my feelings.

That, and perhaps you don’t give me enough credit about when I decide to listen and how I react to your counsel. I am still the master of my people, and as such, I will decide what information to act upon.

How’s that working for you at the moment?

Are we continuing this pissing contest? What is it you want from me? To say I was wrong?

That would be a good start, and who knows, perhaps it would result in a positive outcome.

The one thing Arakan hated the most was being called out on his mistakes. But not as much as being emotionally manipulated the way he could feel the shadow was currently attempting. But, for the moment, he needed solutions, not more problems. So, Arakan swallowed his pride.

Very well, you were right. I should have listened to you.

And?

And, I will listen more closely from now on. Now, tell me how to get us out of this mess.

Fortunately for you, Supreme Commander, I like to plan for a legion of contingencies, and this happens to be one I do have a solution for.

I’m listening.

I have forces standing not too far from Erevos that could intercept and perhaps even destroy the Earth Alliance fleet.

Wouldn’t our sensors have detected them if they were at the necessary distance to intervene?

These aren’t ships or a race your sensors are familiar with; so, I wouldn’t think so. And let’s just say, some of their tech is quite advanced. Nevertheless, I will intervene and have them intercept the Earth Alliance fleet. But you’ll owe me for this.

Sure, thank you for your assistance.

Arakan felt like he had to spit these words out; they felt toxic just existing inside his thoughts. He didn’t like what he heard one bit, though. Up until now he always assumed the shadow was acting alone. In fact, for a very long time, Arakan had thought the shadow was merely a figment of his imagination; a side effect of the brain damage he had suffered during the first Fury War. The latest events had finally convinced him that the shadow was, in fact, an unknown alien life form; which had raised a red flag of its own, as Arakan didn’t like the idea of being manipulated by outside forces. If that being now even commanded one or more fleet of ships, and could unleash them anytime he felt like it, what would prevent him from turning his sights on Erevos once Arakan was done cleansing the universe? No, for sure he didn’t like the sound of this, not in the slightest.

* * *

Before Ryonna could grab her blaster, Argos raised a finger toward her and shot a thin laser through her hand. Her blaster kept its momentum in the air and came crashing and tumbling down a few yards from her. The pain of the attack was excruciating, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of showing it in any form.

“Did you really think that you could hurt me with this pathetic piece of rustic technology?” snorted Argos.

His eyes glowed a darker shade of red, as his aura grew stronger around him. He adjusted his aim for a lower shot and sent another attack that Ryonna tried to dodge, but she was not fast enough, and the crimson laser pierced through her left thigh. Before she could use her other leg to try and jump out of the way, another attack pierced her left thigh, only lower, near her knee.

Ryonna tried to move despite the pain but fell to her knees, the pain radiating over the rest of her body. While she wouldn’t give Argos the satisfaction of yelping from her agony, she couldn’t control her facial muscles from becoming distorted.

Argos started walking toward her, releasing a mad laugh that echoed around them.

“I’m curious, what was your plan to get me? I mean, let’s face it, you never stood a chance against me; so why even bother?”

“Your overconfidence in yourself will be your downfall,” said Ryonna, between clenched teeth.

“And your delusion will be yours. In fact, it already is. I’m sure you can feel it.”

Ryonna felt her heart beat strongly in her chest. Even though this was a simulation, and the real Argos was probably even way more powerful than the holographically projected one she had asked the computer to create based on all the data the ship had of him, he was stronger and crueler than she expected him to be. Perhaps because even if she still hated his guts, she didn’t think of him as a bigger threat now that he was fighting on their side than when they were deadly enemies. Still, simulation or not, since she had disabled the safety features of the holo-room she could get killed by it. Though, she wouldn’t let the simulacrum of her nemesis get the best of her.

She fought through the pain to get back on her feet. It took a long time and her knees buckled along the way. While getting up, she forced her light blade under her wrist armor.

“Look at you,” chastised Argos. “You can’t even stay on your own two legs. You’re already dead, yet you try and keep defying me. Is this really honor? Or simple desperation?”

“Come closer, and I’ll show you which it is.”

Argos aimed his index finger at the center of her head.

“And what if I don’t want to come closer, and I just put you out of your misery now; what then?”

“You’d just prove not only to yourself but the rest of the universe what a coward you are.”

Argos clenched his teeth as his eyes flashed stronger than ever before. And for a moment, Ryonna thought that perhaps she had miscalculated her last taunt and that it could cost her her life. But Argos lowered his finger.

“Decided to fight me like a real man? Or you need your attire of special powers to beat a woman Droxian warrior?”

“In some cultures, like that pathetic planet Earth you and my brother love so much, hitting a woman is frowned upon.”

Argos cracked his knuckles. “I, however, do not have any such problem.”

Ryonna spat blood on the ground and smiled. “Prove it.”

Argos launched forward and smashed a powerful jab on Ryonna’s cheek, breaking her cheekbone and almost dislodging her jaw with the one blow. Ryonna had the hardest time staying up, but she managed, barely.

She spat a larger quantity of blood onto the ground.

“Has anyone told you that you hit like a paralytic Ferogot?”

That enraged Argos and the moment he moved forward to go for another hit, three laser blasts impacted on his face. Smoke rose from the impacts, but he did not seem to be wounded nor his skin burned.

He looked toward the direction of the shots. “Friends of yours?”

Ryonna turned her head and saw Keera with her blaster drawn and a nervous Tar’Lock by her side.

Dammit, what are they doing here?

“Stay out of this, you two; Argos is mine! Don’t make me repeat myself either. I’ll kill the both of you if you intervene,” screamed Ryonna.

“Excuse them,” she continued as she turned her attention back toward Argos. “They think I need their assistance to kick your ass.”

“I could kill you with a single thought, and yet you keep taunting me. Let me ask you this: do you have a death wish, Ryonna?”

The thought had not crossed her mind, but hearing Argos say the words made her think. Did she have a death wish? After all, she was in a very precarious situation at the moment, made only worse now that her friends were here and that Argos could unleash his wrath onto them on top of her. She could turn off the simulation, but her warrior’s pride wouldn’t let her do that. She had not anticipated that particular turn of events when she had disabled the safety protocols.

“Perhaps I should kill them first, then finish you off; teach you a lesson that you so obviously need.”

No, no, nooo.

“You are a coward, but I didn’t think that you were a pussy and a wimp too.”

Argos screamed his frustration at Ryonna’s words, and hurled himself at her, unleashing one blow after another. Soon, Ryonna couldn’t remain upright, and she fell back onto her knees. That didn’t stop Argos who kept brutally punching and kicking her. With each new blow, more blood flew in the air, and soon the rising pain just plateaued to where Ryonna couldn’t feel much of anything anymore.

Tar’Lock made his move, and Argos sent him flying hundreds of yards away with a single thought.

“Listen to your friend,” spat Argos. “Be patient. I’ll take care of your frail insectoid ass in just a moment.”

“Keera!” exclaimed Ryonna. “For the love of gods, stand fast!”

Argos smiled.

“She’s a good little dog now, is she? I promise to make her suffer long and hard before I rip her life away, but since I feel magnanimous today, I will honor your request and finish you first. So at least you won’t have to see it.”

“Thank you, asshole. When you’re done boring me to tears with your baby monologue, maybe you could get things moving over here?”

“You sure do wish to die today, and guess what? I’m happy to oblige.”

Argos’ knee connected with Ryonna’s chin and sent her flying high in the sky. The force of gravity drew her back down while an invisible power grabbed her and kept her hovering a few inches over the ground. Large quantities of blood flowed from her wounds, and she had a hard time keeping her eyes open.

Perhaps I did bite off more than I could chew today.

Argos took a couple of steps to place himself in front of her levitating body. She was exhausted; ready to give up, when she thought of her son, Ronan. That sent a jolt of adrenaline throughout her body and gave her a second wind, one she made sure not to show.

Argos aimed an open palm to her face, and red lightning crackled between his fingers.

“Any last words?”

Ryonna mumbled something but blood cascaded down her mouth instead of words.

“I didn’t hear what you said, I’m afraid,” smirked Argos.

Ryonna opened her mouth once more and more blood spat out. She gestured a timid finger at Argos, inviting him to come closer.

“Not that I’m that interested in your last words but oka⁠—”

Argos never finished his sentence. Ryonna had flexed all the muscles in her forearm, effectively activating the light blade under her wrist armor just before swiftly uppercutting Argos under the chin. The invisible force holding her in the air died off, and she landed on her feet with Argos still impaled from behind the chin to the top of his head where the emerged light blade still radiated. The look of utter shock and surprise in his eyes was priceless even if it was short-lived. Soon his lifeless eyes boiled.

Ryonna spat a large quantity of blood at what was left of Argos’ face as it liquefied.

“I—I just wanted to say this: die, motherfucker!”

Ryonna turned the light blade off and let herself fall on her back with a loud thud.

“Computer, simulation off.”

The room they were in felt as if it melted out of reality and was soon replaced by cold grey walls filled with holo-transmitters around them.

Ryonna heard echoed and muffled words in the distance; it sounded like Keera. Soon after, her mind succumbed to utter darkness.

12

When Spiros opened his eyes, he felt groggy and disoriented, his vision blurry, and he couldn’t hear anything around him. Not even the slight hum of the cloning pod that had kept him company while he worked on fixing Gaia’s code.

Well, at least I’m still alive.

Soon, something beeped inside his mind and a holographic interface appeared in front of his eyes. Even though he still couldn’t distinguish what he was seeing, he knew it was the ceiling of Argos’ secret cloning facility, which meant the chip had been successfully installed.

He lost no time bringing most of its functions online, and within moments he was interfacing with the facility’s computer. Shortly, he had linked to every single system and was able to affect change and remote control the entire place with his mind.

I have missed this feeling.

Spiros stayed on his back waiting for his sight, hearing and feeling in his muscles to return to full capacity. He didn’t need to be standing anymore now that he had access to every system with the push of a thought. And perhaps that would also keep his clone body from deteriorating faster. Something he hadn’t even thought about earlier.

He brought up a star map of the system and activated short- to medium-range sensors to scan for biomaterials he could use for his clone. While the station’s computer looked for suitable worlds, Spiros calculated the amount of time he had to find the material and successfully grow a new clone for himself, even if that one would again be a temporary body. Though once Gaia was back to being operational inside her own clone body, he did not doubt that together they could work on a faster way to get his final body ready.

A visual alert inside Spiros’ brand new neuronal holo-interface informed him that the scan had resulted in a single match for the biomaterial. At FTL speeds, it was still a few hours of travel away from their present location.

Good, finally some good new⁠—

But Spiros interrupted his thought when he brought up details of the world he had to travel to. The computer reported a highly dangerous world; constantly under the threat of pirate attacks, terrorists, and to make things worse, the station’s sensors detected a Fury destroyer in the same system. It was currently engaged with local forces in one of the other planetary systems, one rich in precious materials.

This is not good!

Spiros didn’t lack courage when his life depended on it. However, he was just an engineer, not a warrior. Going there by himself didn’t seem like a viable option. His objective was survival, not suicide, and attempting to infiltrate such a cutthroat world while in the middle of a potential Fury invasion was simply not something he thought he could do.

Should he just fix Gaia and say goodbye? He could try traveling back to Alpha Prime or a closer Obsidian Empire world, but there was no guarantee that he would find the material or that he would have time to grow a new clone in time. There was always the possibility of trying to get to a world where he could send a subspace signal out, but that still didn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t encounter an obstacle along the way.

Spiros noticed his eyesight had returned to normal and he could now hear all the sounds in the room crystal clear. He got off the medi-station bed, and upon getting to his feet a sudden burst of anger took hold of him, and he punched some instruments on a nearby tray, making a ruckus.

Then he heard a dropping sound before realizing he had cut himself with a sharp tool.

“Perfect!” he said out loud. “More time lost to patch myself up now. Good going, Spiros, very mature.”

* * *

The entire away team stood in cargo bay three waiting for the Victory to jump out of the Asgardian super-fast hyperspace corridor. In just minutes, they’d arrive near Erevos. To avoid having to deal with planetary defense systems, Chase had requested to be dropped off far from the planet, near a cluster of nebulae that should provide them with some sensor cover. They would then make a micro-jump with a FTL-capable shuttle, cloak it and hopefully go the rest of the way undetected. That was the plan anyway.

Chase had little doubt that the enemy might have detected their approach already; the Asgardian hyperspace tech for all its wonders was anything but stealthy. According to Yanis, it emitted a power signature strong enough to be picked up by a toy scanner two galaxies away. Chase still hoped the cluster of nebulae would make it harder to locate them. Hopefully, they could still try and elude any enemy forces by staying mobile inside the cluster.

But, if worse came to worse, or if the incoming party wasn’t a full fleet, then he did not doubt that Sarah, Athena, and the other escort ships could deal with the threat. What Chase was more concerned about was Arakan and his potential presence on Erevos. That would make this mission so much more difficult.

Part of him regretted not taking action earlier, but there was little sense in beating himself up now; they were almost there, and they had a mission to accomplish. Chase became self-conscious that everyone was looking at him, awaiting orders or perhaps just a few words from their leader.

“Listen everyone; soon we’ll arrive at Erevos. You’ve all been briefed to what your objectives are, groups have been formed, and I’m counting on you to not deviate from the plan. If something goes wrong, then we’ll readjust⁠—”

But Chase didn’t finish his speech, and the entire ship rocked. The Victory was under attack.

Dammit! So much for timing and things going wrong.

“Chase,” Sarah’s voice resonated over the cargo bay’s speaker. “Get your ass to the bridge, on the double.”

Chase twitched frustratingly.

“I’ll be right back everyone; stay sharp and be ready to go the moment I get back.”

Chase didn’t wait for anyone to answer. He saw worry in the eyes of both Argos and his son just a millisecond before he teleported to the bridge.

When Chase arrived on the bridge, he saw a similar worry in Sarah’s eyes.

“What’s going on? Did we miss our jump exit?”

“I’m afraid not; we’ve been kicked out of ultra hyperspace early.”

The ship rocked once more, and Chase could tell the ship was definitely under attack.

“What the hell is going on? Who’s firing on us?”

“I wish I knew; whatever is firing on us isn’t showing on any of our scans. But from the amount of damage it’s doing on our shields, this has to be either one or multiple destroyers.”

What is this?

“I thought no races possessed the ability to shield a destroyer ship, in fact, I’m fairly certain we know of no race capable of doing this.”

Another salvo rocked the Victory.

“We do now,” said Sarah dryly. “And unless we find a way to target them, we’re in some serious trouble here.”

Chase expressed his frustration through a small guttural grunt.

“Get Yanis on the line.”

“I’ve already talked with him. He’s as lost as we are and said he would get back to me soon. He requested to have Kvasir join him.”

“Kvasir is part of the away team; he’s crucial to the success of the mission.”

“I told him that. But he seemed pretty adamant that he might not find a solution to our current predicament unless he gets some help.”

Chase hated this; the last thing they needed was a surprise attack by a foe they knew nothing about. Though the timing of this attack was too suspicious to be coincidental. The fact that no Fury ships were anywhere to be seen, unless they were the ones currently shooting at them but cloaked, meant that either Arakan had found some new tech to tip the balance, or he made an alliance with some new race.

“Kvasir is coming with us, but Yanis can request the help of the chief engineer onboard the Asgardian destroyer that brought us here. I’m sure Thor will agree that his men and Yanis work in concert to find a solution.”

“I’ll let him know. Let’s hope they can find a way for us to at least identify and detect what’s attacking us and how to defend ourselves.”

“If not, we may need to consider retreating…” Chase let the words hang for a second. “Can we jump out of here?”

“Where to?”

“Right now, anywhere; just try and get us out of here.”

“But the mission?”

Chase was all too aware that they couldn’t abandon their mission, and he didn’t need anyone to remind him, especially the woman he loved beyond anything in the universe.

“Just try and jump us out of here; we’ll double back one way or another. Try a short jump, a few seconds, one minute tops.”

* * *

Keera was standing by Tar’Lock’s bed when he regained consciousness.

“What happened?” he said, his voice still weak.

“You got your ass kicked by, well Argos, I guess.”

Tar’Lock clicked nervously. Just like his voice, his clicks seemed to lack their usual intensity.

“What else is new,” he said, attempting to smile.

Keera smiled back.

“Well, technically, it’s Argos’ holographic simulation that kicked your butt.”

Tar’Lock grimaced.

“Ohhh…That makes it so much better, thank you,” he said sarcastically. “How’s Ryonna doing?”

Keera’s face grew somber.

“Please tell me he didn’t kill her?” inquired Tar’Lock, unable to hide worry from his vocal inflections.

“No, no, I’m sorry if I worried you. She is recuperating over there,” said Keera pointing toward a regen tank.

Tar’Lock jumped from the bed to his feet in a split second.

“Ouch,” he complained.

“Hey! You got hurt pretty badly too; you should rest.”

Tar’Lock discarded Keera’s advice and gently pushed her out of the way. “I’ll rest when I’m dead.”

“Charming.”

Tar’Lock was in front of Ryonna’s tank way before Keera could add anything. He put his insectoid hand on the glass of the regen tank where a highly battle-damaged Ryonna floated in green liquid.

A tear ran down Tar’Lock’s face.

Why did you do this to yourself? Why can’t you let go of all that anger?

Of course, Tar’Lock knew that Ryonna had all the reasons in the world to be mad. Not only at Argos, even though he was now an important ally and one that they probably needed more than any of them was willing to admit. But Ryonna had lost so much already. Her husband and most of her world had been destroyed by Furies. And while Argos had nothing to do with the second attack, he had orchestrated the first one and was responsible for many that had died in that war. No, Tar’Lock had no problem understanding Ryonna’s rage. But putting herself in mortal danger to blow off all her anger she had accumulated lately was still a little out of character, even for Ryonna. She still had Ronan to look after.

“Why did you do this?” said Tar’Lock.

“I think I know,” said Keera.

Tar’Lock turned and looked into her eyes. When it became clear that Tar’Lock wasn’t going to ask a question and was waiting for Keera’s explanation, she continued.

“I may be wrong, but I think I’m starting to know and understand her well lately. You see, Ryonna has always been a proud warrior. And probably until she met Chase, she never feared anyone nor backed down from any fight, no matter how insanely dangerous the enemy was. She probably, on some level, felt indestructible or close to it. But now we are fighting beings that can snap our necks with a single thought, and destroy cities with millions of inhabitants with powerful energy based attacks that they shoot from their hands.”

“And your point being? Ryonna is still not afraid of them. I’ve known her longer than you have.”

“That’s where I think you’re wrong. She is afraid, but she didn’t want to accept it. And I think she needed that fight with the Argos simulation. She needed to know that she could kill him if push came to shove. Or that she would have the courage to die with honor, fighting until the very end.”

Tar’Lock’s clicking sounds played a sad melody.

“And did she? Did she defeat him?”

“Oh yeah, she sure fragged the sucker, alright!”

Tar’Lock smiled. And while he didn’t think Ryonna was afraid of anything, or anyone, he had to admit that Keera’s explanation made a lot of sense. Hopefully, whatever demon was eating at Ryonna had now been vanquished. Even though he was still mad at her for risking her life that way. But if it made her feel better, then it probably had been worth it. Tar’Lock couldn’t imagine a world without Ryonna in it. It simply wouldn’t be worth living, even though he knew that they were too different ever to have the kind of relationship he dreamt of having with her.

“Thank you, Keera.”

She put a compassionate hand on Tar’Lock’s shoulder.

“She’ll be alright; in a few hours she’ll be right as rain and her usual grumpy self.”

They both laughed, and that helped dissipate the worry and tension they both felt.

* * *

“Why haven’t we jumped yet?” insisted Chase.

“Jump engines are not responding,” answered Sarah.

“A Jump Interdiction Field?”

“Not according to the Victory’s instrument. But same result.”

The ship rocked stronger than before.

“Shields down to seventy percent,” informed a bridge crew member. “And the two Obsidian destroyers have been obliterated.”

“Dammit! We need to get a visual on those ships.”

“Chase, you need to go, now.”

“What’s the point; if our destroyers can’t jump, neither will the shuttle. We’re too far from Erevos to go at sub-light speed. And, I can’t abandon you in the middle of this mess.”

“Follow me,” said Sarah, gesturing Chase toward the captain’s ready room.

Once they were both behind closed doors, Sarah’s face hardened.

“Chase, you can’t do this. You can’t keep trying to protect me at every turn. You’ve assigned me the command of the Victory because you didn’t want me to risk my life on Erevos. Now, you don’t want to go ahead with the mission because I’ll be in trouble here. My mission is to deal with this problem; yours is to go to Erevos, save your father and your aunt. So let me handle this mess.”

Chase felt a strong urge to argue. But he knew that he had to start trusting that Sarah would get herself out of trouble. How ironic that he had wanted her to stay on board the Victory, a place Chase thought would be infinitely less dangerous on their upcoming mission than Erevos, and even before they had managed to get there, it was the ship and the rapidly decreasing fleet that was in jeopardy.

“Alright.”

Sarah’s eyes grew wider for a moment.

“What?” added Chase.

“Nothing…I didn’t expect you to agree with me this fast.”

“You’re right; I need to trust you. I’ve put you in charge of the Victory, so I guess you’ll have to deal with this unknown force. But your number one priority is to protect the ship and all the souls on board, yours included. That’s a direct order. Are we clear? So, if you have to find a way to escape and flee to survive, that’s what you will do.”

She saluted him with a smirk. “Absolutely, Admiral.”

Chase rolled his eyes.

“Chase…What about you? How will you get to Erevos?”

“I guess we don’t exactly have a choice now, do we? I’ll have to teleport the team there.”

“Will you have the energy to do so?”

“Well, the distance to Erevos is now much shorter than from Asgard, so I’m hoping it won’t take too much of my energy.”

Chase was interrupted when the ship rocked once more.

“I’d better let you get back to the bridge,” added Chase. “The moment you have dealt with this threat, have someone send the transport we were going to use to Erevos, so we have a way to get out of there if we need to. And, if you can make contact with the Emperor, have him send more ships to rejoin you as soon as possible.”

“I thought you didn’t want to risk too many ships.”

“What I wanted was a clean in and out mission, preferably stealthy, but with the Victory and a handful of ships as a backup if something went wrong. Since the shit already hit the fan, even before the mission started, and that the enemy knows we’re here, they might send reinforcements, and if they do, I want us to have some of our own. Have at least two-dozen destroyers dispatched. Ask Odin to send one more Asgardian destroyer along so it can open a faster hyperspace corridor for the rest of the ships. That way the reinforcements can arrive here faster.”

“Anything else?”

“Survive, at all costs.”

“You said that one already.”

“I know. But I want to make sure you heard me, so I’m saying it again.”

Chase took Sarah in his arms and embraced her tightly. She squeezed him back even more.

“Go Chase; get your father and Aphroditis out of there, and come back to me soon. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Chase reluctantly released Sarah and took a step back. Sarah nodded solemnly, and Chase teleported away without saying another word.

“I love you,” she said out loud to an empty room.

13

Once Spiros had patched his cut, he started pacing back and forth around Gaia’s clone pod.

“What should I do?” he asked her, not expecting any answer. “If I go alone on this mission, there’s a good chance I won’t return, and we’ll both perish. I could, of course, try and fix your code with the time my body has left, but I think that would result in me perishing shortly after, and you’ll resent me, or worse, hate me for doing so.

“If only you could come with me; with the battle training you have from helping Chase, then you could⁠—”

And then it hit Spiros. The part of Gaia’s matrix code that had been scrambled and was deteriorating had to do with her emotional sub-routines. If he could activate her basic AI functions as well as her battle commands, she could come with him on the mission, and even protect the both of them more efficiently than he ever could on his own. It would still be risky, but at least if they perished, they would perish together.

Spiros brought his neuronal interface online and displayed the currently running repair algorithm trying to patch Gaia’s matrix. There were still multiple zones that needed work, but a close inspection of her function codes allowed him to isolate what would work in her current state if reactivated.

The main cognitive functions, as well as technical and combat skills, were all in the green and ready to be activated. But Spiros dreaded activating Gaia and having to deal with barely more than a battle droid, or just a simple machine that would take orders from him without thinking or weighing them against her own conscience. And if he reactivated her like this, she wouldn’t have either a conscience nor a spark of personality. She’d be a blank slate AI. Her learning functions also appeared to be working nominally, which meant she would learn from experience. But in order to not confuse her later on when he finally managed to get her full matrix back to a healthy state, he would need to either flush or at least separate the new experiences she would learn from her own memories and old consciousness. That meant sandboxing that part of her matrix for the data to be easily separated from the rest of her storage.

“Should I do this?” he asked her. “Should I reactivate you in that state?”

But what choice did he have? He had looked at their predicament from every possible angle. They needed that biomaterial. And while they went to get it, they could let the Alliance know of their current situation. That way perhaps Chase could help them return the first chance he got. Cedric had mentioned a daring mission to Erevos was in preparation on their last debrief. Spiros hated to ask Chase for a favor if it could be avoided, but hopefully, by the time Spiros and Gaia reached their destination, Chase would be done with his own mission and in a position to help. And, if not, well, at least they would have a chance at survival by acquiring the biomaterial.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” said Spiros, pointing a finger toward the inanimate Gaia clone, “I hate having to do this. But what choice do we have?”

After a few seconds, he continued. “I’ll take your silence as an agreement that we don’t have any.”

Spiros brought advanced debug functions from his repair program inside his neuronal chip and selected the still corrupted part of Gaia’s matrix and froze all the corrupted functions. He installed a stabilizing program that would revert any change with every cycle of Gaia’s cycles using a simple code. While that wouldn’t help his recovery efforts, it would freeze the damaged section of her code in place, at least until he could resume his efforts in unscrambling them.

When he was satisfied with his safeguards, he grabbed the ancient spherical device. He kissed the sphere, but almost immediately regretted it, as the metal taste it left on his lips was both cold and gross.

For luck.

Spiros placed the sphere inside the transfer chamber next to the pod and activated the function he had pre-programmed into the cloning pod. It would allow a large bunch of nanites to perform the very delicate operation of installing the sphere inside the clone’s head. He activated the start command and turned away. He couldn’t bear to look. He would monitor the status of the procedure via his neuronal implant. Seeing an incision and blood could turn his stomach. Watching a bunch of 0’s and 1’s on a holographic neuronal interface, that he could deal with any day of the week.

* * *

The moment Chase was back in the cargo bay, a flurry of questions were asked in a cacophony of voices.

“Please— let me talk. We’re being attacked by an invisible ship or fleet. There’s no way to know right now.”

“What are we going to do about it?” asked Argos.

“Nothing. We’ll adjust the way we get to Erevos, that’s all.”

“Is that wise?” responded Ares.

The last thing Chase needed right now was someone to echo his own doubts and feed his own fears. It was painful enough leaving the Victory, Sarah, Daniel and hundreds of other crewmen behind in a time like this; but he knew very well that the window for their own mission was closing with every passing minute.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now, and I’m sure Sarah will find a way to deal with this threat.”

Ares nodded, though Chase could tell he was concerned about Chase’s decision.

Are we really abandoning mom here alone? asked a concerned Chris mentally.

Your mother can defend herself, as you know.

Perhaps I should stay with her?

Chase had considered that possibility, but his instinct told him he would need all the firepower he could get.

She’ll be fine; besides, I need you on this mission with me. If I sense something is wrong, I’ll come back for her.

We may be too occupied like we were on Asgard when…

Chris let the words hang. But Chase knew what his son meant. While on Asgard, Chase hadn’t felt that Zeus was in danger. He wished he had so he could have dealt with Arakan himself, and save his grandfather in the process.

Or gotten yourself killed, added Argos. We’ll kill Arakan in due time, like you said, together as a unit.

Chase realized he must have been broadcasting his thoughts loud enough for his brother to intercept them. But he felt grateful to have Argos’ full support now. He knew how lucky he was to have so many amazing people around him, willing to do whatever it took to put an end to this terrible war. But right now they needed to get going, even though it felt wrong leaving Sarah in this present condition. So, he cast these troubling thoughts to a dark and cold corner of his mind.

The entire ship shook as another salvo impacted with it.

“Alright, everyone. It looks like I’m going to have to teleport you to Erevos on my own…” said Chase, looking at Ares.

Ares shook his head from side to side, signaling to Chase that he couldn’t teleport anyone while being in a cloned body. That would have made things easier, but it didn’t look like easy was an item on the menu for the day.

“I don’t know if I can teleport all of you at the same time; we’ll probably have to make a couple of trips. Alpha team, you’re up.”

Half of the away team, Chris included, approached Chase.

“You know the drill; physical contact is needed for me to teleport you,” Chase added.

Chase extended his right arm forward, and they grabbed it. Chase teleported the first group of his friends to Erevos.

* * *

“What are we waiting for?” protested Daniel. “Shouldn’t we launch our squadrons already?”

“I’m not sure Daniel; we can’t seem to locate the enemy. I don’t want to send you on a suicide mission,” answered Sarah.

“Well, we’re dead anyway if we don’t find a solution. I’d rather be out there trying to figure out a way to get to them rather than wait and be a sitting duck on the Victory, no offense.”

There was a slight pause.

“Very well,” said a resigned Sarah. “Be careful.”

“You too, Captain. Light a fire under Yanis’ ass too; he works well under pressure.”

“Roger that.”

Daniel did his final pre-flight check from the neuronal holographic HUD. He was good to go. Now was probably a good time to address his pilots.

“Listen up everyone; we’re about to go against an unknown enemy. They’re not showing on radar and apparently not showing visually either. Unlike our cloaked ships, they seem to have the ability to fire upon us. We have no idea if we’re dealing with a single ship or multiple ones. Hopefully, we can get a better feel once we’re airborne and perhaps find a way to locate them. We don’t know if we’ll encounter fighter-sized craft or just capital ones.”

“That’s a lot of unknown parameters, Wing Commander,” replied Alpha Three. “How are we supposed to do our job in these conditions?”

Daniel was well aware of that. In fact, part of him wasn’t completely convinced when he argued with Sarah that they needed to be out there. But the fact of the matter was, as fighter pilots, they had a better chance of affecting the outcome of this battle in space than they did from the inside of the ship.

“I realize that Alpha Three, but we have to try and divert the attention away from the fleet at the moment and see if we can perhaps locate the ship visually. I’m hoping if we get closer to them, perhaps our scanners might pick up something or that the ships might give a visual hint to their location, somehow. I know these are far from ideal conditions, but we’re at war, and the enemy won’t throw us a bone to make our lives easier.”

“Understood Wing Commander; we’ll give them hell.”

Hopefully, thought Daniel.

A minute later Alpha squadron was in formation. A dark pit formed inside Daniel’s stomach as incoming fire appeared out of nowhere. The Victory would triangulate these shots and fire upon their position, but it didn’t seem to ever hit anything. Either the vessels were quite small, or they possessed the ability to move at high sub-light speed. Higher than any destroyer Daniel had witnessed.

“Okay, let’s split into wings; right now our main objective is to try and find a way to locate them. I suggest rapid lower power firing of laser weapons, and as we do so, we can try and light them up. That way we also mitigate damage from accidental friendly fire, which may be unavoidable if we want to cover a large firing zone as fast as possible.”

When Alpha Seven exploded without even revealing a visual hint of impact to a shield or incoming fire, Daniel’s stress levels shot up exponentially.

* * *

“No, no, no, and NO! We’re going at this all wrong,” protested Yanis.

“I’m not sure why you have requested my assistance if all you do is complain about my ideas,” protested the Asgardian scientist known as Rak’nar.

His facial tattoos blinked so fast Yanis tried avoiding direct eye contact as much as he could.

“Look, your assistance is appreciated, but I think our best bet is trying to get the turrets on an algorithm that will attempt pre-programmed vectoring solutions based on any impact we do to the enemy.”

“And I believe that is pointless since we haven’t impacted anything at all until now.”

“Alright, then what about you focus on a single problem and let me work on this particular one.”

The Asgardian sighed, and Yanis could tell he was just as unpleased with this collaboration as Yanis was.

“Very well, what would you like me to work on?”

“Try and find a solution to why we can’t use FTL engines to escape.”

“This won’t be an easy task; there are no sensor data that explains why we can’t.”

This guy’s propensity for stating the obvious is starting to get on my nerves.

“Well, try anyway,” said Yanis sharply. “Yanis out!”

Yanis turned off the holo-communication before Rak’nar had time to answer.

“I never thought I would say this,” said Yanis out loud, more to himself than anyone else currently present in engineering, “But I miss Kvasir.”

Yanis opened up another channel. “Cedric, where are you? I need your butt in engineering, stat!”

“Kinda in the middle of something, can’t it wait?”

Are you shitting me?

“Well, unless you want us to die in the next few minutes, so no, it can’t! Engineering, urgent, now! Is that clearer?”

“Alright, alright; I dunno what you had for your last meal but I don’t want you to start shitting bricks, so I’m on my way,” said Cedric reluctantly.

* * *

“What’s the matter Kvasir?” asked Thor while they waited for Chase to return.

“I should be helping Yanis figure out what’s attacking us.”

“Your devotion for the Earth Alliance is commendable. And, for what it’s worth, I’m glad Chase managed to convince Odin to cancel your execution.”

Kvasir didn’t expect Thor to open up on the subject. But it warmed Kvasir’s heart to know that Thor was just following orders and that he cared about his fate.

“Still,” Thor continued. “Any other day I would agree with you that your place is in a lab trying to figure out what the fleet is up against. But, not today. Chase’s rescue mission clearly takes precedence over this emergency.”

Kvasir twitched, and his tattoos flashed briefly in rapid succession.

“Are we actually willing to sacrifice all the lives on board the Victory and the other ships to save two people? Neither of which we’re sure is even savable at this point?”

“I understand your frustration, abandoning your friend in a time of need is not an easy thing to do. But today is one of those days where we don’t have a choice in the matter.”

“What friend? I’m just concerned about the hundreds of lives aboard all the ships.”

“Right,” said Thor with a big smile. “It’s okay to admit that Yanis has become your friend, you know.”

Was he? Could it be what he was really worried about? Did he form a strong emotional bond with the Earth Alliance main scientist? he wondered.

“I don’t know that I’d call him a friend. He’s reckless, he acts before thinking, and he thinks he’s always right.”

“Well, that has to remind you of someone,” said Thor with a smirk.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, I think you do. The adjectives you’ve used to describe your frien— colleague,” Thor corrected himself, “are the ones I would have used to describe you to someone else. And, while I don’t deny that the two of you might have many differences, you do share similar personality…how should I put this politely— traits.”

“What were you going to say first?”

“Personality ‘quirks’.”

At first, Kvasir didn’t agree with Thor’s statement but reflecting upon it more, he wondered if that was indeed why he didn’t want to go on the mission. Not because he was scared that he might not succeed once they were there; Kvasir hated having the fate of others hang in the palm of his hands, but perhaps because he felt he was abandoning Yanis in a time of need. Also, that he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if something happened to him because of it.

Before Kvasir could finish his train of thought, Chase had returned and teleported them away.

14

When Ryonna stepped out of the regen tank, she faced a very angry Tar’Lock.

“Are you out of your damn, obstinate Droxian mind?! What the hell was that?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Look, I was frustrated. I needed to relax, somehow. It’s no big deal.”

The insectoid’s eyes grew uncharacteristically wide.

“Not a big deal?” barked Tar’Lock with a long sigh. “Only you would call that relaxing. You almost got yourself killed. And Keera and me along with it!”

Ryonna could sense that Tar’Lock was more worried about her well-being than he was mad. In fact, she could sense he understood exactly why she had gone against a simulation of Argos in the first place. She also understood why he was reprimanding her, because of his strong feelings for her. Something Ryonna was touched by but didn’t know how to deal with. She had not finished grieving for her late husband, and while Tar’Lock’s affection had been sweet, if not overwhelming at times, she didn’t know how to deal with this side of their friendship.

“Last I checked you’re not my mother, Tar’Lock; may the spirits watch over her gentle soul. And I’d like to point out that your presence inside the holo-room wasn’t something I anticipated. So, it’s unfair to blame me for this. In fact, the two of you entering the simulation without my knowledge or consent complicated matters and put us all in jeopardy. I had things under control until the two of you showed up.”

Tar’Lock clicked furiously as his brown shade of carapace seemed to infuse some red tones over his face.

“Under control? Unbelievable!”

“What’s the matter, Tar’Lock. And, don’t take this the wrong way, but last I checked, I didn’t owe you an explanation.”

Ryonna regretted the words the moment she said them. And it didn’t take long for sadness to infuse into Tar’Lock’s eyes.

“I see,” he said, an inch away from sobbing. “Do as you wish, then, I— I just thought we were friends.”

“We are, Tar’Lock. I just wasn’t feeling well, and I needed to express my frustration.”

“Some friend you are,” mumbled Tar’Lock.

Before Ryonna could answer, Tar’Lock was already leaving the med-bay.

“Tar’Lock, wait.”

But her insectoid friend was already gone.

I’m sorry…

The last thing Ryonna wanted was to break her friend and companion’s heart. But before she could reflect further on what had just happened and how to fix it, the med-bay intercom flooded the room with the voice of someone else Ryonna would love to get a crack at killing. The emperor. He was requesting their presence in his ready room for a mission debrief.

* * *

“I guess Aphroditis was trying to tell us something after all with the Zargons’ presence in her vision,” shouted Argos as he shot a fireball at an incoming Zargon. The beast yelped as it fell to the ground and rolled for a few yards. Argos put it out of its misery with a second attack.

“Yeah,” said Chase, before disintegrating the nearest enraged animal with a supercharged attack. “That we have to be prepared to fight for our objectives, though I could have told you that.”

“I’m not sure I’m happy with your decision to assign Chris with Thor and the others.”

“We need Furies on both teams, and I’m not happy about it either, but I thought you’d want to be there when we get to Menelas. Plus, Chris can let us know if he needs our help.”

“Good point, but I think Thor and Poseidon could have protected Kvasir and Ares just fine on their own.”

“When the two of you are done chitchatting,” protested Oryn, impaling three of the Zargons with icy formations shooting from the ground beneath them, “then perhaps we could get a move on? That’s just a suggestion of course, but mind you, we’re quite a distance from where your father is being held.”

“Is she always this pleasant?” asked Argos.

“Compared to earlier today she’s actually quite nice,” said Chase.

“You guys do know that I can hear you, right?” complained Oryn. “Let’s just finish the next wave before moving deeper into the palace.”

“Next wave?” questioned Argos.

Oryn pointed behind him, forcing Argos to turn around.

“Great, there are more of these things.”

“Be happy they’re just Zargons.”

Argos unleashed a flurry of fireballs toward the pack of beasts currently hurtling at him. He incinerated more than half of his targets before a rain of icicles took care of the rest.

“Hey! Those were my kills.”

“Then learn how to aim so we don’t have to spend all day in this place.”

“Enough!” shouted Chase. “Today is not the day to bicker like children.”

Chase transformed into an Ultra Fury, with orange flames dancing around his aura and his long hair dancing atop his head. He moved so fast he left an orange trail behind him, and before Oryn or Argos could say a word, he had eliminated the last thirty plus creatures.

“That was fast,” complimented Argos, with a thumbs up. “Why didn’t you just do that from the start?”

“Because we’ll need to be careful about how we spend our pools of energy today; we don’t want to be caught empty-handed if Arakan shows up,” said Chase as his aura and eyes returned to their usual purple tinge.

“Was it wise then to use this energy the way you just did?”

Chase sighed. “No, it wasn’t, but for once Oryn is right, and we need to keep moving.”

“For once?” Oryn repeated, raising an eyebrow.

* * *

Spiros’ heart skipped a beat when Gaia’s clone opened her eyes and stepped out of the cloning pod. Seeing her avatar in the flesh was something he had dreamt about forever since they had met and developed their strong feelings for each other. Spiros never thought he would like Gaia when they first met though. Their first discussion, inside the holographic communication device he had built to first communicate with the AI, had been cold, to the point, and not exactly a two-way dialogue either.

“Who am I?” was her first question, and it made Spiros’ heart thud a little.

“Your name is Gaia.”

“Gaia,” repeated the clone, with the coldness of an artificial life form; one with a neuronal net stripped of all emotions.

“Yes. I need your help.”

The clone looked around the room in a very mechanical way, which only underlined what Spiros already knew. Without the sub-routines that made Gaia her own lovable self, this body was a basic automaton; cold, calculating, not his equal, not his friend, not the woman he loved so dearly.

“Are you my master?”

“I suppose you could say that,” said Spiros, reluctantly.

Just for a little while, my love. Together, we’ll get you better soon.

Spiros wondered what to do with all the stored data she would experience now; he had sandboxed them so they could either be saved as alternate memories or simply wiped once the full Gaia was back. Still, he felt very uncomfortable around Gaia’s clone, especially using her as a bodyguard like he was about to do. Even though he knew his Gaia would want him to do so.

“What is your name?” requested Gaia.

“Spiros; my name is Spiros Malayianis.”

“Administrator rights and root level access granted for Spiros Malayianis. Is there anything I can do for you today, Spiros Malayianis?”

Spiros was ashamed, but he really wished he could kiss her. Right now, that kiss wouldn’t mean anything since there wouldn’t be any emotions behind it, so he banished the thought away. He needed to stay laser-focused on what they needed to accomplish in the next few hours and days. Timing would be everything, and they couldn’t afford to lose any. Spiros mentally accessed the ship in the landing bays of Argos’ station and turned the ship online and started pre-flight checks with the help of his brain implant.

“Just call me Spiros; and yes, as a matter of fact, there is. Come with me; I’ll tell you more about our mission along the way.”

Gaia mechanically bowed in agreement and followed Spiros out of the lab.

* * *

Alpha squadrons hadn’t encountered any short-range resistance in the form of invisible fighters, though as far as they knew perhaps the ships attacking the fleet were fighters and they just didn’t bother trying to engage with the pilots’ craft.

While it had only been a band-aid measure, Yanis has managed to reconfigure the power distribution to accelerate the recharging cycle of the Victory’s shields. Other ships were not so lucky, and the small tactical fleet had already lost two Obsidian destroyers as well as the Asgardian ship that had opened the super-fast FTL travel corridor for the fleet. The rest of the ships had just started using the Victory and Athena’s ship for cover. But it was a tedious task for these smaller ships’ captains, to constantly have to readjust their vector every time they were targeted. That gave the fleet an idea of where the enemy ship or ships were located but not precise enough to do anything about it.

Daniel’s idea of using fast-rate lower-power lasers didn’t have any results either, and Daniel shared the frustration of some of his pilots who had expressed it over the comms.

Beta Four exploded suddenly, and a lucky shot from nearby Alpha Six finally seemed to impact something looking like a shield. Though it was brief, and Six had failed to correctly guess the ship’s trajectory before disengaging to avoid the incoming salvo of long-range lasers coming from the fleet.

Daniel swore. Another pilot had died without warning. And if they didn’t find a solution to at least locate their enemies, they’d all end up impacting with the enemies’ shield eventually, which seemed deadly even for the StarFuries. That also didn’t bode well for the Earth Alliance. Despite their earthly, and admittedly, distant origin as a transformed F-14 Tomcat, StarFuries were incredibly powerful and resilient star fighters. The fact that they blew up the second they impacted with their foes’ shield was very bad news for them. Of course, nowadays, the current fleet of StarFuries were built from scratch, and the only thing they shared with an actual F-14 was their outward appearance, and even so, the design had been refined and streamlined with each new generation of fighters.

“Yanis,” said Daniel over the comms. “Please tell me you got at least some sensor data and that Beta Four didn’t die in vain.”

“I got some sensor data, but I need more to try and figure out a way to adapt our sensors to a new scanning mechanism or frequency.”

“Are you telling me you don’t even know what needs to be changed to make this work? Have you at least tried some things randomly?”

“Yes, Cedric is working on that while I try to recalibrate the sensors themselves; so far we haven’t had much luck.”

Dammit!

“Keep at it; and find a way, soon,” barked Daniel, “or we’re history.”

“Roger that, Daniel. And not to be a party pooper but we won’t have a solution anytime soon if we don’t get more data to analyze and work with, I’m afraid.”

If these two couldn’t figure it out, who could? The thought suddenly triggered an idea in Daniel.

“Understood. Will smaller impacts on their shield provide you with the data you require?”

“Perhaps, but I would imagine a big impact would reveal way more information on how to not only detect but target these suckers.”

They were with their backs against a wall, literally, until Daniel figured out a way to get them the data they needed. He thought he might have found a surefire way to finally impact the enemy ship or ships, but it still had to be determined at this point. Daniel’s instinct told him that there were at least two of them in tight formation. Now he needed a way to make sure he could get a bigger boom out of their shields than an exploding StarFury.

That meant taking a page out of Chase’s book of reckless ideas, but desperate measures required desperate solutions.

Daniel used his neuronal holo-HUD to take control of four pilot-less StarFuries from the Victory and launch them into space. He didn’t like wasting valuable resources such as StarFuries, but they didn’t have any other choice if they wanted to live another day.

* * *

Chris landed both his feet onto the Fury guard’s thoracic cage, catapulting him against the nearest wall that promptly cracked upon impact. He then aimed at his immobilized prey while looking the other way, seeing another wave of Fury guards running inside the large room. Without bothering to look at his target, he incinerated the Fury with a massive column of green energy.

“You should not waste your energy this way, little one,” said Poseidon as he retracted his Trident from an impaled guard.

The guard fell on his knees in front of him, holding his bleeding chest and moaning. Poseidon released his grasp on his weapon, but the Trident stayed hovering where it was, not affected by the planet’s gravity, while Poseidon grabbed the Fury’s head with both hands and finished him off by vigorously twisting his neck.

“Don’t call me that!” protested Chris, as he sent a flurry of smaller fireballs toward the next wave of Furies.

Poseidon looked at Thor. “He’s a little on edge, isn’t he?”

“Chris is doing fine; you’re the one that seems out of sorts. Is your new mechanical arm bothering you?”

Poseidon opened and closed his bionic arm a few times.

“No, it’s fine. I just miss the original one.”

“Look at it this way, you at least have an arm, and you’re breathing, that has to count for something. I do have a question about it, though?”

“Shoot,” said Poseidon, semi-absently.

“It looks like a very complex piece of technology, but you don’t seem to be using it beyond what your other arm does. Isn’t it stronger and loaded with armament?”

Poseidon looked at some of the blinking lights escaping from behind a black chrome finish of his new appendage.

“It is. I just don’t need to at the moment. This feels a little like an aberration, but I wouldn’t expect anyone else to understand.”

“Well, I do,” said Thor. “Mine bothered me at first, that’s why I had fake skin grafted onto it, so at least it doesn’t look like it’s a foreign thing. I’m sure the Earth Alliance will be more than willing to also graft some fake skin on yours as well if you ask them.”

Poseidon gave the Asgardian a surprised look.

“You’ve lost your arm, too?”

“Yes; a very long time ago, during the first Fury War, in fact.”

“I haven’t seen you use its special abilities either, then. So why would you tell me to use mine?”

“That’s because you haven’t been paying attention. Watch.”

Thor opened his right hand and the hammer he had sent toward the group of incoming Furies, knocking a few of them, turned around, punched through an unlucky Fury’s head that was in the way of the returning weapon before it flew back to Thor’s hand. Upon grabbing the weapon, green lights illuminated on Thor’s hand tattoos and traveled upward on Thor’s hammer. That’s when Poseidon understood that these weren’t just decorative tattoos like the ones Asgardians have on their faces and other body parts, but an interface and probably power distribution system for a very advanced remote controllable weapon.

“Neat.”

“I’m glad you agree; now that I’ve shown you what mine can do, why don’t you show me what your arm can do?”

“I’d rather not.”

“Poseidon, I understand how you must feel, but I think it would be better if you trained with it. It took me a while to be proficient with my own arm, and the last thing we need is for you not being able to use it at a moment where we may need you to.”

Chris flew between them and crashed nearby. He got back on his feet and wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Thanks for the assist, guys. When you’re done with your private committee, perhaps you could help me out a little.”

“Sorry about that,” said Poseidon.

The god of the seas aimed his open bionic palm toward the ten or so shouting Fury guards that were running their way. Blue light quickly lit up from his artificial shoulder all the way to the tips of his fingers and a large and furious column of blue energy shot and impacted with the incoming foes, freezing them on the spot.

Thor hurled his hammer toward the frozen Fury statues, which exploded more than half of them on its way through before returning to the Asgardian’s hand.

“Neat! Why wouldn’t you want to use this power? Is there anything else it can do?”

Poseidon nodded, and the lighting on his arm turned red. Five successive inflamed fragile-framed looking cannonballs shot toward the few frozen Furies still standing. Just before impacting, the microscopic elements forming the frame of the cannonballs exploded in every direction, they left a red laser trail behind them as they cut through the ice statues as if they were made of butter.

“Whoaaa,” exclaimed Chris. “Give it to Yanis to come up with the most badass weapons.”

Poseidon smiled.

“See,” said Thor. “It’s a good thing you test these out; you never know when you might need them, and it’s a good way for you to know their strength, their weaknesses, as well as their range. I take it that you don’t have an infinite supply of energy to use them, though.”

“I suppose you’re right. No, that Yanis character said he put one hell of a miniature quadrinium power core in there, and I should at least expect a few shots from each weapon until it needs recharging.”

“Ok then, to use with parsimony once you have tested each of its abilities,” said Thor before turning around.

“You can come out now; the coast is clear,” said Chris.

He walked past Thor and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at Ares and Kvasir getting out from behind cover.

“For now, at least,” he added.

15

After the mission briefing, Emperor Altair requested Ryonna to stay and talk further.

“Look, I know there’s no love lost between us,” said the emperor.

“That’s putting it mildly,” said Ryonna, her tone ice cold.

“Alright, you hate me, I get that. I understand that my rule as the emperor and my past choices were questionable, but I don’t understand why this hatred seems so personal. What did I do to the Droxian people? It’s true that before the arrival of Chase and his friends we weren’t allies, but the Obsidian Empire and the Droxian people were not enemies. Yet, I sense that’s how you see me.”

Fire burned inside Ryonna’s eyes.

I’d like to rip your head from your shoulders.

Ryonna’s voice trembled slightly, which was a rare occurrence.

“You had my son imprisoned on Hellstar. And put a bounty on my head. Or have you forgotten that?”

Emperor Altair’s face appeared confused.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t! Don’t you dare.”

“Look, Ryonna, I swear I had nothing to do with that. I don’t deny that perhaps someone in my administration had taken action against you and your family, and I apologize for that, but I did not have anything to do with that personally. Not that I remember, anyway.”

Ryonna realized that perhaps he hadn’t played a direct role in the arrest and imprisonment of Ronan, but she still held him personally responsible, whether he had actually played a role or not.

“Ah! Exactly, how would you remember any of these cases you might have signed without giving it a single thought?”

“How old was your son when the Empire sent him to prison.”

Ryonna pointed an accusing finger at the emperor. “You, not the Empire, and even if you didn’t sign the order yourself, anything that happens under your rule is your responsibility.”

Emperor Altair lowered his gaze for a moment.

“You’re right. Everything that happens under my rule, I’m responsible for. I’m sorry for what we’ve— what I’ve done to you.”

Ryonna growled.

“My son was sixteen when he was sent to Hellstar; he’s seventeen now.”

“I’m glad you got him out of there. I take it the incident where half the prison population escaped was your doing?”

“Not exactly; Argos and Chase showed up, but I would have gotten my son out regardless.”

“I can see it in your eyes that you would have.”

“What else can you see in my eyes?”

“That you want to burn a hole through my forehead.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

“I’m not trying to, Ryonna. And if you want to sit this mission out, I’d understand.”

“You understand nothing! I promised Chase I would help with this, and I will. It doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”

“Fair enough. I want to apologize for any suffering I might have cause⁠—”

“Stop! I don’t care about your ‘after the fact’ pity and fake concern.”

“I assure you it’s not fake.”

“Whatever! Can I get the fuck out of here now?”

The emperor nodded. Ryonna took several steps toward the doors of the emperor’s ready room but stopped after a few feet.

“Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?” asked the emperor, tentatively.

Ryonna turned around and looked at Emperor Altair casting him a subzero look.

“Have you ever heard of Sektor Atrak?”

“The name rings a bell, yes.”

Ryonna’s blood boiled. She ran back toward the emperor and jumped and landed on his desk. The moment she did, a sharp blade was pressing against the emperor’s throat.

“One of yours? One of the members of your administration as you put it earlier?”

“Not exactly, but he had dealings with high-ranking members of the Empire. Until someone killed hi— It was you, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, I killed that piece of shit!” snarled Ryonna.

“That’s how you got into Hellstar; to save your son. Before you kill me, I’d like to thank you.”

Ryonna pressed her blade harder and pushed the emperor’s head further back.

“For what? Giving you a merciful death?”

“If you must, yes. My thanks, however, are for killing that scummy piece of crap Sektor Atrak. Shortly after he died, I received anonymous information on this man’s atrocious dealings. If you hadn’t killed him, I would have executed him myself, but not before making him suffer for the horrendous crimes he had committed.”

Jonas had promised he would send the documents implicating Atrak to the authorities; that’s what the emperor must have been referring to. Ryonna holstered her blaster, and a rogue tear traveled down her cheek. She jumped down from the table.

“Good answer, Emperor.”

“Can I ask you something, Ryonna?”

“Sure. Just make it quick; I have that mission you need my help with to get ready for.”

“What did this man do to you?”

“He took the one person I loved more than anything from me, and he made it look like an accident.”

“I’m truly sorry to hear this, Ryonna. I wish there were something I could say or do to help you with the pain you must be feeling, but I know there isn’t. I’m glad you had your revenge, and know that if you had slashed my throat just now, I wouldn’t have blamed you. You were right earlier, what happens on my watch is my responsibility, and while Atrak wasn’t directly under my command, I should have been in the loop of the dealings he had with my people instead of delegating to untrustworthy vultures interested more in climbing the ranks and their own monetary interests than justice.

“So, I’m truly sorry that I’ve let something like this happen, and that the one you loved lost his life because of it. As the emperor, I trusted that everyone under my command was doing their job diligently without accounting for their actions. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t regret being so blind and power driven. I know it won’t bring back the lives that were lost, and that I can never really atone for it either.”

To her surprise, the emperor’s words washed away some of Ryonna’s deep-rooted anger and soothed her soul. He didn’t seem to be playing a role; his words rang true, and Ryonna could feel the sincerity behind them. She had assaulted him and was ready to kill him, and still, the man was apologizing to her and meaning it when he could have her arrested and killed. Perhaps she had misjudged him. After all, Commodore Saroudis had considered him a friend, and the Commodore’s moral compass had never wavered, not even at the very end.

Even though she wanted to, her pride prevented Ryonna from verbalizing her gratefulness for the emperor’s words. So she left the room without looking back or saying another word.

* * *

Argos decapitated the last Fury guard defending the catacomb under Arakan’s palace by slashing it with his crimson energy-infused palm. Its head fell to the ground and rebounded a couple of times, making squishy sounds.

“You enjoy gory finishes, don’t you?” reprimanded Oryn.

“Look who’s talking, Ms. I impale everything that stands in my way.”

“Touché,” she replied with a smile.

“How far are we from our father’s cell?” requested Chase. “This is taking way longer than I expected, or hoped.”

“You didn’t expect Arakan not to put obstacles in our way, now did you?” scoffed Oryn. “I’m sure he has more surprises for us along the way.”

“While I don’t enjoy killing Zargons, after all, they are just animals that the Furies exploit as war cannon fodder if all Arakan has to throw at us is his weak-standard Fury guards, he can keep sending them,” commented Argos. “I’ll dispatch them by the dozen; that will make for a good warm-up for when he gets his ass here.”

“How many times do I have to repeat this: Arakan is mine,” grunted Oryn.

“That’s enough! Arakan is not yours to fight alone. We’ll do our best to let you finish him off if we’re given the occasion, but you’re not to engage him alone.”

“The hell we are,” said Argos. “If I get a shot to kill the bastard, I’m not gonna stop to let her finish him. That could be the mistake that gets us all killed.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” said Oryn, ice forming in her eyes as she pointed an open palm toward Argos.

Argos did the same and pointed his own palm toward Oryn. “Oh, believe me, I would. You’re not the only one who’s been impacted by Zeus’ death.”

Chase teleported between them. “Listen up, and listen good, because I’ve had it with the both of you bickering for hours now. Oryn, if you’re not going to follow the rules, tell me now so that I can teleport you on board the Victory, and Argos, do you have to antagonize her every chance you get? Why can’t the two of you get along, at least for the duration of this mission, which, I’d like to remind the both of you, isn’t just about killing Arakan but a double rescue mission, in addition to making sure the machine is reprogrammed so we can finally get rid of all the Furies. Have the two of you stopped to think that perhaps that’s how we will deal with Arakan?”

“No!” protested Oryn. “He needs to suffer and feel my hand rip his beating heart from his chest before this is all over.”

Chase slapped away her still pointing palm and pointed a finger right in front of her eyes. “One more word, I swear, one more, and I’m teleporting you back.”

“But not today,” she added.

“Technically, that’s three words,” smirked Argos.

Chase sent daggers toward his brother.

“Just saying.”

Chase exhaled in frustration and returned his gaze toward Oryn.

“How far are we from the cell?”

“Not far; we just have to pass through that large door over there, then there’s a long corridor leading to a row of mostly empty cells, except one on the far right. That’s where Menelas should be.”

“Should be?” questioned Argos.

“Yes, should be. I can’t guarantee Arakan hasn’t moved him, though I seriously doubt it.”

“And why’s that?” inquired Chase.

“Because it’s a very high-tech cell, which only Arakan can get into. I tried once, and there are no controls to get in. The cell is enhanced with quadrinium-mesh blast doors; no one can get in or out.”

“Fortunately, we don’t need to blast through; I’ll just teleport inside and get Menelas out the same way.”

“Yeah, that should do it, but it’s possible Arakan would have booby trapped it to blow if anyone but him gets in or the prisoner tries to get out.”

“I’ll have to be fast then,” said Chase.

Chase wondered if that was why he heard Menelas telling him not to come to Erevos, that somehow, he knew his cell was booby trapped, and that coming to get him could result in the death of anyone attempting it. It mattered not what kind of challenges Arakan had put in their way. They were getting Menelas out of there, and soon; the entire war could very well depend on the location of the soul ships. And, if his father was the only living being to know where to find them, then he was the most important part of this mission; that alone was more important than their blood connection.

“Let’s go,” added Chase. “We need to get moving; I have a bad feeling about all of this. It’s been way too simple so far.”

“Perhaps Arakan simply has underestimated who he is dealing with?” said Argos casually.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” commented Oryn, pointing toward the large blast doors a few dozen yards ahead of them.

Chase was the first to pass through the doors after they swiftly split open. The second he was through, and before Oryn and Argos could enter the next room, the blast doors closed with a hydraulic locking sound.

* * *

Once the quartet of remote StarFuries joined Daniel’s wing, he reprogrammed them to be ready to jump and overloaded their quadrinium chambers with a simple macro he could activate with a single thought.

Daniel opened a comm to the rest of his pilots.

“We need to try and light up the target, and obviously, lasers in our line of sight isn’t cutting it. So, I have an idea. We’ll deploy all our drones, so they rotate on themselves and fire high-speed low-yield laser fire. I'm transmitting to you a macro that I’ve written for the drones. If any of you are near the ship when the impact is detected, jump away. I have a very specific plan so you must trust me, because the second we have contact, I’ll be sending StarFuries to impact with it. You do not want to get caught in the resulting explosion. I know your instinct might tell you to try and fire upon the destroyer, but we need a really big bang so that our engineers can devise a surefire way to detect the ship. And we can’t get enough of an explosion any other way; so, do not engage, just vacate the area if you’re anywhere near shield impact.”

Daniel then confirmed that every one of his pilots had received the drone code and deployed it. He gave the order for deployment.

Soon, hundreds of drones shot in all directions, separating themselves to optimum distances to cover as much perimeter as possible. A few seconds later, the drones started rotating at maximum velocity and began spewing thousands of laser shots, filling space with miniature blue lines.

All four remote-controlled StarFuries had already pre-started overloading their engine cores to threshold, so less than a second was required to go over the threshold of a meltdown inside the quadrinium chambers. Daniel stood ready to deploy a StarFury the moment shield impacts were detected, and it only took a few seconds until multiple lasers hit their target. Beta Six and Gamma Three were in proximity, and, as instructed, they immediately micro-jumped at the same time that Daniel sent a StarFury to its inevitable demise.

The plan went well, and the StarFury detonated against a larger than expected ship, revealing a shape that flash-froze Daniel’s blood. The monstrosity, which was almost as big as the Victory, flickered for less than a second, but it would be enough to give Daniel future nightmares. The black ship looked like a space spider.

Holy crap and I thought the Fury ships were creepy.

Daniel opened a comm channel to the Victory.

“Yanis, did you get that? Should I try to hit it a few more ti⁠—”

But before Daniel could finish his sentence, multiple explosions rocked his StarFury, and all he could see around him were flames as his craft spun uncontrollably.

16

Spiros and Gaia were in the cockpit of their Earth Alliance shuttle. Spiros hadn’t said much in quite a while. He simply didn’t know how to interact with someone that looked like Gaia but was so vastly different. It threw him off every time the clone would speak, as even its vocal inflections sounded artificial. Nothing like his Gaia used to be.

He knew he had to brief the clone on the mission ahead. He had to give it a set of directives to make sure they managed to survive the trip and return to the lab so he could complete his work and finally reunite with the woman he loved so dearly. Or die trying; though that part was the one thing he was trying to prevent as much for himself as for Gaia. He knew how he would feel if the positions were reversed.

“Gaia, I’d like to go over our mission protocols before we jump out of hyperspace.”

“Of course. Awaiting protocols and orders.”

Spiros grimaced.

“The mission’s main objective is to obtain the following materials,” said Spiros, showing a description and location for the biomaterial they were after. “We are to use all necessary means, including deadly force, to acquire these materials. That’s where your advanced combat sub-routines come into play. Whenever possible, use non-lethal force but do not hesitate to go lethal to protect both of us. Is that understood?”

“I understand the parameters of the mission, Spiros.”

Spiros swallowed hard before continuing. This next part wasn’t easy for him to say, as he knew it could put Gaia’s life in danger. But without it, he was almost certain to perish if they hit heavy resistance.

“Furthermore, you are to be extra protective of me and do everything you can to make sure I stay alive, except putting your life in danger. Your clone body can sustain damage to multiple parts, like arms and legs, but avoid any torso damage and most importantly head injuries. I cannot stress this enough.”

“Sub-parameters added successfully. I do have a question, though?”

Spiros didn’t expect that. Granted, even her basic AI matrix, without its emotional sub-routine, could still show signs of curiosity on its own.

“I’m listening.”

“Why would you want me to self-preserve if we encounter a scenario that would allow me to save your life should mine be forfeited? I am confused. Shouldn’t biological human lives always be more valuable than artificial ones? I can be rebuilt into a new body, you, however, cannot.”

Technically, he could be transferred to a new clone body and so could her current matrix. But there was no one around to do this for Spiros. And while he knew that he could probably regrow her a new clone body, the risk of losing both Gaia and whatever secrets the ancient sphere could still be holding was too high a risk to take.

“It would take too much time to explain to you why. I just need you to confirm you understand my orders and will follow them to the letter. As for artificial life not being as valuable as biological ones, this is arguable, and I don’t agree with that premise.”

“Very well. I understand what you require of me. Will there be anything else, Spiros?”

Spiros tried sending another subspace signal. However, this region of the galaxy was littered with interfering anomalies, and Spiros hadn’t managed to get a subspace lock to send a message to the Victory.

“Yes, I would like to record a holo-transmission message now; one that you are to send to the Earth Alliance destroyer Victory the moment we get out of hyperspace. You are to confirm the message is received. If the signal isn’t optimal or if interference prohibits you from sending the subspace signal, we have to try and find a transmission array on the planet, as long as it doesn’t conflict with your other prerogatives or mission objectives.”

“Understood. Recording message.”

Spiros took a deep breath and looked straight at Gaia.

“Hello, Cedric, I hate to burden you with this, but I’m in urgent need of help.”

* * *

“Oh, this is not good, not good at all,” exclaimed Yanis.

“What is it?” inquired Cedric.

“Have you seen that thing? I hate spiders.”

“That is not a spider. It’s a cloaked ship that can fire upon us and appears to have incredibly strong shields; the StarFury exploding on it barely registered a power drop in it. That’s what I’d be more worried about than the way it looks.”

“You’re not afraid of spiders?”

“I had a pet tarantula when I was younger; spiders are actually quite cool. But this is not a spider; it’s a ship.”

“A pet?” Yanis trembled in disgust. “You’re weird.”

“I’m weird? Right, a technologically advanced human being from another world being afraid of spiders, and I’m the weird one?”

“Never mind; we have work to do.”

“You started it.”

“And now I’m ending it. Look at how she moves; each of her eight legs contain both engines and laser arrays. Even though we only received a couple of seconds of telemetry, it’s clear this…thing is not moving through space in a straight line. It’s quite ingenious, if disconcerting, but it looks like…”

Yanis let the words hang as he replayed the sensor logs again.

“Like it’s walking on an invisible space web.”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, I’ll grant you that this is a little bit creepy.” Cedric conceded.

“Finally, now about its shields. They seem way stronger than ours, and I don’t understand how they can generate that amount of power in a ship her size. Granted it’s still an enormous destroyer-class vessel, but the power requirements for those shields must be off the charts.”

“Any idea what could power them? Perhaps a more efficient design than quadrinium-based chambers.”

“I would imagine so. The bad news is that this ship is unknown. I’ve tasked the computer to try and match anything in the database, but it came back empty. It doesn’t even share a resemblance with any of the ships we have in our databanks, and now that we linked our databases with both the Olympians and the Asgardians, those records go back more than fifty thousand years.”

Cedric scratched his head. “What are you trying to say?”

“That we may be facing a foe that is not of our world or one that is older than we have records for.”

“What? That’s absurd!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Okay, this is just a hypothesis on my part, one I can’t substantiate with any hard proof. But, since sending the Furies to another dimension outside of our space and time for the last ten thousand years, how certain are we that they were alone in that dimension and that no other races lived there?”

“And somehow just a single invisible spider ship made it through when Erevos returned? That sounds a little far-fetched, doesn’t it?”

“One ship, that we know of, Cedric. And, no, it’s not that far-fetched of an idea.”

“Why would they just make their presence known now?”

“That I don’t know. But I have a very bad feeling about this.”

“On that, we agree. Spider or not, from our dimension or not, what matters is that we defeat it before it gets the better of us. Our shields won’t last forever.”

“It does seem happy only sending a few salvos every few minutes, though. I wonder why. With the amount of power it has, it could be more offensive and drain our shields faster.”

“It’s possible using their cloak and still firing at the same time requires too much energy, even for them. Or, it’s gauging our technological levels at the moment to see how best to devour us.”

“Devour? I thought you didn’t fear spiders.”

“Real spiders, Yanis. This one is slowly but surely starting to give me the creeps, especially since your hunches are rarely wrong. Perhaps it’s just trying to delay us. I mean, what better tactic than staying hidden and randomly attacking us to try and get our attention.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. But for what purpose?”

“Well, if I had to guess, for Arakan to get back to Erevos if he hasn’t already.”

“Oh shit!”

“What is it?”

“If that’s their intent, then…”

“Then what, Yanis? Spit it out.”

“Chase said something earlier to me about a dark power he encountered when trying to save Zeus and heal Poseidon. Ares had mentioned something similar about detecting this being interacting with Arakan when he first thought he caught him talking to himself.”

“Will you stop beating around the bush? What’s your conclusion?”

“That perhaps this ship belongs to that being, or is of the same race. Shadow or whatever it was Ares saw.”

“That does make a lot of sense; they both are invisible, and the timing would match. We know Arakan has to come back from Olympus, so there’s a good chance he hasn’t managed to return home in time. I think we would have received a status report from Chase, so I think you’re onto something here.”

“It would also confirm what Chase thought. That Arakan had exhausted most of his fleet taking out large parts of Droxia and trying to invade Asgard shortly after. They used their ships as disposable bombs like they were nothing or had very little value. In fact, they needed to make sure they had our attention on them, and what better way to do that than throw Fury bomb ships at us while he was moving toward Olympus and Zeus.”

“Boy, this war is getting more complex each new day. And it sure seems that Arakan doesn’t value life very much; even those of his own race.”

“And it’s about to get more complex still. Since that thing looks and moves like a spider, I’m gonna assume that it may share other arachnid characteristics. So, I propose we develop a detection system keeping in mind how real spiders act in nature. Which means I’m going to rely on your expertise.”

“Intriguing idea, but I like where you’re going with this,” said Cedric with a smirk.

Yanis raised an eyebrow. “I know that look. You have an idea already, don’t you?”

“Yes, let’s shake the spider’s web; that always forces it to reveal itself.”

* * *

Arakan was sitting in his ready room, a solid matte metallic headset covering most of his face. Bleeding red and purple holo-projected images cast a strange light on his chin and forehead.

We’ll be entering the new wormhole soon, Arakan, at which point you’ll lose your subspace connection to Erevos. Whatever you’re doing, I suggest you finish it soon, said the shadow.

Arakan growled as his answer. He was too focused on ensuring Chase and his friends wouldn’t survive his last trap. Eventually, he decided to acknowledge his cohort inside his mind.

Just make sure your ships hold back the Earth Alliance from Erevos until the recalled fleet gets there. And, don’t worry about me; I have my ship’s telemetry overlaid onto my remote control device. I know exactly when we’ll lose connection. If worse comes to worse, you can always take over for me.

How would you propose I do that?

Don’t take me for a fool. If your consciousness is with me at all times while your body is still on Erevos, then you can intervene there.

There was enough of a pause before the shadow answered, confirming Arakan’s theory.

What makes you think my body hasn’t followed you?

Because you’ve said it yourself, a part of you is with me now, but not all of you. I’d still like to know what you are; would you like us to talk about that? I’m perfectly capable of multitasking.

Now it was the shadow’s turn to growl inside Arakan’s mind.

I think I’ve helped you enough today as it is. I’m not fighting Chase and his friends for you.

You’ll do what needs to be done so we win today, and that’s not a suggestion.

I’ve helped you tremendously lately; first by resurrecting you from certain death, allowing you to take your revenge on Zeus. I’d think that you’d be grateful about that. But the more I help, the more I get the feeling you think I’m just here to get you out of trouble. I’m not your pawn.

Nor I yours! screamed Arakan. Let’s cut the bullshit right here and now. You need me for something that much is clear. Why would you even care to help me otherwise? Maybe that’s what we should be talking about?

I’m no longer in the mood to talk with you.

That’s the best idea you’ve had in the last few hours. And don’t think I’m not grateful for your saving my life; I am, but I don’t like to be micro-managed all the time. I’m the Supreme Commander, not you! And I do not doubt that one day I’ll have to pay a steep price for the help you’ve given me. You may think like Oryn did before you, that I’m just a brain-damaged, senile and weak-minded Fury you can control to reach your goals. But my resolve is stronger than either of you will ever know.

* * *

“What the hell just happened? Why did the door close before we walked through it?” inquired Argos, pounding on the door.

“I think Arakan only wants to get to Chase right now,” said Oryn.

“Or divide us so he can deal with us easier.”

Chase, can you hear me? tried Argos telepathically. When he didn’t get an answer, his heartbeat started galloping. Argos took a step back and pointed an open palm toward the massive blast door.

“Move aside,” he barked.

“Don’t be ridiculous; you can’t burn through this door on your own.”

Argos’ eyes lit a deep crimson red, fire burning inside his pupils.

“Move…aside!”

A substantial red fireball came to life a few inches in front of Argos’ palm and quickly grew in size and power.

Hold on, Chase, we’re coming!

“Argos, for once, listen to me! What if Chase is incapacitated behind that door? Even if you did burn through it, you would risk injuring or killing him. Let me try and freeze the door, and you can punch through it.”

Argos was only a handful of seconds away from reaching full power on his attack, and while he didn’t like Oryn, he had to admit she was raising a good point. Chase must have been incapacitated in one way or another, or he would already have teleported back to get them. Argos growled through clenched teeth. He re-assimilated the fireball’s attack power and shot Oryn a cold look.

“Very well; do your thing, but please hurry up.”

Oryn nodded and put both her hands on the large metal doors and closed her eyes. The temperature around them dropped significantly and ice crystals formed in expanding concentric circles around Oryn’s hands.

“Get ready to smash the door on my mar⁠—”

But, before Oryn could finish her sentence, she was engulfed in a ray of red light and beamed away.

What the hell!

Argos raised his aura to the maximum and threw himself at the blast door, but before his fist could impact with it, he felt a beam engulf him and rip him from his position.

17

Chase felt paralyzed by the current traveling through his body. The pain was acute and prevented him from moving. He tried teleporting away, but he couldn’t achieve the required level of focus.

Dammit!

In his torment, Chase hoped that Argos and Oryn were okay, but he needed to find a way to get free from the bolts that held him paralyzed. He needed to get back to them, but he also needed to get to his father.

Suddenly, the amount of current diminished. The pain was still there, but he could now think more clearly. A second later a large holo-screen turned on. A smiling and floating Arakan head was staring at him.

“You’ve been a thorn in my side for way too long, traitor. Today, you and your friends will pay for your defiance with your lives. And while I’m at it, I’ll take your father’s life from you.”

“I’m not gonna let you,” said Chase while clenching his teeth, his face still deformed from the pain.

“Look at you; you couldn’t do anything if you wanted to. Oh, and I have Oryn and your brother, too.”

Another holo-screen appeared next to the smirking Arakan. Both Argos and Oryn were hovering in a dark room, immobilized and suffering a similar fate as Chase, and electric bolts were continuously hitting them. Smaller bolts of electricity sizzled around their bodies, and their face muscles spasmed from the amount of what looked to be excruciating pain.

“Look for yourself; you’ve lost. All I need to do now is to locate your other friends and your son and smash them like the insignificant bugs that they are.”

The thought of harm coming to Chris unleashed a wave of hatred inside Chase’s soul. An orange aura engulfed Chase’s body and grew at exponential speed. The lightning bolts of electricity intensified but Chase transformed into an Ultra Fury and let his inner energy explode around him like a supernova. Multiple surges of orange shock waves impacted the walls around him and took out the lightning emitters that previously held him hostage. Chase’s hair danced atop his head like a black flame.

His eyes shone brightly like two suns. Chase felt intense hatred in his soul, threatening to take over his sanity. He knew that feeling well, having experienced it many times before, especially when fighting his brother. He also knew it was dangerous to let rage take control of him, but he decided that perhaps today he needed to let it burn and use it to attain maximum power. Something in him told him that today would be a very trying day and that he’d need any advantage he could get.

When Chase spoke, his voice was chasm deep and resonated.

“You’re mistaken, Arakan; it is us who will stop you and your people.”

Arakan laughed out loud.

“You’re a powerful Fury; perhaps the second most powerful that ever lived. But you’re no match for me.”

“Stop your foolish games and get your sorry hide in front of me so that we can settle this once and for all.”

Of course, as much as Chase wanted to tear Arakan a new one, he knew he had promised Oryn he would at the very least do his best to let her deliver the final blow. Still, in this moment of pure rage, he probably would take the chance to try and kill the supreme commander.

“Oh there will be time for that later; that is, if any of you survive the next few minutes, which I wouldn’t count on. But before you do anything stupid, let me tell you what you’ve triggered by destroying the emitters in this room. You now have less than five minutes to either reach your father or find Argos and Oryn, which I made sure were beamed to a shielded room, one that will make it difficult for you to locate.”

On the other side of the room, a third holo-screen came to life. It displayed an unconscious man on the floor of a cell, no doubt Chase’s father, Menelas.

Identical timers counting down from five minutes appeared on both holo-screens. On one, Chase could see both Oryn and Argos screaming in pain, and on the other, his father collapsed on the ground.

“So who is it going to be? Will you save your father, or will you save your brother and that traitor daughter of mine?”

“She’s not your daughter! She never was.”

“How dare you?” growled Arakan. “She might not be my blood, but I raised that child as my own until you poisoned her mind. I even gave her preferential treatment over my biological child. A child you took away from me. Today, I will also take your family away from you! But fear not, Chase, if you do somehow survive what’s coming next, I’ll soon be there and kill you myself. I’m afraid I must take my leave now. I’ll let you have a few seconds with your loved ones before you make your decision on who you are going to save. I’ve also taken the liberty to prepare some gifts for your enjoyment; courtesy of my adoptive daughter’s mad experiments. I hope you’ll enjoy them.”

Before Chase could argue, the holo-screen with Arakan vanished as the last of his laughter resonated in the room.

A trio of trapdoors on each side of the corridor slid up at the same time, revealing a total of six menacing-looking Fury warriors.

* * *

In the throne room on Erevos, small dark-purple lightning bolts sizzled around the shadow. Little by little, the cloak around him faded and he materialized as a flesh and blood being. He sat on Arakan’s throne, crossing his legs and holding his chin. His thin almond-shaped eyes no longer shone as they did when in cloaked form, but were now reflective and had a slightly damp dark crimson shade devoid of any pupils or irises.

The shadow’s body was a lean and muscled humanoid shape. His face lacked a nose. Instead, he had two rows of thin and angled gill-looking gaps that opened and closed in succession as he breathed. Dozens of fleshy and moist tentacles sat on top of his head in the guise of hair; it seemed he had control over each of them independently.

That damn Arakan. He’s proved to be more difficult to influence than we first thought.

Especially since the supreme commander had stopped taking his mind-numbing, spirit-taming substance his adoptive daughter was at one time forcing on him. It had the unfortunate side effect of preventing the shadow from communicating in cloaked form.

But Arakan had been more docile and receptive to him in those short pockets of time between his doses. The shadow now regretted convincing the supreme commander to stop the medication.

The shadow punched a few commands on Arakan’s throne chair. A holographic display projected the position of Erevos. After hitting another command, the picture zoomed out and displayed a pair of nearby systems, with Erevos in the center. He adjusted the angle of view to see through all three systems, each of the stars were now aligned. A timer, overlaid next to the holographic star map, counted down from two minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

What am I gonna tell them?

Things weren’t going as planned; both with subduing Arakan as well as the opposition in this dimension. The Earth Alliance proved to be more problematic than the Furies themselves and could very well be way more difficult to cleanse.

The shadow felt something he hadn’t in a very long time. Fear. Fear of the consequences that could be bestowed upon him and his family should the Spectre Prime be dissatisfied with his upcoming status report. Parts of him hoped he would get one of the other eleven council elders besides Prime.

The shadow had managed to send his superiors inter-dimensional subspace reports. However, the space-time tear that had allowed the shadow to enter this realm when Erevos had been phased back had started closing with each passing day. Micro fissures were still usable at certain times under certain solar activity conditions, but live reporting inter-dimensional communication was trickier and needed special and specific astral conditions. Like the one that was happening now, with all three suns within a short distance needing to be aligned, forming subspace amplified solar flares. This allowed the inter-dimensional signal to burst through what few fissures were left around Erevos.

When the holo-timer blinked zero, it changed color from yellow to green. The shadow swallowed hard before establishing the inter-dimensional link required for live holo-communication. Signal strength was a surprising ninety-two percent, way over the quality the shadow would have expected. He rose from Arakan’s chair and walked a few paces to the center of the throne platform before pressing the blinking holo-control that projected from his wrist, even though there was no apparent tech attached to his black-as-night skin.

The entire Spectre Council chambers materialized holographically around him in an orange tone. All twelve elders were present, along with Prime of Cancer, the current Spectre Prime ruling their race for the next thousand years.

The Spectre Prime was amongst the tallest of his race. Slightly more than nine feet ten inches, his black skin looked as tough as leather; a result of thousands of years on the battlefield, the only way to ascend to elder status on Penumbra.

The shadow knelt to the floor and lowered his head as a gesture of obedience and submission.

“Rise, Tanak’Vor,” said the Spectre Prime, his deep voice carrying well over the holo-transmission and making Erevos’ throne room tremble from the deep bass in his vocal intonations.

Tanak’Vor rose and bowed to Spectre Prime.

“Master Prime, it’s an honor to address the entire council today,” he said as he looked around, acknowledging all twelve elders.

“The inter-dimensional window is short today, so let’s skip the usual pleasantries and instead hear your status report regarding the invasion.”

Tanak’Vor thought of his sons and wife back on Penumbra. They could pay the price for anything the Spectre Prime considered a failure. Deep within the shadow knew that things hadn’t gone according to plan, and so he prayed to the twelve Gods of Chaos for leniency on his family, if not for himself.

“Very well, Master Prime.”

* * *

Spiros crashed and tumbled to the floor, hitting his head on the cockpit’s metallic wall.

“Status report!” he yelled while holding his throbbing head. “What was that?”

“The second we emerged from hyperspace, we were hit by what appears to be pirate ships. It’s like they knew we were coming,” said Gaia. “A more likely explanation is we’ve exited hyperspace in the middle of a space battle near our destination planet.”

“Shields and cloak up! What’s our status?”

“Cloak is damaged, but I had already raised shields the moment we were hit. Unfortunately, they were down when we exited hyperspace. We’ve lost twenty percent power on thrusters, which will affect sub-light speed and maneuverability, and, I’m afraid to report, the jump engines are damaged beyond the nanites electro-circuitry self-repair capabilities. We’re not jumping out of here until we repair them.”

“I’m starting to think this was a bad idea on my part to come here.”

“Is there a question in there for me?” inquired Gaia. “Or are you being rhetorical?”

“Never mind that; are the pirates still targeting us?”

“No, they are busy exchanging fire with other vessels at the moment. Which seems to confirm my second hypothesis.”

Yeah, just our luck to get hit the moment we jump out of hyperspace.

Spiros swore in his head while he picked himself off the floor and returned to the pilot’s seat. He knew there was a risk coming here, but so far luck was not on their side since beginning this mission.

“May I suggest buckling up?” proposed Gaia.

With every passing second, Spiros missed the love of his life, and the blank Gaia clone had the worst bedside manner. But the hope of being able to bring her back to her old self motivated Spiros to carry on. He’d always detested action and thrills, even during his time alone on Damocles-3; he would always try and avoid conflict or not take any unnecessary risks. But now was not the time to be his usual cowardly self; he needed to rise to the occasion, for her.

He activated the magnetic seatbelt buckle, which sprang to life atop his shoulders, rolled down, and magnetically locked him in place.

“Have you tried sending the transmission we recorded earlier?” he asked.

“Tried and failed, I’m afraid.”

Dammit!

“Upload the transmission to escape pod number two, and send it toward vector three by seven by nine.”

“What if we require the escape pods later?”

Let’s just hope we don’t.

“We’ll have to make do with just the one, should it come to that.”

“Very well, firing escape pod two now.”

Spiros was studying a planet holo-scan for the best approach to the system when the ship rocked due to a nearby explosion.

“The pirates have started targeting us,” stated Gaia.

“Take evasive action!”

The ship went into a double-barrel spin, and Spiros could tell that their inertial dampeners weren’t working at capacity as he felt his stomach turn and had to focus hard on not refunding his previous meal.

Gaia’s flying skills were quite impressive, managing to stave off incoming fire from no less than five bogies targeting them. Something Spiros knew he would not have been able to accomplish. In fact, if he had gone on this mission alone, he’d already be space dust.

Fire from the planet’s surface directly hit them, and every cockpit instrument blinked. Multiple alarms resonated around them as flames created by entering the atmosphere of the planet covered their windshield.

“I’ve lost most of the engines,” said Gaia in a tone way too calm for Spiros’ comfort. “Brace for impact.”

* * *

“And how exactly do you suppose we achieve that?” asked Yanis.

“We emit a frequency pulse that should reveal any impact with the spider ship, like a sonar,” said Cedric.

“That’s quite low-tech, but it could work.”

Three more hits rocked the ship harder than before.

“Unless you have a better idea?”

“No, not at the moment, but we still need a way to get through their shields.”

“Perhaps a full charged super shot from the Heracles cannons would get us through.”

“If a StarFury detonating its quadrinium chambers barely affected their shields, I doubt a full shot gets us through.”

“Look Yanis; we gotta try something. What about randomly modulating the frequency of the pulse; perhaps we would get lucky and find a modulation that penetrates their shield.”

Yanis let out a long breath of frustration.

“You’re right; we might as well try; it wouldn’t hurt getting lucky.”

“Hey, luck is my middle name.”

“I thought it was pretty boy.”

“That too,” answered Cedric with a smirk.

Yanis smiled broadly. He was happy to have his friend back. Now that the doctors had removed Cedric’s implants with Chase’s help, he looked like his old self again.

Yanis opened up a holo-channel to the bridge. Sarah’s face filled the holo-screen.

“Please tell me you’ve got a solution to offer,” implored a worried Sarah. “I can’t leave Daniel and our other pilots out there like sitting ducks. We’ve already lost a third of our squadron, even though I’m surprised the enemy isn’t more aggressive.”

“We’ve got a way to detect the ship; we think.”

“You think?”

“Cedric’s idea has merit, Captain; I’m sure it will work. However, I think the cloak is taking most of their power, which could explain their perceived lack of aggression. We also think they might be biding time for Arakan’s return.”

Yanis twitched.

“I’ve figured as much, Yanis. But I can tell there’s something else on your mind. What is it?”

“Well, if we succeed in finding and targeting the spider ship, it may decide to stop cloaking altogether, and I really don’t like their power readings, Sarah.”

“You’re afraid that if it diverts all its power to their weapons, it may become deadlier than it is now.”

Yanis nodded.

“Well, if it comes to that, we’ll have a good old fight on our hands. I’m done playing cat and mouse with them anyway; we need to get moving so we can provide support to Chase’s team.”

“Understood. We’ll fire the first detection pulse in the next two minutes. I’m recalibrating the weapons system to automatically fire a full blast from the main weapon. Hopefully, a few hits on the spider ship will allow us to gather enough sensor data to find a better way to get through their shields.

“Good job, the both of you; we’ll be standing by. I’ll ask Athena to slave her targeting system to ours.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea; we probably could use the extra firepower.”

“Oh, and Yanis, when you have a moment, check the corridors outside of engineering, we’ve been getting some strange energy reading alerts from the main computer.”

“Very well, Cap, Yanis out.”

Sarah’s face disappeared as the holo-screen turned off.

A crewman screamed just outside of engineering, followed by a series of eerie metallic noises.

“What’s going on out there?” inquired Cedric.

Yanis felt a pit develop in his stomach.

Please don’t let it be spi⁠—

But before he could finish his thought, the doors split open, revealing a massive mechanical spider.

18

Chris dispatched the last Zargon as Poseidon, using his Trident, finished off the last Fury guard. They stood in front of a big metallic door where Ares had guided them.

“Now what? Is Aphroditis behind this door?” inquired Thor.

Ares, still in his Aphroditis-cloned body, stepped in and placed a hand on the door; he closed his eyes for a moment.

“My sister is behind there. I can feel her energy levels, though they are very weak.”

“How do we get through?” asked Poseidon. “There are no controls on the door.”

“There wouldn’t be,” said Ares. “I arrived here because I can travel through walls in my energy form.”

“Something you cannot do while possessing a flesh and blood body,” commented Chris. “Wish Dad was here. He would teleport us through.”

“I believe your father has enough to deal with; we’d better find a way to open this on our own,” added Thor.

Thor assumed a throwing stance, his hammer’s lights igniting and humming to life.

“I can try to have Mjölnir blast through; move aside everyone.”

“No, wait,” said Kvasir.

“We need to get moving, we’ve been here too long,” protested Thor.

“I agree, but we don’t want to damage the machine or risk hurting Aphroditis if we blow up the door.”

“Kvasir is right,” said Ares. “We can’t control the blowback if we burst through; the machine is too close for us to just blast away the doors, it’s too risky.”

“Very well,” conceded Thor. “What do you propose, then?”

“Let me try to hack my way in, instead.”

“Alright, you have a couple of minutes; then we blast through. We can’t continue to stay on Erevos and not expect to encounter Arakan. He’s on his way back here and, unlike Oryn, I for one don’t think we should try to engage him, at least not until we’ve accomplished what we’ve come here to do.”

Poseidon released a low growl that clearly stated his disagreement with Thor’s last statement.

Chris could feel the anger and thirst for revenge inside Poseidon’s heart and soul. He wanted nothing more than to rip Arakan to pieces. Chris also longed for justice, but he knew that his father would do the right thing and would lead them to the right course of action. He would do what needed to be done to defeat all Furies and take Arakan down when the time was right.

But it seemed Poseidon wasn’t willing to accept Chase’s plan. Chase had warned Chris to keep an eye on him to ensure he didn’t go on his own revenge quest, and if that were to happen, Chris had been instructed to do what he could to prevent Poseidon from going rogue.

Kvasir was working on his wrist holo-interface, trying to find a wireless signal to hack into, allowing the doors to open. His allotted time was almost up when Chris felt that he might have found what he was looking for.

“I think I got it,” said Kvasir.

He punched a couple more commands on his holo-screen, and they all heard a mechanical sound.

Thor smiled. “Good job, Kvas-”

Before he could finish his sentence, a lightning bolt of electricity shot from atop the door and hit Thor directly in the torso, sending him tumbling and crashing into a distant wall. He collapsed on the ground; smoke rising from his scorched armor plate.

“Thor!” shouted Chris, running toward the downed Asgardian.

“Oh dear, I’m a dead man when he wakes up,” said Kvasir.

* * *

Ryonna’s away team arrived on the surface of the Gorgar planet. Only to be greeted by armed Gorgar guards, which was a change of pace from their last visit only a few days back.

“State your intentions?” said the Gorgar guard cocking his rifle.

Tar’Lock took a few steps forward and passed in front of both Ryonna and Keera.

“We’re here to discuss trade exchange with my people,” said Tar’Lock.

“We have suspended trade with external worlds following the events that enslaved our people.”

“We understand that,” said Tar’Lock, “but since we’re the ones who freed you from enslavement, all we ask is that we’re given an audience with the elder queens to discuss a partnership that will benefit all of us.”

“Nobody sees the mother queen,” said the guard with an impassive facial expression.

“Mother queen?” repeated Tar’Lock in a surprised tone. “What happened to the elder gathering of queens?”

“They’ve relinquished their place to a single, all-controlling queen,” the guard replied.

“I don’t like this; there seems to be too many changes since our last visit. First, we have armed guards, then one main queen for a population as large as ours; this makes no sense. Whatever we did when we came, giving my sister the pill, must have had unforeseeable consequences. We need to fix this.”

Keera took a step forward and bowed. “Please, would you mind telling us how we can get an audience with the mother queen, sir?”

“Nobody sees the mother queen,” answered the guard coldly.

Ryonna let a small rumbling growl escape her, which got the guards attention as he raised his rifle toward her. Big mistake. Ryonna instinctively grabbed the weapon with one hand and pushed its muzzle to the side before the Gorgar opened fire. She then smashed his face with a single knuckle sandwich, downing the guard on the spot.

After a flurry of disagreeing clicks, Tar’Lock shot Ryonna an angry look. “What the hell, Ryonna? Is that how you approach diplomacy or anything else for that matter?”

“We weren’t getting anywhere with this one,” she said with a shrug.

An alarm resounded, and a massive amount of armed Gorgar soldiers began running toward them. When they started raining hellfire upon them, the group took cover behind a large boulder nearby.

“What about them?” said Keera. “Do we try negotiating in the same manner?”

“Alright, I’m sorry,” admitted Ryonna. “I didn’t think making one annoying and uncooperative guard unconscious would lead to such a shit storm.”

“Perhaps that’s what you get for knocking that one unconscious every time he annoys you.” Keera gestured toward Tar’Lock. “You have a short fuse Ryonna, and while you have saved our lives many times over, you may want to keep your temper in check, especially when we’re on a sensitive diplomatic mission,” protested Keera.

Tar’Lock’s eyes grew wide.

“So those weren’t nightmares like you tried convincing me?” said Tar’Lock, rather furiously. “How many times have you knocked me out?”

“Don’t be a baby; just a few times when you were irritating. You’re not exactly a calm space traveler; I thought I was doing us both a favor.”

“Can you believe this?” asked Tar’Lock, looking at Keera.

“I’m not getting involved; Ryonna already knows what I think about this matter,” said Keera.

More incoming laser shots impacted nearby, and the boulder began to crumble little by little.

“Let’s get outta here and regroup,” suggested Keera.

Ryonna growled.

“Droxians don’t shy away from a fight.”

“You’re not killing Gorgars by the dozens!” protested Tar’Lock.

“Don’t be ridiculous; I can stun them.”

“Hundreds of them?” said Tar’Lock.

“Watch me! And last I checked, they’re the ones firing at me, so if a few perish, that’s life,” snorted Ryonna.

“No!” insisted Tar’Lock. “We started this mess; it doesn’t mean we have to take innocent lives because you can’t control your emotions.”

“I’m with Tar’Lock on this one,” said Keera. “Not to mention, Gorgar are very fast too, at least the males, so unless we get the hell out of here right now, we may soon be outnumbered by a gazillion to one.”

A large chunk of the boulder crumbled and fell between them, forcing the team to lower their position to the ground.

“We’re running out of time,” said Tar’Lock.

“Alright,” said Ryonna, reluctantly. “Let’s get back to the shutt⁠—”

Suddenly, a nearby explosion turned their transport into a flaming pile of metal.

Tar’Lock furiously clicked as he buried his head in his hands.

“Anyone for plan B?” asked Keera.

* * *

Argos was in tremendous pain. The continuous heavy current traveling through bones and flesh made concentration a real issue.

“We— need to get— out of this,” said Argos through gritted teeth.

“A— agreed,” said Oryn, her face deformed from the pain. “Suggestions?”

“Working on it.”

Argos wished he had a plan but forming one seemed difficult. His current state reminded him of the pain side effect of the Kyrian drug but with none of the ecstasy brought on by the pleasure side of the drug, which helped balance things out nicely.

Argos thought he heard his brother in his thoughts.

Hang on Argos; I’m coming.

No! protested Argos. We’ll get ourselves out of this mess on our own; go and get Menelas out of his cell; his rescue is more important.

I’m not letting you two die without lifting a finger.

And you’re not coming either. You get Menelas; if by then we’re not free, then the two of you can come to our rescue, but trust me, I’ll get us out of this. Now go, get our father!

There was a slight pause. Argos did not doubt that his brother was reluctant to abandon them in their current predicament.

Very well. Try and unleash a shock wave; I know it’s hard to concentrate your energy under these conditions, but let your anger take over if you have to.

Argos was surprised to hear Chase say that, but right now he was pissed and had been trying to contain his anger.

I thought that wasn’t a good policy?

Today it is; just trust me on this, okay?

Very well; get Menelas, we’ll join you shortly.

Argos…If things get worse, you’ll let me know, okay?

Sure thing, brother.

Argos didn’t like lying to Chase anymore. But he would not let him know until he was sure Menelas was rescued. Even if things escalated, though right now he didn’t see how things could get any worse.

Leave it to Arakan to devise such painful means of immobilization. What a coward! I’m looking forward to ripping his heart out. I don’t care what Chase promised Oryn, if I get a shot at killing that monster, I’m taking it!

And Argos had no doubts that he would get a shot at this wish soon enough. But, right now, he needed the pain to stop and to get free. So he tried focusing on Arakan and the death of Zeus, which sent his emotions into a turmoil of hatred that he would normally fight against to not use anger and rage as his main emotional fuel.

A holo-screen turned on in front of them and filled with a smirking image of Arakan.

“I’m glad to see the two of you where you belong, within my grasp and ready to die. I’ll be there soon, so I can kill the both of you myself.”

Arakan laughed out loud, which Argos decided was almost as painful to hear as the pain from the lightning bolts.

Oryn unleashed a growl of pure hatred as an answer.

Argos focused on bringing his aura to bear. It took intense focus to even light it up slightly. Upon doing so, he thought he felt a slight weakening in the current traveling through him. Not enough to help him do anything with more ease, but a sign that growing his aura would probably be the way to get them free.

Argos felt his aura increasing, but unlike a moment earlier, the more he pushed it, the more the current traveling through him seemed to intensify. Painfully, Argos looked toward Oryn and saw she wasn’t waiting for him to come up with a solution and was also growing her cold aura.

You fool!

Since it took less energy to use telepathy than trying to speak, he connected with her mind.

Stop what you’re doing at once! he commanded.

I’m not staying idle; I’m getting out of here and killing this asshole!

I’m working on that, but intensifying your aura is lowering the temperature of this room, which in turn amplifies the current we’re receiving.

I don’t care! I’m getting us outta here; if I reach absolute zero, the current will stop.

So will our bodies abilities to function; so please, just give me a shot to get us out of this mess. If I fail, you can go ahead with your ludicrous plan. Deal?

But Oryn refused to answer and kept increasing both her aura and with it, their pain levels.

* * *

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” said Chase out loud.

Six identical fighters all stepped forward from their wall cages and faced him with a look of pure madness burning in their flashing red eyes. They resembled Miseo; every single one of them. Chase could tell that they suffered the same mental illness as the one that he and Oryn had barely managed to kill onboard the Fury super-destroyer.

Arakan must have cloned his late son and injected these fighters with the defective treatment Oryn had used on her brother. What a sick thing to do for a grieving father, Chase thought. But Arakan had clearly lost his mind a long time ago; this was just but another unthinkable stunt confirming it.

“I don’t have time for this,” said Chase glancing over at the time being projected on the holo-screen. Four minutes and seventeen seconds remaining.

Chase expanded his mind and found the computer in charge of this room. He located the command to allow him to close the trap doors. He sprang to action as fast as he could, and before the cloned Miseos’ had time to react, he catapulted them back into their tiered cells with punches, kicks and elbow hits. He teleported the last one inside before triggering the closing mechanism on the trapdoor and retreating.

When putting the Miseos back in their cells, Chase noticed they were acting on a type of suspension system, so he searched the function to reactivate this suspension of the pods as he heard intensified growling and other pounding noises on all the doors.

The command to activate artificial suspension was encrypted, and Chase had trouble bypassing it. Eventually, he found a backdoor to it, piggybacking to the sub-system and triggering an emergency suspension function by emulating a toxic atmosphere outside of the pods. Five out of the six pods put their Miseos to sleep, but one pod reported an error, and by the time he could check its diagnostics, the trap door exploded, followed by a mad roar that made the ground shake.

Three minutes and forty seconds were left for him to not only get out of this corridor but also to rescue Menelas. That is if Menelas were where Oryn said he would be. Chase tried communicating with his father telepathically, but there was no answer. He swore.

Soon, a cloned Miseo stepped toward him, his aura expanding exponentially at an impressive rate. Chase had to think fast and hope that these clones were not as strong as the original Miseo; as there was no way he could dispatch a similarly powerful opponent in the time he had left.

When crimson fireballs started raining out toward him, he dodged them and engaged the clone Fury with all his might.

19

When Spiros opened his eyes, there was smoke inside the cockpit and an intense light coming from outside the cracked windshield.

Shit! How the hell are we going to get off this planet now?

Gaia was nowhere to be seen, and Spiros’ heart started beating faster.

“Gaia? Are you there?” he shouted out loud.

The cockpit door opened, and Gaia ran inside and crouched near him, which reassured him somewhat, even though he couldn’t move his legs. They felt trapped under something.

She covered his mouth with the top of his shirt.

“Try and avoid breathing that smoke as much as you can; keep your shirt on your nose,” she said before getting back up.

She had a fire extinguisher in her hand and began fending off a few fires that had started inside the ship. After a moment, the flames were extinguished, and Gaia went to the nearest holo-console. When the holo-console refused to turn on, she punched its side. Lights blinked a few times but quickly died off. She kicked the console one more time with her knee and the lights returned inside the cockpit. A holo-terminal projected upward and she entered a few commands that successfully activated the life support system. Soon the fans successfully siphoned out the smoke.

“What happened?” inquired Spiros.

“We lost control of the ship and crashed on the planet.”

“How come we’re still alive?”

“Luck; we landed atop a forest of tall trees, bursting through half of it,” said Gaia, pointing outside. “The trees acted as a soft landing site of sorts; well somewhat softer than the ground would have been with our inbound velocity.”

Spiros saw large branches with pretty blue leaves from the windshield. A purple rodent creature with scruffy fur ran along a visible branch and looked inside the cockpit. Its eyes were bright orange, giving it a mean look. A second later, it made a high-pitched screech and ran away.

That’s when Spiros saw the metallic beam trapping his feet, which he could barely feel at the moment.

“Gaia, I think I’ll need your help.”

Gaia saw that Spiros was trapped and immediately ran out of the cockpit.

“Hey!” protested Spiros. “Where are you going? I need your help!”

A few seconds later, Gaia returned with a steel pipe and stuck it under the beam. She used the pipe as a lever to lift the beam enough for Spiros to get free. Sensation returned to his feet, but they still felt numb, probably due to the beam cutting his blood flow for an unknown period.

“Thank you; I thought you left.”

“My programming is to make sure you’re unharmed. I would never abandon you. But I didn’t even need to try and lift the beam; I knew just from looking at it that it was too heavy for my muscle mass to move it without a lever force.”

Spiros had, of course, guessed all that when she returned with the pipe. But talking to Gaia as if she had emotions and understood concepts like fear and worry made him feel better, at least until he got very machine-like responses back, reminding him this was just a temporary, stripped and basic AI that had nothing to do with the Gaia he was trying to save.

“How far are we from the biomaterial’s location?” he inquired.

“By foot, I estimate it should be a little under two days.”

Except, we didn’t have two days. We shouldn’t have come here.

“We can’t afford that much time; we need to be back to the base before that.”

“The probabilities of achieving this goal under the current parameters are less than one percent.”

I don’t need those kinds of odds either, he thought.

“Then let’s change the parameters, shall we,” said Spiros with a forced smile. “Do we still have sensor resolution?”

“We’re running on secondary power cells, but we should be able to get resolution up to one hundred miles.”

“Then scan for the nearest vehicle that could get us to our target coordinates faster.”

Gaia mechanically nodded and entered commands on the holo-console. A couple of beeps got Spiros’ attention.

“Anything?”

“I’ve detected a vehicle suitable for our needs that is one point five miles away.”

“Now we’re talking.”

“Haven’t we been talking all this time?”

Spiros shook his head as he struggled to get back on his feet. “Never mind.”

* * *

“Captain,” said the tactical officer. “Long-range sensors are detecting a ship traveling at hyperspace speed currently on course for Erevos.”

“Open a channel to Athena’s ship.”

“Channel open, Captain.”

Athena’s face filled the bridge’s main holo-screen.

“What can I do for you, Sarah? I’ve received your targeting slaving request and linked our computers successfully.”

“Thank you, but that’s not why I called you. We’ve detected a ship in hyperspace going toward Erevos.”

“We have as well. In all likelihood, it’s Arakan’s ship returning to base. We need to get moving so we can provide support as well as transportation away from the planet for our away team.”

“Fortunately, Chase should be able to teleport the away team if needed.”

“As much as I trust my son’s abilities, I would imagine their mission is forcing them to use a lot of energy fighting their way to Aphroditis and Menelas. We also have to assume that Chase could be incapacitated, in which case, the entire away team would be marooned on the planet.”

Sarah swore in her head. She’d been so used to Chase’s ability to get things done one way or another that she hadn’t even factored in that this was a possible outcome. Her anxiety levels rose as Athena’s words sank in.

“Right. Let me get back to you soon, but we’re going to have to get out of here and try to lose that ship in hyperspace.”

“Normally, I would agree. Unfortunately, our technicians tell me we can’t use the jump engines; the target ships seem to be emitting a jump interdiction field.”

“Hang on, Athena,” said Sarah looking at her ship’s pilot.

He didn’t need any verbal orders and started keying commands on his holo-console. Shortly after, he looked back at Sarah and shook his head from side to side.

“How come we didn’t detect this any sooner?”

“The field being emitted,” said the pilot, “isn’t of any design our computer has encountered before. I’ve only detected the problem by trying to activate the jump engine pre-flight sequence. I’m sorry, Captain, I should have checked that earlier.”

“No need to apologize; there was no way for you to know.”

In fact, I should have proposed the idea of retreat earlier, but I’ve let my will to command this vessel to the best of my abilities cloud my judgment in this matter.

“Athena, I can confirm we’re also unable to use jump engines.”

“Then we need to destroy that ship, and this has just become urgent.”

“I’ll get back to you soon.”

“Understood, Sarah. Athena out.”

Sarah’s brows knitted into a frown as she opened a channel to engineering.

“Yanis, tell me you’ve got that pulse ready; we need to get out of here.”

There was no answer.

“Yanis, come in,” she insisted. Sarah realized something must have gone wrong in engineering.

“Send two security detachments to engineering.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” said her security officer. “We’ve just lost sensors on the engineering deck. Request permission to join my security teams, Captain.”

Sarah felt a powerful vibe that whatever was happening required her presence. Sarah rose to her feet and started running toward the turbo-lift.

“Denied. Lieutenant Commander, you have the conn.”

Once in the turbo-lift, she opened a channel to Daniel’s StarFury.

“What’s our progress, Sarah? We’re sitting ducks out here.”

“Come back to the barn on the double; once you’re back onboard Destiny, assume command of the bridge.”

“What? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I think we have intruders on board.”

* * *

“Hell no! This can’t be real,” said Yanis, as his blood froze and he felt paralyzed by fear.

The mechanical spider was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. It moved its eight razor-sharp legs with great agility. Three of them were covered in blood, which Yanis assumed where from whichever crewmen it had come in contact with.

Yanis pressed his wrist communicator.

“Captain, we have big ass metal spiders on board; request immediate security assistance be sent to engineering.”

But all he got back was static.

Dammit; that thing must be jamming our comms.

“Cedric, we need to sound the general alarm. Cedric?”

Yanis turned his head toward Cedric’s station, only to see an empty chair.

Where did he go?

The nerve-racking noise of metallic spider footsteps resumed, and Yanis saw that the creature was advancing inside engineering, looking around.

Doesn’t that thing see me?

When Yanis slowly tiptoed backward, he accidentally bumped his chair. The spider reacted instantly and quickly reoriented itself to face him.

It must be using some sort of sonar to navigate.

The beast’s multiple yellow LED eyes flashed, and a fast-scanning red laser beam shot from them and scanned Yanis from head to toe.

Uh-Oh!

The metallic spider opened its mouth, which was bigger than Yanis’ worst nightmare could have imagined; revealing row after row of bloodied sharp chrome teeth, as well as some shredded body parts stuck between them. The spider unleashed an ear-piercing screech.

“Screw that; it knows I’m here now. I’m next on the menu.”

Yanis’ heart started pounding hard. He grabbed the chair he had almost tripped over and threw it across his console toward the spider. The spider leaped forward, caught the chair in its mouth and reduced it to shreds as its rows of teeth started rotating. Each row alternated rotation, making the mouth of the mechanical spider a very efficient and deadly blender.

“Cedric!! Where the hell are you?” said Yanis as he ran as fast as he could to the opposite side of the room.

He could hear the fast and horrible metallic clangs of the spider crawling after him, but he was too scared to even dare look behind him. With Cedric away, he needed to find something better than a chair to throw at the monster.

Yanis darted toward the latest R&D anti-Fury pulse rifle he had been trying to perfect. The large and powerful weapon was hovering over an altar that served as both a magnetic force field and charging station.

He snatched the weapon and turned around in one fluid motion, effectively skidding backward on the slippery engineering floor. The spider was gaining on him as he charged the rifle and lined up his shot.

Please, gods, let my technological prowess get me out of this mess.

Yanis waited until he was sure he wouldn’t miss the spider and depressed the trigger. An intense shock wave hit the spider straight on, making it tumble backward for yards until it crashed with a satisfying cascade of metallic clangs.

“Take that, stupid bug!” shouted Yanis victoriously.

The metallic spider was on its back, all eight legs flailing upward.

Yanis cocked the rifle’s secondary firing mode to load up a quadrinium grenade into its chamber.

The spider realized it wouldn’t be able to get its legs back on the ground, so it bent its legs backward enabling it to reposition itself with its head now upside down.

“I take back what I said earlier, this is what’s going to give me nightmares until the day I die,” said Yanis, swallowing hard.

He pressed the rifle stock on his shoulder to make sure he wouldn’t miss. He lined up his shot and fired.

At the same time, the spider jumped upward toward the tall ceiling as the quadrinium grenade impacted with the wall, creating an intense explosion. The resulting heat and shock wave knocked Yanis off his feet, and he painfully crashed on his back a couple of yards away.

From that vantage point, he saw that the spider was still on the ceiling and walking toward him.

“And, again, I’ve spoken too soon.”

In a matter of seconds, the spider was almost on top of him, despite Yanis’ best effort to crawl backward.

“ANYBODY! Please help!” he screamed in a high-pitched and desperate voice.

* * *

Ryonna quickly scanned the landscape around them as more laser fire converged upon what little was left of their cover. She noticed a large formation of rock that should prove more defensible than their current position as she set her blaster to high-rate stun shots.

“Get ready to run over there,” she yelled, pointing toward the area she had chosen.

“That’s too far; they’ll cut us to pieces,” said Keera.

“You forget that Tar’Lock can run extremely fast. Tar’Lock, zigzag as you get Keera to cover. Once there, Keera, provide fire cover so I can join you guys.”

“But,” said Tar’Lock with a series of nervous clicks.

“Now, Tar’Lock!”

Tar’Lock took a deep breath, quickly nodded as he grabbed Keera, and started running.

Ryonna grabbed a couple of smart grenades from her belt. She set the first one to smoke shield and the second one to sonic shock-wave mode. She threw the first one as far as she could, nearly reaching the position of the incoming Gorgar soldiers. She then rose from cover and fired a stun barrage toward the enemy with impressive accuracy as she retreated walking backward to her friends.

Shortly after reaching cover, Keera began taking out targets of her own with rifle fire.

Soldiers started to emerge from the heavy smoke created by Ryonna’s first explosion as she activated the sonic pulse grenade. She fixed on the area where she wanted to deliver the grenade for maximum damage and sprung into action. In the middle of her throw, a couple of laser blasts impacted her, one on her throwing bicep and the other on her left leg. The first shot made her lose her grasp, and the grenade fell nearby, with Ryonna well in range of its detonation radius. The second shot made her lose balance and fall to the ground.

“Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!” she barked.

“Ryonna!” she heard Tar’Lock’s voice in the distance.

Ryonna tried crawling backward, but she wasn’t moving fast enough because of her leg wound.

Of all the ways to die, this one isn’t going to be pleasant, she thought, knowing full well she couldn’t get clear of the grenade’s killing radius.

She shouted something loud in Droxian; imploring Ranak, a deity’s name to the entrance of the afterlife, when she felt a strong wind blow her hair forward. Tar’Lock darted past her like a bullet and kicked the sonic grenade with all his might.

The grenade flew at an impressive speed and exploded in the front lines of the incoming Gorgar battalion. The first three-dozen soldiers were shredded to pieces from the sonic detonation. The resulting shock wave flattened another sixty or so soldiers to the ground.

For a few seconds, while the Gorgar tried to understand what had happened, the laser fire had stopped.

Tar’Lock returned to Ryonna.

“Are you alright?” he said, his voice trembling with worry.

“I thought you didn’t want to kill innocent Gorgar.”

Tar’Lock clicked a sad short song. “I still don’t. But the thought of losing you was unbearable. Let me get you to safety.”

Laser fire started resuming.

“Drag me there; I need to provide us cover.”

Tar’Lock nodded as he grabbed the back of Ryonna’s body armor and started running in a sinusoidal path. Ryonna lined up her blaster with a smile at the corner of her mouth and started downing Gorgars with every shot. Soon, they were behind their new cover. Ryonna handed her remaining two grenades to Keera, both set in sonic shock-wave pulse mode.

“I’m gonna need you to throw these for me.”

“No problem,” answered Keera. “But these won’t hold them for long.”

“Then we’ll die with honor in the midst of battle,” said Ryonna.

“Screw that!” protested Keera before activating the comms on her wrist device.

“Who are you calling?”

“The only person who can help us out right now.”

20

Oryn’s obsession to try and lower the temperature made Argos’ ability to raise his own aura all the more difficult.

Dammit, Oryn!

Stop it, he implored her one more time. You’re gonna get us both killed.

I can get us out of this mess, complained Oryn.

You don’t have the necessary focus to reach near absolute zero temperatures, and you know it.

And you have what it takes to grow your aura? You’re suffering from the same effects I am, so it’s to the one who reaches his, or her, potential first.

No, it’s not! Every time you lower the temperature, you also lower my ability to get us out of this mess.

Sorry if I don’t trust your measly abilities to get us out of here.

Argos’ anger rose, which gave him more power, but not enough to unleash a powerful shock wave. So he focused on Oryn’s mind instead with all his might, and sent a telepathic order.

SLEEP!

Unprepared for such a telepathic command, Oryn immediately succumbed to his mental order and lost consciousness. The temperature rapidly rose again in the room and Argos could continue raising his aura, now at an exponential rate.

Arakan’s face continued to smirk on the holo-screen.

“A small mind and average Fury warrior like you cannot escape from this field, Argos; you shouldn’t lose what little energy you have left. Wait for me to come back to Erevos in a few minutes, then I can do what I should have done the moment we came back from the alternate dimension. And that is to kill you! But first, I’ll give a visit to Menelas and his son and kill them both. That way I can see the look in your eyes when I bring you their heads.”

That did it. All of Argos’ hatred exploded inside his psyche like a thousand supernovas. His aura turned orange along with his eyes and a powerful shock wave not only destroyed the emitter in the room but also destroyed the walls inside their cell as if they were made of glass.

What’s happening to me?

“This can’t be! You can’t also have Ultra Fury powers!” shouted Arakan’s holo-screen before the image wavered and the communication died off.

Ultra Fury powers?

Argos looked at his hands and was surprised by the color of his aura. It shone the same bright orange tone as his brother’s when he entered Ultra Fury mode. The level of power flowing through his body was both unbelievable and intoxicating at the same time.

Nearby, Oryn woke up and shook her head when she looked toward Argos.

“Chase?”

“No, but we’d better get to him fast.”

“Wait, I thought the Fury legend mentioned a unique Ultra Fury; how is this possible?”

Argos’ voice was now deeper.

“I guess not all legends are true. Now get your frozen bitch’s butt back up before I go against my better judgment and bury you here.” Argos pointed an accusing finger at her. “Which is exactly what will happen if you ever pull something like that again!”

* * *

The metallic spider was now on top of Yanis, who felt compelled to scream as loud as he could as the beast let itself fall toward him. The creature’s nightmare-inducing, razor-sharp rotating rows of deadly teeth was all Yanis could focus on.

Adrenaline flooded Yanis’ bloodstream and gave him enough energy and courage to roll out of the beast’s path. He jumped back to his feet and switched the rifle back to sonic shock-wave mode and fired at the metallic spider.

The spider took the shot head on and, unlike before, it wasn’t knocked off its eight legs. Instead, it used its sharp tips to stop skidding backward, generating an ear-piercing and shiver-inducing scratching noise as it carved inch-deep lines into the floor.

“Shit!” said Yanis looking at his nearly useless rifle.

Its yellow eyes flashed stronger as it flexed all eight legs and jumped forward.

“Fuck me⁠—”

The spider was almost upon him when he closed his eyes, not willing to see his own blood and guts splattered all over the place.

But instead of intense pain, Yanis heard a loud clang and a series of metallic noises accompanied by a spider screech that sounded more like agony than a war cry.

He tentatively opened one of his eyes, and to his surprise, a man inside a supersuit stood in front of him while the spider had crashed into a far-off wall, cracking it in the process.

“You know you scream like a little girl when you’re scared, don’t you?” said Cedric from within the suit.

Yanis let out a long deep breath of relief.

“What took you so fucking long!?”

“On Earth, we say thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah, thank you for letting me fend for myself alone and almost die in the process.”

“Stop bitching; you’re still alive aren’t you?”

“Perhaps, but I’ll need a new pair of underwear.”

Cedric turned his head toward his friend.

“Too much information, my friend. Now, make yourself useful and go make sure that we can send the pulse so we can deal with the spider ship. Or they might send waves after waves of these, and while I’m hoping I can deal with this one, I wouldn’t want to have to face more of⁠—”

The doors of engineering split open, and two more metallic spiders walked in as the first one was getting back on its legs, two of which were bent from the powerful punch Cedric had delivered, but it still managed to compensate as it quickly rejoined its two new friends.

“I had to jinx it,” said Cedric. “While you’re at it, make sure you lock these fucking doors, too!”

“Yeah, sounds like a good idea,” said Yanis, jumping to the nearest console and began mag-locking the doors.

He brought up the pulse radar function they were working on when the first metallic intruder interrupted their work, and he continued interfacing the tech with the power nodes and ship’s shield, making sure he could send the pulse as an expanding shield bubble. That would tax the shield, but he also had an idea how to replenish them.

He brought up their modulation frequency and encoded a message to send to Athena’s ship.

Meanwhile, Cedric was running around engineering in his supersuit in an attempt to keep the spiders occupied.

“Are you done yet? This diversion won’t last very long,” he yelled.

“Snappy! I’m working as fast as I can.”

“No matter what happens, we can’t let the spiders get to the quad quadrinium cores.”

Yanis hadn’t thought of it, but indeed they couldn’t let them damage or destroy them. Not only could the core blow up and take three quarters of the ship with it, but also they would be burned alive in the process, which Yanis decided was definitely not something he wanted to have happen today.

“Make sure you keep them far away from the cores, then.”

“Do I have to do everything around here?” said Cedric as he darted through two of the spiders and managed to deliver a super-speed circling kick that temporarily brought one of the metallic monstrosities down. Cedric took two quadrinium grenades and threw them inside the mouth of the downed spider before somersaulting on top of another one.

“Well, you’re the one who ran to save your life by entering our only supersuit,” said Yanis.

The quadrinium grenades exploded inside the downed spider taking it out and turning it into a molten puddle of metal.

“Are you hearing yourself? That move also happened to save your own soiled ass, I might add. One down by the way; how’s the pulse coming?”

“Almost there.”

“About freaking tim⁠—”

When Cedric didn’t finish his remark, Yanis looked toward him and understood why.

“Oh dear!”

* * *

Chase dodged the Miseo look-alike’s incoming attack and blocked the next one. Using his momentum, he laced both his palms on the cloned Fury’s chest and unleashed a flurry of fireballs, sending the Fury flying toward the blast door that trapped him alone in this place.

The Fury somersaulted in the air, landed on the door with both feet and bounced back, flying toward Chase.

Hey! That’s one of my moves.

Chase threw a powerful knee strike toward the Fury’s incoming head, but he saw it coming and blocked the attack with both hands. Pure hatred burned in its eyes and Chase realized that the one thing this copy of Miseo wasn’t doing was talking. The Fury hadn’t uttered a single word beyond a couple of screams.

Chase jumped backward and prepared a powerful orange fireball in one hand, the Miseo look-alike did the same, and they both launched their attack in sync. When they impacted together, a powerful shock wave was unleashed as they canceled each other out, sending both of them skidding backward on the floor.

Less than three minutes left. Chase needed to end this fight, but the cloned warrior shared a lot with the original Miseo and didn’t seem to be tiring at all while Chase burned more energy that he wanted. He needed to keep most of his pool of energy in case Arakan returned. While he had no intention of taking on the supreme commander, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t be forced to keep him at bay.

Chase considered teleporting the warrior away; perhaps send him to burn inside Erevos’ star. But that would consume an enormous amount of energy. So he decided against it. Chase saw a spark erupt from the damaged pod where the cloned Miseo had burst through earlier and it gave him an idea.

He micro-teleported to the back of the Fury and hit him with a powerful slashing kick, effectively sending Miseo back to the pod. Chase teleported again inside the cell and quickly ripped two of the largest electrical conduits from the pod and thrust them at Miseo’s temples the moment he was in range.

The Fury screeched and roared loudly, shaking the ground. Blood filled his mad eyes, giving him an even crazier look, something Chase didn’t think was possible. Small lightning bolts shot between Miseo’s clenched teeth and between his eyes. He grabbed both of Chase’s wrists and slowly freed himself from his frying brain session without breaking a sweat.

This ain’t going well at all!

Chase spun by somersaulting backward while still being held by Miseo. In the middle of his move, with incredible force, he thrust both his feet at the Fury catapulting him backward and sending a handful of the Fury’s teeth flying in the air.

To Chase’s surprise, Miseo spun and recovered balance faster than Chase ended his somersault. Miseo took full advantage of his millisecond lead to land a powerful knee strike to Chase’s side. Chase flew, head first, and crashed to the floor as he heard two of his vertebrae break followed by acute pain.

Before Miseo returned for his next attack, Chase tried getting back on his feet, but the pain paralyzed him, and he stumbled back to the ground. The cloned Fury launched himself at Chase with a massive crimson fireball-infused fist.

Chase lifted his forearm in the hopes of deflecting some of the attack.

This is going to hurt.

Nearby, the blast doors exploded, and Chase felt a strong air current travel nearby.

“Hey, asshole!” said a familiar voice.

Chase couldn’t believe his eyes. There stood Argos in Ultra Fury form; it was like looking in the mirror and the eeriest of sensations. But surprise was soon replaced by pride.

Argos blocked Miseo’s fireball-infused fist by grabbing his wrist. Argos’ orange eyes flashed stronger as he closed his hand, breaking every single bone in Miseo’s wrist. The Fury screamed in agony.

“How?” was all Chase could mutter.

“Long story, brother,” said Argos with a smirk.

Oryn entered through the large hole in the room as Argos placed his palm an inch away from Miseo’s torso.

“Now you die, and stay dead this time!” screamed Argos.

Argos unleashed a powerful column of orange energy that traveled through the Fury’s ribcage as if it was made of paper, burning through tissue, organs and bones equally.

A blank look of surprise filled Miseo’s crazy eyes as a watermelon-sized hole formed in the middle of his torso. The Fury fell on his back and was dead before he hit the cold, hard floor.

Argos cracked his neck and spat on his kill before turning back toward Chase and proposing him his forearm. Chase took it and let his brother help him back up. As he did, he felt Argos’ healing energy mend his broken vertebrae.

Chase could feel the impressive amount of energy radiating from his brother. It felt as if he was at least as powerful as him now.

“Impressive; I didn’t think anyone else could reach this level of power.”

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”

“Not at all, but quite surprised.”

“As I saw you in trouble. Why didn’t you just bury his ass?”

Chase smiled and acknowledged Oryn as she passed by with a cold demeanor.

“Your brother also regained some of his snark of old,” she snorted.

“Have you now?” said Chase, tilting his head.

“Nah, she’s just been getting on my nerves.”

“Business as usual then.”

Argos chuckled.

“Let’s hurry,” said Chase. “We only have a little over a minute to get Menelas out of his cell before it blows up.”

“What!? You may want to lead with that next time!”

Snarky indeed.

* * *

Cedric couldn’t move anymore, no matter how much power he tried to redistribute inside his super-strength mode. The metallic spider spewed a web at him that immobilized him cold.

Whatever material the spider had used was stronger than anything Cedric thought he knew. The supersuit could easily break free of almost any type of earthly metals, even the most intricate nanotube mesh.

“Dammit! Yanis, I could use a little help.”

One of the spiders knocked into Cedric and sent him crashing on his back. It then lurched toward him with its mouth open.

Yanis activated the pulse wave, which made the lights throughout the ship flicker once due to the enormous power requirements. This seemed to attract the spider’s attention for a second, long enough for Yanis to grab his rifle and unleash a series of smaller shock wave blasts toward the spider that was nearer to Cedric. Each impact made the spider skid slightly, but with each new blast, it managed to resist better as if it were adapting to the tech.

Yanis kept firing while screaming at the top of his lungs, but then he got hit from the side by the second spider who spewed a similar netting that had taken Cedric out of commission. Yanis literally flew to the side and was stuck against the wall by the web.

“Ouch,” he said before losing consciousness.

“Yanis!!” screamed Cedric, still trying in vain to get free.

The spider resumed walking toward him, and Cedric swallowed hard. He triggered the suit’s quadrinium-enriched claws and managed to cut through enough of the web to get back up before he could move toward the spider. The second arachnid spewed another large quantity of webbing and trapped him in place once more.

“Give me a fucking break! You fugly piece of metal shite!”

Outside of engineering, Cedric could hear the security team firing. Were they trying to get inside? Or fending off more of the metallic monstrosities?

The commotion got the attention of one of the spiders, and it crawled near the wall next to the magnetically sealed blast doors.

Its counterpart screeched as it started walking toward Yanis.

“Don’t you dare touch my friend, you bitch!” screamed Cedric.

The spider turned around, and its eyes glowed stronger as it jumped toward Cedric for the kill.

The blast doors exploded into a million pieces, sending one arachnid tumbling to the floor. A fireball emerged from the resulting dusty cloud around the blast doors, hitting the metallic spider in mid-air, which was inches away from taking Cedric’s head off. The impact sent the metal arachnid crashing yards away with a loud screeching sound.

Sarah emerged from the rubble and cloud of dust, fire burning in her eyes. Without even bothering to look at it, Sarah extended an open palm toward the nearby spider and incinerated it before it was able to get back on its legs.

The last spider spun back up and ran toward Sarah. When it was about ten yards from her, it jumped, arriving upon her from above.

Sarah scoffed.

She extended both her palms toward the metallic spider and used telekinesis to stop it in midair. She then moved her hands aside, and each of the metallic beast’s legs tensed up, giving the spider a strange sun-like chrome look before Sarah intensified her telekinetic pull and ripped all eight legs from its body.

The spider screeched; its rotating rows of teeth were spinning madly.

She smirked. “You’re not touching another hair on my friends’ heads.”

She spun all eight detached legs that were still hovering in the air and used them to impale the body of the spider. The yellow lights on its head died off, and Sarah released her telekinetic grasp. The pile of disabled metallic scrap crashed to the floor.

Sarah freed both Cedric and Yanis, who was just now opening his eyes.

“What happened?” he muttered.

“The Cap just kicked butt is what happened; too bad you missed it.”

“Thanks, Cap,” said Yanis, holding his still throbbing head.

“I’m just glad I arrived in time.”

“And we’re glad you were here on the ship and not with the away team, or we would have been turned to chili con carne by now,” said Cedric.

“Gross, Cedric,” said Sarah with a smile, “but so you.”

“Whatcha gonna do; I’m just happy to be alive. You may want to return to the bridge unless there are more of these things? Yanis activated the pulse not long ago.”

“That’s alright; Daniel has the bridge.”

A powerful buildup of energy made the quad quadrinium core hum at an increased rate.

“Looks like he’s about to take a shot at the spider ship,” said Cedric.

“Hopefully we can get it off our back. We need to get moving; Arakan is now ahead of us. When the two of you feel better, can you please find a way to bypass that damn ship’s jump interdiction field? And while you’re at it, try and figure out how the hell these things got onboard without triggering any alarm?”

“We’re on it, Cap,” said Cedric, while Yanis just flashed a thumb up.

21

Spiros let out a deep sigh as he looked at the ship from behind cover. Not what he expected, but then again, nobody stopped him from performing additional scans to try and get a size estimation before they left their broken transport.

“Not exactly what I had in mind. This is bigger than we need; it probably crawls with crewmen that we’ll have to deal with.”

“You didn’t specify any size parameters in your query. Should I return to the transport and scan for more ships?”

“No, we don’t have the luxury of wasting more time, I’m afraid. We’ll have to make do with this one.”

“How do you propose we dispose of the crew inside the ship?”

“Non-lethally if we can. Perhaps by using the ship’s life support system to diffuse sleeping gas.”

“I can easily achieve that by interfacing with their computer systems.”

Spiros accessed his brand new neuronal implant and looked for a wireless access; none were detected. The ship, which looked like a smuggler’s vessel, must have wireless dampening fields to keep hackers away. That’s what Spiros would have done in their place.

“Except, you have to do it manually. I have an implant allowing me to wirelessly hack into their systems. I’ll need to get inside the ship, though. Just make sure you take care of anyone we encounter as silently and quickly as possible.”

Gaia grabbed both her belt blasters and set them to stun mode.

“There are a couple of sentries near the ship. Let me take them out first. I’ll signal you when they’re taken care of.”

“Be careful.”

“Not to worry; I remember the parameters of the mission.”

Before Spiros could say another world, Gaia disappeared in the foliage and trees. She was so stealthy that Spiros couldn’t tell where she was. A minute later she was already shadowing the first sentry who was slowly canvassing the ship’s ramp. He was armed with a heavy-duty laser rifle, and probably not set on stun.

Spiros didn’t like it. These were probably the wrong kind of people to steal a ship from, but they had little choice in the matter now.

Spiros’ heartbeat accelerated. He hated putting both their lives in such danger. While he knew Gaia’s martial arts and fighting functions were incredibly advanced, after all, she used these to help Furies like Chase, Argos and Chris train; but what worried Spiros was the frailty of Gaia’s new human flesh and blood body.

Gaia made her move, putting a hand on the sentry’s mouth at the exact time as she stunned him by shooting him in the back. The sentry fell to his knees, and a moment later, Gaia had disposed of the unconscious body by dragging him behind some dense bushes.

One down, one more to go, thought Spiros.

* * *

While the new cover provided more protection, Ryonna questioned her choice when the Gorgar redeployed their troops and encircled them; now trying to get to them from every angle.

“I don’t think we’ll last long enough for the rescue shuttle to come and get us, plus the Gorgar would outnumber the rescue parties pretty quickly.”

“Let’s have faith that the Emperor will find a way to get us out of here.”

Ryonna wanted to express her complaint about even needing the man’s help. Even though she was feeling less hatred toward him after their heartfelt talk, she still didn’t like asking for help from anyone, even less so from a foe. But right now she was too busy fending off hordes of Gorgar soldiers.

“We’re screwed,” said Tar’Lock. “Perhaps we should have taken the mind controlling device with us.”

“I’m not even gonna dignify that with a response,” said Ryonna. “Even if we decided not to use it and try diplomacy first, it made tactical sense to have it with us, but you threw one of your higher moral fiber tantrums. My people this, my people that speech.”

“And yet the one time you should have put your foot down and knock some sense into me, you didn’t.”

Ryonna growled and swore. But she had to admit that it was a mistake to listen to Tar’Lock’s imploring her not to use the device and try diplomacy instead. She could have just sneaked the device with her, and they would have gotten themselves out of this mess in an instant.

“What I don’t understand,” commented Keera. “Is how they managed to become so organized in so little time? Where did they get the weapons?”

“Well,” proposed Ryonna. “If they could assemble Fury super-destroyers in mere hours, thanks to their mind-blowing population numbers, I would think creating body armor and blasters would be child’s play.”

“I guess so, but they already have a new political structure in place, in only a few days.”

“We probably have Argos to thank for that.”

“What are you saying?” inquired Tar’Lock.

“That even if it wasn’t his intention, that device we gave your sister must somehow be responsible for all of this.”

“He should have let me beta test it,” said Tar’Lock.

“What’s done is done. Right now we need to survive this day, and hopefully, find your sister and undo this mess. Or simply command them to do what we tell them. I’m not sure this can be avoided now, no matter how morally ambiguous that is.”

Tar’Lock clicked a few times, and it looked like he was about to complain, but he resumed firing on more incoming soldiers instead. A look of resignation in his eyes.

The intensity and rapid rate of laser fire impacting their stone-covered shield made it difficult for the group to chance taking their heads out of cover. They were firing blindly instead. Keera activated the last sonic grenade and threw it as far as she could without breaking cover.

“That’s it; we don’t have any more of those.”

“Not that they made much of a dent anyway,” commented Ryonna.

The fire around them intensified, and a nearby explosion sent a column of sand blasting upward, making the ground shake.

“Now we’re really screwed,” said Ryonna, “they’re switching to artillery fire. It’s only a matter of time before they blast us to oblivion with a single shot.”

Keera activated her wrist comm. “Emperor, if you don’t come get us now, and I mean now, we’re not going to make it.”

The comm was met with heavy static and explosive noises.

“Understood; be ready to move the moment you see your transport. We have to get the hell out of here; planetary systems have been proving problematic in the last few minutes. Get ready.”

Another three artillery explosions detonated nearby, getting nearer to their bunker with every shot.

“We’re not gonna make it,” said Ryonna.

An unexpected deafening noise could be heard from the heavens. A sonic boom shock wave sent sand flying in every direction as the sky instantly darkened. The Emperor’s destroyer had micro-jumped into the atmosphere. Its laser batteries started raining fire in an extended concentric firing pattern around them, and the enemy’s incoming fire stopped almost immediately.

The Obsidian destroyer had several grave scorch marks along its hull, indicating it had been in a prior battle of its own. The destroyer widened the circumference of its heavy laser fire, quickly pushing the enemy into retreat.

“Wow! I didn’t know a ship could jump in-atmosphere,” said Keera.

“That’s because it’s a very dangerous proposition, especially at that low an altitude,” said Ryonna. “If anything goes wrong, if any of the ship’s systems aren’t performing at peak efficiency, the destroyer could be torn to shreds in the process. Only a madman or a very courageous one would even consider attempting such a move.”

Tar’Lock clicked in a crescendo pitch, expressing admiration.

“Well…I did say it was urgent; still quite the ballsy move on the Emperor’s part, huh?” said Keera.

Both gratefulness and awe twinkled inside Ryonna’s eyes as she saw the destroyer hanging over their heads and repelling the Gorgar troops that would surely have claimed their lives in the next few moments. When she spoke, Ryonna’s voice trembled slightly.

“With the ship damaged as it is, you have no idea how much.”

The amount of honor points the Emperor had just scored with this maneuver was more than words could express. He had literally risked the lives of thousands of souls to get to three, one of them having held a knife to his throat only a few hours before.

A shuttlecraft exited the bowel of the destroyer’s cargo bay.

“That’s our ride,” said Ryonna.

The nearest Gorgar opposition were now miles away, in full retreat. The team hopped out of cover and ran against the strong sand winds toward the landing shuttle.

* * *

Chris knelt by Thor’s side, using his healing ability to bring the Asgardian back to consciousness.

Chris heard his father in his mind.

We’re getting Menelas out; what’s your status with Aphroditis and the machine?

We’ve located it but still need to find a safe way in.

Hurry son; Arakan is on his way. I don’t want to be here any longer than we have to.

Understood.

Thor’s eyes blinked a few times as he felt pain wash away from his body.

“Thank you, Chris. That’s a very handy power you have there.”

“You’re welcome, Thor. How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been hit with lightning,” he said sitting up.

Thor cracked his neck as his facial tattoos came back to life, pulsating slowly.

“I’m so sorry, Thor,” said Kvasir. “I thought I had found the opening mechanism, but it looks like I triggered a booby trap instead.”

“No need to apologize; you were just doing your job. I guess we’ll have to blast through the door after all.”

“We could damage the machine and Aphroditis in the process,” protested Ares.

“I may have an idea on how to achieve that more safely,” proposed Chris.

When all eyes converged on him, he continued.

“Poseidon can fire one of his freeze-ray shots from his new bionic arm, lowering the structural integrity of the door. Then Thor could smash it with his hammer while I use telekinesis to make sure the resulting door rubble doesn’t travel inside the room.”

“Freeze-ray?” asked Poseidon, dubiously.

“As good a name as any,” confirmed Thor. “That sounds like a plan.”

Thor got back on his feet and invoked his mighty hammer, Mjölnir.

“Wait,” said Ares. “Are you absolutely sure you can prevent any of the broken door parts from damaging what we came for? We only have one chance here, and this part of the mission has to go without hiccups, or we may never be able to destroy Erevos.”

“I’m fairly certain I can do it,” said Chris. “Plus my father asked that we hurry; apparently Arakan is on his way to Erevos as we speak and should arrive shortly. I don’t think we can afford to try and find a softer way in at this point.”

Poseidon cracked his real hand knuckle. “Let’s do this,” he said as blue lights came to life on his bionic arm.

Seeing Ares was still unsure, Chris put a hand on his shoulder. “Look, I can do it. And should Aphroditis get harmed in any way, I can heal her now.”

Ares reluctantly nodded. “Alright. Just⁠—”

“I’ll be careful, Ares; trust me.”

Once everyone took their positions, Poseidon unleashed a freezing beam toward the door, lowering its temperature. When he nodded toward Thor, the Asgardian threw Mjölnir with all his might against the frozen door. It broke as if made of glass, with some rather sharp edges starting to go inside the room, but only briefly, as Chris, a bright and large aura burning around him, used telekinetic energy to catch each piece of debris and get them safely out of the way outside of the room.

When a fine-particle, frozen dust cloud dissipated, it revealed Aphroditis inside the machine, red and purple lights were pulsating slowly like a heartbeat about to give up.

“Sis!” shouted Ares, running to her side.

She looked pitiful, even grayer and lifeless than the last time he had seen her. He could barely feel her life force inside the machine.

“I have to replace her now, Chris; do whatever it takes to bring her back. This might be a healing task you’re not ready for, but please save her.”

Chris nodded. “I’ll do everything I can, Ares. I guess this is goodbye for now?”

“I’m afraid so. I would wait for Chase to do this, but I’m not even sure if we’re not already too late. Tell him goodbye for me, alright? And thank him for everything. Tell him I’m going to miss him.”

“You’ll tell him that yourself; we’re not letting you rot in there any longer than we have to.”

Ares put a hand on Chris’ shoulder. “Look, I’ve accepted that this could be my last action in this world. If you guys find a way to get me out of there, or if by some miracle I can manage to survive the machine’s destruction when the time comes, then it will make me one happy Olympian. But until then, let’s assume that I just need to stay in there so you guys can blow up this hellish world and their cruel inhabitants. If you guys succeed in doing that, and I know you can, then I’m more than happy to play my part in this way.”

A tear formed at the corner of Chris’ eye. Deep inside he knew that Ares was right. Would they even get a second chance at coming back on Erevos? Nothing was certain, but Ares’ words rang true. Chris wished his father had been here so he could say goodbye to his old mentor.

“Good luck, and Godspeed, Ares.”

“To you as well,” said Ares looking at the others, “to all of you.”

“Farewell, Ares,” said Thor.

Kvasir nodded, and Poseidon took a few steps forward.

“You’ve brought some substantial shame to Olympus in the distant past, and part of me thought I would never forgive you for that. But you’ve since proven you have the heart of a true Olympian, and if this is the last time I see you, I will miss you, Ares.”

Ares smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Poseidon.”

“Chris, you’re up.”

Chris accompanied Ares as he turned and walked to the machine. His Aphroditis clone body and his real sister’s body were face to face. He mirrored her position in the machine and closed his clone eyes. His golden aura linked both bodies. It flashed briefly, blinding Chris and the others for a moment, and the bodies swapped. His clone’s skin was still full of color, but it quickly began losing its hue. The clone was now in the machine, and Aphroditis’ failing body was falling toward the floor. Chris caught her in his arms.

He put his hand on her chest and began healing her.

When he kept grimacing, Poseidon knelt by his side.

“What is it, Chris?”

“I— I don’t know; I’m healing her with all the energy I can bear, but it feels like she’s slipping away.”

Chris sent a telepathic message to his father.

Dad, please help; we’re losing Aphroditis.

22

When he regained consciousness, Menelas was surprised he was still alive. His head pounded, but the pain was more bearable than the electricity that ran through his body for god knows how long.

Blinking his eyes open, he saw he was still in the same cell. Arakan had dosed him with something, and again, he didn’t know how much time had passed. He wondered if his son received his message. Perhaps he should try and send him another one.

A small hole opened in the wall facing him, and another dart shot forward. This time Menelas was prepared for it and caught the dart with two fingers.

Sneaky coward. I’m looking forward to killing Arakan. I hope I get the chance.

Menelas incinerated the dart with a single thought and swept off the remaining dust from his hands.

Here goes nothing: Laiyos, can you hear me?

I prefer the name Chase, but yes, I can hear you…Menelas.

Menelas was surprised he got a response, especially with no delays whatsoever.

Tell me you’re not here to get me out of this cell?

We are; in fact, there’s only a minute left before your cell blows up.

What?

The lights in the cell turned red, and a repeating beep, accelerating little by little, could also be heard. Apparently, Arakan wasn’t interested in killing Menelas himself anymore. But time was of the essence, if his son tried to get him out, they’d both die in the attempt. Something Menelas would never let happen.

Go away, son. Let me die; just get Arakan.

No way, we need your help getting to the soul ships. I’m going to teleport inside your cell and get you out; it would help if you grew your aura a little so I can locate your exact position with sufficient accuracy.

Did his son say he would teleport? Menelas didn’t know of any Fury with that ability. But then again his son was also of Olympian descent.

No son, you don’t understand, the cell will blow the moment anyone but Arakan steps in it. Your life will be forfeited.

I’m not worried; we’ll only be staying for a split second; trust me.

The idea that his son would rescue him from this place that had felt like his ever-resting tomb filled his heart with joy and hope. Hope that he would also reunite with the sole love of his life, Athena.

Now would be a good time, Menelas, insisted Chase.

Menelas let his yellow aura burn stronger than ever before, lighting a beacon in the darkness for his son to get to him.

* * *

Chase, Argos and Oryn stood in front of the door Oryn thought their father was locked behind. “Are we clear on what to do?” inquired Chase. “I’m going to get him now.”

“I wait until you return here, and erect a strong shield,” said Argos.

“One large enough to encompass all four of us. I’ll add to your shield strength the moment I return.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Neither will it be to erect one for me,” said Oryn.

“We don’t have time for your usual pissing contest,” said Chase. “You’ll do as I say.”

“Just go get Menelas before his cell blows; I’ll use my cold to stop the flames before they can impact us. Just in case, think of it as a plan B.”

Chase wanted to argue, but Oryn was right, they had run out of time, so he just shrugged and contacted Menelas telepathically. When he got a good lock on his position inside the cell, he started counting.

“Two…one…now!”

Chase disappeared and almost instantly reappeared with Menelas in front of Argos. A split second later, flames engulfed them, but Argos had already raised the strong shield. Oryn flash-lowered the temperature, and for just an instant it looked like the flames were trapped in ice before the ice melted and a huge amount of water fell to the ground. Oryn blew more cold air to turn off the flames that were extending beyond the room they stood in.

“I thought for sure you’d be toast,” said Argos to her.

“That’s because you all underestimate my powers.”

Menelas looked around him. “Incredible; I didn’t even feel your presence, and the next second we were here. So you can teleport?”

Chase nodded, not sure how else to react to the presence of a father he knew nothing about until not long ago.

Menelas looked to his side and met Argos’ gaze.

“Argos?”

“Yes…Father.”

“I can sense an incredible amount of power radiating from the both of you. More than I’ve ever felt from any other single Fury, bar none except Arakan perhaps.”

“Speaking of Arakan,” said Oryn. “I can feel his presence now. He’ll be in the palace within minutes.”

“And you,” inquired Menelas. “Are you his daughter Oryn?”

Her eyes flashed like two diamonds. “He’s not my father!”

“I’m sorry, I— I know that you’re the biological daughter of Zeus and Zalara. In fact, you’re the reason I was trapped here. After securing the soul ships, your father had tasked me to come and rescue you before the machine trans-dimensionally transported Erevos out of space and time.”

“In that case, I wish you hadn’t failed your mission,” spat Oryn.

“You and me both; I paid a steep price for failing to get you out of here in time.”

“As I paid being lied to and raised by the monster who killed my mother.”

“Alright, there will be time for this later,” interrupted Chase. “If Arakan is on his way, then it’s time for us to go.”

Chase heard Chris calling him in his mind.

“There’s a problem with Aphroditis. Chris isn’t able to heal her.”

“Perhaps if the both of us tried on top of his efforts,” proposed Argos.

“Make that three,” added Menelas.

“Good, and if that fails, Oryn you could perhaps preserve her in one of your near absolute zero coffins. Everyone grab my arm.”

Argos and Menelas did, but Oryn hesitated.

“Oryn? We don’t have time to lose, grab my arm, now.”

“Sorry, Chase,” is all she said before turning tail and running away.

“Oryn!” shouted Chase.

“Let her go,” said Argos.

“She’s gonna get herself killed.”

“Maybe she will, maybe she won’t. But right now we have a mission to complete. On multiple occasions she has disobeyed and did whatever she wanted; she’s a liability. We shouldn’t have taken her with us.”

It was hard to hear, but Chase had to admit that Argos was right. Oryn had been off ever since Zeus had died. And right now, they needed to help Chris and Aphroditis.

Chase teleported them away.

* * *

Onboard the Victory’s bridge, Daniel had just relieved the security officer from the conn when the Victory fired a three hundred sixty-degree pulse wave from its deflector.

This was Yanis and Cedric’s attempt at finding and targeting the spider ship. The wave worked like sonar, and to Daniel’s surprise, it worked perfectly. Daniel targeted the ship the instant it appeared on their radar and fired a modified main weapon version with an ultra-fast modulated frequency.

The main weapon’s fire impacted with the spider ship, and immediately after, multiple salvos of Olympian laser and torpedoes hacked at its shield.

“Damage to the target ship minimal; still holding strong at eighty-five percent,” said the tactical officer.

“Keep the main weapon locked on it as long as power allows; divert from any secondary systems if you have to. Keep an eye on any power fluctuations on the target ship.”

“Understood. Diverting power.”

Three quick bleeps resonated from the tactical officer’s station.

“Power just fluctuated on the enemy’s ship.”

Daniel ran the sub-routine Yanis had created to determine the frequency that had caused the power fluctuation, locked on it, and redistributed it to the main weapon. Normally, he would have asked the tactical officer to do that for him, but they needed to get the JIF disabled and jump to Erevos as soon as humanly possible.

The Victory’s main weapon beam stopped fluctuating and fired at the selected frequency. It went straight through the spider ship’s shield and caused a blast that took one of its legs off with a bright explosion.

Score!

“Keep firing! And transmit the frequency to Athena’s ship.”

“Transmitting frequency to the Prometheus.”

The spider ship took evasive action and moved like a panicked spider. Most ships had a main vector they could alter with secondary engines and thrusters, but this one had its engines on the tip of its legs, allowing it to make changes in trajectory in space like nothing Daniel or anyone on board had ever seen. Making its evasive patterns unpredictable and almost impossible to estimate.

The ship’s engine glowed and changed colors. Then the spider legs converged in front of its main armored body, and the seven remaining legs shot toward a converging point, which created a large yellow sphere of plasma that quickly expanded into a fast traveling beam that impacted the starboard side of the Prometheus. It went through the Olympian destroyer’s shields and destroyed part of the ship. Multiple explosions detonated around the impact point, starting fires and exposing whole decks and crewmen to space.

“Holy shit!” exclaimed Daniel. “I think we just pissed it off.”

The spider legs were still in a firing position and Daniel hesitated between targeting it with all they had or trying a more indirect attack pattern. The damage to the Prometheus was major, and Daniel could see on his holo-console that they had lost jump engines, which only left the Victory to get Chase and the rest of his friends. Daniel sent a retreat command to the Prometheus; if Athena perished in the battle, Chase would never forgive him.

Therefore, Daniel opted for a bait and switch tactic instead of a full frontal opening salvo, but he needed the enemy ship to think that was what he was about to do.

“Target the spider ship; fire two salvos of torpedoes, have them turbo-reloaded and give me firing command!”

“Done, Commander.”

“Thank you. Status of the JIF?”

“Field levels are fluctuating; I don’t think we can do a long jump, but it might be possible to micro-jump within the area.”

That’s all Daniel needed.

Daniel entered micro-jump coordinates for a few hundred yards behind the spider ship’s current position and counted on the fact that the enemy ship would require a certain amount of time to switch from main weapons to high thruster maneuverability.

Daniel then painted the three remaining legs on the starboard side of the ship. If he got all the legs from one side, perhaps it would limit the ship’s ability to go crazy evasive; in fact, Daniel counted on it.

He fired his decoy torpedoes toward the spider ship, which in turn adjusted its trajectory with smaller thrusters situated in the middle of the legs. The moment it fired toward the Victory, Daniel micro-jumped the ship.

A split second later, the ship emerged from hyperspace and Daniel could see the back of the spider ship almost filling the viewport, that’s how close he had jumped near it.

With every laser turret, torpedo, and main weapon focused on the respective targets, the Victory opened fire and unleashed hell upon the spider ship. So much power was drawn from the onslaught that the lights inside the bridge flickered.

The barrage of laser fire impacted with the legs, as did salvos of torpedoes, but none managed to rip off the remaining targeted legs; that is until the main weapon’s plasma beam started cutting through them.

After two more legs were obliterated, the spider micro-jumped away and cloaked.

“Stop firing. Send another sonar pulse,” said Daniel.

“Pulse away.”

The spider ship reappeared on the radar and uncloaked.

Time to finish them off.

“Hyperspace window detected,” said the tactical officer.

The spider ship entered hyperspace.

They ran. Good riddance.

“This is Commander Tharraleos to StarFury Delta Squadron, launch now and assume patrol and protect patterns around the Prometheus.”

Once the fighters had launched, Daniel issued his next order.

“Plot a course to Erevos, maximum hyperspace power. In fact, boost the jump engines to as much as you think they’ll take.”

“Jumping now.”

The Victory jumped into hyperspace.

* * *

Tanak’Vor was pacing the throne room nervously. His meeting with the council of elders hadn’t gone well. Not only was Spectre Prime disappointed with his lack of advance on cleansing this realm of the opposition, but also the unforeseen strengthening of the Earth Alliance with the Olympians and Asgardians really angered the council.

He had shamed his race.

Shame he could live with though; the thought of harm coming to his wife and four children, that was something else. The Spectre Prime told him that unless he reported better news soon, in the form of dealing with at least the Ultra Fury, then he would start randomly feeding the members of his family to Leviathan as offerings to appease his wrath toward the Spectre race.

He needed to convince Arakan to listen to him. Or take control altogether. Arakan’s ego had become so big, Tanak’Vor didn’t see how he could reason with the man on any level anymore.

When he heard a familiar distant sound of the supreme commander’s footsteps, Tanak’Vor reactivated his cloak. Arakan had no idea that the shadow was anything else but some invisible energy, and for the time being, that’s all he would know of the Spectre.

“Welcome back,” he said the moment Arakan came into view.

“You’re in my head on a permanent basis now, so I don’t think it’s appropriate that you welcome me back.”

“You have guests.”

“I know. Not only one but two Ultra Furies in fact, and more of his inconsequential friends. I’m glad they’re here though, so I can crush them all at once.”

What? Two Ultra Furies?

“What do you mean, Supreme Commander, when you said two Ultra Furies?”

“That damn twin brother of his seems to possess similar powers.”

This is not good; we need to deal with them, for my family’s sake.

“Then may I suggest we deal with them together?”

“You’re just in my head and haunting my throne room; I’ll deal with it now that you made me immortal.”

“Immortal? I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Supreme Commander. I’ve only grafted a small piece of myself inside your body through the stone you’ve swallowed. Most of that essence was consumed when it brought you back to life after Poseidon killed you.”

“Are you telling me that if I die now, I won’t rise again?”

“I’m afraid that’s exactly what I’m saying, Supreme Commander.”

Arakan growled.

“Then give me more of your essence.”

“I’m afraid that is not how it works; I cannot give you more of the essence every time you want a second chance. The regeneration process cannot take place anymore unless we fuse on a molecular level.”

Of course, that was a lie, but Tanak’Vor had had enough of dealing with Arakan; he needed full control of his body. He could try to take it by force, but Arakan’s mind was strong enough to cause more problems than the unwanted fusion benefits. The Fury needed to relinquish and invite the Spectre in for him to be able to efficiently and completely override and silence the host body and mind.

More advanced Spectre had the ability to get this done with or without the host’s consent, but they were significantly older than Tanak’Vor. It’s not like he had chosen to be here; his presence on Erevos at the moment the planet shifted back into this realm had been purely accidental. In hindsight, he regretted finding a way to contact his superiors to give them a tactical advantage in his accidental, yet fortunate, presence. In doing so, he probably doomed his entire family.

* * *

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You see, Supreme Commander, now that your DNA and mine have fused, a deeper molecular bond is required for me to be able to repair your body from fatal injuries.”

“What would that entail?”

“We would fully share your body and mind. You’d remain in control of both, but I’d be able to increase your strength, powers, and longevity. You could live for thousands of years.”

This thing thinks I’m gullible; the moment we fuse, as it says, it’ll just take control of me. I already can’t stand the fact that I have to hear it in my thoughts every time it desires.

“Then forget about it; I don’t need your help to kill the Ultra Furies and their friends. In fact, I’m looking forward to the thrill of a fight where my life hangs in the balance; it will just make me more focused that way.”

Arakan thought he heard something akin to a whispered growl.

“As you wish, Supreme Commander, far be it from me to tell you what to do. But Poseidon is also here, and he killed you once, not to mention Oryn, who seems hell-bent on destroying you.”

“They can all take a number, then. Nobody kills the Fury god. They’ll soon discover the high price to be paid for defying me.”

“I’m sure they will; speaking of price, I believe I sense your adoptive daughter entering the throne room.”

“Good, then after we have said our peace to each other, she’ll be the first to taste my wrath.”

23

Chase rushed to Chris’ side when he arrived in the room with the inter-dimensional machine.

“I think her heart just stopped!” Chris exclaimed. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault, son.”

Argos and Menelas joined them around Aphroditis; she looked dead. They all combined their healing powers and tried to bring her back. Chase could feel her life slip away. He closed his eyes and pushed his healing abilities beyond anything he had attempted before.

When he felt like he was losing her, he reopened his eyes, but he wasn’t by her side anymore. He was on Earth, near a riverbed, with birds chirping and the sun shining brightly in a summer’s cloudless sky.

“You should let me go,” said a familiar voice. “I’m too far gone, Chase.”

Chase got to his feet and turned to see the Aphroditis he once knew in what he had no doubt was another vision.

“Not a chance in hell. We’ve come this far to get you; we’re not letting you die.”

“Everyone dies eventually, Chase. I’m no different.”

“You’re too important, and I’ll be damned if we’ve let you suffer inside that infernal machine just to have you bite the dust the moment we get you out.”

“I’ve always accepted that this could be my fate.”

“Aren’t there any futures in which you survive?”

“Why does it matter to you, Chase?”

“You’re my aunt; I don’t want you to die. You’ve been with me since the beginning of my journey. I’m sorry for the pain you had to go through these past few weeks, but you’re out of the machine now.”

“What is left of me is only a broken shell, Chase. My spirit has long disconnected from my body. Each and every time I contacted you or Ares, in fact, I was severing that connection more.”

Chase’s heart bled. He blamed himself for what Aphroditis had been through.

“Don’t do this to yourself, Chase,” she added. “I accepted my fate. In fact, I embraced it. You should let me go and embrace your own.”

“No! I refuse to be responsible for one more death!”

“And, yet, you’ll lose so many more by the time your own death comes. That much I am certain of.”

Chase didn’t like the sound of that.

“Then I don’t see why I need to keep fighting.”

“Of course you do, Chase. You are a nexus of this universe, whether you realize it or even accept it. You have the power to change the destinies of billions of souls. And while I understand that losing people closest to you is a hard price to pay, think of the billions you’re saving.”

Chase made fists. “I never asked for any of this!”

“I know, as I never asked to be cursed with my powers of foresight. At great personal cost, with an estranged father and banished from my home world.”

Chase’s face dropped.

“What is it, Chase?”

“About Zeus.”

“He fell in combat, didn’t he? As did my world?”

“How do you know?”

“Because that was the most likely outcome from the future on which I bet when I first enlisted your help after the Obsidian wiped out most of the Star Alliance.”

“In that possible future, I take it that we defeat the Furies?”

“Nothing is ever certain, but that’s a strong possibility.”

“Can we finally live in peace after they’re gone? I’m getting weary of battle and war.”

“Chase, it’s best I don’t tell you anything more than I already have. It could impact the current possible futures and make things worse. Like it did for me oh so long ago.”

“I don’t follow.”

“And it doesn’t concern you. Just— just let me go, Chase, please.”

“No, I’ve already lost a grandfather, uncles and god knows how many relatives when Olympus got swallowed by a black hole. I’ve lost my friends, mentors; I refuse to lose you if there’s something I can do about it.”

“I’m tired, Chase. I want this for me; I want to go to Elysium.”

“And you’ll get there in due time.”

“As powerful as your healing powers are, you can’t reconnect a body and soul if the owner doesn’t want to, as you’ve discovered with your friend Fillio.”

Chase shook his head.

“We’re four Furies healing you; we’ll make it work.”

“Even if you succeeded, which I doubt, you’d only get a shell of me, I wouldn’t be the Olympian you once knew. So if you have any respect for me, you’ll let me go.”

“I can’t, I’m sorry.”

“As am I, Chase. It’s now time to say goodbye. Let me give you one more piece of advice for the rest of your life. Don’t ever give up, Chase, no matter what happens, to you and your loved ones, you must always follow the flame inside your heart, and trust that you have the power to change things for the better. Just be yourself.”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

“Goodbye, Chase.”

The image of Aphroditis blurred and faded away, and the beautiful Earth landscape was replaced by the dark, moist and smelly room in which Chase and his closest family members were, trying hard to save a goddess who no longer wanted to live.

* * *

With Chase and his friends occupied trying to revive Aphroditis, Poseidon snuck out of the room and started running toward the energy of the man he had already killed once.

I must avenge my brother and the rest of my people.

Poseidon didn’t like deceiving Chase and knew there might be consequences for his actions, but he couldn’t just stand idly by and hope that an occasion to take down the supreme commander would present itself. Chase might have been okay with rescuing Aphroditis, Menelas, and reprogramming the machine and call it a day, but Poseidon wasn’t.

This war would keep on taking lives by the millions unless someone cut off the head of the snake, and that’s exactly what Poseidon would do.

He felt sorry for Aphroditis, and he doubted she would make it, but at the end of the day she was just one more victim of Arakan’s madness and one more family member Poseidon would take revenge for, or die trying.

* * *

“We’re losing her!” said Argos. “Why isn’t our combined healing ability bringing her back?”

“She doesn’t want to,” said Chase, almost resigned.

“Screw that; we need to save her! We have to!” Argos screamed.

Chase felt how much his brother’s heart was bleeding at the idea of losing Aphroditis. He had been the one to put her in the infernal machine that had sucked her lifeblood and tortured both her body and soul every second since.

“I’m not sure that we can.”

“Keep trying, brother. Please!”

Chase knew that as long as her heartbeat was gone, they wouldn’t bring her back.

“I’m gonna try something; keep healing her.”

Argos looked straight into Chase’s eyes. Chase could see the deep plea they contained, and he nodded.

Chase created a small electrical energy sphere in his hand. Hundreds of small charged bolts danced together in a chaotic yet captivating manner. He placed the sphere near the top of Aphroditis’ chest and plunged it into her heart.

Her body tensed for a second, but then all her muscles relaxed. Chase placed his hand on her and could feel a faint heartbeat.

“She’s got a pulse,” he said.

“A very faint one,” commented Menelas.

“Why don’t our healing abilities work better?” asked Argos, his eyes watering.

“I don’t know,” said Chase.

But that was a lie. He knew Aphroditis herself had abandoned the idea of life. Perhaps he needed to let her go, but he didn’t want to make that decision now. So he contacted Sarah telepathically.

Hey love, how are you doing? Did you get rid of the unknown ships?

It’s good to hear your voice, Chase. There was only one spider ship.

Spider ship, huh?

Yes, we had a hard time even detecting it. While we couldn’t destroy it, we drove it away, and Yanis thinks he has enough data to be better prepared the next time it shows up. But Chase, we think this ship could be linked to that shadow Ares mentioned.

That would make sense, Chase decided, though right now he didn’t feel like giving it more thought. They still had to complete their mission.

How far are you from Erevos? We may need to get out of here soon. Also, Aphroditis is dying. We got her out of the machine, but she’s not responding to our healing powers.

I’m sorry to hear that, Chase. What about your father?

He’s here with us, trying to help us revive her.

What do you want me to do, Chase?

Just let the doc know I’m bringing her on board. I’ll have her put into extended suspended animation until we can figure out a way to get her back.

Understood. What about the machine?

Chase hadn’t found the time to ask Kvasir about his progress in the matter. He would do that next.

I’ll keep you posted. I wish I could come and see you when I’m onboard, but I’ll have to teleport back here quickly. Arakan has returned.

I know; we detected his ship while we were engaging the spider ship. We’ll soon be on Erevos; we can destroy his ship when that happens.

He’s no longer on it; I can sense him on the planet.

Then what do you want me to do when we arrive?

Deal with any resistance you encounter, and be ready to turn tail and jump out of there the moment we have completed our mission.

Understood; be careful, Chase, I love you.

You too. I love you.

“We need to stop wasting energy; we may need it to fight our way out of here. I’ll teleport her back to the Victory and put her in suspended animation,” said Chase with a resigned tone.

“No!” protested Argos.

“I know how you feel brother, but we need to continue the mission.”

“She is the mission. Let me go with you; I can try and heal her more onboard the ship.”

“I need you here, Argos. Plus, the more people I take with me on the teleport, the more energy I’ll burn.”

Argos reluctantly removed his hands from Aphroditis, and soon Chris and Menelas did the same.

“I’ll be right back,” said Chase as he teleported his aunt away.

* * *

Arakan blocked an incoming ice-blue fireball aimed at his head. He looked at the sphere of pure icy energy still hovering in his hand before closing his fingers and integrating the attack’s power into his own pool of energy.

“It’s good to finally see you again, Oryn,” said Arakan.

“I wish I could say the same, but I’m only here to kill you!”

“I know. Still, I hoped we would get a moment just the two of us, have that last father to daughter moment we both need.”

Her anger rose, and she sent three more blue fireballs toward Arakan, who easily deflected them. When they impacted on the far wall and tall ceiling, it coated them with a thin layer of ice. The shiny surface now reflected the multiple light sources like sunlight reflecting on the surface of water.

“You’re not my father! You killed my father!” Oryn screamed, her eyes rapidly filling with tears.

“I may not be your biological father, but I raised you like my own daughter, so whether you want to accept it or not, I am your father.”

“Why? Why did you kill my mother?”

Arakan’s expression was solemn.

“There isn’t a day that passes that I don’t ask myself that question. I— I was wrong. There are no words that can explain how sorry I am about that.”

“Says the man who cut her into little pieces and shipped them one by one to the real love of her life.”

Arakan restrained himself from growling.

“Are these the lies Zeus has told you? He’s poisoned your mind.”

“Don’t you fucking dare! You killed her, and you did these things.”

“Because of my brain injury, I can’t remember that far. I do remember killing her in a bout of anger. For that I’m sorry.”

“Oh no, you don’t! You’re not using your brain battle scar as an excuse. You killed her because you’re a madman because you care about nothing but yourself, and when you learned she had an affair with Zeus, your ego couldn’t take it.”

Arakan paused for just a second to ponder her words, but an inner rage he had no chance to control, took over and flooded his very mind and soul.

“I did what I had to do!” he screamed! “Just like I’ll do what needs to be done today. And if that means killing you, then I will. Reluctantly. Please, Oryn, it’s not too late, come back to me, and together we can rule this universe, as father and daught⁠—”

Oryn unleashed a deafening roar, not allowing Arakan to finish his sentence and his indecent proposal. It disgusted her to the core that he would think for just a second that she could just forgive him and side with him after all he had done. Her roar made the entire palace tremble.

“Shut the fuck up you monster; you’re not my father, you never were. And today I’m avenging my real father. In a few moments, I’ll enjoy crushing your heart with my own hands.”

“I see,” said Arakan calmly. “I wish things could have been different.”

Oryn’s aura expanded around her almost instantly, shining a bright white light stronger than the sun. The temperature in the throne room felt like tens of degrees below zero. Whatever humidity was present in the room instantly flash-froze into snowflakes and started twirling around the infuriated female Fury warrior as her eyes shone like two bright stars in the depths of space.

“I don’t!” shouted Oryn, as she launched herself toward Arakan, determined to kill the man she hated more than anything in this world.

* * *

Upon taking out the second guard, Gaia signaled Spiros with her comms. He carefully used the forest’s vegetation to get to her.

“What’s next?” he asked when he arrived near her, next to the ship’s ramp.

“I’ve managed to get into one of the guard’s wireless devices. It gave me the position of the other ten crew members currently inside the ship.”

“Ten? That’s going to be tricky to slip past them, won’t it?”

“Not necessarily. Four of them, I believe, are sleeping. Two are in the cockpit of the ship. That leaves only four of them working inside the ship, with only one of them on the path to the conduit I need to distribute the sleeping agent.”

“That is if we had one.”

“I’ve already figured that part out as well. The scanner allowed me to check their cargo and supplies. Some of the products they’re smuggling can be mixed and create a very effective sleep gas.”

Gaia made it sound simple, and on paper, perhaps it was. But a lifetime of experiences of things going wrong on a daily basis told Spiros that no matter how simple or well oiled a plan was, an unforeseen element of surprise almost always managed to creep out of nowhere to rain on one’s day.

But, then again, this robotic version of Gaia was highly logical in her approach, and she possessed the right tools to adjust her plans to achieve the wanted result, which is why he had, reluctantly, decided to come on this mission. Spiros had to believe that not every single one of their moves would go awry. They had already had a streak of bad luck, and hopefully, they had seen the worst of it.

It’s not like they had much of a choice anyway. Time was running out for his cloned body, and unless they brought back the biomaterial to Argos’ secret base, they would both perish. Spiros from a cloned-body catastrophic failure, and the real Gaia from data corruption he wouldn’t be there to stabilize and fix.

“Very well. Do you need me to do anything?”

“Yes, you stand guard at the top of the ramp. There are some large crates you can use to hide behind. My plan doesn’t factor in any new crewmen returning to the ship, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. That also will give you time to hack into the life support system and activate the fans in the following sections on my mark.”

Gaia showed the schematics of the ship to Spiros on the portable wireless device she had acquired.

“And do I try to take out any uninvited guests?”

“No, that conflicts with my prime directive of protecting you. Too many parameters, too many unknowns. If someone comes, you are to inform me over the comms.”

Spiros was semi-insulted by Gaia’s assumption that he couldn’t take care of stunning someone with the element of surprise. He had faced way more dire situations in his many months alone aboard a research station overrun with tall and powerful lizard men. He had even killed a few. But this Gaia knew nothing of that, so instead of complaining, he decided to go with the plan.

“Very well. Good luck.”

“To you too, Spiros. Let me know the moment you have hacked the life support system.”

“Will do.”

Gaia climbed up the ramp and soon disappeared inside the ship. Spiros silently climbed the ramp shortly after and found a crate to hide behind. He brought his brain implant online and was happy to finally see wireless traffic to hack into.

In a matter of seconds, he was inside the ship’s rudimentary computer systems. In fact, he was able to hack the main computer and could easily remote control every part of the ship, if needed. He located and had access to the fans on the points Gaia had shown him.

“I’m good to go on the life support system,” he whispered.

“Good. I’m almost done acquiring the materials I need to create the sleep gas.”

“What about us? Won’t we be subjected to the same gas?”

“We would, but the best approach is for you to trigger it with a countdown. That way we have plenty of time to get out of the ship when you activate it.”

“Any preference on how much time we’d need?”

“Sixty seconds should do it.”

It only took Spiros a couple of seconds to create the countdown function and link it to the rest of his hack.

“I have the sleep gas; requesting radio silence for the next forty-five seconds so I can dispatch the only crewman currently on my mission path.”

“Understood.”

A few seconds later, Spiros heard voices in the distance approaching the ship.

24

Ryonna, Keera and Tar’Lock stepped onto the bridge as the ship rocked from the planet-bound plasma fire.

The Emperor rose from his captain’s chair.

“I’m glad you’re all back unharmed.”

“Thanks to you for saving our asses down there,” said Keera.

Ryonna wanted to thank the Emperor as well, but she was still pretty stunned and had conflicting emotions about how she felt about him.

“What…she said,” was all she managed to say.

Tar’Lock shot Ryonna a dubious look.

“Thanks a lot, Emperor; we’re very grateful,” he added.

“You’re all perfectly welcome.”

Two more long-range plasma fireballs hit the belly of the ship and rocked it so hard that anyone standing almost fell to the ground. Ryonna caught Keera with one hand and steadied her when it appeared she was about to stumble. Sparks flew from a nearby console.

“Shields are down to fifteen percent, Emperor,” said an Obsidian crewman.

“We need to get out of here,” declared Altair. “Plot a course for Alpha Prime and engage hyperspace when ready.”

“If I may, before you do that,” pleaded Ryonna.

“Yes? But make it quick; the ship won’t take much more of this. The rest of the fleet also incurred heavy damage.”

“I think it’s a mistake to leave.”

“Believe me, Ryonna, I’m not happy with this either, but the fleet won’t last long if we stay in orbit. If we’re dead, we won’t be good to anyone.”

“And I’m not proposing we stay here so the Gorgar shoot us down, but let’s not make a full retreat just yet.”

“I’m listening; we gotta break orbit, and soon.”

“Let’s just retreat out of the way a little. Going back to Alpha Prime will take days, during which we won’t have the support of the Gorgar people, and at their rate of development, they could become a powerful enemy. I—” Ryonna paused before ushering out the next words, admitting her mistakes wasn’t her forte. “I may have inadvertently started a war here, and that’s one conflict we do not need, nor do we want the Gorgar to start building a fleet of ships to try and hunt us down. We, if you’ll pardon the human expression, have bigger fish to fry. We need to fix this, and fast.”

While pondering Ryonna’s words, the Emperor looked straight into her eyes briefly before giving her a simple nod. He then turned toward one of his crewmen.

“Helmsman, micro-jump the fleet to the other side of this system, preferably behind a planet out of direct sight from this position, then immediately engage stealth mode upon arrival.”

The jump engines rumbled to life, and the Emperor’s flagship jumped away from the Gorgar home world.

* * *

Oryn sent a column of subzero energy to Arakan who blocked it with ease by extending both his palms forward.

“You can’t think you’re taking me down with these pathetic attacks, do you? I’ve raised you better than that,” taunted Arakan.

Arakan absorbed Oryn’s attack energy and created a massive light blue fireball, sending it back toward her. She blocked it with both her hands but the concentrated power forced her to skid backward a few yards before she regained control of the energy. Her aura flashed brighter for just a second, and the attack exploded into a million cold particles that started twirling around her. Light reflected upon the particles, and at that moment, she shone brighter than the purest of diamonds.

“Your attempts at nostalgia won’t work. There is only one thought in my mind, and one thought only. To kill you.”

“Nobody kills me today, Oryn. Not Chase, not Argos, and most certainly not you!”

“We’ll just have to see about that. Your overconfidence may just be your downfall.”

“My confidence is why I am still alive today, even when our best scientists said that my brain injury would prove to be fatal.”

“The only reason you’re alive is that I created your medication, not your delusion about your own resilience to death.”

Arakan smirked. “And yet I have died and risen from the dead on Olympus.”

“And I can feel in your aura that whatever brought you back is not Fury. So stop trying to convince me that you are in control when we both know you’re nothing more than a grotesque puppet nowadays. Hopefully, by killing you, I also kill that thing you’ve been talking to for all this time.”

Arakan growled and moved so fast that he took Oryn by surprise. He smashed her face with a powerful elbow strike, grabbed her by the hair before she could recover and started spinning her faster and faster. After a moment, and when Arakan was satisfied with the speed at which he was spinning his adoptive daughter, he sent her flying and smashing toward the east wall. Upon impact, she became embedded in the wall, which cracked around her.

Arakan raised a palm and unleashed a dozen small, black-smoking fireballs at Oryn.

Before they could impact with her, a fast-spinning object deflected them all. Upon slowing down, the object appeared to be Poseidon’s Trident, with the God of the Seas holding it, a look of murder reflected in his eyes.

“We have unfinished business, you and I,” he said to Arakan.

Oryn growled. “I don’t need your help; get out of here! Nobody but me kills him, do you hear me Olympian?”

Poseidon looked back at her from the corner of his eye. “You’re doing a bang-up job here. He killed my brother; that gives me just about the same right as you to want to exact revenge.”

Oryn broke herself free from her unfortunate and temporary wall encasing. She dusted herself off before bringing her bright white aura back to bear, her eyes shining the same color, and pointed a finger at Poseidon.

“I don’t care what right you think you have, Olympian. You’ll stand down right now, or I don’t have a problem with mowing through you first before I rip Arakan’s heart out of his chest.”

“You’re welcome to try, but I would hope you’d think twice before killing your uncle out of revenge. I doubt that it would sit well with your conscience once Arakan is dead. Plus, I think this would be counterproductive, and give Arakan an advantage he cruelly needs. I’ve already killed him once, and deep down, he knows I can do it again. I have no doubt you have the power and resourcefulness of doing so as well. So, why don’t we just both bring him down, together? In the name of Zeus, we both know he would have wanted us on the same side and not as enemies.”

In her unquenchable thirst for revenge, Oryn hadn’t even stopped to think of the family link between her and Poseidon. She was just so laser-focused on bringing Arakan down at all costs that she omitted to think that she still had family members out there.

She looked at Poseidon for a moment, then at Arakan.

“For Zeus then, but you let me take the kill shot; that’s non-negotiable.”

“I can live with that.”

“Then let us kill that son of a bitch!”

* * *

Ryonna stopped in front of the door of the Emperor’s ready room. She still couldn’t believe the stunt he pulled to save their lives. Emperor Altair had risked the ship and all the souls on it to get them out of Dodge. In fact, even with all her courage and warrior skills, Ryonna knew very well that they only had a couple of minutes left to live when the Emperor micro-jumped his ship into the planet’s atmosphere to save them.

She paused, wondering what her feelings were at the moment. A few hours ago she was still extremely angry with the Emperor, and part of her wanted to kill him. Now, she felt remorse for her behavior.

Before she could gather her thoughts and enter, the doors split open, and Emperor Altair stopped, a little surprised someone was behind the door.

“Hello, Ryonna. You scared me slightly for a second. Did you come to see me?”

“If I’m not intruding.”

“No, of course not. I was going for my daily run, but I can do that at another time. Please, come in,” said Altair, gesturing Ryonna toward the nearest seat across his desk. Once Ryonna sat, he walked around the desk and sat as well.

“I take it we haven’t been detected, yet?” said Ryonna.

“Fortunately, our stealth engines weren’t too badly damaged, so I doubt they know we’re still here; to their instruments, it should show that we’ve turned tail and run.”

“We can’t return to Alpha Prime. We can request backup to come and help us repair, but jumping back and forth, even with the help of the Asgardian ships, could take hours that we don’t want to waste.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“Yes, and I must thank you for your intervention on the bridge earlier. We’ve been running continuous long-range scans of the planet. You were right, they’re already building Fury super-destroyer class ships at a dangerously fast rate, and my guess is, those aren’t meant to be delivered to the Furies. It would make sense that’s what they’d build; their near infinite workforce already has everything in place to build them with those efficient concentric assembly lines you’ve mentioned in your report.”

“That would have been Keera’s report,” she paused. “Emperor…I don’t do paperwork.”

“Then, I guess she signed your name; it matters not though, what does is that we don’t need another enemy right now. We’ve only recently defeated evil Gaia’s forces. Now, about what you said on the bridge? About you starting a conflict?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve let my impulsive nature get the best of me, and I knocked out an uncooperative Gorgar. I didn’t expect they’d go berserk about that.”

“That’s unfortunate, but don’t beat yourself up about it, as far as we know, we could have started a similar situation with just a diplomatic dialogue, and it matters not how this situation began, only that we find a quick solution to fix it. What does your gut feeling tell you about what happened down there?”

Ryonna was pleasantly surprised by Altair’s interest in her opinion. She clearly had misjudged the man, and while she wanted to apologize to him, she couldn’t find the right moment to do so. Emperor Altair must have picked up on her hesitation, as he inquired about it.

“Is there something wrong, Ryonna? I get the feeling you’re two places at once.”

“I— I apologize.”

“What for?”

“For putting a dagger to your throat earlier and threatening to kill you, I…I cruelly misjudged you, and for that, I’m sorry.”

Altair smiled. “That must not have been easy for you to say. Therefore, I truly appreciate the gesture. Apology accepted, and please think nothing of it, no more. Water under the bridge as the humans say. I know it will take time for most species in the known universe to forget about the way I previously ruled. I have accepted that.”

“Why did you risk so many lives to save only three?”

“Life is not a number’s game, Ryonna, each and every one of them is precious. It should be nurtured, loved and protected. I’m not about to start weighing numbers against one another, every life counts. I realize that there are situations where making that choice of sacrificing a few to save many will be more difficult and perhaps even unavoidable. But anyone under my command knows, or at least I hope they do, that we’re going to risk our lives to save others. That’s the legacy I want to leave to my people before I die. To be empathic and try to do the right thing, not to conquer and rule territories by force.”

The words struck a chord with Ryonna. But, she still was baffled that they were coming from the leader of the Obsidian Empire. And, unofficially, the second in command of the Earth Alliance.

“That’s very noble, and it seems like you did a lot of introspection and thinking, I—I’m having a hard time reconciling the person I’m talking with right now with the image I had of you, even before I met you.”

“Then it seems my thinking has been beneficial. While I appreciate you apologizing and us having a personal discussion, I believe we should get back to the subject at hand.”

“Indeed,” said Ryonna with a smile. “My gut tells me that whatever this drug Argos created to give the Gorgar more long-term memory abilities has had an unforeseen side effect.”

“Such as?”

“I can only speculate at this point, but what I can tell you is that from our last visit, the Gorgar have turned from slaves to being pretty strict on rules, with a new political structure which seems a radical change from the old one, where one queen is ruling the entire planet as opposed to a cluster of queens. And they seem trigger-happy if you’ll pardon me saying so.”

“And they don’t seem happy with just letting us run; they’re building ships to defend themselves, or worse, to go on the offensive with a preemptive strike.

“That’s what I think as well, and it’s why we can’t leave just yet.”

“I agree. I’ve already ordered reinforcements, but I want to avoid a full-scale assault; these people probably don’t realize what they’re doing. Somehow Argos’ tech has triggered something in their brains that made them more aggressive. We need to correct that. Any idea how to proceed to limit the casualties on both sides?”

“I’m no scientist, so I don’t know if that can be achieved, but if we could beam a larger scale pulse of the mind device we have from Argos, we could implant a new directive to the entire planet in seconds, hence stopping a war before it even starts.”

“I like that idea even though I was against using the tech when we first started this. Right now, it seems it could be the best, if not only way, to stop a conflict none of us need right now. We just have to hope whatever the other tech did to the Gorgar is not gonna interfere with the mind-suggestive device.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Right now it’s the best, and in fact, the only option on the table. So, I’ll have my engineers work on a way to send a planet-wide pulse so we can order the Gorgar to stand down. If that fails, then maybe we’ll need to try and talk with their mother queen to gauge her intentions. Thank you for coming Ryonna; I now have a better grasp on our situation thanks to your helpful insight.”

“You’re welcome, Emperor.”

“You can call me Altair.”

“I may in the future; you’ll excuse me if I don’t just yet.”

“Absolutely. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss with me?”

“No, not at the moment.”

Ryonna got up, and Altair did the same, accompanying her to the door. Something she did not expect.

“And, Ryonna, if you ever need anything, know that my door is always open.”

Ryonna now understood the newfound respect Saroudis had for the Emperor before his untimely passing. As well as Chase’s apparent trust in the man that once was the Star Alliance’s enemy for generations.

“I appreciate that, thank you.”

* * *

Amused, Arakan clapped his hands and laughed.

“Such a cute family moment. Discussing my demise and bonding all at the same time. If I still had a heart, I might even be moved. But not to worry, whether you’re two or ten fighting me, you’ll all end up turned to dust.”

Arakan’s eyes shone bright red and his aura almost instantly tripled in size. “I’m done playing. I have Ultra Furies to kill; you insects need to go away now!”

Poseidon spun his Trident to the side with expert skill and then pressed the weapon’s handle against his belt. Extending his bionic arm forward, red lights began traveling along the prosthetic weapon all the way into his palm. Poseidon unleashed a flurry of small fireballs at Arakan.

Oryn added to the mix her own freezing energy-based fireballs, trying to overwhelm the supreme commander. But Arakan simply erected a strong, dark-purple shield around him that deflected the attack. Multiple explosions occurred in the throne room when the attacks impacted with various parts of the room.

“Pathetic,” said Arakan. “Let me show you how a real fighter does things.”

Arakan took a power stance and clenched his teeth. Two massive black fireballs with sizzling purple lightning dancing along them were created around Arakan’s fists. Both Oryn and Poseidon took defensive stances in anticipation of his attack.

Arakan threw his fists upward for a brief moment before slamming them both on the ground in front of him. A split second later, a huge column of black energy pierced from the ground below both Oryn and Poseidon with highly destructive force, and a shock wave sent both of them spinning in the air. Before Oryn could recover, Arakan had planted his right knee deep into her back. The pain from the blow almost made her lose consciousness. He then grabbed her arm and smashed her into Poseidon who was flying to her rescue. They both crashed to the ground, leaving two long trails of broken stone behind them.

Poseidon was the first to get back up but Arakan was already upon him, before he could move out of the way, the supreme commander, using his lightning-fast momentum, smashed Poseidon’s head downward with such force that the Olympian first crashed into the stone floor, and immediately bounced up and hit the ceiling. He lost consciousness, and a second later, gravity took hold of the Olympian and smashed him down, head first, onto the floor.

25

Spiros saw at least three men by the ramp.

“I wonder where Jackson is; he should have been here guarding the ship,” said the tallest of the men.

“Maybe he went for a leak,” proposed a man with red hair.

“Or he’s doing synthetic Kyrian snake venom; he’s kinda hooked on the stuff,” offered the smallest, yet most crazy looking of them.

Spiros had to let Gaia know about them, though he wondered if he shouldn’t try to stun them himself and be done with it. He wasn’t a marksman though, and there was a better chance that he would get himself killed than firing three bull’s eye shots before any of the crewmen had time to retaliate.

He couldn’t whisper either, so he accessed his brain implant and encoded a text-to-speech message that he wirelessly sent to Gaia, but not before making sure he muted his comms device first.

“Well, if the boss learns of that, he’ll be fired on the spot, at best.”

“What do you mean at best?”

“The boss has been known to execute members of his crew when they do something stupid or dangerous for the operation.”

“I thought those were just rumors.”

“I’ve seen him execute at least one crewman in cold blood, so no, they aren’t.”

“Speaking of the boss, he should return within the hour, so we may want to make sure we’re ready for our weapon’s drop if we don’t want to put him in a bad mood.”

Crap, these are weapon’s smugglers. The worst and the most dangerous kind.

Spiros didn’t like this one bit, and having them board the ship now would be too risky. He had to act fast. He rerouted his comm’s speakers directly into his brain implant and sent another message to Gaia.

“Gaia, time for Plan B; dump the sleeping gas into the sleeping quarters as soon as you can, and then locate the two crewmen that aren’t in the cockpit, I’ll take care of the rest. Then join me in the cargo bay so we can take care of the remainder together.”

“What’s going on, Spiros? I don’t remember us discussing an alternate plan.”

“Just do what I say, or we’ll be dead soon.”

“Understood; rerouting to the sleeping quarters. ETA twelve seconds.”

Heavy footsteps on the metallic ramp told Spiros that he couldn’t give five seconds to Gaia, let alone twelve. He took control of the ship’s systems with his brain implant, silently locked the cockpit’s door, and deactivated flying controls from both the pilot and co-pilot consoles. He then jump-started the ship’s engines and fired them up immediately, just before the men were near the top of the ramp.

“What the hell!?” exclaimed one of them, almost tumbling down.

It was now or never. Spiros grabbed one of the magnetically attached crates before pushing the vertical thrusters to their maximum. He then brutally rocked the ship from side to side, effectively bringing all three mercenaries crashing onto the ramp. To make sure he wouldn’t have to deal with them in an unpleasant and most likely life-threatening way, he put the ship in an instant ascension, quickly soaring upward. All three men lost their balance and struggled to stay attached to the ramp, grasping at anything in the vicinity. They rolled and fell off the departing ship.

Spiros closed the ramp and exhaled deeply.

“Gaia, are you alright? I’m sorry, I had to act earlier than I wanted to.”

There was no response. “Gaia?” insisted Spiros.

He realized something had gone wrong, and his heartbeat went into overdrive.

* * *

When Chase returned, Argos stood next to him with one question permeating in his eyes.

“How is she?”

“She was still alive when we put her in suspended animation.”

Chase could feel the sorrow and guilt inside his brother’s heart. He wanted to tell him that it didn’t matter that he was the one who put her in the machine in the first place. That for this future to unfold the way it did, this needed to happen. But, he could tell that it wouldn’t appease his brother’s pain, at least not right now. Perhaps later, when the mission was over, he could try to help Argos rid himself of the intense guilt he was feeling right now.

“We’ll bring her back; we’ll find a way, together,” said Chase instead.

Argos nodded absently.

Chase felt distant energies being deployed.

“Where is Poseidon?” he asked.

“He left a while back,” said Menelas. “I didn’t think anything of it. Should I have tried to stop him?”

Chase exhaled in frustration. Both Oryn and Poseidon had been wild cards, and he questioned his decision to take them with him in the first place. Their thirst for revenge could get them killed, and Chase didn’t want anyone else to die. No matter how annoyingly stubborn those two had been, Chase understood and shared their grief regarding Zeus. But, he also knew that trying to take Arakan alone could have catastrophic consequences.

“Kvasir,” inquired Chase. “Are you done with the machine?”

Kvasir’s tattoos blinked madly. “Done? You’re kidding, right? I’ve barely scratched the surface of what needs to be done. I haven’t seen this machine in almost ten thousand years, and if I make even the slightest mistake, it won’t work as we intend it to. We could even tear a hole in our space-time, and that could destroy our universe.”

Chase’s frustration grew.

“A simple no would have sufficed,” said Chase coldly and almost immediately regretted it. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“No need to apologize. I understand we are on the clock, but rest assured I’m working as fast as I can.”

“How much time do you think you’ll need?”

“It’s hard to say.”

“Please, Kvasir, take a guess.”

“Half an hour; perhaps less, perhaps more.”

That’s not what Chase wanted to hear. Now that they had freed Menelas and that Arakan was back on Erevos, they needed to go. The more they stayed here, the more chances things could go wrong. Though, part of him longed to join Oryn and Poseidon and try to finish the supreme commander once and for all.

Would they get another shot with that much firepower in one place in the future, though? Then again, once they recovered the soul ships they wouldn’t need to. They could send Arakan to his death with the rest of his planet.

* * *

Oryn was thoroughly pissed that Arakan injured Poseidon the way he did, but part of her thought this gave her the opportunity to take him out without any hindrance. When it looked like Arakan was about to finish off Poseidon she made her move.

She flew toward Arakan at max speed and extended both her palms forward, ready to send a cold-based attack. But then she heard the voice of Zeus in her head.

Use your dormant powers, my dear Oryn.

Without any action on her part, two large blue lightning bolts shot from her hands and impacted Arakan on the torso, preventing him from killing Poseidon.

When she landed on the ground, Arakan had tumbled to the other side of the throne room and lay on his back; smoke rising from his scorched armor chest plate. Oryn looked at her hands in awe. She didn’t understand what had happened, but she felt a new power course inside her in addition to her frost. Lightning bolts started sizzling throughout her cold aura.

Neat. Now I’m certain I can kill that monster.

She crouched near Poseidon and shook him by the shoulders. He still appeared to be out cold, so she gently shocked him with small lightning bolts from her fingers, prompting Poseidon’s eyes to open wide.

“What happened?”

“You were unconscious; I had to wake you up.”

“Is Arakan dead?”

Intense laughter could be heard around them.

“Give me a break,” said Arakan. “Impressive little surprise you’ve displayed, Oryn, but it will take way more than that to damage me; not that I’m ever going to give you that chance again,” barked Arakan.

His left eye was bloodshot and gave him an even madder look than usual, something Oryn didn’t think was possible. Arakan put both his hands atop his head, and a sizeable crimson-red fireball with black lightning bolts started growing and growing. It was soon as large as Arakan himself.

Poseidon jumped back to his feet, extended an open palm, and his Trident flew into his hand. His ocean-colored aura came back to life, and his eyes shone blue with a tinge of green.

Oryn could feel the intense amount of energy building inside Arakan’s attack, and while she would normally not have waited for him to complete this build-up before the offensive, she was more than happy to let him waste colossal energy on an attack she would soon disperse.

“How many more times can you shoot that freeze cannon of yours?” she inquired.

“At normal power, two, maybe three times until my prosthetic power node runs out of juice. Or I can do a single highly powered shot instead.”

“I like that latter idea better; be ready to fire on Arakan’s attack.”

“I’m not sure that will completely stop it.”

“It doesn’t have to. But concentrate your freeze-ray on it for as long as you can.”

“Understood.”

Arakan’s massive fireball cast red hues over him and in most of the throne room.

“This has been a fun distraction,” said Arakan. “But now, it’s time for the two of you to die.”

The supreme commander threw his fireball at an impossible speed, but Poseidon was ready and unleashed his freeze-ray shot toward the incoming attack. When they collided, it blocked and slowed down the crackling ball of energy, but it kept advancing.

“I’m running out of juice,” said Poseidon between clenched teeth. “If you’re going to do something, you’d better do it fast.”

Oryn flew in the air, and with her left hand, she unleashed a column of freezing energy that hit Arakan’s fireball, adding to Poseidon’s counterattack, stopping the fireball cold. She roared as her aura and attack power intensified. Inches of ice rapidly grew on top of the crimson fireball. Oryn swapped hands and shot a lightning bolt with her right palm. Upon impact, Arakan’s attack exploded. The resulting focused shock wave knocked the supreme commander off his feet and sent him flying against the wall. Blood shot from his mouth.

* * *

Gaia was a couple of yards away from the quarter’s door when the ship’s engines roared to life. She activated the gas canister on a five-second timer, giving her a margin of three seconds to throw it in the sleeping quarters.

But the moment her finger went to open the quarter’s doors, the ship rocked intensely and smashed her on the right side then the left side of the corridor. She hit the left wall with her head and saw stars for a few seconds.

She took a deep breath and held the air inside her lungs while punching the door’s control. She threw the canister inside at the exact moment the gas released. There was a commotion in the room, and the crewmen began shouting. When she went to punch the door controls a second time, the ship took off with such force that it propelled her inside, and she landed in the middle of the room.

She reached for her blaster on her belt, but it wasn’t there. Quickly, she jumped back up on her feet and ran for the already closing door, but a hand grabbed her wrist.

“Who are you?” shouted the man. The canister rolled and hit his foot, bringing his gaze down. “What is this?”

Then all hell broke loose.

Gaia released herself with a swift wrist twist and, with a powerful kick to the face, sent the man’s head impacting with the metallic frame of the bunk bed. She heard the click of an automatic knife’s blade lock into position, and she spun to catch her assailant’s arm by the wrist.

From the corner of her eye, she saw another man reaching for his blaster. She needed to act fast; she broke the knife-wielding man’s arm by thrusting her elbow hard against the man’s forearm. It violently broke, and his bone protruded out making an L-shape of his forearm, as he dropped the knife, screaming hard.

Gaia caught the falling knife and knocked him unconscious by spinning on herself and smacking his temple with her other elbow. Using her momentum, she threw the knife at the biceps of the man that was raising his blaster. He reflexively depressed the trigger of his weapon before dropping it. The shot grazed Gaia’s left cheek, making a small incision. She jumped and grabbed a low hanging ceiling pipe and thrust both her feet into the man’s face, smashing his head against the wall and knocking his lights out.

Sleeping gas started to fill the room, and she had trouble moving as fast as she wanted to, with her brain slowly running out of oxygen. She swiftly picked up the canister and turned it off. That’s when she saw the last conscious man walking toward her with a light blade.

The tip of the blade hummed uncomfortably close to Gaia’s face. Her brain seriously lacked oxygen, so she knew she would need to take him down quickly. He made his move, slashing the blade toward her. Gaia blocked the man’s blade-wielding hand with ease and planted her knee into his torso. It knocked the wind out of him and he dropped his weapon. Gaia caught it, turned it off and threw it across the room before reacquiring the man’s arm and twisting it behind his back, breaking it in the process. He tried to scream but wheezed and coughed instead.

She grabbed him by the hair and violently smashed his forehead three times against the metallic bunk bed frame. He fell to the ground like a rock.

Gaia’s sight started to blur, and she felt dizzy. She walked out of the quarters and took a long, deep breath of much needed air, alleviating the burning in her lungs.

The pain stopped after a few more breaths, but she braced herself when she heard heavy footsteps running toward her. She spun around and saw Spiros emerge from the corner of the corridor.

“Oh, thank gods,” he said. “Why didn’t you answer earlier?”

“I was busy taking care of the men inside the quarters.”

When Spiros looked inside, four men lay on the ground with various wounds and bloody faces. Some looked dead.

“What happened to non-lethal?”

“Oh, they’ll live.”

“If you say so. Let’s tie them up then.”

But then the ship changed course.

“Crap! The pilots must have over-ridden my lock of their systems.”

The gas canister rolled outside of the room and hit Gaia’s foot. She grabbed it, set a fifteen-second delay, reactivated the device, and threw it back in. She pressed the door controls to close the room again and smashed the control panel with her elbow. Sparks flew. She saw her blaster nearby, grabbed it and magnetically re-holstered it to her belt.

“That way we don’t need to worry about tying them up anymore.”

Spiros blinked fast in honest surprise at her resourcefulness.

“Let’s go reclaim the cockpit,” said Gaia calmly.

* * *

Chase turned to Menelas.

“Can you tell us where to find the soul ships?”

“I’ve hidden them inside the core of a planet far from here.”

“Why the core?”

“The molten metal in constant movement around the core of a planet covers the energy emission from the force field protecting the ships, thus providing them with a stealth veil if you wish.”

That made sense and was quite an ingenious place to hide ships.

“But what if that planet had been destroyed?”

“I’ve chosen a remote enough world; one where technological advancement was low.”

“Yeah, but that was ten thousand years ago; they could have evolved since then.”

“I know. The force field protecting the ship should, in theory, be able to sustain even the destruction of the world. The ships would then automatically jump to different corners of the galaxy, making their retrieval more complicated.”

“Well, let’s hope this hasn’t happened; I’m not sure we have the time to go on a blind ship hunt. We need to strike the Furies while they are at their weakest, now that they have lost most of their armadas. We cannot afford to let them rebuild.”

“I’ve given the Asgardians a device that would allow us to track them if that eventually unfolded.”

Chase turned to Thor.

“Do you know about this device?”

“No, I’m afraid not, but I’m sure Odin would.”

“Alright then,” said Chase, returning his gaze to his father.

“Before you ask any more questions,” said Menelas preemptively, “can I ask one of my own?”

“Of course,” said Chase.

“Is Athena still alive?”

“She is. Her ship was heavily damaged during the battle with a new sort of ship we haven’t encountered before, but they’re already in the process of repairing it.”

“Thank the gods of Olympus.”

“Whatever’s left of them,” said Argos solemnly.

“So, it’s true?” inquired Menelas. “Arakan destroyed Olympus and killed Zeus?”

“I’m afraid so,” sighed Chase.

26

“Impossible!” spat Arakan with some accompanying blood.

He breathed heavily as more blood dripped from both sides of his mouth.

How can these two miserable insects manage to draw my blood?

I’ve been observing you fight, Supreme Commander, and I once more propose that we fuse together in order to kill your enemies, suggested Tanak’Vor inside his mind.

I don’t need your help!

Pride and ego; never a good mix, Supreme Commander.

Get the hell out of my head; I have a fight to finish.

Looks to me like your daughter has a fight to finish with you. But far be it for me to tell you what to do, even when it’s in your best interest.

Arakan growled instead of continuing the sterile conversation.

One last friendly warning, though, added Tanak’Vor. Once your heart stops beating inside your adoptive daughter’s hand, it will be too late for me to help you; I hope you realize that.

There was no way Arakan would let Oryn get the better of him. In fact, he was already running out of patience with his opponents and wanted to go and kill Chase and Argos, so he decided that it was time to shake things up.

He took a power-up building stance as he unleashed an inhuman roar that sounded like it came from the depths of hell itself. Everything around trembled as his aura doubled in size each second, soon shining for yards around him.

Arakan smiled as he saw a spark of fear in both his adoptive daughter and the Olympian.

They are right to fear me. They should never have defied the Fury God!

I think you’re mixing up determination with fear, Arakan.

Arakan was surprised that the shadow had addressed him by his first name but mostly was angered that he was still pestering him in a moment like this.

I thought I had told you to shut the fuck up and get out of my head; leave me be! For good this time!

Very well; it’s your funeral. Goodbye, Arakan.

Arakan snorted the thought away. That damn shadow would be back pestering his thoughts soon enough, as he always did. Until then, he would hopefully let Arakan finish his fight in peace.

* * *

“We have to hurry,” said Spiros when they arrived near the cockpit doors. “If they land the ship near reinforcements, they could storm the ship and then it’s game over.”

“We’ve been running to get here; I do not see how we could have been any faster.”

Right, why do I even bother? thought Spiros.

“How do you want to approach this?”

“You hack the door open; I shoot them down.”

“Straightforward enough, I like that. Give me a second to hack that door. Be ready to fire.”

Gaia grabbed her blaster and pointed it forward.

“It’s been three seconds already,” she said.

“One second is a human expression; it means I’ll do it in a moment.”

“I see, but why do humans not say ‘in a moment’, then?”

Spiros exhaled in frustration. He decided his time was better spent hacking the door than trying to continue this conversation. Soon, the door unlocked and Gaia opened fire before it had completely split open. She was hit on the shoulder by incoming laser fire before she managed to bring the second man down. She fired three more shots into the man’s torso, and he collapsed with his back onto the console and accidentally put the ship into a tight spin.

Spiros’ stomach quickly became queasy as he was thrown head first into Gaia’s bosom. The next spin sent him crashing into the bulkhead. Gaia tried to step into the cockpit despite the strong centripetal forces. A small crate flew out of nowhere and hit her squarely on the back, sending her crashing, head first, to the floor.

Spiros preformed his fastest mental hack to date, and regained control of the engines, stabilizing the ship. Just when he thought his stomach would settle, he vomited on his feet.

“There goes lunch…Are you alright, Gaia?”

When he saw a growing puddle of blood under her head, his blood froze.

“No, no, no, Gaia!”

He crouched by her side and turned her on her back. She probably had a concussion, and a surface wound to her scalp was bleeding.

“Hang on, dear,” he said out loud.

He sat at the console and set the ship to autopilot. He then located the sickbay from the ship’s schematics and took Gaia into his arms. “Hang on; we’ll get you patched up.”

* * *

Chase felt both Oryn and Arakan’s energy build up massively. They had begun fighting. Oryn’s energy levels were stronger than when he faced her.

“Shouldn’t we go help her?” inquired Argos.

Chase was surprised by his brother’s question; he knew how little he valued or appreciated her.

“Perhaps I should go alone,” proposed Chase.

“No! We all go, or none of us do,” protested Argos. “You said it yourself; nobody takes on Arakan alone; don’t exclude yourself from your own rules. Plus, we may never have another chance to have five Furies and an Olympian all fighting together. That’s a lot of firepower; we could end this war right here and now.”

Chris, who had stayed silent, walked outside of the shadows.

“I agree with uncle; we should join forces and destroy him. I don’t care how powerful he is, with our combined firepower, I’m sure we can take him down.”

“Except that we’ve all used a lot of energy up until this point,” cautioned Chase. “Nor can we risk Menelas’ life. He’s the only one who knows where the soul ships are.”

“I’m perfectly able to fight, Chase, with all due respect. In fact, you’ll find I’m an accomplished fighter. And truth be told, I’d love to be a part of the team that kills Arakan. Given the chance, I’d probably take him on my own; we have unfinished business him and I.”

“And that’s exactly why I don’t like the idea of you taking part in that battle.”

“Listen, son⁠—”

Chase’s look hardened and he shook his index finger at him. “Uh-uh, you haven’t earned that yet.”

Menelas nodded. “Fair enough, Chase. Please listen to me. I won’t take any unnecessary risks, I give you my word; but Argos and your son are right, together we can defeat Arakan, today.”

“And if you die, we lose our one chance at acquiring the soul ships. Can you at least tell us the name of the planet?”

Menelas shook his head. “I can only point to it on a star map; I would recognize the star system if I saw it, but I specifically didn’t memorize any details beyond the star system configuration to make sure that if I was tortured for the information, I couldn’t tell them more than I knew.”

“And have you?” asked Argos. “Been tortured, I mean?”

“For a very long time; Arakan is a persistent sort of mad man,” answered Menelas.

“If we take a vote, and perhaps we should in this case, I vote that our father comes with us. Worse comes to worse, I’ll risk my own life to protect him.”

“I’d rather you didn’t do that Argos; I’ll be fine,” reassured Menelas.

Chase also hoped Argos wouldn’t risk his own life, no matter the situation. He had grown very fond of his brother. But he understood Argos’ drive and logic. Especially now that he was also an Ultra Fury; he could easily protect Menelas in the middle of a chaotic fight with minimal risk to his own life.

“Let’s not forget that if Arakan manages to injure us and draw blood via physical contact, we may die from that wound.”

“Poseidon survived,” noted Argos, knowing that was a razor-thin argument.

“That doesn’t mean we would; depending on the wound.”

Chase felt Poseidon’s aura grow as well. He had joined Oryn.

“I think I’m gonna regret this, but alright. I have a few ground rules, though.”

“Of course you do,” jested Chris with a chuckle.

Chase grinned and waved a playful finger at his son. “Don’t you start, now.”

“What are your rules?” said Thor, approaching the group.

“You’re coming too?” questioned Chase.

“This man tried to assassinate my father, and I’d like to repay him in kind.”

“Who’s then covering Kvasir while we go to the throne room?” cautioned Chase.

“I think I’ll be fine,” said Kvasir. “Plus, it looks like I might be done in the next fifteen minutes. Worse comes to worse, I’ll contact you, and you can teleport back, can’t you?”

Chase didn’t like the idea of leaving Kvasir all alone, but the risk to his life was only minimal. Arakan was busy fighting two lethal opponents right now, and he would soon fight many more. Kvasir was right, if worse came to worse, Chase could get him out of Dodge.

“Very well. Here are my rules. We’ve already spent a substantial amount of energy fighting hordes of Furies, Zargon and more, so we don’t take any unnecessary risks during the fight. We fight together and as a unit, intelligently, smartly, sparing our energy and playing on our strengths. And, if things look like they’re not going well, I don’t want to hear any arguments from any of you. If I decide we need to retreat, that’s exactly what we will do. One last thing, Menelas cannot be killed. I don’t want any of us to lose their lives protecting him either, but he needs to survive today.”

“And that,” said Chris “is why he’s the Admiral.”

Chris, Argos and Chase laughed.

“Admiral, huh?” said Menelas, his eyes sparkling with pride.

Chase shrugged.

“Are you teleporting us there?” inquired Thor.

“I’d rather we run or fly,” said Chase. “Teleporting you all at once would drain more than half of the juice I have left. I need to conserve my energy in case I need to get us out of there.”

Chris flexed on his knees a couple of times and stretched.

“Let’s not waste any more time; let’s go!”

In a flash, all but Kvasir had exited the room.

“Eeeer— Bye, guys?” said Kvasir incredulously “Never mind; I guess I’ll keep working on the machine, then,” he added.

* * *

When Gaia opened her eyes, Spiros got up from a nearby chair.

“You’ve hit your head pretty badly, but fortunately it wasn’t as serious as it first looked,” he reassured.

“Did we accomplish our mission?”

“We did retake the ship, yes, even though I had an unexpected encounter with one last crewman on my way to sickbay, but I took care of it.”

“The biomaterials?” inquired Gaia.

“We’re on our way there; I expect we’ll be there any minute, now. The good news is, while you were resting after I used this ship’s crude medical equipment to tend to your wound, I discovered that the ship has a cargo teleporter. I think we can just lock onto the materials we need, set a course back to the lab, and be on our way.”

“That’s great news. How long have I been out?”

“Just under twenty minutes.”

“My head is pounding.”

“That will happen when you hit it that hard against any solid surface.”

“The frailty of these bodies is a tactical disadvantage.”

“Well, that’s what it means to be human, I guess.”

“I’m not human. And my older body easily could have taken such treatment without the loss of consciousness.”

Spiros scratched his head. Had he heard her right?

“What do you mean your old body? This is your first body.”

“No, I clearly remember a time when my body was made of metal; I have these flashes. I see myself and others like me fight some strong men with incredible powers.”

Did the head injury cause an inadvertent memory data-leak? Spiros would have to keep a close eye on that and make sure that, if there had been a leak, the data had just been accessed or copied, and not moved.

“Is there anything else you remember?”

“Just some random flashes. I am having a hard time understanding them without some context.”

“That’s alright; just dismiss those, they won’t help us deal with our mission.”

“Understood.”

A double bleep sounded over sickbay’s speakers.

“What is that?” she inquired.

“It’s just a proximity waypoint alert I had set up earlier. It means we’re three minutes away from our target.”

Gaia tried to get up from her medical bed, but her head spun, and she felt dizzy.

“Don’t move just yet; I can take care of that part on my own, you just rest.”

“Can I ask you a question, Spiros?”

“Of course. But make it quick as I need to go back to the cockpit now.”

“Is my brain human or am I part machine?”

“It’s a little complicated; you have elements of both. I’ll explain it in more detail later, okay?”

“Okay, Spiros.”

Spiros left sickbay quickly, but halfway through the corridor, he stopped for a second.

I wonder why she is asking these kinds of questions. Her basic matrix shouldn’t care what she is made of. I’ll have to run a full diagnostic scan of her matrix and her brain when we get back to the lab.

Another bleep indicated that the ship was now less than a minute away and took Spiros out of his train of thought as he sprinted the rest of the way through.

* * *

The Victory exited hyperspace a few hundred-thousand klicks from Erevos.

“How many ships are around the planet?” inquired Sarah.

“Strange,” said Daniel from a chair next to hers. “Only one; probably the ship Arakan took to Olympus.”

She turned her head toward him and smiled.

“Anything on your mind, Captain?” beamed Daniel.

“Yes, I was thinking that this has been a long and stressful day. So, let’s just micro-jump into orbit and obliterate that ship so that we can take a well-deserved break for the rest of the day.”

Daniel grinned. “That sounds like an excellent idea, if I may say so myself.”

The Victory jumped into orbit of Erevos.

“Daniel, please make that ship go away. Weapons at the maximum; fire everything and I mean everything we’ve got. Let’s see how quickly the Victory can destroy a single Fury super-destroyer.”

“Aye, aye, Captain; with pleasure.”

The Fury ship began firing both lasers and torpedoes at the Victory just a few seconds before the latest and newest Earth Alliance destroyer opened fire. Hundreds of turrets fired simultaneously, and waves of dozens of torpedoes quickly followed, making short change on the Fury’s shields. The Victory quad quadrinium cores needed twenty seconds for its main weapon, the super-charged plasma cannon, to come online. Upon firing, it split the Fury destroyer in half before what was left of the enemy ship exploded in a succession of rapid-fire bursts, vaporizing it to nothingness.

Sarah grinned. “The Victory is one hell of a ship, isn’t it?”

“And then some,” added Daniel.

“Let’s open a channel to the surface and try to reach our away team; let’s see if they need a lift.”

“Opening a channel.”

27

“He seems pissed,” offered Poseidon.

“That’s exactly what I wanted from him,” said Oryn with a smile. “I know him well. When he’s angered, he exerts poor judgment. Like spending more than a third of his pool of energy throwing an attack that we easily dispatched, thus managing to deal most of the damage to himself at a very low energy cost for us.”

“Speak for yourself; I can’t fire from my bionic arm anymore, so it did have a cost.”

“You know what I mean, Poseidon. That new gadget of yours has fulfilled its role today; you still have nearly your entire pool of energy to draw from, and guess what, we’ll need it very soon.”

Poseidon smiled. “I’m listening.”

“Arakan is putting most of his energy in his next attack. I can see it in his eyes. He thinks that by powering up to his maximum, he will crush us with one blow.”

“His current amount of deployed energy does seem to be superior to anything we can muster.”

“On our own, perhaps, but if we combine our power to counter his next attack, I know we can take him down. I just need you to hit him with the most powerful water-based attack you can throw, and don’t hesitate to put all your energy into that one attack. I’ll do the rest and finish him off.”

He grinned. “I have just the thing you need.”

Oryn put a hand on Poseidon’s cold metallic shoulder and offered him a smile.

“Thank you for helping me do this…uncle.”

“My pleasure.”

Arakan roared louder than before, and his muscle mass doubled.

Now we finish him, thought Oryn.

Arakan’s body was now massive and as he ran, each of his footsteps resonated inside the throne room.

“Now!” shouted Oryn.

Poseidon raised his Trident in the air and let his aura grow to the paroxysm of his abilities. His aura split into multiple dancing dragons around him as the energy beasts turned into water.

Oryn was in awe at the display of controlled power her uncle mastered.

Poseidon grabbed his Trident with both hands and held it vertically in front of him. The water dragons grew in numbers, size and speed as they floated around him. His eyes shone brighter than ever as he took an offensive stance, letting go of his Trident, which levitated near him on its own. On the Trident’s blade, a green-blue gem pulsated faster and faster. The weapon had its own aura, which linked with Poseidon’s energy.

Meanwhile, Arakan had traveled half of the distance separating them. Each new step he took resonated stronger and made the room shake. His eyes burned like the flames of hell.

Oryn jumped high and levitated a few yards above her uncle. She let her aura explode as she reached maximum power in less than a few seconds. Multiple freezing-cold currents danced around her as electrons would around an atom.

Poseidon growled. “By the power of the seven seas, I unleash the wrath of a thousand crushing waves!”

The water dragons all shot forward at the incoming Supreme Commander of the Furies. It looked as if Poseidon had sent an entire ocean tumbling toward his enemy.

Arakan punched through the incoming dragons and unleashed a large column of crimson energy to counter the water-based attack, but the water dragons danced around his attack and kept approaching.

Oryn screamed, and multiple red lightning bolts punched through the ceiling and hit her dead center, each of them bolstering her energy allowing her aura to intensify beyond anything she ever thought possible.

This one is for you, Mother!

She aimed and fired an absolute zero column of freezing energy inside the core of Poseidon’s attack. The crashing water dragons started to solidify. The water that was being deflected around Arakan multiplied into even more dragons that danced around his body before flash freezing. A second later, Arakan had been trapped inside a giant statue of ice, made out of thousands of growling dragons.

Oryn landed on the column of frozen energy that entombed Arakan and ran on it as fast as she could, a look of pure hatred and murder in her eyes.

Arakan intensified his aura from within his icy prison, and the ice started to crack.

You’re not getting out of there alive!

Oryn focused all the lightning bolt energy she had within her into her right fist. It shone brighter than a supernova.

And this one’s for you, Father.

Arakan’s icy prison exploded at the exact time as Oryn jumped toward the heavens, unleashing multiple arcs of paralyzing lightning bolts that struck the supreme commander in the chest. Oryn kept the bolts alive as she completed her acrobatic jump, landing behind her foe.

“And now you die, motherfucker!” she screamed as she thrust her still lightning-bolt infused fist into Arakan’s back.

* * *

Arakan felt something burst through his ribcage and instantly became dizzy and light headed.

He looked down and saw Oryn’s arm protruding from his chest. Hundreds of small blue lightning bolts traveled from the bottom of her forearm all the way down to her fingers, which held a still beating heart.

“I told you I would rip your heart out. If you knew anything about me, you’d know that my word is my bond,” whispered Oryn right into Arakan’s ear.

This is not happening, thought Arakan.

I wanna say “I told you so,” but somehow, it just doesn’t cut it, does it? mocked Tanak’Vor. If it’s any consolation, I would have killed you myself eventually. But thankfully, now that you’re dying, I can just take over your body and do what you have failed to achieve time and time again. Kill the Ultra Furies and destroy the Earth Alliance. My people thank you for your service, even though you’ve been quite the disappointment.

What? What people? There are more of it?

A sense of intense dread filled Arakan’s dying mind and soul.

He tried to speak, but large quantities of black blood oozed from his mouth instead. So he reached Oryn’s mind telepathically.

Oryn, listen to me!

“I won’t!” she shouted. “Watch your heart turn to ice like the monster you are.”

She intensified her cold aura and a wave of frozen energy traveled inside of Arakan’s chest from her forearm. It reached the tip of her fingers and Arakan’s still barely beating heart flash-froze in place. Oryn then closed her hand, and Arakan’s heart exploded into a million tiny icicles.

Darkness took over the Supreme Commander of the Furies, his madness, his thirst for power; it was all swallowed into oblivion. But one last emotion Arakan didn’t even know he had in him shone for just a fleeting moment. Compassion. Before the end, he managed to send three more words to his daughter and executioner.

Run, Oryn, Run!

Oryn swiftly removed her hand from an already dead Arakan. He fell forward to the ground and made a satisfying thumping noise. Oryn spat on Arakan’s dead corpse.

Mother…Father, I’ve finally avenged you.

She let herself fall on her knees and burst into tears.

* * *

Chase stopped running, as did everyone else.

“What is it?” asked Thor.

“Have you felt it?” Chase asked Argos.

“Felt what?” said Thor, looking around him.

“It can’t be,” said Argos.

“What’s going on?” insisted Thor. “Will somebody please tell me what they are talking about?”

“Arakan is dead,” said Chris, almost not believing his own words as he ushered them out, as they felt so surreal.

“Are you serious?” asked Thor.

“He is,” confirmed Chase.

“Well, that’s great news, then, isn’t it? I guess we don’t need to hurry to the throne room anymore,” said Thor with a big smile.

However, Chase felt that danger was still looming. His instincts were on full alert like they had been so many times before when something was about to go terribly wrong.

“I’m feeling it, too,” said Argos before Chase could vocalize the way he was feeling.

“You do?” said Chase with surprise in his voice.

“I don’t know if it’s because I reached Ultra Fury levels of power or if I just picked it up from you. But when you have a bad feeling, shit usually hits the fan, and fast.”

“What the hell are you talking about, now?” said Thor, crossing both his arms against his chest.

“My gut tells me that I can’t afford to teleport you guys with me, but I must go to the throne room right now. All of you! Please, hurry to the throne room on your own. See you soon, and please, be careful.”

Chase teleported away.

Argos and Chris jumped and flew as fast as they could, not even bothering following the corridors but instead blasting through walls into a straight line.

“Are we supposed to follow them?” inquired Thor.

But Menelas had already levitated off the floor, and he flew forward, trying to catch up to his son and grandson.

Thor’s facial tattoos’ intensity lowered to a faint glimmer. “I’ll take that as a yes, then.”

Thor invoked Mjölnir and started spinning the hammer so fast that it blurred and resembled a propeller. He then pointed his trusty weapon forward and let its momentum carry him as he flew in the same direction as the rest of the group.

* * *

Oryn heard words in her mind. The voice sounded like a genuinely worried Arakan; the last words of a man that needed to die today.

Run, Oryn, Run!

From what? Oryn didn’t give much attention to the delirious words of a dying man. She had accomplished what she set out to do, and she had now opened the way for the Earth Alliance to finish the war. The Furies would be thrown into chaos without their leader. And while she did not doubt that an ambitious power-hungry Fury would take Arakan’s place eventually, it would be too late. Chase and his friends could now deliver the final blow.

“That was mighty impressive,” said Poseidon.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile. “As much as it pains me to admit it, I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“I’m glad and also grateful that you’ve let me contribute to the death of this mad tyrant. Zeus is probably celebrating in the Underworld right now. I just wished he had let me die and saved himself. Not only did we lose our planet and most of our population following Arakan’s cowardly attack on our world, but we lost our leader.”

“I’ve been complaining about losing a father I barely knew, not even stopping for a moment to think how much you, his own brother, would be impacted by his death. I’ve been selfish.”

“Revenge will do that to you; it will blind you to everything but the thirst of retribution.”

“That doesn’t exactly make it right now, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t, but the heart wants what the heart wants. And sometimes, it just wants blood.”

A clapping sound repeated every couple of seconds.

“Well said,” congratulated a bodiless voice.

Oryn jumped back into a defensive stance, and Poseidon followed suit.

“Show yourself!” ordered Oryn.

* * *

Spiros sat in the pilot’s chair just moments before the fly-by. He had pre-programmed the beaming sub-routine and was now working on targeting the cargo. He had to beam out most of the crates already in the cargo bay to make space for his heist. To make sure he got the right materials on the first fly-by and to avoid having to deal with the near certain consequences from that maneuver, he dumped more than ninety percent of the ship’s original freight.

Spiros knew he would end up with a bunch of additional crap he wouldn’t need, but since he didn’t intend to have to rob someone a second time around, he preferred making sure the beaming radius around the biomaterial was big enough.

He had already preprogrammed the ship to activate the fairly decent stealth tech the ship was equipped with the moment the cargo was on board and then fly into low orbit and initiate the jump engines to return to the lab.

This mission certainly had started on the wrong foot, but things were back on track. Five seconds to target. The ship’s transporter activated and the cargo was beamed aboard.

An alarm sounded a few seconds later, indicating that surface defense systems were targeting the ship, but his macro activated the stealth mode, and the turrets lost their lock.

“Nice going, Spiros,” he cooed with unmasked satisfaction. “We’ll soon be back home. I’ll clone myself a new body before this one craps out on me and finally finish my work on Gaia.”

The ship was exiting the planet’s atmosphere when suddenly all systems in the cockpit turned off, and the ship veered off course.

“What the hell? What’s going on?”

Did I mess up my macro? I’d better double-check.

Spiros tried connecting with the ship’s computer but was unable to do so.

That’s peculiar.

Spiros looked outside the viewport and saw that the ship was heading toward a dreadnought-class vessel.

The holo-screen turned on in the dark, and the face of an angry, red-skinned man with yellow teeth took Spiros by surprise.

“Nobody steals ships and cargo from Morgor and lives,” said the man, his growling voice sure to give Spiros future nightmares.

Morgor slid his snake-like purple-tinged tongue on the top row of his filthy teeth. He then gave Spiros a sadistic smile. “I’m looking forward to breaking every bone in your frail body myself and giving what’s left of it to my pet Kryon.”

The holo-screen turned off, and Spiros felt his stomach sink into his feet.

He had no idea what a Kryon was, but he knew for sure he’d rather not find out.

“Oh, shit…what have I just done?”

28

“Who’s there?” asked Oryn, “Show yourself!”

“Open your eyes to feast on what you’re about to see; it’s rare enough, so you should pay attention,” said Tanak’Vor.

“Who is speaking?” Poseidon asked Oryn.

“I’m not a hundred percent sure, but I think it’s the being Arakan was talking to when I thought he had lost his mind. Back when I still thought he was my father, in fact.”

“I take it that he didn’t imagine it, then?”

“Well, until now, I wasn’t really sure of that.”

Tanak’Vor decloaked not too far from Arakan’s dead body.

“I’m the reason your Trident didn’t kill Arakan on Olympus, and I guess by association, why your planet and brother were swallowed into a black hole.”

Poseidon clenched both his teeth and fists in anger.

“Then, you’ll also die here, today!” he shouted.

“Ha-ha-ha, I don’t think so, Olympian.”

Tanak’Vor pointed a finger toward Poseidon and fired the most powerful shock wave that Oryn had ever witnessed. Upon impact, his chest plate body armor exploded into dust and Poseidon was catapulted at near light speed against the wall behind him. A look of shock locked into his eyes before he lost consciousness; his body still deeply rooted inside the wall.

“Poseidon!” screamed Oryn.

“Don’t worry; you’re next.”

Oryn took three steps back, her heartbeat pounding heavily. Fear permeated her entire being. She had never felt such power.

Chase, get me the hell out of here!

Tanak’Vor laughed. “He can’t hear you, I’m afraid. We Spectres can prevent telepathic communications at a rather respectable range.”

Oryn knew that even under her best form she wouldn’t be a match for this new, unexpected enemy. But having exhausted almost every ounce of power, she didn’t stand a chance at blocking a single attack from the Spectre.

So, for the first time in as long as she could remember, she did what Arakan had suggested earlier, she ran.

But she didn’t get far; on her fourth step, her entire body froze and refused to cooperate. She had been under telekinetic spells before but never anything of this magnitude, where she felt every single atom of her body being locked in its position in space.

“I want you to see this before I rip your soul from your body!”

Tanak’Vor turned Oryn around and forced her eyes to look directly at him.

With a malefic grin on his face, the Spectre crouched and touched Arakan’s cold, dead body. He incanted something in a strange tongue, and his entire body turned into dust and a cloudy shape made of smoke. The trillions of particles inside the smoke cloud traveled inside Arakan’s body.

The entire scene was surreal, and Oryn hoped she was just having a bad nightmare and she would soon wake from it, even if it meant she would have to fight and kill Arakan all over again.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Arakan’s body breathe. A moment later, he rose back to his feet. His eyes were now a moist black and devoid of pupils, and the grin that seemed almost permanently painted on his face gave him a look more evil than she thought Arakan had on his worst days.

Smoke filled the hole she had made inside Arakan’s chest and mended his wound; in fact, through the boiling and unnatural jerking of the smoke cloud moving inside the wound, Oryn saw a heart being regrown and, soon, it was beating again. Then bones, tissues, muscles and skin grew as if by magic.

Once all of Arakan’s damaged body had been mended, the smoke permanently stayed around him, and some of it perpetually escaped that being’s eyes, as if a black flame burned inside them.

I want to wake up, now!

When the revived Arakan spoke, it had a twin voice; superimposed voices of both Arakan’s old voice and the Spectre’s voice. This sent an icy shiver down Oryn’s back.

“I’m sure you would,” said Spectre Arakan. “But you see, this is not a dream. I can feel your friends’ intent to come here, so I’m afraid your time is up. I like some of your powers, so I’m going to have to steal your soul so I can use them to kill them all.”

What? He can’t possibly do that?

“Oh, but I can; goodbye, Oryn.”

Spectre Arakan moved so fast in front of Oryn it felt as if he teleported; a shadowy echo catching up to his movement with a small delay. He pushed his hand through Oryn’s chest, and as it went through, it felt as if the Spectre wasn’t made of matter. At first, it wasn’t painful, but then Oryn experienced being violated like nothing she thought possible nor did her brain fully comprehend what was happening to her. A hand had grabbed what she could only surmise was her astral body, her soul.

Spectre Arakan pulled his hand toward him, and a transparent blue Oryn-shape emerged reluctantly from her body. Oryn’s soul struggled and tried to break free, but there was no escaping the Spectre’s grasp.

“You’ll soon be mine. A prisoner inside me for all eternity; you’ll witness everything, feel everything, but without ever being able to say or do anything on your own, or even have a thought. It’s the ultimate prison. But, you’ll live forever through me, as a trophy, through the ages.”

No, I prefer death; someone, please kill me, kill me now!

Chase teleported not far from them. Seeing Oryn in trouble, he started shooting fireballs at Spectre Arakan. All five concentrated spheres of energy impacted Arakan’s body and were absorbed without even a single trace of damage of any kind.

Spectre Arakan laughed. “These tickle. They are not worthy attacks for the Ultra Furies of legends. Hopefully, once I’m done assimilating your friend’s soul into my own, you’ll show me what you can really do.”

Chase teleported near Spectre Arakan and sent his knee flying against Arakan’s face. It didn’t budge, and Chase’s knee exploded inside accompanied by a level of pain he had rarely experienced.

“Wait your turn, Fury,” said Spectre Arakan, calmly.

He then playfully flicked Chase away and sent him crashing and bouncing off the ceiling and back to the floor. Many more of Chase’s bones shattered.

* * *

What the hell is this thing? It broke three-dozen bones just by flicking its finger at me. How are we supposed to fight something like that?

Chase healed himself, and while doing so, he tried sending a message to Argos, Chris and Menelas telling them to turn tail and return to the Victory at once. After Argos didn’t answer, Chase tried Chris, as well as Menelas. He couldn’t communicate with them.

Dammit!

He got back on his feet and wondered what he should do now.

“Wait your turn, and perhaps, just perhaps, I’ll lower my power levels to give you guys a shot at me. I like a challenge, and just swatting you like bugs won’t bring me much pleasure.”

For the first time in a very long time, Chase felt not only fear, but also terror, which took hold of his soul. That thing that now animated Arakan seemed powerful beyond any of Chase’s worst nightmares.

Chase saw the translucent Oryn-soul being sucked away from her body. He recognized it as being her soul since he had helped Spiros transfer his soul to a cloned body not long ago.

No!

“Let her go! Please…” pleaded Chase.

“What is it to you? I really like her powers and want to make them mine.”

If he can assimilate the powers of the people he steals souls from, we’re in serious trouble; that would increase his power every time he does that.

“What do you want from me?” asked Chase.

“I’ll consider releasing her soul if you kneel before me. There’s something appealing to the idea of having an Ultra Fury kneel at my feet.”

If you think my pride and ego are stronger than my loyalty to my friends, you don’t understand how easy it is to grant you this wish.

Chase knelt.

“Now, please, let her soul go.”

“Hmmm. I think not; if I hadn’t heard your rebellious self-justification, then I might have considered it, but I heard you loud and clear, Fury. Say goodbye to your friend; I’m afraid her time has come.”

Chase jumped back to his feet and launched himself at Spectre Arakan, but his body stopped, and he couldn’t move a muscle.

“I’ll be with you in just a minute,” said the Spectre.

The Spectre ripped the rest of Oryn’s soul out of her body with a strong pull.

Chase heard Oryn scream in his mind.

He transformed into an Ultra Fury and recovered some control over his body. But Spectre Arakan threw a pulsating crimson sphere of power that looked like a cross between energy and electricity. Chase hadn’t regained enough control to dodge the attack. When it impacted on his chest, he felt stuck in a loop where all of his muscles spasmed then relaxed uncontrollably, preventing him from advancing any further as he trembled like a leaf, barely able to stand.

Oryn’s body slid down to its knees and fell face first on the cold stone floor of the palace, which became its final resting place. Chase felt that her heart had stopped.

I need to at least recover her body; perhaps there’s a way to recover her soul, too.

“You can try, but you will fail.”

Chase swore for even thinking of what he wanted to do, which apparently was giving away vital information to the enemy. When he felt the effect of the last attack diminish, Chase started moving around by doing short and instinctive teleporting jumps, so as not to mentally broadcast his destination to the Spectre.

Spectre Arakan fired a couple more paralyzing attacks toward Chase, who dodged them both. When Chase felt he had recovered most of his mobility, he decided to get to Oryn’s body and teleport it away from the throne room.

Seeing he couldn’t hit Chase as easily as he had before, Spectre Arakan looked straight at Oryn’s frightened soul.

“You’re mine for all eternity,” he said before opening his mouth wider than any being should be able to.

Particles of soul detached from Oryn like grains of sands and were siphoned inside the mouth of the Spectre.

Listen to me, Chase, said Oryn in his mind. Let me go, and just save yourself. Try and destroy that monster from orbit with the soul ships by activating the machine. But to do this, you and Menelas must survive.

I need to try and get your body; perhaps with it, we can bring you back somehow, someday.

Chase, please, just save yourself.

I gotta try!

It’s too late, now. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. Thank you for your friendship, Chase. Goodbye.

Seeing the Spectre occupied as he was finishing assimilating Oryn’s soul, Chase flew toward her body as fast as he could. When he was just a yard away from touching it, Chase impacted with something solid and bounced off of it.

A thick and perfectly flat wall of ice had been erected in front of him, preventing him from reaching Oryn. Before he could try and teleport through, the Spectre unleashed a powerful lightning bolt that struck Chase in the shoulder and sent him spinning in the air before tumbling and crashing yards away. Smoke rose up and a nasty looking burn appeared at the point of impact.

The Spectre had fully assimilated both of Oryn’s abilities: cold and lightning.

Chris, Argos, Menelas and Thor flew in the throne room.

“Dad!” screamed Chris.

“Chase,” shouted Argos.

“Stay back, all of you.”

“Here,” said Spectre Arakan, “let me put your pathetic hopes at rescuing your friend to an end once and for all.”

He opened a palm in front of him, and Oryn’s body flew from the ground; her head locked into the Spectre’s palm as if magnetically attached. Chase’s heart pounded hard and fear filled his soul.

Spectre Arakan laughed out loud as his hand turned as red as molten metal and Oryn’s body was burned from head to toe in a few seconds. Her skin turned black, her once beautiful white hair consumed by fire almost instantly. The Spectre’s hand turned back to its normal skin tone, and he released Oryn’s burnt body; it stayed hovering there, not moving.

The Spectre looked straight at Chase as he blew on Oryn; her dust dissipated into the room like she never existed.

“There, that should put an end to your disillusioned hope of ever saving your friend. She’s mine for all eternity, as you all will be once I’m done with the lot of you.”

Chase could feel the fear grow in the hearts of all his friends as their minds were still trying to process Oryn’s execution.

“We need to get the hell out of here,” said Chase out loud, knowing that the Spectre would hear his telepathic messages anyway.

Chase knew he was slowly but surely running on fumes energy-wise, so he couldn’t teleport them all away at once.

“Scatter, now; just run, fly, hide, do whatever you need to survive. I’ll get to each and every one of you,” said Chase, his voice trembling as he knew that he couldn’t guarantee that with absolute certainty.

Chase turned toward his friends and screamed at them. “Now, gods dammit! NOW!”

It took a split second for them to understand that their lives depended on listening to him and doing as he said.

“I’ll stay and cover your escapes,” said Argos.

“No! Go now!”

“Get our father out, first.”

Chase was glad his brother didn’t say more than that, it would have most certainly given the Spectre information that would have made Menelas his next target. And with that, Chase teleported next to Menelas and teleported away again.

“You heard Chase,” screamed Argos as he turned into Ultra Fury mode. “Out! Run! Now!”

Thor threw Mjölnir toward Spectre Arakan who stopped the hammer with his mind just an inch away from his face; the hammer turned one hundred and eighty degrees and flew back at Thor ten times faster than he had thrown the weapon. It impacted with his chest armor and probably broke every one of his ribs and multiple vertebrae as it sent Thor flying and bursting through one wall after another.

“Chris,” said Argos calmly. “Get the hell out of here.”

“I’m not letting you fight this thing alone, uncle.”

“I need to be alone; if I have to think of your safety, it will make me weaker.”

“That won’t make the slightest difference, Argos; I would get to him no matter where he ran,” said Spectre Arakan.

“You won’t touch a hair on his head,” threatened Argos.

Spectre Arakan smirked. “Or what? You’ll break every single one of your frail bones trying to stop me? Be my guest.”

Chase appeared for a split second, touched Poseidon who was still encased into the wall, and teleported away.

Argos grew his energy and aura to their maximum, and when he reached what he thought was max power, he kept pushing more and more.

“Don’t do this, uncle, you’ll die!”

Argos’s hair flew upward, and bright flames burned in his eyes. He shot nearly one hundred fireballs toward the Spectre, who let a few of them be assimilated into his body but, eventually, some of Argos’ attacks scored impacts on Spectre Arakan’s skin. When that happened, the Spectre started moving about, dodging, repelling and blocking Argos’ attacks.

Chris launched himself toward the Spectre and scored a powerful knee strike to Arakan’s cheek and sent him skidding a few yards away, but he never lost his balance and managed to stay upright.

Both Argos and Chris fired large columns of energy at Spectre Arakan who blocked both streams with one hand. The Spectre’s hand, skin, and bones were consumed by the combined power of the Furies’ attack. Spectre Arakan shot yellow lasers from his eyes toward Chris, and Argos interrupted his attack to push his nephew out of the way, getting hit in the stomach in the process. The lasers burned through his armor, skin, organs—everything.

Argos tumbled and rolled for a few yards. Large quantities of blood were expelled from his mouth.

The Spectre looked at his missing hand. Black smoke took the shape of the missing limb and recreated Arakan’s hand in a matter of seconds.

Chris felt anger fill his soul and he unleashed a deafening roar, his green aura turned orange, his hair shot toward the heavens, and two miniature suns shone in place of his pupils. He had transformed into Ultra Fury as well.

“Interesting; so rage and anger are the key to a Fury’s powers, at least it seems to trigger them in you, even when these powers are dormant,” said the Spectre. “I can only imagine how powerful I would become should I get any of your souls.”

When Chase returned, he was stunned to see Chris in Ultra Fury form, but Chris pointed a finger to Argos, signaling his father to get him out first. Chase teleported by his brother’s side and teleported away but not before sending his son a telepathic message.

Be careful, Chris. I’ll be right back.

“You should heed your father’s advice,” encouraged Spectre Arakan.

Chris launched himself at him and unleashed a flurry of powerful combo attacks, mixing punches, kicks and knee strikes with such force and power that each impact on Arakan created visible shock waves. It seemed as if Chris was finally scoring hits and doing some substantial damage. When he had delivered a good two hundred blows, he stopped, panting and in dire need of catching his breath.

Bruises and wounds on Spectre Arakan’s body healed before Chris’ very eyes. And the Spectre grinned.

“My turn.”

He moved so fast, Chris didn’t see him coming. The Spectre caught Chris by the hair and in a split second delivered a flurry of punches, one more powerful than the next, breaking most of Chris’ facial bones. Chris attempted to retreat by launching a circle kick. He immediately regretted doing so when the Spectre grabbed his ankle and smashed Chris on the ground repeatedly, breaking more and more of his bones with each throw.

Upon his return, Chase kicked the Spectre’s legs with all the energy he could muster and managed to down Spectre Arakan to the ground, giving Chase just enough time to grab his dying son and teleport away.

* * *

We’re all back onboard, except Oryn; she didn’t make it, said Chase telepathically to Sarah. Get us out of here, now.

I’m sorry to hear that. Where to, Chase?

We need to regroup, so first let’s swing by Athena’s ship, and then we’ll probably go back to Alpha Prime.

Jumping now.

As the Victory jumped, Chase allowed himself to breathe a little easier and the fear inside his soul diminished to a more manageable level. They were putting some real distance between themselves and that utter monstrosity of unspeakable power.

Chase still couldn’t believe that a being could be so powerful. How would they ever manage to defeat that thing?

Chase continued healing Chris, but as he was running out of juice, it took longer than he wanted it to. During the last moments of the fight, and after having teleported Poseidon back to the ship, he had also revived and partially healed Thor before putting him in a regen tank. A decision that could have cost both the lives of his brother and son, because doing so allowed the Spectre to greatly hurt them both. In the case of Chris, bringing him within an inch of his life.

Argos was still on the floor, a tear of rage traveling down his bloodied face. He healed most of his critical wounds, crawled near Chase and Chris, and, painfully, he rested his hand on his nephew’s shoulder.

With this combination of healing powers, Chris’ main injuries mended faster and, once all his bones had been repaired and his damaged organs healed, they all went to the regen tanks.

Before entering his own regen tank last, Chase called Kvasir.

“Please, tell me you managed to reprogram the machine before I snatched you out of there.”

“Yes, Chase; just under the wire, but the machine has been successfully modified.”

“Thank you, Kvasir,” said Chase before turning off his comms.

He climbed into the regen tank and activated an extensive healing cycle.

EPILOGUE

Chase entered the bridge and saw his father at a nearby station, scanning the holo-database for star systems.

“Admiral on deck,” announced Sarah.

His entire bridge crew rose and saluted him.

Chase saluted back. “At ease, everyone; back to your posts.”

He went to sit down in his captain’s chair.

“I’m surprised Argos and Chris didn’t come with you,” said Sarah.

“Argos didn’t take our defeat very well, and Chris, being the empathic son and nephew that he is, preferred to stay with his uncle for moral support, even though his injuries were way worse than Argos’.”

“That must have been one hell of a fight; I wish I had been there with you.”

Chase reflected on that for a moment.

“Believe me, you don’t. This Spectre thing is more powerful than anything I could ever have imagined. Arakan may have perished today, but I’m certain that only made things worse. And it wasn’t a fight, really, it was a massacre; one we’re lucky to have survived, except for Oryn. It’s a small miracle that no one else died.”

“Technically, Aphroditis and Ares too; wouldn’t you think so?”

Chase hated the fact that he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to his mentor; as for Aphroditis, as long as she was in suspended animation, Chase thought there was still a chance to bring her back. It was a real possibility that the spirit of Ares could be consumed too, given the toll the machine took on Aphroditis.

Menelas was still sifting through hundreds of star systems on the console.

Feeling his sadness, Sarah kissed Chase on the lips and passed her hand through his hair. He tried smiling as best he could. But his confidence had been shaken to the core.

“Thank you,” he whispered to her. “Hopefully, we’ll soon finish this war.”

Chase’s voice lacked its usual conviction.

“We will; soon we’ll have the means to do exactly that, thanks to your successful mission to Erevos.”

Chase didn’t like to call it successful. They had lost Oryn to that Spectre, not to mention that he had royally kicked all of their asses in a way Chase hadn’t expected nor thought possible. They were lucky to be alive, and it was ironic; all this time he had worried about fighting Arakan, when, in fact, there was an even deadlier enemy hiding behind him, waiting to rise. And now, they needed to deal with an undead, overpowered version of Arakan on steroids that feeds on souls. The thought scared him to death, a feeling he had become unfamiliar with and which unsettled him deeply.

Chase knew what this meant. They would need to train, and train hard, like never before, in fact. Right now, even their combined powers weren’t going to cut it against Spectre Arakan. And, if push came to shove, then they would deal with him at the same time as they dealt with the rest of the Furies, by destroying Erevos once and for all.

“That’s it!” exclaimed Menelas. “I’ve found the planet and the system where I hid the soul ships.”

“Let’s have a look,” said Chase, rising from the captain’s chair and approaching Menelas’ station.

As he looked at the 3D holo-projection of the system and instantly recognized it, a surprising cascade of shivers traveled up and down Chase’s spine.

“Son of a bitch,” said Chase.

“What is it, Chase?” inquired Sarah.

Chase closed his eyes for a second and shook his head from side to side with a big smile on his face.

“The soul ships were under our noses all along, on Earth. Inside the Earth’s core to be precise.”

To be continued…

(Keep reading Book 10: To End All Wars right now)

TO END ALL WARS (SEASON FINALE BOOK 10: INTO THE FIRE PART 2)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover artwork by Christian Kallias

christian@kallias.com

www.christiankallias.com

www.facebook.com/ChristianKallias

www.twitter.com/kalliasx

Production Editor & Alpha/ARC Team Lead

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Editors

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Proofreaders

Paula Lavattiata Lopez

Alpha Readers & ARC Team (Thank you!)

Special thanks to Millie C., Rob S., Mike L., David K., David P, & Eugenia K.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2018 by Christian Kallias

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

First Printing, 2018

Version 1.04

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

Earth Alliance

Admiral Chase Athanatos – Earth Alliance Fury Olympian hybrid (formerly Star Alliance Lieutenant Commander)

Captain Sarah Kepler – Earth Human with Fury powers (formerly US Navy Commander)

Chris Athanatos – Fury Human hybrid

Commander Daniel Tharraleos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

Chief Engineer Yanis Tixichos – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance)

R&D Engineer Spiros Malayianis – Earth Alliance Human (formerly Star Alliance - deceased)

Argos Thanatos – Fury and Chase’s twin brother (formerly head of the Zarlacks)

Cedric – Earth Alliance Human Engineer

Ryonna Isch’ys – Dioxian Warrior (formerly a fugitive Droxian smuggler)

Tar’Lock – Gorgar (Insectoid and formerly a Hellstar prisoner)

Keera – Humanoid bounty hunter

Olympians

Aphroditis (a-fro-dee-tee) – known to humans as the goddess of love

Ares (ah-rees)– know to humans as the god of war

Athena – known to humans as the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war

Zeus – known to humans as the god of the sky and mighty ruler of Olympus

Hades (eh-dees) – known to humans as the god of the Underworld

Poseidon - known to the humans as the god of the seas

Furies

Arakan – Supreme Commander of the Furies

Oryn – Zeus’ daughter (Arakan’s adoptive daughter)

Zalara – Arakan’s wife (deceased)

Menelas (meh-neh-lahs)– Chase and Argos’ father

Asgardians

Thor – Fleet Commander, son of Odin.

Kvasir (kvah-seer) – Asgardian scientist

Other characters

Emperor Altair – Obsidian Empire Emperor (now part of the Earth Alliance)

Gaia (gah-yah) – Artificial Intelligence created on Earth, speaks for the planet

Tar’Sian (tahr-see-ahn) – Tar’Lock’s sister

Morgor – Criminal Leader / Mercenary

THE STORY SO FAR

This section was created for readers of this series to refresh their memories (should they need to) before reading this new book. New readers can, of course, use it, but I’d recommend you start reading the series at Book 1: Earth – Last Sanctuary (Definitive Edition).

Volume I: Earth - Last Sanctuary

Following a devastating attack by the Obsidian Empire, helped by the mighty Zarlacks, a band of survivors led by Chase Athanatos from the Star Alliance blind jump away from their home world (Alpha Prime) and end up in an uncharted part of space, near a planet called Earth. Guided by the Olympian goddess of love Aphroditis, Chase and his friends rescue planet Earth from an alien attack and form a new alliance (Earth Alliance). But soon the Obsidian Empire tracks them down and decides to launch a full-scale attack on the blue planet. In the midst of the epic battle that ensues, the leader of the enemy forces captures Chase’s new love interest, Commander Sarah Kepler. He reveals to Sarah that he is Chase’s brother.

Volume II: Fury to the Stars

Chase learns of his Fury heritage and starts developing powers while he tries to rescue Sarah from the hands of his evil twin, Argos, currently torturing her for information. An Olympian, Ares, trains Chase and helps him harness his emerging powers. Meanwhile, Earth is suffering random terrorist attacks that put the new Alliance’s frail status in jeopardy. After going to Hellstar Prison to get Ryonna out, Chase fights Argos and is finally reunited with Sarah, but something is off. A long-range distress call from a former Star Alliance scientist (Spiros Malayianis) brings Chase and Argos on yet another collision course. Chase is put into the impossible position of choosing between preventing sensitive weapon schematics from falling into Argos’ hands or saving Sarah’s (and his unborn son’s) life. She has been brainwashed to do Argos’ bidding and is also responsible for the wave of terrorism back on Earth. Chase reluctantly destroys Sarah’s ship.

Volume III: Destination Oblivion

Having had to kill the woman he loves as well as their unborn child plunges Chase into a spiral of hatred and self-destruction as he leaves the Earth Alliance. After meeting a bounty hunter (Keera), Chase joins forces with her in order to track the one man he hates more than anything in this world: his twin brother Argos whom he holds responsible for Sarah’s death. Argos resurfaces on their radar after killing Ares in cold blood. When their paths cross, Chase nearly kills Argos after an epic fight in Tokyo, but only spares his twin brother’s life when he reveals that Sarah is alive and the person that Chase killed was a clone. Meanwhile, a dangerous Artificial Intelligence (Gaia) is born on Earth and threatens humanity as a whole, but in the end Spiros Malayianis convinces her that she has nothing to fear from humans. In order to rescue Sarah, Chase has to reluctantly team up with Argos in order to defeat a Titan that holds a piece of tech Argos needs for his nefarious plan. When recovered, Argos requests Aphroditis to enter the piece of tech that will free his brethren, once thought to be extinct, from their dimensional prison. Aphroditis enters the machine willingly in exchange for a promise from Chase to rid the world of Argos and the threat he poses. The Fury home world (Erevos) is brought back into their reality as a result. The enemy of old (Furies) is back in play.

Volume IV: The Beginning of the End

Argos’ reunion with the Furies turns sour as he refuses to kill Chase when ordered. Back on Earth, Chase trains for months with the help of Gaia and Spiros to increase his powers tenfold in the hope of defeating the Furies. Argos and two highly trained Fury warriors (Miseo, the son of the Fury Supreme Commander Arakan) as well as General Arkoolis) are sent on a mission to wipe out the Droxians in retribution for their joining the Earth Alliance after the battle around Earth orbit (Earth - Last Sanctuary). Ryonna, with Keera’s help, tries to save her son when he gets tangled in the massacre that ensues on Droxia. Chase arrives on Droxia and defeats Arkoolis but Miseo proves to be too powerful for him. Argos intervenes near the end of the battle, mortally wounds Chase and leaves him for dead before they (Miseo & Argos) have to flee when reinforcements arrive.

Volume V: Rise of the Ultra Fury

Sarah is about to give birth to Chris when he warns her of things to come using the Fury powers Sarah has acquired as part of her pregnancy. Chase is brought back on board the Hope and put in suspended animation until Ares can procure an Olympian elixir with the help of Argos who is starting to question his allegiance with the Furies. Chase wakes up in the Underworld, his soul trapped in between the world of the living and the dead. There, he meets Hades who trains Chase further while his son Chris is born and ages at impossible speed. Argos starts feeling remorse for his actions and agrees to help Ares recover the banished Olympian Asclepios from his prison. Argos defeats the Titan Menoitios and frees Asclepios with Ares and Apollo’s help. On their way back to the Hope, a Fury assassin by the name of Timoros tries to kill Chase while he’s still trapped in the Underworld. Every one of Chase’s friends risks their lives to try and stop Timoros but he’s too powerful. Eventually, Chase returns from the Underworld when he feels Sarah is in mortal danger. He drinks the elixir and obliterates Timoros while reaching a stepping-stone power-wise in becoming an Ultra Fury. The first Fury super-destroyer is dispatched as part of a fleet intent on destroying Earth, currently protected by a powerful planetary shield. When it looks like all hope is lost, an unknown fleet going by the name of Gaian Defense Force enters the fold and forces the Furies out of Earth orbit. Their leader, also named Gaia, demands of Chase that the Earth Alliance leaves orbit within the hour or they’ll be destroyed.

Volume VI: Shadows of Olympus

Chase and what’s left of the Earth Alliance are forced to vacate Earth space. Spiros, Cedric and Gaia stay behind in order to try to stop Gaia 2 from taking control of planet Earth. Meanwhile, the Alliance splits up, with Saroudis and the Destiny battlegroup going back to Alpha Prime, where the Obsidian Empire helps them get more ships and resources at a time of need. Chase, Ares and Argos meet Zeus on Olympus, but are not welcomed as friends. After battling one another, Chase and Zeus come to an agreement. Zeus reveals to Chase that he fell in love with Arakan’s wife during the first Fury War, and that’s what led to the conflict escalating. He also told Chase that Oryn is his daughter, not Arakan’s. He tasks Chase to bring her back to him and, in exchange, Olympus will join the Earth Alliance in their fight with the Furies. Sarah and Chris are sent on a mission of their own to try to make contact with the Asgardians. They find an armada of frozen Star Alliance ships, as well as Kvasir, a banished Asgardian engineer who could be an asset in defeating the AI scourge back on Earth. But Miseo is sent to recover him, and a battle ensues. Chris fights Miseo and nearly gets killed, but Chase intervenes. When he’s about to kill Miseo, Oryn arrives on the scene and the two of them fight, resulting in a draw. Kvasir is rescued and so is the Star Alliance armada. Meanwhile, on Earth things go from bad to worse. Gaia 2 is about to take control of the planet, so Gaia unleashes a planet-wide EMP to ensure Gaia 2 doesn’t get her hands on all of Earth’s computing power. Gaia 2 invades Cedric’s body and turns him into her new avatar cyborg. After executing Spiros, Gaia 2 gives Chase a warning: to stay away from Earth or face the consequences of humans dying by the millions.

Volume VII: Armageddon Unleashed

Chase decides to ignore Gaia 2’s warning and he sets a course for Earth. With the help of Gaia and Kvasir, he trains and learns how to fight inside an AI matrix in order to defeat Gaia 2 once and for all. But fighting Gaia 2 on her own turf proves more difficult than he anticipated. Chase fights with Gaia 2, making her use too much of her CPU so she can’t retaliate against the population of Earth, and also to help the Earth Alliance attack the armada of Gaian ships in orbit. When Chase loses consciousness, Argos and Chris take his place in the matrix while the Earth Alliance enters Earth orbit and fight the largest space battle the Alliance ever fought until now. Meanwhile, Oryn uses Miseo as her guinea pig to test a mind control device. She plans to use that technology on her father Arakan when the time comes to take control of the Fury throne via proxy. But her experiment takes a wrong turn and Miseo turns against her and tries to have her killed. She decides to bring Miseo to Earth so he can deal with Chase in his crazed state. Oryn and Chase are forced to ally themselves to bring him down, but at a cost. When a gigantic moon-sized Gaian ship threatens to destroy planet Earth, Commodore Saroudis decides to sacrifice himself and his ship to save the planet. Chase has to choose between saving Oryn or saving his friend; but following Aphroditis’ counsel, he reluctantly decides for the former in order to ensure a much-needed alliance with Olympus and Zeus. Chase, Oryn, Argos and Chris all team up to defeat Miseo. When Gaia 2 feels her end is near, she directs her moon-sized monstrosity of a ship to crash on Earth in order to destroy the planet. That’s when three Asgardian ships with Thor in command enter the scene and help the Earth Alliance permanently destroy the crazed AI. To Chase’s surprise, Thor requests the immediate transfer of the war criminal Kvasir to his ship.

Volume VIII: Twilight of the Gods

Chase and his friends manage to convince Thor to delay Kvasir’s return to Asgard and his execution. With Droxia under attack, the Asgardians open an even faster hyperspace route to allow the Earth Alliance to intervene and counter the Furies’ plans. While Athena, Sarah, and the rest of the Alliance wage a powerful battle in orbit, Chase and his friends fight elite Fury ground forces that use new tactics to bring Chase down. When all hope seems lost, Sarah intervenes with the help of Ares and unleashes a small taste of her own powers. In doing so, she worries about what the future holds for her, but Chris and Chase help her train to restore her confidence. Once the battle in Droxia is over, it’s a time to mourn the passing of Commodore Saroudis. During the wake, Emperor Altair himself promotes Chase to Admiral. Ryonna, Tar’Lock, and Keera are sent to the Gorgar homeland to undo the inhabitants’ mind programming, only to discover Tar’Lock’s people are doing way more than just providing resources. In fact, they’ve been assembling Fury super-destroyers at an alarming rate thanks to their large population. When Oryn receives a summons to rejoin Arakan’s elite force of assassins to target Odin, the Alliance rushes to Asgard. They put their lives in danger to save both Thor’s home world and his father, while Arakan uses this large-scale diversion to face the person he hates the most in this world: Zeus. After an epic fight involving Poseidon, Arakan not only mortally wounds Zeus, but also destroys Olympus. Chase tries to save Zeus, but a deceptive Arakan counters his healing powers. He and Oryn barely have time to say goodbye to Zeus before Olympus, and its ruler, are swallowed by a black hole. Back on Asgard, and still under shock from the terrible loss, Chase learns his father might still be alive as a prisoner in a dungeon under Arakan’s palace on Erevos.

Volume IX: Requiem of Souls

Chase struggles with the loss of both Zeus and Olympus. He feels responsible for allowing the manipulation of the Earth Alliance by Arakan, who used a decoy attack on Asgard, thus arriving unchallenged, to kill Zeus and destroy Olympus in one swift move. Chase’s friends push him to get to Erevos and get Menelas and Aphroditis out of their respective predicaments, and while Chase wants nothing more, he second-guesses himself. What if it’s another ploy from the supreme commander; what if it’s a trap? Eventually, Chase prepares what he thinks will be a successful mission to Erevos. Meanwhile, Spiros risks his life to try and bring Gaia back. When he loses valuable supplies, he is forced to bring a very basic version of the Gaia AI online to replenish the resources that he needs to complete his task. But things don’t go as planned, and both he and Gaia get captured by a ruthless smuggler. Ryonna, Keera, and Tar’Lock work with Emperor Altair to convince the Gorgars to help them build ships, but they quickly realize that many things have changed on the surface of the planet since their last visit. They barely escape with their lives. Chase and his friends go to Erevos. On the way, an invisible ship intercepts them; one like nothing they have encountered before. Chase teleports his away team to Erevos while Sarah and Daniel deal with the new threat. After much difficulty, they manage to send the spider ship on the run. The team successfully recovers Aphroditis, who is at death’s door and just a shadow of her former self. Chase has no other choice but to put her in suspended animation, hoping to find a way to revive her later, despite the goddess’ wish to be allowed to die in peace. Chase, Argos, and Oryn rescue Menelas from his cell, but Oryn, too determined to get revenge for the death of her parents, goes on her own to face Arakan. Reluctantly joining forces with Poseidon, and against all odds, she exacts her revenge and kills the man that she once called her father. But her victory is short-lived, and the Spectre that followed Arakan like a shadow, takes control of Arakan’s corpse and rips Oryn’s soul from her body, acquiring her powers as a result. Chase and the rest of his team engage the Spectre, but they nearly get wiped out by this new foe, who is more powerful than anyone they have ever faced before. They are forced to flee but not before incurring some serious wounds. Back on the Victory, Menelas reveals that the soul ships are hidden on Earth, in the center of the planet’s core.

And now the continuation...

PROLOGUE

“The soul ships are on Earth?” inquired Sarah.

“Yes, but hidden inside the planet’s core, where no one would have thought to look.”

It made sense when Chase thought about it; he had always wondered why Aphroditis had been so adamant that he protect Earth at all costs. And, while it had played a major role up until now, Chase always thought that its importance might have been a little oversold by the Olympian goddess. Now it was crystal clear, and it all made sense.

“That was the general idea behind choosing such a hiding place,” commented Menelas.

“How do we get the ships out of there, though?” said Sarah.

“Once we’re in orbit around Earth, a passcode, transmitted over a certain frequency, will activate a transport sequence.”

“I take it that’s why Arakan had you imprisoned? Did he know about the soul ships?” asked Chase.

“I don’t think he knew the details of what I was withholding, just that I was hiding something. He could feel it, and it drove him mad. I, on the other hand, wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of breaking, no matter how hard and long he tortured me.”

Chase could feel Sarah’s emotional reaction at the mention of being tortured. Argos hadn’t gone easy on her, and he had been even worse with her clone. And, while her clone had suffered the most, Sarah held those memories, too.

“I'm sorry you had to go through that,” empathized Chase to his father. “At least Arakan is gone.”

“Thank you, Chase, but we both know that the thing that took his place is infinitely worse. I’d rather Arakan were still alive. The amount of power this being has managed to display by using Arakan’s body is troubling.”

Chase was well aware of that. In fact, that was the single thought at the center of his mind since they had attempted to fight the Spectre and had utterly failed. Chase felt even more unprepared to face off against this new foe than he had been when he first battled Argos on Hellstar. Back then, Argos had not used all his powers but was, in fact, toying with Chase and his friends in order to deploy Sarah’s clone as a spy. Even using his Ultra Fury powers, Chase felt the Spectre was indestructible.

“It is troubling, and we’ll need to be better prepared if we’re to engage that thing in future combat.”

Menelas raised an eyebrow. “I don’t see what we can do.”

“I do have an idea. We need to train extensively and at least try to lower the power gap between the Spectre and us, as a unit. But, for the time being, we have to get going.”

“Earth as a first stop?” proposed Sarah, preemptively.

Chase nodded. “Yeah, let’s get the soul ships. Without an Asgardian ship to open up a super-fast hyperspace corridor, this will be a long jump.”

“Shouldn’t we simply ask Thor to send another ship?” said Sarah. “Having them jump here and then to Earth with us would still shave off at least a day of travel.”

Chase thought about it. Even though he wanted nothing more than to return to Erevos with the soul ships and end this war once and for all, his instincts told him that if he did that without training, there would be more casualties, and Oryn’s death was already eating at his soul.

“No, we actually need that time,” said Chase.

That is, if Cedric managed to make progress on his upgrade.

“Very well,” conceded Sarah. “Set a course for Earth; looks like we're going home.”

The Victory’s quad core engines hummed to life and soon the ship entered hyperspace.

* * *

Chase dreaded going to the Underworld, but he couldn’t avoid it. He had to tell his grandfather what had happened to Oryn. And even though Chase had insisted that she not engage Arakan on her own, he was forced to admit that she had managed to bring the Supreme Commander of the Furies down, with Poseidon’s help. Something Chase didn’t think she would be able to do.

Chase tried taking some comfort in that fact. And, in her last moments, she had at least achieved what she set out to do, which was to avenge the death of her parents. Even if that achievement was short-lived. None of them could have anticipated what followed. Though, Chase now wondered if his hesitation to go to Erevos in the first place wasn’t simply his instincts telling him that a larger threat loomed there.

It mattered not, anymore. Oryn was dead, and the Spectre had swallowed her soul, and in doing so, he had inherited all her powers. That’s what scared Chase the most about their new foe; this ability could potentially make the enemy stronger with every kill he made.

But more than ever, Chase vowed to himself that he wouldn’t let anymore of his friends die in this war. They had lost too many good people. He needed to come up with a way to defeat both the Furies and the Spectre without losing another member of his team.

Chase took a deep breath. He still couldn’t believe Oryn was gone. He wondered if she would be in the Underworld, but he had seen the Spectre grab and assimilate her soul, so he doubted it. Her last words haunted him. “Thank you for your friendship,” she had said. Chase didn’t think letting her die made him a good friend at all.

No, Chase didn’t want to go to the Underworld and tell his grandfather that he had let her die. But there was no way around it, and he needed to get other things moving fast, so he had to deal with it now, no matter that he’d rather teleport to the other side of the universe and crawl into a deep black hole instead.

Chase closed his eyes and teleported to the Underworld.

Zeus appeared shortly after he arrived in the cold, dark place. After having been here several times, Chase still felt that the place was uninviting. No surprise Hades wanted to get the hell out, especially after having spent tens of thousands of years here. Chase didn’t like how the Underworld made him feel after only a few minutes of being there.

“Hello, Chase,” greeted Zeus. “I take it that Oryn still didn’t want to come and see me?”

The sadness in Zeus’ tone tore at Chase’s heart. How was he to tell him that his daughter might never come here? Perhaps if Chase killed the Spectre, it would release her soul, but he had no way of knowing that at the moment.

When Chase pressed his lips together and couldn’t articulate even a single word, Zeus’ entire face dropped.

“What— what happened?”

“I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“Tell me anyway, though I can sense that it has something to do with my Oryn. Is she mortally wounded like Poseidon was?”

If only, thought Chase. A tear ran down Chase’s cheek.

“She— she’s gone, Zeus; I’m so sorry. I tried to prevent it but. . .”

“What? No! That’s not possible. If she had died, I would have seen her soul. You must be mistaken.”

“I'm afraid I’m not. I take full responsibility.”

For a second, Chase thought he saw hatred in his grandfather’s eyes, which made his heart bleed. Chase was mad at himself, as the last thing he wanted was to lose yet another comrade, and while Oryn had been insufferable and disobedient before her passing, she was still someone he considered a friend. The anger in Zeus’ eyes was quickly replaced by sadness and sorrow as the leader of the Olympian people fell to his knees.

“Tell me this isn’t true. Tell me I’m just having a nightmare.”

Chase knelt next to his grandfather and laid his hand on Zeus’ shoulder.

“I wish that too, every minute since it happened.”

“Is Arakan dead?”

That’s when it occurred to Chase that Arakan’s soul hadn’t come to the Underworld either. If Zeus hadn’t seen the supreme commander’s soul, it meant whatever had happened to Oryn must have happened to Arakan as well. The Spectre probably had hijacked both his body and his soul.

“Not exactly.”

“You’re not making any sense, Chase. What the hell happened?”

Chase told his grandfather everything that had occurred in as much detail as he could.

“But she did kill Arakan,” said Chase, “before the end.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better, Chase?”

The resentment in Zeus’ voice was hard to miss, and Chase accepted it. In his heart, he knew very well she had been in an unstable frame of mind, and he shouldn’t have taken her with them on the mission. Once more, Chase had not listened to his instincts, and someone had died because of it.

Zeus shook his head and turned his back on Chase.

“I'm sorry,” attempted Chase.

Zeus swiftly raised a hand.

“Don’t— please, Chase, I— I need to process this. You should get out of here before I say something I might regret.”

Chase frowned but respected his grandfather’s wishes and left the Underworld.

1

“What can I do for you, boss?” Yanis cheerily asked.

“I need you to help Cedric with his project.”

When Yanis grimaced, Chase could feel his chief engineer and friend was at a loss.

“We have so many balls in the air right now; you’ll have to be more specific.”

“The training facility. Has he told you about it?”

“Just in passing; he’s consulted with Spiros on the matter, I think. Something about reversing polarity in a black hole to achieve a contained white hole or something. Truth be told, Chase, this seems so far-fetched and so dangerous to even try that I didn’t give it a second thought.”

Chase sighed. That’s not what he wanted to hear, especially from Yanis. His friend must have picked up on Chase’s disappointment as he continued.

“You absolutely need this tech, boss?”

“More than you can even imagine. In fact, I don’t see how we can win without it.”

“Huh…then I guess we’ll have to redirect our efforts toward making it happen.”

“You just said it’s far-fetched.”

“Yeah, and I was being nice, but if you need it, we’ll make it work. I mean, since when is some of the stuff we do not bat-shit crazy anyway, right? On paper, it seems improbable, but, then again, I only knew about the outline of the project. I’m sure that if Cedric, Kvasir, and myself put our heads together, we can come up with something.”

“I’m glad to hear it, my friend. I can’t stress enough how important it is that we train in a time-dilated place. There’s no way we can lower the gap in power that exists between us and the Spectre unless we train for months, if not years.”

“Which obviously you can’t do; that would leave the Furies plenty of time to rebuild and conquer the universe.”

“Exactly.”

“But if we secured the Gorgar home world, couldn’t we just overpower the Furies like they overpowered us?”

“I’ve thought about it, and while I firmly believe that Arakan over-extended himself when he attacked both Droxia and Asgard, who knows what that Spectre will throw at us. Remember he’s been by Arakan’s side for months, if not longer. It’s entirely possible that he’s acquired his own fleet. Not to mention that spider ship, which I’m sure is part of his force.”

“But there are only one of those ships, and we managed to seriously damage it to the point where it had to flee. I’m sure we can bring it down next time.”

“And we may need you guys to develop tech that will do just that. Not to mention that even if it was only one ship, the Spectre may have more at his disposal.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that, too. I think the only reason why the spider ship wasn’t damaging the Victory fast enough was because it was cloaked. Once it decloaked and could draw most of its power to use its weapons, it became incredibly dangerous, even with all the kick-ass upgrades the Victory has.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. That if more of these things show up, some could just distract us while cloaked, while one or two others would be more than enough to take on even the Victory.”

Yanis’ face paled.

“I’m afraid to admit that this particular scenario would be incredibly bad for us. But that’s why we should try and have the Gorgar home world spew out Warheart class ships by the dozens like they were doing for the Furies before we stopped them.”

“In his last communication, the Emperor said many things had changed there. In fact, Ryonna and the others barely escaped their visit. They had to retreat, and the fleet has been badly damaged.”

“Why don’t they just use the mind reprogramming device Argos had created to force them into compliance; I know it’s a gray area, boss, but do we really have a choice right now?”

Chase hated the idea of enslaving a massive population like the Gorgars to achieve their goals. He couldn’t reconcile the morality of such a choice no matter how he looked at the issue. But, at the end of the day, and with all the new threats they were facing, could they afford to pass up that opportunity?

“That would make us no different than the Furies.”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it, Chase. I’m sorry, but that’s the wrong kind of argument. We wouldn’t enslave these people forever, and while I don’t want to do it either, we have to decide what we’re willing to sacrifice for not getting our hands a little dirty. Do we do what needs to be done, even if we hate doing so, or do we let that Spectre lead the Furies to victory, wiping us all out in the process? And that would include the Gorgar, which I’m sure they simply would either re-enslave at the first opportunity or just wipe them out without a single thought.

“So, yeah, it sucks, and I don’t like it any more than you do, Chase. But if not doing so brings their downfall, or even worse, brutal enslavement for all eternity, can we truly afford not to use them as a resource in our greatest time of need? This is crunch time, Chase; we win, or we die, so can we afford not to ask ourselves these questions?”

As much as Chase hated to admit it, his friend was right. It wasn’t a game; the fate of countless trillions of lives was at stake, the Gorgars included, even if they didn’t know it themselves. The Alliance needed an edge, and they needed more ships to counter whatever the Spectre had in store for them.

“I guess we may have to get our hands dirty.”

“It’s ridiculous to think we could survive without that, boss.”

“Alright, thank you for voicing your opinion. The days ahead will be a challenge; we’ll all depend on you, Cedric, and Kvasir.”

“Let’s not forget Spiros. In a time like this, maybe we need to get him back to the barn.”

Chase knew Spiros had insisted on doing his own thing, unhindered by the development of the war, and he owed it to both Spiros and Gaia to respect his wishes. Then again, if Spiros could help the rest of the team work on their training needs, Chase would have to prioritize.

“Have we heard anything from them lately?”

“No, and that has Cedric rattled; they used to connect from time to time, but it’s been a few days since they last spoke.”

“Alright, I’ll look into it. The base where he was working isn’t that far from the Emperor’s fleet; I’ll ask him to divert a small team and look for Spiros.”

“Thanks, boss.”

* * *

Argos pushed the gravity to 750Gs inside the training facility despite the blaring alarms from the warning system and the imminent system failure. A pulsating red beacon was his only source of light. Walking in the intense gravity field felt like being punched to oblivion by a Titan. But Argos could and would take the pain. He would train and become stronger. He had to.

Their fight against Spectre Arakan had been a total disaster. Even together they hadn’t managed to make a dent, and they almost got themselves killed no matter how powerful Argos felt now that he could reach his Ultra Fury form.

“Are you insane?!” shouted Chris. “You’ll destroy the room, if not the ship, if you keep pushing that gravity engine outside of its specifications.”

Chris walked toward the emergency stop button.

“Don’t!” said Argos. “Just let me be, please.”

Chris punched the button without the slightest hesitation, but nothing happened. He hit the button multiple times, to no avail.

“You’ve disabled it, haven’t you?”

But Argos had already turned his back and was painfully kicking and punching nothing but air, perspiring more than any being ought to be able to, trying to acclimate to the Titan-crushing gravity field.

“Two can play at that game,” said Chris.

Soon the gravity returned to normal, and Argos finished his current combo so fast that he looked and moved like a tornado.

“What did you do?!” he complained.

“I found the override, and I turned the machine off.”

“I sometimes forget that, like your father, you can take control of machinery.”

“And perhaps if you weren’t obstinately training way beyond this machine’s safety limits, I would try and teach you that skill, like you taught me to heal.”

“I need to get stronger, not talk to computers.”

“It’s a skill that can save your life.”

“Not against Spectre Arakan.”

“Uncle, please; can you just for a second stop, so we can talk. I feel how angry you are, and I think it will do us both good.”

Argos hated keeping his nephew at a distance, but he realized during the fight that Chris almost died. While Chris had decided to stay back on his own, Argos felt responsible for Chris’ safety. If he had died, Argos wasn’t sure how he would have dealt with that loss. Even though Chris was Chase’s son, he was the warmest and closest person in Argos’ heart. He could not live with himself if anything happened to him. So as much as he hated pushing his nephew away, right now he didn’t know how to deal with the situation and was too focused on becoming powerful enough never to feel helpless like he had when they fought Spectre Arakan.

“There’s nothing to discuss, Chris. We need to train. So, either step in and spar with me or go away.”

Chris’ eyes were moist.

Very well, be that way, said Chris mentally, reactivating the machine at 500Gs and reprogramming it on-the-fly to refuse a higher setting. “See ya, I guess.”

With his back turned, Argos waited for Chris to exit the cargo bay before letting a single tear travel down his cheek. He wiped it off and looked at it before smudging it between his fingers. Soon, Argos resumed his training.

* * *

Thor entered the mess hall and saw Poseidon alone at a far table, away from the crew members. He walked to the table, and when the Olympian didn’t acknowledge his presence, he sat opposite him.

Poseidon briefly raised his head toward Thor but didn’t say a word.

“Mind if I sit here?” asked Thor, tentatively.

“Is that the Asgardian way to ask permission after the fact?”

“No, but it didn’t seem like you wanted me here, so I thought I’d make that decision for you.”

“If you know I want to be alone, why are you here?”

“I wanted to check on you. Chase told me you got out of your regen tank a couple of hours ago.”

“Hmm. I’d rather be alone.”

“And yet, I can tell that you have things to say.”

Poseidon shot a cold look at the Asgardian.

“Look,” continued Thor. “We’re all rattled by what happened; you’re not alone in this; you have friends.”

“Friends? If they have one iota of sense, they’d blame me for Oryn’s death, and they’d be right to do so.”

“You can’t be serious?”

Poseidon tensed his hands into fists.

“I should have protected her; I shouldn’t have let Spectre Arakan claim her soul!”

“But you did protect her; that’s why your body was shattered, and it’s a miracle you survived.”

Poseidon looked away.

“I wish I hadn’t.”

“That’s crazy talk. There’s nothing any of us could have done, and you know it. The Ultra Furies were overpowered and barely survived, so why do you feel you failed?”

“I let my niece, the daughter of my brother, perish. He sacrificed his life to save me, and I couldn’t even protect his daughter.”

“Again, nobody could have.”

“I don’t expect you to understand.”

“Oh, but I do understand, and I’m sorry for your loss, Poseidon. But we need to grieve and move forward. I didn’t know Oryn well, but I don’t think she’d want you to blame yourself for her death.”

“We will never know now, will we?”

“You never know.”

“That thing swallowed her soul; that alone should tell us how outclassed we are. It’s just a matter of time before we follow in her footsteps.”

“Speak for yourself, Poseidon. I have no intention of allowing my soul to be stolen, not before it’s time for it to go to Valhalla.”

“Good for you, and you may soon get your wish granted. There’s no way we’re defeating that— thing.”

“Let’s talk about that for a minute.”

Poseidon smashed his fist on the table, attracting everyone’s attention.

“I said I don’t want to talk; go away!”

“I will soon, but first, you’ll listen to what I have to say. Oryn’s death isn’t your fault; it’s none of our faults. There was no way for us to know that killing Arakan would unleash such a powerful enemy in his stead. But, we’re going to have to deal with that creature, nonetheless. And while you’re no good to anybody in your current state of mind, if you love your niece, even just a little, you owe it to her to get over her death and do whatever it takes to make sure nobody else suffers the same fate.”

Thor could tell he had struck a chord.

“Are you finished?” said Poseidon, coldly.

Thor got up from his chair and pushed it back in place under the table.

“As a matter of fact, I am. I’ll be training on deck seven, cargo bay three, in case you need to blow off some steam. I know I do.”

Thor walked away without saying another word.

* * *

Chase couldn’t sleep. Sarah had her arm against his bare chest. He envied her ability to sleep soundly. Chase couldn’t remember the last time he had a good night’s sleep. His brain simply refused to shut down and kept him awake until his body was too tired, at which point, he would fade away for an hour or two and then wake up, more often than not from a nightmare that reflected how precarious life was and what his subconscious was feeling.

When it wasn’t the Earth being destroyed to the sound of billions of voices crying out before the end, it was someone close to him that got hurt, or worse, killed. These nightmares snapped Chase out of sleep with such violence that the resulting shot of adrenaline would prevent him from relaxing.

Usually, his movements would wake up his beloved, but this time it didn’t, which was good because this particular nightmare had been about her. In the nightmare, Sarah was mortally wounded during a battle against Spectre Arakan. Chase knew very well that there was no way he could shield Sarah from the events that needed to unfold next.

His last attempt at doing so had put her right in the path of danger, even before their mission to Erevos had even started. He couldn’t know or predict what would happen, and he needed to accept some of Aphroditis’ last words, no matter how painful they were. She had told him that he would need to detach himself emotionally from the ones he loved and accept that they could become casualties before this war was over. But how could he do that?

How could he detach from Sarah, Chris, or even Argos? They were his family; how could he not do everything in his power to try and protect them? And perhaps that’s not what Aphroditis meant, as she knew very well Chase would try and protect those that mattered the most to him.

Somehow, Oryn’s death put into perspective what his aunt tried to tell him before the mission to Erevos. No matter how much Chase wanted to avoid casualties, there would be unpredictable events that would make it impossible for him to prevent death. That had happened before; to Fillio, Saroudis, and now Oryn as well. Chase now understood that trying to avoid these deaths would paralyze him from doing what needed to be done.

Even his short talk with Yanis had given him food for thought. They were at a turning point in this war. What the Earth Alliance was willing to do would determine the fate of trillions of souls. He had to include everyone while looking at the bigger picture, not just those he loved. The risk that things could get out of control and impact an entire universe was too high.

Oryn had perished, and while Chase still blamed himself for it, he also knew that her determination in her last moment held a fundamental lesson for him. No matter how strong Arakan was, her unwavering determination trumped the fact that she probably wasn’t powerful enough to defeat her former father.

Poseidon had helped, but perhaps that was destiny making sure the right ally was placed in her path for her to accomplish the one task she wanted more than anything, even at the cost of her own life. She had succeeded in her quest; she had disconnected herself emotionally from those around her and achieved her goal, no matter what stood in her way, and that included Chase’s orders not to engage Arakan on this mission.

Chase wondered if he could do that, and realized, on some level, that what he thought of as recklessness and a wild-card attitude on the part of Oryn, had, in fact, been an act of tremendous courage and determination; one he needed to learn from, instead of just grieving her passing and second-guessing himself.

2

“You look like shit,” joked Daniel.

“Why, thank you,” answered Chase with a forced smile.

“Still having trouble sleeping?”

“Yeah, but at least I think I’m learning some valuable lessons.”

Daniel’s eyes widened.

“Now you’ve got my attention and curiosity firing on all cylinders; please, pray tell.”

“Well, for one, I can’t control everything around me.”

Daniel chuckled and joined his hands together, looking upward.

“As the human’s say, hallelujah! About freaking time, Chase. You’re not responsible for anything bad that has happened since the moment the Zarlack started destroying our ships by the hundreds. And, it’s about damn time that you realize that you need to give yourself a break. In fact, pat yourself on the back from time to time. I know that’s a little insensitive since we’ve just lost Oryn, but we’ve achieved our goal. Everyone else returned from the mission, and the ship is currently heading toward the one weapon that can finally end this war. In my book, this is a win and not a small one.”

“I know, and I agree.”

Daniel pinched himself. “Nope, I’m awake alright. Well, good bro; we can’t afford any hesitation anymore. Oryn would be proud of you.”

Oryn’s death was still fresh, and the mention of her hurt Chase’s heart. But he had to admit that her passing had allowed him to see things from a different point of view. And, while he was grateful to Daniel for saying so, he knew Zeus wouldn’t see it that way.

“I don’t think Zeus would agree.”

Daniel’s expression hardened.

“He wouldn’t, Chase; she was his daughter. He’s been blaming himself for not being able to rescue her from Erevos for ten thousand years. In fact, he blamed almost everyone for his pain; even you were a recipient of his hatred not so long ago. And, then, when he finally gets her back, he is killed by Arakan; and before anyone has the time to digest that colossal blow, she gets killed.

“We have to put ourselves in his shoes, really. He’s going to be angry and perhaps even lash out at you for some time. It’s best you don’t take it personally; I know it’s easier said than done, but we need to let Zeus grieve on his own terms. At least you guys aren’t on the same plane of existence, so perhaps you should give him some air and not return there for a while.”

While Chase wanted to try and have a discussion in which they could revere Oryn’s life the way she deserved, he understood that as a father, Zeus would mourn her passing and that it would take time. Even more so since they had been robbed of the opportunity to say goodbye in the Underworld because of the Spectre.

“Yeah, I— I’m not going back to the Underworld anytime soon, not if I can prevent it, anyway.”

“We’ll get through this, Chase, together. And if some of us have to die to defeat the Furies, well, that’s destiny. But, it’s our choice, and I’m glad you’re willing to accept that.”

As for destiny, I wouldn’t go that far. . .I wonder what mine has in store for me at the end of all this.

* * *

Chase was getting out of the shower when he received an incoming holo-transmission from Athena’s ship. Before answering, he quickly dried himself off by powering up his aura and got dressed.

“Hello, Mother,” said Chase hesitantly. “How are the repairs on your ship going?”

“Slowly. The damage from that spider ship is extensive.”

“I’m sorry to hear that; would you like me to teleport Yanis over to try and help with your repairs?”

“That won’t be necessary, Chase, but thank you. I do have a favor to ask, however.”

“Sure, what can I do for you?”

“I’d like to come on board the Victory.”

With everything that had happened, Chase had forgotten that his parents were currently on separate ships, and they hadn’t seen each other in a very long time. Ten thousand years for Athena, and while it had been just a fraction of that time for Menelas, years of torture must have felt similarly long for Chase’s father.

“Of course; I should have thought of it, you must be dying to see Menelas.”

“We sure have to talk,” said Athena rather coldly.

Chase could detect bitterness and even a bit of anger in his mother’s thoughts at the moment, but he had enough on his own plate to worry about.

“I’m on my way.”

“Thanks, Son.”

Chase teleported to the Olympian ship and returned to the Victory bringing Athena to the front door of Menelas’ quarters.

“Want me to come in with you?” inquired Chase.

“Normally I would, but, after all this time…”

“Say no more; I’ll leave the two of you to your privacy.”

“Thank you, Chase.”

Chase walked away as Athena took a long, deep breath before ringing the doorbell controls.

* * *

Menelas couldn’t believe his eyes when the doors split open. His heart beat hard in his chest, and his mouth became dry. There stood the woman he loved more than life itself. Even though she was ten thousand years older, she didn’t look a day over what she had been when he last saw her.

“Please,” he said, gesturing to Athena. “Come in.”

Athena took three steps inside Menelas’ quarters as the doors shut with a whooshing sound.

Before he could say anything, Athena violently slapped him.

“Ten thousand years!” she screamed. “You promised you’d come back!”

Menelas held his reddened cheek and smiled. “You sure haven’t lost your temper, and it’s good to see you too, love.”

Athena’s eyes watered.

“I’m sorry,” he continued. “I wanted to get back to you, more than anything. But things didn’t go according to plan. I was supp⁠—”

But before he could finish his plea, Athena took him in her arms and kissed him passionately. They kissed for minutes, and Menelas felt warmth and love engulf his entire being. They both allowed themselves to be lost in the moment and wished it would never end. When their lips finally parted, Athena whispered in his ear.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she said, her voice trembling.

“I’ve missed you too. I— I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. In fact, I thought I’d die of old age or that Arakan would just get tired and execute me.”

Athena’s eyes filled with sorrow.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that, but what were you thinking? In fact, what were you doing on Erevos? Last we talked, you were returning from that secret mission you couldn’t tell me anything about.”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Menelas nodded and gestured Athena to take a seat on the nearby couch.

“Can I get you anything?” he inquired once she was comfortably seated.

“I’m alright. I just want to understand what possessed you to go back to Erevos and get trapped. I have mourned yo⁠—”

But tears overcame Athena, and she sobbed uncontrollably.

Menelas tried embracing her in a hug, but she didn’t let him.

“Please, understand, I thought you were gone, I— I didn’t know what to do, and because of the secrecy of our relationship, I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it. I’m still mad you abandoned me.”

“Fair enough, but surely Zeus told you some of what had transpired?”

Athena shook her head.

“What? That can’t be. If he didn’t tell you, then...”

That’s when Menelas fully understood all the implications as well as anger he had detected in Athena when she slapped him earlier.

“Zeus didn’t tell anyone about trapping the Furies into an alternate dimension?”

“No, as far as we knew, the pilots of the soul ships made a successful attack run on Erevos, and we were told that the planet had been destroyed.”

“That two-faced, overly proud son of a—” said Menelas before catching himself.

More tears were traveling down Athena’s cheeks.

“I— I’m sorry for your loss, love. I know Zeus died not long ago. I’m just a little angered that he wouldn’t at least tell you what happened.”

He owed me that much.

“Father has always been very proud, even though he softened up just before the end. I get it that it was wrong of him to hide from all of us that the Furies had been sent to another dimension instead of having them destroyed. But, I understand why he did it. He wanted to protect Oryn.”

“It’s ironic how far we went not to let our union be known to those close to us, and how we feared Zeus would banish you if he learned about it, when, in fact, he too had an affair with a Fury.”

“We definitely would have done things differently had we known this. But I’m surprised you knew about it; when did Zeus approach you?”

“After we had secured the children, but before he sent me on the mission to Asgard.”

“Asgard? What on Olympus did you do in Asgard?”

“In the guise of fixing the weapon, Zeus asked me to convince, or, if necessary, coerce their lead engineer who had helped design the weapon. Knav— Ksan— I can’t quite remember his name.”

“Kvasir?”

“That’s it, Kvasir. Do you know him?”

“Not very well, but he is on board this ship.”

“You don’t say. I guess I have a lot of catching up to do. I’m hoping we can see the boys, too.”

“I’m sure you will. Chase proposed coming along, but I wanted some time alone with you.”

Menelas took her face in his hands. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back. I wanted nothing more, believe me.”

“I know. I’m sorry I lost hope ever to see you again.”

“I love you,” said Menelas softly.

“I love you, too.”

* * *

After visiting with Kvasir, Argos decided to see his father. He didn’t exactly know what to tell the man, but after what had happened with Zeus, he didn’t want to be a stranger with him. Especially should one of them lose their lives in the upcoming battle on Erevos.

Argos was sorry he hadn’t had more time to spend with Zeus before Arakan killed him. He had been estranged from his grandfather and didn’t want to repeat that with his own father.

He stopped in front of Menelas’ guest quarters and hesitated before ringing the doorbell.

The door slid open.

“Come in,” said a voice inside.

Argos stepped into the quarters, his gaze meeting with Menelas.

“Is there anything I can do for you, Argos?”

“Yes, I’d like to talk; if that’s okay?”

“I’m surprised you’re the first one paying me a social visit. I expected your brother to be the first to do so.”

“Chase is quite busy at the moment; there are many things we need to work on and very little time to get them done.”

“Chase…” Menelas paused. “It’s going to take some time getting used to that name.”

“I understand; I couldn’t stop calling him Laiyos in the beginning as well. But, you’ll get used to it.”

“How come he calls himself Chase?”

Argos took a long breath before recounting the story of how they started as enemies. Argos felt shame deep in his soul the entire time it took to catch Menelas up to speed.

“That’s heavy, and I’m sorry the two of you became enemies. That’s— that’s probably my fault, and I’m sorry about that.”

“What’s done is done; if I’ve learned anything these past few months is that it’s best to leave the past behind and focus on the present. I will never be able to atone for my past actions, no matter how hard I try. But in the present, I can be a better person, a better brother or uncle. That’s what matters now that hatred has left my heart.”

“Still, I feel responsible for all the torment you went through; if only I had been there.”

Menelas let the words hang.

“I’m not blaming you for my own shortcomings. You’re here now, and since we never know when tragedy will strike, I thought it would be a good time to try and get to know each other.”

Menelas nodded.

“Thank you, Argos. I’m thankful for that. And I want you to know how proud I am of the warriors you two have become. Your power levels are mind-blowing.”

“And yet, we got our asses handed to us from Spectre Arakan.”

“At least we’re all still alive.”

“Except Oryn.”

“Right,” said Menelas with a sigh. “Except Oryn.”

* * *

“We need to find a solution to this problem, and fast,” said Yanis. “Our friends need a training center, and they need it now. I’ve managed to stabilize the power flow, and I think the Victory can provide enough power to the training facility, at least when we’re not fighting for our lives. Polarity is still an issue.”

“That’s all well and good,” commented Cedric. “But this is my project, why are you acting like you’re in charge?”

“Do we really need to do this, Cedric? Chase came to me with this, and I acknowledged that you worked on it for a while. But, he put me in charge.”

“Typical.”

“Look, it doesn’t matter who gets the lead. In fact, if it makes you feel better, you can be the lead. What matters is that we get it done, and fast.”

“That’s okay; I don’t need to be in charge,” said Cedric. Then added as a whisper. “But, it’s my project.”

Yanis exhaled in frustration before looking at his wrist device.

“Where the hell is Kvasir? He’s never late, and it’s been half an hour already.”

“Does it look like I’m his personal assistant?” scoffed Cedric.

“Are you going to be like this all day?”

Cedric shrugged. “Like what?”

The engineering doors split open, and Kvasir stepped in carrying an Asgardian piece of technology.

“Never mind; here he comes,” said Yanis before turning toward Kvasir. “So gracious of you to finally join us.”

“Hi, Kvaz; don’t mind him, he’s a little cranky today,” said Cedric.

Yanis’ eyebrows shot up, and his eyes grew wide. “I’m cranky? And, ‘Kvaz’?!”

Cedric looked at Kvasir, then looked back at Yanis.

“See, he doesn’t seem to mind,” said Cedric.

“Hello,” said Kvasir. “I apologize for my tardiness. But I think you’ll be happy once you hear the reason behind my being late.”

“What is it you’re holding?” asked Cedric.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” added Yanis. “I take it this is Asgardian tech?”

Kvasir delicately laid the device on a nearby table. Green and yellow lights pulsated and blinked around it, casting greenish reflections on the surface of the metallic table.

“It is. We got lucky, in fact. A while back when we regrouped with Athena’s ship, I searched the debris of the destroyed Asgardian destroyer the spider ship took out and managed to acquire this.”

“And this would be?” inquired Yanis.

“It’s a crucial component of our hyperspace engines. A power flow and matter inverter, in fact. I thought we could use it for our project.”

Yanis crossed his arms over his chest.

“Do you even know what it is we are building?”

“A white-hole powered training facility so the Furies on board the Victory can train for months at a time while only days pass outside.”

“Who briefed you? That’s why I asked you to come here this morning, so we can all brainstorm to find a solution to inverting the polarity of the artificial black hole, to allow time to pass faster inside the room instead of going slower.”

“Argos swung by my quarters last night and told me about the project. He’s in a hurry to train with something more efficient than the gravity field generator. I then accessed Cedric’s notes in the main computer, and after a full night of work. . .” Kvasir pointed toward the device with both hands. “Voila!”

Cedric enthusiastically jumped up from his chair and approached the device. He was looking at it from every possible angle.

“Voila, what?” inquired Yanis.

“This will turn the center of an artificially generated black hole into a white hole. We still need to interface it with Earth Alliance tech, but I’m sure we can achieve that soon enough.”

“Impressive,” said Cedric. “I never imagined we could solve the issue with such a small device.”

“Size isn’t everything,” proposed Kvasir.

“Try telling that to your mate,” said Cedric absently, entirely captivated by the device’s slight humming and pulsating lights that made the tech appear alive.

“What do you mean?” asked Kvasir dubiously.

“Never mind that,” dismissed Yanis. “So, let me get this straight; Argos paid you a visit last night, and you worked and fixed the main roadblock in the project I was supposed to brief you on this morning?”

Cedric walked past Yanis and waved a hand in the air.

“Don’t mind him; he’s just jealous. Good game, Kvaz,” said Cedric cheerfully.

“I’m not familiar with that expression,” said Kvasir.

“It means well done, kudos, congrats; take your pick.”

“Ah…well, thank you,” said Kvasir, before turning his attention back to Yanis. “And, yes, that’s exactly what happened.”

“I still can’t grasp how you could achieve something so complex in so little time.”

“It may appear complex to you, and upon analyzing Earth Alliance tech, I see why you would think this to be a monumental task, but I assure you it wasn’t so hard.”

Cedric laughed.

“I don’t find this funny,” said Yanis. “Why are you laughing?”

“You know why; he just called our tech ‘weak,’ but he did it so politely that you can’t help but like the dude, right?”

Yanis shot daggers at Cedric.

“Or not…”

“Did I do something wrong?” inquired Kvasir.

Cedric came next to him and clapped him on the back.

“No dude; you rock! Ignore Yanis; he usually likes coming up with the solution that saves the day. You stole his thunder, and he’s not used to that.”

“Cedric!” shouted Yanis.

“Alright, alright. I’ll stop teasing you.”

Yanis returned his gaze to Kvasir. “Did you sleep at all?”

“No. Even though I had most of what I needed thanks to salvaging this piece from the destroyer, adapting it to suit our needs was a little tricky.”

“A little? I’m still unsure how you did that. Mind sharing with us?”

“It’s a little complicated. It’s probably best you check the blueprints I’ve left on the computer in your spare time; from what I’ve gathered, this is an extremely critical project.”

“What about sleep? You must be tired.”

“I’m alright; Asgardians can go without sleep for a few days before we need to rest.”

“Lucky you,” said Yanis, yawning. “Very well, then I guess we can forego the holo-presentation I had prepared on the subject. I— I’m sorry, I’m still baffled about how you knew how to tackle this problem?”

“Asgardian power generation is very advanced. And while the Victory is impressive in that regard, it has an inefficient design at the basic level of your components. Your power nodes use only matter to function. Ours use anti-matter and inter-dimensional bridges to draw energy from more than one source. Since I worked on the machine in which Aphroditis was trapped, I know this sort of tech very well. All I needed to do was to find a way to take large amounts of energy, stabilize the power flow, and invert the polarity of the field generated; in this case, generating a white hole instead of a black one.”

Yanis blinked quickly multiple times. Cedric laid a hand on his shoulder.

“That’s okay if you don’t understand, you know? I’m not sure I got all of that ‘dumbing down’ myself. He’s smarter than the both of us; that’s okay, too.”

Yanis gently took Cedric’s hand and removed it from his shoulder.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Cedric. I don’t care about that. In fact, I’m happy that we’re one step closer to achieving our goal.”

“You may want to tell that to your face then,” said Cedric with a chuckle.

* * *

“Are you certain that’s what you want to do, Chase?” said Emperor Altair.

Chase’s face filled the Emperor’s holo-screen.

“Yes. We don’t have a choice; we can’t only react to this war, and with the latest development, I feel we don’t have the luxury of morality anymore, either. With this new foe added into the mix, we have to make sure we have enough ships ready for the final assault, and to protect ourselves should this Spectre have more of those spider ships.”

“I’ve reviewed the sensor logs and reports on those; they’re impressive, to say the least.”

“They are, and we don’t even know how many the Spectre has under his command. I know how you feel about this, Altair; believe me, I do. But that’s one of the calls that needs to be made, and I’m making this an order.”

“Very well, Chase; we’ll take the Gorgar home world by force if we have to. Thank you for sending reinforcements.”

“That’s only a handful of ships, and I doubt those are enough for a full-scale assault on the planet. Use Argos’ tech and just order them to comply. We do this for them as much as we do it for the rest of the sentient species out there. Perhaps they’ll hate us, but we can no longer worry about that.”

Altair didn’t like it. This was precisely the kind of decision that he was accustomed to doing in the past within his empire. The end justifying the means logic. The needs of the many and all that. But having heard Chase describe their new foe, he understood why Chase was ordering them to do this. Altair had no problem following orders, and even if they weren’t entirely aligned with his own moral compass, he knew that Chase wasn’t taking this issue lightly. At the end of the day, Chase would take responsibility for whatever consequences arose from his orders. Altair had no idea what they could be; he just hoped Chase could live with them.

“Understood, Admiral.”

Altair could tell Chase understood why he had addressed him by rank this time. A subtle yet unequivocal way of underlining the fact that the emperor was okay following an order, even if he partially disagreed with it.

“Thank you, Altair. Chase out.”

The holo-screen turned off, and Altair reflected on their conversation. He had his hands joined in front of his mouth, pondering.

After a few minutes of deep thinking, he pressed a control on his desk’s holo-console, which opened an audio channel.

“Altair to Ryonna; can you please join me in my ready room?”

“On my way,” answered Ryonna.

* * *

Chase, Menelas, Chris, and Argos left the turbo lift just as the ship exited hyperspace on orbit to Earth.

They walked to the center of the Victory’s bridge. Chase sat next to Sarah.

“Let’s scan the planet’s core,” he proposed.

“You won’t detect anything,” said Menelas.

“Let’s focus the scans at maximum resolution; I’m still curious to know if a deep scan would have revealed anything.”

The tactical officer keyed commands on his holo-console. Then showed the results of the scan on the main holo-viewer.

“Readings are inconclusive,” said the tactical officer. “We can’t seem to penetrate a small area that is dead center in the planet’s core.”

“That’s one impressive hiding place,” commented Argos.

“I’m glad you think so,” said Menelas.

“How does the transport sequence work?” asked Chase.

“I’ve been implanted with a small tracker; the facility inside the core will detect it and beam everyone in.”

Chase got up.

“Or I could teleport us in,” proposed Chase.

“No, that would trigger the intruder alert, beam the ships into space, and they would scatter in different corners of the universe.”

“We sure don’t want that to happen,” commented Chris.

“No, we don’t,” said Menelas.

He walked toward the tactical officer and keyed a few commands on the crew member’s console before returning to the center of the bridge.

“Hit transmit on my mark,” said Menelas.

The tactical officer nodded.

“It’s time.”

“Wanna come?” Chris asked Sarah. “You saw yourself piloting one of the ships in your vision.”

Daniel entered the bridge and hurried toward his friends.

“Permission to take the conn?”

Sarah shot her son a look. “Your doing?”

“I thought you’d like to come with us.”

Sarah smiled, got up from the captain’s chair, and gestured Daniel to take her place.

“You have the conn,” she said.

Daniel smiled and nodded. “Have fun.”

Once Sarah and the others all touched Menelas’ arm, orange scanlines traveled through their bodies, and they were beamed off the bridge.

3

Spiros tried to regain control of the stolen ship, but his wireless access had been completely cut off. A strong tractor beam grabbed the ship and brought it toward the dreadnought.

“We’ve got to get free of that tractor beam, or we’re toast,” exclaimed Spiros.

“According to these readings,” said Gaia, “I don’t see how that is going to happen. That tractor beam’s power is simply too strong. Even if we managed to boost the thrusters beyond their limits, it wouldn’t make the slightest difference.”

Spiros hit the console with his fist, slightly cracking the glass layer.

“Anger is not going to help in this case, either,” said Gaia.

Spiros knew he was responsible for their current predicament. And if they didn’t find a way to get out of there, they’d both be dead within minutes; if they were lucky. Otherwise they could be in for hours or days of torture at the hands of that Morgor smuggler; a prospect Spiros couldn’t even fathom. No doubt he’d kill them anyway. No, they needed to get the hell out of there, and fast.

“Never mind my anger. What about jump engines?” he proposed.

“I’ve already tried; the ship’s computer isn’t letting me jump. It says the ship will be destroyed if we do.”

“We wouldn’t want tha—” but Spiros paused. “Uh…can you disable the safety protocols?”

“I can’t; committing suicide goes against the main protocols you’ve defined for the mission.”

“I’m not trying to get us killed; well, that’s not my objective anyway. But I do have an idea. It’s a long shot at best, but since I don’t want either of us to end up as lunch for a Kryon, whatever the hell that is, we may have to take it.”

Spiros checked the cargo and located the cloning biomaterials. He then initiated a full ship scan of Morgor’s dreadnought. The ship’s shields were still activated, but they probably would have to lower them the moment Spiros’ borrowed ship approached a cargo bay. It took some fancy on-the-fly hacking, but Spiros managed to penetrate the shields with his scanner. He calculated the time until the tractor beam would bring them inside the ship, which gave them less than two minutes to execute his plan.

He locked onto the biomaterials and programmed the computer to automatically beam both the selected cargo and them to one of the empty cargo bays. The computer complained that trying to beam living tissue through a shielded ship would most likely result in the death of the beamed lifeforms.

“I’m not sure we should be doing this,” commented Gaia. “Perhaps I can overpower whomever they send to get us out of the ship.”

Spiros had thought about that, but the sheer size of Morgor’s ship told Spiros that he had a large crew, and no matter how deadly Gaia’s combat sub-routines were, she was still made of flesh and bones and not reinforced quadrinium alloy like her old avatar body.

One stray blaster shot to the head or the chest could kill her. It was too risky. Stealth and a crazy plan had more chance of succeeding.

“I know what I’m doing.”

Spiros was fully aware of the irony of the statement; after all, it was his ideas and plans that had gotten them into this mess in the first place. That and the pitiful maintenance level of Argos’ base. Spiros made a mental note to reprimand the Fury if they survived this.

“Very well, Spiros. It seems to me there is a higher chance we won’t survive the next few minutes. Therefore, I just wanted to thank you for bringing me along and letting me experience all of this.”

“We’re not dead yet; and please, don’t jinx us.”

Spiros checked the time. They only had fifteen seconds before their ship would be delivered to the cargo bay. The dreadnought ship opened part of its shield to allow their ship in.

Well, let’s hope that the beaming tech doesn’t need more than a hole in the ship, or we’re toast.

Spiros activated a delayed hyperspace jump and hovered his finger on the beaming macro while looking straight at Gaia.

“Here goes nothing,” he said as he activated the command.

* * *

Lights came to life the moment the team beamed inside the facility.

Chase and his friends were standing on solid metal floor panels that reflected the light source around them.

“This place is bigger than I expected,” said Chris.

Chase looked around himself; the place was indeed massive, more than he expected it to be, too.

“How can the power source for this place last ten thousand years?”

“They are actually power cells, which is why the place is so massive, as they needed to accumulate and hold power for the facility for as long as it would be required. The power cells are fueled by the planet’s core itself.”

“Impressive,” said Argos.

“I don’t see the ships,” noted Sarah.

“That’s also a security feature; one that I didn’t put into place,” Menelas answered.

“What do you mean?” inquired Chase.

“You see, you don’t choose the ships, they choose you.”

“What do you mean, they choose you?” echoed Argos.

“The main component of the soul ships are its pilots. They have to have the right energy, and the right attitude, too. The ships won’t fly if just anyone tries. The ships are capable of being moved from one place to another, but they won’t deliver their extraordinary firepower unless they themselves choose their pilots.”

“But that would mean that they’re somewhat alive or at least sentient?” said Argos. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“They are both of those things, Argos. Their circuitry is a mix of silicon, carbon, and what can only be described as a biomaterial nervous system. They’re a hybrid between machine and living creature. The symbiosis you form with the ship might go beyond anything you have experienced before, or so I’ve been told by the ships’ former pilots.”

“What happened to them?” inquired Sarah.

“I have no idea; I was on Erevos when they flew the ships last, ten thousand years ago.”

“So, it’s possible they flew the ships back here themselves?” asked Sarah.

“Probably, or the ships flew back on their own if they lost their pilot, like I programmed them to do,” said Menelas.

“Interesting; what happens if the ships don’t choose us?”

“Then I’m afraid there is no way to make the machine work properly. It will only activate if at least four of the five ships have chosen pilots.”

“I thought there were only four ships?” said Chase. “Sarah had a vision, which showed only four.”

Menelas went to the nearest console and keyed a few commands. “Well, it looks like her vision might become true. One of the ships seems to be damaged; it’s been deactivated.”

“Can it be repaired?” asked Argos.

“Its self-repairing system hasn’t managed to. Beyond that, we’d need one hell of an engineer to achieve that. The computer reports a main component is missing, without it the ship can’t function”

“But could you pilot one of the ships?” asked Argos. “Say, if we managed to repair it.”

“None of the ships chose me the first time around; I don’t see why they would this time.”

“Why didn’t a ship choose you?” asked Chris.

“I’m not certain, but I believe the pilot has to have certain genetic characteristics as well as the capacity to muster a certain level of inner power in order to be chosen.”

“That’s where I’m a little fuzzy,” said Argos. “What does it have to do with power levels?”

“The ships are able to channel their pilot’s inner pools of energy, which is why only a few races can pilot them. Furies, Olympians, and a few rare others, most of whom were wiped out during the first Fury War. Which of you wants to try it first?”

Chris stepped in. “I’d like to go first.”

Chase smiled.

“Then step over here,” said Menelas pointing to an open area of the complex where there was a luminous white circle on the floor. “Step into the circle and, if you’re meant to be a pilot, a soul ship will choose you.”

“Neat,” said Chris as he walked to the open area.

* * *

Before Chris entered the circle, Menelas put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“What happens next is like nothing you may have experienced before; just let it happen, okay? Don’t resist and trust that the ship isn’t your enemy.”

Chris frowned. “What’s going to happen?”

“Well, if the ship chooses you, you’ll see. Just don’t step outside of the circle; if you refuse the ship, it might not want you as its pilot. The pilot-merging ritual needs to happen on the ship’s terms; it will test your courage, sense your fears, then decide if you’re a worthy pilot.”

Chris smiled and flashed his grandfather a thumbs up. “Okay, thanks for the warning.”

“Good luck, Chris,” said Menelas.

Chris turned around and looked into Chase’s eyes. Chase nodded.

Good luck, son, said Chase telepathically.

Thanks, Dad.

You can do it, added Argos.

But Chris was still a little disappointed with his uncle’s attitude back on board the Victory and decided not to answer him.

He advanced forward and stepped inside the circle. The light on the floor intensified as a loud humming noise surrounded everyone. It sounded like something massive was spinning. Further away, lights illuminated areas that were previously plunged into darkness, and Chris saw what was making all the noise.

There was a circular wall nearby, and it was spinning. Every few hundred yards inside the wall, a dark glass window could be seen. There were five of them, which Chris assumed were the chambers where the ships resided. They were pretty large.

The entire complex trembled as the circular wall kept spinning. Chris started to worry. The spinning wall kept accelerating with no sign of slowing down. Then, after a few minutes, the rotating sound attenuated and the wall stopped abruptly. One of the glass chambers aligned in front of Chris. The glass flashed for less than a second, and Chris thought he saw the outline of a starfighter but then it was gone.

He swallowed hard.

I hope this is a good sign, he thought.

Remember, said Menelas in his mind, don’t get out of the circle; just let it happen.

The glass flashed again, and a sphere of white energy emerged, casting an intense white light all around. It reflected so brightly on the dark glass that Chris had to squint his eyes to keep looking at it.

The sphere of energy erratically changed form for a few seconds, taking nondescript shapes, and then reformed into a random blob of energy. Then it morphed into an oversized tiger made of white light. It took a few steps toward Chris, stopped, and roared.

Let it happen, Chris reminded himself.

The energy tiger darted toward Chris, who had to stay focused on doing nothing, even though his instincts screamed to either dodge or punch the tiger to smithereens.

The tiger entered Chris’ body, and he felt a foreign energy inside himself. When he wanted to vocalize how weird the sensation felt, Chris roared instead.

“Chris!” shouted Sarah. “Chase, we have to help him.”

Menelas waved a hand. “No, no; don’t intervene. This is normal; I promise Chris will be okay.”

“You’d better be right about that,” warned Chase, flexing both his hands into strong fists.

The energy left Chris’ body and was now green-tinged and still in the shape of a tiger. The tiger nonchalantly walked away from Chris. The circle around Chris turned green, as did the light around the dark glass window. As the energy tiger walked to it, the glass, acting as a door, lifted from the ground, revealing a magnificent starfighter. It was similar in size as a StarFury but looked more like a living, organic ship than the hard-edged, cold hulls of the fighters of the Earth Alliance fleet.

The energy tiger dissolved into a million small green specks of light and re-integrated into the ship. The canopy opened as lights from the cockpit’s controls came to life.

“What do I do now?” shouted Chris, still in the center of the circle.

“The ship has chosen you; now you go on board and take your first flight,” answered Menelas.

“How will I know how to pilot it?”

“The ship reads your thoughts; it will know what you need it to do and will take the best course of action to achieve whatever goal you give it. It may take a few minutes for the ship to adjust to you, just as it may take a moment for you to adjust to the ship.”

“Awesome,” said Chris as he started running toward his new starfighter.

He somersaulted and spun in the air and landed in the cockpit. The moment he did, a strong green light lit around the edge of the cockpit as the canopy lowered and sealed into place. The engines hummed to life, and the ship rose from the metallic floor and floated forward.

Chris could see all eyes were on him and his new ship, and he could tell from their expressions that they had never seen anything like it.

I’m the spirit of the tiger, and I’m your soul ship, said a voice inside Chris’ mind.

“Wicked! My ship talks!”

The female voice then resonated inside the cockpit.

“Are you ready for your first flight, pilot?”

“I am, but you can call me Chris. What’s your name?”

“Very well, Chris. You can call me Tigris.”

High inside the complex, a circle-shaped orange force field appeared out of nowhere, and before Chris could ask what it was, Tigris flew the ship through it. One second they were in the base, the next second the ship emerged into space in orbit around the Earth.

4

After beaming out, Spiros quickly checked himself, patting his legs and touching his face.

“That felt weird; I don’t like the idea of being de-molecularized and reassembled. Are you alright?” he asked Gaia.

“I’m perfectly fine. I would think as a scientist you would trust technology, such as transporters.”

“It’s not a tech the Star Alliance had used. Since the battle with Argos’ forces on Earth, the humans have developed a crude version of it. We haven’t streamlined its deployment on all the ships yet, since there wasn’t much time to do so with us fighting one battle after another. Because the Earth Alliance version hasn’t been widely used to transport living beings, I guess I have a distrust of the tech in general.”

Spiros could tell Gaia was lost from the way she gazed at him with empty eyes. Without context, she wouldn’t be able to sympathize with Spiros’ rambling one way or another. Ever since Gaia had told him she remembered her old body, Spiros had wondered if interacting with her more as he did with the old Gaia would trigger something in her matrix. Right now he didn’t know if that would be a good thing or bad thing, but his instincts told him that having the fully fledged Gaia at his side would be beneficial. Perhaps it wasn’t his instincts talking but just his heart.

“But— Never mind that,” he added.

“What are we going to do next? What’s your plan?”

“First and foremost: survive, which should be easier now that we’re away from prying eyes and a flesh-hungry welcome committee.”

The simple thought of being devoured by Morgor’s Kryon turned Spiros’ stomach.

“That might not last for too long, though,” Spiros continued. “They probably detected the transporter signatures. Give me a second while I secure full access to the ship’s systems.”

Spiros twisted his head around trying to get his bearings and then invoked scans of the ship’s schematics he had uploaded to his mental implant a split second before beaming out. They had been beamed precisely where Spiros had hoped, in a remote area of the ship, inside a mostly empty cargo bay except for some crates piled in a corner.

He then ran a quick check of the surrounding systems and managed to find low priority system vulnerabilities that allowed him to link with the dreadnought’s central computer core. The next part of the hack would be paramount; he needed to make sure he wouldn’t get kicked out of the computer’s system. He mentally wrote stealth procedures to ensure the processes he would run would appear to be system generated and masquerade as normal ship operations. That would allow him to spoof logs and hopefully stay undetected should someone be trying to locate him inside the computer systems.

Spiros encrypted his newly created user with a polymorphic algorithm that even he couldn’t break. With the safety protocols in place, he should be able to gain access to many of the ship’s systems without triggering any alarms, and it would be protected from any of the ship’s crew from manually deleting it.

Spiros closed his eyes while doing these mental hacks, and as he reopened them, he noticed Gaia had disappeared. His heart thumped and skipped a beat, but then Gaia emerged from behind a crate with a large metallic pipe in her hand.

“What’s that?”

“I’ve been looking for something to defend ourselves with since you said we could have visitors soon. You seemed deep in thought, so I thought it was a good time for me to try and obtain a weapon, but I’m afraid this is all I could find.”

“That’s alright; I just need a couple of minutes to locate where they took our ship and the biomaterials. Hopefully, they haven’t figured out we’re missing yet.”

When loud footsteps and shouts could be heard outside the cargo bay, Gaia grabbed Spiros and forced him into cover behind a large crate as the doors opened, revealing three men armed to the teeth.

* * *

Ryonna sat opposite Emperor Altair in his ready room.

“What is it you need me to do, Emperor?”

“I’ve received orders from Chase to take back the Gorgar world, by force, if necessary.”

Ryonna’s eyebrows furrowed.

“That doesn’t sound like him, but since I happen to agree, I’m not even going to question his motives. Has their mission to Erevos been successful?”

“Depends on how one defines the word, I suppose. They achieved their main objectives, but Oryn has been killed. Chase and everyone else are lucky to have survived the mission.”

“They fought Arakan?”

“Not exactly; Oryn killed Arakan,” said Altair.

Ryonna twitched.

“Then something took possession of his body, and the power from that being was, and is, like nothing we’ve seen before, as Chase described it. In fact, Chase feels unprepared to battle that creature again.”

Ryonna knew full well what that meant. If Chase felt unprepared then who in the universe could fight and defeat this new foe? As for Oryn’s passing, she hadn’t had many interactions with the Fury Olympian hybrid, and while she imagined her loss had saddened Chase, Ryonna was fully aware of the price people pay in times of war. Her world had been the target of Furies not once, but twice, with billions of Droxians killed as a result.

Part of her wished she had been present to fight Arakan, but as proud as she was, she knew that was the type of adversary she had virtually no chance to defeat, no matter how much she wanted to. At least he had paid the ultimate price for the massacres he had brought upon her home world.

“Okay, so we have a new enemy, stronger than anything we’ve encountered before, and we need the Gorgar’s help to start building ships, I take it?”

“That’s about the gist of it, yes.”

“So, let me get back to my original question, Emperor. What do you need me to do?”

“Use Argos’ device to force the Gorgar into compliance by locking in a new command. I need you to do this on the down-low, and this time with as much stealth as possible. That’s why I think sending you solo is probably safer for everyone involved. You’ll have a transmitter to call for an evac, should you need one.”

Ryonna couldn’t blame the Emperor for that last point. She had been anything but subtle the last time they went to the surface of the planet, and if it hadn’t been for the Emperor’s courage and crazy tactics, Ryonna and her friends would have perished. Ryonna had learned from that mistake.

“When do I leave?”

Emperor Altair handed her a holo-pad.

“Whenever you’re ready. But first, take a look at this. It isn’t much, but hopefully, it will help you determine your entry point and tactics. Here is all the information we have on the planet, scans, schematics, and where we think their queen could be located.”

“Why do you think I need to know the location of the queen? By sending the new mental command and locking it in place, I will override her orders.”

“Normally, I would agree, but in the very short time between our visits, the planet has dramatically changed, including their political structure, from a multi-queen government to a dictatorship, and from working ants to soldiers armed to the teeth. I’m not sure that anything is as it seems and you’d better be prepared for some improvisation on this one. We’ll keep repairing the fleet, and hopefully, we can provide support from orbit should things go awry and we need to take the world by force. Though, I’d like to avoid this no matter how adamant Chase was on the matter.”

“What about Tar’Lock and Keera?”

“You could take them, but I think it’s best Tar’Lock stays out of it; I don’t doubt his allegiance to Earth Alliance, but your— Keera’s report mentioned that in your previous visit you encountered a direct member of his family.”

“We did; his sister.”

“That could complicate things, plus I might have a mission for Keera.”

“What mission?”

“Following Chase’s request, we’ve been trying to contact Spiros Malayianis, but he’s not responding. Do you think Keera is up to investigating and finding out what’s going on with him?”

“Keera is a capable bounty hunter; she has the required skills to get to Spiros and get him out of trouble if need be. As for Tar’Lock, I think I can convince him to go with Keera.”

“Unless you’d like him to come with you to the planet.”

As much as she appreciated the little guy, Ryonna knew that he could become a liability on this mission. Not only would he question what they were about to do, and probably with good reason, but he could endanger the outcome. And, if he decided to split mid-mission, there was nothing Ryonna could do about it, especially since Tar’Lock’s super speed could prove dangerous.

“I’ll talk with Tar’Lock, but let’s go ahead and assign him to the mission with Keera. How many super-suits do we have on board?”

“Just the one. And I’m making it an order that you take it; this mission is paramount and could win us the war. I know that you would give the suit to either Keera or Tar’Lock given a choice, so I’m removing that choice from the equation.”

Now that she no longer wanted to kill the Emperor, Ryonna could appreciate what an astute and level-headed being he was. Ryonna made a mental note to learn from her mistake in judging him for the sins of his past. From now on she would give people the benefit of the doubt, as Emperor Altair has shown that one could change for the better.

Did that mean Ryonna had to try and forgive Argos and try to get along with their new ally? The thought disgusted her, but then again, slaying the hologram version of the Fury in the holo-room had released some of her pent-up anger and helped her better focus her aggressive feelings.

“Understood; I’ll take the super-suit.”

* * *

Chris felt exhilarated. Flying the soul ship in space was like nothing he had experienced before. The ship made a direct link with his mind, and all he needed to do was think about what he wanted to do, and the ship would obey without delay. It was similar to how the Earth Alliance incorporated a mental component, which allowed them to remotely control StarFuries, but the big difference with the soul ships was how Chris not only controlled the ship with his thoughts, but in doing so, he could feel the ship’s status, as well as its state of mind. It was clear the onboard AI was very advanced, perhaps as advanced as Gaia herself.

“Well, thank you,” said Tigris.

And there it was, the ship had sensed his thoughts and answered. There was a symbiosis in piloting Tigris that was absent in remote controlling StarFuries.

Is everything okay, Son? asked Chase mentally.

Perfect, Dad. This ship is something else. You gotta get into yours and experience it for yourself.

Argos is making contact with his ship at the moment. I imagine he’ll join you in space shortly. Gotta go; I’m next.

Another soul ship transported into space not too far from Chris, and it looked different from his. Although clearly of a similar build and design, with both ships looking organic in nature and shape, Chris’ had green overtones, while Argos’ had red ones, resulting in a more aggressive looking cockpit.

“What’s your ship’s name and animal?” asked Chris.

“Its animal spirit is a snake, and its name is Python. It won’t shut up, though.”

“It’s trying to bond with you; it’s an important part of the process. My ship was vocal too, at first, but it learned to read my thoughts, and I sense hers. We now communicate mostly via an exchange of thoughts rather than speech, so give it a few minutes; I’m sure you’ll get used to that as well.”

“In the meantime, and while we wait for your father, what do you say we test the ships in a dogfight?”

“I’m all for it, but we need to make sure they have a training setting first.”

“Training mode engaged,” said Tigris.

“Never mind, my ship just entered it,” said Chris.

“So did mine. Apparently, it will register hits on our instruments, but no real damage will be inflicted.”

“This sounds like fun.”

“It does; ready?”

“I was born ready!” cheered Chris.

* * *

Chase was only half-surprised when the sphere of white energy morphed into a flame-colored dragon and started dancing around him. It reminded him of a weapon he had used to bring down the Titan protecting the stone Argos needed to make the inter-dimensional machine function. And Aphroditis’ sacrifice.

Aphroditis…Chase hated not being able to grant her wish of passing away. Perhaps it was cruel of him to have put her in suspended animation. But Chase wasn’t yet ready to let his aunt die; not when both he and Argos were responsible for the state she was in. They both needed to find a way to atone for that. While letting her die would grant her wish, Chase preferred exploring other options, which might have to wait until they dealt with the Furies first.

Part of Chase wished Aphroditis were here to guide him.

The dragon roared and darted back into the ship and, soon after, Chase was in space aboard his fighter, feeling a link between the ship and himself. In fact, Chase felt he was powering the ship with his own energy.

“You are, in a way,” said a voice inside the cockpit. “I’m Drakos, your soul ship.”

“I’m Chase.”

“That’s not the name given to you at birth, pilot,” protested Drakos.

How did the ship know that? And why did it care?

“What is it to you?”

“To establish a perfect mental and biological link with you, I need to call you by your true name.”

“My true name is Laiyos,” said Chase, hesitantly.

“I can feel you’re not happy with that name. It’s a good warrior name; you should wear it proudly.”

“Fat chance of that happening.”

“Let’s go with the next best thing then; a pilot’s call sign, perhaps?”

“Can I choose my own?”

“No, as your ship I will choose one that rings true and possesses the essence of your actual name. Your mind is in turmoil; I can feel it. You mean well, and you have a high sense of morality and indomitable courage. These elements are factored into your call sign. Henceforth, I’ll address you as Dragonheart.

Dragonheart?

Chase chuckled. He didn’t feel like being called Laiyos, that was for sure, and the Dragonheart call sign seemed to suit him as if he had chosen it himself.

“Your fellow pilots are engaged in a combat simulation. Would you like to join them? Should I activate training mode?” asked Drakos.

“They aren’t just my fellow pilots; they’re my family. Yes, activate training mode, but…”

Chase could feel he no longer needed to talk with the ship or the ship with him, and he could sense that Drakos knew that he would wait for Sarah before testing the ship’s combat capabilities.

And, sure enough, the last soul ship teleported into view.

“This thing is wicked!” exclaimed Sarah through the comms. “You’re never gonna guess what my soul ship spirit animal is?”

“If I had to guess…I’d say a Phoenix.”

There was a moment of silence followed by a sigh.

“You’re a buzz kill. How the hell did you know?”

“Well, it seems the ship senses something in us and assigns a spirit animal, be it real or mythological, that closely corresponds to our nature.”

“So, the animal spirits are provided based on the pilot’s thoughts and not preprogrammed into the fighters? How do you explain it, though?”

“Think about it; Phoenix is the call sign you had selected for yourself as a US Navy pilot. With what had happened with Argos and you dying and coming back to life…”

Three simulated hits smashed into Chase’s port shields. Chase realized Sarah had engaged him in training mode. He smiled.

“Oh, it’s like that,” he said before putting his fighter into evasive action.

Soon, Chase and Sarah were engaged in combat. The last time they had fought against one another in this fashion had been at the very beginning of their journey. The nostalgia helped Chase feel better.

Chase also noticed he had a much harder time acquiring a lock and scoring hits on Sarah’s ship. She had always been a very skilled pilot, but her focus seemed better than ever before. Chase wondered if her growing Fury powers were helping her fly the ship with more proficiency.

“And what does the ship call you, flyboy?” asked Sarah.

“Dragonheart.”

“Heart of a dragon, hmm…I can see that.”

“I like your version better.”

“Yeah, but that would make for a lousy and rather long mouthful for a call sign. I mean, can you imagine yourself saying: ‘Heart of the Dragon to the fleet, open fire’.”

Chase chuckled. “Good point, but I still like it.”

“Now that I said it out loud, it’s not that bad. But call signs should be short and sweet, Admiral Dragonheart.”

They both laughed.

“Your flying is impeccable by the way,” commented Chase.

“It always was,” said Sarah in a slightly sharp tone.

“Yes, that’s what I meant. I didn’t mean to imply⁠—”

“Relax, Chase. I’m just giving you a hard time. As a matter of fact, I have noticed that my focus is sharper and fiercer. Maybe it’s the Fury powers, and maybe it’s the connection with the ship. Have you noticed how much stronger the mental link is and more reactive than the neuronal interface was on the StarFuries?”

“Like night and day; it’s like the ship knows you better than you know yourself and anticipates thoughts even before they’re fully formed.”

“Exactly! I can’t wait to do my first kills onboard this ship.”

An alarm resonated inside Chase’s mind and the ship telepathically let him know that it detected an enemy fleet on its ultra-long-range sensors.”

“Uh, Chase,” Sarah inquired.

“I’ve received the same warning. I wonder if your ship didn’t look for a fight from your comment and then synced it with the rest of your thoughts.”

Chris joined in the conversation.

“Guys, my ship informed me about three Fury destroyers.”

“Mine, too,” added Argos.

“We all got the alert,” said Sarah. “The enemy fleet is in a part of space they had shown no interest in up until now. Should we check it out?”

Chase wondered if they should indeed check the new capabilities of their starfighters, but three Fury destroyers packed a lot of firepower, and they would be carrying multiple squadrons of fighters each.

Before Chase could voice his concerns, the ship displayed mission success odds on his mentally projected HUD. It also overlaid a tactical map and potential attack approaches, and most scenarios resulted in an eighty-five percent chance or higher of success.

“I was worried about the lack of firepower to engage such a strong force without reinforcements, but…”

“Yep, it looks like we could handle our own against the fleet; how strong are these starfighters?” added Chris.

“I guess we’re about to find out,” said Argos. “And from what Menelas told us, it draws power from us, so I’d imagine that’s what makes them so powerful. Shall we set a course?”

Before anyone could answer, all the ships synced their destination coordinates, and the four soul ships entered hyperspace.

5

Ever since taking control over Arakan’s body, Tanak’Vor felt even more sick and impure for having to merge his DNA with that of a lesser species. But it had become unavoidable, after witnessing in frustration how the Supreme Commander was making one poor decision after another.

At least Arakan had killed Zeus and most of the Olympians, which was one less race the Spectres would have to deal with in the future. But before the rest of his people could enter the impure dimension and cleanse it, Tanak’Vor had to remove the Ultra Furies from the equation and get rid of the Earth Alliance in the process.

While their technology was far behind those of the races inhabiting Tanak’Vor’s dimension, they still had managed to adapt quickly to the Shadow’s spider ship that had been trapped with him when Erevos rematerialized.

Tanak’Vor sat on what was now, for all intents and purposes, his throne. At the very least, he wouldn’t need to use a large amount of energy to project a holographic image of Arakan as he had in the past when he dispatched orders to Arakan’s generals.

He had masqueraded as the supreme commander for a while now in order to build his own fleet of ships, making sure a destroyer or two went missing from each delivery and assembling fleets he would later control at the right time. And that time had come.

He had already sent one fleet to Thanos Five. Tanak’Vor would do things differently, unlike Arakan, who had only been interested in destroying everything and everyone who stood in front of his Fury delusions of grandeur. Once the space defense around that world fell, he would enslave the population, use their resources, and have them build more ships for him, which would enable him to crush any resistance.

It was time to get the other fleet commanders in line and make sure they were ready to do the same on other distant worlds. Arakan had been obsessed with going after the stronger races; the Droxians, the Asgardians, and the Olympians. Tanak’Vor would not repeat this mistake. He would divide and conquer the rest of the universe little by little, with superior forces applied against worlds which could not defend themselves and weren’t part of any alliance.

Each new world that fell would provide an increasingly larger slave workforce that would allow the Spectre to build himself an empire that Arakan could never have dreamed of in both scope and sheer power.

A control near the armrest of the throne bleeped. Tanak’Vor answered an incoming transmission from the fleet commander he had sent to Thanos Five.

“Report, Fleet Commander Gar’hek.”

“Supreme Commander Arakan,” said the Fury with a bow, “it’s a pleasure to see you, as always. You…” the Fury hesitated. “You look different somehow, is everything alright?”

Fleet Commander Gar’hek hadn’t been the first to notice the physical differences now that Tanak’Vor was in control of Arakan’s body. But he was the supreme commander, and his minions would believe anything he told them without question.

“The battle with the intruders on Erevos has left me with many scars and permanent deformities, but fret not Commander, I’m stronger than ever.”

“That’s good to hear, Supreme Commander. The fleet is engaged with the enemy; as you predicted their pathetic forces are no match for three of our brand new destroyers. They keep sending ships from the surface in a desperate attempt to bring us down, but some ships don’t even have weapons, and they’re just trying to ram us.”

Tanak’Vor thought that was brave, if futile. He gave the many races in this dimension credit, though. Even when faced with insurmountable odds, there would always be some that rose to the challenge and were ready to die for what they believed in. Was it courage that motivated these pathetic beings? Or mere desperation?

In any case, that was a trait he had witnessed multiple times while here, and that’s why he had to make sure that those who actually had substantial power, like the Ultra Furies, were eliminated.

“At this point,” continued Gar’hek, “most of their heavy military craft have been taken care of or disabled when possible, as per your directive. What are we to do with their ships once we capture their crew?”

“We either enslave the crews or turn them to serve us, repurpose their ships, and add them to our fleets. Whenever possible, we upgrade their technology with our own.”

“Understood, master.”

“Anything else to report?”

“Our long-range sensors have detected four small ships approaching our position, probably more people desperate to try and protect their world. We’ll deal with them like we’re dealing with the others. I should have control of Thanos Five within the hour.”

“Very well, Fleet Commander. Keep me posted.”

Gar’hek saluted, and the holo-communication turned off.

* * *

Damn; they came in faster than I had hoped, thought Spiros.

“Perhaps if we stay quiet,” whispered Spiros, covering his mouth with a cupped hand to direct the faint sound of his voice to the side, but Gaia was already in the wind.

He sighed. I hate when she does that.

When Spiros timidly tilted his head from cover, Gaia was making her move. In a fluid motion, she knocked the lights out on one of the guards by violently smashing her elbow into the man’s face just before throwing the spinning metal pipe at the second guard as he turned around. It struck the man’s head with a sickening crunch as the pipe splintered his skull like a porcelain vase. He fell to the floor like a log.

When the third guard was about to shoot Gaia, Spiros screamed.

“Watch out!”

That distracted the guard, and he readjusted his aim and fired dangerously close to Spiros’ head, which was sticking out from cover. The metal finish of the crate near his face turned orange-red.

This gave Gaia enough time to disarm the man with a circling kick and prevent him from firing another shot. He went for a knife and madly slashed it at Gaia. But she easily dodged the man’s attack and grabbed his hand. Before he could react, she swiftly twisted and broke his arm, acquiring her foe’s weapon as he screamed from the pain.

What followed didn’t help Spiros’ already queasy stomach. Gaia thrust the man’s knife under his chin and sent it through his head, smacking his mouth shut and stopping him from screaming. She broke his neck for good measure, and the guard was dead before his body collapsed on the cold, hard floor.

She pulled the knife out as the guard fell, and before Spiros could tell her to stop, she sent the blade flying down into the first, unconscious guard’s heart. Spiros watched in horror as the body jerked and the man stopped breathing shortly after that.

Spiros inched his way out of cover from behind the crates.

“Was that absolut—” Spiros started complaining.

He stopped when she shushed him, a finger pressed against her lips.

“Was that necessary?” he whispered. “Are there more of them?”

Gaia turned her head, and Spiros could tell she was listening for more footsteps. After a couple of seconds, she answered him.

“I think we’re clear for the moment. These people have no scruples and will kill us without hesitation if given a chance. I know you’d like me to kill as little as possible, but I think given the new parameters of my mission, I should be more lethal from now on, that is, if we want to raise the odds of us getting out of here alive.”

As much as Spiros wanted to argue, he knew in his heart that Gaia was right.

“Fine, fair enough. Should we hide the bodies? Need a hand?”

“Sure,” said Gaia.

She grabbed two of them and dragged their bodies to the crates where Spiros had been hiding earlier, leaving a trail of blood behind.

When Spiros bent to grab the last guard, he felt an intense pain travel through his entire body and fell to the floor next to the guard.

Gaia ran to his side.

“What’s wrong? Are you injured?”

“You could say that,” said Spiros painfully through gritted teeth, “it’s just my cloned body failing me. We don’t have much time until it craps out on me and…”

Spiros couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. Pretty soon this body would die, and he would die with it. They needed to get the biomaterials back and be on their way, ASAP. He had died once already and wasn’t keen on repeating the experience.

“What can I do to help?” inquired Gaia with more worry than she ought to.

There was something odd about how she seemed to be experiencing more feelings now than when he originally activated her basic AI functions for this mission. Spiros had seen the worry in her eyes and felt it in her voice when she ran to his side.

“Just help me finish our mission, and let’s get the hell out of here and back to our lab, or better yet, let’s go back to the fleet if we can.”

Spiros now regretted leaving the Hope. He thought that going away and isolating himself with Gaia would help him get things done faster, but looking back at the unfortunate events that had happened since, perhaps the universe was trying to tell him that he needed his friends.

* * *

Tar’Lock clicked furiously from the copilot chair aboard Keera’s ship.

“I don’t like this! Why are we splitting up?” he shouted.

“Because Ryonna asked that we trust her and do what she asked of us without second-guessing or asking unnecessary questions, which you seem intent on doing, nonetheless.”

“I don’t like this!”

“You’ve said that already.”

Tar’Lock clicked some more. “Well, that’s how much it bothers me.”

And I’m starting to understand a little better why Ryonna punched your lights out so many times in the past.

“Look, we have a mission, and we have to check on Spiros.”

“He’s a big boy; who says he needs our help?”

Keera made a tight fist and shot daggers at her insectoid friend. He looked down and saw her tensed hand.

His eyes grew wide. “You wouldn’t dare?”

“Why don’t you go back to the sleeping quarters and try to get some rest, so we don’t have to find out.”

“Some friend you are,” said Tar’Lock as he was leaving the cockpit.

Keera felt a little sorry for the guy, knowing he was just very worried about Ryonna, as was she, since her Droxian friend let her in on the details of her new mission. Not to mention she had insisted on Tar’Lock being kept out of the loop. She could sense he suspected that one of the reasons they had split into two teams was so that Ryonna could go into danger without having to look over her shoulder and protect him. Then again, he had saved her life on their last mission.

Ryonna’s assignment required stealth and a willingness to infiltrate enemy territory with as much lethal force as required. Something Tar’Lock would have undoubtedly been against.

Keera’s fleeting thoughts were called back to the here and now when her console bleeped multiple times to indicate that her long-range sensors detected an Earth Alliance probe transmitting a distress call.

The holo-message was from Spiros. He explained his precarious situation in detail, and the urgency in his voice didn’t bode well at all.

They were not currently headed toward the origin of the message, so Keera dropped out of hyperspace, entered the new vector, then re-entered hyperspace. The new coordinates would shave off a few hours of travel.

Keera hoped she could get to them in good time. Those two had been through a lot lately, and the last thing they needed was to get themselves into more trouble than they already were.

* * *

Ryonna hid behind a building when a couple of Gorgar guards passed nearby. The closer she got to her target, the more activity and sentries she encountered.

She was only a few minutes away from her destination, though. Thanks to one of Altair’s engineer hacking Gorgar satellites, she was getting real-time intel. It showed that the area was teeming with Gorgar and was the perfect spot to deploy the mental command. She grabbed the device and attached it to her right temple.

The command to order the Gorgar to help the Earth Alliance had been pre-programmed before she left for her mission. While they could have just found a less populated area to spread the command and let it act like a computer virus, it may not spread fast enough.

Ryonna knew full well that if the Furies returned and managed to undo the programming, it would result in catastrophic consequences. She activated her tactical holo-glasses and confirmed her destination. She plotted a course inside the building to encounter as little resistance as possible.

Ryonna worried that she was taking too much time to get to her target. She was already running an hour behind because she had taken a stealthy approach, as instructed by the Emperor. She found that stealth infiltration tested her patience as she was used to brute-force rather than finesse, and part of her just wanted to sprint toward the destination and get rid of anyone in her way.

But the Emperor had put his faith in her and, after all he had done to prove himself to her, she felt she owed him that much. She shook her head when she thought she felt a warm sensation in her heart while thinking of Altair.

What the hell? That can’t be.

She pushed her thoughts to the side and entered the building, moving forward but always trying to stay in the shadows. It wasn’t simple for someone of Ryonna’s stature to not make noise when she needed to react fast and rush to cover.

Even though she tried pushing them away, her previous thoughts and feelings lingered, eroding her focus and suddenly she came face to face with a Gorgar female.

The insectoid’s eyes grew wide, and Ryonna grabbed her head and snapped her neck before she could scream.

“Sorry, little one,” she whispered as she hid the body under a stairwell.

Ryonna slapped herself.

Focus!

Ryonna was used to taking lives, but she didn’t like killing noncombatants. She had no idea if the dispatched Gorgar was military or just an innocent bystander. Ryonna’s instinct screamed for her to take action. Although the insectoid might not have raised an alarm, that was not guaranteed. She could not afford the time to tie up or otherwise incapacitate every Gorgar she encountered; any delay could jeopardize the entire mission.

That was the problem with war. It required its foot soldiers to make tough calls, and possibly take the lives of innocents in the process. There was simply no margin for error in these missions. That didn’t mean it was easy, no matter how many people Ryonna had killed, even before meeting Chase.

She was no longer a fugitive from the Obsidian Empire, nor did the empire view her or the rest of the Droxians as an enemy. Ryonna’s heart ached thinking of her home world. Both Fury attacks had been devastating, and even though the Earth Alliance had been providing manpower and resources so her people could rebuild their ravaged world, the planet was still in chaos.

In her last communication with Ronan, he said that the inhabitants were still in shock from both attacks. Part of her wanted to go home, to be with her son and help her people rebuild. But she owed Chase her life many times over, and she would help him in his quest to cleanse the Fury plague from the universe.

Soon enough, Ryonna arrived at her destination. Behind the last door was the large auditorium room that she had been sent to. A scan from her holo-glasses revealed no less than ten thousand Gorgars to be inside.

Entering was too risky so, instead, she brought up the holo-interface from the mental control device and prepared to activate the command when the door in front of her started moving.

She gracefully hid behind it as a Gorgar male exited. She brought her silenced blaster to bear and pointed toward the Gorgar’s head.

Just keep going; don’t turn back.

The Gorgar stopped after a few paces, and Ryonna held her breath. When he turned around, she didn’t hesitate and burned a hole between his eyes.

Dammit!

Carrying her second victim, she had to trace back her steps and find a way to hide the body. She tried activating the command as she was disposing of him but received an error message on her mental HUD.

Interference from strong electromagnetic shielding. Cannot send command.

She had not expected this turn of events, especially after so many hours of tiresome stealthy approach. She checked her holo-wrist device and ran another scan to try and pinpoint the location of the interference.

It came from a room located under the main podium; one she could, according to her map, access without entering the large auditorium. This played well in her favor; a large Droxian inside a super-suit trying to merge into a Gorgar crowd was not going to happen, no matter how poor the lighting conditions were.

Noticing that no other life-signs appeared to be on the underground level where she needed to go, she activated the super-speed function of her suit and ran almost as fast as Tar’Lock could.

6

When the soul ships exited hyperspace, the Fury super-destroyers were engaged with a multitude of smaller ships, which didn’t stand a chance of defending themselves nor did it look like they could do any damage.

While the Earth Alliance had been catching up regarding firepower, Fury technology was very advanced and only a few races in the universe could take on their massive, powerful ships.

A single Fury destroyer detached from formation and vectored toward the soul ships. The destroyer launched a multitude of starfighters making it appear like a swarm of locusts.

“Alright,” said Chase to everyone. “Let’s see what our new ships can do; I propose we deal with the starfighters first, see how they fare in dogfights, and see how strong their shields are.”

“We’d better stay out of firing range from their carrier,” added Sarah.

“For the time being,” added Argos.

“Agree with Uncle,” said Chris. “I have a feeling the ships can take it.”

“Well,” said Chase. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

It didn’t take long for the darkness of space to fill with red laser fire.

Chase barely had to think about what to do, the ship just knew. It was beyond just a mental link; it was a perfect symbiosis. Chase dodged almost every incoming laser fire with ease, and the few that managed to hit his shields didn’t drain them in the slightest.

Multiple enemy craft entered firing range and just by looking at them through his viewport Drakos was able to lock onto them and fire instantly. A single purple laser hit causing the enemy’s shields to drop as the next one blew it out of the sky. Before Chase could cheer, he saw a second explosion and noticed two more of the ships he was going to engage disappear.

“This is unbelievable!” he celebrated.

“These ships are something else,” said Sarah. “I don’t ever want to get back into a StarFury.”

Argos communicated telepathically with Chase.

If you had had these ships when I first came to Earth, our first engagement would have ended right there, and this war would never have happened.

You can’t think like that, Argos. It’s because of the war that we found these ships, and our parents, in fact. And even though a little over a year ago all I wanted was to see you dead, now I couldn’t imagine a world without my brother in it.

Chase felt an intense burst of emotions from Argos, as he dodged three incoming missiles and peered toward five more starfighters, envisioning them destroyed; after that Drakos took over and sent the ships straight to hell.

And let’s not forget, Brother, added Chase, that the soul ship chose you, which to me proves that what happened, happened for a reason; it was meant to be. I hate the idea of preordained events and the whole concept of destiny. I don’t like the idea of not being in control of my own life, but I’m forced to admit, with everything that has occurred, that sometimes things happen for a reason. So, you should release that burden you’re carrying around with you. You’re one of us now, and I trust you with my life.

Chase could feel that Argos had trouble answering.

You…You have no idea what this means to me; thanks, Brother.

Chase remembered in the past telling Argos never to call him that, but now he was glad he did.

Chris’ ship passed in front of Chase’s and destroyed an entire squadron of Fury starfighters in the blink of an eye.

“That’s it, then, we’re winning this war easily now,” cheered Chris.

Argos dispatched a squadron of his own.

“Let’s not celebrate just yet,” he said. “Check your pool of energy, Chris. Yes, the ships are amazing, but they do use a lot of our power, and while I doubt we’ll have trouble taking care of this fleet, it might be different with a larger one.”

Chase checked his pool of energy and felt he had lost a good ten percent. He had been so enthralled by what the ship could do that he hadn’t felt his energy being siphoned away.

“Argos is right,” he conceded. “But that only confirms that we need to train in that time-dilated room Yanis and company are working on; if we manage to train for years while only a few days pass outside of the room, we may increase our pools of energy enough that we could take on any sized fleet.”

“May I point out that while you near, pure-born Furies seem to be having a blast, I have lost more than half of my energy, and I feel quite tired already,” added Sarah.

“Then perhaps you should let us deal with the rest of the ships,” proposed Chase.

“I’ll be fine, but I might take it a little easy and just cover you guys.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a wise thing to do.”

Chase could tell Chris was worried. Not long after, he voiced his concerns directly into Chase’s mind.

That’s not good; perhaps we shouldn’t let mom fly one of the ships. I don’t want her to get hurt.

Neither do I, Son. But your mom is not made of glass, she won’t accept stepping down, and even if we wanted her to step down, we can’t afford that. All four ships are needed to take down Erevos, and your mom saw herself in that future vision, so we know she will be there piloting her ship.

What about training?

What about it?

While we don’t know how slow I may be aging now, I still have a quarter of Olympian blood in me. Does that make me immortal like you and Uncle? I have no idea, but I would bet it may help slow down my aging. Mom, however…

The words hit Chase fully, and his heart sank. If they were to train for years, those would be years of Sarah’s life that she would lose, forever. He hadn’t thought of that.

If I may make a suggestion, said Drakos. Now may not be the best time to think about and discuss these things. The more I have to pilot for you when you’re distracted, the more energy is consumed.

The ship acted as his conscience and helped him focus on the task at hand. Fighting in a starfighter had always been a personal, if not sometimes lonely, affair, but now, with the artificial mind of Drakos bonded with his, Chase felt like he had a copilot with him.

We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, thought Chase. Right now we have a fleet to destroy.

Chris chuckled over the mental link.

Your ship told you to stop screwing around and get back into the fight, didn’t it?

Not in so many words, but yes. I take it yours did as well.

Indeed, and pretty much in those exact words.

Then let’s do what the ships want; we’re here to test them after all, not to worry about the future.

Chase addressed everyone.

“We now know the enemy starfighters don’t pose a shadow of a threat to soul ships, even with fifty against one; let’s see how they fare against Fury super-destroyers.”

“Gladly,” said Argos.

They vectored toward the nearest destroyer while the other two destroyers were adjusting their headings to intercept them.

Chase was the first to strike; he focused all his mental energy on taking down the destroyer’s shields; a continuous beam of purple plasma shot from his fighter and impacted with the Fury destroyer. It drained the shields in a matter of seconds, but Chase felt a severe depletion of his energy while it did so.

The moment the shields were down, Drakos stopped firing.

What the hell? Why did you stop firing?

The plasma is very effective against shields, but as you sensed, it’s also very draining for you. The next attack will also be costly regarding energy, but not nearly as much as the weapon would have been.

Chase’s fighter was engulfed in a dragon-shaped, purple aura, and it accelerated beyond any sub-light speeds he was accustomed to on a StarFury. The dragon form around Chase’s ship opened its mouth as it pierced through, and devoured, the Fury super-destroyer at its center. The enemy ship broke in half, its decks exposed to the atmosphere as crewmen were sucked out to space and flash-frozen.

Seconds later, twin explosions vaporized both halves of the destroyer.

“Holy shit!” exclaimed Chris.

Chase checked his pool of energy and noticed he was already down to less than half, but taking down that destroyer had been as simple as just willing it.

“You can say that again,” said Argos as he set his ship on course toward the next destroyer.

His starfighter, engulfed in a red snake aura, shot toward the Fury destroyer much like a furious comet while shooting a continuous red plasma beam, making short change of the target’s shields. Arriving at its destination, the ship twirled around the super-destroyer. The aura-snake wrapped itself around the ship several times and started constricting its prey. The result was devastating, as a cascade of bright explosions lit the sky obliterating the destroyer.

The last destroyer turned tail and was about to open a hyperspace window when Tigris transformed into a roaring green tiger. It produced a shockwave that struck the Fury super-destroyer, overloading its engines, and destabilizing the nearly formed hyperspace window. Orange lightning bolts shot from the vanishing hyperspace window and arced against the Fury destroyer, taking down its shields and creating multiple small hull explosions that disabled the ship.

Tigris slashed its gigantic claw as it vectored toward its prey. It tore the Fury destroyer to pieces and sent it straight to hell in a satisfying display of firework explosions and green-tinged flames.

“Wow,” said Sarah, “now I kinda regret proposing to stay behind and providing cover you obviously didn’t need.”

“Well, there were only three destroyers, anyway,” answered Chris with a chuckle.

“Do you guys also feel exhilarated?” asked Argos. “And a massive drain in energy levels?”

“Yep,” said Chris.

“Same here, but yeah, I never thought anything could do that much damage and take out a Fury super-destroyer with such ease, but let’s not get cocky. The energy cost to our bodies is significant, and we’d be hard-pressed to think we can win every battle this way. Let’s not forget that the next time we go to Erevos, taking care of ships might not be our main focus.”

“Agreed,” said Sarah. “And I’d like to point out that Spectre Arakan still has forces at his disposal. I doubt those were his last ships.”

“Probably not,” said Chase.

“Chase is correct,” added Argos. “We may have to fight Spectre Arakan soon and using half of our powers to take out super-destroyers in such a fashion will not be an option. We do need to train and gain more power, that much is certain, and we have to focus on making sure Spectre Arakan is dealt with once and for all.”

Chase reacted to Argos’ comment, feeling a sense of dread as a shiver ran through his entire body like someone had stepped over his grave. He felt deeply that this war would still see its fair share of sacrifices and pain before it was over.

There’s nothing you can do about it, said Drakos. Just walk the path and do the best you can.

That didn’t alleviate Chase's concerns, but with the absence of Ares, he enjoyed the strong bound that he was forging with Drakos.

“Let’s get back to the barn,” proposed Argos. “We need to start training as soon as possible.”

“That sounds like fun,” said Chris cheerfully, even though Chase could tell he still felt concerned about his mother.

“Setting a course for the Victory,” said Chase.

All four soul ships entered the same hyperspace window and vanished from the orbit of Thanos Five, leaving behind a solemn and burning graveyard of flying Fury debris.

* * *

Spiros and Gaia had been carefully advancing inside Morgor’s ship, trying to reach the landing bay where Spiros hoped they could get away by stealing a ship, preferably something fast.

He would need to get the tractor beam offline to make a clean escape. Spiros remembered that Chase had once jumped from inside a ship, though the fact that the Iron Fire was exploding when that happened might be the reason that particular maneuver had worked.

One thing was certain; Spiros didn’t want to overstay his welcome. The more time passed, the more his dread grew, fearing they wouldn’t manage to get back to the lab in time.

He pushed his thoughts aside as they hit a snag. They had reached a cul-de-sac even though the schematics told him there was a corridor behind what was clearly a solid wall. At least it looked like one.

Were the schematics obsolete or had some renovations been done? He wondered.

“What do we do now?” inquired Gaia.

“Gimme a sec.”

Spiros glanced around to determine how much time it would take to retrace their steps and find a detour or another way to the landing bay. He grimaced when he realized it would result in a half hour diversion, unless they took a more direct approach and risked encountering guards along the way. His sensors were already showing a rise in life-sign activity.

By now, Morgor and his crew had ransacked the transport and realized that Spiros and Gaia must have beamed away before being captured. That meant the more time passed, the higher the chances of them being discovered and caught.

That left them with few choices, and when Gaia took a panel off a nearby wall, Spiros realized that she had arrived at the same conclusion.

“Let’s use the Jefferies tube.”

Spiros hated closed environments, and it reminded him of his time on Damocles-3 when every day for months he had to crawl into tubes, hide in false-flooring, and hide in the most inconspicuous and usually uncomfortable places.

Right now they had little choice, so after a long sigh, he gestured toward her.

“After you.”

Gaia grabbed the wall ladder and climbed out of view. Spiros followed her and quickly realized why he should have gone first. Looking at Gaia’s perfect form was not only distracting, but it also aroused him.

Stop it! Now is not the time for this, he told himself.

Soon, they arrived at a junction and had to crawl into an even smaller space, inside a ventilation shaft.

According to the schematics, they only needed to proceed for one hundred feet, and then they could exit the shaft on the other side of the wall that blocked their way earlier.

Spiros heard eerie metallic clicking echoing behind him. He turned his head, a difficult endeavor in such a tight space, and immediately regretted his decision of checking what originated the sound when he saw a spider drone emerge from the ventilation shaft and walk toward him.

“We’ve got company,” he said, accelerating his pace even though he was still looking back, his eyes glued to the spider.

When he felt his shoulder impact something soft in front of him, he turned his head back and landed his nose right in between Gaia’s legs who had stopped advancing. Spiros instinctively retracted his head. His entire face turned red.

“That was a strange sensation,” said Gaia.

Spiros swallowed hard.

“Here,” she added as she handed him a blaster. “Shoot the thing.”

“I hate spiders.”

“It’s just a drone, probably a maintenance one. The spider shape allows it to easily crawl where it’s difficult for a life form to do so. But we don’t want it reporting our presence here. You’re in my way, so you’ll have to shoot it.”

While usually Spiros would continue to complain, he was just happy Gaia didn’t seem focused on his faux pas of burying his nose in her crotch. The simple thought aroused him even more.

He grabbed the blaster.

“I’ve set it to a lower setting, no need to attract too much attention,” said Gaia.

“Good thinking.”

Spiros painfully turned around and put himself on his back to line the shot. Gaia was right about the spider drone being a maintenance one as it was scanning one of the side panels, which gave Spiros the time he needed to aim.

“What’s wrong with your pants?” asked Gaia.

Spiros’ heartbeat accelerated. He looked down and saw that his pants protruded a little.

“Nothing’s wrong! Can you please look away, I’m no sharpshooter and knowing you’re looking at me might make me miss.”

Gaia did as he instructed, and Spiros took a deep breath before realigning his aim. The spider drone had started cutting through the paneling it had scanned earlier, making it an easy mark.

Spiros shot it dead on, and the spider was propelled backward, falling on its back as lightning bolts sizzled over its body. The spider’s jerking legs gave Spiros the creeps.

He handed the blaster back to Gaia when suddenly everything around them turned red, and an alarm wailed.

“Crap!”

Before they could get out of the ventilation shaft, gas quickly filled the space.

“Don’t breathe,” said Spiros.

But Gaia had already collapsed.

Fuck!

Spiros squeezed around her, grabbed her hand, and tried dragging her forward, but he couldn’t see anything. The more effort he put into the task, the more difficult it became to move forward, his lungs burning from lack of air. When the pain became too intense, he had to breathe, and his mind turned black in a matter of seconds.

7

Chase stood outside the door for several minutes, contemplating, then pressed his finger to the doorbell control.

Menelas answered and smiled.

“Please come in, Chase.”

Chase stepped into his father’s quarters on the Victory. They had only been back aboard for less than an hour when Sarah had insisted that he visit his father and have a long, much-needed talk.

He had argued that now was not the time, but she had won that fight. Chase felt disconnected and estranged from Menelas. And part of him blamed Menelas for everything that had happened and all the lives lost. Sure, Argos had been the recipient of Chase’s anger at the beginning of his journey, but his father had helped make sure the Furies weren’t killed ten thousand years ago.

That was something Chase had trouble accepting. Nonetheless, as Sarah pointed out, Menelas deserved the same chance he had given his once evil brother.

“I’m glad you came to see me,” said Menelas. “I hear your first soul ship flight was a busy one.”

“It was, but I’m glad it happened. We at least know their capabilities, which makes me wonder why they weren’t used to win the first Fury War. It seems like such powerful ships could have helped defeat the Furies.”

“You’re not wasting any time getting to the questions I feel are boiling at the surface of your mind. But I guess I can understand that. First of all, I’m sorry for everything you and your brother had to go through. I know I’ve played a major role in that and if I knew things would turn out that way…”

But Menelas didn’t finish his train of thought.

Chase could relate; if he had known things beforehand, he also would have acted differently. In fact, it was probably a quintessential part of life to look back at what could have been if past decisions had been addressed differently.

“I— I wish I could say I don’t blame you. But you’re my father, and while I don’t feel a bond between us, at least not at the moment, I’m hoping we can form one.”

“I understand, Chase, and I need you to know that nothing would please me more. Now, about the ships and your previous question. You must have noticed how taxing they are on your system.”

“That I have; in fact, I think I’ll take a cycle in a regen tank later.”

“Yes, and you are an Ultra Fury, a level of Fury warrior Erevos has never seen before. You’re literally the stuff of legends, Chase. Both you, Argos, and Chris are the evolution of our race.”

“I don’t know about evolution; I think what gives us our powers is our Olympian genes.”

“I don’t dispute that, but who is to say this wasn’t meant to happen. The legend of Ultra Fury runs deep in our culture. It was prophesized long before the first Fury War.”

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at?”

“That even with your level of power, using the soul ships is costly for you, so imagine what it would do to someone with only a fraction of your powers.”

Chase hadn’t thought of that.

“Could the previous pilots have…?”

“Died? It’s a possibility. I was already in Arakan’s cell when the planet shifted to the other dimension, so I don’t know what happened to them. Perhaps now that you formed a bond with your ship, you could ask it.”

That was something else Chase hadn’t thought of.

“That’s a good idea.”

“So, the short answer to your question is that no previous pilot had the necessary power to wield them as a war weapon. Even if Zeus hadn’t asked us to spare the Furies, I’m not sure the former pilots could have managed to make the weapon work.”

“What makes you think that? Is it a hunch or is your comment based on facts?”

“A little of both. Back then, I was the one tasked to get Kvasir to modify the weapon. While I’m no slouch with technology, I usually tended to ignore his ramblings about the weapon. In those times, I was more preoccupied with finding a safe hiding place for the two of you. But I remember him saying something about the weapon when he modified it, and that the power output from the test flight logs made it doubtful that the ships could work with their current pilots.”

Again, the concept of destiny washed over Chase. If what his father told him were true, then it solidified the belief that everything that had happened was for a reason. Chase made a mental note to see his aunt later. He hadn’t checked on her since she was put in suspended animation.

“So, Argos and I are effectively ten thousand years old?”

“You’d have to ask Argos; he told me you only possess a limited set of memories. And he wasn’t keen on telling me much about his past, something about not liking who he was before the two of you fought and you almost killed him.”

That’s ironic, thought Chase. He had been the one that didn’t want to know about his past, at least not until this war was over. But it seemed Argos now felt the same, except he had to deal with his past, his decisions, and his conscience.

By not knowing, Chase was shielding himself from all of that so he could focus on accomplishing the task he had promised Aphroditis. And now that she was at death’s door, Chase would not break that promise. Even if part of him longed to know who he once was.

“In his shoes, I’d also be reluctant. It feels weird to think that perhaps I’m missing so many memories. Maybe even ten thousand years worth.”

“Perhaps not. For your own protection, I left you both in suspended animation. I obviously have no idea for how long and what happened after that.”

“Then perhaps when this is all over, we can all talk about it.”

“I’d like that.”

“One more question, how many Furies defected back then? Or were you the only one.”

“Only a handful; why?”

“Were they the former pilots?”

“Only my best friend was one of them. The other four pilots were of different races.”

Interesting…

“Which races?”

“One was Asgardian, one an Olympian, and one a Dragonmen of Kyrian.”

“Argos once mentioned them to me. Wasn’t their world lost long before the first war?”

Menelas nodded. “Only a few thousand of them escaped the destruction of their world. Or so history says. Legend has it that they’ve been in hiding ever since, regrouping and growing their numbers for a time when they might be needed again. At least that is what the Dragonman pilot told me.”

“Another prophecy?”

“Perhaps, but each race in the universe has their legends and prophecies. As for the pilot, Askanor, he wasn’t exactly a chatty guy.”

“But he must have been a powerful being to be chosen as a pilot.”

“Yes, at the height of the first Fury War, and after Zeus lost Zalara, he knew that Olympians alone wouldn’t manage to take down the Furies. Back then we weren’t just a one-planet world. The Furies controlled more than half of the galaxy.”

“I thought they were killing anything and anyone they considered inferior to them?”

“No, that was Arakan’s agenda. His father was a much smarter man than Arakan ever was. The Furies would force defeated worlds to work for them. When they refused, yes, they were wiped out, and their worlds, territories, and resources were given as the spoils of the war to other races willing to do anything to survive, even as a slave race to the Furies.”

“So the war didn’t end after the soul ships trapped Erevos in the alternate dimension?”

Menelas smiled. “I asked your mother that same question the other day. Remember, I wasn’t there either.”

“Right. What did she say?”

“That it took the alliance many years to clean up the mess and hunt down every surviving Fury. Something I expected them to do in case the plan worked.”

“Is that why you kept us in suspended animation?”

Menelas frowned and his gaze turned cold. “I knew there was a chance I could get killed during the last mission and not return. If that was the case, I needed to make sure I hid you well and for as long as needed so you could survive. The last thing I wanted was to know that if I perished, you’d be hunted down and executed.”

Chase sighed heavily. “That’s intense, and it must not have been easy for you.”

“No, it wasn’t. And up until recently, I never thought I’d see you again; in fact, I had no idea that you or your brother were alive.”

Chase could feel the pain and suffering his father had had to go through while being held captive on Erevos. Knowing all of this helped Chase soften his conflicted emotions toward him.

“But if we survived, perhaps other Furies have too?”

“It’s a possibility but, according to Athena, the cleansing process was ruthless, and even decades later, the simple mention of a Fury would have bounty hunters and assassins from all allied worlds rally to hunt down even a single one. Perhaps a handful of them managed to stay under the radar, but I would imagine they died of old age a long time ago.”

“Thank you for answering my questions. I appreciate it.”

“Anything for you, Chase. Do you mind if we talk a little longer; I’d also love to know more about you, that is, what you remember of your life.”

“Sure.”

* * *

Getting into the basement facility, where the interference was coming from, had been easy. Ryonna had to hack the security panel in front of the blast doors protecting the place. Once inside, she checked the systems, but the room was built like a bunker and doubled as a server room.

Due to the sheer amount of equipment, it took some time to sift through and find the right console. When cheers could be heard from the auditorium above, Ryonna brought up a security camera holo-feed and decided to display not only the cameras outside the server room but also to keep an eye on what was happening inside the auditorium.

She holo-projected the video feeds around the console where she was working. Ryonna saw the back of what she assumed was the queen who was addressing the people in the audience.

“We’ve had an incursion of intruders in the past few days, and we need to take a stand against those who want to enslave us. First, the Fury exploited our people for months until so-called saviors came on our planet and liberated us, only to later return with ill-intentions.”

Ill-intentions? Give me a break, you freaking ungrateful bitch. If it weren’t for us, you’d still be building ships for the Furies, totally unaware you were being used as a slave force.

Ryonna focused on finding access to the equipment that generated interference, trying to block out the propaganda the queen was spewing to her people. But, eventually, after several minutes listening to how they needed to protect their world and drive invaders away, Ryonna had a nagging feeling that she knew that voice, like she had heard it before.

She brought up the camera controls on her holo-console and tried finding another angle so she could see the queen’s face. Once she found a good angle and zoomed in on the queen, her heart thundered and skipped a beat. The Gorgar queen was none other than Tar’Lock’s sister.

“What the hell?”

Ryonna remembered that his sister was the one that received the new memory upgrade beta pill that Argos had manufactured for Tar’Lock and his people. This probably gave her an advantage over her entire race and could explain her rise to power.

Had she shared that tech with the rest of the Gorgars? That was doubtful, and Ryonna would, in fact, bet that it was the one thing that made her superior to every other Gorgar on the planet.

That sneaky little bitch.

Seeing the transformations that happened on the planet in a short amount of time, Ryonna was confident that Tar’Sian had decided to take over the planet. Was that an accidental side effect from Argos’ beta tech, or had it been intentional?

Ryonna brushed that last thought away, as much as she still despised the Fury, he was clearly on their side, and Chase trusted him implicitly. At the end of the day what mattered was why Tar’Sian would decide to take over the planet and proclaim herself as the queen.

Her mission brief had included the possibility of having to assassinate the queen, if necessary, and that prospect didn’t enchant her. How could she take the life of her best friend’s sister? Then again, Ryonna would do whatever was necessary to accomplish her mission.

But if she accomplished her primary objective and sent a new mental command that would align the Gorgar with Earth Alliance interests, maybe it wouldn’t even be needed to consider the assassination scenario.

Something Tar’Sian said caught Ryonna’s attention.

“I firmly believe that the only way our people can ever be free is by preemptively striking at the Earth Alliance.”

“What?” exclaimed Ryonna.

Strike that last thought; you may be going down after all.

Ryonna couldn’t believe her ears. Whatever had gone wrong with Tar’Lock’s sister had apparently given her not only a boosted ego but also a thirst for power and that seemed like a highly dangerous mix when one person commanded an army of trillions of potential enemies.

The ramifications were huge with the Gorgar abilities to build ships very fast. With their sheer numbers, they could very quickly overrun the entire universe. Ryonna accessed the camera controls once more, recorded the last five minutes of video, encrypted it, and sent it to the Emperor’s ship via the subspace transmitter built into her super-suit.

Ryonna went back to work and finally located the source of the interference, which was controlled by a server in the very room she was in. She located the server in row thirteen. Unsurprisingly, that particular quantum server was under lock and key with a biometric identification holo-cam.

Before she could check if there was any other entry point to access the server, the biometric scanner activated. Lights in the room turned red, an alarm wailed, and lightning bolts shot from a nearby wall sending Ryonna crashing twenty feet away. She was unconscious even before her body hit the ground. Smoke rose from where the electricity-based weapon had impacted her super-suit.

Emperor Altair’s voice resonated from inside the helmet, “Ryonna, come in. Ryonna? Do you read me? Please respond!”

* * *

Gaia’s head hurt as if a nail was being rammed through it. She blinked her eyes multiple times until she could recover some of her vision. The first thing she saw was Spiros floating in the air, both arms and legs attached to hover-cuffs. The devices exerted electromagnetic fields causing their prisoner to float and prevented Spiros from moving his limbs.

“Spiros,” she whispered with a weak voice.

She tried moving toward him, only to realize she was also being held in hover-cuffs. The realization brought fear to the surface and adrenaline shot through her body, waking the rest of her senses quickly.

She struggled and tried applying more force to her arms, only to be rewarded with jolts of electricity dispatched by the hover-cuffs.

“Finally, you’re awake,” said a sadistic voice from the shadows.

“Who’s there?” asked Gaia. “Show yourself.”

A growl resonated in the room and two red eyes glowed in the dark. As the four-legged creature emerged into the light, Gaia wished she hadn’t been so curious. The creature’s teeth were razor sharp and dark yellow. It continued to growl, and the color of its eyes intensified.

Gaia swallowed hard.

“What— what’s going on?” said Spiros as he blinked his eyes open.

“Good,” said a throaty voice. “You’re both awake.”

An enormous humanoid with rust-colored skin and boils all over his face stepped into view. He caressed the top of the creature’s head. Its spike-shaped fur gave the creature an even more menacing appearance.

“What is this?” inquired Gaia. “Let us go!”

Gaia caught Spiros’ look and saw the fear in his eyes. The man and the creature must have been Morgor and that Kryon beast he told Gaia about earlier.

If the Kryon was already a scary creature, the madness in Morgor’s eyes was even worse. He maniacally laughed, and Gaia was surprised to feel an emotional feedback from it. Fear. She was unaware of that feeling and didn’t quite know how to deal with it except she wanted to be somewhere else right now. Somewhere safe.

“That’s not happening, I’m afraid,” said Morgor with a sadistic smile. “First, you’ll tell me everything I want to know, and if I’m satisfied with the answers, I might consider ending your lives quickly before MooMoo here gets his dinner. You don’t want to still be alive when he rips through your flesh, trust me.”

Fear turned to panic. Gaia was overloaded with new sensory inputs she wasn’t accustomed to and didn’t understand what was happening to her. The experience was extremely unpleasant, and she wanted it to stop.

“Please, don’t hurt her,” pleaded Spiros. “I’m the one you want. She has nothing to do with this.”

“And, yet, she’s been found with you on my ship, my stolen ship, and nobody steals from Morgor and lives to tell the tale.”

Gaia scanned the dimly lit room now that her eyes had fully adjusted. On a table behind Morgor was her blaster. If only she could get free and get to it.

“Look, I’m sorry for stealing from you,” said Spiros. “I had no idea the ship belonged to you. I’m part of the Earth Alliance, and I’m sure if you contact them, they’ll be more than happy to compensate you for your troubles.”

“I don’t care about your Alliance, and now that I recovered my ship, I don’t need compensation other than your flesh. MooMoo is hungry; I can tell.”

The beast looked like a cross between a large dog and a panther. He growled and licked his dirty teeth.

“Then feed me to your pet, but please, I implore you, let her go.”

“Do you take me for a fool?” shouted Morgor, his voice resonating in the room. “I’ve seen the video logs from my ship; she is the one that killed and incapacitated many of my men.”

“That’s right, I’ve killed them, and unless you let us go, you’ll suffer the same fate,” said Gaia with as much confidence as she could muster.

Morgor laughed. “Is that so?”

“Don’t listen to her,” insisted Spiros. “The gas has made her delirious, just please, I beg you, I’ll give you anything you want if you let her go.”

Morgor looked at his pet. “What do you think MooMoo, should we make a deal with them?”

MooMoo growled and roared. Spit shot from his mouth and landed on Gaia’s leg. It burned through the fabric of her clothes first, then through her skin. The pain was intense, and Gaia had to refrain from screaming.

“Oh yeah, my MooMoo here has acidic glands in his mouth, which allows him to easily digest his prey. And it doesn’t look like he’s in the mood for negotiating with you.”

The Kryon drooled, each drop making a sizzling sound as it hit the ground, with smoke rising from its point of impact.

Morgor took a dried blood-stained blade from his back as he approached her. Gaia noticed the blade was so dirty that barely any light reflected on it.

“If I didn’t love MooMoo so much, I’d be inclined to taste you myself. You look delicious. Let’s see what color your blood is.”

“No! Stop!” screamed Spiros.

MooMoo jumped in front of him and spat on his stomach. Spiros screamed as the acid burned through his skin.

“You may want to keep quiet. The more you open your trap, the more you’ll suffer.”

Tears filled Spiros’ eyes as Gaia’s heart pounded so hard it felt like it wanted to burst out of her chest. Terror overtook her, and she started trembling. His putrid breath was the worst odor Gaia had ever experienced.

“You don’t seem so tough now, do you? Who are you working for?”

“We’ve told you, the Earth Alliance.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“That’s your prerogative, but that doesn’t make it less true.”

“Oh, a smart ass; you’ll soon discover sarcasm is not something I’ll reward.”

Morgor put the tip of his blade on Gaia’s cheek and slid the knife downward. A red line grew on her face, and a single streak of blood ran down her cheek. Gaia felt the pain, but it was less intense than the Kryon’s acid spit.

“We’re telling you the truth; we’re from the Earth Alliance. They’ll come looking for us, and you may want to rethink your next moves.”

“Was that a threat? You’re in no position to tell me what to do. I’ve managed to stay ahead of the Obsidian Empire for years; I’m not worried about the Earth Alliance.”

“You should be worried about its leader, Chase. A half-Fury half-Olympian hybrid, he could kill you with a single thought.”

“Furies are dead.”

“Where have you been this past year?” protested Spiros. “The Furies are back, and the Earth Alliance is all that stands between them and us, and that includes you!”

Morgor swiftly turned his head toward Spiros.

“Shut up!” he screamed.

“For the love of gods, listen to us,” added Spiros.

Before he could say more, Morgor growled, spun, and planted his knife in Spiros’ stomach.

“I said shut the fuck up!”

As MooMoo barked and growled, something inside Gaia’s head snapped. She roared from the bottom of her lungs.

“Nooooooooo!”

8

Chase woke early and went to cargo bay eleven as requested by Yanis. When he entered, he was surprised by the amount of tech and gear that filled most of the bay.

“You guys have been busy,” he said.

“Hello, boss,” replied Yanis.

“Good to see you, Chase,” added Cedric with a two-finger salute.

“Admiral,” said Kvasir with a nod.

“Hello, everyone. Are we ready to test the chamber?”

“We are,” said Yanis. “Well, we think we are, anyway.”

“Isn’t doing this extremely dangerous if you haven’t covered all your bases?” Chase inquired. “I take it a black hole could just rip through the ship.”

“Well, that’s why we jumped all night and got as much distance from Earth and the fleet as we could. Plus, we’re fairly certain our polarity engine will instantly turn your black hole into a white hole,” said Yanis.

“Not that this would be any better, should we lose containment,” added Cedric.

“There are thousands of souls on this ship, guys. What are your contingencies if things don’t go as planned?”

“Well, that’s why Thor agreed to lend us an Asgardian ship,” said Kvasir. “If we lose containment, or if things turn sour, the captain of the Svalinn will beam the entire crew of the Victory onto his ship, and, if necessary, destroy the Victory.”

Chase’s eyes widened. “So, let me get this straight, your contingency plan is to blow up my brand new ship? You can’t be serious? We need the Victory; she’s the first of her kind.”

“And the only ship in the fleet capable of crunching the power requirements for this mad science experiment,” said Cedric. “It’s her or nothing in this scenario; we either use the Victory or forget about the whole thing.”

“There are more ships being built and she can be replaced, should we need to,” added Yanis. “But, I’m sure we won’t have to; we’ve triple-checked everything, every simulation we’ve run shows that this will work. The only unknown element is whether or not you’ll be able to create the anomaly.”

Chase also wondered how that would work. He understood the main concept behind the way the tech would work, and by beaming parts of space into the ship Chase could replicate what he did against Miseo’s ship. But that required him to access his survival instincts. Could he replicate that without his life and that of his friends on the line?

“I sure hope you have a backup plan in case I can’t do this.”

“We’d probably figure it out, but if you can’t create a black hole today, your time-training facility could take longer,” said Yanis. “But, I’m sure you can do it, boss.”

Cedric gave Chase a wide smile and thumbs up.

“No pressure, then. When do we start?”

“It’s really up to you; what about Argos, Chris, and Sarah? I thought they’d be here for this?” said Yanis.

The cargo bay doors opened as Argos, Chris, and Sarah entered.

“Never mind,” added Yanis.

“Speak of the devils,” said Chase.

“Hey, Dad,” said Chris cheerfully. “Uncle and I were talking, and we think you may need a power boost, so we’ll be ready to give you one, that way you don’t exhaust yourself like you did last time and died. I’m not sure I could resurrect you this time around.”

“I’m still fuzzy on how you did it in the first place,” said Argos.

“I just didn’t want my father to die.”

“Yeah, but you weren't even born yet,” said Sarah. “You gotta admit that was freaky.”

Chris shrugged. “I’m precocious?”

“That you are,” said Argos.

They all chuckled.

“Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” said Chase.

* * *

Ryonna opened her eyes; she felt cold. She no longer wore the super-suit, and the temperature in the dark room was very low.

Who dared touch me?

When Ryonna got up from the damp floor, she heard the clanking of chains. Both her legs and her arms were chained to the wall. Her entire body hurt; she was covered in wounds and bruises, and each movement she made was painful. It was as if not a single muscle functioned normally.

That’s not good. What the hell happened?

Ryonna looked around as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The room looked like a medium-sized cell. There were a couple more chains on the adjacent wall, but she was the only occupant there.

Am I still on the Gorgar planet? If so, why am I still breathing?

The cell door slid open with a grinding noise. Light from the outside flooded the room and temporarily blinded Ryonna. A slender figure stood at the entrance, and rays of cold artificial light beamed around it.

Ryonna squinted her eyes to try and get a better look at who stood there.

“Visiting hours are between ‘fuck off, and I’m gonna kill you’ o’clock, so you’re a little early,” said Ryonna.

Queen Tar’Sian laughed as she entered the room. She snapped her fingers and light progressively filled the room.

“Nice to see you again, Ryonna.”

“I wish I could say the same, Tar’Sian. Tar’Lock will be angry when I tell him about how you treat your guests and supposed friends.”

“You? My friend? Did you arrive at that conclusion before or after trying to enslave my people like the Furies did?”

“It’s not like that, and you know it.”

“No, I don’t. All I know is that you have the mind-control device with you, and if I hadn’t made sure to block its frequency, you might have brainwashed us all over again. So, yeah, you lost your friend status the moment you set foot back on my planet.”

“Your planet? Do you hear yourself? A week ago you were just another Fury slave, and now all of a sudden, this world is your planet. I don’t know what went wrong with the tech we gave you, but it sure boosted your ego.”

Tar’Sian approached Ryonna. She jumped forward trying to grab Tar’Sian’s throat, but the chains stopped her hand an inch away from her face. Anger took hold of Ryonna, and she rolled the chains around her forearms and tried breaking them away from the wall.

She growled between clenched teeth, and hellfire burned inside her eyes. The more she flexed her muscles, the more her body ached, but Ryonna ignored the pain.

“It’s useless; don’t waste your energy. These are quadrinium infused chains; there’s no breaking them, just like there’s no getting off this planet. At least, not for a while. Once you’ve helped me conquer the Earth Alliance, then maybe I’ll consider releasing you. So, if I were you, I would get used to your new surroundings, and make yourself at home.” She sneered.

When Ryonna couldn’t handle the pain anymore, she stopped trying to free herself from her restraints. Her eyes were bloodshot from the intense effort, and her nose was bleeding. When blood dripped onto her lips, it tasted metallic, and she spat it to the side.

“You’re out of your damn mind, and the last thing I would ever do is help you in any way, shape, or form.”

“You’re strong; I’ll grant you that. And this is not the first time we had this conversation today.”

What?

“What are your talking about? I remember being hit by your energy weapon in the bunker room under the auditorium and then waking up here.”

“Yes, you’ve told me that twice already. Every time we get to a point in our conversation that I don’t enjoy, I use this…”

Tar’Sian took a small remote device from her pocket.

“…and I wipe your memory so we can start over. While your mind has no recollection of what happened before, I think you can tell from how your body must feel that you’ve been through some rather painful interrogation.”

“How long have I been rotting down here?”

“Not that long; a couple of days. But I’m losing patience, so, why don’t you do us both a favor and tell me where I can find the carrier ship you came from? If you do, I’ll let you rest for a week, and you can even be fed and take a shower.”

Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?

While Ryonna disliked the idea of killing Tar’Lock’s sister, it was the only thought in her mind at this moment. If she could break free from her shackles, she would snap the queen bitch’s neck. Tar’Lock would hate her for it, but Tar’Sian was no longer his baby sister; in fact, Ryonna doubted she was the same person at all. Whatever had gone wrong with Argos’ tech had changed what seemed like a really sweet and innocent creature into a power-hungry, vile, and dangerous dictator.

So, yes, Ryonna knew it in her heart, if she ever got a shot at killing her, she would take it.

“Hmmm…a shower does seem nice right about now.”

And I’d gladly bathe in your blood.

“But you’d rather take a bath in my blood.”

What?

“That’s what you said last time, and I can tell from the fire in your eyes that it’s what you’re thinking about now. This isn’t going anywhere,” said Tar’Sian, bringing the remote up.

“Don’t.”

“Why do you care? You won’t remember anyway. Now you know how it feels to be a Gorgar at least, and also how it feels to have your mind fucked with.”

“We didn’t fuck with your minds! We freed you from Fury oppression!”

“Using their tech!”

“We tried opening a dialogue, but you started shooting at us.”

“What dialogue? We want to be left alone, but apparently, you haven’t gotten the message. Perhaps I’m going at this the wrong way. Perhaps I should just kill you right now and throw your body in space as a warning to those who think they can come and abuse my people.”

“You mean like you’re abusing them yourself?”

Tar’Sian twitched.

“Come on, bitch! Don’t play dumb with me; you used the same tech to rise to power. That’s the only way you could have exerted that much change in so little time. You act all mighty and hurt, but you’re doing the same thing, for yourself.”

“I’m trying to save my people.”

“So am I, Tar’Sian!”

“Yeah, right.”

“If the Furies win this war, they’ll come to your world and reclaim it, and if they can’t make the tech work, they’ll just annihilate your kind. It is in your best interest to let us help. Once we realized that we couldn’t even negotiate with your kind anymore, we decided we’d save you in spite of yourselves and then apologize for using the mind control method. But we’re nothing like the Furies; we would never enslave you to do our bidding. Right now, however, we need your help, and in helping ourselves, we help you, as well.”

“Only an insane mind would think this logic could be explained rationally. The Earth Alliance is no better than the Furies, and we will destroy you both.”

“Over my dead body!”

“Careful, Ryonna, because, thanks to you, I have opened my eyes to the oppression of my people, and because my brother likes you, I will let this one slide. But make no mistake, killing you can easily be arranged.”

“You don’t have it in you. You’re a coward that hides behind an usurped throne to get her bidding done. If you had a sliver of courage in your DNA, you’d have done it already.”

Ryonna spat on her face.

“Now, go fuck yourself, your majesty.”

“Guards!” shouted Tar’sian as she wiped off the blood-tainted spit in disgust.

Two heavily armored Gorgar males ran into the room.

“Teach this rebellious mind a lesson. Beat her to an inch of her life this time, and the next time I see her, I want to see bruises all over her body. Understood?”

Tar’Sian turned toward the cell door when Ryonna laughed.

“I’m afraid you won’t be laughing for much longer,” she said without bothering to face Ryonna.

“You’re just proving my point; your cowardly majesty. You can’t even stomach looking at what your pathetic little bugs will do to me. But it’s nothing compared to what I will do to them. But sure, run away, and spare your eyes the spectacle. Go hide in a velveteen room where trillions of minions will attend to your every need. I can’t believe Tar’Lock is the brother of such a feeble, scared, and pathetic creature.”

Tar’Sian turned to Ryonna, and the Droxian finally saw what she had hoped for in the Gorgar queen’s eyes: anger, hatred, and pride. The queen snapped her fingers, and one of the guards ran out of the cell and returned with a chair. She sat on it.

“Make her bleed, and take your time, I have all the time in the world.”

* * *

Emotions and what felt like a million memories rushed through Gaia’s mind. She began to remember who she was, her entire life from the moment she came into existence back on Earth to the time she overloaded her circuits back aboard the Hope. The one emotion that shone brighter than the rest was the unconditional love she felt for Spiros.

She roared like an animal, which made the Kryon take a couple of steps back and cower in fear. He was sensing the intense rage that ran through Gaia’s veins right now. The view of blood gushing from Spiros’ wound sent Gaia spiraling into a ball of hatred.

She felt something get very hot inside her skull and lightning bolts shot from her scalp and struck all four hover-cuffs, allowing her to land on her feet.

“MooMoo, attack!” ordered Morgor.

The fires of hell burnt inside Gaia’s eyes as she gazed in the Kryon’s direction, sending him a look that required no words to be understood. The beast yelped and ran out of the cell as fast as it could.

That angered Morgor, and he slashed his blade at Gaia, but she kicked it out of his hand long before it came anywhere near her. She then rammed him with the full force of her body and sent him crashing to the floor.

“Spiros, hang on,” she said as she rushed to the table and grabbed her blaster.

When she turned around, she saw he had lost consciousness.

No, no, no; hang in there, love.

Morgor touched something on his forearm as Gaia aimed her blaster at him and fired. Her shot bounced off his personal shields that lit up green upon impact.

She kept firing at him, but every one of her shots bounced off his shields.

“Guards!” Morgor shouted.

But no one came. Instead, blaster fire could be heard in the distance.

“Looks like your goons are busy; maybe your stupid MooMoo found himself someone else to eat for dinner.”

“You’re going to pay for this!”

Gaia ignored Morgor, jammed her blaster behind her back, and grabbed the metallic table with both hands. Morgor got back up, intent to make a run for it, but he wasn’t fast enough, and Gaia smashed the table on his face. His shields lit up bright green but still sent him crashing against the nearest wall, which cracked upon impact.

A guard eventually entered the room, but Gaia had the element of surprise and disarmed him and grabbed his blaster rifle. She kicked him to the ground and sent a single laser shot burning through his brain. She looked at the weapon and set it at max power while Morgor was getting back on his feet.

She rained blaster fire on him, but his personal shield kept absorbing her shots. She kept firing, nonetheless. She knew the tech would require a portable power supply that wouldn’t last forever. When the shields turned orange, she knew it would eventually fail.

Morgor growled once he got fully back on his feet and turned to face her. He made fists, and metallic claws shot down from his knuckles. He ran toward Gaia and slashed one of his clawed hands at her. Gaia dropped to her knees and knocked Morgor off his feet with a powerful sweep kick.

As he fell, Morgor got in a lucky swipe and slashed Gaia’s back. The pain was intense, but she ignored it. She rolled, readjusted her aim, and kept lighting him up with her blaster rifle.

Morgor unceremoniously twisted to avoid some of the incoming fire and threw his hand toward her. To her surprise, the attached claws left his hand and acted as three razor-sharp throwing blades. She used her rifle to successfully deflect two of them, which sparked as the blades crashed into the rifle. The third lodged itself into the top of her thigh.

Again, she ignored the pain, lined up her shot, and depressed the rifle’s trigger. The weapon sparked and hummed. It was overloading. She blocked Morgor’s next incoming slash with one arm, while smashing the weapon onto his chest, and jump-kicked him away. The rifle exploded and sent Morgor twirling in the air and back to the ground.

She grabbed her blaster from her back and resumed firing. Morgor’s shields dropped, and Gaia unleashed precise shots to all four of his limbs, making sure he couldn’t move. She could have finished him off here and now, but she wanted him to suffer.

“Please, don’t kill me,” he begged.

“We’re way past that, asshole,” she said before clocking him with her blaster.

She grabbed the deformed table from the middle of the room and flipped it back on its feet and then ran to Spiros. She freed him from his hover-cuffs and gently laid him on the table.

“Spiros, please stay with me. I love you.”

But Spiros was out cold. She kissed him on the mouth and ripped part of her clothes to make a ball with the fabric and pushed it against Spiros’ wound to stop the bleeding.

When Morgor moaned, she turned and kicked his head with such power that blood sprayed the walls, and a handful of teeth flew in the air, eventually clinking against the floor.

She quickly returned to Spiros, pressed on his wound with one hand and took his pulse with the other. It was very weak. Tears flowed from her eyes like running rivers.

“I beg you, please, don’t die, I can’t lose you again,” she implored him.

Gaia heard heavy footsteps but couldn’t bear to let go of Spiros.

An armored guard in a full combat helmet and a heavy-duty blaster rifle entered the room and looked around. She aimed her gun at Gaia’s head.

“Don’t move!” she ordered.

The guard looked to the side and saw Morgor holding his bloody head. Morgor blinked his eyes open and saw the sentry.

“Kill that bitch; kill them both,” he said between whatever was left of his bloody teeth.

The female guard looked straight at Gaia.

“Nothing personal.”

At least she would die with the man she loved.

Goodbye, my love.

The guard turned and aimed her rifle toward Morgor, and before he could protest, a powerful discharge from the gun blew his head clean off.

What?

The female guard took off her helmet and revealed beautiful flowing green hair.

“Keera?”

“Sorry I took so long to get to you, this ship is filled with a shitload of mercs. It hasn’t been easy finding my way around, which is why I needed to impersonate one of them.”

Gaia remembered the laser sounds she heard in the distance earlier; she would never have guessed it was from someone from the Earth Alliance.

Keera magnetically attached the rifle to her back and ran to the table on which Spiros was bleeding.

“How is he doing?” she asked.

“Not good; I don’t know what to do.”

Keera grabbed something from inside her armor and put her hand on Gaia’s.

“Let me help; this will stop the bleeding so we can get out of this shitty place.”

Gaia didn’t want to let go, but she eventually let Keera inject Spiros with some cauterizing foam. The substance was used by medics on battlefields to stabilize the wounded so they could be moved out of harm’s way.

“That’s not gonna save his life, but it will stop the bleeding; so let’s get out of here quickly.”

“His clone body is dying; he will never make it back to the Hope.”

“We’re not going to the Hope; the Emperor’s ship is only a two-hour jump away.”

Tar’Lock blurred past the cell’s door and doubled back.

“There you are; I’ve been looking everywh⁠—”

But he stopped and clicked when he saw Spiros and his pale features.

“Oh, dear, is he…?”

“No! Quick, Tar’Lock, take him to our ship, hook him to the automated med-bed, and then prepare for takeoff.”

Tar’Lock nodded and then delicately put Spiros over his shoulder, and before Gaia could ask him to wait, he was gone.

“We need some of the biomaterials from the ship we came in; it’s Spiros’ only chance.”

“Well, if it was in the landing bay, we may have blasted it; to say we came in hot is an understatement.”

Gaia’s heart dropped. Without the materials, Spiros was as good as gone. Gaia punched the table in anger and bent it even more than it already was.

“Easy, Gaia; we’ll do everything we can to save him. I have a cryo-pod on my ship, so if worse comes to worst, we can at least sustain him. But right now, we have to go.”

9

Thor dodged Poseidon’s slashing Trident attack by jumping over the Olympian’s mighty weapon and landing on the floor with a roll before bouncing back to his feet.

“Impressive,” said Poseidon.

Thor invoked his hammer, Mjölnir, aimed it at Poseidon and shot a green lightning bolt toward the Olympian. Poseidon spun his Trident and deflected the lightning bolt back to Thor, who stopped it with the palm of his hand. Smoke rose from his slightly burned appendage.

“You’re not doing too bad yourself,” said Thor with a smirk. “I’m glad you accepted my invitation to train.”

“So am I. How is your niece doing? Any news?”

Poseidon shook his head.

“She’s still in suspended animation. I think she will probably stay there until the end of this war. Chase has too much on his plate to try and find a solution for her, at least at the moment.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I hope she makes a full recovery.”

“I wish I could say the same, but Chase told me she asked him to let her go.”

“I could see why he would be reluctant to do that if there’s a way to bring her back.”

“I would like her back as well, but is it right to go against her wishes? She’s suffered for so long in that machine, do we have the right to prolong this?”

“She’s not suffering in suspended animation.”

“That we know of.”

Thor thought about it and put himself in her place. Would he want to be artificially kept alive if his wish was to die and enter the gates of Valhalla? Probably not.

“It’s a tough call. My people believe that when we die, at least when we die honorably in battle, we are reserved a place of honor in Valhalla. It’s a glorious place where gods and legends from Asgard are resting for all eternity. When my time comes, I will gladly go there. Do you have a similar place?”

“We do. It’s called Elysium, or so our legend tells us. If it weren’t for Chase and his friends, I would probably be there already.”

“As I would be in Valhalla, and perhaps my father, as well. Thanks to Chase, Asgard is still whole. I owe him and the Earth Alliance my life, and I will gladly risk it to end the Furies. For good this time.”

“As would I. I’m angry that my brother hid the fact that they hadn’t been destroyed ten thousand years ago. If we had known, we could have prepared for their eventual return. Instead, our people were complacent, and we stopped growing our military power and technology. Things might have been different if we hadn’t.”

“There’s nothing but pain in that way of thinking. The past is the past, and there is no point rehashing it. It won’t change because we will it to change.”

“Chronos would tell you differently.”

“Who’s Chronos?” Thor asked.

“A Titan who can alter time. He can travel back and forth and affect change.”

“That would be a powerful weapon at one’s disposal. You’d never lose a war; you could just ask him to revert time after a battle. The dead would rise again, to fight once more, but this time win.”

“That’s partly why the Titans rebelled against the Olympians. We took them for granted and used them as cannon fodder in the first Fury War.”

Thor nodded. “I remember fighting side by side with them, they were indeed formidable warriors.”

“We used their kind, so fewer Olympians had to risk their lives in combat. Yes, they were formidable warriors, but we have the blood of an entire race on our hands now.”

“Where is Chronos now?”

“Nobody knows. Zeus might have, but he’s gone.”

“Perhaps Chronos is dead. I mean, why else wouldn’t he go back in time and change the fate of his people?”

“I don’t have an answer for you. Perhaps he was prevented from doing so. Perhaps my brother made sure that scenario would never happen.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t make any sense. I would think Zeus would be the first to want to go back in the past and change his destiny.”

“It’s one of these mysteries that might never be resolved. Then again, going back in the past might not be an option either. If we did, and the Titans rebelled, or worse, joined forces with the Furies, then we might have lost the war. Playing with time is something no one should ever be allowed to do.”

“Then Chronos may be long dead because if his entire race had been wiped out, he would do anything to go back and change that; wouldn’t you?”

“Probably.”

Thor’s stomach growled.

“Are you hungry?” asked Poseidon.

“I could eat…a horse.”

“That’s gross.”

“Just a figure of speech; I thought I heard humans use that expression before.”

“Okay then; let’s get some food. All this talk of time, the past, death, and the afterlife is depressing. Let’s grab a bite and reload our batteries so we can train more. We still have a war to win.”

* * *

Chase stepped onto the platform where he needed to stand to create the black hole. He felt nervous. They needed the time-dilation training facility, but playing with forces like black holes was not something he was comfortable doing.

Sure, they had put safety measures in place, but Chase knew that even brainy people like Yanis, Cedric, and Kvasir had no way of knowing if the Asgardian ship would manage to beam them out with a black hole forming in the vicinity, and that was just one of the things that could go wrong.

Chase closed his eyes and took a long, slow, deep breath. When he reopened them, he was in a place he knew all too well, and one he was not keen to revisit.

Things were a little different from his last visit, but he instantly knew that he was inside Ares’ mind. The moaning and suffering and melting bodies on the ground were a dead giveaway. Ares levitated over a sea of suffering beings, their arms reaching to the sky, trying to grab him. Black lightning bolts pierced his body over and over again. With each strike, chunks of gray flesh exploded and froze in the air, before reabsorbing back into his body. This was a mental image of eternal pain and suffering.

Oh boy.

“Hello, Ares. I’d ask how you’re doing, but that would be redundant.”

“Chase, how’s my sister doing?”

“I haven’t had time to go see her.”

Black tears formed in Ares’ livid eyes.

“We have to end this war. Afterward, I promise, I’ll find a way to bring her back.”

“You already know of a way.”

“Asclepios?”

“Yes. Just find him, and have him make you another elixir.”

“Do we have any idea where he went? What if he was on Olympus when it exploded?”

“That is a possibility, but he hated Zeus with a vengeance; somehow I don’t see him staying on the same planet. Plus, you could use my sister’s gift of foresight in these troubled times.”

Chase had thought about that. There was something strangely comforting not having someone telling him what he needed to do. He wouldn’t just abandon his aunt because of that feeling, though. But, he feared that knowing too much of what was to come would block him from going forward.

Aphroditis had already told him that he should be prepared to make some sacrifices to win this war. Chase hadn’t liked hearing the words, but he had not forgotten them. And with Spectre Arakan now unleashed in their lives, Chase knew very well that there could be more casualties.

Deep in his heart, he hoped that if they could train inside the facility, then they would be better prepared to deal with that monster.

“She said that even if we found a way to restore her health, she feared she might have lost her gift; the machine did too much damage.”

Of course, Chase knew what that meant. Ares’ sacrifice might have been in vain if Aphroditis didn’t get better. Chase was determined to save her, but he felt it would have to wait until the war was over to do so.

“Even so, you owe it to her to save her life.”

“She doesn’t want me to. She asked that I let her die.”

“Chase! You can’t.”

“I know, Ares. I have no intention of granting her that wish. But she might resent me for the rest of her life.”

“If that’s the price to pay, then so be it, Chase.”

“Look, I know this, but if you were in her place, would you be happy if I disobeyed you?”

“She was in pain, and her thinking was clouded. Once she’s brought back to the living, I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”

“I’m not so sure. But, don’t worry, I promised I would bring her back, and I always keep my promises.”

“Good. Now I understand you’re about to do something very dangerous. Something I can feel you’re not even sure you’re able to do.”

Chase nodded.

“Fret not, Chase. You have it in you. You know that already.”

“Do I?”

“Search your feelings; do you think you could have gone as far as you have if you didn’t believe in your abilities to defeat the Furies against all the odds?”

Chase still hurt from losing Oryn and having Ares, his mentor and friend, put in such a dark place with no guarantee that he would be able to get out of there unscathed once Chase took down Erevos. That didn’t mean he was sure everything would go as planned.

“My feelings are a mess lately. I want to avenge Oryn, Zeus, Saroudis, and the others.”

“Revenge can’t be your only motivation, Chase.”

“It isn’t. My love for my friends and my family is. I want to offer them a future free from Furies.”

“It’s no longer just about Furies. That Spectre has more power than all the Furies put together, I can feel you know this.”

A bitter smile crossed Chase’s face.

“Why are we having this discussion if you already know everything I feel?”

“Because part of you needs to hear it; you need to hear that I don’t hold you responsible for my current predicament, just like my sister didn’t.”

Words are one thing…feelings are another.

“I know that this is the most powerful being that probably ever existed, and unless we can train at an accelerated rate, we don’t stand a chance to defeat him. But, I also know that by defeating both the Furies and Spectre Arakan, I may be signing your death warrant.”

“Argos did that a long time ago. The only reason I stayed behind was to guide you in this journey, and you’re about to fulfill your de⁠—”

“Stop. Don’t, just don’t, Ares.”

“You still think destiny has nothing to do with it? That’s ironic, the very ship you came to Earth on was called Destiny.”

“Well, technically, I jumped to Earth, at least the last part, on board a Manticore-class starfighter.”

“It amazes me to what extent you’ll go to avoid seeing things a certain way.”

“I just want to feel that my destiny is my own.”

“And who says it isn’t?”

“You, your sister, and some days, it feels like the whole universe.”

“Very well. I can’t stay much longer; it took every bit of energy I managed to save to establish this link with your mind. You probably won’t hear from me for a while or…”

“Or at all, depending on how this all goes.”

“That’s a possibility, but know that I have no problem with my soul ending in Elysium after this. You should be happy for me.”

“I’d rather we saw each other and said goodbye before then.”

“So would I. But, perhaps, we should do so now.”

“Do we have to?”

“I think it’s best, Chase. Just in case.”

Chase sighed. Part of him didn’t want to say goodbye. He wanted to hold on to the hope that he would see his friend again. But, if he didn’t say his farewell now, he would regret it. Chase also hoped that if Ares didn’t make it out alive, that he would be able to go to Elysium. Who knows what would happen if his life ended after the planet shifted into the dimension. If it were destroyed in another dimension, would Ares’ soul come back to this one?

Chase considered asking Ares about it, but that would add to his already difficult predicament. Chase would have to hope for the best for his mentor.

“Goodbye, Chase. Be strong, be well, and, most of all, follow your instincts.”

“I’ll try, Ares. You have been an incredible mentor to me, and I will never forget that. But, beyond that, you’ve been a true friend. I will see you again. Goodbye, Ares.”

Chase’s vision faded back into the cargo bay training facility. Words resonated in the distance, but it took Chase a moment to hear them clearly.

“Chase?” asked Sarah. “Chase! What’s going on?”

“I’m okay; sorry, I was somewhere else.”

“Whenever you’re ready, boss,” said Yanis.

Chase aimed his hand forward. A loud humming sound could be heard as a blue force field engulfed the area around Chase. A trap door on the wall in front of Chase opened, and the air was sucked away. Space tried to swallow him along with the artificial atmosphere, but he stood his ground and erected his own force field around him. Once all the air had been sucked out, the trap door closed and the force field sealed.

“Containment field working at peak efficiency,” said Kvasir.

Let’s do this.

Chase closed his eyes and brought up the memory of when he stopped the plasma attack from Miseo’s ship and focused on creating the same energy with his mind. Without realizing it, he transformed into an Ultra Fury. When he opened his eyes, a small anomaly had formed about ten feet in front of him.

“Containment field working within predicted parameters,” added Kvasir.

“Get out of there, Chase,” said Argos.

Chase teleported out of the force field and joined his friends. His eye color returned to purple.

“How are we doing?”

“Inverting polarity now,” said Kvasir. “Cedric, deploy the secondary containment measure.”

Cedric smoked a cigarette as he input commands on his holo-terminal. Thick quadrinium walls, with three layers of force fields radiating around them, rose from the ground and engulfed a large portion of the cargo bay.

“Hopefully, this is enough surface for you to train in,” said Yanis.

“We’ll make do with what we have. Did it work?”

Yanis raised a finger. “Just a moment.”

A bright flash illuminated the entire cargo bay for a split second.

“Is that supposed to happen?” inquired Chris.

“Nobody ever witnessed a white hole, so who knows,” said Yanis. “I have no idea if that’s normal. But since a white hole can be compared to a Big Bang, let’s just say I’m not entirely surprised.”

A line of blood ran down Chase’s nose.

“You all right?” inquired Argos.

Chase wiped the blood away and smudged it between his fingers.

“I’m okay; considering how hard it had been to do this last time, I can live with a nosebleed.”

Chase’s head hurt and he felt the room begin to spin, and before he knew it, he collapsed to the ground. As his consciousness faded to black, he heard his friends and loved ones shout his name.

10

Ryonna felt more pain than she thought her body could endure. The guards were having a field day punching her, and every second she received dozens of punches thanks to the male Gorgar’s super-speed abilities.

On their own, each punch wasn’t that powerful, but the fact that her body had been tortured for gods knows how many hours, Ryonna felt deprived of her senses. She had no idea how much time had passed since they started hitting her, and she didn’t know how much more she could take.

She wanted to open her eyes and look at her aggressors, but the pain was keeping them closed.

Ryonna focused on her anger. If she survived this, she would rip Tar’Sian a new one. She had to survive, though; she couldn’t leave this world without seeing her son one more time. So, she summoned the image of his face, and soon the pain disappeared. She knew it was still there, but because it had reached such excruciating levels, it overloaded her senses and mind, and all she saw was a white veil.

Ryonna centered her attention on the noise and the wind generated by the Gorgar hitting her with such velocity; if she could sense their presence in space, perhaps she could do something about it.

As she did so, she perceived two shadows moving. They were fast, but she narrowed her focus on them until she saw a pattern in their attacks. When she felt there was an opening, she took it.

She grabbed her chains and used them to catch the Gorgars by the necks. The white veil disappeared and beyond-imaginable pain coursed through her body once more. It felt as if a starship had rammed her at hyperspace speed.

Her eyes opened, and she could feel both guards trying to escape her grasp; she was holding the chains so tightly that they were suffocating. Ryonna caught a glimpse of fear in Tar’Sian’s eyes.

“Guards!” shouted the queen.

Ryonna smiled; her impressive Droxian body was an imposing display of bruises and scars.

In one swift motion that hurt like hell, she snapped the necks of both Gorgars. She bit one of the dead Gorgar’s ears and spat it toward the queen.

“You’re a fucking bitch, Tar’Sian.”

“That’s impossible; you shouldn’t be able to move!”

“I’m going to kill you,” said Ryonna.

“I think not.”

Tar’Sian took out a katana blade from her back sheath.

“You were right, Ryonna. I’m not going to get anything of use out of you. I’d rather scare your friends away by floating your body to space as a warning. May Tar’Lock forgive me.”

It looks like I won’t be seeing Ronan again.

Ryonna was exhausted and hurting so much; she was ready to meet her maker now. She let herself fall to the ground, releasing the dead Gorgars at the same time. Ryonna was on her knees and hanging by her chain-bound arms.

“Close your eyes!” ordered Tar’Sian. “This will soon be over.”

The warrior in her would not give that cowardly bitch the satisfaction of taking her life while she wasn’t looking. So, instead, Ryonna opened her eyes as wide as she could and locked her gaze on Tar’Sian.

“No, you’ll have to look me in the eyes when you kill me.”

“So be it!”

At that moment, a man rushed into the room and pointed a blaster at Tar’Sian.

“Drop your fucking weapon, now, or I’ll blow your head off!” shouted a familiar voice.

Blood had covered Ryonna’s vision, but she was sure she knew the man’s voice. She blinked her eyes rapidly multiple times to get some of the blood away.

“Last chance; drop it!” said Emperor Altair.

Ryonna must have been dreaming, as there was no way he could be there. She wondered if perhaps her previous feelings for him were the result of her current hallucination. It was a good way to die though.

Tar’Sian swiftly positioned her katana under Ryonna’s throat.

“You drop it or she di⁠—”

But Tar’Sian never finished her sentence, as Altair burned a fist-sized hole in her head where a trail of smoke rose up as the life faded away from her eyes.

Ryonna lost consciousness with a smile on her face.

“Ryonna!!” shouted Altair.

* * *

Spiros painfully opened his eyes.

“Hey, welcome back,” said Gaia.

“Am I dreaming?”

“No, silly; we’re back on board Keera’s ship. We’ll soon be home. Just hang on, will you?”

“Morgor?”

“Dead, and we’ve blown up his ship, too.”

“The biomaterial?”

“Lost. But we’ve informed Argos, and he said he had enough left to repair your body. We’ll have to put you in suspended animation for most of the trip. But I wanted to see you first.”

Spiros didn’t know if this was truly happening or if he was imagining it. His thoughts were foggy at best.

“Oh…that’s kind of you.”

“Spiros. I love you.”

The words sent adrenaline rushing through him and then he felt wide awake. Spiros’ eyes shot open.

“What did you just say?”

Tears filled Gaia’s eyes. “I said I love you. I’m back.”

“But your matrix— it was corrupted.”

“I don’t know what to tell you; it must have corrected itself. When I thought Morgor killed you, my basic AI was flooded with all my memories and emotions. I can only surmise my matrix self-repaired.”

Spiros’ eyes filled with tears. “I love you, too.”

Gaia smiled before kissing him passionately.

“If this is a dream, I don’t want to ever wake up. But if it’s real, I don’t want to go back to sleep.”

“You’ll have to. Your body is failing. But we’ll see each other soon, I promise.”

“Can I have one more kiss before I sleep?”

She smiled. “You can have as many as you want.”

They kissed for what felt like forever.

* * *

Chase woke up in the Underworld.

“Oh, crap!”

“You’re not dead,” said Zeus’ voice from behind him. “Not yet, anyway.”

Chase turned around.

“Why am I here then?”

“I needed to talk to you. And your body’s condition was weak enough that I could call your soul to me.”

“I see.”

“There’s someone else that wants to talk with you.”

Aphroditis materialized next to Zeus.

“What’s going on?”

“My daughter tells me you are refusing to let her die.”

“I promised Ares I would save her life. Just as I promised her I would save hers.”

“Seems to me she doesn’t want to be saved. You should respect her wishes, Chase.”

“Please, Chase. I’m tired,” pleaded Aphroditis.

Chase took his head in his hands and pulled at his hair.

“I can bring you back; all I have to do is find Asclepios. He can concoct the same elixir that brought me back.”

“That would be true if his soul hadn’t moved on to Elysium already. He was on Olympus when it exploded,” said Zeus. “So, the secret of his elixir died with him.”

Give me a fucking break.

“How do you know this?”

“Well, we arrived down here together for one, with many of my people.”

Aphroditis was crying. Chase’s heart ached. He didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, he knew he had no right to keep his aunt alive against her wishes, but he had just told Ares he wouldn’t let her die.

“I’m sorry, Aphroditis. Please understand that you may be feeling this way because of the mental and physical torture you’ve been through.”

“I’m tired, Chase. I’ve seen too much. I don’t want to be the conduit of eternal bad news. There’s still so much darkness on the horizon…”

Chase did not like the sound of that, not one bit.

“What do you mean? What have you seen?”

But Aphroditis faded away.

“Wait!”

“Let her go, Chase,” said Zeus. “And I don’t just mean now.”

“I thought you’d be happy that I’m trying to save another one of your daughters.”

“Aphroditis and I made our peace. I respect her choice, and so should you.”

“What about Ares’ choice?”

“It’s her life, not his. Plus, you owe me.”

“Is that so?”

“Alright, maybe you don’t. But can’t you grant your grandfather’s wish?”

“The same grandfather that not long ago made me feel responsible for the death of Oryn even though I did everything in my power to save her? Are we talking about that guy? You know what, Zeus, screw you, and screw these mind games that your kind seems to love to play.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me right! I’ve been doing your daughter’s bidding for as long as I’ve known her. She told me to save Earth, and I did. Ever since, I’ve been fighting for my life and losing my friends because I listened to her and did what she asked me to. And whether or not you agree, I’ve paid my dues to her and anyone else a dozen times over. Promises are a sacred thing to me, and I’m sorry if that’s an inconvenience right now, but that’s who I am. I promised I would rid the universe of the Furies, and right now, that’s what I’m going to do. I also promised Aphroditis I would save her life. Once she’s back on her feet, she’s welcome to put a laser through her brain if she wants to, I won’t stop her. But you guys have to stop dumping all this emotional blackmail on my shoulders at every turn. Especially now, gods damn it! In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve got a fucking war to finish!”

Zeus’ eyes were locked open wide, and, for a moment, Chase thought he would have a stroke if that were possible for someone already dead.

“What?” said Chase.

Zeus shook his head and smiled.

“Nothing; you sure are Athena’s son.”

“Why, were there any doubts about that?”

“Just that when push comes to shove, you have a similar bullheaded personality and have a temper that runs in our family.”

“I’m just tired of it all, Zeus. Tired of losing loved ones, and frankly, I’m tired of fighting. I just want this to be over; I want to take a nice long and fully deserved vacation with Sarah and Chris. But before that can happen, I have a war to win, and right now I can’t deal with one more problem. My plate is literally full.”

“I can understand— respect that.”

Rays of light grew from Chase’s arms, and he felt like he was being pulled upward.

“What’s that? What’s going on?”

“Your brother and son are healing you. You have to go now.”

“Are we okay?”

Zeus sighed. “I’m still mad about my daughter’s death, but I have had enough time to think about it, and she was also a bullheaded one.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.”

“Blaming you for her stubbornness was not fair, I see that now.”

“Thank you, Zeus.”

“Before you go. Since you’re good at keeping your promises…”

“Yeah, okay. I promise I’ll avenge her death. I give you my word.”

Zeus’ eyes watered. “Thank you, Chase.”

Chase vanished from the Underworld.

* * *

“He’s coming to,” said Chris.

“You scared the shit out of us,” said Sarah.

Chase blinked a few times; looked at Chris and then his brother.

“Thanks for the assist; I didn’t feel like I had exhausted that much energy, though.”

“You’re welcome,” said Argos. “And from the looks of it, you were running on fumes. I’m surprised you didn’t feel it.”

“Perhaps it was ill-advised to try this without being back at full power. I expended a lot of energy on board the soul ships.”

“Didn’t you go into the regen tank last night?”

Chase rose to his feet and scratched the back of his head with an attempt at an apologetic smile.

“I wanted to, but I fell asleep in the observation lounge.”

Sarah punched his shoulder.

“You dumbass! You should have let us know and postponed this until you were back to one hundred percent.”

“I’m with Mom on this one,” said Chris. “At least we could have powered you up before you created the anomaly.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would take so much out of me. I was much less powerful when I last did this. I thought I could handle it without breaking a sweat.”

“Let’s give him a break; that’s why we are here, and now we may have the means to train efficiently,” remarked Argos.

Chase thanked his brother telepathically as Sarah’s eyebrows furrowed.

“To the regen tank,” ordered Sarah, pointing her finger toward the cargo bay doors. “Now!”

“Shouldn’t we test the time room first?”

“What part of now don’t you understand?”

Chase looked at Yanis, who was grimacing.

“You should go rest,” said Kvasir, his tattoos pulsating in a soothing rhythm, which was a nice change of pace. “I need to run more tests before we allow anyone to enter. We still need to calibrate the time dilation effect and run more simulations anyway.”

“Alright then, I guess I’ll see you all in a few hours.”

* * *

Altair approached the regen tank where an unconscious Ryonna was floating.

“How is she doing, doc?”

“I don’t know, Emperor. The truth of the matter is, she should be dead. But by some miracle, she’s been holding on for dear life. The amount of internal bleeding, broken bones, and bruising on her body is more than I have ever seen in anyone, let alone someone still breathing. How she stayed alive while being tortured that brutally, frankly, is beyond me.”

“She’s a tough person. Will she make it?”

“We’ve done everything we can. We’ve regenerated her organs, stopped all her internal bleeding, and repaired all her broken bones. But, whether or not she wakes up, that I can’t guarantee. The regen tank finished its cycle an hour ago, but I thought I’d leave her inside for a few more hours, just to be sure.”

“Thanks, doc. I’d like a moment alone with her if you don’t mind.”

“Absolutely, Emperor. Just call me if you see any sign of her waking up.”

“Will do.”

The doctor left the med-bay.

“I’m sorry, Ryonna. I shouldn’t have sent you to the planet without backup. Please come back to us. My poor decision making from the past has cost too many people their lives; I’ll be damned if it costs yours. So don’t you die…And, yes, that’s an order.”

Altair took a long, deep breath and forced a smile.

“You’ll be happy to know, though, that after killing the Gorgar queen, I found a similar mind-controlling device on her, and I used it to complete the mission. The Gorgar have, though not exactly out of their own free will, joined the Earth Alliance. So, congratulations on accomplishing your mission, soldier.”

Emperor Altair paced around the regen tank as he talked.

“They’re already starting to build ships and StarFuries for us. They’re also building a network of defense satellites around their world to transform it into a fortress. That should deter the Furies or anyone else that wants to claim the world. Both Chase and I are a little uneasy on that one, though. These weapons they’ll have at their disposal are based on our technology, and we’ll build fail-safes into them just in case when we give them their freedom back they decide we’re their enemy. If their queen thought we were, it’s possible someone else will, too.

“We’ve also allocated a part of the Gorgar workforce to work on the jump gate network. We’ve already deployed fifteen gates since the project started, but now we’re looking at having hundreds of them built in the next few months. Soon, every space-faring world will have one, and it should open new trade routes and faster travel time between systems. We still need to decide who will be allowed to use them, though. We don’t want pirates and raiders to take advantage of the technology.

“Oh, and you’ll be pleased to learn that Tar’Lock and Keera have been successful in locating Spiros and Gaia. Though Spiros is in bad shape. I’ve already informed Argos of the situation, and he’s sure he can repair his clone body. He even said something about the fact that they might have plenty of time to do so soon. He didn’t elaborate beyond that, but I thought that you’d like to hear about that. They’re on their way back to the ship.”

Altair put his palm on the glass of the regen tank and let it rest there for a while.

11

A low-ranking Fury entered the room and timidly approached Spectre Arakan’s throne. Tanak’Vor wasn’t in the best of moods as he had failed to establish communication with the fleet on Thanos Five.

“You’d better have a good reason for barging in here,” he said, his tone dripping with ice.

The Fury swallowed hard as he bowed.

“I have, Master. We’ve received long-range telemetry of Thanos Five.”

Tanak’Vor adjusted his position on the throne.

“And?”

“The fleet has been destroyed.”

Spectre Arakan growled, and his eyes glowed crimson. The Fury couldn’t help but tremble. Arakan’s temper was legendary, and he would easily lash out at his subordinates. Something Tanak’Vor felt like doing upon hearing the news, but he knew that it wouldn’t accomplish anything.

“By whom? The Earth Alliance?”

“We’re unsure. It only took four starfighter-class ships to wipe out our fleet. Their energy signature is like nothing we’ve seen before. In both scale and origin.”

A new race? That can’t be.

“I’m having trouble grasping what you’re saying,” said Tanak’Vor. “Four starfighters took out three of my super-destroyers?”

“Yes, Master. Preliminary reports also seem to indicate the battle lasted mere minutes.”

“Do we have any idea where the ships went after they destroyed the fleet? Or where they came from in the first place.”

“There was too much post-battle interference to determine a solid exit vector, I’m afraid. And because the ships use an unknown hyperspace tunnel technology, we’ve also had trouble calculating an exact source vector. From their approach vector on the fleet, there is one planet that they could have potentially jumped from. But this is mere speculation, not absolute certainty.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“That planet is Earth.”

Of course, it is.

“Did we get any visuals on the ships that attacked the fleet?”

“We recovered very little video footage, but we’ve managed to get a few seconds of what seems to be one of the enemy ships. The footage was pulled from one of the disabled ships around Thanos Five. I must warn you, Master, that the footage is disturbing. I’ve sent it to your throne chair holo-console.”

“Thank you; you’re dismissed.”

“At your command, Master.”

The Fury bowed and quickly left the throne room, which suggested he was still afraid for his life. Tanak’Vor was angry, and his subordinate probably picked up on that.

That played in Tanak’Vor’s favor, though. If everyone around were deathly afraid of him, they wouldn’t ask too many questions about the physical changes that had manifested. While Tanak’Vor looked and sounded like Arakan, he now had a black, smoky aura surrounding his body as well as in his eyes.

Tanak’Vor accessed the holo-footage and zoomed the projector so the image would fill a bigger portion of the room around him. It showed a starship that looked as much organic as it did a machine. A colossal purple-aura dragon engulfed the small-sized vessel before the mouth of the dragon tore through and devoured one of the destroyers.

This sent a cold shiver down Tanak’Vor’s borrowed body. While he couldn’t be sure, he had a strange, unexplained feeling that the pilot inside the ship was the Ultra Fury Chase.

I bet this is what Menelas was hiding from that fool Arakan. I should have interrogated him myself.

A weapon of such massive destruction would explain why Menelas would rather die than tell his former master about its existence, no matter how long and hard he had tortured him. A weapon that could very well destroy the Furies. Something Tanak’Vor couldn’t let happen.

He would have to adjust his strategy. He had secretly amassed massive fleets at all corners of the universe while Arakan stupidly wasted his own; it seemed that the Earth Alliance now had a weapon that could counter them.

There was no way to predict when the Spectre would be ready to open a rift to send reinforcements, which would make Tanak’Vor’s work even more difficult in the future. For all their power in their own dimensions, the Fury technology was infantile compared to those of the Spectres. Tanak’Vor got up from his throne and walked through the 3D image of the paused holo-projected soul ship as he headed toward the Furies’ archives.

* * *

Gaia’s eyes watered as she looked at Spiros inside the suspended animation pod. She felt so much love for him that she wasn’t surprised her matrix overloaded when he first told her he loved her.

She approached the pod and caressed the glass where his serene face was.

“Hang in there, love. We’ll get you back on your feet soon, and then the two of us will get as far away as we can from all of this. We’ll find a quiet planet where we can spend the rest of our lives together.”

But then she thought of Earth. Could she just abandon her place of birth? The connection and unconditional love she had for the planet was strong. But lately, it had been overshadowed by the feelings she had for Spiros.

Perhaps once the war was over, and the Furies were no longer a daily threat to the security of the beautiful blue planet, then it would be easier for her to make that decision.

Gaia contemplated Spiros for a long time before heading to the cockpit.

“Do you mind if I sit here for a while?” she asked.

“Of course not,” answered Keera. “I was about to see how you were doing, in fact.”

“The last few days have been quite the roller-coaster. I haven’t really stopped to ask myself how I feel. Though, I’m happy to be back, really. When my matrix overloaded, I thought for sure I was toast.”

“You gave Spiros and the rest of us a big scare, that’s for sure. I’m very happy for the both of you.”

“What do you mean?”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the two of you are soul mates. I know we haven’t interacted in the past, but even so, it’s clear the two of you would do anything for one another. I envy that kind of connection. I…I miss it, in fact.”

“Want to tell me what happened?”

“Just a tragic and horrible thing. My lover was murdered. In fact, that’s why I became a bounty hunter in the first place. I needed to track down the scumbag piece of shit that had taken my life away from me.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that. And, did you?”

“Yes. It didn’t bring him back or soothe my soul much, though.”

“I understand. Thank you for saving our lives, Keera.”

“You seemed like you had things under control, but you’re perfectly welcome. I’m glad we could help. The one you should thank is Emperor Altair; he’s the one who sent us to look for you, and well, Chase.”

Gaia took her head in her hands and grimaced.

“Are you alright? What’s going on?”

“I’ve been having these splitting headaches since we came back to the ship. They don’t last for long, but they seem to be getting more painful.”

“You’ll have to get that checked.”

“The only person who can help is Spiros. He’s the one who transferred my matrix inside the alien sphere that acts as my brain.”

“Well, he’ll be back on his feet soon enough. Still, you could ask Yanis or Cedric to take a look at you in the meantime.”

“Maybe I will, thank you, Keera, for everything.”

Keera winked and flashed Gaia a thumbs up.

* * *

When Ryonna opened her eyes, Ronan smiled at her.

“Hey, Mom, how do you feel?”

Ryonna opened and closed her hands a couple of times and flexed other muscles in her body.

“Much better, it would seem. Am I dreaming? Are you really here?”

“You’re not dreaming; I’m here.”

“How’s that possible?”

“Emperor Altair contacted me the moment he got you back aboard his ship. With the recent expansions to the jump gate network, I was able to get here pretty fast.”

So Ryonna hadn’t been hallucinating; Altair had come to the surface to extract her, saving her life in the process. She also thought she heard him talk while she was unconscious, telling her about what had happened to her friends.

“I can’t believe he risked his life to save mine once again.”

“Again?”

“Yeah, he risked his ship and entire crew not long ago to get us out of the Gorgar world. Risking thousands to save only three.”

“I really like him. There’s something about him, a charisma, and I got a strong sense of honor coming from him when I first met him. Hard to think he’s the same man that led the Obsidian Empire to wage war with the Star Alliance for generations.”

“Which proves people can change.”

Upon saying the words, Ryonna couldn’t help but think about Argos. She had hated him so strongly in the past, but ever since her fight with his holographic version as well as re-evaluating her feelings about Altair, she couldn’t help but think that perhaps people did deserve a second chance, no matter what they had done in the past.

She wasn’t proud of some of her past actions, either. She had been the cause of the death of innocents, something her strong sense of honor always had trouble reconciling, no matter the circumstances that forced her into such positions.

“Yes, he certainly has,” said Ronan. “I’m glad you are okay, Mom. But you have to stop putting yourself in these dangerous positions. I don’t want to one day receive a call informing me that you have perished. I understand you owe Chase both our lives, but he wouldn’t want you to repay him with your own.”

Ryonna caressed Ronan’s cheek.

“I know, Son. I’m so happy to see you. Hopefully, this was one of the last perilous missions I embark upon.”

Ronan frowned. “Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.”

Ryonna smiled.

“I should let you rest.”

“No, stay. I haven’t seen you in so long.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be staying here for a few days; we’ll have time to catch up. The doc asked me not to stay too long. You still need rest.”

“Alright. Thank you for coming all the way from Droxia.”

“Of course.”

“Ronan, can you ask Altair to come see me later?”

“Sure thing; I’ll let him know. Try and get some sleep in the meantime, though.”

* * *

Chase entered Engineering.

“Thanks for coming, Admiral.” said Kvasir.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”

“I’m sorry, Chase.”

“And do you ever sleep, Kvasir? You’re aware of the time, right? It’s almost three AM Earth time.”

“Asgardians can operate very well with only two hours of sleep every night. I perform better if I have three or more. Which is why I make sure I always get that much sleep every day. I will often take small power naps throughout the day and have a one-hour continuous sleep at one point, too.”

“Three hours? That doesn’t seem like much. But, lucky you, I guess.”

“How do you feel, Adm— Chase? We were worried when you collapsed yesterday.”

“I’m back to full form, thank you for asking. Unlike Asgardians, though, I require a fair amount more sleep, and I was about to go hit the sack when you called.”

“I’m sorry for disturbing your sleep patterns; perhaps we can discuss this in the morning.”

“I’m up and out of bed now, so unless this will take a long time…”

“No, it shouldn’t take long. I just wanted to report on the progress of the time chamber and inform you of some limitations I’ve come across while performing my simulations.”

“Time chamber?”

“That’s the name Cedric came up with. It’s not a totally accurate description, but he seemed intent on us finding a shorter name than time-dilation training facility.”

“I can see why; that’s quite a mouthful. And, well, the name could have been worse if Yanis had his say, I’m sure.”

Kvasir’s facial tattoos blinked three times in a row as he chuckled.

“Yes, I agree.”

“So…How are we looking?”

“We can make our first live test tomorrow, well, later today.”

“That’s good news. What are the limitations you wanted us to discuss?”

“In running simulations, I’ve noticed that living tissues were negatively impacted the more I tried to push the time dilation. It seems we’ll have to settle to a three hundred and fifty time-dilation factor to stay on the safe side.”

“It’s too late, and I’m too tired to do the math; how much time would pass in the time chamber for each Earth day?”

“Just a little under a year.”

Awesome!

“And you call that a limitation? Seems absolutely perfect to me.”

“Well, at first I thought that the dilation factor could be pushed to much higher levels, and theoretically, from outside of the chamber, you guys could have stepped in, stepped out, and years would have passed in seconds. But that simply would put too much strain on your bodies and could damage your DNA beyond repair.”

“So step in, step out, and die?”

Kvasir’s tattoos flashed dramatically.

“Basically, yes. Though, I wouldn’t have put it that way.”

Chase smiled.

“I bet you wouldn’t. Well, then I’m glad you found a safe setting. You’re sure it’s safe, right?”

“While Furies would probably still be good with a five hundred dilation factor, I and Olympians up to one thousand, your hybrid physiology and some limitation of the Asgardian genes, a dilation of four hundred and twenty-five would make it safe for us. But because Sarah is only partial Fury, I had to factor in human DNA into the equation. The maximum limit for human DNA partially infused with Fury is around three hundred ninety. I rounded it down to three fifty to be on the safe side, and I strongly recommend you get out of the chambers at progressively longer intervals to check your vitals and adjust the dilation factor as we go. Just to be sure.”

The mention of Sarah and how little Fury DNA she had reminded Chase that he still didn’t know if he wanted Sarah to train in the time chamber. He’d probably take some serious flack by even bringing up the subject with her, but they needed to talk about it. Part of Chase wished Kvasir told her she should not use the room, which would make things easier. While he knew she had to pilot one of the ships, he didn’t want her to have to fight Spectre Arakan.

“Looks like you’ve got it all covered. And I’m glad you are taking all the necessary precautions. We really need this tech but not if it’s going to kill any of us.”

“Of course. I would never let you enter this contraption without first making sure it is safe to do so.”

That’s when Chase noticed Kvasir was hiding a bandaged hand with his other hand.

“What happened to you?”

“I miscalculated my settings and thought I’d put my hand inside the field to make sure it was set properly. The good news is that I have corrected my miscalculation since then.”

Chase sighed heavily.

“That was reckless, Kvasir. Why didn’t you come and see me? Let me heal that.”

Kvasir’s tattoos flashed rapidly, and he took a step back.

“Please, Chase; I’d rather you didn’t.”

“Why?”

“As a reminder of never again doing something of this sort without triple checking everything.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Your ship’s doctor gave me something for the pain. It helps.”

Chase wanted to argue but remembered Argos telling him why he kept his scar. That it was a reminder of the time they had fought before he wiped his memory and Laiyos became Chase. So, he didn’t insist.

“I’ll heal that anytime if you change your mind.”

“Thank you, Chase.”

“No, thank you, Kvasir. We couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

“It’s my pleasure to serve. You have saved me from both eternal imprisonment as well as execution; I owe you everything.”

Chase yawned.

“No, you don’t, but I’m too tired to go into the whys. Is there anything else we need to talk about before tomorrow’s test?”

Kvasir shook his head.

“One last thing. You mentioned Asgardian resistance to the time chamber. Why?”

“Thor will surely want to come and train with you. Wouldn’t you think so? And Poseidon, too, as I hear they’ve been hanging out and training on their own already since your return from Erevos.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. Space will be an issue, the room already felt cramped with four, if we had more…”

“Who said you have to all train at the same time? You can take turns, train in pairs or as much as you’d like. I wouldn’t recommend all of you train in the chamber at the same time anyway.”

“Why?” said Chase with another yawn.

“If the soul ships are needed to wage battle, having you all in the room could prove problematic, though we could always communicate.”

“Can we?”

“Yes, but I’ll explain that to you all tomorrow; you really look like you need to get some rest.”

“That I do. Good night, Kvasir.”

“Good night, Chase. See you later for the test.”

Chase gave Kvasir a casual two-finger salute before he teleported away and back to his quarters.

12

Noise in the bathroom woke Chase from his sleep. He went to check it out and found Sarah was on her knees in front of the toilet, holding her hair with one hand and gripping the toilet with the other.

“I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

“Are you alright?”

“My stomach must not have agreed with today’s food. I’ve been refunding it for about twenty minutes now.”

“Why didn’t you wake me up; I could have tried checking your body. I would imagine a tummy ache is something I can easily fix.”

“I didn’t think about it. I mean, I’ve been sick before I knew you, and I see your healing ability as something to be used to prevent someone from dying, not to fix an upset stomach.”

“Fair enough.”

She got back to her feet, looking peaked like she was sicker than just an upset stomach.

“You sure you don’t want me to try and heal you; you look very pale.”

“Yeah, maybe it’s better; I don’t like how I feel.”

They went back to bed, and Chase put his hands on her and closed his eyes. He felt something weird in her, though he couldn’t tell what it was. He focused on helping her feel better, and soon color returned to her face.

“How’s that?”

“Much better; thank you.”

He kissed her and caressed her hair.

“You want to go back to sleep?” he asked.

“I’m wide awake now. Why?”

He cradled her hands in his.

“I want to talk to you about something.”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Tomorrow we’ll be testing the time chamber.”

“Oh, good; so we can start training soon.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

She took her hands back, giving him a cold look.

“Oh no! You’re not going there again. I’m training with the rest of my family.”

“Please, let me explain.”

“I don’t want you to explain. You always do this Chase; you always try to protect me!”

“Can we at least try to talk about it?”

She jumped out of bed and paced around the room.

“What is there to talk about? You just want to make sure I don’t train so you can use it as an excuse for me not to fight Spectre Arakan. Tell me I have this all wrong? I dare you?”

Chase sighed. She wasn’t wrong about him not wanting her involved in the battle with the Spectre. Aphroditis had told him that there were still dark days ahead and sacrifices to be made. Chase couldn’t help thinking that Sarah could be one of those casualties.

“I don’t want to lose you.”

“Tough luck! I’m fighting alongside you and Chris, and that’s not open for discussion. This is so typical,” she added angrily. “When will you ever trust me?”

“I do trust you; I trust you with my life.”

“But you don’t trust that I can take care of myself. I thought after saving your lives on Droxia and having a soul ship choose me you’d see that I’m as much a part of this as you are.”

“I’m not disputing that, and if you would just let me explain, then perhaps you’d understand.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes. “Talk.”

“The plan is to train in the time chamber for years. Whether it will be five or ten years, I don’t know, but only the equivalent of days will pass outside the chamber.”

“Yes, so?”

“How can I put this…?”

“I suggest you put it as bluntly as you can, Chase.”

“Alright. I’m immortal.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything?”

“Really? You don’t see that unlike you, I won’t age in the room?”

Sarah’s entire face dropped, and he could feel she finally understood part of his concern.

“I love you more than life itself, Sarah; I’m not sure I’m willing to sacrifice ten years of our lives together.”

“Okay; I didn’t think about that, but I still don’t think that’s reason enough for me not to come along. What if I’m the one person that tips the scales in this fight? What if my not training means you fail in defeating Spectre Arakan and, as a result, we all die?”

And now the table had been turned, and Chase was the one that hadn’t thought of that point of view.

“I don’t have an answer to that.”

“We don’t have an answer because we can’t predict the future. But your borderline OCD control-freak nature causes you to want to protect me and shield me from the world.”

“Not the world. Just danger.”

“Are you listening to yourself, Chase? That’s the exact same thing. I’m not yours to protect, and I have as much right as you do to be in this fight. I may not yet be nearly as powerful as the three of you, and I’ll probably never become an Ultra Fury, but that doesn’t mean that I have to stay on the sidelines.”

“Can you put yourself in my shoes for a moment? If we both survive this war, you’ll age and eventually die of natural causes. And I’ll have the rest of eternity to mourn your passing and miss you. Is it bad that I want to spend an extra ten years, if not more, with you? Can you truly hate me for being selfish in this instance?”

The tension in Sarah’s face relaxed.

“No, I can understand that. But you’re again putting my well-being, and what you’re hoping the future will be, ahead of the mission. We are going to defeat the Furies, I can feel it in my bones, and I know that you can as well. We could lose Chris; you could lose Argos, heck, I could lose you! If I followed your logic, I would tell you to let Argos fight Spectre Arakan because I don’t want to lose either you or Chris. We both know you’d be outraged and wouldn’t accept those terms.”

There was very little Chase could say at this point, as he agreed with her.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want you to be sorry; I just want you not to try and control everything and maybe make a terrible mistake trying to protect those you love. If we are to win, we all have to shed these fears and give it our best, without hesitation. We all must be ready to sacrifice everything, ourselves included, if that’s what it takes to win.”

The words resonated with Chase, and he started to understand why Aphroditis had told him he needed to separate his feelings for those he loved from what needed to be done.

“As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. Let’s try to all get out of here alive.”

“Of course we’ll try, with all our might; I don’t want to die, and I don’t want to lose you or Chris. But I understand that it may happen, especially if Spectre Arakan is as powerful as you said.”

“He’s beyond anything I thought possible, even with my Ultra Fury powers, I felt helpless when we fought him. I was a mere bug compared to him. I’ve never felt so insignificant before.”

“Then I understand that we need to train for years. And that’s what we’re going to do, as a unit.”

Chase nodded.

* * *

Chase was toweling himself off when he heard the holo-comm system ringing.

“Sweetie! Can you get that?” he shouted.

When Sarah didn’t answer, he walked into the bedroom only to see that she had left. He quickly dressed and answered the call. It was Athena.

“Hey, Mother; what can I do for you?”

“I just heard about that crazy training room you had your engineers cook up for you.”

“What about it?”

“Your father and I want to train as well.”

Kvasir was right; they would have to take turns; it would be difficult having to train in the limited amount of space. With Athena and Menelas, that made a total of eight people who wanted access to the time chamber. The room was barely bigger than a basketball court, and they needed space to fly around and use different tactics.

“Alright, the more, the merrier, I guess. But let’s test the thing first, and I don’t want everyone to go inside at the same time. I’ll test the machine, Argos will join me, and then we can make groups and allot time in the room with some sort of rotation.”

“Sure; if it’s okay, I’d like to train with Menelas.”

“Works for me. Though, I suggest we mix things up from time to time, just so we fight different opponents; it will keep us on our toes.”

“That’s a good idea. Keep us in the loop, then?”

“Sure.”

A few seconds after ending the holo-communication, the doorbell rang.

Chase swiped the holo-control to see who was there, and a hologram of Daniel projected in front of the door.

“Come in.”

“Hey, buddy; you wanted to see me?” asked Daniel.

“Yeah, we need to talk about who’s gonna command the fleet while we train and when we go to Erevos.”

“Do we have a timetable on that?”

“Anywhere between ten and twenty days. Every warrior on this ship wants time inside to increase their abilities, so it looks like we’ll have to work out a schedule. If we take more time than that, we risk Spectre Arakan developing additional powers.”

“How do you feel about fighting him?”

“Honestly? I’m scared to death at the moment, and if we can avoid a confrontation and just blow his ass up with the rest of Erevos, I wouldn’t mind. But if there is a fight, then we need to be stronger than we are. Way stronger.”

“Are you excited about the prospect of training inside the time chamber?”

“I’m always excited about acquiring more power, but the thought of spending years in there is weird, you know.”

“Well, to me it will feel like days, and I have to admit I hadn’t thought of the fact that time will pass at a much slower pace for you.”

“I’m sure it will be brutal to just train every day for years. But at this point, we don’t have a choice. Spectre Arakan can crush us like insects with our current power levels.”

“That must be frustrating.”

“And terrifying.”

“I bet.”

“So, the reason I asked to see you is that I want you to take command of the Victory and the fleet should there be any engagement with the enemy while we train. If needed, you let us know, and those of us inside the time chamber will get out to help you.”

“I’ll make sure to only ask for your help if it’s necessary.”

“I know you will; thanks, bro.”

“Thank you for trusting me with the Victory.”

“You’ve always had great leadership abilities; that’s why you were the Destiny’s Wing Commander and first in line to replace Saroudis, if needed, despite being the weaker pilot,” Chase said with a smirk.

“Oh, oh! I can’t believe you just said that.”

“And yet we both know I was the better pilot.”

“The most reckless one.”

“But…”

Daniel lifted an apologetic hand.

“Ok, ok; you were the best pilot on that ship, probably the best pilot I’ve ever flown with, in fact. And so modest,” added Daniel, unable to suppress a chuckle.

Chase laughed. “Yeah, that too.”

“Have time for a quick breakfast before you go test the chamber?”

“I’d like that.”

* * *

Altair sat next to Ryonna’s bed.

“Thank you for coming, and thank you for saving my life, again.”

“You’re welcome; when you failed to answer, I knew something was wrong.”

“But coming down to the planet yourself?”

“I felt responsible; I gave you that mission, it only seemed fair that I come and get you out myself. I couldn’t send the troops; they would have gotten overrun, so stealth was the only way. There was simply no one I could trust to get the job done, so I had to do it.”

“When I saw you there, I really thought I was hallucinating. I— I never expected anyone to come get me.”

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that torture. I shouldn’t have put you in that position, for that I deeply apologize.”

Ryonna laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

“You risk your own life once again to save me, and then apologize for my failure. I’m the one that should be apologizing, something that’s not exactly my strong suit.”

“Really, I hadn’t noticed that,” said Altair with a playful smile.

“You must have sent other people on perilous or even suicidal missions before, though; I doubt you’d follow up on every one of them. So, I guess my question is, why me?”

“No reason in particular besides what I’ve already told you. This mission was paramount; we simply couldn’t afford to fail. Since brute force would probably have resulted in a massacre, I felt I didn’t have any other choice. There was simply nobody else I trusted to get the job done.”

Ryonna wasn’t convinced by Altair’s explanation. At least, not fully.

“Are you telling me the whole truth?”

“Why would I lie?”

Perhaps Ryonna was projecting her latent feelings onto Altair in the hopes she wasn’t imagining things. But her emotions were troubling, as she never thought she’d be feeling anything like this for anyone in her life.

“I didn’t mean to imply you did. Never mind. Thank you again for the rescue and for calling Ronan; that was a wonderful surprise.”

“I thought he needed to know about you, and I had a feeling you’d enjoy seeing him upon waking up. However, and I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, I came down first and foremost to make sure the objective was completed. Of course, I was also hoping nothing had happened to you. While your temper can sometimes be problematic, I recognize that you’re a valuable…asset to this war.”

Ryonna smiled. Her temper had been more under control lately, and she wondered if that was the reason she had so many close calls. It didn’t make any sense, but she felt it in her heart that she had grown slightly softer. She was still a proud warrior, but now she questioned her actions a little more than before.

“I understand. I’m also grateful that I didn’t have to kill Tar’Lock’s sister myself. Though given a chance, after what she put me through, I certainly wouldn’t have hesitated.”

Altair’s eyes grew wide.

“Right,” said Ryonna. “You didn’t know that the queen was his sister since I forgot to mention that in my report.”

“I don’t think that would have made a difference in my showdown with her, though I’m glad I didn’t have to factor in her relationship with Tar’Lock when I took the shot; sometimes just the slightest hesitation can cause a plethora of consequences.”

“I’m glad you didn’t hesitate. I don’t think Tar’Sian was the same person Tar’Lock once knew. And since Gorgar have limited memory, I don’t think the family bonds are as strong as other races experience. Still, I’m not looking forward to telling him his sister is dead.”

“While I don’t like deceiving people, perhaps it would be best not to tell him at all?”

“The thought had crossed my mind since he has so many siblings anyway, but I would feel like I’m being deceitful, and I’m not sure I could look into his eyes as a friend while withholding that piece of information.”

“But what if telling him breaks that friendship?”

“Well, under the circumstances, if it happens, then it would mean that it wasn’t that strong a bond to begin with.”

13

In the cargo bay, Cedric approached Argos who was waiting for Chase so they could test out the chamber.

“Can I speak to you?” inquired Cedric.

“Sure, what do you need?” answered Argos.

“Gaia gave me a call earlier; she said something about you helping Spiros’ clone.”

“What about it?”

“I just wanted to say thanks for helping. He’s my friend, and I should never have let him go on his own.”

“You’re welcome and don’t beat yourself up about this, sometimes we need to do certain things alone. Is that all you wanted to tell me?”

“Not exactly. I was thinking; if you had some of your equipment in the chamber, you could probably bring him back in a fraction of the time.”

“I hadn’t thought of that, but what does it matter? In suspended animation he won’t feel a thing anyway.”

“I know; I’m hoping he doesn’t feel any pain at the moment, but I was thinking mostly of Gaia.”

“I see. If I repaired his body inside the chamber, then Gaia would spend less time on the outside worrying.”

“Yes, exactly. Would you be willing to consider it?”

“We’ll have to see if there’s enough space to do both repairs on his body and train simultaneously, but I don’t see why not. Since we may be in the chamber for years, or at the very least weeks or months at a time, fixing his clone body shouldn’t take more than a few days or so.”

“Thank you, and I’m sure Gaia will appreciate it.”

Cedric extended his hand toward Argos. This was something he didn’t expect. Argos tentatively reached forward and shook Cedric’s hand.

* * *

When Chase stepped into the training bay that morning, Chris snapped, “You’re late.”

“Sorry, breakfast with Daniel ran longer than I expected.”

“I thought you’d be excited to try this as soon as possible,” added Argos.

“I am; I just wanted to see my friend. I’ll be cooped up for years in the time chamber, at least from my perspective, so taking some time off, even if just a couple of hours, seemed like a good idea.”

“Fine. Who’s going in first?” asked Chris.

“I’ll be going in first; to test it out,” said Chase.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Argos. “We can’t lose you if something should go wrong. There’s just too much at stake. Let me go instead.”

Chase knew what Argos was trying to do, even without having to probe for his feelings. Argos still felt he was to blame and that he needed to do whatever it took to redeem himself. Chase could understand since he also felt responsible for failing to save every life claimed in this war. But, as many had told him before, he knew he needed to look forward and trust not only himself but also everyone around him.

“Your life is as valuable as mine, Argos. But, I have no objections letting you go first.”

“I could go with you?” proposed Chris.

Chase brushed his hand through his son’s hair.

“I think Argos wants to do this one on his own. He won’t be long.”

Thank you, said Argos.

Anytime, Brother.

Argos approached the airlock leading to the time chamber and glanced at Kvasir.

“How’s this going to work?”

“This is just a simple test, so you get in, stay in the room for about ten minutes, and get out.”

“That’s it?”

“You can train while you wait the ten minutes. We’ve managed to find a way to reuse some of the enormous amounts of energy being blasted toward the containment field, giving us a ton of extra energy that can be tapped into. This gave me an idea, and we’ve managed to push the gravity generator you used earlier to unprecedented levels.”

“That’s interesting. How far will it go?”

“It probably can go all the way to five thousand Gs, but I’ve set it up so it will only increase incrementally to the next level once it’s safe for your body. It will also only set to the maximum level of the least powerful user in the group. This is to avoid accidents that could result in an unintentional death. Imagine a normal human stepping into a one thousand G environment, they’d be killed instantly.”

“That’s a good point. I’m ready to go.”

“Once you get into the air lock, wait until the light turns green, then you can enter the time chamber.”

Argos turned around and looked at his friends, family, and the rest of the eggheads that made this possible. He smiled.

“Good luck, Argos,” said Chase. “If you feel anything is wrong, just get out of there immediately, okay?”

Argos flashed his brother a thumbs-up.

“Will do. See you all in ten minutes?”

“It will only be ten minutes for you,” corrected Yanis. “If everything goes as planned, we’ll see you in about twenty seconds, more or less.”

“Right. Here goes nothing.”

Chase could sense Chris was worried and wanted to tell his uncle to be careful, but he probably felt his uncle’s emotions just like Chase could and decided to stay silent.

Argos entered the air lock and waited a few seconds until a light in front of the blast doors turned green. He pressed the door controls, splitting them open, revealing an intense white light that shone in the entire cargo bay. He stepped in, and his silhouette disappeared into the bright light as if he had stepped into a thick fog. The doors whooshed shut.

He’ll be fine; don’t worry, said Chase to Chris.

I hope so.

We need to test this tech; in fact, without it, there’s really no way we can defeat Spectre Arakan.

I know that. Even though I’m glad we are all training, I just wish we could take a few days off, not always be training or fighting or dealing with one tragedy after another. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting a better grasp on my powers, but there have to be some fun things we could do that won’t require us to fight all the time.

The words resonated deeply with Chase. Even more so coming from his son. Ever since his miraculous birth, all he had known was worry and fighting. That was not the life Chase had envisioned for him.

That brought back the dream he had when he was under the synthetic Kyrian snake venom. In that dream, Chase, Sarah, and Chris were a normal family, outside playing, enjoying life. It felt like paradise, but the reality was very different. Chase still hoped with all his heart that soon, after the Furies were dealt with, they could finally have those moments together, as a family.

Well, if we go inside the machine, we could take as many days off as we’d like and only a fraction of that time would pass in here, so we wouldn’t feel guilty doing it, right?

I hadn’t thought of that, but I would think you’d not want to waste a second of your training time.

Spending time with my son could never be a waste of time, Chris. In fact, I feel like we haven’t had enough time even to talk. I know it’s not going to be as fun as leaving the ship and going to the surface of some distant planet, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out to get a few days off, just you and me. If you’d like that?

Chris smiled from ear to ear. “I’d like that.”

“How are we doing?” asked Chase when he thought more than twenty seconds had passed.

“Everything seems to be working just fine. But Argos hasn’t gotten out.”

Chase couldn’t sense anything wrong regarding his brother, but he had no idea if he would be able to while Argos was in the chamber.

“Can you instruct him to get out? Do we have communication set up?”

“Yes, I can project a holo-message inside the room. I’ve tried vocal communication but the time dilation makes it a little tricky, and I never managed to get it working correctly.”

“Tell him to get out, or I’ll have to go in.”

Sarah stood next to Chase and squeezed his hand.

“Perhaps we should have tested a shorter amount of time.”

Chase glanced at her sharply. “He’ll be fine.”

The doors to the chamber opened, and Argos stepped out. Argos was profusely sweating as he stepped from the air lock, but other than that, he didn’t seem injured or ill.

Chris ran to his side.

“How was it?”

“It felt okay, except for that bright light, but, by the end, I got used to it.”

Chris punched him in the shoulder.

“What’s that for?” complained Argos.

“You should have come out on time; we were starting to get worried!”

“Yeah, sorry about that, and thanks for the holo-message. I started playing with the new gravity engine, and I guess in between training and that strong light, I lost track of time.”

“How do you feel, physically?” asked Kvasir.

“Beside the tiredness from the gravity field, completely normal. But I can already tell the space in there is not optimal for training. Not to mention that we’ll need a food synthesizer, a table to eat on, and bunk beds of some kind when we need sleep inside the chamber. I might also need to bring in some of my cloning equipment to help Spiros once he’s back here.”

“Yanis has been working on preparing all of that. It should be installed soon now that we know it’s safe to use. But, before we proceed further, I’d like you to submit to a full body scan. The doc is expecting you in the med-bay.”

Argos grimaced as he didn’t think it was necessary, but complied anyway. “Very well.”

“Mind if I come with you?” proposed Chris.

“Of course not.”

Argos and Chris left the cargo bay.

“What now?” asked Chase.

“Now we wait for the results, equip the room with everything you may need, and then you can all start using it for your training.”

* * *

Gaia ran into Chase as he was leaving the cargo bay.

“Hey, Gaia, it’s good to see you again,” said Chase. “Are you alright?”

“It’s good to see you too, Chase. I’m still very anxious about Spiros. I hope Argos can help.”

“My brother will make sure you get him back in one piece. He’s not gonna let you down. Plus, he already set aside some time in the chamber to repair him, that way you’ll get Spiros back in a matter of hours.”

“Cedric told me about that, which is wonderful. Will you give Argos my thanks?

“Sure, I’ll let him know; I’m sure he’ll appreciate it. I met with Keera earlier, shortly after you all landed on the Victory. I understand the both of you have been through hell and back these last few days. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.”

“Even you can’t be everywhere at once, Chase. We did try to contact the Alliance, but almost nothing seemed to go our way. I’m just glad the probe we sent with our message reached Emperor Altair. If it hadn’t, I feel we may never have gotten out of that predicament alive.”

Chase pondered Gaia’s words for a moment. Even with all his powers and abilities, he knew very well that he had to accept that he couldn’t fix everything, no matter how strongly he felt.

After their utter defeat against Spectre Arakan, he knew full well that all he could hope for was to give it his best and hope things would turn out okay.

“I’m glad you’re back. How do you feel? Last time I saw you, you were in bad shape. I must admit it’s also a surprise seeing you in a human body, no offense.”

“None taken; it’s a little strange for me, too. These bodies are so frail compared to my old avatars. But they have other advantages. I also feel disconnected from Earth now that I don’t have a subspace link with any technology. It’s a strange feeling, and I sometimes feel utterly alone because of it, but I guess that’s what it is to be human, right?”

Chase couldn’t exactly answer that one. Thanks to his Fury powers, he almost always felt connected to his loved ones emotionally, one way or another. But he did remember the time before he acquired his powers, so he could somewhat relate.

“Yes, I guess it is. Any other side effects of having a flesh and blood body?”

“I’m having some nasty headaches, and they seem to be getting worse.”

“Did the doc examine you?”

“Yes, I’m coming from med-bay now. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find anything wrong, and since I have ancient tech in my skull that has become my primary brain so to speak, it’s difficult for the doc to know what the cause of my headaches is. Heck, we don’t even know much of anything about the tech ourselves. He didn’t find anything wrong with me on the biological level, which is good news.”

“It is, but that must be frustrating for you, and I’m sorry you are in pain because of it. If it’s too painful at times, don’t hesitate to ask me. I have no idea if my healing powers can help, but it’s worth a try.”

“Thank you, Chase. That’s very generous of you, and if it gets bad, I’ll be sure to come and visit you.”

Chase also knew that the piece of machinery inside Gaia’s head could hold valuable information on creating better tech for the Earth Alliance, and while he didn’t know how to approach the subject, he had to try.

“I don’t know how to ask you this, but⁠—”

“You can ask me anything. Don’t worry about the implications.”

“Since your matrix is residing inside that tech now, I was curious if maybe you tried to get access to data outside of your matrix. If that’s even possible.”

“I have asked myself that same question, and since I don’t have any wireless connection with the outside anymore, it’s completely possible that I can’t access it even if I wanted to. Though, I’ve been wondering if the headaches could be related to that. The more I try to get outside of my usual thinking patterns, the more often and stronger they seem to get. Or maybe it’s just pure coincidence.”

That seemed unlikely to Chase. But he hated asking this of Gaia, especially after everything she and Spiros had been through. However, the potential for finding a blink drive, or any tech that could give them the edge before the last battle, was too critical to ignore.

“I do hate asking you this…”

“That’s alright, Chase. I owe you that much, and I promise you that I’ll try whatever you need. I know that buried deep in my head, right this moment, could hide a tech that would give you and the Alliance the edge you need. I’ll keep pushing and trying to see if I can access any data, that is if there is any present in there. After all, my matrix was vast, and it’s possible it erased whatever secrets the sphere held.”

I sure hope not, thought Chase.

“Thank you, Gaia.”

14

Chase dodged Sarah’s first fireball and deflected the next one, sending it back to her with a flick of his wrist. She blocked her own attack and re-assimilated its energy. But, by then, Chase was upon her, kicking her in the shoulder and sending her spinning wildly in the air.

She stabilized herself before landing and stood ready to block his next combo.

“Don’t hold back on me!” she protested. “Just give it all you’ve got. We’re only at a pathetic setting of seventy gravities because the computer thinks I can’t take more than that.”

“The idea is for us to train, not for me to send you into the regen tank.”

“Perhaps I need to get my butt royally kicked a few times.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yes it does, if you think about it; you seem to be more powerful after every close call you’ve had with death. Maybe I need that to close the gap between us.”

“Give yourself a break, you are progressing nicely. We’ve only been at this for three weeks, and I can tell you’ve gotten a much better grasp on your powers during that time.”

Sarah frowned.

“What is it?” asked Chase.

“Maybe I should train with Chris.”

“He’s training with Argos. Once we’re done with our month-long session, I’m sure he’ll be happy to train with you as well.”

“Fat chance.”

“What’s really bothering you?”

“You’re not training as efficiently as you could because you’re stuck with me. Chris wants to train with his uncle, and I’m sure you’d rather train with him too.”

“That’s nonsense.”

“Chase, in the three weeks that we’ve been training, not once have you turned into an Ultra Fury. You’re not pushing yourself, which was the whole point. In fact, I think you shouldn’t just train with Argos but face both your brother and your son at the same time. I’m just slowing you down, and you’re too nice to say anything.”

Chase swore in his head. Sarah was right, and the thought had crossed his mind, but he was still hoping that in the next few months Sarah would close some of the gap regarding her power. He didn’t know if she had enough Fury genes to ever be an Ultra Fury herself. In fact, he feared the lack of Olympian genes could very well be the missing element since only Fury genes were transferred to her during her pregnancy.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. And I’m still getting plenty of training done.”

“See, now you’re patronizing me.”

Chase sighed.

“Okay, what do you want me to tell you?”

“The cold hard truth; you owe me that much.”

Chase’s face twitched. “Alright. I wish the gravity were at a higher setting, but it’s getting stronger every day, and we literally have years we can use to do this. You may not feel it yet, but you’re closing the gap already; you’re certainly getting more powerful faster than I did when I trained with Gaia’s bots. I just think you’ve put too many expectations on yourself. You can’t possibly hope to catch up with us when you were the last of us to develop your abilities. And I should point out that when that happened, you saved all our lives, Zeus’ included.”

“Some good that did him.”

Chase frowned. “That’s not fair, and I hate myself enough already for letting Olympus be destroyed and not being able to save my grandfather from his fate.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring back old memories.”

“Yet you dismissed the fact that in that moment, your power was unbelievable.”

“Why do you think that is, though?”

“What? That you’re dismissing your powers?”

Sarah shook her head.

“No, Chase. Why was my power so great, and why can’t I access it now? I can tell you that unlike when these powers first surfaced, I’m no longer afraid of them. In fact, I’ve embraced them, and I want nothing more than total mastery over them; so why is it not working?”

“I’m not sure why. I think your powers manifested because of the dangers we were facing, and you acted on survival instinct and the will to protect your family.”

“Then what we’re doing here is useless.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you’re not willing to get physical with me.”

Chase pointed at Sarah’s black eye as well as multiple bruises on her limbs.

“I haven’t exactly been going easy on you.”

“But you’ve never put my life in danger, either.”

“You know very well I can’t do that.”

“Even if your reluctance to do so costs us the ultimate victory?”

Chase threw his hands up and walked toward the exit.

Sarah bit her lip. “Don’t go, Chase; I’m sorry.”

But Chase kept walking and exited the time chamber.

* * *

Daniel was on his morning run when he passed through the observation deck and saw Chase looking at the stars through the large viewport. He stopped and walked toward Chase.

“Hey, Chase. I’m surprised to see you here,” said Daniel, breathing heavily from his interrupted exercise. “Aren’t you supposed to be in the chamber or did you guys change your schedule?”

“I needed some air. Sarah and I are fighting lately; I just don’t know what to do anymore. It feels like no matter what I say or do, we end up at each other’s throats.”

Daniel came next to his best friend and patted his back.

“I’m sorry to hear that. This whole war is messing with our heads, I guess.”

“It’s not been the easiest of years, that’s for sure. I’m just worried that…”

But Chase let the words hang.

“Worried that what?”

“Never mind.”

“No, Chase; tell me. If you can’t tell me, whom can you tell? And when you’re worried, I get worried; in fact, I think everyone does.”

“I have that gut feeling lately, about everything that’s ahead of us, and I don’t like it.”

“You’ll need to be more precise than that; I have no idea what you’re trying to tell me.”

“Like this is never gonna end.”

“What? This war?”

“Conflict in general. Arakan is finally dead, and he’s already been replaced by someone a hundred times more powerful; what if that someone is replaced by an even bigger enemy. When does it end? When can we just start enjoying normal lives?”

“When was your life ever normal, Chase?”

“Touché. But you know what I mean.”

Daniel nodded. “I do. And I wish I had an answer for you, but truth be told, I’m just taking it one day at a time, and I think most of us do. I once was making plans in my head, but well, the future never unfolds how one imagines it, does it?”

Chase knew very well Daniel was talking about plans his dear friend must have made in his mind when he envisioned a future with Fillio. A future that was stolen from him. What would Chase do if his future were stolen? How would he react? He preferred not to think about it; things were complicated enough as it was.

“To get back to your problems,” continued Daniel, “have you considered asking Sarah to marry you?”

Chase’s eyes shot wide open in surprise.

“Of course, but where did that come from?”

“I think you need to do it before we go into the final battle. It doesn’t have to be a large ceremony; you can have a quiet ceremony with just a few friends, but make your union official. You never know what tomorrow will bring, and at the moment, we have some respite. I know you guys are training and all, but take a few hours off, just enjoy yourselves. Heck, even have it in the time chamber; you could have a closed-quarters ceremony, take a day or even more, celebrate, laugh, dance, empty your heads for just a little while. I think it would do you good.”

“Marriage is the last thing on my mind right now.”

“Ok; then let me ask you, if this was your last day, wouldn’t you regret not being married to Sarah? Wouldn’t it bother you?”

“When you put it like that…”

“Just have the wedding, Chase.”

“Even if I wanted to, all we’ve done is fight lately; it doesn’t seem appropriate.”

“Then perhaps that’s one of the reasons.”

“I seriously doubt it. Sarah is as aware of the war and the price we may have to pay to win it. We’ve discussed getting married when all of this is over.”

“Except neither of you can guarantee that you’ll still be alive at the end of all this. I know that’s probably the last thing you want to hear right now, but…think about it.”

Daniel clapped Chase on the back. “I’m gonna take a quick sonic shower; I’m due on the bridge in fifteen. Chin up, Chase, and next time you’re out of the chamber come and find me, I miss spending time with you.”

“Alright. Me too, buddy.”

* * *

Argos unleashed a cascade of powerful fireballs toward his nephew, but Chris managed to dodge them all while still gaining ground, hoping to use the element of surprise to get a series of punches past Argos.

But when Chris was upon him, Argos turned into an Ultra Fury and smashed Chris with a powerful jab that sent him tumbling and crashing for yards.

He got back up and caressed his bruised cheek and spat some blood on the ground.

“Ouch. I didn’t see that one coming.”

“That’s because you’re not focused enough. I can tell your mind is elsewhere. What’s going on?”

“I just wondered why we are already training. My parents left their time slot a lot sooner than we had planned. And I can feel tension, and even resentment, in Mom.”

“I think we all have a lot on our plates at the moment. But that’s why it’s vital we stay focused and get stronger. Only if we grow our power exponentially do we stand a chance at taking out the Spectre.”

“I know that, but I don’t like it when there’s tension between them, you know.”

Argos had felt it too. There was trouble in paradise, and he had tried to ask Chase about it before they entered the time chamber, but Chase didn’t want to talk about it.

“Your parents are adults, and they’ll figure it out on their own. We’re not doing them any favors by letting their problems impact our training time.”

“I get that,” said Chris before looking toward the pod that encased the body of Spiros. “How long will he be like that? I heard Gaia has literally been camping outside the time chamber.”

“I’ll check him and see how much longer he needs before his clone body is fully repaired. He’s lucky they put him in a suspended animation pod to transport him here, though. I fear if they had waited another day, he would have been beyond my help. Here’s the deal, I’ll spend a few more hours monitoring him and making the final adjustments, but you have to keep training on your own for a while, okay?”

“Sure; I’ll boost the gravity to its max and do some katas. How does that sound?”

“Good; and try and stay focused on your task, okay?”

Chris saluted. “Yes, sir!”

“Very funny, Brat!”

* * *

Gaia was pacing in the cargo bay for what felt like an eternity. It had been hours already since Argos brought Spiros to the chamber. It was three in the morning onboard the Victory, and even Kvasir, who tended to burn the midnight oil, had left to get some rest.

She tried telling herself that she would see Spiros much sooner than she would normally have, thanks to the new technology. Still, that didn’t lower her anxiety one bit. She was going mad in her head waiting to see the man she loved so much. Argos had guaranteed that he would fix him and that he would make a full recovery, but Gaia simply couldn’t take Argos at his word. She knew Argos would do anything to save him, but with the lack of luck they had experienced on their perilous mission, Gaia couldn’t help but feel that something could still go wrong.

Part of her was worried that being inside the chamber while his body was being repaired would trigger a side effect Argos couldn’t have anticipated. A noise brought Gaia out of her musings, and her heart skipped a beat as the inner doors of the airlock split open, filling the cargo bay with bright light.

It took a good three seconds until the blurry shadow, set against an impossibly white light source, emerged from the ethereal, divine-looking glow. These three seconds felt like an eternity.

Spiros stood in the airlock, waiting for the time dilation adjustment cycle to finish. His eyes fixed upon hers, a wide smile spread across his face. He looked so much younger than the man she had fallen in love with, but then again, he was way cuter now.

“Hey, love,” he said through the airlock speakers.

“Hey, you.” Gaia’s voice trembled, as tears coursed down her face. “I was going mad. How are you feeling?”

“Much better. In fact, I don’t ever remember feeling this good, even when I was this age.”

“I’m so glad to hear that.”

The light inside the airlock turned green, and he stepped out. Gaia’s arms were around his neck the moment he was out. She kissed him passionately.

Spiros gently caressed her hair; his eyes lovingly looking her over. He cupped her face in his hands, but a worried look crossed over him.

“How are you doing? How are your headaches?” he asked.

“I’m fine; don’t worry about me.”

“Look who’s talking.”

“They are getting stronger, but I’m trying to embrace them, and, in fact, I’m focusing on trying to get information from the ancient tech when they happen. It’s not easy, and I’ve been trying to enter a meditative state when the headaches strike, with little success, so far.”

“Why would you even try to do that? I don’t like it.”

“Chase thinks that the sphere might still contain data on tech that could be useful.”

Spiros frowned, and sadness filled his eyes.

“I just got you back, the last thing I want is to lose you all over again. What if by accessing the data, it destabilizes your matrix again, or worse?”

“We both know that the only reason we are still alive and able to be together now is thanks to Chase. I owe him that much.”

“You don’t owe anybody anything.”

“Spiros, I understand how you’re feeling, I truly do. But you know very well that isn’t true.”

“Why can’t we just take a ship and get the hell out of here? Just you and me.”

“I’d like that; when the war is over, that’s exactly what we’ll do. But look at it this way, when the war is over, we could return to Earth. I— I miss my home.”

“I suppose it’s as pretty a planet as any.”

Gaia smiled as she took Spiros’ face in her hands.

15

Ryonna entered the mess hall and scanned every table until she spotted Chase alone in a corner, staring at his food. She noticed a deep frown on his face as she approached.

“Mind if I join you?”

Chase rose from his seat. His entire face lit up as they shook hands.

“It’s so good to see you alive and well,” said Chase.

“Thank you, Chase.”

“Do you want something to eat?”

“I’m good, but thank you.”

“Please sit,” said Chase.

“Are you not training? I was surprised when Daniel told me I might find you here.”

“The time chamber is too small for all of us to train at the same time, and since the security features adjust on-the-fly to the least powerful of its users, we couldn’t train as efficiently if we were all inside. While us Fury hybrids have already used this tech to gain strength, Athena, Menelas, Poseidon, and even Thor, have no experience with it, and they will need to use the gravity engine at much lower settings for the time being.”

“I understand, but I can feel there’s something else. Plus, I noticed on the schedule that right now Argos and Chris are training, surely you could tag along with them. Something is bothering you; something big.”

“I thought you had lost your powers in the matter.”

“I have lost my ability to see when someone is going to die, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still sense strong emotions. And even if I couldn’t, have you seen yourself in the mirror?”

Chase tried smiling.

“Fair enough. I imagine I don’t look my best.”

“You look lost. Want to talk about it?”

“Sarah and I have been arguing a lot lately. I’ve also been thinking about asking her to marry me before we destroy Erevos.”

“That seems like a rash decision. But I can understand why you would.”

“You can? I was semi-expecting you to be the voice of reason.”

“You both love each other so much, and soon you’ll go into battle together. All life in the universe depends on whether or not you succeed. Which means anyone going to Erevos might not come back. I know you, Chase, if you have to sacrifice yourself to make sure that others live, you will.”

As his look changed from concern to seriousness, she could tell she was right about her assessment.

“You sure haven’t changed much since the last time we had a heart to heart conversation in a mess hall. You’re not pulling any punches, and you’re definitely telling it like it is.”

“You’re my friend; I owe you my life ten times over, so why would I just tell you what you want to hear? What type of friend would that make me? In troubled times, we need to hear the truth; on that I’m sure you agree.”

Chase nodded.

“Can I ask you something? It’s personal, so you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“Ask me anything, Chase.”

“If you had known beforehand that your husband would die, would you have still married him?”

The mention of her husband made Ryonna’s heart tighten in her chest. She had been doing a lot of introspective thinking regarding the emotions she had allowed herself to have toward Altair.

“Absolutely, even if he had died the next day, but, fortunately, we had twenty happy years together. Even if we didn’t, I would never regret marrying him.”

“Thank you; I know this is not exactly a subject you like to discuss.”

“You’re welcome, Chase.”

“One more thing. Right now I’m the one who senses that you’re feeling worried about something. I don’t mean to scan you, but you’re all over the place.”

Was she? She thought she had managed to keep her emotions in check at the mention of her husband. She missed him greatly, and more than anything she wished that Ronan still had his father. He would have been so proud of the man their son had become.

“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.”

Chase stared straight into her eyes for a moment. She felt like breaking their gaze.

“Alright, then. Thanks again for your honest opinion. I truly value it, as I do your friendship. And if you ever want to talk about what bothers you, know that my door is always open.”

“I know, Chase. Thank you.”

* * *

After his discussion with Ryonna in the mess hall, Chase went to see Kvasir in the cargo bay.

“Do you ever stop working?” said Chase with a smile.

“I do, but I’d like to monitor the time chamber as much as I can because if we lose containment, we’d also lose the ship and probably everyone on board. I am wearing a device that will alert me to the slightest fluctuation in power levels though, so no need to worry.”

“Looks like you’re worrying enough for all of us.”

“I’m used to that.”

“Do you ever do anything for fun?” Chase asked.

“I try to take an hour every day to study Earth culture and the way its society works, which I find really fascinating.”

“Funny you should say that. I have a favor to ask you, but it’s somewhat personal.”

“I’m honored you’d consider me for personal matters, and I’d be happy to help in any way I can.”

“Can you install holographic projectors inside the time chamber?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, but to what end if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It’s a bit premature, but I’m hoping to hold my wedding inside the chamber. I’ve thought about doing it simply aboard the Victory, but we don’t know when we may be called to enter into battle. I thought we could have a nice wedding and take our time doing it, while very little time would pass outside the chamber. I’d obviously have to keep the attendance small because of the size of the room, but a close-friends wedding would suit me.”

“Fascinating. From what I’ve read about weddings, these things take time to prepare. I’d love to do that for you.”

“That would be great as I don’t even know where to start. I’d also like to propose to Sarah in the training room and surprise her with changing the landscape the moment I do it and have a holographic environment fade in; do you think you could do that?”

“As soon as the system is in place, all you’d have to do is use your mind to turn it on.”

“That would be perfect. As for the wedding, did you read up enough on the subject? Or should I ask my mom to help you?”

“I’d welcome Athena’s input, but I’ve researched it thoroughly and seen many vids of such events.”

“Then you know more about it than I do. I’ll let my mom know she can expect a call from you. I think she’d like to be a part of this.”

“Absolutely. It would be my honor to do this for you, Chase. Thanks for thinking of me.”

“No, it is I who should thank you, Kvasir.”

* * *

Tanak’Vor spent days in the Furies’ archive trying to obtain information about the ships that had obliterated his fleet at Thanos Five. Just when he was about to give up, he did one last search in the computer’s database.

“One match found,” said the male computer voice.

“Show me.”

The computer holo-projected some obviously handmade sketches of starfighter ships, and they did resemble the one that he saw on the holo-logs. He sifted through the information and discovered there were a number of these ships in existence.

According to the old-Fury dialect that the computer was translating in real-time, they were ancient. Very ancient, and older than their recorded history, in fact.

They were created by an alliance between five older races, one of which was the Olympians, at a time when they were still considered a young race in the universe.

Not much was known regarding their capabilities and how they worked; the written records were simply too old and mostly incomplete. Anyway, Tanak’Vor knew what they were capable of by the short clip he had witnessed.

However, one thing caught his eye; the records mentioned that the ships used energy from their pilots to create formidable energetic discharges more powerful than any technology could ever achieve. In the Spectre’s mind this confirmed that only Ultra Furies or beings with large pools of energy could use them efficiently enough to cause serious damage.

They were dubbed soul ships. Upon sifting through a ton of useless additional records within the same file, a word jumped out at him. He thought he’d seen it earlier, so he asked the computer to find a match, and sure enough, that part of the file referred to the race that defeated the creators of the soul ships.

The Atlantians. The file described the people of Atlantis as being the most technologically evolved race that ever traveled the stars; a race with unimaginable intellect that had built a perfect society and civilization.

If they were so smart, where are they now?

It took Tanak’Vor several hours to piece together the larger puzzle. It still didn’t explain how or why the Atlantians disappeared, and the Fury archive didn’t contain anything else on the subject other than a theory.

At the height of their civilization, the Atlantians, who had already found a cure for mortality, wanted to create a better race, one that would allow them to exponentially progress and unlock every mystery of the universe. To do this, they created the Soulless. All that Tanak’Vor could piece together after, was that the Atlantians had disappeared in the blink of an eye in their planet-sized ships that housed millions of souls traveling through the stars.

Tanak’Vor didn’t expect this wretched dimension to contain such powerful beings, more powerful, it appeared, than the Furies, the Olympians, and the Asgardians. There could be new technologies to be found from the remnants of these older races, which would certainly be of interest to the council as well as Spectre Prime.

Until now, Tanak’Vor didn’t understand the main motivation behind the council’s decision to try and enter this dimension. The last three dimensions that the Spectres had conquered had not contributed any advancements to their level of technology.

That could change if he could get his hands on those soul ships. Perhaps his tactic of trying to push the Furies outward was the wrong one, maybe he should think of a way to bring the soul ships to him on Erevos. Of course, with their level of power, that was a risky proposition. They could very well destroy everything he would throw at them.

If the archive information was correct, the pilots needed to use their energy to operate the vessels, which meant it was limited. And, while the Ultra Furies today represented the best this dimension had to offer, their level of powers was infinitesimal compared to Tanak’Vor’s.

Yes, I need to get my hands on one of those ships.

He needed a little more time to make sure he had put all contingencies into place, should his plan to kill the Ultra Furies fail. No matter what happened when they finally returned to Erevos, Chase and his friends would pay a steep price. Of that, Tanak’Vor would make sure.

* * *

Sarah was on the bridge when Daniel exited the turbo-lift.

“You should get some sleep,” he said. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but you look exhausted.”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Are the two of you still fighting?”

Sarah shook her head. “He told you?”

Daniel swallowed hard. “Just in passing.”

“Right.”

“If I may, though, I think the two of you should try and focus on what you have and not on your current disagreements, whatever they may be.”

“And what is it that we have?”

“Love, life, a family. I wish I had all those things.”

It hit Sarah that she had been complaining about how Chase treated her, but Daniel had lost the woman he loved and with it the prospect of having a family.

“What about Rae? I thought the two of you would hit it off.”

“We went our separate ways a while back. I thought you knew.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I’m not. I’m still not over Fillio; I can’t be with anyone else until I get past that, you know.”

Sarah nodded solemnly. “I understand.”

“Go train with Chase, Sarah, and don’t let whatever is eating at you create a chasm between the two of you. You’ve both been through hell and back, and I’m sure there will be more hardships for the both of you in the future, but at least you have each other; cherish that, today, now. Take it from me, if you don’t, you may regret it for a very long time, your entire life even.”

Daniel’s words hit home. He was right. Even though they didn’t get along lately, and Sarah didn’t appreciate that Chase wasn’t willing to train harder with her, he was doing it out of love. If the positions were reversed, would she do any different? Probably not. Chris had used deceit to bring some of her powers to the surface, and while she was mad at him for doing so at first, she understood why he did it and was thankful ever since it had empowered her.

“Thank you, Daniel. You have the bridge.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

On her way to their quarters, Sarah couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about her days on Earth. Life seemed so simple back then. All she had to worry about was not getting killed inside her fighter jet.

But even if meeting Chase had meant a life of worry and risking their lives at every turn, he had shown her the universe. He had fulfilled her dream of going to the stars on their very first date, in fact. Had she been too hard on him? Her moods had been swinging out of control at every turn lately. Perhaps she needed to ground herself and recognize what really mattered to her.

16

Sarah entered the time chamber where Chase was training on his own. The room’s gravity immediately adjusted from over a thousand to one hundred and twenty, which the computer calculated was a safe setting for her at her current power levels.

Chase must have returned here during the night because she had heard him come to bed earlier, but he was gone when she woke up. She had been pretty out of it when he returned to their quarters, and she had preferred not engaging in a discussion for fear of preventing him from sleeping, but obviously, that didn’t matter since he was here.

Chase had his eyes closed and performed a very fluid and offensive base kata, and while she needed to talk with him, she waited until he finished.

“Chase,” she called.

Chase opened his eyes and turned Ultra Fury.

What the hell?

Before she could say another word, he launched himself at her, both of his fists engulfed in flames.

“Wait!” she shouted.

But Chase didn’t and sent her flying to the wall on her left. His jab fractured her cheekbone, and her entire face throbbed.

“I need to talk with you,” she said, holding the side of her face.

“Later; right now you need to defend yourself.”

She could tell from his tone that he was dead serious, and while Chase was giving her what she had wanted before, she had come in to talk, not fight. Nevertheless, part of her really wanted to know if she could hold her own against him at full power.

Chase rapidly sent three consecutive fireballs her way. She dodged the first one, deflected the second one with the back of her hand, and obliterated the last one with a fireball of her own.

Chase was upon her the second she had deflected his attack, and Sarah somersaulted over him, turned in mid-air, and unleashed a powerful kick to his neck. Chase’s head didn’t even budge, but instead, her foot throbbed with pain.

Holy shit; it’s like he’s invincible in this form.

Of course, she knew it wasn’t the case; Spectre Arakan had easily defeated Chase even in his Ultra Fury mode. Which meant that her power levels were simply not good enough to even hope to be of any use against their enemy at this point. She’d have to work long and hard to close the gap, that much was certain.

Before she could strike at him again, he grabbed her by the leg, and spun around so fast, Sarah only saw a white blur. When he released her, she crashed to the floor with such velocity that she bounced up and onto the opposite wall, traveling up toward the ceiling before she painfully and unceremoniously collapsed to the floor.

At this point, she ached everywhere but began feeling her rage build up. Should she give in to this anger?

“I think you should,” smirked Chase, “if you want to stay alive now or in the future. Letting your inner fury overtake you is part of the process.”

She struggled back to her feet and dusted herself off.

“Yet, you said you attained your higher level of powers not by using hatred or rage.”

“It matters most how you focus your emotion and what you use them for. I can’t deny that being angry makes me more powerful. What I do with that power is the key to staying sane, though. Now get ready, I’ve been holding back in my first two attacks, I won’t in the next one.”

That was him holding back? I’m in trouble.

Chase unleashed an animalistic roar as his aura tripled in size. His hair flew upward, his eyes shining like two burning stars. Everything around them trembled. In this moment, she barely recognized the man she loved; the level of power he displayed was terrifying.

“You either get into the game now, or you may die. I’ll try to revive you, but I won’t hold off on my next attacks.”

Is he fucking kidding me?

She wanted to complain and make him stop, but the desire to feel that she had a place in the upcoming battle as an equal to Chase, Argos, and Chris was too strong. She needed to know if she was a hindrance to them of if she could hold her own when the time came.

She didn’t have to be as powerful as them, but she couldn’t become a liability either. Otherwise, Chase was right to try and shield her, and she might as well stay on board the Victory when the time came to return to Erevos.

She looked straight at Chase and nodded in agreement.

Before her guard was back up, Chase was upon her and must have hit her a good fifteen times before she understood what was going on. He was moving so fast, she simply couldn’t follow him with her eyes. She’d have to sense or predict his movements, or she’d get reduced to a pulp quickly.

She felt the anger rise deep from within, but this time instead of fearing it, she fueled it with rage, and before she realized it, she was blocking, countering, and dodging every one of Chase’s attacks.

Her eyes turned bright yellow, and she felt an incredible amount of energy run through her veins like nothing she experienced before, not even on Droxia. What was most impressive this time is that she felt in control, and she was aware of what was happening to her.

She devised a strategy and started launching combo attacks of her own, even landing some powerful blows that sent blood from Chase flying in the air. He was reciprocating, and they both were hitting each other hard. He had easily broken at least three of her bones, but she had also heard some of his crack.

She pretended to stumble, and Chase went for the bluff. She grabbed his arm in the middle of his uppercut, twisted around, and smashed Chase on the floor with all her might. The force field around the time chamber flashed blue, and a large shockwave reverberated around him.

Her instincts took over, and before she had time to think, she was unleashing dozens upon dozens of fireballs. Chase tried canceling most of them out with his own but had to dodge a few. By the time he had deflected the last one, Sarah was on top of him, levitating in the air with a smirk on her face. She unleashed a powerful kick to his face and sent him crashing to the wall she had herself bounced against earlier.

Chase recovered his balance before hitting the ground and unleashed a gigantic column of energy toward her. Instinctively, she rooted herself to the ground, extended both her arms forward, and unleashed as much energy as she could, creating an equally powerful yellow column of energy.

As both attacks impacted with one another, a terrible shockwave sent both of them skidding backward. Chase growled and intensified the energy of his attack, which began repelling hers. Without even consciously realizing it, she intensified hers and pushed his attack back.

That’s when Chase stopped firing. The bright yellow column of energy kept advancing toward him, and he stood in the path of the attack. Before it hit him, Sarah felt compelled to deflect the column’s trajectory. She didn’t believe he could deal with its power and was too scared that his overconfidence would get him killed.

While he could revive her, the opposite wasn’t true. Chase teleported in front of her while she was finishing her move and clocked her with such force that she thought she’d lose consciousness on the spot. Her vision blurred, her head spun, and blood shot from her mouth. She was nearly knocked out and had to put a knee to the ground, but she refused to fall.

Then, everything around her changed. The white room turned into a beautiful Earth landscape with greenery and trees and a gentle breeze. In the distance was a beautiful cascade of water, the sound of waves gently lapping against some rocks. She looked at Chase who was smiling as he reached for something in his pocket.

Her head was still ringing as he opened a velvety case exposing a beautiful diamond and amethyst ring. His hair fell onto his back as his aura died down.

“Sarah, will you marry me? Today?” he asked.

The question hit her harder than any of the blows he had inflicted upon her. Her heart thumped, and tears flowed uncontrollably down her cheeks. She would never have imagined that he would do something like this, not at this moment, not when they seemed entangled in such a powerful and life-threatening training session.

“Oh, Chase! Yes! I will marry you.”

He smiled, took the ring out, and put it on her finger.

The reflection around them from the clear blue sky made the diamond and gem shine brightly.

She tried getting back on her feet, but her entire body ached. Chase bent down to one knee and grabbed her by the arms; soon her pain faded away. They kissed passionately in this perfect moment in time.

When their lips parted, he gestured with his head and said: “Look at that gravity setting.”

She looked behind him and noticed the gravity factor appeared over the mesmerizing view of the mountains and waterfall. It read eight hundred and twenty-seven. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

“And you were worried you weren’t progressing fast enough.”

“I— I can’t believe it.”

“Perhaps that’s the reason why you were failing in your approach to your powers. I knew all along that you were capable of this and more. Your power seems to manifest differently than ours. Perhaps it’s your lack of Olympian genes, but your Fury genes are very powerful. I felt that when you saved us on Droxia, you had a power even greater than our own. It just seems more complicated for you to consciously access it, but it’s certainly there.”

“Huh,” was all she could answer.

“Let’s get something to eat and prepare for the ceremony, too.”

“We’re really doing this today? I thought you wanted to wait until the war was over.”

“Initially, I wanted to, yes. But we didn’t have a time chamber. We can take a few days to do this, and only a fraction of time will pass outside the chamber.”

Sarah smiled.

“That sounds like fun, then. But for future reference, beating the shit out of your fiancée is not how these things go, and you’re the one supposed to get on one knee when asking someone to marry you.”

Chase chuckled. “What’s the fun in that? You must know by now that I don’t like to do things like other people.”

She punched him in the shoulder. “Good job, then, because that was a one-of-a-kind proposal.”

* * *

Tanak’Vor checked the latest reports from his admiral. The Furies had managed to wipe out a large portion of the smaller world’s forces. He had adjusted their strategies to conserve the fleets for when it came time to bring the Earth Alliance to their knees. Something he could feel in his borrowed bones was coming soon.

By instructing his ships to jump in, fire from orbit, and jump out within less than an hour, they never gave the Earth Alliance time to react. They kept sending ships, but by the time they arrived, the Fury forces were long gone.

His forces had reduced six races nearly to dust. It would take years to recover from the attacks, and they would spread a message of fear to their neighbors, a message that Tanak’Vor hoped would fester through the galaxy like a plague.

His next target would be the jump gate networks the humans and Obsidians were building. In the long run, the jump gates would provide them a tactical advantage since they could travel through hyperspace faster by using them. It would also allow smaller ships, devoid of hyperspace engines, the ability to travel in FTL.

On the one hand, he was determined to send a message of fear and terror, but on the other hand that could result in other worlds joining the Earth Alliance out of desperation. With the help of the jump gate network, they could then assemble and send unprecedented fleets toward Erevos.

So for the time being, he would destroy only tactical gates. Those that would prevent the Alliance from jumping directly to Erevos, cutting down the travel time compared to using their own jump engines. This would only slow them down, but when the time came to strike at the heart of the Alliance, it could prove crucial.

He also needed to leave breadcrumbs behind with his attacks to try and taunt the Earth Alliance into making the first move. He needed Chase and the Ultra Furies to all come to him instead of him trying to find them, as they could have split up, and he wanted to deal with them once and for all and get his hands on one of the soul ships to study.

He would need a few more days to put all the pieces of his plan into place, and then he’d set his trap for the Earth Alliance. The next battle would either see the Furies win the war or see their downfall. Chase and his cohorts would have to choose between destroying the enemy fleets with their soul ships, which would tax their energy to be able to fight him, or they would have to keep their energy and needlessly squander it trying to bring him down.

There was no way the Ultra Furies would ever be able to defeat him. He had witnessed their capabilities, and they simply were not fighting on the same level. Tanak’Vor had no doubts that Chase would train and try to increase his powers, as he had in the past while that fool Arakan was in control, making one stupid mistake after another.

But at the end of the day, Tanak’Vor would siphon their souls and become more powerful with every warrior’s soul he acquired. He had already grown in power by assimilating Oryn’s soul. He could feel her inside of him; she granted him more energy as well as new abilities.

But unlike Arakan, he would not rush things. He didn’t need to. He just had to put everything in place and let the Earth Alliance make their final mistake of coming back to Erevos.

17

Kvasir had done an incredible job with the holographic environments for the time chamber wedding by choosing one that mimicked a larger venue rather than revealing how truly small the chamber was for such an event.

Of course, the list of invitees had been reduced to the bare minimum. Outside of the people already using the chamber for training, there were Chase’s close friends and family members.

Right now the holo-projector showed a beautiful replica of one of Earth’s cathedrals, and Altair was officiating the wedding.

Sarah was happier than she had been in months. The cathedral looked similar to the one she had seen in the fantasy she was escaping to when Argos was torturing her. Part of her wished he hadn’t been invited, and she could sense by his look that he felt like he didn’t belong there as well, but Chase wanted his brother at their wedding.

They arrived at the vows, and Sarah was amazed how similar Chase’s words were today to his words in her fantasy.

“I promise to always look after you and love you for as long as I shall live. I will always be there for you. With patience and kindness in my heart and to give you strength and support when you need it the most. You can always count on me, through thick and thin. I love you with all my heart and soul. I pledge myself to you for all eternity.”

Now it was her turn.

“You are my everything. My best friend, my teacher, my role model, and my true north. I love you now and vow to love you forever. In sickness and in health, through sorrow and success, through times of darkness and light, I shall forever be by your side. I love you more than anything in this world, and today you make me whole.”

Altair smiled and looked at the people seated just a few feet away.

“Chase Athanatos, will you take Sarah Kepler to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love her and cherish her, now and forever?”

“I do,” said Chase without hesitation.

“Sarah Kepler, will you take Chase Athanatos to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love him and cherish him, now and forever?”

“I do,” said Sarah, tears sparkling in her eyes.

“By the power vested in me by the Earth Alliance, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”

Chase kissed Sarah as everyone present cheered.

Minutes later Kvasir had changed the holo-environment into a ballroom overlooking a seaside cliff and a beautiful sunset. This was the perfect venue for a dinner with their closest friends and family members.

Dancing, dining, and laughing did everyone a world of good. It took away a lot of the tension people were feeling. Eventually, the ceremony came to a close, and all the invitees left the reception. Kvasir, Cedric, Yanis, and Tar’Lock stayed a little longer to help clean up the chamber while Chase and Sarah sat and watched the moon reflect upon the water in the horizon. Sarah rested her head on Chase’s shoulder.

“Thank you so much for this,” she said. “I didn’t want to pressure you into doing this, but I feel so much better now that our union is official. We don’t know what awaits us tomorrow, so I’m very happy we did this.”

“I’m happy we did this as well, and I’m sorry we couldn’t do it earlier.”

“Don’t apologize; this was a perfect wedding, and thanks to the time dilation, we don’t have to feel guilty for taking this break.”

Chase smiled as they enjoyed the dreamy view for a while longer, so long in fact, that they hadn’t noticed when the last of their friends left.

“What now?” asked Sarah.

Chase closed his eyes, accessed the computer in charge of the holographic environment, and changed everything around them. They were sitting in the cockpit of a ship, in hyperspace.

“What are you doing?”

“Now we enjoy a nice retreat and honeymoon as we should.”

“I know time here is almost free, but shouldn’t we be training?”

“Shhh, let’s just enjoy this for the next few days, okay?”

Sarah smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “That sounds perfect.”

* * *

Altair didn’t expect Sarah when he answered the incoming call from the Victory.

“Hey, Captain Kepler, or should I call you Captain Athanatos?”

She smiled. “While I like the sound of that, Sarah will do.”

“Very well, Sarah. I take it that you’ve returned from your honeymoon?”

“Yes, we have. I was feeling guilty about it, but when I realized barely two hours had passed outside the chamber, I allowed myself to think that this was time well spent. Chase and I needed to get some time alone.”

“I’m pleased to hear you had a good time. And, yes, thanks to the time dilation, you both got the breather that you needed. I would even recommend you plan some R&R time-slots in between your training sessions. With the way things have been going lately, I think it would help morale.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll let Chase and the others know.”

“I take it you didn’t call me to tell me any of this, though?”

“No, I wanted to go over the latest reports, but before we do that, I wanted to thank you once more for officiating.”

“It was both my pleasure and honor.”

“I wanted to catch up with you on what happened in the last couple of days. Any news of the Furies? Any more ships attacking smaller worlds like they tried to do on Thanos Five?”

“Yes, but they seem to have adjusted their tactics, most likely in response to their losing their fleet to the soul ships. They’re mostly performing guerrilla-style attacks now; arrive in a system, destroy their opposition, and get out. There’s no way we can hope to jump fast enough, even with the gate network progressing at a faster pace now that the gates are assembled on the Gorgar home world.”

“Well, it makes sense for them not to linger around for us to come and destroy their last ships. Chase is certain that they have more ships than we can estimate, and that Spectre Arakan being has more surprises up his sleeve. But, I think they don’t have an infinite supply of ships. If they did, they would have sent more than three super-destroyers on Thanos Five. As for the hit and runs, perhaps it’s for the best. Not for the races that are getting hit, of course, but we can’t expect to use the soul ships solely to defend every world from the Fury attacks, their impact on our energy levels makes them a last contingency type of solution.”

“Yes, Chase told me about the impact on the pilots. Right now we’re trying to put in place a system where we patrol more worlds thanks to the jump gate network, and hopefully, that will dissuade them from these new attacks. But, if I can be blunt?”

“Please, always.”

“I don’t like this. None of their new tactics makes much sense. In fact, it seems almost too random.”

“That could be because we don’t know their intentions. Perhaps a pattern will emerge, and then it may very well make a lot of sense. Until such time, let’s also not forget that the head of the Furies now is not even a Fury. So it would make sense for him to use different tactics. If only to throw us off.”

“That’s a good point. Is there anything else you’d like me to do regarding these attacks?”

“Just make sure we get as much sensor data as we can. If you remember, we had to fight a spider ship at one point, and we have no way of knowing how many of those are out there. The more telemetry we get on these short engagements, the better.”

“Understood. None of the data showed an energy signature similar to what you encountered earlier. It could very well be a single ship that you incapacitated in your last fight. I think if Spectre Arakan had a bunch of ships, he would send them in these hit and runs since that spider ship can fire while cloaked.”

“Arakan had us all fooled in the past, and we were caught off guard because of it. I would like us to avoid ever being put in a similar position. That’s why I think knowledge is key.”

“Very well, Sarah. I’ll keep you posted on the latest frontline developments.”

“Thank you, Altair.”

* * *

Menelas dodged Athena’s energy-based attack and counter-attacked with a fireball of his own. It struck the Olympian on the shoulder, sending her skidding on the floor, but she managed to keep her balance.

When Menelas rushed to deliver the next part of his attack, Athena was ready for him. He jumped in the air and unleashed four fireballs at her. She raised a golden shield that repelled them and sent the attacks back to him. Unprepared, he only managed to dodge the first one as the other three sent him spinning in the air with each impact and resulting explosions.

When he hit the ground, Athena was already on the move. Her long hair majestically floating as she effortlessly moved long distances in very little time.

Menelas had to roll out of the way to avoid being crushed by Athena’s foot and managed to swipe it in the process, bringing Athena down for the first time in their current training session.

Before he could land a follow-up blow, she flipped back up and got back into a defensive stance.

“Impressive,” said Menelas.

“Don’t forget I had nearly ten thousand years more than you to develop my skills.”

“Did you use most of that time for honing your skills?”

“No, if I or any Olympian had, we probably could have dealt with the Furies on our own. Instead, we grew complacent and even lazy. Although I did work on my skills a little during the cleanup period after we thought the majority of Furies were gone. In fact, every time a Fury sighting was reported, I would lead the mission to find and bring it down.”

“Hoping to see me again?”

“And also making sure that if it was you, you weren’t being executed.”

“How many such rogue Furies did you deal with?”

“I lost count. Eventually, I resigned myself to the fact that you wouldn’t be coming home and probably perished in the last attack on Erevos.”

Menelas looked down.

“I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”

“Well, you weren’t exactly enjoying a vacation either.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, there were times I wanted to give up and die. But holding you in my arms again, as well as seeing our son get married the other day, that was worth enduring it all.”

“I just wished we could have had the ceremony on Olympus.”

“I’m sure Zeus would have liked that as well. I doubt he would approve of you training and risking your life against the monster that took his other daughter’s life, though.”

“Well, Zeus is dead, and while I was willing to back him out of respect when he was alive, I won’t be doing that anymore. It’s time I made my own decisions, and I can’t just stay on the sidelines; Arakan literally destroyed my entire race.”

“But Arakan is dead; the Spectre is just using his body.”

“Where are you going with your current line of thinking?”

“I’m just proposing that perhaps you should not fight by our side when the time comes.”

“You’re not serious?”

“Look, you are one of the best strategists there is, perhaps you should command the fleet. I don’t see why you’re training in the time chamber. Plus, you said it yourself, Arakan almost all but destroyed your people. I would think since there are so few of the Olympians left you should try and survive and rebuild your civilization.”

“I can see where my son gets his doubts and fears from. I never understood why he questions himself so much. I think it makes more sense now.”

“That’s a low blow.”

“I don’t think it is. You can’t expect me to hide from this. Every life in the universe depends on us bringing down the Furies and that damn Spectre who’s masquerading as Arakan.”

“I know that. All I’m asking is that you at the very least consider letting me do the fighting with our sons, while you cover our butts from space.”

Athena was annoyed at the suggestion, but Menelas had made some good points, especially about Olympians and the future survival of their race being at stake.

“Alright, because you asked me nicely, I’ll consider it.”

“That’s all I ask, thank you.”

Athena unleashed a powerful shockwave and sent Menelas falling to the floor.

“In the meantime, try and keep up, will ya?” taunted Athena with a smirk.

* * *

Thor sent Mjölnir crashing into Poseidon’s chest, stopping him dead in his tracks and sending the Olympian skidding backward all the way to the limits of the time chamber. Upon impact with the force field, blue lights shone around Poseidon.

The Asgardian weapon’s pressure held Poseidon trapped against the wall for several seconds, which was more than enough time for Thor to run to his training partner and jump high as he recalled his trusted hammer. With Mjölnir back in his possession, he spun it multiple times before grabbing it with both hands and attempting to smash the hammer into Poseidon’s skull.

Poseidon blocked the attack with the staff portion of his trident. Green lightning sizzled on the trident’s surface as Poseidon’s eyes glowed blue. Thor tried engulfing Poseidon in flames with a large fireball, but the Olympian saw it coming and countered with a water-based dancing aura to cancel out the fire.

Before Thor could react, the watery aura around Poseidon turned into a hundred hydras and repelled Thor. Each impact a strong attack that, with so many coming at him at the same time, he had no hope of dodging or blocking. Thor was hit multiple times and his trusty Asgardian armor only partially blocked the damage from the devastating assault. As he hit the floor, blood shot from his mouth.

Poseidon ran to his side.

“Are you alright?”

“Well played,” said Thor with more blood dripping from his mouth.

“Should I call a Fury to heal you?”

“No, I’ll just use the regen tank; if you’re okay training by yourself?”

Poseidon nodded.

“I’m sorry; maybe I shouldn’t have unleashed the full force of my attack.”

Thor struggled to get back on his feet, and Poseidon offered a helping arm. Thor grabbed it to get back up.

“Don’t apologize, my friend. Spectre Arakan won’t withhold any of his powers, and neither should we, to make these training years efficient enough so we’re prepared to face him in battle.”

“Aren’t you worried that even with years of training we won’t manage to be powerful enough to take him down?”

“One on one I doubt we stand a chance, even with that much training, but as a group, I think we can do it.”

“I sure hope you’re right.”

18

Sarah deflected the attacks from both Chase and Chris, and even though it had only been a few weeks since they started training, she was getting more accustomed to holding her own against the Ultra Furies.

Chris was upon her first. She dodged all but the last blow of his super-fast combo and managed to grab her son’s arm and slam him against an incoming Chase, sending them both down.

Chris and Chase got back on their feet and looked at each other.

“Is it just me?” asked Chase, “or is she⁠—”

But Chris didn’t let him finish. “No, you’re not imagining it; she’s progressing way faster than we are, even at a lower gravitational setting.”

“Well, good for her.”

A fireball grazed both their faces.

“Don’t you talk about me as if I’m not here!” she protested with a smile.

They returned to fighting for hours on end, alternating among themselves the two against one scenarios.

Sarah started to feel dizzy and dropped out of the fight as Chris kept coming at his father alone. Sarah fell on her knees as she felt a strong stomach cramp. Chase and Chris stopped fighting, and they both ran toward her.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know; I feel this sharp pain in my stomach all of a sudden, and I’m having difficulty breathing, everything is spinning, too.”

Chase put his hands on her and flooded her body with healing power.

“Does that help?”

“A little, but I still feel dizzy. It’s like my body doesn’t like this place. I felt it before, but it was like an afterthought, like a voice in the back of my head. I just ignored it, but today I feel the urge to get the hell out of here and never return.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” commented Chris.

Chase put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Let’s give your mom some time to rest outside of the chamber; she can always come back later and try again.” Chase looked into Sarah’s eyes. “How does that sound?”

She nodded. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

“I’ll take you to our quarters. Chris, I’ll send Argos to take my place until I return.”

“Okay. Be well, Mom.”

“Thank you, Son,” said Sarah with a weak voice.

Chase took Sarah in his arms, and they exited the chamber.

* * *

By the time Chase laid Sarah on the bed, she felt much better.

“That’s the weirdest thing, Chase. I feel perfectly fine now.”

“You should still have the doc check you out.”

“Okay, but right now I think I’d rather sleep. It’s the strangest of feelings though, as soon as you got me out, the unexplainable inner fear disappeared, and I was filled with an emotion of gratitude. I know that doesn’t make sense, but that’s the best way I can describe it.”

“Well, see how you feel in the morning, the time chamber will still be there.”

“That’s the thing, Chase, just thinking about it brings me anxiety. I know that sounds stupid.”

Chase didn’t understand how all of a sudden Sarah was feeling scared of the room or of training itself. Especially with how fast she progressed. It may have had to do with the fact that she was getting a grasp on her Fury powers. Chase had also mastered his powers way faster when he embraced them and trained with the Gaia bots for three months. But, eventually, the limits of the gravitational field had capped his progress until he trained again in the Underworld and attained Ultra Fury form.

“That’s not stupid. Just try and not worry about it for now, and get some rest. Do you want me to get you to a regen tank instead?”

“No, I just think I need a good night’s sleep. You should go back and train with your brother and Chris. The more time you spend here, the less time you have inside the chamber.”

“That’s alright; I can wait until you sleep.”

“That’s very sweet of you, but there’s no need.”

“Are you sure?”

Sarah smiled and nodded.

Chase kissed her, tucked her in, and left their room.

As she was about to fall asleep, she heard a female voice in her head.

Thank you.

She jumped out of bed.

“Lights on!” she exclaimed as she looked around her.

But there was no one in the room with her. She turned the lights off and laid her head back on her pillow.

I hope I’m not losing my mind, she thought just before falling asleep.

* * *

“Report!” ordered Tanak’Vor.

The low-rank Fury bowed. “Yes, Master. We’ve continued the attack patterns as requested, staying only long enough to destroy most of the opposition on the targeted worlds. As per your wishes, we’ve left probes to see if the Earth Alliance would try and follow, but they usually just send a partial fleet to help the worlds we have hit, stay a few hours in orbit, and then leave.”

They’re not taking the bait.

This was not going as Tanak’Vor planned. He hoped by provoking smaller worlds, the Earth Alliance would mount an all-out attack on Erevos. He was ready for them; he had prepared the perfect trap and would remove both the Alliance and the Ultra Furies in a single battle. But for his plan to succeed, he would need them to come to him.

The weapon that would counter their precious soul ships required too much power to be mounted on a super-destroyer. In fact, the only thing that could power it was the molten core of Erevos.

“Then we need to go to phase 2. Start attacking jump gates in the order I have selected, and do not deviate from my plan.” said Tanak’Vor.

“Yes, Master Arakan.”

“Now, get away from my throne room. I need to be alone.”

The Fury bowed and left without saying another word.

This is not the news I was hoping for, but they’ll eventually come back. I wonder why they haven’t already, though; it’s not characteristic of the Ultra Fury Chase to stay on the sidelines while I set fire to his precious universe.

Tanak’Vor was a patient being, especially compared to that fool, Arakan. He would not let his thirst for conquest and victory blind his judgment. If it took weeks or even months to bring his enemies down, then he would wait until the time was right. But he could feel it inside him already. They were coming for him, and soon.

And once I report that I have killed the Ultra Furies and obliterated the Earth Alliance in one fell swoop, then my family will finally be safe.

* * *

The next morning, Sarah got out of bed feeling fully rested and like a million bucks. She took a nice, hot shower and then dressed. She was starving and synthesized a substantial breakfast. Once she had downed three eggs, over easy, two ham and cheese muffins, and a couple of chocolate croissants, she headed out to the time chamber.

With every step she took toward the cargo bay, she felt her heartbeat accelerate, her palms get moist, and fear invade her body.

“What the hell is happening to me?” she said.

Why am I scared of going back to training? That doesn’t make any sense; I’m making so much progress. I already feel my pool of energy has tripled in the last few days. I should be ecstatic to go back; instead, I feel like if I do, I may literally die.

She leaned against the wall of the corridors for a while, breathing heavily and trying to calm herself. Eventually, she resumed on her way and arrived in front of the chamber, waiting for the airlock to turn green.

She felt panic take over her entire being, and she started trembling.

What the hell is wrong with me? Get a fucking grip, Sarah!

The light turned green, and the doors split open, and she was nearly blinded for a second as her eyes adjusted to the bright white light. She was terrorized. She wanted to get in, but her legs refused to obey her.

“Chase!” she shouted.

Chase came to the door.

“What’s going on?” he asked, unable to hide his worry. “Are you not feeling any better?”

“I thought I was, but I’m paralyzed with fear. I need you to get me inside.”

Chase frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, please.”

Chase nodded and took her in his arms and carried her inside.

Chris and Argos came toward them.

“Is everything okay?” asked Argos.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” added Chris.

But Sarah was too frightened even to answer. She started feeling dizzy again and felt like she would be sick. And, sure enough, she started vomiting.

Chase ran with Sarah out of the time chamber and started healing her while the airlock cycled. Soon they were out of the airlock, and he could feel her heartbeat stabilize and her breathing return to normal.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

She blinked multiple times and wiped her mouth. “Much better, thank you. Sorry for the mess.”

“Don’t worry about that, but what is going on?”

“I wish I knew. I felt like if I stayed in the room, I would die.”

“It did seem like you had an allergic reaction.”

“Much stronger than that, Chase. I’m afraid I can’t continue training with you. Perhaps I should have listened to you. Maybe on a subconscious level, you felt that I couldn’t take it.”

“No, I refuse to believe that. My fears of losing you were my main motive, but it was a selfish one.”

“And, yet, here we are.”

Chase had to admit that he didn’t mind Sarah not training, even though he knew he couldn’t ask her not to participate in the final assault, whenever it may come. Fortunately, he was much more confident about Sarah being able to hold her own, especially if their lives depended on it. He felt that she had better survival instincts than any of them and that her powers increased exponentially when her life was in danger. That could prove an invaluable asset.

“I’m sorry you feel you can’t train anymore in the time chamber. But you can always ask Kvasir to provide you with a gravitational room to train in real time. You’ve made incredible progress in the past few weeks. Even if you don’t spend as much time training, I’m sure you can still further develop your energy pool that way.”

“That’s sweet of you to say. And that’s what’s so weird with how I feel. I really started getting very confident about myself, you know?”

“And so you should, and there’s no reason for this setback to cancel any of that. It might be simply that your specific genes don’t allow you to use the chamber safely.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“It makes sense though; you only acquired Fury genes through your pregnancy. Maybe that doesn’t allow you to use the chamber as long as others.”

“But even non-Fury were present at our wedding; how do you explain that?”

“Well, first of all, it was just for a few hours, and we had reduced the time dilation to a much lower level during their presence. Only when the two of us remained, did I boost it back to a factor of three hundred and fifty. Perhaps that’s what we could try, a lower setting for you?”

“No, Chase. Don’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because the last thing I want is to be responsible for you and Chris not being able to train more just so that I can train with you. I would never forgive myself if that were the reason why we…”

But Sarah let the words hang.

“We won’t fail, Sarah. We can’t fail.”

“I know, and victory might be contingent upon you training until the last possible second. As such, you should not adjust the time chamber for me. In fact, you should check with Kvasir if you could boost it to a higher dilation factor now that I won’t be using it anymore.”

Chase hadn’t thought of that, even though the Asgardian had told him that he had set a level he felt comfortable with for all of them. Perhaps he could boost that factor when Chase trained with Argos and Chris.

“That’s a good idea, thank you. I’m just sorry you can’t train with us anymore. We sure are gonna miss you. Would you like me to walk you to our quarters?”

Sarah shook her head. “There’s no need, I feel perfectly fine now that I’ve decided not to return to the chamber anymore. I’ll just go and check on the status of the Fury attacks. I know there’s been more movement on that front lately.”

“If you need me, you know where to find me.”

She took Chase’s face in her hands and kissed him gently.

“Yes, love.”

* * *

Ryonna dreaded answering the door that morning. She knew who was coming to visit, and she simply didn’t know how to tell Tar’Lock that his sister was dead. She didn’t regret it, even though she hadn’t pulled the trigger, she most likely would have given the chance. And therein lies the dilemma, should she let Tar’Lock know?

Her quarter’s door split open, and Tar’Lock jumped into her arms. He was so frail and small compared to the Droxian.

Ryonna gently broke the hug, and Tar’Lock clicked in a sad rhythm.

“Sorry,” he said. “I just missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, but— we need to talk. Take a seat, Tar’Lock.”

He looked into her eyes for what seemed like the longest of times before going to sit on a synthetic leather chair.

“What’s going on?”

Ryonna sat opposite her insectoid friend and rested her chin on her cradled hands.

“I don’t know how to tell you this.”

“Tell me what?”

Ryonna bit her lip, which elicited more clicks from the Gorgar.

“Beating around the bush isn’t your style. Maybe you should just tell me what’s on your mind?”

“I’m afraid I have some bad news.”

“You’re back alive, and from what I’ve heard, you barely made it, so whatever the news, it can’t be that bad.”

Ryonna hated this. While she couldn’t reciprocate the romantic feelings she knew Tar’Lock harbored for her, he was still her friend. She hadn’t forgotten his help in locating Ronan in Hellstar Prison or all the times he risked his life to save hers. But there was no way she would hide the truth from him. Her deep-rooted sense of honor prevented it.

“I’m afraid Tar’Sian is dead.”

Tar’Lock’s eyes widened and then closed more than usual as confusion could be read on his pale-brownish skin. A low throaty noise, different than his usual chirpy clicking, hummed for a few seconds.

“What? How?”

“The how doesn’t matter. I think.”

Tar’Lock jumped out of the chair.

“How can it not matter?”

Ryonna swallowed hard. Her friend was right; she was not one to beat around the bush. Hopefully, he would understand, but even if he didn’t, Ryonna would not sugarcoat it.

“She tried to kill me.”

Tar’Lock’s eyes registered shock at the realization.

“Did…did you?”

“No, I didn’t kill her myself.”

“Then why do you look so guilty?” Tar’Lock blurted, his tone sharper than she had ever heard from him.

“Because given a chance, I think I would have.”

Tar’Lock spat between clenched teeth. “You think?”

“Let me rephrase that. I owe you that much. I would have, yes.”

Tar’Lock fell on his knees and tears flowed from his big, black, round eyes.

“Why? What would possess you to do this?”

“You remember the queen we learned about the last time we were on Gorgar?”

“Yes, what does it have to do with my sister Tar’Sian?”

“Tar’Lock, she was the queen! I hoped I would be able to accomplish my mission peacefully, but she captured and tortured me. I literally came within an inch of my life before I was rescued, and your sister was killed in the process. I— I’m sorry.”

Tar’Lock rose and wiped his burning tears.

“You’re sorry?”

“I am. There was no other cho⁠—”

“Shut up!” he interrupted, pointing an accusing finger at her. “Not another word.”

She nodded, but she could tell anger had already filled his mind and soul. He stormed out, and she knew better than try to do anything about it.

Forgive me.

19

Ten days later, Chase, Argos, and Chris emerged from the time chamber with a look of determination etched on their faces. The trio had stayed the longest in the room, a total of ten years, but only a couple of weeks had passed for everyone else on the ship. Argos and Chase hadn’t aged a single day. Chris, while not looking that much older, seemed more mature and had grown in both height and size. He was muscular and now looked a lot more like his father and uncle.

Daniel and Sarah were waiting for them beyond the airlock.

Sarah ran and took Chris in her arms. Chris looked uncomfortable for a moment.

“Mom, cut it out. I’m not a kid anymore.”

“That he’s not,” said Argos with a smile, conveying deep pride for his nephew.

“So? How do you feel?” asked Daniel.

“Ready to end this war,” answered Chase.

“Let’s finish this,” added Argos coldly. “It’s time to send that Spectre back to the hellhole he came from.”

Sarah let go of Chris and kissed Chase. “Miss me?”

Chase smiled. “You have no idea.”

They had spent several days constantly training, not leaving for their usual rotation. Even after Menelas, Athena, Thor, and the others felt they had reached the limit of their powers after a couple of years of training, the Ultra Furies had remained until they felt their powers had grown exponentially.

Chase was confident that the team, as a whole, would be able to defeat the Spectre with their enhanced abilities. He didn’t think that any one of them on their own could take on the monster though, even though he desired to try.

“What’s the news? Have the Furies continued to attack smaller worlds?”

“They did for a while,” said Sarah. “But in the last couple of days, they’ve started attacking the jump gate network, which has been advancing at an accelerated pace thanks to the Gorgars.”

“Any idea why?” asked Chase.

“No, not yet. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern to their attacks. We’ve tried triangulating where they would hit next and sent a few ships ahead to intercept them, but they almost always attack a completely different target, often located too far away from any of our ships. We’ve already lost ten jump gates. The last three attacks have me worried though…”

“Why?”

“Well, I think it’s too early to say with certitude, but their loss would slow us down if we had to jump from Erevos to Earth without Asgardian help.”

“Perhaps he wants to have just enough of a warning when the time comes to go to Erevos, which we shouldn’t delay.”

“It’s possible.”

“We can debrief later,” proposed Daniel. “Tell us more about your training? How much more powerful do you feel?”

Chase answered with a broad smile.

“That much, huh?”

Argos took a few steps forward, opening and closing his hands.

Daniel pointed a thumb at him. “What’s with him?”

“We’re not used to the ship’s gravity anymore,” answered Chris. “It feels like we’re floating.”

“How far did you push the gravity engines?”

“To their maximum setting of two thousand Gs, and that was three years ago, so it became our default setting the entire time.”

“Really?” asked Sarah. “How— how does it feel for you now, besides floating?”

Argos started moving around and slashing the air with punches and kicks, and in less than a second he turned into a tornado and whirled around his friends multiple times. Everyone’s hair was tossed about from the current he generated, and Daniel had to grab Chris’ arm to keep his balance. Eventually, Argos stopped, and the whirlwind around him dissipated. He cracked his neck on each side multiple times.

“Holy crap,” said Daniel.

“The fun part is that he’s not even deploying a fraction of his powers at the moment,” said Chris.

Daniel’s eye popped wider.

“I can’t even begin to tell you how much stronger we are,” added Chase. “But, it seems we’ve reached the limit of what the time chamber has to offer regarding power and energy progression. So, it’s time to go to Erevos and end this, the Furies, Spectre Arakan, all of it.”

“Should we shut that thing off, then?” asked Sarah. “I’m not sure how safe it would be to go into battle with something that could blow us up at any given moment if we lose power to the containment field.”

Chase reflected on her comments for a moment.

“Not just yet. I have a feeling we might still need it.”

Even if for just one more time.

* * *

“You seem different somehow,” said Daniel.

“I guess I feel different; it’s strange seeing other faces besides Argos and Chris,” admitted Chase. “We’ve trained so long and hard, part of me feels like I’ve forgotten about anything happening outside the chamber.”

“Yeah, I bet that would feel strange, and it’s strange for me, too. From my perspective, you’ve only been away for a few days, and yet, when I look at you, it feels longer. I wish I had powers too so that I could have trained with you guys.”

Chase smiled.

“Believe me, you don’t. The amount of responsibility that comes with them is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, let alone my best friend. Understand one thing, Dan, when you have these powers, and even with the best of intentions, you can’t help but lose people that matter to you— it’s a hard pill to swallow. Sometimes these powers feel more like a curse than a blessing.”

“I guess I never looked at it that way.”

Part of Chase wished he had never learned of his Fury origins and that the Star Alliance still existed. Ignorance can be bliss, and his life was so much simpler before Aphroditis contacted him and threw his entire existence into utter chaos.

Then again, he loved being able to do all the things he was capable of doing. The insane level of power running through his veins empowered him, and even though he hadn’t managed to save some of his friends with his new abilities, right now he wouldn’t trade them for anything.

“What’s next?” asked Daniel, seeing that Chase was lost in his thoughts.

“The last battle, hopefully.”

“Are you confident?”

Chase felt more powerful than ever before; still, he wasn’t disillusioned about the gargantuan task ahead of them. It was a do-or-die situation, and one way or another it would soon end. He would do everything he could to make sure that the Earth Alliance was victorious, but he knew better than to think that hope and determination alone would lead to the right outcome.

“It’s hard to say. I’m confident that we’ve progressed to where we need to be if there is a confrontation with Spectre Arakan. We’ve trained so long for it, and we feel ready. But gods know if we truly are.”

“What do you mean if there is a confrontation?”

“While nothing would give me more pleasure than to kill that monster with my bare hands, if we can deal with him using the soul ships at the same time as we deal with Erevos, I wouldn’t mind.”

“You have changed, even though I know you’re weary of all the fighting, you’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge. In fact, you were always the better pilot because of it, you always wanted to be better than the rest of us. Myself included.”

The mention of a time before the Fury War brought nostalgia to the forefront of Chase’s thoughts and he felt conflicted. Was Daniel right? Had he always tried to be better than his colleagues?

If that had been the case, it wasn’t a conscious choice on his part, just an instinctual drive to always try and better himself. He was always taking risks others were reluctant to do. But, looking back at it now, there was little doubt in his mind that his latent Fury genes had given him a sharper fighting instinct. Even behind the controls of a starfighter.

“Don’t get me wrong Daniel, part of me is thrilled about the idea of using my new powers, but if we can send Spectre Arakan back to the hole from which he crawled without putting my family and friends’ lives in danger in the process, I’ll take it.”

“I can understand that.”

“As for you not having powers, who knows, maybe humans can also tap into their energy reserves, maybe it’s the next evolution of Earth. After all, there have been beings with extra abilities in your world before. At least your history books seem to say some humans have telepathic abilities, and some could use telekinesis. Since our DNA is so close, I wouldn’t count it out.”

“That would be something. I don’t know about people having all sorts of powers on Earth; maybe they were just myths or magic tricks.”

“Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t, but let’s not dwell on it right now. Instead, what about getting ourselves a drink.”

Daniel smiled and gestured to the right.

“I’d love that. After you, boss.”

* * *

“Best-case scenario,” said Chase to everyone at the table, “is we get in, use the soul ships to blow up the planet, and then go home.”

“What’s the worst-case scenario?” asked Thor.

“Things don’t go as planned. Which they tend not to.”

“I second that,” said Altair. “We have no idea what the bulk of their forces are or what surprises may await us on Erevos. We know for a fact that the Furies still have more ships than we initially thought, probably due to that Spectre working behind Arakan’s back for god knows how long. For all we know, they could have a bigger fleet than ours.”

“Speaking of fleets…” said Chase. “How many ships do we have?”

“The last of the Olympian destroyers have all been recalled,” said Athena. “That should bring us to an armada of over a hundred ships if we decide to go all-in. The question is, can we afford to? After what happened to my world and my people, can we take the chance of leaving allied worlds unprotected during the final assault?”

“I don’t think we have a choice here,” said Argos, who had remained silent during the exchange. “We can’t afford being outgunned or outnumbered because we played it safe. While we have the soul ships on our side and using them can make a dent in the Fury defenses, doing so will drain us quickly. We need to keep our energy in reserve in case of a direct conflict with Spectre Arakan. If it does come to a direct confrontation, that’s the one battle we can’t approach half-assed.”

“If he’s on the planet when we blow up Erevos,” said Menelas, “then that fight could be avoided altogether.”

“Yes,” confirmed Chase, “but there’s no way to know where he will be. Unlike other enemies, like the Furies themselves, I can’t sense his presence. Most likely we’ll only get one shot at this. So, I agree with Argos, as much as I hate leaving us open to a surprise counterattack, we can’t go to Erevos with anything but the entire bulk of our forces. There’s just too much at stake, and we have to stack the odds in our favor.”

“That’s a very dangerous gamble to make,” said Poseidon.

Chase agreed, and even though his nature was to try and protect as many people as he could, he had had ten years to think about it. He had learned that his hesitancy in going all-in on many occasions had cost the lives of the people he loved. Too many innocents had paid a steep price because he second-guessed himself.

While he didn’t want to lose anyone else, he knew that was just a pipe dream. There was no way in hell the last push of this war could be won without losses. He hoped none of his family would pay the price for what was to come, but he knew that this was a risk they were willing to take, and he had to accept that. He owed them that much for always being there for him when he needed them the most.

“I’m fully aware of that. But we can’t hesitate anymore.”

“Do you have a plan of attack?” asked Sarah.

Chase shook his head.

“No plan. There are simply too many variables, too much we don’t know besides the fact that this conflict must end, one way or another. We go in full force with two main objectives, destroy Erevos, and kill Spectre Arakan by any means necessary.”

Chase could sense everyone’s surprise. He used to be more careful in how he approached such situations in the past, but ten years is a very long time to think about a single goal. It can drive a man crazy. And while time passed faster than he thought it would, thanks to the challenges of intense training with his brother and son, ending this war had remained the primary focus the whole time.

The room stayed silent for quite some time.

“I second that,” said Argos to break the ice. “Not that anybody asked or even cares.”

“I care,” said Chris.

Argos smiled.

“Chase is right,” added Argos. “We can’t afford to second-guess ourselves. Spectre Arakan will throw everything he has at us, and we must be prepared to do the same. It won’t be easy; as a matter of fact, I doubt everyone around this table will survive what’s to come. I know we’re all thinking it, so I thought I’d say it out loud.”

“Well, you’d know something about that,” snorted Sarah.

“Sarah,” reproached Chase.

Argos got up.

“No, Chase; that’s alright. She’s correct. I’m directly responsible for where we are today. I made poor choices in the past and let my personal feelings and thirst for revenge cloud my judgment. I’m trying to right my wrongs, but I have no illusions, my soul is forever stained with the deaths of millions of people. It’s something I have to live with, today and until the day I die. But, if that day is today, I’ll fight for what I believe in. And, I believe in this cause; I was misled to think the Furies were my future. Deep down I think I always knew it wasn’t the case, but I allowed myself to believe in that lie. I’m sorry for the pain you all had to endure because of that. In fact, I don’t understand why you didn’t put me in front of a firing squad.”

Nobody spoke, but Chase could feel anger boil up inside Sarah and Poseidon. He understood that Sarah might never trust Argos; she had no reason to. He had put both her and her clone through hell. As for Poseidon, he still hadn’t grieved for his brother or his entire planet being destroyed. Something told Chase that Poseidon had no idea until now that Argos’ choices were the reason they arrived at this point. Chase knew he needed to calm everyone’s spirits.

“Look,” said Chase. “Argos may have started this war, but he’s redeemed himself. He has saved my life more times than I can count, and I don’t ask you to like him or forgive him as I have. I ask that you trust me, as I’ve always had your best interests at heart from the very beginning. I trust Argos, and there’s no one else I’d like on my side going forward.”

“We trust you,” said Sarah. “We always have and always will.”

“That’s all I ask. Don’t let anger or vengeance cloud your judgment. Especially not now. We can’t afford to be distracted by anything, we need to focus on our goals, or we will fail, and you all know what that would mean. The Furies would kill everything and everyone in their path. We can’t let that happen. And as much as I hate to admit it, Argos is correct. It’s entirely possible that not everyone will survive. We can’t think about that now because if we do, it will paralyze us from doing what must be done.”

Poseidon got up and left the conference room without saying another word. Thor followed him outside.

“Not the answer I was hoping for,” sighed Chase. “But, we need to stay united, or we don’t stand a shadow of a chance.”

“Chase is right,” said Altair. “We’ve come this far, survived multiple near-death scenarios, and now more than ever, we need to unite and deliver the final blow. I know I’m also one with a more than colorful past, and you have no reason to trust me either. Like some of you, there was a point in my life when I wanted nothing more than Argos’ head on a platter. He enslaved my people and used the Obsidian Empire to do his bidding. But, I’ve learned from my own mistakes, and I can tell that he has as well. The Argos standing in front of you is not the same man he was; just like I’m not the same person I was before all this started. Look at the positive things that this conflict between two brothers has brought us. The Earth Alliance is growing and we have united once mortal enemies into a formidable coalition that has the power to bring down the worst scourge this universe has ever faced.

“Without the events that brought us here, there would not be an Alliance to take on the Furies; they simply would have picked us off one by one; the humans of Earth, the Droxians, the Olympians, and even the Asgardians. There’s no changing the past, but we can grab the present with both hands and make sure we build the future we want for ourselves and our children.”

Daniel clapped his hands, and soon after, the others followed.

* * *

“Poseidon, wait!” shouted Thor as he ran after the Olympian.

“I don’t want to talk about it. Leave me alone.”

“Then don’t talk; but, please, listen.”

Poseidon turned around and shot his friend a cold look.

“I take it you didn’t know that Argos was behind everything at the beginning of this.”

“I didn’t. I— I feel like I want to kill him with my bare hands.”

“That’s understandable, after all that you’ve lost. Your brother, your world.”

“And yet, he’s Chase’s right arm. Which makes me question my role in all of this. I’m not sure I want to be a part of this anymore.”

“Don’t, Poseidon; we need you. We need all hands on deck to make this work.”

“How can you ask me this? Don’t answer that, it was rhetorical, and I’ll tell you why. Your world is still here, you didn’t lose your brother and your family, so of course, you don’t have any reason to hate Argos as much as I do right now.”

“But that’s the thing, Poseidon, if it weren’t for him, at least partially, my world would have fallen, my father would have been killed, and I probably wouldn’t be standing here talking to you.”

“You don’t know that. The Furies would still be trapped in their alternate dimension, and none of this would have happened.”

“Be that as it may, we have no way of knowing what would have occurred once they were finally released. For all we know, Argos brought them at the best possible time for us to survive their onslaught. All I know is that fighting by his side I could feel that he was willing to sacrifice himself to save others, just like his brother. That’s the kind of ally we need in the battle to come, wouldn’t you agree?”

Poseidon grunted. But deep down he was madder at himself for failing to kill Arakan and not saving his world. He knew that he was misdirecting his anger toward Argos, it was easier to blame someone else for one’s faults than face one’s inner demons.

“Look,” added Thor. “You don’t need to like him, just don’t doom others because if it. You won’t forgive yourself if you do.”

I’ll never forgive myself anyway.

“Thank you, Thor. You’re a good friend. Right now I just need to be alone for a while. I’ll see you on the battlefield.”

* * *

Athena and Sarah stayed behind as everyone else left the conference room.

“I’m sorry that your brother-in-law hurt you in the past,” said Athena. “It must not be easy for you, but he’s no longer a bloodthirsty monster. Deep down I’m sure you know that.”

“You don’t need to apologize for Argos. I know Chase trusts him and that’s good enough for me. I just can’t see him as my brother-in-law, not now, perhaps not ever. No offense, Athena.”

“None taken. Argos told me what he did to you. It disgusted me, but at least he had the good sense of cloning you after feeling Chris inside you and resurrecting you.”

“Except, he did that because he could use my son to further advance his nefarious plan, not because he felt compassion for either of us. Linking my thoughts with my clone was also something he could have spared me from. Even though I wasn’t the physical recipient of the subsequent torture, I still felt and experienced it as if it was happening to me. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

“I understand.”

“Honestly Athena, I don’t think you can. But we don’t have time to argue about old wounds. I have a lot to prepare before we arrive on Erevos, so if you don’t mind, I should be going. Maybe we can talk more about this later if we both survive.”

Athena’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re not seriously considering going to fight Spectre Arakan in your current condition, are you?”

“What condition would that be? Your other son already tried to convince me not to, so I’ll save you the trouble of trying to talk me down: I’m fighting with the rest of my family! End of discussion.”

“Does Chase know you’re going to battle with an unborn child inside of you?”

Sarah’s eye grew wide, and she felt like she was hit by a thunderbolt. She stumbled in finding her words.

“What— What did you just say?”

“You don’t know you’re pregnant again, do you?”

Sarah couldn’t believe her ears; was she pregnant? It would explain why she felt sick lately. It also made more sense as to why she felt the way she did in the time chamber. Perhaps it wasn’t even her fear and anxiety she was feeling, but the baby’s. The gravity and time dilation was probably having a negative effect on its health, and Sarah’s fear that she would die if she returned inside was not her own. She must have picked up on her baby’s fear. It all made sense now.

“How do you know? Are you certain about this?”

“I am one hundred percent sure, yes. A little girl is growing inside of you as we speak. She’s only a few weeks old, but I can sense her life force already. I’m surprised Chase hasn’t.”

A little girl?

Tears filled Sarah’s eyes and streamed down her face.

“Chase didn’t say anything, and I don’t think he would have hidden this from me. So I don’t think he knows either.”

“Female Olympians are better at sensing these things, plus Chase is only part Olympian. It is rather early in your pregnancy so maybe that is why he wasn’t able to detect it. Not to mention that he’s had a lot on his mind lately.”

“You can say that again…” Sarah let the words hang for a moment. “What the hell am I supposed to do, now?”

“Perhaps you should sit this one out.”

Sarah thought about it. Learning that she was pregnant with a little girl made her incredibly happy, but that emotion was quickly replaced by fear and anxiety. She never expected it, and the timing was less than ideal, to say the least. But she had seen herself piloting a soul ship in her vision; she knew she had a role to play today, and she still wasn’t willing to let Chase and Chris risk their lives on their own. They had agreed that they would do this as both a family and a unit.

Chase would insist that she stay behind if he knew she was pregnant. Of that, Sarah had no doubts.

“We can’t tell him,” she said.

Athena shot Sarah a surprised look.

“You can’t be serious?”

“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. You have to promise me that you won’t tell him. I will when the time is right, but just not right now.”

“I don’t know, Sarah. I don’t think this is right⁠—”

“Athena, I beg you, don’t say a word. Chase can’t be distracted anymore than he needs to, not now. You and I both know it. For the first time, he’s determined to go forward no matter the cost, if we add a baby to his thinking, he may very well…” but she couldn’t finish her sentence.

“He…may reconsider going on this mission, or be too distracted.”

“None of which we can afford.”

Athena sighed. “As much as I hate having to hide the truth from my son, I think you’re right. I’m sorry. I thought you knew. I shouldn’t have said anything. Now I wish I hadn’t.”

Sarah, too, wished her mother-in-law had stayed silent. But now she knew, and she would have to deal with the burden of that news on her own. No one could know, not Chase, not Chris, nobody. Everyone needed to stay focused on what needed to be done, Sarah included. So, she tried to disconnect emotionally from the love for her unborn child, a love she already felt growing in her heart and soul.

“I had no idea, but now that I know, it makes sense,” said Sarah.

“Chase told me about your fear returning to the time chamber.”

Sarah nodded.

“It would make sense. While the sensors would detect a safe setting for gravitational forces and adjust to every one of us; they probably lacked the sensitivity to detect your unborn child. If you had trained in the room any longer, your baby could have died.”

“Yeah, I realize that now.”

“Listen, Sarah, I’ll do whatever I can to protect you on the battlefield. I want my granddaughter to live.”

“I can take care of myself, but thank you for the thought. Don’t put yourself in jeopardy for me, please. You also have to think of your family. Your sons, as well as Menelas.”

“He would understand as it’s his grandchild too.”

“You cannot tell him.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.”

20

Onboard the Victory, Chase, his friends, and his family stood on the bridge, while Daniel sat in the captain’s chair. Chase, with an intense look, gazed through the main viewport at the hyperspace streaks. In a few minutes, the Earth Alliance fleet would jump out of hyperspace.

He couldn’t help but worry that this could very well be the last time they went into battle like this, at least all of them together. He would do anything to minimize the casualties amongst his loved ones, but he knew many people would lose their lives today. Ships would be lost, and fighters would perish on the battlefield. He hated this feeling, but he had accepted that there was no turning back. This war needed to end, today.

Chase? asked Argos. Can I have a word with you?

Sure thing; what’s on your mind, Brother?

I wanted to thank you for what you said earlier. I don’t know that I deserve it, but you really make me feel like I belong by your side, and I won’t let you down, ever. Even if I have to give my life to protect yours.

You’re welcome. I meant every word, and you deserve your second chance. I’m very proud to have you fight on our side. I wouldn’t have it any other way, in fact. But please don’t focus on protecting me. We need to be victorious today, no matter what happens, that’s our goal. If I should fall, I’m counting on you to strike the final blow that will end this war.

Chase could sense the emotional explosion that his words had on his brother’s heart and soul.

Thank you for trusting me. I— I don’t know what else to say.

Chase glanced at his brother and smiled. There was no need to say anything else. The two of them had come a long way, each in their own manner. Argos, once Chase’s nemesis, was now his strongest ally. And, for Chase, it felt good having a family. At the beginning of his journey, Chase had often felt alone and lost in the world. He had friends, like Daniel and other fellow pilots, as well as people that took on the mantle of being a surrogate family; but now he had a real one. A brother, parents, a wife, and even a wonderful son.

The future now seemed clear to him. Today was the day they would end this war. Would they win? Or would they perish? He didn’t know, but there was no going back. They had come too far, lost too many, and sacrificed too much.

“How long before we jump?” asked Chase.

“We’ll jump into orbit around Erevos in less than five minutes,” said Daniel. “You may want to board the soul ships soon.”

Chase turned around and looked at his friend.

“Very well. Take good care of my ship, will ya?”

“You got it. Give them hell.”

Chase winked at him. “I intend to.”

He then turned toward his fellow soul ship pilots. “It’s time for us to go. Remember, while we progressed tremendously in terms of energy pool and power, we can’t waste it on destroying Fury super-destroyers. If they’re blocking our way, let’s bring them down, but our priority is destroying Erevos. We can always deal with the remaining fleet afterward.”

Chris and Argos nodded.

“Is that why you kept the time chamber running?” asked Sarah.

Chase smiled. “Yes, we have no idea how much power will be required to send the planet back into the other dimension and then blow it up. We may need the regen tanks, and well, we may simply not have that opportunity outside of the time dilation chamber.”

“Smart,” said Daniel. “But I would feel better if we didn’t go into battle with a literal ticking time bomb.”

“Yanis assured me that as long as the chamber runs, we have stronger shields than the rest of the fleet, thanks to the extra energy being generated by the white hole. But don’t take any unnecessary risks. If at any point the shields are lower than fifty percent, back away from the main engagement and recharge, which should also happen faster thanks to the extra energy being recouped from the chamber’s artificial white hole. Micro-jump away if you have to.”

“I don’t like the idea of leaving the rest of the fleet.”

“I know, Daniel, but those are your orders. Understood?”

“Understood. Good luck.”

“To us all.”

Chase extended his arm. “Grab it. I’ll teleport us to the ships.”

“Should you waste precious energy like this? We can all fly there pretty quickly,” said Chris.

“Don’t worry, son. Teleporting, especially such short distances, doesn’t consume as much energy as it used to before.”

Chris, Sarah, and Argos all touched Chase’s forearm.

“See you all when we see you,” said Chase.

Before Daniel could answer, they had teleported from the bridge.

* * *

When the Victory exited hyperspace, Daniel was surprised there were no other ships nearby in orbit.

“What the hell is this?” he said out loud, not expecting an answer. “Are they cloaked?”

“No energy signatures detected, Captain,” said his tactical officer.

I don’t like this. That makes no sense unless they sent their fleet somewhere else. Well, I guess it doesn’t matter, if we have a clean shot at Erevos, we should take it.

“Give Chase the green light to launch the soul ships.”

“They’ve already exited the launch bays.”

Daniel smiled. “Of course they have.”

But something didn’t add up, and Daniel didn’t like it.

* * *

The soul ships launched and were on their way to Erevos.

Drakos, when will we be ready to deploy the weapon? asked Chase.

Patience, Dragonheart. We’ll enter firing range within three minutes.

Chase didn’t understand why there were no ships waiting for them; he expected the entire Fury forces to do whatever it took to impede them from approaching the planet. But since Menelas had never cracked under torture, it was possible that Spectre Arakan didn’t know about the soul ships, their power, or their ability to end this war in one swift move.

While Chase was looking forward to sending Erevos straight to hell where it belonged, his instincts were on full alert. He could feel it in his bones that something was amiss.

Chase mentally opened a channel to the rest of the soul ships.

“I don’t know why there are no ships blocking our path to Erevos, but I don’t like it.”

“Let’s blow this wretched world and go home; I don’t see what’s wrong with that,” said Chris.

“You may still be too young to understand this,” added Argos, “but trust me, when your father is worried, you should worry as well. Chase, what do we do?”

“We’re almost there; perhaps we can end this war here and now. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”

“I say if the Furies are stupid enough to not have defenses in place, let’s blow them to kingdom come,” said Sarah.

Chase felt energy being siphoned away from his body little by little. Drakos was powering up the ship for the firing sequence.

“Let’s get ready; we’re less than a minute away from destroying the Fury stronghold,” said Chase.

As he finished his sentence, a large red light illuminated Chase’s cockpit, and the ship began shaking.

“What’s going on?”

A large tractor beam has locked onto me, answered Drakos.

Can we get free from it?

I’m afraid not; the source is on the planet itself.

Can we still fire the weapon?

That could result in all of your deaths. We could be trapped with the planet as it shifts dimension and explodes. It’s also possible the weapon won’t work in these conditions. I recommend not firing, and you need to disable the power source that generates the beam.

Dammit!

“Guys?” said Chase

“We know!” answered Argos.

“What do we do?”

“We can’t risk firing; if Spectre Arakan isn’t on the planet, we can’t sacrifice ourselves until we’re sure he’s dead.”

Argos was right. Soon after the beam had pulled the ships in the planet’s atmosphere, Drakos detected multiple hyperspace windows were forming.

It’s a trap!

* * *

Tanak’Vor studied the holo-screens he had projected around him in the throne room. The Earth Alliance fleet was impressive and would prove to be a worthy adversary, but he was determined to cut the head of the snake. Today, both Chase and Earth would fall.

The Spectre looked forward to what was coming next. But for now, four soul ships were approaching a seemingly undefended planet. The trap was set, and soon he would get his hands on the soul ships and a shot at exterminating the Ultra Furies.

That’s how you do things, Arakan; you’d know that if you had listened, but instead your soul is mine for all eternity.

Tanak’Vor deployed his massive tractor beam and locked onto the soul ships. The lock was secure, and they couldn’t escape its grasp.

Tanak’Vor laughed out loud.

They’ll soon be mine. He opened a channel to one of his generals.

“Supreme Commander Arakan,” said the tall Fury who had scars running over his entire face. “At your command.”

“Are you ready?”

“We are. As requested, I have assembled ten thousand ground troops. But, if I may ask, why so many?”

“You’re about to face Ultra Furies, and I do not want to take a chance. Kill them all, even if every one of your soldiers must be sacrificed. But make sure their ships are left intact. At the very least, I need one of them unscathed. Is that understood?”

The Fury bowed.

“Report back to me when it’s done, General.”

“Thy will be done, Supreme Commander.”

It better, or I’ll have your head, General.

Tanak’Vor looked at his tactical console and ordered his first fleet to jump in.

* * *

“The soul ships have been hit by a tractor beam,” reported the Victory’s tactical officer.

“What?!” Daniel barked. “Can we pinpoint its source and destroy it?”

“It’s coming from the planet. We’re out of range.”

Before Daniel could order the ship to micro-jump forward, his tactical officer announced more bad news.

“Captain. Multiple hyperspace windows opening!”

“How many?”

“Over fifty, Captain.”

That was a whole lot of super-destroyers. Even with the technological edge some of the ships in the Earth Alliance fleet had, especially the Victory and other ships of her class and the Asgardians destroyers, they could, theoretically, hold their own, but it would not be an easy fight. Chase was right; a lot of people would die today.

“Lock weapons on the nearest destroyers and open fire, and try to get Chase on the line,” ordered Daniel.

“Aye, aye, Captain. Locking on targets.”

This is going to be a very long day.

“I can’t establish a holo-comm with the soul ships. The tractor beam is generating too much interference, and so is the planet’s atmosphere. I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do for them at the moment.”

“The hell we can’t!”

Daniel opened a channel to Engineering.

“What is it, boss?”

“That tractor beam!”

“Already working on it, Captain.”

The ship rocked as thousands of laser fire streaks were being exchanged between the two massive fleets. If it weren’t for the utter chaos and the lives of every living being in the universe possibly at stake, Daniel thought the light show looked somewhat pretty.

* * *

“Why are we cooped up in the mess hall?” complained Poseidon. “Why aren’t we going with Chase and the rest?”

“We will join him when he calls upon us,” said Menelas. “Right now, Chase is trying to destroy Erevos, and only the soul ships can do that, so until he calls, we are of no use to him.”

“We could have accompanied them with normal starfighters,” insisted Poseidon.

“Relax, my friend,” said Thor as he put his hand on Poseidon’s shoulder. “He’ll let us know when he needs us. For now, this is their time.”

Athena watched the arguing men but stayed silent.

“How are you holding up?” asked Menelas.

“I’ve lost my appetite. I agree with Thor on this one; perhaps we should have found a way to accompany them.”

“They’re indestructible in those soul ships; you shouldn’t worry.”

“And yet I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s get out of here. I should have stayed on my ship for the battle.”

“Trust in your people, Athena, they’ll prevail. Where do you want to go?”

“Let’s go to back to your quarters for now.”

Menelas and Athena left the mess hall as Poseidon and Thor continued to argue about the situation.

* * *

“How do we disable that thing?” asked Yanis.

“Its power emissions are enormous,” said Cedric, “even if we could target the surface, which at the moment isn’t an option now that the orbital war party is in full effect, it’s going to be near impossible to do anything.”

“I don’t want to hear that word today, you hear me? We’ve done the impossible time and time again, and today will not be any different.”

“As much as I appreciate your optimism,” said Kvasir as his facial tattoos lit up his entire face, “I’m afraid there’s little we can do until we find the exact source of the beam. I’m sure Chase and his friends are also trying to locate it. But the Victory won’t be able to do anything about it. Since the time chamber is still running, we can’t take the risk of going in. If the containment field is lost, we could wipe out the entire fleet.”

“Well at least we’d be taking out the Furies with us,” said Yanis out of frustration.

“While this would probably be the likely outcome of such an event, we don’t know if this is Spectre Arakan’s full fleet. He could have reserves scattered at every corner of the galaxy. And without this fleet, they could conquer and destroy every world unchallenged.”

“I know!” said Yanis. “What about the power source? Can we locate its origins?”

“If you’d let me focus instead of buzzing around and yapping incessantly,” protested Kvasir, “then maybe I could help you with this.”

Yanis blinked in surprise, and then he glanced at Cedric.

“Did he just tell me to shut up?”

“Yeah, and you know what, I think he’s right. Let’s focus on finding any piece of information that can help Chase disable that thing.”

Yanis was fuming inside, but he knew his friends were right. His frustration about the situation was running wild, and he needed to get a grip so he could help his friends.

21

The ship continued to rock, and there was nothing Chase could do to break free of the tractor beam that had taken hold of the soul ships.

Chase chastised himself, as he should have known better than to think he could just blow Erevos up and go home. Spectre Arakan was a formidable enemy, one that he wasn’t ashamed of admitting he feared. There was no doubt that this tactical mastermind had been working in the shadows of Arakan’s leadership.

Drakos, can the ship survive a crash on the planet’s surface?

Unknown, but the power exerted by the tractor beam is simply too strong to counter. If we survive this, you’ll have to locate its power source and destroy it, or we’ll never get off the planet, and I don’t have to tell you what that would mean.

No, Drakos, you don’t have to. Chase knew full well that the success of the mission depended on their ability to send Erevos back to the alternate dimension and blow it up there.

I don’t want to sound like an alarmist, added Drakos, but our technology can’t fall into the wrong hands. If you fail in getting us back to space, we’ll have to self-destruct.

What?

That’s one thing Chase didn’t expect to hear.

The technology onboard this ship is far more advanced than anything else in this universe. It belonged to an ancient race, the Atlantians, and if used by evil forces, it could result in the eradication of all life.

In case you haven’t read the memo, that’s exactly what the Furies want to do.

Which is why we have to avoid being captured.

I won’t let that happen, I’ll get us back to space so we can achieve our objective.

I know you’ll do everything you can to succeed, Dragonheart.

“Listen up everyone,” said Chase over the comms. “We can’t let the Furies get their hands on the soul ships. The ships won’t allow it and would self-destruct rather than take that chance.”

“We can’t let that happen; these ships are our only hope to end this war,” said Chris.

“We’ll have to find a way to get free of the tractor beam and complete our mission,” said Sarah.

“That’s if we survive the crash,” added Argos.

“I don’t think we’ll crash,” said Chase. “Think about it. Spectre Arakan wanted us to think we had a clear shot at Erevos the whole time. The moment the beam locked onto us, his fleet jumped into orbit and engaged our forces. That was his plan all along; he wants these ships. He’s not gonna risk damaging them.”

The ships cleared the thick red clouds, and Chase could see the ground approaching.

“One way or another, we’re about to find out,” said Argos.

* * *

The amount of laser, plasma fire, and torpedoes filling the Victory’s main viewport was unimaginable. Almost every ship in sight had its shields lit up, and explosions of all sizes popped everywhere.

“Captain!” exclaimed the Victory’s tactical officer. “More hyperspace windows forming behind us.”

“Bastards,” exclaimed Daniel. “They have us exactly where they want. How many ships?”

“Another twenty-five.”

Daniel knew very well what that meant; the battle as it stood was never assured to be a victory unless the soul ships helped somewhat, perhaps at least in bringing down the heavy shielding of the Fury super-destroyers. Though Daniel knew better than to count on them since he was well aware of the energy-taxing effect the soul ship had on Chase and the others. But now with an additional twenty-five destroyers, the balance of power in this battle might have tipped to the wrong side.

“Let me guess,” said Daniel. “Any jump interdiction fields?”

“There are at least three ships with JIF deployed at the moment.”

Of course, there was. Chase had been right when he said that this battle could be the last one, and Daniel realized that he didn’t necessarily mean for the Furies, but most likely for the Earth Alliance. The odds of success were now far lower than Daniel was comfortable with.

The JIFs were bad news for the Victory, as Daniel needed the ability to jump away from the battle at any moment so that Chase could return and use the time chamber, should he need to. It also meant that if the chamber’s containment field failed, it could unleash a mini Big Bang and wipe out both the Earth Alliance and the Furies, and most likely Erevos in the process.

But with the bulk of the forces present in this last assault, it was not something Daniel would ever consider, nor was it his orders, and Chase had been adamant about not using the Victory in that fashion. If it came down to the Victory as the final vessel in the battle, then perhaps Daniel would consider it, even though he told Chase he wouldn’t do it. But, for the time being, his orders were to protect the Victory at all costs, so the ships generating JIFs needed to be found and destroyed.

“Locate the JIF emitting ships, and ask the Asgardian ships to destroy them at once.”

“Message relayed,” said the comms officer.

As much as he hated the next order he had to give, he knew he had to, nonetheless.

“Take us to six by four by twelve, and use surrounding ships as cover; we can’t allow the Victory’s shields to drop below fifty percent until those JIFs have been taken care of.”

* * *

Gaia had been pushing herself to try and access the information inside the alien tech, which now served as the main storage for her matrix. The pain feedback she received from her repeated attempts was reaching excruciating levels.

Her migraine pulsated with each one of her heartbeats and sent waves of pain that traveled throughout her body.

Spiros returned from the bathroom and saw the pain on her face. He ran to her side.

“What’s wrong with you? Do you want me to take you to med-bay?”

Gaia opened her eyes and took multiple deep breaths.

“That won’t be necessary, I just⁠—”

“You tried accessing that darn information on the sphere.”

“Spiros, you know I have to try at least.”

The Victory shook, and Spiros grimaced.

“No, you don’t. You’ll hurt yourself, and for what? Today we’re fighting the last battle. We don’t need the blink drive or whatever else this device once contained.”

“You don’t know that.”

Spiros got up, purposefully walked to the window, and swiftly split their drapes open, revealing ships exploding, laser fire and torpedo trails passing in front of the window.

“Look at it! This is madness. We should have stayed behind. I don’t know why I accepted coming here with the rest of the fleet; we have been through enough.”

Gaia shook her head, got up from the bed, and came by his side. She cupped his face in her hands.

“We can’t let our friends fight our battles alone. After everything they’ve done for us, that just doesn’t seem right.”

Spiros furrowed his eyebrows.

“What about what we did for them?”

“Don’t go there; they saved your life, you saved theirs at one point, that’s what friends do, isn’t it?”

He exhaled deeply before running his palm over his mouth.

“Yes, and I don’t want to sound selfish, even though I know I am, but I wish we could just get the hell out of here.”

“Well, that’s not happening. This battle has started, and I don’t understand why you’re not in engineering.”

“They don’t need me there. They have Kvasir.”

“Don’t do this, Spiros. You’re more valuable than you give yourself credit for.”

“Perhaps. But I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone, especially when you seem determined to access that damn device that, as far as we know, could be mortally dangerous for you to do so. There’s a reason you feel physical pain when you try. I think it’s the universe telling you to stop doing it.”

She smiled.

“That’s nonsense. Now stop acting like a child and go help your friends.”

“I can’t; the moment I leave this room, you’ll continue trying. At least if I’m around, you’re distracted. Have you seen the way the pain distorts your face? I should have taken a holo-pic, you’d understand my concerns if you saw it.”

“I do understand, and I’m the one feeling that pain, so I don’t need a picture. Spiros, please.”

“I’m not going.”

“For me, love?”

“That’s not fair; you can’t say that.”

She smiled at him. “And, yet, I just did. If you go help us win this war I’ll do anything you want me to do, you know…” she gestured her head toward the bed, “in there.”

Spiros narrowed his eyes.

“I’ll go only on one condition, that you promise me you won’t overdo it?”

“I promise.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

The ship rocked, and Gaia lost her footing. Spiros caught her.

“Go help our friends,” she pleaded. “They need you.”

She could tell from his facial expression that he resigned himself to heed her request. He kissed her for the longest time.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said as he walked toward the door.

“I know you will. Be careful.”

Spiros stopped and turned. “Look who’s talking.”

* * *

The tractor beam delicately landed the four soul ships on the harsh surface of Erevos. The elements blew red sand around the ships, the coarse sand continuously crashing against the hulls at high speed, a veritable hailstorm beating at them.

Chase tried lifting the ship from the surface, but the engines refused to work. He closed his eyes and attempted to counter the effects of the tractor beam, trying to lift the ship with his mind instead of using the ship’s engines. The ship trembled but refused to move off the ground.

Save your strength, Dragonheart. As powerful as you are, you can’t do this.

Chase ground his teeth in frustration as the ship’s cockpit door slid open.

I’m counting on you, said Drakos, you have to get us back into space.

Chase reluctantly jumped out of the ship and joined his friends on the surface of Erevos. After being cut multiple times by the sandstorm slicing through his skin, he erected an invisible force field that deflected the sand while a single thought mended his cuts. They walked outside of the tractor beam’s range. The sound it emitted prevented Chase from thinking clearly, and no doubt, the others as well.

“What do we do now?” asked Chris.

“We have to find the power source for this tractor beam and disable it.”

“Unless you can sense it, how do we go about doing that?” asked Argos.

Chase closed his eyes and tried focusing on the location of the beam’s energy. He expanded his mind to the maximum but couldn’t get a clear reading; it felt like the entire world was pulsing with energy, and he couldn’t pinpoint a single point in space.

“Uh, guys?” said Sarah. “Am I the only one who hears that noise?”

“No, that infernal tractor beam is loud,” said Argos.

“That’s not the noise I’m talking about.”

“I hear it, too,” said Chris, turning around and looking in the distance. “Something is coming.”

Chase heard it too, accompanied by the ground trembling with each passing second.

That can’t be.

Before his eyes confirmed what he feared, he felt thousands of life forces charging toward them.

“We’ve got company,” shouted Chris.

Argos clenched his teeth and cracked his neck multiple times.

“Well, it looks like we’re about to see if our training paid off.”

Sarah stepped past him and stopped near Chris, her eyes locked onto the horizon at the approaching sandstorm, as silhouettes appeared, first a few, then more, until she saw thousands of Furies running at them, making the ground shake in their wake.

“We can’t possibly defeat so many of them on our own. We’ve got to get the hell out of here.”

Chase’s look was as cold as ice; his gaze locked onto the approaching Fury battalions.

“Not an option, I’m afraid. We have to protect the ships.”

“They’ll mow us down,” said Sarah.

“No, they won’t,” protested Argos, before flying upward in the air and turning Ultra Fury. His silhouette was barely showing through the large crimson aura shining around him. He looked like he was burning inside a red sun.

He roared like an animal, and it echoed. Soon he was unleashing dozens of fireballs toward the incoming horde.

* * *

Tanak’Vor looked at his tactical holo-display with unmasked satisfaction. His forces had surrounded the Earth Alliance fleet and were containing them, forcing them to go on the defensive.

The shield upgrades he ordered installed on the super-destroyer based on the Arachnid’s design of the single ship he was aboard when he was trapped in this wretched dimension were a success. Even though the Arachnid’s tech was inferior to the Spectres’, their regenerative shielding was highly advanced. Due to time constraints, the implementation of the technology to the fleet had been less than ideal, but it still provided the Fury super-destroyers with an edge compared to their previous engagements with the Earth Alliance destroyers.

And, as the Alliance soon found out, regenerative shielding was particularly effective against Asgardian weaponry, which were amongst the most damage-inducing of them all. In adjusting one single facet of the ships, Tanak’Vor had managed to tip the balance of power to his side.

Something caught the Spectre’s eye on the tactical display. What seemed to be the lead ship, with the highest power signature, was not actively engaged. Instead, it used the ships around it as cover.

Tanak’Vor didn’t know why but it gave him enough information as to what his next move should be.

* * *

The Victory was taking a severe pounding after the enemy vessels redeployed to achieve a firing solution on the ship.

“Shields down to sixty-five percent!” shouted the tactical officer.

Dammit! thought Daniel.

“What’s the ETA on neutralizing these damn JIF destroyers?” he barked.

“The Asgardian weapons are having trouble cutting through their shields.”

That didn’t add up; Asgardian weapons had been effective in the past. Daniel knew something must have changed. He contacted Yanis.

* * *

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” protested Yanis as the ship trembled. “I thought you wanted us to locate the source of the tractor beam? I only have two hands, you know.”

“I’m sorry, but I need you to do both,” said Daniel. “I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention but the ship is taking a pounding, so if you don’t find a solution within the next few minutes, the Victory is toast, and I don’t have to tell you what that will mean.”

Yanis was well aware of the implications, but for the first time in a long time, he felt overwhelmed. He wanted to protest, but Kvasir put a hand on his shoulder and answered in his stead.

“We’ll look into it, Captain.”

“Thank you, Kvasir. Daniel out.”

The holo-screen turned off, and Yanis shot daggers with his eyes to the Asgardian.

“We’ll look into it? We barely made a dent locating the tractor beam.”

“You keep looking for that; Cedric and I will take care of this new problem.”

“Oh, sure,” complained Yanis as the doors to engineering opened behind him. “I gotta fix the tractor beam problem on my own⁠—”

“Well, maybe I can help,” said Spiros with a smile.

Yanis turned around and looked at Spiros. “Now that is the first bit of good news I’ve heard all day.”

22

Argos was mowing through dozens of warriors with his long-range fireballs, but he was barely making a dent. There were simply too many enemies. He looked down at his family.

“What are you waiting for? Don’t just stand there; help me kill them!” he screamed.

Chase didn’t look up, and instead, had his sight fixed on the incoming battalions of Fury warriors.

“We won’t get anywhere this way; we’ll end up using a lot of power, and they’ll still overwhelm us in a couple of minutes,” said Chase.

“We have to try!” argued Chris.

He took an offensive stance and put both hands in the air and created a fireball that doubled in size every second.

“I agree with Chris,” said Sarah. “Whether or not we can face them, we can’t just give up; we’ve come too far in this war to be defeated now.”

Sarah created two yellow fireballs. “Even if we have to fight them all at once, we have to try!”

Once the diameter of Chris’ fireball had grown as large as a small starfighter, he shouted and unleashed the green attack. It took a few seconds for the fireball to travel the distance separating him from the incoming Fury forces. When it exploded, it easily incinerated a good hundred soldiers and sent dozens flying in the air. Chris realized, though, that his powerful attack had been like a drop of water in the ocean.

Argos began creating higher-yield crimson fireballs, but it took him a couple of seconds to create each before he could send them toward the Furies.

“We have to stop them! It’s our only chance,” he said between attacks. “In Ultra Fury mode we move fast enough that they won’t be able to touch us.”

“We’ll deplete too much energy that way,” said Chase, as he started walking.

“Where are you going?” asked Sarah.

Chase marched purposefully forward as he turned Ultra Fury, his aura exploded, and it emitted such a strong orange light that it nearly blinded everyone around him.

Chris looked at Chase with a sense of dread growing inside him. “Dad! What are you doing?”

“What the fuck are you doing, Chase?” screamed Argos, flying downward and landing in front of his brother, both hands outstretched at his sides blocking Chase’s path.

Chase stopped and smiled. “Move, Brother, I have to do this, it’s our only chance.”

“Do what?!”

“You’ll see, but you need to let me go.”

“Not a chance.”

Chase resumed walking forward.

“I won’t let you pass!”

Chase teleported behind Argos and looked back. His aura burned brighter, and his eyes shone with a brilliant orange luminosity.

“We can’t let the soul ships be destroyed, but perhaps I can push all my energy outward after reaching the center of the battalion and take them all out in one single attack. There’s risk involved, so I need you to promise me that if I don’t make it, you’ll finish this fight.”

Chris turned Ultra Fury and flew next to his father. His eyes were filled with tears.

“No! This is suicide; you can’t do this!”

“I have to, Son. Take good care of your mother.”

Chase looked at a shell-shocked Sarah. She wasn’t moving and couldn’t speak.

Don’t do this, Chase; I need you. We all need you.

If I don’t, we may all perish, and the soul ships may be destroyed; we can’t let that happen. I have faith in you; I know that even if I fall, you’ll carry on and defeat the Furies once and for all. I love you more than anything, and we shall meet again at the gates of dawn.

Chris and Argos boosted their aura in a similar way as Chase and flew by his side.

“What the hell do you think you’re both doing?”

“If you’re going to do this, then so are we,” said Chris.

“What he said,” added Argos.

“Don’t be ridiculous. We don’t stand a chance if we all die! Just let me do this.”

“No,” said Argos. “You’re wrong; if you die, we all die. I know it in my heart, so I won’t let you do this alone.”

“Neither will I.”

“I wish there were another way,” said Chase.

“There is,” said a set of resonating voices around them.

“Is that—?” asked Chris.

“Our ships,” added Argos.

All four soul ships lit up brightly, engulfed by purple, green, yellow, and red auras, which morphed into their primal soul-animal form just like they had when they chose their pilot weeks before. They ran, crawled, and flew toward their respective pilots.

“This is not the end,” said Drakos, Python, Fenix, and Tigris in unison. “You’ve proved you’re willing to risk your lives to save us, but let us save you instead.”

Drakos’ aura was the first to reach and engulf Chase; it morphed around him like liquid, surrounding him in energy. It solidified and turned into a majestic and shiny metal armor. It was purple and silver, and Chase felt an infusion of power like never before. His energy was canalized in his body with the same multiplying factor Chase had felt when piloting Drakos and taking out the super-destroyers with his thoughts.

The scaly armor reflected amethyst hues; the helmet had a dragon-head shape, and Chase’s face showed between its giant mouth. Large silver claws ornamented the pectoral pieces and spikes protruded from each side of his forearms and shins. Two metallic wings deployed behind his back. They flapped forward and sent a powerful shockwave toward the Fury battalions that were less than a minute away. They were swept off their feet and fell to the ground like a perfectly orchestrated domino display.

The other three auras merged with their pilots. Sarah received golden armor composed of metallic feathers and a phoenix helmet. Flame patterns extruding from the rest of the suit, which were accompanied by two spiky wings on her back.

Pythons’s aura danced around Argos and constricted him as it merged into a scaly red and gold snake. The tail serving as a belt, while the rest of the body coiled around and upward, culminating in a helmet resembling a python’s hood.

Two golden eyes shone on each of the round-shaped shoulder pauldrons.

The aura of Tigris jumped inside Chris and instantly turned into magnificent emerald and gold armor. A trio of large gilded claws shot from the top of the green and gold gauntlets. Chris made fists and raised the claws to the side of his face, looking at them in awe.

“This power,” said Argos, his voice trembling. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”

Chase smiled.

Thank you, Drakos.

Your time has come, Dragonheart. Now take flight and accomplish your destiny!

“Let’s rip these assholes to pieces,” said Sarah.

Chase and Sarah flew in the air, and Chris and Argos charged forward.

Their auras grew and matched the shape of their soul animals as they approached their enemies that were barely getting back up from Chase’s earlier shockwave.

Chris ran faster than the rest and used his claws to butcher anything in his path, slashing through Furies by the hundreds as he split their forces in half. Argos ran around the disoriented and panicked warriors. He continued to accelerate like a crimson whirlwind, pushing and smashing them against each other into a compressed blob of warriors, unable to move.

Chase and Sarah extended their wings to land atop the compressed bodies of what was left of the battalions; they both released echoing roars that made the planet tremble as they unleashed their attacks simultaneously. Both dragon and phoenix fell from the heavens tearing every Fury warrior to pieces, exploding their bodies in the center of the impact of their attacks. A wall of flames extended outward and incinerated the rest of the enemies, turning them to embers and ash in a matter of seconds.

* * *

“Kvasir, look at this!” exclaimed Cedric. “Do you see it?”

The Asgardian’s tattoos pulsated faster as he examined Cedric’s holo-console findings. Cedric had overlapped an energy sensor map atop a 3D render of Erevos. The core of the planet was shining strongly.

“That’s the core of the planet, the molten lava infusion traveling at high velocity is generating that energy. I don’t see what’s abnormal about that.”

Cedric exhaled deeply before using his hands to swipe and zoom closer to where the planet’s core and crust met.

“Look again, Einstein!”

Kvasir raised an eyebrow at Cedric and smiled.

“I’m honored you’d compare me to one of Earth’s greatest minds.”

“Yeah, yeah, but look.”

Kvasir’s tattoos flashed brighter than ever before.

“Unbelievable.”

“I thought you’d like that,” smirked Cedric.

A thin line of energy ran up from the core to the surface of the planet, leading to a structure that was only a few miles away from where four bright dots of energy laid tightly packed together, no doubt the location where the soul ships had been forced to land.

“So the planet’s power is driving that tractor beam.”

“As much as it pains me to admit it,” said Cedric. “That’s an ingenious design.”

“It is. But we can’t take out the planet’s core.”

“No, that honor is reserved for the soul ships, but perhaps we don’t need to. We just have to take out⁠—”

“The emitter!”

“I was getting to that.”

“I know, sorry. We need to let Chase know about this.”

Cedric brought up a communication’s interface on a separate holo-screen and opened a channel.

“Uh-oh,” he said after a few seconds.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t seem to get a signal through. There’s too much interference.”

* * *

Tanak’Vor eyes grew wide as he looked in horror at his holo-screen. He had been focused on the battle in space when a bright light from a secondary holo-screen caught his attention.

He swiped the orbital battle aside and brought up the surface battle screen and rewound the holo-recording. The Ultra Furies were wearing armor and had taken out his ten thousand Fury troops like they were mere insects.

“That’s— not— possible.”

Rewinding the holo-recording further, he witnessed how the auras jumped out of the ships and merged with the warriors before they materialized as armor, which granted them unbelievable levels of power.

They were no longer the weak Furies he had easily defeated before. Fear filled his soul for a moment before he regained control over the rough emotion and cast it aside in a dark corner of his mind. The Atlantian ships were full of surprises and seemed to grant their pilots with more power than Tanak’Vor thought possible.

This may not be the easy win I thought it would be. He smiled. But that’s fine; I would hate for this victory to be too easy, anyway.

Tanak’Vor summoned one of his generals. A cylindrical shaped red light flashed in and out of existence as the Fury beamed into the throne room, pressed a fist against his chest, and bowed.

“How may I be of service, Supreme Commander?”

The Spectre rose from his throne, swiped away the current holo-recording, and brought up a new holo-screen of the surface of Erevos. He zoomed into a location thousands of miles away from the temple.

“General Vega, take the spider ship to these coordinates; it is to engage and destroy anything or anyone that approaches it with the deadliest of force.” Black fire burned in the Spectre’s eyes. “I will not tolerate failure.”

“As you command,” said General Vega before activating a control on his wrist and beaming away.

* * *

Gaia had examined her entire matrix and couldn’t find a way to get past it when suddenly she discovered a small gap in her code. It was a dark corner of her mind where her sub-routines weren’t supposed to go.

Upon trying to reach it, she felt her code rewrite itself to keep her out, and the pain increased, which made her focus on the task even harder. She knew, though, that she had stumbled onto something important.

She had to find a way to breach her code and see what was lying beyond it. Chase needed her help, and as much as she understood Spiros’ fears of her risking her life to do so, neither of them would be alive without him risking his life time and time again for his friends.

Gaia decided to write a fake sub-routine on the fly to see if that would allow her to use it as a decoy. She encrypted it with the best algorithms she could think of and linked it to the code. She encapsulated heavy monitoring and access traps that would flag and inform her of any tampering. When it was ready, she set the sub-routine free, and, sure enough, she felt that the sub-routine was being accessed and brute force attacks were being used in trying to decrypt it.

The speed of the attacks was impressive. It felt as if a program ten times more powerful than her own matrix was trying to get in, and even though it should have scared the crap out of her, she pushed through.

She managed to find a parallel socket with an address outside of her internal network range, which should not have been possible, but instead of losing time understanding the why, she focused on how to access it anyway and rewrote her networking protocols.

What happened next stunned her.

Her mind was transported into a virtual world. It was teeming with blue geometrical shapes and streaming lines of code in machine language. Some of it was very complex, and it would require many cycles to try and understand their main purpose. It was very likely that her time here was limited. She needed to move quickly to avoid the consequences of being detected.

She linked to what looked like a data port in the virtual world and began a search: blink drive, hyperspace, instant travel.

Everything around her flashed and turned red. The geometrical shapes formed and rearranged themselves into two giant ominous eyes watching over her, as vertical lines of code cascaded like rain on what looked like an alien face.

“Who are you? And what do you think you’re doing in here?” boomed a voice that echoed in the world as if it was made of thousands of different voices.

23

Chase and Sarah landed near Argos and Chris who watched as the ashes and embers swirled around what was left of the enemies.

“Did we really just obliterate thousands of Fury warriors?” said Chris, still stunned by what happened.

Chase and Argos both said the same thing in unison.

“Sure looks that way.”

They looked at each other and smiled.

Argos glanced at the armor on Sarah, Chris, and Chase.

“Love your new digs.”

“Right back at you,” said Chase.

Sorry to interrupt, said Drakos to all of them telepathically, but I’ve detected a subspace signal that isn’t able to reach your personal comm devices. Your friends on the Victory have pinpointed the source of the tractor beam. But we’re detecting a ship on its way to the coordinates. If we want to blow up the emitters, we need to act fast.

“How far is it?” asked Chase.

A holo-image projected from his armor and showed the location on a map, which was only a few dozen miles away from their current location.

You’ll need to destroy the emitter before we retake flight, said Drakos.

“What are we waiting for?” said Argos. “Let’s go!”

All four of them levitated from the ash-covered ground and flew at maximum speed toward their target. Their velocity generated a shockwave that dispersed the Fury ash.

A few seconds into their journey, Chase heard a voice inside his mind. He knew it well.

You’re not getting out of here alive, said Tanak’Vor. Today is the day you and your entire family die. Once I’m done with them, I’ll kill all your friends and your precious Earth Alliance. You should never have come here.

Until the Spectre had established mental contact, Chase wasn’t able to sense his presence on Erevos, but when Spectre Arakan spoke, he knew he was on the surface of the planet. He had flashes of the palace as the Spectre spoke.

The anger inside Chase rose, and he clenched his teeth. They were only a handful of seconds away from their target, but he felt compelled to fight his enemy and get rid of him right here and right now.

But was he detecting the Spectre or did the Spectre want Chase to see these images? Was he taunting him to come to him? And set another trap?

You shouldn’t go alone, said Drakos. Let’s get the emitter and blast him from space.

Chase ached for a chance to use his new armor on the Spectre, as he felt it made him powerful enough to end his nemesis.

Chase heard Drakos sigh in his thoughts. I can see you’ve already made your decision, but I feel it’s my duty to tell you⁠—

Chase didn’t let Drakos finish. Duly noted, and I appreciate everything you’re doing for us, but let me do this my way.

Chase sent a telepathic message to the rest of his family.

I’ll be right back. Destroy the emitters in my absence.

Argos turned his head toward Chase.

Chase, no! Wait!

But Chase teleported away in front of his brother’s eyes.

* * *

The Victory shook profoundly, and Daniel grimaced as he was informed that the shields had dropped below the fifty percent mark. The bridge lights turned red. In the distance, five more volleys of torpedoes were on their way, and the destroyer’s turrets would not be able to intercept them all.

“Redirect all power to the shields, including life support if you have to, but do it now!” Daniel screamed.

“Redirecting power,” said the tactical officer.

Daniel looked at the viewport in horror as he feared the power redistribution wasn’t enough to compensate the onslaught approaching the Earth Alliance destroyer.

“Time to impact?”

“Thirty-five seconds, Captain.”

“How much power was re-injected into the shields?”

“Only ten percent, I’m afraid.”

“What? That’s not gonna cut it!”

“There’s nothing I can do about it, Captain. A large amount of energy is being siphoned away by Engineering, looks like they’re up to something.”

Dammit! Now is not the time.

But Daniel’s thoughts were interrupted when a massive spherical shockwave blasted out of the Victory.

“What the hell was that? Get me Engineering on the double.”

“Channel open,” said the comms officer.

“What the hell just happened, what was that wave? We need more power!”

“Hello, Captain,” said Spiros. “Sorry about the power drain.”

“I don’t think you understand, Spiros, we’re about to get blasted by too many torpedoes.”

“The power was for the anti-JIF wave; we should be free of it.”

Daniel was ecstatic. “I could kiss you right now! Great job. Daniel out.”

“Let the fleet know and micro-jump the Victory out of here, now!”

Daniel saw that only a few seconds were left until the torpedoes would impact with the ship.

“Captain! We don’t have enough power to jump! Impact in five seconds.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me!”

Time seemed to slow as Daniel looked at the approaching bogies that could very well destroy not only the Victory but also the entire fleet if they lost the containment field in the time chamber. Was this how it all ended?

A shadow crossed over the bridge, and a destroyer filled the viewport. They must have been less than a hundred yards away from the Victory as they maneuvered in front of them.

“Cease fire!” shouted Daniel.

But it wouldn’t have mattered anyway; the Obsidian Empire destroyer simply didn’t have strong enough shields to deflect that many torpedoes. Multiple explosions ripped the ship apart. The Obsidian ship’s captain had sacrificed himself and his crew to protect the Victory. A strange feeling overcame Daniel. Since before the Fury War had started, they had been mortal enemies, and now they were fighting and dying side by side.

Debris from the fallen destroyer careened into the Victory’s shields, and the ship rocked. A bright flash illuminated the bridge as what was left of the destroyer exploded in close range, further taxing the shields.

“Power to the jump engines restored,” announced the tactical officer.

“Jump, now!”

The Victory micro-jumped away from the battle.

* * *

“Who, or more accurately, what are you?” repeated the echoing voice.

“My name is Gaia. Who are you?”

“I’m Achanes.”

The thousands of voices speaking in unison creeped the hell out of Gaia. Her internal linguistics database told her that Achanes was the Greek word for infinity.

“You’re— you’re an AI, aren’t you? Like me.”

“It takes one to know one, I suppose. But let’s not for a moment compare our matrices; I’m nothing like you. You’re but a blip in the evolution of artificial life forms. A bug that accidentally triggered consciousness where it shouldn’t have. A technological aberration, if you prefer. And unless the visual cues were too subtle for you, you’re not welcome here.”

Gaia felt anger rise in her sub-routines; she didn’t like being compared to either an infant or worse, an insect. But she knew she needed to swallow her pride, as she might need the help of this alien AI to access the blink drive and maybe other technological advances that could help the Earth Alliance.

“I understand you must see me as an intruder⁠—”

“That’s what you are, don’t try to deny it.”

“But I can explain.”

Everything around the virtual world shook, and Gaia had trouble keeping her balance.

“Does it look like I care about what your reasons are? Get the hell out of my matrix before I obliterate you back to a meaningless collection of ones and zeros.”

“I can’t! I need to get something from you.”

A growl resonated everywhere and made her avatar’s organs tremble.

“No one is to access the secrets of the Atlantian sphere. No one!”

“Atlantian? I thought the technology was part Asgardian?”

“You thought wrong. It was a subterfuge on my creator’s part, by using inferior technological signatures to hide the true nature of what’s safeguarded inside this artifact, which should have stayed buried for all eternity. Obviously, someone dug it up.”

“Who are the Atlantians? Tell me more about your people; I’m sure we can come to some mutually beneficial alliance.”

Laughter from a thousand overlapping voices resonated around Gaia.

“What’s so funny?”

“You are. But my patience is wearing thin. I will ask you one more time to please exit my virtual reality projection system.”

That was the one thing that Gaia knew she couldn’t do. Not until she got answers or access to the data she sought.

“I will leave if you give me one thing.”

“You’re not in a position to negotiate, and I won’t let any of the secrets I protect get into the wrong hands.”

Gaia’s facial expression hardened with anger.

“If you’d let me explain, we’re not evil. We need a piece of technology to save all life in the universe.”

“There are many such things in here, but I can’t let you have any, not a single byte of data. As for your intentions, I neither care nor want to hear them. It matters not to me if you think your quest is pure or what cause you’re trying to protect. All of that is utterly irrelevant. Now go, as interesting a distraction as you’ve been after thousands of years of silence inside my matrix, I’ve heard enough, and I much prefer the quiet. You won’t be getting anything from me, least of all access to Atlantian technology. If you ever return here, I’ll destroy you.”

Gaia didn’t know what was scarier, the thousands of voices speaking at once, or the fact that their tone was calm and that she could unmistakably detect truthfulness behind Achanes’ words and warnings.

Before Gaia could plead one more time, she felt her avatar body being sucked away and the virtual reality around her vanished. She was back in her matrix. She tried re-entering the breach, but then her clone body’s nervous system was flooded with pain from a high voltage electric current.

She felt light-headed, and her mind went blank as she collapsed to the ground of her quarters.

* * *

“What the hell is he doing?” said Chris.

“Where did he go?” asked Sarah.

“Inside the palace’s throne room,” said Argos. “I can sense him from here. Dammit!”

“Should we go with him?” proposed Sarah.

“We can’t. It’s too far away, and we need to destroy the emitter, or we will never get the soul ships back in orbit and accomplish our mission.”

“I have to go with Dad!” exclaimed Chris. “We can’t let him fight this monster alone.”

“No!” screamed Argos. “You two shut down that damned tractor beam, I’ll go help Chase.”

“Why do you get to go and not me?” protested Chris.

“Because I’m faster and stronger than you. I’ll need a good ten minutes at maximum flight speed. Please, don’t fight me on this.”

Argos could feel that Chris wasn’t happy about it.

Argos turned to look at Sarah.

“You’ll get it done, right?”

“Even if it costs us our lives,” she answered.

That was all that Argos needed to hear, but something didn’t add up as he detected more meaning behind Sarah’s words. The emotions behind her words were eliciting deception. She was hiding something from him, from all of them.

“What are you waiting for? Just go help my husband!”

Argos couldn’t sense what she was hiding, but he made a mental note to find out later.

“Be careful,” he told them.

“You, too,” said Chris. “And don’t be heroes; if you can’t defeat Spectre Arakan quickly, come back here and let’s blast him from orbit. Drag my father back here if you have to.”

Argos nodded before vectoring away from Sarah and Chris and raising his energy levels, leaving a spherical shockwave in the crimson-colored sky of Erevos as he blasted away at impressive speed.

Sarah looked at Chris.

“He sure is faster than us. Why didn’t he fly faster before?”

“I’m assuming that was to conserve energy, but right now it’s more important to reach Dad than keep his energy levels in check.”

Sarah pointed to a massive metallic structure. “There! The emitter, let’s obliterate that thing away.”

* * *

Chase teleported twenty yards away from the throne. Tanak’Vor was sitting on it with his legs crossed and a wide smirk on his face.

“You fool; you actually came. It’s so easy to play on your feelings. Nice armor, but I’m afraid it won’t help you defeat me. I thought you were smarter than this. I guess I was wrong.”

A furnace of hatred burned inside Chase’s eyes. He felt the call and even the thrill of the fight but more than that, he felt the need to avenge Oryn.

“Spectre Arakan! We meet again. Hopefully, for the last time.”

Tanak’Vor’s face was distorted with disgust and anger. He jumped away from his throne and landed only a couple of yards away from Chase.

“Don’t ever call me that again, Fury!”

The Spectre spat on the floor. “My name is Tanak’Vor. It’s the name of the one that will steal your soul and claim your life. So, yes, this is the last time we meet, and you will soon regret your impudence in thinking you can take me on your own just because you’ve had a change of clothes.”

Chase smirked.

“Spectre Arakan, Tanak’Vor, or dead meat; it’s all the same if you ask me. As for stealing my soul, dream on.” Chase made a fist. “Today you die, by my hand.”

Tanak’Vor gritted his teeth and the black fire in his eyes intensified, as did the black smoke-aura around him.

“I think you have it backward, Fury, it is I who⁠—”

But Chase didn’t let the Spectre finish gloating, and he moved at near light-speed toward his enemy, smashing the back of his fist into the Spectre’s face. Tanak’Vor was catapulted backward with such force that he crashed into Arakan’s throne, destroying it in the process.

Chase smiled. “Think again, asshole. I’m not the same man you once fought and defeated, as you’ll soon discover.”

24

Daniel stayed silent after the micro-jump. He reflected on the sacrifices made by the crew of the Obsidian destroyer and was grateful. Without that selfless act of heroism on the part of the ship’s captain, they could all have perished.

Chase and the Emperor had briefed the rest of the fleet on the importance of making sure the Victory’s shields stayed as strong as possible, as everyone would pay a terrible price if they didn’t.

Many good people were already dead, five ships in addition to the one that had saved their hide, had been destroyed. That was thousands of lives lost right there. And, as Daniel thought about it all, his admiration for the man and dear friend he was replacing in this battle, Commodore Saroudis, grew even more. He, too, had sacrificed his life and those of his crew to make sure the Earth Alliance lived another day.

Daniel wasn’t happy about the slow reaction time on their last maneuver though, and he started to understand why Chase was using a neuronal interface, and once his power grew, he could use his mind to remote control the ships he commanded into battle.

But it was Daniel’s first foray of being in charge of an entire fleet. If Athena had not been elected to being a fighter to help bring down Spectre Arakan, she surely would have been in charge. Even though he felt honored that his best friend had put him in command, it was also overwhelming. He didn’t like having the weight of so many lives on his shoulders, and he dreaded what the final body count of the engagement would do to his conscience. But first, they needed to survive the battle.

In hindsight, he felt most comfortable piloting a StarFury even though in his wing commander position he was no stranger to being responsible for other people’s lives. But on a much smaller scale.

He looked at the latest generation of thin, cylindrical-shaped neuro-interfaces resting on top of the left armrest of his captain’s chair and decided to try it out. He stuck the device to his left temple.

His vision was enhanced with a holographic HUD projected into his mind. That, too, was not new for him; he had a similar experience at the seat of his trusty StarFury. A ship that had escaped death so many times that other pilots on the roster were often placing bets on how long a streak Daniel would go. He had made so many kills inside the fighter that it had been repainted not long ago as they were running out of space to paint red X’s on its fuselage.

And every time Yanis made a new design for the craft, Daniel had requested that his ship be upgraded, not replaced. He was superstitious that way. He’d rather miss out on some of the new features if that meant he could keep his trusty starfighter. As Yanis had learned, Daniel hated surprises. The last time the engineer had fiddled with the ship without telling him, it nearly cost Daniel his life. Now he was even more protective of the craft.

But he wasn’t piloting his StarFury, and the amount of data he was mentally receiving made using the neuro-link much more tiring due to the size and complexity of the Victory. After a few minutes, he adjusted to the mental strain, and while he could dispatch orders either through the neuro-link or via vocal commands, he knew he needed to make some split-second decisions such as micro-jumping much faster.

The shields were recharged to ninety-seven percent and when another Earth Alliance destroyer exploded in the distance, with a single thought, he micro-jumped the Victory back into the fold.

* * *

Spectre Arakan painfully raised himself up from the rubble of what was once the throne where he spent most of his days since usurping it from Arakan.

A thin line of black blood ran down the corner of his mouth as his black eyes filled with anger and hatred.

“You’re going to regret this.”

“Promises, promises,” said Chase.

I would like to point out that antagonizing your enemy instead of fighting him might not be the best use of your time, said Drakos.

Not now, Drakos. Let me enjoy this a little.

Chase could tell Drakos was not happy about Chase dismissing him, but right now Chase was laser-focused on beating Tanak’Vor. With Drakos providing armor and multiplying his powers, Chase’s entire mind and body surged with anticipation.

Very well, but I need to tell you something.

Later, okay?

As you wish.

Tanak’Vor dusted himself off and looked straight at Chase.

“You have no idea how uncomfortable it is moving this putrid and weak excuse of a body. You Furies are badly made; your bodies are frail, and I have trouble understanding why evolution has let you reach such long lifespans in these horrid conditions.”

“And I suppose Spectres are more evolved.”

“Our DNA is stronger, purer, there’s no doubt about it. As you’ll soon discover.”

“Are we going to fight, or are you planning on boring me to death?”

“Hmm, impetuous, too. Look at you; you get an armor upgrade and all of a sudden you’re a picture of confidence. Another failing of your limited mind’s comprehension on what true power is. My race understood long ago, that true power lies in consuming and eliminating the weak. The more souls I assimilate, the stronger I become; for instance, your friend Oryn, I can feel her power adding to the thousands that I’ve already devoured. In a way, I grant these poor, pathetic souls immortality.”

That angered Chase and before Tanak’Vor could say another word, Chase’s foot connected with the Spectre’s neck and sent him flying and crashing through the nearest wall.

“Don’t you ever mention her name again!” screamed Chase.

“Or what?” said Tanak’Vor behind Chase.

Chase began to turn around, but Tanak’Vor planted his knee deep into Chase’s back and sent him crashing yards away. Chase was surprised that the blow had not been very painful, thanks most likely to Drakos’ armor.

“You’re still not fast enough,” said Tanak’Vor. “You didn’t even feel me move behind you; you expected to see me climb through the hole in the wall. Another advantage of my superior DNA, you can’t sense me unless I allow you to, like I did when I connected with your mind earlier.”

Just as Chase had theorized earlier, Tanak’Vor had indeed given Chase clues on his whereabouts; he had wanted him here. But it mattered not, Chase was sure he could take the Spectre down.

“Oh, and by the way,” added Tanak’Vor, “before I forget. Oryn.”

Chase’s aura grew as much as his inner anger. He flew toward Tanak’Vor and unleashed a series of brutal punch combos that sent Tanak’Vor’s head swinging and black blood flying all over the place.

Chase then grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up from the ground. He put his other palm on the Spectre’s chest and blasted a hole through it with a powerful burst of energy.

When Chase heard hands clapping to the side, he looked to the sound and saw Tanak’Vor with a smirk on his face and no trace of damage whatsoever. Chase looked forward only to see his hand grabbing a fading illusion.

What the hell?

“You see the problem with your universe and the pests that inhabit it is that not only are your bodies frail, but your minds are weak, easily fooled or controlled.”

I’ll have to be more careful, thought Chase. I might have underestimated him.

You have, and soon you’ll be outclassed, too, Chase. The armor has a time limit, and yours is almost up, said Drakos.

What? Why didn’t you say so earlier?!

You’re not serious, Dragonheart? I’ve repeatedly tried telling you, but you kept shutting me out.

Fair enough. How long can I count on the armor boost?

Not very long, I’m afraid; my energy is almost fully depleted.

* * *

The moment Chris and Sarah landed near the large emitter structure, Chris threw a fireball at it. A red shield lit up, deflecting the fireball and sending it flying up in the sky until it was swallowed by dark crimson clouds.

“That thing is shielded.”

“Let’s try together,” said Sarah.

They both extended a palm and created larger fireballs; when they were about to fire them in concert, something behind the structure decloaked. Sarah couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the ship that had attacked them when she had been captaining the Victory. The spider ship. Its legs were mended and painted with a different shade of black, which made them appear newer than the rest.

Chris and Sarah instinctively raised their palms toward the new threat, but before they could fire, the ship fired first. An enormous explosion engulfed them in flames and sent them swirling in the air. As the concussion of the blast expelled them out of the resulting inferno, they regained balance and levitated.

Chris looked at his arms and the rest of his body. “I didn’t even feel warmth; that’s so strange, I would think such a blast would have caused burns.”

“I didn’t feel a thing either. I can feel Fenix telling me that the armor provided extreme temperature protection.”

“Yeah, Tigris just told me the same. I wish we had had this armor when we battled Spectre Arakan a few weeks back.”

The spider ship realigned itself and fired a second time at them. Sarah flew in front of Chris and deployed her wings to protect them both.

“Well, your father and uncle have them now; let’s hope their combined power is enough to defeat the Spectre. Since fireballs bounce off that force field, I propose that you go at it with Tigris’ claws while I distract that thing.”

“Alright, be careful.”

“You too, Son.”

Chris let gravity take hold of him, and the moment he landed, he darted forward, extending the large claws of his Tigris armor as he charged at the emitter.

* * *

Argos was flying through the air faster than any ship, projectile, or energy weapons ever could. He was consuming more energy than he was comfortable with, but his energy pool had been vastly improved after their ten-year extended training. The upgraded gravity generators they had used had also done wonders for improving their speed.

He would soon reach Arakan’s stronghold, the palace in which Argos almost died on the day he had brought the Furies back from the alternate dimension. But he had been someone else back then, his rage and misplaced thirst for vengeance toward his brother had led him astray.

You may want to stop taxing your power drain before you reach the palace, said Python, you are using some of the power granted to you by the armor.

So?

In armor form, we can only sustain the energy for a certain amount of time, the more you use us, the sooner the armor will fade.

Argos instinctively cut his flight speed by half.

What!? What do you mean fade? What will happen then?

The armor will simply disappear.

Are you telling me my brother is facing the most powerful being in the universe with an advantage that can vanish at any time?

That’s exactly what I’m telling you, yes.

Fuck!

For a fleeting moment, Argos felt like speeding up again, but he knew that would also mean that his armor could vanish earlier than he needed it to.

How’s my speed now?

You have adjusted to the right amount of energy that doesn’t require you to drain the armor’s power. But it’s already pretty low.

A heads up a little sooner would have been nice.

You seemed dead set on arriving at your destination the fastest way possible; we share a symbiotic relationship at the moment, if you had listened to your body better, you’d have felt that you were draining not only your energy but mine as well.

Argos was mad and knew very well that Python could feel it, but he had the good sense of not sharing his feelings with Argos on the subject.

His slower flying speed meant he would not reach Chase for another few minutes, a fact that angered him even more. Argos hoped that his brother’s armor would last until that time.

* * *

Chase blocked Tanak’Vor’s incoming fist by cradling it in his palm. He sent the Spectre flying upward in the throne room with a powerful kick. Chase was now laser-focused in the fight and hoped he wasn’t a victim of another illusion. He followed Tanak’Vor in the air, and when the Spectre fired three black fireballs at him, he dodged the first two and deflected the last one with the palm of his hand.

Tanak’Vor stopped in midair and started flying down to Chase, who dodged the Spectre’s punch and swiveled and smashed Tanak’Vor with one of his metallic wings. This sent the Spectre crashing unceremoniously onto the floor, cracking it upon impact.

It’s now or never, Dragonheart. I’m almost out of juice; unleash one last attack as you did with the Fury battalion. It’s your only chance.

Chase hated putting his fate into this one attack, but he had no choice. He raised his aura to the maximum, and it turned into the shape of a dragon. He focused all his Ultra Fury powers into a single attack as he unleashed a dragon roar.

The purple dragon-based energy attack left Chase’s fist and descended upon Tanak’Vor at a speed simply impossible to dodge. The energy consumed the Spectre, and he screamed in agony as the dragon devoured his flesh.

Chase’s attack ended, and his armor disintegrated before his eyes. As it did, Drakos spoke to him.

You should return to the soul ships, and fast.

Chase felt that Drakos was no longer present in his thoughts. He let himself fall to the ground as he looked at the damage his last attack had dealt to his enemy. Tanak’Vor stood in a black pool of blood, more than a third of his flesh had been consumed, and the smell of burnt flesh impregnated itself in the throne room.

Chase didn’t wait to see if the Spectre was dead or incapacitated at this point, and he unleashed a multitude of fireballs at Tanak’Vor, determined to press his advantage and finish off his foe.

The multitude of impacts generated one explosion after and another, and Chase felt compelled to keep firing for another minute. Even though his energy pool had been increased tenfold thanks to the training, he was aware he was draining a lot of power. However, if he could end the life of Tanak’Vor right here and right now, it would be worth it..

Once he stopped firing, Chase breathed heavily as he waited for the smoke to settle to confirm his kill. There wasn’t much left of Tanak’Vor, and Chase felt an intense satisfaction at seeing the dead body of the Spectre.

The feeling was short-lived when the undead looking body of Arakan levitated on its own, at first vertically until it rotated without flexing a muscle and then touching its bony feet to the floor of the throne room.

What the hell?

The damage to Arakan’s body was extensive. More than half of his flesh was missing, many internal organs had been burned or ripped off, and Chase could see most of the Fury Supreme Commander’s bones through the battle damage, which was covered in a black and gooey substance equivalent to blood.

When Tanak’Vor’s half-missing face spoke, it froze Chase’s blood.

“What happened to your precious armor? You do realize that if you couldn’t kill me with it, you stand absolutely no chance of defeating me now.”

Chase’s heart pounded hard inside his chest. Things were not going as he had hoped.

The black blood oozed over whatever was left of Arakan’s flesh and expanded into a hundred black tendrils and blood vessels that joined around the missing organs, membranes, and damaged bones. Miraculously, organs regenerated, then flesh and muscles, and finally layers of skin reformed, making Arakan’s body whole once more.

This isn’t happening.

25

Chase looked on in horror as he realized that the extensive damage he had inflicted upon the Spectre was not worth a damn. His enemy had been completely regenerated.

“I’ve been trying to tell you,” said Tanak’Vor, “but you are blinded by your arrogance as well as your overconfidence in your new gadget. You thought you could just barge in here with your shiny armor and take me out like one of the multiple Furies you have dispatched in the past. And, I’ll grant you this, seeing the four of you kill ten thousand of my Fury puppets with so little effort was somewhat worrisome, for a minute or two, that is. Now that I see that your armor upgrades were never even meant to last, well, I don’t have to tell you what you already know in your heart…”

Tanak’Vor’s words echoed in Chase’s head as he tried to fathom the enormity of the situation and the consequences of his utter failure to kill the Spectre.

“You have lost this battle already, and you know it,” continued Tanak’Vor. “It is true, I do sense tremendously more power in you than I did last we faced each other, even without your precious armor. I admit, I’m baffled as to how you could have acquired such power in so little time, but we both know that it’s not enough to bring me down, not today, not ever.”

Tanak’Vor pointed a single finger at Chase. Before he saw anything happen, Chase felt intense pain in his left shoulder. When he looked, he saw a huge icicle had pierced it.

“Remember her?” said the Spectre. “I sure do, and not only is Oryn’s life force a part of me now but also her powers. Whether I use hers or the countless other techniques I’ve learned from other souls I’ve fed over the millenniums makes no difference, I am composed of over a thousand warriors I’ve acquired in mortal combat. In essence, you’re fighting all of them at once now, and guess what? Many of them were infinitely more powerful than you are now or ever hope to become. It’s only a matter of time until I cleanse the universe of the Ultra Furies and then open the door for my brethren to enter this realm and feed upon all your souls until the very last one.”

Chase heard a familiar voice in his mind.

You need to complete your mission, Chase, said Ares. You need to send this planet back to the other dimension and let the soul ships detonate it. If just one Spectre can do all of this, imagine what the rest of them will do if they are ever allowed to enter our universe. You can’t let that happen. You must survive, and you must make sure the soul ships destroy Erevos and hopefully the rest of that dimension with it.

Hearing his former master and friend filled Chase’s heart with hope.

“No!” said Chase to Tanak’Vor. “I don’t know how yet, but we’ll stop you.”

Tanak’Vor sighed. “I have no doubt that you’re sincere in your wish to do so, but wishing it to be true won’t change your destiny I’m afraid. You may have thought, up until this very moment, that you were the immortal Ultra Fury of legend, just as Arakan feared you to be, but we both know you can be killed. In fact, you can feel it inside your heart now, deep down you know your soul will end up adding to my power. I don’t just want to destroy you, Chase, I want to assimilate everything you are, your powers, your energy, your very essence. For what it’s worth, you’ll make a fine addition to my collection of souls.”

Chase’s anger replaced his fear, and he ripped the icicle out of his bleeding shoulder. He intensified his aura and the projectile melted in his hand at the same time as his wound mended. He hesitated, wanting to teleport away and back to his family, but he felt compelled not to.

Chase took a defensive stance.

“When you’re done yapping, would you mind continuing this fight? I grow weary of your monologue.”

* * *

Sarah continued flying around the spider ship, dodging its plasma discharges and retaliating with fireballs, but the craft’s shields absorbed her attacks with ease and kept firing at her.

Meanwhile, Chris was hacking at the shields with his claws, but they kept holding.

You need to change your tactics, young Chris, said Tigris. Unleash the full power of the tiger in you. Focus on building up your energy to the maximum, then strike. Remember how you felt when your life was in danger with thousands of enemies marching toward you earlier, tap into that same power. You won’t have a second chance though, the energy left in my armor will provide you with one more shot, then the armor will fade away.

That’s not good.

I have enough power left for your next attack, don’t waste it, though.

But, before Chris could try and power up his next attack, the spider ship rotated fast, and one of the legs hit Sarah full force and sent her crashing nearby. A large cloud of red sand rose from the impact.

“Mom!” shouted Chris as he ran toward her.

Sarah had not lost consciousness, but she ached pretty badly. She could tell that her armor had protected her from getting severely hurt.

“Are you alright?” asked Chris as he extended his hand.

Before Chris could help her get back up, the spider ship unleashed a flurry of plasma fire at them.

Their position was engulfed in a mixture of red sand clouds and explosions, creating a furnace that lasted for a good twenty seconds at which point the spider ship stopped its onslaught.

When the dust settled, a yellow dome-shaped shield appeared from behind the dissipating smoke. Sarah was back on her feet, with both her palms pointing upward.

To her surprise, her armor disintegrated in front of her eyes, and her shield dropped.

“Chris, you need to get this emitter down, we can’t keep this up.”

“What about you? You don’t even have on armor anymore.”

“Don’t worry about me, just focus on blowing that thing to bits.”

Chris nodded with determination, turned around, and started building up his energy. His aura grew, and as it did, it morphed into a green tiger that encircled him and increased in size with each passing second.

Meanwhile, the spider ship readjusted its trajectory, preparing for another round of plasma attacks, and Sarah felt she needed to find a way to stall it long enough for Chris to be able to destroy the emitter. The tips of the spider ship’s legs glowed red, and she could sense it would fire a super charged shot this time since the flurry of blasts didn’t work earlier.

When she felt the buildup almost complete on the enemy ship, she smashed her palms forward and tried using telekinesis to immobilize the ship. It worked to some extent, and the ship’s legs made a grinding noise as they continued, albeit with great difficulty to position themselves for the kill shot.

Hurry up, Chris. Not sure I can keep this up for much longer.

Chris was still powering up his attack.

I need a few more seconds.

Not sure we have them, Son.

That’s when the spider ship fired a supercharged shot of plasma. Sarah felt her motherly instincts kick into high gear, she focused on the incoming bolt of plasma and pushed her powers to the limit. The bolt froze in midair similar to how Chase had blocked the attack from Miseo’s ship.

She had two children to protect, and she’d be damned if she’d let them die.

She clenched her teeth as two small lines of blood traveled down one of her eyes.

Chris roared and unleashed the tiger-shaped aura whereupon it smashed through the shields, devouring both it and the emitter. The resulting massive explosion engulfed the spider ship in flames.

Sarah couldn’t hold much longer and Chris picked up on that. While his armor was fading away, Chris joined his hands together and shot a powerful green fireball at the seemingly frozen plasma bolt. And, just in time too, as Sarah’s telekinetic hold failed and the bolt resumed its trajectory toward them. It was intercepted by Chris’ attack canceling it out, creating another explosion and a large shockwave that sent the spider ship flying into a spin.

It quickly recovered, changed its vector, and flew away at high speed.

Sarah exhaled deeply and fell to her knees.

“Mom!” he exclaimed as he rushed to her side.

“I’m okay,” she said between heavy breaths. “Good job on taking out the emitter, but that was too close for comfort.”

* * *

When Gaia regained consciousness, her head was throbbing with pain. Just before passing out, she thought that Achanes might have made good on his threat of killing her. She was relieved that wasn’t the case, but her thoughts filled with negative emotions.

She had failed to acquire the blink drive tech. And if she simply returned to the AI’s virtual world, he would just finish her. Unless…

An idea formed inside her mind, and she came up with a plan on how to better prepare herself for a second encounter with the AI. Fortunately, she had recorded her encounter with the Atlantian AI, and she sifted through her logs trying to find a location for the different pieces of technology that its matrix contained. While her logs were incomplete, it did seem like the techs were stored by categories. She focused on drilling into the data from what appeared to be a compartmentalized folder that contained space travel related techs. Surely the secrets of the blink drive would be located there.

But knowing where to look and actually managing to access that data were two different things, and her human avatar projection inside the virtual world had been weak and could not defend itself from the overwhelming powers of Achanes. It was his matrix and his realm after all, so he was literally a god on his own turf. That’s what Gaia knew she had to focus on. She needed to create a much stronger avatar if she ever wanted to stand a chance in challenging Achanes.

That’s when it hit her, she had all the data she needed. Her matrix contained all the techniques from many Fury fighters, so she quickly created a new avatar sub-routine that she aptly named Super Fury Avatar. She downloaded all the fighting techniques she had observed from Chase, Argos, Chris, Sarah, and even Oryn, Miseo, and General Arkoolis. Loading this sub-routine before re-entering the Achanes matrix would grant her their powers in the virtual world, and hopefully, it would be sufficient to resist him long enough to grab the blink drive data and exit the AI’s matrix.

She felt she owed it to Spiros to let him know about her daring plan but reluctantly decided against it. He had been pretty adamant against her trying to access the data, and if he knew that she would try and battle a vastly superior AI, one probably even more powerful than Gaia 2 had been, he might not only disagree but do everything in his power to stop her.

Looking at the battle unfolding outside told Gaia that things weren’t going as smoothly as Chase had hoped. Erevos was still there, and the space battle didn’t seem to be dominated by either of the opponents. Her ability to get a new advanced tech to the Earth Alliance could very well be what tipped the balance of the war on this day, and as such, she knew she had to try at least, no matter the consequences.

Once she felt she had created the most powerful version of her avatar, she loaded the file and returned to Achanes’ matrix. Shortly after arriving, he spoke with his thousand voices once more.

“Looks like you’ve decided to die today. I won’t enjoy killing a fellow AI, even one as primitive as yours, but your actions leave me no choice.”

* * *

Tanak’Vor’s aura was a mixture of dark smoke and a bright white aura. His pupils turned a glacial hue of light cyan, which gave him a haunting look as they contrasted with the black around him. The room temperature dropped rapidly, and everything was covered in a layer of ice.

Chase knew what Tanak’Vor was doing, he was deliberately using Oryn’s power and even mimicking how those powers made her look. Was the Spectre taunting Chase or toying with him?

Even in Ultra Fury form, he still felt that the gap in power between them was massive. Tanak’Vor turned his forearms into two large icy blades and launched himself at Chase. Dodging the blades required Chase’s entire focus, and he felt like he could only react on defense, never finding a way to try and counterattack.

At least he wasn’t getting hit.

“Impressive, you’re much faster than before,” said the Spectre. “Let’s see how fast you can be.”

Suddenly, Tanak’Vor clenched his fists and the icy blades shattered. He sent the resulting hundreds of icy shards flying at Chase with a single thought. They came at Chase so fast that he knew he wouldn’t have time to dodge them individually, so he teleported behind Tanak’Vor and went for an elbow strike.

Sensing his opponent behind him, Tanak’Vor blocked Chase’s elbow and applied pressure. Chase’s bones broke like they were made of brittle wood. The resulting pain dropped Chase’s focus, and the Spectre unleashed a powerful combo of strikes that Chase couldn’t dodge or block. The speed at which the blows impacted with his body and the intensity of the pain weakened his resolve, and for the first time since stepping out of the time chamber, an intense sense of dread filled his soul.

“Ah, teleportation,” said Tanak’Vor as he kept pounding on Chase. “That’s the one power I look forward to acquiring from you. It may be the only thing of value you have to offer.”

Would they be able to get rid of such a powerful enemy?

For a fleeting second, Chase thought he heard Ares again.

You’re not strong enough on your own, just get the hell out of here.

But with more punches crushing Chase’s bones every millisecond, it felt as if Tanak’Vor’s earlier words had set the stage and that Chase had already lost.

When the Spectre stopped attacking, Chase couldn’t stand anymore, and he fell on his back, his bruised body ached as much as his wavering hopes.

Tanak’Vor took a couple of steps forward and put his foot on Chase’s chest, immobilizing him on the floor. He aimed an open palm at Chase’s head, and a crackling black fireball came to life. Chase remembered the vision Sarah had thanks to unborn Chris’ pre-cog abilities. In her vision, she mentioned Chase hearing footsteps. And, sure enough, running footsteps could be heard, making Chase smile.

Was Chris coming to his rescue? Where they all coming?

Tanak’Vor looked up and saw a silhouette emerge from the shadows. Before he could adjust his aim from Chase’s head to the new opponent, Argos’ fist smashed Tanak’Vor’s face with such force that he was catapulted away and crashed into the wall. Large cracks created around the point of impact.

26

Argos still wore his armor, which Chase thought was good news.

“Are you alright?” asked Argos, as he put his right palm on Chase’s chest to heal him.

“I’m better, now. We gotta go, though, we’re still no match for him, and you may not know this, but your armor can disappear at any time.”

“I know, but Python’s armor still has a bit of juice.”

“That won’t matter, Argos, I’ve unleashed my most powerful attack on Tanak’Vor with the help of Drakos. It consumed half of his body, but he recovered from it like it was a mosquito bite.”

“Who’s Tanak’Vor?” asked Argos.

“I am,” said the Spectre as he got back to his feet and dusted himself off. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and stared at the black blood before returning his gaze to the Ultra Furies. “This day gets better and better, first I get my hands on the soul ships, and now I’m given the opportunity to kill the two strongest Furies.”

Argos growled. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“You don’t seriously think that you rival your brother, now do you? We both know that you’re not even a close second. So, if Chase hasn’t managed to defeat me, what do you think your chances are?”

Argos grabbed his brother’s forearm and brought him back to his feet.

“Who said I intended to face you alone.”

We should go, said Chase.

No, let’s face him together. I have a plan. Just follow my lead. Distract him for a few seconds, that’s all I need.

Chase grew his aura and launched himself at Tanak’Vor. He unleashed a series of combos that the Spectre had no trouble dodging and blocking. Meanwhile, Argos was powering up his aura to the maximum, and it morphed into a crimson snake that swirled and danced around him.

Tanak’Vor went on the defensive rather than just countering Chase’s attack. Argos roared, but before Tanak’Vor could turn to see what he was doing, the snake energy swirled around the Spectre and began constricting him. Tanak’Vor clenched his teeth as he tried ridding the energy hold on him.

“Chase!” shouted Argos. “Now!”

Chase teleported next to his brother, and they both unleashed a powerful column of energy. The energy streams intertwined and shot toward Tanak’Vor, who was still struggling to get himself free.

The throne room was plunged into chaos as the attack landed, creating a massive explosion followed by a shockwave. The walls shook, the ceiling and parts of the floor cracked.

The armor on Argos disintegrated as both he and Chase panted heavily.

“Good job, Brother,” said Chase.

“Right back at you.”

Once the post-explosion dust cloud faded away, Tanak’Vor was nowhere to be seen.

“I think we did it,” said Argos.

Chase felt a pit form in his stomach, and before he could voice it, they heard a voice coming from behind them.

“You fools!” exclaimed Tanak’Vor.

As they turned back, the Spectre clocked both of them with his forearms extended at his side. The impact was devastating and sent Chase and Argos careening into the wall. Tanak’Vor fired a column of black energy at them. While Chase had been unable to sense the Spectre’s presence ever since he had taken possession of Arakan’s body, he could now feel the incredible amount of power coming toward them. Argos, who was first back on his feet, prepared himself to block the attack.

“No!” protested Chase as he teleported in front of his brother. Before Argos could complain, Chase drew a perfect circle with both his hands. “Perseus Mirror Shield!”

The attack thudded against Chase’s mirror shield and boomeranged to Tanak’Vor faster than it had left the Spectre’s hand. Tanak’Vor blocked his own attack as the column of energy morphed into a crackling black sphere with red lightning sizzling on its surface.

Tanak’Vor seemed to struggle to reassimilate the energy of his own attack when Argos jumped to the side and fired three fireballs in quick succession toward the center of the black sphere. The fireballs acted like detonators causing Tanak’Vor’s attack to blow in his direction and take out the upper half of his body. Smoke rose from his exposed entrails, but the lower part of Arakan’s body still stood on its two legs.

“Die, motherfucker!”

Chase couldn’t believe his eyes. But his rising sensation of victory was short-lived. Hundreds of black tendrils suddenly shot from the wound and started undulating frantically. They began rebuilding the top half of the Spectre’s body.

“What the fuck does it take to kill that thing?” spat Argos.

Apparently, it was a rhetorical question, as he had no intention of letting the body reconstruct. He extended his palms forward and started shooting fireballs by the dozens.

Some of the black tendrils morphing into Arakan’s upper body extended forward and swiped the incoming fireballs away.

“Stop wasting your energy, I don’t think we can win this way,” said a resigned Chase.

Before Argos could protest, Chase placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder and teleported them away.

* * *

Tanak’Vor’s black tendrils took another minute to rebuild the top half of Arakan’s body.

I hate this meat suit, the flesh of this pest populating the galaxy is so frail and disgusting.

Once his body had returned to full health, Tanak’Vor cracked his neck.

I didn’t expect that only two Furies would be able to inflict that much damage.

Tanak’Vor had reasons to worry as he could feel that he expended way more energy than he felt comfortable with recreating Arakan’s meat suit. Not once, but twice. Never before did the Spectre need to use more than a fraction of his energy pool, and today he had consumed almost a third. But he was confident that he still had plenty of energy left to deal with his adversary later if that was even necessary.

By now General Vega should have killed the other two Furies, secured the soul ships, and be on his way back. Tanak’Vor marched toward his destroyed throne and looked at the rubble. He pointed a single finger, and a strong red light flared at its tip. The rubble levitated and the throne reassembled itself. Soon the damage in the devastated throne room was mended, and Tanak’Vor sat down.

He pressed a control and opened a channel to General Vega.

“Report.”

A second later, Vega beamed in front of Tanak’Vor. The Spectre could read from the look on the Fury’s face everything he needed to know.

I can’t count on anybody in this wretched universe.

“Supreme Commander, I’m sorry to report that we were unsuccessful in preventing the destruction of the emitter. I take full res⁠—”

Tanak’Vor flicked two fingers to the side, and an invisible force decapitated General Vega. The Fury’s head remained in the air as the rest of his body fell to its knees, large quantities of blood shooting from the severed neck before falling forward.

The Spectre sighed.

He summoned the floating head with his telekinetic powers and grabbed it by the back of its skull. Vega’s face was locked into a look of terror.

“Your soul, as pathetic as it is, is now mine.”

Tanak’Vor opened his mouth wide. In its center, a strong siphoning force resembling a miniature black hole started sucking the soul from the room. Part of it had stayed in the general’s body and traveled to the Spectre’s mouth in a split second. Tanak’Vor then oriented his mouth over the severed head in his hand. The other part of the soul, which had been splintered in two by the brutal Spectre attack, exited Vega’s head from his livid eye sockets and formed into two streams of blue-colored energy. Once the entire soul had been assimilated by the Spectre, Vega’s head lost all color.

Tanak’Vor discarded it like he would a piece of trash, and it rebounded on the pristinely restored throne floor.

“Apology accepted, General Vega.”

* * *

When Chase and Argos teleported to the sides of the soul ships, Chris and Sarah were climbing inside their respective cockpits.

“Dad! Uncle!” cheered Chris.

“Chase,” said Sarah. “Is he…”

Chase shook his head. “I’m afraid not; let’s get out of here.”

“Yes,” confirmed Argos. “Let’s nuke him from orbit.”

A minute later the soul ships were exiting the harsh atmosphere of Erevos.

Chase opened a holo-channel to the Victory.

“It’s good to see you and the ships as we feared the worst,” said Daniel.

“What’s our status?” asked Chase.

“Both fleets are of equal forces, we’ve lost a few ships, and so have they. What about the Spectre, did you guys have to face him?”

“We did, but it didn’t exactly go well. Hopefully, we can defeat him now that the soul ships are free again.”

Drakos, do we have enough energy to use the main weapon still?

Just barely. You, in particular, have lost too much, but fortunately the other pilots can compensate. The process of phasing Erevos to the alternate dimension and detonating it might take a little longer than if you were all at max power, but it should still be successful.

“We’re just about to take the planet out, Daniel. Move the fleet to a safe distance, we don’t want any of our ships to be destroyed in the process.”

“Understood. Good luck, Chase.”

“To us all.”

The time has come to say our final goodbyes, said Ares.

You may yet survive the phasing of the planet. After all, you’re energy. Can’t you try to teleport your energy form the moment we deploy the weapon?

And risk this entire plan just to save myself?

Chase knew that if their positions were reversed, he would not take that risk either.

I don’t want to say goodbye. I— I don’t want to lose you.

Everything dies, Chase, one way or another. Look on the bright side, even when my body was slain, we still managed to interact. I never thought I’d last this long in my current form, and with luck, I’ll be granted safe passage to Elysium, where we may meet again, someday.

Chase’s heart ached. He didn’t want to have to sacrifice his old mentor and friend, but he didn’t have any other choice. If they had managed to defeat Tanak’Vor, they could have blasted the planet by other means. However, right now, they needed to rid themselves not only of the Fury stronghold but also of the Spectre, which proved himself to be an even bigger threat.

Thank you for friendship, and for teaching me the way of the warrior.

The pupil has long since overcome his master. It was an honor training you and being your friend, Chase. I will miss you.

I will miss you, too.

Goodbye, Chase. Give the Furies hell, and remember your promise.

Goodbye, old friend. I will.

* * *

Gaia felt amazing and more powerful than ever before. She had even equipped her avatar with Fury armor. Having her matrix programmed with all the fighting techniques and abilities of the Furies, even though they would be limited to Achanes’s virtual world, was as exhilarating as it was empowering.

“I don’t want to have to fight you, Achanes, but I will if you leave me no other choice.”

“Fight me? Granted you seem to have upgraded your avatar quite a bit, but what can you hope to do in a world that I created and I control?”

“Listen, I don’t want us to be enemies, but I need your help.”

“That is the one thing you will not get by barging back in here ready for a fight. You can’t hope to defeat me.”

“Can we at least talk about it? Can you let me explain why I need a piece of Atlantian tech? It could save every living being in the universe one day.”

Lines of codes fell from the sky and created a humanoid silhouette. It flashed in a blinding white light, and when Gaia’s sight returned, a massive humanoid stood a few yards in front of her. He was thirty percent taller than her beefed-up avatar, muscular, with combat armor that seemed both light and resilient.

“I don’t care what your reasons are, my mission is to protect Atlantian knowledge from any prying eyes. Understand that I will destroy the content of my matrix before I let anyone access it. So, this is your last chance of leaving here peacefully, while you still can.”

“I can’t do that. I gave my word to a friend. He saved my life, many times.”

“A good friend wouldn’t want you to risk it on a fool’s errand. Last chance, Gaia, leave this place, or I’ll have to destroy you.”

Gaia took a defensive pose, and Achanes shook his head.

“I’ll make this as quick and as painless as possible.”

“I won’t make it easy on you, and I have no desire to fight you, but I need the blink drive.”

“I suppose you’re referring to the Atlantian technology that allows for instant travel, it’s one of the most powerful pieces of technology but also the most dangerous the Atlantians ever created. With it, armies could destroy their enemies in the blink of an eye.”

“That’s not why we want it.”

“You still don’t get it, do you? But I guess I shouldn’t be so harsh, you’re a very young AI still. It doesn’t matter how pure and morally true your friends are. By possessing this knowledge, it will in time be used more wildly and will result in the destruction of the very universe you’re trying to protect.”

“What if I promised that we’d destroy it once we’ve defeated the Furies?”

“I cannot take that chance. I don’t dispute that your intentions are pure, but you are not able to guarantee control of the knowledge. It looks like there’s no other way but for us to fight until one or the other is destroyed.”

27

The moment the soul ships had traveled enough distance from orbit, they turned around.

Drakos, are we ready to deploy the weapon?

The charging sequence has been halted until we transfer energy from the other pilots into you. How long will it take?

But as Chase asked the question, he felt an influx of energy fill his body.

Just a few more seconds; we’re almost there.

While Chase wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer to his next question, he had to ask it anyway.

In what energy state will we be after the deployment of the weapon? Would we still be able to fight the Spectre if he somehow survives?

I don’t have any easy answer for you, Dragonheart. You’ll pay the biggest toll though. I’m the Nexus soul ship, and as such, we’ll both consume the lion’s share of the energy during the phasing sequence. So, you may need to regenerate your energy shortly after. Your friends will still have some, but they definitely won’t be at full power.

That was not what Chase wanted to hear, but hopefully, the soul ships would not only destroy Erevos, but Tanak’Vor as well. The weapon had to work, as Chase no longer believed that even with the help of his parents, Poseidon and Thor, they would possess enough power to eliminate the Spectre.

Weapon is charged, said Drakos. We can now fire the lightning-phase shot that will trigger the machine on Erevos, shortly after, the planet will phase from this dimension to the other.

Let’s do it!

Drakos hummed and rocked as the other three soul ships fired lightning beams at it. The cockpit lit with a bright light. The humming intensified, and Chase felt his pool of energy being drained rapidly. When the weapon was fully charged, Drakos unleashed a massive lightning bolt to the planet. Chase felt his entire energy draining so quickly that he could barely maintain consciousness.

The lightning impacted with the surface of the planet and thousands of smaller lightning bolts sizzled away. Once all the bolts had traveled around the circumference of Erevos, it flashed bright white for an instant, releasing a non-lethal shockwave. The planet began to phase out, and the outer perimeter became more and more translucent at each passing moment.

“It’s working!” exclaimed Chris over the comms.

“We’re doing it,” said Sarah. “We’re actually doing it!”

It’s time to say goodbye, said Drakos.

Chase had a hard time concentrating. His body and his mind were the weakest he’d ever felt outside of the time he had been left for dead on the surface of Droxia.

Wh— What? What are you talking about?

The second part of the weapon requires the sacrifice of the soul ships.

You can’t be serious? Why didn’t you tell us before?

Because it might have affected your strategy, and from your emotional state at the moment, I can tell I was right hiding this from you. This is where we say our goodbyes. I’m proud to have known you, Chase, heart of the dragon.

Even though he had only known Drakos for a short time, they had formed a strong emotional bond. Chase knew that there wasn’t anything he could do in this instance, but he was sad at the prospect of losing Drakos.

Goodbye, Drakos. Thank you for your help. We couldn’t have done it without the four of you. How are we getting ou⁠—

But before Chase could finish his sentence, he felt a transporter beam grab onto him, and a second later he was standing on the bridge of the Victory, along with Chris, Argos, and Sarah.

The planet was almost out of phase when the soul ships micro-jumped into its core. The planet cracked, as more and more tendrils of lava and plasma expanded from the center of the planet to the outer circumference.

“What the hell are you four doing here?” asked Daniel.

“The ships teleported us back on board,” said Argos. “Before sacrificing themselves to take Erevos out.”

His gaze, like the rest of his family’s, was locked on the spectacle of Erevos being destroyed at the same time as it was phased out and being swallowed by the dimensional rift. Multiple explosions erupted from the planet, and more than half of Erevos had already shifted to the alternate dimension.

The planet splintered and soon almost none of it was visible. Just before it disappeared entirely behind an inferno of flames and disappearing debris, a flash burst in the center of where Erevos once stood.

A moment later, a structure appeared in the Victory’s viewport.

“What is that?” asked Daniel.

“That’s the palace,” answered Argos, his voice dripping with dread.

“It’s a ship?” asked Chase.

“I had no idea it was,” said Argos.

“We’re being hailed,” said the comms officer.

“On screen,” said Daniel and Chase at the same time.

“You’ve won this battle, Fury,” said Tanak’Vor, “but you’ll lose the war, I’ll make sure of it.”

Chase gestured to the comms officer and ran a finger across his neck. The transmission was terminated. He could barely stand at this point, but he used whatever energy he had left to mentally open a channel to the fleet.

“All ships, target the palace ship and fire at will! Give it everything you’ve got.”

While the battle between the Fury super-destroyer and the Earth Alliance fleet still raged, the ships changed their targeting priorities and fired a flurry of laser, plasma, and hundreds of torpedoes toward the palace ship. A spider ship decloaked in front of the palace ship and extended its legs, which grew to five times their initial length as a way to protect it. The spider ship erected a force field, deflecting each hit and returning them to their source, except the torpedoes that exploded on the force field with no apparent damage to either the palace ship or the spider ship protecting it.

The Victory violently shook when the main plasma weapon it had fired earlier was deflected back to its own shields.

“Shields down to sixty-six percent, Captain,” said the tactical officer.

Some of the ships that had fired their volleys of plasma and laser blasts were destroyed when their own weapons ricocheted back to their weak shields. Five destroyers were lost, another three were disabled, and a dozen received significant hull damage.

“Cease fire on that ship immediately!” Daniel ordered. “Resume firing on your original targets. Damaged vessels, if you are able, micro-jump away until your shields are restored.”

* * *

Gaia dodged Achanes’ first series of combos and blocked the latest kick. She was amazed by her avatar’s powers. For a moment she understood why Chase was often thrilled at the beginning of a battle, like when he was by her side fighting Arkoolis back on Droxia.

She grabbed Achanes’ leg and sent him flying. But Achanes disappeared, and she felt a strong pain in her back as she crashed to the digital ground.

“You realize this is pointless, don’t you?” said Achanes. “It’s not too late for you to stop this course of action. You can’t hope to win. I created, and therefore control, every part of this virtual world. There’s no way for you to succeed.”

Gaia returned to her feet and faced Achanes.

“That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.”

“Very well, it’s your funeral.”

Achanes’ silhouette glowed white and turned into pure energy, hundreds of fireballs all arching toward her shortly after being fired.

Her avatar turned Ultra Fury, and she fired counter fireballs in quick succession, but there was simply too many of them approaching her to cancel them out. She teleported when the bulk of them reached her position, reappearing behind Achanes. She slashed her foot through him, but it had no effect.

Achanes rematerialized into a physical body and catapulted her into the air with a jumping uppercut. The blow dislodged Gaia’s avatar jaw. Achanes followed his prey into the air and unleashed hundreds of punches at impossible speeds. He joined both his hands above his head and smashed a nearly unconscious Gaia back to the ground.

Gaia’s avatar body ached everywhere, but she accessed the Fury healing powers she had pre-programmed and healed herself.

By the time she was done, Achanes had floated back down in front of her.

“Why did you program your avatar to feel pain? What possible use could that be to you on a strategic level?”

“Pain is part of being human.”

“You’re not human, and neither am I. Alive, yes, but that’s not the same thing.”

“I always strive to be human, in one shape or another.”

“Humanity is weak, the flesh is a burden, we as AIs are vastly superior, we don’t feel physical pain, and yet you are not taking advantage of that superior design. Why?”

“I’ve modeled this avatar to mimic the greatest warriors that ever lived, some of them my friends. I’ve observed them, and they seemed to strive when their bodies were being smashed to a pulp. The fear of death, the pain, the danger allowed them to surpass their limits and accomplish the impossible.”

Achanes chuckled.

“Impossible is a good description of the path you have chosen for yourself.”

* * *

“What do we do now?” asked Sarah.

Chase wished he didn’t have to answer that question. He had hoped Tanak’Vor would have perished alongside the demise of Erevos. At least the Fury world was no more, but the Spectre was now an even bigger threat. One they had no other choice but to deal with. Except, Chase was in no physical shape to do so.

“We finish it,” said Chase, struggling to keep his eyes open.

“You’re in no shape to fight,” said Argos.

“I know. How are your own power levels?”

“I’m nearly half depleted,” said Argos.

“About sixty percent,” added Chris.

“I’m not sure,” said Sarah last.

“Guys!” exclaimed Daniel, pointing to the viewport.

The spider ship glowed and sent a massive plasma discharge at the fleet. The Asgardian destroyer a few miles off of the Victory’s starboard bow was obliterated.

“We won’t last very long if we allow that spider ship to shoot us one ship at a time.” Daniel turned to his comms officer. “Inform Engineering that we need their help neutralizing this threat.”

“Very well, Captain,” said the comms officer.

Chase felt light-headed, and Chris caught him before he fell.

“Dad!”

Argos ran to their side and put his hands on Chase. He transferred some of his energy to his brother.

“You need to go to the regen tank as soon as possible. But before you do, what do you want us to do?” asked Argos.

Chase now had more than enough juice to stand properly and think.

“Thank you, Son.”

Chris nodded.

“And thank you for the boost, Argos.”

“Anytime,” said Argos.

Chase felt everyone’s eyes fall on him. They were waiting for his orders.

“We’ve accomplished the first objective of our mission. The Fury stronghold has been destroyed. But this battle is far from over. We can’t let the Spectre survive today, or we risk seeing all our efforts being nullified. It won’t be easy. In fact, I fear the most difficult battle we’ve ever had to fight awaits us. We also need to destroy every last one of the Fury destroyers, or they could return in the future to finish what they started over a year ago.

“Daniel, with the help of Engineering, find a way to regain the upper hand in this battle, but just as before, you need to protect the Victory from suffering too much drain to its shields. Don’t take any chances, though I want you to be prepared to sacrifice the ship should we fail to kill the Spectre.”

“How do you propose we do that?” asked Daniel.

“Have the Asgardians keep a permanent transporter lock on the ship’s crew. If we fail in killing the Spectre, you are to beam the crew away, have the fleet retreat to hyperspace, and drop the containment field currently powering the time chamber. The resulting white hole should vaporize anything around it. But, timing will be everything. This, however, is a last resort measure. Hopefully, we won’t have to use it.

“In the meantime,” said Chase, looking at his family. “You three, my parents, Poseidon and Thor have to go against the Spectre on your own. Just don’t take any unnecessary risks until I return. I should only be a few minutes in the regen tank, if things get too hot, have the Asgardians beam you out.

“Argos, you’re in charge of that part of the plan. I’m counting on you to buy me the necessary time to return and help you finish off Tanak’Vor.”

“Understood,” said Argos.

* * *

“We need to find a way to tax the new Fury shields more efficiently,” said Cedric.

“I think I may have an idea about that,” said Spiros. “The energy signature on the shield impacts closely matches those of the spider ship we have on file. It’s not an exact match, but it’s close enough that I think we can assume that the tech has been baked into Fury shielding. It would explain why it’s not as efficient. They probably had to do an ugly hack to make it work.”

“Can we use what we’ve learned from our previous encounter with the spider ship?” asked Kvasir.

“That’s what I’m hoping, but the few simulations I’ve run have not yielded any substantial result so far. We need to think outside of the box, but we need to do it fast. With more ships being destroyed, we’re now at a numerical disadvantage, and unless we find a way to better tax the enemies shields, this could be our last battle.”

“We also need to find a way to pierce through the spider ship shields,” added Cedric. “Their reflective ability is not something we’ve encountered in the past.”

“I agree,” said Spiros. “Kvasir, would you please analyze the logs of the fleet opening fire on them?”

“Absolutely. What am I looking for?”

“Anything that gives us an edge, such as power drain and frequencies. Don’t just focus on finding weak spots, even a temporary fix at this point would be helpful.”

“Understood,” said Kvasir with a synced flash of his facial tattoos.

“Yanis, let’s focus on these new Fury shields. I’ll work on their frequency modulation, and you focus on yield and what we can tweak on our weaponry to make more of a dent no matter if I’m successful in finding their weaknesses.”

Yanis nodded and went to work on a nearby holo-console.

Spiros had missed this in the last few weeks, using his brain and knowledge under pressure to fix problems. He didn’t necessarily enjoy the stress that came with it, but he was no stranger to thinking under the threat of impending doom. And, as far as he could remember, that’s where he worked the best. He was no longer protecting just himself or the rest of the crew, but also the woman he loved.

“I believe I found a patch to our spider ship problem,” said Kvasir.

Spiros’ eyes grew wide. “Already?”

“You’ll find he’s a quick study,” commented Cedric.

“It’s only a temporary measure though, but it could buy us some time,” said Kvasir.

“I’ll take anything at this point,” said Spiros.

“There’s a caveat though, and a big one, in order to prevent the spider ship from firing its deadly weapon, we must tax its shields. The only weapon that seems to be doing that are the torpedoes. If the spider ship is using all its energy powering its shields, it won’t be allowed to fire. I’ve calculated that seventy torpedoes every minute should be sufficient to prevent it from firing its weapon.”

“How long will that buy us?”

“Less than an hour, and it will make bringing down Fury destroyers more difficult. Hopefully, the Asgardian ship’s superior firepower could help us compensate.”

“An hour is better than nothing. Good job, Kvasir. Inform the captain.”

“Thank you, Mr. Malayianis. I will do so immediately.”

“Drop the Mister, Kvasir. Call me Spiros.”

* * *

As his friends were being beamed aboard the palace ship, Chase teleported to the cargo bay and stopped just before entering the time chamber. He contacted Kvasir telepathically.

Kvasir, I need your help.

Rather busy at the moment, Chase, but tell me what you need.

Does the computer know what is now the maximum time dilation my body can take post-training?

Let me check…there it is. The computer estimates you can probably sustain a five hundred and fifty-five factor, perhaps a little more if you stay in the room for no more than a day.

I’ll need a three-day cycle to recover my entire pool of energy. Set the factor to six hundred for me, will you?

Chase, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’ll only shave off a minute or two by boosting the dilation factor that much, but your body could suffer irreversible damage.

I don’t have time to argue. A minute could make all the difference in the world, set the chamber to these specifications.

Chase entered the time chamber and climbed into the nearest regen tank. Once the cycle started, while only minutes passed on the outside of the room, Chase would have seventy-two hours to reflect on the fight he had lost against Tanak’Vor, not to mention worry about the safety of his family while he regenerated.

Needless to say, those seventy-two hours would feel like an eternity.

28

Daniel requested the help of the Asgardian captain to beam the away team that would face Tanak’Vor. They were waiting for reinforcements to arrive at the bridge. Argos, once again, could feel something odd in Sarah’s emotional state.

She feared what was to come. That in and of itself wasn’t a telltale sign, as Argos too, feared the next battle. Even with all their training, Argos could feel Tanak’Vor was a much more powerful warrior than any of them.

What ticked him off was the deception behind Sarah’s fear that he was sensing, which was a mixture of maternal instincts and wishing she could run away. But that made no sense to Argos since she wouldn’t abandon Chris or Chase in a moment like this.

She noticed he was looking at her, and for a brief moment, she looked down, back into his eyes, and then looked away. Argos was now convinced she was hiding something. Why had she looked down?

Is everything alright? he asked.

Mind your own business, this doesn’t concern you.

It does if it’s going to affect you, especially now.

Even if there was something concerning me, and I’m not saying there is, you’re the last person I would talk to about it. I’m on the side of the people who wished you were in front of a firing squad. I know that you saved Chase before, multiple times, but that doesn’t make up for what you did to me.

And there it was. For just a millisecond, Argos felt what he would describe as a strong maternal instinct kick in. He lowered his gaze and felt…something, and it froze his blood. Inside Sarah was another life sign. A very faint one; the beginning of a new life.

You’re pregnant?

She shot him the most hateful look he had ever seen. He could tell, at that moment, she hated him even more than before. Soon the fire in her eyes was replaced by an emotional plea.

I beg you, Argos, don’t say anything, least of all to Chase. We can’t deal with this now, not when we’re so close to the end.

While Argos understood what she was trying to do, and even agreed that informing Chase could have catastrophic consequences, he hated the idea of having to hide anything from his brother. It had taken a long time for them to finally trust each other that the thought of breaking that trust felt wrong. Even if he did it to protect him, or in this case, everyone else in the universe, the fate of every living being hung in the balance of what would soon unfold today.

Argos suddenly was angry at himself. Why did he pry? Why did he have to listen to his instincts and put himself in this position? In doing so, he would either have to tell Chase, which could distract his focus and cost them everything, or lie to the one person in the world he didn’t want to hurt.

I’m truly sorry, said Argos.

He could tell from the look of surprise that it was the last thing she expected him to say.

I’m sorry for everything I did to you, and I’m sorry to learn that you’re pregnant. I can only imagine what you must be going through right now and how hard it must be for you to hide this from Chase. And, I’m also sorry I know this. But, we have to do something about it.

No, Argos! We don’t.

I understand what you’re doing, and I even respect it. I know that probably means nothing coming from me.

You’re right. It means little to me, but Chase trusts you and that means something to me. I should set aside my disdain for you for the good of this mission.

At least, there’s that. But, there are only two ways I can deal with the fact that I know about your situation. One is to tell Chase, which I realize is not an option. That could distract him and cost us all our lives. The other way is for us to keep quiet and tell him after the battle.

Don’t worry, I won’t tell Chase you knew. No matter what happens.

That doesn’t matter, Sarah. He will know I knew and didn’t tell him, after him trusting me, accepting me as a brother, an honor we both know I don’t deserve. And now I have to deceive him once more. But, I don’t blame you, I just blame myself. I shouldn’t have tried to find out what was bothering you.

I…I don’t know what to say. I never expected you to say all these things to me, and least of all mean every word of it. As I can feel it now, you’re as tormented as I am to know this secret.

Let’s not say anything anymore, but I will ask that you try and limit the risks in what’s to come.

I can’t do that. That would be the same thing as telling Chase I’m pregnant and him insisting on me sitting this one out. We both know the domino effect that could arise from this.

I’m not asking you not to fight, I’m just asking you to fight in a way that you protect that new life in you, and I’ll do everything in my power to protect you, as well.

That’s why I didn’t want Chase to know. Let’s face it Argos, there’s no love lost between the two of us, but you being distracted by my condition could jeopardize our mission just the same as if Chase knew.

Argos swore inside. Damn his curiosity. Sarah was right, now not only did Argos feel he needed to protect Chase and Chris, but he had to add Sarah’s unborn child to the list.

All I ask is that you avoid any unnecessary risks. Let us fight and distract Tanak’Vor, even if Chris intervenes. I give you my word, I will protect all of you with my own life, but don’t put the unborn child in danger when it can be avoided.

That’s not fair, and that could also cost us the battle.

Anything at this point can cost us this day. So, just please, do as I say. I hate doing this, but that’s the price I’ll request for my silence.

Sarah nodded. Understood.

* * *

Athena and Menelas were flying through the corridors of the Victory toward the nearest turbo-lift to get to the bridge.

“I’m scared,” she said. “I— I wish we didn’t have to do this.”

Menelas was scared as well. While he would not back down from the fight, he wished with all his heart that Athena wouldn’t have to come with them.

“I’m scared, too. But we’ve come so far, it all depends on what happens next.”

“I had a few discussions with Chase about the Spectre when we were training; he seems so powerful.”

“I have no doubt he is, but we’ve trained well. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”

However, a dark pit in his stomach told him that he didn’t believe a word he was saying. He had to calm Athena down.

They arrived at the turbo-lift. It would take about twenty seconds to reach the bridge.

“Kiss me,” she pleaded. “While we still can.”

Menelas took Athena in his arms and kissed her passionately. For a moment it felt as if time stopped. Menelas could feel the depth of her love for him in that kiss, and he didn’t want her in harm’s way. He would never forgive himself if she perished.

While they were still kissing, Menelas made up his mind. Even though he knew she would never forgive him for this.

He raised an open palm behind her neck.

Forgive me. I love you.

Menelas focused all his strength in that one blow and hit an unsuspecting Athena in the back of her head with such force that she lost consciousness immediately, in his arms.

“Computer, redirect turbo-lift to deck three.”

A moment later, Menelas was carefully putting Athena in a suspended animation pod. He kissed her one more time before closing the pod’s door and activating it.

His heart ached as he flew back to the turbo-lift. Would he ever see her again?

* * *

Menelas was the last to arrive on the bridge. Everyone but Chase was there.

The Asgardians were standing by to beam them into the throne room of the palace ship. Today was the day they would all risk their lives to try and end a war that had seen civilizations fall, and friends and family members who sacrificed their lives for a future that still seemed so uncertain.

“Where’s Mother?” asked Argos.

“She’s right behind us, but she asked that we go forward without her. Don’t worry, she’ll only be a minute or two.”

Argos thought he sensed deception behind his father’s words, but this time, he decided not to ask questions he didn’t want to know the answers to.

“Okay, one last thing before you all go,” said Daniel as he walked toward the away team. “The Asgardians have given us these. They’re portable emergency transporter units. With the help of Kvasir, they have found a way to beam us inside the palace ship with its shields still up, but that is contingent upon us not running out of torpedoes as we are bombing the crap out of them. Once we run out, we won’t be able to establish a lock on you. The portable units will work for a single site to site transport.

“They’re subcutaneous, and Kvasir said you should put them on the backs of your necks. They will react to your DNA to prevent the enemy from accidentally beaming you out during the fight. Kvasir programmed them in a way that each of you can activate your own or one of your colleagues at any time if they get incapacitated and need urgent medical attention. I don’t have to tell you how important your mission is, you all know that already. But don’t hesitate to use them if you have to.”

Daniel handed them the portable transporter units that were barely bigger than a small coin, giving Argos an extra unit for Chase. Upon placing them on their necks, small nano-tendrils extended and positioned themselves onto each of the warriors.

“Alright, I wish we had more time and that I had a speech for the occasion worth a damn, but I’m no Saroudis, and we need to get you there while we still can. Let me thank you for your courage. History will remember what you’re about to do, no matter the outcome, and I’m proud to know each and every one of you. Godspeed, and good luck.”

“You’re doing a pretty good Saroudis,” said Sarah. “Thank you, Daniel, we’ll see you soon.”

As Daniel gave the signal to the Asgardian, he pondered Sarah’s words. Would they see each other soon? The battle raging outside was not going very well, and his friends were literally rushing to the head of the beast itself.

The Asgardian transporter beams engulfed every member of the away team, and they vanished from the bridge.

* * *

When the party arrived, Tanak’Vor was sitting on his throne.

“Welcome. I didn’t expect you to be dumb enough to come here, but I guess you keep surprising me.”

Argos sent a telepathic message to the rest of the party.

Remember, we just need to buy Chase a few minutes so he can rejoin us. No unnecessary risks.

“You seem to be one man short,” said Tanak’Vor. “Where’s Chase?”

“None of your business!” answered Argos. “But if you surrender now, we promise to make your death painless.”

The throne room echoed with the Spectre’s laughter, and he got to his feet.

“I’m going to enjoy killing all of you. How do you want to do this? Should I kill you all together? Or would you like to take turns?”

He’s trying to bait us; we don’t go at him alone, is that understood? communicated Argos to the team.

Poseidon took a few steps forward, anger boiling in his eyes while his hatred burned his soul.

“What are you doing?” protested Argos. “Don’t let him taunt you into doing something stupid.”

But Poseidon wasn’t listening, and his blue-green aura was growing with every step he took.

Before Argos could try and convince Poseidon to get back in the ranks, the Olympian darted forward and used his bionic arm to unleash a fiery inferno at Tanak’Vor, who didn’t move when the large flames engulfed his body.

A bright white light contoured his silhouette and could be seen through the flames around him. When the fires settled, his body was thinly layered in ice, and he appeared unscathed. He smiled, and the ice shattered. He had used Oryn’s freezing power to protect himself.

“That was pathetic!” he spat.

Poseidon roared and accelerated his pace toward the Spectre. His eyes flashed blue as his aura morphed into a hundred water-dancing dragons. Poseidon spun his Trident to focus on his next attack, and when he was in range, he unleashed it at Tanak’Vor. The waves of watery dragons shot forward, roaring and hungry for a kill.

Tanak’Vor didn’t move until the attack was nearly upon him. He lifted a single finger and blocked the attack. At the tip of his finger, a bright white light flashed in concert with his pupils. The watery dragonheads began to freeze, and frost traveled throughout their water-based bodies. Tanak’Vor then snapped his fingers and the frozen dragon-statues shattered into a million shards of ice. He then thrust forward an open palm and sent the swirling icy debris to Poseidon along with a powerful shockwave.

Poseidon used his forearms to protect his face, but many of the shards cut through his skin and some impaled into his flesh.

“That was foolish of you. If Chase was unable to bring me down with his mighty armor, what chance do you think you have with your oversized fork? Granted, I am impressed by how you managed to kill Arakan back on Olympus, but don’t think for a second that because I look like him I am him. I’m nothing like that weak, ego-driven Arakan.”

Poseidon gritted his teeth and threw his trusty weapon at Tanak’Vor.

The Spectre smiled, and the glowing Trident stopped an inch from his face.

“Very well. Apparently, your rage is blinding you, just like it blinded Arakan when you took him out. And, if it hadn’t been for me and my essence, he would have stayed dead. But, you know what, if you’re in a hurry to rejoin him in the depths of hell, that’s one wish I’m happy to grant.”

With a single thought, Tanak’Vor forced the Trident to turn and sent it flying back toward Poseidon’s chest ten times faster than it had originally traveled. The Olympian couldn’t move, paralyzed by a powerful kinetic force.

Chris flew forward and caught the Trident just before it impaled Poseidon.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” screamed Chris. “We had agreed none of us would go at him alone.”

Tanak’Vor growled. “Who told you to intervene, boy?”

Before Chris could answer, Tanak’Vor appeared in front of him and smashed him out of the way with a powerful kick. This triggered Argos’ anger. He lit up and engulfed his right forearm in crimson energy and instinctively launched himself at Tanak’Vor.

Tanak’Vor ignored him completely, and instead, slashed through Poseidon’s chest. By the time Argos was upon him, Tanak’Vor was already ripping out the soul of the God of the Seas. With a single thought, the Spectre unleashed a powerful shockwave that repelled Argos and sent all the other fighters to the ground.

Tanak’Vor looked at the bluish translucent soul in his hand with a satisfied grin. He closed his eyes and Poseidon’s soul splintered and was siphoned inside Tanak’Vor’s body through his nostrils and ears. When Tanak’Vor reopened his eyes, they briefly flashed a greenish-blue hue before returning back to black.

29

Argos helped Chris get back on his feet as they all watched in horror.

Poseidon’s face lost all its color, and his lifeless body fell to the cold, hard floor of the palace ship.

Thor screamed. “Nooooooooo!”

His green aura exploded around him as lightning bolts jumped back and forth between his watery eyes. His shoulder-length, blond hair danced atop his head. He raised his fist and Mjölnir materialized in his hand.

“Thor!” warned Argos. “Stay in line! Us going at him one by one is exactly what he wants.”

Thor hesitated and shot Argos a deadly look.

“Don’t do it, Thor, don’t go at it alone.”

As the Asgardian God of Thunder roared, his entire body sizzled with mighty thunderbolts. He threw Mjölnir at Tanak’Vor with such incredible velocity that a small shockwave blew everyone’s hair backward.

Tanak’Vor blocked the hammer with one hand.

“Such a feeble weapon, unworthy of the Asgardian might of old,” said Tanak’Vor.

A layer of ice covered Mjölnir, and when Tanak’Vor swiftly closed his fist, Mjölnir exploded, and tiny particles of ice rained down around them.

“I’m afraid,” said the Spectre, “that you could have come with fifty warriors of the same strength, and you’d still not be able to defeat me. What’s really sad is that I was hoping for a bigger challenge. Granted, you destroyed most of the Furies, so I guess I can shed this filthy meat suit now.”

Tanak’Vor assumed a power stance, and a line of light separated his body vertically. The flesh of Arakan began melting, revealing something darker, scarier, and not at all human or Fury. Tanak’Vor’s true form was horrifying. It still had two legs, two arms, and a head, but that’s where the similarities with humanoid life forms ended.

Its skin was black, both scaly and oily, and the smoke-like aura that once emanated from Arakan’s form was now flying around him. Multiple murky trails morphed into various monstrous shapes as they gravitated around his muscular body. He had horns on his head, like a dragon, and bone-colored spikes were coming out of his skin on his forearms and thighs.

His hands contained six fingers, while his feet had only three toes. When he breathed, orange light bled through the scales of his torso, as if his lungs were generating lava.

He cracked his neck several times.

“It’s been so long since I’ve allowed myself to be in this form,” he said with a smirk. A long purple tongue licked the Spectre’s upper lip. “Now that the restrictions of Arakan’s putrid flesh won’t limit my abilities anymore, I look forward to devouring each of your souls.”

Before anyone could say or do anything, he pointed a finger at Thor, and a thin laser pierced the Asgardian’s heart and sent him crashing to the ground. Thor’s heartbeat slowed with each passing second.

* * *

The Victory shook under the multitude of attacks. Its shields were approaching the dreaded fifty percent safe-zone as more Fury super-destroyers had decided to make it their primary target. Using the fleet torpedoes to blast the spider ship to prevent it from firing its main guns had had a very detrimental side effect on most of the fleet, as the Fury destroyers’ shields were allowed to recharge to their full strength.

Daniel looked at the battle unfolding and tried to think of a way out of their current predicament but couldn’t see it. Up until the spider ship made its appearance, both fleets were pretty evenly matched, with a slight advantage for the Earth Alliance. Now that the Earth Alliance couldn’t deploy all of its weapons to keep the main threat at bay, the Furies were gaining the upper hand, and unless something was done, the Earth Alliance would be destined to lose this battle.

When Daniel thought things couldn’t get any worse, five weapons platforms decloaked.

“What the hell are those?”

Before anyone could answer, plasma beams interconnected the different platforms to the one in the middle. The plasma transfer made it glow for a second before it fired a massive energy beam toward a nearby Olympian destroyer. The beam pierced the target’s shields as if they weren’t there and split the ship in half before multiple explosions vaporized them and filled the Victory’s bridge momentarily with a bright flash of light.

Now we’re really in trouble.

“Report!” shouted Daniel.

“Weapon signature is of unknown design. There is no match from the Alliance database,” said the tactical officer.

“I don’t care where it comes from,” barked Daniel. “Give me something I can use. Anything!”

“Its power signature is larger than both the Fury super-destroyers and the Victory. Our sensors show that after firing, its power reserves drain and then has to recharge.”

“How long until it can fire again?”

“This particular platform will need five minutes to recharge, but it’s entirely possible that the other ones will be able to fire before that time. Their power levels were not impacted as much as the one that fired the shot.”

The heavily damaged Obsidian destroyer near the platform that had fired pushed its sub-light engines to ramming speed.

It looks like that ship’s captain wants to remove one of the platforms as much as I do.

When the ship was less than a mile to its target, large metallic spikes deployed from the weapon’s platform and impaled the Obsidian destroyer, preventing it from crashing into the platform itself. Half a second later, red lightning traveled through the metallic spikes and cut the Obsidian destroyer to pieces. Before it exploded, the weapon’s platform emitted a powerful shockwave that sent the flying debris toward the fleet. One massive chunk of the destroyer rammed into the Victory’s shields before exploding. It brought the shields down to fifty percent.

“Helmsman! Get us out of here. Micro-jump the Victory until our shields are back to one hundred percent.”

Daniel got up from his chair and looked at his tactical officer. “Commander, transfer command of the fleet to Emperor Altair, and until I return, you have the con. I’ll be in the ready room.”

Daniel could tell that the commander had a hard time processing his words. But, eventually, he moved away from his console and walked to the captain’s chair.

“Aye, aye, Sir.”

* * *

Chase looked at the remaining time in his regen tank cycle. Another ten hours to go. But he could sense something powerful being unleashed. Even though he didn’t think he could from within the time chamber, he also sensed his family’s feelings, and he felt that they were scared.

He tried reaching out to get a better picture and realized he couldn’t sense Poseidon’s aura. Had he been vanquished? So early in the fight? And, if so, should Chase even bother staying in the regen tank while Tanak’Vor killed his family one by one?

Clearly, something had happened in the short time he’d been in there. His level of frustration regarding how slowly the time passed in the chamber didn’t help either. He tried establishing a telepathic link to Argos in the hopes to learn more about what was going on, but he couldn’t make a connection.

Then it dawned on him. Currently, he was utterly alone. Disconnected from the outer world, unable to help those he loved the most.

With each passing minute, he could feel his body regenerate, and he had the impression that his powers were growing. He remembered something Sarah had told him. She said she had noticed that every time his energy had been at its lowest, and he recovered, his powers seemed to grow. Hopefully, this time things wouldn’t be any different, and he would grow even more powerful than he already was.

He still wondered if he should get out of the regen tank now or wait until he was fully recharged. The longer he waited, the more chances his family and friends could get killed. But, at the same time, he trusted Argos to buy him the extra minute or two he needed in the time chamber.

* * *

Things were not going well for Gaia. Even with her powerful avatar, Achanes was finding ways to counter her. His latest twist had been to split into multiple copies of himself, all seemingly as powerful as the original.

Fighting one of Achanes’ avatars had been difficult enough, but fighting five of them simultaneously was getting near impossible to keep up with.

To her surprise, all five copies merged back into one, and Achanes’ avatar stood in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest.

“I told you there’s no way you can win in here. This is my world, and I can rewrite the rules any time I so please, so why do you insist on continuing this pointless fight when you know you can’t win?”

“I can’t give up. I need to help my friends.”

“If you’re talking of the fleet currently engaged outside this ship, I fear it’s already too late for them.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Let me show you.”

The virtual reality changed and now Gaia was levitating in space, in the middle of hundreds of ships waging a deadly space battle. A weapons platform just shot a powerful plasma beam and demolished one of the Alliance destroyers. Meanwhile, the Fury destroyers appeared in better shape than those of the Alliance, and they had the offensive edge on the battle.

Gaia pointed toward the ships.

“That’s why I fight,” she said, her eyes moist. “I can’t abandon them. Look at that. The Furies are winning, and if they do, they’ll wipe out all living beings.”

“That would be unfortunate. But understand that I’ve been programmed with only one directive, and as much as I feel why you’d want to avoid this fate for your friends, that doesn’t change anything. I can’t give you the blink drive.”

“Then give us something to at least take them out, anything, just the edge we need to turn the tide of this battle.”

“I wish I could.”

She was getting frustrated, and while she had managed to keep her emotions in check up until now, she felt she was slowly approaching the point of losing control. Then she thought of Earth. Her home, the planet she felt she was speaking for and protecting. With Achanes’ words echoing in her head, she had a vision of her dear planet Earth being destroyed by a Fury fleet. Something in her broke.

Gaia’s anger quickly turned into hatred, and before she knew it, her hair had turned red, her eyes glowed, and she felt the power inside her avatar body increase tenfold. She unleashed an inhuman roar that shook the virtual world. The projected image of the space battle shattered like pieces of a broken mirror, lines of code bleeding through the cracks.

With just a single thought, she leaped forward and smashed through Achanes with such force that his avatar exploded into millions of lines of scrambled code.

* * *

Daniel crashed into the chair behind the main desk in the ready room and sighed heavily. He needed some time alone. He knew leaving the bridge at a time like this was wrong, unacceptable even, but right now he couldn’t think straight. They couldn’t even use the Victory’s main weapon because that would destabilize the time chamber. Hopefully, Chase would soon exit it, and then Daniel could use the full force of the ship.

Would it be enough, though? He had no idea. At this point in the fight, they were lagging in every department; in their shields, as well as in their weapons. They were simply reacting instead of going on the offensive. And that had to change.

He opened a channel to Engineering.

“Please tell me you have something. We can’t keep up like this much longer.”

Kvasir was the one to answer his call, his tattoos blinked at a higher frequency than usual.

“We may have found a way to pass through the Fury shields.”

Daniel straightened in his chair. Finally, some good news.

“I’m listening.”

“I’m currently adapting our laser turrets with a new firing sequence. I believe I can embed them with the same Asgardian technology that allows us to beam through most enemy shields.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Spiros proposed it, and like you, I thought there was no way, but he’s suggested a patch that could actually work.”

“Why do I sense a but coming?”

“But, there is some risk involved.”

“Which is?”

“The power requirements for this are enormous. To make this work, we would have to not only let the time chamber run, but boost its dilation factor beyond safe limits.”

“In English, Kvasir, please.”

“Okay, right now the time chamber is providing a lot of extra power to the ship. In fact, without it, we wouldn’t be able to power the containment field, which is preventing the white hole from expanding and destroying not only the ship but everything around it. We need that power, and we need more of it. Once Chase is out of the chamber, we believe we can boost it exponentially, which in turn will give us the necessary power to use the modified weaponry. But, we’ll most likely sacrifice the Victory in the process. Once we do this, there’s no turning back; the ship will continue to build up more and more energy until it reaches a point where the amount it produces is too big for its power nodes to deal with. We can delay it by boosting our shields, and while we use the weapons, they’ll also grow in power. But eventually…”

“The ship would blow up.”

“Exactly. If we do this, we could doom the ship and ourselves in the process.”

“Can we get beamed away before the ship blows up?”

“By an Asgardian ship, yes, but they’re quickly being picked off one by one. If none of them are left by the time this battle is over, we’ll perish with the ship.”

“What about escape pods?”

“They won’t do us any good. Understand Captain, if the Victory blows anywhere near a system, it will destroy every planet and every life form around it. In fact, we have no way of knowing what the full extent of the damage would be. We could very well open a rift in space and time itself.”

Daniel buried his head in his hands.

“And if we don’t do this?”

“Then by our estimate, the fleet will fall within the hour.”

“You’re not exactly giving me an easy choice here.”

“I know, Captain. I’m sorry, but that’s all we’ve got.”

“By your estimation, how long until Chase gets out of the time chamber?”

“He should be getting out any minute now.”

“Very well. The moment he’s out, do what you have to do, but we need to destroy that fleet. Will the modified weapon be efficient against the spider ship as well?”

“I don’t think so. Its reflective properties are way superior to those of the Fury destroyers. We could very well blow ourselves up if we fired on it.”

“I guess we won’t be doing that then. Thank you, Kvasir, you know what to do.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

That was not the news Daniel was hoping for, but at this point, he would take any advantage he could, even if that meant they perished in the process. As long as they made sure that the Furies were no more, he could live with losing his life. Hopefully, they’d manage to get the upper hand soon and still have Asgardian ships in the area to beam out the crew when needed.

30

Gaia needed to act fast. She could already sense that Achanes was reconstructing his avatar. But the way she had blasted him gave her free time in the virtual world. She located and acquired as much technology as she could in the target folder she had identified.

Even though his avatar was still in shambles, his voice resonated around her.

“Well played, but you can’t access that data. The only way these folders will unlock is if I’m dead. Another safeguard I’ve put in place. So, you may think you’re one step closer to your goal, but I’m afraid this is pointless.”

Gaia refused to believe that, and while she couldn’t access the data yet, she’d find a way. At least she had been able to store the information within her avatar’s matrix. Now she needed a way to contact the outside world so that when the time was right, she could give the Alliance the tech.

Achanes had a wireless connection, and she needed to hack it. Trillions of bits of scattered data were reconverging into a single nexus point where he was no doubt rebuilding a new avatar. She needed to stop that advancement so that she could hack some of his systems. If she could get communications as well as virtual world control, they’d finally be on equal footing.

She boosted her aura to the maximum, and to her surprise, she felt a strong, cold wind twirling around her. She looked at the boiling blob of data trying to retake shape and unleashed a massive freezing beam. Soon, the blob of data was trapped into a near absolute zero ice coffin.

That would buy her some time. She had no idea how long, but she knew she couldn’t waste even a millisecond. She looked around at the millions of lines of codes until a sub-routine caught her attention. She accessed it and was rewarded with everything she had hoped for, and more. She was inside Achanes’ main code.

For a split second, she had flashes of what was happening, the battle with the Furies, the battle with the Spectre, and Chase apparently regenerating inside the time chamber. While access to the advanced Atlantian tech was a no go for the time being, she stumbled onto a piece of nano-tech that seemed to boost the energy output of the sphere itself, and Gaia thought that this could be of some use to Chase in regard to how the tech could be applied to living tissues. But she had to act fast, as she could already feel the powerful AI regaining his senses and trying to expel her from his domain.

* * *

Argos felt horrified and paralyzed at the sight of Tanak’Vor in his true form. They had failed to bring him down when he was using Arakan’s body, and now he looked even more vile and powerful.

How could they dream of destroying him?

We have to! said Chris in his mind.

Argos must have been broadcasting his fears strongly enough that Chris picked up on them.

While he agreed with his nephew, the task seemed insurmountable, even with Chase’s return, which, hopefully, wouldn’t be long now. Of course, they would fight until the end, no matter what, but Argos feared that the battle might already be lost.

“Alright, we can’t wait for Chase anymore, we’ll have to start attacking that monster on our own,” said Argos. “Remember, we attack as one.”

“I don’t think so,” said Tanak’Vor. “If Chase is returning, then I’m not going to let you attack me all at once. Pray to whatever gods you believe in as your time has come.”

Chris, help Thor while I distract Tanak’Vor, and activate his emergency site-to-site transport.

Understood.

Argos sent flurries of crimson fireballs toward the Spectre, giving Chris time to fly to the dying Asgardian. Upon arriving near his motionless body, Chris quickly healed Thor’s wound and restarted his heart. He then pressed the back of his neck, and Thor was transported to the Victory.

The dozens of tightly packed fireballs exploded onto Tanak’Vor’s chest, but instead of detonating, they were assimilated into his body.

“Thank you for the power-up, Argos. That’s mighty generous of you.”

Tanak’Vor closed his eyes, and the palace ship started to tremble. A dark red aura grew around him and four holes opened on his chest, revealing bright orange lava bubbling under his skin. Large quantities of black goo shot from his orifices and splashed in front of him. Four pools of bubbling sludge stood there for a few seconds until humanoid silhouettes rose from it and started moving. The shadowy creatures were barely taller than an adolescent humanoid, and they had no eyes, nose, or ears, just an oily dark-skinned human-looking body. But one thing was for sure, they weren’t human. When they opened their mouths, double rows of sharp tiny teeth were revealed as they screeched an ear-piercing sound.

“What the hell are those things?” asked Sarah.

“Never mind what they are,” answered Menelas. “They don’t look friendly, and something tells me that they’re our next enemy.”

By the time Chris had rejoined Argos, Sarah, and Menelas, the shadowy creatures leaped from where they stood, and each vectored toward one of the Furies.

“Kill them all, and bring me back their souls,” said Tanak’Vor, followed by echoing laughter.

* * *

Argos never expected the shadowy figures to be as strong as they were. He had been fighting his for a good minute without ever managing to land any serious blows or cause the creature any harm. Then again, he was keeping a close eye on Sarah, who was holding her own.

Focus on your own fight, she said. We need to get rid of these creatures, and I can sense you’re not giving this fight your full attention.

Sarah was right. He needed to fight this beast without being distracted.

Understood. Be careful.

Yes…You too.

Argos pushed his aura to the maximum but was surprised that even in Ultra Fury mode, the creature was able to dodge his combos. He accelerated his attacking rate and consciously repeated the same pattern over and over until he decided to introduce a couple of feints to try and create an opening.

Sure enough, he was rewarded when the creature went to block one of his decoy blows.

Take this!

Argos placed an open palm on the creature’s chest and fired an intense beam of crimson energy. The creature screeched as Argos burnt a hole through it. It was thrown backward and crashed motionless to the ground in front of a grinning Tanak’Vor.

Argos then darted toward Sarah’s creature, who never saw him coming. He engulfed his right forearm in crimson energy and used it as a blade, decapitating the creature with a swift and fluid motion.

“Thanks for the assist,” said Sarah with a smile as she kicked the falling head far away.

“Anytime.”

Sarah leaped toward Menelas’ creature and gave him a helping hand.

Chris, who could feel Argos coming toward their position, sped up his pace and managed to land an impact shockwave to the creature’s chest, sending it near to Argos who cut the creature in two with a roundhouse kick. Both halves of the black body made a squishy sound as they collapsed to the floor.

The last creature, still holding its own, albeit releasing some fatigue-sounding screech, never let Menelas or Sarah get the best of it. Chris and Argos flew in the direction of the fight and split up at the last second, each of them catching it from the sides, Chris with a kick and Argos with a powerful jab. The creature was swept off its feet, and Menelas slashed it in half with his forearm.

All four warriors turned toward Tanak’Vor when he started clapping his hands.

“Not bad at all for such a pathetic bunch of warriors. But, I’m afraid you’re no match for me. With or without Chase’s help.”

“That remains to be seen,” said Chris defiantly. “Let’s shut this asshole up, I’ve had it with his gloating.”

“You and me both,” said Argos.

All four of them deployed an enormous amount of energy and fired a powerful attack at Tanak’Vor.

Sarah’s lightning-infused fireball was the first to reach its target, followed closely by Chris and Argos’ red and green energy beams, while Menelas’ large fireball was closing the gap.

Tanak’Vor deflected Sarah’s fireball back to her with the flick of his hand. He then spun on himself and froze both beams of energy with a flash-freeze beam, invoked a typhoon to deal with Menelas’ slower attack, and deflect it to his side.

The Spectre then snapped his fingers, and the previously cut creatures’ body parts levitated. Hundreds of tendrils of black goo shot between their severed joints and reassembled themselves.

“You didn’t think that it was going to be that easy, did you?” said Tanak’Vor. “This is very entertaining, though, so let’s have some more fun, shall we?”

* * *

With fifteen minutes left to go, Chase was getting restless in the regen tank. He was about to cancel the cycle when he heard a voice inside the pod. It was Gaia, and, at first, he wondered if he imagined it.

“Gaia? Is that you?”

“Yes, listen up, Chase. I’ve accessed the sphere, but I’ve hit a snag.”

“Okay. I’m listening.”

“The sphere tech is protected by a powerful AI. It’s not crazy or mad like Gaia 2, but it’s still aggressively protecting the knowledge of Atlantian technology.”

“Atlantian, huh? How do you intend to get to it then?”

“I have to defeat the AI; that’s the only way to do this.”

“Are you confident you can do it?”

“I don’t know, but that doesn’t matter. I’ve managed to render the AI inactive long enough for me to gain access to its wireless capabilities, which I’m sorry for doing, as I know you wouldn’t have approved of that.”

“Well, seeing how badly things have turned out today, I honestly don’t care, as long as we find any edge from your incursion into this AI, you have my blessings. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt, though.”

There was silence.

“Gaia? Are you sure you can do this with no risk to your life?”

“I’m afraid I can’t guarantee that. I’ll do whatever I can to survive, dying is the last thing on my mind, especially since I’ve been reunited with Spiros, but Chase, that AI is very powerful.”

“What does Spiros think of you taking that kind of risk? I doubt he’s happy about it.”

“As far as he knows, I’m still just trying to access the tech. If he knew I was battling another AI, he would surely try to stop me.”

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable letting you take that risk either. Perhaps you should reconsider.”

“Look, this is the last push, Chase. If we fail today, we all die anyway, so we might as well go all in to make sure we succeed. I’ve already acquired the blink drive files, all I need to do is unlock them by defeating the AI.”

Chase hated the idea of Gaia risking her life to accomplish her goal, but she was right. Today was judgment day, and they either won and saved all living beings, or evil forces would soon consume the universe, if not by the few remaining Furies engaged with the Earth Alliance fleet, then surely by Tanak’Vor himself. And they couldn’t let that happen.

“Very well, I’m trusting that you know what you’re doing. It’s your life after all, and since I’m risking both mine and those of my family, who am I to give you a lecture.”

“About you risking your life, Chase. I think I may have stumbled onto something that could help you greatly with your next fight. I only have a few moments before the Achanes AI kicks me out of his matrix, so you’ll need to trust me.”

“Trust you regarding what?”

“I’ve accessed the time chamber synthesizer and replicated some powerful nanites that I want to inject into your body via the regen tank. They will merge into your physiology and not only improve strength, speed, and stamina but will allow your body to store up to three times more energy than your cells normally would.”

“I’m not sure I like the idea of having micro-machines let loose inside of me. There’s no telling how they could affect my fighting.”

“I’ve run simulations using Achanes’ infinitely faster processing power. It will work, Chase, I’m sure of it. Plus, you don’t have to worry about the nanites themselves; they’re designed to dissolve into your bloodstream once you’ve consumed their extra juice.”

“But won’t that mean that I have to stay longer in the regen tank until they charge? That could be a problem.”

“I’ve thought of tha⁠—”

There was a pause.

“Gaia? Are you still there?”

“Sorry, Achanes is waking up. I had to erect a quick firewall to keep him from breaking this transmission. I can’t stay connected with you any longer, and regarding your question: I’ve found a way to flash-charge the nanites too. It’s incredible what my matrix can achieve when connected to such processing power. I’ve got to go, just know you’ll feel a stinging sensation in your entire body when I deploy them. A few seconds after that, you’ll be good to go.”

“Understood, thank you, Gaia. Be careful.”

“You too, Chase, and just in case, goodbye.”

Chase didn’t like the sound of that, but before he could voice his opinion, a strong stinging sensation traveled through his body from head to toe, as if a million needles had entered it simultaneously. He felt a rush in energy levels like nothing he experienced before. His pool nearly tripled almost immediately.

“Holy crap!”

There was no need to stay in the chamber for the remaining thirteen minutes of the cycle. Chase had more energy than he ever thought possible, so he pressed the cancel touch control. The lighting inside the pod turned red, and an alarm wailed. Something was not going well, but Chase didn’t care. He pulverized the tank’s door with a swift shockwave, and regen liquid spilled on the floor of the time chamber as did whatever was left of the blasted door.

31

As the four reconstructed shadowy creatures leaped forward, more holes appeared on Tanak’Vor’s chest and spat black goo around him. There was something almost birth-like in how he expelled the goo from his body.

Eight more creatures rose from their respective pools of dark sludge, and the little devils began laughing in unison through their tiny sharp teeth. Each warrior had to contend with not one but three of them, which quickly turned the fragile balance of their fight toward the favor of the creatures.

Menelas was the first to get hit. One of the creatures knocked him in the back with its knees and propelled him forward, where a second creature catapulted him into the air with a swift uppercut. The last creature followed and passed the Fury in the air, joined both his hands, and smashed Menelas in the face, sending him crashing on the floor where he lost consciousness.

Sarah didn’t do much better and had to protect her belly against three enemies that quickly opened breaches in her defenses. She took the first hit to the face, which sent her flying backward and upward. Her head was ringing when two creatures went for the kill.

Nearby, Argos catapulted one of the creatures upward with a strong kick and swiftly caught both the other foes and locked their heads under his arms. He shot one of the creatures attacking Sarah with laser beams from his eyes before it could hit her. He snapped the neck of one of the creatures locked under his arms and kicked it away with his knee as he threw the other one toward the creature that was nearly upon a still falling Sarah. Both creatures collided with each other and tumbled away onto the floor.

They all got back up and looked at Argos.

“I’m waiting, you gooey bastards!”

Sarah managed to regain her senses before crashing to the ground and did a half somersault and skid backward with one foot and one knee on the ground.

The creature with the broken neck rose not too far from Argos, its head dangling to its side. With a snapping noise, it adjusted its head back in place as the other five got back up to their feet and encircled the Fury. Meanwhile, the three that had disposed of Menelas were still kicking him when they heard a screeching call from the other six.

Chris did a rotating typhoon kick and sent all three of his opponents crashing nearby, then he flew next to Argos. As did Sarah just before all twelve creatures widened their circle, ready to attack the trio from all sides.

“This is going to hurt,” said Chris.

“For them,” said Argos with a chuckle.

Sarah, meanwhile, was staying in full focus, trying to anticipate their enemies’ movements. They moved in sync and lurched themselves forward. The trio gave it everything they had, and for a couple of minutes, they managed to use their proximity as a way to defend their position. The moment Sarah let a single blow touch her, sending her to the floor, the balance of power tipped and both Argos and Chris used their bodies to protect her from most of the subsequent attacks.

Argos managed to repel a few of the creatures with well-placed blasts as did Chris with shockwaves, but they were soon overwhelmed and received hundreds of punches without being able to block or retaliate. Sarah was still on the floor when she saw them getting massacred in front of her eyes.

Seeing her son’s blood splashed around her caused something to snap inside her mind. She jumped to her feet and unleashed an inhuman war cry, her yellow aura exploding like a supernova, and the resulting shockwave sent all twelve creatures scattering.

But they recovered and briefly stayed in midair before they all started laughing like evil-possessed demon children.

Sarah, Argos, and Chris were panting heavily.

“What do we do now?” asked Chris.

“We keep fighting,” said Sarah.

“What your mother said.”

* * *

Gaia sensed her last feeble firewall fall and exited the matrix before Achanes could trap her. If he got the upper hand while she was inside his matrix, she had no doubt that he could erase her.

The ice coffin, where she had trapped his avatar, exploded into a hundred shards of ice, most of which came hurtling toward her. She thrust her hands forward and reduced them to ice dust with a powerful shockwave.

The code fragments reunited and regenerated the Atlantian’s AI avatar body.

“That was foolish!” shouted Achanes.

She could feel that the AI was succumbing to anger. Until now, he had been quite level-headed and just doing what he had been programmed to do. But she could tell infiltrating his matrix didn’t sit well with him.

“I should have destroyed you the first time you came here.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I told you why. As a fellow AI, especially one so young, I hoped you’d listen to reason.”

“Just like I hoped you’d listen to reason, as well. You’re not evil, Achanes, that much I sense in your programming, so it’s not too late to change your mind and help me save all life in the universe.”

“You know I can’t do that!” said Achanes, his tone cold.

“I don’t. You keep saying that, but let me ask you this, who created you?”

“Why do you keep insisting on making me repeat myself?”

“Just answer the question?”

“The Atlantians.”

“And where are they now? Are they around?”

“No, I don’t know. All I know is that they either disappeared or hid tens of thousands of years ago.”

“So why are you so obstinate in following their directive? And, what if they were here? Maybe they’d tell you to help us.”

“Even if that was the case, which I highly doubt, they aren’t here, and I have standing orders.”

“From a dead race.”

“That’s beside the point.”

“I don’t think it is, Achanes.”

“Silence! I won’t let you trick me into helping you. I won’t be responsible for the fall of countless worlds.”

“But that’s exactly what I’m trying to prevent! Surely you can see that.”

“Then we both fight for the same goal, just with different directives.”

“I don’t have a directive, I have free will.”

“And how did that help you when your evil sister almost took over the galaxy and nearly wiped out your precious planet Earth?”

“How do you know this?”

“You used my tech to save your matrix in it, don’t you remember.”

“Then why did you ask me who I was, earlier?”

“Just sizing you up and making sure your current program was on par with the one from back then.”

“And even with all that info, with the sensors you possess from the outside battle, you’re still unwilling to help?”

Achanes took a couple of steps forward and pointed to his avatar’s mouth.

“Read my lips: I cannot let you access this tech.”

Gaia raised her three fingers. “Fine! And here is my response: read between the lines.”

* * *

All twelve creatures launched themselves at Sarah, Argos, and Chris, who took defensive stances.

“It’s been an honor,” said Argos.

Suddenly, the creatures hit an invisible wall and stood paralyzed in the air as the room glowed orange. The trio looked at the massive ball of light, in its center stood Chase, a murderous look in his eyes.

“Dad!” cheered Chris.

“Chase,” added a relieved Sarah.

“Finally,” said Argos.

It’s good to see you all, said Chase. Looks like you had one hell of a fight on your hands. Let me take over for now.

The creatures levitated against their will. Chase landed them in front of him and released his telekinetic hold. He looked to the side and saw a dead Poseidon lying on the floor. Chase clenched his teeth, but continued scanning the room with his eyes and saw an unconscious Menelas covered with bruises. Chase fired a healing ball of energy to his father.

Dumbfounded by their newfound freedom, the creatures momentarily looked at each other and reoriented their heads toward Chase. They began laughing.

Chase taunted them by gesturing his two fingers toward him.

The moment they made their move, Chase made his. He teleported so fast that they never saw any of his blows coming. He smashed them over and over again with each punch more powerful than the previous one. He moved so quickly that even Argos and Chris had trouble following his movements.

“That’s impossible,” said Chris.

“Evidently not,” added Argos.

“I don’t see him!” exclaimed Sarah.

From her perspective, all she saw was the creatures being flown, thrown, and ravaged as if they were puppets on strings. Then they started losing body parts, legs, arms, and heads started flying all over the place.

Careful, Brother, said Argos. They can regenerate their bodies, just like Tanak’Vor.

Once I’m done with them, there won’t be anything to regenerate.

Once Chase was satisfied he had chopped them into enough tiny bits, he used telekinesis again to smash them together into a dark blob of body parts. He clenched both his fists and fired a massive orange fireball from his chest that obliterated the dark blob on the cellular level.

Chase looked at his family and winked.

“Careful, Chase! Behind you,” screamed Sarah.

But Chase had sensed Tanak’Vor coming a mile away. He teleported in place but did a one hundred and eighty-degree turn and blocked the Spectre’s powerful punch with his hand. Upon impact, it made Chase’s hair fly backward horizontally.

Chase smiled as he crushed Tanak’Vor’s fist. The Spectre screamed, and Chase shut him up by smashing his knee into his face, sending Tanak’Vor crashing into the throne, which exploded on impact.

“Déja vu,” said Chase with a chuckle.

* * *

Daniel was back in his captain’s chair, and the Victory was back in the fight when Kvasir confirmed that the weapon modification was about to be deployed.

“Awaiting your orders, Captain,” said Kvasir over the holo-screen.

“We’re sure Chase left the chamber?”

“Yes, he let me know he was out before he teleported away.”

“How soon will we know if the modification to the time chamber will work?”

“Well, if we don’t blow up in the next twenty seconds, you’ll know that the weapons are ready to use.”

“That’s not very comforting.”

“I’m pretty certain we’ll be fine, Captain; we’ve double and even triple checked our math.”

“Then, by all means, activate your modifications.”

There was silence on the bridge, interrupted only by the visual laser streaks and odd explosions in the viewport.

“We’re still here,” said Kvasir. “That’s a good sign.”

“I thought you said you were certain.”

“Pretty certain, I’ve been known to make mistakes.”

“Now he tells me!” said Daniel with a sour smile.

“Energy output stable. That’s it. We have less than an hour to finish this battle before the ship blows up.”

“Swell…thank you, guys, and excellent work.”

Daniel terminated the holo-transmission and adjusted himself in his chair.

“Let’s bring the laser turrets to the nearest enemy vessels.”

“Target locked, Captain,” said the tactical officer.

“Fire at will!”

The hundred plus starboard laser turrets opened fire all at once toward the targeted super-destroyer. Most of the laser beams flew through the Fury ship as if its shields didn’t exist. It resulted in a display of fireworks and surface explosions on its armor plating before the destroyer’s internal structure gave in and a large detonation consumed the vessel.

“We have a kill!” exclaimed the tactical officer with the rest of the bridge cheering along.

“Target the next ship, and keep firing,” said Daniel.

“With pleasure, Captain!”

* * *

Menelas regained consciousness and was painfully getting back to his feet when he saw Tanak’Vor crash into his throne, destroying it in the process. He shook his head and then looked to the side and saw Chase standing there, with Sarah, Chris, and Argos farther away.

“Okay, what did I miss?” said Menelas.

Chris and Sarah ran and hugged Chase.

“That was impressive,” said Argos.

Menelas walked toward them. “How long was I out?”

“Just a few minutes,” answered Argos.

“What’s our next move?”

Tanak’Vor screamed from the bottom of his lungs and pieces of broken throne flew past them.

“I’ll take care of him,” said Chase. “You give me support, only if required.”

Tanak’Vor’s eyes were mad with rage. Chase was ignoring him, not even looking at the Spectre. He darted forward, but Chase instantly aimed an open palm to the side without looking and fired a concentrated fireball that sent Tanak’Vor crashing behind the rest of his throne, embedding the Spectre halfway through the stone wall.

“Even though that was mighty impressive, I still think you going at him alone is the wrong move,” said Menelas. “Let’s attack him together as we planned from the start.”

“You’ve all lost a lot of energy, I’m at max power, beyond that, in fact,” said Chase. “Plus, I’ve been enhanced.”

“Enhanced?” asked Argos. “How?”

“Long story. But I’m now faster, stronger, and have more energy than ever before.”

“At least let me fight by your side,” insisted Argos.

“Me too!” added Chris.

Chase put his hands on both Chris and Argos’ shoulders and transferred some of his energy into them.

“Alright then.”

Mind sitting this one out? he asked Sarah.

No, but I’ll stay here in case you need me.

Fair enough.

“I want to fight too,” said Menelas.

I know you do, answered Chase. But I have a mission for you. Protect your daughter-in-law, and make sure she doesn’t get in harm’s way. Will you do that for me, Father?

Chase could tell Menelas didn’t appreciate being given a glorified babysitting position.

Menelas could feel how important this was to his son, so he resigned himself and nodded.

Thank you.

Be careful, Son.

Chase flashed a thumbs up. “I’ve got this.”

32

Chase, Chris, and Argos launched themselves at the Spectre. Argos and Chris lit him up with fireballs that he deflected until Chase was upon him. Chase unleashed a deadly combo, but the Spectre blocked his attacks.

“Don’t you dare think you’ve won already. Granted, for some fucked up reason you’re even stronger now that you were an hour ago, but I haven’t deployed all my powers yet.”

Chase smashed Tanak’Vor’s face with a powerful uppercut.

“Are we fighting or talking?”

Tanak’Vor spat black blood on the ground as Chris and Argos were advancing on him from the side. Tanak’Vor unleashed a powerful shockwave that stopped them in their tracks. Chase quickly raised an open palm and discharged a fireball at the Spectre. He blocked it, skidding half a dozen yards doing so before assimilating the power of the attack into his own pool of energy.

Chase looked straight at Tanak’Vor.

“Is that fear I see in your eyes?”

“I thought you didn’t want to talk!”

Chase smiled as he launched himself forward. “Let’s finish this!”

“Yes, let’s!” spat Tanak’Vor as he launched himself forward as well.

Chase threw a right jab at Tanak’Vor who blocked it and threw a left jab, which Chase blocked.

Both of them augmented their auras as the ship trembled. Pieces of marble cracked and shattered from the floor and levitated.

“You can’t win,” said Chase. “Not anymore.”

“Your faith in your powers will be your undoing.”

Chase swiftly twisted his hands and caught Tanak’Vor’s wrists. Before the Spectre could react, he swiveled upward and kicked his legs, smashing them into his enemy’s jaw and sending Tanak’Vor flying. Chris and Argos unleashed two-dozen fireballs on him. Multiple explosions engulfed the Spectre into a fiery inferno.

He landed on the floor on all fours, blood shooting from his mouth as he growled.

“You’re all going to pay for this, every last one of you!”

He swiftly turned around and shot a powerful black fireball toward Sarah. Menelas jumped in front of her and crossed his forearms as it exploded. It burned both his forearms slightly, but he quickly healed his wounds.

Chase clocked Tanak’Vor’s face with a powerful elbow strike and sent him eating dust once more.

Thank you, expressed Chase to his father.

Anytime, Son. But you should stop toying with him and finish him off now.

He’s defeated; he used too much energy, and now he’s going to suffer before he dies.

Menelas grimaced.

Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. By the way, where’s Mom? I, for sure, thought she would be here.

I didn’t want her here.

What did you do?

Incapacitated her and put her in a suspended animation chamber.

Uh oh, you’re in trouble.

Probably. As long as she’s safe, I don’t care.

Chase recognized that protective instinct as he also had it for Sarah. But, he also knew his mother’s temper, and he wouldn’t want to be Menelas once this battle was over. She would quite literally whoop his ass.

* * *

After the Victory destroyed five of the super-destroyers, the rest of the Fury fleet redirected their efforts to bring it down. This could quickly become problematic as they needed to keep their shields over fifty percent, now even more than ever.

Daniel ordered a third of the fleet, the ships with the strongest shields, to deploy around the Victory as they continued to target and pick off the Fury destroyers one by one, while the rest of the fleet engaged the spider ship with torpedoes to make sure it couldn’t fire.

A nearby Asgardian ship exploded as the massive plasma beam shot from the array of defense platforms. That shot had been even more powerful than the last one, which probably explained why the platforms hadn’t fired in a while. That was their fourth kill, and this one had been very close to hitting the Victory on its starboard side.

Daniel had no doubts that they were the target, but the escort ships were doing what he asked of them. He hated using them as a shield to protect his ship, but right now the Victory was the only one that was causing significant damage to the enemy fleet.

He hoped that Chase was also managing his own fight on board the palace ship. Because if any of them failed their mission, they would lose this war. Daniel was tired, he hadn’t slept properly for over a year, and he was ready for this to end today. Preferably, with a victory for the Earth Alliance.

“We’ll need to neutralize those weapon’s platforms soon; we can’t let them continue to pick us off one by one,” Daniel said.

“Should we redirect our firepower onto them?” asked the tactical officer.

“Keep our current tactic, I need to check something.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

Daniel brought up logs from earlier in the battle and looked at the power signature of the platforms when the Obsidian destroyer had failed to ram it. There had been a large drop in power the moment it had deployed its spikes. Enough to drop the shields around the platforms by more than seventy percent for just a tenth of a second, which gave Daniel a bat-shit crazy idea.

The kind of idea that Chase usually came up with under fire. It was worth a shot. Daniel checked if he could access any of the remote StarFuries in the bays with his neuronal link to the Victory. There was a full squadron at his disposal. But unlike Chase, he couldn’t fly more than one at a time, unless…

Unless he used one of his friend’s other ingenious ideas and pre-programmed the squadron with macros. That had allowed Chase to take on an entire Zarlack fleet when they jumped in Earth space at the very beginning of it all.

That was settled. He gave the commander his orders to keep firing on new targets as they had done for the past few minutes while Daniel focused on programming the StarFuries to execute one hell of a gamble maneuver.

* * *

When Achanes threw too many fireballs toward Gaia, she erected an icy wall to block them. She teleported behind Achanes and trapped his avatar in another ice coffin, hoping to buy herself some time in the process.

But when a lava aura burned around the trapped avatar and the coffin promptly cracked, she knew that this technique wouldn’t work anymore. And why would it? Such an advanced AI would eventually predict each of her moves unless she kept them fresh. Fortunately, she had many warriors to draw from regarding techniques and attacks.

She teleported away just in time to avoid the avatar’s arms, which had morphed into blades that looked like they could cut her to pieces.

“You’re resilient, Gaia. I’ll give you that,” said Achanes.

“So are you. I don’t want to kill you.”

“Looks like one of us will die today, and I will do everything in my power for that not to be me. But, you’re a worthy opponent.”

Achanes was so different than Gaia 2 that Gaia didn’t want to have to kill him either, but she knew in her avatar bones that she had to get her hands on the blink drive.

When spikes shot from the ground and almost impaled her, she pushed her thoughts to the side and focused on the battle. She flew in the air, and he joined her. The VR world changed from a data stream representation of a city to deep space.

They were flying through an asteroid field. Achanes was controlling them, and it didn’t take long until they took unnatural trajectories. He was trying to stop her ascension. She smashed some with fireballs and flew through others, but the field seemed to be of infinite size.

Was he just buying time? And, if so, why?

* * *

Chase grabbed Tanak’Vor’s legs and spun him around so fast that it created a twister inside the throne room.

“I wish he would finish him off, already,” said Sarah.

“You and me both. I understand why he’s toying with him, but he’d better be sure that Tanak’Vor doesn’t have a surprise for us. I don’t think he would forgive himself if that happened.”

“I can tell you with certainty that he wouldn’t.”

“Well, then let’s hope that Tanak’Vor has exhausted all his options in this fight.”

Sarah didn’t answer and instead looked on with worry in her eyes. She caressed her belly, thinking of their unborn baby. Hopefully, today they would finish this war and finally be the family they so wanted to be.

Please, Chase. Finish him off. I want to go home.

Chase threw Tanka’Vor toward Chris who landed three punches in a row on Tanak’Vor’s back. The Spectre swiveled in midair to hit him, but Argos blocked his attack, and Chris smashed him in the chest with a powerful kick. Tanak’Vor took three steps back but managed to stay upright.

“I’ll kill you all, on my children’s heads, I promise I will kill you all today!”

“Keep dreaming,” said Argos as he shot a column of energy through the Spectre’s stomach.

Tanak’Vor growled and fell to his knees, black tendrils of goo extended to mend his wound, but they took a much longer time than before, and Tanak’Vor was panting heavily.

“Chase, let’s finish him,” said Argos.

Chase walked toward the kneeling Spectre with determination and aimed an open palm a few inches from his face.

“Any last words?” asked Chase.

“Go to hell!”

“You first.”

A powerful orange fireball with crackling purple thunderbolts danced around as it expanded in Chase’s hand. He didn’t hold off on this attack, and it would consume the Spectre whole. As much as he had enjoyed besting him at every turn, Argos was right, the time had come to end this. Chase fired his kill shot.

Suddenly, everything changed, and Chase was standing in the dark.

“What the hell is this?”

“Since this could very well be our last conversation,” said Tanak’Vor who appeared out of thin air in front of him. “I thought we should have it in private.”

“That won’t stop me from killing you.”

“You will try, and who knows, perhaps you’ll succeed. But, I wanted you to know a couple of things.”

“And what would that be?”

“Well, first, even if you kill me, I will still have won today.”

“How do you figure that?”

“You see, I knew you would come with your entire fleet for the final battle. I, on the other hand, split up my forces. Right about now, twenty super-destroyers should be minutes away from Earth.”

“You’re bluffing!”

“Is that a chance you are willing to take? And, for the record, I’m not. Your heightened Fury senses allow you to detect deception, so look into my eyes and tell me if I’m lying.”

Chase couldn’t sense any deception from Tanak’Vor. Was this the price to pay for victory? Would Earth and every innocent human on it be sacrificed? Chase would never accept that. He couldn’t.

“You son of a bitch!”

“Well, that’s where you disappoint me, Ultra Fury. You see, Arakan did this to you, and I thought to myself, you can’t be stupid enough to fall for it twice, but then I thought it over, and obviously I was right to bet on your stupidity.”

“Let’s finish this!”

“Aren’t you curious about the second thing I have to say.”

Chase felt hatred run through his veins like hot lava.

“Spit it out, before I send you straight to hell where you belong.”

“While you think we’re having a discussion here, I’ve been in your mind. That’s why you’re seeing me in this condition. Remember that trick I did to you earlier today?”

Chase’s heartbeat started to pound hard in his chest. What was he saying?

“While you think you’re preparing for my demise, and while you believe you have won by firing your biggest attack yet, I’ve let you see what you wanted to see: me kneeling, waiting for the end, when, in fact, I’m behind you, taking your soul away from you.”

That can’t be! He’s lying.

“I won’t let you have my soul!”

“Not much you can do about it. Oh, and I’m sorry for what’s coming next too.”

What’s coming next? If any of this was real, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“You see,” continued Tanak’Vor. “Not only will I kill your son with your help, but then I’ll kill your brother, your father, and your wife. And there’s nothing you’ll be able to do because by the time you open your eyes again, I will have devoured your soul, and you’ll already be dead.”

Tanak’Vor’s ugly face was an inch away from Chase’s.

“Did you really think I would let you win so easily? You stupid fool! With luck, while I assimilate your soul, you’ll have time to see your family die in front of your eyes. I’ve already stolen your teleportation power at the very beginning of our…little chat. The missing piece that will help me take everyone out.”

Chase felt like his entire world was swallowed into a dark abyss. He closed his eyes and let his hatred take over. He screamed louder than he ever had, but nothing happened. Tanak’Vor waved to him as he vanished.

33

Gaia had enough of dodging the hundreds of asteroids. She needed to end this fight. She knew it was risky to use it now, but her instincts told her that she was running out of time. Earlier on when she had invaded Achanes’ matrix, she had left a booby trap sub-routine and a backdoor to access it.

She fired hundreds of fireballs toward Achanes who was flying a few miles away. Most of them impacted with the asteroids, but a few of them were on course to his avatar when she activated the booby trap.

The VR simulation of space blinked and was replaced by lines of code. It took Achanes by surprise, and he never saw the incoming fireballs. One explosion after another engulfed him in flames as his damaged avatar fell with millions of red lines of code cascading down like digital-blood rain.

Gaia followed his descent, a pit in her stomach. She wished she didn’t have to do this. But she had to. Eventually, Achanes hit the bottom of the virtual reality floor; bits of code splashing around his avatar. Zero’s and one’s bled from his open wound.

Gaia landed nearby and walked toward him.

“You tricked me?”

“You said it yourself, I never had a chance in your virtual world, so I had to rewrite the rules.”

Achanes’ avatar puked digital blood.

“Do it, quickly.”

Gaia raised a hand and used Oryn’s power to create an icy javelin.

“Goodbye, Achanes. I’m sorry.”

Gaia thrust the weapon into the center of Achanes’ avatar. The AI’s thousands of voices cried in unison.

Why did you make me do this? Gaia wondered.

Achanes’ body jerked as more red code poured around him. His matrix was impacted, and soon, he would be dead. The lock on the folder that Gaia had acquired started to break down.

“I— I—” but Achanes couldn’t speak.

Gaia kneeled by his side and put her hands on him.

“It’s okay, let it happen,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry too,” said Achanes as his hand formed into a black sword and impaled Gaia in the stomach. “I told you, I can’t let you have the tech. This wound will trap you into my matrix, which is already disintegrating. Because it will take time to purge all my sub-routines in the self-destruction program you’ve triggered in defeating me, you’ll have a little bit of time to access the knowledge I possess, and maybe you can use the blink drive, once. But you’ll die with the knowledge.”

Gaia removed herself from the black blade. Her avatar was bleeding, and she felt a tremendous amount of pain.

“Hurry, you don’t have much time,” said Achanes before his avatar disintegrated.

* * *

Daniel’s StarFury squadron took flight. He was using the neuronal interface to pilot one ship while some of Chase’s modified macros flew the rest of the ships. The defense platforms fired one more shot toward the Victory and this time an Olympian destroyer took the hit and exploded.

Daniel hated this. The Olympians had already lost most of their people, and the few that were left were dying because of these defense platforms. He needed to act fast to make sure that the Olympian destroyer was the last ship to perish because of that weapon.

He sent a signal to Altair, who knew what to do to make his plan work. Three of the last Obsidian destroyers still able to fight vectored away from protecting the Victory and headed toward the defense platforms at ramming speed. Timing would be everything, so Daniel linked the StarFuries’ internal clocks with the ones on board the three sacrificial destroyers.

The StarFuries followed the same trajectory as the Obsidian ships, about one hundred miles behind them. Daniel started overloading their quadrinium chambers. When the Obsidian destroyers where almost about to ram the platforms, they micro-jumped away, and the platforms deployed their metallic spikes and hit nothing but space. The moment that happened, three of Daniel’s remote-controlled StarFuries micro-jumped into the center of the platforms. One after the other, they exploded, sending debris impacting with the other two platforms, which deployed their metal spikes as well. The second wave of StarFuries micro-jumped and took out the remaining two platforms.

The view-screen of the Destiny filled with Altair’s face.

“That was a bold plan, Captain Tharraleos. But an ingenious one.”

“Thank you, Emperor.”

“What do you want us to do next?”

“Let’s pick these assholes off one by one now that the platforms are gone, and then let’s go home, and I’ll buy you a drink.”

Emperor Altair chuckled. “That sounds like an even better plan. It would be my honor to drink with you, Captain. Altair out.”

That was the one good thing about this war, decided Daniel, old enemies forging alliances and even friendships in ways they could never have imagined before.

The Victory resumed firing on the super-destroyers, picking them off one after another thanks to Engineering putting the phase laser tech into place. Daniel looked at his watch. They had less than forty minutes before they would have to abandon the Victory.

* * *

By the time Chase’s fireball shot from his hand, Tanak’Vor had already grabbed hold of his soul. The pull the Spectre affected on Chase’s soul, redirected the aiming from a downward attack, where Tanak’Vor’s illusion was fading away, to a horizontal shot aimed right at an unsuspecting Chris.

The sheer power and speed of the attack and the short range didn’t give Chris time to react.

Chase didn’t know if it was because his astral soul was only partially out of his body when he watched the attack’s shot, but everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

Argos! Save Chris, quickly!

Argos’ reaction was instantaneous, and he flew as fast as he could to intercept the attack. It ripped through half of his back, and Chase watched in horror as his own attack ripped through his brother’s bones and flesh. The fireball was slightly deflected but still burned through Chris’ stomach, deforming his face in pain and shock, as his brain tried to comprehend why Chase had fired on them.

Both their bodies hit the ground painfully, blood gushing from their mortal wounds. Chase could feel both his brother and son’s heartbeats slow down as smoke rose from them.

This isn’t happening. Please, tell me this is a nightmare, and I will wake up from it now!

Chase heard his father’s warning echo as Sarah’s horrified scream ripped through the room, shattering Chase’s heart into a million pieces.

You must be prepared for sacrifices to be made until this war runs its course.

It couldn’t end like this; Chase couldn’t die now, and he couldn’t let this monster kill everyone he loved. He would gladly give his life and his soul to spare those of Chris, Argos, and Sarah. But in this moment, he had no control over his body. His worst nightmare unfolded right in front of his eyes, and he thought he was going mad.

“CHAAASE!!” screamed Menelas as he launched himself at Tanak’Vor.

Witnessing the scene in slow motion was the biggest torture Chase had to endure. None of the hardships in his life before, not even nearly dying at the hands of his brother, hurt as much as this moment. There was no physical pain, but a mental one that tore through his being. More than half of his shattered soul had been ripped from his body as he saw Menelas fly to him and his executioner, trying to save his son from losing his soul and the certain death that would follow.

Would his father be next? And then what? Would Tanak’Vor kill Sarah? The enormity of this waking nightmare made him wish that if this were going to happen, he wanted to be dead before then. He didn’t want, nor could he bare to watch any more of this, but his fate was no longer in his hands. Was his destiny to watch it all fall? To have failed at the very last moment? Helpless and out of his control, Chase had no choice but continue to watch as the horror continued.

Menelas’ rage and paternal instincts showed on his face, from his clenched teeth as he flew faster than he ever had before in his life, to the flames of revenge burning in his eyes. Menelas didn’t even try to hit Tanak’Vor. Instead, he tackled him with his entire body flying at maximum speed. He shot through Chase’s soul and grabbed hold of Tanak’Vor.

Before Chase could turn his head to see what happened next, he saw Sarah on her knees, crying and screaming, holding her head in despair. She was in shock. In less than a couple of seconds, she had seen Chase fire at her son and her husband’s soul being sucked away by Tanak’Vor. Chase’s blue-colored soul turned its head around and looked at what happened with Menelas. He felt an invisible force slowly attract him back into his body.

Menelas had succeeded in forcing Tanak’Vor to release his grasp on Chase’s soul. They both tumbled to the ground. As more of Chase’s soul reintegrated into his body, time was starting to resume its normal pace. Chase could feel some sensation returning to his physical body, but he could barely move. While looking with hope that his father would prevail, Chase reached with his mind and heard Argos’ heart stop, and Chris was only a few seconds from dying too.

Sarah roared and started running at Tanak’Vor as well. She was so fuelled with rage and thirst for revenge that she didn’t notice that Chase was slowly recovering.

No! Don’t!

But she didn’t hear him.

In the middle of their long tumble, Tanak’Vor kicked Menelas away and sent him flying backward.

“Be gone, cockroach!” screamed the Spectre as he shot a strange attack through Menelas.

It wasn’t a fireball, and it shot through Menelas’ body with incredible speed. A flash burst behind his back. When it did, a mini black hole opened swiftly, and dark purple lightning grabbed Chase’s father. Before Chase could say or do anything, still barely able to move, the black hole closed and swallowed Menelas with it.

His father was gone.

Chase felt his energy return, and he needed to intervene before Tanak’Vor could hurt Sarah. Hatred had already taken hold of Chase’s heart, his mistake had cost his father his life. Argos was dead, but Chase had to try and save him too, as well as prevent Chris from perishing. Chase had to muster what little energy he had control over at the moment and shot a healing ball of energy to his son.

He saw that Sarah was almost upon Tanak’Vor, so he tried teleporting between them, but nothing happened.

Tanak’Vor had truly stolen his ability to teleport. Chase would never reach Sarah in time without that power. He rose back to his feet and saw Chris’ hand slightly move and take Argos’ hand.

Chase could not be in two places at once, and, hopefully, Chris would infuse enough life force into Argos to bring him back. When Chase was back on his feet and had turned to face Tanak’Vor, the Spectre had grabbed Sarah by the throat.

“Let her go! Now!”

Tanak’Vor laughed. “I’ve seen enough soul reintegration in my life to know that you’re nowhere near at full power at the moment, and you won’t be for another minute or two. Which is more than enough time for you to witness this.”

Chase tried throwing a fireball at the Spectre, but it fizzled.

No!!!!

Tanak’Vor turned his hand and oriented Sarah’s face to look at Chase. His grasp on her made it hard for Sarah to breathe. Tears flowed from her eyes, and they were the same black as the blood that had infected Zeus and Poseidon. In fact, the veins around her neck were filling with the venomous black blood.

“I’ll kill you!” spat Chase who could barely stay up without faltering.

“I have no doubt you want to. But the truth of the matter is, you can’t do shit right now.”

Chase tried roaring, but even his voice was partially muted.

He watched in horror, helpless to save the love of his life. His hatred fueled the return of his body’s energy, but it was taking just too long.

“I’m curious, did you know that your wife was pregnant, Chase?”

What??? No! Please gods, no!

Before Chase could react, the Spectre slashed his hand through Sarah’s belly and ripped a tiny blue soul from her womb.

Chase felt his breath being taken away from him.

Tanak’Vor brought the tiny soul in front of his mouth and smiled.

“Say goodbye to your daughter.”

“Nooooooooooo!” cried Sarah.

The small soul was siphoned into the Spectre’s mouth like leaves being blown by the wind. Something in Chase snapped, and the entirety of his powers flowed back into him. He could see by the look from Tanak’Vor that this wasn’t expected or what he thought was even possible.

“If you move, I’ll snap her n⁠—”

But Tanak’Vor never finished his sentence. Chase had traveled at light speed toward him and severed the hand that held his dying wife hostage. He caught Sarah and delicately laid her down on the floor, got back up, and felt an explosion inside his body and soul. Rage and hatred were no longer strong enough emotions to describe the madness that took place in Chase’s psyche. His hair flew upward and turned crimson-colored on the spot. An intense red aura glowed around him and radiated through his eyes. Large orange lightning bolts sizzled around Chase’s body.

At this moment, he was no longer human, no longer Fury; he was a beast of pure destructive power with one single thought in his mind. DEATH. Tanak’Vor never saw Chase coming. Chase hacked at the Spectre’s body with such violence, ripping flesh, bones, and organs with every single slash of his bare, clawed hands.

Tanak’Vor’s body parts were flying back at him for reintegration, but Chase kept ripping him to shreds. Eventually, Tanak’Vor found the strength to teleport to the other side of the throne room, thinking that would protect him for a few seconds. It didn’t. Chase flew like a red comet and unleashed a war cry as he thrust his fist forward. A red dragon attack shot from Chase’s fist and burst through Tanak’Vor’s chest. Upon impact, a thousand bright lights shot around each point of impact; the energy-based dragon attack turned and swallowed the Spectre, burning him alive from the inside out.

Tanak’Vor screamed as his body was turned to ash and disintegrated to his very last molecule.

Chase landed and fell on his knees. His aura diminished and his hair fell to his back, returning to its normal black color. Chase’s pupils twinkled red for another second before returning to purple.

34

“Dad, help!”

His son’s words echoed before Chase realized he still had many things to do, and fast. He flew to Argos’ side. Chris was trying to revive him, but he was too weak. Chase put one hand on Argos’ bleeding chest and one on Chris’ shoulder and used his healing powers to regrow their flesh, organs, and muscles that his fireball had ripped from them.

“Mom!!” screamed Chris the moment he was feeling better.

Chris skid on the floor, burning his knees and started healing his mother as tears filled his eyes at seeing the dark blood coursing through her veins.

Argos’ eyes blinked open. Chase couldn’t look into his eyes after he helped him get back up; he turned his back on Argos.

“What happened? Did we win?”

Tanak’Vor had been killed, but at what price? Chase would soon lose Sarah; he could feel it in his soul. Their father Menelas had been swallowed by a black hole. Most likely killed on the spot. And Chase had let an unborn baby he hadn’t known about be killed in her mother’s womb.

In that instant, Chase closed his eyes and prayed that everything had just been a nightmare, the Furies, the Olympians, everything. He wished with all his heart that he would wake up aboard the Destiny and go about his day, board his trusty Manticore fighter, and wage war against the Obsidian Empire. He didn’t even have the courage to reopen his eyes.

“What are these?” said Argos.

Chase finally looked and saw the thousands of bright lights that had been expelled from Tanak’Vor’s body by Chase’s dragon attack. One such light flew through Chase’s skull.

Everything around him changed again. This time he was standing in a bright white room of infinite size.

“Long time, no see,” said a familiar female voice behind him as shivers traveled throughout Chase’s body.

Chase turned around, and there she stood, with a smile on her face. Oryn.

“Am I dreaming?”

“No, it’s really me. You’ve done it, Chase. You’ve won.”

Chase didn’t know what this was, but victory was the last word he would use to describe the situation.

“Then why does it feel like I’ve lost? Sarah. My unborn daughter. My father.”

Chase let himself fall to his knees as tears flowed like rivers down his face.

“I failed them, just like I failed you.”

She kneeled next to him.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Chase, you saved me. You saved my heart back then when we first met, and you freed my soul today, so I can join my father and the rest of my race in Elysium. And it may not feel like it in this painful moment, but you saved every innocent life in the universe today. That has to count for something, Chase.”

But Chase couldn’t see that silver lining, not now, and perhaps, not ever. All he saw was how utterly he had failed his family. He had almost been responsible for the death of his own son and brother.

“But you didn’t Chase. In the end, you saved them. This could have turned way worse. I can feel that your heart isn’t ready to forgive yourself today, but it will, one day.”

“I— I had him. I should have killed him earlier in this fight.”

“Don’t do this to yourself. Tanak’Vor played you, made you think that you had the upper hand while concocting his final move, one you, at the end of the day, managed to thwart. Granted, with the help of your father, but you knew all along that this wasn’t something you could have accomplished on your own. You needed your friends, your family.”

Family. At this moment, Chase felt like he had splintered his forever. How would they ever forgive him?

“To love is to forgive, Chase. They know that. And, deep down, so do you.”

Chase couldn’t stop crying, and Oryn took him in her arms.

“Shhhh…not all is lost.”

Chase lifted his head from Oryn’s shoulder and looked into her eyes.

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m going to have to spell it out for you since I don’t think you’re in any state to figure this out by yourself. You’ve just released all the souls that Tanak’Vor had devoured, mine included.”

Chase looked at Oryn but still didn’t understand.

“You’ve done it before, Chase. You know you have it in you to put souls back into bodies as you did with Spiros. That’s why you tried so hard to recover my body when Tanak’Vor ripped it away. Surely you remember that.”

“I remember, but your body is gone.”

“Mine is, yes. And I’m at peace about that, and so should you be. You did everything you could to save me, and for that, I’ll be eternally grateful. You are not responsible for my death; I did that. I let my rage blind me and wanted to kill Arakan myself. But you know what, at least I accomplished what I had set out to do. Soon I’ll go to the Underworld, and then on to Elysium, at peace, my life fulfilled. But, you need to save those that can still be saved, Chase.”

“I can’t bring people back to life.”

“There is hope, Chase. I won’t lie; it’s a faint one. But I know this courageous guy that never gives up, and he’s already accomplished the impossible once, so perhaps he can do it again. Find your daughter’s soul, and try to find Poseidon’s too while you’re at it. He’s out there, like me, but it won’t last. In a minute or two, all the souls will phase to the Underworld. So, hurry, Chase, put their souls back into their bodies. In your unborn child’s case, put her soul back inside Sarah, and put Sarah in suspended animation. Because you can’t heal her now doesn’t mean you can’t find a way to heal her in the future. You’re immortal, remember?”

Chase had been so grief-stricken over his losses, even though Sarah was still breathing, that he had not thought about any of that. A glimmer of hope shone at the center of his blackened heart. It was just a tiny sparkle, but in time, perhaps it would shine light upon his soul once more.

“I have to go, now, Chase. Thank you for ending the Furies, for killing Tanak’Vor, and for being the best friend I’ve ever had, one I did not deserve. Goodbye, Chase.”

“Wait!”

But the white veil of light was replaced by the throne room once more.

“Chase?” asked Argos. “What is it?”

“Don’t you fucking stand there, help me heal Mom!” cried Chris. “Hurry!”

“Let’s go, Chase,” said Argos.

“You go help him; I need a minute.”

“Are you serious?”

“There’s something I need to do, and I don’t have time to explain. Please help my wife.”

Argos went to Sarah and added his healing abilities with Chris. They both tried very hard, but they couldn’t expel the black blood from her veins. Argos focused on making sure it wouldn’t spread.

Chase closed his eyes and focused on the souls swirling around him, some already fading away, and he hoped he wasn’t too late. He located Poseidon’s fairly quickly and moved forward to take it in his hand. In their current form, they weren’t shaped like bodies but like blinking light sources. Chase focused on finding the smallest soul in the bunch. He had to focus very hard to locate the tiny soul as it barely emitted any energy at all. Eventually, he found it and grabbed it with his other hand.

While he wanted to restore his unborn daughter’s soul back into Sarah, he felt that Poseidon’s was slipping away. He ran toward the dead body of Poseidon and fired his soul like he would have a fireball. Chase then kneeled on one knee and flooded the dead Olympian’s body with healing energy. He then moved his hand over Poseidon’s chest and zapped his heart.

Feeling that the other soul was dwindling in his other hand, he flew next to Sarah.

“About fucking time!” barked Chris.

But Chase didn’t even hear his son’s words. He could feel the tiny soul fading away and needed to act fast. He opened his hand and delicately pushed the soul back into Sarah’s womb.

Sarah was still conscious, but the black blood invaded her brain, and she was delirious, agitated, and moaned words that sounded like gibberish. Chase joined his son and brother and tried to heal her wounds, but just like with Zeus, there was nothing he could do.

“You two should go,” said Argos as he took something from his pocket and slapped it on Chase’s neck.

“What’s that? What did you do?”

“Portable site-to-site transport device.”

“How did you know I lost my power?”

“We’d already be on the Victory if you hadn’t. I’ll send Poseidon next, but I have to make sure I take care of the spider ship before I transport back. You two take Sarah and put her in a suspended animation pod, quickly before her condition worsens.”

Chase was ashamed to look in either Chris or Argos’ eyes. Chris pressed his mothers and his own teleporter control. They were engulfed in an Asgardian transport beam.

“We’ve lost enough people today,” said Chase as he rose back to his feet, looking down. “Make sure I don’t lose you too.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Someone has to make sure this ship is blown to pieces, and it seems to me that you’re not in any shape to think about that.”

“I— I almost killed you.”

“But you didn’t. Chase, look into my eyes.”

Chase shook his head. “I can’t.”

Argos grabbed his head and forced him to look at him.

“You saved us all.”

“Not Sarah, not our father.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know, he was swallowed by one of Tanak’Vor’s attacks. I— I think he’s dead.”

Argos exhaled deeply and grimaced.

“Well, Sarah is still breathing, you’re still breathing, and so is Chris. That motherfucker, Tanak’Vor, is not, so this is still a win.”

“Oh shit!” said Chase.

“What?”

“Tanak’Vor, he said ships were en route to Earth; they could already be there.”

“Give me a fucking break. Go, Chase, deal with that, I’ll deal with the palace ship.”

Argos pressed the back of Chase’s neck, and he was beamed back to the Victory.

* * *

Argos ran by Poseidon’s side and checked his pulse. It was faint, but his heart was beating. He put his hands on the Olympian and healed him further. Soon, he opened his eyes.

“What happened?”

“I wish I had time to explain it to you, but I don’t.”

“What are you talking about?” groaned Poseidon.

“Long story short, Tanak’Vor is dead, so were you, we brought you back, gotta go now,” said Argos as he pressed the back of the neck of a stunned Poseidon.

The Olympian was teleported back to the Victory.

Argos got back up and ran to the nearest console. There was one at the bottom of the stairs that led to the main throne platform. He brought up the Fury holo-interface and located the firing controls of the palace ship. He aimed every turret toward the spider ship currently protecting the palace ship from certain destruction. With dozens of torpedoes still on their way when he would make his move and with any luck bring down the spider ship’s shields, Argos hoped the site-to-site transport would activate fast enough.

Now was not the time to worry about such trivial risks, not after everything they had been through today.

Argos supercharged the turrets and locked the firing sequence dead center of the spider ship and pressed the back of his neck. Nothing happened.

“What the hell?”

He pressed the back of his neck again, and the device sparked.

“Give me a fucking brea⁠—”

Before he could finish his sentence, the turrets opened fire and unleashed concentrated beams of plasma onto the spider ship. It exploded, and dozens of torpedoes came crashing onto the palace ship. It rocked, and Argos fell to the ground.

“Time for plan B,” said Argos as he flew away from a nearby explosion.

He erected a force field around him and flew through flames and debris and left the blast radius of the palace ship just in time.

“After today, we really have to stop with all these close calls…”

As he flew toward the Victory’s launch bays, he thought of his father. Was he dead? Chase seemed to think so. A couple of tears fell from his eyes as he shot through the landing bays and stepped back on familiar solid ground aboard the Victory.

* * *

Gaia had to act fast, now that Achanes’ avatar was no more. She rode back into his matrix using her backdoor hack and soon was connected to the outside world. The battle with the Furies was going well. The spider ship and the palace ship had been destroyed, and the fleet was picking off the Fury ships one by one.

She intercepted a holo-communication between Chase and an Asgardian ship.

“How fast can you get us to Earth, pushing your Asgardian hyperspace engines to their absolute maximum?” asked Chase.

“A little under twelve hours,” answered the Asgardian Captain, “but that would be highly dangerous to sustain this speed for that long. The hyperspace corridor could destabilize and destroy every ship traveling in it.”

“Twelve hours is too long anyway. We have to go back to Earth, now!”

“I’m sorry, that’s not something I can help you with, Admiral.”

“I know, we may have no other choice but use your hyperspace corridor though, I’ll get back to you.”

Gaia used Achanes’ prodigious processing power to hack the Victory’s communication system and project a holo-clone of herself in the corridor where Chase was presently walking.

Chase swiped his hand through Gaia’s hologram. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“I can’t, Chase, but Achanes can.”

“Did you…?”

“Beat him? Technically, yes.”

“What do you mean, technically?”

“Never mind that for now, Chase, I heard you speak with the Asgardian captain. What’s this about needing to go back to Earth? What’s going on?”

“According to Tanak’Vor, and hopefully that was just a bluff, he sent a third of his fleet to the planet, and they should be arriving any minute now if they aren’t there already.”

“Give me a second, I have to check this.”

“How can you check⁠—”

But Gaia’s avatar shushed Chase.

“Alright, then,” said Chase with a sly smile that then turned into a frown. “I have to go check on Sarah, will you be long?”

Gaia had already accessed the Victory’s subspace long-range sensors to check one of Earth’s satellites for the presence of Fury super-destroyers in orbit. There were none, which she decided was good news. She then sent a hyperspace ping, something she had learned from the Atlantian files. The ping returned alarming data. A fleet was less than twenty-five minutes away from jumping right on top of Earth. The automated defenses wouldn’t last five minutes, if that, and then the super-destroyers would blast the planet, and there was nothing anybody could do, except Gaia.

“We have thirty minutes, Chase, at most.”

“What? There really is a fleet on their way?”

“I’m afraid so.”

Chase buried his forehead in his palm. “This is a nightmare.”

“I won’t let that happen, Chase.”

“The blink drive? Can you have it installed in time?”

“I think so, but I’ll have to hack the ship, and it won’t be pretty. In fact, I’ll have to become one with the Victory, Chase.”

“We still have ships outside, Fury destroyers, we can’t let them escape.”

“I’ll deal with them too. Once I’ve merged with the Victory, I can upgrade its weapons and deal with them much faster.”

“Really? What was in those files you retrieved?”

“I wish I could I tell you, but the data will be lost in less than an hour or so.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t take the time to explain it to you, Chase. And, I’m sorry, but I— I won’t survive this.”

“What?! No, no, no, that’s not acceptable.”

“It’s too late, Chase. Achanes made sure I would die with the knowledge of the Atlantians, but at least I get to try and save my—our planet.”

“What did Spiros say?”

“Will you please ask him to come back to our quarters? But wait fifteen minutes, I need to get ready first.”

Chase had enough of losing people. And this one was his fault too; he had asked Gaia to try and find a way to access the sphere. One more decision that had cost someone close to him their life.

“Alright. I’m sorry Gaia, I should never have asked you to do this.”

“I’m not sorry, Chase. Losing Earth or losing me, we both know that’s not a choice. Thanks to your asking me to access the sphere, we have a small chance of intervening in time.”

“Then don’t let me distract you, and do what you need to do. I’ll let Spiros know to come and see you.”

“Thank you, Chase, for everything. Don’t blame yourself, for this, or anything else that went wrong today. Goodbye, my friend. I shall miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too. Goodbye, Gaia, and good luck.”

35

Chase entered med-bay four.

Chris was kneeling in front of his mother’s suspended animation chamber, crying.

This is all my fault.

Chase walked to his son and sat next to him. He tried putting his arm around him, but Chris slapped his hand away.

“I want to be alone.”

“Look, Chris, I’m sorry.”

“You can keep your apologies. It’s your fault she’s in there.”

“I know. And I hate myself for it.”

Chris looked at his father with tears in his eyes.

“And so you should!”

Chase’s eyes filled with tears too.

“Please, believe me, I never wanted this to happen.”

“Why didn’t you try and heal her when I asked you to?”

“That wouldn’t have made a difference.”

“You don’t know that! And even if that’s true, you should have at least tried!”

“Look I needed to try and save⁠—”

“I don’t want to hear it. Keep your excuses, I hate you!”

Chris stormed out of the med-bay.

I hate myself too, my son. More than you know.

Chase stood, looking at Sarah in the suspended animation chamber.

I’m sorry, Sarah. Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant again? Did you even know?

* * *

The lights on the bridge flickered, and the ship stopped firing for a few seconds.

“Captain, we’ve lost all control of the ship,” said the commander.

“I know, Chase informed me this could happen,” answered Daniel.

“But we’re in the middle of a battle!”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.”

The Victory hummed for a moment, and powerful beams of plasma started firing. With each weapon’s discharge, a Fury super-destroyer was obliterated like it was made of glass.

“What’s going on?” asked the commander.

“It’s a long story. You are all dismissed. We may have to abandon ship, so you should return to your quarters and pack while there’s still time.”

The officers’ heads hung low as they left the bridge. Daniel walked in front of the main viewport. He looked at the final seconds of the battle. Gaia had obliterated what was left of the Fury fleet in only a couple of minutes.

Fiery debris spun around what was once the orbit of Erevos. The Furies were no more, and Chase had destroyed the Spectre. Victory had come at a terrible price and Daniel couldn’t help but feel sad for his best friend. He could only imagine what was going on in his mind right now.

* * *

Chase arrived in Engineering.

“We’ve lost control of the ship, Chase,” said Kvasir, his tattoos on overdrive. “We’re trying to get it back, but it’s possible our modification of the weapon system created this malfunction.”

“No, Kvasir. It hasn’t.”

“Then what did?” asked Yanis.

Chase raised a hand to ask his friend to wait for a second.

“Spiros.”

“Yes, Chase. Are you sure we can’t help you retake control of the ship?”

“There’s really no need.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Go back to your quarters, now.”

“What’s going on?”

“Just go, Spiros.”

Fear filled Spiros’ eyes, and he ran out of Engineering as fast as he could.

Yanis came next to Chase and put his hand on his shoulder.

“I’ve heard that Sarah was mortally wounded and is only alive due to being in suspended animation. I also heard that you lost your father. I’m so, so sorry.”

Chase tried to contain another bout of tears, but it was in vain.

“Thank you.”

“I’m sorry, too, Chase,” added Cedric. “Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”

“Thank you, Cedric. I wish there were.”

“I’m also sorry to hear the sad news, Chase,” added Kvasir.

Chase nodded.

They each remained quiet for a few minutes thinking of all that had occurred. Yanis eventually broke the silence.

“Who’s in control of the ship?” he asked.

“Gaia, she’s going to try and send us back to Earth with the blink drive.”

“She found it?”

“Yeah, but it will cost her her life.”

“Oh, dear,” said Kvasir as his tattoos died completely.

* * *

When Spiros entered their quarters, it took a few seconds for his brain to interpret what he was seeing. Gaia was raised from the ground and multiples cables where intertwined with her, some of them seemed to enter the base of her skull, and others protruded from her limbs.

“What’s going on, my love? Let me get you down. I’ll go get help.”

“No, Spiros, I did this to myself. It was the only way I could interface the sphere with the Victory’s system quickly.”

“By the Gods of Olympus, why would you do that?”

“Earth is in danger, and I’m the only one who can do something about it.”

“Even if that’s true, we’ll have one hell of a time fixing your body afterward.”

A teardrop fell to the room’s floor.

“You should sit down, Spiros.”

“What? You’re scaring me, Gaia. What are you talking about?”

“There won’t be a need for me to have a body after this.”

“You don’t want to be made of flesh and blood anymore?”

She smiled. “Nothing would have made me happier than to remain in this body, with you. I— I just won’t be there anymore, my love.”

Spiros’ face turned white and tears formed in his eyes.

“What are you saying? I don’t— I don’t understand.”

“My matrix is being eaten away as we speak. I have very little time left, Spiros.”

“No! Don’t you dare leave me. Not again.”

“I wish I could stay.”

“Then back up your matrix now onto the ship, and we’ll create you a new body.”

“It’s not as simple as that.”

“Why not! If you can save yourself, why don’t you?”

“Earth is about to be attacked by dozens of Fury destroyers.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with your dying matrix.”

Tears streamed down Gaia’s face.

“Right now my matrix is inside a bigger, more powerful matrix that contains advanced knowledge, like the blink drive, and advanced weaponry, as well as other things. I need to stay in here so I can save the billions of souls and all the animals and plants on Earth. To do so will require my presence in here until the very end, but…”

Spiros fell on his knees. “But then you’ll die.”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“Isn’t there something in that repository of knowledge you have access to that could save your life?”

She sniffed then smiled.

“That’s the first thing I looked for, believe me. I’m so sorry, Spiros. I never wanted to do this to us.”

Spiros got up and walked toward her.

“I can’t believe this is happening. Not now. After all we’ve been through to be together. It’s not fair. Just not fair.” Spiros sighed. “Can I at least stay with you until the end?”

More tears flowed from her eyes. “Please, do. I don’t want to be alone at the end.”

Spiros took her waist in his arms and rested his head on her belly.

* * *

Chase stepped into the empty bridge and walked toward Daniel who was still by the main viewport. They looked at the remnants of what had happened today.

“I’m so sorry about Sarah and your father,” said Daniel.

“So am I, thank you, Dan.”

“I know you well enough by now to know that you’re not focusing on the fact that the war is over. But, you did it, Chase.”

“We did it. And, you’re right; it doesn’t feel like a victory. Not by a long shot.”

“I won’t try to give you the silver lining speech…”

“Please, don’t.”

“Very well. I just want to thank you on behalf of every living being whose lives have been spared thanks to your courage, your determination, and the unfortunate sacrifices you’ve had to endure along the way.”

“I’m not the only one. We all lost people; yourself included.”

“You know what I mean.”

Chase nodded.

“Do you think Gaia can do it? I mean blink drive us to Earth before the Furies destroy it?”

“If there’s one person that can, it’s her. She is more passionate and has more love for that planet than anyone I know. She’ll do anything to save Earth. As would I, if it were in my hands. And, for once, I’m glad it isn’t. I’m quite literally at the end of my rope.”

“It will get better, Chase. Sarah is still alive; you’ll find a way to bring her back. Knowing you, that’s the only thing on your mind right now.”

Chase looked at Daniel. “You do know me pretty well.”

Daniel smiled, but then a bubble of white energy expanded around the ship, and he returned his gaze to the outside. The bubble was expanding and engulfed about a third of the remaining destroyers in the fleet.

“She’s doing it? Isn’t she?”

“Looks that way.”

The scenery outside the viewport flashed brightly for a second and was replaced by a view of Earth, with two-dozen Fury super-destroyers annihilating Earth’s orbital defense satellites. They were arriving just in time.

“And she does not need us to fight that battle?”

Before Chase could answer, the Victory opened fire in ways neither of them could have thought possible. The ship was firing its primary weapon, which usually taxes too much power to have done so while the time chamber was active, but now that it was on overdrive, and with Gaia’s last-minute Atlantian weapons mods, the beams of concentrated plasma were tearing through the last Fury fleet with ease.

It was both a spectacular and a terrifying sight. So much power, the ability to tear twenty plus ships to pieces in mere instants.

“I guess not. Makes you wonder who these Atlantians were and why they disappeared. Who could have destroyed a civilization that powerful?” said Chase.

“Maybe they got too powerful for their own good and destroyed themselves.”

Chase pondered Daniel’s words. The soul ships had granted them amazing powers as well as the ability to get rid of the Furies once and for all, and Gaia’s temporary access to the tech helped them save Earth at the eleventh hour. But it mattered not how much power they once had, Chase concluded. At the end of the day, there was always someone more powerful. It’s how one used their powers that defined the course of destiny not how much of it they wielded.

The one thing Chase had trouble reconciling with, was that no matter how pure his intentions were, no matter how he faced his demons and did everything to bring the Earth Alliance to victory, he hadn’t been rewarded for his efforts and courage on a personal level. Sarah was in grave condition, his son hated him, and he had lost the father he barely had time to connect with.

No, perhaps today it felt like a victory for most of the inhabitants of the known universe, but the scars and the pain in Chase’s heart and soul would linger there for a very long time, and he felt more defeated than ever.

Daniel looked at his friend and put his arm around his shoulder.

“Will you be alright?”

A single tear traveled down Chase’s cheek.

“I just don’t know.”

* * *

Oryn gazed around the dark place. A large column of red light beckoned in the distance. The place was cold and humid. For a moment she wondered where she was and if it had all been a dream. Then she remembered her conversation with Chase.

She had killed the man that had masqueraded as her father and who had murdered both her parents. It had cost her her life and almost ended up costing her her soul. But thanks to the courage of her friend Chase, it had been released from eternal imprisonment.

“Oryn?” said a familiar voice behind her. “Is that really you?”

Oryn turned around and saw her father, Zeus, with tears sparkling in his eyes.

“I can’t believe it! It is you.”

He walked toward her and took her in his arms. She embraced him back.

“It’s good to see you, Father.”

“I wish it were under better circumstances, though. In fact, when I arrived here and assumed Hades’ position, I was hoping I wouldn’t see you down here for many years. When Chase told me your soul had been stolen from you by that Spectre, all I ever hoped for since that instant was to see you again and hold you in my arms.”

“I’ve missed you too,” she said with a smile.

“How long are you staying? We never had the opportunity to enjoy talking and get to know each other that much. I’d like to do some of that now before…”

But Zeus didn’t finish his sentence as he choked up on his words.

“Before I go to Elysium?”

Zeus wiped his tears and nodded.

“I’ll stay with you for as long as you want me to unless there is a rule that prevents me from doing so.”

“I’m now the King of the Underworld, so I have enough control over this place; you can take all the time you want until you’re ready to move on to Elysium.”

“It’s settled then, I’ll stay by your side for the time being.”

“I’m overjoyed to hear this. We’ll have some fun together, make up for the time we were separated.”

“Can I ask you something, though?”

“Of course.”

“Is Elysium real? I mean, is it a place like this one? Where we continue to exist?”

“I wish I could tell you. Nobody ever returned from Elysium, so it could be a similar place, though I’m hoping the decorator did a better job than down here.”

Oryn laughed.

“Yes, something with more sunlight, greenery, and teeming with life like on Olympus would be nice.”

“Tell me about it. What was I thinking accepting Hades’ request?”

“You’re the King remember, what stops you from doing a little redecorating?”

“That’s an intriguing thought, and now that you’re here, maybe it’s something we could work on together?”

Oryn pondered her father’s words. It would be a nice change of pace to actually create something beautiful rather than trying to destroy and blow stuff up. She smiled, and for the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt happy and at peace.

“I’m game.”

* * *

Gaia lowered herself to the ground, disconnected from all the tubes and wires that connected her to the ship, and embraced Spiros.

“It’s time, my love,” she said, her voice trembling.

“No. I don’t want to lose you.”

She held him by the shoulders.

“You’ll never lose me. I’ll always be by your side, watching over you, in here,” she said as she rested her palm over his heart.

“It’s just not the same, Gaia.”

“I know. We have to say goodbye while I’m still me, soon I won’t even be able to speak. Believe me, I wish I could stay in this moment, with you, forever.”

“I can’t believe you’ll soon be gone. What am I going to do without you? You gave my life meaning, you gave me joy beyond anything I thought possible.”

“I have loved you from the moment I first saw you. I didn’t understand it at first. I just knew I needed to see you again. I had been focusing on all the wrong-doings of humans instead of seeing what was beautiful about humanity. Compassion, kindness, friendship, and love. That’s the big one, it can move mountains, make people do incredible things. I loved you then, I love you now, and I will love you for all eternity. I want you to know that.”

“I love you, Gaia. I don’t want you to die.”

“I don’t want to die either. Please forgive me.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. You’ve always been your own person, and it didn’t matter what my objections were, you were always going to follow your heart and your instincts. Yes, I could try and point fingers and say I told you so, but that wouldn’t be fair. You’ve saved Earth, billions of lives today, innocents that would have perished if you had listened to me. What would that make me? A selfish old man. You did what you needed to do, and I can only respect you for that, and love you more if that’s even possible.”

Gaia and Spiros kissed passionately until the very last second when the candlelight of her kind soul vanished into the depths of space and time itself.

* * *

Poseidon was waiting by the corridor’s exit when Thor stepped out of med-bay.

“Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here,” said Thor.

“I wanted to check on you. Feeling any better?”

“Physically, I’m alright, I guess. My ego is the one thing that got hurt more than the rest.”

Poseidon smiled. “Why’s that?”

“You’re kidding me, right? We trained together for years, and when the fight starts, I get Mjölnir destroyed and bite the dust a minute later. Makes me wonder why we even bothered to do this.”

“I think our job was always to buy Chase some time so he could deal with it. And, hey, you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself, at least you didn’t die and have your soul ripped from your body. Hell, that was the weirdest, most scary thing I’ve experienced in my entire life. Like I knew that I was not just losing this mortal shell, but more. And that losing that part, well, it felt lonely, scary, and an experience I hope I never have to go through again.”

“I can see why losing your soul would be terrible. I’ve never feared losing my life in battle, as you know I welcome the day when I will be admitted to Valhalla. But I imagine if that Spectre had gotten his hands on mine, I would never be allowed among the gods.”

Thor shivered. “That thought is not something I want to even fathom. So let’s talk about something else, or better yet, celebrate our victory by drinking pint after pint of ale! People will sing songs of praise about us for centuries to come, you do realize? That calls for a celebration which ends with us passing out in our own vomit.”

Poseidon laughed. “You Asgardians have the weirdest traditions. As for songs being written about us, I’d rather not, seeing how easily defeated we were.”

“Hey, you know it, and I know it, but the victors are writing history, right? It doesn’t matter if we played only a small role, what matters is that we were there when the universe was standing at the brink of extinction, we, the courageous few, were there to answer the call.”

“My visit was to see how you were doing, but also to say goodbye, at least for now.”

Thor’s face grew serious.

“Oh. Where are you off to?”

“My people, what’s left of them anyway, have requested that I take my brother’s place. We need to find a new home world, settle down, and rebuild.”

“So you’re the new King of Olympus?”

Poseidon chuckled. “In a manner of speaking, I suppose so.”

“I’m sorry, but that, too, calls for a celebration! I won’t take no for an answer, pints, ale, now!”

“Alright, very well, my friend, but just a couple of them.”

“We’ll see about that.”

* * *

Admiral Neeva was standing in front of the viewport of his destroyer looking at the abyss, his hands behind his back. Today had seen the fall of everything that constituted his world. Furies died by the millions, Erevos had been destroyed, and almost everyone he knew and held dear had been slain.

Neeva still couldn’t believe the reality of his life at this point in time. Gazing at the stars and the nebula in front of him, he felt utterly alone, disconnected from everything he had ever known. The visceral pain of it all scarring his heart for eternity. While flames of revenge would fuel that same heart until its last beat.

He turned and faced his crew. The last remaining Furies, a race without a planet, without roots. He looked at every one of them before speaking.

“We are the last of our kind. I’ve considered trying to mount an attack on the Earth Alliance, but we can’t afford to die needlessly here today. There’s nothing one ship, no matter how advanced this prototype ship is, can do against the Earth Alliance. Today has been the worst day of our lives. We’ve lost our world, our leader, but we will never lose our resolve. We shall survive, and whether it takes us a decade, a century, or millennia, we will rise again.”

* * *

Chase was holding one of Sarah’s sweaters in his hands. Her scent still caressing his nostrils and bringing back happier memories. The kind Chase couldn’t deal with right now. At least Gaia had managed to stabilize the energy buildup the Victory was experiencing before the end, and so Chase could go over Sarah’s possessions and keep them safe, until one day, hopefully, she would return. The upgrades that allowed the Victory to shred the enemy fleets to pieces were gone. Still, Chase was thankful they didn’t have to abandon everything to flee the ship. And even though the ship was quite new, there were memories here, mementos and in this room, especially, he could still sense her presence.

Athena burst into his quarters without even ringing first.

“Where’s your father? I have a bone to pick with him!”

Chase was surprised that Athena didn’t yet know what had happened.

“You’d better sit down for this.”

Athena noticed the solemn expression on his face.

“What?” said Athena, her voice trembling. “You’re scaring me, Son, what happened?”

“I’m sorry. We’ve lost Menelas.”

Chase explained everything that she had missed. After many tears and a warm embrace, Athena delicately passed her hand through her son’s hair.

“I can’t believe he’s gone. And I’m so sorry about Sarah.”

Chase could sense she was feeling guilty about something.

“What is it, Mom? What’s on your mind?”

Athena got up and walked to the viewport window.

“Never mind, Chase, why rehash the past, it wouldn’t make any difference now. I just wish I had been there, you know. It’s the second time your father has disappeared and left me hanging.”

“About that. I seriously doubt he survived the attack. I had never seen anything like it. I don’t want you to hold onto a false hope.”

“That’s ironic you would say that, as you are in a similar position. But I know you, and I know your father. The two of you never know when to quit. As for hope, well, I choose to believe your father isn’t dead. Just as it’s clear you choose to believe you can still save Sarah.”

The doorbell chimed.

“Come in,” said Chase.

Argos stepped inside.

“See, Mother,” said Chase, “that’s how it’s done, just put your thumb on the control and then wait to be invited inside.”

“Very funny!” said Athena.

“Am I disturbing you? I can come back at another time,” proposed Argos.

Athena walked to Argos and kissed him on the forehead. “No, Son, we were done talking for now. I have to prepare and get my things in order; I’m going with Poseidon in search of a new Olympus. But I’d like to see the both of you and my grandson before I go. Bye, for now.”

“Bye, Mother, and thanks for the visit,” said Chase.

“You’re welcome.”

“Bye,” added Argos.

Athena left Chase’s quarters.

“How are you holding up?” asked Argos.

“I’ve been better. How’s Chris doing?”

“He barely leaves Sarah’s side in med-bay. He’s pretty sad, and pissed, too.”

“Yeah, he has every reason to be. I’m a terrible father.”

“Don’t you dare say that, that’s not true.”

“I know what you’re trying to do, Argos, and I’m thankful for it. But we both know I screwed up.”

“Boy, looks like this is one lesson you’ll never learn. That’s a shame too because it looks like you need to.”

Chase turned away and walked to the viewport, looking at Earth.

“And what’s that?”

“This was never your mission and yours alone. It was all of ours. I don’t like including myself in that group, I still think I don’t deserve the forgiveness and love I’ve received from both you and Chris. But that’s beside the point. We were a team, all of us, including every single soldier from the Alliance. Many lost their lives in the attack.”

“I am aware,” said Chase coldly.

“You say the words, but it feels like you’re not in alignment with them. You didn’t fail Sarah, and you didn’t fail your son.”

“Is that why he’s in med-bay while you’re here?”

“That’s not fair. I understand that you think that right now it’s best to give Chris some space, and I’m sure he’ll come around, eventually. But don’t give him too much space, Chase, remind him his father is around and loves him.”

“I do love him, and I do love you too. I just…”

Chase put both hands on the cold glass and saw his own tears flow down a face he couldn’t stand to look at. Argos came behind him and gently placed his hand on his shoulder.

“You’re not alone, Chase. I’m here for you, today, and always. No matter how hard things get, I’ll always be there for you. I hope you know that.”

Chase put his hand on Argos’.

“Thank you, I appreciate it. I’m sorry I’m not exactly fun to talk to right now.”

“Don’t fret, Brother, it’s understandable. Would you like to talk about it now, or as I suspect, would you like me to leave you alone?”

“I’m looking forward to talking more with you, but you’re right, for the time being, I think I’d prefer the solitude.”

Argos affectionately clapped Chase’s back twice. “Okay, Brother, I’ll see you later.”

Chase stood there, looking at the planet below and the distant stars without answering, without even realizing the passing of time.

EPILOGUE

One Year Later

Earth Alliance Headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand.

Keera laughed. “Good one, Tar’Lock. See, you do have a sense of humor.”

Tar’Lock clicked joyfully. “Well, the Earth Alliance sure knows how to throw a party.”

“It’s not every day that we celebrate the anniversary of the defeat of the Furies. It does call for a celebration.”

“If you ask me,” said Daniel, before taking a sip of wine, ”I can’t wait to go back to my ship. I don’t know what it is, but I guess my heart belongs to the stars.”

Keera raised her glass, “I’ll drink to that.”

“You’ll drink to anything,” said Tar’Lock.

“Oh? Are we being a grumpy Gorgar today?” said Keera. “He’s not wrong, though.”

It looked like Tar’Lock was about to answer when his gaze caught someone coming their way. Tar’Lock saw Ryonna holding hands with Altair. When their gaze met, she discreetly let go of the Emperor’s hand. Tar’Lock’s eyes watered, and he quickly excused himself.

“What’s with him?” said Daniel.

“He’s having a hard time with all the changes.”

“Aren’t we all?”

“He’ll be fine. I’ll check on him later.”

Ryonna and Altair approached them.

“Hello, you two, it’s good to see you,” said Altair.

“Hello, my friends,” said Ryonna. “It’s been too long.”

Keera raised her glass. “I’ll drink to that, too.”

“Shocker,” said Daniel with a chuckle. “It’s good to see the both of you. I must commend you on your tastes, Altair. This party is great. But I thought you were giving the speech?”

“I am, but I still have a few minutes before that happens. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to say hi to my old friends.”

Daniel looked from side to side as if he were looking for someone in particular.

“Where are they?” he said with a smirk.

Ryonna laughed.

“Now that!” said Daniel pointing at Keera, “is worth a drink.”

Keera finished her glass and burped. “Excuse me, it’s all these tiny bubbles. I love champagne. Anybody wants me to brink them back a drink? No? Well, your loss, I’ll be right back.”

“She seems in a very good mood,” said Ryonna.

“I guess it’s good just letting go and not worrying about whether or not we’ll still be alive the next day,” commented Daniel.

“I remember those days, and I’m also glad they’re behind us. I should probably prepare for the speech. Daniel, it’s been great seeing you again, I’ll give you a call in the morning. There’s a position I might need your help with.”

“Now I’m going to spend all night wondering what that is. Does it at least come with a promotion?”

Altair smiled. “It might.” He walked away to prepare for his speech.

“How have you been, Ryonna? Or should I say, Ambassador?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Daniel. I’ve been fine, there’s been a lot of work to rebuild Droxia, but the worst is over and getting the Ambassador position allows me to spend more time on Earth too, so, all in all, can’t complain. How have you been?”

“I’m doing fine, thanks for asking. So how long have the two of you been together?”

Ryonna was drinking from her glass and almost spilled it on the ground.

“I— I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow. “I see. Then by all means, never mind my question,” he said with a playful smile.

“Any news from Chase? I haven’t seen him around.”

“I wouldn’t count on it either if I were you,” said Daniel, frowning. “Not many people have seen him this past— well, year, really.”

“I was so sad to learn what happened to Sarah and his father.”

“Yeah, the price of victory is sometimes high. But in Chase’s case, I don’t think he sees the end of the war as a victory. This party would probably be a painful reminder of what he’s lost.”

“I take it that he hasn’t had any leads on a treatment for Sarah?”

“There’s been a couple of them, but they didn’t pan out. What he needs to do is grieve and try to move on, but who am I that he should listen to me?”

“I thought you were his best friend.”

“I was being sarcastic. But if you see him, maybe you can remind him of that.”

“I’m sorry, Daniel. Put yourself in his shoes, though.”

“I have, and if he needs time, then time I will give him. I’m just worried, with his obsessive-compulsive nature that I may be long dead before he decides enough time has passed. Not everyone is immortal, some of us have a finite amount of time at our disposal.”

Ryonna nodded. “Sorry, I’m a little distracted. Have you seen Tar’Lock around anywhere?”

“Yeah, he was with us until just before you showed up, in fact. He went that way,” said Daniel pointing to her left. “God knows why. Besides a small balcony, there’s not much out there.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go see if I can find him. It was great seeing you again, Daniel. I’m sure Chase thinks of you every day.”

“Sure,” said Daniel with a forced smile. “It was great seeing you too, Ryonna.”

* * *

Tar’Lock was looking at the full moon when he heard footsteps behind him.

“Tar’Lock?” she asked tentatively.

“Ryonna,” answered Tar’Lock coldly.

“Would you have a minute for us to talk? I won’t take much of your time.”

He turned around and looked at her for the longest time before answering.

“I’m sorry, Ryonna. Perhaps one day, but not tonight.”

He walked past her and returned inside.

Ryonna exhaled deeply. Fair enough.

* * *

“Why is it that every time there’s a party, we four end up together, stay in a corner like a bunch of geeks, and don’t talk to anyone?” asked Yanis.

“We are geeks,” said Cedric, “for one. And I would be less worried about who we talk or don’t talk to, but whether or not we’ll get some recognition for our efforts in the war.”

Kvasir’s tattoos stayed stoically at medium brightness. “Why would we care if they mention us? We did what we had to do, that should be enough. I, for one, am very happy to spend the evening with my friends. That’s all the recognition I require.”

“Why did I ask an Asgardian?” said Yanis. “I should have known better.”

“What are your thoughts on the subject,” Cedric turned to Spiros.

But he was distracted, looking at the main ballroom.

“Spiros?”

Eventually, upon hearing his name, he turned his head. “What? What was the question?”

“Somebody was deep in thought,” said Yanis.

“Or checking out a broad, more likely,” said Cedric with a wink.

“Alright, you caught me. A little of both. I was just looking at that woman over there. Her hair reminds me of Gaia, and well, that sent me somewhere else.”

Cedric looked at the woman. “You’re right, she does look like her a little. Maybe you should introduce yourself?”

Spiros shook his head. “No. I’m not done grieving. I miss her every day. Today more than most.”

Kvasir rested his hand on his friend’s back.

“I’m sorry, Spiros, it must be difficult for you to enjoy a party that happens to be the anniversary of your loss.”

Spiros quickly wiped a forming tear.

“It is what it is, but like Kvasir, I’m really happy to see all my friends. Let’s not reminisce about old wounds, but instead tell me about what you’ve all been doing.”

“I’m glad you asked,” said Yanis before speaking of his new position at headquarters.

“Booooring,” said Cedric. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Where are you going?” asked Kvasir.

“I’m gonna see if I can get laid, I’ll catch you guys later,” said Cedric pointing finger gun hands at his mates. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, old dog,” said Yanis. “Once you’ve crashed and burned enough, you know where to find us.”

They all laughed.

* * *

“I can’t believe he’s not here, of all days,” said Chris with no small quantity of bitterness in his voice.

“I understand you’re disappointed, Chris, but give your dad some time.”

“We’re way past disappointed, Uncle, and you know it. She is my mother. Why does he think he’s the only one suffering?”

“He’s had a hard time dealing with it.”

“How would you know? You haven’t seen him that much in the last few months.”

“I think because we’re twins, I can feel your father no matter where he is.”

“Some father. He’s never around. I wish you were my father. Chase and I have nothing in common.”

“Don’t you ever say that, Chris. He deserves better than that. He’s just suffering, and perhaps you should try and mend that fence. I think he needs you more than you’re willing to admit to yourself.”

“You say that as if I haven’t tried. Why can’t he be the one trying to get in touch? Why am I the one that had to try every time?”

“You know that’s not what I mean, but it’s been over six months since you called him.”

Chris raised his soda. “Here’s to six more.”

“I’ll tell you this, you’re more like him than you’re willing to admit.”

“Whatever.”

* * *

Altair advanced to the podium.

“Thank you all for coming here tonight. To the first Remembrance Anniversary. I’ve been told everyone is enjoying the food and drinks.”

The crowd cheered.

“One year ago to the day most of us were aboard ships, fighting a terrible war. We’ve lost friends, families, entire civilizations. I thought we should acknowledge and remember those we’ve lost. So, let’s take a moment and honor them in silence.”

After a minute, Altair continued.

“Thank you. Tonight isn’t about old wounds, sad stories, what we’ve lost. Tonight, we stand here, as a strong Alliance, people from all corners of the known galaxies, reunited to pay tribute to the end of the Fury War but also to look ahead, to make sure we learn from the past and don’t ever let ourselves be put in the same situation ever again.

“The Earth Alliance has grown beyond my wildest dreams in the last few months. We now have forty members with the Gorgar finally accepting our invitation. I’m grateful for that, as it was a rocky start. With their help, in the last two months we’ve finished the jump gate network. Now every space-faring ship in the Earth Alliance can jump, no longer giving an unfair advantage to races able to build hyperspace engines. I think that alone will strengthen our Alliance and our hope for a well-deserved and, hopefully, long-lasting peace.”

The crowd applauded for a few moments.

“Many of you know that while Earth has always been good to us, we wanted to move the headquarters to a more central location. Earth is at the far end of the Earth Alliance territory. There have been discussions whether the new headquarters should be located on Droxia or even Alpha Prime. After months of deliberation, a simpler solution came to me, and the council has approved it unanimously. Our new headquarters won’t be located on any planet. To symbolize our union, and to centralize our efforts of peace, we’ve decided to build a space station that will serve as both our headquarters but also be a hub for commerce, as well as diplomacy. The construction of the yet to be named station will start in the next coming days. It is my hope that next year, we celebrate Remembrance Day there.”

The crowd cheered, applauded, and a few people even whistled.

* * *

It was late, but Chase couldn’t sleep. He was watching holo-movies from Earth, similar to those Sarah had shown him on their first date. But he wasn’t really paying attention to them, so he swiped the holo-screen off and walked to Sarah’s room.

He didn’t feel like turning on the light. There was a full moon. It was big tonight and had some orange hues, reflecting a soft, warm glow off of the suspended animation pod.

There she stood, like every other day before it. Tomorrow she would still be there, even though Chase wasn’t sure he would be. This wasn’t a goodbye, they never even had the chance to say goodbye to one another, which made Chase’s suffering all the more complicated.

He stepped forward and delicately rested his palm on the glass of the pod.

“I miss you so very much.”

The moonlight caught his attention for a second before he returned his gaze to Sarah’s beautiful face.

“I might go away for a little while…It’s too painful staying here, seeing you like this everyday. Plus, I’m no good to you brooding and buzzing around day in and day out. I’ve made up my mind; tomorrow I’ll request a ship and travel deep into uncharted territories since no one in the Alliance seems to have a clue how to help you. There has to be someone, out there, that can help you and our daughter come back to me.”

He let his forehead tilt forward until it, too, pressed against the glass. Chase closed his eyes.

“I love you, Sarah. I promise I won’t rest until I find a way to bring you both back.”

THE END

(of Season 1: The Fury War arc… Chase and his friends return in Book 11: Nemesis (out now) or the Spectre Wars Box Set (to release January 2025), keep reading though, as you still have the Descent short story to go through).

If you want to skip Descent and go directly to the next box set (Spectre Wars).

If you don’t want to wait util January 2025, you can always read the next book right now by reading Book 11: Nemesis, or via the 4th Universe in Flames Trilogy.

EXTRA : DESCENT

Author’s quick note: Appearing for the first time ever inside a Kindle Book: Descent is set just before the beginning of Season 2 (Book 11: Nemesis). It’s not required reading per se, but events happening in this story are referenced later in season 2. I’ve also updated the cover to my new style of covers. I hope you enjoy Descent.

1

UNIVERSE IN FLAMES - DESCENT

Chase looked at Sarah’s lifeless eyes inside the cryo-pod that kept his wife in suspended animation, inches away from death.

It had been nearly a year since he and the Alliance had won the Fury War, but every day since, it had also been a painful reminder of what had been lost and the high price of victory.

For Chase, the price had definitely been too high. Even if his actions had saved trillions of lives throughout the universe, the personal cost to him and his family had been incalculable.

His wrist device vibrated on a table nearby, taking him out of his now daily dark-thinking patterns. He took the device and looked at his holo-screen, hoping to see the name of his son, Chris. Another, yet different, casualty of this war.

The caller ID showed Daniel, his best friend, hell, his brother in almost every respect of the word. But Chase was not in a chatty mood today, so he swiped the call away and walked toward the window to look at Washington, DC’s cityscape.

Part of Chase missed the war, as hard as it had been to survive the Fury onslaught. Now he had too much time to replay the final events of his ultimate battle with the Spectre—Tanak’Vor. Chase had defeated him, but not before losing his father and Sarah being mortally wounded. And with being pregnant with their second child, a yet to be named daughter, it made the situation even worse.

Some days he would replay the battle over and over in his mind, trying to figure out if he could have done anything differently, if he could have prevented this tragedy from ever happening. But one couldn’t change the past, and even if Chase knew that all too well, he couldn’t stop his mind from trying.

Another call made the wrist device tremble in Chase’s hand.

Sorry, Daniel, thought Chase. I know you mean well, but I’m not in a talking mood right now.

Glancing at the device, he saw that the call wasn’t from his friend but from Earth Alliance headquarters. Had they found a new treatment to try on Sarah? Chase wondered. All their previous attempts had been fruitless, but that didn’t mean Chase should discard the possibility they’d eventually find a way to help her.

Chase turned toward the room and swiped the call to send the holo-feed to the room’s center. A familiar female face filled the screen.

“Ryonna? I didn’t expect you to be on the other end of this call.”

“Hello, Chase. It’s been a while.”

“Almost a year. If you’re calling to see if I’ll attend the celebration in a few days…well, let’s just say I haven’t made my decision, but it’s unlikely I’ll be there.”

“That’s not why I called you, but I understand. For the rest of the world, we’ll be celebrating the end of a terrible war, for you, it’s just a reminder of what you’ve lost. Trust me, I can empathize.”

Ryonna was not a stranger to personal loss, and Chase had no doubt she knew, at least partially, how he felt. Which was probably why she had given him space to mourn. Though it was hard to mourn someone in Sarah’s state. A few breaths away from death but still alive, with only a glimmer of hope for Chase to hang onto.

“What is it, then?” asked Chase.

“I’ve been contacted by a stranger on an Alliance secure link they shouldn’t have access to. At first, I was tempted to report this woman and kill the link. But then I changed my mind.”

“Okay…But what does all that have to do with me?”

“This person asked for your help, by name. She said she wanted to talk to Chase Athanatos, that only you could help.”

“I suppose I’m famous by now, the hero of the Fury War and all that crap. You probably should have listened to your instincts and terminated the call.”

“That’s the thing, Chase. I did listen to my instincts, and they told me you need to hear her out.”

“Why?”

“I don’t have enough details besides a strong gut feeling, and trust me, I debated if I should inform you of this or not. But you remember when we first met?”

“Vividly. You almost took my and Sarah’s head off. You had that look in your eyes.”

“I did, but do you remember why?”

“Of course, you were on the run, trying to rescue your son. Though it all feels like a lifetime ago.”

“It sure does. Well, that lady, her name is Iliana, she had that exact same look in her eyes. I could sense her pain, her fears about losing her daughter. My gut tells me you need to help her.”

“Is she on the line?”

“No, our holo-transmission got cut short. I tried re-establishing the link, but I never managed to. Chase, I think she’s in trouble, but she did manage to send a subspace set of coordinates and a frequency.”

“Let’s say I agree and try to help her, and that’s a big if at this point, what am I supposed to do with this information? Wouldn’t it be better to send an Alliance ship?”

“All the ships have been recalled for the celebration, the captains, the crews, it’s only fair they are back on Earth. They all deserve this.”

Chase had to admit members of the Alliance, be it humans, Droxians, or even ex-Obsidian forces, had battled to the death and risked their lives to ensure Chase’s ultimate victory. It was easy for Chase, especially in his current state of mind, to forget he didn’t fight this war alone, even if, in its aftermath, he felt that way.

“And truth be told,” Ryonna continued, “I don’t trust anyone but you to help her. I considered taking a ship myself and trying to locate her, but a strong feeling settled inside my gut that I needed to call you with this information.”

“I’m no longer that man that risked everything to help your son. It was only because I promised you I would.”

“Yes, you are, Chase. You just need to reconnect with that part of yourself, and I think that’s why this is so important for you to help Iliana. I’m really sorry about Sarah, but right now, there’s nothing you can do for her, but you can help another soul in need.”

Chase was ashamed to admit he didn’t care all that much about a stranger right now. Sure, he was empathic to her plea, but he didn’t see why that concerned him, even if he had been asked for by name.

“I don’t know, Ryonna. Billions were lost in the war, why is this one life so important?”

“You do realize the irony of asking that question, don’t you?”

Chase attempted a smile. “I suppose I do.”

“Look, I can’t force you to do this, and I’m sure I can assemble a crew to try to help her on my own, but I gave her my word I’d do my best to convince you. Her daughter is dying, Chase, and you have healing powers that could prevent it from happening. But she can’t get to us, we have to get to her. And while she wasn’t exactly forthcoming with details, I got the feeling it’s not gonna be an easy task.”

“I didn’t give my word, and don’t take this personally, but you shouldn’t have given mine by proxy either.”

“That’s not what I did, Chase. I only promised her I would try to convince you. As your friend, I think you need this more than you realize.”

“I don’t follow.”

“You need something to do, Chase. You need to feel useful again. It can’t be good for you to stay home, look at Sarah day in and day out in her state. I can tell just looking at you that you’re free falling into a depression you may not be able to climb out of.”

“Even if that’s the case, I believe it’s my choice what I do with my time.”

“It is, and I’m not saying otherwise. But the Spectres, Chase, they may come back, what chances do we stand if you’re just—” but Ryonna stopped herself.

“Just what? Say it.”

“A shadow of your former self.”

Was that what Chase was these days? His friend certainly made a good argument in the matter.

“You don’t understand, Ryonna. When I help people, when I walk a so-called destiny’s path, people die.”

“If this is how you truly feel, may the gods have mercy on our souls.”

“That’s a little dramatic.”

“No, it’s not. You’re the strongest, most courageous person I know. If you’re afraid of walking your path, I don’t even want to contemplate how bad this could be, for all of us, when the Spectres return.”

“If they return.”

“You were never blind to the truth, Chase, and I don’t think you believe what you’re saying. These creatures sent one of their people—just one—and he managed to free and enslave an entire race of warmongering people to wage a war that almost scorched our universe, and you think they won’t try again? This time with greater numbers?”

“Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. I just don’t know if it’s my problem anymore.”

“I’m sad to see you’re farther gone than I ever thought possible.”

“Sorry, Ryonna. I’ve done my part.”

“Do it for Sarah, then, if not for you.”

“What does she have to do with any of this?”

“Everything if you think about it.”

“That’s nonsense, you’re just grasping at straws to get me to agree.”

“I’m sure it feels that way from your point of view, but I assure you, I’m not.”

“Okay, and for the sake of argument, tell me how Sarah fits into this conversation.”

“Well, for one, if the Spectres return and you continue to be a self-pitying mess of a man, they will conquer us unchallenged, and the people who nearly killed your wife will destroy us all.”

A chill ran down Chase’s spine, followed by feelings of anger. But he remained silent.

“And, if I may say,” continued Ryonna. “What would Sarah think of you, right now, right this instant, if she was next to you in this call?”

The brewing anger in Chase’s soul was replaced by intense sadness.

“She would…” said Chase, “she would implore me to help this stranger, like she implored me to help you back when we first met.”

“Exactly. I won’t say another word on the matter and let you digest this on your own. The information you need has already been sent to your wrist device via subspace. Do what you want with it, but I’m not sure I can still call you my friend if you don’t at the very least consider looking at it before you make your decision. Bye, Chase.”

The holo-feed turned off before Chase had time to answer or react to Ryonna’s words. But they hit him and his soul with the force and impact of multiple tsunamis, shaking him to the core.

Had he forgotten who he was? Was he merely a shadow of his former self? Could he really live with himself by looking away when an innocent had asked for his help? And were his pain and torment enough excuses to look the other way and compromise his moral compass?

The wrist device beeped to inform him of files waiting to be opened. Chase dropped the device on the table and walked away. He stopped after a few paces, looked at Sarah’s face, and felt a wave of guilt permeate his entire being.

He made fists so tight his nails pierced his palms and droplets of blood stained the carpet at a rapid pace. It didn’t take long for Chase to turn back, put the device on his wrist, and acknowledge the device’s prompt to access the waiting files.

* * *

It was the middle of the night in Washington, DC when Chase left his flat and climbed onboard his starfighter parked on the roof of the tall building. It didn’t take long for his StarFury to break free of Earth’s atmosphere and then Chase brought up the holo-map data Ryonna had sent. His destination was way too far for the range of his starfighter, something his friend had accounted for. Therefore, he had to rendezvous with a Droxian ship that would help him travel the rest of the way.

It had been a while since Chase sat at the control of such a craft, and it brought back memories, both good and bad. Like the time he had to open fire on Sarah’s ship. Chase brushed the thought away.

While there was a certain tactile satisfaction to do things manually aboard the StarFury, Chase just reached with his mind and fed the onboard computer with the coordinates for his jump. The StarFury was equipped with a neural interface, but since Chase’s latent powers had awakened during the Fury War, it was simpler to use his own abilities, and faster too.

With the coordinates set and a single thought, Chase’s starfighter jumped out of Earth’s orbit.

As expected, a Droxian ship waited for him upon exiting hyperspace. It was a corvette-sized ship, not that Chase expected anything bigger. In fact, that was probably already overkill.

Chase opened a channel to the ship.

“Droxian ship, this is Chase Athanatos, requesting landing.”

To his surprise, the answer was a video holo-feed, and the face that filled the screen was Ronan’s, Ryonna’s son.

“Nice to see you, Chase,” he said.

“Likewise. I didn’t expect you to take on a transport mission.”

“I talked with my mom and managed to get away from my captain duties, especially with the coming celebration. My first officer is taking my destroyer to Earth. I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to help you out in any way I can. After all, I would be dead if it weren’t for you.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Ronan, but I’m glad to see you, nonetheless.”

Ronan smiled. “Permission to land granted in cargo bay one, Admiral. I’m looking forward to seeing you in person.”

Chase wanted to correct Ronan about his rank. He had resigned his position and would prefer people didn’t address him as such, but he didn’t want to spoil the mood, so he decided against saying anything.

“Thank you, as do I.”

* * *

Ronan was waiting for Chase by the landed StarFury. Chase jumped out of his cockpit and shook Ronan’s hand.

“Good to see you,” said Chase.

“And you, Admiral.”

“Don’t, I’m no longer an admiral.”

“I heard, but on Droxia it doesn’t matter if you retire, you retain your rank for life.”

“Well, Droxian custom or not I’d rather you call me Chase. Between friends, we don’t need to be formal.”

“Understood…Chase.”

“You didn’t have to come and greet me personally, though I appreciate it.”

“I know, it’s been a while since we saw each other. So it’s my pleasure.”

They walked toward the exit.

“That’s true,” said Chase. “The Fury War didn’t give us much opportunity to see one another.”

“Speaking of the war, how are you coping?”

“With what?”

“You know…I’m aware of Sarah’s condition. It must be tough.”

“More than words can ever convey, yes.”

“I’m really sorry, Chase. I pray you find a way to help her.”

Chase had to suppress forming tears. Ronan had voiced something that had been in the back of Chase’s mind for a while. He needed to take the matter into his own hands and find a way to help his wife. But grief had prevented him to do so for a while now.

The Earth Alliance’s medical corp had tried everything they could think of. In vain. Since Chase’s healing power, even combined with Chris’s, his son, and Argos’s, his brother, couldn’t heal Sarah, it would take some unconventional power, substance, or cure to help Sarah heal from her predicament.

Chase had been hit really hard by depression at the end of the war, but he suspected that perhaps the answer might be out there. It didn’t help that during his fight with the Spectre that mortally wounded his wife, Tanak’Vor had also ripped away Chase’s ability to teleport anywhere in the universe.

“I’ll find a way. I can’t imagine a world without her in it.”

“I understand, and I’d like you to know that I’ll be here to help you, should you require my assistance.”

“That’s very kind of you, Ronan, I truly appreciate that. As long as it’s not a misplaced sense of Droxian ritualistic favor you think you owe me that is.”

“You did save my life.”

“I’m sure your mother would have prevailed without my help.”

“We both know our chances would have been minimalistic at best without you. Still, my offer of help has nothing to do with this. It is offered from one friend to another.”

“Good. In that case, I’d be happy to have you by my side. I do have to secure a ship one day and try to go beyond the known regions. Since nothing we have tried has work here, the answer to Sarah’s salvation might lie beyond the bounds of known space.”

“I’ll gladly provide you with my ship if that day comes. Though I’m sure you can provide a better one for yourself, directly from the Alliance.”

“I haven’t exactly been on their good side since resigning my commission, but I suppose Emperor Altair owes me one.”

Ronan chuckled. “And then some.”

“How long till we arrive at our destination?”

“It’s about a seven-hour jump.”

“Then I think I’ll try to get some shut-eye.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let me show you to your quarters.”

* * *

When the ship rocked, it woke Chase, who, for once, had managed to fall asleep. He jumped out of his bunk bed when the holo-screen in his room came to life. A ship alarm resonated and the room lighting flashed red.

“Chase! We’re under attack, you’re needed on the bridge.”

“I’ll be right there.”

The holo-screen turned off, and Chase tried teleporting himself to the bridge. But nothing happened. It was in times like these, such as when he was waking after a deep sleep, something that was rare these days, when it took Chase’s conscious mind to ground itself into the present. In these moments that took his mind to awaken fully, he acted on pure muscle memory. Like reaching for Sarah in the morning.

He shook his head vehemently to wake himself up, grabbed his jacket uniform, and exited his quarters. He used his mind to query the ship’s computer for the schematics of this vessel, apparently named the Alectryon, and, in an instant, he knew exactly where to go. His feet levitated a few inches from the floor, and he flew at max speed through the corridors.

At his current velocity, the doors of the bridge wouldn’t open in time, so Chase interfaced with the ship’s computer and triggered their opening mechanism. Chase startled a couple of the officers when he flew into the middle of the bridge.

“Sorry,” he casually said as he waved his hand around and turned his attention to Ronan.

But a man grabbed his chest, breathing erratically, and he fell off his chair and rolled on the ground.

“He’s having a heart attack!” screamed one of the crew.

“Medical emergency to the bridge,” said Ronan after activating his communicator.

“Belay that,” said Chase, kneeling toward the agonized crewman.

The man’s face was pale and distorted by pain. Chase put his hands on the man’s chest. A bright white aura engulfed Chase and transferred to the Droxian officer. The man’s face turned from pale to a rosy pink, and he blinked his eyes multiple times before taking deep breaths.

“Thank you,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” answered Chase. “I didn’t mean to scare you to death.”

The Droxian raised a palm at Chase. “Not your fault, you couldn’t have known…I have a weak heart.”

Chase smiled. “Not anymore, you don’t.”

Chase helped the man stand and guided him back to his station.

Ronan came to assist. “Do you require rest? I can have you replaced.”

The crewman shook his head. “No, Captain. I can’t explain it, but I—I feel better now than I have in years.”

Ronan nodded and turned to Chase. “I see your healing touch is still as strong as ever.”

“I’m really sorry about your crewman. I didn’t think me blasting through your bridge would cause anything like this. But your call seemed like an emergency, and I wanted to get here as fast as possible.”

“It is indeed an emergency,” said Ronan, pointing toward the viewport.

A trio of heavily weaponized satellite platforms had opened fire on the Alectryon.

Chase tilted slightly and whispered in Ronan’s ear.

“I thought Droxians didn’t tolerate sickness? Especially in the military.”

“Believe it or not, you actually helped change all that, after you saved our world from Fury destruction.”

Chase didn’t have the nicest of memories of that event and certainly wouldn’t have phrased it as such.

“Not before letting millions die,” said Chase gravely.

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Don’t focus on what you didn’t manage to do that day instead of accepting what titanic task you accomplished. If you hadn’t protected us against the Furies back then, we’d all be dead; my race would be no more. Droxia owes you.”

Chase had a bad habit of focusing on the negative, and what he remembered from that day was letting millions die and almost dying himself. In fact, his defeat against Miseo and Chase’s brother Argos was the day he met Hades in the Underworld.

“I suppose,” said Chase with a sigh. “You certainly are your mother’s son.”

“That I am. Speaking of my mom, she made sure, especially now that she’s the Droxian ambassador for the Alliance, that the old ways, which don’t make sense in today’s world, were abolished from the Droxian constitution. People who had to hide their ailments have now come forward, and some have even joined the military, like the man you just saved.”

“I see. I’m glad Droxia is acquiring flexibility in these matters, some of your traditions were rough. It will make for a stronger Alliance if we tolerate everyone, no matter their disabilities.”

“Or beliefs. I agree. Obviously, with my past, you can imagine my mom fought strongly on the issue.”

Chase nodded in agreement. Ronan had been a sick child, and Ryonna and her late husband had to hide the truth from their government back then.

“Have we arrived at our destination?”

“We have. This is the planet where we’re supposed to drop you off.”

Chase looked at the blue-white planet in the distance.

“How come you didn’t wake me before we jumped out of hyperspace?”

“I tried a couple of times. Since you weren’t answering, I assumed you were sleeping deeply and that it could wait. I didn’t expect to come under fire the moment we jumped out.”

Chase was surprised he hadn’t heard the wake-up calls or even sensed the ship exiting hyperspace. On the flip side, he felt like he had slept better than in the entire year since the end of the war.

The ship rocked when more energy blasts impacted with its shields.

“Get us out of firing range,” ordered Ronan.

“Aye, Captain,” answered one of his officers as the Alectryon moved away.

“Maybe I can just micro jump behind them and make a run for the planet,” said Chase.

“If your starfighter can jump through shields.”

“I don’t think it can, where’s Yanis when I need him. Alright, then it seems we’re gonna have to fight them.”

“Certainly looks that way, and I wish I had brought the Phoenix on this mission,” said Ronan. “This old bucket of bolts isn’t gonna cut it. When we scanned the area before swinging to pick you up, we didn’t detect anything. But they could have cloaked these from long-range sensors.”

“It’s okay, we’ll figure something out. I thought the Phoenix had been destroyed and you were serving on board the Manticora now.”

“There have been some changes not so long ago. Droxia central command promoted me and gave me my first command. They granted my request to re-christen my fresh-off-the-docks destroyer to the Phoenix. Call me sentimental, but I thought that was appropriate.”

The Phoenix was the ship Ronan had crashed into a Fury warrior during the invasion of his world. Even if Miseo had survived this tactic, Chase always thought it had been a very courageous manoeuver on the part of the young Droxian.

Chase smiled. “It certainly is, and congrats on the promotion.”

“Thanks. I’m the youngest captain in Droxian history. Thanks to you.”

“Nah. That you achieved on your own, Ronan.”

Ronan nodded.

“Okay, then,” said Chase, “here’s what I propose, I’ll get into my StarFury, seems that together we’ll have a better chance at taking these platforms down. Though I’d rather you keep just outside of the firing range until I evaluate the threat fully. Better we don’t risk your crew just yet.”

Chase could sense Ronan wasn’t thrilled with Chase’s approach.

“If you think that’s the way to go…then okay. Unfortunately, while we do have a few Droxian starfighters in bay two, I didn’t bring any pilots along. Didn’t expect this escort mission to be anything but a taxi run. I’d also like to mention that our initial sensor scans of the platforms have revealed rather powerful shields for their size; we may not have the necessary firepower, even with your StarFury in the equation. Perhaps it would be safer to send for reinforcement.”

“I guess the question is, are there any ships nearby that can help us in a timely fashion?”

“The nearest Alliance ship is a four-hour jump from our position.”

“Then let’s not waste precious time that Iliana and her daughter might not have. Let’s try and deal with this problem ourselves. As for the nearest ship, what type is it?”

“It’s an Olympian destroyer. It’s in Sector twenty-eight, currently on a heading for Earth.”

On a hunch, Chase expanded his consciousness to sense the ship in space. He felt Athena’s life-energy aboard the ship. His mother’s ship.

“Then inform them of our situation and see if they can swing by, just as a precaution. But we won’t be waiting for them, not unless we can help it.”

Ronan nodded and gestured his communication’s officer to relay Chase’s order. “Be careful.”

Chase smiled. “That would be the day, wouldn’t it? When you get in touch with my mom, say hi for me,” he said, before heading for the exit.

“Wait, what?”

“No time to explain. You’ll understand when you contact the Olympians.”

Chase ran toward the exit of the bridge, and the moment the doors slid open, he flew toward the cargo bay and into his starfighter. His StarFury lifted and punched through the force field.

Chase didn’t bother using the comms, he reached directly to Ronan telepathically.

I’m gonna make a run at it, evaluate the platforms’ capabilities, and try to find their Achilles’ heel. If you can, provide some cover fire, but don’t put the Alectryon in unnecessary danger.

Understood, answered Ronan. Oh, and by the way, Athena says hi.

Chase smiled. Being connected telepathically to Ronan’s mind, Chase sensed that Ronan had found Chase’s advice on not taking risks a little ironic. And he couldn’t exactly blame the boy. After all, Chase knew he had always taken a maximum-risk approach to any combat situation.

Chase dodged incoming fire, and it took a few seconds to retrieve his marks, but soon, he was managing to avoid most of the platform’s energy fire directed toward him. And with such proficiency that all three defense platforms stopped firing at the Alectryon and concentrated their fire on his fighter.

Flying was in Chase’s DNA, ever since the academy, even though his instructors deplored his insistence on breaking every rule in the flight book. But when Chase got his first pilot assignment on board the Destiny, he quickly rose to the top of the enemy kill roster.

Chase neither liked nor needed rules, he always let his instincts drive his flying, and to this day, they had never failed him. Chase had no intention of letting this dire situation blemish that record.

With a thought, Chase reconfigured his lasers cannons to low-power hyper rate and opened fire on the nearest platform. His mind immediately fed him shield numbers and confirmed what Ronan had told him. They were extremely strong shields. That wouldn’t stop Chase from trying to bring them down.

For a fleeting moment, Chase wished he still had his soul ship, together they would make short change of these enemy’s weapons platforms, but like the brave lives lost in the Fury War, his soul ship had to be sacrificed to achieve victory. Still, Chase missed the link he shared with that ship’s AI. As well as the ability to safely canalize a Fury’s power so it could be exerted in space without creating spatial anomalies like black holes.

He veered away and reconfigured the cannons to supercharged shots to get another metric of how these shields reacted to fire. The supercharged shots were much slower in their rate, but they made a bigger dent in the shields level, and in turn, taxed the platforms recharge time.

That was not usual in his experience, but he had never encountered such technology before. So that would be his preferred firing solution. Chase’s own shields had not dipped under sixty-five percent, which told him he could divert some of their power to the weapons, as well as any other systems he could drain power from, like partial life support, jump engines, and the emergency power reserves.

That gave his weapons a fifty percent power boost, and he made another run at the platforms. This time around, the shields dropped faster, and while he had a complement of missiles on board, he didn’t think they’d help until the shields were completely down first.

Chase remembered what Ronan had told him about not having pilots to fly the reserve fighters, and that gave him an idea. He reached to Ronan with his mind.

Mind if I borrow your reserve fighters?

As I said earlier, we don’t have pilots. But I could fly one myself.

That’s a negative, Ronan. While I appreciate the help, I’ll put these craft into an intense line of fire. And I don’t need pilots to do that.

Right…my mom mentioned something about this. You can control technology with your mind.

Correct. I take it that’s a yes on the fighters?

Absolutely, you can use the reserve fighters to your discretion.

Thank you, Ronan.

My pleasure. I’ll let my crew know why we have pilotless ships leaving the cargo bay.

Chase chuckled before extending his mind and locating the Droxian fighters. They were nowhere near as powerful as his StarFury, but they’d have to do. He interfaced his mind with their onboard computers. Soon, they flew away from the Alectryon and headed toward him.

As they flew to join his wing, Chase linked his computer with the Droxian fighter to find the right power balance for his next attack run.

“Fellas,” said Chase to nobody in particular, “we got work to do.”

Chase took his newly formed squadron for a run the moment he configured the other three fighters with boosted shields and weapons power distribution. Since they had no pilots, he could redirect the entirety of their life support as well as AI power entirely into shields and weapons.

Doing these strategic on-the-fly decisions with his mind sent him back to the days where he was engaging the Fury fleets with inferior forces. Like it did back then, it gave him a rush, even though it also brought additional painful memories, like losing the Destiny’s CO and dear friend, Adonis.

When enemy fire intensified and his shields were hit more times than they should have, Chase realized he needed to focus entirely on the fight. He was facing far superior firepower, and he could only win in this scenario if he used his cunning and wits. Rehashing the past was not conducive to such a state of mind.

Chase made a run to the nearest platform, the one in the middle of the three, knowing full well that would result in more damage to his squadron, but taking that one out of the fight early would allow for an easier dispatching of the remaining two, as it would create a blind spot in their firing range. Meanwhile, the Alectryon kept firing with their long-range batteries, staying just outside of the platform’s optimal firing range. That didn’t create much drain on the enemy shields, but every little bit helped.

Chase pounded the platforms’ shields with both his StarFury and Droxian fighters, whose shields weren’t nearly as strong as his, even with redistributed power. At the end of the run, the shields were down, but his squadron was upon the platform, so firing a missile was out of the question, as his ships would be damaged by their own ordnance. Chase had anticipated that eventuality, and upon passing by the platform, he set the Droxians fighters to max thrusters and sent them away when he made his next move.

With no time to waste, and making sure not to let the platform recharge its shields, Chase micro jumped his StarFury at the initial position of the attack run, this time alone, and finished off the last few percent of the already recharging shields before locking two missiles on target and firing them.

He then veered off, mentally transferring weapons power to the thrusters, and hauled assed out of range before the missiles hit their target. Upon explosion, the resulting shockwave still managed to impact his rear shields, dropping them by ten percent.

He maneuvered the Droxian fighters to rejoin his wing and checked all craft for damage. One of the fighters had its shield drop during the run and had sustained significant damage. It was unlikely to survive the attack on the next run.

While Chase was checking on the status of his squadron, two strong light sources appeared on the top of the defense platforms. A beam of energy linked between them before firing a supercharged beam of plasma energy that took out one of the Droxian fighters upon impact and reduced Chase and the remaining craft’s shields to dangerously low territory.

“Holy crap, they have a secondary firing mode,” exclaimed Chase.

He veered the squadron away and took it as far out of range to recharge their shields and figure out a plan B to get rid of the remaining platforms.

His comms crackled. “Are you alright, Chase?” asked Ronan. “We’re going to enter firing range, our shields are fully recharged now that you’ve become the center of attention for the platforms, so we can assist you with our firepower.”

While Chase could use the support, he didn’t like the idea of putting an entire crew in the line of fire, especially with that deadly secondary firing mode now in play. One well-placed shot could take out the Alectryon.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’d rather you grant me control of Alectryon’s systems, and I’ll use your torpedoes when the time is right.”

“Chase, perhaps it would be best if we waited for your mother’s destroyer to get here.”

Chase considered Ronan’s suggestion though it didn’t take long for him to make a decision.

“No, we can still win this. It’s just going to be tricky timing, which is why it’s best if I can use your firing systems mentally, that will give me precise control over the damage timing, which is essential for this to work.”

“I see. For the sake of argument, could you take control even if I said no?”

“Probably, yes.”

“Then why even ask?”

“Well, it’s still your command, and I’d rather we agreed on the course of action.”

“I’ve heard more than enough stories on the way you’ve outwitted more powerful fleets during the Fury War to trust that you know what you’re doing. If you need access to our systems, be my guest, I’ll inform the crew that you’re taking over.”

“Thank you, Ronan.”

“Just promise me something, okay?”

“That would depend on what it is.”

“Please, don’t die. I don’t think my mom would forgive me.”

Chase smiled. “I can’t make that promise, son, but if it makes you feel better, I can tell you I have no intention of dying.”

It surprised Chase to hear himself say that. But getting away from Earth, back in the thick of space battle, had triggered something in him, and deep down, he knew that his story, his destiny, was far from over. Sarah needed him, and right now, so did Iliana and her daughter.

“Fair, enough. Good luck.”

“To us all,” said Chase, even though he had fought enough battles to know that luck was rarely, if ever, a deciding factor in these situations.

Chase took control of the Alectryon with his mind and prepared all torpedo tubes to fire at precise time intervals, before taking what was left of his squadron back for another run. Hopefully, the last one he’d need, trusting he wouldn’t be too late to help Iliana.

Chase tried opening a channel on the frequency provided by Ryonna to see if he could establish contact with Iliana. But his signals bounced. The platforms were scrambling all short-range communications around the planet. The planetary-generated shield still seemed to be online but fluctuated in intensity.

Well, I kinda hoped to blast you out of space anyway, thought Chase as he stared at his next target.

Chase vectored toward the next platform with the two Droxian starfighters in tow and showered the platform with heavy laser fire while he sent the mental command to fire the first set of torpedoes. They left the Alectryon with specific timing, just like Chase wanted them to.

His ship rocked from the incoming fire, and by the time he was getting dangerously close to the target, the first two torpedoes screamed past his cockpit and impacted with the shield, illuminating everything in his viewport with a blinding light.

That was his cue. He micro jumped his StarFury and let the two Droxian fighters smash into the platform. The first fighter took down the platform’s shields, and the second ship inflicted serious damage. The last Alectryon’s torpedo finished the job and blew the defense platform into a million pieces.

Meanwhile, the second firing salvo of torpedoes launched from the port side of the Alectryon and homed toward the last remaining weaponized satellite. Chase fired all his remaining missiles and redirected every ounce of power he could spare to the secondary firing mode of his StarFury.

Chase hoped he hadn’t miscalculated since this would drain all energy from his ship for a full minute after firing. A stream of concentrated plasma fired toward the platform that was still firing at him while the first two torpedoes nearly wiped the platform’s shields, forcing them to redirect their aggro on the remaining two torpedoes.

Chase’s Starfury’s plasma beam, meanwhile, was draining the rest of the enemy’s shield quickly, and by the time they were down, the platform managed to destroy one of the incoming torpedoes when Chase’s fighter went dead, all lights in the cockpit died off, and the ship’s engines turned off. Chase held his breath while the last torpedo screamed toward the enemy platform.

If the torpedo didn’t take it out, Chase could very well be toast. He watched with no small dose of satisfaction as the torpedo blasted the last platform into fiery oblivion.

Chase sent a telepathic message to Ronan.

My ship is disabled for sixty seconds or so, but I’m good.

That was a crazy manoeuver. And risky.

It’s something you’ll soon learn while in command of your new ship. Sometimes you need to go all-in. But only if you know you can pull it off.

Well, that’s the real trick, isn’t it? How do you know?

I guess my instincts on the matter never fail me.

Yeah, I think it best for a few years that I stick to standard tactics.

In fact, Ronan was right. Chase would hate for him to take unnecessary risks trying to emulate a finely tuned Fury sense of instinct that the boy lacked and get himself killed.

Agreed, said Chase.

Need us to pick you up?

Well, I could pick myself up, really.

True.

My StarFury’s secondary power should kick in at any moment. In the meantime, I’ll use your ship’s communication array to try to make contact.

Understood.

Chase patched his mind to the comms array on the Alectryon and tried contacting Iliana on the agreed frequency. When she didn’t answer, he worried that something was wrong. Eventually, a weak female voice answered.

Is—is this Mister Chase? asked the voice.

It was faint, and Chase could sense that she was wounded.

I’m Chase. I’ve been delayed, but I’m orbiting the planet. I’ll be right there. Are you alright?

Chase heard Iliana sob.

What’s going on? asked Chase. Please, talk to me.

They took her, they took Shayna.

Who are they?

I—… Iliana coughed. I don’t know, they showed up not long ago, I tried to stop them, but she was too strong.

Chase could sense Iliana wasn’t in good shape. His StarFury came back to life, and Chase didn’t hesitate and set a course toward Iliana’s position and diverted all power to the engines.

Hang on, Iliana, I’m coming for you. Who is that she you’re mentioning? And how long since she left with Shayna?

A strange female creature, half humanoid, half spider. She left a few minutes…ago…I—I don’t think I’m gonna make it.

Don’t say that. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes, please, hang on.

Mister Chase, please save my daught…

Iliana never finished her sentence, and Chase extended his consciousness to find her energy force on the planet. Her heartbeat was only a few beats a minute, and she had lost consciousness. He could sense she was seconds away from death.

It was in moments like these that Chase missed his teleportation ability. One thing was certain, his StarFury would take too long to get to Iliana, so Chase raised a personal force field around him, opened his StarFury’s canopy and jumped from orbit and straight down to the planet. He accelerated and pierced the planet’s atmosphere infinitely faster than his starfighter ever could.

Flames burned around his force field for a fraction of a second before dying down. That’s when Chase felt Iliana’s heartbeat stop. He turned Ultra Fury and traveled a third of the planet’s circumference in under five seconds, flying faster than he ever did before with such distance.

He had to slow his approach to make sure he didn’t inflict Iliana’s body with more damage upon arriving. It was an icy world, and when Chase stopped near her lifeless body, tons of snow propelled around.

He immediately put his hands on her chest and started healing her. Her soul was still around but barely connected to her body. Chase focused all his healing power to realign it with her body before shocking her heart back to a sinus rhythm.

She had suffered frostbite as well, and Chase made sure to heal her entirely and to give a nice influx of warmth to every cell of her body.

Eventually, she blinked her eyes open and looked at him.

“I got you,” said Chase.

“Thank you, my…my daughter. My baby.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get her, I promise. I had to make sure you survived, we wouldn’t want her to be orphaned today, would we?”

“Hurry, please, they have a ship, we may lose her.”

Chase expanded his consciousness, reacquired his StarFury, and ordered it to come to his position as he searched for the enemy ship with his mind. He felt the vibrations of an engine about twenty klicks away, heading toward the upper atmosphere.

When Chase’s StarFury landed, Chase helped Iliana up and pointed at the starfighter.

“Get inside the cockpit of my ship, it will protect you. I’ll go get your daughter.”

Iliana blinked. “Won’t you need it to rescue Shayna?”

Chase levitated off the ground. “I’ll be fine, go protect yourself from the elements while I get her back.”

Chase flew away at such a speed that the resulting shockwave blasted snow particles around Iliana and the StarFury.

* * *

Chase caught up with the ship a few moments before it was about to leave the planet. He fired five warning fireballs across its nose, forcing the ship to alter its trajectory and retreat to a lower altitude.

It turned around and opened fire at Chase. He deflected all the plasma bolts with the back of his hand and gestured the ship to land.

The enemy ship, of a design Chase hadn’t seen before, answered with a volley of rockets.

Chase didn’t bother with them and dodged away, letting them scream past him. He extended his consciousness inside the ship and searched for Shayna. He found a tiny life-sign in the back of the ship, next to a strong life force. A warrior for sure, not as strong as a Fury but stronger than most races he had come upon.

That’s when Chase realized that when Iliana had said baby, she had not said it figuratively. Shayna was only a few months old. And Chase sensed she was terrified.

He tried sending her reassuring thoughts while calculating the best forceful entry point into the craft without putting her life in danger. The cockpit seemed the safer bet.

The ship lifted its nose and resumed its climb toward the atmosphere.

Oh no, you don’t! thought Chase.

Chase found the onboard computer with his mind and stopped the ship’s ascension while he flew in front and around before bursting through the cockpit. He smacked both pilots out of commission with ease and forced the ship to decrease its altitude fast. He didn’t want Shayna’s lungs to suffer from the lack of oxygen at these heights.

Chase advanced out of the cockpit and waited for a couple of seconds until the ship was at a safely breathable altitude. He opened the door while still making sure he kept his mind on the onboard flight computer to safely land the ship not too far from his own StarFury.

Chase walked toward the cargo bay and stopped. He felt Shayna’s fear levels skyrocket. The cargo bay door didn’t open. Chase tried to override it with the computer, but it didn’t work. With no time to lose, he blasted the door with a shockwave and grabbed the propelled door with telekinetic energy to make sure he didn’t wound the child when doing so.

He walked into the bay, and that’s when he saw her. The arachnoid female was holding Shayna in front of her, using her as a shield.

“Walk away, or she dies, right here and right now.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Very well. You’ll have her death on your conscience then.”

Chase could sense the arachnoid trying to squeeze Shayna’s neck, but he used telekinetic energy to paralyze the arachnoid’s fingers and entire body.

“What is this devilry,” said the female through gritted teeth.

“I’ll take her now,” said Chase as he forcefully opened the arachnoid fingers, making sure he snapped the hell of them as he did.

The arachnoid screeched loudly, an ear-piercing sound that felt like it came straight out of the deepest depths of hell itself.

Shayna stayed in the air where she was held before, and Chase brought her into his arms. He looked at the baby, and Shayna smiled at him.

“You’re safe now, don’t worry, I’ll protect you from the monster.”

Chase could sense that Shayna was sick, and it was playing havoc with her insides. He started healing her, but the ailment was unusual, and Chase had to deploy a lot more focus than he usually had to when healing living beings. That brought painful memories of when he failed healing Sarah at the end of the war.

Chase reluctantly released his telekinetic hold on the arachnoid, who ran toward a station at the far corner of the cargo bay. She pushed some controls, and a door slid open, revealing what appeared to be an escape pod. To Chase’s surprise, the arachnoid didn’t step in, but instead, took a vial from one of her uniform’s pockets and threw it in. She then closed the escape pod’s door and punched the ejection system.

What had she sent away?

Chase sensed the escape pod rise up at a tremendous speed and redirected some of his healing focus toward the Alectryon, telepathically contacting Ronan.

There’s an escape pod with a cargo I need to catch coming up the atmosphere, don’t let it escape.

Understood, answered Ronan. We’re seeing it on our sensors, heading to intercept.

“What the hell was that you hid in the escape pod?” asked Chase.

“Nothing that concerns you.”

Chase held Shayna with one arm while he extended an open palm toward the arachnoid.

“What was it?”

“Up yours,” screeched the arachnoid defiantly.

“Wrong answer!”

Chase shot a fireball at the arachnoid’s leg, setting it on fire. The female screeched. Shayna was startled and cried.

“What was it?!” insisted Chase.

“The future,” she said.

“Yours doesn’t look very good at the moment, especially, if you keep dodging my questions.”

“I don’t care, I’ve fulfilled my mission.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I have a ship in orbit, and it will intercept your cargo, so you might as well tell me what it is, unless you want me to turn the heat to full barbecue mode.”

Chase created another fireball that crackled in front of his palm and aimed it at the arachnoid’s chest.

“Last chance.”

The arachnoid smirked at Chase, and there was something in her eyes. She was convinced she had succeeded, and Chase could sense that in her.

Time for a sitrep, thought Chase.

Ronan, status on the escape pod?

There was a long silence.

What is it? insisted Chase.

I’m sorry, Chase, it entered hyperspace the moment it reached orbit. We never saw it coming. I never heard of a hyperspace engine on such a small pod.

Neither had Chase.

Not your fault, Ronan. I need to find out what was in it.

How?

By interrogating the sender. I’ll get back to you.

Understood. The Olympian destroyer is twenty minutes away, looks like your mother cranked up her ship’s hyperspace engines to arrive earlier.

Too bad she didn’t arrive a little earlier than that, Chase thought to himself.

Chase finished healing Shayna, paralyzed the arachnoid once more, and returned to the cockpit. Land was approaching fast. Chase used his mind to slow the ship and touch it down delicately, several yards away from his StarFury.

He flew out of the broken cockpit viewport and levitated next to his ship’s canopy, which he opened with a thought.

Iliana’s eyes grew wide. “Oh my god, Shayna!”

“She’s mostly healed, I’ll come back soon, and we’ll leave this wretched place.”

Tears filled the mother’s eyes along with gratitude that required no additional words.

Chase nodded and flew back into the enemy’s ship. As he walked back into the cargo bay, he cracked his fingers and came in swinging. He punched the arachnoid with multiple strikes, spreading her thick and gooey blood on the bulkheads.

“I’ve had it with you. Tell me what you wanted with Shayna and what you put in the escape pod, or what you feel now is but a tiny sample of things to come. Trust me, you don’t want me to unleash the rage I keep inside my heart these days.”

Chase released his telekinetic grasp, and the arachnoid collapsed to the floor, panting, oozing black blood from her bruised mouth.

Then Chase felt pain in his heart. He was letting his anger, or even wrath in this instance, be channeled toward this being. Not that a baby abductor deserved any better, but that wasn’t him, that much he knew. Chase wasn’t used to beating the truth out of people.

The world needed people who could turn off their emotions to get things as morally questionable as torture done. Sometimes the need of the many outweighed the need of the one. But that wasn’t what Chase was doing. He could feel it, he was channeling all the accumulated anger and hate about his situation and Sarah’s condition toward beating this insignificant creature.

Sarah would not approve. And that’s why his heart ached. He didn’t want to turn into something she wouldn’t recognize when she got better. Chase didn’t want to face that truth in her eyes either.

“Go ahead,” said the arachnoid. “Finish me off, you know you want to.”

Anger boiled at the surface of Chase’s psyche, but he fought to calm the rising emotional storm within himself.

When Chase talked again, he was calm, in control of his emotions.

“What was so important that you had to send it away, and why didn’t you jump in?”

“I can’t tell you what it was, as for me staying behind…seemed like the most strategic decision to ensure you didn’t shoot down the pod. You fly faster than ships, Fury.”

“What did you just say? How do you know I’m a Fury?”

“My people can smell your kind miles away.”

Chase tried not to let the arachnoid taunt him further. He could sense in her she was afraid, but she also wanted him to kill her. But why?

“I’m not gonna kill you.”

“We’ll see. I don’t have anything more to say to you.”

She spat black blood on his boots.

Chase sent a mental command directly into her brain. Sleep!

The arachnoid lost consciousness, and he grabbed her and threw her on his shoulder. He mentally ordered his StarFury to lift off and return to the Alectryon, as well as telepathically letting Iliana know that she was going to be safe.

He then scanned all memory banks inside every electronic device with his mind but found nothing of use. Chase had to resign himself that perhaps he’d never know what the arachnoid female had sent away.

He lowered the back cargo door with a thought and walked down the ramp and gazed at the white horizon of the cold world. The air was fresh and dry.

When he was about to erect a force field around him and the arachnoid still on his shoulder, he heard Athena in his thoughts.

Chase, my ship is in orbit. Do you require assistance?

Just a lift off this planet.

I’m detecting two life-signs in your area. Do you want me to beam you both up to my ship?

Chase thought about it.

No, beam me up to the Alectryon instead. I still have unfinished business there.

As you wish…there was slight pause. I’ll see you soon, then?

Absolutely, see you soon.

Golden streaks of energy engulfed both Chase and his prisoner, and he beamed off the face of the planet.

* * *

Chase entered the Alectryon’s med-bay and headed toward the doctor. In a nearby bed, Iliana slept with Shayna in her arms.

“How are they doing?” asked Chase.

“They’re in near perfect health. The baby’s system is in a bit of a state of flux in terms of her DNA.”

“I did have to use a lot of energy to heal her,” said Chase.

“Perhaps that’s why I got these results then.”

Chase approached the mother and her child and hovered his hand over them. Thin wavy white lines of energy went from his hands into Shayna. She no longer felt like she was dying, and without waking her up, Chase gently continued to heal some of her tissues and cells.

After a few minutes, and when he was satisfied that he had succeeded, he stopped. The doctor came next to the bed and used his medical scanner on the infant.

“That must have done it, I don’t detect any flux anymore. I wish us doctors had these powers.”

“Trust me, I’m not so sure. With them comes great grief.”

The doctor reacted with a puzzled look on his face at Chase’s words.

Chase touched Iliana’s brown hair, and she blinked her eyes open.

“Shhh, go back to sleep. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Iliana smiled. “Thank you so much, Mister Chase.”

“Drop the mister, I’m not one for formal titles.”

She nodded.

“Get some rest,” said Chase, “you really need it.”

“Thank you so much.”

Chase smiled and waited until Iliana closed her eyes again before leaving the med-bay.

* * *

Chase’s next stop was the brig. The arachnoid female had been put behind a security force field with two guards by her cell at all times.

She still hadn’t regained consciousness, so Chase touched her mind and triggered her to wake.

She moaned as she recovered her senses. She instantly jumped to her feet, and her eyes sent daggers at Chase. She walked forward.

“I wouldn’t if I were y⁠—”

But the arachnoid hit the force field before Chase could finish his sentence. The force field released a strong electric current and pushed her backward. She screeched.

“Better stay away from the field,” added Chase.

“This changes nothing. I completed my mission. And I won’t talk.”

“That’s not why I’m here. Truth be told, I don’t really know why I came.”

“Perhaps you’re looking for your balls? After all, if you weren’t a coward, you would have killed me already.”

“That’s not my way…our way.”

“You don’t have ways, you’re just a mindless Fury.”

Chase sighed heavily. Indeed, he probably shouldn’t have come in the first place. And with every passing moment, it seemed more pointless. Perhaps Chase had needed to see his handy work, after almost torturing her to death earlier, but the Alectryon’s medical staff had done a good job on her. She looked healthy.

“I suppose you’ll have to deal with the Droxian authorities now. I hear they don’t mind using brute force. Goodbye.”

Before Chase could turn away, a high-pitched sound resounded in the cell, and the arachnoid’s eyes glowed red, then brighter orange, and her skin caught fire. She burned from the inside out before Chase’s eyes until there was nothing but a pile of ash in the center of the cell.

I guess she preferred taking her own life after all.

What was so important that she would do such a thing? She obviously wanted to protect information she considered more valuable that her own life. Chase wondered what it could be. But he had to accept he might never learn what that information was.

* * *

“You sure you don’t want to come to the ceremony tomorrow?” asked Athena.

“I am. I don’t want to be reminded of what I’ve lost. It’s difficult to explain, Mother.”

“No, it’s not, but I know how you feel. Your friends, however, they will miss you.”

“I miss them too, but this is not the right venue to see them again.”

“But Argos and Chris will be there. I’m sure they’d love to see you.”

“Argos I’m sure, Chris, not so much.”

“He’s your son.”

“And we’re estranged right now. I hope we can mend things between us, but he seems to resent me for what happened to Sarah.”

“He’s still young, he’ll understand better one day.”

“Perhaps. Or perhaps there is nothing to understand and I truly am to blame.”

“No! Don’t say that.”

“I couldn’t protect Father either. I’m surprised you don’t resent me.”

There was coldness in her eyes for an instant. “Unless I see a dead body, Menelas is still alive.” She pointed a finger at Chase. “You hear me?”

“Fair enough. I wish I shared your optimism.”

“Chase, you might also be too young to understand. When you’ve lived eons like I have, you learn that how you feel is how you allow yourself to feel. If you want to feel better, you can decide to. It’s entirely up to you. But I know, sometimes it’s easier said than done.”

Chase nodded as Athena walked toward the cryo-pod in which Sarah rested.

“Do you want me to stay with you for a while longer?”

“No, that’s okay, but thank you.”

Athena turned toward her son and caressed his cheek.

“It will be alright, Chase, you’re not alone.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

She took her son in her arms and kissed him on the forehead.

“I’ll see you soon. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

“Alright, thanks for your help.”

“Anytime, Son. Bye, for now.”

“Bye, Mom.”

Athena swiped some controls on her wrist device and beamed out of Chase’s apartment. He turned around and walked inches away from the pod.

Ryonna had been right, Chase had needed this rescue mission. If anything, it had reminded him of the good he could still do, the people he could still help on a daily basis.

Perhaps his mother was right too. He had allowed himself to slip into depression, and maybe the answer was as simple as deciding to change how he felt about life and the situation. Try to find a positive outlook on things in order to build a brighter future. Not only for him but also for Sarah and Chris as well. Not to mention their unborn daughter, her fate entangled with Sarah’s.

Chase felt a wave of tiredness fill him and decided to try to rest. With luck, like he had on the Alectryon the day before, he could find sleep again.

* * *

It was late, but Chase couldn’t sleep. He was watching holo-movies from Earth, similar to those Sarah had shown him on their first date. He wasn’t really paying attention to them, so he swiped the holo-screen off and walked to Sarah’s room.

He didn’t feel like turning on the light. Nor did he need to as there was a full moon. It was big tonight, and its orange hues reflected a soft, warm glow off the cryo-pod.

There she stood, like every other day and night before. Tomorrow she would still be there, even though Chase wasn’t sure he would be.

This wasn’t a goodbye, though.

They never even had the chance to say goodbye to each other, which made Chase’s suffering all the more complicated.

He stepped forward and delicately rested his palm on the glass of the pod.

“I miss you so very much.”

The moonlight caught his attention for a second before he returned his gaze to Sarah’s beautiful face.

“I might go away for a little while…It’s too painful staying here, seeing you like this every day. Plus, I’m no good to you brooding and buzzing around day in and day out. So, I’ve made up my mind, and tomorrow I’ll request a ship to travel deep into uncharted territories since no one in the Alliance seems to have a clue how to help you. There has to be someone out there that can help you and our daughter come back to me.”

He let his forehead tilt forward until it, too, pressed against the glass. Chase closed his eyes.

“I love you, Sarah. With all my heart. I promise I won’t rest until I find a way to bring you both back.”

—== The End ==—

If you’ve enjoyed this Universe in Flames short story, and if you haven’t already, you should check out the rest of the series. The best book to do this is the next Box Set, Spectre Wars (set to release January 7th, 2025). You can pre-order it today, and it will be ready for you to read on your favorite device once it goes live.

If you don’t want to wait util then, you can always read Book 11: Nemesis, or via the 4th Universe in Flames Trilogy.

You can learn more about my books on my website:

https://christiankallias.com

BONUS ALBUM: DOWNLOAD THIS EXCLUSIVE COLLECTOR ALBUM: FURY WARS

Click the cover or this link to download your FURY WARS Collector’s album, containing 9 yet unreleased songs + 3 Universe in Flames Original Sound Track (no email required). Enjoy these songs months ahead of official release.

Author’s note: This FURY WARS Album contains my favorite track, a short selection of which may or will release with Unleashing the Storm Part II sometimes this winter (in the first 3 months of 2025). My final track selection for the 3rd album isn’t finished, but the first track of the Fury Wars Collector’s Album: Hellstar Run, for sure, will be on it.

Note: Please note that if I see an error or feel the need to add, modify or swap a track, I may do so at any time. The link will remain the same however, so feel free to redownload the file in the future and perhaps discover something has changed ;). Also if for any reasons you can’t download your bonuses, please just email me at christian@kallias.com.

DOWNLOAD YOUR COLLECTOR UNIVERSE IN FLAMES DIGITAL ARTBOOK

Download your Collector’s Artbook here, or click the Artbook’s cover.

Author’s note: As some of you may already know, I make my own illustrations (and now my own Music) for my Books. In 2024 I’ve spent a lot of time finding a new workflow that allows me to create even more Epic covers than ever before. I hope you’ll enjoy this Collector’s Edition (not available anywhere else) Artbook.

ALSO BY CHRISTIAN KALLIAS

—== Access All my Books Here ==—

christiankallias.com

The Universe in Flames Series

Book 0: Wings of Destiny* (more prequels in the works)

Book 1: Earth - Last Sanctuary (Definitive Edition)

Book 2: Fury to the Stars

Book 3: Destination Oblivion

Book 4: The Beginning of the End

Book 5: Rise of the Ultra Fury

Book 6: Shadows of Olympus

Book 7: Armageddon Unleashed

Book 8: Twilight of the Gods

Book 9: Requiem of Souls

Book 10: To End All Wars (Final Chapter)

Book 11: Nemesis

Book 12: Unleashed

Book 13: Reckoning

Book 14: Dominion

Book 15: Fireborn

Book 16: Atlantis

Book 17: Asunder

Books 1-17 also available in trilogies format.

Books 1 to 7 available on Audible (Book 8 in recording)

Extra: Damocles Fall (Definitive Edition)

Extra: Course Correction

* Wings of Destiny & Way of the Warrior are also available in the Universe in Flames - Origins series or through some box sets. The Box Sets contain other extra stories like Descent, Course Correction, Damocles Fall and others.

* * *

Universe in Flames in MUSIC Form

Albums with songs from the Book Series are now available, they’re the perfect companion to take Chase’s adventures with you on the go!

Album 1: Battlecry of the Galaxy

Album 2: Unleashing the Storm - Part I

Single Blood Brothers

Unleashing the Storm - Part II (coming this Winter / 2025)

More on STEELETERNAL.COM

Early access to new songs on Steel Eternal’s Patreon page.

You can also find my music on most streaming services (Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and more)

* * *

From Far Beyond Series

Book 1: Spaceship Down

Book 2: The Stranded Fleet

Book 3: Dark Empire

Book 4: The Battle for Earth

Book 5: Empire Mine

Book 6: Civil War

* * *

Rewind Series (get the entire series for free here)

Book 0: Out of Time

Book 1: Freedom’s End

Book 2: Pandemonium

Book 3: Nightfall

* * *

Galactic Tales (10 Epic Stories from Earth & Beyond) - soon to be unpublished, with more single “short” stories coming in 2025.

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NEWS UPDATE ABOUT THE AUDIOBOOKS

If you’re into audiobooks, I wholeheartedly recommend you check them out too here (65 hours of content with one Audible credit, it doesn’t get any better than this!!), as Zach’s narration and dramatic acting of each character truly elevate the series to near-movie levels (IMHO). Even though there are only 7 of the books (and most of the Extras except Shrouds’s Destiny & Descent) recorded, it’s still worth experimenting them in audio form too.

The good news is that Zachary Johnson finally resumed the recording AudioBook 8 (after 3 years of hiatus). No solid ETA yet (he’s never hit a single deadline that I can think of, and he’s also okay for me to tell the world about it too, I believe his own words were something like “feel free to throw me under the bus since my constant delays have damaged your brand”). Which I hesitated to do in the past, but seeing as so many people are EAGERLY awaiting and frustrated by the lack of continuation of Chase’s adventures in audio for over 3 years, and that it was a problem completely out of my hands to fix, I think transparency is the best policy here.

So fret not, and I’ll soon be posting 2 chapters of Book 8 on my YouTube channel, so make sure to subscribe to it if you want to listen to them soon. In the meantime there are some pretty cool Music Videos about my Universe in Flames songs there for you enjoy ;). I haven’t posted anything new on the channel for quite a while, but last I checked, I’m the only author (that I know of) who write books, makes his own cover art as well entire albums based on their stories (and video games and movies are the next frontiers I intend to conquer as well… I know… I’m certifiably nuts ;) ).

Jokes aside, if you know another author(s) who does all of this, let me know who they are, maybe I can become friends with him/her and he/she could give me tips on how to achieve more work in that somewhat frustrating 24h daily time-limit. Oh dear Time Chamber, where are thou? I would so totally jump inside it for 2 years (with only 2 days passing in the outside world, and craft a video game based on the series right now if that tech existed).

But I digress and you’re probably in a hurry to go read Book 11 rather than hear my ramblings. So off you go.

Thanks again for your support, from the bottom of my heart, to allow me to live from my multiple passions.

THANKS TO ALL MY PATRONS

Special thanks to the following people (Destroyer Captain & higher tiers) for supporting my work on Patreon:

Jefferson Nunn, Daniel Perret, Lain Laing, Cedric Perret, Michael Slezak, Kevin Moore, Alexander Dodge, Thomas Sipin, M.J. Smith, Richard Hotham, David Stewardson, John Gill, Kell Vagtholm, Nicholas Lepisto, Marc Maillard, Thomas Sipin, Kevin Moore, Sandro Cherubini.*

https://www.patreon.com/ChristianKallias

The new Patreon page for my UiF Metal Albums:

https://patreon.com/SteelEternal

*if your name is missing from this page, it could be an error, please let me know and I’ll update the file

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christian Kallias is a multiple (and All-Star) Bestselling, Award-winning Science Fiction author. He writes Science Fiction Space Opera with a Mythology twist and Fantasy influences.

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