Galactic Destiny

by Alex Guerra

  Dotty maneuvered us away from the Darkkon ship as quickly as possible. The countdown couldn’t have much time left.

  I was almost to the bridge when Dotty said, “Detonation complete, brace for impact.”

  I grabbed a railing nearby and waited. A rain of shrapnel and debris pelted The Pillar before subsiding.

  On the bridge, the viewports retracted, and the bridge’s starboard side filled with a blue haze which quickly slipped out of view. Enemy ship pieces flew in all directions from the explosion’s center. It was too far behind us to see, but the main screen showed the area where the ship once was. It looked like a pale, blue paint drop against the blackness of space.

  The team erupted in cheers. Their sweaty faces filled with joy.

  Looking down at the manipulator cradled in my arms, my heart rate settled. Destiny handed us a gift today.

  THREE

  The wormhole manipulator was unlike anything I imagined. It looked too simple to perform something as complex as warping an entire ship around the galaxy. Dotty pulled up the schematics for the Darkkon modifications. I hoped we could give it to the conglomerate for mass production and upgrade the fleet; however, it was unknown if the Darkkon Empire was already doing this themselves.

  The A.I. instructed me to install the device in the core room. It was Yau technology and still in working order. I seated the manipulator in the empty slot with a click, just below the empty catalyst cradle. The catalyst—which would turn The Pillar into a super weapon— also eluded me. The wormhole manipulator was supposedly rare, and yet, we had one right in front of us now. I didn’t allow the catalyst’s rarity to bother me as much at that moment. There was still a chance of obtaining one with the right information—and a ton of luck.

  As I worked in the core room with Dotty, Ellar patched up Tal’s wound, which was more of a graze than something serious. Some of the team went outside to survey the ship’s damage. It was minor, only partially puncturing into The Pillar’s thick hull without penetrating all the way through and scratching off some color. There was no compromise in hull integrity, but the team needed to remove the three tendrils clinging to the ship which took time. Burrowed far into the hull, the hooks revealed possible weak points. There was no way to repair the ship out here. We needed to make sure we could continue our journey safely.

  Once the team removed all the hooks and chucked them into space, they gathered on the bridge once again. We didn’t know what to expect when Dotty plugged in the coordinates to Fengar. Besides the A.I., none of the crew had ever gone through a wormhole. The travel time should, theoretically, be instantaneous. The shortcut would shave almost two weeks off our original trip. The team didn’t complain when they heard the numbers, and neither did I. While Seya and I took several long trips before, they were often boring. There was only so much training, meditation, and studying one could do before monotony sank in.

  Dotty commanded the ship to start the new subroutine to open a wormhole. The space before The Pillar shimmered against the system behind it, distorting the view like ripples in a pond. The wormhole turned opaque with a green light, slowly revolving into a tear. From its center, the image cleared and opened like an iris, delivering a window into another system. With the wormhole now stable, the ship inched forward, nosing into the tunnel. Within a minute, The Pillar advanced its way through and arrived in the new system.

  The rear camera feeds captured the tear dissipate within seconds, leaving a green stain in its previous location. The team quietly gasped as the jump completed. Feeling lightheaded, I realized I was holding my breath the entire time. Looking around, the entire team’s faces held slack-jawed amazement.

  It worked.

  “Holy shit…” I muttered in astonishment.

  Before anyone else could comment on the spectacle, Dotty spoke up.

  “Incoming conglomerate ships. Several are converging on our location,” said the A.I.

  “Uh—right. Begin transmitting a friendly signal to them. We don’t want to appear aggressive,” I reasoned.

  The conglomerate likely thought this was an invasion of some sort. No one would have ever seen anything like this before.

  “Arthur, we are being hailed,” said Dotty.

  “Put it on screen,” I said.

  An alien dressed in a conglomerate officer’s uniform, possessing pale, green skin with traces of leaves or branches, appeared on the centermost display.

  “Unidentified vessel, this is Captain Amon Petus of the Fengar Patrol Vessel Ninivet. Your ship does not hold any identification signature. Maintain your non-aggressive posture and state your business,” the plant-based alien’s deep voice boomed over the bridge’s speakers.

  The team gathered around me, waiting for my response.

  I took a deep breath and puffed my chest out slightly. “Ninivet, this is Captain Arthur Holland of The Pillar. We have traveled from the Vallus system to bring word to the two Circles of Fengar,” I said and was greeted with a look of skepticism in return.

  “Your ship entered from an unknown starlane, how did you enter the system?” asked the officer.

  “Our ship uses ancient technology, something I cannot adequately explain. Simply put, we arrived using a wormhole,” I said, knowing had we not exited in plain sight, the alien captain would’ve doubted the explanation.

  “Ancient technology…” the captain mused for a moment.” However improbable that may seem, there is no other explanation for how you ended up in the system at your present location. Wait—” The captain paused, pressing a few keys on his seat. “Is that Seya Aranis?”

  Seya stepped forward. “That is correct, Captain,” she said. “What Captain Holland says is true. We have an urgent message from Vallus to give to the two Circles.”

  It was nice to have someone so credible with me in times like these, as other screens showed more conglomerate vessels approaching our position.

  “Captain Petus, we request entry to Fengar to complete our mission,” I said with finality.

  “Standby one moment, Captain,” the alien officer replied. The video call audio cut out, but the officer continued to move and speak.

  After the officer spoke to someone off-screen for a few minutes, he resumed our conversation.

  “Captain is your ship able to enter the atmosphere, or will you be taking a secondary ship to the surface?” he asked.

  “We have transport,” I answered.

  “Very well, follow me to these orbital coordinates. From there, you have permission to land on the planet,” said the officer.

  “Thank you, Captain. Following your lead.” I said.

  Ninivet broke away from its position, heading towards the designated area alongside two other vessels. Dotty automatically brought us into formation with the escort and followed.

  “Everyone, get what you want to bring along aboard Dagger, so we can move out right away,” I said to the group.

  “You heard him, get going,” said Kayton, springing the troops into action. Their faces brightened, and they all made their way out of the bridge.

  “I’ll try to contact my friend from the Outer Council—see if she will be available to meet us when we land,” said Seya.

  “Good idea. Keep me updated,” I said as she left.

  I took a seat in my captain’s chair, letting out a long and drawn out sigh. Combing my fingers through my hair a few times, I accessed my dataslate.

  Dotty uploaded photos and blueprints of the wormhole manipulator to my dataslate. I swiped through the device a few times, not understanding a word of it. Besides bringing the message from Vallus...we also brought one hell of a gift.

  *****

  Dagger scraped the red-orange clouds as we approached the Fengar capital city of Kestar. Three starfighters escorted us, their hulls painted in an ensemble of bright red and gold colors. From the cockpit, a bed of nails protruded from atop the imposing teal dome near the middle of the bustling city, the building dominating the center of their architecture. The
beige buildings were countless, and Kester’s outer wall enclosed the entirety of the capital. Along its eastern edge, the orange glow of sunrise scaled the cliffs of the shoreline, continuing upwards onto walls estimated to be hundreds of feet in height. Adorning the walls were bastilles—heavily fortified with gun emplacements. As Dagger drew closer, the variety of armaments were apparent. Many pointed up towards the sky while others pointed outwards like fingers splayed out among the partitions.

  In the countryside’s rolling hills, people in brightly colored clothes tended the farmlands. However, it would be a stretch to say the people were farming, as it appeared they were mostly supervising the heavily automated system in place. It was hard to tell from this distance, but perhaps they weren’t really people at all, and instead were automatons themselves. Seya only alluded to automated helpers when she spoke about her childhood on Ilo, but until now, I never actually saw one up close before. There were robots crudely thrown together on Gwei-yon—sure, but I didn’t count those as anything better than the stuff on Earth before I left.

  “Three minutes until arrival,” said Dotty, snapping me out of my daze.

  “I haven’t been here for many years,” said Seya, looking out at the fortress.

  “Excited to see your old friend?” I asked.

  “It will be the first familiar face I have seen in a long time.” She nodded slowly. “I wish it were under different circumstances.”

  The escort strike ships broke off from the formation, banking sharply and disappearing into the rising sun. When we touched down, a group of troopers and uniformed officials were near the landing pad. I stood at the back of the file of troopers as we exited Dagger.

  I straightened out my new uniform top—a gift from Seya, who insisted I dressed the part of captain when we reached Fengar. Until now, my wardrobe limited me to some variation of the familiar bodyglove. Over the last week, she had been toying with The Pillar’s fabricator. Wanting something more formal than what we wore into combat or lounging aboard the ship, she created the custom tops for the both of us.

  The top took influences from conglomerate uniforms, with a hint of Darkkon flare. While I didn’t peg her for someone who thought much about how she dressed, Seya was a former princess. She didn’t stop meeting officials after joining the conglomerate—not while she remained an icon.

  I snuck a finger around the high collar of the top. Her measurements were spot on, but the foreign garb would take some getting used to. Wrapping the red shoulder cape around my arm deftly, I gave the blaster on my hip a quick pat. I would most likely never brandish the weapon during our stay in the heart of the Galactic Conglomerate, but it was a part of my daily attire over the past couple months, and I felt naked without it. Without the armor wrapped around my lower half, the white variation of the bodyglove accentuated my strong legs, and the clean pair of black combat boots adorning my feet, completed the look.

  I made sure the entire team looked sharp for our arrival as I felt the need to make a good first impression with the conglomerate higher-ups. I considered my getup to be my new “Dress Blues” like I had in the Marines for more special occasions, although, in this instance, they would be more aptly considered “Dress Whites”.

  Seya gave me a once-over, admiring her handiwork, followed by a quick nod of approval.

  “You look good,” she said.

  “I can say the same to you.” I gestured to the rear of the dropship. “Please, after you.”

  We stepped out onto the landing pad, where the officials greeted us. A slender woman came forward with a big, welcoming smile—her white teeth starkly contrasted her dark, blue appearance. A golden circlet tamed her long, black hair down against the ocean breeze.

  “Seya, I’m so glad to see you’re alright,” said the woman, reaching in to give Seya a hug. Her uniform’s large shoulders wrapped tightly around Seya, enveloping the princess in a sea of red from her long, flowing dress.

  “It’s good to be back, Lena,” said Seya, smiling broadly.

  “Let me look at you,” said Lena, grabbing Seya’s arms and examining her. “You look well. I see you haven’t stopped your training.” She gave the Darkkon woman’s arm a small squeeze in admiration.

  “Never,” said Seya. The two turned to the team and me. “These are some new friends I’ve made.”

  “These are the most people I have seen you travel with. You are certainly maturing,” said Lena with a grin as Seya rolled her eyes.

  “This is Arthur Holland,” said Seya, introducing me. “Arthur, this is Lena Marscos.”

  She gave me a familiar look—the same one everyone gives when seeing me for the first time next to the former princess. Before I could open my mouth to explain, the woman spoke up.

  “Hello, Arthur, I have never seen your kind before. Is your species new to these regions?” asked Lena.

  She’s more perceptive, I thought.

  “You could say that. Though I doubt you’ll be seeing another human anytime soon,” I said, extending my two hands outwards. “A pleasure.”

  The woman took my hands in hers, and we gave each other a curt bow. I glanced at the golden circle she had pinned to her breast. It must be the symbol for the Outer Circle, I thought.

  “With us is Commander Kayton Kol, and her team from Vallus,” I said, gesturing to Kayton and the others. She snapped a sharp salute in return.

  “Vallus is a long way from here…” Lena raised an eyebrow. “Seya did mention something important regarding your arrival from that region.” Looking to Seya, her face turned serious. “What happened?”

  “The Darkkon Empire is moving against the planet of Vallus and all adjacent systems in open war,” replied Seya, straight to the point. “When we left the system, the Darkkon fleet was mobilizing for invasion. We won’t know what else happened until we receive an update by skip drone.”

  A look of horror washed over Lena and the others with the news. They gasped and spoke among themselves.

  “Seya, why would this happen?” asked Lena.

  “I believe it has something to do with my brother,” said Seya.

  “Ibram…” she pursed her lips. “What did you do?”

  “Let’s talk about this in a more private area,” said Seya, placing a hand on her hip.

  Lena looked about the landing pad and agreed. “Of course, you have all been on a long journey. We will get you settled in, but we will speak about this shortly,” said Lena, holding up a finger.

  She turned and walked alongside Seya ahead of the group while I hung back with Kayton and the rest of the team.

  “That’s probably the worst gift you could bring someone after not seeing them in forever,” said Kayton next to me, as we followed the group into the large open building near the landing pads.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Bad news,” she said.

  I admired the sunrise over the ocean. It reminded me of a time I was in Vero Beach on vacation when I was a kid. My sister and I visited my grandparents in this little beach house right on the shore. Our parents took a week-long anniversary trip to Europe. Opa and Oma would take Josie and me out onto the beach first thing in the morning. I remember Opa teaching me how to fish, while Oma and Josie were playing in the sand, building castles. My sister was always an artist, even at that young age. She tried her hardest to decorate her castles with shells and twigs she found along the shore. We had plenty of photos in an album of that trip—with all her years as a journalist, Oma was a wizard with a camera.

  If only Josie could see me in this castle-fortress now…

  Lena and her entourage guided us through the halls of the fortress. There were both large and small decorations positioned at specific intervals throughout our short journey. Carefully inlaid and patterned gray marble floors, accentuated the area in an intricate design that put Earth’s most luxurious mansions to shame. Teal pillars and support beams rose nearly fifty feet into the air, supporting the sturdy and exotic tile roof above. Crimson, wreath-l
ike decorations adorned the ceiling, crashing and flowing like a sea of blood. Well-dressed figures stood around in groups or sat at tables, speaking quietly among themselves and indulging in small plates that would be more at home in an expensive five-star restaurant. The people eyed us with curiosity as we slipped by, regarding Seya mostly, but keeping to themselves out of respect for the current situation. As we got closer to them, their reactions were the unanimous giddiness and star-struck approval that Seya commonly left in her wake.

  We were still hundreds of feet up from the ground level. I ran my hand over a gold railing a few feet from the edge of the inner wall we stood on. It overlooked a garden with a large, silver obelisk at its center adorned with inscriptions. There was no way of seeing what it said from this distance without the aid of my helmet.

  “I’ve never been into this stuff,” blurted Kayton.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Decorations, gaudy appearances,” she said, dismissing it all with a shrug. “Probably from my lack of a ‘refined’ upbringing. No time for fine art when you’re fighting for survival and secrecy is always the priority.”

  “I can see that,” I said, pondering her lifestyle. “I’m sure this is pretty tame compared to what the Empire has back home in their capitals.” I pointed my chin in Seya’s direction.

  “Oh, definitely,” she scoffed.

  I didn’t care for interior decorating either. The walls of my home were largely bare, save for a mounted television in the living room and a few framed photos of my family or my squad and me while in Afghanistan. Most of my money went into my garage and my small collection of weapons—once I covered the basics. The extra stuff often just got in the way, and I was always moving it around. The less, the better, I thought.