Nemesis

by Christian Kallias

  “No, wait!”

  She stopped short. “What?”

  “I think I have an idea. . .”

  “Mind cueing me in?”

  “I was getting to it…if you would let me finish. We need to divide and conquer. Be ready to kill whoever steps through this door.”

  “You’re not seriously asking me to trust that you can invade these arachnoids’ bodies any better or faster than you did earlier?”

  “The guard was a warrior, his mind was strong. I’m pretty sure I’ll do better this time.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Would you prefer we broadcast our position if you’re not fast enough in your brute-force attempt?”

  “You better not mess this up, Ares.”

  “I won’t…I hope.” He said this last part under his breath.

  Ares entered the room in his invisible form, roaming around and getting a lay of the land. Nyx was correct in her assessment sensing two crewmen inside the room. It must have been a lab of some sort as there were three pods lined up against the right side of the wall.

  A thick layer of ice had turned the glass opaque so that Ares couldn’t tell if they were occupied or not. They bore a resemblance with the Earth Alliance stasis pods, and he wondered if they also shared a similar function. They’d have plenty of time to worry about that later. Right now he needed to make sure they could access the terminals to garner as much intel on the arachnoids as they could.

  The scientists worked in separate parts of the lab, which could play in Ares’ favor, but he needed to act before that changed. He chose the nearest arachnoid and approached him.

  I’m only gonna have one shot at this, better make it work.

  Ares invaded the scientist and felt the arachnoid’s mind try to fight him for control. As Ares had guessed, this mind was weaker than the guards. Still, it took a good ten seconds for him to gain control over the motor functions of the alien.

  Ares hated the sensory feedback he received from these half-man half-insectoid creatures. There was darkness in their minds, which felt like a black hole that could suck his sanity at the first sign of weakness on his part.

  He tried taking a couple of steps to confirm that he could use this body. They weren’t the most agile steps, but they would have to do. He turned and walked toward the door.

  I’m getting out in a few seconds, be ready to incapacitate this arachnoid, said Ares telepathically to Nyx.

  Ready, she answered.

  As he walked to the door, the other scientist uttered something in their distinctive language. His words were incomprehensible, but Ares could feel that their meaning posed a problem. He dismissed him with a wave of his hand but never turned, hoping that this distraction would buy him a few seconds.

  He heard sharper-toned words from the other scientist and then footsteps.

  No turning back now. Nyx, wait for the door to close before making your move.

  She didn’t answer, but he couldn’t wait for confirmation, and he walked out.

  The moment the doors began closing, he sent another telepathic message.

  I’ll invade the second one; get inside when you’ve dealt with this one.

  Ares didn’t stay to see how Nyx would deal with the body he just presented her. He teleported back to where he estimated the other scientist would be and arrived a couple of meters behind it. Ares propelled his consciousness inside this second being.

  His mind resisted much more than the first one, and Ares struggled to invade it fast enough before the scientist reacted.

  Crap. Nyx, hurry!

  Ares felt the newly invaded body trying to reach a red button on a nearby console. He fought with all his might to try to gain control over the arm, which trembled as a result but kept advancing little by little.

  Shit!

  A centimeter before its elongated furry fingers touched the holo-control, Ares registered intense pain and saw the hand severed from the arm and plopped onto the floor. He felt the vocal cords of the body constrict on their own before feeling intense heat. Then there was nothing.

  Ares was no longer connected to the body, and he witnessed a headless figure fall in front of him, smoke rising from the neck and a pungent smell of burnt flesh invaded the room.

  There stood Nyx, a palm still extended. Hanging from her other hand was what was left of the first scientist. She let this one fall to the floor as well.

  “Good job, Ares.”

  He wanted to say that if she hadn’t intervened at that moment, she probably wouldn’t be congratulating him, but he knew better than to feed the fire of Nyx’s explosive soul with gasoline if it wasn’t needed.

  “Thanks. Do you mind my asking how you knew about this place?”

  “It’s one of the labs where they experimented on me, and it’s not something I’d like to reminisce about any further, so if you don’t mind, let’s get to…”

  “What is it?” asked Ares when she let the words hang.

  “Kind of a moot point now, but wouldn’t it have been simpler for you to wait outside with the first scientist while I killed this one?”

  “Now that you mention it…”

  “Status?” asked Talon.

  “Well, we’re still breathing, but you probably didn’t need me to tell you that.”

  Talon smiled. “Anything on our sensors?”

  “Not yet. But, then again, we’re still inside the cluster.”

  “ETA to exit?”

  “Just about now. Let’s hope your theory was correct, or this will be a very short trip.”

  “Don’t jinx it, will ya?”

  “Sorry, Captain. Exiting the nebula cluster in 10. . .9. . .8…—Uh-oh.”

  “Mind elaborating, my insectoid friend?”

  “Up until a minute ago, I still had a faint signal of the shuttle. I can’t detect it anymore.”

  “Which means…”

  “Well, either our sensors can’t penetrate the cluster at this distance or—”

  “Or the crew got what they deserved.”

  Tar’Lock clicked twice. “A bit harsh don’t you think?”

  “Considering that we don’t have anything resembling an escape pod anymore, I’m not so sure. I never liked the lot of them, anyway.”

  Tar’Lock still thought it was a little cold, but he could see why the captain had reached this conclusion. The rest of the crew had indeed made their decision, but there was no reason to focus on that at the moment.

  “If they were destroyed, shouldn’t we cut off all engines and let our momentum carry us out? I’m afraid that even with our engines at thirty percent, the spider ship might still be able to detect us. Especially when we factor in the amount of damage we’ve already taken.”

  The ship emerged from the nebula cluster, and the viewport of the Bellerophon turned black, and within seconds, the stars appeared.

  “Captain?”

  “Very well, kill the engines. Let’s hope it’s not too late.”

  The faint hum of the ship’s engines died out, and the lights on the bridge faded to nothingness as the Bellerophon silently drifted into the deep black unknown.

  18

  Nyx interfaced with the arachnoid ship’s operating system. She could tell Ares had no idea what she was doing or what any of it meant. Not that she was one hundred percent certain herself.

  “Anything yet?” inquired an anxious Ares.

  “What part of ‘I’m not fluent with their language’ didn’t you get?”

  “I don’t think we should stay here too long, we risk being discovered.”

  “Luckily for us, Zarna isn’t in a hurry to visit me in the brig. What I don’t understand is why they didn’t notice my absence from the cell already. That spider bitch is obsessed with me. I have a hard time imagining not having me surveilled all the time. I would think by now the entire ship would be roaming with guards trying to catch me.”

  “As far as they know, you’re still in there.”

  Nyx’s eyebrows
raised. “Mind explaining that one to me?”

  “I’m projecting a holographic version of you sleeping in your bed.”

  “What? How?”

  “I’m not even sure I can explain the how, but let’s just say that there’s a lot more I can do without a body just by thinking about it.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense, but whatever. I’ll chuck that one into the good news category. Though I can’t imagine not having a body. I think I’d miss simple pleasures like touching, eating, kissing, and well…you know.”

  “Yeah, I know, I’d appreciate if you didn’t remind me what I’ve lost. For now, let’s be grateful I can do these things, though it is taking a toll on my energy levels. Probably explains why I had such a hard time invading the second crewman.”

  Nyx turned to face his golden form. “What happens if your energy levels deplete?”

  “Off the top of my head? Alarms blaring, all hell breaking loose, and more unpleasant things I would imagine.”

  “That’s not what I meant, Ares.”

  “I don’t really know, and I’d rather not find out.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Nyx nodded and returned her attention to the holo-interface when something caught her attention.

  “What’s this?” she added.

  “Did you find something?”

  “No, Ares, I just felt like saying that out loud.”

  “Very funny. What is it?”

  “If I’m reading this right, and I very well could be mistaken…”

  “Last I checked, I’m still not able to read spider—ish…

  She gave him a look. “Spiderish?”

  “You know what I mean. So, if you wouldn’t mind spelling it out for me, so I’m kept in the loop. . . ”

  “Hang on, Olympian, let me make sure I understand this first. Okay…it seems to be schematics for an inter-dimensional something. I’m not sure about this symbol,” said Nyx pointing at the interface. “Could be engine.”

  “And that’s a good thing why?”

  “For one, it could be our ticket home.”

  “Yeah, but we’d be bringing gods know how many Spectres with us. I’d rather we didn’t do that.”

  “I haven’t seen a single Spectre since I got captured, and I’ve spent quite some time on board.”

  “Well, you may not, but I have. There’s one on the bridge, so there could potentially be more. . .as this is kind of a massive ship.”

  “Wait a second. There’s a Spectre on board?”

  “Yes, at least one that I know of. Why?”

  “Spectres are not the kind of creatures we want to pick a fight with.”

  “I’m aware of that. As a matter of fact, let’s try and make sure we don’t even make contact. What else can you tell me about the engine?”

  Nyx frowned. “It’s not only schematics. Unless I’m mistaken, it’s this ships’ secondary engine, but it’s never been used, and if I’m reading this right, the crew is set to test it in a few hours.”

  “Why a few hours? Why haven’t they tested it already?”

  “I don’t think you’re going to like the answer to that question.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “They’re waiting for a fleet of ships to meet them first.”

  “So what you’re telling me is that it’s not a test but an invasion?”

  “Looks that way.”

  “We have to stop it.”

  Nyx stared at Ares. “Do we now?”

  “The thought of bringing one Spectre to the other side was troublesome enough. Even though I’m pretty sure there are already a few that made it in the other dimension, the last thing we need is to let them establish a foothold. We just can’t.”

  “For the sake of argument, let’s assume I give a shit about the state of our dimension, you know, now that my people are gone and all that. I don’t see what you and I can do about it.”

  “I’m sure I can formulate a plan; you’ll just have to tell me more about the technology.”

  “It was hard enough locating it inside the computer, but Ares, I’m not an engineer,” protested Nyx. “Even if I can identify the meaning of symbols, I won’t be able to understand how the technology works.”

  “Then perhaps you need to share what you know with me some other way.”

  “Why do I get the feeling I won’t like what that entails?”

  Chase cradled his head in his hands. He was sitting alone at a table in the Iron Fire’s mess hall. Since it was late, there were only a few crewmen around.

  Argos approached him and looked at the empty plate in front of his twin brother.

  “What did you get? Pizza?”

  “Actually, I felt like having Asian tonight, so I went with Pad Thai. A little spicy for my taste, but delicious, nonetheless.”

  Argos sat across from Chase. “How are you doing?”

  “Taking into account that we almost all died a few hours ago, I guess I’m okay. You?”

  “Same here, but we both know that’s not what I meant.”

  Chase smiled. “What did you mean then?”

  “I see…You want me to spell it out,” Argos paused and nodded before continuing. “How do you feel about Chris? He hasn’t been displaying much affection toward you, and I’m sure you sensed the tension.”

  “Oh…that. I’m not sure how I feel. Obviously, I’m sad at our current rapport, but I’m not an idiot either. Whatever bridge I burned between us, I’m not fooling myself into thinking there will be an easy fix. Like, for example, going out on a death-defying mission and hope it will magically rekindle a father-son love with the snap of my fingers. Even though Chris’ body and mind matured at an accelerated rate, he’s way more mature than I gave him credit for. He’s his own person with his own demons to deal with. I’m gonna let him decide what’s best for him.”

  “That’s the last thing I expected you to say, but I’m glad you’re looking at it from this perspective. I think it’s very healthy.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, I tried controlling everything, including the safety of my family during the Fury War. I did everything I could to protect them both. To such an extent that I made unilateral decisions I ended up regretting. The universe doesn’t give you points for succumbing to fear, and I learned that lesson the hard way, and by association, so has my son. I’m fully aware my actions brought Sarah to the brink of death.”

  Argos’ face darkened. “Since we’re on that subject, I don’t think the universe rewards blame either.”

  Chase chuckled. “I bet it doesn’t.”

  “At the end of the day, you two will either mend your fences or you won’t. Just give yourselves the time you need to work things out. And we may have found exactly what we were looking for—a potential cure.”

  “I can’t lose her, Argos.”

  “And as long as I have life in me, I’ll do everything to make sure you don’t. So will Chris. But you need to believe it too.”

  “Thank you, Brother.”

  “Anytime, Chase. Now, I don’t know if this is the right time, but there’s something else I wanted to discuss with you.”

  Chase nodded. “Sure, what do you want to talk about?”

  “Aren’t you the least bit surprised that Ka’Rij called you Dragonheart? I mean, isn’t that the nickname your Atlantian soul ship chose for you?”

  “It is. I don’t know what to think of it. But the fact that Ka’Rij is mentioning some sort of prophecy is what got my attention.”

  Argos smiled. “Yeah, I could see why. Last time someone came at you with the concept of prophecy, we engaged in an intergalactic war.”

  “One in which I almost killed you.”

  “I wish I could say I hold a grudge, but let’s be honest about it. Back then I deserved it. Obviously, I’m glad you didn’t, which is a testament to what a good heart you have. When you’re not wallowing in self-pity that is.”

  Chase laughed. “Touché!”

  “Yes,” Chase continued
. “If Daniel hadn’t stopped me, I would have killed you aboard Damocles-3. I was ready to, I’m sorry to say. This conversation is taking a rather macabre turn, perhaps we should change the subject.”

  “Not on my account, no. I’ve had plenty of time to go over my evil ways and learn from them. In fact, I wonder if a part of me didn’t actually want to die. I felt alone, and even with all the power I acquired by managing the Zarlacks and enslaving the Obsidian Empire, I still felt like something was missing in my life. I wasn’t able to pinpoint what it was, and not in a million years did I think I would let go of my thirst for power, but, by putting my life in your hands, everything changed for the better. So thank you for that, and I’m glad you listened to Daniel. What other pearls of wisdom did he impart on you?”

  “He’s the one who convinced me to bring everyone along.”

  “Looks like you’re learning from your past. How does that play into the Dragonman’s plight?”

  “We’ll help him. Not only because he saved our butts, but because I can’t feel any ill will emanating from him. He just wants to save his people. For a change, it’s good being the ones being asked for help rather than the ones needing it. Don’t you think?”

  “Yes. I just hope we’re not heading into another war. We know virtually nothing of the enemy we’ll be facing. Ka’Rij made the biggest, most powerful creature we’ve ever seen crawl in fear and turn tail. Doesn’t that worry you about what is expected of us?”

  “I thought you were trying to help me not go back to my control-freak ways and over-worrying patterns?”

  Argos chuckled. “Right. My bad. It’s gonna be a piece of cake.”

  “It feels like destiny all over again, Argos. I fought the concept every step of the way during the Fury War, thinking that destiny was a burden, and I think, for this reason over others, that’s why the outcome wasn’t the one I expected. Since we’ve moved to the philosophical portion of this chat, I think perhaps it’s time for me to accept that there is a destiny for each and every one of us.”

  Chase could tell from the look of shock on his brother’s face that he didn’t expect to hear this from him.