Nemesis

by Christian Kallias

  “What?” said Argos. “That makes little sense. We Furies can also sense these things, at very large distances, and I’m not sensing it now.”

  “Perhaps, but trust me when I say that my senses are more acute than yours in these matters. I’m certain friends of yours are in danger. You can always come back and help us later. As a matter of fact, we’ll probably need you to do so, as the Empire will return in greater numbers. But for the time being, we can deal with the remaining bases.”

  “Then we should go,” said Chase.

  Back onboard the Iron Fire, Chase, Argos, Chris, and Ka’Rij were heading to the bridge. Chase had already asked Daniel telepathically to enter hyperspace and push the engines to their absolute maximum the moment they stepped aboard.

  “Tell me, my dragon friend,” said Chase. “Can you tell me more about what you’ve sensed?”

  “I sense something regarding members of your family, Chase,” said Ka’Rij. “More specifically, the one who gave you and your brother birth. I would say anxiety and sadness. I also sense an old enemy now turned ally in jeopardy, fear permeates that man’s thoughts right now. As well as a mentor, trapped in a land far, far away, trying to return to you with troublesome news.”

  Chase’s heartbeat accelerated furiously. Was Ka’Rij talking about Athena, Altair, and Ares? Was Ares still alive somehow?

  “How can you know all of this?”

  “As I said, we have a powerful bond with the universe. We’ve sensed for a while now that the biggest threat the universe would ever face is building up.”

  “Then you were right, Chase,” said Chris. “Spectres will come back.”

  “Tell me this,” asked Chase, “we’ve fought a terrible war about a year ago, have you sensed the ripples from that war?”

  “Yes, through a faint connection with a man who has forgotten who he is, but still, we knew a large-scale conflict had taken place, but only after the fact. That war feels more like it was a test of your resolve, a way for the universe to see if you had what it took to face the real threats to its very existence. You see, we are the universe. You, me, everyone, is part of that one sentient being, and that being or entity that the universe is knows when danger is near. We pick up on these emotions and can sense them through the many invisible energies and connections that exist between living individuals.”

  “Can we help any of them?” asked Chase. “Is there still time?”

  “There was never any time for you to be a part of this conflict; you chose a different path coming here, looking for new allies and a cure for your wife. But this part of your journey is at an end now. I’ll return with you and help your wife. Since we came back to the ship, I’ve had more insights into a few different people you’re connected to, and I believe they’ll prevail. You, Chase, seem to be a nexus point; you’ve created a powerful network of individual connections. These are in play as we speak, and I think they’ll prevail on their own.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I’m not seeing the future, just sensing emotions from people I don’t know personally, but the picture I’m sensing tells me that these people you’ve formed connections with, they’re capable of taking care of themselves.”

  Chase was not sure he liked the sound of that. He hated being far away when people he cared about were in danger. But Ka’Rij’s words somehow echoed with the telepathic pep talk he had earlier with Chris. If the Spectres were coming, then his son was right. Chase would not be able to deal with this enemy if he kept looking back to the past. He needed to ground himself to the present and make sure his head was in it for the win.

  Still, his curiosity was quite strong, and so he had to ask about Ares.

  “Is Ares still alive?”

  “If you’re referring to your old mentor? Yes. Though the true definition of alive is a little blurry in his case since he’s been lacking a physical body for some time now. Is that who you’re talking about? Someone that died but still exists on another plane of existence as pure energy?”

  Whatever doubts Chase had regarding Ka’Rij’s abilities just vanished upon hearing these words. He certainly did have a special connection with the universe, and he wasn’t just blowing smoke up Chase’s ass, no matter how farfetched it all sounded at first.

  The Dragonman couldn’t possibly have known so much about Ares unless he felt all of this from Chase’s connections or, at the very least, the residual emotions he had toward all these people. To Chase, the fact that on a certain level, imperceptible to most, everything was connected made sense.

  “He’s fighting to come back to your dimension,” added Ka’Rij. “The odds are stacked against him, but if anything, he’s quite the resourceful fellow. Death itself doesn’t seem to have a grasp on this soul.”

  The description the Dragonman provided was clearly Ares. Which meant he was alive and in the other dimension. Hopefully, he would find his way back to them. Chase had missed his mentor tremendously, especially in the last few months. His guidance, his words of wisdom, and his presence; something Chase had taken for granted for so long, and on a personal level, Ares was someone that Chase relied on and missed dearly.

  With any luck, the dragon tears would also help Aphroditis.

  “We left kind of in a hurry, you didn’t even inform your people.”

  Ka’Rij smiled. “They already know.”

  Right. Because of their connections to each other, they would have known everything that Ka’Rij knew. Chase wondered if he would ever develop such a connection with the universe himself one day.

  26

  The Hercules shook as the spider ship attached to its hull.

  “Status report?” asked Altair.

  “Power regeneration has stopped!” one of his officers shouted.

  The timer on the captain’s chair was indeed frozen.

  “How?”

  “Unknown.”

  “Theorize, please.”

  “The only explanation that makes sense is the spider ship is siphoning our power at the same rate we’re recharging our systems.”

  “With what we have, is there anything we can power?”

  “It will take a toll if we drain the energy before the process is complete, but I can safely, at the least, get us sensors and communications.”

  “What about weapons or engines?”

  The officer shook his head. “Not a chance.”

  Dammit!

  Altair had not foreseen this. He had assumed they would be in trouble for a minute while the power systems recharged, but it never occurred to him this period could be extended due to external factors.

  “Restore those systems. We need to know what the enemy ship is up to.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  The officer entered a few commands, and light partially returned to the bridge, and some holo-screens came back to life.

  There was no need to check with his crewman as Altair could see with his own eyes what the sensors displayed. His officer had been correct, and the enemy ship was somehow siphoning power from the Hercules, and in doing so, it was overloading its own engines.

  “They’re trying to blow us to hell by overloading their power core,” said Altair, his voice unsteady.

  “I’m afraid so,” said the officer. “In five minutes, their core will reach critical condition, and then…”

  The officer didn’t finish his sentence. He didn’t need to.

  And then we would all die.

  Nyx appeared on the bridge, and she didn’t wait for the enemy to react to her presence. She reached with her mind and killed every crew member with a strong telekinetic push, blowing their heads before they even knew what was happening.

  Dead bodies crumpled onto the cold, hard floor. A dark figure sitting in a chair a few meters in front of her stood up.

  “Impressive. I can see why Zarna was obsessed with you. You’ll indeed serve our needs well,” said the Spectre.

  “I don’t think so. I’ve already taken care of your freak sho
w experiment involving my DNA. You’re not using it to create an army of brainless warriors.”

  “What you think you know and what is true are two different things. As for your DNA, there’s plenty more where that came from. You should never have come here.”

  “Enough talking, asshole. I’m here to kill you.”

  “You’re welcome to try.”

  Nyx opened fire on the Spectre with three orange fireballs that he blocked with ease.

  She tried sending more attacks, but her muscles stopped working.

  The Spectre walked toward her.

  “You’re no different from all the other scum inhabiting this universe. You’re weak, feeble, and no more than an insect. Your excessive pride and ego are the reasons why it will be so easy to kill you and everyone else in the other dimension.”

  The more Nyx tried to move, the more pain and resistance she felt. An invisible force paralyzed her.

  The Spectre came closer. He smelled her and pierced her with his gaze.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” she said. Even the act of talking was a painful endeavor.

  “Your soul smells delicious. I’m looking forward to assimilating it into the thousands of warrior souls I’ve already defeated over the eons.”

  Nyx had heard stories over the years about the Spectres and their soul-sucking abilities, but she always dismissed it as myth to scare the inhabitants of this dimension. Obviously, there was some truth to it after all.

  She had no intention of letting her soul be sucked out as a trophy. She dug deep and expanded her aura, trying to muster up the energy to break free, but it didn’t work.

  Ares had been right, she shouldn’t have wasted time engaging the enemy with words. She should have attacked him immediately when he wasn’t ready for her. But it didn’t matter now. She couldn’t turn back time, and she needed to find a way to get herself out of his grasp.

  While no muscles would move, there was still one thing she could try. She waited until the Spectre’s head aligned perfectly with her eyes and then she opened fire. Two orange laser-thin energy blasts shot from her eyes and burnt through the Spectre’s brain.

  Chris felt his father’s presence at his quarters’ door. He knew that they eventually would need to talk about their relationship, but he didn’t feel like it.

  There was very little he wanted to add on the matter, so he didn’t answer. Eventually, when Chase rang a second and third time, Chris resigned himself.

  “Come in.”

  Chase entered. “You have a minute, Son?”

  “Sure,” said Chris, a little sharper than he meant. “I guess. Take a seat.” Chris gestured toward the nearest chair.

  “That’s okay, I’d rather stand.”

  “Suit yourself. What can I help you with?”

  “I wanted to get your read on Ka’Rij.”

  Sure, divert the conversation from the real reason you’re here. Predictable.

  “He seems like a stand-up guy, dragon, whatever he is. I like him myself. Do you doubt him?”

  “No, not at all, I mean he did save all our lives. I only wonder if his tears will be enough to save your mom.”

  “It’s not like we didn’t try everything else up till now. Haven’t we?”

  Chase nodded. “We have.”

  “Now that this is out of the way, why are you really here?”

  Chase smiled briefly. “This may be a long journey. Getting your mother back.”

  “Or, it may be a short one, and Ka’Rij’s tears will heal her.”

  “I don’t want us to get our hopes up, that’s all.”

  “Yeah, optimism hasn’t been your strong suit for quite some time. You’re probably already worrying about Altair, Ares, and Athena.”

  “Aren't you? She’s your grandmother after all.”

  “She shares your taste for distant family relationships, so, not really.”

  Athena also had not lived the end of the war well—losing the man she loved. Chase definitely could relate to how she felt but understood why Chris would feel the way he does.

  “They were looking for a new world to settle, and she’s still grieving.”

  Chris sighed. “There’s always something. Always excuses for people’s shitty behavior. As for worrying, I choose not to. Ka’Rij said they had to deal with their threats on their own and it was unlikely we’d get there in time to help any of them.”

  Chris reminded Chase of how impetuous and borderline arrogant he was when all of this started. In fact, it was even earlier, at the academy, when he was riding on his high horse, thinking he was the best pilot in the entire Star Alliance. And even if he was just that, back then he wasn’t aware the reason for that edge over his fellow pilots was due to his Fury genes.

  “Look,” Chris continued. “Let’s trust that our friends can take care of themselves. Destiny will attend to itself.”

  Chris didn’t need to probe his father to guess how that last sentence would land. His father struggled with the concept of destiny ever since Aphroditis first contacted him.

  “Understood. I miss your mother, I hope you know that. I miss you, too.”

  “No offense, but you have a funny way of showing it.”

  “I guess I deserve that. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about how I dealt with my pain this past year. I never wanted to hurt you.”

  Chase could sense that his words shook Chris more than he thought they would, but he wasn’t ready to forgive Chase. Not yet anyway.

  Chris stayed silent.

  “I’ll let you rest,” said Chase turning toward the door.

  It slid open with a soft whooshing sound.

  “Before you go,” said Chris.

  Chase stopped and turned. “Yes.”

  “I meant what I told you while we were on New Kyria. When the Spectres return, it will turn into a shitshow faster than we can say oops. If you’re still stuck in that loop of self-hatred and regret, who will stop them?”

  “Looks to me you may very well be the man for the job.”

  Chris smiled. “That’s the last thing I expected you to say. But no, and I think Ka’Rij said it better. You’re a nexus in this universe. Sometimes a nexus for shit to go all kinds of wrong.”

  Chase chuckled. “I definitely earned that.”

  “But seriously, this Dragonman calls you Dragonheart, and I think that deep down, that’s who you are, but losing mom shook your self-confidence, and the reason why we prevailed in the last war was that you were willing to do whatever it took to win.”

  “I know, and you’re right. I’ve tried stopping myself in being that man at one point, even in the last days of the war, and we paid a dear price. I never should have let your mother come with us.”

  Chris’ eyes watered. “No, you shouldn’t. But she was always stubborn, and it was her decision. I think the last thing she’d want for you would be to blame yourself and lose your ability to be that man, that hero, who looks death in the eyes and finds the courage to send it packing. For what it’s worth, I’m proud of that man.”

  Chase couldn’t hide his tears. “Thank you, son. You have no idea what these words mean.”

  “I’m still pissed at how you handled the situation, and it may take a while until you and I are really okay, but perhaps I’ve been a little hard on you, considering.”

  For a moment, Chase wondered if he was in a dream and about to wake up, but a huge weight lifted from Chase’s soul.

  “I’ve messed up, Chris, I know I have. And I thank the gods for having you; you’re the best thing that ever happened, and you have a lot of your mother in you.”

  “Get out before this becomes too weird.”

  Chase chuckled as he left the room.

  Ryonna was on the transport returning from Droxia from her son’s ship. Her time with Ronan had gone well. She had dreaded so much the moment she would tell her boy that she was seeing someone.

  As it had been a few years now since Ronan had lost his father, she didn’t know how
he would react.

  “That’s okay, Mom, as long as you’re happy,” he had told her.

  Ronan had come a long way. In his two years in the Droxian star force, he had been put in command of two separate ships and was up for yet another promotion, thanks to his extraordinary ability to wage space battle.

  His father would have been proud. The thought stung Ryonna’s heart a little more than she thought it would.

  Was she having second thoughts? Was it too early to move forward with Altair? Up until now, they had kept their relationship hidden, keeping it a secret to the outside world.

  The first few weeks had been complicated. She couldn’t relax and felt like she was being unfaithful to her husband. Earth had different customs, people separated and lost loved ones all the time; the ‘until death do us part’ was not exactly a part of Droxian marriage customs, though.

  While there was an unspoken agreement that a widowed Droxian could seek a new partner, it wasn’t widely accepted. Usually, the remaining partner would finish his or her life on their own, alone, remembering and honoring their loved one.

  When it came to Droxian matters of honor and etiquette, Ryonna was usually very much aware and respectful of them. But her late husband, Jax, once told her that if anything ever happened to him, he would want her to move on and not heed this particular tradition of remaining alone.

  Jax was always more open to the outside world and other cultures than she was, even though they both shared a difficult period when Ronan was sick at birth.

  They had to trick the system and authorities, to make sure that another well-established Droxian custom didn’t cost them their son’s life. That one they both fought openly for the sake of their son’s survival.

  On Droxia, sick children were removed from their parents and euthanized. Droxians were a warrior race first and foremost. Weakness, especially in a child, was not tolerated.

  Ryonna contemplated the old days and all the stratagems they had come up with to give Ronan a fighting chance. Now he was about to reach the task force commander rank, bringing pride to her and the rest of his people. He would be the youngest Droxian to ever hold that rank, too.