Into the Fire Part I: Requiem of Souls (Universe in Flames Book 9)

by Christian Kallias

  “While I appreciate that particular sentiment, I know that you’re afraid of losing me, yet you’re taking our son with you.”

  “I won’t let anything happen to him.”

  “Don’t do this, Chase. You can’t guarantee that, no more than you can guarantee your own safety and you know it. By that same logic, you could make sure nothing happens to me if I came along, which in case you didn’t figure out by now, I want to. Furthermore, we both know Athena is better suited to command the fleet than I am.”

  “That’s not exactly true—”

  “It is, Chase. Without her on the last battle, both Daniel and I would have perished. And if you think me staying on board the ship is safer, I think you’re mistaken. It doesn’t matter where we are during the war, death can strike at any moment, as we’ve all seen.”

  Sarah bit her lip; she could tell from the sadness in Chase’s eyes that this statement had brought back painful memories.

  “Look, Chase,” she continued. “I will abide by your wish if it means that much to you, but you have to understand that putting me on the sidelines hurts my feelings. It makes me think you don’t trust me. And after all we’ve been through, well—”

  But Sarah didn’t finish her sentence.

  Chase took her in his arms.

  “I’m sorry. I have been having nightmares, and frankly, I’m tired of losing the people that matter to me. I didn’t mean to question your abilities or for you to question my trust in you.”

  “I know, Chase. And I’ll let this slide because I know you’re still harboring guilt for those losses. But don’t think I’ll always agree with these types of choices because I won’t. If I decide I need to put myself in harm’s way, you’ll have to accept my decision, okay?”

  Chase looked into her eyes; there was no need for vocalizing his answer. Then they kissed passionately.

  ONBOARD HIS BORROWED SHIP, Spiros hit the control panel of the holo-interface upon learning the bad news from the computer. The radiation emitted by a close-by nebula prevented the ship’s already limited subspace capability from sending a signal strong enough to reach the Alliance.

  This day keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?

  After returning to his lab, Spiros purposefully let himself fall on his knees in front of Gaia’s fully formed clone pod. The intense pain he received for doing that reminded him that his current clone body had already degraded beyond his comfort. He wondered how long he would be able to use the decrepit body. But one thing was for sure, he needed to find a solution, and fast. He couldn’t just save Gaia and die; she would never forgive him; as he wouldn’t forgive himself if the roles were reversed.

  But with no more cloning biomaterial and no way to contact the Earth Alliance to request more to be sent, he was in real trouble now. He needed to find a solution and fast. He painfully got back to his feet, looked at the Gaia clone and then rushed toward the scanning terminal where he had put his neuronal upgrade.

  The validation test was still running and close to eighty-five percent complete. No errors were detected, and Spiros reluctantly aborted the test.

  No time to be on the safe side anymore.

  He’d just have to trust that he had done a good and thorough job. He couldn’t waste another minute, not when both their lives were hanging in the balance, and he would be damned if he failed in reviving Gaia and hear her tell him what he wanted to hear for so very long. If the death of his human body hadn’t stopped him before, he wouldn’t let a technical issue ruin both their lives now.

  Spiros grabbed the chip and walked toward the nearest medical automated medi-station bed. He brought up its holo-interface and programmed the station to install the chip in his head. The operation required anesthesia, meaning he would lose consciousness during the automated surgery, something he wasn’t exactly thrilled about. But he had no choice in the matter. If he flinched, even just a little during surgery, it could result in instant death, something he had already felt once and wasn’t keen on ever going through again.

  He positioned the chip on the operating room tray near the articulated robotic arm that would perform the delicate surgery and placed himself on the medi-station bed. He looked toward Gaia’s clone one more time.

  I love you.

  “Computer, activate automatic surgery.”

  Here goes nothing.

  The medical arm came to life and grabbed a hypo-spray filled with an anesthetic compound and, before Spiros could brace himself for what was to come, he felt the cold instrument inject the compound into his neck. Less than a second later, he had lost consciousness.

  WHEN SARAH CLOSED her eyes and fell asleep, Chase exited their quarters and went to look for Ares. With the Victory so big and him not accustomed to it yet, he hesitated to use his teleportation to locate Ares in his cloned body. He knew he shouldn’t waste his power, so he decided to go check out the gardens on deck fifteen. He sent a telepathic message to Ares asking him to meet him there.

  The size of the garden was similar to the large gardens aboard his mother’s ship. The vegetation was a mix of natural and artificially cloned plants, but it looked magnificent and peaceful. It reminded him of Olympus even though it was a very different kind of vegetation. That brought memories of his talks with Zeus, which made his heart sob. His grandfather was no more, and while he wanted nothing more than to avenge his death, he knew that today was about something else. Even though Oryn’s attitude had saddened him, deep down he understood her thirst for revenge. He could only imagine how angry he would get if he lost his estranged father, or worse, Sarah or Chris. Even Argos.

  Chase was surprised by the feelings he had for his brother. Argos was no longer the bloodthirsty and cruel man Chase had once vowed to kill. He had risked his own life so many times to save Chase’s life. The feeling of sadness he had felt just a moment before in his heart was replaced by a feeling of love and gratitude. To have such amazing family and friends, all willing to sacrifice themselves for him, and while he would give his life for them in a heartbeat, he didn’t want any harm to come to them. Ever.

  He knew the notion was not only preposterous but also unlikely. Especially with the battles that still awaited them. Arakan had taken so much from him, and it terrified him that those he loved the most could still be taken away. Chase banished the dark thoughts away when he felt someone approach from behind.

  When he turned and saw Aphroditis, it took his brain a second to remember that it was Ares inside her body.

  “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that,” said Chase.

  “Imagine for a second, if you will, what it feels like for me.”

  Something had changed in his voice; it now felt like a mixture of both his and Aphroditis’ overlapping together. It gave Chase goose bumps.

  “I imagine this must be peculiar.”

  “That doesn’t even begin to cover it, but I suppose you didn’t call me here to discuss my current appearance.”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “What’s on your mind, Chase?”

  “Honestly, too much to cover right now. But I wanted to see you before all hell broke loose. I mean soon…soon you’ll be—”

  But Chase couldn’t bear to finish the sentence.

  “Soon, I’ll be in the machine, and this could very well be the last time we have a nice conversation, just the two of us.”

  A tear rolled down Chase’s eye, and he nodded.

  “That’s alright, Chase. We can’t leave my sister in this infernal machine; you and I both know that. I would lay down my life for my sister. You know exactly how I feel.”

  “I do. But you gave up your life to save her once already.”

  Ares smiled. “And I’m willing to do it all over again.”

  It hit Chase once more that he was perhaps losing another loved one, and sooner than he was prepared to. While he hoped with all his heart that Ares would survive what was to come, they simply didn’t know what would happen to him when the machine would fu
lfill its true purpose and finally rid the Furies of existence. From his chat with Kvasir on the matter, the machine would still perform the dimension shift and send the planet back to the location where it had spent its time since the end of the first Fury War. But it would then immediately detonate and obliterate that dimension. Would Ares be able to stay in this dimension while that happened? Or would he be sucked in there as well? Even made out of pure energy and no longer having a body, Ares was a member of Chase’s family. But he was more than just an uncle or even a mentor. He had become a trusted and dear friend. The kind Chase didn’t want to lose.

  “Except this time, you might not only die but suffer an unfathomable amount of pain and agony until the time comes. Gods know for how long in fact.”

  “There are no such things as gods,” said Ares, trying to diffuse the tension.

  “To you perhaps; many still revere you and the other Olympians as such.”

  “What’s left of us, anyway. But look on the bright side, if I do die, it will probably feel better than the pain my sister had to suffer up until now and the pain I’m willing to endure so she doesn’t have to anymore.”

  Chase’s dark thoughts rushed back to the forefront of his mind with a vengeance.

  11

  Arakan released a frustrated growl when he was thrown from his bed and crashed to the floor of his sleeping quarters.

  “What the fuck is happening?” he barked to no one in particular as he was just venting.

  I believe we jumped out of wormhole travel, said the shadow calmly.

  “I wasn’t talking to you.”

  Who were you talking to, then?

  “Never mind, I need to get to the bridge.”

  That you do, Supreme Commander.

  When Arakan entered the bridge, he could see the fear in the eyes of his crew. They were right to fear him; he didn’t tolerate failure.

  “Report!” he shouted. “What the hell just happened?”

  The Fury currently on bridge command duty rose from the captain’s chair.

  “We’ve prematurely exited wormhole travel, Master.”

  “Thank you for stating the obvious; now tell me why, and most importantly, how fast can we resume wormhole travel? Then, perhaps I’ll let you keep your head,” spat Arakan between his grinding teeth.

  The Fury officer swallowed noticeably.

  “The preliminary report points to a gravitational anomaly at the entry side wormhole as the source for the engine failure. Luckily, the ship wasn’t damaged when it exited the wormhole corridor. We were lucky.”

  Arakan raised a stoical eyebrow. “Lucky, you say? What sort of gravitational anomaly could have resulted in this scenario?”

  “The formation of an expanding black hole in the vicinity of the wormhole’s event horizon.”

  Arakan twitched. “Are you implying that this sudden and lucky exit is somehow my fault?”

  “Absolutely not, Master, I wouldn’t dar—”

  But these were the last words of the Fury officer. With a single thought from Arakan, the Fury’s body exploded.

  You have an interesting way of commanding the men and women under you, commented the shadow.

  Not now, go away!

  As you wish.

  “Who’s the highest officer on the bridge?” barked Arakan. “Announce yourself.”

  Another Fury officer got up from his holo-console.

  “Prime Commander Yrkoon, weapon’s specialist, at your service, Master,” said the Fury with a dignified salute.

  We may need this one if we go into battle; just in case you’re twitching for another bloodbath, said the shadow with a derogatory tone and a laugh.

  Arakan sighed in frustration. Even though he was grateful for the gift the shadow had bestowed upon him, literally bringing him back from the dead when Arakan fought Poseidon back on Olympus, the constant mental connection was proving a challenge for his nerves. He decided to simply ignore the voice in his head for the time being.

  “How do we resume wormhole travel, Bridge Commander?”

  If the Fury officer was happy with the on-the-fly promotion, he did not let it show through his facial expression.

  “We can’t, Master. I’ve already plotted a new course toward the nearest wormhole. Fortunately, there is another one not too far. We, however, won’t manage to get back to Erevos at the previously targeted estimation.”

  “How much longer will we be?”

  “A little under half a day than initially planned, Master.”

  “Very well. Anything else to re—”

  But Arakan was interrupted by a succession of beeps emanating from his new Bridge Commander.

  “What is it, now?” asked Arakan.

  “The new wormhole event horizon was just created, and we’re receiving long-range sensor data from the other side. A small fleet of ships has entered Fury space, Master.”

  “How long until they reach Erevos?”

  “A little over two hours.”

  “Have the nearest fleet intercept and destroy the intruders. Am I correct in assuming they are Earth Alliance?”

  “Yes, Master. However, they are traveling at faster FTL speeds than usual. None of the ships in the area can intercept them while they are in what seems like an Asgardian hyperspace travel corridor.”

  “Is construction of the fourth fleet completed?”

  “With the loss of the Gorgar home world resources line, they have not been able to finish construction in time. They will require another day for all the ships to be finished.”

  “We don’t have a day!” shouted Arakan. “How many ships are travel and fight capable now?”

  “A little over thirty percent.”

  Arakan knew what that meant. Soon, the Earth Alliance scum would be in orbit of his world with little to no protection, though the supreme commander had no doubts that Chase’s main objective was not to inflict damage but reunite with his precious father. If Chase and his band of rebellious Earth Alliance allies wanted to attack or even destroy Erevos, they would have sent all their ships. Still, Arakan hated the idea of not being able to intercept the fleet before it had the potential to do any damage. Chase was, after all, a very capable and resourceful Fury, as much as Arakan hated to admit. While he had put more than sufficient internal defenses inside his palace to guard the valuable assets, like Menelas or Aphroditis, the Ultra Fury had a near perfect record of defeating the odds.

  “Have the ships sent back to Erevos at maximum hyperspace speeds. Will they reach Erevos before the Earth Alliance fleet?”

  “I’m afraid not; even if they were to leave the shipyard now, they’d still arrive after us.”

  Arakan shuddered. That was too long, and many upsetting events could happen during that period.

  I had told you you shouldn’t have sent all those ships from Fury space to Asgard and treat them like disposable grenades. Now you don’t have the necessary firepower to defend your own home. The humans have a game you may want to learn; it’s called chess. It requires you to think many moves ahead. You should try it one day.

  I don’t have time for games!

  Obviously. What more proof do you need to start heeding my counsel? The Ultra Fury landing on Erevos before we reach the planet could be catastrophic, said the shadow.

  There are the planetary defenses in place; perhaps they can keep them occupied until the Fourth fleet arrives.

  You mean thirty percent of that fleet? Which you should try and save from certain destruction until you have a larger, more threatening, fleet. To engage a stronger force with so few ships and hope to win is a recipe for disaster. You do remember that the Earth Alliance has beaten us almost at every engagement lately with their superior firepower and tactics?

  Us?

  You know what I mean.

  That you think somehow that your bickering inside my mind makes you part of the Fury people? Or, that my lack of trust in your advice could have avoided this unfortunate turn of events? Look, I may not always wa
nt to accept your help, but that doesn’t mean I’m not listening. So why don’t you drop the reprimands and just tell me what you have in mind to fix it so we can avoid this dancing around and get to the main part?

  I guess by almost sharing a consciousness now, you may pick up on my feelings.

  That, and perhaps you don’t give me enough credit about when I decide to listen and how I react to your counsel. I am still the master of my people, and as such, I will decide what information to act upon.

  How’s that working for you at the moment?

  Are we continuing this pissing contest? What is it you want from me? To say I was wrong?

  That would be a good start, and who knows, perhaps it would result in a positive outcome.

  The one thing Arakan hated the most was being called out on his mistakes. But not as much as being emotionally manipulated the way he could feel the shadow was currently attempting. But, for the moment, he needed solutions, not more problems. So, Arakan swallowed his pride.

  Very well, you were right. I should have listened to you.

  And?

  And, I will listen more closely from now on. Now, tell me how to get us out of this mess.

  Fortunately for you, Supreme Commander, I like to plan for a legion of contingencies, and this happens to be one I do have a solution for.

  I’m listening.

  I have forces standing not too far from Erevos that could intercept and perhaps even destroy the Earth Alliance fleet.

  Wouldn’t our sensors have detected them if they were at the necessary distance to intervene?

  These aren’t ships or a race your sensors are familiar with; so, I wouldn’t think so. And let’s just say, some of their tech is quite advanced. Nevertheless, I will intervene and have them intercept the Earth Alliance fleet. But you’ll owe me for this.

  Sure, thank you for your assistance.

  Arakan felt like he had to spit these words out; they felt toxic just existing inside his thoughts. He didn’t like what he heard one bit, though. Up until now he always assumed the shadow was acting alone. In fact, for a very long time, Arakan had thought the shadow was merely a figment of his imagination; a side effect of the brain damage he had suffered during the first Fury War. The latest events had finally convinced him that the shadow was, in fact, an unknown alien life form; which had raised a red flag of its own, as Arakan didn’t like the idea of being manipulated by outside forces. If that being now even commanded one or more fleet of ships, and could unleash them anytime he felt like it, what would prevent him from turning his sights on Erevos once Arakan was done cleansing the universe? No, for sure he didn’t like the sound of this, not in the slightest.