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

by Christian Kallias

  Daniel then confirmed that every one of his pilots had received the drone code and deployed it. He gave the order for deployment.

  Soon, hundreds of drones shot in all directions, separating themselves to optimum distances to cover as much perimeter as possible. A few seconds later, the drones started rotating at maximum velocity and began spewing thousands of laser shots, filling space with miniature blue lines.

  All four remote-controlled StarFuries had already pre-started overloading their engine cores to threshold, so less than a second was required to go over the threshold of a meltdown inside the quadrinium chambers. Daniel stood ready to deploy a StarFury the moment shield impacts were detected, and it only took a few seconds until multiple lasers hit their target. Beta Six and Gamma Three were in proximity, and, as instructed, they immediately micro-jumped at the same time that Daniel sent a StarFury to its inevitable demise.

  The plan went well, and the StarFury detonated against a larger than expected ship, revealing a shape that flash-froze Daniel’s blood. The monstrosity, which was almost as big as the Victory, flickered for less than a second, but it would be enough to give Daniel future nightmares. The black ship looked like a space spider.

  Holy crap and I thought the Fury ships were creepy.

  Daniel opened a comm channel to the Victory.

  “Yanis, did you get that? Should I try to hit it a few more ti—”

  But before Daniel could finish his sentence, multiple explosions rocked his StarFury, and all he could see around him were flames as his craft spun uncontrollably.

  16

  Spiros and Gaia were in the cockpit of their Earth Alliance shuttle. Spiros hadn’t said much in quite a while. He simply didn’t know how to interact with someone that looked like Gaia but was so vastly different. It threw him off every time the clone would speak, as even its vocal inflections sounded artificial. Nothing like his Gaia used to be.

  He knew he had to brief the clone on the mission ahead. He had to give it a set of directives to make sure they managed to survive the trip and return to the lab so he could complete his work and finally reunite with the woman he loved so dearly. Or die trying; though that part was the one thing he was trying to prevent as much for himself as for Gaia. He knew how he would feel if the positions were reversed.

  “Gaia, I’d like to go over our mission protocols before we jump out of hyperspace.”

  “Of course. Awaiting protocols and orders.”

  Spiros grimaced.

  “The mission’s main objective is to obtain the following materials,” said Spiros, showing a description and location for the biomaterial they were after. “We are to use all necessary means, including deadly force, to acquire these materials. That’s where your advanced combat sub-routines come into play. Whenever possible, use non-lethal force but do not hesitate to go lethal to protect both of us. Is that understood?”

  “I understand the parameters of the mission, Spiros.”

  Spiros swallowed hard before continuing. This next part wasn’t easy for him to say, as he knew it could put Gaia’s life in danger. But without it, he was almost certain to perish if they hit heavy resistance.

  “Furthermore, you are to be extra protective of me and do everything you can to make sure I stay alive, except putting your life in danger. Your clone body can sustain damage to multiple parts, like arms and legs, but avoid any torso damage and most importantly head injuries. I cannot stress this enough.”

  “Sub-parameters added successfully. I do have a question, though?”

  Spiros didn’t expect that. Granted, even her basic AI matrix, without its emotional sub-routine, could still show signs of curiosity on its own.

  “I’m listening.”

  “Why would you want me to self-preserve if we encounter a scenario that would allow me to save your life should mine be forfeited? I am confused. Shouldn’t biological human lives always be more valuable than artificial ones? I can be rebuilt into a new body, you, however, cannot.”

  Technically, he could be transferred to a new clone body and so could her current matrix. But there was no one around to do this for Spiros. And while he knew that he could probably regrow her a new clone body, the risk of losing both Gaia and whatever secrets the ancient sphere could still be holding was too high a risk to take.

  “It would take too much time to explain to you why. I just need you to confirm you understand my orders and will follow them to the letter. As for artificial life not being as valuable as biological ones, this is arguable, and I don’t agree with that premise.”

  “Very well. I understand what you require of me. Will there be anything else, Spiros?”

  Spiros tried sending another subspace signal. However, this region of the galaxy was littered with interfering anomalies, and Spiros hadn’t managed to get a subspace lock to send a message to the Victory.

  “Yes, I would like to record a holo-transmission message now; one that you are to send to the Earth Alliance destroyer Victory the moment we get out of hyperspace. You are to confirm the message is received. If the signal isn’t optimal or if interference prohibits you from sending the subspace signal, we have to try and find a transmission array on the planet, as long as it doesn’t conflict with your other prerogatives or mission objectives.”

  “Understood. Recording message.”

  Spiros took a deep breath and looked straight at Gaia.

  “Hello, Cedric, I hate to burden you with this, but I’m in urgent need of help.”

  “OH, this is not good, not good at all,” exclaimed Yanis.

  “What is it?” inquired Cedric.

  “Have you seen that thing? I hate spiders.”

  “That is not a spider. It’s a cloaked ship that can fire upon us and appears to have incredibly strong shields; the StarFury exploding on it barely registered a power drop in it. That’s what I’d be more worried about than the way it looks.”

  “You’re not afraid of spiders?”

  “I had a pet tarantula when I was younger; spiders are actually quite cool. But this is not a spider; it’s a ship.”

  “A pet?” Yanis trembled in disgust. “You’re weird.”

  “I’m weird? Right, a technologically advanced human being from another world being afraid of spiders, and I’m the weird one?”

  “Never mind; we have work to do.”

  “You started it.”

  “And now I’m ending it. Look at how she moves; each of her eight legs contain both engines and laser arrays. Even though we only received a couple of seconds of telemetry, it’s clear this…thing is not moving through space in a straight line. It’s quite ingenious, if disconcerting, but it looks like…”

  Yanis let the words hang as he replayed the sensor logs again.

  “Like it’s walking on an invisible space web.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Okay, I’ll grant you that this is a little bit creepy.” Cedric conceded.

  “Finally, now about its shields. They seem way stronger than ours, and I don’t understand how they can generate that amount of power in a ship her size. Granted it’s still an enormous destroyer-class vessel, but the power requirements for those shields must be off the charts.”

  “Any idea what could power them? Perhaps a more efficient design than quadrinium-based chambers.”

  “I would imagine so. The bad news is that this ship is unknown. I’ve tasked the computer to try and match anything in the database, but it came back empty. It doesn’t even share a resemblance with any of the ships we have in our databanks, and now that we linked our databases with both the Olympians and the Asgardians, those records go back more than fifty thousand years.”

  Cedric scratched his head. “What are you trying to say?”

  “That we may be facing a foe that is not of our world or one that is older than we have records for.”

  “What? That’s absurd!”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure. Okay, this is just a hypothesis on my part, one I can’t substantiate
with any hard proof. But, since sending the Furies to another dimension outside of our space and time for the last ten thousand years, how certain are we that they were alone in that dimension and that no other races lived there?”

  “And somehow just a single invisible spider ship made it through when Erevos returned? That sounds a little far-fetched, doesn’t it?”

  “One ship, that we know of, Cedric. And, no, it’s not that far-fetched of an idea.”

  “Why would they just make their presence known now?”

  “That I don’t know. But I have a very bad feeling about this.”

  “On that, we agree. Spider or not, from our dimension or not, what matters is that we defeat it before it gets the better of us. Our shields won’t last forever.”

  “It does seem happy only sending a few salvos every few minutes, though. I wonder why. With the amount of power it has, it could be more offensive and drain our shields faster.”

  “It’s possible using their cloak and still firing at the same time requires too much energy, even for them. Or, it’s gauging our technological levels at the moment to see how best to devour us.”

  “Devour? I thought you didn’t fear spiders.”

  “Real spiders, Yanis. This one is slowly but surely starting to give me the creeps, especially since your hunches are rarely wrong. Perhaps it’s just trying to delay us. I mean, what better tactic than staying hidden and randomly attacking us to try and get our attention.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. But for what purpose?”

  “Well, if I had to guess, for Arakan to get back to Erevos if he hasn’t already.”

  “Oh shit!”

  “What is it?”

  “If that’s their intent, then…”

  “Then what, Yanis? Spit it out.”

  “Chase said something earlier to me about a dark power he encountered when trying to save Zeus and heal Poseidon. Ares had mentioned something similar about detecting this being interacting with Arakan when he first thought he caught him talking to himself.”

  “Will you stop beating around the bush? What’s your conclusion?”

  “That perhaps this ship belongs to that being, or is of the same race. Shadow or whatever it was Ares saw.”

  “That does make a lot of sense; they both are invisible, and the timing would match. We know Arakan has to come back from Olympus, so there’s a good chance he hasn’t managed to return home in time. I think we would have received a status report from Chase, so I think you’re onto something here.”

  “It would also confirm what Chase thought. That Arakan had exhausted most of his fleet taking out large parts of Droxia and trying to invade Asgard shortly after. They used their ships as disposable bombs like they were nothing or had very little value. In fact, they needed to make sure they had our attention on them, and what better way to do that than throw Fury bomb ships at us while he was moving toward Olympus and Zeus.”

  “Boy, this war is getting more complex each new day. And it sure seems that Arakan doesn’t value life very much; even those of his own race.”

  “And it’s about to get more complex still. Since that thing looks and moves like a spider, I’m gonna assume that it may share other arachnid characteristics. So, I propose we develop a detection system keeping in mind how real spiders act in nature. Which means I’m going to rely on your expertise.”

  “Intriguing idea, but I like where you’re going with this,” said Cedric with a smirk.

  Yanis raised an eyebrow. “I know that look. You have an idea already, don’t you?”

  “Yes, let’s shake the spider’s web; that always forces it to reveal itself.”

  ARAKAN WAS SITTING in his ready room, a solid matte metallic headset covering most of his face. Bleeding red and purple holo-projected images cast a strange light on his chin and forehead.

  We’ll be entering the new wormhole soon, Arakan, at which point you’ll lose your subspace connection to Erevos. Whatever you’re doing, I suggest you finish it soon, said the shadow.

  Arakan growled as his answer. He was too focused on ensuring Chase and his friends wouldn’t survive his last trap. Eventually, he decided to acknowledge his cohort inside his mind.

  Just make sure your ships hold back the Earth Alliance from Erevos until the recalled fleet gets there. And, don’t worry about me; I have my ship’s telemetry overlaid onto my remote control device. I know exactly when we’ll lose connection. If worse comes to worse, you can always take over for me.

  How would you propose I do that?

  Don’t take me for a fool. If your consciousness is with me at all times while your body is still on Erevos, then you can intervene there.

  There was enough of a pause before the shadow answered, confirming Arakan’s theory.

  What makes you think my body hasn’t followed you?

  Because you’ve said it yourself, a part of you is with me now, but not all of you. I’d still like to know what you are; would you like us to talk about that? I’m perfectly capable of multitasking.

  Now it was the shadow’s turn to growl inside Arakan’s mind.

  I think I’ve helped you enough today as it is. I’m not fighting Chase and his friends for you.

  You’ll do what needs to be done so we win today, and that’s not a suggestion.

  I’ve helped you tremendously lately; first by resurrecting you from certain death, allowing you to take your revenge on Zeus. I’d think that you’d be grateful about that. But the more I help, the more I get the feeling you think I’m just here to get you out of trouble. I’m not your pawn.

  Nor I yours! screamed Arakan. Let’s cut the bullshit right here and now. You need me for something that much is clear. Why would you even care to help me otherwise? Maybe that’s what we should be talking about?

  I’m no longer in the mood to talk with you.

  That’s the best idea you’ve had in the last few hours. And don’t think I’m not grateful for your saving my life; I am, but I don’t like to be micro-managed all the time. I’m the Supreme Commander, not you! And I do not doubt that one day I’ll have to pay a steep price for the help you’ve given me. You may think like Oryn did before you, that I’m just a brain-damaged, senile and weak-minded Fury you can control to reach your goals. But my resolve is stronger than either of you will ever know.

  “WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED? Why did the door close before we walked through it?” inquired Argos, pounding on the door.

  “I think Arakan only wants to get to Chase right now,” said Oryn.

  “Or divide us so he can deal with us easier.”

  Chase, can you hear me? tried Argos telepathically. When he didn’t get an answer, his heartbeat started galloping. Argos took a step back and pointed an open palm toward the massive blast door.

  “Move aside,” he barked.

  “Don’t be ridiculous; you can’t burn through this door on your own.”

  Argos’ eyes lit a deep crimson red, fire burning inside his pupils.

  “Move…aside!”

  A substantial red fireball came to life a few inches in front of Argos’ palm and quickly grew in size and power.

  Hold on, Chase, we’re coming!

  “Argos, for once, listen to me! What if Chase is incapacitated behind that door? Even if you did burn through it, you would risk injuring or killing him. Let me try and freeze the door, and you can punch through it.”

  Argos was only a handful of seconds away from reaching full power on his attack, and while he didn’t like Oryn, he had to admit she was raising a good point. Chase must have been incapacitated in one way or another, or he would already have teleported back to get them. Argos growled through clenched teeth. He re-assimilated the fireball’s attack power and shot Oryn a cold look.

  “Very well; do your thing, but please hurry up.”

  Oryn nodded and put both her hands on the large metal doors and closed her eyes. The temperature around them dropped significantly and ice crystals formed in expanding concentr
ic circles around Oryn’s hands.

  “Get ready to smash the door on my mar—”

  But, before Oryn could finish her sentence, she was engulfed in a ray of red light and beamed away.

  What the hell!

  Argos raised his aura to the maximum and threw himself at the blast door, but before his fist could impact with it, he felt a beam engulf him and rip him from his position.

  17

  Chase felt paralyzed by the current traveling through his body. The pain was acute and prevented him from moving. He tried teleporting away, but he couldn’t achieve the required level of focus.

  Dammit!

  In his torment, Chase hoped that Argos and Oryn were okay, but he needed to find a way to get free from the bolts that held him paralyzed. He needed to get back to them, but he also needed to get to his father.

  Suddenly, the amount of current diminished. The pain was still there, but he could now think more clearly. A second later a large holo-screen turned on. A smiling and floating Arakan head was staring at him.

  “You’ve been a thorn in my side for way too long, traitor. Today, you and your friends will pay for your defiance with your lives. And while I’m at it, I’ll take your father’s life from you.”

  “I’m not gonna let you,” said Chase while clenching his teeth, his face still deformed from the pain.

  “Look at you; you couldn’t do anything if you wanted to. Oh, and I have Oryn and your brother, too.”

  Another holo-screen appeared next to the smirking Arakan. Both Argos and Oryn were hovering in a dark room, immobilized and suffering a similar fate as Chase, and electric bolts were continuously hitting them. Smaller bolts of electricity sizzled around their bodies, and their face muscles spasmed from the amount of what looked to be excruciating pain.

  “Look for yourself; you’ve lost. All I need to do now is to locate your other friends and your son and smash them like the insignificant bugs that they are.”