Into the Fire Part I_Requiem of Souls

by Christian Kallias

  Spiros felt increasing pressure from lack of sleep as he pushed forward doing several things at once. Developing the neuronal interface chip with the rudimentary nanite capabilities of Argos’ cloning facility was not an easy task. That, coupled with the fact that he didn’t have access to the tools he was used to, made the learning curve tedious and sometimes even frustrating.

  All the while, he had to keep an eye on Gaia’s decaying algorithm and make sure that he adjusted his data recovery function at a moment's notice. The last alert, nearly an hour ago, had taken him by surprise, as he didn’t expect her code to react the way it did to his previous attempts at correcting the data corruption. That’s why it was crucial for him to be able to keep an eye on multiple things at once; something that he could hardly do without the piece of tech he was working on now.

  He knew he couldn’t fail in his tasks, not if he ever wanted to hold Gaia in his arms and finally be able to look into her eyes. The prospect of her being able to have a human body, even a cloned one like his, was both overwhelming and exciting. But in moments like these, he wished he wasn’t alone to work on this task. While he was used to working on his own from his lonely time on Damocles-3, he had to admit he was missing human contact.

  He could always give Cedric a call. He had, in fact, hesitated doing so multiple times, but he also knew that his friend was hard at work trying to figure out the white hole solution to the upgraded training center, and it felt wrong to divert Cedric’s attention away from that monumental task. Spiros had managed to review his friend’s code and help him optimize power node efficiency, something that was paramount for the success of what Cedric was attempting to do. He wished he could have done more, but he had his own problems to deal with now.

  A quick succession of bleeps took Spiros out of his current train of thoughts to inform him that the chip was ready inside the rudimentary matter converter available in the lab. He would need to launch another battery of tests and simulation on the device before he allowed nanites to place the device inside his skull and make the final neuronal connections necessary for his brain and the tech to function as one.

  For a brief moment he hesitated to just go ahead and trust that he hadn’t made a mistake in designing the device from the memories he had of the prototype he and Gaia had worked on together. When her code had been scrambled, he had lost access to these schematics, however, and had to recreate most of the device from scratch this time around. He knew full well the model they had worked on together was more advanced, especially the storage chips Gaia had designed. Her proposed designs were more power efficient and infinitely faster, too. But right now, he had to work with what this facility provided as well as his own knowledge limitations.

  Spiros took the chip in his hand. It was barely larger than the head of a pin. Even though he wanted to stick it in his brain now so he could optimize his workflow sooner, he also knew that Gaia’s life was in his hands, and that he needed to double or even triple check the device before activating it.

  He stuck the device under a scanner and started launching validation protocol simulations. These would take a little while, during which time he could focus on trying one more function to stabilize Gaia’s code. The moment small yellow waves of lasers scanned the device at rapid intervals, he got up and stepped in front of the cloning pod that contained the body that would soon become Gaia. The body was inert, and tears formed around Spiros’ eyes upon seeing the beautiful face of the avatar Gaia had chosen for herself when she first appeared to him inside the holographic communicator.

  I won’t stop until you’re safely inside that body. I promise. Nothing will stop me from achieving that goal.

  As if a response from the universe, the entire facility trembled as a nearby explosion detonated loudly.

  Now what?!

  When nobody answered, Keera entered Tar’Lock and Ryonna’s quarters on board the emperor’s ship. She found a sleeping and snoring Tar’Lock on the floor. She wondered why he wasn’t on his bed or if perhaps Ryonna had yet again lost patience with the little guy. The Gorgar snore was hilarious, especially the series of random pitched clicking sounds he emitted upon exhaling.

  Keera decided to put Tar’Lock back into one of the bunk beds, so she carefully lifted the Gorgar who was way heavier than she thought he would be. She was delicately laying his body on the nearest bunk bed when he blinked his eyes open.

  After a succession of alarming clicking sounds, Tar’Lock asked, “What have I missed? Why am I in your arms?”

  “I found you sleeping on the ground when I came in. Didn’t you hear me ring a couple of times?”

  “On the ground? Not again! I must have fallen from the top bunk bed,” said Tar’Lock. “That’s the third time since we were given these quarters.”

  “Why don’t you sleep in the lower one, then?”

  “That’s Ryonna’s bed.”

  “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind switching with you.”

  Even though she was no expert at interpreting Gorgar clicking communication language, she didn’t need to be to understand what hid behind Tar’Lock’s next series of clicks.

  “Say no more,” she said with a smile. “Where’s Ryonna?”

  “She said something about going to train on Deck Five.”

  “What’s on Deck Five?”

  “Holo-rooms.”

  Keera had heard of holo-rooms but never seen one with her own eyes. They used holographic projectors and beaming technology to provide a simulated environment that felt incredibly real. Many people in the universe would travel to Obsidian space to have simulated holidays or adventures of all kinds. Keera always wanted to try one, and she had no idea that there was one on board the emperor’s ship.

  “I’m going to try and find her,” said Keera. “Wanna come with?”

  “She said she wanted to be alone,” said Tar’Lock with no absence of sadness in his tone.

  “I’m sure she just needed to blow some steam; she’d be happy to see us.”

  Tar’Lock’s entire face lit-up and he jumped away from the bed so fast that Keera thought he vanished out of thin air. When she turned around, the insectoid was waiting impatiently by the door.

  A few minutes later, and having asked two different crewmen how to locate Ryonna, they finally arrived at Holo-room Two. Keera put her palm on the holo-control console and got a strongly negative sounding bleep in return. A red message flashed at her. It was in Obsidian language.

  “Computer, translate,” she inquired.

  “Safety protocols for this holo-room have been deactivated. The computer cannot guarantee your safety if you enter the room. Please confirm.”

  “Confirmed,” she said without hesitation.

  “Is that wise?” asked Tar’Lock.

  “I guess we’re about to find out.”

  The doors for the holo-room split open and they stepped into a darkly lit corridor with red LEDs guiding them toward the center of a large empty room.

  “She doesn’t seem to be here,” said Tar’Lock.

  “I think this is just the way to enter the holo-simulation.”

  Tar’Lock clicked nervously.

  “Rejoining running simulation in three, two, one.” The entire room flashed brightly for a split second, and before they realized, they both felt a wave of intense heat wash over their faces as rolling flames were hurling toward them.

  8

  Chase became exasperated with the overlap of complaining in the ready room.

  “Silence!” he shouted.

  That seemed to get everyone’s attention, and the noise level in the room fell back to near absolute silence.

  “Let’s try and keep our heads cool; this is not the time for arguing about what needs to be done. We need to stay laser focused on the tasks ahead. Oryn, you’ll either not defy my orders or you stay behind.”

  It looked like she would argue but Chase cut her off with a swift move of his hand in the air. “Those are my terms. If you want to be part of this
mission, you’ll follow my lead and accept that I’m the one giving the orders. If not, then you can leave this room now; we won’t take you with us on this mission.”

  “Very well,” she conceded. “I’ll obey your orders.”

  “And, so there’s no doubts about this, nobody, and I mean nobody engages Arakan on their own. We fight him as a team, and we do everything we can to avoid being badly wounded. As most of you know already, Arakan has either developed or has been granted a new power that cancels Fury healing abilities. Which is why I don’t want any of us to take unnecessary risks, since that could mean a once easily healable wound could turn into a mortal one in combat. Because of that, I want all of us on our toes, making sure we don’t rush blindly toward danger should we have to engage him. I cannot stress this enough, the number one priority is to get Aphroditis and Menelas back. In fact, I’m hoping we can do that before Arakan returns to Erevos.”

  Oryn shook her head.

  We’ll have plenty of time to get him later, once we are in possession of the soul ship, said Chase directly into her mind.

  Whatever.

  Oryn, please. You had given me your word you’d abide by my rules.

  Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

  Fair enough.

  Chase could sense she was utterly pissed off about it, but she’d get over it, eventually.

  “We’ll abide by your wishes,” said Argos, to make sure everyone was on the same page.

  Chase was thankful to his brother for doing that. If once mortal enemies could now agree on things, it hopefully would send a powerful message of unity to everyone else. Chase was counting on it. Though he knew very well that Oryn was the only wild card at this table.

  “Chase,” said Thor who had remained silent. “What about me? I would like to accompany you to the surface of Erevos, if that’s alright?”

  Chase hadn’t thought about Thor’s role beyond providing them with a ship capable of opening their ultra FTL corridors. He also didn’t expect Thor himself to volunteer.

  “Are you sure you’d like to be part of the away team, Thor? This is our mission.”

  “Well, Admiral, with all due respect, and as the newest member race of the Earth Alliance, it’s only normal that we provide assistance when you require it. And on a more personal note, Arakan has tried to destroy my world and have my father assassinated, so I’ll support and volunteer with any mission to bring him and the rest of the Furies down. Plus, it seems to me that the supreme commander is a formidable foe, and you’ll need all the help you can get.”

  Chase could feel Thor had used his rank to make his invitation to join the away team more official.

  “Thank you, Thor,” said Chase with a smile. “Your assistance is highly appreciated.”

  Argos nodded toward Thor to show his own appreciation.

  “Now, let’s discuss the rest of you,” said Chase looking toward Daniel, Athena and Yanis, and quickly giving Sarah a look as well. “Your mission is to repel whatever Arakan or his forces throw at us from space. Sarah will captain the Victory in my absence, and I count on you,” said Chase locking his gaze on Yanis, “to assist her with the capability of this new ship. As time is of the essence, we won’t be able to do a test run.”

  “Absolutely, boss,” answered Yanis with a wink. “My ship is ready for whatever the Furies throw at us. She doesn’t need a test run.”

  “Your ship?” said Chase, raising an eyebrow.

  “You know what I mean. But while we’re discussing the Victory, may I ask something to the Asgardian people,” said Yanis drifting his gaze toward Thor.

  “I’m listening.”

  “We really could use faster FTL engines, and none rival yours. Now that you are part of the Alliance, is there any chance we could study your technology? We were also mightily impressed with the cutting laser weapons you used against the Gaia 2 monster of a ship.”

  Thor’s tattoos pulsated as if they were breathing.

  “Consider it done. I’ll grant Kvasir the access codes necessary so that the two of you can download the schematics from our own ships.”

  Chase could tell from the sparkle in Yanis’ eyes that he was super excited about the prospect to get his engineer hands on Asgardian tech.

  “Thank you so very much, Thor— I mean Fleet Commander,” Yanis corrected himself.

  “Thor is fine; you’re perfectly welcome, Chief.”

  Yanis gave Thor a casual two-finger salute of appreciation.

  Chase got up and walked toward the viewport before turning back to the table.

  “This mission is paramount to not only our survival but also the rest of the universe. We cannot fail, and we won’t.”

  Athena, who hadn’t said a single word until then, got up as well.

  “If I may?”

  “Please,” acquiesced Chase.

  “I just want to thank each and every one of you for your courage and loyalty. To my son, as well as the Earth Alliance. I know this has been a long and difficult journey for most of you but I want to warn you that the days ahead might be the most difficult to come. I know you’ll perform above and beyond expectations and that you’ll not hesitate to do whatever it takes to achieve our shared goal; the destruction of the Furies. I hope to see you all and celebrate when that day does come, even though it’s entirely possible that we won’t all make it through the trials ahead.”

  What are you doing, Mother?

  What you needed to address but preferred to avoid.

  Chase flinched.

  I agree with Athena, said Argos. They need to hear this. We all do.

  Very well, answered Chase, resigned.

  Athena took a few more steps around the room before continuing.

  “War is never easy. I’ve waged it so many times before. Including ten thousand years ago when we first battled the Furies. We should have destroyed them then and there, and I’m sorry we didn’t and that the now younger races must suffer from that failing on our part. Olympus has paid a steep price for that mistake. And I want you to keep that in mind and understand why I’m telling you all of this now. We are, in all likelihood, going to face the most terrible battle that any of us has ever witnessed, participated in or simply heard of. We may not survive what’s ahead but it’s important that we give everything we have to make sure the terrible Fury scourge is dealt with in order for our children and their children to be safe for eons to come. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but I ask anyway. Do whatever is within your powers to make sure we do not fail. My sister has seen a glimpse of the future where the Furies win. Trust me, we don’t want this to ever happen, even though we’d all probably be dead if such a future came to pass. But I have trust in each and every one of you, and I know that together, giving it everything we have, and without hesitation, we can prevail.”

  Chase was touched by her words, and even though he would have preferred not having to say this to the people he loved, internally he was grateful that his mother had stepped up and expressed her thoughts. Chase hoped that they would all survive what was to come, but he knew it was unlikely. The thought scared him, but he decided that even though he still didn’t believe in destiny per se, he would let it unfold, as it should. He prayed he could live with the consequences should things not go as he hoped.

  The excruciating pain that Menelas was currently under was beyond anything he thought a living body could endure and stay alive. It defied the imagination and as more time passed, the more his will to live diminished. But he would not let go. He wouldn’t give Arakan that pleasure, not when there was a chance, no matter how slim, that he could meet his children and hold Athena, the love of his life, back in his arms. Even if for just a moment, that would be worth all the pain and suffering he felt now and then some.

  Part of him hoped that his children wouldn’t come, as they could be killed trying to rescue him. But part of his psyche hoped they’d find a way. It didn’t seem likely that he could get himself out of his current predicament, espe
cially with his energy pool draining more and more every second.

  Projecting the mental image of Athena was the only thing keeping Menelas from losing consciousness. Remembering their time together during the first Fury War, how they met and fell in love, against all odds, their races being mortal enemies.

  For a second Menelas thought he heard a voice.

  I’m coming for you. We’ll get you out of there.

  Was his chaotic mind imagining what he hoped to hear, or had his son, Laiyos, answered him. He wondered. It mattered not, even though he didn’t want his sons to risk their lives to rescue him. Perhaps they were also coming to help Aphroditis. If Athena was still alive and had made contact with their children, he had no doubt that they’d do everything they could to try and save her as well.

  Suddenly, he felt a warming presence, and while it was wordless, it still spoke to his heart; encouraging him to keep fighting.

  Menelas decided that he shouldn’t just try to survive the deadly current running through his body but should try to do something about it. He attempted to open his eyes but they remained closed, the amount of electricity running through his body simply too intense for him to make use of his muscles.

  Use your inner sense, heard Menelas inside his mind.

  Menelas tried bringing his mind from chaos and pain to peace, just for a moment, so he could send his consciousness outside of his body to probe for the weapon that was currently killing him little by little. After a few moments, he could detect that both his hands were the entry points for the current running through his body.

  If only he could use the electricity to his advantage, maybe he could short the weapon that was trying to kill him with every breath he took. He needed to bring both his hands together, but not being able to open his eyes didn’t bode well for him to even manage to move his arms and join his hands.

  Let the energy flow through you, use it.

  Was that Aphroditis? He couldn’t tell; he wasn’t even sure if he heard words or just imagined them. But Menelas decided it didn’t matter. He had very little to lose at this point. He wondered how he could let the energy flow through him though. Did he have to stop resisting? Wouldn’t that kill him?