Forbidden World

by Jeremy Michelson

  Liz crossed her armored arms over her chest. “Seriously? There’s a two thousand plus year old Don out there?”

  “Yup. The emperor Don himself. HeJov.”

  “How?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. The Dendon didn’t know, either. HeJov never let them get a tissue sample or anything like that.”

  Liz turned away. She tilted her head up to the top of the dome.

  “So…you’re saying the guy who probably ordered the attack…the guy responsible for the extinction of an entire race…he’s still around to pay for it?” She said.

  “That’s what I’m saying, yes.”

  She turned around and slammed her fist into her open palm. Metal rang on metal. The echo bounced around the empty dome.

  “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s fire up this boat and go pound his ass.”

  “It’s not that simple,” I said.

  “Sure it is.”

  She tilted her head up again.

  “Hey, Fortress!” she yelled.

  The ship’s voice spoke again.

  “Yes, Guardian?”

  Guardian? Well, okay. I guess that was accurate. It felt strange. We had stepped into well-worn roles. In a way, we were the last two Dendon.

  Or maybe the first two of a new Dendon race.

  Or maybe we were just some messed up humans who stumbled into some wacky stuff. Which was more likely. Humans had a way of falling into more kinds of trouble…

  “Is this ship a match for any Don ship?” Liz asked.

  “My data concerning the Don fleet is out of date by a large factor of time,” Fortress said, “However, it seems unlikely the Don would have constructed any vessels sufficient to defeat the Koba.”

  Liz waved her hands at me. “There you go. We zip over to the Don’s planet, burn it down to bedrock and voila! Justice is done!”

  “Including all of the Don’s children?” I asked.

  That stopped her. She raised a finger to wag at me. Then stopped and put it down and turned it away.

  “Damnit. You would mention that,” she said.

  “That’s always the problem isn’t it?” I said, “It’s not just the Don generals and leaders is it? It’s not even the troops who are just following orders. It’s those troop’s families. Their mates and their children. Should the children be prosecuted for the parents’ sins?”

  Liz growled at me and stepped down off the dais. She walked off a little way, toward the end of the huge control room.

  “It’s an age-old problem,” I said. I didn’t have to worry about her not hearing me. The control room was designed so that the dude in the chair would be heard at every corner of the room.

  “It sucks,” Liz said.

  “There’s a couple ways to look at it,” I said, “One, we can think of those children as future enemies. With that thinking, it’s logical to kill them. Why wait for them to grow up and get strong and smart enough to kill us?”

  Liz put her hand up to her armored head. “Chris…”

  “But the other way…we look on those children as potential friends. Or at least allies. If they can be separated from the hate that’s coiled around their parents’ hearts. But that opens up even more cans of worms.”

  “Chris! Stop it!” Liz said, “You don’t have to convince me. I’m not going to bomb anyone’s kids.”

  I let out a silent sigh of relief. She probably didn’t realize it–or maybe she did–but Liz was an engine of war. It wasn’t just the armor she wore. It was something basic to her personality. Which was probably why the armor accepted her.

  She was a weapon. And somehow I was sort of in charge of what that weapon did. I certainly didn’t control her. But it was my duty to keep convincing her to keep her basic impulses in check.

  My responsibility.

  Sigh. Thus was the world of the grownup. Responsibilities piling up on responsibilities. Trying to keep the world from blowing up in various ways.

  Yay me.

  “So what are we supposed to do?” Liz asked.

  Before I answered, I took a long look around the enormous control room. At the silent, but expectantly lit control consoles. Empty of the crew who should have been there to watch over them. The Koba could fly herself. She didn’t need a crew. Or much of one.

  What the Koba needed–what Fortress needed–was that responsible adult to be in charge of the big decisions.

  Which, again, fell on me.

  “We take our time,” I said, “We explore. We learn. And, given time, we find what form justice should take against the Don.”

  “Sounds boring,” Liz said.

  “I doubt our lives are going to be boring,” I said, “It might get too exciting even for you.”

  Liz turned and put her hands on her armored hips.

  “Oh, I seriously doubt that.”

  I had to smile. That was my golden warrior.

  I turned my face up to the top of the dome. The dock structure stretched out over us like a glittering spider web. All along the web were white spots of different sizes and shapes. There were enough machines of war inside this hollowed out planetoid to torch the entire galaxy.

  I had to wonder at the split personality of the Dendon. On the one hand, they valued peace above all else.

  On the other, they sure liked weapons.

  Did those weapons make them feel secure?

  So secure that they didn’t believe any other race would dare to touch them?

  If so, it didn’t work out all that well for them, did it?

  “Shall we go find something a little more discreet to tool around the galaxy in?” I said.

  Liz cocked her head to one side. “As long as it has lots of guns, sure.”

  I stepped down off the raised dais. “I think you’re all the weapon we need, dear.”

  “How can you have too many weapons?” Liz said, “That’s just crazy.”

  "Too many weapons, and the ship wouldn't be able to move."

  “Then we get a bigger ship. And more weapons.”

  I sighed. “Right. And bigger, and more, and bigger…” I waved my hands at the ship around us, “And that’s how we end up with this. Then we show up over someone’s planet and everyone craps their pants because it looks like we’re invading.”

  “Fine,” Liz said, “We’ll go find something smaller. But it better be fast.”

  I went up to her and put my arm around her armored shoulder. We stood there in silence for a long time, staring out at the constellations of empty ships.

  “This place makes me sad as hell,” she said, “Let’s get out of here.”

  I nodded. “Fortress,” I said.

  The voice of the ship spoke like it was only inches away.

  “Yes, Your Majesty?”

  “We’re leaving. After we’re gone, return to your suspended state.”

  There was a pause.

  “Will you return, Your Majesty?”

  I really wanted to say no. Wanted to say I’d never return to collect the Dendon’s engines of war. But I knew, at some point…”

  “I’ll be back,” I said, “And I will need your service, Fortress.”

  “I exist to serve you, Your Majesty,” Fortress said, “You are the will of Dendon. I, and my sister ships are, as always, the extension of your will.”

  A sentiment that chilled me down to my core. It was a power I didn’t want. But that I also couldn’t refuse.

  “Thank you Fortress,” I said. Because what the heck else could I say? “Return to your sleep until I return.”

  “As you wish, Your Majesty.”

  The control consoles at the far end of the command deck started to dim and go dark.

  Our cue to leave.

  We left the command deck, the door silently closing behind us. Cloud returned and escorted us back to our ship. The corridors dimmed and went dark as we passed. I could practically feel the ship going back to sleep.

  A part of me was relieved.

  Another part…
>
  Well, it would have been fricking cool to drop in on General Mattany with the Koba. That would have made the old soldier’s jaw drop.

  As we got back into our little, beat-up ship and settled back into the flight couch, Liz turned to me.

  “What about that last thing the Admiral guy was saying?” She said

  It was something I had been running in the back of my mind. Searching.

  “The temporal…what?” Liz said, “What was he talking about?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve been searching the records I, um, inherited. So far, nothing. But I’ve discovered that for the super top secret stuff, the Dendon kept their records compartmentalized.”

  “That mean’s there’s weapon stuff you don’t know about?” Liz said.

  “Quite likely.”

  Liz went quiet for a couple minutes. I disengaged our ship from the Koba. Moved ourselves away from the giant warship. I’d already found another ship for us to take. It was much more reasonably sized. But fast. And yes, well armed.

  “Maybe this is going to exciting after all,” Liz said.

  I laughed.

  “Oh, sweetie,” I said, “We’re in for several lifetimes of adventure.”

  She clapped her armored hands together. They rang like bells.

  “Cool!”

  Sigh. My golden warrior.

  I would be forever grateful she was on my side.

  What Happens Next?

  Chris and Liz left the haunted world of Dendon with new powers. And a new mission.

  But will enemies new and old tip the balance of power in the fragile galactic union?

  In space, your family can still drive you crazy.

  Aliens stealing railroad cars full of oil?

  That turned out to be the least of Roy’s problems.

  Having a brother waging a holy war against aliens?

  That was the real problem.

  A problem that takes Roy from his simple life on Earth, to the depths of hostile alien territory.

  Will Roy be the cause of interstellar war? Or be the one who stops it?

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  FORBIDDEN WORLD

  Copyright © 2018 by Jeremy Michelson

  Cover design copyright © 2018 Jeremy Michelson.

  Cover art © Philcold | Dreamstime.com | spaceship escaping

  This book is licensed for your person enjoyment only. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people, places or incidents is purely coincidental.

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