“I remember when I met you, I thought to myself ‘What a brave man, coming to see me’. And you were brave. Braver than anyone else I’ve known, considering you came to talk to me.”
‘I don’t understand how I could be brave by speaking to you.’
“You knew what I was. You saw it before in your father’s eyes and you saw that shimmering in mine. You knew what you were getting yourself into the moment you met me.”
‘You say that like it’s a bad thing…’
Colin found the courage to open his eyes. The blackness of the void wasn’t really a blackness at all; but his own shut eyes. Colin was tumbling in blackness. He could see nothing but black, except the figure slowly descending toward him – Adria. He wondered, why did she come now? She didn’t have a space suit and she was in a casual form fitting suit like the ones the colonists used to wear.
“How?” Colin found the breath to speak when Adria’s hands reached for his helmet as if they wanted to touch his face.
“Shhh…” She silenced him, “It’s not over yet.”
“What?”
Zzzzrk!
A million volts of electricity shot through Colin’s body. The pain could be comparable to dying over and over again, all within a fraction of a second. Colin snapped out of his haze and found himself floating, drifting into deeper space. No tether to reel him in, no ship to save him. Then he checked his oxygen level.
O2 DOWN TO 7%
Little sparks in his brain lit up, forcing him to confront reality: he’s alive. He didn’t die in that attack. Then he thought to himself, ‘What if I’m to stifle out here?’
He tried looking around to see something he could latch onto. Nothing. Nothing he could find. Only the heartbreaking message from his surrounds that painted a very obvious picture – you’re not coming back.
He could see the stars in the distance. He could feel the weight of his breath getting heavier and heavier with each passing sip of oxygen.
“MDSU this is Commander Sphere, do you read me?” He tried contact. No response came. So he tried it again.
No response came then, so he tried again and again and again until that painted picture out there became all too haunting to ignore. As he flew deeper into space, Colin wondered why he wasn’t feeling any sadness. He troubled himself to search through random memories of his family, of his only boy to fight for concern, to fight for survival but he just couldn’t bring himself to breaking into tears. For some reason… he had a peace. He had a deep knowing that should this be the end, he tried.
‘But not hard enough…’ A bittersweet thought seeped into the corners of his mind as he accepted his fate, slowing sipping on the remaining oxygen. He looked out into the stars. He wouldn’t choose a better place to die. That gave him comfort in this final hour…
“Rrzrzrlzrzlrzlzrzrzz…” A strange communication came in. Colin immediately snapped out of his trance.
“RRKKkkkzkzzzzz…” It grew louder.
“MDSU? EDF? This is Commander Sphere – do you read me?” He tried establishing contact with the frequency.
Colin recalled what happened only moments ago. What if it were the attackers? Nevertheless, he tried again.
“This is Commander Sphere, I am drifting into space. My O2…”
“I read you Colin.” An artificial voice responded pleasantly
“LARS?” Colin couldn’t believe it
“Yes Commander, are you injured?”
“Nothing that can’t be fixed. How did you survive?”
“My total structure is not physical, rather holodigital. Any satellite or network surrounding the Martian space; I can use to upload myself.”
Colin chuckled at the AI’s niftiness, “Can you read my coordinates?”
“Yes. I am sending a rescue vessel your way.”
“Wait…” Colin paused suspiciously, “How did I survive?”
“Prior to the destruction of the Class V-12 vessel, you were distraught from the sight of the destruction which left you vulnerable to the incoming attack. I took precautionary measures to beam you away from the ship and shield you in a cloaking device until I was able to launch a rescue operation for your return.”
“LARS you smart bastard.” Colin caught himself slinging an earthling slang
“I have been programmed to preserve and nuture human life, Commander. It is only my duty.”
“I’m sure it is. Why couldn’t Zero be like you?” Colin felt safety for once then he remembered his mission. For Colin – it was far from over. He thought to himself, ‘The Crimson couldn’t have organized this attack.’ Then he knew in that moment, exactly what he had to do.
“LARS?” He quietly whispered, thoughts bubbling in his head
“Yes, Commander?”
“You said you activated a cloak device on me. Was that, to block the assailants from tracking me out here?”
“That is of correctness.”
Colin formed a plan. It came quick. It may have been irrational, unwise and frankly even stupid but for Colin, the mission was not over.
“LARS I want you to do something for me and I want you to do it with no questions asked.”
“Yes, Commander?”
“Where is the unknown craft now?”
“En route within orbit of the planet. Why?”
“I want you to get a cloaking suit prepped on the vessel en route to me and fetch me a light combat arsenal with slicing and holo-hacking capabilities.”
“Will do. May I ask what this is for?”
Colin paused. He had to make sure he was certain and as the words left his mouth, the confirmation became absolute – “I’m going in.”
ACT FIVE
Day of Reckoning
There’s a cold mist in the atmosphere, one that sends chills through the circuits of every atom in your body warning you of the coming blizzard. Valkyrie stands alone in a small bathroom facing the mirror, thinking over everything to come. Her palms are drenched in sweat as she combs through the last strands of her hair using a hair dye device. Once complete, she calmly lets the device slip through the grip of her fingers. Her eyes stare into the mirror, thinking, combating, processing…
Her hair’s now jet black, the tone that resembles space itself.
‘Black hair will look amazing with your skin tone.’ Seven’s whispers echoes through her mind as she locks eyes in the mirror with the fierce feline staring right back at her.
“It does.” She smirks as if he were standing behind her.
Hours earlier, Valkyrie and Josh exited their long computer-combat matrix simulation to be greeted by the news. The ‘asteroid’ stopped in high orbit over Mars and now, Zero’s forces are circulating around the Crimson Zone suiting up for a possible attack. Before her personal break, Valkyrie sat all her remaining forces in a command room minutes ago and went over the plan of action.
“Now listen up…” She remembers herself addressing the room of the last hundred Crimson Spear, “Intel has suggested that the asteroid we’ve been looking at, is not so much an asteroid anymore. What exactly it is, we don’t know yet. What we do know is that we’ve never seen Zero prepared for a full scaled assault…”
In space…
LARS’ rescue vessel arrives just when Colin’s O2 marker drops to 2.3%. The unit is a small, circular-shaped pod vessel. A one-man pilot ship capable of near planetary flight. Colin opens the hatch, steps in and looks around to make sure what he asked for is there and sure enough, a smirk cracks on his face once he sees all the equipment waiting.
In The Crimson Spear’s Command room…
“What we do know is this is day of reckoning. We won’t be able to hide anymore. Today, we’re going to war. A full scale attack on Zero’s base. Intel points to Zero’s focus on the asteroid so we’re going to utilize this advantage.”
Josh leans on a wall, arms crossed in the background, strapped in a combat suit like the rest of the soldiers listening to their mother speak. Among them, John, the EDF and the MDSU officials all sit l
istening attentively, ridding themselves of old rivalries for the greater good.
In the present in the bathroom…
Valkyrie continues reviewing the orders she gave. Fire brews inside. She crunches her fists tightly. She could feel blood ooze from them. Her throat tightens up, then she unleashes a feral scream in the air. Her fist connects to the mirage image on the wall.
Whack!
The mirror shatters into pieces. Blood drips down her hand as the shards fall lifelessly to the floor. She watches her disfigured reflection in the broken mirror and notices it forging a kind of unintentional smile. She continues looking, brooding, hoping that something would happen and then, an imaginative image of Seven forms behind her.
“I’m coming.” She breathes ferociously.
In Space…
“Commander are you sure about this?” LARS asks Colin, who’s strapped in the single pilot seat, steering the small pod vessel to the gigantic mothership over the Martian orbit.
“LARS…” Colin scolds the AI, “I told you don’t question me.”
“I understand Commander. However, please consider the chance of success is very low, combined with your survival rate is at an even lower probability outcome.”
“I know LARS. I know.”
On the desert sands of Mars, some distance from Zero’s base…
An army rises to the sun on the horizon, trailing smoke and rubble behind them from the desert shores. Large, armored ground vehicles with too many wheels to count, supported by aerial vehicles no longer sporting wings; rather utilizing sleek, elongated designs shaped like missiles. Inside these war machines – men and women, strapped and armored to the teeth. Their various form-fitted armored combat suits carrying multiple insignias of Crimson Spear, MDSU and EDF. At last, a human unification on Mars has been formed, one which history has never been seen before.
Inside one of the air vehicles, Valkyrie hangs with a leg outside the open door, helmetless, feeling the wind blow through her new, dark hair matching her jet black suit. A sure yet neutral look on her face. Behind her, Josh sits, strapped into a similar war suit, helmet on and ready.
And at the outside of Zero’s base, the three War Maidens with Red step into the rising sunlight, their army of drones forming an artificial wall behind them. Red takes a few steps ahead of his crew, looking into the distance to see their coming enemy. A devious smirk cracks across his face.
“So they came to witness the rebirth.”
Red looked over to his trio of allies – “Let’s welcome them to it”
Athena steps forward, acting on Red’s wishes as if they were hive minded. She unsheathes her large spear and hold it forward, pointing it at her coming enemies. The drones dive from the artificial wall and form a large, lance like, hovering projectile. Athena jumps into the air and flies aggressively into the distance, the army of drones and her two sisters following closely behind.
Valkyrie notices the large swarm incoming. She grabs her helmet and fastened it tightly. A large painted skull on its visor, symbolizing death incarnate. She turns to Josh behind her.
“Sphere!” She calls him by his last name, “Tell me how far you’d go for her!”
Josh leans forward. There wasn’t as much as a drop of uncertainty in him any longer - “Into the deepest, darkest black hole.”
“Good.” Valkyrie shouts against the wind – “Then it’s time to make that happen boy. Get out there. You know where to go and you know what to do!”
Josh nods to his ancestor. He makes his way to the edge of the vehicle, ready to jump out. Before he could though, Valkyrie grabs the backpack area of his suit.
“Remember, there’s no tool as powerful as your heart.”
Josh seeps in her words. He nods once more, looks out into the distance, takes a deep breath then dives out the vehicle. As he plummets to the ground, he catches a small vision of his times with Heather and Nick. He sees them growing together, laughing together, and most of all – loving each other. Once he reopens his eyes he’s near ground so he twists his body and lands like a cat then shifts himself into a runner’s stance, looks ahead to see all the war machines ahead, then without any hesitation and in the blink of an eye; smoke forms around him, a large sonic boom deafens the nearby onlookers and suddenly, he’s gone.
Josh broke the sound barrier, pushing himself to run faster than he ever thought before. He noticed that the speed wasn’t the same. He felt faster. More agile, more capable. His speed kept increasing. He felt limitless. Drones swarmed from the skies to stop him, but he pushed past them, using the blast of his supersonic travel to knock them out of his way. Soon Josh would have no control over his speed. Like a hot, burning rogue star – he’d crash right into the heart of a greater gravitational force. In this case, Zero’s base.
The glass shatters, the walls crumble and Josh skids into a large, dark room covered by circuits and green neon light. His speed run happened to cost him bits of his armor. Josh noticed his suit was damaged.
It might not have been just from his running. The drones were attacking when they were swarming. Multiple things could’ve caused the damage his armor suffered. Still, it was in a workable condition.
“I’m glad you made it.” The voice of a rival calls out tauntingly. Out of the shadows, Red emerges. Josh crunches his fists. For a moment he feels a deep fear of Red, recalling the beating he had only days ago.
‘Remember there’s no tool as powerful as your heart.’ Valkyrie’s words echoes through his mind and then, Josh remembers Heather’s smile. Put those two together and suddenly the fear is overtaken by the instinctual adrenaline to survive. To save and most of all, to win. Josh readied himself in a combat stance. He knew no gun would work on this foe.
“Shall we?” Red asked with a snob look on his face.
But Josh didn’t answer.
He just charged.
Outside of Zero’s base, Valkyrie, Crimson Spear, the EDF and the MDSU all charge against the swarm of Zero’s drones. The ground shook with armored vehicles exchanging a storm of red and green lances of light. Some of these war machines were equipped with anti-nuke capabilities, so launching a simple wipe-em-out nuke attack was not possible for either side. This was technology given to Mars by a joint collaboration decades ago. If things were to be settled, it would be in this battle and not from the press of one big red button.
Was that the case for the unknown force descending from space? In orbit, Colin’s ship was nearing this mothership.
“LARS, I want you to give me a detailed scanned blueprint of the ship.”
“Already ahead of you Commander.”
“Show me what you got.”
A holographic image forms in front of Colin. The figure shows the ship in its true form. It’s a large, egg-shaped vessel with no openly seen areas to indicate its weaponry system. Colin paid close attention to the hologram, his fingers shifting the blueprint around, studying whatever he could find.
“Wait a minute.” Colin stops his search and devotes himself to a moment of contemplation, “This ship… this ship… LARS, does this ship contain the necessary WMDs to destroy Mars?”
“It does.”
“Then…” Colin shifts the hologram around more, looking for an answer he believes to be true – “Why hasn’t it destroyed the planet already?”
“Commander, if you pay attentions to Section 5-D, A-2 and F-12 of the vessel, you will notice a trend.”
Colin takes LARS’ word to heart, looking around desperately for the answer. Circuits start sparking in his cognitive factory.
“Wait a second…” Colin pauses when he begins to realize what might really be going on with this ship, “The asteroid, the cloaking device and now, these sectors aren’t completely functional?”
“That is of correctness.”
Colin leans back putting a hand on his open mouth thoughtfully.
“This ship. The cloaking… okay, okay, now it’s starting to make sense.”
“What is your hypot
hesis Commander?”
“This ship’s equipped with interstellar travel, right?”
“That is also of correctness.”
“And it’s equipped with planet-buster WMDs, so why haven’t they blown us up already? Why use an image defacer?”
Colin sat for a moment trying to organize his thoughts.
Then it came to him like lightning shot from space.
“It’s damaged.” Colin’s eyes gazed back and forth at the diagram carefully, “That’s why it can’t just finish us off. They need to repower or something. This ship just came from a battle. It’s war-torn.”
LARS remained quiet for a few seconds while Colin gazed into his realizations dumbfounded.
“You’re right.” LARS responded upon further inspection of the ship.
Colin smirked, “LARS I want you to find a possible entry point. Get me something weak. Something that won’t draw too much detection.”
“I’m on it.”
The small pod gradually got nearer and nearer to the mothership. Colin felt his heart beat speeding up. A thought crosses his mind about what he’s about to do.
“Nice and easy.” He instructs the AI.
Subtle rotations on the mothership gives some difficulty in adjusting Colin’s small pod to landing on a designated spot LARS deemed appropriate for entry. Nevertheless, the pod manages to attach onto the larger vessel. A pair of landing grips fastens the small ship on the surface. Colin grabs the small beam pistol and sees to it his helmet’s secured. His body transmutes to light and a second or two later, Colin’s beamed into a dark vicinity housing little lighting, power circuits and a general atmosphere of abandonment.
“I’m in.” He reports.
On the ground in Mars, the battle raged on. Zero’s drones would be shot out of the sky but then they’d assemble themselves just as easily as they fell. The machines were like pests, seemingly hard to hit and when they were hit, they’d get right back up. Some of the fire the human forces were dishing out ended up backfiring since Zero’s armies were difficult to lock down.
Zero Sphere: A Space Opera Thriller Page 17