“This is my choice LARS. This mission’s gonna’ succeed. No matter what.”
A small beeping, only audible to Colin’s visor went off, indicating that there were nearby lifeforms. Colin quickly darted to one of the siderooms, away from the narrow corridor he was proceeding into. Two figures walk past him, conversing in a foreign language of clicks and whistles that Colin wasn’t even sure a human could make.
He tries identifying their faces but he’d rather be safe, so he activates his cloaking device to remain hidden.
“Any detection?” He whispers to LARS
“You are still good to go.”
“Good.”
Colin gets up and slowly walks back into the corridor he came from. For a second, he wonders what these people really look like. Least he could see them before he dies, but even that will have to wait.
Following LARS’ instructions, Colin makes it to the hyperdrive room undetected. Once he gets there, it’s not quite what he expected. The room’s not a large, powerbase, rather a simple-medium sized outlet containing strange circular objects surrounded by a larger egg object containing strange inscriptions on them.
“Alright LARS, you’re up.”
“Give me a moment. Translating this will take some time.”
“Time is what we do not have. Hurry up.”
Suddenly Colin feels his stomach turning. His hair stands on the edge, and a nasty neck pain breaks his concentration. He feels a deep pulling into his mind so he makes a 180 and finds something he once again, didn’t expect.
“Oh boy…” He whimpers fearfully.
In front of him, a squadron of twelve bald, human-like figures, dressed in dark grey form-fitted suits and containing a blue skin with slanted dark brown eyes filled with ominous intent, stares Colin down with an unmatchable, ancient hatred.
“Hiya’ fellas.” Colin playfully speaks, “LARS, LARS! LARS!!” He radios.
“Just one more moment. There, I have control of the ship’s hyperdrive system. Colin are you…”
One of the aliens raise an open palm hand at Colin then he quickly closes it into a fist where a gun-like object slips from his sleeves and powers on; ready to fire.
“Goodbye LARS.” Colin sneaks a word in before LARS manages to take control of the ship’s pilot systems, setting a random course to deep space. The ship shakes, light particles form around Colin and the alien crew.
“Goodbye Colin…”
Outside the mothership, Red and his army unleash a barrage of energy attacks against the alien vessel. Particles of white light slowly engulfs the ship. Soon the whole area becomes distorted and bent, as if time and space were collapsing on itself. In the blink of an eye, the ship disappears, Red and his legion lose their power reserves and fall out of the sky.
In Zero’s base, Josh is still trying to stop Heather’s bloodlust. He realizes the helmet was the prime cause of the mind control, but the effects are still lingering within her.
“Destroy…” She endlessly keeps repeating, “Destroy, destroy, destroy – I must… destroy!”
“Heather! Stop it! It’s me!! Josh! I came here for you! Please, listen to me! Listen to my voice.”
Heather slides her arm-mounted pulse gun and closes her fists, ready for another shot.
“I…” She stumbles, “I… must…”
Power emissions encase the gun. It’s ready to shoot. Josh stands there, hands open, pleading for her to notice him. She does, but she can’t help herself. The influence is too much. She has to finish him off.
“Heather! Listen to me!” Josh backs into a wall, “I love you damnit. I wanted to tell you before all this happened, that you aren’t just a friend to me. You’re more.”
“Must. Destr…”
“More than air to breathe.”
“Must…”
“More than a life to walk incomplete.”
“Destroy…”
“My other half.”
Tears roll down Heather’s face but it’s a confused mixture, steamed with rage forcing her to internally confront, why on Mars can’t she stop herself from the control?
“Go on.” Josh tells her, unwilling to fight his heart.
Blop!
“What the!” Josh screams to the top of his voice as Heather drops to her knees then curls into a fetal position, pistol whipped into unconsciousness. Behind her, Valkyrie sheathes the pistol she used on Heather.
“Why would you do that!” Josh shouts aggressively at his ancestor, rising in a confrontational stance.
“Relax kid. She’ll be up soon.” Valkyrie looks around the area, observing the damage. Her eyes lead her to the central focus – the only place that has the remaining light source left.
“Josh.” Valkyrie snaps him out of his bloodlust – “Is that him?”
Josh holds onto the knocked out Heather like a lost a teddy bear. He tries to calm himself. In the back of his head, he knows his grandmother isn’t the enemy.
“Yeah.” He lightly responds.
That’s all Valkyrie needs to hear. She doesn’t even ask for his help to get over there.
She walks to the edge of the broken wall where Josh and Heather crashed into from the previous, central room containing Seven’s pyramid. Using the last of her reserves on her combat suit, she boosts from empty pod to empty pod, finally arriving to the center and at last, confronting the pyramid itself.
‘All this time, and I have to wonder if it’s really him. The sleepless years gone by and not one day did I never think of this day; if it’d come, if it won’t. I can’t tell anymore if it’s real.’
Valkyrie takes careful, slow steps to the encasement of her long, lost love.
‘Seven, is it really you? I’m sorry… but you’ll have to show me…’
She unsheathes her pistol, aims it and with a determined more sure-than-ever vigor creeping up the tip of her spine, she opens fire. One shot, two shots, three then four and onto five and six before she waits just a moment to fire the last one.
“Seven?” Her heart races.
Blam!
The last shot fires. The container cracks. First it’s one crack that goes in a diagonal line, then more cracks come to join it. The container shatters. Green liquid pours out. The man inside falls to his knees, the wires and cables still hooked to him giving a short yank to his seemingly dead body that causes Valkyrie’s heart to stop.
She rushes to him, catching him from faceplanting. The two of them meet in a knee-high embrace. His skin is so cold, she can feel the frost seeping through her armor and the color of his skin shows a blood-drained effect; it’s no longer a brownish but now a dark grey. His eyes are completely shut. Synthetic augmentations range across his body; the top right part of his head, his entire left leg and right arm and even his heart – all incomplete biomechanical parts with a ravaged black, kilt-like attire on the lower part of his body. His lifeless body lays in her arms.
She’s trying not to shed any tears.
She’s trying to keep her composure.
Everything’s coming back to her all at once.
Everything’s making sense.
And everything’s all a confusing haze.
She props his head into hers, hugging him tightly, eyes closed as she whispers the thoughts playing through her head.
‘Seven, Seven, listen to me. Feel me. Hear me. Know me. I’m here. I’m here. Open your eyes, look at me. I know how long you’ve been in there, waiting for me. I know baby. You’re no longer alone. I’m here now and I’ll always be here. Please, listen to me. I need you to open your eyes. Live again. Our lives aren’t over yet. Please wake up… Don’t leave me now.’
On the ledge in the distance, Josh holds an unconscious Heather as he looks over his grandmother soothing his seemingly dead grandfather. He can only feel compassion as he looks over them. Heather’s warmth is still here.
Is Seven’s there?
“All this time I thought here we’d be, changing the world to make a better place.” She sc
offs with the openly obvious sadness, “And here we are. Alone in the end. But you, I wouldn’t expect this from you. No. I wouldn’t ever think of you as the type to give up. Especially in this moment. Especially in this time. These were always the times when you shone bright. Always now.”
Fire coils within her veins. She squeezes him tightly, throbbing back and forth with him as her inn flames scorches to new heights.
“Get up Seven.” She starts low
“I said get up.” Her voice grows sternly
“Get your ass up! We have a world to save, and I need you at my side out there.”
And then, she can hold it back no longer – “GET UP!” She screams. The force of the scream sends a howling shockwave across the room, rippling time and space. A stew of sobbing and grunting, growling and anger slips into her while she tries to keep it all under control. Then something happens.
A light turns on the wall. Then another light, and another and soon, the whole base is starting to power on again. Seven remains dormant in her arms but she stares him in the face, hoping, knowing. She closes her eyes again and concentrates on him. Cold fingers weakly crawl up the back of her neck. She doesn’t open her eyes yet. In her mind, she’s thinking she may be delusional. The grip grows stronger, the hand moves to the side of her cheek.
“Black… hair…” A wretched, weak voice speaks softly, “Always looked… best… on you…”
She blurts out an unintended laughter, opens her eyes and sees him. His eyes, now cybernetically enhanced, staring at her so deeply she could no longer deny who he is.
“Took you… long enough.” Seven whispers
“You knew I’d come.”
“Yes.”
Seven attempts to get up but his strength is not whole yet. Valkyrie helps him rise to his feet. He looks around the vicinity. The base’s power is now returned to full. A strange smirk forms on his face. All Valkyrie can do is look at him thoughtfully.
He takes a deep, deep breath and closes his eyes meditatively – “Are you ready Ianna?”
“I am.”
“Then dry your eyes and let’s head to the surface.”
“You’re in no shape to go up there.”
He opens his eyes and turns to her, his hands now on her shoulders indicating her to look at him.
“Trust me.” He speaks with a stern face. His cold hand touches the warmth of her cheek. A random thought crosses her mind.
‘What is he doing? How is he so skinny? Has Zero not been feeding…’
Suddenly she can feel warmth returning to his body
“What are you doing?” She asks
“Feeling everything I’ve lost.”
A telepathic link forms between Valkyrie and Seven. They are connected on a level they’ve never been connected on before. He feels her fears, he feels her tears, the losses, and even the smiles here and there that kept her going.
“I see…” He whispers comfortingly.
Josh silently leaps behind them, Heather now recovering at his side. Surges of electrical energy dance in the middle of the room. Valkyrie and Josh are both alerted but Seven and Heather remain calm. A holographic image of a faceless, genderless humanoid figure of pure light forms. Zero.
“Seven.” It calls.
Seven’s attention remains focused on Valkyrie, unbothered of Zero’s presence. Valkyrie goes into combat mode.
“Shut him down.” She tells Seven.
Seven simply smiles, “No.”
A horrified Valkyrie grips his hand firmly from her cheek, making sure he’s paying the utmost attention to her
“Are you serious? You know what he’s done!”
“And I know what we’ve done.”
Seven turns to face the holographic image of Zero, “You know you can’t the win this war without us.”
Zero stays silent for a few moments
“Indeed.” It admits in defeat.
Around the room, other figures step out of the shadows. More clones. Some of which, don’t even belong to the Spheres’ line. One of them – the hazmat suit clone Josh encountered on his first arrival. Valkyrie broods behind Seven. Her thoughts of vengeance, directly pointed at him and he can hear them. Every single one.
“They’re beyond my control. And they’re beyond yours.” Zero continues
“Then you know what we have to do.” Seven speaks with such an unmoved tone, it bothers the rest of the room. Zero included.
“We’re not doing anything until you tell me what’s going on!” Valkyrie barked. Seven turns to face her once more, keeping a calm composure as he opens his mouth again.
“The clones you encountered out there, Red, Athena, Iris, Nemesis, they weren’t created by Zero alone. They’re an extension of our will. Telepathic influence originated from our will to get out. The subtle hints of rebellion we both had to break free of Zero during stasis influenced them from birth. Now they’re beyond my telepathic influence and they can control Zero’s systems as well. If left uncheck, they’ll end up destroying everything. Our people, Zero, maybe Mars and who knows. They might even go to earth. ”
“I can’t see what’s wrong with overthrowing this machine though.” Valkyrie eyes Zero’s hologram behind Seven.
“I understand your frustration, Ianna, but Zero’s not to blame for all the wars and travesties this planet’s suffered. We are all to blame in equal measure. And not only the Zero Sphere incidents. All the wars we raged before and the conflicts in our hearts?”
“Seven!” Valkyrie harshly whispers to him – “How can you trust this thing?!”
“It’s not a matter of trust. Zero would not be where it is without me. Once I entered stasis, I entered a state of deep meditation for decades. My consciousness greatly expanded and in the course of time, my influence didn’t only go into the clones. I’ve been able to influence Zero from destroying this whole world.”
“And what stops it from destroying you now?”
Seven smirks, “Zero has no control over me. I have control over Zero.”
He faces Zero once more – “Where are they?”
A square, holographic image forms on Zero’s right side, unveiling an outside camera showing the death and destruction of Valkyrie’s forces. She takes a step closer to observe the camera feed. She needs to make sure it’s right. Anger seeps into the deepest cords in her body. She crunches her fists - “They did this…”
“They are heading to the inner colonies. We don’t have much time. Their plans of wiping this world clean for it to be reborn in their image; a legion of superior humans – will take its effect. My systems cannot stop them and it is with slight embarrassment that I admit, I will be destroyed by them as well.”
Valkyrie looks over to Seven, ready to make her final decision. She looks back at Zero – “Once this is over, you and I are gonna’ have words.” Then she squares Seven once more, “And you aren’t going to interfere.”
Seven simply smiles.
“Good.” She adds, “Now get us out of here… Zero.” She paused, looking at Zero a stare that spells ‘fuck you’.
At the Outskirts of The Colonies…
The inner colony has been brought to rubble and ruin. Rain slams against the once meditative structures, slipping down its cracks and battle-scarred edges. The streets are paved with lifeless bodies of those who never thought the end would come so abrupt.
A spherical light forms in the middle of the small city. Seven, Valkyrie and Josh step out of the light. It dissipates behind them. Valkyrie observes the area in horror. Josh feels anger boiling in him. He was still wondering if leaving Heather with Zero was a good idea, but after seeing this, all he wants to do is put an end to the ones who caused it.
“Seven…” Valkyrie hisses, “Where is Colin?”
Seven keeps his composure, despite the grim scenery – “I can’t feel him. I don’t know where he is…”
Valkyrie crunches her fists. Josh unintentionally does the same from a similar brooding. Seven notices four figures in
the distance. He senses more figures behind him, then to the left and the right – hiding in within the destroyed parts of the city.
“They’re here.” He softly says.
‘Josh.’ Seven speaks into his grandson’s mind – ‘Handle the ground clones.’
‘Ianna.’ He switches to his wife’s – ‘Handle the three maidens.’
Then he says aloud, “I will deal with Red.”
“It was tough enough dealing with them before using a damn tank. What’s the difference now?” Valkyrie questions
Seven looks at her, his presence demanding she look back in return. He points to his head – “This time, I’m with you.”
Suddenly more clones emerge from the shadows. Hundreds upon hundreds. The lights on their combat suits showing their figures blending together, forming an even more intimidating picture. Seven takes a step forward. His family behind him, paranoid at their chances but Seven smirks. The clones begin marching slowly toward them, then running and soon, some start using their suit’s jet boosters to head over. Seven waits.
“Seven…” Valkyrie calls softly
“Seven!” Her voice growls loudly
He waits. He waits till they’re closer. And then, showtime. Seven extends his right hand forward as if he were holding a stop sign. Effortlessly and gracefully he moves his hand from left to right and every clone caught within his crosshair drops to the ground unconscious like dominos falling over. He turns to his left. More clones emerge from the shadows storming into them. Seven extends his left hand. The instantly fall to the ground like swatted flies in a line. Josh’s jaw hangs in amazement.
“Josh.” Seven snaps him out of it – “Go!”
Josh shakes his head and nods. He speeds off into the clones coming to the right, finding more confidence in their stand against Red’s legion.
In the greater distance though, Red turns away from the scene while The War Maidens leap into the air and swoop toward Valkyrie and Seven.
“You know all those years I told you to quit smoking and drinking coffee for the sake of your consciousness abilities?” Seven asks Valkyire, keeping his eye on the incoming maidens. He turns to her and smirks – “Well the day for your training’s here baby.”
Zero Sphere: A Space Opera Thriller Page 19