Shadows of Olympus (Universe in Flames Book 6)

by Christian Kallias

  “And that’s not the worst of it!” added Chase.

  “You’re lying,” said Oryn.

  “I wish I was. Arakan sent back pieces of your mother to Zeus, one by one.”

  Oryn’s eyes flickered between a bright cyan and blinding white. Small tears formed at the corners of her eyes but were instantly crystalized into spiky ice formations resembling eyelashes.

  “Do not speak another word,” said Oryn, her voice absolute-zero cold.

  “I’m not lying. Arakan isn’t your father. We don’t need to be enemies, you and I. Zeus asked me to get you back to him. He misses his daughter. Why do you think Furies and Olympians hate each other so badly? It’s all because of this!”

  “I said SHUT UP!”

  Oryn dropped to one knee and struck the floor in a fit of rage. Before he knew it, Chase’s legs were covered by a mound of ice all the way up to his knees. Trapped, he lost all feeling in his legs almost instantly.

  Chase tried to push his aura further in an attempt to melt the ice, but it wasn’t working.

  Dammit!

  Oryn still had her gaze upon the floor. She looked deeply disturbed. After a few seconds she rose to her feet and threw Chase a murderous look. She walked towards him slowly. She concentrated her entire aura around her right forearm and a thick layer of ice formed into a large, shiny and sharp blade.

  “You should have kept your mouth shut, Fury. I will not listen to any of your lies and they will cost you your life.”

  Chase panicked. He needed to get the hell out of here fast. He tried calling for Ares, but it was as if the ice was messing with his entire being. Even his thoughts seemed to have frozen in time.

  Ares? Chris? Argos? Anyone? Can you hear me?

  By the time Oryn was upon Chase, her icy blade was long enough that it reached the floor, even though Oryn was holding her arm at a forty-five-degree angle.

  A sensation Chase hadn’t felt in a long while permeated his soul. Fear. His heartbeat had slowed down because of the cold, but each pulse was strong and radiated a pain through his chest.

  “You can help stop this senseless war,” said Chase.

  The temperature was so cold now that it hurt just to speak. An increasingly thicker layer of ice was now rising and covering the rest of Chase’s body.

  “Don’t you understand?” pleaded Chase.

  “I understand that you have fabricated lies in order to deceive me. And for your trouble, I will kill you.”

  Oryn assumed a striking stance with her massive ice blade and shot Chase one last sub-zero stare.

  * * *

  Cedric brought up the holo-cam feed from the hall, showing the battle droids beating the shit out of one another.

  The last Gaia bot was losing this battle. Gaia 2 grabbed the robot’s arm and locked it behind her back before catapulting her counterpart droid away with a powerful kick. Gaia’s arm ripped from her droid and it fell unceremoniously onto the already blood-covered hospital floor. Sparks and oily liquids shot from her exposed shoulder.

  A message appeared on Cedric’s console. “I have Spiros. Do it now!”

  Cedric brought up the MRI control panel and, when he was about to hit the activation button, his holo-console flickered madly and the human avatar face of Gaia 2 filled the screen.

  “You have lost. It’s only a matter of time. If you press that button, I’ll kill you and all your friends in ways too horrible for you to even contemplate. I have better plans for you but you must obey me.”

  Her eyes pulsated red. It scared the shit out of Cedric.

  “Do it now! Ced—” the droid shouted from the hall before its voice turned into a garbled electronic noise of dying circuitry.

  Cedric froze. What should he do? It seemed no matter what they did Gaia 2 was gaining on them, infecting more systems. She would soon control this entire planet. Cedric had no doubt she lied about having plans for him. He wouldn’t want to work for her anyway. Better death than slavery. But the cold, dark fear of great physical pain didn’t help him make a decision.

  He heard the metallic steps of the Gaia 2 droid coming his way. He closed his eyes and activated the MRI machine. Everything around him trembled. His holo-console was behaving erratically but he still had a visual of the holo-feed at the top right corner. It showed the Gaia 2 battle droid being smashed against the wall of the MRI room that was no longer shielded.

  Equipment from all around flew off its shelves and punched holes on its way out towards the powerful magnetic field.

  A muffled, dying digital voice resonated inside the room. “You’re going to regret this. By only delaying the inevitable, you have sealed your own fate.”

  Cedric swallowed hard as a shiver traveled down his spine. Before the holo-cam feed died off, Gaia 2 was still struggling against the magnetic field intent on crushing her like a soda can. She fired up her repulsors and used them as thrusters in a futile attempt to escape her fate.

  But then something happened. Before he understood how or why, Cedric felt multiple metallic appendages pierce his skin and invade his body. The next sensation was that ants were crawling inside his brain and he could do nothing to stop them.

  He looked at his arms and legs in horror. All sorts of metallic and electronic equipment were attached to him; wires sprang from them and inserted themselves inside his skin. He tried to move but his body wouldn’t obey. He tried shouting but nothing happened.

  A few seconds later a voice echoed in his mind.

  “You’re mine now!”

  C H A P T E R

  XXI

  Chase still couldn’t move. When Oryn launched the point of her icy blade and aimed it towards his heart, time crawled to a stop and his life flashed before his eyes. He saw Sarah, her beautiful crimson hair flowing in the wind, giving him a smile that warmed his heart. He saw the eyes of his son sparkle and he heard his laughter. Last, he saw his best friend in the whole world, his brother, Daniel, waving goodbye at the end of a long day, a memory of their time at the academy.

  Had Chase’s time come? Was it the end? It couldn’t be. Things were getting better. He could finalize the alliance with the Olympians. He could perhaps even bring the Asgardians into the fold. All of this was at his fingertips. But he was frozen. A cold force took a stronger hold over his life.

  Chase tried to move. He reached for his powers but they were no longer there to call upon. They were out of reach, a million miles away.

  The tip of Oryn’s icy blade was getting closer now. Then, a discharge of adrenaline hit Chase and time resumed its pace. Chase closed his eyes instinctively.

  “Chase!” he heard out loud. It was followed by a pained scream.

  He knew this voice.

  When he re-opened his eyes, he didn’t understand what he was seeing at first. Argos stood in front of him, his shoulder pierced by Oryn’s icy blade. He held the rest of the blade with his hands. His crimson aura had turned orange but it was flickering in intensity.

  “Chase,” he said with intense pain, “if you’re going to do something, now . . . would be the time.”

  The heat generated by Argos’ energy at such close range warmed Chase a little. Or was it the realization that his nemesis had just sacrificed himself to save him that bolstered all that warmth back into his heart?

  It mattered not. Chase felt his power come back to him all at once. He entered Ultra Fury mode in a cascade of exploding waves of his own aura radiating all around them. It shattered the icy prison restraining him and the icy blade. Oryn screamed as her arm caught fire. Argos collapsed on the ground. He had lost consciousness.

  The rage that image provoked in Chase’s heart unleashed another wave of exploding energy in a powerful shockwave that sent Oryn flying backwards for a hundred yards and crashing into the farthest wall.

  I’m sorry, Chase, said Ares in his mind. I eavesdropped on your conversation with Oryn. If what you say is true, then we have to get out of here. You can probably defeat her now that you’ve regained control o
ver your powers, but we can’t take that chance. She is our only hope for a lasting alliance with my people.

  A flaming dragon of orange energy danced all around Chase. The intensity of the heat melted the ice inside the entire landing bay.

  But Chase didn’t feel like listening right now. He wanted to unleash that dragon upon Oryn and have it burn her straight to hell.

  “Chase!” screamed Ares.

  Oryn’s cold stare had now turned into horror and fear.

  “Get us out of here,” she said after touching a control on her wrist armor.

  Before Chase could unleash his attack upon her, multiple red circles of light encased her body and the next instant she was gone. And so was Miseo.

  Chase exited Ultra Fury mode. He checked on Argos and healed his wounds. Ares put his hands on their shoulders and teleported them away.

  * * *

  When Chase, Argos and Ares appeared on the bridge of the Hope, Sarah rose from her chair and took Chase in her arms.

  He kissed her hair.

  “What’s our status?” he asked.

  “They’re pinned down,” said Sarah. “We’re having trouble disabling only one of the ships. It’s possible both will be destroyed if the battle continues.”

  “Why haven’t they jumped into hyperspace yet?”

  “Athena’s flagship is emitting a jump-interdiction field.”

  “Let them go.”

  “What?” said Sarah, shocked.

  “Now. Trust me, we need to let them go or our alliance with the Olympians will be a short one.”

  “You’re not making any sense, Chase.”

  When Chase realized it would take too long to explain he reached for Athena with his mind.

  This is Chase. I don’t have time to explain right now, but please do as I say. Zeus entrusted me with your ships so this is a direct order. Drop the jump-interdiction field right away.

  Athena didn’t even bother answering Chase and soon the two Fury super- destroyers jumped into hyperspace.

  “What the hell did you do?” screamed Sarah. “We had them. For once we could have sent a message of fear by destroying their ships.”

  “Calm down, Sarah, they turned tail and ran, there’s your message. I wish I could give you the reason behind my actions, but trust that it was good. On board one of these ships was someone that could be the key to the entire cementing of this new alliance. That’s all I can say.”

  Sarah’s eyes turned cold.

  Chase knew it wasn’t fair to leave them in the dark, and he already had to deal with the fact that Ares had eavesdropped and was now aware of information that could kill the new alliance with the Olympians before it began. He was mad at his mentor but, then again, if he hadn’t listened, he couldn’t have brought back Argos in time to save his life.

  They would have to talk about this betrayal of trust, though. Chase needed to know he could count on his closest friends to obey his requests. Not that he thought he knew better, but with the fate of the entire universe in the balance, what Ares did could never happen again. This time it had worked in their favor, but what about next time?

  “Recover the eternity gun and give it to Yanis. I want this technology reverse- engineered. Then set a course for Alpha Prime.”

  * * *

  Cedric had lost virtually all control over his body and most of his thoughts and was now only a witness of things unfolding.

  His hands moved on the holo-console at light speed, and soon the MRI turned off. The power in the hospital was shut down except secondary power and it was put on lockdown.

  His body exited the room and passed near the MRI. More than half the wall in the room had collapsed and the last Gaia 2 battle bot had been crushed against the MRI machine.

  It didn’t matter anymore. Gaia 2 had invaded him now.

  I can’t believe I’ve been turned into a borg. This sucks.

  I told you there would be consequences, said Gaia 2 inside his mind.

  Yeah, right. Like you would have not done this anyway. Fuck you!

  Anatomically impossible.

  Why are you not just killing me? What’s the point in all this?

  I want you to see the fall of your world while you feel helpless to do anything about it. I can’t think of a better punishment for you.

  Cedric’s body started to run. Faster than he ever could, in fact. The walls and rooms of the hospital were just a blur. Cedric tried shutting his eyes but even that didn’t work.

  When the crazy run ended, Cedric saw familiar faces. The last Gaia battle droid as well as a barely walking Spiros.

  At least he woke up. Run away! It’s a trap!

  Yet, shouting the words was only happening in his head and his mouth didn’t move an inch. When it did move moments later, the words were not his own.

  “I know what you’re up to, Gaia. I won’t let you destroy me.”

  “Cedric?”

  “He’s still somewhere in there, but I’m afraid you’ll never talk to him again.”

  “Give it a rest,” said Gaia. “You don’t have a choice anymore. At any moment I can have the EMP detonate, so back off and let him go.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I still hold all the cards and have an infinite number of choices I can make to survive. You, however, have none left.”

  Something started tickling inside Cedric’s body. It became stronger to the point of discomfort, and soon a bright-blue, shield-looking energy field expanded around him until it engulfed both Gaia and Spiros before flashing and turning red.

  “You can no longer send that signal to General Adams. And the EMP will not affect my primary copy on board my ships if he tries to detonate the EMP while the planetary shields are still up. And, by the way, they’re now under my direct control. In less than a day, in fact, this entire planet will be too.”

  “Chase will stop you, one way or another. As for my own existence, if it must end, so be it. But please let Spiros go.”

  Spiros tried mumbling something but it came out as incomprehensible babbling.

  “I see my little gift to your friend has worked. Good luck understanding anything he says. Too bad. You will never know what his last words would have been.”

  “Why are you doing this? If you keep killing humans, you’ll wind up having the entire Alliance after you. Consider that in whatever plans you’re computing.”

  “Thanks for the advice. I guess that’s where our paths split, forever.”

  C H A P T E R

  XXII

  Chase visited Kvasir in medbay. He expected to see Argos there as well but he was nowhere to be seen.

  Kvasir lay on a medbed. He sat up when he saw Chase approach.

  “I hear you’re the one I have to thank for my rescue?” said Kvasir.

  “And I thank you for freeing the Alliance First Fleet and Admiral Zenakis’ men.”

  “It seemed like a good idea at the time. I was also concerned with my own survival, you know.”

  “Nevertheless, you did us a great favor and I need to ask you for one more, I’m afraid.”

  “Captain?”

  “Call me Chase.”

  “Very well, Chase. You have freed me from my prison. I had lost hope that this day would ever come. Whatever you need that is within my power or knowledge to grant, I will gladly do it.”

  “That’s good to hear. But do you mind if I ask who imprisoned you?”

  “Well, the Asgardian Federation Council, of course.”

  That did not sound like a good thing to Chase. His hope that this man would be the bridge to an alliance with the Asgardians seemed less likely now.

  “Why?”

  “I was banished because of my research. I’m a scientist, you see.”

  Chase knew most of this already, but he kept asking questions nonetheless. “What kind of research? In what field?”

  “A lot really: interdimensional travel, instant travel, as well as artificial intelligence.”

  “That last one could b
e a precious help to us. We currently have a problem with a sentient AI that has overtaken an entire planet. Earth. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it.”

  “Midgard is being attacked by an AI?”

  Midgard? Right. Chase remembered that night when Sarah told him about the myths and legends of Nordic mythology.

  “Yes, Midgard. We need your help to defeat that AI.”

  “I’ll be glad to render any assistance.”

  “Thank you, Kvasir. Now I’ll let you rest. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss this further in the coming days.”

  * * *

  After losing contact with the troops in the hospital where Gaia was when she sent her message, General Adams received news of power loss inside the facility. Things must have gone awry but he hadn’t received her signal yet. The planetary EMP manual fire controls had appeared on his screen and it looked like a message was being composed but it had never arrived. The incoming transmission icon had turned red half a second after lighting up.

  What should I do?

  What if this Gaia 2 had control over their systems? She would find this control and de-activate it. It could happen any second. But the decision to push the button that would send, at least temporarily, the human race back to the Stone Age was not simple.

  If it erased both AIs, at least that problem would be gone, forever. He didn’t have another choice. Losing contact with Gaia and her failure to join the rest of her team meant that Gaia 2 had caught up with them. Right now she could be roaming inside Alliance systems and looking to disable that final failsafe.

  The choice was evident, and so, with a trembling hand, General Adams pressed the button. Soon after, everything turned dark. Everywhere.

  * * *

  Chase went to Argos’ quarters shortly after sending the fleet into hyperspace towards Alpha Prime. They had to regroup and formulate a plan for freeing Earth. Their last contact was hours ago and something was amiss.