In A Universe Without Stars 1: Skyeater

by J Alex McCarthy

  Maybe this place isn’t that great but he’s content with it and that’s all he ever needs to live. He’s not scared of the future nor afraid of the aliens ruling over him. Sherif shown him that their not all savages. Some might even like them.

  On second thought, this place isn’t as bad as everyone else thought.

  If he’s content then this place is perfect.

  …

  In a large underground area somewhere deep in the Skyeater, an uneasy silence is in the air. The food department of the Skyeater. Workers work in a underground bay, moving containers of food, the bay is extremely large, multiple trailer like buildings and bays occupy it.

  In an unmarked storage building, the floor pools with blood. Blood dripping from the conveyor belts above. Humans.

  Thousands of them, hung and disemboweled like cattle.

  Hanging lifeless.

  …

  On Earth, Reese runs down a field road. Only a few more miles to his safe house. A bunker his parents built during the cold war. The crystal sky still looms over him. Behind him, a Cell zooms toward him. It’s been tracking him for a while. He fires Julio’s gun at it. The bullets rips through the Cell and it crashes and explodes into the corn field next to him.

  He kneels to catch his breath, he’s almost there. He’s almost free. That was the third one he killed and he’s going to eventually run out of ammo. He’s been walking through open grazing fields for a long time. The worst thing he can do for trying not to be seen. But the road is no better.

  He has to do it.

  He can see the skies horizon, only a few miles away. The Skyeater is moving toward the Atlantic Ocean. The harsh red crystal creates a hard contrast with the baby blue sky. The clouds swirl in a vortex toward the Skyeaters opening.

  With only a few more miles and he can see the sky again.

  The Serephin night doesn’t rest. The Skyeater city still bustles, moving like a bee hive. Always busy, always have somewhere to go and something to do, just like New York City.

  Noata lies on a rooftop, against a vent, staring into the sky. It seems like they are too small to notice. Or too insignificant for them to care. Lance and Serena lie on each other, kissing behind an air conditioning unit.

  Wilker walks up to him.

  “Looks like I’m sleeping here tonight,” he says. “They need their personal time alone. On the last night of their lives.”

  “Are you ever not negative?” Noata asks him. Wilker sits beside him and stretches out his limbs on the vents.

  “I only speak in truths, if the truth just so happens to be detrimental, then that is your problem.”

  Noata laughs.

  “I’ve seen you sarcastically lie more times on this rooftop alone than you have told the truth since I’ve met you.”

  Wilker shrugs.

  “Do you really think they are going to survive this, with the plan you thought up?” Wilker looks Noata in the eyes.

  “Tomorrow we’re going to try and sneak our way to the other side. Which won’t work. So we are going to fight our way to the other side. It’s a stupid and idiotic suicidal plan. And do you want to know the worst part about it?” he asks Noata, Noata looks back at him, he resigns himself.

  “It’s still the best plan I could think of, with all my years of tenure, I couldn’t think of a better plan to do what we’re about to do. You’ve bested me,” Wilker finishes.

  Noata sits up.

  “Is that supposed to make me feel any better? Telling me that my plan is going to get us killed! But that it’s still the best plan? Is your ego that big where you can’t see how hurtful that is?” Noata has a large hint of anger in his eyes.

  Wilker takes in a large breath and breathes out.

  “I said they not we, it matters on who you believed to have picked the short straw. You and I are different than Serena and Lance, we are weaker, more fragile but we are smarter and more prepared to save humanity. You know how stupidly courageous they are, when we cross over who is going to make sure we make it? Don’t you think that when the enemy is coming down on us, they wouldn’t sacrifice themselves for us? They know why they came here,” Wilker says. “Lance is going to come over here and give a generic continue on without me no matter what speech simply because it’s in his nature, it’s who he is.”

  Noata looks at the air conditioner unit. Lance and Serena have been hiding behind there for an awfully long time. Will they really do what Wilker is suggesting they are going to do?

  “So you did think of something better, to sacrifice our friends just so you can survive, you really are an asshole.”

  “No, I just added certain variables to your plan that you didn’t think of.” Wilker has been called many names over the years; Noata is going to have to do better than asshole.

  Lance pokes his head around the corner of the ACU and nods to Wilker. Wilker stands and brushes himself off.

  “Well, believe in whatever you want to believe in, my job is done. Just a warning though, that eventually, all that you love, you will have to leave behind in this new world. And that new world will start tomorrow.”

  Lance approaches them.

  “How do you know that, why can’t everything just go exactly as planned, why do we have to fail?!” Noata asks him. He looks up at Wilker with his puppy dog eyes.

  “I just know, I’m not sure if it’s these powers of ours or just a fever dream. But tomorrow everything that you or I know, will change.”

  Lance comes up to them.

  “Remember my words,” Wilker says as he walks off, Lance nods to him as he passes. He walks to the edge of the roof and looks out over the city.

  Noata nods as Lance talks to him. Wilker did his part, he gave Lance and Serena some martial time alone and gave Noata a little dose of reality and made him prepare his mind for anything to happen tomorrow. He’s sure of it, he’s seen the future. Even if it was only up to a day.

  Everything is going to change, but for the better? He doesn’t know. But he does know there will be millions of screams tomorrow. Human and Serephin. This is the end. This is the final battle.

  21 – Reaching Beyond the Sun

  The city wakes, the Serephin skyline buzzes with life as the star gives its heat to them. The shield protecting the sides burns away. Everyone is getting prepared for their day, like they usually do every morning. Yet, there is an underlining tension in the air.

  Today’s the day, some are giddy with excitement but for others, there’s a small worry and a note of self-doubt in their minds. This human, Cole, has gotten farther than the others, maybe he could succeed. He’s ascended this fast, the quickest they’ve seen since Kabus.

  Maybe he's not like the rest.

  They put on their masks, hiding their doubts of maybe Cole can change everything, maybe he can prevent their deaths. Maybe he can save them all. But their days continues on as usual, they walk like normal, talk like normal but the uneasiness is there.

  Some walk past screens in a store and look on in excited glee. The screens shows the channel of which will air today’s battle. It shows a recap of Cole’s life and battle history all the way up to his defeat of Ulbe.

  Just because they feel uneasy about today doesn’t mean they’re not going to enjoy themselves. Ascended versus ascended.

  It’s one of the greatest marvels of all time.

  Cole opens his eyes, he still sits Indian style in an empty room in the research center. He was meditating, he really doesn’t need sleep anymore. So he just emptied his mind and thought of nothing for the entire Serephin night. It’s better than sleep because he doesn’t have restless dreams any longer, no more nightmares, his mind and body refreshes themselves.

  He suppressed his presence in the night. The Serephin sensors didn’t detect him. To them he’s just an ant among giants.

  It’s time to wake them up.

  On his terms.

  A blue haze comes off his skin, his twenty-three spheres appear around him, waiting, ready for anythin
g. He pulsates, his blue explodes brighter.

  Cole powers down and waits. How fast will they react? The ticks of time goes off in his head. He checks his watch, the map pops up, the red dot blinking in the middle of the Skyeater’s star.

  What the hell? He glances back. “I’ve found him.” A voice echoes behind the door. Two minutes, not too bad. A Damon burst through the door.

  “In here!” The beast yells, he’s shaped just like Ulbe, but wholly different, his snout is pointier, his skin is gray and freckled and he’s wearing clothes, black pants and button up shirt, fitted-likes tights on a bull. Cole slowly stands to his feet and brushes himself off

  “Where is she?” Cole asks.

  “What?”

  “Where are all the people you took from their homes?”

  “I need you to come with me.” The Damon takes one small step forward. He knows he can’t win against a true ascended. It’s like a kitten prodding a lion. The Damon take another step. Cole lights up, his spheres spin around him vibrantly.

  “Go to hell.”

  Cole shoots out of the window as the room explodes after him. He flies to the ground and lands hard. There’s no way the Damon survived that. Alarms ring out.

  He turns toward the entrance of the building. He has to finish them. He walks and opens the door.

  …

  Only a few minutes later, Cole casually walks out of the entrance. The Skyeater’s star looms over him. Even with his watch telling him to go for it, he feels like it’s pulling him.

  Why would Thora be there? It has to be a trap, but he must go forth. Whatever trick they’re trying to pull, he’ll get through it.

  He has to.

  His spheres spin around him nervously. He flies up into the air, from the distance military ships rush over to the research base. He ignores them as they pass.

  He gets to the star. The hovering device projects a force field around it. Is there a hole? As if it can hear his own thoughts a hole opens up, just big enough for him to fit through. This is it. He flies into it and into the star, the light blinding him as he goes through.

  …

  Thora lies naked curled up in the front of the enclosure. Naked, scared, hurt, alone, and destroyed. She hasn’t moved since that time last night. She’s out of tears to cry so she just doesn’t move, she wants to die.

  Punit sits on a tree, head on his knees. Fakhri stares at her from the darkness. He wants to go and comfort her, he feels bad for her.

  At first he thought it was just part of their mating ritual but after only a few moments, it was obvious that it wasn’t.

  Yet he stood back like a coward and let it happen. This place, the Eliite, has caused him to lower himself to a level he never thought possible. Just because he’s trapped in this hell and might be for the rest of his life doesn’t excuse him for what he did and didn’t do.

  He was a leader once and he can be one once more. He looks at Thora and tries to think of the best words to comfort her. He’s going to take action against Punit. He starts to head toward her.

  “Thora—“

  “Nooo! But I don’t want to!” Caer’s voice interrupts him. Caer storms in and sits in a chair and pouts. His mother walks in after him. She walks straight up to the cage and pokes Thora. Thora looks up at her with dead bloodshot eyes. Her collar pops off.

  “Numenwolfe wants you,” she says.

  “Who?” Thora asks.

  “Our lord and eater of gods,” she says with a smile.

  “What?”

  Fakhri runs for Thora. “Wait!” he screams. Caer’s mother waves at her.

  Thora rips through the house, through the walls and into the sky toward the Skyeaters star. As she hurls through the sky screaming, a searing pain scrapes across her skin.

  It feels like her skin is peeling off. All her dirt, tears, sweat and other things are shredded off her skin, turning her the whitest she’s been since she was young.

  Scrubbed clean.

  Her broken arm snaps back into place.

  Her body flashes. As soon as she closes and opens her eyes, she’s dressed in a pure white silk robe. She barely has time to gasp as she flies into the Skyeaters star.

  …

  Noata, Wilker, Lance, and Serena run through the alleyway, in the downtown of the city. Noata leads, he checks his tablet and the map on it.

  These alleyways should lead into a plaza and a park where the main transport to the other side is. From there they can get to the research base and from there they can steal the Starkiller.

  The plaza is the real problem, built only a few years ago as a beautification project from a few Eliite politicians, the plaza has no place to hide. There hope is that it will take a while for the Eliite to relay the troops. The military are the ones who respond to calls about other species sightings and they average a five minute show up time.

  That’s their crux of this mission and all thanks to the information Jahum gave them.

  They continue to run until they run past an opening.

  “What the?” someone says.

  “Stop!” Wilker yells out. They all come to a stop.

  “What, Wilker?” Serena asks.

  “Shh! Shut up!” he answers in hurried whispers. He pushes her behind a trash bin and motions the same to the others. A grunt pokes his head around the corner. He looks around and snorts.

  He slowly makes his way toward the trash bin. Wilker crouches hard on it. The grunt inches closer and closer.

  “What the hell are you doing?” a second grunt comes around the corner.

  “I thought I smelled a rat,” the first grunt says.

  “The hell is a rat? Forget about that. We’re being called back to base, we’re under attack,” the other grunt states. They walk off and back around the corner. Gone.

  “It’s there!” Noata says. Noata and the others finally make it out of the alleyway. He points to the transport. It is two giant glass tubes that stretch out halfway to the other side.

  One tube is for departures and the other is for arrivals. As he puts down his arm his view zooms out from the transporter. Serephins come and go from the simple transporter. It’s like a giant elevator, there’s just a door, a large platform, and buttons to your destination.

  But as we look farther back, we can see what’s separating them and their goal.

  A plaza filled with hundreds of Serephins. There are stores, clothing and retail, restaurants with foods from all over the galaxy. Tables and benches where some Serephins sit and chat, and even a small park where Serephin families lounge and play. There is not a single sliver of cover.

  They are fucked.

  Bermea and Kelly overlook their new home. It’s close to opening. Bermea shivers.

  “Are you okay?” Kelly asks. Bermea looks up and through the water above.

  “I have a sudden feeling that this won’t last forever.”

  Kelly puts an arm around him and lays on him. “I can tell you from my time on Earth that nothing lasts forever.” Bermea just chuckles and lays his head on hers.

  Noata, Wilker, Lance, and Serena all casually stroll through the plaza. Bunched up as close to each other as possible. The transport is in the distance, they’re closing into it but while walking through the plaza it seems like its thousands of miles away. They should gun for it but that would bring more attention to themselves.

  Wilker was right when he said that this was a bad fucking idea. All around them, Serephins are stopping in their tracks, pausing what they’re doing and stare at them. There is nowhere for them to hide.

  Luckily it looks like they’re not bringing to much attention to themselves.

  “I almost forgot,” Lance says. Lance digs into his pocket and pulls out a photo. “This is her.” He hands it to Noata. It’s a picture of Thora, a picture of his promise to Julio and Julio’s promise/gift to Cole.

  “I don’t like that you have already given up.”

  “I didn’t, I just know our odds, and in knowing the odds I can
make sure I have left nothing behind.”

  “But—“

  Crunch! To Serena’s left there is a table full of Serephins. They’re eating something, by the way they’re licking their fingers, it’s something delicious. One of them digs into a metal bucket on the table and pulls out—

  Headless humans. They all bite down and munch hard on them.

  “Oh, my GOD!” Serena screams. Both the chosen and the human eaters stare at each other. Serena motions to leave but—

  A siren wails out over the plaza, up above a drop ship zooms over and a squad of grunts leap out.

  “Noata, Wilker, run!” Lance yells.

  “No—“ It’s only been two and a half minutes.

  “Run!!” Serena screams.

  The grunts land.

  Wilker grabs Noata’s arm and runs toward the transport, which is only a short distance away. They run past the landing grunts. Why are they here so fast?!

  Some of the grunts give chase. Noata and Wilker run the hardest they’ve ever ran before, the transporter is a mere meters away. Behind them the grunts are about to catch up and—

  Their heads are blown off from the distance. As they fall, Lance lowers his hand. Perfect shot. Noata and Wilker rush past the double doors of the transporter and pushes the button for the station near the research base.

  “Good luck,” Serena mutters as Noata and Wilker are thrust into the sky through the tube.

  Noata and Wilker look down as Serena looks up at them. Hope drains from her eyes as they watch as more and more Eliite surround the titans left behind.

  His calculations were wrong, he sent them to their deaths. The platform stops, they’re at the top, halfway through the sky.

  “What now?” Noata asks grimly.

  “I don’t know,” Wilker says.

  The platform lights up white. Then as they both blink there is a booming sound. When they open their eyes, they are on the other side.

  Wilker sees the research base only a couple hundred feet away, the top of which peeks over the trees.