He sighs and looks at me straight in the eyes. I lose the sense of place. At that moment, I swim in those two oceans of blue.
“Yes and no. The cube isn’t build to kill the Phadh, but to follow the user’s orders. If Jasih decides that your people should go extinct, then the cube will use its power to do just that. If he decides that the humans should go extinct, for example, then that it will happen. It’s a weapon of mass-extinction guided by feelings.”
“So, the more hateful the wielder, the more harm he can cause,” I say.
Dale nods at me. I’m scared. It’s like a world full of dangers suddenly opened up in front of me. A man controlling this thing will be the most dangerous being in the whole galaxy. He can be a God.
I’m falling in a whirlwind of unpleasant thoughts. My people are already facing an underpopulation problem after the last Intergalactic War. The Galaxy is afraid of us because of our technological prowess and our ability to wait off all our problems, but this...this is something completely new.
No Phadh deals well with everyday changes, especially our Elder leaders. If they learn about this relic, then we’re looking at another galactic-scale conflict. That would be the end of our species. Maybe unlocking the cube is the best solution after all, but that would mean...
I feel something warm engulfing my hands. I look and see Dale’s hands holding mine. I glance at him and see his eyes changing to a sympathetic look. “Jasih might look like a brute at first sight, but trust me, he won’t kill your people or the humans. We just have to unlock the cube to disperse its genetic pull towards Jasih. If that happens, then it’ll be safe to take that thing and hide it somewhere nowhere can find it and use it again,” he says.
I want to trust him, but it’s not that easy. He’s only a human after all, and I’m just a young Phadh. Even with the combined forces of everyone in this spaceship, humans are dead set on using their power to control the Galaxy. And, the Phadh are too old to discuss an alternative route.
Even so, with his warm eyes and his big hands, this man manages to make my worries go away. The only thing crossing my mind right now is how it would feel to kiss him. To open my lips and feel the sweetness of his mouth in mine.
I’m confused. I never thought I could fall for someone so hard after just meeting him. And the fact that he’s looking at me and sees me, just me, makes my heart go crazy. No one has treated me like this since I was just a clueless child, traveling with my father on the edges of the Known Galaxy. Now, almost a woman, I feel my stomach turn upside down every time his hands touch mine, or his eyes examine my face.
I feel like I should say something. I open my mouth only to stop when I hear the swishing sound of the automatic door opening behind me. A second later, our intimate moment has turned into a fleeting dream.
“Eladia, Prime Officer Jasih; where have you been? We have to come up with a plan to--”
“Relax, Cross. We have seven days before we arrive at Yaerus. Don’t you think it’s enough time to clear up any details about our plan till then? It’s not like we know what we are up against.”
Her voice is belittling this great man, making him seem like a small ant asking for mercy before she crushes him under her boots. Anger quickly fills my veins.
However, his eyes tell another story. He’s looking at this unusual couple and seems truly miserable. Dale suffers quite a lot watching them be happy, and they don’t seem to even notice. Or if they do notice, they don’t seem to care.
The tall guy, the one even taller than Dale, Jasih, turns and looks at the human woman with a look of pure confusion.
“What’s wrong with you, Eladia? Doctor Cross is the one that kept you safe all this time. You should be more grateful to him,” he says.
Dale is looking at Eladia; she’s looking back at him. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that these two are either madly in love or passionately hate each other to the gut. The air around them seems electrified and for once, I don’t know if I would like to be in their shoes.
“I’m grateful for the man that saved me, but not for the one who lied to me again and again.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Eladia?” Jasih continues.
“I’m sure Doctor Cross knows what I’m talking about,” she says with as much vile in her words as possible.
“I don’t know. I, for once, would like to discuss with you, Dale. I’m concerned about the situation of Yaerus myself. We found a First Kind down on Zeania. Alyce helped me get rid of her, but it seems that they’re more people involved in this mess than we previously thought.”
At that moment, I look at Dale one last time before he leaves the room to head towards the bridge. His face has suddenly aged as he lowers his head and hunches his back, walking out of the room. He seems defeated.
And then it hits me, and I most certainly don’t like the thought that comes to my realization.
Dale is in love with one of those two, and seeing them together it clearly hurts him.
I didn’t think I could actually feel hurt after realizing the truth, but I do. So, I quickly leave the room, tears running down my face.
My short, human romance is over
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 13
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jay
Things are great now that Eladia is here. We spend all of our free time together, sleeping or fucking or just training. It has been two days since the incident on Zeania, but now that the old gang is back together, it feels like home again.
The first day we talk about my memories coming back; we spend countless hours talking about my days in the Esuh army and how life was in the Esuh empire. She has every kind of question about what happened back there. What our training entailed? What our enemies looked like? Stuff like that. It’s good that she’s asking all the important questions since it helps me test my memory. It seems that almost all the crucial parts are in place.
All except one—my family. Did I have a family before? Did I love them the way I love Eladia and Silver and Zan now? Did I feel love at all or is that another side effect of the cube’s influence on me? I don’t know. I can’t remember.
Still, I can’t feel bad about it now. During my last incident with the cube, I realized that my memories are closely related to this thing unlocking. So, when it’s finally open, all my memories will return as well. At least I hope I’m right about that.
I put my hand deep into my pocket and fumble the tiny cube holding the future of the species inside it. It’s almost unbelievable that a thing this small can cause so big a disaster. All I want to do now is find a way to stop it and save both species from extinction.
Dale called us in meeting that will take place on the bridge to come up with a plan to unlock the cube and then lock it up again. The most knowledgeable member of the Organization on the matter, Doctor Dale Cross, said that he actually has come up with a plan to end this vicious cycle of bad choices once and for all. I want to believe him, but I’m not so sure anymore.
When I arrive in the commanding room, I see that I’m the last one to arrive. Even Eladia is here, talking enthusiastically with Silver and Zan. She seems happy to see them.
“You sure took your time,” I hear Alyce saying.
I thought that now that she’s free to go everywhere she wants she would be nicer, but she’s still getting on my nerves. She can’t bring me down, not now that Eladia is here, but still, it’s like a pesky, little fly, pestering me every time we’re in the same room.
However, these last two days she’s even more annoying than usual. Something must have happened to her.
“Sorry, I had something to take care off first,” I say.
I exchange glances with Eladia. She smiles at me knowingly. Yeah, we’ve been fucking again, but I’m not going to regret it. I won’t give this young girl the pleasure of winning.
Still, she’s able to pick up our vibe and grunts disgustingly while she walks away. Every other day I would make a tantrum over her
behavior towards me, but today, I’m way too happy to do that.
“Okay, we’re all here now,” Dale suddenly says. “As you all know, the artifact that Jasih has in his possession is a terrible weapon, one that is now aimed towards the Phadh.”
He stops and looks at Alyce. The young girl has a grave expression on her face. She looks ready to defend her people single-handedly, even if that means she’ll die in the process. Yet, I can smell her fear. She’s genuinely afraid about the future of her people.
Before continuing, Dale casts a sinister look at Pyro. I can feel animosity brewing between them. I thought that all the Organization members were in good terms between them, but now I’m certain that there’s something lurking in the shadows.
“Humans are blinded by their ambition. Being the unofficial Rank 2 species, destroying the Phadh will automatically serve the Known Galaxy to their plate. Humans are not fit to control the whole Alliance, not when their life spans are shorter than even the Bryp,” Dale continues.
“So, if they were fit to control the galaxy you would just let them destroy us, right? Is that what you say?” Alyce says, jumping off her seat.
“I think you misread my intentions, Alyce. In no way, I didn’t mean that.”
The young girl sniffs and after casting a spiteful look at him, she returns back to her seat. Dale continues right after the pause.
“Our plan is to unlock the cube and then let Jasih lock it again, using the rights of the chosen user. No one but you has the right to either start or end this thing. And only you can save the Phadh from going extinct.”
They all look at me now. I’m not sure what they’re asking me to do, though.
“I will gladly do it, but how do you know for sure that this thing has a turn-off switch? Isn’t that a bit too convenient?” I say.
Pyro is the one that replies to me now. “In all the Organization’s files regarding the artifact, the reports clearly state that the destruction of the opposing species was a matter of choice and not a random event. If you can choose to kill someone, then you can also choose to not kill anyone.”
These were the most words in a row that I’ve heard the man utter throughout this last year.
This is then, buddy. The endgame, I hear Dark Jay say in my head.
I can’t help but agree with him.
“Okay. I’ll give it a try. But do you have any idea how I can do it? Or should I just jump in there and hope that everything plays out well?”
No one talks. It’s only me and this crazy plan then. Once again, facing impossible odds, I must save a whole species from going extinct. Maybe it’s a bit too convenient. Haven’t the Esuh made their choice when they decided to use the cube many millenniums ago? What if the cube doesn’t accept me as its chosen user because of that?
“Uhm...I think you have to see this,” Silver suddenly says.
She tunes every monitor of the bridge to the Grid, playing a video of a human man wearing a black suit, getting ready to give a speech before countless of journalists and politicians.
“Today is a bad day for humanity. For the second time in our long history, humans have to abandon their home planet and fly away from the paradise named Yaerus. After this act of terrorism, the biological warfare that brought to us the walking corpses, the Council of the United Species decided to authorize the Purge of the human home planet and grant us, the human species, another place to erect the center of our civilization.”
Alyce is on her feet now, her hand cupping her mouth. Everyone around me is looking at the monitor like it’s the last thing they will do in their life.
“Where is my father? How did he allow for the Purge to take place? He wouldn’t let any of these to happen if he was there,” she suddenly says.
They all look at her and then at me. I have to stop something this small from setting off and destroying a whole civilization. For the first time in my life, I feel the burden of failure dragging me down. What if I actually fail?
You’re weak, Jasih. Let me take over and I’ll make sure to destroy this fucking thing.
“No!” I say out loud.
I run out of the bridge. Everything is so messed up right now
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 14
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eladia
Seeing Jay storm out of the room makes me feel uncertain of how our mission will turn out. Being this big and this confused at the same time it’s a dangerous combination. In times like this, Jay changes to his dark self.
Strangely, I feel eager for that moment. What is wrong with me? I thought I would be happy with him for the first time since we met, Jay, who finally started sharing his feelings with me and all. And it’s a great thing, I know, but it’s always the same routine. No adventures, no passion, no nothing.
This man, the platinum-skinned Jay, is the one I wanted to be with in the past, the Jay I needed back when I was still a frail woman unable to protect myself. But now, now that I’ve seen the other side of the coin and had my share of adventures, I’m not so sure I can be with him anymore. It’s like the softer he becomes, the less passionate I feel about him. I’m imprisoned into a cycle of denial, a decision that keeps coming back to haunt me in the worst way possible.
I keep doubting him and his decisions. And with the purge of Yaerus on the table now, we all have to work as a team to actually end this mission.
Everyone has frozen in place after the announcement the human ambassador, Mr. Terasaka, just made. We’re still five days away from arriving at Yaerus, but to set up a Purge, they will need at least a week. That gives us a time window of two days to infiltrate, solve the Great Mystery that no one else has managed to solve from the beginning of time itself, and then get out of there alive.
Are we fucking crazy?
“Don’t worry, Eladia. He’ll pull it through. You know he will,” Silver suddenly says.
She helps me to snap out of the spiraling chaos called doubt. I smile at her and turn my body to face her. “I know, I know. It’s that...I’m not the same human I was when I first met him. I don’t trust anyone other than myself anymore. I just feel that there’s some kind of barrier separating us, and I can’t kick it down by using brute force.”
Silver looks a bit shocked by my language. Last time we talked so casually, I was a hesitant, helpless girl that was in no way into this kind of thing. But now, I’m a fighter, a warrior, an assassin. This time, I’m so much more than just a bystander.
“You don’t doubt him. You doubt yourself. Jasih is the same as before. He just decided to open up to you, to make you the one person deemed worthy to trust. But now you’re the one not trusting yourself,” Zan suddenly jumps into the conversation.
It still shocks me how perfectly he speaks the language like he’s native or something. Also, he’s taller, his shoulders are broader, and he’s no more awkwardly shaved. He’s a man, the likes of Dale and Jay. Maybe even more so since the kid never lies. It’s in his nature to speak his mind clearly.
Still, to have such a great insight at his age, it’s amazing. I wouldn’t expect anyone other than him to give me advice like that. It’s like he understands the situation more clearly than us living it.
“You’re right. It’s probably me that I don’t trust, not him. He’s perfect now, and I’m the damaged one.” I turn and look at Silver. At that moment, I see her staring at Zan. He stares her back and nods. “What’s going on?”
“Eladia, I’ve meant to talk to you since you arrived. Of course, I didn’t want to bother you since you just met Jay after so long, but there’s something we have to discuss.”
I don’t think I like where this conversation is going. “What’s going on? You’re making me nervous Silver.”
Zan turns to face me, as does Silver. Is this some kind of intervention? No, I don’t think so. This is something else entirely.
“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed it, but since I met Zan, we’re inseparable. He’s the first one I save every time we�
�re in danger, and he’s the first one I talk to when I learn something. At first, I thought our relationship was based on research interest only, but I’ve seen changes in my code that I never thought possible.”
“I’m not sure I understand, Silver. What kind of changes?”
She stops; she actually stops to add a dramatic pause to her narration. Are androids possible of such interaction? Of that level of autonomous thinking?
“I feel happy when I’m around him, and sad when not. When he’s sleeping, I feel lonely, and my systems don’t function that well. I think that...that I’m starting to evolve into a sentient lifeform, Eladia” she concludes.
I feel my head going blank for the millionth time this week. Everything has changed throughout this year. Even Silver has changed radically. He’s a powerful artificial intelligence now, so powerful she’s almost sentient.
Alien Romance Box Set: Alien Cube: The Sci-FI Alien Invasion Romance (Books 1-5) Page 27