Dark Universe & Forbidden Love

by Hao Yang

  Jason turned around and gazed at the alley. All he could see was a beam of light from a flashlight. He put away his flashlight, grabbed Lisania close to him, stepped away from the door and took cover behind the tilted wall. Jason couldn’t tell what they look like until they walked on the porch. One was a 70 year old lady and the other was a teenage boy.

  Jason emerged from the tilted wall and shouted, “Grandma.”

  The boy was scared but the old lady calmly turned to Jason and shoot her flashlight at Jason’s face. He gazed at Jason for a second and shouted, “Jason. Jason! It is you!”

  Jason walked to her and they hugged together.

  “Look at you. You are a man now.” The old lady said emotionally as she fondled Jason’s head.

  “Grandma, sorry, I didn’t come to see you before.” Jason said in embarrassment.

  “My boy. What are you talking about? Let’s get in. Oh, I almost forgot. Jason, do you remember Truck? You played with him last time you were here. Truck, this is Jason.” The old lady said excitedly.

  Jason and Truck acknowledged each other.

  “Oh, I have a friend as well.” Jason brought Lisania to his grandma in law and said, “This is Lisania. Lisania, this is my grandma Lilen. My friend Truck.”

  Lisania nodded at them.

  “Jason’s friend is my friend. Alright, let’s get in.” Lilen said happily.

  Everyone walked into the house. Lilen turned on the light and walked into the kitchen. The inside was humble and old. The only furnitures in the room were a round table and several chairs. Shortly, Lilen returned with four glasses of water and everyone sat around the small table.

  “Jason, how is your training in Guardian Fleet?” Lilen asked.

  “It’s pretty good. I am the top in the class.” Jason said confidently.

  “I am so proud of you.”

  “Your grandma talks about you all the time. You are a local celebrity.” Truck said nicely.

  They all smiled.

  “Grandma. It is so nice to see you.” Jason said and held Lilen’s hand.

  “Me, too.” Lilen grasped Jason’s hand tightly.

  “Oh, you two must be hungry. I will get some food.”

  “I will help you.”

  Both Jason and Lilen went to the kitchen. Jason opened the fridge and only saw several potatoes and a few jars.

  “Jason, tell me. Are you in some kind of trouble?” Lilen asked sincerely.

  “No, it’s just I hope you can help me look after that girl for a while. She is blind.” Jason said reluctantly.

  “No problem. I was worried you got yourself in some kind of life or death stuff.” Lilen said and patted Jason’s shoulder.

  “I know your life is tough.”

  “Well, life is always tough. Remember that and don’t you give it up.” Lilen said and smiled at Jason.

  “Thanks.”

  “Come on. You make me feel like I am a stranger. Make yourself useful. There were some potatoes in the fridge. Peer them.”

  Jason and Lilen cooked those potatoes as they talked about Jason’s life in the training center and old neighbors. Then they had a quick dinner. Jason had to leave to catch the bus. Before he left, he gave all the money he had with him to Lilen. Jason knew it could only last several months, so he promised that he would come back in two months.

  Chapter 63

  General KIizan reviewed all analysis results of the wreckages they found and it showed that the base on that planet was only around 10 years old. He realized how serious the problem was, so he requested a video conference with the leaders of all other eight species at this weekend. Before the conference, he talked with Kalan about the Oracle. Kalan reported the fruitless search and his plan about following Jason to find the Oracle. Klizan wasn’t thrilled about this idea, but given the fact that Kalan had put the trace in place, he decided to give it a try. He ordered Ceithu to cease any further operation regarding killing Jason.

  Later the conference started.

  “What is so important to make you call this meeting?” Iteiten, the prime minister of Estian, asked before Klizan could start.

  “We need to discuss the Hylocan problem.” Klizan said calmly, hiding his anger.

  “I hope you are here to tell us some news about the missing Hylocan girl.” Au Ithei, the president of Oireitan, said in a provocative tone.

  “Like you just said, the girl was missing.” Klizan said coldly.

  “The emergence of the girl however is the problem.” General R-Isgie, the leader of Uainanese, said. He was short and fat with a tail as long as his body.

  “Hylocan did get away during the siege of Akenlys or they just plan this years ahead.” Au Ithei said slowly.

  “I have found one of their bases or what it left. From the scale of the base and the analysis of the wreckage, I am pretty sure there are at least a great number of Hylocans out there.” Klizan said confidently.

  “How exactly did you find that base?” Iteiten asked.

  “From reliable intelligence sources.” Klizan said.

  Iteiten snorted and looked at Au Ithei.

  “In order to eliminate the problem, we have to put all available intelligence resources together. I hope we all understand this.” Au Ithei said.

  “We have to do it as soon as possible before we are brain-controlled.” R-Isgie said hastily.

  Other leaders didn’t really raise any concern, because all of them knew the strong made the rule.

  “The wreckages you found could be very useful. Every species here should have the access to those wreckages to analyze them.” Iteiten said in a hard voice.

  “We have already fully analyzed those wreckages and I just told you what we found.” Klizan said coldly.

  “Well, we believe your judgement but we also feel another set of eyes could be very helpful.” Au Ithei said easily.

  Other leaders nodded their heads.

  “I do agree what President Au Ithei just said.” R-Isgie added.

  Klizan gave R-Isgie an angry stare. He knew this must have something to do with pulling Glycan vessels away from the disputed planet.

  “I believe collaboration is very important.” Klizan said in an official tone.

  “I believe the same thing and that is the cornerstone for us to deal with this problem. We all know how powerful Hylocan used to be.” Au Ithei said happily.

  “So, we are set then. We will make further decision based on the analysis.” Iteiten gave Klizan a big smile.

  “One more thing, we really need to replace those outdated ships in Guardian Fleet. I am aware that this has been discussed several times in the operation committee. This kind of thing shouldn’t take this long. Since we are all leaders of first class species, we can work something out. What you guys think?” Au Ithei said impatiently.

  “I think I speak for some of us here, 20 vessels for each species is really a burden.” Agu teih si, the king of Yaseen, said in embarrassment.

  “How about Oireitan, Estian, Glycan and Uainanese build those ships? But remember, in this case, we do request more control over the fleet.” Au Ithei said quickly.

  “I don’t think that is the initial idea of Guardian Fleet.” Klizan said.

  “Save it. General Klizan, you don’t need to educate us. We need to solve the real problem here.” Iteinen said hastily.

  “And I guess we have to ask, can you join us?” Au Ithei smiled evilly.

  Klizan didn’t say anything.

  “Is there any problem from others?” Au Ithei asked arrogantly as he looked around at other leaders.

  No one made a sound.

  “Then we are all set here. Oireitan, Estian and Uainanese will construct the new ships and we will expect more control over the fleet.”

  The meeting was over and Klizan felt like he just lost a battle. It wasn’t always like this and Klizan knew it would change in three months.

  Chapter 64

  When Jason returned to the training center, it was close to morning. He
crept into the doom and was surprised to see Erikon and Lucis were up already.

  “How is your trip? Lisania is safe?” Erikon asked.

  “Yea, she will be alright.” Jason said tiredly.

  “Gloria called like 100 times. We didn’t answer the call, because we don’t know how to explain.” Erikon said seriously.

  Jason immediately took out the badge from his uniform pocket, but he pause for second and put it back.

  “Everything alright? You look lost.” Lucis said.

  “I am thinking how to explain this.” Jason saidi in a worried tone.

  “You have to lie. Trust me. No other choices.” Lucis said sincerely.

  “Jason, Vampire is right. If she knows you helped a Hylocan, you are dead.” Erikon said seriously.

  “Nah.” Jason said easily.

  “The hatred between Hylocan and Glycan can be traced back to the first universe war. It was something in their blood and they were born with it.” Erikon said.

  Jason didn’t say anything. He went to the restroom and made the call.

  “Where have you been all day? Why you didn’t answer my call? You scare me to death. I thought you were kidnapped. Are you alright?” Gloria said quickly.

  “Yea, I am fine just a little tired.”

  “What did you do?”

  Jason paused for a second and said, “I...I was doing some training in a high magnetic field, so I didn’t bring the badge. I don’t want to lose my second one.”

  “Jason. Don’t you worry, if you lost it, I will give you another one. You were there for a whole day and night? It was the weekend!”

  “Yea, it was a long one. Unbelievable.”

  “I see. I will complain to those second class officers. This is ridiculous!” Gloria said angrily.

  “Honey, you really overreact, but I like it.” Jason said happily.

  “That is so sweet. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  “You know my father visited me yesterday and he brought me some delicious fruit. I was waiting for you and I didn’t eat any.”

  “Then I will see you tonight.”

  “We will go to the lookout tower. The view is beautiful.” Gloria said excitedly.

  “No problem. See you.”

  “See you.”

  Jason quickly switched off the badge. He had never felt guilt this heavy. He thought about making it up for Gloria, but he didn’t know what to do. Telling the truth was definitely not an option. One lie was one lie, no matter what you do.

  Later, Jason, Erikon and Lucis joined others at the breakfast. Jason was still angry at himself and didn’t have any appetite. Erikon was very helpful in terms of finishing Jason’s plate. They talked about the upcoming game against the first class species. None of them had any clue what to do. They trusted that Jason would come up with a plan on the occasion, but Jason simply didn’t think so. They finished breakfast and went to the class.

  Chapter 65

  Mark didn’t tell Pennington what happened at the other night. He knew Pennington wouldn’t be interested anyway. For the past several days, Mark learned a lot more about the base in the cave. It was actually built six years ago. The cave was there long before the base was built. It was indeed the legacy of a mine corporation just like what Pennington told Mark. Human finished most of the supporting facilities such as power plants, water supply factories and recycling systems. Glycan built many of the buildings used to produce their bodies. The whole base was self-sustaining. There was no Human or Glycan in that base unless something went wrong and when it did happen, one of Salmon’s guys or Salmon himself would go down. If they didn’t know how to fix the problem, which was the case in most situations, Salmon would call somebody in.

  Mark also find out something about those black stones. It seems that without crystals Glycan’s body was similar to Human’s body in anatomical aspect. The black stone triggered those bodies to generate crystals. Mark saw with his own eyes that robots injected black stones into Glycan fetuses and those stones bound to different organs.

  It was just another day in the slum until Salmon called Mark to check some error message sent from the base. Mark went down there and found out that it was a warning about the liquid going into the tubes. Mark reported this to Salmon and Salmon called someone right away.

  Eight hours later, a guy dressing as a gunman walked in Salmon’s room. He had a small and skinny figure, pale skin, a long head with receding hairline.

  “Mark, Tick. Tick, Mark.” Salmon said.

  Mark and Tick nodded at each other.

  “Mark will take you down there.” Salmon said.

  “Good. Let’s go.” Tick said hastily.

  Mark and Tick went down to the base in that hover. They walked into the Glycan production area dotted with dozens of two floor buildings. Mark stopped at one building and said, “The warning is from this one.”

  They stepped into that building. There were hundreds of tubes holding Glycans’ bodies. Tick went to check the control panel. Mark was wandering among those tubes and those Glycans were looking at him curiously.

  “Everytime they look at me, I wonder what they are thinking.” Mark said.

  “Even though they look like adults, they are actually babies, curious about everything.” Tick said easily.

  “If they are not that smart, how come some of them can escape from here?”

  “I am aware of that. Well, one out of 1000 might be a genius.” Tick said as he knocked on one nearby tube.

  “Why they pick Human to do this job? Glycans can’t do it themselves?”

  “Glycans vowed against any genetic modification of their bodies. I am quite sure they won’t do this on their own planet or any planet they colonized.” Tick said confidently as he checked some of gauges.

  “I see. But why us?”

  “I found the problem and I am going to fix it right now. Then I am out of here.” Tick said coldly. He opened a door on the floor, lifted out a tool box and grabbed several filters. Then he walked to a pump. He tried to open the sash on the pump, but it was either too heavy or jammed. Mark just stood there and watched Tick.

  “If you can help, we both can get out of here quicker.” Tick said tiredly.

  “I have nothing else to do. Take your time.” Mark said easily.

  “OK.” Tick tried again, but he still couldn’t open it.

  “Looks like you need some help there. If you can be more open to me, I can lend you a hand. We are on the same side anyway.”

  “What other questions do you have?” Tick asked unwillingly.

  “Where those Glycans go?”

  “I don’t know. We haven’t delivered any Glycan yet, but we will in about three months. What else?” Tick asked impatiently.

  Mark had other questions, but he figured Tick couldn’t answer them anyway. He was just a technician keeping the facility running. Mark walked to the pump and lifted the sash open. It was heavy and rusty. Tick changed several filters, and then closed the sash.

  “That was it?” Mark asked.

  “Yea, the filters were clogged.”

  They left the building, returned to the hover and went back.

  Chapter 66

  The outlook tower was located near the Glycan library. It was one of the highest ground points in training center. At the top of the tower, there was a transparent sphere and Jason and Gloria were lying in it right now. Gloria was resting her head on Jason’s shoulder and looking up at Jason. Jason was looking into the space. Stars and Galaxies were shining like diamonds on a piece of black silk.

  “Jason, what are you thinking?” Gloria asked gently as she climbed on his chest.

  “Well…”

  “Wait, wait. Let me guess. The future of the universe, the wellbeing of Human being or my tits?” Gloria said in a joking tone.

  “Well, your tits is definitely one of them.” Jason said as he reached into Gloria’s uniform.

  Gloria pulled open the neckband and said, “But that is n
ot the only thing.”

  “No.” Jason smiled reluctantly.

  “Tell me. Honey.” Gloria said and placed a kiss on Jason’s cheek.

  “I always hope one day when I looked into the space, I can find the spacecraft carrying my mother.” Jason said in a low tone.

  “What happened to her?”

  “She was on a trip to Sylareon and never came back. My father told me the spacecraft went missing.”

  “When was that?”

  “About 10 years ago.”

  Gloria knew there was no way Jason’s mother could survive. But she didn’t have the heart to tell him that.

  “I know I shouldn’t think like this. But sometimes I just can’t help.” Jason sighed.

  “If I could, I would rather went missing so that you can have your mother back.” Gloria said sadly.

  “Are you jealous? Really?” Jason joked as he pinched her nipple.

  “I just don’t want to see you suffer. I can do anything for you. Anything.” Gloria said firmly.

  Jason looked into Gloria’s eyes and said, “I love you.”

  “I love you.” Gloria said and kissed Jason.

  “Oh, I almost forgot. I got the fruit. My father brought me those yesterday.” Gloria said excitedly. She then sat up and took out a small exquisite box from a bag.

  “That is a nice box.” Jason said as he grabbed Gloria’s tits from behind.

  “It’s a refrigerator.”

  “Oh, man.”

  Gloria opened the box. There were six small and cute egg like things. What surprised Jason was those eggs were shaking as if something was going to break out.

  “They are still alive?” Jason asked in surprise.

  “Of course. They are alive. They are the seeds of Itieuytewonhys.”

  “The what?”

  “It’s a tree’s name.” Gloria smiled. She took out an egg and held it right in front of Jason’s mouth.

  Now Jason could see the egg even had six legs at the bottom and they were moving around.

  “I guess the definition of fruit can be different from species to species.” Jason sighed.