by Hao Yang
“Why do you need Tiegotteen’s blood?” Klaycon asked.
“Get out of this vessel. I have to go.” Gloria said coldly.
“We are not taking orders from you. Who do you think you are?” Zier said angrily.
“Where are you going?” Klaycon asked caringly.
“It’s better you don’t know.”
“I guess I have to track this vessel again, huh?” Klaycon sighed.
“Klaycon, thank you for saving me. I appreciate it.” Gloria said gratefully.
“It’s OK you don’t tell me. I am just worried that you get into trouble again.” Klaycon said with a reluctant smile.
“I will go to find Jason’s friends.”
“Can I suggest you call them first before you go there?” Klaycon said gently.
“I will call while I am on the way.” Gloria said hastily.
Zier shook his head in anger and walked away.
“What if he is not there?” Klaycon asked.
“Then I will search the entire universe to find him.” Gloria said decisively.
Looking at Gloria’s determined eyes, Klaycon knew he couldn’t change her mind. He turned around and said, “Call me if you need anything.” Then he left.
Chapter 83
Lisania couldn’t just watch Jason throwing up blood in great pain. She used the ring given by the previous Hylocan queen Qotenia and contacted Hylocan. It was her first time using the ring and she never thought she would use it under this circumstance. The Hylocan fleet arrived soon after and took Lisania and Jason on board.
Right now, Jason was lying on a bed and Lisania was sitting beside him. Two male Hylocans walked into the room, followed by one female Hylocan. They were all wearing blue frock uniforms.
“My queen, please pardon my interruption, I brought the doctors as you requested.” The female Hylocan said respectfully.
“Thank you, Petiena.” Lisania said as she turned around.
“My queen, my name is Oefete. I am the doctor treating this Human patient. The test results show that this Human has some very unique bacteria in his bone. We know nothing about this bacteria, so we couldn’t really find the best treatment. As for now, we are treating him with multi antibiotics and he should be alright after two days. But there is a problem.”
“What is that?” Lisania asked nervously.
“The bacteria is evolving itself upon the treatment, which means that the treatment couldn’t kill all of it. I estimate that the current treatment could eliminate 95% of it. After this, even if we use the same treatment, it won’t be effective. Several weeks later, the bacteria will kill him eventually.” Oefete said.
“Someone told me Tiegotteen’s blood would cure him.”
“It is possible, but we don’t have any solid evidence to prove it.” Oefete said.
“Petiena, send a team to get the blood!” Lisania ordered.
“My queen, the deployment of armed forces must be approved by central committee of generals. Actually, they are waiting to see you in your palace.”
“I see. How many weeks does he have?” Lisania asked hastily.
“He might have five or six weeks.”
“Keep an eye on him. When he wakes up, let me know.” Lisania said and then went to meet the central committee of generals. She requested them to send a team to get Tiegotteen’s blood right away. All eight generals not only rejected this proposal but also proposed to kill the Human immediately to avoid any further problems. Lisania fought hard for Jason’s life. She threatened to run away again and never come back. This indeed scared some of the generals and they decided to back off one step. They wouldn’t get Tiegotteen’s blood but they wouldn’t kill Jason either. They decided to set Jason free under the condition that they removed Hylocan and Lisania from his memory.
When the meeting was over, Petiena walked in and told Lisania that Jason woke up. Lisania shot out of the chair and left the room.
Jason was sitting on the bed, lost in his thoughts. He was worried about Gloria. The last thing he remembered was Tiegotteens were attacking them like crazy.
Lisania walked in the room and asked, “Feel better?”
When Jason glanced over at Lisania, he was stunned at her beauty. She was wearing a dark red knee length frock, with her hair forming a chignon bun.
“Yea.” Jason nodded.
“You really scared me!” Lisania complained in a sweet voice.
“Lisania, where is Gloria? Is she alright?” Jason asked nervously.
“Gloria left for her home. She is fine. But we didn’t get the blood.” Lisania said calmly.
“I see. I am surprised I am still alive.”
“The medicine you are taking can remove most of the bacteria, but not all of them.”
“Thank you, Lisania.” Jason said sincerely.
“For now you are fine, but after several weeks…” Lisania stopped. She hated herself for not being able to get Tiegotteen’s blood.
“Let’s worry about that after several weeks. By the way, where are we?” Jason said happily.
“We are on a Hylocan vessel.”
“Good. So how can you do this? I mean you just made a call and they came to save you. You must be someone important.”
“I am the queen.” Lisania said sadly.
“Really? I thought the Oracle and queen can’t be one person.” Jason said in surprise.
“The queen and the Oracle were never meant to be the same one. Because the queen Qotenia didn’t have any heir, so she pointed me as the successor before she passed away. However, I don’t like the life planned by others. I want to see the outside world, so I ran away and ended up being captured by Uainanese.”
“If it was not me, you wouldn’t call them in, right?” Jason asked sadly.
Lisania nodded and said, “Jason, I love you. I can do anything for you.”
“Lisania, I love Gloria. You know that. By the way, thank you for not killing Gloria.” Jason said sincerely.
“Because of you.” Lisania said emotionally.
“Thanks.” Jason knew what Lisania meant.
“Jason, why you don’t love me?” Lisania asked in a begging voice.
“Lisania, you are a very beautiful girl. But I just don’t have that feeling.”
“The feeling of heart throbbing and pounding, right?”
“Yes.” Jason nodded.
“That is the feeling I had for you since the first time we met. Even if I didn’t see your face, I know you are the one for me. I guess this is just fate.” Lisania said softly.
Jason gave Lisania a reluctant smile. He didn’t know what to say. They fell into silence and Lisania left.
Chapter 84
It had come to the time to deliver the synthesized Glycans. After the Hylocan girl ran away, Mark was worried that the girl might know something about the cave, but nothing happened. Now his main concern was what would happen after they were done.
Mark, Salmon and Tick had been in the cave for several days to finish up everything.
Robots did all the heavy-lifting and transferred Glycans from facilities to gigantic worm like containers provided by Glycan. Those containers were about 100 meters long and 30 meters in diameter.
Mark was checking out those containers. They had soft surface and it felt like they were alive.
“How did they get in here?” Mark asked curiously.
“See those big holes over there?” Tick said as he pointed at several holes in the distance.
Mark nodded.
“They drilled and crawled in like earthworm.” Tick said easily.
“How did you know that?” Salmon asked.
“I was here, when they came in.”
Mark could tell Tick was in good mood today.
“So this is it? I mean, it’s all done?” Mark asked in a heavy tone.
“Well, at least for a while. They may ask us later to make more. But I will say these 10000 units could last a while. I know I can take a break.” Tick said happily.
“I hope so.” Salmon said uneasily. He knew exactly what Mark meant. He had the same concern as well.
“What are they going to do with those Glycans?” Mark asked.
“Don’t know, don’t care.” Tick said happily.
Mark and Salmon looked at each other and smiled quietly.
“You guys ever thought about why they asked us to do this?” Mark asked.
“You always have a lot of question, don’t you?” Tick chuckled.
Salmon smiled in agreement.
“Maybe you don’t know either.” Mark said with a grin.
“That is truth. I don’t know and I don’t want to know.” Tick said happily.
Later they finished everything and sealed each container. Then those container started to change shapes and spit liquid from their heads. As soon as the liquid touched the rocky ground, it ate away everything instantaneously. Soon those containers dug into the ground and disappeared.
Mark, Salmon and Tick left the cave. Tick couldn’t wait to get to the surface and when he did, he ran off without saying goodbye.
“So, what do you think?” Mark said as he watched Tick heading to the gate.
“I don’t know.” Salmon said uneasily.
“You got something from your boss?”
“No.” Salmon asked curiously.
Salmon’s answer didn’t ease Mark from worrying. When it came to the night, Mark couldn’t sleep. He just sat on the edge of the bed. Later he saw Salmon creeping into the room like a ghost. He signaled Mark to come with him. Mark followed him quietly. They went to the surface and then passed several gates, heading to the outskirt of the slum. There, they went aboard a vessel. It had been a while since Mark saw a space vessel. The moment he saw it he knew they were going to leave Earth.
When they reached the outer space, Salmon let out a long sigh and said, “Last minute detail, they asked me to bring you.”
“Who are they?” Mark asked.
“You will know soon.”
“You know if you told me this early, I can at least bring the whiskey with me.” Mark joked.
They both laughed loudly.
Chapter 85
When Mark left with Salmon, he didn’t really have time to think about it. Now he wasn’t sure it was a good idea to leave drug business. He needed money to pay John’s medical bill. Now he and Salmon were just waiting at the colony on planet M74985. It was actually a megacity stretching some 2000 kilometers along a river.
It was the fourth day since they left the earth. Mark and Salmon was heading to a coordinate located at the outskirt of the colony. When Mark and Salmon arrived, they both wondered whether they got the address wrong. It was an old and battered warehouse. They checked the perimeter and found nothing except some fresh footprints. Following those footprints, they entered the building. The inside was starkly empty. Beams of light passed through the cracks on the roof, casting on the dusty ground.
Mark and Salmon walked around carefully. Suddenly, the entire floor started to sink. They were entering into a steel structure like an underground hangar. A man, medium build, walked to Mark and Salmon leisurely. As he got closer, Mark was shocked that it was Aron. Aron was surprised as well, but both of them acted like they didn’t know each other.
“They are waiting. This way.” Aron said coldly.
They followed Aron into a room. There were two men and a Glycan sitting around a table. One was Treton London, the chairman of Human defense department. He had a small build, around 60, with a thin face and round eyes. The other man was Cateon William, the chairman of Human treasury department. He was tall and fat with thick grey hair, grey beard and a square face dotted with freckles. The Glycan was dressed like a Human, but his long white hair gave his identity away.
Mark had seen the two men on media. He was very well aware of who they were. But he couldn’t tell anything about the Glycan. He didn’t even know how old he could be.
“I don’t think we need to introduce ourselves. Am I right?” Treton joked as he glanced over at Cateon.
“No. I can tell they know us.” Cateon chuckled.
Both Mark and Salmon nodded.
“You must be wondering why a Glycan is sitting here with us. We will get to that. First, we are happy to learn that you two have delivered the Glycans.”
“Thank you, sir.” Mark and Salmon said simultaneously.
“The reason for this meeting is to inform you the next stage of our plan. Lreque, do you mind?” Treton said politely.
“My name is Lreque. I figured that at least we should meet one time before we work together.”
“Doesn’t matter for me.” Mark said easily.
“You are the one found the big Hylocan eyeball, right?” Lreque asked.
“Yes.”
“We are not able to directly verify the intel you provided, so we are not sure.”
“Sure about what?” Mark asked.
“If your intel was correct, General Klizan might be up to something big.”
“My intel is correct. That is what I saw.”
“Then you should be able to find it again.”
“I don’t know about that. I imagine we have this conversation because your people didn’t find it in the past several months.” Mark said casually.
“That is your new assignment. There might be something else on the side.” Lreque said firmly.
“Given the power Klizan had, I don’t think he even needs the eyeball for whatever he was going to do.”
Cateon and Lreque smiled silently.
Treton gave Mark a blank stare and said, “Watch your manner. Remember who you are talking to.”
“Sorry, sir.” Mark said respectfully, casting his eyes down.
“We need to find the eyeball.” Treton said to Mark.
“Yes, sir.” Mark nodded.
“Salmon, you will work with Aron. Any question?” Treton said with a straight face.
“Sir, we get paid for this, right? I mean, like how much?” Mark asked cautiously.
“Better than your previous job.” Cateon said firmly, and then motioned them to leave.
Mark, Salmon and Aron left the room. Salmon and Aron had stuff to discuss, so Mark excused himself and waited near the car. He knew soon Salmon and him would take orders from that Glycan Lreque. He had a lot of questions, but he quitted questioning and started to wonder how much money he could make and whether it would be enough for John’s Phase II treatment.
Chapter 86
Jason was sitting at the edge of a rainbow like flower field, but he wasn’t in the mood to appreciate its beauty. He didn’t know why he was still on this monstrous Hylocan vessel. He understood that Lisania must had done something, or they should had killed him five days ago. However, he didn’t understand if they didn’t want to kill him then what they want from him. He thought about escaping, but given the fact that Hylocan could read mind, he would fail before he even started.
Lisania walked to Jason and scared him from behind. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realise someone was behind him.
“Got you, huh?” Lisania said as she sat next to Jason.
“Yea.” Jason smiled reluctantly.
“Jason, I need to tell you something.” Lisania said seriously.
“I am on my ears.” Jason said easily. He knew this moment would come sooner or later.
“Jason, you will leave here safely, but they will remove Hylocan and me from your memory. I am sorry that is all I can do.” Lisania said sadly.
“In that case, I will lose a friend.” Jason sighed.
Lisania hugged Jason and cried.
Jason didn’t know what to say. He was just as sad as her.
“I am sorry. I am sorry.” Lisania said desperately, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“You saved my life. Because of me, you had to come back here. I know you don’t like here.” Jason said gently as he wiped tears off Lisania’s face.
“Jason, after you go back, find the way to re
move the bacteria from your body. There must be other ways.” Lisania said caringly.
“I will. I will find other solutions. Trust me. I will be fine.”
“I love you.” Lisania said and buried her face in Jason’s chest.
After several seconds, they slowly broke up.
“I love you.” Lisania said emotionally with tearful eyes.
Right at this moment, a guard appeared in the distance. Before he could get closer, Lisania motioned him to go back. She knew it was the time.
Jason and Lisania left the flower field and went to a compartment in the medical bay. In the compartment, there was a chair surrounded by all kinds of equipment. Several technician look Hylocans were busy with those equipment.
“So this will only remove Hylocan and you from my memory?” Jason asked.
“Yes.”
Jason paused there, lost in his thoughts.
A general walked into the compartment and said, “We don’t have a whole day!”
Jason nodded and sat on the chair.
Lisania stood beside Jason and whispered, “Remember this.” She then kissed Jason on the lips and put something in Jason’s pocket.
“That is enough!” The general shouted as she dragged Lisania away from Jason.
“Start the procedure!”
“Wait, wait one second!” Jason yelled.
“What?”
“Can you...” Jason was hesitating, his voice shaking, his eyes filled with tears.
“Can you remove Gloria from my memory?” Jason said painfully as he gazed at Lisania.
Lisania stared at Jason in confusion for several seconds. Then suddenly she understood and nodded with tears in her eyes.
A shining robotic snake slowly wrapped around Jason’s head. Then several tentacles came out of the snake’s body and lifted Jason’s right eyelid. Another tentacle dropped a glob of liquid on Jason’s right eyeball.
Jason felt something was slowly seeping into his mind. He saw images about Hylocan and Lisania popping out like crazy. Then he saw Gloria. She was beautiful as always. Suddenly, his mind went blank. It was like someone turned off the light and everything ditched into darkness.