Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion

by Christian Kallias

  At the desk sat a tall man with a tattoo on half his face. It looked like bio-electrical schematics, and gave the man a weird allure, considering the expensive suit he was wearing.

  “Please come in. I understand you’re trying to locate Argos.”

  “We are,” said Daniel.

  “Yet I thought I had included all the information you needed for the job in the warrant. I’m not used to receiving strangers in here.”

  “What made you change your mind?”

  “Well, you guys have been featured quite heavily on the news. From what I’ve gathered, you are enemies of Argos and his Zarlack fleets. That alone gives us common ground.”

  “How come you’ve placed such a heavy bounty on his head?” asked Ryonna, somewhat less politely.

  “He double crossed us. We can’t tolerate such actions. Many of our best engineers died in the process. It sets a dangerous precedent. One we don’t want to inspire others in the future. By bringing him down and showing how much we’re willing to pay to make sure this never happens again, it protects our . . . interests.”

  Ryonna snorted. She had no love for the DTs.

  The birds suddenly stopped chirping.

  “What is it I can help you with? You’ll understand my time is limit—”

  But then the head of the man exploded and Daniel was splattered with pieces of bone, flesh and blood.

  “What the hell?” he shouted in surprise and disgust.

  Ryonna instinctively reached for her blaster, only to find her holster empty. She turned around, terror at what she saw written on her face.

  Daniel also turned and couldn’t believe his eyes.

  Argos walked slowly towards them, smirking.

  “He was right, though, his time truly was limited. Sorry for the mess,” he said, looking Daniel straight in the eyes. “Send me your dry-cleaning bill.”

  Daniel froze in place. He remembered what had happened last time he attacked Argos, and Chase wasn’t here to resurrect him this time around. Ryonna, on the other hand, did not hesitate; she sprang into action, her instincts taking over.

  She launched herself into the air and sent a flying kick towards Argos’ head; which didn’t budge upon impact. She landed on one knee in front of him. He simply looked at her, his expression unwavering. She rose and used the momentum to deliver one hell of an uppercut that threw Argos’ head back just for a moment. He put his head back into its original position, unharmed, and tilted it slightly.

  Ryonna turned towards Daniel. “Run! Get back on board the Iron Fire. NOW!”

  “I’m not leaving you here to sacrifice yourself. Besides, what makes you think he would let me go?”

  “Listen to your friend, Ryonna,” said Argos, smiling.

  She took three steps back to be level with Daniel.

  “Why are we still alive?” she murmured.

  “I’m asking myself the exact same question. Let’s ask him,” said Daniel nervously. “What do you want, Argos?”

  “A couple of things. The first was that pathetic DT’s head on a plate, but I got carried away . . . obviously.”

  “And the second?” inquired Daniel, not so sure he really wanted to know.

  “I want to surrender,” he said, extending his arms in front of him, crossing his wrists.

  “Right. We’re supposed to believe that?”

  “Look, Daniel, you know very well that if I wanted you dead, it would only take a thought, so ask yourself this? Why else are you still standing?”

  “Perhaps you fear what Chase would do to you if you hurt any of us?” said Daniel, not entirely convinced by his own argument.

  “I will admit this only once: what happened aboard Damocles-3 was indeed quite unexpected. And I haven’t properly thanked you from stopping Chase from finishing me off. So, there you have it. Thank you.”

  Daniel spat on the ground furiously. “Fuck you! I should have let him kill you. You were bluffing about Sarah.”

  “I promise you I wasn’t. If you hadn’t stopped him she would have died.”

  “She’s dead anyway!”

  “I don’t remember pulling that trigger though,” said Argos, laughing out loud.

  “You find that funny? As soon as Chase finds you, I can only imagine what he will do to you. We’ll see who gets the last laugh.”

  “Perhaps. Let’s all go back to Earth and ask him.”

  “What makes you think he’s on Earth? I can tell you he isn’t.”

  “He will be. Whether he’s there when we arrive, or whether there’s much of it left when he comes back, is another story.”

  “What? What is that supposed to mean?”

  “I sent my strongest armada towards Earth. It should be there any minute now. Without Chase to protect it this time around, I’d love to see what your pathetic Earth Alliance will do.”

  “You know full well our ships are now more powerful than yours.”

  “Perhaps. Still, I have the greater numbers.”

  “Ryonna, let’s go. This pathetic excuse for a Fury is too scared to kill us, so let’s get out of here and back to Earth.”

  She nodded in agreement, but clearly uneasy about the whole situation.

  “Easy there. Don’t misunderstand me. You either take me back to Earth with you or this building will become your grave.”

  “And that’s what you call surrendering?”

  “Semantics, Daniel. Make your choice, but may I suggest you make the right one, as well as making it fast.”

  “Daniel, this is a trap. We can’t take him to Earth! That’s what he wants.”

  “I think we have to. Chase will take care of him, I’m sure of it. And this time I will not only let him kill Argos, I’ll even encourage him.”

  Argos smiled defiantly. “You two do realize that nothing stops me from going to Earth on my own?”

  “Then why this stand-off?”

  “Honestly, I was hoping my dear brother would be here with you, but since he isn’t that means he must be on his way back to Earth as we speak. So let’s not delay that nice family reunion and let’s go now.” Argos gestured toward the exit with his head.

  Daniel and Ryonna looked at one another, and then at Argos, already stepping out of the giant office. They followed him. With each corridor they passed, they saw more dead bodies and blood spattered over the otherwise pristine and high-tech building.

  They arrived at the docking bay where they had left their shuttle. Argos stopped.

  “Why are you stopping?” inquired Ryonna.

  “To let you recover your weapons.”

  With the situation so unreal, she had forgotten about that. She didn’t like this one bit. Argos had something up his sleeve. But she also knew very well that a direct confrontation here would only mean their deaths. One thing was clear, once on board the Iron Fire, they’d need to find a way to get rid of him. She cringed at the thought, though.

  “Plot all you want, Ryonna, but please, let’s get going now.”

  She realized he could read thoughts. That would make it almost impossible to get the jump on him. She holstered her blaster and other weaponry.

  “Nice blade by the way,” said Argos.

  She grunted.

  “Perhaps one day you’ll have the opportunity to use it against me, but not today.”

  “Don’t tempt me! I’d like nothing more than to slice you up.”

  “I know,” said Argos with a smile.

  He then levitated Daniel’s side arm and it flew into Daniel’s holster.

  “Can we please go now?”

  Daniel and Ryonna walked towards the shuttle. Sensing their arrival, the side door slid up and a ramp slid down. They all went on board and Daniel took the helm and fired the engines. They rose from the landing platform and vectored towards the Iron Fire in orbit around the planet.

  Soon Tar’Lock opened a channel.

  “Everything alright?”

  That’s when Daniel had an idea.

  “Tar’Lock, dest
roy the shuttle!”

  “What? Are you crazy?”

  “Argos is on board. Shoot us down, now!”

  Argos lifted two fingers and said, “Sleep!” Both Daniel and Ryonna lost consciousness. He then used telekinesis to lift Daniel’s body from the pilot’s chair and lower it gently nearby.

  “Guys! What’s going on? Please respond!” said Tar’Lock impatiently.

  Argos sat in the pilot’s chair, looked over the controls and activated a video stream.

  “Oh shit!” said Tar’Lock, seeing his face.

  “Nice to see you too. Tar’Lock is it?”

  “If you hurt my friends I’ll destroy your ship right now!”

  “I haven’t hurt them. They’re here. They’re just sleeping at the moment, but unless you want them dead, I suggest you don’t try to shoot the shuttle down. It would only kill them, I can assure you.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Nothing. Let us board the ship; then we’ll be on way to Earth.”

  Tar’Lock hesitated, but ultimately he wasn’t ready to kill Ryonna or Daniel. No way would he make that decision.

  “You’re clear to land,” said Tar’Lock reluctantly.

  “Well thank you.”

  Argos then proceeded towards the landing bay of the Iron Fire and woke his slumbering crew.

  When Daniel came around he looked at the open doors of the shuttle, parked in the Iron Fire’s landing bay. Argos patiently waited outside with his arms crossed against his chest.

  “Shit, we’re still alive,” he muttered, while shaking his head, trying to wake up more.

  “Yes we are,” added Ryonna. “Perhaps we can sabotage the ship on our way back. Blow him up?”

  “We can try, but we both know he knows everything we think. I don’t think he will let us.”

  “We have to try and kill him somehow, even if we must sacrifice ourselves doing so.”

  “I hear you, Ryonna, but . . .” Daniel looked towards Argos. “I don’t think we have the slightest chance.”

  “Are you coming?” screamed Argos from outside the ship.

  They followed him to the bridge. The second the doors slid open and Argos stepped out, a flurry of blaster fire ricocheted off his face.

  Tar’Lock kept firing but the next waves of blaster fire disintegrated before reaching their target and the weapon was snatched from Tar’Lock’s grasp and thrown to the other side of the bridge, where it exploded upon landing.

  “AINI, self destru—” But Tar’Lock couldn’t finish his sentence. An invisible force was crushing his wind pipe. He struggled and couldn’t breathe, and soon collapsed to the floor.

  “Please stop,” pleaded Ryonna. As much as she hated to admit it she had strong feelings for the little guy.

  “Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him; but we can’t have the ship self-destruct now, can we? Let me explain something. I understand your feeble minds want nothing but to kill me, and perhaps one day you’ll get your chance, but today I’m in control. I run this show and we’re going to Earth. It’s a very long jump, so I’d like to short circuit your next attempt at blowing this ship, or any other dumb ideas your tiny brains will muster in an attempt to stop me. Even if you did manage to blow this ship, understand it wouldn’t kill me. My own ship is cloaked and tracking me in real time. Just as Chase did when I summoned him aboard the Damocles station, I’m perfectly able to erect a force field to survive in space. You, however, will instantly die if this ship explodes. So let’s put your hopes of heroism to rest right this moment, and let’s just try to enjoy this trip, okay?”

  “Nice speech,” said Daniel, clearly annoyed but agreeing with everything Argos said.

  Argos smiled. “See, that’s all I want, for us to get along for the day or so it will take to reach Earth; then you can get back to hating me and trying to kill me all you want.”

  Ryonna slowly removed her blade from her back without making a sound, her mind as blank as she could manage, and slashed at Argos from behind. Before the blade could slice through Argos’ neck it shattered in midair.

  Argos turned around. “Have you’ve been listening to anything I’ve just said?” He exhaled deeply in frustration.

  But Ryonna wasn’t interested in listening. She reached for her blaster but before she could fire it was snatched from her hands.

  “Droxians! Proud but stupid people.”

  Argos lifted a finger and pointed it towards Ryonna’s left arm. Soon an intense pain brought her to her knees. Daniel was terrified as he saw the muscles in her arm atrophy and heard her bones crushed inside her arm as if they were brittle. She screeched in pain.

  “Please stop,” Daniel pleaded.

  Argos stopped. Ryonna fainted from the pain and hit the ground headfirst.

  “Only because you asked nicely. Perhaps you should tend to her injuries,” said Argos, looking towards Tar’Lock, and then continuing, “that way we won’t have to suffer each other’s company any more than we need to during this long trip.”

  C H A P T E R

  VIII

  On board the EAD Destiny, Commodore Saroudis hailed an incoming ship of unknown origin. The craft was small but traveled at faster sub-light speed than anything the commodore had ever encountered.

  “Unknown craft, this is Commodore Saroudis of the Earth Alliance Destroyer Destiny. Please identify yourself and your intentions. You’re entering restricted space.”

  A woman with beautiful, flame-colored hair and stunning, deep-blue eyes appeared on the holo-screen.

  “My name is Aphroditis.”

  That sent a shiver down Saroudis’ spine.

  “As in the Olympian goddess of love?”

  She hesitated, but finally nodded.

  “I’m truly sorry to say this, but how can you prove it?”

  “I’ve been in contact with one of your crew, Chase Athanatos. I was the one who urged him to come and save Earth from the Zarlacks.”

  “It is you,” said Saroudis, still not believing his eyes. “You’re the last person I expected to pick up this call.”

  “I can imagine. I need your help.”

  Saroudis’ expression changed.

  “Our help? I find that difficult to believe.”

  “Commodore, we may be powerful beings with a much better understanding and an advanced technological edge, but we are beings of flesh and blood nonetheless.”

  Saroudis remembered a conversation with Chase in the past when he explained the same things: that they weren’t gods per se, just more advanced beings.

  “What we can do for you?”

  “I’m being hunted by a vicious individual called Argos Thanatos.”

  “Chase’s brother?”

  “His twin brother, yes. He just killed . . .” She stopped, and a tear ran down her face.

  Fear and dread filled Saroudis’ heart. “Chase?” he said, his voice trembling.

  “No, he killed my half brother, Ares.”

  “I’m so sorry for your loss. My deepest condolences.”

  “Thank you, Commodore. Ares sacrificed himself so I could escape, but I’m sure Argos will follow me. For the time being I have nowhere else to run to.” She lowered her eyes in shame.

  “You came to the right place. We’ll gladly give you sanctuary here on Earth, for as long as you need it.”

  “Just until I reunite with Chase. My staying here could put this planet in Argos’ crosshairs.”

  “We’re already in his crosshairs, but we’re better equipped to fight his armadas now. You’ll be safe here.”

  She paused and looked at Saroudis for a long time, as if deciding whether or not to believe him. “I . . . I hope you’re right.”

  “Upon arrival in Earth’s orbit, you can come aboard my ship. It would be a pleasure to receive such an honored guest.”

  “You’re very kind, Commodore. I should arrive in less than ten minutes.”

  “You can land your ship in our landing bays. I’ll be there to meet you.”

&nb
sp; “Thank you, Commodore.”

  He nodded and the communication ended.

  That was unexpected. Saroudis never thought he would one day meet an Olympian face to face. Until now he thought they were only interested in talking in visions, and to Chase only. Chase’s having left the Earth Alliance—a fact that saddened Saroudis more than he would ever admit—was probably why Aphroditis had decided to contact them directly. No doubt the impending threat from Argos was her reason for being here in the first place.

  Saroudis tried to wrap his mind around the fact that Argos had killed an Olympian. He knew the Furies were powerful, but an Olympian? He didn’t even know they could be killed until now.

  As much as he hated having to place the next call, he knew he had to. Or did he? Admiral Thassos had voiced her concerns and doubts regarding the Olympians before, and now one was knocking at their door he wondered how he could spin this to her gently.

  For a moment he considered whether it was necessary to inform her in the first place. She had given him jurisdiction over Earth’s defenses and her ship was currently in Droxian space.

  It can wait until after my meeting with Aphroditis, he decided.

  He rose from his chair, and gave Sergeant Major Boltris the bridge.

  When he arrived in the landing bay, Aphroditis’ ship had just passed the force field separating cold, black space from the artificial atmosphere aboard the Destiny.

  Her ship was magnificent, lean and shaped like an organic bullet, with wings that reminded Saroudis of shark fins. It had a chrome finish, and the way the light reflected from it was simply mesmerizing. A godly looking ship for a goddess, thought Saroudis.

  She appeared when a part of the ship, a door perhaps, vanished into thin air. There didn’t seem to be any mechanical parts involved. It was as if the part in front of which she now stood simply didn’t exist anymore. A ray of light radiated from her position towards the landing bay’s floor. It created a translucent light bridge. Such an elegant design for a ramp. Aphroditis stepped on it and was soon approaching him.