Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion

by Christian Kallias

  * * *

  In the underground bunker facility, the force field vanished.

  “Now what?” said Keera.

  “Now we find out where they went and go after them,” answered Daniel.

  “Is that wise?” said Tar’Lock.

  “Screw wise. He will need our help.”

  “Perhaps, but he made it clear he doesn’t want us to follow,” said Ryonna.

  “I can’t believe I’m hearing this, especially from you!” shouted Daniel.

  Ryonna put her hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

  “Easy, Daniel. I want to help as much as you do, but may I remind you that we’re officers in the Earth Alliance, so unless we’re willing to defect, we may want to discuss this logically.”

  “Saroudis won’t like this one bit. I don’t see him letting us go. And screw logic. None of this makes sense anyway.”

  “Even if he understood, the admiral never would.”

  “Right. Outlaws then?”

  “Chase is lucky to have all of you as friends,” said Keera.

  “Too bad he doesn’t trust us,” said Daniel.

  “That’s not true. I’ve spent the last few days with him and I can tell you he does. He speaks of you highly. I think he was sincere when he said this is too dangerous for us.”

  “You seem like a nice girl, but you don’t have to come with us. This fight doesn’t concern you. You should be on your way.”

  “Yeah, except that unless you want to steal one of your Earth Alliance ships I’m the only one who can provide transport right now, so I’m coming.”

  “Where are you guys going? Is it time to go to the Destiny for dinner?” said Fillio, yawning while emerging from a nearby room.

  “Change of plans. We’re going after Chase and Aphroditis. Feel like betraying the Earth Alliance by joining us?”

  She scrunched up her face, looked at Daniel, clearly not following. “Alright, what did I miss?”

  * * *

  On board the Cronos, Saroudis arrived at Admiral Thassos’ ready room.

  “What is it that couldn’t wait for our original meet, Admiral?”

  “Adonis, what did we say about how to address me when we’re alone?”

  “Right, sorry Ally.”

  “Better. We have a problem with Chase. In fact, we have heaps of problems, but right now Chase is the main one.”

  “Does this have anything to do with the Iron Fire entering hyperspace? I didn’t expect that.”

  “Yes, I think Chase took the ship and left.”

  “But why? It doesn’t make any sense!”

  “I’m afraid it does.”

  “Can you please tell me what’s going on?”

  “A while ago I sent a fully armed security team to arrest Chase.”

  “What? Are you nuts?”

  “Easy, Adonis.”

  “Sorry, but with all due respect, why would you do that?”

  “He took Aphroditis with him, and I suspect Argos as well.”

  “Can you please start making sense here? Chase is hot headed and, granted, not the most obedient officer I’ve served with, but I don’t see him doing this.”

  “Well, technically he’s no longer our officer, and Sarah is alive. I should have started with that, I guess.”

  “What? No, that’s not possible. He killed her himself.”

  “Apparently he killed a clone.”

  “Nope, still not making any sense, I’m afraid. How would you know all of this?”

  “You may want to sit down for this one, my old friend. It’s a long story.”

  * * *

  Spiros had just finished installing his new, isolated network aboard the Cronos when Cedric and Yanis walked in.

  “Why did you asked us here?” inquired Yanis.

  “Cause from now on, this is where we’ll work. We can’t take the chance of talking about our strategies out loud on Earth. The entity might be listening in.”

  “What if it’s also in these systems?”

  “I’ve made sure that won’t be the case. This entire room is fully isolated from the Earth Alliance’s network, so the entity won’t be listening in. The admiral was also kind enough to let us disconnect one of the ship’s communications and scanning arrays and reroute it to this network so we can perform scans as well, without the entity’s knowledge.”

  “It might know it’s being scanned”

  “Perhaps, but it won’t know by whom, or why it happens.”

  “Isn’t that the type of thing that could set it off?”

  “Honestly, at this point I don’t think we have a choice. We need a safe base of operations.”

  “Alright, what’s the next step?”

  “I need you to conduct scans of the entire armada in orbit. See if you can find traces of infection within other systems. That includes Earth Alliance ships, satellites, but also Droxian and Obsidian ships.”

  “They agreed to that?”

  “Best they don’t know for now. Try to be as stealthy as possible. I will help you with that. I have considerable experience sneaking into remote systems undetected. But I need you to take the lead on that.”

  “Alright,” said Yanis with a nod.

  “What about me?” Cedric inquired.

  “I need you to study the entity’s code. I’ve made a copy of some of its matrix, and loaded it into a non-networked station over there. So if it does overcome the system and render it unusable, it won’t propagate.”

  “What should I look for?”

  “Root pathways and primary command structures. Try to understand how these operate, and work on a virus to insert new ones as stealthily as humanly possible. The idea here is a slow-acting, slow-growing virus that makes very subtle changes, in a perfectly optimized sequence, so as not to get flagged as an intrusion by the entity.”

  “You do realize that it might be infinitely smarter than all three of us put together by now, and anything I come up with it might see right through?”

  “I do, so try to think outside the box. Never use a tactic you would have used normally. Try to do something opposite to your logic; and whatever you do, don’t use code similar to what you used when you beamed the bombs. That would be flagged immediately.”

  “Alright. Did you just ask me to dumb myself down?”

  “That’s one way of looking at it, I guess. The less obvious the approach, the less chances of it being recognized as an attack.”

  “That sounds like fun. Hope you brought a coffee machine, because we’re in for long nights.”

  “You can synthetize anything you need over there. That includes pieces of hardware you may require to do your job”.

  “Kewl. That takes me back; reminds me of my first LAN party.”

  Spiros looked puzzled. “What’s a—”

  “Never mind. It’s an Earth thing. What about you? What will you be working on?”

  “A contingency plan, a way to use nanites to infect every computer on Earth and the ships simultaneously, that will delete all systems by scrambling their data with an unbreakable, multi-layered encryption program; so if it comes to us or the entity, we can at least disable every piece of technology at once.”

  “You do realize that would render us defenseless?”

  “I do, that’s why I’m also going to work on a second program for the nanites that will quickly replace the OS of every device with something including just basic operating commands, so we can at least get manual control. Just enough to restore backups on every system after the wipe.”

  “Ingenious, but we may have to pray that the Zarlacks don’t attack us before we’re done restoring backups.”

  “I’m hoping Argos’ departure with Chase and Aphroditis is a priority for him and he will leave Earth alone in the meantime.”

  “Wait? What?” asked Yanis. “Chase is here?”

  “Was. He stole the Iron Fire, took Aphroditis with him and left. Pretty sure Argos was on the ship too.”

  “I know my friend. Ther
e’s no way he is working with Argos now.”

  “And the entity showed me he is. Look, I’m tired of explaining this, so the short version: the Sarah he killed was a clone; she is still alive, and Argos is blackmailing Chase to do his bidding.”

  It took a few seconds for Yanis to register all that, and his face grew darker. “That sucks.”

  “Yeah, wouldn’t want to be him right now either; but what’s more troubling is that once he’s done doing whatever Argos needs him for, we may yet face another threat.”

  “How did you arrive at this conclusion?”

  “Granted this is just speculation, but think about it. Argos could have stolen the plans I had, but he didn’t. He made us think that by forcing Chase to kill the woman he loves at least he didn’t get his hands on them. That means that whatever he is after, whatever he needs Chase for, is worth way more than this tech. I have headaches just thinking about what it could be.”

  Yanis swallowed hard, realizing that Spiros’ logic seemed right on target. “Alright, we’d better get started then.”

  * * *

  Daniel sat next to Keera in the Valken’s cockpit.

  “Now what?” he asked.

  “I’m running scans based on the ship’s log of the Iron Fire’s departure, but the computer, as I feared, can’t compute a single destination.”

  “How many possible ones?”

  “One hundred and twenty-seven.”

  “Great, how are we supposed to follow then?”

  “I can discard the ones in Obsidian Space, Droxian Space and ex-Alliance space.”

  “How do you figure?”

  “Well, I’m just speculating, but it’s doubtful that wherever they go now is within these systems.”

  “Okay, for the sake of argument let’s say you’re right. I see where you’re going with this. How many destinations left?”

  “With my current star charts, which are top of the line, only eight destinations remain.”

  “That could still be too many.”

  “Any better idea?”

  “Yeah. Mind if I place a call?”

  “Be my guest.”

  Soon Yanis’ face appeared on the holo-screen.

  “Hi, Daniel, not the best of times, I’m afraid. Mind if I call you back later?”

  “No can do. I need your help. It’s about Chase.”

  “Let me guess, you need to know where the Iron Fire went?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Just been briefed about the whole Sarah-not-being-dead thing. There, I sent you the Iron Fire’s jump destination, but if they stop and make another jump from there, they’ll be too far out of range to get the next coordinates.”

  “Thanks, pal!”

  “You’re welcome. Please be careful. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to follow Chase under the circumstance, but I understand why you’re doing it.”

  Daniel smiled and nodded. “Will do.”

  “If that’s all?”

  “It is, thanks; and Yanis?”

  “Yes, I know: I never got this call.”

  “Right,” said Daniel with a smile. “Take care.”

  “You too. Yanis out.”

  Daniel fed the coordinates into the Valken’s computer.

  “We’re good to go. How fast is your ship?”

  “Speed ain’t a problem, but range might be.”

  “Can we make that jump in one go?”

  “Let me check. Uh-huh, alright. Yes, but there’s a catch.”

  “We can’t jump back?”

  “Yeah. We won’t have enough to make any jump for a resupply run either. None of the refueling bases I know would be in range. So it’s either a one way trip or we need to restock on fuel now.”

  “What does your engine run on?”

  “Quadrinium. Why?”

  Daniel’s mouth arched into a smile. “Feel like a doing a heist?”

  “Sure. So I take it we’re not jumping right now?”

  “No. See that ship over there?” Daniel pointed at the Destiny.

  “Sure, what about it?”

  “That’s going to be our next stop.”

  CHAPTER

  XV

  Chase restlessly paced on the bridge of the Iron Fire.

  “This is going to be a rather long jump. You may want to relax, brother.”

  “Don’t call me that!”

  “That won’t change the fact that we are brothers.”

  “I will never consider you my brother, so stop calling me that.”

  “Don’t like being called brother. Don’t like being called Laiyos. What should I call you then?”

  “Just, just . . . Oh shut up, will ya?”

  Argos smiled. “To think we were once inseparable, you and I. How things changed.”

  “I’m glad I don’t have those memories. Wait . . . Did you have anything to do with that?”

  “With what?”

  “The fact I don’t remember anything more than ten years or so ago.”

  Argos didn’t answer.

  “It was you! Wasn’t it?”

  Argos gaze changed and froze Chase’s blood.

  “Why?”

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  “I don’t think so. The day I erased your memories, you and I took different paths; and whatever bond we had died that day as well.”

  “Why won’t you tell me why you did it?”

  “Because I don’t owe you an explanation.”

  “Yet you need my help.”

  “Unfortunately . . .”

  “There’s one thing I don’t understand.”

  Argos chuckled. “Only one?”

  “Very funny. Tell me this, though. When I was about to end your pathetic excuse for a life back in Tokyo, you said you needed my powers. But we’re pretty evenly matched, so what is it you need me for that you can’t do on your own?”

  “I don’t think I like your tone. Watch it.”

  “Or what? You’ll kill me or Sarah? That can’t work anymore. We both know you need me. You’ve proven that time and again lately, so I’ll speak to you as I please.”

  “I think I liked you better before.”

  “I wouldn’t know about that, thanks to you. Now answer me!”

  Argos growled. “You seem to be able to reach a higher level of power when pushed to the limit, and for our next fight, we’ll need that edge.”

  “Fight? Who are we fighting?”

  “Believe me, you don’t want to know.”

  “Oh but I do. If I’m to be your puppet, I want to know what we’re getting ourselves into.”

  “All you need to know is that our foe is the most powerful thing in this universe.”

  “You fought it before, didn’t you?”

  Argos exhaled heavily. “And lost.”

  “Ouch. That must be frustrating; humiliating, even, for you. Then that brother you hate so much, whose memories you’ve wiped and discarded like he didn’t exist anymore, holds the key to your whole plan. You do realize I will stop you one day. Today you’re holding Sarah and my unborn child as leverage. But let’s make one thing clear right now: you will undo this bond you have on her the minute you get your hands on whatever it is you’re after. I hope we’re clear on that.”

  Argos jumped out of the captain’s chair and came to within an inch of Chase’s face.

  “Don’t antagonize me. Remember your place!”

  “I see anger issues run in the family,” said Chase with a broad smile. “I’ll do as I please. If you think we’re going to become best pals along the way, you’re sorely mistaken.”

  Argos spat on the ground. “I’d rather kill myself than consider you my pal, Laiyos.”

  “I’d like to see that. One day perhaps. Are we clear on my terms, though?”

  “Whatever. You have my word: once I have what I need, you and your precious Sarah will be reunited.”

  “And?”

  “And I’ll remove the nanite b
omb from her occipital artery. Happy?”

  Chase smiled inside. Poking and annoying his brother repeatedly had worked. He knew what was used and where it was now. So if Argos tried to double cross him, at least he could try to disarm the device himself.

  “For now. Understand this—and make no mistake here—if you don’t free her fully when we’re done, and I mean the minute we’re done, then I’ll kill you myself.”

  “Empty threat. You wouldn’t risk her life.”

  “I would if you use her as leverage to make me do as you please. I’ll make sure we both perish, but I’m taking you with me in this scenario. Look into my eyes and see if I’m lying.”

  Argos saw nothing but truth. “I see. I had no intention of double crossing you on this one. If we get the . . . If we get what I need, you can be on your way.”

  “The what?”

  “Forget it.”

  “It must be darn important for you to go to all these lengths to get it. Tell me what it is.”

  “No, that I won’t do. But rest assured, you’ll be surprised by the result.”

  Of that I have no doubts, thought Chase.

  * * *

  The time to speak with the entity again was almost upon Spiros. He dreaded their next talk. The entity seemed emotionally volatile and, while his more than hundred years of life experience had taught him some diplomatic skills, he still wasn’t sure he was the best ambassador for the task. But he was the most qualified technically to detect patterns of behavior that could provide hints of what to look for within the entity’s sentient matrix.

  “You’re alright, Spiros?” asked Cedric.

  “Nervous.”

  “No shit. Try to buy us some more time. We’re nowhere near a solution. Not even a sketchy one.”

  “I know, and that worries me.”

  “I’m really sorry about all of this, Spiros.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Why? It’s not your fault.”

  “It is. Nobody said it out loud, and I appreciate people trying to spare my feelings, but I know I screwed up. I created this entity.”

  “You saved the planet that day. Give yourself a break.”

  “To have it destroyed another day? That’s not saving.”