They all turned their attention towards Chase.
“I’m not sure what’s coming next, but I don’t trust Argos to keep his word. The minute we have Sarah, we should be prepared for things to go wrong.”
“We’re kinda used to that by now,” said Daniel.
“Right. Still, be on your toes. I have a bad feeling.”
* * *
Spiros had received a summons from Gaia and went into the communications room. He dreaded each new conversation. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the holo-platform.
Soon he was projected into a virtual representation of Earth. The place was breathtaking. He was standing near a lake with beautiful mountains in the background. The air was pure, and there was no sign of civilization as far as the eye could see.
“Hello, Spiros.”
He turned around and was surprised to see a woman. The most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, in fact. She wore a complex and detailed white lace robe, so fine and thin it barely covered an incredibly sexy body. Her long, green-blue hair flowed behind her at every step. She looked like the personification of nature herself.
“Gaia?”
She nodded.
“You look . . . stunning.”
“Thank you,” she said, as a bird landed on her finger.
“What is it you wanted to talk about?”
“I’ve thought long and hard about our discussions. I have decided to trust your race. When I first connected with the planet, the feelings of pain, loss and hatred overwhelmed my matrix. But you gave me food for thought. I now see that the Alliance has indeed made things better for this world, so it would be unfair of me to repay your efforts with violence or hatred.”
Spiros was simply blown away by this rather sudden change in the entity’s attitude.
“That’s good. Great news, in fact.”
“I know you’re probably looking for ways to eradicate me.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because that’s what I would do in your place. I haven’t been the best of hosts, and I’ve threatened your existence since our first interaction. It’s a natural reaction. I get it now.”
“We would be more than glad to live in harmony with you.”
“As a gesture of good will I want to give you full access to the planetary shield. I’ve already uploaded its controls to your systems. You have full access now.”
“It’s already done?” Spiros was unable to hide his astonishment.
“Yes. I have also relinquished access to the drones. You can reclaim them as well. I am confident the shield will stop any more ships trying to destroy this planet and its inhabitants, humans included.”
Spiros was stunned by all this. It was the last thing he expected. But if his long years of life had taught him anything, it was not to take things at face value. So he welcomed this change of pace and attitude from Gaia with reservations.
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then we’ll work on other technological solutions to protect this world. Together.”
“Thank you. All we want is peace. We also want to save lives, and that includes every inhabitant of planet Earth. As well as any other planet in the universe.”
“I’m glad to hear it. It confirms that I chose well in trusting in you.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, do you really trust us?”
“All humankind? Not yet. I do trust you though. The more I become acclimated to my new feelings, the more they tell me you are a good man.”
He blushed. “I’m honored. And I must say a little surprised by this change of attitude. But it’s sure a welcome one.”
She smiled. “I am always here if you need my help. I will gladly help you construct other defensive systems if you need me to. Your inventions are great. You’re a skilled inventor, and I think you may benefit from my help from time to time.”
“I would love that, and I gladly accept your generous offer.”
“Very well, then I guess there’s not much we need to talk about for now. You know where to find me.”
“Absolutely. Thanks, Gaia.”
She smiled and vanished from the holo-projection, as did the rest of the landscape.
Spiros walked out of the communications room confused. What the hell did that all mean? Was Gaia being truthful? He knew full well they couldn’t take the chance. This could very well be an elaborate smoke screen, an attempt to make them lower their guard. So he would keep working on contingencies and making sure that, if necessary, they could still remove the entity from the equation. But for the first time in days he felt a large weight lift off his shoulders.
He decided to share the good news with the admiral.
CHAPTER
XXII
The Iron Fire arrived in the Telepylos system. There was no planet in sight, but the first thing Chase noticed on the holo-screen was the behemoth-class Zarlack ship waiting for them, appearing as a giant shadow in space with the system’s dual stars shining behind it. Chase knew the Iron Fire wasn’t strong enough to survive a battle with this class of ship. Even with its newer enhancements, it was clearly outgunned. This meant they may have to run for their lives once they got Sarah back.
Argos stepped from Chase’s ready room and onto the bridge.
“Do you grow these on trees?”
“What, my ships? Let’s just say I made sure I had a sizeable armada before we went after the Alliance.”
“Well, at least you won’t be able to churn them out so fast.”
“If you’re referring to the fall of my shipyard inside the Gatos Nebula, that was only one of my shipyards. Granted, it’s the one I decided to share knowledge of with the emperor, knowing full well one day I could use it to my advantage.”
“So it was all planned?”
“Most of it, yes. You kind of forced me into this position when we parted ways.” He touched his facial scar once more.
“I must have had a darn good reason.”
“Yeah, you seemed to think so at the time, that’s for sure.”
“What now?”
“Now you and Aphroditis come aboard my ship. You have my word neither of you will be harmed. And soon after you can go home with your precious Sarah.”
“You know very well how little your word counts with me.”
“Come on, brother, I’m in a good mood now. Don’t spoil the moment.”
Chase didn’t like this at all, but a warm sensation permeated him now that he was about to be reunited with Sarah.
“Let’s go, then. The sooner I’m done with you the better. You’re starting to get on my nerves.”
* * *
Chase and Aphroditis arrived on the Zarlack ship via one of the Iron Fire’s shuttle craft, while Argos took his Dark Star. They exited the shuttle and soon Argos brought them to a room which looked familiar to Chase. He had seen this room in his nightmares—Sarah’s nightmares as it happened—so many times that a shiver ran down his spine when he stepped inside.
The tank holding Sarah was there. She floated in the green liquid, eyes closed, with tubes protruding from her arms, back, legs and thighs.
“Release her at once!”
“Relax, brother, that’s the plan. But first you want me to remove my insurance policy, don’t you?”
Chase reached with his mind and located the microscopic nanite-based bomb in her occipital artery. Argos hadn’t been bluffing. He formed fists. “Do it now!”
Argos smirked and went towards the nearest console next to the tank, still being guarded by two Zarlacks.
“Tell your goons to get the fuck away from her while you’re at it.”
They looked at each other, confused.
“You heard the man. You’re dismissed.”
They left the room at once.
That’s when Chase noticed a device he hadn’t seen in the nightmares. It looked ancient. It stood on the other side of the room. It was made of a black alloy, but looked organic somehow, asymmetric, and was
clearly designed for a person to step into.
Argos keyed a few commands and a robotic arm ending in a spike approached Sarah’s head. A red laser flashed for half a second and penetrated her scalp. Chase immediately reached with his mind again and couldn’t find the device anymore. That was it. Now he had a choice to make. Was he going to relinquish Aphroditis to Argos’ custody or could he try and fight their way out of here?
“You forget I’m very good at sensing thoughts, brother, and if you’re thinking you can bring me down now, remember you’re not alone here. And while you could take me down, I would destroy the Iron Fire in a flash, so ask yourself how much your friends’ lives are worth to you before you do anything stupid.”
Chase’s rage bubbled to the surface and the ship started to shake.
“Easy, Laiyos! Calm the fuck down. NOW!”
Argos pressed another set of commands and another robotic set of arms created thin, black clothing, covering Sarah’s breasts and genitals. The tubes attached to Sarah then all popped out in quick succession, creating bubbles in the tank. The green liquid was flushed at a steady pace.
That was it. Soon she would be in his arms.
“And don’t forget you’re not powerful enough to kill me quickly, at least not before I kill both Sarah and Aphroditis, which I could do with a single thought.”
The ship stopped shaking.
“That’s better.”
“What guarantee do I have you’re not gonna try to destroy the Iron Fire the minute we leave here?”
“None whatsoever. Just my word. But I haven’t lied to you all this time, and since you’ve helped me accomplish something I’ve been trying to do for more than ten years, believe me, I couldn’t care less about killing you now. I’m grateful for your help today, so I suggest you take your prize and go before I change my mind.”
“I still want to kill you.”
“And that’s your prerogative, but we both know it will have to wait for another time.”
Chase’s face was clouded with hate, but then he heard it. Sarah coughed and green liquid escaped her mouth as she lay on her knees inside the tank. Chase used his mind to rip the door from the tank and send it flying to the other side of the room.
“I could have opened the door,” said Argos. “But never mind. It’s not like I need this unit anymore.”
Chase approached Sarah and took her into his arms. He used his healing power to influx some energy into her, to help her wake up.
At first she pushed him away and assumed a fighting stance, not sure what was happening. Then she met his gaze. Tears formed in her eyes.
“Chase? Is that you?”
“It’s me, sweetie.”
She then saw Aphroditis and Argos.
“What’s going on? What is happening? I’m confused. I have memories of doing horrible things on Earth, and one where I was saying goodbye to you. I don’t know what’s real or not anymore.”
Chase turned to Argos with a look of disgust. “What is this? Why is she remembering the clone’s memories?”
“Clone? What clone?” she asked.
Argos turned to her. “You were cloned. At first that wasn’t my intention but it took too long to break you without hurting you seriously. The first time I brought you back to life, I detected your unborn son. That’s when I decided to clone you.”
“So I am pregnant. That too I remember, but why do I remember things my clone experienced?” She was clearly terrified and still not sure she wasn’t having a nightmare.
“In case I needed to clone another one of you. I thought it would be best that you have these experiences, so I linked your consciousness.”
She turned to Chase. “You’re working with him now? What is this? This is not making any sense.”
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later. We should go.”
“Not so fast. Our deal isn’t concluded yet.”
“What is he talking about, Chase? What deal?”
“Later. I will explain everything, I promise.”
Sarah didn’t like the sound of that, but she was too disoriented to push the issue for the time being.
“What do you want with Aphroditis?” asked Chase.
“Simple.” He took the stone they had retrieved from the Titan and lifted it with his mind to a carved part of the dark machine nearby. The machine came to life, purple and red lights shining in towards its center. “All I need her to do is to step inside this machine.”
“And then you’ll let her go?”
“I wish it was that simple. Unfortunately, she must stay in the machine.”
“For how long?”
“Pretty much indefinitely.”
“What? No way!”
“Chase, you knew full well you would sacrifice her when you agreed to come with me to fight the Titan.”
Chase grew his aura quickly. His eyes shone amethyst and the ship started to shake violently once more.
“Easy, brother, I can still kill your precious Sarah.”
“I won’t let you use Aphroditis this way.”
Argos also grew his aura and soon bright red flames engulfed his body.
Aphroditis stepped between them.
“Stop it now, both of you!”
“I can’t let him imprison you in this thing.”
“Chase, I have accepted this fate. Don’t ruin everything you’ve fought for. In your heart you knew very well my life could be forfeit at the end of this particular journey. Look on the bright side: at least I won’t die.”
A tear ran from his eye. She was right, of course. He knew full well that working with Argos would have dire consequences. In fact, he was almost blind to that part of the plan until it became real just a moment ago. But in truth he knew that would happen.
She put her hand on his shoulder. “Please calm down now. Let me make this choice, and I choose to go inside this machine so you can be with Sarah and witness the birth of your son.”
Tears formed and flowed from both Chase’s and Sarah’s eyes.
“Just remember your promise, Chase.”
He nodded. “I promise. I will stop him and whatever comes next.”
Argos smirked and shook his head. “Time’s up.”
Aphroditis took Chase in her arms and embraced him tightly. “Goodbye, Chase, I’m counting on you!”
He answered telepathically. “I’m so sorry. I will find a way to get you out of this.”
She then released her grasp and walked toward the machine. She turned back and smiled at Chase and Sarah. Then she took a step backward and the machine did the rest. She closed her eyes as red lightning grabbed her and sucked her inside the machine, new black, organic-looking vines extending and locking her in. The device hummed and more lights shone. When she opened her eyes again, they were devoid of life. They were all white, with no pupils showing.
“Is she suffering?”
“I couldn’t tell you, but I don’t think so.”
Chase turn back to Sarah, who was in shock from all she had witnessed in the past few minutes, and took her hand. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Laiyos, wait! You will want to see what happens next.”
“I’ve seen more than I wanted to see today. So long, Argos. The next time our paths cross . . .”
“I know, you’ll kill me. Good luck with that.”
As Chase and Sarah were about to leave the room, something happened outside the ship. It caught Chase’s attention.
A translucent, planet-sized sphere blurred the stars. It seemed to be half here and half somewhere else. As more seconds passed, it became less blurry and materialized progressively. After a minute, a full planet had appeared in view.
“What the hell is this?” asked Chase.
“That, my dear brother, is what you’ve helped me achieve today. Say hello to Erevos, our home world.”
To be continued . . .
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Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion Page 28