***
4-5
“What?!” Q asked.
His brother sighed, “They had been right all along,” he said.
Everyone stopped and listened. Q knew the others had all been excited about finally getting the map and now this happened.
“What’s going on?” Taylor asked.
“There’s a rumor going around, that there exists a race of pirates, different from the ones you faced, who’re said to be powerful enough to take on a full blown armada of warships. We’ve never seen them before, only the trail of destruction they left behind.”
“And this is connected to the map?”
“These pirates were said to have actually found the map from Eonia. So if the map isn’t there, then that means they have it.”
He paused, and bit his lip, “You’re going to have to go to Hidea.”
“The ice planet?” Taylor asked.
“Yeah,” he looked at Kai. “Set course immediately, we can’t afford to lose any time.”
Kai started fidgeting with the controls on the console.
“What’s going on at your end?” Q asked.
“Things aren’t looking too good,” Carlos mumbled. “The destabilization is getting stronger and stronger, which means whatever is causing this, it’s getting more powerful by the minute.”
“How long do we have?”
“It’s hard to say. A week, tops. Not more than that.”
“We’re cutting it close then.”
“One sec, guys,” Kai cut in. “Everyone take your seats, we’re about to go into hyperspace.”
Everyone nodded and secured themselves while Ruby just stood next to the wall.
Guess a griffin doesn’t feel stuff like this, Q thought.
“Hyperspace jump in three...two….go!”
The ship jerked mildly this time, the only significant push coming from its amazing speed.
“I see you’ve got the jump all figured out,” Elizabeth said.
“Whoa,” Carlos exclaimed.
Q took a little while to realize the exclamation was because this was the first time his brother had seen Elizabeth with wings and the new, red look.
“Oh you didn’t notice?” Taylor chuckled.
“I was a little too focused,” he smiled. “When did this happen?”
“A few hours ago. I got into my NOVA form as well.”
Carlos stared at her blankly and then turned to Taylor, “It’s only been like a few hours since I last checked in, and THIS much has happened already? What the hell are you guys doing over there?”
“If we had some clue we’d tell you,” Q laughed.
“She isn’t the only surprise though,” Taylor pointed to Ruby.
“A griffin?” Carlos seemed almost ecstatic. “You guys are hitting one jackpot after another. You found him on Eonia?”
“Could someone tell him I’m a girl?” Q heard Ruby’s voice in his mind.
“Wait, you can’t talk to Carlos with your mind?” Elizabeth asked.
Q was surprised Elizabeth knew what Ruby had just told him and then realized Ruby was talking to all of them through some sort of mass telepathy, probably so that everyone heard what she said.
“Of course I can’t. How can telepathy work when he’s on the other side of a screen?”
“I guess that makes sense,” Taylor said and turned to the view screen. “She’s a girl, and she’s called Ruby.”
“Well, Ruby. It’s nice to meet you,” he said.
She just nodded her head.
“Now listen guys,” Carlos turned to everyone. “Hidea is supposed to be the said home base for those pirates and based on all the wreckages we’ve analyzed, there is one thing you should look out for. This is the biggest problem with these pirates you’ll face. It’s a cannon, an extremely powerful piece of tech left behind during the Great War. It’s called the Pandora Cannon, a weapon that shoots blasts of pure anti-matter and if that antimatter comes in contact with matter then-”
“-it’ll explode,” Chris finished.
He nodded, “And the worst part is,” he fidgeted around. “Lots of the damage at S.P.A.C.E was caused by these Pandora Cannons.”
“You think that what Nigel used was a Pandora Cannon?” Kai asked.
“I don’t think that. I know that. There’s no doubt what he used was a small version of the Pandora Cannon.”
“But how on earth would giants get those cannons?”
“You already have the answer.”
“The pirates?” Kai asked. “But pirates never side with anyone, even if it’s people of their own kind.”
“Which means this is all the more serious. There is some other factor at play here, someone else is getting all of these players together. The Corein giant’s galactic economy is poor enough for them to turn into mercenaries, but as for the pirates, if they’re actually helping someone out then the reward for this must be insane.”
“We’re pretty much in big trouble aren’t we?” Q asked.
He smiled, “You guys were in trouble from the moment you said you’d go on this mission. I’ve got to get going in a few minutes so I’ll give you a last bit of information. Hidea’s surface is completely made of Ice, and its surface is constantly hit by blizzard storms. Don’t spend any time searching for their hideout above ground. Everything is under ground. Oh and there’s this one thing you should look out of for, it’s called an-”
The communication feed cut off immediately, and another feed materialized on the view screen.
“Why, hello there, lads,” A hefty, colored man greeted them. His face was covered with scars and his blue eyes glared at everyone, making a certain tension rise in the air. His long white hair was tied up in bunches, and his beard flowed down his neck. He seemed like he was wearing plenty of heavy clothing, none of which Q recognized.
Taylor though, did seem to recognize them and her face contorted with anger.
“Pirates.”
***
“Can he see us right now?” Q whispered. He knew the intercom would pick up his voice if he spoke out too loudly.
Taylor shook her head, “He forced the transmission into the Orion,” she kept her voice down. “Those kinds of transmissions don’t pull video feeds from the ship the feed was forced onto.”
At least something was going their way.
“You see, the name’s Captain Griffin,” the colored man said. “And we here are what you might call ‘Space pirates’,” His mouth folded out into a wide grin.
“He’s a disgrace to all griffins,” Ruby said.
Q smiled. It was nice to have a little sanity in situations like these.
“Now me and me crew are all simple men. We don’t ask ye for much,” he moved closer to the screen. “Just all ye wasteful little lives.”
The feed crashed, and was replaced by random lines of all colors running across a black background.
“Darn it, I told you men to fix the feed transmitter!” Captain Griffin’s voice came through.
Kai cut it off, and turned around to face everyone, “You heard him. He just wants to kill us.”
“Why?” Elizabeth asked. “We never did anything to him.”
“He’s a pirate. He doesn’t need a reason to kill you,” Ruby said.
“His employer might be directly related to whatever is going on at the center of the universe,” Taylor told her. “And we’re trying hard to prevent that.”
“It doesn’t matter why he wants to do this,” Q said. “We’ve got to think something up, and fast.”
“If we get caught by these guys we won’t get to the map in time.”
Q tried to come up with something that could help them out. But they were in a big fix. It didn’t seem like the answer would just pop up.
“What about an escape pod?” Taylor asked.
“We’ve got three functional one-man escape pods,” Kai checked the data on his console. “But there’s no point in getting off the ship and stranding ourselves in s
pace. We’re dead either way.”
“We’re not going to use the escape pods to get out of here. We’ll use them to get a smaller group to Hidea.”
“That’s actually a really good idea,” Q said.
“But we’re in hyperspace, there’s no way we can get you guys out there while we’re still like that,” Kai said.
“We’ll have to leave hyperspace then,” Taylor said.
“Give me a minute,” he said. A few extra screens opened around the pilot chair and he whizzed through them simultaneously.
The view screen changed feeds, and the next thing Q knew Captain Griffin was glaring at them all.
“Jumping out of hyperspace eh?” he asked. ”That’s very clever, but still doesn’t mean you’re safe. We’re locked onto your coordinates, me hearty, and when we get to you, I’ll expect some cannon fodder,” he grinned and the feed shut down.
Everyone remained silent.
“Can’t you trace back the signal or something?” Elizabeth finally asked.
“That’s what I’m doing,” Kai said “But it seems to be heavily encrypted. It’ll take me an hour at least.”
Q bit his lip, “We don’t have that much time. The pirates may catch up to us if we wait that long.”
“Then we’re going to have to launch the escape pods now,” Kai said.
“But wouldn’t the pirates be able to track the escape pods as well?” Elizabeth asked.
“They’re engineered to not show up on any radars so it won’t be a problem. You, Taylor and Q get to the back of the ship,” he turned to Chris. “Help them get into the pods. We’ll have to launch them out as soon as we can.”
“What about you guys?” Q asked.
“Well,” he said. “I guess we’re going to have to play hide and seek until you come back. Now get to Orion’s hangar. We can’t afford to waste any time.”
He hesitated for a bit. It didn’t seem right to leave Kai and Chris here and go out on their own. He brushed the thoughts away and ran through the corridors, reaching the hangar quickly.
Three half-open metal tubes lay on one side of the room with a cylindrical escape pod inside each one. The escape pods had a small glass window and seemed just large enough for a person to lay down in.
“Get in,” Chris said. “Kai is programming the coordinates right now.”
Taylor opened up her pod, “How long until we get there?”
“It’ll take you a few hours at least. We can’t push you into hyperspace so this is much slower.”
Q climbed into the pod like everyone else and sealed the door shut.
Chris’ voice came through it, hollow and raspy, “There’s a communicator built into each of your pods. Once you’re done with you mission on Hidea let us know and we’ll fish you out.”
Q nodded.
An intercom on the pod cackled alive and Kai’s voice rendered out, “Okay guys. You’re all set for this. In three…”
Chris gave everyone a thumbs up.
“Two….”
Q focused himself. There was no turning back, no second thoughts. They had to get through this.
“One.”
They just had to.
“Go!”
The escape pods flew through the tubes and dropped into space. He felt a thruster start up at the bottom of the pod, and he shot through empty space.
A thin holographic screen opened up in front of him, showing a grinning Kai.
“So you guys are perfectly on course, and you’ve got enough fuel in each pod to make any corrections if you have to. The communicator on the ship is just a small beacon of sorts. When activated it sends up a single pulse, nothing more. That pulse lets us know you’ve finished your mission and you’re ready for pick up. You’ll have to activate at least one of the pod’s beacons once you finish.”
“Will do,” Q tried to nod, but the pod was a little too compact to allow anything more than a slight shake of the head. He hoped he didn’t get claustrophobic in there.
“You could always try to directly create an intermission and contact the Orion, but takes out a lot from the pod’s limited energy, so use it with discretion.”
“Very well,” Taylor’s voice came through.
“All right then, guys,” Kai said. “I’m putting the Orion in radio-silence. We need to steal away from the pirates.”
“So we won’t be able to talk to you after this?” Elizabeth asked.
“You’ll be three people in space with just each other for company.”
“Sounds charming,” Taylor said,
Q could almost imagine her smile sarcastically.
“Good luck, guys. Over and out.” The screen collapsed into nothing and silence reigned.
No one spoke after that. Q wasn’t really bothered by the fact. What could they talk about anyway?
They were headed towards a freezing planet with unknown danger levels. It wasn’t something that brought up a cheery conversation between comrades.
He closed his eyes and rested.
They were a few hours away from Hidea, and if what Carlos had said about the mission was right, he was going to need all the strength he had and more.
***
Taylor opened her eyes to find herself in some sort of house.
She didn’t remember falling asleep which could only mean this was a hallucination. But she couldn’t figure out why she was hallucinating in the first place. She wasn’t claustrophobic or anything. She had absolutely no clue what put her in this state.
The house though seemed very weird to her, almost too familiar. This one was different from the house she’d seen earlier during her coma awakening. It seemed a little more high class with embroidery work done on the carpets and curtains.
“Mom?” a tiny voice came from the other side of the door behind her, the door that led out of the house.
“Coming dear!” an older, feminine voice came from above.
She heard footsteps coming from the staircase to her right, and she tried to hide somewhere fast.
A blond-haired lady in her twenties opened the door, and a little girl almost charged in. She looked just like the older lady. Blond hair, blue eyes, a slightly triangular face. It was all there and picture perfect.
“Now go up and play okay? Daddy and mommy have something important to talk about.”
“Okay,” the little girl said and ran up.
“Honey?” a masculine voice came from deeper inside the house. Probably the girl’s dad.
“Coming,” the lady said and walked away.
Taylor followed her into what seemed to be the kitchen. There were pans on the stove and something was baking in the oven. Seemed like they were cooking for a party.
The dad was by the sink, washing all the used utensils.
“The cake is almost done,” he said.
The lady put on oven gloves and pulled three layers of chocolate cake from the oven.
“She’s going to love this isn’t she?” she said.
“Of course she is. She’s been bustling with energy all day,” he laughed. “They grow old so quickly don’t they?”
The lady smiled. She started putting the layers together and decorated the cake with frosting.
“Mom?” a voice came from just outside the kitchen. “I’m hungry!”
Both of them laughed.
The little girl ran in, “CAKE!” she almost screeched out.
“Yes dear. Cake. But you’ll have to wait to eat it, okay?”
The girl nodded excitedly, “Cake!” she yelled again.
“Now let’s go get-”
BANG!
A gunshot rang in Taylor’s ears.
No.
It wasn’t from a gunshot. It was a laser blaster.
The little girl stood there, her eyes normal, her hands clutching a blaster the size of her head.
Her dad stood at the counter. His mouth gaping, his body frozen. He collapsed to the floor in a thud, and Taylor instantly knew he was dead.
�
�Honey, you have to stop this. NOW,” the mother said.
“CAKE!” The girl yelled out and pointed the blaster at her mother.
The blaster shot multiple beams, and the lady fell to the floor.
“CAKE!” the girl walked to her mom’s side.
“This isn’t your fault,” the lady whispered. “I know it isn’t.”
“CAKE!” she pointed the blaster at her mother’s head.
“I’ll always love you,” she said. “Taylor.”
The girl pulled the trigger, and the lady was gone.
Taylor stood there smack in the middle of her memory. Her eyes teared up, and her body shook.
She was starting to remember what this was.
The girl’s laughter cackled through the silent room. She put her hand to her face and removed some sort of mask.
A bright flash obscured her from Taylor’s view, and when it disappeared, there stood the masked man.
“You,” Taylor gritted her teeth, “You killed my parents.”
“On the contrary,” he swung his cane around gleefully. “YOU killed them.”
“Don’t lie to me!”
“Now why would I ever do that? Lying is boring. The truth is much, much more fun.”
Taylor charged at him, but all she did was pass right through him.
“You see, all I’ve done is show yourself parts of your memory that have been hiding from you,” he smirked at her.
“You killed them, Taylor. You killed your parents.”
***
Q opened his eyes to the sound of alarms.
Bright light shone all around the pod and the holographic screen had opened up. A single word was written on its red surface.
Danger.
“Elizabeth? Taylor?” he yelled out. ”Are you guys there?”
Nothing.
Intercom is probably out as well, he thought.
But first he had to figure out what was actually going on. This pod didn’t really have much of a computer on board so self-checks were out of the question. He closed his eyes and opened up his Q-maps.
He could tell they were about thirty minutes from Hidea, which wasn’t too bad. He could probably hold on for that long.
And that was when he felt a draft of air inside the pod.
The Quest Saga Collection: Books 1 - 5 Page 21