by Charles Nall
Lance Hydrus called out, “Sir, I did a scan of the Lilith Shipyards. Our intelligence might have been mistaken, I am not detecting an Apocalypse warship.”
“Where’s the Apocalypse, Reek?!” Jacob yelled.
“Elsewhere...” Reek giggled. “You won’t find her.”
Aiden Alexander checked his console. “Sir, I am detecting a huge energy spike from their hyper-drive system... It’s going critical. Actually, hell, it’s all of the vampire ships.”
“Reek...” Jacob said. “Your starships...”
Reek laughed.
“You don’t have to do this,” Jacob said. “You will all be given a fair trial! Please shut down your hyper-drive systems!”
Reek grinned. “Let this be a warning to you. You can’t change what’s approaching. You can’t save everyone. You can’t even save yourself.”
“Full burn, get a safe distance away from those ships!” Jacob called out.
Reek cackled. “Everything will be taken away from you. You will see aphelion. You will be at the farthest point away from the light, and the light shall forsake you.”
Aiden Alexander looked over to Jacob and shook his head.
Reek continued, “The darknessss shall blot out the sssky. Be prepared for the return of—”
The hyper-drives on the vampire starships overloaded and went critical. The vampire starships were annihilated.
“Get SAR teams out there,” Jacob commanded.
“There’s nothing left, sir,” Alexander said.
Jacob sighed. “I know.”
August 30, 0271 AC - 13:14
Bridge, USS Empyrean
Blood Dynasty Space
The viewscreen displayed an older vampire with a deep scar across his face.
“It appears everything is in order,” said the vampire.
“Thank you, Commander Gray,” replied Jacob.
“This is quite unprecedented, but the law is the law. Even if you are... a pseudo-vampire, as you call it, you will become regent and eventually king by the right of succession. You are the firstborn of Damien Mabus, the rightful heir of the Blood Dynasty. You were born as David Mabus and taken away from us. It is good to have you back.”
“I would prefer to still be called Jacob.”
“That can be arranged, but I expect the civilians will think less of you if you use your... other name.”
“I understand, sir.”
“Well, there is something we do require before you officially take the mantle of regent.”
“But of course,” Jacob said. “What do you require?”
“We require the body of Drake Mabus.”
“We aren’t comfortable with that.”
“He must be properly buried. He’s your own brother. He deserves to be buried alongside his father and mother on Babylon. For better or worse, he is a part of our history. Please send us the body.”
Jacob hesitated and finally answered. “Alright. We’ll send a transport with the body down after we retrieve it from the morgue.”
“Thank you, sir. And good luck, Regent.”
September 1, 0271 AC - 02:22
USS Empyrean
Blood Dynasty Space
Jacob walked down a corridor of Empyrean. Crewmen were still trying to clean up the debris that still covered some of the floor.
“Hey, man,” said someone behind Jacob.
Jacob turned around and saw Trevor approaching.
“Trevor?! I thought you were dead!” Jacob exclaimed.
Trevor Reynolds chuckled. “I am.”
“What?!”
“It will be okay, Jacob. It had to happen. Me and Elijah have made peace with that. ”
“I’m not following you.”
“Everyone has a part to play. We finished our parts. Don’t despair. Remember, without Elijah, we wouldn’t have been accepted into the Fleet. Hell, that Double-Crescent would have beat our ass back at Kappa Velorum. Without me, you probably wouldn’t have found Sharon or Rapture. You’re welcome!”
“I’ll...” Jacob struggled to speak. “I’ll miss both of you.”
Someone pat Jacob on the shoulder. Jacob turned to see Elijah Shepherd.
Elijah Shepherd grinned. “We will always be with you. Don’t worry about the past. Think about the future. We are finished, but you have much, much more to do.”
“What do I need to do?” Jacob asked.
Elijah looked to the side. Jacob followed his gaze to a window on the wall. Jacob saw Earth outside the window.
Elijah sighed. “You’ll see.”
Jacob shot awake. He had been dreaming. He looked to his side. Sharon was still in the brig and not by his side.
Jacob ran his hand down Sharon’s spot in the bed.
Everyone has a part to play.
The Citadel
Orbit of Mars, Sol System
Contested Space
Warden Ross Algol stared out the viewscreen at the desolate planet of Mars.
A member of the space station staff walked up behind Algol and stammered, “Uh. S—sir?”
“Yes? What is it?” Algol responded, still focusing out the viewscreen.
“Sir... the transport that went to hunt the female has returned. It’s requesting access into the station.”
“Splendid, did they return with her?”
“Uh. Sort of?”
Algol turned to face the station staff member. “Sort of...?”
Algol didn’t recognize this man. New recruit? He couldn’t keep everyone straight on the station, not like it mattered much to him, though.
The man stumbled upon his words. “Sir—Sir... There’s an issue. The bio—biometrics... The helmet biometrics are all off.”
“Get maintenance to look them over, I don’t have time for this. Let the transport in.”
“There’s not an issue with the helmets. Someone else is on board that transport.” The nervous man eyed the machete hanging off Algol’s belt.
“Who?”
“From the bio-data... It appears that the female, along with Zebediah Austrinus and another mystery woman are requesting to dock onto our station. Shall we open fire? The Orbital Guard drones are on standby.”
Algol chuckled. “No doubt they wish to access our communication systems to get a message out.”
“Well, we should kill them now. We can’t let them do that.”
Algol smiled.
The nervous man cocked his head to the side. “Right?”
“Let them land.”
“But... sir?”
“I have other plans for them, I’d prefer not to kill them, unless it’s a last resort. Both Zebediah and the girl are quite exquisite specimens...” Algol turned back to staring out the viewscreen.
“Sir?”
“Let them in. Send all available men to the hangar. Capture them.”
“They may have our guard’s weapons... what if they—what if they get past our men?”
Algol turned back to the face the nervous man. “If they kill our men, they’ll try to get here to send a message out.”
The man nodded.
Algol pulled his machete out. “If they get this far... I suppose I’ll have to change my plans.”
“What are you going to do?”
Algol eyed the sharpness of the blade and smirked. “I’ll kill them all myself.”
September 2, 0271 AC - 22:40
Ryn Solovyeva’s Quarters, USS Empyrean
Blood Dynasty Space
Ryn Solovyeva put the rope around her neck. The rope was tied to a light fixture in the middle of her cabin. She stood on top of a chair.
Just kick the chair out from under you... and you’ll see Trevor again.
The rope was tight around her neck. It was hard to breathe already.
Ryn looked down at the chair.
Just kick the chair...
Would she even see Trevor again this way? Should she kill herself and end the pain?
Ryn lost her dad. Ryn lost Trevor. How cou
ld see still live with this heartache? She had enough. She wanted to end it all.
She was afraid.
Ryn started to cry. She wailed in pain.
God, why? Why did you do this to me? Are you even there? What should I do?!
And then, suddenly, Ryn had an epiphany.
It was all their fault.
The Resistance was to blame. They fought against the Interstellar Federation. For what? They lost so much in the battle near Urbania. Was there anything truly wrong with the vampires? Wasn’t Mabus just trying to achieve peace in his own way? And then Jacob’s girlfriend shot him. Sharon still had Jacob, even if she was in the brig. Most of the blame was on Jacob. The sheep on this vessel blindly followed him to the Resistance. It wasn’t worth it. How could she be so blind?
It was Jacob’s fault...
She removed the rope from her neck.
She started to seethe into a rage.
I... I will fight for you, my dear Trevor. I will avenge you...
September 3, 0271 AC – 15:11
Brig, USS Empyrean
Blood Dynasty Space
Jacob knocked on the glass of Sharon’s cell.
“Go away,” Sharon said from her bed. She was lying on the small bed with her back toward Jacob.
“I came to visit you,” Jacob said.
“I don’t care,” Sharon said. “You are a filthy vampire.”
“I didn’t want to be a vampire, but I’m dealing with this the best I can. I’m going to be very busy now.”
“Too busy for me.”
“No, not at all. Look, I’m not the same as my brother. I love you. I respect your decision. It wasn’t the right thing to do, but it was a good thing to do.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Sure it does. And I just did something that is comparable. Not the right thing, necessarily, but a good thing.”
Sharon was silent.
Jacob continued, “I made mistakes. I’m sorry. I should have told you about the pseudo-vampirism as soon as I found out. The vampires won’t like it at all, but I am releasing you from the brig.”
“I killed their leader,” Sharon said. “I don’t think you have the authority to make that call. Unless you mean I’m going to be going to a military tribunal, or worse, instead of this cage.”
“I am now regent. I can pardon criminals. As I said, the vampires won’t like this one bit. But I can’t let you stay in there.” Jacob tapped on a computer panel near the door to the cell. “I can’t live without you. I have been thinking a lot, lately.”
The door made an unlocking noise and swished open.
Sharon jumped up and ran to the door. She walked out into the hallway. She gasped.
Jacob was kneeling down on the ground on one knee.
“Will you marry me?”
September 4, 0271 AC - 13:42
Mabus Mining Headquarters, Babylon City, Babylon
Blood Dynasty Space
“Ah, Regent David Mabus, thank you for joining me.” The bald man smiled.
Jacob sat down at the table in the huge conference room. The red star of Babylon shined through a window that spanned the right side of the conference room. The cityscape of Babylon City dominated the view. The Mabus Mining headquarters towered over the city of black skyscrapers.
“I understand my real name was supposed to be David,” Jacob said. “But I would prefer if you just called me Jacob. I didn’t know I was part of the Mabus family tree for the majority of my life.”
The bald man sitting across the long table nodded his head politely. “Of course. The peacekeepers have managed to keep the rioting down. I hope you understand that most vampires do not want you in charge.”
“I know. But I am regent. Mabus blood does flows through me.”
The vampire chuckled. “Of course. Things will be... difficult.”
“Yes, I know. It’s difficult for me as well. I am the executive officer of an Interstellar Federation starship as well as the new leader of a major superpower of the galaxy.”
“Oh, where are my manners? I haven’t formally introduced myself. I am chief operating officer of Mabus Mining, Alaric Dale. You, as regent, are considered the chief executive officer.”
“I’ve heard that, yes. And pleased to meet you.”
“The entire infrastructure of the Blood Dynasty is based upon our mining company. In fact, that is how we raised the funds to attack the Union and Confederation during the Blood and Vampire Wars. A corporation, in essence, became a superpower.”
“Yes, I know,” Jacob replied.
“It is my duty to run the company side of things, whereas you control the political and militaristic side of things,” Dale said. “I will come to you if I need to tell you something about our mining business.”
“Which is why you called for me?”
“Yes.”
“I would appreciated it if you just sent a message through the NEP. I barely have time for this. I am dealing with so much. Learning about my new role and all its facets, making sure my vampire advisors are to be trusted, making speeches, helping command a starship... I’m surprised they were okay with me staying on Empyrean.”
“Well, our flagship was destroyed. You did leave out pardoning the murderer of Mabus.”
“As the new regent of the Blood Dynasty, I was given the power to pardon Sharon. It was a situation involving a vampire, after all.”
“Yes, but you probably should have listened to your advisors. Your approval rating is quite low...”
“I don’t care what the people think of me. I just want to make sure they are supported well and protected. They can think what they want, but I do have their best interests at heart. I couldn’t let Sharon stay in that cell.”
Alaric Dale picked up a computer that was lying next to him and looked it over. “Of course. I must say I am impressed with you. There is a lot on your plate but you are doing an admirable task of attempting to deal with everything.”
“It’s difficult, but what I must do. It is literally what I was born to do.”
Alaric Dale smiled. “Yes, yes it was. Sir, I do have an issue with this Interstellar Federation. Why are you allowing this union to continue?”
“The Federation is a good thing. A good thing that was corrupted. Now, we can try to actively become the ISF of old. We are reworking the government system and will elect a new set of officials from each nation to rule the federation. I will not have Mabus’ power. We will work out the problems. After all, we got rid of Trachis and Mabus.”
“Whatever happened to President Trachis?”
“Ajax was lost. We are still searching for her. There is no telling where she will turn up, but Trachis has been stripped of his title, wherever he is. President Newfield is a tremendous woman and a great replacement. I may not always agree with her, but she’s not Trachis. We will clean up the debris from the last battles and strive to rebuild completely. Many of us, including myself, have lost close friends. I, for one, am done with war.”
Dale smiled.
Jacob continued, “Liam Fornax is still working on the best way to offer the pseudo-vampirism to the current vampires. It would be a good thing for “normals,” too. Things are going to get better.”
“Better? I’m not so sure.” Dale slid the computer across the table.
Jacob picked it up and looked at the display.
Dale sighed. “This is something that cannot get out of this room. You say you have the best interests of your people at heart?”
“I do.”
“The mining company is what sustains the vampires. Without Mabus Mining, the entire Blood Dynasty will crumble. I regret to inform you that all of our centaurite mines are nearly dry.”
The computer displayed myriads of red numbers and declining graphs.“Dry? There’s plenty of centaurite mines on Babylon, Dante Prime, and elsewhere in vampire space!” Jacob tossed the computer away.
“That’s what we thought. It appears most of the data of the am
ount of centaurite available has been forged over the years by the now-deceased Noctis Reek, a close advisor to Drake Mabus. Without the centaurite...”
“The Blood Dynasty crumbles.”
Dale slowly nodded.
Jacob thought a moment. “This isn’t that bad, honestly. I know that the vampires have a sizeable fleet. We won’t need as many war machines anymore. The war is over and I intend to keep it that way. I know the threat of the Double-Crescents will always be with us, but I’m not so sure that’s a problem we can fix just by throwing more warships at it. We will start scrapping our warships, and I’m certain the rest of the galaxy will help us. The Dynasty will not crumble.”
“Sir... there’s... an issue with that.”
“Yes?”
“We cannot scrap our ships if we cannot find them.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk about. Nearly seventy percent of our fleet is missing.”
Jacob shook his head. “You have got to be kidding. Missing?”
“Our records show the fleet mobilizing toward Urbania. They left Blood Dynasty space and then... Well, we can’t figure out where they went. They might have all been destroyed.”
“By whom?”
“I have no idea. But we lost the ships while Drake Mabus was still in command.”
“That may be why Urbania wasn’t as defended as I expected.”
“It’s an unnerving thing, sir. What shall we do? We can’t let this go public, not yet.”
“Maybe I was wrong.”
“About?”
Jacob stared out the window into the crimson sky. “Perhaps the war isn’t over after all.”
October 30, 0271 AC - 16:45
Grauer Space Station
Galactic Union Space
“Are you sure about this?” Rylan Ter asked.
“Yeah...” Teresa Day hugged Rylan.
The Madcat-2’s main thrusters steamed behind them. The corvette was on a landing platform inside the space station access corridor.