Dark Stars- Firelight

by Matthew Tonks

  “Oh my Sir! That would be a terrible thing to happen. Surely you understand that Betha is my other, my mate, my….”

  “Can the blabbering Sin, could you do it?”

  “Of course I could bring some systems online. Although I would need to be situated within the mainframe, and if she had su…”

  “Good. Hook in, merge your internal transmitter with her long-range system and direct it to send a message to the coordinates twelve, eighteen dot B nine, eight, dot L two, three, two, dot D three, three, three, two dot twenty-seven.”

  “I’m sorry Sir, what you’re asking could very well fry my systems. I refuse to perform suc…” He doesn’t get to continue as he is thrust backwards, one of his arms getting ripped off in the process.

  “WE DON’T HAVE TIME!” He yells. “Hook into Betha, fuse your systems, and transmit this message to the coordinates you piece of junk!”

  “Well Sir, I never. This is totall…” he smashes the severed arm across Sin’s head as the porthole door takes the brunt of the revived Reaper’s attack.

  “Just hook yourself up to her systems, please! If we lose our chance, we might never be able to stop her, don’t you want to help me save everything?” He says as the Reaper’s continue their assault on the other side of the door.

  A hiss breaks the silence in the room, and then the hum of energy, and lights burst to life.

  “Oh my Sir,” Sin says as he looks over at the haggard, scarred, worn down Zander who shields his eyes from the light.

  “Don’t, okay, just don’t! I only need you to record this message and send it to the coordinates I said before, coded with the word sequin-red,” he says softly.

  “Of course Sir, I will do as you ask. Please relay your message now,” Sin says.

  “Zander, I know this is going to be hard to believe, but every word I’m about to tell you is true. I’m you, well not you exactly, more like another version of you from a different reality than the one you reside in, but that’ll all have to wait because none of that matters right now. What matters is you don’t let them know about the child, no matter what you have to do hide it from them, all of them. Especially the High Priestess, although she probably knows anyway. Don’t trust her, but don’t let her know you don’t. She’s something more than you know, something more than you’re capable of understanding just yet. But what you need to understand is she wants your child dead. Come to the coordinates twelve, eighteen dot B, nine, eight, dot L two, three, two, dot D three, three, three, two dot twenty-seven and you’ll see I’m telling the truth. And kill that weasel Saladizar, he’s a traitor and deserves it,” then the room is silent as they both look to the ground, one deep in thought, the other lost deep in their connection.

  “Message uploaded and sent, although there is nothing out there Sir.”

  “Trust me, there’s something out there, you just have to keep on sending that message until your systems shut down. Do you understand?”

  “I understand. Although judging from the power drain I am experiencing at the moment, it will be short, which I am sorry for. But may I ask what you are going to do?”

  Zander smiles, as he clutches a blade in his hand and stands tall. “Me, I’m going to celebrate the only way I know how,” he says as he pulls open the door and charges forward, swinging the blade viciously, ripping and tearing into the sluggish Reaper’s who are momentarily blinded from the light. Betha lets out a grunt as the power dies, and the lights flicker out leaving him standing in the centre of the hallway, in complete darkness. He hears movement and smiles. “COME GET SOME!” He yells as they attack.

  To Beginning, In the Middle, Sort of Again…

  “Sentinel Three we have your vector. You’re coming in fine, it’s good to have you home,” a voice says over the headset.

  “It’s good to be home, we’ve been gone for too long. I’m looking forward to some rest,” Zander says with a worn-out smile.

  “Hate to spoil your plans Sir, but High Priestess Dankika’s requested an audience with you as soon as you touch down.”

  “Now I know why I hate coming home so much,” he says as he looks over to Touvler who shrugs his shoulders. “I never was the relaxing type anyway.”

  “Really? It’s all you’ve talked about the whole trip back since we jettisoned The Federation skippers,” Touvler says with a smirk.

  “You know me, wishful thinking. Anyway, don’t you smile. If she wants to see me, you know it means somethings up, and if that’s true you don’t get to sit back and enjoy yourself either.”

  Touvler laughs, “Sumarians don’t need rest or sleep. So, as you say, it’s no skin off my face.”

  “It’s no skin off my nose, not face. Even if you don’t really have one, it’s the way the line’s said. Tell me again why we’re friends?”

  “Because no one is stupid enough to ride with you human, you are said to be bad luck.”

  “So why fly with me then?”

  “I have nothing to lose Kane, and besides I like watching you squirm before I jump in and save you,” Touvler says with a smile.

  “Shut up and go tell Gadamrie that we’re about to land on Loker Twelve for a meet and greet with Dankika,” Zander says as his brow furrows, and a wayward grin slowly creeps upon him.

  “You go tell them. You know I’m not a fan, and they’re certainly not a fan of me.”

  “I am she, and she is one, and all, I am not they, I am simply Gadamrie,” a female voice says from behind them. They both turn to the pale grey woman standing in the cockpit’s doorway. Her green eyes burn into them both with a deep warm buzz, her body covered in gold armour.

  “No offence meant, you….”

  “I know, and you are correct in your assumptions, but in the heat of battle I would gladly fall by your side.”

  “Thanks. I think,” Touvler says.

  She blinks, her face shows little to no emotion, then she turns to Zander. “I am ready for landing, when will you be meeting with The Priestess?” She asks.

  “As soon as we land, she’s requested my attendance.”

  “Do you wish for me to accompany you?”

  Zander turns back away from her and wriggles in his seat, “Honey, you know that’s never a good idea.”

  “Then I will await your return,” she says as she turns to leave.

  “You’re going to wait on Betha?”

  “Yes, I assume she has a request to ask of you, of us. So I will prepare myself,” she says as she walks slowly out of the cockpit. Zander glances over to Touvler, who meets his gaze with one of his own.

  “Don’t look at me, she’s your mate,” Touvler says.

  “Don’t push it, we haven’t landed yet and I can still eject you out into space.”

  Touvler holds his hands in the air and laughs. “What? You are aware males are a rare breed in my race? Right? And you know I totally understand the whole sowing your seed in many, it’s just…”

  “Just what?”

  “Well,” he says leaning towards him. “Isn’t it weird, that like they’re all connected?”

  “Weird in what way? She’s still like you and me, well sort of like you, more like me. Underneath all the bodies she inhabits, there is still one soul, one mind, one person.”

  “You humans amuse me, she, he, them, a whole race with one mind. It still freaks even me out, but you, you think with your organs not your mind,” Touvler says leaning back in his seat laughing.

  “Laugh it up, and pull the gear down we’re on approach,” he says, turning back to the view screen.

  “Sentinel Three, you are clear to land,” a voice says over the headset.

  The rusty derelict looking ship shudders as it comes to a not so soft landing on the small moon planet of Loker Twelve. A door hisses open, and a platform extends down to the ground. Zander and Touvler step out into the moons air, and both take a deep breath. Zander coughs violently and Touvler slaps him on the back with a laugh.

  “Humans,” he says.

  �
�Shut up,” Zander hisses, as he looks towards several men who march towards him, weapons ready. “Saladizar, I didn’t realise this was going to be so formal,” he says as they come to a stop in front of them, their weapons now raised and trained upon Zander and Touvler.

  “Shut up balesh,” Saladizar says. Zander’s eyebrows raise, and his smile drops as he darts a quick look over to Touvler, who meets his gaze with a confused look of his own.

  “I think there’s some sort of confusion, Dankika request…” He doesn’t get to finish his sentence as one of the men drives the butt of their blaster into his stomach, sending him to the ground.

  “I said shut up! Many things have changed since you were last here human scum, and not everyone is happy to see you,” Saladizar says as he crouches down over Zander. “If it was up to me, you and your crew of thieves would be tossed into the endless sea.”

  “But it’s not,” a woman’s voice says from behind him, Saladizar grits his teeth and gives Zander one last vicious look.

  “One day your woman won’t be around to protect you, and then me and you human, we’ll have our moment,” he growls as he gets to his feet and turns to face all twelve of Gadamrie’s armed selves.

  “There will never be that moment. NEVER! Do you understand insect?” all twelve say in unison.

  “Why don’t you get back on that rust bucket. Your kind is not welcome here.”

  “Then make me?” She says. For a moment Saladizar allows himself to smile, before he realises all too late, she was not making a request, she was throwing out a threat. Before he can make a move, three blades are at his throat, his soldiers lie face down on the ground disarmed, and he stares into her green eyes.

  “You will pay for your insubordination. Let me and my men go and leave this planet now!” He yells.

  “You are in no position to threaten me insect, moments ago you held Zander in a similar predicament, are you now disagreeing with your own maneuver?”

  “Gadamrie, let them go. He’s not worth any of this,” Zander says as he places a hand on her shoulder, she turns to him, her face expressionless.

  “He deserves to die, they all do. Since they joined The Dark Collective, they’ve wormed their way into her circle, taking larger roles that they do not deserve to have. Let me take…”

  “LET THEM BE!” a voice booms from somewhere behind them.

  “Danakia, it has been too long,” Gadamrie says, turning to face her.

  “Not long enough. You were a fool to come back here, and you,” she says turning to Zander. “I thought better of you.”

  “Hey, don’t try to lay any of this on her or me, it was your boys who started this. We were all happy as Larry when we got here, but old Saladizar and his boys threw the first punch. Actually, if I’m being honest, they threw the only punch, and Gadamrie came to my defence. So your highness, either you get your boys on the wagon, or we’re gone,” Zander says as he turns back to Gadamrie, nods his head and walks over to Touvler who meets his gaze with one of agreement. “Actually, scratch that we’re gone,” he says not even bothering to turn around as they head back towards Betha. Gadamrie looks back at Saladizar and smiles.

  “Today you are lucky, tomorrow might be different,” she says as she releases her grip, allowing him to topple backwards onto the ground. She turns to Danakia and in unison, all twelve bow. “Your highness,” she says with a wry smile, before boarding Betha.

  “Zander, I still require your attendance,” Danakia calls out.

  “Blow it out your gas pipe. We’re heading home, like in the plan,” Zander replies, as he turns and heads up the ramp.

  “This involves your unborn child,” she says quickly. Zander stops on the walkway and casts a sideways glance over to Gadamrie, then turns to face Danakia.

  “I’m sorry, I think you’ve got me confused for someone who cares what you have to say,” Zander says, his hands clenched into fists.

  “Then why are you still standing on the platform, and not leaving me to, as you said, blow it out my gas pipe?”

  “Sarcasm is something I rarely hear from you,” Zander says, as he looks back over to Gadamrie once again, and he nods his head. “You want to talk, you talk to all of us, and Saladizar stays the hell away!”

  “You are in no position…”

  “Then screw you,” Zander says, as he turns and walks back up the ramp.

  “WAIT!” Danakia yells out, as Zander smiles to himself before turning around once more. “This is not a negotiation, the inform…”

  “If this isn’t a NEGOTIATION, why the hell are we negotiating?” Zander says, as he turns once more and continues up the ramp again.

  “You humans are stubborn!” Danakia yells.

  “Why do you think we’re almost extinct?” Zander says as he reaches the top of the ramp.

  “Okay Kane, bring your Sumarian.”

  He smiles broader this time, turning, and clapping his hands together. “See, and you said this wasn’t a negotiation.”

  “SIR,” Sin’s voice screeches into his head.

  “OW!” Zander yells, slamming a palm against the side of his head.

  “Sorry, I require your presence in the communication room, we have a strange signal looping into Betha and my systems.”

  “Can it wait? Danakia has info…”

  “Sir, I am sorry. But the information involves the High Priestess, and yourself. Information that Betha and I believe you shoul…”

  “Can you patch it through the interlink?”

  “Yes, of course. But…”

  “Do it and let me make my mind up.”

  “Of course Sir. Please allow me a moment,” Sin says, as Zander stands silently at the top of the ramp.

  “Kane? Are you listening to me?” Danakia asks demandingly.

  Zander holds up a hand in answer to her question. “One-minute sweets, I’ve got something happening that requires my…” He stops mid-sentence as the message plays over his interlink.

  “Zander, I know this is going to be hard to believe, but every word I’m about to tell you is true. I’m you, well not you exactly, more like another version of you from a different reality than the one you reside in, but that’ll all have to wait because none of that matters right now. What matters is you don’t let them know about the child, no matter what you have to do hide it from them, all of them. Especially the High Priestess, although she probably knows anyway. Don’t trust her, but don’t let her know you don’t. She’s something more than you know, something more than you’re capable of understanding just yet. But what you need to understand is she wants your child dead. Come to the coordinates twelve, eighteen dot B, nine, eight, dot L two, three, two, dot D three, three, three, two dot twenty-seven and you’ll see I’m telling the truth. And kill that weasel Saladizar, he’s a traitor and deserves it.”

  For a few moments he stands in silence, his mouth open, his eyes wide, and drool begins to slowly leak out of the corner of his mouth.

  “H-H-How in the hell?” He mutters, wiping his mouth of the saliva.

  “That is currently unknown Sir,” Sin replies.

  “How legit is it?”

  “If you are asking if the voice is yours. Both Betha and I have matched it to your own, without fault.”

  “So, it’s one hundred percent on the money?”

  “If you are asking should we believe what ‘you’ are telling us? We do not have the answer for that. But it was coded to a unique security protocol that only you have ever accessed.”

  “That’s good enough for me. Shut the door,” he says as he looks over to Gadamrie, who tilts her head to the side, as she tries to read what he is thinking. Her eyes widen in confusion as he pulls his blaster free and fires a shot into Saladizar’s skull just as the ship’s door slips down. Quickly he runs up the corridor towards the cockpit, turning to face the confused Touvler and Gadamrie.

  “Don’t just stand there, we have to move now! Before they act!” He yells.

  “Y-Y-You just shot
Saladizar, in cold blood,” Touvler mutters.

  “I know, is that going to be a problem?”

  “Not for me, but you are going to have to let me in on whatever Sin showed you,” Touvler says, as he runs past Zander, jumping into the co-pilots chair as Betha’s engines scream to life. The almost derelict ship rips from its moorings and strikes the sky like a sword.

  “Right now we’ve got other things to worry about,” Zander says as he swings around in his seat, looking over a scan of the base behind them. But to his surprise, no ships make chase, Zander raises an eyebrow.

  “If you are wondering why there are no ships pursuing us, that would be because they are unable to,” Sin announces.

  “How?”

  “Sir, they may not appreciate what we do, or what we have done. But their counterparts and their ships are loyal to a different cause, one where we hold a higher power,” Sin says proudly.

  “So in other words, you blackmailed them?” Touvler says.

  “I simply requested them to look at their battle history compared to ours, and they chose their move.”

  “Lucky they didn’t scan this hunk of trash then, her weapon cells are almost depleted, and her core is in need of an overhaul. We would’ve fallen the first hit we took,” Touvler says with a scowl, as he looks back over to Zander. “So fearless leader, wanna tell me why you finally did what you should’ve done like, three centuries ago?”

  “Play them the recording,” Zander says.

  “Sir, are you sure the….”

  “Play them the recording!”

  Seconds later, Zander’s voice hisses to life from Sin’s core unit.

  “Zander, I know this is going to be hard to believe, but every word I’m about to tell you is true. I’m you, well not you exactly, more like another version of you from a different reality than the one you reside in, but that’ll all have to wait because none of that matters right now. What matters is you don’t let them know about the child, no matter what you have to do hide it from them, all of them. Especially the High Priestess, although she probably knows anyway. Don’t trust her, but don’t let her know you don’t. She’s something more than you know, something more than you’re capable of understanding just yet. But what you need to understand is she wants your child dead. Come to the coordinates twelve, eighteen dot B, nine, eight, dot L two, three, two, dot D three, three, three, two dot twenty-seven and you’ll see I’m telling the truth. And kill that weasel Saladizar, he’s a traitor and deserves it.”