Rise of the Ultra Fury (Universe in Flames Book 5)

by Christian Kallias

  His vision adapted slowly. He was still lying on his back but he was no longer on Droxia. All pain had stopped, but he didn’t feel his heartbeat, and that sent a cold shiver through his body.

  Am I dead? What is this place?

  Even though he was in the dark and his gaze fixed the sky, Chase saw no stars. It looked like a void, ready to swallow him.

  He sat up and looked around. He tried to locate his pulse but found none.

  That can’t be good.

  The ground was made of a strange type of stone. It was very dark and reflected the little light around. Chase wondered where it came from. There was no apparent light source. The stony ground was warm, which was surprising since its material seemed smooth and cold to look at. With every passing moment his vision improved. He saw spiky mountains in the distance. The place was totally alien, and dark. The scene felt surreal, like a lucid dream. Or nightmare.

  In the distance was a line of marching shadows. He walked towards the long line of humanoids moving in a straight line towards a distant source of reddish light, far beyond the tall, spiky mountains.

  As he approached the single file his attention was attracted to a specific shape within the shadows. As he walked towards it, he felt he knew who it was.

  It can’t be.

  As he drew closer he was able to distinguish more details in the shadows. They didn’t look fully human. They had no color, but Chase didn’t know if that was because it was dark or because their skin was dark gray. Only when he was three steps away from the one that had caught his attention did he recognize enough detail on her face.

  Fillio.

  She walked with emptiness in her eyes, looking down at her feet, like every other person in the line. They looked possessed and devoid of any awareness. The fact that not a single trait of humanity or color could be detected in her froze Chase’s blood.

  “Hey, Fillio! Can you hear me?” Chase walked by her side.

  There was no answer.

  He tried calling her name a few more times but with no result. He tried to shake her, but his hand passed through Fillio’s shoulder as if it wasn’t there.

  But was it she who wasn’t there or him? A chasm grew inside his soul. Was he dead? Was that what awaited everyone once they passed? But there was something different about him. He was conscious, aware, even though he couldn’t feel his heartbeat. When he looked down at his arms, he could see some color, though faded, on his skin, whereas everything else around him, other than the red light source in the distance, was either black or a dark shade of gray.

  What is this place?

  Chase tried remembering what had happened. He had been impaled by his brother Argos—that much he vividly remembered—after a long fight with Miseo. That thought brought anger and sadness at the same time. He had failed his mission. He had failed Sarah, Chris, Ares and even Aphroditis. He was not the Fury they thought and hoped he would be, the one who would stop the universe from being consumed by the Furies’ revenge.

  I’m worthless. I was so certain I could win, and I ended up making a fool of myself.

  If that was the full extent of it, Chase wouldn’t care as much as he did. It wasn’t the fact that he had lost the fight that bothered him. It was what that meant for the rest of the people he loved, as well as the trillions of innocents that would pay the price for that failure. How could he have been so sure of himself?

  And Chase knew, deep down, that confidence had always been part of his being. On board the Destiny, even before the terrible assault that claimed the Star Alliance’s very existence, he had been the best pilot. Of that he had been certain. But perhaps that was just his ego. He had thought he was better than the rest and that he could prevail against all odds. And for a time it did seem as if this self-deception would carry him his entire life.

  What have I done?

  But just asking the question was too hard to bear, the consequences too ugly and painful. Would his friends prevail and defeat the Furies, or had he singlehandedly given victory to his enemies over all that was good and true? Kindness, compassion, love . . . Having fought three Furies, he knew that these emotions weren’t inherent in them.

  Why was he different? Neither Miseo, General Arkoolis nor Argos had shown any signs of these emotions when he fought them; only hatred, a thirst for power and a total lack of empathy for beings other than Furies.

  Argos . . .

  Chase had felt something in his brother. At first he thought it was fear, but could it be something else entirely? Was that fear at the surface just a defense mechanism used to cover deeper, buried feelings? When Argos had struck him down, he could simply have decapitated him. He could have crushed his heart and that would have been the end of it, but instead he went for the stomach. Did that mean anything?

  Then Chase remembered seeing a slight golden light reflected in his brother’s eyes, just before he punched his hand through. Reliving the scene, even in his head, was very painful.

  Was that Ares? Had he intervened?

  “Ares!” shouted Chase out loud. “Are you here?”

  After more silence he shouted again. “Ares! Please . . . Talk to me.”

  Then he heard a voice behind him. “He can’t hear you here, I’m afraid. No one but me can.”

  Chase turned to see a boy, no older than ten years old, looking at him with big green eyes.

  “Who are you?”

  “Perhaps your brain made me up so you could make sense of all this.”

  It was strange, hearing that young child speak like an adult.

  “Well if it did . . . It doesn’t make any sense! Where am I?”

  “Where do you think you are?”

  “If I had to guess, I’d say some sort of afterlife.”

  “Then perhaps that’s where you are.”

  “Are you being vague on purpose?”

  The kid smiled.

  “What’s your name?” asked Chase.

  “Does it matter?”

  “I guess not, but I’d still like to know.”

  “Sedah. My name is Sedah.”

  “Nice to meet you, Sedah. I’m Chase. What are you doing here? Are you also lost?”

  “Who said you were lost? Perhaps you’re exactly where you need to be.”

  That sent a shiver down Chase’s spine. “What are you talking about? How would you know?”

  Sedah just shrugged.

  “Great, so you don’t want to tell me.”

  “I don’t think it matters that much, to tell the truth.”

  “It matters to me.”

  “And what if it shouldn’t?”

  The boy was getting on Chase’s nerves. “Could you be a little more helpful?”

  “I thought I was.”

  “Well, perhaps we don’t speak the same language. How come you’re the only one I can talk to? I would like to talk to my friend over there,” said Chase, pointing towards Fillio, who was slowly moving away.

  “She can’t hear you. You’re not exactly in the same state.”

  That made Chase think. Perhaps he wasn’t dead yet.

  “I’m still alive, am I?”

  “That depends on your definition, I guess, but you’re not entirely dead.”

  “Then why am I here?”

  “That, I really don’t know. You shouldn’t be.”

  Great, more cryptic answers.

  “And what about you? If I’m not dead, and if I can speak to you, doesn’t that mean you live here?”

  “Perhaps.”

  Chase took a knee and put his hand on the boy’s shoulders. He was surprised to make physical contact. Sadeh smiled.

  “Sadeh, can you please help me talk with my friend?”

  “I could, but I’m not supposed to.”

  “Nevertheless, please, I really need to talk with her.”

  “You don’t need to, but I can sense it means a great deal to you.”

  Chase nodded.

  “What’s in it for me, though? Will you play with me af
ter?”

  “Sure, just let me talk with her first, okay?”

  Sadeh gently removed Chase’s hands from his shoulder. His eyes flashed green, and he lifted his arm upwards and extended his index finger. A small green light shone atop of his finger, and Fillio took a step to the side, getting out of line; but she continued walking forward.

  “You don’t have much time,” said Sadeh. “Hurry and talk to your friend, then we’ll play,” said the boy with a large smile.

  “Thank you.” Chase ran next to Fillio.

  Some color had returned to her dark gray skin; not much, but enough to differentiate her from the rest.

  “Fillio?”

  “Chase? What are you doing here? Come to think of it, where is here?”

  “I wish I could tell you with certitude where we are. I’m not entirely sure myself.”

  “It’s the underworld, isn’t it? Which means we’re both dead.”

  Chase wanted to take Fillio’s hand but his passed through hers, a reminder that he wasn’t really in this place; at least not entirely.

  “I might not be dead just yet. My only explanation is that I’m near death, and some of my consciousness made it here.”

  Fillio shot him a quick glance and a faint smile.

  “That’s good. It means there’s still a chance for you.”

  Chase felt a sting in his heart. Whether his heart was beating or not, the words painfully reminded him that he had also failed her.

  “Why didn’t you let me save you? Why did you resist my help?”

  “Chase, please understand that I’ve always had the deepest respect for you, and I thank you for trying, but it was my time.”

  “No! I could have brought you back if you had let me.”

  “Perhaps, but I didn’t want to go back. I understand how strange this might sound, but you need to understand or, better yet, to accept it. Can you accept it, Chase?”

  “I can, but I would really like to understand why.”

  “You know why.”

  Do I? Chase wondered. “I don’t think I do.”

  “Look, these past few years have been hell for me. I didn’t see the point in living life this way anymore. If I hadn’t been injured, then perhaps I would have ended myself in another way. I just wanted it to end. To me, what happened was a blessing in disguise.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”

  “I tried, once . . . but my timing sucked, as always.”

  Chase remembered when she had called him, soon after they had returned from Droxia.

  “That night?”

  “Yes, that night. I wanted to tell you I’d like us to try again, but I could see in your eyes that your heart already belonged to someone else. Don’t get me wrong. I’m very happy you found love, Chase. I just wish . . .”

  “You wished I loved you.”

  A black tear fell down her denatured skin. Chase winced. “I’m sorry, I . . . Before Sarah, I don’t even know if I ever had such strong feelings, you know.”

  “You had feelings. Those nights when you held me in your arms, when all I wanted to do was kill myself, I felt your kindness.”

  “Alright, but it wasn’t romantic love.”

  “I know. And I was okay with that.”

  “Why didn’t you let Daniel get closer to you? He genuinely loves you.”

  “He does, and part of me does love him back; but perhaps I simply loved him like you loved me, if that makes any sense.”

  It did.

  “Please tell him how sorry I am, but you don’t need to hurt him by revealing my true feelings towards you.”

  “Well . . . the thought never crossed my mind. He’s my best friend and I don’t want him to suffer.”

  “That, and you would feel guilty.”

  “Yeah,” said Chase with a nervous chuckle, “that too.”

  C H A P T E R

  IV

  Most of the Hope’s crew was packed in the landing bays. Such was the tradition for space funerals on board Alliance ships. It was a tradition of the Star Alliance but one that Commodore Saroudis thought should be continued by the current Earth Alliance. Fillio had been in the Star Alliance all her life. It was only fitting that her spacing ceremony should follow that timed-honored tradition.

  Sarah was in the front row, only a dozen feet away from the space casket. It looked very similar to an escape pod, down to the long oval shape, but its paint job was different. While escape pods were dull gray, space caskets were adorned with the symbol of the Star Alliance: a perfect circle of pulsating stars, flanked by golden wings, painted on a dark-blue glossy background that represented the void of space.

  Sarah barely listened to Yanis’ eulogy. She heard the words but they didn’t really hit her conscious mind as fully formed sentences. She was too concerned about Chase and worried about not having received news from Ares. She would spend most of her time in medbay two talking to Chase, though she doubted he could hear her in his current state. But it made her feel better. She also felt that Chris was listening. In fact, she knew it.

  She had heard all kinds of stories about pregnancies, but none matched her own experience. How could it? It wasn’t every day that an unborn child projected themselves into their mother’s thoughts in adolescent or adult form and entered into a dialogue with her. There were still times she thought she was losing it. But she knew better.

  She wondered why Daniel wasn’t attending the ceremony. She hoped he was okay. Last she saw him he didn’t want to talk with anybody and was clearly on edge. He acted coldly and distantly. It probably was his way of dealing with the grief, but she worried that perhaps he wasn’t dealing with Fillio’s death very well. She couldn’t blame him, though. She just wished he would let her help.

  Soon it was time for Saroudis to say a few words.

  “Today we are saying goodbye to a kind soul and one hell of a pilot. I didn’t know her very well, but in the little time I had the pleasure to serve with her, she made quite an impression on me. Life in the military is dangerous, a fact we have been made painfully aware of today. Commander Fillio Steriopoulou lost her life fighting for the Earth Alliance, for freedom and for life. She will be deeply missed. We commit her body to the stars. Farewell, Commander.”

  Commodore Saroudis saluted and everyone present did the same. He pressed a control on the space casket and it rose from the ground, then slowly flew out of the landing bay.

  Sarah felt sorry for Yanis. His eyes were filled with tears but the hatred he had harbored towards Chase was gone. She wondered if he still blamed himself, though. Now was not the right time to ask.

  Soon they would reach Earth. They had stopped on their way from Droxia to perform the funeral and soon they would return to hyperspace.

  The crew was invited to the observatory lounge on deck two, but Sarah felt tired and returned to medbay two for a quick visit before returning to her quarters for some much needed shut-eye. So she excused herself to the commodore and left the landing bay.

  Soon she was by Chase’s side. He hadn’t moved an inch since he had been put in cryostasis to preserve the little life force still left in him.

  Sarah wondered if he was aware in this state. Did he dream? Did he hear when she talked with him? Did he feel anything at all?

  It didn’t matter whether or not he heard her. She liked talking to him as if he was in the room. Telling him everything that had happened during the day, their next move, what she was thinking for Chris’ room back on Earth. Anything and everything . . .

  “I’m sure Fillio would have liked it if you had been there, but perhaps you were in spirit. In any case, I’m sure she understands, under the circumstances. I mostly feel sorry you weren’t able to say goodbye to her today. I’m sure you would have liked that, and perhaps say a few words to the crew.”

  Then Sarah remembered what Yanis had told her in the Jeffrey’s tube shortly after his sister had died.

  “What would you have said?” She let the words hang for
a minute before continuing, “I don’t think I told you, but Yanis told me you kinda dated her. Oh and don’t worry, I’m cool with that. I mean, I can’t blame you for what you did before we met, right? I mean . . .”

  Why am I telling him this now?

  “What I mean, Chase, is that I understand why you didn’t tell me about it. Who we dated before we met is our own business.”

  What am I doing?

  “Okay, you know what, this is ridiculous, and I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

  “You do realize he can’t hear what you’re telling him, right?” said a male voice behind her.

  Sarah jumped from her seat in surprise. It was the commodore.

  “I’m so sorry, Sarah, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that. I thought you heard me come in.”

  “I didn’t, Commodore.” She breathed rapidly. “And no need to apologize. You just startled me. I was too much into my own thoughts.”

  The commodore smiled. “I wanted to come and see him. But I can come back later.”

  “Don’t be silly. I actually need to rest, so he’s all yours, so to speak.”

  “Thank you, Sarah. Get as much rest as you need. We’re still two days away from Earth.”

  Sarah gave a firm nod and left the medbay.

  * * *

  When Apollo arrived back at his temple, Ares appeared in his golden human form in front of him.

  “What the—” exclaimed Apollo. “Ares. So Dad was right? You were at his temple.”

  “Hello, brother.”

  “Hello to you too. Next time, try to knock or something.”

  “I’m not sure what that would have accomplished.”

  “Well, at least it would have prepared me. You just appeared out of nowhere.”

  “The advantages of being an energy-based life form, I guess.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it. I take it you heard my conversation with our father. That’s why you were there, right?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Then let’s discuss the reasons of your impromptu visit while taking a walk.” Apollo gestured towards him. “Shall we?”

  “Sure.” Ares followed his brother into the most beautiful garden of Olympus.