Viole(n)t Skies (The Galactic Era Book 1)

by Derek Baker

  I sighed, whether in frustration or relief I wasn’t sure. “Will I be entering all of them?”

  “All four. Yes, indeed. One by one. Doesn’t matter which you pick, their order is already prearranged for you anyhow.”

  I looked to my left and saw the church. The clown smiled and nodded. “You know what you have to do.”

  I left the clown standing there, and strode over to the church’s front doors. I swung them open to find myself in an all-too-familiar place.

  ~~~~~

  With a quick stab and a blast of his laser, Beltrush had killed the two pilots in the cockpit of the scout ship. They hadn’t seen him coming nor would they ever expect the Wendran prince to be so capable or deadly. He quickly assumed the pilot’s chair and – seeing as this was a larger vessel that required a co-pilot to repeat his maneuvers – he accessed the internal computer and overwrote the system’s requirements to allow him to fly solo. If the fighters could fly themselves, he surely trusted him to do the same.

  He was in a secondary hangar on the moon of Eridos, orbiting the planet Wendra. It hadn’t been long after he arrived that he secured a way to return to his father’s palace. Letting himself be sent to Eridos was a minor setback in his overall plan, but not a serious one. The plan remained the same: to murder his father the Emperor Albalon IV and claim the throne of Wendra.

  Comm messages flooded his system as he began to take off. The bastards couldn’t tell what was going on and why an unauthorized ship was departing during a battle on the home world. Security was high, but not high enough for him. He was, after all, the Prince, and he used his clearance to get through.

  He left the hangar, ignoring all warnings and threats to the contrary on his comms, and flew immediately in the direction of Wendra, which formed a crescent on the horizon from where he was located on the moon. Much to his fortune, no ships came after him. They wouldn’t want to risk their own lives trying to save the life of one idiot.

  Rising up a couple hundred kilometers over the surface, he could see the sun – Xoar, they called it – with a perfect halo around its circumference.

  ~~~~~

  “To hell with the humans! We have to focus on our own salvation if we wish to defeat the Wendrans!” A Martian legislator shouted at Chym who had just given his testimony.

  “Don’t you realize with Earth’s proximity that it would give the Wendrans a strategic vantage point in the further undermining of Robhustare?” Another legislator called out from the other side of the chamber.

  I couldn’t believe it, I was, as far as I could tell, in the city of Tai in the chamber of the Martian legislature. Something had changed though. No one acknowledged my arrival nor my presence. I quickly discovered that I was there as a ghost, and could walk through much anything, even the Martians themselves.

  I remembered this moment in time. It had been when Alexander and I first arrived on Mars and the legislature had decided the fate of Earth. I realized now that it had been Chym’s plan all along to get them to side with the humans. All because he wanted his father’s power, the price was giving the Wendrans all control over the galactic sector. I imagined what was going on in my own universe; the trap may have been already sprung.

  I waltzed on up to the testimony stand where Chym stood calmly, letting the legislators duke it out. I wanted so badly to put my hands around his throat and strangle him, but I could only pretend.

  In came Alexander, but I was nowhere to be seen in the recreation of my memories. He handed Chym the letter he had written due to the “tradition” that no one that wasn’t Martian was permitted to speak in the Martian legislator.

  Chym read the letter aloud, in his formal and diplomatic tone of voice. It was plain to see that the human’s personal account of being tortured by the Wendrans left no mark of sympathy on the faces of many of the legislators. The shouting back and forth on the controversial issue continued as it had before.

  Then Alexander sprung to action, climbing up to the testimony stand and giving the same stirring speech he had given when it had really happened. The shock and horror upon the Martians’ faces was unmistakable.

  That’s when I saw a legislator pull out a laser. It was clear what he sought to do with it. The Abb lifted it and pointed it in Alexander’s direction, pulling the trigger before anyone had time to react. The gory result was much like what I had seen when apparently being allowed to escape the Tinzyick.

  As disgusted and horrified as I was, I told myself it wasn’t real. This was just what the clown or whatever the hell it was did to try to torture me. I looked around the legislature one last time: utter chaos. Somehow it all seemed to rearrange itself then, almost like it was replaying the entire sequence of events. There was Chym again, only this time he was visibly injured.

  “Two days ago, we witnessed in this chamber the brutal murder of the human Alexander Curtis. He, like his friend Delvon Galihue, will not have died in vain,” Chym spoke solemnly to the legislature.

  I’m dead? Before I knew it, I was back at the fountain, face to face with the clown again.

  I stared into his face, his mouth forming a diabolical, all-knowing smile.

  “What the hell was that?” I exclaimed.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said, “You think that wasn’t real. Well, I have news for you: in this universe it was totally a reality. You died trying to escape the Wendran ship, and – as you saw – Alexander died violating the sacred Martian custom. If I so chose, I could have made this the reality throughout all dimensions and times. I still could, in fact, if you so provoked it.”

  I wasn’t sure if I believed him, but best not to risk it. “What matters is that Alexander is alive and well in my realm,” I said carefully.

  “I’d choose your next words more wisely. What do you think you will find in the next building you enter?” He asked, eyes narrowing.

  “I think I’ll find something else that might scare me shitless.”

  He laughed, head rolling back. “Indeed, especially because it is all real. In this next one, you’re not dead.”

  “Then I’ll be able to interact with whatever’s in it?”

  “Oh, maybe,” he smiled as wide as he could, grasping me by the arm and pointing me towards the next building: the town hall.

  I once again walked across the cobblestones and cautiously opened the door.

  ~~~~~

  Beltrush paused in his flight for only a brief moment to watch the battle taking place above the city of Riveron. Surely, he thought, if his father had really meant to properly defend the city he would have undoubtedly garnered a larger force than this weak and futile defense. He was letting them believe they had the upper hand, drawing the Martian battle ships nearer and nearer so that they before long would be within range of the super weapon that would wipe everything out of commission.

  They were safe for the moment being, but he didn’t have much time to work with. He needed to find a safe route to the surface where he could land in discretion and make his way to his father.

  He worked his way gradually around the fighting, just beyond the threshold where he might be picked off as a target. He used a scanner to determine a safe place for landing. The city would be off-limits; if he even tried to land there he would be destroyed instantly. He’d have to land dangerously close to his father’s palace in the outskirts, hopefully beyond the range of the stronghold’s radars. He flew off in that direction, hoping desperately it wouldn’t be too late.

  ~~~~~

  I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Was I in a fish bowl? An aquarium? The walls didn’t curve in enough at the top to convince me. I looked through the glass, and realized I was seeing my old apartment. I looked down to see the stem and base of a wine glass.

  Really, old clown? You shrunk me and put me in the bottom of a wine glass?

  “That son of a bitch,” I said aloud, “he’s accessed all my memories.”

  This was the night I drunkenly had sex with Claire which was a
lso, conveniently, the night that Violet was conceived.

  I looked through the glass to see that I was situated on the balcony, peering into the small living room and kitchen that I had once occupied. I go to one edge of the glass where I can get an angle’s view into my room. The door was left open at a slight crack. Though it, I could see that there on the bed sat a giant version, or, I guessed, a normal sized version of Claire. She was looking up expectantly at something. Perhaps it was me?

  I decided I needed to get to her, to see if I could truly interact with this environment as the clown had told me. The only way I could think of was to begin darting back and forth across the bottom of the glass, to see if I could somehow tip it over. Much to my dismay, my fatigue had finally caught up to me, and I grew too tired of this as the glass had barely showed any signs of disturbance at all.

  A thunderous commotion made it its way in my direction. I looked up to see a giant version of myself, albeit a year and a half younger. My larger self gripped the bars of the balcony, staring out into the sky and admiring the few stars that sparkled in the polluted atmosphere. Giant Delvon looked over at the old telescope, lethargically removing the lens and replacing it with the cap, placing the lens in his shirt pocket before turning around to go back to the room where Claire was waiting.

  At this point I realized I should try to get his attention. “Hey! Delvon! Wait! It’s me! I mean you! Help!”

  As my larger self was likely intoxicated at this point, combined with my likely inability to shout loudly enough for him, he exhibited no sign of hearing me, continuing towards the bedroom. I watched him open the door wider to reveal Claire sprawled naked and anticipatory on the bed. I was trying to figure out how this was torture…?

  Then the larger Delvon turned around, facing out the door, right at the glass in which I stood. I felt he was looking directly at me, and then he nodded slowly. An odd smile crept into his face, still staring straight at me. He knew I was here; he knew I was watching.

  His face began to morph. First his mouth, then nose, ears and eyes. My own face changed from bewilderment to horror as I realized that his face was turning into none other than the face of the clown at the fountain.

  All the while, he continued his slow, knowing nod, creeping me out as his eyes widened. His mouth slowly opened, revealing perfectly yellow teeth, then he dragged his blood red tongue across his upper lip.

  “Are you having fun, yet?” He asked.

  “Huh? Come to bed,” Claire said behind him.

  “No! Don’t do it, you fucking asshole!” I yelled, still unsure if he could hear me. My heart was pounding, and then I began darting back and forth again, determined to tip this glass over if it was the last thing I did.

  The clown turned back around to see Claire, “Gladly, my dear.” He slammed the door shut and then I could hear was Claire’s shrill screams.

  “I’m coming, Claire! I’ll save you!” I was practically smashing the entire force of my body against the sides of the glass.

  Ha ha ha! I’m coming too! It was the clown’s voice inside my head.

  “GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!!”

  With one last shove, the glass finally gave way, taking me on the ride down. After a thud and a ting! I rolled out and sprinted as hard as I could towards the door. I made it to the threshold where the balcony met the inner apartment when the screaming stopped.

  The door knob slowly opened, and there the clown stood, blood running down his costume, and everything became animated again. The walls of the apartment began melting red with blood. I became aware I was sweating profusely, as the temperature began rising up and up…

  A flash hit my eyes, and then when my eyes had adjusted, I discovered I was back in the animated town square, right back at the fountain. Only this time the clown was nowhere to be seen. I did a 360 turn, seeing if the bastard was around somewhere. Instead, I saw a note lying on the ground a few feet away from me.

  I leant over to read: Your loved ones shall all soon perish one by one in this dimension. You have one more stop to go before your last and final torture.

  I looked now at the school building. Here we go again…

  ~~~~~

  Alexander fell backwards as the jolt quickly reverberated throughout the battleship. He lay there, staring at the ceiling, as the bridge became a swirl of shouts and commands exchanged back and forth as the crew tried to make sense of what was going on.

  A Martian crewmember quickly paced by, noticing Alexander lying there and hurriedly extended a hand to help him back to his feet before scurrying back off to its post.

  “Damage report!” Shouted the Admiral Gup’Dis’Sev, who stood in the center of the grand bridge of the lead battleship, the Baray.

  “Admiral! All maneuvering and battle mechanisms offline! The ship is immobile!” called back a pilot from below in the control pit.

  “Life support?”

  “Appears to be stable, sir!”

  “Communications?”

  “Online. Transmissions coming in now: Numerous reports from all other ships relaying the same issues. Something has rendered the whole fleet out of order.”

  The Admiral brought his hands up to his face. “Everyone in the whole fleet? What about the Wendrans?”

  “All evidence seems to indicate that they’re experiencing the same phenomenon as us, sir.”

  Everyone gave each other a look of puzzlement. “How could this be happening? Is there any way to find the source of this strange burst that hit us?”

  The pilot checked numerous scanners and shouted back, “Negative, sir. The source is unknown at the moment.”

  “Keep searching then.”

  ~~~~~

  Beltrush’s scout ship outside of the city of Riveron crash-landed into a quiet swamp soon after the burst hit him.

  Father, your secret weapon of trickery will not go without conquence.

  He smashed out a window in the cockpit, carrying his weapons and few supplies along with him. He jumped down in the squishy black mud below, wiggling his boots about until they became free. Insects flew around his face, but he swatted them away with his free hand. Hoping he might be able to find his position, he discovered unfortunately that all his devices were offline.

  “I thought this might come in handy…” he whispered to himself, pulling an ancient compass out of his vest pocket. “Can’t be that far off…”

  ~~~~~

  I sat on my own bed, in my own room. Not the one in my apartment, but my bedroom in my parents’ home before I had moved out and gone to school. Nothing was animated, but still seemed surreal. The sheets on the bed were rustled and the room was dark. My tablet’s time read that it was almost midnight. I turned on the light, revealing my room in the exact manner that it had been arranged when I had lived in this house.

  “Delvon, Delvon! Wake up! There’s something going on the TV!” It was none other than my mother’s voice.

  I looked back at my bed; it was like I had just been woken up. I pulled back the blanket and sheets and stepped down upon the carpeted floor that felt familiarly rough to the soles of my feet. My muscles ached and my head swirled like I had in reality just woken up.

  I descended the stairs down to the living room where my parents’ eyes were glued to the TV. They heard my footsteps and they both said “hurry up” with gesturing, flying arms.

  “What’s going on?”

  WE ARE NOT ALONE: ALIENS LAND IN NATION’S CAPITAL appeared in massive letters on the television screen.

  “Spacemen in D.C.? That ain’t far…” my father’s voice grew distant.

  I shook my head, flustered by what was going on in this dimension. “No…” I muttered, “I’m supposed to be there, idiot…”

  “You okay, Delvon? I’m sure this is a shock for you, even more so than us…considering you got kicked out of school for believing in aliens…” My mother said, caressing my shoulder as we stood behind my father who was sitting on the couch.

  “Wait, what?” I ga
ve her a pissed-off look, “Kicked out of school? I graduated!”

  Both my parents gave each other wide-eyed stares. “You okay, dear? Maybe you should sit down…”

  This alternate reality apparently left me off less fortunate than the one I occupied. At least this time I able to interact with some real people, in the flesh. But no, these two people couldn’t be my real parents. Sure, they existed, and their names were the same, and I was the same son they shared, but the circumstances and choices they made led them to be different, not the same as my true parents. With that in mind, I needed to appease what they believed to be true.

  “Oh, sorry, I’m just in denial, I guess, Mom. Don’t worry. I’m just….distraught. I mean, can you believe this is really happening?”

  They both shrugged and shook their heads.

  A knock came at the door, and my father rose to answer it, while my mother looked at me and narrowed her eyes, muttering, “Who could that be at this hour?”

  “Stephenson? You see the news?” My father said, letting our old neighbor inside. I hadn’t seen the man for years; this clown was good.

  “Yeah I did! They say it’s gonna lead to anarchy across the globe!”

  “Oh, I think we’ll be alright,” I said, shrugging.

  “Really? Alright? Well, let me tell you something, Delvon,” he quickly pulled out a pistol and shot my father point blank in chest. The shot blasted my eardrums; I couldn’t remember the last I heard a gun that wasn’t a laser.

  “What the fuck, Stephenson!?” I shouted, watching my father die with blood spurting out onto the floor as his body twitched.

  “Oh, you know better than to question my identity, Delvon,” his face turned around completely to show that he was indeed the clown.

  “God damn it! When is this gonna end? How many people that I love are you going to force me to watch die?”