Origin: Eternity's End

by Uneeb Qureshi

  His vision narrowed to those present at his side in the stone temple, one of the apparitions rose, it was Dom. His mouth uttered words but Sheppard himself was deaf to them in the memory, yet the tenacity of his words was evident in his facial gestures.

  The masses were riled. Dom’s words instilled dissent and anarchy upon the civilians but the vigilant sentinels that comprised the majority of the crowd awaited Sheppard’s words. The shade of Dom turned to Sheppard finally speaking coherently.

  “Slaughter them all, what’s the problem Shep? We are the superior, they are the inferior. Why do we fight for their equality when it is meaningless to question us as their gods?”

  Sheppard could remember hesitating at the opportunity to respond. The remainder of the shades amongst Sheppard’s procession immediately stood up and argued incessantly over semantics. Sheppard’s thoughts began to fade, his memories wildly traversed time and reason. Violent images flashed in his mind, images of women and infants being thrown off ramparts appeared intermittently. His mind was in pain.

  He opened his eyes to the darkness of his reality.

  “Sir! We have to traverse the rest of the city by foot, there are blockades ahead.” The man to his right said.

  As Sheppard surveyed the scene he agreed.

  “Get there by any means necessary. Don’t draw too much attention to yourselves.” Sheppard paused, “Then pose no threat, silence them if they absolutely hinder you.”

  His soldiers nodded and dispersed silently into the night. Sheppard made his way over the barricades easily, the streets were empty.

  The radio silence was broken as soon as Sheppard crossed a low blockade.

  “I have a very fast aircraft bearing down on your position.” An operator said.

  At that very instant dust parted from the ground by Sheppard’s feet as an aircraft whirred by a hundred meters off the ground above him. The mere sight of it sent Sheppard’s adrenaline running, this was not in the plan.

  With the adrenaline coursing through him he picked up his pace several-fold toward the museum. In the distance the craft hovered over the museum and unloaded a passenger.

  This will be one hell of a night. Sheppard thought.

  Chapter 6

  Misconceptions

  Minutes later

  Ethiopian National Museum

  Mekias and Monica along with the museum chief barricaded themselves in the storage room of the basement level. The chief radioed his fellow army officers ordering them to shoot at anything coming down that hallway until he said otherwise. The musem was under attack by an unstoppable foe.

  “Doctors we must barricade these corridors until further notice,” an Ethiopian officer said, “for your safety.”

  “Who the hell else knows about this find?” Mekias asked.

  He immediately realized the last person he had called, the agency director? He could not believe his old mentor would orchestrate this, but at the moment anything seemed plausible.

  Monica was hiding behind the counter near the laboratory’s fume hood.

  “Monica it’s alright, the police have this place covered. Whoever is attacking won’t make it this far.”Mekias reassured her.

  His words did not alleviate her fear. Being stuck in another building under siege reminded her of her childhood in Somalia, but this time she felt no way to escape. She was quivering against the counter trying to keep her composure as goose bumps formed on her skin.

  She was beginning to hyper-ventilate. I can’t believe they would kill people over this…

  She pulled out a Saint Christopher medallion her mother had given her on their last birthday together. It was all she had on her when she was taken from Somalia years before.

  After being escorted out of the city by the soldiers Monica became an unknown orphan in a U.N. refugee camp, without her mother nobody knew who she really was. All they had to identify her was her last name, Bianchi, one of the most common names in Italy. After two days in the camp they finally agreed to return her to Italy to be placed in an orphanage.

  She knew she had family there but she knew neither names nor addresses. It was not until months later when her uncle finally found her. She remembered holding the medallion the day she was reunited with her relatives, it had always brought her luck.

  Gunfire emerged from the upper floors.

  Monica cried amidst the frantic yelling of the museum security around her. She knew she was not alone this time, her closest friend was by her side. She looked up at Mekias and smiled.

  “Thanks for always being there for me Mekias…”

  Mekias was confused, “Monica you’re welcome, but we’ll be fine. Don’t talk like that…”

  Before he could continue they heard a rustling in the fume hood ducts. Monica immediately grabbed onto Mekias as they both retreated to the other side of the laboratory. The police officer pulled out his weapon and prepared to fire but was too late.

  The duct collapsed and a female soldier emerged from the debris, tackling the officer to the ground in the process.

  He raised his gun at the hostile but was stopped milliseconds before he could fire. She covered nearly three meters in less than a second and forced the gun to point upwards. The officer’s struggle was in vain. His opponent was clearly the stronger. As he was submitted to the ground the woman clicked the pistol’s safety on and disassembled the gun.

  She paused as she heard a ruckus outside of their room. A scuffle, a few gunshots, and then screams. She stared at the door and immediately stood in a low fighting stance, awaiting something from the other side.

  She looked back at Monica and Mekias.

  “Stay back, I’m here to help!” She yelled in English.

  A brief moment of silence followed suit. She was still crouched, vigilant and unwavering. The laboratory door began to show dents on its surface as if being rammed. Seconds later an explosive tore the door apart with such force that the hinges nearly snapped. She did not flinch as shrapnel flew mere centimeters from her helmet.

  Mekias covered Monica on the ground between the tables. The debris settled but the fighting continued. Beyond the door, they could see blood and bullet holes scattered across the walls.

  “Essuru, come in…” The woman yelled into her helmet’s radio, but only static responded.

  Another male soldier came in and fought her. Her weapon was disarmed with ease, the new foe was much more experienced. He punched her in the kidney, throwing her gait off. She rushed her arms into a defensive stance but it was over.

  A flurry of blows met her and she landed on the ground in pain. Her opponent pulled out his gun, and aimed it at her.

  Monica froze as she was about to witness the execution before her.

  But before he could fire another soldier appeared, wearing the same type of uniform as the woman. It was Sheppard. The female soldier took the opportunity to retreat to a corner and recover from her injury.

  Meanwhile Sheppard and the other soldiers stood facing each other like lions before battle, their menacing gazes hidden only by their visors they were prepared for what was to come.

  The mysterious new enemy kept his stance like that of a tiger intimidating his prey, but Sheppard did not seem fazed in the least. His attacker rushed, sensing a weakness.

  Mistake number one.

  Sheppard backhanded his opponent to the side and leaped over him, now able to headlock him. Metallic instruments on the laboratory tables were thrown off the tables violently as they struggled. Monica and Mekias were able to avoid them and ran into the hallway to escape.

  Sheppard’s opponent ultimately wrested himself from his grip but faced several problems of his own. They continued to fight unhindered by the setback but persisted in stalemates, they were both masters of war.

  The two elites of war kept their interlocking battles constant, fluid and graceful attacks and parries ensued, Sheppard clearly had the upper hand in melee. His opponent, bitter at his lack of skill ultimately receded for a moment, but
Sheppard was able to connect the knockout blow.

  Monica and Mekias could not help but pause and watch the epic battle unfold behind them. Plus they had no idea where to run to, was any direction safe? One thing was sure though, anywhere was better than here.

  The room was destroyed but Sheppard cared little for that. He kept his eyes fixed on their find…and the two archaeologists.

  Sheppard saw his fellow teammate in the corner and checked her wounds. The injuries were minor but she was able to walk. He then turned his attention to Mekias and Monica in the hallway.

  The two looked at one another and fled for their life. But they were eventually blocked off by the remaining members of Sheppard’s team.

  “Too much blood has been shed over this…” Sheppard yelled to them. “You two, come with us, now.”

  Sheppard grabbed his incapacitated adversary by the neck guard and dragged him through the doorway to meet the archaeologists on the other side.

  Mekias and Monica were apprehended by Sheppard’s team.

  They were all rushed out of the building toward a stealthy craft landing in an area behind the trees, its light frame and black color allowed it to blend into the darkness. It was nearly silent as it hovered above the ground ready to extract them all from the scene.

  In the distance more troops from the Ethiopian military were closing in.

  Monica and Mekias resisted.

  “Where are you taking us?” She yelled.

  “To safety, you’ll be taken into military custody if you stay here as well. But if you come with us we’ll explain everything.”

  They looked at one another and then agreed. These people seemed genuine.

  The hull closed as they were restrained to the craft, the angle of its incline was so steep that it shot up almost vertically. Everyone inside held on to their restraints as they accelerated to breakneck speeds. Monica grew nauseous, eventually redding-out from the steep ascent.

  Chapter 7

  The World as They Knew It

  In Wide Lunar Orbit

  Monica awoke to Mekias tending her wounds. She looked around and saw bright white lights shining down upon her as several armored personnel looked on at the new visitors. Some removed their helmets revealing themselves to be human as well.

  She moaned in pain as a searing migraine set in.

  Mekias helped her sit up as he medics joined him.

  “Where are we?” She said under her breath.

  She could see Mekias mouthing something to her but she couldn’t hear him, the pain in her head was overwhelming until she blacked out.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Mekias yelled to Sheppard.

  “I don’t know, he said kneeling at her side,” he talked to the medics in their immortal language, “They said she suffered a concussion during orbital ascension. She’ll be fine with them though.”

  They placed her onto a rectangular stretcher lined with bedding. They dragged it above a small magnetic railing until it levitated by itself. A computer acknowledged her arrival and swiftly guided the stretcher to an emergency elevator.

  “That’s amazing…” Mekias said.

  Sheppard smiled, “That’s nothing. Wait till you see the sports arenas.”

  Mekias was amused, albeit worried for his life. He followed his captors through blast doors into the ship’s main hold. Through the brief glimpses in the ship’s portholes Mekias could see the moon as if it was right in front of them. The ship was, in actuality, in orbit around the moon.

  The centripetal force provided by the ship’s orbit provided gravity, albeit very weakly. While it was enough to keep everyone aboard the ship fairly attached to the floor, Mekias felt considerably lighter.

  He gazed around the interior of the ship. It appeared to be over a few kilometers in length all around him, it was ellipsoidal in design but there was more to it from the outside. Its exterior was covered in matte black plating, several pieces of which were lifted slightly, exposing what looked like mirrors underneath.

  The sun just barely breached the Earth’s horizon from his view. The window was heavily tinted allowing him to see the fluid-like dynamics of its surface.

  “Don’t stare.” Sheppard warned Mekias. “Even the tinting isn’t perfectly suitable for looking at the sun.” Sheppard interjected.

  He grabbed Mekias by the shoulders and introduced him to someone in front of them.

  “Meet one of my most trusted friends, Arnael.”

  The man had very dark skin and Mekias could tell instantly he was of African origin, in comparison to Sheppard’s dark tan which hinted of a more North African of Middle-Eastern origin. Arnael outreached his hand and shook with a very commanding grip.

  “So I hear Sheppard abducted you.” Arnael said.

  “Well you could say that.” Mekias said nervously.

  “Well they know who we are, so we should explain their predicament.” Sheppard replied. He looked around the ship before changing the subject. “How fares our wondrous legions?”

  “In shambles as always without your leadership.” Arnael replied.

  Sheppard leaned over and whispered to Arnael. He nodded and ordered his men to rush to the dock they exited from, they returned promptly with the mysterious attacker Sheppard had fought earlier.

  “Find out his identity, he’s one of us.”

  The soldiers detained him and stripped the man of his suit. The man did not resist.

  “Come my friend,” He said to Mekias, “I hear your friend is woken up in the infirmary.”

  Monica and Mekias were both taken to a large office within the ship’s main deck. The office was atop a building that looked out toward the numerous tunnels that lined the ship’s residential module.

  “Mekias this is so amazing, come here,” Monica waved him toward the wall, “These drawings are so primitive, they’re like the cave paintings in Lascaux.”

  The mural hanging above them had a mysterious air around it, it was very antediluvian.

  “Its variantropic but the style is so primitive…”

  It was not long before a familiar face appeared at the door.

  “Sorry for keeping you, I needed to freshen up a bit.” Sheppard said with a smile. “Welcome to the battleship Eternity. How have you found your stay thus far?”

  His uniform was more casual and loose fitting like a t-shirt rather than military regalia. Without his armor on they could see he was quite muscular for his height.

  “Why did you bring us here?” Monica asked.

  He eased back in his chair and looked at her, “I want nothing from you except your word and honor that you will not tell anyone on Earth about what you have seen here, or in the museum for that matter.”

  “Well I think we deserve some merit for our curiosity,” Mekias interjected, “You can’t just show us all this and not explain it?”

  “And as I promised everything will be explained. You are my guests and the guests of everyone on our ship. I would gladly entertain any questions.”

  They both nodded. He poured them both a clear drink from a pitcher behind his desk. They both drank graciously and looked at each other.

  “Is this carbonated?”

  “Yes, it’s basically carbonated water with some sugar, like half the drinks on Earth.”

  “I was expecting liquor,” Mekias said. Monica slapped him on the shoulder for the ungracious remark.

  Sheppard smirked, “No, I suppose that is an acceptable remark. But if you’re looking for liquor you’d have to buy it from the Earth or a Federation world, alcohol is not allowed aboard military vessels or battleships during space travel. Off duty they travel to the Federation or the Earth and drink all they want there.”

  “The Federation?”

  “It’s a network of colonies a few light years from Earth, they’re politically independent. We provide them security and they offer us their hospitality. Our agendas, however, are very different.”

  Monica did not know what to ask next, the information he
had given her was overwhelming in itself. They have a network of planets?

  “There are more of you all?” Mekias asked.

  “Uh, yes.” Sheppard said with a laugh, “Over a billion by my last count.”

  Monica’s jaw dropped as she looked at Mekias, both were dumbstruck.

  “How come we’ve never heard about, well any of this?”

  “Well,” Sheppard choked for a second, “that is another long story in and of itself. Tell you what,” he knew he had their attention firm, “if we can agree that everything that happened the past two days was just a misunderstanding, I will explain, everything.”

  They nodded.

  “Good. I’m sure you’re wondering at the least why we have such a vested interest in that skeleton you found.”

  “What, skeleton?” Monica replied sarcastically.

  Sheppard smiled and let out a hearty laugh, “Good answer. But yes… that skeleton you found was actually one of our soldiers from a previous war. I can’t even imagine how he ended up there...”

  “You knew him personally?”

  “The skeleton you found had the phoenix emblazoned on his armor, you probably couldn’t tell but I saw the indentations in the armor, and that is the mark of my legion.”

  “How many legions are there?”

  “We are all one Legion composed of several battalions, all commanded by very talented individuals at that. One of which is mine, the Phoenix. My friends Arnael and Solb command the Valkyries, the logistical arm of our military. I believe you’ve seen Dar earlier, creepy beautiful woman who was scouting the museum before we came in.”

  Monica immediately recognized who he was talking about.

  “Looks like you know her, anyway she used to be an assassin. She commands the Ur, ancient for Wolf. Her legion is a very shadowy sect if I may say so myself…”

  He thought for a second. “And then there’s Lee, I met him in ancient Sparta shortly before the second Persian invasion. And he commands my active legions in my stead—”