Universe in Flames – Ultimate 10 Book Box Set: An Epic Space Opera Adventure

by Christian Kallias

  He ignored Fillio’s screams, but understood how disorienting it must have been to be flying in outer space outside a ship.

  They arrived at the Valken at the same time as Tar’Lock, Keera and Ryonna. They boarded the ship when all hell broke loose. Everything around the Valken exploded and the ship was rocked pretty hard. Keera fell and hit her head hard against the nearest bulkhead.

  “We’re not gonna make it,” shouted Tar’Lock.

  Chase expanded his mind, found the Valken’s computer with his thoughts and blindly jumped the ship at the exact moment the Iron Fire was obliterated in a fiery display of successive explosions.

  3

  Argos stood with a blank expression on his face as the Iron Fire exploded into a million pieces. A sense of dread filled his soul and he was taken by surprise by the wave of emotion his brother’s demise brought to the surface.

  “Master, we’ve received a transmission from Erevos. They want you to report to the planet’s surface at once,” said his communications officer.

  Argos exhaled deeply, knowing this would not be a pleasant meeting. Argos hadn’t expected the Furies to fire from the surface. He would have to find a way to explain how so many Zarlack capital ships couldn’t destroy a measly ship like the Iron Fire.

  He left the bridge without another word, took the Dark Star and vectored toward the surface to the coordinates provided, well within the currently dark side of the planet. His ship rocked a little upon entering the inhospitable atmosphere of Erevos. Bright lightning ignited quick flashes of light inside the cockpit of the Dark Star while heavy rain relentlessly poured on the cockpit’s viewport.

  Memories of Argos’ childhood with Laiyos came to him while he piloted his ship toward the planet’s surface.

  Was Laiyos really dead?

  And if he was, why did it bother him so much? He tried to convince himself it was because he had given his word they would be spared. But deep inside he knew that was not the only reason. A lightning bolt nearly struck the front of his ship, illuminating the cockpit brightly for just a moment. Argos could see his reflection in the glass. Except he saw his brother’s face instead.

  You’re still alive, aren’t you? Good for you. You’ve always been annoyingly resourceful. At least you’re consistent.

  Argos smiled slightly to himself as he vectored his ship toward the landing pad atop one of the many tall buildings in the metropolis below. Even with the very harsh weather conditions he could see the massive and breathtaking city in every direction, as far as the eye could see. Many craft of different sizes and shapes were flying all around, providing a mesmerizing light show. The blurred lights emanating from buildings farther away gave the metropolis an ethereal quality. As he exited the Dark Star he was greeted with a nasty, rough sand-and-rain storm. It didn’t take long for him to erect a force field around himself to deflect the offending weather elements. He walked the ramp separating his ship from the building’s entrance. It was a very angular and massive structure that towered over the rest of the megapolis around it. Clearly some sort of headquarters, thought Argos as he stepped through a door that dematerialized upon approach and rematerialized once he was in. As he walked, some red lights appeared in midair, floating and lighting his way a few meters in front of him as well as behind, casting ominous red tones on the dark gray walls around him. He soon arrived at the end of the corridor where a shiny red circle was drawn on the floor.

  Argos looked at it just long enough for a voice to be heard. “Please step on the platform for transport,” said the synthesized voice.

  Argos entered the circle and was teleported with a hum to somewhere else.

  He stood in a large room with a very high ceiling. On each side lines of Fury soldiers extended for a few hundred yards, after which stairs lead to a throne platform, towering above the enormous room. As far from it as he was at the moment, Argos had no doubt Supreme Commander Arakan would be sitting on the throne. The soldiers all saluted synchronously as he walked down the path to the bottom of the stairs. As he passed by, soldiers on each side illuminated their red auras and their eyes shone red. Some sort of official military welcome, thought Argos. Even though they were his brethren, he felt uneasy with the display. At the top of the stairs he saw the throne room, and the soldiers disappeared, leaving him alone, looking up at the throne where Arakan sat and where Arakan looked down at Argos.

  This entire room must be a giant holographic display.

  “Come closer, Argos,” said Arakan. His voice was low and throaty.

  Argos arrived in front of the throne. Then he noticed another Fury standing behind the throne in the shadows. Argos wondered if the throne was real or also a projection.

  The second Fury took a few steps into the light. He was an imposing man, taller than Argos, with short, orange hair and piercing yellow eyes.

  “Kneel in front of your master,” said the warrior.

  Argos took a knee and lowered his head.

  Arakan spoke. “I don’t really know if I should congratulate you or kill you where you stand.”

  Argos’ blood froze as fear engulfed him.

  “Surely I have accomplished my mission, Master.”

  “A little on the late side, but I suppose you have, and that is why I’m considering letting you live.”

  Argos couldn’t help but swear in his mind. He had devoted the last ten years of his life to freeing the Furies from their captivity and this was the thanks he got?

  “Do you have anything to say on the matter, Argos?”

  Argos needed to take a stand or things could get out of hand, so he rose and looked straight into the supreme commander’s eyes.

  “I have done as you asked. You’re now free from the dimensional prison the Olympians had trapped our people in ten thousand years ago. I’d think you would grant me leniency for the small delay it took me to accomplish this goal.”

  “Spoken like a true Fury. I suppose you are correct, but then you didn’t destroy the ship in orbit as ordered.”

  “My brother is a resilient Fury, his flying skills—”

  “Enough! Don’t try to find excuses.”

  Supreme Commander Arakan rose and waved a hand.

  A giant holographic projection appeared in the middle of the hall. It showed the battle that had just happened between the Zarlack destroyers and the tiny Iron Fire. Argos turned around and looked at it.

  “Mind explaining how a small ship like this could not be destroyed in less than a minute?”

  Argos swallowed hard. He had to make a choice, either stand his ground or crawl in fear and hope he would be forgiven. Neither choice was appealing but he decided upon the former.

  With a look of determination, he turned back to face Arakan’s interrogating gaze. “I had given my word to my brother that he could leave this place alive! Perhaps it’s a concept that is unknown to you, but I keep my promises. Your renewed presence in the universe should be proof of that.”

  “So you decided to disobey a direct order from your commander in chief?”

  “You’ve destroyed the ship anyway, so what does it matter?”

  “I don’t like your tone, Argos. Tread carefully.”

  “I apologize for any disrespect, Master, but I have bled and fought to bring you back here, thanks in part to my brother’s help in acquiring the Pandora stone and bringing me an Olympian to make the dimension portal work. In exchange for his help I promised him safe passage for him and his friends.”

  “Why would you do such a thing?”

  “To bring you back as early as possible. Forgive me if I was mistaken, but I thought that was why you required my help in the first place. And if I may add—”

  Argos was interrupted by the second Fury. “You may not!”

  Arakan raised his hand again. “Let him speak, Miseo.”

  Miseo took a step back and apologized. “Sorry, Father.”

  “Continue,” said Arakan coldly.

  “My brother and his friends are inconseque
ntial now that you’re back. They will be defeated shortly. So whether they died today or in a few days or weeks, what’s the difference? They cannot possibly hope to defeat us now, so I really don’t see why keeping my word was such an offense.”

  Arakan walked from the throne and approached Argos. His corpulence was impressive, and his ornate body armor and black cape made him look larger than life. The multiple scars across his face increased his already overwhelming presence.

  He raised a hand and a column of red light engulfed Argos. Instantly the gravity increased tenfold and Argos had trouble standing. The beam intensified even more and he felt a tremendous pressure inside his body, accompanied by excruciating waves of burning pain. Argos felt that each bone and internal organ was being pressured to the limit of shattering or exploding. The level of burning pain was so strong that he couldn’t try to counteract the effects of that crushing wave.

  “Listen very carefully, Argos. I can crush you anytime I want and there is nothing you can do about it. I do not like my orders to be defied, questioned or misinterpreted. If you didn’t want to destroy the ship, you should have convinced me when you received the order, not accepted them and then defied me behind my back. This is the first and last time this ever happens; are we clear?”

  When he thought his body couldn’t take it any longer and would shatter under the pressure, the pain stopped.

  Argos fell to the floor, panting heavily, blood spilling from his nose, ears and mouth. It took him a moment to muster the strength to speak. “Understood, Master, please forgive me.”

  “Because you have accomplished your primary mission, I will overlook this act of defiance. Bear in mind I will never be so lenient again.”

  Argos nodded as best he could as he tried to rise to his feet.

  “Now, we need to discuss the next phase of our plans. We are running dangerously low on resources. We need to get enough quadrinium and a few other rare minerals to start building a fleet of ships. What’s the status of your Zarlack fleets?”

  “I have more than enough ships to get you as many resources as you require.”

  “Where can we find it in abundance?”

  “Droxian space is the richest in quadrinium deposits, but I would avoid it, at least for the moment. They are a formidable enemy that thrives on war and they rejoined the Earth Alliance, so they would get help if they were attacked. While a victory could be achieved with the ships I have left, we would incur heavy losses and squander too many ships in the process. I propose we start by attacking smaller systems and draining their resources until we have enough materials, then Droxia will be a much easier target to deal with.”

  “Thank you for your assessment. My son will take over a ship currently in orbit and finish the job you couldn’t.”

  “What do you mean, Master? The Iron Fire was destroyed.”

  Arakan pointed to the center of the hall and again a giant holographic projection appeared. It showed the yellow plasma fire impacting with the Iron Fire in slow motion. “Here,” said Arakan, pointing toward the Iron Fire’s cargo bay. A quick blue flash could be seen just a fraction before flames engulfed the rest of the ship, blowing it into a million pieces.

  “This is a hyperspace window. They’ve escaped!”

  “Then let me track them for you. Let me redeem my earlier mistake, Master.”

  “No. My son will track them and eliminate them.”

  Arakan looked at his son. “Take a single ship and one of our starfighters and go now.”

  “Very well, Father. They will be dead by day’s end.”

  Miseo pressed a touch control on his armor and teleported out of the throne hall.

  “Laiyos is a very resourceful Fury. One ship might not be enough.”

  “Miseo is ten times the Fury you will ever be. I have faith he will complete his mission.”

  Argos wasn’t accustomed to being treated with so much disdain and it made his blood boil.

  “Yes, Master. What are my next orders?”

  “You will make sure we get the resources we need to start building ships right away. Those are your orders.”

  “Will I still be allowed to command the first Fury fleet and crush Earth and its allies when the time comes?”

  “You have deeply disappointed me today. You should feel lucky just being permitted to live one more day. As for the fleet, we shall see if you are given command. But if you even want the slightest chance of this happening, remember that nothing short of total obedience will be required of you.”

  Argos started to wonder if perhaps he should have listened to his brother when they were younger. Laiyos was always against this plan to help bring back the Furies. Until now Argos never understood why, but he was starting to question his beliefs. However, now was not the time to openly display doubts; so he brushed the thoughts away.

  “Absolutely, Supreme Commander.”

  “Now leave and bring us the resources we so direly need to crush our enemies.”

  Argos bowed. “Thy will be done.”

  He quickly healed himself and walked down the stairs.

  Not the hero’s welcome I expected. How dare they treat me like a second rate citizen? They would still be trapped in another dimension if it wasn’t for me.

  Argos went back to the Dark Star and left Erevos’ atmosphere with anger and hatred boiling in every fiber of his being.

  When the Valken exited hyperspace sparks flew inside the ship. A wall console exploded and started a fire. Wailing alarms resonated within the ship.

  Chase jumped up and extinguished the fire with a swift movement of his right hand. The cargo bay of the Valken had filled with smoke. Keera collapsed on the ground and Chase ran to her side. Blood gushed from a nasty wound in her scalp. He lost no time healing her and soon she was as good as new.

  “Is everyone alright?” shouted Chase to be heard over the annoying alarms.

  Sarah nodded.

  “Well, we’re in one piece so can’t complain. What happened?” inquired Daniel.

  “We’ve blindly jumped into hyperspace. Pretty much in the middle of the Iron Fire’s exploding.”

  “Can you shut down these alarms?” asked Daniel

  “Let me give it a try.” Chase closed his eyes and concentrated on the Valken’s computer, but the wailing alarms made it difficult. He pushed through, managed to tune them down in his own thoughts, and accessed the onboard computer. The alarms stopped.

  “Thaaaaaaank you,” said Tar’Lock, who had curled into a ball because of the pain strong noises caused him.

  Keera opened her eyes slowly and tried to get up. “What happened? I thought I heard my ship’s alarms going crazy, or was it just a nightmare?”

  “I’m afraid not,” answered Chase, his eyes filled with concern.

  “What is it?”

  “I turned them off with my thoughts but while I was inside the Valken’s computer I glanced at our status.”

  “Which is?” interjected Sarah.

  “Not good. We’ve lost the jump engines, there’s multiple damage all over the ship and life support is barely at fifteen percent.”

  “So you can also control computers mentally?” said Keera, raising an eyebrow.

  Chase shrugged and attempted a smile.

  “Any good news at all?” asked Fillio.

  “Well, the communications array seems to be working so I’ve programmed the computer to broadcast a distress call, but we didn’t jump nearly far enough from Erevos.”

  “That’s just great. This day keeps getting better and better,” said Tar’Lock with a series of fast-paced clicks.

  Keera walked away from the group. “I’m gonna see if there’s a planet nearby. At fifteen percent life support we won’t last long in space.”

  Sarah followed her. “Wait up, I’m coming with you.”

  As the cargo doors closed behind her, Chase looked at his friends.

  “There aren’t any planets in range. I’ve checked.”

  Fillio held he
r neck and groaned. “Why didn’t you tell them that?”

  “Sarah’s pretty shaken up. It will help keep her occupied for a while.”

  “What do we do now?” asked Daniel.

  “I don’t know. Let’s see what we can repair on the ship.”

  “I’m on it,” said Ryonna, already entering commands from the nearest terminal. Fillio and Tar’Lock joined her.

  Daniel clearly had something on his mind. “What is it, my friend?”

  “Are we gonna talk about what just happened?”

  “You’re gonna have to be more specific. A lot happened today.”

  “The part about the Fury world appearing out of nowhere and the implications.”

  Chase broke eye contact. He was still unsure how to deal with that at the moment. The sheer weight of the consequences that this new development could have for everyone in the universe was simply too much to contemplate. He’d already had his share of Armageddon-like close calls to deal with lately, and right now all he was worried about was getting his friends back home safely. He couldn’t think about or address the bigger picture at the moment.

  “I don’t know what to tell you. Right now I don’t really want to debate this, so the short version is: it’s all my fault. But, like I promised Aphroditis, I’ll do my best to fix this.”

  “I don’t think it’s your fault.”

  “We both know it is.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, if I hadn’t agreed to help Argos the Furies would still be trapped in another dimension. We have no idea what the fallout of this will be.”

  “Well if history is any indicator, we’re looking at an extinction event, at least for any race other than the Furies currently living in this universe.”

  Chase clenched his teeth for a second. He was fully aware of this and it didn’t help to hear it out loud. But defeating his fears and darkness in his vision had given him hope that there must be a way to deal with all that.