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

by Christian Kallias

  Argos entered coordinates on his holo-display console. “These will do.”

  Miseo entered the new coordinates into the Dark Star’s navigational computer.

  Now Argos gazed at Miseo for a while.

  “Anything on your mind, Argos?”

  “I was just wondering how powerful these Fury destroyers are.”

  “You’ll see soon enough. I’ve no doubt that once I get back to Erevos I’ll be assigned command of the Crimson Shadow. I’m sure my father will want me to either finish off Droxia or crush the Alliance at home, on Earth.”

  “Earth is protected by a very powerful planetary shield, as you know.”

  “Yes, it was in your report. But that’s a perfect way to gauge our advanced weaponry. Plus, whatever they have in orbit we can obliterate.”

  “With only one ship?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll take some of the Zarlack forces along. Perhaps the Crimson Shadow can handle the fleet on its own, but I prefer going at it with logic and a balanced fleet.”

  “That’s how I would do it.”

  “And yet we only took four destroyers to Droxia, and lost them all.”

  Of course you had to remind me of that.

  “I didn’t anticipate they would find a way to destroy all the graviton devices.”

  “Yes, you failed to anticipate that. Don’t get me wrong. Your plan was very good. But you should have packed more forces, at least as a contingency plan.”

  Argos wanted to defend himself but decided against it. His ego was hurt, but he knew that Miseo, at least on that point, was right.

  “I agree. I let my pride get the better of me, a mistake I won’t soon repeat.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. I need smart allies, not overconfident egomaniacs.”

  Argos was again hurt, but he knew better than to show it. Instead he just nodded in agreement.

  “We should be at the coordinates you’ve provided in less than an hour.”

  “Very well.”

  Ares arrived at Athena’s palace and lost no time taking human shape.

  “Ares? This is a surprise,” said Athena, even before he had finished materializing into his golden humanoid form.

  Athena was sitting on the throne of her palace, as usual, while sipping wine.

  “Hello, Athena.”

  “I didn’t expect to see you back here so soon, but it’s good to see you again.”

  “Good to see you too. I need some information, though.”

  “Yes. I’m sure you didn’t come back just for my winning personality.”

  Ares smiled.

  “So, Ares, what is it you need to know?”

  “I need to locate Asclepios.”

  “If he’s still alive.”

  “Why wouldn’t he be?”

  “Well, the story is that Asclepios brought too many people back to life with no regard for consequences. This angered our Father’s brother, Hades, greatly and he commanded that our Father have him killed.”

  “Nobody commands Father to do anything. Do you think he killed him?”

  There was a pause. “No. If anything, he would keep him alive for the day he would need to be resurrected himself.”

  “Sounds like Father alright, making someone disappear and have him locked out for his own purposes.”

  “Indeed. Truth be told I might have done the same myself.”

  “Any idea where I can find him?”

  “No, not really, but you should ask Apollo. He might know.”

  “Why do you think that is?”

  “Simple. I’m almost certain that if Father didn’t do his own dirty work, he asked Apollo. Apollo was against executing Asclepios, and we both know Father is careful about pushing his favorite son.”

  “Is it due to fear or simply respect for when we saved Olympus together? We wouldn’t be here today if Apollo and I didn’t risk everything to stop the Titan attacks on our world.”

  “This may be true, but since then Apollo desires Zeus’ position as our leader.”

  “This may actually play in my favor. Where can I find him?”

  “You know very well where. Keep your friend close but your enemies closer.”

  “At Zeus’ palace then?”

  Athena took a sip of her drink before answering. “Yes, wherever Zeus is, Apollo won’t be far behind.”

  “I would have liked avoiding talking to Father just yet.”

  “Then don’t. Your new form allows you to use stealth. You don’t need to take that glowing gold human form. We both know you just enjoy doing it. Or perhaps you miss your corporeal days. But it’s not required for you to interact with any of us.”

  “Yet you’ve sensed me when I was invisible. What makes you think Zeus won’t?”

  “You made no effort to hide the fact you wanted to talk to me, and I sensed your presence even before you started speaking. It might also have helped that you were here only a few hours ago. But I think it’s mostly that I’m so bored lately; any stimuli, any vibrations in my palace, even sub-atomic, I think I will feel.”

  Ares really didn’t relish the idea of going anywhere near Zeus. But if that was what he needed to do to save Chase, then that’s where he would go.

  “Why don’t you join me?” said Ares.

  “I’m not that bored.”

  “I think you are. You just don’t want to appear as a defector.”

  “Can you blame me? I am powerful. As I remember, I even kicked your ass a couple of times in the past. But even so I know better than to incur Daddy’s rage.”

  That brought old memories to the surface of Ares’ mind. But those were other times. He was a very different Olympian back then. Still, she had bested him on both occasions.

  “I’m sure I deserved that ass-kicking back then.”

  Athena laughed out loud, almost spilling her red, mind-numbing liquid. “You really have changed, brother. I like the new you.”

  Ares bowed.

  “Tell you what, bro, when you have a majority of Olympians in order, then you’ll have my vote as well. I don’t need the aggravation of openly defying Zeus at the moment. Though I admit the thought does stir my curiosity even now. But I haven’t won pretty much all my feuds, wars or arguments by being impulsive. I use my head and I always play winning odds.”

  “That would take much of the excitement out of life, though.”

  “Perhaps, and one day soon I may need some excitement back. In the meantime, I wish you a safe journey locating Apollo.”

  Sarah was looking through the cryostasis pod’s glass at Chase’s wounded face when the med-bay doors slid open and Commodore Saroudis came in.

  She remembered the vision of the future. Part of her wanted to tell him about it right then, but she feared that if she told him, he might act differently, and in doing so alter the future. Sarah really needed that future to come true. She felt strongly that it was the only way to get out of their current predicament. The lives of trillions in the universe depended on their ability to resist, fight and eventually defeat the Furies. It mattered not how much she respected Saroudis. If his sacrifice would help them achieve that, then she had no right to intervene and try to change that. She also knew that Saroudis would agree with her thinking.

  “Hello, Commodore, I’m glad you’re here.” Sarah didn’t turn her gaze away from the cryostasis pod.

  “Hello, Sarah . . . I . . . It’s difficult to see Chase in this state. He’s usually so full of life. How are you holding up?”

  “I’m okay. Ares went on a mission to look for someone called Asclepios. Apparently he can bring back Chase.”

  “I know that name. Our ancient scrolls described him as the god of medicine. Seems fitting. Let’s hope Ares comes back soon. I’m worried after what happened on Droxia that the Furies will want to retaliate.”

  “I’m not sure what to think. Sure Chase stopped them, but they still pretty much eradicated Droxia.”

  “But they didn’t, not entirely.”

&
nbsp; “Still, the Droxians are a beaten people now. They won’t be able to contribute to the war effort as much as before, and we both know they were our strongest ally.”

  “They are formidable warriors on the battlefield—”

  “Why did you stop?”

  “In my many years of service, I’ve heard stories and legends about how fierce the Droxian warriors are. And we’ve seen that first hand with Ryonna. To think an entire world of Droxians was nearly wiped out in a matter of hours . . .”

  “I know. It feels unreal.”

  “It does.”

  “Unfortunately, the threat is very real. We need to lick our wounds, and we need to fight back.”

  Sarah felt Saroudis’ gaze on her for a while. She finally looked into his eyes. “But it’s not all doom and gloom. How’s your family, Commodore?”

  “They’re alright. Thanks for asking. It’s strange to have them back. I always assumed they perished with the rest of my home world.”

  “That’s why it’s better never to assume anything in life.”

  “That’s definitely good advice.”

  They both stood in front of the cryostasis pod and looked at Chase, wondering what was to come next.

  On Droxia, Ryonna looked at the burning horizon with a heavy heart.

  The fighting and killing had finally stopped. After a few hours of looking for a way to communicate with the Alliance, she and Keera had found a deserted military base with a functional subspace communication tower. She managed to contact Sarah who told her what had transpired.

  Thank you, Chase.

  She ached knowing that her friend was at death’s door, but Sarah sounded hopeful that they would find a way to bring him back to health eventually. That had removed some of the tension she felt. If Sarah could find the strength to see Chase’s current state with optimism, she ought to as well.

  “You alright? You haven’t said much since you talked with Sarah,” inquired Keera.

  “I’m okay, don’t worry. Just thinking about Chase.”

  “He’s gonna be fine. He has to be. Without him we’re all fucked anyway.”

  Ryonna chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I think we have to stop depending on Chase so much. Don’t get me wrong, we need a Fury to fight the Furies. Today is a very painful reminder of that. If it hadn’t been for Chase my entire world would have been destroyed, and we’d all be dead. So yeah, I have no doubt we need him to win this fight.”

  “I sense a but coming . . .”

  “But we have to stop depending on him. We need to be better at helping him in the future. He can’t win this fight alone. He tried, and look where it got him. We need to remind him we are here, and that we can help.”

  “I wholeheartedly agree. But I’m sure, like me, you must feel overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. Our task, defeating the Furies . . . I mean, how can we ever hope to achieve that?”

  Ryonna took a step towards Keera and looked deeply into her eyes. “We will succeed, no matter what. There’s no other way. It doesn’t matter how dire things look at the moment; we’ll fight, never give up and eventually we’ll rid the universe of this scourge.”

  “I envy your confidence, especially under the circumstances. What’s our short-term plan?”

  “The Destiny and Hope will arrive here in a few hours. In the meantime, I’d like to try to locate my brother-in-law.”

  “Sure thing. Where do we begin?”

  “I wish I knew. How well versed are you with technology?”

  “I’m pretty good. What do you need me to do?”

  “Let’s record a message and send it in every possible form and frequency we can think of. If Jonas is still alive he will find a way to let us know.”

  3

  News of the aftermath of the battle had reached Earth in a fleet communication status report.

  Spiros let himself fall on his chair upon reading it.

  “What is it?” asked Gaia via the comms system.

  “It’s Chase.”

  “How is he? Did he succeed in killing both the Furies?”

  “No. He killed one, but the second one nearly killed him. He’s in suspended animation inside one of the Hope’s cryostasis chambers at the moment.”

  Gaia didn’t answer right away. “What do we do now?”

  “We keep making this training facility more evolved for him to train in when he gets better.”

  “If he ever does.”

  “We have to proceed on the assumption that he will.”

  “We also need to see if we can recover my avatar’s black box. It may contain vital information on how to adapt our droids to better fight against the Furies.”

  “I’ll ask the Alliance to bring it back with them.”

  “We also need to complete a new body for me.”

  “One should be ready by the end of the day.”

  “Good. What new technologies can we use to make Chase’s training more efficient?”

  “I have some ideas, but one in particular I don’t think you’ll like.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “How do you feel about creating an artificial black-hole generator inside the facility?”

  “It would make me very uneasy. If something went wrong, we could very well destroy this world.”

  “I know, but do you think it’s something we could, in theory, build?”

  “Probably. But what about doing this on board a ship instead?”

  “Smart. We could have a training ship in high orbit above the planet, with fail-safes in place should the containment field be breached.”

  “Yes, that way, if we lose control, we could either destroy the ship or have it jump far away from here.”

  “Indeed. We also need to have beaming technology ready for organic matter. We may have to beam him out in a hurry.”

  “I’ll start working on schematics for these upgrades right away. You look like hell, Spiros. You should try to get some rest.”

  Spiros nodded. “I will, soon. But I’ve also received orders from Earth Alliance headquarters.”

  “What orders?”

  “The usual. They want to know what my progress is concerning a plan to eradicate you if needed.”

  “Have you been working towards that goal?”

  “Not really, no. I trust you. But for the sake of appearances I put Cedric and Yanis on that task a while back.”

  Spiros did trust Gaia implicitly now. But as a scientist he knew it never hurt to have a backup plan in place. What if Gaia was to become compromised in ways they simply couldn’t anticipate? What if the Furies hacked her? She could unwillingly turn against this world in a heartbeat.

  “I understand. Let me give you my command codes. That way, you can easily shut me down.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “What if I was compromised without my knowledge? If that ever happens and I become a threat to the world I’m trying to protect, I want you to shut me down immediately. Will you do that for me?”

  “Of course. But I’d prefer not to have to. I’ve grown quite fond of you.”

  “That’s sweet. In the meantime, we need to focus on defending ourselves from the Furies. Surely they will come at us eventually.”

  “Do you think the planetary shield will hold if they send a fleet of ships our way?”

  “I can’t be sure. It’s the most powerful shield technology we can muster with the power we have, but without seeing a Fury destroyer’s weaponry in action, we can’t know for sure.”

  “So many variables . . .”

  “That’s a very AI thing to say, Spiros. Have you considered the possibility that perhaps you are spending too much time in my company?”

  Spiros smiled.

  When Ares arrived at Zeus’ palace, he stayed invisible. He hadn’t stepped inside this place for centuries.

  Just being there made him uneasy. Too many bad memories here, too many arguments with his father, which had eventually led t
o his banishment. Ares knew back then that banishing him had been necessary. He had let power go to his head.

  Ares felt uncomfortable thinking about that period of his life. Shame permeated his entire being. But now was not the time to let his internal dialogue with his guilty conscience unfold.

  Ares heard steps not far from his position. The sound was unmistakable, no matter how long it had been since Ares heard it. The sound of a man, a god really, whose assurance and charisma could be felt simply by listening to his footsteps.

  Father . . .

  Zeus passed Ares and stopped. He looked impressive. His long, salt-and-pepper hair and beard gave him a very godly and imposing stature. Zeus turned around and looked towards Ares.

  Can he feel or, worse, see me?

  Ares pondered whether or not he should appear. Perhaps the easiest way to locate Asclepios was to ask his father directly. But he would not be a welcome guest in his house. More like an intruder, if their last meeting was any indication. Ares had no heart in this form, but the more Zeus gazed at his position, the more he imagined his heart was beating faster. Nonsense! He was just nervous.

  Then someone passed through the space that Ares’ invisible form occupied. Of course, he registered no physical contact. But it felt weird nonetheless.

  His brother Apollo, the one he came to seek. Apollo shivered after passing through Ares.

  “What’s wrong with you?” inquired their father.

  “I don’t know. I felt weird for just an instant, like someone walked over my grave.”

  “We don’t have graves. You’ve spent too much time with the humans.”

  “Look who’s talking.”

  Zeus resumed his walk and Apollo followed him into the gardens behind his massive and beautiful temple atop Mount Olympus.

  The plant life was simply breathtaking. It was early evening and the luminescent flowers, twinkling and pulsating, gave the place a surreal atmosphere. Water fountains cast reflections from the flowers all around, creating a light show that started from the light, marble pavement and extended to the heavens on a clear evening sky.