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

by Christian Kallias

  The doc looked at Chris, who was still on the examining table, looking at all the medical technologies around him. For the time being, at least, he seemed fascinated by it.

  “Be that as it may, my analysis suggests that whatever he did to himself rewrote his own DNA and will keep rewriting it. If we act fast enough, there’s a chance we can reverse the process.”

  “How? What’s your suggestion, Doctor?”

  “Granted, I have no experience and I can’t say for sure, but my best bet would be to try to force his human DNA to rewrite the rest of it, via the use of stem cells.”

  “Won’t that erase his Fury DNA?”

  “It might. At this point I can only speculate. But if his human DNA was to be restored fully, then I’m thinking his accelerated growth would stop.”

  “But you can’t guarantee it?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “Doctor, you have to understand that the Fury DNA in my baby is what made him so useful up until now. He saved his father a few times, even when he was still within my womb. We can’t seriously entertain an option that would take his powers away. The stakes are too high.”

  She paused. She didn’t know how the doctor would react to what came next. Not very well, she imagined, but she needed to say it nonetheless.

  “My boy is certain he will have an important role to play in the Fury War. That without him we could lose this war.”

  “I see. This war is not going well, so if that’s true then perhaps we shouldn’t attempt anything at this point. But I must stress that the longer we wait, the more difficult it will be, with my current knowledge and his current state, to revert his fast aging. I can’t imagine how difficult this must be for you.”

  Tell me about it.

  “It is. How can I decide between the health of my child or the fate of this universe and everyone living in it? I either trust that he knows what he’s doing or pay the consequences later down the line.”

  “I know this is going to sound crude, but you could always have other children.”

  “Yes, Doctor, that was crude. Let’s not go there yet. Is there anything we can do now that won’t prevent him from growing but that could perhaps help us down the line?”

  “I have taken all the scans I need from him, so I have his baseline. I could extract some stem cells and have them stored here. When the time comes to try a treatment, having them on hand might give us a better chance. But this is all just speculation.”

  “Do what you must, Doctor. Just make sure you don’t spook him. I don’t think he would take it kindly.”

  Chris levitated off the medical bed and flew in between Sarah and the doctor.

  “What are you two talking about?” he asked with an infant voice.

  “He’s . . . flying. And he can speak now?” said the doctor.

  Sarah was also surprised, but it was only logical that he would, sooner rather than later.

  “Evidently. Doc, you have my permission to extract what you need from him.”

  Before he argues us to death with his newfound skill.

  “There it is,” said Keera. “There’s a faint energy signature coming from inside one of the asteroids in the middle of the belt. The perfect hiding place.”

  “Can you pilot the ship there safely?”

  “It shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll just have to do that manually.”

  Keera switched the controls of the ship to manual. A joystick with multiple touch controls came from under the console and soon she was flying in the middle of the asteroid field with great proficiency.

  After five minutes of dodging asteroids, varying in size from big boulders to small moons, she arrived near one of the most stable and larger ones in the field. She navigated around the asteroid a few times, unable to find a point of entry.

  “I don’t see a bay to land in.”

  “Are we even sure this is a base?”

  “Ryonna, please run a scan in that frequency.” Keera entered a few commands. “And have the result display on my holo-screen. I would do it myself, but flying the ship in here and doing scans at the same time is just asking for trouble.”

  Ryonna executed Keera’s request on her terminal. Soon the info Keera was looking for appeared on her screen.

  “That’s why I can’t see the landing bay. There’s a holographic projection hiding it.”

  “Can we disable it?”

  “We could, but why bother? The scan didn’t reveal the entrance of the landing bay to be shielded beyond the standard atmospheric field, so in theory we should be able to fly right through.”

  “In theory?”

  Instead of answering, Keera vectored the ship towards the coordinates. When they were only a few yards away from what looked like solid rock, Ryonna couldn’t help but inquire, “Are you absolutely certain of what you are doing? ’Cause from where I’m sitting, we’re on a collision course with this giant rock.”

  “Trust me, it’s just a hologram.”

  “If you say so.”

  “We’re about to find out.”

  The ship passed through the projected rocky formation and soon the viewport revealed a large landing bay inside the asteroid.

  Ryonna exhaled a deep breath of relief.

  “Told you,” said Keera with a large smile before landing the ship.

  “Now what?”

  “Now we locate your brother-in-law.”

  They left the cockpit on their way to the cargo bay. Keera instinctively reached for her holster. “Wait.”

  “What is it?”

  “Crap, I think I lost my blaster. Probably fell when I was under the rubble.”

  “That’s alright. There should be spare weapons in my hidden armory.”

  “Hidden?”

  “Yeah, when you smuggle you need a ship with a lot of hidden compartments. Over here.” Ryonna pointed to her right.

  Ryonna went towards the bulkhead on their right and put her hand on the wall. Something scanned her palm and part of the bulkhead lifted upwards, revealing a small room filled with weapons.

  “Wow, there are enough guns to start a little war here.”

  “I used to like being prepared for anything back then. Take anything you fancy.”

  “Any chance you have another one of these?” asked Keera, pointing at Ryonna’s atypical blaster.

  “As a matter of fact . . .” said Ryonna, while she opened one of the crates inside the room. She grabbed a blaster that looked very similar to hers and threw it at Keera.

  “Thanks.”

  “Let me show you how it works.”

  Ryonna gave her the rundown of its functions, how to set stun and kill, as well as the different power levels. She also demonstrated the energy lasso-firing option.

  “And the torch?”

  “This one doesn’t have it, but it’s rarely needed.”

  “Alright. What else should we take?”

  “I’m taking these,” said Ryonna, taking two magnetic concussion grenades from the wall.

  She then took a heavy-duty blaster rifle that locked magnetically to the back of her armor. She took two light-blades, magnetically attached one to her belt and gave Keera the other. Then Ryonna went for a briefcase resting on another crate and opened it. From inside she grabbed a large steel bracelet and attached it to her left forearm. She turned it on and it bleeped a couple of times. She swiped its touch interface and a small holo-screen projected from it, showing all its options. She checked the power charge and turned the holo-screen off.

  “And that would be?”

  “It’s a toolbox kind of defensive device. Unfortunately I don’t have another.”

  “No problem. Do you by any chance have real blades as well?”

  Ryonna inputted some commands on the console nearby and a section of the wall holding one-handed laser blasters flipped and revealed a large array of knives and katanas, as well as throwing stars.

  Keera’s face lit up. “That’s more like it.”

  She too
k a katana with its scabbard, and then she grabbed three knives that she slid into different places in her nanotube skin-pressed armor and loaded it up with a few throwing stars.

  “Someone seems to enjoy my collection of white weaponry.”

  “Nothing beats blades.”

  “If you say so. I prefer my trusty blaster.”

  “I get that, but sometimes you need absolute stealth.”

  “If we’re to encounter any sort of resistance here, rest assured they saw us fly into their base.”

  “Let’s just say I feel safer when I can feel the cold, hard steel of a blade pressing against my skin.”

  “That’s kinda creepy, Keera, but . . . fair enough. We should go now.”

  “This is your barbecue. Lead the way.”

  They exited the ship with their guns pointing in front of them as the cargo door descended to the landing bay’s floor.

  Miseo received the Shadow Hunter in his quarters. The Shadow Hunter was a very powerful Fury who was an infiltration expert and skilled assassin. He reported only to the top generals and the supreme commander. Fortunately for Miseo, he was part of that elite group.

  The Shadow Hunter’s dark complexion contrasted very much with his short and spiky blue hair and his light green eyes. He was not an overly tall Fury but he was feared by all. He worked alone, in secrecy, and always succeeded in his missions. If he failed, he would kill himself and someone else would be granted the role and title.

  “Reporting as ordered, Miseo. What is it you need me for?”

  “I have an urgent mission that requires your talents. I need you to kill two Furies for me, and do it as fast as possible. One of them is in critical condition at the moment, so he should not pose a threat. The other is no match to your powers. But he poses a threat to the expansion plans of our people.”

  “I do not require incentives or explanations. Just give me the information that will help me achieve my mission and I’ll be on my way.”

  Miseo liked that about the Shadow Hunter. He didn’t ask questions, he only executed orders. That’s what he had hoped Argos would become, but obviously he had been completely wrong in assessing his loyalties.

  Miseo provided the Shadow Hunter with the information he needed, where to find Laiyos, and where most likely to find Argos, namely on board the Earth Alliance Hope.

  “Oh, and one more thing,” added Miseo.

  “I’m listening.”

  “If Laiyos, that’s the one they call Chase Athanatos within the Earth Alliance, wakes up, consider him a deadly threat. While I have no doubt you’ll deal with Argos with ease, if Laiyos is in fighting form when you face him, don’t underestimate him. He can increase his fighting powers in a split second, and if you’re not prepared for it, he could bring you down. Only by using cunning did I defeat him last we met. In normal conditions he is a fairly strong and skilled Fury. But when he enters ultra mode, he’s right up there with the best of our elite fighters.”

  Miseo saw the Shadow Hunter’s left eye twitch just for a split second at the mention of ultra, and he swore internally for uttering the word. There was no doubt the Shadow Hunter had heard the legend of the Ultra Fury.

  “Not to worry, Miseo. I haven’t been elevated to this highly coveted position within the Fury ranks by underestimating my opponents. But I appreciate your input. The more I know about my mission, the higher its chances for success. If that will be all, I shall prepare myself and travel to Earth space at once.”

  “You should take the Dark Star. It has a very efficient cloaking device that should make your approach easier.”

  “Thank you, but I won’t need it. My personal cloaking and holographic suit is all I need to achieve my goals.”

  Right now, the Shadow Hunter was the only one to possess and yield such ancient, non-Fury tech. There was only one in existence, which Miseo always assumed was the reason there weren’t more Shadow Hunters. While the universe had caught up with the times and there were other techs that could achieve cloak and holo-projections, none was as sophisticated, nor could they last as long, as the ancient armor Shadow Hunters wore.

  “You’re always addressed as Shadow Hunter, but I’m curious about your real name?”

  “My name is Timoros.”

  “Very well, Timoros. I look forward to hearing your debrief once your mission is over. You’re dismissed.”

  Miseo returned his attention to preparing the upcoming assault of Earth. A tactic was slowly but surely brewing in his mind, one he hoped would prove very effective.

  Since the Furies only had a single battleship ready, they needed to be conservative with their resources until the next batch of destroyers were out of the docks. When that happened, the Earth Alliance would certainly fall, but for the time being, he needed to use some of the remainder of the Zarlack fleet and stop wasting them like Argos had.

  With only one Fury ship, no matter how powerful, he needed a strategy that didn’t involve sacrificing Zarlack destroyers. They would be obsolete soon enough, but until then, they were becoming a very limited resource, now that all the materials went into building new Fury destroyers. The construction of Zarlack ships had been interrupted and Miseo only had a finite number at his disposal.

  All that was required was a simple modification of the Zarlack ships before departing for Earth. It would take a day or two, but Miseo was convinced that it would reverse the balance of power between Zarlack and Earth Alliance ships.

  11

  Ares and Apollo watched the fight between Argos and Menoitios on a holo-display.

  “Does he know the device you gave him is actually a tracker?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t care, Ares. For one we needed to know what was going on; plus I didn’t really build an exit route, so the tracker will allow me to beam him out with this console.”

  Ares pointed at the obelisk. “I see. What if it gets damaged?”

  “Then one of us will have to go in with another tracker. I can’t believe he convinced Menoitios to release him. For a minute there I really thought he was toast.”

  “Argos is a venomous snake. He will do whatever it takes to survive. He’s almost predictable that way.”

  “Well, we should be happy. Had he died, it would have sealed your protégé’s fate. But he still needs to defeat Menoitios in hand-to-hand combat.”

  “I have no doubt Argos will find a way, and my money is on a dishonorable one.”

  “At this point we don’t care how. He just needs to succeed.”

  “Could you have just gone in there and disabled the device you attached to Menoitios’ heart?”

  “In theory, yes, and should Argos fail, we’ll call that plan B. But let’s not forget that this particular Titan has been holding a major grudge towards Father and me for thousands of years. I don’t think it would have been easy to convince him to just let Asclepios go.”

  “I’m invested in this mission to succeed, but I was not keen about what Menoitios said about our tactics regarding his people.”

  “Hey, this universe contains many foes. It’s kill or be killed.”

  “Why do I feel like I’m hearing Father talking right now? It doesn’t matter how you spin this, we’ve given the Titans nothing but grief. One day, one of them will get revenge on us.”

  “Perhaps, perhaps not. There are not many of them left anyway. Hopefully, sometime today, there will be one less to worry about.”

  “I still think you could have found a way to get Asclepios out without the need for bloodshed. Am I wrong?”

  Apollo grimaced. “Look, I get it that you’re all mighty and noble now. In fact, I’m proud of you. I never thought you’d get back from the enraged, power-blinded warmonger you once were. But that doesn’t give you the right to be condescending. You’ve been there. In fact, I’m sure you’ve done things way worse than sacrificing Titans for personal gain, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you were responsible for more genocide than your friend down there.”

  “Argos is
not my friend. But for the sake of argument, let’s say I can’t deny some of your . . . assumptions.”

  “Riiiight. You know what, Ares? Let the past be the past, where it belongs. Did we abuse the trust of the Titans? Yes. Is Father responsible for their near extinction? Most likely. But why does it matter now? What’s done is done.”

  “I’ll tell you why: if we had treated them as true allies, with the respect they clearly deserved, then we could have used their help right about now in defeating the Furies, that’s why.”

  “Yeah, I won’t argue with you on that point. But we can’t really undo the past. And, even if we could . . . Well, let’s just say we shouldn’t anyway.”

  “What the hell do you mean by that?”

  “Never mind that. I was just rambling.”

  “Not a chance, Apollo! What did you mean by that? Spit it out!”

  Apollo exhaled deeply.

  “Well, Cronos is one of the few Titans still alive, last I heard anyway. It’s not like Father keeps me in the loop on everything. When he needs me to do his dirty work, then yeah, sure, then I’m informed.”

  “So Cronos really can affect the past? Can he travel back in time? If that’s true, why didn’t he go back in time and change the fate of his own race?”

  “As far as I know he can send others in time, but can’t travel himself. That would generate one hell of a paradox otherwise. And I’m sure Father thought of a contingency against that very scenario. Which makes me think that if Cronos is, indeed, still alive, he’s unaware of where the rest of his race is, and how many are dead. And you can bet that Father has him under a tight leash so he can use him in a hurry should the occasion demand it.”

  “You don’t think that’s why he doesn’t want to join the fight against the Furies?”

  “I didn’t until now. But it would make some twisted, self-centered and egoistic sort of sense, so I wouldn’t put it past him. If you had an ancient who’s able to send you back in time at any moment, you could very well let the war unfold and use the time-travel card if things didn’t go the way you’d hoped they would.”

  “That could explain a lot of the rather shady decisions our father has made in the last few thousand years.”