Fury to the Stars (Universe in Flames Book 2) (20 page)

“Of course it’s there! Are you feeling well?”

“I’ll catch up with you later. Sorry for the
interruption. Chase out.”

“No worries. Catch you later.”

The cockpit of the StarFury opened, and Sarah waved
towards Chase with a big, radiant smile.

“I love this thing. It’s wicked!”

“You scared me! I thought we lost one of the ships.”

“You thought we lost it? I just climbed in to check
it out, and tested the new neuronal HUD. I thought about becoming invisible and
it happened! Didn’t mean to startle you, sorry.”

“That’s alright. I guess I’m a bit on edge. I was
actually about to go rest in my quarters. Care to join?”

“I’ll come shortly. I’d like to go for a run first,
if you don’t mind.”

“Sure thing. See you in a few?”

“You betcha,” Sarah said, beaming back a warm smile.

Chase entered his quarters, completely exhausted.
There was just an hour left until the battle group would jump out of Earth
space, and he hoped for a quick nap before Sarah would join him. He set an
alarm for fifty minutes, so that he could be awake and ready to go on the
bridge for the jump. He relaxed, and let himself fall on his bed.

But instead of hitting the soft mattress, his body
impacted with water. He jumped back to his feet, and realized he no longer was
on board the
Hope
. He was somewhere else
entirely.    

He stood up in water reaching his thigh. The view
was breathtaking. The planet he was on had three suns. Two of the stars emitted
a yellow-orange glow, while the third one, hovering over the horizon and about
to set, was blue; casting a cold, icy reflection on the translucent,
pink-tinted water.

“Think fast!” he heard from behind.

As he turned he didn’t see anything but a growing
shadow on the water. Finally, he looked up, and there was Ares arriving full
force with both his hands joined, ready to smash him to smithereens. He barely
managed to avoid the attack, though the huge splash and resulting shockwave
still knocked him off balance, sending him flying into the water. He got up and
assumed a fighting stance. It took a few seconds for the commotion and water
spray to splash all the way down and clear, but Chase had already lost visual
contact with his foe.

He closed his eyes and brought to bear his inner
power. He focused first on gauging his energy levels, and becoming more mindful
of his surroundings. Soon he felt a presence coming at him at very high
velocity, from behind. He reacted instantly, jumping high in the air and firing
a quick fireball where he’d just stood. Water once again flew upwards, stopping
Ares in his tracks. Using the momentum of his jump, Chase launched an arching
kick towards Ares who barely managed to block the attack. Chase smiled as Ares
regained composure.

“Very good,” Ares said, smiling back, clearly
surprised. “You’ve been training.”

“Every chance I got. I’m summoning my powers with
much more ease than before.”

“Let’s see what you’ve learned, shall we?”

“Ready when you are.”

Ares lunched himself toward Chase, who assumed a
defensive stance. He was already casting a crackling ball of blue energy in his
fist, his aura radiating a deep blue. Fully ready to counterattack, he prepared
a powerful punch with his right arm when Ares did something that Chase didn’t
understand. He split, somehow! There appeared two Ares before him now. They
circled him slowly, one approaching from each side.

Recalculating, Chase decided on one target, the
nearest one. He threw himself forward, launching his attack abruptly. Ares
blocked the incoming fake jab, just as Chase thought he would. But then he let
the energy in his fist free, and it sent Ares flying. At the same moment Chase
was perfectly aware that his second foe was nearly upon him, so he dropped down
in subterfuge. Hunched over and looking forward, he performed a sneaky, arching
kick at foot-level into the water behind his body. In an instant it threw lots
of water into the air, before, with a crack, the kick landed against the foot
of the second Ares. He lost balance, and Chase lost no time taking advantage of
the situation. His bent left arm rocketed down towards the second Ares’ torso.
Upon impact he opened his palm and released all the energy from within. It sent
the second Ares flying on top of the water, skipping like a stone. The force of
the attack then split the water into two frothing troughs that closed over him.

Chase felt empowered like never before. He’d finally
felt the energy within his body flowing in perfect harmony, in control. He
exhaled slowly. The familiar sense of fear was nowhere to be seen.

Both Ares got up and smirked. Both disappeared. They
reappeared on Chase’s side, both thrusting powerful kicks at him. He raised his
right arm and blocked the first kick but was late to block the second one and
lost balance. Both Ares merged back and became one once again.

Before Chase could regain his balance, Ares grabbed
his leg. He aimed to use Chase’s body as a hammer to throw, and had already
started spinning. The more Chase was spinning in the air the more he felt
dizzy, until Ares released his grip on the leg and sent Chase speeding hundreds
of feet into the air. Ares then jumped towards Chase in the air in a jump that
simply seemed impossible: the shockwave from his rocket-like departure from the
ground sent water flying all around. He arrived in a roar with his hand in a tight
fist, ready to crush Chase with his next attack. Then something inexplicable
happened. At the moment Ares fist was about to crush Chase’s face, he dodged
the incoming attack by only a few millimeters, grinning. Ares fell down towards
the water, creating yet another big splash of water. But Chase did not fall.
Instead he stood in the air, levitating.

“What the hell?” said Chase, with both amazement and
fear in his voice.

“I told you. I knew you could fly,”

I can fly?
thought Chase. “This
is unbelievable!”

“Now try to lower yourself slowly to the surface.”

Chase tried to move but was unable to. He instantly
felt like whatever amazement he had felt before, had become anxiety. All of a
sudden, he felt gravity take a hold on him once more. He fell towards the water
at full speed, like a stone. His body cracked the ground deep down beneath,
sending a huge wave of pain through his left shoulder.

Chase emerged moaning from the muck, grasping his
shoulder with his right arm. But he still had the wherewithal to center
himself, close his eyes and heal himself.

“What happened?” inquired Ares, running through the
water. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine now. I don’t know. I think my brain had
trouble reconciling what was happening. I levitated a little on instinct there,
trying to avoid your attack, but once I got back into the reality of it all, I
lost my grip on it and started falling.”

Ares nodded. “Don’t worry. Flying is not something
natural for humanoids. It may take a while to master this particular gift. I’m
already amazed you managed to dodge my attack in mid-air.”

“So am I,” said Chase, reflecting on what had just
happened.

“Alright, that’s all for today. I’m glad you are
getting a good grip on your power; you seemed to waste a lot less energy than
before. At this rhythm we probably could’ve fought for hours.”

Chase nodded, overwhelmed.

“Next time you get the chance, try to empty your
mind as much as you can first, and try levitating again. Little by little, I’m
sure you’ll learn how to do it.”

“I hope so.”

“Look at the bright side. We know it’s possible for
you at the very least. It doesn’t matter if you can’t control it just yet. Your
progress is already quite impressive. While I didn’t throw all my power at you
just yet, I am amazed how you anticipated my attacks and kept your head clear.”

“But am I ready to face Argos?”

“I would avoid it until you get more control. Aim to
master your abilities about tenfold.”

“Tenfold?”

“Yes, be patient. You’re progressing at an amazing
pace, but I sense you are still far from your full potential. You’ll get there.
But now I must go. Keep practicing.”

“Thanks, Ares. I’ll see you soon.”

He nodded and vanished into thin air.

For the first time in long while, Chase felt really
good. The fact that he was learning to control his powers gave him hope.
Perhaps Aphroditis was right; perhaps these powers were indeed a blessing.

“Having fun?” said a familiar, feminine voice from
behind Chase.

He turned around, and bumped straight into
Aphroditis. Her hair was flowing in the light breeze as she took small steps
towards him, with an almost childlike smile on her face.

“Hello, Aphroditis,” said Chase, returning the
smile.

“You look good, Chase.”

He nodded in answer.

“I’ve been observing you, but I didn’t want to
interrupt. Ares seems to have taken a liking to you. I think you remind him of
himself, when he was younger and impetuous. I’m glad he is able to teach you
some important lessons.”

“He’s a great teacher.”

She nodded, but then her expression became grave.

“What is it?” inquired Chase.

“I sense darkness and pain ahead. I don’t exactly
how or why, but something is amiss.”

“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

“I’m sorry. I just wanted you to know so you might
be ready to face something hard in the coming days. I wish I could tell you more...”

“Well, we are about to go destroy Argos’ precious
shipyard; I have a feeling I might cross paths with him again. At least now I
feel more confident about myself, if that happens.”

“Remember what Ares said: Argos is immensely
powerful, and you are just discovering what you are capable of. You are not yet
ready to beat him. I know you want revenge for what he did to Sarah, but don’t
let anger or hate cloud your judgment. Chase, I implore you.”

“It’s true that I want to crush him with my bare
hands.”

“Just remember that you aren’t ready. Soon enough
you will be, of that I have no doubts, but please try to avoid a direct
confrontation with your brother.”

Chase didn’t like the idea of avoiding Argos, but he
knew in his heart that if both Aphroditis and Ares told him he wasn’t ready,
that it was probably true. Suddenly he realized that he no longer harbored
doubts about their intentions. Not long ago he’d doubted whether or not he
should be listening to the Olympians, now they seemed vital to his survival.

“Can you promise me you will try to avoid fighting
Argos until you are ready?”

“I can promise you that I will do my best, but if he
endangers Sarah again...”

“I understand. Perhaps it would be best if she
didn’t come with you on this mission.”

“I’ve tried that.”

“I see...” she said, closing her eyes for a few
moments. “I must leave now, but please be careful.”

“Will do. Thanks for dropping by.”

And, like Ares before, she vanished into
nothingness. The landscape, too, changed, from the dreamy, triple-star planet
to the familiar surroundings of standard Alliance quarters. Chase found himself
atop his bed looking at the ceiling, alongside a wailing alarm clock. Sarah
hadn’t come; probably not done with her run yet. He got up from his bed and
went to the bridge. Upon arrival he sat on the captain’s chair.

“Status?”

“We’re back around Earth orbit. We’ve just received
slave jump coordinates from the
Destiny
. Incoming transmission.”

It was Fillio.

“Admiral Thassos asked me and three other Omega
fighter pilots to report to the EAD
Hope
. Requesting permission to board
the ship and join the pilot roaster.”

“Permission granted.”

Soon her shuttle landed on board the ship. He was
glad the admiral had granted his request. He preferred to have seasoned pilots
to fly the Omega fighters. They were a rare commodity. He would hate to lose
the fighters by putting inexperienced pilots at their helm, and Fillio seemed
like a godsend. Then Chase turned to his helm’s officer.

“Link our jump engines to the
Destiny’s
.”

“Engines linked, Captain.”

The battle group jumped out of Earth space.

Onboard the Star Alliance Station Damocles-3, elder
scientist Spiros Malayianis was crawling behind a crate. He had clambered out
of sight just in the nick of time. Three impressive Zarlacks had just entered
the room, clumsily searching around on their rounds.

Lately it had become more and more difficult for him
to evade capture. Fortunately, as soon as Obsidian and the Zarlacks had taken
possession of the station, he’d managed to hide his life signs from the
sensors. He knew the technical systems of this station like the back of his
hand. He had designed most of them, after all.

The past few months had been tiring, though. He now
spent most of his life hidden in crawl spaces between decks; places where he’d
doctored computer reports to list as “fire-damage areas with no life support.”
The trick had worked, and he felt safe enough in these places. He could even
fall asleep, sometimes.

Of course, at first sleep eluded him. The fact that
lizard men almost twice his size were roaming the station was enough to chill
his blood. But even in the times he slept out of total exhaustion, for quite a
while he still hadn’t been spared some really disturbing, scary and often
violent nightmares. After a few weeks he’d installed booby traps and a new
array of sensors which were disconnected from the main computer’s network, so
he could be woken up should anyone approach his position. That had helped him
drastically as far as sleep was concerned. After that security measure had been
put in place, he slept like a baby. After the first month of occupation, he’d
only leave his shelter to steal food from the hydroponics level.

He’d grown tired of all of this. At age one hundred
and seven, he was no longer young. While he’d implanted himself with some
high-tech augmentations to enhance some motor functions, these needed repairs.
These tasks were getting increasingly difficult to do while the enemy occupied
his beloved station.

His second mission was safeguarding former projects
within his R&D lab from Obsidian hands. He had been tasked by First Admiral
Zagorakis to create new weaponry, shields and even a new hyperspace engine just
a few months before all hell broke loose. As it stood, most of his projects
were quite advanced, and he did not intend to give Obsidian any new edge in
technology.

However, the presence of multiple Zarlack and
Obsidian ships docked to the station presented a unique opportunity. He’d
managed to get sensor readings and conduct thorough analysis of most of their
systems. So he managed to continue his research, making new strides in both his
weapons and shield program by analyzing the systems he was encountering from
the occupying force. In fact, he felt confident that, should he manage to
deliver his plans to Alliance survivors, it could tip the balance of power and
give them the much-needed tools and identified weaknesses required to crush
their enemies.

But had anyone survived?
That thought haunted
Spiros every single day.

With his research now safely encrypted and stored
outside of the station’s network, he’d hardcoded a failsafe in order to make
sure he could delete any of it remotely, if required.

I need to try and contact
survivors
,
he thought.
And fast!

But that was easier said than done, and he knew it
all too well. Communications areas were crawling with lizards. He had once
tried to re-route the command pathways so he could access them from a remote
location, but his efforts had triggered an unexpected security alarm and he’d
almost been captured. It had taken some pretty fancy programming and on-the-fly
thinking to engineer fake logs to disguise his intrusion as a system’s
malfunction, so that the enemy wouldn’t start sweeping the station, bulkhead to
bulkhead, to find him. That day, he had decided, would be the last time he
attempted such a reckless move. Too much was at stake.

Of course, he couldn’t let it go; it wasn’t in his
nature. So for weeks, he brainstormed and plotted. He refused to give in. He
finally determined that he had to find a way to get rid of the current unwanted
inhabitants of his station. He’d managed to procure all the elements he needed
to make a lethal gas: one that should kill anyone who breathed it, himself
included, unfortunately. So the next stage of his plan revolved around the
theft of a gas mask, which he’d need to pull the trigger on his plan.
Unfortunately, with almost an entire battle group stationed around the station,
it was unlikely he would succeed. At best they’d sense the presence of an
intruder; at worst they’d tire of investigations and just destroy the station,
which was another unacceptable option under the circumstances – what with all
the
exploding
and all.

The three Zarlacks finally continued on their
rounds, leaving the premises.
About damn time!
When a good minute had
passed and he felt that it was safe, he quickly approached one of the lockers
and opened it. Most of the gear had been taken, but he managed to find a
service pistol. More importantly, and the main justification for his risky
mission: he found the gas mask. With his prize possession acquired, it was time
to return to what passed for a home these days—deep within the bulkheads.

But the way to the armory had not been easy. It had
taken him no less than five hours of careful movement in order to avoid
detection. He was already dreading the trek back. He took out the life-signs
detector he’d jerry-rigged from various secondary systems and scrap he’d
acquired piecemeal since the occupation, and examined it carefully. The
corridor right outside of the armory seemed free, but there were still life
signs detected in the next corridor. He would either have to wait or try to
crawl up a ventilation shaft, something he was not too keen on. His left leg’s
motorized augment was sometimes causing him problems, and he dreaded the
prospect of unexpected noise or mechanical reactions: the risk of detection was
simply too high. Who knew what he would do if the damn thing decided to shake
uncontrollably like it had done a few times before, and with increasing
frequency over the last week? He had no wiggle-room here, and therefore decided
to get behind the crates and wait some more. After half an hour, he fell
asleep.

A vocal message delivered through the station’s
sound systems woke him up from his slumber and he jumped in surprise.

What a fool!
How could he have
fallen asleep?
That’s even more dangerous than trying to crawl up a
ventilation shaft!
His sudden waking from a deep sleep had jumbled his
thoughts, but he could hear something being said in the Zarlack tongue over the
speakers. He quickly took another gizmo from his pocket and activated it. It
translated the clicky, incomprehensible language directly into his brain’s
Head’s-Up-Display implant.

The message was simple: “All non-essential
personnel, return to your ships at once. We are departing within fifteen
minutes, having been ordered to rejoin the fleet near the Gatos Nebula. This is
not a drill!"

He couldn’t believe it. Was this the lucky break he
had waited so long and patiently for? Were the ships really about to vacate the
area? If so he could put his plan into action, and try to regain full
operational control of the station. Even from the safety of his semi-hidden
position, he was well-aware of the commotion that followed the speaker’s
announcement. He heard multiple loud footsteps in nearby corridors, and his
life-signs detector display proved that most of the occupation troops were
indeed rushing to embark.

While he patiently waited for the evacuation, he
wondered what was located in the Gatos Nebula. He resisted the urge to try and
hack one of the ships in orbit for one, two, three minutes. Finally he decided
that whatever he could find could potentially outweigh the risk of being
detected. He also counted on the perceived urgency of the evacuation: urgent
enough so hopefully nobody would notice his little incursion into their digital
systems, if he was careful. He’d already placed several backdoors on their
systems, back when he had studied their ships’ capabilities to improve his
research. He approached the nearest terminal and entered his command code.

Stealth mode engaged
, was showing on the
holo-screen.

“What are you stinky reptiles up to?” he murmured to
himself, still not yet feeling easy or entirely safe.

Once through the three main firewalls and into the
last backdoor he’d installed on the biggest ship of the fleet, he started
searching for files pertaining to the Gatos Nebula. The ship he’d chosen was a
behemoth of Zarlack monstrosity with incredibly strong shields. Files in that
area were encrypted, and required a high level of authorization within the
enemy’s rank.

He stopped and pondered. Such files could definitely
trigger a log or an alarm, and the time when he almost got caught still weighed
heavily on his mind. But the scientist in him loved a challenge. He quickly
entered multiple commands on his terminal. He then took a cable out of his
pocket and plugged one end in the terminal and the other behind, in the back of
his neck, where the input port for his brain-augment tech was located.

Soon he was within the ship’s systems with his
thoughts. This way, he would drastically lessen the time required to input
commands compared to using the touch terminals. Plus he could also monitor logs
and system alarms in real time, and intercept them before they could be
registered, if need be. His next task was to get into the sealed files. By his
account he only had a few minutes left to do so, before the ship left dock.

He could see more of the fleet-wide orders now that
he was in. The order had come from an individual called Argos, and was a
priority level-one order. Something was afoot, that was for sure. He pulled a
file for this Argos persona, but the amount of log-triggering and alarms linked
to the file was overwhelming. Fortunately he managed to cancel every single one
of them and access the file, but it had been close, far too close for comfort.

He exhaled deeply, relieved. He was thrilled at
having managed to get into the file in spite of all the safeguards, but mystified
at the rationale. He looked at the picture of that Argos. He was humanoid,
something Spiros had not expected.
A human giving orders to Zarlacks?
Really?
But there was something about his face, even though he couldn’t
place it. Somehow it seemed familiar. Time was running out. Now that the file
about Argos was stored into his neuronal file banks, he moved towards the big
prize.

The encryption algorithm protecting the Gatos Nebula
file was stronger than anything he had experienced before, on previous hacking
sessions on enemy technology. That could mean only one thing: whatever was in
this file was highly secret; of invaluable worth. The internal timer he’d set
at nine minutes when he started the hack was almost done. Only one minute and
forty-seven seconds remained. The booby traps that he’d defused around the
Argos file had been nothing compared to the ones he was disarming in real time,
to make sure his intrusion to the Gatos Nebula file remained undetected.

He didn’t register that he was quickly getting
drained by using his brain so heavily. Sixty seconds left. A warning came on
his mental HUD: ships powering hyperdrive engines. All available shuttles had
left the station. All ships that had been docked on the station were already
maneuvering away from it. Forty seconds. Even if the fleet was running late on
pre-checks before entering hyperspace, Spiros knew that he was almost out of
time.

He quickly entered the advanced settings of his
brain tech and over-clocked the processing power by two hundred percent. That
was definitely a gamble, but he had no other choice. He needed to be able to
access this file
now!
His timer reached zero and blinked red within his
mental projection. Over-clocked, he kept pushing. He felt the temperature in
the lower part of his skull rise. All sorts of warnings popped on his mental
projected HUD, but he kept going as fast as he could.

The decryption algorithm was now at ninety-eight
percent completion. When the information arrived that the ship’s hyperspace
engines were ready for jump, he redirected every ounce of processing power to
the decryption task. On top of the heat rising within his skull, his brain
started to pound with pain, but he pushed through. His HUD warned of impending
neuronal damage. The next second the file was finally decrypted and he saved it
within his internal data banks. At almost the exact same time, the enemy ships
entered hyperspace.

The disconnection was brutal to the say the least.
Spiros felt something like a spark within his brain. His tech shutdown almost
instantly.

“Dammit!” he shouted out loud, immediately biting
his lips afterwards.

Even though most Zarlacks had left the station, the
volume at which he had expressed his frustration had been too high. He quickly
looked at his life-sign detector but he didn’t need to. He could already hear
some heavy footsteps coming his way. He cursed his recklessness, disconnecting
the cable from the terminal and implant, and quickly jumped back to his feet.
But he felt impossibly light-headed, no doubt another side effect from
over-clocking his tech. He shook his head to try and get his mind clear of it,
but as he did so the door of the armory suddenly opened and a tall Zarlack came
in—guns blazing.