The Beginning of the End (Universe in Flames Book 4) (6 page)

“Ares. I should have known,” said Chase. “Thank you.”

“That wasn’t my doing. I was about to take control of Tar’Lock’s body again to try to infuse some much needed life energy into you, but it looks like Chris beat me to it.”

Chase’s eyes grew. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anything like this before. Especially from an unborn baby.”

Sarah stayed silent and put her arms around her slightly bulging belly. “But I’m only a few months pregnant. How is that even possible? And how do you know the name of my baby?”

“Chase told me you would name your child Chris.”

“We didn’t even have that conversation . . .” She looked at Chase, her face still filled with tears.

“I saw him in a vision, and that was his name.”

“This is just too much. So . . . we’re having a boy then?”

“Looks that way.”

“I’m exhausted.” She turned towards Ares’ golden aura. “Why is that?”

“I think Chris channeled some of your own energy as well. You should probably rest now.”

“I’ll rest when we’re out of this. That ship isn’t destroyed. We may want to finish the job first, and I don’t mean you,” said Sarah, pointing an accusing finger at Chase.

“I couldn’t do anything at the moment even if I wanted to.”

“Good!”

Ares took a step forward. “You may want to resume your posts and get the jump engine back online, because the shit is about to hit the fan,” said Ares, pointing towards the cockpit.

Keera jumped back to her seat and Daniel joined her on the co-pilot seat.

Clearly disabled and unable to fire any of its main weapons, the Zarlack destroyer had sent a squadron of starfighters to intercept the
Valken
.

“Shit, we’re in no shape to take on a squadron of ships,” said Keera, while trying in vain to restore the shields. “Dammit, they’ll be in firing range in less than a minute.”

Ryonna pointed towards where Chase had blocked the plasma fire. “What’s happening there?”

A dark sphere blacked out the stars. Purple lightning burst around the sphere as it grew.

“We should get the fuck out of here,” said Ares. “This is a tear in space and time. It will most likely destroy this system within minutes.”

Chase’s face grew somber, but he didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. He knew there was a good chance this would happen when he used his powers this way.

“We’re out of here, then. I’m redirecting any ounce of juice to the sub-light engines,” said Keera.

The
Valken
turned around and flew away from both the growing anomaly and the incoming wave of fighters.

The anomaly grew in size exponentially, and then it exploded on itself, creating a black hole that started sucking in everything around it. The incoming starfighters were the first to be affected by the gravitational pull, and for a moment it looked as though they were stuck in place. But then they started spinning uncontrollably and were sucked in towards the center of the still-growing black hole.

The
Valken
, which had traveled a sizeable distance away, started shaking and losing speed. Its engines moaned as the gravitational pull grew stronger.

“This is not good!” shouted Keera.

“No shit,” answered Daniel. “What’s that?” He pointed at a newly blinking control.

“That’s an incoming communication. Patching it through.”

“Starship
Valken
, this is the
EAD Destiny
, do you require assistance?”

“Commodore! Boy it’s good to hear your voice, sir,” answered Daniel.

“We’ve tried locating the
Iron Fire
, but it’s beacon stopped transmitting. We were scanning the surrounding systems when our long range sensors detected the
Valken
’s signature. What’s your status, Commander?”

“We need a lift, ASAP. We’re about to get sucked into a black hole.”

“On our way. We’ll micro-jump near your coordinates.”

“No!” interjected Chase. “Commodore, don’t jump here.”

“Chase, it’s good to hear your voice. I’m listening.”

“From the force of the gravitational pull I’d say it’s too dangerous for the
Destiny
to approach within tractor-beam distance.”

Keera keyed in commands on her terminal at impressive speed.

“Chase is correct, sir, the
Destiny
’s mass is way too big. You’d be sucked in before you had time to approach us. Looks like the Zarlack destroyer is already drifting towards the black hole, even though it’s farther from it than we are.”

“Options anyone?” asked the commodore.

Chase’s mind raced to find a solution. He was too weak to use his powers to push the ship away. Not to mention that that could create a second anomaly. He approached the co-pilot seat.

“Do you mind?” he asked Daniel.

“Sure, go head, buddy.” Daniel gave him his chair.

“Gimme a sec, Commodore.” He entered calculations on his console at lightning speed. “Alright. I’m sending you jumping coordinates now. That’s a few thousand clicks from the
Destiny
’s point of no return. Whatever you do, don’t advance beyond that point, and make sure the jump engines are ready to engage at a second’s notice. However, there’s no way we can reach these coordinates on our own at our current velocity. Soon the gravitational force will be too strong for the
Valken
’s engines.”

“Then what good will it do? How do we get all of you home, son?”

“I’ve got an idea about that, but one thing at a time. Have a dozen StarFuries ready to launch. I’ll remote control them.”

“Roger that, Lieutenant Commander.
Destiny
jumping now. ETA is two minutes.”

“Thank you, Commodore.”

The communication ended.

Sarah looked worried. “Chase, is that wise? Your energy levels are low.”

“I’ll be fine. Chris gave me more than enough juice to do this.”

“To do what exactly?” asked Ryonna.

“You’ll have to trust me. It would take too much time to explain.”

*   *   *

Aboard the damaged Zarlack destroyer, Miseo looked at the growing black hole as everyone from the bridge floated in the vacuum of space and was slowly sucked out of the bridge. Miseo had erected a force field around himself and stayed there, pensive, looking and reflecting upon what had just happened.

Impressive. This is no ordinary Fury.

He felt the gravitational pull exerted by the black hole slowly taking hold of the disabled destroyer. After a few moments observing the bodies of countless dead Zarlack’s being slowly sucked towards the black hole, he turned around and flew towards the launching bays. He had to fly through the levels that had been obliterated by the plasma fireball. The damage was extensive, decks upon decks exposed to space, bodies and debris everywhere around him. The sheer scale of the damage was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

We’re going to have to tread carefully when we next attack this particular foe.

He landed on one of the decks that was exposed to space on the other side of the ship. He entered his Fury starfighter and launched it into space. The sub-light engines moaned and his ship had trouble breaking free of the gravitational pull. He punched them at maximum and soon the pull lowered in intensity. When he was far enough from the black hole he keyed in the coordinates for Erevos and jumped into hyperspace.

*   *   *

When the
Destiny
jumped out of hyperspace, Chase closed his eyes and took mental control of the dozen StarFuries. The first StarFury tractor beamed the nearest fighter which in turn tractored the next, until each StarFury was a link in a chain. Chase extended their formation towards the
Valken
, approaching from the side in a pendulum trajectory, while the ships farthest away from the lead ship all faced backwards at different angles, pushing their sub-light engines at the maximum in a coordinated effort to counter the gravitational pull of the black hole.

“I see what he’s doing,” said Keera.

“We all see,” added Daniel, “and it’s insane to think he can remote control all these ships with the required precision to carry out such a complicated and ingenious maneuver with only his mind.”

“How do you feel, Chase?” inquired Sarah, putting her hand on his shoulder.

He flashed her a thumbs up as an answer.

Soon the nearest and last StarFury in the chain approached from the
Valken
’s aft side and tractored the
Valken
, which had positioned itself to be able to add its own engine power to the current swinging momentum of the starfighter chain. Once they were through half the maneuver, each StarFury reoriented its trajectory to help gain more velocity and augment the momentum and burst from the black hole’s gravitational hold.

A minute later, at the end of the maneuver, every ship was far enough away from the black hole and already on its way back to the
Destiny
.

Once they were on the ship, Commodore Saroudis jumped the
Destiny
out of the system, as instructed by Chase.

*   *   *

Daniel had stood outside Fillio’s quarters for minutes now. His heart was beating fast and he still didn’t know if he could ring the doorbell.

Why am I feeling this way? I’m not an adolescent anymore.

But when a crew member shot him a look from the other side of the hall, he felt compelled to act. He rang the bell.

“Come in,” said Fillio as the door slid open.

Daniel walked in and found Fillio wrapped in a towel. He looked away.

“If it’s not a good time I can come back later.”

“Don’t be silly. I just took a shower. I really needed one.”

Daniel blushed a little.

“Anything you wanted to talk about?” she added.

“I . . . I just wanted to see how you were doing. I got the feeling you weren’t yourself back on board the
Valken
.”

She looked at him for a few seconds before answering. “That’s sweet of you. Between you and me, I haven’t been myself for a while now.”

“Anything I can do about that?”

“That depends. What did you have in mind?”

Daniel’s heart pounded in his chest.

“When we get back to Earth, I thought, you know . . . perhaps we could go for a bite, just the two of us?”

She smiled. “You took your sweet time to ask me out. You know that, right?”

Daniel scratched his head. “Yeah, not exactly comfortable in these situations.”

“Situations?”

“I mean, I . . .”

She laughed like a little girl. “I’m sorry, Daniel, and yes I would definitely love to go on a date with you.”

That filled him with renewed confidence. “Cool. I’m looking forward to it.”

“So am I. Anything else you’d like to talk about.”

“Just checking up on you. I was worried.”

“You said that already.”

“Right. I guess I should be going now.”

He walked back towards the door when she grabbed his hand.

“Please, don’t go yet.”

When he turned around she undid her towel and let it fall to the floor. She approached him and they kissed passionately. Soon they were on her bed and she helped him get undressed.

Argos received an incoming transmission from Miseo.

Calling to gloat about destroying a measly cargo ship with one of my destroyers, no doubt
.

“Argos here, what can I do for you . . . ? What shall I call you? Master?”

“None of that with me. My dad loves his titles. I have no time for nonsense like this. Miseo will do. I just had a very interesting encounter with your twin brother. He managed to disable and eventually doom the destroyer I had borrowed from you.”

Borrowed, right!

“I tried telling you my brother was resourceful.”

“Indeed, and I’m starting to think we should have listened to you. He displayed a level of power I was not expecting. I would like to discuss the issue with you in more detail.”

And now you need my help, again. How typical.

“Sure, whatever you need.”

“I’ll be landing on your ship shortly.”

“Looking forward to your arrival, Miseo.”

“Miseo out.”

If you think you and I are going to be friends, you’ve got another think coming.

Argos felt anger rise in him. The Furies’ return hadn’t worked at all how he imagined it would. In his head he had envisioned not only a hero’s welcome but also an instant place of power within the Fury ranks. He was the only reason they weren’t still prisoners outside space and time, after all. A fact that Supreme Commander Arakan and his son, to a lesser degree perhaps, seemed to have conveniently forgotten.

Argos looked at the stars from his ready room on his flagship destroyer. He noticed the low-level hum emanating from the machine in which Aphroditis stood, barely breathing. The blank stare in her all-white eyes made her look like a ghost of her own self. Argos almost felt pity for her, though he quickly brushed that pathetic display of sentimentality aside. The Olympians deserved everything they got, and he looked forward to the day the Furies would rid them from the universe. He had no doubt that was Arakan’s plan as well. After all, they had been instrumental in trapping the Furies in an alternate dimension. If they managed it once, they could most certainly do it again, a fact he was sure Arakan knew.

There were some beeps, and a tactical holo-screen popped up. It took Argos out of his pensive state. The fleet he had sent to the nearest world rich in quadrinium had arrived. He watched the battle unfold. This particular world was no match for the Zarlack’s advanced technology. In less than twenty minutes the world’s defenses had been taken care of. Argos grew bored and turned off the holo-screen. There was no challenge in the mission he had been assigned, but only the results mattered. If he dreamt to gain a position of power within the Fury ranks, he would have to do their grind work for a while. That last thought didn’t help his feelings of anger one bit.

When Argos heard a hiss from the jar next to him, he opened the lid and let the Kyrian snake bite him on the arm. He closed his eyes as the venom ran through his veins, and soon all his worries faded away.

*   *   *

Chase entered the
Destiny
’s captain’s ready room.

“Ha, Chase, please come in.”

“Commodore, it’s good to see you. Impeccable timing as always.”

“You can thank Ares for that. I fear that if he hadn’t intervened I would have resigned my commission.”

“Really? Why?”

“I simply couldn’t take the rigidity of the admiral. She didn’t want to see reason, past rules and regulations.”

Chase couldn’t help but crack a laugh.

“What’s so funny, Chase?”

“Nothing. It’s just I think I’m rubbing off on you.”

Saroudis smiled. “You have that effect on people, but you can be a real pain in the butt too. I’m sure you know that.”

“I know. And my impulsivity can also have dire consequences, as I’m learning right now.”

“About that . . . After my debrief with Sarah, I got the feeling this wasn’t the happy reunion you were hoping for.”

“You can say that again, but I understand her.”

“It’s a double-edged sword, Chase. On the one hand your act was driven by love, and I’m sure deep down she knows that. But it’s frightening to her to know how far you’re willing to go for her. Personally I think Argos would have found a way to make it happen one way or the other. And if I had your powers and was given the opportunity to save my own family, I would have done the same as you did.”

“Even if by doing so you’d be dooming the universe, and most likely your own lives in the process?”

“We can’t take decisions based on what could happen, Chase. For one thing, the universe hasn’t fallen yet. Sure, the Fury resurgence is going to make things a lot more difficult, but what’s to say it’s not necessary? The Olympians were unwise to trap them instead of annihilating them when they had the chance.”

“You seem pretty caught up with the latest events.”

“Ares also made a visit before I started my debriefs with the rest of the crew. He thought a little more context would help.”

“I realize now how blinded I was by hatred and desire for revenge. All I wanted to do was kill Argos, and when I learned Sarah was still alive, saving her became my only target. I didn’t stop once to think of the consequences, even when Aphroditis and Ares both tried to warn me.”

“Yet in your place I think I would have done the same thing.”

“It’s good to hear. I wish Sarah would see it that way as well.”

“You need to give her time. It’s very different from her perspective. Had she been asked before, she would have rather sacrificed herself, which is understandable if the Furies lay siege and annihilate our universe. And that’s what she fears most: to have been a pawn used to bring about the destruction of all life. That must be an unbearable load to deal with.”

“I won’t let it happen. I will stop the Furies.”

“We will, Chase, all of us together.”

“Right. If I’ve learned something in the last few days it’s that I can count on all my friends.”

“As we can count on you. It goes both ways.”

“Thanks, Adonis.”

“You’re welcome, son. I’m sure Sarah will understand in time, but right now she’s just been hit with the enormity of it all.”

“Speaking of which, should we formulate a battle plan? I think we should go on the offensive while the Furies aren’t fully armed and ready.”

“Do we know they aren’t?”

“If they had a fleet ready it would have been detected when we were in orbit. Too bad the
Iron Fire
has been destroyed. Its sensor logs could have given us a clearer picture of what’s happening on the surface of Erevos.”

“That’s the name of their planet?”

Chase nodded. “It is indeed. As you know, the computer core memory of each AI computer on board Alliance ships is encased in a very resilient nanotube casing, doubled with a self-powered force field. There’s a good chance it survived. Perhaps we can recover it. With a cloaked StarFury that could be attempted. Should we go now?”

Saroudis looked pensive.

“Negative, Chase. While I agree the information could be very valuable, right now we need to get back to Earth. They need to know the Furies are back and we need to prepare accordingly.”

“I agree, but how?”

“I don’t really know. More defensive measures, trying to grow the Alliance by recruiting more currently independent races from every sector, look for the Olympians.”

“You’re not serious?”

“Why not?”

“From what I’ve gathered, Zeus wants nothing to do with us primitive beings.”

“Aphroditis told me the same thing, but we have to try.”

“What about finding other ancients?”

“I’ve tried asking her about that. She didn’t say anything about it, but I felt she was evading my questions on the subject.”

“Any idea why?”

“None, but my instinct tells me that other Earth mythologies must have a link with other ancient races out there. We should investigate that, at least.”

“I agree. We need more allies.”

“You seem tired, Chase.”

“I am.”

“Try to get some rest. We’ll have plenty of time for planning our next moves when we get back to Earth.”

“Right. Won’t I be considered a traitor by the admiral, though?”

“I’m hoping not. At least, not if I have anything to say about it. But I think Ares’ intervention might have softened Admiral Thassos’ view of the situation.”

“And yet the first thing you’ll announce is that I helped bring the Furies, the cruelest and most dangerous foe this universe has ever known, back into play.”

“Right, well, I will do my best to protect you from that. Perhaps she doesn’t need to know it was your direct actions that lead to that.”

“Not sure lying to her is a good strategy either. Secrets tend to get into the open one way or the other.”

“I know. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“Which will basically be tomorrow,” said Chase with a wide smile.

“So let’s agree not to worry today?”

“Deal.”

“Now go get some rest, Lieutenant Commander. That’s an order.”

“Very well, Commodore, as you command.”

Chase walked back towards his quarters on the
Destiny
. He wanted to go see Sarah but his instinct told him it was too soon. As the commodore had suggested, he should probably just give her some space and time to process it all. He felt knackered anyway, so when he arrived in his quarters he let himself drop into his bed. Except his head never touched his pillow.

*   *   *

Chase landed on some soft, blue grass in the middle of the night, on a planet he didn’t recognize. That sent some light, cyan fluff flying all around and soon green, glowing fireflies came and grabbed the soft fluffy material his falling on the ground had sent flying upward.

“Now what!” said Chase out loud.

Then he saw a beautiful, blue-green ringed planet in the sky above him, with an asteroid field in front of it. Multiple light sources approached the planet. Soon what he could only surmise were ships started firing on the planet. First, small, orange-red dots appeared on its surface. Soon they grew in size and number. Chase felt very uncomfortable witnessing the attack without being able to do anything about it. But he didn’t even know where he was.

“You’re on the third moon of planet Tyronis. It’s under attack as we speak by Argos’ Zarlack forces.”

“Hello, Ares. You couldn’t have just appeared in my quarters?”

“Wouldn’t have had the same impact as showing it to you now, would it?”

“I guess not. What am I supposed to do about it though?”

“Nothing. This world is already lost. There’s nothing we can do about it. Many other small and beautiful worlds and systems like this one will fall in the coming weeks. It’s unavoidable.”

“If you want to say I told you so, be my guest.”

“That’s not why I’m showing you this.”

“Then why?”

“We need to be aware of what Argos is doing and see how we can stop him.”

“He tried to spare me.”

“What? When?”

“When we left Erevos.”

“Yet the
Iron Fire
was destroyed.”

“By the Furies weapons on the surface, not by his destroyers.”

“What are you trying to tell me, Chase?”

“I think there is doubt in him. I’m no longer convinced he is fully evil.”

“I’m not sure I can give him the benefit of the doubt. With him having killed me and doomed my sister to eternal imprisonment.”

“We’ll get Aphroditis out of there, I promise you.”

“Chase, please don’t promise things you can’t guarantee delivering.”

“Okay, let me rephrase that: I will do whatever is in my power to save her. Better?”

“Yes. And I thank you for it. Still, Argos has to be dealt with, and I must say I’m surprised you are considering any other action but retribution.”

“True. I still feel like killing him, but he could have finished us off easily, and he didn’t.”

“He had given you his word.”

“Yes, and he tried to keep it.”

“I still don’t see what it changes in the large scale of things.”

“I don’t know, but it bugs me. And my instinct is telling me that there is still good somewhere in him. I did feel a lot of fear emanating from him when we last met.”

“Well, for the time being I think it’s safe to say he remains our enemy.”

“I have no doubts about that either, don’t worry, Ares. What is it you wanted to talk about?”

“Argos’ first target, Tyronis, is located near Erevos, and its asteroid field is rich in many valuable resources, including, but not only, quadrinium.”