Genesis

by Tej Pratap Singh

  “Commander, the others are further in, about a kilometer, with the prisoner. We will guide you to the location,” explained his guard.

  “Let’s do it,” replied KC as they made their way straight to the location where the rest of his team had positioned themselves.

  They had secured a small perimeter within Garmin’s HQ complex. It was a small maintenance building. Three of his guards kept an efficient lookout, while two including Zaul surrounded KC at a comfortable distance.

  “Well Sir, here it is,” said one of his guards as he played the recording on the screen. It was blurry and showed a massive creature with a flashy tube on its back. The creature looked as if in pain.

  “What in the universe is that?” exclaimed KC as he looked at the distorted and hazy images. “That doesn’t even look real.”

  “Ahh… that is real, actually,” said Jenny. “That massive creature is a Cerebellax. What ..! You have never seen one before?”

  “No…!” said KC straightway. “What in the universe is that…thing?”

  “Well, a Cerebellax is quite a common creature in the Andromeda Galaxy and in the neighbouring star systems.”

  “Why is it even here and why is it so important?” asked Zaul puzzled. “Why is the Cerebellax the most important thought in the mind of Garmin’s officer here!”

  “Cerebellax are extraordinary creatures,” explained Jenny. “A couple of hundred Cerebellaxes stay on every planet in the Andromeda galaxy. They communicate with each other…with thoughts. Kind of like…Brain waves. You can relate to the principles of Quantum Entanglement. It works somewhat like that. And these waves or thoughts travel faster than the speed of light. And this is how they have been communicating for millions of years.”

  “When other dwellers came to know of this unique capability of ‘instant long distant communication’ that the Cerebellax possessed, very soon Cerebellax were captured as babies from their colonies and bred and subsequently used when they grew up for transmitting regular communication.”

  “And… how does that work?” asked KC.

  “You see that bright tube?” asked Jenny as she pointed her finger on the screen and showed everyone the flashy tube on the creature’s back. “That is an encoded message in a small tube no more than 15 centimeters long. Such message tubes are injected into the Cerebellax’s back. Instantly, the creature transmits the coded signal to all the other Cerebellaxes in the galaxy. The receiver Cerebellax has a similar tube attached to his back. The message is then decoded…”

  “If…this is what I think it is…Then we have far lesser time than we thought we had. That prick Garmin is using the Cerebellax to summon and instigate all the war clans in the galaxy for an assault on the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxies,” said KC. “Jenny, how do we stop that transmission?”

  “We just remove the tube from his back. Just pull it off,” said Jenny calmly.

  “That’s it?” said KC amazed. “There is nothing more to it?”

  “Oh no! There is, actually,” said Jenny.

  “Of course there is!” said KC. “How could there not be. I know what you are going to say next is going to sound crazy… I just know it!” added KC.

  “Ha...” chuckled Zaul slipping in a smile.

  “Well…the transmission of the message can be stopped by the removal of the tube from the creature’s back no doubt. But the trouble begins then,” explained Jenny. “The creature uses incredibly high amount of energy to instantly send thoughts to communicate across the galaxy. That is the reason they are so huge in size. Almost like several five-storied buildings put together.”

  “While the creature is doing its thing to transmit his thoughts, all its energy is consecrated into that little tube. If we remove it, ‘We’ will not be able to hold that much of energy and the tube will explode. This whole complex will fall. The blast radius will be too big,” explained Jenny.

  “But there must be a way around?” asked KC. “Some way to control the explosion.”

  “If we immediately insert the tube back into any other living organism, the tube will neutralise. It won’t explode. However, the high energy volume of the tube will become… lethal for that organism into which it is injected,” explained Jenny.

  “Perfect then,” said Zaul. “We will remove the tube from the Cerebellax and immediately inject it into Garmin or any of his guards. We will stop the transmission. There will be no explosion. It’s a win-win situation,” concluded Zaul.

  “Let’s do it,” said KC. “Zaul, do we have the Cerebellax’s location?”

  “Yes Commander, we do,” replied Zaul promptly.

  “We will split into three teams of two men each and approach the ‘creature’ from three different directions. Any of the teams that reaches there first, will remove the tube and inject it into the nearest Garmanien guard. We will then arrest Garmin and get out of here,” explained KC.

  “Directive Commander,” said Zaul as he split the guards into three teams.

  KC carefully looked out of the window. There were swarms of Garmin’s soldiers everywhere. Stealth was of ultimate importance now.

  “We are terribly outnumbered,” deliberated KC. “Don’t open fire until it’s absolutely unavoidable. Using our sabres will be a much better option. Our aim is to extract Garmin from this dimension. The moment we have him, Crona will location-jump us back to our universe. And while we are at it, we have to remove the flash tube from the Cerebellax’s back and stop the war in this dimension. Let’s go.”

  Carefully, they left the building forming three small teams to avoid detection. From one pillar to another, from one building to another. Often avoiding Garmin’s guards and when required, retiring them without much of a scuffle.

  KC’s comn device beeped rapidly as he got close to the Cerebellax. He could see a huge hanger up front. The Cerebellax had to be in the hanger. Cautiously, KC and his teams moved close to the building. They saw two Garmanien guards coming out. A swift blow to their back and the two guards were put out of action for the time being. KC quickly changed into one of their jackets and confidently walked in. KC’s guards followed close behind covertly covering him.

  He was amazed to see this massive-sized creature exactly like Jenny had said. It was as massive as a 5-storey building indeed, may be ever larger! Its skin had a series of craters on it, which opened and closed without any distinct pattern. Its back had a concrete-like shell and its backbone ran down in the center of the shell with the tube injected into its lower back. KC hid behind a pile of barrels lying in an open area across the hall. Crona came online and the other two teams entered the hall opposite to KC’s position.

  “Commander, I am online for the next 10 minutes,” reported Crona. “Garmin is right in front of you. All teams need to get within 10 meters of him in order for me to location-jump Garmin along with the elite guard,” explained Crona.

  “You must make a run for him now. I will provide you a wall temporarily.”

  “No Crona, don’t waste energy on the wall yet. Save everything for the location-jump. Keep calibrating in the meantime. I will make my way to Garmin on my own. Zaul’s team will cover me,” ordered KC.

  KC clearly saw Garmin up ahead working on a consoled-display in front of him and across the hanger he saw the tube, injected into the creature. He made up his mind, he had to retrieve the tube first! Jenny appeared right in front of him across the hall. She discreetly waved at him and pointed towards the tube. She told KC to move towards Garmin and nab him and indicated that she will retrieve the tube and pass it to him.

  “Zaul, did you get that?” said KC on his comn unit.

  “Yes Commander, I got Jenny’s plan. We will cover both of you,” replied Zaul as he alerted the other team.

  “Jenny, you got to be careful,” said KC. “The Cerebellax has got craters all over its back and they are deep. They open and close without any
distinct pattern.”

  “Yes, I’ll be careful,” replied Jenny. “When a crater closes, it doesn’t appear again for at least another minute. I’ll just move from one closed crater to another and make my way to the tube. Once I have it, I’ll toss it to you. Puncture into the heart of any Garmanien,” said Jenny.

  “With pleasure,” chuckled KC as he left his cover and made a mad dash towards Garmin. Firing his fazer gun intermittently to clear his route of Garmin’s guards. Zaul and his team lighted up the way for Jenny with heavy fire as she very athletically jumped from one obstacle to another, punching a few guards on the way. Anyone approaching her from the flanks was taken care by Zaul’s team. She reached the Cerebellax. This was the first time she was seeing one up close. It was so massive, yet so innocent. It was coiled into its own shell as it suffered the immense pain of transmitting the coded data through the tube.

  Jenny didn’t think twice and climbed right on. Her eyes were on the tube. She saw nothing else. She jumped from one closed crater to another, almost falling into one in the process. KC reached Garmin’s personal guards as they surrounded Garmin to protect him. KC with his trademark lightning speed got over, under and gave memorable hooks to each one of the guards before they could even evaluate what was about to happen. Garmin skipped a heartbeat as he tripped and fell onto the floor.

  “How did…how did you get here?” asked Garmin absolutely zapped.

  “Last chance, Garmin,” declared KC. “Surrender now or die.”

  “Never,” said Garmin. “I am out of the jurisdiction of AMU. You can’t arrest me,” said Garmin as he got up and took out his sabre.

  “What you are doing, is criminal. Starting an intergalactic war is devilish whether in this universe or in our universe under the AMU. And it deserves the same retribution. Are you ready for yours?” declared KC as he saw Jenny, about to reach the tube on the creature’s back.

  “I thought initially that you could possibly never get to me. Not here for sure. But then again, one can never and must never under estimate Commander Kenneth,” said Garmin as he pointed his sabre towards KC. “I have a surprise for you Commander,” he added as he pressed a button on the bottom of his sabre. A hood appeared over Garmin’s shoulder covering his head. There was a gust of low energy frequency that rapidly ascended from Garmin’s sabre. It instantaneously crippled everyone except Garmin. His hood was protecting him from the waves. It was almost as if the waves were sucking the energy over out of everyone. KC, Jenny and Zaul along with their teams fell on the ground rolling in agony.

  “Hahaha,” laughed Garmin. “So much for the mighty AMU and Commander Kenneth,” continued Garmin.

  “Crona…” whispered KC as he found it difficult to even speak. “Put my wall around Garmin, the waves are killing us.”

  “I can’t commander. This tech is beyond my control. It is disabling my wall protocol. It seems to be emitting from Garmin’s sabre but its source, is the Cerebellax. I can read heightened cerebral cortex activity in the creature’s brain.” Broadcasted Crona on all AMU frequencies as Zaul and Jenny heard the same. Zaul crawled towards his fazer gun with every last bit of energy left in him but just couldn’t lift it up to fire at the tube. The low frequency was literally killing them. Garmin moved over towards KC and kicked him right in the middle of his ribs and then again on his face. He sat on top of KC and punched him on his face till KC was bleeding profusely. Garmin tossed KC onto a side and bent over to lift his sabre. KC looked at Jenny as Jenny looked at him.

  “I love you,” said KC not able to move a muscle but only his lips as blood poured out of his mouth. Jenny tried to get up. It was up to her now. One final jump and she could reach the tube. Garmin came from behind, as KC turned over, Garmin penetrated his sabre right through KC. Jenny jumped. She had to or Garmin would surely kill KC with his next blow.

  She just about caught the tube and with all her might pulled it out as she came down rolling onto the floor. The war transmission stopped and so did the low frequency wave. Exhausted, tired and badly bruised, Jenny looked at KC. Garmin tightened his grip on his sabre and prepared for his final attack. KC rolled over and took out his sabre just in time to stop Garmin.

  “Not this time,” said KC as he barely managed to stand up. As he too looked at Jenny.

  “What..! How did you stop…?” said Garmin zapped, as he saw the tube in Jenny’s hand standing some distance away.

  “Killing you instantly, will be too easy a way out for you Garmin,” said Jenny. “You must suffer for what you have done,” she added as she punched the tube into one of Garmin’s guards. KC kicked Garmin on the back of his leg and got him down and swiftly followed with three punches to break his nose.

  “Hahaha,” laughed Garmin though bleeding profusely as he wiped the blood off his face. “Oh the agony of it all, Hahaha,” he continued. Jenny looked at the tube, it was still glowing and was not neutralised. It was going to explode in the next one minute.

  “What’s going on?” asked KC as he punched Garmin again.

  “Ha-ha…” laughed Garmin. “You are all going to die. That tube is going to explode. My suit will protect me. It’s made of Cerebellax skin. All you are gonna die. You planned well, but…” said Garmin wiping blood off his mouth.

  “You thought all you had to do was to remove the tube off the Cerebellax’s back and inject it into another creature’s body to stop the transmission and prevent its explosion….. Hahaha…” said Garmin as he crouched on the floor in excruciating pain. “But you made one mistake…Commander. We all are not from this universe. You. Me. Your elite guard, my guards. We all are from – Our universe. Not from this universe. If you have to stop the explosion, you’ll have to insert the tube into another living creature from this universe and there is none here. No one here, to die for it! Whoever takes the tube in, dies. Hahaha… any last word?” said Garmin as he spitted blood out of his mouth and laughed again.

  “I am…” said Jenny. KC looked at Jenny shocked… “I am from this universe…” declared Jenny as she pulled her jacket’s sleeve back to extend her arm.

  “No Jenny, don’t do it,” shouted KC. “No…”

  “This is not the end, KC,” said Jenny smiling as tears rolled down her eyes… “This is just the beginning. I know you will save me, in this time or some other. And we will be together… I love you,” said Jenny as she punched the tube into her arm. The tube went dark as Jenny got cold. KC pushed Garmin to a side. He got up and rushed towards Jenny as she fell on to the floor. KC reached her and placed her head on his lap.

  “Come back Jenny…Jenny…Jen,” shouted KC. He bent over and kissed on her forehead. “This is not the end... This is just the beginning...” said KC as tears rolled down his eyes, “I will save you Jen. I promise… I promise.”

  “You can forget about her, KC. She is not coming back,” said Garmin, as he crouched on the ground in pain.

  “Yes, she is,” said KC, trying to stand up and at the same time striking a blow to Garmin with a clenched fist. “I am going to get her back, but you won’t be around here to witness it, you worthless piece of scum.”

  “Ha-ha,” chuckled Garmin, barely managing to sit on his knees as he looked at KC. “Yes, I’ll die today at your hands, Kenneth, but I’ll rest thereafter. You, on the other hand, will suffer for eternity because I have taken her from you. You will never see her again. You will neither feel her touch nor her breath. Yes, you will live on, but your life will be worse than your end, I assure you. You will beg for death but it will not come to you. Even luck will not dare be on your side.”

  “All days are good for me. All numbers are lucky for me. I don’t care what the stones have to say. I don’t see the Stars to change my day,” replied KC, taking out his sabre and pressing it firmly against Garmin’s neck. “And, as far as ‘she’ is concerned, I will see her again, I will have her by my side even if that means that I have to travel across ‘T
ime’ and ‘Space’. If I have to alter everything as we know it, I will do it.”

  Garmin looked at KC and closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable.

  “Garmanien,” declared KC loudly as he pressed his sabre under Garmin’s chin. “Your end will not be as pleasant as you wished. Your deeds will travel across time. The past, the present and the future will know of your pathetic existence. All the Garmaniens will despise you, so will the humans and all beings of all the sectors of the known universe. The glory you so much wished for, will never be yours. Not in this time, nor in any other.”

  “Die Garmanien wishing you never existed,” declared KC as he raised his sabre for justice, for rightness, and for love.

  A brief moment passed... Garmin looked up. His head was not served… not yet. KC looked at Garmin as he retracted his sabre. “You will have to live, to witness the pain, all of it,” said KC as he kicked Garmin in the middle of his chest.

  Jenny was almost freezing as Zaul and the rest of the elite guard had formed a secure perimeter around the Commander and Jenny. Crona raised a wall and instantaneously location-jumped everyone to a battleship class-E orbiting Earth, which Crona could only maintain in orbit in this universe-U2 for not more than five more minutes.

  “Crona evaluate,” said KC. “How do we save Jenny? And what about the war? Has it stopped?”

  “Commander, the war never started. The moment Jenny removed the tube from the creature’s back and later neutralised it by injecting herself, the war frequency ceased to exist. All the warrior clans returned to their respective planets in the Andromeda galaxy. Mobilization in Milky Way galaxy resultantly also stopped. This universe was saved from sure destruction,” reported Crona.

  “What about Jenny?” asked KC.

  “She is in the sick bay in cold freeze. The coded message has entirely turned into poison. It is completely mixed into her blood. The moment we remove her from cold freeze, she will die. Our tech simply can’t work in this universe or affect beings of this universe,” explained Crona.