Deep Cosmose

by Project Kyle

  “David Bell is returning from his away mission. On his return, he will most likely be court-martialed for disobeying your orders.”

  “Ah yes!” The supreme commander replied. “The human agent. Such a tragedy; honestly, I rather liked that one. He was most entertaining, I must say.”

  “Entertaining, sir?”

  “Oh, come now. When you have been cramped up in here for as long as I have, watching every agent under your command, you begin to pick your favorites over time. David is one of mine. To be honest, I had great faith that he would never stand in Dr. Crimson’s way until his time came. Pity he let me down.”

  “Dr. Crimson was going to kill an innocent person, Commander! He was going to cut her up and bleed her out. I know David may have put his identity in jeopardy, which could potentially cost more lives in the long run, but I do know a thing or two about humans. I don’t feel that this is something that David will make a habit of. He saw an innocent girl in danger, and he wasn’t cold enough to hold back and do nothing. That’s not a sign of weakness, Commander; that’s a sign of strength, and we want people like him roaming the universe! Trust me, the galaxy he was assigned to protect needs it right now.”

  The supreme commander let out a sigh. It was clear that he was not angered at the Observer’s straightforward words. Still, there were concerns he had with the situation.

  “I’m a perfectionist,” he continued. “Those who disobey orders are either dismissed from Deep Cosmos or executed. I can reassure you that David will not be executed. His actions were not evil, and although I don’t understand human compassion, that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it; however, there are great concerns about what could happen if we allow David to keep doing this. I may keep a close eye on my agents, but you…you’re called the Observer for a reason. Your insight goes well beyond the agents of Deep Cosmos. So, tell me, does Crimson know that it was David Bell who interfered with his plans?”

  The Observer took a moment to refresh his memory. He searched through the vast files that comprised his seemingly endless knowledge of the people he kept an eye on.

  He remembered seeing Crimson after David and Sophia had escaped. After diving head first into the basement wall behind the transporter, Crimson howled in rage, letting out the words that revealed where his empty heart was.

  “Curse you, Nerd! I won’t rest until you Don’t trust the narrator; he will lead you off course for what you have done!”

  The Observer breathed a sigh of relief.

  “No, he thought it was Nerd, the same Nerd who retrieved all the evidence from Cosmic 5.”

  In a rare moment unseen to most, the supreme commander began to laugh. He was greatly amused at the Observer’s words, and it was clear that things were starting to skew in David’s favor.

  “Very well, I’ll order the central commander to call off the court-martial. Honestly, it’s kind of nice to watch David toy with Crimson like this. I wish it could be like this more often, but both you and I know it can’t. So, although he will not be court-martialed, I want you to lecture the boy so hard that he dreads the thought of ever doing it again until his orders come. Understood?”

  The Observer felt a huge weight lift off his chest. David was still in, and he could not have been any happier about it.

  “Yes, sir!” he said with relief. The supreme commander dismissed him, and the Observer walked out of the room, knowing that his time had been well spent. The airlift doors closed, and he made his way back down to the lobby, where he would soon meet David to tell him the news, and then give him a good whack across the head to remind him of what an idiot he was. It was this that the Observer looked forward to the most.

  Chapter 4 The gap

  Earth date: February 6th, 2010

  Time: 360

  Location: The Iron Heart

  Sophia was sipping her coffee as Nerd frantically searched the starship for the things he needed. She was uncertain why he was so nervous, considering he would not tell her why the stop they were making today was so important, but it was distracting him on a level that she had not seen in him before.

  She had only really been able to spend one day observing him, not including the night that he saved her life. It took all the will and strength she had left to act like she wasn’t terrified whenever he was around, but somehow, she had managed to pull it off. He suspected nothing, and that was a good thing.

  At the moment, her observations were the same as when she first met him. He was off, but thankfully he didn’t show any signs of ill intent. It was evident that underneath his geeky exterior lurked something much more intense. She could always sense the gears turning and the brain calculating, with no difference between his doing an incredibly detailed task or doing nothing at all.

  She quickly got used to waiting for him to respond whenever she spoke to him. It wasn’t so bad, considering he was willing to do the same for her. Still, it got a little irritating at times, as it was so constant, even though he could be reached at any given time.

  Today was a day where Nerd was unreachable. So, she didn’t bother trying to start any small talk. She let him do his thing, hoping that he would be more receptive once he accomplished his task.

  Although she had trust issues with her host, Sophia’s stay on the Iron Heart was far from miserable. Nerd was obsessed with collecting electronics; there were stockpiles of food, enough to last them for a few years. There were even a few board games and decks of cards stored away. Nerd even offered to play a game of chess with her, a game that she would never play with him again, since he slaughtered her without mercy.

  He was also a decent cook and worked hard to perfect whatever meal he was making. However, his recipe list was very limited. Already he had made the same breakfast for her twice and admitted that he only knew how to cook a few other dishes for lunch and dinner. This meant that Sophia would have to cook if she wanted variety, which was something V.T.C. warriors were not known for.

  But now was not the time to be thinking too far ahead. Coffee was Sophia’s friend, and it was easily making her day a lot better already.

  Nerd, on the other hand, was not doing so hot. He had obviously misplaced something and was ripping apart the main level to find it, making the starship even more of a mess than it was before. Sophia couldn’t understand why Nerd would constantly obsess like this. She felt bad for him, as he seemed to be a slave to his own mind.

  Finally, Nerd stopped. He remembered something and ran to a pile of clothes that he’d left lying around next to his bed, which was located at the end of the main level. He reached into an old pair of pants and pulled out a photograph.

  “Yes!” He shouted. “I found it!”

  “What is it?” Sophia asked. Nerd quickly put the photograph in his lab coat pocket.

  “Nothing!” he said. “Just something I needed to get through today.” Sophia was not in the mood to argue. She had only just woken up about 30 minutes ago and she didn’t want to get into a confrontation with someone as intense as Nerd. She simply finished her coffee and enjoyed the brief moment of silence that followed Nerd’s diabolical victory over his lost object. The silence didn’t last long, however, as the ship’s computer alerted them both they had arrived at their destination.

  Nervous and excited, Nerd urged Sophia to follow him to the main bridge. Sophia finished off her coffee and chose to follow him…and was very much underwhelmed when all she could see out the front window was empty space. No planet, no space station, just space. Sophia shot Nerd an unimpressed glare.

  “It’s…amazing,” she said in a sarcastic voice. Nerd laughed at Sophia’s response. It was obvious he didn’t pick up on her sarcasm at all.

  “Oh, this?” Nerd replied. “This is nothing. However, if you’re so fascinated by empty space, I’m sure you’re going to love what comes next!”

  Nerd entered a code into the control panel located at the front of the ship. Both of them waited for a few seconds, and suddenly, a large scanning beam appeared
out of the blackness of space. It scanned the ship and ran across both Nerd and Sophia. Without warning, Sophia began to glow red. Several balls of purple energy entered the ship and slowly started to move towards Sophia. Sophia screamed and grabbed Nerd’s arm.

  “Oops…” Nerd said. “Hold on a second.”

  He typed in another code with the hand not being restrained by Sophia, who refused to let go. As soon as the code was entered, the red balls of energy turned green and then vanished. Everything was safe again.

  “Those were Owl Eyes,” Nerd said to Sophia. “They are security drones that vaporize anyone they touch. Sorry about that; I forgot to notify them that I had a guest with me.”

  Sophia punched Nerd in the shoulder with a scowl. Nerd, however, just laughed and refocused his attention on what was about to take place outside the starship. Surprisingly, Nerd did not disappoint, as a massive wormhole opened in front of them. Sophia was stunned; she had never seen one before. In fact, until now, she wasn’t even sure if they existed. But here one was, right in front of them. Nerd turned to Sophia and smiled.

  “Are you ready?”

  Sophia was too stunned to answer. She simply nodded her head. Nerd activated the thrusters, and the ship entered the wormhole. As soon as the ship entered, it began shaking like an airplane flying through heavy turbulence. The ride was bumpy and a little intimidating, but the calm way in which Nerd handled the controls set Sophia’s initial worry to rest.

  After 30 seconds, the blue energy surrounding them vanished, and the starship appeared to be in what looked like a purple nebula. The visible space was very narrow, but the length of it seemed to go on forever. Sophia was excited at what was a new discovery for her and asked where he had taken her. Nerd smiled and responded.

  “A place where only a few humans have the honor of visiting,” he stated. “Welcome to the gap between realities.”

  “What?” Sophia responded incredulously. “That’s impossible; there is no such thing.” “You’d be surprised at how much you can discover in this universe. It’s been a humbling experience for me to realize how small I am compared to what’s out there; but I can assure you, I’m not lying. We are in between every universe that exists—a narrow hallway that leads into eternity. From here, we can travel to any part of the universe we wish. Everything is accessible to us, with the exception of the one thing the gap cannot control, and that’s time. It continues to move forward; that is one thing we cannot change.”

  Sophia only heard half of Nerd’s speech as she caught sight of a space station in the distance. It was a dark, pyramid-shaped structure that was about the size of Earth’s moon. There were thousands of spacecrafts swarming around it like bees around a hive; large, small, primitive, and advanced, but all of them moved together as a single unit, making the sight all that more fascinating.

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “That is the headquarters of Deep Cosmos,” Nerd responded. “Get a good look at it, because this may be the first and last time you ever come here, depending on what happens to me.”

  Sophia turned to Nerd with a concerned look in her eyes. She could tell he was in trouble, but he refused to answer what was going on. She remembered the Observer telling her he may have sacrificed his future, and this upset her, because whether he was a killer or not, she didn’t feel that it was fair for him to take the fall.

  “Nerd,” she said to him, “if you are in trouble, please let me help. It’s the least I could do for you.”

  “I appreciate the offer,” Nerd responded, “but these people will not acknowledge you as one of their own. Trust me, I know them well. Please stay here while I take care of this. If things don’t go well, I can assure you that they will return you to your own reality and find you a home where you’ll be taken care of. It is the way of Deep Cosmos, and the reason I chose to join them in my time of need; but, if you become a threat or give them the impression of being a threat, things will only get worse, so I need to ask you to stay here. It is the only way we can get out of this in one piece.”

  Sophia was deeply bothered by what Nerd said, and although she knew that none of this was her fault, her conscience niggled at the back of her mind uneasily. The situation felt heavy, and she felt helpless to make things better. Nerd noticed she was upset, so he walked up and patted her on the shoulder.

  “It’s going to be okay, Sophia,” he said to her. “They won’t kill me or execute me or anything like that. They only do that to people who threaten them or the galaxies they protect, and I have never once done anything that could give them that impression. I just need to explain a few things to them, and hopefully they will understand. Their viewpoint of life on the whole is good, but their understanding of a single individual life is bad. Maybe I can use this time to speak up and help them understand. If they don’t, then hopefully they’ll at least allow me to keep the ship so I can still explore the galaxy without their protection. Though I doubt they will be so generous. Regardless, it’s time for me to go. Take care of yourself, my friend. If a strange mutated alien beams into the ship instead of me, don’t be scared. Just do as he says, and you will be able to enjoy a normal life soon enough.”

  Nerd left the bridge and made his way downstairs into the transporter room. Sophia followed him to wave him goodbye. Nerd stepped on the transporter and smiled.

  “Farewell, Sophia!” He said to her. “It was an honor to get to know you.”

  As soon as the words left his mouth, the transporter activated, and Nerd vanished from the room. Sophia was now alone, something she was very much used to. She had gotten exactly what she needed. With Nerd off the ship, she now had a chance to investigate without him looking over her shoulder.‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

  Sophia took a deep breath and slowly clasped her hands together. It was time to find out what kind of person David Bell truly was.

  Chapter 5 Layers

  Sophia made her way upstairs and looked around the main room. She gazed at the three pictures mounted on the wall next to David’s bed. One was a picture of a scientist with red hair, the second was of a ten-year-old girl with blonde pigtails, and the third was of a man that looked exactly like Nerd, only his hair was light brown and his eyes were emerald green, which was different from Nerd’s dark hair and blue eyes. He never talked about any of them, and when Sophia had asked about them, Nerd ignored her and tried to change the subject. The thing that really stood out to her was the state of the picture frames. Nerd was no doubt a slob—the spacecraft’s floors were covered with soda cans and empty bags of chips, and dust lay everywhere, even on the walls. But these photographs were completely spotless. Not a single speck of dust could be found on them, meaning that Nerd was very obsessive about keeping them clean.

  Sophia decided to start digging through some of the clutter, as that was where Nerd had hidden the picture that he was looking for. She thoroughly went through his clothes and made sure to explore every pocket or compartment she could find. In the end, however, all she could find was some loose change, an expired invite to the yearly formal held at space station 1529, and a blob of gum which had welded a pocket shut when Nerd had apparently put the article of clothing carelessly through the wash without checking it. There was nothing to be found here, nothing of importance anyway.

  Sophia then looked through his wardrobe and carefully removed everything from it. She examined each item she could find before she examined the wardrobe itself. Again, nothing.

  Focusing her attention on the bed next, Sophia pulled off the sheets and checked under the mattress. She found a letter under Nerd’s mattress, written to him from a young boy who thanked him for saving his family from a Kelson swarm. This was encouraging, as Nerd had clearly done a good deed for them, but Sophia needed more than this, as his heroic shell may only have been a mask to hide something much darker inside. Sophia had learned this much from her experience with Dr. Crimson.

  After putting
everything back where she had found it, Sophia looked at the table next to his bed. There was a shelf underneath that Sophia had missed, which looked very promising. She opened the shelf and dug through its contents.

  “Bingo!” She said as she pulled out Nerd’s diary.

  This was a huge find, as she could now find out what was going on within the mind of the ship’s commander. Her conscience was bothering her, because she would never look through someone’s diary under normal circumstances, but in this situation it had to be done. Besides, Nerd only gave her two rules. One was to never touch any of the Rubik’s cubes that could be found scattered across the Iron Heart, and the second was to stay on the starship until someone came back. He had said nothing about his diary.

  Sophia took a deep breath, opened it up with her trembling hands, and began to read the thoughts and feelings her host had seen fit to write down. “The diary of David Bell.” The diary began with a long, poetic entry about how excited he was to be joining Cosmic 5.

  She read on and learned that David had been the victim of bullying. He didn’t know how to retaliate, as he hated violence, and this made him an easy target for the Cosmic staff. The only person that protected him was, regrettably, Dr. Crimson, who had pretended to be his best friend. David opened up very strongly about how much he admired Crimson and wanted to be more like him. Deeper into the diary, he expressed paranoia. He was catching on to what Cosmic 5’s true motives were and suspected that they were doing something horrible behind his back.