“Oh God, no,” he panted. “Who’s there? Are you hurt?”
There was no answer. He patted his hands across the body, hoping to find some identifying feature. It seemed quite big. Bigger than him, for sure, bigger than anyone on board Destiny, in fact. His hands found the face and then felt the hair. It was long, but the strands were knotted together. Like... like dreads. Could it be Ryonna? No, why would she be on the Destiny? Maybe it was another Droxian. After all, their ship had been heading toward Droxian space. Perhaps a battle had ensued…?
Then he heard something behind him. He turned and saw a small flicker far down the hall. It looked like a blinking emergency light. Maybe there was still some power running here and there. He got up and started walking slowly towards it. The light kept flickering, but it was too faint to give him any kind of visibility. At least it gave him something to move towards. Suddenly, he heard steps and saw a shadow dart in front of the light. He couldn’t make out who it was, but he hoped he could at least get some information.
“Hey, wait! What’s going on? What happened?” he called out.
There was no answer, just the sound of the running steps fading away. He did his best to chase the shadow in the direction it ran. He paused, unsure where to go, until he heard the steps once more. He continued his blind pursuit. Soon he could see another light in the distance. Then he heard it.
“Help! Please help me!”
It was a boy’s voice; not one he recognized, but it was clearly someone young. Someone afraid.
“Hang on! I’m coming!” Chase called out to him.
“Please hurry. He’s almost here!” the boy shrieked.
“Who? Who is after you?”
Chase was almost at the next flickering light, still barely able to see anything, but he thought he could see the shadow getting nearer with every step.
“Too late,” the boy whispered. “He’s here.”
“So am I,” Chase tried to calm him. “Now tell me, who’s here? Who are you?”
Suddenly, every light on the ship began to flicker wildly off and on. While it certainly didn’t help Chase’s headache, at least it gave him some visibility. He was able to discern the source of the frightened voice. It was a Droxian boy with his back turned to Chase. The boy was short for his race, although he was likely taller than Chase himself.
“What’s your name, boy?” he asked, shielding his eyes. Each flash intensified the dizzying pain in his head.
The child stammered breathlessly. “I... I...”
“Calm down. Take a deep breath, and just try to tell me your name.”
“I am... Ronan.”
The name sounded familiar. “Ronan? Ryonna’s son? Where’s your mom?”
“She was killed by that monster.” He sounded terrified. “He—I can feel him. He’s here. He’s close.”
Chase felt a deep pain sink inside his heart. Ryonna. He couldn’t believe she was gone. He needed to take care of Ronan, though. He would have to mourn later.
“Don’t worry. I’m here now. I won’t let him hurt you.”
Chase was slowly moving toward the boy when the lights suddenly turned back on to full power. The ship wasn’t a pretty sight. The walls were covered with blood. So was Chase’s hand. The boy rotated slowly around as his eyes flickered up to Chase’s face in horror.
“It’s you! You’re here to kill me!” he screamed. “Please don’t kill me!”
“Calm down, kid, I’m not—”
Before Chase could finish his sentence, the boy started running the other direction. He was moving far more quickly than Chase was able, given his current state. Not that he could ever keep up with a Droxian on a good day.
“Wait! Come back here!”
“Leave me alone, monster!”
“I’m not a monster,” Chase breathed, more to himself than to the boy who was already nowhere to be seen now.
“Maybe you are,” said another voice from behind him.
He turned and saw a hooded man walking slowly towards him. The only parts of him not in shadow were his chin and what looked like a broad, sinister smile.
“Who the fuck are you? What did you do to this ship?” Chase demanded.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Are you terrorizing this boy? Did you kill Ryonna? She’d better—”
“Better what? Do you really think you are in any shape to make threats, Chase?” The man moved closer, but his face was still obscured by the hood. There was something familiar about his voice, though. Something that set Chase’s teeth on edge.
“How do you know my name? Who are you?”
“You are so weak, I won’t even enjoy crushing you.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
The man only smiled in return, and Chase could feel the anger boil within him.
“Alright, pal, I’ve had a really shitty couple of days, and right now I am aching to beat the shit out of you, whoever you are.”
The man was less than twenty feet away now, still walking purposefully towards Chase, despite the fact that the latter had raised his fists. Then he stopped a few feet away and took his hood off. Chase couldn’t believe his eyes. The man looked just like him.
They shared the same facial structure, build, nose, and chin. But the man’s hair was grey with some white highlights, and he had a strong scar passing from his forehead to the bottom of his cheek. Then, there were his eyes. They were a deep red, a color Chase had never seen on a human before.
“What is this?” Chase wondered aloud before he could stop himself.
“Hi, little brother,” the man replied almost toyingly. “Are you ready to pay for your sins?”
“What sins? What brother? I have no brother!”
At Chase’s last words, a cruel grin spread across the man’s face. “Really. And how would you know?”
The weight of this question took him aback. It was true. He had no way of knowing. He had been mysteriously found on Alpha Prime with no recollection of his past. He had no way of knowing for sure about his family. His biological one. But the resemblance was undeniable. Could it be true?
“What kind of brother would want to crush his own kin?” Chase muttered quietly.
“The kind that doesn’t like it when his fleet gets wiped out.”
“That was you…” Chase’s eyes widened in shock. “You were on the dark ship?”
“I told you, you wouldn’t die that day. But now the time has come.”
“Where’s Sarah?” Chase thundered. “What did you do with her, you son of a bitch?” The anger now burned red hot against his skin.
“Insulting your own mother now, are we?” asked the man with a laugh.
“Where is Sarah?” Chase shouted again, throwing his fist towards the man’s face with as much force as he could muster.
Except it found nothing but air. The man had disappeared.
“What the—”
“Behind you.”
Chase barely had time to turn his head before a terrible blow hit him full force and catapulted him into the air. He crashed to the ground, blood flying from his mouth.
“You bastard, I’m gonna—”
“You’re gonna what?” the man demanded mockingly. “No, really. I’m interested to see what you’re going to do now. In fact, I’d be surprised if you simply managed to get up. You never were strong; I should have killed you a long time ago. You were always complaining, crying, never able to fend for yourself.” He spat on the ground. “You were always pathetic.”
Chase’s skin began to tingle with rage. His face burned. His hands curled to fists. For a moment he recognized the feeling. It reminded him of his vision with Sarah. Control or not, brother or not, he would use this fury inside him to strike this man down. He got up, his legs shaking, but he managed to stabilize himself as he looked towards his brother’s eyes.
“Tell me where Sarah is right now!”
“I suppose I could do that, as a sort of dying wish, last reque
st kind of thing.”
“Tell me now, asshole!”
“Ah, Chase, always thinking you’re in control of the situation. It’s funny, really. But you know what, why not? I played with her, toyed with her emotions, tortured her, and made her crack. And once I was satisfied that she told all I wanted to know, I spaced her off the airlock of my ship. You should have seen her eyes blow up. Dear oh dear, have you seen what spacing does to a body? I’m telling you, Chase. It ain’t pretty.”
With a roaring growl, Chase entered a state of pure fury. His eyes started glowing purple, his hair waved about as though in a strong wind, tears formed in the corners of his eyes but he was emitting such power that they too started flying upward instead of falling on his cheek.
“Good,” the man called excitedly, “show me what you’ve got!”
“You asked for it!”
Acting on pure instinct, Chase raised his right hand in front of him, palm pointing towards his opponent. A ball of blue fire started forming, growing from the size of a cherry to the size of a soccer ball in almost no time, blue lightning crackling all around.
“Don’t shoot! Hold your fire, Ensign!”
What? Chase echoed the distant call back in his mind. He knew that voice.
“Move away from the bed, sir. Now!” another voice called in his mind.
What was happening? Chase looked back at his brother. He was smirking with a wicked glee. Chase took a deep breath and prepared to launch his attack.
“Wake up now, Chase!” Aphroditis shouted in his mind.
Then everything changed all at once. He was no longer standing, but sitting in a bed. Daniel was in front of him, waving his arms. A security guard, rifle in hand, was shouting at them both.
“Get away, Commander, we don’t know what will happen. He must be dealt with!” the guard shouted in clear panic.
“Stand down, now! This is a direct order, Ensign!” Daniel shouted back.
Chase shifted his focus towards his right arm. Hovering in front of it was the same blue fireball that he had been about to launch towards the man in what he could only surmise had been yet another vision. Or perhaps it had been a nightmare? It didn’t matter anymore. He quickly closed his eyes and concentrated on calming down. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes again. The ball was receding little by little. Soon it was gone.
The guard saw and lowered his weapon. Almost instantly, Daniel turned to look into his friend’s eyes, turned again, took three steps forward, and punched the security guard across the jaw, sending him flying to the ground.
“You’re dismissed, asshole. Report to the brig for insubordination.”
“But…”
“Now!”
The ensign got up, still holding his face as blood spilled out from his cracked lip.
“Yes, Commander, sorry, sir.”
He took off from the med-bay, leaving his weapon on the ground.
“You okay, buddy?” Daniel said cautiously, approaching Chase’s side.
“Yeah, I think so.” Chase sat with his legs hanging over the side of the bed and rubbed his temples.
“You scared me shitless. What the hell was that?”
Chase sighed. “Wish I knew.”
“This is getting out of hand. First the incident in your quarters, now this?”
“I know... I need to get off the Destiny before I hurt someone.”
Daniel’s face tightened. “I didn’t mean...”
“I know you didn’t, but we both know I’m endangering the ship and everyone onboard.”
Daniel took him calmly by the shoulders. “What actually happened? How did you destroy your quarters? And what the hell was that sphere of light just now?”
“My powers.”
“Don’t patronize me,” Daniel reproached, then his face changed. “What powers?”
“Aphroditis told me I wasn’t originally from the Alliance. You remember those subtle difference in my DNA?”
“Yeah, what about them?”
“Well, I’m a Fury, or at least half of one. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it.”
“What’s a Fury?”
“An older race that apparently has very strong powers.”
“Are there others like you?”
“I don’t know. Aphroditis said the Fury were extinct but I met one in my vision, nightmare, whatever that was just now.”
Daniel raised his eyebrows. “And he was… unfriendly, I take it?”
“Yeah, I think he’s the one who took Sarah.” Chase’s face tightened. “And Dan… he looked just like me.”
“Dude, you lost consciousness so many times the last few days, I’ve stopped counting. I wouldn’t interpret anything you saw while dreaming.”
“I would. I think Ryonna is in trouble.”
“Who the hell is Ryonna?”
“She’s the one who got us the quadrinium and helped us find the rest of the ships.”
Daniel nodded quickly, trying to follow along. “Where is she now?”
“Hellstar prison, if I had to venture a guess.”
“Nothing you can do about her now then.”
“I’m not going to just sit here when we have a lead,” Chase replied.
“That place is no picnic, Chase! How do you even get inside?”
“I’ll find a way.”
Daniel sighed. “Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s say you find a way to get there. How will you fight your way inside? With what assault force? I know the captain trusts you, but after these two lasts stunts of yours, I don’t see him going along with you on this one.”
“I know. I didn’t intend to involve the Destiny. This is probably something I have to do on my own,” said Chase gravely.
Captain Saroudis’ voice resonated from the comm.
“All senior officers report to the bridge. We’ll be arriving on Droxia any minute now.”
“Feel like taking a walk?” Daniel asked.
“Absolutely.” Chase jumped out of the bed. “Let’s go.”
C H A P T E R
V
Sarah felt as though every muscle in her body had been ripped apart. She hardly had the energy to keep herself conscious and could feel her spirits beginning to falter. She had lost a lot of blood, and little by little she could feel herself slipping away. Each passing moment left her feeling less and less anchored to her own body. She began to lose her grip on reality. She knew she needed to remember something; there was a secret she was meant to keep. She vaguely remembered being captured by Obsidian, and she knew she wanted to stay quiet.
And she remembered Chase. Of course she remembered Chase. But truth be told, she was in so much torment that she could barely picture his face anymore.
“Where are you?” The voice was her own, but she didn’t remember allowing herself to speak.
“My brother isn’t coming, I’m afraid,” a man answered her. “And unless you start talking soon, I am afraid you’ll never see him again.”
Her eyes shot open, but she saw nothing. Tears poured down her cheeks. She no longer had the strength to keep him at bay. With each passing moment, her will weakened as her body slowly began to shut down.
“Alright, maybe it’s time for a change of pace,” the man said, when Sarah still refused to speak.
He gestured with two fingers, and Sarah came crashing down to the floor, barely able to protect her face with her hands before hitting the ground. The pain was excruciating—almost unbearable. But she was a soldier, after all, and soldiers didn’t quit.
“Go to hell!” she spat with what little voice she had left.
“Somehow I doubt I’ll get there before you,” he replied with a scoff. “Let me make you a deal. Obviously you don’t want to give up any information about your precious planet or the Alliance. I commend your courage, though right now I think it borders more on utter stupidity, but it is commendable nonetheless. So… what about the Droxians?”
“Droxians... Ryonna,” Sarah mumbled deliriously.
She was on the verge of losing consciousness.
“Who’s Ryonna?”
“Friend…”
“Yours? Chase’s?” The man’s questions held a frantic tone.
But Sarah’s energy had left her. She tried to keep her thoughts straight, but she felt as though she was experiencing everything through a hazy fog. The pain was simply too agonizing. She could hold on no longer.
“Come on, one last effort and you’ll be rewarded,” he offered. “If Ryonna is your friend, where is she now?”
“Hell…” Sarah croaked.
“She’s dead?”
“…Star.”
“Hellstar prison?”
“We need to help her. Chase... we need to…”
“Poor thing, you think I’m...” The man suddenly stopped himself. He studied her closely before continuing in a hesitant voice. “Yes, Sarah, hang on. I need you to help get Ryonna.”
“Help...”
The word fell quiet on her lips as her heart gave out once and for all.
The man sighed. “Not again.”
He raised his hands and a white energy flowed in strands from his fingers, enveloping her body for a brief moment. The light glowed warmly, then vanished as she opened her eyes.
“Chase,” she murmured, “thank you.”
“You’re welcome…”—the man hesitated—“dear.”
“Earth?” she said suddenly. “What...” She was still too weak to make full sentences.
“Don’t worry. Earth is safe. We saved it. Together.”
He approached her and knelt down, lifting her chin so she would face him. “Open your eyes… my love.”
“I... I love you too.”
Isn’t that sweet, thought the man, my brother fell for a pathetic Earthling. I can use that.
“I know,” he answered with as sweet a voice as he could manage. “Open your eyes and look at me.”
She struggled to do as he asked and finally got them open. It was a mistake.
The man’s eyes glowed bright red and she was blinded almost instantly. A powerful red beam of light shone so brightly that it seemed to burn into her very brain. It was like razorblades scraping their way down into the depths of her mind.
Fury to the Stars (Universe in Flames Book 2) Page 3
