Dimension

by Shay Zana

  Below them was the vast South Atlantic Ocean, stretching out as far as the eye could see. Utopia was the most beautiful and elegantly architected city on Earth, stretching for twenty kilometres squared. Tall, sleek buildings mixed with pure and calming nature reserves. Only Ciphers permanently lived in the city, though guests such as Paragons and their own guests, respected politicians, royalties, important military personnel, and other privileged individuals were given accommodation when they were needed on business, though no one ever saw the Ciphers in person.

  As their lips parted, Natheus flashed his wife a smile and guided her around in front of him, so that both of them could peer out at the blue ocean below. The Sun shined warmly in their eyes, and bounced off the waves of the ocean with shimmering light.

  "When do you leave for the hunt?" she asked him.

  "In a few days.”

  She frowned. "Where is the child?"

  "In the Wavelength Galaxy. Not far from the Milky Way."

  "Will it be dangerous?"

  "It's a UEU controlled galaxy, so yes, very dangerous."

  Not put at ease by the lack of his reassuring social skills, she frowned even deeper, moving her hand over his hand as it rested over the railing of their apartment balcony, at the southern end of the skycity.

  Utopia was the only skycity on Earth, because humanity had already built ground cities and infrastructures by the time they realised how they were damaging the planet's ecosystems. The homeworld never grew drastically in population, so its cities never expanded. Instead, citizens were encouraged to venture outward to the stars, and few could resist the opportunity to explore. Earth was inhabited only by Serenity, as the UEU was driven from the homeworld after the War of Utopia, the very first conflict that separated humanity into the two nations.

  “Do you ever feel guilty?” She instantly regretted her question, as she felt Natheus stiffen behind her.

  “Guilty?”

  “For kidnapping the infants.”

  He never answered.

  She sighed and squeezed his hand under hers. "How about we just forget about all that for tonight, hmm? Enjoy Utopia while we're still here and maybe go for a walk around the parks? It's not every day we get to visit the City of the Ciphers.” She emphasised the title.

  Natheus gave a secret smile then, the one only she knew of. “I can think of a better way to spend our time.”

  Together, they drifted through the elegant grace of their apartment, though not aware of the beauty surrounding them, only aware of the beauty of each other. They finished their drift when they reached the large spanning bed, laced with overhead silks and sandy colours that sent the mind to heaven. Their bodies melded together, their emotions for each other’s souls intertwining, their senses peaking at the end of the soothing rhythm of their bodies.

  Thinking back to that time makes Natheus miss her even more, yet it motivates him to perform to the best of his abilities, to complete his mission no matter what, even if he never gets the chance to see her again. If this mission goes to plan, then he never should see her again.

  “We are just stardust, after all,” his voice rumbles ruefully.

  “Why the FUCK did you tell her about Lucien?”

  When Deo’s questions sound more like statements, Mazayus knows the hull is in danger of a perforation. He looks up from the stargrid to see the man thundering his way, eyes incensed by his entity. “She needed to know. She’s your Cipher.”

  “You had seven years to gossip to her! Seven fucking years! Why now?”

  “Our situation is more intense than I anticipated, and Kitera is struggling to decode. The more she knows, the better.”

  “That’s bullshit! You had no fucking right! There’s a reason the Oracles kept it from her, it’s in my blood to fail, and now she fucking knows it!”

  Mazayus keeps his calm demeanour under Deo’s accusing wrath. “Having it wiped from your file both disgraces your father, and Kitera. Our customs are changing. Death on the field is increasing and no longer holds the same impact on honour. Lucien was a great warrior, one of the best, and she is not a superstitious woman.”

  “Not superstitious? She’s a fucking psychic!”

  “Stop cursing like a child and calm down.”

  “Fuck you!”

  Despite Mazayus’ steel wall, Deo edges closer, grit barely contained. “He didn’t die an honourable death, Mazayus. He was gunned down in the street like a dog, left there for days before anyone even noticed. All I wanted to know was what he was sent out for, but all I got back was bullshit. Classified. For the eyes of the Ciphers, only.”

  All Mazayus can do is stand his ground and wait for Deo to back down. He had hoped Kitera would approach the subject with him subtly, or even not at all, but she never has been great in social subtleties. Suddenly, an urge to check on her overwhelms him, and Deo must have read it in the closeness of his eyes.

  “And no, I didn’t kill her,” he informs, finally simmering down and backing off with a sigh.

  Lacking the humour, Mazayus watches him as he paces aimlessly. “It was never my intention to upset you.”

  “You’re doing a shit job, then,” Deo replies snappily, easing an ache at the back of his neck.

  For Mazayus, the situation is more concerning than he is letting on. Since Lucien’s death, he has taken Deo under his wing on a dead man’s wish, whether Deo himself appreciated it or not. At the time, they had been like dysfunctional brothers, with Deo refusing his company and guardianship, never shy to verbalise it, either. Over time, their bond developed, and Deo became more to Mazayus than just a younger brother. He has just never been able to identify what, exactly. As age took them, the bond evolved. What is Deo to him? A younger brother? A son? An apprentice? All of the above?

  A tone chimes from Mazayus, drawing Deo’s attention his way. He watches as the tall man listens to his earchip, offering clipped words before the exchange comes to an obvious end, traded in for the team channel. "Everyone report to navigation, now. Our Cipher has something she wishes to tell us."

  As the crew gather, Mazayus displays the Elysian Fields layout on the stargrid. Located near the galactic centre, the system is unusually thriving with many young, blue supergiant stars, many of which eclipse the size of the Sun's system. Elysian Fields is known as the diamond in the rough.

  "What’s going on?” Deo asks Mazayus, avoiding the piercing eyes of his Cipher as she appears last.

  “I have just been enlightened,” she begins, giving each Paragon her eyes. “The Zodiacs are still distant, but now I know why this is. At first I could not believe it. My visions are not always accurate, but guidance from the Zodiacs has always been accurate.

  “The Zodiacs are not the only gods in existence, and neither is our reality.” She pauses to allow them to gather their thoughts. They stand straighter, eyes brightening. “My discovery is... belittling to me. There are other gods, and other dimensions, too many to be counted... unfathomable.” She activates her datakey and links her mind with the stargrid, showing an overview of the Scattered Planet Galaxy and all its beautiful glory.

  “A long time ago, at the ancient origin of time itself, before organic life existed, the physical world belonged to the gods, who lived and thrived in this very galaxy, the pivotal place in the space that is infinite. The very centre of our universe. You all know the myth of Scattered Planet, that the galaxy was once a galaxy-sized planet. Well this is in fact true, and the gods did exist on this planet. In a form of life we could never imagine.

  “The planet of the gods was both planet and star, a hybrid, living in a world between all dimensions. The planet was part of no specific dimension, and the gods were able to shape the physical world as they saw fit, readying it for organic life. But then a war erupted between the gods over split opinions in governing life, and the planet broke and scattered, forming this galaxy, and also the entire universe in what scientists speculate as the great bang theory. The gods were also scattered, trapped within one
dimension each, a punishment given by the greater portion of the God War. Never again were they to war and wreak destruction on organic life.”

  The Paragons all wear the same awed expression, their eyes falling to the holographic galaxy, imagining these events unfold as Kitera tells the story. It sounds like an ancient legend, and the God War sounds a lot like humanity’s war right now.

  “And now, the gods who began the initial God War are breaking through dimensions, destroying all life, trying to regain order under their rule. The gods do not have names for themselves like we organics do, they do not need names to identify and communicate with each other, they are beyond language. But to me, the only fitting name for these gods is... Demons, evil spirits to torment our souls...” She utters a shiver.

  “Their reason for domination is obsession. The Demons do not believe organic beings as intelligent as ourselves belong in the physical world. We are dangerous to nature, yes, but to these Demons, we do not even deserve the chance to live in harmony with nature. They destroy all life as they break through dimensions, distorting nature as they go, craving to restart the entire process of creation from the beginning to purge any traces of intelligent lifeforms and see to it that species such as ourselves are unable to evolve to our intellect and destroy the nature that they so possessively reach at.” She pauses to take a breath, angry passion overwhelming her. “And our dimension is next, the Zodiac Dimension. We witnessed the beginnings of this dimension’s destruction. Olympus. But this is just the beginning of the true power of the Demons, and as they continue to attempt breaking into our dimension, these events will only get worse, until our dimension collapses and falls. The Zodiacs war against the Demons, but they lose as I speak, and as they grow weaker, consumed by their war, their guidance to us withers. We are losing our gods, and when they fall...” She does not need to finish.

  None of the Paragons speak. Shock has paralysed them. Warring gods? Parallel dimensions? Supernatural events? The scale cannot possibly be larger. Forget defending a country, a planet, a galaxy, or even a universe. It is not even just their dimension in danger, but all dimensions. Existence itself is threatened.

  This explains a lot. The Zodiac’s being distant, the dying galaxy, Olympus’ destruction.

  Boone manages to collect himself, but all he manages to snort is, “you’re shitting me...”

  Kitera just gives him a chilling glare, her face stark with seriousness, to which Boone quickly seals his lips shut.

  “What do we do?” Mazayus asks her, eyes needling into the galaxy.

  Kitera now highlights four pivotal points in the Scattered Planet Galaxy, and connects these spots with lines, creating a cross through the galaxy. “These four places are your destinations, where you are to make your Sacrifices. The chain reaction of supernovae will be spread evenly. To protect our dimension from the Demons, the stars must not die. They fuel something I cannot yet understand.”

  “So we just keep with our mission?” Deo queries.

  “Yes. And to answer your earlier question, Deo, yes, this is related to our mission. This is our mission.”

  “And the key?”

  “That is still shadowed. The Zodiacs have kept many things from us. We have always wondered why they desire for Paragons to save stars, when they encourage us to let nature take its course. Why interfere when a star is of age? But now I know this is because the stars that Paragons save are not naturally dying. They are corrupted, and when a Paragon gives a Sacrifice, this prevents the emerging event. But now, things have escalated beyond the control of the Sacrifices.”

  Deo’s face turns sharp. “So they have been lying to us this whole time? Paragons have been giving their lives! How can we trust the Zodiacs after this? How do we even know that our Sacrifices will still work?”

  “We must trust them, Deo. They are trying to protect us. They have always just wanted to protect us.”

  “Why? What do they get out of preserving us? Are we just here for their amusement?”

  “We are here because we deserve life.” Her body language is tender, eyes pleading him, reaching out to him with their pale depths.

  “Kitera, how can you trust them? After learning all this?”

  “Because I know them. We are their children. Please trust them as I do.”

  Deo grits his teeth and drops his voice. “I can’t.”

  Kitera finally approaches him, wary, her eyes holding his, still pleading. “Then trust me.” He does not say anything, but she can read the struggle on his face. He is torn.

  Mazayus taps at the floating hologram to select the Rhadamanthus System, and from there, the planet Kronos, where King Anzac dwells. "This is where the royalties of Scattered Planet reside. Kronos. We complete our secondary objective, negotiate with King Anzac for a galaxy-wide evacuation to the nearest galaxy, the Blue Sea. But while I was scanning the geometrics, I discovered a problem." He twists his hand in the air, showing a real-time view of Kronos instead of the animated view, accessed through links to several comm buoys.

  The planet is surrounded by vicious naval combat, UEU forces against Serenity forces. Many ships have been shattered or destroyed and are floating aimlessly, others show atmosphere venting from several hull breaches, but many are still unscathed, meaning the battle has not long started. Gladiators whizz past and engage each other, motes of assaulting energy aligning on impact courses. Spartans battle in packs, decimating in hard strikes, and Olympians converge in formations, moving as a blockade. In the distance, more UEU vessels can be seen exiting star shift and warping back to reality around the planet in a massive offensive fleet. A Titan is among them.

  "Shit..." Boone breathes as his eyes are transfixed on the holographic view, watching the battle take place. “That’s the Oceanus Fleet.”

  The strange corruption of the code of nature can be seen around the entire Rhadamanthus Star System, but Kronos seems to be in the thick of it. Glassy images shimmer and shake all over the planet, as if some sort of static field is breaking through, and even the colours of the planet shift, the bright lights of the cities seeming to alter the light spectrum.

  Mazayus zooms in on Kronos, pinpointing a long but thin trail of islands in the equator. "These are the Fortunate Isles. The King should be here, but the UEU attack is also heaviest here. They're sending in air and ground forces from all directions, trying to cut off any evacs, so if King Anzac hasn't been captured, he will most likely be located here," he points to a large island in the centre of the cluster. "The main skycity of the Fortunate Isles is suspended just here, but the satellite that enables it to enter geosynchronous orbit has been destroyed."

  "Is there any way we can move it accurately without the satellite?" Boone asks Mazayus.

  "Negative. Its orbital functions are deactivated. However, the city can be moved across the planet’s surface manually. Getting to the control centre is another matter.”

  Deo steps away from Kitera and leans on the railing around the stargrid. "Is the guardian station active?"

  Mazayus checks, and nods. "Yes. It's tearing apart the bulk of the UEU fleet, but from what I can tell, it seems to be firing on both Serenity and UEU forces."

  "Hacked?" Deo asks with a raised brow.

  "Perhaps." Mazayus subtracts out of Kronos and to the guardian station orbiting the planet. "There. Look. They've boarded!" He indicates to the station's docks, seeing UEU Spartans docking and infiltrating the station.

  Natheus clasps his hands behind his back, studying the map. "There is no chance of us reaching the Fortunate Isles without air support. We must retake the guardian station first, then clear a flight path. Otherwise we will be taken out by orbital strikes."

  Deo rubs his stubbled chin thoughtfully. "I dunno. There's not enough time. That UEU fleet is massive and Serenity is getting torn apart. The King won't be safe for long, if he’s even still alive at all."

  Kitera cuts in. "Altair is too wounded to engage in more combat. Orbital strikes would mean the end of it. We mus
t alert the King of our discovery before we continue with our mission. We must get as many people out of this galaxy as we can."

  "I agree," Mazayus nods. "We board the station, while Kitera stays aboard Altair and retreats back to a safe distance, providing us with updating intel. Once we've regained control, we get our air and orbital support, then we locate and extract the King."

  They all nod in agreement.

  Mazayus closes the stargrid, generating a subtle breeze of air as the hologram vanishes from existence. He now turns briskly toward the exit of the room. "I think we need to have a little chat with our UEU friends before we arrive."

  Again, the others all nod and follow him, their features just as dark and grim as Altair’s interior.

  THE GATHERING

  The airlock is still open, much to the dismay of the UEU crew. The Paragons storm aboard with thudding footsteps and clenched fists, shading Kitera who slithers gracefully between them. The crew gathered around their own stargrid all snap their heads upward at the Serenity people. Rockland is among them, looking ashy and tired, though his eyes take on a wild expression as he lays them on the Paragons, whose faces he can now see. Never has he seen the faces of Paragons before. They are more human than he expected, and they look pissed.

  Each Paragon can feel the hostility rolling off of him.

  Hands tense and prepare to reach for weaponry, but Rockland signals for his people to be at ease. Dylan Zee, Nadine Rivera, Aspen Colton, Head Navigator Jason Dimitri, and First Officer Ike Kann are with him.

  Mazayus immediately notes that they are also examining the naval battle feeds of Kronos. "Did you instigate the attack on Kronos?" he demands of Rockland, his almost-black eyes piercing into him.

  "No. We only found out about it now," Rockland answers defiantly, his eyes just as piercing as they are planted firmly on the titanic Paragon.

  "How did the UEU locate the King?"