by Lea Tassie
"You really are silly," Bethillian said to Dart with a shy smile.
Planet Crest was the closest thing to a military base humanity still had. A long-ago presidential order had seen to that. The three found themselves escorted to a conference room where they waited until Bethillian's father showed up with several other people.
At seeing her father, Bethillian fairly exploded with information. Her father, Tegra-Duran, lovingly wrapped his arms around her and asked her to be quiet.
"I know, dear, we've been getting the news out here too. I sent security to find you both, but you weren't where you were supposed to be." Tegra-Duran looked at Dart. "I'm guessing you had something to do with that?"
Dart nodded.
"Well, I'm grateful to you for helping my kids. My wife, Gerdra, was worried sick."
"Dad," Delliam said, "This guy's father is Charger R/T, and if we can find him, Dart thinks he can persuade the monster to help us."
Tegra-Duran stared at Dart for some time, then finally reacted by saying, "Well, I've heard quite a bit about you. Am I to understand you've accepted that Charger R/T is your real father?"
Without giving Dart time to answer, Tegra-Duran pressed on. "I met your father once. I'm the guy that stopped him from destroying all of us. I put that bastard in the time-lock!" Tegra-Duran's voice was vibrant with emotion. "I sincerely doubt the freak would be willing to give us the time of day, much less any help. Anyway, our most recent encounters with the monster have shown it to be more or less impotent."
"My father won against Abarth and his followers once before, and I'm guessing he could do it again. I don't see humans being up to the task of stopping the slaughter happening right now." Dart spoke quietly.
Tegra-Duran was torn. He was grateful for Dart's help with his kids, but loathed the monster he had once fought. "So you plan to just go ask that sick fuck to come back and help us? Is that your plan?" Tegra-Duran's mocking tone and clear distaste for Charger R/T even set his kids back a little. They had never seen this side of him.
Bethillian spoke and her gentle, graceful ways quieted the room. "Dad, it can't hurt. People are dying."
The people gathered in the conference room were shocked by the news that humans, so close to being immortal, were now actually dying. "Dad, can we get to him?" Delliam asked. The room was silent for some time.
Tegra-Duran finally let a long drawn-out breath escape his lungs. He stood up and walked to the corner of the room and looked out a window at the green beauty of Crest. "Yes, we can get to him. We've known his location for a number of years now. We sent a small orbital probe which has been watching the monster, on its clump of icy ground, circle a pulsar, and we have been considering methods of finally destroying it."
As Tegra-Duran spoke, a few members of this quasi-scientific military post revealed plans drawn up over time, plans that described the methods which had been considered for killing Charger R/T once and for all.
Dart asked, "Would any of these plans work on the maniacs attacking our home world right now?"
A stern-looking officer nearby replied, "These systems are untested and several years away from completion."
"Well, then…" Dart said, leaving the words hanging in the air unfinished.
"If it kills you, that's on you!" Tegra-Duran snapped.
Another officer spoke to Dart after Tegra-Duran waved his hand. "Please come with me. We have a dark matter system that's been very successful lately. It will transport you to the beast."
"Dark matter?" Dart questioned. His sentences were growing shorter as time passed. He wondered if he'd inherited that trait from Charger R/T.
"Yes, the science behind this new blink system is revolutionary. A few scientists discovered by accident that dark matter extends across our universe in ribbons or rivers. We have sent several probes across unbelievably vast distances within moments by having them hitchhike a ride on these fast-flowing bands of deep matter." As the two walked the hallways of the laboratory, Dart noticed strange events happening behind glass windows, obviously experiments in new sciences.
"Deep matter?" Dart said to no one in particular. The officer, thinking it was a question, answered.
"Well, it is matter. It has substance and mass, and it's dark because it's invisible to the naked eye. But we were surprised when we discovered it's deep and flowing fast, like a river. You enter the river, or stream, and it travels into deep space, never stopping, never emptying into anything resembling a lake or ocean. It's like never-ending white water rapids."
"That's amazing!" Dart said.
"Yeah, I guess it is," The officer replied, then added, "We had a few mishaps when we first tried it. Getting out of the river is a bit tricky, and calculating just when to leave is insanely important. Get out too soon and you might end up nowhere, get out too late and you might end up deep inside a planet or star." The officer laughed as he described this experimental new blink system.
"But it does work, right?" Dart asked, a bit anxiously.
"It has for our probes, but we haven't tried a living being yet," The officer replied in a serious tone.
Dart stopped dead in his tracks.
"Relax," the officer said, placing a hand on Dart's shoulder. "What's the worst that can happen? You might die if you try this system. But the alternative is dying when Abarth and his army kill us all."
The next few hours saw Dart poked and prodded, injected with several needles and subdermal probes. "Is all this stuff important for the trip?" Dart asked the officer.
"Hell, no." The officer laughed. "It’s fully automated. I think one of the shots you got tells the telemetry your position in space, and that one is very important. The others are things for the science guys. They plan on learning stuff from this event."
"So I'm an event now." Dart rubbed the many sores his body was suffering.
"You certainly are. We've sent just three probes by 'dark-blink.' You will be number four."
Dart's expression said he was having serious doubts about being an event, but the scientists prevented him from changing his mind by guiding him to a table and asking him to lie on it. The table rotated vertically, leaving Dart at a forty-five-degree angle. He was sprayed with a fine liquid mist, which one of the scientists said would protect his skin.
After the mist dried, a machine picked him off the table and loaded him into a tube. He would be fired out into the 'dark-blink' like a bullet leaving a rifle.
***
Dart's vision blurred and time seemed to stand still. He had been launched into the dark-blink river and, as the officer had said, it felt like being on a raft in white water rapids. He was tossed about like a small wood chip. His landing on the surface of what was once a chunk of New Eden, now in orbit around a pulsar, was not well-planned. He was face-planted into the frozen dirt and his eyes filled with tears of pain.
But, there before him, frozen solid in ice, sat Charger R/T. Since Dart had landed more or less at his feet, he had to look up at his father. Way up.
"Well, I have to admit," Dart muttered as he stood up and brushed the dirt from his clothing, "they did get me close to the target. Any closer and I might have ended up inside my father's ass."
Dart reached up and waved a hand in front of Charger R/T's frozen face, but there was no response. Then he made a fist and knocked on Charger R/T's forehead, but still the beast did not stir. Dart tried talking. "Hello! Is anyone alive in there?" The silence was deafening.
Dart reached down, made a snowball, then chucked it at Charger R/T's face. He tried walking all around the beast, testing different spots on the ice to see if that would cause his father to stir, and still nothing worked. For almost an hour, Dart tried in vain to rouse him. The beast ignored him. Dart finally plopped down on the ice and snow in front of the frozen carcass. Maybe talking would work.
Dart decided to speak his mind instead of trying to be tolerant and accepting. "You probably don't know this, but you're my biological father. Yeah, that's right, you're my dad. H
ow did this happen, you ask? Well, it seems the man who raised me, a doctor and the only real father I ever knew, snapped up a piece of your genetic material to save my biological mother."
Dart made another snowball but didn't throw it. "Oh, by the way, your genetic material got her killed, but not before I was birthed. Her name was Reanna. I would think you might be a bit interested to know that. But what the hell do you care? You're just this big block of frozen stupidity. I don't even know what to call you. Are you human or not?" Dart hefted the snowball and continued talking.
"I defended you, man! But what the hell do you care? You're just one big wrecking ball in life, and you don't care who you get killed." He was frustrated at getting no response from the block of ice in front of him. It wouldn't hurt to try yelling at it. "What the fuck? Hey, you stupid shit! How about you blink or breathe or something, since I came all this way for you!"
No response. Dart got up and paced around. He pitched the snowball at the mountain of ice entombing his father. "I can wait forever if I have to. Just so you know, people are dying because you won't help!"
Then Dart stormed up to Charger R/T, unzipped his fly, and urinated on his father’s foot. "See that? I had fifty cups of coffee before I left. I may even have the power to thaw you out, man!"
Dart stormed off, looking for a good-sized rock he could use to chip the ice from around Charger R/T's head. He found one and struggled to lift it from the surface. When it wouldn't budge, he screamed in fury. He turned around, intending to scream at his father.
Charger R/T was standing now, huge and apparently unfrozen, staring with those blank white eyes straight into Dart's face. "What the hell is wrong with you, boy? Your whining is like fingernails on a chalkboard."
Dart stood there dumbfounded, finally at a loss for words.
Charger R/T appeared to roll his eyes. He then reached out and, with his great index finger, poked Dart hard in the chest.
When Dart recovered from the poke, he found himself back in the lab, much to the shock of the scientists in the room. His sudden appearance set off alarms as troops poured into the lab, searching for somebody to subdue. Over the intercom came Tegra-Duran's voice, "Am I to understand you had no success?"
Dart was beside himself with rage. "Send me back!" he demanded. He again endured a plethora of needles before being taken back into the launching room. Dart turned to a scientist and commented, "The last time you guys launched me, I almost landed in one of Charger R/T's kidneys. Could you back up the landing spot a bit?"
Dart was again sprayed with mist and shot into the dark-blink river. He landed a few feet away from the first point he had hit, but again, his face was planted into the ground. He struggled to his feet, adjusted his clothing, and looked up to see Charger R/T standing right behind him.
All Charger R/T said was, "You're beginning to annoy me." He poked Dart in the chest. Bang! Dart was back in the lab.
"This is getting old!" Dart snapped as the lab techs scattered away from him, shocked by his sudden appearance. Troops again poured into the room, responding to ringing alarms. Tegra-Duran was standing on an elevated floor looking down into the lab. Dart caught sight of his disgusted expression.
"I can do this!" Dart shouted. "I can! I can do this!" As the lab techs again hit him from all directions with needles, he asked, "Is any of this telemetry helping? Because I'm beginning to feel like a pin cushion." Dart had a few choice words for the launch tech, too, explaining the poor choice of landing procedures they employed. Then he was yet again sprayed and launched into the dark-blink river.
This time Dart landed short of the surface. In fact, he was several feet above the surface and, as gravity quickly took charge of his body, he fell, again face-planted into the dirt. He bolted up from the frozen dirt. "Damn it!"
As he brushed off his clothing, he found himself standing back in the lab. The bells rang out, the scientists were again alarmed, but this time the troops merely strolled into the laboratory.
"How about we try something a bit different?" Tegra-Duran offered dryly.
"What do you have in mind?" Dart asked as his shoulders slumped. He hated failure.
The small probe that orbited the chunk of rock which Charger R/T inhabited had a camera, so the people back on Crest had witnessed all the events of Dart's landings. Tegra-Duran had long planned to catch Charger R/T and explained in detail to Dart what he had to do next.
Charger R/T was standing on the surface of the rock, amused by what was happening, and curious to see if Dart returned.
Dart did return, but this time, thanks to more accurate calculations, he materialized just feet behind his father. He landed at a run and, slamming into Charger R/T's back, activated the dark-blink. This time the scientists were calm and no alarms rang. The troops stood by and watched as Dart and Charger R/T materialized instantly. In a heartbeat, Charger R/T found himself standing in a confinement beam, presumably unable to move.
"Ha! I kicked your ass! How does that feel?" Dart was almost dancing with excitement.
No one but Tegra-Duran knew that from inside his containment field, Charger R/T was staring fiercely back at him. Like a rabid dog, Charger R/T swayed back and forth, intent on killing Tegra-Duran at the first opportunity.
Dart walked over to his father and said, "Now maybe you'll listen." To everyone's astonishment and panic, Charger calmly stepped out of the confinement field. Dart moved back quickly. Then, realizing the danger, he raised his hands, trying to keep his father from advancing on Tegra-Duran.
It was like a mosquito trying to hold back the windshield of a speeding car. Charger R/T advanced. "Wait, wait, hear me out, please. Dad, STOP!" Dart yelled.
Troops drew powerful weapons and, from every angle, Charger R/T found forces closing in on him. Dart was still pleading when Charger R/T stopped moving.
As if he were held in place, Charger R/T stood motionless. Maybe, still existing somewhere deep in his black pit of a heart, Henry was speaking, the young man who had willingly given up everything to help humanity.
Dart faced Charger R/T again. "I know we've all had some part in tormenting you. I know you feel, and justifiably so, betrayed and abused. I know the wrongs committed against you have forced you to endure ridicule and hatred. But now, more than ever, humanity needs your help. You were created to protect us. You are humanity's greatest achievement and most dismal failure. We abandoned our troops, and left you and your kind out in the cold. Nothing we can do now or in the future will ever make up for the evil we inflicted. But please, we need your help now." Dart stopped and stood before the mountain in silence.
Bethillian approached Charger R/T, much to the alarm of her father, Tegra-Duran. Young and thin with mouse-brown hair and large green eyes, Bethillian was a natural girl who hated wearing shoes and never needed makeup to look pretty. She padded up to Charger R/T barefoot and politely said, "Please help us. My father will not hurt you, I promise."
As she spoke, she pointed to Tegra-Duran. His blood ran cold as he stood frozen, terrified because Charger R/T now stood within inches of his daughter. For his part, Charger R/T slowly looked down at Bethillian, then up at Tegra-Duran. His four fangs showed as he started to smile. Bethillian smiled back, thinking there was kindness in those blank white eyes.
His great hand reached out and grabbed her by the throat, yanking her from the floor, where she dangled, helpless and gasping. With a flick, Charger R/T snapped her neck, and Bethillian hung lifeless.
Charger R/T looked hard at Tegra-Duran as shouts and action erupted in the room, but before anyone could act, Charger R/T placed Bethillian back on her feet. Touching the center of her forehead with the finger of his other hand, he sparked her back to life. Bethillian burst from Charger R/T's grip and ran to her father, unharmed. Everyone there now understood the true nature and power of this beast.
"What do you need?" Charger R/T growled.
The only one with courage to speak was Dart. "Abarth has raised an army. He is at Earth's door and h
as killed millions already. He threatens to kill millions more and we don’t have the power to stop him."
No one in the room wanted to move for fear of becoming a victim. Charger R/T's massive head scanned the room, seeing fear in every eye he encountered. He then blinked and was gone.
No one was sure what had just happened or could guess what would happen. Was Charger R/T helping? People started moving again, clicking buttons and sending signals, hoping to find information on Charger R/T's location. Reports came flooding in from the news media. The beast was now being reported as appearing on Earth, then New Eden, also Mars and Ceres, and he seemed to be searching for something.
***
Abarth was receiving these same reports. Calm in the face of this new development, he ordered his elite troops back to the world ship in anticipation of a fight. With the Grays at his back, and the neutrino weapon under his hand, he was bound to win.
Chapter 13 A timely escape
Abarth looked out the viewing portal of the command center onboard the world ship, expecting to see the usual blackness of space sparkling with a plethora of stars. He was stunned to see, instead, a Tasker mining ship hanging just feet from the surface of the world ship, blocking the portal and its view.
The power that Charger R/T commanded was stunning; he had blinked himself and the Tasker ship through space to confront Abarth. And, by his will alone, the Tasker ship was defying the powerful gravity of the world ship itself.
Abarth slowly backed away from the portal and stumbled into the middle of the command center, trying to get away from what he saw. Facing him was a Tasker ship window where Charger R/T stood, looking back at him.
"Attack! Attack that ship!" Abarth commanded as he shoved a crew member out of his way, hoping the Gray mutants would respond and kill Charger R/T. "Focus the lasers on that ship and fire!"
Abarth, in a panic, continued barking orders. He was unnerved by Charger R/T's sudden appearance. He raced to the control panel of the neutrino weapon. Desperate to divert attention from himself, he repeatedly pressed the button that fired the weapon down to the surface of the four planets, hoping to kill something. Anything.
