by Hao Yang
“I will bring you to him.”
“You think we will trust you just like this.” Kalan laughed.
“It’s up to you.” Mark said slowly.
Kalan didn’t say anything and walked out of the compartment. Neiteo followed him and locked the door behind. He caught up with Klaycon and asked, “You think he really knows where Liutein is?”
“No.”
“We have been searching Liutein for a while and no fleet has any clue. If we have a lead and find Liutein, that will be big.”
“I know, but this Human is lying to save his ass.”
“Think about the tracer.”
Klaycon paused for a second.
Just at this moment, Neiteo’s badge rung and he answered it.
“Chief, the patrol reported the sighting of Cruiser General Klizan.”
“Are you sure?” Neiteo asked nervously and looked at Kalan in confusion. Kalan heard their conversation. He didn’t expect the cruiser was this close to the fleet.
“Yes, chief. It is Cruiser General Klizan and it is drifting towards us right now.”
“Battle station.” Kalan said hastily.
“Battle station!” Neiteo shouted at his badge.
Two minutes later, Kalan and Neiteo rushed back to the bridge.
“Sir, combat formation is ready. Fighter jets have been deployed. The cruiser is still drifting towards us.” First officer reported.
“General?”
“Send probes.”
“Send probes.” Neiteo repeated the order hastily.
Ten probes flew off the patrol vessels and headed to the cruiser.
“Fighter jets stand by for engagement. Ready long range missiles.” Kalan said calmly.
“First wave fighter jets stand by for order. Cruiser 21 to 50, ready long range missiles” Neiteo said quickly.
“Estimate probe contact time is five minutes.” First officer said.
Everyone in the bridge was focusing on the screen.
Klaycon crossed his arms in front of the chest so that no one could notice his hands were shaking. He had no idea what would happen next.
Chapter 155
It was the longest five minutes.
“Probes are closing to the target right now. Images are coming.” First officer said.
On the screen, the shark like cruiser was moving slowly, its hull shining brightly. Apparently, it was not on power.
“Scan the cruiser for life sign.” Kalan ordered.
“Right away.”
The 10 probes circled the cruiser several times and returned with no hit.
“Send one probe into the cruiser. Keep the fleet at this bearing. No fighter jet returns to the carrier.” Kalan said slowly.
Neiteo repeated Kalan’s order and sent the authorization code to the cruiser. One probe was able to open the emergency airlock and entered into the cruiser.
It was cold, dark and dead quiet inside the cruiser. As the probe wandered around, Kalan and others could see sticky brown stuff covering the interior like a layer of mold. The probe soon reached the bridge and Kalan and others were shocked at the image. Yayi’s dead bodies piled like mountains.
“That is spooky.” Neiteo muttered.
Kalan then had the probe flown to the compartment where the Hylocan eyeball was held. The eyeball was gone.
Kalan sighed and wondered how to report this to the Joint Commanders of Staff.
Later Kalan went aboard the cruiser and activated it with his crystal. He ordered the mechanic team to check the vessel. At the same time, the medical team took samples of those brown stuff. A quick analysis showed that it was the dried blood, but they couldn’t identify the species having this kind of blood due to the lack of instruments.
After a day, mechanics finished checking the cruiser and it was ready for sail. Kalan knew going back like this would be like slapping his own face. He must find something to make up the lost. Then he suddenly remembered the Human Mark. The joint commanders were more interested in finding Liutein.
Neiteo looked worried and unsettled. He could tell there was something about this cruiser and Kalan was hiding it from him. He walked to Kalan and said, “We are ready. We can leave at any moment.”
“I see.” Kalan replied coldly.
“Is everything alright? I mean we are here to find the cruiser and we found it. Now it’s time to hit the road.” Neiteo said in a hard voice.
“Neiteo, I know what you are thinking.” Kalan said slowly.
“Something about the cruiser I need to know? You know, apparently some species were in that cruiser and some horrible thing happened. Be honest with you, I don’t even want to know what happened. But as for now, we will take the cruiser with us, so anything I have to pay attention?”
“I don’t know.” Kalan said sincerely.
Now Kalan sounded more like a friend, so Neiteo just let it be.
“What about that Human? Do we kill him? Or you are thinking about using him to find Liutein?”
“I like to give it a try.”
“At least we got something from this trip.”
“That is one way to put it.” Kalan sighed.
Later in the day, just before they headed back to Sylareon, Kalan talked with Mark. They reached an agreement that if Mark could lead Kalan to Liutein, Kalan would spare him and his two sons.
Chapter 156
Dolanz and Oepttese had been technically at war since UWI, but this time they had gone much further in the drain. Human was fighting for Oepttese but consistently denied it. It wasn’t the first time Human did it, but Dolanz never declared war to Human. Their relation was more like two close friends running after one girl and one day the girl made the decision and dumped one boy. The dumped boy couldn’t stay cool and always gave the girl a hard time. The other boy pretended that he didn’t know, but helped the girl under the table. Both boys knew what was going on, but neither of them wanted to ruin their friendship. When this applied to species, it was far more complex, tangled with profits and interests.
Jason quickly got used to the life as a pilot on the carrier. The military life reminded him the old days when he was a trainee in Human preselection center. Pilots were allowed to call their families once a week. Jason called Erikon and learned that Oepttese only took him and left others on Weithei. Orizy came later and picked them up. Jason was happy that none of them was hurt and then he asked Erikon about Gloria. It turned out that Gloria didn’t return to the training center. Erikon didn’t know whether Gloria was OK or not. Jason was upset and worried, but there was nothing he could do.
In a typical day, Jason usually spent four hours patrolling near the fleet. It was allocated into two sections, each of which has two hours. Besides those four hours, Jason had a lot of free time on his hands and he got bored quickly.
One day, after the routine patrol, Jason came back to the room and sunk into the bed. He wasn’t tired or sleepy, but there was nothing else to do. Since he spoke with Erikon, he couldn’t pull himself up. Even though he acted just like other guys, he never felt so lonely in his heart. His father was probably dead and Gloria was out of touch. Then he thought about his current situation, he felt difficult to breathe.
“Hey, Jason, you OK? You look kind of heavy.” Riodin asked gently. He was a new guy with ginger hair and flat nose.
“Yea, I am fine.” Jason said easily and squeezed out a stiff smile.
“Let me guess. You lost someone too?” Riodin asked sadly.
“My father, they lost contact with him. He could still be alive.” Jason said weakly.
“In the war, this happens all the time. He might be just fine.”
Jason nodded and asked, “You lost someone?”
Riodin paused for several seconds and sighed, “My brother died several days ago. In his case, they found the body or at least part of him. He was in infantry division.”
Jason didn’t say anything. He didn’t really know what to say.
“Why we fight this war? Why?”
Riodin shouted suddenly.
Other pilots looked at Riodin, but quickly went back to their own stuffs. They had gotten used to this kind of screams.
Jason let out a long sigh. He didn’t understand why Human fought side by side with Oepttese and he knew Human got in deep this time. Previously, Human only sent weapons and other supplies to Oepttese, but this time Human dispatched its Second fleet. Human only had six fleets and each of them had three carriers and around 30 other vessels.
Rew strolled to Riodin and said, “At least we are all airman.”
“What difference does that make?” Jason asked impatiently.
“You know, how you are treated in the force is really up to the gear under your ass.” Rew said in a joking tone.
They all smiled quietly.
“Hey, let’s get some fun. You two are new. Let me show you a place.” Rew said in a mysterious manner.
The three left the living quarter and headed to the bottom of the carrier.
A carrier was like a big city with everything a person on land could need. That of course included facilities supporting daily life, such as a brothel. The history of brothels on Human carriers and other vessels could date back to UWII. During that war the financial situation of Human fleet was so bad that they didn’t have enough money to pay enlists, officers and other personnel. As a result, brothels were brought on board to serve as one form of payments. After UWII, brothels were removed for a short period of time. However, it came back under the request of serving men. Human defense department never officially admitted there were brothels on any vessel.
In order to motivate serving men, different fleets even set up different access rules for brothels. Basically, it depended on individual’s performance on the battlefield. In Human Second fleet, if someone performed well on the battlefield, the same value ticket would grant him a better looking girl.
Chapter 157
At the bottom of the carrier, there was a big compartment filled with cubicles that were only big enough to fit one bed.
When Jason, Rew and Riodin got there, they could see a long line outside. Rew had told Jason and Riodin about the brothel and they quickly joined the line. While they were waiting in the line patiently, they saw Kiel step out of the compartment. He walled to Jason and Riodin and said, “So you guys found it.” He gave Rew an evil smile.
“You didn’t tell us.” Jason complained.
Riodin smiled in embarrassment.
“Come on. I planned to show you guys this place when you got your first month pay.” Kiel chuckled.
“I got them covered, but only for this time.” Rew said proudly.
“Alright. Oh, by the way, Jason. Here it counts how many kills you make. You will be able to fuck the most beautiful one. I have faith in you.” Kiel said sincerely.
“I will keep that in mind.” Jason said happily.
Kiel laughed and left. The line kept moving forward slowly. After about two hours, Jason, Riodin and Rew finally reached the reception. A girl around her 20s smiled at them nicely and said, “Hello, gentlemen.”
“Hi, I am Rew. I am here for these two new guys. They just got here recently, so they haven’t had their first paycheck yet. I will just pay it with mine. Is that alright?” Rew said quickly.
“Sure. Let me check your balance.” The girl quickly tapped on the screen. She soon gave Rew a nice smile and entered Riodin Esonel’s name. But she had some problem finding Jason’s name.
“Can you double check it?” Rew asked.
“Huh, Rew, I think I know what is going on. I will just leave.” Jason whispered.
“Oh, I see. Do you mind going back on your own? You know, I.” Rew said hesitatingly as he pointed at the compartment.
“Oh, no problem.” Jason said and quickly left the queue.
“What’s up man? Run out of money?” A soldier in the queue shouted at Jason. Other soldiers broke into laughter.
Jason kept his head down and started to run. He soon left the bottom of the carrier. He was running so fast that when he saw a nurse walk into the corridor, he wasn’t able to break and rammed into her. The girl fell over on her back and Jason fell on her.
“Sorry, sorry.” Jason said as he quickly stood up.
She had a diamond-shaped face with dark blonde hair forming a thick braid, her eyes shining in dark green, her cute lips pursing because of the pain.
“I know you.” The girl said in surprise.
“Oh.” Jason sighed. Now he couldn’t just run away.
“You remember me? I am the nurse in the surgery room. I am Jenny.”
“Yea, yea, yea. I remember.” Jason now recalled this girl.
“I see your leg is fine now.” Jenny joked.
“Yea.” Jason nodded in embarrassment.
“So what is the rush? You are on the way to brothel?” Jenny asked curiously.
“Yea, actually, I am.” Jason said quickly. He really hope to end this conversation as soon as possible.
“You don’t need to go there. A lot of nurses like you. You can get sex for free.” Jenny said as she played her braid. Her voice was soft and sweet like summer breeze.
“That is good news.”
“I can help you save some money.”
“What?” Jason asked in surprise, his eyes popping out.
“Come on. Don’t give me this look. Girls can’t ask for sex?” Jenny said in a naughty tone as she unbuttoned her uniform.
Jason looked around carefully. There were only few guys in the distance.
Jenny slowly pulled her uniform apart. She didn’t wear any underwear and her firm breasts jumped out like rabbits. Jason couldn’t help but grabbed one. It felt so good that he quickly grabbed the other one. He squeezed them harshly and Jenny flushed in red.
“Jason Marton. Jason Marton reports to hangar nine.” The blaring voice came out of the speaker right above them.
“It seems we have to find another time.” Jenny said sadly.
“Yea.” Jason sighed.
“My room is F2983.” Jenny whispered into Jason’s ear and kissed him on the cheek.
“OK.” Jason said as he withdrew his hands.
“You will come, right?”
“Yea, I will.” Jason said and ran away.
Chapter 158
When Jason ran into hangar nine, he went directly to the hangar manager and didn’t notice there was a Tizuee vessel in the hangar. As he saluted the manager, Erikon suddenly attacked him from behind and choke-held him. Jason then saw Lucis and Titainein. Now he was shocked, his jaw misplaced, his mouth wide open.
“Got you this time!” Erikon shouted happily and let Jason go.
Titainein gave Jason a big hug and so did Erikon and Lucis.
“You guys are crazy. We are at war here.” Jason said emotionally.
“You are the crazy one.” Titainein complained.
They all laughed loudly.
Later they sat at a corner in the carrier dining hall. People looked at Titainein in surprise. They weren’t used to see other species on the carrier.
“So how is Sayilin, Orizy and Idi?” Jason asked.
“They are fine. They want to come as well, but you know we figured too many people might cause some problem.” Titainein said.
“That is true. How you guys find the fleet?” Jason asked curiously.
“I asked my father about it and he told me.” Lucis said in a relaxed tone.
“Hey, don’t forget who drove your guys here.” Titainein whined.
“Right, Titainein got a vessel.” Lucis said briefly.
“I also asked my family to pull some string. You know I am a Tizuee princess. That is why we can landed here.” Titainein said proudly.
“Man, I need to get some food.” Erikon said as he left the table and rushed to the counter.
They all smiled and watched Erikon grab several plates and fill them with whatever available on the counter.
“Jason, I know you are thinking about Gloria. Sorry, we don’t have an
y news.” Titainein said sadly.
“She hadn’t been to the training center since Klaycon took her away. We don’t know what happened.” Lucis said in a low voice.
“She should be fine. She should be fine.” Jason murmured, casting his eyes down.
“Jason, maybe it’s the time to let it go.” Titainein said caringly.
“I can‘t stop thinking about her.” Jason said painfully.
Titainein was about to say something, but she saw Lucis shake his head, so she stopped.
Erikon returned with five plates filled with food and said, “Guys, let’s eat first. Man, they looked good. So you got any plan?” He quickly put the plates on the table and started without waiting for others.
“I can’t go back to the training center. I hope the prison thought I was dead. I will stay low for now and see.” Jason said listlessly.
“If you really had something to do with Hylocan, I don’t think those first species would give up.” Titainein said in a worried voice.
“Hylocan. Man, that is another mess.” Jason said tiredly.
“You want to tell us?” Titainein asked.
“You know its better we don’t know.” Lucis said cautiously as he winked at Titainein.
Titainein thought for a second and nodded at Lucis.
“First species know your Hylocan story?” Titainein asked seriously.
“I didn’t tell them anything. They didn’t ask me before they lock me up in Listan.” Jason said.
“They had the ring, so they probably figured something out. At least they know you are important to Hylocan queen.” Titainein said.
“Jason, sometime I don’t understand you. You didn’t really think much when you do things.” Lucis said unhappily.
“Does Gloria know the whole story?” Titainein asked.
“Huh, part of it.” Jason said hesitatingly.
“I can tell which part you told her.” Titainein sighed.
“Dude, you don’t need to worry about other things. Gloria will kill you first.” Erikon said.
“Thank you! That is very comforting.” Jason said.
“I think the best course of action for you is to live as a hermit, forever.” Titainein said helplessly.
