by I Ogunbase
Contents
Copyright
-
Dedication
Introduction
-
Aurora
An Unlikely Pair
Death Word
In The Void
New Earth
Bio-Etherealism 1
That Which One Wants
Suppression
World War
Beneath the Farm
Exodus
Bio-Etherealism 2
Good Morning Salvation
Butterflies
Terminal Combat
Zodiac Horror
Recall
Praetorians and Swear Words
Reset
Lookalikes
True Worth
Bio-Etherealism 3
Super Secrets
Invulnerable
Of Man and Machine
Fin
-
i
This is a work of fiction, and the views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author. Likewise, certain characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Ogunbase, I. Across The Multi-verse. Kindle Edition.
Copyright © 2020 I.Ogunbase
Cover/Art by Olivia Pro Designs
All rights reserved.
More from I. Ogunbase
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Counting the Seconds
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The Hierarchy
Alpha
Beta (Coming soon)
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Across The Multi-verse
To The love of My life...
My heart...
My haven.
~
Introduction
~
Hi All.
Welcome to the portal to the multi-verse.
The above statement is somewhat cheesy, I admit that. But, the idea of this little book is to show you a view as to the different ways I've come to stories, ideas and writing prompts. In the pursuit of being an author and growing in the skill of writing itself, I spent a lot of my days answering different Internet prompts and solo ideas in an attempt to test my writing skill and see how I could construct great stories.
As a result, I ended up writing a lot of stories.
I'll admit now that not all the stories I've written will show up. Without even meaning to, I ended up skewing a bit towards 'Science Fiction', skirting along the line between aliens, high technology and cybernetics.
All in all, I am largely excited about this.
When you turn the page, you're going to be greeted by the one of my recent short stories. It was an interested take and I was pleased with how it ended up going.
In short.
In this book, I will be taking you across the multiverse of stories I've touched. Each with it's own feel and its own tempo. Each story is a novel in itself, a dream of something that could be. Either in this life or in another.
I hope you enjoy the visits!
~
Across The Multi-verse
~
~
Aurora
~
Athena's Glory floated gently in space, overlooking the debris of the now-destroyed planet. We arrived far too late to make a difference and judging by the face the captain made when he found out the military fleet was already on its way to the next planet, we were going to be late to stop them in any case. The vessel's hyperdrive couldn't take the strain anymore, not without extensive repairs.
"Tell the ships to spread out and mine the rocks. We might as well at this point," the captain ordered, running a hand absently through his hair. Having served with Hordu for close to a decade, I knew it was getting to him.
The 5 ft 5 man never touched his gelled hair unless he was stressed. I could see the worry lines deepening on his face with every passing moment. And I didn't blame him.
His frustration was clear. If anything, it mirrored our collective emotions. He glanced at me and I shrugged and shook my head. There was nothing to be said that would make the situation feel better.
Because, by the time we hauled our fleet to PHA-5X, the planet's terraforming would be on the way. And at that point, stopping the action would make no sense. I found myself scratching my chin absentmindedly as I exited the main bridge. I could hear Hordu giving out orders for the engineering team to start repairs on the hyperdrive.
The communication team were doing their best to establish communication with Starfleet but the attempts were unsuccessful. And judging by my brief brush with Starfleet, I could easily bet the communications were being intentionally blocked.
I found myself scratching the stubble on my chin as I walked the length of the long corridor leading away from the bridge, doing my best to avoid looking through the glass and at the dead planet's debris in space. Except, Space was beautiful, even in chaos.
The ship was silent and with good reason too. Once again, the Federation had overruled our research and case in favour of expansion and military growth. Once again, we were eradicating another species from their homes. Once again, we were committing xenocide.
The sound of footsteps trailing me made me glance back to see a young man staring at me with a tablet in his hand. He bowed his head slightly before passing the thing tablet over. As I took it from him, it lit up, prompting me for an access code entry.
I glanced at the man and he took a step back to give me some privacy.
"What's this for?" I asked.
"Requisition order, sir. Dr Brian wanted your signature so that he could order some equipment and resources. He sent me to find you, sir," the man replied.
With the light blue colour of his cargo pants and his top, added with the way he looked at me, I pegged him down as a recruit in my mind. Recruits always wore bright colours, which darkened over time to symbolise promotion.
"You're a recruit," I said.
"Yes, sir," he replied, a smile splitting his otherwise calm face.
I smiled too. Recruit enthusiasm was something that most of the veterans enjoyed to experience. It was one of the few joys that space still allowed us to enjoy.
"Welcome to Athena's Glory. One of the oldest human fleets in existence," I said and my smiled widened as his eyes did. "When did you join?"
"About a month ago, sir."
"And, how has the experience been so far?"
"It's been... breathtaking, sir, if I'm allowed to say that."
"Of course, you are," I grinned before turning to face the glass separating me from space. "Space is always breathtaking."
Glancing down at the tablet, I tap in the department code and the unlocked to a digital document already holding a signature. Next to Brian's signature, was the space for mine. I skimmed through what my colleague was ordering before using a finger to scrawl my signature. Once that was done, I scanned my thumb next to my signature before handing the tablet back to the recruit.
Just as I was about to turn, the recruit made to move towards me before hesitating.
"Is everything alright?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Yes, sir. Just wanted to ask a question. I've been asking everyone and the answers have been interesting. So, I figured I'd make it a thing," he explained.
"Sounds fun enough. Go ahead."
The young man pursed his lips for a moment, as if to comport himself before speaking.
"What's the strangest thing you've seen out there?" The new-recruit asked, looking out into the vast spacial abyss.
I took a long breath in, weighing the answers in my head before deciding and offering an unexpected one.
"...Humans," I said, returning my attention back to the stars.
I heard the recruit gasp in surprise before laughing as he thought on what I said. I allowed him the brevity. Sometimes, it is usually best for one to get it out of their system. After all, the realisation had given me the same reactions.
"Sir, how can it be humans? We are humans. How are we the strangest things out in space?" the recruit asked.
Turning to face him, I sized him up and down. The newbie was a young man, going by his face, but he was built up like a linebacker. That made me purse my lips in consideration. I'm not one for judging people and putting them into boxes but from the looks of him, I couldn't help but feel that he came through the military route.
My stare must have unnerved him because he added.
"I mean, my cousin's told me the story of the race in the Qularn sector. He said the whole species are gelatinous. Like an army of jelly shots!"
That was when I sighed. Definitely military route.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"First Officer Sam, sir. Aurora," the recruit said, saluting me in the process.
Three for three, I found myself thinking.
"Your cousin was also military?" I asked.
"Yes sir. Starfleet," Sam answered, a proud smile forming on his face, "My father and his brothers, also. We're a family of fighters, sir. They were all Starfleet. I'm the only Aurora."
Military designations for their fleets always made my head hurt. As far as I as concerned, they were all the same. I mean, they did have some differences. Starfleets were technically space jocks with more brawns than anything else. Ramsfleet were like the former but less war hungry. They did sign up for research projects though and that was always classified talk. Aurora were the ones who were specifically made to work with the Researchers and the Science fleet.
I nodded, pushing myself away from the window and began walking down the corridor leading to the lab. Not that I had anything special to do, but whenever I'm in space, the lab was always my favourite place to spend the time.
Perhaps the kid was still salvageable...
"Sam..." I began as I walked. The recruit fell into step next to me.
"The 'gelatinous' species are not gelatinous. In fact, they are not liquid or liquid based in any form you know," I explained.
I glanced at him, catching his frown.
"But my cousin said..." he protested and I cut him short.
"Your cousin was wrong. Not a fault of his, I would say, but he was wrong," I said.
The man kept quiet, continuing with me as we made our journey to the end and took a right turn at the junction.
"The reason why we left the Qularn sector was because we, the scientists and researchers, listened to what the Quaranks were saying. The general wasn't. And frankly, he didn't care. All he saw was a chance of expansion for the Federation," I explained further.
"Are you saying we don't need to expand?" Sam asked.
"Focus, Sam," I said, stopping in my tracks. I ignored the slight irritation but I couldn't stop myself from massaging my forehead.
"Sam," I said, "We listened. The general didn't. The Quaranks are a peaceful race, un-gelatinous in form. Instead, as we came to find out, the liquid form in which they communicated was to ensure we were calm in the conversations we had."
Sam frowned, his forehead creasing as he tried to understand what I was saying. I allowed him the minutes to piece together the question I wanted him to ask.
"Why would they want us calm?" Sam asked and I smiled.
"Because... The Quaranks real form, is the whole planet. They can split themselves into small liquid based forms for efficiency, communication and construction. We are not clear on the latter but that's what we learned. All the planets in the Qularn sector are Quaranks. And they were excited to meet us."
Sam's eyes went wide.
"The planet is their body?" he asked in a low, worried voice.
"Yes," I replied.
"But... Oh shit..." he said, running a hand through his dark hair. It was then I noticed he was taller than me. Truly built like an athlete. My smile widened at his apparent confusion as he tried to imagine the scale of the race.
"But... how can we win against them? A planet sized race would decimate all the ships we throw against them! Heck, simultaneous thermonuclear warheads would hurt them at most but they'd be fine... Won't they?"
My smile died then.
"Your reply? That's why humans are the strangest things out here," I said, my voice strangely frozen.
Sam gave me a confused look.
"I have seen, in the years I've spent in space, roughly thirty different races. Most were peaceful. Most were in their early years of consciousness and as such, generally primitive," I said, rubbing my eyes to stop myself from looking weary.
"In all the years I've been up here, I've seen humanity steamroll all of the thirty alien species all in the name of 'Expansion'. We, who once thought we were alone in the universe. We, who wanted to explore the stars and meet new species. We, who used to think aliens would hate us for simply existing. And here we are, erasing species for simply existing."
His mouth had dropped open, becoming wider with each passing second.
"Humanity is a scourge. I used to think we were finally getting somewhere when space became a frontier we could navigate. Safe to say, I was wrong. We will never change."
~
An Unlikely Pair
~
The work is slow. Very slow. Orders from high command dictate that we must scour the dead planet for anything that will benefit the empire. Anything that will be a worthy sacrifice to nNatik. Highest glory to nNatik. I feel a longing to utter the name of our nNatik but I cannot. It is blasphemy. An act punishable by only death, so that we might rejoin and be punished in the everlasting union.
But I don't say it. The name is not worthy to leave my mind for I am not worthy to say it. I am not Trakae. I am not. I wish to be but I am not for I was not hatched in the privilege necessary for such glory.
I glide across the dirt to the next rock to lift, tired of the work. The Terrans have nothing of interest for us. Nothing of interest for the great Jargen empire. As I cast my senses out, using my bjartak to feel around the debris, I hear a sound that stops me.
A familiar sound.
I don't hesitate. My mind senses fill the space around me, searching for the source of the sound. As it wraps around one of the rocks, I sense a strange contraption. The sound repeats itself and it comes from it. I throw a bjartak at the rock, throwing it away as I prepare to attack. But, I pause. The contraption is small, smaller than I am. Smaller than half.
I pull it close, cautious for attacks but nothing comes. Once certain, I loom over the contraption and my eyes and senses widen in surprise. Staring back at me with bright blue eyes in its tiny form, was a young Terran.
--
"It is the itch I miss. The itch of surprise," I say. The air is smoke and dust. The sky is reddened from of a lingering fire in the distance. I can see the glow of heat from where I float, in the shadow of a ruined buildings.
The sound of explosions fill the air at random. The empire is scouring the rock for remains. Remains that might make it to the trophy room or the science ships.
"I, Grmjakel, am great warrior. Great warrior of war with Terrans. When mothership approach blue space rock form the black void, I am in the first vessel to fight, along with my brood and my war-bound. We were the first wave of cleansing. And we washed the Terrans off the blue rock with glee," I continue my story as my eyes follow the warships flying overheard.
They can't see me for I have put on my shield cloak. I don't want to be seen. Not for a while, I think. Though, I must make a report soon to the ship captain and squad leader. I wonder what I will tell them. I am not certain yet. Thinking in Terran is difficult. The language is rough. And not simple. And creating an opening on my head to talk was also not simple. Audio communication is ineffective.
&nb
sp; "The Terrans were weak. The Terrans are weak. They have four bjartak. Four...appendages, though they walk on two and use the others for menial work. Very unlike us. Very bad. They don't have bjartak like us. They walk. We fly. They use a hole in their heads to talk. We talk from mind to mind. Audible communication is weak. Ineffective.
"Their weapons are ineffective but interesting. Metal objects shooting metal objects in a show of fire and sound. It is harmless against our bio-shield, turning to dust before it touches us. It was only proper that they lost to us. Lost to the might of the Jargen empire."
A sound of bubbling and incomprehensible words reach me and I shiver. I search my mind for any record or meaning but find none. It is an odd sound. Like a secret communication. My eyes narrow and I scan my surroundings for enemy combatants. I open my senses and my mental energies hum with activity, but I find no one else. It is...unsettling.
"I am great warrior of the Jargen empire, masters of the black void. We have cleansed different rocks since we began to fly through the stars in the name and form of our nNatik. Our nNatik says we will own the black void. And so, we fight to show we deserve it. We have fought and killed the rocks in the name of our nNatik. In worship of our nNatik," I say before turning to look at my new discovery.
Big blue eyes look back at me. There's an intent in them as I link my mind with the little Terran in front of me. The intent is odd. But also familiar. It seems to want something. I am uncertain. I float closer to it, extending a bjartak to it. The Terran creature grabs it before repeating the incoherent words. The intent I feel is warm.
"But, all those battles were boring. Ordained," I say as the Terran's face opening widens. The intent is warmer.
"The Terrans are the ones to make me itch. The vigour of their battle. The heat of their will. Whenever my brood destroy their positions, they regroup and attack harder. With the others, our superiority shone like a star rock. We would destroy our enemies in four karins. That is...four... weeks, in Terran."
