Dark Solar Complete Trilogy: Oleander - Wolfsbane - Maikoa

by D. N. Leo

  “Do you know what Ha Long Bay means?” Dinah asking, looking at the translator in her wrist unit.

  He turned around, looked at her beautiful face, and smiled.

  “It means a place where the dragon descends,” she said and smiled back at him.

  “Wow, that explains all the dragon talk. But I can’t see myself growing a tail or scaly skin.”

  Ciaran stepped out from the cabin. He hadn’t talked much since the incident at the rice field.

  “You could have cut his head off right in the open rice field, Ciaran. We saw what you can do on the hilltop. You chopped the hulk’s head off with your mind blade,” Arik said.

  “He turned around to face me. I don’t attack from behind.”

  Arik shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

  “It’s coming,” Michael said from the back, pointing at the sky. They could see the shade of the sunlight darken a bit.

  “It’s a cloud,” Arik said.

  “Dimensional shift. Be careful. Movements in the water. Michael, come to the front,” Ciaran ordered.

  Michael scurried to the front of the boat.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to connect to the Eudaiz network yet?” Dinah asked.

  Ciaran nodded. “My men are here on several islands. We should be fine for now.”

  “I’m not supposed to see them, am I?” Michael glanced around. “Look out!” Michael shouted and pushed at Ciaran. They both fell to the floor.

  A metal arrow carrying a small rectangular leather case stabbed deep into the wall outside.

  Ciaran stood up from the floor. “It’s a messenger. They didn’t want to shoot at me, Michael.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because this is a galactic scale war, son, and something wants to play with me. Killing too early isn’t fun.”

  “Did you just call me son?” Michael grinned.

  Ciaran waved his hand in dismissal and took the package. He pulled out a shiny electronic device.

  “An iPad?” Michael gasped.

  “That’s an insult, Michael. Our technology isn’t that primitive,” Ciaran said.

  “What’s an iPad?” Dinah asked Arik.

  “It’s like a kid’s toy. When you have too much money and don’t know what to do with it on Earth, you can spend money on that.”

  The screen flashed on, displaying an image of Cooper and Jenny.

  Dinah and Arik stormed over, glaring at the screen.

  “Over there!” Michael pointed at a secure-looking yacht that was moving out slowly from the fog and approaching them.

  On the device screen, a man in his fifties appeared. “Ciaran LeBlanc.”

  “Yes, who am I speaking to?”

  “This is TD40, commander in charge of the Tri-Sun group. As you can see, we have a trade to do if you’re interested. Two of these people for Arik.”

  “I need time…”

  “Five seconds.”

  They looked up, and the yacht was already twenty feet away from them.

  Ciaran looked at Arik.

  Arik nodded. “Please, Ciaran. I can do this.”

  “Yes,” Ciaran said.

  There was a thunk at the side of their boat. Men on the other boat had sprayed fumes to create a thick artificial fog to cover them from prying eyes.

  Dinah rushed over to Arik, and she reached up and kissed him. “I love you, Arik.”

  “I love you, too.”

  On the other yacht, two men in uniform held Cooper and Jenny. Arik stepped onto the bridge and walked over. As soon as he reached the other side, they pushed Jenny and Cooper over and withdrew the bridge.

  Ciaran glanced at Michael and nodded. Michael slid onto the floor, scrambled toward the back, and shot a tracking device onto the bottom of the yacht.

  Within two seconds, a man on the other boat came out and used a device to suck up their tracking bug. He put it in the bag and shot another arrow back.

  Then the yacht disappeared into the fog.

  Ciaran pulled the arrow out and looked at the bag. His tracking device was inside with a small note which said, “Amateur.”

  Jenny and Dinah rushed over to Ciaran.

  “You have a plan, right, Ciaran? That was your plan?” Jenny asked.

  “You set this up with Arik, right?” Dinah asked.

  Ciaran didn’t answer. He turned around and hurled the tracking device against the wall, shattering it into a hundred pieces.

  32

  The sky had darkened several shades. The crowd hummed and concentrated on the coming eclipse, and were totally oblivious to the war that was coming at them.

  “You’re still not calling Eudaiz, Ciaran?” Dinah asked.

  He shook his head, looking up to the sky. “We don’t know what they have. We can’t show them what have.”

  “But you’ve got nothing here. You don’t know where they’ve taken Arik,” Jenny said, tears gleaming in her eyes.

  Ciaran turned and looked at Cooper. Cooper led Jenny toward the back of the boat. “The last thing he needs now is a distraction, Jenny.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.”

  He pulled her into the only arm he had left.

  Dinah approached with a needle. “Just a boost,” she said.

  Cooper nodded. “Thanks.” He looked at Dinah. “Sorry I left in Xiilok. I went back to the hillside where they got Jenny. It was blind luck. They used the machine to scrape the hillside again, like a cycle. So I jumped right in. And they dumped me in the same cell with Jenny.”

  “He’s got what he wanted. He’s an idiot,” Jenny muttered.

  “Indeed, he is.” Dinah glared at Cooper. “I’ll ask Ciaran to make you an arm. But it will come at a cost.”

  “Well, as long as it doesn’t cost me an arm and a leg, it should be okay.”

  “Not funny. Are you sure it was underground where they took you?”

  Cooper nodded. “They always move in confined spaces. It could have been underwater, but judging from some bumping incidents, it felt solid, like ground. Dirt and rock rather than water.”

  Dinah nodded and left for the front of the boat. She found Ciaran still staring at the sky, which was darkening by the minute.

  They felt a current in the air. A brush of electricity on their skin. The eclipse was closer.

  Ciaran turned and looked at her. His body glowed slightly.

  “Your eudqi is on?”

  He nodded. “The dimensions are shifting.”

  “Yes, I can feel it, too.”

  Michael approached and saw a halo of light around Ciaran.

  “I can travel across multiple dimensions. This light is the energy, my protection. You don’t have this protection. Therefore, under no circumstances should you travel with anyone or any creature to another dimension. You will die.”

  “Understood.” Michael nodded.

  “Can you stay on the boat and take care of Jenny and Cooper?” Ciaran asked him.

  Michael nodded again.

  “My prediction is that the merger will happen in another dimension. Humans here won’t see the triple eclipses. They can only see one. That might mean the war won’t occur here.”

  They felt the boat shudder. The people on the water gasped.

  “You’ll come back here, right?” Michael asked.

  “Of course.” Ciaran said, knowing Michael didn’t believe him. He had made a promise to Michael seven years ago. And he didn’t keep it.

  Michael nodded and went to the back of the boat.

  “It’s time,” Ciaran said.

  Ciaran’s men delivered an air jet ski right at the side of their boat. The air jet ski parked, hovering in the air.

  “I’ll open the portal now. Will you come with me?” Ciaran asked Dinah.

  He opened his portal. A beam of light flashed. Dinah said nothing but followed right behind him. Ciaran jumped onto the air jet ski and dove into the dark space, dashing around unrecognizable objects and debris.

  “Where are we?” Dina
h asked.

  “Near Alphi. This is a possible path to see the triple eclipses.”

  “There.” Dinah pointed to a black space with three small wedges of light around it.

  They heard a howl nearby.

  “That’s Arete,” she said and pulled out her gun.

  Ciaran spun the jet ski around. He blasted his first mind blade at Arete. He had done this several times before—he could kill by sending giant blades toward his opponents using his mind power. But the blades operated on his energy, and every strike taxed him. Thus, without going back to Eudaiz to recharge, he would soon be running out of energy if he weren’t careful.

  Arete was hit, and judging from his grunt, it was a severe blow.

  It was too dark to see much.

  “I can’t afford to hit randomly,” Ciaran said.

  “I know.” Dinah jumped off his jet ski and spread her wings.

  “Dinah!”

  She ignored him. She flew to the dim shade of the remaining light before the total eclipse. She could see that she flew above Arete, so she fired down at him. He howled in pain and then dashed into another dimension.

  “I’ve lost him,” she said and returned to the jet ski.

  “You’re reckless, Dinah.”

  “Look in the mirror before you say that. Where did he go?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Give me the primer, Dinah,” Arete said from right behind them.

  Ciaran spun the jet around and saw Arete floating in the air with Michael dangling over his shoulder.

  “You bastard,” Ciaran growled, but he couldn’t send another mind blade at Arete because he had Michael.

  Dinah jumped off the jet ski again.

  “Here,” she said and held up the jar containing the primer. “Come here and get it. Give Michael back to Ciaran.”

  Arete threw Michael at the jet ski and left Ciaran to catch him. Then he came after Dinah.

  Grabbing Michael’s body and holding it tight, Ciaran drove back to the human dimension. He put the boy’s body on the floor of the boat when Cooper and Jenny rushed over.

  “I’m sorry, Ciaran. Arete appeared out of nowhere and snatched him.” Cooper said.

  “His human body can’t handle dimensional travel without protection,” Ciaran said and shook Michael’s shoulders lightly. “Open your eyes for me, son. Come on.”

  Michael stirred, and his eyes opened. “I’m sorry…”

  “You’ll die if I don’t turn you into something else now. I’ll give you some of my energy. Do you agree to take it?”

  “You came back… You kept your promise…” Michael said weakly.

  “You’re dying. I’m going to inject you with alien energy, but it will change you. Do you agree to take it? Hurry, Michael.”

  “Can I…go with you?”

  “Yes. So then you agree?”

  “Yes…” Michael passed out.

  Ciaran signaled. Cooper scrambled to pull out Dinah’s stash of medical equipment. He found a syringe and thrust it toward Ciaran.

  Michael nodded.

  Ciaran pulled his shirt open, revealing his eudqi point.

  “No, Ciaran. You can’t afford that now,” Cooper said.

  “Got another solution?”

  “Being from Iilos isn’t too bad. I have a privilege I can use.”

  Ciaran nodded. “Where?”

  Cooper pulled his shirt open. “Vein, next to the heart but not on the heart please.”

  Ciaran concentrated and located the faint mark of the key vein. He stuck the needle in and drew out a light blue substance. He then injected the substance into Michael’s jugular.

  Cooper fell to the floor, and Jenny grabbed him and held him in her arms.

  Ciaran stood. He asked Jenny, “Can you take care of them both?”

  Jenny nodded. “But wait, can I borrow your scanner? I want to find out how Arete found us.”

  “Understood. Sorry I neglected this. I’ll scan.” Ciaran turned on the scanner of his wrist unit. It flashed a light beam that enveloped Jenny’s body.

  He looked at the nape of her neck. “Here’s the bug.”

  “Take it out, please.”

  Ciaran cut the small bug out with his knife and gave it to Jenny. As she stomped on it with her foot, he scanned Cooper.

  “He’s clean,” Ciaran said. “If the bug was planted by Tri-Sun, then they’re working with Arete. I should go now.”

  Ciaran nodded a goodbye, jumped on the jet ski again, and went back for Dinah.

  33

  Ciaran flew into the dark space of the dimension as close to Aphil as possible. He should have told Dinah the plan. He should have discussed his thoughts and the possibility of Arete’s attack from Aphil.

  The prospect of Dinah fighting Arete in the dark space made his organs feel as if they were burning.

  There she was. He could see her tiny shadow moving in and out of a cloud. She was paying hide and seek with Arete.

  Arete was now a gigantic lump because his body was attracting any material he came across. That was the result of getting too close to the aperture without having the mutation primer.

  Ciaran moved closer. He shouted at Dinah, “I’m here!”

  She turned around and saw him. She flapped her wings and flew over. She didn’t anticipate her wing span and spread them too close to Arete. He grabbed the tip of her wing and then a bunch of feathers.

  “Ouch,” she yelped.

  Ciaran flew over, firing at Arete with his gun in one hand and controlling the joystick of the jet ski with the other hand. Arete turned around and whacked at Ciaran’s vehicle with a tail that had formed from the concrete-like material that had adhered to his body.

  The jet ski tipped over, and Ciaran fell over to one side but still hung on to a bumper bar at the back. The jet ski floated aimlessly in the air.

  Dinah swung over, flew underneath, grabbed Ciaran, and yanked him off the jet ski. At the same time, Arete swung his tail again, hitting the jet ski and smashing it into hundreds of pieces.

  He turned and looked at Ciaran and Dinah. Dinah flapped her wings hard to keep herself and Ciaran afloat. Arete floated toward them. She flew backward. Arete followed.

  “How can he fly like that and turn into that thing … whatever it is?” she asked.

  “He tried to mutate before he jumped. Obviously, he didn’t have the right primer.”

  Arete floated up. He looked like a rock and was the size of a small hill now.

  “All right, here’s what you want!” Dinah threw the jar at Arete. He caught it with his mouth.

  “Let’s go back,” Dinah said. As they looked back up to the apertures merging, they could see the gigantic shadow of Arete flying toward the area where the apertures had merged.

  “I can’t imagine what he’ll do when he has the power. But at least he’s only one individual. Once he’s gone though, he will stop the Tri-Sun to cross, because he’d want the power all to himself.”

  “Unfortunately, we won’t have Arete to stop the Tri-Sun for us.”

  They heard an explosion rumble through what was left of the dark sky. Arete’s gigantic form hit what sounded like a solid substance, and he exploded into thousand of pieces.

  “He should have taken the mutation primer before he jumped, not the vitamin C I gave him,” said Dinah.

  “Vitamin C?”

  “A placebo. All good experiments have a placebo, right? I didn’t cheat. He asked for the primer. That’s a part of the primer.” Dinah grinned.

  “You’re right. But you should have told me.”

  “You’re not very good at communicating when it comes to strategies, Ciaran. Are you calling Eudaiz now, because the Tri-Sun is not a one-guy operation like Arete.”

  “No, I’ll call Eudaiz, but not now. Not yet.”

  “All right, let’s go back for another air jet ski. You’re heavier than you think, Ciaran.”

  She flapped her wings, and they returned to the Earth dimension, landing at the
back of the tour boat.

  Ciaran rushed inside the cabin and found Cooper and Michael safe and sound. He drove the boat into a large cave nearby.

  “Can you stay here, please? Don’t come out no matter what happens,” he said to Jenny. She nodded.

  Ciaran called his associates. In a few seconds, a large air jet ski was delivered to the mouth of the cave.

  The water began to rumble. Several ripples ran underneath as if something was about to surface.

  “So it will actually happen here. They don’t care if innocent bystanders die.” Ciaran called his men and ordered them to get into strategic positions. He hopped onto the air jet ski. Dinah hopped on the back without an invitation.

  “Are you sure, Dinah?”

  She slid her arms around his waist and held on to him. “Well, Madeline isn’t here, so I’m taking this opportunity to hit on you.”

  Ciaran laughed. “I’d love to see Arik’s face if he heard that.”

  “Then we’d better make sure he’s alive to hear it. Now can you tell me the plan?”

  “I think the dragon is some sort of machine, and it might come up from under the water. I have my men on almost all islands here. They’ll shoot the dragon into particles before it jumps into any apertures.”

  “What about plan B? What if your first plan doesn’t work?”

  “That’s all I have.”

  They heard the sound of water cresting. People in the middle of the bay screamed. In the dim light coming from some of the boats, they could see the dragon’s head emerge. The top of its head was the size of a hill. When its dozens of eyes rose above the water, they glowed green, and each eye was the size of a hot air balloon.

  The dragon’s head tipped a large tour boat over. People started running and swimming for their lives.

  The dragon roared.

  “In position…” Ciaran waited a bit longer. “And fire!” he said when the dragon’s head was completely above the water. A dozen air jet skis zipped over and fired machine guns at it.