AcQuest: A Space Opera Military Technothriller (The Quest Saga Science Fiction Adventure Series Book 3)

by Anbajagane, Dhayaa

  Energy Bonds, she cursed. She hated energy bonds. There was nothing she could do to free herself now. If she wanted to escape she’d have to do it while being handcuffed. Why did everyone have to use energy bonds? Hadn't they ever heard of using rope? It was so easy to break through.

  “You do realize they can't use rope because-”

  “Yes, I do,” she said, not appreciative of Ruby’s playfulness.

  “Ahhh,” a familiar man walked up to Taylor, his white coat swaying in the air, a wild grin on his face. “We meet again, my dear Dark Knight.”

  Taylor’s heart stopped. Her mind went into panic. Her very essence screamed out in fear. But in all this chaos her face stayed calm and collected.

  She smirked, “Always a pleasure Dr.D.”

  “This a surprise, doctor,” the White Knight said. “What is the occasion?”

  “I just got a call,” he said.

  “You mean?”

  “Ah yes,” he chuckled. “He wants to see her.”

  ***

  Chris ran through the mothership’s corridors along with Kai, Carlos and everyone else. The intruder alert was still active. The sound of the alarms rang through her eardrums and flashes of red lights shone against her face.

  “Get them!” a wave of cadets charged from behind. They were too fast to outrun, and that meant they were left with only one other option.

  “Suit up,” Carlos ordered. “We’re taking these guys down.”

  “Ethosien,” everyone said at once. The word rang through the air loud and clear.

  Elizabeth was already in her familiar ‘Blue Tears’ armor. She pulled two daggers from the sheaths in her calves and slashed them in two perfect arcs. Lisara pulled out her Lancelot, much to the amazement of everyone who hadn't seen it before. Chris knelt to the ground and set up her crossbow.

  Trisha had a surprise in store for everyone. A circle of white appeared below her, with glowing blue runes appeared on the border. Chris recognized the runes from the ones on Lisara’s circle. A surge of white light blinded everybody. When the light disappeared everyone was stunned. Trisha had the exact same Lancelot that Lisara had! The only thing that was different about it was that this one was black while Lisara’s was white.

  Kai held his hand out and instantly metal pieces detached from the floor and seamlessly formed a suit around him. A huge cannon came up above his shoulder and took aim at the cadets.

  Trisha and Lisara walked up next to each other in their Lancelots, making Chris wonder what they were trying to do.

  “Aurum gateway activate,” they yelled. The Lancelots glowed. Chris watched in awe as the Lancelots morphed their body and merged with each other.

  When the glowing stopped, there stood in front of them a huge mech-armor robot. It was almost twice as tall as a regular Lancelot and had two cockpits, one where its head should have been and the other was right at chest height. Its entire upper body was white while its lower body was purely black. Lisara sat down in the cockpit at its head and Trisha sat in the one at its lower chest.

  “That,” Carlos whispered, his eyes bloodshot. “Should not exist.”

  “I know, right?” Kai said. “That’s an amazing piece of technology, I didn't think it’d be possible to make one either but if you look at the coding-”

  “Kai?” Chris interrupted him, “I think he meant something else.”

  Kai stood still, “Oh,” he said.

  “Behold the Ascalon,” Lisara and Trisha said together in a metallic and raspy voice.

  “OH!” Kai yelled out.

  Chris was confused at what was going on. Why had Kai and Carlos reacted that way to the Ascalon?

  Meanwhile, the Ascalon advanced towards the enemy. The machine was causing fear and disorder among the charging cadets, who slowly retreated. The Ascalon took advantage of the situation and charged. A stampede of cadets pushed and pulled at each other as they tried to get away as fast as possible.

  The Ascalon didn't go after them once the threat had been taken care of. The machine walked back to all of them and glowed with a bright white light. In a flash the Ascalon disappeared and Trisha and Lisara were back to normal.

  Carlos walked up to them and he didn't seem very happy. “Never use that again,” he said coldly.

  What’s going on? Chris wondered.

  He turned to everyone else, his expression shifting back to a playful one, “We better get going. Wasting time isn’t a good idea,” he said.

  “There’s something that keeps bugging me,” Kai said as they walked along. “If Trisha and Lisara were spies aboard the warship. How come we never received any intel on the attack?”

  Carlos sighed, “The enemy seemed to have been aware of spies being on board. They jammed all communications from when the attack plan was finalized to when they actually attacked. No one would’ve been able to get through to us until the ship was a second away from attacking Aliea.”

  “So all in all, the spy plans were a failure,” Kai joked.

  “Hey! At least I helped you,” Trisha sulked.

  Kai just grinned at her. Chris had to admit that though they hadn't helped as spies, both sisters had been really helpful in the infiltration missions.

  “So what’s the plan right now?” Juliana asked.

  “We have to take down the control room,” Carlos said.

  “No good,” Kai gave him a thumbs down, “Already tried. Some Quantum Brain beat me in a battle for supremacy,” he said, making it sound like he had waged a millennia long battle.

  “That’s probably the intel room,” Carlos said. “That’s where the processing system is located. The control room is where the ship is commanded from.”

  Kai looked at Trisha, his eyes surprised. She shrugged her shoulders, “I guess I’m wrong sometimes,” she smiled sheepishly.

  “Wait,” Kai held his hand up. “So all that fighting I did with the Brain was useless?”

  “Yes,” Trisha said.

  “Umm.. So you’re the spy who didn't know the very ship she was infiltrating?”

  “Hey, I get confused sometimes.”

  “My biggest question,” Kai started, “is why the Brain had agreed to give me full control of the ship if I beat it even though it actually had no control.”

  “I think you’ll have to ask this Brain that question,” Carlos laughed.

  “It lied to me?”

  Chris smiled. She had never seen Kai this confused before. It refreshed her to see human emotions on these faces again. The past few hours had been one nerve-wracking mission after another. There was no time for emotion.

  Carlos pointed ahead. “Keep calm,” he told them. Two cadets stood on either side of the corridor, chatting with each other. Chris knew it would be easy to take them out but that wasn't the problem. If they took out the cadets they might gain attention, and the mothership would realize that it had been infiltrated. Then it would only be a matter of time before it sent all its resources to flush them out.

  “We need a better plan,” Carlos said.

  “Can we find a place to rest?” Lisara asked. “I’m dead beat.”

  Chris looked at everyone. They really did seem like they could use a break.

  “I’ve got my own quarters,” Trisha said, “It’s somewhere around here, so we could head there if you want. It could give us a safe place to plan things out as well. No one’s mentioned anything so far but I’m sure those enemy cadets from earlier are going to sound the alarm again. It’s best if we find a hiding spot and fast.”

  Carlos remained silent for a moment, and then nodded, “Fine, let’s go there.”

  They back-tracked along the corridor and took a few turns, making sure they weren't seen. Trisha finally came to halt in front a gray metal door. She swiftly took out her card and swiped it across a card scanner on the wall.

  “Welcome. Dr.Trisha,” a mechanical voice said and the door smoothly slid open. Everyone scampered into the room in a rush and the door automatically closed behind them. Chr
is looked around. Trisha’s living quarters had two rooms. There was a common lounge filled with a couch and an armchair. A door led to her bedroom that was furnished with a single white bed and a dresser right next to it. Everyone made themselves comfortable on the couch and the soft peach carpets, while Carlos took the armchair like he usually did.

  “What’s the plan now?” Lisara asked.

  “Like High Commander Carlos said, we have to take charge of the control room,” Trisha said. “But it’s heavily protected. It’s almost impossible to breach.”

  “Then we use the Lancelot,” Chris said.

  “No!” Carlos jumped up. Everyone stared at him. “No,” he repeated, “I’ll go with Chris. I can work my way into the main computers.”

  “Wait a minute,” Kai said. “What exactly are we going to do when we get control of the main computer?”

  “The control room computer is the only one that can stop the Poseidon from transitioning to its last stage: The Hades,” Carlos said

  “What do the rest of us do?” Juliana asked.

  “I’ll go with Lisara to the hangar,” Trisha said. “If we sneak into one ship we can use its weapons to take out every other vehicle they have, so they won't be able to follow us out.”

  “She has a point,” Kai agreed.

  “Kai and Juliana can take care of the weapons sector,” she said. “If we wipe out both their weapons and ships we seriously hurt their chances of taking a bite back at us.”

  “So are we all ready to go?” Chris asked.

  “Already?” Lisara complained, “But we just got here. Can't we rest for any longer?”

  “We just waited in here to let the intruder escapade settle down,” Kai said. “Pretty sure we’ve given it long enough.”

  “Just one thing,” Carlos said, “If any of you find Q, do not let him get into battle. The last thing we need is an uncontrolled explosion.”

  “Brotherly love,” Kai joked, “That’s so beautiful. I’m tearing up.”

  “Let’s go then,” Lisara ran up to the door and punched a button on the wall. The door slid open.

  Armed cadets covered the entrance, their mechanical rifles and laser blasters trained at everyone inside.

  “Um… hello,” Juliana said.

  A cadet walked into the room, “The Commander wants to meet all of you,” he knocked Lisara to the ground. “And he’s not happy.”

  ***

  4-4

  Q looked at Taylor. Her face was red with embarrassment. He could hear her heart thump its way into a drum roll. His heart was beating just as fast. He felt the warmth from her hand sear into his skin. Her jasmine perfume soothed him, enticing him to close his eyes and let all his fears go. And yet he was awake, because of what just happened.

  She reached for his face and ran her thin fingers through his messy dark hair. He could feel her warm breath tickle his skin.

  “Taylor,” Q started.

  “Shhh,” she put her finger on his lips. She threw her hands around him and laid her head on his chest. His face felt hotter and hotter. His heart fluttered in a flurry of emotions, unidentifiable and incomprehensible.

  A griffin’s cry echoed through the air, startling them both. Taylor pulled away from Q immediately.

  A gust of wind blew up the sand around them, “Did we miss something?” Jade landed.

  “Nope. Nothing at all,” Q panicked. “Absolutely nothing. Nothing to see here whatsoever. Nopety nope.”

  “So we found the base the missile was fired from,” Burke said.

  “It’s a tower a few miles from here,” Jade said.

  “Go,” Taylor said. “You must leave quickly. There is no time to waste.”

  Q hesitated, “What about you?” he asked.

  “I’ll fly back to the academy,” she smiled.

  He paused for a second, unsure if he should leave Taylor alone, especially after what had just happened.

  She held his hand, “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Do not worry about me.”

  “Okay then,” he smiled. He got onto Jade and the griffin took off. He turned back and saw Taylor grow smaller and smaller until she was but a small dark dot in a vast land of sand.

  “The tower isn’t much farther away,” Burke said, “We should get our answers there.”

  “Good,” Q said in a trance-like state. His mind was completely focused on something else. It wasn't everyday he got kissed by his childhood friend.

  Sorry. That was phrased wrong. It wasn't everyday a childhood friend stole his first kiss.

  Q tried to be mellow about what had just happened to him. He had to admit though, he was having quite a hard time doing it.

  “You know, Q, there’s this pretty interesting theory about parallel Universes,” Burke said, “It says that every single person is the same in every single Universe. It says all emotions are the same. So if you had a girlfriend or something here. She would be the same girlfriend you would have back in our world.”

  “Wait...what?” Q was startled. Does Burke know about what happened? he thought. No, there’s no way he could have known.

  “Isn’t that beautifully simplistic?” he asked. “All emotions follow the same path, no matter what happens.”

  Q thought for a bit, “So what someone feels for someone else here is a copy of what the someone would feel for the same someone else there?”

  “First of all, you’re lucky I understood that train of thought,” Burke said. “Second of all, the answer to your question is yes.”

  Q stared into the blank sky. Things were starting to get a little complicated.

  “Why are you so concerned about this?” Burke asked.

  Oh dear, he thought. Calm down. Just calm down.

  “It just seems kind of interesting,” Q said.

  “This may not be the right time to say this,” Jade said. ”But I know what happened back there. Thought I should let you know.”

  Q’s heart jumped into his throat. “You saw that?” he switched to talking with his thoughts.

  “Yes,” he said. “Do not fret, I distracted Burke from noticing it.”

  “Thanks, I guess,” Q said. He felt awkward knowing that Jade had seen one of his most embarrassing moments.

  “What do you think it means?” he asked.

  “What it means for a girl to do that?” Jade asked. “I do not know what your culture says of it but in general-”

  “I know what it means, I just don’t know what it says about the Taylor in my world. If both Taylors are supposed to be the same then are their feelings supposed to be the same too?” He couldn't visualize Taylor having those kinds of feelings for him. It just didn't seem natural.

  “Are you having such thoughts because of Burke’s theory? Do not overthink. It is only a theory; it could be real or a fairytale. I would rather focus on infiltrating the enemy’s lair. Which we’ve almost reached, by the way.”

  “Thanks Jade,” Q smiled. All I have to do is stop those people from hurting Aliea, he thought. The very thought of Aliea though just made him think about what had just happened between him and Taylor moments ago.

  “Control yourself,” Jade said.

  “Easy for you to say,” he said. “And stop reading my mind!”

  It had been less than ten minutes since his little event, and everything had already become so dramatic. If his life was a well-oiled machine then love was a monkey with a wrench.

  And he really didn’t like monkeys with wrenches.

  ***

  Taylor was fine with being taken captive by a White Knight. She was fine with being threatened by her enemies. She was fine with having to battle her way out of any kind of trouble. But she was not fine with meeting Dr.D yet again. She was not fine with meeting a man who treated her more like a test subject and less like a human being. Yet, that very man stood right before her, and she could do nothing about it.

  Dr.D smiled at her, “Happy to see me?”

  Her eyes stared at him, her gaze fixed on his every mov
ement.

  “Ooooh scary,” he said. “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything to you. He would kill me if I tried something.”

  Who is he talking about? she wondered. He had kept referring to him as he instead of actually using his name. The White Knight walked to the only door on the floor. A section of the wall opened above the door and showered a red light on him.

  “Scan complete,” a voice said, and the door slid open.

  He turned to Dr.D, “Would you like to come in as well, Doctor?”

  Dr.D shook his head, “I just came here to let you know what he wanted. I shall take my leave now. I’ll be in the lab if you need me,” he said and walked off.

  The White Knight turned to the guards, “Bring the Dark Knight in when I tell you,” he said and walked in.

  “So who’s this big guy I’m supposed to meet?” Taylor asked the guards.

  “What are you trying to do?” Ruby said.

  “Just wait and watch,” Taylor said.

  The guards, meanwhile, looked at her quizzically, “We have no obligation to tell you who he is,” one of them said.

  “I find it rather funny,” Taylor said, “You know, that you aren’t allowed to have an audience with him and all. Does he think you are not good enough?”

  “We don't care about such trivial things. We do what Tobias tells us to do.”

  Tobias, she thought. Must be that White Knight’s name.

  The door slid open and Tobias poked his head out the entrance.

  “He’ll see you now,” he said and re-entered the room.

  The guards pushed her, “You heard him. Get in there,” they said. Taylor and Ruby followed Tobias into a corridor covered with pictures and paintings. At the end of the corridor was a door. Another machine opened up on the sides of the walls and scanned the White Knight again.

  A familiar beep sounded. “Welcome, Squad Commander Tobias,” an automated voice said. The door slid open and they entered a room.

  “My lord,” Tobias bowed.

  Taylor peeked in. A large table lay before her, and a singular tall chair at its very end. The chair’s back faced them, its large surface covering the man and keeping his identity unknown. He was viewing something on the huge screen that hung on the wall in front of him.