Into the Fire Part II: To End All Wars (Universe in Flames Book 10)

by Christian Kallias

  “Do you mind if I sit here for a while?” she asked.

  “Of course not,” answered Keera. “I was about to see how you were doing, in fact.”

  “The last few days have been quite the roller-coaster. I haven’t really stopped to ask myself how I feel. Though, I’m happy to be back, really. When my matrix overloaded, I thought for sure I was toast.”

  “You gave Spiros and the rest of us a big scare, that’s for sure. I’m very happy for the both of you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the two of you are soul mates. I know we haven’t interacted in the past, but even so, it’s clear the two of you would do anything for one another. I envy that kind of connection. I…I miss it, in fact.”

  “Want to tell me what happened?”

  “Just a tragic and horrible thing. My lover was murdered. In fact, that’s why I became a bounty hunter in the first place. I needed to track down the scumbag piece of shit that had taken my life away from me.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that. And, did you?”

  “Yes. It didn’t bring him back or soothe my soul much, though.”

  “I understand. Thank you for saving our lives, Keera.”

  “You seemed like you had things under control, but you’re perfectly welcome. I’m glad we could help. The one you should thank is Emperor Altair; he’s the one who sent us to look for you, and well, Chase.”

  Gaia took her head in her hands and grimaced.

  “Are you alright? What’s going on?”

  “I’ve been having these splitting headaches since we came back to the ship. They don’t last for long, but they seem to be getting more painful.”

  “You’ll have to get that checked.”

  “The only person who can help is Spiros. He’s the one who transferred my matrix inside the alien sphere that acts as my brain.”

  “Well, he’ll be back on his feet soon enough. Still, you could ask Yanis or Cedric to take a look at you in the meantime.”

  “Maybe I will, thank you, Keera, for everything.”

  Keera winked and flashed Gaia a thumbs up.

  When Ryonna opened her eyes, Ronan smiled at her.

  “Hey, Mom, how do you feel?”

  Ryonna opened and closed her hands a couple of times and flexed other muscles in her body.

  “Much better, it would seem. Am I dreaming? Are you really here?”

  “You’re not dreaming; I’m here.”

  “How’s that possible?”

  “Emperor Altair contacted me the moment he got you back aboard his ship. With the recent expansions to the jump gate network, I was able to get here pretty fast.”

  So Ryonna hadn’t been hallucinating; Altair had come to the surface to extract her, saving her life in the process. She also thought she heard him talk while she was unconscious, telling her about what had happened to her friends.

  “I can’t believe he risked his life to save mine once again.”

  “Again?”

  “Yeah, he risked his ship and entire crew not long ago to get us out of the Gorgar world. Risking thousands to save only three.”

  “I really like him. There’s something about him, a charisma, and I got a strong sense of honor coming from him when I first met him. Hard to think he’s the same man that led the Obsidian Empire to wage war with the Star Alliance for generations.”

  “Which proves people can change.”

  Upon saying the words, Ryonna couldn’t help but think about Argos. She had hated him so strongly in the past, but ever since her fight with his holographic version as well as re-evaluating her feelings about Altair, she couldn’t help but think that perhaps people did deserve a second chance, no matter what they had done in the past.

  She wasn’t proud of some of her past actions, either. She had been the cause of the death of innocents, something her strong sense of honor always had trouble reconciling, no matter the circumstances that forced her into such positions.

  “Yes, he certainly has,” said Ronan. “I’m glad you are okay, Mom. But you have to stop putting yourself in these dangerous positions. I don’t want to one day receive a call informing me that you have perished. I understand you owe Chase both our lives, but he wouldn’t want you to repay him with your own.”

  Ryonna caressed Ronan’s cheek.

  “I know, Son. I’m so happy to see you. Hopefully, this was one of the last perilous missions I embark upon.”

  Ronan frowned. “Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.”

  Ryonna smiled.

  “I should let you rest.”

  “No, stay. I haven’t seen you in so long.”

  “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be staying here for a few days; we’ll have time to catch up. The doc asked me not to stay too long. You still need rest.”

  “Alright. Thank you for coming all the way from Droxia.”

  “Of course.”

  “Ronan, can you ask Altair to come see me later?”

  “Sure thing; I’ll let him know. Try and get some sleep in the meantime, though.”

  Chase entered Engineering.

  “Thanks for coming, Admiral.” said Kvasir.

  “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”

  “I’m sorry, Chase.”

  “And do you ever sleep, Kvasir? You’re aware of the time, right? It’s almost three AM Earth time.”

  “Asgardians can operate very well with only two hours of sleep every night. I perform better if I have three or more. Which is why I make sure I always get that much sleep every day. I will often take small power naps throughout the day and have a one-hour continuous sleep at one point, too.”

  “Three hours? That doesn’t seem like much. But, lucky you, I guess.”

  “How do you feel, Adm— Chase? We were worried when you collapsed yesterday.”

  “I’m back to full form, thank you for asking. Unlike Asgardians, though, I require a fair amount more sleep, and I was about to go hit the sack when you called.”

  “I’m sorry for disturbing your sleep patterns; perhaps we can discuss this in the morning.”

  “I’m up and out of bed now, so unless this will take a long time…”

  “No, it shouldn’t take long. I just wanted to report on the progress of the time chamber and inform you of some limitations I’ve come across while performing my simulations.”

  “Time chamber?”

  “That’s the name Cedric came up with. It’s not a totally accurate description, but he seemed intent on us finding a shorter name than time-dilation training facility.”

  “I can see why; that’s quite a mouthful. And, well, the name could have been worse if Yanis had his say, I’m sure.”

  Kvasir’s facial tattoos blinked three times in a row as he chuckled.

  “Yes, I agree.”

  “So…How are we looking?”

  “We can make our first live test tomorrow, well, later today.”

  “That’s good news. What are the limitations you wanted us to discuss?”

  “In running simulations, I’ve noticed that living tissues were negatively impacted the more I tried to push the time dilation. It seems we’ll have to settle to a three hundred and fifty time-dilation factor to stay on the safe side.”

  “It’s too late, and I’m too tired to do the math; how much time would pass in the time chamber for each Earth day?”

  “Just a little under a year.”

  Awesome!

  “And you call that a limitation? Seems absolutely perfect to me.”

  “Well, at first I thought that the dilation factor could be pushed to much higher levels, and theoretically, from outside of the chamber, you guys could have stepped in, stepped out, and years would have passed in seconds. But that simply would put too much strain on your bodies and could damage your DNA beyond repair.”

  “So step in, step out, and die?”

  Kvasir’s tattoos flashed dramatically.

  “
Basically, yes. Though, I wouldn’t have put it that way.”

  Chase smiled.

  “I bet you wouldn’t. Well, then I’m glad you found a safe setting. You’re sure it’s safe, right?”

  “While Furies would probably still be good with a five hundred dilation factor, I and Olympians up to one thousand, your hybrid physiology and some limitation of the Asgardian genes, a dilation of four hundred and twenty-five would make it safe for us. But because Sarah is only partial Fury, I had to factor in human DNA into the equation. The maximum limit for human DNA partially infused with Fury is around three hundred ninety. I rounded it down to three fifty to be on the safe side, and I strongly recommend you get out of the chambers at progressively longer intervals to check your vitals and adjust the dilation factor as we go. Just to be sure.”

  The mention of Sarah and how little Fury DNA she had reminded Chase that he still didn’t know if he wanted Sarah to train in the time chamber. He’d probably take some serious flack by even bringing up the subject with her, but they needed to talk about it. Part of Chase wished Kvasir told her she should not use the room, which would make things easier. While he knew she had to pilot one of the ships, he didn’t want her to have to fight Spectre Arakan.

  “Looks like you’ve got it all covered. And I’m glad you are taking all the necessary precautions. We really need this tech but not if it’s going to kill any of us.”

  “Of course. I would never let you enter this contraption without first making sure it is safe to do so.”

  That’s when Chase noticed Kvasir was hiding a bandaged hand with his other hand.

  “What happened to you?”

  “I miscalculated my settings and thought I’d put my hand inside the field to make sure it was set properly. The good news is that I have corrected my miscalculation since then.”

  Chase sighed heavily.

  “That was reckless, Kvasir. Why didn’t you come and see me? Let me heal that.”

  Kvasir’s tattoos flashed rapidly, and he took a step back.

  “Please, Chase; I’d rather you didn’t.”

  “Why?”

  “As a reminder of never again doing something of this sort without triple checking everything.”

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Your ship’s doctor gave me something for the pain. It helps.”

  Chase wanted to argue but remembered Argos telling him why he kept his scar. That it was a reminder of the time they had fought before he wiped his memory and Laiyos became Chase. So, he didn’t insist.

  “I’ll heal that anytime if you change your mind.”

  “Thank you, Chase.”

  “No, thank you, Kvasir. We couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

  “It’s my pleasure to serve. You have saved me from both eternal imprisonment as well as execution; I owe you everything.”

  Chase yawned.

  “No, you don’t, but I’m too tired to go into the whys. Is there anything else we need to talk about before tomorrow’s test?”

  Kvasir shook his head.

  “One last thing. You mentioned Asgardian resistance to the time chamber. Why?”

  “Thor will surely want to come and train with you. Wouldn’t you think so? And Poseidon, too, as I hear they’ve been hanging out and training on their own already since your return from Erevos.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that. Space will be an issue, the room already felt cramped with four, if we had more…”

  “Who said you have to all train at the same time? You can take turns, train in pairs or as much as you’d like. I wouldn’t recommend all of you train in the chamber at the same time anyway.”

  “Why?” said Chase with another yawn.

  “If the soul ships are needed to wage battle, having you all in the room could prove problematic, though we could always communicate.”

  “Can we?”

  “Yes, but I’ll explain that to you all tomorrow; you really look like you need to get some rest.”

  “That I do. Good night, Kvasir.”

  “Good night, Chase. See you later for the test.”

  Chase gave Kvasir a casual two-finger salute before he teleported away and back to his quarters.

  12

  Noise in the bathroom woke Chase from his sleep. He went to check it out and found Sarah was on her knees in front of the toilet, holding her hair with one hand and gripping the toilet with the other.

  “I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

  “Are you alright?”

  “My stomach must not have agreed with today’s food. I’ve been refunding it for about twenty minutes now.”

  “Why didn’t you wake me up; I could have tried checking your body. I would imagine a tummy ache is something I can easily fix.”

  “I didn’t think about it. I mean, I’ve been sick before I knew you, and I see your healing ability as something to be used to prevent someone from dying, not to fix an upset stomach.”

  “Fair enough.”

  She got back to her feet, looking peaked like she was sicker than just an upset stomach.

  “You sure you don’t want me to try and heal you; you look very pale.”

  “Yeah, maybe it’s better; I don’t like how I feel.”

  They went back to bed, and Chase put his hands on her and closed his eyes. He felt something weird in her, though he couldn’t tell what it was. He focused on helping her feel better, and soon color returned to her face.

  “How’s that?”

  “Much better; thank you.”

  He kissed her and caressed her hair.

  “You want to go back to sleep?” he asked.

  “I’m wide awake now. Why?”

  He cradled her hands in his.

  “I want to talk to you about something.”

  “Sure. What is it?”

  “Tomorrow we’ll be testing the time chamber.”

  “Oh, good; so we can start training soon.”

  “Yeah, that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

  She took her hands back, giving him a cold look.

  “Oh no! You’re not going there again. I’m training with the rest of my family.”

  “Please, let me explain.”

  “I don’t want you to explain. You always do this Chase; you always try to protect me!”

  “Can we at least try to talk about it?”

  She jumped out of bed and paced around the room.

  “What is there to talk about? You just want to make sure I don’t train so you can use it as an excuse for me not to fight Spectre Arakan. Tell me I have this all wrong? I dare you?”

  Chase sighed. She wasn’t wrong about him not wanting her involved in the battle with the Spectre. Aphroditis had told him that there were still dark days ahead and sacrifices to be made. Chase couldn’t help thinking that Sarah could be one of those casualties.

  “I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Tough luck! I’m fighting alongside you and Chris, and that’s not open for discussion. This is so typical,” she added angrily. “When will you ever trust me?”

  “I do trust you; I trust you with my life.”

  “But you don’t trust that I can take care of myself. I thought after saving your lives on Droxia and having a soul ship choose me you’d see that I’m as much a part of this as you are.”

  “I’m not disputing that, and if you would just let me explain, then perhaps you’d understand.”

  Sarah narrowed her eyes. “Talk.”

  “The plan is to train in the time chamber for years. Whether it will be five or ten years, I don’t know, but only the equivalent of days will pass outside the chamber.”

  “Yes, so?”

  “How can I put this…?”

  “I suggest you put it as bluntly as you can, Chase.”

  “Alright. I’m immortal.”

  “I don’t see what that has to do with anything?”

  “Really? You don’t see that unlike you, I won’t age in the room?”
>
  Sarah’s entire face dropped, and he could feel she finally understood part of his concern.

  “I love you more than life itself, Sarah; I’m not sure I’m willing to sacrifice ten years of our lives together.”

  “Okay; I didn’t think about that, but I still don’t think that’s reason enough for me not to come along. What if I’m the one person that tips the scales in this fight? What if my not training means you fail in defeating Spectre Arakan and, as a result, we all die?”

  And now the table had been turned, and Chase was the one that hadn’t thought of that point of view.

  “I don’t have an answer to that.”

  “We don’t have an answer because we can’t predict the future. But your borderline OCD control-freak nature causes you to want to protect me and shield me from the world.”

  “Not the world. Just danger.”

  “Are you listening to yourself, Chase? That’s the exact same thing. I’m not yours to protect, and I have as much right as you do to be in this fight. I may not yet be nearly as powerful as the three of you, and I’ll probably never become an Ultra Fury, but that doesn’t mean that I have to stay on the sidelines.”

  “Can you put yourself in my shoes for a moment? If we both survive this war, you’ll age and eventually die of natural causes. And I’ll have the rest of eternity to mourn your passing and miss you. Is it bad that I want to spend an extra ten years, if not more, with you? Can you truly hate me for being selfish in this instance?”

  The tension in Sarah’s face relaxed.

  “No, I can understand that. But you’re again putting my well-being, and what you’re hoping the future will be, ahead of the mission. We are going to defeat the Furies, I can feel it in my bones, and I know that you can as well. We could lose Chris; you could lose Argos, heck, I could lose you! If I followed your logic, I would tell you to let Argos fight Spectre Arakan because I don’t want to lose either you or Chris. We both know you’d be outraged and wouldn’t accept those terms.”

  There was very little Chase could say at this point, as he agreed with her.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “I don’t want you to be sorry; I just want you not to try and control everything and maybe make a terrible mistake trying to protect those you love. If we are to win, we all have to shed these fears and give it our best, without hesitation. We all must be ready to sacrifice everything, ourselves included, if that’s what it takes to win.”