Into the Fire Part II: To End All Wars (Universe in Flames Book 10)
Page 16
“Hey, love,” he said through the airlock speakers.
“Hey, you.” Gaia’s voice trembled, as tears coursed down her face. “I was going mad. How are you feeling?”
“Much better. In fact, I don’t ever remember feeling this good, even when I was this age.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.”
The light inside the airlock turned green, and he stepped out. Gaia’s arms were around his neck the moment he was out. She kissed him passionately.
Spiros gently caressed her hair; his eyes lovingly looking her over. He cupped her face in his hands, but a worried look crossed over him.
“How are you doing? How are your headaches?” he asked.
“I’m fine; don’t worry about me.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“They are getting stronger, but I’m trying to embrace them, and, in fact, I’m focusing on trying to get information from the ancient tech when they happen. It’s not easy, and I’ve been trying to enter a meditative state when the headaches strike, with little success, so far.”
“Why would you even try to do that? I don’t like it.”
“Chase thinks that the sphere might still contain data on tech that could be useful.”
Spiros frowned, and sadness filled his eyes.
“I just got you back, the last thing I want is to lose you all over again. What if by accessing the data, it destabilizes your matrix again, or worse?”
“We both know that the only reason we are still alive and able to be together now is thanks to Chase. I owe him that much.”
“You don’t owe anybody anything.”
“Spiros, I understand how you’re feeling, I truly do. But you know very well that isn’t true.”
“Why can’t we just take a ship and get the hell out of here? Just you and me.”
“I’d like that; when the war is over, that’s exactly what we’ll do. But look at it this way, when the war is over, we could return to Earth. I— I miss my home.”
“I suppose it’s as pretty a planet as any.”
Gaia smiled as she took Spiros’ face in her hands.
15
Ryonna entered the mess hall and scanned every table until she spotted Chase alone in a corner, staring at his food. She noticed a deep frown on his face as she approached.
“Mind if I join you?”
Chase rose from his seat. His entire face lit up as they shook hands.
“It’s so good to see you alive and well,” said Chase.
“Thank you, Chase.”
“Do you want something to eat?”
“I’m good, but thank you.”
“Please sit,” said Chase.
“Are you not training? I was surprised when Daniel told me I might find you here.”
“The time chamber is too small for all of us to train at the same time, and since the security features adjust on-the-fly to the least powerful of its users, we couldn’t train as efficiently if we were all inside. While us Fury hybrids have already used this tech to gain strength, Athena, Menelas, Poseidon, and even Thor, have no experience with it, and they will need to use the gravity engine at much lower settings for the time being.”
“I understand, but I can feel there’s something else. Plus, I noticed on the schedule that right now Argos and Chris are training, surely you could tag along with them. Something is bothering you; something big.”
“I thought you had lost your powers in the matter.”
“I have lost my ability to see when someone is going to die, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still sense strong emotions. And even if I couldn’t, have you seen yourself in the mirror?”
Chase tried smiling.
“Fair enough. I imagine I don’t look my best.”
“You look lost. Want to talk about it?”
“Sarah and I have been arguing a lot lately. I’ve also been thinking about asking her to marry me before we destroy Erevos.”
“That seems like a rash decision. But I can understand why you would.”
“You can? I was semi-expecting you to be the voice of reason.”
“You both love each other so much, and soon you’ll go into battle together. All life in the universe depends on whether or not you succeed. Which means anyone going to Erevos might not come back. I know you, Chase, if you have to sacrifice yourself to make sure that others live, you will.”
As his look changed from concern to seriousness, she could tell she was right about her assessment.
“You sure haven’t changed much since the last time we had a heart to heart conversation in a mess hall. You’re not pulling any punches, and you’re definitely telling it like it is.”
“You’re my friend; I owe you my life ten times over, so why would I just tell you what you want to hear? What type of friend would that make me? In troubled times, we need to hear the truth; on that I’m sure you agree.”
Chase nodded.
“Can I ask you something? It’s personal, so you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“Ask me anything, Chase.”
“If you had known beforehand that your husband would die, would you have still married him?”
The mention of her husband made Ryonna’s heart tighten in her chest. She had been doing a lot of introspective thinking regarding the emotions she had allowed herself to have toward Altair.
“Absolutely, even if he had died the next day, but, fortunately, we had twenty happy years together. Even if we didn’t, I would never regret marrying him.”
“Thank you; I know this is not exactly a subject you like to discuss.”
“You’re welcome, Chase.”
“One more thing. Right now I’m the one who senses that you’re feeling worried about something. I don’t mean to scan you, but you’re all over the place.”
Was she? She thought she had managed to keep her emotions in check at the mention of her husband. She missed him greatly, and more than anything she wished that Ronan still had his father. He would have been so proud of the man their son had become.
“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.”
Chase stared straight into her eyes for a moment. She felt like breaking their gaze.
“Alright, then. Thanks again for your honest opinion. I truly value it, as I do your friendship. And if you ever want to talk about what bothers you, know that my door is always open.”
“I know, Chase. Thank you.”
After his discussion with Ryonna in the mess hall, Chase went to see Kvasir in the cargo bay.
“Do you ever stop working?” said Chase with a smile.
“I do, but I’d like to monitor the time chamber as much as I can because if we lose containment, we’d also lose the ship and probably everyone on board. I am wearing a device that will alert me to the slightest fluctuation in power levels though, so no need to worry.”
“Looks like you’re worrying enough for all of us.”
“I’m used to that.”
“Do you ever do anything for fun?” Chase asked.
“I try to take an hour every day to study Earth culture and the way its society works, which I find really fascinating.”
“Funny you should say that. I have a favor to ask you, but it’s somewhat personal.”
“I’m honored you’d consider me for personal matters, and I’d be happy to help in any way I can.”
“Can you install holographic projectors inside the time chamber?”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, but to what end if you don’t mind me asking?”
“It’s a bit premature, but I’m hoping to hold my wedding inside the chamber. I’ve thought about doing it simply aboard the Victory, but we don’t know when we may be called to enter into battle. I thought we could have a nice wedding and take our time doing it, while very little time would pass outside the chamber. I’d obviously have to keep the attendance small because of the size of the room, but a close-friends wedding would suit me.”
“Fascinating. From what I’ve read about weddings, these things take time to prepare. I’d love to do that for you.”
“That would be great as I don’t even know where to start. I’d also like to propose to Sarah in the training room and surprise her with changing the landscape the moment I do it and have a holographic environment fade in; do you think you could do that?”
“As soon as the system is in place, all you’d have to do is use your mind to turn it on.”
“That would be perfect. As for the wedding, did you read up enough on the subject? Or should I ask my mom to help you?”
“I’d welcome Athena’s input, but I’ve researched it thoroughly and seen many vids of such events.”
“Then you know more about it than I do. I’ll let my mom know she can expect a call from you. I think she’d like to be a part of this.”
“Absolutely. It would be my honor to do this for you, Chase. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“No, it is I who should thank you, Kvasir.”
Tanak’Vor spent days in the Furies’ archive trying to obtain information about the ships that had obliterated his fleet at Thanos Five. Just when he was about to give up, he did one last search in the computer’s database.
“One match found,” said the male computer voice.
“Show me.”
The computer holo-projected some obviously handmade sketches of starfighter ships, and they did resemble the one that he saw on the holo-logs. He sifted through the information and discovered there were a number of these ships in existence.
According to the old-Fury dialect that the computer was translating in real-time, they were ancient. Very ancient, and older than their recorded history, in fact.
They were created by an alliance between five older races, one of which was the Olympians, at a time when they were still considered a young race in the universe.
Not much was known regarding their capabilities and how they worked; the written records were simply too old and mostly incomplete. Anyway, Tanak’Vor knew what they were capable of by the short clip he had witnessed.
However, one thing caught his eye; the records mentioned that the ships used energy from their pilots to create formidable energetic discharges more powerful than any technology could ever achieve. In the Spectre’s mind this confirmed that only Ultra Furies or beings with large pools of energy could use them efficiently enough to cause serious damage.
They were dubbed soul ships. Upon sifting through a ton of useless additional records within the same file, a word jumped out at him. He thought he’d seen it earlier, so he asked the computer to find a match, and sure enough, that part of the file referred to the race that defeated the creators of the soul ships.
The Atlantians. The file described the people of Atlantis as being the most technologically evolved race that ever traveled the stars; a race with unimaginable intellect that had built a perfect society and civilization.
If they were so smart, where are they now?
It took Tanak’Vor several hours to piece together the larger puzzle. It still didn’t explain how or why the Atlantians disappeared, and the Fury archive didn’t contain anything else on the subject other than a theory.
At the height of their civilization, the Atlantians, who had already found a cure for mortality, wanted to create a better race, one that would allow them to exponentially progress and unlock every mystery of the universe. To do this, they created the Soulless. All that Tanak’Vor could piece together after, was that the Atlantians had disappeared in the blink of an eye in their planet-sized ships that housed millions of souls traveling through the stars.
Tanak’Vor didn’t expect this wretched dimension to contain such powerful beings, more powerful, it appeared, than the Furies, the Olympians, and the Asgardians. There could be new technologies to be found from the remnants of these older races, which would certainly be of interest to the council as well as Spectre Prime.
Until now, Tanak’Vor didn’t understand the main motivation behind the council’s decision to try and enter this dimension. The last three dimensions that the Spectres had conquered had not contributed any advancements to their level of technology.
That could change if he could get his hands on those soul ships. Perhaps his tactic of trying to push the Furies outward was the wrong one, maybe he should think of a way to bring the soul ships to him on Erevos. Of course, with their level of power, that was a risky proposition. They could very well destroy everything he would throw at them.
If the archive information was correct, the pilots needed to use their energy to operate the vessels, which meant it was limited. And, while the Ultra Furies today represented the best this dimension had to offer, their level of powers was infinitesimal compared to Tanak’Vor’s.
Yes, I need to get my hands on one of those ships.
He needed a little more time to make sure he had put all contingencies into place, should his plan to kill the Ultra Furies fail. No matter what happened when they finally returned to Erevos, Chase and his friends would pay a steep price. Of that, Tanak’Vor would make sure.
Sarah was on the bridge when Daniel exited the turbo-lift.
“You should get some sleep,” he said. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but you look exhausted.”
“I can’t sleep.”
“Are the two of you still fighting?”
Sarah shook her head. “He told you?”
Daniel swallowed hard. “Just in passing.”
“Right.”
“If I may, though, I think the two of you should try and focus on what you have and not on your current disagreements, whatever they may be.”
“And what is it that we have?”
“Love, life, a family. I wish I had all those things.”
It hit Sarah that she had been complaining about how Chase treated her, but Daniel had lost the woman he loved and with it the prospect of having a family.
“What about Rae? I thought the two of you would hit it off.”
“We went our separate ways a while back. I thought you knew.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“I’m not. I’m still not over Fillio; I can’t be with anyone else until I get past that, you know.”
Sarah nodded solemnly. “I understand.”
“Go train with Chase, Sarah, and don’t let whatever is eating at you create a chasm between the two of you. You’ve both been through hell and back, and I’m sure there will be more hardships for the both of you in the future, but at least you have each other; cherish that, today, now. Take it from me, if you don’t, you may regret it for a very long time, your entire life even.”
Daniel’s words hit home. He was right. Even though they didn’t get along lately, and Sarah didn’t appreciate that Chase wasn’t willing to train harder with her, he was doing it out of love. If the positions were reversed, would she do any different? Probably not. Chris had used deceit to bring some of her powers to the surface, and while she was mad at him for doing so at first, she understood why he did it and was thankful ever since it had empowered her.
“Thank you, Daniel. You have the bridge.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
On her way to their quarters, Sarah couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about her days on Earth. Life seemed so simple back then. All she had to worry about was not getting killed inside her fighter jet.
But even if meeting Chase had meant a life of worry and risking their lives at every turn, he had shown her the universe. He had fulfilled her dream of going to the stars on their very first date, in fact. Had she been too hard on him? Her moods had been swinging out of control at every turn lately. Perhaps she needed to ground herself and recognize what really mattered to her.
16
Sarah entered the time chamber where Chase was training on his own. The room’s gravity immediately adjusted from over a thousand to one hundred and twenty, which the computer calculated was a safe setting for her at her current power levels.
Chase had his eyes closed and performed a very fluid and offensive base kata, and while she needed to talk with him, she waited until he finished.
“Chase,” she called.
Chase opened his eyes and turned Ultra Fury.
What the hell?
Before she could say another word, he launched himself at her, both of his fists engulfed in flames.
“Wait!” she shouted.
But Chase didn’t and sent her flying to the wall on her left. His jab fractured her cheekbone, and her entire face throbbed.
“I need to talk with you,” she said, holding the side of her face.
“Later; right now you need to defend yourself.”
She could tell from his tone that he was dead serious, and while Chase was giving her what she had wanted before, she had come in to talk, not fight. Nevertheless, part of her really wanted to know if she could hold her own against him at full power.
Chase rapidly sent three consecutive fireballs her way. She dodged the first one, deflected the second one with the back of her hand, and obliterated the last one with a fireball of her own.
Chase was upon her the second she had deflected his attack, and Sarah somersaulted over him, turned in mid-air, and unleashed a powerful kick to his neck. Chase’s head didn’t even budge, but instead, her foot throbbed with pain.
Holy shit; it’s like he’s invincible in this form.
Of course, she knew it wasn’t the case; Spectre Arakan had easily defeated Chase even in his Ultra Fury mode. Which meant that her power levels were simply not good enough to even hope to be of any use against their enemy at this point. She’d have to work long and hard to close the gap, that much was certain.