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

by Christian Kallias

  “You don’t know that! And even if that’s true, you should have at least tried!”

  “Look I needed to try and save—”

  “I don’t want to hear it. Keep your excuses, I hate you!”

  Chris stormed out of the med-bay.

  I hate myself too, my son. More than you know.

  Chase stood, looking at Sarah in the suspended animation chamber.

  I’m sorry, Sarah. Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant again? Did you even know?

  The lights on the bridge flickered, and the ship stopped firing for a few seconds.

  “Captain, we’ve lost all control of the ship,” said the commander.

  “I know, Chase informed me this could happen,” answered Daniel.

  “But we’re in the middle of a battle!”

  “I wouldn’t worry about that.”

  The Victory hummed for a moment, and powerful beams of plasma started firing. With each weapon’s discharge, a Fury super-destroyer was obliterated like it was made of glass.

  “What’s going on?” asked the commander.

  “It’s a long story. You are all dismissed. We may have to abandon ship, so you should return to your quarters and pack while there’s still time.”

  The officers’ heads hung low as they left the bridge. Daniel walked in front of the main viewport. He looked at the final seconds of the battle. Gaia had obliterated what was left of the Fury fleet in only a couple of minutes.

  Fiery debris spun around what was once the orbit of Erevos. The Furies were no more, and Chase had destroyed the Spectre. Victory had come at a terrible price and Daniel couldn’t help but feel sad for his best friend. He could only imagine what was going on in his mind right now.

  Chase arrived in Engineering.

  “We’ve lost control of the ship, Chase,” said Kvasir, his tattoos on overdrive. “We’re trying to get it back, but it’s possible our modification of the weapon system created this malfunction.”

  “No, Kvasir. It hasn’t.”

  “Then what did?” asked Yanis.

  Chase raised a hand to ask his friend to wait for a second.

  “Spiros.”

  “Yes, Chase. Are you sure we can’t help you retake control of the ship?”

  “There’s really no need.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Go back to your quarters, now.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Just go, Spiros.”

  Fear filled Spiros’ eyes, and he ran out of Engineering as fast as he could.

  Yanis came next to Chase and put his hand on his shoulder.

  “I’ve heard that Sarah was mortally wounded and is only alive due to being in suspended animation. I also heard that you lost your father. I’m so, so sorry.”

  Chase tried to contain another bout of tears, but it was in vain.

  “Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry, too, Chase,” added Cedric. “Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”

  “Thank you, Cedric. I wish there were.”

  “I’m also sorry to hear the sad news, Chase,” added Kvasir.

  Chase nodded.

  They each remained quiet for a few minutes thinking of all that had occurred. Yanis eventually broke the silence.

  “Who’s in control of the ship?” he asked.

  “Gaia, she’s going to try and send us back to Earth with the blink drive.”

  “She found it?”

  “Yeah, but it will cost her her life.”

  “Oh, dear,” said Kvasir as his tattoos died completely.

  When Spiros entered their quarters, it took a few seconds for his brain to interpret what he was seeing. Gaia was raised from the ground and multiples cables where intertwined with her, some of them seemed to enter the base of her skull, and others protruded from her limbs.

  “What’s going on, my love? Let me get you down. I’ll go get help.”

  “No, Spiros, I did this to myself. It was the only way I could interface the sphere with the Victory’s system quickly.”

  “By the Gods of Olympus, why would you do that?”

  “Earth is in danger, and I’m the only one who can do something about it.”

  “Even if that’s true, we’ll have one hell of a time fixing your body afterward.”

  A teardrop fell to the room’s floor.

  “You should sit down, Spiros.”

  “What? You’re scaring me, Gaia. What are you talking about?”

  “There won’t be a need for me to have a body after this.”

  “You don’t want to be made of flesh and blood anymore?”

  She smiled. “Nothing would have made me happier than to remain in this body, with you. I— I just won’t be there anymore, my love.”

  Spiros’ face turned white and tears formed in his eyes.

  “What are you saying? I don’t— I don’t understand.”

  “My matrix is being eaten away as we speak. I have very little time left, Spiros.”

  “No! Don’t you dare leave me. Not again.”

  “I wish I could stay.”

  “Then back up your matrix now onto the ship, and we’ll create you a new body.”

  “It’s not as simple as that.”

  “Why not! If you can save yourself, why don’t you?”

  “Earth is about to be attacked by dozens of Fury destroyers.”

  “I don’t see what that has to do with your dying matrix.”

  Tears streamed down Gaia’s face.

  “Right now my matrix is inside a bigger, more powerful matrix that contains advanced knowledge, like the blink drive, and advanced weaponry, as well as other things. I need to stay in here so I can save the billions of souls and all the animals and plants on Earth. To do so will require my presence in here until the very end, but…”

  Spiros fell on his knees. “But then you’ll die.”

  “Yes, I’m sorry.”

  “Isn’t there something in that repository of knowledge you have access to that could save your life?”

  She sniffed then smiled.

  “That’s the first thing I looked for, believe me. I’m so sorry, Spiros. I never wanted to do this to us.”

  Spiros got up and walked toward her.

  “I can’t believe this is happening. Not now. After all we’ve been through to be together. It’s not fair. Just not fair.” Spiros sighed. “Can I at least stay with you until the end?”

  More tears flowed from her eyes. “Please, do. I don’t want to be alone at the end.”

  Spiros took her waist in his arms and rested his head on her belly.

  Chase stepped into the empty bridge and walked toward Daniel who was still by the main viewport. They looked at the remnants of what had happened today.

  “I’m so sorry about Sarah and your father,” said Daniel.

  “So am I, thank you, Dan.”

  “I know you well enough by now to know that you’re not focusing on the fact that the war is over. But, you did it, Chase.”

  “We did it. And, you’re right; it doesn’t feel like a victory. Not by a long shot.”

  “I won’t try to give you the silver lining speech…”

  “Please, don’t.”

  “Very well. I just want to thank you on behalf of every living being whose lives have been spared thanks to your courage, your determination, and the unfortunate sacrifices you’ve had to endure along the way.”

  “I’m not the only one. We all lost people; yourself included.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  Chase nodded.

  “Do you think Gaia can do it? I mean blink drive us to Earth before the Furies destroy it?”

  “If there’s one person that can, it’s her. She is more passionate and has more love for that planet than anyone I know. She’ll do anything to save Earth. As would I, if it were in my hands. And, for once, I’m glad it isn’t. I’m quite literally at the end of my rope.”

  “It will get better,
Chase. Sarah is still alive; you’ll find a way to bring her back. Knowing you, that’s the only thing on your mind right now.”

  Chase looked at Daniel. “You do know me pretty well.”

  Daniel smiled, but then a bubble of white energy expanded around the ship, and he returned his gaze to the outside. The bubble was expanding and engulfed about a third of the remaining destroyers in the fleet.

  “She’s doing it? Isn’t she?”

  “Looks that way.”

  The scenery outside the viewport flashed brightly for a second and was replaced by a view of Earth, with two-dozen Fury super-destroyers annihilating Earth’s orbital defense satellites. They were arriving just in time.

  “And she does not need us to fight that battle?”

  Before Chase could answer, the Victory opened fire in ways neither of them could have thought possible. The ship was firing its primary weapon, which usually taxes too much power to have done so while the time chamber was active, but now that it was on overdrive, and with Gaia’s last-minute Atlantian weapons mods, the beams of concentrated plasma were tearing through the last Fury fleet with ease.

  It was both a spectacular and a terrifying sight. So much power, the ability to tear twenty plus ships to pieces in mere instants.

  “I guess not. Makes you wonder who these Atlantians were and why they disappeared. Who could have destroyed a civilization that powerful?” said Chase.

  “Maybe they got too powerful for their own good and destroyed themselves.”

  Chase pondered Daniel’s words. The soul ships had granted them amazing powers as well as the ability to get rid of the Furies once and for all, and Gaia’s temporary access to the tech helped them save Earth at the eleventh hour. But it mattered not how much power they once had, Chase concluded. At the end of the day, there was always someone more powerful. It’s how one used their powers that defined the course of destiny not how much of it they wielded.

  The one thing Chase had trouble reconciling with, was that no matter how pure his intentions were, no matter how he faced his demons and did everything to bring the Earth Alliance to victory, he hadn’t been rewarded for his efforts and courage on a personal level. Sarah was in grave condition, his son hated him, and he had lost the father he barely had time to connect with.

  No, perhaps today it felt like a victory for most of the inhabitants of the known universe, but the scars and the pain in Chase’s heart and soul would linger there for a very long time, and he felt more defeated than ever.

  Daniel looked at his friend and put his arm around his shoulder.

  “Will you be alright?”

  A single tear traveled down Chase’s cheek.

  “I just don’t know.”

  Oryn gazed around the dark place. A large column of red light beckoned in the distance. The place was cold and humid. For a moment she wondered where she was and if it had all been a dream. Then she remembered her conversation with Chase.

  She had killed the man that had masqueraded as her father and who had murdered both her parents. It had cost her her life and almost ended up costing her her soul. But thanks to the courage of her friend Chase, it had been released from eternal imprisonment.

  “Oryn?” said a familiar voice behind her. “Is that really you?”

  Oryn turned around and saw her father, Zeus, with tears sparkling in his eyes.

  “I can’t believe it! It is you.”

  He walked toward her and took her in his arms. She embraced him back.

  “It’s good to see you, Father.”

  “I wish it were under better circumstances, though. In fact, when I arrived here and assumed Hades’ position, I was hoping I wouldn’t see you down here for many years. When Chase told me your soul had been stolen from you by that Spectre, all I ever hoped for since that instant was to see you again and hold you in my arms.”

  “I’ve missed you too,” she said with a smile.

  “How long are you staying? We never had the opportunity to enjoy talking and get to know each other that much. I’d like to do some of that now before…”

  But Zeus didn’t finish his sentence as he choked up on his words.

  “Before I go to Elysium?”

  Zeus wiped his tears and nodded.

  “I’ll stay with you for as long as you want me to unless there is a rule that prevents me from doing so.”

  “I’m now the King of the Underworld, so I have enough control over this place; you can take all the time you want until you’re ready to move on to Elysium.”

  “It’s settled then, I’ll stay by your side for the time being.”

  “I’m overjoyed to hear this. We’ll have some fun together, make up for the time we were separated.”

  “Can I ask you something, though?”

  “Of course.”

  “Is Elysium real? I mean, is it a place like this one? Where we continue to exist?”

  “I wish I could tell you. Nobody ever returned from Elysium, so it could be a similar place, though I’m hoping the decorator did a better job than down here.”

  Oryn laughed.

  “Yes, something with more sunlight, greenery, and teeming with life like on Olympus would be nice.”

  “Tell me about it. What was I thinking accepting Hades’ request?”

  “You’re the King remember, what stops you from doing a little redecorating?”

  “That’s an intriguing thought, and now that you’re here, maybe it’s something we could work on together?”

  Oryn pondered her father’s words. It would be a nice change of pace to actually create something beautiful rather than trying to destroy and blow stuff up. She smiled, and for the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt happy and at peace.

  “I’m game.”

  Gaia lowered herself to the ground, disconnected from all the tubes and wires that connected her to the ship, and embraced Spiros.

  “It’s time, my love,” she said, her voice trembling.

  “No. I don’t want to lose you.”

  She held him by the shoulders.

  “You’ll never lose me. I’ll always be by your side, watching over you, in here,” she said as she rested her palm over his heart.

  “It’s just not the same, Gaia.”

  “I know. We have to say goodbye while I’m still me, soon I won’t even be able to speak. Believe me, I wish I could stay in this moment, with you, forever.”

  “I can’t believe you’ll soon be gone. What am I going to do without you? You gave my life meaning, you gave me joy beyond anything I thought possible.”

  “I have loved you from the moment I first saw you. I didn’t understand it at first. I just knew I needed to see you again. I had been focusing on all the wrong-doings of humans instead of seeing what was beautiful about humanity. Compassion, kindness, friendship, and love. That’s the big one, it can move mountains, make people do incredible things. I loved you then, I love you now, and I will love you for all eternity. I want you to know that.”

  “I love you, Gaia. I don’t want you to die.”

  “I don’t want to die either. Please forgive me.”

  “There’s nothing to forgive. You’ve always been your own person, and it didn’t matter what my objections were, you were always going to follow your heart and your instincts. Yes, I could try and point fingers and say I told you so, but that wouldn’t be fair. You’ve saved Earth, billions of lives today, innocents that would have perished if you had listened to me. What would that make me? A selfish old man. You did what you needed to do, and I can only respect you for that, and love you more if that’s even possible.”

  Gaia and Spiros kissed passionately until the very last second when the candlelight of her kind soul vanished into the depths of space and time itself.

  Poseidon was waiting by the corridor’s exit when Thor stepped out of med-bay.

  “Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here,” said Thor.

  “I wanted to check on you. Feeling any better?”
<
br />   “Physically, I’m alright, I guess. My ego is the one thing that got hurt more than the rest.”

  Poseidon smiled. “Why’s that?”

  “You’re kidding me, right? We trained together for years, and when the fight starts, I get Mjölnir destroyed and bite the dust a minute later. Makes me wonder why we even bothered to do this.”

  “I think our job was always to buy Chase some time so he could deal with it. And, hey, you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself, at least you didn’t die and have your soul ripped from your body. Hell, that was the weirdest, most scary thing I’ve experienced in my entire life. Like I knew that I was not just losing this mortal shell, but more. And that losing that part, well, it felt lonely, scary, and an experience I hope I never have to go through again.”

  “I can see why losing your soul would be terrible. I’ve never feared losing my life in battle, as you know I welcome the day when I will be admitted to Valhalla. But I imagine if that Spectre had gotten his hands on mine, I would never be allowed among the gods.”

  Thor shivered. “That thought is not something I want to even fathom. So let’s talk about something else, or better yet, celebrate our victory by drinking pint after pint of ale! People will sing songs of praise about us for centuries to come, you do realize? That calls for a celebration which ends with us passing out in our own vomit.”

  Poseidon laughed. “You Asgardians have the weirdest traditions. As for songs being written about us, I’d rather not, seeing how easily defeated we were.”

  “Hey, you know it, and I know it, but the victors are writing history, right? It doesn’t matter if we played only a small role, what matters is that we were there when the universe was standing at the brink of extinction, we, the courageous few, were there to answer the call.”

  “My visit was to see how you were doing, but also to say goodbye, at least for now.”

  Thor’s face grew serious.

  “Oh. Where are you off to?”

  “My people, what’s left of them anyway, have requested that I take my brother’s place. We need to find a new home world, settle down, and rebuild.”

  “So you’re the new King of Olympus?”

  Poseidon chuckled. “In a manner of speaking, I suppose so.”