Argos finally pulled himself up to his feet and straightened up to face his brother. Little torrents of blood rained down from almost every inch of him, but despite all that, the corners of his lips pulled up and he started laughing.
“I’m glad you think this is funny.” Chase shook his head. “Look at you; I’ve beaten you.”
But Argos suddenly didn’t look like a defeated man. In fact, the way he was staring back at Chase now made a shiver run up and down his brother’s spine. His face glowed manically for a moment, before he parted his bloody lips.
“Watch and learn… brother.”
He closed his eyes as a red light appeared on the ground beneath him, quickly engulfing him completely in its crimson glow. When it vanished a moment later, Argos looked exactly the same except for one, major difference.
He was completely healed.
Chase’s eyes grew wide and he took a step back.
“See, I told you your overconfidence would be your downfall. You think you won the fight, but in fact you’ve just lost it. I observed your technique and attacked you just enough to make sure you gave it all you had. And while you’re managing your inner energy quite well now, I bet you’ve spent more than half your reserve.”
Chase swore in his head. Son of a…
“I’ve barely tapped into ten percent of mine. Now I can crush you with ease.”
“I have more than enough energy left,” Chase said defiantly.
Argos grinned. “You should know by now that my telepathic and empathic abilities allow me to know when you’re lying.”
Chase remembered Ares’ warning about how formidable an enemy his brother was, and that he wasn’t ready yet to win in a direct confrontation. He also remembered the warning about being careful to use his pool of energy wisely. Chase thought he did all that and in the rush of fighting, felt like it gave him wings for a while. But seeing his brother reset to max power with such ease brought doubt and fear, deep within Chase’s psyche, as to the outcome of this fight.
Still, Argos had tortured Sarah, and now that he knew he had manipulated her all this time, he was going to make sure Argos could no longer hurt her. Not ever. Rage engulfed Chase’s very soul, sending him to the threshold of losing control, and the station started trembling heavily. Blue lightning bolts crackled all around him, casting ethereal lights on the station’s floor. His eyes glowed brightly, purple light radiating all over Chase’s face. Logic went out the window as Chase launched himself towards Argos, fully determined to rip his brother from the galaxy…
30
Chase launched himself towards Argos with all his might, thinking not about revenge, but about pure destruction, plain and simple. He was now at the very edge of sanity, still under control, but only just.
Chase threw three successive blows at Argos’ face, but the brother who met him was a different man than the one before. He dodged Chase’s attacks with disconcerting ease, repelling Chase back with a single, fierce blow to the sternum, delivered with the edge of his right hand.
It took the wind out of Chase for a moment. Argos smiled as he launched a series of straight kicks followed by arching ones. Chase parried and dodged them all until Argos’ knee, coming out of nowhere, hit Chase squarely in the jaw, sending him flying through the air at tremendous speed. As he collided with the ceiling, the paneling bent under the impact and sparks flew. Chase was falling down towards the ground when he felt incoming attacks from behind. He spun in the air and saw flashing red fireballs. Five of them. He managed to deflect the first three but the last two changed trajectories at the last moment and impacted with his body both front and behind at the same time, sending an intense wave of pain radiating throughout his entire being. Things only got worse when he finally hit the ground, face first.
Chase’s previous sense of dread grew stronger. Had he bitten off more than he could chew? He now felt ridiculous thinking he had won that fight mere moments ago. With his head still ringing and pain throbbing throughout every one of his muscles, he struggled to get back up on his feet.
He collapsed against the ground, panting and coughing up blood. What had he been thinking? He couldn’t defeat Argos by will power alone, could he?
A strange vibration hummed through the air and Chase looked up to see Argos making his biggest fireball yet. It wasn’t even a fireball so much as a huge, impenetrable sphere of energy—as big as Chase himself.
Without hesitation Argos launched his attack. The fireball extended into a powerful stream of red energy coming towards Chase at tremendous speed. Chase reacted instinctively. He drew a circle in the air with both his hands in front of him, creating a translucent blue shield before the whole thing came crashing down on him.
His arms quavered as he slid back against the floor, buckling under the strain. Red lightning started to crackle around the shield as Argos intensified the beam with a smile.
Chase didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up—it would either crush or drain him—but he had a sickening feeling that Argos knew exactly how long. That he was just biding his time.
That’s precisely the moment that everything took a turn for the worse.
Behind Argos’ back, Daniel began regaining consciousness. He opened his eyes slowly and they focused in terror on his friend. With Chase’s demise clearly imminent, Daniel knew what he had to do. He silently picked up a shard of glass and limped towards Argos—too focused on Chase to notice anything else. Then, with a farewell smile, he thrust it into the Fury’s back, impaling him from behind.
Argos released a shriek of pain that made the entire station tremble. He turned around and launched a similar, thinner stream of energy towards Daniel. It hit him dead center in the chest and tore through it like he was made of paper. Blood and bone flew backwards into the air, as Chase’s best friend in the world dropped, lifeless, to the floor.
It was like something in Chase’s head just snapped. The rage he had kept at bay the entire fight overtook him.
His eyes flashed blinding amethyst as images of Daniel filled his mind. Flying together, drinking and laughing together, their first day at the academy.
His hair was thrown up in the air, hovering and waving madly above his head. He clenched his teeth as a thousand tears shot towards the heavens. Chase let out a haunting growl, coming from the deepest and darkest corners of hell.
“NOOOOOOOO!”
The shout blew out every light source around them; sparks flew madly and consoles in Chase’s vicinity bent and collapsed on themselves.
Without stopping to think, he closed his eyes and released the shield, grabbing the stream of energy from Argos’ attack with his bare hands. He plunged his hands deep into the center, letting its destructive power flow through him, replenishing his energy as well as fueling his rage. A powerful, flaming aura enveloped him as flashes of orange lightning danced through the air.
When Chase opened his eyes, they were the same flaming color, and a powerful shockwave almost knocked Argos off balance.
With flames of sun-fire power dancing behind him and revenge now his sole reason to be, he launched towards Argos so fast he might as well be teleporting. He unleashed a series of attacks while flying all around Argos in a random, star-like pattern, leaving a bright orange trail behind him as he moved near the speed of light. With each and every pass, he unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks of impossible power and speed, sending Argos’ body all over the place. But his brother was moving so fast that with each pass, Argos always ended thrown back where he stood, never able to fully lose his balance, or fall, no matter how much he felt like it. Argos felt trapped within an invisible force field, relentless punches and kicks seemingly coming from all around him at once. Blood and teeth flew, bones cracked and shattered and there was absolutely nothing Argos could do to dodge or parry any of it. With each successive hit, Chase saw terror and helplessness grow in the eyes of his brother, as the glowing red in them faded a little more with each passing moment. When it finally stopp
ed, Argos fell to his knees and collapsed motionless to the ground.
Chase knelt down near Argos. When he grabbed him by the blood-soaked and torn clothes, his head tilted backwards on its own. He was still unconscious. Chase raised his other hand, palm open, and filled it with sun-orange energy, readying himself to deliver the final blow, about to decapitate his brother, when he heard something.
“Chase…”
He dropped Argos to the floor at once and whirled around in shock. He couldn’t believe his eyes…
Daniel blinked back at him, struggling to speak but fading fast.
In a flash, Chase was at his side, enveloping him in the same sort of healing cloud that Argos had used a moment before. But instead of dark red fire, his was flaming orange.
He saw Daniel smiling back at him, looking as though nothing had ever touched him.
“That... never gets old.”
Chase let out a bark of laughter. “I—I thought—”
“Behind you,” Daniel warned.
Chase glanced back and saw Argos trying to crawl away. With a look of total hate, he got up and dragged his brother by the hair to the viewport window, giving him a perfect view of the battle raging on below. The Earth Alliance was clearly winning. What Zarlack ships were still operational were already falling into retreat.
“Look, brother, you have lost. Your fleet is defeated, and now you will die.”
Argos tried to speak but Chase knocked his head against the glass repeatedly. He then threw Argos in the air and made him levitate in front of him, his limbs dangling in the air.
Orange fire flashed in his eyes as he stepped forward and grabbed him by the throat, a triumphant smile dancing on his face. “And now you die!”
Argos panted and tried to speak, but the grip on his throat was crushing his vocal chords. In the end, however, he summoned up just enough energy to say one telepathic word.
“Sarah!”
The name sent a spark and a shiver down Chase’s back. He released his grip slightly.
“Speak!”
“If you kill me, she dies,” Argos panted.
Chase shook his head. “I don’t believe you. If I kill you, your grip on her mind will be released and she’ll bring back the data crystal.”
“If you truly believe that… then finish me off.”
A wave of rage coursed through Chase and he tightened his grip, cutting off all the oxygen to Argos’ brain. He would kill him now. And then everything would be fine.
“Chase!” Daniel shouted.
“What?!” Chase called back, staring into Argos’ eyes as all the life faded away.
“Don’t do this! If it does kill Sarah, you will never be able to forgive yourself!”
Chase wanted to let go but somehow couldn’t.
“CHASE! Let him go before it’s too late!”
He tried again, but couldn’t. That’s when an image of Sarah flashed through his mind.
All at once, he released Argos, dropping him to the floor as he turned back to his friend and helped him get to his feet.
“We need to get Sarah back. We’ll take your StarFury.”
Daniel nodded. “What about him?”
Chase looked at Argos, but before he could decide, his brother clicked a device in his pocket, and in a cloud of orange light, he was gone.
“Dammit!” Chase lashed out.
“You didn’t have any other choice,” Daniel said, putting his arm on his friend’s shoulder.
“Tell that to the members of the million families he killed,” said Chase with an intense expression of sadness across his face.
“That wasn’t your fault,” Daniel insisted. “If anything, you helped make sure he didn’t kill everyone on Earth. Stop feeling so responsible for god’s sake!”
Chase glanced at his friend with a small smile. “Thanks.” He suddenly pulled him into a warm embrace. “Now hold on tight!”
Daniel looked around. “What? Wh—”
They flew off the command deck at tremendous speed.
Daniel screamed aloud but tilted back his head as walls streaked past. “You can fly?!”
“I know.” Chase started grinning uncontrollably.
“Holy shit on a hyperspace engine! This is unbelievable!”
It only took a few seconds for them to arrive at the remaining StarFury—just in time to see Argos’ ship take off, blow a hole through the station’s shields and immediately disappear into hyperspace.
For a moment Chase was incredibly tempted to go after it, but one look at Daniel’s determined face clarified his priorities. They rushed to the ship but were stopped at the last moment by a voice echoing through the bay’s speakers.
“Hey! What about me? Take me with you!” Spiros called.
“We’ll send someone to pick you up. Hang tight,” Chase called back. “Just drop the shields as we leave the station, okay?”
“What would you have done if I hadn’t woken up, boy?”
Chase grinned. “Believe me, I would have found a way.”
They entered the StarFury and shot out through space. The second they were away, Chase opened a channel to Yanis.
“Hey, pal, did you get the schematics containing Dr. Malayianis’ awesome new tech?”
“Sarah got them,” Chase replied, “that’s why I needed you to track her.”
“She jumped to hyperspace not long ago, but I’m sending you her exit vector now.”
“Thanks, buddy. All good onboard my ship?”
“Yeah, we’re about done with the enemy fleet.”
Chase and Daniel gave each other a look of relief. “Excellent. Have someone pick up Spiros Malayianis from the station. Any news from Commodore Saroudis?”
Yanis sounded tense. “They’ve just finished operating and placed him in a regen tank, but his injuries were severe. I hope he makes a full recovery.”
“So do I. Thanks, Yanis.”
“Sure, see you soon.”
“Yeah, we’ll pick up Sarah and come back ASAP.”
“Good luck.”
Chase killed the comm, fed the coordinates, diverted all power to the jump engines, and then jumped into hyperspace.
Onboard the Dark Star, Argos just finished healing himself. He had been too close to death for comfort and was still trying to understand how his brother Laiyos, who had always been inferior to him in every way, had managed to put him in such a state.
“Note to self, don’t kill his friends in front of him,” he said with a chuckle.
Argos’ ego had been hurt deeply. He was not happy about losing this fight, but only the end result mattered now. And with his next move, he would seal Chase’s fate for good.
He opened a channel to one of his ships on standby in the area.
“Yes, Master,” answered one of his Zarlack lackeys.
“Drop the jamming fields.”
“Jamming fields dropped.”
Argos sped off into space with a dark smile.
“So long, brother.”
The StarFury dropped out of hyperspace and Chase scanned for Sarah’s ship. It was only a minute away. With a gasp of relief, he vectored towards her at maximum afterburners.
It only took a few moments to catch up and he opened a channel.
“Sarah… I’m hoping you’re no longer under Argos’ influence. Please respond.”
Silence.
“Sarah?”
Not a thing.
Chase’s throat closed up and his eyes filled with angry tears. “Dammit!”
An incoming transmission buzzed within the cockpit. Code Red transmission from Admiral Thassos. “Lieutenant Commander Chase Athanatos, please respond.”
“Chase here. What can I do for you, Admiral?”
The admiral sounded frantic. “I’m sending you files you need to look at. Sarah is a spy!”
“I know. She was under Argos’ mind control all along. She couldn’t control what she was doing. Don’t worry. We’re in pursuit right now.”
“I
don’t think you understand, Lieutenant Commander. Not only is she a spy, but she also orchestrated the terror attacks on Earth. While your assault fleet was trying to destroy the shipyard, her nefarious plans almost cost every single living being on Earth their life.”
Chase paled and stared out at her ship. “She has the schematics for the ultra-advanced weaponry developed by Malayianis on board as well…”
“Spiros Malayianis is alive? He’s our top R&D scientist!” the admiral shrieked. “She could bring them straight back to the enemy, and that’s not a risk we can afford to take. Your orders are to shoot to kill, Lieutenant Commander. Please confirm the order?”
Chase felt his heart harden to a stop inside his chest. He tried to focus on what the admiral was saying, but his mind couldn’t process the command.
“I—I’m sorry. Say again, Admiral?”
“Your orders are shoot to kill. Please confirm.”
Daniel looked at him in horror and Chase shook his head in a daze.
“I can’t do that, Admiral. I—I love her. It’s not her fault. She’s… carrying my child.”
There was a slight pause before the voice crackled through again. “I’m truly sorry to hear that, Lieutenant Commander, but you must think of the bigger picture here. If Argos gets his hands on this technology, it’s the end of us all. This is a direct order!”
Chase killed the comm.
“What are you doing?” Daniel gasped. “Did you just hang up on the admiral?”
“No, we simply had trouble with communications.”
“Right, she’s gonna believe that.”
Chase threw up his hands. “Look, I… I need to think. I need a plan!”
Daniel’s face tightened with pity. “Bro, I understand. But as much as it pains me to say this… she has a point.”
“I should have killed Argos! If he was dead there would be other options.”
“Perhaps, or perhaps she would have been killed and the data recovered by someone else in the Zarlack ranks.”
“No! I let Argos live and now I am faced with this impossible choice!”
Universe in Flames – Ultimate 10 Book Box Set: An Epic Space Opera Adventure Page 79
