Universe in Flames – Ultimate 10 Book Box Set: An Epic Space Opera Adventure

by Christian Kallias

  “Nice to meet you too.”

  That awarded him another punch in the face, which cut his left eyebrow. Soon blood flowed into his eye.

  “We clearly started on the wrong foot here. What was the question again?”

  “Where is your friend Chase?” repeated the older guy.

  “I don’t know any Chase.”

  Another punch. Daniel was starting to see stars.

  “We can do this all day,” said the younger guy.

  “I’d rather you didn’t,” said Daniel, spitting yet more blood onto the floor.

  “Then talk!”

  “What about?” he said, beaming at them with a wide smile.

  The next punch, an uppercut, sent Daniel and the chair backwards and he crashed onto his back, unable to prevent his head from hitting the floor. The impact made his head throb.

  “Stop taking us for imbeciles,” said the older man while the younger one set Daniel and the chair upright. “We saw you coming with the Gorgar and the Droxian. They’ve been asking for your friend Chase all around the station. Still want to pretend you don’t know him?”

  “Look, guys, I can see you’re serious about getting information out of me. And as much as I hate getting bludgeoned to death, I don’t see how I can help you here. You must have me mixed up with someone else. I have, well, had, a very familiar face.”

  “Perhaps we should start cutting pieces off you. Perhaps that will jog your memory.” The older man took a knife from behind his back.

  “I don’t think it will. And really, if the point of the exercise was to jog my memory, perhaps hitting me repeatedly in the head was an exercise in futility, don’t you think?”

  The men looked at each other, trying to understand what Daniel had said. That’s when Daniel sprang forward with the chair and hit the old guy in the guts with his head, and then landed unceremoniously on his side. The older man dropped his knife and Daniel tried to catch it with his tied hands, but he wasn’t fast enough. The younger one kicked the knife away and started pounding him with one kick after another.

  Brilliant plan, Dan! he thought, when he was about to lose consciousness.

  But then the door behind him slammed open and he heard two shots. When he managed to look up, both men were lassoed by an energy beam.

  Thank god.

  Tar’Lock was already untying Daniel as Ryonna approached the two men. She then looked at Daniel and saw the many bruises on his face. “Which one did that to you?”

  Daniel pointed towards the younger one with his chin.

  Before he could open his mouth Ryonna punched him so hard it sent him flying towards the wall. His back hit with a satisfying, bone-cracking sound. He lost consciousness and collapsed onto the floor.

  The older man’s look changed immediately and he seemed genuinely worried about his partner. But that look turned to terror when Ryonna stepped in front of him.

  “Why did you attack my friend?”

  He started trembling.

  “Wait!” said Daniel, getting help from Tar’Lock to stand up.

  Ryonna raised an eyebrow.

  Daniel came and unleashed four jabs to the guy’s face in quick succession. The last punch sent the old man to the floor. Daniel spat blood on him and looked at Ryonna. “Now you can ask your questions,” he said, attempting to smile despite the sorry state of his face. “I’ll be distributing the punching, if you don’t mind.”

  Ryonna smiled back and nodded. “So, old man, what’s your name and why did you attack him?”

  He took his head in his arms and groaned.

  “If I have to ask one more time I’m gonna start tearing limbs off you and your friend there.”

  “Please don’t,” said the old guy, shaking his open palms in front of him. “My name is Tor’Tak. Please don’t hurt my younger son. He’s all I have left.”

  Ryonna growled.

  “Right, we are looking for Chase Athanatos. My son heard you two asking around the station about him. So as soon as this one was alone, we decided to grab him and ask him nicely about it, but he wasn’t cooperating.”

  Daniel raised his bleeding eyebrow. “Ask nicely?”

  “We knew you were lying.”

  “No, seriously, ask nicely?” Daniel took a step forward and the old dude crawled backwards.

  “Please don’t hit me!”

  “Then start talking and fast, before I show you ‘nicely’ what I have in store for you!”

  “Alright,” said Tor’Tak, his hands extended in front of him pleadingly. “I’m looking for that Chase character because he killed my other son, Tron’Tak!”

  Ryonna and Daniel exchanged a look.

  “That doesn’t sound like him,” said Ryonna.

  “Well, we’ve obtained security cameras. He killed him!”

  “If that’s the case I’m sure he had good reason, and from the way you’ve treated my friend here, I can see it runs in the family.”

  “What should we do with them?” asked Daniel.

  “Space them. They’re scum, like almost everyone else on this station.”

  “No, no! Please don’t space us. We have money!”

  “We don’t need money,” said Ryonna sharply. “It so happens we’re also looking for Chase. However, tell us what happened and why Chase killed your son.”

  “He tried to double cross a bounty hunter named Keera. Chase helped her and they left the station together.”

  “I don’t see Chase killing anyone for no reason. You’re not telling us everything.”

  The old man looked down.

  “Speak! Now!”

  “My son tried to rape her.”

  “There you go,” said Ryonna and turned to Daniel. “Like I said, scum.”

  She took out her blaster and shot them both in the head without a trace of hesitation or remorse.

  “What the fuck, Ryonna!” shouted Daniel.

  “Seriously? You’re gonna shed a tear for these pieces of garbage? God knows what they would have done to you if we didn’t track your locator beacon.”

  “You told them you wouldn’t space them?”

  “So what? I didn’t lie. Look, they’re not spaced.”

  Tar’Lock stood on the other side of the room, his arms crossed. “Alright, let’s not debate this any further,” he said. “Ryonna, apologize for killing these two dumbasses and let’s get going and try to find more information about this Keera character.”

  “Apologize?” said Daniel his eyes wide.

  “She can’t un-kill them now, can she?”

  Ryonna holstered her blaster and put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Daniel, I shouldn’t have iced them.”

  “Could you sound even less insincere than that?” He exhaled without hiding his frustration.

  She waved her hands over her head and, as she walked out of the apartment, gave Tar’Lock a stern look. He simply shrugged in response.

  6

  The Valken exited hyperspace. Chase took the StarFury out of the docking bay, exited the ship and micro-jumped the rest of the way. As soon as he arrived he engaged his cloak. He scanned the area and detected a large fleet at the border of his sensor range. Zarlack warships, about thirty of them, behemoth class.

  “Looks like my brother is up to something.”

  Another energy source appeared on his radar, behind the moon of the third planet of the dual star system into which he had jumped.

  “Now what is this?” He approached the coordinates and soon a huge installation appeared before him.

  Another shipyard. More ships were being constructed. He saved the coordinates in his ship’s memory and jumped back towards the Valken. Soon he was back in the ship’s cockpit.

  “So?” inquired Keera.

  “There’s a fleet of Zarlack ships not too far from here, a rather sizeable one. And a shipyard too.”

  “Should we do something about it?”

  “Nah, we don’t have the firepower. I saved the coordinates. I’ll give th
em to the Earth Alliance. They can choose whether they want to come and destroy the target.”

  “What about the fleet, though?”

  “I don’t know, and honestly I don’t care at the moment.”

  “Perhaps your brother is in one of those ships.”

  “Perhaps, but even if that was the case, we can’t do shit about it for now.”

  “You could perhaps board one of the ships cloaked?”

  “No, it’s too dangerous. The cloaking on my StarFury only lasts minutes, and when it turns off, the ship doesn’t have shields anymore.”

  “I see, so next stop? Earth?”

  “Yeah, let’s get back—” he hesitated “—home.”

  “Alright, but Earth is too far for us to reach in a single jump. We’ll have to make a fuel supply run halfway.”

  “Sure, whatever we need.”

  She nodded, selected a system midway on her holo-starmap and fed the jump coordinates to her ship’s onboard navigational computer.

  “Jumping to Thetra-Six.”

  The Valken hummed for a few seconds and they jumped into hyperspace once more.

  Chase thought about this fleet of ships. While Earth was well protected, both with satellites and a huge fleet, this many ships could still do a lot of damage. He surprised himself thinking about strategic ways of fighting them. Not my fight anymore, he reminded himself.

  “You want to warn your friends? Do you think they’re heading towards Earth?”

  “I have no idea. The Earth Alliance now offers multiple targets of interest. There’s also Droxia.”

  “And soon the Obsidian.”

  “Well, they can burn. I wouldn’t shed a tear.”

  “Hey, that’s my home!”

  “You should move,” said Chase, smiling at her.

  She punched him affectionately on the shoulder. “Well, I don’t really have a home. The Valken is my home. At least currently.”

  “No relatives, husband, boyfriend, something?”

  She looked at him quizzically.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” she replied. “And no, I’m an only child and my parents died a long time ago. As for my personal life, it’s none of your damn business,” she said playfully.

  “Really?” said Chase. “Like we haven’t discussed mine in enough detail.”

  “Well, you’re a talker. You can’t expect everyone to be so forthright.”

  “Alright. I was just trying to make conversation anyway.”

  “I’m kidding Chase, and no, I don’t have a husband or a boyfriend.”

  “Ok, good.”

  “Good?”

  “Poor choice of word.”

  She gave him an incredulous look.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, big boy, nothing at all.”

  “Let’s change the subject.”

  “You brought it up.”

  “I know. I’m starting to wish I hadn’t.”

  “Oooookay.”

  “Look, Keera, this flirty banter is fine, but I. . . I just lost the woman I loved more than anything in this world. And while you’re very cute and even remind me of her at times, I have no intention of letting anyone get that close to me ever again.”

  “That’s sad. And sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. I actually fancy women since we’re sharing openly.”

  “Oh. . .”

  “Sorry, pal.”

  Chase growled and she laughed.

  “So you never had a. . . man in your life?”

  “I did once, but men are pigs. They tend to cheat a lot.”

  “We’re not all pigs. Just saying.”

  “I can see that. And you’re right. I just happen to like the company of a woman more. That is, when I need a little sexual release.”

  “No serious relationships then?”

  “Not at the moment, no.”

  “Before?”

  “Yeah, once upon a time.”

  “What happened?”

  Her expression changed.

  “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

  “She. . . she was murdered.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “So was I. That’s actually when I became a bounty hunter. That scumbag was my first warrant.”

  “Really? So you got him?”

  “I did.”

  “He’s in prison now?”

  “No, I killed the motherfucker.”

  “I see.”

  “Don’t give me ‘I see,’ Chase. You’re doing the exact same thing here.”

  “True. I’m curious: did it make you feel better?”

  “I thought it would, but it didn’t bring her back, you know? And it was the first time I took another life as well. Scumbag or not it’s a heavy thing. I still have nightmares about it, sometimes.”

  “I understand. Did you kill other people since then?”

  “A few. In self-defense though. Goes with the job.”

  “And some warrants I suppose?”

  “I never take execution warrants. Well, except this one; but it’s optional.”

  “And, theoretically, would you kill Argos if you could, to get a higher reward?”

  “I don’t think so. Alive he’s still worth more than six lifetimes of collecting, and definitely more than I could ever need.”

  “We’ll have to kill him. Argos isn’t the type of person who can just be captured.”

  “Yeah, I’ve got that from our previous conversations about him.”

  “You won’t try to stop me when the time comes?”

  “Could I?”

  “No, but I’d rather you didn’t try.”

  “I won’t. I mean, life is precious, and it sounds to me like he wouldn’t hesitate to kill me.”

  “He wouldn’t. In fact, should we go through with this, you’ll have to obey my wishes and stay back when the time comes. I can’t risk him using you in any way to protect himself. I had the chance to kill him and . . .”

  “How come you didn’t?”

  “At the time, Sarah was still alive, and he told me she would die if I killed him.”

  “Well then you made the right choice.”

  “I thought I did, now I’m not so sure . . .”

  “Why are you saying this?”

  “Because I’m not sure he was telling the truth. I think he bluffed so I would spare him.”

  “I’m sorry, Chase. I hope you get your revenge, but if you’re anything like me it won’t make you feel any better. I mean, the man I killed was a total scumbag. He . . . he raped her before killing . . .” She started crying.

  “I’m really sorry. That experience with Tron’Tak must have brought back bad memories then.”

  She nodded and wiped her tears. “Yeah, well, even though I knew I was making the universe a better place by ending her murderer, it still didn’t make me feel better. I mean, besides squeezing the trigger. That . . . definitely felt good at the time.”

  “I’m sure it did.”

  “But he is your brother. If I feel like shit for taking that scumbag’s life, how will you feel about ending your own brother?”

  “I don’t consider him as such.”

  “Does that really make a difference?”

  “I think it does. I didn’t even know I had a brother. I don’t have memories of him. Heck, I don’t even have my own childhood memories. Therefore, I don’t think it’d feel like killing my brother. It would just feel like killing someone who deserves to die, ten thousand times over.”

  “I hope for your sake you’re right, Chase.”

  “Plus, I won’t have to live with guilt after that.”

  “Oh? Why not?”

  “Forget about it. Do you mind if we change the subject?” A tear ran down his face.

  “Sure.”

  Chase didn’t want to stay alive, of that he was certain. The only reason he still breathed was because Argos was still alive. Once that was dealt with, he could leave this world in peace.

/>   “Please promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

  The question startled him. “What do you mean?”

  “I know that look. You know very well what I mean.”

  “I can’t make that promise, sorry.”

  “Life’s a bitch, I know. Still, it can be wonderful.”

  “I remember, but it can’t be anymore, not for me.”

  “You don’t know that! Sure you lost the love of your life, but there could be another one out there. I’m just saying.”

  “Even if that were true, I would never take the risk again. I am a Fury. For some reason shit gravitates around me on a daily basis, so no way!”

  “I understand that. That’s also why I never tried to forge any new, long-term relationship. I’m also afraid of what could happen.”

  “Once was enough.”

  She nodded. “Boy, we need to change the damn subject, or start drinking something to forget.”

  “How long till we arrive at the refueling station?”

  “About fifteen hours.”

  “Then if you have a strong drink, or something else perhaps?”

  “Sorry, no drugs on board the Valken. One of my rules. I’m a recovering junkie myself. I have a killer whisky bottle from the Zentak priesthood of Kal’nor, though. That stuff will knock your socks off and disinfect your inner plumbing all at the same time.”

  “That sounds really good about now.”

  “I’ll be right back,” said Keera as she left the cockpit.

  Chase looked outside at the lightshow of hyperspace travel and, without realizing it, he fell asleep.

  Soon he was engulfed in a green liquid, feeling helpless, trapped and scared like every other night.

  Daniel waited on the Iron Fire for Ryonna and Tar’Lock to return. He went to the infirmary and was patched up by a medical droid. He preferred taking a skeleton crew on this mission. He had asked Yanis to install the same neuronal interface on the Iron Fire that Chase had used on the Hope. Even though he probably couldn’t manage it as well as a Fury mind, he liked using the link.

  He stared at his ship’s empty bridge, wondering what would happen if Chase didn’t want to come back. He would make him if he had to. This nonsense had to stop! Daniel wanted his friend back. But first they needed to find him.