Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (17 page)

Mark didn’t go back to planet
Latianium. He called Aron and explained his situation. Aron said he would call
back. So for the past several days he hid on the night side of M13, waiting for
the call.

On the
fifth day since Mark made the call, Aron finally contacted Mark and they
decided to meet at a deserted shooting range on M13.

Brisk
wind was roaring on the bleak plain. Mark landed the stolen Glycan fighter jet
far from the range. He looked around carefully and then exited the jet. Wearing
a night vision glass, he had no problem finding his way to the range in
darkness. The range had a long history and used to be an underground weapon
smuggling hub. Then one day the shooting range was ravaged, filled with dead
bodies and drenched in blood. Nobody knew who did it.

Standing
in front of the oval-shaped entrance, Mark checked the surrounding one more
time. Then he took a deep breath and went inside. The blood on the ground dried
decades ago. Skulls and bones scattered here and there. Mark tread lightly and
carefully, his ears stretching out. He passed the main hall and entered the
range. There he noticed a red light blinking on the wall. Slowly, he approached
the red light and saw there were something written below the light. It read
“For Mark.”

Mark
removed the red light and found a penny size sticker, a neurotransmitter. Mark
knew Aron must be around. But he couldn’t see anyone. Mark sighed and put the
sticker on his forehead.

“Sorry
for the long wait.” Aron said.

“Five
days.” Mark said unhappily.

“I have to
make sure those Glycans didn’t follow you.”

“If I
were bugged, Glycans have killed me in the past five days.”

“Yes,
you are right. Based on what you said about the wound on your left forearm,
maybe the tracer was removed when you passed out. But you never know.”

“Maybe
they are just running late.” Mark chuckled.

“Well.
Mark, I couldn’t explain everything when I called you. That is why we have to
meet this way and I am afraid this will be our last conversation.” Aron said
sadly.

“I
understand.” Mark sighed.

“So tell
me what you found?”

“You
know the part Hylocans captured me. The eyeballs were transferred by Cruiser
General Klizan to a remote planet. There is a Glycan facility on that planet.
In the facility, I saw a huge Hylocan eyeballs bigger than a building. It seems
those Hylocans were looking for some girl. Maybe the missing Hylocan girl. I am
not sure. I have the coordinates of the planet and a detailed report with me.”

“I wish
I can help you more. I am sorry.”

“You are
currently serving in the force. I understand.”

They
fell into silence for several seconds.

“I guess
that’s all for us, right?” Mark said calmly.

“Sorry.”

“Well, I
see it coming, but I didn’t expect it to be this soon.”

“Any
plan?”

“Not
really. I will call Jason first to make sure he is alright and let him know I
am alright.”

“Be
careful. Glycans might be looking for you. Don’t expose yourself.”

“Yea, I
know. I suppose I can’t find a normal job anymore.”

“Use
fake identity may help you land one but that couldn’t last long.”

“I know.”

“I
brought you some money.”

“I still
owe you.”

“It’s
OK.”

“Thanks!
I appreciate it. I really need it. I have to make a lot of money to pay all
John’s future medical bills.”

“And how
do you plan to do that?”

“Mercenary
or assassin?”

“I see.”
Aron let out a long sigh.

They
fell into silence again.

“If you
really want to do that, I can give you a contact. But don’t trust him. Remember
that.” Aron said seriously.

“OK.”
Jason listened carefully and wrote down the name.

“Behind
the bar, there was a bag.”

“I will
leave the information on the bar.” Mark said as he hauled out the bag. Then he
put a button like disk on the bar.

“You
take care.” Aron said sadly.

“You
too.” Mark said and headed out.

After Jason returned to the
training center, the administrative officers gave him a hard time. He didn’t
tell the truth and he only said that he had to take an emergent leave for some
family business. Questioned about the details, Jason simply said he forgot.
Obviously, this pissed off the administrative officers and they knew things
were not that simple. They decided to initiate an investigation and would
finalize Jason’s punishment based on the results. Before the investigation was
complete, they punished Jason to clean all toilets in the second class species
living zone every day. Previously, this work was done by robots.

When
Erikon told Jason that his father was safe, Jason was cleaning a toilet in a
male restroom. First he was thrilled at this news, but then he sensed something
was wrong. Jason called his father several times after he returned to the
training center, but he never got a reply. Now his father contacted his friend
instead.

“He said
he wouldn’t be able to call you for a while.” Erikon said as he handed Jason a
message stick.

“I have a
bad feeling.” Jason murmured.

“Maybe
your father lost his job. It’s common these days. Economy is bad.” Erikon said
cautiously.

“Maybe,
I don’t know.” Jason said as he retrieved the message on his watch.

Erikon
gazed at Jason curiously. Jason knew what Erikon was thinking, so he showed the
message to Erikon.

“Nothing
special. I thought there might be some stories.” Erikon said disappointedly.

Jason
smiled reluctantly and quickly decoded the message. Now he knew his father
saved him, put him in the lifeboat and fired the lifeboat to Tizuee’s planet.

Jason
read the message again. There was no mentioning about that blind girl or why
Mark had to leave them in the lifeboat.

“So how
is the blind girl?” Erikon asked.

“She is
fine but bored.” Jason said easily as he removed the message stick.

“We
can’t keep her long. One day someone will find out we stole food from the
stockroom or someone could even find her, even if you hide her in the old
facility.”

“Yea, I
know that. But right now, I am more concerned about something else.”

“You
mean Gloria?”

“Yea.”
Jason sighed.

“I can’t
tell you to take it easy. I never fell in love before.”

Just at
this moment, Lucis rushed into the restroom, almost ramming into Erikon.

“You
need to use bathroom?” Jason joked.

Lucis
held Jason’s shoulders, trying to catch his breath, and said, “Gloria…Gloria…”

“What
happened to Gloria?” Jason asked nervously.

“She...she
is back.”

“Yes!
Yes! Yes!” Jason shouted, raising his arms in the air. He felt the entire world
came to life again.

“Thank
you, man. Thank you so much for letting me know.” Jason said and gave Lucis a
big hug.

“How do
you know this? You also know a Glycan girl? This is so not fair.” Erikon said
jealously.

“Well,
not just I heard about it.” Lucis said sadly.

“What do
you mean? How do you know Gloria was back?” Jason asked hastily.

“They
whipped her in front of all Glycan trainees today, several hours ago.”

A wave
of anger swept Jason’s body. He felt something exuding from bones and fueling
his strength. He punched a wall again and again. Erikon and Lucis were shocked
at his strength. Neither of them dared to stop Jason. After several seconds,
Jason finally calmed down, his fists covered in blood.

“Is she
alright?” Jason asked nervously.

“I think
she is fine. They also published her to clean the dining room at night.”

Jason
checked his watch. It was still too early. He decided to wait until late night
to go to see Gloria.

Late Jason had dinner with his
six teammates. They talked about the upcoming second round game. The second
round was supposed to be held 12 days ago. But two trainees from class of 83
were accidently killed in the game. Several senior second class species officers
decided to suspend the game until they fully investigated the accident.
However, when first class species officers heard this decision, they scrapped
it right away and ordered them to resume the game.

After
dinner, Jason continued to clean toilets. He scrubbed the inside and outside of
toilets and then flushed them with strong basic solution. It was boring,
tedious and embarrassing. He was happy that Gloria could never see him doing
something like this.

The
restroom door opened. Jason didn’t turned around to check who it was. His logic
was if it was someone he knew, he didn’t want to show his face. If it was
someone he didn’t know, there was no point to check it out.

“Tap,
tap, tap, tap.” The tread of fast footsteps alerted Jason. As he was wondering
who was in such a hurry, he felt someone hug him from behind. Then he smelled a
familiar aroma. He quickly turned around and saw Gloria standing right in front
of him. Gloria hugged Jason, her eyes filled with tears, her face flashing red.
Jason held her tightly in his arms, his heart beating out of the chest. Her
body was so soft and Jason just couldn’t get enough of it.

Gloria
felt she was melting in Jason’s arms. The warmth of his body took away all her
fear and worry. After a long while, they finally let each other go.

“I love
you.” Jason said emotionally, looking at Gloria in her eyes.

“I love
you, too. You are crazy, you know that?” Gloria said in a complaining voice as
she stroked Jason’s face.

“Oh, you
just learned that?” Jason said in a joking tone.

“I
thought you were joking about saving me.”

“I was
joking at the moment I told you.” Jason smiled evilly.

“Ah,
really?” Gloria put on a straight face.

“Yea,
you know.”

“Actually,
I wasn’t surprised at all when I saw you on Etitaeg.” Gloria was trying to play
tough, but her sweet and lovely voice gave her away.

“Man,
that is cold!” Jason acted like he was angry.

They
looked at each other with straight faces for several seconds, then they both
broke into laughter.

“How do
you find me?” Jason asked.

“Oh, I
just ask do you know the boy cleaning all toilets.”

“Finding
a second species in a male restroom in the second class living zone is very
classic.”

“Come
on! Give me a break.” She said as she punched Jason’s chest.

“Alright,
alright. By the way, this is really not a good place for conversation.” Jason
said sincerely.

“Thank
you for pointing that out. I was wondering how long it would take for you to
realise that.” Gloria said ironically. They held each other’s hand and ran out
of the restroom, heading to Glycan’s dining zone.

When
Klaycon saw Gloria and Jason entering the dining zone, he was shocked. He
didn’t expect this. He came here to help Gloria clean the dining zone. He even
asked Nissen, Zier and Didian to come with him. Now their presence only served
to amplify his embarrassment.

“How
come is he still alive? Klaycon, you said you took him to Sylareon.” Zier said
in surprise.

“Something
is wrong!” Nissen said as he shook his head.

“Look
like they were having a good time, right?” Didian said as he watched Gloria
serving a drink to Jason.

“Klaycon,
why is he still alive?” Zier asked seriously.

Klaycon
was so angry that he didn’t hear Zier. He risked his life to save Gloria from
being sentenced to death. Now this was all he got.

“Klaycon…”
Zier stopped when Lucis nudged him on the shoulder.

“Yes, he
is still alive, but not for long.” Klaycon crashed each word with his teeth,
his uniform transforming into an armor suit.

“No.
Klaycon.” Zier said and stepped in front of Klaycon.

“Fuck
off or I will kill you instead!” Klaycon snarled.

“You
want to win Gloria’s love. But if you kill this Human boy right now, she will
hate you forever.” Zier said calmly.

“You
love Gloria, really?” Didian said in surprise.

“We
should have left this Human on Etitaeg.” Nissen said.

“Kill
him when nobody is around.” Zier said slowly.

“Why
Gloria?” Didian murmured.

“Klaycon,
Zier is right. We should wait. You should also tell Gloria how you saved her
from being sentenced to death. She will be grateful. ” Nissen said sincerely.

“It may
not be easy to kill him. Remember how he killed a monster on Etitaeg?” Didian
said uneasily.

“We will
figure that out. Right, Klaycon?” Nissen said confidently.

Klaycon
let out a tired sigh, his armor suit transforming back to the uniform. He
glanced over at Jason and Gloria and then walked away.