Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (37 page)

Jason and others knew anything
about planet Yuwtoow. In fact, they all heard it the first time. After the
vessel penetrated the atmosphere, Jason and others used all kinds of equipment
scanning the ground, but they didn’t find anything. After a long while, they
all got frustrated.

“Klaycon,
are you sure this is the planet your father told you.” Zier asked quietly.

“Yes. Is
there another Yuwtoow?” Klaycon said impatiently.

“Maybe
call your father? He might know.” Carila said.

“He said
he would call me later.” Klaycon said unhappily.

Jason
didn’t join their discussion. After cycling around the planet dozens of times,
he noticed that all rivers converged on one colossal hole. He maneuvered the
frigate right above the hole. Hundreds of rivers were pouring in it from all
directions. Nobody could tell how deep the hole went.

Klaycon
stared at Jason and asked, “What are you going to do?”

“You
guys may want to fasten your seat belts.” Jason said easily and then the vessel
shot into the hole like a bullet. After a long fall, it ditched into the
liquid. As it went deeper and deeper, several gigantic squid like creatures
strolled leisurely along the vessel, their tentacles fondling the hull.

“Jason,
why are we here?” Gloria asked, her voice shaking.

“We will
see. I hope I am right.” Jason said excitedly.

Klaycon
gave Gloria a blank stare as if he was saying where you found this guy.

Soon,
they saw hundreds of thousands of outlets on the wall. Jason flew the vessel
close to the wall.

“Jason,
what are you doing? Maybe we can help.” Gloria asked in confusion.

“Check
all those vents and see anyone stands out.”

Everyone
in the bridge looked out of the windows. After several minutes, Klaycon found
one outlet had a filter like structure over it.

“One
down there.” Klaycon said excitedly pointing the vent to Jason.

Jason
maneuvered the vessel close to the outlet and said, “Yes. That’s what I’m
talking about.”

“Good
job, honey.” Gloria said and kissed Jason on his cheek. Other Glycans were
shocked, but nobody said a word.

The vent
was large enough to fit the vessel, but the filter was in the way, so they swam
out of the vessel and removed the filter. Then Jason flew the vessel into the
outlet. When they came out on the other side, they were in a monstrous tank the
size of a lake. Jason parked the vessel on the shore. They stepped out of the
vessel and marvelled at the huge space. Dozens of giant pillars were holding
the sky high ceiling.

They
soon found a big gate the size of a tennis field and there was a slot at the
bottom of the gate. Gloria immediately recognized the slot and said, “This is
for our crystal.” She inserted her crystal into the slot, but nothing happened.

“Let me
try.” Klaycon said as he stepped forward. He slowly inserted his crystal.

“Clank!
Clank! Clank!” The door slid open.

Niseen,
Carila and Etoe backed down in panic. Zier jumped aside and fell over. Jason
and Gloria walked forward to the door holding each other’s hand.

Suddenly,
lights went on. They could see the door opened to a long corridor.

Jason
stuck his head in the doorway and looked around for several seconds. He patted
Gloria’s shoulder and said, “Stay here.” Then he carefully put a foot into the
corridor.

“Jason,
Jason.” Gloria called him in a worried tone.

“It’s
OK. Wait there until I call you.” Jason said easily as he walked in.

All of a
sudden, a snake like robot appeared from nowhere and confronted Jason. Gloria
scurried to Jason and pushed him away. Klaycon was right behind Gloria. He
showed the robot his crystal. The robot scanned the crystal, and then dashed
away.

“You
OK?” Gloria asked caringly as she hugged Jason.

“It’s
under control.” Jason said in embarrassment.

Klaycon
rolled his eyes at Jason and then motioned others to come in.

The
inside was cold and clean. It felt like the place had been frozen for a long
time. They walked along the corridor and soon ran into an intersection, so they
decided to break up into groups.

“Check
in every ten minutes. Find the hangar, the cruiser should be there.” Klaycon
said seriously as everyone was testing their badges.

“Find
the kitchen as well.” Jason joked.

Klaycon
gave him an angry stare.

“What? I
am hungry.” Jason said in a relaxed tone.

They
parted away in three groups and went deep into the facility.

Jason and Gloria were holding
each other’s hand and walking side by side. He couldn’t remember when they
started to hold each other’s hand. It came so natural and he felt peace in his
heart. He was still thinking about the moment Gloria ran to him when he encountered
the snake like robot. That moment he felt a warm current running all over his
body. Before that moment, Jason loved Gloria, but it was all about her body and
face. He helped Gloria just like he would do for any beautiful girl. But now he
found himself love her with his heart.

Jason
suddenly stopped and pulled Gloria in his arms. He looked at her and said,
“Gloria, I love you.”

Gloria
paused for a second. She was surprised and when she looked in Jason’s eyes, she
suddenly felt that the old Jason was back. She busted into tears and said, “Do
you know how long I have been waiting this?”

“I can
really feel it now, in here.” Jason said as he put Gloria’s hand on his chest.

“I know
you always love me. I love you. I love you.” Gloria said slowly. They leaned to
each other and kissed passionately. Nothing mattered anymore. All they cared
was this heart-throbbing feeling running in their bodies.

“Gloria,
Gloria, check in.” Klaycon called in. 

Gloria
threw her badge away and kept kissing Jason.

“Gloria,
Gloria, check in.” Klaycon’s voice was getting louder.

They
slowly broke up, but still held each other in arms.

“Gloria,
Gloria, where are you?”

“Better
answer that.” Jason said with a grin.

Gloria
picked up her badge and said, “Yes, Klaycon, you don’t need to scream.”

“I was
worried.”

“Jason
is here. What could happen to me!” Gloria said impatiently.

“You…”

Gloria
turned off her badge before Klaycon could finish. She kissed Jason again and
said, “If it’s not in here, we will have a wonderful date.”

“I am
looking forward to that.” Jason smiled.

Later
they walked into the living quarters of the base. There were kitchens, dining
areas, stores and dorms. Everything was neat and in order as if someone just
cleaned it up.

“What is
this place?” Gloria asked.

“I have
no idea.” Jason frowned.

After
they left the living quarters, they entered an area filled with military
training equipments. In one of the rooms, Jason found a cabinet labeled as
training records. There were hundreds of capsule like objects in it. Jason
recognized those capsules. Estians used them to store data. He took a capsule
and placed it on a stick in the middle of the room. The capsule melt into
liquid, and then morphed into thousands of droplets. They floated in the air
and formed a data table with names and tests results.

“Relinee?”
Jason murmured as he read the data sheet.

“What?”
Gloria asked.

“This
name Relinee sounds familiar.” Jason said as he went through the data. Relinee
had the best score in almost every test.

“Relinee.
I heard this name somewhere.” Gloria said as she thought about it.

“She was
the commander of superace. This is where they got trained.” Jason said
excitedly.

“Yes,
that is right! I remember now.”

“Did
Klaycon say why we had to be here?” Jason asked in a worried tone.

“It
wasn’t his idea. He father ordered him to come here and find Cruiser General
Klizan.”

“Why
they want a decommissioned vessel? Besides it should be in the museum.” Jason
said in confusion.

“Gloria,
we found the hangar and the cruiser.”Nissen called in.

“Tell me
the direction. I will be right there.”

Soon,
Jason and Gloria joined others in the hangar. The Cruiser General Klizan was
the only vessel in the hangar and no one was there, not even a Glycan soldier.
This gave Jason goose bumps. Originally, Jason planned to leave right after
they found the cruiser. However, right now he felt something was wrong.

They
boarded the cruiser using Klaycon’s crystal and rushed to the bridge.
Everything was fine about the cruiser, but there was no crew, dead or alive.

“Where
are all the crew?” Zier asked desperately.

Everyone
felt the chill running along their spines. They looked at each other in panic.

“Check
every compartment. Do it in groups. Be careful.” Jason said in a shaking voice.

“I
suggest we do it together this time. I mean all of us.” Nissen said nervously.

“You
scared?” Klaycon laughed.

“Yes, I
am.” Nissen said honestly.

“Maybe
there are some monsters out there.” Carila said.

“And you
think they just let us walk around for this long?” Zier said ironically.

“There
is no blood or body parts.” Etoe said uneasily.

“You
guys go together. I will take Gloria with me.” Jason said calmly.

Klaycon
glanced over at Gloria, and then led others out of the bridge.

“What do
you think?” Gloria asked nervously.

“I don’t
know what happened to this cruiser, but we should leave here right away.”

“You
don’t want to find out what happened?”

“I hope
we can survive that long.” Jason said in a worried tone.

“Come
on. I know you are curious. Me too.”

“Alright.”
Jason said excitedly.

“So
where should we start?”

“I am
thinking about checking the captain’s log.” Jason said easily.

“Good
idea.”

They
left the bridge and headed to the captain’s cabin.

Captain’s log: 314, 47, 593, 29,
01

Left planet
Agirue with 32 crew and 21 scientists. Right now the cruiser is sailing towards
Triangulum Galaxy. I don’t know the destination yet. Since this order was given
directly by General Klizan, I didn’t ask much. But as a captain, I should at
least know the destination.

Captain’s
log: 325, 51, 435, 22, 02

The
scientists have been requesting the cruiser travel at different speeds. It is
very annoying. The destination is still unknown. The cruiser is operating
normally.

Captain’s
log: 366, 34, 565, 25, 03

I talked
with the onboard scientists. They told me that the stability tests were all
done. The weapon was ready for a operating range test. I didn’t even know we
had a weapon on board until that moment. One of the scientist showed me the
weapon. If I didn’t see it, I couldn’t believe it. He didn’t ask me to keep it
as a secret. I can understand that. If I told anyone what I saw, that person
will think I am crazy.

Captain’s
log: 325, 51, 436, 28, 04

We just
went a cycle. More tests were done. All scientists are very happy. They say we
might do something real.

Captain’s
log: 698, 33, 322, 12, 05

I
received the destination coordinates. We are heading to planet Yieie, the
mother planet of Dolanz, at full speed. It seems we will test the weapon on
those second class species. Scientists are nervous. They are not sure the
weapon’s full power. 

Captain’s
log: 788, 34, 234, 11, 06

We
didn’t even get close to planet Yieie. To my best knowledge, I didn’t see any
damage on Yieie or any nearby planet. Right now, we are heading to planet
NH0398-3345, the mother planet of Oepttese. Another second class species.

Captain’s
log: 788, 23, 222, 23, 07

Same
drill like Yieie. Received the order to sail to planet Yuwtoow, stay there and
wait for further instruction. The cruiser was operating normally.

Captain’s
log: 7889, 243, 2234, 213, 08

Arrived
at planet Yuwtoow. I somehow thought two crews are missing. The first officer
told me that the number was wrong at the very beginning. I guess I didn’t
really pay attention. I didn’t count them anyway. So I make a correction here:
the cruiser was sailing with 30 crews and 21 scientists.

Captain’s
log: 7889, 243, 2234, 213, 09

I need
to make another correction regarding the crew status. We started with 25 crews
and 15 scientists when we left planet Agirue. Apparently, we left in a hurry.
That is what I remembered.

Captain’s
log: 7889, 243, 2234, 213, 10

Third
day on plant Yuwtoow. I need to make another correction regarding the crew
status. We started with 12 crews and six scientists when we left planet Agirue.
I remember now that we were required to bring the minimum crew and keep
communication silent. Two of the scientists ran off the cruiser today, we
brought them back. They are scared.

Captain’s
log: 7889, 243, 2234, 213, 11

I
checked all my logs. It seems, I remembered I knew, anyway, they, we still on
planet Yuwtoow. Sometimes, my logs... Everything is fine.

Captain’s
log: 7889, 243, 2234, 213, 12

My
family...I have…

That was
all on the captain’s log. Jason was lost in thoughts. Gloria got goose bumps
all over her body.

“So, so,
captain was the last one? Then at least we should find his body. How many crews
they had?” Gloria was frightened.

“They
all vanished. But that’s not what is bothering me.” Jason said in a heavy tone.

“What is
that?”

“Until
the last moment, this captain still thought everything was fine.” Jason said as
he looked around the cabin. Everything was in order, nice and clean.

They
fell into silence for a while.

“Gloria,
you want to see this.” Klaycon called in.

“What is
it?”

“You
need to see it. You won’t believe me, if I tell you. We are in the middle part
of the cruiser.” Klaycon’s voice was shaking.

Jason
and Gloria went there and saw the massive Hylocan eyeball. The sheer size of it
was daunting. As everyone looked up at it, the eyeball was also checking them
out. Its blue pupil was moving around in its red iris, glowing like a sapphire.

“This is
why my father wanted me to secure this cruiser.” Klayocn said excitedly.

“I’ve
never seen anything like this before.” Zier said, his eyes widening.

“Man,
this is just unbelievable.” Nissen sounded scared.

“This
may have something to do with those missing crew.” Gloria said.

“I hope
not.” Etoe said sadly.

“Klaycon,
did your father tell you anything about this?” Carila asked.

“No.”

While
others were marvelling at the eyeball, Jason felt something was shaking in his
chest pocket. He reached into the pocket and found the ring was shaking
slightly. He took it out and noticed its color changed from black to bloody
red. Jason slowly put the ring on his index finger and then he noticed the
pupil looking at him. When he took it off, the pupil disengaged.

After a
while, all of them returned to the bridge. Klaycon phoned his father, but the
call didn’t go through. Jason brought the captain’s log to them and they
checked every log.

“Is it
possible that the big eyeball killed them all?” Carilar asked.

“Then
the captain should at least write something down.” Zier said.

“There
is no body or whatever, we have checked everywhere.” Nissen said.

“They
could be killed somewhere in the facility not on the cruiser. We don’t even
know how many crew they started with.” Klaycon said calmly.

“Can we
just go home?” Etoe said in a begging voice.

“We will
leave here right now but we probably can’t go back to Sylareon.” Klaycon said.

Jason
had no interest in joining this kind of discussion. He was thinking about the
ring.

“Warning!
Incoming subjects. Warning! Incoming subjects.” The alert sounded in the
bridge.

Klaycon
and Jason rushed to the scanner and found out that there were some 50 Human
soldiers closing in from the distance.

“Gloria,
you need to come with me before they get closer.” Jason said quickly.

“Are
they friendly?” Gloria asked.

“I don’t
think so. I am quite sure they are not here for me. Let’s go to the cargo
vessel and get out of here.” Jason said hastily.

“Gloria,
stay here. Those Human will capture you and who knows what will happen next?”
Klaycon said.

“Stay
here? You want to end up like the crew?” Jason shouted.

“Well,
you go wherever you want. We don’t give a fuck.” Klaycon said angrily.

“Actually,
Klaycon is right. We appreciate your help, but your assistance is no longer
required.” Zier said politely.

“Jason,
let’s go.” Gloria said decisively and grabbed Jason’s hand. They ran out of the
bridge.

Klaycon
punched the table and said, “Take off. I can’t let him take Gloria.”

“OK.”
Nissen said and quickly initiated the control system.

Outside
the cruiser, Mark, Salmon and other Human soldiers quickly ran to the cruiser,
trying to find the entrance.

“Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!” A series of explosions rocked the cruiser. Human
soldiers were trying to break into the cruiser. But their explosives only
scratched the surface. Mark knew they couldn’t get in, so he attached a tracer
on the hull.

Klaycon
heard the explosions in the bridge. He turned to Zier and asked, “Can we fire
back?”

“We
don’t have the authorization code for the weapon system.” Zier said quickly.

“Take
off. Now!”

Before
Jason and Gloria could get off the cruiser, it left the ground. The ceiling
rotated open like a twirl and the cruiser blasted off into the sky in a blink.