Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (4 page)

Mark had been working on the new
assignment. He still worked as a mine worker, but since the company cut his
working hours, he made good use of his free time. He found his way into the
aviation room in the Latianium transport station. There he was able to access
the network used by the UG aviation control center. The transmissions sent by
the tracer indicated locations and travel time. Through cross referencing those
data with the navigation records, Mark found the vessel carrying the eyeball.
But after the vessel took a stop on Eva-1, Mark lost it. He assumed that
someone switched the original vessel to a military vessel which couldn’t be
tracked by civilian aviation system. Apparently, after the switch, the tracer
was still working, so Mark planned to find out which military vessel was used
to transport those eyeballs. Then he could dig out the flight plan and figure
out the destination.

Right
now Mark was on the way to planet Fslei, the mother planet of Ajiese. Ajiese
was one of the nine species and they were well known for their insane interest
in astronomy. They had been developing the most sophisticated telescope system
that contained 25 million telescopes with capability of detecting full electromagnetic
spectrum. They were scattered everywhere and to the farthest point Ajiese could
travel to. The system was so powerful that even if a vessel was travelling in
the wormhole, it still could see the vessel. Mark believed that the telescope
near the last location indicated by the tracer should be able to see the
vessel.

After
touching down on Fslei, Mark put on a face transformer and now he looked just
like an Ajiese. He headed directly to Hselel Astronomy Center where Ajiese
stored all telescope observation records. The entrance was at the bottom of a
huge telescope which was eight million years old. Mark bought a ticket and
joined the line, moving towards the entrance slowly.

Several
minutes later, Mark entered the center. The inside was magnificent, its ceiling
100 meters high, its floor the size of ten football fields. All kinds of
telescopes were exhibited on the floor, on the wall and in the air. Mark didn’t
have the appetite to look around. He quickly focused his attention on finding
the way to the data center. He went to the basement where he got into the sewer
system. In a shaft, dozens of pipes ran so deep into the ground that Mark
couldn’t see the bottom. He fixed a gravity grab on one of the pipes and
lowered himself into the shaft. He knew the data center was buried deep in the
ground. Using the gravity grab, Mark lowered himself to the bottom where all
pipes started to run horizontally. Following the pipes, he walked to a dead
end, a thick wall. He took out a pair of X-ray goggles and located quite a few
cylinders clustered on the other side of the wall. Those cylinders contained
Ajiese brain cells modified by cell infusion to store data. Mark applied Laiehe
bacteria on one pipe that he found empty for the moment. Mark bought those bacteria
on M13 and they were also called metal eater. It took less than ten seconds for
them to carve a big hole on the pipe. Mark crawled into the pipe, passed the
wall and made another big hole to get off on the other side.

Thousands
of cylinders were cramped in the room.

“This
will take forever.” Mark murmured as he marveled at those cylinders. He quickly
took out the scanner he brought with him and started working. He knew when the
pipe was flooded, Ajiese would found the breach.

One hour
had passed and Mark still didn’t locate the cylinder. But he found something
else, the information of the missing Hylocan girl. Unlike other Hylocans borned
on the Hylocan reserve, she was from somewhere else. When Uainanese found the
girl, she still had her original eyes and mind-reading ability. After Uainanese
captured her, they transferred her to Eva-1. After that she just vanished
without a trace.

“Where
did she go?” Mark asked himself. He wasn’t sure whether there was any
connection between this Hylocan girl and those missing Hylocan eyeballs.

After
another hour, he finally found the cylinder that stored the observation
records. Just when he started duplicating cells to transfer the data, he heard
the clatter sound from the pipe.

“Come
on! Come on!” He said quietly as he stared at the duplication process. The
clatter sound was getting louder and louder and he could even hear the
bubbling. Right before the blue liquid flooded the room, the duplication
process was complete. Mark climbed into the pipe and got out on the other side.

“Buzz!
Buzz! Buzz!” The blaring alarm echoed in the sewer.

Mark ran
for his life as the liquid started to fill the shaft. By the time he got out of
the sewer and reached the hall, securities were evacuating the astronomy
center. Mark blended into the flow of Ajiese and left the building.

In the Guardian Fleet museum on
Eva-1, second class species trainees were listening to Sistyen’s introduction
of different vessels. The museum was actually a hangar the size of 20 football
fields. Hundreds of spacecrafts and vessels from different eras were exhibited.

Thinking
how to get back Gloria’s necklace, Jason couldn’t care less about what Sistyen
was saying. Lucis listened very carefully and checked on his watch occasionally
to make sure he had everything in record. Erikon was looking at another vessel
about 200 meters away. It was 900 meters long and 80 meters high, resembling
the shape of a shark.

“What is
that, man?” Erikon wheezed to Jason.

“That
is… a good-looking spacecraft.” Jason said. He actually had no idea.

“I can
see that. I mean name or model.” Erikon said.

“And
what is in the kitchen on that ship.” Jason smirked.

Even
though Jason was looking at the vessel, he had no idea that Gloria was standing
in the bridge of the vessel and staring at him right now. She and other Glycans
were having a tour on Cruiser General Klizan. For first class species like
Glycan, they could send 200 trainees to training center every year.

“What
are you looking at?” Klaycon asked gently as he stood next to Gloria. He had a
square face, big brown eyes and a eagle nose. He was tall and bulky with long
white hair reaching his muscular shoulders. Unlike female Glycans whose hair
had different colors, all male Glycans’ hair was white.

“Nothing.”
Gloria said coldly without even looking at Klaycon.

“It’s a
nice vessel, isn’t it? Even if it was decommissioned.” 

“How do
you feel stepping into the vessel named after your grandfather?” Gloria asked
in a very cold way.

“Pretty
good and I will name a much better vessel with my name in the future.” Klaycon
said proudly.

Gloria
didn’t say anything. She was thinking about her grandfather.

“I
wonder...” Klaycon didn’t finish, because he noticed Gloria turned away her
head.

“Klaycon,
you are here! Come on, we are going to see the medical bay.” Another Glycan
girl named Carila said hastily as she dragged Klaycon away. They were leaving
the bridge.

Gloria
was on her own, following the group in the distance. She knew they didn’t like
her. It was not because she was ugly or stupid. It was her family. Her
grandfather used to be one of the high rank military officers in charge of
Glycan armed forces. During UWII, he surrendered his fleet to Hylocans, which
was considered by many as the biggest shame to all Glycans. As a result, Gloria
was demeaned by others since she was a little girl. Her beautiful face and nice
figure didn’t save her from discriminations and in some situation it made
things worse.

Gloria
speeded up a little to catch the group. When she turned at the corner, she felt
some sticky stuff fell on her head. Before she could lift her hand to get rid
of it, the black sticky gel thing quickly cover her head and formed a tight
film. Carila and six other Glycan girls emerged from a nearby compartment and
rushed to Gloria. Carila was tall and busty with an oval-shaped face and sharp
green eyes. Gloria could hear the heavy steps, then she felt pain everywhere.
The seven girls surrounded Gloria, punching and kicking her all over her body.
Gloria slumped on the deck. But those girls didn’t stop and continued to beat
her for the next several minutes. Then two girls picked up Gloria’s hands and
held them behind her back. Carila tied the hands with a laser rope.

“Ah,
aaaah.” Gloria screamed in pain. The laser rope cut into her wrists and even
the slightest movement led to extremely sharp pain.

“Help!
Help! Help!” Gloria yelled at the top of her lung, purple blood spewing out of
her wrists.

Carila
and other girls picked Gloria up and carried her to a lower deck. They stopped
in front of a food stock compartment.

“Swoosh.”
The door slid open. They threw her into the compartment.

Gloria
hit hard on the deck. The impact on her head almost knocked her out. Slowly,
she tried to sit up, but the pain kept her still. She heard laughter and
giggles. Then the door slammed closed.

“Wake up.” Erikon whispered as
he nudged Jason.

Jason
raised his head. He couldn’t believe that he fell asleep while standing and he
also couldn’t believe that Sistyen was still talking.

“We save
the best to the last.” Sistyen shouted and led students to the vessel Jason and
Erikon talked about before.

Looking
just like a great white shark, the vessel began with a large conical scout and
slowly narrowed down from the middle part and finished with a vertical tail.
The vessel rested on its four fins and the fin on its top almost touched the
ceiling of the museum.

“This is
the Cruiser General Klizan. It is one of the 24 super vessels built by nine
species during UWII. Under its hull, it gathered each species’ ultimate weapon.
There are six cruisers just like this one. Remember, the 24 vessels formed the
backbone of Guardian Fleet when it was just erected. This particular one in
front of you was the last one leaving the service. It was decommissioned 40
years ago.” Sistyen explained proudly to all students as they marveled at its
magnificence.

“It was
designed by the greatest scientists and engineers from nine species at the time
and constructed by Diilre.”

“Then
how nine species decided which one to operate the vessel?” One trainee
interrupted Sistyen.

“Well,
at that time, superace operated all 24 vessels. But that’s not the point. Let’s
…”

“Who is
superace?” Another trainee asked.

“We will
not discuss that here. That kind of thing won’t be in the exam anyway.” Sistyen
said firmly.

“They
should know.”  A gruff voice struck everyone and a Glycan walked out of the
shade of the vessel. Wearing a black uniform, he was seven feet tall, medium
build, with sharp brown eyes on his square face. His name is Kalan, one of the
nine generals in Guardian Fleet operation committee. Behind him, there were two
other officers. One was an Estian, wearing a dark red uniform. His name was
Geijoa, the new Estian general in operation committee. The other one was also a
Glycan wearing a green uniform which indicated that his rank was much lower. As
they walked closer, Sistyen and all trainees saluted them. Kalan kept a cold
face and motioned Sistyen to step aside.

“At the
late stage of UWII, nine species produced a species that combined the
advantages of each species using genetic modification and mutation. They were
the superace. Any question?” Kalan said.

“What
happened to them when the war was over?” Jason asked.

“When
they were designed, their life-span was set for a certain range, so they simply
passed away.” Kalan said.

“How
many they made?” Orizy asked.

“10,000
units were constructed and around 2,500 died in UWII.” Kalan said.

“If they
are the most brilliant one, why they couldn’t save themselves?” Another
trainee, a Tizuee, asked.

“You
better ask them.” Kalan said ironically.

“Why we
are not allowed to step into this cruiser?” Idi asked gently, her voice weak
and soft.

“Because
that is the way it is.” Kalan said coldly.

All
trainees casted their eyes down. They all knew what Kalan meant. They were
second class species. No matter what you did and where you were, you were still
second class species.

“Take
them away.” Kalan said to Sistyen.

“Yes,
sir.” Sistyen said as he saluted Kalan.

As the
trainees headed to the exit, Glycans came out of the cruiser in groups. Jason
glanced over at those Glycans and suddenly had the desire to get into the
cruiser. He nudged Erikon and Lucis and winked at them. They slowly dropped to
the end of the line. When Sistyen was looking at others, they swiftly darted to
the cruiser and ran inside.

“This is
crazy. I have a feeling one day you will get us in trouble.” Lucis said
seriously as he was following Jason.

“Take it
easy. Nobody knows we are here.” Jason said easily as he checked the interior.
It was smooth and seamless. There was no screw, welding or connecting section.
It felt that the vessel grew from inside to outside as a whole body.

“How
they built this thing? Where are we going anyway?” Lucis asked curiously.

“I don’t
know.” Jason said.

“I think
we are heading to the engine room.” Erikon said.

“And how
do you know that?” Jason said.

“Just a
feeling. You know I like engine and mechanic stuff.”

“I know
you like food.” Lucis said and everyone smiled.

After 10
minutes, they arrived at a transparent door. It was very thin and made by some
kind of liquid. On the other side, there was the dark engine. A huge black glob
of liquid was suspending in the air, with three red spheres cycling around it.
A flow of black liquid kept going into the black glob as another flow of red
liquid came out and formed a red sphere.

“That is
the dark engine. I read it somewhere saying the red spheres are the
transformers and the black thing is the extractor. The liquid going into the
black thing circulates in the hull and extracts the dark energy from the
surrounding.” Erikon said.

“Man,
you need to share with me your reading list.” Jason said.

“Why is
it on? This thing should be turned off a long time ago.” Lucis said.

“They
probably turned it on for those Glycan trainees.” Jason said as he looked
around.

“Beautiful.”
Erikon said as he reached out to the door. Just before he touched it, Jason
caught his hand.

“Don’t.
See that.” Jason said seriously as he pointed the vortex on the door.

“What is
going on, man?” Erikon asked in confusion.

“That is
for the key. You have to have the right crystal to open the door.” Jason said
calmly.

“Come
on, man. Don’t be pussy.” Erikon said.

“OK.”
Jason said as he took a cookie from Erikon’s pocket.

“Watch
this.” Jason said and threw the cookie to the liquid door. The moment the
cookie passed the door, millions of bugs flooded into the room in a blink and
the cookie was gone before it could land on the floor.

Erikon
was shocked.

“That is
Yayi. The only living thing on planet Egewe.” Lucis said.

“Man,
thank you.” Erikon said, his voice shaking.

“Let’s
go.” Jason said.

They
moved on and checked other compartments such as weapon bay, medical bay,
communication center and so on. As they walked into the kitchen, Jason noticed
some purple liquid on the deck. He stopped there, checking the liquid.

“What is
that, Jason?” Erikon asked as he checked every drawer.

“Looks
like Glycan’s blood.” Jason said as he dipped his finger into the liquid.

“They
still keep food here, for a vessel like this? Erikon, don’t eat that. It could
be more than fifty years old.” Lucis said as he saw Eirkon stuff food into his
pockets.

“Hey
vampire, I know you don’t like food. That is why we call you vampire.” Erikon
joked.

“Jason,
what are you looking for?” Lucis asked as he saw Jason scouring the floor.

“The
blood is fresh. There could be more. Look around.” Jason said.

Lucis
and Erikon joined Jason, searching the kitchen.

“Here,
here.” Lucis shouted. Jason and Erikon ran to Lucis. They followed the blood
trail to a door.

On the
other side of the door, Gloria was frightened as she heard the tread of steps
again, her body trembling, her breathe shortening. All of a sudden, the door
opened. Someone stepped in and then she felt a gentle touch on her right
shoulder.

The
moment the door slid open Jason knew it was Gloria because of the aroma from
her body. But he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t believe Glycans did this to
their own kind. He took out his knife and cut loose the laser rope. Gloria’s
hands were shaking and her wrists were bleeding. Just before Jason cut open the
film wrapping her head, Lucis pulled his shoulder. Jason turned back and saw
Lucis shaking his head. He understood what he meant. They were not supposed to
be here. If others found out, they would be in big trouble. He put the knife in
Gloria’s hand and then ran away with Lucis and Erikon.

Gloria
couldn’t believe what just happened. She held the knife for a long while, and then
she used it and removed the film. She was in great pain, but she was happy. She
stumbled out of the compartment, heading to the exit of the vessel.