Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (5 page)

Economics was getting worse. At
first, the company decreased the working time from six days to four days for
half of the mine workers. But now all mine workers were working four days. The
housing fee also increased, which led to a protest on the mine site. But the
protest didn’t change anything except most protesters were fired. Mark didn’t participate
the protest. He spent some time sorting out the data he got from Hselel
Astronomy Center. The first several days didn’t yield anything and he started
to worry that the telescope was not able to see the vessel when it used space
bending to travel. Just before he gave up, he found it and it was Cruiser
General Klizan. The cruiser only appeared in the scope for about one second,
but he could clearly see it passing through the location indicated by the
tracer at the time the transmission was sent. Mark couldn’t understand why
someone used Cruiser General Klizan. It did have special shield over its hull,
but the shield was designed to bypass Hylocan’s deep space detectors in UWII.
Mark tried to found out where the vessel headed, but it went beyond the range
of the telescope. He really hoped he had downloaded observation records of the
nearby telescopes. He knew he couldn’t go back there and there was no way he
could get close to that cruiser. He thought about it for several days and
finally decided to ask Jason for help.

Jason
got a message from his father. Nothing stood out except two encrypted sentences
which reminded Jason the old days in the preselection institution. Back then
everyone was nice and they got so close that they even read each other’s family
messages. It was then his father Mark came up with an encryption method to
deliver the sentence just for Jason.

“Just
like the old day.” Jason said to himself as he quickly decoded the sentences
and it read “Check the navigation record of Cruiser General Klizan. Be
careful.”

Jason
was confused. To his best knowledge, the cruiser was kept in the museum all the
time. Suddenly he recalled the food Erikon found in the cruiser. That meant
someone did use the cruiser recently.

Jason
waited until midnight and sneaked into the museum. It was much easier than
going to the Glycan’s library. He learnt his lesson and was wearing a mask this
time.

It was
dark and quiet in the museum. Several robots were sweeping the floor. Jason ran
to the port side of the cruiser, looking for the door he used last time. But he
couldn’t find it. The surface was smooth like silk with no crack, groove or
line. He then checked the starboard side and the bottom. There was no entrance.
Baffled and tired, Jason sat down under the vessel.

“I
couldn’t even get in.” He sighed as he wondered how to explain this to his
father. After sitting there for a while, he decided to come back tomorrow. He
slowly stood up. Just at this moment, he noticed a man-shaped shadow appeared
on the floor near the window. But he didn’t see anyone. Then the shadow moved
away from the window and disappeared. Jason held his breath and listened
carefully. He could hear it was coming close to the port side of the vessel.
Then it stopped. A masked Dolanz appeared on the floor from nowhere. It checked
the surrounding cautiously and took out a necklace. Jason recognized that
necklace right away. It was Gloria’s necklace. Then Jason realised that it was
Sistyen, the history teacher.

A door
showed up as Sistyen put the necklace close to the hull of the cruiser. He
looked around carefully and got inside. Jason rushed to the door and jumped in
before it closed.

The
inside was pitch black. Jason closed his eyes and followed the sound of
Sistyen’s steps. He could tell Sistyen knew the vessel very well because his
steps were fast and steady. Suddenly he heard some robotic voice and then all
the lights went on. After his eyes got used to the light, he saw an entrance to
a spacious compartment. Jason slowly walked to the entrance, hid behind the
doorway and peeked inside. It was the bridge of the cruiser. Sistyen was
standing in the center and holding the necklace over his head. The necklace
slowly flew towards the ceiling and the crystal landed into a slot on the
ceiling.

“Bridge
access granted. All systems initiated.” A robotic voice echoed in the bridge.

“This is
it.” Jason said to himself as he adjusted the mask to make sure it covered his
face.

Sistyen
sat down on a chair. Jason took a deep breath and darted into the bridge.
Sistyen saw Jason coming at him. While he was hauling out the gun, Jason
punched him on the face. Sistyen fell over the chair and slumped on the floor,
but at the same time, he got his gun out.

“Lights
off.” Jason yelled as he saw Sistyen aim the gun at him.

Now it
was pitch black. Jason stood still and held his breath. He knew the crystal was
right above him. But if he retrieved the crystal now, he would expose himself.
He heard Sistyen moving closer, but he didn’t know Sistyen’s exact position. He
lowered his body, ready to sprint out. He knew when the lights went back on, he
only got one shot.

“Lights
on.” Sistyen shouted. Before he could fire the gun, Jason charged and grabbed
him on the waist. Both of them plunged on the deck and rolled off the center
platform. Sistyen dropped the gun. Jason kicked away Sistyen and quickly got up
on his feet, running to the gun. Sistyen stood up and ran to the doorway. When
Jason picked up the gun, Sistyen had gone. Jason let out a long sigh and
removed his mask. He stumbled back to the center platform and said, “Navigation
record.”

The
record came up on the screen, but it was encrypted. Jason was frustrated, but
he downloaded the data to the crystal anyway. Then he retrieved the necklace from
the ceiling.

“At
least I got the necklace back.” Jason said to himself and left.

Unlike second class species,
every first class species had their own regions in the training center and each
of them contained tens of buildings. Glycans had the largest living space on
Eva-1; each Glycan trainee had their own rooms. For the Glycan trainees who
were from the 17 families, their rooms was ten times bigger than those of other
glycans.

Klaycon
was from family K whose members held critical positions in Glycan armed forces.
Even though he was only 18 years old, he had received three years of military
training. He was very popular among his classmates, but he knew his popularity
might have something to do with his father General Kalan and his grandfather
General Klizan.

Right
now he was sitting with his friends on the upper floor of the dining zone. They
just finished ordering their dinners.

“What
you guys think about this Hylocan girl thing?” Nissen asked. He had a small and
thin figure and a round face with a scar on his left cheek.

“It
seems that this girl doesn’t come from Hylocan reserve.” Didian said in
confusion as he rubbed his cheek. He had a wide face, two small black eyes and
a pointy chin.

“I don’t
have enough information to comment on this matter.” Zier said seriously with
his always strict face, which made his long face look even longer.

“We know
this girl was travelling on her own and captured by Uainanese. They handed in
the girl to us. But they have no idea where this girl came from.” Didian said
easily.

“There
must be some kind of mistake. Now all Hylocans are born on the Hylocan reserve.
We have tracers installed on all of them. For this girl, we might mess up her
record and the tracer might be broken.” Zier said confidently.

“If she
was born on Hylocan reserve, then why they didn’t remove her eyeballs. That
couldn’t be a mistake.” Nissen said.

“You
know what I am thinking?” Didian said.

“Didian,
we are not discussing rumors. No Hylocan ship got away in UWII.” Zier said
firmly.

“I
certainly hope so.” Nissen said.

“What do
you say, Klaycon?” Didian asked.

“Ah?”
Klaycon didn’t really listen to their conversation. He was looking at Gloria
all this time. She was sitting at the lower level by herself, her heart-shaped
face partially covered by her blonde hair. When she tucked hair behind her ear,
it showed her beautiful neckline.

“Klaycon,
what are you looking at?” Zier asked as he stood up, scanning the lower level
quickly.

“Are you
looking at...” Nissen didn’t finish the sentence, because Klaycon flashed him
an angry stare.

“I will
be more concerned about the upcoming selection instead of all these rumors.”
Zier said seriously.

“When is
that?” Klaycon asked in a relaxed tone.

Didian
and Nissen smirked.

“About
one week. But you don’t really care. I don’t blame you. If I have won the
championship twice, I won’t care either.” Zier said.

“So you
know that.” Klaycon said.

“Everyone
knows that. I think that is the reason why you are so popular with girls.” Zier
said jealously.

“I thought
that was because my face.” Klaycon said and everyone smiled.

In
Glycan’s society, male and female must pass all three selections to be
considered as a qualified Glycan. The selections tested every Glycan’s
physical, mental and intelligent capabilities. The first selection started at
age eight, second one at 14 and the third at 18. The three selections were held
in three different planets every year. All Glycans reaching the selection age
had to go to the designated planets and participate the tests. The score was
based on the time one took to finish the tests. If a Glycan didn’t finish the
tests or didn’t finish the time in the required time, it meant he or she was
dead or would be dead. Every year, about one third of each age group died on
those planets. For male Glycans who finished all three selections and obtained
a first place in any of the three selections, they were given the privilege to
marry as many girls as they wanted and they were allowed to have as many
children as they wanted. For female Glycans who met the same requirements, she
and her family were awarded a lifetime-long financial support. It pretty much
meant they never needed to worry about money.

In Glycan’s library, when Jason
tried to decode the encrypted navigation data he got from the cruiser, he heard
someone walk in. He slightly opened the door and peeked outside. It was Gloria.
She looked around for a while, then sat near the window.

Jason
came out of the cubicle and cleared his throat. Gloria turned around. They looked
at each other for several seconds. Then Jason walked to Gloria and said, “There
you go.” He handed Gloria the necklace. He noticed the bandages on her wrists.
It reminded him the scene Gloria was tied up and blindfolded. He still couldn’t
understand why somebody did that to a beautiful girl like her.

“Thanks!”
Gloria said gratefully. She took over the necklace and held it in her hand.

“Alright.
You got what you want. I hope you keep your words.” Jason said coldly.

“I will.
I didn’t expect you would give it back just like this.” Gloria smiled nicely.

“Well,
we can have another fight, if you want.” Jason kept a cold face.

“I can
tell, you are very good at fighting.”

“Thank
you.”

They
fell into awkward silence. Jason couldn’t help but stared at her body. She was
like a sculpture combining all the perfect curves together. Her legs were long
and straight; her hips were round and solid; her breasts were pushing up her
uniform proudly. Jason felt no matter what he said, he didn’t have a chance to
score a date. Even though he was standing right in front of her, he felt he was
so far away. He simply gave it up and headed to the vent.

“Even if
you are good at fighting, it won’t get you anywhere.” Gloria suddenly said.

“What?”
Jason stopped and turned around.

“You
should know there is no future for you in the Guardian Fleet.” Gloria said
directly.

“Do
explain.” He didn’t know why Gloria suddenly say something like this. He was
angry, but he wanted to know why.

“Every
year, each first class species can send 200 trainees. Each second class species
can send five. There is no position for you. The only reason you and other
second species are here is to make you think you are part of the family.”

“That is
deep.” Jason said ironically.

Gloria
sensed the irony. She walked to Jason, staring into his eyes, and said, “Give
me an exception.”

“General
Michael R. Stonan.”

“How
come I am not surprised? Yes, he was appointed as the commander of combat
division, but he never had the chance to even give an order.”

“That was
because he passed away before he could start his term.” Jason said furiously.

“And you
think his death was just coincidence?”

“What do
you mean?”

“No
first species would allow that happen. A second species command first species.
What a joke!”

“He was
murdered?” Jason asked in shock. He always considered Michael as his role
model. Whenever he felt he was mistreated or demeaned, he told himself one day
he would be as good as Michael and he would be the commander. Now he felt his
dream shattered into pieces and those pieces struck into his heart like blades.

“Well,
you don’t want to be him anyway. He was a bitch. He did whatever they
requested. He even killed his own kind. He...”

Jason
punched Gloria on the nose before she could finish. She slumped on the floor,
purple blood busting out of her nose. She tried to stand up but fell again.
Jason slowly squatted next to Gloria and said, “I am sorry.” He then grabbed
her hair and pulled her face close to him. Gloria could feel his breath.

“I begin
to understand why those Glycans beat you and tied you up in the food
stockroom.” Jason said slowly as he stared at Gloria. He watched her facial
change from scared to shock.

Gloria
couldn’t believe what she just heard. What happened on the cruiser stormed back
to her. Jason released her hair and headed to the vent. Gloria was still in
shock. When she finally got herself together, she wanted to call him back. Then
she realized that she didn’t even know his name. She was just sitting there and
watching Jason crawl into the vent.