Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (51 page)

When Klaycon heard Gloria was in
danger, he immediately woke up Nissen and Zier and asked them to find more
hands to pilot a combat cruiser.

Within
10 minutes, Klaycon along with a dozen Glycans boarded one of the three Glycan
combat cruiser parked in the training center hangar. The cruiser blasted off
into the space, heading to planet Weithei.

At the
same time on Weithei, Jason and his friends were climbing up in one of the
elevator shafts. With Gloria on his back, Jason lagged behind a little bit.
They soon reached the top of the shaft. They could hear barks, yelps and sniffs
outside the elevator door.

“How do
we get out of here? There are Qityea outside. Probably hundreds.” Sayilin said
hastily.

“Erikon,
Lucis, you two, climb to the door and stand at its sides. Others stay on this
wall, facing the door. When Eirkon and Lucis open the door, we fire.” Jason
said as he pointed the flashlight at the elevator door.

They
quickly got into positions. Erikon and Lucis were ready. Others aimed their
rifles at the door.

“Now!”
Jason shouted.

Erikon
and Lucis pulled the door open slowly. As Qityeas flooded in and plunged into
the elevator shaft, Jason and others blasted their guns like crazy. It was like
a waterfall of dead Qityea and it lasted for about a minute. Then Jason and
others got out of the elevator shaft. They were now on the surface level.

Oepttese
were still pouring Qityea from several huge vessels to the nearby buildings.
Hundreds of soldiers were standing by on guard. Some 10 enormous beltfish like
combat vessels were circling in the air right above the prison.

“Gloria,
Gloria, where are you?” Klaycon called in on Gloria’s badge.

“Klaycon,
Gloria is in one of the surface buildings at the south side of the prison.”
Titainein said hastily.

“I will
take the vessel to the south. Get out of there when you see the vessel.”
Klaycon said angrily.

Within
seconds, a silver Glycan combat cruiser appeared in the sky, followed by
Oepttese’s combat vessels.

Jason
carried Gloria in his arms and ran out with others. Oepttese soldiers swiftly
surrounded them. They dropped their rifles and watched the Glycan combat
cruiser touch down at close range.

Klaycon
jumped out of the cruiser before the loading dock fully opened. He dashed to
Gloria, followed by Zier, Nissen and other five Glycans.

Jason
was holding Gloria in his arms. He didn’t know what to say. However, Klaycon
didn’t even look at Jason. He slowly took over Gloria and carried her to the
cruiser. Jason didn’t want to leave her like this. He tried to catch up with
Klaycon, but an Oepttese and a Glycan stopped him. Mark ran to Jason and
dragged him back. Jason turned to Titainein and said, “Give me the badge. I
will call Klaycon!”

“He
won’t listen.” Titainein said as she handed Jason the badge.

Jason
made the call anyway.

Klaycon
ignored the call and brought Gloria to the medical bay and put her in the
healing chamber. Beams of blue light scanned her body. Zier was checking the
physical readings.

“How is
she?” Klaycon asked nervously.

“She is
very weak. Lost a lot of blood. But she will be fine. We are just in time.”
Zier said coldly.

Klaycon
turned to Nissen and said, “Take off right away!” 

“What
about those second class species?” Nissen asked cautiously.

“Kill
them!” Klaycon snarled.

“Klaycon,
I won’t suggest that.” Zier said seriously.

“Shut
the fuck up.” Klaycon yelled.

“With all
respect, Klaycon, I know you are angry. But Gloria ends up like this is not
their fault. She asks for it.” Zier said calmly.

Klaycon
paused for several seconds and said, “I know who did it.” Then he darted out of
the compartment.

Jason
and others were waiting there quietly. Every second was crawling slowly on
their skins. None of them knew what would happen. While Jason was wondering how
Gloria was, he saw Klaycon come out of the cruiser and head towards him.

Klaycon
took over a rifle from a Glycan.

“Bang!”
He shot Jason’s right leg. Jason fell on his knees.

“Jason!”

“Jason!”

“Jason!”
Titainein and others shouted. Mark went to pick Jason up, but a Glycan knocked
him down with a rifle handle.

“Don’t
move. Stay where you are.” Jason said calmly.

Klaycon
stared at Jason furiously and said, “It is always you. One day, you will get
Gloria killed.”

Idi ran
to Jason and said, “She loves him. She…”

A Glycan
kicked Idi’s belly before she could finish. Idi fell back on the ground.

“It has
nothing to do with them. I am your problem. Spare them.” Jason said sincerely
as he looked up at Klaycon.

Klaycon
aimed the rifle at Jason’s chest and said, “You are damn right!”

“Bang!”
A bullet hit Jason’s chest.

Klaycon
swiftly turned around and headed back to the cruiser.

“No!
Nooooo!” Mark shouted desperately and ran to Jason. Titainein and others were
still in shock. 

Klaycon
flashed a victory smile and gave the order to take off. The door slowly closed
and the cruiser blasted off from the ground.

It was the third day since
Gloria was admitted to the hospital and Klaycon had been staying beside her all
along. He knew even if he went home, he wouldn’t stop thinking about her.

A Glycan
lady wearing a blue suit like uniform walked to Klaycon and said, “You look
tired.”

“Hi,
Kalisa.” Klaycon said and squeezed out a tired smile.

“You
should get some rest.” Kalisa asked quietly.

“I am
fine. How is she?” Klaycon asked caringly.

Kalisa
smiled reluctantly and motioned Klaycon to step aside. They walked to Kalisa’s
office and then Kalisa said, “The gunshot on her shoulder is not a big deal.
The problem is the crystals in her body have cracks.”

“I
thought our body could regenerate them.” Klaycon said easily.

“Yes.
Our bodies are capable of regenerating some crystals, but that is not the case
for the crystals powering organs.”

“You
mean, there are cracks on the crystals deep in the organs? How can that be
possible?” Klaycon asked in surprise.

“I don’t
know. It is very uncommon to see this happens to a young Glycan. Only very old
Glycans have this kind of symptoms.” Kalisa said in confusion.

“So,
what is her status? How long can she live?” Klaycon asked nervously.

“After
she recovers from the gunshot, she may feel no difference except experiencing
fatigue. But at one point, her body will break down completely. It’s hard to
say when. She may live several months or several years.”

Klaycon
sighed and held on to a wall. He felt his entire world was collapsing and
everything was breaking into pieces.

“Klaycon,are
you alright?” Kalisa asked kindly.

It took
Klaycon a while to get himself together. Then he gazed at Kalisa and said, “Is
there anything you can do?”

“There
is something we can try. But I can’t make any promise.”

“What is
that?” Klaycon asked hastily.

“The
blackstone treatment.”

Klaycon
heard about this before. It was a research program funded by the 17 families to
prolong Glycan lifespan. The idea was to reactivate the body to resynthesize
those critical crystals.

“Is it
working?”

“For
those very old Glycans, the answer is no. Probably because their fragile body
couldn’t even handle the reactivation process. But in this case, since Gloria
is young, it might work. Nobody knows.”

Klaycon
thought for several seconds and said, “Let’s do it.” Klaycon.

“It is
extremely expensive and her family…”

“I know
her family doesn’t have the money. I will take care of that. Start the process
as soon as possible.” Klaycon interrupted Kalisa and said decisively.

“Where
do you plan to get the money?”

“Let’s
me worry about that.” Klaycon said easily. After killing Klizan, there was
nothing he couldn’t do for Gloria.

“OK. But
we do need her consent. Once the process started, she will be frozen for two or
three months.” Kalisa said.

“I will
talk to her and she will agree.” Klaycon said confidently and left Kalisa’s
office.

Later
Gloria woke up and saw Klaycon sitting next to her.

“How do
you feel?” Klaycon asked caringly.

“Is
Jason alright?” Gloria asked listlessly.

Klaycon
paused for a second and said, “He is fine.”

“I don’t
trust you.” Gloria said as she struggled to sit up.

“Gloria,
trust me. He is fine.” Klaycon said as he looked Gloria in her eyes.

Gloria
stared at Klaycon for several seconds and asked, “Where is he?”

“I don’t
know.”

“Then
how do you know he is fine?”

“He
didn’t tell me where he was going. Gloria, you see, he is a prisoner. He has to
run. I don’t know where he is and how to get in touch with him. He told me that
he would contact you once he found someplace safe. You need to trust me on
this.”

Gloria
heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Klaycon, thank you. Thank you.”

Klaycon
smiled reluctantly and asked, “How you ended up on that Dolanz’s prison?”

“That is
a long story.”

“Did you
go to prison Listan?”

“Yes.”

“I went
there and tried to find you. You must wear a very good disguise.” Klaycon said
sadly.

“I used
a prototype body transformer.”

“Do you
know the side effect of that transformer?”

“I don’t
care.”

Klaycon
knew all those body transformers took a toll on the subject’s health. He felt
everything now clicked.

“What is
it?” Gloria asked impatiently as she noticed Klaycon was lost.

“Gloria,
your body are suffering from a very rare disease. The doctor suggested a
treatment and it will put you under for two or three months.”

“I don’t
want it.” Gloria said firmly.

“You are
worried that Jason won’t be able to contact you during that time.”

Gloria
nodded.

“Well,
if you don’t go through this treatment, you will die in months. Then you will
never be able to see him.” Klaycon said seriously.

Gloria
didn’t say a word. They fell into silence for a while. The night started to
creep in, gnawing the last light on the horizon. Klaycon sighed and said, “The
doctor will explain the situation to you and ask your permission for the
treatment. If I were you, I will take it. You think about it? OK?” Klaycon said
kindly.

Gloria
kept a straight face, looking out of the window.

Klaycon
backed off and left the room.

When Jason woke up, he found
himself lying in a prison cell, but not the one in Listan. There was a porthole
on the wall. He tried to stand up, but the pain on his chest and his right
thigh forced him down. He found a black bruise on his chest right under the
chest pocket where he put the badge he got from Titainein. There was a big hole
on the pocket and the badge was gone. He immediately checked other pockets, but
he couldn’t find it. The wound on the leg was botched just enough to stop the bleeding.
He slowly pushed himself up and stumbled to the porthole. He could see several
Oepttese vessels at close range and planet Weithei in the distance.

Several
hours later, an old Oepttese wearing a sharp blue military uniform strolled to
Jason’s cell, followed by two young Oepttese. His ragged and cold face echoed
with the general epaulets. He took out a bun and threw it to Jason. It hit the
wall like a rock. 

“No,
thank you. My teeth are not as strong as yours.” Jason said in a joking tone.

“You are
funny.” The old Oepttese said excitedly as he glanced over at his two
companies.

Jason
was wondering where this Oepttese got this superior feeling. Oepttese was as
much a second class species as Human.

“You are
a prisoner in Listan. What is your business here?” The old Oepttese said
easily.

“I was
on vacation.” Jason said carelessly.

“You and
your friends picked a very unique place for vacation.”

“What
happened to my friends and father? Where are they?” Jason asked nervously.

“If I
were you, I will worry about myself first.”

“What
did you do to them?” Jason shouted.

“What I
will do depends how you answer the following questions?” The Oepttese said
casually. 

Jason
took a deep breath and said, “I am listening.”

“How
much do you know about the big Hylocan eyeball?” The old Oepttese asked with an
evil smile.

Jason
was surprised this Oepttese knew about the eyeball, but he put on an innocent
look and said, “I don’t understand.”

“Oh, I
am quite sure you do. When your father mentioned that to me, I didn’t believe
him. However, he somehow convinced me that it does exist. Now your reaction
just proved that your father wasn’t lying.” The old Oepttese said confidently.

“Where
is my father?” Jason asked.

“He is
helping us. Now tell me about that big Hylocan eyeball.” The old Oepttese said
avidly.

“You
tell me where my father and friends are and I will tell you about the Hylocan
eyeball.” Jason said in a demanding voice.

“You
like to play tough, don’t you?” The old Oepttese said happily as he showed
something to Jason.

Jason
recognized it right away. It was Gloria’s family badge with a deep dent at the
front.

“You are
a very lucky guy. The bullet hit on this thing. The owner of the badge wasn’t
that lucky.” The old Oepttese said in a low voice.

“What
happened to Gloria? Tell me! Tell me!” Jason shouted like crazy.

“Tell me
about the big Hylocan eyeball, then I will let you see her.”

Jason
thought for several seconds and then told the old Oepttese how they found the
Hylocan eyeball and what he knew about the eyeball. But he didn’t mention
anything about the Hylocan and superace.

“Very
interesting. Based on your story, now Glycan is in possession of the eyeball.”
The old Oepttese said in a doubting voice.

“As far
as I know. Take me to see Gloria.”

“You
see, the information you provided is valueless. I will give you more time to
think about it.” The old Oepttese said as he turned around.

“Let me
see Gloria. Please!” Jason said in a begging voice.

The
Oepttese and his companies walked away leisurely.