Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (60 page)

Jason would rather die trying
instead of living like this on this planet. In the past several days, he
checked the fighter jet he hid in the forest. After sitting in a humid
environment more than a month, the jet had a thick layer of mold on the top and
the belly was covered by water stain. The cockpit smelled like a rotten fish.
Jason did some simple cleanup and mainly checked the reactor at the back of the
jet.

It was
right before the dawn. Jason took a last look at the small wooden tent he built
more than a month ago. He wondered in the future whether someone would consider
this as the first sign of Human colonization. He laughed at himself and picked
up a stack of dried fishes. The water on the ground started to ebb. Then the
first light of the dawn hit the forest, casting through trunks and branches.
Showered in the morning light, he took a deep breath. All of a sudden, he felt
his body filled with strength and energy. He jumped on the muddy and wet
ground, heading to the fighter jet.

Jason
checked the jet for the last time and then climbed into the cockpit. The smell
of the rotten fish was still there. He let out a long sigh and hit on the
engine initiation button. As the engines started to hum, the screen came to
life. Then Jason smelled something burning. He sniffed around a bit. The
burning smell was getting stronger and stronger.

“Boom!”
One of the engines exploded and the flame engulfed the whole jet. The cockpit
was like an oven and Jason felt like his skin was melting.

“Boom!”
Another engine exploded.

Jason
reached out to the handler to open the cockpit, but only got his hands burned.
The fire and smoke flushed in. Jason felt pain all over the body. He held his
breath and searched for the button for emergency ejection in the black smoke.
Fire quickly swallowed his body. Jason knew the final explosion was coming in a
second.

At the
last moment, he found the button. The burning cockpit blasted off from the jet
right before the jet broke into pieces in another explosion. Inside the
cockpit, Jason struggled to put out the fire. There was not much room for him
to move around.

“Ah,
aaaaah” Jason screamed in pain and kicked on the roof. The glass was cracking.
Jason kept kicking it as the cockpit slowly descended. 

“Crank!
Crank! Crank! Crash!” The roof was broken.

Jason
jumped out before the cockpit landed on the ground. As he was falling, the wind
blew off the fire on his body. He plunged into a swamp and felt the unbearable
pain on his chest. Then he passed out.

When
Jason opened his eyes again, he saw a wooden roof with red leaves. Bright light
casted through the skylight and landed on a trunk-made chair. Everything was so
peaceful. It was like in a dream world, but the pain on his body reminded him
that what he was seeing was real. He looked at his hands. They were covered by
mud like paste and so was his body. He slowly touched his face. It felt like
pitted bark.

“You are
awake, finally. I was wondering whether you can make it or not.” A low and
husky voice struck Jason.

Jason
slowly turned his head to the door direction and saw an old Glycan walking in.
He sat next to Jason and asked, “You hungry?”

Jason
slowly got up on the bed and now he could see that almost all his body was
covered by the mud like green paste.

“It’s
OK. Just stay down.”

“What is
this thing on my skin?” Jason asked listlessly.

“You are
badly burned. You skin are pretty much gone. I use those paste so that you
won’t get an infection.” The old Glycan said kindly as he handed Jason a bow
filled with creamy thing. He had a small built, his square face full of
wrinkles, his eyes round and sharp, his hands rough and ragged.

“Thank
you.” Jason said gratefully.

“You may
not like it. It tasted like Wipoeq.”

“If it’s
just vinegar, I can handle it.” Jason said as he spooned the creamy thing.

“You
know what Wipoeq is?”

“Yes.”

“How
come?”

“Well,
my girlfriend gave me some before.” Jason said sadly.

“Then
you must have a Glycan girlfriend.” The old Glycan said in surprise.

“I do.”

“So
after UWII, they are all the same? I mean different species.”

Jason
smiled reluctantly and said, “You have been here for a long time. Am I right?”

“More
than 80 years. I got there before UWII was over. I am Nisasen by the way.”

“I am
Jason. I thought I was the only one on this planet.”

“Far from
that. On the other side of the planet, some Oireitans were drilling for
something.”

“I
didn’t know that.”

“Well,
it’s hard to find a place without being touched.” Nisasen said in a relaxed
tone.

“How did
you find me?”

“The
black smoke led me to the location of the explosion. Then I searched the
surrounding area and found you. You were lying in the swamp. I didn’t expect
you were still alive back then. But sometimes you just don’t know, right?”
Nisasen said in a cheerful mood.

“Yea.”
Jason nodded. He then noticed his legs were very stiff. He couldn’t even lift
them up to the edge of the bed.

“Take it
easy. There are fractures in both your legs. I fixed them.”

“I don’t
know how to thank you.” Jason said emotionally.

“Don’t
worry about that.” Nisasen chuckled.

“How
long have I slept?”

“About
eight days. Looks like you planned to go somewhere?”

“Yea, to
see my girlfriend.” Jason said directly.

“Well,
well, well. History does like to repeat itself.” Nisasen sighed.

“What do
you mean?”

“Get
some rest. If you wanted to see your Glycan girlfriend, you will need it.”
Nisasen said and headed out.

Later
Jason finished the bow and went to sleep.

Several days after the
treatment, Gloria quickly regained her strength. Before she left the hospital,
she took her time to thank the doctors who treated her. She also learned that
her main physician Kalisa died in an accident several days ago.

After
left the hospital, Gloria went home to see her parents. They were all very
happy and excited to see their daughter. Gloria were happy as well, but her
mind was somewhere else. She was dying to see Jason. But she had no idea where
he was, so she called Titainein and they decided to talk in person in the
training center.

Later,
Gloria, Titainein, Erikon and Lucis met in the theater in second class species
area.

“Where
is Jason?” Gloria asked nervously.

“Gloria,
calm down first. You are not going to be happy about this.” Titainein said
calmly.

“What?
Is he alright? What happened? Tell me. Tell me now!” Gloria said hastily.

Titainein,
Erikon and Lucis looked at each other.

“Tell me
what happened!” Gloria shouted in a shaking voice.

Titainein
winked at Erikon and Lucis, but the two acted like they didn’t see her, so she
said, “Gloria, we don’t know where Jason is right now.”

“But he
is fine right?”

“The
last time we saw him was on a carrier of Human Second fleet. But recently none
of us heard from him. The Second fleet has returned and we asked around. All we
know right now are just rumors.” Erikon said sadly.

“What
rumors?”

“It
seemed that Jason ran off the carrier while some Glycans tried to catch him.”
Erikon said.

“I
thought he was hiding somewhere because of the prison break thing.” Gloria said
in confusion.

“Speaking
of that, your friend Klaycon almost killed Jason.” Lucis said angrily.

“That is
another story, but it’s not important now. Gloria, we tried to contact you for
more than two months. But we can’t reach you.” Titainein said.

“We
wanted to ask you for help to get Jason off the carrier.” Lucis added.

“I was
undergoing a treatment for about two months. I called the badge I gave you
right after I recovered. But the call didn’t even go through.” Gloria said.

“I gave
the badge to Jason last time I saw him on the carrier.” Titainein said in a
worried tone.

Gloria
and Titainein fell into silence. Gloria knew Jason wouldn’t lose it unless
something very bad happened.

“There
is one more thing. That is the reason why we have to talk to you in person.”
Lucis said as he winked at Erikon.

Erikon
took off his watch and pressed the side button. Several beams of light formed
an image showing a common greeting passage.

“I
received this message several days ago. I don’t know who sent it.” Erikon said.

“It
seems just like other hello messages, but if you read carefully, those repeated
words look like some kind of coding.” Titainein said confidently.

“Jason’s
father used to send me messages like this and asked me to relay the message to
Jason.” Erikon said.

“But you
just said you don’t know who sent it.” Gloria said.

“No, I
don’t know who sent this one.” Erikon said as he shook his head.

“I think
it is possible that Jason also received this message.” Titainein said.

“Anyway,
we have been working on decrypting it, but we still don’t get it.” Lucis said.

“Anything
else except this message?” Gloria asked.

“You
probably heard the rumor that Hylocan reserve was attacked and all Hylocans
were gone. I don’t know whether it has anything to do with Jason.” Lucis said.

“I
didn’t know that until now. Lisania and Jason. I hope not.” Gloria sighed.

“So what
is your plan?” Titainein asked.

“I will
decode this message first. It might tell Jason to go somewhere or others
things.” Gloria said tiredly.

A week after Jason woke up, he
was able to walk around a bit. Nisasen seemed busy all this time and they
didn’t really talk much. Jason could understand that. It required a lot of work
to keep two guys alive.

Now
Jason didn’t feel pain but itchy all over the body. Today he could finally
remove all those paste. He couldn’t wait any longer. He first rinsed the green
paste off his legs. The view shocked him. There was no skin left and his legs
now looked like burned logs, black and coarse. He could see muscles movements
on his legs.

“No.
Noooo!” Jason screamed.

It took
him a long while to get himself together. He continued to wash the paste off.
Then he touched his face in panic. It was like touching a rough and pleated
cloth.

“No.”
Jason sighed as he slowly put on the clothes Nisasen prepared for him. Then he walked
around the room to find a mirror. But he couldn’t find one.

When it
was close to the noon time, Nisasen came back with some fresh-caught rabbit
like animals.

“Got
these in the traps I set up yesterday. You want to help me cook them?” Nisasen
said happily.

“Do you
have a mirror?” Jason asked slowly, trying to hide his sadness.

Nisasen
glanced over at Jason and said, “I don’t have a mirror, but…”

“It’s
ugly, right?” Jason interrupted Nisasen.

“That
doesn’t bother me at all.” Nisasen said easily.

“I just
want to see how I look. I can handle it.” Jason said firmly.

“I don’t
have a mirror, but I have a big knife.” Nisasen said as he hauled a knife from
his pocket.

The
knife had a shining blade that gave a good reflection. Jason took over the
knife, held the blade right in front of his eyes and stared at his face. It
looked like his leg. Half of his nose was gone and one cheek was much shallower
than the other one.

Jason
dropped the knife and casted his eyes down. He wanted to scream but couldn’t
make a sound. He stood there still for a long while. He knew even if he stood
right in front of Gloria, she wouldn’t even recognize him. He would scare her
and all his friends away.

Nisasen
picked up the knife from the ground and said, “Come and help me cook.”

Jason
hesitated for several seconds and then joined Nisasen. They cleaned up those
rabbits and made a fire. They didn’t talk much and quickly finished cooking.
Now they were sitting near a table and eating their lunch.

“You
have any plan?” Nisasen asked quietly.

“Before
I saw myself, I planned to see my girlfriend. Now I just wanted to leave.”
Jason said listlessly.

“How do
you plan to do that?”

“Except
walk away, do you have any better idea?”

“I have
something for you.” Nisasen said as he motioned Jason to follow him.

They
left the wooden house and walked into the forest. After about 20 minutes, they
reached a small clearing the size of a basketball field. A Glycan fighter jet
was sitting there. It looked decades old with dents, shots and scratches all
over the body.

“I spent
the past days checking it. I thought you might need it to see your girlfriend.
Works fine. I flew it yesterday.” Nisasen said easily.

Jason
marveled at the fighter jet and said, “The moment I saw my face, I gave up
seeing her.”

“I don’t
blame you and you know it might be better this way. You see this knife. It is a
gift from a Human. His name is Logan.” Nisasen said as he pointed at his big
knife.

“I was
wondering how you got a Human-made knife. I know what you mean.” Jason said in
an understanding voice.

“Alright,
I will leave this fighter jet to you.”

“I don’t
know what to say.” Jason said emotionally.

“You
take care.” Nisasen said sincerely and handed Jason a crystal.

Jason
took it over and said, “Thank you. What if you need to use the jet?”

“I
haven’t used it since I got here. That is how long? Like more than 80 years.”

Jason
smiled reluctantly. He walked to the jet, climbed into the cockpit and inserted
the crystal into the slot on the dashboard. The system came online and the
engine started.

Jason
saluted Nisasen and then lifted the jet off the ground. For the last time, he
looked at Nisasen. Then he pushed the throttle all the way forward. The jet
blasted off into the sky.

Once it
reached the outer space, Jason glanced over at the planet and sighed, “Sorry.
Gloria.”

The jet
disappeared into the deep space.