Flames from Ashes - Complete
Ashes from Flames…
An awakened dream, the ones I feared… as if irrevocably torn between two worlds, it meant that the drugs were not working. I sat next to a viewing window looking out on unfamiliar stars, while human-looking creatures went about their business, small shops selling skewered meats and coffee-like broth. This was not Earth… nowhere near Earth.
An alert sounded, some way off I noticed weapon fire… powerful beams striking at the station, the lights flickered, and blast doors quickly sealed off the concourse. People were speaking but their mouths seemed silent, a guardsman or some kind of military officer came up to me, he seems to know me, his lips moved, suddenly he grabbed my arm, I felt his iron grip on my skin as he pulled me away from the window. A blast ripped through the concourse as the station lost integrity.
My eyes opened… Darkness… I could hear the whispers softly calling out their words lost on me, I clutched the headboard feeling the cold metal, shapes began to become visible, I emerged slowly from my shadow realm… The blindness was the worst part of waking up, almost as bad as remembering my dreams, no matter how many Earth summits the council has, as of yet there is no logical explanation for these dreams… All they can do is offer drugs and counselling… Government research lists me as one of the 40% of the population cursed with these dreams… the Ultranet is filled with images and recreated sounds from those that share this… but no one has ever spoken of almost being there… this is something horribly unique, my own little curse.
I opened the door and strolled onto the balcony, looking out on the landscaped gardens a few floors beneath me… Urban Tower 72, one of the big habitats of the 30’s… I got dressed and went to catch the inter-rail, as usual an orderly crowd had gathered at the station… a few familiar faces from previous commutes dotted among them… The train arrived silently… the doors opened… we board and once more the commute begins. I look out the window and watch the changing scenery, trying my best not to look at anyone or draw attention to myself.
Bio Centre 878… my stop… I stepped out into the platform… the soft breeze from the air conditioning sent a chill through me as I exited the station out into the Street. The mighty lobby of Sinkhoa Incorporated, one of the largest Space Tech firms in the Eastern Hemisphere... If not the world, the doors opened a few seconds later and I was in the office.
Work seemed to pass as a blur… The obligatory breaks and happiness regimes. Then I was back at my apartment. No matter what you order from the food machines you know its vitamin enriched supplements… it looks and tastes ok but its not real… only the super rich can afford real food these days. All of a sudden it was time to sleep again… I awoke to my alarm… no dreams today… my PDD reminded me of my psychiatric appointment… The Viewer turned on and Dr. Shuune bowed.
She smiled her customary smile “Hello! How are you today?” Her teeth a gleaming white a touch of Hispanic in her voice, I smiled back, “The drug didn’t work this time” Shuune raised an eyebrow almost impressed “My my… You’ve just about rendered conventional medicine inadequate… Would you be interested in an experimental approach?” I turned my head “And this would be?” “Come to the 777 Tokia-City and you’ll be briefed. To sleep normally would provide me more pleasure than anything else. I boarded the inter-rail and headed for the space port.
Tokia-City… The Largest of the four Civil orbitals… with Space Station Gunne being the largest Military Orbital Construction after the Torus with its huge defence systems. As I stepped off the Shuttle into the port I was suddenly surrounded by guards, a small woman wearing a light grey uniform addressed me “Miss Xique?” I smiled and nodded “Please come with us”. A personal shuttle carried us out of the space port… The re-entry shutters came down but we weren’t heading back in as there was no turbulence… where ever I was going they didn’t want me to know where it was.
Surrounding me were Military Personnel of all ranks… The air was perfumed… I noticed others falling asleep… I’d never felt so awake… I could see a few others becoming more and more alert… I dawned on me… This was a test… they’re weeding out the weaker dreamers… A few solders entered the cabin wearing Environment suits, their masks made a mechanical hissing sound as they breathed out “Please come with us”. Following the others we enter an airlock… The door slams behind us and the compression sequence cycles the sent in the air dissipates. Dr Shuune stands her face smiling “Welcome to Station Gunne. I hope your journey was enjoyable, please come with me.
The metallic gunmetal corridor resounded as we pushed deeper into the station further than any civilian had ever gone before… The further we went the more I felt this had been an extremely bad decision. This was a military station… There’s no telling what might be going on in here!!! But I was quite sure it wouldn’t be medical research. We finally reached our destination… A small lecture room, rows of chairs bolted to the floor.
“Please sit” I sat… hearing the door Cur-Chunk behind me. The cold metal desk in front of me offered no comfort… The Dr. was still all smiles and light… “Now I expect you’re all wondering why you’re here… Well it’s because you’ve been lying about the extent of your… ‘Gift’. You’re here because civil science cannot control this. Well we have a solution but we need volunteers that’s where you come in… but there’s a catch… we require you to sign a non-disclosure agreement before we can take you any further.” I looked around at the other participants… already signing… I thought about the dreams… there was no question… those nights were beyond anything I wished to experience. As I signed I saw the Dr’s face turn to a wicked smile “Thank You” She levelled a stun at my face and pulled the trigger. It had all been a ruse… I was the only one they wanted and now they had everything they needed to do whatever they liked… How stupid I had been…
I awoke… my hands and legs were bound… Shuune’s voice resounded from just behind me… “Ah Miss Xique… how are you today???” she was almost laughing… “You’ll notice that you have been restrained… this is for your own safety… Are you aware at what has just transpired?” “Yes! You’ve Kidnapped me for some military experiment!” Shuune’s wicked laugh resounded off the walls… “Oh nothing so crass… You came here of your own will… You’re advancing the species and of course our understanding of medical science” I felt the needle come down biting into my arm injecting a putrid yellow liquid into my vain, a flushed heated sensation spread all over my body. “Now lay back and relax”… her voice tailed off as my eyes closed on their own accord.
As I stirred in and out of consciousness my mind filled with voices… All my own… not anyone else’s… just mine… but who was me??? I awoke beads of sweat pouring off me… I was dreadfully thirsty… I drank the water without thought… I looked around me suddenly realising that it might not have been such a good idea… The room looked different… then I realised… I hadn’t opened my eyes yet… I opened my eyes… the roomed looked pretty much the same, I was thirsty… There was the water… I put the cup to my lips and drank, the chilled liquid was exquisite… not water a water supplement.
The door opened… Yes… Here it comes… I waited… Here it comes… Any moment now… Yes... Well some hours later the door opened… Shuune walked in smiling… “ Hello Nikko or would you prefer Miss Xique?” I sneered “Only my friends call me Nikko!” She smiled at me “Oh believe me… I’m the closest this you have to a friend right now…” I pushed myself into a corner “So are you going to tell me what you’ve done?!?” “Oh just something that you’ll appreciate later when you sleep…” “Which is?” “Oh I can’t disclose that!!! What kind of Mad Scientist do you think I am?” her manic laugh resounded thought the room… “but seriously we’ve modified your neural pathways to bypass certain areas of your brain… you should sleep more soundly” “At what cost?” “That’s what you’re here to find out! Be thankful you’re not dead already, we weren’t sure if the serum wouldn’t fry your brain completely! Anyway I’ll leave you to sleep…” “Sleep?!?” As the door closed gas seeped into the room I felt my eyelids close and I was asleep.
As I dreamt I entered a different place… There were fields of wild corn as far as the eye could see… in the sky two moons light up the night sky… the soft chirping of insectiods… the wind against my skin… I laid down and slept among the ears of wheat… I was there… If I wasn’t I didn’t know what was real.
I awoke comfortable on the bed if a little thirsty… the cell felt almost homely… The door opened Shuune walked in with a glass of clear liquid… I smiled “Hello Karen” “Karen?” “Yes… Your first name!” “How can you be so sure?” “You look like a Karen…” Shuune looked shocked by this… I have to admit the fact I’d got it right was as shocking to me as to her.
“Wait Here please” I sat in a small waiting room a secretary tapped diligently on a jotter pad… The door opened and I was hustled inside “Miss Xique… Its wonderful to finally meet you after all this time…” Liar… you’ve known about me all of five minutes… Oh he’s still talking “I hear you’ve had a few interesting side effect to the operation… most notably Telepathy…” “No…” “No?” “Yes! No.” “Do you know what it is?” “Not yet…” I looked out the window… something was wrong… “Something’s wrong” the man hit a button on his desk “Bring the station to Red Alert”… “No not yet… Soon…” “Cancel Red Alert… how soon…” “What’s the time?” The Commander looked at Shuune who nods “11:32AM” “you’ve got half an hour…” I lied I hadn’t a clue what was happening… but they seeming awed and impressed… I hoped that something actually happened or I was going back into the cell…
The tea was delicate… the bright reflective coasters were from the early 2000s… probably priceless by today’s standards… Suddenly there was a bright flash… The alert sounded… Inbound ship!!! Inbound ship… Oh my god… It’s the Xperimental!!! Repeat it is the Xperimental Shuttle! Now that was a stroke of luck… but something was definitely wrong with this picture…
It may have been a day like any other, it might have been, everything in my being wished it to be so, if only...
"If only" now there's the crux... the lock, stock and barrel of it! But this day was nothing special, if you do beyond yourself, you will find only one thing, insignificance, a life of indifference. Indifference is death, I knew it, I trusted you, I shouldn't have, it was my mistake, you were indifferent. I stood outside, the man in the darkness... he had always been my friend, yet you... my playful thief, you... I choose you... how wrong I was, how could I not have seen? I was the light he sought. I abandoned him.
I sat in the field, the stars in the sky, the light in the dark, like him, light I hadn't seen. What was I talking about, a dream? a life? a reality? The tea was delicate... I had been here before, was it yesterday? No... only a few moments had passed but time had slowed, no, time was travelling backwards I watched the clock tick back, there was a word on my lips. The whispers were all around me... stronger... "Stop" Everything stood still. And then he was here, my dark man, his blue eyes... Two things... Sohnen... they were Sohnen... but who was he? he reached for me, his arms outstretched... "Should I know who you are?" Where was my voice coming from, my body was frozen in place... he smiled and kissed my cheek "Soon" but not today. He hurried me into a corridor...
Then it was quiet... Too quiet, it seemed as if the station had been silenced by the horrors it had witnessed, the ventilation system seemed to whisper silent prayers from every ventilation shaft. My boots clanked harshly against the metallic deck plating built to withstand heavy lifting machinery and its inevitable cargoes. It was then that I saw him, it was for the briefest of moments, little more than a shadow in my mind, but enough for me to register his existence, stepping out from a corridor and then just as quickly he was gone.
I called a guard to my side, knowing that the soldier was so close at hand was comforting, but feeling can be deceptive, whatever had killed the crew had massacred some ten thousand soldiers stationed here without leaving even a trace of its existence. What could have done this? What monstrosity could commit such a barbarous act? And more importantly who would unleash such a thing? I held on tightly to him and closed my eyes, it was hard to believe that I was to live and work here, among where the corpses now lay...
Was I dreaming or was I awake?!? As we trekked towards the habitation deck, the sheer graphic scale of what had happened here made me feel numb, everywhere I looked bodies or worse body parts littered the corridors and intersections, brutal and unnatural deaths... bodies ripped apart as if by some wild animal, broken and battered like some macabre plaything.
But then the station was buzzing with life again, smiles... life. I felt his fingers run through my hair... he was whispering...
I awoke... I reached up feeling the cold hard headboard, I was home... In my apartment... The whispers were asking me to be calm... Voices? Voice??? Was he the man of my dreams? Perhaps a metaphor??? He was something more to me? What was I saying! I glanced at my pdd... I had a message from Dr. Shuune saying that she couldn't get in touch with me, and to reschedule my appointment as soon as possible... I looked out of the window on to Urban Tower 72... it was the same... in five minutes it would start raining... I remember that it was raining before I left for Tokia-City... Should I go? I haven't been told to go yet? What had happened?
As I walked through the huge entrance halls of Tokia... There was no soldiers waiting for me... I'd come to the station but I was out of sync with events... suddenly I heard a voice. "Miss Xique?" I turned and there he stood, but in a blink he was gone as quickly as he had arrived. My dreams were invading my conscious thought, I needed help.
"Miss Xique, it seems you've suffered" he breathed deep "Terrible scaring throughout your brain especially throughout the central neural pathways. This is professional work, it's as if someone's gone in and... and you say you have no knowledge of this?" "None at all" "None what to ever" his eye brows meeting as he squinted at me, "This is very serious, it seems you've been experimented on by... By" his voice suddenly filling with authority "By some rogue surgeon" the young doctor's emotion was touching, it was as if he had suddenly discovered the reason he'd been through medical school, but there was nothing he could do, "I'm sorry but I'm afraid the damage is irreparable" "Oh that's ok" I tried not to sound too pleased, why was I pleased I wonder??? The feeling had come over me in a wave quite unexpectedly. As I walked back out onto the main concourse I saw the him, he sat looking at me drinking coffee, he beckoned me over.
We must have sat there for five minutes just smiling at each other before he spoke "Did you find what you were looking for?" I just sat there and smiled "I bet you did" I take back what I said before... I wouldn’t exchange today for another day, I was finally waking up... I didn't know what that meant yet but now he was with me it was only a matter of time. I saw the shadows run, time was moving before us, I'd not seen it in this way before. He handed me the coffee "You should drink something", the liquid was cold, more so than I had expected... it chilled me, I felt the wind on me... he looked up at the ceiling "we should go".
I felt it to, it was time to leave we boarded the shuttle and headed for the surface, something was happening to time... They were not all dreams... They were real, something had happened to me and I was in my dreams, but they were real dreams, lives yet unlived, did I decide not to live that reality? Or had he.
Now we were back in my apartment, considering all that had happened, it was strange that we would end up back here, as if this had been some kind of date, but it was time to sleep.
I sat in my field... looking up at the stars, he sat beside me while I slept, a comforting sleep. I awoke the soft cushions of my bed against my shoulders, the harsh coldness of the metal in my hands. Time had passed... it was tomorrow... I looked out of the window and saw him waving from the gardens below. I rushed breathlessly down the stairs until I ran into the light... The garden was bright, the morning dew thick in the air, "Did you sleep well?" I nodded, then suddenly realising I'd not spoken to him yet! "Who are you?" "Ah the eternal question, and a good one I might add! It is so easy to dismiss but could it be said anyone truly knows who they are?" He brushed some wheat from my hair, I knew that is what is was before I even looked down.
Now this was either an elaborate seduction hoax, or I was going insane, or I was madly in love, or... Oh I don't know!!! But this is more than fate, much more, but in what way? Wait he didn't answer my question. but before I could speak he placed his fingers over my lips "I am here because you reached out for me because you see... and that is something special... And because it is the journey that binds us" "Journey?" but then he was gone... then I realised I was standing naked in the middle of a city garden at 4am in the morning.
I sat trying to make sense of what had just transpired... I'd been kidnapped and taken to space station Gunne where I was operated on... I had the scars to prove it according to the Doctor at Tokia... But then I was back in my apartment and had missed the chance to redo this chain of events that day... but I have the scars to prove it happened, but it didn't... Then we have the field... a reoccurring motif in my dreams... The field... Then there is this new place... the station of death... It was Gunne... Or atleast should be Gunne... I recognised the corridors as the same ones I'd walked down when I first arrived...
But now it was dawn... of a new day no less!!! I had slept well... or atleast felt awake... I felt like me... but that was no indication... I commed into the office sick... apologising for not contacting them yesterday... only to discover that I had worked all yesterday... Which can't be true!!! But as soon as I'd done that I realised... What was I going to do now??? I shouldn't go back to Tokia... I was finished there... What about Gunne... There was still a lot of unanswered questions... but there's no way I could go back there without an invitation... I still had that comm message from Dr. Shuune... I could reschedule... That way I could get back but there would be questions when they scanned my brain... and no doubt a biopsy soon after. So I climbed back into bed and switched on the viewer...
I awoke... the mesh floor cutting into my back... the lights flickered erratically as the power supply fluctuated... I looked out of the window... Earth was very small but even so I could see the destruction wrought by some orbital fleet... Fires burned across the entire planet... The X shuttle had jumped in last time I was here... followed by a dream of destruction... death... was this a prediction of things to come??? Would the X shuttle bring with it death at the hands of some unknown enemy??? I walked down the silent corridors, the constant airflow made it feel like the station was breathing...
A body lay on the deck, his right arm snapped like a brittle twig, his torso had been crushed into the wall as if he had been swept aside, his weapon lay by his side. Just a few steps further lay another man... he'd run... fallen... crushed into the deck like some insect, his internal organs lay all about... his hands clawing at the deck... it must have been quick... perhaps not quick enough though, the clothes I had been wearing were similar to the ones he was wearing. I reached the intersection... I recognised where I was I called for the soldier... I heard a groan and saw the guard limp towards me... his arm was fractured and he'd been badly beaten but even so he smiled victoriously, saluting... before crumpling to the deck breathless from the pain.
The medical facilities were two decks up... despite the fact that the elevators were still in operation it had taken forever to drag the soldier into the medical tube... the scanners buzzed around him... while the computer made suggestions for treatment... I okayed them all because I didn't know what any of it meant and there didn't seem to be any automatic mode... To be honest I was just glad to get somewhere the lights were constant... this section must have its own power supply. I looked at the fragments of the blast door... many soldiers had made it in here they thought the heavy doors would keep them safe...
I looked around at the fragments of flesh and bone... the door lay bent and twisted back into the corridor as if it has been made of foil, shrapnel lay everywhere inside the facility... the bodies inside looked as if they has been sliced up... the cut were clean... the wounds had coagulated immediately... You'd need something hot to do that... a laser... or something like that... The console reported success... the soldier was ejected from the tube and moved to a recovery bed, his arm was healed as were the cuts... he was alive... but seemed to be unconscious... I looked around for something to wake him up... but it was futile! I didn't know the first thing about medicine...
I stepped out into the corridor... the soldier wasn't going to wake up anytime soon so might as well try and find out why I'm here... Or atleast try and find someone who could stop the lights flickering!!! I stepped out into a concourse of some sort... Someone had held their last stand here... machines lay all about huge chunks taken out of them... barricades had been pushed aside crushing the soldiers behind them... other bodies lay along the corridor as I worked my way towards the central plaza... The fighting had been bloody... with both machines and bodies falling thick across the ground... I took the elevator up... entering some sort of command centre...
As I stepped of the elevator the computer spoke "Welcome Officer Xique" from its core suspended from the ceiling, So in this dream I was an officer... that would explain the uniform, I looked down at Earth again... the devastation was horrifically beautiful... there was the blue of the ocean, the green and grey of the land and cities, the fires and impact craters blazing out of control... and then there was the sunlight softly illuminating the atmosphere with its ever present glow... seeing destruction on such a scale with my own eyes... it seemed inconceivable it was all I could do to look on in awful fascination of what was occurring.
I felt his hand on my shoulder, I turned expecting it to be my dark man, but it was the Soldier, he wiped the tears from my eyes "We can rebuild... we'll be ready if they ever come back... won't we ma'am?" I smiled at him... he did not just look at me... he looked up at me... it was a strange sensation for someone to hold me in such high esteem... "Yes... We shall rebuild" as I spoke his being was filled with strength as if it had always been there... I felt quite strange myself... a part of something bigger, was it just the uniform? The Soldier's words perhaps?
Perhaps...
As I looked round the command centre I saw that no one had died here... there were no blood... no bodies... everything was quite clean... As I touched a panel the computer burst into life "reinitialising reactor... please wait..." slowly the systems came back online and the main lights fluttered back to life. Even so the command centre was dark, light by the many control panels, the majority of the consoles displayed the same message: contact lost. The soldier heaved a sigh "Space Station Gunne... had a good ring to doesn't it ma'am" I turned to look at him, thoughts racing through my head "Soldier, what's the date today" as he answered...
It was like the final piece of the puzzle... The machines that littler the decks were terraformers... The bulk of the terraformer fleet had been tricked to follow Gunne's fleet through the secret gate to certain death... the rest of the fleet had overrun the defence station and slain everyone onboard only being stopped by an electromagnetic pulse that ended the terraformer offensive here on Earth... it would be four years until anyone would return to the station... if I hadn't been here there would be no survivors... now there were two... I'd changed history...
As we stepped off the transport and into the ruined space port a man strolled towards me with a blanket, I pushed it away saying that other people needed it more than me. As I walked towards the exit I overheard two soldiers... "You think they're from the defence station?" his compatriot looks at him "You heard the comms... If they're here... They must be sent from the gods..." the soldier nodded his head "I... She has the look of eagles that one and make no mistake" as I passed them I heard a shout, I turned I saw their hands outstretched, I shook them in turn, seeing how it seemed to strengthened their resolve... As I pushed the doors back revealing the rubble remains of the city surroundings, stepping out onto the grand stairs I saw the collection of officers assembled... The admiral was speaking to the assembled press "... through the sacrifice of these dedicated soldiers we are..." he turns falling silent his mouth still partially open... he stands dumbstruck for a moment, slowly raising his hand in a salute... I salute him... It seemed like the most natural thing to do, suddenly everyone's saluting... Their salutes were filled with pride... We stood... A bastion of hope... That humanity could stand up against the machines and win... They had systematically slaughtered every colony... every man, every woman, every child, killing their way to Earth... they had been unstoppable... relentless... but they had been stopped.
He sat in the tiny square outside a cafe that had once been on the lower basement level a department store... now open to the air. I sat in the chair next to him... the coffee was hot... his hand comforting... "The smallest gesture can so often bring hope to so many... I had forgotten" I looked up at him I didn't know what to say, he continued "Hope... would you believe that it is an alien concept to me". Of course he was an Alien and this was all a dream... whatever that means...
I awoke... feeling the cold head board in my hands... he lay on the bed next to me a smile on his face "Good Morning"... It was today again.
The past is full of hope as well as tremendous sadness, to be a part of something like that had changed me even for a moment, it was profound, why would I have chosen to show him such a thing? How was it my journey? As my sight returned I looked at his expression, it was as if he was full of compassion, of knowledge, maybe even of love. Part of me felt manipulated, as I become more aware of the strings that surrounded me... In order to ensure Earths survival the government had worked its people into an early death... such devotion is admirable but essentially meant giving up much of the freedom of the past... It’s like all the labour saving technology we invent only serves to move us in the opposite direction...
My mind drifted back into the room, his whimsical smile seemed not to match the kindly look in his eyes... I knew he was reading my thoughts, was I like a book to him? Would he leave when he'd finished with me??? The pinch was unexpected... "You're more than just a book to me!" Well that confirmed it! "So can you read me like a book?" his expression changes "Or is it like peering through a dirty window... I must seem so Prim..." His hand covered my lips "No! Oh how do I describe this... Your species... You. Are... young... There's something about you that's just so... Genuine... And I have to admit some would call it a dangerous quality in... such as you". He'd tried so hard not to offend me... Perhaps I was an experiment, "STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" his anger took me by surprise, he tried to hold me close but I pushed him away... "Look I need to know why?" he looked at me "why what" he knew exactly what I meant. I grabbed the green vase from the table and threw it at the floor, it stopped before it hit the floor seemingly hovering like in a vacuum or mag-lev.
As he plucked the vase from the air and placed it back on the table I could see his mind attempting to express the over complex thought process that H... that IT'S species goes through. As I stood there listening my mind went back to that first time I saw him... I remember feeling that something was wrong... since that moment that feeling had never gone away it had simply faded into the background noise of a mind in turmoil... I'd gone places and done things I'd never dreamed, others were more mundane, but one thing puzzled me. Before the operation my dreams were varied... They would show me places I had never been, people I had never met. But since that day in the office I had been so... limited in expression. It was then that it dawned upon me. I left my apartment and into the elevator and out towards the station, passing the small open air cafe where I had met 'him' twice... past the IntreVid posters of a new feature, 'Survivors of Space Station Gunne'... and finally into the station, beside the door the guardsman... He had been my soldier. It had all been one big lie.
Suddenly the location shifted around and I was back in my apartment, It's hand was tapping against the table. "So" the very word grated against its expression but said nothing. "My playful thief..." It's contempt was obvious to me now, as I turned to walk out it finally it spoke, the door melted into the wall "Disgusting Gaian!!! How dare you walk from your betters a second time. How dare your species think for itself! Someone should have wiped you out long long ago, yet such a blight on the universe continues to exist into today! Can such injustice truly exist???" I felt a smirk come to my face "Oh?" "If not for the instructions left to us this... Issue would have been settled long before your conscious state became so heightened!!!
The very fact that a viral and barbaric creature could attain such a state is an insult to all intelligent life..." as he continued to speak it became more an more obvious that none of this was important... I had been somewhere before him... The Field... I had kept going back there... without reason... At first I thought it was for relaxation but now I as I thought... It had been more real to me than anywhere else throughout the past few days. As the room around me faded to black I realised that this Sohnen had no comprehension of what I felt, it's sentience was limited by it's form, by what it chose, outside of this it saw a chaotic and frightening landscape... it felt strange as my skin dissolved to a pure energy state... I knew full well that this was not of my own doing, nor that of the Sohnen...
The evening light brought a dreamlike golden tan to everything about me, the wheat rustled softly in the wind... The deep shadows seemed dark and meaningful... There was something in this darkness but it held no malice towards me... far from it in fact. I was really here and where ever here was it had meaning and that meaning was important to me... As I looked more closely around me I noticed signs of habitation... the lines of corn were planted perfectly strait and were spread symmetrically for miles around, in the darkness a dim light flickered softly. There was a small gateway that lead into a brightly light tunnel, a sign above the door said " Station 416" around the tunnel was several paths leading to parking bays. As I reached the platform a train pulled into the station, but it was not the similarity of the train that caught my attention but the commuters that poured out... They looked human... granted their body shapes were different but otherwise there was little to distinguish me from them. A soft computerised voice came over the tannoy "This train is bound for... Cortex Station... Doors Closing... Please mind the doors" and with that we were away. My fellow passengers did not seem to take much notice of me... assuming that I was supposed to be here... or perhaps that I was simply one of them. The Scenery slowly became more Urban, we wormed our way through the giant habitation and commercial blows and with every stop the passengers were slowly replaced by the fresh workers, just going into work... their hustle and bustle was in a way very reminiscent of the journey I take... Did take. Maybe.
As I stepped out on Cortex Station it became obvious that I was in some kind of space port, the huge concourse stretched for miles in every direction, to my delight I noticed an information desk. The assistant smiled and before I could utter a single work she began to sing "Hello, Welcome to Argon Space Port Alpha, Argon Prime how may we help you today." I smiled back "Hi, Where am I?" her reply was in the same singy tone "You are in Space Port Alpha, Part of the historic Cortex Development here in Capital City" Ok so I'm in the capital there's a start... "I know this is going to sound strange but what planet am I on?" she sniffed the air around me "A-R-G-O-N P-R-I-M-E" Ok... So I'm in the Capital City of Argon Prime neither of which means anything to me!!! "Right... Um... Ok this is going to sound strange but would you by any chance know where... Um... I could get a ticket to Earth" the attendant rolled her eyes "Look I don't know how much space weed you've smoked but you should go back to where ever you Goner Types live" "Goner?" "Security!"
The Enforcer looked at me puzzled... he scanned my palm, retina and had yet to find me on record... This he informed me was impossible. Came next was a blood and gene test which showed more impossible information... finally the full body scan... which revealed some "Unknown Material" in my wrist... my Identchip implanted at birth in all humans... but then I wasn't on Earth or anywhere near it. A bearded man approached me "Hello, my name is Ban Danna..." I tried my best not to laugh "... And I hear that you are... Lost." his voice was kindly, yet he was obviously in a position of power, "Yes! I was standing in my apartment in Urban Tower 72 in Tokyo... and then I was here on... umm… I think it was Ag-ron Prime?" "That's a very strange story... I'll just bring my assistant in and we can write it all down in detail" As the woman walked in her face was unmistakable "Eleanor Kho! Oh my god!!! You're like stranded in a whole different universe with Brennan... How did you get here!" then I remembered I was there rather than the other way around. She looked at me strangely "How do you know me?" "I realise this may seem strange but you're a national hero! You and Brennan share a national holiday 'Lost Heroes Day'... Although I hadn't put much faith in either of you actually being alive!!!" Eleanor puts her hand on my shoulder "Ok, slow down and tell me exactly how you got here" I bit my lip "Well that might be difficult to explain" "don't worry we have the time".
I explained everything to them... The whole thing... About the Sohnen, operation, about space station Gunne and the terraformers, everything... and as much as they wanted to brand me a lunatic and throw me into an asylum there was one thing that stopped them... I was here and that was something they could not understand. I was being watched... Someone in the darkness was my friend but for what reason? I guess when past, present and future mean so little you don't need one...
The night was still... if it could be called night... For can the eternal night of space be even half as romantic as night. I had always preferred to feel the earth beneath my feet... the irony of my statement hit me, for the past week I had not stood upon the Earth at all! I probably wouldn’t have made much sense one of Earth’s system colonies either! The shuttle journey was interesting, a window into a different life... huge glittering orbitals hung in the sky haphazardly as if waiting for someone to shoo them away like some naughty children, Eleanor watched me constantly, she had been very kind to me, but was obviously suspicious, I honestly couldn't blame her... Over twenty years ago she jumped into an unknown universe to be with her closest friend, Kyle Brennan. Now this stranger from Earth had just appeared without a ship or way to get back with some crazy story about waking up in a field!
The 'Argon' were supposedly decedents from the Fleet lead be Nathan R Gunne which explained why they spoke Japanese but their culture was completely different, I guess it’s lucky my grandmother insisted I learn Japanese despite growing up in a Eurasian city where no one spoke a word of it! Of course it ended up being the best thing for me, ending up working as a translator at a tech conglomerate but I fought it all the way through school I'm glad I didn't switch to Hispanic when I was a teen! Not being able to talk to people would alienate me more than I already feel. Doesn't help I'm sitting on an almost empty transport ship my only companion being the rice from breakfast I'd bagged up for the trip, the unbearable silence a sea of empty seats, my own personal purgatory.
The Transport juddered as the docking clamps clicked into place, I was ushered through the embarkation arm and into the elevator, Miska smiled politely "Miss Kho will see you shortly, she is currently engaged in a private meeting" just as the elevator doors open a man in a green jump suit pushes me aside knocking me onto the cold hard deck, "Hwoon dahn!" I screamed after him but he was gone. Miska scowls at me as she picks me up, damn pirate, I'll never know what Eleanor had to hire him, even if he is the bosses son. "Eleanor's?" Miska laughs "Oh no! Brennan's special little boy. Rumour is they've never even met what with Brennan being in a coma and all" "WHAT!?!?" I must have looked like I was about to pass out as Miska held on to my arm tighter "Yes Brennan has been on life support since he got rescued from the Khaak." "Wait... Ok which of the aliens is that I know there's like a whole bunch and this treaty and... I'm sorry I'm still new to all this..." Miska looked a little confused "The Khaak are our enemies, they destroyed presidents end" "Oh" I knew I couldn't admit not knowing what that meant. Miska’s communicator suddenly chirped "If you're up to it, Miss Kho will see you now" Miska didn't leave my side until I was firmly sat in Eleanor's office, she whispered something to Eleanor and then left.
Eleanor sighed, she was tired and was in no mood to deal with me, the comm. went remarkably silent, the lights dimmed and she turned away from me, I felt like I might not be here. Then she spoke "You know what's hardest... Earth seems so unimportant here yet here I am spending my life trying to get back somewhere I don't even know I belong anymore." Eleanor's office was filled with objects from all over known space, probably mundane to anyone else but they were exotic curiosities to me. I laugh at myself "You know... The furthest away I've ever been from Earth is the Tokia-City Orbital! I've never even been to the colonies and then suddenly I find myself here... Alone." Eleanor turned to look at me "and you say you have no idea how you got here?" "None" she smiles "Then it seems we're a pair of opposites...". We sat and talked for hours... Drinking a purple bottle, become more intoxicated as the hours passed it was a good distraction from the emotions inside us, we were surrounded by people but desperately lonely, prisoners of the expectations of others.
I stared up at the stars, I lay in space, a shadowy figure stood nearby with an umbrella shielding my eyes from a bright blue pulsar, a soft breeze blew away my fears and left me with a feeling of contentment. I felt the warm leather of the chaise beneath me as I awoke, there were no voices, not even my own... The dim lights of Eleanor's office lowly seeped back into my consciousness, she sat sleeping peacefully in a chair a furry blanket wrapped around her knees.
As I stirred the lights slowly came up bringing a warm morning glow... Ah! Too bright! I closed my eyes as my hangover kicked in, a scantily clad woman suddenly walked through the door, "Mother? MOTHER!" Eleanor jerked "wha?" "Oh so no Hello Saya? Glad you're not dead Saya?" Eleanor rubbed the sleep from her face "What's happened?" "You know that simple mission for the Goner! Well it almost got me killed!!!" "OH" "The Yaki attacked and blow up the freight-loader I was driving, then Julian almost got himself killed when they attacked with these new missiles... I've been trying to contact you for hours but it seems you had better things to do than talk to your own daughter" "Have you met our new guest Nikko?" Saya looked me up and down "Your new drinking partner?" "She's a Terran" Saya looked at me again this time with inquisitiveness "From Earth?" Eleanor laughed "Saya!" Eleanor turned to me and spoke to me in English "This is my daughter Saya, she's everything I was at her age... If not worse!" We laughed "She really is from Earth isn't she!" Saya turned to me "H-E-L-L-O M-Y N-A-M-E I-S S-A-Y-A..." Eleanor and I begin the laugh hysterically "Right! Figures she would speak perfect Argon!" "Japanese!" "Whatever! I'm going to meet Julian in Antigone Memorial" "Fly safe", with Saya gone Eleanor turned her attentions back to me "She has no idea why Earth is so important, how it will change everything. The reunification is coming..." I suddenly realised she was a dreamer too.
"Oh! If only I had more time for you, but I'm sure Terracorp would self-destruct if I take too much more time off! The war on the Khaak has caused so many problems..." Eleanor tapped a few keys on her desk "Oh if Julian knew of this he'd go crazy! I have a little gift for you... It's not much but it will get you from A to B" "Umm... There's something you should know... I don't know how to fly!" "I thought as much... But if you're anything like me you'll want to do some exploring before too long." She hands me a little credit chip "Go down to the main concourse and explore, Argon culture is reasonably easy to interact with, those of the other four races are... Different in their ways. Terracorp should be a safe place to explore and I've created a Terracorp advisory position so I can at least put up a pretense that you work for Terracorp and will inform security to look after you, it's the least I can do! After all you're practically family" I tried to say something poignant "Thank you... Don't know what to say" Eleanor smiled "With Brennan like he is I haven't talked with another Terran in some time. It was... Nice. If you're willing, it would be nice to have someone to go with next time I go down to see him" I smiled "Yes of course!"
And with that I was ejected back out into the domain of the Aliens, stepping out onto the main concourse was like stepping out into the unknown, yet some things were vaguely familiar, the skewered meats... The coffee-like broth which turned out to be very alcoholic... (no wonder they called it space fuel!) I had been somewhere like this before... A station that had been destroyed or maybe was going to be destroyed.
Suddenly I noticed a strange creature, it looked like a sea horse flowing quietly across the deck toward me. Tiny glowing mechanical orbs glowed brighter as they flowed around the creature manipulating the stations gravity system to allowing the creature to move effortlessly... Almost angelically, its suited tentacles were busy at work but it noticed that I was staring all the same. I turned away embarrassed as it flowed on by. Suddenly I heard shouts "Gala Bou! Gala Bou!" I turned to see two children running up to the creature, "Ahh! The Younglings! Have you been practising with your instruments?" The children speak in chorus "Yeeess!" "OH then you will soon be ready for the concert! Good You deserve a treat!" The creature plucks two bight green fruit from a stand "Now run along home! Your father will be waiting for you!" "Thanks Gala Bou". As they left, I walked over to the stand, the fruit had a soft furry skin, it swished as I picked it up, a sticky syrup leaking from a small gash in the side "And one for you too young lady" I turned suddenly realising that Gala Bou was behind me "Hello?" "Hello!" While its tentacles were covered by a blackish material the rest of the suit was actually translucent, it's bluish skin seemed to shimmer slightly, a small box near its neck verbalised the noise, a soft almost while-like moan it made. "What are you?" The moment it came out of my mouth I felt desperately embarrassed "I am a Boron, young lady. Am I to understand this is your first meeting with my kind?" "Yes" "Oh! Then this is a joyful occasion! May I ask where you are from?" "Oh from E... Somewhere far away!" The creature bubbled slightly, could that have been a smile? "Oh! A colonial from the new Territories I suspect, all must be new for you?" "Yes very, it's all so... Different from where I'm from" "yes that would be so! Enjoy your stay and the skwish fruit".
The fruit was messy syrup got everywhere, but the sweet flesh was like a cross between peach, cheese and chocolate, it wasn't until afterwards did I notice that other people were eating them with something that resembled a long serrated spoon and had been watching me for some time. I did my best to wipe as much of the fruit off my cheeks and headed for my newly assigned quarters. I had been assigned a plush managerial suite, the open plan living area could have swallowed my apartment whole and still had room for extra furniture... It had taken a long shower to get all the syrup off me, in the wardrobe there were a few select outfits... Oh god I have bits of skwish fruit in my hair. The bed was comfortable... It wasn't home but for now it would do for now.
The shuttle ride had been long but Eleanor had kept me company with her stories of life in the X universe and of its many races and cultures. The reptilian Teladi, caught in a cycle of perpetual profit motive... The Split, proud warriors but ultimately slaves to their aggressive nature... The Paranid... isolationists... they had recently closed their borders fearful of the outside world and its influences. We touched down at a large hospital complex, the elevator took us to a private ward, the lights were dim, Brennan lay upright in a tube, he looked peaceful as if sleeping. "Sometimes I think he got the better deal... Lazy bastu!" We both laughed, even in a coma Kyle was quite the character. The lights flickered slightly, I could hear and siren coming from the hall way. "What's happening?" Eleanor walked over to panel "I can't get an outside signal" I looked around the room to see if anything I could do, suddenly there was another power spike, the lights flickered slightly. I moved to check that the pod was all right, Brennan's eyes flashed open, he stared right into me through my skin and into my mind, a screaming pain spread throughout my mind...
Suddenly blackness, my hands were held in place, the pain was unbearable, I screamed out but it didn't help, I felt someone standing behind me, whispering in my ear, telling me to concentrate on its voice. For a moment all life was frozen, it stood with me in the darkness... I could feel its mind it spread to fill everything, it was the room, it was the ship beyond the room, the stars and planets beyond that, and I was part of it too... Part of everything. Now I was standing in space... The blue pulsar spread before me, the shadow creature stood beside me, it had no form but I knew it was there. This place was significant... Like the field... But this was something I had to find. I awoke, I lay on the floor Eleanor was by my side looking concerned, a physician standing over me, my head felt like it was burning, "Are you all right? You seemed to have had some sort of fit... You and Brennan both..." "I saw... Something. I was shown something..." "Did you see Kyle? Where he went?" "What?" I looked across to the pod, it was empty.
The Physician spoke with Eleanor from behind the thick plate glass, while they weren't arguing they certainly weren't getting along either. Eleanor walked in closing the door firmly behind her. "Nikko... Umm... Well the Physician has checked you over and discovered something odd... Apparently your brain is over active... He told me he's seeing high activity in parts of your brain that he never thought possible... The Argon's do not know about the Waking Dreams... It seems to be a unique Terran problem... With the Khaak's influence over Kyle they think you might be involved... I can't stop them coming for you but I have some contacts within Pirate space, they should be able to hide you for as long as we need." "Why would do this" "Because I know you... I don't know how, or from where but I do..."
As soon as we hit space Eleanor hit the jump drive we slipped into a wormhole and out into... Somewhere I had been before... The stars look familiar... We were surrounded by wreckage... Something bad had happened here... As we neared a station near the centre of the sector I suddenly remembered... "Get closer to that station". The circular station had been burnt out by plasma fires but I recognised its shape, "There!" Eleanor flicked on the landing lights eliminating the blackened hull, we slowly edged our way though a gash in the side entering the main concourse...
A mass grave... So familiar for somewhere I had never been. As I stared out the forward window I saw the station come back to life before my eyes... People still walking about... I wiped my eyes and things were back to normal... No. No they weren't... Because I was standing there... In front of myself... Floating. I looked and me... And I looked back... Time had stopped... Or Eleanor was being very still... Not even breathing. I stepped out of the airlock... The space suit seemed very heavy and bulky... I was glad it was sealed... The magnetic clamps made a clanking noise as I walked... I was back on the station... Or had I never left? She smiled at me and beckoned me closer... Suddenly we stood in a field of flowers, open to space yet there was a breeze... My space suit was gone yet I could breathe freely... Her clothes were flowing black, her lipstick a soft red, she was angelic... "I knew you would come here... It is very important that we speak. While I cannot tell you the future I can tell you what you need to hear to make the right choices in the coming days. Trust yourself and your instincts always... You have the power to change outcomes but know that when the time comes you are not alone." "Can I ask you a question?" She smiled at me "You already know your answer" "Are you me?" She shook her head her hair and clothes taking on a shade of crimson red, softly shifting to purple then blue "I am many things... I am nothing... I am everything..." I opened my mouth to speak... "You know I cannot answer that... Only you can". She softly embraced me and with a kiss I awoke back in the shuttle... I must have fallen asleep.
Eleanor smiled at me "Wakey wakey sleepy head. We're almost at the rendezvous point" I stared out into the thick swirling gas nebula, electrical storms flashed all round us, slightly buffeting us and illuminating the ship hulks surrounding us, shattered remains of wrecks long since forgotten "What is this place?" "We were lucky in the fact that the Argon simply saw the AP gunner as obsolete, as you know Earth fleet ships were hurriedly repaired and pressed into service against the terraformer threat, many ships had equipment simply grafted directly to the hull, the AP gunner had a faulty power input for its navigation system, a new system was simply welded on and patched into nav computer, the old system functioned for approximately four days before it's power reserves ran dry, enough time for the AP gunner to make the journey with Gunne to Ronkar's Clouds and then on to Sonra-4 where as we know the command vessel crash landed and the survivors began their journey into becoming the Argon... The Argon Military obviously didn't require this information as the nav system didn't pick up any information about the Khaak so we pulled it before the ship was confiscated by Argon Intelligence. After all how many ships have two Nav systems?" Eleanor could see I didn't really know what she was talking about "This sector is the real site of the Earth Gate! This sector was disconnected from the gate network during the realignment. We don't know where the gate in Brennan's Triumph once lead but it serves to keep people asking questions." As we entered a clearing in the nebula the shattered remains of a gate, around it the unmistakable remains of terraformers. "Each of the three gates in this system loop back in on themselves, it's the only system along the Gunner's route we've discovered to do this, the others have all been incorporated back into the network albeit out of sync of the original layout... Right now we are literally nowhere!" "Why are we here?" "Because now outside of the two of us, no one knows of this system... And if you are to survive on your own you're going to need to learn how to fly" I noticed a small light ahead of us... A ship. As we loomed ever closer I saw the small drones hurrying back and forth to it's Mothership, a sleek almost monolithic carrier ship... Maybe even a shipyard in its own right. "The Fuso..." I grinned at Eleanor... Someone was still thinking of home.
My training was slow, while the M3 I was to be provided with was mostly automated merely touching the controls would often send it into an uncontrollable spin, which of course Eleanor could break us out of with a mere flick of her wrist, she insisted I was making progress, but even flying forward was a challenge that seemed beyond me. I cursed the simulator every time the game over screen appeared.
Suddenly we stood outside the real ship... The flight suit was tight yet I could breath easily Eleanor took my hand "before we do this there is one last thing we need to do..." Eleanor was quite serious "No pilot flies a nameless ship... It's a bad omen... So?" I looked at the smooth lines "Ariake" a small panel flew up from the floor of the dock. As I pulled myself up the ladder into the Spartan living area, two little bunks, amble storage for a week or two, even a little hygiene station tucked away in the corner.... A home away from home. I slipped into the flight seat, it was very comfortable... Suddenly it rose up and I was in the cockpit... I'd never seen it before but everything was familiar. "Alright! Bring the engines online and when you're ready ease us out of the docking bay." Even on the comm Eleanor's voice was remarkably clear... As if she was whispering in my ear. The engines whined as the thrust out-takes ignited, but as the atmosphere in the bay was removed the sound dropped to a bearly audible hum.
The metallic throttles were cold to the touch, the flight stick, sat before me like a delicate sculpture, moulding itself to my hand as I grasped it... The doors were open... It was time. I brought the throttles up, the ship effortlessly pushed its way out of the bay and into open space, so far so good. "Alright! I've marked the location of the first Kesler ring on your hud, fly through each one sequentially" I cautiously turned the ship and pushed the throttle slightly more but this was seeming far too easy. "Why is this so easy?" "You weren't born in a cockpit... So I turned back time a bit..." The afterburners ignited "what the hell does that mean?" There was a sudden burst of acceleration... The turns were coming too quickly. I screamed, Eleanor must have gone space crazy! She was trying to kill us both! I pulled desperately at the throttle but the overrides were locked... I’m locked out... Suddenly I hear Eleanor cackle over the comm... I see the open space in front of me... In the blur of the moment I half remember moving the flight stick, has I just done the impossible? Was this ship under my control?
The slimy putrescence sludged itself over the deck, slowly oozing its way through the small grated drain, the moment I had stepped from the ladder I was overwhelmed with nausea... Eleanor silently crept up beside me "It seems we have more in common... I knew you were a natural... You just needed to get your mind out of the picture... And I also threw up after my first hands on flight." "You're out of your mind!" "It worked though didn't it?" That I couldn't deny... From that point on flying in a straight line wasn't going to worry me... I feared only the thought of a crazy woman with the throttle override!
According to the log it was very early in the morning... While the environmental systems attempt to create an artificial day night cycle the outside view never changed... It was the same... A black space with the occasional dot of light. Eleanor insisted that as a planet dweller I was not to stare out the viewing windows for too long as it would cause depression and severe mood swings, for the most part Eleanor kept me busy with my flight training or some other with her stories of the universe but tonight it really hit me... We were the only two people within millions of light-years, the whole Argon race could have been wiped for all we knew and with no way back to Earth it would be a lonely existence... I closed my eyes and turned from the window trying to fill my mind with happy thoughts but it was too late the vast loneliness of space had sunk it's claws in, Eleanor could see it in my eyes the moment I arrived for flight training that morning... I might not have been ready but it was time to return to civilisation.
As the jump drive throttled down I saw comforting blue blips on the Gravidar... They were Eleanor said they were Teladi ships... The reptilian race... Apparently the sector Seizewell had the strongest jump signature of any known sector... Apparently during the initial testing of the, malfunctioning jumpdrives either ended up in Seizewell or were never recovered, Eleanor loved to laugh about it, saying that somewhere out there in the wide universe there's an Alien race wondering where these nine jump sleds came from! Eleanor flicked a switch and the computer slowly initiated challenge protocol with the nearest station... symbolically reconnecting us with the universe... The message terminal rang out... The bearded man from the Space post flashed up on the monitor. "Eleanor. I have some good news! Brennan has been recovered, but we have a problem, the Paranid are threatening to declare war if we do not hand him and Julian over to them, the Senate is looking to assign blame, Senator Mcarthy has pushing for the arrest of all both Julian and Brennan, and I feel that with the Fleet stretched so thin the Senate will fall to her arguments. While I have managed to spare your daughter from the fallout when Julian returns I will be forced to arrest him and Brennan. I feel now that you were right to shield the other Terran from the authorities, I don't know what know what knowledge she must have but if the Terran's can create gateless jump portals they would be a great ally in what is becoming a very hostile universe. Take care! Ban Danna out." Eleanor and I both looked at each other shocked by the message... Things had gone from bad to worse.
I stood on the surface of a sun... Why was I here? One moment I was in the shuttle now I was here... The light was intense but not blinding a soft whispered shout entered my ears as if it was coming from all around "The time is coming! The Machines shall show you the path.". It was suddenly black... I was immobile, staring out into the cosmos... I was a machine... Where was I? I awoke on my back, the hard deck of the shuttle beneath. Eleanor staring up at me her face pale and white as a sheet, fear in her eyes as if she has stared into the face of death itself. "What's wrong?" I asked but Eleanor said not a word, instead helping me back into the flight seat. It would be several hours before she would speak to me... It would be a day before she told me where we were going.
A strange sight greeted us as we entered the through the south gate of Circle of labour... Several battered cruisers limped their way slowly towards the gate, apparently the Khaak had attacked on a massive scale across the entire galaxy yes we had not seen even one Khaak ship on our journey. Eleanor hesitated as we approached the North gate... Her breath short and anxious... Suddenly we were on the other side...
Wreckage and debris were spread thickly across the sector, the Gravidar flashed up multiple unidentified targets. A fighter craft shot across our bow. "Unidentified ship. By order of the Terran Military cease your approach"... My god! They were here! Earth was here! "This is Major Eleanor Kho, serial number 37N255-864 requesting dark-side re-entry!" There was a brief moment of silence "UO Vessel... Cut your engines and prepare for re-entry. The Process was relatively quick... Eleanor ran through the inconsistent and downright crazy questions at lightning speed as if all her life works were dedicated to that moment. As we began our approach there was a moment of realisation that my amazing journey would end, the moment I stepped on board that ship... I would have a lot of explaining to do. The gantry was slow... The universal docking port was traditionally used for rescue missions rather than docking, as the airlock opened into the grey tube of the dock I felt physically sick... What if they kill us when we get to the top. The gantry opened out into a large room Marines their guns seeking out any signs of hostility. A small machine sat on a table... A palm reader... This was going to be the worst moment of my life. Eleanor went first. "Identity: Major Eleanor Kho - Terran Military - Xperimental division"... Angular scan beams flashed all about her. "Verified". There was a visible shifting of guns towards me. Now it was my turn... I placed my hand above the reader stretching my fingers out for fear it might not read. "Identity.... There was a deafening pause "Colonel Nicole Xique. ATF" The scan beams seemed to burn into me as if searching my very soul. "Verified." What? My mind searched itself wondering whose cruel joke this was... But the world seemed real enough. There was a sudden shout "Officer on deck" The marines surrounding us snapped strong salutes. Eleanor looked at me with amused suspicion as she slowly reached to salute me. I salute back a sheepish grin coming to my face... So much for killing us.
Flames from Ashes - Complete
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silentWitness
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Flames from Ashes - Complete
Last edited by silentWitness on Sun, 30. May 10, 03:30, edited 2 times in total.
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silentWitness
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The Admiral's staff ushered us into his offices, the uniform was crisp and fresh... While I've never worn one in real life I must look natural... The Admiral eyed us up with a smile that was like he had has just been delivered two high class hookers as a retirement present! "Colonel... Major... Welcome back! You've both been gone a... long time! For your return to coincide with the Captain's return makes this day extra auspicious!" Obviously a career Soldier... Must be the reason he was sent to Earth's most dangerous border ever conceived. "Major! We can certainly consider your mission a success! We have word that you have established a successful business within the Alien Territories, and that you have a family. The intelligence services wish for you to operate business as usual... Managing future Terran Agents within Argon and surrounding territories" "Thank you sir" "No Thank you major! You've proved yourself a great asset to all Terran kind".
Eleanor gave a backwards glance at me and smiled. "Colonel, it is with great honour that I greet you today. Your deployment of the... Recovered Prototype.” He hesitated, not knowing what to say “When the ship disappeared we felt sure that you had died! For you to be alive and well... Is astounding... Because of you we now of the major temporal flaws inherent in a gateless jump event and were able to successfully jump, Captain Kyle Brennan to the 'X universe' without high levels of distortion..." He paused for a moment "Is there anyone on Earth you would like to be contacted?" I thought long and hard... My old life seemed a distant memory "No" "It is as I thought... Man mourns the loss of such a woman as you to the service but it is a necessary sacrifice... Your record speaks for itself... Exemplary in every detail. If you still wish to remain part of the military we have a very special mission for you... We need you to explore this new universe... As a high ranking field officer you would be well placed to direct local forces in the near future. Will you do it?" They were telling me to go live my life... From being sure they were going to slice me up... The military were about to sponsor me a new life! How could I refuse?
It’s strange, my mind was drawn to the myth of me… This ‘Colonel Nicole Xique’ the new me that now exists... or was it always me? Our histories certainly bore similarities, right down to the flight jockey ex-boyfriend. Eleanor smiled as I nervously stood in the door to her quarters “So are you going to hover there all night or are coming in?” The standard officers quarters was compact yet managed to contain enough room for entertaining guests. “You know Brennan secretly loves me… while we broke off our relationship even before it even began he desperately regrets that we never got together… after all this time a part of me loves him but in my heart I know that our friendship is stronger than any love we might share… It kills him to lie to me… I felt the same from you, from the moment we met.” “I…” “Your apology is accepted… Now you need to decide what you want to do next.” I didn’t know what to say to her… I hadn’t lied… or if I did I couldn’t remember this life, “The moment we shared was real” her smile became more whimsical “well are you going to sit down and have a drink?”.
That night Eleanor was just as warm as she was the first night we had spent talking, in although we were now just a stone’s throw from Earth, it was as if we were in Home of Light or on the shuttle, but all too soon it was over and I was to report to ordinance for assignment of a vessel. The Thor, was the poster ship of the Earth Fleet, up to now only used to fighting pirates but now would represent the first line of defence of Earth against the Aliens. Soon I was in space, the blackness offered a strange comfort to me, but where was I to go? What was I to do? No answers were forthcoming.
As Eleanor suggested I headed down the Elysium of light where the Goners were all too happy to equip my ship with a Terracorp Jump Drive for free and furnish me with a map of the universe, for it would be many months before Terran forces began fitting jump drives to their ships as standard. From there it was to Home of Light, my one connection to the entire universe… Eleanor knew at once why I was here… “A Blue Pulsar? You say? Hmm… I know of only one such location, it’s a Xenon sector… 382… The sector itself has been abandoned by the Xenon for some time, but with no entry other than through a high density Xenon sector, it will probably stay empty for some time to come! Even with your ship it will take several jumps to reach it” “It seems my fate has something in store” “Fly safe my friend, I can’t be there to rescue you all the time you know!!” With a special Terracorp pass refuelling my jump drive was simple, it was all handled electronically. Each jump took me further and further from known space lanes into the New Territories where the unknown still held sway. As I entered the sector I noticed the something was off… there was no pulsar… only darkness…
I tried to swing the ship around but the controls were non-responsive… I felt the odd presence again… the Sohnen were here! The powerful Sohnen ship seemed to float effortlessly around me, by it’s size I would have said it was some kind of support ship or carrier. “Why look who it is? The Human Meatskin. We meet under preferable circumstances, the council is not here to censure me this time… Your pitiful nature shall not protect you this tiiiii…”
Before it could even finish its sentence time had already began to slow to a stop. I stood in a field of stars, each whisp held countless galaxies that swayed in the wind, the air was scented with roses. She stood in front of me a smile on her face, “I think we’ve both had enough of them don’t you?” The Sohnen ship and my little Thor appeared in the space above our heads… The Sohnen fired its powerful main gun, I must have fired missiles as they streaked across the sky smashing the Sohnen in a powerful shockwave. When the bright explosion subsided neither ship remained in existence but in the distance a small fighter ship twisted end over end, the Sohnen had survived but was trapped in a crippled vessel with no aid in sight. “And thus it begins... who would have thought that such a simple act would shape the beginnings of a war of pacification… These Rogue Sohnen shall no longer hold sway and history shall repeat itself.”
I stared at her “Who are you?” a little laugh escaped from her lips “You have no idea how difficult that question is… back when I held corporeal form my name was Aeryn… but now I answer to another name too…It’s complicated… I guess we have one last task to perform apart… Come” she reached her hand out to me at first I felt worried for that ship had contained me… if this dream would end would I also? But her smile made it so simple… I felt my body dematerialise and suddenly my mind was free… I felt like I was touching the universe directly… Aeryn was here with me… still holding my hand.
Xenon sector 382… it’s bright blue pulsar flashed as brightly as in my dreams, the light reflected off the solar orbital arrays of the Terraformer constructs each one in a state of decay as the pulse twists and turns through the region, bathing the sector in deadly radiation.
We travelled fast… shifting through the system through asteroids and shattered planets till we reached our destination… it wasn’t very assuming… a simple black ship like the xenon ones we had passed but different… this one had a sense of purpose to it… as we moved close I saw the space suit still strapped into the broken cockpit section, this xenon ship had been piloted here… It was then that I realised, as I stared into her decaying emaciated face through her broken visor, Nicole Xique had never left her ship, even if she had lived her oxygen was almost exhausted, trapped in this hostile universe alone. Aeryn willed me to touch Nicole’s face, my caporal form softly materialised around my mind… her skin was brittle and dry, My touch seemed to shatter her face into a million little particles that danced around the shattered open cockpit enclosure like star fairies.
The memories didn’t come back straight away I remembered the stars first, the beautiful starscape as we left our Homeworld for the last time, forming myself into pure energy and feeling the supernova tingle around me, the familiar of feeling the future and the past merging into one before me… the others… all around me… the greetings of those that had come before. I remember the first feelings of skin again the shocks of tingles of physical form against my consciousness, the tears of myself as I finally letting a piece of myself become ‘her’ for the first time. The Sohnen reacted exactly as expected as my sleeping form was stolen away before the Terrans knew of my presence. For a moment I was like them… I was Nicole, I cherished ‘her’ for that.
It was if I had lived a lifetime as her, but all of it was created by the Sohnen from the so called memories that inhabited me in her form. When their charade fell apart around them I refused to suffer their trespass, instead ensuring that fate would take its course and the Terrans would be connected to the new universe of inhabited planets. A little tear formed on my cheek as I let it dissolve merging back with myself once more… feeling the warm greetings of the others. I was Aeryn and she was me… but now I was also Nicole… for a part of me was now her and would live on inside me through the eternities safe in the knowledge that the future and the past had been kept aligned… that our race would successfully transcend many billions of years from now, all things up until the past present formed today… Flames from ashes… for a moment separate but now I was both flames and ash. It had been a big gamble on my part, ensuring our existence was very much out of our hands but a Terran could do it… one of these times, while success was fated we were unsure if one of us would have to die for the future to persist. And now we knew… and there was but one last thing to do… say goodbye…
I slipped into Eleanor’s office, forming into Nicole’s form in front of her. She smiled “I wondered if I would ever see you again” “You should not have doubted” “I have one last question for you” I formed a soft smile on my face “If it pleases you” “Is Nicole happy where she is?” I hid the sadness from her, feeling her genuine concern for me… she knew not of the women I had imitated “Yes… she is…” “I’m… I’m going to miss you.” I turned away from her, hiding the tears as they streamed down my cheeks. We had met for the briefest of moments she would never forget me her entire life … the Sohnen regard them as mere primitive toys, but they are so much more than that… such beauty in thought… each a work of art in its own right, each worthy of note. “Aeryn” Eleanor’s voice brought me back to her “How did you know my real name?” she smiled softly “I have dreamt this moment many times before… I never believed it would come true… that I would meet an Old One” I brushed the tears from my eyes, the Terran’s had constantly surprised us throughout history… of all the races they would bend fate in unexpected places… their sight… those waking dreams of theirs would one day become their guides… “You know I’m as much the Nicole you knew as I am Aeryn… we are not so different you and I.” “I know…” she closed her eyes holding back the tears “but you would not be crying if you had not come to say good bye”.
Maybe people can comment on what they think of the story this time... Maybe...
Eleanor gave a backwards glance at me and smiled. "Colonel, it is with great honour that I greet you today. Your deployment of the... Recovered Prototype.” He hesitated, not knowing what to say “When the ship disappeared we felt sure that you had died! For you to be alive and well... Is astounding... Because of you we now of the major temporal flaws inherent in a gateless jump event and were able to successfully jump, Captain Kyle Brennan to the 'X universe' without high levels of distortion..." He paused for a moment "Is there anyone on Earth you would like to be contacted?" I thought long and hard... My old life seemed a distant memory "No" "It is as I thought... Man mourns the loss of such a woman as you to the service but it is a necessary sacrifice... Your record speaks for itself... Exemplary in every detail. If you still wish to remain part of the military we have a very special mission for you... We need you to explore this new universe... As a high ranking field officer you would be well placed to direct local forces in the near future. Will you do it?" They were telling me to go live my life... From being sure they were going to slice me up... The military were about to sponsor me a new life! How could I refuse?
It’s strange, my mind was drawn to the myth of me… This ‘Colonel Nicole Xique’ the new me that now exists... or was it always me? Our histories certainly bore similarities, right down to the flight jockey ex-boyfriend. Eleanor smiled as I nervously stood in the door to her quarters “So are you going to hover there all night or are coming in?” The standard officers quarters was compact yet managed to contain enough room for entertaining guests. “You know Brennan secretly loves me… while we broke off our relationship even before it even began he desperately regrets that we never got together… after all this time a part of me loves him but in my heart I know that our friendship is stronger than any love we might share… It kills him to lie to me… I felt the same from you, from the moment we met.” “I…” “Your apology is accepted… Now you need to decide what you want to do next.” I didn’t know what to say to her… I hadn’t lied… or if I did I couldn’t remember this life, “The moment we shared was real” her smile became more whimsical “well are you going to sit down and have a drink?”.
That night Eleanor was just as warm as she was the first night we had spent talking, in although we were now just a stone’s throw from Earth, it was as if we were in Home of Light or on the shuttle, but all too soon it was over and I was to report to ordinance for assignment of a vessel. The Thor, was the poster ship of the Earth Fleet, up to now only used to fighting pirates but now would represent the first line of defence of Earth against the Aliens. Soon I was in space, the blackness offered a strange comfort to me, but where was I to go? What was I to do? No answers were forthcoming.
As Eleanor suggested I headed down the Elysium of light where the Goners were all too happy to equip my ship with a Terracorp Jump Drive for free and furnish me with a map of the universe, for it would be many months before Terran forces began fitting jump drives to their ships as standard. From there it was to Home of Light, my one connection to the entire universe… Eleanor knew at once why I was here… “A Blue Pulsar? You say? Hmm… I know of only one such location, it’s a Xenon sector… 382… The sector itself has been abandoned by the Xenon for some time, but with no entry other than through a high density Xenon sector, it will probably stay empty for some time to come! Even with your ship it will take several jumps to reach it” “It seems my fate has something in store” “Fly safe my friend, I can’t be there to rescue you all the time you know!!” With a special Terracorp pass refuelling my jump drive was simple, it was all handled electronically. Each jump took me further and further from known space lanes into the New Territories where the unknown still held sway. As I entered the sector I noticed the something was off… there was no pulsar… only darkness…
I tried to swing the ship around but the controls were non-responsive… I felt the odd presence again… the Sohnen were here! The powerful Sohnen ship seemed to float effortlessly around me, by it’s size I would have said it was some kind of support ship or carrier. “Why look who it is? The Human Meatskin. We meet under preferable circumstances, the council is not here to censure me this time… Your pitiful nature shall not protect you this tiiiii…”
Before it could even finish its sentence time had already began to slow to a stop. I stood in a field of stars, each whisp held countless galaxies that swayed in the wind, the air was scented with roses. She stood in front of me a smile on her face, “I think we’ve both had enough of them don’t you?” The Sohnen ship and my little Thor appeared in the space above our heads… The Sohnen fired its powerful main gun, I must have fired missiles as they streaked across the sky smashing the Sohnen in a powerful shockwave. When the bright explosion subsided neither ship remained in existence but in the distance a small fighter ship twisted end over end, the Sohnen had survived but was trapped in a crippled vessel with no aid in sight. “And thus it begins... who would have thought that such a simple act would shape the beginnings of a war of pacification… These Rogue Sohnen shall no longer hold sway and history shall repeat itself.”
I stared at her “Who are you?” a little laugh escaped from her lips “You have no idea how difficult that question is… back when I held corporeal form my name was Aeryn… but now I answer to another name too…It’s complicated… I guess we have one last task to perform apart… Come” she reached her hand out to me at first I felt worried for that ship had contained me… if this dream would end would I also? But her smile made it so simple… I felt my body dematerialise and suddenly my mind was free… I felt like I was touching the universe directly… Aeryn was here with me… still holding my hand.
Xenon sector 382… it’s bright blue pulsar flashed as brightly as in my dreams, the light reflected off the solar orbital arrays of the Terraformer constructs each one in a state of decay as the pulse twists and turns through the region, bathing the sector in deadly radiation.
We travelled fast… shifting through the system through asteroids and shattered planets till we reached our destination… it wasn’t very assuming… a simple black ship like the xenon ones we had passed but different… this one had a sense of purpose to it… as we moved close I saw the space suit still strapped into the broken cockpit section, this xenon ship had been piloted here… It was then that I realised, as I stared into her decaying emaciated face through her broken visor, Nicole Xique had never left her ship, even if she had lived her oxygen was almost exhausted, trapped in this hostile universe alone. Aeryn willed me to touch Nicole’s face, my caporal form softly materialised around my mind… her skin was brittle and dry, My touch seemed to shatter her face into a million little particles that danced around the shattered open cockpit enclosure like star fairies.
The memories didn’t come back straight away I remembered the stars first, the beautiful starscape as we left our Homeworld for the last time, forming myself into pure energy and feeling the supernova tingle around me, the familiar of feeling the future and the past merging into one before me… the others… all around me… the greetings of those that had come before. I remember the first feelings of skin again the shocks of tingles of physical form against my consciousness, the tears of myself as I finally letting a piece of myself become ‘her’ for the first time. The Sohnen reacted exactly as expected as my sleeping form was stolen away before the Terrans knew of my presence. For a moment I was like them… I was Nicole, I cherished ‘her’ for that.
It was if I had lived a lifetime as her, but all of it was created by the Sohnen from the so called memories that inhabited me in her form. When their charade fell apart around them I refused to suffer their trespass, instead ensuring that fate would take its course and the Terrans would be connected to the new universe of inhabited planets. A little tear formed on my cheek as I let it dissolve merging back with myself once more… feeling the warm greetings of the others. I was Aeryn and she was me… but now I was also Nicole… for a part of me was now her and would live on inside me through the eternities safe in the knowledge that the future and the past had been kept aligned… that our race would successfully transcend many billions of years from now, all things up until the past present formed today… Flames from ashes… for a moment separate but now I was both flames and ash. It had been a big gamble on my part, ensuring our existence was very much out of our hands but a Terran could do it… one of these times, while success was fated we were unsure if one of us would have to die for the future to persist. And now we knew… and there was but one last thing to do… say goodbye…
I slipped into Eleanor’s office, forming into Nicole’s form in front of her. She smiled “I wondered if I would ever see you again” “You should not have doubted” “I have one last question for you” I formed a soft smile on my face “If it pleases you” “Is Nicole happy where she is?” I hid the sadness from her, feeling her genuine concern for me… she knew not of the women I had imitated “Yes… she is…” “I’m… I’m going to miss you.” I turned away from her, hiding the tears as they streamed down my cheeks. We had met for the briefest of moments she would never forget me her entire life … the Sohnen regard them as mere primitive toys, but they are so much more than that… such beauty in thought… each a work of art in its own right, each worthy of note. “Aeryn” Eleanor’s voice brought me back to her “How did you know my real name?” she smiled softly “I have dreamt this moment many times before… I never believed it would come true… that I would meet an Old One” I brushed the tears from my eyes, the Terran’s had constantly surprised us throughout history… of all the races they would bend fate in unexpected places… their sight… those waking dreams of theirs would one day become their guides… “You know I’m as much the Nicole you knew as I am Aeryn… we are not so different you and I.” “I know…” she closed her eyes holding back the tears “but you would not be crying if you had not come to say good bye”.
Maybe people can comment on what they think of the story this time... Maybe...
Last edited by silentWitness on Sun, 30. May 10, 03:32, edited 1 time in total.
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dragondream
- Posts: 433
- Joined: Tue, 10. Mar 09, 18:08
Please format the story to have smaller paragraphs to make it easier to read (especially when it comes to dialogue). Other than that, I'll need some time to read the entire thing, but interesting so far.
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My Guide to All Non-Plot Missions in TC
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silentWitness
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hierax
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hipvilla
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Thank you very much this is a very nice information!. . .
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lichking21st
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lichking21st
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Sun, 26. Dec 10, 09:39
The intro was good but you kind of lost me when she got that brain surgery thing from the mad doctor. I picked it up again sometime when she got to the X Universe. I thought the "..."s provided a flow to the story, perhaps other people may not think the same, since if you just look at it without reading, it does look a little jittery. But that's just me.