Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion by Christian Kallias Page A

long
and difficult path. All of that thanks to his dear brother. His reluctance to
help achieve their destinies more than a decade ago was why Argos had to do all
of this now. They had never seen eye to eye and probably never would.
    But it mattered
not, as long as he could manipulate his brother into doing exactly what he
needed him to, and to hell with him afterwards. Laiyos was dead to him the
moment she died anyway.
    Argos did not
like the veil of darkness this memory suddenly cast upon his train of thought,
so he lifted the jar and let the Kyrian snake bite him. As always, the effect of
the beast’s venom was almost immediate. And soon Argos did not think of her
anymore, that memory sinking back into the depth of his soul, where it
belonged.
     
    *  
*   *
     
    Chase returned
the F-147 to the cargo bay of the Valken .
    As requested he
had spaced Ares body and observed as it floated in space for a moment, reflecting
on everything Ares had told him.
    He really dreaded
returning to Earth. He worried all the memories of Sarah would rush back and
screw with his mind again. But even if he hated to admit it, he was mostly ashamed
facing his old comrades-in-arms, his friends. Even more so since he wasn’t
exactly proud of what he had done during his time away. How low he had sunk.
    He shook the
thought away. There was no turning back. He had given Ares his word and he
would not break it because of how bad he felt about himself. He just hoped he
would find a clue to Argos’ whereabouts there. Because word or not, that was
still his mission, his only reason to live at the moment.
    I will avenge
you both, Sarah and Chris .
    The pain in his
heart grew exponentially at the thought, and for a moment he wished he had some
more Kyrian snake venom. “Anything?” he asked, back in the cockpit where Keera
was waiting.
    “I would have
told you if there was, but I think I saw something for a brief moment at the
very edge of our long-range sensors. I could swear I saw a fleet of some kind
for a second but then it was gone. Should we investigate?”
    “We need to go to
Earth. Is it on the way?”
    “It’s a little
detour but not far off.”
    “How much of a
detour?”
    “An hour
perhaps.”
    “Alright, let’s
take a look first. Drop us there but not too close. I’ll take my cloaked ship
the rest of the way. How good is your ship’s stealth engine?”
    “Top of the line.
I rarely get detected when I make stealth runs.”
    “Rarely?”
    “Well, no tech is
perfect.”
    “Roger that.”
    “I saw you send . . . I take it that was Ares?”
    “It was his
request.”
     “So he wasn’t
dead when you arrived? He died in front of you, I’m so, so—”
    Chase cut her
off. “He was dead, alright.”
    “You’re not
making sense.”
    Chase smiled,
realizing how insane he must sound to others when he blurted out things like
that.
    “What’s so
funny?” She raised an eyebrow.
    “Nothing. I’m
sorry. He still lives in energy form, so we had a little chat.”
    “Boy, my life
gets weirder and weirder since I met you.”
    “Is that good or
bad?”
    “Only time will
tell; for now, at the very least there’s no dull moment.”
    “Right. Shall we
go?”
    “Entering
hyperspace coordinates now.”
    The Valken entered hyperspace and stars became lines in the canopy, the intense, bright
light accompanying the change of velocity from sub-light to FTL speeds.
    Keera put her
hand on Chase’s shoulder. It startled him.
    “Sorry, didn’t
mean to scare you there.”
    “That’s alright. What
can I do for you?”
    She looked at him
with compassion. “I just wanted to say sorry about your friend, or mentor or . . .”
    “He was my mentor,
but friend works too.”
    “Sorry, Chase.”
    “Thank you,
Keera.”
    “Want to talk
about it while we get there?”
    “Not really. Hope
that’s okay.”
    “Sure, just know
you can talk to me if you need to.”
    He smiled at her.
“Thanks, Keera.”
    She smiled back.
    Chase