Blue-eyed Miracle - 12. Rage

Day 37

I’ve been apparently sleeping for only the Gods know how many hours in a row. I believe that the N’otu with Alaunus probably drained all my energy. Even as I wake up I feel terribly tired. I do not know how to describe it; it’s as if I had run for miles and miles in a Zero-G environment.

The first thing that comes to mind as I wake up is Chris. A lot of things have changed in the past hours and so many things have been answered. For the first time I feel like I have finally understood Chris completely. And now that I have an idea of what he is, and what he’s capable of, I’m a little scared. What I know for a fact is that I love him even more.

The crewmen of The Persephone are my other concern. I got them involved in this and I have to find the way to get them out. I would hate to have put them in harm’s way.

‘Robbie.’

I think I’m still dreaming when I hear his voice.

‘Robbie.’

Only then I understand I am not dreaming and I’m not really hearing his voice but in my mind, it’s as if he were calling me inside my head. The feeling is strange, but it doesn’t feel like an invasion.

‘Robbie.’

I stand up and realize I’m still in the same room where Alaunus and I did the N’otu. I don’t know what time of day it is as I try and stand up from the bed. I feel dizzy.

‘Robbie. It’s me.’

“Chris?” I ask.

‘They don’t intend on letting me go. Don’t say anything, just listen.’

I nod, suddenly realizing how stupid it is for me to do that since Chris is not looking at me.

‘Your friends are being released …’

“Where are you?” I ask.

‘We have no time. You will be asked to leave with your friends. You have to comply.’

“I won’t leave without you.”

‘You must. And you will.’

“Chris, wait!” I say, but there’s no reply.

I walk towards the window. The darkness of space makes my mind drift back to a peaceful place, inducing a sort of tranquility inside of me.

“Ah, Sergeant!” I hear Colonel Debrak’s voice behind me interrupting my mental conversation with Chris, “I’m glad to see you’re up and about now.”

“Colonel Debrak,” I say, “What did I miss?”

“Not much, actually. Your friends have been released from custody and your scout ship has been readied for your departure. We were just waiting for you to come back.”

“My departure?” I ask and he nods.

“A couple of my men are already outside the room to escort you to the ship.”

“I’m not going anywhere without him,” I tell him.

He grins and walks around me.

“You have nothing else to do here, Sergeant. I thought you had paid close attention when Alaunus explained to you where the boy belongs.”

I walk towards him and look him in the eye.

“And I thought you’d paid close attention when I said I was here for him. And I’m not leaving until he’s with me.”

Colonel Debrak puts his hands behind his back in a very military fashion and heaves a sigh.

“There’s nothing I can do for you, Sergeant, and I have my instructions. Now, if you’ll follow me.”

I see no reason to discuss this with the man, it’s clear for me he’s not the one who’s going to solve this for me, I have to find a way to get Alaunus’ attention. So I walk behind Debrak as we exit the room. The two escorts await us in the hall.

“Gentlemen,” Debrak tells his men, “Escort Sergeant Ni’sugah to the scout ship and make sure all his companions are taken to the ship as well.”

“Yes, sir!” they respond in unison.

I had never been on board a Phinaran ship before, but it’s nothing if not impressive. Most of it is built in a black metal I hadn’t seen before. Technology must be state of the art, because I don’t see a single technological device around. As I walk, I make a quick assessment of my situation trying to decide how I’m going to play this hand.

When we’ve walked for maybe ten minutes, we enter a huge hangar where Phinaran scout ships are arranged in rows. The little scout ship in which we arrived immediately stands out since its design differs greatly from the minimalistic aggressive Phinaran outlines.

Melaree, O’Malley and Aodhagán are standing outside the transport as we approach. The Doctor and the engineer are both having a conversation, but O’Malley is looking me in the eye.

Time is of the essence, so I nod. Understanding the sign on which we’d agreed to run our emergency plan, O’Malley nods twice. All three men go inside the scout ship. Then I swiftly hit each startled soldier in their solar plexus with my elbows. My disabled escorts fall to their knees.

I turn and pick one of them and unholster his weapon.

“Stand up, now!” I demand.

They both do.

“You!” I tell the other one, “Drop your gun, now!”

He does and now I have two soldiers as hostages. Then I shout to the few soldiers around the hangar.

“Tell Colonel Debrak I’m not leaving until I’ve spoken to Alaunus!”

No one moves—I’m assuming the shock hasn’t passed.

“Are you deaf?” I bellow, and then everyone moves, except for my two prisoners.

O’Malley comes back from inside the scout ship. He approaches me holding a huge laser rifle whose origin I cannot fathom.

“Everything ok, Sarge?”

“I could use a hand holding these two.”

“It will be my pleasure, Sarge!” he says and moves towards the men aiming his rifle at them.

“Sergeant Ni’sugah!” Colonel Debrak’s thunderous voice cuts the air.

I turn in time to see the Phinaran appearing inside the hangar unarmed.

“Colonel Debrak,” I say nodding, “I would kindly appreciate your taking me to the lab.”

“I’m not sure which lab you’re referring to, Sergeant.”

“You know exactly which lab I’m referring to, Colonel.”

“Of course I do,” he replies arching an eyebrow.

“Then I suggest you do it before I start turning your soldiers here into colanders.”

“You are not that kind of man, Sergeant,” he says, with a disdainful smile.

For an answer, I fire the gun at one of the soldiers’ feet. The man swallows hard—stifling his scream.

“I am every kind of man when the situation pushes me, Colonel. Do you want to push me harder?”

“I certainly don’t. Follow me.”

I start walking towards him, my hand never wavering as I aim at him.

“Now!” he shouts.

At Debrak’s command, several Phinaran soldiers emerge from different spots and start firing at random. With no time to think of a strategy, I grab Debrak behind a Phinaran ship for cover. I don’t have a chance to check on O’Malley or the scout ship, so all I can do is hope they’ll be alright.

“An ambush, Colonel? Really? Seems to me like you’re lacking a little originality.”

He smirks.

“I got you covered!” O’Malley shouts as he starts firing. The peculiar noise it makes as it fires tells me it’s a sonic rifle. Good, it won’t hurt anyone but render them immobile.

“You won’t survive this, Sergeant,” Debrak says, “I suggest you cease in your attempt. My men outnumber you.”

He quickly pulls a mini gun from his sleeve and aims it at me.

“You’re done for,” he says sardonically.

The microseconds in which his thumb moves towards the firing button seem to happen in an eternity. Suddenly, a laser blast is fired at his back and Colonel Debrak falls unconscious.

“No, you’re done for!” the man says.

“Hamaru?” I ask still in shock in the middle of the shootout.

“Follow me, Ni’sugah,” he says, “it’s about time I made it up to you for that ambush!”

He starts running. I turn to look back at the ship. O’Malley seems to have everything under control now.

“Take off!” I shout.

“I can hold them until you’re back! We’ll be okay!” he replies as he aims and fires at two more soldiers coming from the hangar’s entrance.

“No! Take off. Now!” I say.

He nods and I run after Hamaru. The man is in pretty good shape, but I am too, so keeping up with his pace is not a big challenge. When we stop running, we’re facing a huge black metal gate. He makes a series of strange guttural noises and a holoscreen appears before us.

“I didn’t know you spoke Phinaran,” I say a bit surprised.

“I’m fluent in several tongues,” he says as he types on the holoscreen, “And I’ve been a Phinaran agent for a very long time.”

“You have?”

“Where do you think I met Irina? Prom?”

“Invalid Code,” the Phinaran AI responds.

Military boots are heard in the distance and I know Debrak’s soldiers are after us. Hamaru types a new set of keys on the holoscreen.

“Invalid code,” The AI responds again.

“Shit!” Hamaru curses as he types a new code.

The soldiers are getting closer.

“Invalid code.”

“We’re fucked, aren’t we?” I ask.

The soldiers are a lot closer now.

“No we’re not,” he says as he un-holsters his gun, “Move back.”

We walk a couple of steps backwards and he opens fire.

“You are attempting trespass on a restricted area. Please, step back,” The AI warns.

“Step back, my ass!” Hamaru shouts and fires a new volley of laser fire.

I notice he’s not firing at random, but to some very specific sections of the gate. One minute after his non-stop fire and when the soldiers seem to be around the corner, the black gate opens.

The lab, unlike the one in which Hamaru and I met, is probably the most advanced medical facility I have seen in my life. In the middle of the room there’s the tank. It’s placed over a sort of black stepped metal base. There are so many hose-like structures and cables I have no idea how this technology works. Unconscious inside it, floating in a colloid is Chris, whose body is also plugged in several spots by hoses of different length and girth. His body looks grayish and his head is hairless, but I would recognize his features anywhere.

“We will need a Phinaran doctor if we want to bring him out of the tank,” I tell Hamaru.

“No, you won’t,” I hear behind us.

The pitch and musicality of the voice tells me it is Alaunus speaking. Before I can react Hamaru falls to the floor, unconscious.

“I don’t know what you expect to achieve, Sergeant,” Alaunus says in a toneless voice, “but I hope you understand anything you do will be futile.”

“Oh, yeah? And why is that?”

“You do understand my powers are far beyond your understanding.”

“Is that a threat, Alaunus?”

“No, Sergeant, it’s just a fact. Plain and simple.”

I look at him, sizing him up. I know he is threatening me, at least in a very subtle way.

“It did sound like a threat to me.”

“Let’s just put it this way, Sergeant, I wouldn’t like to be in a situation where I’d have to face you. I would not like to harm you.”

“You know what I want.” I say.

“And you know you can’t have it. I thought it was time you understood so.”

“What is it that you want me to understand?”

“I thought knowing and understanding Amyas, you’d see things in a different light.”

“Precisely.”

“I’m trying to save Chris a lot of suffering.”

“From where I stand it seems the other way around.”

“What do you mean?” he asks with a slight expression of confusion in his face.

“You have Amyas’ memories. You know his suffering as do I. Is that what you want for Chris? A life of suffering? Are you willing to send him down the same path as Amyas’?”

“I shared Amyas’ memories with you hoping that the whole point would’ve been made clear.”

“What point is that exactly, Alaunus?”

“Chris belongs to my society, not yours.”

“See, Alaunus? That’s exactly where I’d have to disagree. His mother belonged in this universe. In my perspective, he is 50 percent Corian. What gives you the right to claim him as one of yours?”

“You cannot dare compare our societies, Sergeant.”

“That sounds a bit Xenophobic, Alaunus. Something I wouldn’t expect to hear from such an elevated being.”

“I don’t have to explain myself, Sergeant. I never have and I’m not starting today.”

We look at each other in a tense silence. This being is so powerful I don’t know how to proceed. He looks at me as if he was trying to read my mind, but I know that is not something he’s able to do.

“I am not leaving without him,” I say.

“You have no other choice, Sergeant. And you have no real possibilities of taking him away from me.”

“You might be right, but I cannot accept defeat. I’d rather die before living my entire life without him.”

“I do not understand.”

“That is perfectly clear to me.”

Having said so, I throw a punch towards Alaunus. He doesn’t even have to dodge, his body becomes transparent and my whole body goes through him and I land on my knees.

“Don’t force my hand upon you, Sergeant,” Alaunus says, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

I stand and try to hit him again. This time, my fist doesn’t even reach him. Without moving he stops me. I suddenly feel a strong pressure over my neck, as if his hand was crushing it. I immediately become aware that my feet are no longer touching the deck.

“Please, Sergeant,” he says in a statement that sound more like a plea, “Please.”

There’s a note of suffering to his usually toneless voice. There’s also an expression of pity in his eyes. I can’t stop struggling, I know the most likely outcome is that I’ll die in my attempt, but I just can’t face the idea of leaving Chris behind.

“Please,” he says once again.

I start lacking air, but I keep struggling. My hands are at the unknown force that crushes my windpipe, trying to set myself free from its grip. My feet desperately kick at empty air.

“You have no chance, Sergeant,” he tries once more, “Please stop fighting so I can let you go.”

“I … can’t …” I say.

I can’t finish the thought, I feel as if my lungs were about to explode and both Alaunus and the room are now becoming a blur. Through the corner of my eye I notice how a bunch of Phinaran soldiers storm into the room.

I have the unequivocal thought that this is where my life will come to an end. I can’t continue to struggle and I think of Chris as my vision starts darkening around the edges.

****************

A high pitched sound brings me into consciousness. It’s felt like an eternity but I realize it’s been just a few seconds since I fell into darkness. The sound continues and I notice how all of Debrak’s men, including him, cover their ears trying to shield themselves from the horrible noise.

Alaunus releases me from his grip and turns towards the tank.

The colloid inside the tank seems to be stirring as the awful high pitch sound continues to hurt everyone. A few seconds later the tank explodes sending crystal shards all over the place as the sound fades. I have caught my breath and I become aware of the stinging feeling in all those spots of my skin where the tank debris has hurt me.

I open my eyes and look at the chaos all over the lab. Every single living being in the place, save for Alaunus, has been hurt to a different degree. There’s tank debris all over. In the middle of the room, over the black base where the tank stood, Chris is on his knees, the hoses plugged to his body have now become more evident.

“My child,” Alaunus says.

“I …”

A thick guttural voice …

“Am …”

Fills the air …

“Not …”

A powerful sound …

“Your child!”

It’s coming from Chris’ mouth.

He stands and as he does, all the things plugged to his body start popping and falling to the floor. The soldiers start standing up, confused at the sight of the slender creature which was a once sleeping young boy.

“Chris …” Alaunus says.

“Do not dare speak my name!” Chris’ cavernous voice says as his body starts levitating. All monitors around the room explode sending a new batch of crystal shards and debris.

“Your place …” Alaunus tries again.

Chris opens his arms and all cables around the tank base start unplugging.

“You’re no one to say what my place is!”

As he says so, the whole deck starts quaking beneath our feet. The sounds of metal being stressed or crunched around the lab fill the room, as Chris still levitates arms open. His eyes have suddenly changed losing all appearance of humanity to become two sources of bright blue energy.

“You must not fight me,” Alaunus says, “You must not fight us …”

Chris closes his arms over his chest and now every piece of equipment in the lab fly from its original place to crash against the state of the art black walls of the facility.

“You have hurt me for the last time!” Chris says.

Looking at him I realize I have never truly known what Chris was or the extent of his power. I knew he could see into the future. I knew he could see into my soul. I didn’t know he was such a powerful entity. For the first time since we met, I feel afraid.

A couple of medical chairs fly in Alaunus direction, but the Watcher changes his matter once again and the objects fly through him.

“I have been here and I know how it ends,” he says.

“No you have not!” Chris says, “I have kept this moment safe from your gaze!”

As he speaks, his whole body starts glowing, as if he were turning into energy. Debrak stands and aims his gun at me.

“Stop it, or he dies!” The Phinaran Colonel says.

Chris’ attention moves from Alaunus to Debrak. His eyes open wider giving him an even more terrifying look. Debrak starts choking as he falls to his knees. Alaunus tries to move in Chris’ direction, but with a single motion of his hand, my blue-eyed miracle stops the Watcher dead in his tracks. Chris turns his face towards Debrak once again. The Phinaran’s body too starts glowing as an animalistic scream emerges from his mouth. In a matter of seconds, his whole body turns to ashes.

The almighty being levitating over the tank base terrifies me in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible.

“This … is … wrong!” Alaunus says struggling for … air?

“No,” Chris says, “what you’ve done to me and my family is wrong …”

“Chris …” Alaunus says.

“… What you’ve done to my beloved is wrong …”

“Chris …” Alaunus says once again.

“This is justice!” he shouts.

Chris closes his hands into fists and Alaunus closes his eyes. His body seems to start fading in and out of our universe. Chris’ body is ablaze in a searing blue energy.

“Stop …” Alaunus’ fading figure says.

All Phinaran soldiers are suddenly lifted from the deck which is now quaking with such intensity I have the impression that the whole ship is going to be torn apart.

“Stop …” Alaunus says again.

“This ends now!” Chris says and his voice sounds deeper and darker this time.

The Phinaran soldiers are levitating and their bodies start glowing as happened with Debrak. I am frozen. I know what comes next, all of the Phinaran soldiers are going to be turned to dust in an agonizing death. I cannot let this happen, I cannot let Chris carry upon himself so many deaths, but I fail to see how I can stop this. I can’t imagine if he’ll feel any remorse when he comes to his senses; whether he’ll go back to being my blue-eyed blonde beloved miracle.

Chris’ body is still levitating and has turned to bright blue energy. Every piece of equipment left and all debris are now flying around the room. Alaunus is on his knees still fading in and out of our reality.

“Feel the power of my rage!” Chris deep unearthly voice says.

I am terrified.