Faux Realm Ch. 03

Poking it with his finger he tried to get it off his head, but only managed to make the crowd laugh harder. Eventually it relented and released Lucian from its 'deadly' grasp. Breathing out with all of his might Lucian was glad he did not wear the dog as a hat for his entire life. Eventually chuckling to his own silly adventure.

Grabbing both of his arms, the girls led him away from the catatonic creature. Since it spent so much time in the grasps of such activities the creature just remained standing, its unblinking stare glued to the departing group of people, evaluating the worth of their lives with his probing scrutiny.

The three people were inspecting various stalls that had many goods that Lucian had never seen. Animated plants, various materials, animals that came from ones deepest nightmares. Reverent space bazar. 'What you think of, we probably have it.'

"How does it look?" Ericha asked.

"It's pretty overwhelming. I've never seen items and people around here." Lucian answered.

Liza was inspecting bunch of items on a nearby stall that contained something that reminded Lucian of plants; considering the surroundings he was in, Lucian was sure he would never correctly guess what the stall actually contained.

"This is one of 3 biggest trade hubs in this sector. It helps being around our Star Republics Capital planet we get most of the trades that various species around want to sell." Ericha slowly explained.

Liza brought back with her 3 long green stalks of something smelling really good. The smell reminded Lucian of citrus. Lemon and orange zest. He made sure to watch the girls how they ate their own pieces, and after they started nibbling on the top of the stalks he too started to eat his.

"Yuck. This tastes like shit." He exclaimed after taking a large bite of his own.

Two girls were laughing cutely, "Hahahaha. You actually started eating."

"It's not like I know how to eat it." He grunted at their mischief, still eating the chunk of plant in his mouth.

"Sorry. I could not stop myself from pranking you. It's called linola. Usually you cook it then serve it." She said.

Lucian smiled and started nibbling again. Liza pouted saying, "Hey, I thought it's disgusting."

"Yeah it is, but now the taste kind of grown on me." Lucian shrugged.

"By the way. Are we going back to the shuttle?" He asked.

Snapping her fingers Ericha said, "You'll see. This is not just a trade hub. For a limited time only it's where our taxi will be waiting for."

"Um, taxi?" Walking through crowds of people all three people linked their arms together and moved extremely easily.

"It's a surprise. No more talk of it." Ericha said.

"Ok." While saying it Lucian shrugged his shoulders, while the faces of his parents were on his mind.

"I know my love. I can only imagine what you are experiencing." Liza dropped her head.

They were silent for couple of minutes. Lucian mulled over what he could say. What he should say to this sad alien woman, he decided to be silent and just live in the moment. He gently hugged this woman that was leaving everything for him, for few weeks at least.

Ericha and Lucian both shared a look. Ericha was now too in the group hug and comforting Liza with her whispers. The hug was in the middle of the bazar making the people that were around them walk by them and gaze at the emotional display.

"Come on, our taxi is waiting for us." Ericha quietly said.

The group came to a spot that overlooked a bunch of docked ships of all sizes. The hub was massive, which confused Lucian as they walked for a long time; imagining they walked around the station. Apparently not even 40% of the structure, as the mammoth proportions of the station itself was before Lucian. They stepped on a motionless floor pad and in minutes they arrived at what he thought was top, but very soon he saw they were in the belly of the beast.

"Woah! This is nuts." Lucian exclaimed.

He was ecstatic as he gazed at mammoth proportions of docked ships. There were all kinds and shapes. And he could only smile as he felt giant butterflies in his stomach at the unusual sight. Being a massive Sci-fi fan it did not help his mounting happiness.

"Yeah. I had the very same reaction first time I was here." Liza said.

Ericha nodded as well and continued saying instead of her lover, "Most people never see this as the main hub is for shuttle service and whatever shopping you have to do, ideally you never walk in here unless you want something major to buy or trade off."

"Are you kidding? My people never see this unless it's on TV or on a book cover. I think I'm dreaming." A giant happy tear formed on his face.

"Are you crying?" Ericha teased.

Sniffling and nodding he said, "Who would not cry at this. Most men only cry at very happy or sad moments. This is one for the album. If I wasn't so conflicted inside I'd say this would be my happiest moment ever."

"I'm happy we provided you with that." Liza said.

Lucian could only hug them both and smile at his good fortune. Starting to walk towards the moored ships they eventually came to another, special, hangar bay and it contained something even more exciting. He thought that it was pretty evident that this one was given some sort of special attention as it was secluded from others and fairly decently guarded. He could count at least 10 guards around the very entrance to the bay. He presumed that there were more inside. They were moving too slow for Lucian. He desperately wanted to see what it was inside desperately in need of so much security.

He begun to trot and to the delight of the two girls he managed not to get stopped by the guards that ogled them with their eyes. What he saw next took monumental resolve not to just scream like a giddy schoolgirl. As he yelled out to the giggling girls, "BEST DAY EVER."

He came towards big white ship that had elaborate designs. At the top of the bow of this amazing white ship hull was neatly bent into an elaborate shape and its bottom had protruding edge that extended few dozen feet. Remiding him of bulbous bow's of ships that treaded water and used it as a device to direct waves around the ship. But he knew that there are no waves in space. Right?

The ship was not big, it was massive. It took him a good 2 minutes to get to its stern, as he thought it would be called. And he saw four enormous engines mounted and waiting to release its potent strength. He was almost reminded of drag racers, but as few of them had massive engines to provide the much needed power, this ship was amazingly designed, allowing its engines to practically disappear with its body. The size of the ship was taking most of the space in the docking area. The ship itself was long, elegant and appeared archaic. It reminded Lucian of Viking ships. But where the deck would usually be the ship just continued and everything was hidden neatly in the belly of the beast.

"Welcome to 'God of War'. Our home for some time." Ericha behind him said.

Lucian was still mesmerized by the size of the ship. Most of his friends would kill for this opportunity. A nerd's greatest desire.

"I've dreamt of seeing a ship capable of interstellar travel. My God someone pinch me I must be dreaming." Lucian exclaimed.

"OUCH." He exclaimed as two women pinched the cheeks ass.

*

Dark figure was stalking down dimly lit corridors, making sure no surprises were waiting for it, sniffing silently, moving deftly it already did most of the work that needed to be done. Slowly it opened the squeaky doors. It revealed the messy room as its practiced movements managed to engage the projector, informing it where and how the rest of the people moved. While it seemed that people simply disappeared, it was not so, few beeps showed people scrambling around and leave in a hurry as their meals were still warm to its touch. The holo - image showed them jump off to the dark corridors. As it would save them. The holo-projector suddenly stopped. To know where they went it started sniffing the air. Slowly the information in the air told what it needed to know. They went down.

Down it went.

Following the scent and the stairs it was moving fast, like the wind, flipping over extra stairs and managing to slow it's movements by kicking the wall where it left its imprint, eventually it found large metal doors. Sensing, smelling people behind them it started prying them open. The scent was too alluring for it to stop, as its fingers peeled off the pliant metal. In seconds the doors flew open from its hinges and eventually ended crashing several meters behind it. They could not look as it slowly prayed to them, both clutching each other praying for their lives.

Final thoughts that both people had was of love. They both saw each other dying. Ending up caressing the other's face, affectionately smiling to one another.

Final two lives were snuffed out as it relaxed, muscles and tendons were aching as it used unusual amount of energy for the deeds. Crouching down it sensed something coming from far away. It turned and started running again. Muscles working its magic, making the eerie figure move with grace and dexterity.

*

"Captain we are picking up something unusual on long range sensors." Navigator said when he saw couple of lights blinking on the edge of this ship's sensors.

"Unusual? Like what exactly?" Captain asked moving his black head toward the ensign that discovered the anomaly.

"Uncertain. But I'm picking up Drive trails, I suspect it's a craft of some sort." Navigator explained.

Thinking for few moments Captain Al'Jafar was not certain about this mission of escorting someone to their home world, but he had his orders, and now this. Too many variables were unknown for this seasoned veteran of over 50 space encounters. Most of them executed swiftly with his Knarr Class Starship. God of War, his pride and joy.

"Anything else on long range sensors?" He asked his navigator.

"Nothing sir. Space junk and debris. Nothing else."

Pondering for few moments he said, "Pilot take us in, tactical; yellow alert, missiles ready, torpedoes loaded."

His men executed his orders quickly and efficiently. As he went to his chair and made few clicks to call Luca Prom, he said "Sir, I need you on the bridge."

Al'Jafar was a veteran of many battles, but there was something eerie of the man that suddenly climbed the ranks of HyduN Division in matter of years. Like a ghost he just appeared one day rescuing one man at a time. By the time his background checks were done the man saved half of his own men and women. One day at a time he became crucial part of Star Republic, and most missions that he takes he does not need anyone to tell him when, where or what to do. Completely autonomous, man that did not adhere to anyone's orders. Al'Jafar's body shivered at the thought.

But ultimately he could only give respect to the men and women of HyduN Division, countless of men were saved by their deft hands. Professionalism that dictated respect and above all making sure their own patients were cared for, bottom line is that they saved his crew and he owed them a great debt.

Bridge suddenly fell quiet as white visage of a man approached. Crew stood and silently saluted the man that entered in the room. Smiling he nodded, understanding their need for protocol even though it was unnecessary.

"Sir..." The captain begun but got interrupted by Luca's raised hand.

"Please captain no need for formalities." Turning towards the rest of the crew he added, "Carry on with your duties, please."

"We picked up an unusual readings from a nearby system, sir." Al'Jafar respected the man he was not about to drop his honorifics.

He stopped for few seconds waiting for Luca's reaction, when he got nothing he continued, "Sir I directed the ship to inspect that reading, just to make sure it's not some distress call gone haywire."

"Understood, a detour is understandable in these circumstances, we're not in any hurry." Luca explained.

"We should arrive in couple of minutes, depending on what we see, it might take a while before we get on our way." Al'Jafar explained.

Luca just smiled, he stood silently and waited for their ship to drudge their way through space to their destination.

Their ship soon dropped to Normal space and Captain Al'Jafar started to order his men, "Give me scans and tell me what we got."

As the crew worked as one of the crewmembers said, "There is a structure deep inside this system."

Few moments went by as they waited for their scans to finish.

"Sir I've got visual of the structure." Ensign in charge of one of the consoles said.

"On screen." Al'Jafar said.

What they saw only raised more questions, as it was old mining facility situated on an enormous asteroid. The structure was black, ring shaped with an obvious place where people lived and ships could dock. The rest of the ring was used for various mining actions. The station sustained some damage since its protective shielding was down. Asteroid was close to a gas giant that took care of most space junk that came its way, but as they saw one massive indentation in its structure that made them believe that gas giants gravitational pull did not do its job this time.

"I do not see this system in our logs or Star Republic's database. Are you sure it came from here?" Al'Jafar asked.

"Yes sir we rechecked several times, since this system has no strategical value, we wanted to be sure." One person explained.

"Take us in. As soon as we are in range start hailing the structure." Al'Jafar said as their ship slowly moved way through space.

Approaching the structure few tense minutes passed in silence, "Still nothing sir, all our hails remain unanswered."

"Sir I am receiving more detailed scans, it seems that a ship crashed into the complex. I do not know if anyone is hurt, however it is likely that their coms are out and they are unable to contact anyone." His first officer evaluated the situation.

"Then what did we receive?" Al'Jafar asked.

Several moments passed as they worked frantically around their current problem, "Captain I think the other ship released something into space. But I do not know what could cause that spike in the sensors. Maybe someone's Drive?"

"We would detect their Drive on our sensors, right?" Woman in her 40's turned from her console and asked a crucial question.

"Let's assume that they escaped using another craft. Why?" Captain asked.

Luca assessed the situation, "The current problem is that we have a facility that could contain wounded people. We should start from there. Anything we might find out let's do it after we secure that first."

"Anything else?" Al'Jafar had to be sure.

Everyone wanted to be of use to their captain, but currently no new information were coming through from repeatedly scanning and hailing the mining facility.

Al'Jafar took one look at the station on his monitor before saying, "Bring us in, protocol demands that we investigate this, call security team and tell them to prepare for boarding. First officer you lead the members of the security force, I want open communication with bridge at all times."

"Understood, sir!" Saluting the captain the young officer moved out the door.

"I'll go as well, if people need help there I might help them faster." Luca advised.

Al'Jafar silently narrowed his eyes, he could not have this man go into a potentially dangerous situation turning his head he asked his officer in charge of one of 4 consoles, "Commander. Can you detect anything from that station?"

"Nothing captain, I keep detecting something that blocks our sensors. I do not know what is causing it; but I know that visually the station should be empty. Its' at least decades old." He watched his screen on the console and moved his dexterous fingers.

"Is it possible that it comes from the station itself?" Al'Jafar asked.

The young man just shook his head and said, "Unknown sir."

"Fine." He said turning towards Luca. "I'll send more people with you, but be careful." He warned his First Officer.

Al'Jafar watched them leave and started to open his ship logs to record their current activities.

*

As soon as the men donned their EV suits they only had to wait for Luca to put his helmet on and off they went walking to their shuttle. Their EV suits were all white, only Luca had a black one which had more lights and carried a big case on his back. Two more people carried similar cases, but they had smaller and more compact ones. Few moments were spent in tense silence as they were preparing their boarding procedure.

Shuttle gave them their que when it arrived at its location turning the red light on, that meant the pressure was about to be leveled up between them and the environment they were about to enter. Even though the large hangar doors closed behind them they still had to do that for safety purposes. Couple of seconds passed and red light turned into green, giving them their que that it was safe to enter. Every step and movement was carefully watched and observed by those on the bridge. Cameras were already placed in their suits and HUDs as well as their guns, making it easier for them to move unobstructed.

Shuttles doors opened, revealing the desolate state this facility was in, no soul was found in the docking area, however the vicinity looked lived in and devoid of any dust particles. Even though they were in space there was enough gravity that dust should form if no one didn't disturb its formation. Surfaces looked relatively clean but on another glance it could be seen that red sheen of dust was all over the equipment in the docking area.

Two people led them up the ramp and towards the elevators. Luca stopped for a few moments looking at the traces in the dust. Red particles were disturbed enough that they formed a neat wavy patterns. Not knowing what could cause them he took his arm and held it toward the dust. For a person that saw this for the first time it would see like he was pointing to dust, but others knew that he was taking pictures and samples from that area.

As he resumed his trek toward the 9 people he saw that one of them was working on the console where some doors were located.

At first it looked like it was access to elevators, but few moments later everyone saw that it led further into the complex. The opened area was dirty, but not unkempt. Doors closed and they could feel their movement. Few seconds later and doors opened again. It seemed like the area they were in could be moved and used as a relocation.

Guns went up as the first thing they saw was a bloody mess. Slowly entering the new area they saw overturned tables, chairs, plates, various dishes that were thrown, spilt on the ground or on the surfaces of the broken tables. As it was disturbing to see such a scene all of them hooped and prayed for better as many things could have went wrong here, but when they saw a bloody trail they started fearing for the worst.

"Follow the blood." Voice said.

They went as 2 clearing everything in front of them until they came at a horrid sight. What they saw made several people turn as they tried not to retch in their helmets. Body was lying broken in half, its legs were cut clean off its torso, while it looked like the poor soul managed to crawl without them for several agonizing meters. Luca's assessment was clean, fast and complete. Few questions went unanswered as he collected the tissue samples. One of them was; what could do this.

One of the members lowered its gun and offered a silent prayer to the Divine, saying "Poor soul."

The rest of the men nodded while making sure not to look at the man that was lying in ruin before them. There was a job to be done so they collected themselves and started anew. Going door to door in this complex, revealing room after room of carnage as dead bodies lied, in various states of dismemberment. Several bodies were observed hanging as some just mysteriously absent while all that remained was a giant pool of blood. They all had horrid faces, like what haunted them was entirely alien, or any known creature as it took chunks of one's flesh and spat it on the ground. Bite size was that of a humanoid, but nothing else came through Luca's scans. No saliva could be detected on the wound and the depression in the flesh looked to be made of organic origins. So he started taking pictures. Trail managed to lead them down several flights of stairs. They found 8 more room unopened.