Chapter 54: A Barrier Of Stars
YOU HAVE REACHED YOUR PLOTTED DESTINATION
The ship’s automated system voice announced throughout the vehicle.
K jumped out of the chair he had practically made his bed. The exhaustion from yesterday’s exercise faded from long faded from his eyes by the time he reached the pilot seat.
Pitch black stared back at him though the glass. Ocassionally, a star or comet would wink by but that was it.
There was nothing there.
Was...was Bak right about this whole thing being a huge waste?
You mustn’t lose hope so soon.
He glanced back at fhe navigation panel and truly he was already at his destination.
"There’s nothing here."
Do you plan to give up?
Another star winked by and out of view.
"There is nothing here, the coordinates just leads to deep space. It’s best I go back home."
Hm.
A thought he had never considered flashed through his mind.
What if Thira’s ’clue’ was unfinished?
What if that was the reason why the coordinates didn’t intersect?
"Fuck!"
He threw threw the blanket he didn’t realize he had been holding at the reinforced glass.
A star winked by and rippled before disappearing.
"Huh?"
The blanket slid down the glass and heaped in a crumpled pile by the control area. Above it another star flew by but instead of ’curving’ around the ship, it seemed to hit something that caused to ripple like a ball touching a water’s surface. Then it vanished.
"Are you seeing that?"
Shira floated closer to the screen and planted her palms against it.
It’s hard to smell it from inside this ship but... I kid you not when I tell you we have encountered... a barrier.
"Barrier?"
With what I can remember, barriers were built to mark territories and place restrictions for certain lifeforms.
"Restrictions?"
Yes.
Most times as a shield too.
That was his answer.
Without sparing the barrier another look, he removed the ship from its autopilot mode and took his seat. His fingers pulled the gear forward and the ship kicked to motion.
The ship slowly inched closer to the barrier. Testing the waters.
The ship’s nose breached the barrier sending more ripples through it.
Then the viewport.
Then the whole ship.
The barrier gave way to a serene sight.
A large cloud sat in the distance with several tendrils suspended from it.
K had been staring through the viewport for several minutes as they ship drew closer to it before he realized the shape ahead wasn’t actually a cloud.
He slowly leaned forward.
Beyond the glass, suspended against the endless black of space, was a planet unlike anything he had ever seen.
Two enormous, rounded masses were joined at their centers, almost perfectly symmetrical. Each half swelled outward before narrowing toward the middle, giving the entire planet the strange silhouette of two jellyfishes merged together.
A faint translucent atmosphere surrounded it, glowing with soft bands of violet and blue. Beneath the haze, enormous tendrils of cloud curled downward from both halves, twisting through the atmosphere like the trailing limbs of some colossal creature.
K stared.
The ship continued silently toward it.
The planet rotated slowly.
As it turned, the resemblance became even clearer. The two hemispheres moved almost independently, connected by a narrow, luminous belt of atmosphere that pulsed faintly between them.
K stepped closer to the viewport.
The planet’s enormous silhouette filled more of the viewport with every passing minute.
K’s reflection appeared faintly over the glass, his blue eyes fixed on the impossible world ahead.
He raised a hand and rested his palm against the viewport.
Cold glass met his skin.
The strange planet continued turning beneath his hand.
For the first time since leaving Meredith, K had finally come to a planet where his home planet genuinely felt smaller in comparison.
[[QUEST UPDATE!!!]
QUEST: FIND THE KEPT ONE
UPDATE: RESCUE THE KEPT ONE
Objective:
Locate and return the missing individual designated as THE KEPT ONE to safety.
Current Status: Alive.
Location: Qashka.
Life Signs: ....
Time Remaining: 6hours 0minutes 0seconds.
Quest Condition:
LOCATE THE KEPT ONE
Failure Condition:
Termination of Host.
Reward:
CLASSIFIED
Additional Information:
THE KEPT ONE IS NOT WHO YOU THINK HE IS.
...
Aside from the rotating planet and its stars nothing else was in sight.
Then space moved.
His eyes narrowed at the movement.
A distortion appeared ahead of the ship.For a fraction of a second, nothing was there.
Then...
VWOOM.
A Vashki vessel materialized directly ahead.
K stepped back.
Another ship appeared to his left.
Then another.
Then three more.
Within seconds, the darkness surrounding his ship was filled with them.
Sleek white hulls emerged from thin ripples in space, their surfaces reflecting the distant light of the strange planet. Some were enormous, easily several times the size of K’s vessel. Others were smaller, shaped like narrow blades.
They surrounded him from every direction.
Above.
Below.
Behind.
Ahead.
K slowly turned away the cockpit display to the tactical radar.
Red markers multiplied across the deep green screen until there was barely any empty space left.
He stared at them.
"...That’s a lot."
Vile creatures... they reek of hatred, death and the blood of my people.
The ship’s systems began flashing warnings.
MULTIPLE VESSELS DETECTED.
WEAPONS LOCKED.
MANUAL COMMUNICATION REQUEST.
K didn’t move.
Beyond the windshield, several figures suddenly appeared in the empty space between the ships.
They weren’t inside vessels.
They were simply standing beside them.
Suspended in the vacuum.
K’s eyes widened.
Their porcelain bodies were covered in elaborate armor, their garments drifting despite the absence of wind. Rings glowed around their bodies, keeping them suspended effortlessly in the darkness.
That was new.
The Vashkis that came to attack his home planet never came in armor. It was always in simple garments.
One stood farther ahead than the others.
He was taller.
His armor was darker, decorated with gold markings that ran across his chest and shoulders. A long weapon rested against his back.
The Vashki raised one hand.
Every ship around K immediately became idle, their humming ceasing.
The cockpit fell silent.
The Vashki’s voice filled the cockpit.
"The infamous demon child."
K remained silent.
"You have entered our humble home space."
His gaze moved across the surrounding fleet.
The Vashki continued.
"You will power down your vessel and open your airlock."
K’s fingers tightened around the edge of the console.
The figure drifted closer.
"You will step outside."
The Vashki’s rings brightened. "Do not attempt to resist."
Behind him, dozens of other Vashki remained suspended in formation, watching the ship without moving.
"For you are surrounded."
K glanced at the tactical display, the screen was almost completely red now.
The Vashki spoke again.
"We have no desire to destroy your vessel. Our Majesty requested that we treat you in the most proper manner." A pause. "We want you."
K’s expression hardened.
"Step out of the ship," the Vashki ordered. "Surrender yourself, and you will not be harmed."
K looked through the windshield.The Vashki now stood directly before him.
Behind the figure, the strange twin-shaped planet filled the darkness. K slowly straightened, his hand moved toward the controls.
The Vashki’s posture changed immediately.
"Do not."
K stopped.
For several seconds, neither side moved. K looked at the countless vessels surrounding him.
His eyes narrowed.
"If they wanted me dead..."
He glanced at the weapon locks.
"... would they have already fired?"
Fired? You think Vashkis will stoop so low to human methods?
Those weapons you see are just for show.
Vashkis fight.
They fight with their bodies.
They sing with it.
K’s fingers curled around the control and slowly them away from it . The ship’s engines continued humming beneath his feet as he stared through the viewport at the countless Vashki vessels surrounding him.
There was no path through them. Even if he somehow managed to escape the first formation, the fleet behind it would intercept him before he could reach outside the barrier space. His eyes lingered on the strange twin-shaped planet beyond them before he finally reached for the shutdown controls. One by one, the ship’s systems powered down until the cockpit fell eerily quiet. The Vashki commander watched from outside, his porcelain face expressionless as K’s airlock opened with a hiss. K stepped into the docking chamber, the doors sealing behind him before the outer hatch opened to the vacuum. The armor around his body activated automatically, forming a thin protective field around his frame as he floated toward the waiting Vashki.
Several armored figures immediately surrounded him, weapons pointed toward his chest while others remained suspended above and below, watching him without uttering a word. K kept his hands raised as the commander approached and seized one of his wrists. The Vashki’s grip was cold and impossibly strong.
"Do not resist I tell you once more," he said.
K glanced toward the planet below them. "Where are you taking me?" The commander said nothing.
A vessel opened its rear compartment, revealing a dark interior lined with unfamiliar symbols. K was escorted inside, two Vashki walking behind him while another remained at his side, never allowing the weapon aimed at him to lower. The vessel detached from the fleet and descended toward the planet.
Through the small window, K watched the twin-shaped world grow larger until the surface came into view.
Clouds in colors he could never have imagined sped past him. On ground, little figures bumped and chased each other.
A colossal Vashki-styled castle emerged from the landscape, its towers rising like enormous white spires around a central palace. Bridges stretched between them, glowing rings illuminating the structures while countless Vashki moved through the courtyards below.
The transport landed within a vast stone courtyard, and K was immediately escorted through enormous doors into the castle. The halls were impossibly quiet, decorated with ancient carvings and towering statues of faceless figures. K’s footsteps echoed beneath the vaulted ceiling as he was led deeper into the palace, unaware of what waited beyond the sealed doors ahead.
"You will meet with the emperor."
They led him further into the castle until they reached a large ivory carved double door.
"Your Majesty, Lik In’a humbly asks that you see him and his soldiers."
"Your Emperor sees you."
A deep rumble echoed from behind the doors.
The Vashki, Lik In’a pushed the doors open and forced K forward.
"We meet again, demon child."
K was about to spit an insult but the words caught in his throat when he took in the sight before him.
The person he had spent days in deep dark soace for slept peacefully. His porcelain body rested against the Emperor’s chest, his head tucked beneath the Vashki ruler’s chin while one of the Emperor’s arms remained firmly wrapped around him. Thira’s ring glowed faintly against his ankle as the Emperor drew lazy circles of over their intertwined hands.