1 "Tempus Fugit" [Part Two]
There are so many different interpretations of the truth.
Who knows what truth really means anymore?
Ashes of Lightning
C.Y. 10138
Harper regarded the Emerald Than with cold, penetrating eyes. His eyes slowly traced the alien figure carefully, suspiciously.
Harper had not been conscious for long. He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious for either. He did know that a wide, painful wound scarred his forehead and that blood now stained his face. He pushed his hand through his wet, sweat matted hair and continued to examine the Than.
Since he had regained consciousness, Harper had chained his enemy in the doorway to the corridor. His wrists were bound to the top corners of the entrance and his legs bound to the bottom corners.
The Than was hardly wounded at all. The dark green, purplish colour of his hard shell like skin was scarred in only one place, where a gash ran down the side of his right arm.
Harper was getting impatient. "Wake up BUG!" he screamed at the Than as he delivered a swift punch to his stomach. The insectoid appearance of the Than-Thre-Kull had inspired the "bug" nickname that Harper used. The Than were extremely offended by this, but at this moment he didn't really care.
The Than's eyes opened with a start. He looked up and studied his captor. He then began to scream something in that Than language.
"Common. Speak Common," Harper cried as he delivered another blow, this time to the Than's chest.
"Very well," the Than complied. "You are Seamus Harper."
"And who are you?" Harper tried to show that he wasn't shocked by the Than knowing him. Of course, he was.
"My name is Ashes of Lightning," the Than replied, "as translated into your primitive language anyway."
"How do you know my name?" Harper questioned as he took short, slow, controlled steps across the small chamber.
The Than began to laugh. "Because I met you 50 years ago," he answered and astonished Harper. "When you killed 2 billion of my people."
Harper was taken completely by surprise. He stopped dead where he was and turned to the Than who called himself Ashes of Lightning. "What are you talking about? 50 years ago I wasn't even thought of."
"You really have no idea what's happening do you?" Lightning said, obviously amused. "You have no idea what you're getting into!"
"Enlighten me," Harper demanded.
"What year do you think it is?" Lightning questioned him.
"Its C.Y. 10088"
"Try C.Y. 10138," he shot back. "We've just pulled you forward fifty years into your own future."
"You come from the future," Harper cried. He was beginning to understand, a little. "You travelled back in time by half a century to destroy the Andromeda." Harper stepped closer to Lightning. Their two faces were now almost touching. "Why?"
"I'll tell you a little bedtime story shall I?" Ashes of Lightning began in a bold, threatening tone. "Towards the end of C.Y. 10088, the Andromeda visited the Than-Thre-Kull planet, Syn-Avan-Dar. I was there, a five-year- old child. An innocent. As were my parents."
"Can I have the short version," Harper commanded, "let's not forget which of us is chained to the wall."
"Basically, the Andromeda was in diplomatic negotiations with the Hegemony on Syn-Avan-Dar. The Overdiamond of the Hegemony had recently agreed to sign the Commonwealth Charter. Then, after three days the Andromeda fired two Nova Bombs at the planet and fled. 2 billion Than died. I was on a transport ship on its way to the Andromeda. My parents were on the planet. Along with all of the friends and family that I have ever known."
The Than had finished. Harper didn't know what to say. He was breathless. He was speechless. If Lightning's story was true – No it couldn't be true. It couldn't.
"You're lying," Harper announced. "The Andromeda would never do that."
"Let me prove it to you. We're on San-Ska-Re. We must be. If we can get to a major city then we can get a transport to Arami Eltor. There, I can prove to you what happened. I can show it two you. I can show you the truth."
"How do I know I can trust you?" Harper was trying to think sensibly through a story, which just didn't make sense. "What's to stop you from killing me as soon as I untie you?"
"Take away my weapon." Lightning was trying to reach a compromise. He wanted justice. He wanted to show Harper what had happened on Syn-Avan-Dar. "Take my weapon from me and I'll have no way to kill you. Neither do I have a reason to kill you. The Andromeda Ascendant is gone, that's all that matters. I'm not an evil person. I just want to show you justice. Besides coming with me is a hell of a lot better than the alternative isn't it?"
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The massive city of Arami Eltor loomed ahead. Its huge glorious buildings climbed high above Harper and Ashes of Lightning, examples of the most beautiful Than architecture. The most beautiful constructs.
It had been almost two weeks since the Eureka Maru had crashed in the deserts of San-Ska-Re. After unpacking some of the supplies from the Maru, Harper and Lightning headed towards the nearest city. Harper had at first objected to leaving the Maru, but he seen realised there was no other choice. That long tiring walk had taken almost a week in itself. A week through the harsh burning sands had taken its toll on Harper. Lightning was used to it however. Each night they had been forced to camp out in the desert. On the first night, Harper had been comforted hoping that the nights would be much colder than the hardly bearable day times. He was soon proved wrong, when he realised that San-Ska-Re was as hot and unbearable in the dead of night as it was in the day.
When they finally did reach this near city, Harper couldn't remember its name, they caught a transport to Arami Eltor. Now they were there, at the end of their long journey.
During the course of their two weeks together, Harper and Lightning had formed a begrudging respect for one another. A reluctant trust in each other. Harper had been worried at first that Lightning would try to kill him. By now though he had, had many opportunities, while Harper had been sleeping to do whatever he wanted, but he stayed with Harper, and he let him live.
Harper had also had plenty of time to think. Every night he had terrifying nightmares of the Andromeda and of the Than. During the day all he could think about was the Andromeda and his friends and he clutched tightly in his hand the chip with the painful recording on it. The recording from the Andromeda's command deck.
As the unlikely allies continued to walk from the docking station, the buildings began to stretch around them. Before he even knew it, Lightning had taken Harper to where they wanted to go.
In a small, dark, back alleyway there was a concealed bump in the sands. Lightning knelt down and after brushing away some sand he tapped away at a brightly illuminated console.
Harper jumped as a door glided silently open in the sand, revealing a series of steps. He clutched his force lance as he followed the Than down the steps. The door shut behind them, enveloping them in complete darkness. He held his weapon even more tightly now.
Then, another door opened directly in front of him. This time, the opening revealed Lightning's huge laboratory. Ranges of computer panels, with brightly decorated screens and panels stretched across the perimeter of the room. In the centre sat a big table full of odd looking tools and devices.
Ashes of Lightning marched inside, finally welcoming himself home once again. He was followed by a cautious Harper.
"Wow!" was all he could say in utter amazement. He temporarily forgot about all that had happened as he admired the place. From the central table a pole rose to a point, at which a glowing Than emerald rested.
Ashes of Lightning had told Harper all about the technology which the Than had developed, which allowed them to travel through time. This emerald was an important part of the process. As Harper understood it, the Than gem was a temporal distorting device. When used in conjunction with a Slipstream core it allowed you to easily reverse the Slipstream polarity and travel to a pre-destined time.
"You're impressed." Lightning observed. He walked over to a particularly complicated looking panel and pressed a few keys. An animated display showed the progress of Lightning's command. When it had finished, Vedran writing came up on the screen delivering the message: COMPLETED.
From a small slot a chip popped out and the Than took it. "Trust me," he said as he inserted the strangely shaped chip into Harper's own implant. "Are you ready?" Lightning asked him, genuine concern showing on his face.
"I'm ready for you to show me what you say is the truth."
The Diamond Than pressed a button on the chip and stepped back.
A sudden pain shot down Harper's spine. He blinked, and he was suddenly standing in the town square of a massive Than city. He saw all of Andromeda's crew: Dylan, Beka, Tyr, Rommie, Trance, Rev and himself. They were – He was watching as an important looking Than signed the Commonwealth Charter. All the Than looked so happy.
Then, it was as if he was standing in the endless expanse of space. He saw the beautiful Than planet, Syn-Avan-Dar and he saw the sleek glorious shape of the Andromeda Ascendant orbiting the planet. He was tiny compared to all this. As he looked around he saw the fleet of Than warships surrounding the planet.
All of a sudden, the Andromeda broke away from her orbit. She turned to face the planet at a distance. Harper's breath caught in his throat. Two dark blue, glowing bolts of light shot from the Andromeda. Nova Bombs. Harper could only watch in horror as the bombs impacted on Syn-Avan-Dar's surface.
He was then back on the planet. Those Than that had earlier been so happy were running. They were terrified. Harper saw the horrifying blue bolt fall down and crash against the planet. He felt the ground shake. He watched. He watched as sky high waves of burning blue flames roared towards him. The beautiful buildings were incinerated instantly. And then Harper could do nothing as he was hit by the fire himself. He felt his body being ripped apart. He felt his arms and his legs fall away into ashes. The screaming faces of thousands of Than raced through his mind. They screamed. He screamed.
But then, through the tears, he could see the planet again. He saw the Andromeda and the Than fleet race to Slipstream. He saw the blue flames. He saw the cataclysm rip across the planet. He saw the world turn to ashes. Then the planet itself erupted into erratic, uncontrollable fire. The fire raced towards him. The planet was gone. Incinerated. Burnt into billions of pieces. 2 billion Than dead. Harper closed his eyes and screamed…
His eyes shot open. He realised that the simulation had finished and he stopped screaming. He tried to catch his breath. Slowly he wiped the tears from his eye. When he realised that he was on his knees he got up.
He looked deep into Lightning's eyes and said, "I'm so sorry."
It was a long time before anybody said anything again. Then Harper broke the silence.
"Help me," he said genuinely pleading with the Than. "You have a crystal there. Steal me a ship. Help me steal a ship. I can use it to go back in time. I can bring back my friends. Now I know what will happen. I can prevent it. I promise."
"How would you stop your friends from dying?" was all that Ashes of Lightning asked.
"I can destroy the Than fleet when you come through the Slipstream at Haephastos," Harper said. "But you would still be alive," he continued before the Than could object. "It would change the time line. Nobody would have to die."
Harper could tell that the Than was thinking. Lightning turned from him. He was contemplating. Little more than three weeks ago he had been called up for the mission, to command one of the Than warships that led the assault on the Andromeda Ascendant. It was the first joint mission that the two warring factions of the Than people had taken in a long time. It was important. He had expected it to be an easy, routine mission. Now, three weeks later he had Harper to contend with.
When he turned back, all he said was, "No."
Harper pulled out a chip from his pocket. He tossed it at the Than. "Watch the recording on this chip," he demanded.
The Than went over the central table and he picked out an implant. He flinched as it penetrated his skin. He then inserted the chip.
Suddenly, Ashes of Lightning found himself on the Andromeda's Command Deck. He saw a Magog lying dead on the floor. He saw conduits burst and he saw a young purple girl. She was hit by a bullet of fire. He watched as she fell down.
He heard the Captain shouting, "bring us about." He heard himself reply, "trying."
He then heard and felt fire erupt behind him. He fell to the deck. As his vision began to waver he saw a Nietzschean fall dead. Then he saw Than weapons fire. It hit. He heard the Captain's last words. "Help –"
He closed his eyes tight and opened them only when he was sure it was safe. Harper was looking down at him. "Those were my friends," Harper said as he pulled Lightning up. "Those were the people you killed."
Ashes of Lightning remembered the look of innocence on the purple girl's face as she fell dead.
"OK," he announced, "I'll help you."
TO BE CONTINUED…
1.1
There are so many different interpretations of the truth.
Who knows what truth really means anymore?
Ashes of Lightning
C.Y. 10138
Harper regarded the Emerald Than with cold, penetrating eyes. His eyes slowly traced the alien figure carefully, suspiciously.
Harper had not been conscious for long. He didn't know how long he'd been unconscious for either. He did know that a wide, painful wound scarred his forehead and that blood now stained his face. He pushed his hand through his wet, sweat matted hair and continued to examine the Than.
Since he had regained consciousness, Harper had chained his enemy in the doorway to the corridor. His wrists were bound to the top corners of the entrance and his legs bound to the bottom corners.
The Than was hardly wounded at all. The dark green, purplish colour of his hard shell like skin was scarred in only one place, where a gash ran down the side of his right arm.
Harper was getting impatient. "Wake up BUG!" he screamed at the Than as he delivered a swift punch to his stomach. The insectoid appearance of the Than-Thre-Kull had inspired the "bug" nickname that Harper used. The Than were extremely offended by this, but at this moment he didn't really care.
The Than's eyes opened with a start. He looked up and studied his captor. He then began to scream something in that Than language.
"Common. Speak Common," Harper cried as he delivered another blow, this time to the Than's chest.
"Very well," the Than complied. "You are Seamus Harper."
"And who are you?" Harper tried to show that he wasn't shocked by the Than knowing him. Of course, he was.
"My name is Ashes of Lightning," the Than replied, "as translated into your primitive language anyway."
"How do you know my name?" Harper questioned as he took short, slow, controlled steps across the small chamber.
The Than began to laugh. "Because I met you 50 years ago," he answered and astonished Harper. "When you killed 2 billion of my people."
Harper was taken completely by surprise. He stopped dead where he was and turned to the Than who called himself Ashes of Lightning. "What are you talking about? 50 years ago I wasn't even thought of."
"You really have no idea what's happening do you?" Lightning said, obviously amused. "You have no idea what you're getting into!"
"Enlighten me," Harper demanded.
"What year do you think it is?" Lightning questioned him.
"Its C.Y. 10088"
"Try C.Y. 10138," he shot back. "We've just pulled you forward fifty years into your own future."
"You come from the future," Harper cried. He was beginning to understand, a little. "You travelled back in time by half a century to destroy the Andromeda." Harper stepped closer to Lightning. Their two faces were now almost touching. "Why?"
"I'll tell you a little bedtime story shall I?" Ashes of Lightning began in a bold, threatening tone. "Towards the end of C.Y. 10088, the Andromeda visited the Than-Thre-Kull planet, Syn-Avan-Dar. I was there, a five-year- old child. An innocent. As were my parents."
"Can I have the short version," Harper commanded, "let's not forget which of us is chained to the wall."
"Basically, the Andromeda was in diplomatic negotiations with the Hegemony on Syn-Avan-Dar. The Overdiamond of the Hegemony had recently agreed to sign the Commonwealth Charter. Then, after three days the Andromeda fired two Nova Bombs at the planet and fled. 2 billion Than died. I was on a transport ship on its way to the Andromeda. My parents were on the planet. Along with all of the friends and family that I have ever known."
The Than had finished. Harper didn't know what to say. He was breathless. He was speechless. If Lightning's story was true – No it couldn't be true. It couldn't.
"You're lying," Harper announced. "The Andromeda would never do that."
"Let me prove it to you. We're on San-Ska-Re. We must be. If we can get to a major city then we can get a transport to Arami Eltor. There, I can prove to you what happened. I can show it two you. I can show you the truth."
"How do I know I can trust you?" Harper was trying to think sensibly through a story, which just didn't make sense. "What's to stop you from killing me as soon as I untie you?"
"Take away my weapon." Lightning was trying to reach a compromise. He wanted justice. He wanted to show Harper what had happened on Syn-Avan-Dar. "Take my weapon from me and I'll have no way to kill you. Neither do I have a reason to kill you. The Andromeda Ascendant is gone, that's all that matters. I'm not an evil person. I just want to show you justice. Besides coming with me is a hell of a lot better than the alternative isn't it?"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The massive city of Arami Eltor loomed ahead. Its huge glorious buildings climbed high above Harper and Ashes of Lightning, examples of the most beautiful Than architecture. The most beautiful constructs.
It had been almost two weeks since the Eureka Maru had crashed in the deserts of San-Ska-Re. After unpacking some of the supplies from the Maru, Harper and Lightning headed towards the nearest city. Harper had at first objected to leaving the Maru, but he seen realised there was no other choice. That long tiring walk had taken almost a week in itself. A week through the harsh burning sands had taken its toll on Harper. Lightning was used to it however. Each night they had been forced to camp out in the desert. On the first night, Harper had been comforted hoping that the nights would be much colder than the hardly bearable day times. He was soon proved wrong, when he realised that San-Ska-Re was as hot and unbearable in the dead of night as it was in the day.
When they finally did reach this near city, Harper couldn't remember its name, they caught a transport to Arami Eltor. Now they were there, at the end of their long journey.
During the course of their two weeks together, Harper and Lightning had formed a begrudging respect for one another. A reluctant trust in each other. Harper had been worried at first that Lightning would try to kill him. By now though he had, had many opportunities, while Harper had been sleeping to do whatever he wanted, but he stayed with Harper, and he let him live.
Harper had also had plenty of time to think. Every night he had terrifying nightmares of the Andromeda and of the Than. During the day all he could think about was the Andromeda and his friends and he clutched tightly in his hand the chip with the painful recording on it. The recording from the Andromeda's command deck.
As the unlikely allies continued to walk from the docking station, the buildings began to stretch around them. Before he even knew it, Lightning had taken Harper to where they wanted to go.
In a small, dark, back alleyway there was a concealed bump in the sands. Lightning knelt down and after brushing away some sand he tapped away at a brightly illuminated console.
Harper jumped as a door glided silently open in the sand, revealing a series of steps. He clutched his force lance as he followed the Than down the steps. The door shut behind them, enveloping them in complete darkness. He held his weapon even more tightly now.
Then, another door opened directly in front of him. This time, the opening revealed Lightning's huge laboratory. Ranges of computer panels, with brightly decorated screens and panels stretched across the perimeter of the room. In the centre sat a big table full of odd looking tools and devices.
Ashes of Lightning marched inside, finally welcoming himself home once again. He was followed by a cautious Harper.
"Wow!" was all he could say in utter amazement. He temporarily forgot about all that had happened as he admired the place. From the central table a pole rose to a point, at which a glowing Than emerald rested.
Ashes of Lightning had told Harper all about the technology which the Than had developed, which allowed them to travel through time. This emerald was an important part of the process. As Harper understood it, the Than gem was a temporal distorting device. When used in conjunction with a Slipstream core it allowed you to easily reverse the Slipstream polarity and travel to a pre-destined time.
"You're impressed." Lightning observed. He walked over to a particularly complicated looking panel and pressed a few keys. An animated display showed the progress of Lightning's command. When it had finished, Vedran writing came up on the screen delivering the message: COMPLETED.
From a small slot a chip popped out and the Than took it. "Trust me," he said as he inserted the strangely shaped chip into Harper's own implant. "Are you ready?" Lightning asked him, genuine concern showing on his face.
"I'm ready for you to show me what you say is the truth."
The Diamond Than pressed a button on the chip and stepped back.
A sudden pain shot down Harper's spine. He blinked, and he was suddenly standing in the town square of a massive Than city. He saw all of Andromeda's crew: Dylan, Beka, Tyr, Rommie, Trance, Rev and himself. They were – He was watching as an important looking Than signed the Commonwealth Charter. All the Than looked so happy.
Then, it was as if he was standing in the endless expanse of space. He saw the beautiful Than planet, Syn-Avan-Dar and he saw the sleek glorious shape of the Andromeda Ascendant orbiting the planet. He was tiny compared to all this. As he looked around he saw the fleet of Than warships surrounding the planet.
All of a sudden, the Andromeda broke away from her orbit. She turned to face the planet at a distance. Harper's breath caught in his throat. Two dark blue, glowing bolts of light shot from the Andromeda. Nova Bombs. Harper could only watch in horror as the bombs impacted on Syn-Avan-Dar's surface.
He was then back on the planet. Those Than that had earlier been so happy were running. They were terrified. Harper saw the horrifying blue bolt fall down and crash against the planet. He felt the ground shake. He watched. He watched as sky high waves of burning blue flames roared towards him. The beautiful buildings were incinerated instantly. And then Harper could do nothing as he was hit by the fire himself. He felt his body being ripped apart. He felt his arms and his legs fall away into ashes. The screaming faces of thousands of Than raced through his mind. They screamed. He screamed.
But then, through the tears, he could see the planet again. He saw the Andromeda and the Than fleet race to Slipstream. He saw the blue flames. He saw the cataclysm rip across the planet. He saw the world turn to ashes. Then the planet itself erupted into erratic, uncontrollable fire. The fire raced towards him. The planet was gone. Incinerated. Burnt into billions of pieces. 2 billion Than dead. Harper closed his eyes and screamed…
His eyes shot open. He realised that the simulation had finished and he stopped screaming. He tried to catch his breath. Slowly he wiped the tears from his eye. When he realised that he was on his knees he got up.
He looked deep into Lightning's eyes and said, "I'm so sorry."
It was a long time before anybody said anything again. Then Harper broke the silence.
"Help me," he said genuinely pleading with the Than. "You have a crystal there. Steal me a ship. Help me steal a ship. I can use it to go back in time. I can bring back my friends. Now I know what will happen. I can prevent it. I promise."
"How would you stop your friends from dying?" was all that Ashes of Lightning asked.
"I can destroy the Than fleet when you come through the Slipstream at Haephastos," Harper said. "But you would still be alive," he continued before the Than could object. "It would change the time line. Nobody would have to die."
Harper could tell that the Than was thinking. Lightning turned from him. He was contemplating. Little more than three weeks ago he had been called up for the mission, to command one of the Than warships that led the assault on the Andromeda Ascendant. It was the first joint mission that the two warring factions of the Than people had taken in a long time. It was important. He had expected it to be an easy, routine mission. Now, three weeks later he had Harper to contend with.
When he turned back, all he said was, "No."
Harper pulled out a chip from his pocket. He tossed it at the Than. "Watch the recording on this chip," he demanded.
The Than went over the central table and he picked out an implant. He flinched as it penetrated his skin. He then inserted the chip.
Suddenly, Ashes of Lightning found himself on the Andromeda's Command Deck. He saw a Magog lying dead on the floor. He saw conduits burst and he saw a young purple girl. She was hit by a bullet of fire. He watched as she fell down.
He heard the Captain shouting, "bring us about." He heard himself reply, "trying."
He then heard and felt fire erupt behind him. He fell to the deck. As his vision began to waver he saw a Nietzschean fall dead. Then he saw Than weapons fire. It hit. He heard the Captain's last words. "Help –"
He closed his eyes tight and opened them only when he was sure it was safe. Harper was looking down at him. "Those were my friends," Harper said as he pulled Lightning up. "Those were the people you killed."
Ashes of Lightning remembered the look of innocence on the purple girl's face as she fell dead.
"OK," he announced, "I'll help you."
TO BE CONTINUED…
1.1