Chapter 5: Forbidden Knowledge
I woke druggily. I opened my eyes and looked around.
I was in some weird room. Strangely shaped dark blue walls with magenta lighting.
It seemed...Alien-like.
I sat upright quickly and realized I had been lying on a hard stretcher. My armor and weapons had been taken from me. It seemed somewhat cold in the room. I was still wearing my cargos and singlet top though.
I stood up and walked around the small room. My balance was a little off. It almost felt as if the room was moving.
Where was I? Last thing I remember was being in a warm liquid and a very sweet scent.
And Rhea...
Reality struck. She was dead. Because of me.
I leaned back against the wall nearby the bed.
Pictures of the look of fear on her face as she fell to her icy death flooded my mind.
Suddenly a door opened across the room, which I thought was a wall. I tensed.
An Alien entered the room. He was an Elite. But instead of wearing blue armor, he wore black.
I relaxed. "So you found me, Arbiter," I said casually.
The Arbiter somewhat grinned. (You couldn't tell...)
"You were lucky the Covenant didn't find you first. That would've been interesting to see..." the Arbiter replied quite amused.
I shook my head bemused.
"Can I have my stuff back now? I'm kinda freezing down there..." I asked knowing there was truth in those words.
The Arbiter walked over to another wall and pushed his hand against it. It glowed orange for one moment and then opened to reveal my armor, my weapon's and...
I stood up straight and walked to the compartment. I reached in and withdrew an alien sniper rifle. Rhea's sniper rifle.
The Arbiter looked over my shoulder and asked," How did that come into your possession?"
I shook my head, not looking at him. " It's not mine. It's someone that was with me. On the planet."
"We found no other life form's on this planet except for you and your men that were stranded," he told me,"I would like to use that weapon to create more."
I turned and handed it to him. Rhea wasn't going to need it.
I started to pull on my armor while the Arbiter waited by the door.
When I finished, I walked over to the door to him.
"Follow me," he said stiffly, still clutching the sniper rifle in his hands.
I walked into a large room. Then I realized I was onboard a Alien ship.
The Arbiter handed Rhea's weapon to a Grunt and said a few alien words to him. The Grunt bowed and ran out of the room.
I walked to where the controls were. Two Elites in tarnished silver were steering the ship.
The Arbiter walked over aswell.
I looked at a map on a screen nearby.
Puzzled, I asked," Where are we?"
The Arbiter leaned forward and pressed a spot on the screen. It immediately inlarged.
"We are deep within, what you human's call, a nebula. Horse-head nebula," he replied annoyed having to translate for me.
"Why?" I asked.
"Do you human's always have so many questions? We are heading for the Ark," he replied with little patience.
"The Ark? So you did find it. But why do you need me?" I asked suspiciously.
"We are not going to kill you, if that is what you are thinking," he replied, "It is just you have a better chance in destroying them."
"Them?" I repeated. (Please not the flood!)
"The Abyss. Invisible Beings that can reproduce and age quickly. Also, almost impossible to kill. The Covenant found some on the planet we found you, might explain the Hunter you encountered," he said side-looking at me.
Before I could say anything sarcastic, the monitor's screen changed to red.
"Incoming message. Arbiter?" asked one of the Elite's at the control panel.
"Accept," he replied.
The screen changed to show a older man. He sported several war scars on his face.
"General. It's good to see you," I told him.
"Good to see you too, Master Chief. Arbiter, we owe you our thanks," he replied formally.
The Arbiter meerly nodded.
"Master Chief. I have some important news for you. It's in regards with Major Rhea 001," he said.
I felt my heart sink.
"She is alive. Master Chief," he continued, "I will replay her last transmission for you."
The screen changed again, but this time, Rhea's face was on the screen.
"I'm here...sir...faulty...don't know why...wait...what are these...no... back...dont send...general...don't...," her voice crackled through as her face disappeared from the screen.
"Wait! Where was she?" I asked urgently.
"On the Ark. The Oracle somehow transported her there. But there seems to be something else on board with her. Something not wanting us to find her," replied the General.
The Arbiter looked at me and said, "The Abyss."
"We are on our way there now, sir," I replied.
"Good luck, Master Chief," the General replied. His face disappeared from the screen to be replaced what looked like a gigantic blue star.
"A blue giant?" I asked looking at the Arbiter.
"Yes, the Ark seems to have been hidden very close within the star's gravitational pull," the Arbiter said, "but strangely, the pull at that height where the Ark is orbiting, should have either destroyed it or been pulled towards the star and burnt up in its atmosphere."
"Then why?" I asked.
"We do not know," the Arbiter replied flatly," Come. You will need weapons."
"But I have weapons," I replied showing him my guns.
"You would not survive with those...weapons, against the Abyss," the Arbiter replied sharply and began walking out of the room.
I followed.
Whoop...Whoop...Whoop...
"What now?" I asked myself.
I had received my weapons from the Arbiter, which included a Plasma Rifle and an Energy Sword. I was just resting before the alarms had gone off.
I sat up and swung my legs off the bed and then stood up.
The ship seemed to be shuddering. The temperature seemed to have gotten warmer too.
Grabbing my weapons, I ran to the bridge.
The Arbiter stood near the control panel giving orders to the two Elites steering.
I walked over to him. He turned and looked at me.
"The ship is in the star's gravitational pull. The heat is quite intense even here. The Ark is about several miles toward's the star. I don't think this ship will sustain that long," the Arbiter told me.
"Maybe if we re-route the secondary power to the shields and the rest to the hyperdrive till we get there. Then you can make a jump to hyper-space as soon as I get out," I replied.
The Arbiter looked at me and asked," How will you and your companion escape? That is, if she is still alive."
"She will be. I'll work it out when I get there," I replied, angered that he even suggested Rhea was dead.
"Very well," he said and then barked some orders in Alien language.
I started walking towards the hanger bay.
As I walked quickly, I felt the ship straining under the pressure of gravity and heat. It shuddered violently every so often, that I almost lost my footing several times.
When I arrived, I quickly walked towards the nearest Airlock door. I opened it and stepped inside. The door shut behind me. I stood facing the opposite door. The heat emanating from it, was incredible.
The Arbiter's voice suddenly came over the intercom inside the Airlock.
"We are nearing the Ark. Once you leave this ship, you are on your own," he said.
"I know," I replied.
The door in front of me suddenly opened. I grabbed a handle near the door to steady myself. The burning blue star far below, but if he was off by a little. He would fall to his death.
The Ark loomed nearby. It came closer and closer. As soon as we passed almost on top of it, I jumped.
The gravity pulled me down fast. I hit a platform hard, making a dint with my body. I stood up and looked for the Arbiter's ship. It had just finished powering up and then disappeared into a portal.
I moved slowly toward's the door of the Ark. (Plasma Rifle in hand of course.)
The door opened swiftly and silently as I approached it. I walked inside and the door closed quickly behind me. I walked through hallways, looking around corner's.
But nothing. I walked up ramps and went through some doors. Then I realized something. The temperature had dropped dramatically. The windows and walls seemed to have a thin layer of ice on them.
How could that be?
I woke stiffly. I willed my body to move, but found I could not.
It was cold. Frozen.
With what little strength I had, I managed to open my eyes.
My vision was slightly blurry.
I was still in the Ark's control room. My body was frozen to the wall. The ice had made enough room though to breathe.
When I could see properly, I felt movement around the room.
They were in here.
These invisible creatures that had surrounded me when I had transmitted to the General.
"I know you're in here. Please let me go. I have done nothing to harm you," I said almost in a whisper.
The movement seemed to gather towards each other. Maybe discussing.
Suddenly the computer screen lit up. The creatures hissed violently at it.
My jaw dropped. It was Spartan.
A security system had been alerted to his presence. He was looking for something. For me.
The creatures were now congragating around me. Invisible claws clutched my throat.
"I didn't bring him here!" I rasped, gasping for air," But if you let me go, we'll leave, ok?"
For several moments, the creatures hissed silently. And then the claws let go.
I took several deep breaths.
Suddenly a cold hand teared into my chest. The pain was so indescribable. It felt like it was tearing a hole in my soul. Suddenly it withdrew it's claw, but the pain throbbed. The invisible creature seemed to be holding a small ghostly white piece of...what was it?
The ghostly thing seemed to stretch. It grew legs, arms, a head. I gasped. It was me.
It was no longer a ghostly white, but fair skinned. It smiled at me.
"You said he would leave if we let you go to him," she said smartly.
I pulled against my bonds. No luck.
"No! He will never believe you are me!" I yelled at her.
"Hmm... he's just a male. He'll never know. Besides, there's no ship for him to leave on. So, I'm just going to let him walk out of an airlock," she laughed.
She walked towards the door. It opened, but before she left, she said," Oh, and ah, by the way, don't think you're getting away. My friends will need something to keep them occupied."
Where is she?
This place was so huge. I couldn't even find the control room. Every room looked the same.
I had one floor left to check. I walked up the ramps and onto the top floor.
Suddenly I heard footsteps running in my direction. I hid behind a corner and peered around it.
It was Rhea.
I stepped out and called out to her, "Rhea? Is that you?"
"Master Chief!" she replied,"I'm so glad you're here!"
She didn't have her armor on, but she did look a lot healthier than she did when she transmitted to the General.
"Rhea, are you alright?" I asked, "Where are the Abyss?"
"Don't worry about them, they've been taken care of. Now let's get out of here," she said hurriedly grabbing my arm and trying to pull me in the opposite direction.
"Wait. The Ark. Has it been turned off?" I asked stopping her.
"Yes. But it is not as important as us getting out of here," she replied quite annoyed.
I looked at her and said,"Something's not right with you."
I pulled my arm away from her.
She looked at me angrily,"We are going to die if we stay here!"
I took a step back. She looked like Rhea, but something inside me told me she wasn't.
"I know you are not Rhea. Rhea doesn't call me Master Chief. Plus..." I told her pointing to the side of her neck, "Rhea, had a deep cut on her neck from an Elite. It would not of healed that quick."
She seemed worried now. She knew she had stuffed up. I pulled out my sword and teared through her. She screamed in agony. But no blood came from her. She started shrinking into something, like a piece of finely made cloth. It slowly drifted to the ground. I reached down, picked it up and pocketed it.
I quickly walked in the direction of where the fake Rhea had come from. The long hallway led me to a large door.
It opened quickly. Freezing air rushed from the room. I stepped through the door before it silently closed.
I looked around. Computer screens seemed to light up most of the room. A large vertical tank sat to my right.
But something caught my eye. There was something behind the tank. On the wall. It was distorted through the tank, so I took a step around.
There was someone frozen to the wall. Their head drooped down.
I was almost afraid to look. I dropped my guns and walked quickly to the them. I lifted their head gently and gasped.
It was Rhea. It was definately her. The small cut on her neck still encrusted with dry blood.
She murmered weakly.
"Rhea? Just hold on. I'll get you down," I told her.
I punched the ice near arms. The armor stopped any pain to me. The ice around her arms shattered and sent a reaction to the rest of the ice surrounding her body.
She fell forward suddenly and dropped onto the ground. I kneeled down and rolled her over.
She took several deep breaths before saying," Spartan...is that you?"
She opened her eyes. I nodded. "Stay there, I'll disable the Ark," I told her and stood up.
"No!" she yelled sitting up quickly. Her body jerked back in pain.
"What do you mean?" I asked confused.
She leaned against a wall to help herself up. Clutching her chest, she then slowly walked to the computer. I followed.
"Why?" I asked standing next to her.
"They'll know. They'll come back. If I switch off the timer for the Ark, this station will fall toward's the star," she told me, "But i've noticed they don't like heat. That's why I was frozen to the wall. They weren't going to kill me, merely just keep me from killing them."
"So, if we do fall, then the heat will kill these creatures?" I asked.
"And us..." she replied sadly.
"Isn't there a way off here? Your clone said we could get off," I asked hopefully.
"She lied. She was going to kill you, but I knew you wouldn't believe her," she replied smiling at me.
I turned around hiding a smile. Then I looked at the vertical tank.
"What's that for?" I asked pointing at it.
Rhea turned around and looked. "The transporter! Of course!" She turned back to the computer excitedly,"If I get it to work than we can get out of here before..."
She stopped. "It needs a primary source of energy, but the only source of energy the Ark has is what is holding it up and the shields," she told me.
I looked at her and said,"How much time we got before we burn up?"
"Five minutes. Give or take a minute," she replied.
"Do it. I'll watch your back," I replied picking up my gun and aiming towards the door.
She nodded. Within seconds, the power cut out. The Ark leaned a bit as it began falling. The heat increased dramatically.
Suddenly the door opened. Black, twisted creatures more ghost than anything. Their skin, black and scaly. They had sharp fangs and holes for eyes with burning red pupils.
I began shooting at them. As each one died, more came.
"Are you ready yet?" I yelled to Rhea.
"Almost! I just have to put in the co-ordinates and...ah!" she screamed.
I turned to see the computer keyboard had surged and overloaded. Rhea stood there for several seconds with her hands on the keyboard. The electricity surged through her body. She was then flung back onto the floor.
"Rhea!" I yelled still trying to kill the Abyss. The intense heat was also killing them too.
I looked at the computer screen. All it needed was a destination.
I ran to the computer and quickly thought.
I didn't know any co-ordinates.
I noticed there was some co-ordinates that had been used before. I dialed the last dialed numbers.
A bright green light shone from the Transporter. I kneeled down and grabbed Rhea before jumping into it. The door closed quickly. The Abyss seemed to be burning now.
Suddenly, an incredible pressure engulfed me and Rhea. Each cell, bone and organ ripping apart from each other. The last thing I remembered was disappearing in a white light.