Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (45 page)

After the outer shield was gone,
the inner shield only lasted less than one hour under the missile hailstorm.
When it fell into pieces, nothing could stop Kalan’s ground force. They met a
little resistance at the entry to the underground city and that was about it.
They soon cleaned up the leftover and started to search survivors. Most of the
royal families hid in the underground city. After capturing them, Kalan learned
where most generals and their families were kept. Kalan was so happy to find
his wives and children were all alive, even though they were weak and sick.
Some of his brothers were dead, but Kalan didn’t really care, because he had so
many.

Right
now Kalan was standing on the scorched ground, enjoying the night. It was such
a peaceful night, cool and quiet. Even the smoky air smelled like victory.

A
colonel ran to Kalan, saluted him and said, “General, we have finished searching
the understand city, but we haven’t found Liutein yet.”

“I see.
Double your men. Search every corner. Dead or alive, I want him found.” Kalan
said coldly.

“Yes,
general. Right away!” The colonel said and left.

Later
Kalan joined Doensen at the flag vessel of the Seventh fleet. They stopped by
the medical bay where the five surviving generals in the Joint Commanders of
Staff were receiving examinations and treatments. Surprisingly, Liutein only
killed two out of seven.

As soon
as Kalan walked into the room, those generals applauded for him. Kalan
acknowledged each of them and said, “I just learned that most fleet commanders
are fine.”

“That is
wonderful.” General Ilina said calmly as if she didn’t care.

“General
Kalan, what happened to your father was a true tragedy.” General Tuies said
sadly.

“I have
tried my best, but...” Kalan sighed.

“Where
is his body?” General Etyei asked seriously.

“We have
taken care of that.” Kalan said calmly as he winked at Doensen.

“That is
right. We managed to recover part of General Klizan’s body.” Doensen said.

“And who
are you?” Etyei said in disgust.

“He is
Doensen, the deputy chief of the Fifth fleet.” Kalan said.

“Why do
you bring a deputy chief here? You should know his rank is not high enough.”
Etyei said unhappily.

“I
understand. I was thinking about introducing him, because without him I
couldn’t save you.” Kalan said in a hard voice.

Etyei
lost steam and lowered his head. Ilina and Tuies smiled quietly at Kalan.
Riethen and Ueowskn kept their cool faces without showing any support for
anyone.

“Did you
locate Liutein?” Ilina asked.

“Not
yet. I have found and detained all royal family members except him. My soldiers
are searching for him as we speak. I suggest we interrogate them to find out
more details about this mutiny.” Kalan said.

“This is
not up to you. We will give you the order.” Etyei said coldly.

Kalan
glanced over at other four generals. Ilina and Tuies gave Kalan an
understanding look. Riethen and Ueowskn smiled reluctantly.

Kalan
saluted to every general and left with Doensen. Now he knew he had no chance to
replace Klaycon and became the chair of offensive department. But he didn’t
want to give up until he tried everything.

In the next morning following
that crazy night, Jason noticed other prisoners looked at him differently. Some
of them acknowledged him in a respectful way; some gazed at him jealously; some
stared at him with hateful eyes. As he walked by a big fat Intinese, one of the
first class species, the Intinese spit on Jason’s right foot. Jason slowly
raised his head, staring at the Intinese. He had a very large built, two times
taller than Jason, resembling the shape of a rubber ball. Jason thought if he
punched this Intinese, that body probably would suck in his arm. The Itinese
stared at Jason angrily with his long tongue hanging out of the mouth. Jason
lowered his head, walked away and sat down at a table far away from that
Itinese.

Just at
this moment, Luee walked by Jason’s side and said, “You just met Faty.”

Jason
was about to ask something, but Luee had dashed to a table in the distance.

Jason
recalled that the Faty was the fighter Luee bet on. He stirred his thin soup
and took a sip. Then he noticed something was moving in the soup. He slowly
took it out using the spoon. It was a small worm. Jason heaved a sigh and held
the worm with his hand. He was thinking about playing tough and eating it. But
this black little thing was really disgusting.

“Are you
going to eat that?” A weak and coarse voice struck Jason from the behind.

“I...I
don’t think so.” Jason said slowly as he looked back. A very old Glycan was
standing behind him with a sloth hanging on the shoulder.

“Do you
mind?” The old Glycan said gently as he pointed at the worm.

“Go
ahead.” Jason said as he handed over the worm.

“Thanks.”
The old Glycan said and fed the worm to the sloth.

“Luc
says thank you.” The old Glycan smiled kindly and sat at a nearby table. Then
he started eating his breakfast.

Jason
peeked at the Glycan, wondering why he could keep a sloth in this
pet-unfriendly prison. He walked to the Glycan and said, “Hi, can I sit here?”

“You can
sit anywhere you want.” The Glycan said carelessly.

“I am
Jason.”

“Geuinm.”

“I am
wondering how come they allow you to carry a sloth with you.” Jason asked
curiously.

“I guess
I am too old to be concerned about. Besides, Luc is not a sloth. Right? Luc”
Geuinm said easily as he patted the sloth.

The
sloth nodded with a proud grin.

“It can
understand what we are saying?” Jason said in surprise.

“Well,
he can do more than that!” Geuinm said proudly.

Jason
reached out his hand, trying to pat the sloth. But sloth simply blocked his
hand with its claw.

“He is a
little shy.” Geuinm smiled quietly.

“So how
long have you been here?” Jason asked politely.

“I was
one of those who designed this prison and I am also the first tenant.” Geuinm
said casually.

“That is
about 80 years!” Jason said in surprise.

“Yea, so
I heard that you are picked by the warden. That is pretty quick for a new guy.”

“Well, it
wasn’t my intention.” Jason sighed.

“Yea,
they all say that.” Geuinm said coldly.

“If you
designed the prison, why you are still here? I mean you never tried escaping?”
Jason asked curiously.

Geuinm
laughed and said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t ask this type of question. You
gotta hurry on your breakfast.”

Jason
smiled in embarrassment and then focused on his food.

After a
quick breakfast, Jason and other prisoners started the day. Every two hours,
they could take a 10 minutes break on the site. Other than that, they can’t
even stop to go to restroom.

During a
break, Luee came to Jason with a flattery smile, his jagged teeth glowing
yellow. Jason acted like he didn’t see Luee.

“Hey,
yo, I have a fucking amazing business idea!” Luee said excitedly.

“Oh,
yea?” Jason couldn’t care less.

“Yea,
dude, I am fucking serious. You see, we can partner up in this fight thing.”

“OK. So
what can you do?” Jason asked ironically.

“Man!
That is not the right attitude to treat your partner. I am telling you. You
need someone to advertise for you, to ask others to bet on you, to carry your
stuff while you are fighting and to train with you.” Luee said hastily.

“To
train with me? You?” Jason joked.

“Hey,
man, you really think you are tough and fast, huh?” Luee said in a shrill
voice.

Jason
suddenly jabbed Luee’s face. Blood busted out of his nose right away.

“You
mother fucker!” Luee shouted angrily as he covered his bleeding nose.

“You
didn’t see it? Let me slow down, so you can catch it.” Jason said and punched
Luee’s face again.

Other
prisoners around them broke into laughter.

“You
fuck, man, I am trying to help you. You idiot. Now you are in trouble. I will
get you later.” Luee said slowly with an evil smile.

“Well, I
have had enough troubles. I don’t mind having one more.” Jason said easily.

Luee
spit on the ground and walked away.

Gloria knew Jason left with
Lisania. On the one hand, she was angry, but on the other hand, she felt
relieved, because she knew Lisania loved Jason and Jason would be safe. She
called Titainein and asked her about Jason, but she didn’t know anything. Then
later Titainein called Gloria and told her that Jason was locked up in prison
Listan. Gloria had a hunch that might have something to do with Hylocan. She
tried to get back to training center right away, but had to wait several days
until General Kalan freed the Glycan trainees detained on planet Satulous. When
she finally arrived at training center, she immediately got in touch with
Titainein and requested a meeting with her and Jason’s other friends.

Right
now Titainein, Sayilin, Erikon, Lucis, Idi and Orizy were waiting for Gloria in
the movie theater.

“I can
imagine what Gloria will say.” Titainein sighed.

“Me
too.” Sayilin said.

“I don’t
blame her.” Idi said sadly.

“There
is nothing we can do.” Lucis said firmly.

“Well, I
don’t know about that.” Sayilin said.

“What do
you mean?” Lucis asked.

“You
know, Jason is our friend. At least, we should try.” Sayilin said.

“Even if
we know that is suicide.” Lucis said in a provocative tone.

“Jason
will save any of us, even if he knew that is a suicide.” Erikon said.

“Because
he can always see the good side.” Orizy added.

“I heard
the life in that prison is horrible. Many prisoners died before they could
finish their terms. But I am quite sure Jason could make it.” Sayilin said
confidently.

“Let’s
talk something practical before Gloria is here. You guys have any plan?”
Titainein said.

“So we
still save Jason?” Lucis asked in surprise.

“If you
don’t want to, nobody is going to blame you.” Titainein said kindly.

“Oh,
don’t blame me? How nice! Don’t you forget I am closer to Jason than you.”
Lucis said unhappily.

“So what
is your decision? Are you in or not?” Titainein asked coldly.

Lucis
paused for a second and shouted, “I can’t believe this. I am in.”

Erikon
gave Lucis a big hug. Others smiled happily.

Right at
this moment, Gloria emerged from the back of the theater. She had been here all
along.

“You are
spying on us?” Titainein asked.

“No, I
just got here a little early.” Gloria said easily.

“You
heard what we just said.” Sayilin said.

“I do.
If you guys didn’t want to help, I won’t come out.” Gloria said calmly.

“All
right, at least now we can save some time.” Lucis said ironically.

“Do you
have any plan?” Titanein asked.

“For a
prison like Listan, we have to have someone from inside to save Jason.” Gloria
said.

Others
all nodded.

“Do you
know any guard or prisoner?” Sayilin asked.

“I think
what Gloria meant was to put someone in.” Titainein said.

“I don’t
think the prison will hire any of us as a guard. Wait a minute! You mean go in
there as a prisoner?” Sayilin said in surprise.

“Yes,
that is correct!” Gloria said in a heavy voice.

Everyone
looked at Gloria in shock. It took them several seconds to collect themselves.

“Gloria,
you are just as crazy as Jason.” Titainein sighed.

“That is
the only way and I will go.” Gloria said calmly.

Everyone
gazed at Gloria. Sayilin and Titainein wanted to say something, but they
realized Gloria had made up her mind long before she brought this up.

“We
don’t know how they will treat female prisoners.” Lucis said in worried tone.

“It
doesn’t matter!” Gloria said firmly.

“OK,
when do you plan to get in there?” Titainein asked.

“In
three or four weeks. I want all of you to collect the information about the
prison. Blueprint, security system, guards, anything and everything. Also we
need to have a vessel standby in case I contact you guys.”

“I will
take care of the vessel and give everyone the assignments.” Titainein said.

“Let’s
say if you got in there, when do you plan to contact us?” Sayilin asked.

“At
least two months after I get in there. It’s hard to say.” Gloria said in a low
voice.

They
fell into silence for several seconds.

“I want
to thank all of you for this. Thank you.” Gloria said as she looked around.

“Thank
you!” Titainein and Erikon said simultaneously.

Others
nodded at Gloria.