Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (56 page)

After a long and bumpy ride in
an ammo container, Mark was now in a weapon stockroom on Carrier Michael
Stonan. Aron handed Mark a set of grey uniform and said, “Jason is in room
D2642. He might be out for patrol right now.”

“Thanks.”
Mark said as he put on the uniform.

“Man,
you are right about your own fate. Those Glycans, they will kill you no matter
what.” Aron sighed.

“I know.
But if I have to give them my life, I will give them hell before I do.” Mark
said firmly.

“What
about your other son John?” Aron asked caringly.

“I
transferred him to another hospital. Now his treatment was all paid for, so he
should be alright.”

“I guess
this is it. After you see your son, I will get you out of here.” Aron said
sadly.

“Man,
thank you so much.” Mark nodded at Aron.

They
hugged each other and then parted different ways. Mark went to D deck and found
the room. But Jason was on patrol duty right now, so he went to the hangar and
waited there.

An hour
later, Jason’s fighter jet pulled in and he jumped out of the cockpit like
usual. Mark watched Jason in the distance. He wanted to run to Jason right now,
but there were so many people around. He followed behind Jason on the way to
the D deck. When there was nobody around, Mark caught up with him.

“Jason.”
Mark called emotionally.

Jason
turned around and looked at Mark, his eyes widening in surprise. He hugged Mark
and shouted, “Dad. Dad!”

“My
son!” Mark held Jason tightly in his arms.

“I know
you will make it. I know it.” Jason said excitedly.

“I am
here. I am here with you.” Mark said happily.

“Dad. I
miss you.”

“I miss
you too, Jason.”

They held
each other for several seconds. No word could express this feeling: the joy and
relief to see family again.

“So what
happened out there? I heard the Dolanz fleet was missing.”

“Well,
you know, you know, I managed to escape. That is the point.” Mark said easily.
He knew if he told Jason the Glycan thing, Jason wouldn’t let him go.

“It’s
always easy for you.” Jason said happily.

“Come
on. Let’s talk something else. I am hungry, by the way.”

The two
went to the dining hall and picked a table in a corner. As they had their
meals, they talked about Gloria. Jason told his father everything including how
they met and the adventures they went through. Mark could tell that his son
really loved Gloria and he couldn’t just tell Jason to give up. They also talked
about the daily life on the carrier and all sorts of things.

Mark
knew he couldn’t stay long, so he said, “Jason, I need to tell you one last
thing. You need to find a place to hide until the Hylocan thing slips people’s
minds. It will be long, but there is no better option. I was thinking getting
you out of here before I saw you, but now I kind of feel you have grown up and
you can make the call.”

“Dad, is
everything OK?” Jason asked in a worried tone.

“Yea,
everything is fine. Jason, you know I love you and John more than anything.
Whatever I do is for the well-being of you two. If I am not around, you take
care of yourself and John. OK?” Mark said sadly.

Jason
held his father’s hand and nodded.

“Now, I
have to go.” Mark said decisively.

“Dad,
let me go with you. Please.” Jason said in a begging voice. He still held
Mark’s hand.

“Jason,
I know this is hard for you, but you are strong and I know you can take it.”
Mark said emotionally.

“I will
see you again, right?” Jason asked slowly.

“Of
course. You will see me.” Mark said confidently as he patted Jason’s shoulder.

“Dad.
Can I call you?”

“Jason,
you know how it is.”

“Yea,
you take care!”

“Sure.
You too.”

The two
stood up and hugged each other for several seconds.

“I love
you, son.” Mark said as he held back his tears.

“I love
you, dad.” Jason said emotionally.

Mark
walked away from the table, heading to the doorway. He forced himself not to
look back. But before he exited the dining room, he turned around and waved at
Jason. Jason waved back. Mark then left. He knew this was it. Now he could
finish what he started.

It was a piece of cake for those
well trained Glycans like Klaycon to rob a bank, even if it was the Dolanz
central bank which was the government bank. There wasn’t a real fight. Most
Dolanz guards ran for their lives as soon as the combat vessel blasted the gate
open. In the vault deep under the ground, Klaycon found three tubes of
Otueitpea. He knew nothing about those Otueitpea except that they were
parasites the size of a cell.

Right
now, Klaycon and his friends were on the way back to the training center. In
the bridge, Klaycon carefully put those three tube in his chest pocket. Zier
pointed at the tubes and asked, “That was why we went there?”

“Hey,
you got some good stuff too.” Klaycon said with an evil smile.

“Well,
for me, I simply like the feeling of taking stuff for nothing.” Zier said with
a big grin.

“I like
the excitement.” Nissen added.

They all
laughed loudly.

“Warning!
Warning! Warning! Proximity alert!” The alarm struck everyone in the bridge.

“Battle
stations!” Klaycon shouted.

“10
Glycan vessels are closing very fast from behind.” Zier said nervously.

“They
are hailing us.” Nissen said.

Klaycon
thought for a second and said, “Let it through.”

On the
screen in the center of the bridge, Kalan’s face showed up.

“Hi,
Dad.” Klaycon said nervously.

“I know
it is you. Come to my vessel right now!” Kalan shouted angrily.

“Yes,
sir.”

The
transmission ended.

“I have
a bad feeling about this.” Nissen said in a worried tone.

“I told
you we should at least use some disguise.They wouldn’t identity us this quick.”
Zier whined.

“I hear
you. Now shut up!” Klaycon shouted.

Ten
minutes later, Klaycon stepped into the bridge of Kalan’s vessel and saluted
Kalan.

Kalan
stared at Klaycon coldly and asked, “What are you thinking?”

“You
mean rob the Dolanz central bank?”

“You
didn’t use your brain. You like to show your handsome face, don’t you? At least
you should change your clothes.” Kalan snarled.

“So
those second species contacted you and you are responding to their request.”
Klaycon said ironically.

“Shut
up! They contacted the Guardian Fleet for help. Then the onsite general called
me and asked me whether I recognized this face.” Kalan said in a strident tone
as he pointed his finger at Klaycon.

“I will
keep it in mind next time.” Kalan said easily.

Klaycon
let out a sigh. He paused for several seconds and asked, “Why you robbed the
Dolanz central bank?” Kalan asked.

“I was…”

“General
Kalan, good news!” Neiteo abruptly interrupted Klaycon as he rushed into the
bridge.

“Slow
down.” Kalan said unhappily.

“The
Human said he got Liutein’s location.” Neiteo said excitedly.

Kalan
threw Neiteo an angry stare. Neiteo immediately shut his mouth.

“I will
talk to you later.” Kalan said to Klaycon and motioned him to leave.

After
Klaycon walked away, Kalan asked Neiteo about the details. Neiteo said Mark had
located Liutein and would only speak to Kalan in person. Kalan thought it was
about the time. For a second, he doubted that Mark was lying. But he soon
scrapped this notion. He believed no one would be that stupid.

With Aron’s help, Mark put a
bomb in his body. He lost a kidney a long time ago when he was in special
force, so there was a cavity in his lower left back. He never thought the
cavity would be used in this way. Then Mark asked Aron to drop him on the
closest planet. After Aron left, Mark contacted Glycan.

Kalan
didn’t waste a second and headed to Mark’s location right away. When he saw
Mark from the bridge, he flashed a victory smile. Klaycon was also watching
this scene. He walked to his father and said, “Sir, there is something wrong.”

“What?”
Kalan asked carelessly.

“How he
got here? There is no space vessel around.”

“Maybe
he took a taxi.” Neiteo joked.

“We have
the protocol to handle a situation like this.” Kalan said easily.

After
several minutes, eight soldiers ran out of the vessel and surrounded Mark. They
scanned him with different kinds of detectors.

Kalan,
Neiteo and Klaycon were watching it from the bridge.

“Chief,
it is him. The biological reading matched the one we had in record.” A soldier
spoke to his communicator.

“Ding!
Ding! Ding! Ding!” A piercing alarm sounded.

All
soldiers aimed their rifles at Mark, ready to fire.

Mark
stayed still.

“Take
off your clothes slowly.” A soldier shouted.

Mark
slowly removed his jacket and took off the shirt. He was wearing a back
support.

“What is
the thing on your back?” Another soldier yelled.

“It’s a
back support.” Mark said calmly.

“Take it
off, slowly.”

Mark
untied the back support and threw it in front of those soldiers.

One of
the soldiers approached it with a detector in his hand.

“Ding!
Ding! Ding! Ding!” The alarm went off again.

The soldier
checked the back support carefully and said, “We are clear.”

Mark put
on his clothes and boarded the vessel. Those soldiers threw Mark into an
interrogation room. It was a big transparent container sitting in a spacious
compartment. Mark was standing on his feet, waiting patiently.

Several
minutes later, Kalan, Klaycon and Neiteo walked into the compartment leisurely.
They stopped right in front of the container holding Mark.

“Where
is Liutein?” Neiteo asked hastily.

“Neiteo,
we have time on this one. We don’t need so many soldiers around here.” Kalan
said quietly.

“Oh.”
Neiteo knew what Kalan meant. He understood the sensitivity of this issue and
motioned those soldiers to leave.

Kalan
turned to Klaycon and said, “That applies to you as well.”

“Yes,
sir!” Klaycon said politely and backed off.

Kalan
stared at Mark and asked, “Where is Liutein?”

“After I
tell you, you will leave me and my sons alone?” Mark asked calmly.

“Yes, if
you are telling the truth. You and your family will survive.” Kalan said
sincerely.

“How do
I know you will keep your words?”

“I know
Glycan doesn’t have a very good reputation on things like this. I understand
your concern.”

“You
didn’t answer the question.”

“We need
to verify what you got first, so tell me now.” 

“I…”
Mark suddenly dropped on his knees, his body trembling, his hands shaking.

Kalan
and Neiteo watched Mark for several seconds. Then Neiteo quickly opened the
container door, dashed inside and carried Mark out.

Just at
this moment, Klaycon emerged from nowhere and darted to Mark, his uniform
transforming into an armor suit and a dagger popping out of his right fist. He
swung the dagger at Mark and severed both of his arms.

“Aaaaaaaaah.”
Mark screamed in pain.

All of
these happened in a blink. Kalan and Neiteo were still in shock.

Klaycon
picked up Mark’s right arm from the blood pool. He checked the hand carefully
and said, “He is going to kill us all. Check the thump.” He handed Kalan the
arm.

Kalan
took over the arm and checked the thump. There was a very small detonator on
the thump. Klaycon threw the arm to Neiteo and said, “He was faking just to let
you take him out.”

“Sorry,
General Kalan.” Neiteo said, his voice shaking.

Klaycon
grabbed Mark’s hair and asked, “What about him?”

Kalan
looked into Mark’s eyes and said, “You won’t be alone. You sons will join you
shortly.” Then he nodded at Klaycon.

Klaycon
swung the dagger and beheaded Mark. His head rolled over several times and
stopped right in front of Kalan’s feet.

“Bam!”
Kalan crushed the head into bloody pieces.

“If it
was not Klaycon, we are all dead now.” Neiteo said in panic.

Kalan
gave Klaycon an approving smile and said, “You can keep whatever you took from
Dolanz.”

“Thank
you, sir.”

“Find this
Human’s son John and kill him.” Kalan said to Neiteo.

“What
about the other son Jason?” Klaycon asked.

“He is
still alive? I thought he died on planet Weithei.” Kalan said in surprise.

“He is
alive.” Klaycon said confidently.

“Kill
him too.” Kalan said firmly.

“I like
to take care of that.” Klaycon said politely.

“It is
yours.” Kalan said and left.