Dark Universe & Forbidden Love (7 page)

Jason was strolling back and
forth in Glycan’s library. He glanced over at the entrance every few seconds.
He tried to sit down, but he stood up after several seconds. As he was thinking
how to impress Gloria, he heard some noise from the vent he used to get in. He
slowly approached the vent and saw a Human coming out of it.

“Vampire?”
Jason said in surprise.

“Hi,
Jason.” Lucis said tiredly as he stood up.

“And
me.” Erikon was following right behind Lucis.

“So what
are you doing here?” Lucis asked as he wiped away some dust.

“I am
working on the dark energy paper. Now leave!” Jason said firmly.

“Take it
easy, man. We are just curious. You know. I thought you were sneaking into
Glycan’s kitchen.” Erikon said innocently.

“We will
do that some other time. Now leave! I need to work.” Jason said coldly.

“You
know, I always want to see Glycan’s library.” Lucis said.

“Me too.
Me too.” Erikon said excitedly.

Jason
was about to say something, but he heard footsteps coming in the direction of
the library entrance.

“Get in
the vent. Now. Get in.” Jason whispered hastily as he pushed Lucis and Erikon
into the vent. Lucis fought back, but Jason overpowered him and stuffed him
into the vent. Erikon didn’t fight back, but he was slow. Jason kicked his butt
several times.

“Ah,
aaah.” Erikon screamed in pain as he crawled into the vent.

“Quiet.
Quiet.” Jason wheezed.

The door
opened and Gloria walked in. She smiled at Jason and asked, “Just got in?”

“Yea, I
thought I was late.” Jason said nervously as he glanced over at the vent.

“I was
thinking the same thing.” Gloria said

“So
let’s go to see a movie.” Jason said happily.

“Sure.
By the way, congratulation! You did really well in the game.” Gloria said
sincerely.

“You
watched my game?” Jason asked in surprise.

“Of
course. I was…” Gloria paused and they looked at each other in the eyes. Jason
turned his head away as he heard something from the vent.

“Let’s
go.” Jason said and grabbed Gloria’s hand. He felt a warm current rushing
through his body.

Gloria
was surprised, but she didn’t draw back her hand. They looked at each other
nervously.

“Come
on. This is not like you. The one fight with me.” Gloria chuckled.

Jason
pulled Gloria close to him and said, “How about now?”

“That is
more like it.” Gloria said happily.

“Let’s
go.” Jason said. They ran out of the library hand in hand.

The
entertainment zone in the second class species area had a theater the size of a
tennis court. Jason and Gloria took two seats in the middle and sat next to
each other.

“What is
this thing?” Gloria asked as she pointed at the screen at the front.

“It’s
the screen.” Jason said in embarrassment. He knew this theater was decades old
and nobody used it anymore.

“What?”

“Movies
are shown on the screen. That’s how we see it.”

“I never
see a movie this way. This is cool.” Gloria said happily.

“So what
movie you like to see?” Jason asked.

“What do
you like?”

“I like
some of the very old action movies.”

“Pick
one you like.”

Jason
loaded the movie called Matrix. He had seen this movie numerous times. But this
time, with Gloria sitting beside him, he couldn’t focus on the movie any more.
He took this time admiring every detail of her beautiful face and sexy body.
Her eyes, nose, lips, cheeks and chin were perfect on their own and when they
came together, that was the face of an angle. The tight white uniform she was
wearing showed off her long legs and ample breasts. And at last the aroma from
her body was so pure and seducing that Jason almost kissed her.

When the
movie was over, Gloria was lost in her thought.

“Do you
like it?” Jason asked.

“Yes. Do
you think somebody will risk his life to save his friends?” Gloria asked
gently.

“Yes.
Because I will.” Jason said decisively.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Gloria
looked away. She had never had a friend since she could remember things. In her
memory, her family almost had no visitors. During all those lonely years, she
learned to be strong and look strong. Every step in her life was the survival
of loneliness and bully.

“Gloria,
you are alright?” Jason asked caringly.

“I am
fine. You know you were right the other day. I don’t have a friend.” Gloria
said sadly.

“I
thought I was your friend.” Jason said seriously.

“You
want to be my friend?”

“Well,
if I can’t be your boyfriend, I like to be your friend.” Jason said in a joking
voice.

“If you
are my boyfriend, then I will go back to the fact that I don’t have a friend.”
Gloria joked. “I think I can do both. You know.” Jason said like an expertise.

“We will
see.” Gloria said happily.

“You
know, this movie has a sequel. Maybe we can see it next time.”

“Sure.
We will do that.” Gloria said excitedly, but suddenly she lost steam and looked
sad. Jason noticed the dramatic change and said, “What is it? Tell me.”

“I will
go to the selection tomorrow. I can only see you after that, if I make it.”
Gloria said emotionally.

“How can
I get in touch with you?” Jason asked eagerly.

Gloria
removed her family badge from her uniform and gave it to Jason and said, “This
is my family communicator.”

“I will
keep in touch. I will make sure you make it.” Jason said as he held Gloria’s
hand to his chest.

“How?”

“If you
are in trouble, you let me know.”

“It is
on planet Etitaeg.”

“I know
that planet. I will go there and save you.”

“That is
crazy. You will die.”

“I am
crazy but I am not going to die. You are my friend. I will take the risk.”
Jason stopped short of saying girlfriend.

“Please
don’t do that.” Gloria said in a begging voice.

“Am I
your friend?”

“Yes.”

Gloria
knew Jason was serious. It was the first time in her life she heard something
like this. She took off her necklace and gave it to Jason and said, “You keep
this for me. I will be back.”

“Gloria,
don’t hesitate to call me if you need help. I will be there. I promise you.”
Jason said decisively.

Gloria
suddenly felt relieved. It was like someone removed the black gauze that had
been covering her face for years. Now everything was bright and shining.

“I have
to go.” Gloria said sadly.

“I will
keep in touch.” Jason emphasized every word.

“Don’t
get killed in the game.” Gloria joked.

“Remember
you can’t even kill me.” Jason chuckled.

“Actually,
I was easy on you.”

“Oh
really? After you come back, we can try it again.” Jason said in a naughty
voice.

“Come
on, give me some credits.” Gloria punched Jason’s shoulder and left.

Mark got Jason’s message and
spent several days trying to decode the encrypted navigation record which was
protected by three layers of security systems. Mark merely broke the first
layer, but he wasn’t able to crack the second one. It required a Glycan console
having the access to the mainframe of military navigation database. There was
no way he could even get close to a console like that.

Mark
knew the vessel carrying eyeballs made a stop on Eva-1 and at least some
eyeballs were transferred to the Cruiser General Klizan. He believed that
whoever doing this must had been doing it regularly, because nine species had
Hylocan eyeballs disposed of every month. It was possible that the cruiser made
a trip to the mysterious destination every month. Mark decided to find out the
destination in a tradition way: catching a ride along with those Hylcocan
eyeballs.

Hylocan
reserve was one of the planets orbiting the star HD143435 in Corona-Borealis
supercluster. In UWII, Hylocan fought to the last minute and nine species
slaughtered 99.9% of its population. After UWII, the nine species transported
all Hylocan survivals from their mother planet to Hylocan reserve. For the
leftover Hylocans, nine species had all their eyeballs removed and replaced
with electronic ones which could function as eyeballs and tracking devices.
This was also applied to all newborn Hylocan babies. All nine species agreed
that they would transfer those eyeballs to planet Itue to dispose of them every
month.

Mark
looked out of the window as the space vessel was touching down on Hylocan
reserve. Most ground was covered by forests. The trees looked like pines but
had brown trunks and black leaves. Thousands of small buildings scattered here
and there. According to Mark’s research, there were about one million Hylocans
living on Hylocan reserve. Nine species took away everything Hylocan had and
forced them to live in stone age. However, those Hylocans made their lives out
of forests and managed to produce many commodities to sell.

Mark was
wearing a face transformer and looked just like a Glycan. He stepped out of the
vessel, following other passengers to the market next to the landing ground.
Both first and second class species came here to do business with Hylocan. In
the market, various goods ranging from food to animal skins were stacked on the
ground. Mark had no interest in shopping. He walked to the edge of the market
and darted into the forest.

The
trees were stabbing into sky like swords. Layers of branches and leaves stopped
the light from reaching the ground and it was dark like night in the deep
forest. After walking on the smelly and muddy ground for three hours, Mark
reached a huge lake filled with murky red liquid. The surface of the lake was flat
and smooth like a mirror. He was confused, because the facility should be right
in front of him. As he was checking the map, he heard humming sound from above.
Then he looked up and saw a 400 meter long space vessel emerging out of clouds
and descending. The liquid swiftly solidified and the vessel touched down on
the lake.

Glycans
streamed out of the vessel in groups. Then an entrance appeared on the surface
of the lake and all Glycans flowed into the lake. The vessel blasted off into
the sky. Mark stepped on the surface of the lake and ran to the entrance. But
after several steps, he felt the surface was moving. He quickly ran back. When
he just jumped back on the shore, the surface turned back to liquid completely.

“That
was close.” Mark wheezed. He picked up a branch and threw it to the lake. A
stream of murky red liquid formed a huge mouth and swallowed it. Mark let out a
sigh and started to walk along the lake, hoping to find another entrance.

Hours
later he heard something behind his back. He slowly retreated back to the
forest and got his pistol ready. Through his night vision glasses, he saw a
Hylocan treading lightly towards the shore of the lake. Suddenly, the Hylocan
stopped and gazed in Mark’s direction. Mark held his breath and aimed the pistol
at the Hylocan. They were about 10 meters away from each other.

“What
are you waiting for? Go ahead and shoot me. I know you are there.” A soft
female voice struck Mark.

Mark was
shocked. It was dark here and he was hiding behind a tree.

“If you
don’t want to shoot me, what do you want?” The Hylocan asked calmly.

Mark
stepped out slowly with his gun pointing at the Hylocan, his hands sweating.

“You are
not Glycan.” The Hylocan said.

Mark was
wondering how she could know that from this distance. Just before he could say
anything, he felt a hit on his head. Then he slumped on the ground. Another two
Hylocans walked to him and picked him up.

Mark
woke up in pain, his head heavy and spinning. It was a small room with a
porthole on the wall. He could tell he was on a space vessel right now and it
was not a vessel from any second class species. Mark slowly stood up and walked
to the door. Just at this moment, the wall on his left turned into a huge
window. Three Hylocans were standing on the other side, two females and one
male.

“I know
you are thinking why you are here right now.” The short female said.

Mark
looked at her and caught that her eyes were shining like blue diamonds. He
recalled that Hylocans on Hylocan reserve only had yellow electronic eyes. Then
he realised that this female Hylocan must have the mind-reading ability.

“He is
smart.” The male Hylocan said. He had the same eyes like the short female.

“What
are you doing on the Hylocan reserve?” The tall female asked.

“You
couldn’t read that?” Mark asked, trying to keep his brain blank.

“It
won’t work. How long do you think you can keep your brain like that?” The male
Hylocan said easily as he showed Mark his backpack.

Looking
at the backpack, Mark had a flashback in the brain. Even though the flashback
only lasted less than two seconds, the three Hylocans had learned all his plan.
Mark closed his eyes and turned his back to the window.

“That
won’t work either. As long as we can see you, we know what you are thinking.
Right now, you are thinking a wall.” The male Hylocan said.

Mark
rammed fingers into his ears.

The tall
female smiled and her blue eyes started to glow.

“If you
prefer to communicate in this way, we can do that.” She said coldly.

Mark
heard her voice deep in his brain, loud and clear. He gave up and turned around
slowly, facing the Hylocans. The taller female’s eyes turned black to shining
blue.

“See,
now we are both comfortable.” The male Hylocan said happily.

“We hope
you can help us to achieve what we both want.” The tall female said.

“You
want to know where the Hylocan eyeballs were delivered. We want to know that as
well.” The male Hylocan said.

“I am
sure you guys can handle this by yourselves.” Mark responded

“Yes, we
can. Before we met you, that was what we planned. I know you are thinking why
we didn’t kill you.” The tall female said with an evil smile.

“Let me
take a guess here. You want to hire me?” Mark asked ironically. 

“He is
funny.” The male Hylocan said as he looked at the other two Hylocans.

“We
found several tracers in your backpack and we are using one of them to track
the eyeball. You should thank us for doing your job. That is your plan anyway.”
The short female said nicely.

“This
way even if they found the tracer, you don’t need to worry about exposing
yourself.” Mark sneered.

“If you
like to put it this way.” The male Hylocan said coldly.

“What do
you want from me?” Mark asked directly.

“Do what
you plan to do. Follow the tracer and find it.” The short female said easily.

“You
know what, I just had a change of heart. I want to leave.” Mark said firmly.

“You are
thinking we will kill you after. I wouldn’t worry about that for now. Because
if you don’t help us, we will kill you and your sons. If you help us, you will
be just fine.” The tall female said.

Mark
thought for a second and nodded.

“Thank
you for your cooperation. We appreciate it.” The male Hylocan said happily.

“You are
very welcome.” Mark said without any emotion.

“We are
currently following Cruiser General Klizan. It has been sixteen hours. Once it
arrives at the destination, you just need to go to find your tracer. That’s
it.” The tall female said casually.

“OK.”

The
window changed back to a wall. Mark could tell there must be something else going
on. One thing he knew for sure was those Hylocans were up to something big.
Right now they were risking exposing themselves. On the other hand, Mark didn’t
have any plan for himself. But he wasn’t worried about it, because even if he
had one, those Hylocans would know it right away.