In A Universe Without Stars 1: Skyeater (43 page)

Noata
glances at Wilker.

“It’s
sad, the Astrons have perfected their process while we are left with this
mess,” the Overseer says. It’s weird, he doesn’t show any hint of emotion as
he
rest his hand on the angel.

“I
guess you’re not gods after all. You’re just like us,” Wilker says.

“I
have touched the face of god, the face of the sky, only to learn that god was
not there. There was no god or gods, only the stars themselves, resting
eternally in their senseless bewilderment,” the Overseer states.

There
is a ding. The overseer steps back.

“We
are not gods, we are mortal like the rest of humanity. How can you blames us
for attempting to be something more?” the Overseer asks.

The
platform the angels lies upon moves. The legs snap together, the tops of the Y
snaps into a T shape. The Overseer turns to Noata and Wilker.

“Don’t
you have a species to save? We designed this ship to move on its own accord.
It’s going to launch soon.”

“Shit!”
Wilker screams as he runs out. They have an important mission to do.

“What
do you gain by helping us?” Noata asks.

“I’m
not
helping
you. We are all not as loyal to Leif as the bottom feeders.
My loyalty falls to anyone who can save us from the Three.” The Overseer stares
into the Angel’s eyes.

“The
three what?”

“This
ship is a fine beast. I hope you’re up for the challenge.”

“Noata!
For fuck sakes!”
Wilkers
yells echoes through the
door. Noata for the door. Looking back he sees the Overseer disappointed face
staring toward the ones who failed to become gods.

Wilker
and Noata run into the cockpit of the Starkiller. It’s a small curvilinear
room. Hundreds of buttons and levers are on the walls besides them with a
single seat in front of them. There are no windows or glass, just a
cream-colored blank round wall in front of them.

“Finally,”
Noata mutters as he catches his breath. “We can control the ship from here, we
could also control it from the bridge but here is fine.”

“I’m
surprised the Eliite don’t have us strung up by our ankles by now seeing how
you decided to lollygag your way over here and enjoyed a nice slow chat with
the enemy. Now stop bloody talking and pilot the god-damn ship,” Wilker says.

Noata
sneers at him but walks forward anyways.

Why
does he want him to pilot it? Maybe Wilker doesn’t know how. Noata thought it
was going to be easier, but everything looks so complex. But as Noata approaches
it, he starts to glow, the buttons and levers start to make sense.

“It’s
weird,” Noata says.

His
glow expands and engulfs the entire cockpit. Wilker just stands back and
smirks.

“It’s
like I’ve been here before”

He
sits in the seat, the room comes alive, the cockpit beeps and
boops
as the buttons and levers light up.

“That’s
because you’re like me, you have the power to understand. You can pilot this
and so can I, I just rather not get my hands dirty,” Wilker states.

“I
can control it, I know everything, the controls, the engines, and how and why
they work.”

The
floors and seat under Noata and Wilker descends into nothingness, as they
float, the door disappears. The room glows white. A display pops up around
Noata, it curves in a 180 degree arc around him, controls project directly in
front of him.

The
display shows what’s in front of the ship. The bay doors open. Wilker floats
behind him. An information display appears in front of him. Noata moves his
hands out, the ships movement controls projects into his hands as a touchable
light.

He
is one with the ship.

He
thrust his hands forward.

And
the Starkiller rockets out of the bay.

---

“A
game?” Cole asks.

Cole
just stares at Julio. How is Leif controlling him? Is Jahum controlling him the
same way?

“You
start to fancy such things when you’ve seen everything. Do you know why this
ship is called the Skyeater?”

Cole
doesn’t answer, he doesn’t want to do anything anymore.

“It’s
because we absorb planets atmospheres and use it as our own.” Leif walks back
to his throne and sits on it. He leans back leisurely like a bored king
watching a boring game.

“Your
friend here doesn’t have a single memory, he’s mine to control. If you are able
to kill your friend in the next…” Leif glances down on his empty city.

“Five
minutes, I will not completely desolate your planet and your love.” Thora lies
as still as a rabbit on the floor.

Can
Cole do it?

Unlike
Cole’s past, Julio’s wasn’t completely clouded, Leif knows he and Cole had an intimate
connection. A connection that made Cole who he is today. So he’s going to use
it.

Many
of the thousands of television and display screens on the Skyeater light up.
Almost every Serephin from adults to kids to street walkers and even the
garbage men watch the event of the lifetime on their respective screen. It’s
the show of the hour, Cole vs the Numenwolfe.

The
screens show various angles of Cole, Julio and Leif, they can pick and choose
the best angle to capture the best view of the action. It’s just like a game
show, they watch for Cole’s impossible odds and even the betting kind of man
can make a bet or two against Leif.

“So
what’s it going to be?” Julio says. He sounds exactly the same, he has the
same
fucking smirk he always has.

But
it can’t be?

Julio
is dead.

It’s
just a clone.

He
can’t take this, he doesn’t know anymore what’s real and what’s not, who is
telling the truth or not. If that really is Julio or not. Yet despite all that.
He knows this Julio is a fake, as real as a fake can be.

Julio
is dead.

Erin,
Arnold, and his mother are all dead. Even if Leif is a god he doesn’t have the
power to bring back a conscious mind from the grave.

That
isn’t Julio, it’s a shell.

A
lie.

Cole
clutches his blue fist.

“That’s
if you can stay in this physical world long enough, do we have an agreement?”
Leif continues. Cole’s veins pop out of his vascular translucent hands.

He’s
angry,
how dare Leif do this to him?
Take his dearest of friends, the
friend who propped him up when he was down, propelled him forward and deface
his fucking body, spitting on his fucking image.

He’s
going to pay for this.

And
so will Jahum.

He’s
going to kill them and this imposter.

“Deal,”
Cole says through his baby blue teeth. Cole explodes forward in a burst of energy
in front of him.

Shit
.

Julio
disappears and appears in front of him. Julio swings his fist straight into his
crystal jaw.

Cole
staggers.

Cole
forgot his situation, his little burst cost him to much energy, energy he isn’t
going to get back. The hit from Julio felt like he hit a part of him off that
he’s never going to get back.

He
has to end this fast. Cole strikes back.

Clink!
He’s stopped by Julio’s shield, Julio smiles and strikes again. Cole flies
back, slightly more translucent than before.

---

In
the
Starkiller’s
cockpit, Noata finally makes it to
the middle of the whale of the mother ship.

“Do
you think were close enough?”

“Just
hit the damn button, mister one with the ship,” Wilker says. Noata push a
button on the light console.

Everywhere
on the Skyeater, in cages, in pet houses, herding farms, in zoos, humans, one
by one, disappear in a flash of light. A little girl in an exhibit watches as
her mom disappear in a flash, before she can utter a scream, she disappears
next. In the same enclosure on a hill, Bermea watches as the two disappear.
Kelly lies asleep on his shoulder. Before Bermea can react he disappears in a
poof
and before Kelly’s head hits the ground, she disappears as well.

---

Wilker
floats toward Noata in the cockpit, the controls go translucent as he passes
through.

“Noata!
We need to hurry. I intercepted a transmission saying the Eliite will destroy
Earth in under three minutes. It’s now or never.”

Noata
moves his hand, a part of the control panel pops in front of each. He can
mentally control each piece. A counter is on it. It numbers shoot up, it passes
one million, then only a few seconds later two million.

“I
need just a little more time!”

---

Julio
flies toward Cole, they go hit for hit. Cole swings and Julio blocks it with
his force field and hits back.

Hard.

Julio
does this again and again. Cole gets angry, flustered. Julio fights with no
human instinct or caution to hold him back. Each time Cole is hit a piece of
him disappears.

Cole
comes for Julio, angry that he’s losing, pissed that nothing ever goes his way.
Mad, that he was lied too, and bitter that he doesn’t know what is real or not.

Julio
disappears. Cole stops, he can’t find him.

“Cole,
it’s going to be okay,” Julio’s voice says in a familiar tone. Cole’s guard
slips. A foot slams into Cole’s face and flings him back. He skids on the floor
and catches himself.

“Fuck!”

Cole’s
jaw clinches, his mouth starts to snarl. Julio is toying with him.

This
is bullshit.

Fuck
him and this world.
Why?
Why can they fuck with him? Why do they have
that right? What gives them that power? Leif doesn’t have a right to his
friend.

Nobody
does.

Cole
swings out his hands. He winces.
Come on!
He can do it.

He
focuses all his power into his hand. Two of his spheres spark to life.
Instantly, his skin turns to glass, like a light blue panel of glass against
the sky.

He
used too much energy but with this it should be enough. Cole looks at Leif, he
looks disinterested.

He
hurls one of his spheres at Julio. His force field blocks it. Cole moves fast,
he leaps in front of him and swings at his head. Another force field pops up
and encases his arm.

“What!”
Cole mutters. Julio kicks him hard. Cole flies back without a portion of his
right arm.

---

A
countdown timer hits just under one minute on displays around the Skyeater.
Serephins cheer and holler.  It’s the most fun they’ve had in a while.

---

“Activate
it!” Wilker yells at Noata. Noata looks at a button on the panel in the
Starkillers
cockpit.

“NO!
We need more time!” Noata pleads. The ticker passes twenty-three million.

“There
will be no Earth to go back to. Now hit the fucking button!”

---

Cole
slowly gets to his feet, he looks at his arm. He’s so far gone he’s not feeling
any pain. There is no blood coming from his stump.  He’s starting to blend
in with the sky, he’s just a ghost fighting against an unjust god.

“Looks
like your night sky is empty Cole,” Leif mutters.

A
breeze can blow Cole away. Cole looks at his hand.

“You’re
wrong,” Cole says. Even though he knows he’s not. Cole looks at Julio, who
stands like his father did all those years ago. Like the very person who
created the head case he is right now. He’s not sure if what he is about to say
is true, but he wants it to be true.

Even
if what he wants was constructed by Jahum. Even if it was all a lie. He wants
to fight for himself
til
the end, at least once. To
deny them the satisfaction.

Fuck
Leif and fuck the gods.
He’s going to go down kicking.

“As
long as the ones I love, live, I will always have a shining star in my night.”
He looks at Thora, she awake now, fully aware, she stares back at him with her
blood shot eyes.

He
has to save them.

“I’m
sorry, Julio, Thora.” Even if it kills him, for once, he knows what to do, how
to make his death worth it.