Beyond Light

Colossus Detected.

What was it now? John left the lab and headed to the bridge, sighing stress out of his lungs as if they didn’t have enough between hands...

Incoming signals? Damn. He could swear that the only beings in that system with spaceflight capabilities were them and that supergiant ship.

But there were some things he still was insecure about. Was Goliath a single entity, controlled by some kind of AI? Or was it a colossal mobile base driven by those insectoids who boarded the Eternity of Return? Both options were valid.

The fact that those bugs weren’t inside the underground structures on Vita Nova made John wonder. Were those complexes created by the same who made the arachnid-eyed ship? They had taken many survivors down there and transformed them into those beasts, whose purpose they still could not understand.

Or maybe not. With Yuri’s team revealing that the first vessels that attacked the Eternity of Return weren’t allied with the giant —and were, in fact, fleeing from it— anything was possible at that point. Maybe there were more teams and sides than they were aware of.

John reached the lonely bridge and crossed the beige, hexagonal lobby to get into the dark cockpit of blue holograms and screens. Mike and Xi had their seats turned back to face Jeffrey, who was focused on his terminals.

“John, here you are,” said Mike. “I guess it wasn’t as good as some vacation on Titan down there.”

“You heard it all,” responded John. “You must be aware of those crewmen we found too. Goddamn bastards… but at least we know more now.”

“Seems like we got ourselves in a good one,” Mike squeezed his lips. “Anyway, we wanted you here for something. Oh, hello, Yuri.”

The Russian soldier entered behind John, launching visor fingers at everyone inside. “Greetings. How’s it going up here?”

“Same as always,” said Mike. “tou think you know something, and then something else appears and brings your theories down. Welcome to the unknown.”

John had forgotten why he wanted Yuri on the bridge. Must have been something minimal. He moved to Jeffrey’s and put his black gauntlet on his shoulder. “How’s it going, Lieutenant?”

“Ah, Commander, I almost forgot you were here,” the black, bald man responded without stopping working on his computers. “Listen up, we’re catching signals coming from about 330,000 kilometers from us, on the direction to Vita Nova. I’m still trying to decipher them. They don’t match with anything that—”

“...Ah, there you are, flowers of the next spring,” a grave voice rumbled through the speakers. The same voice that sounded on the lab with the lobotomized humans...

“What is happening,?” asked Xi.

“I-I don’t know! They must have violated our channels!” complained Jeffrey. His holoscreens could not stop popping up error messages.

“It's that bastard," cursed John. "LIBRA? Are our stealth systems operating?”

“Operating at optimal conditions, Commander.”

“It is curious,” the grave voice continued. “You are a contradiction. You come to me, inquisitive and dareful for committing to your cosmical destiny, yet once the doors stand on you, running away is your answer.”

“Flight Lieutenant?” John murmured. “Please connect us to the call.”

Jeffrey pressed a series of commands on his terminal. The dual-channel activated.

“What are you?” asked John. “Answer me this time, you monster. What do you want from us? What did you do with the Eternity of Return and his crew?”

“...I am salvation. I shall bring redefinition and ascension to your lesser species, and all of those in need of redemption. Join us now. Fighting is futile.”

John’s veins flushed boiling blood. “I won’t ask again. What are you doing with the crew of the Eternity of Return? Where is the rest of our people?!”

“A destiny of evolution awaits for you. They are to become part of the greatest plan. And we are helping them to achieve their next form. Everything shall be united as one. And I am an oath for a union. Pledge to us.”

“Hey you f*****g bastard,” Mike raised his voice. “we are going to kick your giant metallic ass pretty soon. Mark our words!”

“Idi nahui, suka!” barked Yuri. John launched both gestures to keep quiet.

Doctor Winslow’s Goliath didn’t wait to respond. “Useless menaces for the ones blinded by ignorance and arrogant inferiority. You are curious and impressive. You managed to beat a trial. But you have no control here. Forget do not that if you are still alive in your menial form is because you have been allowed to. Soon, you shall ascend because we so desire.”

“Commander,” spoke Xi. “I detect something in our area. It’s... immense.”

“...Fighting is futile. Join us now.”

“Go to hell,” yelled John. “Jeffrey put off that crap.”

“Aye aye,” the Communications Officer disconnected them from the call, regaining control of his station.

John immediately moved to Xi’s position. They weren't going to make that machine spit out anything. “What are you catching, Colonel? Is it that bastard?”

“I am detecting an artificial object near us at a distance of 220’000 kilometers,” everyone looked at him with pulsing anxiety. “Approximate form: cylindrical. Approximate diameter..." he made a small pause. "100.8 kilometers.”

“Godfuckingdamnit,” cursed John. “It’s the same size as that monster! Connect us to the cameras. Give us a clear view.”

“On work,” Xi nodded and typed on his layout as fast as if he could. The telescopic cameras focused, and the image covered the entire screen.

“Oh my fricking chocolate god,” said Mike. “It’s that son of a b***h!”

Goliath appeared on the screen, just as John remembered it: a dark grey, hexangular body with a long sunk part on its front face that possessed eight red lights: the smaller four at the bottom, and the bigger four above like an inverted V, giving them the aspect of arachnid eyes.

It had a smaller platform above, filled with thousands of bays, and another one below, where three even smaller sections possessed three red lights on them.

Damn it. 100 kilometers was more than double the size of New Belfast! If the ship landed on Titan, it would engulf the whole horizon, and probably stick out to outer space! In what was thinking whoever created that monster when they did so? It was even more clear now why the Eternity of Return didn’t stand a chance.

Despite the imminent danger, John felt a lucky flush. They had what the Eternity of Return didn’t: the possibility to escape, and even to hide if they got out of sight of that monster.

“It is approaching our position, Commander,” informed Xi Liang.

“John?” asked Mike, frowning and showing uncomfortable looks. “What do we do?”

“...Get the hell outta here,” responded John.

“You said it,” Mike immediately turned around and took manual control of the Beyond Light.

“Make us reach full speed,” John raised his voice. “Get us outta sight of that bastard. LIBRA, inform everyone that we are under attack. Deactivate all stealth systems and put our shields on work.”

“Aye aye, Commander,” responded the AI.

“Accelerating!” informed Mike. “We are leaving!”

“Xi,” continued John. “Try to identify something we can use to get away and confuse that monster. Get our guns ready.”

“Aye aye, Commander. The next object ahead is the second asteroid belt. It can offer us some cover.”

“You’ve heard him, Mike. Get us there. Yuri, assist Xi at the Gunnery Station. The room next to us. Now!”

“Da! On my way, Commander. I won’t miss!” the PFSR soldier left the cockpit.

John felt adrenaline beginning to rush through his body. More violence was about to come, only that this time at spaceship scale. The battle was not over, and now, the skills of those aboard and in control of the Beyond Light were going to be tested in a life and death race.