February 20th, 2024
Quentin
“Are you sure you’re up to it? You almost died a few days ago, and I don’t want a repeat of that day,” I said as I looked at her. She was probably ten pounds lighter after the ordeal and looked worse for wear. She’d recover, but at the moment, she should sit this one out.
She shot me a smirk and said, “Quentin, I know more about the Qarri than anyone else here. I know how their technology works and have already gone through the building. Besides, I believe it’s time to have a chat with a certain computer.” She tipped her cowboy hat before jumping out of the ship.
I shook my head in amusement. “I’m glad to see that she has her confidence back,” I said before following her.
We walked up to the lab doors and walked in. Since we already knew some of the layout, we walked back to the room where Scarlett injected herself in vain hope to regain her humanity. Since we knew what we were doing, it was less gut churning. All the bodies lying on the ground were still disturbing to look at, but there was a layer of numbness since I already walked through here.
Before we entered the room, I could hear a reptilian voice say, “Quentin Alexander Smith. You know, you were actually our first choice for the mutation experiment.” I spun around to see a floating monitor displaying a picture of me when I was ten. I gasped as a sense of dread came over me. My entire life, they knew who I was. I would’ve ended up like Scarlett if something went differently.
“You’re joking, right?” Scarlett said with a scowl as she looked at the screen. “I was just an unlucky girl that you randomly kidnapped since you had the time to do it.”
“On the contrary, my dear Scarlett, it’s because he had potential. To become the Second Alexander,” the monitor said before displaying a picture of Alexander the Great. “The mutation experiment would’ve been to make sure he wouldn’t return home. However, we didn’t want to mess him up, so we looked for a less valuable test subject.”
“So you went for a millionaire’s daughter? I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure she’s valuable,” I replied as I crossed my arms and tapped my foot. “Not that I’m asking you to do it, but wouldn’t homeless people make more disposable test subjects.”
“Who do you think we experimented on the most?” the monitor replied before showing a massive list of names. I looked on in horror as every one of those names had skull and crossbones next to them. “Scarlett was the final product of the test. We knew she was valuable to the humans, so we didn’t want any risk of messing up. We were going to abduct you next, but the media went on a frenzy about her disappearance. Our operatives tried their best to suppress the story, but the story of her disappearance is still well-known. It pushed back our plans enough that another species abducted you and tossed you into Drag and Ditch.”
Scarlett looked at the monitor and scratched her chin. “Why didn’t you abduct him from the arena if you wanted him so badly? And why weren’t there any armies chasing us this entire time?” she asked as there were a lot of holes in his story. For all I knew, he could be lying. However, I wanted to keep my mind open in case he said anything important.
The monitor switched to a screen showing four different emblems. The first one had an atom symbol on it, the second a crown, the third a sword, and the fourth a chain. “There are four factions within the Qarri Nation. My faction, the Scientists, are the weakest of the four. For all we do, we’re given table scraps. We attempted to ally with the Slavers, but they were already undermining the military and didn’t want to make weak allies,” he explained.
“Despite us controlling the jump drive network, we’re treated as worthless. I was the one who wanted to bring you on board, but the other factions, especially the Slavers, disagreed. You see, us Scientists are not as racist as the other groups. The reason we made mutants was to obscure the origin species of our creations. Our attempts to ally the Slavers led to them infiltrating the organization, taking over the section that housed Scarlett.”
Scarlett looked away and said, “It sounds like a lie. You have insulted humanity countless times. Why should I trust you?”
The monitor showed a shrugging Qarri. “You got me there. Not even the other factions trust me. The massacre here is the result. The Military faction stole all the guards away before remotely releasing all our test subjects. Since there were only scientists left in the building, it was inevitable that we would all be slaughtered. At that point, I had locked myself in the computer core. I knew there was only one way to survive. I uploaded myself into the computer and used my newfound power to take back control of the weapon systems and kill all the escapees. However, the lab was already lost. I attempted to contact the other members of the Scientist faction, but communications were severed. They intended for everyone on this planet to die. But I know they failed. There are isolated pockets of civilization on this planet, all eking out a meager existence.”
“Nice story, but we need to get a move on. We need to collect some plasma capsules and fuel before we head off,” I said before trying to walk off. The monitor, however, got in front of me and displayed a stop sign.
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“I wasn’t done talking,” he said before switching the screen to a map of a new sector of the galaxy. “I know you probably want to go back home. Between the Qarri Nation and other horrible countries, you want Earth to be able to develop itself in peace.”
“Bingo!” I shouted back as I shot finger guns. “It’s time that we bring an actual democracy to space. And I know everyone will say that it’s not a true democracy, but my home is more democratic the fascist nightmare that the Qarri created.”
“While I find the concept of letting imbeciles vote horrific, it must be better than the Qarri Nation. If I could help humanity advance quickly, perhaps we’ll make a nation powerful enough to defeat the Qarri Nation for good,” the monitor said as it showed a human fist shattering the crown emblem. “But it won’t be easy. In order to make it happen, I’ll have to create several crises in order to disorient the Qarri. Perhaps I need to bring forward the next Galactic Static Storm up by another hundred years.”
“Is it like a galaxywide EMP or something along those lines?” I asked as I remember reading about similar things happening in science fiction stories. Which, at this point, should be placed in the nonfiction section of libraries.
“Something like that. During a GSS, every FTL device fails to operate. Hyperlanes go inactive while jump drives completely fail to fire. All interstellar communication is set back to the speed of light as the galaxy enters a new Dark Age,” the monitor said, making me reconsider doing that. It didn’t seem worth it to destroy civilization just to stop a horrible nation. He, however, faced me and said, “Drastic, but it must be done. Already, the Crown faction is planning to launch their Galactic Purification Campaign. Once finished, there will only be Qarri left. To create an empire to last a million years. It’s complete insanity! But the Emperor wants it, so he gets it. The other members of the Scientist faction are too committed to their jobs to notice anything wrong. That’s why we need each other’s help.”
Scarlett and I looked at each other. “I don’t think I can handle the weight of the galaxy on my shoulders,” I said as I turned to face the monitor.
“I won’t put it on you. Instead, what you’re going to do is put me in a position where I can do the rest of the plan. While I concede that I’ll never get you as a general, Second Alexander, the least you could do is help me stop the other Qarri from committing the worst atrocity in galactic history,” he said. “The Fifth Great Qarri Civil War must be fought, or life as we know it will be extinguished. Will you help me?”
I looked at Scarlett and asked, “Are you willing to side with a Qarri to save humanity? Are you willing to side with one of those who stole your humanity?”
She looked at the monitor and sighed. “I need to forgive everyone, and it’s time for me to move on from hating all Qarri.” She opened her eyes and said, “I will help you. When the choice is between an old enemy you know and the End of Life, there is no choice. I must side with you even if I have my reservations.”
I nodded at her before facing the machine. “To be honest, I was going to help you earlier, I just wanted to hear Scarlett to see if I could trust you,” I said as I smirked. “You could be lying, but it’s a risk we must take.”
The monitor showed a picture of someone cheering. “Thank you. Now then, let’s change your plans. We’re still going to your sector of the galaxy, but we’ll use a jump drive before placing a jammer on one of the planets. It’ll prevent anyone from using jump drives or gateways. That’ll allow me to set up a base before summoning all of the Scientists in the region. From that point, we’ll alert all planets of the positions of Qarri infiltrators from other factions. That base will then be vacated as we’ll take the several decades long journey to a sector that’ll allow us to use jump drives. From that point, I’ll summon all Scientists to one of the core sectors before unleashing the GSS. That should allow us to get the upper hand to win the Fifth Great Qarri Civil War.”
“Sounds like a great plan,” I replied as everything made sense. It was kind of a Deus ex Machina for him to make this plan, but I was willing to accept all the help I could get.
“Thank you,” he said before displaying a laboratory map. “Now then, I’ll activate the hanger and bring out a Supremacy Class Cruiser. It’ll have enough space for you to load your spaceship as well as anything else you’ll need. From now on, remember this. The masquerade will be shattered. Humans will know about the existence of aliens and the Qarri. Nothing will ever be the same again.” With the talking out of the way, we parted. Scarlett and I walked back to our spaceship as the ground rumbled.
Once we were outside of the facility, Scarlett asked, “Do you trust him?”
I shook my head. “Not really. I was hoping you could tell me about him considering that he seems to know you.”
“He was probably an unimportant scientist who saw me once. I don’t remember his voice at all,” she said as we reached our ship. “Which may work to our advantage. He played no great role in our lives, so he doesn’t really have too much of a stake in our futures. However, there is always the possibility that he’s lying and is truly planning to trap us. That cannot be discounted.”
We entered the ship to see everyone staring at us. Harry looked at Scarlett and said, “Of all people, I never expected someone like you to make an alliance with a Qarri. We got that he’s against the rest of his kind, but why do we need to side with them?”
I glared at him and answered, “We need to get out of this sector without getting killed. He has a jump drive and a plan. If needs be, we can easily escape them while they’re distracted. The gateway is almost certainly a death sentence. And that’s not even getting into deactivating it. We don’t have the means for it, but our temporary ally does. It’s an uneasy alliance, but it’s a better shot at getting home than anything else.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing. The line between friend and foe is razor thin. I’ve seen many people act friendly one second only to attempt to kill me the next,” Harry said as he looked at Gruma. “And if they so much as lay a finger on my sweetheart, I swore to whatever divine entities that may exist, there won’t be enough of you left to bury.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already got a contingency plan in case they backstab us,” I said as I looked at Mr. Black. Having a stealth expert was ideal for my plans. Even if he didn’t come aboard back at the primitive planet, I would’ve searched for one anyways. “We won’t have a repeat of Malgorth’s death.”
As I said that, a massive spaceship flew overhead. Taking the cue, Harry glared at me before flying the ship into the loading bay of the bigger ship. Whatever lied ahead, we needed to be ready.