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2022-02-11 18:56:21Kalden Deltak’s shiny head leaned over technician Trong Kell's desk. The captain circled his fingers in the air above a tiny device. “Oh, what does this do?” Kalden’s fingers went straight for an even tinier red button in which all the circuits converged.
At the last second, the technician grabbed his wrist. His index finger was grazing the top of the button. “Captain, that is the self-destruct button. It will blow us to bits, and it will take half of the ship with us too.”
“Aha, so this is a bomb!” Tejeda grinned as if he was the smartest being in the universe. “Why do we have this here?”
Trong Kell moved his glare toward Shayla, who was standing a bit further away near the door. Following his gaze, Tejeda understood its meaning. “Don’t worry, Kell. Shayla is on board with everything. Now, answer my question.”
“Well,” the technician mumbled, “it's one of the bombs you have requested for the Omega mission.”
Kalden Deltak smiled, his amber eyes beamed. “Go on! I need to know that you remember all the facts correctly.”
“Yes, sir. The Omega mission is to infiltrate the starbase O11 in the Black Directorate’s territory. The team will put these devices in strategic points for maximum damage. After the extraction of our team, the starbase O11 will explode, and the total casualties will go beyond millions.”
Shayla stepped forward, her face a mask of hatred. “Reason?”
After gulping, Trong Kell started with passion. “Slaves who don’t fight for their freedom don’t deserve to live. Their enslavers even less. This is the motto of the Syndicate of Cosmic Freedom. Starbase O11 is the main hub for the Black Directorate, the most ruthless slave traders in the galaxy.”
The real Kalden’s plan was brought to light. He was keeping it from Shayla since he knew she wouldn't consent to it. Tejeda could read everything on her face. The feeling of betrayal was obvious, and a sickly pallor was now on her cheeks.
Kalden Deltak’s lips widened in a warm smile that creeped out the technician. It wasn’t working at all with that face. The captain’s hand slapped Trong Kell on the shoulder. “Well done! You know more than I thought. Keep it up! In the meantime, dispose of the bombs. Tsk! Let’s keep one just in case we may need it. Oh, and the Omega mission is canceled. I will announce it later.”
The captain turned towards the shelves crammed with all of Kell’s inventions. “I need something to trade at the meeting with the Alpha Pirates and the Universal Consensus. They won’t let me in if I don’t bring something worthwhile. What is this?”
The technician's eyes shone, and even the pimples on his chin shined. “That is one of my best inventions. It is a memory zapper. Simply click the button and speak a few calming words to replace a memory with something else. I got the idea when I accidentally bumped into Harland King and spilled his vials all over him. I reasoned that if I had this, I could wipe his memory and replace it with the picture of someone else colliding with him. But I didn’t manage to make that part work, the memory insertion. And the memory-erasing part works after a few tries, hmmm, more like a thousand.”
“I get it,” said Kalden Deltak. “You would need to tie him up and make him stare at this for several hours. Any kind of hypnosis would work. Some punches in the head would work faster.”
An odd-looking chair was sitting in a corner. The captain smiled. “What is that? Don’t tell me. Is it just a chair?”
“No,” beamed Trong Kell, “this is a time machine. The chair has conduits that harness the power of neutrinos. Their faster-than-light speed can make you travel through time if you are of sub-atomic proportions. I haven’t found a way yet to shrink the system and the pilot to the right scale to make it work.”
Kalden Deltak repeated the question. “So, till then, it is just a chair?”
“Yes." The technician lowered his head.
Tejeda was already bored as hell. He was turning toward Shayla when he saw another thing gathering dust in the opposite corner. It looked like a robot, but parts of it were missing. Mold began to sprout from its joints, and rust covered its entire body.
“What is it?” asked the captain, pointing toward it.
“Oh, that piece of junk? It is a thing we discovered floating through space like the alien we found two days ago.”
The smile Tejeda threw at Shayla was easily readable as ‘we are kindred spirits’. The woman shrugged her shoulders, telling him in that way that she didn’t care. Perceiving that as an agreement, the captain turned to the technician. "What does it do?"
“Well, it is a basic robot without any out-of-the-ordinary functions or features. It has a deal-breaking flaw as it is ranting all the time about people’s emotions and thoughts.”
Trong Kell wanted to tell more, but Tejeda interrupted him. “Power it up. I want to talk with it.”
The technician raised an eyebrow, but he obeyed the command. Within a few minutes, a gleaming new power core glowed yellow from the robot's chest. Its eyes lit up. They were a gleaming purple. Tejeda burst out laughing. “Shayla, look! It has eyes the same color as…”
He put a hand over his mouth, realizing what was about to say. The captain coughed as if he had a breathing problem. “Nevermind that! Let’s see what it can do.”
Tejeda turned toward the robot. “Hello! My name is Kalden Deltak, and I am the captain of this vessel. Who are you?”
The robot tilted its head. Its neck creaked as if it was not well oiled up. A synthetic voice echoed. It was pausing after each word as if it was struggling to pronounce them. “I... am... E...0...0... Nice... to... meet... you! I... am... a... non-corporeal... energy... being... also... known... as... Emotions... Infinity... I... sense great... sorrow... in... you... You... have... lost... something... important... recently... They... were... some... sort... of... thoracic... excrescences... I... think... humans... call... them... b…”
E00 couldn’t finish the last word because Tejeda snatched the power core from its chest.
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The Space Spoon 8. Oculus Grandi
Tejeda thought he would have difficulty figuring out where the meeting between the Universal Consensus and the Alpha Pirates was about to occur. Fortunately, the Syndicate of Cosmic Freedom was in possession not only of the Interstellar Police’s database but those of both the Universal Consensus and the Alpha Pirates.Reading the quantum-zip files, Tejeda scratched his beard that was starting to itch him badly. But Shayla told him that Kalden Deltak would have never shaved it clean. It was sort of a trademark, showing everyone that he had the capability of growing hair. Just not on his head.Shayla was next to him, reading the QZs and leaning forward at the desk. Oh, QZs is the short form for the quantum-zip files. Try to keep up.Carmen was still hung around her neck. Tejeda simply couldn’t ask Shayla to give it back. It looked too good the way it was. The two were gorgeous together.Realizing that he was staring at her chest, Tejeda coughed.
The Space Spoon 9. Universal Consensus
Kalden Deltak was wearing the best uniform he could find. He straightened his back so he would have a more imposing stature on the uncomfortable chair. Raising his hand to check if his hair was neatly arranged, he instead ended up fondling his skull. That was the moment when he realized he should have polished his head for extra shininess. Why didn’t he think of that before now?Because now was way too late for touch-ups. The screen in front of him glitched and then the image of a member of the Universal Consensus appeared. Kalden Deltak clicked his tongue in displeasure. That alien was almost radiating light from his bright baldness. The Nubilae felt utterly defeated from the very start.The screen was barely long enough to be able to show the long egg-shaped head of the member of the Universal Consensus. His ears were large and glued to his head while going down to his chin, where the lobes converged in a single one, left hanging from there.“State
The Space Spoon 10. Welcome to Uthion
SCF1 was heading toward the Universal Consensus coordinates. Uthion, a class H stony planet with a perfect atmosphere for human existence, was their goal. It was mostly desolate, with just a few scattered tiny villages. The majority of Uthionians fled to other worlds as soon as they could. Many individuals would find it difficult to live with the continual danger of corrosive rain above their heads.In the past, nefarious groups from this region of the galaxy collaborated to build a dome in the northern hemisphere of Uthion, which was immune to the planet's weather conditions. The planet's tiny population and corrosive rain made it ideal for shady enterprises, illicit auctions, and trade.Tejeda and Shayla took a shuttle to the planet. After inserting the exact coordinates for the dome, he set the computer AI for automatic descent. The Nubilae turned around to admire Shayla’s outfit. After requisitioning several sheets, Tejeda asked Harland King and his team to b
The Space Spoon 11. Precious Commodity
The iridescent fringe decor with pink uplighting and hypnotic centerpieces was dazzling. Servers with wearable trays around their waists wore metallic and robot-patterned leotards, while multicolored laser lights turned the setting into a cosmic blend of hues.The atmosphere was clearly designed for a party rather than a serious conference. With the use of projection mapping, this majestic dome was transformed into a kaleidoscope of psychedelic colors and a futuristic paradise. It was not just a location for business and profit, but also entertainment and socializing.After everyone was seated, the projections changed, showing now images of the items put for auction. Not all people there were watching the pictures. Instead, many were dancing on some weird hypnotic rhythms that were completely new for Shayla.Her awe for the event was interrupted by Tejeda’s exclamation. “Look! I think you have a competition. She is smoking hot!”As they
The Space Spoon 12. Confusion
Pain is never pleasant, yet it is one of the most important aspects of existence. Without pain, it is impossible to claim one actually lived. Tejeda had the ability to make changes to his body while it was still in the metamorphosis stage. It was too late to make further changes to his physique once the procedure was completed.He once became sick of agony and developed a body with no pain receptors. That was one of the most traumatic moments of his life. Tejeda believed he was invincible, even if he was not. His body was perpetually covered with bruises and sores. Older ones were regularly swapped out for fresh ones.Because of blood loss, the Nubilae squandered that body. He had his hand severed in a struggle, and before he knew it, huff, he was dead on the ground, with too little blood to keep him alive. He promised he would never do it again. Tejeda cursed his decision when the first drop of acid rain reached his flesh.He softly hissed when his left cheek m
The Space Spoon 13. Dancing with an Admiral
Glasses collided with dull, atonal clicks, while the waitresses of different alien species served the drinks. For Shayla, the rest of the people there were mere shadows sitting at distant tables, conversing through muffled murmurs.She took a sip of Tomengaria whiskey, emptying her glass. The drink burned her throat, falling into her belly like a burning ember. After Tejeda left, things had become boring for Shayla. The worst was the constant flirts she had to endure. Why had she agreed to attend the meeting in that red dress?A Globonian approached her table, nodding at her empty glass. "Do you want another one?"The massive man had a T-shirt that barely managed to hide his filth. He didn't seem to be a waiter, more like another man trying his luck with the little woman dressed in red. "No, thanks!""What a pity," he said from across the table, his fetid breath reaching her even so. "I like a woman who can hold her liquor."“And I like a man
The Space Spoon 14. Decisions
“Is it true that you prefer me more as Admiral Vologorn than as Kalden Deltak?" Tejeda asked Shayla as his hand reached deeper under her dress. The tips of his fingers touched her gun holster.The surprised glare and her parted lips made him want to kiss her again, but there was no time for that. He softly whispered in her ear. "When I say ‘duck’, you duck. Then you run, find a cover and stay there."He slowly released the laser pistol from its holster and used his thumb to set it to kill. Tejeda’s now grey eyes were looking in her green ones, as both felt another kind of tension increasing. His left arm released her and moved to the chain around her neck. When he yelled, “Duck!” she let herself fall to her knees and rolled over to the left out of his line of sight.With the gun in his right hand and Carmen in his left, Tejeda remained alone in the middle of the dance floor. He didn’t have to look around the room to see
The Space Spoon 15. L-403
Like a shuttle revving up for takeoff, the dome filled with a loud hum, shaking the table on which Tejeda and Shayla were leaning. Their growing uneasiness was worsened by the steady increase in volume and tone.Shayla pressed her hands over her ears as the continuous noise scraped at her brain. The commotion died down just when she felt she couldn't stand it any longer. She opened her eyes and took her hands away from her ears just in time to hear Uni1 speak."L-403 is now ready for action. We are not a tolerant race in general. But our curiosity for the Nubilae compels us to be lenient this time. We are scientists at heart, and we like knowledge. One of our deepest desires is to capture a Nubilae while he is still alive. I will give you two minutes to consider your surrender. We will even think about letting your companion leave."Shayla wanted to decipher what was beneath the smirk on Admiral Vologorn’s face. He had a plan now for sure, but was that for
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104. Meat Suit Part 2
The door closes after the last man leaves the pub. Tejeda resumes his previous position and finishes his drink. By now, we are both soaking wet, but neither of us seems to care. My reason is the seven beers. I wonder what his is."Apparently, you're not leaving, and we've run out of time," he says as he turns to face me. His purple eyes sparkle. A chill goes down my spine. "These guys aren't going down without a fight. I might have to die to quench their hunger for vengeance. But the crystal I took is far more significant. It must be safeguarded."Tejeda leans forward, his hand reaching over the bar for the knife the bartender uses for the lemons. He sits again in his chair, gripping the handle with both of his hands, the pointy tip toward his stomach. I have seen this stance before in movies when someone performs seppuku.Filling his lungs with air, his chest expands, and he thrusts the knife right into his belly. I cover my mouth with a hand but not my eyes. I need to see what happe
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103. Meat Suit Part 1
A/N: A Halloween special side story, Meat Suit shows the events through the eyes of a normal, human nerd. Enjoy!***Halloween, the greatest night of the year. The time when I can go out with friends and be awkward as usual without getting a stare.I look in the mirror and see the dashing vampire I transform into every time I put on this ancient outfit. With extreme care, I place a black handkerchief in my pocket, covering the hole that reveals the lining. This year, I intended to get a new costume, but the latest game in the R****** E*** franchise and H***** 3 prevented me from doing so. They were released this year, and I had to get them, and then some.Sorry for not disclosing their names, but even in my diary, I avoid needless advertising. And don't make fun of me for keeping a diary in my thirties. Many people keep diaries, but they call them journals to appear more sophisticated and mature.The black costume’s collar is up to my ears, letting everyone see the red embroidered int
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102. Monster Within Part 2
Rayna followed him through dark alleys, avoiding the city's main thoroughfares and heading for the city's outskirts. There weren't many other people around since it was late and freezing. The two veiled shadows of the night were easy to miss. Illuminated figures appeared randomly through the windows of dimly lit houses.He stopped in front of a derelict house. The sculpted archway stood crooked above the entrance, but he went beneath it without a second thought.Rayna stared at the white structure enveloped in moss to make sure it wouldn’t fall on her head. When the Bralxoid disappeared inside, she swallowed hard and followed him.Doctor Iadfoc invited her into a small, dark room with a single goose-neck lamp illuminating the top of a large table filled with glass vials. He gestured toward a threadbare sofa against the wall. He grabbed a simple wooden chair and sat facing her. For once, someone wasn't looking at her with meaningless pity, for which she was grateful.Iadfoc had a scann
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101. Monster Within Part 1
A/N: Monster Within is a side story taking place about a thousand years or more before the action in the novel. Enjoy!***Rayna sat in front of the mirror, removing her makeup. Who would she discover underneath? Foundation applied in triple layers, contact lenses, even a wig to make certain no one would see her change.Skin patches of different complexions stretched across her face like puzzle pieces jammed together into a chaotic pattern. Some parts of the jigsaw had wrinkles, while others were as smooth as a baby’s skin.Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the edge of the mirror. Her heterochromatic eyes were both different colors than before she wore contact lenses. And her hair... Well, the hair looked more like a wig than the one she threw on the floor. Honey-blonde hair tumbled in waves over her right shoulder. Ruby-red hair, spikey like a hedgehog’s, pointed toward the ceiling from the top of her head. Black, curly strands went down to her chin from her left.She was a mo
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100. Sunsetrise Part 4
Time passes differently on Yacleemb. I can’t say it’s the 56 hours days, the peacefulness of the Spreahs, or Lyam’s company. What I do know is that I’ve lost track of time. Every day, he builds things for the village; he’s happy, full of smiles, and I’m drunk with his genuine blissfulness.Unfortunately, I still have memories and can’t help but feel guilty for not contacting our friends. Wanting to know how things are working out for our crew, I stroll through the forest to the shuttle. After it powers up, a small blinking red light appears on the console. A message from E00.“Shayla, I hope you’ve found Tejeda by now. More than two months have passed, and no news from you. In the time you've been gone, things got worse around here.“Since the day you left, Jackeye has been trapped inside his virtual reality. I can’t say if it’s a voluntary decision or not. He cut me off completely.“Cato took a shuttle and left the Space Spoon about a month ago. The Interplanetary Police files show t
- The Space Spoon
99. Sunsetrise Part 3
Shayla Bale's POVOnly Tejeda Hajar is capable of disappearing and leaving me with an ambassador’s corpse. Once again, I had to assume the role of acting captain and evade the Interplanetary Police. We are all renegades once more, as we were before Tejeda found us.The crew needs me to steer the ship in the right direction, but my thoughts are far away, following the faceless Nubilae who left us. I lean against the wall and stare at his empty chair, wishing he will appear there, smiling without giving me any explanation as he always does.“Thinking about him won’t bring him back,” E00’s voice echoes from the ceiling speakers. “If you want him here again, you must go after him.”“Don’t get me wrong, E00, I want to. But it was his choice. He left us. Even if I go after him, he may not come back.”“If there’s anyone who can shake him out of the state he’s in, you’re the one.”“Why must you torment me?” I slump in Tejeda’s chair, rubbing my eyes to forestall crying. The gesture is pointle
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98. Sunsetrise Part 2
Reaching out, Carmen’s hand brushes against mine. Even though I’m mad as hell, a rush of electrical discharges takes over my core. That happened every time she touched me since the moment we’d met. Every fiber of my body, carbon and silica alike, crave to have her again by my side.“I tested the spoon. All the results said the same thing: it’s Nubilae. Who was it?”“My sister, Celia.” For the first time, a vein throbs on Carmen’s forehead. But she regains the glazed look. “She died during Iadfoc’s experiment. Many did. The rest went insane. Only I, you, and Rahul remained true Nubilae. Well, now only you and I since you killed Rahul.”“He had multiple run-ins with me and my crew. If I let him continue, surely one of my men would have died. I had to do something.”“No,” Carmen shouts, showing the anger hidden behind her previous blank expression. “I sent him to see how you are and test you. Well, you failed. No Nubilae should value the life of a lesser being over one of his brethren.”
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97. Sunsetrise Part 1
A/N: Sunsetrise is a short story I've written before even starting the novel. It holds the ending of the first volume and is made up of 4 parts. The first 2 parts are from Tejeda's POV and the last 2 parts from Shayla's. Enjoy!***Tejeda Hajar's POV“Happy birthday, Shayla!” I invite her to sit on the blanket next to me with a pat.It took me about a week to create a perfect replica of Genoria Prime inside Jackeye's world.Once every two thousand years, Genoria Prime, a water planet with just a few stretches of land covered in sand, is perfectly aligned to get the ultimate romantic view. One of its suns sets while the other rises, a phenomenon called sunsetrise.To recreate it from my memories inside Jackeye's virtual world involved a few setbacks. But that isn't important anymore.Shayla takes one of the glasses of red wine and fixes her dark green eyes on me. “Whose body are you wearing now?”“You know bodies are just meat suits for me.” I give a sly smirk, looking her over. “Well,
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96. His Blade
Tejeda's lips moved as though they were not his own. “Who’s she?”Shayla placed a hand on his back, touching for the first time the sludgy skin he had in this form. “Tejeda, stop. He’s dead.”Tejeda lifted his head to look at the sky. He remained like that for a long while before murmuring, “Why did you kill him?”"Sorry! Next time," Shayla murmured, sheathing her scimitar, "I'll kill the other guy after he kills you."“How did you know which one was me?”“Really? Is there another idiot who would risk dying for a spoon?”She observed how he flinched but said nothing. There was something wrong with him. Nonetheless, Shayla didn't believe she had the authority to inquire. In any case, she didn't expect a fair answer from him."Did you bring any DNA for me?" Tejeda asked without turning around. "As you can see, I’m in bad shape."Shayla hurled a vial toward him, and he grabbed it with one of his two remaining tentacles.“This is the last one holding the blood of King Astin. Enjoy!”Tejed
