Ex Nihilo - Abyssal Prophecy

Chapter 23

Loud music played from the stage below the booth. Matthew sipped his drink and watched the people below dancing and grinding the night away. Looking across the table, it was easy to see the aliens were just as intrigued as he was. A’zyren and Genji drank and smiled, and even Dhakan seemed amused.

             “So, why do you have the title, Lord Genji?” Matthew asked.       

“’Lord’ isn’t the correct name. Damn linguistic translation algorithms are in precise in their translations. The linguistic implants we’re using were created by the serptine, and they’re almost flawless, but they tend to be inconsistent in small linguistic words with fluid meanings. Let me try to explain this. The DeVayne serve the will of DeVayne, who engineered our species to be perfect and who rule over us.” Genji took another sip, trying to find the right word. “I am more like a daimyo of the ancient Earth samurai. DeVayne is a living God amongst all who still breathe in the Great Maw, and he leads my people in a war like Shogun led the ancient samurai of your people.”

            “Wow, you seem to know a lot about Earth’s history. I don’t think anyone but you and I on this ship even know that history.  Why would a perfect being like you learn ancient human history?”

            “Well, I do share the more potent bits of human DNA, as you can see by my appearance. DeVayne himself was once a simple human before rising to perfection. Warriors must always study other great warriors in preparation for war.” Genji took a drink.

            “Perfect beings don’t continue to evolve, Lord Genji, and your so-called species has changed much in my experience,” Dhakan argued.

            A’zyren preferred to stay quiet, remembering Magnus’s warning to conceal her people’s identity. The effects of the alcohol were beginning to course through her body. There was too much at stake to risk a slip of the tongue. Leaning back, she watched the group.

            “Dhakan, your species was once the greatest creators of technology in the universe. Your people created many of the technologies you claim are so advanced, ” Matthew asked.

            “Astute observation, young Matthew.” Dhakan hissed in delight. “Dark ages are unfortunately a part of existence. Are you familiar with the collapse of the Roman Empire on your Earth?”

            “Of course”    

            Dhakan’s eyes widen and his lips curled in a smile. “Have you read any of the works of the great Kulakhan?”

            “I believe I have one of his writings in my room.” Matthew searched his memories “Ah, yes. Kulakhan was the founder and first Consul of the great Serpentine Republic. His pivotal work Uroboros was a monumental and potent philosophy of the repeating nature of existence..”

            “You possess a copy of the Uroboros?” Dhakan’s eyes widened.

            “Yeah it’s in my quarters, but I have to be honest I couldn’t write it in the original Serpentine. I can’t read Serpentine let alone write it. You’re more than welcome to it.” Matthew offered. “I can always make another from our records in our data stores.”

            “My people and I thank you.”Dhakan bowed his head in respect. “When the planets were destroyed during the Great War, all of the cumulative knowledge of the species in the universe was lost.”

            “How is it you know so much about Earth and my people?” Matthew asked.

            Genji leaned forward with a smile.

            “The great DeVayne keeps a great library of his histories. He was born on Earth before journeying into the stars to create my race.”         

“Your God is great, and my people have thanked Him. Repeatedly,” Dhakan stated.

            “Well, I’ll drink to that.” Genji laughed and took another drink.

            A’zyren was the first to see Magnus Void moving through the crowd. She waved at him, trying to catch his attention. He moved through the crowd with patience. He didn’t force his way to the booth and he sat down next to Matthew.

            “Well, it looks like you guys found all of the fun on this ship before I did,” he stated.

            “How was your meeting with the Captain?” A’zyren asked.

            “Excellent.” Magnus stood up for a second to snatch a drink from the tray of a passing wench. He took a loud gulp. “Ah, that’s refreshing, but not quite as good as the drink Captain Soloman shared with me.” He smiled at his crew. “We’ve agreed, and we’re going to join forces to head to the outpost.”

            “You’re going to the outpost, too?” Matthew asked.

            “Of course. We were headed there ourselves when we stumbled across the attack on the Alcatraz. So, drink up, crew, you should probably get to bed. If Vulcan has that FTL drive up and running, tomorrow is going to be full of excitement.” Magnus gave his crew a wink.

            “Where are we to sleep? I didn’t get my quarters on the officer level,” Genji said.

            “Lady Nemesis told me to go get quarters assigned by one of her people at the bar,” A’zyren said.

            “Come on. Let’s leave Lord Void with Matthew.” Dhakan motioned to his crewmates to follow.

Matthew watched the group exit the booth.  It was obvious that A’zyren was drunk. She wobbled and almost fell into Genji, who was also feeling the effects. Matthew watched them stagger off before turning to Magnus Void.

            He knew there was something up with Magnus and his crew, and it was a puzzle he couldn’t resist trying to solve. Picking up his drink, he decided to remain silent. He would let his companion tip his hand.

            “So, Matthew, it looks like I get some alone time to get to know you.” Magnus smiled.

            “I am not that interesting,” Matthew claimed.

            “I doubt that. You seem quite different from your father or mother. They possess a certain ruthless decisiveness that I don’t sense in you.”

            “My family is complicated,” Matthew insisted.         Despite the fact that Magnus’s pure black eyes revealed nothing, his body language was filled with pain and trauma.

            “I say we toast to our fathers,” Magnus insisted. “They’ve made us the men we are today. We are better men than either of them because of it.”

Matthew clanged his metal cup off Magnus’s and took a long drink.  Shaking his head, he fought off the bitter memories of his youth. .

“Can I tell you a secret?” Magnus leaned in and placed on hand on Matthew’s shoulder, feeling the pure energy coursing through him. It had been a long time since he tasted something so pure and light. He couldn’t help but smile from the sensation of it.

“Of course.”

“You can’t tell anyone. Not your sisters or brothers, and certainly not your father.” Magnus knew this boy would take the bait just to have something over his father.

“I swear I won’t tell anyone,” Matthew whispered.

“Swear on your God,” Magnus demanded.

“I swear before God I will not reveal anything you tell me,” Matthew vowed. With a sip, Magnus allowed the tension to build between them. He sighed as if trying to decide whether he trusted Matthew enough to tell him the secret.

“You’re the reason my crew and I are here. We’ve been searching for you for a very long time. You are the key to everything we hope to accomplish with our mission.” Magnus watched the boy's eyes light up. He knew the feelings of being wanted and needed were overpowering.

“What do I open?” Matthew asked.

“On the outpost, there is a genetic lock only your DNA can open. Before the stars fell, the Ancients had reached such levels of knowledge that there was only one question left. They poured everything into answering what lies beyond death. They began a secret project dubbed Oracle. It was a predictive artificial intelligence designed to see the future. They believed only the vastness of history could reveal the divine that lay past the veil of death. You were that prediction.”

“There is no way that could be true,” Matthew scoffed.

“I don’t need you to believe me now, but I need you to come to the outpost when we go. I will lead you to the lock that only you can open. From there, you’ll have a choice. To either embrace a great and terrible destiny or to walk away. The choice will be yours.”

“My father would never bring me on a mission,” Matthew laughed.

“Your father will if I insist upon it, and I do insist, Matthew. Whatever you unlock is a secret lost in the abyss. Only you can pluck it out, but whether you dare to do so or not remains to be seen. For my part, I will ensure you at least have the choice.” Magnus smiled. There was little doubt in his mind that Matthew would take the bait, and that brought him one step closer to his ultimate goal.