Arc 2 - Chapter 1 : S.O

The stars, that were peppered across the eternal night sky, flickered. They were unmoved by the tears of a man who had just lost his mother. They shined even though the blood of the powerless majority nourished the soil. They stood firm even though their creator burnt into ash, reverting into the essence of the universe. They watched as a man with nothing, but the ghost of his father and his friends dared to dream for a life more than simple menial tasks. They were the only witnesses to a man who realized too late that his reach was beyond his grasp. That he could not catch a man whose heart was limitless. A man touched by something ethereal, something divine, something that a bullet could not touch. He stood by a window and stared into the intimate. His eyes searched for the ones that got away.

"They'll see you now," said the secretary behind her desk. It was a single piece of white ceramic with gold lines running along its edges that rose from the ground and curved into a flat surface before curving back into the floor. Her chair resembled an upside-down floating pawn piece with a matching white cushion with no back rest. The room had nothing else except for matching chairs for its waiting guests at the opposite side of the narrow room. It was as cold and as uninviting as his heart.

The doors by the secretary noiselessly slid open and the man walked straight through into an empty room. To his left was a window that was as tall as the room and ran the entire length of it. On the outside was Arda in all its glory. It's single artificial ocean was the bluest of blues whilst the surrounding forests were a rich green. It was cloudless. A completely unobstructed view that only a handful of people in the history of Paradise could ever achieve. To the right was a mirror as large as the window. He walked straight to the other side of the hall where three people; two women and a man sat on their thrones. The thrones were three separate gold blocks from which a rudimentary chair had been carved out from and were the only fixture in the room. The man sat on the throne in the middle, at the top of a short flight of stairs, which was the highest of the three, a woman sat on the left of him in the middle of the three and the other sat on the lowest throne which was on the ground.

The man stopped ten metres in front of them and knelt onto his left knee. He rested his left arm to his knee and placed his right arm behind his back. He looked down and stared at his reflection on the immaculate high gloss marble floor. "Rise Chase" spoke the man and Chase raised his head and focused solely on the king. A thin golden halo floated above his bald head and his golden eyes met Chases'. He wore a mandarin collared white shirt with a thin strip of gold running across its edges that ended at his knees. White trousers and loafers completed his outfit. The women wore white sleeveless dresses with gold running along the hem of their skirts. White opera gloves completed their royal attire.

"Failure is uncommon from you but alas these are strange times. If we've learnt anything from the last week, it's this." The king flickered his hand which had been resting on the arm rest of the throne and a hologram of Mwene and Ranulph appeared from above in front of him. "We believe the father's true purpose was to dethrone us when he went on his expedition years ago. His actions have sparked anarchy the likes of which have not been seen since our arrival fifteen thousand years ago. Only he has the knowledge and means to kill Ori. We created him to safeguard our interests and ensure stability and if he has fallen then we all will soon follow."

The king's raspy voice echoed through the hall. "The son has taken after his father and seeks to join him in the stars. We cannot let this happen. If they are to meet it would spell the end. Any and all means have been preapproved in your task. You shall captain the 3 best starships we have at our disposal. All fully manned and completely operational. The Ode, The Mandela and The Yeoh" The eyes of the queen and princess kept their focus on Chase. Never breaking eye contact, never blinking. Absorbing every single detail of him.

"You are all that stands between us and oblivion. Go out into the stars and bring back their heads." Commanded the king.

The constant beeping of his sonar was the only sound that he could hear. Each beep rung once every few seconds. It was out there even though he couldn't see it. He turned behind him and saw another figure follow him. He wore an all-white space suit which fitted his lean body well with navy blue gloves. Their circle helmets encased their heads like a bubble with a transparent glass showing their face with a golden visor for protection. He was the only thing besides him in the void of nothingness that enveloped them.

"250 metre…..." static drowned out the rest of the sentence.

"Repeat." Stated the man. The intervals between each sonar pings were getting shorter by the minute.

"200."

"I don't see it." His breathing was slighter, getting louder by the moment.

"150"

The pings were getting louder and louder.

"100".

He looked back at his companion and looked at his helmet. He had his reflective visor down so all he could see was its golden surface stare back at him. Seeing his face would have calmed him down.

"75"

"I still don't see it".

"50"

"Do you have a visual?" He exhaled and fogged up his helmet. All he could see was grey. The pinging was now just a high-pitched siren in his ear.

"25. Engaging...."

"I don't see anything!"

He landed hard on the surface. The weight of the suit brought down onto his knees. Through the small but growing spot on his visor where the condensation was clearing up, he could make a surface that was hard and kaleidoscopic. Light played around in it and shone brilliantly displaying a million and one colours and patterns. He was absolutely mesmerized until a couple of taps on his helmet brought him back to reality. He looked up and the figure had his hand out. He grabbed it and was lifted. He began to gently float off the surface until the figure tapped a couple of buttons on the small analogue keypad on his forearm and it felt like a couple of anchors magically appeared on his feet. The figure lifts his visor and reveals a smiling Inyanga. "Wouldn't want ya floating away now. Not a pretty death." He joked. Mwene breathed a sigh of relief.

A glint of reflected light caught Mwene's eye. He looked towards the far edge and saw the sun's rays spilled over the rough edge until the sun emerged. It's light lit up the diamond surface of the asteroid like a crystal ball. Mwene and Inyanga quickly brought down their visor to shield their eyes. Their unobstructed view of the sun was interrupted by the silhouette of the New Genesis slowly crawling across it.

"Come on, we don't have all day. It's almost dinner. Inyanga handed Mwene an instrument that looked like an electric screwdriver the size of his hand. He aimed it at ground a few metres away from him and pulled the trigger. A bright white laser shot out and began to cut through the diamond. "Turn the dial a bit." Mwene found a small dial on the left-hand side and turned it slightly changing the light from white to navy blue. "We want to conserve energy." Inyanga put a chunk of diamond the size of his hand in his cubic container attached to his hip. "Imagine if we found something half this big back home." Pondered Mwene as he pulled a small piece of diamond from the ground.

"That would be a bloody good retirement."

"My mum would force me to save it. Pay for my wedding day. Heads up." Mwene tossed the diamond to Inyanga who caught it and put it in his container.

"Knowing me, I would have dozens of rocket prototypes. Maybe one that isn't based on a tractor."

"Thinking a bit small innit? Surely there's somethin' ya want?"

Mwene stopped and thought for a moment.

"Actually..."

"Guys, you need to get back here. Something came up." Ayla's voice was heavily distorted by the static.

"Hopefully we got enough to sort out them bloody radios."

They walked into the cockpit briskly with their suits still on but their helmets off, Inyanga had the container under his arm. Everyone else was crowded around the communications station with Ayla seated and listening to something with her eyes closed. A cup of coffee in her one hand, her other hand on a digital dial. Anan stood leaning over the table looking over the readings.

"Status report."

"We've found a signal but we're not sure what it is yet. It's heavily distorted." Anan briefed them as she crossed her arms.

"Hopefully it isn't aliens." Mwene thought to himself.

"Listen." Ayla plugged out her headphones and increased the volume. Three high pitched dots quickly followed three slightly longer dashes. The signal repeated itself. "It's Morse code but it's not complete. I think the message is supposed to be SOS but instead it's saying SO." Ayla revealed. "The signal is likely from humans who at least have the earliest iteration of radio technology." reported Patience. "At least it isn't aliens." Mwene said under his breath. "An Ardain colony." Speculated Anan as she chewed on a pencil, she had grabbed from behind her hair.

"Perhaps but why Morse code?"

"Maybe somethin' went wrong?" guessed Inyanga as he put down the container.

"Let's set a course for it." Instructed Mwene.

"Course set. ETA; Three days." Patience announced.

"You sure mate?"

"Perhaps it's baba (father), or a colony. Either way they need help. I wouldn't sleep at night knowing we ignored a cry for help." Mwene put down his helmet.

They all looked at each and nodded in agreement.

"It's worth a look at least." Ayla smiled at Mwene before taking a sip from her cup.

"After dinner we gotta keep practising. You need to work on your head. Can't head into the unexpected with uneasy feet ya?"

Mwene nodded at Inyanga who smiled back. The crew of the New Genesis have found a new destination and peacefully sailed through the oceans of nothingness with nothing but time and optimism on their shoulders.