Alex stood sullenly in the middle of the exquisite, snow-white chambers, splattered with blood. He felt no relief after killing the Supreme Arkhs. Memories of Tataki’s demise echoed with unbearable pain through his mind.
The system message brought a welcome distraction.
Attention! Everyone! Everyone! Everyone!
Global Event has occurred!
Location: Forty-seventh sector, Milky Way galaxy, Orion Arm, Solar system, planet Earth.
The head of the Ice Vigor clan, player Alex Phoenix, single-handedly captured the ancient scout cruiser ‘Star Jumper’
Killed:
General diplomat, Homo-3, Ebrik Veli Vao
General diplomat, Homo-4, Tio Eb
General diplomat, Crets-4, Akte Kao Brown
High Council Member, Homo-6, Tekot Smul the Many-Faced
Supreme Network administrator,
Jokeiro the Shining
.
A mechanical voice rang through Alex’s head – Jokeiro the Shining requests a meeting.
“Got it,” Alex grunted. He moved to the clan office, where Lulu met him.
Jokeiro’s hologram appeared a moment later. “You look terrifying, Alex, but it’s great. Congratulations on a brilliant operation to capture the Star Jumper Truly priceless.”
“Mentor! This was not ‘brilliant’! This was a blood feud. What did you want to talk about?”
Jokeiro clapped his hands. “I have good news for you, a tip and a favour. Use this wisely.”
Alex squared his shoulders. “I’m listening.”
Jokeiro the Shining broke into a wide smile and said in his usual mysterious manner, “Okay, student. Today is a very bad day for both the Admin System and the Homo-3s. They’ve lost two ancient spaceships. Additionally, there is one more thing that you are not aware of. I am speaking of the legendary super-long-range reconnaissance spaceship Hypern. This is a technologically sophisticated ship. Its main advantage is stealth.” Jokeiro fell silent.
Alex Phoenix said impatiently, “And?”
“The Earth has found and destroyed this ship. Can you imagine that?”
Alex remembered his meaningful conversation with Mentor Jokeiro when he first spoke about the future of the Earth and its possibilities. However, he considered it a fairy tale for gullible children.
“I’ll show you how it was…” Jokeiro said.
Alex’s position shifted, into the vacuum of space. It felt so real – color, sound, image. Questions darted like frightened hares in a giant magician’s hat. Why am I not breathing? Why don’t I freeze? Why am I neither cold nor warm?
He gradually calmed down, no longer sick from fear. His Navigator skill showed that he was in the Kuiper belt, in the icy realm of dwarf planets and trillions of asteroids on the very outskirts of the Solar system near Neptune.
Alex laughed nervously, imagining how he looked from the outside, drifting through space without a suit.
The head of Ice Vigors peered into the surrounding space. He sensed the approach of something enchanting and inexplicable. An incredible force rushed into this region of space, like a huge funnel, bubbling and seething.
The earthling’s hair stood on end. He beheld a moving black hole. Inexplicably, he managed to stay in place and not plunge into its bottomless depths.
Alex stared with bated breath. Like an angry greyhound, it flitted from side to side, then over great distances, then very close, scouring the nearest space. On occasion, huge blocks of icy asteroids found themselves instantly reduced to dust.
“It found the ship!” Alex said excitedly.
He noticed the barely discernable outline of a spaceship as it was absorbed by the black hole. It lingered for a while, then sped off to the center of the Solar system.
“It flew home.” Alex guessed.
Oh, Gods! Is Mother Earth going to be plagued by a black hole behaving like a mad dog on a chain?
“Ahhhh.” His eyes darkened, his heart pounding wildly. Jokeiro the Shining had finally brought him back and was now looking at him with a holographic smile.
“Oh, no need to thank me!” Jokeiro said. “You were worthy to see it, and you saw it. I know it’s scary, but now you know it’s real, and you won’t doubt it. My guess is that a black hole might prove useful.”
Seeing Alex’s quizzical expression, Jokeiro laughed.
“This spaceship wasn’t destroyed. It was thrown far away. The ship’s crew will be unable to return from there on their own. Do you understand? Such a ship shouldn’t be lost. I advise you to find it.”
Alex exhaled, his head aching.
“Now I want to do you a favor. I offer a short, frightening message to the entire Commonwealth. Divide and rule. Do you understand me, player Phoenix?”
“I think so, mentor,” Alex said through clenched teeth.
Jokeiro nodded. “Tell me when you’re ready.”
Alex ordered the droids to drag all the dead bodies into one large room.
I wonder what Alfred Hitchcock would say to this? he thought as he examined the macabre pile of corpses and bleeding stumps.
Standing in front of this grotesque display, Alex shifted into combat Dark Ghost form and muttered, “I’m ready.”
***
The System announcement of the capture of the Star Jumper and the final death of several Supreme Homos and Crets caused a severe shock in the central worlds of the Commonwealth. And then this chilling message came…
In the midst of a charnel house of blood and guts stood a dark man with glowing blue eyes and shining blades in his hands.
“I am Phoenix, head of the Ice Vigor clan. And these beasts,” he pointed to the corpses surrounding him, “were sent to Earth to kill me.” He tilted his head to one side and laughed maniacally. “I didn’t wait for them. Remember, you who imagine yourselves to be gods, we will incinerate your worlds. Beware, blood debtors, we are coming!”
The Great Commonwealth of Civilizations has never before lost so many high officials at once. The threat of the leader of the Ice Vigor clan produced the effect of a supernova explosion. In the core worlds, it caused panic on a massive scale. Several financial institutions collapsed.
However, on the frontier, this daring
