The Silence of Zegandaria by Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (book recommendations website txt) 📕

Jessica had beautiful hair, and as I looked at her, I came to the conclusion that she could indeed be one of the Light Creatures to save my tortured soul of cosmic infidelity.

Still, I felt like I was missing something - maybe the truth was quite different and had no connection between reality and my own perceptions of it.

Once fully convinced, we could only get ourselves into trouble and encounter Earth Federation forces that could be a deadly threat to ourselves.

The combined Earth Federation forces were aware of our existence because of the sneaky data leak and because of Von Blask's Narenzian chip. Yes, it was too dangerous to toy with a situation that was highly unlikely to be resolved in our favor, but still.

The antimatter engine was truly impressive, and while it couldn't compare to our tachyon engines, which developed immensely higher speeds, combined with the quantum teleportation engine it would give us a huge advantage in our fight for survival.

- "And yet you didn't tell me exactly where you wanted us to go?," inquired Jessica in a tone that showed the importance of her question.

- "Well, frankly, I want to be free, really free," I replied, "On Charon our eyes saw only darkness - nothing else. I think it's time to turn to the light."

For a moment, Jessica seemed somewhat surprised by my answer, yet for some form of propriety or for a reason I was not yet aware of, she remained silent.

- "Remember, Jervond, that this was your choice, and also that whatever your fate may be from now on, you have walked this path alone," she said quietly, addressing me.

Her words sounded neutral enough to raise more doubts in my mind about certain matters, but for now I really preferred to keep my mouth shut.

- Then let's head straight for Proxima B!

CHAPTER SIXTY: ENEMIES BECOME FRIENDS

Even with antimatter propulsion, the distances in the universe are truly vast - even excessive. So after a while Jessica suggested we go into quantum teleportation mode for the second and final time. I hoped everything would go according to plan, but there were always some risks!

Proxima B was a place I knew relatively little about, but Rento had naturally spoken to me about it as well. Not that he'd ever really been there, but he hoped to visit it as a free man someday, since he assumed the Earth Federation wouldn't colonize it for at least the next thirty years. Well, sometimes fate really did play bad jokes on us that could cost us a salty price!

The distance between Charon and Proxima B was about four light years, but with the antimatter engine it would take us a long time to get there, and I didn't particularly like the quantum teleportation mode. It was too risky to try again given that the ship hadn't been used for too long.

I wondered what was going to happen, but kept my mouth shut anyway, following Jessica's strict orders to put the 'sleeping' Ervanan to sleep.

He of course showed no signs of life, which was perhaps just a confirmation of sorts of the deep cryogenic sleep he had fallen into.

I didn't want to interfere with Jessica on how she was steering the ship, as she pointed out an idea of hers that we could do an intermediate descent and use some warping in space.

- "I knew that warp engines were capable of that, but ours didn't seem to be of that sort. The antimatter thrusters need to be shut down immediately," I addressed Jessica in all seriousness.

She understood me. We were passing through the Kuiper Belt, and there we could be attacked by some alien civilization that was in danger of destroying the ship.

We didn't know if the Ervanans had hidden their ships on other planets. And that could have been our real end!

One of the main problems Earthlings faced about space travel was the build-up of cosmic radiation, which was badly tolerated by their bodies, and since our Zegandarian bodies - in general - had a lot in common with human ones this concerned us as well. But some of the problems that had remained with humans, for example, were muted in us.

It would have been useful to say how cosmic radiation could be harmful, and this concerned the alteration or even complete destruction of DNA molecules, which in turn could cause central nervous system damage and even death. Furthermore, the sources of radiation in space were too numerous to be ignored. Some of them were galactic cosmic rays, particles emitted from solar flares, and so on.

There were some really amazing places in this region. The huge ring perhaps twenty times as wide as the Asteroid Belt was the dividing line of a new world. Some of the objects in it, like Arocoth, looked almost like works of art.

Jessica was steering the ship too carefully, and that's when I really noticed that something wasn't right around me at all.

I remembered her strange ramblings about the path I had chosen to walk. I didn't deny that she was probably right about a lot of things.

I didn't have any real friends in the colony besides Jake. Well, maybe I respected the late Averia Downs and I-but it was all down to that.

We weren't expecting any amazing miracles during our trip, but it was clearly noticeable that as the mood and situation changed, different pictures were unfolding before my eyes.

- "Have you noticed how alone you are, Jervond?," said Jessica, somewhat impassively, "You have no definite purpose in life except to leave Charon and go wherever the solar wind takes you. Maybe you weren't made for this kind of life, or maybe you just weren't meant to be born."

Her words definitely had a sobering effect on me! I didn't want to contradict her because I had a real desire to hear what else she had to say!

- "You were inconspicuous to the others, Jervond," she went on rather calmly, in a tone that definitely knew well what she wanted to tell me, "But they accepted you for the sake of your common goals. You were a sort of experimental mouse for them!"

Then suddenly I felt a peculiar sense of lightness and humility. It was as if morning dew had caressed my forehead. I tried to move my hands, but nothing worked - it was as if I were intangible. I woke up and realized quite clearly. There was no Jessica, or anyone else - the ship was just moving on its own. It was so disconnected and inexplicable that I couldn't even hide my amazement.

I shuffled into the cockpit and saw a small well-insulated box of that same Narenzian chip Von Blask had given Brutus, and apparently Sikur had stolen. It was super weird. Why Sikur had taken it back with him. Then the idea clearly hit me! They wanted to find the hidden demon computer viruses!

Then...

I decided to wander around the ship and check to see if I was hallucinating, since that was now entirely possible and I wasn't going to let any ominous visions fail me.

The Ervanan ship was cigar shaped and long enough that I couldn't just walk around it.

What if Jessica was hiding somewhere in the darkness, plotting to get rid of even me!

What if Jessica was hiding somewhere in the dark and plotting to get rid of even me!

Maybe that was part of her game - pretending to be a Light Spirit guiding me on the path to salvation. Inwardly, however, I knew I was doomed. Too many sins lay on my shoulders - it was downright unbearable. To think that most of my acquaintances died in utterly ridiculous accidents, and I somehow managed to walk dry between the drops! I couldn't find the reason for it and be completely sure that I would be able to get out of this vicious circle!

Having failed to find Jessica absolutely anywhere, I began to realise that in fact the key to solving the mystery might lie in that same Narenzian chip, which by some chance (although I didn't believe in coincidences!) had ended up in my hand!

It seems to me that in nature one must distinguish between necessity and chance!

I had died a thousand times in my journey to Mordor Macula to find the Ervanan aerial vehicle, and now I could clearly see that I was faced with solving a much more serious mystery.

Jessica coughed. Clearly she was here after all, and wanted to shake off the demonic influence of the ship.

- "What the hell is going on?," I puzzled, turning my head in my spacesuit like a madman, "This is a real Hell. Why is this even happening!"

Jessica stood up with anguish, and it was obvious that she had received some minor bruising from her fall to the floor of the space vessel. Strange why, but there was a strange uncertainty in her gaze, and her eyes were like glass. Her hair was down a little carelessly, but couldn't be seen too clearly due to the spacesuit covering her head.

- "What does Veoargis mean in the Ervanan language?," she asked me, as if expecting me to be versed in all matters pertaining to this mysterious alien race.

- "Does that look familiar?," I asked her instead of giving her the expected answer, "This little chip here may contain the hidden answers we so badly need."

- "Where did you get it?," she crescendoed with an anger that greatly puzzled me and I even wondered if I should have kept the laser cutter at the ready just in case.

Gradually she calmed down and I began to clearly realize exactly what was coming.

- She dared not look at me, and I was expecting a terrible catastrophe.

- "Do you actually know what's going on?," she asked me gently, avoiding voicing my greatest fear aloud.

- "Maybe death has been after me since the beginning," I called back cautiously, "Maybe I've just never seen anything but the colony, and this thing has been after me ever since. Maybe the Invisibles ..."

- "Cut that crap," she scolded me as if she was about to kill me, "You've seen your ghost double, and what you've probably noticed is that certain events and circumstances in your life repeat themselves in a certain form. Let me put it to you this way," she paused briefly, "Haven't you ever wondered how we manage this old trough," apparently referring to the Voargis ship, "after all the rest of your companions have succumbed to the brain control of the rabid dog Sikur," she finished her tirade, or at least I wish I had, "How have you managed to get through all the obstacles so far alive and well - without so much as a scratch?

I felt in my soul that she was right, and events had clearly arranged themselves in a way that only testified to that.

- "You mean?," I turned to her again, but she had disappeared again.

I was beginning to have the real feeling that I had been the victim of some kind of hoax,