“Thee Awakening”
Part 1
Awakening in a daze, slowly feeling my senses come back to me. My eyes start burning from the broad essence of blood and smoke in my helmet before I realize I’m in pain, my left leg and my right shoulder are ablaze. Quickly I stifle the flame but already the fire has singed through my flesh. This is not the time to examine my wounds or feel the burn. What’s happened to my ship, my crew… my brothers? As I rip my helmet off in distress, my eyes attention is quickly drawn to the blood streaks on the floor as if bodies had been dragged out the corridor. The caution alarm is flashing bright green and loudly counting down from 24 minutes until self-destruction. A battle has definitely taken place. Empty bullet clips and the smell of gunpowder in the air. Why is there only blood and no bodies? Why can’t I recollect anything? And why am I alone? As I stand there trying to process my situation I feel this agonizing pain in my forehead and notice the sound of my heart beat within my ears. It’s beating like someone knocking of my brainstem without answer. It’s clear that I took a blow to the cranium and was knocked unconscious after I feel the damage done to the side my head. My memory is shaky of what events took place here. It should come back to me soon or at least I tell myself that. As I rise to the window and wipe the cold from its glass, my eyes widen and see the most terrifying sight I had ever witnessed. The largest space vessel I had ever seen. We bounty hunters have heard stories of a hell bound ship in deep space, stories of non-human beings consuming all life that cross there path. Immortal creatures damned to adventure space for all eternity. Stories of a craft called Titus.
Few have survived to tell the tale. Most went missing soon after speaking of their encounter and others were declared insane, never to be seen again. No captain could have anticipated this. As bounty hunters we were never convinced that such things were true, let alone existed. Immediately I fell to my knees in despair and offered my withered soul to almighty god and his mercy. I wish they would have taken my life, sparing me from future horror. I thought of my family, my wife, my son awaiting my return only to be met by the damnation called Titus. There is no doubt in my mind they are heading to my home world next. Everything I love, everything I live for is dependent on me reaching home in advance of those monsters. I must prepare for my voyage. The wounds I suffered earlier are getting worse and the medical bay is completely destroyed. This craft is about to self-destruct and I’m only now realizing the gravity of my current situation. I tried to override the self-destruct sequence and met only failure. If I stay on this craft, I will die. I have to get to the escape pods and I could barely move my legs. They feel like they are stuck in quick sand and my arms are as heavy as led weights but still I make it in time. The escape pod is ready so I take my leave with only six days of oxygen, a plan, injuries and a troubled mind to keep me company. I don’t know If I will see home again, but I can’t stay here. Hope is a horrible thing. I warm up the hyper drive and look back for the last time. The spaceship I once held title as captain is no longer a ship at all. It’s now a casualty of deep space, hopefully my fate will not suffer the same consequence. It’s been three days and my burns aren’t showing signs of healing, but my biggest concern is the blow I sustained to the side of my temple. Its at the beginning stages of infection. I could already feel it affecting my mind. Days have passed advancing thru deep space at the speed of light. As I stand there in the mirror I could hardly recognize myself. I could not bring my mind to acknowledge the scary reflection of my former self. I really must get home before… before I get any worse. Before I concede to madness and lose sight of my objective. As I stare into the window In hope of seeing my planet in the empty blackness of space. I see only my reflection staring back at me as if my ego has a face and a mind of its own.
”What are you doing captain?”, my reflection says alertingly so. “Im headed home. I need to warn them. I need to warn everyone.” I say back to him agressively. “You think you will reach home in advance of the Titus in this small craft? This place has made you mad captain, very mad indeed.”, he responds. “You are a fool, you alone survived the attack, fortune has smile upon you and you just spit in its face. Turn your craft around and go far away, as far away as you can.” “No my… my family I.. I must protect them.” “But the Titus is already there. You have failed your family, just like you have failed your crew.”
My psyche has grown increasingly grotesque, reflecting my own transformation. As I try to calm myself down I pass out from mere exhaustion. I feel my darkest imaginings devouring my rational mind and spilling to my heart like black ink, impossible to remove. The Titus has surely reached home already. I pictured silent streets overrun by monsters. God has damned me, God has damned us all. As I awake from the nightmare I check my navigator. [Computer: Destination Reached] I have arrived and I’m still alive to help my loved ones. By now the city is overrun. The monsters imagine themselves safe from me, but now I was home and revenge would be mine. My beloved home world is not as I last saw it. Already it was afflicted with the darkness of those creatures. Soon I will venture amongst evil beings. On my return home I found the streets conspicuously silent. I entered my home quietly, careful not to awake the creatures now residing there from there slumber. One however was awake, frantic, before he could raise alarm I beat him with my fists. Every strike I make is out of vengeance for the lives they have taken, my home that they had destroyed. No back up comes, but something worse. I look up to see my sons face frightened and frozen in fear. I look down and thru bloody lips, she mutters three words, “My love, why?”
There came an understanding so great, it left no room for sanity. The savages in my home were a hallucination and my wife suffered the consequences of my self-delusions. So I ran with the knowledge of my damnation pacing my footsteps and baffled by my own actions. I was sure of my resolve. My plan was flawless. The Titus was heading for my home world, it should have arrived. Eventually I came to a dismal black desert stretching endlessly before my eyes. How have I reached this position with only love as my guide? The love fueling my awful scheme was an illusion. I fell to my knees in defeat, grasping the black sand and questioned where my mistake had taken place. In that moment I raised my head and saw it. The Titus drifting down from the stargazed abyss called space. The lights were like a solar eclipse but a lot closer to one’s eyes. Hovering above me as if waiting to strike, the bottom of the ship opens up. A light as bright as the sun surrounds me.
Gradually I understood what innocent intent had brought me to. The unspeakable truth loomed avoidably in front of me. All my well mean plans had come to this. The world I tried to save did not need my help. What I cherished is now gone by my own hand beyond all repairs. My feet leave the ground. No longer am I attached to the gravity of this planet. As I levitated into the immense craft, there was a cheer that up roared from the lights above. In that moment of weightlessness, I realized there had been no plan to conquer Titus. They had come to wait until they could collect the only prize they valued. Claim the only soul they truly wanted. I was a horror and amongst horror I must dwell.
To be continued..
