Daniel X: Armageddon, C32: Quattican-Zeta-92
A Daniel X Fanfic
by Sakura Martinez
Disclaimer:
I do not own Daniel X, or the characters in that story. James Patterson owns the rights for them. What I do own is the idea for the fanfic and this fanfic itself.
Summary:
The final battle has begun and it begun with the loss of a life. Daniel, with Khadagh's knowledge and power, and with the rest of the drang must do everything in their power to put an end to the number one alien on The List before everyone that they care about is lost and before The Prayer puts his evil schemes into action. The battle for the universe and between good and evil culminates as The Prayer finally figures out a way to defeat, and ultimately kill, our hero. The road is tough, but Daniel and his drang are ready.
Daniel X: Armageddon
Chapter Thirty-Two
Quattican-Zeta-92
I let a shaky breath escape me. I've done it. I've gone and done something I had a hard time believing Dana—or the rest of the drang, for that matter—would ever forgive me for. If I survive facing off against the two most powerful alien outlaws in the universe, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to survive my drang's wrath.
And as I thought about it, I didn't know which predicament was scarier.
The journey to the Quattican-Zeta-92 satellite space station was a quiet one. There was nothing I could fill the space with. I could no longer clap my drang, my family, into existence. And there wasn't a radio on the space cruiser that would allow me to listen in on some intergalactic FM station. There wasn't even a disc player of any kind. If I wanted some form of entertainment, I would have to entertain myself.
As I passed by planet after planet, I noticed one thing they had in common: they were all very dark. It was as if all life had been sucked out of them. Even Luminus—a dwarf planet known for its glowing mountains—was covered in darkness. It was eerie and I found myself wondering if The Prayer had anything to do with it.
"Or maybe Abaddon," I muttered as I scanned the planet and found no life on it. "This seems like a kind of thing he would do...I think."
But even as I thought that, it was unfathomable how either of them could have done something of this magnitude.
Do they have a new weapon? Or is this some kind of special ability Abaddon has? Why would they do something like this? What's the point of ruling if you leave nothing behind to rule?
The 'dead' planets continued on even as I crossed over to the Nebula-Strata galaxy, and to the galaxy after that. I wanted, at that moment, to check the other galaxies surrounding the Galvarose. I wanted to make sure my mind wasn't just being all pessimistic in saying that Galvarose was the only galaxy left that still had its planets teeming with life. But I pushed that desire down and reminded myself that time was short. My time was short.
Focus, Daniel, I told myself. Stick to the plan.
Someone was shaking me, and I wanted to punch them in the face for it. I had been awake late into the night and it felt like it has only been a few hours since I had fallen asleep. Whoever was trying to wake me up must have a death wish of some sort.
When I cracked an eye open, I was surprised to see that I wasn't in my room. I wasn't even in anywhere remotely familiar. And as my eyes adjusted, I learned that the person shaking me awake was the one person I didn't really mind punching as hard as I could.
And I did just that. Unfortunately, he managed to stop my fist from connecting with his face.
"That's not a proper way to greet someone 'good morning'," Khadagh's voice irritated me as much as his face did...which was strange considering the high probability that Daniel would share the same face as him in the future.
I shook that thought away and glared at him. That got him to take his hands off my shoulders. "What do you want, Khadagh?"
"To talk," was his clipped answer. "Besides, don't blame me for you ending up here while dreamwalking."
"I wasn't dreamwalking, and never in a million years will I choose to go anywhere where you are." I retorted, pushing him away as I stood up.
"Sure, you didn't," sarcasm oozed from his tone. "I just suddenly obtained the ability that, for centuries, had only been available to your family's bloodline. And since I know just how much you detest me, I decided to use it to annoy you. Just for the heck of it."
I realized he was right. Dreamwalking, for him, was out of the question. But just because he was right didn't mean that I would admit that to his face. Nor would I let the confusion I was feeling at suddenly finding myself where he was, show itself.
"You want to talk? Fine. Talk." I crossed my arms and continued glaring at him. I doubt he had something to say that would pique my interest.
"Daniel's going to do something extremely stupid, even for his standards," Khadagh didn't waste time in saying. "Well, either he's still getting ready for it, or he's already on his way to accomplish what he had set out to accomplish."
"What are you talking about?" I narrowed my eyes at him as I asked, wondering what he was up to.
"Hiding that seemingly un-harmful information you decided to keep from him until recently? That bit about Bhlaleen finally accepting you? Learning that you kept that from him really did a number on him," Khadagh spoke as if he was talking about some boring information that he just happened to pick up. It made my blood boil.
"Do you think I didn't notice that?" I spat. "I can see what it did to him. There hasn't been a day since then when he hadn't showed me how much hiding that angered him."
"Relax, princess." I let another attack at him using my telepathic abilities. I managed to push him down on the ground and keep him there. He did not like it one bit, but I did. "Damn it, Dana. I don't have time for this. I don't even know how long I have until this connection is severed too."
"What do you mean 'too'?" I asked, even though I had a sinking feeling that I already knew the answer to that question.
"I can't get through to Daniel. Not anymore. The space in his head that I had found myself stuck in is growing smaller and smaller by the day," Khadagh spoke quickly. "He can't even use a sliver of his powers to create anything. The only thing left he has going for him is his strength, speed, and heightened senses. And that's not the worse of it."
When he saw that I wasn't going to interrupt him, Khadagh went on, still sprawled on the ground, my powers keeping him from getting up.
"He intends to take on The Prayer and Abaddon by himself, Dana." I had never heard Khadagh's voice shake with worry and panic until that moment.
"What?" I flipped my hand and pushed Khadagh up to his feet, slamming him on a nearby crumbling wall. "You're lying! He wouldn't do something so stupid."
"He would if he thinks it's the only way to end the war quickly," Khadagh answered back. "Not only that, but he seems to believe that he is doing this for you. Like throwing himself at the enemy would make you happy. Like I've said, it's crazy. And coming from me, that's something."
Hearing that from Khadagh shook my concentration. He broke free from my telepathic grasp and quickly scrambled back to his feet.
"That's..." I couldn't think straight. Khadagh was right. It was stupid. "I'm going to strangle him!"
"Calm down. Seriously, Dana." Khadagh had his hand up, as if he was trying to calm some rabid animal. "Doing something like that to him, at the current state his in? That won't help. You have to understand. You triggered something in him. You made him feel like he needed to prove himself."
"So, this is my fault?" I was adamant. I did not like what he was insinuating. "Of course you would agree with him that I shouldn't have kept my status with Bhlaleen a secret. You both are forgetting the big picture."
"I am not taking sides. Believe me, getting between you and Daniel is worse than getting between the most powerful storm in the entire universe." he sighed. "All I am saying is that you're the only one who can possibly get through to him now. The only one who can fix whatever mess you two managed to pull yourselves in. Put some sense into that abnormally thick skull of his. And you don't have much time. With his powers weakening more and more each day, he's going to go ahead with his plan soon."
"And if he doesn't listen to me?" I really felt the possibility of that happening was high. "Daniel doesn't even want to talk to me, Khadagh."
"Then he's going to be heading straight to his death. It would take a miracle for him to come out of a battle against The Prayer or Abaddon alive in the state he is in."
I had to leave the space cruiser a ways away from the actual satellite space station. I couldn't afford it being spotted and shot down. I still need it to get to where The Prayer and Abaddon are hiding, after all.
I also had to be doubly careful. I may be searching for the two most dangerous aliens in the entire universe, but that didn't mean I would welcome skirmishes with their minions. And who knows, with the rate their army is going, I wouldn't be surprised if they had taken over Quattican-Zeta-92.
Thankfully, my space cruiser was equipped with a G-Cycle. It's a sort of anti-gravity, Azran motorbike. The G-Cycle also has a built-in Chameleon Circuit which gives it (as well as its rider) invisibility for a small amount of time. With it, I was able to get inside the satellite space station without raising alarms.
It became apparent, however, as I began exploring Quattican-Zeta-92, that I needn't have bothered. The whole place was deserted. Not a living soul roamed its halls and corridors. No one was at the mission control room, or any other rooms at that. The only thing that showed people had been there until recently were the open terminals, computers, and stations.
I didn't want to take in any chances, so I took my pistol out. As I searched for the broadcast station, and as my footsteps echoed, I got the sense that I wasn't entirely alone. There was still somebody in the space station.
I didn't know what I felt at that moment. Worried. Anxious. Nervous. It was all that and more. I wanted to get things over with, but at the same time I didn't want to cross paths with whomever was in the satellite with me.
It was a relief when I finally found the broadcast room. I quickly went to work, not wanting to spend a moment longer than I had to.
Before recording my transmission, I took a deep breath and tried to shake my nervousness away. I needed to look confident, dauntless and unafraid. I needed to look like I really meant the challenge I was going to issue to The Prayer and Abaddon.
Under my current circumstance, feeling so weak and helpless, it was a challenge to pull of.
As soon as I finished recording my message, I reviewed the footage. It was passable. And since I didn't want to overstay my welcome, I switched on the transmission and let my recording play on loop. As soon as that was done, I hurriedly made my way back to where I had parked my G-Cycle.
I was almost there. I could see my technologically advanced motorbike when a powerful blow knocked me off my feet. The attack happened so fast, I was unable to do anything even as my back hit wall after wall, leaving a path of destruction.
When my back hit the farthest wall, I was back where the broadcast station. I slumped on the ground. As fast as the attack was, it didn't compensate in strength. And I was groaning, squirming as I tried to get up.
"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered to myself. My arms and legs were shaking even as I managed to pull myself up. "This is just stupid. I've just issued a challenge. I can't suddenly find myself being beaten here."
As I was wiping the blood that was trickling down my chin, I heard the sound of footsteps. I braced myself for battle. I wasn't going to be downed by another surprise attack.
I was prepping myself for an attack from one of The Prayer's thugs or Abaddon's demonic minions. It wasn't.
It was Anieko.