The Last Human Business

Chapter 10: Tracks in the Black Sand

Caledonia's pale sun was obscured by a layer of pollution clouds as the Sand-Skipper desert vehicle roared over charcoal-colored dunes. High winds lashed the reinforced cockpit glass, carrying obsidian particles that eroded the ship's metal surface. Inside, the engine noise masked a tension sharper than the storm outside.

"Visibility is down to twelve percent, Ethan. Our radar is starting to bounce back and forth because of the mineral content in this sand. Are you sure this is the route?" Kael asked, his hands gripping the navigation levers with white knuckles.

"Follow the manual magnetic compass, Kael. In ion storm conditions, digital technology will only lead you in circles toward a death spiral," Ethan replied. He stood behind Kael, his eyes fixed on coordinates he had memorized from the Gaia archives.

"But manual navigation in the black desert is suicide for an ordinary pilot! This sand is magnetic!" Kael exclaimed.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not an ordinary pilot," Ethan tilted his head toward the backup monitor. "Lyra, how are the biosensor readings?"

Lyra, huddled in the back corner with her glowing tablet, looked up. Her face was sweaty, her hair disheveled. "The signal is... very weak. Like a heartbeat covered by a kilometer-thick layer of ice. But it's there, Ethan. The frequency matches your cryo-capsule's base frequency. Delta-Wave."

"You really think she's in there? Sarah?" Kael glanced at Ethan. "After thousands of years, and that message from the Inquisitor... you think we're just going to dig up a grave?"

"She wasn't put there to be buried, Kael," Ethan's voice dropped, becoming almost a whisper amidst the engine's roar. "Sarah was designed to survive extreme conditions unimaginable to Caledonian history. If her power unit still has even five percent functionality, she'll be waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Lyra asked softly. "Waiting for us, or waiting for an enemy that woke up first?"

"That's what we'll find out in another twenty miles," Ethan answered. "Increase speed, Kael. The hydraulic pressure will help us cut through the storm."

"Full speed in the middle of a magnetic sandstorm? This ship will flip if we hit a rock!" Kael protested.

"Then don't hit the rocks. Use your ears. Obsidian makes a specific hissing sound when it's near a hard structure," Ethan pressed a button on the overhead panel. "I'm disabling the reactor's safety limiters. We need the extra thrust to avoid being swept away by the storm."

"Ethan, watch the heat indicators! If this blows, we'll be buried under sand that no archaeologist will ever dig up!" Lyra cried out.

"Calm down, Lyra. Focus on the sensors. Look for signs of solid metal. The metallurgy of my era couldn't possibly be corroded by this sand," Ethan said.

A moment of silence followed as the Sand-Skipper shook violently from a sudden blast of the storm. Alarms wailed, and the cabin lights flickered red.

"The storm is turning into an ion vortex! The control system is slipping!" Kael shouted, struggling to turn the steering wheel, which was beginning to feel heavy.

"Hold your position, Kael! Don't let the ship's nose rise, or we'll flip!" Ethan commanded.

"I need your help, Commander! The left side is jammed!"

Ethan immediately jumped into the copilot's seat, his hands moving quickly to bypass the wiring under the panel. "On the count of three, pull the right emergency brakes alternately. We're going to perform a diagonal maneuver."

"You're crazy! The ship will be destroyed!"

"Lakukan saja! One... two... three!"

There was the sound of buckling metal and the hiss of hot steam as the ship slid sideways, cutting through the storm's current with brutal precision. After a jolt that nearly threw Lyra from her seat, the atmosphere suddenly became deathly quiet.

"What happened?" Lyra panted, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Why did the movement stop?"

"We've entered the eye of the storm," Ethan wiped sweat from his forehead. "The atmospheric pressure has dropped drastically. Look ahead."

Kael slowly opened the glass protective cover. Outside, the floating black sand began to settle, revealing a sight that made their hearts stop. In the middle of a vast sand valley, half-buried, stood a silver-gray structure that stretched out like a giant blade.

"That... isn't a single capsule," Kael murmured, his voice filled with disbelief.

"No," Ethan replied, his eyes shining with a flash of bitter nostalgia. "That is an X-class corvette. The Spear of Atlas. Malakai's personal ship."

"You mean Malakai had an entire ship as a cryo-bunker?" Lyra stood up, staring at the structure through a telescope. "The scale... it's ten times larger than site X-01!"

"Look at the lower valley," Ethan pointed to coordinates ten degrees south. "Black tents. Neon-blue lights."

"By the heavens," Lyra hissed. "The Galactic Mafia. Black Nebula. They got here first."

"Zarek," Kael spat to the side. "That cunning rat actually survived the banquet incident and brought his troops here. How did they get here before us?"

"They used the DNA tracking map they stole from Valerius, Kael. They don't care about pilgrimage rituals or sandstorms. They flew straight to the satellite blind spot with heat dampeners," Ethan began preparing his gear. "Look at their excavation units. They've almost breached the hangar entrance."

"How many troops do they have?" Lyra asked.

"Heat signature detection... at least thirty mercenaries. Two mobile plasma cannon units. And an industrial drilling unit brought in from the federation," Ethan detailed the data displayed on his retina.

"Thirty against two soldiers and one archaeologist?" Kael looked at Ethan with a raised eyebrow. "Terrible statistics, Ethan, even by a Deva's standards."

"Who said we're attacking them directly?" Ethan took a deep breath. "Zarek is an opportunistic coward. If he sees his Deva appear, he'll talk more than he'll shoot."

"And if they decide to test you again like at the banquet hall?" Lyra asked with a worried tone.

"Then Kael will provide cover fire from the ridge of this dune while I walk into the middle of their camp," Ethan said casually.

"Wait, you're going in there alone?" Kael's eyes widened. "Ethan, they have plasma cannons!"

"They have plasma cannons set to punch holes in steel, Kael, not to hunt a target moving at tactical speed," Ethan pointed toward the Nebula power generator. "Lyra, watch their communication tower. I want you to find a frequency gap. If they try to contact Federation headquarters in orbit, kill the signal."

"I can do it from here," Lyra nodded firmly. "But I need five minutes of stable access."

"I'll give you twenty minutes. Kael, get in position. Remember, your target isn't the people, but their autonomous generators. Cut the power, and their heavy armor is just a pile of slow metal."

Kael sighed, adjusting the position of his ancient sniper rifle. "It's very hard to be skeptical when you keep giving me plans that actually make sense. Fine. Give me the signal when you're within ten meters."

"Let's begin this pilgrimage," Ethan said.

He opened the Sand-Skipper's door and jumped out, landing on the crunching black sand. The desert wind whipped his cloak as he walked calmly down the hill toward the center of the enemy camp.

In the middle of the valley, the roar of a giant drill split the silence of the sand. Several black-robed guards noticed the presence of a figure walking toward them without any protection.

"Stop right there! Show your identification or we fire!" a guard shouted through his helmet's loudspeaker.

Ethan didn't stop. He continued walking at the same pace. "Tell Zarek that his guest from Sun-Spire has arrived."

For a moment, there was a commotion in the camp. Radios crackled. The guards aimed their weapons but hesitated when they saw the symbol on Ethan's cloak.

A man in a neat but sand-stained military suit stepped out of the central tent. It was Zarek. His oily smile was the same as before.

"Ah, the Deva! Incredible! You crossed the sands of death just to see me?" Zarek laughed, spreading his arms wide. "Truly a faithful servant of the people."

"You stole a map that didn't belong to you, Zarek," Ethan said, stopping five meters in front of the line of guards. "Leave while you still have a ship to fly home in."

"Leave? I've found the greatest treasure in the history of the galaxy!" Zarek pointed toward the Spear of Atlas corvette. "Inside there are technological secrets that could let the Mafia control the entire Federation. You think I'm going to hand it over to you just because you're wearing silver cloth?"

"The technology in there isn't a treasure," Ethan said softly. "It's a graveyard. And if you insist on opening it with that crude drill, you'll only wake up things you can't control."

"Nonsense! Boys, show him what we do to uninvited prophets!" Zarek gave the signal.

The guards leveled their weapons, ready to pull the triggers.

"Kael, kill the lights," Ethan whispered into his throat mic.

BOOM!

A precise shot destroyed the fuel tank of Nebula's central generator. The light vanished instantly, leaving a thick darkness illuminated only by embers. Chaos erupted immediately.

"Where is he?! Fire in that direction!" Zarek screamed hysterically.

Ethan moved like a ghost in the darkness. Using the thermal vision integrated into his optic nerves, he neutralized the guards one by one. Every strike was silent—a tap to the neck, a slam to the knee, and a swift shoulder dislocation.

"Argh! My hand!" the cries of the Nebula soldiers echoed from various corners of the camp.

Ethan slid past a mapping table, taking down two of Zarek's bodyguards before landing right in front of the mafia leader, who was trembling while holding a small pistol.

"You said you wanted to talk business?" Ethan grabbed Zarek's wrist and twisted it until the pistol fell into the sand.

"Please! Mercy! I was only paid by Valerius! He's the one who wants that capsule!" Zarek shrieked.

"Where is the hangar access code you cracked?" Ethan grabbed Zarek's collar.

"On... on the tablet inside the tent! Please, don't kill me! I don't know anything!"

"Just pray that my prediction about the contents of this ship is wrong," Ethan threw Zarek into the sand and turned toward the main tent.

Kael and Lyra ran down the hill, joining him in front of the ancient corvette's massive hangar door. Smoke still billowed from the now-ruined camp.

"I told you it was a crazy plan that made sense," Kael said, watching the unconscious guards. "Do we go into the belly of this dragon now?"

"Lyra, connect Zarek's tablet to that door port," Ethan pointed to a worn biometric keyhole.

Lyra worked quickly. "Encryption bypassed. The door is opening... Ethan, wait."

"What is it?"

"The data on Zarek's tablet... he wasn't just drilling his way in. He was looking for someone specific. The code name isn't 'Sarah' or 'Prime'."

"Then who?" Kael asked.

"The code name is 'The First Igniter'," Lyra whispered, staring at the screen in horror.

The giant door slid open, revealing a vast, cold hangar corridor. In the distance, at the end of the rusted metal hallway, a single capsule glowed with an unstable, pale red light.

Ethan stepped inside, his footsteps echoing on the metal floor. "Sarah...?"

The capsule hissed with cold steam. A thick green nutrient fluid spilled onto the floor as the lid slowly opened. Ethan rushed forward, his heart pounding in anticipation of the figure he had missed for five thousand years.

But as the steam cleared, he could only stand frozen.

The capsule was empty.

"Where is she?" Lyra approached, scanning the interior of the capsule with her flashlight. "Ethan, the remains in here... she's been awake. For a very long time."

Ethan touched the warm interior surface of the capsule. His eyes were fixed on an inscription forcibly carved into the metal wall of the capsule using something sharp.

WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU, STERLING. MARE TRANQUILLITATIS.

"Mare Tranquillitatis... Sea of Tranquility," Lyra read the writing. "That's not on Caledonia. Those are ancient coordinates for the Moon."

Ethan looked far out through the open hangar gap, toward the silver moon hanging in the black desert night sky. "She isn't sleeping, Lyra. She's being harvested."

Kael stepped in, his face very serious. "Commander, there are new ships approaching from the horizon. Caledonian military. Valerius knows your plan failed."

"Valerius is no longer my objective, Kael," Ethan clenched his fist until blood dripped from a scratch on his palm. "Take all the weapon supplies from this ship's armory. We aren't staying on this planet any longer."

"What do you mean?" Kael asked in surprise.

Ethan turned, his eyes shining with a cold steel they had never seen before. "We have a warship. And now we know the real enemy is waiting up there. We're going to the Moon."

The storm outside roared again, as if marking that the war delayed for five millennia had just found its meeting point again. On the unforgiving black sand, the tracks had pointed toward the sky.

"Orders received," Kael gave a sharp salute.

In the silence of the abandoned ship, the legend was no longer just walking; it began to fly awake.