2318

FIVE

Everywhere, around Devan, it was white.

The blinding, dazzling color made him squint, yet piqued his curiosity to where he was. As he took a step, the world seemed to revolve around him as he felt the earth turn, moving together with the rhythm of other planets, stars, and galaxies drifting together, all with their unique and different stories.

Devan could feel, with every thump of his heart, the universe is changing, with the bloom if a flower, a sprout of a sapling to the eruption of a supervolcano on a planet hundreds of light years away. As he imagined, the world changed around him. The dazzling white melted into the stars above him and the desert under him, and his mouth was parched and dry. He realized it was the desert, the exact spot he was about to die in years ago. He was alone, small, weak and on the verge of his last breath.

Lying down, he scrutinized the sky above him in detail, and he realized how beautiful it was. It was only at his last breath did he realize the beauty of the universe, but it was already too late. His mind was numb at the thought of death, and his eyes closed.

Meanwhile, the Sun and Earth continued on its huge and arduous walk across time and space. In a totally different realm, mankind scuttled along.

~

Devan was woken early by a knock at the door. He sat up and found himself covered in sweat from an out-of-the-world dream he had last night, and he just sat there for a few moments staring blindly until the knocking came again did he leap out of bed.

"Coming!" Devan changed quickly and rushed to open the door.

Devan opened the door and found Drew waiting for him outside, "Come, Devan. We've already prepared the jet to the space station, the crew is also ready."

Devan nodded and turned back to the room, "Sure, I'll get my things. Just wait for me at the entrance of the Council Building."

Turning back, Devan grabbed the small bag lying at the windowsill, and when he glanced out of the open window he saw, far from the height of the council building which he was standing in, there was a jet-like sleek ship that was different from the rest. It stood out for its size and color, the dazzling silver coating from the sun making him squint.

He slid the pocket knife into his waist belt -- perhaps because of habit that the knife made him more secure, but usually, he kept it at his side always. Slinging his bag onto his shoulder and with a swift move, he returned to the doorway. When he finally returned to the doorway, Drew was still standing there, seeming impatient. Devan muttered a silent apology as they hurried to the elevator. When they reached the elevator shaft, the elevator was still on their floor and its door was wide open. The duo stepped in and the elevator doors closed, and with a slight bump, it began to accelerate as it streaked down to the ground a long way below.

Devan turned to face the city through the transparent elevator shaft as they stood in silence embroiled in their own thoughts. The yellowish radiant glow of the morning sun bathed the floating city in an orange hue, as the first lights of the city began to emerge while many started their day. It might be ordinary for the rest of the city, but for Devan and Drew and Ell and many others, this might be their last day on Earth. Who might not fear death? Devan was well aware that he was afraid of this far-fetched mission and the possible fatal consequence of it, but he was long numb at the thought of death. Many a time in his life he was nearing death but he survived, not because of any other help but because of his strength and determination and will to change and save the world from the deadly nightmares of the aftermath of the Great War.

"Drew," Devan suddenly spoke and turned to him, "What will you do when -- if you come back after this?"

"I don't know," Came Drew's reply after a few moments of the irritating silence. He continued to stare at the ground as he spoke, "Maybe I'd just continue working in the council, what else can I do?"

Devan nodded slightly and continued to watch the ground become closer and closer beneath them. The silver spacecraft that Devan saw as a tiny object from atop the Council Building was now increasingly huge, larger than what Devan had expected it to be. It was stretched from one side to the other side of the Council lawn beneath them. As the elevator finally ground to a halt and the doors opened in front of the ship, Devan and Drew exited and were greeted by the team, and he could recognize a few of the members Ell, Juan, Andrei, and Lucifer, with some of the council staff.

They shook hands with all the staff as Lucifer addressed them, "This is all the people who will be coordinating our mission. They will be establishing a communication line to you from the ground and will focus on the safety of the mission, including the Earth's shields in case of an attack from the Aksillet Empire. They will also coordinate your mission too, and the shuttle is to leave soon. We wish you the best of luck in this mission."

Drew nodded and the team led the trio up the steps to the entrance of the shuttle, and after they entered the door closed behind them.

~

The wind howled as the rain slapped onto Rokleer. He still stood, unwavering in the rain. The Aksillet cruiser Abbadon loomed above him, like a devil in the madness. The entrance was above him, the ramp lowered by the crew. Not far from them, the gates from the building opened and a figure in black robes strode out, and the moment Rokleer saw the hooded Supreme Leader even from such a distance a shiver went down his spine. He kept silent and kept staring at the floor until he felt the figure slide past him up the stairs did he creep meekly behind him up the ramp onto the cruiser.

Once inside the cruiser, Rendall turned to Rokleer, speaking with an expressionless countenance, "Are you sure your intelligence got the right information?"

"Yes, my leader. The earthlings are attempting to destroy the FLaw, and their activity was monitored by us. It seems... they want a war. A few hours earlier their chancellor ordered a defensive against us. It seems they really want war," Rokleer spoke, still not daring to face the chancellor as they strode down the aisle of the cruiser. 

"Great then," Rendall cackled -- a sharp, short laugh and spoke, "Pitiful beings. Launch our entire fleet against them, leave no Earthling alive. Meanwhile, shift the FLaw right to the center of the storm -- and when I mean that, I mean the planet Earth, and we will use it even before they would attack it."

~

Evanson of the Intergalactic Union stood at the bridge of the Aetos as it drifted out of the planet's atmosphere into space. Through the transparametal, he could see through the vacuum of space and to the other ships around it as the ships prepared for the entry into hyperspace. The space debris slowed them down a little, but they were almost ready.

"Evanson, all ready to go. The guns are all charged up, the shields are ready. This journey to Earth will take ten hours at least, eighteen at the most," The first officer spoke from behind him. Without turning his head, he nodded and with a slight rock, the light coming from the stars and the moon expanded all around and vanished, leaving darkness in plain sight and they were in hyperspace.