Roy Rocket - Beyond infinity

Friends and enemies

While he was on the submersible and moving away from danger, Edward managed to disinfect and patch up his injuries, starting with the shot wounds to his forehead and left arm, and then his right arm, that had been mauled by Tex.

The external force that controlled him, and that sometimes talked to him inside his head, had somehow given his body an abnormal ability to regenerate. The pain had stopped and he could already move his arms without much of a problem. He relaxed, waiting for instructions. His mind, when the voice wasn't giving him orders, was completely free of thoughts and emotions, as if all his memories and feelings had been put aside or cancelled, like a computer whose memory had been erased.

The submersible was now motionless in the ocean's depths patiently waiting, as instructed. Glancing through the anterior porthole, Edward noted a large shadow quickly approaching, unclear in the darkness of the deep abyss. Soon the shadow became clearer, defining the outline of a vehicle which looked vaguely like an enormous sting ray. The submarine, advanced with elegance and agility in the ocean depths, stopping directly above the little submersible, just a few meters away. A wide door opened in the submarine's belly and the submersible was swallowed into its interior, reemerging in a generous docking bay inside a dark hangar.

Edward moored the submersible without difficulty, he opened the door and jumped out onto the edge of the dock, before walking towards two figures in uniform who were waiting for him in front of an opening that led to other sections of the vessel. He had the impression that he'd never been there before, and yet he was moving confidently, well aware of what he was doing.

The appearance of the creatures who were waiting for him didn't disturb him at all, even though they were two unsettling beings with grey skin, and big deeply set black eyes which stood out on faces that lacked any distinctive facial features.

The aliens didn't say a word; they just opened the door behind them and accompanied the man along a winding corridor whose charcoal grey walls were interrupted now and then by wide slits where he glimpsed tangles of cables, tubes and strange glowing mechanisms. Their footsteps echoed on the cold metallic floor, drowning out the buzzing background noise coming from the vessel's machinery. They stopped in front of another door which they opened and gestured for Edward to proceed. Without any hesitation, the man moved forwards crossing through a barrier of blinding green light, on the other side of which was a dilating door which closed automatically as he passed.

He found himself in a large circular room, with numerous portholes dotted around the perimeter and supported by a huge central column which was crammed full of mechanisms and devices of various types.

«There you are, at last!» he was welcomed by an impressively striking alien, who was wearing a far more elegant and elaborate outfit than the two beings who had accompanied him.

«Sir, I...» the soldier hesitated.

«Confused, my little puppet? Naturally.» The alien moved closer to Edward, squaring him up smugly.

«Obviously you can't remember me, and you can't recall ever having been aboard this vessel.»

«No, I...» the man echoed, his gaze staring into space.

«I am Dymeus, the deolian who programmed you for this mission, but that's not important, now.»

The alien took a small spherical object from his pocket, he then extracted a thin needle from it no longer than the width of four fingers.

«Even though things didn't go as planned» Dymeus continued, «the information that you've gathered is of vital importance and I hope that it can give us the answers that we've been looking for. That's why we've been waiting for you so anxiously.»