A Thousand Light Year Journey

Chapter 28: Before I Go

Like Commander Aries said, everything he needed was there. The coordinates of the Asteroid's location, the complete information of the man he'll look for on earth, and the devices he'll use for his mission.

He landed in the woods. Because according to the locator, the destination shouldn't be far from there. After a few minutes of following the locator, Glay stumbled upon an old house mostly made of woods. Considering the advancements in technology in that time, he wondered why the person living there chose to live in a home like that.

He gently knocked at the wooden door. A man probably in his middle 40's opened the door and greeted him.

"Can I help you?" Philip asked. He looked at him from head to toe. Glayden was still on his suit, but he left his helmet in the ship.

"Hi. I'm Glayden."

Philip just stared at him, not saying a word. Seemed as if Aries didn't give him a heads up about his arrival.

"Aries sent me here." Glay added.

He quickly pulled Glay inside and locked the door.

"Aries? From Orbinovus?" He asked.

"Yes. And he said he's got something I need. For the Asteroid."

"You mean, the bomb?"

"Yeah.."

"You're going to do it? Does ACRO know?"

"No... They're against it. I just escaped. Who are you exactly? And how are you related to Commander Aries? Why are you helping? Why do you have the bomb?"

"I'm Philip." He said. "I'm a headhunter. Before, I was once belonged in Innovation and Development Sector. But now, I make weapons for the other Orbinovians assigned here on Earth. Aries and I already knew each other before he was assigned back in SFR."

"How?"

"We were one of the few who were trusted to know about the upcoming doom. ACRO predicted it earlier. By then we sped up the recruitment process to save as much humans we can. Now that it's near, the remaining headhunters like me are tasked to wrap things up and finish deporting the final batch of recruits to live in Orbinovus. But I couldn't help but think about how wrong it is. Letting these people die? Just because they're worthless to them?"

Glay nodded.

"I told Aries about my plan. I planned to make a bomb. A very powerful one, enough to tear that Asteroid into pieces. He didn't wanna help me. He said we just better let ACRO do what they want. He was scared to defy them. So I did it on my own."

"Why didn't he kill you or told ACRO about your plans? That's what he does."

"No, no... That's not true. Aries was just scared to break the rules."

"He killed a soldier!"

"It wasn't him!" Glay froze. "It was someone else who killed those soldiers. Then he killed the killer, and claimed it to ACRO so they won't suspect. Because if they did, they will investigate and might find out about his son.... wait... Are you.."

"Yes. I am his son." Glay looked away and said, "And I am disgusted. He's a murderer. He killed Dr. Filmann who was supposed to help me. He threatened to kill Maxee. He almost got my friend killed, He-"

"You don't understand! Aries would do his best to not get anyone killed. I'm sure there is an explanation behind all your allegations. Because if what you're saying is true, he wouldn't have helped you."

"You have a point." Glay breathed.

"I was indeed surprised. He's finally doing something. Maybe he's tired of being a coward."