The Decima, Enroute to Lo-Nine

Gideon McDonough

He watched in amazement at Shindow’s new abilities. Magic. She was casting fire from her hands. Baxter ran in circles, barking excitedly at the lights and noise. Excertius stared on curiously. Deborah beamed with her alabaster grin. Another spell rang out as the tiny AI tested the limits of her abilities.

“Grapeshot.”

Power radiated from her, sending goosebumps down his limbs. The fiery leadshot peppered the target, blasting it to shreds. He covered his ears as the bang-roar of her magic echoed out, reminiscent of ancient powder technology.

“Shindow!” he gestured towards her destruction. The target lay in burnt shreds.

She floated over to him with a large grin affixed.

“Gideon- isn’t this fantastic! I’m an oxymoron! A contradiction! What am I??”

“Don’t worry, I won’t think of you too weird from now on,” he jabbed. He felt in better spirits at the revelation, despite Lucifer’s minion dreaming of them.

“Hah! You mean weirder than normal- right? Because let’s face it, I’m a strange mix of mana, emotion, and quantum!” She adjusted her glasses, sweeping back a loose strand of projected hair.

“Sounds dangerous,” he chided with a smile.

“You better believe it! Don’t get in the way! Right, Baxter?”

The corgi stopped, pausing in mid stride with a curious look.

“But Shin, you are up there and I am down here- I cannot get in your way!” he barked back, ears twitching like radars. He did a double take from her to the debris and then proceeded to run up to the smoldering target, smashing it into pieces and scattering debris throughout the craft.

“Baxter! You’re making a mess!” Shindow tutted. She flowed down to the dog, wagging her finger at him, “I said don’t get in my way- so be a good dog…”

“But I am always good!”

"What do you call that??"

Gideon turned to Deborah as she halted in front of him.

“Gideon, are you well?”

He pursed his lips, as if sensing something wrong, she mimicked his gesture.

“I feel good- but I’m scared- you know? Scared out of my mind at what’s to come. The Dusk- Watchers- what will happen when we arrive? The dreams and visions. The trauma of everything,” he glanced away, speaking quietly, “Lucifer found us, Deborah.”

She clasped his hands, her smile was small like an ember.

“Her escape and pursuit were all foretold. Her own arrogance and delusions will be her downfall. Do not fear.”

“It’s not just Lucifer. That Slate. Void and Entropy… There’s too many monsters in this universe. And not enough of Adonai.”

“Gideon, he is here,” she touched his heart, “and if I could be jealous, I would be of your heritage- you have what I cannot know- The Spirit of Adonai.”

Shindow and Baxter were arguing over magic and food in the background. He barked a single laugh at their antics.

“Is it really so easy?”

“No,” she chided with a smile, “but you have all the help Adonai musters.”

“Where is he?” Gideon asked.

“Gideon, you will see soon. I cannot say… Suffice to say, we are desired in his plans.”

He felt the ship lurch as they exited FTL. He felt something wrong in his gut. This wasn’t a designated stop.

“Prosine- status?”

Shindow and Baxter halted their game of chase, pausing to listen.

“Attention all crew, you will want to see this,” Prosine announced.

He snapped to Deborah as she began moving, gracefully gathering a wiggly Baxter, and opening a portal.

Gideon held out his hands, “Wait..!”

And before he knew it, he ceased to exist and yet his mind stretched to encompass the universe he occupied. And then he fell on his rear to the Decima’s bridge, brain flipping in circles at the sudden change of realities.

“I… hate. That. Feeling,” he muttered.

“You will get used to it!” she laughed back, implying a future of portals and mischief.

The bridge had changed, with several additional seats for the crew.

He stood, witnessing the viewscreen.

A small moon of glinting reflection stood in the center, surrounded in a yellow nebula and sculpted objects. A perfect sphere of empty space surrounded the celestial object, appearing as an eye staring back at them. He felt a brief chill of surreal fear staring at the formation. He reminded himself of pareidolia, seeing faces in random objects to calm himself.

“Prosine, what do we have?” he asked.

“Good Gideon, we’ve arrived at one of the many galactic landmarks inside the Sculptor’s Way, The Candle-Eye. A solid planet of diamond surrounded by a cloud of neon gas stretching several light years. Not to mention the asteroid sculptures in perfect satellite orbit. That is one of the reasons I called you all here,” Prosine announced as his particle projected form materialized.

The screen zoomed in on empty space, in between floating sculptures.

"Uh, Prosine, are you malfunctioning?"

"Look," the AI implored.

Shindow adjusted her glasses, barking out the answer, "oh- I see it! There! The distortion. It's a veiled ship!"

"It's heading this way," Prosine announced.

Gideon's stomach dropped as his cheeks burned. It was light years away, yet Prosine's perceptive eye caught it. His skin felt flush. Only one instinct cried out.

Danger.

"Prosine, get us out of here," Gideon quietly said.

"Getting coordinates for the next FTL flight."

"Gideon, I'm getting an outline- oh dear!" Shindow cried as he saw the imposed tracing of the vessel.

It was a dreadnought with a sharp crescent nose that ran to a triangular bladed under-belly. It was elegant and curvy, dangerous and dominant.

He sucked in his breath, "Mars Technocracy…"

"Titan-class dreadnought. Capital ship. It was the final version before Armageddon," Prosine explained.

"Can we hail them?" Shindow asked.

All he could think about was Lucifer. It was her- he knew it. Nothing was by coincidence.

"I don't like this- just get us out of here, Prosine!"

"Locking in coordinates, preparing for FTL jump."

Gideon blinked and the outline vessel had hopped several light years, having somehow weaved through the sculpted asteroid field within a millisecond. Something else was wrong. Deborah spoke up, her voice filled with concern.

"Gideon, did you feel that? They used temporal magic- just now."

"Prosine!"

"Jumping now."

A cylinder of stretched light encompassed the view screen, it stretched to long kaleidoscopic beams as a jolt ran through the ship.

Gideon slumped, having dodged an unknown bullet.

"Gideon, do you think it was Lucifer?" Shindow asked, as if reading his mind.

He glanced up at his AI companion, feeling the heavy weight of fear.

"It has to be. There's no other explanation."

"That is not completely correct," Prosine began, "it could be any number of things, be it friend, neutral, or enemy. They may have had no interest in us and were only curious.”

“We can’t risk it, Prosine. Just keep us away from any incoming vessels.”

“As you wish,” the AI replied.

He stared into the viewscreen, hypnotized by the light show.

“I agree with Gideon’s decision. Someone on that ship had used magic, slowing us outside of time itself. It was extremely powerful,” Deborah stated through pursed lips.

Baxter’s gem glowed as Saddiffer appeared on the bridge, his sad gargoyle face sadder than ever.

“The glowing one is correct. If there is anything I know it’s power. And that… That was power. I doubt I would be victorious against such an opponent- if that one spell was any indication.”

Gideon was shaken by his words. Saddiffer was quite literally one of the strongest beings he had encountered, barring Void, Entropy, Lucifer, Slate, and Amy. To think there were other monsters to so casually meet in the universe was disturbing.

Deborah scowled at the former demon.

“Don’t be too pleased, glowing one, those are the only compliments you’ll get.”

She was about to retort when a small corgi piped up.

“You are too big- be so much smaller!” Baxter ordered.

Saddiffer’s face and body appeared to deflate and close, as if he were in the final moments of life.

“As you wish, master Baxter.”

He shrunk down to his impish form with his oversized head and tiny body. His meager wings flapped madly to stay aloft. Baxter proceeded to jump around, attempting to snap the flying gargoyle out of the air. Saddiffer squeaked a protest, retreating down the hall with a barking and baying corgi in hot pursuit.

Gideon shook his head, palming his brow.

“Prosine, keep the flight going. Let us know if anything changes. We’re hemmed in on all sides by monsters.”

“Gid, we’ll be fine. Adonai is looking out for us. Whoever they were, we escaped. We’ll get to Lo Nine, deliver the cube, meet new friends, then look for Father!”

“And who’s to say we’ll make it?”

His question hung in the air. He regretted saying it the moment he opened his mouth.

“Gideon,” Deborah rebuked slowly, “do not be the prophet of your own destruction. Do not fulfill the plans of the enemy.”

He glanced up at her, seeing her warm alabaster smile.

“Good gideon,” Steak announced, “I am checking security feeds and we are all in agreement: the Tesseract cube has vanished.”

“What??” Gideon snapped to the anforms, “Gone?”

Steak nodded briefly. He rushed from the bridge down the hall with the rest of the crew in tow. He slid to a halt at the makeshift science lab as the door slid open, hastening to the table, seeing no Tesseract.

“Prosine- where did it go? Bring up security feeds!”

A holographic screen appeared, as did Prosine’s particle projection.

“Good Gideon, I have analyzed the feed. As you can see,” he explained as the video rewound back to moments ago. He saw the table and the disquietingly black cube.

“This is during our time moments ago,” he explained as Gideon witnessed the black cube simply vanish. It was like a poor game editor dealing with a cutscene trigger, simply deleting the prop from existence.

“What- where?” he stammered.

“Unclear, it appeared to have vanished when that magical outburst occurred from the legacy Mars Technocracy vessel.”

“The time distortion spell may have affected us, but not the cube,” Deborah added.

“But where’s the Tesseract? Should have kept it in QSD… Prosine scan the Decima, look for it. Make sure Saddiffer didn’t take it!”

“Good Gideon, do you think he did?” Patricia asked.

“I won’t rule out anything. He was our enemy only recently,” he surmised.

But wouldn’t he be breaking Baxter’s contract?

“Saddiffer and Baxter are in the main nacelle room. I see no sign of the cube, unless he has it in his demonic inventory. And to be objective, he was on the bridge with us,” Steak explained.

Shindow’s face lit up as she glanced to Gideon.

“Sensors do indicate a strange blip- an empty space absent of air. Also, one of the food stores has been opened.”

“Where?”

“Lower deck, just beneath the main hangar,” she and the anforms vanished.

It had been a while since he’d been down there. He turned and left the science room, turning to Deborah, catching her before she sent him spinning through dimensions.

“Wait- I’ll... Walk this time.”

“As you wish. I shall journey with you.”

He fast walked down the halls with Deborah in tow, taking two steps for every one of hers.

“What could it be? Is that why Saddiffer was so intent on staring at it?”

“Who knows with that demon.”

He could tell Deborah was not appreciative of the Eudaemon. It was understandable, due to their previous animosity. Hell, he didn’t trust Saddiffer yet, either. He flexed his left hand, the one the former demon had shattered.

They made it down to the hangar within time, discussing what they might find at Lo-Nine.

“I dreamed of the Dusk there- I mean the Watchers- Hellspawn with two names for all I care.”

“No! They’re actually quite nice!”

He scoffed at her response.

“Nice? Nice?? They almost made me brain dead by proximity!”

“Well, you are only human,” she replied as if that explained humanity’s entire relationship with their interdimensional bane. There was a quiet silence as they moved down into the lower storage bowels of the Decima. Opened the square deck lid, glancing down into the low lit hull.

“Tight quarters, unknown Dusk artifact threat…” he glanced up at her with raised eyebrows, “lady’s first?”

His cheeks burned at wanting to put Deborah, someone he thought of as a lady, up front and in potential danger. A lady who was also a millenia old warrior who had slain countless foes and survived encounters with two Elder demons. It was a new universe, afterall.

“I shall lead. I am your guardian, after all.”

The guilt was snuffed out at her request.

She ducked down gracefully into the hull that was meant for someone much smaller. He was still amazed at her flexibility and control, as if all of her muscles, tendons and bones obeyed her completely. He was envious of her angelic body, his own physique leaving much to be desired compared to her perfection.

She waved him down, gesturing it as safe. He ducked down, taking the steps carefully. He was close to the outer hull, only meters away from the dead empty vacuum of space. Prosine had cleverly repurposed the auxiliary bulkheads for storage purposes. He materialized a shoulder lamp, clicking it in place on his jumpsuit. The pulse pistol came next. He took a deep breath, steadying his shaky hand. Deborah had squat down low, making graceful steps, akin to making wide waddles like a land-graceful swan. Gideon’ knees were already crying out from the odd posture of squat walking under the criss-cross berylite bulkheads.

He heard an odd sound.

The sound of someone chewing and eating.

Slate.

He felt the lancing pain through his skull. He paused, gasping with sudden pain. An orange blip of light rushed towards him from the dark.

“Gideon, are you alright?” Shindow asked.

“I’m fine- what did you see?”

“Uh, you’ll want to look at her yourself.”

“Her?”

“Steak and Pat are watching the entrance- come on!”

“Come one, Gideon. Let us meet this newcomer.”

He shuffled through the bulkheads, spotting both Excertius in their skeletal chassis, almost folded up due to the cramped space. They were both armed with pulse rifles.

“Good Gideon, the suspect is inside. I suggest we monitor the situation,” Steak announced as his sole swivel eye snapped to him.

“No need, good Steak, we’ll see this intruder.”

He felt a leap in his chest at her comment. He gulped down his fear. Whatever this thing was, it may have the Tesseract. Or it may be the Tesseract. He never questioned it could be alive.

He glanced into the room, his shoulder lamp highlighting the dark black Dusk robes, and the child-like form wearing them. It sat flat, legs spread as it ate through a Primetech meal ration, bag and all.

“Slate?” Gideon said aloud, cursing himself for blurting out noise.

It stopped, glancing over to him through deep glinting sapphire eyes from within her cowl. Her face gleamed like precious stone, perfectly smooth and sculpted. She looked like a child carved from a single gem. He spotted the dark lines splintering through the deep under gem-flesh like blood veins. There was something wholly alien to her appearance. He couldn’t read her droplet eyes, giving her a disquieting uncanny valley effect. Even her hair was clear stone, her sideburns curled to spirals of sapphire.

The Tesseract was alive?

“Oh. Hello and goodbye- I think? Or is it just Hello? Hello! Hellooooo,” she greeted with an odd tone, “wanna play pride and squeak? Stride and streak? Ah, that's it- hide and seek!”

“What?” he replied dumbly.

“One, ten- ready or not, tag you’re a goose!”

She hopped up, rushing up along the bulkhead wall, phasing through the ceiling and vanishing from sight. The tail of her robe swirled and rushed like the tail of a strange animal.

“What?!” he cried.

He looked back at Deborah with wide eyes.

“Aren’t the Watchers exciting?” she chided.

They now had a stowaway. He suddenly wished the Tesseract was still in quantum storage.