A New Divide

The air had accumulated a certain thickness, and I felt it weigh heavily on my shoulders. I instantly felt uncomfortable. I felt a warm, compassionate stare as we sat there, in silence, for almost a minute. A minute to wrap my head around what had just happened, and then he spoke.

“I’m so sorry, Collin.”

I slowly stood up and pushed my chair in. The cigarette had rolled to the underside of Virgil’s boot. He stomped on it, as he also stood to his feet. He was still in awe at the appearance of this most unlikely guest.

“Collin, we should talk. You see, I—”

I took my arm and hooked him as hard as I could in his jaw. He stumbled backwards and fell over a table. It caused quite a commotion at the restaurant. People gasped, and Virgil quickly rushed towards me. He attempted to grab my arm, but I quickly made my way out of the restaurant. I ran, and I ran.

[-<Commander Mark Wyman>-]

-The Alexandria-

The skies of Arcadia were swarming with traffic; Mark did not consider, with PGL’s ban on the Salaran teams, that attendance for the games had dropped significantly. Therefore, visitors for the opening games were leaving much earlier than expected. This caused an aerial traffic jam at the exit points of the GDR’s sector defense network. The ships in the Gannon sky were at such a number that they created clusters that began to cast a shade over the planet.

So in the meantime our Good Commander decided to pursue other matters. He was aboard the Alexandria coordinating his fleet’s position all over the solar system, when the Alexandria’s pilot came rushing forward. “Commander Wyman, sir?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“We have just received word from Admiral Myers and Admiral Brawn. They have reached their separate destinations, and have begun assisting the locals. No presence of the crusader army has been detected, but they have set up defensive perimeters.”

“I wonder why our old friend Arcoh has been so silent as of late. No matter. Tell them to stand fast, and to begin preparing themselves for the assault fifty-five Gannon days from now.”

“Yes, sir.”

Silas approached Mark with haste as they walked through the halls of the Alexandria. “What’s our status on our departure, Vice Admiral?” Mark asked Silas as they entered the bridge. “Well, sir, our warships have left the exosphere and await our arrival past the GDR defense platforms. Thankfully President Harris gave you the security codes for the GDR defense network.”

“Very good. Tell them to make their way to Rayden and Minerva and begin assisting the locals. I have already contacted General Wright and he anticipates our arrival very soon.”

“Very good, sir,” Silas said as Mark walked down the main platform of the bridge, and pulled up the command sphere on the lower observation deck.

“Where is your sister, Silas? She should be helping to take care of this mess, not you.”

“I’m not sure, sir; I haven’t seen her since last night,” Silas responded as he rubbed his hands through his hair. Mark frowned slightly as he addressed the pilot of his flagship.

“Captain?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Why haven’t we been cleared for departure? Our fleet awaits us on Rayden.”

“Well, sir, the Alexandria is just too large to fit through the GDR’s channels. The channel director says it’s far too risky yet; we may have to wait a while longer until the traffic clears. Otherwise we would be scraping the remains of smaller ships off our hull for months.” The pilot’s comment frustrated Mark; his glorious flagship was so large, it could not fit through normal channels in the sky. They would have to wait for the GDR to clear a path in between the massive space platforms in the outer atmosphere. Even with the GDR defense codes in his brain, they were still stuck.

“Very well. Contact me as soon as we get the green light.”

“Yes, Commander.”

He turned to Silas, who looked confused. “Silas, find your sister. An ambassador cannot do a general’s job.”

“Yes, sir, I will do my best.”

Mark tapped his temple and activated his transmitter. He walked up to the railing and looked down at the bustling city several hundred kilometers below, which was coated in gold from the rising suns. Mark watched as a storm was rolling from the northern continent of snowcapped mountains down onto the incredibly massive city. “Virgil, do you read me?”

“What’s up, boss?” Virgil asked after a short silence.

“We are preparing to depart.” Virgil sat at the same restaurant table staring out at the ocean, the sunlight glimmering in his eyes. He tapped his hand on the table and leaned back into the chair. “I might need your help with that one, partna.”

“What’s the problem?” Virgil sighed as he flipped his sunglasses over his eyes, and lit up another cigarette, looking out at the storm clouds that were filling the distant horizon. “Well, something very unexpected happened.”

“Is he all right?”

“Yeah, he’s fine physically, but emotionally not so much.” Mark sighed as he calmly rubbed his forehead.

“Virgil, can you please tell me what is going on?”

“Kid’s father showed up. Collin decked him and ran off, then he ran after him. So I’m sure they are having a heart-to-heart talk. Knowing Collin he probably won’t listen, he’ll just run, and run. Arcadia is a big place, brother.”

Mark stood at the floor-to-ceiling windshield of the Alexandria for a moment before he summoned a bridge technician over to him. “Well, Virgil, grab your airship. We’ll track his bio energy signature and find him in a heartbeat.”

“Sounds good, boss man.”

Virgil deactivated his transponder and placed a ridiculous amount of credits on the table to compensate for our food, and the slight damage I had caused to the restaurant. Then he quickly darted off to his airship in an effort to discover where I had run off to.

I ran faster than I think I ever ran in my life that day. Even more so than when I was in the PGL training camp, and believe me, that is really saying something. Our histories certainly have a way of catching up with us. His arrival, and my reaction to it, caused this “chain reaction” in my brain. My emotions solidified, and through it came my internal voice of reason, after I had run down the boardwalk to where the rocky wall ended, and those white beaches began. There, I rolled up my sleeves, and I sat in the sand. I wiggled my toes through its soft, and soothing surface. It was the rocky shoreline that lined up against the only unoccupied surface of Gannon, Gannon Mountain Park. It was a nature reserve the size of a continent that stretched from the city limits of Arcadia, and it encompassed the north pole.

The mountains were sprawling with wildlife and vegetation the first colonists had planted in the initial attempt to terraform this world, and the many others like it. After the colonists had terraformed the planet they found they had to leave vast sections of wilderness, in order to regulate the oxygen, for it is not man-made creations that balance an atmosphere; it is the living things. The coastline was undisturbed and I was, again, alone with my thoughts.

I stared at my tattoos, my ever-changing tattoos. I started to see the resemblance between them, and myself, my constantly changing emotions and circumstances. It was a pattern, the tattoos reacted with how I felt. I never noticed because, ever since the first time I saw them, I had wanted to cover them up with my vast selection of jackets, and thin long-sleeve shirts. I was afraid of being judged, for being different. My time spent with my new friends showed me how foolish this idea was, but the thought of it still intimidated me; the incredible burden I had to bear if Eden found out.

I pondered the significance of my future to the background of the massive green mountain ranges behind me. Like Cyrus said: it will all come, with the discipline of time.

Just then I heard my father’s voice. I glanced over my shoulder, saw him running across the beach, and straight towards me. “Collin! Collin!”

I could not have cared less to hear his words; nothing he could say would make me feel differently about everything that happened between us. Then I thought that maybe talking to him could give me just a little peace of mind. In that moment my pride would make me turn back to the first option. I convinced myself that I did not care; I continued to stare out at the ocean as he ran up beside me. I could hear his heavy panting, as he stopped next to me, leaning on his knees to catch his breath.

“Whew! So you finally decided to stop running, huh?” I remained silent as I stared away from him, squinting, as the sunlight was damn near blinding me. My father sighed, and plopped down on the sand behind me. We didn’t speak a word to each other at first.

I think it really surprised him that I decided to break it. Funny how stubborn we both were. “How the hell did you find me?”

He scooted up towards me, as the storm clouds slowly began to cover the city in the distance. I could see the lighting crashing down from the heavens, and the thunder echoed across the white beach.

“All of Eden knows that you are here on this world, Collin. That’s all that they’ve been talking about. You should have seen the news. Collin King, lone survivor of the Rayden Comets, retires. They are calling it the end of an era. You’ve created something, a legacy, something that will last forever. Collin, my boy, you must utilize that.”

“Is that why you decided to look for me? Do you want to cash in on your son after all these years?”

“Of course not! But damn it. You are right. I am sorry I left. You must understand it was always for the better. My god, look at you, all that you achieved after I left. Son, what has happened to our people?” I got very angry when he asked that. I was already infuriated. What other reason would he have to come see me, than for help for himself?

He should have been there to see it himself. So I spared him the actual events, and gave him a short version. “They took everything, they killed everyone. I only lived because of what I am, but I suppose you already knew that, didn’t you?”

I raised my forearm to him, and he gazed at my colorful morphing skin imprints before my wrists. We sat in silence yet again for another few minutes. The storm was rolling across the horizon and it began to stir up the ocean. The lightning strikes could be seen far in the distance, but it began to grow more sporadic, as did the many echoes of thunder.

My father diverted the question; he was clearly not ready to answer, and changed the subject. “You know this planet here is more like Mother Earth than any other planet we have discovered. They say it is practically identical. When we first arrived here, much blood was shed over which nation would inherit it as a new home. Funny how hard we will always try to hold onto our same traditions instead of adapting to change. That’s how I knew I would find you there, at that same diner we went to long ago.”

I finally turned to him and looked straight into his eyes. His attempt to change the subject failed, and I restated my question.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He sighed and stared towards the turbulent sky.

“Some things are better left unsaid. Some things are just easier to figure out on your own.”

“Is that why you left? So I could figure out my life on my own? You have any idea how that made me feel? You are a bastard.”

“I did it to give you your own life, your own identity. Because of what you are, you had to become your own man, Collin. Take a look at yourself. You are alive. You have created a legacy; all you need to do now is use it. Since you like asking so many damn questions, why don’t you ask yourself this? Did you really turn out so bad?”

I cracked a smile at him and he could not have been more correct. Damn it, I hated him in that moment. I hated him for being so right.

“I suppose that’s why you had Virgil look after me?”

“Son, you never needed anyone to look after you. You needed somebody to guide you, needed someone to show you the way. That was something I could only do for so long.”

“I still hate you.”

“I know, kid. I know. That’s what I want to change. Hopefully in time, you can find it in your heart to forgive me. There is so much I need to tell you, Collin, maybe then you can understand your . . . condition a little more clearly.”

Just then Virgil’s airship dropped in front of us. He rotated the thruster engines, and his airship hovered just above the water. I jumped to my feet, turned around to my father.

I was insulted by his remark. A “condition.” I do not have a “condition.” I am evolved. The sand stirred in a mild tornado behind us from the powerful thrusters of Virgil’s airship. I had to yell over the mighty thrusters, in an effort to finally confront my father.

“A condition! Are you kidding me? I don’t even feel human!”

He slowly climbed to his feet, and a look of concern washed over his face. “Not human! You punched me in the face, expressed your emotions, and you showed humility in front of billions of people yesterday at the games! Collin, you are more human than anyone I know! You are just the result of when evolution decides to take a leap forward!”

“AH! You and your stupid leaps!”

The sky was now completely covered by the rapidly spreading storm cloud. I began to feel a light drizzle of rain fall upon my face. The thunder rolled in, and crashed in a melody: it played with the restless waves that clashed with the rocky shores around us. It was like nature had created a symphony, and was playing it out in an incredible presentation.

I yelled back at my father over the roar of the airship’s thrusters.

“You never answered my question!”

“What are you talking about, Collin!”

“Why did you come back!”

“I already told you, Collin!”

“What are YOU talking about, dad!”

“I left because you needed to become your own man! Now you need guidance. Please let me help you one last time! I’ve learned from the mistakes you haven’t had the chance to make yet!” The airship landed, and the furious pelting of dust and sand, being tossed up by the thruster engines, had finally ceased. Virgil opened the latch and walked up behind me. By that time, the wind had picked up, and the seemingly mild storm had turned into a typhoon. The rain that gently brushed my face, now was well on its way to knocking me to my feet. Virgil stood beside and turned me towards the ship.

“What the hell are y’all doin’ out here!”

“Felt like looking into the eye of the storm, old friend!” my father said.

“Where is Mark?” I asked as I covered my face from the brutal winds that were flinging sand in every which direction.

“The Alexandria. Let’s go, kid!” I walked through the side of Virgil’s airship and made my way to the passenger’s seat. I sat down and stared through the windshield and I saw Virgil call over to my father.

“Well, John, what’s it going to be!”

“What do you mean?” my father asked obliviously.

“Man, you are just as clueless as your kid. Get in the airship, John!” My father began to walk towards Virgil, looking confused, and rubbing the back of his head. Virgil mounted the step-up platform, when my father called out to him.

“Your commander is okay with this?” my father asked.

“Get in, partner, my commander is expecting you!”

[-<Commander Mark Wyman>-]

-The Alexandria-

The Alexandria rested high above the city of Arcadia, just below the planet’s exosphere. Mark was staring at the turbulent storm out the massive window on the bridge. The cloud now completely covered a large portion of the city, and this occurrence was making it increasingly difficult for the Alexandria to leave Arcadia’s spaceport. This gave the Good Commander time to think about the events he had set in motion.

Mark had told his closest generals, along with Virgil, that he had been feeling very nervous about this great expedition. Mark began to wonder if his intentions for this great expedition were changing to become a more militaristic campaign. Just a reflection of Arcoh the Eminent.

He was now charged with the deed of removing Arcoh from his throne, an enemy that had been silent since the purge, other than the theft of the gravity cannon. Mark could not see any other way of uniting Eden, without ending his reign of terror and oppression. This plan of his to create the union of Eden was in jeopardy, especially with the thought of a possible Salaran spy within his own ranks.

Over the next several days he began to grow increasingly more cautious, and suspicious of his officers, and Admiral Victoria Andrews was at the top of his list of suspicious subjects. When she walked into the bridge, Mark glanced over his shoulder in caution. He feared his suspicions for his first admiral were correct, and what terrible damage she could cause with her security clearance.

“Where is everyone, sir?” Victoria inquired as she entered the bridge.

“On break. Where have you been, Admiral Andrews?”

“Apologies, sir. I had some personal effects to attend to.”

“Never took you for the personal type, Victoria.”

“There are a lot of things you do not know. I prefer to keep to myself. You know this, sir.”

There was a short silence between the two of them. Then Mark chuckled softly, and turned to his fleet admiral, wearing a faint smile. “You don’t have to explain yourself, Admiral. We were just curious. It’s a city like no other; I’d be having fun at my own expense if I could ever spare the time.”

She smiled at our Good Commander and joined him at his stare out into the furious storm. “I am supposed to inform you, sir; the Arcadians have finally cleared a path through their outer-planetary platforms. We can leave to join a third of our fleet on Rayden at any time.”

“Very well, Admiral. Our fleet has rested long enough. The show must go on.”

“Yes, sir.” She quickly walked to the main intercom terminal that ran throughout the ship, and she spoke in the hologram. “Attention. All crew members need to be in their stations, and ready within thirty minutes. Our light jump to the Outlander capitol will begin, as soon as we have left Gannon’s gravity well.”

I frantically searched the Alexandria for Helena, as Victoria’s commands blared over the intercom. Soldiers were in a frenzy, scurrying around the hallways, making their way to their stations, as the ship’s jump to light speed would soon begin.

We had arrived late, just before the Alexandria left Gannon’s gravity well, and I quickly distanced myself from my father. I didn’t want to speak with anyone but Helena. I needed to seek her out, so maybe she could shed some light on yet another life-altering moment I had encountered. I needed her to comfort my heart, with her kindness, and her being.

I finally made my way to the medical deck, and I found her questioning an older officer who was receiving his annual genome injection. She was scrolling through the display on her holoband, and she seemed very focused on her work.

“Helena! Helena!” I called out to her as I made my way through the crowded bay; she was ignoring my calls. She wore a lab coat over her usual attire, and she had been absorbed by the chaos that coursed throughout the medical bay.

“So, Mr. Gustavo, I see this is your 252nd injection,” she said to the officer on the medical table. “That’s correct, ma’am.”

“How is your state of mind? Do you feel obligated to continue receiving injections for the next fifty years?” I stepped through the transparent door, and rested my hand on her shoulder.

“Ah, there you are. I thought I would never find you in this chaotic mess.” As I said this, she replied without turning her head towards me. I immediately sensed that something was off, especially the way she replied unemotionally towards me.

“Please, sir, I will assist you in a moment. I would appreciate it if I could work uninterrupted for a moment.” I withdrew my hand in shock by her reply. I rubbed my hand across my face, and backed through the transparent door into the passing crowds. I pressed my back up against to the wall of the corridor, outside the room; I saw her peak over her shoulder, with a gloomy look on her face as she continued her interview.

“Ma’am?” the soldier asked.

“Apologies, sir. Continue.”

“I do plan on receiving the annual injections. And I find myself feeling a state of mental discomfort recently.”

“Depression, thoughts of suicide?”

“No, ma’am, nothing of that nature. It may take a while to explain.”

“Well, sir, if you could fill out this form, we can further assess your current mental condition and go from there.” She handed him a holographic clipboard, and he began filling out the form by answering the questionnaire. She began anxiously tapping her kneecaps and she glanced back at me for a split second. The officer looked at her as she made her nervous displacements. She noticed his stare, and stood up from her hovering chair.

“Can you excuse me for a moment?” she asked as she stood by the door.

“Take your time, miss.”

She turned around and walked out of the room, straight towards me, with her head down. She walked right up to me, and I placed my hands gently on her arms. I smiled and looked down upon her.

“I am in desperate need of a psychiatric evaluation, ma’am,” I said softly so only she could hear. She gave a faint smile, and I leaned my forehead against hers, closed my eyes, and gently pulled her in close.

“I’m so glad I found you, Helena. It’s been a very hard day.”
She lightly backed away, and we stared strangely at each other. Our eyes became teary, and I saw her lip started to quiver. She still avoided my stare with her head down.

“Helena, what’s going on?” I asked.

“I can’t help you right now.” I took my hand and stroked her hair away from her face.

“Helena, I need you. Please tell me why you’re so upset.”

She finally looked up towards me; I saw a single tear, streaming down her soft cheek. “I can’t get close to you,” she replied. I backed up and my eyes began to swell, along with my heart. “I’m so sorry, Collin. I don’t have a choice.” She almost began to cry as I slowly started to walk away.

“We always have a choice. Okay, I’ll, uh, see you around, I guess,” I said as I hid my face so she could not see my tears. She began to silently cry, very subtly stretching her arm out to me as I walked down the hall.

I felt so confused and lost. What did I do? Worst of all, I really did feel alone for the first time since the purge began. In Eden, nobody ever wants to feel alone.

[>Jonathan King<]

-The Bridge-

Virgil and my father had made their way to the Alexandria’s command center. By the time they arrived in the command center, the Alexandria had already made the jump to light speed. Mark looked over to them, as they made their way to the main console in the center; my father was absolutely fascinated by the elegance of the Alexandria. He looked around, and began touching everything like an idiot. Victoria ran up to him from the projection sphere as he touched interfaces and my father instantly became an annoyance amongst the crew.

“Oh my, what does this thingy do?” he said, as he pushed a technician aside from her touch-screen projection. “Sir, please this is my station, I would appreciate it—”

“Pipe down, son, I’m not going to hurt anything.”

“I’m a woman.”

“Whatever.”

The bridge technician pushed him away from the monitor when an alert started to sound. “Imbecile! You almost launched our entire missile salvo!”

“Ooh, maybe I should keep my hands to myself,” he said as Victoria lingered behind him. “Yes, you should! Virgil, who is this idiot you brought onto my bridge!” she shouted in outrage.

“Admiral, he’s—”

“Oh wow, Virgil, please,” my father said as he fixated his eyes upon Victoria.

“I retract my previous statement. I would love to lay my hands on you.” He took his hand and extended it to Victoria as a wide smile emerged on his face. “The name is Jonathan King, miss, the pleasure is mine, but it could be all yours, when you take me to your quarters tonight.”

She gave him a fake smile and shook his hand. My father went to release the handshake, but Victoria pulled him in with an overwhelming tug, and head butted him. This knocked my father onto the floor, hard, where he held his head and laughed while experiencing the pain. He looked up at her—she was wiping away the blood that spilled from her cut forehead.

“Damn, he’s even more hard-headed than his son. Filled with nothing but bricks. Never touch me.”

“Well, you could massage my throbbing bump you just gave me. Although you would have to pick one of the two.” He smiled and laughed until Victoria kicked him very hard in the abdomen. Then he stopped laughing, and groaned as Mark approached him, and helped him to his feet.

“Nope, lower, sweetheart,” my father said as he coughed in pain.

“You are a pig.”

“Damn, I like her, Virgil; we’ll have to do it again sometime. I never got your name, sweet thing.”


“You must be Collin’s father; to what do we owe the pleasure?” Mark asked. Jonathan stood apart from Mark, and he wiped his blood from his mouth.

“I was told you were expecting me?”

“Well, I sure as hell wasn’t expecting another King, one is enough as is,” Victoria remarked. My father blew her a kiss and gave her a wink.

“Please, sweetie, the men are talking here.” Victoria punched him very hard in the jaw. This sent him stumbling back into Virgil.

“You are on my ship, you stupid bitch! You are far worse than your boy! As soon as we reach Rayden, his ass better stay there, Commander. I do not want him with us.”

“It’s actually my fleet, Admiral, and we will do no such thing,” Commander Wyman said in defense of my father.

“But sir, you have no idea who this man is, what he could be hiding; plus he has no respect for authority.”

“Victoria, you need to learn to become more tolerant, especially if you plan on leading this fleet someday. Why don’t you take a breather, a walk?”

“I’m fine, sir,” she replied in frustration.

“I wasn’t asking, Admiral. I will call you when we reach Rayden.” Victoria stormed out of the command center, and my father’s egotistic attitude ceased when he heard Mark speak of Rayden.

He slowly turned to Mark, who simply gave him a smile. “I see where he gets his attitude from,” Mark said as he chuckled lightly.

“Is it true? Are we heading to Rayden?”

Mark looked to my father, and Mark’s compassion came pouring out. “Yes, yes we are. We are going to help rebuild all that they have lost. I just wish Minerva was not too far gone.”

My father looked down and heavy emotion filled his voice. “I should have been there.” Mark placed his hand on my father’s shoulder, and my father clenched his fist. My father was suddenly overcome with guilt and regret.

“My friend, they will have their retribution soon enough, that I promise you. I’m a man of my word.” My father turned his gaze out into the ocean of stars that were flying by all of us. A nervous feeling came over him, for he knew that within an hour, the blue and teal skies of Rayden would be hanging in the horizon, and the fires on Minerva shining brightly. He would finally lay his eyes upon a now-destroyed home world that he had left behind so long ago, along with the only family he had left, Virgil and me.

I ran away just as I always had. I thought that I needed to be alone, when the reality was I needed somebody beside me, someone to help carry the incredible weight this burden had bestowed upon me.

How could things have gone so wrong, in such a short amount of time? I sat there in an empty hallway outside one of the barracks, in the Alexandria, my back against the wall. Just when everything seemed to be building itself back up, it began to fall completely apart. This thought frustrated me, and angered me, to the point where I temporarily lost control, and let my emotions get the better of me.

I quickly stood up, and shouted at the top of my lungs, as I punched the wall that I had been staring at for about twenty minutes. My arms illuminated, and my punch cracked the entire surface of the wall. The incredible force I released shot a shockwave into the wall, which cracked the lighting along the hallways, from the floor to the ceiling. I was thrown back onto the floor, and I began pounding on the surface. Cracking and splintering it in all directions. I will not lie; it did feel quite good to release some of the stress that had been building up along this journey.

I probably would have destroyed the Alexandria from the inside out, had it not been for Vice Admiral Silas Andrews. He heard the commotion, and stepped out of his sleeping quarters, to see what jackass was making the ship’s interior shake.

“Whoa, maybe I should come back,” he said as he began to recede back to his quarters, but he stopped when he saw me pouting like a child.

“I didn’t know anyone was around. What does it matter anyway? No one can help me.” He began to walk in my direction as I was clutching my head, lying on the floor, covered in shattered glass.

“That’s quite a gift you have,” he said as he calmly approached me.

“It’s a burden.”

“Hardly, you just need to learn how to control it, Collin.”

“How the hell would you know, Silas?” He stood over me and looked down on me in sympathy. I felt in that moment that maybe Silas was the friend I had been looking for all along. Something about that look in his eyes really spoke to me, and I felt I could trust him. I thought maybe even he could understand me.

“No one should be alone in this world; it’s too cold and ugly. Friends will help you, Collin. They will always support you every step of the way,” he replied as he presented his hand in a warm, and opening, gesture to me. I was realizing how childish I had been, and replied back.

“You think you could help me control this ‘gift,’ Vice Admiral?”

He pulled me to my feet and smiled widely. I dusted off the glass that was covering my clothes. “Collin, I would be honored.”

I nodded to him, and behind his shoulder, I gazed at a familiar sight. We had arrived where my journey had begun, Rayden, but as I would soon learn, this would not be the beginning of the Remoran’s great expedition—it would be the beginning of something else entirely.