The nightmare

Thursday 10th of May 3021

The alarm on his E-C woke Nyco up from a terrible nightmare. In the nightmare, it was him the one that died on Verdant-43 and not Levi. The fact that they both had an almost identical face made the scene of Levi dying a lot more traumatizing.

Nyco wished he could have saved Levi. He remembered his face when he was cut down in two. He did not show any signs of fear, Levi had just accepted his fate.

 The boy let the song of the alarm play as he thought about Emma. He could not die like Levi did on that mission. He had to go back to her and bring Juliet’s body. Nyco feared Emma’s pain more than he did death.

“Birds-eye view, rise above the clouds and see the world around you…” said Nyco’s favorite song. He started humming the song’s lyrics as he slowly woke up.

-Could you turn that off. I’m tired of hearing that song-, said Silvy from the upper bunk bed. The two Star-finders had been sleeping in the same room for the past few days. They were on their way to the space station orbiting Nane Sarma to get all of the mission's details. Since the spaceship they were on was quite small, they had to share the same room. Nyco would have preferred sleeping on the upper bunk bed, but Silvy had beaten him in rock, paper scissors, so there was nothing he could do.

-Sorry-, Nyco said as he turned it off, tired of himself for always forgetting in the mornings that he was sharing the room.

Silvy got her E-C out and read Emma’s last conversation with her. In it, Emma asked her if she was also going to the mission on Nane Sarma. After Silvy had confirmed that she was going, Emma sent her a warm message. “Please take care of Nyco. And you be careful too, Silvy” the daughter of Juliet wrote.

Silvy had sent a simple “I will” as an answer.

The young 16 year old Star-finder with the same blue eyes as Nyco, jumped down to the floor from her bed. She started changing from her pajamas to her uniform right in front of Nyco without giving it any thought. She was a true Star-finder and didn’t care about someone being in the room as she changed. She did not have an inch of shyness.

Nyco got another glimpse of her new prosthetic arm. It had the same beige color as her real skin. They made it so realistic that Nyco could not tell that it was a fake robotic arm.

Once Nyco finally got ready, he went with Silvy to the dining room. Alan appeared a little bit later and they all had breakfast together. “Ok. We’ll arrive at the flagship in about half an hour. We will then have a meeting with all the other Planet-Gazers, and after that, we land on Nane Sarma”, Alan briefed them. “And look. I know why you both decided to come on this mission. I know you intend on looking for Juliet’s body to bring it back home. If that’s what you want, I won’t get in your way. But we complete the mission first, then we search. Ok?” Alan asked. Nyco thanked him for understanding and Silvy gave him a light nod in agreement. “Very well then. Let’s kick this planet’s ass”, he said, trying to hype them up.

When the three went to the meeting, they sat next to each other in the back row. The meeting started exactly at 11 am. A Planet-Gazer came in through the front door and got up at the little platform in front of everybody so they could all see him better. He then pressed a button on his glove and a 3D hologram of the frozen planet appeared right next to him.

-This is Nane Sarma. One of the deadliest planets in the galaxy. We will land on this god-awful planet in two hours-, he started explaining with a commanding voice. -Unfortunately, our general could not be here to give the briefing of your mission as she is attending other matters, so you’ll have to settle with me. But fear not, she will join us on the icy hell we are about to enter later. First, let me salute all 30 of you for your bravery-, said the Planet-Gazer giving them a proud military salute. They all gave it back. -It’s my honor to serve with you all. Right. As you all know, Nane Sarma is not exactly the number one choice for sightseeing. More than 90% of the people that enter this planet never leave-, he explained.

Nyco could not help feeling a sense of excitement after hearing that. He felt as if the planet was challenging him to enter and leave. He then realised that he wasn’t there to complete any challenge, that craving was something they had implanted in him. He was there for Emma and Juliet, not for his selfish needs. The boy then looked at Silvy and saw how poorly she hid her enthusiasm.

-Even though this planet is so hostile towards us, we keep coming back for one reason. And that’s its beautiful and useful crystals that are buried under its frozen surface. This crystal called Alkim is stronger and more durable than diamonds, so I don’t think I need to tell you all the medical, jewelry and industrial uses we have for it and why so many mercenaries and thieves steal it. We’ve been having an uprise in scum taking our beautiful crystals and we are putting a stop to it. Since we’ve implanted every box of extracted Alkims with teleportation negators, these lowlifes steal our products and hide in little caves they’ve dug all over the planet’s mountains, waiting for their little mommy ship to come and rescue them. So here’s what we’ll do. We are going to split into groups of six and check all of their settlements that we’ve discovered around the planet. We are going to catch them and then bring them to justice-, he said with rage -Now, what’s our biggest enemy in this mission? Well that’s the planet’s unpredictable weather. Most of the planet is covered in these enormous storms that carry frozen knifelike icicles in all kinds of sizes...

The Planet-Gazer kept explaining the planet’s dangers with passion, but Nyco lost all concentration when he saw a familiar face among all the attendants. He had to double check since he could not believe his luck. He was also seated at the back row, but on the right side of the room. After all those years of trying to forget about him and now he reentered his life? Nyco touched Alan’s arm with his elbow to gain his attention.

-What is it?-, his mentor whispered.

-It’s Lasson. He is… here. He is a Planet-Gazor too-, Nyco said in a low voice, still not wanting to believe it. He then pointed with his head so the mentor could see where Lasson was sitting.

-Who?-, Alan questioned.

-Lasson. The bully from my school that I had that fight with-, Nyco remembered him.

-That 's him? Are you sure?-, the 30 year old Planet-Gazer asked.

-Of course I’m sure. I could never forget his face. How the hell did he pass the psychological test? He is a psycho!

-Shhhh!-, whispered Silvy, interrupting Nyco. -I’m trying to pay attention and listen to all the unique ways this planet has of killing us. You know, to survive and all that.

Nyco decided to stay quiet and listen to the rest of the speech. Then, as if he knew he was watching him, Lasson turned his head and looked back at him. Nyco could not read his expression, but he knew the bully had recognized him.

Lasson then turned away and kept listening to the speech as if nothing had happened. Nyco felt uneasy. This was not the start he wanted for this dangerous mission.