Kharon Part 22

Kharon Chapter 22

   Kiarah and Luke are in the systems deck. They start examining the weapon, guidance and defense systems. “Well?”, asks Luke.
  “No structure damage. The weapon systems should be fine after some minor repairs. The motors need some work to be fully operational again but I believe it’s doable. The shields will never be the same again but with effort we might be able to bring some of it back online.”
  “And the guidance system?”, says Luke.
  “Gone. No salvaging it. We sail like the ancients did from now on. By the stars.” 
  “You’re lying to me again”, says Luke menacingly.
  “I don’t lie. It brings dishonor.”
  “All you do is lie.”
  Kiarah slams her hand against the wall. “You think I am proud of what I did!? I thought I was doing the right thing! Instead I’m a disgrace!”
  “So why should I believe let alone trust you?”
  “Because I’m done. In every sense of the word. I have nothing to believe in or live for. What purpose do I have to not tell you the truth?”
  “I don’t know. But I do know I almost got killed because of you. I put in a lot of work and made a lot sacrifices to get this second shot. To get to The Gardens.”
  Kiarah looks Luke dead in the eye. “And I told you they don’t exist."

  Luke pulls out his map. “Prove it then. Take us to where this map says it is.”
  “I can’t. The skies are not like the ancient times. They are too dense to see the stars accurately. Even though I studied the ancient ways of star navigation I can’t confidently guide you anywhere. No one can.”
  Luke gets right in Kiarah’s face. “Well the Quarsian’s are said to be the greatest navigators of the sea and you said you were the finest of the Quarsian sailors and this is supposedly one of the greatest ships in the Quarsian fleet so I think you are up for the challenge.”
  “Fine! You want to waste your life on a fools errand what do I care.”
  “Good”, says Luke. “Then it’s a deal.” He extends his hand and Kiarah reluctantly shakes it.
  “Get me the repair kit from the bridge and get your friend’s to help. We need to start these repairs immediately if we are to have a chance of surviving on the open seas.”
  “That’s what I want to hear.” Luke turns to head back up to the bridge.

Kharon - Part 21

Kharon Chapter 21

    Somehow miraculously the Kharon manages to emerge safely onto the ocean’s surface once again. The ship is somehow right side up and the motors aren’t 100% but they are still functioning. Kiarah pushes the ship to keep going as far away from the eruption as they can get. She turns to the others, “ Is everyone in one piece?”
    “I’ll let you know when my head stops spinning and my ears stop ringing”, says Jacob.
    “This better be just my own lunch I am currently wearing”, says Luke wiping vomit off himself.
    “I think Sparky and I made it through. Just shaken”, says Emma putting pressure on a cut on her arm.
   “How the hell did we all survive that?”, asks Simone.
   “We're all just that lucky”, says Luke. “The ship ok?”
   “I’m not picking up any hull breeches but the motor is running slow and the shields are damaged.  The guidance system seems to be currently offline as well”, says Kiarah.
   “What!? Don’t you need the guidance system to get us to The Gardens?”, asks Luke.

   “I don’t know how to get to The Gardens. I just told you that so you would help me. The Gardens is just a myth.”
   Luke explodes and rushes at Kiarah. “You what?! I’m going to kill you bitch!”
   Kiarah remains calm and says, “Go ahead. Don’t you get it? The Metrons took everything from me. My family, my home, my friends, my beloved Fronzo.”
   “Fronzo?”, says Emma.
   “Quarsian for mate or lover”, says Simone.
   Kiarah continues, “So I had to take everything from them. Now you can do whatever you want. I don’t give a damn. It’s nothing worse then what they already did to me.”
   “I don’t get something”, says Emma. “If you knew how to blow up their entire island why didn’t you just do that to end the war with them?”
   “My people found out their secret but we kept it to ourselves and vowed not to use it for we considered it dishonorable to destroy their entire home.”
   “And that’s now changed?”, asks Jacob.
    For the first time since they met her the others witness emotion come to Kiarah’s face and voice as tears begin forming in her eyes. “They betrayed me. I gave them strategic information that they said they would use to peacefully bring an end to the war. All I wanted was to stop the constant fighting. All I wanted was to start a family with my Fronzo. But they instead used the information I gave them to...to take everything.”
   “Eye for an eye”, mutters Simone.
   Jacob then says, “Luke, listen to me for old times sake if nothing else. I understand your anger but we are in the middle of the ocean on a Quarsian ship. Who better to pilot it then a Quarsian. This ship isn’t exactly user friendly.  Why do you think it was just sitting in the harbor?”
   “Is that why you were going to give it to us”, growls Luke.
   “Um...well....that’s not important right now."
   “Plus the last people that messed with Kiarah got a whole volcano dropped on their ass”, says Emma.
   Luke stares at Kiarah’s unflinching face of sadness and ponders what the others said.  Finally he releases her, “Come with me to examine the ship. Now!”

Kharon Part 20

   Kharon - Chapter 20

   The Kharon is sailing away from Metron under heavy fire.  Everyone is gathered on the bridge. They all look concerned except Kiarah who says, “I would recommend you hang on tight.”
   “Looks like they are pursuing us. You gonna try to lose them?”, asks Simone.
   “Won’t have to”, comes the reply from Kiarah.
   Just then the ship begins to shake. The others look out the windows and see the ocean
bubbling and starting to churn.
   “What the hell is going on?”, asks Jacob.
    Kiarah calmly replies, “The volcano is about to erupt.”
   “What!?!”, say the other four in unison.
   “That’s the secret to their success. It’s why they are so energy and resource rich. They
built their city on top of an active volcano and used their technology to keep it from erupting.” 
   “So why the fuck is it about to erupt now!?”, yells Jacob.
   “I turned it off”, says Kiarah.
   “What exactly did you turn off?”, says Simone as the ship begins shaking more violently. 
   “The mechanism that keeps the volcano from erupting.”
   “Come on if something like that really existed they would have built in a secondary failsafe”, says Jacob.
   “They did. A secret one at the main armory. Which is why I had you destroy it.”

   “Well even if you turned off whatever the hell keeps a volcano from erupting that doesn’t mean an eruption is imminent. Right?”, asks Emma.
   “One of the energies the energy sphere collects is geothermal energy. The explosion the two gentlemen made would have sent a sufficient enough shockwave down into the volcano triggering an eruption.”
   “Are you a fucking psychopath!”, cries Luke. “You tricked us into setting off a damn volcano!”
   “Well I guess that’s two islands we destroyed”, says Emma holding on tight to Sparky.
   “Not helpful”, says Luke.
   “While I'm not terribly heartbroken to see Metron blow up, are we going to survive this?”, asks Simone.
   “I originally planned this to be a suicide mission but since you helped me I will try to keep us alive”, says Kiarah.
   “Not what I want to hear! So not what I fucking want to hear!”, cries Jacob.
   “Listen you psycho bitch you get us out of here safely or so help me I will shred you into pieces so small the fish won't even bother with them!  You will beg for mercy!”, cries Luke.
  “I think it’s kind of pointless threatening someone who was on a suicide mission”, says Emma.
  Kiarah calmly says, “I have all of the shields up to full power and have been at full throttle since we pulled out of shallow water.  That being said I would still recommend praying if that's your sort of thing.” 
   They all hear a loud boom and look out the window to see Metron gone and in it’s place a huge plume of fire and smoke that is growing and heading towards them.
   “Shit!”, says Luke.
   “Fuck!”, says Simone.
   “Oh damn!”, cries Jacob.
   “Holy hell!”, yells Emma.
   Just then the plume of smoke, fire and water vapor hits the Kharon. The ship is tossed
in the air and then pulled underwater. It rocks back and forth as it is swirled through the currents like a rag doll held by a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. As it is jostled around the crew inside desperately try to hang on for dear life. Kiarah is concentrating on keeping the Kharon as steady as possible and diverting as much power to the shields as she can. But the ship is being tossed about in violent spasms. It takes all of her skill and everything she has ever been taught since she was a little girl to keep the ship together.

Kharon Part 19

Kharon Chapter 19

   Luke and Jacob arrive breathless on the beach where the Kharon is waiting. Emma and Simone are already there. Emma is still holding the robot animal. “What the hell is that?”, says Luke referring to the A.I. resting comfortably in Emma’s arms.
  “He’s my pet”, answers Emma. “They were going to deactivate him so I adopted him.”
  “We aren’t here to pick up strays”, says Luke.
  “Aren’t all of us strays”, retorts Emma.
  “I didn’t know you were the sentimental type.”
  “There’s a lot you don’t know about me”, says Emma placing the A.I. on the ground. 
   Jacob reaches out a hand to pet him. “What’s his name?” As Jacob says this an electric current goes from the robot to Jacob and shocks Jacob. Jacob falls backwards and to the ground.

   Luke smirks. “Maybe having a pet ain’t so bad after all.” 
   “I think I will name him Sparky.”
   “Whatever. Let’s go”, says Luke.
   “Kiarah isn’t here”, says Simone.
   “Oh dammit to hell!”, cries Luke.
   “Settle. This should improve your mood.” Emma reaches behind her and pulls out a small gun shaped device that she tosses to Luke.
   Luke examines the object and pulls a trigger on it. An electrical current shoots out of it like a taser. He then pushes another button and it shoots out a coil. The electrified head hits a nearby rock and scorches it. “Sweet a viper! This should replace the guns and knife we used up, quite nicely.”
   Jacob who is just now getting up and brushing himself off says, “Just what I don’t need. Another fucking toy for you to torture me with.”
   Emma tosses another object to Jacob. “Here, you can shoo him away with this.”
  Jacob pulls the trigger on the object and a wind tunnel forms in front of it that blows everything away. “Thanks!”
   “Are you shitting me! What the fuck are you giving him weapons for?!”, cries Luke.
   “If we are all sailing to The Gardens together we mine as well all feel comfortable with one another."
   Luke walks right up to Emma. “I'm not sure I like you anymore.”
   Emma looks Luke right in the eyes. “Like I give a shit.”
  “Cool it”, says Simone. “Here comes Kiarah and from the looks of her I say she completed her mission.”
   Kiarah comes scaling down the rock wall covered in blood. Kiarah walks by them without much acknowledgement aside from her saying, “Let’s go.” She heads back onto the ship and the others follow.

Kharon - Part 18

Kharon Chapter 18

    Back at the Chancellor’s Manor Kiarah drops a heart to the floor with a sickening thud. She is covered in blood. She walks up to a console on the wall in the bedroom almost in a daze.  She stands there for a moment staring at it before she places the severed hand she is carrying on the lit panel before her. A secret panel in the wall opens up to reveal some kind of elaborate computerized control board. She holds the severed hand as well as an eyeball up to sensors in front of her. The lights on the control board turn from red to green. Kiarah then begins turning a dial and then pulls a lever. She then turns around and walks out of the bloodied bedroom dropping the eyeball and the severed hand behind her as she leaves.

Kharon - Part 17

Kharon Chapter 17

   Elsewhere Jacob and Luke emerge from the sewer system. They look around them and see that the inhabitants of the island are standing perfectly still like they are frozen in place. “What the hell!?”, cries Luke seeing everyone not moving.

   “They must have locked everyone down.”
   Luke shoves someone off their hover-board. “Well good thing we don’t have any microchips.” Luke speeds away on the hover-board.
   “Hey come on wait for me!”, cries Jacob shoving someone off their air-scooter and following Luke on it.
   A hover-car then descends on the two men as they race through the streets. From the loudspeaker on the hover-car a voice blares, “Pull over now or all necessary force will be used to make you comply.”
   “Shit!”, yells Jacob as the hover-car begins firing its lasers at them.
    Another hover-car joins in on the pursuit. A vehicle that looks like a giant chrome big wheel is coming down the street in the opposite direction of the two men. The chrome vehicle pulls to a stop sideways in the road to try and block the two men from escaping. Luke and Jacob go on the sidewalk mowing people down to avoid the chrome vehicle. The chrome vehicle now joins in on the pursuit along with the hover-cars.
   Luke begins slowing down on his hover-board in the middle of the street. “What the fuck are you doing?!”, yells Jacob.
   Luke doesn’t answer and instead manages to get alongside the chrome vehicle during a bend in the road. He takes out a knife and throws it at the front wheel locking it up and the vehicle flips over.
   “You always did have good aim with a sharp object”, says Jacob.
   “It’s the simple things. But I gave the other knife to Emma so we are going to have to figure something else out for the hover-cars”, says Luke.
   Jacob spies some biofuel cells up ahead. “I might be able to come up with something.” He slows down and maneuvers near the cells drawing the hovercrafts fire to hit the cells. The biofuel cells explode and take out both hover cars. Luke and Jacob hold on tight as they are pushed forward from the blast behind them. “The people here have grown soft with their technology. They forgot how to improvise.”
   “Don’t get cocky ass wipe”, says Luke as they speed on ahead taking a sharp turn.

Kharon - Part 16

Kharon Chapter 16

  At the Chancellor’s Manor the Chancellor is getting dressed in his bedroom chambers. His wife awakes and asks, “What are you doing, dear?”
  “We are under some kind of attack. I need to go to the war room. Stay here. The guards will keep you safe”, says the Chancellor as he kisses his wife’s forehead. Just then the bloody and lifeless body of a guard is thrown through the bedroom doors. The Chancellor and his wife have looks of horror on their faces at the sight of the mangled sentry.
   Kiarah then walks into the bedroom holding her bloody weapon in one hand and a decapitated head in the other. “I do not believe the guards will be able to keep anyone safe anymore.”
   The Chancellor’s eyes grow wide at the sight of Kiarah and he stutters, “Kiarah! What... what are you doing here?”
   Kiarah calmly replies, “You sound surprised to see me. I take it you were under the assumption that your soldiers killed me along with the rest of my people as you instructed them to do.”
   The Chancellor tries to fumble with a switch to call for help as he says, “No...you...you have it all wrong. I told my chief of defense to make sure casualties were kept to a minimum. He swore to me he understood our arrangement and would accept the surrender of your people peacefully once we used the information you gave us.”
   “Keep away from him you savage!”, cries the Chancellor’s wife.
   The Chancellor continues to plead with Kiarah, “It’s...not my fault that they got blood thirsty and carried away. I can assure you he has been dealt with severely.”
   “Really?  That’s not what he said right before I ripped his throat out."
   The Chancellor goes for his gun concealed under his pillow but before he can fire Kiarah throws a dagger made of bone at his hands and knocks the weapon away.  The Chancellor starts to panic. “Be reasonable you won’t make it out of here alive. We can make another deal.”
    Kiarah starts advancing towards the Chancellor and his wife. “We haven’t finished our original deal. Don’t you remember? I told you if any of my people were needlessly hurt with the information I gave you I would rip your heart out.”

Kharon - Part 15

Kharon - Chapter 15

   Back at the burning and damaged energy sphere Jacob and Luke are firing their guns trying to get away from the guards.  They then hear an explosion in the distance and look in the direction of the noise to see fire rising into the sky. 
   “I take it the armory is blown”, says Jacob.
   “Awesome sauce!”, says Luke sarcastically as he fires his gun.
   Jacob starts prying a sewer grate off the street with a piece of wreckage he found lying around. “We're out of ammo, let’s lose them.” Jacob and Luke hop down into the sewers and find themselves in a very complex maze of pipes and tunnels.  They begin dashing through the twisting corridors and ducts.  “I suppose you can say it's fortunate that their underground network is so elaborate and extensive.”
    "Just shut up and run!"
   

Kharon - Part 14

Kharon Chapter 14

  The two women enter the armory. Emma uses her shovel and Simone uses the knife Emma gave her to dispatch the guards.
  “Guess that’s why your infamous”, says Emma impressed with Simone’s moves.
   “Don’t you forget it.” They start looking around. 
   "What is all this stuff?"  
   "Weapons they've stolen from other islands and retrofitted just in case they needed it."  Simone picks up what looks like the hilt of a sword, “Now this is more my style.” Suddenly the hilt emits a blade made out of fire. 
  Emma fires a repeating crossbow. When the arrow hits the wall it explodes like a firecracker. “Nice.”
  “Ok enough fun. Down to business.” Simone walks down a long sterile looking corridor and opens a door at the end. “Aha bingo.” 
  “What did you find?”
  Simone reappears outside the room holding a small device. “When I tell you make sure you run like hell.”
  “You’re not going to get us killed are you?”
  “I know we never worked together before but I’m a professional. Trust me.”
  Just then they hear an explosion and the lights in the room flicker. “It sounds like the others just did their part so let’s do ours!”  They walk towards another door but hear voices. They creep to where the voices are coming from.
  “What the hell was that all about”, says the one voice.
  “Transformer probably blew”, says another. An almost growling/barking sound is then heard. “Shut up you stupid bucket of bolts!” They then hear a rattling sound. “Damn thing never shuts up.”
   The two women come to a door where they hear the voices coming from and crack it open slowly. They see two guards with their backs to them sitting. On the floor is a small metal cage with what looks like a robot four legged animal inside it.
  “Why did you bring him anyway?”, asks the one guard.
  “I am getting him deactivated but I ran out of time to stop at the repo before work”, responds the other guard. “The little bastard never shuts up and has shocked me, the wife, and the kids.”
  “Are the kids upset?”
  “Na they lost interest weeks ago.”
  “Yea those AI pets are nothing but trouble and then the kids lose interest after a month.  That’s why I got the pet program for the VR console instead.”
  “Me and the wife didn’t even want the piece of junk. The kids wore us down.”
  “Maybe they will turn him into something useful like a gazootron nano or something.” The one guard rattles the cage with his foot. “Hear that? Your going to become a gazootron nano how do you like that?” The guards both chuckle.
  Emma fires an arrow at one of the guards and he goes down hard. Before the other guard can process what happened and draw his weapon another arrow is already reloaded and Emma takes him down with it.
  “Nice shooting”, says Simone as she begins running towards the exit but she stops when she realizes Emma isn’t with her. She looks back and sees Emma looking down at the robot animal in the cage. “Come on! What are you doing?”
  “Look at the little fella. He don’t deserve to be deactivated just cause he’s got a few screws loose.”
  “He isn’t going to be deactivated. Instead he is going to get exploded because I’m about to blow this whole place.
  “But he's a living thing. They said he was AI.” 
  “The guards were living too. Who cares.”

  "They were assholes”, says Emma unlocking the cage. “I’m tired of people putting others in a cage just because we're different. I’m getting him out of here.”
  “Fine just hurry or I’m leaving your ass. If the guys blew up the energy sphere we got limited time”, says Simone as she begins running again.
   Emma scoops up the AI and follows Simone out of the building. Simone presses a button on the device in her hand and turns a knob. “Ok, run like hell!” Behind them the whole armory goes up in a blazing inferno.

Kharon - Part 13

Kharon Chapter 13

   Luke and Jacob run up to the back entrance of the gate surrounding the energy sphere. They hide behind a structure and Jacob throws a rock through a window of a parked vehicle nearby to make a distraction. The guards at the entrance run out to investigate and Luke and Jacob smash the electronic lock on the gate and go in. They then sneak up to a guard booth with two guards in it. Jacob creeps up under the window and taps on it. While the two guards get up to investigate Luke comes up behind one of the guards and slashes his throat with his knife. Jacob bashes the other guard on the head with the butt of his gun.
  “Make sure your silencer is turned on”, says Luke.
  “I know I know alright.”
  Luke takes a key card from one of the guards and uses it to open the door. The two men sneak down a long hallway. They use the key card to open another door and then down a flight of stairs.
  “How do you know where you are going?”, asks Jacob.
  “I'm just going on the assumption that the lower levels will have something we can use to blow this place up.”
  The two men go through another door at the bottom of the stairwell. Through the door is a huge room filled with large machines. Guards and workers are going about their business. Luke and Jacob open fire on them. The fire is returned but Luke and Jacob manage to end the fighting quickly.
   “Come on!”, yells Luke as he grabs one of the dead workers. Jacob helps Luke drag the dead worker over to what looks like some kind of control room. They position the workers hand and eye on a scanner which grants them access to the room.

Kharon - Part 12

Kharon Chapter 12

   Meanwhile Simone and Emma are sneaking up to the main armory. As they get close to a guard post Simone calls out, “Please someone help me!”.
  Two of the guards come running. One says, “What’s wrong miss?” But before Simone can answer Emma bashes both of the guards over the head with a shovel.
  “I don’t know why everyone keeps leaving these things lying around”, says Emma examining the shovel.
  Just then another guard comes up behind Emma and yells “Freeze!”.
  Emma whirls around and knocks the gun out of the guard’s hand with the shovel and then whacks him over the face. “They really should have better guards than this for an armory.”
  “Have you ever been here?”, asks Simone.
  “No, why?”
  “They don’t really need guards. Everyone here has a chip inside them. All they have to do is flip a switch and the person is frozen.  Everything is electronic here.”
  “Wow”, says Emma legitimately impressed and a little frightened.
  “The guns these guards carry are even controlled by chips. They can only be used by them and are useless to anyone else. And they have tons of surveillance cameras and sensors all over the island. Only the Quarsians figured out how to make themselves invisible to their technology.”
   “Oh so that’s why Kiarah gave us these stones. You would think the Metrons would’ve developed a safeguard though.”
    “They did. They sent their best technology and warriors to wipe out the Quarsians.”

Kharon Part 11

Kharon Chapter 11

   The quintet climb over the rocky wall and on the other side is a futuristic metropolis with space age technology and huge towering structures.
   “There’s our ride”, says Kiarah gesturing towards a monorail about to pass by them. 
   “How do you expect us to get on it?”, asks Jacob.
   “Jumping”, says Kiarah matter of factly.
   “Yeeahh...see I am more of a business man”, says Jacob.
   “Just hang on tight”, says Kiarah as she pushes Jacob off the cliff and onto the monorail.
   "I'm starting to like you more", says Luke.  Jacob screams as he plummets towards the monorail with the others following after him. 
  Jacob frantically grabs at anything and barely manages to hold on.  “I fucking hate you all! I fucking hate you all!”  The others also land safely on the monorail.
  Luke smiles at the sight of Jacob and turns to Emma. “That almost makes this whole detour worthwhile.”
   They are approaching a gigantic sphere that upon closer view appears to be made entirely out of solar panels, wind turbines, and other machines that generate energy all working in unison. Kiarah points to the structure. “Gentlemen.”
   Jacob and Luke let go and land in some well manicured shrubs. “I hate you all and am never fucking doing that again!”, cries Jacob.
   “Yes you are. That’s our ticket back to the ship. You think we can just walk back after blowing up their energy source.”
  Jacob rolls his eyes, “Kill me.”
  That can be arranged”, says Luke as he takes out one of his guns. He then tosses it to Jacob.
  “You’re actually giving me a piece?”
  “I don’t see another way to get past the guards.”
  “What if I just shoot you and make this place my new home?”

  “You won’t cause you’re a curious man and you want to see if The Gardens really exists. Besides this place doesn’t have enough action for you. You would be bored in a week."

Kharon - Part 10

Kharon Chapter 10

    A short time later the ship is beached along a small shoreline with a high cliff. There is wreckage washed up all over the beach. The Kharon herself is dinged and scorched but still functional and in pretty good shape all things considered.
   “Shocked we actually made it through that in one piece”, says Jacob.
   "Well I was the finest of the Quarsian sailors."
   “Won’t they know we are coming now?”, asks Emma.
   “I used an old Quarsian trick to make it look like we sank. But they are familiar with that trick so they are still going to be on guard till they confirm.”
   “Great! Just fucking great”, says Luke.
   “This nook on the island is hard to get to and I put up the cloaking field on the Kharon so their instruments won’t pick it up.”
   “Can’t they still fucking see it beached on their island”, says Luke. 
   “It is night time”, says Emma.
   “Plus Metrons trust their instruments over their eyes”, says Simone. 
   “Correct. But we still need to be quick about this”, says Kiarah. 
   “For once no argument there”, says Luke.

   “We need to hitch a ride on the monorail and then split up for speed sake.” Kiarah points to Jacob and Luke. “You two will get off at the energy sphere and sabotage it enough to create an explosion that will provide a sufficient diversion.”
   “No fucking way I am partnering with this shit bag!”, cries Luke.
   “Hey! I ain’t thrilled about it either dick hole but let’s just do what she needs and get the hell out of here. These people didn’t reach superpower status by accident."
   Kiarah turns to Emma and Simone. “You two will get off at the main armory and I need you to destroy it.”
   “How are we supposed to do that?”, Emma asks.
   “I don’t care how just as long as it is gone. The Kharon is fast but I want to have a little bit more of an edge.” 
  “I gotcha” says Simone.
  Kiarah turns and starts climbing the rocky wall. “Ok, let’s move.”
  “You gotta be joking”, says Jacob staring at the rocky tower in front of him.
  “I never joke”, says Kiarah.
  “Yea, I can tell."
  “A shame I never knew about this spot. Surprised they didn’t get rid of this beach and put their technology here. Just like the rest of the island”, remarks Simone.
  “It would have compromised the geographic and aesthetic integrity”, says Kiarah.“So instead they just pretend it doesn’t exist.”
  “Guess even their technology has limits”, says Simone.

Kharon Part 9

Kharon - Chapter 9

   Luke is suddenly jolted awake as he is tossed around the ship as it heaves and convulses. He had dozed off at his post. He isn’t sure for how long. He hears explosions and sees huge waves crashing against the windows. Through the waves he can make out a huge island with towering magnificent modern structures. Kiarah is intensely piloting the ship towards the island despite artillery fire and waves coming from the island towards them. Kiarah is returning the artillery fire with the ship’s weapons as she navigates the huge tidal waves.
     “What the fuck!”, cries Jacob as Simone and Emma both appear on the bridge equally confused.
     Kiarah calmly replies, “Metron is firing on us and using their wave machines as well.” 
    “Why the hell are we going to Metron?”, asks Luke.
    “That’s where my appointment is”, replies Kiarah.
    “Then why the fuck are they firing on us and trying to sink us?!”
    Kiarah shrugs, “They must have forgot.”
   “You lied to us?”, says Jacob.
   “No”, says Kiarah. “I did make a deal with the Chancellor. I told them how to end the war with us and instructed them on how they could defeat my people.”
   “Then that still begs the question why the hell are we being fired on?!”
   “Maybe because I also told the Chancellor that if he hurt any of my people I would find him and rip his heart out.”
   “This is not our war”, says Emma.
   “I know”, says Kiarah. “But I’ll help you if you help me.”
   “What do you need?”, asks Emma.
   “I just need you to make a distraction so I can sneak into the Chancellor’s manor, kill him, and return to the ship.”
   “Eh, what the hell, I am always up for a chance to plunder Metron”, says Simone. 
   “This is fucking ridiculous. You are going to get us all killed!”, cries Luke.
   “No I won’t. As long as you follow my instructions. This will be quick and then we will safely be on our way to The Gardens.”
   “You know I am getting damn tired of you calling the shots”, says Luke. 
   “Patience. We must all have patience”, says Kiarah turning her attention back to the island in front of them.

Kharon - Part 8

Kharon Chapter 8

  “What?!”, exclaims Emma. “Is it really like they say it is.”
  “We have a map so we don’t need you”, says Luke.
   Kiarah responds to Emma’s question, “Yes, it is like they say and more.” She then turns to Luke. “And a map only gets you close. You need to have actually been there before to know the way. Why do you think it is still a legendary paradise and has not been plundered yet.”
   “We will stick with our map”, says Luke.
   “Suit yourself”, says Kiarah. “But you will never find it without me.”
   “Don’t be a stubborn ass”, says Emma to Luke. “If she knows where it is let her take us there.”
   “I guess”, says Luke reluctantly.
   “All of you are going there?”, asks Kiarah.
   “Eh couldn’t pass up a chance to tag along and finally see this place with my own eyes”, says Simone.
   “Well since you two fucking torched my home I have nothing left to go back to”, says Jacob.
   “Like hell your coming to paradise with me. I should blow your fucking head off right here right now”, says Luke.
   “Violence amongst the crew while sailing brings bad luck”, says Kiarah.
   “Fine.  But one wrong move in our journey and I will not hesitate to kill any of you”, says Luke putting his gun away.
   “All I fucking care about is getting to The Gardens”, says Emma.
   Kiarah turns back to navigation, “Make yourselves comfortable in one of the sleeping quarters. I have an important appointment with someone that I need to do first. Then I will take you straight to The Gardens.”
   “I still don’t trust this woman. One of us should keep watch”, says Luke.
   “How in the hell is that supposed to work. We're a bunch of thieves and murders. None of us fucking trust the other”, says Jacob.
  “Well I have nothing to gain either way. I could keep watch”, says Simone.
  “No offense but I'm not going to put my fate in the hands of a damn stow away pirate”, says Luke.
  “I think there was some offense there”, says Jacob.
   Luke turns to Jacob.  “You want me to fucking throw you overboard."
  “See there you go threatening again. That’s why you can’t be on guard duty. You'll kill Kiarah and all of us in your fanatical quest”, retorts Jacob.
  “I've lost interest in this discussion”, says Emma. “I'm going to find a bedroom for the night.  Anyone is welcome to join me.” Emma walks off and winks at them before disappearing. The other three look at each other with puzzled looks.
  “Wait...did...”, says Jacob as he preens himself and then with a smile starts in the direction Emma walked.  Luke stops him.
   "Oh no your staying here with me where I can keep an eye on you and this Quarsian."
  Simone walks away in the direction Emma walked.  "Enjoy your sleepover boys.  Think I'll go see if I can find something fun to do.  Nighty night."
   Jacob shoots a dirty look at Luke.  Luke pushes him down.  "Just sit down."  Luke sits down next to him on the floor and looks at Kiarah who is intensely concentrating on navigating the ship seemingly ignoring the conversation of the others. Luke then takes out his map and kisses it. “See you soon hopefully.” 

Kharon - Part 7

Kharon Chapter 7

   The group enters the bridge and sees a woman with her back towards them steering the ship. Luke begins to approach her. “What are you doing with my ship?” But just as he is about to reach the woman she points a sharp intimidating weapon at Luke in the blink of an eye without even turning to face him. Luke stops in his tracks taken off guard.
   Jacob says, “Technically this may actually be her ship since she appears to be a Quarsian.”
   Luke turns towards Jacob and the others. “I don’t give a rats ass who she is!” Luke then turns back to the woman who is still pointing the sharp weapon at him. “Look we need this ship and I'm prepared to do whatever I have to do to get it.  You know how many times I dreamed of this as I rotted in prison.”
   “Oh you are escaped convicts. That makes sense”, says Simone.
   “Hey! I’m not a convict. They ain’t never got anything to stick”, Jacob says.
   Luke ignores them and continues. “Emma and I worked too hard on this escape to have you stand in our way. So I strongly suggest you get this thing out of my face and find another ship.”
   The woman does not lower her weapon or turn around but calmly says, “So I take it I have you then to thank for the distraction that allowed me to reclaim the Kharon.”
   “What are you talking about?”, asks Luke.
   The woman still does not turn her head but instead points her weapon to windows on one side of the room. The others including Luke all run over to look out the windows. Although the island is already starting to shrink in the distance they can still clearly make out people running around in a rioting panic. In the setting light of the suns people are trying to flee in whatever ships they can find as the entire island is engulfed in smoke and fire. It is madness as ships collide with one another and army officials try to bring order to the chaos.
   “What the fuck happened!”, Jacob screams.
   “I guess the prison riot we started got a little out of hand”, says Emma.
   “You think the whole island is torched?”, asks Luke.
   “The fuck did you do to my home!? Now I am stuck with you assholes!”, yells Jacob. 
   “I thought it was easier than usual to escape”, says Simone. 
   Luke turns back to the woman steering. “All the more reason I need this ship seeing as there is nowhere else to go now.”
   The woman finally turns towards Luke. “Seeing how this is a Quarsian ship and I am a Quarsian I think that makes it my ship. But I'm happy to take you wherever you need to go.”
   “I thought the Metronians wiped the Quarsians out”, says Jacob.
   “They did”, says the woman matter of factly. “They spared me since I made a deal with them. My name is Kiarah and I am the last of the Quarsians.”
   Luke pulls out his gun and points it at Kiarah. “Well your people are about to be moved from endangered to extinct unless you move away from those controls.”
   “I would advise against your current course of action”, says Kiarah.
   “Yea, you usually need more than a pistol to go up against a Quarsian”, says Simone. 
   “Who asked you?”, says Luke.
   “I say go for it man”, says Jacob.
   “Shut up!”, shouts Luke.
  “Where are you looking to go?”, asks Kiarah.
  “The Gardens”, says Emma.
   Simone laughs. “That place doesn’t exist. It’s just a fairy tale people tell themselves so they can believe that this whole planet isn't shit."

  “That’s what I tried telling them”, says Jacob.
  “It exists”, says Kiarah. “I have been there. I can take you there.”  The group stares at Kiarah.

Kharon - Part 6

Kharon Chapter 6

   As the trio proceed up the decks there is a sudden jolt in the ship that throws them all off balance. As Luke falls he knocks over a barrel container with Simone hiding in it. Simone comes spilling out. “Who the fuck are you?”, Luke yells upon seeing Simone.
   “Wait, I recognize you”, says Jacob upon laying eyes on Simone. “Your the infamous pirate Simone.”
    “And what’s it to you!?”, snaps Simone.
    “How did a pirate get on my ship?!”, shouts Luke.
    “Your ship? I'm commandeering this ship. I was just waiting till night fall to sail away”, says Simone.
   Emma looks out a port window and sees the ship pulling away from the dock. “Clearly it’s neither of your ship, cause in case you haven’t noticed we're moving.”
   “Where do you steer this ship from?!”, yells Luke.
   “Where every ship is steered from, the bridge you moron”, says Jacob.
   “I know that”, says Luke. “Where is the bridge in this ship?”
   “How the hell should I know”, retorts Jacob. “Aren’t they usually at the bow.”
  “You’re useless!”, screams Luke.
  “Have none of you ever boarded a Quarsian ship before? It’s always insulated to protect it”, says Simone as she runs off down a corridor.  The others all look at each other for a moment and then follow her.

Kharon - Part 5

Chapter 5

      Meanwhile a hatch on the bottom deck of the Kharon opens and from it emerges Jacob, Emma and Luke. They pull themselves out of the sea and onto the bottom haul of the ship.  Water floods in from the hatch until they close it.
    “This seems overly complicated”, says Emma.
     “Hey I got you on the ship didn’t I?”, says Jacob. “It’s a little known Quarsian trick. They always build a secret hatch that allows them to sneak in and out of the water from the ship.”
     “Wouldn't that also allow people to sneak onto the ship too?”, asks Luke.
     “Kind of like we just did”, says Emma.
     “That's why they're booby trapped”, says Jacob.
      “What!”, yells Luke.

     “Relax the power is off and I am sure Metron disabled most of the booby traps.”
     "That's not all that comforting", says Emma.
     “Alright well your on the ship so I’m outta of here".  Jacob starts to walk back to the hatch and is about to flip the lever to open it when he hears a gun cocking behind him.

    “Not so fast. If there are booby traps you lead the way to the control deck”, says Luke.
    Jacob rolls his eyes. “Why did I know you were going to say that.”
    “And then you're going to bail all this water out. You just flooded the bottom deck of our ship”, says Luke.
     “Fuck you! Once we turn the power back on the ship’s pumps will kick in and get this water out of here”, says Jacob.
   “Do you boys know how to do anything but fight”, says Emma.
   “No!”, both Jacob and Luke say in unison.
   “He has always been a pain in my ass”, says Luke.
   “Pain in your ass?! You were always the fucking jerk-off that I couldn’t get rid of.”
   “Get us off this rock and you can finally."
   “If that's what it takes my pleasure! Follow me. And don’t touch anything. Don’t want you setting off any traps and getting me killed”, says Jacob.

Kharon - Part 4

Kharon - Chapter 4

      Elsewhere close by on the docks a woman is being led in chains by some guards to a vehicle. One of the guards opens the back door to the van while the other guard says to the driver, “We got the infamous pirate Simone here today. A lot of people want her head so you up for the challenge of getting her to Morton?”
     “Nothing I can’t handle”, says the driver.
     The guard tries to get Simone to climb in the back of the van but Simone instead moves in close to him pressing her body against his and bats her eyelashes and pouts her lips. She runs her hands over his chest and down lower on his body while saying, “We could have so much fun if you let me go. It would be our secret.”
    The guard shoves her away. “Nice try. Now get in there.” He roughly pushes her into the van. But then he cries out in pain. He looks down and his laser gun on his belt holster is overheating.  The guard quickly undoes his belt and tosses it away from him. “Shit! That bitch did something to my laser gun! It’s going to blow!" The guards duck for cover and Simone makes a break for it. The laser gun explodes.  The guards come out of hiding and see Simone running away. “After her!”
     The driver stops the guards and points to smoke rising up behind them and people running around panicking. “Uh, we may have bigger problems.”
     Meanwhile Simone tries to stay out of sight as guards and people are running around crazily on the docks. She manages to smash her cuffs on a railing made of a super alloy. People seem to be running every which way worked up about something but she doesn’t care she just needs to get the hell out of there. She sees an opening and does some fancy acrobatics and chimneys up the ropes when no one is looking right onto the decks of the Kharon.

Kharon - Part 3

Chapter 3

      Sometime later Luke and Emma who are now in non-prison garments crouch behind a crate at the docks along with Jacob.  Jacob motions to a ship sitting docked in the water heavily guarded. “There she is.” 
   “What the hell are you trying to pull?!”, yells Luke.
   “I’m not trying to pull anything! She may not look like much but the Kharon is the fastest, deadliest, strongest ship to sail this godforsaken ball of water. Not to mention it's practically untraceable.”
    “I swear if you're lying and setting me up again....”
    “Will you look at all those guards. You think there would be that kind of detail if she were a piece of shit.”
    “He does have a point”,Emma chimes in.
    “That ship is a Quarsian ship. The Metron Island captured it when they defeated the Quarsians and finally wiped their people out.”
    “So why are we stealing something so valuable?”, says Luke.
    “You got to work for the good stuff”, says Jacob. “Where are you planning on going anyway? All islands are the same cesspool just with a different coat of paint.”
   “We're going to The Gardens”, says Emma. 
    “Don’t answer his questions”, snaps Luke.

    Jacob laughs. “You’re crazy. Since when did you start believing fucking fairy tales."
    “Not that it’s any of your damn business but we have a map I got from my cellmate”, says Luke.
    “You've been scammed.  The Gardens is just a story people tell to make themselves feel better. You want to chase pipe dreams? Go knock yourself out. I’ll be seeing you”, says Jacob as he starts to walk away.
    Luke grabs him, “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
   “You asked me to get you a getaway boat. I brought you to the best damn one there is.” 
   “Oh no you don’t. You're helping us get on that ship”, says Luke.
   “The hell I am. That’s wasn’t part of the deal.”
   “I know your games. Setting us up over here. Figure we will either be successful and disappear on the seas or fail and get killed by the guards. Nice try.” 
   “Fine! I'll get you another ship”, says Jacob. 
   “Oh no. You sold me on this one.”
   “Forget it.  That's ships too heavily guarded”, says Jacob.
    Luke turns to Emma, “Hey you think those guards will be interested enough in Jacob over here to leave the Kharon vulnerable to us.”
    “Alright fine!”, yells Jacob. “But once I get you on that damn ship, I walk off and we are done for good.”
    “Fine by me”, says Luke.