Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 479: Remembering

Jace was taken straight toward a government space warship that was sitting in the shipyard. There was already a crowd protesting as he walked in chains from the rear of the armored truck up and into the hangar of the warship.

He was surprised by the quick and sudden turnout. The Victorium Government Guard were apparently not prepared for a protest so he was quickly rushed up and onto the ship as the civilians broke the line and charged toward him.

But the ship was already disembarking by the time the slug fest began. He watched through the hangar’s atmospheric barrier as the riot broke out and the ship’s hangar door began closing.

As it closed the soldiers in the hangar began running around in a rush. Almost immediately a large solid metal cell was formed around him as he was chained to the floor, the walls, and the roof. After he was chained up he picked up a sweet scent in the air.

Then sleep took him.

After a moment he opened his eyes as he found himself in the same dreamscape ranch house from so many times before. He was sitting in a relaxing walking chair.

"They must have used some high grade gas to forcefully keep me comatose." Jace chuckled as he looked down at his arms which had faint electricity running along it. "It would appear the nanobots are working overtime to create anti-bodies and make me immune so I can wake up."

He looked around. "But I am surprised I woke up here instead of the arena. Can I not train if I am in a hostile environment?" He asked aloud as he opened the door. But as soon as he opened the door he froze in horror at what he saw.

His memories, his past. His distant past.

Jace has retained memories since his birth. Because of his growing and changing body those memories further etched his own personality. But because he could perfectly recall everything from his life. He made an active effort to keep away those memories that were too painful. Those memories from the short time before he ended up at an orphanage.

His first memories were of the crib. Hanging above his crib was a mobile, one that was hand crafted with love and effort. But was clearly badly made by people who had never worked with their hands. It had some mythological creatures both good and bad. Such as dragons from King Arthur Mythology or onis from Japanese folklore.

His parents were always around and doting on him. Always loving and caring about him. Even with them constantly moving from one place to another. Always on the move to avoid something.

His father was a black haired Oda. He was both from the territory and one of the nephews of the current emperor of Oda. Not too high up on the latter. But still he existed in a class of his own. He worked as a mech operator. Apparently he was only somewhat ’okay’ at his job. His real talent was painting landscapes. But that could not support his family especially since he was both an unknown and attempting to hide his identity.

Then there was his mother. Who despite his father’s air headedness, was somehow even more of a dreamer. She had streaks of white hair mixed with streaks of blonde. An odd combination but not one to blink at considering her lineage. A mix of Vexical and Hex blood. Since her birth she was hunted but still found time to get an education and enjoy life.

Which actually somehow made her even more wanted and hunted. She became an archaeologist and took up a profession as a treasure hunter. She was constantly doing research to find her masterpiece. Earth.

It was actually how she met his father. She was pursuing a lead and needed to get into the Oda Imperial Vault. His father was the sucker she tricked. Too bad he ended up sticking around because they caught not only the Oda family’s attention but several other groups who hunted them. So they ran and hid as his mother worked on solving the last piece of the puzzle that she claimed would lead them to Earth.

He grew up homeschooled by them for a few years. Just like his father, he had no talent for mechs. But like his mother he developed a fascination with Earth and all the cultures that came from it.

When he was five was when the first domino fell that would separate them forever. He was playing with one of the devices that his mother brought back when it shocked him and knocked him out. When he woke up his mother was worried when she realized that the amount of nanobots in his body had dropped drastically. So she drilled into him the lesson of being near death of nanohumans to absorb more nanobots.

Then a few months later while he was playing with the relic his mother had almost given up on it popped open. His mother was ecstatic as she pulled out a book and then revealed that she now knew the way to get to Earth. But as she was explaining there was an explosion that rocked the building.

They lived in an apartment building several stories up. So initially they were just shocked as they quickly evacuated the building. But as they were they noticed some of the people that were hunting them had finally caught up. So they came up with a plan. They would leave to go to Earth.

They soon arrived at the space port. But his mother realized something. They could not get away with Jace. So she told him to wait in one of those benches and then ran off with his father toward one of the ships. He watched as they hijacked the ship and then took off. But as they were a fair distance over the spaceport it suddenly exploded violently as a military combat craft flew past it.

Then he waited at that bench and space port for a few days before he was taken to an orphanage. That was how his story started. His early life was filled with happy memories, a variety he did not want to remember. Because it ended when his mother decided to abandon him when he became too much of a burden.

As the memory faded and Jace was standing in the middle of the ranch house in his mental landscape. He could feel a mix of emotions billing over. But he took a deep breath and then released it.

Unbeknownst to him the moment he did that the Victorium Government Guard Warship that was transporting him lost power and fell out of high warp. It tumbled through space with no gravity for a moment as anything not anchored down was thrown around. In the various hangars around the ship it was a mess as things as big as military vessels to as small as a loose bullet flew around. In Jace’s hangar the metal box that he was being imprisoned inside of was badly dented and damaged.

Then a moment later as he breathed back out the power returned to the entire ship. With the bridge officers scrambling to figure out what happened.

Back in his mental landscape walked around the house and looked around at the various rooms. Finding they were no longer flooded with the same memories as before. The ones he did not want to interact with.

But as he opened the backdoor he blinked in surprise to find the night sky outside. He turned back and looked through the front door which still had a daylight sky.

He slowly stepped out into the backyard and looked up at the starry sky. He did not remember constructing this. But as he watched the sky he noticed that it was stationary. He had a feeling he recognized it.

It was like a vague feeling that he just could not place. But as he looked at it he realized what it was. Like he had seen several times before, it is a star map. One that he had seen a few times before. When he found that ancient human ship. He even found a recreation of one from the Emperor’s notes on the Xenar. But more importantly in the memories he had locked away and tried to forget. It was on the inside of the box that contained the notebook he found for his mother.

He swallowed as he committed it to memories and realized what it meant. He might not be able to do it in his head or even by hand. But he could easily use a program to calculate the exact coordinates of Earth. He knew a way to get to Earth. But should they really go there? There was no telling what exactly they would find there. Especially now that they were in the midst of an intergalactic war that would probably completely change the rules in this galaxy.

As he was thinking this he could feel his body starting to wake up. He closed his eyes and woke back up in the real world.