Shattered Dawn
Chapter 1
The incessant chirping of my comm unit dragged me from a fitful sleep. I groaned, fumbling in the darkness towards my dressing table where I’d left the device. The glowing digits of my chronometer mocked me: 0347. Today of all days, I’d hoped for a moment’s peace.
“LQar here,” as much as my body creaked from lack from fatigue, I put on a crisp voice to mask it all.
“LQar. It’s Marks” Director Roger Marks’ gravelly voice emanated from the comm. “We need you at HQ immediately. We’ve got a Code Zero incident.”
Code Zero, In all my years with OMIGA, I’d never encountered a ‘Code Zero’. Intriguing. But I knew better than to ask over an unsecured comms channel.
“Sir, I’m on leave today. Its the anniversary — “
“I’m aware, LQar,” Marks interrupted, a rare note of sympathy in his voice. “Believe me, I wouldn’t call you in if it wasn’t absolutely critical. We… no I need you on this one.”
I was already moving, my muscular frame slipping into a tailor Dyruvian suit — it was a gift from Ayesha my niece. “Fifteen minutes, sir.”
“Make it ten. Marks out.”
The comm went silent. I paused, my gaze falling on my faint image reflected from the full length mirror in my room. A glint came off the OMIGA signet pinned to my lapel. I was supposed to be attending the memorial service later today. Fifteen years since the Sunrise Attack. Fifteen years since I lost Junar. but here I was again taking yet another case.
“What the hell is a Code Zero?” I said it out loud this time. With a grunt, I pushed the thought aside. Whatever this Code Zero was, it had better be important enough to pull me away from honouring my brother.
The streets of Envura were mercifully empty as I guided my gravbike through the pre-dawn gloom. My reflexes, honed by years of training, allowed me to weave through the sparse traffic at speeds that would be suicidal for most. The spires of OMIGA headquarters loomed ahead, their peaks lost in low-hanging clouds. As I approached, I noticed something odd: the building’s usual shimmering force field was absent. Security protocols I’d never seen activated before were in full effect.
I landed in the deserted hangar bay, my footsteps echoing as I jogged towards the central lift. My palm print granted me access, but instead of the usual options, only one destination glowed on the panel: SUB-LEVEL 31.
My stomach lurched, and not just from the lift’s rapid descent. I’d heard rumours about sub-level 31 but always assumed they were just that — rumours. Now, as the lift plummeted deeper than I thought possible, those rumours took on a new, unsettling weight.
The doors hissed open, revealing a corridor of stark white punctuated by pulsing red warning lights. At the far end stood Director Marks, his stocky frame dwarfed by a massive holo-display.
“LQar,” he nodded as I approached. “I’m sorry for the abruptness of this summons, especially today.”
“What’s the situation, sir?” I asked, my eyes already analysing the chaos of information swirling on the screens behind him. Patterns emerged, connections formed. Something big was happening.
Marks’ eyes narrowed, noting my rapid assessment. “There was an incident at a UFG facility on Ulmaprax last night,” he said, his voice low. “A device called UMD has been stolen.”
The name meant nothing to me, but if it was on Ulmaprax then implications were clear. A secret this deep, this protected… the consequences of its theft would be catastrophic Ulmaprax was where the United Federation of Galaxies kept the most dangerous tech that had been seized in one of their many operations around the 17 galaxies. Usually what would happen is the tech is transported to Ulmaprax under heavy guard where are highly trained team of specialists would decommission such tech. If Ulmaprax had been breached, that means failures on multiple levels.
“RECOUNT?” I asked, my fists clenching involuntarily at the thought of those zealots. The same group that had taken Junar from me.
Marks shook his head. “That’s where things get complicated. Initial evidence suggests a third party was involved. The theft was… messy. Whoever did this didn’t fully know what they were after.”
A hologram sprang to life between us, showing security footage of a vault breach. Three figures in UFG issued enviro-suits, their movements frantic and uncoordinated. Not the precision I’d expect from RECOUNT. My mind cataloged every detail, constructing and discarding theories at lightning speed.
“Your mission, LQar, is to recover the UMD at all costs,” Marks continued. “We believe the device is still in play, likely in transit to the real buyer. You have 72 hours before the galactic shutdown protocols activate.”
I quickly calculated the ramifications. Galactic shutdown would grind all interstellar travel and communication to a halt. Trillions would be affected. The UFG was willing to go that far to contain this?
“I’ll need my team then,” I said, already formulating strategies, contingencies.
“You’ll get whatever you need,” Marks nodded. “But you need to keep the information close. And no AI, so VIGAR is out on this one. We can’t afford data leaks of any sort”
I nodded, understanding the need for secrecy. “Sir, what exactly is this UMD device? Why haven’t I heard of it before?”
Marks met my gaze, a flicker of something passed through his eyes. “It’s the final component RECOUNT needs to build a functioning time machine, LQar. And in the wrong hands, it could do far worse than that. It could unmake reality as we know it.”
As the full weight of the situation settled over me, I couldn’t help but think of Junar. Of the Sunrise, torn apart in that brutal attack fifteen years ago. Of all the times I’d wished I could go back and save him, save them all. Now, that impossible dream was terrifyingly close to becoming reality. And it was my job to make sure it never did.
“Where do I start?”
“Get your team to Ulmaprax and see what you can find there.”
As I turned to leave, Marks called out one last time. “And LQar? be careful on this one. Its got a lot of eyes on it.”
With those ominous words ringing in my ears, I strode out of the situation room and towards the lift. As it began its ascent, I realised with a pang that I’d be missing the memorial service. “I’m sorry, Jun,” I whispered. “If RECOUNT was involved in this then I’d be sure to make them pay doubly”
My mind was already racing, analysing variables, predicting outcomes. The race against time — perhaps time itself — had begun.
