Beyond The Impossible

Boreas, 30,000 light-years from Earth

Orbiting the planet, a dozen ships from the Olympian Fleet are on high alert.

While it’s impossible to blockade the entire system, anything attempting to approach the planet at any significant percentage of the speed of light would be intercepted and obliterated.

Luckily the sensors miss the stream of tachyons from the edge of the system, and they can’t find anything suspicious about the ray of light that descents into the skies of Boreas.

By the time that light turns back into a human being, any possible connection to the tachyons has long vanished.

Max Black a.k.a. Quantum blows over his hands in the vain attempt to heat them. While his body is shielded from hypothermia by the Survival Field emitted by his belt, he’s still in the middle of a frozen landscape. This is the coldest he has ever felt in his life.

<And to think I could be in a warm bed with my wife right now.> he complains to himself.

<Not as long as you’re on the clock. Are you sure you were not spotted?> the voice of Noriko Null tells him, speaking through him via the Soul Relay connected to his brain.

<No way. That was a four-hour journey as pure photons, nobody could separate me from the light coming from the Sun.>

<Just be careful. I can’t be sure Athena doesn’t have technology capable of locating you whenever you use your powers. We should also limit the use of the Soul Relay, just to limit the possibility of her intercepting our messages.>

<I’ll keep a low profile. Won’t be easy, seeing how I’m pretty sure I’m the only black guy on the entire planet right now.>

<It’s possible, most of the people there are going to be Lar. But I’m confident you can find Amaterasu without being discovered. If you need help to escape, just call Torn.>

<Why can’t he be here now? It’s not like he doesn’t stand out as much as me, and I could use the help. Or send Vesta for that matter! I sure could use some fire around here.>

<Demons and cold don’t mix well, and I need both him and Kari on Earth right now. Just find Amaterasu, Max, I’m sure you can handle it.>

<Thanks for the vote of confidence. Oh, and happy birthday! I would have bought a present, but…>

The connection drops before he can continue.

<Right. I should’ve expected her to be in a bad mood.> Max says to himself, transforming his body into radio waves to avoid freezing.

<Now, if I were a hot Asian goddess with the brains of a child, where would I be hiding?>

 

Earth orbit, on the Destiny-One

Todd Slate has had little time to adjust to the ship. He tried to get some sleep, but it’s hard to do with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.

He can’t believe he’s still in this situation… one of the advantages of serving as Vice-President of the United States is that it’s not as tough as being Noriko Null’s boyfriend.

He’s been writing on a holographic tablet for a little over an hour when someone knocks.

<You got a minute, Todd?> Noriko asks.

<Sure, come in.>

Once the door opens, Noriko prefers to lean against the frame rather than entering; she still feels a little awkward around him, even though their relationship ended years ago.

<Any news from Earth?> he asks.

<Kari and Torn are busting some of those Alien Deportation Enforcement agents. Nothing major, just making sure that they don’t try blowing something up… it will be weeks if not months before we round up anyone who collaborated.>

<Giving them a proper trial, I hope?>

<C’mon Todd, you know I’m better than that. I’ve caught up with major news reports about what I’ve missed over the past weeks, but without absorbing the planet’s consciousness I’m missing the view from the streets.>

<Nori, I know you first hired me because I was a regular guy, but I’m the Vice President: if you want the average point of view…>

<I hired you because I trusted your judgement, and I still do. The whole planet’s been under military occupation, and I need your opinion on how they’re going to react.>

<I know that look, Noriko… you’ve come up with a terrible idea and you want a second opinion before you go through with it. What’s your plan?>

<I might need to take over the planet.> she admits, her silver eyes shining.

<That is a terrible idea.>

<Athena will soon understand that her attempt to kill me didn’t work and probably send the full force of her fleet to finish the job. The Destiny-One is as tough as a ship can be, but it can’t fight a whole galaxy on its own. I need a fleet.>

<Okay? What’s taking over Earth have to do with it?>

<I’ve run the numbers. If I take complete control of all the industrial capabilities of the planet, I can get enough ships ready to withstand Athena’s first strike within two months and a half.>

<That… doesn’t sound like it’s enough.>

<It isn’t. This is Plan C. But I still have to be prepared to pull it off if plans A and B fail.>

<Just out of curiosity, what’s Plan D?>

<Phase the ship through Athena’s defenses and unload all available Black Hole bombs right in her face. Assuming it works, we fight off her remaining forces.>

<That is an even worse plan, Noriko!>

<Hence why it’s Plan D; it’s the lowest down the list that doesn’t guarantee Earth coming out unscathed. Plans E through W get increasingly worse results.>

<No Plan Z?>

<The list doesn’t go that far. I’m not gonna sugarcoat this Todd, we’re in a terrible situation. I don’t want to get through Plan C, but this is the highest the idea of taking over Earth has been on the list.>

<Wait, it was an option before?>

<C’mon, don’t be naïve. I’ve thought about doing it before we were even dating. I just haven’t got to that point because, despite what some people think… not without some involuntary encouragement on my part, I’ll admit that… I’m not a power-hungry despot.>

<Look Noriko, I know you mean well. In your own way. But you’re still human enough to realize that, if you force people to obey you, you’ll never get them to follow you.>

<I’m not so sure about that anymore. I’ve been screaming for years that I shouldn’t be considered a goddess, and people still worship me. Rallying the people against an invader wouldn’t be so hard.>

<That’s the thing… as far as the average person is concerned, you already took down the invader now that there aren’t alien ships hovering above their heads. And honestly, Athena didn’t even have that low of an approval rating to begin with.>

<I still can’t believe she found enough racist dirtbags to recruit for the A.D.E.> she scoffs.

<You really have been gone a long time if that surprised you.>

<Yeah, I guess I have. Thanks for the talk: I had a hunch that Plan C wouldn’t work, but I needed to talk it through with someone else before scratching it off the list.>

<Any time, Noriko. Oh, I almost forgot, isn’t today your…>

<Sorry, can it wait a sec?> she interrupts him, turning the other way around and activating a new holographic screen.

One that records her image before it’s transmitted to every television and computer screen on the planet, with her words being translated into every language.

<This is Noriko Null: the report of my death was an exaggeration. The Athenian ships occupying the planet have been destroyed and all its officers are in my custody. If you are an officer currently on the planet or any member of the Alien Deportation Enforcement, surrender immediately to the nearest law enforcement agency or you will be considered an enemy combatant. If you are the head of government of your country, expect to be summoned to an emergency meeting at 9 A.M. Eastern Time Zone sharp. You will be teleported, so be decent. All laws criminalizing my worship are hereby rescinded; in fact, if you’re a member of the Church of Null or an alien resident arrested by the A.D.E, you are now under my personal protection and your release will be negotiated soon. All military edicts of the occupying force are hereby rescinded with two exceptions. One, all forms of communication with other planets are still actively blocked. Two, all spaceports will remain closed until further notice. With those stipulations, Earth sovereignty is returned to its inhabitants. But if you think this will mean you can cause trouble to your neighbor… I will be watching. So, behave. Null, out.> she completes the message, closing the hologram.

<Did you have that speech ready before our talk?> Todd asks, impressed that she managed to say all of that without missing a beat.

<No, it was the spur of the moment. Were you saying something?>

<I was just going to wish you a happy birthday.>

<Oh. Right. Do you think I should have wished my worshippers a happy Nullmas?>

<I thought you hated that holiday.>

<I do. But it never occurred to me that I’d be liberating the planet on my 30th birthday; do you think in the future historians will think this was deliberate and not a coincidence? Assuming Athena doesn’t blow up the planet and there will still be historians, of course.>

<Don’t even joke like that, Noriko.>

<I wish it was a joke. Try to get some rest, Todd, I’d like you to be at tomorrow’s meeting.>

<Speaking of which… you said you can’t land, how are you going to meet the world leaders?>

<I’m going to teleport them onboard, of course. Think of it as the first meeting of the United Planet, instead of the United Nations. Might need to workshop the name, though.>

<So, you’re still going to take over the planet!?>

<No, I’m going to unify it as much as I can and nudge its decision to the best course of action.>

<You have no idea how glad I am that I’m not your public relations anymore, Noriko…>

 

Boreas, 30,000 light-years from Earth

Sneaking inside a shop as radio waves to steal a sufficiently thick winter coat was the easy part.

Figuring out a way to locate the only goddess on the planet was much harder.

Quantum’s first line of thought was restricting the search to the coldest region on the planet… but the Lar thrive in freezing temperatures, so there are few places that are cold enough for them to need heavy clothes. The kind that can help disguise people without grey skin.

The next trick to minimizing the territory to explore was to scout those cold places for unexplainably warm spots: as an inexperienced sun goddess, it should be difficult for Amaterasu to consistently restrain her own power.

About a dozen attempts later, eventually Quantum does identify a candidate: a city located near the planet’s South Pole. He resumes human form, checking his N-Phone.

It says “-203.7°C (-334.6°F)”, cold even for a Lar: nobody would expect to find aliens here.

He walks inside what he easily recognizes as a bar, despite the alien architecture; he’s explored the Galaxy enough to know that most bars look similar on any planet. And the N-Phone confirms what his energy senses already told him: “-8.3°C (-17.0°F)”.

He’s greeted by a plasma gun being pointed at his face, but the Lar holding it lowers the weapon the second he recognizes him.

<Quantum, you son of a… what took you so long?> Kylon asks.

<Told you the Vanguard would come!!! Is Aunt Noriko with you!?> Amaterasu exclaims with joy, jumping excitedly like a schoolgirl at the sight of one more friend.

<Not yet. In fact, I’ve come to get all of you back to Earth… well maybe not him.> Quantum says, looking at Liosthenes. He doesn’t remember him well, but he’s pretty sure he worked with Athena.

<He’s with us. We were actually planning to leave the planet anyway.> Kylon reveals.

<There’s only the three of you around here? How long have you been planning this thing?> Quantum asks, looking around with more than normal sight. There is in fact nobody else in the building except them.

<A while. We’ve been extremely careful to avoid attracting attention.> Liosthenes replies.

<Really? It was actually pretty easy finding you people.> Quantum comments.

Just then, he feels a chill down his spine as he hears the entrance door opening up behind him… and it’s not because the Survival Field is barely holding the temperature at human levels.

<Yes, I wonder why it was so easy?> the woman entering the bar asks rhetorically.

<Could it be that we were waiting to catch a better prey?> Nike asks, as the Goddess of Victory spreads her wings.