"Prelude"
A voice rumbled from a nearby speaker. In a calm but demanding tone, it summoned the captain to the bridge with all due haste.
For a few brief moments, all was quiet. Slowly, Marius raised his tired head from the mound of papers he had amassed on his desk. He glanced out his window and saw the same black expanse of space he had been staring at for many years. He had been feverishly trying to calculate every possible avenue of escape from the impending darkness that threatened to viciously consume him. But his computations were little more than a hopeful lie; he knew full well he was sailing blindly into a sea of uncertainty.
Pressing a small button on the microphone, he replied he would be there shortly. He sat a moment longer and reflected in silence with his face cradled in his hands. His quiet contemplation was disturbed however, as fairly loud footsteps padded up behind him. Whining yelps heralded a much loved friend. A large black dog, more wolf than anything else, came to his side. It reared up on its hind legs, balanced itself on the edge of the table, and licked his face.
He stared longingly at his master, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Marius sighed deeply and put a hand to pet his loyal companion. Even with it’s large frame, the dog appeared small next to his owner. Here was indeed a large man, with muscles trained to hoist any weight no matter how large. His body was covered in scars new and old. Though he was gaining in years, not a single strand of grey could be found in his jet black hair.
Stroking his beard and twirling his moustache, he stared back at the wolf-dog, with the same hopeful eyes and spoke "Have you come to say goodbye old chum, or maybe there is still hope for us? Well, let’s find out what Walter wants. Come, Brutus."
He raised himself from his seat, dusted the monitor of his computer before turning it off, and, with a brief wave of a hand, beckoned the dog to follow. Brutus obeyed without pause.
The silence of the polished metal plates and neon lights of the long corridors was deafening, oppressive in the clean but recycled air. It was a place so still you could be standing at opposite ends and still speak in whispers. Marius walked a few steps with Brutus by his side when he suddenly stopped; again the nightmares invaded his waking world as ghastly apparitions gripped every inch of his body. He felt a cold dread taking over him. As the specters filled his mind with their terrible curses, he nearly fell to his knees.
Brutus barked at him in a panic; Marius shook himself but felt another piece of his already fractured sanity crumble away. The words of his mantra returned to his mind, emboldening him to carry on. He calmly rubbed his face and continued walking.
Finally Marius came to a large set of iron doors marked by a gear wheel and two crosses on each side; above the doors a bronze plaque read out Black Dragon control room. He slid a small access card on the lock and waited for access. Once it was granted, he walked slowly into the main control room. Many of the computers were switched off, but the large one at the center was operating, displaying images he could not identify. A humanoid robot wearing a formal suit was at the controls. When he heard Marius enter, the android stopped its calculations and quickly stood up, giving his master a sincere smile. Marius stared back at him, looking puzzled.
"What are you smiling for?" he said in a gruff voice.
Speaking in a distinctly posh, British accent the robot replied "I thought you might be happy too sir, for you see I have found a destination for us. Judging by its appearance alone, I think it might be much more than a small stop over. Come have a look!"
Marius raised an eyebrow. He looked out the space ships large windows at the seemingly black expanse of space. Barely any stars were visible. A few a systems away colorful galaxies of blue and orange glittered in the darkness, but they could be as far away as several millennia worth of space travel.
Suddenly a larger star came into view and he could not shake the feeling it was getting closer, and closer. Pointing at it, Marius simply said "Is that..." before Walter cut him off.
"Have a look sir." The android didn’t need to look at it, he knew full well where it was, and invited his master to study the monitors
Marius took a seat at the helm and stared at the wide screens; believing that he was indeed in a dream, he rubbed his eyes.. He wanted to be sure he was not seeing things. After another wide eyed analysis he looked back at his butler. "Is that Terra?" he asked in surprise.
"Impossible, sir," came the robot's reply. "This entire time we have been traveling away from Terra. Besides, this planet's geography looks completely different."
Marius laughed and smiled. "But it's Green! It’s Blue! I could not be a happier man, Walter. How soon do you think we can arrive?”
The robot smiled back, it’s polished plastic face and blue eyes almost shimmering with excitement. "Three days sir, at maximum speed. Is that what you suggest?"
Marius quickly stood up. Holding back none of his emotions, he rushed to hug his dog. Elated, he gave Brutus a big kiss, then proceeded to hug his servant too. "Haha! YES! Marvelous. Let's push the engines as hard as we dare and make a planetary landing as soon as possible."
Thus the order was given. Within moments the nuclear engines were pushing the metal spacecraft at top speed. Stopping here for now.
…
Marius spent the better part of the whole day replacing fusion batteries, making sure the power output would stay at peak so nothing would possibly fail. The other two days went by swiftly and soon the planet was in sight. Marius stood in the dining room listening to Dante’s Prayer by his favorite singer, grinning from ear to ear as he gazed upon the stunning blue and green orb that would be his salvation. Walter walked in carrying a tray of food; he put down a small bowl for Brutus and then set the remainder on the table for Marius.
Ah, Loreena Mckennitt sir. You have been listening to this song all day," the robot said.
"I care not Walter, I love this song, and Loreena speaks to my soul. I may as well be like Dante fighting of the demons of hell, but if I am to die at least I may finally die with a blue sky above my head and warm earth behind my back," he said in an amused tone as he sat to eat. "I also pray this will be last meal I need to ration on this ship, or ever again."
He took small bites out of his meal and looked back behind him over at the blue planet. He smiled and spoke another promise. Genuine or not, he was still overjoyed, nothing would dampen the fire of his spirit's flame."And I shall build a theatre and play this music, and even if not a soul lives on this world I will pretend there is an audience and the music shall play to whatever gods and demons should listen, and defy to be forgotten. It will shout curses at any evil darkness and gladden the souls in the otherwise quiet halls, and even if I must stand alone to hear it, it will be the purest most beautiful moment of joy I would ever have." The promise resounded in the immaculate metallic room as the song came to a close.
"I am not certain if I understand this wild ambition you hold sir, but I will support you no matter what. I have scanned the planet as best I could, but have found precious little. I believe our scanning equipment is damaged. But I did find a rather strange occurrence: a large spot of radiation and electro-magnetism."
Marius looked back to his servant his smile noticeably broader, "A large spot of radiation and electro magnetism, ha. How large?"
He waited for a reply and the robot obliged without hesitation. "Larger then Tokyo, Shanghai and New York put together, sir." To this Marius added what Walter expected he would; he now believed there was an advanced civilization living on the planet.
"It could be sir, but with our radar and scanning equipment malfunctioning, I cannot say it’s more than wishful thinking.”
Marius took another bite of his meal and scoffed at the idea of his servant attempting to spoil his dream."Perhaps, but we shall find out soon enough. I cannot wait to see what possibilities await us on this planet."
Walter sighed and closed his eyes. "And maybe we won’t spoil it as badly as the last one."
Marius became rather annoyed at this and gave him a hard, almost murderous look. "Walter you may be a sentient machine and I may love you like a brother, but if you make a comment like that again I will be tempted to smash your face off." He sighed, thought more about it and decided to apologize.
“This is the last chance we have to turn the Black Dragon expedition into a success. I don’t think I need to explain this to you Walter.” Marius told him, Walter nodded. The man finished his meal and went back to gaze at the wonderful world below.
Brutus whined and moved closer to his master’s side; Marius scratched his head as Walter placed a hand on his shoulder. His two loyal companions. The only two in the universe who were left standing by his side.
"This planet, it shall be mine. No matter how long it takes I will become master, and if there is a civilization here, I will be its ruler!" Marius thought to himself.
…
The Black Dragon came into low orbit and above the city skyline some lucky Zootopian mammals would catch a glimpse of a shooting star, and while a few made wishes and counted it as a good omen, perhaps they should have better dreaded it as a curse. For this would likely have been marked as the arrival of the one they would later dub the Black Wolf of the Void.
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