Jason got to his feet, panting. He relaxed his stance. “I’m sorry, Pal,” he said, reaching out to shake the robot’s hand.
Pal 2000’s face lit up and he took the offered hand. Jason sprang into action, yanking Pal’s right arm and twisting it behind his back. He grabbed Pal’s left shoulder, moving behind him, and jerking the right arm up too far.
There was a satisfying snap as the arm popped out of the shoulder joint.
“Sir, you’re hurting me.”
Jason tugged harder, further grinding the gears.
“You don’t know what pain is,” he said, spinning Pal around and elbowing him the face. Pal’s right arm fell to the floor as he staggered back, screen sparking.
“Man, you really aren’t made well, are you?”
Pal’s face became a lightbulb. “My unit is easily taken apart and put together, for maximum repair efficiency!”
“You really piss me off, you know that?”
“Sir.”
Jason charged again.
A metallic burning smell filled Jason’s nose, and it might as well have been blood. Pal fought hard to deflect the barrage of rage induced blows Jason rained down on him, but he could not stop them all. Soon Jason had him pinned to the floor and was punching the robot in the face repeatedly. An animalistic growl escaped Jason as the screen shattered, and finally flickered out.
“Jason!” It was the admiral, and the man’s voice sobered him instantly. “What in the fuck are you doing?”
Jason rose to his feet shakily as Pal 2000 twitched on the floor. His knuckles were dripping blood on the floor.
“Just a morning workout, sir.”
Pal 2000 rose to his feet with a shattered face and dangling arm. There were multiple dents in his body plate as well. “It was my fault, sir,” he said to the admiral. “I heard Captain Eriksson crying, and so I—”
“Pal, seriously, learn when to keep your mouth shut,” said Jason.
The admiral looked Jason over with a mixture of sympathy, disgust, and disappointment. Seeing the blood from Jason’s knuckles, he shook his head. “Get to the infirmary and get yourself patched up. Then get your ass to the briefing room.”
“Yes, sir,” said Jason. He turned, jerking toward Pal 2000 like he was going to hit him.
The robot flinched, and Jason laughed. “Pussy,” he said, shouldering by him.
Chapter 10
Debriefing
The crew was already gathered when Jason pushed through the door into the lectern. The room resembled a large college classroom, with ascending rows facing three large screens. On the platform below the screens, the admiral waited, looking annoyed.
“Now that we are all here…”
“Sorry I’m late!” said Pal 2000, bursting through the door behind Jason as he was taking a seat beside Kaito down in the third row. The robot was tripping all over himself, and still showed signs of the beat down Jason had given him. But his pixelated face plate had been replaced, and a new arm had been attached as well.
“You have already been briefed,” said the admiral.
“Yes,” said Pal, shuffling past Charlie and Erik. “But I am part of the crew. I’ll listen to it again.”
The admiral sighed impatiently and clicked the remote in his hand. On the three screens, the solar system appeared in HD glory.
“You will be attempting the first interstellar flight three days from today, so listen up,” said the admiral.
Next to Jason, Kaito shook with excitement.
“Once you enable the H-Drive, Redemption will be teleported to the alien solar system instantaneously. But we do not intend on experimenting with this technology in our own backyard.”
On the screen, the view sailed past all the planets and settled on Pluto before zooming out.
“You will travel beyond the termination shock just to be safe. Redemption’s single thruster is a hybrid technology and can exceed speeds up to one-tenth the speed of light. You won’t be traveling at maximum speed, of course, so the trip should be a little less than a week. Once you have gone beyond the boundaries of our solar system, you’re on your own.”
“And what if we find Carl Sagan’s body, sir, should we, you know, give him a lift?” said Jason.
“What?”
“Carl Sagan, sir. Per his request he was shot into space after his death. Just last year he was said to have surpassed Voyager 1.”
“Sure, Jake. Give him a lift.”
“Wouldn’t that be cheating?” said Kaito.
“What?” said Jason. “Nah. Carl won’t mind if we fast forward his lonely trip by a few billion years.” Jason looked at Charlie. “Would he?”
She shook her head, and Jason was gladdened to see her smile. She had a special smile, that girl. It made a man feel like a genius.
“Back to the mission at hand,” said the admiral, clicking the remote. On screen, a 3-D mockup of the interior of the ship and its many features appeared. “Settle in for a long day, kids. You’ve got some studying to do. I want you to know this ship inside and out in eighteen hours.”
Sixteen hours later, Jason had had enough. It was time for a drink. He didn’t want the admiral’s company—a few drinks staring at the man’s son was enough fun for one night.
“Come on, Cap,” said Kaito as he walked by rubbing his head. “We’re playing cards in common room.”
“Got any sake?”
“No, you racist dick, but I’ve got vodka.”
“Assuming you have sake isn’t racist. It’s like asking a Mexican if they have guacamole,” said Jason.
Kaito shook his head, tiredly amused, and continued around the left curving hallway that made up one of the many rings that coiled around the space station. Centurion rock music wafted out into the hall from the common room, and judging by the band that was playing, Jason assumed Charlie was deejaying.
“Why she always playing David fucking Bowie?” said Kaito.
“I believe that is Ziggy Stardust,” said Jason.
“What’s the difference?”
“If you don’t know, then there really is no hope for you, young grasshopper. But seriously, Kaito, if you don’t like David Bowie, I don’t know if we can be friends anymore.”
“Can I still be your engineer?”
Jason thought about it. “Yes.”
“Good. Sorry, Cap, but David Bowie is depressing and lame.”
Jason could only shake his head as he watched Kaito feign a rocker persona and dance into the room, gladly accepting a glass of something from Erik Andal as Major Tom’s countdown began. He nodded to Killian, who was in a heated debate with Mae about the nano shield they had just been studying.
“You going to be a wallflower tonight?” said Charlie, handing him a beer and taking a sip of her margarita.
“You know I like to hang back, get a good read of the situation before I commit myself.”
She said nothing, and Jason realized he had just put his foot right in his mouth. Rather than open his dumb mouth again, he took a long pull of his beer.
“So, you nervous?” she asked.
“Of course,” he said, not ashamed to admit it. “I fucking hate space.”
“I know you do. But you can’t turn down a challenge, can you?”
“I guess not. What’s your story? You got the full package, all of us did. You could have retired anywhere and lived well for the rest of your life. Why sign on for this?”
She shrugged. “The former sounds terribly boring.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Captain!” Mae called from the table where the crew had all gathered round. “Come and do a shot with us, you old bastard!”
Jason and Charlie joined them, cheering to the proverbial unknown and tossing back deep shots of vodka. After a few hours of heavy drinking, Jason produced a few nuggets of cocaine and proceeded to cut lines out for them all on one of the tables.
Charlie was aghast and stared at him like he had grown another head. “Wh
at the hell are you doing?” she asked, looking at the other crewmen.
Jason looked around at their dour faces, shrugged, and snorted a line. “What? They don’t drug test heroes.”
“Jake, we’re about to partake on the biggest exploratory mission humanity has ever known,” said Charlie. “Again, I ask; what the hell are you doing?”
“It’s called cocaine, and it’s the best you're going to find. Straight from the South American jungle.”
They all stared at him, and he noticed—to his annoyance—that the music had stopped playing. “What the fuck is wrong with you all?” he said, before snorting another line.
“Come on, Cap,” said Killian, grabbing him by the right arm.
Jason pulled his arm back violently and shot to his feet. “Get the fuck off me, Webber!”
“Whoa, Captain, calm down, we’re just having a good time,” said Kaito.
Jason stumbled back, then on second thought he began scooping his untouched coke back into the baggie. “You people don’t get it, do you? We’re fucking guinea pigs! We’re cannon fodder! Why do you think they chose us for this suicide mission to nowhere?” He shrugged off Killian’s second attempt to calm him down and backed to the doorway.
“Jason!” said Charlie, her voice breaking and her eyes heavy with tears.
“We killed millions!” he bellowed, his voice cracking as well. Tears flowed freely, blurring his vision. He wiped his eyes angrily. “We killed MILLIONS! We’re hated by half the world and pitied by the other half. They’re just trying to get rid of us!”
No one spoke. Beneath Charlie, a steady drip of tears splashed on the shiny metal floor. All heads bowed in shame, and Jason couldn’t have felt more like a dick.
“It’s the truth,” he said, turning from the door clutching a bottle of scotch and his baggie. “It’s just the truth. You want someone to celebrate your headlong plunge into death ...you want someone to lie to you ...go talk to the admiral.”
With that he turned and staggered out of the room.
Chapter 11
The Dead Feel no Pain
“I quit.” Jason dropped his wings on the admiral’s desk and tipped back his bottle.
He had blacked out at some point during the night and had woken up and begun drinking again. Now he found himself in the admiral’s office. It was around seven in the morning Eastern Time Earth side, or so said the display on the wall.
“What do you mean, you quit?” said the admiral. The man was going over numbers on a holo-tablet and didn’t even bother looking up at Jason.
Jason slammed his fists on the desk, but the admiral didn’t so much as twitch.
“I mean, I, QUIT.”
“Why don’t you sleep it off? It is still two days until launch. Get your shit together, Jake.”
Jason shook his head and began pacing. “I don’t get you, Admiral. I’m clearly not fit to captain this mission.”
“You’re wrong, Jake. You’re the best man for this job.”
“Am I now?” said Jason, glancing at the picture of the admiral’s son.
He saw the explosion of the lunar base in his mind’s eye. He heard the phantom screams of the millions who had died on Luna 1.
The admiral put down the tablet and clasped his hands together over the desk, leaning in. “Look, Jake, I know you’ve been through a lot. I know you’ve got demons. But under all that garbage is the best captain the fleet has got. I believe in you. Your crew believes in you. Perhaps you should start believing in yourself too.”
“We never talked about what happened to Thomas,” said Jason, and his heart skipped a beat to hear himself say it aloud. He expected unbridled rage from the admiral, sorrow, pity, anything, but the last thing he expected was understanding.
“You did what you had to do, and so did Thomas,” said the admiral, his face unchanging.
“I left a man behind, I…”
“I saw the recording from both of your helmet cams. You did what you had to do, and so did he.”
“Mark—”
“You did what you had to do, the same way you ended the war,” said the admiral. “You’re a hero, Jake, just like Thomas. And we could use a hero right now, even a drunk one.”
The admiral pushed Jason’s badge back toward him. Jason stared at the badge. It was gold, real gold, with a silver eagle sitting atop the world. Below the planet, almost holding it up, and in silver, were the letters U.S.S.F.
“I can’t serve the fleet anymore, Mark. I’m sorry. You’re going to have to find someone else.”
Jason turned from the admiral and took a swig as he meandered for the door.
“Jake…” came the admiral from behind.
He turned right at the door and kept going.
“Jake!”
Just then Pal 2000 turned a corner in the corridor, and the animated screen presented a surprised expression. “Captain Eriksson…” Pal glanced over Jason’s shoulder. “I do believe the admiral is calling you.”
“Good luck, Pal,” said Jason, before patting the robot on the shoulder and staggering past him.
He returned to his quarters intent on sleeping for two years, but, to his dismay, he awoke from a mercifully dreamless sleep twelve hours later. The display on the wall read 7:00 p.m.
“Sir, I have detected that you are awake,” came Pal 2000’s voice through the intercom. “Chief Navigation Officer Charlie Cameron has been informed of this development and is on her way.”
“What? Leave me the hell alone!” Jason threw a pillow at the speaker.
Pal 2000 did not respond, and Jason fell back asleep. He awoke a few minutes later, however, with Charlie standing over him.
“Hey, Cameron,” he said, reaching for the bottle.
Charlie quietly lifted the bottle and threw it against the wall. “Oh, did I wake you?” she said in a sweet, albeit sarcastic voice.
“I’m sorry, I can’t do this anymore,” he said, his throat constricting.
She hugged him. She didn’t try to talk him out of it. She didn’t try to pander to his sensibilities. Instead, she hugged him. Jason broke down in her arms, muttering over and over that he was sorry.
Still, she hugged him.
Jason realized she was crying too, and he returned the hug, pulling her onto the bed and into his big arms. She disappeared in his embrace, holding him tight. Her lips found his, and when they met, the passion that had lain dormant for so long became a raging pyre. The kiss became frantic, uniforms hit the floor, and the two came together again for the first time in nearly a decade.
Their sobs became cries of passion, and through the circular window beside the bed, the sun broke free of the shadow of Earth. They climaxed together as sunlight bathed the dimly lit room, and they fell into each other’s arms beneath the sheets.
They did not speak. They did not move. Instead, they lay cradled in the afterglow of their love, a love that had never been able to grow to fruition, but now held them both together. Like a beacon in the darkness of space, they clung to it, terrifyingly aware of how fragile it was.
But like all spells, this one too finally broke.
“Jason...”
Her voice was soft, loving, but it was also the harsh wind of reality, shattering their fragile egg and exposing them to the cold of haunting memories.
“Don’t,” he said, his voice hoarse.
“You’re right,” she said quickly before he could speak. “We killed millions. But in doing so we saved billions. Do you think you’re the only one who carries the pain? Do you think you’re the only one who bears the shame of what we did? You gave the order, and we followed it. Not because you are our captain, but because it was the right thing to do.”
“Charlie…”
“I know you’re hurting, Jason. I know you miss your wife. I know you miss Ember.”
He found himself sobbing, and she held him tight.
She whispered in his ear, “They’re both proud of you, Jason. They both love you. I love you.”
“Don’t.”
“I love you,” she insisted. “I always have.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re a good man. Because the first time I met you, I felt like I had known you forever.”
He lost himself again to her warm mouth, and she straddled him, kissing his tears as she gyrated slowly, lovingly.
Jason awoke with Charlie asleep in his arms. He glanced at the display on the wall. Midnight.
They lay facing the circular window, and he watched as the world slowly turned below them. The station had rotated while they slumbered, and now the sun shone down from the right side of the space station. Jason could just make out Redemption sitting in the docking bay, silver and gleaming and terrible to behold.
He didn’t deserve such a ship. He didn’t deserve such a crew. And he didn’t deserve Charlie.
When Jason awoke again it was six in the morning Eastern Time Earth side. Charlie was dressing. He made no indication that he was awake, but instead watched her dress, admiring her well-toned form, and the way her breasts bounced when she tugged up her pants...
“Good morning, Captain,” she said with a professional air. She smirked at him. The look was intoxicating, delicious, but like the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, it too held a destructive allure.
“Charlie…”
“Jake, please, for once, just fucking listen.”
He listened.
“I didn’t come here last night as some last-ditch effort to convince you to return. I came here last night because I love you, and I believe in you, and goddammit, I don’t want to go out there into the unknown without you!”
“I love you too, Charlie, and I wish I could be there for you, but...”
“But you won’t.”
“I can’t,” he said.
“That’s bullshit.”
“Call it what you will.” He got up, ignoring his uniform, and retrieved his white island khakis from a drawer.
“That is what I call it. Once, you chose your wife over me—”
The Man Who Broke the Moon Page 6
