by Luigi Robles
“Captain, are you alright?” Larissa asked as she neared Fain.
“I’m still trying to process what happened,” Fain said. “We lost a lot of people today…”
“That’s beyond you, Captain,” Larissa said. “I’m sure you did everything you could.”
“I’m not too sure of that myself,” Fain said. “I’m going to go find a place to think. I’m afraid this is far from over. Before Professor Kepp died, he told me that the Acram battle fleet was coming for the ship.”
“Fain,” Larissa said. “We’ll figure it out. You aren’t alone, not anymore.”
Larissa’s simple words moved Fain in ways that he thought were gone from his life since the Acram first attacked Earth. Fain felt a jolt of hopefulness run through his body. Perhaps it wasn’t all done; perhaps there was still a chance. But even so, he knew that he had to face the report of what had occurred today.
“Thank you,” Fain said with a slight smile. “Will you let Pycca and Eora know what happened up here? I’ll be back to address the ship after I find out what happened with August.”
“Of course,” Larissa said as she nodded.
Fain walked out of the bridge and headed towards the medical bay.
“Would you like me to call a pod for you?” Kya asked.
“No, thanks,” Fain said. “I’d rather walk. I need time to think. Do we have video footage of what happened? I want to review it.”
“I will send a video feed to your wristband,” Kya said.
Fain put the wristband in front of him and pulled out the small translucent screen. He walked for fifteen minutes as he watched the video. But before the video was finished, he closed the screen in frustration.
What was Jonathan doing with the aliens? Fain wondered. At first, he didn’t look like he was in any kind of danger. But as soon as they threw the council member across the corridor, everything changed. Was he able to communicate with them at first, before they turned on him? Whatever it was, he was still able to get some valuable information. He said that the Acram battle fleet was coming for the ship, but he didn’t finish the sentence. What was the “and” part about? Is it possible that what we’ve witness so far was not the Acram battle fleet? Of course it wasn’t. I get the feeling that we wouldn’t be alive if they were attacking us with full force.
“Kya, are all your sensors working now?” Fain asked.
“Aside from the ones that got damaged in the firefights,” Kya said. “I’d say yes, my sensors are working now.”
“So, what’s the count?” Fain asked with a sigh. “How many did we lose?”
“There is a total of 347 slain officers on board the ship,” Kya said.
The news hit Fain hard. He never would have imagined that so few Acram could be responsible for so much death without their ships.
“And there were only six Acram?” Fain asked.
“That is correct,” Kya said. “Only six alien lifeforms entered the ship from the attached spacecraft.”
“That reminds me,” Fain said. “We have to get that detached from the ship or get rid of that entire section. I’ll talk to Pycca after I see August.
“Any news from Earth?”
“There have been a few repetitive queries addressed to the council,” Kya said.
“It’s only a matter of time before they figure out what happened,” Fain said. “Please hold off on any communication with Earth until the dust settles around here.”
I really hope that there isn’t anyone drunk on rank that’s going to try to take over Sodenia, he thought. That would be a nightmare; we are barely surviving as it is.
Fain walked for a few more minutes in silence, trying to relax and get rid of some of the massive amounts of stress he was experiencing. His neck was tight and his shoulders heavy, as if he was carrying a slab of stone around with him.
He thought about better times in his life, about times when he felt happy. When he had both of his parents with him, when the world seemed normal, and when there was hope, lots of hope. Attached to those memories was the first alien attack on Earth, which had cost so many lives and turned his life upside down. The pain of losing his parents was as fresh as ever. He knew that was a wound that would never truly heal. But his thoughts added an ocean of fuel to the resolve that was burning in his chest. He must be strong so that humanity would live to see another day.
Fain entered the medical bay and walked towards the area where he knew August would be. The med bay was busy; dozens of nurses scrambled about, attending the wounded. Fain turned the corner and was surprised to see August already awake. He was sweating and furrowing his face, but he seemed happy to be alive. There were a few nurses in this area as well, taking care of other officers who had managed to survive the Acram attack, and a doctor was looking at live scans.
“It took you long enough,” August said. “You just missed Pycca; she said she was going to go do something about the thing that attached itself to us.”
“How do you feel?” Fain asked as he grabbed a seat next to August’s bed.
“I don’t have a mirror in front of me,” August said, “but if I did, I would be able to tell you for sure that I feel worse than I look. I feel like the left side of my body is on fire.”
“Yeah,” Fain said. “I guess I should have guessed that part. But hey, you flew the ship and you brought it to them.”
“Barely,” August said. “Trust me when I tell you that I had no idea what I was doing. So, the actual Acram made it on board, huh?”
“Yeah, they were no subspecies,” Fain said. “There were six of them.”
“Did we lose a lot of people?” August asked.
“You don’t want to know,” Fain said.
“How many?” August asked. “If you don’t tell me, Kya will.”
“It was 347…” Fain said.
“Dammit,” August said, with watery eyes. “I should never have forwarded the shield. None of this would have happened.”
“Hey, listen,” Fain said. “You did what you had to do. If they hadn’t gotten in that way, they would eventually have found a different way. You can’t think like that. All we can do is our best, and that’s it.”
August didn’t say anything.
“Hey, listen, the best thing you can do is get better,” Fain said. “I need your help on the bridge.”
“I don’t think I’ll be getting better anytime soon,” August said. “Well, at least not how I used to be.”
“What do you mean?” Fain asked, alarmed, thinking that he had missed something.
“Doctor, can you please come here,” August managed.
“What can I help you with?” the doctor asked August as he neared.
“Can you tell him what you told me just a little while ago?” August said. “You know, about my arm.”
“Very well,” the doctor said, facing Fain. “August here will have to have his entire right arm amputated as soon as possible. There is little to no blood flow, and there is tissue already dying out due to the trauma. His humerus, radius, ulna, and carpus broke into tiny pieces, cutting muscle tissue and veins. We are getting ready to do the procedure as we speak. I’m afraid that if we don’t act quickly, an infection will spread, and then things could go either way.”
“Thank you, doctor,” August said, and the doctor quickly returned to what he was doing. “Yeah, I wouldn’t have been able to remember all of that. But don’t worry, I’ve been promised an awesome prosthesis.”
“I’m so sorry,” Fain said. “But I am still glad you are alive. You did good. Don’t go beating yourself up about it anymore.”
August nodded.
“I have to go address the ship,” Fain said.
“What are you going to tell them?” August asked. “A lot of people are going to be angry about the council.”
“That we survived,” Fain said. “And that’s all that should matter now.”
“If anyone can do it, it’s you,” August managed.
“I’ll be
back later to see how the operation goes,” Fain said as he got up from the chair.
Fain left without saying anything else, and neither did August. Fain called a pod as he got to the corridor, so it could take him to the bridge. Once there, he went straight to the flashing blue button.
“Attention to all people and personnel on board Sodenia,” Fain said, pressing the flashing blue button. “This is Captain Fain Jegga, and I need you all to listen carefully. It is without a doubt in my head that I can tell you this. The aim of the Acram was to disable the ship from the inside and to disable its command. They did this not because they don’t have the firepower to face us head-on, but because they believe they will end up destroying the ship if they do, thus destroying their trophy or whatever it is they want with this ship. Now, I don’t know about you, but I will do everything in my power to spoil their victory and to return peace to planet Earth. But I, more than anyone, recognize that I can’t do it alone. I need all the help I can get. I need your help.”
Fain paused to let the words sink in.
“I know that for some of you, it might be difficult to follow someone else other than the council,” Fain continued. “The Acram force is planning to send its battle fleet to take on Sodenia. But if they think that we will be so easily taken down, they have another think coming. Because it is not the ship that is strong; it is the people on board the ship that make it strong. Every one of you counts. And for those of you who find it difficult to put your faith in me, I only ask that you remind yourselves why you enlisted in the first place. And if, after that, you still have doubts about the fight you are in, I will have to ask you to resign. For those of you who are brave enough and for whom quitting is not an option, I urge you to take a step forward and fight with me so we can bring long-lasting peace to Earth and ensure safety for our families back home.”
Fain had given his all in that speech. From here on out, he could only hope that the people most loyal to the council would follow him and not get in the way. He knew that the real battle was still to come.
Cleaning up after the Acram was hard for everyone on the ship, it seemed. Having to hold a funeral for 347 brave fallen crew members was even harder. The people on board Sodenia didn’t look happy; they looked frightened and tired. A chill ran down Fain’s spine as he contemplated the possibility of a bleak future, intensifying with each capsule that flew out into space.
14
Drifting
One day after the subspecies and Acram attack, Fain was finally ready to face the leaders of Earth. He had sent a full report of the events that had occurred, and Earth had questions. He had given himself time to think, time to make up his mind, and now he was resolute. He knew that he wouldn’t follow any orders that would put the ship under anyone else’s thumb. He was captain of the ship, and he was going to do the best he could to protect his people and the people of Earth.
Fain had decided to let the crew regroup on their own; he wanted to minimize any resentment. They were to show up at their stations and posts when the time was right for them.
“Kya, have there been any attempts to communicate with Earth by any council loyalists?” Fain asked as he got dressed.
“There have only been attempts coming from Earth to communicate with the council itself, not any other crew member. And as far as personnel on board, they have not tried to communicate with any government of any kind. There has been communication only between family members and friends.”
“Are the people still trying to communicate with the council the same ones who are trying to communicate with me?”
“It appears that they are not.”
“So, it died there?” Fain murmured. “The council was too paranoid to give any real access to anyone. They wanted the power all to themselves.”
Fain walked over to the food printer and ordered himself a large cup of coffee; he hadn’t been eating properly since he was sent to the detention bay.
“Alright, set up the meeting at my desk as soon as they are ready,” Fain said as he walked to his desk and took a sip of the delicious beverage.
A timer appeared on the computer monitor; it was at minus five minutes.
Whoa, they are serious about talking to me, Fain thought as he watched the timer count down. They aren’t going to like that we got rid of the Acram corpses, that’s for sure, or the fact that Pycca dislodged a module from Sodenia to get rid of the Acram dropship. Maybe in another lifetime, if we were not in danger of being wiped out by an alien species, we would have the luxury of keeping them for science. But not this time. Who knows what those aliens had on them or if there was some remote-operated weapon on their dropship.
The countdown finished, and four figures appeared before him, of which he only recognized one. The people on the screen didn’t look too happy to see Fain; they looked as if they hadn’t slept in days. Colonel Green was on the left side of the screen, a tag with his name and rank showing beneath his face. To his right was Fleet Admiral Jean Kaiser, to the right of her was Defense Secretary Ayla Stone, and to the right of her was ESAF Commander Sully W. Ford.
Fain was excited to see Green on the screen; there was finally someone he knew he could trust. But as for the rest of the faces on the screen, Fain had only heard rumors about them, so he wasn’t sure what to expect.
“Let me start off by saying that we got your report,” Green said, sounding a beat off.
So, this will be a meeting between all four of them and me, not a meeting between Green, me, and them. I should watch what I say, Fain thought.
“You say in your report,” Green continued, “that the professor’s last words were, and I quote, ‘The Acram battle fleet is coming for this ship and…’ Where do you think the professor might have gotten that information from?”
“I believe it was from the Acram themselves,” Fain said. “The more I think about what I saw, the more I’m under the impression that the professor was able to communicate with them.”
“I see. So, he was able to realize his dream after all. It seems that the professor’s wish all along was to be able to communicate with the Acram, no matter the cost. That much is now clear. You also said that the Acram had some kind of disruption field around them,” Green continued, reading from a tablet. “And that is the reason why there is no real video of what occurred inside Sodenia, is that correct?”
“Yes, that is correct,” Fain said. “That’s what is in the report.”
“Do you realize how that sounds to someone who wasn’t there?” Green said.
“What do you mean?” Fain said.
“Some have said that it sounds like a cover-up for a coup,” Green said, putting the tablet down. “If it wasn’t for the fact that we corroborated the report with several crew members, this entire case would have been dismissed and you would have been put in cuffs.”
“Did you corroborate with First Officer August as well?” Fain said, trying to control his anger. “He almost lost his life coming in contact with the Acram, and his entire right arm was turned to dust.”
“No, Fain, you don’t get it,” Green said. “We are trying to help you. We are not the ones who placed the council on board the ship.”
Fain took a deep breath in, calming himself back down.
“I understand,” Fain said.
“This entire thing has placed us in a precarious situation,” Green said. “You see, we must act—no, we can only act—according to our superiors’ orders, and those are the same people who can send Earth’s last hope into exile or use it to destroy their own enemies here on Earth. The council on board the ship was a means to balance it, at least until we knew for sure what the Acram genuinely wanted.”
“Now,” Ayla said, “that balance is reaching its tipping point, with the nations of Earth who created ESAF pulling out of the agreement and threatening war, and we cannot have that.”
Fain couldn’t believe his ears. Here they were, amidst the threat of total annihilation by an alien species, and yet people on E
arth wanted to annihilate themselves because they couldn’t agree. Fain felt his stomach twist and his jaw clench with complete frustration. The politics of Earth ran deep in the human soul; they would save themselves even if it meant destroying humanity along with it.
“As we speak, the most popular option,” Ayla said, “the option winning the most votes, is to destroy Sodenia.”
Destroy Sodenia? Are they out of their fucking minds? Fain thought. Sodenia is the only chance we have against the conquerors and they want to destroy it? For what? So the conquerors will maybe decide not to come and conquer Earth? That is total and utter bullshit.
“Their theory,” Ayla said, “is that if Sodenia is what the Acram want, as shown by the last two attacks, then Earth doesn’t want to have anything to do with it. Perhaps the Acram would leave us alone if we didn’t have Sodenia.”
“You can see how that is a problem,” Jean said. “If we were to do that, the Earth would practically be left unarmed against extraterrestrial forces. We cannot be in that position any longer.”
“What would you have me do?” Fain asked.
“For now, we need time to convince the people down here that Sodenia is not a threat in itself,” Green said. “We need you to go far way, where satellites cannot see you. The more you linger around, the less chance we have to convince the people here that you aren’t a threat to their safety, especially if another battle were to break out. And judging by what you stated in your report, that seems like a likely scenario. Earth must not know if there is a third battle.”
“There’s only one problem with that,” Fain said.
“Which is?” Green asked.
“We need to return to Earth as soon as possible,” Fain said. “When we left, we left abruptly, so we did not finish loading our supplies, and we brought the entire facility on board the ship. There are 6,685 people on board, and every one of them has to eat. Now, I would have to confirm with Larissa, but I get the feeling that we don’t have that much time up here. Maybe six days before we start running out of food, and that with a limited menu already.”
