Remember the Starfighter

by Michael Kan

  “Listen, this war. It just messes things up,” she confessed. “Can’t have a normal relationship with anyone.”

  Nalia uttered the words, trying to unspin the knot of frustration within. Shaking her head, she then scoffed.

  “But I’m no rookie,” she said. “I’ve been through this. Far too many times.”

  Pulling down her uniform, Nalia turned away. This was silly, she thought.

  “Anyways, I’ve got my duties. Just wanted to see you. Captain.”

  Nalia was so ready to walk away. A relationship with a man — Silly, indeed. Men would always come and go, but there was no need for the pain or the complication. This was war after all.

  “It is what it is,” he had said. Nalia agreed, steeling herself.

  The real Julian, however, had his own thoughts to say.

  “Hey,” he said, stopping Nalia in her tracks. He reached out, and gently touched the side of her shoulder.

  “Want to grab a drink?” he asked.

  ***

  Rather than go to the station’s bar, which was closed, they sat alone in the near empty cafeteria, their only company “the chef”, a robotic drone that dispensed pre-fabricated meals and drinks.

  Julian had barely touched the cup of synthetic yogurt in his hand. He was still surprised, finding himself sitting with her. Nalia next to his side, drinking a pack of juice.

  “I didn’t think we’d talk again,” he said. “I thought you had moved on.”

  Julian finally stabbed into the yogurt with the plastic spoon. “Which is okay,” he continued, taking a taste of the milky goo. “It’s common. Happens all the time.”

  Nalia rolled her eyes.

  “Sounds like I’m a tease. A flirt, playing some childish game.”

  “I didn’t mean that.”

  She finished her pack of juice, and threw it playfully at his chest.

  “You’re an ass,” she said in a jest.

  Julian laughed.

  As he ate another spoonful of yogurt, Nalia looked at her surroundings inside the vacant hall.

  “Feels like we’re skipping school,” she said. “I like it.”

  “Yeah,” Julian said. “It’s nice to have some time for ourselves.”

  “So what should we do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe decorate that lonely robot over there. Or raise the stakes. We steal a starship. Become bounty hunters. Me and you, partners in crime.”

  She grinned, her white teeth forming a deliberately sinister smile.

  “Sounds like you were a naughty kid back in school.”

  “I suppose so. All these rules and regulations. Always trying to stifle the fun.”

  “I just want to live,” she said. “Live my little life, as insignificant as it may be.”

  Julian listened, taking another spoonful out of the yogurt, when Nalia brought up his last mission.

  “Doesn’t seem fair. You starfighters having all the adventure. I heard about what you found. That Endervar ship.”

  “Yeah. I never imagined,” Julian said, still puzzled by his discovery. “The strangest thing. Drayden told me they even found a body inside. Maybe we’ll end up talking to the Endervars soon.”

  “You think?” Nalia wondered. “Well, on behalf of the galaxy, I’d respectfully like to tell them to fuck off.”

  Julian laughed, imagining the intergalactic incident unfold.

  “I second that,” he replied. Nalia laughed too, the chuckle eventually dying down.

  “I just wish the mission hadn’t taken so long,” Julian added. “Felt like I was out there for ages.”

  Nalia understood what he meant.

  “I worried,” she admitted. “It’s not right for you to be alone, like that.”

  “It’s okay. It’s all part of the job. At least, my psychological profile says I can take it.”

  “No,” Nalia said in revolt. “It’s not right. I never liked it. I can barely stand it sometimes.”

  “At least, when you’re alone, there’s no fuss,” he said, almost finishing the yogurt.

  “True. But still...”

  “It’s empty, I know.”

  “Everybody should have someone.”

  “Is that why I found you with that officer the other day?”

  Julian didn’t mean any offense, smiling with the last scoop of yogurt. “He seemed nice,” he added. “Clearly, you liked him.”

  “Jealous?”

  Julian didn’t answer, closing his eyes with a cool shrug.

  “I don’t think I even remember his name,” she said. “I think it was Talo. Maybe... some lieutenant. A bit of an air head.”

  “I see.”

  “Oops,” she said, brushing aside the lapse with her hand. “I guess, you’re right. Sometimes, it is too much fuss. But I can’t help and want to try and enjoy what I have. Enjoy those moments. Who knows what will happen next.”

  “Have you lost someone before?”

  “Well, everyone has. Although I can’t say I’ve gotten far. People transfer too much, or just want to satisfy their urges and move on.”

  “Yeah. Some people are just passing through, and that’s it. Or they meet someone else.”

  She looked at him, and could see the bleakness in his face. Nalia had to ask. “So, are we just passing through?”

  “No,” he said. “Well, not to me, at least.”

  Julian suddenly thought back to when he saw Nalia with the other man. He had tried to think nothing of it. But still, it bothered him. More deeply than he ever thought it would.

  “For a moment, I felt like I belonged. And then I didn’t,” he said. “It’s funny when you like someone. It’s actually quite dangerous. For all you know it may end badly.”

  “But I guess it’s inevitable. You want to feel it. That hope. Even though you know, it’s dangerous. You just can’t help it. You just have to risk it.”

  Julian let out a sigh, embarrassed by what he felt was a nonsensical screed. His face flinched like it was in pain, and then his gaze fell to the table.

  Nalia touched his hand.

  “Then I’ll risk it too,” she added. “You’re not alone Julian.”

  He grabbed her hand with his own.

  “If only it weren’t the end of the world,” Nalia went on. “What to do?”

  She gave out a sad-eyed grin, the sarcasm tainted with a sense of doom

  “You shouldn’t worry so much,” he said. “From what I can tell, this war, it’s coming to an end. Even I’m starting to see it.”

  He sat there confidently, as the thought entered Nalia’s mind. It was true. In another week, she and the rest of Bydandia’s personnel would be gone from the base. They would be thousands of light-years away, in what would be a new world, in a new life. It was something she had so easily forgotten.

  Unsure of what to say, Nalia paused as her wits struggled to crack a joke. It was then she relented, knowing that she only wanted to say what mattered.

  “Hey,” she said seriously. “When you get to Isen, make sure you contact me.”

  Nodding his head, Julian obliged.

  “Will do, commander.”

  Laughing, Nalia rubbed his neck. Then she kissed him on the lips. It was an act that lifted the emotions inside. In a way, it came almost as a shock. She took another glance back at Julian, seeing the steady smile on his face. Nalia shook her head in a happy disbelief.

  Maybe, she thought. Just maybe she could have it: A life. Perhaps it would be one with Julian. If only it could be made true.

  ***

  Nearly a light-year away from the station, the cold vacuum of space shook, the disturbance warping the physicals laws of the universe. In a burst of alien energy, the ship came, its target the star system that lay ahead.

  Pausing in mid-flight, the vessel observed. Even from this distance, it could read the signs of life, having been designed for that very purpose. In this case, the scale of activity was minor compared with the previ
ous systems it had encountered. Unlike the others, this star possessed no world capable of sustaining life in its natural environment. Scans instead showed only a collection of barren moons circling several gas giants in orbit.

  Even so, an advanced civilization had attempted to subsist here, clinging as it may, on to some kind of survival.

  The beings in question had already achieved space flight, as evidenced by the clusters of mechanical vessels moving throughout the system. Structures, both large and small, sprawled around the orbits of the star. Other artificial constructs could be found installed on the different asteroids and moons of the system. Perhaps, this was a remnant of life it had confronted before, somehow escaping its previous subjugation. Now the inhabitants had taken root in another system, fortifying themselves against what they knew would be an inevitable attack.

  All of this, however, was inconsequential. What had brought the ship to the star was something else it had harbored, a force it had sensed light-years away. Its location had now been pinpointed to a colonized moon orbiting a gas giant. Repeatedly, the ship had tried to communicate with the entity, knowing it to be built from the same fabric as its own. But there was nothing to indicate consciousness, let alone allegiance. It was simply a shell, screaming in the night, unknowing of its own origins.

  The ship then sent the signal into the abyss. In time, others of its kind would arrive. They had finally found the aberration, after trailing it across the sector. Soon, they would initiate what they had done so many times over. But this time, in a far more thorough pattern. It was one of the reasons they had been built for. Not only to obey and exist in this world, but ultimately to conquer and destroy.

  Chapter 16

  “Sadly, I have to go.”

  Nalia rose from the bed inside Julian’s quarters, her naked body reaching for her officer’s uniform on the floor.

  “Duty calls,” she said.

  Julian lay on the bed unclothed, watching as Nalia tied the back of her auburn hair into a ponytail.

  “I guess we can’t skip school forever,” he said, reluctantly rising from the bed in his quarters.

  Nalia grinned, fitting the communication band around her wrist with a click. “We have to save the world,” she said.

  She slipped back into her clothes, tightening the belt around her pants.

  “But then who will save us?” he asked.

  Julian reached toward Nalia, hugging her around her waist.

  “Hah,” she flinched. “Next time, I’ll be saving you all night.”

  She sat next to him on his bed, and kissed him.

  “What’s this?” he asked. Julian touched the back of her neck. He had noticed the tattoo moments earlier, but only now had the chance to ask. It was an orange flower, the petals drawn like a painting.

  “The flower of faith,” she said. “That all we need to do is believe.”

  Julian kissed it.

  “Are you late for duty?” he asked.

  “I’ll just tell them I was on a covert mission. A mission to rescue you.”

  “Mission accomplished.”

  “What about you?” she then asked. “Or is there a battle you’re about to miss?”

  Julian looked off at his own communication band, and found it sitting silently on the bed’s nightstand, the display across it dim as a dead bulb.

  “No blinking red lights. Looks like I’m in the clear.”

  Nalia put her arm around Julian’s back, and leaned into him.

  “When can I see you again?” she asked.

  “I’ll still be around for another day. Probably in the hanger bay with the Lightning. You should come by.”

  “And then we can start our bounty hunting careers?”

  “I’d go AWOL for you.”

  “Naughty,” she teased. “I wonder what you were like as a child?”

  Julian furrowed his brow.

  “Well, you obviously were a troublemaker,” he replied.

  “You have such a low opinion of me,” Nalia laughed. “No, it was quite the opposite actually. People thought I was a perfect child. My academy scores were in the top 3 percentile. Everyone thought I was a prodigy.”

  “An elite?”

  “Just the first two years at academy. Then I sagged off. Later on, it just occurred to me I should just do what I want. And that’s when the trouble began.”

  “What about you?” she asked.

  “Actually, I don’t remember,” Julian said.

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “Yeah, I don’t. Not after, well, I had the operation. The accident and all.”

  “I’m sorry. I know,” she said, recalling Julian’s military record. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

  “No. It’s nothing. I guess I was a sad kid. Now, I’m just walking around like an animated corpse. A ghost.”

  “Don’t say that. It’s not true. You’re fine. You’re perfect.”

  “No.”

  “You’re special.”

  Julian wanted to shake his head, but hesitated upon feeling Nalia’s hand over his own. He looked into her eyes, and felt a warmth.

  “You really are beautiful,” he said, kissing her on the lips.

  “Don’t hold back, Julian,” she replied. “Just live. Live your life to the fullest.”

  Nalia then left, giving him a wink before exiting his quarters. Julian lay in bed, surprised. Already, he missed her, and wondered when he would see Nalia again. Down at his bedside, he reached for his uniform, and saw the silver captain’s insignia on its collar.

  “Thanks Nalia,” he whispered. “Thanks for being there.”

  Fitting on his clothes, Julian then reached for his communication band, expecting the bracelet to still be asleep.

  It wasn’t. Before he could place it on, Julian felt the vibration in his hand, the pulse going off.

  He looked over at the device, and saw that it was no longer dormant. Ominously, the red lights across its display began to flash. He snapped on the device, and read the orders. “Yellow alert,” it said. “Battle stations.”

  ***

  Moving in the images before his eyes, Julian could see the data displayed on the holo-emitter in his hand. Anxiously, he cycled through the information, checking for any possible misreading in the data flow.

  “This doesn’t make sense,” Julian said as he spoke through the comm. “Are you sure?”

  But as the data refreshed, the reality became stark. Enemy ships had entered the Bydandia systems, their numbers growing by the minute.

  “We’re counting seven Endervar vessels, closing in on our location,” Drayden said remotely through his communication link. “Scans also show more enemy warp signatures emerging from the edge, near Bydandia VII.”

  “But I thought we were in the clear,” Julian said. “They shouldn’t be here. They were last spotted over 80 light-years away. And that was weeks ago.”

  “I know. We took proper precautions, and shielded the captured enemy ship as best as we could. But somehow, they just zeroed-in on our position. Regardless, is your ship ready?”

  Standing in the hanger bay, Julian looked off at the Lightning, seeing it powered down and encircled by equipment and automated machines.

  “I’m still midway in a refit, I can—”

  “Cancel whatever you were doing. You’ll no longer be performing support. Instead, you are the transport. Get your ship flight ready ASAP. The Endervar specimen is already headed to you.”

  Julian turned toward the ceiling as the alarms on the station went off. All remaining civilians and non-essential personnel were to evacuate the facility immediately.

  “How much longer before the enemy gets here?”

  “We’re hoping our defenses can hold them off,” Drayden said. “But if that fails, weapons fire might start hitting us in twenty minutes. In the meantime, prepare the Lightning for takeoff.”

  “Understood, the ship should be ready in minutes.”

  “Good. We’ll be mustering whatever
we can to cover your escape. I think we can handle this with what remaining man power we have. But the Endervar body is your top priority. Get it to Alliance Command at whatever the cost.”

  “But Drayden, what about you—”

  “Top priority Julian. I repeat, do not let anything happen to that body. Don’t worry about us. Drayden out.”

  The communication link then cut off.

  The station alarms continued to blare as Julian began remotely tapping through the Lightning’s systems, ordering it to start take off procedures. One by one, the neon blue lights on the vessel flashed on, the churn of its power systems echoing through the air.

  20 minutes. Maybe less. That’s all they had. In the midst of it, Julian could hear the rush of footsteps entering the hanger bay. Officers and support crew were streaming through the facility, yelling out orders and running to a freighter vessel still under repair.

  Julian shook his head as he could feel the urgency wash over him. Again, SpaceCore would face off against the Endervars.

  The entrance to the hanger bay door opened, a group of staff members standing on the other side. Looming behind them was something large and pod-like.

  Julian ran to them, knowing what had to be inside.

  “This is the best we could do under the circumstances,” one of the officers said, pointing to the cryogenic chamber. “But the body is secure.”

  Julian glanced at the capsule’s glass window. In it, he could see the being — the faceless features, the metal glinting inside. Seemingly, the body was unconscious, submerged in the freezing cold liquid.

  Julian then realized this battle would be different. Perhaps, for the first time the free galaxy had stolen something from the enemy. Now, the Endervars had returned. This time, to take back what was theirs.

  ***

  Drayden cringed as he watched vessel after vessel disappear from the grid.

  “We’re counting twelve enemy contacts— Too many of them” a voice screamed on the comm link. “Hull breaches— everywhere. All hands abandon—”