by Amanda Rose
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said. They shared one last look of understanding, and then Jona took his leave from her office.
Once she was alone Norita allowed herself to feel the stress, then took a long inhale, held her breath, and then let it all out in one big exhale. Her first advisor had taught her this breathing technique to get through times of heightened anxiety, and she had found it always helped to settle her nerves. Norita looked at the pile of data pads on her desk, and then to the clock which read 2:15AM, and decided it was time to head back to her quarters.
Chapter 2: DRAUGHT
A month had passed since the water rationing had gone into effect, and it was beginning to affect moral. Nerves were frayed, anxiety high, and tempers thin. The council did its best with assurances that everything was well under control, and to quell any panic, but the pressure was building up, and it was palpable.
While the ship was travelling at full speed, the military pilots were grounded; there was no way for them to launch and get back to the ship without the Saisei slowing down. At first Freya was furious, but as week after week had passed by, she was simply bored and impatient. She hated the idea of her skills dulling. Raiden had an unshakable feeling, and he wasn’t sure if it was good or bad, but it wouldn’t leave him be.
The Omega Squad had been assigned as peaceful crowd control during the water rationing, to make sure thing didn’t get out of hand. Raiden and Freya stood side by side at the entrance to the main doors leading into the concourse, the central hub of the ship where people came to trade, dine, drink, and take part in all sorts of social activities. The lack of water for bathing was starting to take its toll, as the stale scent of body odor lingered in the air.
Freya cracked her neck and stretched her back. They’d been standing in place for over 4 hours, and it was painful on her lower back. “This job’s a joke,” she muttered under her breath, watching the crowds go by, then looked over at Raiden and asked, “How long till we can leave?”
Raiden looked at his watch, “3 hours, 42 minutes,” he replied flatly.
“Then I’m getting coffee, want one?” she asked.
Raiden nodded, “1 cream, no sugar,” he told her.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Give me your ration chip,” she said holding out her hand. Raiden passed it to her, and she wrapped her fingers around it, “I’ll be right back,” Freya said, and walked over to the nearby café.
Raiden kept scanning the crowds with his eyes, but he was getting tired of the monotony. Day after day, week after week, it had all been the same, watching people go about their days. He looked over at Freya and saw her several customers back in the lineup at the café and sighed; the coffee couldn’t come soon enough.
A few minutes later Raiden caught site of a large group of people making their way towards the very far end of the concord a few hundred feet away. He saw a man standing up on top of a cafeteria table, waving his arms, clearly making some sort of speech to the large gathering that had formed around him. Raiden had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and started to make his way over.
Picking up the coffees off the countertop, Freya turned around to see Raiden walking briskly away. She ran to catch up to him. “Hey!” she called, as she ran toward him. Raiden stopped and turned to see her. Freya stopped when she reached him, “What is it?” she asked. Raiden pointed, and she looked at the ever-growing crowd. “Oh, shit,” she said, and put the coffees down on the nearest surface, “These better be here when we get back. Alright, let’s go.”
The man standing on the table was emphatic, and passionate, and as he expressed his views, and the crowd fed off his energy, “…This is how it begins. Rationing is the first step to subjugation. Power does not rise up in a mighty swoop, it comes slowly, with false promises, slipping in gradually until it’s too late to get it out…” His speech was eloquent and was gathering fast endorsement from his onlookers. Hiroshi stood amongst the crowd, watching the man speak, and feeling the frenetic energy of the crowd rising. Short-sighted stupidity will be the undoing of us all. He thought.
Raiden and Freya were trying to make their way up to the man, but the crowd had become too dense with bodies, and they were having a hard time maneuvering closer. “Excuse me,” Raiden said, pushing his way through the tight knit bodies. They could both feel eyes on them; they stood out in their black military garb amongst the civilians. Animosity was growing as the impassioned speech continued, and the crowd was beginning to cheer the man on in agreement. People were starting to intentionally block Freya and Raiden from making their way up to the make-shift podium. Raiden click in on his comm badge, “Backup in the concourse, I repeat, immediate backup in concourse requested.”
“…But they forget, the power is with the people! There is strength in numbers, and the civilian body has the most numbers! And we will be heard!” The man’s speech came to a crescendo, and the people were rallying behind him. The mood was heated, and it felt like a riot could start at the drop of a hat. Raiden and Freya struggled to try to get to the man but were still forty feet away.
Suddenly a voice overcame the cheering, strong, calm, and clear, “Is it so easy to forget the government represents the people?” Hiroshu asked the man.
The buzz of the crowd lessened as all eyes sought to see who asked the question and longed to hear the outcome. The man on the table met Hiroshi’s gaze, his eyes like daggers sizing Hiroshi up. After a moment, he grinned, still feeling righteous in his views, “That is the greatest illusion of them all.”
Hiroshi stepped to the front of the crowd, “Our people have seen corrupted power first hand, unchecked, and answering to no one. This is not true of our current government. We elect in our officials, this is democracy, not dictatorship,” Hiroshu said with confidence.
“We call it a democracy, but we still live with Imperial rule,” the man bit back.
Hiroshu was becoming agitated; if there was one thing that annoyed him to his core, it was ignorance. “Imperial in title only,” Hiroshu said, fighting back his urge to yell.
“And yet… we don’t vote for who gets the ultimate title, do we?” the man said sternly, a terrifying finality to his voice. Hiroshu didn’t know what to say, the man wasn’t wrong in his statement, but his ideals were dangerous. His mind raced for something to say. Before Hiroshu could think of anything, Raiden and Freya finally busted through to the front of the crowd.
Raiden turned to address the crowd, “Folks, it’s time to go home! Disperse immediately!”
Freya spoke directly to the man, “You’re under arrest for public disturbance, get down off that table now!”
The man looked to the crowd, “They can silence the individual, but not the masses!” he yelled before Freya pulled him down off the table. The man purposefully went limp when Freya tugged him down, and as a result he fell and hit his forehead off the corner of a metal chair. The impact had cut him and he bled profusely.
Freya and Raiden got the man up to his feet. Someone in the crowd saw the injury and screamed, “Militant brutality!” and the crowd roared with hate.
“Oh, shit…” Freya said under her breath.
The man stood there, laughing as blood trickled down his cheek, “You can’t silence the people.”
“It was an accident, we’ll be taking this man to get immediate medical care,” Raiden attempted to explain, but the crowd refused to hear him out. Before he could blink Raiden was hit in the face with an empty soda fountain cup, and while it didn’t hurt, he recoiled from the shock.
“Fuck!” Freya let out, her fear taking over. The adrenaline was pumping, and tempers were flaring.
Darting eyes scanned the crowd as Raiden tried his best to analyze the situation and plan his next move. His mind was unfocused, he tried to fight back the urge to panic. A moment later a fog horn sounded behind them, and like a wave, it washed over the crowd and silenced them. A distant voice bellowed, “Cease and desist! The concourse is officially shut down for the rest of the day. Civilians
have 20 minutes to vacate, shop keeps 1 hour. Anyone still here beyond those times will be immediately arrested and detained for questioning. Now, go!”
The people began to make their way towards the exists. Raiden and Freya turned around to see Captain Gin Yoshini, along with 8 other soldiers, including Koji, in tow. They both breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of their backup. Gin directed the soldiers to stand watch at the exits.
“How lucky for you,” the man jived at Freya.
Freya gripped his arm firmly, “C’mon, let’s get you to the medic…” she said, holding back her rage. One of the other soldiers accompanied her as she left the concourse with him.
Hiroshi watched as Freya took then man away, then turned to leave, but Raiden caught his attention before he did, “Hey, sir, thank you,” Raiden said, extending his hand. Hiroshu felt a bit dazed from the whole situation, he stared at Raiden’s hand for a moment, then took it and shook it.
“Just trying to be the voice of reason. It’s Hiroshi, by the way.”
Raiden smiled, “I’m Raiden, pleased to meet you. You helped diffuse a very tense situation, things could have gone much worse if you hadn’t stepped in when you did. That said, be careful, with people like that… you just never know.”
Hiroshi nodded in agreement, “Good advice.” With that Hiroshi headed off.
Raiden walked up to Gin, who was meticulously keeping an eye on the crowds as they left. “Just in the nick of time,” Raiden said, letting out a sigh.
“What in the hell happened?” Gin asked.
Raiden shook his head, “People are tense, and this guy’s anti-government speech riled them up. I just… I just can’t believe things got ugly that fast. If you hadn’t come when you had…”
Gin grunted, “Yeah, well, you fly boys never think civilian security has its dangers, but an angry mob is nothing to snub your nose at. People are dangerous,” he said in all seriousness, and Raiden knew he was right.
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Closing the holding cell door behind her, Freya locked in the man, whose identity had come back as Niko Adai. Freya’s hair was disheveled, and the stress still sat heavy on her. She felt shaken and took a moment to gather herself while she was alone in the hallway, before walking back out to the security post. Freya cracked her neck, and stepped into her power, as she approached the guard on duty. The guard looked up, and she gave him a nod, “Detainee number 13, Niko Adai, holding cell 9, under arrest for public disturbance and attempting to instigate a riot,” she told him as he input it into the computer log.
He finished typing, “Got it, lieutenant.”
Freya gave him a pat on the back, then started to walk away, “G’night, man.”
Freya headed straight back to her quarters, and when she was alone, the pent-up fear overcame her. Tears welled up, and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Freya tore off her military jacket as she gasped for air, tears streaming down her face. She couldn’t get the angry mob out of her head, the rage in their eyes, the angry shouts, surrounding them, trapping them in, there’d been nowhere to go. What if…? Her mind kept grasping at all the horrible possibilities of what could have been. She tried to push away the thoughts, but they latched on, and refused to budge.
Once Freya caught her breath she began to calm down. She caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror, blotchy red from crying, and was disgusted with feelings of anger and shame. She slapped herself, “Get yourself together!” she said vehemently. Freya viewed herself as one of the boys, strong and impervious; not a victim to her emotions. After a few moments she calmed herself down. You’re better than this… she kept repeating to herself in her mind.
Pushing the feeling aside, Freya went over to the sink to splash cold water on her face. It was only when she got there did she remember the pipes were turned off for the water rationing. “Dammit!” she hollered and punched the metal wall. “Aw, fuck!” she recoiled as the sharp pain surged through her hand. She shook her hand then stuck it between her side and her left arm to apply pressure to it. “Sssst!” she cringed as the throbbing began.
After a few minutes she looked at her hand, the bruises were already forming, and the skin had split on her middle finger’s knuckle. She shook it out some more, rolled her eyes at her own stupidity, and her gaze landed on her clock. It was 5:20PM and she’s promised to meet Raiden for drinks. She grabbed a shirt, patted down her face, and headed out to the mess hall.
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It was another late night for Dr. Seto Takei. All of his staff had already left for the night, and he sat alone in the lab, the light from his computer monitor shining bright on his face. He sipped a cup of green tea as he looked over today’s data. Dr. Takei had a marvelous mind; he could analyze a situation in layers to see the big picture in a way few people ever could understand. His most difficult task in life was always conveying his conclusions, they were unorthodox, and left the average person unsure.
Seto remembered in his youth being disciplined in math class for not displaying the process of long division. But he didn’t need the long-drawn-out path to get to the answer, his mind worked differently, although as a child he had no way of explaining it. Ignorant small-minded fools. Being different is our greatest strength, being average is weak. He thought, feeling the same agitation he did as a school boy being accused of cheating. Cheating? Hmmp! I never needed to cheat.
Trying to shake free of that memory, Seto attempted to refocus on his work. He drank deeply from his cup, and instantly felt more focused. The past few weeks had been very demanding, though that was what Seto lived for: a challenge. Late nights, tough problems, life and death stakes, it made him feel alive.
There was something about late nights in the lab, when the last of the scientists finally left, and the quiet set in, that Dr. Takei felt like he was fully in his element. His mind came alive at night, and he often got his best work done then. Without interruptions, he could let his mind run through all kinds of scenarios, through to their conclusions. During the day Seto found himself often coordinating the rest of his team, and while he enjoyed that work, his solitary time brought him the most joy.
Dr. Takei glanced at his agenda for the next day. He had a big meeting scheduled with Zavion, the head of engineering for the Saisei, at 8AM. Yesterday had been a great day as his team had finished the plans to implement the upgrades to the reclamation system for urine recycling back into usable water. The team had done such an incredible job on refining the techniques that that water percentage saved would go from 93% to 98%. The difficulty would come in making the modifications throughout the ships infrastructure; at best it would take several years to retrofit the entire ship to make the upgrades, but that was a problem to deal with at tomorrow’s meeting.
Seto had bigger more pressing problems on his mind; how to collect and distill the water from the asteroid they were heading to. The biggest issue was creating the drilling equipment to work under such extreme temperatures. So far, he was able to find methods of keeping the fuel and lubricating oils from freezing up to -200°, however that was a far cry from where he need it to be. Thickening fluids, frozen fuel lines, cracks causing leakages, were just part of the problem. Keeping the battery operating under such extreme cold posed entirely new difficulties, and time was starting to run out.
A big yawn overcame Seto. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes; even the caffeinated tea wasn’t strong enough to fight off this level of fatigue. He looked at his watch to see it was already past midnight. With his early morning meeting Seto decided to call it a night. He saved his project, then shut down his computer terminal. When he stood up from his chair he took a big stretch and yawned again. His footsteps echoed in the large empty lab as he made his way to the door, and when he left, the heavy door shut behind him sending a deep boom throughout the room.
Chapter 3: ARRIVAL
After 9 and a half weeks at top speed, the Saisei was finally closing in on the ice asteroid. They’d entered into the solar system 2 days ago and were just h
ours away from reaching the asteroid now. It couldn’t come soon enough; tensions had been high on the ship since the incident in the concourse. The bridge crew were laser focused. Koi Goto, pilot in command of the Saisei, had been in the pilot’s seat for the past 10 hours, and had no intention of leaving this close to their destination.
As Koi went to take a sip of his coffee, he picked up the cup to realize he’d already finished it off. “Damn,” he muttered to himself. His intercom at his terminal then popped on.
“Pilot Goto?” Jona’s voice came on.
Koi sighed, annoyed with Jona who’d be incessantly contacting him for his entire shift. Does this guy ever take a break? Koi wondered. He pressed the button to speak, “Yeah?”
The intercom crackled, “What’s our ETA?” Jona asked.
Koi rolled his eyes having answered this several times over the last few hours, “Still on track to be there in about 3 hours,” he said, not hiding his annoyance.
