by Dave Walsh
“It’s fine,” he said as he walked over to the sink by the corner of his office. He pulled out a bag of tea and a mug, placed the bag into the mug and held it under the sink. Warm water immediately spouted from the faucet. He had packed these bags himself with his own tea leaves, but that was hardly on his mind at that moment.
“We need a detail on him, to monitor his communications and his comings and goings.” He picked up the mug and took a slow sip, feeling the warmth of the mug on his palm. “I don’t know if he’ll tell anyone, but if he does, I want to know.”
“I’ve already put a few men on him, sir.” Dumas looked back at the captain with his mug in hand.
“Good,” he nodded. It was just a few weeks away until Omega was in view. If everything were to simply fall apart at the last minute like that, he’d be a disgrace to the lineage of the ship and those who came before him. It was times like this when he wondered how his life could have been if his role as captain was voted down by the Ministry. They always had the right to turn down a candidate for a high-ranking role, but he filled the suit better than any of the rest would have. If they had vetoed him, he’d be ignorant to the truth of the mission, sure, but gleefully ignorant. He would have been the first O'Neil to fail to become the captain of the Omega Destiny. Maybe then he would have actually had a happy marriage and would currently be getting some healthy sleep at night.
The captain sighed again before taking another slow sip. The taste was faint; he hadn't let it steep. He contemplated making another cup the right way, but instead, he just kept taking slow sips until it had steeped a bit more. He slumped over in front of his monitors of the activity on the bridge. These were his people. They were just a fraction of whom he was responsible for, but they were the ones whom he interacted with on a daily basis.
The Ministers that he had to meet with were a nuisance to him more than anything. He wasn’t bred to be a politician as much as he was brought up to be a military leader, if not just a leader in general. That was what they needed, though: a leader. A leader was needed especially for the final captain of the ship for the Omega Mission.
“Sir.” Dumas’s voice broke the silence.
“Oh.” The captain turned to see Dumas still in the room. He was lost in thought for a moment again, only this time he was caught red-handed. He cleared his throat and chuckled. “I guess I forgot that you were still here, Jack. Dismissed.”
“Thank you, sir,” he said. He saluted before walking through the door, which zipped shut behind him.
The rigidity of military life had worn extremely thin on him. He had turned 52 that year and had been a soldier as soon as he had been able to grip a rifle. His father had been Captain before him, and he knew that he had no real choice in the matter, so he embraced it = he embodied it. Pete was the perfect officer with a flawless record. When it came time to name a new captain, it was all but a forgone conclusion that he was to be selected.
His wife, Jeanette, had been so proud that her husband, her officer, was going to be the most powerful man aboard the entire ship. It was a bit more of a somber appointment for him, though, knowing that he was replacing his father, who was 64 at the time when he took his place.
His father had been dead for over 15 years by this point, which saddened him. He answered to the Ministry, but the hard decisions all rested upon his shoulders. If you were to look at an organizational chart, it would be a pyramid with him at the very top of it. He was accountable to them but very rarely did he even bother running much by them anymore; he simply acted. If something upset them, he was more than happy to listen to their complaints, but at this point, no one dared to question him.
He walked to the comm panel and held his finger above the switch, pausing for a brief second to consider the situation. He had heard the name Dr. Julian Cox before, and chances were that he’d met him before, if not dozens of times. But at that moment, he couldn’t match a face to the name.
O’Neil let out a loud sigh and massaged his temples before holding down the switch on the comm panel.
“Yes, sir?” A voice boomed from the panel.
“Is Dr. Brandis still out there?” he asked, staring off toward the window in the room that was overlooking the vastness of space.
“Yes, sir,” the voice confirmed. “She is speaking with Officer Dumas at the moment.”
“Let her know that I need to speak with her.” He let go of the switch and allowed it to turn off without waiting for an answer. He sighed to himself before walking to the dark, far corner of the room. The door slid open before him, revealing the neat rows of plants and soil. He walked into the narrow room and over to the rustic-looking cabinet, pulling down a pair of worn gloves and a small set of shears.
He grunted as he kneeled down, feeling the soreness in his left knee. The gloves slipped right on. The sheers felt natural in his hands as he began meticulously clipping at stray branches on a bonsai tree. He inspected the tree’s branches one by one, taking in every angle before making the cuts that filled the room with subtle clicks. It wasn’t long before there was a pile of tiny branches sitting next to him. The whirring of the door behind him almost did not register with him.
“I always find this amusing.” Dr. Brandis’s voice came softly from behind him, jesting. “The most powerful man aboard this ship, down on his hands and knees, treating plants with such tender care.”
“That is why no one else sees me doing it.” He shook his head, finally turning around to look at the slender, middle-aged Dr. Susan Brandis standing before him, her black hair coming down just above her shoulders, gracefully framing her face.
“Yet here I am,” she said.
“Yet here we are,” he corrected her.
“So we are, Peter,” she laughed, turning to look out of the window with her hands on her hips.
“Sue, I need some advice,” he said, pulling himself up off of his knees with a groan. The gloves came off one by one with a few quick tugs before they were tossed onto a shelf. He brushed off the dirt from his pants and tucked the shears into one of the gloves.
“Shame,” she said, still staring out the window. “I thought this was going to be a social visit, Peter.”
“I’m not against it being both.” He turned back to the cabinet and pulled out a small steel watering can, placing it into the sink while turning the knob and letting the water rush out.
“You and this whole illusion of the twentieth century, Peter, I swear.”
“What?” he asked, looking at her before turning back to the sink, shutting the water off and removing the watering can. O’Neil turned toward the plants and gently tipped the watering can, allowing just a small trickle of water to start shooting out. “You mean this?”
“Everything on this ship is automated, Peter,” she said, pointing at the watering can. “You are the captain -- you could easily have a sprinkler system installed in there at least.”
“Nonsense,” he said. “It is important for me to do this myself, to remain connected with what I’m doing. It settles me down. Plus, when we find ourselves a new home, humanity is going to need someone to grow something.”
“You and I both know that it won’t be you being humanity’s farmer.” She let out a sigh, her voice softening. “Peter, what is bothering you? You garden when something is bothering you.”
“I garden all the time,” he corrected her.
“I assume that something is always bothering you then.”
“You aren’t wrong,” he said, monitoring how much water each plant was getting, making sure not to over-water or under-water each one.
“So what is it this time?” she finally asked.
“Dr. Julian Cox,” he stated matter-of-factly, looking up at her and raising an eyebrow. “Do you know him?”
“Julian? Yes, of course I know Julian. Why?”
“Is he trustworthy? Good at his job? What do you know about him?”
“Julian is probably the smartest man aboard this whole ship,” she said, her
voice taking on a cautious tone. “Absolutely brilliant man. He is without peer, I’d say. Brilliant physicist and quite a handle on a few other fields as well. He serves as one of our top advisers.”
“If he’s so brilliant, Sue, why doesn’t he have your job?
“I said he was brilliant,” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t say that he was without flaw. He was considered a bit unstable after he lost his son a few years ago. That’s why you don’t hear much about him. Anyway, you know how things work on this ship: Everything that we are doing is for the greater good, and he serves the greater good in his current role.”
“I often wonder about that greater good.” He could feel his mind wandering off as he leaned back against the counter with the watering can still in his hand. “I never saw myself doing what I’m doing now, following in my father’s footsteps and inheriting this position, but here I am. You know what I wanted to be?” He pointed the can at her, and she shook her head. “Botanist,” he laughed, motioning toward the plants. “I wanted to work with plants. Isn’t that ridiculous?”
“Seeing as though you are always in this room with your plants, I wouldn’t say that it's surprising,” she said, surveying the plants in the room.
“But a botanist, not the captain? Captain, the most powerful role aboard this ship, never mind the captain who would be the one to set foot onto Omega’s surface. Every boy aboard this ship grew up wanting to be that man, to be what I am right now, but all I wanted to do was play with my plants. My father hated them -- one time, he flooded all of my plants to teach me a lesson for disobeying him. You know what’s funny?” He looked over at her, her arms crossed. “I don’t even remember why. I just remember him doing that and how much it hurt me.”
“I’m sure that he had his reasons,” she added coyly.
“Oh, I’m sure that he did, Sue,” he said. “I was a handful when I was younger. I thought that I knew it all, just like we all did, I guess. But he knew that I was destined for greatness and pushed, so here I am, and here we are. I’m not so sure that it is a bad thing, but sometimes I do wonder --”
“So,” she interrupted, clearing her throat. “Professor Cox?”
“Oh, right.” He cleared his head, trying to remain focused. It was always difficult for him not to drift off in conversation when he was around Sue. “Dr. Julian Cox has been made privy to some information that is well above his clearance level, and I’m wondering how much of a problem he will be for us in the future.”
“Oh,” she said, nodding gravely. “What kind of information, if I might ask?”
“A piece of ancient tech that we found floating around us.”
“Another?” Her face lost its color. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?”
“Calm down, Sue.” He approached her, placing his hand on her shoulder. “It is being inspected right now, and we’ll need you to take a look at it as soon as you can, but --”
“Professor Cox, right?”
“Yeah, Professor Cox.” He gripped her shoulder as he walked by her. “I've got to know if he’ll be a threat to us, or if he’ll keep his mouth shut. I have to know how we deal with this moving forward.”
“Professor Cox is a bit of a loner,” she said, nodding. “I think if we went to him and asked for his discretion, it would be a big mistake, as would taking any form of action against him -- he is a rather public figure, and his absence would be noted. He teaches class at the university, after all. If we just leave him alone, the chances are that he’ll keep quiet about it, but I do recommend monitoring him.”
“Already done,” he said, walking over to the window and resting his hand against the steel frame. “I just wanted to know if the team should move in or just continue monitoring him.”
“That does sound like a wise move,” she said as she nodded in agreement, her arms still crossed. “He is a very bright man, as I said. I’m not sure that we’ve ever seen his back against the wall like this before. I don’t think that he is capable of doing any sort of harm, but then again, I’m really not sure that --”
“Jeanette is cheating on me,” he finally let out, still staring out the window, a silence falling between the both of them to match the tension. He looked down at his feet and dragged the toe of his boot across the ground before gently kicking the wall.
“I...” She swallowed hard, straightening out her stance as if her back was a board. “Sir, I’m sorry...”
“No, I am.” His cheeks turned red, and he turned away, bashful. “I shouldn’t have brought it up, Sue. I just haven’t had anyone to talk to about it is all.”
“How about your wife?” she asked, walking over to a chair by the console, still facing him before sinking into it. “Come here,” she tapped her fingers onto the seat cushion of the chair next to her as the captain sighed, knowing that he shouldn’t have said anything.
“All right,” he said, finding a seat next to her and letting himself sink into the chair. His eyes wandered to her before he composed himself, straightening out his uniform to appear more like the captain leading humanity to their new home than a lovelorn puppy. Their relationship was always one that he felt could enter dangerous territory, with a magnetism between them. What could it possibly hurt now? His relationship with his wife was never anything but set dressing, anyway.
“How did you find out about this?” She placed her hands on his knees and looked into his eyes with concern.
“Well,” he began. The feeling of her hands on his knees sent a shiver down his spine. He quickly looked down at his hands to break the eye contact. He could feel his heart racing in his chest.
“I, uh,” he laughed, shaking his head before looking back up to see her eyes and the look of concern still on her face. She was too good for this ship, he thought to himself, smiling. “I do have my own private security force, you know. I had them tail her after she had been going out a lot and being secretive.”
“I’m so sorry, Peter. That's awful.” She reached out and grabbed a hold of his hand. He protested for a brief second before allowing her to grip onto him. “Do you know who it is?”
“No,” he said, looking away. “I’m not sure if I really want to find out at this point, or if I just want to let the whole thing go.”
“Aren’t you at least curious?”
“Of course I am.” He pulled his hand free from hers and sprung out of the chair, pacing back and forth with his hands over his face. “I’m just not sure what I’d do if I found out who it was.”
“So,” she began as she floated out of her chair, coming up behind him and sliding her arms underneath his and embracing him tightly from behind. She rested her head on his shoulder. “What are you going to do?”
“To be honest...” he trailed off. The feel of her warm embrace began to cause him to melt, to forget the pressure of being the captain and about his wife, but he shook himself out of it, reminding himself who he was. He pulled away from her, her hands still clutching at him until he gently pulled them off of his midsection and turned to her with a warm smile. “I haven’t really figured that out yet. A part of me wants to throw her out of an airlock to send a message, but most of this ship already see me as a tyrant, while the rest are waiting for me to fuck up bad enough for them to stage a coup and take my spot.”
He walked over to the garden again, leaning against the steel border of the door frame to gaze out over the small room of plants and lamps. He took a deep breath. That garden was the only place where he could be himself -- his one mirage in the middle of an arid, stark desert. Aware of Sue’s gaze upon him, he immediately regretted letting her in like that, showing her his weaknesses. Even if Jeanette was cheating on him, he still had a wife, and he was held to a higher standard than the rest of the ship. Even if his marriage was a sham and his wife was fucking someone else, it was his job to be stoic in the face of adversity; it was his job to ensure that no one found out about her indiscretions.
“Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I was born int
o any other position, Sue.” He could feel her eyes on him, and he could feel her pity. It made him feel like a child again, like those times when his mother would scold him for playing with children from the B-deck. His mother felt the longing inside of him, pitied what he was born to be, but knew that she had to be tough with him. She wanted him to be happy, but she knew what was in store for him.
“Peter...” She approached him only for him to raise his hand up, stopping her cold in her tracks.
“Look, Sue.” He let out a deep breath, feeling the tears welling up in his eyes. His vision was blurring, forcing him to look away from his old friend. “I need to do some work, all right? Let yourself out, please.”
“Okay,” she said, holding herself back from reaching out to him. She turned and strode toward the door, only for her to hear him from behind her.
“And Sue,” he called, still not turning around. “Thank you.”
003. The Unlikely Cosmonaut
Jonah
The alarm in the morning came on like a vengeful mistress, piercing through Jonah’s subconscious and forcing him to stir. He rolled over and reached for his holoscanner, grabbing it by the edge, resting it on his chest and sliding his finger across the projection to snooze the alarm. It would be another long day, another day that he regretted his decision to stay up later than he had planned, but that happened so often that Jonah had begun to question if at a certain point it wasn’t intentional.
He strained to open his eyes to look at his holoscanner and saw a few messages from his girlfriend, Kara. Jonah had promised to spend the night in her quarters, like he usually did, but instead his head was swimming that night, and he knew that it would just cause another argument. As much as he loved her, he never loved the arguments or how she made him feel when he wasn’t paying close enough attention to her needs. It might’ve been a mistake to not tell her, though, he considered in retrospect.
