by Ernest Filak
“Not mine,” he quickly protested. “I’ve only created a mathematical model that makes it possible to use the theory of atmospheric fighter tactics in open interstellar space. And to say more, I’m not even the pioneer myself.”
“Yes, you are,” Admiral Williams interjected. He turned to the table and selected some footage from the data bank. It was an image of a commander of one of the ships, clearly arguing with his deputy. Fortunately, the film was muted. “Do you recognize him?”
Josh Wilson looked at the face of the animated officer. He knew who he was looking at.
“But it’s….”
“Yes. We were not the only ones to test the theory in practice,” the Admiral conceded. “According to experts, he was number one. You were number two on our very short shortlist. And the data we recently obtained points to the fact that you have been promoted to number one.”
“Shit,” the Captain cursed.
“Well, aren’t you glad?”
“Not really. We, theoreticians, support each other. We don’t get involved in current political games.”
“It was not the case this time. Number one changed his mind and joined in with Uroboros separatists. Although I must admit that Black played it like a true mastermind. How did he even manage to gather all his friends in one system?”
“Do you admire him?” the commander of the carrier asked surprised.
“Sure,” the answer came immediately. “I don’t know if I would ever be able to stage such a number to the Admiralty. He must have had bloody good support.”
“Must have?”
The Admiral pointed to the nearest empty seat.
“Josh, you don’t become an admiral without political backup,” he explained as if he would to a child.
“I never thought you were interested in politics,” the Captain pointed out, sitting.
“It’s politics that is interested in me,” he heard in response. “At a certain point in my career I got stuck with somebody and thanks to that I was pushed up in the hierarchy. Of course, now I pick out the most worthy officers from my surroundings and pull them into my sphere of influence. In return, they help me anyway they can to reach the top, as far as I can go. It’s symbiosis. Everybody wins.”
“I see, so I’m your man now?”
“Exactly,” the Admiral said.
He stood up and took a grey folder out of his desk drawer. He handed it to the commander.
“What is it?” the man asked surprised. Paper printouts were very rarely used.
“These are the files of a case that you are in charge of as the chief of our peer arbitration body. Take a look at them.”
Captain Josh Wilson turned the first page. He looked at the photograph of the officer and flicked through the rest of the file.
“You’re joking, right? The man is innocent. Thanks to him we have all the documentation referring to the events that had been taking place in this system. The Aliens immediately left as soon as they noticed our formation. Their units hid inside the tube and disappeared into the sun. Only some remnants remained. We’re going to great lengths now to collect and analyze them. If it hadn’t been for the commander of the armored ship, we wouldn’t have anything. Commander Lieutenant Cassino deserves a promotion, not a court martial!” he said, raising his voice.
Admiral Gerald Williams took a pipe out of the side drawer of his desk and, without interfering in what he was hearing, stuffed it with tobacco. He lit it and puffed out a lot of blue smoke.
“Josh, I really don’t give a shit about what you think,” another blue cloud of smoke billowed towards the holovision projector. It distorted the laser image that was in its way. “The investigation is already under way led by a suitable unit of my staff. What I expect of you is only to suspend him taking into account the work of my unit. It’s nothing overly dramatic. Once he goes back to Earth he will probably be reinstated to duty.
“Why all this fuss then?” the Captain didn’t want to budge.
“I’m following guidelines from the high places. We need to find some culprits,” the Admiral explained. “Black has escaped and we’re not going to chase him. The government must find those responsible.”
“And needs a scapegoat?”
Before answering, the Admiral pushed the tobacco further into his pipe bowl with a tamper.
“The government wants blood,” he repeated emphasizing each word. “It’s possible that the arrival of the Aliens will enrage the public to such an extent that the whole affair will blow over soon. But we don’t know that and we have to be ready to any eventuality.”
“Can’t you decide yourself about anything?”
“I’ve already taken a decision about the survivors. Many among them are Uroboros separatists, many are revolutionaries. I could have thrown them to the dogs but instead I managed to talk the prosecutors into settlements. Two, three year sentences, often suspended, are a really good deal. Uroboros withdrew the capital from the markets, which caused an economic crisis and recession. Have you seen the macroeconomic indicators?”
“I’m not interested in finance.”
“It’s a system of communicating vessels. Many companies have announced mass reductions. People are furious, and the Government helpless. Unionists want a general strike. It’s not good and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better soon.”
“I don’t envy you,” the Captain said.
“You’ll take the case and do whichever you want: follow the procedures or the necessity of calling in the witnesses. It’s your choice. The case is supposed to be prolonged until we go back. Then we’ll pass it on to the Admiralty and go back to our routine tasks for a while.”
“Yes, Sir,” Josh Wilson acceded to the decision of his supervisor.
“Very well, then.” The satisfied Admiral activated an electronic document on the panel. He signed it and sent to the archives. “I’ve just nominated your nephew to become the Acting Commander of the ship. Now it’s up to you whether the Admiralty appoints him or not. Don’t fuck this up.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“I hope you will. There is one more thing, though I’m not sure if it’s of great importance,” the Admiral put his pipe aside and pondered over the right choice of words. “In a moment a secret agent is going to walk through this door. He’s been a sleeper agent for the last couple of years. He has a lot of interesting information and we are very lucky to have him here and willing to share the information. I’d like you to listen to him and then we’ll decide how to use him best.”
“What if he doesn’t tell us everything?” the Captain asked.
“Of course he won’t tell us everything. People like that always keep secrets. The point is to convince him that it’s worth revealing the information to us,” the Admiral pressed the button connecting him with his assistant. “Send him in.”
After a moment a major stood in the door. The grey braided cord running between the left epaulette and the first button of the jacket showed he was the officer of the General Staff of Earth. There were only two other officers in the whole Sixth Fleet who were entitled to wearing such a uniform. What drew the eye was also a vast collection of ribbons and medals, both those for combat and being wounded in action. It was a very impressive array. He was not an analyst, but a man with a rich past. He walked into the room confidently and stood six steps from the table.
“Major Theodore Schmitt reporting, Sir.”
☼☼☼
“One, two, three,” the nurse guy screams at me. “What is it, knucklehead, you can’t take it no more?”
I’m trying to complete a round of press-ups, but it’s not going very well. I don’t have enough energy left to lift myself up over the mat. I lie down and pant like a slaughtered pig. My personal headman leans over me and scolds me, and you can see he is very experienced at that.
My schedule said individual rehabilitation classes. At first I kind of looked forward to them, but then it turned out that in the Sixth Fleet it was so
mething totally different to what I had expected.
“Get up, you revolutionary louse. Your kind should be shot and not allowed to waste my precious time.”
I decide to obey the order. I get up to my knees and then stand up. I look at the clock hanging in the room. If I can endure another fifteen minutes it’s going to be a medical miracle. I’ve had enough.
“Run!” he screams right into my ear.
So I start plodding along the yellow line.
“Faster,” he urges me on.
Protesting doesn’t make any sense. Any attempts at resistance only result in worse treatment. It’s best not to say anything. Maybe next time I’ll get to deal with somebody more even-tempered. When I look at the other people exercising in the room, I can see that my tyrant is not the worst at all. Fourteen minutes left until group classes start.
The main coach is already in the room and keeps looking at us vigilantly. This might be the reason why the nurses show such zeal. I slip on a wet fragment of the mat and collapse to my side. At least I fall down correctly. Problem is I don’t really feel like getting up from there and no amount of screaming is going to change that.
They took us from the second planet to this medical ship. They ran a series of tests and set their sights on putting us back on our feet in as little time as possible.
“Get up!” I hear another roar.
I start to giggle and can’t really help myself. It’s beyond my control. The nurse is very hot under his collar. He is trying very hard to stop himself from hitting me. Take it easy, man, or your hemorrhoids are about to burst. I don’t say it out loud. I get up with a grin.
“Sit-ups!”
My knees are made of lead and squeak like old rusty hinges. I keep doing what he says, but why the hell does he keep screaming all the time? My ears hurt. A few feet away another lame duck is doing pull-ups. The face seems somehow familiar. In the present state of mind my brain works really slowly. The chick is quite shapely although a bit too skinny for my liking. You can see her protruding ribs. She’s panting and sweating but does all the exercises with clenched teeth. A tough one. Our eyes meet for a second but she turns her head away as if I was her enemy. What is it? Did I do any harm to her, or what?
I’m not especially excited or stressed, so Ingrid doesn’t arrive. Too bad, because she could quickly check on my memory and now I can only count on myself. It’s not important enough to get my meditation procedures started. Besides, the AI is definitely doing her own research. I’m not in the least bit surprised. Inside me she must feel like in a prison, without access to the network and only relying on the reactions of my body.
“The ladder!”
I move to the next post right next to the skinny girl. I see her clenching her teeth. Am I bothering her that much? From high up I have an excellent view of the whole gymnasium. In this shift there are mostly ex-revolutionaries and people with no connections to Uroboros. I’ve lost any contact with Sergeant Gall. If God exists, he had hopefully left him in a collapsed shaft. Him and the whole gang of royal Star Troopers.
Truthfully, I don’t really put my hopes high on that. Shit like Sergeant Major Andy Gall will always surface. He must be somewhere around – possibly even on this very ship, although in a different section.
A dozen other people are working their guts out to make their supervisors happy. When is this going to end? The time is almost up and it’s high time we started taking things easy. You never know what’s ahead. I pull up my legs to half the height and lower them.
“Higher, up to your chest,” the coach demands.
I pretend that I really can’t, or maybe I’ve really had enough. The girl next to me is disgusted. She pulls her shapely legs up to her chest. The feisty chick doesn’t let go.
Finally, the main coach blows his whistle. The gates of paradise stand open and I can let go of the bar. My supervisor signs my information card. This is his second signature. There are slots for eight more.
“The next time you fuck about like today I won’t give you a positive grade,” he warns me and then walks away without even waiting for my reaction. There are so many nurses around that I can pick and choose whoever I want next time.
The girl is gasping, bent in half with her hands on her knees. I’m sure I’d seen these pretty although malicious eyes somewhere before. I bet I also got well closely acquainted with those tits. But why don’t I feel the thrill and pleasant excitement at the thought? When she finally stretches up and stands in a proud and reserved position I know who I’m dealing with here.
“Miss Mathilda Hari,” I know I hit the nail on the head.
“Coward,” she says.
“Excuse me?” I take a step back just in case. “I evacuated off Fury right after the atomic bomb went off. Did you really think we would stay there until the end, stupid bitch?”
I met Mathilda in the base of Bio&Sonic and, to tell the truth, it was me she owed her life to. Together with another unionist I resuscitated her. Then our paths crossed again on the orbital station. Mathilda led the support troops that were supposed to take the flag ship of Uroboros, HES Fury. The attack ended in a total massacre, the use of a nuclear mine, and almost my death.
“Traitor,” she hissed.
“Hey, missy, don’t push it. Nobody is asking your opinion here. For you a good revolutionary is either a winner or a dead man. Try to imagine that I value my life. And machine guns aimed into my back make me doubt your ideals.
“What machine guns?” she asked, as if she didn’t know what I was talking about.
“I watched your special squad slaughter the revolutionaries who were pulling out,” I answered in a calm tone, even though inside I was seething. “If you don’t believe me, ask Zivkov.”
She didn’t say anything. What kind of revolution is it if it’s ready to devour its own children?
“The next time you see your uncle tell him that I’m not going to shoot into the backs of my friends’ heads,” I added. “Let him dirty his hands himself.”
I walked to the other end of the hall. In my peripheral vision I saw Ingrid wearing my favorite black dress.
“Don’t say anything,” I warned her.
There was no opportunity to talk anyway. A blow of a whistle marked the beginning of group classes. It started off with crawling.
Chapter XV
Medical Ship. The Parking Orbit of Hades.
Delirium is a terrible thing, impossible to handle. It comes to you when you least expect it. It got to me first in my cabin after a terribly tiring day. Apparently, I’m in rehabilitation, but I feel more like in a low-security prison. We can move within a limited terrain and to get to a different deck we need staff permission and nurse assistance.
And the male nurses are huge beasts. They could easily work in the Gendarmerie with their square jaws, bearlike shoulders and no sense of humor. When a guy like that has a bone to pick with you, he will bust you up in a few seconds, so it’s better not to stand out.
I’m sitting in my cot and my legs and arms are like jelly. My head keeps buzzing with images I had long thrown out of my memory. They come back like a boomerang. I mostly see Ed Watt. I retch and barely manage to get to the toilet to throw up into the bowl. Yuck, what muck. Brain on the wall is a gross sight. Another surge lands into the hole. I feel bad.
Cold water helps a bit. I drag myself back to the cabin.
“Mr. Tsenre,” the concerned eyes of the nurse girl on duty look at me from the screen on the wall, “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, thank you,” I assure her, although it’s quite the opposite.
“Would you like something to calm you down?”
“No, I’ve had enough of that.”
“Would you like me to book an appointment with a psychologist for tomorrow?”
“No, I’ll be fine.”
She disappears off the screen. At least the staff here are not pushy. They know when not to press the issue. If I’m not all right in a day or two, the psychologi
st will ask to see me himself I know because I’ve seen others go through this.
I try to focus on the view outside the porthole. The remains of human construction were still floating in space. The shipyards were fit for rebuilding only, all destroyed and ruined. A sorry sight. The rescue teams were still looking for survivors. There weren’t too many of those. The Aliens had had enough time to comb the ruins through and through. They’d left thousands of bodies behind, obviously in the form of headless corpses. They seem to have developed a taste for heads only. I’d be better off not to think about it too long.
Further behind I saw Hades. In the zone of eternal darkness I could not see the base of Bio&Sonic. After the last conjunction it moved into the darkness again. I heard that Uroboros stopped using it altogether, leaving it to the elements.
But it was the Military Orbital Station that was in the worst state. The Aliens had eaten through it, burrowing hundreds of canals. It must have proved especially interesting to them. Of course there were lots of other objects drifting somewhere out there outside my vision – ships and other vessels that couldn’t escape on their own to some safe location.
I could smell something rancid from behind the toilet door. A few minutes would pass before the ventilation system would get rid of it. I decided to stretch my legs and take a walk. As usual most of the patients of the ward spent their time in the holovision room. By far the most popular activity was card games. People played for anything they had been able to squirrel away, from narcocigarettes to lighters to buttons or brass fittings from water closets. One of the gamblers had recently lost his toilet. Well, all those were simple games to kill time. And we had lots of time to spare as the classes ended at two in the afternoon. After that we remained in the care of the orderly.
