Forty years. Forty years of service in exchange for his life. They’d stage his death, she said. He’d be given an alternative injection. One that would cause internal injuries and a lot of pain. Something that would put him in a state of near death. After the mock execution, they’d quickly take his “corpse” to a special facility equipped with stasis chambers. He’d be patched up and ready for service.
She made it sound like he’d be signing up for some regular job with good benefits. He’d be spending forty years as an engine maintenance crew member aboard a space container vessel. Traveling the galaxy, going from planet to planet transporting cargo. Seeing what’s out there. Discovering what other planets were like. Not a bad prospect for someone who had never been outside of a fifty kilometer radius from where he was born.
He knew she wasn’t telling him everything. He knew there had to be a catch, or they wouldn’t be handing out opportunities like that to suspected murderers. He didn’t have much choice though; the alternative was death. Besides, if there was one thing he had learned from over 36 years of tinkering with heavy machinery, it was there were always plenty of ways to die quickly if the alternative turned out to be worse.
They had woken him twice whilst in stasis. The first time to see if he hadn’t been damaged beyond repair by the injection. The second time when he was done healing. Once out of the stasis chamber, he was put under surveillance for twenty four hours before training would begin.
Waking up from his stasis was a weird experience. He felt disoriented. His muscles felt uncoordinated. He tried to stand up right and walk unassisted, but was unable to do so. Two guards lifted him up and he was taken to a room where a male nurse cleaned him with a washing cloth before helping him into drab grey clothes that looked like their creator hadn’t been able to choose between making pajamas or a uniform. After the nurse was done, the guards entered the room again. He felt better now after getting cleaned and having some time to sit. This time he was able to walk unassisted. They told him to follow them. They showed him the way to his new confines and told him lights would go out in about an hour. First class would start in the morning. He hadn’t seen a single window yet since his awakening. He had no way of knowing if it was evening outside, but he took the guards for their word as he was dead tired anyhow. Who knew that being asleep in a stasis chamber for days could be so tiring?
His room was two by three meters with a single bed, a small shower cabin, a toilet and a sink with a mirror. He took a look at himself in the mirror and saw that he looked exactly like how you’d expect someone to look who had just been murdered and brought back to life. His skin was still wrinkly from having been stuck inside fluids for days and his hair disheveled. He noticed the mirror was actually a box mirror and opened it. He found toothpaste and a toothbrush inside. Just as he was about to brush his teeth, the door opened. It was the Fifth Branch officer that had set everything in motion. She entered the room, closed the door behind her, and got right up into his face.
‘What the hell did you think you were doing? Flipping the finger to the colonel? Do you have any idea how close you came to being canceled?’
Voss tried to take a step back, but there was nowhere to go in the small room. His toothbrush fell to the floor in between them. Her angry face was mere inches away from his.
‘You have a nasty habit of walking into rooms unannounced, miss…?’
‘You have no idea how close you are to being sent to the guillotine right now. You subordinate piece of scum.’
‘Oh really? Tell me then why a female lieutenant is visiting a male recruit alone by herself around bedtime? I don’t think you’re here on official business, and I don’t think the colonel would be very happy if he found out.’
‘The colonel isn’t going to find out. Nor is anyone else, if you know what’s good for you.’
‘I know what’s good for me, miss. Do you know what’s good for you though?’
‘You are way out of line here. You will refer to me as lieutenant and you will quit your insolence at once.’
‘Alright, alright, I’ll behave. I’d like to know lieutenant “who” you are though.’
The lieutenant finally seemed to calm down a bit. She took a step back, giving Voss a little more personal space.
‘It’s Vanmire. Lieutenant Vanmire.’
‘No first name?’
‘Don’t push it, Voss.’
‘Ok then lieutenant Vanmire, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Surely this isn’t about my finger flip at the colonel. I’m sure he’ll allow some leeway to a man who’s in writhing pain. Besides, we both know I’m not stupid enough to challenge the superior officers during my training. So quit the act and tell me why you’re here, risking both our lives.’
‘I’m here because I want to make you an offer. An offer I couldn’t make back in that interrogation room, because people were watching us.’
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‘Are you sure nobody is watching us here?’
‘Trust me Voss, nobody in Fifth cares to see you take a dump or have a wank underneath the shower.’
Her last comment made him laugh. He knew it was probably best to stay stoic with this woman, but he couldn’t help himself.
‘You’ve got some guts on you then lieutenant Vanmire, I’ll give you that. To come into my room by yourself without anyone knowing. What’s stopping me from overpowering you and using you as a hostage to escape?’
‘Ha, I’d like to see you try. You wouldn’t stand a chance.’
She barely got the chance to finish her sentence. Voss used the wall behind him to kick himself forward. There was no time for her to dodge his lunge, nor was there anywhere for her to dodge towards. He grabbed her left arm, placed his right leg behind hers and swung her over his hip and onto his bed. She tried to get back up but he was already on top of her. She tried to fight, screaming profanities at him as she did, but she was no match. Before long he had her on her stomach with one hand behind her back, firmly in his grip. His other hand was placed over her mouth to muffle her screams. She repeatedly tried to lift herself up and throw him off of her, but every attempt was weaker than the last and only made matters worse for her. He finally saw an opportunity to wrap both his legs around hers and took it. She was now exhausted and utterly helpless in his grasp.
‘Now you listen to me Vanmire. We can keep playing these little silly power games, or we can get serious and get to the part where we make each others’ lives better. It’s obvious you need me for something important, or you wouldn’t risk everything by coming here; and it’s obvious I need you so I don’t end up spending the next 40 years inhaling toxic fumes aboard Imperial Space Freighter Shitbrick McShitbrick, surrounded by smelly, sweaty, men. So what say you? You want to keep playing miss badass lieutenant? Or are you going to actually tell me why you’re here?
He took his hand off of her mouth, ready to place it back if she started screaming again. He was all in at this point. If she chose to make a ruckus, his only option left would be to try to escape, with her as his hostage.
‘Alright alright, now get off of me, you buffoon.’
‘No thank you, I quite like my position right now. First you tell me what you came here for and then I’ll see if I trust you enough to let you go.’
She let out a few angry sounds before she finally acquiesced. Voss felt her body relax underneath him. She started speaking.
‘There is a mission. An important, top secret mission. I’m working hard to get it, but I’ll need a crew.’
‘What kind of mission?’
‘I can’t tell you yet. Not until you’ve completed your training.’
He pulled her arm up a little further towards her neck. He could feel her shoulder joint tighten.
‘Oow ow ow, stop, please.’
‘Tell me what kind of mission then.’
‘I honestly can’t tell you yet. It’s too risky, for both of us. If you let anything slip by accident, they’ll not only murder us, but everyone who they think could have heard anything. You have no idea how far they’re willing to go to keep this thing top secret.’
‘Then why do you want this mission so badly?’
‘Because if I pull it off, I’m bound to make captain before I’m 35. I’d be the youngest captain of the Fifth ever.’
‘Ambition huh? Alright then.’ He let her arm go and unwrapped his legs. She got up from underneath him and took two steps back until she stood against the wall opposing his bed. She pulled a knife out from her boot.
‘You touch me again and you die, is that understood?’
Voss smirked. There was some spirit in her for sure. ‘Yes lieutenant.’ He sat himself up on his bed with his back against the wall. ‘So lieutenant Vanmire, you need me for your crew then?’
‘I need an expert in engineering. Someone who can fix anything. Someone who can handle themselves and who isn’t scared of danger. Right now you’re my best prospect. I need you to keep your head down and behave like a model student. You have no idea how much effort it took me to convince the higher ups that you were a good prospect for the resident program. There are several of them who believe your crime was so heinous that you shouldn’t even be considered, no matter how useful you may be.’
‘You mean the crime for which I was convicted despite an overwhelming lack of evidence?’
‘Please, Voss, the time for naivety is long past. We both know what high class citizens are like. They all think you did it.’
‘You’re a low class citizen, aren’t you?’
‘My citizen class is none of your business.’
‘So.. class one then? Barely accepted by the higher classes. Is that why you want to make it to captain? Prove them all wrong? Show them you’re better than them despite your class?’
‘My motives are my own, Voss.’
‘Seems like we’re not so dissimilar, you and I. Alright, I’ll keep my head down. I’ll do my best and refrain from being a smart ass. I have one question though, what’s in it for me?’
‘Your life for starters’
‘There are fates worse than death, lieutenant. Having to live inside a filthy, loud hellhole for forty years is one of them. Besides, let’s be real here. You’re going to have me killed after my service anyhow. You can’t risk my presence back on Fosfat.’
She gave him an annoyed look. ‘You’re too smart for your own good, Voss. I’d be careful about ever spreading such ideas with other recruits. Don’t want them starting a riot now, do we? Alright, you want benefits? How about adventure? If you become part of the mission you’ll actually get to see more than the insides of a space freighter engine bay. You’ll get more freedom too and as long as you prove yourself useful, nobody’s going to kill you. You might even end up having a career as a non commissioned officer. If those things aren’t enough for you, there might also be some other… benefits. I can’t tell you much about those just yet though.’
The lights turned off as she finished her sentence. The room turned black except for a small light on the bottom of the wall she was leaning on. The bottom lighting in an otherwise dark room gave her an ominous aura.
‘Time for me to leave. Do we have an understanding?’
‘It seems we do, lieutenant Vanmire.’
‘Good. I will contact you again when the time is right. Until then, keep your head down and your nose clean.’
She opened the door and walked out into the dimly lit, narrow hallway. He had to suppress his laugh as she was leaving. Classic citizen haughtiness to believe a few weeks of safe, supervised combat training would have been enough to take on a resident who had to fight all life through. He’d keep his head down though alright. He had his own plans and they didn’t involve his head rolling on the floor. Nor did they involve 40 years of filthy engine maintenance work. Right now though, his plans mostly involved getting some sleep before the lights turned on again.