MILO

The new grind. Right out of bed and straight back to Commander Meyer’s facility. Into the overall, a slurp of coffee and a brief good morning and goodbye to the crew at shift before he was on his way. Sam gave him cold looks and shook his head. He had missed yet another shift on the maintenance schedule. But what would Sam do? Milo’s new schedule was enforced by none other than Commander Meyer himself. The sense of guilt was overcome with the joy of progressing with his manifestation. Commander Meyer and his vanguards knew all the tricks of the trade. A whole new world. The training he had done before had been rudimentary and primitive.

He had lost weight and gained confidence as the weeks passed. The manifestation was more than a tool, it was an extension of his body and mind. But the work took its toll and a state of satisfaction was ever so volatile, as Milo would soon learn.

-

“Blue,” a voice called.

Milo blinked twice, his room was lit. Sam towered him.

“You still sleeping? Come on,” Sam said.

Milo shook his head, sat up from the bunk bed and clutched the blanket tight. What time was it? Sam had never woken him up before. How long had he slept?

“What the hell did you do yesterday? You missed your shift and arrived home late. Now you sleep in. I get it that you do fancy training with the Commander and all. But you cannot skip your rest. Crew is crew. I see you slip, so I help you up,” Sam said and threw Milo’s ship overalls at him. “You have talked for days how excited you are for being elected to this ‘vanguard’ and I cannot count how many times you have repeated that you would be happy to stand guard as Au-delà arrives. But you are running late for just that.”

Milo rubbed his eyes. Maybe he should have skipped the extra session with Carl. That man was a beast. Milo could not keep up with their practice fights. He lacked Carl’s ferocious attitude. He zipped his overall, it went easily over his gut. How about that?

. Milo smiled and rubbed his stomach. “Yeah, I know. But look right here. At just what all this training has achieved. Lean and mean.”

Sam sighed.

“Goddamnit. We don’t even know why they turned back and you want to be there when their shuttle docks?” Sam asked and rubbed his shaved head. “Goddamnit.”

Milo deflected. “Don’t worry. I will be bored. You know what they say about trying to build those cities so far out. It messes with your head. I think they just wanted to go home. It will be a snooze fest. Amanda will even bring a book with her,” Milo said.

“For your sake, I hope so. Your crew and ship will run convoy with the ship. Which means I cannot help you if anything happens and my ship will fly without its electrical engineer,” Sam said. “What a mess.”

“Everything will be alright,” Milo said, trying to reassure his friend.

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“Right,”Sam mumbled. “Also. I checked through my contacts again. There has been no sightings of your Dad. Nothing.”

“You sound worried. You told me to stand back,” Milo said, accusing. “So now it is accepted to worry?”

“Not like that. Like I said before, he will come forward when he is ready. Those Marines are crafty people. But, I thought he should have done that by now,” Sam said. “And you are running protective duty with them. It’s just a little tense.”

“Tense?” Milo chuckled. “You really said that. The big bad wolf is starting to feel the jitters. Are you growing old, friend?”

“Goddamn, you,” Sam muttered, cracking his knuckles.

Sam was not joking. The twitchiness of his fingers, the mumbling voice.

Milo walked up to the door. “I need to leave now or Jacob will have my head.”

“Jacob, is it?” Sam said, shaking his head. “A bit too familiar with them. Well, good luck. Since I am not going to be able to change your mind.”

“You don’t have to sound so condescending,” Milo said.

What was Sam’s problem? Should a friend not be happy for his friends? Could it be jealousy? Sam also wanted to become like him. Powerful and chosen.

Sam sighed and turned.

-

Milo made his way through the facility’s security systems and right into the maze of white corridors. Sam was really mad at him. Maybe he should relocate back to his apartment? The facility had many rooms and its own fully equipped kitchen. He could ask Jacob for a room. The Commander would only be excited that he had more time for training. A cluster of people talked loudly in front of him, Carl and Amanda were among them.

“The day will be long. We will move out in ninety minutes. Eat plenty and warm up,” Commander Meyer said and nodded as Milo stepped into the group. “Watch out for the crowd mentality. People in crowds are stupid. Things might turn nasty. They will want to know why the Au-delà has returned and why they are not allowed off the ship yet.”

Carl raised a closed fist towards him, Milo bumped it with his own fist Straight back, shoulder to shoulder. One in the gang.

“People do not react well when separated from their loved ones. But in this case we have to be careful before allowing them off,” Commander Meyer said.

Strange. Why could the crew of the ship not walk off? What could be Jacob’s argument for that?

“Why, sir? Why are we not letting them off?” Milo said.

“We cannot believe everything the captain is saying. There is the off chance of contamination,” Jacob said. “I am not taking that risk. The full crew will be screened, tested and quarantined for at least six months.”

Milo nodded.

“Vanguard, prepare yourselves. We move out in thirty minutes,” Jacob said.

Carl grabbed and pulled him to the side as the group dispersed.

“Yo, champ. Just follow my lead. Okay? We have had questionable docking before. I know the ropes,” Carl said.

“But doesn’t that sound a little harsh? An additional six months trapped in their ship,” Milo said. “I would be upset.”

Carl sighed. “But look at it from Jacob’s perspective. The filters can only stop known diseases and bacterias. What if something slips through? Something that starts to kill people faster than we can quarantine them. Not a pretty thought.”

“Alright, then. I see your point. It is harsh, but it is for the best wellbeing of everyone to analyse thoroughly,” Milo said.

Carl gave him a hard pat on the back. “And like that you are starting to think like one of us! These are the kinds of problems we face. Let’s go and stretch. Maybe we could manage a cup of coffee before duty calls.”