Brinus was at the medical ship’s clinic with Simmie. He kept coughing and Brinus noticed he took puffs from his vape. The office had four people, a receptionist desk with carved wood patterns of flowers and trees, ten rows of plain wooden chairs, and baroque-style paneling on the walls. The floor was a black and white marble checkerboard.
Brinus nudged Simmie in the chest as he took a hit. “Hey crackhead, we’re up next.”
“Don’t call me a crackhead.”
Brinus rolled his eyes and crossed his legs. “Could’a fooled me! Can’t even go twenty minutes without getting a hit!”
“Aren’t you still on that medicine?!”
“Simmie Helios!” yelled the nurse at the desk.
He came up to the receptionist. “What?”
“Sir, we are having a problem with your insurance. Do you have another card, sir?”
“Seriously?! Service members get treatment free of charge from any clinic!” Simmie coughed into his elbow.
The receptionist saw them in their military uniforms. She wrinkled her nose and snarled, “We still need state insurance or a military ID or we won’t treat you today because you’re a chronic smoker coming in with a smoking-related complaint! Now provide the insurance card or we will call the police!”
Simmie rolled his eyes and whipped out his Military ID from his wallet. “Here!”
The nurse snatched the card out of his hand and growled. She ran it through the system, then she pulled up his service record. She shoved it back into his face.
Simmie sneered at her. “Happy now, bitch?”
“Sit, and a doctor will be with you in a moment,” she snapped.
Simmie sat down just as he started to take a draw, Brinus snatched it out of his hand. Brinus snapped, “You have pneumonia,” he put the vape in his pocket, “Ask the nurse for nicotine patches.”
“You’re still on that medicine, right? So why are you acting like this?”
“Because I love you and smoking will make your problem worse. Also, I stopped taking the medicine a month ago! So quit smoking for at most an hour or else!” Brinus snapped his fingers and began juggling three fireballs.
The nurse shouted, “Hey, you! No magic in my lobby!”
Brinus threw the fireballs at the nurse and disprised them at the last moment. She screamed and Jumped behind the desk.
He laughed maniacally showing his teeth in a screw-you smile, “Maybe you should be nicer to people? You never know what will happen.”
No one even reacted or pulled their phones out to record. It was just a Tuesday as far as they were concerned. Also, this kind of behavior was just Brinus being Brinus.
He sat back down. Simmie looked at him with dilated pupils and clammy hands. He said in a trembling voice, “Sometimes you scare me.”
“You have nothing to worry about love. I will never hurt you.” He kissed him on the cheek and felt his fever. He must have been at least 102 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Simmie Helios!” the nurse called. Brinus tried to walk past the nurse but he put his hand to Brinus’s chest. “Sorry, but you are not allowed back here. The doctor doesn’t want you in the back. She also says if you use your magic again she will call the police and press charges. Oh, and you’re permanently banned as a patient starting today.”
Brinus nodded and sat in the lobby as four armed security guards came and began watching him.
Simmie was in the back. The nurse scanned him with a TriQuarter medical app and wrote down his vitals. After taking a medical history, Simmie sat in the room. He began pacing as he was anxious for a hit. The exam room was standard and smelled like alcohol and sterilizing fluid.
The doctor came in and smiled. “Your husband is a bit of a spitfire, isn’t he? So let’s see what we got.” The doctor pulled out his TriQaurter and scanned Simmie with an X-ray app. He also scanned a blood sample with a finger prick with his triquarter. “Yep, walking pneumonia. You’re in the Navy so I am going to prescribe some nanite antibiotics, an inhaler, and a steroid. Don’t smoke for four days. instructions with the meds. I am also ordering a steroid shot and a general antibiotic shot. Checkout is on the other side.”
The doctor made some notes and then left. After giving the shots, Simmie was charged 950 credits since it was a smoking-related disease. That wasn’t a fair price at all, but that’s how they controlled things.
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Tangent was in her quarters baking some cinnamon rolls. Simmie arrived and Brinus hit him in the back of the head with a head bop. They had just walked through the door.
“Please just one hit!”
“You’re a fucking crackhead! The answer is no! I’ll get you some patches once your medicine is filled! You have been without it for an hour and you’re already this anxious?”
Simmie reached into Brinus’s pocket and tried punching him in the stomach. Brinus blocked the punch, slid his foot under Simmies left foot, and threw him over his knee, flipping him on his back. Brinus pinned Simmie’s wrist under his right knee on his back.
“Now are we going to behave or do I need to keep you restrained until your medicine is filled?”
Tangent came into the foyer to see what the commotion was about and then screamed. “What the hell is going on!!?”
“Simmie is going through withdrawals.”
Tangent screamed and then stomped her foot. “I swear to the temple spirits smoking should be illegal! You two fuckers should fix this yourself! I am not getting involved!”
Brinus received a ding on his TriQuarter. Simmie’s medicine was ready.
“I am getting your medicine. I will be back in thirty minutes.”
Simmie began searching his bedroom for his spare vape. He found it in his hiding spot and lay on the bed as he inhaled the nicotine. He smiled with sweet relief.
Brinus cussed to himself as he walked down the hallway. He pulled out his TriQuarter and began texting his Magi Handler, Smog.
Brinus: Hello
Smog: What’s up?
Brinus: I was wondering what it would take to petition the spirits to get my husband off crack.
Smog: You mean smoking? I can ask the Magi council but it is 50/50 if the temple spirits will accept this request.
Brinus: Why?
Smog: Simmie’s a lifelong smoker, right? Like he started at 14? And he was pressured by his older cousins? You may have to face the fact that he could be beyond help.
Brinus: *Middle finger emoji* My husband can be saved, I know he can! Don’t say that! Don’t ever say that!
He terminated the conversation.
A week went by and he thought the magi ghosted him until the admiral summoned him into his office. Admiral Nelson, a furry gray cat-person stood looking outside into space with his paws behind his back.
Brinsu saluted and yelled out, “Acting Lieutenant Brinus Helios reporting as ordered, sir!”
Admiral Nelson turned and faced Brinus. “I understand you made a request to the Magi recently?”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
“Your request was approved. I am diverting the ship because two planets in the area have been raided by the Federation and were devastated. We will spend a couple of weeks in the area. Questions?”
“Sir, no, sir.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Dismissed, Lieutenant!”
Brinus saluted and left the office.
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Two days later Brinus and Simmie had their rucksacks packed and over their backs. They had packed three days of rations and Simmie packed two extra disposable vapes. They wore their uniforms as they made their way to shuttle bay 10. Simmie still had a slight cough but was mostly healed.
Brinus came up to the shuttle. It had two wings in a V-shape about 25 feet each and one engine in the back. It had a cockpit for a pilot and a copilot. It was painted white and blue with a shuttle pod for four people. Smog was also going. The missile launcher had a repeater blaster on both wing tips and five proton missiles. A gunner operated the rear blaster and had four bunk beds, a replicator, and a dining area for seven people.
They entered the shuttle and the gunner saluted Brinus and Simmie who saluted in return.
Simmie looked her in the eyes, “Carry on petty officer.”
The gunner went into the rear gun cockpit and the shuttle took off.
Smog looked at Brinus and Simmie, “We have five hours before we reach the planet. I take it you don’t know how to commune with the spirits?” She addressed Brinus.
Brinus shook his head.
Smog sighed and sat down. “I thought you would say that. It isn’t something I can teach in five hours. Okay, do you at least know how to meditate?”
Brinus nodded and sat across from Smog. “My therapist taught me.”
Smog smiled and then put her hand on Brinus’s arm. “Communing with the spirits is like meditation but with magic. You astral project your consciousness into the spirit world. Crystal temples are basically portals into that realm. Now I can’t teach astral projection in the time allotted especially to a 23-year-old combat veteran. I can, however, teach you how to open your mind magically and a spirit can communicate with you if they wish. Are you ready?”
Brinus nodded.
“Now. close your eyes and relax your muscles. You need as little muscle tension as possible.” Brinus ran through the exercises his therapist taught him. Once he was relaxed she said in a soft voice. “Now, take your magic and broadcast your desire to communicate. Clear your mind and try not to think, you can do that by only focusing on your breathing.”
“How do I broadcast?”
“I forget you aren’t trained. Okay, so you use your magic like you would when making a fireball. Except instead of running your magic through your hands, run it through your mind.”
Brinus began focusing on a fireball in his brain. He felt an electric buzzing through his body. It took about an hour to do this. Suddenly he stood in a white room with a blinding light. He was in his uniform but he felt… different — He felt no pain, no hunger, no thirst — he felt ethereal. A man with white wings covered in eyes and barefoot came out of the white fog.
“Hello. You must be Brinus. It is so good to meet you.”
“You’re a temple spirit?”
The angel nodded. “That is what your people call me. Some societies call us angels, others call us demons.”
Brinus stood with an open mouth. He stared at the spirit. “Is God real?”
The angel flapped his wings and tilted his head in annoyance. “Really? That’s your first question. You’re standing before an angel in the spirit realm and you still don’t believe?”
“It’s just hard to comprehend.”
The angel smiled and patted Brinus on the shoulder. “I understand. It can be alarming for a human to meet a spirit for the first time. Now I know you value directness. So let’s get to the point. For me and my brothers to do this favor, you need to give something of equal value.”
Brinus didn’t like the sound of this. He simply nodded and looked him in the eyes.
“I need you to give up the memory of your mother.”
Brinus laughed and smiled, “Gladly.”
The angel held up his finger to silence him. “Before you agree to this payment you need to ask yourself why the divine is asking for this.”
“I don’t care, I want to save my husband.”
“But does he want to be saved?”
Brinus stood quiet for a moment. Does he want to be saved? I wonder if he does. He says he wants to quit and he did come along. But does he?
“I will do anything for my husband!”
The angel flapped his wings and sighed. “Very well. Your choice has been made. When Simmie enters the Temple, your memories will be changed.”
Brinus jerked awake in the ship. He had fallen asleep but felt oddly exhausted.
Simmie had his vape in his mouth and Smog had her legs crossed. “What did he say?”
“That I gotta pay a price.”
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They arrived at the temple at night time. The planet was a mangrove swamp with a few dry islands and had a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere. There were no polar ice caps and two large oceans.
The shuttle entered the atmosphere and began to heat up on the bottom. It turned bright red. Brinus could feel the bumpiness of entering the atmosphere. The passenger bay and cockpit heated up to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The shuttle then came into view of an island and then the pilot engaged horizontal landing outside of a pyramid that looked Mayan but with ancient alien hieroglyphics on it.
Simmie and Brinus hugged and then Brinus smothered Simmie in kisses. “Good luck,” cried Brinus.
Brinus came into the shuttle. “So what ya doin’ in this card game?”
“What? Oh, it’s a Magi game called Sanzi which is different from Navy. It is played with a unique set of cards. Then you have to get hands like four of a kind, two of a kind, two pairs, royal flush, or full house. A royal flush has an emperor, an empress, a prince, and a grand vizier. You have two pairs of each card from two to ten.”
Smog began dealing out her hand. Brinus saw he had a two, a three, a four, and a five. He looked at his partner and noticed she had a microexpression of a slight frown. It wrinkled her eyes and she shifted her legs to cover her stomach but only just long enough for Brinus to notice. In others, she had a shit hand.
Brinus put two hundred credits on the table. “Your bet.”
She put down 800 credits and Brinus put down 900 credits. Finally, she sighed and revealed her hand. “You win.” It just had four twos in different colors. “How did you know?” she asked with her eyes narrowed.
“Your microexpressions.”
“I see you got a full house. You’re too good for me.”
They both laughed for a moment.
“How do you feel about your mother joining the enemy navy?”
“My mother died when I was three. I don’t remember much but I was put into foster care not long after. I was found starving on the streets.”
Smog tilted her head and crossed her arms. “Then how did you become a duke?”
“I’m a duke?”
Smog frowned and sighed, “Yes, you have a great house on Saffron and control District 12.”
Brinus giggled like a madman and began dealing a hand of Navy. “Don’t be silly. I was drafted four years ago during a recruitment emergency from jail! Hahaha! There’s no way they’d never give a dukeship to a convicted felon who’s gay and married to a CEO’s son! Hahaha!”
Smog realized the spirits had erased the memory of his mother. He was in for a rude awakening. Angelmass was coming up and with him in control of his estate, he would be expected to be at the servant’s ball.
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The sun began to rise a few hours later. Simmie was still not out of the temple. Brinus took off his shirt and sat on the tall, green, grass listening to the waves crash against the muddy beach from the swamp as the cool, moist, morning air filled his lungs. It felt revitalizing against his physically warm body. He had his legs crossed and his eyes closed as he breathed in and out deeply, filling his air with the oxygen-rich atmosphere.
Simmie came out of the temple after Brinus meditated for an hour. He saw Brinus and jumped on top of him knocking him to the ground.
Brinus wrapped his bare feet and arms around Simmie and they rolled in the grass, getting his uniform muddy. They laughed and began kissing romantically.
Simmie stroked Brinus’s face, smiling at each other. “I feel so much better love.”
“I do too. It’s like I was freed from something but don’t know what.”
They both kissed romantically again, laughing. Simmie unbuttoned Brinus’s pants, continuing to kiss him romantically.
The two pilots watched them from a distance. They came out from the bunk beds and started eating breakfast from the replicators and watching the sunrise.
“Hey, are they doing what I think they are doing?” said the pilot.
“I think so. Where’s smog? I thought it was illegal to have sex in public? Even on an abandoned planet.”
Smog guided the pilots back into the shuttle. “Technically it is but sometimes the thing about law enforcement is knowing when not to enforce the law. Let’s give them privacy and then we can lift off.”
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Fifteen minutes later Simmie and Brinus came up to the shuttle covered in glistening black mud and laughing. Brinus has his arm around Simmie’s shoulder.
Simmie reached into his pocket for his vape and Brinus snatched it from him. “You don’t smoke anymore. Remember?”
“The spirits told me they healed the physical damage and addiction but couldn’t remove the habit or neurological addiction.”
Brinus ruffled his hair as they walked towards the sonic shower together. “They have medicine for that and you can see a therapist. Maybe you can try green tea cigarettes?”
Simmie slapped Brinus on the ass. “No. I am not smoking again. I’ve come this far, ya know?”
Brinus sighed as he wiped mud off himself. “You have to realize that you got 22 years of habit to overcome. It won’t be easy. You will have to use a nicotine-free version of cigarettes for a bit while you get used to not smoking.”
“How long will it take?”
Brinus shrugged. “It took me three years. You will take a lot longer.”
After Brinus and Simmie took their sonic showers they sat with the gunner and Smog to eat breakfast. On the holo TV was a broadcast from a large streamer interviewing with an ex-special forces operative.
“You know the Feds are close to collapse? Tell us more about it, Smith.”
Smith grabbed some coffee and sighed, “I think they will sue for peace within the next year. The war effort for them has become unsustainable. Josh”
Images cut to empty grocery store shelves and starving citizens dying on the streets. There were also empty pharmacies. The newscast cut back to the two men.
Josh asked, crossing his legs and leaning into the mic. “What will happen to the Feds?”
“Well… they owe 15 trillion to the federal government through treasury bonds. They also owe 88 trillion credits to all twelve districts collectively. They owe the big seven collectively 40 trillion credits. They have assets all over the galaxy that will need to be sold to pay off these debts. Their explosives will need to be dismantled. The weapons will be sold on the black and gray markets. Six mega corporations own everything so they will need to be broken up. 40 years of corporate greed and government malfeasance have left their cities in ruins. A new government will need to be rebuilt from scratch. The Federation Navy will need to be scrapped. We are looking at an expansion of the Navy and Navy Troopers. The Army Troopers and Space Marines will be returned to prewar status.”
“What will happen to Marci?”
Smith laughed and then stated with a smile, “She will be given a five-minute trial and a summary execution.”
“What will happen to Pattaban and his cabinet?”
“They are war criminals and will be treated accordingly.” A picture showed Pattaban, his cabinet, and Marci. “These people are now the most wanted people in the galaxy.”
Josh put his hand to his chin in a thinking post and asked, “What will happen to the Calgori Imperium?”
“They will pay us war reparations for the damages they caused. That includes medical costs for crewmates and officers of injured officers in engagements, ship damage, and damaged support staff. It will add up to 250 trillion credits.”
Brinus looked at Marci on the screen. “Man, that woman looks like a bitch.”
Simmie looked at Brinus with a smile. “Yeah, she is your mother.”
“What is it with you and Smog? I don’t have a mother haha.”
The pilot came over the speaker. “We will be leaving in ten minutes to return to the ship. Buckle up everyone and get ready. We are running through the pre-flight check now.”
The gunner went back into the gunner cockpit. Brinus, Simmie, and Smog buckled up their seatbelts.