“Okay, guys, here’s the itinerary Shin made. We’ve got about three hours until we get to Nog’Racias System, but we’ll still be another hour or so from our target. It doesn’t leave us a lot of wiggle room, but we should be fine.” Jaen had the course pulled up on the screen along with times and eta for their destination.
“It’ll be fine, easy-peasy. Shin’s piloting the fastest ship in every category. And if we have to, we’ll bring the twins out and let them play!” Polly gave her two thumbs up.
Savros watched them, still blown away that they could cover that much space in just a few hours. He’d learned about space travel years ago in his lessons, and as far as he knew, the fastest vessels in Living Space would need at least thirty-six hours to cover that much space, and that’s just a rough estimate at top speed, not taking into account stops for fuel. The vast majority of craft would need weeks to make the journey. He’d vaguely heard something about Shin being fast and bringing the twins out to play.
“Yeah, I’m sure Shin can outrun anything.” He gave the double thumbs up like Polly before feeling he missed something and dropped them.
They both paused for a second. “He absolutely can! But just in case he can’t, we have The Twins.” She held up two thumbs again.
Savros copied her, as confused as ever. Keeping her hands the same distance from her chest, she moved her torso around, leaning, twisting, and turning. Savros looked at her, waiting for some kind of comprehension to occur in his brain. He moved slightly, mimicking her movement, hoping it would help. Polly brought her thumbs down like she was pressing a button. Savros copied her, still confused. She moved her torso again, keeping her hands relative to her chest while pressing both thumbs down on top of her hands. She did it all again but added sound effects, “pewpewpewpew” every time she pushed her thumb down, “pewpewpewpew.” It clicked, but he couldn’t believe it.
“No way! KaiStar has guns?! But it’s not a military vessel. Are they legal? I didn’t see them. Where are they? What are they? How do they work?” Savros couldn’t help himself.
Polly giggled and stomped her feet rapidly while in her chair, “Haha, I knew you’d love it. Okay, get ready for this. We have twin cannons!” She pulled two imaginary guns from imaginary holsters and held them up. “They are super-pulse hard-light chain-splitters! It’s a mouthful of destructive goodness. Each gun shoots two hard light laser projectiles simultaneously, with an adjustable fire rate from single shot to full hard light beam, but we have the governor capped at fifty rounds per second. It gets a little too hairy if we take it any higher. As for legal. As long as we keep them capped at fifty and don’t misuse them, yes. Our biggest rule with the guns is this: We never pull them out unless we’re gonna use them.” She ‘pew-pew’d’ him with her imaginary guns before returning them to their holsters. “But Shin has a great simulation to practice on. It’s also super fun.”
“Whoa, can I try the simulator? I never even thought about needing weapons, I also never thought we might go to Nog’Racias, I’ve always wanted to go there, and as a kid I dreamed about being a great starfighter, returning home as a hero.” He was thrilled at the idea of getting to practice firing KaiStar’s guns.
“But where are they? I never saw any guns at all.” Savros was thinking about how KaiStar looked when he first saw it. He couldn’t recall anything that looked like weapons.
“Oh, that’s the cool part. You know how the wings wrap around KaiStar when we aren’t using them? Well, the guns are on arms that wrap around KaiStar just in front of the wings. When they are all wrapped around, and secured, you really can’t tell the wings or arms are even there. Each arm unfolds away from the ship and is fully articulate.” She pulled her imaginary guns again, but this time crossed her arms first and pulled from her left side with her right arm and vice versa, waving them around in all directions, even pointing at her own face. “Shin set up safety protocols so that the guns won’t fire through KaiStar, ‘cause, well, you know, boom.” She jerked her head back at the boom and slumped in the chair.
“Crazy! You guys are insane; that’s so awesome!” Polly, Jaen, and Shin all chuckled at Savros’ enthusiasm. “This is gonna be fun. When can I try the simulator?”
“You can try it now if you want. I’ll set it up at your station.” Said Shin. He had created the entire simulation from scratch and was quite proud of the results. “Use the dual stick controls. They are similar to the gun pods. Only the button on top will function in the simulator. Just watch the monitors. I’ll highlight targets until you get the hang of it. Running simulation, good luck Savros.” Shin started the simulation. A curved screen appeared before Savros, a smaller version of the main viewing screens. Initially, he saw the same thing on his screens that appeared on the larger one. The first sign of a difference was the arms unfolding from around KaiStar. He couldn’t see all of it on his monitor, but from what he saw, it did look a lot like Polly crossing her arms and drawing her guns. He could see either gun on each side of the screen as he pulled on the sticks and the guns, and his view turned upward. Pushing them forward, the view on his screen angled downward. He pushed the button on the left stick, and two piercing beams of light erupted from the left gun. It was a little startling, and Savros checked the main screen to make sure it was just in the simulation.
At first, he didn’t think he would ever get the hang of it. The targets came in so fast he could barely respond before they were off-screen again. It took him a while, but he had finally started hitting enough of them that Shin had removed the tracking highlight, and it was quite a while before he hit another one. But now, he was hitting about three out of ten. Polly was right. It was fun, but it was frustrating. He wanted to do better. He wanted to be able to hit ten out of ten, to be as impressive as Polly and Jaen were. He wanted to do something amazing like them. He kept practicing.
“Hey, Savy, how’s it going over there?” Polly leaned back to look at him. No response. She could see him get a hit on the monitor. Then another and another. She went over to stand behind him and watch. By her count, he was hitting about sixty percent of them. She put her hand on his shoulder, and he almost jumped out of his seat as he went into a nosedive in the simulation.
“Whoa, relax, Savnax, just coming to check on you. It looked like you were getting quite a few of them. I dub thee- Savrocks, Asteroid Slayer.” She laid either imaginary pistol on his shoulders. And lifted them off as she finished.
Jaen’s voice came from behind Polly, “We’ll be arriving in Nog’Racias System in just a few minutes. We’ll be quite a ways away from the actual battlefield, but that doesn’t mean we’re completely out of harm’s way. There are bandits and scavvers, hoping to capitalize on the destruction and confusion, as well as spies, saboteurs and general maniacs. To them and many others, the sounds of war are the sounds of dinner bells.”
“Yes, and to limit our exposure time, I’m taking us straight to full speed as soon as we arrive. We’ll have to make a detour to refuel, though. The closest station is a little out of the way but it can’t be avoided.” Shin said as he changed the display in front of Savros to show the updated itinerary. Where they had pretty much had a straight line to the Galactic Center of Knowledge, they now had another stop in a nearby system, then on to the Center.
“Wow, that did not seem like three hours!” Savros said, standing up to stretch his legs and back. “I feel like I was getting better, but at first I could barely see them coming in. Starfighting is harder than I imagined it would be.”
“You were improving quite quickly. However, those were just asteroids on a fixed path. On the way back, I’ll let you try your aim against moving targets and if you can hit those, I’ll give you a live training simulator against actual fighters. It’s quite a bit harder when the targets move and even harder when you’re evading fire as well.” Shin sounded as excited to let him try it as Savros was to get started.
“He’s not kidding about that. Each step in the simulator is like a whole new world to learn and adapt to.” Polly was back in her seat, leaning back, looking at him.
The thought of it getting even more difficult was only slightly daunting for him. After all, Shin had said he was ‘improving quite quickly’ that felt like pretty good praise to him. If he got to practice enough on the simulator, he was confident he would be ready if the time ever came.
“Arriving in the Nog’Racias system in three, two, one. Welcome to Nog’Racias, engaging drive engines. Arriving at destination in one hour thirty-two minutes.” Shin’s announcements sounded incidental to Savros like Shin wasn’t even aware he was doing it.
Savros didn’t even feel a bump or anything this time, no push as they accelerated either. He would have thought that the three engines working together would have made a tremendous amount of gravitational force as they accelerated the KaiStar.
So far, space travel hadn’t been the glorious adventure he’d thought it would be. Yeah, it was still his first day and all, and yeah, he’d already been to one incredible place, and now he was on the way to a second. He was still excited. He just hadn’t realized how mundane the trips would actually be. Traveling through space was pretty much just traveling at night with no scenery to look at. He was even more grateful for friends like Polly and Jaen and Shin, who, along with KaiStar, were just loaded with secrets. The simulator should make the boring times more interesting, and if that doesn’t do it, there is always a ton of stuff to talk about with Polly or Jaen. Savros realized the journey was the job, and his companions made the job an adventure.
His body still somewhat stiff from sitting for three hours, Savros decided to take a walk around KaiStar. He was getting more familiar with the ship, but there were still rooms he hadn’t seen yet.
“Hey you guys, I’m gonna stretch my legs a little, feel like going for a walk?” He looked back and forth between the two of them.
“You know what’s weird? I’ve never once thought about just walking around KaiStar. We’ve spent so much time in here, usually running around adjusting systems and making repairs, since we’ve got everything synced and put Shin in charge of them, there really hasn’t been a lot to do, and honestly we don’t even go around the ship much unless Shin tells us about an issue.” Jaen smiled to herself, remembering when she and Polly had to run around like crazy people just to keep KaiStar together. “I could use a walk. I’ll go with you. It’d be nice to see KaiStar through you eyes.” She stood and stretched, realizing she actually would benefit from a little movement.
“You guys go ahead, I’m gonna kick some ass in the simulator, can’t let Savros get better than me.” She gave him a wink as she spun her chair around.
“What do you mean ‘get better than me’? I’m gonna be the best. How can you be better than the best?” He could hear her gasp behind him, but he and Jaen were already on their way out the door.
“Ooooh, why you little… We’ll see about that, mister.” He could hear her yell after them as the door closed.
Shin had been narrating the tour, With Jaen adding in bits here and there. It turned out other than the cargo hold, he had seen most of the ship. Splitting the main length of the ship were two parallel corridors. In the main corridor, just off the bridge, was a hatch in the floor where the service entrances for the wings, as well as the arms, were located. Off to each side, next to the wing service hatches, was a cubbyhole with a pilot’s seat in it.
“These are the gunner-pods.” Jaen said, ushering him to take a seat.
Shin showed him the actual controls for the guns, which typically remained concealed within the console until the arms drew out and extended. Savros sat in the seat holding the controls and imagined being in a real fight based on his experience with the simulator. Something about this seat made it seem way more serious than it had felt on the simulator.
Eventually, Shin led them back to the bridge. Climbing the ladder and emerging back on the main deck, to their left were four doors Savros hadn’t seen inside of. They were off the opposite corridor from the crew cabins, but they had very different-looking doors. Shin continued,
“Piso’Mado is a just up ahead. Under wartime protocol we don’t have a name for our contact, only a bio-ID. We’ll have to verify the target before we leave. The offer came from the Center directly, so as long as the target matches the bio-ID we should be okay, but still, all things considered, I’ve assigned them to the holding quarters.”
“Holding quarters?” Savros asked.
“The four rooms on the starboard corridor have been modified. We’ve completely isolated the holding quarters from KaiStar systems. Fortified against attack from the inside and are secure-able with a hermetic seal. They look like normal rooms. However, we designed them for quarantine situations, but they come in handy in all sorts of situations. In the event of extreme danger or need, we can jettison the entire room. Hopefully, it never comes to that, but we have it if it does.”
They were back at the bridge and taking their seats as Shin finished his job as Tour Guide. Savros kind of felt pity for Shin. He seemed perfectly content with his existence, but he was in charge of nearly every aspect of the KaiStar. It seemed like a lot of responsibility with no downtime. But then again, does Shin even need breaks? It was easy to think of him as a guy on the ship talking to them over the intercom. But it got a little more complicated when he thought of him as a part of the ship. Without a biological body Shin wouldn’t need sleep, but how could any sentience not go mad without at least a mental break?
In a matter of seconds, Savros had gotten very curious about what existence was like from Shin’s perspective. He didn’t know any way to approach the situation other than to just ask him.
“What…”, before he could finish his question, something on the screen caught his eye.
“What is that?” The glint on the screen was approaching very quickly. A massive structure looming silently in the dark was growing more massive by the moment.
“That is a sentry station. At the height of the war, this was the front line. These stations were installed and operated together to monitor traffic. They were also heavily armed to protect fleeing refugees as well as hold off advancing forces. Only two have been found. The others are believed to have been dismantled, either recommissioned by the fleet or chopped by scavvers.
“This one is known as Piso’Mado. It’s been converted to a back-up supply depot and usually runs active-dark to avoid attention from scavvers and others. Our contact should be expecting us. I’m waiting for bay confirmation now.”
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They watched as the structure grew so large it extended past their field of view above and below the screens. They did a good job of running active-dark. From their perspective, the place looked long abandoned and forgotten. A hangar door suddenly began to open, casting a sharp light onto the ship.
“Confirmation received. Proceeding to bay three. Here we go, you guys, keep your eyes open. Remember, our goal is to make a positive I.D. and depart with the target as quickly and quietly as we can. Be safe out there. Touching down now.” Concern carried through in Shin’s voice as he wished them good luck. Savros looked from Jaen to Polly as they stood. They both looked calm but serious. He took his queue from them. Game-face time. He followed them out of the bridge.
At the airlock door, Polly turned to him, “You ready for your first mission, Savroy? I’m sure it’ll be pretty straightforward, but like Shin said, we still need to be careful. Keep your head on a swivel, and if anything goes sideways, just get back to the KaiStar.” She patted the pocket he’d put the teleport beacon in.
“I’m ready, I’m on it, I.D. the target, return to ship, get the hell outta here.” Savros had his game face on.
“You got it, my man!” She gave him a smile and a thumbs-up before proceeding through the airlock after Jaen. As the pressure equalized in the airlock, Savros’ excitement rose. His life had taken extreme turns recently, and here he was about to go I.D. a target and escort them halfway across Living Space. Just another day on the job. The thought made him smile. Just another first day on the job.
The airlock alarm sounded, and the exterior door opened. They made their way down the ladder. It made sense to Savros that they would use the ladder instead of teleporting outside. Not knowing for sure what was waiting for them meant caution was necessary, and holding the teleporter card meant they could use it for an easier escape if things ‘go sideways,’ as Polly had said. They had made it about halfway across the hangar floor when a door opened and an elderly, oddly dressed yet strangely distinguished-looking guy came strolling into the hangar. He carried a cane, but he didn’t use it to walk as he strode confidently toward them. He was so confident that it put the three of them on guard. When he was still several paces away, he stopped and bowed slightly. He spoke with a calm, clear voice.
“Greetings Ladies, Thank you ever so much for escorting me to the Galactic Center of Knowledge. As well, thank you immensely for meeting me all the way out here. I’m afraid escaping from the heart of the enemy has cost me everything, including any favors I could call in to get myself out of here. But with your arrival, I am finally able to continue my journey back to the Center.”
“Doctor Redonde Prashaad: Researcher, Historian, Documentarian, Scientist. I’m a man of many focuses under the singular lens of truth. It’s my pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He bowed again, a little deeper this time.
Jaen spoke, “It’s nice to meet you as well, Doctor Prashaad. If you wouldn’t mind just staying there for a moment while, I verify you bio-signature.” Polly scanned him, and the tek showed a bio-match. Doctor Prashaad was their intended target.
“Thank you Doctor, if you’re ready to depart we can help you with any luggage you have.” Jaen looked around him and the empty hangar.
Doctor Prashaad smiled sadly, “as I said, getting here has cost me everything. That wasn’t hyperbola, I’m afraid. I’m currently wearing everything I have. It’s my own doing. I was captured, researching the origins of the conflict in the region, in a rare moment of panic and forethought I ditched my gear, including my TallyStik. Moments after being transported to a base for interrogation, the site I had been examining was hit by blanket fire. I flew past it on a subsequent transfer and the entire area looked like a glass sea. Anyway, this is it until I make it back to the Center.”
“Very well, shall we?” she motioned with her arm, in an ‘after you’ gesture toward the ladder to the KaiStar airlock. The four of them made their way back to the ladder. Polly first, then the Doctor, followed by Jaen, with Savros bringing up the rear. They climbed the ladder, and just like that, they were back on the KaiStar, step one of the mission complete.
As the airlock alarm sounded and the door opened, Polly hopped into the corridor. As the Doctor followed her, she spun around and took a step backward.
“Welcome to KaiStar!” she said. “If you wouldn’t mind following me, I’ll show you to your quarters. We’ll have to stop to refuel in a bout half an hour, then we’ll make a beeline for the Galactic Center. The second leg of the trip will take about six hours. After we refuel, we have a meal scheduled and you are welcome to join us in the galley or you can eat in your quarters, if you prefer. Otherwise, you may want to use the time to rest. We’ll be arriving just before sunrise at the Center.” They were standing outside the first room with a strange door.
“Here we are. You’ll find your room fully furnished. Should you need anything, please use the intercom. We’ll alert you at mealtime.” She ushered him into the room, to which he promptly responded by entering.
He turned back to Polly. “Thank you so much. I’m sure I’ll be fine in here. And Thank you for the offer of eating with you and the crew. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a meal with friendly faces and pleasant banter. I’d be honored to join you. I await your invitation.” He bowed again as she closed the door.
Polly headed for the bridge and met Savros just around the corner in the corridor. “Oh, watching my back, huh? That’s so sweet! Or did you think I couldn’t handle Doctor Grandpa back there?” she smiled and put up her fists like a fighter, bobbing and weaving,
“It’s not that at all. I just wanted to see what happened and how things went. He seems nice enough and his story sounds sincere. I wonder if he learned anything useful about how the war started.” Savros and Polly walked back onto the bridge just as Shin was finishing the jump countdown.
“Well, you can ask him when we eat if you want. He said he wanted to eat with us.” Polly plopped back down in her seat and put her boots up on the console.
“Speaking of food, I don’t know about you guys but I’m starving, what’s on the menu Shin?” Jaen asked, turning her seat to face Savros and Polly.
“Well, we still have plenty of Goglow tails and fresh vegetables that won’t stay fresh for long. We also have plenty of the grains that we got from BeiHan. How does kabob’s and grains sound?”
As Shin spoke, the trio’s tummies formed a harmony of agreement, rumbling in unison.
“Great!” they all said at the same time, all with equal enthusiasm. With that decided, all that was left to do was wait until they refueled and headed for the Center. They sat there, each imagining what the meal would be like, while their stomachs occasionally made sounds of impatient agreement.
Doctor Prashaad, assuming the door to his quarters had been remotely secured, didn’t even bother trying it. Instead, he busied himself in his room. He inspected the room and the furnishings, not for anything in particular. You just couldn’t be too careful these days. Having found nothing suspicious, and he admitted, surprisingly well furnished, he laid back on the bed, hoping the trip goes quickly and that everything at the Center was still in place. In truth, he just wanted to be home. To take a bath, wear a fine robe, and not get out of bed for at least a month. To have a steak and a glass of wine. His stomach rumbled in agreement. He wondered how well they ate on this ship, the KaiStar. Hopefully, it was at least better than ration packages.
He heard a knock at the door, a pause, then the door opened. Jaen poked her head in, “Hi Doctor Prashaad, we’ll be docking to refuel in just a moment. This will be our only stop and unfortunately, I’m going to have to ask you to stay confined to your quarters until we’re finished here. There’s no need to take any extra risks when we’re only a few hours away.”
“Oh, of course.” Doctor Prashaad was only surprised that his quarters hadn’t been secured all along. “I shall remain here until the all clear is given. Not a problem.”
“Thank you Doctor, I’ll come get you for dinner as soon as we leave.” She said as she closed and secured the door. Polly and Savros were getting ready to make the walk down to the station attendant to provide payment.
“Journey’s Begin, what does that mean?” Savros was staring at an enormous holographic sign above the station.
“EdenFire set these refueling stations up in areas that are heavily traveled but scarcely populated. The name was some kind of marketing bullshit or something. I don’t know, everyone just calls them ‘J.B.’s’ now. With so many people in and out of here all the time, it’s a good idea to keep to yourself. Every kind of person comes through here.” Polly was eyeballing everyone around them as she spoke.
“They make it worse by not accepting auto-purchase accounts. You have to come down here in person every time. It’s a pain in the ass.” Polly kept complaining and staring down at everyone around her. It was a bit of a madhouse in the place, but they were steadily moving forward.
Just before they reached the counter, a kid burst in between Polly and Savros. Polly’s foot came up and tripped the kid. She caught his arm just before he hit the floor. Savros, confused, looked from Polly to the kid, and then he noticed what was in the kid’s hand. He reached up to feel for it, and sure enough, his communicator was missing, and there it was in this kid’s hand.
“OWW!” the kid howled as Polly effortlessly twisted his arm further. “Please take it, I’m sorry, please.” Savros reached out and retrieved his communicator, and Polly sent him stumbling into a group of onlookers as she released him. It was their turn at the counter. Polly turned to face the attendant, who looked somewhat alarmed and also amused by what he’d just seen.
“Yeah, yeah, all three in bay three.” She waived a TallyStik in front of him, and as an afterthought, added, “please.”
He took it, scanned it, and returned it, “Yes Ma’am, three in three, all set.”
Polly took the TallyStik and stomped off, the look on her face causing people to part for them as they exited the market and made their way back to the docking bay. As they made their way out and the groupings of people became more and more sparse, Polly’s pace slowed a little, and her demeanor softened.
“Sorry, Savro, I don’t like being in a crowd like that, and then that kid.. If they would just accept auto-purchase.” She stopped and took a deep breath.
“Anyway, I guess the first thing you learn in a place like this is, if someone touches you, they just took something from you. Sometimes it’s a bump like that kid, sometimes it’s just a hand brushing your arm, whatever it takes to create a distraction. It’s all about awareness of the possibilities around you. You need to have an awareness of the larger space, but it’s vital that you also maintain awareness around your personal space. It’s just things you pick up as you go. The first time we ever stopped here, I lost my communicator, TallyStik and the hand held tek I was field testing. They robbed me blind, and I didn’t even know it until I discovered each individual thing missing. Since then, as much as I hate this place, I always come down and pay whenever we have to stop here. No reason to put Jaen through all that when I already know what to expect, you know? But hey, we got through it and we aren’t missing anything. Hopefully.” She patted her pockets as they continued toward the KaiStar.
As they rounded the last corner before the Bay 3 docking doors, Savros saw a figure entering bay four. With the lighting in the corridor and at that distance, he couldn’t see well enough to make it out clearly. In the first split second of rounding the corner, he saw a tall figure in a dark robe with a strange hue enter the door in a flurry. It was unexpected and happened so fast he thought it could have been a shadow. Whatever it was, it sent chills up his spine, and his stomach suddenly soured, making him want to vomit. He leaned against the station wall, still staring toward the bay four entrance. Polly noticed and looked where he was looking. Not seeing anything, she looked back at him.
“Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or like you were halfway through eating your cereal before you found the finger in your bowl. You don’t look so hot.” Polly took his arm and helped him through the door, back onto the KaiStar. By the time they had reached the bridge, Savros was feeling much better, and much of the color was returning to his face.
“What was that about?” Polly had been staring at him intently since he sat in his seat on the bridge. Now that he was looking and feeling better, she was starting to ease up on the intensity.
“I don’t know. I thought I saw something down the corridor and then I just wanted to throw up. I don’t know. It was like this sickening feeling of doom or something. It seems about gone now. Maybe I’m just hungry or tired. It has been a hell of a first day!” Savros grinned at Polly.
A big smile lit up her face, “Shit yeah it has, a hell of a first day, Woo!” She threw both her arms in the air.
“A hell of a first day, indeed. Your vital signs have returned to normal and are stable. Your body temperature is fine. I’m not picking up any trace of pathogens or bio-agents. And tryptic sensors are silent. Whatever was causing your symptoms appears to be stress induced. A nice meal and some sleep would probably be good for everyone.” Savros agreed with Shin. He definitely needed sleep.
“Hey guys!” Jaen came out of the galley, licking her finger, all smiles, “Shin it’s perfect, thank you so much.” She looked back toward Polly and Savros on her way out. “I gotta go sign the bill, then we can get outta here and finally eat!” She ran out of the bridge.
As soon as they made the jump, Jaen went to get Doctor Prashaad so they could all eat. By the time she returned with him, Polly and Savros were already seated in the galley. The smell of the kabobs filled the entire room, and everyone looked hungry enough to eat their own arm or someone else’s.
Jaen took her seat across from Savros, next to Polly, and the Doctor sat next to Savros. Polly lifted the lid from the serving tray of kabobs while Jaen uncovered the boiled grains.
“Doctor Prashaad, please help yourself, enjoy.” Jaen had barely finished speaking before the Doctor was reaching for a kabob.
“Thank you so much for the hospitality and the food. It’s been quite a while since I’ve enjoyed a meal in pleasant company.” The Doctor had two kabobs and was reaching for the grains. Two spoonfuls, and his plate was full and his face happy.
Savros and the ladies took turns pulling kabobs and scooping grains. They all finished their plates before any of them really spoke anymore. Savros pulled his second kabob and was getting more grains when he thought to ask the doctor some questions.
“So, did you find anything useful in your research into the war?” Savros dumped the spoonful of grains onto his plate. Polly and Jaen looked at him, curious about his response as well.
Doctor Prashaad swallowed his food before speaking. He wiped his mouth with a napkin, “I did uncover the truth about the war, but I’m afraid it doesn’t help much. The truth is the entire war was originally started over missing leaders from two sister planets. Both of the peoples blamed the other for the loss of their beloved leader and swore vengeance. The war has been raging ever since, at it’s peak it encompassed three star systems. It has since receded back to the original two planets, but it’s no less brutal. I believe Ol’Guds, who retreated or perished with the Tryptic Energy, led both planets. Neither of the peoples had anything to do with the other’s missing leader, yet have been paying the price for countless generations. It’s sad but I’m not sure that this information will be of any use at all.” He pushed a few grains around his plate.
“I thought if I could uncover the truth, it would bring an end to the conflict, but when I presented the facts to their commanders, they immediately detained me. For dissent and hurting morale. They made it quite clear to me that those in charge are only concerned with winning by annihilating the other side. They have given no thought to stopping the war on their own terms, at all.” It was obvious from his expression that he couldn’t understand why they willingly continued fighting.
“At any rate, my mission is complete, and I can leave the war-zones behind, This mission has lead me into furthering the research on the Ol’Guds, so after I publish my discoveries from Nog’Racias, I’ll continue in that direction.” Doctor Prashaad seemed relieved to get his story off his shoulders, even a highly abridged version like that.
While the others pondered his story, Shin spoke. “It must be hard to hear that you’re fighting for a false cause. Especially after doing it for so long, on such a scale. Can you imagine fighting your whole life, as your father did, and his father and his father and his father, alongside generations of your fellow kinsmen? Recruiting peoples from other worlds, who would otherwise have no interest in your conflict, growing your side, improving your forces and abilities. Generation after generation, believing that they are on the side of justice and righteousness. Meanwhile, their adversary believes that they are on the righteous side and have been fighting for justice. At this point, countless lives have been lost, or torn apart or never even started. The war machine isn’t concerned with who is to blame. The truth in your information will only matter to people. And if either side were to accept that information, it would be akin to accepting fault in the longest war in our history. A war that if the Doctor is correct about, started at the very beginning of our history.” Shin grasped the complexity of the problem much better than Savros had prior to his explanation.
They continued the meal in better spirits as the conversation turned to lighter topics. After several helpings each, they were all in need of some rest and retired to their cabins. Savros hadn’t considered that being in space for extended amounts of time would mean setting your own schedule. Shin had kept the lights on BelToa time, but after dinner, he had adjusted them to Galactic Time, based on the time at the galactic Center of knowledge. It functioned well as a way to keep universal time in Living Space, and they set the daily cycle of the Center to the mean cycle of over a thousand inhabited worlds. Savros liked the galactic calendar better than his home world’s calendar. Because his homeworld was a little further from its sun, he was thirteen by its calendar. But according to the Galactic Center of Knowledge, he was almost fifteen.
After his shower, he’d gotten straight into bed. He was exhausted. What a day! And after all that, he was also fourteen, and in two months, he’d be fifteen. Time was flying by. He laughed to himself. His thoughts turned from what the day had been like to how things used to be. Today seemed like an even more insane day in contrast to where he was a week ago…
His heart broke all over again as he involuntarily relived that night that seemed so long ago but was only a week ago. The night his world exploded. The night his mother and father were murdered, and he ran. He cried until, completely exhausted, sleep took him.