A new beginning II
Ready Room, INS Gift, Sigdio System, On route to Achenback station
2966
The next days went by in a breeze. The exercises that Colonel Costa conducted went well, or at least as well as could be expected. The timings were down. All hands actions like manning battle stations or preparations for boarding actions took way longer now then before the battle at Strunlek. But the drill of the one and only Tirso brought this numbers down to an acceptable level. At least for the most important maneuvers. It will take more time before the rescues are properly integrated into the crew. I just hoped that was time we had.
Speaking of rescues, I met with Lieutenant Steyer again. It was awkward at first, now that she knew that I was actually the commander of the Gift. We went on with our training and after a few exchanges we were back to bantering like before. That meant a lot to me. We had the same humor. Maybe I had found a new friend there? Life at the top is lonely. I had to maintain a respectful distance to the crew to properly do my job. A crew has to have respect for their captain and that is not archived by having a drink in a bar with some marines. This lead to me having very few friends among the crew. Namely Tirso and now maybe Emilie. Alex was also my friend, but he is dead. I had visited his body. He was on ice with the other dead. What to do with them? They deserved a proper burial.
---
I was sitting at my desk in the ready room, half staring at old family photos, half staring at reports I had to read and sign. Despite all the improvements and inventions humanity had come up in the last hundreds of years, there still was paperwork. Well, the paper was replaced by a data pad. Different, but in the end still the same. I was tired, it was late in the evening. Sleep was a luxury that didn’t came easy to me nowadays. And when it came it was studded with nightmares.
The reports on my desk were from my quartermaster among other. When salvaging in Strunlek we took what we could, but some resources were still scarce. Especially proper food was missing. We were all eating MREs. All the fresh food has been destroyed by weapon fire and the cold dead vacuum of space. I didn’t like MREs, the crew didn’t like MREs. It weighed on the moral. Estimates showed that we were good for the next four weeks on rations.
Besides that spare parts were scarce of course. On the other hand side munition storage and the water tanks were full. Fuel also looked more than good. Medical equipment was short in supply. For now we had enough but we had to restock soon.
There was also a report from Chief Gattiker. I had put in a request for some changes to the ship. If this time jump was reality, we had to keep our head down and don’t stand out. Yeah… not stand out with an imperial warship. Sure. Least I could do was to arrange changes to the transponder, paint job and drive signature.
We had to shut down the engines for some of the work which put us back a day but now we had a new drive signature and a few dots of fresh paint. The hull was a patchwork of different shades of armor either way. A few more dots to conceal the ship’s name and serial number wouldn’t hurt. We could get a complete new and proper paint job when the time was right.
The transponder would now transmit just ‘Gift’ instead of ‘Imperial Navy Ship Gift’. It wasn’t that rare of a name. Especially if we consider all these years. The serial number was more tricky. I opted for a random number, hoping that no one would check it and ask questions. A missing number would be more obvious. The transponder would be turned on as soon as we enter comm rage with the station.
It knocked on the door. In frustration and relief at the same time I put the reports away. “Come in.”
“Rayko” greeted me Colonel Costa as he entered the room. With that I knew he wasn’t here for business. This was a friendly visit. I noticed the bottle in his hand.
“What are we celebrating?”
He went over to the cabinet and took out two glasses which he put on my desk. “I don’t know. Maybe our second birthday after all the shit that happened? Do I really need a reason to be drinking?”
He opened the bottle and poured the liquid into the glasses while I leaned back into my chair. “I guess not… Second birthday, huh? Didn’t you buy that bottle for when you would finally retire?”
“If this continues as it has so far there will be no retirement for any of us. Can’t open the bottle when I am dead.”
“Ah, don’t be so pessimistic Tirso. We have the worst behind us. We made it out of Strunlek.”
“And we just fell into the next disaster. 121 years Rayko. 121 years!”
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“We haven’t confirmed that yet. You know that.”
“And you know that that is just false hope. You want to calm the others but you can’t fool me. How else would you explain the fucking planets being out of place? Nah, we traveled to the fucking future. A future we don’t know anything about. Is the Empire even around still? Does humanity still exist or did we finally succeeded in annihilating ourselves?”
I was in thought over his words as I swirled the liquid inside the glass. I didn’t care for his cussing and direct – some may say aggressive – tone. Those were just some of the quirks that made Tirso the person he was. I know he meant no harm. He just had the social competence of a hand grenade. Its one of the reasons I liked him so much. There were no ulterior motives or political games. Just a direct and honest man. “Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know. I guess we will figure out more tomorrow.” - I pointed my finger at the datapad on my table - “De Muler reported in, she said we should be in comm range in the morning. Until then, business as usual.”
We both took our first sip from the liquor. “Ugh, this tastes horrible.” I said to him coughing. “How cheap of a bottle did you bought back then?”
“Didn’t yet have the fancy Colonel salary.” He said, the hands raised in an excursive gesture.
I muttered a “cheap bastard” as I took another sip.
---
“We are in comm range, Commander.” reported De Muler from her station.
“Hail the station, Major. Put it in my ready room.” I ordered as I left the command deck.
I sat down in my chair and waited for the connection to be established. I had removed my uniform jacket and officers cap so I wouldn’t be identified as an Imperial officer in the upcoming conversation. My screen came to life with the face of a young woman. “Achenbach station, portmaster's office, my name is Lyra Doyle. How may I be of service?”
“Greetings, I am commander Rayko Hauck of the Gift in route to Achenbach station. We happened to have a problem with our NTP server during flight. All our clocks are askew. Can you provide me with an accurate time for clock synchronization.”
She looked a bit surprised but continued “Of course, sending timestamp now.” She said and I saw a popup containing the date on my display.
28th March 3087, 13:21:37. What I already knew to be true deep inside of me was now finally confirmed. We traveled through time into the feature and now we would come back to a world that we couldn’t recognize anymore.
“Thank you, the clocks are now synchronized. My ship is in need of maintenance and repair. Are there any wharf slots available? We should arrive in five days.”
“What are the dimensions of your ship?”
“196 meters bow to stern, 89 meters in with and 33 meters in height. I also need the wharf to be not shared. We are a military ship and have increased security requirements.”
“Alright, commander. Give me a second.” Over the video feed I saw her working, checking data pads outside the field of view of the camera. “We have an open spot for you, Commander. Any other reasons for coming to Achenbach station?”
“Just repairs, maintenance and restocking. We are just passing by.”
“Thank you, Commander. I have reserved the slot for your ship. We will contact you again as soon as you are close to the station concerning docking instructions. Can I help you with anything else?”
“No, thank you. Have nice day.”
“Any time, have a nice day. Achenbach station out.”
The connection closed. With a sigh I slumped back in the chair. I had to inform a crew about their demise. I first had another meeting with my command staff and explained to them that our apprehensions have come true. They took it in their stride. They already had a kind of heads up. The crew would not. We discussed for hours about how to best bring it to the crew. In the end we decided on the direct approach.
---
I stood inside the Gift’s hanger bay. The crew was in rank and file before me. Waiting for the announcement that had let them to be ordered here. In the background the Little Gift was sitting ready to depart at a moments notice.
“Comrades” I began “It has been a long expedition full of privation and dangers. You have all done your duty and more. The Empire is proud of you. I am proud of you. We have made it back to charted space and we are en route to Achenbach station, where we will get the Gift back to be worth of the title ‘Imperial Navy Ship’.” I took a short art break. “Comrades, you may think we are close to home now. I am afraid we are further from home then we will ever be, a distance that can not be overcome.” I took another short pause to let my words sink in. “Comrades, when we used the wormhole drive of the INS Horizon we traveled an unimaginable distance. But we also traveled in time. Comrades, it dismays me to have to inform you - and there is no easy way to say this - that today is the 28th March of the year 3087.”
The otherwise quite crowd started whispering and mumbling. A loud whistle from Tirso brought back silence. “Quiet! You are soldiers of the Emperor! Act like it!” He shouted.
“Comrades, we know nothing about this age, this new world. We don’t know who is friend or foe. We will keep our head down for now. We will gain information. We will make our way in this new world. We will make a new home, for there is no way back. My comrades. We are in this together. Trust in the spacer next to you. Trust in the Gift. Trust me. My comrades. For ship, crew and the empire! For us!”
The crowd followed my example “For ship, crew and the empire”.
I had given them hope. I hoped I had given them hope. Had shown them that there is a way forward for us, that not all was lost. Did they really have hope? The next days would show.
---
Two days after my speech I was standing in the quarter of sergeant Caleb Gray. Tirso was with me, so was our chief security officer lieutenant Cutler.
I let my eyes wander through the room. It was sparsely furnished and tidy. Exactly what I would expect from the room of a marine. The first thing that stood out was the dead body of sergeant Gray on the floor. The second the hole in his head. The third the bloodstain on the wall sprinkled with bone and brain.
On the small table lay a hand written letter and the sergeants medals were on display. Gray himself wore his formal uniform. The imperial flag was laid out were his body had dropped. Gray’s hand gun was laying right next to him.
I grabbed the letter and began to read. In it Gray explained in short and concise sentences how he couldn’t continue living when he had lost everything that he had held dear in his life. The letter ended with a request to not name him a traitor for the suicide. I put the letter back on the desk where I had found it.
I had expected problems with the crew. I hadn’t expected a suicide. In a way I could understand Gray. I could understand his reasoning as I felt the same loss as he had. Yet suicide was absolutely unforgivable. It was treason against the Empire. Treason against me. Treason against ship and crew! He didn’t deserve to escape his suffering, he had a duty to fulfill! He abandoned us when we needed him the most!
“Lieutenant, conduct your investigation with utmost care.” Lieutenant Cutler saluted as I left the cabin with Tirso in the wake. As soon as I was out of hearing range from anyone else I said to him. “As soon as the investigation confirms suicide, name sergeant Gray a traitor to the Empire and dispose of his body.”