Posted by: The0didactus
« on: January 06, 2022, 10:33:04 PM »================
STORY SIX: REVERENCE
================
Left, around the column.
BANG BANG
Captain Sledd squeezed off two shots into the torso of one Soderberg Sniper.
BANG
He felt the shot before he heard it as the other sniper fired back and caught him full in the throat...
The pain was incredible, transcendent really, it knocked him full outside of himself.
As his body fell backwards into the dust and broken glass, and his squad fired back, round after round, Everett saw himself from outside himself: powerful limbs useless, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. Jaw clenched, chest working furiously as his lungs rapidly filled with blood.
In that place outside himself, he could think. The pain was happening to someone else, someone that was not long for this world. He knew this was true...even if, by some miracle, the firefight died down, and his squad could rush to his side, there were no medical supplies that could deal with an injury like this. Blood would continue to pool in his chest, he would fight for air that would never come, his thoughts would slow to a crawl...then stop entirely.
...only a few thoughts left. Better make them worthwhile.
Everett Sledd thought of the mission. A success. He had very little doubt his men would take the facility. Without a steady supply of fissile material, the military installations of the soderbergs would be overrun in weeks: the planet would be firmly under the command of the Protectorate in months. After that: who knew what would happen. Certainly not Everette Sledd. Maybe this world, with its tolerable temperatures and sophisticated laboratory complexes, would become a major research hub. Maybe the Soderbergs, with their extensive genetic know-how, would become close allies of the government on Siyeh. Maybe...but maybe the whole thing would come apart in a few years. Impossible to say. Not worth dwelling on.
Everett Sledd thought of Earth, that utopia his distant ancestors had abandoned three centuries ago. Humans were scattered through creation now, building tiny communities on a dozen worlds so far apart in space they were, for most purposes, in separate universes entirely. No world could really be called home...with a few exceptions, no human had ever really been outside in centuries: felt the warmth of the sun on naked skin, swam in the sea, lay down on whistling grass...this was sad. He could not stand to think on this for long.
And so, Everett Sledd turned his thoughts to an academy class...ten years ago now, at least. He didn't remember a damn thing about the class, of course, but as his thoughts slowed to a crawl and darkness gathered at the edges of his consciousness, he seized on a ephemeral recollection: a pretty girl, in the front of the class, who'd caught his attention one dreary day. What was her name again? He'd talked her up at a concourse social event, but didn't have the nerve to speak for long. More than the green dress...it was that smile... it has hard to find the words...
such a pleasant memory, that smile...worth it...all worth it...
***
Nine days later, Herschel System
***
The Maui dutifully circled the moon of Musette, bathed in the grim grey-green glow of the gas giant Lucretia. They'd been in low orbit for nearly a year, watching small mining settlements drift past while the team aboard the survey vessel performed diagnostic tests for the benefit of roving mining bands scouting for more patches of duranium on the surface of the desolate moon. It was thankless work, but critical to the future of humanity: all Protectorate efforts, civilian and military, ran on the stuff. Still, Ivana Fedotova felt her science division was capable of so much more. The Maui, along with companion geosurvey shuttles Iberia and India, were built by the society of colonial explorers for deep space survey, part of a small fleet of scout ships ultimately constructed to scan the starways for a second Earth.
...the war against the Technocracy had slowed that effort considerably. Every spare crate of maintenance supplies, every drop of hydrosorium fuel, was necessary in the fight to neutralize the Soderberg menace. Most of the fleet was grounded while the invasion of the Burnell system was underway.
...or at least that's what Lieutenant Commander Fedotova presumed, until the transmission from the surface of the moon came blazing through.
"The maintenance tender will arrive within two weeks, with orders from Siyeh. You are to make the Maui's science division ready for transit in the meantime, your orders are to prepare for a long mission to deep, deep space." Commander Cho said, from the surface. "I will assume command of the ship and the fleet upon arrival of the tender."
"Any idea where we're going sir?" Fedotova said, maintaining her composure, if only just.
"That's all I know, scout." Her superior replied. "Though I assume if they're willing to spare the supplies, it must be important...and I assume if I don't already know, it must be secret. I can tell you're intrigued."
"Just happy to be on the move again." Fedotova replied. She couldn't help but smile...
STORY SIX: REVERENCE
================
Left, around the column.
BANG BANG
Captain Sledd squeezed off two shots into the torso of one Soderberg Sniper.
BANG
He felt the shot before he heard it as the other sniper fired back and caught him full in the throat...
The pain was incredible, transcendent really, it knocked him full outside of himself.
As his body fell backwards into the dust and broken glass, and his squad fired back, round after round, Everett saw himself from outside himself: powerful limbs useless, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. Jaw clenched, chest working furiously as his lungs rapidly filled with blood.
In that place outside himself, he could think. The pain was happening to someone else, someone that was not long for this world. He knew this was true...even if, by some miracle, the firefight died down, and his squad could rush to his side, there were no medical supplies that could deal with an injury like this. Blood would continue to pool in his chest, he would fight for air that would never come, his thoughts would slow to a crawl...then stop entirely.
...only a few thoughts left. Better make them worthwhile.
Everett Sledd thought of the mission. A success. He had very little doubt his men would take the facility. Without a steady supply of fissile material, the military installations of the soderbergs would be overrun in weeks: the planet would be firmly under the command of the Protectorate in months. After that: who knew what would happen. Certainly not Everette Sledd. Maybe this world, with its tolerable temperatures and sophisticated laboratory complexes, would become a major research hub. Maybe the Soderbergs, with their extensive genetic know-how, would become close allies of the government on Siyeh. Maybe...but maybe the whole thing would come apart in a few years. Impossible to say. Not worth dwelling on.
Everett Sledd thought of Earth, that utopia his distant ancestors had abandoned three centuries ago. Humans were scattered through creation now, building tiny communities on a dozen worlds so far apart in space they were, for most purposes, in separate universes entirely. No world could really be called home...with a few exceptions, no human had ever really been outside in centuries: felt the warmth of the sun on naked skin, swam in the sea, lay down on whistling grass...this was sad. He could not stand to think on this for long.
And so, Everett Sledd turned his thoughts to an academy class...ten years ago now, at least. He didn't remember a damn thing about the class, of course, but as his thoughts slowed to a crawl and darkness gathered at the edges of his consciousness, he seized on a ephemeral recollection: a pretty girl, in the front of the class, who'd caught his attention one dreary day. What was her name again? He'd talked her up at a concourse social event, but didn't have the nerve to speak for long. More than the green dress...it was that smile... it has hard to find the words...
such a pleasant memory, that smile...worth it...all worth it...
***
Nine days later, Herschel System
***
The Maui dutifully circled the moon of Musette, bathed in the grim grey-green glow of the gas giant Lucretia. They'd been in low orbit for nearly a year, watching small mining settlements drift past while the team aboard the survey vessel performed diagnostic tests for the benefit of roving mining bands scouting for more patches of duranium on the surface of the desolate moon. It was thankless work, but critical to the future of humanity: all Protectorate efforts, civilian and military, ran on the stuff. Still, Ivana Fedotova felt her science division was capable of so much more. The Maui, along with companion geosurvey shuttles Iberia and India, were built by the society of colonial explorers for deep space survey, part of a small fleet of scout ships ultimately constructed to scan the starways for a second Earth.
...the war against the Technocracy had slowed that effort considerably. Every spare crate of maintenance supplies, every drop of hydrosorium fuel, was necessary in the fight to neutralize the Soderberg menace. Most of the fleet was grounded while the invasion of the Burnell system was underway.
...or at least that's what Lieutenant Commander Fedotova presumed, until the transmission from the surface of the moon came blazing through.
"The maintenance tender will arrive within two weeks, with orders from Siyeh. You are to make the Maui's science division ready for transit in the meantime, your orders are to prepare for a long mission to deep, deep space." Commander Cho said, from the surface. "I will assume command of the ship and the fleet upon arrival of the tender."
"Any idea where we're going sir?" Fedotova said, maintaining her composure, if only just.
"That's all I know, scout." Her superior replied. "Though I assume if they're willing to spare the supplies, it must be important...and I assume if I don't already know, it must be secret. I can tell you're intrigued."
"Just happy to be on the move again." Fedotova replied. She couldn't help but smile...