It's been a while since I uploaded anything, I know. Trying to get back in to the swing of it though.
So, here is Chapter 3 of the revision of Only Human. Enjoy.
The halls of the station seemed about how Nathan expected, just wide enough for two to walk abreast with pristine white walls and an occasional terminal. There were less people than he expected though. He wasn't given much time to think about it though, as Tiera kept asking him questions about the 21st century.
“We there?” he asked her as they came to the stop at a door.
“Nope, just as far as we can get in the service corridor.” Tiera chuckled, then tapped her wrist, “Aerix, how do things look on the outside?”
“Pretty clear,” A deep voice replied. “though there are a few groups loitering about, and there's been some talk.. I think that's all it is though.”
“Thanks, we'll just have to keep alert.” Tiera replied, tapping a code in to the panel beside the door. “I should warn you Nathan, things are just going to get weirder from here.”
“Great..” Nathan grumbled, following Tiera out as the door opened, only to be met by what he first took to be a wall made of the same material as Tiera's uniform. Until he looked up, that is. “.. gah.. a.. uh..”
“A minotaur, yes.” The towering creature chuckled.
“Don't worry Nathan,” Tiera sighed. “Aerix is a friend... and the biggest thing on the station.”
“Sorry, mostly just very unexpect-” Nathan trailed off, looking past the minotaur and seeing the station behind him. It looked more like a city than a space station, they had stepped out in to an open 'courtyard', surrounded by walls of windows reaching up to the ceiling. There were hundreds of creatures, people he reminded himself, of various species going about their lives. Most were clad in the same uniform Tiera and Aerix wore. “How big is this station?”
“About 300 square kilometers.” Tiera replied, “A good chunk of that is abandoned other than training exercises, and there is a massive docking bay. Still about the size of a small city though.”
“That's no moon..” Nathan muttered.
“Oh come on, it's not that big.” Tiera chuckled, “Besides, we're no where near Alderaan.”
“Bloody hell,” Nathan laughed “Don't tell me they re-re-released Star Wars for the 500th anniversary?”
“No they didn't.” Tiera shook her head, “200th anniversary was the last release.”
“Don't mean to interrupt you two reminiscing about times long past.” Aerix cut in, “But we got company, best look lively.”
“Shit, Kilin.” Tiera growled, looking towards the oncoming tiger. “Hopefully he won't do anything in the open.”
“Probably won't,” Aerix nodded, “not with the both of us here. Knows he can't take me, and you're almost an even match for him.. not to mention your mother.”
“Tiera, Aerix.” Kilin said, cutting off any reply Tiera might have had, then turned to Nathan. “And you would be Staff Sergeant Nathaniel Ericson of the United States Air Force, if my information is correct.”
“It is, sir.” Nathan replied uneasily, looking up at the massive tiger. He stood at least eight feet tall, heavily muscled and armed with wicked looking natural claws, and Vice-Admiral bars on his uniform.
“A pleasure, Nathaniel.” Kilin said, almost entirely managing to mask his distaste. “I am Admiral Fleshraker, and on behalf of the Planetary Defense Department, I would like to welcome you aboard the Lunar Jump Pad. I take it you are being accompanied to your temporary quarters?”
“Thank you, sir.” Nathan nodded. “Tiera was showing me the way, and has been most helpful getting me accustomed to the 26th century.”
“No need to beat around the bush, she is escorting you for your own safety.” Kilin chuckled briefly. “Rest assured however, you are to be treated as a diplomatic guest for the duration of your stay here, and any action taken against you will be met with a swift punishment.”
“I see, that is comforting.”
“I will let you be on you way.” Kilin said, turning away. “If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you, sir.” Nathan nodded.
“That.. was weird.” Tiera said once Kilin was out of ear shot. “Really damn weird.”
“Yeah.” Aerix nodded.
“Was it just my imagination..” Nathan asked, “or did he want to tear my throat out?”
“With Kilin, probably something worse.” Tiera nodded. “He's notoriously cruel. He wanted to kill you before you even woke up, his hand was only stayed by orders from higher up.”
“Lovely.” Nathan sighed. “What's with the diplomatic face then?”
“I don't know.” She shrugged. “Any insight Aerix?”
“It's possible they still suspect he is a forerunner for a hidden colony.” Aerix said, scratching his chin. “The open, welcoming facade could be meant to lure the rest of the colony out of hiding with the expectation of peace? It's also possible it is a ploy to help the PDD gain favor... I'm not sure what the endgame for that would be though.”
“Great. What's next?”
“Look at the bright side,” Tiera replied. “At least you're safe-ish for the time being.”
“True enough.” Nathan nodded. “Also, what are the chances of me being able to get on the Freedom 7? There's a few other personal effects I'd like to get, and I would like to check the logs, see if I can figure out what went wrong.”
“Should be doable.” Tiera said. “Aerix, want to make a detour by Bay 3?”
“Sure,” Aerix replied with a chuckle, “as long as we get moving, we're attracting a lot of attention just standing here.”
A short walk later Nathan found himself staring at a bustle of activity around his old ship. Crea- people he reminded himself again, moving about it, and looking at it much like he imagined engineers of the 20th century had looked at Stonehenge. The technology had to be so primitive to them that it seemed it shouldn't work. Then again, in her current condition, Nathan wasn't even sure she'd still fly. Her hull was littered with scratches and dents, even a couple of punctures from various debris over five hundred years in space. Wiring was exposed everywhere, one of her thrusters was missing, she was in sad shape.
“She's a piece of work.” A panther with a limp said walking up. “You must be the mechanic?”
“I am, yeah.” Nathan nodded. “And she is a piece of work, for her time a masterpiece. We were building something that had never been done before.”
“Between the age of the tech, and the damage done to her.. most of our mechanics can't figure much out.”
“I can imagine.” He nodded, realizing he was now being stared at by a rather large group. “I could probably help with that, if you wanted.”
“Maybe another time.” Tiera interrupted. “Marv, Nathan wanted to get some information from the ship. Want to give the crew a break, keep him our of their fur?”
“Yeah, good call.” The panther nodded, before turning to the crew milling around the ship. “Oi, ya lazy slackers! If you're just going to stand about lollygagging at the human, then do it somewhere else! Clear out for a few minutes!”
“Yes, sir!” A chorus of replies came in unison as the crew cleared out of the dock.
“Thanks Marv.” Tiera smiled.
“No problem, you've got ten minutes, that's the best I can give you.”
“Should be plenty, thank you.” Nathan replied heading to the ship. He ran his hand along her hull as he circled her. It felt wrong, she wasn't herself anymore. He knew this ship better than he knew his own wife, he'd spent almost as many nights with it as well.. sometimes he could swear she would talk to him, tell him what was wrong, tell him how to fix it. Now she just felt wrong.
He stepped inside and headed to the controls, the panels weren't in the greatest of shape, but a few keystrokes he had it up in diagnostics mode and dumped the entire log to his personal tablet before telling it to run a system check of the ship, which immediately returned the error code that basically meant the ship was a scrap heap.
Shaking his head he headed back to the lockers and opened Kelsey's with a sigh, searching through it briefly before finding what he was looking for, her ring. He kissed the ring and sighed, sinking to the floor.
“Someone special?” Tiera asked, coming up behind him.
“Yeah.. “ He nodded. “Kelsey, only other crew member to leave someone behind. We comforted each other.. and.. it kind of grew from there over the year we were on the surface. We had discussed getting married when we got back to Earth, or volunteering to assist in the colonization of Centauri Prime.”
“I'm sorry.” She laid a hand on his shoulder.
“.. Let's just go.” He stood up, shaking his head. “I've got the logs and there's too many memories on this ship.”
“Alright.”
* * *
A dim haze hung over the muddy field, the sound of Beethoven's 5th filled the air as the forces of light in their shining white armor stood opposite the army of shadow. Kings and their advisers hiding behind a wall of expendable pawns, and flanked by the elite warriors. On this small square of ground, the fate of an entire world would be decided this day.
“Toel?” A voice rose above the music and the din of the armies. “Toel, you're daydreaming again.”
“I'm sorry father.” The young panther replied, the battlefield in his mind replaced by an antique chess set. He moved one of his white pawns forward, officially starting the war. “I just found myself pondering as to why these two armies have to clash?”
“Hmm, a fair question.” Serge, Toel's father, replied as he slid one of his own pawns in to play. “Battles are fought for many reasons. Moral differences, the opposition of tyranny, resource rights, honor.”
“I know this, father, but who is right?”
“If history is any indication, the winner.” He swept a bishop in, claiming the first casualty of war, a lowly pawn. “You spend too much of your time reading old stories. Life doesn't work that way, there are seldom 'good guys' and 'bad guys' in the real world. History is recorded by the winners, so they always appear to be in the right.”
“Like between us and the humans?”
“Exactly.” Serge watched his son try and find a move outside of the obvious that would cost him another pawn. “Speaking of humans, have you heard the interesting news out of the Jump Pad?”
“The human? I'm skeptical. I think it's likely a stunt being pulled by the PDD to try and garner public support.”
“I thought the same thing, at first.” He claimed another pawn, slowly building an elaborate trap to lure his son in to. “Contacts on the station have confirmed it though.”
“Fascinating. It would be interesting to meet him.”
“Oh?”
“Consider it, father..” He slid his bishop to claim a knight, only to immediately lose it to a rook. “Humans are responsible for music, art, literature.. even this very game. You always say the arts were what separated humans from animals and that we let that line fade.”
“True, but what can one human do? A mechanic no less, not a composer or a painter. A man of the physically quantifiable world, not the arts.”
“Perhaps. What if it's a genetic trait of humans? What if our lack of the arts stems not from not caring.. but lacking the genetic predisposition?”
“It could be, but how would we determine that? As well, how could the information be used?”
“I know you have your ways, father.” Toel slid his last pawn up, reaching the opposing edge of the board to promote it to a queen. “Besides... what can one pawn do? Checkmate.”
“Well said, and well played.” He observed the board a moment, the opening was intentional. The purpose of chess was to teach his son to look towards to future and see the endgame, which he had. “I will dispatch a messenger to extend the invitation for him to be a guest of our estate. Now, as it is your idea and desire, I will be sending Maximus to deliver the message.”
“That seems fair.” He rose from the table. “I should return to my studies though.”
“Indeed you should. Send Maximus in on your way out.”
“Yes father.”
“You wished to see me, sir?” Maximus walked in just a moment later. The lion towered over Serge by almost a foot and had been aged beyond his years from countless battles, his fur hid most of the scars but some were still visible. Those who looked close would notice his teeth and claws were all metal, few though would realize how much more of him was machine.
“Yes,” Serge nodded, rising, “I need you to go to the Jump Pad. There appears to have been a human found alive on a derelict vessel. I would like you to extend an invitation for him to visit Europa. Additionally, I would appreciate it if you did what you could to keep him from coming to harm.”
“A human?” Maximus replied, looking puzzled. “How did one survive so long? As well, if you do not mind my asking, what purpose do you wish him for?”
“It seems he survived in Cryostasis for somewhere around five hundred years.” He said, writing out a message on a tablet. He preferred hand written messages, it would be done on paper if it were not so hard to come by. “As for why, Toel is interested in meeting him, and I believe it would do Toel good to meet a 'big mean human' first hand, to fully dispel any lingering fear he may have from the official stories. It would also do the human good to visit someplace where a markedly low percentage of the population wanted him dead.”
“Very well sir. I will assign Sadie to guard Toel in my stead and ready myself to depart.”
“Sadie is your best?”
“Aye sir, she is.” Maximus smiled proudly. “A star pupil. She has taken to Bolters far better than I ever could, and in melee she proves a challenge to me, if I do not cheat.”
“When do you not cheat in melee, Maximus?” Serge laughed, handing him the tablet.
“True enough, sir.” He dropped the tablet in his pocket and gave a slight bow before turning to leave.
* * *
We're all sent here to die. Admiral Kell thought to himself, going over the reports from the riot just being cleaned up. The old tiger was given command of Phobos, the entire moon had been converted to a prison colony.. it was as much a prison to the guards as it was to the inmates though, the post was considered a death sentence because of the riots.
“The snake is back in his cell, sir.” A voice came over Kell's com, “He's requesting we up the humidity in his cell, and.. abrasive rock or something, says he's shedding.”
“Go ahead and adjust the humidity for him,” The snake, Plisken, was something of an enigma. He was a prisoner, had been for far longer than Kell had been warden, and he would quell the riots when they threatened to overthrow the guards.. and all he asked for was the right conditions in his cell and to be left alone.. fair price for how many of Kell's men he saved. “and let him know I'll see if we can't get him something for the scales.”
“Yes sir.”
The reports showed six guards dead in the riots, and another 20 injured.. several critically. Prisoner death toll was over a hundred and counting. Kell sighed, that was a mountain of paperwork he didn't want to deal with. Paperwork that would be ignored at Lunar Prime, just like his requests for more men and better equipment. He forwarded the list of deceased guards over to his secretary, who would in turn ensure that next of kin were contacted.
His com chirped breaking his train of thought. Lunar Prime, probably telling him that they would send men to replace those who'd been killed, but they couldn't afford to fulfill his request for equipment, and of course that they had another transport on the way in with more dangerous prisoners he needed to find room for. At least, he had a lot of space suddenly freed up today. He tapped the com to bring the call up.
“Admiral Kell.” Admiral Darkmoon greeted as he appeared on the screen.
“Admiral Darkmoon.” The Fleet Admiral himself? This was unusual. To this day Kell still wondered how the worthless runt of a mouse had gotten the promotion to Fleet Admiral. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I am looking at your latest requisition form.” Darkmoon replied. “Normally, we would not be able to fulfill these requests, however there may be something you can do for me that would.. help me free up the resources.”
“How can I assist you, sir?”
“There is a matter which requires a certain set of skills, a set of skills best served by one of your inmates. I would like you to deliver a proposition to this inmate. Merely for delivering the proposition, I will increase your command by fifty percent.”
“That sounds easy.” Something about this didn't settle with Kell, but the increased manpower would be very useful. “Which prisoner is it?”
“A snake who has been there the last 95 years, he goes by the name 'Plisken.'”
“I know the snake.” Now it felt even less right. Plisken might be decent enough to the guards, but that didn't change that he had several hundred counts of murder on his record, and was serving a term of a thousand years- mostly because no one knows how long snakes live. “I am slightly puzzled as to what purpose this particular prisoner could serve?”
“That information is above your pay grade, I'm afraid.” Darkmoon smirked. “What I can tell you though, is that if the snake accepts our proposition, you will receive double the command, and a fully stocked armory of up to date weaponry and equipment.”
“I see.” He shook his head, he could see Darkmoon's game here. He didn't want to order the release, so that if something happened it would be Kell would was held responsible for it. It was a gamble, but one he had to take.. he needed the equipment and manpower too badly. “Very well sir, I will pass the proposition on to Plisken.”
“Excellent.” Darkmoon nodded. “Your men are already inbound, as well as a several more prisoners.”
“Thank you, sir.” He nodded as the screen went dark, and a file popped up. He dumped it to a tablet and summoned a runner to deliver it to Plisken. He considered reading it first, but he didn't want to know what Darkmoon was planning.
* * *
“So,” Tiera stepped in to her apartment, “this is home. Make yourself comfortable. Presently you're not allowed to explore the station without an escort. Presently only myself or Aerix can get you in to the room though, I'll see what I can do about getting you access.”
“Thanks.” Nathan glanced around the room, it wasn't entirely what he would have expected for a space station. Two rooms, as far as he could tell, no notable kitchen area. The main room was small, and made smaller by Tiera's clutter, her walls were lined with shelves of things from the 21st century, most in sealed containers. On one wall there was a desk with a book sitting open on it, and framed movie posters hanging over it, some he recognized some he assumed came out after he left Earth. “... You're quite the collector, aren't you?”
“Yeah,” Tiera nodded, carefully closing the book on her desk and putting it in to a container like most of her collection was in, “I don't have much else to do with my off time and money. Figure maybe when I retire I'll open a museum or something. Then there is already one in Lunar Prime, the largest lunar colony, and from what I understand it's not doing that well lately.”
“Why the fascination with a time so long passed though?”
“Because in a way they were a far more interesting time.” She shrugged. “Novels, music, movies... they're pretty much all forgotten. We don't have arts anymore, and artists of any form are considered strange and outcasts. So much has been lost in the last three hundred years, and I think it's tragic.”
“.. No music? Seriously?” He shook his head. “That's a crime.”
“Most don't agree, they don't understand the 'intentional noise'.”
“I'm curious, how did you obtain all these?”
“Purchased through auctions, mostly.” She smiled. “Some were gifts though.”
“I meant more like.. how were they obtained, in general, if Earth is uninhabitable?”
“We send scavenge teams to recover resources, many of them know there's a collectors market for Pre-War items and will pick up things that look interesting. Plus there's illegal scavengers who go for the artifacts.”
“I see.” He nodded. “Have you ever been down to Earth?”
“No,” She shook her head with a sigh. “I volunteer constantly, but always get passed over. They always give me some bullshit line about not being suited for the task, but it's actually just my mother bribed them to keep me out of dangerous missions.”
“Dangerous?”
“There's creatures down there. Three hundred years of radiation, biovirus exposure and general evolution has created some pretty nasty monsters.”
“I see.” He sighed. “Guess there goes the hope of ever getting back to Earth.”
“It's a dead planet, Nathan. Why would you want to go there?”
“It's home. It's where I belong.” He shrugged. “What place do I have in this world.. this century?”
“You've only been here for a few days, and you're already giving up?”
“Back on Earth in the 21st century, the only things I had going for me were my work ethic and my knowledge of machines.” He shook his head. “Here and now, I'm a single lone human surrounded by multiple vastly superior species, a good chunk of whom are going to have a chip on their shoulder against me because I'm a human, and the technology has advanced enough that I have to relearn it anyways. What hope do I have of lasting more than five minutes on my own?”
“You're not on your own though. You've got one friend already.. and she can call in back up from the biggest thing on the station.” She smiled. “Look, we'll give you a few days to get you settled in and used to life.. let Command realize that you're not here to conquer and enslave us all, and then I'll see if I can't call in a favor at Stellar. You have space ship building experience, after all.”
“Thanks Tiera..” He forced a smile. He knew it would be hopeless. As soon as they realized he wasn't a threat and kicked him lose, he'd be on his own and probably fall to the first person that decided they didn't like the way he looked at them. “I'm sorry.. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. It's just been a rough few days for me.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Tell me this is all another disturbing dream?”
“I thought you weren't supposed to dream in cryo sleep?
“You're not.” He shook his head. “Most don't, either. I do though, and the trip back had some really hellish ones. If this is a dream, it's quite the respite from the nightmares of the journey back. If it's not a dream, I suppose I can be glad it's this impossible reality, and not another.”
“This isn't a dream, though I suppose I would say that even if it were.” Tiera laughed. “If finding your species extinct and your planet destroyed is a pleasant alternative, I would hate to see the dreams you've had.”
“War. Not a war against humans though, I'm not even sure humans were fighting either side.” He closed his eyes thinking for a moment. “They were all too real though. Whatever it was we were fighting it was practically immune to every weapon we had and out numbered us vastly.. it wasn't a war so much as an extermination.”
“Well, that's pleasant.”
“Not too far from reality though, I suppose?”
“True.” She nodded, tapping her desk a couple times, a screen appearing on the wall. “If you want, I can call up the history for you.”
“Maybe another time,” he replied, settling in to the couch pulling his tablet from his bag. “I've got 500 and some years worth of logs to go through from the ship. Besides which, I think I've had enough depressing news for one days.”
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