Thaddius leaned over the navigation display. The screen icons bathed the dimly lit bridge in alternating reds and greens. The steady hum of the ships engines were the only sound and his mind continuously analyzed it, searching for any discrepancies in frequency or rhythm. His cybernetic implants fed a constant flow of information into his mind whether he wished for it or not. For half a second Thaddius wondered what silence would be like. Heresy, he reminded himself. To forsake the gifts the Machine God had given him was heresy. He remembered the lights. The red was his ship, the Tenax Propositi, and it slid ever so slowly toward the green. His grip tightening on the console, this planet would have something for him, he was certain. There were too many clues this time. Something ancient and powerful awaited him on the surface and its recovery would bring glory to his God. Thoughts of lost technology were suddenly forced from his mind as he felt a 2% increase in engine vibrations. Thaddius whispered a prayer to the Omnissiah, thanking him for his many gifts as he hurried off the bridge to engineering.
"I've lost enough for one night." John said as he struggled to straighten up out of his seat.
"Relax" Aaren said jokingly, "You've still got all your father's whiskey...that is unless you'd like to make another wager?" She smiled.
"I've only been here a week and I'm already making a dent, besides my father would have my hide if I bet his 2412 on a card game." He turned and stumbled back to his bunk.
John lay in bed, the whiskey made thoughts rush in and out too quickly. He closed his eyes and tried to focus. John could see his father supervising the small distillery, his proud face when John was promoted to sergeant in the local garrison on Antipa Prime. He missed his little back water planet. On his first day he was issued a lasgun with a malfunctioning power cell. Not that it mattered; the garrison on Antipa Prime hadn't been in a hostile engagement in over a hundred years. He remembered they tried to replace his body armor in his third year, something about a defect, but his old one fit so well he just had the armorer touch up the paint a bit to pass inspection. John opened his eyes and tried to blink away the blurriness. He focused in on the picture he had taped to the back of the bunk above him. Sarah…Their families had been close since John was a child and he grew up with her. No one was surprised when John proposed to her on her 23rd name day. They were never apart anyway; they were just making it official for everyone else.
Then two weeks before they were to be married a ship came into orbit and everything changed. The Captain came to the surface with an imperial edict authorizing him to induct whatever forces he deemed necessary from Antipa Prime's defense force. The governor protested but it fell on deaf ears. John remembered being called to duty the next morning with the rest of his company. They stood at attention for more than an hour before the blast doors to the main bunker creaked open. A thing emerged that was more machine than man. It walked up and down their ranks silently nodding. The company commander walked beside It and every time the thing would point at a soldier the commander would take down a name. It paused in front of John for what seemed like forever. He remembered the heat It gave off and he began to sweat in bed. He could hear It whirring and buzzing as he stood perfectly still. Then It turned and walked on. After inspection those names on the list were called out of formation and sent home. What remained of the company, 68 men, were ordered to board a transport immediately and report to their new commander, Enginseer Thaddius. There was nearly a riot. Some men yelled in protest, many began to simply walk away home. John just stood there, half hoping it was a dream. Then he heard It. He knew voices coming through a vox caster always sounded different but this voice was machine, cold, uncaring and deliberate. "Be warned, you are now members of a special taskforce under my command. If any soldier fails to report for transfer I will judge this city to be in a state of insurrection. Sentencing will be carried out from orbit. You have five minutes to decide."
John replayed a four minute, thirty-two second conversation with Sarah over and over again in his mind. He was talking and she was crying. His father’s whiskey made it quiet soon though, John slept.
Bravo!!! I am completely enthralled with your characters and black library style already. I can't wait to see how you represent them in miniature form AND to see what comes of them in the course of our battles. At this point I'm so motivated by your post that I'm changing my paint list to facilitate our coming wars and crafting up my own short story to intertwine with yours.
ReplyDeleteGreat job dude!