《Agent Voss: Forced to become an interstellar secret agent. Will he save the galaxy?》


 Chapter 1: Death Row

    The steel door flung open. Two women, both wearing grey uniforms adorned with blue details, walked in. He had never seen that type of uniform before. ¡®Probably another one of their redundant, niche departments or bureaus¡¯ he thought to himself. The government sure loved its special agencies. He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they had an entire department, whose only purpose was to create new departments and agencies, set up somewhere in that damned spire of theirs.


    Neither of the women said anything. They stood across the table and stared at him in silence. They were sizing him up, as he was doing with them. After a couple of seconds, they stepped forward, grabbed a pair of chairs, and sat themselves down. He could tell by the look in their eyes that they¡¯d already convinced themselves he was guilty; and he already hated them with a passion in return. Just another pair of dim-witted, talentless citizens with a chip on their shoulders and a deep rooted hatred for slum dwellers such as himself.


    The woman who looked most arrogant looked like she was in her seventies. She was tall and slender with a wrinkly, sunken face. She looked like the type who¡¯d go home each night to nag at her husband about how awful her day had been at her, government sponsored, fake job. The younger one of the two was plumb and shorter. She looked less arrogant. There was a hint of insecurity in the way she carried herself. She was still quite young. Early thirties at most. Probably the elder one¡¯s pet prot¨¦g¨¦. She looked like the type who¡¯d return home each night to an empty house.


    The elder one spoke with a raspy voice that tried, and utterly failed, to carry itself with an aura of importance. Judging by the amount of stripes she had on her uniform, she probably carried some fancy title. Something that¡¯d sound important at first glance, but which fell apart upon closer scrutiny. Something like ¡°Special Chief Residents Affairs Detective¡± at an equally obtuse bureau like ¡°The Justice Department for Non-Citizen Transgressions and Crimes¡±.


    ¡®Why did you kill him?¡¯


    ¡®There we go¡¯ he thought to himself. ¡®Cookie cutter textbook interrogation techniques.¡¯. These women had zero experience outside of what they had been taught in their backwards police academy. It wasn¡¯t that surprising though. Resident on citizen crime was pretty much non-existent within city limits. None of that mattered though. It was all a formality anyways. They¡¯d convict him no matter how flimsy the evidence was. There was no doubt in his mind that he was going to be sentenced to execution when his case was sent to trial. As a resident, you were guilty until proven innocent, and there was nobody out there looking for evidence of his innocence. He had no choice but to play along. The last thing you wanted to do with these egotistical incompetents, was to give them the idea you didn¡¯t take them seriously. A citizen scorned could become particularly vengeful and cruel.


    ¡®I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. I didn¡¯t have anything to do with no murder.¡¯


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    ¡®Save me the lies, resident. You killed a class four citizen. Shot him straight through the back of his head with an unsanctioned laser pistol. Then you tried to flee the scene, but we caught you.¡¯


    He had great difficulty suppressing his laughter. They really hadn¡¯t sent Saltpetersburg¡¯s finest to interrogate him. That dumb broad was freely sharing details that only the killer would know. A great way to muddy the waters for any accidental confession and a sure way to sabotage your case in a fair trial. Only there would be no fair trial of course.


    ¡®I wasn¡¯t fleeing anything. I just happened to be in the vicinity, trying to catch the last metro heading outside the wall. Having to walk through eight kilometers of slums at night time isn¡¯t fun, you know.¡¯


    ¡®No, I wouldn¡¯t know.¡¯. She said her words with emphasis. It was obvious that she wanted to make it very clear that she, as a citizen, did not venture outside of the walls, into the slums. ¡®Besides..¡¯ she huffed ¡®what right does a resident like you have to wander around our beautiful streets? How did you get past the guards?¡¯


    He knew it was dumb, but he couldn¡¯t help but snap at her. This stupid woman clearly hadn¡¯t even bothered to read through his file. This whole interrogation was a farce which only served to make her look important in the eyes of fellow citizens. ¡®You should be grateful I walk your streets. Eighteen years of having a class three work permit. Eighteen years of keeping this damned city¡¯s utilities running. I¡¯m the best electrical engineer you ingrates have. Without me you¡¯d be wandering through pitch black nights. You¡¯d be up to your knees, covered in shit, begging for clean drinking water.¡¯


    The younger woman looked horrified and turned her eyes towards her superior. She awaited how the older woman would respond to such an insult. It was obvious to him now that the younger was most definitely an equally incompetent pet project for the older one. Probably competent only at brown nosing her superiors in exchange for a fast track career of cushy government jobs.


    The older woman turned red and yelled at him. ¡®How dare you talk to me like that!?! You filthy slum rat. I¡¯ll have you hung for this, you piece of scum.¡¯ She turned her head towards the younger woman. ¡®We¡¯re leaving Alinaire. We¡¯ve got what we need. A clear confession of his hatred for our beautiful city and its citizens. This ungrateful slum dweller committed the murder as an act of vengeance on us. To think someone would do such a thing after we magnanimously granted him the opportunity to work in our beloved city..¡¯


    ¡®Ha¡­ Hahaha¡¯ He really couldn''t control his laughter anymore after her remarks. ¡®I maintain the core engines which keep this city running. I could sabotage them whenever I want and take half this damned city with me. I can guarantee you, missy, that if I wanted revenge, it would be something much more grandiose than committing the petty murder of some useless fourth grader.¡¯


    The women didn¡¯t reply to his retort. They were already halfway out of the room by the time he finished talking. He could tell by their haste, that they took great pride and joy in being the ones who¡¯d get to present his case to the prosecutor. It didn¡¯t matter anymore though. The outcome of his trial was set anyhow. He wasn¡¯t long for this world now¡­

 Chapter 2: Naive Misrepresentation

    They chained both his arms and legs to a metal table. His body ached all over. The stomping he''d received during his arrest, the concrete floor of his holding cell; and now the rough treatment by the guards escorting him to this interrogation room. They made sure he was reminded, every step of the way, of how much they loathed him. He didn¡¯t get why they were even taking him here? Another flimsy interrogation? Like they needed evidence to convict him¡­


    There was a young man waiting for him in the interrogation room. To his surprise, the man didn¡¯t look like he thought of him as a slum rat. He looked rather.. friendly. The man¡¯s voice sounded friendly too when he spoke. Something that made him suspicious. ¡®Hi there, I am your court appointed lawyer. We¡¯ve been given some time alone to prepare your defence.


    He was surprised he was even given a lawyer. ¡®Probably just a formality to uphold the illusion of an unprejudiced justice system.¡¯ he thought to himself. He was under no illusion that this lawyer was going to make any difference to his situation. ¡®You¡¯re a bit late then. They already did the interrogation yesterday and they¡¯re shipping me off to court later today.¡¯


    ¡®They what?¡¯ The shock on his lawyer¡¯s face seemed genuine. ¡®They can¡¯t interrogate you without my presence¡­ that¡¯s illegal. I hope you didn¡¯t tell them anything that could be used against you?¡¯


    ¡®I didn¡¯t have too. Haven¡¯t you heard? I¡¯m guilty of the crime of being a resident.¡¯ He studied his lawyer''s traits. He looked very young. Early twenties. Probably fresh out of college. He had blonde, unkempt hair and blue eyes. They gave his face a naive and optimistic look. Like he was the kind of kid who had chosen law out of a sense of idealism. Poor guy. He was about to get his first taste of cold hard reality. It was fitting that it would happen here. Rooms like these were built to crush a man¡¯s spirit.


    ¡®We have much to do then and only little time. Let¡¯s work on your opening statement first and then..¡¯


    He interrupted his lawyer. ¡®How about we introduce ourselves first?¡¯


    ¡®My apologies, where are my manners? My name is Cedric DeGork. I''m a defense attorney. I¡¯ve read from your file that your first name is Voss, but could you help me on your last name? The documents didn¡¯t state it anywhere.''


    ''That''s because I don''t have one.''


    ''You don''t have a last name?'' There was something apologetic about his voice. As if Voss had called him out on his obvious lack of worldly experience.


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    ''I''m a slum dweller, Cedric, we don''t get one. We get four letters to form a name with and then they add a bunch of numbers to it and call it an identity.¡¯


    ''Really? I didn''t know that.''


    ''There''s a lot about us they don''t teach you in your schools, Cedric.¡¯


    Voss felt sorry for him. They had given him an absolute stinker of a case. He''d probably happily accepted it too, not knowing what he was getting himself into. They knew this case had the potential to ruin a lawyer''s career, so they dumped it on an expendable asset. If there was one thing Voss had learned out in the slums, it was that for every naive kid, there were ten shrewd men and women ready to exploit them.


    Cedric spoke optimistically: ''Well Voss, I studied your case and I''m certain you''ll be out by tonight. Their evidence is flimsy at best. We''ll destroy this case with ease.''. Voss knew he had to correct him fast.


    ''Let me stop you right there, Cedric. There is no way I''m walking from this one.''


    ''What are you talking about sir? This is every lawyer''s dream. No direct evidence and even the circumstantial evidence is weak. There were at least thirty people around when the murder happened. They didn¡¯t even interrogate any of them yet, other than you.''


    Voss let out a chuckle. It felt refreshing to be in the presence of someone so pure as Cedric. Naivety was rare amongst citizens and even rarer in the slums. It did him good to know that someone on this forsaken planet had managed to make it into his twenties without losing it. Cedric¡¯s presence was a nice reprieve from all the hardened criminals and hostile officers he¡¯d been surrounded by in the days since his arrest.


    ''Listen Cedric, I like you, but you have no clue about what''s going on here. They have no evidence because there is no evidence. They don''t need evidence either. You walked into a show trial.


    A class four citizen got murdered. That means societal upheaval. That means the government looks weak. The government has got to be seen acting fast and hard. They need a perp and they need to punish him brutally and publicly. They want to close this case as soon as possible, before it starts festering into societal upheaval.


    I''m a resident. That means nobody within city limits cares about me. It also means I ain''t got the same rights as you. I''m an easy sacrifice to make to restore order. I''m a dead man walking kid. Best you keep as far away from me as possible. I don¡¯t want you to get dragged down with me.¡¯


    ''That''s ludicrous, sir. Our court system is independent and unbiased. Not beholden to the government or politics.''


    ''It''s your funeral, Cedric. Just know that I''ll be pleading guilty. I overheard in prison that they¡¯ll give me a faster, less painful death if I do.''


    Cedric looked like he was about to protest, but before he could, the steel door opened without warning. A woman dressed in black fatigues stood in the doorway. She wore no identifying insignias other than a symbol of a world with two wings on her black beret.


    ''Just what I needed'' Voss thought. ''Fifth Branch''. He''d never seen one before, but he knew the rumors. Everyone did. Going by the mean look on her face, the rumors were true.

 Chapter 3: The Interrogation

    He was surprised at how young she looked. She was mid thirties at most. She wore her black hair in a short bob cut. An odd detail for military personnel. She was short for a citizen, petite too. She masked it by walking with the determination of someone twice her size.


    Voss could tell she wasn¡¯t someone to trifle with. Easy to underestimate due to her small appearance too. A deadly mistake that, he was sure, had been made before. Attractive and risky. Just his type. If only the situation had been different.


    She did not wait to be invited in. Instead, she walked into the interrogation room like she owned it, and sat herself down at the head of the table. She put down a file and opened it. She spent a few moments studying the file and only then acknowledged the presence of the two men in the room with her. She pointed her slim, well manicured, yet surprisingly roughened hand at Cedric and said: ¡®You, out.¡¯.


    Cedric looked shocked and unsure of what to do. Despite this, he did his best to stand up to her. ¡®I am this man¡¯s lawyer. You don¡¯t have the right to interrogate him without my..¡¯


    ¡®I said OUT¡¯. There was a dangerous, but subtle undertone in her voice. Like a poisonous snake hidden in tall grass. Easily missed, but ignored at your own peril. This woman had fangs hidden behind her youthful face. Her black uniform gave her an aura that reminded Voss of a black widow spider.


    Cedric seemed to have missed the warning in her voice. Voss could tell he was mustering the courage to speak up again. He knew he had to intervene. He grabbed Cedric¡¯s shoulder before he could open his mouth. ¡®It¡¯s okay Cedric. Please leave. There¡¯s no reason for you to get caught up in this. Thank you for everything you¡¯ve done for me.¡¯


    Cedric got up reluctantly. There was a sorrow in his step as he exited the room. Voss felt bad for him. Kid got his first big case and it crushed his entire world view. Salpetersburg¡¯s rotten side on full display. Still, he wasn¡¯t too worried about him. The kid might have been na?ve, but he did show courage. Cedric was a man with character, and men with character tended to recover from adversity just fine.


    He turned to the woman. ¡®There¡¯s no need to work me mam, I¡¯ll play along, I¡¯ll plead guilty and..¡¯


    ¡®Shut up.¡¯. Her gaze was ice cold. A little too cold. It gave him the sense that she was putting on an act. To what end though? And why was she interrogating him? He couldn¡¯t help himself. He had to find out. He knew he¡¯d have to be careful though. There were fates worse than death and she held the keys to all of them.


    ¡®I am going to ask you a series of questions and I want honest, direct and clear answers. Is that understood?¡¯


    ¡®Yes, mam.¡¯


    ¡®Are you worker OSPB 4921EL33.VOSS?¡¯


    ¡®Yes mam, but you may call me Voss. It¡¯s what my friends call me.¡¯ He said it with a cheeky smile, curious to how she¡¯d respond to such a quip.


    For a split second, her eyes spat fire. It was obvious he had caught her off guard. She didn¡¯t seem to appreciate his apparent disregard for her authority. Had he pushed too fast, too far? Would it have been wiser to soften her up before he made his gambit? It didn¡¯t matter. He couldn¡¯t go back now. He had to ride out this storm.


    To his surprise, she recomposed herself quickly. ¡®You seem to underestimate the gravity of your situation, Voss.¡¯ She had pronounced Voss as if it was something low and unwanted, like a cockroach. She stood up, walked across the table and sat on top of it, right in front of Voss as if to challenge him. She was within striking distance of Voss now. At least she would have been if his arms hadn¡¯t been chained to the floor. She stuck out both hands towards him, so close to his face that he could practically smell them. ¡®See, in this hand I hold your life; and in this hand I hold the lives of all those who are dear to you. What I do with both depends on how well you cooperate.¡¯ She slapped his face just hard enough to get her message across.


    Her threats were credible and well spoken, yet they were too on the nose. That split second in which she had shown her anger, combined with the overcompensating display of power, told Voss everything he needed to know. She wasn¡¯t the cold hearted, ruthless, officer she was trying to portray herself as. Sure she wasn¡¯t no kitty either, but there were people who were natural psychopaths, and there were people who had to teach themselves to act like one. She was the latter. She may have held the lives of him and his loved ones in her hands, but she wasn¡¯t the type that could use that power without remorse. Besides, there weren¡¯t many loved ones she could threaten with anyhow.


    This wasn¡¯t some incompetent fool like the last two women who interrogated him though. This was someone worthy of being taken seriously. He¡¯d have to use all his wits to come out on top of this interrogation. His opening gambit had partially worked though. If there was one thing that Voss had learned from all his interactions with citizens, it was that it¡¯s much easier to hate someone from afar. Especially if it¡¯s someone  you don¡¯t respect. It¡¯s much harder to kill a man when he¡¯s looked you in the eye and showed you his worth. When she walked into the room, she saw a slum dwelling low life. Now she saw a human being, capable of challenging her. Someone who could have been her peer if he had been born into a better family. Her hand may have been the one at the trigger, but his actions had linked it to her heart enough, so that she¡¯d feel the emotional consequences of pulling it¡­ If his assessment of her had been correct, of course.


    She walked back across the table and sat back down on her chair. A moment of silence followed. Both stared into each other¡¯s eyes with a tense gaze. Both were unwilling to be the first to break eye contact. She broke the silence first. ¡®Now, let¡¯s pretend I did not hear your insolent comment and continue as before. Are you a graduate of Herbert University, class of 752, with a degree in electrical engineering?¡¯ Her voice and face had regained their initial coldness.


    ¡®Yes, mam.¡¯


    ¡®Tell me, Voss: How did a resident such as yourself manage to get himself into the best university this side of the Opal mountains?¡¯


    Voss ignored the way she spoke out his name and the word ¡°resident¡±. It was obvious she was trying to rile him up. See if she could get to him the same way he just got to her. She¡¯d have to try harder than that though. Citizens had hurled every insult known to man at him for as long as he could remember. She was going to have to bring her A-game if she wanted to succeed. ¡®Sandfort scholarship mam. Been tinkering with machines since I was a kid. My father enrolled me for the grand Sandfort exams and I made the cut.¡¯


    ¡®It says here you did quite well for yourself in Herbert.¡¯


    ¡®Yes, mam. 130th out of 321 electric engineering students in my year.¡¯


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    ¡®The way I understand it, that score isn¡¯t reflective of reality, is it?¡¯


    ¡®No it¡¯s not. I was top of my class; would have made valedictorian. Then they warned me to do something about it. Bad optics to have a slum dweller outscore all the citizen students. So I flunked an exam and wrote my final paper in a single afternoon. Ended up close enough to average to avoid a ruckus.¡¯


    ¡®And after university you took an entry level position at City Utilities. A position you still hold today, almost twenty years later. Why did you never advance through the ranks? Why did you never look for a more prestigious employer? Did you not have ambitions? Surely there¡¯s nobody pressuring you to stay at the lowest rung of the corporate ladder? Why are you still oiling the machines?¡¯


    Her voice grew softer as the questions became more personal. Voss couldn¡¯t tell if this was genuine or if she was using subtle manipulation tactics on him. He assumed the latter just to be safe. She was good at this interrogation game, he had to give her that.


    ¡®I think you know the answer to those questions as well as I do, mam. It¡¯s because of what happened to my father.¡¯


    ¡®What happened to your father?¡¯ She had a way of asking questions where you couldn¡¯t tell if she was testing you or genuinely curious.


    He gave her an indignant look ¡®Are you serious? Isn¡¯t that in your file?¡¯


    ¡®Just answer the question. I want to hear it from your perspective.¡¯


    She had him rattled now. Was she still playing mind games on him or did she genuinely not know? Didn¡¯t Fifth have access to everything? He hesitated for a moment. Would it be better to speak the truth here? Or should he add in some white lies here to prevent unwanted follow up questions? He decided to go with the truth¡­ well most of it.


    ¡®My father was the most gifted surgeon there¡¯s ever been in the greater Saltpetersburg continent. Class four citizens would demand their surgery be done by him. He mingled with high society and his well-spokenness and intellect made him a welcome guest there.¡¯


    ¡®You¡¯re not really making your case here, are you?¡¯ she interrupted him, trying to throw him off guard again. It had the opposite effect. He was now certain that she was playing mind games. He felt reassured in his strategy to speak the truth. She already knew all the answers and was just testing him. He needed to stay careful until he knew for sure why she was here though. This was a life or death situation with zero margin for error.


    ¡®Let me finish the story please, mam. I¡¯ll get to that part soon. You see, as the years progressed, he started to believe he was truly one of them. That he was equal to the citizenry due to his skills and intellect. Others tried to warn him, but he didn¡¯t listen. He didn¡¯t just hang out with class four citizens, he started to act like them too. He was blinded by his success and forgot what he was: A resident. He made many friends in high places, but he made even more enemies. Enemies that wanted to get rid of him. Patiently waiting for him to make a mistake. A medical slip up perhaps, or a social faux pas. They got it when he got caught committing the ultimate crime. He had seduced a high class citizen woman. A married one at that. Two weeks later he was on the electric chair. Subordination and political terrorism they accused him of. I was in my final semester at Herbert when it happened.¡¯


    He put both his hands on the steel table, the chains around his wrists rattling as they hit the steel of the table. He looked at her intently.


    ¡®You ask me why I never progressed the ranks? Why I never showed any ambition after college? It¡¯s because I¡¯ve seen where my father¡¯s ambition took him. I¡¯ve seen how they turned against him. The price he paid for daring to be like them when he wasn¡¯t a citizen. I¡¯ve learned my lesson. I was forced to watch as they strapped him into that chair and I vowed to myself that this would never happen to me. I learned the hard way that it was better to accept my lot in life. To keep my mouth shut as I watched those of inferior intellect rise the ranks whilst I kept ¡°oiling the machines¡±.¡¯


    He noticed that anger had snuck into his voice. He took a deep breath and calmed himself before he continued. He couldn¡¯t let her get to him. ¡®Now see where showing no ambition got me. Ironic, isn¡¯t it? You just can¡¯t win this game as a resident.¡¯ He tried to be nonchalant in how he said that final sentence, but he wasn¡¯t sure if he had pulled it off properly.


    She closed the file and looked at him. Her face had become relaxed again. ¡®I see. Are you dating? Have a wife and kids?¡¯


    ¡®No mam, I¡¯m only forty two, and I spend most of my time working, so no marriage or children yet.¡¯


    ¡®How did you get that scar on your face?¡¯


    ¡®Some big accident. I can¡¯t remember any of it and my parents never told me much about it. All I know is that half my skull was bashed open and my body was in tatters. My dad saved my life. Put me inside some robotic surgery machine prototype he had built and spent 29 hours working on me. Gave me this nice scar, and a metal plate that covers most of my skull, to remember it by.¡¯


    ¡®Got any leftover effects from that accident?¡¯


    ¡®Miraculously enough, not. At least not any that I¡¯ve noticed, mam¡¯


    ¡®So your skull was smashed open by some ¡°big accident¡±, it required 29 hours of surgery and a large metal plate to keep you alive¡­ but there was no residual brain damage whatsoever? I find that hard to believe.¡¯


    ¡®Must have been a miracle then.¡¯


    ¡®You don¡¯t expect me to believe that, do you? Stop playing dumb. Tell me the truth.¡¯


    ¡®The truth is that you probably know more about my father than I do. You also know who my mother was. I assume you also know who their associates were. My father has always been adamant that it was a miracle. Was it though? Probably not. My best guess is that my father and mother collaborated in using some forbidden technique to save my life. Probably some stem cell regenerative technique. Like I said though, all my memories of that incident are gone. My first memories are of being in hospital, recovering. That¡¯s all I know. Everything else is just a guess.¡¯


    ¡®Your parents never told you more than that? They never spoke to you about their work?¡¯


    ¡®They never told me more than the basics. I know my dad was a surgeon and a pioneering spirit. I know my mother worked as a lead molecular biochemist for the biggest pharmaceutical company this side of the equator. What either of them really worked on, I have no idea. They never told me and I knew better than to ask.¡¯


    ¡®How did you take your mothers death?¡¯


    ¡®How do you think I took it? My father wasn¡¯t even properly buried yet when she and her entire division burned to death in that damned laboratory of hers.¡¯


    ¡®Were you close to your parents?¡¯


    ¡®No. My parents were not the type of people you could get close to. Not unless you were their work.¡¯


    ¡®And yet you were distraught by their deaths?¡¯


    ¡®They were my parents, of course I was. They may not have been the best of parents, but they were my parents. Besides,  they did their best in their own ways.¡¯


    ¡®I know enough then. Now tell me, Voss, have you ever heard of Fifth Branch?¡¯


    ¡®Yes, mam, you¡¯re a secret police force.¡¯


    ¡®Not quite, but I can¡¯t blame you for not knowing what we really are. We wouldn¡¯t have been doing our jobs right if you did. We put a lot of effort into ensuring the public doesn¡¯t know what we do. I will tell you though. There¡¯s no harm in that seeing as I¡¯m the last person you¡¯ll ever speak to before you get executed.¡¯


    Execution it was then. Funny how she could know such things before an ¡°independent¡± judge had given his verdict.


    She began to sum up: ¡®The first three branches are: the central government, the police and the court system. Fourth Branch deals with non-citizens like yourself; but you already knew that of course. Then, there is Fifth Branch. We deal with outer-world and exo-world threats. Or fields include: interplanetary trade, interplanetary spies, intergalactic piracy, and other interplanetary threats. Basically anything that threatens Fosfat from outside our planet¡¯s atmosphere.


    ¡®Threats from spies? I thought we were part of the empire? Why would we need a government branch dedicated to protecting us from the empire that we are part of?¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t act na?ve Voss, it doesn¡¯t suit you. Anyhow, before I give the clearance and send you off to die, I have a proposition I want you to listen to.¡¯

 Chapter 4: Trial and Execution

    The courtroom was an angry circus. The Fifth Branch interrogation had caused a major delay. The stands were filled to the brim with agitated citizens that had been forced to wait without having been given any reason as to why. Things got even worse when Voss was finally dragged out into the courtroom. Police officers had to line up on both sides of the isle to hold back the furious members of the crowd. Voss and Cedric had to be pushed through a narrow corridor of troopers. Voss had to dodge several bottles. Cedric took a big phlegm to the face.


    ¡®Behold, the upstanding citizens of Saltpetersburg¡¯ he thought to himself. The best this city has to offer, acting like pigs. How thin, the veil of polite society. How eager they are for blood.¡¯


    He felt surprisingly calm. The citizens¡¯ animosity meant little to him. He was the only human in a room filled with animals. An explorer who¡¯d fallen into the hands of cannibals. Amidst the hatred and animosity, there was also something else. He could taste it. It was in their eyes. Fear. They feared him. All of them. A class four citizen murdered, something unheard of. By a slumdweller no less.


    They were angry alright. Their faces screamed revenge. But moreover, they were terrified of him. All these haughty citizens who had never thought of him as being more than a necessary nuisance. They now looked at him and saw a monster with the potential to unleash violence upon them. They were terrified that news of his case would reach the slums. Terrified of what it may unleash if the plebs found out what had happened. Terrified it could give them dangerous ideas. He enjoyed his new position as an omen of doom. It was the only pleasure he had left in his final hours.


    He allowed himself a few seconds to daydream about what would happen if news of the murder and his showtrial were to spread through the slums. No more than a few seconds though. He knew they would never allow that to happen. There were no residents at this trial but him. Residents weren¡¯t allowed anywhere near the courts, unless it was to be sentenced harshly.


    An officer pushed him forward and forced him to sit inside a glass cage. He wondered if the cage was a standard procedure or if they had placed it there just for him.


    ¡®Order, order!¡¯ The judge shouted. The room fell quiet. The crowd filled with anticipation for what was to come.


    ¡®Magistrate, please introduce the case to us¡¯.


    ¡®Your honor, I present you with case 668818724. The defendant, resident OSPB 4921EL33.VOSS, stands accused of the first degree murder of class four citizen Joaxin Delnif of the Delnif-Bator dynasty. The prosecutor¡¯s proposed sentence is death by torture.¡¯


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    The crowd played along with the magistrate. They booed when Voss¡¯ name was mentioned. They pretended to be shocked when the victim¡¯s name and class were summed up. They cheered when the proposed sentence was announced. This case was like a bad play, with him as the unwilling lead actor.


    ¡®Before the prosecutor presents the evidence, I wish to hear how the defendant pleads.¡¯


    The defendant wasn¡¯t going to plead anything. Residents weren¡¯t allowed to speak inside citizen courtrooms. They had put a muzzle on him just in case he¡¯d get any ideas. It made him look feral, which Voss doubted was by accident.


    Cedric was going to have to do the talking for him. ¡®Please don¡¯t do anything stupid, kid. Save yourself.¡¯ He thought to himself.


    Cedric, now wearing long black robes, stood up from his bench and spoke. His voice sounded small and reluctant. Another unwilling actor, forced to go along with this kayfabe.


    ¡®Your.. honor. My client has conferred to me that he wishes to plead guilty.¡¯


    The crowd went wild. Some tried to climb over the stands to take matters into their own hands. Others were screaming suggestions on how to kill him.


    ¡®BURN HIM ALIVE¡¯ a bald man with a throbbing vein on his forehead screamed.


    ¡®QUARTER HIM¡¯ proclaimed a group of high school students.


    ¡®FEED HIM TO THE PIGS¡¯ a rather corpulent lady squealed.


    Voss chuckled at that last suggestion. If only he hadn¡¯t been muzzled, he could have asked her if she intended to eat him herself.


    ¡®ORDER ORDER¡¯. The judge was getting visibly irritated. There was only one man placed in charge of running this sham of a court, and it was him. ¡®I hereby judge you, on the count of breaching law one, section eight, the first degree murder of a higher ranking citizen, guilty by your own admission. I hereby sentence you to death by JP5 injection.¡¯


    The stands erupted in cheers. People stumbled over each other trying to make it out of the courtroom as quickly as possible. Fights broke out on the stands between impertinent citizens who got stuck in the throng of people rushing towards the only exit. Everyone wanted first row seats for the execution.


    The officers wasted no time. Voss was dragged out of the courtroom and into the grand central courtyard. It was already filled to the brim with people who wanted to witness the execution. There must have been thousands of them jam packed all the way up to the arched wall that separated the courtyard from the busy streets of Saltpetersburg. He was lifted upon an elevated platform where they strapped him into a pillory. An IV was placed into his leg and his muzzle was removed. They wanted to hear him scream. See him writhe in agony. He promised himself to stay still throughout the ordeal. He¡¯d do everything within his powers to deny them such pleasures.


    Voss took one last look at the crowd. He felt nothing but contempt for them. He knew they¡¯d get what was coming to them though. Sooner or later, the charade of their ¡°civil¡± society would crumble, and... A burning pain shot into his body before he could finish up his thought. Excruciating agony. Within seconds he was unable to uphold his resolve. His screams filled the courtyard. His whole body was contracting and contorting uncontrollably. An all consuming pain filled him from the tip of his toes all the way into the top of his hairs. It was as if he had been set alight from the inside out.


    Then, as soon as it had started, it was over.

 Chapter 5: The Fifth

    High up Government tower, overlooking the execution down in the grand central courtyard, stood a solitary figure in black. Her hair flapped about in the strong winds. It was always windy in the upper city. She never quite got why the city¡¯s elite insisted on living up here in the skyway spires. The air was thin due to the high altitude and it was almost permanently windy and cold. The city¡¯s climate was way more pleasant at the lower levels. Probably it was a price the elites were willing to pay to keep out the commoners.


    Salpetersburg was built around Government tower. A monstrosity taller than Fosfat¡¯s highest mountain which housed the entire world government in its lower levels and housed Fosfat¡¯s elite of the elite in the upper levels. The highest levels were so high up, they had to be completely air sealed and kept pressurized. Otherwise the air would have been too thin to breathe.


    Halfway up Government tower was the skyway. A gargantuan loop supported by the city¡¯s three tallest towers. The skyway ran over more than a third of Salpeterburg¡¯s inner city. It was so big that housed over a million and cast a permanent shadow over large parts of the city. The place where Government tower and the skyway intersected was where the supreme court was located. The court¡¯s marble adorned main gate overlooked the grand central courtyard. It was carefully designed to radiate importance and grandeur, reminding citizens of where this world¡¯s power truly lay. The supreme court was reserved only for the most important of cases. Regular courtrooms down below in the city handled the ordinary ones. The first murder of a class four citizen in well over fifty years was definitely the kind of case that would be handled here.


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    She had never been a fan of this place. Sure, the views were magnificent. You could see the entire city, including the outer fringes, from here. On clear days you could even see the sea in one direction and the Opal mountains in the other. But the view was the only good thing about this place for a class one citizen such as herself. The only thing that made the elites tolerate her presence was her uniform. She¡¯d have to make colonel before she could get the class three citizenship she needed before she¡¯d be allowed to come this high up whenever she wished. For any regular class one or two citizen, the skyway was the highest they were allowed to go.


    Still, she¡¯d rather be up here, than stuck in the crowd below. Crowds had never been her thing. Too exposed, too unpredictable. She didn¡¯t like what crowds did to people either. Within the frantic microcosm of the crowd, moderates turned fanatic, the thoughtful turned mindless, and the peaceful turned into monsters. ¡®Only fools enter crowds¡¯ she thought to herself.


    She didn¡¯t care much for executions either. What must be done, must be done. The spectacle surrounding though.. it was too vulgar for her tastes. Cowards screaming for blood whilst hidden by the safety of anonymity. A man¡¯s life, reduced to cheap amusement. An innocent man too, probably. These were the people she had sworn to protect. This was what was supposed to be the best their planet had to offer. A saddening thought that left her feeling repulsed.


    One can never let a good crisis go to waste though. Especially not one that presented her with a potentially perfect pawn for what was to come. The fate of the planet, perhaps even of the galaxy, was at stake. More importantly, the fate of her career and personal ambitions hung in the balance. Surely that was worth sacrificing one man¡¯s life over?

 Chapter 6: New Awakenings

    He awoke with the memory of intense pain still lingering inside him. He kicked his arms and legs about. He wanted to scream too. Every cell inside his body still echoed from the excruciating agony the injection had caused him. His veins were throbbing. His muscles were spasming. He wanted to scream, but couldn¡¯t. He was stuck inside a stasis chamber. His lungs were filled with fluid. Several tubes ran into his nose and mouth. He saw that a yellowish liquid was being replaced by a greenish one. The pain started to dissipate as soon as the green liquid began to enter his body. It helped him calm his senses and observe his surroundings. He noticed he was inside a Misori industries model 800, S series. He had repaired a few of them a couple of years back. The way the tubes and valves fed into the system was unmistakable. Recognizing the type of stasis chamber he was in helped him calm down further. It helped give him a sense of understanding of his surroundings, even though he had no idea where they had taken him.


    He remembered how, during the repairs, he had wondered about what it would feel like to be stuck inside one. Guess now he knew. He noticed he wasn¡¯t alone. The woman in black was observing him from behind a glass window. Next to her stood two men. One dressed in a white lab coat; the other was wearing the same black uniform that she had. On his left and right were more stasis chambers. They were filled with other men. Voss wondered if these men were in a similar predicament to his own, or if he had been brought to a general medical institution. Seeing the naked men in the stasis chambers next to him, made him feel aware of his own nakedness. Suddenly the lieutenant¡¯s presence felt most unwelcome.


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    ¡®The plan has worked¡¯. Her voice sounded muffled from behind the glass. ¡®Give us a thumb up if you can hear us¡¯.


    He showed them a different finger. The men didn¡¯t seem to appreciate the gesture. The man in black spoke: ¡®Put him back under. We¡¯ll get him to fall in line when he¡¯s ready.¡¯ The man in the white coat spoke something into his wristwatch. The fluid inside the tubes turned yellowish again. His eyelids became increasingly heavy.


    The man in black spun round and walked off, the others followed. He enjoyed watching her walk away. He wished he could have watched her a little longer, but his eyes became too heavy and before he knew it, he was under again.

 Chapter 7: An Unexpected Visit

    Forty years. Forty years of service in exchange for his life. They¡¯d stage his death, she said. He¡¯d be given an alternative injection. One that would cause internal injuries and a lot of pain. Something that would put him in a state of near death. After the mock execution, they¡¯d quickly take his ¡°corpse¡± to a special facility equipped with stasis chambers. He¡¯d be patched up and ready for service.


    She made it sound like he¡¯d be signing up for some regular job with good benefits. He¡¯d be spending forty years as an engine maintenance crew member aboard a space container vessel. Traveling the galaxy, going from planet to planet transporting cargo. Seeing what¡¯s out there. Discovering what other planets were like. Not a bad prospect for someone who had never been outside of a fifty kilometer radius from where he was born.


    He knew she wasn¡¯t telling him everything. He knew there had to be a catch, or they wouldn¡¯t be handing out opportunities like that to suspected murderers. He didn¡¯t have much choice though; the alternative was death. Besides, if there was one thing he had learned from over 36 years of tinkering with heavy machinery, it was there were always plenty of ways to die quickly if the alternative turned out to be worse.


    They had woken him twice whilst in stasis. The first time to see if he hadn¡¯t been damaged beyond repair by the injection. The second time when he was done healing. Once out of the stasis chamber, he was put under surveillance for twenty four hours before training would begin.


    Waking up from his stasis was a weird experience. He felt disoriented. His muscles felt uncoordinated. He tried to stand up right and walk unassisted, but was unable to do so. Two guards lifted him up and he was taken to a room where a male nurse cleaned him with a washing cloth before helping him into drab grey clothes that looked like their creator hadn¡¯t been able to choose between making pajamas or a uniform. After the nurse was done, the guards entered the room again. He felt better now after getting cleaned and having some time to sit. This time he was able to walk unassisted. They told him to follow them. They showed him the way to his new confines and told him lights would go out in about an hour. First class would start in the morning. He hadn¡¯t seen a single window yet since his awakening. He had no way of knowing if it was evening outside, but he took the guards for their word as he was dead tired anyhow. Who knew that being asleep in a stasis chamber for days could be so tiring?


    His room was two by three meters with a single bed, a small shower cabin, a toilet and a sink with a mirror. He took a look at himself in the mirror and saw that he looked exactly like how you¡¯d expect someone to look who had just been murdered and brought back to life. His skin was still wrinkly from having been stuck inside fluids for days and his hair disheveled. He noticed the mirror was actually a box mirror and opened it. He found toothpaste and a toothbrush inside. Just as he was about to brush his teeth, the door opened. It was the Fifth Branch officer that had set everything in motion. She entered the room, closed the door behind her, and got right up into his face.


    ¡®What the hell did you think you were doing? Flipping the finger to the colonel? Do you have any idea how close you came to being canceled?¡¯


    Voss tried to take a step back, but there was nowhere to go in the small room. His toothbrush fell to the floor in between them. Her angry face was mere inches away from his.


    ¡®You have a nasty habit of walking into rooms unannounced, miss¡­?¡¯


    ¡®You have no idea how close you are to being sent to the guillotine right now. You subordinate piece of scum.¡¯


    ¡®Oh really? Tell me then why a female lieutenant is visiting a male recruit alone by herself around bedtime? I don¡¯t think you¡¯re here on official business, and I don¡¯t think the colonel would be very happy if he found out.¡¯


    ¡®The colonel isn¡¯t going to find out. Nor is anyone else, if you know what¡¯s good for you.¡¯


    ¡®I know what¡¯s good for me, miss. Do you know what¡¯s good for you though?¡¯


    ¡®You are way out of line here. You will refer to me as lieutenant and you will quit your insolence at once.¡¯


    ¡®Alright, alright, I¡¯ll behave. I¡¯d like to know lieutenant ¡°who¡± you are though.¡¯


    The lieutenant finally seemed to calm down a bit. She took a step back, giving Voss a little more personal space.


    ¡®It¡¯s Vanmire. Lieutenant Vanmire.¡¯


    ¡®No first name?¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t push it, Voss.¡¯


    ¡®Ok then lieutenant Vanmire, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Surely this isn¡¯t about my finger flip at the colonel. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll allow some leeway to a man who¡¯s in writhing pain. Besides, we both know I¡¯m not stupid enough to challenge the superior officers during my training. So quit the act and tell me why you¡¯re here, risking both our lives.¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯m here because I want to make you an offer. An offer I couldn¡¯t make back in that interrogation room, because people were watching us.¡¯


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    ¡®Are you sure nobody is watching us here?¡¯


    ¡®Trust me Voss, nobody in Fifth cares to see you take a dump or have a wank underneath the shower.¡¯


    Her last comment made him laugh. He knew it was probably best to stay stoic with this woman, but he couldn¡¯t help himself.


    ¡®You¡¯ve got some guts on you then lieutenant Vanmire, I¡¯ll give you that. To come into my room by yourself without anyone knowing. What¡¯s stopping me from overpowering you and using you as a hostage to escape?¡¯


    ¡®Ha, I¡¯d like to see you try. You wouldn¡¯t stand a chance.¡¯


    She barely got the chance to finish her sentence. Voss used the wall behind him to kick himself forward. There was no time for her to dodge his lunge, nor was there anywhere for her to dodge towards. He grabbed her left arm, placed his right leg behind hers and swung her over his hip and onto his bed. She tried to get back up but he was already on top of her. She tried to fight, screaming profanities at him as she did, but she was no match. Before long he had her on her stomach with one hand behind her back, firmly in his grip. His other hand was placed over her mouth to muffle her screams. She repeatedly tried to lift herself up and throw him off of her, but every attempt was weaker than the last and only made matters worse for her. He finally saw an opportunity to wrap both his legs around hers and took it. She was now exhausted and utterly helpless in his grasp.


    ¡®Now you listen to me Vanmire. We can keep playing these little silly power games, or we can get serious and get to the part where we make each others¡¯ lives better. It¡¯s obvious you need me for something important, or you wouldn¡¯t risk everything by coming here; and it¡¯s obvious I need you so I don¡¯t end up spending the next 40 years inhaling toxic fumes aboard Imperial Space Freighter Shitbrick McShitbrick, surrounded by smelly, sweaty, men. So what say you? You want to keep playing miss badass lieutenant? Or are you going to actually tell me why you¡¯re here?


    He took his hand off of her mouth, ready to place it back if she started screaming again. He was all in at this point. If she chose to make a ruckus, his only option left would be to try to escape, with her as his hostage.


    ¡®Alright alright, now get off of me, you buffoon.¡¯


    ¡®No thank you, I quite like my position right now. First you tell me what you came here for and then I¡¯ll see if I trust you enough to let you go.¡¯


    She let out a few angry sounds before she finally acquiesced. Voss felt her body relax underneath him. She started speaking.


    ¡®There is a mission. An important, top secret mission. I¡¯m working hard to get it, but I¡¯ll need a crew.¡¯


    ¡®What kind of mission?¡¯


    ¡®I can¡¯t tell you yet. Not until you¡¯ve completed your training.¡¯


    He pulled her arm up a little further towards her neck. He could feel her shoulder joint tighten.


    ¡®Oow ow ow, stop, please.¡¯


    ¡®Tell me what kind of mission then.¡¯


    ¡®I honestly can¡¯t tell you yet. It¡¯s too risky, for both of us. If you let anything slip by accident, they¡¯ll not only murder us, but everyone who they think could have heard anything. You have no idea how far they¡¯re willing to go to keep this thing top secret.¡¯


    ¡®Then why do you want this mission so badly?¡¯


    ¡®Because if I pull it off, I¡¯m bound to make captain before I¡¯m 35. I¡¯d be the youngest captain of the Fifth ever.¡¯


    ¡®Ambition huh? Alright then.¡¯ He let her arm go and unwrapped his legs. She got up from underneath him and took two steps back until she stood against the wall opposing his bed. She pulled a knife out from her boot.


    ¡®You touch me again and you die, is that understood?¡¯


    Voss smirked. There was some spirit in her for sure. ¡®Yes lieutenant.¡¯ He sat himself up on his bed with his back against the wall. ¡®So lieutenant Vanmire, you need me for your crew then?¡¯


    ¡®I need an expert in engineering. Someone who can fix anything. Someone who can handle themselves and who isn¡¯t scared of danger. Right now you¡¯re my best prospect. I need you to keep your head down and behave like a model student. You have no idea how much effort it took me to convince the higher ups that you were a good prospect for the resident program. There are several of them who believe your crime was so heinous that you shouldn¡¯t even be considered, no matter how useful you may be.¡¯


    ¡®You mean the crime for which I was convicted despite an overwhelming lack of evidence?¡¯


    ¡®Please, Voss, the time for naivety is long past. We both know what high class citizens are like. They all think you did it.¡¯


    ¡®You¡¯re a low class citizen, aren¡¯t you?¡¯


    ¡®My citizen class is none of your business.¡¯


    ¡®So.. class one then? Barely accepted by the higher classes. Is that why you want to make it to captain? Prove them all wrong? Show them you¡¯re better than them despite your class?¡¯


    ¡®My motives are my own, Voss.¡¯


    ¡®Seems like we¡¯re not so dissimilar, you and I. Alright, I¡¯ll keep my head down. I¡¯ll do my best and refrain from being a smart ass. I have one question though, what¡¯s in it for me?¡¯


    ¡®Your life for starters¡¯


    ¡®There are fates worse than death, lieutenant. Having to live inside a filthy, loud hellhole for forty years is one of them. Besides, let¡¯s be real here. You¡¯re going to have me killed after my service anyhow. You can¡¯t risk my presence back on Fosfat.¡¯


    She gave him an annoyed look. ¡®You¡¯re too smart for your own good, Voss. I¡¯d be careful about ever spreading such ideas with other recruits. Don¡¯t want them starting a riot now, do we? Alright, you want benefits? How about adventure? If you become part of the mission you¡¯ll actually get to see more than the insides of a space freighter engine bay. You¡¯ll get more freedom too and as long as you prove yourself useful, nobody¡¯s going to kill you. You might even end up having a career as a non commissioned officer. If those things aren¡¯t enough for you, there might also be some other¡­ benefits. I can¡¯t tell you much about those just yet though.¡¯


    The lights turned off as she finished her sentence. The room turned black except for a small light on the bottom of the wall she was leaning on. The bottom lighting in an otherwise dark room gave her an ominous aura.


    ¡®Time for me to leave. Do we have an understanding?¡¯


    ¡®It seems we do, lieutenant Vanmire.¡¯


    ¡®Good. I will contact you again when the time is right. Until then, keep your head down and your nose clean.¡¯


    She opened the door and walked out into the dimly lit, narrow hallway. He had to suppress his laugh as she was leaving. Classic citizen haughtiness to believe a few weeks of safe, supervised combat training would have been enough to take on a resident who had to fight all life through. He¡¯d keep his head down though alright. He had his own plans and they didn¡¯t involve his head rolling on the floor. Nor did they involve 40 years of filthy engine maintenance work. Right now though, his plans mostly involved getting some sleep before the lights turned on again.

 Chapter 8: Back to School

    Breakfast was brought to his room. Brown, tasteless porridge. Afterwards, two guards escorted him through dark, metal corridors into a windowless classroom. The grey paint on the walls was in dire need of a new coat and revealed dark concrete wherever it had peeled off. There were four lamps in the ceiling that had protective metal bars surrounding them. Their painfully white light unable to adequately illuminate the class room, giving it a sense of permanent dusk.


    They showed him to his seat, a metal chair with a desk arm. There were several others already seated. All men of varying ages and posture. All of them were residents. Voss could tell by their hardened faces and bodies. It was hard to tell who was what, but he knew he was surrounded by a mixture of gang members, murderers, violent criminals, subordinates and a few unlucky souls who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. All these things were equally bad in the eyes of fourth branch.


    They cared as little about you selling life destroying substances like Kerosine or Dream to underaged residents, as they did about you murdering your neighbor and raping his wife. The only thing they really cared about was how it affected production and their authority. Hence why a subordinate worker who shoved a citizen supervisor could receive the same kind of punishment as a serial killer. Crime was just a statistic to them. Something that you had to keep low enough so it wouldn¡¯t affect production too much. Other than that, it was a free for all. Especially when you got towards the older, real slums where nothing of value was being produced anymore.


    A few more men were escorted into the classroom. Every man that walked in got eyed up by the others, and they all returned the favor. There was tension in the air. The kind of tension you get when you put together a bunch of dangerous men into a confined space. Voss couldn¡¯t tell who was a potential friend or foe. His first instinct was to engage with others. Test them out. See who he could turn into allies and who he¡¯d have to watch out for. He couldn¡¯t though. There was a big sign on the electronic board at the front of the classroom that read ¡°talking is prohibited¡±. Four armed guards stood next to the board. Two on either side. He looked at their hostile faces and knew they felt the same tension as the recruits did. They were just as on edge as everyone else. A dangerous situation. The last thing you want is a highly armed, anxious guard with a natural hostility towards residents. Prime recipe for excessive violence.


    He had no clue why fifth branch allowed such a powder keg to develop. All it took was one recruit to get funny ideas and things could get nasty real fast. He knew he was surrounded by the worst and most violent that the slums had to offer, but they were still residents. He¡¯d still pick their side over that of haughty, dough faced citizen guards. It wasn¡¯t like he had a choice anyhow. The guards would probably start blasting indiscriminately if the situation got out of hand.


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    The tension dissipated slightly when a somewhat older man dressed in a Fifth Branch black uniform walked into the room. His face looked a tad friendlier than the other Fifth Branchers he¡¯d seen thus far. He seemed relaxed, like this wasn¡¯t his first rodeo. At the same time there was something in his eyes. Something that told the recruits that instigating problems wasn¡¯t a smart move. He turned to the guards. ¡®Thank you, you may leave now¡¯. The guards seemed relieved and made haste for the exit. He then turned to the recruits. ¡®Listen up. I¡¯m instructor sergeant Radklif. I will be teaching you lot for the next month. Before we start, I want to go over three ground rules.


    It was a bold move by the instructor sergeant to let the guards go. He was now alone in a classroom with thirty two hardened prisoners. A fact that he either seemed to miss, or simply not care about at all. This man was something else.


    First rule: You will use ranks when addressing your superiors. Anything coming out of your mouths directed at me better ends with sergeant, or it will end in punishment. Do I make myself clear?


    A dutiful, unanimous ¡®Yes sergeant¡¯ followed.


    ¡®Good. Second rule is that, no matter what you may have done to get yourself stuck here doesn¡¯t matter anymore. This is a clean start. You are all given a chance to build up a new and better future. Under no circumstances are you allowed to discuss your past or crimes. Doing so will result in severe punishment. Do I make myself clear?¡¯


    ¡®Yes sergeant.¡¯


    ¡®Excellent. I have a feeling we¡¯re going to get along just fine.¡¯


    Incredibly, the sergeant had somehow managed to get the recruits to fall in line with ease. He wasn¡¯t the biggest man, nor did he look very aggressive, but he had an aura that commanded respect.


    ¡®Now the third, and most important rule. Under no circumstances are you ever allowed to talk about anything you see or learn in Fifth Branch with anyone that doesn¡¯t have the proper classifications. In your case that means you aren¡¯t allowed to talk with anyone except for me. You are not even allowed to discuss anything I teach amongst yourselves since you haven¡¯t earned your first stripe yet. Failure to comply with this rule will lead to a fifty year sentence in a torture pod followed by death. Is that clear?¡¯


    He made the entire classroom attentive with his final rule. Voss doubted any of them had ever seen a torture pod, but everyone knew about them. They were one of those boogeymen that everyone was afraid of. People would cut you off if you¡¯d start talking about them, as if doing so was an act that taunted fate. Yet somehow everyone still knew about them. Whispers of how horrendous the fate of those unlucky enough to get sent to one would be whispered in bars or at home when residents felt unobserved. Residents held an unhealthy fascination with torture pods. Everyone knew someone who¡¯s cousin had a friend that had been in one. There never seemed to be a consensus on what they did exactly, but everyone knew that whatever it was, it was horrible.


    The sergeant¡¯s third rule awoke Voss¡¯curiosity. If the punishment for breaking it was that severe, then whatever the instructor sergeant was going to teach them had to be exciting.

 Chapter 9: Class conflict

    Instructor sergeant Radklif turned out to be a gifted orator. His playful use of words was backed by elaborate arm gestures and extravagant facial expressions. It helped the recruits keep focus during the long days of classes. His storytelling gifts were especially useful during boring subjects like plasma-electric engine schematics and maintenance. Dry subject matters which needed tons of memorizing and repetition. In Voss¡¯ case, it didn¡¯t help that he already knew everything there was to know about them. Ancient technology. Only kept relevant by the fact that they were reliable and cheap to run. Plasma-electric generators were huge by modern standards and impossible to downsize. They had been the best option available when Fosfat was colonized and Saltpetersburg was founded. The city¡¯s water system and backup power plants still ran on plasma-electrics. All of Saltpetersburg was still getting its water pumped around by the same two 2.3 gigawatt plasma-electric engines that had been installed over seven hundred years ago. Daisy and Julie. Names that had since long fallen out of use. Voss knew both machines well, he had been responsible for their annual check ups for the past fifteen years.


    ¡®You, recruit Voss. What¡¯s the first step in activating a plasmatic energybeam conductor?¡¯. The sergeant had a habit of firing unexpected questions in your direction when he thought you weren¡¯t paying attention. He was right in this case. Voss wasn¡¯t paying attention, but he knew the answer anyhow. ¡®You preheat the conductor and check if pressure is normal, sergeant.¡¯


    ¡®Good, now stop daydreaming and pay attention. It may save your life some day. The sergeant pretended to whack Voss with the ruler he always had on him. He didn¡¯t actually hit him though. He rarely hit one of his students. The ruler was just part of his excessive persona.


    They had gotten beyond the most basic topics now and were getting to more interesting subjects. Today, the sergeant filled the morning with stories about the greater universe. As far as Voss could tell, none of the recruits ever had the privilege of learning about anything beyond Fosfat¡¯s atmosphere. Even Voss had been barred from studying such matters during his time at Herbert. Anything beyond the engineering sections had been off limits to him.


    ¡®When man first attempted long distance space travel, a number of practical problems presented itself. Obvious issues such as the cost of spacefaring and how long it took to travel from planet to planet. Another major one was gravity. Mankind did not evolve to live weightlessly. If we spend too long without gravity, our muscles and bones begin to entropy. Gravity keeps us strong and healthy. So, we came up with several solutions to the gravity problem. One such solution is rotation. The Saltpetersburg spaceport for example, mimics gravity through the use of centrifugal force. Anyone aboard is constantly being thrown out by the rotation, but kept in thanks to solid steel floors. Take the floors out and everyone would be thrown out into the void.


    A second solution to the gravity problem are gravity field generators. There are ways to mimic gravity through the use of technology. Gravity field generators never took off though because of how much power you need to keep such a field going. If all our ships came equipped with gravity field generators, we would need a full Deson sphere around our sun just to keep Fosfats ships fuelled. Not economically feasible and thus gravity field generators are rare. I doubt any of you will ever get to board a ship that has one.


    Then there¡¯s a third and final solution. Acceleration and deceleration. If you¡¯ve ever been inside a levtrain, you know how rapid acceleration will keep you stuck to your chair. A constant acceleration will cause a constant force pushing you into the other direction. On Fosfat or other planets, you soon run into this thing called friction. The more you try to accelerate, the more air friction you have to overcome. In space there is no such friction. You can keep accelerating at a constant pace for a very long time. This means you can create that feeling of being stuck to your chair accelerating for a very long time, making it a viable way to mimic gravity.


    The professor turned around and held up his arms in front of his face. His hands facing him with fingers spread wide. It was as if he wanted to ask the universe why a cruel fate had befallen humanity.


    The student sat in front of Voss, a big fellow named Wago, began mimicking the sergeant¡¯s theatrical movements. Voss couldn¡¯t catch his laugh in time and suddenly found himself to be the unfortunate center of attention. Over thirty pairs of eyes were fixated on him. The suspense in them was palpable. Everyone wanted to see how the sergeant would respond to such a blatant transgression. Wago stared at Voss with a devilish grin. The anguish he had caused upon Voss made him gloat. If only the sergeant could have seen Wago¡¯s face, perhaps he would have realized who the true culprit of this disturbance was.


    The sergeant himself stood unmoved. His back still facing the room. ¡®I have taught many classes to many recruits such as yourselves. In each class, without fail, there is always a clown who thinks he can challenge me, and a know it all who thinks he¡¯s too good for this class. It seems in this class these two jokers have found each other in amusement. Wago, Voss, to the front of the class.¡¯


    Voss was dumbfounded. The sergeant hadn¡¯t even turned around to see what had happened or who had laughed. Somehow he just knew. Voss knew trouble awaited him in the front of the class, but worse would be his fate if he didn¡¯t. With heavy feet he got up and walked forward behind Wago, who still showed some bravado in his stride.


    ¡®Seeing as these two clowns weren¡¯t paying attention to my lecture on the importance of acceleration in spacefaring, let me reassert my point by giving them a small demonstration.¡¯. The sergeant had barely finished his sentence when he picked up the stick that was lying on his desk and whacked Voss on the head with seeming superhuman speed. The smack caused him to fall over dazed. His left ear ringing. Wago instinctively put his hands up to protect his face in response and got whacked in the balls instead. He collapsed with a harrowing scream. Half the recruits rescinded as if it had been them that got hit.


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    A flurry followed. Voss couldn¡¯t tell how many times either of them got hit by the stick, but it must have been a lot because by the time the sergeant was finished with them, his body was aching all over.


    The sergeant gestured for both of them to get back to their seats. Voss¡¯ vestibular organs seemed to have gone on strike because he fell over several times on his way back. It had become particularly difficult to distinguish up from down and left from right. Wago wasn¡¯t in much better shape. Limping back to his chair with both hands covering his crotch. Nothing of his initial bravado remained. The other students were staring down at their desks, scared to make eye contact with Voss, Wago, or the sergeant.


    When they were seated again, the sergeant put down his stick and continued as if nothing had happened.


    ¡®Alas, there are limitations to this as well. It¡¯s impossible to travel faster than the speed of light. In fact we haven¡¯t yet discovered a way to go beyond 83 percent of light speed. This means that acceleration can be used to mimic gravity for about seven hours before the speed limit is reached. In reality it¡¯s closer to ten hours though because acceleration will decrease naturally when you get closer to the 83 percent mark. Most large ships don¡¯t have the engine power to accelerate that fast. The freighters many of you will be working on don¡¯t get beyond an acceleration of about 1 meter per second, or about one tenth of what you¡¯re used to here on Fosfat. A severe limitation on how fast and how cheaply we can transport goods interstellarly. The single biggest factor in holding back our economic growth.¡¯


    The sergeant sat himself down behind his teacher¡¯s desk with his head burried inside his hands. Voss¡¯ head was throbbing. He had difficulty following the sergeant¡¯s lecture, but he didn¡¯t dare look disinterested after what had just happened. He doubted any of the recruits cared much about the economy though. The economy was a few citizens living lavish lives whilst everyone else was fighting for scraps. Any improvement to it just meant even more lavish lives for the few and the same scraps for everyone else. If anything, they¡¯d love to see the economy collapse. Let those citizens eat dirt.


    The sergeant seemed to have recovered from his lamentations about the economy, and continued his story seated.


    ¡®So the first hundred hours of any interstellar flight, there will be simulated gravity, albeit only minor. After that, weightlessness will set in. The final hundred hours of a flight, the engines will be turned into reverse and brake. This will again cause minor gravity. Luckily for you lot, unloading and loading a space freighter can easily take two to three weeks. During that time you will be housed in special quarters aboard space ports. Your time there will allow your bodies to strengthen back up.¡¯


    The sergeant¡¯s face turned serious again.


    ¡®There¡¯s another way gravity plays an important role in space travel. When man first set to the stars, interstellar travel could take years, centuries even. They used to put colonists in a cryogenic state and put them on Behmot class ships. Can you imagine that? Saying goodbye to your family and then next thing you know, two hundred years have passed, you wake up in an unknown star system and everyone you once knew is long dead¡­ To make things worse, the early colonists would then have to spend the rest of their lives terraforming their new planet. They didn¡¯t even have a guarantee that the planet they were sent to was sufficiently suitable for terraforming. Ultra long distance scanners were crude and rudimentary in those days. They would go through all these trials and tribulations in the hope that maybe their grandchildren would have a good planet to live on. Many early colonists landed on planets that turned out to be unfit for terraforming. Others would experience engine breakdowns and be left stranded in empty space. These poor souls would be forced to live out their final days hoping for a miracle, whilst their food supplies slowly ran out.¡¯


    The sergeant got back up out of his chair. His gestures were becoming bigger again and the excitement shone through his words and facial expressions again.


    ¡®Then, two revolutionary inventions were done within the span of a few years. The Lewen engine and the Pirejet terraformer. Together, these two inventions sped up the entire process a thousand fold. Colonizing new planets now became a process of mere years, rather than centuries. Mankind was suddenly able to colonize dozens of planets each year. Our grasp over the stars exploded. This led to absurd situations where colonists would awake from their two hundred year cryogenic slumber, only to find they had arrived at a planet that was already terraformed and had thousands if not millions of people already living on them.¡¯


    The sergeant pointed at a recruit at the back of the class. ¡®So what is this Lewen engine?¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t know, sergeant.¡¯


    The sergeant grabbed a book from his desk and threw it at the recruit. It barely missed him. Nearly hitting recruits seemed to be one of the sergeant¡¯s specialties.


    ¡®Well then, Emil. I suggest you stop looking at the floor then and pay attention. The Lewen engine, also known as a contortion drive, isn¡¯t really an engine. It doesn¡¯t propel you forward. Rather it pulls your destination closer towards you. It does so by creating an extremely directional magnetic gravitational field. The details of this process are extremely complex. Understood by perhaps a thousand people throughout the entire empire and way beyond the scope of these classes, or even my knowledge. You recruits merely have to learn how to maintain them.


    After lunch, we¡¯ll get into what the main components of Lewen engines are and how to keep them running smoothly. Each freighter has two Lewen engines. One per main plasma-electric engine. Trust me when I tell you, you want to keep them running smoothly. Because if one of them fails, the gravitational field will get distorted. Even a split second failure is enough to spin you millions of kilometers away from your set course. Lewen engine failures are the number one cause of lost space freighters. If maintained properly, Lewen engines will shorten your travel time by a factor of 1300. Journeys that used to take a hundred years, now take less than a month. To go from one end of the empire to the other, now takes a mere six years. All thanks to mister Lewen¡¯s invention 2000 years ago.


    Now, off to lunch with you lot!¡¯. His command was accompanied by wild hand gestures telling them to get out of his class room.


    Voss and Wago limped out of class behind the others. Today¡¯s lesson left a serious imprint on them.

 Chapter 10: At Wits End

    The days had become one big blur. There was nothing distinguishing them from one another. Each day was the exact same routine. The alarm would go off and he¡¯d rush to get underneath the shower. The showerhead turned on exactly thirty seconds after the alarm went and it turned itself off again after two minutes. If you weren¡¯t underneath that shower in time, you didn¡¯t shower at all. When your days are spent in a hot, poorly ventilated classroom, surrounded by thirty five men, you need that shower.


    Between the long classes, tasteless food and complete lack of entertainment, that shower was his only daily luxury. Luxury might not even have been the right word for it though. You had to ignore the fact that the water never really got hot and would lose whatever little heat it had after the first minute. It greatly annoyed him that he had to finish off each shower cold. He may have been a slumdweller, but he was from one of the best slums. One where basic amenities were in order and luxuries could be begotten, for a price. He doubted many of his fellow recruits had experienced similar luxuries when growing up. Most of them were probably happy enough that there was at least some hot, clean water available.


    Other than that daily shower, it was all a drag. He found that each day it became harder to motivate himself to get up and get going. All they did was study. Each food break felt like a punishment where they had to sit in silence. He tried to remember what they studied on which day or when certain things had happened, but he couldn¡¯t. It could have been yesterday when they delved into Environmental Control and Life Support System schematics and maintenance; or it could have been two weeks ago. For the life of him, he couldn¡¯t remember. He was pretty certain they had studied it at some point though, he thought.


    Lunch was even worse than the classes. The recruits were forced to eat in silence. For some reason unbeknownst to them, communication with other recruits was forbidden. Lunch was exactly thirty minutes, most recruits were done eating in ten. Eating fast was a habit they all picked up. Anyone that grew up in the slums was used to food being a scarce and precious commodity. It created an awkward situation where they all sat in silence together for most of their lunch breaks. Every man forced to wait until they were allowed back into class. It didn¡¯t help that the canteen was the most boring, drab room ever created. All the walls were grey. Whomever created it seemed to have thought everything through with the singular purpose of making every part of it efficient and useful at the expense of comfort and design. It didn¡¯t help that there were no windows either. He suspected the whole complex had been built without a single window installed. He never knew one can miss the sun so much until now.


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    Things had been going on like this for weeks now, and they would continue this way for another while. Voss had mentally prepared himself for many things, but not for the boredom and monotony that was now central to large parts of his life. He wondered if things would change once they¡¯d go into space¡­


    He knew he wasn¡¯t the only one who suffered from the monotony. He could see it on the faces of his fellow recruits. The vigor was sucked out of them little by little each day. Some of them couldn¡¯t handle it. It had happened a few times that a recruit didn¡¯t show up in the morning. He had no idea what happened to them. Nervous breakdowns? Suicide? Violence against a guard? It could have been any of them. They were never told anything. Someone would simply disappear one day to the next. Their desk would be removed from class as if they had never existed. It happened so circumspectly that one started to question oneself. Had that recruit ever really been there? Were you just imagining they existed? Such things took a toll on one¡¯s sanity.


    He hoped they were nearing the end of their classes on Fosfat, because he didn¡¯t know how much longer he could last before he¡¯d end up as one of the missing ones

 Chapter 11: A Deadly Secret

    The final recruits were being escorted into the room. Class would soon start again. He had done a quick count of desks. They were down another recruit. Down to thirty one now. He tried to visualize who was missing but found he couldn¡¯t. It¡¯s hard to visualize which of them is missing when they all look so alike with their shaven heads and drab grey uniforms.


    Sergeant instructor Radklif entered the room. He was the only one who seemed unaffected by the monotony of the past months. He casually threw his books on his lectern and was as excited as always when he started to speak.


    ¡®At the start of your classes, I told you about my three rules. I¡¯ve made you all memorize them by heart and have repeatedly told you how important they are. Yet up till today I haven¡¯t taught you anything that you can¡¯t learn by enrolling in one of Saltpetersburg¡¯s many universities or one of the resident technical colleges even.


    You there, what are the three rules?¡¯


    A recruit on the left of Voss shot up straight and began reciting them. ¡® First rule: You will use ranks when addressing your superiors. Second rule: The past is irrelevant, you will not speak of it. Third rule: Never speak of anything you see or hear during your service in the fifth with anyone who doesn¡¯t have proper clearance, sergeant.¡¯


    ¡®Good. Now keep sitting up straight. I¡¯ll have none of that slouching business going on in here today. You must be wondering by now what the purpose of that third rule in particular is. What is so secret that you can¡¯t share it with anyone? Today I¡¯ll answer those questions.¡¯


    The sergeant took a dramatic pause before continuing. Voss was getting tired of those pauses and of the sergeant¡¯s antics in general. It had started to feel like he was forced to watch a never ending theater play.


    ¡®You see, spacefaring isn¡¯t what it used to be. There have been a series of events in the past years that have drastically worsened things.


    Around ten years ago, a Behmot class ship called ¡°Vigos 7¡± appeared at the edge of our system. It broadcasted an emergency signal. One of our patrol ships happened to be nearby and within instant communication reach. It received a harrowing rapport of what had unfolded on the Vigos. There had been thousands of souls on board when the Vigos had departed. Yet, only a handful remained alive by the time it had entered our system. The survivors had locked themselves into the bridge of the ship. Everyone outside of those safety doors had been wiped out by some mysterious virus. To give you a sense of just how dire things had gotten on that bridge. None of them had eaten in three weeks. Water was so scarce that they had resorted to drinking their own urine to survive. Even then, over half of those that had made it to the bridge had died by the time the ship appeared in the Fosfat system.


    They had traveled from a planet called Nepo, situated in the Rekal sector. Their entire planet had been wiped out by the virus in a matter of weeks. They and a handful of others had managed to escape inside interstellar vessels. Unbeknownst to them, one passenger aboard the Vigos had already been infected when she boarded the ship. When that person showed the first symptoms, they locked down the entire ship. It was too late. The virus had already spread to almost the entire vessel. Only the bridge, which had been sealed off from before launch, was unaffected.¡¯


    The sergeant allowed for a ghostly silence to fill the poorly lit room. This was the first time any of them ever heard about the threat of interstellar viruses. Let alone one that could cause an empire wide stellardemic, capable of wiping out all of humanity.


    ¡®To give you all an indication of how bad this virus is. Around two hours after departure, patient zero started to show the first symptoms. An immediate full lockdown was called. However, despite patient zero only having been in the rear stern of the ship, never having set foot in other parts of the ship; and despite there having been a soft lockdown from before departure, every compartment of the ship got infected within those two hours. Once even a single person within a compartment became infected, that entire compartment was doomed.


    There¡¯s much we don¡¯t know about this virus. The survivors knew nothing about where it had come from, how it spread or what it did exactly. It had all happened too fast. It took less than three weeks between the first person showing symptoms and the entire planet of Nepo being eradicated. They had no time to study the virus. No chance to take measurements to contain it. By the time they were aware of what was going on, the vast majority of people on their planet were already infected. The few who had lived in more isolated areas tried to make an escape, but very few made it out alive. The virus managed to make it onto almost every refugee ship, and wiped out everyone aboard them.


    What we did manage to discern about the virus is that once infected, it takes mere hours to become contagious. It takes approximately two weeks before the first symptoms appear. These symptoms can include innocuous things such as coughing or excess sweating. After the first symptoms appear, it takes a maximum of twenty four hours before the patient dies. Usually from extremely high blood pressures that lead either to a heart attack or brain hemorrhage. During the twenty four hours between the first symptoms and death, the patient will become increasingly frantic and delirious.


    Have any of you ever played one of those zombie world games that are so popular?¡¯


    There were a couple of ¡®yes, sergeant¡¯s and nods throughout the room. Voss had never played them, but he knew how popular they were amongst citizens and residents alike.


    ¡®Well it¡¯s a lot like that. The infected become hyper-aggressive. They¡¯ll try to break out of any containment you put them in, even at great self-expense. They¡¯ll attack anyone on sight. They¡¯ll bite, scratch, punch and kick like a madman, but they never seem to be out to kill. Rather they behave like some aggressive drunk trying to fight everyone at once, not caring if he wins or loses any of the fights he picks.


    There¡¯s security footage from the Vigos that shows this process. I have been given permission to show you lot a heavily restricted selection of some of the footage obtained by the special crews that boarded the Vigos. I must warn you though, the footage is quite disturbing.¡¯


    A clip started playing. After a short warning about the footage being top secret and anyone viewing it without proper clearances was liable to receive the death penalty, it started playing. The footage showed a bunch of passengers hanging out and about aboard at what seemed like a standard passenger bay. Everyone sat or stood either by themselves or huddled together with family members. The passengers kept looking over at each other. Their fear and paranoia was visible. One man could be seen coughing. Then all hell broke loose. People ran away. Some were climbing over each other, or even punching each other. People tried to get through doors with others trying to close those doors to keep others out. People did anything they could to get away from the man. Voss had never seen such hysteric fear before, and he doubted any of the other recruits had.


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    The footage fast forwarded by about thirty minutes. Where the man had at first seemed content with laying down and barely moving, he now became more restless. It wasn¡¯t long before he got up and walked around erratically. No part of his body stood still anymore. Everything was either shaking or twitching. He looked like a Kerosine junkie with severe withdrawal symptoms. The man started to walk around as if he was looking for something. He soon realized that the shut door in front of him had people behind it. He walked towards it and started pounding his arms, body and even his head, into the door.


    The footage switched to another camera inside the room. It showed dozens of people huddling inside it. Several of them were already coughing by this point. They all looked scared witless. The footage fast forwarded again by a few minutes. It now showed the man outside the door lying on the floor, unconscious inside a pool of his own blood. He had smashed the steel door with everything he had in him and appeared dead.


    Inside the room, people now started to get erratic too. Several of them started to pick fights. Some of them were armed with knives or sticks. At first, those wielding arms formed a group and co?rdinated a defense against the first passengers that had gotten into a frenzied state; soon the entire room had turned into a rampage. Everyone was clawing at each other. Punching and biting anyone they could get to. Even small children and the elderly joined in without abandon. Weapons were either dropped or thrown around as if they had been rocks. One man repeatedly injured himself by flaying around his knife without any consideration of his own safety. Within minutes all but one man was laying on the floor, either dead or dying.


    The footage was now sped up. The solitary survivor got more and more restless. Running around from wall to wall and looking for a way to get out of the room. Any form of intelligence had departed from his skull. He couldn¡¯t even operate a simple door handle anymore. Through sheer luck and use of blunt force, he eventually managed to open the door and sprinted out into the hallways, bleeding profusely. He ran through them frantically. Going back and forth to look for more survivors. He didn¡¯t find any and after about thirty seconds of sped up footage, the man suddenly grabbed his chest with both arms and collapsed onto the floor. The footage ended.


    Voss looked around him. The entire room looked aghast. None of them had ever seen such things, not even those who came from the worst slums.


    ¡®Sergeant, if I may speak freely, this doesn¡¯t look like anything natural. Is this some man made weapon?¡¯


    ¡®An astute observation recruit Jabs. The answer to that question is: we don¡¯t know. Everything points at it being a manmade horror, but nobody¡¯s ever been able to track down the original source of the virus. The only things we know are that the virus can travel through the air and that it can survive for prolonged periods without a host. An interplanetary exploration party was sent to Nepo over two years after the Vigos incident and none of them came back alive. A single patient seems to be capable of infecting thousands of others. Once infected, there is no hope for a cure. Your behavior alters in such a way that you infect as many others as you can. In short, it¡¯s the perfect killing machine capable of exterminating both man and animal.


    The only reason I¡¯m even capable of telling any of this to you, is that those people on the bridge of the Vigos had the premonition to lock the bridge¡¯s compartment doors before the other passengers boarded. If they hadn¡¯t, we¡¯d all be dead. It¡¯s a miracle they even managed to get that ship into interstellar jump. There were no navigators on board that ship. If the Vigos hadn¡¯t already had its course preset for Fosfat, they either wouldn¡¯t have been able to make the jump, or they¡¯d have jumped themselves into the direction of a random planet or sun. Ironically enough, the Vigos was set on course for Fosfat because it was set to deliver a large shipment of medicine. In their ignorance of spacefaring, they hadn¡¯t even reversed their engines yet. If it hadn¡¯t been for our patrol vessels coaching them into firing their engines in retro thrust and then getting multiple docking tow ships to pull the Vigos out of its set course, that ship would have gotten itself caught into an inescapable gravitational trajectory towards Fosfat. The Behmot class ship would have smashed right into the surface of our planet, causing a total annihilation event due to the combination of the impact and the virus escaping onto our planet.¡¯


    ¡®Sergeant, wouldn¡¯t we have been able to divert its course with our tow ships anyhow?¡¯


    ¡®That wouldn¡¯t have been an option, recruit Bean. A Behmot class ship hurling towards our planet at 0.81 light speed is not something you can attach a towing ship to mid flight.¡¯


    ¡®How about if we had shot it to bits, sergeant?¡¯


    ¡®Highly doubtful that would have worked. Our bastions are made to shoot down asteroids from extremely long range, not cargo ships from short range. Besides, by the time we¡¯d have realized the Vigos wasn¡¯t slowing down, we¡¯d have had perhaps two minutes to respond.


    Anyhow. This virus, which we have since named ¡°the Scourge¡±, was the start of what has been ten years of misery. There¡¯s still a lot we don¡¯t know. We don¡¯t know who made the scourge or which planet got infected first or why. We don¡¯t know how many planets were intentionally infected and how many were collateral damage due to becoming the victim of infected refugees. We don¡¯t even know if the virus was set loose intentionally, or if the creators of the Scourge were amongst those who got wiped out.


    What we do know is that all of the Rekal sector got exterminated. Several other sectors were affected to varying degrees. Fosfat and Arham, a factory planet in the Gamma sector, were the only ones lucky enough to receive a warning in time before getting infected.


    After the incident with the Vigos, we dispatched ships to as many planets as we could. We tried to warn any planet that would listen to us and halted all ships that were headed towards Fosfat. We managed to save dozens of planets who in their turns saved dozens more. However, sadly there were also planets which we couldn¡¯t reach in time. We found those either exterminated or on the brink of total collapse.


    Ever since the scourge broke out, interplanetary travel has been made illegal except for some rare exceptions. Extraterrestrial quarantine has been made mandatory. Cargo procedures have been altered. Cargo crews are now always uni-planetary. They are no longer allowed to visit any planet other than their own. Cargo bays are sealed before their journey and nobody is allowed entry until they have been thoroughly examined for traces of the virus.


    Now I know this is a lot to process, and you¡¯ll learn what you need to know about spacefaring when you get to the spaceport, so I¡¯ll leave it here for the day. Just know that the galaxy has turned into a paranoid place where planetary governments distrust all outsiders. The empire is only held together thanks to Earth¡¯s leadership.¡¯


    The sergeant took a pause so he could take a sip of his water. Voss realized the sergeant hadn¡¯t been doing any of his usual hand gestures in a while now. The sergeant must have known for years and was still taken aback by the scourge and Fosfat¡¯s close call.


    ¡®There¡¯s a big debate amongst fifth branch top brass about whether recruits like you should even know of these things. My personal position is that you do. I want you to know about the scourge, so you¡¯ll understand why protocols are so strict. In my experience, people won¡¯t follow rules unless they understand the reasoning behind them.¡¯ The sergeant¡¯s face relaxed and revealed a small grin. ¡®Especially not fine, distinguished people such as yourselves.¡¯


    His last remark broke the tension in the room. A few chuckles could be heard. Voss was thankful for the relief.


    ¡®So please follow the protocols they¡¯ll teach you. You¡¯ve seen what the Scourge does and it isn¡¯t pretty. Now class dismissed. You are to report to the shuttle which will bring you to the spaceport, immediately. There will be an officer at the door handing you all your first stripe. Good luck and bless you all.¡¯


    The door opened and several fifth branch officers poured into the room. They were all armed with rifles. It seemed like they really didn¡¯t want to take any chances on knowledge about the scourge spreading. They were getting shipped off as soon as they found out about it. Voss didn¡¯t expect any of these men would ever return to Fosfat. They may have been promised a chance to get out after a certain amount of years, but he doubted Fifth would keep their word if that meant they risked word getting out on something as horrific as this.


    ¡®Get up and get moving¡¯ one of the officers yelled. ¡®This is it¡¯ Voss thought. ¡®We¡¯re heading into space.¡¯

 Chapter 12: Cold Assessment

    He was by himself in his classroom, finishing up his student assessments. It had taken him years to convince his superiors that standardized tests alone weren¡¯t enough and that they also had to rely on his judgment and insights. He took pride in the knowledge that his assessments would improve Fifth Branch¡¯s efficiency and save lives.


    The door behind him opened. Light, solitary footsteps entered the room.They stopped right behind him. ¡®You¡¯ve always had a bad habit of walking into rooms unannounced and uninvited, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®And you¡¯ve always had a bad habit of having eyes in the back of your head. Besides, I don¡¯t need your invitation, father.¡¯


    ¡®I told you to never address me like that, lieutenant. The walls in this place have ears and eyes. Do you want others to find out? They¡¯d have both of us mine asteroids for the rest of our short lives if they ever found out.¡¯


    ¡®They won¡¯t find out. There¡¯s nobody here. Don¡¯t be so paranoid.¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t care. I won¡¯t have you risk our lives like that. Use my name and rank at all times.¡¯


    The lieutenant rolled her eyes to the back of her head. She wondered if he could see that too. The man¡¯s situational awareness had always been developed to an eerie degree.


    ¡®Fine, whatever, sergeant Radklif.¡¯. She walked around his desk and set herself down in a student chair in the front row of the class. She looked at him with defiance in her eyes, but he didn¡¯t even look up at her.


    ¡®Now to what do I owe the honor, lieutenant?¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t play dumb with me. You know why I¡¯m here.¡¯


    ¡®You¡¯re a little too early then. I¡¯m still finishing up the final reports. Feel free to stick around though. You¡¯re always welcome in my classroom.¡¯


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    She made a dismissive gesture and gave him a sardonic smirk. ¡®You know as well as I do that anyone who¡¯s ever had to go through one of your courses would rather eat glass than spend one more minute in this soul leeching, joy crushing, ugly excuse for a classroom. Honestly, I don¡¯t get how you managed to keep your sanity in here for all these years.¡¯


    His eyes didn¡¯t leave the papers in front of him, scouring his assessments meticulously for any omitted details or redundant information. ¡®It¡¯s these conditions that ensure that the men and women who serve alongside you are properly stress tested and won¡¯t crack when faced with the loneliness and spartan conditions that are the fate of any spacefarer. You¡¯d do well to appreciate that a little more. Besides, I¡¯m used to worse conditions than this room.


    Her voice turned colder, barely masking the pent up resentment behind her words. ¡®Is that why you were never there then? To prepare me for the loneliness of this existence?¡¯


    His voice and face remained neutral. His gaze was still directed at his work, making it impossible for her to assess the impact her words had made on him. ¡®Why attempt to taunt me when you know why I couldn¡¯t be there? Or would you rather had you and your mom got your citizenship stripped from you? Would you have preferred a life in the slums instead? What do you think would have happened to me if they had found out?


    Be happy lieutenant Vanmire was willing to recognize you as his own.¡¯ His voice softened as he spoke the final sentence. Broaching this topic had made him on guard again. The weight of that secret shone through in his voice.


    She didn¡¯t answer his questions. Instead she fired off a soft spoken retaliation at him. ¡®I guess that¡¯s one thing we have in common then. We both carry names that aren¡¯t ours.¡¯


    He finally looked up towards her; closing the final report as he spoke. ¡®I¡¯m done. You can take my assessments and free yourself from the confines of this classroom and of my presence.¡¯


    She got up from her chair and walked over to grab the files from his outstretched hands. As she grabbed them, he looked straight at her with his piercing eyes. Oh how she hated those eyes. They never failed to make her feel small and weak. Like the little girl she was when he left them to join the Fifth. He spoke. His voice betrayed emotion for the first time. His voice sounded sad and almost¡­ fatherly. ¡®I hope one day we can speak freely to each other and without poison on our tongues or accusations in our eyes.¡¯


    She didn¡¯t respond. Her hand trembled ever so slightly when she snatched the documents from his hands. She walked out of the classroom with great pace.

 Chapter 13: Lift Off Into Space

    They were rushed through a set of concrete corridors leading to a giant elevator that fit all of the guards and recruits. The elevator moved up for what must have been minutes. When it finally stopped, and its doors opened, the summer¡¯s sunlight and warmth washed onto the recruits¡¯ pale faces. The sun¡¯s rays blinded Voss¡¯ maladjusted eyes, but he didn¡¯t mind. It felt good to finally have the sun touch his skin again after months of dark, humid, cells and classrooms


    He didn¡¯t get long to enjoy the fresh air. They were herded into an old, patched up Minoutar. Voss recognized the model. He used to own a picture book filled with surface to space crafts when he was a child. It was his prized possession until one day he foolishly showed it to a couple of the neighborhood kids and some youths saw the book and stole it from him. He still remembered how furious he had been at them. Ironically, that theft ended up saving his life. There was a Fourth Branch razzia in his neighborhood shortly after the incident. The youth who had stolen his book ended up getting convicted to serve in the mines. Apparently it had been on some list of books that residents weren¡¯t allowed to possess. It made no sense, it was just a picture book, but such things were always arbitrary and meant to keep residents on their toes at all times. He never saw the youth again. Probably died deep below Fosfat¡¯s crust. Being sentenced to the mines often meant being sentenced to death.


    He had devoured that book as a child. He still knew all the specs of all the different model types. Normally, the sight of a real Minoutar would have made him feel elated, but he remembered it only seats sixteen, and there were thirty one of them. They were in for a very uncomfortable and sweaty ride.


    ¡®Get your asses in there, on the double¡¯ one of the guards yelled. Voss rushed forward and made sure he was one of the first to enter. Hoping he could get a seat. The Minoutar¡¯s rear passenger bay door opened upwards and revealed that his hope had been in vain. All seats had been stripped from the ship in order to ensure there was enough space to transport all the recruits. There was no going back now though, he was at the front of the group and was one of the first ones forced inside. He had to stand all the way to the front of the passenger bay right behind the metal wall that separated the passengers from the cockpit. By the time the final recruits had entered the passenger bay, Voss was squashed between the wall and several of the other recruits.


    The ship¡¯s intercom started blaring. ¡®This is your pilot speaking. Lift off in T minus 30 seconds. Just waiting for the passenger bay door to close properly and the airtight green light. Destination, Saltpetersburg Spaceport.¡¯


    This was it, they were finally going into space. A boyhood dream came to fruition, even if the circumstances were different than he had dreamt of when he was little.


    ¡®This ain¡¯t how I imagined going into space would be like¡¯ the recruit next to him said.


    ¡®Make that two of us¡¯. Voss replied. ¡®But I don¡¯t think either of us had imagined it to be part of a forced labor sentence either.¡¯


    ¡®To be fair, how else is a resident ever getting into space? I¡¯m just happy we¡¯re not being trained to mine asteroids.¡¯


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    It felt odd to finally be able to have a conversation with a fellow recruit. Voss knew the face and the name, but not much else. Just that he was one of the brighter recruits. The only other person in class that seemed to have intricate knowledge of mechanical engineering.


    ¡®You¡¯re Hiyo, right?¡¯


    ¡®Yeah, Voss, isn¡¯t it?¡¯


    Their conversation was interrupted by the intercom. ¡®Five, four, three, two, one, ignition.¡¯


    A sudden, powerful force pushed the recruits down. It would have caused Voss to collapse through his knees, but he was packed in too tightly to move in any direction, including down. The Minoutar¡¯s jet engines must have rotated backwards because the force went from pushing them down, to pushing them backwards. Voss, being in the front of the passenger bay, now finally got some room to move. He felt sorry for the guys at the very back.


    The Minoutar accelerated with incredible power. Capable of reaching the mesosphere at fifty three kilometers altitude within ten minutes. Silly facts from his childhood book that now felt very relevant.


    A red light started flashing, followed by a most unwelcome intercom message from the pilot. ¡®Passengers prepare for turbulence¡¯. He¡¯d barely spoken the sentence before the first signs of turbulence manifested themselves. It was like they were jam packed at a festival. Collectively jumping up and down in the confined space due to sudden losses of altitude followed by the Minoutar regaining stable course at the end of the drops. Things were getting worse now. The entire surface to space craft began to shake and the drops became more violent. The recruits had to outstretch their arms overhead to try and catch themselves from smashing into the roof now. The shocks were so violent that they only partially managed to do so. Voss saw several of the recruits had sustained hand, arm or head injuries. Some of them were bleeding. One was unconscious, held upright by the men surrounding him.


    ¡®This is definitely not how I imagined going into space would be like¡¯ Hiyo yelled at him above the ruckus.


    ¡®They should hang this pilot and whomever trained him¡¯ Voss yelled back.


    The turbulence decreased and then disappeared. Voss figured they were now above the altitude where most turbulence occurred. The men now had a short reprieve to assess the situation. It was hard to tell what had happened exactly in the closely packed confined space, but there was some blood dripping from the passenger bay roof and there was the stench of vomit coming from the rear of the craft.


    ¡®Poor souls¡¯ Voss said to Hiyo. ¡®They must have gotten it worse than we did¡¯.


    ¡®Stop worrying about them, and start worrying about us¡¯ Hiyo replied. ¡®Once we switch from accelerating to decelerating, we¡¯ll be the poor souls who get everyone smashed into us.¡¯


    The Minoutar began to accelerate again. Signaling that it had switched from its jet engines to its void thrusters. They were at least twenty kilometers up and would really pick up the pace now. The acceleration lasted for what must have been five to six minutes. Putting the recruits under a constant three to four G pressure. Voss heard another recruit retching, followed by several other recruits angry screams.


    Then the acceleration stopped. Where they had first been under high pressure, he could tell they were now starting to experience lessened gravity. It was only a minor difference for now, but would soon become more noticeable.


    He hoped the transport wouldn¡¯t take too long. Based on the force of the acceleration and the length of the acceleration, he estimated it would take them around an hour to get to the space port. It would probably take another fifteen minutes to dock. Seventy five more minutes inside this cage, not a welcoming prospect. The air was already getting increasingly hot and foul.


    Chatter began to erupt in the passenger bay. It would be under these conditions that the recruits would finally get to know each other. A chance to bond through shared misery.

 Chapter 14: Eyes Filled With Vengeance

    It hadn¡¯t even been five minutes when the lieutenant stormed back into the classroom, slammed the steel door shut behind her, and threw the reports on his table. ¡®How could you?!?¡¯ she said with a volume that bordered on yelling.


    ¡®How could I what?¡¯ he calmly retorted.


    She walked around his desk so she could confront him face to face. She leaned forward with both hands resting on his desk and spoke with a venomous undertone. ¡®You know, you¡¯re really getting on my nerves with that constant feigned ignorance of yours.¡¯


    He chuckled, which only aggravated her further. ¡®Me feigning ignorance is the only reason why I, and you, are still alive. Besides, you should be grateful. I¡¯m exposing one of your weaknesses. You better learn from that before others find ways to exploit it.¡¯


    ¡®Grateful for what? For sabotaging my mission? For ruining my career?¡¯


    He couldn¡¯t contain his laughter after that remark. ¡®Ruin your career? You¡¯re barely out of cadet school. You¡¯re 32 for Pete¡¯s sake. You¡¯ve got another hundred and eight years left to work on your career. If one assessment from me can ruin all of that, you might as well give up right now. Your career isn¡¯t what''s depending on this mission, your ego is.¡¯


    ¡®Shut up father. I don¡¯t need one of your stupid lectures. You were never there when I needed them, so save me them now. Everything I achieved I did so without your support. I forgave you for that. Made my peace with it. But now this?.. The one time I need your support, you sabotage me instead because of some personal petty reasons.¡¯


    His eyes narrowed slightly. ¡®I don¡¯t think I¡¯m the one with personal reasons here. You seem to care about this Voss just a little bit too much.¡¯


    She snorted. ¡®Hah I¡¯m only interested in him because I need him for my mission. I¡¯m a professional. Unlike you.¡¯


    His eyes widened again. Giving her that stern fatherly stare again that she so hated. He spoke firmly with an angry undertone. ¡®I can accept the accusations regarding my parenting. I will not stand any accusations regarding my professionalism or the quality of my work. I am a sergeant of the Fifth and I stand with each and every single one of my recommendations and assessments.


    ¡®And yet you gave him a negative assessment despite him scoring perfectly on every test he took and displaying great potential. Why? Because of one small incident where he laughed during class when another recruit acted silly?¡¯


    ''Don''t be so childish. I don¡¯t doubt this man¡¯s intelligence or skill, lieutenant. Nor did I give Voss a negative assessment because he never took my classes seriously. I could forgive him all of that and the fact that he was barely able to mask his disdain for the academy and its rules. No, I gave him a negative assessment because there¡¯s a dangerous kind of vengeance hidden in his eyes.''


    The sergeant leaned forward until their eyes came close. He continued with a sharpened, paternal voice. ''There are two types of men in this universe, lieutenant. There are those who allow themselves to be molded into slaves; and then there are those who prefer death over submission no matter what you offer or threaten them with. Voss is the second kind of man. He''s not the kind of man to ever lie down and accept his miserable fate. He''ll always be a liability. A knife in your back when you turn to face the enemies in front of you.¡¯


    ¡®Ah please¡¯. She interrupted, making a dismissive hand gesture.¡¯ There¡¯s vengeance in all of them. None of these men submit to slavery, or they¡¯d be down in the mines right now instead of here. Every resident recruit that rolls through here has a problem submitting, including you. The only difference between Voss and the others is my professional interest in him. You¡¯re doing this because you don¡¯t trust me. You think I¡¯ll fall for him like some silly goose, don¡¯t you?¡¯


    ¡®Indeed he reminds me of myself. and yes, I do think that you¡¯re at risk of falling for him. You wouldn¡¯t be the first woman in your family that made the mistake of falling for a resident. That¡¯s not why I gave this negative assessment though. I can¡¯t put my finger on it precisely, Cassandra, but there¡¯s something¡­ different about him, and not in a good way. I pride myself on being able to dissect any man or woman that passes through here. Give me a month with any of them and I can tell you exactly who they are. Not with him though. I look at him today and know nothing more than I did a month ago. There''s something unnatural about him.¡¯


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    ¡®So you make your shortcomings my problem? Just because you can''t assess him properly, doesn''t mean I can''t. I¡¯m not my mother, dad. I¡¯m not going to make her mistakes. I know all too well what their consequences are. Voss is simply the best mechanic there is with a skillset that¡¯s extremely hard to come by. That¡¯s the only reason I care about him. Sure he may be unruly and harder to control than most, but so am I. I may be my mother¡¯s daughter, but I¡¯m also yours. You may hide yourself here inside this classroom and act stupid, but I know who you really are. I know you possess the same ruthless ambition. You and I weren¡¯t born to be controlled either, father.¡¯.


    He sighed. He knew she was speaking the truth, at least the part about him. But still, there was something about this Voss character that he couldn¡¯t quite wrap his hands around. Something dangerous.


    ¡®Listen, Cassandra. All I know is that a man like him, or myself, won¡¯t ever allow himself to be enslaved. The rebellious spirit in his heart will never be quenched. You gave him the choice between death and serving the Fifth. Voss is the kind of man who¡¯d choose death over slavery.¡¯


    ¡®And yet, he chose the Fifth over death.¡¯


    ''Yes he did. Which is why you can¡¯t trust him. He¡¯s enduring what he must right now, abiding his time. I don¡¯t know what his exact plans are, but there will come a moment where he¡¯ll see an opportunity to strike out and get what he wants.''. The sergeant leaned back. Creating more distance between their faces. His tone softened, as did his face. ''I don¡¯t want you to be anywhere near him when he does.¡¯


    ¡®If he¡¯s so much like you, then why are you hiding in here? Why have you never struck out? Where is your lionheart?¡¯ she replied with a disdain in her voice. ''How can you expect me to believe he''s dangerous when you''re holed up in here like a puppy in a doghouse?''


    ¡®The difference between Voss and me, and the only reason why I never grasped any of the opportunities I had, is that I have something that he doesn¡¯t. I have someone who I care more about than myself. I¡¯m willing to suffer in silence so I can help you where possible.''


    ''You mean sabotage me''. She snapped at him.


    His voice turned angry again. ''You have no idea what risk you would be if I ever rebelled or escaped. They¡¯d look into me. They¡¯d find out about you and use you to get to me. Trust me Cassandra, the traces between us are more numerous than I¡¯d like to admit. All it takes is one hunter-prosecutor to go after me, and we¡¯d both be toast.¡¯


    She was unimpressed by his warnings. ¡®Yet more excuses from a bitter old man who would rather deny me my life than face the mistakes of his own. Save me the sob stories about your noble sacrifice. I didn¡¯t even know you were my father until you decided to barge back into my life when I was a cadet. You say I would be in danger? They¡¯d send a hunter-prosecuter after you? Don¡¯t make me laugh. You¡¯d be just another residential runner. They don¡¯t send prosecutors after residents. Nobody up top cares about who you are or what your motivations are. They¡¯d put a bounty on your head and have you killed on sight. They¡¯d never find out about me because they wouldn¡¯t be looking.'' She pauzed. ''No, if you truly prioritize my safety, you would have never told me. Your secret would have joined you in your grave.¡¯


    The sergeant slammed his hand on the table and yelled at her. ¡®Damn it Cassandra, stop being so naive. It¡¯s not that simple. You have no idea how much I¡¯ve withheld from you. If you knew just half of it, you wouldn¡¯t be talking like this. You have no idea how many dark and rotten secrets I will take to the grave with me. Secrets so horrible, they''d send chills down your spine.¡¯


    ¡®More excuses and tall tales again. You say Voss is like you? Well then I have nothing to fear from him. He¡¯ll fold and fall in line before his boot camp is over.''


    He sighed deeply. His voice sounded resigned now. ¡®Fine, have it your way. I¡¯ll change his assessment. Since you won¡¯t listen to reason, you¡¯re going to have to find out the hard way.¡¯


    ¡®Thank you, that¡¯s all I wanted. I wish you¡¯d done it straight away. Would have saved me the time and you the embarrassment.¡¯


    ¡®Careful, lieutenant. Your taunts and abhorrent behavior have already pushed me to the edge. Would you really allow your rampant ego to ruin things for yourself when you¡¯re at the cusp of getting what you want?¡¯


    ¡®Fine, I¡¯ll shut up. Just sign off on Voss and I¡¯ll leave you be. I just received signal that my flight¡¯s tomorrow morning anyhow. You''ll be alleviated of my annoying presence for quite a while after this.¡¯


    He signed the papers. She tried to snatch them from his hands, but he pulled them back. ¡®A final thing. I¡¯ll give you your positive assessment, but you got to promise me this one thing.¡¯


    ¡®What¡¯s that?¡¯ She sighed.


    ¡®There¡¯s another recruit. One that shows a lot of potential. One of similar intelligence and skill, and one whose character is much more.. agreeable. Promise me you¡¯ll at least keep an eye on his development and will consider him as an alternative to Voss.¡¯


    ¡®Fine. I intend to keep an eye on every recruit anyhow. You never know if more useful talent shows itself. What¡¯s his name?¡¯


    ¡®Good. That''s all I ask. His name is Hiyo.¡¯


    ''Hiyo, huh?'' She snatched the papers from his now outstretched hand and headed for the exit.


    ''I know I''m not much of a father, Cassandra, but even now, when you have taunted and tormented me; I feel sadness when I know you''ll be gone for a long time.''


    She hesitated for a second. ''It''s ok, dad. I know you mean well. I''m..'' she didn''t finish her sentence. A short, awkward silence followed before she walked out.

 Chapter 15: A Cruel Reception

    Voss tried to guess how long it had been since they departed. The flight had been uncannily smooth for a while now. No course corrections or twists as the Minoutar glided through the void of space. If it hadn¡¯t been for the hot, damp air, the putrid smell and overcrowded conditions, one might have almost called their flight comfortable. Hiyo and him had somehow managed to keep the conversation flowing between themselves. No small feat considering there were a lot of topics they couldn¡¯t talk about. Many of the men had fallen silent along the way. They had discovered they didn¡¯t have much to talk about when they couldn¡¯t talk about themselves. Voss couldn''t help but wonder why the Fifth forbade them from speaking about their past. It couldn''t be that bad, could it? The more he had gotten to know his fellow recruits, the more he had begun to question whether these were really some of the worst the slums had to offer. Perhaps they were all just like him? Political prisoners and poor sobs who where at the wrong place at the wrong time.


    A red overhead light started flashing. Within seconds the Minoutar¡¯s thrusters went reverse full throttle. Everyone got lobbed forward, slamming into Hiyo and Voss. The combination of the pressure and the stench made breathing a challenge. Voss remembered Hiyo''s warning after lift off. He had been prophetic. This was way worse than getting crushed at lift off. Back then the men weren''t as sweaty and filthy at least. The Minoutar jerked into several directions, even spinning in circles. The recruits began to slosh around in the ship¡¯s hull as if caught in a washing machine. The absolute silence outside of the Minoutar was uncanny. Voss couldn''t hear the thrusters at work. The only notifier of their existence were the vibrations they caused to the ships hull. Vibrations that were easily missed amongst the grander violence of sudden turns and men smashing into each other.


    Voss lost every sense of direction. Several knees, elbows and faces thumped into him at various points in time. He was pretty sure he had unwillingly returned the favor in more than one occasion. It couldn¡¯t be helped. They were like kites in a drunken storm caused by the most incompetent pilot known to the Western galaxsphere. Voss had never piloted anything before in his life, not even in an arcade simulator, but he was pretty sure he could have done a better job at flying this old rustbucket than whatever incompetent dunce they had put behind the wheel.


    ¡®Nobody ever told me there was turbulence in space.¡¯ one recruit cried out.


    ¡®There isn¡¯t, you idiot. The pilot is doing this on purpose.¡¯ someone else replied.


    An interesting possibility that Voss hadn''t had a chance to explore himself yet due to having someone''s sweaty stomach pressed into his face after he had toppled over during one of the maneuvers. By now most recruits had fallen over each other into a big messy pile with heads and limbs sticking out of it.


    Then, without warning, it stopped. The pilot was finished with his silly maneuvers and the ship was stable again. A thump sounded as they bumped into something.


    ¡®Get ready lads, we¡¯ve docked in. Don¡¯t let these dogs catch you off guard. Who knows what they¡¯re up to.¡¯. Voss recognized Dane¡¯s voice. Dane was the nestor of the group. Voss had no idea how old he was exactly, but he guessed at least 80. Dane was an impressive man. Built like a brick house with a natural authority that not even the sergeant had cared to question during his lectures.


    The Minoutar¡¯s doors slammed open without warning, causing half the recruits to flush out as if someone had opened a shaken bottle of soda. They all grasped for air. Sweat running from their brows. Most of the men felt sick. Some stayed down on the metal grated floors after spilling out of the Minoutar. Others got up just to fling their heads over the balustrade so they could throw up into the invisible depths of the cargo docks down below. They had arrived in the upper echelons of a gigantic, poorly lit cargo bay whose floor and walls were so far away that they were shrouded in darkness.


    There was a welcome committee awaiting them, but they were barely noticed by the recruits who were only interested in getting the hell out of that horrible Minoutar. Several more joined their fellow recruits on the steel grated floor. Others joined those at the balustrade who were defiling the unseen deep depths below.


    With most men out, Voss was finally able to get up. He was the last to exit the wretched confines of the Minoutar¡¯s hull. Several men barred his way out, forcing him to stay standing on the Minoutar¡¯s ramp. He tried to assess where they were. It seemed like they had docked into the upper bridge of one of the titanic cargo bays of the Saltpetersburg Spaceport. A colossal, wheel shaped satellite with a diameter of over 300 kilometers. A huge hub of interplanetal trade that hovered at around 40.000 kilometers above Saltpetersburg. A station so massive, it could be seen from Saltpetersburg by the naked eye during both day and night.


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    Voss would have scanned his surroundings more but the effects of the tumultuous flight caught up with him. He¡¯d have joined his brethren at the balustrade, but the path leading there was barred by his fellow recruits. Thus he was forced to stay where he was and keep everything in. Part of him wanted to let go right there, but he noticed just in time that there were several guardsmen, dressed in grey uniforms, in the welcome committee that were observing the recruits just a little too keenly. The replying recruit had been right. This was a test. They were being tested on thier ability to withstand turbulence. He took a deep breath. It took all his willpower, but he managed to stay upright and keep everything inside.


    His instincts had saved him. Mere seconds after he¡¯d appeared onto the open, the guardsmen started to separate those still standing from those who were lying down or clasping onto the balustrade. The recruits had been oblivious to what was going on. None of them had realized except Dane and perhaps one or two other recruits. Dane was standing upright, looking unperturbed. Next to Dane stood Hiyo who looked similarly stoic. They stood out in between the unfortunate recruits who weren''t in such a fine state. Voss stepped forward to join them. Perception was everything here and he needed to look like he was part of those who had managed to come out of the Minoutar unscaved.


    Two guardsmen came and herded their little group of standing men into the direction of the welcome committee. He could now see that it consisted of not just guardsmen, but also a cleaning crew, and about twenty, impertinent men and women dressed in civilian clothes. Probably citizens impatiently waiting for the motley recruits to be escorted away, and the mess to be cleaned, so they could ferry back home.


    The recruits were now shifted. Voss and those left standing were escorted away along the elevated pathway. Their boots clang ominously on the steel grated floors. Voss noticed spots of rust and small tears in some of the floorplates. Maintenance had been subpar out here for a long time it seemed.


    He took one last look back past his shoulder and saw the guardsmen were poking the sick recruits with the butts of their rifles. Urging them to get up before pushing them off into a different direction. Behind them he could see the cleaning crew was hard at work with high pressure hoses to rapidly clean the Minoutar. The walls of the ship¡¯s hull were moving. Voss realized he was wrong about the chairs. They hadn¡¯t been stripped from the Minoutar, they were retractable. A fact his picture book had neglected to share.


    He realized he had been lucky to be at the front of that cursed ship. If he had been at the back he¡¯d probably have been among those unfortunate souls that were now being picked off of the floor and whisked off to who knows where. No time to ponder over hypotheticals though. He had to stay focused. The guardsmen were still observing him as they were driving the recruits forward at record pace. Who knew what other trials lay ahead of them? Voss hated to think of what would happen if he were to fail any of them.


    The pressure with which they were driven forward proved to be too much for two more recruits. They both stumbled somewhere along the way and were too sick to get back up. They were left behind with guards to ensure they wouldn¡¯t escape from the miserable clutches of the Fifth. Voss came pretty close to stumbling himself a couple of times. Somehow he managed to pull through despite feeling worse than he ever had. He wasn¡¯t about to give up though, no matter what. His life hung in the balance.


    Whether it was due to his grit or sheer fortune he didn''t know, but Voss was still standing when they made it to a windowless, steel barrack. Cheap metal bunkbeds lined up on both sides of the aisle. There were no mattresses or sheets on them, just coiled bed frames. ¡®Is everything in this forsaken spaceport made out of steel?¡¯ he thought to himself. He scanned the room but found nothing that remotely resembled luxury or comfort. He felt a twisted sense of nostalgia for life at the recruit station on Fosfat. At least there he had a proper bed and some privacy.


    One guardsman yelled at them to pick up a rucksack and a box. Another guardsman ordered the recruits to go find a free bunkbed. Voss was one of the last to find a free bed. When the musical beds dance had ended, one man was left without a bed. It turned out that there were only sixteen beds for seventeen recruits. Leaving one recruit, a short, balding man with a rather large nose, without a bed.


    ¡®Don¡¯t worry about that¡¯ one of the guardsmen snickered. ¡®We¡¯ll make sure there¡¯s a spot for every one of you maggots before nightfall. Not that you¡¯ll be getting much sleep anyhow.¡¯. Several of his fellow guardsmen laughed at his remarks. The laughter came to an abrupt end when someone yelled at them to fall in line for the captain. The guardsmen hastened to formed an orderly line. There seemed to be a fear in the speed with which they did so. The recruits attempted to emulate them by forming their own line. Every man standing in attention on the left side of the room. Voss looked over at the entrance but, as he was at the far end of the barracks, he couldn''t really see past his fellow recruits. He couldn''t see the captain''s face, but he did see his black uniform. Another officer of the Fifth...

 Chapter 16: Tiger Eyes and Obstacles

    The captain made a slow round past the guards and recruits to inspect them. A sergeant, also in black uniform, followed right behind him. It was odd. There really wasn¡¯t anything about the captain that made him stand out. He was of average height for a citizen. Average build too. He didn''t look particularly handsome, nor was he ugly. His face lacked any defining features. If you stuck him into a crowd, the only thing you¡¯d notice about him would be his immaculate, shiny uniform. And yet, Voss could tell the guards and even the sergeant were on edge with the captain around.


    The captain spoke. ¡®Status report, sergeant Reiniger¡¯. His voice was powerful. A deep baritone voice that radiated confidence and competence. The captain hadn¡¯t turned to the sergeant when he had asked. He kept up his leisurely paced walk past the recruits. He didn¡¯t stop in front of any of them. He didn¡¯t need to. The few seconds he had in passing were enough for him to thoroughly analyze each recruit. He was getting closer to Voss, who was standing at the back of the line. Only three recruits now stood between Voss and the captain.


    ¡®Thirty one recruits aboard the Minoutar, captain. We filtered it down to seventeen.¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s problematic, sergeant; because I only count sixteen bunk beds in here. I want you to do something about that.¡¯


    ¡®Yes captain, we already signaled training bay to ready the course.¡¯


    The captain finally arrived to where Voss was standing. His eyes were rapidly scanning each part of Voss¡¯ face and body with calculated intensity. Voss tried to avoid eye contact. These bozos never liked it when you looked at them. Gave them the idea you were challenging their authority or something. It was to no avail though. The captain stared at his eyes and as if they contained a hypnotic force that rendered Voss powerless, made him feel compelled to stare back at the captain.


    Voss understood why the guards and even the sergeant were afraid of this man. The captain¡¯s eyes were deep blue with a purplish hue around the edges of his irises. He used them to peer at you with such an intensity that it felt as if he was piercing your soul. Time itself seemed to slow down when he looked at you. Seconds felt like hours. It was as if within those few seconds, the captain could read you like a book. Eliciting all your secrets from you. The weirdest part was it didn¡¯t feel like the captain stole information from you. It felt like he seduced you into giving up whatever he wanted to know from you willingly. The captain¡¯s eyes enticed you to do his bidding. Voss would later learn that many called the captain ¡°Tiger Eyes¡± behind his back.


    The captain let out a miniscule smirk at Voss. Barely visible even to him and something that has surely gone unnoticed to anyone else in the room. The captain turned around and walked back to the sergeant at a brisk pace. Leaving Voss to wonder what that smirk had meant.


    ¡®Take it from here, sergeant.¡¯


    ¡®Yes captain, we¡¯ll weed them down some further for you.¡¯ The sergeant turned around to the recruits. Alright you heard the captain. Get a move on you cretins. Time to feel some pain!¡¯


    The recruits, all of them still filthy from the flight to the space port, were huddled through another set of narrow passageways. Pipes and vents were hissing overhead as they were marched over more steel grated floors. Beneath them were more pipes. The space station felt like it had been left unfinished. Every machine, pipe and duct was left bare. In an odd sense, it felt familiar though. The space port resembled the slums they had grown up in. A disorienting, seemingly unstructured whole that felt more like it had grown organically than a carefully planned out station. Rust was everywhere and the cold, humid conditions reminded Voss of winter days back home. A slow war of attrition was being fought out everywhere they passed. Rust, oil and grime were slowly advancing everywhere, trying to become master of the space port. At some point in one of the many nameless hallways they passed through, they came across two mechanics that were replacing some of the old pipes. Warriors who stoically tried to stave off the inevitable deterioration of the space port.


    Finally they arrived at a big steel door. The sergeant placed his card key against a sensor. The door came to life. It slid open with a tantalizingly slow pace, shrieking loudly as it did. It was as if the door complained about still having to work at such an old age. A complaint many parts of the space port seemed to have.


    Behind the door was a reception and class room in one. No space was wasted on this rust bucket. Every room was used optimally. The recruits were pointed towards the classroom half of the room. Once all of them were seated, a beamer started playing health and safety instructions. Voss didn¡¯t pay attention. He¡¯d seen those types of videos a hundred times already. Part and parcel of every big assignment he ever did. They all started with a similar instruction video. Nobody was ever able to tell him why exactly. The best explanation he ever got was that some dusty department of some irrelevant ministry high up in government tower had once passed a law requiring regular health and safety training to prevent workplace accidents.


    After the video, they were sent into a hallway that was so narrow that only one man could pass it at a time. At the end of the hallway was a closed door with a light and a timer next to it. The men were placed in line waiting for the door to open. The door behind them closed and they were trapped in that hallway, awaiting whatever was to come.


    The sergeant¡¯s voice sounded over the intercom: ¡®Alright, now we¡¯ll see which one of you weaklings has got what it takes. I¡¯m going to set the timer to thirty seconds. When it reaches zero, the light goes on and the door will open. When it does, the first one in line goes through. Behind that door is an obstacle course. Each one of you has three hours to complete it. If you fail, you¡¯re in deep shit. It is forbidden to work together in any way. Even communicating can lead to disqualification. You can pass the recruit in front of you, but you have to do so without helping or hindering them.¡¯. The light began to flash. The door opened. The first man in line, Hiyo, ran through the door. The door closed again and the thirty second countdown began. This process repeated a few times until Voss found himself in the front of the line, staring at the countdown timer. It hit zero and he was off. He didn¡¯t know what to expect but it probably wouldn¡¯t be pleasant.


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    He ran through a short, dark corridor and reached an engine room that looked like one of the engines had exploded. There was debris everywhere. Sprung pipes burst out steam. Red emergency floor lights lit up an otherwise dark room. In front of him he could see Wago try to climb over a pile of debris. He wasted no time and followed suit.


    Voss spent the next who knows how long, jumping and crawling through the dimly lit, claustrophobic, obstacle course. It had been divided in several sections. Each one mimicking scenarios one might find themselves in aboard a space station or ship. Narrow passageways with low, pipe covered ceilings and walls; rusty air ducts, barely big enough to fit someone through. Control and engine rooms filled with debris hidden dangers. Other rooms had critically low levels of oxygen, making it difficult to breathe. The course had been designed to throw every conceivable horror scenario at them. Still, when the final recruit crossed the finish line, it turned out the sergeant had been wrong. At the end of the day (or night, hard to tell such things apart when one is locked inside a metal box with no windows), there were still seventeen of them left standing.


    ''I''ll be damned, you monkeys are more resilient than I''d give you. Now back to the barracks with you filthy lot. It smells like dead rat in here.''


    The captain was awaiting them when they returned to the barrack. He looked unimpressed. ¡®Either my eyes are playing tricks on me, or my drill instructors have become soft. I still see seventeen recruits where I was promised fewer. Sergeant, are my eyes playing tricks on me?¡¯


    ¡®No, captain.¡¯


    ¡®Am I going to have to replace you with someone who¡¯s actually competent at weeding out the weak then?¡¯


    ¡®No captain. It seems, against all odds, that these filthy swamp cretins actually have some potential.¡¯


    ¡®Well would you look at that. It''s a space miracle. I have more important and less smelly affairs to attend to. Take it from here, sergeant. I expect a full report within an hour.¡¯


    ¡®Yes, captain.¡¯


    The captain walked out. Voss was impressed at how clean the captain''s uniform was. Even his black, leather boots were spotless when everything else in this space station was so oily and grimy.


    The sergeant turned around. ¡®Which one of you cretins doesn¡¯t have a bed?¡¯


    ¡®Me, sergeant.¡¯


    The sergeant walked over to the short, balding recruit with the oversized nose. Stopping mere centimeters away from his face. ¡®What is your name, recruit?¡¯.


    ¡®It¡¯s Hoog, sergeant.¡¯


    ¡®Hoog? What kind of inbred name is that? Hoog sounds like something a dog would spit out on the floor after he finished eating another dog¡¯s shit.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s my name, sergeant. My parents gave it to me.¡¯


    The sergeant eyes shot fire over this perceived smartassery. He raised his raspy voice and yelled with consumption at Hoog. ¡®Well your parents must be even more retarded than you are then. Give me their home address and I¡¯ll write them a nice letter telling them to flush their next big turd down the toilet instead of raising it as their son.¡¯


    Hoog tried to retract his face away from the sergeant. The sergeant¡¯s tirade and the spit flying into his face made him visibly uncomfortable. The sergeant gave him no quarter though. He grabbed Hoog by the shirt and pulled him back into him. ¡®You filthy spit bucket. I¡¯d die of embarrassment too if you were my son, Hoog.¡¯. The sergeant turned his face to the rest of the recruits, Hoog¡¯s shirt still firmly clasped inside his hand, and he spat on the floor. ¡®Let Hoog¡¯s predicament be an example for all you filthy low lives. There is no mercy in space. You¡¯re the last one in the barrack? You sleep on the floor. You¡¯re one second too late for chow? You don¡¯t eat. You injure yourself during training or on assignment? You finish what you¡¯re told to do or die trying. Do I make myself clear?¡¯


    An universal ¡®Yes sergeant.¡¯ echoed through the room.


    ¡®Good, because if I ever have to repeat myself, you¡¯ll find yourself in such deep shit that you¡¯d wish your parents had aborted you when they had the chance. Do I make myself clear?¡¯


    ¡®Yes sergeant!¡¯


    The sergeant pushed Hoog away from him with the hand that had been holding his shirt, causing Hoog to fall backwards onto the floor. He took a slow look through the barrack, letting his eyes linger on each single recruit. ¡®Lights out in twenty minutes. Make sure you clean your filthy overalls and have a shower before then.¡¯


    With that final announcement, the sergeant walked out of the barrack with the guardsmen in tow. The recruits were alone together again. A silence ensued. This was the first time they had room to move freely without armed guards present to tell them what to do. Voss¡¯s senses heightened. Would any of the recruits do something foolish? Would gangs form and vie for power? Perhaps one of the bigger recruits would try to take over and force the others to do his bidding. Making the right alliances was crucial in moments like these. He couldn¡¯t be seen picking the wrong side here.


    Wago, a towering figure with a roaring voice, the same Wago that had gotten him into trouble back in sergeant Radklif¡¯s class, broke the silence. ¡®You heard the sergeant, lads. Hurry up into the showers. Now which one of you dog spit cretins is going to wash my cock for me?¡¯


    Jabs, the smallest and scrawniest of the lot, was quick to retort. ¡®I would, but I don''t have a microscope.¡¯


    The others held their breath, tensely awaiting how Wago would respond to such a open display of defiance to him. Wago turned around to face Jabs and walked over to him with his eyes pinched. He stopped right in front of Jabs and seemed ready to smack the living daylights out of him.


    Jabs looked back defiantly. Whatever it was that was about to happen to him, he was ready to take it like a man.


    Wago burst out in laughter. His laugh was so loud, the entire room seemed to shake with it. ¡®Good to see that at least one of you ladies had got a set of balls on him.¡¯. The ice was broken. Conversations soon erupted all around the room. A friendship was born. Wago and Jabs became inseparable after that moment.


    For the first time in months, despite the fatigue and the filth, Voss felt human again. Judging by the relaxed faces around him, he was certain he wasn¡¯t the only one. The men had withstood the trials of isolation, mental pressure, filth and pain. Now they were allowed to be human again for twenty minutes. Voss didn¡¯t even know he had missed humanity so much until now. The shower, even though it was only lukewarm, felt like a well deserved luxury. Perhaps life in the Fifth wouldn''t be so bad after all. It was only a matter of making it through the next few weeks until he''d graduate and go explore the universe as part of the lieutenant''s crew. The slums had never felt so far away before. Like they were no more than a distant memory. Perhaps he could leave that life behind and start anew after all...

 Chapter 17: Murder in the Dark

    Loud noises woke Voss up. Screams of anger and agony intertwined themselves into a dismal cacophony. Terror struck his heart. His arms desperately searched around for anything he could protect himself with from whatever danger lurked in the dark. He grabbed the first thing his hands could find. It was one of his boots. A poor weapon, but it would have to make do. It was impossible to tell what was happening in the pitch dark of the room. He backed himself up against a wall, as far away from the heart wrenching screams as he could get.


    A rhythmic, swishing noise repeatedly ended with a spongy sound. The writhing screams of terror became weaker after each blow. What remained were the harrowing screams of anger and swooshing sounds. It was then when Voss understood what was happening. Someone was being murdered in the dark.


    The lights turned on. Two armed guards rushed into the room. Voss scrambled to get up straight. Using one eye to scout the room for a better weapon and the other to see what was happening. One of the recruits, Moot, stood upright over a lifeless body. A bloodied shank clasped tightly in his right hand. There was a terrifying, frenzied look on his face. The guards warned him to drop the knife, but he charged them instead with a loud roar. One of the guards shot him with a stun rifle. Moot fell on the floor, writhing in agony. The guards rushed over to him, kicked the shank out of his hands, and proceeded to repeatedly stomp Moot in the head and stomach. More guards rushed in and jumped on top of Moot. They forced his arms behind his back and cuffed him. Moot was then pulled up by the guards and was dragged away. Voss caught a glimpse of his bloodied, battered, yet defiant face before they dragged him out of the room.


    Voss looked down and realized his hand was seeing white from how hard it was pinching the boot. He realized how tense he was. His heart was racing; pumping high doses of adrenaline through his entire body. He took a few deep breaths. He tried to relax himself the best he could. The boot fell from his clasp and onto the floor. He¡¯d seen a lot of things in the slums, but this was the first time he witnessed a murder. A horrific one at that. His skin felt cold and sweaty at the same time.


    The sergeant bashed into the room, fuming. ¡® WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?¡¯. He saw the collapsed body on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. The sergeant wasted not a single second. Dane, Hiyo, You two carry Derk to med bay right now. Corporal Asp¡¯ The sergeant pointed at one of the guards in grey. ¡®You lead them there.¡¯. The sergeant turned around. ¡®You two, get cleaning supplies from the janitor¡¯s closet and clean up this mess. What are you waiting for, don¡¯t just stand there gazing at me like some lobotomized donkey, get moving, NOW!¡¯. It was only then that Voss realized the sergeant had been talking to him. He felt numb and foggy. Uncertain what to do, unable to move. Jabs punched him from behind in his left kidney as he walked past him to get to the janitor¡¯s closet. The sharp pain nearly caused him to collapse, but it also snapped him out of his state. He regained control over his legs and followed Jabs.


    The sergeant sped out of the room without uttering another word. The rest of the guards followed him out. The recruits were alone again. A murmur of speculation began to erupt as to what had caused this seemingly random act of extreme violence. The answer wasn¡¯t found until Dane and Hiyo returned from med bay. Derk had died on the way there. ¡®It couldn¡¯t be helped.¡¯ Hiyo said. ¡®There was just too much blood loss. Too many stabbing wounds.¡¯. Jabs was the first to reply. ¡®Any clues on why Moot attacked Derk?¡¯. ¡®Yeah, I know why.¡¯ Dane replied. ¡®Derk made the stupid mistake of telling Tick and me that he had been taken in for gang related activities. Moot must have overheard him. Probably a rival gang of his own gang. Moot saw his chance and did the hit.¡¯.


    The sergeant barged back into the room. His face still red with anger. ¡®Everyone fall in line right now. We¡¯re moving out.¡¯. They were led to one of the massive cargo bays where a large crowd had already amassed. The crowd consisted out of many different roles and ranks. Most had either sleepy or angry faces on them. In the center of the crowd stood an elevated platform. On it stood a bloodied and battered Moot with a muzzle over his mouth and a rope around his neck. His hands and feet were bound tightly with thick rope. Next to Moot stood the captain with a microphone drone hovering right next to him..


    The captain spoke. His amplified voice echoed through the giant bay. He spoke calmly and neutral, as if he was explaining what was for breakfast. ¡®Each and every one of you gets the same first lesson when you enroll. Namely that there are three golden rules in the Fifth. Rules that should never be broken. Sergeant, please repeat those rules for us.¡¯


    The drone flew over to the sergeant, who had joined the captain on the platform during his speech. ¡®My pleasure, captain.¡¯ The sergeant¡¯s raspy voice had nothing of the captain¡¯s neutrality. It was obvious he was out for blood. Somebody had to pay for what had happened. He continued. ¡®Rule one: You will always address your superiors by their titles. Rule two: You will never talk about your life before joining the Fifth. Rule three: Under no circumstance are you ever allowed to share any knowledge or information begotten during your service with the Fifth with outsiders.¡¯. The drone flew back to the captain as soon as the sergeant was done speaking. Almost as if led by AI. That couldn¡¯t be though, thought Voss. AI had been strictly forbidden for hundreds of years now.


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    ¡®Thank you sergeant. Three very simple, yet necessary rules to ensure the Fifth runs like a well oiled machine. Today I¡¯d like to focus on rule number two. ¡°Don¡¯t talk about your past¡±. Sounds very simple, but apparently it¡¯s too difficult for some recruits to memorize. It seems that one of our esteemed recruits forgot about it. He told some of his fellow recruits about past affiliations of his. A costly mistake. Next to me stands one of his fellow recruits. A man whom he was supposed to serve alongside like brothers. A man who instead took it upon himself to murder his fellow recruit over some gang related petty squabbles. Let this be a reminder to you all. There is a reason why all of you are physically cleansed before you join. There is a reason why the past is off limits. On Fosfat you were amongst the lowest of the low. Out here you are amongst the elite of the elite. These two realities do not mix. Let what happened here be a reminder of that. After this man has been executed for his crime of high treason against the Fifth, each of his fellow recruits will receive three lashes to remind them of all three golden rules. Sergeant.¡¯


    The captain gave the sergeant a small sign. The sergeant sprung into action. He pulled a lever and a hatch underneath Moot opened. There was only a minor drop. Not enough to snap Moot¡¯s spine. Instead his helpless, bound body bungled through the air as he was visibly fighting asphyxiation. They weren¡¯t going to let him die comfortably. He¡¯d be punished and humiliated to the last breath.


    Two steel poles rose out of the platform next to where Moot was fighting for his life. Two guards pulled ropes through rings that were attached to the pole. Two high, two low. At the end of each rope was a cuff. One by one the recruits were called forward to receive their three lashes. Each recruit had the cuffs placed around his wrists and ankles. Several guards would pull the rope, causing the recruits to be lifted from the floor with arms and legs outstretched like some Vitruvian man. This left the recruits completely defenseless against the lashes they were dealt by a particularly large and nasty looking brute in a grey uniform. Each lash was followed by a tormenting scream. None of the recruits before Voss made it off that stage without tears in their eyes. Each recruit that got back down from the platform struck more fear into the recruits that were yet to receive their lashings.


    Voss was one of the last recruits to receive his portion of unfair justice. When his name was called out, he walked onto the platform with wobbly knees. He¡¯d never been lashed before. He had no idea how well he¡¯d be able to take the pain. A guard stepped forward. He pushed a wooden block into Voss¡¯ mouth and pulled down his overall until his back lay bare. Voss looked over at Moot whilst he was being strapped in for his lashes. Moot was close to death now, his movements had become faint and his eyes seemed to have resigned to their fate. Voss found it hard to find pity for the man that had caused his own predicament. If anything he had hoped to leave the senseless violence behind now that he was out of the slums.


    Without warning, the first lash crashed into his back.It was as if lightning bolts flew through his body in every direction. Voss bit down as hard as he could on the wooden block that one of the guards had put in his mouth whilst the others were strapping him in. It was all he could do to stop himself from screaming in agony. The second lash followed. It partially overlapped with the first, causing an even greater pain than when the first lash hit. Tears were long flowing down over his cheeks before the third lash came. Another gruesome shot of pain, but at least now it was over. The guards relaxed their grip and he fell back down to the floor. He took one last look at Moot when they released him from the cuffs. Moot had stopped moving. Life had departed from his eyes. ¡®Serves him right¡¯ Voss thought to himself. Whatever pity he had felt for Moot was now long gone. Replaced by the blaze that had been set to his back.


    Voss limped back down the platform stairs. Two more recruits received their lashes after him. Weirdly enough, Voss felt slightly better now that he had gotten his lashes. At least now there was just the pain and no more fear caused by the anticipation of the unknown.


    After the final recruit had received his lashes, Moot was pulled down from the platform. His lifeless body hung limp over the shoulders of the guards tasked to take him away. The sergeant, with his voice amplified by the suspiciously autonomously operating drone, proclaimed. ¡®His name be forgotten.¡¯. The audience dutifully replied. ¡®His name be forgotten.¡¯. And that was that. Nobody ever mentioned Moot¡¯s name again.


    The captain, with the drone dutifully hovering around him again, made a final announcement. ¡®Everyone back to their regular schedules. The changing of shifts is in two hours and twelve minutes.¡¯


    Voss and the other recruits were escorted back to their barrack. A long and arduous journey. Voss'' overall chafed his bloody back with each step that he took. After what felt like forever, they finally reached their barrack. There they found that ointments and bandages awaited them. ¡®Standard procedure after corporal punishments.¡¯ the sergeant informed them. ¡®Day starts in thirty minutes, so you¡¯d best make good use of your time.¡¯


    ¡®Yes sergeant.¡¯ Their voices sounded weak and miserable. They had been given a lesson that none of them would ever forget. The next thirty minutes were mostly spent in silence as each man tended to his own, and his fellow recruits¡¯ wounds. Not even Wago or Jabs had any quips to spare. They had a rough night, but they knew they were in for an even rougher day..

 Chapter 18: A Painful Aftermath

    The sergeant walked back into the barrack. Their thirty minutes were up. One look at the sergeant¡¯s hardened, pockmarked face told Voss all he needed to know. There would be no mercy for the recruits today. He carefully buttoned his overall back up. The recruits had placed as much tape as they could around each other¡¯s bandages. Hoping they¡¯d stick throughout the day and prevent chafing and bleeding.


    ¡®Anyone who''s not in the mess within five minutes doesn¡¯t eat.¡¯ The sergeant yelled at them. Voss didn¡¯t feel hungry after what happened last night, but he knew he¡¯d pay the price later in the day if he didn¡¯t eat now. He tied his boots and walked towards the mess as fast as he could. Normally he would have ran, but running caused too much pain to his back. He wasn¡¯t alone in this. None of the recruits ran. Pained faces were all around him. At least their misery would be a shared one. This made the situation much more bearable than if he''d had to get through this on his own.


    Breakfast was atrocious. Brown gooey slop that tasted like cardboard. Voss wanted to pour himself a cup of coffee from one of the steel vats, but even the otherwise completely laconic, disinterested kitchen staff warned him against doing so. He chose to heed their advice and got a glass of water instead. Hoog either hadn¡¯t gotten the same warning or he had stubbornly insisted on his cup of morning coffee, because he had to make a run for the bathroom shortly after taking a sip. Voss decided against asking him what had happened in there. The recruits learned soon after that the breakfast coffee was colloquially known as black laxative. Only drank by those who suffered from constipation. A surprisingly common malady aboard space stations and vessels.


    Voss sat down at a table where Dane, Wago and Jabs were already sitting. ¡®I just don¡¯t get it.¡¯ Wago said in between shoving down his breakfast slop as quickly as possible, trying to avoid its taste as much as he could. ¡®That murder was so¡­ pointless. We¡¯re forty thousand kilometers away from the nearest slum. Nobody down there even knows we¡¯re here. Why commit gang murder?¡¯


    ¡®You don¡¯t get it because you¡¯re not from the deep south.¡¯ Dane grunted at him. ¡®None of you are from the deep south; I can tell.¡¯


    ¡®Care to enlighten us?¡¯ Wago asked.


    ¡®Derk was Black Harbor Union. His murderer was a member of a rival gang. Probably Mocc Mill Elite. Those two don¡¯t mix.¡¯


    ¡®It still doesn¡¯t make sense though.¡¯ Voss chimed in. ¡®This is a fresh start. A life away from slums and gangs. Like Wago said, nobody even knows we¡¯re up here. Why ruin your new life with irrelevant, old life feuds?¡¯.


    Dane spooned down the last of his brown slop and spoke to them with his mouth still full. ¡®Like I said. None of you are deep south. You can leave the deep south, but the deep south doesn¡¯t leave you.¡¯. Dane gave the others a stern look. ¡®Do you know how I know none of you are deep south? It¡¯s because you¡¯re all trying to think this murder through rationally. That¡¯s not how it works in the deep south. There it¡¯s all about tribe, power and survival. The killer found out about Derks Black Harbor affiliation and killed him the first chance he got. Derk would have done the same thing to him if he had found out about his Mocc Mill Elite membership first.¡¯


    Wago and Jabs looked at Dane incredulously. Voss had heard about the deep south and how bad it could get out there. He never expected it to be so ruthless either.


    Dane continued. ¡®Where these men come from, there is only one law: Might is right. You either kill or be killed. Everybody got their own turf and any intrusion means war. That¡¯s the only thing they knew and understood.¡¯


    ¡®How do you know these things? Are you one of them?¡¯ Wago asked Dane with a wary suspicion. ¡®Are you going to get murderous over minor slights?¡¯.


    Dane gave them a painful look. ¡®I¡¯ve got a big gash on my back that¡¯s reminding me to never tell you things about my past. I believe you got one too. How about we let the past be the past and focus on our futures instead?¡¯.


    ¡®Wise words from recruit Dane. You would do well to heed them.¡¯


    They turned around. It was the captain, who had entered the mess unnoticed. The recruits quickly got up and saluted him.


    ¡®I gave you these lashes, not because I¡¯m a sadist, but because you all needed a reminder that these three rules are a matter of life and death. Without them, the Fifth would disintegrate into the same chaos you knew down in the slums.


    I don¡¯t think I¡¯m making some grand revelation here when I tell you that you¡¯re not surrounded by Fosfat¡¯s finest out here. Many of the Fifth¡¯s non-citizen recruits are scum. All of you have done bad things. Things that got you imprisoned and given the choice. A choice that was often between joining the Fifth or death. We take in murderers, rapists, thieves, gang members, every sort of filth. The only thing that separates us from the slums you come from are discipline, dedication and those three rules.¡¯


    The captain seemed to be in no rush to finish his story. He walked over to the tray line and poured himself a cup of coffee from the steel vats. None of the recruits had the guts to warn the captain. He calmly took a few sips before continuing his story. ¡®You may think that training is about us weeding out the unfit; And you would be right. However, it¡¯s about more than that. We are also testing your ability to let go of the past. We test you to see whether you can leave behind whatever it was that brought you here. You all have the physical and mental prowess to make the cut, I have little doubt about that.¡¯


    He walked around the room, staring intently at the students. More than the captain¡¯s strong gaze, Voss was impressed by his strong stomach. He had finished most of his coffee by now and showed no signs of stomach or bowel issues.


    The captain now put more power behind his voice. ¡®But are you willing to change? Are you willing to learn? To adapt? Are you willing to serve and follow orders? These are the things we really test you on. Make no mistake; the Fifth offers you a second chance, your final chance. Will you embrace it? Or will you end up like the two recruits whose names shall henceforth never be mentioned? Forget them both. Focus on your own future, for there will be no leniency given to any who break one of these rules.¡¯.


    The captain looked around the room to see if his words had made the intended impact. He saw that they did and then finished off by saying: ¡®Now you¡¯ll have to excuse me, gentlemen, for I have a very important meeting to attend to.¡¯. He walked out of the mess and gave the sergeant a nod on his way out, as if to say ¡®take it from here, sergeant.¡¯. The sergeant nodded back at the captain and turned to the room.


    ¡®Alright, breakfast is over. Hand in your trays and form an orderly line.¡¯


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    They were guided through another set of rusted steel corridors, ramshackle half-open elevators and overhead passages that overlooked dimly lit cargo bays that seemed to have no end. Voss got a sense that half their training consisted purely out of walking for hours through an endless labyrinth. By now, he had no clue where he was anymore. None of them did. Nor did they know what time, or even what day, it was. They had been stripped of all connection with reality. Not knowing where they were or when they lived. It put a strain on all of them. The pain on their backs didn¡¯t help to alleviate the situation either. Voss wondered if this was done on purpose by the Fifth. Take away any form of grounding the recruits may have and watch if they can withstand the stress it causes. Perfect preparation for a life in the void.


    They were brought to a smaller, secluded dock. It was mostly empty apart from a few crates and barrels stashed in the far side corner.. Down below, in the middle of the dock stood a man in a grey uniform with a large plastic crate next to him. ¡®Another lieutenant to yell at us.¡¯ Voss sighed to himself. Wago overheard him. He gave Voss a knowing smirk but said nothing. They were led down a set of metal ladders and told to stand in line, facing the lieutenant.


    The lieutenant spoke. ¡®I¡¯m lieutenant Ida of the third Void Marines regiment. I¡¯ll be your instructor for today. Welcome to my dock. In your new roles you may have to make repairs to the outside of your ship¡¯s or station¡¯s hull. Some of you may even have to venture further into the void. Today, I will teach you the basics of void walking and void repairs.¡¯


    Lieutenant Ida pulled the lid of the crate next to him and pulled out a tightly wrapped bundle of cloth. He held it up high and let it unfold. ¡®This is the mark III-TCN, short for technician, spacesuit. It¡¯s been the staple suit for the technical corps for well over a hundred years. It¡¯s simple, reliable and easy to use. One month from now, you must be able to put one on and get to airtight and oxygen fed in under a minute. Every man in the corps, Void Marines or the Fifth, needs to be able to do this. It¡¯s a must-have skill in an environment as hostile as ours. Sergeant, please demonstrate to the men how to put one on.¡¯.


    ¡®Yes, lieutenant.¡¯ The sergeant stepped forward and took the suit from the lieutenant. He walked over to the front of the crate and pulled out two boots from it.


    The sergeant slowly put on the suit. Emphasizing each step he was doing and how to do them. The lieutenant narrated what was happening for the recruits. ¡®There are five parts to the mark III. The inner suit, the outer suit, the boots, the helmet and the gloves. You put them on in the order mentioned. Put these five parts of the suit on properly and you reach airtight. As you can see, the sergeant is now airtight, but he¡¯s not oxygen fed yet. There¡¯s a respirator inside the helmet that can switch between taking in outside air and using an oxygen tank. There¡¯s an inbuilt mechanism that uses air pressure, that will ensure your suit doesn¡¯t switch to outside air when you¡¯re in the void or low pressure environments. Keep in mind that there¡¯s no automatic safety against bad air. If you ever find yourself working in toxic environments that have air pressure, you have to manually override the respirator like so.¡¯ The sergeant demonstrated how to lock out outside air by pulling and turning a small lever.


    ¡®Now look at the wall behind you. There is a row of equipment points there. Each point has a full suit, an oxygen backpack with four hours worth of oxygen, and a standard issue void-toolbelt. Let¡¯s head over there and the sergeant will demonstrate to you how these stations work and how to get to oxygen fed.


    Voss looked at the sergeant and noticed he had already taken off and folded his space suit within the time that it took for the lieutenant to tell them those four sentences. An impressive display of speed and coordination.


    The lieutenant and sergeant walked to the stations. The recruits followed them like a group of well-behaved school kids. The mixture of three lashes and the excitement of learning how to voidwalk, had turned them all docile and eager to listen. There wasn¡¯t much to see at the stations. It was a simple concrete wall that had around twenty sets of hazard stripes in the form of thin doors on it. The lieutenant nudged at the sergeant. The sergeant stepped forwards and smashed a big red button next to one of the stations. The station pushed forward out of the wall.


    ¡®The sergeant will now repeat the process of putting on the suit. He will get to airtight and will then show you how to get oxygen fed. First he puts on the inner suit, then the outer suit, then his boots, then his helmet and only then does he put on his gloves. He is now airtight. The sergeant will now grab the hose of his oxygen backpack and he¡¯ll attach it to either side of his helmet. Which side doesn¡¯t matter much and is mostly a matter of personal preference unless you¡¯re sharing a large oxygen tank with others.


    Now pay attention because we now get to the part where the most common rookie mistake happens. Once you are oxygen fed, do not. I repeat, do not fix your oxygen backpack to your suit. This isn¡¯t done until the very last step of the process. First you put on your toolbelt and add anything special you think you might need. The basic equipment is already in your belt, but anything special like the big plasma cutter or the big welder, you have to add it manually. Only after you have done this, you put on your oxygen backpack. The reason you do it in this order is because otherwise your backpack gets in the way when you put on your toolbelt.¡¯ The sergeant demonstrated how inconvenient it was to put on a toolbelt whilst already wearing your backpack.


    It was quite comical to watch the sergeant struggle, but Voss knew it probably wouldn¡¯t be so comical if it was you struggling like that after a piece of space debris had punctured a large hole into the side of your vessel. All of this wasn''t that new to him. Many of the big plants he had worked at as an engineer had a similar set up. Only instead of void suits, they were fire suits. Build to resist scorcing hot flames rather than the icy coldness of the void. Voss knew how the suits worked. He had gone through many fire safety drills and once had to deal with a real life fire. An old, poorly maintained pump had caught fire when one of his colleagues was welding it. The clean up crew before him had missed some of the oil and grease spills underneath the pump and the welder''s sparks had set the oil on fire. Voss was amongst the first in full fire gear, giving it all to put out the flames. The colleague welding the pump didn''t make it. She died in hospital a few days later.


    ¡®As you can see, each station is neatly organized and optimized for rapid dressing up. Each station comes with one copy of everything you need. The suits are one size fits all. They are flexible and can unfold themselves up to two and a half meters. So don¡¯t worry about finding the right one for you. Suit stations are always placed on the side of the room that¡¯s furthest removed from the void. You can recognize this side of the room by the yellow stripe running down the wall. This is a standardized imperial decree. That means that no matter what vessel you¡¯re on, get to the yellow line. Remember this in case you ever find yourself caught inside a room with a fire raging.'' Voss had noticed a lot of walls on the ship had stripes on them, but hadn''t really paid much attention to it. It was impossible to discern what they meant anyhow when you didn''t even know where you were.


    The lieutenant continued: ''Talking about fires, it is standard protocol with fires to contain them by sucking out all the air out of the room in which the fire is raging. Usually there will be no more than five minutes between the fire alarm going off, and the captain giving the order to vacuum the room. If the captain gives no such order, the automatic fire safety system will do so anyhow after ten minutes.


    This means two things. One, as soon as a fire breaks out, run to the yellow line and get your ass in a void suit asap. Two, you need to be hooked into the station, or else you might get sucked into the vacuum shaft. That¡¯s why these suits come with an attached hook with four meters of cable inside a suspensor system. Each station comes with a steel handlebar. In case of fire or hull breach, you must fasten your safety cable as soon as you¡¯ve put on your outer suit. You do this even before you put on your boots and helmet.


    I know this is a lot to process in one go, so safety guides will be provided to you at the end of today¡¯s session. Study them well. Your life may depend on it, and your final exam results will definitely depend on it.


    Now then, with all of that out of the way. Time to get training, gentlemen. Find yourselves a station and get practicing. I want all of you to go through the entire process at least twenty five times before this training session is over.


    The recruits¡¯ faces turned weary. Getting dressed and undressed twenty five times? Getting dressed up just once this morning had been painful enough. There was no way their bandages would hold through twenty five training rounds. This was going to be a painful and bloody session¡­

 Chapter 19: Void Suits and Sticks

    The recruits walked to the void suit stations. The instructors joined them. There was one instructor for every two recruits. The instructors all carried a stopwatch and a wooden stick. Voss didn¡¯t like the look of those sticks.


    Voss and the others all pushed the red buttons next to their respective stations. The stations hatches rolled up with a loud bang. Each station had 3 shelves on the right side and two, slightly larger shelves on the left. In between the two halves was the metal handlebar they could attach themselves to, in case of loss of air pressure, that lieutenant Ida had told them about. The stations were organized in a clockwise fashion. Inner suit on the top right, outer suit in the middle right, boots on the bottom right. Then there was the helmet on the bottom left and the gloves and the oxygen tank on the top left.


    Putting on a void suit was more difficult than the sergeant had made it look. You had to put the inner suit on in a certain way, or it would unroll itself too far and get in the way of the outer suit. A similar thing was true for the outer suit. If you unrolled it too far, your hands and feet could slip out of a glove or boot and you¡¯d end up looking like a rubber band man. Overstretched pieces of suit flopping about ath the end of your arms or legs. The boots had to be put on first and then clicked in onto the metal rings at the end of the outer suit¡¯s legs. The helmet had to be put on by placing it at a 45 degree angle, feel it drop, turn it to the correct position and then feel it drop again. Then the gloves had to be put on and clicked in. This process was made more difficult by the suit''s extremely effective insulation. You started sweating as soon as you put on the suit. Voss could tell the suits were made for the icy cold of the void and not for the hot, humid conditions of the cargo bay they were in.


    They were given ten minutes to complete the entire process. There were also time limits for each step of the process. Failure to reach a cut off time was punished by a whack of the stick. Any mistake made during the process also resulted in a whack of the stick. It took less than four minutes before each recruit had earned their first whack. Voss got his first one for overstretching his outer suit and then two more for failing to meet time limits after losing time on refolding his overstretched suit. He found his experience with fire fighting suits helped somewhat, but the benefit that it gave him was offset by the hindrance that the pain in his back gave him.


    None of the recruits managed to put their suits on within the allotted ten minutes. Hiyo had been the fastest in just under twelve minutes. Hoog was dead last in just over fifteen minutes. The sergeant rewarded his negative record by personally whacking him right down the middle of his back. After Hoog was done howling in pain, the sergeant gave a short demonstration on how to take the suit off again, store it properly, and mark the station for cleaning. The recruits were given ten minutes to go through the entire process of suiting down. Again every recruit was met with at least one rather painful whack at some point during the process. Again none of the recruits managed to complete the process within the allotted ten minutes.


    The process of suiting up and suiting down was repeated over and over. Each time the sergeant would give them a cut off time and each time they¡¯d start the next step of the process as soon as the final recruit was done. This meant that the fastest recruits were rewarded with short breaks, whilst the slowest ones got no rest. After about five cycles, a new rule was introduced. If any of the recruits failed to make the cut off time, all recruits were punished by a whack of the stick.


    Each cycle felt more cumbersome than the last. The toxic combination of heat, dehydration, pain and fatigue pushed every recruit to their limits. Somewhere between the fifteenth and the twentieth cycle, Voss¡¯ bandages started to come loose. Fresh wounds chafed back open and left the back of his overall soaking in blood. He knew he had to hold on though. All of them were suffering and the sergeant would show no mercy to the first man who broke. Besides, he could tell some of them were even worse off than him. Hoog, having been the slowest on several occasions, and was dealt the most blows out of all of them. Voss could read the pain on his face and saw a small stream of blood seeping from underneath Hoog¡¯s left arm. Remarkably enough, Hoog showed no signs of giving up. He was biting through the pain and doing everything he could to look strong and ready for another round of suiting up. Hiyo on the other hand looked like he was doing relatively well. He had been the fastest on most runs. This meant that he had had more rest, and fewer whacks than any other recruit. There was no blood visible and Hiyo¡¯s face showed a victorious pride. The other recruits were somewhere between Hoog and Hiyo when it came to how sorry of a state they were in.


    Voss had no idea how many runs they went through, but by the end of it, every recruit was able to complete the entire suiting up process within three minutes and the suiting down process within two. No mean feat considering the state they were in. The sergeant had a different opinion on that of course. He spent several minutes cursing them out whilst the recruits scrambled around the big bucket of drinking water that one of lieutenant Ida¡¯s men had brought in. Voss could tell the lieutenant pitied them. In a sense this comforted him, because it showed that their training was probably amongst the toughest out there. There had been several moments during the exercises where Voss had worried the pain and heat may have become too much for him to bear. It had caused him to question himself. Was he too weak to make it? Would his shortcomings prove to be insurmountable? Seeing Ida¡¯s response gave him the reassurance he needed that it wasn¡¯t just him. Their training was intense and very few would have been able to make it through the trials and tribulations that they were being put through. The fact that every recruit was still standing despite this, made him feel proud. It was odd. He barely knew these men, yet he could already feel his trust in them grow. Trust that had been severely damaged after last night''s murder.


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    The sergeant was still raging on. ¡®You¡¯re all slow, you¡¯re all dead. There is no mercy in the void. One minute is already stretching it. If this had been a real life emergency, all you sacks of lard would have choked and frozen to death.¡¯


    Voss tried to ignore the sergeant. Life in the Fifth was sometimes obnoxiously predictable. Everyone knew it was impossible to get all the recruits to adhere to the one minute standard after just one training session. Especially not considering the sorry state they were in. The sergeant probably didn¡¯t even mean half of what he was accusing them of. He just scolded them because it was his job. It was a kayfabe that they all participated in. The sergeant was pretending to be mad at them and the recruits were pretending to be impressed by his anger. They¡¯d all get there though. There was no doubt in Voss¡¯ mind about that. All they needed was another couple of hours of training. Preferably on a day when their backs weren¡¯t bleeding from lashes.


    After the sergeant had finally finished his tirade, the recruits were led back to their barrack through the maze of narrow corridors, elevators and overhead passes. Lieutenant Ida¡¯s explanation helped make the space port feel less disorienting. Voss and the others now knew that the yellow lines meant that, that side of whatever room or corridor they were in, was furthest away from the void; and by extension that the red lines meant that, that side of the room was closest to the void. There were also green and blue lines that he couldn¡¯t quite place yet. Not until they passed the cylindrical midpoint of the spaceport. They passed a corridor where halfway through, the yellow and red stripes switched sides. The blue and green lines made no such switch and remained on the sides of the corridor they were at before. Voss deducted from this that green meant you were moving clockwise and blue meant you were moving counter clockwise. Or the other way around depending on your perspective. A small piece of knowledge that did nothing to immediately affect their lives, but that did assuage the permanent state of disorientation that they were in. Simply being able to tell that their barrack was near the cylindrical midpoint of the space port and that it was in the green direction from where they were right now, made walking through the endless corridors feel less stressful. At least now they sort of knew where they were going. They now had an indication of where they were, making time the sole disorienting factor. Voss and the others still had no idea what time of day it was, or even what day it was for that matter.


    The only food that awaited them in the mess were tasteless, grey slabs of minced food with a lasagnaesque substance to them. Voss didn¡¯t care; none of them did. They were all too hungry to care about what they were eating. Everyone tried to shove as much food down their throats as they possibly could in the ten minutes they were allotted for dinner.


    After dinner they were escorted straight back to their barrack. There, the first positive surprise since leaving Fosfat awaited them. Five full tubes of accelerated wound recovery cream. Very expensive stuff that was normally only reserved for citizens. Voss had never seen the cream in real life, but he knew that it sped up the recovery process of open wounds twentyfold. Voss and the others wasted no time cleaning each others¡¯ wounds and applying the cream on each others¡¯ backs. It stung a little when it was applied to your wounds, but the pain was nothing compared to what they had already been through today.


    The barrack was eerily quiet. None of the recruits were in a talking mood. A stark contrast to the previous night. Their spirits had been broken. Understandable considering that in the span of less than one day, they had gone through the emotional strain of witnessing a gruesome murder; the pain and humiliation of being lashed in public; the arduous marches through endless, dark, rusty corridors; and the strain of pain, heat and blood laden void suit drills. The recruits had been pushed to the very brink. If it hadn¡¯t been for the strategically placed recovery cream, most of them wouldn¡¯t have lasted another day. ''Glorious life in the Fifth.'' Voss thought to himself.


    Someone shouted ¡®light outs in five minutes¡¯. Voss couldn¡¯t tell who it was. He didn¡¯t care. Nor did he care to wait five more minutes. He fell down, stomach first, on the cold, steel coils of his bed frame. The harshness of the steel coils felt like a fluff mattress to him. So tired were he and the others, that very few were still awake by the time the lights went out mere minutes later. It had been a day to remember and never repeat. Hopefully, the worst was now behind them...

 Chapter 20: A stab through the heart

    It was uncommon to get summoned into the captain¡¯s office. She had a bad feeling about this. Her mission wasn¡¯t set to start for another six weeks. For what purpose would the captain need her now? As if she wasn¡¯t busy enough with preparations. She had only finished mapping out the course last night and was still in the middle of the standard multi-week process of getting Ordnance and Supplies to deliver the supplies requested by her. Those stupid, lazy slobs were a bunch of good for nothing, power tripping bureaucrats. Lazy as dogs and prone to make mistakes. If you didn¡¯t make your requests at least two months in advance, there was no chance you¡¯d get anything delivered on time. If only a ship¡¯s engines could run on paper forms, she¡¯d have enough fuel to traverse the entire empire and back. It seemed like Ordnance and Supplies needed you to sign off on each and every separate nut and bolt you ordered from them.


    She sat in the poorly lit waiting room. The word room was a tall stretch though. It was a slightly widened corridor with a reception on the opposite side of the waiting chairs. One could barely pass through the corridor if someone sat on one of the chairs. Behind the glass window of the reception sat one of the faceless ones. Ulterian guards, they were called officially, but everyone called them the faceless guard or faceless ones behind their backs. They wore blue suits, dark brown leather boots, grey gloves and round void helmets that featured a full tinted dome that was made out of polymer coated acrylic glass. They were always armed with blasters. The only unit on the entire spaceport that had the privilege of being armed at all times. A privilege that created distrust and envy. The helmets obscured their faces from view and they never seemed to take their helmets off, causing them to be faceless to the outside world. The only way to distinguish them from one and other was through the differing sizes and shapes of their bodies, and the identifying numbers on their chests and backs.


    Most people disliked the faceless ones. A wholly separate unit that never intermingled with the others and only seemed interested in fulfilling their duty, no matter how arduous or boring it may be. They even had their own separate quarters that they never seemed to stray from when not on active duty. She didn¡¯t know anyone who ever chose to join the Ulterian guard. Nor did she know anyone who knew anyone who did. For the most part they were a mystery. Every member of the Fifth¡¯s upper officer corps had their own entourage of Ulterian guards. They doubled as personal staff and bodyguards. As much as she distrusted them, she couldn¡¯t deny that they were excellent at their jobs and that she¡¯d happily accept her own four man squad of faceless ones when she made captain.


    The door to the captain¡¯s office opened. A faceless one appeared into the waiting room. He spoke. His voice was distorted by the void helmet, giving it a metallic undertone.¡®The captain will now see you, Lieutenant Vanmire.¡¯. She got up and followed the faceless one into the captain¡¯s office.


    The room was one big, over the top, display of power. It was the most spacious room she had ever seen aboard the spaceport. It was richly adorned. The left wall was covered with handcrafted tapestries from the eastern mountain districts. They depicted heroic scenes of Fifth Branch officers. One was planting a dual flag of the Imperium and Fosfat on a distant planet. Another one was seen boarding a Proxima-Delta-Q voidcaper ship. His shotgun firing into charging pirates. A third one showed a general in his immaculate uniform. He sat on one knee and was being knighted by the Earthian emperor. The right wall was covered by wooden cabinets. Some of which had glass windows, others had wooden doors. All cabinets were closed and locked; as was standard procedure aboard all spaceports and void ships. On the wall at the far end of the room was a large, interactive map of the empire. Hundreds of lights indicated the locations of inhabited starsystems. Thousands of smaller lights indicated the estimated locations of void freighters and communication probes. Each light had their own little display next to them, showing what planet or ship they represented. The floor was covered in a soft, bordeaux red carpet. There was a seating area near the left hand wall with luxurious leather chairs and sofas. Several plants adorned the room. It was a subtle display of power to have such luxuries aboard the spaceport. The captain was in charge of everything related to the Fifth aboard this spaceport. This made him one of the most powerful officers within the Fifth, and a likely candidate to become a general in the high council somewhere in the next few years.


    The captain sat behind an ornate, mahogany desk in the middle of the room. His arms rested on the supports of his equally ornate, mahogany, wingback chair with velvet seating. Two of the faceless ones stood behind the captain. One on each side of him. She didn¡¯t like seeing him in this setting. It turned him so cold and formal. Much unlike how she had come to know him.


    ¡®Have a seat, lieutenant.¡¯. One of the faceless ones walked over from the seating area on the left with a simple, wooden chair in her hands. She positioned it right behind the lieutenant. The lieutenant sat down, cautiously awaiting what the captain had to say.


    ¡®I¡¯ll get straight to it, lieutenant. You¡¯ve been pulled off mission FD32. You are..¡¯


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    She erupted in anger. ¡®I what? What are you talking about? This is MY mission. I did the research. I came up with the idea. I did the preparations and now on the day that I handed in the detailed mission outline, you pull me off? You can¡¯t do that!¡¯


    The captain patiently let her finish her tirade, ignoring even her blatant disregard of proper addressing of rank. ¡®Oh but I can, lieutenant. I am the captain aboard this spaceport. The last time I checked, that entitles me to making such decisions.¡¯


    ¡®This is my mission though. I did everything to prepare it. You waited until I handed in the full report and then you took it from me. How could you do this to me, captain?¡¯


    The way she had said captain amused him. Same old lieutenant Vanmire. Words that snap at you like a Jack Russell. ¡®I¡¯ll admit that this whole thing doesn¡¯t deserve a beauty award, and I¡¯ll also admit that I indeed purposely waited until you finished your report before letting you know this mission is reassigned. However, it¡¯s too late to change anything about it now. Everything has been arranged.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s those bloody higher ups, isn¡¯t it? They and their scheming. Probably have some untalented lieutenant they want to push forward for promotion..¡¯


    ¡®Careful, lieutenant.¡¯ A wave of gravitas suddenly flowed over his words. Strong enough to snap even the lieutenant out of her angry state and into the realization that she was moving on very thin ice right now. Insulting the top brass could get you in serious trouble. ¡®I¡¯d leave the council out of this if I were you, lieutenant. It¡¯s also what I did when I made the decision to reassign this mission.¡¯


    ¡®Wait¡­ It was you? You reassigned it¡­?!¡¯ Her voice turned weaker. She was well versed in the scheming and elbowing that was part and parcel of being an officer of the Fifth. She knew that everyone was two tongued and that only fools trusted their ambitious rivals. But the captain¡­ The captain had always been like a father to her. This didn¡¯t just feel like betrayal, it felt like filicide. Her own petefather had stabbed her in the back. His blade thrusted right through her heart.


    ¡®Yes it was me, lieutenant. I made the judgment. I made the assessment that Lieutenant Verstate is a better fit for this mission and I gave the order. Lieutenant Verstate has already been informed that she has been assigned the mission and with it the crew that you¡¯ve assembled; bar a few personnel changes that she requested be made to them. Seems like she wasn¡¯t too enthusiastic about your pick for a mechanic. Recruit Voss was it? Do you have any further questions or comments you wish to make?¡¯


    She hesitated. There was nothing she wished to say to him, and then again, there were a million things she wanted to say to him. None of them were very nice. She decided to hold back and pick her battle more strategically. ¡®No¡­ captain.¡¯


    ¡®In that case you¡¯re excused. I understand you are upset about this, Vanmire. Rightfully so. You¡¯ll have to trust in my decision in this one. There are good reasons for my actions. Reasons which I am not at liberty to share with you at this point in time. I¡¯m giving you a forty-eight hour leave as of this moment so you can have some time to process this before you get back to duty. The Ulterian guard will make sure your station is made aware of your leave. Now dismissed and please don¡¯t do anything stupid. We both know that temper of yours gets you into more trouble than good.¡¯


    She got up and stormed out of the room, not even giving the captain the usual, obligatory salute before walking out the door. One of the Ulterian guards looked like he was about to stop and force her to pay her proper respects, but the captain waved a small hand signal and the guard took a step backwards, allowing her to pass.


    There must have been times when she had been even madder, but she couldn¡¯t remember when. She was furious. She had been but a split hair away from snapping and smashing the captain¡¯s face in. Faceless guards or no faceless guards. This was her mission. Her idea. She had set everything up from scratch. It had taken her months of lobbying to get approval and months more to get her crew together. Now that everything was set and done, and their departure was scheduled in less than two months, it was taken from her. No, scratch it was stolen from her by captain Debois. The only man she thought she could trust in all of Fifth Branch turned out to be the biggest snake of them all.


    Replaced by a ¡°more suitable¡± candidate she scoffed. Lieutenant Verstate was the most mediocre, airheaded bimbo to have come out of the academy in fifty years. She had probably worked the captain¡¯s ¡°judgment¡± real hard and long for him to assign her that jewel of an opportunity. She should have known that the captain was just another self-enriching pervert. They all were. She¡¯d find a way to get back at them though. She¡¯d get her mission back and make both Verstate and Debois rue the day they took her mission away from her.


    Right now she had to lick her wounds and accept her loss though. This wasn¡¯t the time for rash decisions. The captain knew her too well. He would be keeping an eye on her. Any misstep from her now would get her into serious trouble. Most importantly, news about this couldn¡¯t get out. If Voss learned about this, he might do something stupid. She couldn¡¯t afford the delay of finding a new mechanic. Not at this stage.


    She got so lost in thought that she almost bumped into sergeant Reiniger who was just on his way to see the captain. The captain looked like he was about to scold her for it, but then decided otherwise. Opting to continue to head to the captain''s office whilst shaking his head.


    Vanmire had barely noticed her little altercation with the sergeant. Her thoughts were still mauling at record pace. Trying to weigh options and alternatives. Would Voss even need to know? Nah, she¡¯d get her mission back in time and he¡¯d be none the wiser anyhow. For now she had to lay low and make a well structured plan. Find a way to get her mission back without provoking the captain¡¯s ire. And she knew just where to start¡­

 Chapter 21: A Dangerous Routine

    They had been on the Saltpetersburg spaceport for about two weeks now. Well, actually he had no clue how long they had been there exactly. The days had been long and the nights short. None of the recruits had ever seen a clock or window with outside view since stepping onto the spaceport. By now they had all long lost track of time and date. All Voss could depend on was counting the amount of times they had been allowed to go to bed, which was fourteen. So he just assumed it had been two weeks to help guard his sanity.


    Voss suspected the sergeant and his instructors purposely didn¡¯t adhere to a standard twenty-seven hour day structure. He couldn¡¯t blame them. He¡¯d do the same thing if he was them. Disorient the recruits in every conceivable manner and see who cracks. Hard to convey just how hard it is to never know where or when you are to someone who¡¯s never experienced it. The old Voss would have laughed at you if you tried to tell him. The new Voss wasn¡¯t laughing though. It worked. The recruits were living in a constant state of being uprooted and outside of their comfort zone. It was a state of being that not everyone could handle. Seventeen had made it past the initial trial of the Minoutar. One had been murdered. One had been hung. One had given up. Simply unable to keep up with the grueling schedule and constant uncertainty that he was subjected to. Voss had no idea what happened to the poor sod, but he doubted he would be punished harshly for his failure. Throughout his years of dealing with citizens, Voss had learned that they viewed residents as tools to be used. As long as you were in any way useful to them, they wouldn¡¯t just throw you out. He was certain that on a spaceport this size, that was in such a rusty, deteriorating state, there were always jobs to be done.


    It was a lesson Voss had learned at a young age. Always make sure you¡¯re more useful than you are a nuisance. As long as you stayed on the right side of that balance, you¡¯d be alright. Slip onto the wrong side of the balance just once¡­ Well Voss and the others knew exactly what happened when you ended up on the wrong side of the ledger.


    Training was a weird mixture of physical exertion, advanced skills training and monotonous repetition of basics like engine parts repairs. Very little order could be discovered in their program. They could be spending three days straight on physically and mentally draining advanced space suit training, only to find themselves cleaning out oily engine parts for the next two days. The only thing that seemed constant was the atrocious quality of the food. Today they had been guided to the damp mechanics room for the third day in a row. Yet more plasma electric battery packs to clean. It didn¡¯t even feel like they were training anything, just doing the routine chores that nobody else was doing due to understaffing issues on the station.


    The upside of it was that monotonous chores like these gave them a chance to get to know each other better. The sergeant and his instructors were usually nowhere to be seen during these ¡°drills¡±. They¡¯d give the recruits some instructions and then sod off. Usually Voss and Hiyo would end up acting as the instructors. Teaching the other recruits what they needed to know to handle the potentially explosive or corrosive objects they were working on.


    Today was no different. Hiyo and him had given a fifteen minute masterclass on how to safely disassemble, clean and reassemble plasma electric battery packs before they all got to it. At some point the sergeant would walk back into the room and they¡¯d all be in deep trouble if they hadn¡¯t gone through the one hundred battery packs they were ordered to clean by then.


    They had both taken one of the batteries out, performed the required steps and warned the recruits to be careful when connecting the kickstarter to the main battery cell. The older model plasma-electric batteries had a fatal flaw where the batteries became unstable and could explode if you pushed the kickstarter in too hard. It had been hundreds of years since newer models had come out. The newer models didn¡¯t have this flaw, but plasma electric batteries could last for thousands of years and were extremely expensive. In most cases, the older models never got scrapped. Instead they were sent to the remote corners of Fosfat and beyond. To be used by the unfortunate souls not deemed important enough to be equipped with newer battery models. Voss and Hiyo placed their example batteries back in the box they had come in. There were ten batteries per box, neatly lined up. When you finished cleaning a battery, you pulled back a little lever on the top of the battery. That lever turned on a small meter. Each battery had to be cleaned at least once a year or every twenty charges. Whatever came first. When either condition was met, the lever would spring back automatically and the battery couldn¡¯t be used again until it had been taken apart and reassembled.


    Voss signalled to Hiyo that he could take the box with the two batteries that had already been cleaned. ''Don''t worry about it, Hiyo. You got the most recruits that could use a little help. Two batteries less to clean isn''t a luxury.''. Hiyo gratefully took the box of batteries they had used for their demonstration and Voss grabbed a new box. They both walked to the heads of a different table and sat down so that they both had half a dozen fellow recruits close to them. That way they could most efficiently provide further assistance where needed. The other recruits all got a box of batteries as well. Each man was supposed to be able to clean ten batteries in under an hour. Voss wasn¡¯t too worried about the cut off time. He once cleaned thirty of those darned batteries within fifty minutes.


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    To Voss¡¯ left were Tick and Emil. Two gifted Assault Team players. Voss had never heard of Assault Team before he got forced into the Fifth. Apparently it was a sort of board game that you played with small, plastic soldiers. It was a game that was popular both amongst citizens and residents. Tick and Emil could never shut up about it and had made an improvised Assault Team set to play with during the sparing moments of free time the recruits had. Tick had made team Red out of bits of plastic and Emil had made team Blue out of pieces of cardboard. Each night as soon as the day¡¯s tasks were done, they¡¯d pull out their improvised board, made out of books, socks, glasses, cups and anything else they could get their hands on, and play a quick round. Voss liked watching them play. He learned the rules through observing them and could tell he was observing two masters at work.


    Today they were discussing the pros and cons of the recently released team Green. It was difficult to follow some of the discussions revolving around the more niche rules, but it was still a welcome distraction from the monotonous chore of cleaning batteries. Emil was giving his opinion about team Green¡¯s assault leader¡¯s special abilities, when a sudden bright flash blinded them. A loud explosion burst their eardrums and was accompanied by a powerful blast that knocked everyone over. Something smashed into Voss¡¯ forehead, nearly knocking him unconscious. He smacked onto the cold steel floor. A box filled with batteries fell onto his right leg and he felt something pop.


    After a few seconds, when his eyes started working again and the worst of the shock and confusion had disappeared, Voss tried to get back up again. He found he couldn¡¯t stand on his right leg anymore. ¡®The box must have broken my tibia when it crashed into me.¡¯ He thought to himself. He leaned on one of the tables that had toppled sideways and managed to get upright that way. His ears were ringing loudly, making it impossible for him to discern what the other recruits were yelling at each other. To his dismay, he saw that Tact, the recruit that had been sitting next to Hiyo, had been flung into the wall behind him with great force. Most of his face and chest had been blasted open by the explosion. One of the batteries must have had a damaged kickstarter and it exploded when Tact tried to disassemble it. Hoog, who had been sitting to Tact¡¯s left, was rolling on the floor, writhing in pain. A large part of the kickstarter had punctured through his arm, and nested into Hoog¡¯s side after the explosion had sent it flying. Hiyo was crawling back up, clearly dazed, but miraculously unscathed after such a violent explosion so closely to his left.


    The sergeant came running into the room, followed by two of his instructors. He yelling even louder than usual, yet Voss could barely discern what he was shouting over his ears¡¯ loud ringing. ¡®Damnit, damnit, damnit, call in the medics right away. Tell them to prepare the critical care unit. All doctors on duty right now. This is not a drill. We¡¯ve got fourteen, no scratch that, thirteen injured men needing urgent care.¡¯. The sergeant ran over to Dane, who was smashed into a wall and sat down, hunched over, with blood spilling from his mouth.


    Voss looked around him. The sight of Tact¡¯s disfigured body and face had given him a twisted kind of tunnel vision. He only now realized that he was one of the few recruits standing. Most were either knocked unconscious, or too severely injured to get back up. Blood began to pour into his eyes. Voss felt his forehead and discovered a piece of metal was sticking out of it. It had been the thing that had nearly knocked him out. He had been extremely lucky. The shard had hit him where he had metal plates in his head. A little lower and it would have probably killed him. He pulled out the metal shard and sat back down. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around his head. He checked himself for further injuries, but fortunately he found none. It was just the gash on his forehead and a broken leg. It could have been much worse. He laid down on his back, waiting for the medics to show up and treat him.


    The sergeant came to check on him. ¡®A U A I?¡¯. Voss looked at him with a confused face. ¡®What did you say?¡¯ he heard himself say as if his voice was inside a locked box. It sounded distant and muffled. ¡®I SAID ARE YOU ALRIGHT?¡¯ The sergeant yelled at him. No ringing could ever be loud enough to fully drown the sergeant¡¯s hoarse voice when it was used at full strength. ¡®Yeah I¡¯m fine, go help the others, sergeant.¡¯. The sergeant gave him a pat on the shoulder and moved onto the next recruit.


    Voss saw the first two medics run into the room. The sergeant pointed them towards Hoog, who was by now laying in a pool of his own blood, barely moving. Voss admired how calm the sergeant was. Beneath his frantic appearance was a man who was making calculated, well thought through decisions. ¡®Guess a man¡¯s true character is revealed when under stress.¡¯ Voss thought to himself. It was the first time he was glad they had the sergeant looking out for them.


    More medics started pouring into the room. Each one of them was directed by the sergeant to the recruit most in need of medical assistance. Voss was one of the last to receive help. He didn¡¯t mind though. His pain was bearable and he knew that he had been lucky compared to some of the others. ¡®Those bastards.¡¯ he thought to himself. ¡®A broken kickstarter was one thing, could happen to anyone, but to have a battery with significant charge left in it sent to cleaning; that was a mistake that was unforgivable. Someone¡¯s head was going to roll for this.¡¯ he said softly to nobody in particular. Voss coughed a couple of times. Fortunately no blood came with it, just slime. ¡®Who am I kidding¡¯ he thought. ¡®If it was a citizen who made the error, they¡¯ll just sweep this whole fiasco under the rug.¡¯. Voss grimaced. Nobody was going to look into this mess too deeply anyhow; not when all the victims were residents. He knew there was going to be no justice for this quagmire. He just hoped Hoog, Dane and some of the others that were worst hit, would make it through the night.

 Chapter 22: Rapid Recovery and Placing the Pieces of an Ominous Puzzle

    He was surprised at how modern and well maintained the med bay was. Everything was state of the art and brand new. The med bay had a large critical care unit and plenty of rooms to perform surgery in. He recognized several machines that were built after some of his father¡¯s designs. ¡®Fitting¡¯ he thought to himself. ¡®They¡¯ll execute you in public and benefit from your work in private¡¯. The recruits had been separated based on the severity of their injuries. Some of the heaviest hit recruits were still in intensive care units. Voss and most of the other recruits were put in recovery ward two. Voss¡¯ forehead was bandaged up and his leg put in a cast. Both were itching badly from the rapid regeneration therapy that was being fed to him intravenously. The gash on his forehead was almost healed already and his leg would be too within a day or two. The ringing in his ears would take longer to heal, the doctors had said. Something about damaged neural paths. He didn¡¯t mind too much. The worst of the ringing was gone already and he could hear properly again.


    He had been the second one in the recovery ward, so they placed him at the far end of the room opposite Hiyo. ¡®You¡¯re like a cockroach, Hiyo. That bloody thing went off right next to you and you¡¯re the first one out of the emergency care. There¡¯s no getting rid of you, is there?¡¯


    ¡®Hah I knew something was fishy when you gave me that box. You taking on more work to help someone else out was a dead giveaway. You tried to take me out, didn¡¯t you? Jealous of my good looks and great skills.¡¯


    Voss laughed. ¡®You caught me red handed. I figured I¡¯d get bigger portions in the mess if I got rid of you.¡¯


    ¡®Man, don¡¯t remind me of that slop, you make me regret giving that box of grenades to Tact.¡¯ They had a good, cynical laugh together.


    ¡®So you gave the box to Tact, huh? Poor soul. If only we had known about that bloody charged up, damaged battery pack. What a mess we are in now.¡¯


    ¡®Yeah man, It¡¯s been running through my head ever since it happened. It should have been me, man. I should have never given him that box. Poor guy.¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t say that. It¡¯s not your fault. I gave you that box as much as you gave it to Tact. If there¡¯s anyone to blame, it¡¯s the damned fool who put a half charged battery in a cleaning container. If I ever find out who that was, I¡¯m shoving a battery pack down their throats.¡¯


    Four nurses cut their conversation short when they rolled Emil, Tick and then Jabs into the room in their hospital beds.


    ¡®How are you lads doing?¡¯ Hiyo asked them.


    ¡®Been worse, could have been worse.¡¯ Jabs replied. ¡®I overheard two of the doctors saying they managed to save Hoog and Dane. Dice didn¡¯t make it. Something about severe internal trauma.¡¯


    ¡®Damn, that¡¯s two down.¡¯ Emil replied


    ¡®I didn¡¯t even notice what happened to Dice.¡¯ Voss said. ¡®Dane and Hoog I saw, but I didn¡¯t know Dice was hit badly too.¡¯


    ¡®Yeah I don¡¯t know the details.¡¯ Jabs said. ¡®I saw him lying hunched over but so were half a dozen of the others. I had no idea he got hit worse than the others.¡¯


    ¡®He got hit in the stomach by Tact¡¯s battery box.¡¯ Tick chimed in. ¡®Bloody box flew right past my eyes. Five centimeters to the right and it would have bashed my skull open.¡¯


    ¡®Yeah well you know what they say. Luck favors the foolish.¡¯ Emil quipped.


    ¡®If I¡¯m a fool, then why do you keep losing to me in Assault Team?¡¯ Tick bit back.


    ¡®Ah come on. Can you two talk about nothing other than Assault Team?¡¯ Jabs sighed. ¡®Even with your heads blown off, you two would still be babbling about using the blue captain to ambush the red team¡¯s rear guard or something.¡¯


    ¡®You clearly haven¡¯t been paying attention, Jabs. You should never use your captain to ambush. Leaves such a critical unit exposed to counter strikes. If you want I can teach you how to play the game properly though.¡¯ Emil said with an evil grin.


    The same nurses entered the room again. This time they had Wago with them.


    ¡®Good morning, gentlemen. Glad you are here. I have a nasty burn on my ass that the doctor¡¯s said to put burn lotion on three times a day. Which one of you fine men wants to volunteer?¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯d rather jump an exploding battery pack.¡¯ Jabs replied.


    ¡®Hairy business, isn¡¯t it? Poor Tact and Dice. Hoog wasn¡¯t looking too swell either when they moved him out of the operating room.¡¯


    ¡®How about you?¡¯ Hiyo asked. ¡®Did you sustain any heavy injuries?¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t remember much of the whole thing. Got knocked out before I knew what was going on. Broke my left wrist somehow, got some pretty bad burns on my back and ass and there¡¯s some lapses in yesterday¡¯s memories, but other than that, I¡¯m fine. No brain damage according to the doctors.¡¯


    ¡®Not that much to damage anyhow.¡¯ Jabs interjected.


    ¡®Careful, little man. You¡¯re just the right height to reach the burns on my ass.¡¯ Wago threw back at him.


    Wago and Jabs entered into one of their regular battle of wits, where both tried to outsmart the other by throwing out just the right quip. These battles always ended up becoming very childish and penis focused. It was one of those things where it became more annoying each time they did it.


    Normally Voss would have told them to cut the crap, but he understood that the childish banter was their way of dealing with such a traumatizing event. Considering the circumstances, having to hear their incessant quips about asses, penises and lack of brains was very much preferable to having to deal with a bunch of sad, broken recruits.


    Throughout the day, more of the recruits were rolled into the recovery ward. East was covered in bandages and didn''t say much when they rolled him in; but then again, he never really did. He seemed alright though. Stoic and reserved as usual. East mostly kept to himself during the sparse free time the recruits had during means and before lights out. He always seemed to be a bit on guard. Dane had once suggested East may be from the northern outlands. A place with limited resources. Unfit for industrial mining or agriculture. The citizen government cared little for the outlands. A cold and unforgiving place, the outlands shaped those who lived in it. Proud and hardy folk that saw themselves as free men and women. They preferred to be left alone and rarely did an outlander venture towards governed lands. Voss had no idea if East really was an outlander, but it would explain why he usually kept a distance from the group. As an outlander, the experience of being aboard a claustrophobic spaceport, surrounded by slum dwellers must feel uncanny. If it had been anyone else behaving the way East did, Voss would have been wary of them. However, with East, the behavior fitted with who he was. There wasn¡¯t anything suspicious about him. Nothing to indicate he¡¯d betray them or leave them hanging during a mission. If anything, East was highly capable. Able to handle himself in pretty much any scenario and deeply loyal to whatever crew he was working with. He¡¯d never leave a recruit behind, even if it cost him. It was just that as soon as the mission was done, and the need to interact with others disappeared, he preferred to be alone.


    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Atis was also silent when they brought him in. This was a little more concerning. Atis usually wasn¡¯t one to be so quiet. He had a bit of a thousand yard stare to him as well. Hiyo, who still felt responsible for this debacle, tried to strike a conversation with Atis. Voss didn¡¯t know what Hiyo hoped to achieve with this, Atis was obviously still in a state of shock. It was better to leave him alone and see if he¡¯d recover from this state. If he didn¡¯t within the next few hours, they¡¯d probably pull him from the program. Either way, it didn¡¯t bode well for Atis¡¯ chances in the Fifth if he couldn¡¯t handle stressful situations like these. Voss took a mental note to keep his eye on him during future high stress situations. If there was one thing he had learned from working in hazardous conditions back down in Saltpetersburg, it was that weak links like Atis were one of the most dangerous parts of the job. Anyone that folded when you most needed them was a danger to all.


    Finally the sergeant came in. ¡®Quite a day you¡¯ve all had, huh? I¡¯ve discussed things with the captain and all of you are getting another twenty-four hours of rest. The accelerated healing protocols should have all of you back at a hundred percent within twelve hours, so that¡¯s a free twelve hours you¡¯re getting from us. Unfortunately I don¡¯t just have good news for you. We lost Tact and we lost dice. Dane is in a special care unit for observation. They expect him to fully recover in three days. Hoog¡¯s arm got damaged beyond repair so they¡¯ve put him in stasis to grow him a new one. He should be up and running within a week. You¡¯re all on a lighter program until Hoog gets back. We¡¯ll be going over the basics again and there will be some physical exercises as well as some added theory. Stuff that¡¯s not in the usual program but that could be useful in the future.'' It was the first time the recruits had ever seen him act mild and with a friendly demeanor. No yelling, no insults. This was a completely different side of the sergeant that they had never seen before. One that almost made him look human.


    I know many of you may think you¡¯re just expendable tools. Forced labor to be used for forty years and then discarded. However, I want you all to know that we in the Fifth take care of our own. Yes, the work we do is often dangerous and ungrateful, but any man that makes it past the final exam will be treated as a brother. Let today¡¯s treatment be a foretaste of that. It was most unfortunate what happened and none of you can be blamed for it. Use the next twenty four hours to recuperate and use the time you have until Hoog¡¯s return to work on your weak spots. The silver lining to this most unfortunate mishap is that you now all have some breathing space from the usual fast pace of the training program. Don''t get complacent though. Know that things will go back to normal as soon as Hoog returns and that this incident will offer you no respite in case of future failures or transgressions. For now I wish you gentlemen a good night and a swift recovery.¡¯ With those parting words, the sergeant exited the room.


    ¡®The officers are being uncannily nice about this whole ordeal.'' Voss said. ''Who would have thought that a bunch of slum dwellers and outlanders like ourselves would ever be given accelerated recovery treatment, or even stasis chamber limb regeneration?¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t know, I don¡¯t like it.¡¯ Hiyo replied.


    ¡®You don¡¯t like accelerated healing? Would you rather have us be in hospital for weeks and have Hoog crippled? Jabs said incredibly.


    ¡®Don¡¯t be so simple, Jabs. Think about it. We¡¯re all being given state of the art, highly expensive treatment. Why? Like Voss said: We¡¯re slum dwellers and outlanders. We¡¯ve never had much value to them and we could still easily be replaced. We cost them more money today than what all of our training combined up to this point cost.¡¯


    ¡®Hiyo¡¯s right.¡¯ Voss chimed in. ¡®Something doesn¡¯t add up. Why not just let us recover the old fashioned way? All of us would be back on our feet in less than two months.¡¯


    ¡®Exactly!¡¯ Hiyo exclaimed. ¡®And let¡¯s be honest, Hoog ain¡¯t special enough to warrant an extremely expensive arm regeneration treatment. Why not just get a fresh batch of recruits instead? There¡¯s billions of slum dwellers they can pick from. What makes us so special?¡¯


    East grunted. The others all shut up and looked at him. East only spoke when he had something important to say, so they all paid attention. ¡®Sometimes money is important. Sometimes time is more important.¡¯


    ¡®East is right.¡¯ Voss said. ¡®The reason they¡¯re spending so much on us instead of replacing us, is that they need us urgently. It¡¯s not just us either. I don¡¯t know if any of you guys noticed, but the Fifth¡¯s recruitment and training seems to be on overdrive.¡¯


    Hiyo nodded. He had noticed too. The others hadn¡¯t. ¡®Care to elaborate?¡¯ Emil asked.


    ¡®I don¡¯t have hard proof, but the signs are there. Sergeant Radklif¡¯s class felt overcrowded. Back then I thought that was just standard practice. Now, I¡¯m not so sure.¡¯


    ¡®Some proof you have there, detective.¡¯ Jabs quipped at him.


    ¡®Shut up and let me finish, you idiot.¡¯ There was probably a little more anger in Voss¡¯ voice than should have been there, but now was not the time for jokes or snark. ¡®Remember that Minoutar flight that got us to the spaceport? How they separated us based on what state we were in when we exited the ship? Quite a crude and inefficient way of selecting who¡¯s qualified right? Almost as if they had to rush through that part of training and selection.¡¯


    ¡®Makes sense, please continue.¡¯ Wago said with an unusually serious tone. Nobody was in a joking mood anymore.


    ¡®It¡¯s a lot of little things like that. For instance, have you guys noticed how the chairs in the mess always feel warm? Like someone just sat on them mere minutes before us. Or how the kitchen staff is always busy making their next batch of food when we¡¯re using our allowed ten minutes to eat? Or how we¡¯re always on such a tight schedule with every training session we have? There¡¯s never room to stay just ten minutes longer at the cargo bay to go over a few extra details with void suit practice. Our training schedule itself also makes no sense. We¡¯ll have four hours of void suit repair simulations, then we¡¯ll have three days of completely unrelated training and then suddenly it¡¯s back to the repair simulations. It makes no sense from a training perspective and only makes sense if you look at it from a scheduling issues perspective. Everything is being used the full twenty seven hours a day. There are just too many recruits for the available facilities right now. I¡¯ve had something similar happen in my life before the fifth. I can¡¯t go into too many details of course, but something happened that caused us to be seriously understaffed. The planning department had my crew go haphazardly from one job to the next and then back again. They were desperately trying to fill up any empty spot they could find with jobs that had to be done. They did everything they could to utilize us one hundred percent back then, and they¡¯re doing the same with the training facilities now.¡¯


    ¡®That sounds plausible, but it¡¯s still quite circumstantial evidence.¡¯ Emil said. ¡®I don¡¯t think it¡¯s enough to reach any real conclusions.¡¯


    ¡®We do have one piece of direct evidence though.¡¯ Hiyo responded. ¡®Remember when we were being flogged?¡¯ He asked rhetorically. ¡®The size of the crowd watching us? I observed the crowd when it was my turn up on the stands. I did so in a  futile attempt to distract myself from those lashes. A large part of that crowd was made up out of recruits. There were recruits from all specialized branches. Pilots, void marines, gun crews, navigators, you name it. They were all there in large numbers. East is right. They¡¯re spending a lot of money on us and others, because they have more money to spend than time. They¡¯re scaling up as fast as they can and willing to pay a premium to do so. Something big is afoot; Something they¡¯re not telling us about.¡¯

 Chapter 23: Bionic Scourge

    ¡®I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re reading yet another useless book. Damnit man, have you got nothing better to do than wasting your time on¡­¡¯ He picked up one of the books that laid scattered across the floor to see what it was about. ¡®Astro-physics and the basics of voidfairing? Jabs, get a load of this guy, he thinks they¡¯ll let his slumdwelling ass fly a spaceship someday.¡¯


    Jabs, who was laying on his bed with his back to the others, looked over his shoulder with an annoyed face. ¡®Leave Voss alone, Wago. Him and Hiyo got the right idea. The Fifth¡¯s library aboard the spaceport is a bonafide goldmine.¡¯


    Wago turned his head into Jabs¡¯ direction and saw that he too was reading a book. They all were. Even Emil and Tick had traded in their usual games for books. The only ones not reading anything were him and Dane. Dane hadn¡¯t done much since they released him from med bay. He slept most of the time and wasn¡¯t of much use the few hours he was awake. Last night he and Voss had to carry Dane to dinner and practically had to feed him like a baby. Dane got hit hard by the explosion and the meds the doctors had given him were heavier than what the other recruits were given. Dane¡¯s age also showed here. Accelerated healing protocols didn¡¯t work as well on older people. It took more out of them; drained them of their energy. Wago had almost forgotten about Dane¡¯s old age due to his great physical strength and stamina, but the crows feet around his eyes, and well earned wrinkles on his forehead, did betray his age. Dane had to be ninety years old at least.


    Hiyo looked up from his book and joined in on the conversation. ¡®The selection they have here is incredible, and we¡¯ve been given almost complete, unrestricted access to it. It¡¯s a luxury I could only dream off back on Fosfat, and I plan to use it to the fullest.¡¯


    ¡®Never cared much for books.¡¯ Wago replied. ¡®Never found one that was of any use to me.¡¯


    Jabs looked ready to fire off one of his quips, but Hiyo stopped him with a quick hand gesture. ¡®I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll find something to your liking here. We¡¯ve got books on politics, psychology, biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, how to operate heavy machinery; hell, I even found a book that will teach you how to make improvised weaponry and explosives..¡¯


    Wago¡¯s eyes widened. ¡®Explosives you say?¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯ve got it right here. Want to take a look?¡¯. Hiyo outstretched his arm towards Wago, with the book in his hand. Wago eagerly grasped it from Hiyo¡¯s hand and walked over to his bed to sit down and read. He looked like a kid who had just been given his first firecracker. Hiyo gave him a knowing smile, which Wago missed due to already being too engulfed in his book. ¡®They truly have something for everyone in that library.¡¯ Hiyo thought to himself.


    A guard entered the barrack, followed by a clean looking Hoog who was wearing fresh overalls. The guard gave Hoog a nod and left again.


    ¡®Well, well, well, I don¡¯t remember you ever looking so sharp.¡¯ Jabs remarked. ¡®They even cut off that dirty hair of yours.¡¯


    Hoog didn¡¯t laugh. He didn¡¯t give much of a response at all. Hiyo jumped up and dashed over to Hoog. He offered him his arm and helped Hoog get to his bed. He pointed at a bucket close to Jabs¡¯ bed. ¡®Jabs, pass me that bucket. I have a sense we¡¯re going to need it.¡¯. Jabs got up and brought the bucket and a glass of water over. Hoog gladly accepted the water. He opened a small bag that he had on him and took out a few strips of pills. He popped three pills out of them, took a big gulp of water and swallowed the pills.


    Finally he spoke. ¡®I don¡¯t feel too well. They went straight to washing and grooming me after they pulled me out of the stasis tank and then marched me straight down here. I¡¯m still woozy from that tank and my shoulder feels like it¡¯s wrapped in razor wire.¡¯


    ¡®Voss looked at Hoog with a skeptical face. ¡®Your body isn¡¯t supposed to hurt like that after they regrow a limb. You might want to get them to do an extra scan just to be sure.¡¯


    Hoog replied. ¡®They didn¡¯t regrow my arm. They gave me a bionic arm with strength and accuracy implants. Doctor said they also put a regulator thingy in my side, but I have no idea what that does.¡¯


    Voss¡¯ mouth fell open. ¡®They gave you bionic augmentations?! And they gave you a regulator!? No way! That¡¯s highly advanced and expensive tech. There¡¯s just no way they¡¯d ever give that to a slum dweller like you.¡¯


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    ¡®What¡¯s a regulator? Tick asked. ¡®I¡¯ve heard of bionic limbs and implants, but what does a regulator do?¡¯


    ¡®I can¡¯t blame you guys for not knowing what regulators are.¡¯ Voss said. ¡®They¡¯re incredibly rare and still very new tech. They¡¯ve only been around for about twenty years and as far as I know, even most high class citizens don¡¯t know about them; and even if they do, they can¡¯t access one anyhow. Regulators are a medical device that feed on the nutrients that your blood provides them with. Making them fully self sustainable.¡¯


    ¡®But what do they do?¡¯ Hiyo asked Voss.


    ¡®What don¡¯t they do? They can secrete anything from pain killers to adrenaline to substances that help you heal faster. They can minimize bleeding and prevent infections. They can even give you electric shocks in case of cardiac arrests, or clean your blood in case of radiation poisoning. They¡¯re designed to keep you going even in the gravest of circumstances.¡¯


    ¡®Wow, that does sound highly advanced and expensive. How do you even know about this, Voss?¡¯ Wago asked him incredulously.


    ¡®I can¡¯t tell you. I already said too much.¡¯ Voss felt stupid for sharing such knowledge so openly. He couldn¡¯t afford the other recruits finding out about his past. Especially not when it could lead to more lashes or even worse. ¡®I¡¯m just flabbergasted that you¡¯d be propped up with such expensive and sophisticated tech, is all.¡¯


    ¡®Yeah well, so am I.¡¯ Hoog replied. ¡®Trust me, the last thing I expected when I was on that floor, bleeding to death, was that I¡¯d wake up with a bionic arm. I thought for sure that I was a goner. I have no clue what happened after I lost consciousness.¡¯


    ¡®Anyone got a spare battery pack?¡¯ Wago asked jokingly. ¡®I want to upgrade some of my limbs and become a cyborg like Hoog.¡¯


    ¡®Maybe if we ask nicely, they¡¯ll give all of us some cool upgrades.¡¯ Emil chimed in. ¡®Turn ourselves into mechanical mechanics. Imagine the possibilities. I want an arm that I can attach a drill or laser cutter to. Would make our future work so much easier.¡¯


    Wago began to make janky movements, acting like he was some rusty robot. ¡®I know, right? We¡¯d be the most wanted mechanics of them all. Perhaps we could even leverage it into getting the best available jobs.¡¯


    Hiyo grunted. ¡®You guys are missing the point¡¯ He said deridingly. ¡®The important thing here is that this is yet more confirmation that something big is afoot. There¡¯s no way they¡¯d give any of us augmentations like that unless the situation is dire. This isn¡¯t going to make our lives easier. If anything, it¡¯s going to make them harder.¡¯


    Emil looked unconvinced by Hiyo¡¯s warnings. ¡®Maybe you¡¯re wrong, Hiyo. Maybe the augmentations are experimental and they just needed someone like us to be their guinea pig.¡¯


    Voss knew better than that. His dad had been part of the augmentations and enhancements department in Fosfat¡¯s elite program. The whole department had gone up in flames together with his mother¡¯s laboratory. None of the program¡¯s greatest minds had made it out live. Fosfatian augmentation research had come to a standstill after that incident. They still used the same models that were developed twenty years ago. There was nothing experimental about them. He wasn¡¯t going to share that information with the others though, he had already said too much.


    Hiyo shook his head. ¡®It¡¯s not impossible, but I think it¡¯s unlikely. If they were going to experiment, they¡¯d make sure to have a batch of test subjects ready. Programs like that don¡¯t rely on happenstance. They¡¯d have to keep a team of medical staff on standby for weeks or even months, waiting for the right patient to experiment on. No, I don¡¯t find that very likely at all. It¡¯s much more likely that it has something to do with that scourge virus they warned us about. Perhaps it¡¯s doing the rounds again and they need anyone they can get to make sure nobody foreign makes it to Fosfat¡¯s surface.¡¯


    Jabs sighed. ¡®Man, I¡¯d hate to think that¡¯s the case. Would be just our luck. We get a chance to escape the slums and go to space, only to get killed by some horror virus.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s just a thesis though.¡¯ Hiyo tried to assure them. ¡®I know as much as you guys. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t like what¡¯s going on. We¡¯re being rushed to the front of whatever is happening at any expense necessary. That¡¯s not something they¡¯d do if we were destined to go work on rusty space freighters delivering aluminum plates to Chari-2.¡¯


    Hiyo¡¯s face looked concerned. Voss could tell this was something that had been on Hiyo¡¯s mind since they were in recovery bay a week ago. Hiyo made some good points and the scenarios he described seemed plausible. Voss wasn¡¯t too concerned though. He had learned from a young age not to worry about things he couldn¡¯t influence. Especially not when there were more pressing matters at hand. He needed to make it through training so he could join the lieutenant¡¯s crew. It was his best shot at getting his hands on what he needed to make his plans work. The others could worry about the galaxy being in flames.. Sure, the idea of entire planets being engulfed by a horrible plague wasn¡¯t something he was excited about, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. There might be ways to take advantage of it though, and you should never let a good crisis go to waste.  If it meant training would be over sooner, then that¡¯d be just the kind of advantage he could use.


    Hiyo¡¯s words did make him think though. What if the lieutenant¡¯s special mission revolved around the scourge? What if it revolved around an even greater threat that the recruits weren¡¯t aware of yet? Now those were risks that did affect him personally. Those were risks he did have to worry about.

 Chapter 24: A Day of Ascension

    It had been a short night when the sergeant woke them up. They were rushed to the mess and given even less time than usual to gulp down yet another portion of some tasteless colorless slop. The sergeant warned them to eat well because today was a big day and it could be quite some time before they ate again. This wasn''t the first time he had given them such a speech, yet today felt different. The tables were buzzing. Recruits were speculating on whether today could be the big day.


    ''I think it''s going to happen today.'' Hiyo said.


    ''I''ll believe it when I see it. Wouldn''t be the first time we are let down by one of their supposedly big days. Last time they pulled this one on us, we ended up scrubbing some stupid engine dock all day. Those assholes called it a big day because it was the first time we got to see some ugly, old plasma-electric engine. Whoop di do my ass.'' Wago grunted.


    ''I agree with Hiyo.'' Jabs said. ''I think today might be the big day.''


    ''The day of ascension.'' Emil said.


    ''Careful, Emil. Don''t let the guards catch you talking like that or we could all be in trouble.'' Voss replied.


    ''Why? What did he say?'' Tick asked.


    ''Shut up about it already. Let it rest.'' Dane warned the others. ''Besides if this is truly the big day, then we better focus on what''s at hand. Void walking is no walk in the park from what I heard.''


    ''Dane is right.'' Voss said. ''Let''s eat as much as we can and prepare for whatever is to come. You guys all remember the steps for suiting up by heart?''


    ''Yes of course.'' Wago snapped back at him with an annoyed voice. ''Stop acting like the rest of us are stupid.''


    ''Calm down, Wago. Voss is right. We should all go over the steps again inside our heads as we go there. There''s zero margin for error here and none of us have ever done this before. So we need to be fully focused and completely prepared.'' Dane said. Dane had the ability to talk in a way that made everyone unwilling to question his authority. Voss had suspected from day one that Dane had been some kind of enforcer or boss in a major gang, but there was no way to find out, and Dane wasn''t likely to tell them either.


    ''Time''s up, move it you bunch of drunken apes.'' the sergeant barked.


    They got up, handed in their empty trays and ran after the sergeant. Voss noticed that the amount of armed guards and instructors that were with them was unusually low today. Did this mean they started to trust the recruits more? Or were they needed elsewhere?


    After a good while of running, the sergeant halted them in front of a large airlock that had "launch dock TD9" written on it. ''So we are going into the void today after all.'' Voss thought to himself.


    The steel airlocked doors produced a loud clanking noise as they slowly slid open, revealing a launch bay with a Ciklops voidcraft in its center. It was a thirty meter model made for void construction works. The sergeant gave them one of his usual tirades. Something about them being slow grandmothers. Voss barely registered what the sergeant was yelling at them. None of them were. Their hearts were racing. It was for real now. After days worth of void training, they were now going to enter the cold, unforgiving void with only their mark III¡¯s protecting them from death. They were going to voidwalk for the very first time. There would be no margin for errors. Break away from the group and you had mere hours before your oxygen ran out.


    At least you still had a chance to be saved in case of break away. If any of your systems broke down, you had mere minutes at best, and that was if you noticed the malfunction in time. Anything happened to the suit itself and you¡¯d be dead before you knew what happened.


    All these things ran through the recruits¡¯ heads as they tried to simultaneously remember all the instructions and protocols that had been rammed inside their heads these past weeks on board the spaceport.


    Twenty one passengers entered the Ciklops. Ten recruits, ten instructors, one sergeant. The Ciklop¡¯s rear cargo door closed behind them. The instructors were already wearing their suits and helmets when they got in. The recruits¡¯ suits had been placed on board. They wasted no time and put on their suits and helmets, going through each step meticulously. Even the sergeant was focused and silent whilst putting on his suit. The void demanded absolute precision.


    The air pressure in the Ciklops rose slightly after the doors were closed. The ship had been designed to have upper pressure. This kept the special valve on the mark III helmets open at all times whilst on board. Thus making sure that their oxygen systems stayed turned off. A basic system aimed at keeping their limited oxygen supplies preserved whilst still keeping everyone safe in case of sudden loss of cabin pressure. When upper pressure was lost, the inner pressure of the helmet would cause the valve to be shut automatically. This in turn would spring their oxygen tanks into action. All of this worked through a mechanic system, minimizing the risk of malfunctions.


    Voss could hear the launch bay was being emptied of air whilst the recruits put on their suits and strapped themselves into their seats. More accurately, he noticed how the ever present noise from machines and air vents slowly faded away as the air surrounding the Ciklops became thinner. Eventually everything fell silent and all that remained was the nervous, heavy breathing of the recruits.


    A green light turned on. Their pilot spoke through the intercom: ¡®Launch bay vacuum reached. Outer doors are opening. We will be ready for launch soon. Troop status confirm?¡¯. The sergeant replied: ¡®Troop status is go. All void ready and strapped in.¡¯


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    The pilot responded via the communal frequency: ¡®Ciklops Rebus Manor Four Seven ready for launch.¡¯. Voss grabbed onto the straps of his seatbelt, preparing himself for the launch¡¯ impact. Nothing happened. They just sat there in complete silence, strapped in and waiting. The sergeant broke the silence. ¡®Telecom check, does everyone copy? I want to see thumbs up if you do.¡¯. Everyone gave him a thumbs up. ¡®Good. Launch bay doors will be fully opened soon. Everybody relax for now. The red light will start flashing when we¡¯re ready for launch. When it stops blinking, launch is due in three seconds.¡¯


    Voss tried to relax and wait for the red light to start flashing, but he found it was easier said than done. His heart rate was still up and his breathing so heavy that his visor became slightly condensed. A drop of sweat was making its way down his forehead. It tickled him as it went down. He couldn¡¯t do anything about it though, so he tried to ignore it.


    The red light started flashing and then stopped again. He braced himself for impact. A sudden force slammed him forward. It was a rapid acceleration that only lasted for three seconds. After that, nothing happened. An eerily peaceful quiet was all that remained.


    The sergeant spoke through their intercoms. ¡®The pilot has to wait until the proper distance and rotation from the spaceport has been achieved. This is to prevent the exhaust plasma particles from shooting into the spaceport. It¡¯s a standard preventative procedure to avoid gradual corrosion of the spaceport¡¯s exterior hull. The red light will flash again when the pilot turns on our engines.¡¯


    The red light flashed a few seconds after the sergeant spoke. Three seconds after it turned off again, the ship began to accelerate. This lasted for about two minutes, after which they glided to whatever their destination was. The Ciklops flight was very different from the one in the Minoutar. There was no turbulence, no unexpected turns or shakes. It was as if they weren¡¯t moving at all. There were no sounds and since there was no outside view, it felt like nothing was happening. There was no way for Voss or the other passengers to know where they were flying towards or how fast they were going.


    There was a near total silence for most of the flight. Broken only by the sounds of their oxygen valves opening and closing with each breath. Voss hadn¡¯t realized just how noisy and busy the spaceport was. The contrast provided by the deadly quiet Ciklops now made him all too aware of it. He wasn¡¯t used to it. The slums were always noisy and so were the large machines he used to work on. Even the bunker in which they received sergeant Radklif¡¯s classes hadn¡¯t been this silent. The silence felt like a stranger to him. One he¡¯d have to get used to. Fortunately, the sergeant proved himself to be willing to break the uneasy silence, when he began to growl instructions through the intercom.


    ¡®Listen up, you pansies. Today¡¯s objective is to repair a geostationary satellite located one thousand clicks south-southwest from the spaceport. This is a standard observation and communication relay satellite that is part of the spaceport¡¯s periphery systems. Contact to this satellite was lost yesterday. Most likely due to a technical failure. That said, I want you lot to be prepared for anything. Your objective is to discover the problem and fix it.


    All of you are assigned an instructor. You will be physically linked to your instructor via a retractable cable. The maximum length of that cable is ten meters. Your instructor¡¯s primary task is to observe you. They will assist you during the work itself and instruct you when necessary. However, if your instructor has to do any type of emergency intervention, you will be disqualified. Trust me, you do not want that. Obey your instructor at all times.


    Each instructor has a number on their suits. I will call out each recruit and give them a number. Pair up with your instructor. They have number patches with them to put on the front and back of your suits. During the mission, all communication will happen through rank and number only. Before each message, you will state rank and number. This lets the others know who is talking. Voidwalking tends to get chaotic. Three minutes in, you¡¯ll have lost track of who is who. The numbers on your suits are the only clear identifying markers you have, so use them. Whenever possible, I also want you to state your location before beginning your message. Muck this up and you are disqualified. Is that understood?¡¯


    The recruits and instructors all gave the sergeant a thumbs up.


    ¡®Good. You will be split into two teams of five pairs. Team one will be numbers one to five. Team two, six to ten. Your helmet display shows an oxygen bar. Ten blocks means your tank is full, zero blocks means you¡¯re dead.


    Team one will go back in for oxygen refills once their tanks hit five blocks. Team two will go back in once their tanks hit four blocks. I want you to signal me before going back for refill. Failure to do so leads to disqualification.


    This is a real mission and you are in the real void. There is no rescue party. Mistakes can be deadly. I expect you all to be at one hundred percent focus and I want that satellite back up, working in perfect condition. Is that understood?¡¯


    Again twenty thumbs up signaled that everyone had received his message loud and clear.


    Good. Estimated arrival time is in ten minutes. The lights will flash again before engines are turned on again. I will now pair you up with your instructors. Your instructors will tell you the frequencies of your private communication channels. Restrict yourselves to your channel unless you¡¯ve got something to say that¡¯s important for all to hear.


    Now for the pairings.


    Team blue.


    Dane, one


    Jabs, two


    Atis, three


    Emil, four


    Voss, five


    Team red


    Wago, six


    Hiyo, seven


    Hoog, eight


    Tick, nine


    East, ten


    Get to your instructors, get your gear in order, and walk through the mission details with them.


    Voss got out of his seat and gave himself a small push towards instructor five. He floated through the passenger bay of the Ciklops at a calm and controlled pace. He noticed his instructor was the shortest of them all, with a slim build. ¡®It¡¯s a good thing we¡¯ll be weightless.¡¯ Voss thought to himself. ¡®Or he¡¯d be of little use if we got into trouble. He could probably fit twice inside me.¡¯


    The instructor moved forward and placed his hand on Voss¡¯ intercom module. The instructor typed in a code and an automated voice spoke through Voss¡¯ intercom. ¡®Switching to channel 5.¡¯


    ¡®Can you hear me now, recruit?¡¯. The instructor¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t that of a man. It was that of a woman. A familiar one at that.


    ¡®Lieutenant Vanmire? Is that you?¡¯

 Chapter 25: Together Adrift

    A green light flashed, signaling that the pilot had started applying the vacuum procedure of the passenger bay. The valve on his helmet shut itself. He was now breathing through his oxygen tank. They¡¯d be in full vacuum soon. Air was never wasted in the void.


    The red light started flashing again. Everybody grabbed the straps of their seatbelts. The pilot hit the reverse thrusters hard. Everyone jerked to the front. When the reverse thrust finished, the Ciklops started to move and shake in various directions. It felt like hammer blows were landing down on the ship. Every recruit held on to their armrests or seat belts for their dear lives. The sergeant and the instructors seemed less impressed by the violent movements the Ciklops was making. ¡®Collect yourself, Voss. The pilot¡¯s just parking manually.¡¯ The lieutenant bit at him on their personal intercom channel. Voss was annoyed by her presence. He had no idea she would be along for the ride today. It felt like he had to go through a double exam today, where he had to keep her satisfied as well as the sergeant.


    The janky movements of the ship were losing their intensity. The sergeant spoke through their intercoms. He was mostly repeating what the lieutenant had already told Voss on their private channel. ¡®Manual rapid deceleration into parallel velocity and direction. Also colloquially known as parallel parking. Can get quite rough, but every pilot needs to be able to do it. Once in a while they¡¯ll switch off the autopilot and give it a go. Today you gentlemen got to enjoy the process.¡¯


    The red and green lights started flashing again. ¡®Alright ship status is green. Mission is go.¡¯ the sergeant barked at them. ¡®Everyone unbuckle your seatbelts and make your final preparations. Hatch opens in two minutes.¡¯


    The lieutenant did a check to see if Voss had all the equipment they needed stashed in his toolbelt before placing her hook onto one of the metal rings on Voss¡¯ suit. She and the other instructors gave the sergeant the ok hand signal, indicating that every recruit had been checked and they were now ready to go.


    The hatch opened. Voss hadn¡¯t been ready for what happened next. For a few seconds he found himself unable to breathe. He had never seen something so awe inspiring before. He had been under the impression that they were going to repair a standard satellite. Those things were never bigger than fifty meters at most. Instead, the opened hatch had revealed one of the space port¡¯s main defense bastions. A five kilometers tall, heavily fortified, massive structure that had been built in the old days of war, long before the imperial peace had put an end to such folly. It was so big, that he hadn¡¯t even noticed the majestic, yellow, green and blue of Fosfat revealed beneath the bastion.


    He forced himself to take a deep breath and push away the overwhelming feeling of awe that had come over him. He had just spent two months traversing through narrow, claustrophobic corridor after corridor. He had spent most of his time on the space port being locked up in gritty, metal rooms where every nook and cranny filled and no space was wasted. Before that, he had spent most of his live in the dark and labyrinths of the slums. Only leaving them when he went to work in Saltpete¡¯s undercity. The only time he had ever been able to see further than a couple of hundred meters had been when he was at Herbert University. Not that he could see very far, not with the urban sprawl of high rise after high rise in the way, but at least then he had a free view of the night¡¯s sky. He used to spend hours gazing up at the stars, trying to spot the spaceport and the large bastions that were visible with the naked eye.


    Now he was right in front of just such a bastion, looking back down on Fosfat. It was the first time he recognized the true scale of the greater Saltpetersburg area. Not even in his wildest dreams had he ever imagined it to be so vast. There must have been at least a billion, perhaps even two billion living down there. Such views were enough to instill a slum dweller such as himself with a sense of cosmic terror. The vast expanse surrounding him felt gripping, choking even.


    ¡®Focus, recruit! Or would you rather have me fail you before we¡¯ve even started?¡¯ The lieutenant¡¯s familiar voice snapped him out of his bubble. The lieutenant was floating in front of him. She held onto a metal rail with her left arm and had her right arm, which was holding a grappling hook, outstretched towards him.¡¯


    He grabbed the hook and attached it to his suit. They were now connected. ¡®Start paying attention and follow my instructions. We¡¯ve got a jump to complete and if we muck it up, we could be hurtling towards a most uncomfortable death in the deep void before I have time to kill you myself.¡¯


    ¡®Jump? You can¡¯t seriously be suggesting we¡¯re going to jump to the bastion? That must be at least three hundred meters from here!¡¯


    ¡®Four hundred, and yes we are. Forget to call me lieutenant one more time and I¡¯ll smack you towards it with a steel rod. Do you copy?¡¯


    ¡®Yes, lieutenant.¡¯. There was something different about the lieutenant. He couldn¡¯t quite place it. Something grave. She wasn¡¯t up for any of their usual banter. It was as if she had bigger concerns to worry about. He chalked it up to nervousness about being exposed out here in the void¡­ And, who was he kidding? He felt the exact same nervousness. They all did. He took another look out into the void. Perhaps the choice that the recruits had been given was a false one. Perhaps no matter what they chose, death was the inevitable outcome.


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    One by one, the instructor-recruit couples got onto the ramp to make the jump. They were up fifth, in correspondence with their number.


    ¡®Listen up, recruit. Void jumping isn¡¯t like jumping back on Fosfat. Gravity is negligible out here due to the speed with which we¡¯re rotating around the planet. That means you have to jump straight at your target. Always jump from a platform that¡¯s angled at 90¡ã from your target and jump straight up. You have to be exact with this, because small deviations can have big consequences when you jump such distances. Do you copy?¡¯


    ¡®Yes, lieutenant.¡¯. He tried to sound braver than he really felt. Truth be told, he was terrified and it took him everything he had to stay collected enough to make the jump.


    It was their turn to jump. Voss tried to climb up on the jump platform and hold himself steady there. A process that was much more difficult than it sounded. This was the first time he was moving around freely at zero G¡¯s. He discovered that it¡¯s surprisingly easy to overshoot and topple over when there is no stabilizing force like gravity, nor was there any resistance to slow him down. He had to learn to use very small amounts of force with any move he made.


    Lieutenant Vanmire locked her feet into the braces that were on the platform. Both of them were given the end of long ropes. ¡®Hold onto this, recruit. They¡¯re emergency ropes. If we muck up the jump, then we hold onto the ropes and they prevent us from tumbling into space. If we make a successful jump, we let go of the ropes before they are fully extended and we go.¡¯. He didn¡¯t know how to feel about the rope. On one hand, he was happy to have an extra safety mechanism; On the other hand, he found it a bit disconcerting how primitive the tools were that they depended on. Still, it may have been primitive, but it had worked when Hoog had jumped just a little too far to the front. Both him and his instructor had been able to quickly rope themselves back in and make a second jump.


    The lieutenant got upright on the platform. She stabilized herself using a metal rail, and told Voss to do the same. When he he also had his feet strapped in and body stabilized, she signaled the sergeant, who retracted the braces. Voss¡¯ feeling of unease wasn¡¯t made better by the fact that nothing they did made any noise. The only sounds he heard were the voice of the lieutenant, barking orders at him, and that of his own breath.


    ¡®Are you ready, recruit?¡¯


    ¡®Ready as I¡¯ll ever be, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®Good, now grab my hand.¡¯


    He did as he was told.


    ¡®Relax your grip, recruit. I want this jump to go nice and smooth. There¡¯s no point in putting a lot of force behind it. There¡¯s no resistance. We¡¯ll get to our destination even if we go a bit slower. The most important thing is that we jump synchronized to prevent us from spinning around during the jump. Now let¡¯s jump. Three, two, one, GO!¡¯. He tried to coordinate his jump with hers as best as he could and hoped it was good enough. ¡®Release the rope, now.¡¯ The lieutenant said and he did as he was told. ¡®Jump successful, sergeant. Switching back to private intercom from here on out.¡¯


    Voss could tell they were heading in the right direction. They were spinning around ever so slowly, but he didn¡¯t expect that to be much of an issue during landing. The void jump did make him feel quite powerless. There was nothing he could do now to stop their spin or change their course. The movements he made with his limbs did nothing. He remembered to focus on his breathing and relax, just like they had been taught during practice. He aimed his eyes towards their target landing area to help give him a sense of space and direction. He could see the first team had just landed and was now moving towards the malfunctioning antenna. Three more teams were in front of them. All were floating towards the bastion at a steady pace. He couldn¡¯t see what was happening behind him, but he knew there¡¯d be five more teams that followed them.


    ¡®Alright, recruit. Time to focus on our landing. We only get one chance to get this right, and if we screw it up, we¡¯ll bounce right off and drift helplessly into the void. I want you to grab your right side hook. I¡¯ll grab my left side hook. Anywhere within the big red circle, you¡¯ll find plenty of metal bars and rails to grab onto. Right before we land, I¡¯ll give you a signal to push my hand away gently. I¡¯ll push yours away as well. This way we¡¯ll land at an angle. Landing is easier that way because it increases the chance of finding something sturdy you can grab onto. As soon as you get a hold of something, hook yourself onto it. If both of us manage to hook into something, we¡¯ll have a stable landing. If one of us fails, we¡¯ll have a rough landing, but we¡¯ll be fine. If both of us fail, we¡¯re in for a world of shit. Do you copy?¡¯


    ¡®Loud and clear, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®Good. When we are hooked in, the first thing we need to do is to look up behind us. Last thing you want is another team crash landing on top of us. Can lead to all sorts of bad things and they¡¯re likely to bounce back off into the void. You want to be ready for any incoming team so you can either help them land, or get out of their way.¡¯


    ¡®Understood, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®Oh, and one more thing, Voss. Don¡¯t embarrass me today, because you will regret it.¡¯


    Her comment broke his nervous state. His face relaxed and a small smile appeared on his face.¡®Trust me, Vanmire, the last thing I want is to spend my final moments drifting into the void together with you.¡¯


    ¡®Good, now brace for landing. We only get one chance to get it right.¡¯

 Chapter 26: A Rough Landing

    ¡®Three, two, one, push!¡¯. Voss did as the lieutenant instructed. They pushed each other away mere seconds before impact. He shifted his focus towards the landing. He aimed for a ladder that looked like it was his best bet. He managed to grab onto it with his left hand, but he was unable to stop his momentum due to the awkward angle at which he had grabbed it. He tried to clasp the hook in his right hand onto the ladder but it failed to click. A nervous chill shot through his spine. His failed attempt at landing had caused him to get into a rapid spin. He desperately outstretched both his arms as he spun round. He saw the Ciklops flash by in the distance and several recruits and instructors floating towards them. He spinned further towards the bastion again and managed to grab onto the step of a different ladder with the tips of his fingers. It wasn¡¯t enough to hold onto it, but it was enough to stop his spin and prevent him from bouncing back into the void. With his momentum having ground to a halt, he could now properly grab onto a metal rail that stuck out at the edge of the landing zone. Just as he was about to grab it, something jerked him back. The line between the lieutenant and him had been fully extended and had caused him to bounce back once fully stretched. He was once again floating and spinning around helplessly, doing his best not to panic.


    ¡®Damnit Voss, get yourself together and reel yourself in towards me. I¡¯ve landed successfully and am hooked in.¡¯. Pulling himself in was easier said than done. His spin caused the cable to wrap around him and then unwrap again when it caused the cable to extend. By this point he had lost all sense of direction, everything spinning and turning around him. He knew his only option was to start pulling on the cable and hope nothing would get lost or damaged during his uncontrolled landing.


    He bumped into the lieutenant as he crash landed, causing her to topple over. A flurry of curses and abuses sounded over his intercom. He had no time to listen though, he needed to stop his spinning before the cable wrapped around him again and caused any damage to his suit or toolbelt. His flailing arms managed to grab hold onto something and he finally managed to hook onto the bastion. With both of them hooked in, they managed to stabilize the situation and land properly.


    Voss looked at the lieutenant, expecting her to give out orders, but saw she was looking up at the Ciklops instead. He remembered just in time that he was supposed to do the same and looked up too. He saw team eight was heading towards their direction and that instructor eight was mere seconds away from landing on top of him. Voss hooked his left leg into the steps of one of the ladders and leaned back to catch the instructor. He managed to grab onto his toolbelt and push him towards one of the ladders. The instructor grabbed the ladder and clicked himself onto it in one fluent motion. The instructors¡¯ experience shone through here. It was a good thing Voss had managed to catch the instructor, because recruit eight had bounced off the bastion and was heading back into the void. Voss tried to remember who recruit eight was again but couldn¡¯t. Usually Voss took pride in how good his memory was, but under the current circumstances, it seemed to fail him.


    ¡®Let¡¯s get moving, recruit.¡¯ Voss turned around. Behind the lieutenant shone the lights of a million stars. It was the most beautiful sight he ever got to behold. He wished he could have enjoyed it a little longer, but the lieutenant signaled for them to get a move on. He followed the lieutenant but kept one eye on the sky. Not just for the view, but also because one instructor crash landing on top of him was more than enough for him.


    The lieutenant hooked herself into a long metal rail that was fastened to the bastion by a pole every fifty meters or so. She signaled to Voss to do the same. ¡®This rail goes straight to the antenna. We¡¯ll follow it till we get there. Make sure one of us is attached to the rail at all times. We can get there quickly if we use the rail to propel ourselves.¡¯


    Voss did what he was told and the lieutenant showed him how to best propel himself along the rail. Voss quickly got the hang of it and it wasn¡¯t before long before they were clearing three rail segments per minute.


    ¡®Exactly how private is our communications channel, lieutenant?¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s a direct channel between our intercoms, Voss. That means it¡¯s encrypted and nobody can eavesdrop on us, even if they manage to catch the signal.¡¯


    ¡®Good. You can give me an update on where we stand then.¡¯


    ¡®Where we stand is that you¡¯ll address me as lieutenant, private intercom or no private intercom.¡¯


    ¡®In that case, you can give me an update on where we stand, lieutenant.¡¯. Something about the lieutenant¡¯s demeanor pissed him off. She was the one who wanted him for her mission. She was the one who put him in this program. She wanted to involve him in her big plans and now that he was on board, she played the rank card on him.


    ¡®Don¡¯t you worry about my mission, Voss. Focus on your own mission instead. Get through today and the rest of your training, and you¡¯ll find out more about my mission soon enough.¡¯


    ¡®How long until I can graduate, lieutenant?¡¯


    ¡®Stop asking me questions and just focus on what we¡¯re here to do. Void walking is dangerous enough as it is. I don¡¯t need you being distracted by things that are irrelevant today.¡¯


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    ¡®Alright then, lieutenant. But you better keep your end of the bargain, because I¡¯m not going to work engines on one of those shitbrick freighters they¡¯re teaching us about. A few months on board of one of those dullards and I¡¯ll personally steer it into the spaceport and Saltpetersburg below it at hyperspeed.¡¯


    ¡®Hah, give me a heads up when you do. I¡¯ll give you the coordinates of where the Fifth¡¯s high command is seated when you do. The amount of administrative hassle they¡¯ve given me these past months is enough to drive anyone into a murderous rage.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯d be my pleasure, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®Let¡¯s get back to the task at hand, Voss. We¡¯re closing in on the antenna now. I need you to focus from here on out.¡¯


    ¡®Copy that, lieutenant. No mercy in the void and all that.¡¯


    The lieutenant didn¡¯t reply to his smart ass comment. Instead, she pointed at a small ledge that formed a square of about five by five meters. ¡®Careful of those rings. They house turrets. Those things will open without warning whenever they¡¯re needed to shoot anything out of the void that could form a potential threat to the bastion, the spaceport, or Fosfat itself. They keep those things operational to blast asteroids and pieces of void debris.


    ¡®Don¡¯t they deactivate them when we¡¯re up here doing maintenance, lieutenant?¡¯


    ¡®No, the bastion is more important than any of us. If anything gets picked up by the bastion¡¯s deep space scanners that¡¯s assessed to be a threat, those turrets will be deployed to shoot at them, regardless of how many of us are up here. Look at it from the upside. These are Gass rail cannons. If there had been any kind of atmosphere around here, the blastwave of those things would have been enough to rip the flesh off your bones. The tungsten-steel rounds those puppies shoot, leave the barrel at fifteen percent of light speed.¡¯


    ¡®I can¡¯t help but notice that they¡¯re spending a lot of money and energy on keeping what''s supposed to be an ancient war relic, fully operational. Seems like they¡¯re trying to defend Fosfat against much bigger dangers than a couple of space rocks or the odd caper ship, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®Those are exactly the kind of questions that will get you into a lot of problems, Voss. I suggest you keep them to yourself if you know what¡¯s good for you.¡¯


    Voss decided to heed her warning and refrain from further questioning. Besides, they were nearing the target communications antenna anyhow. It was a pretty standard long range set up. Several communication systems were combined into one large, fifty meters tall communications station. Each system had its own purpose and frequencies. Nothing exciting and this job would have been just another day at the office, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that today¡¯s office was the cold, dark void.


    Each team had been allocated a workspace. Theirs was B3, which turned out to be all the way at the top of the antenna, beneath the main dish. The good part about voidwalking was that zero gravity meant going up was just as easy as going forward. Not an unnecessary luxury considering the discomfort of wearing a void suit and a bag¡¯s worth of equipment.


    Voss and the lieutenant both clasped one of their hooks to the safety rail, grabbed each other¡¯s hand, and jumped up. They passed station B2 on their way up. Team four was already at their station and in the process of unscrewing the metal plate that covered the electronics they had to run checks on. Voss¡¯ visor flashed as they neared their station.¡¯


    ¡®Six bars of oxygen left, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®Copy that, Voss. Let¡¯s hurry this thing up and head back in time.¡¯


    They landed safely at the B3 platform and got straight to work. Everything had to be done according to an exact procedure that was much stricter than any Voss had known back down on Fosfat. He used one of the spare hooks in his toolbelt to attach the hatch to a safety rail before he went to unscrew it. His drill had been purposely made to hold onto any screw he used it on. This ensured that no screw would accidentally fly off into the void after being unscrewed. He carefully placed each screw in the secure holder on his toolbelt. Once the hatch had been opened and moved out of the way, they began to methodically go through each compartment to see if everything was in working order.


    ¡®I don¡¯t get it, lieutenant. Why did they use screws on these things instead of pneumatic systems? Seems primitive and inconvenient to me.¡¯


    ¡®These bastions were built in a time of great need, a long time ago, Voss. They had to cut corners wherever possible. It was faster, easier, and most importantly, cheaper to build them this way. Now stop asking questions and check D compartment for electric conductance characteristics.¡¯


    ¡®Yes, lieutenant. D compartment at one point three Ohm and stable.¡¯


    A voice sounded over the intercom. ¡®Team seven, recruit Hiyo. location C2. We¡¯ve found a defective circuit board in compartment C. Model type DL730RS. Can anyone deliver us one?¡¯


    The sergeant replied: ¡®Copy that, team eleven is dispatching.¡¯


    Voss¡¯ visor flashed again. He was at five bars now. ¡®Five bars remaining, lieutenant. We should head back.¡¯


    ¡®We finish the job here first, Voss. Just two more tests to run before we can give the all clear on B3.¡¯


    ¡®But the sergeant said¡­¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t care what the sergeant said, Voss. I outrank him.¡¯


    ¡®Damn her¡¯ he thought to himself. That woman''s ego was going to be the death of him someday. ¡®Copy that, lieutenant. Compartment F fully functional.¡¯


    Team one signalled they were all clear on A1 and were on their way back to the Ciklops. Team two and three soon followed. Team four gave them the signal just as they finished checking the final compartment.¡¯


    ¡®All right, Voss. Let¡¯s close this thing up properly and head back before we run out of air.¡¯


    The lieutenant¡¯s words came as a relief to him. His visor had just flashed to signal there were only four bars left. They were now in a race against the clock to be back in time before air ran out.

 Chapter 27: Gasping for Air

    His oxygen was depleting much faster than he had expected. By the time they had positioned the metal plate back in its place and screwed it tight, His visor was already signaling that there were only three bars remaining.


    He notified the other teams of their status. ¡®Team 5, Voss B3 all clear. We¡¯re heading back.¡¯


    The lieutenant signaled to him to go down the ladder first. He hooked himself onto the safety rail, climbed onto the ladder and pushed himself down. The lieutenant followed shortly behind him.


    ¡®I¡¯m getting warnings about my oxygen supply running low, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®Copy that, let¡¯s hurry up and get back to the Ciklops before we¡¯re down to our last bar.¡¯


    Something overhead flew past them. It was the sergeant on a voidbike.


    ¡®Damn that moron!¡¯ The lieutenant spoke angrily through their intercom. ¡®He¡¯s breaking protocols. Typical. Stupid cowboy NCO¡¯s and their antics.¡¯


    ¡®What protocols is he breaking, lieutenant?¡¯.


    ¡®The one stating that there should always be someone left behind in the passenger bay to assist with return jumps for one. That and the ones about never going off on your own, especially not on expensive pieces of equipment like voidbikes. Just be glad we¡¯re not team one. They have to make their jump without safety now.¡¯


    ¡®Team one, corporal Varavad, starting emergency jump protocol. All teams halt jump until confirmed landing.¡¯


    ¡®Great¡¯, Voss thought to himself ¡®A delay. Just what we needed when we¡¯re already running low on oxygen.¡¯. They were nearing the jump pad. His helmet flashed again. ¡®Down to two bars remaining, lieutenant.¡¯


    Team one had made a pretty accurate jump, but it wasn¡¯t accurate enough. They veered off to the left just a little too far. ¡®Curse that idiot of a Reiniger. I¡¯m taking control of this mission. I¡¯m switching us to the main channel. Listen up everybody. This is team five, lieutenant Vanmire. I¡¯m taking command over this mission. Lieutenant Vanmire to Ciklops pilot. Prepare catcher maneuver.¡¯


    ¡®Ciklops pilot to lieutenant Vanmire. Negative, can¡¯t do. The safety ropes are still out. Maneuver would risk them getting into the engines.¡¯


    Voss could tell the lieutenant was angry, despite not being able to see her face through her blinded visor. She had these little mannerisms that betrayed her anger. She didn¡¯t let it get to her though. She recovered quickly and started barking out more instructions. ¡®Teamleader one, execute emergency push maneuver now. I need you aboard that Ciklops. Sergeant Reiniger, return to the Ciklops on the double and pick up recruit one before we lose track of him. Team two, jump now back to Ciklops. We can¡¯t afford any further delays.¡¯


    Voss could see the two men of team one detach themselves from one another. After a short, awkward repositioning, they pushed each other in opposite directions. The push was successful. Corporal Varavad was now heading straight towards the Ciklops. He landed safely inside the passenger bay and and wasted no time. He pulled in the two emergency ropes simultaneously and got ready to catch team two with them.


    Recruit one got the short end of the stick. The emergency push maneuver meant he was now drifting even further off course. He missed the Ciklops completely and was now hurling into the void. It was a good thing that Dane was recruit one. He was the most level headed out of all of them. Any other recruit might have panicked and botch the emergency push, but Voss knew Dane would remain calm, even under such dire circumstances. Voss¡¯ helmet flashed again. One bar remaining. Voss remembered his training. No point in worrying about others when you¡¯re mere minutes away from death yourself. He had to focus on his own survival. Dane¡¯s life was in the hands of the sergeant now.


    ¡®Team four, jump.¡¯ The lieutenant¡¯s voice echo¡¯d through his intercom. He hadn¡¯t even heard her give the signal to jump to team three. He almost got angry at himself for being so unfocused, but remembered that saving oxygen was his top priority right now. Anything that raised his heartbeat, and thus increased his use of oxygen, was to be avoided. Besides, he had to get ready to jump himself now.


    The lieutenant checked if they were still hooked in properly and stretched out her hand towards him. Voss did the same and they grabbed each other¡¯s hand. The lieutenant started to count down. ¡®Three, two, one, jump!¡¯.


    Voss tried to jump as hard as he could, ignoring the whole ¡°nice and smooth¡± shtick he had gotten earlier. His helmet had begun flashing red, indicating that he was running out of oxygen. They had to stick the landing or there¡¯d be no time left for any rescue operation to save them. ¡®Slow, steady breaths¡¯ he tried to remind himself.


    To her merit, the lieutenant remained unfazed. She was calling for team six and seven to jump at thirty second intervals. Even now when her own oxygen was running out, she was still focused on the mission and on getting everyone back safe. He had to admit he was impressed by how stoic she remained under pressure.


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    He and the lieutenant were now mere seconds away from landing. They had jumped a little too far in the top right direction, but a tactical push, combined with an accurate rope throw by team four¡¯s instructor, meant the lieutenant could grab onto the rope and hold on to it tightly as the rope became fully extended and snapped back towards the Ciklops. Voss used the cord between the lieutenant and himself to pull himself towards her as two recruits inside the Ciklops were pulling them in.


    They managed to crawl into the Ciklops just in time. Breathing was rapidly becoming harder to do. As soon as they were on board, the lieutenant and him made way to station five. Using his final strength, Voss managed to plug himself into the Ciklops¡¯ central oxygen system. Fresh air began flowing back into his helmet. He felt like a man coming back to the surface after having been submerged beneath the water for too long. He had been closer to passing out than he¡¯d like to admit to himself.


    He sat down in his seat, slouching. More tension began leaving his body with each big gulp of air he took. The lieutenant hadn¡¯t sat down. She remained standing and supervised the unfolding operation.¡¯Team nine, jump. Team ten, jump as soon as you¡¯re ready. Sergeant Reiniger, give an update on your rescue operation. I want everyone back safe and sound as soon as possible.¡¯. The lieutenant switched to their private channel. ¡®Get yourself together, Voss. We¡¯re heading out as soon as the sergeant pulls in. Team seven is still out there and running out of oxygen. We¡¯ve got to head back with a spare tank and save them.¡¯


    ¡®You¡¯ve got to be kidding me. I nearly died out there. My tank is barely back up to three bars.¡¯


    ¡®Oh shut up and just listen, you pansy. I know what I¡¯m doing. Either man up and join me or I¡¯ll pull the hose out of your oxygen tank myself. This isn¡¯t the time for you to be selfish, Voss. The lives of team seven are in danger. Now can I depend on you or not?¡¯


    ¡®Yes, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®Good. Now get ready because we¡¯re about to head out into the void again. Only this time we¡¯ll be racing the clock on our way out.¡¯. ¡®Damn that man.¡¯ the lieutenant thought to herself. ¡®To act wimpish in a time like this.¡¯. Her father had been right. Perhaps Voss wasn¡¯t all he was made out to be. It wouldn¡¯t have been the first time the reports were wrong. Intellect and skill weren¡¯t the only things she needed. She needed team members who showed compliance, teamwork and most of all, heart. Voss was testing her patience just a little too much in an already stressful situation. Her father¡¯s words rang through her head.¡±There¡¯s another recruit. One that shows a lot of potential. One of similar intelligence and skill, and one whose character is much more.. agreeable. Promise me you¡¯ll at least keep an eye on his development and will consider him as an alternative to Voss. His name is Hiyo¡±. Perhaps her father had been right. Perhaps it was time she began to consider other recruits.


    The sergeant came back into view. She could tell that he was an experienced void flyer. He came in well above the allowed speed limits, steered his void bike into the right angle in one smooth go, braked late and docked perfectly. He might have been a cowboy, but he was the best cowboy the Fifth had.


    Her helmet indicated that her oxygen tank had been refilled up to four bars. Not ideal, but it would have to make do. She couldn¡¯t afford to wait the five minutes it would take for her oxygen tank to fill completely. Every second mattered. They had to get to team seven before their oxygen ran out.


    Voss spoke over their personal intercom. ¡®Lieutenant, I don¡¯t get it. Our tanks were out by the time we got back to the ship. There¡¯s no way any of those out there are still alive. Why risk our lives by going back out there?¡¯


    ¡®Because they¡¯re not out of air yet, Voss. But they will be soon if we don¡¯t get those portable oxygen tanks to them fast. Now help me strap the tank to the void bike.¡¯. Voss did as he was told without further questioning. At least he knew when to shut up.. sometimes.


    They strapped the tank onto the void bike and climbed on top of the bike. They strapped themselves in and once Voss had given her the ¡°I¡¯m ready¡± signal, she twisted the accelerator handlebar forward. They shot off into the void. Void bikes were launched perpendicular from ships to avoid their exhaust particles hitting the ship or those aboard it. Only after they were about thirty meters from the ship, were they allowed to make turns.


    She sighed. ¡®I thought you were an observant man, Voss. I guess I was wrong. Because if you were, you¡¯d have noticed that they gave us old mark two model oxygen tanks. Those things weigh twice as much and only last about sixty percent of what a mark three can do.


    ¡®Why would they do something as stupid as that? Are they amateurs or something? Besides, how am I supposed to notice that the tank was twice as heavy when it¡¯s my first time experiencing weightlessness?¡¯ he snapped back.


    ¡®A poor observer and a poor deductor at that.¡¯ She replied with an air of disdain in her voice. ¡®I can¡¯t believe I ever thought you had the most potential out of this batch. They didn¡¯t make a mistake, Voss. They switched those tanks on purpose as a test.¡¯


    ¡®A test? This is my first time in the void. Why would they want to test me extra when it¡¯s difficult enough as it is?¡¯


    ¡®They¡¯re not testing you, stupid. They¡¯re testing me. I knew something was up when they assigned a lieutenant like me to a silly little training exercise like this. They¡¯re stress testing me.¡¯


    ¡®And here I was, thinking you joined because you like me.¡¯


    She swung the bike to their left. Voss would have been knocked off if it wasn¡¯t for the seatbelt that held him attached to the bike. She wasn¡¯t in the mood for his silly jokes. Not when he had proven himself to be such a let down today. Not when there was so much at stake for her. This was her last chance. They were testing her to determine whether she would be given her mission back. She just knew it. They had to get to team seven in time before they ran out of air. Her entire career depended on it. They were getting close now, but there wasn¡¯t much time left. She estimated that they had less than two minutes before team seven would be no more.

 Chapter 28: Rescue From the Cusp of Death

    ¡®Team five, lieutenant Vanmire. We¡¯re nearing your position team seven. We have an extra oxygen tank with us.¡¯


    ¡®Team seven, corporal Ulta, not a moment too soon, lieutenant. We¡¯re on our last bar, about to go red.¡¯


    The lieutenant signaled to Voss to hold on tight. She hit the reverse thrusters at full throttle and skillfully maneuvered the bike parallel to the satellite tower. Her helmet hid her cocky smile from the others. ¡®The sergeant might be a good pilot,¡¯ she thought, ¡®But I¡¯m the best there is.¡¯


    Voss threw a line out to team seven. Team seven caught it and fastened it to the tower. The lieutenant gave the void bike a slight nudge towards the tower and then used her foot to bring them to a standstill. ¡®Hurry up, Voss. Give them the oxygen.¡¯


    Voss sprung into action and untied the oxygen tank from the void bike. He dismounted with the tank in hand and gave one of the two connectors to instructor seven. The instructor wasted no time and began attaching the connector to the free side of his helmet. Every helmet came with two oxygen ports. One on the left side and one on the right. The second port was meant for situations just like these, when tanks had to be swapped mid mission. Voss noticed Hiyo wasn¡¯t moving much, probably saving oxygen as much as he could. He probably hit the red and was now on his final breaths before running out of air altogether. Voss knew he had to act fast. He only had one shot to get it right.


    He grabbed Hiyo¡¯s helmet with his free hand and pulled him closer so that he¡¯d have easier access. He took the remaining connector to the spare oxygen tank and aimed it for Hiyo¡¯s free oxygen port. It was a simple procedure. One of those things that they had been practicing ad nauseam in the past weeks. Place the connector around the port, turn it until you feel a click and then flip a lever so that the connector is locked in and can start providing oxygen. So simple and boring that he had had difficulty staying awake during the hundreds of practice runs they did.


    It didn¡¯t feel boring today though. With everything on the line, Voss felt tense. The complete silence of the void made it worse as it made him painfully aware of his heavy breathing. Hiyo¡¯s lack of assistance in the process indicated that his oxygen levels had reached critical status. Hiyo was probably using the breathing techniques that they had been taught to use in case of oxygen depletion. Slow deep breaths whilst completely relaxing the body. Every movement or tension was a complete waste of oxygen in situations like these.


    Voss placed the connector around the port and tried to turn it into place. It wouldn¡¯t turn though. No matter how hard he tried to turn it into the right angle, the connector did not budge. ¡®Recruit five, system malfunction. The connector won¡¯t turn. Assistance please!¡¯.


    At the sounds of his message, Hiyo came alive. He grabbed the connector out of Voss¡¯ hands and tried to turn it into place himself, to no avail. Instructor seven pushed himself away from a rail and towards them. He landed next to them and tried to grab the connector from Hiyo¡¯s hands, but Hiyo didn¡¯t let him. He was too busy frantically and desperately attempting to turn the connector himself. ¡®Let go Hiyo, that¡¯s an order!¡¯ the instructor yelled over their intercoms, but Hiyo didn¡¯t listen. Voss figured that Hiyo had completely run out of oxygen at this point and was in a blind panic, fighting for his life.


    The instructor changed plans. He disconnected Hiyo¡¯s old oxygen connector and then disconnected his own new one. He placed his own connector on Hiyo¡¯s now free port, turned it, and twisted the lever. He then punched Hiyo in the stomach. Voss wasn¡¯t quite sure whether he did that to force Hiyo to grasp for air, to make him let go of the other connector, or just to punish him for subordination, but it worked. Hiyo shrank into a ball and let go of the other connector. Voss grabbed it, checked the insides of the connector, and found a small piece of shrapnel was stuck inside it. He quickly grabbed tongs from his toolbelt and managed to dislodge the small metal plate inside the connector. He then gave the connector to the instructor who wasted no time in attaching it to his helmet. This time the connector turned smoothly.


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    ¡®This is instructor seven, requesting medical evacuation asap. Recruit injured, I repeat, recruit injured.¡¯. ¡®Sergeant Reiniger here. Copy that, instructor seven, I¡¯m almost there.¡¯. Apparently the lieutenant had been two steps ahead of them and had already signaled for med evac. Voss and the instructor had been so busy with Hiyo that they hadn¡¯t catched her radioing in at all. The sergeant and one of the other instructors were already nearing in on their position on the Ciklop¡¯s spare void bike.


    Before the instructor even had the chance to properly park the void bike, the sergeant had already jumped off of it towards their position. He stabilized himself during his landing by wrapping his leg around a guardrail and went straight to work. Voss noticed he hadn¡¯t even bothered clicking himself in. Voss then realized he hadn¡¯t either himself. He turned around to attach himself to the nearest rail. When he turned back around to face the sergeant, he saw that Hiyo had already been swung onto a stretcher. The lieutenant and the sergeant were wrapping him onto the stretcher. The sergeant then attached his safety line onto the guardrail before jumping back towards the void bike. He grabbed the bike with his left hand and then pulled on his safety line with his right hand to pull himself back towards the bastion. He landed right next to the stretcher. The lieutenant went to tie Hiyo¡¯s stretcher onto the back of the void bike. Meanwhile, the two instructors were exchanging their oxygen connectors so that the instructor on the bastion wouldn¡¯t be without oxygen again once the bike sped off. The lieutenant signaled Voss and he strapped the spare oxygen tank back onto the void bike. With the exchanging of oxygen tanks and fastening of Hiyo and the spare tank completed, the sergeant signaled for everyone to step back. He then proceeded to grab the guard rail with both hands and then donkey kicked the void bike away from the bastion. The instructor on the void bike waited a few seconds until the adequate distance had been reached and then sped off back to the Ciklops.


    The lieutenant took a look around to assess the situation before giving out orders. ¡®Sergeant, you and instructor seven take team seven¡¯s supplies back to the Ciklops by foot. We¡¯ll head back on the void bike. We¡¯ll have a catching team ready when you make the jump.¡¯


    ¡®Copy that lieutenant. Instructor seven, let¡¯s pack up and go.¡¯. The sergeant and instructor seven clicked themselves in together. They then unclicked the safety cord of a toolbox from a guard rail, grabbed the box, and sped off.


    Voss watched as the sergeant and the instructor traversed the surface of the bastion at lightning speed. The sergeant and the instructor were breaking every safety rule that they themselves had taught to the recruits. Not once did Voss see them use a safety hook. They also crossed several of the turret platforms that Voss had been warned to stay clear of.


    Voss switched his intercom to the private channel with the lieutenant. ¡®Some example they¡¯re giving us, lieutenant. They¡¯re breaking every safety rule they taught us.¡¯


    ¡®Hah, as if you¡¯ve ever cared about rules, Voss. That man Reiniger might be a darn cowboy, but he moves through the void like he was born into it. Don¡¯t you worry about them. They can take care of their own. Worry about your own oxygen supply instead. You should be down to two bars again.¡¯


    She was right. He was in fact down to two bars. He had completely forgotten about his own oxygen supply due to all the ruckus happening around him. A potentially deadly mistake. It frightened him how easily he had made it. He had been so fixated on doing everything by the book at the start of the mission too. Now, two hours in or so, he had already forgotten about both safety regulations and his oxygen supply. He¡¯d hit himself on the head if it wasn¡¯t for his helmet being in the way. He had to stay focused and think about himself first at all times, just like he had been instructed. The sergeant might have the luxury of ignoring the rules, Voss didn¡¯t. He was nowhere near skilled enough to start acting like a cowboy.


    ¡®You¡¯re right, lieutenant. Let¡¯s refocus and make it back to the ship. Lead the way please.¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯m happy to see you¡¯re willing to admit your mistakes, Voss. I know I cussed you out on the way here, but you just proved yourself. You stayed calm during a crisis and because you did, you managed to fix that malfunctioning connector. Now let¡¯s get the hell back to that Ciklops.¡¯. The lieutenant pulled the void bike towards them and together they grabbed hold of it.


    ¡®Get on there Voss. I¡¯ll push us off and when I say so, you open the throttle and fly us back to the ship.¡¯


    ¡®Wait.. what? You want me to fly that thing?!¡¯


    ''Yes, now shut up and move. We''re running out of time!''

 Chapter 29: A Rough Flight

    ¡®What do you mean, you haven¡¯t flown void bikes before? Isn¡¯t that part of your training?¡¯


    ¡®I haven''t and I don¡¯t know if it is. It¡¯s not like they ever tell us anything.¡¯


    ¡®Damnit, Voss. Listen up, it¡¯s not that difficult. First you press and hold the lever on the left handle bar. That¡¯s your kill switch. If you let it go, the bike shuts itself off. Be gentle with the steering wheel because it¡¯s sensitive. If you pull it towards you, you go up. Push it away from you and you go down. Left is left and right is right. Your throttle is on the right handle bar. Twist it forward and you go forward. Twist it backwards and you go backwards. Like I said, it¡¯s not that difficult. One thing though, there¡¯s no brake on this thing. If you want to slow down, twist the handlebar backwards. Let go of it in time or else you¡¯ll go backwards instead of making a full stop.


    Use gentle, short bursts when you want to accelerate or decelerate. There¡¯s nothing slowing you down out here. Once you go at the speed you want to go, let go of your throttle and we¡¯ll glide on. Slow down before making corners. It¡¯s easy to underestimate your speed. Trust me, you don¡¯t want to be making sharp corners when you¡¯re going a thousand kilometers an hour. Look at your dashboard. The bike has an internal computer that calculates how fast you¡¯re going.


    When you make a corner, steer where you want to go. The bike will automatically fire the proper thrusters. When you end your corner, the bike will fire different thrusters to stop your spin. Be gentle with this because the rougher you take corners, the harder it will be for your bike to compensate and stop your spin. When you¡¯re done taking a corner, accelerate again.


    Never fire your main thrusters directly into other objects. The particles released from your engine can cause serious damage at short distances. Departure and arrival have to be done carefully to avoid damaging structures, equipment or people. Do you copy, recruit Voss?¡¯


    ¡®Honestly, lieutenant, you lost me about halfway through your story.¡¯


    ¡®Oh shut up and press the left lever already. Start the bike and let¡¯s go. We¡¯re running out of air.¡¯


    Voss pressed and held the left lever. Nothing happened. There was no sound, no shaking. Nor were there any other noticeable effects other than a small red light on the bike¡¯s dashboard that turned itself on. He then turned the throttle forward and the bike responded instantly. It accelerated and steered itself downwards. Before he realized that this happened because he had pushed the steering wheel too far forward, they were already halfway through making a loop.


    He quickly let go of the left lever to avoid worse. If only the lieutenant would have warned him that doing so also meant that the stabilizer thrusters shut down as well. They were now caught in a spin, drifting away from both the bastion and the Ciklops.


    ¡®Damnit, Voss. Stop mucking about and get this thing stable again.¡¯


    He pulled the left lever back again and did his best to stabilize the bike again. When he finally managed to, he found that they had only slightly drifted of course and that their time loss had been minimal. They had been extremely fortunate. If they had been spun in a slightly different direction, they could have crashed into the bastion. This would have led to a certain death considering how low they were on oxygen.


    Voss tried steering towards the Ciklops for a second time. This time he fared better. His steering was far from smooth. Nor was their speed impressive. They weren¡¯t even going at half the pace they had gone when the lieutenant was behind the wheel; but at least they were now going in the right direction. Voss¡¯ helmet flashed again, indicating that his oxygen levels were down to one bar. He knew he had to hurry up, but he didn¡¯t dare go any faster.


    He knew he still had two difficult maneuvers left to perform. Not only would he have to slow down and park the bike, he also had to somehow flip the bike around. For they were approaching the Ciklops upside down.


    ¡®Listen up, Voss. When I say so, I want you to lean slightly to your left. I¡¯ll lean with you. The bike will recognize that you¡¯re trying to roll over and will assist you in doing so in a controlled manner. When you¡¯re done rolling the bike in the correct position, simply sit back up straight. Do you copy?¡¯


    ¡®Yes, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®Good, now go. Lean left. A little more. Yes that¡¯s it. Let the bike roll it self around gently. There¡¯s no rush. Almost there. Now sit back up straight. Great that¡¯s it. Now steer to your right.¡¯


    ¡®What do you mean, lieutenant? We¡¯re already heading towards the ship. Why would you want to steer away from it?¡¯


    ¡®Do you want to blast your fellow recruits with particles that can rip through their suits and destroy the ship that¡¯s supposed to take you home?¡¯


    ¡®No, lieutenant.¡¯


    ¡®Then steer to your right and then when I tell you, steer to your left again. We¡¯re going to approach the ship from an angle so that your reverse thrusters won¡¯t blast everyone to shreds. Honestly Voss, I just explained all of this to you, are you daft or something?¡¯


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    Voss didn¡¯t answer the lieutenant but began his turn right instead. Part of him wanted to throw the lieutenant off the back of the bike. Make her eat some particles to stop her from nagging at him. Too bad he needed her though. Without her instructions he was unlikely to perform the parking maneuver successfully.


    ¡®Alright now turn left again until you¡¯re at a 90 degree angle from the ship¡¯s rear hatch. Nice and slow, good. In about twenty seconds, I want you to softly hit the reverse thrusters. We¡¯re going to slow down to a crawl. Then when I say so, you make a hard right turn straight into the passenger bay. There will be several instructors and recruits ready to catch us. Remember. No more braking once we make the turn. You don¡¯t want to blast your fellow recruits.¡¯


    He did as he was told to the best of his abilities, but it all felt alien to him. He had never driven anything before. He had never owned a bike or any other form of transport. Very few people did in the slums. Most couldn¡¯t afford it, and those who did, usually opted not to anyways. Roads were too poorly maintained and your vehicle was likely to get stolen or stripped for parts. There was no need either. Public transport was decent enough. Vast networks of monorails and subways ensured workers got to and fro their jobs on schedule. Come to think of it, he had never even ridden a bike. Not even a fake one in an arcade hall.


    ¡®Hit the reverse thrusters now, Voss. No that¡¯s not enough, brake harder! BRAKE HARDER I SAID, VOSS!¡¯


    But it was too late. He had to make the turn now, or they¡¯d overshoot the passenger bay. He couldn¡¯t slow them down any further now without killing half of the recruits.


    ¡®Hang on, lieutenant. We¡¯re going to crash!¡¯


    Their bike smashed into the other bike, which had been expertly parked in its designated spot by the instructor. The force of the impact caused them to bounce over the other bike in a spin. Voss pulled his hands away from the steering wheel and stuck them out forwards in an attempt to protect his head from impact. They slammed into two of the recruits, causing them to fall backwards. The two impacts had made the void bike slow down enough that one of the instructors managed to now stop it completely by grabbing onto it whilst planting both of his feet against the hull of the ship.


    Voss¡¯ intercom was a cacophony of angry shouts and curses. Above everyone else the lieutenant¡¯s and the sergeant¡¯s voices were yelling abuse straight into his ears. He wished he could have turned his intercom off, but they had been programmed in such a way that you could never block the incoming messages of someone that outranked you.


    The sergeant pulled down a lever. The hatch closed itself. Once it had achieved full lock, the sergeant typed in a command in the console next to it and air began to shoot into the room from several vents. It was done at such speeds that the drop of temperature due to the decompressing of air, caused the air to turn liquid. Several of the instructors and recruits had to step out of the way of the liquid blasts of air to prevent damage to their suits.


    The sergeant punched in another command. Several steel pipes on both sides of the passenger bay started to glow with heat. Voss had wondered what those pipes were for on the way in and why they were covered by steel cages. Now he knew. They were rapidly heating the passenger bay to a level where the liquid air would vaporize and reach a temperature where it would become breathable again.


    Voss didn¡¯t understand why the sergeant had been in such a rush though. Not until he turned around and saw that the suit of one of the recruits they had crashed into had been punctured. Recruit nine was writhing helplessly as he floated through the passenger bay. The sergeant had engaged emergency protocols to flood the passenger bay with breathable air as fast as he could. A crude method but it had worked. In less than thirty seconds, the temperature within the passenger bay had risen to around minus forty degrees again. Still freezing cold, but warm enough to be breathable. Recruit nine¡¯s life had been saved by the sergeant''s quick reaction.


    Voss strapped himself loose from the void bike and went to help with getting the bike into its docking station. The blinded visors of everybody¡¯s helmets hid their faces, but Voss knew that behind those visors, angry faces lay hidden. His actions today had caused not one, but two recruits to nearly lose their lives. He knew the others would hold him responsible for that, even if it had happened due to mistakes or faulty equipment. He decided that it would be best for now to keep his head down and do whatever he could to help solve the situation.


    Once the bike was put in place and had been strapped in, the sergeant ordered everyone to take positions. Voss sat down in his seat next to the lieutenant. He was grateful for the blinded visors and standard protocols that required everyone to keep them on until they were docked into the spaceport again. The only exception to this was recruit nine, Tick, who had taken his helmet off. Fair enough though. It wasn¡¯t like that helmet did anything for him anyhow with his suit being punctured. Ice melted out of Tick¡¯s hair. With his suit punctured, the extreme cold of the void had managed to find its way into Tick¡¯s suit. The sergeant had been just in time. If asphyxiation hadn¡¯t finished Tick off in under a minute, the frost would have done it.


    Voss¡¯ thoughts were interrupted when the voice of the lieutenant spoke to him via their private channel. ¡®They¡¯ll have us both for this muck up of yours, you stupid idiot. They¡¯ll send you to the gallows for this.¡¯.


    ¡®Then fly yourself next time instead of letting a recruit with zero experience take the wheel, you daft harlo.. lieutenant.¡¯. With difficulty, he managed to stop himself before finishing that word. He was in enough trouble as it was. The last thing he needed was getting written up for subordination against a superior officer. ¡®Damn that stupid bitch.¡¯ he thought to himself. ¡®She got me kicked out of the fifth for sure. There¡¯s no way they¡¯re letting me stay after today.¡¯. He leaned back into his seat. ¡®My fellow recruits will want to see my head roll for this.¡¯ The red light began to flash again and the Ciklops began to accelerate.


    Voss closed his eyes for a minute. He took deep breaths and felt the adrenaline rush fade away again. This wasn¡¯t a time to get emotional. He may have survived that catastrophe of a mission, his life was still on the line. He had to think this through. A lieutenant was involved. That meant that they¡¯d have to get an officer that was senior to her to deal with this situation. That meant that the captain, the same captain that had given them their lashes, would handle this situation. This was going to be tough. The captain didn¡¯t seem like a man you could sway easily. He didn¡¯t seem like he was an unreasonable man either though. Perhaps he could save himself by telling the captain the truth. Perhaps he could save himself if he threw that darned lieutenant in front of the bus. But what if he succeeded though? He needed the lieutenant and her mission to achieve his own goals. There was no way he¡¯d ever manage to get what he wanted if he got stuck working the engines of some rusty space freighter. That was of later concern though. Right now he had to survive; with or without the lieutenant. And then? Even if the captain would spare him, how was he ever going to get the forgiveness of his fellow recruits? A cold shiver ran down his spine.

 Chapter 30: Licking Wounds in a Warzone

    He didn¡¯t know exactly how long the flight back had lasted, but it had felt like an eternity. He had been sat in the most unfortunate of places. On his one side was the lieutenant. On the other the sergeant. There had been a constant palpable tension during the flight. As if the two of them could lash out at each other at any moment. Neither of them seemed to mind if that turned him into collateral damage. In fact, both probably considered that an added bonus. At least both of them were wearing helmets with visors that obscured their faces.


    They had just docked into one of the spaceport¡¯s landing bays. Both the lieutenant and the sergeant had taken their helmets off, revealing furious faces. The long flight had done nothing to calm them down. Everyone had to remain seated whilst they were waiting for atmospheric pressure in the landing dock to rise to normal. He was trapped between two officers ready to go at each other''s throats. Two officers that also had a bone to pick with him. The sergeant spoke to the recruits. There was an odd disconnect between the anger in his voice and the neutrality of his message. ¡®We have to wait until full repressurization, men. We landed in an internal dock. The ship¡¯s getting serviced after this mission.¡¯


    Voss tried to look anywhere other than the the sergeant''s or lieutenant''s direction. Afraid that if he locked eyes with either of them, he¡¯d be the trigger that set them off. Not that the alternatives were much better. Most of the instructors and recruits had a grim and vengeful look on their faces. The only exceptions were Hiyo and Tick, who both looked miserable. Especially Tick had it rough. He tried to keep strong, but Voss knew there had to be severe ice burns around where the leg of his suit had been punctured. Any puncture in your suit meant there was a hole inside the insulation that was supposed to protect you from almost absolute zero temperatures. They had been warned that it was similar to having someone blow torch into your suit. Looking at Tick''s face, he figured the warnings hadn''t been exaggerated.


    Voss felt sorry for them. Neither of them deserved to be in this position. He didn¡¯t know what was to happen to himself or Tick, but he did know that it was game over for Hiyo. He had panicked and gone against everything they had been taught. Worse even, he had ignored direct commands from his instructor. The Fifth would never let a man who had proven himself to crack under pressure join their ranks. Mistakes could be forgiven, weakness could not. Hiyo had shown one moment of weakness, and was going to pay for it with forty years of spaceport maintenance. Hiyo was unlikely to ever see anything other than the confines of that drab spaceport ever again. There was no way a man like him would survive forty years of such a monotonous existence without going insane. A true loss. Hiyo was the brightest amongst them. Better even than he himself.


    He hoped Tick was allowed to stay on though. He had been injured but Voss was sure that it wasn¡¯t anything medbay couldn¡¯t fix. Losing Hiyo was a major blow, losing Tick and himself too? He didn¡¯t think the group would recover at such a late state of their training. He meant no insult to the other recruits, but except for Emil, Hoog and Dane, the rest wasn''t exactly the intellectual type. They all had their strengths, but complex thinking wasn''t one of them. With Tick and himself also gone, the group would have lost half their brainpower. Perhaps this could be his saving grace? The fact that they couldn''t afford to lose him on the same day they lost Hiyo. After all, he was now the only proper mechanic of the group remaining.


    The red light flashed. Pressurization was complete. Before anyone could unbuckle themselves and get up, the sergeant shouted at them. ¡®Everybody remains seated until the medic team has come in and taken those who need medical treatment.¡¯. The rear hatch opened and two pairs of medics rushed in. They placed both Tick and Hiyo on stretchers and rushed them out of the Ciklops.


    The sergeant now gave the all clear order. Recruits and instructors alike unbuckled and got their things together for departure. Voss grabbed his helmet and a toolkit. His gaze remained firmly planted at the floor. The last thing he wanted now was for eye contact to spark conversation. Not that that was likely anyhow. Nobody spoke. A bleak atmosphere had taken hold over the passenger bay. The rear hatch opened. The sergeant yelled ¡®Everybody out¡¯. Meekly they obliged.


    Upon exiting the Ciklops, Voss spotted two faceless ones waiting at the end of the onramp. He had never seen one in real life before, but everyone knew what they were. Trouble. The captain had already been informed of what had happened. Probably signaled by the Ciklops¡¯ pilot. Voss looked over at the lieutenant and saw that the anger on her face had been replaced by trepidation.


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    To Voss¡¯ surprise, the faceless ones clicked their heels together and gave a salute when he and the lieutenant approached them. He looked over at the lieutenant and saw she was as baffled as he was. Why would the captain''s lackeys give proper salutes to them? It seemed odd, especially in a situation like this.


    ¡®Out of my way, you two.¡¯. Voss recognized that voice, as did the lieutenant. Voss saw her shrink at the sound of it. A slight movement. One she managed to catch and suppress before it became obvious. But one he had caught. Not that his personal reaction had been any better. Phantom pains flared up on his back when he heard the voice of the captain. A staunch reminder of the flogging he had gotten on the captain''s orders. Voss turned around and saw him walking closely behind them. The captain''s eyes were as piercing as always. Capable of sending shivers down anyone''s spines. The captain was wearing a pilot void suit and had his helmet locked in underneath his shoulder. Both Voss and the lieutenant took a step aside. There was a haste in their movement that read like a confession of guilt. They knew they were in trouble and that it would be wise to do anything they could not to make matters worse.


    The captain had been on board with them. He had witnessed everything that had happened. Just what they needed. This way there''d be nothing they could to to twist the story to their own benefit. This was bad. The captain placed his hands on their shoulders as he passed them. ¡®To my office you two. My guards will escort you after you¡¯ve finished up here. I will be with you soon. Sergeant, please be so kind as to walk with me. I believe we have some urgent matters to discuss.¡¯. ¡®Damn it!¡¯ Voss thought. The lieutenant had been right. It had been her who got tested today. Something bigger was going on here and he got caught in it. Something told him the lieutenant hadn''t been honest with him. Perhaps she wasn''t the big shot she made herself out to be after all.


    They rushed to the locker room, took off their void suits, stashed everything away and marked their stations for cleaning. The faceless ones were stood right outside the locker room. Everyone who passed them had an uneasy look to their faces. The faceless ones had quite the reputation and now Voss knew why. There was something uncanny about them. Something.. inhuman. The way they just stood there waiting. Neither of them had uttered a single word yet. Just two silent, towering figures who stood there like statues. Statues that lived only to serve their captain. Voss had heard the rumors about how deadly and ruthless the faceless ones could be. He believed them now. These weren''t the types to test their limits with, and he wasn''t in the position to push anyone''s limits today anyhow.


    Voss and the lieutenant exited the locker room. One of the faceless ones gave them a gesture to follow them. What followed was a long journey through damp corridors, rusty walkways and two rides on elevators that squeaked in protest when they were forced into action. At least there was some comfort in the noise and filth of the station. The electric lights illuminating damp corridors, and the noises of hissing pipes and moving machinery were a welcome change after the eerie quiet of the dark coldness of the void.


    They arrived at a doorway that led them into a dark, narrow room. ¡®Wait here for the captain.¡¯. One of the faceless ones spoke. There wasn¡¯t even a hint of emotion in his voice. Voss and the lieutenant sat down on the metal bench in the waiting room. The faceless ones passed through and entered the captain¡¯s office, leaving Voss and the lieutenant alone in the room.


    ¡®Listen carefully, Voss.¡¯ The lieutenant said.


    ¡®You mean like during our void walk? No thanks. You got me into enough tr..¡¯


    ¡®Shut up!¡¯ She snapped at him with a ferocity that warned him not to push things further. He got the message. Now was a time for them to get serious if they wished to stand a chance against the captain. ¡®You may think you grasp the severity of the situation, but you don¡¯t. The captain is a ruthless man who will have you hanged within a heartbeat if he so wishes. Don¡¯t try to be a smart ass in there unless you want to see us both dangling up in the air with a rope around our necks. Remember. It was him who had you all whipped over something that you couldn¡¯t help and had no active part in.¡¯


    ¡®So what do you suggest we do then?¡¯


    ¡®First off, cut the act and get serious. The captain detests jokers. Secondly, be honest with him. He can smell lies from a mile away and he already knows pretty much everything anyways. Thirdly, only speak when spoken to and say no more than you have to. I know him better than you do, so let me do the talking. And finally, whatever you do, make sure you¡­¡¯


    The lieutenant didn¡¯t get to finish her sentence. The door swung open. The sergeant appeared in the door opening. ¡®You two are up now.¡¯. The sergeant had a gleeful look on his face that reminded Voss of the way kids can look when they know one of their siblings is getting into trouble. Whatever was to happen to them, the sergeant was going to enjoy it.


    From behind the sergeant, the captain¡¯s voice sounded soft but stern. ¡®You can leave now, sergeant.¡¯. Voss couldn¡¯t help but feel a little glee himself at the captain¡¯s words. The captain knew the sergeant was enjoying this just a little too much and had put him firmly back into place. This captain truly was something. A force of nature. Too bad he and the lieutenant were going to be at the receiving end of that force.

 Chapter 31: A Captains Wrath

    They walked into the captain¡¯s office with lead in their boots. The lieutenant first and Voss second. The captain sat in the middle of the luxuriously adorned room in his ornate, wooden wingback chair. The faceless ones had positioned themselves behind him and stood guard. Voss had never seen such an impressive room in real life before. Not even back on Fosfat. Especially the grand map behind the captain blew his mind. Nobody ever told him just how many stars and planets had been colonized by humans. Slum dwellers weren''t supposed to know such things. So to see the thousands of lights on that map felt almost overwhelming. The empire was much larger than anyone in the slums ever imagined.


    The lieutenant wasn¡¯t distracted by the grand map of stars and ships behind the captain or the lavish draperies like Voss was. She had been in this room more times than she''d like to admit, so none of it impressed her anymore. Instead, she was focused on what was at hand.


    The captain wasted no time. He got straight to business. ¡®Lieutenant Vanmire, recruit Voss. You¡¯re both here because your brash and incompetent behavior led to a total loss of two void bikes and the near loss of two recruits. Not to mention the danger you put everyone else into.¡¯


    The captain looked Voss in the eye. ¡®Recruit Voss, I¡¯ll start with you. What¡¯s your defense to these accusations?¡¯


    ¡®Captain, sir..¡¯


    ¡®Just captain, recruit. Sir is a civilian title which I shan¡¯t tolerate whilst on duty.¡¯


    ¡®Apologies captain. My only defense is that this was my first time in the void and that I have had zero training in operating a void bike before.¡¯


    ¡®Did you make the lieutenant aware of this lack of training?¡¯


    ¡®I did once we got onto the bike, captain.¡¯


    ¡®Why didn¡¯t you do so sooner?¡¯


    ¡®Because I wasn¡¯t aware of the fact that we are to receive special training to learn how to operate void bikes, captain. Us recruits are never really told anything in advance. I assumed the lieutenant knew what she was doing. I didn¡¯t find out that she was under the impression that I had already received such training until we were on the bike.¡¯


    ¡®I see.¡¯ The captain¡¯s eyes jumped towards the lieutenant. ¡®I expected better from you, Vanmire. I was not impressed by what I saw and by what the sergeant relayed to me. It seems you started out strong but then lost your cool around the time recruit Hiyo experienced difficulties with his oxygen supply. The sergeant and I got the sense that you panicked..¡¯


    ¡®I didn¡¯t panic at all, captain!¡¯ the lieutenant interrupted him. ¡®The only mistake I made was trusting in my recruit¡¯s capabilities and training.¡¯


    Voss noticed a slight change on the captain¡¯s face. A heightening of his senses, like a predator locked into his prey and ready to spring his trap. The lieutenant had walked right into it. ¡®You both point fingers at each other. Neither of you shows self reflection or willingness to take responsibility. I see zero ownership over the situation. Voss is a mere recruit. He can be forgiven for such fatal flaws, because they are possessed by many who don¡¯t make the cut. Considering his status as a recruit, I find his defense reasonable.¡¯


    The captain pointed his finger at the lieutenant. ¡®You on the other hand, Vanmire. You are a lieutenant of the Fifth. As such, I hold you to higher standards. In between your dribble of weak excuses, I heard one important, unintentional admission. ¡°The only mistake I made¡± you said. You indeed made a mistake. A mistake that put the lives of twenty three people at risk, including your own.


    You were in charge of that mission by your own declaration, lieutenant. That means that everything that happens is your responsibility.¡¯ The captain¡¯s voice had shifted from calm to angry as he said it. A tone of resentment now reverberated through the captain¡¯s voice. Voss could tell this was something the captain was very passionate about. ¡®Your actions out there, and your words here, show zero leadership. I gave you a chance to redeem yourself and instead you spit on everything the Fifth stands for. You took zero ownership. What¡¯s even worse, is that you spit on your father¡¯s legacy. Lieutenant Vanmire sr. was everything you are not. He was a man of great integrity who understood the meaning of leadership. A man who embodied the virtue of extreme ownership.


    Your father was an exemplary officer of the Fifth. In fact, the only reason a man of such great virtue is in his grave, instead of in a seat on the high council, is because someone he should have been able to trust blindly ¡°Only made one mistake¡±. There is no mercy in the void, Vanmire. Zero room for mistakes. You, out of all people, should know that.¡¯


    The lieutenant spoke up, attempting to defend herself against the captain¡¯s accusations. ¡®Captain, I made a calculated judgment. It¡¯s impossible to prevent every outlier accident from happening. I can¡¯t control my men like some puppeteer pulling strings. You¡¯re being unreasonable.¡¯ The captain¡¯s face remained stoic, but Voss knew the lieutenant had just dug her own grave. Whatever was to come now, it wasn¡¯t going to be pretty.


    The captain lifted his lower right arm and made a small ¡°move¡± gesture. ¡®Out.¡¯. The faceless ones both nodded and headed for the door. Voss tried to join the two guards in making a quick exit, but the captain stopped him. ¡®You there, stay.¡¯.


    Just his luck, he thought. He somehow managed to get himself caught up in another clusterfuck. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time seemed to have become his specialty.


    The faceless guards left the room and shut the door behind them. Voss felt a shiver run through his spine. They were now trapped inside the Tiger¡¯s cage. His destiny was in the hands of a ruthless captain and an arrogant, headstrong lieutenant.


    ¡®Vanmire, Vanmire, Vanmire. What am I to do with you? I gave you a chance at redemption and what do you do with it? You let it blow up in my face. If you had been anyone else, I¡¯d have removed you from the Fifth a long time ago.¡¯. The captain stood up from his chair and turned around to face the map behind him. A nostalgic tone now entered his voice, as if he was conversing with someone left behind in the past.


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    ¡®I tried to convince myself that you¡¯re still here because you¡¯re the most talented cadet I¡¯ve seen graduate from the academy since your father. But I can¡¯t kid myself any longer. The only reason you¡¯re still here is because I feel obliged to your late father, obliged to do whatever I can to have you succeed.¡¯


    The lieutenant could no longer hold her tongue. ¡®I must protest this, captain. You describe me as if I am some royal failure that does nothing but cause trouble. When really, I have done much to prove myself. You¡¯re right. I am one of the most talented individuals to ever join the Fifth and my hard work and talent have done much for it. We have all made mistakes and mine was far from the worst.¡¯


    She must have said something funny because the captain laughed heartily. ¡®Ow how right you are despite possessing such limited self-awareness. You are indeed one of the most talented individuals the Fifth has seen join its ranks in the past fifty years. Which is exactly your problem. You¡¯re an individual. You operate solely based on what is best for you. You¡¯d be willing to watch half of the Fifth burn if that meant you¡¯d gain control over the other half.¡¯


    The lieutenant spoke out in anger. ¡®You know that¡¯s not true, captain. I may be an individual, but I always have the Fifth¡¯s interest at heart.¡¯ she snorted. ¡®Besides, even if it were true that I place myself over the Fifth, how would that make me any different from those in the high council?¡¯


    The captain turned back around to face them. ¡®It would make you no different from them, which is precisely why I keep trying to teach you to be better. It¡¯s this individualism and egotism which is the rot that eats away at the foundations of our beloved institution.¡¯


    Voss felt increasingly uncomfortable as the conversation progressed. Things were being said that he as a recruit should not be aware of. He felt like a child eavesdropping in on a secret conversation between adults. It didn¡¯t make sense to him that the captain had wanted him to stick around to hear them air the Fifth¡¯s dirty laundry. These were matters that didn¡¯t concern him. This was knowledge that served him no purpose and could only lead him to get into trouble. He wished the captain and the lieutenant would stop speaking on them already, before either shared something that could turn Voss into a liability for those in the Fifth¡¯s high command.


    The captain continued. ¡®This is exactly why I took your mission away from you and gave it to lieutenant Verstate, Vanmire. I cannot, with clear conscience, give control of such an important mission to an individualistic lieutenant such as yourself. One that views her crew as mere pawns and who would sacrifice them in the blink of an eye if that ensured her the success of the mission. Especially not when I know that she only cares about that mission to the extent that it benefits her career.¡¯


    Fury arose inside Voss. Her mission had been taken from her?!? She had known about this and had lied to him about it? It took Voss every fiber in his body to not erupt in anger. All the hard work and sacrifices he had made these past few months, only to end up working space freighter engines for the next forty years. The lieutenant had used him like a disposable pawn. He knew there was nothing he could do about it, but this was something that he wouldn¡¯t forget. The lieutenant was a fool if she thought he was ever going to do her bidding after this.


    ¡®See!¡¯ the captain exclaimed. ¡®That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m talking about, Vanmire. You didn¡¯t tell him, did you? Too busy with you little selfish schemes. I bet you were utterly convinced that you¡¯d somehow find a way to get your mission back without him ever finding out any of this ever happened.¡¯


    The lieutenant¡¯s jaw fell open, betraying that she had no idea the captain had been aware of her careful planning and scheming.


    The captain turned to Voss. ¡®Don¡¯t judge her too harshly, recruit Voss. She can¡¯t help herself. She¡¯s always thinking three steps ahead. Always devising plans and making schemes. She¡¯s highly intelligent but she has a crucial flaw. Her ego doesn¡¯t allow her to factor in the possibility of failure. She¡¯s too convinced of herself and her little plans. It makes her terribly predictable once you get to know her.


    The reason she neglected to tell you about her mission away from her isn¡¯t because she was trying to deceive you, Voss. It¡¯s because there was never a doubt in her mind that she¡¯d find a way to get it back. This is her biggest limitation. The flaw that I keep trying to warn her about. I can liberate her from her delusions though. She won¡¯t be getting her mission back. I couldn¡¯t give her her mission back, even if I wanted to. The departure date has been pushed forward. Verstate and her crew departed weeks ago.¡¯


    ¡®WHAT?¡¯ the lieutenant blurted out. The veins on her forehead throbbed and her hands were clenched into fists as if she wanted to lash out. ¡®How could you do this with my mission? I..¡¯


    She didn¡¯t get to finish her sentence because the captain¡¯s voice roared through the room. ¡®YOU WHAT?¡¯ His demeanor had gone from friendly to terrifying in the blink of an eye. Voss now understood why the captain had such a feared reputation. ¡®YOU PETULANT BRAT! I should have you dishonorably discharged for your insolence.¡¯


    Voss dared not look either the captain or the lieutenant in the eyes, nor did he dare to avert his gaze. He ended up keeping eyes focused on the captain¡¯s neck as an uncomfortable compromise. He¡¯d rather be anywhere else than here right now. Even mining asteroid fields didn¡¯t sound that bad right now.


    Meanwhile, the lieutenant had never felt so small before. Tears welled up in her eyes and her lip began to shiver uncontrollably. It took her every ounce of strength to not break down completely. The captain had well earned his reputation, and she had just ruined hers. She had overstepped the captain¡¯s boundaries and she was going to pay dearly for it.


    The captain meanwhile, changed his demeanor back to calm again with the ease of a trained swordsman sheeting back his sword after a well executed combination of deadly flurries.


    ¡®A mission it is that you two want? Well I¡¯ve got one for you alright. One that¡¯s most dangerous and will thoroughly test the both of you.¡¯ The captain spoke his words with an ominous glee. ¡®This mission will be your last chance before I personally kick you out of the Fifth, lieutenant. Vanmire or no Vanmire, you¡¯ve got to earn your place here just like everyone else. Is that understood?


    ¡®Yes, captain.¡¯ The lieutenant said with a weak and frail voice, her lip still quivering. Internally she was swinging back and forth between hope and despair. An agonizing, powerless feeling that she had never felt before.


    The captain smiled knowingly. ¡®Good. And you, Voss. For better or for worse, your life and career are now bound to the lieutenant. Thus it¡¯s only fair if we make this a reciprocal relationship. Your grand exam is coming up soon. If you fail it, you and the lieutenant will both get assigned to forty years with the asteroid mining division as laborers. If you succeed, you¡¯ll get briefed on your new mission. Is that understood, recruit?¡¯


    ¡®Yes, captain.¡¯


    ¡®Good. Now as a final thing before I send you off; I sentence you to five lashes.¡¯


    Voss couldn¡¯t believe his ears. Was the captain really going to punish him with lashes yet again for something that wasn¡¯t his fault?¡¯


    The captain must have read his thoughts, because he continued: ¡®Don¡¯t see it as punishment, recruit Voss. See it as protection. Now leave us. I have further matters to discuss with the lieutenant. My guards will escort you to where you¡¯ll receive your lashes.¡¯


    ¡®Yes, captain.¡¯. Voss saluted and turned around. The captain''s words made little sense to him, but he wasn''t in a position to question him further. As he walked out of the room with the faceless ones right behind him; He wondered if any man or woman in the Fifth had ever been so eager to head out towards their lashes. Anything was better than sticking around here. He almost felt sorry for the lieutenant for having to stay longer, almost.

 Chapter 32: Fighting for Survival

    If there was one thing he had come to learn aboard the spaceport, it was that the Fifth never wasted time when it came to punishment. The faceless ones rushed him forwards with a haste that made him wonder if a southern thunderstorm was on their tail. They brought him to the same hangar where he had received his previous round of lashes. A small crowd had already been assembled by the time they reached the hangar. Whispers of violence to come travelled fast in these parts. Dozens stood in orderly lines, dutifully awaiting the disciplinary display. Voss got the sense that he could tell the incumbency of each member in the crowd by the looks on their faces. The more anxious or excited they looked, the fresher they were. The ones with dulled faces were the veterans. Witnesses off too many lashes to still care or feel the emotional impact.


    In the front row stood his fellow recruits. They were lined up by the sergeant, who himself stood at the far end of the line. Hiyo and TIck were both missing. The recruits¡¯ faces betrayed their anger at him. It was obvious who they held responsible for today¡¯s events. He was alone. There¡¯d be no sympathy for him when he returned to the other recruits. He¡¯d have to keep an eye open at all times until the time of their grand exam. A feeling of hopelessness attempted to creep up on him. He tried to hold it back by replaying the captain¡¯s words through his head. If he could pass the final test, he¡¯d be put on a mission with just the lieutenant. That was exactly what he needed to commence his plans. Just a few more weeks and he¡¯d be out of here. He¡¯d have to keep his chin up though no matter what. ¡®Show them no weakness.¡¯ he repeated inside his head like some sort of mantra.


    He was pushed up the stands by the faceless ones, who still seemed to be in a great hurry to get this over with. Two more guards were already awaiting them on the stands. The four guards made all the preparations with almost frightening coordination. One guard pulled down his overalls as two others bound his hands and feet to the chains. The fourth one pulled out a whip from a box on the platform. The three other guards then pulled the chains tight so that his arms and legs were both outstretched. All this was done in under ten seconds. This wasn¡¯t their first time doing this.


    A drumroll began. The suspense before the pain. ¡®Worse than the pain itself¡¯ he thought to himself. Then, the first lash flew through the air with an ominous cackle and broke on his back. His thought had been wrong. The pain was worse.


    With each lash he let out a harrowing cry. It took him all his strength and willpower to keep his head up. He needed to show everyone his resolve. Now that his squad had turned against him, he could no longer afford any sign of weakness, lest they turn on him like Moot had done with Derk many nights ago. He wondered how many of them were willing to take lashes in exchange for a chance to plunge a cold knife in his back. Hard to find the culprit when everyone is in on it. Only through showing tenacity now could he hope to keep them at bay during the long dark nights.


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    Another lash. The third time the pain shot through him like burning lightning. Tears began rolling down his face. Who was he kidding? It was eight versus one. He could try to keep his chin up all he wanted, his screams didn¡¯t lie. Every man in the audience knew what those lashes did to a man. He¡¯d be a wounded animal after this with no claws. An easy prey. It was over.


    Something was happening to the faces of some of the recruits though. A slight softening. With each lash, part of their anger seemed to dissuade. Not every recruit softened. In fact, not even the majority of recruits showed any sign of pity or forgiveness. There were just two of them. Jabs and Atis.


    Another lash rained down on him. He was full on weeping now, crying out in pain. More recruits began to soften up. Cracks had appeared in their unified, angry front. Voss took a deep breath and tried to prepare for the inevitable. The final lash. When it came, he slipped out of consciousness. He soon awoke again to a worse pain than he had ever felt before. His back had been left a bloody mess.


    Dane, Jabs and Wago were heading up to the platform. The faceless guards had already disappeared. He had no idea how long he had been out exactly, but it couldn¡¯t have been long. The audience had only just begun to disperse. The recruits were the only ones who stayed behind. Expected to clean up the mess that had been made.


    Dane and Wago held him up as Jabs released him from his chains. They helped him off the platform as he was too weak to walk unassisted. Dane and Wago had to practically carry him all the way back to the barracks. His legs felt so weak that they may as well have been made out of jelly. His mind was fogged with pain. Thinking clearly was almost impossible to do. He couldn¡¯t strategize on his survival, no tactics or schemes sprung into his brain. All he wanted was to curl up into a ball and wait for this pain to be over.


    The captain¡¯s words rang through his head again. ¡®Don¡¯t see it as punishment, see it as protection.¡¯ He understood them now. His punishment had acted like a form of atonement towards the other recruits. If he hadn¡¯t received his lashes, they would have come for him during the night. Now, their anger towards him had subsided just enough to give him a fighting chance. This wasn¡¯t over yet though. Just because they didn¡¯t want to kill him anymore, didn¡¯t mean they¡¯d accept him back. He wasn¡¯t in the clear yet, but that would be of later concern. Right now he needed to lie down and hope he¡¯d make it through the next few days.

 Chapter 33: Plague, Cults, War?

    The captain went over to the far side of the room to pour himself a drink. Normally he would ask her if she wanted one as well. He didn¡¯t today. He walked back to his neatly organized, mahogany desk and sat himself down. ¡®Now that we¡¯ve dealt with this whole you and Voss business, there are some important matters which I want to discuss with you. Take a seat.¡¯


    She sat down in the chair the captain pointed at. She hated those chairs. They were way too big for her and always made her feel small. Today even more than usual. She suspected the captain had ordered these chairs to be made so sizeable on purpose. A way to make his visitors feel smaller and easier to manipulate. She tried to straighten out her black uniform a bit in an attempt to regain some decorum. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was all she could do to regain some of the dignity that she had lost during what had just transpired. The way the captain had humiliated her in front of Voss had been almost too much to bear. Even after knowing him for all these years, it still shocked her that he could treat her like that. It had been a long time since she had liked the captain. Now for the first time, she felt true resentment. The captain¡¯s presence was becoming repugnant to her. Like a stubborn wart that was impossible to get rid of.


    The captain spoke with a distant, authoritative tone. ¡®You do realize how lucky you are that you have me watching over you, don¡¯t you? If it wasn¡¯t for me, you¡¯d have been kicked out of the Fifth a long time ago. There are many who want to see you gone, both in the lower and higher echelons of our organization. Nobody likes an arrogant know-it-all, Vanmire. You¡¯d do best to remember that I¡¯ve shielded you from a lot of things and that my powers within this organization are not limitless.¡¯


    She felt her blood boil beneath her skin. For him to take on that tone after what he had just done to her. For all the nice words and smiles, the captain was a ruthless man. The kind of man who¡¯d happily break dozens of his subordinates if it served his purpose. She couldn¡¯t let him break her though, not without a fight. ¡®Just don¡¯t, Joakim. Today¡¯s been bad enough. I don¡¯t need you acting like you¡¯re some goodhearted savior right now. I¡¯ve done at least as much for you as you have for me. Don¡¯t forget that it was my mission that you¡¯ve paraded in front of the higher ups. I did all the work. You got all the glory, and then you reassigned it to that dimwit of a Verstate. And if all of that wasn¡¯t bad enough, you humiliated me in front of that recruit.¡¯


    She feared the captain could explode into anger at any second now. Instead, he turned on his charm. ¡®Cassandra, don¡¯t you understand? I had to. You were stepping out of line. I had to remind you of your place. Do you really think I receive joy from punishing you? You and your actions forced me, really. I had to remind you of how the Fifth works and how this station is run. Did you really think that you¡¯d get away with how you treated ordnance and supplies? Our personal history isn¡¯t some sort of hall pass you can use to get what you want. You best start remembering your place and how you got here, Vanmire. I made you what you are today and I can unmake you if I have to.¡¯


    She tried to fight back. ¡®You made me what you wanted me to be! You came to me. You got me into the Fifth. You put ambitions in my heart, and now you threaten me because I refuse to act like your perfect little servant.¡¯. The words came out weak and desperate. He had her by the throat and there was nothing she could do about it.


    The captain gave her a grim stare. ¡®You¡¯d better be very careful, Cassandra. I¡¯m this close to finishing you and your career.¡¯. There was no anger in his voice. He had said it with the same neutrality with which you¡¯d say two plus two is four. He had simply stated what both of them knew to be true.


    ¡®Please, Joakim. Don¡¯t¡­¡¯


    A knock on the door interrupted them. The faceless ones had returned. That meant that Voss had received his lashes and this whole ordeal wouldn¡¯t be held against him anymore. If only things were as simple for her. She wouldn¡¯t be let off the hook as easily as Voss was. Recruits and privates had no idea how good they had it. No scheming or backstabbing. All they had to do was follow orders.


    The captain completely changed tone and subject as soon as the faceless ones entered. Typical. He always did. He always wore that captain¡¯s mask of his in public. Always acting the stoic wise man. If only he¡¯d been more like that in private. Her hands and wrists were tingling. She slouched further into the chair, trying to find a way to make it feel less uncomfortable. She felt weak and defeated. Everything she had worked for the past year. All her planning and plotting. It had all been for nothing. He had her back in his grips. That mission had been her way out. Her ticket towards promotion. A chance to become a captain and gain her own command somewhere far away from this man. He had been a step ahead of her though. Now for the first time, she doubted whether she¡¯d ever get away from him. Stuck in his web like who knows how many other subordinates.


    ¡®Let me get straight to the point with you, lieutenant.¡¯ He spoke gravely, like he carried a lot of weight on his heart. ¡®There have been disturbing rumors. Tales carried forth by merchants. Whispers of war.¡¯


    ¡®War?!?¡¯ This was the last thing she expected to hear from him. She bounced up from her slouch and repositioned herself forward in her chair. ¡®Surely that can¡¯t be? There hasn¡¯t been war for hundreds of years. If that¡¯s true¡­¡¯


    ¡®If that¡¯s true, it could tear the whole universe apart.¡¯ he finished her sentence.


    This shocking turn was hard for her to process. Just a minute ago the captain had been threatening to destroy her career. Was this some kind of test? Was he just messing with her? Two minutes ago she would have assumed that was the case, but the captain never messed about when his faceless guards were present.


    ¡®Are you sure they¡¯re not just tall tales and an overactive imagination of some bored, drunken sailors, captain?¡¯. The tingling in her hands intensified. As if dealing with the captain wasn¡¯t bad enough, she now had to worry about the prospect of the all consuming destruction that war would bring with it.


    ¡®No, I¡¯m not sure. None of us are. Nobody in our cluster seems to know. At least that¡¯s what they all say. Hard to tell these days what other planets are doing since that darn scourge lockdown isolated us all. For all we know there are planets in our cluster making secret preparations for war. Hell, they might even be planning to strike against us.¡¯


    ¡®Surely nobody in our cluster is planning to strike against us? We¡¯ve got good relations with every planetal government here. All war between us would accomplish is a complete breakdown of production and trade, captain. A mutually assured destruction.¡¯


    ¡®Rationally there¡¯s no reason to believe anyone would want to strike against us, lieutenant. But things haven¡¯t been very rational the past few years. Paranoia has gained a hold over the empire. Think of it from a paranoid perspective. Fosfat has a bigger production capacity than the next three planets in our cluster combined. Our population is the biggest and if that isn¡¯t bad enough, we can¡¯t feed ourselves. Fosfat doesn¡¯t even produce half the food it needs to keep its population fed. We¡¯re completely dependent on their food exports.¡¯


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    The captain let a silence linger after finishing his sentence. She knew exactly what that meant. It was a test of her deducting prowess. He expected her to reach the correct conclusion herself.


    It took her a few seconds to flesh out her thoughts. Today¡¯s stress and fatigue caused her brain to move slower than usual. ¡®...In other words¡­ We¡¯d have the means and every reason to do a preventive strike on the planets in our cluster and subjugate them.¡¯ she concluded.


    ¡®Indeed we would. Can you see now how fast paranoia can escalate?¡¯


    ¡®Fast enough that our old bastions are already being restored to full capacity, isn¡¯t it captain?¡¯


    ¡®Sharp observation, lieutenant. Also fast enough that whole new divisions have been hastily assembled with the sole purpose of designing new warships and planning large scale weapon production.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s that bad already, huh? What do we know about what¡¯s actually going on though?¡¯ The tingling had crawled up to her elbows now. She estimated that it would be mere weeks before rearmament and ship building would begin. With the spaceport¡¯s construction docks operating at full capacity, the first ships could be rolling off the line within a year. It would be three years at most before the Fosfation military reached the point where it could successfully invade other planets; and who knew at what stage of military build up other planets were?


    The captain, knowing she was building doom scenarios inside her head, tried to assuage her. ¡®We¡¯re not at a full blown war yet. All we have is sailor reports. There¡¯s a chance this whole thing is overblown. Everyone we interrogated told different tales. Nobody seems to have a direct source. The stories vary wildly and none of them seem to have witnessed anything directly. They do all point towards the same thing though. Somewhere around the far flung eastern reaches of the empire, something is afoot.


    Some reports only spoke about seeing one or two warships of unknown types. Others spoke of worse things. There have been some anecdotes of massive battlestations and entire fleets of warships. Some sailors even spoke of rumors about massive recruitment drives. Civilians drafted into armies by the millions. I personally find the more dramatic reports hard to believe, lieutenant. How any sailor could know anything about recruitment drives, happening down on the planets off the spaceports they visit, is beyond me. Fact and fiction often intertwine in these sailor stories.


    The only thing that does worry me, lieutenant, is that every sailor we spoke to is scared to venture east. These are rough, experienced sailors, and they¡¯re scared. This tells me that there must be at least a kernel of truth to their reports¡¯


    The captain sighed. When he continued talking, it sounded more like he was talking to himself than to her. ¡®First the scourge and now this. Worst case scenario, this could mean the end of the empire. It could mean the end of Fosfat. We can¡¯t take any risks, lieutenant. We need to discover what¡¯s going on and we need to be prepared for whatever is coming.¡¯


    The captain¡¯s revelations disturbed her at a deep level, but there was one thing that didn¡¯t quite add up. A protrusive thought kept nagging at her. ¡®That all sounds wild, captain, but isn¡¯t this something the imperial government should deal with? Why has there been no response from them to deal with this threat, captain?¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t know, lieutenant, but it surely isn¡¯t helping. I hope they¡¯ll respond fast because it won¡¯t be long until the paranoia will target them too. One can¡¯t help but wonder why they aren¡¯t responding. Either they can¡¯t, or they don¡¯t want to. I honestly don¡¯t know which one would be worse. Either way, we can¡¯t sit around and wait for the empire to fix this situation.¡¯


    ¡®So we should take matters in our own hands? Find out what¡¯s going on and form our own response?¡¯


    ¡®Exactly! And that¡¯s where you and Voss come in, lieutenant.¡¯


    This was quite the turnaround from everything that had just transpired before. Mere minutes ago, the captain was threatening to finish her career and now he wanted her to lead a mission that could decide the fate of the whole planet? It didn¡¯t make any sense to her. ¡®Why us, captain?¡¯


    ¡®Because it¡¯s a completely clandestine mission, lieutenant. Top secret, off the books. You¡¯re the only officer that¡¯s officially suspended right now.¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯m suspended?!?¡¯. That bastard! A suspension was a permanent stain that would haunt her for the rest of her life. A cruel punishment for one minor error. He couldn¡¯t be serious¡­


    ¡®Relax, lieutenant. It¡¯s just an official formality so that I can send you on this mission. Complete it successfully and your suspension will be undone.¡¯


    She didn¡¯t like this, not one bit. The captain¡¯s words meant nothing. Suspending her benefited him way beyond this mission. It meant that he now had complete control over her. If she did anything to displease him, he could have her court martialled. He could simply deny the existence of this mission and they¡¯d trial her for stealing the ship they sent her off on. Doubts crept back into her mind whether there even were any reports of war. Was this just another of the captain¡¯s tricks? A way to get rid of her for good? But then again, that bastion was operational again. Surely the captain wasn¡¯t in the position to order such a thing just to set up one of his ruses? And why would the captain want Voss on that mission? Why not someone more reliable?


    ¡®It doesn¡¯t make any sense, captain. Even if I¡¯m the only officer you can send, then why do you want Voss? It will take several weeks before he¡¯ll finish his basic training. Weeks that we shouldn¡¯t waste if war is indeed coming. Why not let me pick my own crew and we could be off before tomorrow.¡¯


    ¡®Hah you must think I¡¯m stupid. You¡¯re not picking your own crew, lieutenant. I can¡¯t risk news of this mission leaking out in any way or form. Besides, there¡¯s nobody to pick. We¡¯re stretched to the limit right now.¡¯


    ¡®Surely restoring the bastions doesn¡¯t take that much of our capacity, captain? Does it really have to be Voss?¡¯ She didn¡¯t like this one bit. The captain had her by the throat and she knew it. If she didn¡¯t complete this mission successfully, she¡¯d be done for. And to have to undertake such a mission with Voss¡­ Someone who had proven himself to be an unreliable operative. She¡¯d have to find a way to keep him in line. Something that would have been enough of a challenge if he was part of a larger crew, but now it would be just the two of them. She knew she had to plan this thing out properly. The next few weeks would be filled with long days.


    The captain pointed at one of his cabinets and one of the faceless guards walked over to get something. ¡®War isn¡¯t our only problem right now, lieutenant. The scourge is still a threat and there are domestic affairs threatening us.¡¯. The faceless one brought a file over and gave it to the captain.


    ¡®I don¡¯t get it, captain. Domestic affairs? What¡¯s that got to do with the Fifth?¡¯


    He sighed. ¡®We¡¯ve sent a good chunk of our operatives down to assist Fourth branch. There¡¯s been a lot of unrest down in the slums lately and the higher ups have ordered every force out there to help out in any way they can.¡¯


    ¡®Unrest? Are the gangs at it again?¡¯


    ¡®No, it¡¯s worse than that.¡¯ The captain opened the file, turned it around and slid it over to her. In it was a red, yellow and blue image of a hand outstretched upwards.


    ¡®What¡¯s that supposed to be?¡¯ There was an annoyed undertone in her voice. This wasn¡¯t the time to have her play silly guessing games.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s the symbol of a new religious cult. Apparently there are currently several of these cults spreading throughout the slums. They¡¯ve become a real problem and central government wants them squashed at all costs.¡¯


    ¡®Cults? I thought religion was dealt with a long time ago? I didn¡¯t know there were still people falling for such superstitions.¡¯


    ¡®They¡¯re slum dwellers, lieutenant. They¡¯re stupid. They¡¯ll fall for anything. These cults are spreading lies. Telling them they¡¯re being oppressed by an evil system. They speak of a day of ascension when residents revolt against the citizenry and then magically get picked up by space ships, to blast into space after destroying us. Have you ever heard something as stupid as that? As if those fools could ever rule themselves.¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t know, captain. There seem to be quite a few intelligent residents. The ones in our program are far from stupid for instance.¡¯


    ¡®Dig through enough dirt and you¡¯re bound to find a few nuggets of gold, lieutenant. That doesn¡¯t take away the fact that ninety nine percent of slum dwellers are disorganized, dumb brutes.¡¯


    ¡®Sounds like these cults are turning them into organized, dumb brutes then.¡¯ she quipped.


    ¡®Exactly. Which is why they need to be squashed out now before they cause real problems. Last thing we need are large scale slum revolts whilst we¡¯re dragged into war. Every branch of government has been ordered to send whatever operatives they can spare. I have no one else to send, other than you and Voss, lieutenant. Trust me, if I had other options, you wouldn¡¯t be going.¡¯


    The captain grabbed the file, slid it back to himself and closed it, before giving it to one of his faceless guards. The guard walked back to the cabinet and restored it.


    ¡®That will be all, lieutenant. You¡¯re dismissed.¡¯


    ¡®Wait, what? Aren¡¯t you going to give me the details of this mission?¡¯ she asked incredulously.


    ¡®No, lieutenant. No more plotting and scheming from you. You¡¯ll find out together with that recruit of yours, right before you depart. If he survives, that is. And you better hope he does..¡¯

 Chapter 34: The First Step on the Road to Redemption

    He sat alone on his bunk bed in a nearly deserted barrack. Most of the others were in the mess, catching some r&r. The only others in the barracks were Jabs and Dane, who had stayed behind after dropping him off on his bunk. They sat together on the far side of the room and were conversing through murmurs and whispers. Whatever it was they were discussing, they didn''t want him to know about it.


    His solitude was probably for the best. The sergeant had begrudgingly given him some of the rapid recovery ointment that had been such a relief the last time they got lashed. The next two days would be hell, but after that there would be a full recovery. If he could somehow get that damned lotion on the hard to reach parts of his back, that was. It had been much easier to apply last time, when all the recruits were helping each other out. This time he had to deal with the pain by himself.


    Jabs, on his way to the showers and wearing nothing but a towel, walked past him. Voss knew he had to act. This was his best, and perhaps only chance to make some sort of inroad back into the group. ¡®How are Hiyo and Tick?¡¯ he asked Jabs.


    Jabs grunted. ¡®Tick will be fine. Sarge said he¡¯ll be back soon. He said nothing about Hiyo.¡¯. Voss knew what that meant. ¡°They said nothing about¡± was Fifth slang for ¡°He¡¯s been kicked out¡±. It was as he had anticipated.


    Jabs looked like he wanted to continue his path to the showers, took two steps, hesitated, and then turned around. ¡®How about yourself?¡¯


    Voss gave him a pained look and replied: ¡®I survived their torments. Now I must earn my redemption.¡¯


    Jabs gave him a small nod and then turned to Dane. ¡®Hey Dane, come over here. Help our brother out please, he is in need of some proper medical aid.


    Dane got up and walked over to them. ¡®Is that so? Well turn around then and let me have a look.¡¯


    It had worked. He now had a chance to get back into Jabs¡¯ and Dane¡¯s good books. If he could get them to accept him back into the group, the others would surely follow.


    ¡®Those faceless freaks sure got you good. These lashes look more vicious than the ones we got last time around. It will take a few days for them to heal, even with accelerated recovery.¡¯ Dane pointed at Jabs to hand over his towel, which Jabs reluctantly did. Dane used it to clean the blood from Voss, back and make his wounds better visible. The open wounds burned as Dane applied recovery lotion to them.


    ¡®Those guards give me the creeps.¡¯ Jabs said. ¡®I don¡¯t know if either of you noticed, but even the sergeant is scared of them. He tenses up anytime they or the captain are near.¡¯


    ¡®It doesn¡¯t surprise me.¡¯ Voss replied. ¡®From what I''ve seen, that captain is a dangerous and ruthless man. Don''t make the mistake of falling for his charm; there''s a cold and calculating man behind the charm. One that sees us all as disposable pawns. Stay far away from him if you can.¡¯


    ''Is that so?'' Dane asked. ¡®So what happened after you were taken away together with that lieutenant? Did the captain order lashes right away or did more transpire?¡¯


    ¡®We were brought into his office. You should have seen the place. Most luxurious room I¡¯ve ever been to in my entire life. Three times the size of our barrack. Tapestries on the walls, a giant map of the galaxy with live positions of stars and ships, a luxurious wooden desk and chairs. He even had ornamental plants.¡¯


    ¡®Ornamental plants on a spaceport?¡¯ Jabs proclaimed incredulously. ¡®Who would ever approve of such a wasteful and troublesome thing?¡¯


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    ¡®I don¡¯t think the captain needs anyone¡¯s approval, Jabs.¡¯ Voss replied. ¡®In fact those plants were given more space than we got in our barracks. They get better treatment than us too.¡¯


    ''Why am I not surprised?'' Jabs said more to himself than the others.


    ¡®Ok, we get that his office is a display of his power.¡¯ Dane said. ¡®But what happened?¡¯


    ¡®Well apparently the captain and the lieutenant go way back. He was saying things about how her father was a better lieutenant than her, and was airing dirty laundry about her. I just stood there feeling awkward for most of the time. It didn¡¯t seem appropriate for a recruit like myself to know any of these things. I think he was trying to humiliate her or something.¡¯


    Dane shook his head ¡®Very inappropriate thing to do for an officer. You should never show discord amongst officers to non officers.¡¯


    ¡®Aha, so you are ex-military! I knew it.¡¯ Voss said. He instantly regretted it as Dane pressed his thumb down into one of his open wounds. Voss shrieked out in pain. ¡®Let¡¯s let our pasts lie quiet¡¯ Dane said. Voss judged it to be best to listen to Dane and not press the matter any further right now. Instead he continued: ''It''s not just the captain versus the lieutenant. By the way they spoke to each other, it seemed like there''s a lot of scheming and backstabbing amongst the officers. Their conversation made it sound like the officer pool is a snake pit. I also got the sense there''s more going on out there than they''re letting us onto. The captain spoke about some important and dangerous mission he wants to give to the lieutenant.''


    ''Citizens and their politics.'' Jabs commented. Again it sounded more like he was talking to himself than to them. It was as if he was reminiscing about things that had happened in his own past. Like their conversation had awoken old memories that he was now stuck inside.


    Dane on the other hand, was observant. ¡®So you''re saying he first scolded the lieutenant and then offered her an important mission right after? That doesn''t make much sense to me.''


    ''I don''t know man. He didn''t give us any details. Just said it was very important. Maybe he was lying?''


    ''Or maybe he''s got no one else to send..'' Jabs replied. He looked more aware again, as if the memory had ran to completion and his mind had returned to the present. ''I don''t know if you two have noticed, but the spaceport has seemed a little empty lately.''


    Dane grunted: ''Hard to tell when we spend almost all our time in isolation in damp, claustrophobic rooms.''


    ''Yes that''s true.'' Jabs said. ''But the few times we''re not stuck inside those damp, claustrophobic rooms, this whole place just feels a whole lot emptier than it did when we just arrived. There are less guards watching over us for instance. There used to always be several, now there''s often only one.''


    ''I just assumed it''s because they trust us more now.'' Dane replied.


    ''I thought so too at first, but there are more signs of staffing shortages that weren''t there before. It especially hit home with me just now, when Voss was getting his lashes. I don''t know if either of you noticed, but the crowd was way smaller this time then it was last time.''


    ''You''ll have to forgive me for missing that detail, Jabs.'' Voss sighed. ''I was a little pre-occupied.''


    Jabs ignored his comment. ''There were less than a quarter present of the amount of spectators there were last time. I''m telling you, there''s something going on elsewhere that''s requiring a lot of manpower.''


    A short silence fell as Voss and Dane thought through what Jabs had just said. Dane was the first to break the silence. ''Maybe there is, maybe there isn''t. It''s not something we have control over. If what you''re saying is the truth, we''ll find out soon enough after we finish our training. Until then, let''s just focus on getting through this thing.'' Dane gave Voss a good pat on the shoulders. ''I¡¯m done with your back, Voss. Even got a little lotion to spare. I¡¯ll save it for you in case you need it later. Shame you didn¡¯t have access to it when you bust your face open, eh? Could have saved you from that ugly scar of yours.¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t mind the scar.¡¯ Voss replied. ¡¯In fact I¡¯m fond of it. Acts like a reminder to me.¡¯


    ¡®A reminder of what?¡¯


    ¡®A reminder of what I am and what my purpose is.¡¯


    ¡®And what would that be?¡¯


    ¡®Let¡¯s let our pasts lie quiet.¡¯ He said with a wink.


    ¡®Ah you two are a bunch of teases.¡¯ Jabs sighed.


    ¡®Then how about you enlighten us about your past, huh?¡¯ Dane retorted.


    ¡®Nice try, recruit Colonel. I¡¯m going to take my shower now. The others should be back soon. I could use a nice shower without Wago standing right next to me, scrubbing his nut sack.¡¯. Jabs walked away and began whistling a tune that Voss didn¡¯t recognize. Dane got up and outstretched himself. Before he walked off back to his own bunk bed, he turned to Voss and said: ¡®Better try to get some rest, kid. You¡¯ve got some tough days ahead. Your back isn¡¯t your only problem. Half the recruits still want to drink your blood and I haven¡¯t fully forgiven you either. I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯ll get a second chance, but you better prove yourself, or you may find this time it¡¯s your oxygen supply malfunction when we go back out into the void.¡¯ With those parting words, Dane turned around and walked.


    ¡®Dane¡¯. Dane turned his head back around. ¡®I just want to say thank you to both Jabs and you.¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t thank me with words, kid. Thank me with actions. Prove to us that you belong here after all.¡¯


    With those words, their conversation ended. It took Voss an excruciating effort to lay down on his stomach. He usually never slept like this, but his back and sides were too battered up to sleep on them. Even on his stomach, he couldn¡¯t really avoid the pain his body was in. Every small movement felt like an army of blades was passing through his back. This was going to be a long, painful night.

 Chapter 35: Love Poems in Space

    The night had been a blur. A mixture of pain and fatigue in conflict with each other. Too wounded to fall asleep, too tired to experience the full brunt of the pain. They were at breakfast now. He finished his plate of the usual slob without noticing its decrepit taste. The burning sensations on his back had overwhelmed his other senses. Even the worst of tribulations could have their upsides it seemed.


    There was shouting followed by movement. A strong hand gently clasped around his shoulder. ¡®Get up, Voss. Breakfast is over. It¡¯s time to head out.¡¯. It was Dane¡¯s voice that spoke to him. Voss got up and followed him. The sergeant was yelling things at them, but he couldn¡¯t quite follow what was being said. He felt Dane¡¯s hand again; this time grabbing him by his thigh. ¡®Just follow me and do what I do.¡¯. He obliged to Dane¡¯s command. He had no choice. He was barely aware of what was going on around him. Dazed by bandage covered open wounds that had turned his back into a field of trenches. Trenches much like the ones he had spent a full, blistering summer digging at a copper pit mine. One of several jobs he had had to pay for his way through college. He still remembered how badly his body had ached at the end of those long working days. Today he felt worse. The mine had been on its last legs when he had worked there, much like how he felt today.


    A sharp pain awoke him from his daydream. A strong hand pinched him in his neck. ¡®Pay attention.¡¯ Dane whispered into his ear. They were entering a small classroom. Foldable chairs had been set up too close to each other between with no pathway between them. The recruits were forced to climb over them to take a seat and then sit shoulder to shoulder. Even despite each man''s best attempt to take up as little space as possible, they didn¡¯t quite fit in. The sergeant spoke: ''Today you''re going to learn how to operate small void crafts such as void bikes. I don''t think I have to explain to anyone here how important it is for all of you to know how to fly one?'' Voss felt ten pairs of eyes turning into his direction in unison. He felt his face turn on an awkward, apologetic expression. Luckily, everyone''s gazes turned away from his direction as quickly as they had turned to him, when the sergeant activated a projector drone and a health and safety video began playing. Voss didn¡¯t pay attention. Not because of disinterest, but because the fatigue was catching up with him again. He dozed off; his head resting on Dane¡¯s shoulder.


    Dane poked Voss in the side with his elbow. The video had finished. The sergeant stood in front of the class and was explaining something. Voss tried to focus. The sergeant was giving them instructions on how to operate jet bikes. He only caught half of what the sergeant was saying. ¡®Pushing the steering wheel forward will make the void bike go down.¡¯ ¡­ ¡®Be gentle on the throttle.¡¯. He had heard those instructions before, coming from that damned lieutenant. That lying bitch of a woman with her stupid schemes. The lashes on his back cried out for vengeance on her. That he should get even with her. Find a way to turn her ambitions against herself and¡­¡¯. He was crudely snapped out of his daydream when he almost fell over forwards due to every recruit around him getting up from their chairs. The sergeant''s lecture was over. Time to head out.


    Yet another long hike through cramped passageways. He didn''t even bother anymore trying to estimate where they were based off of the differently coloured lines on the walls. They were led into an elevator that had seats with buckles. He looked at Jabs with a surprised look on his face.


    Jabs shook his head at him and rolled his eyes. ''Pay attention, Voss. We''re heading to the central axle.'' he whispered, making sure the sergeant wouldn''t hear them over the usual humming and buzzing noises that were constant within the spaceport. Voss hadn''t even thought about it, but it made sense that the void simulators would be placed in the central axle. Unlike the rest of the spaceport, the central axle didn''t rotate. This meant that there was no gravity, just like in the void. The elevator ride to get there was a gravitational rollercoaster. The acceleration and then deceleration combined with the slow disappearing of gravity meant they went from experiencing very high to almost non-existent gravity, back to high gravity in a manner of minutes. Then, when the elevator came to a full stop after braking harshly, they were suddenly weightless.


    What followed was a short journey through a few long, straight corridors. Their weightlessness allowed them to fly through them at a brisk pace with minimal effort. Voss had half fallen asleep again when they reached the end of the final corridor. He realized just in time he was about to slam into a closed hatchway. He outstretched his arms and managed to prevent having his face catch the brunt of the force during his landing. Voss flipped himself around and got out of the way just in time for the recruit behind him to land smoothly on his legs. He looked up in the sergeant''s direction and saw he was shaking his head in annoyance.


    They had arrived at a large cylindrical hall. It was filled with a large amount of simulators of varying types. Voss spotted several void bike simulators next to a group of void ship simulators. Several other types of simulators stood further down the hall, but the dim lighting and fuzziness of his eyes prevented him from making out what type of simulators they were. The hall''s sight reminded him of one of the slum''s many gambling & arcade halls. Just as filthy, cramped and dodgy, only ten times bigger and with simulators placed all around the room''s walls and ceiling. Voss held on tightly to a guard rail. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally drift off through the room.


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    The sergeant told them to pair up and get training. Jabs grabbed Voss hand. ¡®Hurry up and get on that bike, you idiot.¡¯ Jabs whispered. Voss sprung into action and did as he was told. A void helmet was placed on his head and he was strapped tight onto the bike. A metal cylinder attached to the bottom of the bike then pushed it three meters into the air. The visor in his helmet turned on and suddenly he found himself floating through the void next to a derelict space vessel.


    A voice sounded through his intercom. ¡®Good morning, sunshine, can you hear me?¡¯ It was Jabs. ¡®You¡¯re a lucky son of a bitch, Voss. You¡¯ve got the Void¡¯s most handsomest flight captain to guide you through today¡¯s exercises. Please confirm you can hear me by serenading to me how much you love me.¡¯


    Voss chuckled. ¡®Guide me through this thing and I¡¯ll write you a whole love poem, captain Jabs.¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s what I like to hear, pilot. Now let¡¯s get to it. Your first task is to make a nice parallel park next to the hole in the hull of that derelict ship. You get three chances. Each time you screw up, the program will reset. Fail three times and you¡¯re out. So pay attention and don¡¯t screw up because I want my love poem and I want you to read it out loud in the barrack in front of all the men. I¡¯ll lash you myself if you deny me that pleasure.¡¯


    ¡®Ay ay, cap¡¯n.¡¯ Voss felt grateful for having Jabs as a captain. Jabs took his role very seriously and put a lot of effort in captaining him through the various sim missions he had to complete. Jabs¡¯ lively, humoristic commentary, combined with the stimuli from the hyper realistic simulator, gave him such a rush that he managed to power through the fatigue and the pain for most of the hour that he was on the sim. Against all expectations, the missions went pretty smoothly and he was quite a good pilot after all. ¡®Guess it helps when you don¡¯t have to deal with some snakey lieutenant throwing you into life or death situations on your first flight.¡¯ he thought to himself.


    It wasn¡¯t until he finished the final mission and his visor turned off, that the fatigue truly hit him again. The sim bike dropped back down to ground level. He got off and removed his helmet. He wiped the sweat from his brow and took a sip of water. These helmets were made to withstand the harsh conditions of the void. Inside the spaceport they acted like a sauna. He wiped the helmet and then gave it to Jabs.


    The roles were now reversed. He had to captain Jabs through the same set of missions. He hadn¡¯t noticed when he was on the bike, but captaining was an incredibly dull task. It didn¡¯t help that he was buckled into a reclining seat, forcing him to lie on his wounded back. He was given a captain¡¯s helmet and visor. It gave him a passenger¡¯s view of Jabs¡¯ void bike. A control panel had unfolded itself out of his chair, and now hung in front of him. The panel allowed him to select, start and reset missions. Most of the time, he was just a passenger, watching Jabs glide through the void and perform maneuvers. Voss was completely useless as a captain. Barely capable of staying awake despite the pain caused by the chair pressing into the wounds on his back. Voss didn¡¯t get much done beyond pressing the start or reset buttons when Jabs gave him the signal. For the most part, Jabs was on his own as Voss drifted in and out of sleep.


    He was woken by the tune his helmet played when it shut down. The sim program was finished. Jabs had completed his last mission. Voss hadn¡¯t been aware how far along Jabs had been already. All he knew was that he had pressed start and reset a couple of times.


    ¡®Thank you for giving me free reign during these missions, captain.¡¯ Jabs said. ¡®Nothing I hate more than some overbearing, meddling mission leader.¡¯. Voss had no idea whether Jabs meant what he said, or if he merely said it in case the sergeant had been keeping tabs on their performances.


    They were done with this block of training now. The sergeant yelled for them all to get back to the hatchway they had entered the room through. Voss took a final look around the room. He noticed how there was nobody there but them. Odd. Usually a place like this would have a bunch of instructors going around to guide the recruits. It reminded him of the conversation he had with Jabs and Dane last night. The spaceport did seem quite empty. Deserted almost. The sergeant interrupted Voss'' thoughts when he gave them the whistle to move out.


    The recruits duly followed him. Voss was glad when gravity returned to normal. Extreme fatigue mixed with weightlessness was not a combination that made a man feel well. The pain in his back made each step of the way feel excruciating. There were moments where he felt like giving up, but Dane was once again right besides him for the most part of their journey. He made sure Voss kept moving  and stayed the course.


    After what seemed like an endless march, the sergeant informed them their destination was right around the corner. The sergeant had spoken none too soon. Voss had been near giving up even despite Dane''s best attempts. He felt several small trickles of blood running down his back from where his band-aids had come loose. A commotion ahead of him distracted him from his pain. Gasps and excrements of fear could be heard amongst the recruits. Around the corner were two auto-turrets. Both of which automatically aimed at them when they turned around the corner. The turrets were lined up on both sides of a blast door entrance. Two heavily armed guards walked out of the door to greet them. Above the door was a sign that said: ¡°Arms and Ammunition¡±. They had arrived at the weapons bay. A wave of confusion swept through the recruits. ¡®Weapons training?¡¯ What did a bunch of mechanical recruits need weapon¡¯s training for?

 Chapter 36: Through the Haze, Back to the Light

    They were led into a small reception hall that doubled as a classroom. It was yet another cramped up, multi purpose room. Crazy how a spaceport this size could have such a lack of space. Rust adorned the walls. Hissing pipes covered the ceiling. Folded tables to the side suggested that this room also served as some kind of mess. All in all, this room provided a stark contrast to the luxuriousness and spaciousness of the captain¡¯s office.


    Voss made sure to snatch himself a front row seat. Not because he had such a great interest in learning how to shoot, but because he needed all the help he could get to stay awake. He hoped the fear of having the sergeant smack him in the face would do just that.


    When every man was seated, an instructor walked into the room. He introduced himself and gave them a small introductory talk. Voss failed to remember his name. It didn¡¯t matter anyhow. Most of these names were irrelevant. You¡¯d see them once or twice and then never again. Besides, you could always get away with calling them by rank. All Voss needed to know was that this instructor held a corporal¡¯s rank.


    He started off with yet another health and safety instruction video. At least this one was new to Voss. He drifted in and out of attentiveness as the video played on and only caught shreds of it. ¡®Always keep your safety on outside of combat.¡¯. ¡®Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.¡¯. ¡®Never point a loaded gun in anyone¡¯s direction outside of combat, including yourself.¡¯ It was all dumb drivel. Instructions and warnings that anyone with half a brain knew instinctively. Whomever made these videos seemed to assume their target audience consisted of imbeciles and those with a deathwish. He was more than a little surprised there were no warnings not to hug mines or eat grenades.


    Voss glanced over to the weapons instructor. He looked bored and zoned out. The poor sob must have heard that same video play a thousand times by now. Voss wondered if the video haunted the instructor in his dreams. He imagined the video playing through each time the instructor closed his eyes. The idea made him chuckle.


    The video ended and the instructor took over. ¡®Alright, listen up. There are five main types of weapons that you¡¯re likely to come across in void battles. First up you got your ballistics weapons. Bullets, darts, explosives, you know the deal. Been around for thousands of years and if it ain¡¯t broke, don¡¯t fix it. Then there¡¯s laser weaponry. Way more silent, just as deadly. Laser weaponry has become the standard in combat and is the type of weaponry you¡¯re most likely to encounter. It¡¯s cheap and doesn¡¯t require extensive supply lines like ballistic weapons do. Third group is throwers. Flamethrowers, plasmathrowers, teslaguns and acidthrowers. Nasty business when you¡¯re fighting in close quarters. Most of these are extremely dangerous to use in the void too. In the hands of the wrong person they can easily cause hull breaches or engine explosions. Then there is drone weaponry. Expensive, but highly effective. Allows you to stay safe at a distance. Finally, there are mech suits. Highly expensive and complex equipment that none of you are likely to ever encounter. You better hope you don¡¯t because anyone wearing one of those suits is pretty much unstoppable. A properly trained soldier in a good mech suit can cut through an entire battalion like a knife cuts through butter.


    ¡®Mech suits, huh?¡¯ Voss thought to himself. The way they spoke about such things in the slums had always made it sound like they were a myth, a fairy tale you tell kids to impress them. He had been in training for months now, but he still hadn¡¯t fully come to terms yet with the idea that things like mech suits were now a part of the reality he was living.


    ¡®And that¡¯s how you set an L-rifle to engage and the same button on the other side of the gun switches it back to safety again. Now let¡¯s head out to the range and see what you lot can do with one.¡¯


    ¡®Damn it.¡¯ Voss thought to himself. He had daydreamt through the instructor¡¯s briefing. They were heading towards the range now and he had missed the instructions on how to operate the guns they were going to shoot with. This was going to be a mess¡­


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    Fortunately for him, the door to the shooting range was at the back of the room. This allowed him to make sure he was the last one through. Not that it had been difficult anyhow. He had never seen his fellow recruits so eager to take part in an exercise. He guessed that for most, if not all of these men, this was the first time ever they got to shoot a gun. It was for him.


    There were three, twenty five meter lanes at the range. Tables and chairs were stacked on both sides of the room, indicating that even a room like this had multiple functions. Voss scanned the room but saw no more instructors. Jabs¡¯ words echoed through his head again. The spaceport did seem deserted. It seemed crazy to him that for something as dangerous as live fire exercises, there would only be one instructor for nine recruits. Where was everybody?


    The recruits lined up. Voss was third to shoot in lane two. He made a mental note of every step the shooting recruits took so that he could copy them later when he was up. He murmured to himself as he watched them. ¡®Click in the battery pack. Pull back the slide. Press the red button on the right side. Ready to fire.¡¯. Soft thumps, barely louder than whispers, sounded with each shot. Voss could tell that the L-rifles they were using had been powered down because each shot left nothing more than a small black speck and a miniscule plume of smoke rising up from where the laser had hit. Judging by the poor quality of most shots, it was a good thing they had powered down the rifles. Out of the first three shooters, only Jabs was a good shot. The second round of recruits were better. Dane hit with every shot, and Emil wasn¡¯t too bad either, hitting the target with several of his shots.


    Then, the third round of recruits were called forward. Voss repeated the steps he had memorized by watching the others. ¡®Attach battery pack, pull slide, press button.¡¯ he again murmured to himself. He took aim and fired his first shot. It was a few centimeters off to the left. He realized he had been too rough on the trigger, pulling the gun out of direction just slightly as he shot. His second shot hit the upper edge of the target. He took a deep breath, aimed again and hit a bullseye. His next shots all hit the mark, with several of them hitting a bullseye.


    For the first time since the voidwalking incident, Voss felt confidence in himself. For a few seconds he forgot about the pain and the fatigue and enjoyed himself, taking those shots. A voice celebrated inside his head: ¡®Yes! We¡¯re back!¡¯


    ¡®Put down arms.¡¯ The sergeant ordered. In his excitement, Voss almost forgot to switch his gun back to safety and discard the battery pack from its placement. It was only because he saw Hoog struggling with ejecting his battery pack, that he snapped out of his own euphoric state and took all the necessary actions. He turned around and noticed several of the recruits were staring at him.


    ¡®What?¡¯ He asked. Had he done something wrong? Was he in trouble again?


    ¡®I¡¯d never have taken you for being ex-military.¡¯ Emil said.


    Voss managed to suppress the urge to correct him just in time. Instead he quipped: ¡®Yeah that¡¯s me. Twenty plus years of blasting lowlives such as yourselves in their faces. Ain¡¯t no feeling like it.¡¯


    The recruits all laughed and even the instructor and the sergeant couldn¡¯t control themselves. Voss had quoted the most famous line from ¡°Voidkill¡± one of the most popular immersofilms that had been released in the past twenty years. He made a small sigh of relief. He had successfully dodged a question about his past and at the same time taken another step at getting his fellow recruits to forgive him.


    ¡®Alright recruits.¡¯ the sergeant said with an unusually jovial voice. ¡®Let¡¯s move out. We¡¯re going to the VR range next to train armed tactics for an hour and then it¡¯s back to the barrack for an early night. We¡¯ve got some big days coming up ahead.¡¯


    The sergeant¡¯s words surprised Voss. He normally never gave them a heads up about what lay ahead. Either Voss¡¯ joke had put him in an exceptionally good mood, or other things were at play here.


    The hour of VR tactics were unnoteworthy. It sounded exciting on paper, but it mostly consisted of repeating the same drills over and over with the purpose of teaching each man how to operate in a squad. Voss noticed he had somewhat grown over his fatigue and that the pain was finally starting to reside a little. The rapid recovery was kicking off and healing his back.


    When they made it back to their barrack after VR, he even had enough energy left to fulfill a promise he had made. After everyone had had their showers, Dane signaled everyone to come over. Voss stepped on a crate to use it as a makeshift podium. The room fell silent, each man observing him intently.


    ¡®Ladies and gentlemen, I¡¯d like to read out loud something I wrote for a very special man.


    Love of my life, captain of my heart


    Voice of a peacock, smell of a fart


    Face of a rat, cock of a mouse


    My favorite of favorites


    Will you be my spouse?


    He made a dramatic gesture and got on one knee when he finished his poem. The men were all cheering and egged Jabs on to say yes. It seemed Voss had earned his place back amongst them. Now he¡¯d just have to make it through the final trial and deal with that damned lieutenant.

 Chapter 37: The Final Exam?

    He was rudely awoken by a cabal of noise and light. The alarm bell inside the barrack was blaring. The emergency lights were flashing. The sergeant stood in the middle of the barrack screaming ¡®All of you lazy dogs get up and get a move on, now!¡¯. Voss scrambled to get his shirt, overalls and boots on. The sergeant was already upon him before he could finish tying his laces. ¡°Get up and get moving, now!¡±. Voss was forced to limp after the sergeant with his left boot still untied. He wasn¡¯t alone. Most recruits hadn¡¯t been able to get fully dressed. Hoog still had his boots in hand, running over the steel grated floors in his socks. A painful expression covered his face. These weren¡¯t the kind of floors you wanted to run across barefooted. Dane had been wiser than them. Opting to tie his boots before putting his shirt on and pulling his overalls up. He held up his overalls by his waist with his left hand as he ran right behind the sergeant.


    The remarkable parade of half-dressed, half-limping recruits ended when they reached an elevator. The short elevator ride granted the men the respite they needed to finish dressing up. When the elevator opened, Voss saw they had reached a level that had several launch bays. Was this then finally the big day? The sergeant led them to a launch bay that had a Ciklops ready for launch in its center.


    The sergeant pointed at the wall with all the void suit stations and yelled: ¡®I want each man on board of that Ciklops, airtight and oxygen fed in under two minutes. Go!¡¯. Two minutes would have been a luxury if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that they had to go down a ladder and then dash fifty meters to get to the void suit stations and then another fifty to get to the Ciklops boarding ramp.


    Voss and the others scrambled to shoot down the ladder in rapid succession and then made a mad dash for the void suit stations. Luckily the recruits were tuned into each other by this point in their training. The men that went down the ladder first also ran towards the furthest void suit stations. Nobody had told them to do this, they just did. This way each man had approximately the same time to put on their suit before making another dash for the Ciklops.


    They heard the sergeant yell at them from a distance. ¡®Sixty seconds remaining. Any man not oxygen fed by then goes into the void as is.¡¯. All those suiting drills finally came to good use. Voss was fifth to arrive at the stations and grabbed one in the middle. He kicked off his boots and went through all the steps to get to airtight within record speed.


    ¡®Twenty seconds remaining!¡¯ The sergeant shouted at them. Voss grabbed his oxygen tank and tool belt and ran with both in hand to the Ciklops. The sergeant had somehow managed to put on his own void suit in between shouting at the recruits to hurry up and was now standing in the entry hatch of the Ship with his helmet in hand. Voss managed to get his oxygen tank attached to his back mid run and popped in the tank¡¯s oxygen nozzle as he ran up the ramp and into the ship. He was third to arrive at the Ciklops with mere seconds to spare. Several other recruits were right behind him, with two laggards trying to catch up. It was hard to tell who was who with their void suits and helmets on, but he recognized Wago¡¯s large posture in one of the two laggards.


    The sergeant gave the order to close the hatch as soon as time was up and both Wago and the other laggard had to jump through the closing hatch to make it on board in time. Everything had been so hectic and rushed, that Voss had barely even noticed that the men weren¡¯t wearing their usual mark three mechanic suits. Rather, they were wearing the modern, mark four combat models. The mark four suits were sleeker, their helmets more advanced and their oxygen tanks superior to the mark threes. Today¡¯s mission had to be important for them to be given such equipment.


    Voss put his toolbelt on and took a seat. He could tell that the launch bay was already being pulled into a vacuum. They weren¡¯t wasting any time today it seemed. Also the fact that the sergeant began closing the hatch as soon as time was up, instead of just scolding the laggards¡­ They had meant it when they said the final exam was ruthless and unforgiving. Voss knew he had to give it his all today or there might not be a tomorrow for him or his fellow recruits. The Fifth was willing to lose men today.


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    When every recruit was seated, the sergeant signalled to the pilot that they were ready for lift off. The sergeant stood out because his void suit was red, where everyone else¡¯s was a camouflage pattern consisting of grays and blacks. The sergeant still wasn¡¯t wearing his helmet. Preferring to speech to the recruits directly, without the use of his intercom. ¡®Alright you slumdogs. This is it: the day you¡¯ve all been training for. Today it¡¯s for real. There will be no mercy, no second chances. Today, you either successfully complete the mission, or die trying.¡¯


    The pilot interrupted the sergeant¡¯s speech to announce their launch would commence in thirty seconds. The sergeant made a quick round inspecting if every man was properly suited and properly seated, before putting his own helmet on, taking his seat buckling in.


    The pilot spoke over the intercom. ¡®Three, two, one, launch.¡¯. Ten G slammed down on them for about two seconds. A force that stopped as soon as it had started. They were now weightless again in the eerie quiet of the void.


    ¡®As I was saying.¡¯ The sergeant continued, now via their intercoms. ¡®Today is not an exercise. You will not be told what to expect or which skills to use. Danger could come from anywhere at any time. Your training will be put to the test today. Apply what you¡¯ve learned. Rely on your talents and cooperate as a team. It¡¯s your best chance of making it back to this ship alive.¡¯


    The passenger bay¡¯s red light began flashing and the ship¡¯s engines turned on. A sense of weight returned as the ship accelerated. It was going well over standard gravity. They were going to go fast and travel far


    ¡®Your mission today is to investigate why we lost contact with a remote military observation post. You will be divided into two squads. Blue squad will consist of Hoog, Jabs, Tick and Voss; with Dane as squad leader. You will check the outside of the station and test if the station¡¯s relay towers are operational. Check for damage and make repairs where needed.


    Wago, East, Atis you are red squad. Emil is red leader. You are to enter the station and see if the station¡¯s crew is alright. As you may have noticed, there are two crates located at the front of the passenger bay. One with a red line and one with a blue line. Go to your color coded crate and take from them what you think you¡¯ll need. You will also find copies of the station¡¯s schematics and personnel records in there. Arrival at the station is estimated to be in about twelve hours.


    Squad leaders will take it from here. From this point onwards I am merely an observer. Good luck to you all and remember. This isn¡¯t some silly exercise. This is for real. Your lives are on the line today so stay focused and stay professional.


    Voss mulled over the sergeant¡¯s words. If the sergeant meant what he had said about their lives being on the line, then it was unlikely they were going in for a simple repair mission. Besides, if the only problem was with the communications antennas, the station¡¯s crew members would have fixed it themselves. There were going to be hostile operatives on board that station. He was certain about it. They had to focus on weaponry when selecting their load outs.


    The team selection also worried him. There were only three good marksmen in their group. Dane, Jabs and himself. All three had been put in the same squad. The outside repair team. The boarding squad were all poor shots except for Emil, who was an average shot. Voss frowned. He had the suspicion that everyone had carefully been placed at just the wrong spot. The Fifth was setting them up to create the most difficult circumstances possible. Today wouldn¡¯t just be about their strengths. They would be tested on their weaknesses.


    This mission smelled like a trap to him, but there wasn¡¯t much he could do. If they didn¡¯t follow orders and do the outside repairs, they¡¯d be written up for insubordination. Tricky business. He had to find a way to warn Dane. He couldn¡¯t use the intercom because the sergeant would be able to listen in on them. Hell, that bloody captain was probably piloting their ship again and listening in on everything they said. He couldn¡¯t be heard spoiling their carefully planned out mission. At best they¡¯d probably make last minute changes to increase the mission¡¯s difficulty for the recruits.


    The sergeant gave them the green light and each man unbuckled himself before proceeding to the crates. The ship¡¯s acceleration pulled them towards the back of the ship. This meant they had to climb upwards to get to the crates. No mean feat when the ship was accelerating well above one G. Any slip or loss of grip would come with a high price.


    Dane had climbed on top of the blue crate and had taken out the station¡¯s schematics and personnel records to study. Emil had gotten on top of the red crate and had done the same. Both squad leaders handed out numbered patches to their team members. Voss made sure to notice the details of every man¡¯s suit so that he could better hold them apart. He wasn¡¯t going to forget who was who, not this time. Every detail mattered today. Success, and even survival, would require each man to be at his best.


    Voss looked inside the blue crate and saw that it was filled with way more than they could take with them. Choices would have to be made. Choices with big potential consequences. Voss knew he had to warn Dane before the equipment was handed out. Guns were going to be at least as important today as having the right tools.

 Chaper 38: Cold Feet, Nagging Doubts

    He knew he had to act fast. But how was he going to get Dane¡¯s attention without the sergeant noticing? And how was he going to get the message across without the others noticing? He decided his only option would be to use the rudimentary hand signals they had been taught in class. He¡¯d somehow have to bring across a complex message in a few signals. He got closer to Dane, and when Dane looked up to see what was happening, he subtly made the gestures for danger, enemies and trap. Dane didn¡¯t say anything, but made a small, reassuring halt hand movement. Dane then turned the palm of his hand downwards and made a small downwards pushing movement. Voss knew what it meant. Dane understood what was going on, had everything under control, and Voss needed to calm down.


    It was a comforting thought. Voss¡¯ warning had been unnecessary. Dane had figured out it was a set up too. Not only did this assuage Voss¡¯ worries, it also further strengthened his belief that Dane was ex-military. It wouldn¡¯t surprise him if the Fifth was planning on fast tracking Dane for a role of non-commissioned officer. A role which Voss thought would suit him well.


    Dane spoke over their intercom, using his most stern and authoritative voice. ¡®Listen up, blue squad. I just finished discussing our strategy with Emil. Red squad will focus on guns, breaching equipment, medical supplies and trap disarmament tools. We will take an allrounder approach. Jabs, you¡¯re the scout. He¡¯ll take an L-rifle and reconnaissance equipment. Voss, support. You¡¯re taking spare oxygen with you, a ballistics revolver and plasma cutter. Tick, electrics. Full electrical tool belt and take some precision thermite with you in case we need to breach a door. Hoog, mechanic. Mechanical toolbelt, common spare parts chest and a break iron. Let¡¯s see what that arm of yours can do if needed. I¡¯m taking an L-rifle, medical supplies and advanced comms systems.


    The station is shaped like an H. Comms antennas are at both far ends of the central bridge. We¡¯ll be dropped off at the far end of the lower left compartment. Three hundred meter jump without a proper landing area. To compensate, we¡¯ll jump simultaneously. Each man hooks into the man on his left with his left hook. When we land, look for anything you can hook your right hook into. At least one of us has to make a successful landing, or we¡¯ll all bounce back into the void and it will be game over for us. Team red will jump thirty seconds after us. This means we¡¯ll catch them right after we¡¯ve landed. In return, they¡¯ll provide cover for us during our landing in case we¡¯re ambushed.


    Once both squads have landed, we decouple and move out. Treat this as a combat zone. That means we won¡¯t be securely attached to the station at all times. Always be on guard because the station has thrusters it can use to avoid meteorites. If enemy operatives turn those on, you can get flung into the void if you¡¯re not careful. Anyone entering the station will keep their helmet on at all times. Manual override to tank fed oxygen. We don¡¯t know if the air inside is breathable.


    Emil has bio scanners with him and will report to me on what red squad encounters inside. We have to take into account every possibility. They might have been attacked by capers, there might have been a toxic leak on board. For all we know, there could have been a scourge infestation. Whatever it may be, I need all of you at one hundred percent at all times. Be ready for anything they throw at you, lads. Whatever is waiting for us at the station, it won¡¯t be easy, that¡¯s for sure. Any questions before we go over the station¡¯s schematics and our mission plan?¡¯


    A silence ensued. They all knew what was expected of them. This was what they had trained for all those months. ¡®One question¡¯ Voss said. ¡®What¡¯s the extraction plan?¡¯


    ¡®The Ciklops will dock once we¡¯ve got the station¡¯s communications up and running again and give them the all clear.¡¯


    ¡®What if we can¡¯t clear the station?¡¯ Jabs said. ¡®What if we get bogged down in enemy fire?¡¯


    ¡®Then we¡¯ll be on our own. Even if the Fifth was willing to send reinforcements, it would take hours before they¡¯d get there.¡¯


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    ¡®A comforting prospect.¡¯ Jabs replied cynically.


    ¡®We¡¯re not some hobby club, lads. This is what we signed up for and what we trained for. No void marine is going to save you when the freighter you¡¯re working on gets ambushed by capers, or if an asteroid collision causes a hull breach. We operate on our own in the most dangerous conditions and pull through no matter what. We are voidsmen now, and we¡¯ll act like it.¡¯


    Voss was glad to have Dane as a squad leader. A feeling he was sure was shared by every man in his squad. With Dane at its helm and Jabs and himself as marksmen, he knew they¡¯d be fine. Emil¡¯s squad on the other hand¡­ He could only hope that he was underestimating them.


    Once every man got their equipment, they made it back to their seats. The heavy gravity meant that they¡¯d need to do everything they could to preserve their energy. Every recruit had been given a pressurized water bottle that could be connected to a valve in their helmets, and a few food capsules. The capsules could be attached to the neck of the bottle. If you did so, instead of water, a sweet, viscous liquid would be served right into your mouth. It wasn¡¯t very tasteful but it was sugar and nutrient laden so it did work well to keep the hunger at bay. They had been warned to keep use to a minimum though, since rapid consumption was notorious for causing diarrhea. Not a pleasant prospect when you were stuck inside a suit for the next twenty four hours. Their suits came with a system to dispose of number one¡¯s, but not number two¡¯s. Either you held it in, or you suffered the consequences.


    ¡®Voss, is that you?¡¯ It was Hoog¡¯s voice on the intercom. ¡®Can you switch to channel eight for me?¡¯


    Voss tried to inconspicuously turn the wheel of his intercom on the side of his helmet until he got to channel eight. ¡®What is it Hoog?¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about this, Voss. I think there¡¯s something they¡¯re not telling us.¡¯


    ¡®Damn it¡¯ Voss thought to himself. ¡®Hoog is going to ruin it by blabbing his mouth where the sergeant can hear it. I got to shut him down.¡¯ He tried to speak with a neutral voice, hiding his irritation. ¡®I¡¯m with you Hoog. But this is the final exam, of course there are things they¡¯re not telling us.¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t mean it like that, Voss. I mean that there¡¯s something off about the story they¡¯re giving us.¡¯


    Voss knew he had to divert the conversation. Diffuse it without Hoog spilling that several recruits had caught onto the fifth¡¯s plan. ¡®And?¡¯


    ¡®The sergeant spoke about a remote military observation post. Those are usually heavily fortified. If anything managed to take one of those out, then we don¡¯t stand a chance against it.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s just a training exercise, Hoog. I¡¯m sure they use some old derelict space station for these exercises instead of a real military post.¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t think so, Voss. Do you know how expensive it is to operate such a station? I don¡¯t think they have spare ones flying around just for simple exercises.¡¯


    Voss pretended he had to suppress his laughter. ¡®Hoog. This is an exam, not a warzone. Calm down. I¡¯m sure it will be fine. We¡¯re just going to simulate a real life scenario. Hell I¡¯m pretty sure our weapons aren¡¯t even real. They¡¯re downgraded models just like the ones at the gun range.¡¯ His voice sounded much more confident than he actually was. It seemed that most of the recruits had caught on to the fact that something didn''t quite check out. But could it really be that the Fifth''s final exam was so obvious that several recruits individually managed to figure out what was happening before it had even started? Would there be another twist? A second layer that they didn''t know about?


    Hoog¡¯s voice sounded irritated. It was obvious he didn¡¯t appreciate Voss¡¯ dismissal of his concerns. ¡®Why are you turning this into a joke, Voss? Like the sergeant said. People die during these exams. They might not kill all of us, but one or two to push us to our limits? I wouldn¡¯t hold it past them.¡¯


    ¡®Alright, alright. Get to your point then Hoog. What are you trying to say?¡¯


    Hoog¡¯s voice sounded shaky. ¡®I.. I¡­ don¡¯t know, man. I can''t put it to words. It¡¯s just¡­ there¡¯s something very off about this. I don¡¯t trust it at all.¡¯


    Voss tried to sound reassuring. ¡®Listen, Hoog. I understand. You¡¯re tense, I¡¯m tense, we¡¯re all tense. I agree with you that there¡¯s probably things they¡¯re hiding from us. It¡¯s probably going to be dangerous out there, but it would make no sense for them to spend so much time and money on our training just to kill us off at the end. Let¡¯s keep our focus, stay sharp during the mission and try to be ready for anything, alright?¡¯


    ¡®Alright man, just promise me you¡¯ll keep your eyes open and your aim tight.¡¯


    ¡®I will, Hoog. You promise me you will stay alert and work fast on those antennas, alright?¡¯


    ¡®Will do¡¯


    Voss hoped he had done enough to calm Hoog down. The last thing they needed was him having a nervous breakdown halfway through their mission. Hoog had a point though. The more Voss thought about it, the less sense any of this made. It wasn¡¯t just the lack of information either. If this was an exam, where were the examiners? Why was only the sergeant with them? And wasn''t he even joining them during the mission as an observer? And why were they given state of the art equipment? The more he thought about it, the more his nerves took a hold of him.

 Chapter 39: Ghosts in the Void

    The pilot spoke over the intercom: ¡®Approaching station. Looks like it took heavy damage. Looks like battle damage. Both ballistics and energy impacts. No signs of movement. No communications established. Ready to commence void jumps in two minutes.¡¯


    As the pilot finished speaking, he began the approach procedures. The Ciklops began shaking and turning. Indicating that the auto systems were putting it in parallel park to the station. As soon as the shaking stopped, Dane unbuckled himself and pushed himself out of his seat. The rest of the men followed, got their gear together and made way for the rear hatch. It was show time.


    ¡®You heard the pilot, lads. Everyone switch to squad comms channel if you haven¡¯t already. Remember, all inter-team communications will run between Emil and me exclusively. If you got something you think needs to be shared, you share it with me. Voss will be my second in command. Wago is Emil¡¯s second in command. Anything happens to me or Emil, they take over.¡¯


    Voss was caught a bit off guard by Dane placing him second in command. A bold move by Dane when half the recruits were still a bit on the fence on whether he should even still be here after what happened with Hiyo and the void bike during the last time they went into the void. It didn¡¯t matter though. The void wasn¡¯t the place to dissolve into petty squabbles about who deserved most to be the leader. If Dane said he was second in command, he was second in command, even if the other men all hated his guts. There was no margin for error on Voss¡¯ part though. For if he screwed up again, he knew the reckoning would come after today was over. Several months of camaraderie and shared hardships may have given them the collective illusion of having entered a new life, deep down these men were still Fosfat¡¯s most dangerous. Each one of them was here because of a tough life that led them to bad choices.


    On the other hand, Dane¡¯s choice for him made sense. He was the only other recruit besides Dane that was aware the Fifth had laid down an ambush for them¡­


    His thoughts got interrupted by Dane¡¯s voice. ¡®One last thing before we jump, men. I just wanted to let you know that no matter what happens today. I¡¯m proud and grateful I got to train alongside you lot. I couldn¡¯t have wished for a better class. Even if your hygiene standards are abysmal. Now brace yourselves, men. We jump as soon as the hatch is fully open. For the Fifth!¡¯


    ¡®For the Fifth!¡¯ it clattered through Voss¡¯ intercom. Voss bemusedly thought to himself ¡®It¡¯s obvious which one of the two squad leaders is the senior one.¡¯. It was for the best. Emil was a smart and capable man, but he was no Dane.


    The hatch slowly began to open. ¡®Security check.¡¯ Dane said. Voss checked if everything was attached to him properly and if he was secured properly to the men next to him. ¡®Everything clear.¡¯ Dane said. Voss grabbed his neighbors¡¯ hands.


    The hatch was now opened far enough to reveal the station to them. They were faced with an abysmal scene. The fortified station was heavily damaged. Most of its guns had been taken out. Its hull had been breached on several places by shell impacts. The scene looked like the leftovers from a warzone. Voss made a quick assessment of the H shaped situation. Three of the wings had sustained heavy damage, with the fourth one having taken lighter damage. The central axle of the station was relatively unharmed as well. They were set to jump onto the part of the station that was most heavily damaged. On the least damaged part, large letters were visible, indicating the station''s name. Only a few letters remained visible due to the sustained damage. The first two were R and E. The third letter had been painted on beneath a, now wiped out, defence turret and was no longer visible. The fourth and fifth letters were N and H. Any letters beyond that were indiscernible due to the heavy damage sustained to the wing they had been written on. R,E,something,N,H... His thoughts were interrupted when A green light next to the hatch began to flash.


    ¡®Go go go!¡¯ Dane shouted. Voss felt his legs move beneath him as if they operated by their own inclination. This jump was different from their last ones. Faster, more strained. He could tell by the way the men held his hands, that they were tense too. Nobody wanted to admit it, but they were all afraid. It was for real now. They were on their own and they couldn¡¯t afford any mistakes.


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    Voss had no idea if Dane was as scared as the rest of them, but if he was, he was excellently hiding it from them. His voice sounded as calm as ever. As if he was fully in control of the situation and knew exactly what was going on. ¡®We land in about sixty seconds, men. Standard push and spread five seconds before landing. Hook in, catch red squad and move out according to plan. Jabs, I want that rifle in your hands and ready to shoot at all times. Anything moves, shoot first, ask questions later. Leave the attempts at establishing contact to red squad. Keep chatter to a minimum.¡¯


    They were nearing the station now. Voss waited for the signal. Once they got it, he pushed his squadmates away and focused on grabbing the only maintenance safety rail in sight. He managed to get a hold of it with his left hand and hooked himself in with his right. Everything went smoothly this time. Three out of five squad members had managed to hook in. The only ones who hadn¡¯t were Jabs, who had landed smoothly anyhow with rifle in hand, as instructed, and Hoog, who didn¡¯t need to hook in because he had gripped the rail with his bionic arm. It would take ten men minimum to pry his hand open away from that rail.


    ¡®Commence catch maneuver.¡¯


    Voss and the others turned around. Red squad was nearing in on them fast. Voss grabbed Atis¡¯ hand and pulled him in. Dane, Hoog and Tick also caught members of red squad. Leaving Jabs free to shoot at anything trying to encroach on them. Landing had been a success. The real mission could now begin.


    Dane wasted no time and began barking orders. ¡®Everybody decouple and detach from the station. Remember formation. We move fast. Let¡¯s go!¡¯


    Voss did as he was told. He understood why they were supposed to detach from the station, but it still instilled a sense of dread in him. He wasn¡¯t a big fan of the idea that they were now decoupled from any kind of safety. Despite the rigorous training from the previous months, they were still inexperienced void walkers. It didn¡¯t help that the last time they were out in the void, it had resulted in the near death of two recruits. The potential threats present on this station were bad enough without having to worry about helplessly drifting off into space.


    He drew his revolver. Not that he expected the fighting would happen out here. Void battles seemed unlikely during their exam. Too risky to simulate. One piece of shrapnel hits your suit and you¡¯re dead. Training exercise or no training exercise. Good luck finding instructors willing to sign up for that. No, the fighting would happen inside the station. He was convinced of that. But where? How many enemy operatives would there be? How well equipped would they be and what kind of strategy would they be using? Those were the real questions. Questions to which he had no answer. They were going in blind.


    Dane spoke over their intercoms. ¡®Team red has entered the station. No contact made thus far. Stay vigilant, men. This whole thing smells like a voidcaper raid to me. Switch to loose formation, sweeper pattern. Be prepared for ambushes and traps, men.¡¯


    Voss took up position at the far left flank. Jabs was at the far right and Dane in center. No matter where the danger came from, there¡¯d be a gun pointing back at it.


    He understood why Dane had opted for a sweeping pattern, but it meant he now had to move over a pockmarked terrain made up of pipes, scanners, solar panels and other exterior systems. It didn¡¯t help that the part he was traveling across had suffered several impacts. Creating multiple craters and even a hull breach. The hull breach was especially dangerous since there could be enemy operatives hiding within it. No easy terrain to cross, especially considering he was weightless and only had one free arm available, having to hold his gun at all times.


    Voss quickly established a pattern that worked for him. Jump towards a good spot, scan for danger, look for the next spot to jump to, repeat. Every few repetitions he checked if he was keeping up with the others and whether they were still in proper formation.


    They were nearing the first of the two antennas. It looked like a mess. No shots had hit it directly, but it seemed to have been hit with several pieces of shrapnel that had ricocheted off the station. It would be a miracle if this antenna was still operational with the amount of damage it had sustained.


    Dane¡¯s voice broke the absolute silence of the void they had been in since landing. ¡®I want Hoog and Tick up in that tower. See if it can be salvaged to at least emit short range. We need to know if they¡¯re emitting emergency broadcasts or if we can establish contact with any crew on board of the station. Jabs, Voss and I will take guard in triangle formation around the antenna.¡¯


    Voss moved towards the spot overlooking the direction they had come from.His revolver didn¡¯t have the accuracy that Jabs¡¯ and Dane¡¯s L-rifles had so it was best if he overlooked the safest, and shortest direction. His helmet flashed. Nine bars remaining.


    Dane continued. ¡®Red squad reported in. Still no contact made. A-wing of the station was completely deserted. They¡¯re moving into B-wing now. Apparently the insides of the station are a complete mess. Something awful took place here. Red leader reported ample evidence of both gunfights and explosives having occurred inside the station. Whatever happened here was big and nasty, lads. Let¡¯s hurry this thing up and get out of here as fast as we can. Hoog, what¡¯s the status on this damned comms tower?¡¯


    Hoog replied hesitantly. ¡®Eh, hard to tell, Dane. I think there may be a way to work around the damage enough that we can get a signal on this thing. It will be a weak signal and it won¡¯t be aimed properly, but it should be enough to make it to the Ciklops for reading.¡¯


    ¡®Good then get to it. We need to find out asap what happened here. Red squad''s lives and ours may depend on it.¡¯

 Chapter 40: Void Traps And Warnings

    ¡®I think we got a signal¡¯ Hoog reported. ¡®Ask Ciklops if they can read it.¡¯


    Dane replied: ¡®Ciklops reports that it¡¯s a distress call. They were under attack by voidcapers.¡¯


    ¡®Then why didn¡¯t we receive it?¡¯ Tick asked.


    Dane sighed. ¡®Because they were too late. These voidcapers knew what they were doing. They attacked the antennas even before taking out the station¡¯s defences. By the time they broadcasted the signal, the antenna was already destroyed. Let¡¯s get to the second tower and see if we can get some useful information from that one. Get down from that tower, Hoog & Tick. Voss and I remain on guard. Jabs, scout the way ahead. Look for danger.¡¯


    It took Hoog some time to pack up their stuff and get down from the tower. The damage on the tower meant they had to move carefully to avoid any holes or tears in their suits.


    ¡®Alright men, let''s move out. Jabs, you spotted anything useful?¡¯


    ¡®I took the recon drone out for a spin. It registered something interesting. There¡¯s a perimeter defence auto-turret that¡¯s still activated. I don¡¯t like the look of it. It looks primitive. Probably a model without a recognition sensor. Just as likely to shoot us as it is to shoot our enemies.¡¯


    ¡®Good catch, Jabs. We¡¯ll cross on the bottom side of the bridge then and avoid that turret.¡¯ Dane replied.


    ¡®Negative, sir.¡¯ Jabs interjected. ¡®It¡¯s placed on a rail. If we try to pass it on the other side of the station, the vibrations might set it off anyhow.¡¯


    ¡®Damn it, any way to take it out?¡¯


    ¡®No, sir. We don¡¯t have the firepower needed to take such a drone out in one shot, and that¡¯s all you get with a drone of this type.¡¯


    Hoog chimed into the conversation. ¡®How about we move to the bottom side of the station and then jump to the other side?¡¯


    ¡®Any objections to that suggestion, Jabs?¡¯ Dane asked.


    ¡®No, sir. As long as we stay outside of a seventy meter radius from that thing, we should be good. It¡¯s a short range model.¡¯


    ¡®Good, then we jump. Let¡¯s move down, lads. Voss, you jump first. Hoog and tick, you guys go second. Then Jabs. I¡¯ll take the rear guard position and go last.¡¯


    Voss magnified the view on his helmet¡¯s display to scan for a good landing site. He saw one where three pipes ran across the hull of the ship, with metal rails surrounding them. He then holstered his revolver, grabbed the hooks that were attached to his suit, and moved to a proper place to jump from. Dane and Jabs better keep their eyes open and their guns pointed, because he¡¯d be a sitting duck once he jumped.


    He found a small ramp and looked up. This would have to do. He grabbed a ledge, used it to stabilize himself and jumped. Nice and smooth, just like how that harlot of a lieutenant had taught him. He felt a pang of anger running through him when he thought of her. An emotion and a distraction that he couldn¡¯t use right now. He¡¯d be landing soon enough. Fortunately his jump was well aimed and without any spin. A tad too fast perhaps, but he¡¯d manage. Besides, his helmet flashed to indicate he was down to seven bars, and the less time spent open and exposed, the better.


    He hooked himself onto a rail as soon as he made contact with the station. He secured himself and spun himself around, onto his feet, in one gracious movement. With one leg wrapped around the guard rail, he was ready to catch Hoog and Tick. He looked up and saw that they were already on their way together and nearing fast. Voss caught Tick by his arm and pulled both of them in. Once they had been stabilized, he unwrapped his leg and clicked himself loose from the rail. It would be up to Hoog and Tick to catch the others.


    He hand-signalled to Hoog to catch Jabs and then pulled his revolver. He turned around and made way for the nearest vantage point that had a moderate degree of cover.


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    By the time he arrived there, Jabs had already landed and Dane was halfway through his jump. Jabs was guarding the other side of their landing zone. Dane was flying in fast with his rifle still in hand. He executed his landing so perfectly that Voss interpreted it as yet more evidence that Dane had a military background. paradrop units perhaps? Maybe even void marines?


    How a man like Dane could ever end up in their squad was beyond him. Right now that didn¡¯t matter though. What mattered was that they had executed a difficult manoeuvre in tough conditions, and that they had done so in under two minutes. They had cleared the turret and could now move on to the second communications tower.


    The coast seemed clear so they moved in to secure the site of the tower. Hoog and Tick wasted no time and went up in what remained of the tower. Tick spoke over the intercom. ¡®There¡¯s no way we can get this one up and running, Dane, but I might be able to plug into the cache and play out previously sent messages.¡¯


    ¡®You¡¯ve got five minutes, Tick. We need to keep up the pace.¡¯


    ¡®Roger that, Dane.¡¯


    Voss chimed into the conversation. ¡®I don¡¯t like this at all, men. Everything is going too smoothly. It¡¯s all too easy. It can¡¯t be that this is all there¡¯s to our final exam? Any updates from red squad? How are they faring?¡¯


    Dane answered: ¡®Nothing. They report a lot of signs of previous engagements. Found a couple of dead bodies frozen stuck to the space station, but no immediate threats. They finished clearing out A and B wings of the station and are now moving through the central axle. Apparently they¡¯re going through some sort of command post now that¡¯s been shot to bits on the inside. They¡¯ll head into C wing when they reach the end of the central axle, we¡¯ll head to D wing once we¡¯re done here.¡¯


    ¡®Which one is D wing?¡¯ Hoog asked.


    ¡®Dane didn¡¯t reply via the intercom, instead he pointed into the direction of the wing that was least damaged. C and D wing were names they had given to the wings during their pre-mission briefing. By pointing instead of telling them which wing was which, Dane showed he was thinking ahead, opting to share as little as possible via their intercoms. You never knew if you were up against an interceptor-decoder. If your radio waves got caught by one of them, the enemy could listen in on you.


    ¡®I¡¯ve got some kind of transmission, sir.¡¯ Tick spoke. ¡®But it¡¯s pretty damaged and distorted.¡¯


    ¡®Play it for us, Tick.¡¯ Dane replied.


    ¡®Alright, here it is.¡¯ A metallic voice sounded through their intercoms. It was hard to hear due to heavy static that at times drowned out the voice completely. ¡®He.... Yo....ot .. co... as... Th.... le..ne... t.ut..We ca... o.. the... ck ..ch.. Lo..yre¡­mo¡­side....¡¯


    Dane sighed. ¡®Well that¡¯s not going to help us. I¡¯m sending it through to the Ciklops for restoration and audio clean up, men. In the meanwhile, let¡¯s get moving again. Jabs you go ahead.¡¯


    Dane waited for Hoog and Tick to get down from the comms tower and signalled for the men to move towards the end of D-wing. ¡®Any sign of danger, Jabs?¡¯


    ¡®Negative, sir.¡¯


    It didn¡¯t make any sense to Voss. Where was the danger? Where were the enemies? They had to be here somewhere. The fifth wouldn¡¯t let them steamroll this mission without some twist. It couldn¡¯t be that easy¡­ And yet, so far neither squad had encountered any sign of life, just a few basic traps. Could it be something else then? Perhaps a slaver scenario? Perhaps they were looking in the wrong place? Maybe the trap would be sprung once everyone was inside D-wing. The more he thought about it the more it made sense. They were going through a slavers scenario, a special breed of voidcapers that specialized in abducting skilled personnel and selling them in clandestine slave markets.


    Nobody ever officially confirmed the existence of slavers, but the slums were rife with rumors about them. Some even swore they knew of such markets existing in the deep south. A place where gangs bought and sold skilled workers needed for the maintenance of their machines and guns, or where they got their computer specialists to run scams and hacking operations. Voss had never taken the rumors seriously. Tall tales used to scare children into staying out of the worst parts of the slums. Out here in the void though, the idea of slavers didn¡¯t seem so far fetched.


    They made quick progress and got to the entry hatch at the far end of D wing. Dane signalled for Hoog to open it, but Voss intervened. He signalled with his hands ¡®Me do it, danger.¡¯. He knew this type of airlock by heart. It was an old model that was easy to hack and reprogram the set air pressure. It was the same model that was used to gain access to the plasma-electric engines running Saltpeterburg¡¯s waterworks. There they were a fire precaution. Anything went wrong whilst working on those engines, and they¡¯d suck all the air out of the room to stop fire from spreading. Only on Fosfat they never gave him an airtight suit when he worked on those engines.


    Voss took out his plasma cutter and got rid of the steel plate protecting the outer control panel. Just like he thought, the air pressure settings had been tampered with. Standard air pressure had been set to fifty bars. Quite deadly on its own, but even more deadly if you¡¯d try to escape it by opening one of the hatches to escape the pressure. You¡¯d be shot out like a bullet.


    He reset the airlock to the standard pressure setting of one point two bars and gave his squad the thumbs up. Dane pointed at Hoog and Voss and gestured for them to go in first. They climbed into the cramped airlock together and closed the outer hatch. As the air pressure rose, sound returned. Hoog¡¯s voice sounded like a warm bath after the cold silence of the void. ¡®Don¡¯t forget to turn your helmet¡¯s pressure valves to prevent the station¡¯s air from entering your helmet, Voss. We have to be careful of poison gas.¡¯


    They opened the inner hatch of the airlock and entered a cylindrical storage room. Several rows of closed shelves and cabinets circled around the room. A hole in the centre served as the only way to get through. A perfect set up for a trap or an ambush.


    Whilst Voss and Hoog analysed the room, the others got through the airlock. Dane spoke as soon as they entered. ¡®The sergeant ran the message through the system and had it deciphered, men. ¡°Help! You¡¯ve got to come fast. They learned the truth. We can¡¯t hold them back much longer. They¡¯re moving inside.¡±.


    ¡®What truth? And who¡¯s moving inside?¡¯ Jabs asked.


    ¡®I guess we¡¯ll learn soon enough. Let¡¯s get moving.¡¯


    Voss knew this was the moment to intervene. ''Dane, if I may speak. I think we''re looking in the wrong direction. What if the trap isn''t on board of this station? What if there are slavers hiding out there in the void that waited for us to enter so that they could then approach the station unnoticed and capture us alive?''


    ''If that''s true then we''ll make our stand soon enough, Voss. For now focus on what definitely lies ahead of us, not what might be in our rear.''

 Chapter 41: A Sickening Discovery

    The only way through to the other side of the room was a circular opening in the middle. Each shelf was filled to the brim with goods that had been tied into place. Each cabinet closed and housed who knew what types of nasty surprises. The room was cluttered and vision was poor. Something made worse by the lack of proper lighting. There were a few emergency lights that illuminated the path through the room, but other than that it was dark. The fact that you could only move through the room down the middle, meant that you¡¯d be surrounded by potential threats from all sides. This room was perfect for ambushes and traps.


    ¡®It¡¯s not looking good, lads.¡¯ Jabs helmet shook from left to right as he said it. The drone revealed five booby traps, and I can¡¯t guarantee you that there aren¡¯t more than that. Each row of shelves seems to have at least one trap hidden in it. This whole room is rigged to the brim with traps.


    ¡®Damn it.¡¯ Dane said. It¡¯s too dangerous to pass through here. Disarming all those traps would take way too long and we can¡¯t risk missing one.¡¯


    ¡®I think I might know a way.¡¯ Voss replied. ¡®But only if we leave one man behind.¡¯


    ¡®Elaborate please.¡¯ Dane said.


    ¡®Jabs¡¯ recon drone shows two types of booby traps. Heat and vibration based traps. If we turn this room into a vacuum, we can negate both.¡¯


    ¡®Are you sure about that?¡¯ Hoog¡¯s voice sounded a tad shaky as he said it. Voss couldn¡¯t blame him. Last time an explosion had gone off, Hoog lost an arm and nearly died.


    Dane assessed Voss¡¯ words out loud: ¡®That makes sense, Voss. A vacuum would negate any conventional heat transfer and aerial vibrations, and our suits are made to stop as much radiation as possible. We¡¯d have to make sure not to touch anything though to prevent vibrations reaching the traps. We¡¯d be taking a risk though. If we¡¯ve missed just one motion trap based on laser light, we¡¯re toast.¡¯


    Voss had expected Dane to come to the same conclusion he had, and already had his answer ready. We¡¯re going to have to repeatedly pull the room into a vacuum and then repressurize it. The air inside this room is cold and damp. It will condense if I breathe out into it and that will reveal any hidden laser lights. We¡¯ll move one ring at a time. It won¡¯t go as fast as we¡¯d like, but under the circumstances, I think it¡¯s our best option.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s too risky.¡¯ Dane said. ¡®What if there¡¯s poison in the air?¡¯


    ¡®My helmet isn¡¯t reading any anomalies. Besides, it¡¯s impossible to negate every risk completely. I¡¯m willing to take the chance.¡¯


    ¡®Alright then. Give us the details of your plan and we¡¯ll do it.¡¯


    ¡®First we check the first ring for any laser based motion traps. Once we¡¯ve cleared the first ring, we pull the room vacuum and move towards the second ring. We form a human pyramid to make sure I¡®m placed between rings and completely unmoving. That way we can avoid me touching anything. I¡¯ll attach a hook next to the airlock so that the line on my suit will keep me in place when the room repressurises. We¡¯ll repeat this process until we¡¯ve cleared each ring for laser based motion traps. Once we¡¯ve done that, we pull the room into vacuum one last time. When we do, the others, bar one, will move through the room. The final man has to stay behind to repressurize the room again or we won¡¯t be able to open the airlock to the next room.¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s all nice and dandy.¡¯ Tick chimed in ¡®but the airlock won¡¯t work when its door is opened. You can¡¯t just pull the room vacuum.¡¯


    ¡®Leave that to me.¡¯ Voss replied. ¡®I¡¯ll override the safety and ensure it works as we want. The only question is who stays behind.¡¯


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    ¡®I¡¯ll stay behind.¡¯ Hoog said. You guys are better suited to clean out the next room. I¡¯ll keep guard here and warn you in case of external threats.


    With the plan now set, Voss wasted no time accessing the airlock operating panel and manually overrode its safety mechanism. ¡®Piece of cake, lads. These things operate on rudimentary code. These things were built in a time before safety regulations were as stifling as they are today.¡¯. Voss turned around, signaled to the others to hold him tight, and moved towards the first row of shelves. When he took off his helmet to breathe out into the room, the extreme cold hit his face like someone plunged hundreds of needles into his face. The room was around minus seventy degrees. A type of cold unlike anything he had ever experienced before. His breath revealed no laser beams and he reattached his helmet to his suit as fast as he could.


    ¡®Pull this thing into vacuum, Hoog.¡¯. He could feel the air flowing past him towards the air lock. He moved through to the second ring and made sure not to touch anything. Not an easy task. It took longer than he¡¯d have liked to completely stabilize himself between the two rows of shelves. ¡®Repressurise this thing, Hoog.¡¯


    It took about ten minutes to repeat this process four more times. When he made it to the other side of the room, he grabbed a metal handlebar next to the airlock and pulled the others in. Hoog repressurised the room again. The four of them were now ready to move into the next room. Voss tried to see through the airlock¡¯s window to scout for threats, but he couldn¡¯t see anything in the pitch blackness on the other side of the window.


    Dane took charge of the situation. ¡®Helmet lights on men. Looks like they turned off the lights. Careful of traps and enemy combatants. Take up positions and shoot at the first sign of danger.¡¯. On Dane¡¯s signal, Tick opened the hatch to the next room and the four of them carefully threaded in. Nothing could have prepared them for what they saw when they moved in.


    The place was the scene of a massacre. Blood, and entrails floated through the room. There were corpses strewn throughout the room. ¡®What the fuck¡­¡¯ Hoog yelled out.


    ¡®Focus men. Stay alert, damn it.¡¯ Dane snapped back. ¡®Guns at the ready and press forward.¡¯. They were in some sort of laboratory or operating room. It was hard to tell what the function of this room had been exactly. Corpses lay on both of the operating tables. Both were still strapped in with their stomachs cut open and entrails floating out of them.


    ¡®What the hell man, what is this place?¡¯ Hoog cried out. The others didn¡¯t say anything, but Voss knew they echoed Hoog¡¯s sentiment. He sure did anyways. This place was gruesome. The kind of thing you¡¯d expect in a gory horror story. Things had happened inside this room that could not bear the light of day.


    ¡®This station is some type of black ops site.¡¯ Jabs said. ¡®They did some awful things in here that they didn¡¯t want anyone to know off.¡¯


    ¡®KEEP MOVING, MEN.¡¯ Dane¡¯s voice sounded distraught. It was obvious that the scenes they were witnessing were affecting him just as much as the others. He was doing his very best to stay professional and keep them alive, but that was easier said than done.


    Voss did as he was told and moved forward. The flashlights attached to his helmet followed his gaze as he scouted out the room for danger. He spotted several severed heads lined up against a wall. The heads¡¯ eyes were all removed and replaced with mechanical ones. ¡®Illegal augmentations.¡¯ he thought to himself. This base was used to develop illegal augmentations. But for what? Elites? Soldiers? Whatever it was, it was bad. Each time he looked in a new direction, he spotted new atrocities. If any imperial forces ever came across this base, it would be enough to warrant the complete extermination of Fosfat. The types of interplanetary law transgressions that were being performed here, were all of the worst degree. Heads with the top of the skulls removed, revealing brains that had been implanted with chips. Airlocked chambers that had corpses float within them with horrendous afflictions. Had they been experimenting with the scourge in here?¡¯. The visuals were almost too much to bear. It took him everything just to prevent himself from throwing up inside his helmet.


    ¡®TAKE POSITIONS, FAST!¡¯ Dane shouted. Voss looked to the airlock at the far side of the room and understood why Dane had been ticked off. Moving lights were visible on the other side of the door.


    ¡®Emil come in. Emil come in. What is your position?¡¯


    ¡®We¡¯re in D-wing. I think we¡¯re in adjoining rooms. We see your lights moving.¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s a huge relief, Emil. For a moment I thought we made contact with enemy combatants.¡¯


    ¡®You wouldn¡¯t consider it a relief if you could see the things we¡¯re seeing, Dane. This place is horrific.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s not much better on this side of the airlock, Emil. Not unless you are a fan of cut up corpses and unforgivable crimes.¡¯


    ¡®What the hell is this place man? I can¡¯t believe they cooked this up for our final test. What were they thinking?¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t think this is a test, Emil. This ain¡¯t no training station, that¡¯s for sure. I think we got pulled into some serious trouble here.¡¯


    ¡®Whatever, man. Just signal to the sergeant that we¡¯ve cleared this station. I want to get the hell out of here.¡¯


    ¡®Blue leader to Ciklops, blue leader to Ciklops. Station has been searched through. No signs of life anywhere. Requesting extraction. Requesting extraction.¡¯


    Dane switched back to their internal intercom. ¡®Let¡¯s get the hell out of here, men. Hoog, move out through the airlock. Everyone else, prepare for whatever¡¯s in the next room; we¡¯re joining up with red squad and getting the fuck out of here...¡¯

 Chapter 42: A Ghastly Flight

    ¡®Congratulations, men¡¯ The sergeant spoke with a voice that was better suited for a funeral. ¡®You¡¯ve graduated from basic training. You are no longer recruits. You are now official agents of the Fifth as privates, second class. You can be proud of yourselves, lads. You did it.¡¯


    Voss didn¡¯t feel pride, he felt exhausted and aghast. The force of the accelerating Ciklops pressed him deeply into the side of his seat. He had been inside this damned suit for over half a day now and it was beginning to feel like a prison.


    He could tell he wasn¡¯t the only one struggling with what they had just witnessed. None of the men were in a cheerful mood. A somber silence blanketed the ship¡¯s passenger bay.


    After a while, Dane broke the silence. ¡®Sergeant Reiniger, pardon my impertinence, but I think I speak for all of the men when I ask you: What the hell was that? You said we were heading to a military observation post. That wasn¡¯t no bloody observation post, it was a floating violation of every imperial law conceivable; and it wasn¡¯t no exam either. This was a real mission with real threats. We could have walked right into an ambush thinking it was part of an exercise¡­¡¯


    The sergeant fidgeted with the communication module attached to his helmet before replying with a grim voice. ¡®I tried to warn you lot that this wasn¡¯t a training exercise, that it was for real. There are things happening, lads. Things which I¡¯m not allowed to speak off. Like I just said, lads. Welcome to the Fifth. Playtime is over. Your lives are going to be on the line now each time you go out there.¡¯ the sergeant let out a long sigh before continuing. ¡®The truth is¡­ I don¡¯t know what that station¡¯s purpose was either. I¡¯m just a grunt like you lot. We don¡¯t get paid to know, we get paid to act.¡¯


    ¡®We get paid?¡¯ Wago asked incredulously.


    ¡®You do starting today. Don¡¯t count yourself rich though. You lot only get paid eight sists fifty a week.¡¯


    The sergeant said it like it was nothing, but Voss would bet a finger that over half these men didn¡¯t even know what a sist was. Slum wages weren¡¯t paid out in silver imperial standards. They were paid out in Fosfation credits. It was some bogus currency that was only legal tender in government mandated stores and housing projects. It was a reminder of how unknown the galaxy they were stepping into was to them.


    He had no idea whether the sergeant honestly didn¡¯t know about what had been going on inside that station, or if he was merely playing dumb. Voss knew though. He knew exactly what had been going on inside that station. A whole array of forbidden human enhancement research. The same kind that his parents had been working on before their untimely deaths.


    He had spent the last twenty years under the assumption that their abominable projects had died with them. That the blazing fire had burned his mother¡¯s laboratory and research to the ground, with all its researchers with it. Now it all came back to him. The ghosts of his past haunted him.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    What had they been up to inside that station? How far advanced were their attempts to do the unspeakable? Did those voidcapers know what they were raiding? Did they get their hands on anything? If they did, Voss could only hope it wasn¡¯t anything like what his parents had been working on, or it could spell disaster for the entire galaxy. Merciless super soldiers armed with forbidden weaponry, capable of committing planetary genocides was the last thing this galaxy needed. The thought alone made him sick to his stomach.


    For the first time since he¡¯d been on death row, Voss found himself truly yearning back for his life in the slums and its ignorance of galactic issues. Insane how one unbacked accusation had been all it took to launch him from his simple life into a galaxy filled with plague, war, and now potentially an apocalyptic army.


    None of his fellow recruits knew any of this, of course. All they knew is what they just witnessed, which was horrific enough in and by itself. He concluded the sergeant probably wasn¡¯t lying either. Things like these were far above the paygrade of a simple instructor sergeant. What they saw was unmistakable though. Something had been horribly amiss on board of that station.


    A gloomy atmosphere lingered during their long flight home. The men spoke little and celebrated even less. He was sure they all had similar questions running through their heads. Questions that they dared not ask in public for fear of heavy reprisals. Whatever they had seen today, they¡¯d have to carry it with them silently.


    And as for himself¡­ The Fifth had ordered him to leave his past behind, but what was he supposed to do when his past wouldn¡¯t leave him behind? What if his past became the present? This wasn¡¯t something he could ignore. Not just because of the atrocities they witnessed, but also because this was personal. They had learned nothing from their mistakes. Someone would have to put a stop to this before it was too late¡­ If it wasn¡¯t too late already.


    Finally, after several hours, the ghastly silence was broken by an uncharacteristically hesitantly sounding sergeant. ¡®Listen up, men. I know that you all witnessed things today.. Things that shouldn¡¯t have been. I told you on day one of your training that the void is a cold and uncaring place devoid of mercy. Now you¡¯ve seen it with your own eyes. Rules, laws, ethics¡­ such things don¡¯t exist out here.


    I¡¯ve been with the Fifth neigh thirty years. I have seen things¡­ Colonists aboard broken down ships, stranded in deep space. We had to put down the handful of survivors. They had done¡­ unspeakable things to their own kin. Cannibalism.. They ate their own children. We could not allow such wickedness to persist.


    Or the voidslaver bases we raided.. You wouldn¡¯t believe what torturous horrors they had executed against their captives. Such cruelty, committed with such aloofness¡­ We set that entire base ablaze, ensuring nothing remained of what had happened there.


    What I¡¯m trying to say is.. What you saw today, and the things you will undoubtedly see in your years of service, don¡¯t let them get to you. We are the shield that protects against the harsh reality of the void. We witness and remember, so that untold billions don¡¯t have to. You must never speak of such things. Not to anyone unless commanded by your officers. The void has no mercy, which is why you must be merciful in its stead. Trust me, it¡¯s the only way you¡¯ll get through this thing without losing your sanity.¡¯


    The sergeant¡¯s words were well spoken and much needed, but they couldn¡¯t hide the fact that the atrocities they witnessed at the station weren¡¯t committed by capers, slavers or desperate colonists. They had been performed by their own government. Most likely on men and women just like them. Slumdwellers, trapped inside a cruel and unjust system. Was it really the population of Fosfat they were protecting? Or was it merely the interests of a ruthless, power hungry elite? Voss knew the answer to that question and it wasn¡¯t pretty. The void wasn¡¯t the only cruel and merciless entity he¡¯d have to be weary of moving forward.


    He¡¯d have to ponder upon these things at a later date though. The signal was given and the ship began its landing procedures. They would be back aboard the Saltpetersburg spaceport soon enough. Which meant that he¡¯d soon have to deal with another problem. The lieutenant.

 Chapter 43: Freedom At Last?

    The pilot''s voice sounded over the intercom: ¡®Repressurization complete. Hatch opening in fifteen seconds.¡¯


    The men got up from their seats and made their way towards the ship''s exit. There was a small scuffle as the hatch opened. Each man was just a little too eager to get out of the damp passenger bay and out of their suits. The sergeant bellowed out for the men to behave. Voss couldn''t blame them though. The return flight had felt like it lasted forever. Their minds forced to mull over the significance of all the horrors they had witnessed. They had been forced to sit idle and ruminate for hours, pressed uncomfortably into their seats by the high gravitational force caused by the ship¡¯s acceleration and deceleration.


    The opening hatch revealed a small welcome committee awaiting them in an otherwise empty docking bay. On closer inspection it turned out to be lieutenant Ida accompanied by a cleaning crew. An underwhelming reception considering today¡¯s significance and everything they had just gone through. Voss couldn¡¯t say it surprised him though. If today had taught the recruits anything, it was that a life in the Fifth was one without glamor. An existence stuck in the shadows, doing the dirty work. The cleaning crew brushed past them as they exited. Tired, dirtied faces betrayed that life on board of the spaceport could be as unforgiving as a life in the void.


    Ida seemed pleased though and unbothered by the negativity he was surrounded by. ¡®Congratulations men. You¡¯re agents of the Fifth now. I got your berets with me. Collect them as you pass. One per man please. I know how eager you are to get these¡¯. He said with a wink. The men duly did as they were told. Voss took a look at his beret when he picked it up. It was black and it bore a silver insignia of a world with wings. It was the same as the one the lieutenant had worn when she had first interrogated him. He remembered staring at her beret when she proposed he''d join the Fifth. Now he finally had his own and the real work could start.


    They continued to a small, narrow locker room where they were finally allow to take the suits off, shower, and put on their new black fatigues. The sergeant disappeared and re-entered the locker room shortly after. Most of the men hadn''t even finished taking their showers yet, but the sergeant was already wearing his full black uniform. His pockmarked face was shaven and all cleaned up. Nothing gave away that he had been awake and stuck inside a sweaty suit inside a humid void ship for over a day.


    ¡®Well I¡¯ll be damned.¡¯ Wago blurted out. Why did you never teach us how to do that, sarge? I wish I could go from sweaty pig to clean as a bristle in under a minute.¡¯


    ¡®You could give the sergeant a lifetime and he still couldn¡¯t turn you in anything other than a sweaty pig.¡¯ Jabs interjected.


    The sergeant laughed loudly, but his face didn¡¯t join in on the fun. It was the first time Voss realized that the sergeant¡¯s pockmarks weren¡¯t a remnant of a bad case of acne, they were the left overs from some poorly healed, horrible disfiguration that had left his face partially paralyzed. Voss felt like a fool for never noticing this before, it seemed so obvious now that he saw it. Whatever happened to the sergeant must have been horrendous, but after what Voss had witnessed today, he didn¡¯t care ask what had occurred.


    The sergeant addressed the room. ¡®I¡¯ve signalled the mess to arrange a little party for you sorry lot. There¡¯s even some alcohol. I know you might not feel like partying, men, but try to enjoy it. This will be your final night as a group. Tomorrow you all go your separate ways. You¡¯ll be assigned tomorrow and put to work.¡¯


    ¡®You hear that, lads?¡¯ Wago hollered ¡®Time to get sloppy drunk and become emotional about our final night together!¡¯


    It was situations like these when Wago was most in his element. That man had the ability to cheer up any man, no matter the circumstances. Even Voss felt his worries melt away, for now.


    The men all cheered loudly and made their way towards the exit. Voss was the last to leave the room and when he walked past the sergeant, the sergeant grabbed him by the arm. ¡®Not you, Voss. You stay with me.¡¯ He whispered. The other recruits, nay agents, in all their rowdiness, were so fixated on the prospect of music and alcohol that none noticed that they were one man short. Voss heard their excited voices fade away in the distance. His jubilant mood was short lived as he realized there would be no farewell party for him. He reluctantly followed the sergeant into the other direction. Would he ever get to see any of his fellow recruits again? He doubted it.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    The sergeant led him to a large launch bay. Voss felt his jaw drop as they entered. Inside was a voidship unlike anything he had ever seen. Its hull was shiny silver and shaped like a droplet with a long, sharp tail. It was the smoothest hull he had ever seen on any ship. Nothing stuck out, no nooks or crevices were visible. It looked so sharp that it could make dirt feel embarrassed to even go near it. He guessed it to be around seventy meters long and around twenty meters in circumference at its widest point. Its engines were hidden within its hull, indicating that this wasn¡¯t just a void vessel. It had land to space capabilities too. It was unlike anything he had ever seen used by the Fosfatian government or its corporations. In fact, it was the first time ever he had seen a ship that wasn¡¯t a clunky and utilitarian mess. Fosfatian designs all looked like unwieldy containers, built to be cheap and durable. This ship was nothing like that. It looked sleek, sexy and most importantly: fast, very fast.


    In front of the ship¡¯s entrance stood four people. Two faceless guards in their drab uniforms; The captain, who looked as distinguished yet unremarkable as ever; and a short, slim woman in tight, outlandish, dark purple clothes with golden elements. It was an outfit as alien to him as the ship was. For a minute he thought she must have been some outer planet merchant, hired to transport him and the lieutenant towards some foreign destination, but as Voss got closer to the ship, he realized it was the lieutenant that had been dressed like that.


    Rarely had he seen such a mismatch between an outfit and its wearer. Her suit was sultry. It accentuated her feminine forms by being tight in all her feminine places. It had carefully crafted holes on both her arms, legs, her stomach and her back, designed to show just enough skin to be enticing without appearing cheap or trashy. He could tell from a distance that it had been made from the most expensive of fabrics. It was the kind of garment you¡¯d expect a high level courtesan to wear. One that was on a mission to seduce powerful men to do her bidding. The lieutenant on the other hand, looked like a defeated child that had been dragged into a dentist¡¯s office to have her molars removed. She stood slouching forward with a pained, feeble look on her face. It was obvious she¡¯d rather be anywhere else than here, and the outfit probably didn¡¯t help either. Looking at her dressed in that costume caused a whole bag of mixed emotions to stir inside him. It definitely didn¡¯t help either that he was still mad at her for the lies and trickery she had tried to pull off with him.


    The captain spoke: ¡®Welcome, private Voss.¡¯ He placed extra emphasis on the word "private". ¡®Heartily congratulations are in order here. We were all most pleased when we heard the news of your successful graduation, especially the lieutenant.¡¯. The captain glimpsed over at the lieutenant as he mentioned her. Voss could see that there was no love lost between those two, the captain had a rather disdainful look on his face as his eyes gazed over her face and body. If it hadn¡¯t been for the extraordinary ship they were being sent off in, Voss would have guessed they were being send away on a suicide mission. Something highly lethal at a far away location, ensuring they¡¯d never come back. Just two expendable assets lost to the void. A ship like this though... such a ship was anything but expendable, and would never be wasted. He couldn¡¯t even fathom why it had been given to them for this mission. It looked like something the highest imperial agents would travel around with.


    The captain continued: ¡®Alas, there is no time for celebrations. You have been assigned to a mission of utmost importance and utmost haste. I am afraid you are to hand in your new uniform as soon as you received it. Don¡¯t worry though, the sergeant will keep it safe for you until your return. This is a covert mission that you will be sent on. There will be nothing allowed aboard this ship that could link you to Fosfat or our organization. Hence the, dare I say, exquisite manner in which our dear lieutenant is dressed.¡¯


    One of the faceless guards stepped forward holding a plastic bag. Voss undressed himself until he was in his underpants and took the bag. Inside were purple clothes similar to the ones the lieutenant was wearing.


    The captain smirked. ¡®Looks like it¡¯s not just your face that is scarred, private. You must have had quite a rowdy past.¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯d illuminate you about my past, captain, but I¡¯ve already received plenty of scars on my back by your doing, so I¡¯ll refrain.¡¯


    The captain let out a hearty laugh. ¡®Ha, so it seems, very well. The lieutenant has all the details of your mission. She¡¯ll take it from here. Good luck on your first mission, private. Please take care of our ship for me, she¡¯s most valuable. Now, if you excuse me, I have a graduation party I need to attend, and I¡¯d like to arrive there before the inevitable deterioration into disorderly and inappropriate conduct unfolds.


    The captain signalled for the sergeant to follow him, and together with the faceless guards, they got on their way. Voss and the lieutenant gave each other a cold nod and she jerked her head, indicating for him to follow her aboard the ship. Walking behind the woman he most hated, wearing the sexiest outfit he had ever seen, he could feel a whole string of thoughts pop up inside his head, none of them were good.


    He felt amused by the oddity of the situation. Here he was, about to go on his first mission. One that by all accounts seemed highly important and was likely to be hazardous. Yet here he was, stuck in his underpants with no clue as to what was going on. He chuckled to himself as he entered the ship via its carpeted gangway. In front of him was the woman he hated most, but who in her current dress, also looked like one of the most attractive women he had ever laid his eyes upon. He had never really thought of her as a woman before. Her uniform had done wonders in hiding her sensuality. Up till today, the thought of the lieutenant being a sexual being had been absurd to him, but now, with her hips swaying in that concubine garb of hers, that thought suddenly didn''t feel odd anymore. A thought that did little to assuage his general state of bewilderment.


    There was one thing he did know though. He was now finally alone with the lieutenant and freed from the Fifth¡¯s watchful gaze. This was his reward for all the hardships he had endured in the past month. The goal that he had been working towards. The thing that had kept him going when he had been at his lowest. The time had now finally come for him to make his move and set things in motion...

 Chapter 44: An Undesired Reunion

    He found himself almost completely naked inside a voidship that looked like an expensive brothel. At least, it looked like how he imagined an expensive brothel would look like. Residents like him weren¡¯t allowed inside places like that, and even if they had been, he could have never afforded it.


    He quickly put on his¡­ outfit. It was of the same purple and gold elements as the lieutenant¡¯s. It sat very tight around his chest, abs and legs and had no sleeves. He could feel his bulge stick out and the definition of every muscle in his body shone through. Whomever designed these clothes, had to have been some oversexed hedonist with wild plans. Still, it was better than having to walk around in his underpants. He took a look around him.


    The ship''s interior was as outlandish as its exterior. Whomever had this ship made, had an obvious love for the color purple, luxury and decadence. A dark purple carpet covered the floor. The walls were all either covered in purple or golden draperies. Soft purple sofas were positioned in a pit in the center of the room around a square, glass table. Behind it was a kitchen and bar area that had white marble countertops with a gold colored tap. The room was surprisingly spacious and in no way resembled what you¡¯d expect a spaceship to look like..


    The lieutenant had avoided eye contact with him so far. She was unusually tense and looked defeated. Her usual haughtiness had seemingly evaporated. She showed none of the feistiness that he had come to expect from her. Whatever the captain had done to her, it looked like it had broken her spirit. This wasn¡¯t the lieutenant he knew. This was a dulled out, squashed version of her. In any other scenario, he would have felt pity for her, but under these circumstances, it only furthered his contempt for her. She had seemed different when they had first met, but she now exposed herself as just another spineless citizen. They were all the same, the lot of them. They all talked a big game and walked around like they were hot shit, but crumbling at the first sign of adversity.


    He didn¡¯t like it one bit. If they were going on a potentially dangerous mission together, he had to know where they stood. It also did him no good to have to deal with a defeated woman that might not care if she lived or died. He had to find out so he could take appropriate action. She may have given up, he sure hadn¡¯t.


    ¡®So tell me, what the hell is up with these clothes, this ship and this mission? How long am I going to be stuck inside here with you, looking like prostitutes?¡¯


    She looked up at him for the first time. Her eyes looked dulled out, like she hadn¡¯t slept much recently. ¡®Please, don¡¯t make this any harder than it already is. It¡¯s not like I want to look like some drug baron¡¯s mistress either.¡¯


    ¡®So is that what this is? A runner? Are we smuggling kerosine now?¡¯


    Her face turned into a painful expression. ¡®You¡¯re closer to the truth than I¡¯d like. We do in fact have around fifty thousand kilos worth of kerosine stashed in the secret compartments all over this ship. It¡¯s part of our cover.¡¯


    ¡®Fifty thousand kilos?! He exclaimed. Do you have any idea what the street value of that much kerosine is?¡¯


    ¡®Around two-hundred-and-fifty-million sists.¡¯ She said with a blase expression, as if that wasn¡¯t a fortune large enough to live like a king for four lifetimes.


    ¡®That sounds about right¡¯ he said ¡®With that much money in our pockets, why are we even doing this mission at all? We should just make a run for it and live like royals!¡¯


    He had expected her to react either annoyed or curious to his idea, lethargic even, instead she gave him a startled look that worried him. It was the expression of a whipped dog that looked like its abusive owner had walked in holding a belt. He could only think of one reason why she¡¯d react like that to a mere joking suggestion. This ship was bugged. The captain was listening in on them. She feared any repercussions that could follow from him running his mouth. He¡¯d have to be very careful choosing his words going forward. Seemed like he had more work to do before he could get out of the Fifth¡¯s suffocating grip.


    ¡®We will do no such thing, private.¡¯ There was a sudden fury in her voice. ¡®We will stay professional and do our mission as agents of the Fifth.¡¯


    Her reply eased his concerns. The fury in her voice betrayed that she still cared. She may be down right now, but she was still in the fight. At least he didn¡¯t have to worry about her purposely crashing the ship into a meteor or anything.


    ¡®I¡¯m sorry, lieutenant. I was merely joking.¡¯ He said, playing his part of the charade they were now putting on. ¡®This is all very new to me. The mission, the drugs. I¡¯ve never done anything like this before.¡¯


    ¡®I understand, but this isn¡¯t the time for jokes, Voss, and don¡¯t call me lieutenant. We¡¯re covert now so we don¡¯t use ranks.¡¯If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡®Then what do I call you?¡¯


    ¡®You can call me Ala.¡¯


    ¡®Ala huh? Fine by me. So tell me, Ala, what¡¯s our mission and what¡¯s expected from me?¡¯


    The lieute... Ala waved her hand towards the seats in the spacious dining area. ¡®Let¡¯s take a seat. We¡¯ve got about fifteen minutes before we¡¯re ready for launch. Do you want some coffee?¡¯


    ¡®No thanks, I¡¯m not that desperate to go to the bathroom just yet.¡¯


    She chuckled. It was the first sign that she was easing up a little. ¡®No I¡¯m talking about actual coffee, not the black death they serve in the mess. There¡¯s actual coffee aboard this ship. Ledian coffee. It¡¯s a tropical planet that produces the finest coffee in the known universe.¡¯


    ¡®Real coffee, huh? I could use some of that. It¡¯s been a long day and I can¡¯t even remember when I last had anything that even resembled anything close to coffee.¡¯


    ¡®I can imagine.¡¯ She walked over to the open kitchen area. Her tread had become slightly more steadfast. Her slouch was lessening too. ¡®What scenario did they give you guys by the way? The void bike or the shipbreak scenario?¡¯


    ¡®They didn¡¯t tell you, huh?¡¯. He knew he had to be careful with his words here. Stories about secret laboratories filled with heinous crimes were not the kind of thing the Fifth would want to see spread around. ¡®We didn¡¯t get a scenario. We were sent to a forward outpost that had been attacked by voidcapers. Let¡¯s just say some awful stuff had happened there before we got to the station. Stuff which I¡¯d rather not talk about.¡¯


    Ala frowned. ¡®I can imagine. Those voidcapers can be real animals. Deep space life does things to your levels of humanity. Bad things.¡¯. She finished making the coffee and poured both of them a steaming hot cup. She continued talking as she did so. ¡®Those bastards have been getting more brazen since the scourge happened. Interplanetary collaboration isn¡¯t what it used to be. Those bloody pirates have taken advantage of that and are performing raids they¡¯d never even dream of doing five years ago.¡¯


    She brought the cups over to the seating area. The smell of fresh coffee hit his nostrils. It had been a long time since he had smelled something so pleasant. For a second, his mind wandered towards a distant memory. He found himself transported back to one of Saltpetersburg¡¯s sparse parks on a fresh spring day. He had recently been accepted into Herbert¡¯s and his parents were still alive. It was a pleasant memory from a time when he had still been naively optimistic. In those days the sky seemed to be the limit. He missed those days and that version of himself.


    He could feel his body relax and for a moment he didn¡¯t even mind that he was in the presence of this darned woman sitting opposite him. To be honest, her outfit also helped distract him from the resentment he harbored towards her. The deep cut chestpiece of her suit revealed a little more cleavage than what was conductive in a professional setting. He imagined his bulge sticking out of his tight leggings had the same effect on her too.


    Ala sighed: ¡®War is brewing.¡¯


    ¡®War?¡¯ He asked incredulously. ¡®Isn¡¯t that a thing from the distant past?¡¯


    ¡®It was a thing from the distant past, yes. It seems that for some reason it¡¯s being dragged into the eight millennium with us. Or at least it will be soon if the reports are true.¡¯


    ¡®Reports?¡¯


    ¡®There are reports of mass military build up in the eastern fringes of the empire.¡¯


    ¡®Who is building up an army then, and who are they planning to fight?¡¯


    Ala took her time to answer his question. She stirred her coffee and took a sip, visibly enjoying its taste. The delay in conversation angered him a little. It felt like she didn¡¯t take him seriously and was toying with him. Could it be game on again? Had she recollected herself enough to challenge him again? If she did, he¡¯d have to squat that attitude out of her soon enough. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to play around with her anymore. Not after how she had lied to him.


    ¡®Good questions, Voss. They¡¯re the same questions we¡¯ve been asking ourselves. They¡¯re the questions we¡¯re being sent out to answer.¡¯


    Voss took a sip of his coffee. Ala hadn¡¯t been lying. This was some damn good coffee. It was by far the best he had ever tasted.


    ¡®So how are we going to do this? Since every planet is closed off, we can¡¯t just fly in and nose around now, can we?¡¯


    ¡®We¡¯re going to look for their fleets and observe them.¡¯


    He nearly spat out his coffee. ¡®You want to fly up to a warfleet and hang around to observe it?!? That¡¯s suicide!¡¯


    ¡®No, I don¡¯t want to fly up to a warfleet and observe it. I¡¯ve been ordered to fly up to a warfleet and observe it. Besides, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re going to fly right into it. Our mission is to stake out possible locations by probing them from afar.¡¯


    ¡®And we¡¯ll do so in a needler, wearing these porno outfits so that in case we get caught, they don¡¯t know who we are or where we¡¯re from?


    ¡®Astute observation, Voss.¡¯


    ¡®I see¡­¡¯ He knew what that meant. Under no circumstances were they allowed to get caught. He wouldn¡¯t be surprised if their ship had been rigged. Set to explode in case they were being boarded. Either that, or they had somehow blackmailed Ala into blowing up the ship herself if needed.


    ¡®Your task on this mission is to maintain the ship and the drones. We had to use old, standard models from a bygone era because they¡¯re the only ones we had available that can¡¯t be tracked back to Fosfat in any way or form. You¡¯ll have to repair and modify most of them to get them to work properly. I¡¯ll be piloting the ship and navigating.¡¯


    ¡®Is there a status report on the ship? I¡¯d like to know what I¡¯ll be working with and what state it¡¯s in.¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s a state of the art crystal fusion engine driven ship. Very well maintained and it¡¯s faster than anything else we possess. It¡¯s capable of flying for prolonged periods without ever having to refuel.¡¯


    ¡®Perfect for smuggling then.¡¯


    ¡®Perfect for military reconnaissance.¡¯ She replied dutifully. It seemed like she was hellbent on giving the captain the impression she took this mission very seriously. He couldn¡¯t blame her for that. The captain¡¯s punishments had a tendency to leave a nasty imprint on someone.


    ¡®How about the ships central computers? He asked.


    ¡®We¡¯ve got access to the navigation and piloting controls. Most of the other systems are behind an unbreakable firewall though. Our top experts have tried to get through it for months, but it simply can¡¯t be done.


    He smirked at her. ¡®I¡¯ll have a go at that computer then.¡¯


    ¡®You can try all you like, it¡¯s impossible.¡¯


    Their conversation was interrupted by a message that got played on Ala''s watch. ¡®Launch bay vacuum. Please confirm ready for launch.¡¯


    ¡®Ready in sixty seconds.¡¯ Ala replied.


    ¡®Better drink up, Voss. It¡¯s time to get to work.¡¯

 Chapter 45: The Great Leap Forward

    His fatigue had caught up with him shortly after they launched and he had gone to the sleeping quarters. There were six bedrooms aboard the ship. He had inspected all of them before choosing one. The first one he entered looked like some fetish void sex dungeon. It had a spacious two person canopy bed with golden curtains, purple sheets and mirrors all over the walls. He decided against taking it. The second one also had a two person bed and had a more normal appearance. He would have taken it, if it weren¡¯t for the fact that Ala had already claimed it for herself by placing her belongings inside it. He continued on and found the other four rooms were very similar in appearance. They were all narrow rooms with bunk beds in them. The rooms were austere for the ship¡¯s standards, but compared to what he had been sleeping in for the past few months, it had all the luxury he could have wished for. The sleeping bag mattress was comfortable and the room was quiet. It had its own small shower cabin and a small sink. He put his sparse personal belongings in a locker next to the bottom bed and zipped himself into the sleeping bag. It wasn¡¯t long before he was soundly asleep.


    He had no idea how long he had slept when Ala had awoken him, telling him to meet her in the cockpit within fifteen minutes. They were about to make their first jump.


    When he entered the cockpit and took a seat, Ala was in the finishing stages of ticking off her checklist. She did so with a voice that bordered on boredom. It was obvious she had done this many times before. ¡®Distance to the nearest celestial body is over one million kilometers. Destination coordinates are set. Ships'' primary systems are operational. Secondary systems are on standby. Lewen engine status?¡¯


    ¡®Engine has been heated to fifteen hundred degrees.¡¯. He replied. He didn¡¯t feel the same calmth that Ala felt. He had butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. He grasped onto the armrests of his chair with a nervous tension. He was about to make his first Lewen jump. In the next ten days, they were going to travel thirty light years worth of distance.


    Ala began the countdown. ¡®Igniting Lewen jump in five, four, three¡­


    He braced himself, unsure of what to expect.


    ..two, one, commencing jump now.¡¯


    Nothing happened. He felt nothing. Everything was exactly like it was a few seconds ago.


    ¡®Are we..?¡¯


    ¡®Yes we¡¯re in Lewen jump now.¡¯


    ¡®Oh.. I thought it would be more..¡¯


    ¡®Noticeable?¡¯ She finished his sentence. ¡®I¡¯m afraid this is it. We¡¯re moving at over a thousand times the speed of light right now with space itself folding and warping around our ship, yet you feel nothing. That¡¯s the beauty and genius of the Lewen engine.¡¯. Her face was joyous when she said it. It even betrayed a modest smile. The result of an unguarded moment.


    Voss was a bit taken aback by her smile. It was the first time he had ever seen it, and it was the first time in quite a while that she lightened up. He liked her smile. It looked genuine and was disarming. She felt at home here inside the cockpit of a void ship, piloting it through deep space. She seemed much more in her element here than she had been back on the spaceport with all its politics and power struggles. It was a shame she hadn¡¯t shown this side of her earlier instead of that tough, scheming facade she put on. He may have actually liked her a little bit more, and resented her a little bit less.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ''So where exactly are we headed, then?''


    ''The eastern fringes of the empire are far away and have only been colonized in the past few hundred years. Our data on them is limited, but I''ve managed to deduce the five planets that were colonized first. If that sector is preparing for war, at least one of those planets should be involved.''


    ''So the plan is to jump to those planets, see if we run into any war fleets and then hope we make it out alive?'' He would have been more expletive in his appraisal of the plan, but he held back because he knew the Fifth would be listening in on them. The last thing he wanted was to be arrested for insubordination as soon as they returned to Fosfat. If they ever returned to Fosfat that was.


    ''No silly, we''re not jumping straight for those planets. I''ve used the solar maps that were available to plot courses towards other planets in those systems. Our first target is an ice dwarf at the furthest fringes of the Ecolat system. We''ll drop in at about a billion kilometers distance from our target planet and hide behind the ice dwarf as we send out probes.


    Her explanation gave him little faith in their mission. He''d have to rely on his own plans and get that central computer going before they arrived to what was likely to be a death trap. ¡®Sounds like you got the strategy covered then. I¡¯m going to check the engines. I¡¯ll leave the piloting to you.¡¯. He got up and went to make his rounds. The ship was state of the art and well maintained, but he wanted to make sure the Lewen engine was running without problems. Any failure and they¡¯d be spat out in deep space, light years removed from the nearest inhabited planet. His round didn¡¯t take long, the engine room, a technological marvel unlike anything he had ever seen on Fosfat, was quite small. He finished his checks in no time.


    Most of his tasks on board this ship were like that, quick and easy to perform. A welcome prospect that gave him ample time to tinker the probes back to life and it gave him the opportunity to give bypassing the central computer¡¯s security system a go


    The ship was still accelerating, meaning they''d experience the luxury of gravity for the foreseeable future. He wasn''t looking forward to the day he¡¯d have to float around the ship again. Surprisingly, the ship seemed ill equipped to deal with weightlessness. The standard procedures of having everything locked away properly had all been followed, but there were few handlebars throughout the ship and the spaciousness of the rooms were quite the hindrance when trying to float through them. Any mistake could leave you floating around for minutes until you were within reach of something you could push yourself off against. It felt like poor ship design to him. Whomever had ordered this ship built, had prioritized appearance over utility.


    When he turned the computer on, it spoke to him in a foreign language. The symbols that appeared on the screen in front of him were alien to him. Bother. He was going to need a translator for this. The only translator that was available to him had limited processing power. That meant that any hard codebreaking attempts would be severely throttled. This was going to need a more unorthodox approach. Fortunately he had some ideas. This was going to be a tough cookie to crack, but he refused to believe it was impossible like Ala had said. He¡¯d get this puppy to run and spill this ship¡¯s secrets. Most importantly of all, access to this computer meant he¡¯d be able to take control of the ship. He was sure Ala had agreed to his wish to attempt to break into the ship¡¯s central computer because she believed he¡¯d never be able to crack it anyhow. She¡¯d come to regret that decision soon enough.


    He thought back to when him and his fellow recruits had been in recovery after the battery explosion that had cost Dice¡¯s life and Hoog¡¯s arm. He remembered Wago mockingly asking him who¡¯d ever let him fly a void ship, back when he was reading a book on how to pilot. If only Wago had been here today. Voss could have given him his retort. ¡®Me.¡¯ He thought to himself. ¡®I¡¯m letting myself pilot.¡¯. It had only been hours since he last saw his class, yet he already missed them. He also thought back on those who hadn''t made it to the final exam, specifically Hiyo. He wondered if Hiyo was still alive and how he was doing. He remembered their voidwalking incident when Hiyo had almost suffocated. It had been gutwrenching to see Hiyo get kicked out of the program, but it had been necessary and for good reason. You needed to have the best of the best on missions like these. One man''s panic could spell another man''s death.


    That was all the past though, and he had to make peace with the fact that he''d probably never see any of them ever again. He had to focus on the future now. The hour had come that he''d set his plans into motion. He plugged the translator into the computer''s USBX drive. Words began to form underneath each symbol on the screen. The game was on.

 Chapter 46: A Deadly Confrontation?

    She checked her navigational computer for the so manieth time today. She didn''t even register what it said. Nor was there a need to. She knew what it said because she had checked more than a hundred times by now. The realization shook her up though. It was a clear sign of the mindless boredom she was struggling with, one that had begun to put an unhealthy mental strain on her. It had been thirty days, twenty six hours, twenty three minutes and forty seconds since they had entered their second Lewen jump. Which meant two more days until they could make their final, seventeen day, jump that would bring them to their first target.


    Voidfaring had never been a social endeavour. She knew this when she had signed up with the Fifth, and she had always been able to withstand the prolonged solitude without much problems. This mission was different though. She had never been on a mission that took this long and was this lonely. Usually a ship like this would be crewed by ten agents, but for this mission it was just her and Voss, and they mostly lived past each other. There always had to be one person awake and on duty. Which meant that they both got alternating thirteen-and-a-half hour shifts. Shifts that were long and mind numbing. She and Voss only really spoke when they had the changing of the guard and even then it was mostly just what needed to be said, and that wasn¡¯t much either. Voss preferred spending the free time he had behind that darn computer of his, rather than interacting with her. She had made a few attempts at the beginning of their mission, but he had expertly made any conversation she started, bleed out within mere minutes. She''d try whenever the loneliness particularly got to her, but the palpable resentment still lingering in his eyes was an ever present reminder for her not to try and push it.


    She got up from the pilot¡¯s seat and made her way down to the living quarters. Her shift would be up in about five minutes and she was aching for a hot meal inside her stomach and a warm bed to crawl into. Voss was behind that stupid computer of his again. His hair looked unkempt and his beard was starting to fill out. He hadn¡¯t shaved since they left port. She thought about it for a good thirty seconds, but it was hard to decide whether it made him look rugged, or like a hobo. Why was she even thinking about Voss'' looks for so long? The void was really getting to her...


    ¡®Time to shut down that computer of yours, Voss. Your shift is up in three minutes.¡¯


    He looked up at her with an annoyed face. Like she had disturbed him during something important. For a second she considered leaving it at that and walking away into the kitchen, but she was feeling particularly lonely today and could use some conversation, even if it was an unpleasant one with a grumpy hobo, so she decided to attempt a conversation with him again, even though she fully knew how it would go.


    ¡®I don¡¯t get why you¡¯re still trying to get into that computer, Voss. It¡¯s been over forty days now and you¡¯re no closer than you were when we left the spaceport.¡¯. The words came out more derisively than she had intended them to be. If anything, she was glad Voss kept himself occupied with that stupid computer of his. It helped divert his feelings of resentment away from her and had kept the often palpable tension between them to a maintainable level.


    The only reply she got from him was a disinterested grunt. Seemed like he wasn¡¯t even in the mood to be annoyed at her today. Part of her wanted to grab him by the chest. Shake him back and forth and demand he treat her like a human being, but she decided against it and went into the kitchen instead. There wasn¡¯t much to choose. The rations they had been given had been ample, but not very diverse. She had been alternating the same three meals for thirty days now. At this point she couldn¡¯t even be bothered choosing one and she instead just grabbed whatever was nearest to her.


    It was a stark contrast to how she had imagined things would go when she first contacted Voss all those months ago. She had intended him to be part of what should have been her stepping stone towards a glorious career. The youngest captain the Fifth had ever seen. Instead it had become a desperate last straw that she was clinging onto. Still, things could have been worse. At least she was rid of that damned captain for now, even if he had bugged the ship and had set charges to detonate in case they didn¡¯t return within their allotted four hundred days. At least Voss hadn¡¯t been half as spiteful as she had expected him to be, and if he was, he wasn¡¯t showing it, opting to mostly just ignore her instead. A truce existed between them within the confines of the ship, and that was all she could have realistically hoped for.


    Voss still hadn¡¯t gotten up from the computer. He was too immersed in his quest to hack the unhackable. He sat hunched over into a purple velvet chair, surrounded by a mish mash of cables and wires that ran between his own tools and the unscrewed control panel of the ship¡¯s central computer.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    The microwave hadn¡¯t even finished heating her food when a loud yell startled her. When she looked around to face Voss, she saw a fanatic excitement on his face. She walked over to see what was happening. He was pumping his fists up in the air as the screen in front of him started to display a new set of symbols that she hadn¡¯t seen before. Symbols that she didn¡¯t understand. Voss on the other hand, maneuvered through the computer menu with great ease.


    ¡®You can read this?¡¯ She asked him. He ignored her still, too engrossed in the menus he was now scrolling through. This new development worried her. What if he had actually hacked the central computer? What kinds of access did that give him? What would he be able to manipulate from there?


    ¡®Lecudetude¡­¡¯ he murmured.


    ¡®Lecuwhat?¡¯ she asked him, desperate for contact. She didn¡¯t like the state he was in for one bit. He had a frantic look in his eyes that spelled trouble.


    ¡®The ship¡¯s name. It¡¯s Lecudetude.¡¯


    ¡®What weird kind of name is that? What does that even mean?¡¯


    Voss turned around and looked at her with a devilish grin. ¡®What does Vanmire even mean?¡¯ he retorted. He pressed a button as he said it. The ship¡¯s alarm started blaring and the room switched to emergency lighting. An odd, female voice spoke in a language that was incomprehensible to her. Sparks and small explosions erupted in various places across the room. Similar crackling explosions could be heard coming from every room inside the ship. For a second, Voss hunched forward, but then he straightened himself again and jumped up from his chair.


    ¡®Voss, what the hell are you doing?! Stop it!¡¯. She screamed at him. The ship¡¯s systems all seemed to malfunction. Machines hissed and beeped and the crackling spread through the ship in waves. ¡®You¡¯ll get us both killed, Voss! Please, stop it!¡¯


    Voss turned around and looked deeply inside her eyes with a malicious, deadpan stare. He chuckled. ¡®Why should I? You daft cow!¡¯.


    Her mouth fell wide open. ¡®Wh..wha..wh¡¯


    ¡®Wha wha wha?¡¯ he mocked her as he began to slowly move towards her with a nefarious grin plastered all over his face.


    This was bad. Something had gotten into him and he looked like he was about to strike at her. It had all happened so rapidly and so unexpectedly, that she didn''t know how to react. Her mind raced, trying to come up with a way to deescalate the situation, but it came up with nothing. Instead, a blind panic strangled the air from her lungs. She grabbed the first thing she could find, an empty coffee mug, and threw it at him. He easily sidestepped it and continued moving forwards slowly, like a predator stalking its prey. She turned around and ran for the cockpit, hoping she could make it before he caught up with her. Was this it? She trembled. Was this the moment he''d take his revenge on her? The fear and adrenaline rebooted her brain''s capacity to think straight. She realized her best bet would be to lock herself inside the cockpit. The ships'' navigational computer was separate from the central computer and he''d have no control over it. If she''d retain control over the navigation of the ship, then at least he would have to reason with her, or they¡¯d both die, stuck in the void.


    Voss seemed to be in no rush to get her. Continuing after her at a calm, controlled pace. She dashed into the cockpit and tried to seal off the door behind her, but it was to no avail. Voss had somehow sabotaged the hatchway¡¯s locking mechanism. She hadn''t even known that it was linked up to the central computer. She closed it shut anyhow and tried to put her weight behind it, hoping that that would at least slow him down.


    ¡®Stay back, Voss!¡¯. She tried to sound self-assured, but her voice sounded weak and feeble.


    ¡®Or else what?¡¯ He mocked her. He knew she was unarmed and that she wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against him.


    ¡®Or else there will be severe repercussions.¡¯ She tried ¡®The whole ship is bugged and there¡¯s an autosender that will transmit as soon as we get anywhere near an imperial planet. Sooner or later that message will make it back to Fosfat and the Fifth will know what you¡¯ve done!¡¯


    He was approaching the cockpit now, walking tantalizingly slow as if to taunt her. It was as if he wanted to drag out her agony for as long as possible. Like a cat toying with the mouse caught in its paws, before killing and eating it.


    ¡®So what?¡¯ he said. ¡®It will be months if not years before they receive any message. I could be anywhere by then. Besides, do you really think they¡¯ll send anyone halfway across the galaxy to go looking for a dead, washed out lieutenant and some renegade slum dweller?¡¯. He stuck his head against the window in the hatchway as he said it. Staring at her like some animal ready to pounce at her. He put his shoulder against the hatchway and began to repeatedly slam into it. She was able to withstand his first few charges, but eventually he managed to get a foot between the hatch. She tried one last time to close it again. Smashing into the hatchway with all her weight and strength, but it was to no avail. He roared out in pain from having his foot smashed, but it didn''t seem to slow him down one bit. On the contrary, it only seemed to increase the anger and the resolve in his eyes. He was out for the kill and nothing would stop him.


    She moved away from the door. Stumbling backwards as far as she could, but the cockpit was small and there was nowhere for her to run or hide. She desperately tried to come up with anything she could think of to stop him from whatever horrible fate he was about to bestow upon her. She looked around her, hoping to find anything that she could use as a weapon against him, but there was nothing. Her back felt something hard and cold hit her. She had stumbled into the wall on the far end of the hatchway. She was stuck, caught in his web. She pushed herself up against the wall. She desperately scanned the room one last time, but there was nothing. There were no weapons she could fight him with, and nowhere to go from here. She was at his mercy now. Her lip started to quiver as he entered the room. All she could hope for now, was that it would be over soon.

 Chapter 47: Caught In His Revenge

    Voss neared closer and looked ready to lunge at her. Her entire body began to tremble, terrified of what he would do to her once he got his hands on her. There was only one thing left that she could do, even if that only delayed the inevitable because it meant she¡¯d get court martialled by the captain when they got back to Fosfat. ¡®If you kill me, your heart will explode!¡¯ she blurted out.


    ¡®Don¡¯t lie to me, you wretched woman!¡¯ he yelled at her, his face was plastered with an evil, self assured grin. He was only a few steps away from her and could easily jump forward and grab her, but he halted instead, betraying at least some hesitancy.


    ¡®I¡¯m not lying!¡¯ She cried out. ¡®When they put you inside that stasis chamber after your mock execution, they planted a small explosive device inside you. It¡¯s stuck against your heart and will explode unless I send it an encrypted signal at least once a month. They do this with all resident recruits to stop them from going rogue.¡¯.


    Her words hadn''t had the intended effect as Voss began to move forward again. Her gambit hadn¡¯t worked, he didn¡¯t believe her. She felt her legs melt away from underneath her. She collapsed and put her hands up between her and Voss in a feeble last attempt to keep him at bay. He swathed them aside with ease and grabbed her by her hair and her neck, forcibly pulling her up against the wall with his large, strong hands. As his hand forcibly wrapped around her neck, she felt her windpipe get partially cut off, causing her to struggle breathing. He raised her up to the point where she could barely support herself. The tips of her toes desperately clinging on to any footing they could find. Gargling sounds came from her mouth with each attempt she made at breathing. Staying conscious was beginning to be a struggle. If he raised her up any higher than this, it would be all over.


    ¡®Please..¡¯ She pleaded with him, using the final bit of air still left inside her lungs, but she found no mercy in his eyes. He kept her struggling for air for a bit. Then out of nowhere, the anger in his face melted like snow on a hot spring morning and was replaced by a triumphant glare. ¡®I knew it! I bloody knew it!¡¯ he said it with a weird laugh. He let go of her neck and took a step back. She collapsed to the floor, clasping her neck and gasping for air. She began sobbing. His sudden change dumbfounded her. She had no idea what was going on and felt small and pathetic, lying there at his feet like a whipped dog.


    ¡®That¡¯s the first time you¡¯ve ever been honest with me. That''s all I ever asked of you: Honesty.'' He turned around as he said it and seemed to be intent on leaving the cockpit. The anger had completely dissipated from his voice. It was as if nothing out of the ordinary had transpired and he was simply stepping out to make himself a cup of coffee.


    ¡®I¡­I don¡¯t get it.¡¯ She whimpered, her body still trembling from the aftermath of nearly being choked out.


    He turned his head and gave her a victorious smile. ¡®I''ve had a hunch for months, but I knew the only way I¡¯d ever get that information out of you, was by scaring the living daylights out of you. I got you sized up, Ala. There¡¯s no way you¡¯d have ever told me the truth unless you thought you had no other choice.


    It took her every bit of effort to fight back her tears and stop them from flowing. ¡®But¡­ but if you knew, then why did you act this way? I could have given the signal for your heart to explode.¡¯


    The anger reappeared on his face as quickly as it had vanished, and he lunged towards her. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her towards his face. He held her so close, that she could feel his warm breath hit her face with a fury. ¡®Haven¡¯t you learned your lesson yet, Vanmire? Do you want me to hurt you?'' He pulled her hair as he said it, making her whimper with pain. ''Don¡¯t you ever lie to me again or there will be serious consequences¡¯. He forcefully pushed her head away, causing her to fall back on the floor. Voss got back up and for a second it looked like he was about to slap her, but he decided against doing so and held himself back.


    His voice calmed down again. ¡®I took a calculated risk. I didn¡¯t think the captain would entrust you with such codes and I was right, wasn¡¯t I? The captain doesn''t trust you. He sees you both as a pawn to use and as a threat to be dealt with. That¡¯s the thing with the Fifth. All this infighting and politicking has turned the entire officer corps paranoid. Your mistrust makes you ineffective and predictable. You''re so busy fighting amongst yourselves that you lose track of everything happening around you.¡¯This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    She felt terrified and belittled. He had just humiliated her in a way that rivalled the worst of what the captain had ever done to her. Yet, despite the humiliation, there was still a will to fight within her. She wouldn¡¯t let him get away with this without at least making a stand. ¡®You know you¡¯re screwed now, don¡¯t you?'' She spewed at him. ''I wasn¡¯t lying when I told you the whole ship¡¯s been bugged. The captain will see the recordings and we¡¯ll both be done for.¡¯


    He laughingly dismissed her comment. ¡®What do you think those crackling explosions were? This ship is a marvel of technology, Ala. It comes with all sorts of things that we¡¯ve never even heard of like a scanning system that detects and destroys any unwanted listening devices and explosives on board. These smugglers have superior technology over us.¡¯


    His comment shocked her. She had never heard of such technology before and if it hadn¡¯t been for the fact she saw the explosions with her own eyes, she wouldn¡¯t have believed him.


    ¡®So you¡¯re saying¡­¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯m saying that bastard of a captain can¡¯t eavesdrop on us anymore. Nor does he have any way of tracking where we go from here. The explosives aboard this ship have all been disabled. We¡¯re alone now. Alone and free to go wherever we want.. As long as you send the encrypted message to my heart each month of course.¡¯ He said with a wink.


    There was a calm sincerity in his voice that made her believe everything he had just said. They were truly alone now in deep space. A prospect of which she didn¡¯t know if it should excite or frighten her. Free? To go wherever they want? To do whatever they wanted? Where should they go from here? Where could they go? The thought of ever escaping from the captain''s grasp outside of the Fifth''s ranks hadn''t even crossed her mind since it had seemed such an impossible prospect. What chance did two runaways have? Even now with a hypermodern ship and a large load of drugs stashed away, making a run for it seemed like an impossibility. What options did they have? Was Voss going to turn them into voidcapers?


    Voss disappeared through the hatchway, back towards the living quarters. She could hear his voice move away as he spoke. ¡®Take some time to process what that means, lieutenant, and know that I consider my little theatrics from just now as ample revenge for your lies. We¡¯re even now in my books.'' He snickered when he spoke his parting line. ¡®You should have seen the look in your eyes.¡¯


    She closed the hatchway between the cockpit and the living quarters. Tears started running down her cheeks again. Never before had she ever felt this scared. She could have sworn she was done for, and now she had to consider the prospect of leaving Fosfat and everything she knew behind to go off into some grand unknown with some guy she barely knew and didn''t trust one bit after what had just transpired.


    ¡®Damn that asshole.¡¯ She thought to herself. Yet, at the same time, she couldn¡¯t help but feel relieved. He said he forgave her and she believed him. He had gotten his revenge, and had done so with glee. This meant she no longer had to walk around with this constant ominous threat hanging over her. She''d no longer have to have eyes in the back of her head, always ready to react in case he tried anything. Perhaps now she no longer had to sleep with one eye open. If he had wanted to take her out, he would have done so just now. Perhaps she could even have a normal conversation with him now, make her feel like a human being again.


    All of this depended on whether he''d even take her seriously after what had just transpired though. She cursed herself for collapsing in fear like she had done. She should have been sharper. Better decisions could have placed her in a better position. She should have run into the kitchen and grabbed a knife, or run into her bedroom where she could have manually locked the door.


    ¡®Shoulda, coulda, woulda.¡¯ she sighed to herself. She wiped the tears from her eyes and did her best to straighten that stupid ridiculous suit of hers. How much she¡¯d give right now not to look like some overpaid madame. Damn that captain for making her wear it. She was certain that the cover story thing had been a pisspoor excuse from his part. He just wanted to gave upon her half naked body like the filthy pervert he was.


    Her thoughts were interrupted by a grumbling stomach and eyes that began to feel very heavy. She got up and made her best attempt at straightening her chin and looking dignified before she walked out of the cockpit and into the living quarters. Voss had sat down behind the central computer again, with his head turned away from her. He didn¡¯t heed her much attention, which she was glad for.


    She grabbed her meal out of the microwave and quickly shoved it down her throat, before slipping away to her bedroom. She closed her door and pulled the steel, sliding lock, like she did each night. He may have told her not to worry anymore, and that he had had his revenge, but the every nerve in her body felt like it was on fire right now, and this was the only way she could feel at least somewhat secure. Alone, with a thick, metal door securely locked between her and him.


    With the lock falling in place, she finally felt some inkling of safety again. She undressed and stepped into the hot shower, washing away the sweat and tears. She put her clothes into the autocleaner and put on some fresh underwear before slipping in bed. The warm blanket offered her some comfort at least. She turned off the lights and tried to get some sleep, but a lingering tingling feeling kept her up for most of the night. All kinds of scenarios raced through her head, all revolving around one main question. Her and Voss, roaming through the void together?

 Chapter 48: Healing Wounds, Mending Broken Bonds

    Her mind felt groggy. She checked her watch for the time. Her shift would start in less than twenty minutes. Her body ached from a poor night¡¯s sleep. Her head had been restless all night, running through options and scenarios, tiring herself out to no end, but somehow leaving her incapable of falling asleep. Even now, scenarios ran through her head. Her mind working overtime to find ways to get Voss to reason with her, nothing came to her though. No clever ideas or tricksy ruses. Her mind, usually her most powerful weapon, failed her now she needed it most. Having exhausted all her options, she settled on the only option that remained to her. She''d have to just ask him nicely and hope he''d agree.


    Her hands trembled as she put her cleaned suit back on. She feared the prospect of having to face Voss again after what had transpired the night before, but she knew there was no other way. She couldn¡¯t hide in here forever. She had to confront him sooner or later and she knew that sooner would be better. The longer she''d wait, the more awkward this would become. Besides, this time she¡¯d be prepared. She searched through her suitcase and found the large combat knife she had hidden in there. She looked at it for a moment as if to muster her courage. It had a beautifully custom ornamented leather sheath. It had been her stepfather¡¯s knife. Her mother had given it to her when she graduated from the academy. Holding it reminded her of the knife''s backstory. Her stepfather, lieutenant Vanmire, had gotten it as a gift from the captain back when they had graduated from the academy together. Holding the knife gave her a mixed set of emotions that she chose to ignore for now. There were more pressing matters at hand. The captain would have to wait.


    She stepped out of her bedroom with the knife tucked securely in the back of her suit. She looked around her carefully as she walked, as if she expected him to have set some kind of trap for her. A silly notion she knew, but she couldn¡¯t help herself. Last night¡¯s events had left her paranoid and unsure about what to expect.


    She walked into the living quarters and spotted him sitting behind the central computer as usual. She took a deep breath. He hadn¡¯t noticed her presence yet, allowing her to muster some courage before approaching him. This was it. All or nothing. If she couldn¡¯t convince him now, she¡¯d be stuck doing his bidding until she could find a moment to escape from him. If she ever got a chance to escape him that was. He had proven himself to be as shrewd as any officer she¡¯d ever been in a clinch with, and it was unlikely he''d ever let her go easily.


    As she walked closer towards him, each step felt heavy, carrying the weight of all her fears and doubts with it. With each step, a voice inside her head cried out to either flee or lunge at him with the knife. She knew both options were out of the question though. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed him to keep this ship going. She had no experience maintaining engines. Without Voss, she¡¯d be stuck in the void at the first minor engine problem. Her only comfort was that despite everything, he needed her too. They were at least a hundred light years away from the nearest civilization and she highly doubted he¡¯d ever be able to pilot the ship towards it without her help.


    She reached to where he was sitting and still it appeared like he hadn¡¯t noticed her. He was completely engrossed with the computer. She noticed he wasn¡¯t using the translator anymore. He was now typing fluently using the language and symbols that were alien to her. He had somehow mastered the foreign language in a matter of weeks. A feat that impressed her despite the nerves racing through her body.


    She scraped her voice. ¡®I¡¯ve thought about what you said and I¡¯d like to continue the mission as planned.¡¯


    He calmly lifted up his head to face hers and lifted an eyebrow. The frown on his face accentuated the poorly healed scar on his right temple. He looked at her sceptically.


    ¡®Why?¡¯


    She had expected him to pry into her motives and had prepared her answer. ¡®Because if those reports are real, we have to know and warn those at home. It could turn into a massacre if we don¡¯t.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    She could tell by the way he looked at her that he wasn¡¯t buying what she just said. She hesitated before replying. Was he going to lash out at her in anger again? She felt the leather of the knife¡¯s sheath stuck between her suit and the flesh of her back. It gave her the confidence to continue. This time she¡¯d be ready if he lashed out.


    She decided that her best bet would be to avoid an outburst altogether, so she elaborated her motives instead. ¡®Listen, Voss. I know what you¡¯re thinking, and yes my motives to ask you to continue the mission are also partially selfish. What I said is true though. If there¡¯s a chance we can prevent a galactic war and the destruction of Fosfat, we should at least try.¡¯


    ¡®Why should we care about Fosfat, or the wider galaxy for that matter?¡¯ he asked coldly ¡®It¡¯s not like there¡¯s anyone down there you care about. I say we let Saltpetersburg burn. Its citizenry deserves it.¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s not true!¡¯ her voice betrayed a hint of indignation. ¡®There are people I care about back home. Besides, don¡¯t you have anyone you care about? Are their lives worth your freedom? Are you really ready to sacrifice millions of lives for selfish reasons?¡¯


    Voss looked at her with glee. ¡®I wouldn¡¯t happen to know that special person you care about, would I?¡¯ he asked her with a teasing smile.


    ¡®It¡¯s not just one person, there are several.¡¯ She tried to lie to him, but it was obvious he didn¡¯t believe her. ¡®Damn him¡¯ she thought to herself. ¡®He¡¯s got a nasty way of pushing just the right buttons to pry information out of you.¡¯.


    He didn¡¯t say anything and she didn¡¯t elaborate any further, but her face turned red, causing him to laugh.


    ¡®Fine then.¡¯ he said with a jolly voice. She felt like he was enjoying the moment just a little too much.


    ¡®Fine, what?¡¯


    ¡®Fine, we¡¯ll continue the mission just like you asked.¡¯


    She was taken aback by how easily swayed he was. ¡®Just like that?¡¯


    ¡®Just like that.¡¯ he replied as he shifted his focus back on the ship¡¯s central computer.


    She stood there flabbergasted. She hadn¡¯t expected him to agree with her plea to continue the mission, especially not that easily or without him putting in some demands in return, but this was the first win she had in a long time, so she decided it¡¯d be best not to press her luck lest he''d change his mind.


    ¡®Alright then, let¡¯s do this. Your shift¡¯s up soon. Go get your rest. I¡¯ll prepare everything for our final Lewen jump tomorrow.


    Voss got up and rubbed his hands together. ¡®My pleasure, Ala.¡¯. She made sure to keep her front turned towards him as he passed. She didn¡¯t want him to spot the knife she was hiding. If he found out she was prepared to kill him if needed, it could cause him to change his mind and break the fragile peace that now existed between them. He laughed at her though.


    ¡®Did you really think I hadn¡¯t spotted that knife you¡¯re hiding on your back yet?¡¯


    His words startled her. ¡®Wait, you knew?¡¯


    ¡®Of course. If there¡¯s one thing you learn in the slums, it¡¯s how to spot who¡¯s armed and who isn¡¯t.¡¯


    His blas¨¦ reaction to her hidden knife confused her. ¡®So you knew... and you aren¡¯t upset about it?¡¯


    He winked at her. ¡®I¡¯d be more upset if you hadn¡¯t brandished a knife. Would have meant you either didn¡¯t take me seriously, or that you''re plain stupid.¡¯. He walked into the kitchen, opened a cabinet and stared intently into it as if he was hoping to discover a new flavor of meal that had somehow eluded them thus far. His mission was obviously unsuccessful as he pulled out the same chicken flavored meal she had eaten last night.


    She pulled the sheathed knife from her back, happy to be relieved from the awkward lump of steel sticking to her skin. She headed for the cockpit. There was a long day ahead of her and many calculations that she had to double check to ensure they didn¡¯t get lost or fly straight into some sun or planet at a thousand times the speed of light. There was no room for error when navigating the depths of space. One mistake and you could be lost forever, unable to ever find an inhabited planet ever again.


    Right before she entered the cockpit, Voss spoke: ¡®Oh by the way, there¡¯s something I want to test out tomorrow when we exit our Lewen jump. The ship¡¯s central computer says there¡¯s an invisibility function and I want to try it out.¡¯


    She turned around and looked at him incredulously. ¡®What? Invisibility? Are you joking?¡¯


    ¡®Nope¡¯ he replied. ¡®That¡¯s what the computer says. Sounds like it¡¯s worth giving it a try, huh?¡¯


    An invisibility function. She had never heard of such technology existing before. Her first instinct was to dismiss it completely, but then again, this ship had already proven itself to possess remarkable technology to which Fosfat had no previous access. Could it be true? Did this ship have the ability to turn invisible? It was a prospect that both excited and scared her. Most importantly though, it made her wonder: ¡®Did they stand a chance to survive this mission after all?¡¯

 Chapter 49: Enemy Contact

    ¡®Ten minutes until we exit our jump. Get ready to deploy the invisibility shield.¡¯ Ala commanded.


    Voss made the necessary preparations and gave her the thumbs up. Exiting these jumps was always a weird surreal moment where the boredom of having to wait around, doing very little for days on end during a jump made way for the excitement and uncertainty of what you were about to encounter once you were back in perceivable space.


    They were nearing their fourth target. If Ala¡¯s calculations were correct, and they had been thus far, they were about to arrive behind the moon of a distant gas giant, eight hundred million kilometers removed from their target planet. They''d hide behind it and use the gas giant''s gravitational force to slingshot their recon drone towards the target planet before laying in wait until the drone sent them back any useful footage.


    Exiting a jump was always a risky affair because you had to do it blindly, never knowing what you¡¯d find lying in wait for you. They had already been saved by their invisibility shield once when they had been spat out from their jump less than a hundred thousand kilometers away from some new mining station that wasn¡¯t on any of their charts.


    ¡®Two more to go, Voss. If this goes well we¡¯ll be home before the end of the year.¡¯. Ala¡¯s voice sounded hopeful as she said it. Their relationship had warmed up significantly since the truce they had made after he had scared the living daylights out of her, but even so, being forced into small confines with each other for such a long time, and with so little to do, did cause tension. The kind of tension that you could expect between a man and a woman locked up together. He couldn¡¯t blame Ala for wanting to return home before anything happened that either of them could come to regret.


    He looked over at her and gave her a smile. ¡®More importantly, zero signs of military build up yet. Starting to look like these reports were drunken sailor stories after all.¡¯


    He couldn¡¯t help but notice that their conversation was built upon a good deal of wishful thinking by both of them. If anything, the chances of discovering proof of military build up increased with each planet they visited. Those reports had to come from somewhere and there were too many of them to make a believable case for drunken talk.


    Ala¡¯s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. ¡®Lewen jump ending in 30 seconds. Prepare to engage the cloaking engine.


    ¡®Just give me the countdown Ala, I¡¯ll do the rest.¡¯. He looked over at her. A hundred days in the void had caused her hair to grow longer. He liked it better like this. It suited her better than the bobcut she wore back on Fosfat. The lace running down on the side of her suit revealed a little more to him than what would have been proper for a situation like this. It was odd, she had been dressed in this outfit for a hundred days now and he still caught himself staring like he was some thirteen year old kid seeing boobs for the first time in his life. He gave himself a mental slap to the head. Now wasn''t the time for dirty thoughts. He had to focus.


    They were set to leave their jump in a location that would obscure them from their target planet. It was highly unlikely that anything would detect them here, hidden away and millions of kilometers away from anything inhabitable, but one could never be too sure. All it took was one satellite or ship to spot them and they¡¯d have to make a run for it, fast. Hence why they had prepared the cloaking device. There was about a five second window between shutting off the Lewen engine and reappearing in perceivable space. Just enough time to redirect the energy supply towards the cloaking generator.


    ¡®Turning off the Lewen engine in three¡­ two¡­ one¡­¡¯


    Ala gave the signal as soon as she turned the engine off. Voss entered the command for the cloaking device to turn on. He had spent the last hour ensuring that the device was preheated and fully functional, so that it would turn on smoothly and in time. The bar in front of his screen ran up quickly and was already beyond ninety-five percent by the time the first light came through the cockpit¡¯s windows. When in Lewen jump, you couldn''t see through the cockpit''s window. The universe turned pitch black due to how out of sync you were with light traveling through the void. When you re-entered perceivable space, it was as if someone turned the lights back on. In a matter of seconds space formed around them again with lights becoming distinguishable again and forms becoming visible.


    Nothing could have prepared them for what they ran into as they exited the warp tunnel. In the distance was a gigantic space station, so huge that it dwarfed even the Saltpetersburg spaceport. Around the station floated hundreds of warships of varying sizes. Some of them looked like they were at least a dozen kilometers long.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Warning lights began flashing through the cockpit. Warnings that he could read, but Ala couldn¡¯t.


    ¡®We have to turn around as fast as possible, Ala. We..¡¯


    ¡®Shut up!¡¯ she yelled at him. ¡®I¡¯m the pilot here.¡¯


    One look at her told him what he needed to know. Her face looked calm and he could see her mind working overtime to come up with a solution. He decided it was best to let her be and focus on his own mission, which was to collect as much data as possible. He gave the computer the order to record and analyze everything and it sprung to action. Schematics and analyses shot by on his screen at a dazzling pace.


    ¡®We can¡¯t turn around.¡¯ Ala said with a stern voice. ¡®They¡¯ll spot the heat of our engine well before we can make any pace. At this distance, they¡¯ll laser our ship in half before you can say escape.¡¯


    ¡®So then what? You want to surrender?¡¯


    ¡®Strap yourself in, we¡¯re going to accelerate at maximum throttle.¡¯


    He looked at her like she was mental. ¡®Maximum throttle? Are you going to suicide bomb us into that station?¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t be stupid. We¡¯re going to use the moon and then the gas giant to slingshot us, before Lewen jumping the hell out of here.¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s madness! We¡¯d never make it. They¡¯ll gun us down midway through the maneuver!¡¯


    ¡®It¡¯s the only chance we¡¯ve got. Shut up and trust me.¡¯ she snarled at him.


    There was no time to get into a discussion with her. She was nearly finished strapping herself in and he knew she¡¯d waste no time in turning the engine full throttle once she had. He quickly strapped himself in too and braced himself as the ship began to accelerate at five G¡¯s, stressing their bodies to their limits.


    ¡®I need you to take the wheel, Voss.¡¯


    ¡®What? You want me to pilot us through this suicide plan of yours?¡¯


    ¡®Shut up and just do it. Steer us towards the right side of the moon straight down its middle. I need to calculate a Lewen path out of here before the armada in front of us has time to react to our presence.¡¯


    ¡®Hurry up then, because I see movement down there. I think some of their forward surveillance has spotted the heat coming from our engine. It¡¯s either that, or their gravitational sensors are picking us up.¡¯


    ¡®Shut up, and pilot the ship. I¡¯m doing this as fast as I can without making errors.¡¯


    They were minutes away from the fleet now and it was looking like they¡¯d barely make it towards the right side of the moon without crashing into it. Their only hope now was that it would take long enough for the fleet to pinpoint their exact location so that they could fly behind the moon and use it for cover.


    The screen in front of Voss displayed a message. ¡®They¡¯re trying to contact us, Ala. They¡¯re telling us to halt the ship and surrender for talks. What do you want me to reply?¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t!¡¯ she screamed at him. ¡®They¡¯ll use your message to pinpoint our location. You send them a message and we¡¯re dead.¡¯


    ¡®I¡¯ve got an idea then,¡¯ he replied. He typed in a set of commands and made the computer perform calculations. ¡®I¡¯m releasing a recon drone on the far side of the ship. It should benefit from our invisibility long enough for it to reach a significant distance from our ship. It will broadcast a reply from us that we¡¯re willing to surrender in about thirty seconds. If what you say is true, they¡¯ll shoot the drone to bits. If they don¡¯t, then we should at least consider surrendering.¡¯


    He pressed the button and the drone shot out of their starboard side torpedo tube. If there was one benefit to the endless days of being stuck inside a Lewen jump, it was that it gave you ample time to prepare everything. He¡¯d loaded all the tubes days ago, and now it turned out to save them.


    Ala began to provide him with a retort. ¡®We¡¯re not surrendering, not under any circumstances. Don¡¯t forget that our best case scenario is them believing our cover story about being intergalactic drug smugglers. They¡¯d torture us to death if they found out. I¡¯d rather die out here than¡­¡¯ she didn¡¯t have to finish her sentence, because a bright flash of light told them everything they needed to know. Dozens of lasers had simultaneously fired at their recon drone, turning it into a liquid plasma so hot, it shone brighter than the sun.


    ¡®Thirty seconds until we¡¯re behind cover!¡¯ he yelled at her. It was obvious now that no matter how desperate or impossible her plan may seem, it was still their best option.


    ¡®They¡¯re firing with scattershot in our direction now. Looks like they¡¯re trying to get a hit on our ship so they can pinpoint our exact location. Seems like they know we used a decoy.¡¯


    ¡®Shut up and focus, Voss. I¡¯m giving you a trajectory to follow, Voss. They should flash on your screen now.¡¯


    ¡®I got them, copy.¡¯


    Voss was so pre-occupied with keeping their ship heading into the right course, that he didn¡¯t even notice that the ships stopped firing into their general direction and instead began to launch dozens of fighters, and other types of ships, from several of the main battle cruisers. Staying on course took him every bit of focus he had. One small mistake now could mean they¡¯d be misaligned for their jump to safety. Even the tiniest of misalignments could mean being blown of course by billions of kilometers, or even worse, the jump failing to commence. You couldn¡¯t do a gravitational jump if there wasn¡¯t a source of gravity where you were jumping towards.


    ¡®Here they come!¡¯ Ala exclaimed. ¡®We¡¯re moving faster than them and we¡¯ll keep gaining ground on them, but if they can pin their laser weaponry on us from this distance, we¡¯ll be toast.¡¯


    ¡®What about their homing missiles?¡¯ he asked.


    ¡®Just shut up and fly, Voss. Let me finish up my calculations and prepare for a jump to safety. We don¡¯t need more reasons why we¡¯re not going to make it.¡¯


    ¡®You¡¯re the one who started it.¡¯ He replied angrily. He held on tightly to the steering wheel of the ship. They were mere seconds away from cover now. A red light flashed and an alarm went off.


    ¡®What¡¯s happening?¡¯


    ¡®We¡¯ve been hit!¡¯ He exclaimed. ¡®The ship¡¯s been hit!¡¯

 Chapter 50: Torn Apart. Is this the end?

    She looked at him with a demeaning face that told him to shut up and stop being such a drama queen. ¡®Calm down and give me the damage report, you idiot.¡¯


    With shaking hands, he pulled up the ship¡¯s hull monitoring system. Fearful that the damage they had sustained would render them incapable of making a Lewen jump to safety. Incredibly, his computer reported there was no damage at all.


    ¡®I don¡¯t get it, it says there¡¯s no damage. It¡¯s like we haven¡¯t been hit at all¡­¡¯


    ¡®That¡¯s what I thought. It was just some scattershot. Ships like that don¡¯t have the type of power to blast straight through a ship¡¯s hull, especially not one as advanced as this Lecetude of ours, or whatever it¡¯s called.¡¯


    ¡®Lecudetude.¡¯ He corrected her. He did it more out of habit than because he cared about such minor errors right now. Right now, the name of their ship was the least of their concerns. ¡®I don¡¯t get it though, shouldn¡¯t the heat cause at least some damage?¡¯


    ¡®Don¡¯t be daft, Voss. This ship¡¯s hull is capable of atmospheric entry. It¡¯s made to withstand great heat for prolonged periods of time, so unless they manage to lock in and maintain fire on exactly the same spot, the heat gets dispersed and nothing happens.¡¯


    He felt stupid. It made sense when Ala explained it. He knew these things but they had slipped from his mind in the heat of the moment. He hated to admit it, but the fear had gotten to him and had made him sloppy. He slapped himself in the face and scolded himself under his breath. He had to focus and stay sharp. Sergeant¡¯s Reiniger¡¯s voice echoed inside his head. ¡°There¡¯s no mercy in the void, no room for mistakes.¡±.


    ¡®We¡¯ve lost them for now.¡¯ Ala said. ¡®I¡¯m adjusting our direction to put us in the correct course for our slingshot maneuver around the gas giant. We¡¯ll be safe during the first part of that maneuver, as they don¡¯t have any visuals on us and don¡¯t know our location; But as soon as we pass their first perimeter drone, they¡¯ll get a reading of our engine¡¯s heat. If they manage to get us locked in with three separate scanners, they¡¯ll be able to get an exact location. That¡¯s when things will get hairy.¡¯


    ¡®Is there anything I can do to help?¡¯ he asked. Knowing full well there was very little he could do. He felt like a passenger and resented being so useless in this moment of peril.


    ¡®You can shut up and not get in the way.¡¯. She replied. He knew she was right and that was a painful blow to his ego. Their entire mission it had felt like he had held the upper hand. He had been in control and it had been her that had to tiptoe around him. Now that their mission was at its most critical, he mucked it. She was calm and fully in command. He was useless and forced to observe how they were heading towards an almost certain death. A feeling of guilt came over him; one that he could not stand to bear.


    ¡®Ala¡¯ he sighed ¡®in case we don¡¯t make it, I want to apologize. I didn¡¯t treat you well during this mission, and I haven¡¯t held you in high regard. If I¡¯m completely honest with you, I¡¯ve often thought that I¡¯d be better off without you aboard this ship. I was wrong. You¡¯re an excellent pilot and a good agent. I appreciate what you¡¯re doing to keep us alive.¡¯


    She looked at him with a stern face. For a second he thought she was going to scold him, but then her face softened and revealed a hint of relief. ¡®Thanks, but I can¡¯t blame you. I did lie to you and treat you like an expendable tool. It¡¯s what got us in this situation in the first place.¡¯


    Their gazes lingered into each other¡¯s eyes for a second or two before they both snapped back to reality. Suddenly it hit him. They did have a chance to survive this, but only if he sprung into action now.


    ¡®Can you give me some time estimates? How long until we¡¯re in danger again? How long until we can jump?¡¯You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡®About eight minutes until we have visuals on their fleet again. Ten minutes tops until they get a read on our location. Fifteen minutes until we can make the jump.¡¯


    ¡®Good. I have a plan. We might just survive this.¡¯ He opened his belt buckle and tried to get out of the chair. A backbreaking task at five G¡¯s. He had to twist himself and wiggle his legs underneath him. Even then it took him all his leg strength to get out of his seat. ¡®Damn it, this won¡¯t work unless you slow down our acceleration.¡¯


    ¡®I can¡¯t do that, Voss. The slower we go now the longer we¡¯ll be in their crosshairs. We need all the speed we can get.¡¯


    ¡®I don¡¯t care, just do it, it¡¯s our only chance!¡¯


    ¡®Fine, damnit, but I¡¯m not decreasing acceleration below three G¡¯s or we¡¯ll be dead meat no matter how great your plan is.¡¯


    She pulled back the lever a bit and he felt part of the weight lifted from him. Still, the acceleration caused him to carry around three times his weight. He tried to keep a straight face with Ala as a show of confidence, but the truth was that he wasn¡¯t even sure he¡¯d even make it to the back of the ship, where he needed to be. One slip or loss of grip and he¡¯d fall down fast and his body would smack into the back of the ship like a fly getting squashed by a boot. They had no other option though. This was their only shot.


    ¡®I¡¯m going to launch every drone we have as a diversion. Give me the signal when you think it¡¯s the right moment to start launching them. Then accelerate as fast as you can.¡¯


    ¡®Are you sure? We¡¯ll be going at eight G¡¯s overdrive and you won¡¯t be strapped in. That kind of speed is barely survivable if you¡¯re seated properly. There¡¯s no chance you¡¯ll survive it back there.¡¯


    ¡®Damnit, Ala, it¡¯s the only chance we have. Just do it.¡¯


    Their eyes locked in for a second time. There was empathy in hers, something they had never shown him before. He gave her an awkward smile, before dropping himself down the back of the cockpit. It was only half a meter and yet the landing felt rough. Three G¡¯s were no joke. He half walked - half crawled towards the hatchway that led to the living quarters.


    When he climbed down the ladder towards the back of the ship, it reminded him of some of the toughest exercises the sergeant had put him through during training. Especially the time the sergeant made him climb a ladder whilst carrying Wago on his back. He had internally cursed the sergeant back then, now he felt grateful for those drills. By the time he made it past the living quarters and to the hatchway that would take him to the ship¡¯s stern, he felt out of breath. His legs were wobbling underneath him. Still, he had to push on and hurry through the hatch and to the stern chamber, where the drones were kept. They had twelve drones remaining. Not enough to form a full smoke screen to hide in, but it was all they had, so it would have to make do.


    ¡®Two minutes until acceleration. Start firing those drones!¡¯ Ala said over the ship¡¯s intercom.


    Damnit, he was running out of time. He pulled the hatchway open and cursed out loud as he tried to drop through it in a controlled manner. He had intended to lower himself down until he hung beneath the hatchway with his arms outstretched, but his hands were to tired to hold onto the slippery surface. What should have been a half meter drop at most, turned into one that was well over a meter and a half. Not a problem under normal circumstances, but the heavy gravity caused him to fall so fast, that both his ankles snapped on impact during the landing. He screamed bloody murder as a harrowing pain shot through his back. He didn¡¯t have time to wallow over the pain though, he had to push through it. If there was a chance he could save Ala, he had to try. He began crawling towards the computer that controlled the drones and the torpedo tubes. He bit his tongue to stop himself from crying out each time one of his ankles smashed into the steel grates beneath him. He managed to finally reach the stern computer and ordered the drones to create a smoke screen before telling the stern computer to fire at will. The four drones that had already been loaded into the ship¡¯s stern tubes fired at once. The ship''s autoloader then came to life and loaded the remaining drones into the tubes one by one.


    ¡®Thirty seconds until acceleration!¡¯ Ala¡¯s voice warned him.


    He desperately looked around for anything he could hold himself onto. The only thing he could see was a large cargo net, spanned a few meters away from him. It took him all of his remaining strength to crawl over towards it and stick both his arms through the net. He wasn¡¯t even done wrapping his arms securely into the net, when the ship began accelerating. The force on his body increased dramatically and nearly caused him to pass out, the only thing keeping him awake was the excruciating pain he felt when his legs slammed down to his left due to the heavy force suddenly pulling down on them. His ankles burned and his legs felt as if they were being lashed by faceless ones.


    The force pushing down on him grew and kept on growing until it reached the point where he wasn''t even able to turn his face anymore. He was powerless to resist and the only thing keeping him from smashing against the wall to his left, were his arms entangled within the net. His vision became increasingly blurry. His eyes felt like they were about to burst. With his last strength he was able to make out the contours auto loader from the corners of his eyes, and he saw that it was loading the final drone into a torpedo tube, which fired as soon as it was loaded. His plan had succeeded. It wasn¡¯t much, but at least they now stood a chance to survive; at least she stood a chance to survive...


    The thought was his only comfort as he was hit with the excruciating pain of having his arm nearly torn off. He felt the tendons in his right arm snap one by one until every tendon from his shoulder to his wrist was torn. His arm dislocated from his shoulder and now held together by nothing but flesh and skin. ¡®At least she¡¯ll live.¡¯ he whispered with his final breath as his consciousness faded and he slipped into dark nothingness.

 Chapter 51: Encroaching Darkness, Death in the Deep Void?

    A distant contorted voice was crying out. He was barely able to make out what it was saying. ¡®Voss¡­Voss¡­Where are you, Voss?¡¯. Everything sounded muffled. Tones seemed missing. Distant footsteps clanked on metal grates like hammer blows. He opened his eyes, trying to see where he was, but his left eye saw nothing and his right eye only saw a red, hazy blur. He was where he had been before he lost consciousness. Tangled inside a cargo net inside the stern loading bay. As his awareness of his surroundings returned, so did the pain. It spread through his body like a liquid being poured in. His head was throbbing and his body was aching, but most of all, his arm was screaming in agony. He tried to breathe in deeply but found it hurt too much and it caused him to cough up blood, which only worsened the pain. It was as if a thousand needles were stuck in his skin, ready to hurt him with every movement he made.


    He heard the unfamiliar voice again, this time nearer. ¡®Voss, Voss, where are¡­ Oh no, Voss!¡¯ The footsteps became faster and rapidly drew near. Ala¡¯s silhouette became discernible through the red hazy blur of his right eye.


    ¡®Oh no, Voss, you¡¯re hurt. I need to get you to med bay fast.¡¯ It was odd. He could see it was Ala speaking to him, yet he still didn¡¯t recognize her voice. It was only then he realized his eardrums must have been shot by the huge force bearing down on them. Focussing on them, he could now feel a small stream of blood trickling down from his ears.


    ¡®Hold on, Voss. I¡¯ll untangle you.¡¯. He was unable to see what Ala was doing exactly. He found it was nigh impossible to focus on anything in his current state. It already took him all his strength to ward off the pain, and lingering fog inside his head, enough to not pass out again.


    A sudden rush of pain surged through his arm. He tried to scream but the only thing that managed to pass his lips was a gurgling growl . The growl only worsened things as the pain now spread to his chest. Blood filled up his lungs again and he hunched forward coughing out as much blood as he could.


    ¡®Damn it, Voss. Don¡¯t you dare pass out again. Stay awake, I¡¯ll be right back!¡¯ Her twisted voice sounded panicked. It made him realize he was in an even worse state than he had thus realized. He was dying with mere minutes to spare until he¡¯d lose consciousness forever.


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    Ala¡¯s footsteps hurried away, leaving him behind, slowly bleeding out and slipping out of consciousness. The pain lessened, at least his awareness of it did. He sighed a painful sigh in an attempt to make peace with his fate, but a voice in the back of his head made him unable to do so. ¡®Damnit, Voss, don¡¯t you dare give up now. Not when we¡¯ve come so far!¡¯. He gathered his strength and tried to resist the encroaching darkness as well as he could, but he knew that it was a race against the clock. Either Ala would be back soon with some solution, or it was over for him.


    Gravity began to lessen until he was completely weightless. He could feel that his blood was no longer trickling down, it was now floating around his head. He coughed again, blood flew out of his mouth and floated beyond what his damaged eyesight would let him see. Sounds were nearing, heralding Ala¡¯s return, a welcome thought that gave him a glimmer of hope.


    ¡®Stay with me, Voss!¡¯. He could see her silhouette appearing through the hatchway. How lovely it was he thought to himself. She had something glistening inside the palm of her hand. She pushed herself off against the hatchway and jumped towards him. A jump much more grateful than his had been during his heavy gravity maneuver. The pain in his ankles was a stark reminder of the sacrifice he had to make to get the drones launched. Ala now stood over him. She was using a large knife to cut his arm loose from the net. He noticed it was the same knife she had carried on her when she had come to him to plead to continue their mission.


    With his arms now free, she grabbed him by his suit and pushed them off against the floor, towards the hatchway. The force caused his head to wobble. He no longer had the strength to compensate for the force she put upon him by dragging him with her. It was impossible for him to keep his head upright.


    He coughed up more blood. It worried him how little the coughing hurt him. Despite his best efforts, he was losing consciousness again. No surprise considering the trail of floating blood that followed them. He was bleeding out, fast.


    ¡®Don¡¯t you die on me, Voss. We¡¯re almost there. You¡¯re going to make it!¡¯. Her words sounded more confident than her voice did. The voice inside his own head echoed her words. ¡®Stay awake, damnit. Don¡¯t you dare give up!¡¯. But he found he cared less and less about what it said. Perhaps it was time to accept his fate, whatever it may be.


    They passed another hatchway and entered the med bay. He felt his body hit against something and then felt hands inside his suit. She was doing something, but he wasn¡¯t even capable of discerning what was happening anymore. Darkness was setting in now. Two hands grabbed him by the sides of his head, pulling him forward. He felt warm lips pressed against his own, and warm tears hit his face. ¡®Please, Voss, don¡¯t die.¡¯.


    Her face disappeared and her hands let go of him. Something began to envelop him like a warm blanket. It made him feel like he was afloat, drifting in space. He felt her hands touch his face again, but the touch felt distant, as if it was through thick layers of clothes. Everything seemed so far away now, including the pain. He tried to open his eyes again but found he no longer could. Even the voice inside his head was quiet now. He resigned to his fate and greeted the night like it was an old friend.