Jupiter

Graham Heights

MayFlower

Chapter 85

Jupiter

Journal Entry August 23rd 2096

Julia Scott

The closer we approach Jupiter the stranger the captain gets.  He seems distant or preoccupied.  Nervous even. We are, by all terms, married now.  I spend most of my days near him and even nights too.  He snores like a winter storm.  Because I’m not use to the noise, some nights I go back to our hiding place in the scout ship, to get some rest.

     I noticed that Bart spends some time back at the ship as well.  I asked him why and he shrugged.  Usually he is fairly open about his life, but now he guards this part of his life. He turned the table on me and asked why I was back in my single bunk.  I wanted to shrug it off as well, but something in me just blurted out.  “I’m not use to being with someone.”  He was almost sorry he asked.

     That’s when it hit me. I never asked God if this was right.  It just felt that way and I let the captain lead.  Was I in sin?  Or.. or.  God what was I.  His wife?  Concubine?  Mistress.  Its just didn’t feel that way.  We… are together and I feel like he is becoming a part of me.  And I want this.  I want to be a part of him and have his strength in me. So I ask Bart “Are we..Am I”  I could finish the sentence.  I didn’t want to be in the wrong.

     Bart wanted to be delicate and said, “Technically this is wrong.  I mean, the letter of the law is...By the letter of the law, black and white that is, you are not married… officially.  So yes.  However, you are not doing this for fun and convenience, you have submitted to each other as man and wife. Do you consider him above all others?”

     Julia thought about this.  And she did.  She had found her soul mate.  It was the strangest feeling.  He was so different, but she loved it.  She loved being with someone that challenged her intellectually and emotionally.  And yet was so honest and tender.  It was complicated, but she had no desire to be with anyone else.  Even if it was never made official, she was his wife and he was her husband.  “If this is the case, why have a wedding?”

     “There is power in a declaration that brings accountability to your union.  When you declare your relationship to God and others and swear an oath, its binding and open for all to see.  It… moves the relationship from the heart to the mind and gets them in agreement.” Bart said more to the wall than to Julia.  It was as if he was had said these very words to someone else recently.  He then looked at Julia, “Get your heart and mind in sync.  God does not want you to be conflicted, he want you to be in love, with Him, with life and with your spouse.  He is your loving father and wants good for his children…” Bart said as his attention turned back to the wall.  He was talking to himself as well as Julia.  

     “Are you okay?”  Julia asked.

     “I will be.” was all Bart offered.

     His statement was quite final and she knew that the conversation was over.  Julia went to her room and pasted Luke and Lisa’s room.  They had married and were sharing quarters.  Julia remembered the conversation with Bart.  He wanted them to wait and see other people on the ship.  To make sure that they were not just doing it out of convenience.  He put to them that their year long isolation from others, had brought on these feeling.  It was a logical argument, but they were insistent and so Bart married them on the scout ship.  They seemed good together, but I could see Bart’s point.  They were isolated and in that isolation they made the only choice they had, each other.  Now, there not.  And they could explore options, but they didn’t want to.  Life and love seemed so complicated, so different from one person to another.  

     With a good night sleep behind her, Julia woke ready to face the day.  She was going to have to figure out a way to sleep with her noisy partner, but for now a good night sleep was appreciated.  She got dressed and hurried to Harold's quarters, but he was already gone.  She made a quick inquiry to her bracelet, “Where is the Captain?”

     “The Captain is in the observatory.” the bracelet paused, “Deck 1..

      Julia interrupted, “Yes, I know. Thank-you.”  Julia cursed her timing, she wanted to catch him before he left and talk with him about.. Their arrangement.

     Julia made her way to the observatory.  It was uneventful and short.  The guards did not challenger her anymore and so she just walked in like she owned the place.  It took her by surprise that Jupiter seemed to fill the windows.  She did not realize how close they had come to the largest planet in their solar system.  But there it was.  No telescope needed.  It was also a surprise that they were not alone.  In the low light Julia could see about twenty people gathered around the telescope and they seemed to be in good spirits.  Julia walked up to Harold, who had his back to her.  She slipped her hands around his waist and whispered, “Good morning.”

     The Captain did not turn around but said softly, “Was I too loud last night?”

     Julia felt guilty, “I’m sorry.”

     “Why?”

     “I’m just not used…”

     “I know.”  The captain looked up at the approaching planet.  “I’m..”  He let it go.  He knew time would correct this issue and they would be one.  “I have a surprise for you.” The captain moved on.

     “Oh?” Julia moved up beside the captain so that others could see her.

     Julia looked around the room.  Bart and his wife were here.  So was Jason and Lorin.  Then she saw Luke and Lisa mixed in with other officers and their spouses.  Julia thought it strange the such a mix of people were gathered here.  Julia looked to the Captain for an explanation but he was not standing.  While she was distracted at the makeup of the crowd the good captain had knelt to one knee.  Julia looked down.  She had seen this before.  It was an Earth custom for the male to bend a single knee and humbly ask for a woman’s hand in marriage.  Her brain raced, “This is not happening here! Now!”

     “Julia.. My Love.” the captain said as he looked up into her eyes, “I would be honored if you would be my wife.”  He looked out at the Planet that was slowly racing towards them, “This is but an example of how big my feeling are towards you and the grand adventure that will be our live.”  He looked back at her. “And I want it to be you at my side. Will you be my wife.”

     Tears filled Julia’s eyes and her mind was completely overwhelmed.  She wanted to be witty or say something profound, but all that came out was  “Yes.”  This man has totally  undone her.  

     The captain stood and embraced her.  His strong arms wrapped around Julia’s shoulders and she put her arms around the captain and cried.  Everyone in the room clapped.  It was surreal and yet exactly what she wanted.  

     Once they stopped hugging each other the crowd pressed around and congratulated them.  Julia hugged so many people she was almost numb.  It was quite an emotional morning.  

     Bart approached Julia, “I’m so sorry for last night.  I tried not to give this away.”

     “You stink?” Julia said half sarcastically.

     “Congratulations.  He is a fine man and I know you will be great together.” Bart said and moved off.

     About half way through the crowd of congratulations a klaxon went off. “Warning! Collision alert!”

     All of the military ran from the room.  Julia followed to the door, but did not go on the bridge.  It was not her place, this was the Captain’s and he would not approve.  So she would wait.  Not her strongest quality, but it was the right thing to do here.  The bridge was a madhouse of activity.

     “Impact in sixty seconds!”

     “Starboard thrusters at maximum.”

     “Deflectors on Full!”

     “Emergency response teams reporting in.”

     “All Emergency bulkheads are closed.”

     “Emergency Hatches are at 68 percent

     “All Hands prepare for impact!”

     “Thirty seconds”

     “Coming in on starboard side.”

     “Ten Seconds. Nine. Eight.”

     “It’s gone!”

     “Say again.”

     “It’s gone.”

     The Captain was looking at each station, but there were no answers.  “Full scan.  I want to know just what happened.”

     “Sir, this is not possible, but we are not where we were.”

     The Captain yelled, “Explain!”

     “We are almost a hundred and twenty seven thousand kilometers closer to Jupiter.”

     “How?”

     “We Jumped.”

     “Impossible, check your telemetry again.”

     “Instrumentation has recorded a spike in energy around the ship.”

     “There is a residue of the energy where we were.”

     “Captain, con.  We are receiving a message.”

      The Captain swung around to the con officer, “From who?”

     “Earth sir.”

     “How is that possible? They are at least an hour away.”

     The con officer read the message, “You’re Welcome.  Signed Creatos.”
Next Chapter

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If you like Graham Heights, please share the link with friends www.rogeratlarge.com.

As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.

Book 4: Obsidian Arrows

Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss

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Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Rounding the Sun

Graham Heights

MayFlower

Jet Propulsion Laboratory | News

Chapter 84

Rounding the Sun

Journal Entry July 14th 2096
Julia Scott

We’ve made our turn around the sun and have accelerated to a point that we are now the fastest man made object ever to leave Earth’s embrace.  We are headed for our last gravity assist and then we will head out of the solar systems at about -37.985439 degrees off the solar plane.  We will not see another planet with our naked eye for five centuries.  And the last planet, Jupiter, will fly by in a matter of days.

I will admit, it’s nice to get out and see more of the ship.  At this point, more than half the ship’s complement are now sleeping and so much of the ship is quiet.  The captain and I actually got to walk in the park last week.  It was.. Romantic, claustrophobic, and so right.  Well under the circumstances.  The Captain wants me to call him Harold, but that’s hard.  He’s the captain not just of this ship, but our... lives.  He lives the part well and I see him as such.  Which is strange as I’ve never been one to submit to.. A man, but he earns my respect.

On a different note, we had an unexpected visit two days ago.  Some random maintenance thing that was generated by the main computer.  This brought a maintenance worker to the ship.  They were checking on batteries or something like that.  It was close, but we managed to get everything put away and hide.  After that, I asked Jordy if he could tap into the main computer and generate an alert for us if anyone was scheduled or randomly selected to perform an inspection where we were.  And with Jordy's usual efficiency he did us one better.  He installed a program in the main coolant system that would monitor the main computer without being detected by any of a number of detection methods, deployed by the humans or AIs.  The two systems were inseparable and the coolant had access to all parts of the computer.  Jordy tried to explain how the information was passed, but it was so far over our heads it sounded like a foreign language.  Either way, the program was done and it would alert our security bracelets.  These bracelets were given to us by the captain so, we could move about.  We soon learned that Jordy expanded the parameters of the program by alerting us to the presence of security and maintenance individual that were in our immediate location throughout the ship.  We could literally avoid seeing anyone if we wanted to.  I employed it to spy on the good captain.  It was boring.  The man.. Well he just did what he was suppose to do and not much more.  He did love to look at the star and planets a lot.  Must be where he did his thinking, because he was a man of action everywhere else. He was truly unique…

The two walked into the captain’s personal observator and Julia could tell the the captain was excited about something.  

The captain escorted Julia over to the telescope and had her look in.  It was Earth.  It was a bit far away, but it was Earth.  Once Julia stood up “It’s Earth.”  Not quite sure what was significant about this.

“It will be the last time we will be able to see it like this.” the captain said.

“Oh.” was all Julia had to say.

“Don’t you miss it?” the captain asked.

“Not really.”  Julia thought about that.

“That surprises me.” the captain said.

Julia shot back, “Do you.”

The captain looked away, “Well, no.”

They looked at each other.  Their perspectives were different but they both felt the same.  Earth was lost and was...well to be left behind.  Their future was out there. They stood there in a moment of silence before Julia ask “Why is that?”

The captain thought about it a moment and then tried to put them to words.  “I was alive during the fall.  I saw the way people acted both before and after things went bad.”  He paused to recall the memories.

“I can only say that I remember what my great grandfather told me and what was in his journals.” Julia understood that her perspective was limited.

“I’ve read some of his journals.” the captain said. “You could see that he understood some of the underlying causes, despite his limited view.”

“What do you mean?”

The captain tried to recall the journal date, but it eluded him.  “Not sure of the date, but it was before the fall.  Your grandfather had joined a group of men that were gathering supplies in case there was a natural disaster or the local government fell apart.”  He pause to recall what his main point was. “You see he could see that people had very different perspectives on how life should be lived.”

“How is that a problem.  I thought diversity was suppose to make us better.” Julia asked.

“This is not about diversity, this was about class.  You see there was a growing number of people that had so little.  They would work their entire lives to get something set aside and one bad day could wipe it all out.  All the while there were those that had so much and instead of sharing, these people believed that it was their right to have more.”

“That seems so... selfish.”

“It was, but they could not see it.”

“How’s that.”

“This segment of the population systematically inflated their own self worth and the perceived value of their live. If you could not keep up, you were pushed out.  This little monster grew and people like it. They liked prestige it gave them so they kept feeding it.  It became the center of their own self value and so they had to feed the monster.  CEOs were pressured to reduce costs and increase profits to feed the monster.  They outsourced jobs to poverty stricken nations or automated their process.  So, more and more work was being done by fewer and fewer people.”

Eventually these wealthy people were isolated from those that struggled to make it from one payday to the next.”

Julia looked at the captain with the “I don’t understand.” look.

“People use to get a paid money or credits so that they could buy homes, food and transportation.  Among other things.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“You guys used the barter system.  This grain was worth so many hours of work or so many items off a shelf.”

Okay.

Well, in the old world they had something called money.  It was made of paper and you exchanged it for goods or services.  It was easier than hauling around stuff to barter.

And everyone was okay with getting paper for their stuff?

Yes, that’s what made it work.

So what happened when you had a lot of these papers?  I mean I’ve had reports that I wish I didn’t have to pick up because they were so big.

“That’s where banks came in, but that is too big a topic to tackle right now.”

How does having lots of paper money lead to trouble?

“It was not so much as to how much they had, but how they got all of it.”

Julia was having trouble with the money thing, but hopefully it would clear up as the conversation continued.

“You see people wanted more.  So they devised ways to get it despite what the long term effects were.  Even if they didn’t cheat they would operate in a ways that was barely ethical, in order to come out on top.  They ended up with a lot more money than those that help them get it.  This was called being a good business person.  Most saw it as legal and within their right to be greedy.  They fed this insatiable monster until it was too late.”

Didn’t anyone try to stop them?

Sure, but this… these people started feeding on their own lies.  They encouraged others like themselves to join in the fleecing of the middle class.  They used every tool they could to further this agenda.  They used the political system and pushed for more and more concessions for themselves.  They got tax breaks, It became known as corporate welfare, and pasted laws that worked in their favor.  And if anyone challenged them, they would try to bury them in legal and legislative sluge.  

That sound horrible.

It got so bad that most politicians were considered bought out by these corporations and could not be trusted.  Those that weren’t, would have all their efforts stalled or beaten in the voting process.  And if that didn’t stop them, the mere cost of getting re-elected would skyrocket and you would be forced out anyway.  

What do you mean?

Well it cost money to get elected.  You had to advertise, hire staff, go to places and meet people.  All of which cost a lot of money.   So if you supported corporations, they would support you with large “donations” to your election efforts.  Much of this was so they could ask for favors later.  And if you didn’t comply, well your next election would have less money to work with.

So, the corporations paid for political favors?

Yes

Why couldn’t the people stop it?

On the most part people were sheep.  And in the latter days they were divided into so many groups, that as individuals, they were easily defeated.  

What do you mean?

Those in charge, and by that I mean those with money, used everything they could to divided people.  By using the political system, the media, the churches and even the world culture.  They drove a wedge between people in any way they could.  They knew that a people that was divided could be conquered.  And if they wanted to continue to feed their greed, they needed little to no opposition.  So, they encouraged division, dissension and mistrust of others.  Every type of authority was being attacked or undermined.  It became impossible to unite people to get them to see what was happening to them.  They became polarized around their own perspective and lost track of others.  As the middle class lost its footing, hate groups sprang up to correct the “injustice”, but they did more harm than good.   

But... That seems so… self defeating.

It was powerful and the more power it got, the more corrupt it became.  This greed and lust became so powerful, to those that were caught up in it couldn’t see the trap waiting for them.  They ran headlong into it like a sprinter in the final race.  

That reminds me of a proverb that my grandfather use to tell me.  It was something about wisdom and how people would run from it and end up in a trap.  I think they used the word snar.  As in a trap that would kill an animal so the hunter could eat it.  

Julia looked back into the telescope at the big blue planet that use to be their home.  “It seems so small.”

The captain didn’t say anything at first.  Then “I think that everyone should see it from this perspective.  And not just a picture, but from actually standing on a platform in the middle of nowhere and looking back at what we have… what we had”

Why?

“Well, I guess you call it a matter of perspective.  From the Earth’s surface it seems so big.  So much so, that it couldn’t possibly fail.  But from up here.  You can see that it’s really very small and as such, it needed to managed with great care.”  The captain fell silent as  a tear rolled down his face.”

Julia stood up from the telescope and walked over to her captain.  They embraced and then both looked up at the little blue spot in the speckled ocean of black.

Next Chapter

Please add a comment.

If you like Graham Heights, please share the link with friends www.rogeratlarge.com.

As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.

Book 4: Obsidian Arrows

Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss

You can Leave a comment.  

Or follow us on Facebook.  

Or hit the subscribe button to get updates on new chapters or books.

Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.

A Warrior's Purgatory

Graham Heights

MayFlower

Wikimedia Commons

Chapter 83

Peace - A Warrior's Purgatory

Journal Entry April 26th 2096

Lieutenant Knorack

Life is suppose to be winding down.  We are headed for the sun.  Our first stage of this journey is to head towards the largest gravitational source and sling shoot ourselves into unknown space.  Our second sling shoot, which will be at Jupiter, will set our final course.  It will be slightly off of our solar plane.  In reality will will be flying counter clockwise to the the galactic rotation.  This actually helps us get to where we are going faster.  

Sometimes I just don’t understand these scientist that explain things in terms of AU, Grids and Sectors.  They talk about it as if they are just next door, but every conversation or change in plans adds and subtracts decades to our journey. And they don’t even  blink and eye in these conversations.

But that is not the point right now.  Right now we are preparing for our first long sleep.  About two thirds of the crew is preparing their quarters and work responsibilities for this hibernation of sorts.  Equipment is being put in storage and personal items are being sealed up for the first 150 year stretch.  

The Captain has saw fit to make me the head of safety.  The Second least favorite person on this ship.  Right there with the rogue AIs.  Next time I wake up, I’m just going to be one of the guys… Who am I kidding, I’ve never been nor will I ever be that.  I am me and for some reason I just won’t be bought.  You might convince me to look the other way if the process that is put in place, is stupid, but on the most part.  Rules are rules.  Which brings me to….

“Good Morning Ensign Kia.”  Lt Knorack said as the poor ensign was in only a robe with the back missing.  

“Good Morning sir.” Said the ensign with some nervousness.

“Do you know why I’m here?” Asked Knorack as he scanned the chart for the young ensign.

“Apparently there is something wrong with me medically.” the ensign said trying not to be too specific.

“Young man if we turned out the lights you would glow.”  Lt Knorack said as he continued his inspection of the chart.  The writing in red was quite clear.  This man had been exposed to an extremely high level of radiation.

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration. Don’t you think… Sir?”

Knorack looked up.  He wanted to see if this young man would look him in the eyes and lie.  “What happened?”

“Nothing.”

Knorack stood and his radiation suit crinkled.  “So, I’m wearing this ridiculous suit for nothing?”

“No. Sir”

Knorack leaned in, “What.. Happened?”

The ensign caved, “We were ordered to… to shutdown the reactor and fix a leak.”

“Let me get this straight.  You went into the reactor room?” Knorack was shocked.  To his knowledge that was an instant death sentence.

“No. SIr.”

Knorack looked at the chart to see where the ensign was assigned to.  “You’re a maintenance worker on the ATS shuttles.  How does that expose you to radiation?”

“Sir the ATSs are reactor based propulsion systems.” the ensign informed Lieutenant Knorack.

“Explain.” Knorack was curious as to how this worked.

“I’m sorry sir, it’s classified.”

“What’s not classified, is the fact that you are so hot, that you and your family will not be able to go into status for months.” Knorack was annoyed with all this classified crap that kept getting in his way.  

“We are not supposed to go into the reactor rooms on these ships, it’s usually something the AIs do, but we have so few and with sixteen ships to place in storage, we couldn’t wait for..”

“For a safer way to shut them down?” Knorack was upset now.  Why are they risking people’s lives.  We are going to be here five hundred years, what the hell was the hurry?  Knorack voice his last thought, “What’s the hurry?”

“The reactors can only stay idle for a short time.  A week at the longest.” The ensign said, “And that’s not classified information.”

“I see and we’ve been out almost two now.”  Knorack was putting the pieces together.  “Who ordered you into the chamber?”

The ensign did not answer.

“Your superior is Lieutenant Bronx, is he not?” Knorack asked looking at the chart first to make sure he was correct.

“Yes. Sir.” was all the response the ensign would give.

“Did he order you into the compartment?” Knorack wanted a single source of fault.  It made his reports easier.

“Not exactly.”

“I think that was a yes or no question.”

“No.”

“Then who did?”

“It was leaking.” the ensign said.

“So you went in?” Knorack was looking at his report.  This would be a single source of responsibility.  The ensign did this to himself

“The Chief was going to go in.” Ensign Kia looked to the ceiling.

“Why did you go in?” Knorack needed to put the blame on someone or something and a motivation could be that something.

“Because they wouldn’t listen, it was going to go critical and they wouldn’t send us and AI” the ensign just gave up the his chain of command.

“Who would not send you the AI?” Knorack was poised to write down a name.

“The commander.”

“Why would the commander allow this?”  Knorack looked up the commander for this division.  “Stevens.”

“I don’t know sir.  I just knew that we were out of time and I had to secure the reactor leak.” Ensign Kia said as he hung his head.  

“I’m told you did.”  Knorack looked at his pad again. “And you will recover.”  He looked at the young man and continued,”You will have to spend the next three months in decontamination confinement, but then you can join your family in sleep.  If I need any more details I will… Let you know.”  WIth that Knorack got up and left.  He needed more proof before he went and accused Commander Stevens of any wrongdoing.  Problem was, he had to report his findings so that if there were any safety procedures violated, the section can correct the action right away.  It was a double edged sword.  One one side he would protect others from the same fate, but then he would also being informing the wrong doers that the was investigating them.  

Knorack’s suit brought him out of his mind and back to the present.  He needed to get out of it and go through decon.  His first visit would be to the hangar bay where the ensign was exposed.  He sent Stone down there to secure it while he did his interview.  He wanted to make user he got names before he stepped foot in the bay.  Now he did and it would provide some interesting conversations up there.  

The lift took forever.  The ship was still busy getting everything battened down for the long period of inactivity.  You would think they would have been doing this all along, but much of it had to wait until people were actually put to sleep.  To date only about twenty five percent have been placed in status.  By the time they reach the sun, that number will be fifty percent.  Then next mark would be Jupiter.  At which point all but ten percent will be in status.  He and his family were scheduled to view Jupiter and then they too would join the sleepers.  It was a gift from the captain for saving his life.  Lorin promised to paint it.  But that was another day.  

Knorack finally made it to the maintenance bay and was directed to Sgt Stone.  He and three of his men had set up a perimeter around the ship.  These damn things were big.  He marveled at how such a thing could hurdle itself through the atmosphere so fast that it would literally be thrown out of it.  But that was its limit. Once it was in space it had little propulsion left.  With no atmosphere to heat, it could only rely on its thrusters.  “Sargent Stone.”  Knorack gave a weak salute.  

“I have two men on board with the Chief.”  Stone indicated a small ladder the was hanging from a door on the side of the ship.  It was so small.  Knorack made his way there.  Climbed the ladder and entered the dark hole.  Once inside his eye adjusted and he could hear voices coming from the compartment that was aft of his position.  

He stepped into the compartment and announced himself.  The Chief turned around immediately.  “Ah, the safety pukes are finally here.”

Knorack was alarmed that he would be perceived in this manner, but under the circumstances, understandable.  Many times those that require rules to be followed are seen in a negative light.  It’s because they don’t have a clear understanding of the nuances of the job.  They only know the rules as they are posted, so they tend to make things difficult.  However, the alternative can be sloppy and sloppy usually leads to someone getting hurt.  And here we are.  “I am Lieutenant Knorack. Please refrain the the colorful metaphors and let’s get down the the facts.”

The Chief shot Knorack a look, “Yes...  Sir.” The chief turned back to the instrument panel that he was looking at when Knorack came in.

Knorack could not help himself, “Do you have a problem Chief.” Knorack emphasised the chief’s rank to indicated that is was less than his own.  

“I don’t need some no nothing safety puke down here slowing us down even further?” The chief spat out.

“Then why is one of your men down stair glowing in the dark?” Knorack had had enough.  If this man wanted a drag down fight, he was going to get it.  

“That wasn’t my doing.”  The chief’s shoulders fell just slightly.  “That stupid kid went in without permission.”

“That stupid kid was your immediate supervisor.” Knorack was not happy with the way this chief talked about another officer.

“That kid.” The chief said as he looked at the bulkhead, “Didn’t deserve this.”

“What are you saying chief.” Knorack just needed him to say it out loud.

“The fault does not lie here.”  The chief turned around.  “He wasn’t given direct orders, he was just left here to deal with the problem.”

“Can you show me the request for the AI and its denial.” Knorack asked.

“No.”

“Why.”

“It’s been erased.”

“By whom?” Knorack was upset now.  This was unacceptable.

“By the ensign before he entered.”

“What!”

The chief stopped talking.  He looked at the instruments on the panel and adjusted one nob.  

“What are you not telling me chief?” Knorack asked.

“You are one of the lucky ones.” said the chief.

“I really don’t have time for twenty questions.  Chief if you have something to say, say it.” Knorack tried not to be threatening.  The chief was not happy about something.  But was unable to express it openly.  

“You were given…” The chief stopped.

“Given what?”

The chief squirmed.  He wanted to say it, but was holding himself back.

“Chief if you want to fix something, you first have to know what you’re fixing.” Knorack was trying so hard to be encouraging.  

“You can’t fix this Lieutenant.  It goes way too deep.” The chief looked him in the eyes, “It’s the way it’s been since the first armies were put together.”

“The way what’s been?”  Knorack was confused.

“Don’t play stupid with me Lieutenant, you didn’t get your rank by playing it safe.” The chief looked away.  “The only way you make rank is by risk taking.  Bold decisions.  Decisiveness.  Otherwise you’re just a cog in a wheel waiting for someone to die in order to make rank.”

“So, you’re telling me this whole thing is about making rank?” Knorack was mad.  This.. this shit was so the ensign could be promoted.  What of the request for the AI?  Was it actually denied?” Knorack wanted to see if there were any contributing factors.

“Yes.”

“So there was a real danger from the reactor?” Knorack was trying to sharpen his understanding of the entire situation.

“Eventually.”   

“But not at the moment the ensign entered the compartment?” Knorack pushed.

The chief shook his head no.  The chief eventually turned around, “They… don’t have a war or battle to distinguish themselves in.” He paused then after collecting the right words, “They get a few bullet statements on an evaluation that looks like a hundred others.”  The chief looked away.  “We sacrifice our lives for it, but peace is like.. a warrior’s purgatory.”

Knorack said nothing.  

“How do you fix that?” The chief said as he continued to monitor his instruments.

Next Chapter

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As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.

Book 4: Obsidian Arrows

Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss

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Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.