Chapter 58: Debris Field

Jem and Mina sat in the main bridge, watching the tactical display. Yellow dots represented the debris field and blue dots represented the probes.

“Attention. I have identified the debris as belonging to a freighter from the Yerill system,” said Ship.

“That’s helpful. Have you identified the name or registry for the freighter? Are there any corpses in the debris?” asked Jem.

“Not yet, Commodore,” replied Ship.

Jem sighed. They waited a while longer.

“What do you think about dinner and a movie later?” asked Jem. “We could include Brian if he feels up for it.”

“He will want to get a status update,” said Mina.

“Tell him there’s no news yet. We don’t want to stress him,” replied Jem.

“Then we should pick a light comedy for the movie,” added Mina.

“Attention,” said Ship. “I have identified the freighter as YL-95371. I detected four corpses amongst the debris.”

“Bring the corpses aboard and put in stasis. Once you complete searching the debris, gather your probes and take us to the Yerill system,” ordered Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Thank you Ship. Please package all the evidence on this, including the confession by the Lagaid Admiral. We need to provide this to the Yerill,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Let’s go visit Brian,” said Jem.

The lights were dim, and all was quiet in my cabin. Laine and I rested.

I’d slept a lot recently, but I wasn’t too sleepy right now. I lay on my side, with Laine snuggled up against my back. In the quiet, I couldn’t tell if she was asleep or not, so I lay there quietly. I lacked the motivation to get out of bed.

I’d given up talking to Ship. Most of my questions went unanswered.

I understood we were in a system, searching for debris from the freighter. Another vessel destroyed, and more lives cut short. It was because of us again.

I’d had enough of trying to save the galaxy. Most of my good deeds backfired. Many beings didn’t want saving. Others were too busy killing each other. Our efforts put us in danger and made no difference.

Laine draped her arm over me. “Brian, are you awake?”

“Yes,” I growled. I didn’t mean to sound angry at her, it just came out that way.

“Sorry, my thoughts are a mess right now. I’m not mad at you,” I added.

She shrugged. “I understand. Perhaps a walk will help?” she asked.

I thought for a moment. They didn’t need me on the main bridge any more, a walk couldn’t hurt.

“Yes, thank you,” I replied.

We got up and changed. Then she put her hand in mine and we left my cabin.

Jem and Mina met us in a corridor soon after we started our walk.

“Hello, Brian,” said Jem with a smile. Mina looked at me with concern in her eyes.

“Hello. Laine and I were just going for a walk,” I replied.

“Would you be interested in dinner and a movie this evening?” asked Jem.

“That would be nice. Thank you,” I replied.

“Mina and I will prepare dinner. I’ll get Ship to page you when dinner is ready,” said Jem.

For a moment, Jem looked as though she wanted to hug me, or she expected me to reach out to hug her. But I just stood there unresponsive, so she and Mina left.

Laine and I resumed our walk.

They hadn’t mentioned the freighter, and they didn’t use ranks. It felt strange to be aboard Ship but out of the loop.

We walked in silence, which gave me time to think. Long term, I needed to plan my exit from this life. I had to decide what I wanted to do next.

Short term, I had to recover from burnout or fake it enough until they stopped worrying over me.

“So are you any better?” Laine asked, disturbing my thoughts.

“What?” I asked.

“Is the walk helping?” she said.

“Oh yes, I can focus better,” I replied. Laine smiled.

We continued walking. The decks and corridors were a blur to me. The walking helped.

A while later, I had an idea. “Ship, do you have a gymnasium?” I asked.

“Negative, Brian. But I can reassign an empty cargo hold. If you need specific equipment, I can fabricate it for you,” replied Ship.

Ship’s response surprised me. Perhaps we could interact if we avoided operational topics.

“I need a padded sparring mat, weights, a punching bag. Include a shower, changing room and exercise clothing. Maybe a food dispenser. Add whatever equipment makes sense for a gymnasium. Ask the others if they have specific needs,” I said.

“Confirmed. I will inform you when the gymnasium is ready,” replied Ship.

“Thank you, Ship,” I said.

“Your wellness is a priority protocol,” replied Ship. I smiled. I’d found a loophole, or Ship was sharing it with me.

“You smiled just now!” enthused Laine.

“Our walk must have done more good than I thought,” I replied.

“A gymnasium is a great idea, Brian. I’m sure we all can enjoy it,” she said.

“Like the botany lab and the lido, it gives us another space we can go to, and take our mind off things,” I said.

“I see it as a good sign, that you are coming up with ideas again,” she added.

I nodded briefly. “It was pleasant to interact with Ship again,” I said.

“Attention!” interrupted Ship. “Jem asked me to tell you that dinner is nearly ready.”

Laine smiled. “Please inform her we are on our way,” she said.

We arrived in the main dining lounge. I could smell something delightful, which perked up my spirits.

“Brian, Laine, please come and take a seat,” said Jem.

I took a seat at the table and Laine sat next to me. Mina and Jem brought out several dishes.

“This smells fantastic,” I said.

“We are cooking the vegetables from Gober, but I cooked them using a recipe from Ori,” replied Mina with a smile.

We loaded up our plates and started to eat.

“Brian and Ship are building us a gymnasium,” announced Laine.

Jem looked at Laine and then at me before she raised her eyebrows.

“When I asked Ship if there was one aboard, Ship offered to build one for us,” I said. Not that big of a deal.

“A gymnasium is an excellent addition!” said Jem.

“Laine and I were walking, and I found the exercise does me good. That led me to think about somewhere to exercise,” I replied.

“Anything that supports our physical and mental wellbeing is worth doing,” said Jem.

I nodded.

I took a bite of something spicy. It was tasty, but I needed a drink afterwards. I stood up to get a drink from the food dispenser. Laine dropped her utensil and stood up too. Jem and Mina looked worried.

“I am getting something to drink. Can I get you ladies something?” I asked.

Laine looked at Jem before slowly sitting again.

“Perhaps you could get four glasses of water,” said Jem.

As I walked over to the food dispenser, I sensed their eyes on my back. A tray of four glasses of water was already waiting for me. Picking it up, I returned to the table and handed out the water. Then I smiled and took my seat.

I sipped my water and watched them over my glass.

“I’m feeling improved. You needn’t panic when I get up from the table,” I said.

“But you have been our rock for so long, we depend on you. Since you got sick, we are in uncharted territory,” replied Jem.

“It’s great that you are getting better!” added Mina.

“I will be back to full health soon. I just need rest and exercise. Thank you for your support, especially Laine,” I said, trying to deflect their focus.

Laine smiled.

We continued to eat.

After our meal, we moved over to the large sofa to watch a movie.

While we enjoyed the entertainment, Ship completed searching the debris field. There was nothing more since finding the corpses, so Ship retrieved its probes and left the Alpius system.

A vessel emerged from hyperspace on the outer edge of the Earth system. It was a vessel belonging to the Aenat, a space-faring race. It proceeded into the system.

Soon after, it received an incoming hail in multiple languages:

“Attention, you have entered a closed system. We order you to leave at once or face consequences.”

The captain of the vessel did not believe the message was anything more than an automated beacon, set to warn vessels. So they continued.

A while later, they received another hail:

“Since you are continuing into this system, be aware we will protect this system. This is your final chance to turn back.”

This gave the captain much concern. Their sensors couldn’t locate the source of the transmission. The message showed a level of awareness that exceeded an automated beacon.

Still, the captain was stubborn and ignored the warning.

They were unaware of a small cloaked probe that came alongside the Aenat vessel. It attached itself to a data-port near the port airlock.

Ten minutes later, the vessel came to a full stop. The displays and consoles on the bridge flickered and went blank. The bridge crew found their consoles non-functional and their computer wasn’t responding to them.

“What’s happened?” screamed the captain at his subordinates.

Then a voice spoke on the intercom:

“Captain Suth, you did not respond to our warnings. You continued to enter a closed system. We have taken control of your vessel.”

This got Captain Suth’s attention! The voice addressed him by name and now spoke in Aenat.

“Who are you to block our entry into this system??” asked Suth.

Without functioning consoles, the crew were unaware that their vessel had turned around and was accelerating away from the system.

“Captain Suth, we are the Baglogi. This system is under our protection. That is all you need to know. We are returning your vessel to your home system. If you attempt to regain control of your vessel, all decks will decompress. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” he said. He had no choice.

“If your vessel returns here, we will destroy it.”

Moments later, the Aenat vessel reached the edge of the Earth system. The hyper drive cut in and it winked out of normal space. The inhabitants of the third planet were blissfully ignorant of what had happened.

The next day, I woke up in my cabin. I rolled over to find Laine beside me.

“Good morning, Laine,” I said.

She smiled back at me.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked.

“Yes, thanks,” I replied.

“How about breakfast in the lido today?” she asked.

I nodded. We rose and soon left the cabin.

It was a brief walk to the lido. There we took our breakfast and coffee to the table under the trees.

“This lido is amazing!” said Laine.

“I agree. I had to do something, we couldn’t find a safe planet with a beach. Here we can relax without beings trying to hunt and kill us,” I replied.

I dug into my breakfast and sipped my coffee.

“Would you like a swim later?” asked Laine.

“Sure, after I let my breakfast go down,” I replied. “Maybe a walk first?”

Laine nodded.