Chapter 2: It Was a Typical Day...

“Cason, there you are!” Javier said as he carried his food tray towards the table his friend sat at.

It was a Tuesday morning on a colony world that had a never-ending day. It had been thirty minutes later as Javier carried a tray with banana, coffee, and an egg sandwich on his tray. The galley and mess hall was enormous. UHN headquarters was a massive domed building of multiple rooms, offices, and administration for the military on Aphadus. If anything, it was the only real military base for the seemingly lonely planet in the solar system.

The food hall was massive in size and consisted of numerous tables for the large building. Tables of various sizes and crowds were established. Areas were sectioned off for enlisted, civilian, and officer alike. Only recently had the place been modified to allow a new set of visitors ... the Itreans.

Javier was used to eating at the food hall. People came and gone all around him. The table that Cason sat at was small and in an area where foot traffic was low. Javier noted that Cason sat on a chair and was highly focused on the digital display that depicted the news. His tray of cereal was half-eaten.

“Cason?” Javier called out as he stood next to him.

Cason was a typical officer of the Aphadus UHN team. He was a lieutenant and dressed similar to Javier. His red and blue fancy uniform stood out. His pale complexion was reminiscent of the pale red environment. The big difference was that he had a mustache and black hair.

“Wha?...” Cason said in a deep voice. “Oh ... Javier. Dude, I am sorry I didn’t see you, man.”

“Everything alright?” Javier asked him as he placed his food tray down on the other side of the table. He sat down as he could also get a chance to see the display screen of the news going on.

Cason lifted his arm as he activated a display screen. His left arm glowed yellow as it displayed a digital holographic display menu for him to look at. He used his right hand and pressed a button, putting the digital screen on the table on mute.

“You know, you can simply press the button on the table, instead of using that augmented arm of yours,” Javier told him.

“Ugh ... sorry about that,” Cason replied to him. “Had a lot of stuff on my mind. I was trying to watch the news to distract myself.”

“Look like it partially worked,” Javier said as he picked up the banana and started to peel it open.

“Partly,” Cason said as he took his spoon and scooped up some of the almond milk and cereal and put it into his mouth. “Karen asked me to marry her.”

Javier choked on his banana for a split second. “Seriously? Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around?”

“Well ... yeah. We were talking about it off and on. She took me by surprise when she asked me.”

“Well? Did you accept?”

“Fuck yeah, I did. I knew her for four years, duh ... it’s just...”

“What is it?”

“I was kinda torn back and forth really,” Cason said. “I think she saw me hesitate for a moment, and she was discouraged. She almost walked out on me, but I had to stop her. That was ... last night.”

“But you guys are getting married, right?”

“Yeah ... I think. That is why I am a little distracted right now. My thoughts are on her.”

Javier smiled at him. “Hey, me amigo. Just let me know when the wedding day is on, and I will be there. I want to be the best man.”

“You will definitely have that honor, I promise,” Cason said with a nod.

Javier and Cason both took a bite of their food before they resumed their talking.

“You know, I admit that Karen ... she doesn’t normally ask for a marriage,” Cason told him.

“You mean she regularly asks men to marry her?” Javier joked.

“No ... I mean ... I don’t think she would have asked if it weren’t for ... well ... them.”

Cason gestured with his head and eyes behind Javier. Javier, in turn, looked behind his peripheral vision to see two Yutilian women walking by with food trays in their hands. By now, Javier was used to seeing these alien women. The T’rintar clan was everywhere in UWA space. While their ships were concentrated on Earth, the partnership treaty allowed them to operate in a limited fashion in human-controlled space.

The Yutilians were typical of a four-foot-tall anthro lizard. Each Yutilian of the clan had some distinct looks and shapes to them. It seemed that no one truly looked alike when you focused on them. The ones that Javier saw were obviously visitors that were working in joint fashion for the UHN in the base. They wore their green and blue uniforms that covered their frames and bodies. One of the Yutilians had green and red scales to them while the other one was shorter and had bluish scales. Both had long tails that swung by their digitigrade legs. The blue colored one was actually chubby while the other one was lankier. Much like human beings, there was the complexity of an alien race of beings that consisted of the trillions. The bluish one had feathers while the other did not.

“Yeah...” Javier said as he turned his head and looked back at Cason. “I see what you mean. Having an entire race of people that are nothing but women can cause the men here to draw an eye to them.”

“Even I admit that they are rather ... attractive,” Cason said with a hushed-up breath. “Karen caught me looking at the ... ummm ... nah ... I am not going to say it.”

Javier almost laughed. “Ah, you were watching the propaganda porn, weren’t you?”

“No... , “ Cason said as he put his spoon down. He folded up his arms. “Well ... yes. I admit I was curious to see if it was true or not. She just caught me looking at it.”

“I admit, it is strange to see we have met an alien race and that we can ... well, have sex with them. It is natural to be curious.”

“I just find it weird what the purpose of it is. The T’rintar clan goes out of its way to encourage humans and their own people to ... go and get together and do it.”

Javier shrugged. “Why not? The goal is to show the other clans that we can have children together. It is their goal to convince the other clans to lay down their arms and not go after us.”

“Yeah, but ... still. I mean ... I end up hearing a friend of mine awhile back goes and marries one of them. I end up hearing another family member goes to New Olympia and ends up getting three wives. Don’t you feel like the men are in high demand these days?”

“If you are going to ask if I am going to move to New Olympia sometime soon, my answer would be no. I keep getting this feeling that something ain’t right there. As for the Itrean women ... umm ... I don’t know. I think they are attractive, but I don’t know if I would be interested in jumping in bed with one of them.”

“I think that Karen asked me because she was afraid one of those T’rintar clan women was going to take me and make me a mate to her or something. I think human women are in for some major competition now.”

Javier finished taking a bite of his egg sandwich as he quickly chewed it up and swallowed it. “You know, not all of them are truly female.”

“What? What do you mean?” Cason asked him. “I thought all of them are women. They had a disease that wiped out the men of their race.”

Javier nodded. “That is absolutely true, but they had to rely on other ways to procreate. I think they call them the ‘ivon.’ Some of those women may have more than just a vagina.”

Cason almost had a disgusted look to him when he heard that. “Oh ... well, I guess that makes sense.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t worry about it. Those two women you saw. I bet one of them is an ivon, but that wouldn’t mean you couldn’t still go and have fun with them.”

“You saw the propaganda adult films too haven’t you?”

Javier shrugged. “I was curious. I won’t lie. After hearing the ambassador knocking up the T’rintar ambassador, I had to see if it was true. The T’rintar have been doing nothing but sending out emails and spam to all of us humans.”

“That’s what I mean,” Cason said with some relief. “It’s just been weird. I mean, we meet an alien race, we thought we were going to die, and now we are ... fucking them.”

“Well, in this case, one clan. The other two clans still want to kill us. I will say, though, that we are in better shape now than we ever were. The T’rintar are giving us warships, they help protect us, and this propaganda porn seems to be deterring the other clans from attacking us.”

“The porn or the resources?”

“Both, I think.”

Cason sighed as he scooped up more of his cereal and ate it. He seemed to recompose himself a little bit. “Well, no matter. I love Karen, and I will go and marry her. No T’rintar woman will be coming to me. What about you?”

“I still haven’t found that woman for me yet,” Javier said as he shrugged.

“I still think you are a little picky when it comes to women. I tried to introduce that one woman to you, but you refused outright.”

“Tabatha? No thanks,” Javier waved his hand at him. “The first thing she told me when I worked with the logistical and history department for the UHN was that she hated history outright. She even waved me off and demanded that I leave the military.”

“Seriously? She told you that?”

Javier nodded his head.

“Well, fuck that. I know you have been looking for a woman that has a strong desire for history. Maybe, in the end, you have to take some military woman or at least ... one of them.”

Javier turned his head to glance at the Yutilian women that were now sitting at a remote table and eating. He quickly turned his head back to Cason. “Yeah ... I still need to think about that. Maybe if one of them had the same interests as I do.”

“Eh ... enough about women. Let’s talk about something else,” Cason said as he put his drink down on the table. “What are you doing today?”

“Today, I have to present a historical account of the recent years of the Itrean Empire and clans to the chain of command.”

“That actually sounds interesting. Do you think you are ready for it?”

“Ugh ... I feel like I am. I am a little nervous that they are thinking of bringing one of the T’rintar representatives to the meeting. Have that woman tell me that I made a bunch of errors or something because they didn’t agree with it.”

Cason shook his head. “You think it will be a disaster?”

“No ... if anything, it will probably be a snooze fiesta. It will be nothing but captains and commanders that will act like they are interested in my work but will be all daydreaming. You know how it is with briefings on things a bunch of people hates. History is naturally a hard subject to get through for most people.”

“It certainly is. I don’t remember shit from my class.”

“It’s because they don’t teach it right. Even in the last several hundred years, they still can’t teach it correctly. Before you know it, everyone forgets their own past. Hell, I had to recently come up with a historical briefing that I passed on to Ambassador Kane not that long ago.”

“Oh yeah,” Cason said as he snapped his fingers. “I remember you telling me about all that. Didn’t you get credit for all that?”

“Yes, I did,” Javier said with a smile. “It’s him and that other T’rintar ambassador that is having a kid right now. Kane told me that what I made helped out. He helped put out a recommendation to the chain of command for my actions. There is some discussion about them ... bumping up my paygrade soon.”

“They are thinking of promoting you?”

“Yes ... although ... I still haven’t heard anything yet in the last several months for my actions. I am hoping that it hasn’t fallen on the wayside.”

Cason pointed his spoon at Javier. “Make sure you give little reminders during the chain of command meeting today. Somebody will listen. It doesn’t have to be anything big, but give them that tiny little reminder, and somebody will make sure that you get promoted for your actions. Eventually, you will have the two silver bars that I have.”

“Thanks,” Javier nodded. “How many times do you remind me that you outrank me?”

“Every time. I just want to make sure my friend is getting the same paycheck as I do. You need a woman, and you need to be treated well.”

“Thank you, Cason,” Javier said with a nod. He went and took his banana as he finished eating it up.

“Are those bananas any good?”

Javier nodded. “Yeah. Still prefer the bananas they grow on Cebravis instead of the Martian variety.”

“I admit I still miss Mars,” Cason said as he looked away for a moment.

“Still having a hard time adjusting to Aphadus? How long have you been here now?”

“Seven months, and yes, I am still having a rough time adjusting to this lifestyle.”

“This place is ten times better than Mars. You can outside and breathe the air.”

Cason shook his head. “No, well ... yes. I can leave and walk outside for ten minutes and breathe the fresh air, but I can’t run either. There isn’t enough oxygen in the air, and if I run, we pass out. I still can’t get used to the continuous day cycle either. It’s nothing but solid daylight every single day. Even Mars, we still had some nice sunsets.”

“Eh ... I can’t argue about Mars since I was never born there, but you can still get used to this environment. Something about being on another planet and having a time when the planet goes dark just scares me for some reason. On Aphadus, you never have to worry about nighttime. I can even sleep with the windows open. I just operate on the morning schedule. A little bit of Martian/Earth timescale, and this colony can operate quite well. A week on the UWA timescale is about the time it takes for a year to pass on this planet. As for the breathing outside ... well I can’t argue about that. It just takes some getting used to.”

“Says the person that has an augmented pair of lungs.”

Javier shrugged. “All is fair, right? You have an augmented arm, and I get augmented lungs. You guys can flash your arms all you want. I get to breathe all the fun stuff and survive. It was a worthy investment. Not many people get augmented lungs.”

“Because it isn’t really needed.”

“Says the person who has a hard time breathing outside in Aphadus’s environment. Besides, who needs an augmented arm when I can just use a tablet. Hell, the T’rintar got those tilon things of theirs that are pretty cool. I was thinking of getting one when they reverse engineer them for UHN use.”

Cason gave a smirk to Javier. He nodded as he started finishing up his cereal. Cason was almost finished up with his breakfast as he looked at the display that was on the table.

“You know, I keep ignoring the news recently,” Cason said. “I wonder what’s on the news.”

He lifted his left arm as he activated his digital menu display. He tapped into the table’s display screen as it flicked it off mute. Javier had been ignoring the news, but as he looked at the screen, he could see a woman that was being depicted on the Martian news. He recognized it as the Chinese anchorwoman by the name of Chenguang of the Martian News Network. Every day it seemed like she would alter her looks and appearances. Even her hair was dyed blue now instead of the famous Martian red colors. She was wearing a formal red and blue dress, though. Her hair was long and waved downward as she sat behind her desk and telling the news of the prompter she was looking at. The background depicted a couple standing together.

“Ah ... speaking of my old friend. There is my ambassador pal,” Javier remarked as he saw the image of his friend.

The news depicted an image of Kane as he stood in a formal civilian uniform of red and blue. His hair was a little bit longer, and he had a Yutilian woman standing beside him. It was something that reached headlines just recently. The ambassador of the T’rintar clan to the UWA was pregnant. Javier knew that Kane was the father. It was the first a few interspecies couples to have children together since four months ago.

“On more recent news,” Chenguang reported with a smile on her face. “The Euteran people have erected a monument to the fallen people since the attack on the colony over a year ago.”

The screen switched over to depict a black obelisk that was erected in the center of the town square of the revitalized Euteran colony. It was a beautiful day in that colony. Blue sky and mountains in the distance marked the location in the background footage. The obelisk was about five feet in height and consisted of names of over twenty individuals. The photo showed humans and some of the T’rintar clan members as they stood together overlooking the monument. A person stood in front of the memorial as he stepped away from it.

“The monument, according to the elected leader Morgan, is a dedication to the successful return of the Euteran people by the T’rintar clan. It marks the names of both the victims of the attack to capture the colony and to honor the family members of the crew of the T’rintar vessel Syn. Both incidents mark the attacks before the signing of the peace treaty between humanity and the T’rintar. According to the Euterans, they were treated to some experimentation by the T’rintar but reported that they were treated well under imprisonment. The monument was helped funded by the clan to help bring remembrance and to help pave the way forward for future relations. Three of the Euterans that report to be ... married with children to the T’rintar showed up to the unveiling of the monument to pay their respects. The unveiling ceremony was also marked with another set of visitors as well.”

The camera switched over to show something that was unusual to Javier. He saw a couple together, but this was no ordinary couple. One was a human male with a beard and short red hair. He had a pale complexion and wore a suit and tie. Standing next to him was what appeared to be a ... companion bot of some sort. This bot stood on digitigrade legs and had a cat-like face to her. Her eyes looked upon the camera as she was holding a baby close to her chest. Javier looked at the footage for a few seconds before Chenguang continued.

“Doctor Ericson, the artificial intelligence named Minerva, and their daughter Eve, also showed up for the unveiling ceremony to pay their respects for the fallen as well.”

“Ah... , “ Javier commented. “That is who she is.”

“You mean that AI that tried to take over Mars?” Cason asked.

“Yeah ... I remember watching the news when it happened. It was history in the making. I was happy that everything turned out alright for everyone. That AI is controlling that body. The baby looks cute, though.”

They continued to watch the screen as it switched back to the anchorwoman. It was a short snippet that the two men caught as the news turned topics. The background switched over to show a flag of another colony. Javier knew it only too well.

It was the flag of Batrice, another colony that was in a red dwarf system. The flag was red on one side and dark blue on the other. A white line separated the two colors as there was a large silhouette of a green temple in the center. Gillan had a flag just like it, but the red color on one side was light blue instead. Both colonies were in the same system. Javier had been keeping a note on the events going on in Batrice, and the reports seemed ... troubling.

“In other news today, Chairwoman of the UWA Jia Xe Lee has made another announcement that she will return to the colony of Batrice to speak with the Prime Minister Heng Chanvatey in an attempt to encourage future relations between the UWA and Batrice. Batrice has made numerous comments and protests with the recent alliance between the UWA and the T’rintar clan. Prime Minister Chanvatey and the Fleet Admiral Baxton of the Batrice Defense Forces have both issued full declarations against the alliance. Baxton had this to say in a recent recording.”

The camera feed switched over to show a UHN officer. He was one of the top-ranking admirals of the UHN forces that served under Batrice. He wore a blue and red formal dress uniform as he had the flag of Batrice standing behind him and his desk. A picture of the recently finished super fortress named Fort Batrice was also behind him. A monstrosity of a space station, Fort Batrice dominated the UHN in pure manufacturing capabilities of Batrice alone. Javier knew that the station took over forty years to complete.

Baxton was a typical Australian man in his looks. He had short gray hair and a scowl on his face. Batrice was typical of the population of the former people of Earth. Consisting of people from Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australian, New Zealand, and several other nations of the area on Earth, the people of Batrice knew hardship. Aphadus had the good life when it came to red dwarf exoplanets. Batrice and Gillan, on the other hand, had a much harder time to establish its infrastructure, but once they got it started, it kept going. Now they had one of the best mining corporations and shipyard centers that challenged the Martian shipyards. Baxton was an older man in his sixties. He had a pale complexion and was prim and proper. His voice even had a hint of an Australian accent.

“Hello, people of the UWA. My name is Fleet Admiral Baxton. As you know, the prime minister and myself have issued formal protests against the recent alliance between the UWA and the T’rintar Clan. In our attempts to try to save ourselves, we have instead given over a planet to these so-called dinosaurs. While I do not stand against giving the planet of Earth to the aliens, we have instead invited the Itreans to the Martian doorstep. Alien ships now stand in the Sol System, and we now have T’rintar personnel that comes and goes throughout the colonies. People of the UWA and UHN, the people of Batrice and Gillan, are capable of meeting the production demands of future warships. We do not need their help. We do not need to have the Itreans in this system. Fort Batrice is fully capable of defending itself against an all-out assault. I implore the UHN to reconsider their choices on these recent series of events these last six months. It is in our opinion that the T’rintar clans do not need the extra rare metals to construct warships that could instead be used to attack us. I stand with the prime minister in his belief’s on this matter.”

The recorded feed ended as it switched back over to the anchorwoman. She looked at the camera as she continued her news report.

“According to Prime Minister Chanvatey, Batrice and Gillan are still going to provide shipments to the T’rintar clan, but he is considering ending it to protest the actions set forth between the Human and T’rintar Partnership Treaty of 2349. Other people of Batrice have also begun to condemn the treaty. Chairwoman Lee and other ambassadors are set to engage with meetings this month to help calm the people of the colony and hope to reach a settlement agreement with the people of Batrice and Gillan on the matters of the treaty.”

The image of the flag of Batrice dropped. The anchorwoman changed her tone. We will be back on Martian Central News after a word with our sponsors...”

Javier put the digital display on the table on mute as he looked at his friend. He sighed.

“Well,... , “ Cason said. “Looks like more bad news.”

“Ehh ... things will get better,” Javier said. “Things are better than the last several months. You know all of it already...”

“Yeah...” Cason said with a sigh. “As soon as I transferred here, I remember watching as our defense fleet started taking off. They said it was to defend Mars and Cebravis. We were sitting ducks. I guess you are right. Now we have a defense fleet again, and now the T’rintar have lent some of their old warships for us to use.”

“See? It’s better now than ever. History will remember these times.”

“And you will be the one that will write it. I don’t think even Gabatrix himself will disagree with that.”

Javier held his coffee cup in the air as Cason held his cup of water in the air. They mockingly made a cheers motion as they drank their cups.

Cason seemed to relax a little bit on his chair as he put down his cup. He looked at Javier for a little while.

“So mi amigo,” Javier asked him. “What do you have planned for the day?”

“I have some new crew coming to my division. They already moved into the enlisted barracks here, and I will be taking care of their paperwork.”

“Sounds fun...” Javier joked.

“Ehh ... nah. They are green. Both of them seem nervous being assigned to this planet.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Something about this system makes me uncomfortable. It feels so ... alone in the galaxy. Like we have just our star, this planet, and two others worlds. The other planets are so far away that even the UWA has little interest in checking them out. I don’t even recall a science vessel even studying them.”

“It is true that this habitable world was alone in the solar system.”

“I think it is also the fact that even with the extra ships, this planet is still not fully habited. Mars, Cebravis, and Batrice are more important than Aphadus. You should know this too ... I mean, you grew up on this planet.”

“Partly,” Javier corrected. “My mother was Paloran, but my father was from Aphadus.”

Javier looked at his tablet to check the time. It was getting late.

“Ah... , “ Javier said. “I need to report to work. I was hoping to rehearse what I was going to say at the meeting today with you.”

Cason waved him off. “You will be fine. I never heard a bad presentation from you before.”

“Yeah, you are right.”

Jackson went and ate the rest of his banana as he downed his coffee cup. He stood up and gestured his friend goodbye as he walked away.

Javier stood a little bit nervous in the meeting room. The displays and quantum computers were all set with his presentation as he awaited the senior staff to enter the room. He breathed in and out to keep his nerves calmed down a little bit.

“Come on, Javier...” He said quietly to himself. “Don’t let the jitters get to you. You have done countless presentations before. The only difference is that this time it is with the upper chain of command.”

The meeting room was for officers only. It was a nicely established room consisting of a red carpet that covered the floor. He stood at a podium that depicted the flag of the UHN behind him. Consisting of a silhouette of a planet in the center, the red-colored banner was rarely seen. It had depictions of a battleship making an overlapping flyby of the planet. The ship almost looked like a ring around the world. Recently, the flag was getting overhauled to depict stars around the silhouette of the planet to include the colonies of the UWA. The flag that Javier looked at was the older version.

The room also consisted of a furnished wooden table in the center. The chairs were decorated with the most beautiful cloth that the UWA could manufacture and could easily rotate to look at the podium. The room was designed so press conferences could be held in it. It could be broadcasted live to the world in case of emergencies. Thankfully even with the Aksren and Shal’rein clan threat, the room was barely used at all. All in all, though, the place was relatively simple in design.

The only thing that Javier noted was the digital clocks in the room near the ceiling. UWA times were necessary. While all of Aphadus operated under the same exact hour in UWA time scales, other planets still had time zones that connected under the UWA Military Zulu time scale. This meant that all ships had 24 hours under their belt. Planets that had longer or shorter days than other colonies had to comply with this time scale to ensure that everything in the UWA operated efficiently and effectively. Even if the planet spun slower or faster than Mars or not at all, there had to be some form of standardization implied to prevent confusion. It was easier said than done, but it could be implemented. What was 1000 in the morning of Aphadus was 1300 on the eastern side of Valles Marineris canyon on Mars. Each of the clocks showed the time in the different time zones of each planet.

Javier looked at his tablet one last time when the clock struck 0959. Like perfect clockwork, the door slid open as the first set of the chain of command began to walk in. Commanders, captains, chief petty officers, and other officers all began to walk into the room. Altogether, there were at least twenty seats available. Each one of the individuals was either talking to each other or didn’t pay much attention to the podium. Javier began to feel a little tense as the room was getting filled up rather quickly.

Two captains came in and sat down, but none of them were the CO of the base on Aphadus. He would come in last.

Javier waited patiently while keeping himself composed. Eventually, all but two of the chairs were filled up. This meant that the CO and the XO would file next after everyone was comfortably seated.

One of the officers stood near the door in anticipation of the CO and XO coming in. After a minute of waiting, she called out to all of the people of the room.

“Stand by!” Yelled the officer as everyone stood up from their seats. Everyone, including Javier, stood firmly at attention. Their eyes were hard focused and ready for the admiral to step inside.