Author: Johannes "Jergen[K]" Cruz			Viewing: Chapter 14

Two weeks into the journey Johannes became acutely aware of why it was so important to put intelligent life to sleep aboard vessels. Between the tiny confines of his room, matched with the tight walls of bay six’s access way, he felt acutely like a packed sardine. The one saving grace was the food. He had been on many military vessels in his life and this one served up some commendable chow. He ate twice at each meal, paying for it by running long stints in access way six. Ban had been as accommodating as possible, but after almost ten days of constant contact the men didn’t speak much. It wasn’t for a lack of friendship but more because it was unfamiliar. All of the light subjects were played out, leaving only the deeper scars to be probed, and neither man was willing to go that far. One interesting development had been in the Doctor. Not only had Johannes admitted to some kind of liking to her, she wasn’t that bad to talk to when she let herself down a little. Two nights ago she and Ban had met him in the outer passageway with a bottle and a lot of joking laughs. The night watch had passed easily with their company, and both men knew that they had been a little judgmental with the woman. Whatever secret it was she held onto it was pretty dark, and they could respect that. Johannes had been careful to adjust her up a notch from “target” to “worthy to share life support.” “Evening Corporal.” Came a voice from down the dark passageway. During the small hours the ship made efforts to maintain a human atmosphere by keeping a day and night schedule. As subtle as it was it did wonders for the moral. “Ma’am.” Johannes leaned against the bulkhead and watched her approach. Dressed in what looked to be hospital scrubs she was still attractive. Evelyn kept herself in superb shape, twice joining Jergen himself on his torture runs through the outer passageway. Although she couldn’t match his strength, she could keep up with him in calisthenics, and it showed. Dark auburn hair cut just below her collar framed a fierce pair of lively green eyes. “How is she?” “Asleep Ma’am. Were she not I would have called up just before I gutted her.” Absently his hand fell to the handle of his huge fighting knife. “You really hate them don’t you?” She asked, sitting cross-legged on the deck near him. “I do not hate them Doctor Stewart.” Jergen watched her as she got comfortable, then his blue gaze fell to the cryo-chamber. “They are merely the enemy and I fight them as best I can. A long time ago someone handed me a rifle and pointed, I haven’t stopped since.” “You make it sound like it’s just some job for you.” She leaned back against the bulkhead, looking out the small porthole nearby at the blurred stars. “I do not perform a job Doctor Stewart. This is my family, and I defend it and my brothers with my honor and my life.” Laying his rifle down on the small chair before the hatch to storage six he put his hands on the door and leaned on them. The muscles of his arms flexed impressively with the movement. “Lonely life.” “As it must be. My family dies every day.” Looking back at her he smiled grimly. “It keeps me from having to buy too many Christmas cards.” Evelyn shook her head. “I don’t understand how life can mean so little to you. It’s as if none of their deaths matter.” Jergen stood upright, staring down at her, his face going suddenly hard. “I feel every one of their deaths Milady, and if for one instant I could take their place believe me I would. I die every time one of my brothers falls and I remain.” She was almost afraid to breathe. His eyes, ablaze with the anger he felt towards the memory of lost comrades and her senseless statement made her so afraid it pierced deep into her. Yet, below the terror she felt an admiration grow for one that had done so much for so little. Standing, she turned to go. “I think I understand Johannes. Forgive me for being foolish.” Jergen watched her go. With each soft footfall he felt his anger lessen. Shaking his head he whispered: “I would die for all of you that you might live.” Evelyn stopped, half turning: “I believe you.” *** “They are dead ahead captain, more than two days out from our current position.” “I see that Jenks, make a steady course for the belt in the Charnis system. We’ll hop them there.” Smiling, Mekhazzio leaned back in his captain’s chair. Yes, this was going to be a profitable year indeed. “We’re fortunate their escort fell out and returned to Gateway.” First Mate of the ship, Tommy was the only one of the men that could speak out of turn with no threat of reprisal. “Most fortunate Tommy, indeed most fortunate.” *** Doctor Avies, head of research at the North American Facility for Top Secret Research, hung up the phone at his desk. Although he had no idea with whom he had been speaking, he knew his contact was not only important but vital to the plans of the will. For three weeks he had been having reoccurring dreams. In each of them a strong presence had manifested and asked him to perform tasks. Some of them had been meaningless. Things like eating mustard out of a jar with a spoon, while others had been much more important. Thus he had contacted the man he knew only as the host. He had told the man many things, things that were so highly classified he would be executed for treason if it were ever known that he had let hem leak. Next to the will death was nothing. The time was coming, her time, and when it did everyone would understand the way he did. *** “Good to see you Brother Ban.” Johannes said as Ban rounded the corner of passageway six to take his post. Ban nodded. “Did you fight with Dr. Stewart?” Johannes shook his head in the negative. “No. We spoke some about the war, but nothing else really came up. I think I might let that one live.” With this Jergen smiled, removing the magazine from his pulse rifle he handed it to Ban. Although they would share ammunition Johannes was overly protective of every one of his weapons and would not willingly give up his rifle. “It never ceases to amaze me that they keep asking questions like that.” Ban shook his head. “Civilians don’t understand it do they?” “No brother,” Jergen said as he began to walk down the passageway to his quarters. “That’s what we’re here for.” *** Dachande turned the spit over the small fire he had made earlier in the day. Continuing west had been a good idea for the two of them. They had found a relatively stable area that not only had some good cover it also had some small colonies of life. Although 477 was declared a sterile planet it obviously wasn’t. They had not managed to find large signs of life, but there were enough small creatures to keep them fed for a while. Aegis returned shortly after the first of the medium sized reptiles had been cooked. He nodded to Dachande and sat down, cradling his long rifle over the tops of his legs. “Nothing?” Dachande asked. Aegis shook his head. “I guess we’ll keep going tomorrow night. There has to be something around here, those damned raiders didn’t just disappear. Maybe then we can track down that dropship we saw land at the facility.” Falling silent, Dachande began to eat. For the past few days Aegis had grown more and more quiet. The two of them barely spoke three sentences a day. Aegis settled in and began crunching on one of the overcooked lizards. As large as an iguana, the things were a red clay color that made them very hard to see in the rocks. Although they were not exactly steaks, it was better than the field rations both men had been living off of for the past four weeks. “We have to find something,” Dachande said, drifting off into half sleep. “We only have about a week of water left.” Aegis nodded. *** “They’re 10 Kilometers out and closing Captain.” Tommy called, watching over the helmsman’s shoulder. “Okay, fire us up and get ready to board them. Get me a line to the berths.” With this Mekhazzio thumbed the communications button next to the command console. “Get ready you damned pirates, we’re going in hard!” *** “Sir?” Ensign Dawbbes called out from his station. “What is it?” Captain Knight asked from his chair, absently reading a small book. He looked up at the concerned young man. “We have a contact near the belt Sir.” Knight paused, disbelief showing on is face. “Check it for signs, it’s probably a stray rock or some anomaly.” “No sir, its accelerating and changing course with us. She’s after us sir.” How the security for this mission had been breached he didn’t know, but this was most certainly going to be a problem for him. The need for them to travel fast and light had required that many of the ship’s weapons either not be loaded or be replaced with lighter variants. It was the hope that the ship could slip quickly through every system between Sol and their destination undetected. Hence the necessity to stick to the asteroid belts and badly congested systems on the inner and outer rim. “Damn,” he whispered. “Comm, get me Dr Stewart.” “Yes Captain, what is it?” Evelyn was still drying her hair from a quick shower as she answered the call from the bridge. “Doctor, we may have a situation.” Barely taking time to pull on a jumpsuit she was running for the bridge.