Hapan Space
It would be incredibly difficult to determine, upon the arrival of Smit and Tine into the disguised reconnaissance ship, which side was more surprised at what they saw. Time seemed to stop for both groups, staring back at each other. No one moved. No one spoke. The only interruption in the void that had been created were the noisy breathing sounds Smit and Tine’s breathing masks made.
On one hand, Lane and his colleague had doubtfully been expecting to come face to face with inhabitants, still on board and moving about, especially
these inhabitants. They had expected to come upon a dead and abandoned shuttle interior, maybe with a couple long rotted corpses and, quite possibly, some long forgotten treasure they could conveniently ‘forget’ to report to their superiors…but instead…
The occupants of the ‘shuttle’ probably should have reacted much faster than they did, considering what they were, but even they cannot be totally held responsible. They had been given their orders, told in advance how things were supposed to happen, and
this had certainly not been in the briefing. While their reaction times should have been lightning fast, they quite simply were not
programmed to handle such a situation…
So who was more taken aback by the sudden intrusion into a shuttle that was not as dead as it appeared to be? Lane Smit and Commander Tine or the five robots caught in the very act of spying on the delegations planet-side? Well, considering the outcome, lets assume it was Smit.
With a resounding siren, the robot closest to the two intruder’s position ended the silence. It had slammed down on a button, and before the two humans could recover, the airlock behind them forcibly sealed itself. There was an instant of suction as the airlock doors broke the seals which connected the humans’ ARC-170-R to the recon ship, and both Smit and Tine were sucked backwards, slamming into the sealed airlock behind them.
The force of the blow was not very hard, but enough to daze both of them for a few moments. By the time they had recovered, all five robots were holding particularly nasty looking firearms, and each one was pointed straight at them…
Hapes
“They don’t understand, do they?” Chopin sighed.
“I wouldn’t be so judgmental right off the bat like that, Lou,” Krauze grinned.
The two men were standing upon the balcony that linked their private suites to each other. Behind them, within the two distinctive rooms, were just about every convenience and pleasure a single man could possibly ask for, and much more. Krauze could only fathom at the amount of currency it must have taken to purchase half the luxuries in both suites, and Chopin could only scoff at it.
Samuel had taken up a casual pose near at the corner of the balcony, his right leg crossed over his left and his right hip leaning into the horizontal rail of the balcony. His right hand loosely gripped the rail behind his hip, and his left hand tightly gripped one of the cigars he had found in his suite.
Chopin, on the other hand, was in no mood for any such stoic poses. He was forced to remain in one constantly on board any ship he found himself in command of (these days, that was most of them), and was glad to relax his posture whenever possible. He might have forced himself into one if Daniels had been around, but he was off somewhere frolicking in a library or a museum or a million other places in which only he could find any amount of joy. It was only Krauze, and it seemed not to matter how he carried himself around the Chancellor, the man had absolutely no respect for him.
So instead, he was bent over, his forearms resting upon the balcony railing. The smoking remains of a cigarette were held in one hand, a small glass with nothing left in it but ice, ice dripping with particularly strong liquor, in the other. Luis had given up both smoking and drinking on Andoz three years ago. The use of patches, pills group counseling, and intervention upon intervention had been necessary to get him clean, and here he was again.
The End had done that to a lot of people. What had mattered before didn’t matter now. What hadn’t mattered before mattered now. Andozians who before the Vong had arrived were concerned with getting that raise, that new car, fixing that leak, catching that game…and now? Andozians today were concerned about where the next meal would come from, how much longer they’d have to sleep in tents, when they’d be able to rebuild their shattered lives,
if they’d be able to rebuild their shattered lives, and coping. Always coping.
Luis had found his way of coping. He had found it after losing it for three years. The booze and the cigs. He hated himself for it, but then again he hated himself for a lot of things. But that didn’t matter much anymore. Not a hell of a lot did. Luis Chopin was not concerned with very much. And only one thing was keeping him going.
All I want is to keep us alive, Luis pleaded with himself,
All I want is that the kids we got left can rebuild, even if we can’t. And if talking to these Hapans…these Vinda Corp. fucks helps…well then I’ll put on the biggest fucking grin I got and shake every damn hand I see. I’ll sit there and watch them laugh and nod and pat themselves on the back for being oh so fucking rich and being oh so well off. And I’ll put on my biggest ‘oh look at me, oh poor me’ routine so they can pat themselves on the back for being oh so fucking charitable to those not so fucking rich or so fucking well off.
“No…they don’t understand,” Luis affirmed, drawing Sam from his thoughts once more, “And I don’t think they ever will.”
“Listen, Lou, if this was about the thing Dakkon said earlier,” Sam sighed, “It wasn’t
that big of a deal. I kind of overreacted a bit to it. I think we’re just being a bit touchy.”
“I’m not mad about what Dakkon said,” Luis growled, “I frankly don’t give two fucks
what Dakkon thinks. I’m mad about what
you said.”
“Alright, alright!” Sam grinned unsurely, “So I
did overreact-”
“That’s not it either,” he sighed, “There’s one thing that’s been on my mind nonstop since we entered that fucking wormhole. One thing that’s been on my mind nonstop that I’m fucking terrified hasn’t been on anyone else’s…”
“Lou…Luis,” Sam frowned, the first time Louis had ever seen him frown, “As your Chancellor and as your friend it is my duty to you to ask you what the hell is up?”
“You were right back there, Sam!” Luis barked, pushing off the balcony with his hands forcefully. He dropped what was left of his cigarette onto the floor and crushed it with his foot, “The might fucking people of Andoz once upon a time blah blah blah flotilla of fucking capital ships in its Maker damned fleet of fucking awesomeness!”
Winding up, Luis hurled the glass in his remaining hand against the duraglass door that separated the balcony from the suite. It shattered against the door, causing not even the faintest scratch.
“Once upon a time, Sam,” Luis repeated, no longer yelling but trembling as he as almost whispered, “And what are we now? Galactic beggars, struggling to stay on our knees… We’re running around fucking Helix trying to save our people from the unknown threats of a new and terrifying universe, and behind us our people are ready to lay down and die. But none of us turn around. None of us notice.
These Hapans give us ships. Ships to protect us from invaders. They don’t understand. They don’t understand that the real invaders have already come and gone. They don’t understand that the
real invaders took everything we’ve ever known and loved. They don’t
understand that the
real invaders left us without the will to fight, to survive, to keep going, and that the only reason we keep going is because we don’t know anything else.
What are we Sam? We’re nothing. We’re not even dirt. And here we are, parading around like we’re the kings of the fucking galaxy. Prancing around with these bastards!”
As Chopin gestured around wildly at Hapes, he stumbled. Krauze moved to catch him. Louis pushed him away, stumbling even farther, and went crashing to the ground. He lay there, still, drifting into the realm of drunken sleep.
“I think you’ve had a little bit too much to drink, Lou,” Krauze said.
Beff Pike:
There's funny.
And then there's asshole.
You earned it.
