Sempkin - 005

Sempkin had this romantic view of war. He was one of those types who would pick a flower and wonder what had occurred to get him to that point in time. He wanted to write for the State someday; you know, those motivational pieces.

Sempkin died on the Lagos Moons. He rounded a corner and was obliterated by auto cannon fire. No flowers, no music, just a staccato retort of a burning maw of death.

There was a girl that he had known while we were stationed there. The fighting was brutal and gritty. Nothing like what you see in the Holovids these days; thousands of men thrown into dense corridors fighting tooth and nail, gnashing and gnawing to gain the upper floor of some tenement. She, this girl he knew, was only ten or eleven at the time. Her parents had been dissidents and had died in some God forsaken fight on a street no one knew. He took her under his wing and cared for her. He would save knick knacks that he thought she could use, I mean absolute slag and rubbish, but he did it for the "sake of doing something right" he’d always say.

Sempkin wasn’t soft as you’d think. He was just sentimental. He cared about each soldier in the Surface Force. He’d fight tooth and nail for anyone if he believed they were Human somewhere deep down inside our frail husks.

She turned us in to the dissidents and rebel forces. We had lived in her company and we awoke one morning to the sound of large bore artillery incoming. The girl was gone, the knick knacks left neatly piled on her bunk.

Sempkin refused to believe it. We evacuated the building under heavy fire. Our unit moved to a secondary line a few hundred meters behind the main line of our current engagement. It was on that last block that the heavy emplacement started to open fire. He just dropped, face torn open and blood sprayed the side wall like a orange being smashed by a mallet. Jenner was the first one to react, a well placed grenade crumpled the enclosed position and we moved safely back to the secondary line.

I often think about Sempkin, about how he died and the meaningless death that contrasted his view of war and people. It’s in those brief moments when I realize I died on that moon too. I just haven’t caught up with Sempkin yet.

The Space In-Between

Do you ever look into the black?
No, I mean really look. Do you stare into that space in-between the stars?

Koshmarnaya absently let his mind wander through the system scan. Numbers and hard results populated his conscious overview as he stared past the distant sun. The light from countless stars long emitted and cast towards him now just barely reaching his awareness.
The buffeting of his ships sensitive external sensors drew him back to the task at hand as the glaring alarms alerted him of the looming asteroid that began to obscure his sight. Willing the ship to veer starboard he brought the ship to a halt and swore an obscure phrase.

He was wandering again.

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He was home and he looked around the semi overcast sky. Here it was raining in a torrential downpour; shards of light broke through the cloud cover and lit the atmosphere. The glistening droplets cascading down on starched military uniforms created a distinct smell. The smell was singular; almost pristine in its quality to the senses. One didn’t run from class to class, one enjoyed the rain.

One savored it.

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Missiles were tearing through one of his engine decks. His ship slowing to a crawl as the reactor energy spilled out into the void in a twirling particle cloud. He began to assess his current damage on the target and was satisfied he would come out the victor of the conflict as long as he sealed the surrounding decks in time. As the bulkheads began to seal and confine the possible doom, his craft lurched with its own torpedo salvo as it began its deadly journey.

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He was rapped on the back by a traffic cop who was trying to move the bodies from the intersection. He had taken his family for a walk in the park; his job at the State Services department having closed earlier that day due to holiday. He thought it a rare treat and had watched with great glee as his young boy lurched towards the park pulling his mother in tow. They had sprinted, not seeing the large freight craft that shuddered past the intersection ignoring the display signs that had warned it was not safe. Anger was his immediate response, but now, looking down at the accident scene he felt a never ending sorrow. The officer that stood in front of him as he turned had a kind demeanor and was speaking. Kosh couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, the words blurred and slow, he didn’t flinch as he clumsily drew the officers carelessly unlatched weapon and brought it to his temple…

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Koshmarnaya shook his head, the overlay on his readout blinking as he activated power transfer couplings. Countless crew began redirecting and assisting the computer as it struggled to comply with the constant stresses that the ship was tormented with. It occurred to Kosh that he was in no shape to fight and that it might be futile, but he brought the wings of the craft in a steep roll and edged between the rocky debris.

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There had always been a time; he thought from his composite rocking chair, that he had wished he had made different choices. Looking out towards the clear night sky he felt a sense of awe and bewilderment. His life had been mundane even by prudish standards and he often felt that he would have liked to explore the universe that stretched out from his backyard. The calm gentle breeze licked his wispy hair and he smiled. He thought of some angelic benefactor and wondered if he would have found love in the void, a family perhaps? What of honor? He leaned back and sipped a drink, the warmth of the beverage cooled his thoughts and he sighed with a relaxed demeanor as he drifted asleep.

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It was only now, that he lost his ability to target the small cruiser that he began to consider the possibility that he was outmatched and outwitted. Koshmarnaya Akula let the order to abandon ship travel around the ships systems as he struggled to control the internal workings for a few moments longer. The fire from the refitted bridge area had already engulfed the on duty crew and he struggled in the fluid trying to keep his mind and thoughts focused. The fire was licking at his shell when the main observation shutter failed and the cabin was depressurized, suffocating the flames but spilling violently the crew that he had only known for a few moments it seemed. Kosh turned to observe the escape pod display blinking with activated compartments.

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He had no idea why he loved the stars so much, but it was that love that had brought him to space in the first place. Not qualifying for military assignment or state science, he had packed a bag when he turned eighteen. The lure of the stars grabbed him and took him into the hard dark. He had no regrets as he lived his life, making passage from cargo ship to port. Seeing the sights of the different peoples, different cultures and customs he had found himself yearning to see what laid beyond the charts. This fascination had kept him busy, he saved and scrimped as he tried to afford a small one manned craft. It was of great joy to him when he finally could afford such a vehicle and years of food and energy. He had set his ship for the most distant star known to his people and let the system take over. It was here that he now found himself. The inky depths of the outer reach still sparkled faintly. Little points of hope, and as he set in his ships autonav for the galactic axis at which he looked, he wondered what he’d find when he awoke.

He pushed the button and fell asleep.

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He could hold on no longer as his body lost control, the vacuum began to breach his confined area and he knew that the small explosive charge was only a moment…

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The young boy stared at the sky from his classrooms window. The deep purple of the night edged and traced the infinite stars. His teacher continued to lecture on the advantages of understanding the relation between macro and micro economics, but he couldn’t really hear him.

For it wasn’t the stars that fascinated the young boy…

It was the space in-between them.