by Drew Avera
She initiated the call, listening for the deep voice of her father to answer, but instead she was transferred to a message collector. She always felt foolish leaving a message, but this time it was important. “Hello, Father. I hope you are well. I have received orders to deploy and the Navy is giving me a few days to visit before I depart. I’m going to schedule a transport home. I look forward to seeing you. I love you,” she closed the connection and continued her way to Port Carreo’s transport station. When she arrived the line was already long. It was clear that many of the people had received the same departure orders she had and Anki couldn’t help but feel these were the people she would be going to war with, to give their lives to defend Luthia, or better yet have their enemies die for their planet.
It took almost an hour to arrange transport from Port Carreo to Surda. Even though it was half the world away, the transport time would be short and had no layovers. She could at least be thankful for that. She received her ticket. The departure time scheduled for early morning. With nothing better to do other than wait, Anki made her way back to her dorm. It was odd not having any friends on station, but even growing up she had been an oddity, not socially awkward, just reserved and enjoying her time alone more than being surrounded by distractions. Maybe that was why joining the Luthian Navy seemed like an easy choice, she thought as she lay on the bed and closed her eyes. Anki had no regrets in life, and she hoped she would leave none behind if she was to die, but loose ends had a way of becoming frayed. She knew more than anyone else, that she needed to see her father before stepping foot off Luthia. It was something on her heart she just now was willing to admit. And as her thoughts drifted home to Surda, to her father, she fell asleep to a place where dreams often haunted her with the same images as the screens depicted each day. There was no rest from the images of war, only a small reprieve from the action depicted.
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