Romeo Delta 2
A Novel by
Taylor Rikkinen
Cover Art
by
Dani Leoni
If you would like to contact the author of this novel, you can reach him at
[email protected]
If you enjoy the cover art and would like to contact Dani Leoni for commissions and inquiries, you can view her portfolio at
https://www.behance.net/ladanileoni
and contact her at
[email protected]
© 2018 Taylor Rikkinen
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Chapter 01 – The Dust in Space
The universe is a vast and timeless entity. It reaches further and expands faster than any species within it can ever hope to endure and yet we continue to try. There is an old analogy that those of a religious persuasion misunderstood and used to mock the big bang, the multiverse, and the phenomenon of naturally occurring life. They would preach about a tornado touching down in a junk yard and leaving behind a fully assembled jumbo jet in the wake of its destruction and they would compare this impossible scenario to life in the atheist’s eye. They would say that this was the best explanation that scientists could produce in the absence of god because the mathematical statistics were so unbelievably staggering that it could only be the outcome of divine providence. These narrow views and limited imaginations made them unable to comprehend the concept and thus they missed what the scientists were saying in overly simplified terms.
Something unimaginable happened and it began in the confines of a singularity that burst forth while making space and time as it did so. Stars formed and died over billions of years sending scattered atoms of cosmic dust at unfathomable speeds across incomprehensible distances. Solar systems formed and died sending more of these cosmic winds across galaxies until a little place called Earth was formed. Not all at once, of course, it took quite an incredible amount of time to perform, but in an infinite universe, there was no real rush to get things done. One could easily say that everything happened rather organically without the need of being forced, and that if there was a true deity, then that deity’s name was Time because Time seemed to be the only truly eternal thing in the universe and without it there would be no life.
What was once a swirling ball of acrid gas, Earth, underwent changes as atoms formed molecules that bonded with other molecules that had all undergone trillions of transformations and deconstructions as well as slight heating and cooling processes that changed their properties at the quantum level. An ever-thinking spacer, by the name of Erin Wilco, liked to think of these quantum churnings as tiny fleeting experiments. Vibrations, heat, and energy began to work in trillions upon trillions upon even more trillions of computations within fractions of a second all across the universe. It was no surprise that at some point, one small planet in an unassuming arm of the Milky Way galaxy finally got it right for life to take root. It took another few billion years and a few merciful extinctions for humans to eventually come along and rise towards unorthodox forms of thought. Trillions upon trillions of more atoms moved constantly throughout Earth’s brief history to gradually move tectonic plates and form landmasses as well as oceanic divides. The deep evolutionary desires of a nomadic species to travel fast and move rare goods brought us war and a want of a higher technology.
Eventually we got the Wright Brothers and their historical first flight. Who is to say that they were the first biped land mammals to achieve mechanical flight? That question is irrelevant. They took pictures and that’s what counts. A few decades later, jumbo jets existed and we were no longer required to look towards a tornado blowing through a junk yard, but countless stars exploding across millennium after millennium. The tornado scenario could never happen and it never would. Something much larger and grander needed to happen for that jumbo jet to fall into place. It took the very expansion of the universe and quite possibly many attempts in many different forms of that universe for it to finally happen, along with humans to take on the guise of a metaphorical tornado to assemble that jumbo jet.
That is what Erin Wilco thought anyway, not that it mattered. No one ever asks low level personnel what their opinions are and even if someone did, it would most likely concern a clogged toilet and any thoughts concerning the inner workings of the universe would probably not come up in casual conversation. It was probably for the best in Erin’s case because people would think that she was nuts with her crackpot theories about planets being alive and how she believed that they were life forms in a way that humans simply could not comprehend. She did make a half decent argument, despite it sounding ludicrous.
“I mean, just look at the things,” she had said to a co-worker years before. “They have a center of heat, a flow of nutrients beneath a protective layer, and they use rotation, friction and orbit to generate their energy. We humans are sort of like the lice that inhabit its surface. We all love plants and animals, but perhaps from a planet’s perspective, we are simply signs of it needing a good scrub and delousing. And at that point it’s just a matter of what scrubs us away first; meteors, super volcanoes, or ourselves with warheads and planet crackers.”
Erin’s tone had changed quite a bit since those dull days of dull work doing dull tasks. In recent days, she felt like a leech on the surface of the planet, but she was glad to finally be groundside again. It was not Earth, but it was also not space, which is what she wanted. Perhaps all the more better that it was not Earth, because on Earth there was societal collapse and nuclear war, so maybe Mars was a better example of what she wanted home to be. She was also not on Mars though, she was on a terraformed moon orbiting a gas giant called Hades, which was oddly fitting, and the moon that she was on was called Dusk, which was also an oddly fitting name.
Dusk was somewhere near the center of its binary star solar system and the moon moved in such a way that her hospital room would be adorned with twilight for the next 897 years. That was fine though. Dusk was a breathtakingly beautiful moon, despite it having issues sustaining vegetation, and thanks to the two dim stars as well as the tidal flexing caused by the gravity of the gas giant Hades, it was pleasantly warm. Admittedly, the original terraformers had done quite a lot to help make the moon beautiful and soothing, but there was an ebb and flow on Dusk that felt both natural and therapeutic. It was supposed to be a prison planet, but after what she had been through, it was paradise and a good place to live out the rest of her days before her pending execution.
“I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but I’m not a criminal. I’m a victim of my circumstances. My greatest crime was getting a college degree and never using it,” Erin said to Doctor Singh in their first interview.
“I agree,” Doctor Singh said in her nearly monotone voice. “Tell me about your past. Your records went up in smoke with Sky Base 10 and I need to learn as much about you as I can. Your survival may depend on it.”
“If you say so, doc,” Erin said dully. “The verdict has already been handed down, so I really don’t know what else there is to say. The whole planet is pretty much gunning for me right now and I highly doubt that I’ll be changing any hearts with my sob story.”
“That is irrelevant,” Doctor Singh said coldly. “It is my job to discover the truth behind your medical condition. It is, however, not my job to pass judgment and discord within the courts. We shall begin with a simple psych evaluation and go from there. Tell me what you remember starting from the beginning. What brought you to Sky Base 10 and why did you never pursue your college degree? That space station was a gold mine of op
portunity.”
Erin shrugged while looking slightly miserable. “The daily grind. Becoming disillusioned by the reality of Sky Base 10. Fear of going into interviews and looking like an idiot. Take your pick, doc. I’m insecure about myself and got cold feet, so I strapped a vacuum cleaner to my back for about twenty years and I have had to live with that decision, but let’s get something straight first. Sky Base 10 wasn’t what those old video ads made it out to be. I was stuck in a work contract and swamped in student debt. People don’t generally take big risks when their contracts are about to expire and they’re worried about how they’re going to pay the bills and put food on the table. It was two decades of compromise and I was hardly the only one that got suckered into that trap.”
Doctor Singh jotted down some notes and looked up at Erin with her dark and penetrating eyes. “Would you say that you felt depression during your time aboard the space station? Regret perhaps?”
“I guess so,” Erin said honestly. “I mean, the pay wasn’t great, but work was steady enough to keep the debt collectors away and I doubt that things would have been much different if I had stayed on Earth. I wanted a change and to not live in fear of nuclear war and space travel felt so exciting to me. I still remember my first shuttle ride and entering zero gravity. It was me and my friend Irene sitting side by side and watching the kids ahead of us laughing as little toys began floating in front of their faces. Hell, I felt like a kid too. It’s hard not to when you’re that excited and going on an adventure into deep space.”
“This Irene, were you two in a relationship at the time, or were you simply travel companions?” Doctor Singh asked.
“No, just friends. We were in the same graduating class and decided to conquer space together, you know what I mean? It’s easier to leave home when you have a friend. She eventually moved to Sky Base 11 after it had finished its construction and I don’t think we’ve spoken now for about… Wow… must be coming up to 12 or 13 years… Oh, and for future reference, I’m straight. I mean, I made out with a girl at a party once when I was a teenager, but who hasn’t? I know that doctors are no longer allowed to directly ask for a patient’s sexuality because of some idiotic discrimination laws, but I’m not planning on suing anyone anytime soon and it really doesn’t bother me. Besides, this is a psych evaluation and I’m aware of how brain types differ mildly based on sexuality and gender as well as social conditioning during development. I’m an open book, so feel free to ask me anything.”
“I appreciate that,” Doctor Singh said as she jotted down some additional notes on her clipboard. “Since the topic has been breached, may I ask you about your personal life aboard the space station?”
“Sure, but it’s not exactly the happiest subject for me,” Erin said with a grimace. “I dated here and there and I think I had as many friends as most people do. I’ve never really been one to rock the boat, so I’m easy enough to get along with I suppose…”
Doctor Singh looked at Erin with her invasive eyes and tapped a pen on her clipboard as if waiting for something. An awkward silence fell between them and Doctor Singh let out a small sigh. “You understand that I am aware of all the belongings you had on you when you were recovered from the wreckage?”
Erin averted her eyes and nodded. “I don’t like talking about it…”
“That is irrelevant,” Doctor Singh said in her cruel monotone. “You were wearing both an engagement ring and a wedding ring. You are married.”
“Widowed…” Erin corrected weakly.
Doctor Singh allowed for a moment of compassion and put down her pen. “Did he perish in the incident?”
Erin shook her head looking miserable again. “No… It was a workplace accident years ago. We were finally getting ahead on our bills and even trying for a child when it happened.”
“Please illuminate me on this subject,” Doctor Singh pleaded gently. “This is important for your psych evaluation. If I can prove that you are a sane woman, then I can work towards treating your illness, otherwise the state may decide to let you live out your days untreated and in misery. I do not believe that either one of us wishes for this outcome.”
Erin nodded and took a deep breath as she recounted the incident. “My husband, Rodger, was doing some repairs on the outside of the space station when a rock about the size of a golf ball tore through him and his suit at 47,000 miles per hour. There was no one to blame and no one to get mad at. That rock was probably ejected from something a million years ago and stayed on a direct course until Rodger came along and mucked it all up.” A tear fell from Erin’s eye as she forced a smile. “I like to think that a part of him would be happy to know that. He was a person that intercepted something a million years in the making and admittedly he was always a bit of a shit disturber, so… I guess it made sense that it would be him. Maybe it was fate… God, that was 7 years ago and it still hurts…”
“My condolences,” Doctor Singh said with no apparent empathy. “Did you ever remarry?”
Erin shook her head with a frown. “No, I never had the courage to marry again. I did date though. Those years with Rodger were good and by that, I mean incredible. I’ve never fallen for someone as hard as I did with him and I’ve often wondered if I would have changed anything if I had known what would eventually happen to him, but I don’t think so. A part of me died with him, but he left me with so much to remember that I still feel whole in a way.”
“How about now?” Doctor Singh asked. “Does your current situation change your views?”
Erin let out a dry laugh. “Handcuffed to a hospital bed and waiting to be healed just so that the angry mob outside can execute me? Damn doc… I think the crazy thing is that I wouldn’t change anything at all. I would never give up those years with Rodger and I would send Sky Base 10 into a collision course again and again if given the chance. Neither the jurymen, nor the medical staff here have the slightest idea of what I saw and the trauma I had to endure. Major Tom gave his life to keep me alive. He even told me how to crash the base into the planet. We needed to do it in order to survive and I wish that they would stop telling me how many people died. Those few that survived the crash would be dead right now if I had done nothing and I minimized the losses as best I could. They won’t hear that excuse though. Only military generals and world leaders are permitted to accumulate a mass body count with impunity. A janitor though… No such luck.”
Doctor Singh gazed down at Erin with an unreadable expression and it was clear that they both wished to know what was going through the other’s mind. Doctor Singh looked up and wondered how many protesters were outside and how many rocks had been thrown at the window ever since Erin’s location was leaked to the public. How must have Erin felt when that vengeful nurse pulled the plug on her life support and left her to suffocate alone in a quarantined room that most sane people were too afraid to enter. Roughly 60,000 people were dead by Erin’s hand and that did not seem to be enough spilled blood for the screaming mob outside of her hospital window.
Erin followed Doctor Singh’s gaze and figured out what she was thinking in an instant because she had been thinking it as well. “They want one more death to make them happy, don’t they? Everyone seems to want me dead these days and quite honestly, I don’t know why they drag it out like this. Oddly enough, I’m on the side of the protesters and that nurse from a few days ago. I have no way out of this, so why fight it? Everyone I’ve ever loved is dead and if not for that beautiful golden horizon just outside my window, I think I would feel completely hollow right now. You may want to write that down on your clipboard, Doctor Singh. This is just speculation on my part, but I think I may be dealing with a mild case of depression at the moment.”
Chapter 02 – Will and Testament
Erin stared out the window from the bed she was strapped down to while feeling dull and tarnished. She was under quarantine and not allowed visitors, which was probably a contributing factor to her continued existence. Another gun nut had taken a shot at her wind
ow again and the tempered glass deflected the bullet as usual. The first few times it happened she had flinched and recoiled in terror, but in recent days she had lost nearly all fear of them. She couldn’t feel anger towards the gun nuts because there was no one else left alive to take their aggression out on. Countless families were dead by her hand and she had to admit that in their shoes, she may very well have taken a shot at someone like her. Screaming and shouting at a defenseless woman with broken bones and no ability to walk must have been a lot easier than standing up to the real culprits. Kyva Corp. The company that owned everyone and everything.
She let out a dull sigh and tried to put it out of her mind. It was far too depressing. Once her thoughts were collected, she looked down at the recording device taped to her chest and saw that the timer was already at 43 minutes. She was told to speak into it as Doctor Singh tended to some other survivors of the crash, but she was unsure of what to say. She was alone in a room trying to prove her sanity and she had a hard time trying to figure out how to do that while speaking into thin air and feeling like an insane person. After several attempts to start, she finally came up with an idea that was more morbid than she wanted it to be, but it was practical.
“I suppose this could be viewed as my last will and testament, but since I own nothing and have no living relatives that I am aware of, I guess this is more of a confession. That’s what it will be called anyway. I will leave it to your discretion, Doctor Singh, as you seem to know what is best for me…”
Erin let out a breath and felt angry with herself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to sound spiteful, but I was in a coma when I was judged and condemned based solely on what they thought happened up there, so my faith in changing any hearts is scant at best. Where do I even begin with this nightmare? Rodger’s death seems like a logical first step. That was where we left off, right? You wanted to know about my life up on Sky Base 10, so I guess I’ll give it to you.”
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