The Commander

by Kevin Groh

  A few hours later the time had come. Thirty minutes before the beginning of his service he ran into the main building to the duty officer. The man seemed to be in his late twenties. He had a shaven, friendly face and seemed relaxed. His name tag showed ›Sergeant Foster‹. »Hey, buddy! You’re probably here for security, aren’t you?«

  Carter nodded a little irritated because the sergeant was completely different than he had expected.

  »No stress, this is your first time. I am Mark. My job is to distribute services in and around the base. Most of it is totally simple and some of it, in my opinion, is completely nonsensical. But who asks me? You’re supposed to be walking around the grounds tonight trying not to fall asleep. Here you have a gun and glasses!«

  Carter took a pistol and held it.

  »Why don’t you put it away?«, Mark asked perplexed.

  »I thought there was a holster.«

  He laughed: »Dude! Have you seen anyone walking around with a holster? We haven’t used anything like that for decades. Your jacket has woven metal fibers that magnetically react with the weapons. Just hold it to one of the spots and it will stick there.«

  Mark showed him that each jacket had three mounts for a firearm on both hips, on the bottom and in the middle of the back. »Everybody has his own preferences, where he likes to hang which gun.«

  Carter held the gun to his right hip and it folded a bit and got stuck there.

  »Cool!«, he was amazed.

  »Yes, isn’t it? If you need them, you only have to pull them away slightly. With a good HUD system, the technology notices which weapon your brain wants to grab and activates it while it’s still hanging on you. Unfortunately, we don’t have anything that expensive here.«

  Carter put on the glasses. The HUD interface connected to his bracelet and loaded all the settings he had saved as helpful in HUD training. He found this intelligent networking incredibly practical.

  Mark showed him which areas of the base he was guarding. He just had to keep an eye on the path between the hangar and the main building. He left the building and tested several more times to pull the gun and secure it again. Then he started wandering back and forth at irregular intervals. The HUD glasses constantly analyzed everything he looked at. A utopian mariana bird, a small blue songbird, landed on the ground and hopped around in search of food.

  The glasses showed a 3D image of the animal, its weak points, various possible directions of movement and background data on the species. Carter drew the weapon and the HUD automatically calculated the shooting trajectories and vectors to quickly eliminate the bird. It showed the pistol in the form of an interactive explosion graphic and some data about the manufacturer. Many things were blocked. Apparently, these models had different clearance levels. The night passed quietly, and several times Carter was so bored that he drifted away in thought and dreamt. The glasses showed him corresponding pictures. Dragons, distant planets, fantasy novels and public photos of Kelly. Graduation photos, family newspaper articles, model photos, and then examples of her mother’s underwear collection. Carter quickly had to think of something else so he wouldn’t be distracted anymore.

  As soon as the timer rang and his duty ended, he returned the things to Mark and went to bed. Leena snored, even though she always claimed she wasn’t.

  Friendships and More

  Another Monday was on its way and the group had adopted the habit of always first looking through the list of current duties. Carter was happy that he had the next Saturday and Sunday off. This week he was supposed to help store new goods and march at a parade. Leena was the night watch and served as a doorman at a meeting of the trainers. Kelly also had no duty during the weekend. While they were eating after the morning exercise, she thought about what she was going to do in her free time.

  »I want to get out of the base, but not always home. My father is overprotective at the moment and I don’t have any air to breathe. I actually wanted to meet a few friends, but they all have plans ...«

  After saying that, she looked at him playfully demanding.

  Carter thought for a moment, then realized that she might like to spend time with him. He cleared his throat to conceal his silence.

  »I was thinking about going to the Skymarket again. Don’t you want to come?«

  She beamed: »That sounds fun! But gladly! We could go bowling. I know a totally cool arcade where you can even bowl in black light.«

  Carter liked that, he always liked bowling. The whole rest of the day, even when he was practicing climbing the wooden wall, he kept smiling.

  Leena hadn’t noticed anything of the conversation and asked him: »Why are you grinning like an idiot the whole time?«

  He told her about the date and she made a long ›Aaaaaah‹ when she understood. She started giving him tips right away. Even if he wanted to, he could never have kept everything.

  »Calm down, Leena. I will have a nice day with her and behave the way it feels right because anything else would be fake.«

  She laughed: »On a date with a woman like Kelly, what feels right is not always appropriate.«

  She simulated a blowjob and both grinned, but only until Banes came around the corner. He had recently started carrying a paintball rifle while training on the hell trail. Whenever someone lazed, didn’t exert himself or talked too much, he would be shot. Billy had already caught two that day.

  The following two days they spent with marches, basic combat simulations in full gear and HUD training. With each lesson held by Kova, their bracelets saved the latest settings and applied them to the glasses at the guard duty and the helmets in the simulations. This made it easier and easier for them.

  Carter felt they had left some of the simplest content behind. Basic discipline, athletic performance, weapon experience, and knowledge began to manifest themselves. »We ascend. We are no longer complete beginners. They teach us how to aim and how to be alert, and if we are able to do so, they give us technology that makes it obsolete ...«, Tim noted shaking his head.

  »No shit!«, his brother agreed with him.

  »Well, I don’t know ... there must be some sense to it all.«, Nambur thought while Urma and Roderick talked about something else.

  »The sense is that we obey.«, it came from Leena, whose frustration seemed to increase every day.

  Kelly said to her: »Why don’t you talk to Roderick more often? I saw you last night at your joint guard. You seem to have had a good time.«

  Leena twisted her eyes: »I was bored, okay? Six hours standing around stupidly ... even a tree would be a good conversation partner.«

  »Only that a tree doesn’t have strong arms. And also no attractive, male face.«, Jane said grinning.

  »Yes, an ass face.« Leena remained stubborn.

  »Say what you want, but I don’t think you find him as bad as you always pretend you do. You just like the reputation of a rebel who is hard and independent.«, Kelly accused her.

  She reacted sourly: »Why don’t you mind your own business!«, then she stomped away.

  Kelly seemed to feel a little guilty. »Did I push it too far?«

  Carter said: »I don’t think she likes people looking into her cards. She likes to tell herself that nobody understands her. It’s like a shield for her. I’ll let her do that if it helps her.«

  Kelly nodded slowly and tried to understand Leena’s behavior.

  »›The path of wisdom is the rockiest path that can be walked‹«, he lamented.

  »Shit Carter, you sound like a fucking Zen monk. Or an old, clever doddery old man. Where did you get this crap from?«, she laughed at him.

  He shrugged his shoulders: »It’s a quote from one of my books. Somehow it seemed fitting to me.«

  She continued laughing and gave him a teasing pat on the arm.

  They headed to class, where Annie was waiting for them again.

  »I am glad to see you! I hope Jazzir didn’t bore you too much with his remarks about the T’zun. He likes to talk about his
people and sometimes he doesn’t stop so quickly ...«, she giggled.

  They told her how well they liked Jazzir’s lessons.

  »That’s great! It took us quite a while to convince him to take on this task. He’s a little stuck in his ways.«

  They talked about him for a moment, but then it was time for the next subject. The usual virtual representation of a star system appeared in the room. »Today we begin to look at the Krodaa people. You probably haven’t had any contact with this species yet, because there are very few Krodaa on Utopia. As with the T’zun and the Pintans, the home of the Krodaa lies in the Aeon-Width, more precisely in the Krunos-System. Apart from a gas giant and a rock dwarf, there are only two planets in this system, the so-called twin worlds. Optically identical, they couldn’t be more different when it comes to the friendliness towards life. Sandabar Zeh is an unbearably hot silicate desert without any flora or fauna and the atmosphere is like toxic steam. Sandabar Neh is also a desert, but a regular sandy desert with canyons and lava fields. It is hot, but there are water deposits underneath the surface and even areas with some plant life. Most surface ponds and lakes are acidic and should be avoided. In addition, most volcanoes are active and distribute lava regularly and sometimes permanently in the area.«

  The image of the planet was orange and not too inviting. Annie’s description was not life-friendly either. There appeared representations of the Krodaa. At first, they looked like humans and one could easily distinguish men and women. However, they had deep red skin, yellow eyes, crooked legs like the hind legs of four-legged animals, long tails with tips and thick horns, sometimes directed forwards, upwards or backward.

  »The Krodaa live on Sandabar Neh, and since Krunos is a red star, their skin is also red. Their appearance varies slightly. The shape of the horns is individual, some of them have furry legs, some have these long tails with arrow-tipped ends and some even have leathery wings. For this reason, they are sometimes called devil people. And as if that’s not enough, they can manipulate fire. It is believed that this ability and their heat resistance have to do with the high temperatures on Sandabar Neh. If people want to visit the planet, this is only possible in high-quality thermal suits. It also works with some of the armors for elite soldiers, I’ve heard.«

  »That sounds really inviting.«, Jane commented.

  Annie replied: »Well, many worlds are unpleasant or dangerous, but each of them is special in its own way. The Krodaa are fascinating people. They have no religion at all, the concept is completely unfamiliar to them, and morality is not a very common virtue there either.«

  Henry remarked: »So it’s dangerous there, despite civilization?«

  »Absolutely. Every planet is dangerous if you don’t know the customs, even Utopia, even Earth. But Sandabar Neh is ... particularly insidious. Of course, the Krodaa have laws, but their government is a kind of union of tribes that could agree on one direction. The settlements are not particularly modern, there are many bars, alcohol, sex, and drugs. They are looters, scrap collectors, smugglers, and thieves. But it should be noted that they are not murderers. The killing of another being is not well received by them. They are famous for their black market and strong liquor. Crime is their daily bread.«

  The recruits were shocked.

  »Why on Earth would you form an alliance with people like that?«, Tom asked.

  Annie displayed a knowing grin. »Because all these facts are mostly related to their own people. When they first encountered another species thousands of years ago, the T’zun, who are completely unfamiliar with crime, there was a terrible war. They fought for several years until peace was negotiated. Since the T’zun were significantly better warriors, the conflict took place exclusively in the Krunos-System. The Krodaa learned that they were only harming themselves, so they gave in. In order to avoid such slaughter in the future, the law was passed that the criminal lifestyle of the Krodaa must not spread to other peoples.

  This means that Sandabar Neh is safe for the most part. Sure, not everyone keeps to it, but the crime against us humans is not higher there than anywhere else.«

  »It’s a really strange story.«, Billy said.

  »Yes, it sounds very strange. A people who have crime in their blood and for whom it’s part of everyday good manners ... and you are supposed to be halfway safe there?«, Jimbo criticized Annie’s trivialized portrayal. »I know it sounds funny, but that’s exactly how it is. The Krodaa joined the Alliance and there were no reports of conspicuously high crime rates against humans. We are in fact quite welcome there. Humans and Krodaa are both very emotional creatures, which is why we got along so well right away.«

  The whole story of this species seemed implausible and invented, but Annie assured them several times that it had happened exactly as she told them.

  »If one realizes that our ideas of morality and what we consider normal does not necessarily correspond to the views and ways of life of other species, then this is absolutely plausible. As Annie told us a while ago, everything exists. Our rule-compliant way of life probably seems just as unreal to them.«, philosophized Urma, looking at Gina and Nambur. Tom added: »Imagine what it must be like for the T’zun. Their way of life is different again. We already seem strange to them, but the Krodaa are the extreme contrast to them.«

  Leena giggled for a while, and when they looked at her questioningly, she replied: »I just imagine a serious fighter like Jazzir walking around on Sandabar Neh with his calm manner and being robbed by every trick in the book«.

  »He probably wouldn’t do anything about it, because he doesn’t even know that he won’t get his stuff back ...«, Henry, now smiling, brought the thought to an end.

  Tim said: »I am astonished anyway that such a calm and peace-loving people like the T’zun is respected so much. We once saw one of their specialists on the street who caught a smuggler. He took the guy and his six buddies apart without making a big effort. The guys were unconscious so quickly that a few hadn’t even fallen down yet, but were sleeping on the street. And when a policeman reached the cat man, he explained to him calmly and peacefully why he was there. He didn’t seem to have any feelings about the fight. Tom and I had never seen anything like it.«

  »I once asked Jazzir if he also used his tail in combat. He said that the anatomy of the T’zun doesn’t allow such a thing. Their tails have little more power than twitching or indicating their moods.«, Billy said and took a sip of water.

  Roderick thought: »Can the Krodaa use their tails more actively? After all, they have a tip at the end. That would be surely useful for a fight ...«

  Carter just listened to the conversation, but since none of them apparently knew facts, it was more entertaining than informative. He was actually already on the weekend with his head, because he completed the services of the week and they hadn’t been particularly demanding either. The parade he was supposed to attend was canceled due to some traffic accident and he hadn’t had to do any replacement service instead.

  When Leena heard this, she enviously called him a ›lucky duck‹.

  The week ended quickly, even the last training block on the hell trail was bearable, as Banes had fallen ill and was replaced by a bored old major who actually only wanted to get back to his desk. The evening was short because many of them were on duty again and the rest were on their own.

  Carter got his pass and keys from Millie on Saturday morning and put on the best clothes he had with him. He liked to dangle the dog tags over his shirt because it made him feel more confident. He had already asked one of his father’s drivers the day before to pick him and Kelly up. The gray shuttle looked like a limousine of the automobile era. Slim, flat and shiny with black tinted windows, but instead of wheels, it had a full floating function. The wide wing door swung open, but his companion was not yet visible. He chatted a little with Michael until he saw her coming. She was wearing tight blue jeans with holes in her knees, stylish high heels, a black tight top and a light reddish jacket over it. It felt as
if his heart was breaking through his chest because it was beating so hard. She looked stunning and he followed every single one of her gallant movements. He didn’t want to do anything else for the rest of his life but watch her walk.

  She came within earshot and shouted: »Hey Carter! I hope you didn’t want to leave without me, did you?«

  As she said that, she smiled and her hair blew discreetly into her face. »No way.«, Carter replied in a slightly bumpy voice.

  As soon as they sat in the car and the base beneath them got smaller, she asked:

  »Is everything okay? You seem tense. Is it because this is a date?«

  »Partly it is ... but it’s also how you look.«, he babbled.

  »Is it so awful?«, she joked.

  »On the contrary! I’m used to you in military uniform and most of the time you’re still wearing your hat ... but now ...« He was trying to get his voice under control. »You look so gorgeous, I barely breathed when you just showed up.«

  She blushed slightly and looked down. »That’s sweet of you ...«

  »Don’t they tell you that all the time? I’ve been honestly thinking for a long time about how I could compliment you on your looks in a way you haven’t heard thousands of times before.«

  She sat next to him and looked at him from the side.

  »It’s not about the words you say. Nor about the tone of voice. It is about how you mean it.«

  They talked a little about the experiences of the past days until the shuttle landed at the Skymarket. The crowd was just as big as when they last visited. Carter briefly informed Michael that he would contact him if he wanted to be picked up. Afterward, he strolled towards the market place with Kelly.

  The weather was great and the smells of the different food on the stands mixed and lured with their seductive scent. It was too early to eat, but she bought them two chocolate-covered cupcakes and they stepped back to the glass balustrade where they had kissed.