by Boris Mosso
—I miss the days of peace and the rescue or aid missions to other known type of systems; when the purposes were clear, and the missions were planned with logical procedures. I yearn my small room in the Tenth Terrestrial Forces Corps’ Tubular … Don’t misunderstand me Doctor, I don’t fear death, it’s that I feel that those days won’t come back for me nor our civilization, at times.
Zenda felt sadness for the young and naïve STF, who as well as all the young Espacians, still didn’t understand that their life could last one thousand years. In fact, they wouldn’t know the fear of dying until they had lived a long time. Only in that distant future, they would learn to fear the end of their existence. She didn’t mean that upon concluding, all Spacian’s days could be counted, specially the warriors’ days like Dantori.
—Dear Dantori, those are very strong burdens to be carried by a young man like you, even if you belong to the Special Forces.
I trust our leaders here in the spaceship, would know how to handle this and respecting Espacia and the Astral Galaxy’s fate, we wouldn’t be able to do anything from there… This incursion might change everything… this journey.
They both stopped at the bridges’ entrance and looked at each other for a minute. The linguist thought for a moment that, if she would have had a son, she would have liked for him to be like Dantori.
—Thanks for your words. It has done me very good to have spoken with you.
—You flatter me. Whenever you wish we can talk for a while. It’s better for me than for you; I feel very lonely in the spaceship… You could probably be my adoptive son while this mission lasts.
—Very well, Doctor, I’m an orphan and I never met my parents, by which I will accept your offer.
They both smiled and departed from each other. Upon seeing him walk away, her face overshadowed. Suddenly, an unexplainable anguish and bitterness feeling got a hold of her, to the point of forcing some tears out. She couldn’t understand the reason why.
13 - Delardia Lake
On the fifteenth day travelling, Renar sneaked up to the spaceship’s higher level. Ever since they took off, he wanted to go up to the stupendous and huge swimming pool located in the middle of the recreation facilities provided for the crew members. The Vector’s generator to create virtual and sensorial environments was there.
When the levitator doors opened, he was relieved finding the lights off. He barely noticed some dim afterglows coming from the deep and huge pool, reflecting many dancing figures on its walls. Ten meters above, the entire ceiling was transparent. Luminas’ spiral disc expanded through it, enlarging notoriously in the spaceship’s visual field for past days.
He could finally swim naked, which was one of his biggest intimate pleasures. He barely took his shoes off when the surroundings changed drastically, for his surprise. Now the broad room’s walls couldn’t be seen. Instead, some snowy mountains peeked out at the distance.
He watched the outside view from the ceiling, attracted by a white and clear light coming from above. Surprised, he found the Baltar moon at its best.
Suddenly his feet touched sand; unbelieving, he looked on the ground seeing small mounds of soft white sand, mixing with a giant lake’s waters, whose length was lost in the horizon.
He knew exactly what was happening, but he couldn’t understand how the environmental selector had been activated as he was the only one present in the unit. His curiosity increased upon sensing a figure sliding semi-submerged in the water’s surface, which was lit by the dim moon’s light. After some anxious seconds, the figure approached the shore, when he was trying to identify the swimmer, he heard a clear and peaceful voice:
—Mister Renar… what do you think about the Delardia’s Lake night view?
—Blesten?
—You’re right. Did you notice that it was raining just some hours ago?
—You’ve chosen one of my favorite spots in Espacia. Those are the Kandalar mountain ranges, in the eastern continent.
—Right… Are you going swimming?
The STF Officer swam naked. Renar only noticed it when she approached the lake’s shore. The delicate moon rays lit her wet face and her body’s blurry lines in detail, now submerged from her neck down.
—No, I’m… I didn’t know you were here.
—Did you come swimming or what?
—Yes, that’s what I came for…
—Then?
—I better come back some other time.
—Does my presence bother you?
The STF Officer slid from side to side moving gracefully while talking and when she laid horizontally, Renar noticed Blesten’s body shape clearly. She smiled and continued talking.
—Then, what will you do?
—I’ll sit around here for a while watching the night landscape… I’ll swim later, I’m in no hurry.
—Me either. If it doesn’t bother you I’m going to splash around a few minutes.
—Suit yourself.
Renar moved a few meters away, sitting then on the sand which kept the sun rays’ warmth from the notional previous day, which preceded this optical illusion and night sensation, flooding the environment with such reality, where he could even listen to the insects’ sounds when rubbing their feet together. He could also sense the soft trees and warm dampness aromas; clear indicators of previous rain, in the virtual scenery.
Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to drown in the scents, remembering the time in which together with his family, they camped out at the shore of the same lake, many years ago. For a moment, he appeared to hear Lestar’s clear and contagious laughter. He remembered that day clearly, when his little brother turned five years old.
Everything had begun very early boarding a six passengers’ small craft, along with his parents. It rose up above Lenodon’s gigantic buildings, going through a pristine sky towards the east at great speed to the eastern continent.
They crossed a big ocean in a couple of minutes and soon after they were already skirting the Kandarlar’s mountain ranges, landing then next to the Delardia lake on a small plain surrounded by a bushy forest, with huge thousand-year-old trees.
It was the continent’s largest lake.
He remembered the anxiety felt for being the first one touching the surface and after doing so, he shouted as to let the whole world know his arrival to this new land, in Espacia’s name. His parent’s and Lestar’s laughter echoed lively and beautifully in his mind.
—Mister Renar.
—Blesten…
He opened his eyes and stood half way upon realizing he was about to fall asleep, just when the young Officer spoke to him. When he lifted his gaze, his heart stopped for a second and he completely woke up.
Blesten was standing by his side, covered only by a thin white tunic, completely wet and sticking to her body showing her shape. The water was seeping through her body recently out of the lake.
—Does it bother you if I lay by your side while I dry up? I need to feel the sand’s warmth on my back. Today I’ve demanded myself more than I should have in the simulators, and my entire body hurts.
Rentar felt like leaving, but Blesten kept on looking at him so peacefully, that it paralyzed him. He couldn’t stop from looking at her; she looked like a goddess from the ancient archaic epics’ statute, in the dawn of his planet’s civilization. The moon lit her perfect body, distilling sparkles and subtle vapors.
—Sit down, if you want.
The STF sat down and within a second, she laid next to Renar, feeling his body heat almost immediately.
He rearranged himself while looking at the starry sky and the Baltar moon moving unnoticeably through the sky.
He was intrigued by the young Officer’s impudence, who completely ignored the fact of being half naked on his side. Without realizing it, she played childishly with one of her feet, moving virtual sand from one side to the other. Part of him felt like getting up and leaving, but he didn’t want to look prudish either; giving up, he leaned back on the sand
with his hands crossed behind his head, trying to look as comfortable as possible. She laid on her back at the same time. Thus, both watched the sky simulated artificially.
—The view is beautiful. Look, Mister Renar, the Kran moon is peeking out behind the mountains.
—It’s… looks like a little blue ball.
—Yes, it’s always full, because of its distance, we never cover Espacia’s solar light. Excuse me, I’m very absent-minded. You’re a star archeologist.
—You also have an unusual marked angle regarding the elliptical layout of Espacia’s movements, which also influences that.
—Right. Have you ever been there?
—Yes, a couple of times.
—One of the Stealth Terrestrial Operation Forces’ main training base is stationed there; I spent several years of my life on that small moon.
—Are you comfortable as you are, almost naked?
Blesten let out a laugh after the unexpected question. Renar bent his head and saw her exactly at that moment, not being able to stop following her perfect legs’ contour, which were now visible, bent delicately until standing up with her feet on the sand.
—Now I feel comfortable… being here in this moment with you; I don’t usually walk around scantily dressed in front of other people.
—Well, that’s a relief.
The young lady turned and laid face down, leaning on her elbows and with her hands on her chin. He looked at her seriously. Renar understood that the young Officer was conscious of her brutal beauty.
—You seem to be a man full of secrets, Mister Renar.
—Secrets, me?
—Right.
—Well, we’re in a secret incursion, as a matter of fact. This search assigned by the Systemic Council is extremely classified; you know that.
—True, but you’re the one who handles this in the shadows.
Renar tried to hide his discomfort, caused by the STF’s words and at the same time, struggling not to gaze at her striking figure.
—You’re far from being right. Captain Lena commands the mission and Professor Trivian leads the specific scientific area’s strands. I’m only a technician, a scientific support in the Astroarchaeology area.
—I see…
The dim light lit her smile, which was blurring as seconds went by.
—Do you want to go into the water now?
—Not yet.
—Alright, then tell me about your life. Do you have a family, wife? A while ago I thought you were recalling something sadly.
—Yes… something like that.
—What were you remembering?
—Nothing of which I would really like to talk about now.
Blesten studied him calmly, while Renar found something mysterious in her gaze. Something intriguing and provocative.
—Will we find that weapon from those so ancient beings?
—Why do you assume it’s a weapon?
—If it’s not, then what is it? All the crew believes that. Only something like that could justify this journey to the deep universe amidst this terrible war.
—I don’t know if it’s as simple as that.
They both remained silent and Blesten arranged her hair over one of her shoulders and leaned on her right arm. Then she closed her eyes. Renar couldn’t stop from looking at her laying by his side.
He noticed she instantly fell asleep. He then got up very slowly and walked away toward the hatch. A holographic showed him the exit in the middle of the beautiful scenery reenactment. Before exiting, he spun on his heels and from about twenty-five meters away, he watched Blesten for the last time. She was still sleeping. Then he smiled and left the huge room.
14 - The Formal Dinner
When finding themselves close to the Lumina Galaxy’s Edge mixed area, having gone through two million light years in nineteen days of traveling, the officers’ dinner was held in Lena’s chambers.
The table was beautifully decorated and two life-size holograms remained standing way back in the room, silently witnessing the event. One was taking the Councilor’s pictures, Lusten De Kraun, and the other was taking Admiral Tronius’ pictures. Being an essential rule in weekly protocol dinners in all the Espacian fleet’s spaceships.
The back screens beautifully simulated three-dimensional Espacian’s landscapes. The table seemed to be at the end of a valley now, surrounded by broad woods. Lenodon’s kilometers high towers peeked out in the horizon. Renar, who had just entered the room, recognized the Cerlador Forest pleasantly surprised.
He walked across the room dressed more formal than usual; little conditioned to social events and the black-tie clothing, he approached the group of scientists who spoke with Estrader.
Little by little he relaxed after seeing that all the attendees also wore black-tie clothing. Then, he grabbed a glass of Driac from a levitator tray going around near him and approached the hunting spaceship’s pilots’ group.
As Renar had already noticed, the entire crowd wore formal clothes. The robotics’ pilot Officers displayed black uniforms and the ones from the Terrestrial Forces, wore green. The base Officers and the spaceship’s navigators wore flawless dark blue; the Espacian fleet’s line spaceships’ crew’s color. Lena came in dressed in a blue formal uniform also; displaying the colorful Vector’s Captain ranks, apart from the expedition Commander badge. Everybody stood up at once and greeted her formally, she responded according to protocol, then sitting down silently and keeping certain distance with her guests; she was immediately followed by the rest of the Officers.
Lena only studied them one by one then, surprised by the large number of guests present in her quarters.
Drexiliander sat by her side, followed by his Officers, Elenda, Atisia and Trimen, then Gander with his STF’s; Rombar and Blesten, Kivolaris, Lesir, Chan, Betinia and Dantori. Afterwards, they sat in a long and oval table designed for all of them to be able to look at each other without any blockage, Officer Pranus and Estrader; this last one followed by two of his men, Lagras and Bajir. Andra sat by the weapons’ novel specialist, Lustan; young Rastias sat next to him.
At the end, Captain Irgo Fromdert sat on the other side of head of the table. He had arrived in an exploratory along with Dramstor, his first Officer. Koner was also there, followed by two hunting spaceship’s pilots, Tradia and Dertian. Captain Borlan from the STF, escorted them as well. He had brought his only STF with him, a second rank Officer, called Antea de Bor. A thin and stringy Special Forces’ soldier, who, despite not having charming features, had some brown expressive eyes and shiny jet-black hair.
The remaining seats were occupied by Doctor Ribar and Doctor Dirva, the ones who also wore blue uniforms, but with colorful and wide white strips on the sleeve’s sides. Renar was sitting in the middle of the table, along with Trivian and Doctor Zenda.
Suddenly, the Cerlador Forest’s bushy trees were replaced by high walls, flanked with thick and carved pilasters from a huge room. Perfectly simulating the ancient rooms from an ancient castle of the Abisal of Espacia’s old and primitive era; which dated back to more than one hundred ninety-five thousand years ago. Even before building the old Lenodon.
Formal toasting time came around honoring Espacia and the Solarian System, as well as the fleet’s First Councilor and Supreme Admiral. The toast was made with a delicate liquor, called Visol; extracted and fermented from some little fruits which grew in thin bushes and whose vines spread out in huge plantations, encompassing tens of thousands of hectares in Espacia’s fertile soil and in two of their atmospherically converted settlements, and which, with thousands of years of experiences and processes, became the planetarium’s community and its settlements’ worshipped beverage. It was even exported in big quantities to other planetary systems, which already had been lured before the delicacy and quality of the Espacian liquor.
The toast was dignified and standing up, but without a big fuss. The present circumstances could have the two current Espacia’s greatest men dead in frozen space, witho
ut them knowing it. That thought cooled the moment in a tight formal gesture.
Afterwards, the service droids began to serve exquisite meals from the most Espacian cuisine’s variety.
Thus, a peaceful evening took place, surrounded with beautiful and gentle melodies setting the room’s atmosphere, while the Officers and scientists dined.
Gander spoke with Borlan, who he had never seen nor heard about in his entire career, being both STF’s Captains; Borlan said the same and both smiled.
The hardened and ornery Captain Fromdert shared with Professor Trivian and Doctor Zenda, who he treated extremely respectfully. She looked elegant and beautiful with a long light green outfit, displaying a colorful virtual bracelet on her left wrist which sequentially changed tones within the green spectrum, from one minute to the other. Her delicate chestnut hair curved like a covering around her kind, white, and soft complexion face.
Drexiliander and Koner talked enthusiastically, since they did know each other from before the mission, thus, they spent a long time recalling old adventures through the Astral’s outer space.
Occasionally, Gander and Dirva looked at each other secretly.
At a certain point, Lena noticed Blesten watching Renar every so often. She then remembered the time on the bridge, when the same young Officer didn’t take her gaze away from the star archeologist.
She studied her again, but this time trying to evaluate her better.
Light green eyes, black hair, long and shiny, harmonious and sweet countenance. Straight nose and thick red lips; firm and rounded posed shoulders, emphasizing her long and white neck. She looked radiant with her formal green suit.
She thought Blesten wasn’t only much younger than she was, she was also more beautiful. She also noticed that she didn’t go unnoticed by others, as she saw Dertian, Koner’s second Officer, watching her time after time, as well as young Lustan. However, Lena frowned upon noticing that Blesten had all his attention on Renar, who looked at him interested and tenderly.