Broken Horizon

by Charles Nall

  Arnold saw Cygnus Tremblay chugging down alcohol. His call sign was “Razor.” He was an extremely skilled pilot. Arnold assumed the nickname was something to do with that skill. That was a pretty good name.

  Next to Razor was Ava “Syndrome” Rivera. She was the only female in Beta Squadron. Arnold figured the call sign was a joke about PMS.

  Ray “Fish” Miller was passed out on the floor. He had drank too much, per usual.

  Carter “Crash” Garcia let out a guffaw when Cane said something. Arnold had a pretty decent idea why his name was Crash.

  Samuel “Sprinkler” Morin and Logan “Hash” Brown were having a conversation near the keg. There was a rumor that Sprinkler was drunk one night and took a piss on someone. “Hash” Brown wasn’t a particularly clever joke.

  Brock “Beaver” Hunter told something to Syndrome. It apparently was rather funny; Syndrome let out a hearty laugh. Beaver was generally on the hunt for women. That explained his name.

  Arnold didn’t see Elijah Shepherd and wondered where he has. Arnold wasn’t sure what Elijah’s call sign was before, but now Elijah was called “Ghost.” He was a ghost from the past.

  He noticed Marv Cooper was alone sipping on his drink. Arnold decided to be social.

  “You ready to hear your new name?” Arnold asked Marv.

  Marv shook his head.

  “You aren’t very talkative.”

  “I don’t have much to say.”

  Arnold laughed. “I’m sure there’s something. Why do you want to fly?”

  Marv stared ahead. “I’m not even sure. I’m from a fringe world on the rim you probably have never heard of.”

  “Try me.”

  “Delphi Prime?”

  “Okay. You got me. Tell me about it.”

  “Nothing much to say... My first job was a grease monkey at a courier service. I worked my way up the ranks and actually started flying a little transport ship. I’d fly from Delphi Prime to a run-down station at the edge of the system. There was nothing special about the station, but it did have a jumpgate. I would deliver packages back and forth. Eventually, a crime syndicate took over the system. They called themselves “Wraiths.” Things got pretty bad. I got out of that system and saw a local ad about the Fleet. I guess I was already decent at flying so I got the nod to train for flying these birds. I couldn’t find anywhere else that accepted me. I wish I could kick back on a beach on Tau Ceti II and just read all day... I wish...”

  Tears began to form in Marv’s eyes.

  Marv wiped his eyes. “It’s nothing. It’s nothing.” He sighed and quickly changed the topic. “We’re not really nuggets anymore. That’s something. I wonder when we’ll get the nod to join an actual squadron.”

  Arnold shrugged. “I don’t know. You are damn good at flying, though. You’ll be in a great squadron, I’m sure.”

  Marv chuckled. “Well, I guess I got some good training dodging pirates and ice-balls out there in Delphi.”

  Marv’s drink was empty. He eyed the keg and excused himself.

  Elijah Shepherd entered the room. He locked eyes with Arnold and smiled.

  Elijah walked up to Arnold. “Having fun, yet?”

  Arnold laughed. “I guess. I’m not looking forward to my call sign.”

  “Even if you get a dreadful one, wear it as a badge of honor.” Elijah grinned. “When you get a call sign, no matter what it is, that means you’ve made it. I was hesitant when you first decided on this path but you worked hard, man. You proved me wrong.”

  “I... Thanks, man. I still make mistakes out there.”

  “Everyone does. Just try to make them a little less... loud than Cane’s.”

  Arnold smiled. Cane always had an issue with landing his bird. He crashed most of the time.

  Elijah smiled. “We’ll be out there together. I have your back. Remember that.”

  Arnold nodded. “Thanks, man.”

  Cygnus, or rather, Razor, called out to the room.

  “Alright you bunch of effing fumers! It’s time for the mothereffin’ naaaaaming!”

  “Naming! Naming!” The Beta Squadron pilots chanted.

  Arnold sighed.

  Elijah chuckled. “It’ll be okay.”

  “Alright you nuggets. Cane! You are first! Get over here!” Razor yelled.

  The drunk Cane stumbled up to Razor. Cane had a goofy grin on his face.

  Razor put an arm around Cane. “You... you are one of us now!”

  “One of us! One of us!” the crowd chanted.

  “But you have a bit of a difficulty on... the landing, don’t ya?”

  Cane nodded. “Yeah, man. I kinda do.”

  “You have been leaving skid marks all down that effing runway! Hey, everyone, I’d like to introduce you to latest addition to the wing. Skids!”

  Cane “Skids” Venatici. Arnold supposed it could be worse.

  “Get outta here,” Razor playfully shoved Skids out of the way.

  “Skids! Skids! Skids!” chanted the squadron.

  Arnold cracked a smile.

  “Marv! Get up here you sexy beast,” Razor said.

  Marv hesitantly approached Razor.

  “This dude. This dude right here is always putting his face in books.” Razor jabbed Marv in the side with his elbow. “He should be putting his face in some pussy, am I right? Ha! Look at this guy, he isn’t saying a word!”

  Marv actually was smiling. He shrugged.

  “This dude is quiet as an effing mouse, man!” Razor smiled. “Welcome, Mouse!”

  “Mouse! Mouse! Mouse!” they chanted.

  Marv “Mouse” Cooper.

  Arnold’s turn.

  “Get up here, ya big ox!” Razor said.

  Arnold walked up next to Razor. Arnold was quite bigger than the frail man.

  “Ox, that’s a good name, but it ain’t yours. We already got one of those in Alpha! We can’t have two oxen runnin’ around. Look at this dude, though, how many cheeseburgers did you eat this morning? Can you even fit in a fighter?!”

  Fat jokes. Arnold wasn’t that fat. He had put on a few pounds in the last year, but he figured they had to make fun of him for something. What was the name going to be? Fatso? Fatty? Pig?

  Razor continued, “Damn good pilot though, once he gets in there, don’t you guys agree?”

  The squadron yelled in agreement.

  Razor nodded. “Damn right. From what I understand he used to be a navigator for a corvette. He kicked Confederate ass at the Battle of Artemis!”

  The squadron cheered.

  “You tore them apart like a bear! And you look like a bear!” Razor laughed. “Welcome, Grizzly!”

  “Grizzly! Grizzly! Grizzly!”

  Well, that wasn’t too bad.

  The party continued all night and into the morning.

  February 17, 0271 AC – 19:00

  Bridge, USS Empyrean

  Edge of Galactic Union Space

  Lieutenant Jaxon Knight listened to someone on his headset. “Uh, sir?” he said to the captain.

  Captain John Devereaux walked over to Jaxon’s console. “What is it?”

  “A transport ship in the neutral zone is linked with us,” Jaxon replied. “They intercepted a narrow-band communications beam and are relaying it to us. It’s very weak and in English. It’s a distress signal.”

  Devereaux stroked his beard. “Let me hear it, Lieutenant.”

  The distress signal played over the speakers on the bridge. “Ship went down. Hyper-drive failure. Need assistance. Ship went down. Hy—lure. Need–”

  “That’s all. The transport ship is late for a delivery and cannot be of any assistance.”

  “Where did the signal come from?” Devereaux asked.

  “Looks like it’s coming from a planet in a worthless system nearby in the neutral zone,” Jaxon explained.

  “Any idea where that beam was pointed?” Devereaux asked. “They must have been trying to contact someone in particular.”

  “No, no
t really. Apparently it was pointed toward the rim,” Jaxon said. “The originating planet is in the neutral zone.”

  “If there is someone in distress it’s our duty to investigate,” Devereaux said. “Set a course for that planet, Carpenter. Spin the drives. Let the transport ship know we’re on our way to help.”

  After ten minutes, Empyrean entered standard space over an unexplored world. Storms raged in its upper atmosphere.

  “We’re here. Planet... well, it’s a series of numbers. This planet isn’t special.” Jaxon looked over his readings. “Oh, that would explain the weak signal. There’s a powerful ion storm raging in the planet’s upper atmosphere.”

  A rotating model of the planet appeared on the holographic display.

  Devereaux peered at the holographic projection. “Any idea what the surface is like?”

  “Not positive,” Jaxon replied. “We’re far away from the binary stars of this system, so I imagine it’s rather cold down there. The ion storm may trap some heat down on the surface, but I’d take a jacket, at the very least.”

  “Can you pin-point where the distress signal is originating?”

  “Yes, sir. And I’m still detecting the signal occasionally. It’s extremely weak. I don’t think I can send an understandable signal down to them.”

  “Alright,” Devereaux said. “Do you think a corvette would be able to survive the trip down there?”

  “With adequate shielding, sure,” Jaxon replied.

  “The HLs need some hands on experience away from the comfort of the warship. Carpenter and Turner, I want you to go down to the surface.” Devereaux pointed at some ensigns who were working on the upper ring of the bridge. “Ensigns Stewart and Roosevelt, I want you two on the navigations and engineering stations.”

  The ensigns nodded and made their way to the lower bridge.

  “What about Trevor, sir? Will he go on the mission?” Sharon asked.

  “You will need someone that is fluent in Japanese just in case you encounter Confederates. Jaxon, can you accompany the HLs?”

  “Of course, sir. I’m not very fluent, though,” Jaxon said.

  “I’m sure it will be fine. The distress signal was in English, after all,” Devereaux pointed out.

  “Yes sir,” Jaxon said.

  “Link with the hangar. Request a corvette from Omega,” Devereaux ordered. “Get Zeta Squadron on the link after that. Ask Mr. Lawrence if he would be interested in piloting a corvette. I know he hasn’t in a while.”

  “Aye aye,” Jaxon said.

  “Looks like we’re flying a corvette together again,” Arnold said. “I guess I could use a break from flying my Peregrine.”

  Jacob smiled. “Good to see you, Arnold.”

  “Just like old times,” Sharon said.

  Arnold looked over the corvette in front of the group. “Lynx. Well, let’s see how she flies.”

  A member of the security of the warship approached the corvette with Jaxon Knight.

  “Hey guys, this is Sergeant Hayes. He’ll watch our back down there,” Jaxon said.

  The marine saluted. “Good to be here.”

  Jacob, Sharon, and Arnold returned the salute.

  “This probably won’t take too long,” Jaxon said. “We’re just gonna head down to the surface and assist them. We have additional supplies in the corvette’s cargo bay. Anything they need we’ll probably have. Arnold, you’ve got navigations. Sharon, you’ll assist our friends with repairing their hyper-drive; the distress signal mentioned a hyper-drive failure. Jacob, I’ll need you to just help us with whatever we need. I’ll oversee the operation.”

  Jacob smiled. “Sounds good, boss.”

  The group entered up the ramp and into the cargo bay of Lynx.

  Lynx traveled through the turbulent storm in the upper atmosphere of the planet. Lightning flashes illuminated sharp ridges of jagged ice. A Confederate corvette appeared to have crashed. Arnold found a suitable place to land, close to the crash. The Confederate corvette looked like it was still in one piece. A thin layer of snow rested on top of the icy ground. The crash was not particularly violent, but a track in the snow showed the trajectory the corvette took on its approach to its resting place. The rumbling storms raged above them.

  Arnold flicked some switches. “The ice isn’t very stable out there. Be careful.”

  “They aren’t replying to any link requests,” Jacob said.

  “It’s -9 degrees Celsius out there,” Arnold said. “Grab a jacket and maybe some gloves. I’ll hold up the fort here.”

  “That’s a good idea. Keep an eye on the external cameras,” Jaxon said. “Let’s head over to that ship and see what’s up.”

  Jacob, Sharon, Jaxon, and Sergeant Hayes put on heavy coats and made their way out of the corvette. They trudged through the snow to the other corvette.

  Although it was dark outside, small functioning lights were placed all around the hull of the crashed corvette. The loading bay was opened. As they approached, they noticed two men sitting just inside the bay. There was a word written in Japanese kanji on the side of the corvette, but the men in the corvette did not appear to be of Japanese origin.

  “What’s that say on the side of the ship?” Sharon asked.

  “Swan? I think?” Jaxon said. “I’m not very good at Japanese, honestly.”

  They approached the two men.

  “Greetings. Are you our salvation? Who are you?” one of the men asked.

  “We’re members of the Galactic Union,” Jaxon answered. “We detected your distress signal.”

  “That wasn’t for you!” said the other man.

  “Calm down, Rex, calm down.” The man smiled. He was missing most of his teeth. “It doesn’t matter, we’re glad to have you.”

  “Who are you?”

  “You can call me Snipe,” the man said. He gestured toward the other man. “This is Rex.”

  Snipe smiled his toothless grin again. He wore a heavy brown coat that was tattered and dirty. His hair was unkempt and tied into a ponytail. An elaborate tattoo design covered the right side of his face.

  The other man, Rex, was rather short and portly. His face was covered with pockmarks. He was balding and tried to combat this with an awful comb over.

  Snipe continued, “We were delivering foodstuffs and other humanitarian aid to Epsilon. You can look at our manifest if you would like. Unfortunately, one of our crew didn’t like what we were trying to accomplish. He tried to stage a mutiny. Tried is the key word, but he did damage our hyper-drive while in hyperspace. We then crashed on this world after dropping out of hyperspace.”

  “Looks like minimal damage to the outside of the ship,” Sharon said.

  “Our port thruster needs repairing. We managed to fix the hyper-drive,” Snipe replied.

  “I’ll take a look at it,” Sharon said. “Just in case.”

  “That would not be necessary. Can you just help us with the thruster so we can get off this rock? We’ve been here several days.”

  Jaxon nodded. “Of course. Can we look around your ship first? Just to confirm your story?”

  Snipe scoffed, “What? You don’t believe us? Why would we lie?”

  “That’s a good point. Why would you? You should have nothing to hide,” Jaxon said.

  “Alright, fine. It’s just me, Rex, and my engineer Roach on this ship. He’s in the engine room.”

  Sharon nodded. “I’ll pay him a visit then.”

  “I’ll come with you, just in case.” Jacob placed his hand on his sidearm on his hip.

  Snipe eyed the sidearm. He smiled. “Of course, my friend.”

  “Hayes, you are with me. Mr. Snipe, please show me your ship.”

  Snipe nodded. “Of course.”

  “So what’s the name of your ship?” Jaxon asked.

  Snipe thought a moment. “Sunrise.”

  Jaxon slowly nodded. “Of course.”

  Sharon and Jacob entered in the engine room of the corvette. A man with messy hair was ban
ging on the hyper-drive with a wrench. He wore a black trench coat. His right eye was missing and replaced with some sort of gadget. It looked like he hadn’t bathed in weeks.

  “Come on! You were working before! Damn,” the man cursed.

  “Roach?” Sharon inquired.

  The man was startled and jumped. “What?! Who are you?!”

  “We’re from the Union. We’re here to help,” Jacob said.

  “The Union?” Roach paused to ponder something. “How intriguing to find you out here,” he finally said.

  “What seems to be the problem?” Sharon asked.

  “Well, it was working before,” Roach said.

  “Can I take a look at it?”

  Roach hesitantly nodded. “Oh. Okay.”

  Sharon looked over the drive and then walked over to the console. “Everything looks fine.”

  The energy channel, the large pipeline in the center of the engine room, pulsed. It emitted varying patterns of light across the steel walls of the engine room. The engine room was slightly bigger than Rapture’s, but most of the equipment was in about the same location. Jacob looked over at the fusion reactor, a humming toroidal shape that was embedded in the wall. It appeared to be running fine.

  “It’s not a software error,” Sharon said. “I’ll need to check under the hyper-drive. Jake, help me with this grate.”

  “That’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” Roach said.

  “It’s alright, I just need to check under here,” Sharon said.

  “No, please,” Roach insisted.

  Jacob and Sharon lifted the grate, revealing a small crawlspace that ran under the engine room. Pipes and wires snaked through this area.

  Sharon gasped.

  A puddle of dried blood also caked the area directly under the grate. Sharon looked back at the grate and noted that dried blood was also underneath the grate. Someone had tried their best to clean the top of the grate and it wasn’t obvious at first that someone bled all over it.

  Snipe, along with Rex, Jaxon, and Hayes entered into the engine room.

  “Oh, I see you found what was left of the mutineer,” Snipe said. “I told Roach to clean it up better...”