Ghost of Mind Episode One

by Odette C. Bell

  Chapter 22

  John Doe

  He sat in the comfortable chair, his left leg twitching up and down. He couldn't stop it; it was all he could do to prevent himself from jumping up and punching the Prime in the face.

  The Prime twisted his lips into a sanctimonious grin. He was a Garpa alien, and his squat and round form would have made a great punching bag at that moment.

  Calm down, John told himself, get a handle on yourself.

  ‘We thank you for your valiant service, Commander Doe,’ the Prime said, his voice ringing with fake sentiment. ‘Your brave efforts ensured the protection of this Block,’ the guy pressed his eight fingers together and nodded solemnly. But it was fake. It was all fake. Everything he said to every movement he made.

  John forced himself to offer a nod in thanks. It was about the stiffest and least affable move he could manage.

  If it weren't for the fact that Chado was standing by his side shooting the Prime one of this trademark grimaces, John would have walked out ages ago.

  ‘This situation was appallingly managed,’ Chado snapped back.

  And that was the great thing about Chado. He didn't care if he was talking to the Universal President or a lowly, lowly ensign; he spoke his mind, especially where security and safety were on the line.

  ‘Your forces persistently ignored warnings from the Pegasus. The weather fields along Block Alpha closed down due to a chronic lack of maintenance. Your management of this situation will be reported to the Union Forces top brass,’ Chado added with a growl.

  John bit down hard on his tongue to stop himself from smiling, but the look on the Prime's face was priceless.

  He'd gone from being a self-important balloon to deflating in a second.

  With wide, outraged eyes, he looked at John, obviously expecting he would rein his XO in.

  John was going to do nothing of the kind. ‘Tell me again why you failed to scan that Old Tech? Skip to the part where you failed to recognize it was a soldier robot.’

  The Prime paled further.

  ‘Because that's the part the Union Forces heads are going to want a full description of.’

  ‘We had scanned it,’ the Prime blustered, his pink skin turning a shade deeper. ‘The computers hadn't picked up a thing.’

  John gave another uncomfortable nod. He knew, god he knew that he should be handling this better. The Prime would no doubt make a call to his superiors the second John left the guy's office. Then John would get the dressing down a Union commander would deserve for bullying a planet's Prime, even if that planet was the backwater dump Orion Minor.

  ‘We are already implementing an investigation into the maintenance of Block Alpha's weather fields. Commander John Doe, my people did everything they could to ensure your safety and to aid you in your mission.’

  Even though he wanted to keep hold of his anger and never let go, John felt himself deflating. Though he could appreciate that the guy in front of him knew all the right words to say, John was done being defensive.

  He understood men like the Prime. They were stuck in their own worlds, so far above the slums they rejected, that to them the world was rosy and clear.

  He was a man of his time, stuck in his own unique context. Like everyone else on the high levels, he wouldn't see the slums long enough to truly be affected by what would go on there.

  But none of that helped get the image of that woman from John's mind. It seemed seared right in there. Every time he closed his eyes a vision of her gaping mouth appeared, the robot choking the life out of her.

  ‘The Union provides this planet with security and funds. The spending of these is outlined by a system-wide agreement. If it is found that maintenance funds were not used towards the proper upkeep of the weather fields on Block Alpha, an investigation will ensue,’ Chado continued, that frown of his getting deeper and deeper.

  He was like a dog, John's own personal yapping terrier. Except this one had one hell of a bite too.

  Even though John would have loved to sit there and watch Chado go to town, it was time to head back to the Pegasus. He needed a shower, one of those good old fashioned water ones and not just the sound waves most space farers usually used to clean themselves. He wanted the hot water to rush over his head and to take the memories of the day with it.

  He stood up, raising a hand subtly at his side, letting Chado know that the execution was over.

  Fixing a dead, stony glance on the Prime, he cleared his throat. ‘Thank you for your assistance, Prime,’ John forced himself to say. ‘We can appreciate this has been a stressful situation.’ John pushed the words out of his mouth, mulling over just how much damage control he should bother laying out. Tapping his foot, his shoulders tensing, he forced himself to add that he would be kind in his report to the Union Forces top brass.

  Then John left the room, Chado on his heels.

  When the door to the Prime's office swooshed closed behind him, John let out a beleaguered sigh.

  ‘This is unlike you, John, are you ill?’ Chado asked, voice quiet, a sarcastic expression on his face.

  John knew exactly what his XO was getting at; when John wanted to rake someone across the coals, he usually had no problem. Especially when that person's reckless and selfish behavior had endangered lives. All of his crew knew that John had grown up in the slums, they also all appreciated that whenever John got to go out and bat for the little guys, he came out swinging hard.

  John brought a hand up and scratched at his top lip. It reminded him of her.

  Then he patted down his short hair. It too reminded him of her.

  The woman in the hood. The one who had held a secret so terrible she'd jumped off a building for it.

  ‘Sir, may I make an observation?’ Chado cleared his throat, his towering form casting John into shadow as the two of them walked past an enormous bank of windows as the sun streamed in from above.

  The high levels were so far above the rest of the planet that they punched through the swirling mass of dark grey clouds that always covered Orion Minor. From up here there was nothing but beauty; shining clean buildings peeping out of a sea of clouds and kissed by the sun high above.

  It was easy to think the universe was a great place when given a view like this.

  ‘Go ahead,’ John finally managed.

  ‘Go back to the Pegasus before - as you human's say - you put your foot in it,’ Chado finished with a knowing look.

  ‘Hey, I'm not the one who threatened the guy with a Union Forces’ investigation,’ John pointed out.

  ‘I was following your lead, sir.’

  ‘No you weren't, you are just as incensed as I am,’ John noted through a growl.

  ‘Indeed. Incensed or not, this will not bring her back from the dead,’ Chado added.

  And it made John stop and stare up at his XO's face.

  ‘Commander, sometimes death hits you. Sometimes it doesn't. Today it has. Go and process it; I will deal with the crew and the final preparations for our departure. The ship is docked on top of Block Alpha; our maintenance crew are currently helping them re-establish the weather field.’

  John felt frozen for a second, then he managed a small sniff.

  Sometimes death hits you. Sometimes it doesn't. Today it has.

  Those weren't Chado's words; they were John's. He said that to his crew all the time. They were words of wisdom - maybe the only ones he had worth sharing - that he'd garnered from life in the slums.

  And they were true, every last one of them.

  Fighting in the Union Forces meant that his crew faced the specter of death on numerous occasions. Sometimes it didn't affect you. Sometimes the news that a transport cruiser had been raided by pirates just glanced off, you processed the words, you did what you had to, but you didn't shed a tear.

  Sometimes a single death could send you to your knees.

  Bringing a hand up and rubbing his chest, John let out a trapped breath of air.

  Chado gave him another k
nowing look and then gestured towards the window. ‘I will arrange a transport to Block Alpha. I suggest you re-upgrade your armor before you head over though; I hear while they have atmosphere on most levels, there are sections that are without air and are open to the elements.’

  ‘You mean freezing hell holes roaring with wind and ready to suck you into the atmosphere?’ John asked with a harsh laugh.

  ‘Indeed.’

  With that Chado walked around, snapped a salute before he did, and continued down the corridor, leaving John on his own.

  ‘John, you are a lucky man to have a crew like that,’ he mumbled to himself. For a second he turned to look out at the incredible view through the windows again.

  Sometimes death hits you, sometimes it doesn't.

  Today death had hit John Doe. It was time to go and process it.