Conscription Day Page 6

  The hangar crew were friendly and helpful and showed me which shuttle was mine. Except it wasn’t a shuttle. It was an attack fighter with faster than light drives and gate jump technology. I had only flown in one a few times before. I couldn’t work out why I would be transported on a fighter rather than a shuttle. It was a lot more expensive to send a fighter for me than a shuttle. That could only mean it wouldn’t be a long journey and we were only a few jumps from Genesis. It turned out I was wrong about that.

  The landing ramp was open and so I went aboard. The pilot was waiting for me at the airlock. I saluted, introduced myself, and asked to come aboard. The pilot returned my salute. “Permission granted, welcome aboard, captain. My name is Lieutenant Boris Selby. I’m ready to go when you are, sir.”

  “Thank you, Lieutenant Selby. I’m a little surprised to see my taxi. Let’s not waste any time, we’ll start as soon as possible.” With these words I walked past the lieutenant and sat in the copilot seat. Lieutenant Selby followed on my heel and started getting ready for takeoff, with preflight checks, sealing the ship, getting permission for takeoff and flying the crate out of the hangar. I was surprised when the pilot activated cloaking mode just before exiting through the hangar doors. The view port darkened and was sealed by a metal shield. The pilot was flying purely on instruments, what people called blind flying. It was no problem for the pilot, he was well trained. It was a little annoying for me. Who likes to fly when there was nothing to see! It also meant I couldn’t see the station or the system. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was exactly why the pilot had done it. “And, Lieutent Selby, can you tell me anything about our journey?”

  “Yes, sir, we will now accelerate and leave the system via a gate jump. We will be met by a corvette at our destination. It will travel directly to Genesis.”

  “I had no idea I was so important. It sounds like a lot of effort for just one captain.”

  “Who are you telling, Captain? But orders are orders. You know how it is.”

  “Yes, lieutenant, I do.”

  But that doesn’t mean at all that I could make any sense of it.

  The flight passed without incident. I only talked to the pilot about general fleet business and he brought me up to date on the latest fleet movements. The war wasn’t over but the tide was turning ever more in our favor since we had cut the enemie’s supply lines in the Targeos system. Apparently there had been two attempts by the enemy to break the blockade, but they had been fought off with minimal losses, even though people said the enemy fleets were huge.

  On board the corvette Freefall the journey continued. I still didn’t know what system my journey had begun in and through which systems it would continue.

  The people on board were friendly to me and military discipline was impeccable, but I wasn’t given any information. Even the viewing deck, where I spent as much time as possible, and which was a meeting place for everyone in their free time, wasn’t much help. When I asked, “What system was that just now out there?” I was always told, “No idea. They all look the same.” I couldn’t contradict them, and I believed them because what do you actually see when you fly into a system? You see a sun, maybe two. Through the automatic dimming of the view it was hard to see much, though without it there was the risk of being blinded and nobody wanted to turn round to put me back in a regeneration tank.

  Eventually we crossed a system where I thought I recognized the arrangement of planets and space stations. It was busy with ship traffic. We passed other navy ships, a few freighters and even private yachts. So we must have been deep in imperial territory. The large number of jump gates made this system significant. From here many other systems could be reached much more quickly than with conventional faster than light drives. Most of the journey time was taken up with flying from one gate to the next. There was acceleration followed by deceleration. Where possible we also made short jumps with the faster than light drives, but flying through a system still takes time. There was also the fact that you can’t just fly into a gate. You have to decelerate to a complete standstill - because ingress speed is the same as egress speed. Then the ship has to accelerate again on the other side. When you think that usually billions of kilometers have to be crossed between one jump gate and another, it starts to become clear how much effort is required to travel around the empire.

  The jump gates still pose more questions to science than they provide answers. We have discovered how to use them and what kind of drives are required, but they have no idea how they function. That’s why it was impossible to build a new jump gate.

  The gates had simply always been there. All we knew was that they were not natural phenomena. Nothing had yet been discovered about who built them. I would have liked to meet one of them. My first question would definitely have been how they came up with the crazy idea of building the jump gates so far apart.

  The first space travelers of mythical Earth were the first to discover them. Since then such gates have been found in almost every system, except Earth’s system or a large radius of the Sol system. This was also probably the reason that the imperatrix ruled from there. A journey to Earth took a long time, a very long time, because it had to be reached using conventional faster than light drives.

  The imperatrix is safe on Earth. It is also said that a huge Imperial Space Navy fleet guards the system. There were a lot of rumors about it. There was also a lot of talk about the empress’ bodyguard, all elite warriors with superhuman abilities, and loyal to their last breath. If you ask me, it’s all just talk. Only a few travel to Earth. The Sol system is a secure zone. Nobody travels there or arrives without a personal invitation from the eimperatrix. That’s why people could say whatever they want, nobody could check.

  Just then I remembered the name of the system that we were traveling through. It was definitely Limbus. Just one more jump before Genesis. We would likely arrive the day after next. The journey of four weeks would soon be over.

  Genesis

  It was time at last. We docked at Genesis military station. The biggest station the empire had even built. It was bigger than many moons often found orbiting planets. It was the home of millions of soldiers, and it was my home, too. I spent my vacation time here, if I didn’t go to visit my mother. If I was given any vacation time, which had become ever more seldom lately. Or I returned here at the end of a mission and waited for fresh orders to arrive. I had made it comfortable and all my worldly possessions were here on the station. In other words, I was happy to be back home. On the way to my cabin I passed by the organic market. It was just a very small market in a remote corner of Genesis. Only a few people knew about this little market. Those who did know about it, knew that what was on offer was the best quality. What I liked was the organically grown food. You can call me old fashioned but I can’t think of anything better than fresh fruit and vegetables.

  I know you won’t betray my secret, because that could be bad for my image. But I really enjoy cooking. I have to confess that I like vegetable dishes the best. I went to the market on my way home and bought fresh vegetables, herbs, and a little fruit for dessert. Finally a real meal and not that synthetic muck the fleet served up. But it turned out, as I was buying them, that I no longer had an ID chip. My payment method was declined. Luckily, I was a regular customer and they gave me the stuff on credit. I promised to come back as soon as possible to pay them back. The trader assumed my ID chip was broken.

  The next problem arose at the door to my quarters. Unfortunately it could only be opened using an ID card, which of course was in my desk inside the quarter, or using my implanted ID chip.

  There I stood at the door, bags in hand, at home at last after weeks of boring journeying and months in a regeneration tank and had no idea what was going on. I had no choice but to contact security.

  After an hour someone finally came and opened the door for me. It had apparently taken a while to confirm my ident
ity. This was something that should have only taken minutes. The face recognition software and a scan of my iris could quickly confirm that I was who I claimed to be.

  From the first second, the officers fixed grin started getting on my nerves, but I managed to stop myself from killing him, maiming him, or hurting him in any other way, and I wordlessly went into my quarters. They were quite spacious. I could afford it, because I didn’t spend my money on whores, alcohol or any other treats. Now and then a trip home, but constantly being sent on missions didn’t leave much time for spending money. I had saved up quite a lot of money. The only luxury I allowed myself was decorating my quarters tastefully. The suite had three rooms, all the same size at 16 square meters, and also had a big bathroom with the latest bathroom equipment. You know what I mean, a depilation machine and stuff like that. The rest of the furniture was also a sight to see. First I went to my desk. I got my ID card and put it in my pocket. Then I put what I had bought in the kitchen, which had cost me a small fortune. The kitchen appliances had been difficult to come by. Nobody cooked for themselves these days, at least not on a military base. Why would they, with the canteen and replicators? Do you know what canteens and replicators have in common? Everything that comes out of them tastes absolutely awful!

  It was time to report for duty, and I would have to do something about the non-functional or missing ID chip. I could make basic purchases with the ID card, and had access to my quarters and most of the recuperation and entertainment modules, but there was no access to the military area.

  Back at the desk, I contacted General Schwarzer’s office. Usually all I had to do was call Mimi Pepper, the general’s personal secretary, and tell her I was back.

  “Hello, Pepper. Captain Johnson here, ID number 2392111995. I just wanted to report for duty.”

  “John? Is that really you? I’m glad you’re okay! Welcome back to Genesis. I heard horrible things about what happened to you. They said you really took a bad hit!”

  “Thanks, Mimi, I’m fine. Not as bad as it sounds,” I lied. “It’s nice to be back home. Can you let the old man know?”

  “I’m pleased, John, I mean that you’re feeling better. We missed you. Stay on the line. The old man (she enjoyed saying the word, drawing it out) said he wanted to speak to you personally when you got in touch. Just a moment, please.” Mimi gave me a wide smile over the vid connection. She was slowly closing in on 70, but she still looked good and she still turned a few heads here and there. She was like a mother to us officers. She looked after us, was always friendly and I would bet my ass that she often put the general straight when he was being too hard on the people she had taken under her wing. I was glad that Mimi was never around when I was tearing into my men. If she didn’t feint, she would have dragged me away by my ear, right in front of my men, to bawl me out. That’s just the way she was. That’s why we all liked her so much.

  It was unusual, however, that the old man wanted to speak to me in person. Usually Mimi would just ring me back and give me an apppointment.

  “So, John, General Schwarzer can see you now. I’ll put you through. I’m so happy for you, John.”

  What was that supposed to mean? She’s happy for me? I couldn’t think of anything to be happy about from the last few weeks. And I hadn’t seen a hint of anything good coming in the future. Oh no, not another promotion, or a medal!

  The old man roused me from my thoughts. “Captain Johnson, what a pleasure to see you! You look good. I hope they’ve been treating you well!” “Thank you, General. I’m doing fine. You know the young men and women of the medicenter are top notch.”

  “True, true.”

  “I have a problem, sir, my ID chip seems to be defective. Which means I can’t come to you, or any other military unit, in person. I need authorization to go to the technical center so they can take a look at it. Otherwise I won’t be much use on a mission.”

  “That won’t be necessary, Captain Johnson. I’m sending you a message. There are new orders from High Command.”

  “New orders?” Again?

  “Wait a moment, Captain. The message is on its way. And John, I wanted to be the first.” He paused a moment for effect. “Congratulations!”

  His words came from the heart. The way he said it, his tone, it was meant entirely sincerely. But congratulations on what? I had no idea what he was talking about. Congratulations for surviving? Obviously, that was the sort of thing you could congratulate somebody on, but it had never happened before, at least not from him. It was all a mystery. Instead of becoming clearer, it just got stranger. The general’s picture disappeared, he had cut the connection. There would be no chance to ask him now why he had congratulated me. But actually, he had been the second, Mimi was happy for me, too, and you could see that as congratulations. It was a shame, because I would have liked to rub that under the old man’s nose.

  I had no option but to wait in my quarters for the mysterious message from high command. I could turn to my hobby during the wait, and cook myself a good meal. I selected my favorite playlist from the terminal and lowered the volume until the music was a pleasant background noise throughout my rooms.

  I went into the kitchen, washed the fresh vegetables, and I was about to chop them when there was a soft chime from the door. That was another of my modifications, as the default was a shrill beep. I wasn’t expecting visitors, I’d only just gotten back and only a few people on the station knew about it, so this could only be the messenger I had been told about. I went to the door, forcing myself not to run because my curiosity was slowly starting to get the better of me. What was it my mother used to say? Fools rush in … I don’t think she knew how right she was. If I have learned anything during my time in the imperial army, then it is to have patience, calmly evaluate a situation, so I don’t hastily jump to the wrong conclusion. The chime sounded again just as I operated the door mechanism. This was a person in a hurry.

  The door slid open and a low ranking soldier was standing there, a cadet, a trainee, or a student. The kid couldn’t have been older than 13, although he was wearing an imperial uniform. There was no insignia, but it was the official uniform of the empire. Also, I thought I recognized him.

  It had to be the messenger because he held out a pad. I didn’t immediately take it, and the kid frowned and said, “Captain Johnson? General Schwarzer sent me with a message.”

  He stretched his arm out a little more, until the pad was right under my nose. What a bratty kid! I pretty much ripped the pad from his hand and slammed my right fist into the door controls. The door closed with a hiss and the kid only just managed to snatch his arm away in time.

  Pad in hand, I went to the desk in the next room, sat down, and put my pad on the desktop. The pad came to life a couple of seconds later, and showed me the message without checking my ID.

  Priority: Highest priority level/Urgent

  Identification: DNA analysis positive

  For: Captain James Johnson

  ID Number: 2393111995

  Subject: Commendation and conscription

  Sender: Imperatrix and Imperial Majesty Victoria X

  Dear Captain Johnson,

  You should be completely recovered when you read this message. Firstly, I would like to extend my thanks. I thank you in the name of the imperial family for your exemplary sacrifice and commitment in service of the empire.

  You are not a nobody, Captain Johnson, the empire has been watching you and we are very impressed with your service.

  Your loyalty and your unshakable faith in the system has not been lost on us. Rest assured that the empire has faith in you and stands loyally at your side. Captain John James Johnson, it is therefore my pleasure to award you the highest honor that can be bestowed on a soldier of the imperial army.

  I hereby call you to serve in the imperial bodyguard.

  My c
ongratulations!

  In the attachment below please find information about your transport. I would like to welcome you in advance to Earth.

  This assignment is to be accepted immediately. You are with immediate effect released from the imperial army and are no longer a member of imperial forces. You are immediately to come to my side.

  Yours sincerely

  Her Imperial Majesty

  Victoria X

  Attachment I:

  This assignment must be kept secret until you reach the Earth. For this reason, it is unfortunately not possible for you to say goodbye to friends or fellow soldiers. Your family will be immediately informed of the honor you have received when you reach Earth. They will be very proud of you.

  Attachment II:

  Please pack your belongings and report to Hangar 14, Dock 117 immediately. A shuttle is waiting for you there. Your former superior officer will be responsible for clearing your quarters and all your other personal tasks.

  The pad fell from my fingers and landed with a thump on the desk. I can’t remember how long I sat and stared at the message. The display faded after some time and the document deleted itself. I was absolutely shocked and could not believe what I had just read, I refused to. It was a personal letter from the Empress, not from High Command. It was simply absurd, impossible to believe. From one moment to the next, my life had been completely transformed. I remember signing something when I joined up to the effect that we consented to such an assignment. But I had never heard of it ever actually happening, and I don’t know anyone who knew anyone who it had happened to … And now it was happening to me? What was I supposed to do on Earth? Hold the Empress by the hand? Check that all the lights got turned off at night time? My place was at the front. That was what I was good at. That was where I could serve the empire best, wasn’t it? On the other hand I had had enough. All that death, the senseless loss of so many good men. Did I deserve this honor? What was it even like to be part of the imperial bodyguard? Would I have to stand and guard a door all day and night?