A FRESH PERSPECTIVE
Rio walked down the ramp with the biggest eyes imaginable as she passed several of her friends and the androids. Her smile had returned once more. The last time she smiled like this, she was catching a glimpse of Orion’s glistening body getting out of the shower—many moons ago. That was a good day too.
Even with the damage caused by the Red Rover, this oasis was a sight to behold. The tallest and greenest of trees. Even at a distance they looked sticky and moist. This was the first time in her life that she had ever been in an environment that felt alive just by stepping into it.
Sure, people lived on the Rover Base, but did they really? When all they ever heard was order, discipline and routine on a daily basis—how could anyone consider that living? But this place here. This oasis. No, this was something special. There was no doubt that this was a world where life existed, in whatever that form may be.
“Have you ever seen something so beautiful?” She said.
“Nothing that wasn’t a simulation.” Orion answered, the two making eye contact.
Rio smiled at him. It was nice knowing that she wasn’t the only one noticing the beauty that lie before them. The fact that it was Orion who noticed was just the icing on the cake. She batted her eyes at him as Orion turned his focus back toward the jungle—ending their brief liaison with their eyes.
“Shit.” Said Marius as everyone turned to see him near the side entrance of the Red Rover, staring at its exterior.
Everyone walked toward him as Marius ran his hand along a vertical crack in the hull.
“What’s wrong sir?” Andrew asked.
Marius pointed. “We’ve got significant damage all across the body of the ship. I have no doubt there’s damage under-neath as well.”
He was right. Whether it was from the crash or the flames that engulfed the Red Rover, there were several noticeable cracks on the ship’s exterior that would need to be welded if they were ever going to be able to fly again.
“So we definitely need to repair that.” He went on.
Rio and the other cadets slumped their shoulders. That didn’t take long at all. Less than five minutes outside and Marius already had a new set of tasks that he needed for them to get to work on. God forbid they actually took a few moments to soak in this new day—surrounded by nature.
Considering that they were just in space a few hours ago, plotting an emergency landing on a planet they had never seen nor scouted before, one would think that their survival would be a cause for celebration. That probably would have been the case if anyone other than Marius was their leader.
He simply refused to relax, let alone let them rest on their laurels for even a moment. Make no mistake—it was impressive that Marius could remain as disciplined as he was through their tumultuous times—even if it was beyond annoying by this point. Not that it mattered. He was still in charge and they had no idea where they were. The beauty of their surroundings was probably of no consequence to him.
Marius turned back to them.
“We’re also going to have to find a power supply to juice it. Otherwise we’ll be stuck here. Wherever here is.”
Wow. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Marius is the biggest killjoy I’ve ever known in my entire life. How is this even possible? I don’t think he has the ability to be happy.
“Dee-Dee, Ozone, you’re with me. We need to do a full inspection.” Marius went on. “You guys wait here.”
Marius headed towards the front of the ship as the two androids followed him.
“Time to use the restroom.” Callista said.
She hurried towards some trees away from prying eyes.
“Ill, you’re gonna do that out here?” Gordie remarked.
“We’re all a bunch of filthy animals Gordie.”
Rio pushed him, almost knocking him to the ground as she followed Callista’s lead, running to a different set of trees to use the bathroom in peace.
“Speak for yourself. I’m a man. Is this a girl thing I don’t know about?”
<>
“This is not good.”
Marius led his hand across the body of the Red Rover as he continued walking towards the front of the ship. He slightly turned back to see Dee-Dee and Ozone were still with him. He slid under the nose of the ship and looked down.
A good chunk of it was embedded beneath the surface below. Their only chance of getting it to move would be to find a power supply. He came out from under the nose to the other side of the ship.
There were areas of hull damage on this side of the Red Rover as well as he walked about halfway to the end of it. Marius looked around—the oasis jungle on this side was still relatively intact.
“I think we’re going to have to establish a perimeter.” He gestured back to the jungle before looking at them. “Maybe not on this side, but definitely on the other one.”
He sighed, removing his glasses. The air quality was wonderful but this environment was causing him to sweat and itch on his face. He put his glasses back on and removed his right suit glove. With the back of his hand, he wiped sweat from both sides of his face. He looked at the back of his hand and recoiled. If this was what conditions were like for the humans who lived on Earth—no wonder they built space communities like the Rover Base Alpha in the first place. He turned back to the androids.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know what’s beyond those trees.”
“How far would you like us to go, Doctor Marius?” Ozone asked.
Marius paused. He took another glance around.
“Seems like a fifteen-foot radius around the ship would work. What do you guys think?”
“If that’s what you’re comfortable with. We can do that.” Ozone answered.
“I’m not comfortable with any of this, but the last thing I want is for us to be in a vulnerable position. For all we know something out there could be watching us right now.”
“Understood. Perhaps twenty-five feet would be better.”
“Agreed.” Dee-Dee said.
Marius put his glove back on—nodding his head.
“Okay. Twenty-five it is. Let’s get back to the kids and grab our weapons. Just to be on the safe side.”
Marius resumed walking along the Red Rover to the rear of the ship. He still needed to see the exterior damage of the Red Rover in its entirety.
<>
Callista returned from the bushes looking refreshed as she approached the others still lounging around near the loading bay ramp.
She walked to the Red Rover, admiring the damage caused by this planet’s atmosphere. She noticed a part of the hull that had a different look to it as she moved closer. She touched it, some of the metal had softened. She pushed in a little before immediately pulling her glove back.
The titanium that the ship was made from had actually melted a bit and now was sticking to her glove. She bent over, wiping her hand on the ground to get it off. She looked skyward.
The haze was still blocking their view of the sun. It was odd in its composition as it immediately reminded her of the force-field that protected the Red Rover on Cnaeus—only this was the elements of nature—rather than manmade. She tracked the haze with her finger. Every direction she looked; there it was.
“Wow. We really survived that.” She said softly.
A clump of dirt skipped past her before busting apart. She turned to see Gordie gathering another one, before he chucked it in the same direction. It skipped the ground a few times before exploding.
“Well this is boring. What’s taking them so long?” Gordie said.
“What I don’t understand is—why won’t he let us look around? Orion said, still sitting on the ramp.
“Probably because he’s a control freak.” June added while sitting beside him. “What? Please tell me I’m wrong.”
There really wasn’t a point of arguing with June. She was always down for a good fight, so unless they wanted to get into a protracted war of words with her, sometimes their best recourse when dealing with her was to remain silent. If they didn’t—chances are she would just go on and on until she finally got her way.
At this point, none of them were really in the right state of mind to engage with her. There was simply too much uncertainty surrounding them for that to be a worthwhile endeavor.
“Hold on. Does anybody hear that?”
Rio threw her hands up in an attempt to get everyone’s attention.
“Hear what?” June asked.
Rio gestured for her to be quiet as June crossed her arms, immediately frowning. That was another thing June seemed to hate: Rio telling her what to do. A lot of June’s animosity could probably be traced back to her obsession with the class system in their community. When they were on the Rover Base, she never would miss an opportunity to tell them that her father was a high-ranking member of the leadership council.
Callista never cared and it was doubtful that anyone else considered it a big deal for that matter. Orion’s father was also a council member and he rarely ever talked about him. He usually chose to talk about how much his older sister terrorized him.
It also was rare for officers and regular civilians to interact on the Rover Base—even though they were all living on top of each other for twenty-four hours a day. If the officers really didn’t want to interact with the commoners—they had to go out of their way to avoid them.
Callista was able to see life from both perspectives as she grew up. Her mother, Fern, was considered a rising star in the research sciences before marrying her father, Nelson, who was common in every way imaginable. He had always worked with his hands and was an imposing individual.
Unfortunately, he was also quick to anger and made it his mission to make Callista and her mother feel terrible when-ever he described his working life in the mines. Even though they had nothing to do with his station in life, he would unload his pain onto them every time he was in a foul mood.
He was furious when her mother had decided to become a stay-at-home mom full-time not long after Callista’s fifth birthday. Maybe he thought her rising in the leadership ranks would lift him off of that rock for good.
Well, that was never going to happen because once her mother was no longer under Major Thayer’s command, Callista rarely saw her mother interact with the Major or any-one else that held an officer rank for that matter. It was almost like once she was no longer useful to them—she became invisible.
If they were on the Rover Base right now, June would’ve probably been fast-tracked toward a position in the leadership as soon as she reached the requisite age. With Andrew, it would be hard to say for sure considering how quiet he was. He had always been pretty good about minding his own business.
Everyone remained quiet for a moment, trying to listen to the world surrounding them. Nature was talking. The wind blew strongly as Rio pushed her hair from covering her face. A moment later, the sound of liquid flowing could clearly be heard.
“That sounds like water.” Orion said as Rio nodded in agreement.
“We should go check it out.” June unfolded her arms as her frown subsided.
“But didn’t Marius tell us to wait here?” Jovan asked.
“Oh my God, it’s not like we can’t trace our steps. Besides, it sounds like the water’s close by. If they come back, you can tell ‘em which way we went.”
June hopped off the ramp with her helmet and headed off in search of the water as everyone stood around unsure of what to do next.
“June!” Jovan called out, but it didn’t matter.
June had disappeared into the brush. Before Jovan could say anything else, the others were following her in search of the possible water source.
<>
The clearest blue water flowed from a hill about seven or eight feet from the cadets’ position into a pond. June set her helmet down and began to remove her gloves. She stepped into the pond, moving toward the waterfall. She slid her hands under the fall, cupping as much as she could.
She brought the water to her nose as most of it slipped through her fingers. She could hear the others rustling behind her as she turned back to them.
“There’s no smell.” She said.
“So are you gonna drink it?” Andrew asked.
June smiled. “Well—no guts no glory, right?”
She slurped the remaining water in her hand. She paused a moment as she swallowed it.
“It’s water. I think. At least it tastes like water.”
The others quickly removed their gloves and hopped into the pond as she moved away from the waterfall. They each took turns lapping up the water.
“Uh, so good. If there’s freshwater here, hopefully there’s also some food nearby.” Orion said.
“You mean something better than oatmeal?” Callista asked.
“Hey, beggars can’t be choosers.” Orion cupped his hands back under the water, trying to gather as much as he could.
“We should tell Marius about this.” Andrew said.
“No need.” Marius responded.
The six cadets stopped cold. They all turned around to see Marius with Jovan, Dee-Dee and Ozone.
“I could’ve sworn I told you all to stay at the ship.” He went on.
“But sir, Rio found water.” June said.
Rio shot her a confused look. While it was true that Rio had heard the water first, it was June who actually decided to look for it in the first place. If Marius was going to yell at anyone, she was not about to be the one to take the full blame. After all, they chose to follow her to the water source. Any punishment she received needed to be shared with the group.
“Great, but if I can’t trust you all to obey my orders, this is never going to work. We don’t know where we are. What don’t you all understand about that?”
No one said a word. Somehow finding freshwater was a terrible thing in the eyes of Marius.
“Okay. Let’s get back to the ship. We’ve got work to do.”
<>
Dee-Dee and Ozone used handheld welding tools to seal the damage to the Red Rover caused by the crash and the haze above. Marius and the cadets were now out of their spacesuits and back in their uniforms.
He had them using a metallic solution over the damaged sections of the ship as he supervised their work.
“We really gotta do this for the whole ship?” Orion whined.
“Wherever you see damage cadet. Unfortunately, yes.”
“I have to ask sir. If the ship doesn’t work, does that mean we can’t even get in our beds?” Rio asked.
“That’s correct.”
“So that means we can’t access the food either.” Rio continued.
Marius nodded as the others stopped working. This was probably the first time since they left the Rover Base that they realized that their food was processed artificially. They wouldn’t be able to just go to a refrigerator and magically find food waiting for them to eat. And now there also wouldn’t be any buttons to push either.
“So what do we do?” Rio asked.
“We sacrifice. That’s what.” Marius exhaled. “Look, I think you guys can go half-a-day without eating. Situations like this are exactly what you have been training for.”
The looks of incredulousness that came from the faces of the cadets immediately showed Marius that they couldn’t believe what they were hearing. He was becoming their least favorite being in the universe if he hadn’t already.
Marius continued. “I know you don’t like what I’m saying—but this ship is our livelihood. If we don’t get this thing working, nothing else we do matters. Nothing.”
He sighed. “So let’s get back to work. Please.”
Marius clapped his hands in encouragement as the cadets reluctantly resumed working on the Red Rover.
<>
The cadets slept on the floor of the loading bay closest to the corridor in their spacesuits with the exception of Jovan, who was asleep in his chair with a medical blanket draped over him.
Marius walked around them holding an illuminated baton as a night lamp in his left hand and a sidearm weapon in his right. He would have rather not sent them to bed without supper, but with the night upon them, the search for food would probably be best when daylight was upon them. Whether they liked it or not, they were in uncharted territory and they needed to be prepared for anything.
He walked toward the ramp exit as darkness had set in all around them. He stood at the top of the ramp. Dee-Dee and Ozone were both standing on opposite sides of the opened loading bay holding weapons. They were their first line of defense.
Marius looked skyward. Whereas he couldn’t see the sun during the daytime, at night, the constellations twinkled. Millions of stars. To think that they had just been traveling among them less than a day ago. At least, he hoped that only a day had passed.
The realization was beginning to hit him. He had totally lost track of time. Without the Red Rover’s internal clocks in the cockpit and on his computer—his only way to measure the days would have to be using day versus night. However, seeing that they had never been on this world before, it did beg the question: How many hours were in a day on this planet?
Just another headache in a series of migraines for him since they began this journey approaching three years ago. He powered off the baton, before taking a seat. He set it and the sidearm down beside him. He unzipped the top of his uniform and removed his journal from a pocket inside it.
“I don’t know about you guys. But I’m a little scared.” He said as the two androids looked at him. “A perfect storm of shit luck. Yet, somehow, I can’t help feeling like this is my fault.”
He rubbed his forehead and sighed.
“I took an oath to look after them, but all I can think at the moment is that I really don’t know what to do. Am I a fraud?”
The two androids looked at him as he wiped away tears.
“No, no, no. I can’t get in my head. This is just a setback, that’s all.”
He looked at both Dee-Dee and Ozone. In many ways, they were the perfect soldiers. They only spoke when spoken to and they always followed orders. They had been with him through years of neophyte training and yet, they had never had one conversation that wasn’t mission related.
Normally that would be okay, but this was an instance where Marius really could use a friend. Someone who under-stood what he was going through and could possibly be a sounding board on how to better connect with the cadets.
He had never dealt with this age group before and it was beginning to show. With his previous neophyte groups, he rarely interacted with them again once they no longer were under his direction. He had fulfilled his civic responsibility to them and now it was on to the next batch of eager students.
But his cadets were becoming adults. Faster than he ever would have wanted to believe. Handling them was becoming more difficult by the minute and he wasn’t exactly sure how he would be able to put the genie back in the bottle.
He cracked open his journal, flipping to the first empty page he could find. In his previous entry, the last words he wrote were: ‘I’m not ready.’
His eyes welled up with tears once more. He closed his journal, sliding it back inside his uniform pocket and zipped it up. He was in no mood to write. He looked at Dee-Dee, who remained in auxiliary mode as the primary weapon the android held, scraped the ground.
“Ozone. Before the sun rises, I need you to do a sweep of the outer perimeter, see if you can locate a food supply. Then you can alert Dee-Dee to help you bring it back.”
“We can’t do that.” Ozone responded.
“What do you mean you can’t do that?”
“Without the Red Rover operational, we have no communication signal, aside from speaking to one another when in close proximity.”
Marius looked at Ozone for a moment before releasing a tragic laugh. He shook his head. While there was nothing humorous about their situation, him crying about it wasn’t going to make it any better either.
<>
June laid on her side with her head tilted slightly upward as her stomach gurgled. She had been watching Marius and the androids from a distance since he had ordered them to go to sleep a while ago—although it was doubtful that they noticed she was still awake.
She sighed before rolling onto her back. This was only the second time she had ever slept in her spacesuit and it had been so long ago that she had forgotten just how uncomfortable these suits really were.
Sure—they were fine for moving around during their training missions, but sleeping in them was a pain. How was she the only one of the cadets who was still awake? She looked back towards the loading bay ramp as Marius had risen to his feet. He stretched his arms above his head.
“Like I said. Shit luck.” Marius spoke to the androids.
June stared up at the StarForgers that hung above them. After all that time she and the others spent wondering about what Marius was thinking, tonight told her exactly what she had always thought. Marius was clueless about what to do next and was simply flying by the seat of his pants.
He had been in control of their lives since the first time they had left for Cnaeus, but it was becoming evident that anything outside of their neophyte training, he didn’t have much of a clue.
No wonder why he always dodged and deflected their questions when they were floating around in space. He knew that the more they asked, the more likely it was that he was going to slip up and let the cat out of the bag.
He was in over his head and the others needed to know about it. If only she wasn’t so hungry and tired, she might have given him a piece of her mind right then and there. She shook her head. Better to wait until she spoke to the others first before doing anything rash.
As much as she was angry with Marius, anything they decided would have to be a group decision. However, one thing was for certain: Marius’ days as their fearless leader were numbered.