One week in, journeying through the void of space and my resolve has begun to waver. Word from the outside was slim. Due in no small part to the method of travel my father chose. In order to get to the epicenter as quickly as possible, he chose for us to to travel deep SlipSpace. A method that cut us off from almost any sort of outside contact.
What little news we did receive had been grim. Apparently, early attempts to appease the rioters and let them “get it out of their systems” had naturally only made things worse. One gruesome report showed a video of them setting fire to a police station. The crowd shouting “Death to Pigs!” over and over again.
Definitely something I did not enjoy watching but I endured it so that when we arrived, I would be armed with the greatest weapon of them all: Knowledge. I would need to know all that I could of the situation on the ground if I am to successfully navigate the dark sociopolitical waters.
My father was no help sadly. He was busy putting out the countless fires that arose in a situation such as this. Furthermore, he had placed me in as a crew man. “If you going to tag along son, you are going to pull your weight.” He told me as we were driven to the space port the next morning after him and my mother had their fight. She certainly wasn’t thrilled I was coming along but by the time my father told her we already in SlipSpace. Something told me he timed the reveal for that very purpose.
Like my labors beforehand, the tasks I was charged with did good to draw my attention away from the worry that gripped my stomach. An aching knot that refused to go away.
That only worsened with every report. The conditions got worse and no end was in sight. Worse even, I had nothing to go on as to the status of my girl. No death, no arrest, not even a mere mention of either her or her family.
My father allowed me to send a single pulse out to her cousin. His reply that came with the next wave sadly did not help matters. While he had yet to hear anything specific. Apparently, the chapter my girlfriends family belonged to was holed up in some cave system not to far from my fathers plant.
He of course could not sit on this information. He loved me but the mission and his company came first in this matters. “I’m sorry son.” He told me as he yanked the slate containing the pulse out of my hands. A tear or two streaming down his cheeks. “We have to act on this.”
I of course nodded. Not saying anything, my body language speaking for me. “How could something so good come out of something so cruel?” He asked as he hugged me. Grateful for my understanding.
“It helps to have an amazing father pulling all the weight.” I replied, returning his affection.
When he pulled away, his eyes were red and puffy. All the emotion he had been storing for who knows how long coming out of him all at one. He stayed at my station for a few more moments, collecting himself. It would do no good for the crew to see their leader in such a state. “Thank you.” He said to me, putting his hand on my shoulder before dashing away to relay this info into the next pulse.
As he left, everyone stoop up to salute their skipper. Afterwards they all looked at me, new recognition plastered all over their faces. Each one of them knew exactly who I was and my fathers place in all this. But there was a huge difference between being told something was a fact and seeing that fact play out right in front of you. Tangibility tends to lend credence to even the faintest of notions.
We should be there within the next few days. I told myself. I need to have a plan. So far I had been flying wherever the solar winds take me. But down there...down there I would need a plan. The moon was in chaos. Law and order hung on by the barest of threads. Brutality was the game at play on both sides of the equation.
While information will definitely become more plentiful once we land moon side. Finding one revolutionary, no matter how tangentially involved. In an entire movement of people would be a tall task indeed. Add to the fact that I would be looking from “the other side” and my prospects look rather grim. Still, I owed it not just to her but myself to try.
I guess at some point I could slip out and try and find her on my own? I thought. A daunting idea to say the least. Not only would I be on my own, I’d be alone on a very hostile world. One where either side would sooner shoot me than ask me any questions. If I do this, I’ll need friends.
Now knowing what I had to do, I stepped away from my station and staring walking towards the comm pods. The next pulse wave was scheduled to go out within the hour. I knew a gal who worked there that owed me a huge favor. Caught her smooching with the superior officer to her superior officer. My father never stood for such kind of fragrant fraternization. One conversion would be all it took to end both of their careers.
Yes. I thought to myself. This is the way. I’d hide a secret relay message in the wave. One that would surly get to my contact. From there he’d set me with the right people. It sure as hell wasn’t a solution but it was surly a start. For stepping on that surface would not be the end of my troubles, no it would merely be the beginning.
