Mutually Assured Destruction (26/?)
Captain's Log: Commander Veln, USS Strength of Walls
Date [standardized human time]: September 1st, 1974
The Farsul evacuated with us. Talsk had nothing left for anyone.
They had the entire archives ready to go. Huge library ships, bigger even than the Venlil ships-of-the-line. They damn near cracked the crust during the launch.
They distracted the hunters enough for us to slip past the battle and gun it to safety. We shared the location of the nearest way station with the Farsul. We'll use it as a rally point. Wait for a week, and if they don't show up we'll just run.
They had some of the Farsul librarians join our little fleet. A fail-safe in case the main fleet didn't get through. One of them's assigned to my ship. Funny guy, went by the name of Moment. I think we'll get along.
…
Date [standardized human time]: September 2nd, 1974
The way station's gone.
…
Date [standardized human time]: September 7th, 1974
We hung around until the Farsul got here. While we waited we tried to figure out what to do. The way station was gone, and their maps were gone with them. We could trace our arrival, get back home the way we came, but it'll be a long journey. Damn Admiral Popov, I knew he shouldn't have made so many detours.
Explained Cuba to the human crew today. Said the whole thing was Selvim's unilateral decision. He makes a convenient scapegoat now that he's gone. It's what Sam would've done. Hell, it's what Selvim would've done. Selvim, he never shied away from claiming responsibility. If only he were here, he'd have us home in no time flat.
…
Date [standardized human time]: September 8th, 1974
The Farsul made it. Their library ships, at least; from what I can tell their escorts were almost gone. We all formed up together and our astrogators traced our way back the way we came. Might as well check on the other way stations. We don't know what'll happen if we just jumped straight to Earth. Venlil ships don't have windows for good reason.
…
Date [standardized human time]: September 15th, 1974
All the other way stations are gone too. We're on our own. Still coming back the way we came. We're thinking of just gunning it back home. Doing one big jump instead of the hops we've been doing.
…
Date [standardized human time]: September 20th, 1974
Docked with the Vanguard today. Cited several problems with flickering lights reported to me by the crew. Admiral Popov assigned five Dossur engineers to my ship to rectify the problem. They twitch and spasm far too much. I've never seen any of them take off their suits.
Now that you mention it, where'd Popov get his hands on Dossur? Must've picked them up at Mileau.
…
Date [standardized human time]: November 6th, 1974
We should be home by now. Why are we not home yet?
…
Date [standardized human time]: November 7th, 1974
Security reported Arxur runes painted on the bulkheads in the engineering deck. I asked engineering for an explanation. They said the Dossur engineers did it. The Dossur engineers told me the supercapacitor was feeling underrepresented and wanted a good luck charm to make it feel better. The lights don't flicker anymore.
…
Date [standardized human time]: November 15th, 1974
Multiple crew, me included, reported mild nausea and a buzzing sound in our ears. I know this to be associated with a malfunctioning flux capacitor, which is part of our FTL systems. I asked engineering to fix the flux capacitor. They didn't know what I was talking about. I showed them the ship's technical manual and pointed to the flux capacitor. A human piped up. "Oh, you mean the gellar field generator." I've never heard of a gellar field generator in my life.
…
Date [standardized human time]: November 16th, 1974
The fleet huddles together, like a herd. We should be comforted by the closeness, but we're not. What are we hunkering down for? What prowls the edges of our radar screens? We know somehow that it's not nothing.
…
Date [standardized human time]: November 16th, 1974
Maintenance spacewalk today. Routine. Double-checked headcount afterwards. We don't worry about missing crew, we worry about having more crew than we began with.
…
Date [standardized human time]: November 20th, 1974
We found a wreck today. It was ancient and bulbous, drifting in the dark. It was a primitive craft, probably made by some long-dead pre-uplift civilization. The humans turned white when they saw it. "Soyuz," they whispered.
…
Date [standardized human time]: November 21st, 1974
There is no sun. That craft had solar panels on it. We haven't seen a star in weeks.
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Date [standardized human time]: December 25th, 1974
The humans celebrate a holiday today, a bacchanal to commemorate an ancient prophet. The air stinks of charred flesh.
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Date [standardized human time]: December 31st, 1974
Another human celebratory rite. The filter systems run at maximum capacity today. We still can't get rid of the smell.
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Date [standardized human time]: February 4th, 1975
Our larder was stocked for about four months' traveling; we predicted a two month journey. We should've run out of food a month ago but the stocks look as full as ever. Where is our food coming from?
…
Date [standardized human time]: February 6th, 1975
A space suit appeared at the airlock, begging to be let in. He said he was Kam and was almost out of air. Kam was already at the navigation desk. He's never gone outside for any reason before. I tried to ignore the screaming.
…
Date [standardized human time]: March 7th, 1976
It's been a year, a month and a day since my last entry. I don't see the point anymore.
Nobody leaves their beds now. I can't remember the last time I've eaten. It must've been recent. I don't feel hungry, and I haven't died yet. The ship continues in its way, and time marches on.
…
Date [standardized human time]: July 20th, 1976
The clocks are moving faster
Date [standardized human time]: September 11th, 2001
Date [standardized human time]: July 9th, 2136
Date [standardized human time]: January 1st, 2557
Date [standardized human time]: September 9th, 9999
Time doesn't matter anymore, does it? I stopped believing in the clock a long time ago. Some ridiculous date nobody can check.
I tried walking the halls today. I felt tired, but that was it. They were clean. The whole ship was clean. But nobody's been cleaning. The ship's been quiet for what the clock says is centuries.
I can see why the humans used to put windows on their ships. Without windows, the entire universe is relegated to these twisting halls and empty rooms. I could've been born here. I might die here.
Somehow, I don't think I'll die. Something tells me I’ll just endure.
Forever.
…
Memory transcription subject: Commander Veln, USS Strength of Walls
Date [standardized human time]: November 27th, 1974
We made it. Our fleet landed near the Pluto interstellar port without even a pop. There was none of the jostling and shocks usually associated with landing after a jump. It was quite smooth, actually. The only error was that we landed on the opposite side of where we were supposed to be. Pluto obstructed our view of the port station, but that was fine. We could simply transfer around to it later. For now, we were home.
But something was wrong. The comm channels were inundated with traffic, far too much talking for lonely Pluto. Not to mention it was using Venlil encryption protocols, which were entirely separate from the joint UN-Venlil ones. I tapped into the traffic to see what was going on.
Governor Sam's voice spoke into my headset. He was more agitated than I'd ever seen him.
"-to immediately withdraw. Do not engage any human fleets. You are to report to Mercury for further orders."
"But Admiral Banlek said-"
"Admiral Banlek is under arrest for treason. Report to Mercury now. That's an order."
A second voice, different from Sam and the first ship, joined in.
"We cannot do so, Governor. What if the humans go on the attack? We’d be completely exposed!”
"That is irrelevant, Captain. There is an emergency. I need all of you recalled."
"And what about you, Governor?" The second voice seemed strained, scared even, but determined. Whoever was behind it, he was going a long way for his beliefs. "You have been governor for too long. You've endangered Venlil sovereignty and consorted with predator species." He practically spat out that last word. "Now you order me to stand down let monsters into our midst. I cannot stand for this. Sir."
Sam let out an exasperated sigh and cut comms. My sensors officer ran up to me seconds later: friendly ships opening fire in the vicinity. On each other.
For a moment the silence was only punctuated by a strident beeping, which I took a while to realize was an incoming call from Admiral Popov. I had the comms officer put him on screen.
Admiral Popov looked worse for wear, his face drawn; our station-less jump straight to Sol took a lot out of us, Popov included. "Veln. You're our contact with the Venlil Navy. What's going on out there? I've got several friendlies… engaging each other."
My ears lowered and I rubbed my eyes. This was going to be a tiring next few months.
"I think that this is the beginning of civil war."
Posted Jul 29, 2024, 3:07 AM UTC