The Hodkin Chronicles Part 3: A Broken Man
29 Dec 2016S. Hodkin
14th August 3300 - St Mary's Medical Facility, Stevenson Base, Beta HydriFifty days.. That's what I was told when I asked how long I'd been in a medically-induced coma, although it felt like a lifetime with the whole of it playing on a constant loop in my mind as I had no real sense of being. Now that I was awake, I felt a sense of.. less being, even as my eyes flickered open with my immediate family by my side, everything about me still felt.. Odd.
As soon as I opened my eyes, everything seemed a lot clearer than it did before, almost as if my previous slight myopia had vanished as if by some external force, and the reflection in the glass above my bed confirmed it, my irises were no longer the soft azure that they were prior to combat, they were now as if influenced by heterochromia, a matte silver with a distinctive azure hue around the pupils - ocular implants, there was no other way..
As soon as I noticed the breathing tube in my mouth I instinctively moved my arm to remove it before I gagged, but it felt lacking as I resorted to using my left arm to withdraw it instead. Only when full breathing control had restored did I look over to my right side while leaning on my left arm for support to sit myself up. My arm was devoid of anything below my elbow, a stump of all things. I knew I couldn’t feel it much while captive, but I didn’t think it was that serious.
How much of me was still, well, me?.. Unfortunately the first visitors to be received by my now aroused self were from Naval Command, the people I least wanted to see after coming out of a coma. Then before I knew it, I was handed 2 dataslates. The first was to be expected, the compiled report of combat. I knew that James was likely gone, and while it pained me, having had that knowledge before I was rescued was at least comforting that he had been killed before those bastards got to him - no ransom to be gained from a corpse.
As for Sun, sure I’d been held captive with her for those 2 days, but when I read what they’d done to her, the waterworks were unpreventable. A commanding officer in my squad maybe, but I had a lot of love for her above friendship to an extent. We were mutually agreed to remain friends for professional and other reasons, but we were close, almost like I am to my sisters..
I only glanced at the other dataslate as I collapsed and wept bitter tears as it was inevitable when all was said and done, a promotion collated with an honourable discharge from Federal Navy. Rank didn’t matter right now, I just wanted them to leave me alone, to grieve, to mourn, and to ask myself one question;
What’s the bloody point!?