ARRIVAL- Chapter One: A New Life
30 Jun 2017Tranquil (BORGGY)
I
All was a blurry haze amidst a montage of sparks and crackling fire with the only thing he could distinctly hear was the high-pitched alarm. This drowned out everything he could hear until a set of muffled voices are picked up from the other side of the door.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The door eventually gives way and opens allowing three people inside, one rushes for him whilst the other two spray the fires to ease them down as it is impossible to put them completely out in the ships current state. Clearing some of the fire uplifts his vision letting him see at a sharper level, however, his ears are still ringing. The man in front tending to his wounds looks at him through a black visor. Pressing a button on his wrist-pad the visor becomes crystal clear, seeing the man’s face, a familiar one. A face he hasn’t seen for years.
“Everything will be ok, brother...”
**********
Joe sends his fingers across the system panel glancing at system names trying to find the one he needs to go to. A sigh slips out from between his parted lips as he does this, disassociated from whatever is happening around him. Yet he brings his attention back round to the canopy and gazes upon a barren red-orange world known as Artemis 4, nothing too spectacular.
“How can you still miss that piece of rock, Joe?” a clear-speaking, rich-toned, cold and digital voice says. He continues to gaze upon it for a moment and then turns away.
“That piece of rock is somebody’s home, Ali”
“Human emotions are very strange, so illogical”, she remarks.
“You know why I still visit this place Ali, you know, my mother is alone and someone has to check in on her every once in a while”
“When are you going to move her to Laphria?”
He raises an eyebrow at the question and looks around his Viper MKIV class vessel. “You already know that...”
“When you have enough money”
Joe nods his head and then asks, “What’s the matter?”
“Pardon??” she blurts, sounding offended.
Joe remains silent, giving it a minute, and then she replies.
“I despise days of not being fully active in our duties, I need some new data to analyze at least just to keep my processors going”
“We have an itchy AI in here”, Joe smirks and chuckles.
Then the man wonders about the data they collected back four days ago, and that was a tonne of data, logs, images, ship details etc.
“So you’ve analyzed all that info we got off from that old man??”
“Records from the Asp Explorer designated Travellers Dream owned and commanded by Mathias Reacher, born 6th January 2900 and died on 24th June
3303”
“Yeah that one”, Joe confirms, and then Ali out of the blue begins to whistle.
“Already done, his scans upon multiple worlds throughout the galaxy is interesting and his encounters with the Thargoids was traumatising. These battles he described were horrific and the sights, terrifying”
Joe reminisces his moments with the old man on New Africa in the Epsilon Indi star system, the pair enjoyed watching Mitterand Hollow (the planet’s moon) soaring above that takes zero days to orbit. It was a grand anomaly to witness. They stood on a beach next to one another and Joe remembers their conversation, about the present and future.
**********
Mathias turns away from the raging moon and looks upon Joe, a young lad, so very young and full of life with plenty of opportunities; as well as decisions to make. Perhaps choices that he himself should have made, yet it is too late now as the final rhythms of his heart near the end. He has lived for too long and is content to meet the embrace of death.
“I appreciate you for not hiding your face, considering most INRA operatives who love to be shrouded in shadow”
This man’s voice resonated heavily and when Joe turns to inspect him all he sees is a mid-aged looking man, certainly not 403 years old???
Why isn’t this man well known?
Disbelief possibly as the galaxy is a big place and Humanities bubble is full of drama that sweeps away the masses. Who would even believe this guy to be that old when Joe sees a middle-aged man? A hundred years old then it may be more believable, for example, Edmund Mahon the Alliance Prime Minister, Senator Zemina Torval of the Empire and Li Yong-rui CEO of the Sirius Corporation.
It may well be the fact that Mathias has primarily kept to himself over time and not flounced towards the media. Regardless of any such evidence to support this it has not hindered Mathias to perform his passions and he has preferred it this way.
“Are you really...”
“Four-hundred and three years old...yes”, he affirmed, and casted his eyes over the glistening sea.
“Why did you contact INRA?”
“Ohh, you know, just to say thanks for the heart and to give me a send-off”, the man smiled at Joe and then said, “That device on your wrist can interact with INRA tech, right?”
Joe stared at him and knew what he was implying, “That’s old tech though”
“True, but it can still interact with it by tapping into the encoded signature, all it needs is an INRA number or set of numbers for it to recognise and then you’re in”
“How do you know?”
“By knowing my own heart, kid!” The man laughed.
Then he moved closer to Joe and placed a hand on the man’s shoulder, he said, “I also want to mention...cause I know they’re watching us, I want them to know as well as you, that now that the Thargoids are back. You give those bugs hell. They’ll take away everything dear to you just like my wife, Elaine, ok?”
Tears formed in the man’s sunken eyes and he pulled Joe closer and placed his other hand upon Joes other shoulder.
“Take my ship, it’s already set up for a new owner. Take the data, logs, credits- I’m sure INRA will help with that. Now come on get on with it”
“You entrust all of this with me?” Joe was scared.
“It has to be somebody, right?”
Minutes passed as Joe had fixed his eyes into the sand and only a gust of wind brought him back. He tapped on his wrist-pad and found a nearby INRA component and when he selected it Mathias started to head for the sea. The tired old man dragged his feet till they met with the washing of waves. He inhaled and exhaled like he had all of the time in the universe.
“Ready”, said Joe, who could hardly believe he was about to kill a man for the first time.
“Remember what I told you”, was the last thing he said and then started out towards the sea. Joe hovered his finger over an option with the word in capitals, DISABLE.
With a dab from Joe’s fingertip the machine did its work and Mathias’s heart was turned off. The man felt the hum of the instrument wither and all the cogs went quiet. All the burdens throughout time seemed to lift all at once and he felt lighter, then, he fell.
The hands of the sea took the man away from the shore and into its abode, and drifted elegantly. For an hour Joe watched.
A thought erupted that still rattles his brain at present.
I wonder what my life would be like if I had just walked away from INRA
