Banishment

Awakening

The Minerva space station spun in the void; what lights remained flickered in the darkness of space. It was a relic of the now-defunct space program, forced to function until its objective was completed. It was one of the few stations that still relied on centrifugal force for its artificial gravity, having never been fitted with a gravity generator. It was small compared with the new space stations, only capable of housing 100 in total, not that it ever had that many. Its inhabitants a small group of researchers and a skeleton crew of support staff.

Thomas laid in bed; his eyes closed. A being appeared, she was covered in dark flames. They crawled across her body, setting her alight. He could smell her flesh sizzling, see it blackening. She stared directly at him; her hand stretched out for help. But he couldn't move, just able to watch her burn to death. Hundreds of alien beings surrounded her in a vast circle, chanting something out of earshot. One stood in front of her wearing a pure white robe, he held up a stone of some kind. It was covered in intricate carvings which glowed red as he held it higher. She screamed as her body turned to ash. The robed figure turned to face me and placed a finger to his lips.

I forced my eyes open. The heating had gone off again, adding to the chill of the cold sweat I'd woke up in. It'd be back on eventually. I laid in my bed; the covers pulled up to my chin. The glare of two suns cast a faint light through the small gaps of my blinds. I could hear the buzz and whirring machinery as I awoke. I pulled my arm up towards me, 5:10 was displayed on the Personal Display Device implanted in my arm. There was barely enough room for a bed and a small cupboard. I had to crouch whenever I entered my room, old standards, I guess. It would never be allowed today, not with the Human League in power. Pity the station had been built before then.

My shift started in two hours; it was pointless trying to sleep in this cold. I'd worked at Minerva as security for the last five months. I'd been told tales as a child about how space was a new frontier, how it was just waiting to be explored by humanity, how there would be enough wealth and adventures for everyone. But this wasn't true; there wasn't much out here, just emptiness. There was no opportunity for people like me. The 'normal people' were left behind as usual. You needed a lot of credits to achieve anything of any note. And I didn't earn many working here.

I pulled myself out of bed and pressed the small switch on the wall. My bed was dragged away by the hissing machinery. A small dull metallic toilet, sink and shower rose through the floor in its place. I walked into the shower shivering as the countdown began. I could smell the chlorine in the air as hot water trickled out.

'30!' The robotic voice shouted.

'29!'

I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensation of warmth. The water shipment had been late this month; they had been getting later and later every month. Probably striking again, typical Earthers. They didn't realise how good they had it.

Ten seconds left.

'Five!'

Then it stopped, my time was up, a quick blast of hot air dried me. I stepped out of the shower and pressed the button again. My bathroom disappeared, replaced with a large set of drawers going across the whole wall. I pulled my uniform out of the drawers: black trousers, black shoes, a shirt and my firearm. I didn't see why I needed a gun on a space station this size. Most of the crime here was people stealing lunches. I once spent a month investigating who committed this grievous crime to find all the lunches in the freeze unit. I never found out who did it. But the director insisted that I always carried a gun. Something to do with a potential security risk to the station. Pirates, I guess. Though if they came, we were all screwed anyway; one gun wouldn't do anything.

I stepped out of my cabin into the hallway. The lights flickered into life, detecting my presence. It was silent; only my footsteps broke the silence as I walked towards my office. I was lucky that it was so close to my cabin, it beat walking up ten flights of stairs anyway. Not like the lifts were reliable. I walked inside and flicked on the coffee dispenser. Hot coffee immediately poured into the waiting cup and was placed onto the table. My office was a decent size; it had been designed for a much larger team. I was the only member of security left due to the budget cuts. I slowly drank my coffee and scrolled through the messages on my PDD, just the usual rubbish. Spam mostly. You've won a prize, or you've been selected for something—all just trying to make me feel special. I knew I was nothing special. I clicked delete all and walked over to the nearby window. Most had been bolted up years ago due to damage. I was lucky to still have a window.