Space Wars

Chapter No.1

Chapter No.1

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

- Revelation 19:19 -

It's nice to visit exciting new places and people, to see spectacular sights and events, to go where no man, or woman, has gone before and discover strange new civilizations, but it's good to be home. Even better, it's good to sleep in your own bed.

Both Marty and Angie were overcome with emotion when they saw sweet Mother Earth after months on the other side of the galaxy. The human home world hung in space like a refreshing oasis in a vast desert. Earth's blue oceans beckoned those who had been spawned from them. Humans and fish are inexorably drawn to water, and Earth is a planet of water.

Marty preferred beer.

"Welcome home, star travelers." The voice was unmistakably Arthur Wusserman's, civilian head of Space Command.

"Thank you," Angie replied. "Where do you want this boat parked?"

"Relax, Admiral. We'll take care of that."

"Come to a stop, Delphi. Maintenance power only."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty was impressed. "Wow! There are two Space Ports now. I see that Brian made it back okay, but where is the X-3002?"

"Something must have happened," Angie said. "Andriy never returned."

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

Angie stood up to address her crew. "All of you will have to go through security when you disembark. Your medical and biographical data will be downloaded and you will be issued security passes and assigned quarters. Be patient. Some of you may freak out station personnel, but they'll get used to you in time. Oh, and if anyone gives you a hard time, they'll have me to deal with."

When they entered Alpha Station, Angie and Marty were met by Arthur. "Welcome home," he said in a neutral voice. "I've scheduled a debriefing at 0800 tomorrow. That should give us time to go over your preliminary mission report."

"Why didn't Commander Leonenko come back to help us?" Angie asked.

Arthur's face muscles tightened and he looked around to see if anyone was listening. "I'm afraid that Andriy won't be going on any more missions. The X-3002 and the X-2002 were destroyed in a battle with a Dragon armada."

"Any survivors?" Marty asked.

Arthur bowed his head. "We don't know for certain. Some of them may have been captured."

Angie sighed. "Shit."

"That is not good," Marty said. "They could end up in a Dragon butcher shop."

"Look," Arthur said, holding a hand up. "We'll discuss this later. You two go get settled in. Oh, by the way, your quarters have been moved. They're at the end of the corridor now."

"Yes, sir," Marty said, saluting and wondering why they moved his quarters.

On the walk back to the elevators, Marty rubbed an exhausted hand over his face. "It'll be too late. They should send someone out right away."