HORIZON: The Fall

Chapter Two - Monologue (1)

Whoa, maybe that was just a tad bit too quick. Before you get to know about the war, you need a bit more information – about me, my mission, and what led to the whole war thing.

LOCATION: UNKNOWN, RIFT DRIVE ACTIVE

Space.

For eight years, I had been living in it, from the academy on Siberius to the Intrepid. I had grown from a scrawny, haunted child on Achilles to the First Officer of my own corvette – the Intrepid. The Captain of the vessel, Captain Swanson, was one of the best in the fleet – I had been lucky. For four years, I had slowly crawled up the ranks on the Intrepid until I finally became an officer. This was my second year as First Officer, and so far it had been going pretty well. For most of it, we had been assigned to an exploratory fleet, an easy assignment.

The blue, ghostly glow of rift-space that was now familiar to me surrounded the bridge. Closing my eyes, I remembered my first reaction to rift-space – I had fainted in excitement. Its blue swirling energy never failed to impress me. Hearing about it in school on Achilles, I could've never imagined that I would one day be flying amongst the stars. Even as a cadet, I was still amazed by the rift-space's vast beauty. The other cadets had simply rolled their eyes, most of them having traveled through the rift-space before – the rich snobs. They had no idea how privileged they were.

"Captain," the pilot said, bringing me back to reality, "we will exit rift-space in about five minutes."

"Thanks for the warning. Make sure our shields are up as soon as we exit. I don't want any surprises," Captain Swanson ordered.

Age had not taken the Captain lightly; he appeared much older than when I had first met him. His formerly graying hair was now stark white, a distinct contrast to his dark skin.

"Captain, may I speak to you in private for a moment?" I asked him quietly.

He nodded and led me back into the crew quarters behind the bridge. "What do you need, son?"

I inhaled deeply, not knowing how he would take the news. "Captain, you know how much I have enjoyed serving under you and I don't think that I could ever thank you enough for rescuing me on Achilles." I paused, not knowing how to say the words. "But..."

"But?" He raised his brows, prompting me to continue speaking. "Spit it out," he snapped, rather impatiently.

"But I... I have been offered command over a ship," I revealed slowly.

Surprise flashed across his face, followed instantly by pure joy. "This is great news! When do you take command?"

"Oh..." My brow furrowed in confusion. "You aren't upset?"

"Of course I'm not upset!" he exclaimed. "Why would I be upset? Now when are you taking command?"

"I'm actually supposed to be leaving at the end of this week, sir. The U.R.E. Portland, one of the new light frigates." I couldn't keep the excitement out of my voice.

"Alright. Let's discuss this after the mission, shall we?"

I nodded as we walked back out onto the bridge.

Almost on cue, the shipboard A.I. announced in its monotone voice, "Dropping out of rift-space."

"Alright, people," the Captain said as he stepped into the bridge, "let's get to work."

As the Intrepid continued on its voyage, going deeper and deeper still into the system, I couldn't help but think back to that day on Achilles, eight years ago...

LOCATION: ACHILLES (EPSILON SYSTEM)

Eight Years Ago...

All I wanted to do was leave.