CHAPTER 18 - RECOVERY

DATE POINT: APRIL 1ST, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL

COMMANDER RICARDO ALVAREZ

Forty-six hours without major incident. An accomplishment that had felt like a dream these past chaos ridden months. He had even been able to devote an entire eight hour rest shift to sleep! Not that his active mind had allowed him to take full advantage. It felt strange, the relative peace, itself a curious admission about the chaotic state of their existence.

“Something doesn’t feel right. I keep waiting for something to happen. Aside from the odd behavioral incident, its been suspiciously quiet. I don’t like it.” Alvarez complained.

“Only you could complain about the quiet calm after your victory, boss. I’m telling you, not everything is a prelude to the next catastrophe.” Lance replied with a smirk.

“Let the man be, Blackford. Stop trying to fix him, those very instincts saved our asses more times than I care to count.” Lucas sniped, mirth in his eyes.

“Sticking together saved our asses. But yes, I agree that something does feel a bit off. I simply contend that it has more to do with us getting used to life onboard this ship going insane. We should enjoy this peace rather than question it.” Lance replied.

“We did win, after all. Relative peace is supposed to follow the ends of periods of conflict.” Victor added in, sagely.

“Look at this guy, spends a few hours a day researching history and now he’s a philosophical guru.” Lucas quipped, rolling his eyes.

“At least I am expanding my knowledge. The muscle that doesn’t get worked withers away to weakness. I treat my brain like my brawn these days.” Victor said, flexing his enormous biceps. “But you know all about that already with how often you skip leg day.”

“Still plenty strong enough to drag your ass off the battlefield the other day.” Lucas snapped back with a smirk.

Alvarez had been chuckling along, but now he was getting interested in who would win this little friendly sparring match.

“I walked it off after that little love tap, you just helped me up. Way to invent a savior role for yourself, drone boy.” Victor retorted.

“Oh, and you think that I would have been able to figure out how to signal divert and seize control of a captured alien ship with just my drone flying skills huh?” Lucas sneered.

“Quan-Tech Industries provided the adaptive virus program; you merely came up with the idea to ask for it. We're not rehashing this old conversation again, grandpa, you didn’t invent the internet here. If anything, it’s just one more sign your old ass needs to retire.” Victor laughed.

“Pot, kettle, black! Your hair is turning silver!” Lucas yelled.

“At least I have all of mine.” Victor replied, leaning in.

“Yeah, mostly on your back! Face it, Vic, you're getting old too.”

“I never fought the concept, I actually never expected to live this long. Why do you think I spend so much time on self-improvement? Might as well make the most of whatever short bit of life I have left. Even then, pushing forty isn't exactly old, I just never expected to survive as many field ops as we have.” Victor replied with a self-satisfied smile.

“Morbidly wholesome, Victor, we will survive a good many more before our time is done. I know that you all love to shit talk in good fun, but let’s stow the sniping for now. We have been called here today for an important reason.” Lance said with a nod towards Alvarez.

“The decision has been made that you three will be forward deployed along with Karst, Ariana, and Jenkins to the Fist of the Argonauts once we return to real space. Because they are also equipped with an Inversion drive, they can scout ahead and operate independently as well as return quickly via in-system FTL without any concern to any of that heliopause weirdness. That means the Fist of the Argonauts will act as our forward scout ship while the Indomitable Will works on creating and fortifying an asteroid base."

He gave a moment for the news to settle in and to watch their faces before he continued. "Most important though, I need you all to keep a close eye on both Karst and the crew of the Fist of the Argonauts. We have no reason to suspect any trouble with them, but I expect you all to report back any hint of it to me anyway." Alvarez said.

"I've met a lot of them, I always got the sense they were a lot of damn fine professionals it seemed, at least at the time. Paul is a bit of a wild card still, I don't exactly trust anyone who inserts themselves into a position of power the way he did. This whole operation is an intelligence op, and he is cut from that cloth so he is obviously here to keep an eye on us too. The whole situation stinks to high heaven." Lance said.

"Agreed. Seems that we are going to have to watch the watcher then." Victor said.

Alvarez chuckled, it felt good to have them all reunited at the same time in the same place once more. Yet here he was forced to order them away again, but the situation demanded it. He trusted Lance, he didn’t trust Karst, and the fact that Lance technically out-ranked Karst would be a useful tool to be held in reserve. Regardless, Lance would be in position to be their new field ops commander if Karst were to tragically get himself killed, if only they were able to get so lucky.

“Right, clearly you get the picture. Shit!” Lance almost lost his balance as the ship dodged hard to port. Everyone who had remained on their feet before were thrown by another hard swerve right after to starboard.

“Two more weeks and we can finally leave FTL. Just two more weeks.... Anyway, unless there are any other questions, you lot are dismissed. Lance, you stay behind.” Alvarez said. Both Victor and Lucas shook their heads and left the room without delay.

“I’ll keep them in line, don’t you worry about that, sir. I’ll also keep Karst on a short leash as well, make it clear early on that I am an eternal part of the command loop.” Lance said.

“Might as well make it official, I can have Henry order Paul to defer to your authority in major decisions as a check on his power. That way the weasel can feed you ideas to salvage into a working plan once things inevitably go to shit rather than to allow him to get the impression that he is the sole authority.” Alvarez said.

“You really think that would make a difference? The only word he respects aside from his own is that of HighComm.” Lance replied.

“Sure as shit ain’t getting them involved in this.” Alvarez laughed.

“Don’t worry sir, I’ll make him listen to me, whatever it takes. This isn't a one man show.” Lance said with a smile.

“Perfect. If it comes down to Henry’s orders and Paul’s orders conflicting in the field, I am sure you know whose orders to take?” Alvarez said with narrowed eyes.

“I know who I take orders from, Sir.” Lance replied.

“Never doubted it, as a practical man I needed to get ahead of it. Karst going off on some strange power trip is a practical inevitability, and once he does we can likely remove his power. Unfortunately, his connections go to the very top and he's made himself effectively untouchable until then.”

“Are you implying that he is a future threat?” Lance looked pensive.

“I wouldn’t go quite that far, at least not yet. I trust your judgement over his any day of the week. Especially when it comes to decisions risking the lives of our marines.” Alvarez replied.

“Think he is too green?”

“No, you can tell he has seen his fair share of combat missions, though perhaps he's too inexperienced as a commander. How thick the fighting in any particular engagement may have been, who knows. What we can be reasonably sure about is that he has seen combat. He projects a persona that would imply he'd have a reasonable grasp on strategy based on the limited evidence available. Based upon my read of him, every action is an angle, and every person a pawn. People’s lives don’t have inherent value outside of the ways in which they are useful. Such people are dangerous when given power over other people’s lives like that.” Alvarez noted with a morose tone.

“Reading you loud and clear. I’ll keep an eye on him, hopefully keep him from making any truly stupid or rash decisions with the lives of our men.”

“I'll be counting on you for that. The captain has already somewhat placed himself in that spot as check on Paul's power, but if he is to remain on the ship. With Karst nominally in charge while forward deployed, you might have to be the one who will have to enforce the captain’s will.” Alvarez said slowly, emphasizing the importance.

“I understand, furthermore, it will be my pleasure.” Lance grinned.

"Perfect."

MEANWHILE…

DATE POINT: APRIL 1ST, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)

LOCATION: SOL SYSTEM, ABOARD UTRN INDOMITABLE WILL

LIEUTENANT PAUL KARST

It was such a pleasant feeling to float down the river, bathed in the glow of the glittering nightscape that he could almost ignore the whispers scratching at the edge of his perception. He felt so serene, it was hard to focus on associating himself, so he gave into the sensation of floating as if on the surface of a vast cosmic river. Around him his memories played snapshots of critical moments on loop, churning up the waters though he felt no threat from the whirlpools they seemed to disappear into. The voices reacted to the memories in real time, speaking in unintelligible tongues yet undeniably spouting malice and scorn, or amusement and approval. Memories at the periphery, drained and hollow, slowed their repetitions and dissipated into the waters as he passed.

At some point, as his awareness blossomed and the haze faded it was replaced by bubbling unease as the tone of the whispers changed. Paul struggled mightily against the current, all pleasant feelings gone. The current rushed headlong downwards now, the starry sky occluded by great storming clouds of orange and red gases. Bright orange lights by the dozens began a swirling orbit around him. The scratchy voices grew louder in crescendo as the orbs surrounding him morphed into flaming eyes and back to orbs again with a rhythmic pattern. Finally, the noise coalesced into a deep and scratchy, but still understandable voice which began to speak in a familiar halting cadence.

BE NOT AFRAID… WE HAVE GLIMPSED YOUR HISTORY… WE JUDGE YOU… WORTHY OF WISDOM… EASE YOUR MIND… THIS PROCESS IS… NECESSARY… YOU DESIRE… OUR POWER STILL… THIS WE SENSED WHEN LAST WE MET... CALM YOURSELF MORTAL… OUR COVENANT PROTECTS YOU… OUR PROMISE IS SACROSANCT… OUR WISDOM… FROM YOUR LIPS WILL FLOW… OUR AID… IN ALL THINGS… SHALL YOU KNOW… TO FEED ON HUMAN EMOTION IS OUR PRICE… REST… SLEEP… RECOVER… WE GROW STRONG TOGETHER… REMEMBER OUR COVENANT… PROTECT ITS SECRET… SOON YOU WILL REMEMBER... SOON... THE INTEGRATION WILL BE COMPLETE...

The fog around him thickened before light invaded his perception as he felt his awareness be drawn back to the waking world. Someone was pounding on his door. Paul shook himself out of the groggy state he was in after that strange dream, already fading from his memory as he zipped himself into his BDU’s.

“I’m coming, quit banging on my door already!” Paul called out. He then opened the door to find Jenkins and Ariana holding a mess hall tray with food. It was generally frowned upon to take food from the mess, but Paul's stomach was eating itself so he wasn't complaining.

“Well. Look who’s finally awake!” Ariana said with mock sweetness, “Twelve hours! I wish I could afford to sleep in like that.”

Paul looked over for his alarm clock and realized that it wasn’t in its normal spot. A quick glance around the room later, he found it in pieces, smashed against the back wall of the room. Ariana followed his eyes and raised an eyebrow.

“I suppose that’s one way to snooze your alarm.” Ariana snarked.

“The hell? I don’t remember doing that…” Paul asked.

“Yeah, Paul, what’s going on man? You have been extra grumpy, sleeping in crazy late, always tired. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were on drugs! Or depressed. Do you need a hug?” Jenkins asked.

“Okay, dad, I think we all know that’s ridiculous, but Preston makes a good point, nonetheless. We came to check on you and to bring you food; vat meat Stroganoff!”

“Oh, I can’t wait.” Paul said drily. “Thank you though, I could definitely eat. The migraines and exhaustion are still a daily problem, but I feel pretty good right now so hopefully that’s a positive sign."

“Definitely, If anything you tend to skimp on the self-care, hence why I was so concerned with you sleeping half your days away. It's not like you, even when you need to recover.” Ariana said as she unpacked their meal and began to portion it out.

“Something tells me that the worst is behind me. So long as Jenkins refrains from giving me a migraine we should be golden.” Paul said with a smirk as he accepted a plate.

“I don’t know man, with how tender your delicate sensibilities have been lately, that might be impossible to avoid.” Jenkins laughed.

“You better watch it, Preston, or he’s gonna make you regret it later in training.” Ariana said with a smirk.

“Nah, maybe I’ll just space him and solve my long term headache issues once and for all.” Paul said, smiling.

“No, he stays. I would miss him too much, plus then I would be left with you.” Ariana replied

“Really, you’d miss me?” Jenkins replied

“Don’t ride your flag up the pole over there about it, I would mostly miss having the buffer against Paul’s stubbornly annoying side.” she shot back with a smile.

Jenkins looked hurt for a second like he was going to say something before he thought better of it. Paul felt an internal burst of pleasure at seeing the dejection on Jenkins' face. Something tugged at the back of his mind once more, but it still felt foggy, impossible to remember, so Paul let it be. He still had plenty of time to figure it out. Whatever it was that his brain was trying to remember couldn't be that important. If it was, it would probably come to him at some random time later anyway.

Paul grabbed his spork and dug in.