Time is relative.
Or at least that’s was what Lieutenant Antony Altman told himself. When you’re stuck in space in this cramped little vessel, time really mattered little.
These were the typical morning thoughts the Lieutenant kept to himself as he begrudgingly sipped his morning coffee. He and the doctor, Doctor Frederick Wright often shared their mornings, or rather, what he could only guess was “morning,” in this routine of mutual silence. The pair sat in the cramped quarters, the doctor usually looking at charts and writing something incomprehensible to the lieutenant while the lieutenant simply drank the watery, tasteless brown liquid.
This wouldn't be bad if it wasn't for the fact that all the coffee was decaf, he thought to himself.
The doctor got up and walked out, leaving the lieutenant to his thoughts. They’d been cramped there for presumably half a year by now according to the vessels time. The lieutenant fidgeted his hands, sighing through his nose as he looked down at his now near empty cup. This is going to be another one of those long days.
I’m not even sure why I’m here, me of all people sent simply as “protection.” I don’t really bring anything to this expedition; I’m not as inclined to science as the doc is… he mused to himself for a minute, staring off into nothing in particular. His vision fixed on a spot on the wall and blurred as he thought to himself.
I’m just a combat vet, I shouldn’t even be here. I didn’t even ask I was simply voluntold, probably because the others had families to go home to. The lieutenant lifted his left hand to cover his left eye. He felt the cloth bandage that covered over the eye and his burn scarred skin, still sensitive even behind the bandage.
That and…
….
“Altman… Altman…ALTMAN.”
The lieutenant jumped in his seat, looked nervously around before meeting eyes with the doc, a look of concern adorning his face.
“I was…”Lieutenant Altman started.
“You were doing it again,” the doc responded.
Lieutenant Altman breathed out a long sigh. The doc walked over and placed his hand over his shoulder.
“C’mon, we’re getting closer. I wanted to show you something.”
Lieutenant Altman got up and followed the doc to the pilot deck. Doctor Wright motioned his finger to a seemingly golf ball sized form coming up the left of the view.
“That’s our destination!” The doc exclaimed, a look of pride in his eyes. “Centrus I, we call it, the only known planet we’ve found that we suspect supports life other than our own. It was discovered some twenty years ago by one of our passing probes and the data collected seemed to suggest that it was habitable.”
The lieutenant put on a smile for the doc. I should probably be more optimistic about this than I actually am.
Doctor Wright then pointed off towards a bright sparkle further off in the distance. “That’s the star it orbits. According to our speculations, we suspect this system may in fact be around the same age as our own.”
The docs banter was lost on lieutenant Altman. He simply smiled and nodded to look encouraging. It wasn't so much that he couldn't understand the depth of what they were witnessing; it simply just mattered little to him.
What really bothered the lieutenant in fact were the terms of their voyage. Earth technology had made great advances over the courses of time from the first moon landing. But this trip was one way, and he was very much aware of that.
Advances unfortunately hadn’t given the scientists back home an idea of how to get them back, and their best answer was to just “wait it out.”
Waiting… The prospect of potentially being alone on a strange planet was unnerving, making the lieutenant feel a lump deep in his chest just thinking about it.
Not that there’s much to go back to, he reminded himself. He thought of his empty apartment back in the Loslo. He wasn’t sure which he preferred, strange new world or his barren dwelling back on Earth.
“I’m expecting we’ll be coming into orbit within forty-eight hours,” the doc stated. “make some preparations in the meantime, we should be hitting ground shortly after.”
“Will do,” lieutenant Altman replied. “I’m going to get some rest before I start packing. You really ought to send HQ a complaint about the lack of caffeine in the coffee.”
Doctor Wright let out a chuckle. “I’ll think about it.”
Lieutenant Altman sat by his bunk in the cramped little room. He sorted through the gear and supplies allotted to him by the agency and loaded up his expedition pack that stood a good four feet high, laden with straps practically everywhere .He suspected that given the size, it would closely weigh in at around his own weight once he packed everything, so he took special care to leave out anything he felt unnecessary.
Packing took less time than the lieutenant expected. He looked over his work, the pack was bulging in its various compartments, he strapped a two man tent to the top and his all-weather sleeping bag he fastened to the bottom along with two filled canteens to the sides and a filled, built in bladder on the inside. The way HQ had put it, they suspected that after time, he and the doc would have to eventually forage for food, which the lieutenant had no problem with. His time with the UN Special Operations unit had taught him plenty in the ways of surviving. The thought of brushing up on his skills cheered him up some as he turned and crouched to fit the thick arm straps over his shoulders. He brought his arms through the straps, tightening their slack some to rest them more firmly over his shoulders then lifted up with his knees. The weight was noticeable but not enough to bother him. He tightened the shoulder straps more, then fixed his waist strap so that it fit tightly, allowing some of the weight to rest above his hips.
Perfect, he thought to himself as he again, lowered his body down by his knees and freed himself from the pack. He turned to his locker and opened it to find his pistol and holster lying next to the butt of his assault rifle. The lieutenant lifted the assault rifle out and sat, laying it down on his lap. He pulled out a small metal pole from inside his locker and tapped at the pins that held the weapon together, parting it into two pieces. He pulled back the charging handle to release the bolt some, removed it, and lightly inspected it as he had done several times out before of boredom.
Still clean, he thought to himself as his thumb ran up the sides of the bolt, feeling the lubrication before feeding it back into the chamber. He put the two halves of the rifle back together, pushing the pins in to lock them in place before setting it back in his locker. Lieutenant Altman then shoved his pack against the locker, leaning it back so that it rested in place. Scooting backwards in his bunk he rested himself, slumped back with this head barely resting against the wall while his legs and part of his torso hung out over the mattress. His eyes trailed lazily along the opposite wall, noting nothing of interest before slinging his legs sideways into the bunk.
He shifted over onto his side and pulled himself over some, touching his forehead slightly against the wall of his bunk, snuggling himself against it. He laid there a moment, thoughts trailing into nothing in particular, before shutting his eyes.
Author’s note: Oh lawd, another HIE. This is more of guilty pleasure writing as I’m attempting to brush back up on my skills. I’m not terribly great at being descriptive and you’ll probably notice that. I’m not expecting that this is going to take off by any means but it’s really here just for me anyway so I can get my ideas onto something. Enjoy it or don’t. Updates will probably be sparse as I am doing some school work while looking for a job, so don’t expect them often. I’ll write them when I can and when I can muster the motivation for it.
Also feel free to say something or drop a message, I don’t talk much but know that while I may not say something right away, that I’ll more than likely have gotten your message.
