Captains Without Honor
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“I was going to ask, how long has the ship been in this condition?” I asked. “But that’s a stupid question.” The answer came back from my implant: two days and four hours since the last maintenance check-up by our engineers. So much for their expertise!
And it wasn’t as if we had no other options; there were plenty of ships out here with crews who could do what needed doing. But they weren’t interested in helping us—they wanted more money than we’d be willing or able to pay them.
We might have been desperate enough, but not so desperately that we would’ve paid any ransom demanded by pirates. For one thing, those bastards didn’t seem like the type to take prisoners unless absolutely necessary…and even then only after extracting every ounce of information possible from all victims before killing them.
That said, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the crewmembers aboard the other freighters who hadn’t yet found themselves on the business end of a pirate attack. If these guys turned up at some point, chances are good they wouldn’t survive whatever happened next. My guess is someone else will get around to taking care of them eventually.
The problem was, I knew exactly where those ships were located now because I’d just seen several of ’em myself while scanning ahead using an enhanced version of my eyesight.
Unfortunately, none of the vessels looked like candidates for rescue operations, which meant I still had little choice except to try and make contact with whoever owned the ships currently heading toward us. Maybe one of them would prove cooperative?
Or maybe they’d decide to board us instead and kill everyone onboard without bothering about payment first. In either case, I doubted anyone would come to our aid once the fighting started. Sure, the others may have tried to avoid getting involved when we encountered the pirates earlier, but I doubt many of them would risk their lives trying to save strangers today.
It seemed unlikely any would volunteer to give us assistance anyway; people tended to think pretty highly of themselves in general, and most felt entitled to keep everything they earned for themselves rather than sharing it with anybody else.
That attitude made me sick, especially considering how hard life can sometimes be. Not everybody gets rich off the backs of poor people, but you don’t need to look very far to find folks who’re happy to exploit those less fortunate. Even worse, some of them actually expect to be rewarded for acting like scum.
Life sure ain’t fair. What does surprise me is why so few people ever seem to see through such bullshit. Is it really too difficult to believe there’s more value in spreading the wealth around than hoarding it all yourself? Couldn’t there possibly be something wrong with that kind of thinking?
Why should somebody earn millions of credits over his lifetime only to die penniless? No matter how wealthy he was during his time alive, shouldn’t that person leave behind assets worth hundreds of billions of credits, assuming nothing went catastrophically wrong along the way?
Isn’t that better than dying broke and leaving your heirs with virtually no inheritance whatsoever? How did things go so badly awry between the haves and the have-nots? Who decided it was okay to turn decent human beings into selfish assholes?
As I pondered those questions, I kept watching the approaching ships. None appeared ready to stop and offer us anything resembling hope. They continued straight past us without showing any sign of recognizing our distress signal.
Which meant it was probably safe to assume nobody was coming to our rescue anytime soon…or ever again if history was any indication. All right, let’s say we got lucky and managed to convince one of the owners of those incoming ships to lend us a hand.
Would that mean we suddenly had access to a bunch of extra funds? Of course not. Instead, we’d be forced to share whatever resources became available with everyone else on the planet, including the pirates. Then what happens when another group of criminals decides to start raiding the same facilities?
Do they also deserve to live comfortably like everyone else? I’m guessing not, because sooner or later someone will figure out a way to eliminate both sides—the innocent civilians and the predators. There’ll always be bad guys looking for ways to hurt others, isn’t that obvious?
It doesn’t matter whether they’re operating alone or part of a criminal organization. Eventually, they’ll strike again until someone puts a stop to them permanently. Will that happen if we wait patiently for the authorities to step in? Doubtful.
More likely, someone will decide to take matters into his own hands, which means the situation will quickly escalate beyond his control. A lot of innocent bystanders will wind up dead, and the survivors will suffer greatly afterward. At least, that seems to be the pattern whenever one side takes action against the other.
All right, so maybe there are times when the government needs to intervene. But then, governments tend to get corrupted by power eventually as well. When do they finally realize they’ve become irrelevant? And how long must they remain powerless before realizing they can no longer afford to continue playing the game?
The world changes fast these days, yet somehow mankind has been able to adapt surprisingly well despite its shortcomings. We haven’t figured out how to prevent war from happening again after each conflict ends, though. Sooner or later, the cycle repeats itself, and the victims grow weary of waiting for justice. That’s usually enough motivation for them to resort to violence themselves.
I guess this whole discussion boils down to the fact that humanity never learns much of anything. Our species continues repeating the mistakes of the past even though we know perfectly well they won’t lead to positive results. If we want to survive, we need to change the way we operate as individuals and communities. Otherwise, we’re doomed to repeat the same old patterns forever. To put it bluntly, we need to evolve. Fast!
***
“What’s going on?”
The question came from my left at almost exactly the moment the ship shuddered violently beneath me. Instinctively, I grabbed hold of the nearest support beam to keep myself upright while trying to make sense of everything I could hear and feel.
Just seconds earlier, I’d seen two massive vessels heading toward us, but now it looked like one of them had changed direction abruptly. In fact, it seemed to be accelerating away from us at full speed instead. Had the pilot spotted us and realized we were just about to crash into him?
Or perhaps he’d simply noticed we weren’t involved in any kind of illegal activity and decided to ignore us completely? Either way, he obviously didn’t care that we might end up killing ourselves in the process. He wasn’t concerned with saving lives; he wanted to save himself first. Was that really an appropriate response to someone who’d come to help out?
Suddenly, the ship lurched forward once more, causing me to lose my balance and fall onto the deck. My head hit something solid before bouncing back upward unexpectedly due to the impact. Did that loud bang have something to do with all this?
Before I knew it, I found myself staring directly at the captain of the vessel that had turned around. His face was tense, and his eyes darted between the bridge window and the main console several times over. Were they checking to see where we were headed next? Maybe they expected us to try to escape or attack them in some way.
No, that couldn’t possibly be true. After all, we hadn’t done anything wrong. Not technically speaking, anyway. Still, I felt strangely uneasy sitting here under their intense scrutiny. Something told me they wouldn’t tolerate anyone interfering with their plans.
Even if they did manage to find a solution to our problems, would they actually follow through on it? How many people had suffered horribly thanks to similar promises made by strangers in the past? As far as I recall, most of them wound up regretting having trusted outsiders too easily.
What do you expect? Most of the time, they turn out to be nothing more than scoundrels hiding behind a veil of false kindness. They pretend to offer assistance without ever intending to fulfill those promises. Why should things be different now? This is the real world, not the fantasy realm inhabited by heroes and villains alike.
My thoughts drifted off somewhere else entirely, leaving me feeling disoriented. For a brief second, I wondered why I kept thinking about fictional stories instead of focusing on reality. Perhaps I ought to pay closer attention to what’s happening around me rather than letting my imagination run wild.
Unfortunately, that probably required a bit of effort on my part. It also meant taking responsibility for my own actions and making sure I understood precisely which choices led to better outcomes. Sadly, I still lacked the courage necessary to take such steps.
Instead, I focused on my surroundings and tried to figure out whether the other ships nearby might pose any danger. Judging by the size of their engines, none of them appeared capable of matching our speed of ours. At least, not unless they managed to catch up quickly.
Which apparently wasn’t likely given how rapidly the captain had accelerated following our near collision. A few moments passed, during which I heard another loud noise coming from outside. Was that… gunfire? Apparently, someone on board the smaller ship had fired upon us.
Fortunately, neither of the larger vessels took notice of the incident. Their crews continued working diligently on whatever tasks had brought them aboard in the first place.
That didn’t mean the situation was safe, however. The violent sound echoed throughout the ship, drawing everyone’s attention. Once again, the captain glanced nervously at his screen before looking straight ahead and tapping furiously across multiple buttons on his console.
That must’ve been when he finally discovered what had caused the problem. We’d collided with something large enough to leave a noticeable dent in the hull. Without warning, the crew members rushed toward the damaged area while shouting instructions to each other.
By then, the ship had already started moving backward, so they didn’t have to worry about getting caught in its wake. However, there remained the issue of repairing the damage. Could they fix it in time? Would they even bother doing anything at all?
Considering the lack of urgency displayed thus far, I doubted we stood much chance of receiving any meaningful aid. All we needed was a little luck—and maybe some divine intervention thrown in for good measure.
There was no telling how long it would take until the captain figured out what had happened and ordered his crew to begin repairs. Meanwhile, the ship continued drifting slowly downward. If only we could somehow get close enough to grab hold of the closest dock! Then we’d be able to spend the rest of our days relaxing in safety.
Who knows, maybe even form a friendship with one of these friendly locals. Or perhaps an alliance of sorts? In either case, being stranded in the middle of nowhere certainly sounded preferable to remaining trapped inside a giant metal box floating aimlessly above the ocean.
“Hey, are you listening?” asked Eris suddenly. “We’re going down!” She pointed her finger dramatically towards the water below. Although the distance separating us from the surface seemed small, the fact that we weren’t falling into the sea yet proved otherwise. On top of that, the captain had just come running over to stand beside me.
He looked troubled but determined like he intended to make sure everything went according to plan despite the obstacles placed in front of him. Hadn’t he promised to help us after all? So why did I feel so skeptical about the possibility of success? And what exactly was the point of keeping us alive if we were doomed to die here regardless of whether or not we succeeded? My mind raced, searching desperately for answers. Eventually, I fell silent once more.
The captain stared intently at the screen displaying the current course of the vessel. His movements slowed considerably, though he still moved forward whenever necessary. Finally, he stopped walking altogether and turned away from the display. “I can see the ground,” he announced calmly. “Our descent has halted.” He paused briefly before continuing, “However…”
His words trailed off for several seconds before he added, “…we appear to be stuck between two massive objects. I don’t know what they are, but judging by the way their surfaces reflect sunlight, I’m guessing they aren’t natural formations.
They seem too uniform, almost as if they’ve been created by some kind of machine. Regardless, they won’t let us through without a fight. Therefore, I need your assistance.”
He waited patiently for a response. When nobody spoke up, he sighed audibly before adding, “Are you all right with this, Mr. Gouran? Do you think you’ll be able to handle the task assigned to you?”
Of course, I wouldn’t say yes automatically. What sort of idiot do you take me for? Still, it’s hard to deny that things couldn’t be worse. Even if we manage to escape the ship intact, there’s no guarantee anyone will ever find us in time. Not unless we try to swim back home, anyway.
But who wants to go swimming when the alternative is spending eternity marooned in space? Besides, the thought of drowning made me queasy. After all, I hadn’t eaten breakfast today.
A moment later, I found myself standing next to the captain. Despite the circumstances, I felt strangely calm now that we knew where we stood. Perhaps it was because my life wasn’t actually hanging in the balance anymore. Whatever the reason might be, I decided to keep quiet instead of voicing any objections.
It was probably best to wait until someone else gave voice to their concerns first. As soon as I stepped onto the bridge, I spotted a group of people clustered around the edge of the window nearest to the door. Most of them were staring down at the waves rather than paying any attention to what was happening outside.
One person, however, appeared intent on watching the view beyond the glass. Judging by the look she cast in my direction, it seemed likely that she recognized me. Her gaze lingered longer than usual, which left me wondering if perhaps we shared a connection. Unfortunately, it took me quite a few moments to realize that she reminded me of the woman responsible for kidnapping me.
The resemblance was uncanny. Was it possible they were related? Maybe that explained why she kept glancing over at me every now and then. This whole situation was starting to become increasingly confusing.
After another brief pause, the captain resumed speaking. “As I mentioned earlier, our predicament appears to have something to do with those two large objects blocking our path. However, unlike the previous obstacle, we cannot simply sail past these ones. Instead, they must be destroyed.” He gestured towards the object looming directly ahead.
“Mr. Gouran, please focus your efforts upon destroying the larger of these two objects. Once this task is completed, we should be free to continue moving onward.”
There didn’t seem to be any other choice available, so I nodded silently in agreement. If nothing else, I would certainly prefer being killed outright to enduring an eternal death trapped inside a spaceship adrift somewhere in outer space. At least then I’d get to rest in peace.
That said, I also wondered how effective my contribution could possibly be against such heavy-duty machinery. Would the captain even listen if I suggested surrendering and leaving the ship behind? In truth, I doubted it somehow. No matter what happened, I wanted to avoid dying in vain.
Thus far, I had managed to survive thanks entirely to luck—luck that I hoped wouldn’t run out anytime soon.
The End