Far and beyond

Your own worse enemy

As Steph couldn't get over the fact that the power supply was deliberately sabotaged he couldn't help but wonder who would do that. It must have been someone who had the right motive and also someone who had the expertise and knowledge to pull it off. He was sitting in the changing room that was located in the building near to the hypertrain station after taking a hot shower. He put on his normal uniform and started his walk down one of the concrete corridors of the building when he remembered that it was not always a place for tired engineers to shower and change clothes. It was built with the intention to be an outpost but as time went it became clear that it would need to be repurposed. Even though it stationed military personal, members of the CSF to be exact, most of the time it was used as a hospital, resting place, supply station, forward base for explorers and even a kind of hotel. It was used for everything except for protecting the colony from some unknown enemy. Eventually, a floor of it was transformed into a makeshift hospital and the basement was cleared of all the weapons and ammunition. The security fences were taken out to allow easier access and on top of it there was light that helped people find it if they were lost. It had an additional segment built on the side of it to serve as an additional warehouse. It is where the materials were stored for the building of the hypertrain railway and stations. Now it was almost empty. It had some remains inside but they were either rusting or frozen due to the fact that there was no point in warming the place. The ground floor that was once a hospital also saw itself grounded away by time. There was usually a staff of only two or three people at a time. Sometimes there was an actual doctor or surgeon present. More often there were just nurses or "health assistants" as they were called. But they were all that was needed since most of the procedures were done by automated machines who could be turned on by a push of a button. Also, the things that they were required to preform were mostly curing a handful of common evils. Mountaineers were the most regular customers. It was not uncommon for members of the colony, the upper class ones of course, to venture up the mountains on a day off. It was also not uncommon for them to totally underestimate the challenge that that presented. Humans were reliant on technology to a fault. And using it under conditions that it was not intended for made it more of an enemy than a friend to its user. Shocker. Then the once outpost now hospital would have some guy that was flown in by a drone that needed to be warmed up, fed and monitored. Sometimes it happened that they would have a fracture or a scrape that needed fixing up as well. A doctor or a surgeon would only be wasting his time here. 

However, if there was one thing that could testify to the violent intentions with which the grounds of this bastion were laid, it was the fact that it still had a shooting range. Along with it, a storage of a few plasma and bolt action and electric charge rifles were locked up in a locker. There were also some rounds of ammunition alongside them. Just in case. A gunshot caught the attention of Steph as he was heading for the door. He peaked from the door to see Mike struggling to operate a bold action rifle.

- Having some trouble? - asked Steph as he walked into the room.

- Yeah. Why do they even still have these? Who would use them still? - Mike was pulling the locking mechanism of the rifle trying to get the casing out unsuccessfully. 

- Well, you are using it obviously. At least trying to. - Steph took the rifle, c****d it and handed it back to Mike. 

- Nah, it's okay. My curiosity is satisfied. I found out what I wanted to know. 

- What did you wanna know? 

- I wanted to know if it is an absolute piece of crap. And it is. It's useless. What we have now is miles ahead. Why would you ever need this? - Michael didn't sound too fond of the weapon.

- Well, the newer ones have better recoil. They are more powerful. Easier to maintain. Have more ammunition and are more resilient to outside factors. However, this offers a different feeling entirely. - Steph answered with a quiet voice. 

He positioned himself at the shooter spot. He took a deep breath and exhaled as he was positioning himself. His stretched out his finger before placing his index next to the trigger. His shoulder felt the stiff wood of the stock of the gun. He laid his cheek on it. It was real wood. All the newer guns had rough metal or some carbon plastic rubber thing that was supposed to help with weight distribution and heat dissipation. This however, was wood. It felt natural when pressed up against the skin. He didn't think he would ever see a weapon made with wood ever again. It must be very old. The sights were iron. No laser, no holographic sights, no digital stuff. Just two small pieces of iron on top of the gun. His left arm triceps was touching his ribs and his elbow was slightly below them. His legs, at shoulder width. One knee slightly bent. He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. He opened them slowly as he was exhaling. The iron sights aligned perfectly as the barrel of the gun lowered. Time slowed down. He could hear his heart. His jaw was clenched. He could feel the moisture of the air. The weight of the weapon on his core. He saw his target. At fifty yards, a man like image was projected in front of a green wall. All of his breath was now out of his lungs. There was no movement. His finger was on top of the trigger. He touched it. He was tempted to pull. All of his muscles were ready for the shock of the explosion that would propel the bullet into the target. He was ready to do it. His body was ready. His mind, however, held back.

- Are you going to shoot or not? - Mikes voice shattered the silence that filled the room.

- Me? No. I don't shoot anymore. I don't use guns in general. I was just... I don't know. I guess I was reminding myself of how it felt. - Steph was pulled back to reality. It was a long time since he last touched a gun. At least a few years. As he took out the cartridge and removed the bullet from the barrel he found himself with shaken. He wasn't sure what he planned to do with it when he took it from Mikes hands, but his body did. Like a reflex. Like riding a bike. Like breathing. His body just knew what to do and flowed right into it. Like he had just done the same yesterday. If it wasn't for Mike he would probably have shot at the target. The smoke and smell of gunpower would have filled his lungs. He felt excited. Adrenalin was flowing thought his veins. He chuckled. - I better put this thing away before I hurt myself.

- Yeah. You better. Weren't you in the military? Before you came here? - Mike saw that Steph was not telling him something and his curiosity had awaken.

- I was, before. A long time ago. But I was just an engineer anyway. I mean... you know. I wasn't a super solider or anything. I didn't go around the galaxy shooting people or something like that. - Steph noticed that his attempts to sound calm and cool were a ruined by the adrenalin. - Look, I just don't want to talk about that part of my life. I didn't enjoy it too much. It was boring as hell. 

- Whatever you say "Super solider".  - the tone with which he received his answer made Mike aware that his friend would not like to share more on the subject. And, taking into consideration how he was on thin ice from earlier in the day, he decided to not risk it. 

- Anyway, what do we do about the whole spear thing. - Steph tried to draw the attention away from the subject.  - Are you still convinced that it was aliens? Or have you come to your senses?

- Steph, why won't you accept the reality. It is possible that there are aliens out there.

- And they are sabotaging our power lines? Mike, you sound like an i***t. Why would they do that?

- Hey, listen here fucker. You have the right to your own opinion, but I don't appreciate you calling me an i***t. - Mike was irritated by his colleagues treatment. He never expected this treatment from the man who he considered one of his closest friends.

- Well, then, stop talking crazy s**t like that. Why won't you just accept that it was someone from Nebograd just wanting to have a few days off from work? That is what I believe in and that is what I'm telling Viktoria. If you wanna incorporate some crazy conspiracy theory in your report just make sure to leave me out of it. - Steph was set on what his chosen course of action would be. He was not going to bend.

- Hey asshole. Why do you think you're so much better than everyone else? What gives you the right to accuse those people of that? Why should the whole city be subjected to an interrogation because you are too much of a narrow minded stubborn douche to accept that there might be something else out there? - now the conversation turned into a full blown shouting match.

- You think that they wouldn't investigate every living person at Nebograd if I said it was aliens? You are pathetic. We don't have any proof they even exist. No. It was someone from Nebograd. It had to be. No other way.

- You're just saying that because Monsa is out there.

- Leave Monsa out of this there is no place for her in this.

- Yea, you're afraid that she would come in contact with the aliens and something would go wrong.

- MIKE! I'm warning you!

- You're scared that they won't be all friendly. That's why you don't want to admit it. Because if aliens had cut the power line, then they might even be hostile to the expedition. And you told her how everything was going to be okay and you'll always be there for her, but you wouldn't be able to protect her. That's why you want to make yourself believe that it had to be someone from Nebograd. Because you couldn't live with yourself if you were wrong!

Steph lost all his composure and control. He swung at Mike. He landed his fist against his stomach and felt it compress under the impact. Mike fell on the ground and struggled to breath for a few seconds. Steph watched him from above, feeling no regret about his actions.

- f**k you Michael. - said Steph as he turned away and walked out the door. 

Steph didn't want to believe Mike was right. He didn't want to believe that aliens were really out there wanting to kill us. If they were... Monsa was in danger. How could he let her go there... he should have made her stay. He hated himself for that.