Episode VIII
1164 Words
Admiral Levinson stared at the viscera splayed across the floor of the common room. It was a crimson splatter of smooth red blood, occasionally interrupted by a hunk of something important that didn't belong anywhere outside of a body. He'd seen his fair share of bloodshed, but he couldn't quite remember seeing anything like this before. His eyes shifted to the side, where a man sat hunched in the corner, his hands in manacles with a blank stare on his face.
"Go through it again Ensign Negusse." The ensign simply stood beside the admiral, his gaze fixed on the remains. Admiral Levinson snapped his fingers, "Negusse, report."
The ensign started back to reality and then snapped a quick salute, "Yes sir, sorry sir." He paused, gathering himself together before continuing, "I was just beginning second shift at security hub when we received a report of a disturbance in the common room. We pulled up the view and saw Ensign Smith," he glanced quickly at the man huddled in the corner, "in a verbal altercation with Ensign Polis. I was dispatched from the hub with instructions from the Chief of Security."
He took a long breath, "It took me approximately one minute and ten seconds to cover the intervening distance. By the time I entered the room, it was over."
"What was over?" Admiral Levinson asked, gently probing, searching for more details.
"Sir, according to witnesses the fight continued to escalate and eventually Ensign Smith attacked Ensign Polis."
"Attacked him how?"
"Well, sir, he just...punched him." Ensign Negusse replied, uncertain. Beads of sweat shined atop his shaven pate, the entire situation clearly unnerving him.
"A single punch?"
"Yes sir, that is what they said said. They said Ensign Smith punched Ensign Polis and then his head...exploded." The red splatter had sprayed across the room. On the far wall, a jaw bone was lodged in a countertop. Ensign Polis' headless body lay crumpled up on the far side of the room.
Admiral Levinson nodded and then turned to Ensign Smith in the corner, "Ensign Smith, you were notified of the restrictions on crew activity, were you not?"
The ensign continued staring, his eyes locked on the body.
Admiral Levinson sighed, "Get him to the brig Negusse and get the clean up crew in here. I'll make an announcement to the crew on the situation, though I imagine the ship is already abuzz about it." Ensign Negusse snapped another salute, went over and retrieved Ensign Smith and then made his exit.
The admiral turned back toward the body, regarding the scene, forcing himself to internalize it. After a long moment, he gave a disgusted shake of his head and then left as well, his feet taking him along the cold steel corridors until he was outside a familiar door. He hit the small button beside the frame to announce his presence. Receiving no answer, he authorized a command override and forced the door open.
Chaos greeted him. The room was dark and cluttered with various tablets and glowing holographic projections. A quick survey was more than enough to know that Jack had not been getting much sleep, and, by the smell of things, not many showers either. "Jack, you in here?" Levinson stepped past the threshold and into the interior, taking pains to sidestep the tablets. The dim light provided by the projections gave him little solace, as each showed the hapless UWS Alcubierre colliding with various objects and sparking the massive death halo that would doom them and half the galaxy.
"Jack?"
There was a rumbling groan from across the room and some movement. Levinson closed the distance only to find Jack curled up in the corner, a tablet clutched in his hands. The creature in front of him was a shade of the man Kai had proudly stood beside over the years, reduced to ashes before the only problem he couldn't solve and the only one that mattered. Kai sat down beside him, his hand resting on the science officer's shoulder, "It's okay Jack. You gave it your all, sometimes the universe just doesn't want to play by the rules."
Jack rubbed his sleeve across his eyes, though they remained dull and unfocused, "It plays by the rules...just not our rules." His speech was weak and uncertain, the failure eating away at him, "I'm learning as fast as I can, but it's...it's like starting from fire and trying to get to quantum phasemology in a single leap."
Kai settled into the chair, "Is that hard?"
Jack didn't take the bait, he simply sighed.
"I just left a room that got a new coat of red paint because some poor dumb kid decided to punch another. Even seeing it, even with knowing what I know, it still don't make any sense." Kai said.
Jack nodded, "Welcome to my world."
"Still nothing?"
Jack sighed and gave a small nod. "Nothing."
---
Premier Valast had waited long enough, his time was limited and it could not be spent idling about. "They have had an hour, we do not have time for this." Valast had hopped up, his small legs carrying him around his pillow a few times as he paced in agitation.
Overseer Neeria c****d her head to the side, her arms cautiously tucked in front of her torso, "Premier, my search of the archives did not produce any methods for forcing the Zix to engage at a more accelerated speed."
Premier Valast fixed the large tank with a baleful glare, "How did they enter the Combine?"
Neeria's eye slits shifted to green as she began to access her knowledge stores, "They achieved consensus on a species level and accepted the Combine Compact." Neeria's arms began to move in small fluttering gestures, "Most scholars believe the ease of consensus was attributable to the fact that the Zix as we know them are but a remnant of a much larger species, one that was mostly eradicated some time before our first interaction."
The Premier's ears perked up, "Oh?"
"Yes, Premier. While we do not have direct confirmation, we have reason to believe that the entirety of the Zix exist on a single float colony. The nature of the colony and the Zix physiobiology clearly indicates a terrestrial origin. However, there is no mention or reference to a home planet during any of our interactions with the Zix, and their initial requests as Combine members seemed primarily focused on maintaining their colony rather than the needs of an entire world."
"Perhaps they are a rogue element, cast out from the main body."
"This has been considered and discussed at length. The nature of their social-strata makes it highly unlikely that a splinter group could exist, though it isn't impossible. Unfortunately, the restrictions on their wormkey prevent us access to their occupied space, so we have been unable to ascertain more information on the matter on our own."
Valast stopped pacing for a moment, "They reached consensus quickly when under an existential threat, correct?"
Neeria nodded, "Indeed. They accepted the Combine Compact within two days of coming into contact with us."
"Do they know the threat they face now?"
Neeria paused, "I do not know."
"Perhaps someone should tell them."
- Writer
