Remnants of a Daydream

[ddogg]

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EPISODE ONE

Scene 4 - „Surprises come when you least expect them... that is their nature”

Nearly everyone shuffled out quickly, and the double-doors to the bridge groaned and slammed shut. Their heavy metallic thud hung in the air for a moment, reverberating off the walls of the Hamamatsu's conference room. This harsh metallic noise, fading away more quickly than Kiwami would have liked, was her only remaining friend. As soon as silence took control of the room, her captain's voice unfurled like the sails of an ancient solar ship, rattling every bone in her core.

,,Do not EVER cross me like that again. Know your place, hold your tongue, and carry out my orders, or I will see to it that the Daimyo himself oversees your execution!" boomed Captain Kumahata. Age had made no dent in the fury within the Blood Dragon who commanded one of Nakai Clan's most important cruisers. Lieutenant-Commander Kiwami, the Hamamatsu's first officer and chief navigator, had gravely erred in unleashing this fury upon herself.

After a pause to collect his ragged breath, Captain Kumahata resumed in a quieter but equally sharpened tone, ,,You have served this ship with distinction. Having a competent, passionate Dragon such as yourself at my side is a benefit to all of us. But challenging my judgment on the bridge of my ship is a step too far."

Kiwami had indeed stepped too far, and she knew it. She spoke up repeatedly, vocally, and negatively during the Hamamatsu's extensive search for any trace of the Ma'at, Sakir'har, or their escorts. Helping a gaijin such as Lafferentz was one thing... but redeploying an entire Kagutsuchi-class cruiser in search of some Order operative's ramblings? That was far beyond what she deemed reasonable. Of course she knew that Dragon Shizumo had sworn on his honor that Lafferentz was telling the truth, and of course she had reviewed the tests for alien-possession and Kempetai involvement. But the Dragons are a careful, isolated people, and stumbling blindly behind a single man through the Crow Nebula with nothing more than his sense of direction pushed the young Lieutenant-Commander nearly to her breaking point.

The Captain seemed to be finished, and he sat down slowly into his chair at the head of the conference table. A light flickered above Kiwami as she maintained the silence, unwilling to risk speaking out of turn. This emptiness persisted until it became unbearable for her, and she finally spoke, respectfully but with confidence. ,,You were right, sir. About everything. I knew it the moment we first laid eyes on that escape pod. Finding one of the Sakir'har's pods intact with that... TAVIA thing still functioning... I'm sorry for vocalizing my doubts in front of the crew." The Captain nodded. For him, that was a tremendous honor to bestow on anyone, and the lump in Kiwami's throat settled immediately. Liberated, she spoke again, ,,What does it mean for us?"

But of course Kiwami already knew the answer: more work. More worry. More furtive whispers and scrambled favors. More desperate action because the Blood Dragons could not afford to be caught off guard by some apocalypse in Order territory... ,,It means the worst. Something terrible has indeed happened to the O'Rhu, and what this means for the Order and for humanity... I dare not venture a guess. Our only hope now is that Mr. Lafferentz and our engineers can recover some data from those damaged memory banks. And that Shizumo is both willing and able to continue fulfilling his sworn, honor-bound duty to assist this gaikokujin in unraveling this mystery."

Kiwami finally dropped her gaze from that of her Captain. She inhaled deeply, casting her eyes out through the conference room's window into the deep-aquamarine murk of the Nampo Cloud. One of her captain's favorite phrases echoed through her head: ,,Surprises come when you least expect them... that is their nature."

I lived on Dread —
To Those who know
The stimulus there is
In Danger — Other impetus
Is numb — and vitalless —

As 'twere a Spur — upon the Soul —
A Fear will urge it where
To go without the spectre's aid
Were challenging Despair.

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