Bridge 1, command deck: "Three Men and an Elephant in the Room"
After five excruciating seconds of silence, Albert finally found the courage to breathe—and then, eventually, to speak.
“Hermann… Hermann, listen, could you please explain why exactly you have a plasma blaster on board?”
“I…” Hermann looked down at his hand. The blaster was still faintly smoking. “I brought it with me because I was more afraid of squatters or some Junkers holed up in here than of ghosts.” “And instead" He glanced at the blaster once more, then tossed it onto the desk with a clatter. "I end up firing it to stop my two lifelong friends and colleagues from bashing each other’s heads in because they apparently lack the adult capacity to sit down and have a proper conversation.”
The three of them fell silent.
“I'm sorry,” Hermann said eventually. “That was idiotic of me.”
The other two exchanged a glance. “We’re sorry too. Albert, I overreacted—really.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Well, now that we’ve all made peace, let’s not waste more time and finally address the enormous bloody elephant in the room,” Schmidt said, eyes fixed on the recorder.
“Alright." he resumed. "Albert has a point.”
Hans opened his mouth, but Hermann raised a hand.
“Let me finish. He’s right about some things. We can’t just waltz into the authorities like schoolchildren handing in lost property. That would be insane.”
Hermann began pacing.
“Think about it, Hans. What happens if we go? The world implodes. Cross and the whole board get summoned to New Berlin to explain why the company has been sitting on a century-old crime committed by its own people. Even if they somehow dodge legal consequences, the fallout would be catastrophic: interhouse scandal, investigations everywhere, boycotts, the stock tanks, people resign, get sacked… it all collapses. And we lose our jobs right alongside them.”
“Exactly,” Albert chimed in. “And what if they start digging into our Corsair connections? Not just ours ours—though they might get there—but the company’s. They start snooping around the Hawaii, follow the money, and suddenly we’re suspects too. It all unravels, and we’re the scapegoats. And don’t forget,” he added quietly, “whistleblowers in this company don’t exactly retire with a medal. Especially when the Corsairs are involved.”
“Right, and on that note,” Hermann cut in, “you’re being a little dramatic, Albert. Yes, it’d be chaos, and yes, we’d probably get fired. But we’re not going to end up chained in Hammersee or hunted by Corsairs. This wreck’s been in orbit for nearly a century—nobody’s cared, no one’s come looking. The police haven’t investigated in all this time, and they’re not about to. We’re not on any wanted lists. Only Cross knows we’re here. And our wives. Strange they haven’t called.”
“True enough.” muttered Albert.
They chuckled. It was brief, but it lightened the mood for a precious moment.
“But Albert,” Hermann continued, “we still can’t just stick our heads in the sand and bury this again. How do you sleep at night, knowing you're directly complicit in this now? We can't let this be swept away again. Not after what we heard. They don’t deserve that. It’s just not right. And yes, we all know the company’s just a pretty façade, knee-deep in shady deals with the Corsairs and who knows how many others criminals in the Sector. But there’s a difference between ‘forgetting’ to report suspicious activity aboard the Hawaii and staying silent about… all this.”
“So what are you saying?” asked Albert. “Are we reporting it or not?”
“I don’t...” Hermann paused. “I don’t know yet. I need to think. We all do. In the meantime, maybe we can try figuring out what exactly happened—how, after nearly two years of radio silence, they ended up with one of our captains pulling a trigger.”
“Hardly the first time that’s happened,” Albert smirked.
“The antenna!” Hans shouted.
“What?”
“The antenna! The audio! He said they had uploaded logs to the comms array, but it was jammed. Maybe they’re still there—I can try to recover them!”
Hans shot to his feet and began scooping up his equipment.
“ Hans, where are you going?”
“Come on, both of you—now!” he shouted, already halfway through the door. “Communications deck, move it!”
