Prospect - a Thursday Prompt
A sci-fi story
Prospect
by: Vixyy Fox
“Everyone; this is the Captain speaking."
On the mess deck, all conversation stopped. Where someone made to crack a joke, they were told harshly to shut up. After a sufficient pause, there came a click as the ship's master pressed the button on his microphone for a second time.
“As you know, the war has not been going well. I am very proud to have led you for the past three years, but now it is time to rest. From here forward, we will continue a 'normal' shipboard routine. We are going home. That is all."
Aboard the Wanatonkin, there was only quiet. The crew understood what this meant. The last actual report they'd had of home reflected the belief that it was no longer there. No one in the crew knew exactly what this meant, but the prospect of this report did not reflect anything positive. In actuality, the crew had been on the ship for longer than any one of them could remember. In fact, they were third and fourth generation in their service. That their captain had only been at the helm for three years meant little, as there had been many captains. Their pictures lined the corridor running forward from the mess deck. Though no one mentioned it, these images occasionally changed. Sometimes the changes were small, and sometimes there was a complete change of the individual shown. For the crew, it was considered 'bad luck' to talk about it… and if they did, it was all in whispers.
“So, what do you think?" Samuel whispered to Eric.
The pair were friends, but different. Their history lessons correctly pointed out these differences had caused wars in the past, but those were more sensitive, and competitive times. Samuel, known among his fellow crew members as Snod, had reddish fur and short pointy ears. Eric went by Burp, for obvious reasons to any of the other crewmembers. He was furless, with blue eyes and blond hair. No taller than his friend, he had a tail he was able to use for gripping. The first was an electrician first class, while the second was one step above, and belonged to the ship's 'Marine' detachment, which specialized in fighting. The chore of the first was to keep the ship functioning, and of the second, keeping it and the crew alive.
There were one hundred crew members, not counting the captain. At the beginning of the ship's deployment, their forebears had all been different. Of each species, there was a male and female, and each species was singular. Cross breeding was not possible.
By the third generation, through the chemistry of love, the first cross species child was born. Almost every child born after this reflected each of their parents. Where, before, there were several languages with one language required for use by everyone, the one language also morphed with the many, and became the only language.
After their breakfast, and before 'quarters' were called, Samuel and Eric went out to the observation deck. Things there were as black as the sky surrounding them; though the sky was speckled with countless stars.
“Have you ever seen the captain?" Samuel whispered.
“Yes," was Eric's reply. The Marine's eyes were everywhere. Surveillance was a given, as was dodging it, which was a game the soldier played at constantly.
“What did he look like to you?"
“It was pretty much like looking in the mirror. I was tasked with taking our report to him after the last battle. Why?"
“Because I met him in the upper companionway yesterday outside the entrance to the bridge. I'd never met him before."
“Interesting. I don't think anyone has ever been allowed on the bridge; at least not for a lot of generations. How'd he look to you?"
“Like I was looking in the mirror."
With a buzzing blare of the loudspeaker, a mechanical sounding voice announced 'quarters' was called. The entire crew was required to assemble back in the launch bay for this event, which was a simple head count held twice daily. Whoever was not on duty or ill, was required to attend. During this event, Samuel found himself smiling at Shela, who stood with the agricultural group across from engineering. She had fur that was white with black spots. Her ears, like his, were short and pointed. The argri-tech was smiling at him, and he found himself wondering what their children would look like.
Swed, standing next to him, managed to give him an elbow when he too saw what was happening. “Never say never," the Cat sort of person whispered to his co-worker. His whisper conveyed a smile.
This bit of fun was interrupted by the group being called to attention. Their executive officer, a fellow who looked strikingly like Samuel, but with solid black fur and much longer ears, stood forward. “Wanatonkins," he said loudly, and there was strength in his voice. “The captain has instructed me to issue the following orders. You are to make the ship ready for battle. When this has been done, and triple checked. You will all report to the life boats. Approximately thirty minutes after everyone of us has made ready, we shall make landfall in the Bay of Beginnings, so renamed by the captain against the remembrance of this event. His only instructions towards our mission after landing, is 'Go forth and multiply.' Are there any questions?"
Eric, being a soldier and lacking temerity, raised his hand. The executive officer nodded and recognized him by name.
“What does the captain look like?" he asked.
The black furred officer actually thought about this, and then replied, “I always thought being in his presence was a bit like looking into a mirror."
The ship's crew was then dismissed to comply with their instructions. When the ship made its way into the bay where home had once been, the lifeboats were deployed. Though it was night, with only the stars shining in the sky, each boat safely landed upon the sands of an undisturbed beach. The crew, led by the Marines, embarked, taking the time to help each other as needed.
A loud horn, played out in one long note, causing them to turn back to the ship they'd known for their entire lives. Their executive officer, receiving a call upon his radio, listened for a moment, and then called out to the crew.
“The enemy is approaching. The captain is taking our ship to do battle. Unload and…"
His words were drowned out at the sound of Wanatonkin's engines roaring to life. In mere seconds, the ship was near lost to sight. Not more than a minute later there came a very bright flash in the night sky. This was followed through the remaining hours of night with an array of flickering and flaming objects streaming through the darkness, seeming as angels falling to their death.
And so, the world began again.
No rules were ever written towards the future. There was no need, as everyone knew what was right, and what was wrong.
Should one day you look into the mirror, and find your reflection smiling at you… well… it's is merely a reminder you are not alone.