Into The Void (3 page)

              “Why did they send me alone out here?” He quietly asked himself.

Chapter 4

Reminiscence of Training

              “Alright gentlemen, you have received some of the highest accommodations multiple times in combat and that is why you are here. We have you here because we have a special mission that we need you to train for. Your training will begin at 0400 hours and you will meet here again.”

              Captain Steele was standing in a line with over two dozen other men in a monsoon listening to a training officer yell about some mission. He wasn't sure why he was told to be here all he knew was that it was all very hush hush. He was asked if he wanted to train for a top secret mission with the best of the best and when he replied “yes” they told to show up at a location. Next thing he knew was that he was being whisked away to this ocean like world on a small island being hit with a monsoon. The world was much larger than Earth and much wetter.

              “Dismissed!”

              Captain Steele grabbed his stuff and ran toward the barracks along with the other men and women. When he got to the barracks he found the worst living conditions of any training camp he had ever been to. When a strong gust of wind hit the building the building seemed to shift and move across the ground. The walls would rumble and shake, the roof would creak, and the floor would shutter. There were small holes in the roof causing lots of water to pour in. There was a broken window in the corner of the building that allowed cold water to spray into the barracks. The water was being drained by a slight downward slope to a small drain.

              “For the best of the best this place if a freakin' dump,” said one marine.

              “You got that right brother,” said another.

              “Who wants the piece of crap bunk that is soaked?” said yet another.

              “I think this is all part of the game,” yet another marine said.

              “Ya think? Great work detective,” another stated.

              “So, what do you think Major Dickhead's quarters look like?”

              “Probably a great view of this dump, with a cozy fireplace. Prime real estate!”

              Captain Steele liked these guys already.

              “Name's John Steele. Yours?” Captain Steele said extending his hand outward to shake another marine's.

              “Name Derik Vallmeer. Everyone just calls me Dog.”

              “Mine's Tim Jackson, but people call me Runner.”

              “Sandra White aka Ruthless.”

              “Andrew Diaz, they call me Big D.”

              “Daniel Sanders, Sandman.”

              “Just call me Shadow.”

              “I go by Exodus.”

              “Dork alert! Who allows their name to be that?” asked Big D.

              “Says the man with the name 'Big D' Whats that stand for Big Douche?” asked Exodus.

              “You wish. Why do they call you Exodus? Is it a painful reminder of when you didn't get out in time?” asked Big D.

              “Yeah, out of your mom. And, oh how I regret it!” said Exodus.

              Everyone laughed.

              “I'm James Carter or Catalyst. I don't care what you choose, doesn't bother me either way.”

              “Jim Johnson but everyone calls me Cultist.”

              “Why does everyone call you that?”

              “We had some know-it-all in my first squad who said my name sounded like some lunatic from the 20
th
century. I don't know how he knew that, but we called him Watson,” replied Cultist.

              “Why did you call him Watson?”

              “When we met him the first thing he did was say something about electricity and he was always able to take something and give it an electrical charge.”

              Runner turned and faced a female. “What about you good looking? What do they call you?”

              “Ark Angle.”

              “Sexy, and why do they call you that?”

              “You may find out one day.”

              “I'd probably like that. What about you Steele? What does everyone call you?”

              “Omega.”

              Everyone paused for a second and looked at each other before Runner spoke up.

              “Omega?
THE
Omega?”

              Captain Steele laughed for a good minute.

              “Why
does
everyone call you that?”

              “It's a long story.”

              Captain Steele was awoken by the ships Interface.

              “We must run those tests John.”

              “Sure, whatever.”

              Captain Steele walked over to the med bay where Jamie ran a scan on him.

              “Are you feeling okay today John?”

              “Sure, whatever.”

              “I am detecting sarcasm. Are you okay?”

              “What do you think?” asked Captain Steele.

              “I do not know. That is why I am asking.”

              “Boy, your a special breed of stupid...” Captain Steele said, “Yes, I'm fine.”

              “Tests are good. Your brain is still functioning at an abnormal level. Your hallucinations may come back. Please let me know if I can help.”

              “Thanks Jamie. Just what I wanted to hear.”

              Captain Steele went over to the recreational room and lifted some weights before making breakfast and watching a movie. About half way through the movie Jamie interrupted him.

              “John. We have a problem,” Jamie said.

              “Is it vital?” He asked.

              “Unknown.”

              “Is it dangerous?”

              “Unknown.”

              “Is it important?”

              “Unknown.”

              “Then what's the problem?” asked Captain Steele.

              “My sensors say you need to play a game of chess with me.”

              “What? You interrupted my movie because your bored? Your an AI, how do you even get bored?”

              “My programming is to keep you safe and fit. You need a strong mind for this mission.”

              “Fine. You know, if you were really bored you could find me some real people to talk to.”

              “I have John. Rough estimates show that they are several hundred light years be-”

              “Yeah, shut up. Let's play the game.”

              Captain Steele played several games of chess before getting up and making his rounds around the ship. Everything was in check. After making sure everything was okay he went and checked the cargo bay one last time. He walked to the rear corner where he sat down on the ground. Almost two weeks in and he felt lost. Two weeks into a 150 year mission. For the first time in his life he didn't feel he could do it. He felt alone. He didn't understand why he was out here alone. He could have left the galaxy with one person. Just one other. He felt so empty on the inside and so alone.

              Captain Steele knew that he had to go forward. He knew that failure was not an option. Everyone was counting on him. Every life in the galaxy was counting on him. His squad back home was counting on him. He picked himself off the ground and walked back to the bridge. He sat in the chair on the bridge and decided to push forward. He stared out into the black void with occasional galaxy twinkling like a star in the night sky that was way off in the distance. He was heading toward his destination and nothing was going to stop him. He was going to press on at all costs. That's what he does and he isn't going to ruin his name here. His squad back in the Milky Way was going to have the best personal in the galaxy. He would make sure of that. If he backed out now they wouldn't. He would tarnish their name. He couldn't do that. He had to make sure of that.

              “Jamie. You up for a new set 26 out of 50?”

              The back door of a troop transport hoverjet opened up. Below them was a 350,000 foot drop through the monsoon and to the ocean's surface.

              “Find a way to survive! We will pick you up in two weeks at a location you must find. Whats on your person is all you have. Wait until I say jump before you go,” the training instructor said as he threw parachutes out the door.

              Big D started to go.

              “I didn't say go Diaz!” the training instructor yelled.

              “When are we to go? Those our are way to survive the fall,” Big D asked.

              “The more you talk, the longer you wait!”

              Captain Steele counter the seconds. As time went by he became even more nervous. He peeked over the edge and couldn't see the parachutes. He had no idea where they were or where the storm would toss them. He counted a minute and still the instructor said nothing. One minute and thirty seconds. One minutes and forty five seconds. Two minutes. Two minutes and fifteen seconds. Captain Steele was nervous. On this planet it would take 6 and half minutes to reach the ground. They would reach terminal velocity and stopping moving downward any faster long before they could even see the parachutes. Three minutes.

              “Go! Jump now!”

              Captain Steel ran out the door and jumped. So did several others. Some stayed behind thinking it was suicide. Captain Steele stuck his head straight down with his body directly above. He was going to find the parachutes and put his on then try to help the others find theirs before deploying his chute. He fell for almost half a minute not seeing a single parachute. The parachutes would be in the air for another two and half minutes before they hit the ground follow by him in three minutes.

              Captain Steele made his body as aerodynamic as possible. He was starting to really worry that he was going to land without a parachute. He kept falling while looking for anything. He decided to look back up to see what everyone else was doing. The others were above him without their parachutes. He wasn't having any luck what so ever finding the parachutes and neither were they.

              Captain Steele was just breaking through the top layer of clouds of the monsoon. If he didn't get his parachute by the time he was in the thick of the clouds of the storm he might as well as be dead. He kept looking until he saw a small dot into the distance just above the storm's clouds. He angled himself in that direction hoping to get it before entering the storm. His heart felt like it was going to blow outside of his chest it was beating so hard. He was falling fast with only a 150,000 feet left.

              As Captain Steele entered the storm cloud he was blown off course by the incredibly strong winds of the massive monsoon. He was being blinded by the rain and dark clouds. The flashes of lightning were even more blinding than anything else. At times he couldn't see anything but flashes of lightning. There was no way he would be able to see a parachute and even if he could see it there is no way he would be able to reach it with the wind gusts pushing both it and him around. He decided that the parachute would have been blown in the same direction he would have been blown in and started to angle himself in that direction. He kept looking around until he saw the parachute above him. He angled himself to be flat with the planet to try and slow his approach but the winds threw him off. He tried to correct himself but lost sight of the parachute.

              Captain Steele thought he saw the parachute and headed in that direction. He saw someone else enter the storm and head straight for the same parachute. He got within arms reach of the parachute when the hair on his arms started to tingle and lift. He imminently pulled his arm back as a bolt of lightning stuck where his arm had just been. He moved back towards the parachute and grabbed it with one hand when Exodus grabbed the parachute.

              “This is mine! You go find your own!” Exodus yelled.

              Captain Steele held on and looked for another parachute and all he could see was the ocean's surface approaching fast.

              “I jumped out that transport first. I grabbed this one first. This one is mine!” yelled Captain Steele.

              “Screw you!”

              “Drop dead!”

              Captain Steele and Exodus begin fighting over the parachute. They exchanged blows several times until Captain Steele got hit hard in the face.

              “This is your end Omega,” yelled Exodus.

              Captain Steele could see the sea approaching fast. He had to open the parachute in a couple seconds if he wanted to live. Captain Steele went for a kick to Exodus' groin followed by a punch to the face. Captain Steele put Exodus into a head lock and choked him. He then gave him one quick knee to the stomach. Exodus let go of the parachute as Captain Steel put the parachute on, pushing Exodus downward, and pulled the cord. The parachute opened as Exodus fell away and towards the ocean's surface.