Chapter 13, part 2
Survivor's Day
The Trader Emergency Coalition
8 years ago, Inner Sector, western rim, galactic position 890, 932, star christened "Matsuda Prime"
Jessica Doremi looked curiously at the man who was considered almost a god with his skill in battle. He certainly didn't look intimidating. Her view screen portrayed a middle-aged man with a dazed expression on his face. At seeing her? Most likely. Many man couldn't have a straight conversation with her without eyeing her like she was some sort of sparkling trinket. Inwardly, Jessica shuddered. She had hoped Alexander Kol wouldn't be one of those men.
"Commodore!" She said in a fake big grin. "It is such a pleasure to finally meet you."
"You flatter me too much, Captain," Kol said modestly, saluting Jessica. "You honor me."
Cheesy, was Jessica's first thought. This man could do better than that.
"As is Survivor's Day custom, will you permit me to board your ship? So we can celebrate the festivities together."
That threw Jessica off. So direct? No man would dream of scoring with her on such a terrible line. Unless Kol was the first man to look past her good looks and see the woman inside? No, that was Jessica's heart crying out. He didn't even know her.
"Yes," said Jessica, surprising herself. "I would like that very much."
Kol lined up military fashion, with Judman on his right and Higgins on his left. Across the hallway, the shuttle bay doors opened and ten marines streamed out. Seeing the hallway secure and Kol standing in front of them, they saluted while alerting the fact to those still in the shuttle. Kol felt his stomach twist in anticipation. No, it wasn't anticipation, it was fear. What was he fearing? He certainly wasn't afraid of the Captain, even if she was the most beautiful creature he had ever set eyes on. Kol forced himself out of his reverie and watched as the real woman stepped lightly across the hallway from the shuttle doors, smiling as she approached. She came up to Kol and saluted.
"Captain Jessica Doremi, appearing as ordered, sir."
Kol grabbed her hand and shook it. "It's a real honor getting to meet you, Captain."
Did Jessica blush faintly? Kol couldn't be sure. "Why thank you, Commodore, but I must say the honor is mine. Who'd have thought I'd be on the newest Kol in the market, with the hero of the TEC welcoming me aboard?"
Kol let out a rich laugh. "Well when you put it that way...allow me to escort you to the command bridge."
Jessica waved her marine squad back and took Kol's outstretched arm.
"They say they're here for security, but I think it's to make sure you don't get too familiar with me without my permission."
"Your crew is that dedicated to you?" Kol was surprised.
Jessica just shrugged and gave a tiny mysterious smile. They entered the command bridge.
As if on cue, loud trumpet noises came out of the speakers. Kol looked around confused and Jessica clapped her hands and laughed.
"It's about to begin! Oh, this is my favorite time of year."
Kol merely nodded, not trusting himself to speak with his current limited knowledge of the holiday. From the speak came a grizzled, steady voice that Kol recognized as Jason Kantoon, the Prime Chancellor of the Trade Order.
"Ladies and gentleman of the Trade Order!" Jason Kantoon shouted as if commentating a wrestling match. "Today is the last day of the old year, which means..."
A drum roll sounded out on the speakers.
"That today is Survivor's Day!"
Jessica noticed Kol's expression and laughed again. "It's cheesy, I know, but the civilians love it. It reminds them of a simpler time, when we were not at war."
Before Kol could respond Kantoon was talking again.
"We have today's special celebration coming up in a moment...but right now I'd like to give a little history lesson on the origins of Survivor's Day."
"Tradition," said Jessica, rolling her eyes. "As if anyone didn't know how today's holiday began."
Kol mumbled something incoherent.
"Exactly 3 years ago, the Vasari first appeared in Trader-controlled space. We lost thousands that day. Millions. But the butchery was far from over. Planet after planet...billions of lives were stolen by the alien demons."
Kol saw Jessica wipe a tear from her eye.
"My parents were on a western frontier planet," she explained, dabbing at her eye with her shirt sleeve, "they were among the first to be attacked."
"A year went by, and hope looked weak. The Vasari continued mercilessly deeper inside Trader space. Another year went by, and we lost hope of ever beating them back.
"But in that year something happened. Something extraordinary. A ragtag fleet of ships had been assembled in the Central Worlds and had launched towards the Vasari near the time when they first appeared. During their long journey to the ever expanding front lines more ships joined them, and with the development of capital ships came the Kol 1.0, and under those origional three mighty warships our fleet was assembled. Our last hope. This fleet became known as the 305 Hopeful, as 305 were the first three numbers of the battle's galactic position. The 305 Hopeful readied themselves to push the Vasari back, and a twenty hour-long battle ensued. We lost many ships in that battle, and many men too. But do you know what? We won. We beat back the Vasari. And a large part of that was due to one man. The current Commodore Alexander Kol."
Kol's mouth worked silently, and Jessica laughed.
"Alexander Kol flew his fighter straight at the enemy's main capital ship and lodged it inside the hull. Stumbling from the wreckage, Kol fought his way through the entire ship until he got to their command bridge, where he killed their leader and disabled the rest of the ship. If Alexander Kol hadn't done what he did, yes we would have still beaten back the Vasari, but we would have been no closer to studying them or understanding how their ships functioned. Our scientists on-site expected to have to study our enemy from charred space rubble. Alexander Kol brought them an intact Vasari capital ship.
"If it wasn't for this man, we might not be where we are today. Today we have hope, and today we are bringing the fight back to the Vasari. We are taking back conquered worlds and expanding the western frontier once more. Only a year ago, we had lost hope. Today, we have hope. We are not the broken, not the lost, not the resigned. We are the survivors, and we will make the Vasari pay for the atrocities they have committed."
There was a long pause during which Kol felt the significance of the Prime Chancellor's words hanging in the air.
"Now, let us celebrate Survivor's Day. That will be all."
The speakers clicked off for a moment before inter-ship communications was reestablished.
"Permission to begin Survivor's Day sequences, Commodore?" Sergeant Cooldred Daniels said over the speakers.
"Permission granted, Sergeant. Proceed immediately," Kol replied, unsure at what the cannon specialist had to do with the day's festivities.
Judman must have seen his confused expression and came quickly over.
"Do not be alarmed at what you're about to see," he whispered into Kol's ear.
"What?" Kol started to say, but the friendly Cobalt next to the Golgonev started warming up their weapons, and Kol never finished his sentence.
He started forward, but Judman held him back.
"Relax, Alex, everything's fine," he whispered. "It's part of the celebrations."
Kol watched as the Cobalt frigate fired on his TDN Golgonev. Kol noticed several odd things about what happened next. First, the round was a ball of plasma that seemed to be exhibiting multi-colored sparks as it traveled. Second, the plasma ball bounced off the Golgonev's shields without damaging them and spiraled off towards another ship. Kol then noticed that the other ships were firing similar multi-colored balls, and finally he noticed that his own ship was firing the same balls.
"Best space fireworks this side of everywhere," Judman said with a grin. He clapped Kol on the back. "Time to get back to your lady friend?"
Kol gave Judman an annoyed look, but he did return to Jessica, who was watching the plasma balls give off their sparks with something close to wonder. Kol, however, couldn't feel the joy. The fear that he had felt when Jessica exited the shuttle bay had come back tenfold. He gripped his stomach as it turned into actual physical pain.
"Commodore?" He heard Jessica say, and felt her arms go around him. "Kol, what's the matter?"
Kol realized he was lying on the floor, curled up and clutching his stomach.
"I..." the pain exploded out of his stomach and he retched.
Dimly through the vomit he noticed that Jessica did not step away or shriek like he expected a normal woman would. Instead she helped Judman get him to his feet. She did let Judman wipe Kol's mouth, however.
"Easy there, Commodore," Judman murmured in a low tone. "Let's get you back to your quarters."
"Carry on with the festivities!" Jessica called as she followed Kol and Judman out of the command bridge.
Kol smiled slightly as he imagined the looks of incredulity and shock as a Captain gave orders to a Commodore's command staff. But that made him feel sicker so he soon stopped.
"Judman?" He heard himself murmur.
"Yes, Commodore?" Judman answered tentatively. He wasn't acting at all familiar with another person near them, and one that was nearly a stranger at that.
"Judman, you can talk with her around," Kol continued laboriously, "Judman...this is from the messages. I know it's related to the messages."
"The messages?" Judman shifted his weight to better support Kol and glanced quickly at Jessica. "How do you know that?"
"I just...do."
"What messages?" Jessica asked. "What are you two talking about?"
"The Commodore has heard two clear messages while no one around him has heard a thing. We believe they are somehow related to the Vasari due to the underlying hissing of the messages."
"I wouldn't call them...clear," Kol said weakly.
Jessica frowned as she processed this. "What did the messages say?"
"The Commodore couldn't remember them fully, just that they seemed similar and mentioned something about the past and the present."
"The first one...only past," Kol wheezed, "the second one...that was the present."
Jessica gave Kol's hand a compassionate squeeze. "Just something about the past and the present? Nothing more than that?"
Judman shrugged. "It's all he can remember."
They reached Kol's room. Together, Jessica and Judman helped Kol onto his bed and removed his shirt, which still had little splatters of vomit on it. Jessica's face whitened at the sight of the Marksman tattoo on Kol's shoulder. Judman noticed her expression.
"You didn't know he was a Marksman?" He asked, standing up quickly.
Jessica shook her head.
"Well, what will you do about it?" Judman blocked the doorway with his body. He fixed Jessica with a steady look. "Well?"
"I..." Jessica swallowed. "I won't tell anyone. It will just take a little while to get used to. Why--?"
"Why is he here instead of wherever the other Marksmen are? Because he suffered amnesia during the battle of the 305 Hopeful. He was in a rather large fire. Lucky to be alive at all really, but he completely lost his memory. He has no recollection of who he used to be."
Jessica bit her lip, pondering this. Kol inched himself into a sitting position on his bed.
"I'm feeling better now, Judman, I really am. No need to come flying over to help me," he said wryly, and Judman went back to his place on the wall with a look that said he clearly thought Kol was being stubborn.
"Look--" Kol said to Jessica, but he never finished his sentence.
Alarms from every speaker started blaring, and in the distance the three of them could hear rumbles as if the hull was being struck. Judman sprinted out of the room just in time to hear the message.
"Vasari attacking! Everyone to their stations! Vasari attacking!"
Then the speakers, all of them, shut off with a click. The silence after the alarm was deafening. Then, slowly, a voice spoke with a distinct Vasari hiss.
"Alexander Kol....we come for you."
The hallway erupted in screams.
