Tag: Proxima Prime

When Jahenna awoke, she found that not only had Rence finished setting up the campsite without her, he’d made significant improvements to it.

A stack of wood lay in a neat pile off to the side, next to what looked like a dedicated chopping station complete with a hand ax. The folding table they’d found in the back of the rental had been unfolded, and was laden with both a tablecloth and a decorative collection of rocks for wind weights. The small campfire that she’d gone to bed to had morphed into an open-stone flame pit, easily a meter in diameter—complete with two thick, old logs for easy, cozy campfire sitting.

Something hissed and sizzled in a cast-iron skillet parked on the naked, lightly glowing coals in the fire, and judging by the smell alone…Jahenna was pretty sure it was bacon.

Real bacon.

Like, from an actual pig. 

“Oh merciful God,” she mumbled in her half-awake state, stumbling barefoot out of her tent still wearing the same clothes she’d worn the previous day, “that smells amazing.”

Rence wore a simple t-shirt with a loose, open button-down casual look that swayed lightly in the breeze. He lifted the skillet off the coals and moved it to an elevated rock next to the fire, where he gave the eggs and sausage a gentle poke with a metal spatula before flipping the bacon over as Jahenna moved up next to him, taking a plate from a small box on the ground. 

“Where did you get this?” She asked.

“I threw it in the cart when you weren’t looking,” Rence said, grinning. “The hard part was timing it so you’d wake up to it just in time.” 

“How’d you manage that?” 

“The nose knows,” he said, picking up some bacon with the spatula and depositing it on her plate. “Even if you don’t, it does.”

“I like the way you think, Rence,” she said, gently taking the spatula as he handed it over to her, and began loading her plate up with eggs and sausage to go with her bacon.

He smiled at her as she moved to the other log, and immediately began shoveling bits of egg into her mouth with just her fingers. 

“They teach you manners in the Espatiers?” 

“Nope,” she said with a ruffled mouthful of food, this time reaching for a strip of bacon. “But they did teach us to use what we have on hand. That, and I’m starving.” 

“You should be; you slept for fourteen hours,” Rence said, watching his sister ravage the breakfast plate. He picked up another plate and a fork from the same box Jahenna had, and began fixing a plate of his own as he looked past the campfire to the forests and mountains beyond.

They were maybe a hundred kilometers south from the recruitment depot, nestled along the foothills of the Cartusian mountains. Here, trees—some of which were part of the original forestation mission in the early 2200s—covered the mountain range, evoking images of the ancient, now long-gone forests of Earth in centuries past. 

“Between the view and the food,” Jahenna mouthed as she devoured another strip of bacon, “I had to have died in basic; this is absolute heaven.”

“Oh, I assure you,” her brother said, hefting some eggs onto his fork, “you are quite, very much alive. You may have slept like the dead, but you are A-L-I-V-E.”

Jahenna grimaced a moment, then shoveled another egg bit into her mouth with her hand. “Way better than Harrow’s Landing,” she said, nodding to him. “Ten times better. A hundred. How did you know?”

“I’m telling you, it’s from being cooped up for so long in a sanitized, low-g cabin,” he said. “Like, a beach would have been fine too…but beaches don’t have all of this,” Rence continued, gesturing to the trees around them.

“I never would have thought two places could be so different,” she mumbled. “Like…you’d think they’d be pretty close, but no. I was wrong. Dead-ass wrong.”

“You’ll grow out of it,” Rence muttered with a grin, reaching down to take a sip from a hidden cup of coffee. 

Jahenna’s eyes went wide at the sight of his mug. “You have coffee and you didn’t tell me?!” 

“You didn’t ask,” he said. “Don’t worry! There’s a cup on the other side of the table, one literally with your name on it.” 

Jahenna stood up and moved to the table, setting her empty plate on the table as she located a simple aluminum camp mug that read “JANA” on the side in bright pink lettering. 

“Oh you bastard,” she said, laughing. “You couldn’t even get my name right.” 

“It’s all they had!” He said. “That, and by the time I saw it was the wrong name, you’d already turned around and come back—I couldn’t fix it! I was stuck!” 

“God damnit, Rence,” Jahenna cursed, taking a sip of coffee from her new mug. It smelled of hazelnuts and honey, and all the colors of autumn on a cold Saturday afternoon. 

“This is…” she began, taking another sip, “…so much better than the sludge I’m used to.” 

“Glad you approve.” 

She moved back to the log next to the fire, taking another sip before making herself comfortable on the log. 

“How’d you do all this?” She asked. 

“All of what?” 

“…this,” she said, gesturing to the campsite around them. “Did you did all of this alone? While I was out?”

“…I needed the gravity therapy,” Rence said with a shrug. “Besides, what else was I going to do while you were out cold?”

“…go for a hike?” She offered. “I’m not mad, just sorry I wasn’t there to help. I’m impressed.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I needed it. Gets the blood going, let me tell you.”

She chuckled, then slid herself down the front of the log onto the ground where she then stretched awkwardly out, basking in the warmth of a fire before going limp. 

“Are you alright, down there?” Rence asked, watching her slide sideways off the log and onto her side on the ground with a look of concern and curiosity.

“A little sore,” she said, “but this is…perfect,” she said, stretching her arms out again where she lay. She was conscious enough of the fire to keep away from it, but every joint and muscle popped and tensed and relaxed in an orchestra of absolute relaxation she hadn’t felt in months. The muscles in her arms flexed as she stretched her legs out again, then fell limp as she sighed contently.  

“You keep rolling on the ground like that and you’re gonna roll into the fire.” 

“I don’t care,” she purred. “I’m so comfortable right now. I haven’t felt like this in forever.”

“You want more food?” Her brother offered, changing the subject. “We still have a little more bacon, and about four more eggs. I can whip up more for you if you want.” 

She curled upright, bracing an arm behind her as she moved to stand up. “Nah,” she said. “What about a hike instead?” She asked. 

“Maybe in a bit,” Rence said. “I need a bit to digest for a bit what I just ate. I’m getting old.” 

“You’re not even thirty yet,” Jahenna protested. “Besides, it’s not like we’re gonna go do a tenner or something.”

“A what-now?” He asked. “What’s a ‘tenner’?”

“Ten…kilometers?” she asked. “You know, something simple? Not really a big deal?”

“A ten kilometer run isn’t a big deal?” He asked, a little struck. 

“What?” she asked with a grin, “you afraid of a little sweat? You built this camp by yourself; you shouldn’t have any trouble keeping up with me.”

Before he could answer, Jahenna heard something vibrate loudly in the nearby vicinity, followed by a muffled siren wail from her tent.

Rence looked at her funny, and she groaned in annoyance.

“It’s my tablet,” she said, propping herself back down on the log again. “It’s going to beep and buzz from time to time…surprised you didn’t hear it before while I was out.”

“I didn’t hear it while you were out,” Rence said. “Why is it making sounds?” 

“Training thing,” Jahenna mumbled, standing up to go move back to her tent. “Random order-flashes to simulate the ‘get-up-and-go’ nature of being an Espatier…as if basic wasn’t enough of a trainer…” 

Behind her, Rence moved his free hand into his pocket, producing a small buzzing tablet of his own.

“Uhh…sis?” He called out anxiously. 

“What?” She said at the tent door, not looking back. 

Rence started to stammer a response—

And a bright flash of light erupted silently in the sky.

Birds screamed and flew from their nests in the trees in a wild chorus of wing flapping and wind churning. Harsh light burned Jahenna’s eyes just as she reached for the tent flap, forcing her to squeeze them close. She instinctively dropped to the ground, burying her face into the crook of her arm as Rence started yelling something incoherent behind her.

“RENCE!” She screamed frantically at him, “DROP TO THE GROUND! TAKE COVER!” 

She heard her brother fall to the ground with a grunt that did little to mute his screams.

“My eyes!” He cried out. “My eyes! I can’t see!” 

“Stay calm!” She yelled back. “Stay low, close your eyes, and just stay down! Brace for a shockwave or something!”

“A shockwave?!” He yelled, his voice wincing in panic now in addition to pain. “What was that?!” 

“I don’t know!” She yelled back at him again. “Just…stay down! We’ll figure this out!” 

For several brief, horrifying moments, she continued to mash her head into the crook of her arm while listening for anything that could tell her more about the flash: an explosion, a thunder crack, an enormous boom…

…then she realized that her skin wasn’t burning off.

She listened for a few more moments, waiting, and then realized the ground beneath her wasn’t trembling or vibrating either.

“…Rence?” She tentatively asked. “You still there?” 

“Really wish I wasn’t,” he scoffed from behind her.

“Are you injured?” She asked, more calmly than she realized; the training was taking over. 

“Of course I’m injured; I’m fucking blind!” 

“Alright, hang on a second,” she said, slowly pulling her head out from the crook of her arm, and while still looking down, opened her eyes. Normal, undisturbed shadows danced against the bare skin of her arm. Out of the corner of one of her eyes, bright, unfettered sunlight washed against the outer wall of her tent as shadows playfully danced silhouettes from the trees. 

Moving to a crouch now, she carefully raised her head and looked around.

The bright flash had faded, though there was still an unsettling glow that hung in the sky like Toliman on Kasper. 

That’s…not good, she thought to herself, mentally thinking of all the many, many was that something could linger and glow like that in the sky during daylight. 

That’s…really, really not good…

“Jahenna?” Rence called out to her, “where are you?” 

“Right here,” she said, turning her attention to where he lay on the ground. “Hang on, I’m coming over to you.” 

She found him curled up in a fetal ball with his back to the campfire, wedged between it and the log he’d been sitting on. His face was gripped tightly between his hands, and as she approached he cowered at the sound of her footsteps. 

“Can you see?” He asked, his voice barely holding back the terror she knew he felt. 

“I was looking the other way,” she said as she crouched down next to her brother. “Hang on, Rence,” she whispered, giving him a quick visual checkout: no cuts, no abrasions, no breaks. “I’m going to look into your eyes really quick, okay? Don’t be afraid. This isn’t going to hurt.” 

“Okay,” he whimpered. “I’m…I’m scared, Jahenna. I’m really not okay right now.”

“Me too,” she said. “Believe me, I am absolutely terrified right now…”

“What if I can’t see anymore?” He asked her as she started to examine his eyes. 

“We’ll deal with it if that’s the case,” she said simply, studying his pupils. They weren’t reactive, but they seemed exceptionally stimulated. 

“Looks like flash blindness,” she said. “That’s good. You’ll probably be able to see again.”

“‘Probably’?!” 

“Could be a few minutes, could be a few hours,” Jahenna said. “I’m no doctor, but you’ll probably be okay. Just keep your eyes closed for now.” 

“O…O-Okay,” he said, his voice betraying a growing sense of worry. “What…do you know what happened?” 

Jahenna looked back up into the sky and gazed carefully at the faintly glowing ball that hung like a second star.  “Some sort of explosion in orbit, if I had to guess,” she said. “Big, big explosion…it’s still burning right now; it looks like Toliman does from Kasper.”

Rence sat mute on the ground, slowly collecting himself upright into a sitting position. “Jahenna,” he said, “I…before the flash…there was an emergency alert…on my tablet…”

Tablet. 

Her tablet. 

She suddenly became aware that despite everything that had happened in the past five or ten minutes, her tablet had not stopped its siren.  

“Hang on a second,” she said to him, quickly standing up and moving back over to her tent. 

“Where are you going?” He called out. “My tablet—”

“I’ll be right back,” she said, opening the tent flap. “I’m confirming a very bad feeling.” 

She located her duffel inside and began digging into it, pulling out the thick and robust Confederation-issue tablet.

The tablet unlocked after identifying her, then proceeded to show a flash priority message just as its siren turned off:

EMERGENCY ACTIVATION ORDERS:
PVT. MALNIX, JAHENNA A.
DOB: 6/23/2684
SERIAL: 56D-45F-32SW-545421-B5

MESSAGES BEGINS: 

LIBERTY CANCELED; APPEAR AT LANDING PAD 3C FOR IMMEDIATE PROCESSING AT BAR-HASSAN STATION. 

She read the words “emergency activation orders” again, and again, and again…

This was not good. 

Really, really, not good.

“Jahenna?” She heard Rence call out behind her. “Jahenna? Where’d you…where’d you go?” 

She lowered the tablet as she turned around to witness him pawing at the log, trying to stand upright. His face and empty eyes stared helplessly into the infinite, and he looked absolutely ragged; a stark contrast to the person she’d shared breakfast with not even half an hour ago.

“I’m still here,” she said meekly, unsure of what to actually say or do. “I’ll be right there, Rence. Hang on.” 

What could she do? 

What could she possibly do right now—for him or herself? 

She literally had new orders to report for active duty!

Her brother was blind. It didn’t look like he had any other injuries, but she didn’t know if the blindness was permanent. 

What the hell was going on?! 

There was another, louder series of whoops and sirens from the tablet now that it was free from the confines of her duffel, and another new flash priority message appeared across the screen:

EMERGENCY ACTIVATION ORDERS:
PVT. MALNIX, JAHENNA A.
DOB: 6/23/2684
SERIAL: 56D-45F-32SW-545421-B5

MESSAGE BEGINS:

BAR-HASSAN STATION UNDER ATTACK. DO NOT APPROACH. SEEK SHELTER. AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.

She stared at the message again, reading it over and over like she did with the first one.

…under attack…

…seek shelter…

Jahenna looked up at the glowing orb in the sky, then to Rence, then back to her tablet. 

Jahenna looked up at the glowing orb in the sky, then to Rence, then back to her tablet. 

Oh, shit.

Oh shit-fuck.

“Jahenna…?” 

She looked up to find Rence had crawled from the log where he’d been holding himself upright to within a few meters of where she stood near her tent. 

“I’m here,” she said, crouching down and shuffling her shorts against her thighs as she bent down, so he could hear and follow where she was. “I’m right here, Rence.” 

“Your…tablet beeped again,” he said slowly.

“Yeah,” Jahenna said meekly, defeated. 

“The…the alert…on mine…it said something about ‘take shelter’? Something…about an attack?” 

“I figured,” she said, practically a whisper as she felt her eyes begin to sting. 

“Was…that flash. Was that a nuclear—”

“I don’t think thats what it was,” she said quickly, cutting him off like the horrible nightmare she was trying so very hard not to think about. 

“You said it was in orbit?” Her brother asked. “What if it was a…reactor or something going critical? Like a…a freak accident or something?” 

Because if it was a freak accident, I wouldn’t have gotten a Do-Not-Approach message, she thought to herself. 

Tell him, she heard herself say mentally. You need to tell him. You have to go. You need to tell him that you’re going to kick whoever’s ass did this to him, and hundreds of millions of others. 

“Rence,” she began, “I…think we were—”

Streaks and flashes started lighting up the surrounding sky closer to the horizon, cutting and carving the landscape apart in streaks of fire like a razor. 

Thunder started to fill her ears, and instinct quickly took over again as she started to feel the ground vibrate beneath her.

“…Jahenna!” Rence said in a rising, panicked voice, “what’s…what’s going on?!” 

For a split second, something flashed down from the sky out of the corner of her eye. Ungodly bright, it tore the blue sky apart much like its brethren in the distance…but this one was closer.

Much closer. 

Before she could even begin to process how close, the bright streak flew behind a tree, and a disjointed, distant roar filled the air as the sky exploded around her in a cacophony of noise, light, color and dust. Trees were lifted up in front of her like twigs, and when the blast wave finally hit, it picked her up like a toy doll. 

The last thing she remembered seeing was Rence rag-doll against a tree in the blast wave, his body wrapping around it like paper. 

Everything went dark after that.