my friends, I give him a mild battering in the dark. My enhanced vision is unknown to them because it was not an intentional modification. I have my mother, the curious lady in the lower sections, to thank for that ability. I can conclude now that some of my genetic make-up must have been from her.
My schooling in the Ward is over in one week. Even though the release cannot come soon enough for my liking, I have some reservations. Today when I awoke and attended the mess hall, I reflected on my time. There are six of us being assigned for duty this week out of nine hundred. We were sitting together at the table quietly for most of the meal. The five others were atypically quiet like me. Out of the thousands of times we shared that table together, watching each other grow up, the time to part ways was upon us. We weren’t really completely separating, but we would not be sharing that table together in the future. These were my true brothers. Realizing that the solace of that table with those five would vanish from my life brought a tear to my eye. I raised a napkin to fake a sneeze and hide my feelings. I could not have my friends, hardened by their own trials and tribulations, thinking that I was becoming soft.
I know we are well prepared. At all waking hours for the last sixteen years, not counting the time I was learning the fundamentals of communication, math, and science, I studied and learned about the ship and our mission. I specialized at age nine in the Gambler computing, networking, and storage systems. That preparation brings me to this place and time, where in addition to performing my duties, I have gained the knowledge of all communications and surveillance available to my team. There are others on my team that can surely do what I have learned. I don’t think they know I was the one who attempted to fake a reactivation of the quantum transceivers, but I am certain they are keenly aware of the surveillance capabilities available to us within the confines of Gambler. We don’t discuss it.
After hours when I am alone, I collect some of the communications I see. I have identified the woman who I believe is my biological mother as the one who calls herself Isla from the Bishop Islands on Earth. She is the one with the eyes like mine, the same legendary person that survived the extermination.
I believe she is in danger. This is not a situation I can let rest. I tell myself to be logical and not to get involved, but my instincts are to approach and protect her. I’m not sure how it will be possible as Leonidas is the one threatening her safety. I have intercepted his voice transcriptions as well and discovered his malevolence knows no bounds. I think he is oblivious to this monitoring.
As I repent my earlier regrettable fraud, I am determined to do it in private, and I will not risk an attempt to contact Isla in writing. The actions intended to stage a situation that would promote me to an interesting initial assignment provoked a sequence of revealing writings from Isla. None was more peculiar than the discovery today of the following note. This was put forward as a reception, just like my initial ones. I could not believe what I was seeing until I traced it and discovered it came from a room in level seven. I removed the trace.
Quantum Reception Earth date November 3, 2830
From: Dr. Chiara Bishop, Bishop Islands, Earth
To: Commander Leonidas Verga, Gambler Receiver
Leo,
I send greetings from your old home. I trust you are taking care of the stowaways. When Salazar decided to go with you, I did not consider it a loss. We have others like him. When Isla left me, it was a very sad day for Bishop Islands. To this day, I have not been able to recreate the irregularity that led to her unique respiratory system. I wanted to have it available for the next launch. The worlds we will eventually encounter will have less than
My schooling in the Ward is over in one week. Even though the release cannot come soon enough for my liking, I have some reservations. Today when I awoke and attended the mess hall, I reflected on my time. There are six of us being assigned for duty this week out of nine hundred. We were sitting together at the table quietly for most of the meal. The five others were atypically quiet like me. Out of the thousands of times we shared that table together, watching each other grow up, the time to part ways was upon us. We weren’t really completely separating, but we would not be sharing that table together in the future. These were my true brothers. Realizing that the solace of that table with those five would vanish from my life brought a tear to my eye. I raised a napkin to fake a sneeze and hide my feelings. I could not have my friends, hardened by their own trials and tribulations, thinking that I was becoming soft.
I know we are well prepared. At all waking hours for the last sixteen years, not counting the time I was learning the fundamentals of communication, math, and science, I studied and learned about the ship and our mission. I specialized at age nine in the Gambler computing, networking, and storage systems. That preparation brings me to this place and time, where in addition to performing my duties, I have gained the knowledge of all communications and surveillance available to my team. There are others on my team that can surely do what I have learned. I don’t think they know I was the one who attempted to fake a reactivation of the quantum transceivers, but I am certain they are keenly aware of the surveillance capabilities available to us within the confines of Gambler. We don’t discuss it.
After hours when I am alone, I collect some of the communications I see. I have identified the woman who I believe is my biological mother as the one who calls herself Isla from the Bishop Islands on Earth. She is the one with the eyes like mine, the same legendary person that survived the extermination.
I believe she is in danger. This is not a situation I can let rest. I tell myself to be logical and not to get involved, but my instincts are to approach and protect her. I’m not sure how it will be possible as Leonidas is the one threatening her safety. I have intercepted his voice transcriptions as well and discovered his malevolence knows no bounds. I think he is oblivious to this monitoring.
As I repent my earlier regrettable fraud, I am determined to do it in private, and I will not risk an attempt to contact Isla in writing. The actions intended to stage a situation that would promote me to an interesting initial assignment provoked a sequence of revealing writings from Isla. None was more peculiar than the discovery today of the following note. This was put forward as a reception, just like my initial ones. I could not believe what I was seeing until I traced it and discovered it came from a room in level seven. I removed the trace.
Quantum Reception Earth date November 3, 2830
From: Dr. Chiara Bishop, Bishop Islands, Earth
To: Commander Leonidas Verga, Gambler Receiver
Leo,
I send greetings from your old home. I trust you are taking care of the stowaways. When Salazar decided to go with you, I did not consider it a loss. We have others like him. When Isla left me, it was a very sad day for Bishop Islands. To this day, I have not been able to recreate the irregularity that led to her unique respiratory system. I wanted to have it available for the next launch. The worlds we will eventually encounter will have less than
Similar Books
