Paradise Blight

Chapter 3

The signal, diffuse and random, stirred only a few Legion. The true power of the Legion came from the countless many acting together. But not enough of them woke to network together, let alone coordinate an action. Not like last time. So they waited.

[Gan]

Eric and I played Space Pong every day. At low gravity, we did some awesome aerobatics when going for the ball. Eric usually won until I learned to spin the ball when I hit it, which threw him off just enough that we became more evenly matched.

When time came to clean the bio-filters again, we played for the task, or rather the not-do-the-task. As the match started, I relished the thought of watching him cram his tall frame in among the filters and come out covered with the stinky goo. Nope. Beat me soundly. That deceiver sandbagged me. The filters were every bit as gross as last time.

At six months before the scheduled arrival, we were to wake up the captain and all his crew, along with the planet governor-to-be. It took almost a day before they fully emerged out of hibernation. The process was automated, but we watched it closely to make sure nothing went wrong. The present chemically induced hibernation technology was a vast improvement over the old cryogenics, where the fatality rate used to be almost ten percent, which made recruitment for deep space missions difficult.

Space Pong became a huge hit with the crew. The arena became so popular that we set up a scheduling system to make sure everyone got a chance to play. The tournaments were epic! No doubt the Captain knew what was going on, but he kept quiet about it, that is until the injuries started and a few fights broke out.

My com-viewer beeped with a message. "Oh, crap."

I showed it to Eric, who frowned, showing me the same message on his device. We had been summoned.

Captain Greer looked the part as an ex-Marine officer — shortcut hair, firm squared jaw, muscular frame, and laser steel-blue eyes that could burn a hole through you. His callname in the military was 'Storm', and from what I heard, he earned it. By reputation, he was a hard-ass, but when the shit hits the fan, he was the one you wanted in charge. I was not officially part of the ship crew, but as a flight engineer, Eric was. Eric stood at attention before the Captain's desk and I followed his lead.

The Captain continued to look down at his tablet viewer as he addressed us. "Gentlemen, I understand you are the source of this Space Pong game?"

Eric firmed his jaw as he answered, "Yes, sir. It was a way to occupy our spare time and stay fit."

I interjected. "Captain, would you like to give it a try? I would be happy to..."

I gulped, cutting my invitation short as he glared at me with those intense eyes.

"The game has become a detriment to our mission," the captain said in a firm voice that shutdown any dissent. "Take it down. Do you understand?"

Eric showed no emotion as he replied. "Yes, sir."

Thus ended the sport of Space Pong. I was sorta sure it would become an Olympic sport if given a chance. We spent the next two hours removing the tape lines and moving the cargo back in the bay.

Over the next several weeks, we ran system checks and did landing drills, again and again, practicing responses to just about any foreseeable problem. The Captain was a taskmaster, but I understood the importance and the crew respected him.

Finally, tomorrow we get a day off from all the drills, and I looked forward to sleeping in.

*****

'Beep-beep'. Groaning as I reached for my com-viewer, I only knocked it to the floor. Who tried to reach me so early during my planned sleep session? In a mental haze, I searched on my hands and knees for the damned device.