The room shook violently knocking several half full cups of cold coffee off the central desk to smash on the ground.
'That one was close,' remarked Zaren bleakly, 'likely ten or eleven decks away.'
'Aye, it won't be long now,' replied Captain Tetch.
Zaren, Tetch's aide bent down to pick up one of the shattered cups.
'Leave it.' Tetch sighed. 'It's not going to make much of a difference.'
Zaren ignored Tetch and picked up the shard all the same. Turning it over in his hand he gently rubbed his thumb of the golden winged hammer emblazoned on it, the emblem of the Navy.
'This was my favourite mug you know?' Zaren said half to himself.
'Yeah?' Tetch asked looking up from the stream of data coming in across his monitor.
'Yeah, it was just like all the others really except for a small stain that reminded me of, of similar times really.'
Tetch took a deep breath and turned off his monitor. Their fate was out of their hands now and communications with the rest of the ship were all but down anyway. Looking over at Zaren it was all too easy to forget how young he was, young by Tetch's standards at least.
'Where did you grow up Zaren?' Tetch asked while rubbing the two-day old grey stubble on his jaw.
The question seemed to take Zaren by surprise as the ship shuddered from another impact, this one further away that the last.
'I assume my file would have told you sir no?' Zaren answered looking towards the entrance of the Captain's quarters where the two men stood.
'It did, but I never heard it in your own words so humour an old man why don't you? And please, call me Allander, I am done with formalities at this stage,' Tetch said as he walked over to a cabinet on the far side of the sparsely furnished room.
He had to steady himself as two quick succession impacts rocked his mighty ship. It would not be long now indeed thought Tetch. But they only needed a little longer.
'I grew up on the west coast, a little farming town by the name of Talaho si- Allander,' Zaren answered, the naming coming awkwardly to him.
'A farming town?' Tetch asked with crooked eyebrow. 'That is not what your file said.'
'No sir, sorry, Allander. I forged my papers so I could enlist, most of us rural folk have.'
'Aye that is true, though I did not expect someone as strait laced as you Zaren to be in the business of forging papers.' Tetch said with more than a little surprise.
Zaren just shrugged in reply.
Tetch returned to the desk with three glasses and a dusty bottle. Eyeing the bottle Zaren could not help but think that in the twelve years that he had served with Tetch he had never once shared a drink with him.
'I suppose it was a choice between a life of toil in the fields or the glory of serving in the Grand Navy eh?' Tetch said with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes.
'Something like that.' Zaren replied reservedly.
Tetch looked at Zaren a moment to see if he would elaborate further, when it was evident he would not Tetch turned his attention to the bottle in his hand.
'Why three glasses?' Zaren asked, eager to change the subject.
'An old Navy tradition.' Tetch replied. Not willing to elaborate further himself.
YOU ARE READING
Azaroth's Herald
Bilim KurguA short story about a grim situation of a ship in space. I have ideas to explore the stories of what happens to other characters mentioned in the story with an idea to flesh out the world a bit more but got this short conversation piece for now.