Voyages of the Ocean's Salt: Battle of Brothers

Chapter 4: Field of View

Fleuteraions surrounded him from every side. Hundreds of them. Staring at him with their empty red eyes.

"What is it?" John asked. "What do you want from me?"

One by one, their large heads fell back as if too heavy to be supported. Their thin and slender necks snapped with a clean slit across their throats. By waves they fell before his feet. Hundreds of them lay dead before him, their necks slit, their throats exposed. Their empty eyes staring at each other, staring at him.

John Northam jolted up from his bed in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. His room was foreign to him at first. Commodore of the Corinth was still a new uniform. He groggily moved over to a nook by his com panel where he put on the kettle for some tea. There was a knock at his door.

"Come in," he called, pouring his favorite cup of tea, comforting like a warm bath for his soul, calming his nerves.

The lights turned on as the door opened to Commander Edward Park.

"Sir, we're approaching the quarantine zone," he reported, standing stiffly.

"At ease, Commander," Northam said, "Would you like a cup of tea?" he gestured to another cup on the counter.

"Thank you, sir," Park paused awkwardly. After several moments of consideration, he obediently walked over to pour the hot water from the kettle into the mug. Instantly the mug flavored the water into an aromatic blend.

"Relax," Northam said. "Tea's an excellent remedy for that. I realize this is your first assignment to a flagship. Mine as well."

Park's shoulders dropped slightly, bowing his head, smiling sheepishly, "It's not that sir. It's just — I've been following your career since the academy. It's a dream to serve as your commander."

"Ah," Northam smiled, taking a sip from his mug, "well, truth be told, I need someone by side who I can trust, confide in, depend on."

"Of course!" Park straightened.

"Which means I need to feel comfortable as well," he said, gesturing to Edward's mug. "Someone I can just share a cuppa with."

Edward's sturdy posture melted, grinning shyly.

"Lovely. What is it?" he asked after taking a sip.

"That mug," Northam said, "is flavored with Lady Jane Grey tea. It's Lanier's favorite flavor."

Edward smiled sheepishly, cradling the mug in his hands.

"Well, I believe this shall be my preferred flavor from now on too, sir."

Northam comforted himself with his own cup of plain black tea with a drop of cream. Countless times he turned to it for a simple encouragement — how long exactly had he had it for? Why it must've been while he was still in the academy. Yes in fact when his brother... Northam set the mug down swiftly, no longer comforted, disturbed by the recollection of an unpleasant memory. He walked behind a divider where he began changing out of his relaxed attire, "How long until we reach Meinara?"

Meinara was a small planet, once teeming with life, now ravaged with an atmosphere of neutron radiation. It was the last planet within a habitable zone on the border of the Virgin Galaxy before entering what was now referred to as Galaxy X, the massive, galaxy-sized nebula of dust and debris that once comprised of the Xoxas Galaxy. All civilizations within a 150 parsec range from the border were evacuated and quarantined as all space along the rim was now contaminated with dangerous levels of neutron radiation. Meinara was the closest planet to Galaxy X where they could still be protected by specialized radiation resistant technology.