Redemption

Chapter One

Date: July 4, 2156- 21:00

Location: Mars Orbit-Sector 7-AFSF Hope of Redemption

When I was boy, I always wondered what was out there among the stars. What secrets space had held beyond our system. My father had told me when he returned home from a trip one time that if I ever wanted to see what was out there just ask him and he would make it happen.

I never knew why, even to this day, why I said no to him. Why had I refused the offer to see what lies out there? If he ever asked again I would have said yes, just to mess around with him, to see him smile, just one last time. I would have said yes, but I never got the chance.

The day after he asked me, a man had came to the door. I stand here now trying to remember what he said.

"Evan are you just going to stand there like an idiot or are you going to come have a drink with us."

My train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a half drunk woman standing in front of me. Her name was Josie Ranger, despite being 'on the job' she was uncontrollably drunk. We had known each other for less than a year but it had been enough time to realize that she got drunk every chance she got despite my best efforts.

Despite being drunk more than half of the time she didn't look like your typical drunk party girl. She always made sure her makeup looked nice and that her hair didn't look like a racoon went through it like it would a trash can. She wore her normal uniform, and know this her normal uniform was quite different than her military uniform.

Her normal uniform consisted of Texas Rangers baseball cap sitting atop her dirty blond hair that was styled into a ponytail. She wore a tank top that she changed color depending on her mood that day. It went from the usual yellow usually meaning happy and carefree day to a pitch black meaning don't mess with her or I would need to file a missing person's report... again.

"I know I have said this many times before and I will say it again, Josie please refrain from entering the command deck while intoxicated."

She smiles drunkenly. "That's a lot of big words," she burps but continues, "for such a little man."

I was much taller than her but that didn't stop her from using her age against me. She was five years my senior, while I had five inches on her.

"Hey and that's Lieutenant Josie Ranger to you," She stops smiling and frowns, " Come on Evan lay back and have some it's the fourth of July for god's sake."

I sighed, I did want to have some fun. I had not had any real fun ever since I arrived on the Redemption. I tried to act somewhat professional around people that had been serving in the military for years.

"You know I can't Josie I don't want to act like a kid around-"

"But you are a kid! You're only twenty for the love of god!"

I hear a grunt from the seat to the right coming from Gordie Tyke, the ship's gunnery sergeant. He was also the ship's pureblood Christian. At the moment he was the acting Pope of the ship, holding services in the 'chapel'.

He growls without turning away from the monitor, "You shouldn't use the lord's name in vain."

It also caused a bit of strife between Josie and him. Even before I became captain she had openly expressed that she had been atheist, she didn't believe in god and Gordie did all he could to make her believe, in the end it didn't really work well.

And it wasn't like I could take a side in their little conflict. I was an agnostic neither believing nor disbelieving god. I didn't believe the some man or thing controlled everything. That he chose what you did, what type of a person you became. I believe that a man or woman chose their destiny, they chose what path they followed weather it be good or bad. But it wasn't impossible that some godly being created us. I mean I think it sounded like some crack head thought it up but you gotta keep an open mind.

Josie smiles drunkenly at him, "Oh shut your dumb mouth, you catholic piece of -" She begins to sway before I grab her shoulder and steady her. She burps out a thanks and continues to nag me to come have a drink.

Usually she gives up after about the fifth or sixth rejections, but today she didn't seem to want to give up. It had to have been at least fifteen minutes before I gave into her nagging like a five year old.

"Alright Josie I'll have a drink. And quote me on this, 'a drink'. That is singular not plural and it will stay that way, got it?"

She lets out an exaggerated sigh, "Whatever," and just like the flip of a light switch, she smiling like she's a five year old on Christmas morning, "Alright let's go little man and see how long that 'one drink' holds up aye."

She basically skips out the automatic doors of the command deck, nearly tripping in her current drunken state.

I let out a sigh and turn to the Chief Mechanic of the Redemption, Brianna Patch, "Brianna," She turns from her tinkering station where normally a monitor would be, "If I don't return within twenty-four hours make sure to file a missing person's report. I believe Miss Ranger will be a person of interest in the report."

I think Brianna was the most sane person among the chief of staff, mostly keeping to herself and not getting mixed up in the messes Josie usually started. From the conversations I had with her she really seemed like a nice down to earth person, pun intended. She never tried to get attention but she never did stay quiet if she wanted to say something. When she had an opinion she was gonna tell you it weather hurt you feelings or not. She was the person I trusted most on the command staff.

She gives me a warm smile, "Aye, Aye Captain." And gives me a lazy salute.

I sign and turn to the lift door that gives access to the bridge, they had just recently shut after Josie left the range of the scanner. Every lift door on the ship had a scanner that scans the personal for a small code chip in the back of the person's head. The chip would transmit a code that only the scanner can see. Each ship had a different code that was needed to get through the lift doors.

I step through the doors into a long hallway with several automatic doors on each side. Each one had a name displayed on a holo-screen. The door on the left closest to me open and a soothing woman voice rang through the hall, "Welcome home Captain Evan Jaeger."

The other door on the right stayed closed but repeated the same greeting to me from the speaker next to the door. That door was to Josie's quarters, where she usually drank her off duty hours away.

I had to give it to the cleanup crew, they must have a hard time scrubbing down that room every day or the whole deck would smell like Josie after a Friday night, the next morning was the worst of the week for her, I know because I'm the one that has to wake her up because she disconnects her alarm clock.

To add to my bad mood today was Friday, and it was a holiday when people typically got drunk, and just to spice things up even more, some unearthly being threw Josie into the mix.

As I stroll to the lift door at the end of the hall a horrible feeling rose in my gut, it was only going to get worse here on out.

**Transmission Linked**

**Transmitter: Unknown**

Y: The coordinates have been sent to chosen, estimated arrival time at 23:00 hours.

Z: Do you really believe the chosen will follow it?

Y: He is a curious one, like the one before him...he will follow it.

Z: Your confidence in the boy is not as convincing as you think.

Y: You will learn soon that my confidence is well earned.

Z: Well what shall we do if the boy does not follow the signal?

Y: ...

Z: Well?

Y: Then all is lost my old friend

**Transmission End**