Age of Lies (Original Version)

Chapter 11

Markelium steadily made his way to Captain Kelly's quarters determined to find answers to his ever growing list of questions. As he headed down the corridor just aft of the bridge, he ran into a group of men and women in blue uniforms with grey and yellow highlights. He gave them room to pass as they quickly made their way to their stations on the bridge as they prepared to take over for the third shift. Markelium continued to make his way towards Captain Kelly's quarter as the appointed time of their meeting drew near. Markelium lifted his arm to check the time on his holo-pad which sat in the holder on his inner fore-arm that his uniform had.

"Thirteen fifty hours." Said Markelium to himself.

Suddenly the ship's bells chimed stating that third shift would begin in ten minutes. A few stragglers passed by Markelium as he made his way down the brightly lit corridor that housed the leading officers. At the end of the hall by Captain Kelly's door, Markelium checked the time once again and then proceeded to raise his hand and gave a slight rap on the door. The security system outside Captain Kelly's room registered Markelium as the visitor and sent the info to Captain Kelly's holo-pad.

"Come in." Called Kelly through the thick blast door.

Markelium waved his hand over the interface beside the door and a moment later it slid open for him.

"Still can't get over how technology has changed since then." Thought Markelium as the door closed behind him.

"Take a seat, and need a drink?" Asked Kelly as he walked over from the wall monitors beside his bunk.

"A glass of water if you have it Sir." Replied Markelium as he sat down in the seat across from Kelly's desk.

A moment later Kelly handed a glass of water to Markelium and proceeded to sit down in his chair with his mug in hand behind his grey carbon fiber desk.

"I suppose there's a lot of questions that you have for me." Stated Kelly as he leaned back into his chair.

Markelium took a sip of water and then placed it on the coaster that lay on Kelly's desk.

"Tell me about the United Planets and how they came to be. I heard a bit about the conflicts leading up to the creation of it but not much after they started taking control." Said Markelium after thinking for a few moments.

Kelly rubbed his temples for a moment and he then looked up to the display window on his desk.

"Since you know of the wars from 2056, when America developed the first official spaceship built for war in which the Russians soon launched their own ship, up to 2142. I don't have to remind you of those times since you know them better than probably ninety eight percent of the universe. However in 2146 a universal ceasefire was finally put in place between the planets and colonies of the SOL System. Soon trade and infrastructure was being built up allowing for breakthroughs in civil sciences and engineering. New places started to get colonized and piracy lessened as the navies were able to focus more on anti-piracy. However peace did not last since in 2153 the colony on Europa, one of the colonies on Jupiter's moons, made a pact with the Mars colony and set their sights on plundering Earth's moon of its precious metals which had just been discovered in 2149 giving Earth a large edge in trade. So began the 1st Moon War as it was to be called. It ultimately ended in 2156 when the ESN managed to push Europa and Mars space forces back to their worlds and forced them to surrender. Of course Earth made them a deal and they began trading and shared the resources mined from the moon but as the winner Earth took most of the profit and power from it." Kelly paused a moment to take a sip from his mug that sat on the desk. After placing it back he leaned back again and continued with his history lesson.