Zaden

EXODUS

My first time as leader, people died. I drowned in their screams and agony. I could see their smiles twist into fear. Their blood dripped ever so gently, before rushing like a flood. I opened my eye gently still within the confines of my steel apartment.

“Psst!”, a voice called out.

I turned my head around looking for the voice but to no avail. I adjust myself and attempt to sleep off again.

“Psst, Psst!”, the voice called out again.

This time I easily noticed the direction of sound, which was behind me. I moved my eyes hastily looking for what made it.

“Captain, over here”, the voice called again.

This time, it was obvious. The window. The shut glass that gave me a peek of the outer regions of space. Thats where the voice was from. I slowly walked to the window, and as I looked through it, I saw a lab technician hanging from the left side of my window on the ship.

“Captain, pick over here, look down, pick it up”, The laboratory scientist said with his full space armor, like I love to call it. To believe we made so many advancements, but, our freaking space suit is still bulky and kind of the same, not much changed in the last hundred years.

I looked underneath the edges of my window, and saw a one-way communicator. I picked it up and placed it beneath my collar.

“Good, captain. My name is Juliet Obaze, I work with the biology/medical division on board”, she said

“Okay, what does that have to do with me?” I asked

“There is something seriously wrong here, and with what you have been through, we believe you are more than likely to provide assistance”

“So…. Juliet, are you asking me to cooperate with a possible saboteur like yourself and betray my people? Because… You are oddly suspicious, and there is nothing stopping me from reporting you to the commander.” I replied

“Give me a minute captain” she said

She taps her comm, sending me something. My communicator beeps, and I click it to play what she sent. A hologram appears playing a video message…

*Video plays*

“Commander, we received a distress signal from the base in Zaden”, said a trooper

“What does our dear hero want now? Warp down, let’s see what is going.” She replied

They warp down their video feed and watch us hurdle at the center.

“Why are they firing sporadically, what are they shooting at?” She asked

“It seems to be another invisible organism commander.” Said a biologist who walked into the room.

“Dr. Adeola, good timing, I was going to call on you, thank God you are here”. Said the commander

“Shouldnt we warp them up. It shouldnt be too much. The creatures seem to be quite large judging from the foot print” asked the doctor

“Hmmmm, No, watch and take your data from this encounter. We can’t risk anything right now”

Everyone is silent. No one knew how to react to that. Even the Doctor just stared at her in awe. What presence!

“Doctor, no time for morals, watch and document. Like I said, we can’t risk the ship nor anything else. They are in God’s hand now, if there is one here anyway.”

*Video goes off*

I was shocked, I was terrified. I just sat on my bed with my hands on my face, holding back my agony.

“It is difficult, I know, we would contact you later. Take it easy…… Hero” said Juliet as she moves back to the loading bay. 

I spent hours drowned in sorrow.

Day and night on the ship was relative to how often you checked your time and calendar. And well, a hologram clock was everywhere on board. You would always know what time it was, all you had to do was look up. And look up is what I did, i had spent 3 days in confinement already. If it was at any other time, my daily routine of eat and sleep for the last three days would have been a blessing, but right now, it wasnt.

Finally, after three days, I had a visitor.

“Who could it be?” I wondered.

“Captain, we need to talk”

My luck was totally down the drain. I stood up and followed the commander out, to where we could talk.

“Tobi, get suited up, you are heading back to Zaden” She said

“But sir, you said we should talk.”

“Yes, and we have, wasnt it good?” she replied as she left me dazed.

Juliet, the commander, everything was driving me crazy. I didnt even have time to process my thoughts. But at least, I was sure of one thing, and that was, I wanted to know what was going on.