SpaceAce - October Prep Month

October 14th, 2017 - The Death of Ovven

“The Death of Ovven”

A Short Story

Written By

PureSciFi aka
SpaceFaction

     Using his outstretched arms, palms down, to steady himself a few inches above the ground, Ovven lifted his outstretched legs parallel to the rest of him. Then his raised them slightly above his legs. The cringe on his face indicates that he’s in a lot of pain doing it. His slightly quivering arms also indicate the same thing.

     Ovven lowers his legs back to the ground. Then he raised them again. Only that time he didn’t stop at parallel. His human looking face started turning red. Ovven lowered his legs again. He did this four more times. Each time he did it he raised his legs a little bit more. The last time it was almost up to his hairy chest.

     The cringing face and redness also intensified. After he lowered his legs one more time, Ovven also lowered the rest of himself into a sitting position. Ovven opened his eyes just as another Stivem appeared in front of him. “That’s enough for today,” said Abbia.

     “No, it’s not. I can do another twenty-five Leg Lifts.”

     “I’m sure you could. But you don’t need to do it. You’re doing very well with you getting healthy again.”

     Ovven closed his eyes and raised himself again by his arms. Then he started raising his legs. He only did four more before he lowered himself. Ovven bowed his head. “You’re right, Abbia. I can’t do anymore Leg Lifts today.”

     A few seconds later Ovven continued. “But you are also wrong. I’m not getting healthy.”

     “Yes, you are. You’re just not doing it as fast as you want to get healthier.”

     “The sooner I get my health back, the sooner I can get back to my Pilot Fighter. And the sooner I do that, the sooner I will become a SpaceAce too.”

     Abbia sighed. “We have already discussed this before. You getting your health back doesn't mean that you’re going to be able to be a Pilot Fighter again, let along becoming a SpaceAce.”

     “I know it doesn’t. But I also know that I have a very good chance of succeeding. And if anyone can do it, it’s me.”

     “You have been through a lot since that Pilot Fighter accident. In fact, you almost died because of it.”

     That time it was Ovven who sighed. “I know that too. That’s why I’m so determined to get back on my feet again.”

     “You are already on your feet. That’s not your problem. Your problem is that isn’t good enough for you. You will do whatever it takes to become a Pilot Fighter and SpaceAce.”

     “What’s wrong with that? Don’t you want to be a SpaceAce?”

     “Of Course, we do. But as your Health Specialist, it’s also my job to get you Healthy again.”

     “You have done that. I am walking again. Now it’s my turn to become healthy enough to return to my Pilot Fighter, and to become a SpaceAce.”

     Abbia sighed. “That’s what I have been trying to explain to you for the last seven months. There is a very good chance that you will never be a Pilot Fighter again.”

     “That’s not going to happen to me. I am going to become a SpaceAce. And no one, or nothing, is going to stop me. I’ll do whatever it takes to do it, and I don’t care who I have to step over or through to do it.”

=====-=====-=====-=====-=====-=====

     Fifteen Pilot Fighters flew around fifty SpaceFighters, each side firing at the other. The Pilot Fighters were firing Laser Balls, and the SpaceFighters fired Laser Bolts. A single Pilot Fighter flew between two SpaceFighters. Forcing them to fire at each other, and destroy themselves. The single Pilot Fighter did that to sixteen other SpaceFighter couples.

     The other Pilot Fighters were doing the same thing. But the single one did twice as many as the other did. They were also firing Laser Balls at individual SpaceFighters. And they were being destroyed. But they most of the SpaceFighters were killing themselves with a lot of help from the Pilot Fighters.

     True, the SpaceFighters were fighting back. And they were hitting the Pilot Fighters. But they were destroying any of them. Except for the single Pilot Fighter, the others were working in teams of two. That confused the SpaceFighters enough to destroy most of them. But one got did get a shot past their fellow SpaceFighter to strike a deadly shot to the engines of one of the Pilot Fighters. Only it wasn’t one of the couples. It was the single Pilot Fighter.

     That Pilot Fighter started spinning out of control. It traveled among the others involved in that SpaceBattle. The pilot maneuvered to avoid hitting anyone, on both sides. But they did bump into, and off, a few. They even skidded around several. Once that Pilot Fighter cleared the SpaceBattle, it started toward a nearby planet. Still, out of control, it was headed for that planet fast.

     Ovven tapped the MiniPad in his hand. The image of that single Pilot Fighter froze just before hitting that planet. “That was my Pilot fighter. I’m the one who almost died in that SpaceBattle. My Superiors called it an accident. But I call it my near death.”

     “I was the lucky one. Nine of the others didn’t survive that battle. And for five, they did survive, but their injuries were a lot worse than mine.”

     After turning back toward a room full of students, Ovven asked, “Why am I telling you all this? Because I don’t want what happened to me to happen to you. And if I can stop it from happening, then my life will be worth something after all.”

     “When this happened to me I thought that this was the death of me. But when they approached me about becoming an Instructor I thought that if I could help you not to get killed out there, it would be worth it.”

     “At first, I didn’t want to be an Instructor. I wanted to be a Pilot Fighter, and eventually a SpaceAce, again. But then they said that I could also train to get back to becoming a Pilot Fighter. They also said they couldn’t be positive that I would ever be one, but I could keep on trying. If that’s what I wanted to do.”

     Ovven took a deep breath. “I know that almost everyone here hates me, especially the Trainers. It’s like that here. and it was like that at my last training centers. I’m sure it will be like that where they send me next. But I don’t care. All that I care about is that you don’t end up getting yourself killed. That’s why I’m so strict with all of you.”

     About thirty minutes later Ovven finished talking to his Trainers. Ovven dismissed the Trainers. After the last of them left, Ovven tapped his MiniPad once. A single loud click could be heard by the entrance. Ovven then faced the frozen image on the monitor. And he tapped the MiniPad again. He looked down just as the image began moving. Then he looked up at the large monitor. The moving image on the monitor was the same one as the one on the MiniPad. It showed that single Pilot Fighter as it crashed into that planet, and blew up.

     “I still don’t remember what happened to me, or how I survived that explosion. Maybe someday I will.”

Word Count = 1,232