Tata Crubon

Tata Crubon

Tata woke up at five o'clock. He hit the alarm, and his crackled voice spread to the otherwise quiet airwaves; "Lights!"
He sat up on his bed, his bones popped seemingly at random, and shook his head to clear a bad dream.
Another Monday...
He hated Mondays...
As he got into the shower he remembered when the last time he used to go to work from Monday to Friday. It was over thirty five years ago...
He flinched.
Back then his parents were still alive, he worked as a corporate tycoon just as he was expected to live to the rest of his life, but he was living for his own dreams by then. One bitter man conning his workplace, skimming money, essentially robbing them...

"Why the heck do I remember to this now?" He asked aloud, but nobody replied. The AI of the Z180 was off line. He needed Evan Smith's help to turn it on; he was never that good at custom programming. He also hoped the system will do just fine without his supervision for another week. Hundreds of robots were working, fixing the various systems and he just begun his pet project: renovating his own room. By the time he`ll return the rooms supposed to glean with posh green paint - modeled after his childhood room. He grabbed his dark jeans and a white shirt, than a light coat and walked out to the dimly lit hallways. He touched his pocket; the old styled sunglasses were right where he left them. It was an old habit of his, since any modern contact lenses had the ability to serve as a sunglass... As he was turning on the corner he glanced up at the ceiling. The seemingly randomly placed oval protrusions were everywhere. As far as he could tell they served no real purpose. He always wondered what made the ZON Starship's makers to pick up such time consuming habits, than decided with a slight shrug that since they weren't humans theirs was a logic beyond his and moved on.
Two small robots began to follow him. He set up the system that way. He could feel like a king again; free man with free will, shaping his own future.
Yeah right, what a hollow illusion that is...
He imagined, shook his head as he stepped into one of the few working turbo lifts. The two small robot's sensors picked out their master's mental conflict and recorded his body language to store it in the vast databanks for the future when the mighty AI will hopefully, surely come online and began to wonder about the Master itself...
Of course the turbo lift was already on its way thanks to the ever present Control. It was less of an AI and more of a logic forming entity. Logic dictated that the Master would go to work this Monday just like in the past months therefore his destination was the only working helipad. That required an elevator to get to the lowest levels, therefore by the time Tata wound up front of the turbo lift it just arrived with a loud ping.
When he exited at the bottom level he grabbed one of the five control droids and told him to hold the fort until Friday, when he was going to return again.
The limited AI, the droid called Hen nodded with its loosely resembling metal square head while reassured his Master with a metallic 'yes, sir', but Tata rumbled on: "Tell'em that everything better be crossed off the list by the time I'm home on Friday or those whom failed won't get the mineral oil bath and then they will have something to cry and squeak about!" He laughed by the end.

He walked off the skinny ramp to the concrete pad that was still being built, down to the helipad. He entered to the small hovercraft and set the system to automatic. As the composite glass windows secured themselves he looked beyond it, tried to 'see' the meteorite cloud, high above Down Earth. He saw some, but mostly the ones with tiny lights on them; military outposts. He could have augmented eyes or contact lenses with neuro implants, but he was an old fashioned guy: if he couldn't see it with his naked eye, he'll be fine with that conclusion too...
Short ride, less than thirty minutes to the HQ of the Imperial Honor Guards. It was still dark outside; people were just waking up, thinking about their week.
He used to do just that...
He hissed and touched his knee. It was hurting all of a sudden. Pinching pain; a stark reminder of an accident happened when he was just eight years old.
When he was a kid he spent weeks every year by their grandparent's ranch just four light years from SWEi Prime.
"Why the hell I had to jump from that three?" He asked aloud as the hovercraft slowly rose from the pad.

His own parents were mid-level corporate agents. Their slow rise among the competing workforce allowed them move into one of the largest cities of K'aboon, just a shy jump from SWEi prime. He spent childhood there, until he got admitted to one of the leading universities on SWEi Prime. The Klon War were looming, but it was still not that bad, or perhaps he just wasn't paying attention. The war was going on for decades by then... But then again what people conceive as being far, they think it won't ever hurt them.
What did his grandpa used to say? The things that matter the most now, you'll found out that they aren't important at all, but those that you find useless are actually the things that matter the most!
His own grandpa. Dead now for so many years...
More bitterness...

He spotted two low flying navy airplanes, zipping toward the Thousand Islands with their throttle full. He frowned. What the heck? Soon they were nothing more than two pale, faint dots.
Just like Her in his old life...
It was so long ago and he wanted to forget it so bad... Smith was right of course. That young bastard told him that the human brain was such a funny thing. You can believe you erased a moment from your past and you'll believe, but in reality it is just pushed back. It will always be there...

He met Her on the grounds of the University on SWEi Prime, seemingly ions ago. He flirted with her, than came to find out she was making a speech to get more recruits for the Space Navy... He was madly in love with her. She was too... Every time she had free time, layover, she was on SWEi Prime with him. He of course was a young, dashing man, ready to fill up his parent's hope. He was a midlevel analyst at a large mega corporation, with strong ties to the military.
Elise was her name...
Tata lay back on the seat, closed his eyes and wept quietly as the hovercraft zipped across the morning sky.

Flashing memories came back how they planned their life, but the damned war was eating, chewing away people lives; as the front lines crept up they've been affected too. Shore leaves became scarce and he had to make a choice.
He had chosen Elise.
He got a transfer to the Super Destroyer of Rear Admiral Elise Sokool. That's right. His wife was a rear admiral in the mighty fleet of SWEi Prime!
One proud fleet...
He was a civilian, caring for their newborn children and working while his wife was giving life altering commands. What a long time ago...
At the proud age of ninety one, he looked not older than late forties, early fifties; a gift from Smith.
Or a curse...

The hovercraft landed on one of the upper level pads. He grabbed his military style duffel bag with his left hand, a suit case with his right and stepped out to the windy pad. His life was torn between civil and military duties...
He never realized the sour irony of it as he walked past the saluting guards and into the building. The rising sunrays reflected off his dark sunglasses.
Elise would be proud of me... shot across his mind.
He took the speedy lift to the top floor where his spacious office was, bobbed his head toward his personal secretary, Vicky and stepped into his huge room.
She was cute...
Not as cute as the chick he made out with in his grandpa's farm back in the day.
He just had to smile; a skirt chaser from the beginning. He could still remember to her soft skin's smell, the long, golden hair and angelic laugh....
He threw the duffel bag to the corner; fresh clothes for a week, than placed the suitcase by the huge, wooden desk. He had the office re decorated how he remembered his parent's last one. Not far from here... It was called Capitol City than, before Super City was built on top of the ruins...

He never said bye to his parents, so he paid tribute to their memories with the office. They died the same day he ran for space, avay from his last desk job. He was fired on a Wednesday; forged documents to get aboard a freighter bound for the Outer Rim, to get to his bebe, a ZON Starship. He already paid it off and got in touch with certain friends of him to get a base crew. He wanted to live free of boundary; honor the memory of Elise.
"I can't believe it was more than thirty years ago!" He bit his lips and drank bitterly from the glass, placed on his desk.

He walked to the back window, opened it up to get to the balcony, but hollered to his secretary: "Vicky, please get me my breakfast please!"
"Yes sir!" He heard it. He smiled. One of the few amenities of the job and he liked it.
He watched the sun rising above the horizon and wanted to reach out in many ways.
He wanted to fly away, touch the sun, but knew it wouldn't bring back the loved ones he watched die.
Not even Elise.
He wanted to float in space to get immersed with the feelings he had when he lost her. Although...
He shared the escape pods with his infant son and daughter as well.
"I wonder if they are still alive?" He wondered aloud. His grandpa was right. Everything matters the most that mattered less before...

         He remembered as he was lost, when a rescue boat picked them up. He was heartbroken. He dropped off the kids at her father's place and got enlisted to the military.
Was it to find her lost soul?
Was it to find his own?
Biggest regret was that nothing left of her. The explosion ripped apart the belly of the Super Destroyer. He was in shock, getting to the escape pods amid the violent attack. He cut his arm and the blood was dripping down on his hand, onto the communicator... He remembered the last text message he got from her, even while the internal com system went down, cuddling their children: 'I will always love you...' it read.
"I will always love you my darling!" He mumbled as a routine response.

The military needed pilots for the war, so he became a fighter pilot. Dream Fighters from the venerable YZ to the CX, he flew them all.
His maneuvers were bold.
He was ruthless.
He was taking unnecessary risks.
He was a living hero among his wing mates.
He wanted to honor the memory of Elise...
No...
He wanted to die.

He quickly rose among the other pilots and became a wing leader, a Lieutenant, a Commander and then a Captain. He was promoted for a field command after one of the so called Galaxy Battles. Soon he was running his own pocket fleet, the Suicides as it was called among others. He became a Rear Admiral by the time another Galaxy Battles went down with catastrophic results and it was many more before the tragedy at Kabnul... He watched his most trusted mates, friends and lovers going up in flames so he got lost among the rescued ones. Became a civilian again, reconciled with his parents a bit, moved to Down Earth and became a corporate tycoon with a hidden agenda. Slowly the agenda was taking over his life again and he eyed the stars.
The pain was deeper every day.
Elise was gone like she never was...


He came inside and got the report from Vicky.
Lots of bright and cocky students at the IHG, like Velnora. She spent the weekend in the brig again. She was a good fighter pilot, smart girl and hot, but her tongue put her in harm's way at every corner. She knew how to command but didn't want to give in to the superiors. He wanted to get rid of her so many times, but always stopped at the last moment.
In a way it reminded him Elise's little sister.
A weakness for sure...
The little sister with her own Starship. A ZON Starship...
Elise was jealous for her, for the prize she won, but the little sister, Ikra was tough. Not as pretty as Elise, but wilder.
Much wilder in every way...

He frowned as he tried to clear his mind and asked Vicky to get in touch with Smith. He needed to report in and maybe to ask him to help him find certain people he lost when he gave them up...
Soon he was talking with the fuzzy hologram of the spaceship Toxic.
"So Smith isn't aboard?" He asked with a temper. A short one.
"No he is with Azure and Baby aboard the soon to be commissioned SatCom Relay Station!" The holographic representation responded, disregarding his attitude.
"Why is your image so fuzzy?" Tata leaned forward. His eyelids dancing on his forehead.
"Um, it seems that the available bandwidth is diminishing..."
"Weird, I tell you. Just tell him I need to file my report and that I..." He could never finish the sentence as the connection got severed.
"What the fuck?" He got pissed just like that. He tried to make the connection himself but couldn't.
'Oh well' he thought than got back to the business of going over the results of the weekend exercises. He remembered he supposed to talk to the Admiralty Towers to set up another training session for the week, so he asked Vicky to get it done.
The so called Admiralty and Admiralty Towers were two different things. The first one was referred to be the UNHL (United Nations of Humanlike Lifeforms) controller, ran on SWEi Prime. But the proud Down Earthers called their own defense ministry the Admiralty Towers, probably because the humungous needle was rising so proudly to the sky at the edge of the ocean. They controlled and coordinated Down Earth Defense from there. It was the nerve center and in a way he was reporting to them.
Smith would disagree with that statement he thought.
"No, coordinate is the better word" He corrected himself.
This was a separate branch of the military, reporting directly to the Emperors; bypassing the Admiralty Towers at any given time.
...But he wanted to play along nice.
"I've gotten old!" He suddenly realized.
Vicky got back to him with the troublesome revelation that she can't raise the Towers at all.
"I'll do it!" He became annoyed and tried to open up a channel. Soon he had to admit it he wasn't able to do that either.
"One bad thing after another..." He wondered aloud.
He didn't smoke for decades, but now he felt the urge creeping up on him. He got up from his chair and went to the balcony. He looked to the far left, noted the misty silhouette of the gigantic Sky Riders looming over Super City; Evan Smith's personal ZON Starship and instantly felt better. However something was different in the skyline... Something was missing.
Soon a very bad feeling took over him as he couldn't find the rising needle of the Admiralty Towers. It was simply not there anymore...

"Vicky, cancel all shore leaves and get me Velnora out of the brig!" He hollered while he activated one of the two always ready fighters and sent them toward where the needle should have been.
The great thing about his job was, that he could send anyone anywhere at any time without reporting to anyone except the Emperors or to explain him why they ran over budget...
Others would be frightened just by thinking about it, but not him. His complicated relationship with Smith started way before he became the mighty Emperor...
He clearly remembered how it happened. He just crash landed with his Starship on Down Earth's International Spaceport. The height of the war... Chaos, even on a secluded planet like Down Earth... Every available men and women already conscripted and gone to the battle lines... He let go of his crew in light of the extensive damage, but changed his mind after and decided to fix it all by himself. A monumental task, but he needed to occupy his mind with something...
It happened on an afternoon. The tarmac was almost white, the sky deep blue and barely any cloud present. He was directing an army of robots beneath his beloved Starship. Moving crates and containers from the bow to the rear as the internal routing system was down. Suddenly an unexpected shadow moved. He swiftly drew his gun and called one of the control robots to approach the moving shade from the right. He moved from the left. The man who the shadow belong jumped and sprinted between the crates. Tata aimed and pulled the trigger. The man yelled and fell as his shoulder was pierced by the laser shot. As he cautiously approached the guy he heard sirens: a police cruiser popped out of nowhere and a young man, a teenager jumped out. As it turned out he was just thirteen. He ran straight to the man, jumped on top of him and locked his wrists, than glanced up: "Is everything all right, sir?"
That's how they met...


         In the meantime he called up the Sky Riders and talked to Diana who told him that Down Earth was no longer connected to either private or military deep space networks.
"Do you think it is part of a broader sabotage?"
The girl sucking on a green lollipop shrugged: "Could be, right now all I can tell you that I can dial the Window behind the Moon, but they can't call any further..."
"What's wrong?" Tata saw as her expression changed.
"No more answer from the other side, something happened, the base link is severed..."
"What's that mean?"
"It means we are cut away from the Universe..." Her frown deepened.
"Listen, wait for my instructions, but be prepared to fire on any hostiles!" Tata had a very bad feeling about this.
"I can't fire; I am not a human..." She trailed off.
"I know why Smith created you; as an AI you can't control weapons, but as a human you can!" Tata warned her, he knew the real reasons behind her existence.
The girl sighed: "I better get ready for this!"
"Do it!" Tata nodded, severed the connection and received horrifying pictures from the two alert fighters cruising, what seemed to be the burning remains of the fallen Admiralty Towers. It blew up at its bottom, fallen into the waters.
He was in a mild shock and figured he should try to call the Central Supercomputer when Vicky ran in and announced that the President of Down Earth was on the other line.
Tata slowly sat down into his chair and sent her out.
He had never talked to the man, the private face of the planet, governing it along with the fifty two territories as each part of Down Earth was called.

         "Tata Crubon, the Commander of IHG, I am Chibab Ylahim, President of Down Earth!"
"Mr. President!" Tata saluted.
"Are you aware of the problems I am facing, correct?"
Tata wanted to ask, but the President continued: "Namely that the Admiralty Towers are no more, currently rescue efforts under way to rescue any survivors, but we can't assume the Admiral survived."
"I am aware, Mr. President!" Tata nodded.
"We are also cut away from the Universe, because we lost all means of communications!"
"I am aware of it as well." Tata frowned.
"Good. Then I as a President of Down Earth, ordering you to temporary takeover of defense of this planet!"
"Beg your pardon?" Tata wasn't sure he heard it right.
"I need someone I can trust in the chaotic situation. You were appointed by the Emperor himself, therefore I and the citizens of this planet can lay our trust in you!"
Tata opened his mouth, than closed it.
"I need your help Mr. Tata. This may be a preemptive for a ground assault and we need to act immediately!"
Tata remained speechless. How did he end up in this situation, three hours into a Monday morning was beyond him...
"Sir!" The President pressed on.
Tata slowly came back to life. He can't say no to the President, but it meant his world just came to an end. This isn't how he imagined his retirement... That damned Smith. He wasn't even born on Down Earth... He had to be objective here. Think like Elise would...
"Mr. President, you need to declare Martial Law now!"
"I don't want to..."
"Planet wide Emergency will do. I'll take over the military in the mean time! I'll be in touch!" He severed the link and pulled out a small box from his coat's pocket. Smith gave it to him when he accepted the job. He said it was for contingencies. This constituted as a real one... Smith told him all he has to do is scan the card; he'll be connected directly to the planet's AI, the Central Supercomputer.
He wasn't sure whether the call would go thru, but it did. Soon he was facing with an old man with abundant white hair.
"Is this the AI?" Tata still wasn't sure.
"Yes."
"Are you aware of the malfunction of the Window and the loss of the AT (Admiralty Towers)?
"Yes."
"Is this a part of a broader attack from AOCP (Alliance of Central Planets)?"
"I don't know yet, but I am making certain preparation... I suggest you do the same!"

Obviously talking to an AI wasn't like a normal talk and Tata needed advisors, others whom would bring up likely scenarios. If there ever were such people, now the Admiralty Towers laid above them... It was a problem for sure and he began to curse at Smith: "What kind of situation did you got me in this time, eh?"
         Of course the kid just wanted to help him. Now and just as back then too... This job of his supposed to be a retirement gift from Smith. Somehow he thought he owed Tata a great deal of life experience, a real mentor once Smith told him. Tata only had vague idea why the young man did call him his mentor: when he was fixing his beloved Starship on Down Earth right after the war. He knew he had to go; he was a wanted deserter and a fugitive. He had zero illusion about the federal system and its luck of not finding him... He was a big fish and so he was working feverously to leave, but lack of knowledge on his part prevented him to fix the ZON Starship. About a year after their first meet Smith showed up on his doorstep. He wasn't interested in Tata's past or what he was doing prior to crash landing the ZON Starship. However he liked impossible challenges. It was clear from the start. He said he saw this great Starship that was just sitting, not teleporting anywhere and came to seek for an answer...
He explained to Smith who shrugged: "I've got time on my hand, where shall we begin?"
While Tata couldn't give him anything for his service Smith never asked for anything. They worked together on the Starship almost every afternoon. They watched sunset together working on the magnificent hull, without any safety harness, laying optical cables just beneath the covers... Over the year Tata could only observe an occasional freckles on his face, but while he never asked Tata, he also never mentioned anything about himself... All Tata knew the kid was a genius for proprietary programming and knew how to read books written in AED (Ancient Earth Dialect): the only option for Laser generator repair handbooks...Smith's help was essential. Than one day a friend of his contacted him telling him about the local authorities observing him, waiting for the court order to storm his castle. He had to go, but wanted to thank Smith.
The young man didn't show...
He teleported away hearth broken not been able to convey his gratitude, believing he would never set foot on Down Earth ever again...
He didn't know that while he was battling with his demons and got away, Smith battled with his own and had to run. While he aimed for the stars, as far away from the UNHL as he could Smith ended up on SWEi Prime to meet with Aaron, the legendary mercenary, to be trained so one day he could face his demons again...

         Vicky came in without knocking: "Lieutenant Velnora is waiting outside!"
"Send her in!"
The tall, skinny woman touched her long, black hair and stepped inside. She looked the floor.
"You were disrespectful to Lieutenant Veel again!" Tata said. He wanted to make a short, decisive speech, but he had to forgo in light of what was going on...
Silence.
"I know you have opinions!" Tata ordered to look straight into his eyes.
She did.
He saw the flames in her eyes.
"I can throw you out of the academy!"
Silence.
Tata frowned: "I will not do that today however. I give you new orders and you are going to report to me directly!"
"Yes sir!" She saluted.
"There are certain anomalies going on today. You will assemble your squadron immediately with live ammunition and take off. You will enter to the airspace of the International Spaceport and do an assessment of the Window. You may have to coordinate with the Captain of the Sky Riders."
"Is this a joint exercise, sir?" Velnora frowned.
"No. Right now this is a live mission. Anything comes thru the Window is under your scrutiny. If it seems hostile, coordinate with me, but you are authorized to fire upon. Now, go!"
Tata watched her leave before he grabbed a glass hidden in the top drawer. His hands were sweating. He felt it in his bones; all this will hit back at the worst possible time. He hated the moment when he has to face Chibab Ylahim again. He knew it was coming... A politician will never understood a soldier...
It was partially while he never became a politician...
Memories came back all of a sudden: When he was just a child he heard the Emperors always wanted something in return for their help. Naively he thought it was money... One day his father revealed the ugly truth: it was never money, but something much more personal; a favor... He said, once you accepted their terms there was no backing out of it.
He was right...
Although this realization never hit him until he was captured, his beloved Starship was impounded and he was sentenced to fifteen plus years in prison and then the first morning Smith was staring down into his eyes, smiling....


         
         

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