Ivan Kal - Out of the Ashes

“I – I don’t know what to say, nothing like this has ever happened to me.” Sumia said and a tear rolled down her cheek.

“A simple thank you is enough.” Seo-yun said.

Choked up, Sumia managed a soft, “Thank you.” Then she leapt forward and hugged the nearly a head shorter Seo-yun. Then quickly she leaped back, shock and shame were written all over her face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” Sumia said.

“It’s alright.” Seo-yun said smilingly, and reached over to hug Sumia again. “We are friends.”

“Friends…” Sumia whispered, she had never had a real friend, it was something that the people from the lower class did. Sumia always had her family, until she was disavowed. The closest thing she had to a friend was Retsar Isani, and that was a relationship born out of necessity. But with Seo-yun it was different. Seo-yun didn’t need anything from her.

“Friends.” Sumia said again as Seo-yun moved back. “Do all humans make friends so fast?” Sumia asked.

Seo-yun laughed, “That depends on the person. But when two people become fast friends, we call that “hitting it off.”” Seo-yun responded. Sumia realized then that she didn’t need to keep appearances here, to keep her emotions in check, allowing herself only a courteous smile or a strategic frown. The humans didn’t care about that. So Sumia let herself be who she was with someone who was not a part of her family. For the first time in her life Sumia laughed with no concern for appearances.

Tomas and Elias sat in Tomas’ small office at the palace. Tomas was showing Elias the plans for the Sanctuary’s police. On the desk in front of them was a hologram of the Olympus city with its surrounding, a few kilometers away was a small base, with a big installation below the ground.

“I was wondering what it was that you were building there. But no one knew anything, and those that worked there kept their mouth shut. It is for the police?” Elias asked.

“Yes, I have plans for expansion later.” Tomas asked.

“Expansion? Isn’t it already too big? You could fill five thousand people in there.” Elias commented.

“I imagined it as the headquarters for the entire planet. With their own prison system, and room for equipment, vehicles and such. You are right, it is too big for our needs now, but in time we will grow. I accounted for that in the designs now, rather than having to worry about there not being room for expansion later.” Tomas said.

Elias nodded, “It looks good. You plan on them having shuttles?” Elias said, and Tomas nodded, “Then it would take them about two minutes to reach the city, fast enough. I assume that you want my people to start the training of any people that might apply to be police officers?”

“Yes, I know that it isn’t their expertise. They will have problems enough trying to figure out things on their own. Some insight from your people might serve them well.” Tomas said.

“Okay, how long until you finish all the work?” Elias asked.

“The surface buildings are mostly finished, the underground needs a lot more work to be done. But there are a few areas that are finished. I think that we can start recruiting in about a month. We don’t need all the facilities to be operational.” Tomas said.

Elias nodded. Tomas waved the hologram off with his hand and implant.

“Anything else?” Elias asked.

Tomas got a faraway look in his eyes, “You remember a time when our biggest worry was if some paparazzi would get a picture of me? It seems so silly now, the things we used to worry ourselves with.”

“I can’t remember the last time I thought about those times.” Elias said.

“Yeah, it seems so far away. Especially now when we worry about alien races attacking us.” Tomas said, shaking his head.

“Do you remember the time when we found that redhead in your room?” Elias asked, smirking.

Tomas groaned, “Don’t remind me. That was one of the worst experiences of my life.”

Elias let out a laugh, “Not for me, or my men. That was probably the funniest moment of our lives.”

“Wait, didn’t we agree never to speak of that again?” Tomas asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Could be. It was so long ago I can’t remember. What can I say, I’m an old man.” Elias responded in a thoughtful voice.

“But you remember the incident?”

“Well, some things just stick with you.” Elias said grinning. Tomas couldn’t help but grin in return. Then the grin turned to a full blown laughter. They laughed until their stomachs hurt.

Finally Tomas regained his wits, “I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard.”

Elias managed to gather himself enough to speak, “I think that it was when you hired Seo-yun, at Sedna.”

“Yes… She called me a megalomaniac, if I remember correctly.” Tomas said.

“Yes, she did.” Elias added.

“That was the beginning. Of all this.” Tomas said swiping his hand across the room, “Could you have imagined all this back then? Would you have believed if someone told you then, about all this?”

“No… Our world was smaller then.” Elias said.

Tomas nodded, he looked at his oldest friend. “I miss this. Our conversations, we’ve drifted apart over the years.”

Elias sighed. “Yes, we have too much to do and not enough time. And I missed it too.”

“But even though we don’t speak as often outside of work, you are still my best friend, my oldest friend. You are probably the person I trust most in this world, I want you to know that.” Tomas said seriously.

“You trust me more than Seo-yun?” Elias asked half-jokingly.

“Seo-yun is… She is special. I love her, and I trust her with my life. But you and I, we have a bond. You were there with me as I started on the path to fulfill my dream. Never wavering from your place in my shadow, keeping me safe, being my right hand. I want you to know that I appreciate all that you have done for me.” Tomas said, looking at Elias with a piercing gaze.

Elias met his gaze and straightened, “I have always known Tomas, just like I have always trusted you. Your dream was always mine as well. You have my trust, always. And I appreciate all that you have done for me, and the rest of our people.”

Tomas smiled affectionately at his friend, who returned the smile. They spent a few moments in silence, content in each other’s presence. Then after a while, Elias stirred. “You really think that the Sowir will keep their agreement?”

Tomas shook his head, “No. But if they follow a similar path to what they did before, we should get at least some time. They agreed to stay out of our territory, and we out of theirs. No contact between us.” Tomas said.

“We have no way of monitoring the territory we said is ours.” Elias said, they specified their territory as everything in the ten light years from Nuva. Including the systems that have the trans-lanes that lead back to Earth. As per their agreement Sowir will not move past the former Consortium border plus the few systems that they have acquired since then.

“I have been meeting with Laura, we plan on building outposts in every border system, and to push the colonization up the timetable. We were going to include you in the future meetings, we are going to need your people.”

“That’s fine. I have thousands of people just sitting around their bases doing nothing. It will do them good to have something important to do.”

January 2172 – Second Fleet

The Second Fleet rested in the final trans-station. They were thirty light years from Earth. Just one more trans-lane, and they would reach their destination. The mood among the fleet was exuberant. Ever since they received word from the Resistance and learned that there was only one ship left guarding Earth. It was the best news that Johanna had ever heard. It was not that she was afraid, but she had no desire to see her people die, even though she knew it was unavoidable. Their plan had changed. They would no longer need to worry about drawing all the ships to them. Now they could go straight to Earth and deal with it. The Resistance would wait until the ship was engaged with Johanna’s fleet before they start their attacks.