Plasma Frequency Magazine: Issue 14 by Jes

Author:Jes [Jes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

General Hardwick

By Nicole Tanquary

The on-board therapist, Dr. Russux, was watching me out of the corner of his eye. We were ascending the floors in one of the luxury elevators, with red velvet cushions softening the walls' harsh corners. The doors were steel, polished to a mirror-gleam. In the reflection, his gaze drifted towards me … I pretended not to notice.

We stood with our hands behind our backs and our feet shoulder-width apart. My hair had been tightened into a braid that curled against my neck, and my eyes stared straight ahead, shining a thin, glassy blue in the steel's reflection. A curl came loose from my braid, and I hurriedly tucked it behind one ear, the movement unusually clumsy. I was nervous.

A medal was pinned to my chest. The elevator empty of anything else to examine, I studied it for a moment. It was gold-plaited … did Vicky like gold? I couldn't remember. Her likes and dislikes had been fluctuating so dramatically between our conversations that it felt like I hardly knew her at all anymore.

After a while, Dr. Russux murmured, “General, are you sure you can keep a handle on things?” He had only been my therapist for the past month or so, but already he was beginning to sense my warning signs.

What could I say to that? 'Yes' would have been a lie. I had no idea how things were going to go. I was full of ache; it tightened my chest and my bone marrow, pinching in the joints of my spine so bad that I had a desperate urge to lay down on the elevator floor and stretch myself out. It was the sort of ache that could turn into anything. Tears, or screaming, or worse; the awful, acidic, eating-away-at-you feelings that didn't have names.

At my silence, his mouth formed a thin line. But he didn't question me further.

The mirrors blew open, and I found myself swarmed by hordes of scientists, other officers less well-known than myself, the other members of the General Quintet, and, of course, the reporters. I tipped the helmet over my eyes, and allowed General Keenan to grab my arm and lead me across the floor, to the Transmission room. There were flashes of cameras. Questions fell against me like droplets in a mist.

“General Hardwick, why is it that you are permitted to send messages to your child while others are forbidden to send transmissions to Earth?”

“Do you think your actions in this crisis make you a more deserving person?”

“Is the government still going ahead with the plans of demolition, or is the General Quintet having second thoughts?”

“In your personal opinion, do you think that Earth still has a chance?”

A door shut, and the reporters were left behind with the officers, who shooed them back into the Civilian quarters of the ship.

I could not keep in a growl. “When I find the soldier who let this leak, I'm going to personally ship him to the Sun and watch him burn.” General Keenan released my arm.

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