Collision of Worlds - Chapter 6

Abdullah sat in the common eating area where enlisted men took their meals, down in the belly of the beast. He was sitting arm to arm with men well below his rank and station aboard the Capital Class warship Denigen’s Fist.

He knew the Captain frowned on him coming down here to eat and mingle amidst the crew, but it was one of the few things he refused to give up from his old life before his promotion to First Officer. His life might have changed in every other way, but at least once in a while, he wanted to pretend like he was still an average soldier.

Actually, he came down here far less than he’d originally planned: When he was promoted to First Officer, he’d committed to taking all of his meals with the enlisted soldiers. It made sense to him to spend time with the men and women he was in charge of because it felt like the right way to build connections with his soldiers and bridge the leadership gap he was so used to. He didn’t want to be unapproachable and aloof like all of the other officers.

He wanted to be better: an enigma to the crew that they could look up to. He wanted for them to know that he didn’t think he was above them and that he was here to look after their wellbeing.

Jamir Paskin, Captain Groves’ personal assistant, had warned him against such action. He said that rather than it making him personable, the crew would feel that he was accountable. They would demand and beg and plead, and it was important for them to know that there was a gap and difference between them. Jamir told him that it was important for the crew to know that he was above them in station.

But Abdullah had ignored the advice.

Taking all of his meals down here in the mess hall in the belly of the beast, however, was a goal he quickly abandoned. The reality of his new position set in, and the novelty of the situation wore off. It wasn’t only the fact that his new job kept him tremendously busy and it was easier to take his meals alone, it was also how many problems were brought to his attention when he was in the mess.

Jamir had been right. Every little issue soldiers had aboard the ship, every little quirk or problem that had nothing to do with Abdullah’s new position, was brought up. The soldiers would beg, plead, or even demand that he fix the problem. They felt like Abdullah owed them something.

They didn’t take his willingness to eat with them as a sign of his affection for them: They took it as a taunt, like he was mocking them. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but he couldn’t convince them of that.

He hadn’t minded hearing about their problems even, at least to an extent. He truly wanted to help fix them; it was simply the sheer number and frequency of the grievances. The soldiers came to him in floods while he was trying to eat and laid out their issues.

He needed a filter for it all, something to make the problems more manageable. Every single little issue that they had with him or any other officer came to him, and it became a source for them to vent their frustrations. He had simply become overwhelmed with it and was forced to abandon his lofty ambitions.

So, he stopped eating in the belly of the beast and began taking his meals in the officer’s mess hall, but that was just as bad if not worse. The officers were pigs and elitists who felt they were better than the enlisted soldiers simply because of their status outside of the military and the rich and powerful families they came from.

They hated Abdullah, and it felt like being in school all over again. He often ate alone or with Eddie. He hated those officers for their unwillingness to even try to see the world from someone else’s perspective.

It was mutual, however, in that they hated Abdullah just as much as he hated them. In the last two years since he’d been raised to the rank of First Officer, they had never forgiven him, and he doubted they ever would. They felt like he was an imposter, pretending at his new role, and that it wouldn’t last.

Maybe they were right.

So, he took all of his meals now in his private quarters, but still once a month he bit the bullet and came down to eat in the mess hall with the enlisted soldiers. He might have abandoned part of his ambition in the face of his new reality, but there were some ideals he still clung to.

2

“How is it?” Eddie Boleman asked, interrupting him from his thoughts. Abdullah looked blankly at his friend. “The food, how is it?”

In response, Abdullah held up his spoon, letting greasy and disgusting bean-based paste roll off of it to slop back onto his tray. The tray was a flat slab of plastic with four little raised sections to hold separate pastes, much like a prison tray. The soldiers often joked that at least in prison their meals would contain some semblance of real food.

“It’s as good as I remember,” he muttered.

Part of him was actually a little upset with himself. Now that he was important aboard the ship, his meals were cooked by a professional chef and made of only the finest ingredients. He had access to foods and beverages that enlisted soldiers could only dream of. Eating this…food…in the mess hall had never been a problem for him before being promoted, so why was it suddenly so disgusting for him?

At some point, he’d become a snob.

“Better, if you ask me,” Eddie said. “They actual use a few real spices now.”

“Do they? Yeah, I guess I can taste a little…cumin?”

“The Captain promised change,” Eddie said, smirking. “Do you think this is what she meant?”

Eddie Boleman was one of Abdullah’s oldest friends, an attractive man with curly golden hair and a winning smile. He came from a rich family and had no reason to join the military except as a rebellion against his parents and their goals for him.

He could have been an officer, and an important one at that, just by the weight of his name. He came from an important family that served the Republic on Regamon. But he’d elected to enlist directly instead and earn everything on his own. He was one of the least pretentious rich people that Abdullah had ever known.

After his promotion to First Officer, Abdullah had pulled Eddie and a few other soldiers up and made them his advisors and important Officers in their own right. He could have picked anyone, but he wanted to keep his friends as close as possible.

Unlike Abdullah, Eddie looked every bit the part he was playing as an Officer aboard Denigen’s Fist, with his uniform accentuating all of his features and making him look even more distinguished. Somehow, he always managed to press his uniform as well, something Abdullah had never managed to get right.

The thing that Abdullah loved about Eddie was that he was the only one of his advisors who would come down here with him once a month to eat with the other soldiers. The rest refused to even set foot in the mess hall, but Eddie had no problem bumping elbows with people beneath his station. After all, they used to live down here, too.

It wasn’t the only thing he loved about Eddie, but it helped. Abdullah had been romantically in love with Eddie for more years than he could count, long before his promotion, but so far he’d never managed to admit his feelings to the other man. He was terrified of what sort of response he might receive in return, and he was afraid he might lose their friendship if he asked for something more.

“I hear we’re going to Sector Two in a couple of months,” Eddie said, taking a bite of his own slop.

“Patrolling,” Abdullah replied, nodding. He looked at his food and decided he just couldn’t stomach it right now. Just thinking about it made him feel sick. He would have some food sent to his quarters once he left here.

“We haven’t gone out there in a long time,” Eddie said. “Not since…”

“I know. Not since Daer.”

“Do you think…?”

“No. We aren’t actually going anywhere near Daer. Regamon is our main priority, and it hasn’t had any real problems in years.”

“That’s good,” Eddie said. “We could use some downtime.”

“Speaking of which,” Abdullah said, “we’re going to have some leave time on Regamon. All of my officers and advisors are getting two weeks off to just kick back and relax.”

“No way? Do you think I’ll be able to go see my family?”

“That’s why I requested it,” Abdullah said. “I figured if we were all going to get some time off, I might as well make it at the best time for you to see your parents.”

“That’s awesome, man. I’ll have to send my mom a message and let her know I’ll be coming to visit. She’s going to be crazy excited. You’ll come with me, right? To meet them? They’ll love you.”

Abdullah tried not to read too much into the statement, or to blush, and nodded. “Sure. I’ll be able to stop over.”

He doubted, though, that they would love him. Eddie came from an old-fashioned family that believed their station in life was a God-given right because they were better than everyone else. The Ministry taught that people received benefits based on their merit, so naturally, being born into a rich family meant you were better than the rest.

But, he wasn’t about to point out to Eddie that idea. At the very least, he knew that they would be polite enough to tolerate him, considering his station aboard Denigen’s Fist. But he knew better than to think they would ever like him.

“That’s awesome. A real vacation. We haven’t had one of those since you got promoted.”

“I know, but we’ll get one soon. I promise.”

Eddie smiled. “Best news I’ve had in weeks.”

“We’ll be able to do anything you want once we get there, but if you are interested, I was wondering if…”

He trailed off, noticing a commotion on the far side of the mess hall. A group of soldiers had gathered, and he heard shouts and raised voices. It looked like they were forming up into a circle, which could never be a good thing.

Eddie glanced over as well, and they climbed off of the benches, heading in that direction to see what was happening. By the time they got there, the shouting had escalated and people were starting to shove each other.

It was quickly turning violent and getting out of hand, and it looked like whatever had happened was on the verge of bursting into an all-out brawl. He exchanged a glance with Eddie and tried to make his way through the crowd.

“What is the meaning of this?” he shouted, pushing his way between a pair of men. They ignored him and kept shoving each other, shouting and gesticulating wildly. “What’s going on?”

They continued ignoring him. He tried raising his voice to get their attention, but no one seemed interested in paying him any mind.

“Officer on deck!” Eddie roared next to him, grabbing a man and shoving him forward into the center of the ring. He stepped forward next to him, turning and eyeing the gathered soldiers around them.

Everyone froze, turning to look at Abdullah. In an instant, all of the soldiers drew back, standing at attention and with frightened expressions on their faces.

In the center of the ring sat a half-naked girl, crying and holding up scraps of clothing to cover herself.

“What is the meaning of this?” Abdullah asked, addressing no one in particular.

“She ran here, sir,” one soldier said. “She was raped, and her attacker threatened to kill her.”

“She wasn’t raped,” another soldier shouted, stepping forward. Two men grabbed him and dragged him back. “She’s lying!”

The first soldier nodded toward the man. “He is the accused.”

Abdullah frowned and turned to Eddie. “Get her to medical and take him to the brig.”

“I’m innocent!” the man shouted again. “That lying—”

Eddie drew his pistol and aimed it at the man’s face.

“Say one more word and I’ll end you right now,” he said, voice low and calm.

The man fell silent, and Eddie slipped his gun away. Abdullah winced as he looked at his friend, dismayed. On the one hand, he felt that what Eddie had done was maybe something he should have done, but on the other hand it wasn’t acceptable behavior from any officer, let alone one who served under him.

They should never draw their guns unless they intended to use them. That was a lesson he’d learned from his Captain.

He would need to reprimand Eddie for it later, but for now, he decided to let it slide. The last thing he intended to do was reprimand Eddie in front of the other soldiers, especially when all Eddie was doing was trying to help.

“Take care of this and get her to the med-bay. I’m going to go speak with the Captain.”

“Do you want a rape kit?”

“Yes,” he said. “And a full report on exactly what happened. We need to get to the bottom of this.”

3

“Captain, I—”

“I heard,” Captain Grove interrupted. Abdullah was walking onto the bridge aboard Denigen’s Fist, and he could tell that Captain Grove was waiting for him. She stood near the viewport, watching the doorway with a pensive expression on her face. “The reports came through only moments ago from the med-bay. The girl is being examined, but it looks like she was telling the truth.”

“So, she was raped?”

“It is likely.”

Abdullah could hardly believe that. In his entire time aboard the ship, he’d rarely heard of any crimes being committed, let alone something so severe. Certainly, in the last few years no one had been willing to do anything like that, not after the Passing of Command ceremony.

They knew Captain Grove wasn’t likely to forgive.

“The man maintains his innocence.”

“His DNA was found on her. He is surely guilty.”

“What will be done with him?”

“That is for you to decide,” the Captain replied.

Abdullah froze. “Me?”

“Yes,” she said. “This is the first time something like this has happened since you were made First Officer. You need to decide how we will proceed, and your word will be the law in this matter.”

“You want me to decide his punishment?”

She nodded. “You have complete control over the situation and can utilize whatever resources you wish in making your decision. Though, forensics won’t be tremendously necessary, as it looks very cut and dry.”

“What should I do? Should I execute him?”

She shook her head. “This is your decision, not mine. I will await your answer.”

She turned away from him and began speaking to another officer, dismissing him. He stared at her, the weight of what she had just told him sinking in.

He’d never imagined making a decision like this. He’d expected to bring the matter to the Captain’s attention and let her deal with it. After all, she was the Captain and had complete control over her crew.

She was allowed to delegate matters to her officers, of course, he just hadn’t expected her to. Especially not for something like this. The idea that he would have to decide this man’s fate, and worse what his punishment would be for the crime, was unthinkable.

Head spinning, Abdullah bowed to his Captain, turned around, and strode back off the bridge.