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Pushing Off
Essani Vanol barely noticed the buzz in her pocket accompanied by the notification in the right hand corner of her view.
She was barely awake and still a little hung over from the imported Deneb rum the night before. While the Itani Nation was ruled by the benevolent monks from eons ago and virtually everyone in Itani territory followed the founding principles of Eo, not everyone was cut out to go into the religious order. There were still clubs, bars, and sporting events: people were allowed to have fun. "Fun" was to be taken in moderation, as in rum was to be tasted and not binged. Mistakes happened sometimes.
Not that the night before was a mistake, but a pattern was starting to emerge. Ever since recently leaving her family home, Essani had started making it a habit staying out too late, having a bit too much booze and fraternizing a little too much with the opposite sex. She sardonically thought about what the Abbots would say and pushed it aside.
Dragging her feet from the bedroom to the living area and speaking to no one in particular, she muttered, "Put it on the screen"
Her apartment understood the command; the blank white wall on the far side of the room came alive with a voice-to-text message addressed to Essani Vanol from her older brother, Ettella. Thinking it was a normal voice memo or a video log, Essani continued into the kitchen and began making herself a hangover cure from a prepackaged pouch in a cupboard. "Read it out loud." She commanded the room.
A synthesized voice, sounding reminiscent of her brother began to speak from the living area: "Essani, you know I wouldn't ask this if it wasn't important - and no, it's not about credits. Well... it is about credits, but I've gotten myself into something big-" Essani rolled her eyes, "-I need your help. This is the last time I can probably send a message like thi-"
"Stop narration!" Essani barked. Ettella never talked like this. She knew he had some dealings in the Union of Independent Territories but never anything that made him scared. The UIT systems could be shady with a definitive criminal underbelly. Ettella had gone to the galactic south as many young Itani men and women did to find glory and credits. When it came to space travel, It was better than fighting in the Itani Defence Force or as a mercenary on the front-lines against the Serco Dominion in an unending war. Still, the space-faring life wasn't for her.
Essani was feeling slightly more awake now, even after only just beginning to sip her concoction. She sat down on a couch across from the wall of text and read.
This is the last time I can send a message like this. I've had some dealings with some UIT brokers... who've had dealings with some Serco ultra-nationalist mercenaries... who when they learned one of the major investors was Itani... I never would've done this if I'd known people, Serco... weapons - were involved. They're coming for me, and they'll be coming for you. Nowhere is safe. They have your address. What they don't know is I pulled some strings and got you into the Itani Private License Flight School. If I'm still alive, find me in Dau - MESSAGE ENDED.
A second later, files containing a local hyperloop boarding pass, traveling credentials for Eo capital's spaceport to Itan's and a new bank account with a not-insignificant amount of cash opened themselves up to be viewed on her wall.
Essani felt fear bubbling up inside of her. Eo was a safe stronghold. If she really wanted to, she could stay in her apartment, continue living her nineteen years of life, working as a product design intern at the local replication facility. Leave her brother to his own devices.
Maybe this was an exaggeration by Ettella. The boarding passes and money said differently though. Maybe she could just pretend everything was normal until a Serco or UIT mercenary beat down her door one day and brutally murdered her. News feeds were more frequently reporting singular Serco incursions into Itani space, and Serco even murdering neutral UIT for not immediately giving into Serco demands for money or some twisted version of fealty. It was rumored Serco had taken a stranglehold over manufacturing in unclaimed areas of space to the extreme galactic south. She remembered when she was younger, nuclear-tipped Avalon torpedo attacks on Itani orbital docks. If these were the people she was dealing with, was she really that safe?
"Well, guess I'm going to space."
She was barely awake and still a little hung over from the imported Deneb rum the night before. While the Itani Nation was ruled by the benevolent monks from eons ago and virtually everyone in Itani territory followed the founding principles of Eo, not everyone was cut out to go into the religious order. There were still clubs, bars, and sporting events: people were allowed to have fun. "Fun" was to be taken in moderation, as in rum was to be tasted and not binged. Mistakes happened sometimes.
Not that the night before was a mistake, but a pattern was starting to emerge. Ever since recently leaving her family home, Essani had started making it a habit staying out too late, having a bit too much booze and fraternizing a little too much with the opposite sex. She sardonically thought about what the Abbots would say and pushed it aside.
Dragging her feet from the bedroom to the living area and speaking to no one in particular, she muttered, "Put it on the screen"
Her apartment understood the command; the blank white wall on the far side of the room came alive with a voice-to-text message addressed to Essani Vanol from her older brother, Ettella. Thinking it was a normal voice memo or a video log, Essani continued into the kitchen and began making herself a hangover cure from a prepackaged pouch in a cupboard. "Read it out loud." She commanded the room.
A synthesized voice, sounding reminiscent of her brother began to speak from the living area: "Essani, you know I wouldn't ask this if it wasn't important - and no, it's not about credits. Well... it is about credits, but I've gotten myself into something big-" Essani rolled her eyes, "-I need your help. This is the last time I can probably send a message like thi-"
"Stop narration!" Essani barked. Ettella never talked like this. She knew he had some dealings in the Union of Independent Territories but never anything that made him scared. The UIT systems could be shady with a definitive criminal underbelly. Ettella had gone to the galactic south as many young Itani men and women did to find glory and credits. When it came to space travel, It was better than fighting in the Itani Defence Force or as a mercenary on the front-lines against the Serco Dominion in an unending war. Still, the space-faring life wasn't for her.
Essani was feeling slightly more awake now, even after only just beginning to sip her concoction. She sat down on a couch across from the wall of text and read.
This is the last time I can send a message like this. I've had some dealings with some UIT brokers... who've had dealings with some Serco ultra-nationalist mercenaries... who when they learned one of the major investors was Itani... I never would've done this if I'd known people, Serco... weapons - were involved. They're coming for me, and they'll be coming for you. Nowhere is safe. They have your address. What they don't know is I pulled some strings and got you into the Itani Private License Flight School. If I'm still alive, find me in Dau - MESSAGE ENDED.
A second later, files containing a local hyperloop boarding pass, traveling credentials for Eo capital's spaceport to Itan's and a new bank account with a not-insignificant amount of cash opened themselves up to be viewed on her wall.
Essani felt fear bubbling up inside of her. Eo was a safe stronghold. If she really wanted to, she could stay in her apartment, continue living her nineteen years of life, working as a product design intern at the local replication facility. Leave her brother to his own devices.
Maybe this was an exaggeration by Ettella. The boarding passes and money said differently though. Maybe she could just pretend everything was normal until a Serco or UIT mercenary beat down her door one day and brutally murdered her. News feeds were more frequently reporting singular Serco incursions into Itani space, and Serco even murdering neutral UIT for not immediately giving into Serco demands for money or some twisted version of fealty. It was rumored Serco had taken a stranglehold over manufacturing in unclaimed areas of space to the extreme galactic south. She remembered when she was younger, nuclear-tipped Avalon torpedo attacks on Itani orbital docks. If these were the people she was dealing with, was she really that safe?
"Well, guess I'm going to space."
I like this.
+10
Gives us a brief insight of the effects of space politics on non-military people.
Gives us a brief insight of the effects of space politics on non-military people.