L’Envoi
The year is 2875. Multiple mirror-Earths have been discovered in different galaxies. Our universe has been found to be one of three that exist parallelly – Centuri, Omega, and Heraxus, with inter-universal travel only slightly difficult. Humans have managed to make first-contact with multiple alien species and, in the year 2525, the ISA (Inter-Species Alliance) was formed. The members of the ISA were tasked with defending inter-species harmony through diplomacy and dialogue, and military action if required. The universes, and all the species therein, fell into a rhythmic co-existence. But, eventually, one species became a threat. In 2855, the ISA’s hand was forced into making an unprecedented decision – absolute species extermination.
“Good morning, Admiral Maysaani.”
He was ready for her – as he always was. He was just taking two mugs of coffee out of his food replicator. The whole house smelled of coffee – inviting. The only good thing to come out of Earth-54, she had always believed.
“Hello, Captain Veera. So nice to see you. Again.”
He walked around the kitchen island, the only thing separating his kitchen from his lounge, and put the mugs down on the coffee table. He sat down on the sofa instead of his favourite seat.
“It’s Commodore Veera now,” she informed him, sitting in her usual spot on the sofa, opposite him. To a stranger, it would look like a casual meeting between old friends. If there were any strangers around to see.
A Cyrillan Commodore, my my. He was impressed. Cyrillans normally didn’t rise that high up the ranks. They chose to serve rather than lead. Veera, however, was wired differently.
“Well, congratulations. I’d pop a bottle of champagne but I don’t have any.” He would’ve chuckled but he didn’t have the heart for it. He had missed the small luxuries of life in the early years of his imprisonment but had slowly put them out of his mind. Until recently. Old-age really did get to you.
“So, Admiral, do you want me to begin the assessment of your mental faculties or do you want me to indulge in small talk first?”
A Cyrillan, this one particularly, struggling with small talk always amused him. But he wasn’t in the mood this morning. “Let’s just get on with it, Veera.”
“Have you been sleeping six to eight hours as required to keep human bio-functions running optimally?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Have you had any uncharacteristic dreams?”
“I don’t dream, Veera.” He hadn’t dreamed for twenty years. It was a blessing.
“Have you experienced any hallucinations?”
“Apart from you, I haven’t seen anyone or anything since we last met.”
“Have you attempted to take your life?”
“Not that it would work.” The HEB they had assigned him was too adept at his – NO, ITS! – job.
“Answer in the affirmative or negative, please.”
“No, I haven’t.” This was accompanied by an eye roll that Veera did not care for. Such a human expression of disgust.
“Is there anything you need from off-planet?”
“Off-prison, you mean?” She stared at him quietly. “I could use some new books to read. Actual books – the paper kind.” He had gone through his last shipment of ISA-approved literature from the Earths – twice.
“I will forward your request. If accepted, you will receive them – ”
“I know. Within the week. Thank you.” He was ready for this visit to be over.
“One last thing before I leave you, Admiral.”
He wouldn’t dare be hopeful for good news. But what could be worse than his present situation? They wouldn’t kill him.
“This will be my last visit. Being Commodore has added to my responsibilities and the ISA feels that a high-ranking officer visiting you is bad for optics. You will be assigned a new handler who will be thoroughly briefed about your case and your care requirements” She got up and stepped out of the house.
“You make me sound like a dog,” he said, following her at a respectable distance.
Veera was unsure what he meant. What was a ‘dog’? She would look it up on the archives.
“You could kill me. Have a phaser beamed to you right now. It would save another poor soul a long trip out to this corner of Omega.”
He tried to bait her every year. Never worked.“Your situation would sadden me had I not witnessed firsthand what your kind was capable of,” she said this with a stoicism that belied the hatred she felt for his species.“Three universes exist. Your species is in none of them. YOU’RE not supposed to be in any of them.” She took a moment, a deep breath. “Goodbye, Admiral. I wish you a long and healthy life,” she made it sound truly like the curse it was – so un-Cyrillan of her! With a tap on her comm chip, she was beamed back to her ship – leaving him alone. Again.
Twenty years ago, an inter-universal faction of the human species tried to organize a coup against the ISA to insert its dominance over other species. The coup failed – but not before it had taken billions of lives across galaxies. The human species, along with half-humans, was sentenced to extermination. All but high ranking ISA officers – because that would be bad for optics. These thirty-seven human officers were relieved of their duties and sentenced to solitary confinement on uninhabited dwarf planets across the universes. There they would be isolated but comfortable until their natural demise. They were put up in comfortable ‘houses’ with no doors and opaque walls only where modesty required it. There were no comms for the prisoners but sensors alerted a sit-room at ISA-HQ of any anomalies in the prisoner’s behaviour, comfort level or bio-functions. A handler was assigned to each officer for annual visits to ensure mental well-being or for emergency visits which their HEB (Healthcare Emergency Bot) was not able to control. Emergrncy visits had only occurred a handful of times – when five of the officers tried to commit suicide – which was banned in the terms of their confinement.
Of those thirty-seven human officers, only Admiral Mysaani – former Commander of the Galactic Fleet Nova, former Captain of the ASS Jabbar, former ISA Ambassador to the multi-planetary Kireen species – still lived. A barely-remembered relic of a once visionary, war-mongering species.
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