The Endless Watch UT20

YEAR: 52033 HE

SHIP: Matriark II, Super-Frigate Exploration class

LOCATION: Nojo Memorial Farms and Gardens

IN ATTENDANCE: Sub-Captain Ortner, Private Silverman

Drone Surveillance Audio

03:05

     SILV: We’ve had five years of this shit. I can’t take it. I can’t take another watch. I need a break.

     ORT: We’re all feeling it Private.

     SILV: I have been on watch for forty-eight hours. Where is my relief?

     ORT: We have to get the road completed. We have no one left to relieve you.

     SILV: I can barely keep my eyes open.

     ORT: Take thirty Private, I will cover your post

03:25

     ORT: Wake up private. Contact to the east of the road.

     SILV: I see them, permission to fire?

     ORT: Fire at will.

03:50

     SILV: They running. I got one.

     ORT: Don’t let your guard down. I don’t think it’s over.

     SILV: It will never be over. We’ve been at war ever since Pines went rogue. We are running low on metal. I haven’t had a decent meal in weeks. You can tell me the vitamin shake has all I need. But what I need is a cheeseburger. I will never taste the congealed beef and cheese of a freshly defrosted patty again. What do you miss Captain?

     ORT: Peace. You think its hard keeping watch. Try being captain for five years of war. Look at my beard. It’s grey. Look at my head. There’s nothing left of my hair. I miss cheeseburgers, I miss beer. I miss being able to sleep at night, without worrying about a grey-skin attack, without having to check the integrity of the anti-worm defences every morning. I wish I could go back and stop Pines. But you can’t live in the past. This planet is all we have. We owe it to our children to fight for peace. Even if it takes a thousand years we need peace.

     SILV: Peace with the grey-skins? That’s a fucking dream. They have dedicated their existence to destroying us. Peace with the worm-wranglers. What we need is more ammunition. What we need is access to the nuclear arsenal. With extensive drone surveillance, we could eradicate them completely. 

     ORT: We would eradicate ourselves in the process. We need the planet as much as they do. They live inside the lakes. We need water as much as they do. We can’t nuke the water supply. We need diplomacy. If we could just talk to them, if we could reason with them, we could end this relentless waste of life.

     SILV: A thousand years is a long time to wait for peace.

     ORT: Peace is worth the wait.