Chapter 12
The reinforcements finally reached the Phareon. The communications system was still active, "This is captain Johnison of the ship Rover1 of the Sigma Squadron. Captain Stinson, what is your status?" "We lost a few crewmembers and over 55 percent of the ship is damaged. According to my engineers we cannot re-enter Epsilon in our current condition. We already sent a report to the owner of the Phareon, Mr. Morrel and should have clearance to repair on the lunar station." Captain Stinson replied. "Can the ship move?" Captain Johnison asked. "No Captain Johnison, for some reason we have too much power and it needs to be adjusted but we can't do that until the ship is repaired." Captain Stinson said. "No problem we will begin towing and escort. I am receiving your damage report now."
When the reinforcements came all the fighters from the Phareon returned, with Subject Zero in tow. When the fighter ship that carried Subject Zero finally docked the crewmembers were filled with mixed emotions. They were grateful, happy, sad, angry and scared. They wanted to show elation for their unknown hero but the fear kept them at bay. The body suit that Subject Zero was wearing was now ragged and filled with holes. Subject Zero's skin can be seen and touched through the holes. The skull helmet he used was cracked at the left eye with pieces of it missing. "How the fuck did he survive out there?" was the prevailing thought of the crewmembers, not "Hail the conquering hero".
Looks of fear, hatred and reverence were not new to Subject Zero. When he looked upon the crewmembers, Subject Zero didn't even bother to take off his broken helmet. The parts of his body that should have frozen over by the extreme temperature of space were normal. The breathing that should have been haggard from lack of air was non-existent. Although Subject Zero paid them no mind, he was slightly turning his head every now and then to listen to what they were saying. Subject Zero had all the languages that the Earth used etched in his mind but the language that the crewmembers were new to him. The language itself was made up of different languages put together. When Subject Zero recalled back from movies he has seen, the language used was similar to the "Minions" language from the movie Despicable Me. Subject Zero chuckled to himself when he heard the language.
Subject Zero was brought to a room and told to wait for the captain. After hearing the conversations that crewmembers were having around Subject Zero, he pretty much understood the language. A crewmember came in thanked Subject Zero for helping them out, left him a change of clothes and food. Subject Zero was left alone for a while until Captain Stinson walked in. "So you are the unknown that helped us against the pirates. It's great to meet you, I am Captain of the merchant ship The Phareon, Barnebus Stinson." The Captain introduced himself. "Hello Captain. You can just call me Zero." Zero replied. "Well Mr. Zero, thank you for helping us. Now, on to different matters. How is it that you stowed away on the ship and have yet to be detected until now?" the Captain questioned. "Haha, you say "stowed away", but I have been here before your great grandfathers balls even dropped. I was in a cryogentic capsule attached to the Nuclear Fusion Reactor. When the ship lost power the capsule meant to seal me lost power thus setting me free." Zero said nonchalantly.
After thinking back on the power outage, Captain Stinson recalled when Mosby told him about the unknown heat source that appeared out of nowhere from the engine room. Captain Stinson called for Mosby to investigate the Zero's claims. "If what you say is true, then how long have been in there?" The Captain inquired. "Maybe that's something you can help me with. I have no clue how long I've been there. All I can remember is that they put me to sleep in the year 2056. After that they moved me around and then attached this Fusion Reactor to my capsule to make sure I stay sealed. As for why they just thought to use the Nuclear Fusion reactor as an engine while I was still there is beyond me. From what I gathered, after they built the ship called Hope I was forgotten in the engine room." "My god! You have been sleeping for 249 years. The year now is 2305." Captain Stinson exclaimed.
After having a nice chat with Captain Stinson and basically finding out that America's biggest hero was stashed away like vintage porno magazines made me feel bitter. From the bits and pieces of information that I was able to retain while in the capsule, I realized that the human species has moved into space and other planets. I laughed at the fact that most disputes that were once minor were taken seriously on a planetary scale. Men and women live on different planets, religion was taken as something to be learned from although useless and people still find transgender people disturbing, so much so that they once had their own planet just to be wiped out. Once Captain Stinson left to take care of the ship's issues, I was left with the information we exchanged.
I have lived an honest life since I was born but was later made into a monster by the very country I loved. I have been shitted on by life and my countrymen for decades. I have killed millions of people in wars that we should have kept out of but were dragged into by those who wanted more money. The more I thought about my time on Earth the fainter the memory becomes. Years of mind control drugs made me feel like I was playing a video game the entire time. I knew what I was doing but someone else had the control. Once freed from the shackles of their control, I could only think of one word, vengeance. Now that I have reawakened, I can start a new life until they find out who I was. In order to get the unpleasantries out of the way I told the Captain to look into my capsule to make my identity clear.
Once the Captain reviews the files he should have an understanding of who and what I am. I hid nothing as I told him that I wanted to start a new life. I made it clear to the Captain that there will be dire consequences if my identity were to be revealed. Soon he will realize what a burden I am. Since he is part of a merchant ship I will most likely be unbound by their rules and regulations. All I can do now is wait and dream of the death of the people that got away the first time.