His eyes were half open as he opened the closet doors. He took out the uniform he wore back then. It looked as though it had seen better days. The knock on the door notified him that the taxi shuttle was here. He poured a shot of whiskey, sighed and walked out the door...
A bearded gentleman stood in front of the desk looking annoyed as a petite adminstrative officer took his Identification chit for a verfication scan. The small lieutenant noticed that the chit looked as though it had been ran over... more than once.
She scanned the chit and an uncommon window appeared on the screen.
HIGH PRIORITY ***HOLD the screen read, she smiled and asked the bearded man to have a seat. Not more than a moment later, four men in suits entered the foyer and whisked the bearded gentleman away.
The shuttle door opened and the bearded gentleman was motioned ahead by one of the suits, as he cleared the doorway he spotted a familiar face...
"Captain, how good to see you in such spirits" the familiar face greeted.
"Councilor Jens... a pleasure." the bearded man responded.
"Eli, lets go inside, make a few calls and get your reinstatement figured out..."
RL: Played a few years back and getting back in the swing. Played with revthump and started angelfire logs with him (Im jsmaltz). Had a cruiser back then but cannot access the account... so we'll start anew. This is open to anyone to jump in on...
Eli followed the Councilor inside and took a seat on the couch next to the fire. "Jens has done well for himself since I left." Eli remarked to himself, taking notice that the decor inside the den was a bit more, refined, than his last visit.
Jens sat across the den in an antique chair, nodding to the butler. Eli didn't feel like drinking but would never turn one down. Probably would make this wait a litte easier to bear. Jens took a stern look and leaned in as he spoke, "Eli, much has changed since you left. You were reported as killed during the Angelfire incident... Its going to take some time to get you back in the system."
"Understandably Counsilor but before we go farther, may I ask what became of my holdings?"
"As you had no relatives and the questions surrounding your death, everything was confiscated by the State. There isn't really much I can do on my end to retrieve any of it so I wouldn't waste time thinking about it."
The butler returned, placing a tray on the old oak table between Eli and Jens. Eli poured a glass and sat back, letting himself sink into the couch a bit more.
Eli took a sip and winced, this was a bit better than the swill he was used to back on Raubling. "Shame but I suppose I could use the time to get back in order before my commission."
"Eli, I've got some work you can do running simple transports but in the meantime I would suggest heading down to the pub and start making some contacts again, might prove usefull for you. I also have some significant stock holdings in the area, inlcuding a private dock on Manhattan. You're welcome to it. Bitterman can arrange anything you need."
"I can't thank you enough Jens but before I go I have one more question... What happened to the LNS Gabriel?"
"... I thought maybe the captain of the ship migh be able to shed some light on the subject, Eli?"
"Jens... There's things I wish I could say however, I fell that this is not the time. I have more questions than answers."
Eli finsihed his drink, stood and after bidding farewell to the good Counsior Jens, headed down to the pub to follow the advice of an old friend...
The pub did no more than show Eli than none remembered the Angelfire incident and that the pub visit would be a waste. As he finished his whiskey, a uniform sat down beside him, slid him an envelope and walked away. As subtle as he tried to make it, it was noticed by the bartender. After the uniformed man left, he leaned in and asked eli, "Now what would the captain of the LNS-Polaris want with a feller like you?"
Eli sneared at the bartender and walked out to the street. It was raining out as he stepped into the taxi shuttle. Eli hadn't felt rain in some time. He pulled the envelope out of his chest pocket an opened it... inside was 7 million credits.
Stars, they look so clear when you're in space. Cold, quiet and alone Eli was there... floating, in the middle of nothing. No distant hum of the engines or the chatter of the radio. Not a sound.
Eli noticed a light in the distance. It grew brighter the longer he stared. It was an object... getting closer he thought. No, it couldn't be that, it was moving to fast, but what? His heart raced as he thought, trying to focus on the light but the harder he looked the less he could see it. It was coming closer, growing brighter. Suddenly Eli saw flames and fire, the sound was the of a train. He couldn't hear anything, it hurt his ears.
"SERPHIM" a loud booming voice echoed.
Eli jerked awake feeling like his heart would come through his chest. Only a dream, the same one for the hundreth time. Eli dressed and headed for the ship, someone had to know something about the seraphim...