The Chronicles of Aallandranon - Episode One - Ant-Lion by Benjamin Allen

 
    1
     
     
    “ You
are under arrest for the deaths of 5,000 people aboard the Star
Ship Enigma, and the total destruction of the Pluto
Station. ” Those were the first words Jonathan Tabith was able to
comprehend after waking from four months in cryostasis. His vision
was filled with fuzzy light. His head felt enormous. It took him a
moment to realize that he was sitting upright in a hospital bed. He
tried to move his right hand to massage the pain in his forehead,
but it was handcuffed to the bed rail. “ Do you know
where you are? Are you aware of anything? ”
    Jonathan savored the fleeting moments his brain took to
realize who he was and why he was here … and what he had done.
The memories of murder, blood-lust, and the impossible feats he had
accomplished refilled the spaces of his recollection. For once, he
was glad to feel absolutely powerless.
    “ Your eyes are open so say something. ” The
woman ’ s voice from nearby spoke to him again. He
didn ’ t
recognize that voice. There was the muffled sound of
movement. “ He’ s not
talking. ”
    “ We
should jettison him from the airlock, ” spoke a different
woman ’s voice. “ He
doesn ’ t deserve to live after what he did to Pluto
Station. ”
    Pluto
Station? Jonathan remembered the Enigma, but what had he done to
Pluto Station? “ I…” He tried to speak and the two listeners moved
closer. “ I’ m
sorry … I’ m sorry for everything. ”
    H is world dissolved into
darkness .
     
     
    Jonathan could see clearly when he opened his
eyes later. His head felt at least half the size it had felt
before. He was in an empty conference room aboard one of the
transport vessels from Earth, still handcuffed to the hospital bed.
He smelled the aroma of tobacco for the first time in eight years,
and looked over to see a woman wearing a white shirt with the
sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She wore black slacks and rested
her hand upon her knee with a dwindling cigarette between her index
and middle fingers. The woman had neat blonde hair that had been
done up in a ponytail.
    “ Feeling better? ” She asked, raising the cigarette to
her lips to pull the last few centimeters of its life. “ We gave you some Fresolantium: a new drug
we ’ ve
been experimenting with on Earth. You remember Earth, right, where
you were born? ”
    “ Of
course I remember Earth. ” Jonathan spoke through a dry, groggy
voice.
    “ My
name is Detective Jocelyn Sizemore. I ’ ve been assigned to
figure out the details of what happened on the Star Ship Enigma.
All of the records from your Falcon class military spacecraft have
been wiped except for the last order you gave to go into
cryostasis. Now, why would you go and do a thing like that,
Jonathan? ”
    “ Because what happened is too difficult for you to
understand. ”
    “ Unfortunately, that ’ s not good enough for
me. ” Jocelyn finished her cigarette and put the butt in an
ashtray on the small table beside her where a stack of
Jonathan ’ s pre-Enigma files lay. “ You gotta give me
something, Jonathan. 5,000 people don ’ t just got missing
overnight. ”
    “ They ’ re not missing. I know exactly where they
are … at least, those who are still alive. ” Jonathan
said.
    “ Now
we ’ re
getting somewhere, ” said Jocelyn said. “ How do we find the
rest of the Enigma survivors? ”
    “ I
wouldn ’ t even know how to tell you. ”
    Jocelyn looked displeased. “ Can’ t and won ’ t are two different words with the same meaning in
your situation. ” There was a long time of waiting for
Jonathan ’ s response, which never came. “ Okay, how about the
Pluto Station. How do you explain that one? ”
    “ As
you know from the date of my cryostasis record, I
couldn ’ t possibly know what happened at Pluto
Station. ” Jonathan said. “ How about you fill me
in and we go from there. ”
    “ Your ship was lodged in an asteroid, an asteroid
that ’ s
trajectory was set for the Pluto Station. Since we