The Time Travel memoirs: Lost And So Alone

The other three were murders alright, no one could simply slip and accidentally die anymore, and these were brutal murders. “Get Captain Ford to guard the gates, I don’t want anyone going in, or out. I looked at the high combat, “I think the killer may be trying to send us a message sir, these killings only started when we entered the encampment, they are no coincidence.” I noticed that Sachar never took his hand away from the handle of his sword, he was a master swordsman but he was cautious too, the Spartans had given their word that they meant no harm to us, but Sachar didn’t trust them.

Sachar sniffed; “It has to be one of your own, it’s unlikely that an outsider could have killed four Spartans in a row. I nodded; I scratched the bridge of my nose. We all sat around a table in the high combat’s room. I had requested a sit down and a drink.
Nova Tav was another victim, he was described by his friends as a very brave soldier, and he was also described as funny. I suppose it was quite wrong of me to assume that Spartans didn’t have a social life, just because they weren’t human, I cursed to myself silently. Nova Tav was found outside of the library; my guesses were that he was killed by surprise. Tav had no defensive wounds, no bruises, nothing, it was my guess that the killer had simply came from behind.

He died quickly, that was the only consolation, his neck had been twisted in such a way that he had died instantly, that was another tell-tale sign that the perpetrator was a soldier, the killer had professional stealth training. The grumpy librarian had seen nothing, we asked her and she simply shook her head and told us that she wasn’t paid to see things.
We knew where Nova was supposed to be, but we found him in the stream next to the library, the body was kicked down into the stream with some force, we found the same muddy footprint on his armour. The killing was personal, it had been done with professional means, plus, when Nova Tav was dead, the killer didn’t have to kick him into the stream, and the killer knew we wouldn’t think the man drowned, the killer was infuriated, he was angry.

As we stood next to the armoured body of Nova sadness crossed my mind. I could see the wrinkles next to his eyes, which told me that he either smiled or laughed a lot, they had told us he was a funny guy, and he must have been cheerful too. The coroner told us that he was thirty eight, retirement for a Spartan is in the hundreds, the training helps endurance and commend restraint, the elders worked in offices at aged eighty onwards.
The next body we were shown to belonged to that of a young woman known as Vauka Hexi, she was a woman in her mid twenties and very beautiful. I touched my own face, I felt some wrinkles but otherwise it was smooth and young, I was years older than anyone in this encampment, but I kept the looks of a man in my mid twenties. I had travelled for so long now; I couldn’t believe that I was only nineteen when I was thrown into another world.
The phrase ‘only time will tell’ never used to mean a lot to me, I guess time has told me different.

Vauka Hexi had a gruesome knife wound to the face, this Spartan knew she’d been attacked and had fought back, brave girl. She had defensive wounds on her wrists; her armour had been pulled off and lay on the floor. On her chest was a bruise that resembled another footprint, our killer used his feet a lot. She had wrestled the killer and had paid for it, a 9mm round was in her chest, the coroner informed me that it wasn’t the round that killed her, it was the knife to the face, she was still alive and she felt every second of it.
A soldier approached us as we were looking over Vauka Hexi; he looked terrified and couldn’t seem to look at the body. He addressed the high combat; “Sir, I will be guarding the entrance with Captain Ford.” The high combat saluted and the man walked away, he was shaking. I noticed his mud stained boots and raised my eyebrows. Standard issue boots, if everyone wore different boots then we wouldn’t have a problem. “Nice guy.” I said. The high combat nodded, “Colonel Johnson tries but...” I looked up at the high combat, “But what?”

The high combat shrugged, “the kid doesn’t want to be a Spartan, his parents forced him into it, my parents were the same, they were all Spartans in their day, it angered me, I often wondered what it would be like to be an orphan...” That struck me hard, it was deep but I didn’t say anything, I didn’t want to project the pain I was feeling as he said that.
“The bullet I removed from Vauka Hexi was a standard issue bullet from a nine millimetre, you aren’t going to trace that, every soldier in the camp has one, I have one for Christ sake.” He lifted up his shirt and I saw a nine millimetre pistol in a shoulder holster. The high combat nodded and pointed to his waist holster where a silver carbon copy sat there.
“She was dead before she hit the ground then?” asked Sachar. The coroner nodded, ‘the knife wound was deep into her brain tissue, nobody could have survived that not even the Gods themselves.” The high combat sighed, “I pray peace be with us all.” I sat up and stretched, this day was becoming longer than I expected, hell, I certainly didn’t want to be pulled into a murder investigation. “Let me see the last corpse.”

The last soldier probably went through the most pain, he lived through most of the attacks, and he wouldn’t have made commander if he was weak after all. The high combat paced the body, “he was a brilliant man, I made him commander last year, he doesn’t do it for the rank though, he lives and breathes the Spartans, Commander Lexiki Kazak, a good man, and may he rest in peace.” Sachar shook his head, “I’d say he’s just about resting in pieces sir, look what the bastard did to him.” The high combat grimaced but nodded, “what’s the verdict Mr. Carter?”

He had been found at the base of the bottom of the tower, rather near to Hexi, the commander probably caught sight of the body but the murderer came up to deal with the witnesses. “The commander put up one hell of a fight, but this wasn’t a quiet death.” I explained my theory to the high command and the coroner, whilst Sachar made notes. My theory, judging by the wounds was that the killer entered the tower, but by that time the Commander had already figured everything out. The commander lunges for the killer, but the killer still has his knife, so the knife was clumsily forced into the Commander’s chest, I pointed at the knife emerging from the chest armour.

The knife penetrated a tiny amount of flesh but must have caught a vein; I had read that the Spartans had thousands more veins than a human. The knife was longer than a combat knife, it was almost the size of a machete, but it did the job. The knife didn’t stop the commander; it simply slowed the man down. The killer panics as the stronger man comes towards him, the killer then takes out a machine gun of some sort and sprays at the Commander’s legs. The Commander falls to the floor on his knees, as if he was at the killer’s mercy, I could tell by the way the blood lay on the floor.
The Commander’s head was then bashed in repeatedly by the stock of a rifle, there was little to nothing the Commander could have done, he had lost that much blood it was surprising he didn’t pass out right away. He must have felt woozy; even so he couldn’t fight back. The coroner told me he bled out in the end, if he hadn’t, the head wound would have killed him, it just about mashed up his brain.

“Hardly a hero’s death, but Lexiki Kazak died fighting for the Spartan’s; he has left room for another age of heroes like himself.” The high combat smiled an almost proud smile. “Spoken like a true gentleman, thank you Mr. Carter.”
Sachar grinned, “But what can we do now, we have no evidence linking the murders to any one person. It was my turn to grin, “Au contraire, I happen to have a keen idea on who committed the murders and if my gut instinct tells me no lie, I think I know why.” The high combat looked at me in awe, the coroner raised his eyebrows. “Sir, line up all of the troops... and shout at them a little, to make them nervous, I don’t want the killer to know we’re on to them...yet.

The high combat saluted, “I don’t know how you did it...”
As he walked away I sank deeper into the chair and put my legs up onto the table. Sachar looked suspicious. “You don’t know do you?”
I nodded, “vaguely, I’m piecing it together in my head, don’t worry.” Sachar laughed nervously, “you better get ready to give an answer, and the cavalry is just about lined up.”
I stood up and cracked my knuckles. “Show time.”