The Aeolus Aurora

Pia stood on the main deck of The Aeolus Aurora and looked out over the horizon through the thick glass. The dust from deceased planets and interstellar wreckage swirled together, catching and reflecting the light from the nearby stars. Nebulae seemed to pulsate and swarm together, as if they had life and sentience. Stars danced along the navy and black fabric of space, just begging to be discovered. The whole galaxy, as far as her eyes could see from the modest space station, was dreaming.

“Ms. Seelenfreund?”

Pia did not take her eyes off the beautiful landscape. She felt a compulsion to observe, categorize, and identify every inch of the galaxy laid before her. “Yes, Lieutenant?” she responded.

“We are meeting on the secondary deck to discuss an exploration schedule. As First Astronomer, your presence is...requested.”

She finally peeled her eyes away and looked down at the lieutenant. “‘Requested?’ Is that what they’re calling it?”

The man shifted uneasily. “Based on the reports of the last missions you attended, we know that you have a, let’s say, passion for your work.”

Pia chuckled to herself, shook her head slightly, and returned her gaze to the window. “That’s a new one. Most jump straight to ‘obsession.’”

“Regardless, it has been noted, by all accounts, that you do not enjoy participating in military briefs. While we understand if you’d rather stand on the main deck all hours of the day, we would greatly appreciate your input once in awhile.”

She nodded to herself and sighed. “Tell the council that I will be there shortly. I have a few matters to attend to first.”

The lieutenant smiled slightly. “Very well, Ms. Seelenfreund.”

Pia continued to stare out at the sparkling majesty before her as the lieutenant exited the deck. Her heart raced as a streak of light raced across the velvet sky, and she moved as quickly as possible to fetch her small notebook out of her pocket. She noted the length of the tail, how far away the object seemed to be, the colors it gave off, everything. She took down as many details as she could so she could decipher what she had witnessed later.

With notes taken and the phenomena over, she tucked her notebook back into her pocket. She took one last look at the view before her, just to experience it again, and turned to leave the main deck. She moved down hallways, some more crowded than others, and made her way towards the secondary deck.

The secondary deck was Pia’s second least favorite part of the station. There were no windows, mainly outdated equipment, and most importantly, the military HQ. In fact, the idea that the military had to be involved at all bothered her most of the time, but she knew it was unavoidable.

Pia rounded the corner and found a man and a woman in uniform standing outside the door to the secondary deck with guns propped up and ready.

“Hold on, ma’am,” the man said, raising one hand. “There’s a private meeting happening. I’ll need to see some clearance.”

While the uniform was usually enough to signal that she was First Astronomer, she had an ID badge for a reason. She reached into her pocket and revealed the piece of plastic with her name, rank, and picture. Pia handed it to the male guard who then handed it off to the female guard. She took out a small device and scanned the barcode on the bottom of the ID, which beeped twice to signal that the ID was valid.

The female guard took the one step towards her that would close the gap between them, gave the ID back to the other guard, and showed Pia the device. “Just need a print from you, Ms. Seelenfriend.”

“It’s Seelenfreund,” she corrected as she placed her thumb on the small scanner plate. “Emphasis on the ‘u’ instead of the ‘e.’ It’s very German.”

The device beeped twice again, and the female guard smiled. “My apologies, ma’am. Go on in.”

The male guard handed Pia her ID, then pushed a series of buttons to open the sealed door. Pia and the guard nodded to each other as she walks in.

“Ah! Pia Seelenfreed! How the hell are you?” a man in a suit bellowed as she entered the room.

“Seelenfreund,” she corrected. “I’m doing well, Mr. Duchamps.”

“Excellent! Excellent! Please, sit down. You’re just in time for the briefing. As you can see, everyone who’s anyone is here!” Duchamps laughed out loud and sat down himself.

Pia sat down in the available chair closest to the door, all while trying to not look like she was put-off by his comment and the fact that he didn’t apologize for pronouncing her name wrong.

“Now, colonel, where were we?”

Colonel Pandev adjusted in his chair and cleared his throat. “The exploration of some of the nearby planets. I need to know if you have the funding for my troops to act as an escort.”

“Sir, I can assure you, we will have enough to pay-”

“Now, wait a minute, Thomas,” Duchamps interrupted. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

The young accountant, Thomas, leaned forward. “Mr. Duchamps, I have the figures right here. Besides, all the troops are paid a lump sum before departure and paid for the extra duties when they return home.”

“Hang on, hang on. Like I said, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We haven’t even asked our First Astronomer what she thinks about an escort.”

The whole room turned to look at Pia. “Mr. Duchamps, I’m not the Head of Exploration.”

“Yes, Pia, I understand.”

“Then why exactly am I answering questions on their behalf? Who’s even signed on as Head of Exploration for this mission? Why aren’t they here?”

“That would be Vanessa Hamilton,” Duchamps responded. “She’s busy at the current moment and couldn’t make it.”

“Then I would save that question for her. Vanessa has done her research and-”

“But she is not here. We would like an answer now, if you would be so kind as to lend your expertise.”

“No offense, Mr. Duchamps, but my expertise doesn’t lie in exploration. I look at stuff through the window. That’s it. It’s very rare that I leave the station.”

“Mr. Duchamps, as the Lead Accountant, I can say with confidence that we have the necessary funds.”

Duchamps, with a quick glare towards Pia, smiled at Thomas and Colonel Pandev. “Then it’s settled. Your troops will escort our Exploration Team.”

Pandev gave a half smile. “Thank you, Mr. Duchamps. They’ll be happy to hear the news.”

“I’m thrilled, Colonel. Now, Thomas, you wanted to discuss finances, yes?”

“Um, yes, Mr. Duchamps. I feel as though I should remind everyone that we did have a budget surplus from the committee back home, so if you remember, we held a vote on where that money should go. So, uh, good news, the money went towards the Food and Sustenance department, which means more variety in food, and whatever else Jacob wants.”

“Ugh, thank god,” Duchamps muttered. Then, at normal volume, he continued. “Now, from the Astronomy division. Seelenfreed, what’s going on in your little world?”

Pia contained the urge to flip the chair she was sitting in. Instead, she let out a tiny sigh and gave a fake smile. “Like I mentioned earlier, Mr. Duchamps, it’s pronounced Seelenfreund.”

“Yes, yes, my bad. Now, what news?”

“With the council’s permission, my staff and I would like to take a vessel closer to the nearby planetary nebula that’s forming. It would really help our research.”

“I thought you said you rarely leave the station.” Duchamps sneered.

Pia counted to five in her head before answering. “Well, Mr. Duchamps, this would be one of those rare occasions. I mean, you could send out the Exploration Team, but as First Astronomer, I feel as though my talents would be well-suited for the task.”

“Tell you what, Ms. Seelenfreed, you give me a detailed write-up of this little expedition you want to lead, and I’ll get back to you.”

Pia felt like she could scream. If Henrich Duchamps had not been the benefactor for this particular mission, she would not have held back. Instead, she had to swallow her anger and frustration. “Of course, Mr. Duchamps.”

He smiled, almost too brightly, and clapped his hands together. “Excellent! That concludes our council meeting. Please feel free to visit me in my office at any time.” Duchamps stood and placed a hand over his heart. “For Glory and Exploration!”

Everyone else in the room placed their hands on their hearts and replied. “For Glory and Exploration.”

Duchamps was the first to leave the room, and when he did, Thomas approached Pia. “Pia, I am so sorry that he embarrassed you like that. I tried my best to defend you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I appreciate what you did for me.”

“Ms. Seelenfreund, you must understand that Henrich does not respect women as much as he should,” Colonel Pandev added. “Especially if those women are well-educated.”

“Thank you, colonel. Also, please acknowledge the lieutenant you sent to retrieve me. I feel as though he should make a career switch into diplomacy.”

“I’ve mentioned this to him on more than one occasion, but he likes his current job. Unless he gets hurt, I don’t think we’ll be seeing him go anywhere.” Pandev sighed. “Well, on that note, I need to report back to my department. Lots to do over the next few days. Vanessa wants to go look at a moon soon.”

“Have a good evening, colonel.” Thomas called after him as the colonel left the room, along with a few other folks. “So what’s on your agenda, Pia?”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. Might head to the cafeteria for a quick bite. I’ll probably go review my notes from earlier, too.”

Thomas shook his head. “Pia, Pia, Pia. Always work and no play for you. We’ve been out of hyperspace for less than 24 hours and you already have notes to review. Do you even know what fun means?”

Pia shook her head. “Of course I know what fun means. I just happen to think my job is fun.”

He shrugged. “Oh well. Whatever lets you sleep at night.” And with that, Thomas left the secondary deck.

Pia sighed and left the deck as well. She made a quick beeline for the cafeteria, and as soon as she was within 30 feet of the entrance, she inhaled the most magnificent scent; a warm buttery smell, chicken, olive oil, and boiling potatoes. She knew it meant one thing.

As soon as Pia entered the cafeteria, her suspiscions turned into truth. She saw her favorite cook, Zoey, chatting with some soldiers as they devoured plates upon plates of her famous chicken pot pie.

“Zoey!” Pia called out.

Zoey turned, and as she did so her springy ginger curls went wild. Her face broke into a goofy, braces-filled smile when she noticed Pia standing in the doorway of the cafeteria. She broke into a sprint and flung herself at her friend. “Pia! Jesus, I’ve missed ya!” Zoey’s Old Irish accent bled through in each syllable she uttered. “How the hell are you? I see you’re still embracing Earth stereotypes and staying your tiny Asian self. Have you been eating enough?”

“Zoey! Goodness! Yes, I’ve been eating enough, and I can see you’ve been just a crass.”

Zoey shrugged. “What can I say? I wouldn’t be Zoey if I wasn’t annoying! Now lemme get you some food in your stomach. You must be hungry.”

Pia smiled. “I’m starving!”

She followed Zoey to a table and sat down as Zoey grabbed a plate of chicken pot pie. “Ya better eat up. We’ve got more of this shit than we know what to do with.”

As soon as the plate hit the table, Pia was eating. “You know I’ll eat this. This is definitely my favorite food.”

Zoey opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the intercom system. “All crew to emergency stations. Repeat: All crew to emergency stations.”

The girls looked at each other and felt a combined sense of dread. “Go. They’ll need you up at the main deck.”

Pia jumped up and ran down to the main deck, dodging around folks running in the opposite direction. When she finally reached the deck, Colonel Pandev, Mr. Duchamps, Head Explorer Vanessa Hamilton, Lead Historian Roza Keys, and each person’s next-in-command were already there, looking out the window and engaging in a panicked discussion.

“First Astronomer Seelenfreund, thank god!”

Pia was about to ask what was wrong until she caught a glimpse of the window through the gaps between the department heads. She saw another object like before streaking through the sky, but this time, there were hundreds of them or maybe even thousands. But what had everyone on edge was the ship, just peaking over the horizon.

“Is it friendly?”

Roza’s small, mouse-like voice broke through. “I don’t think so, but we should not shoot first.”

Pandev sighed. “What would you suggest? From a historical perspective?”

All eyes were on Roza. “We wait. They might move on.”