Fifteen officers walked out onto the rooftop of the United Continents Space Corps headquarters. Smiles stretched across fourteen faces as they were met with perfect conditions for their departure. 

The fifteenth officer hadn’t noticed the sky or the beautiful shade of blue it beamed. Or the complete lack of cloud or even the Westerly wind that would help guide them out of the platform in the transport shuttle resting on the tarmac. She was elsewhere entirely.

Just turn around. Walk away. You’re at the back anyway, maybe nobody would notice. She slowed, the rest of the pack ever so slightly starting to edge away towards the transport shuttle ahead of them.

“Officer Reiziger,” came a voice from behind her. 

She froze. She had been caught instantly. She turned slowly, putting off her arrest for desertion as long as she could. “Sergeant Yuan,” she said. 

“Your father, Chief Superinten—”

“I know who my father is, sir.” It came out more abruptly than she had intended.

“Yes, well…he would like to see you in his office before your departure. If you could follow me, please.” Sergeant Yuan was a familiar face that had welcomed Emay to her father’s office throughout her teen years. He had patched her through to her father countless times when she had called from the Academy. 

She let out a long breath. Sergeant Yuan led Emay back off the rooftop platform into the Space Corps Headquarters. Located in the centre of New Manchester, it was a towering block of concrete that represented five square city blocks. 

Once back inside, Sergeant Yuan and Emay entered an elevator that lifted them into the tower extension that rose a further forty stories, like a stick on a discarded lollipop. “Your father was elated to witness your graduation from the Academy,” said Sergeant Yuan as they stood side by side in the rising elevator.

“Yes, well. It’s all he ever wanted for me. To be an officer in the Space Corps.”

Yuan nodded. After a moment: “I have worked in your father’s office for a long time now Em– excuse me. Officer Reiziger. I must confess that watching you grow up and to excel at the Academy as you have… It has been a great pleasure.”

Emay smiled. “Thank you. You can still call me Emay, Sergeant.” 

“Then please, now that we’re colleagues, call me Yìchén. Just … just not around your father.” They both laughed, Yuan more nervously. The elevator doors dinged open.

Chief Superintendent Harold Reiziger sat at his desk, the walls neatly lined with awards and photos, all detailing a storied and successful career in the Space Corps. He flicked through a paper file as Lieutenant Casey watched on from a screen on the desk in front of him. “And how is the Precinct coming along, Lieutenant?” 

“Priority systems are all operational with maintenance protocols in place. Basic defence, oxygen recyc, gravity gens. Our current projections have us on track for early completion, Sir. We’re expecting to be fully operational well ahead of schedule.”

“Splendid. You have a lot of support down here on Earth, Lieutenant. You and your crew are doing an exemplary job. You’re not just building the future, you’re building considerable faith in the United Continents Space Corps.”

“Thank you, Sir.” A pause. His eyes dropped briefly as he debated his next words. “I wanted to ask you about Captain Jacoby, Sir. His posting has some members of the operations unit concerned.” 

A spark of confusion hit Harold. “Why is that, Lieutenant?”

“We have several officers onboard, Sir, who served with Captain Jacoby on Orion prior to his promotion. They felt that his … leadership skills were severely lacking.”

“I see.” Reiziger thought for a moment. He remembered UCSC Orion and what occurred during their maiden operations. By all accounts, then-Lieutenant Jacoby acted heroically and was awarded not just a commendation but a promotion to his current rank of Captain. Reiziger had been moved by the man’s bravery and had spent many an hour in his company since. “I find that very hard to believe, Lieutenant. Were there any complaints filed? Or a report made?”

“Not that I am aware sir, most of the crew reporting to Jacoby were inexperienced and the ones I’ve spoken to personally felt like rocking the boat could be– well … a bad way to start their careers. You may recall the circumstances of Orion…”

“I certainly do.” Harold said confidently, his previous concern dissipating. He saw movement through his office window. It looked out onto a reception area, tucked away from a passing hallway. Sergeant Yuan led his daughter Emay towards his office door. He waved her in as they drew closer. “Leave it with me, Lieutenant. Thank you.” 

Yuan pushed the door open and guided Emay through the opening with a hand. “Good luck at the Precinct, Officer,” he smiled professionally.

Emay stepped through into her father’s office. She smiled at Yuan. “Thank you, Sergeant.” 

“That’s better,” Harold said with a grin as he rounded his desk, pointing the corner of the paper file at Emay in her crisp, navy flight suit. Prepped for launch, she still had her collar raised and ready to attach her helmet.

“Finally you’re an upstanding member of society. For the greater good!” He leaned into her, a delicate kiss on her cheek and she wrapped an arm around him for a moment before he moved back to his desk. “This is your first step on what your instructors tell me will be a very promising career. Who knows? In a few years when you’re Captain, you may choose to develop your own colony on a distant planet. Settle, put down some roots. Add another branch to the old Reiziger family tree.”

“Why did you bring me here, Dad?”

“I just wanted to say good luck again, before you left for the Precinct.” He flipped the file onto the smooth, almost empty plastic desk and lowered into the chair behind it.

Emay moved closer to the desk, showing her father her palms in frustration. “Dad, you’re going to delay the shuttle, and everyone’s going to blame me. I have to work with these people.”

Chief Superintendent Reiziger smiled. “Emay. Noodle. If any one of them says a word, just drop their name into a comm and they’ll find themselves cleaning out the sewage backlog system.”

“Dad.”

He held his hands up with a grin. “Besides. The Precinct is a big place. You may have been at the Academy together, and you might be sharing a shuttle together, but once you get there you’ll all be in different attachments across the Precinct. Running into any of them again will be like– like tripping over that same stick from Lake Tariku, remember that?”

Emay stifled a smile. Kind of. “Yeah, Dad. I remember.”

“That was the last trip we took as a family before your mother passed away.”

“I know, Dad.”

“I’ll always remember how bright the moon was that night. Its reflection in the water. Your mum and I walking behind you. You were looking up, not watching where you were going. You always did have your head in the stars. You could see them all, that night. One second you were there in front of us. The next, you’d just…” His eyebrows rose with the corners of his mouth. “The next thing: splash!” They both let out a little laugh. They hadn’t done that in a long time.

“I wrapped you in my coat. Your little shoulders quivering.” He imitated a tight hug with his arms. “I picked you up and held you so tight. Carried you back to the lodge. Your mother was so worried, fretting over you the whole way back.” Emay loved hearing him talk about her. He loosened when he thought of her, a calmness radiating through him. “A hot cocoa in a blanket by the fire, and a few verses of your favourite songs. Your mother could play that old piano like it was brand new. Her fingers would touch the keys and it was like magic.” He was there again in the lodge, watching his wife play. Her delicate fingers gliding across the keys. “Anyway.” He shook the memory away, his eyes glistening. “You’ve got a shuttle to catch.” 

“Where the hell’s Reiziger?” said Officer Nesiguren. He’d gone through basic training with Emay, like the rest of the officers onboard the Precinct Transport Vehicle. He hadn’t liked her at first, felt too much like competition. But as the group bonded, the two had developed a friendship that pushed them both on to the head of the class.

A sarcastic cheer rang through the transport shuttle as Emay hurried up the ramp into the main cabin. Flustered from the attention and the heat built up in her suit from the jog across the tarmac and the building anxiety of the attention she’d get.

“Great job, Reiziger. They nearly scrubbed the launch!” Fourteen of the fifteen seats had been filled. Duffle bags had been securely stowed and helmets had been attached to flight suits. 

“I’m informed that our missing passenger has finally joined us,” came the pilot’s voice over small speakers dotted through the hold. The attached helmets were all patched into the transporter’s internal communications, and the officers let out another cheer. “If the officer could find an available seat at their earliest convenience, we would be most appreciative.”

Holding her duffle bag and helmet close, Emay made her way to the one remaining seat. She dropped into it, stuffing the bag between her feet and pushed her helmet on. She fumbled with the body harness as the pilot continued: “Safety checks are complete, we are waiting on orders for lift-off. Standby.”

With all the attention she had completely forgotten all about her desertion attempt. She now found herself exactly where she had intended to escape. But it didn’t take long for Emay’s mind to settle back in to where she had left off: I need to get off this thing. The single thought broke through the haze of awkward stuttering images that ran through her head and she was pushing up against the harness. She fumbled for the release button at the centre of her chest, but the tinny, dull voice forced her fingers to curl. “Lift-off imminent,” said the pilot, piped directly into her helmet.

Shit. She was too late. She clenched everything as the cabin began to shudder. The engines began ramping up for take-off. Tension rose throughout the cabin as the fifteen newly trained Space Corps officers anticipated the quick jerk of the boosters that was only mere moments from firing and thrusting the vessel skyward. 

Her helmet, usually cool with the fresh air pumped through her flight suit, was tight, clammy, humid as she struggled to catch her breath. The cabin pulsed red, the final indicator that all checks had been completed and the tower had given the all-clear for lift-off. 

She strained against the sudden pressure as if a giant thumb pressed her forcefully back into her seat. The shuddering intensified as the shuttle creaked and groaned away from the launchpad. This is it. No turning back now. She was paralysed against the forces pushing against her as she hurtled upwards, helpless as the shuttle drew Emay Reiziger closer to the future she prayed she’d never see. Her future as an officer on Precinct Zero.

Space Precinct Zero is available in comic book form through the store and Amazon.