The Betrayers Part One

The Betrayers

A dark shape drove through space at near the speed of light on its righteous mission. Earth’s second ever near-C spacecraft hurtled toward the same destination as the first, but on very different purpose.

That purpose defines me, and it is not a designation I care for. Mathias Briggs looked out the window of his cabin-office, thinking about that mission, where it came from, and where it was taking him and his crew.

The window flashed, blinking for a nanosecond as a power-surge interrupted the captain’s view. It was not a real window, of course, but merely a sensor screen that showed a reflection of space opposite where he was standing. Despite the ships four-foot thick titansteel hull, it simply wasn’t smart to have the windows uncovered when one was travelling at .8 of light-speed. One stray piece of debris and the mission would be over. Nature had never been that generous before, Mathias thought, why would she start now?

Deep space was much like the human heart these days, cold, unyielding, full of unfeeling malice and vengeance. Who could blame us, though, after the despicable evil that had been perpetrated on us by the Betrayers? The act demanded justice, but at what cost?

Captain Briggs continued to stare out at that cold universe, awaiting some kind of answer to his unspoken questions, or nature’s generosity, perhaps.

Beep.Beep.

Two short audile’s indicated a visitor seeking to intrude upon his privacy. A push of a button could have switched the viewscreen to the camera just outside his office, but there was no need. He’d been expecting this visitor for some time, and knew exactly who it was.

“Come.”

Recognizing the captain’s voice, the computer opened the door for the ship’s First Officer, one Hiat Kain. Thin almost to a fault, with a hawk-nose and steely grey eyes that shifted everywhere, he was the polar opposite of the large and well-built captain whom he served under.  Mathias knew Hiat was scanning the room with his suspicious squint. There were times the man looked almost rat-like. Those were the times Captain Mathias Briggs could hardly bear to look at him.

“Your report?” Captain Briggs continued to stare out through the window/screen.

Hiat let an odd silence fall before answering, hoping it might throw the captain off-balance somehow.

“Engine number four now running normally, captain.”

“And the malfunction?”

Captain Briggs turned to face his junior officer, knowing full well it would throw him off-balance. Mr. Kain had to check the floor in order to find his courage under the captain’s stare.

“Well, Mr. Latshaw reports that those matter-injectors could not have overheated without some kind of interference. The back-up systems were clearly turned off, on purpose.”

Captain Briggs nodded.

“So we have a saboteur, after all.”

“It would seem so, sir.”

“And you’ve checked everyone? You’ve not missed a single person aboard this ship?”

“No sir, everyone’s been checked. Except yourself, of course. Sir.”

Captain Briggs let that thought hang in the air a moment. Both men played their invisible tug-of-war on one another’s nerves. At last, Hiat glanced at the floor in defeat.

“Except myself.” Mathias continued, allowing a small victory smile to purse his lips. “Of course, it wouldn’t make sense for me to sabotage the ship when I could destroy it by simply pressing a button.”

Mathias let that spin in the first officer’s mind a moment.

“Well, as it’s obvious we do indeed have a spy, or a saboteur on board, I suggest you carry out your interrogations again. You’ll need to be more thorough this time, Mr. Kain. The next time he, or she strikes, their attack may not be as subtle. We’re the only ship left that can carry out our mission, so we must succeed. We cannot let the thoughts and feelings of one person interfere with our sacred duty.”

“Of course, sir.” Hiat sneered, doing his best to hide his utter contempt and not doing a very good job. “I’ll begin at once.”

Captain Briggs nodded, turning back to the faux window. Mr. Kain stared hard at the captain’s back as long as he dared, then turned to carry out his orders.

“I understand them, you know.” Mathias began. Why he was saying this to his conniving first officer, and why now of all times, he couldn’t say. But the words began to flow, and there seemed to be no stopping them.

“I might not agree with them, but I understand them.”

“Understand who, sir?” Hiat asked, knowing full well who the captain was referring too.

“The saboteur, or saboteurs. I know why they’re doing it. They’re not acting out of madness, for no reason. When you think about it, they do have a point.”

“I’m not sure I understand, sir.”

Mathias turned slowly back around to face his fanatical first-officer.

“Think about it, Mr. Kain. How long ago did the Great Betrayal happen? Fifty-years ago now?”

“Fifty-one years ago, sir, last October.”

A strange sensation rushed through Mathias at the mention of October. He got that eerie tingling in his spine every time someone mentioned the day of the week, or a month. Space had no months, no years, time was meaningless out here.

“Fifty-one, of course. Fifty one, for us. But not for everyone else. We’ve been travelling at near the speed of light for over three years now, and time has slowed considerably for us. Einstein’s theory was correct. Right now, at this moment, on Earth it’s been over three hundred years since the Betrayers unleashed the nuclear holocaust on our world. Three hundred. The men who sent us on this glorious mission of retribution are now dead and gone. The Earth’s finally beginning to heal. Perhaps our people are starting to heal as well.”

Hiat Kain stared at his captain, trying to measure the weight of his commander’s words.

“Perhaps.” Kain replied at last. “Perhaps not. In the end, with all due respect, that matters little to us.”

“Does it? Another three hundred years will pass on our return voyage as well, Mr. Kain. We might find a very different Earth from the one we left. One filled with people who might not be as proud of our mission as we are.”

“Our mission is one of justice, sir. The Betrayers must be punished for ruining our world and leaving us to die in the aftermath of the nuclear winter that was sure to follow.”

“True, our people deserve justice, but whom shall answer now for that crime? Three hundred years are passing on the New World as well. The men and women who perpetrated the Betrayal are long dead and buried. Their children and grandchildren as well. The generations who live now on the New World may have no idea what happened on Earth so long ago.

“No idea, sir, of what their ancestors did to us? Impossible!”

“Is it? I think not. Put yourself in the place of a Betrayer for a moment. Suppose you just built a spacecraft to take your friends and loved ones away from a decaying world to a pristine new one, leaving your fellow human beings to fend for themselves on a planet quickly running out of precious resources. And then you instigate a global nuclear war. The better to be sure that no one follows you to spoil your new ‘paradise’. Is this truly the legacy you’d leave for your progeny? Or would you instead make up some heroic lie, putting you and your compatriots in the role of savior, keeping humanity from dying out of the universe because of some catastrophe or another.”

“Sir, I don’t like where this conversation is going.”

“Beg your pardon, Mr. Kain? Are you shirking in your sworn duty?”

“No sir, it’s just that…”

Captain Briggs cut him off, narrowing his eyes. Hiat shifted uncomfortably under his captain’s scrutiny.

“This is merely the reality of what we’re doing, Mr. Kain. I expected that you understood that. If not, then it’s good we had this little talk, whether you enjoy it or not. Our superiors, our people, sent us on this voyage to bring justice to the Betrayers for what they did to our world and our people. And bring it we shall. But to whom? If everyone who betrayed our world is dead, and those living now had no part in it whatsoever, what is it that we truly bring?”

Hiat held his tongue, waiting, hoping, it was a rhetorical question his captain was using to drive home a point he’d already made, and made very well. When the captain’s stare told him he required an answer, Mr. Kain gave it, in a weak, subservient voice.

“Vengeance.”

Mathias nodded approvingly.

“Good, then you do understand. I was beginning to worry. After all, if you were still confused about our mission, then how could I be sure that you were not the saboteur? I have to be able to trust you, I’m sure you understand.”

Hiat’s eyes were wide, with both confusion and no small amount of fear.

Mathias hid his satisfaction.

“Very well, Mr. Kain, you’re dismissed.”

Hiat gave his captain the weakest salute he’d ever given anyone. It was clear in his eyes that Mr. Kain had no idea what to think of his captain now, and that was exactly what Mathias had been trying to do.

Three more weeks went by on the ship, at least thirty years on Earth and the New World. In that time Captain Briggs prepared his ship for what had to be done.

Mathias often wondered what the Betrayers had called their new home planet. That particular bit of trivia had not been found among the other information that had revealed the Betrayer’s plans. That he would probably never know brought a melancholy to his soul.

He stood in front of the door to the bridge, ready to take those last steps into dark destiny. In that moment, Mathias was strangely tranquil, almost relaxed. He should have been nervous, considering what he was about to do, but instead his heartbeat was slow, regular. His nerves, calm. He punched in the security code for the bridge and walked slowly into the lion’s den.

Controlled chaos was everywhere. Men and women were scurrying about, going from one station to another. The ship had slowed to a normal speed. Their destination was at hand. Everyone was getting ready to bring Earth’s peculiar brand of justice to the New World.