Dead Men's Philosophy

Captain Brekan and Officer Melvara on ship's bridge after local sun's destructive solar flare (Dead Men's Philosophy, image by James Goudie)

Dead Men's Philosophy

The following is a transcription of the last captain’s log of the Masian cruiser, the CS SOLAR SPIRE. The data on the black box's electronic storage experienced severe corruption, so several parts of the audio recording are silent or incoherent. The ship’s severed bridge was recovered by some junkers in 2745 SDY, but the rest of the ship and her crew of over a thousand still remain lost.

(Begin Transcription)

Captain: Emergency. Emergency. This is Captain Brekam K’ara of the Masian CS SOLAR SPIRE. We have encountered severe solar flares while orbiting - [DATA CORRUPTED] - significant casualties and major damage to our vessel. Our long-range communications and engines appear offline. We require emergency evac- [DATA CORRUPTED].

(The message loops several times until a new voice appears)

Officer: Sir, she’s gone. I tried my best, but I couldn’t stop the bleeding.

Captain: Its okay son, you did your best… (sighs) It’s a damn shame that this is how they went. They were exceptional men and women, they deserved better. They deserved better from me…

Officer: Sir, you can’t blame yourself for this. The scanner indicated the star had minimal activity, and that we were well out of range of any typical solar flare. This was a one out of a million chance of hap- [DATA CORRUPTED] -nothing you could have done differently, sir.

Captain: You can stop calling me that son, our duties have been fulfilled.

Officer: Calling you what, sir?

Captain: That...Stop calling me that…Sir…Our duties are done now. We are equals in this precious moment, albeit our last, for we are both dead men.

Officer: Okay…Brekam…Did anyone respond to the emergency signal?

Brekam: No…Melvara, right?

Melvara: Yessir- I mean yes, Brekam.

Brekam: Well, now that our duties are done, Melvara, is there anything you regret?

Melvara: Regret?

Brekam: Yeah, anything you regret in your life? You missed out on the right women, or you wished you were there for your child more? Anything?

Melvara: Yeah, I suppose…

Brekam: You suppose?

Melvara: I wish I wasn’t off-world when my mother was dying on Nagor.

Brekam: Hmm. My condolences. When was this?

Melvara: It was well before I boarded the Solar Spire, my second or third expedition. I was a simple custodian on a private archeological study. However, I was the only Masian aboard, and the lead archeologist unearthed an ancient strain of the Triticus Plague. My blood was used to cure those inflicted, and the lead archeologist swiftly promoted me. How about you? Anything you wish happened differently, sir... Brekam.

Brekam: This entire mishap is first and foremost, but a close second is spending significantly more time on this cruiser than with my own wife and three sons.

Melvara: Understandable, I also wish I had spent more time with my daughter. She’s only 5, maybe 6 by now. Now that I think about it, I don’t know how old she is, (sniffling). I haven’t seen her in over a year, she might not even remember me growing up, (audible crying).

Brekam: (choking up) I-I’m not much different from you, you know? All my boys have wives and kids of their own. I haven’t even met a majority of my grandchildren, because I haven’t spoken much to my boys since their mother died. Each of them are successful engineers. It seems only fair that they get to live the life I wanted, given that I rarely helped them...

Melvara: I guess it just goes full circle…Fatherless children shall bear fatherless children…My father left my mother before my Ascendency. Now I’m about to have a fatherless daughter.

Brekam: We are the same, Melvara. Same life, but at differing times and places. When I was young my mother and fa- [Loud Rumbling and Incoherent Yelling].

[DATA CORRUPTION]

Brekam: The light’s back on, but there’s still no response.

Melvara: Oh well, the light doesn’t matter, nobody’s listening.

Brekam: The black box might survive, even though we may not. So the light matters, it’s recording my log. Someday someone may listen.

[Several Minutes of Personal Messages to Loved Ones] [After Some Time, Conversation Begins Again]

Melvara: I think we drifted far enough. We are safe from the solar storm now.

Brekam: We thought that to be true once already, and now we are here.

Melvara: That first flare was so large and bright, I thought the star went supernova. I have never seen anything like it in my life.

Brekam: Hmm… Looking back now, do you think we served any purpose?

Melvara: I’d like to think I did. I just hope I helped others live easier lives, especially those I love. That’s all that seems to matter in the end.

Brekam: Ah. I’ve always made life harder for others before I made it easier. It was just my place in the caste… my role to play for our species’ survival. We all have one. I had to be hard on people as a Captain, but sometimes I’d go too far.

Melvara: You were...are one of the best Captains I’ve ever served under…but I agree that people have their roles to play for society. However, I don’t agree with how our people handle it.

Brekam: I’m no Komisar, but I’m sure there’s no politically perfect approach to ensuring the survival of the entirety of a species.

Melvara: I’m talking about the Ascendency…Why are the fates of millions and millions of our people decided by a damn test? And why at such a young age? That never made much sense to me.

Brekam: I see it more as a tradition of our people. It is a celebration of coming of age and discovering one’s lot in life.

Melvara: I wouldn’t describe forcing kids into castes as ‘discovering one’s lot in life.’

Brekam: How else would we delegate the workload? Tinkering is in our genetics. There would be no shortage of gadgets and machines, but there would be little to no food or medicine. Unlimited solutions proposed, with no one willing to carry them out. No one wants the lame labor, yet it is required in order for society to function.

Melvara: Fair point. No one wants a laborious life, but no one should be forced into one. Why caste systems? Why shouldn’t the people freely compete to earn their lots in life, like the caste-less systems? They still function!

Brekam: Bah!! The caste-less are not free! Those people are given a placebo of freedom and forced into labor for corporate profit. They are conformed into an invisible caste system, with only two castes. The ones who possess true power and freedom, and the ones who do not. At least we are honest about the true hierarchy of our society.

Melvara: Yeah (sighs heavily), I suppose there’s never a simple solution for anything.

Brekam: Indeed. Indeed…(pauses) All this talk of politics almost makes you forget that you are about to die.

(Both laugh nervously)

[DATA CORRUPTION]

Brekam: We still have critically low power and oxygen levels. Whichever runs out first seals our fate, Melvara.

Melvara: What do you mean by that? I assumed we were already doomed?

Brekam: If the oxygen runs out first, we will suffocate slowly and die. If the power runs out, the emergency locks wouldn’t be able to maintain pressure, and we would be exposed to the vacuum of the merciless void. The open vacuum of space will collapse your lungs, paralyze your spine, and freeze your bodily fluids. All in an instant.

Melvara: So death either way?

Brekam: For one, we slowly and painlessly drift into eternal slumber as we lose oxygen. I’d assume it’d be as natural as falling asleep. For the other, we experience the crushing pain from the immense pressure until you lose consciousness from the blood frozen in your brain.

Melvara: (pauses) Chance hasn’t been in our favor lately. Let’s hope that we get lucky one final time.

Brekam: Hope, chance, fate, luck. Blah! It’s all irrelevant. Religions too. Fictional fanfare distracting us from reality, and its many problems.

Melvara: You believe this is all we have to experience? You don’t think about the possibilities of a creator or a life beyond this one existing?

Brekam: Oh I think about that often, especially now. Is it some form of an afterlife? Or is it damnation? Oblivion? I don’t have the answer, but I do know it is uncertain. I am not opposed to believing that something exists.

Melvara: So you aren’t opposed to faith, but you are opposed to religion?

Brekam: I'm not opposed to religion. Let me put it this way: A religious person is calm for he believes that they are ‘saved’ or ‘chosen.’ Calm minds are clear minds, and clear minds work faster and harder.

Melvara: Don’t tell me you are still on about corporate greed?

(Hysterical laughter from both)

Brekam: You are right. The past is in the past, nothing can be done about it now. If there’s any time to let go of the past, it’s now…Our problems no longer matter. All of our questions shall soon be resolved, my friend.

[DATA CORRUPTION]

Melvara: Have you ever given thought about how the other races live? Imagine that you were born as a Maratesen? What would life be like?

Brekam: A Maratesen?!? Well, I’d be a dumb burly brute, but I’d be finally able to hold up in a fist fight. However, I suppose life wouldn’t be too different. I’d have the same passionate energy, just dedicated elsewhere.

Melvara: Interesting, you may be onto something… What about Inarians?

Brekam: Hah! I’d be a pointy-eared aristocrat, stuck in my art and philosophy. I’d be pondering all day about the purpose of life…and wondering about...Possibilities…

(short pause)

Melvara: Huh, maybe there’s a little bit of Inarian in all of us.

(light chuckling)

Brekam: Look at us. Dead men being philosophers…

[Long Silence]

Melvara: You still here?

Brekam: I’m here, but I’m not… I’m reliving right now… I am just thinking as much as possible…Melvara?

(struggling to breathe, deep audible breaths)

Melvara: Yes, Brekam?

Brekam: Just know I’m glad we got each other for this.

Melvara: Likewise, my friend…Likewise.

[The Remainder of the Recording is Silence]

by Davis Masterman