Second submission for round 2.

Illusion of Paradise

Tom J. Ferguson

  Paradise. Scratch that. The illusion of paradise. That’s what it was that lured us into that hell-hole that got half my platoon killed, and another five critically wounded. I stared down at my brother, laying on the little bed in Sick Bay on the destroyer that rescued us. He was one of the five wounded. A plasma blast to the abdomen. He would be lucky to live long enough to return home. We were not accustomed to the weapons that the enemy used. They were using energy and plasma based weapons that cut through our armor like a hot knife through butter. Our ballistic weapons are effective on them, too, as they consider ballistic weapons to be so primitive that they have no practical defense against them. I stared down at my little brother. He was asleep for the time being, as the doctor had recommended. He was so young, barely eighteen years old. This was his first combat deployment, and we were returning home from it, victorious, though just barely. Our ship had been crippled during our original battle near Tikkomon Seven, and it had been limping home. We had gone off course, and passed a lush, green planet. As we passed, we received a transmission from the surface.

“Greetings,” The voice on the other end said, after the transmission had been translated by the ship’s computer.

“Hello. I am Captain Johnson of the USS Plymouth Rock,” Our Captain had responded.

“Captain Johnson, our satellites in your vicinity tell us your ship is crippled. Is this true?” The voice asked.

“Yes,” The Captain had responded simply.

“We will send a repair crew out. Feel free to stay on the surface of our planet, and recuperate while we repair your ship,” The voice had said.

“Not to be rude, but how do we know we can trust you? I mean, we are at war with a cunning, and ruthless enemy. How do we know you are not working for them?” Captain Johnson asked.

“It is very simple. We have no military at all. We do not fight. We are a very hospitable people, concerned with peace, and comfort. If you scan our surface, which we would welcome greatly, you will find no weaponry at all,” The voice responded.

  The Captain scanned the surface, and found nothing of concern, so we boarded the shuttles, and landed on the surface, near their main settlement, while they fixed our ship. We were told it would take a week or so, which was fine with us because it would take a couple months to get home in the condition our ship was in. It was the only surviving Earth ship from Tikkomon Seven, and our long range communications had been knocked out in the fight.

  For the first couple of days, we relaxed, and enjoyed ourselves while our ship was being repaired. On the third day though, the Tikkomonians showed up, and took us by surprise. The fighting was intense, and we suffered heavy casualties right off the bat. We ended up winning the fight, but the Tikkomonians had killed more than half of us. The entire population of the settlement was killed in the fight. We found out later that the Tikkomonians had been watching that planet, an d waiting for Earthlings to land there. They had asserted mind control over the locals, and the locals had no idea of this. I recovered the flag of the local settlement. I have it in my pack. It shows a lush green meadow, with a rusty colored mountain behind it, with a cruise liner taking off over a farm. It is a very warm, and inviting image. But everyone who lived on that planet is now dead, and the Tikkomonians are setting up an outpost there.

  “Hang in there, Jim,” I whispered to my brother, then I turned to go to the bridge of the ship. There was an officer’s meeting going on there, and as the Lieutenant of my platoon, I had to be there.

  The meeting was boring as most are, just the typical stuff that goes on. Re-supply schedule, time to arrival at Earth, troop counts, maintenance concerns and so on. After the meeting, I went back to Sick Bay.

  Ten hours later, we were in orbit of Earth. The doctor found me in my quarters, gathering up all my gear at that time.

“Lieutenant Victoria Carson?” He addressed me.

“Yeah?” I said, turning around to look at him.

“Ma’am, I am sorry to inform you that your brother, Private Jim Carson, US Marine Corps, has just passed away from his injuries sustained in combat,” The doctor said.

  My entire body filled with rage at hearing this news. I stormed out of my quarters, and to the shuttle bay. As soon as we were Earth side, I convinced my superiors to redeploy me to the Tikkomon System right away.

  I visited Jim at the morgue.

“They’ll pay for this, Jim. They’ll pay. I promise you. I will avenge you!”