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KS Desiccator; Observation
Lounge
In orbit over planet Earth
The Sol System, Terra Quadrant, Sol Sector
MAY 09 2793/2793.129; 1723 Hours (CST)
The service for Brigadier General Christopher "Maverick" Blair had been carried out an hour ago. Men and women from all corners of the galaxy had respectfully watched as the TCS Blair launched an empty casket bearing the Confederation legend’s name into Earth’s atmosphere.
Vell Ricaud silently observed Earth through the viewports of the Desiccator, recalling the comet-like streak the casket had made on re-entry. A fitting funeral for a man such as Blair, but somehow coming off as a very hollow one. At least to Vell.
He didn’t bother to turn around as the double doors to the observation lounge hissed open.
"Hello, Vell." It was Melissa, as Vell had expected.
"I didn’t even know who the guy was," he spoke. "He was just some guy to me that showed up, saved my ass, then went out and saved the bloody galaxy. I figured it was just some cocky Confed pilot fresh out of the Academy, some hotshot looking to prove himself in the field. Then they pull me aside after it’s over, tell me who it was..."
"The Heart of the Tiger."
Vell nodded. "My childhood idol. My father used to read stories about him to Sar and I when we were kids. All about how he was born the son of a Pilgrim mother during the Pilgrim Wars, how that was thought to be the source of his skill, how he’d turned the Kilrathi into wimps, how he foiled the Black Lance, how he held the line against the Nephilim aliens that invaded afterward and so much more... I always told myself I wanted to be just like him since I was six years old. Now, as I look back at all the old newsbriefs, digging up all the Banned Histories I’ve had my people round up, I’m finding out everything my father didn’t tell me about him. How he came out of hiding in 2684, having the whole galaxy believe him dead after one of the early Nephilim battles in ’81. Blair’s assassination in 2685, how he went insane and was brought down. People are out there trying to tell the universe that it wasn’t him three days ago that sacrificed himself, that it was some kind of phony." Vell shook his head in slow motion. "I just wish all of those who doubt could have seen him fly, hear him speak... it was him. It could have been no one else. I-I can’t explain it."
Melissa placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "It’s not your fault. He went of his own accord. Because he wanted to."
"I know." Vell covered her hand with his. "I know. I’m just wondering if I could have been the kind of man he was. All that courage, that nerve, that perseverance... the willingness to take it over the edge for the good of mankind. I’ve never been like that. First I was a pampered kid—the Good Son of Vell Ricaud I—then a privateer. I smuggled contraband, performed killings, gunrunning... now I’ve even taken over my brother’s crime syndicate. None of this has bothered me."
She ran a hand through Vell’s short brown hair. "You are who you are."
He faced her. "And if I don’t like who I am?"
The intercom cackled, breaking the silence. The deck officer. "Ser Ricaud, we’re ready to begin the jump flight back to the Tri-System. It’s all laid in. On your order, Ser."
"You going to answer him, Vell?"
His day and age had no living heroes, no one to look up to. Vell had been born in an era without Blairs, Bondarevskys, St. Johns, McKenzies, one devoid of any modern tales that could possibly stand up to their epic chronicles. Yet only three days ago, it was one of those very heroes that had appeared from the past to remind him of the man he was, the man buried deep within. The side of himself he’d forgotten about so long ago.
His meeting with Christopher Blair—short though it was—taught Vell an important lesson: there could still be heroes... there just had to be men and women out there up to the task. For the first time in his life, Vell felt he was.
He rubbed a hand over his eyes, then looked back at the viewports, back at the sphere that was Earth. In making his sacrifice, perhaps the legendary pilot had passed a part of himself onto Vell.
Melissa was tapping her boot on the floor. "The officer is still waiting, Vell."
Vell surprised Melissa with a smile. "Take us home."
The Heart of the Tiger would continue to beat yet.
F I N I S