Shi Lang stopped talking and the ship left the gravitational range of Carta-shyn. Lullaby’s voice sounded through the speakers, “Space Jump sequence initiated.”
The squeezing feeling took over the crew as they traveled through the sea of stars. A few seconds later the feeling washed away. Shi Lang said, “This feeling may be a bit hard to get used to, but it feels like a massage after a few times.”
Hunk chuckled and said, “I remember someone who thought just like you.”
Shi Lang asked, “Who is it?”
Hunk shook his head and said, “An old friend.”
That said the conversation came to an end. Shi Lang did not dwell on it further and began to meditate as he sat in his chair. After twenty minutes, Lullaby notified them again and the space jump was initiated one more time. The next stop was The Federation. After the ship entered the atmosphere, Lullaby took them directly to the spaceport near Metropia.
The spot where they landed was the same as the one they took off from. Shi Lang and the rest got down and boarded the off-road vehicle with Shi Lang sitting behind the steering. They came back to the base and made a beeline to the Commander’s cabin. Archie Arkham was already inside the room working on some documents like usual.
She said, “Come in when the door was knocked on.”
Gamma walked back inside the room and saluted. Gamma was slightly older than Archie, however, rank was never decided based on age when it came to military units. Archie asked, “How was it?”
Gamma reported everything to her the way it was. Archie nodded and said, “You can go and rest, send in Captian Lang.”
Gamma saluted and left the room. Archie bowed her head to look at the documents again. After a few moments, Shi Lang knocked on the door and she said, “Come in.”
The boy walked inside the room and took off his hood before he saluted her crisply and asked, “Captain Shi Lang reporting, Commander.”
Archie said, “Take a seat.”
The boy did not hesitate and walked over to take a seat across from the lady. He waited for her to speak her intention of calling him here. Archie took a few minutes to finish reading the file in her holo computer and then she asked, “What do you think of the mission?”
Shi Lang replied to her the same way he did to the crew back on the ship. Archie nodded and said, “Good. Now, what do you think of the mission?”
Shi Lang sighed and said, “It lacked the fighting I thought might be involved.”
Archie smirked and said, “Finally said what you had been holding back on. I will assign more action-packed tasks for you in the future. Also, good job on tracking down the moles.”
Shi Lang replied, “Thank you, Commander.”
Archie said, “You can go and rest for a day before you will have to depart for your next task. Unlike other divisions, we have our hands full with cases and complaints to investigate and rectify.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “I do not mind. This task was just mentally affecting I am still fine physically.”
Archie said, “I understand what you mean, but I would like it if you can use the tempering rooms in the base, and grow stronger physically as well. A good brain and an able body is the worst combination the people fear.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “I agree. I shall now take my leave, Commander.”
Then he stood up from the chair and saluted the lady. The boy then left the room and came outside. He found that Gamma was still waiting for him. She asked, “Anything?”
Shi Lang shook his head and said, “She told me to rest and get ready for the next task, and also to focus n my cultivation. I shall spend the rest of the day in the practice room… ”
Gamma said, “You are taking asleep first. You have not rested properly and the mental stress of the first task is not as easy to take on as it may seem. Do you understand?”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Okay, you are the boss.” then with a sigh, he followed her to a room assigned to him.
The room was simple, consisting of a simple wooden bed, a cupboard, and a table. He took off his uniform and put it on a chair and slumped in the bed wearing just his undergarments. The exhaustion was too much. It was not like he had never seen bloodshed, but witnessing the dispirited officer, who was victimized by the others, was not something he could process with ease.
The whole journey back home, his mind was occupied with the scene of Brigadier Jun walking with dim eyes wearing a green jumpsuit, tied in shackles. He noticed the pitiable gazes of the rest of the soldiers, how some of them were even crying. The price that Shi Lang was talking about was not just the lives.
The price of freedom was sometimes, the honor and dignity, the will to move forward, the respect of those whom you led at the front. All this was too heavy and sentimental for him to handle or process. He did not know, how long was he asleep. Suddenly his communicator vibrated making him open his eyes.
Shi Lang looked at the communicator and found it was a message from Amelia. She went out on a scout operation and the message contained a scenery she spotted during the ops. Shi Lang replied to her with a smile and some warm words. He checked the time and found out that he has been sleeping for nearly twenty hours.
He sat in the bed and stared at the void for a few minutes. Then he sighed and walked to the washroom, he came out after taking a shower and brushing his teeth. After changing into a fresh pair of uniforms he walked out of his room.
The room was inside a villa, this villa acted like a dormitory for the whole squad and could accommodate eight people at a time. Shi Lang walked to the kitchen and found a girl cooking something.
He said, “Hello, Carole.”
Carole was a simple-looking girl, with a girl next door vibe emitting from her. She was surprised at first when someone called her out. She turned around to look at Shi Lang and said, “Oh, Ace. It is you. Do you also want to eat?”
Shi Lang nodded and the girl said, “Shall I make you eggs?”
“Thank you.” replied the boy.
Carole introduced herself to him as she cooked the eggs for him. Her real name was Martha Carole Cullen. She used her not so prominently known middle name as a code name. She was a weapons specialist and tech support. She was thirty-two years old and was a single mother. Her child lived with Carole’s mother.
Her husband had passed away a few years ago when her son was still in the womb, the man was a special division elite. After she was done, Shi Lang gave her his introduction and the lady patiently taught him about the things inside the secret division and the boy learned them all quickly.
The working method of Secret Divisions was different from the frontier forces and also, different from the police. They could investigate anyone, from civilians to top brass of the military and government. Time passed as the two of them discussed.
Shi Lang asked, “Where are the others?”
Carole said, “They all went outside, don’t you know that on the rest day you can travel around the Federation, except for being sighted in your hometown, the whole planet is yours to explore.”
Shi Lang felt a strong pain in his teeth as he clenched his jaws. After a while, he sighed and said, “Blame me for sleeping like a pig.”
Carole chuckled and said, “It is fine, the psychological burden of witnessing such a scene, where you cannot do anything even if you want to is very taxing on the mind. It was good that you slept. Otherwise, it might affect your work.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “This is a good reason as well. What do you think our next task would be like?”
Carole said, “Probably incursion in a hostile planet. Or exploring some lifeless planets, to see if they can be terra-formed.”
Shi Lang raised his eyebrow and said, “Is that not the work of the science team?”
Carole shook her head as she replied, “The science team needs a stable and safe environment to conduct tests, why will they go to some uncertain plain and dug up there when they might get killed by a space storm? We do the job of sample collection while enjoying the raw beauty of nature before the civilization starts to change the face of that sight, if possible.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Turns out, our job profile encompasses a lot of things.”
The door of the Villa was pushed open and Gamma walked in on the two. She said, “Woke up? I hope you are ready for your next task.”