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Down in the Dirt v052

Battle Scars

Eric J. Krause

    The Garqin fighter dove beneath the clouds and unloaded a barrage of laser fire.
None caused massive damage, but a few of the buildings on the human base caught fire.
The fighter spun back around, ready to strike again, when Raul 141 swooped down and targeted it with a heat-seeker.
Seconds later, debris from the Garqin fighter littered the sky.
Raul 141 patrolled the low sky over the base for a few minutes, waiting to pick off any more rogue fighters, but none appeared.
He launched his ship upwards to join in the heavy fray of battle.
    The human force landed not long after.
They’d successfully driven off the Garqins, but like most of this ongoing war, neither side had gained any type of lasting advantage.
Raul 141 was among the last pilots to touch down.
Commander Berl 429 met him as he exited his ship.
    “Nice work, 141,” the commander said.
“We weren’t prepared for a suicide run.
The monsters haven’t shown that side of themselves.
That one would’ve made two or three more passes before we could’ve nailed it.”
    Raul 141 saluted.
“Just doing my job, sir.”
    The commander returned the salute. “That’s the attitude we like, the attitude that’ll win us this war.
We have a major offensive planned for the very near future, and I’d like you to help lead the assault.
Rest up for a couple of days, then you’ll ship out.”
    Raul 141 nodded.
“Permission to ask a question, sir.”
    “Granted.”
    “I have a special lady back home I’d like to see.
If I’m back in time, can I go see her?”
    The commander frowned.
“A special lady?
Highly unorthodox, but I’ll grant it.
Go work out a schedule with the shuttle pilots.
I’ll let them know when you need to be back.”
    Raul 141 snapped off another salute.
“Thank you, sir.”
    “At ease, 141.
Just make sure your mind stays healthy.
We need you at your best.
Dismissed.”
    Raul 141 nodded and headed for the shuttle bay.
Just before he walked through the door, he heard the commander talking to himself.
“A clone with a special lady?
Now I’ve heard everything.”

#



    Jena 6 heard her door robot admit someone.
She wasn’t expecting company, so she quickly tidied herself up a bit.
Who could it be?
Raul 141 was probably the biggest surprise of all.
    “Aren’t you at war?” she said.
    “I can’t stay long,” Raul 141 said, “but I had to see you.
I’ve missed you.”
    “It’s good to see you, Raul.
Whenever we part, I never know if or when I’ll see you again.”
    “I’ll be leading an assault in our next battle,” Raul 141 said.
“I had to come.
I had to tell you how much I love you.”
    “I know, Raul,” Jena 6 said with a sigh.
“And I’m flattered.
I really am.”
    “Not the response I was hoping for,” Raul 141 said.
    “Try to understand.
Love is not for us.
You’ve already cheated the system by staying alive as long as you have.
I always think that the next time you walk through my door, it’ll be as Raul 142 or Raul 143.
Maybe even higher than that.
You’ll look and sound the same, and you’ll even have most of your memories, but it won’t be the same, Raul.
It just won’t be.
They’ve yet to figure out how to clone a soul.”
    “But Jena,” Raul said.
“We could win this war soon, and I’ll never have to fight again.
We could be together forever.
I love you, can’t you say the same?”
    Jena 6 had to fight back tears.
“I’ve given you the best answer I can.
This is better for both of us.
Why can’t you understand that?”
    Raul 141 hung his head.
“I guess I should leave.”
He walked to the door, turned to look at her one more time, then left.
The whole scene broke her heart, but what could she do?
This really was for the best.
She flopped down on her bed and put her hands over her face.
At least she could take comfort in the fact that Raul 142 might not have this conversation put in his memory.
#

    “141, watch to your right.”
    “I see him, 212.”
Raul 141 banked his ship and let loose a barrage of laser fire.
The Garqin fighter went down in a blaze of flame.
Two other Garqin ships flew at them.
Regg 212 knocked out the first one with a laser blast, while Raul 141 dodged blasts from the other one and blew it out of the sky with a heat-seeker.
    “I don’t get it,” Regg 212 said.
“There should be an entire fleet of Garqins here.”
    “Keep your eyes open.
We’ll check a little farther before we bring back our report.”
    “Just a second, 141.
Are you looking at your scanner?”
    Raul 141 saw it, but he wasn’t sure what it was.
The scanner showed a solid wall in front of them.
It didn’t take long for the two pilots to discover what it meant.
They flew through a cloudbank and found an entire army of Garqin fighters laying in wait.
    “Tell me I’m seeing things, 141.”
    “I wish I could.
Get back to the fleet.
Open your radio channels.”
    “Too late,” Regg 212 said.
“Jammed.”
    “Mine too.
Here they come.”
    “I’m already gone.
Hurry up and follow, 141.”
    Raul 141 watched Regg 212 turn tail and head back to the fleet.
Regg 212 had a good start, but without help, he wouldn’t make it.
    “Godspeed, friend,” Raul 141 whispered.
He turned his fighter straight towards his enemies and launched the remainder of his heat-seekers as fast as he could.
#


    Jena 6 awoke with a start and looked towards the door.
Someone stood in her doorway, but that wasn’t possible.
One of her robots would have notified her.
They needed no sleep and were always on duty.
    “Greetings, Jena 6, my love.”
    It was Raul 141.
“How did you get in?” she said.
    “I don’t know, exactly,” he said.
“I was in the midst of a battle I couldn’t possibly win, but I took a great number of them with me.
I saw it coming.
The one that got me, I mean.
I dodged everything they threw at me and managed to blast a dozen or more Garqins out of the sky.
But a stray laser tore apart my tail.
I lost all mobility and had to watch the missile zero in on me.
I had just enough time to wish I could see you one more time.
An instant later, here I am.”
    Jena 6 stood up.
“You’re dead?”
    Raul 141 nodded.
“My remains never to be found.
I love you, Jena 6.
I love you with all my soul.”
    Jena 6 sat back down.
“Dead?”
    “Yes, but that’s not nearly as important as the fact that I love you.
I don’t know what’s going to happen to me now.
I want to hear that you love me before I go.”
    “A dream,” she said.
“Yes, you’re just a dream brought upon by your last visit.”
Jena 6 stood up and walked towards Raul 141.
“You have to go.
Get out.
You’re just a figment of my imagination.
How dare you invade my dreams!”
    Raul 141 grabbed her upper right arm.
“I’m not a figment of your imagination, Jena 6.
Don’t you feel it?
We’re meant to be together.
Just tell me you feel it and I’ll find a way.
There’s no reason I can’t become immortal as Raul 142 and Raul 143 and so on.
You’re going to live forever, and I’ll always be with you.”
    “Let go of me,” she said, and he did.
“All of your clones will come and go, but they’ll all be slightly different.
It’s how life works, Raul.
The memory is there, but the soul only grows with experience.”
    “You really believe that?”
    “Yes.”
    “And you don’t love me?
Me, Raul 141?”
    “This is just a dream.
Goodnight, Raul.
I’ll see the real you when you get back.”
    He let out a big sigh.
“No, you won’t.”
With that, he faded to nothing.
#


    “Miss Jena 6.
Miss Jena 6.
Wake up call.”
    Jena 6 opened her eyes and groaned.
She told the computer to hush and struggled out of bed.
She remembered her dream about Raul 141 and wondered what it meant.
Perhaps she felt guilty about how she treated him on his last visit.
Yes, that had to be it. She really did love him, but it couldn’t be.
He was a war clone, bred to die, while she had been bred to live forever.
It could never work.
    She sat on her bed and it came to her.
When he returned from his latest mission, she would stop being so coy.
Why not make their short time together both happy and memorable?
Sure people would talk.
He was a war clone, after all, but why should she care?
Yes, that’s exactly what she’d do.
    She was in the middle of planning out whatever future they might have together when her bedroom computer piped in.
“You have a personal news message, Miss Jena.”
    “Okay, I’m ready.
Play it.”
    An unknown male voice came onto her speakers.
“It is with great sadness that I must report the death of Raul 141.
He died bravely in battle with the dreaded Garqin race.
We’ve already begun the memory transfer process with one of his stored clones.
It should just be a day or two before he is as good as new.”
    The message continued, but Jena 6 didn’t hear any more of it.
He was gone.
Her Raul 141 was gone.
It hadn’t been a dream.
He’d come back to say goodbye, but she’d just pushed him away.
She fell to her knees and sobbed for her lost love.
#

    “He’s right over there, ma’am.
He won’t be able to talk long, though. He’s due for a training mission shortly.”
    Jena 6 thanked the mess hall officer and walked over to Raul 142, who was polishing off his meal.
He saw her and offered her a warm smile.
A friendly smile, not a smile of love.
    “Jena 6, how nice to see you,” Raul 142 said.
“I apologize I can’t talk long.
I’ve training to get to.”
    Jena 6 nodded.
“I understand.
I just have to ask you about the last time we talked.”
    A puzzled look crossed his face first, followed by a look of embarrassment.
“I’m very sorry.
As a war clone, I had no business bringing you feelings of love.
I should never have come to see you before that big assault.”
He chuckled.
“You must have made quite an impression on my former self.”
    “Is that the last meeting you remember?” she asked.
    He gave her another puzzled look.
“That’s the last I remember.
Was my memory not fully updated?”
    She shook her head.
“No, it’s not you, it’s me.
Listen, I’ve kept you from your training long enough.
Goodbye, Raul 142.”
She turned and hurried away before he could see the tears in her eyes.
He didn’t chase after her.
    Raul 141 had said he’d try to bring his soul back into his clone, but Raul 142 wasn’t him.
She lifted up her shirtsleeve and touched the dull red handprint on her upper arm.
It was in the exact spot Raul 141’s ghost hand had grabbed her, and it would remain there for the rest of her eternity.
Had he tried to come back and been unsuccessful, or had she chased him away?
She would never know.
She knew it would haunt her for the rest of her life. Sometimes having an infinite life span had its drawbacks.



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