S.C.J.H - chapter 2

Chapter 2: Recent History.

When Jonathan stepped out of the set of door at the end of his teleport, he was in another part of the ship. The lounge is a huge area of the ship, were crewmen can gather when not on duty. From where Jonathan stepped into the room, to his left and right close from him, built into the walls were more double sets of doors that housed more teleportation tubes. To his far left and right, placed in rows, eating tables and chairs for canteen usage, which were placed further up from the eating area; but it’s the auditorium in front of him that caught his attention.
The auditorium was a large semi-circular pit with seats going down about eight levels, seating about six-hundred people when at capacity. The rows of seats were mainly empty today, except for a few Sanartans and the odd human.

A Sanartan is basically almost human; same physiology, same mental states. There are two main differences between Humans and Sanartans, the first being the facial features of a Sanartan. The eyes tend to be slightly slanted and their cheeks a bit more full. Sanartans also grow a lot of hair; even the males have hair as long as a human female. It is sometimes believed that Sanartans behave and look a lot like Elves from fiction stories, but this is seen as a racist comment.
The second difference is that even though Sanartans live amongst humans; they seldom cross species DNA, due to Sanartans being smarter, faster; generally better than any human traits the children would have.

Jonathan sat down and listened to the rest of Mia’s speech.
“… Of humans discovering a meteorite in orbit among the space junk around our planet. The meteorite contained space-faring technology from an ancient race. This technology was discovered in 2107, but wasn’t until 2158 that Humans produced a space travelling vessel based of the technology, the Event Horizon.” “Humans started an exploration and colonisation program that sent spaceships off in to the dark reaches of space, sometimes never to be heard from again. Those early explorers travelled deep into unknown territory, mapping the way for future use by other ships, just like back on earth in the early 16th century with ocean mapping. Humans discovered many habitable worlds, but when a certain scouting vessel, the Argos, located a world with a sentient species like ours, that’s when human’s made first contact in 2163.
“Humans had discovered Sanar, home to the Sanartans. Sanar was filled with oceans of lava and violent firestorms that occurred frequently. The atmosphere was made of chemicals hazardous to humans and the Sanartans are forced to live underground. At first, both races harboured a mutual hate for the other, but the Sanartans learned we had the technology and the means to lift them from their doomed planet, and humans learned of rare resources and minerals in the moons around Sanar; a great exchange was made, and an alliance was formed.
The alliance was continually strong for many years, each side benefiting from the continual prosperity of each race.
Then in 2186, the Sanartans requested human help. Sanar, as we had predicted, was dying. The lava was cooling rapidly at a rate we were not prepared for; Sanar was quickly turning into an ice world.

Earth's collective government determined that losing humanity's only ally in space would be a major step backwards. Therefore, the government increased ship production to cope with the number of Sanartans; and by the time the first of these ships was complete, the evacuations had already began. Human and Sanartan leaders decided that the Sanartan race should be moved to the planet Aegis, a similar lava type planet to Sanar, and the shortest distance for the Sanartans to travel, being only two star systems away.
In 2192, all the evacuations were complete, along with the history and culture that the Sanartans had developed. The alliance between the two races was now stronger than ever. So much so that even some Sanartans that had become accustomed to human life, decided to stay with our species and act as ambassadors.
"Then in 2204, Aegis was destroyed, along with 60% of the Sanartan population. No-one knew what happened; it just exploded like a lit stick of dynamite. The entire Sanartan leadership died when the planet was lost, along with their archives and history. With the Sanartans leaderless, the population could not seem to agree on what to do as a race. The Earth government decided that Sanartans should be incorporated into our species, as a collective of races. Their came out cries from both sides, especially from the Sanartan military leaders, who blamed Humans for placing their race on Aegis. Most Sanartans decided that this was the best course of action for the species, just to survive, and joined the Humans as a collective. About 75% of the remaining population, mostly civilians and educated Sanartans joined our collective and now live on earth or her colonies. The remaining decided to split and stay independent, mostly former military members. They formed roving bands of pirates that attacked civilian vessels.
The year is now 2252. The earth government has changed its name to H.S.C or Human-Sanartan-Collective. A lot of things have happened since then; the Trade Wars, the Verge offensive and the loss of Luna’s Cradle; But the pirates are almost wiped out. We shall soon know peace; a rare and lasting peace with a race we welcomed as brothers and sisters when their race needed our help. It is my fondest hope that the peace we build as a collective will never be broken.

Every Sanartan sitting rose up and clapped in unison, some with tears in their eyes. Mia bowed and exited from the stage. As the crowd dispersed, he studied Mia more closely. He thought she was an incredible woman. At 24, she was one of the youngest officers in the fleet, being the first lieutenant aboard H.S.C Aurora, his subordinate.
She was considered a child prodigy back on earth, coming from a rich family. There was always speculation as that she had been genetically enhanced with the DNA of a Sanartan but these rumours were unconfirmed. The most distinguishing features, Jonathan noticed, were her speeches for one; they were said to rouse the hearts of the weary, and rekindle the flame of war in even the most hardened veteran. The other distinguishing detail of Mia was her ginger coloured hair. Mia never tied off her hair, instead letting it freefall down her back; and when she moved, as Jonathan had noticed hundreds of times, her hair danced like a camp fire on a moonless night. Her hair also matched her personality, for she was known for her aggressiveness and temper.
Jonathan tried approached her, but she was already talking to someone. Jonathan hid behind the podium and listened. The stranger asked of something. Mia’s reaction was to slap him and storm out. When the stranger walked away, nursing his bruised cheek, Jonathan noticed it was his second lieutenant, Casey Falcone. Jonathan hurried after Mia, silently creeping down several hallways, before he stopped at a set of double doors with the words ‘First Lieutenant’s quarters’. Jonathan had to decide how he was going to approach Mia and tell her he’s still alive. He decided for the most direct option.

Jonathan banged loudly on the door with a clenched fist.
“Mia! Open up, I’m sorry, ok? Mia!”
Jonathan wasn't paying attention as the door opened and he almost hit Mia. Fortunately, she caught his fist.
"John?" Mia questioned, “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to apologise about my... recent behaviour.”
“No need. Not after what you’ve been through. Why aren’t you stuck in a tube?”
“I got let out. Apparently my guilty consensus forced the A.I to release me. I’m sorry about the way I acted.”
"That’s okay. I just haven't been expecting you to show up on my doorstep, not after bastard of a sniper scored a perfect headshot on you."
"Yeah, people keep bring that up. What's the deal between you and Casey?"

"Him? Nothing. He just wanted me to join some group and help them do something, I wasn't really listening; but when he suggested that I was hopelessly romantically involved with him, I slapped him," replied Mia.
"That's very ladylike of you. I thought you would have kicked him in the face."
"Believe me, I was tempted; but you didn't spend two weeks in a glass tube to be exchanging pleasantries with me and talk about idle gossip. While you were out, Admiral McCoy messaged us and requested that only the captain should respond, and since you're now awake, another mission awaits," stated Mia.
"Lead on to the conference room, then," replied Jonathan.
"Oh, and while we're walking there, read these," Mia handed Jonathan ten vanilla coloured folders.
"What are these for?" replied Jonathan, struggling to keep up as he read and walked.
"These are dossiers for existing crew and additions for you squad, listing previous jobs, experience, etcetera."
Jonathan skimmed though what he could before he entered the engineering bay on the way to the conference room, not paying attention to anything else, but he did notice Mia leaning over and saying:
"It's good to have you back, Jonathan."