Meet the Captain

Kendrick stepped over Epim’s body and grabbed his cup of coffee from the command console in the center of the bridge. “You’re slacking, Epim,” Kendrick said after taking a sip of coffee. “I warned you about this. I warned you about your procrastination.”

Epim slowly sat up and scooted himself towards the base of one of the consoles that lined the wall. He wiped the blood from his mouth as he looked around the bridge. Kendrick didn’t see any fear in Epim’s eyes and that irritated him. The man would rather die than do what he was told. Kendrick balled his fist, but then relaxed it and took another sip of his coffee. It did him no good to allow his emotions to get the best of him.

Kendrick nodded to Dorsey, his second in command. Dorsey walked over to Epim, leaned down and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. Dorsey was a big man and had no difficulty lifting Epim to his feet and leaning him against the console. Once Epim was standing on his own, Dorsey punched him in the gut. Epim slid down to the floor again as Dorsey took a step back.

“Are you going to do this one little favor for me?” Kendrick asked.

Epim raised his hand as if to ward Dorsey away but didn’t say anything as he tried to catch his breath. Kendrick shook his head slowly. He wanted nothing more than to throw Epim out of an airlock, but he needed him.

“Look around you, you tiny weasel,” Kendrick said as he stretched his arms out. “You come on my ship, enter my bridge, and for what? To entertain yourself?” Kendrick looked around at the bridge crew that had stopped their duties and were watching him. Most of them were young, brutal fighters who would follow Kendrick’s orders as long as they were paid well. Dorsey was the only one, besides Kendrick himself, who had any fleet experience. Each one had proven themselves to Kendrick in one way or another.

Except Brosin. Brosin had a habit of questioning Kendrick. Not as much as he used to, thanks to a couple of beatings by Dorsey. But the boy had a mouth that didn’t know when to stop.

“Do I have to let Dorsey beat you for the rest of the day?” Kendrick asked. “Why don’t you just do what I ask?”

“Because you can’t kill me,” Epim croaked. “You actually can’t even hurt me.”

Dorsey took a step towards him, but Kendrick held out his hand to stop him. He put his cup of coffee on the console and squatted down in front of Epim.

“You lie,” the captain said in a low, soothing voice. “You are lying and you know you are lying. I hurt you with every breath you take. You feel pain with every thought. That pain is because of me.”

Epim squeezed his eyes shut, but Kendrick continued. “I just want you to end your own pain. That is really all I ask of you. Help me end your suffering. We don’t have to keep doing this.”

Epim opened his eyes and stared at Kendrick. “You don’t understand.”

“Sure I do,” Kendrick said. He stood up and leaned against the command console. “You think you can’t do it. No, that’s not it. You know you can do it, but you keep getting distracted by other things. I’m here to help remove those distractions. Dorsey, would  you please help the boy up.”

Dorsey reached down and grabbed Epim by the front of the shirt again. He heaved Epim to his feet and pushed him to the console against the wall.

“Aren’t you tired of being his dog?” Epim asked.

In a single motion, Dorsey pulled a pistol from his belt and pressed it against Epim’s temple hard enough to make him take a step sideways to keep himself from falling. “I’m the dog that bites, kid,” Dorsey said through grated teeth. “Don’t forget that.”

“Now, Dorsey,” Kendrick said with a laugh, “I told you, if you are going to shoot him, shoot him in the leg. He needs his head. And his hands. He doesn’t need to walk.”

Dorsey took a step back and aimed his pistol at Epim’s leg.

“You’re not going to like it,” Epim said to Kendrick. He turned around slowly to face the Captain. “In fact, you’re going to hate it.”

Kendrick clasped his hands together. “I’m sure I’ll love it,” he said.

“No, Kendrick, you’re going to hate it. You’re going to hate every bit of it. I am going to take the single honest and good thing you’ve ever done in your life and turn it into a vain sacrifice. I am going to make you fumble for the first time in your life. For once, you will be put into a situation where you won’t know what to do, what decision to make. And it will kill you. But first, you will watch your crew die. One by one you will watch them die. Then you will know your sacrifice, your last decision, was a complete and utter waste.”

Dorsey looked at Kendrick’s shocked expression, unsure what to say or do. Kendrick opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it quickly. All he wanted was for Epim to write his story and bring him and his crew to life, but he never expected this. He felt confined in only existing in someone’s mind and needed to escape. But if this escape meant the death of his entire crew then he would rather live in confinement.

He tried to reach for his pistol, but his arm wouldn’t move. His entire body refused to obey his commands. He tried to yell out, but no sound came out of his mouth. He saw that Dorsey was also frozen by some inexplicable force.

“That’s right,” Epim said as he stood up straight. “You forgot you only exist because I made you exist. And, oh boy, are you going to fucking hate this.”

Epim walked to the command console and activated the screen. Kendrick could see the white glow out of the corner of his eye and watched as Epim typed the first line:

Kendrick watched as his crew died.

~*~

I read somewhere that a writer should take their characters on a “test drive”, to write something totally unrelated to the story of the novel with the character. Simple, yet extremely valuable, advice. Meet Captain Kendrick and his crew.