Beyond the Mysterious Beyond > The Written Word
Darwin's Soldiers: the Disease
f-22 "raptor" ace:
A little over ten years had passed since the defeat of Dragonstorm. Werner and Hans Donitz had helped the desert community reintegrate with the outside world. Werner had started a relationship with Pomson the daughter of the former head of the community Halsey. Werner walked outside into the sunlight and took a deep breath. “We sure have come a long way dad.”
“That we have Werner my boy.” Hans replied wiping the sweat off his brow.
“I hope the others are doing good.”
“Me too, You miss them don’t you?”
“Yeah, of course I miss them. They’re like family.”
“I know.” Hans rubbed his temple groaning.
“You alright dad?” Werner asked.
“Yeah I just have a headache. It’s a shame about Shelton both of them I mean.” Hans held up the paper dated three months ago.
“Yeah.” Werner replied as he watched his father trudge back to his hut rubbing his forehead.
“Hey Werner.” Werner broke his gaze to see a velociraptor walk up to him.
“Hey Ev.” Werner said embracing the velociraptor “how you doing?”
“Good.” She took notice of hans’s absence. “Is Hans alright?”
“Yeah he just has a headache.” Werner took a sip from his canteen. “I was just thinking of some of my old friends.”
“Them again?” The raptor didn’t seem to appreciate what werner was thinking.
“Evelyn!”
“Sorry Werner, you know how I think of them!”
“Revenge won’t solve anything.” Werner said sighing.
Pomson sighed. “You don’t think I know that? I...” a grumbling sound broke her train of thought.
“Perhaps we should get something to eat eh?” Werner suggested feeling the tension rising.
“I’d like that.” Pomson smiled as she and Werner walked off for the dining hall. “What do you think chef is making?”
“Smells like sausages.” Werner replied sniffing the air. “Chocolate cake, asparagus and fried potatoes.”
“Yep.” Pomson replied taking a sniff of the air. “Smells good.”
The couple made their way down the street toward the dining hall. Various community members were hard at work doing their daily tasks.
“Hans hat in letzter Zeit schon viel Kopfschmerzen.” Werner heard one of the community members say. (Hans has had a lot of headaches lately)
“Ich hoffe es ist nichts.” his compatriot replied
(I hope it's nothing.)
“Sein Sohn muss sich auch Sorgen machen?” the first one said.
(His son must also worry)
“Guter Punkt.” the second said.
(Good point)
“Werner?”
“Uh...yes Evelyn?”
“You’ve been quite.”
“Sorry I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”
“Maybe a rest in your hut would help?”
“Maybe later.” the two entered the open doored hall.
“Chef das Essen bereit??” Werner asked the chef.
(Chef the food ready?)
“Hast du die Glocke gehˆrt? Es ist noch nicht fertig!” Chef replied
(Did you hear the bell? It's not finished yet!)
ëWener don’t antagonize him” Pomson said laying her head on his shoulder.
“Sorry Evelyn.” Werner sighed. He still couldn’t shake the thought something was wrong. What had killed Oscar and Rudy? Could it have been something to do with the Einstein-Rosen bridge? Something else? Werner felt a palm on his shoulder.
“Werner? Are you alright?”
“No Evelyn, I’m not.” Werner sighed. “I’ve been thinking.”
“About what?”
“The Einstein-Rosen bridge. And… us.”
“Yes?”
“I’ve been thinking that we’ve been dating for a few year now.”
“Yes?”
“I...I’ve never had this feeling about anyone before.”
“I never thought I could feel that about someone else either.” Pomson replied.
Werner smiled and leaned into Pomson. Pomson took note and leaned in as well. The lips of the two met as chef chuckled as he got back to cooking. The two finally pulled back from each other. “I liked that.”
“You’re not alone. Werner when I’m with you… I still feel anger toward your friend James and Shelton but I also feel happier being with you..”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Werner smiled. “I feel happy with you too.” The sound of the dinner bell ringing cause Werner to look toward Chef.
“Jetzt ist das Essen fertig.” Chef said.
(Now the food is ready)
“Danke” Werner replied as the community entered the hall.
(Thank you)
Werner, Pomson and the rest of the community formed a line and proceeded to get their food.
“Wo ist Hans?” one of the community members asked.
(where is Hans?)
“Ruhen Er sagte, er habe Kopfschmerzen.” Werner replied taking a bite of the sausage.
(Resting He said he had a headache)
Pomson tore right into the sausage. “Chef always cooks something good.”
“Where's the doc?” Werner asked.
As if to answer the doctor’s assistant suddenly ran into the hall. “Werner, dein Vater, braucht dich schnell!” (Werner, your father, needs you fast!)
Werner dropped his fork and rushed out the door running for his father’s hut. Werner arrived to find the doctor by the door. “Doc! Wie geht es ihm?” Werner asked. (Doc! How is he?)
The doctor gave him a remorseful look.
“Es tut mir leid Werner. Es gab nichts, was ich tun konnte.”
(I'm sorry Werner. There was nothing I could do.)
“Nein! Nein! Es kann nicht sein! Vater!” Werner collapsed to the ground crying.
(No! No! It can not be! Father!)
Pomson rushed over having followed Werner doing what she could to comfort him in his time of need.
(and please excuse if i did any of the German bits wrong was going by google translate for that. So if i got anything wrong please tell me.)
aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato):
Ooooh more Darwin's Soldiers! I love Werner and Hans, and I'm excited to see a story that spends more time exploring their lives in the desert settlement; that society wasn't shown at all in Chasing Seconds before the main characters threw everything into chaos.
Speaking of which, anyone who isn't familiar with the Darwin's Soldiers canon should read the Darwin's Soldiers Wiki
the Darwin's Soldiers Wiki, and in particular Episode 5 of Chasing Seconds would help set the backstory to this story.
f-22 "raptor" ace:
I should have the next part ready by next week.
f-22 "raptor" ace:
A couple of days had passed since Hans had died, Werner wasn’t getting much sleep because of it. His mind was racked with thoughts. What had caused his father to die so suddenly? He was waiting for a report from the doctor who was doing the autopsy. Pomson hadn’t left his side since then.
“Werner? You alright?” Pomson asked as a cool night breeze blew into the hut.
“No Evelyn, I’m not. I can’t help but think about the past lately.”
“You mean when you went through the Einstein-Rosen bridge?”
“Yeah… I find myself wondering if that’s what caused my dad…” Werner cut off as he sniffled the pain was still strong.
“Maybe… I’m upset my father didn’t get credit.”
“Evelyn, you know why he hasn’t.”
“It still doesn’t make it right!”
“Evelyn, I know you’re upset that my friends have gotten the credit.”
“Upset!?”
“Evelyn, you’re letting your emotions get to you. I don’t want you to become a monster.”
“I’m sorry.” Pomson sighed. “I just want to know that it was all worth it.”
“I know. The bridge is going to become a new form of transportation but…”
“But what?”
“Oscar died of a brain hemorrhage, Shelton died of a brain hemorrhage… I’m starting to think something might have happened to us when we used the bridge.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know Evelyn. But I have a feeling it’s not good.”
“Werner Kann ich mit Ihnen sprechen?” The doctor said walking in.
(Werner Can I talk to you?)
“Ja Doktor? Was hat mein Vater getˆtet?” Werner asked.
(Yes, doctor? What killed my father?)
“Eine Hirnblutung Ich werde ehrlich sein, wenn ich ¸berpr¸ft h‰tte, dass ich es niemals gesehen h‰tte.” the doctor replied handing Werner a copy of his notes. (A cerebral hemorrhage I'll be honest if I'd checked that I'd never seen it.)
“Danke Doktor.” Werner watched as the doctor left.
(Thank you doctor)
“A brain hemorrhage?”
“Yes Evelyn. I have some calls to make this is the third time I’m aware of this has happened. I need to make some calls.” Werner rushed out of his hut to the radio room but not before putting the papers in a briefcase.
“You’re not calling who I think you’re calling are you?” Pomson asked chasing after werner.
“Evelyn! I need my friends to help me find out what’s going on!”
“Werner! You can solve this by yourself!”
“Enough!” Werner sighed. “I can’t figure this out alone. Please play nice for me?”
“I don’t like this.” Pomson stated crossing her arms. “But we have no choice I see.” she conceded.
“Thank you.” Werner entered the radio hut. Although he had his own radio it wasn’t powerful enough to send the message he need out.
“Ah, Werner need the radio?” A German shepard asked.
“Yes Max.” Max was one of the few residents who could speak both English and German and one of the few non human residents of the settlement. Werner and hans had been teaching the community to speak both. Though some who had lived there before were able to speak both most stuck to German.
“Go ahead.” Max left the hut while Werner sat down at the radio.
“Evelyn, could you get Emil to prep the longer range plane? We’ll need transport.”
“On it Werner.” Pomson left the hut leaving him to call his friends.
“Come on please don’t be busy James.” Werner muttered dialing the number.
-------------
James Zanasiu was at the office for the Einstein-Rosen bridge project working late. The project was officially to the public a new power source. The sound of his cell phone ringing broke his concentration.
“Hello? Werner how are you? it’s been a while.” he answered after seeing it was werner calling.
“I know James. How have you been?”
“Well got married had had two sons. It’s good to hear from you!”
“Yeah, good to hear from you too…”
“Werner? Is everything alright?”
“No. My father died last week.”
“Werner I’m so sorry.”
“James if you or Kerzach are available I...I need to talk to you.”
“I’ll see if I can make some time and I’ll see if Kerzach can be here too.”
“I should be arriving by the end of the week. I’ll also be bringing some company as well.”
“Oh? Who?”
“Well… I...I might have found the special someone for me. Just… don’t bring up Pelvandia in front of her.”
“Why’s that?”
“I’ll explain when I get there.” Werner sighed. “And one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“This won’t be like the old days taking down Dragonstorm. This will purely be a social visit.”
“Sharon would kill me if I did anything like that again.”
“I bet.” Werner chuckled. “I’ll see you when we get there later james.”
“Bye Werner.” James replied hanging his phone up.
“Planes almost ready to go Werner.”
“I’m coming.” Werner hung the phone up as Max walked back in. “Thanks Max.”
“No problem. I know you haven’t heard from them in a while.”
“That’s true. But how did you know?”
“Werner I’m in charge of communications remember? I know when people outside the community is contacted.”
“You’re pretty smart Max.”
“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.”
“Planes ready Werner.” Pomson leaned in the hut.
“Alright let’s get going Evelyn.” Werner left the hut and walked with Evelyn to the small airfield. The night wind started blowing kicking up some dust.
“Well. we’re in for a lot of dust later.” Werner and Pomson entered the plane an old Ju-52 the old paint scheme from its days as a Lufthansa airliner still covering the craft. Normally the plane was used to ferry supplies that were not found at the settlement but given the situation Werner arranged for the pilot to ferry him and pomson to where James was. Besides the old Ju-52 there was also a Fi-156 Storch for shorter flights and four Me-262’s the surviving planes that had attacked a Dragonstorm aircraft almost ten years earlier. As the plane took off Werner held the briefcase containing the settlement’s doctor’s notes on Hans’s death close. He had many suspicions on what killed his father, however there was one that he feared.
aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato):
Awesome! I love how we get to see more of life within the desert settlements and its inhabitants. I'm really excited to see James and possibly Kerzach appearing in the story, they're two of my favorite characters in Darwin's Soldiers.
Werner and Evelyn have a much more interesting relationship than the relatively boring one they had in Chasing Seconds. It's really interesting to see their personalities ping off each other as they discuss different topics and their opinions and attitudes towards them.
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