A Divided Return

A Divided Return

The air inside the debriefing chambers was thick with tension. The Event Horizon's senior officers had processed the truth, but now, the rest of the crew was being told.

The room was filled with over three hundred men and women—scientists, engineers, medical personnel, and a small security detail—who had embarked on humanity's first faster-than-light journey. Now, they stood in a sterile, high-tech briefing hall, their eyes flicking between Captain Elias Vance and the stern-faced Director Evelyn Raine of the United Earth Directorate.

A massive holographic display projected the timeline before them.

June 7, 2089 – Departure.

April 12, 2591 – Present.

Five centuries.

The murmurs began immediately.

"This has to be a mistake."

"Five hundred years?"

"My family… they're all gone."

"Are we even considered citizens anymore?"

Dr. Jonas Ibarra, standing near the front, could feel the emotions shifting from confusion to something darker—grief, resentment, fear. He exchanged a glance with Dr. Alexandra Pryce, who looked equally unsettled.

Director Raine raised a hand, her voice cutting through the noise. "I understand that this is difficult to process. But you must understand, Event Horizon was declared lost centuries ago. The world you left behind no longer exists. What remains is the United Earth Directorate, a united government overseeing all human territories."

Lieutenant Adrienne Cormac, arms crossed tightly over her chest, scoffed. "United? That's convenient. I'm sure there was absolutely no resistance to that, right?"

Raine's expression remained unreadable. "Earth had to evolve. Borders were dissolved. Resources were centralized. There was no other way forward."

Her words only deepened the unease spreading through the crew.

"Wait a damn minute," one of the engineers, Lieutenant Darren Holt, spoke up. "What happened to the individual nations? The governments? Did they just vanish overnight?"

Admiral Dominic Kain, who had been silent until now, finally stepped forward. "It didn't happen overnight," he admitted. "The transition took centuries. There were conflicts. There were sacrifices. But in the end, we achieved something greater—stability. A humanity unified not by arbitrary lines on a map, but by a common purpose."

"And what is that purpose?" Vance asked, his voice neutral.

Raine's eyes flicked to him. "Survival."

She gestured, and a new image appeared. The remains of the reptilian warship were displayed in full, alongside scientific teams already extracting and analyzing its technology.

"This is the wreckage of the enemy vessel that pursued you through the singularity," Raine said. "You saw how easily our forces dismantled it. But do not mistake that for complacency. We were fortunate that it was only a scout ship. Their empire is vast. And now that they know of us, war is inevitable."

A heavy silence settled over the room.

---

Reactions to the Future

The room erupted into fragmented discussions, small groups forming as crew members processed the reality before them. Some looked impressed. Others looked horrified.

A scientist named Dr. Lina Moreau, one of the lead biologists, shook her head. "This is incredible. We left Earth as explorers, but we've returned to a civilization that has surpassed everything we ever dreamed of."

Her enthusiasm wasn't shared by everyone. Lieutenant Daniel Hayes, a former security officer, frowned. "Surpassed? You mean turned into a war machine? This place doesn't feel like home—it feels like a military state."

"Maybe that's what humanity needed to survive," Moreau countered.

Cormac turned toward them, arms crossed. "That's a pretty big assumption. We don't even know what's been sacrificed to get here."

Ibarra, still listening intently, finally spoke. "That's the part that bothers me. We're being fed a version of history. But what aren't they telling us?"

Pryce sighed. "Jonas, we don't know enough yet to assume the worst."

"Don't we?" Ibarra gestured toward the projected image of the enemy ship. "They're already harvesting alien technology for weapons. That's not defensive. That's preemptive."

The ideological lines were beginning to form.

Some of the crew, like Moreau, saw Earth's transformation as progress—proof that humanity had secured its place among the stars. Others, like Hayes and Ibarra, saw something far more unsettling: a civilization that had moved beyond national identity and become something colder, something ruled by necessity rather than humanity.

And Captain Vance?

He listened. He observed. He waited.

But deep down, he knew this was only the beginning.

---

A Meeting of Consequence

Hours later, Vance was summoned to a private meeting with Admiral Kain and Director Raine.

The office was minimalist, its walls lined with projected data screens. Kain sat behind a curved desk, while Raine stood near the viewport, gazing at the distant glow of Earth.

"You're quiet," Kain observed as Vance entered. "That concerns me."

Vance took the seat offered to him. "I have nothing to say until I know the full picture."

Raine turned toward him. "Then let's cut to it." She tapped a control panel, and the display shifted to an unidentified star system—a red giant with a cluster of orbiting planets.

"This," she said, "is where the enemy fleet is gathering. Our deep-space probes have detected movement. Their numbers are growing."

Vance exhaled slowly. "And you want Event Horizon to help prepare for war?"

Kain nodded. "You're one of the few people alive who have encountered these aliens up close. You understand them in ways we don't."

Vance studied them both. "And if I refuse?"

Kain's expression darkened slightly. "Then you'll find that Earth has changed in more ways than one."

There it was. The unspoken threat.

Vance met Kain's gaze, his own unwavering. He had spent decades leading a crew through the unknown. He had faced the abyss and returned.

And now, he was staring at an entirely new abyss.

Finally, he spoke.

"I'll cooperate, Admiral. But on my terms."

Raine and Kain exchanged glances.

"Then we have much to discuss," Kain said.

As Vance sat back, he knew one thing for certain.

The war hadn't started yet.

But the battle for the soul of humanity had already begun.

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