He missed not having the children in the house. He knew that the main reason they'd moved out was because he'd been such a grumpy man. They phoned him now and again but never as much as he wanted. He sighed and looked out through the shutters. The mail man was delivering some letters - probably bills.
Samuel shook his head and walked across the room into the bathroom. Closing the door he took a nice hot shower. Stay away grey was on the shelf. He used that but it seemed to do little for his aging scalp. He would have done better he thought to himself to die it a colour of some sort though whether his deepening wrinkles would betray him or not was another matter.
When he was done he exited and wrapped a large rainbow coloured towel around his waist and walked down the stairs of the large house. The sun that came in through the half closed windows was illuminating all the morning dust in the air. Even so the house felt fresher than it usually did. Betty his wife had hoovered and dusted the day before and made a hell of a racket doing so as well. Why couldn't she be quieter when she was cleaning? Just because she was cleaning the house didn't mean she had to push everything out the door including him!
He grumbled entering the living room he turned on the flat screen television. He'd long ago mastered the art of manipulating that darn box and holding his towel in place at the same time. He'd got a real knack for it by now. He swore as he put his finger to the screen and entered the wrong access code. Finally he got it right and several screens popped up large and small with various channels and features. He looked briefly for the control and cursed being unable to see it. The bloody thing had probably fallen down the side of the sofa again. He touched the screen and a picture maximized showing a sport game.
Stretcher-bearers were taking a bloody nosed man off as the crowd cheered his leg bent at an odd angle. A glowing ball was whacked across the sky and passed into a hoop and the crowd went wild.
"Well Jimmy, I ain't seen a game quite as good as this one before. So far its neck and neck for both teams. I didn't think they'd equalize but they have. If it keeps up the way its been going then we'll have to go to sudden death"
"I hear ya. They've lost six players already and sudden death would lose both teams a lot more. If it comes to that then the managers won't be happy. It just highlights how violent these games can be. People don't realize how -"
Samuel grumbled and tapped the screen. The picture disappeared and a new options menu came up. He wasn't interested in sport. He tapped another different screen, which maximized. A large title appeared in blood red letters filling the screen dramatically "War update".
"Hello and welcome to the morning news. You're listening to me Tommy Sanders and Lizzie Barker. Right now in the studio we've got with us Alexis commander and Admiral of the UED fleet who's going to give us the ins and outs of the coming invasion and removal of the evil dictator Mengsk. So Alexis how are you feeling about the war so far?"
Alexis was a dark haired man who spoke with a strong Russian accent. He was wearing a grey suit with a dark red tie and seemed confidant yet somehow not all that brazen with the cameras pointing at him.
"Well Tom! What can I say? This er... war you mentioned, has not even er... how shall I say? Began. What we the people in charge need to be doing at the moment is organizing the army and getting the required number of troops and men to man all the extra seats we are going to need"
Lizie Barker spoke next, "There's been a lot of talk recently amongst government officials of bringing in compulsory conscription for those between twenty and thirty-five. Can you shed any light on that?"
Alexis shook his head, "No no no, that is not true. From what I have been told UED has no intention of introducing conscription to the people. It is unviable to have civilians doing a soldiers job. We want trained men not people who'd sooner bunk than battle. What the military is doing is er... trying to persuade former soldiers and young men to join the campaign of their own free will. There are plenty of people in the world willing to serve their planet for us to avoid such a rash idea as you mentioned"
"How do you see yourself beginning the campaign?" asked Tommy Sanders
"Good question! We're going to launch an intelligence based attack on the Dylarian shipyards. A good part of Mengsk's fleet is kept there under supervision of a former admiral and traitor to UED Edmund Duke. Because Mengsk is so far away and isn't able even to know of the upcoming attack it's safe to speak about it on television as we would not normally be doing. We plan to steal the docked fleet and add it to our own. Ghost squadrons and specially trained infantry will be going down in strike forces to take the cruisers and deal a massive blow to Mengsk at the beginning of the war"
Samuel grumbled and tapping the screen again the screen turned itself off. Walking across the room he walked through to the hallway where he found several letters on the welcome mat. Grumbling he bent down and picked the lot up and took them into the lounge where he sat down with them on the sofa. Grudgingly he picked through the bills. He stopped as one letter caught his eye. It was a silver plastic envelope with UED written on the side. He opened it and took out the contents.
"Dear Samuel Friederson
Upon finding you on the database as a retired veteran of the fifth Mar Sara uprising and with the upcoming war Head quarters found it appropriate to ask for your service to the planet in the Mengsk conflict to come. Duly noted your retirement is currently an issue - to make up for this with our current need for captains as a priority and should you accept the terms and conditions following you will be posted as Captain of the Battleship Iliad following the command of Alexis Admiral of the UED fleet. Your wages will be standard for such a post plus the same amount in full added to your pension fund. This money will not be seized by the state should you die in combat but will be accessed by your family or relatives - refer to article four of small print.
Details of wages and times of required duty are enlisted on the following pages of this document. If you find the terms agreeable please send us a virtu-mail to the enclosed address and report to Kal-Faruga Starport at 02:30 pm 6th April of this year. We hope to see you there, ready to defend the Terran empire.
Yours Sincerely:
Vice Governer Tarraman
Please turn over.
"Captain?" said Samuel looking at the document with wide eyes, "They want to make me a captain of a Battleship?"
"You want to do what!?" laughed Betty looking at him over the table with wide eyes
Samuel sat back into the sofa and looked at his grey haired wife with a nod, "I want to take up the offer. It would be nice to get some extra money in ..."
"We don't need any more money Samuel!" she interrupted, "We have a nice house and we are respectably retired. There's no way you need to let those blood sucking men pull you in to their little war game! They have no right at all Samuel! No right at all. Even if they did introduce conscription you're way over the age. Honestly! At your age as well how could you even think about it?"
"I can do what I damn well want to!" said Samuel with a wave of his hand, "I'm not as old as I look. Your only as old as you feel that's what they say!"
"Oh yes!? You can't even get it up let alone hold a rifle. Don't you give me that bullshit there's no way you'd last two seconds out there!"
"Betty don't be stupid! They're asking for me to be a captain not a god damn soldier don't you understand? I won't be doing fighting just sipping cups of coffee and ordering young men around. All I have to say is fire rear engines, lock target er what was it? Fire Yamato on my mark. I've had numerous jobs like it before but as captain? Betty don't you understand what an honor it would be for me to serve as Captain of a battleship? The big boss!"
Betty sighed, "Why can't you be the big boss at home Sammy? You've been a big boss for years you don't have to go out and be one with UED. If you need a hobby or something..."
"I don't need a bloody hobby!" he roared, "I'm a bloody groan man and I don't waste my time on bloody hobbies. Bloody youths spend all their bloody time on hobbies and cinemas and bloody computer games. In my day everyone had to serve at least a year in the army! Most people saw it fitting that they should spend more than that time! What happened to that eh? It's the same as always the older tougher generation will have to save the weak younguns - its Darwinism in reverse I tell you!"
"Oh don't be such a bloody cinic Sam! I've been listening to that same old rubbish for years!"
"I don't speak rubbish woman! If there's one thing I don't do its talk rubbish!"
"Oh yes you do! I listen to this night and day..."
"Not another word Betty! I'm through with this conversation..."
"Well I'm not through with you, you old wheeze bag. How do you think I'm going to feel while you go out and play soldier!?"
"Betty I'm warning you!"
"Well I'm warning you as well you old geezer!"
"What did you call me!?"
"Oh didn't you hear you old geezer? You're obviously going deaf as well. With someone with small feet bad eye sight and failing ears I can't see you commanding a battleship!"
"And what did you ever command woman?"
"I command respectability in my own neighborhood! What am I going to say to Trevor next door when he asks where have you gone? What shall I tell him Sam? My husband has gone off to shoot guns at people in a galaxy far, far away?"
"Oh you are taking this far too seriously Betty! You are taking this way over your head!"
"If you take that job Sam! If you dare take up that job then..."
"I'm warning you Betty! Don't take this conversation in that direction because..."
"Just Shut up! Just shut up you stupid fucking old man!"
"Oh yes whose respectable now miss fuck-lips?"
"How dare you!"
"Ditto-doo-doo Betty!"
"Scum-bag!"
"I'm through! I'm going for a walk Betty! You hear me I'm going for a walk!"
"Good! And you know what? Maybe I won't be there when you get back. Maybe I'll have gone and joined the fucking medic squadron arse-hole!"
The door slammed. Turning Betty stormed across the room to the broom cupboard. Taking out the vacuum cleaner she slammed in the plug and turned it on crossing it fiercely back and forth across the red carpet.