The Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Watching the Dawn
Sunrise was beautiful when a person was above the Earth. Most people would think tat there'd be no sunrise in space, but they would be thinking wrong. Because now, as the Soyokaze was docked and drifting lazily around the planet, the captain had climbed up into the rafters of the topmost storage compartment, to the topmost porthole window to find the best view of it. Lieutenant Commander Justy Ueki Tylor sat on a pile of crates, very close to the ceiling, his chin rested on his crossed arms, which rested on the windowsill of the small porthole. He breathed deeply, his breath fogging the glass at the bottom of the opening. It occurred to him how much colder it was out in space. His blue eyes drooped. He'd been up late, couldn't sleep, and decided to find the best place to sit and stare. He'd found it, far away from the hustle of the bridge, and the hangars where the pilots and marines were still up. Drinking, most likely. On any other occasion, he would have like to have joined them, but for now, alone, staring down at the darkened planet outside his small window, it was good to be alone for a bit. Alone and sober, so he could think. Dawn for the Western Hemisphere was approaching. Of course, there was no dawn in space, just date and time, but still, every once in a while, a person could be in the position to see a dawn, or at least witness another's dawn from far off. The stars were still shining but seemed dimmer as he watched a strip of bright whiteness lace the rim of the Earth. The land and sea of the planet went completely black s the belt of light lengthened and thickened on its edge. He blinked, slower than usual, feeling his own warm breath on his crossed arms. The brightness of the sun was creeping its way up through the band. He could tell because the belt began to swell at the center. The welt grew and grew, almost like it was trying to force its way up through a restraining seal. It seemed to him, for some reason, like a struggle, in which the light was fighting back the dark. He stared, as the white lace on the Earth's edge stretched past the poles to create a thickening arch from one corner of his window to the other. The sun'' forces were gaining power. The lump of light was very large. It seemed unreal, how a ball of light that size would have so little affect on the planet below him. The Earth was still dark, pitch black at the furthest point. The thought crossed his mind that the sun might be losing its struggle, and that all its hard work was proving to be in vain. Just as doubt seemed to shroud him, there was a brilliant flash from the star on the horizon. It seemed like an explosion that suddenly burned his eyes and lit his dark storage bunker with intense white light. He had to look away, but when he looked back, the darkness was gone. The surface of the Earth had completely surrendered to the dawn, the sky glowing with various shades of blues, pinks, and yellows. It was a very quick turnover, he thought. He wished he had been on Earth to see it. The sky must have looked so pretty just then.
"Captain!"
Tylor turned away from the serenity of space and looked down to find Commander Yuriko Star standing among the crates on the floor. His eyes brightened his wide grin stretched back across his face. He hadn't worn it all night. "G'morning, Yuriko-san!"
"Don't act so casual!" Yuriko called back up, sounding moody.
He looked down, puzzled. "Why not?"
Yuriko crossed her arms. "Don't you know? The Admiral wants to speak to you! I've had the whole crew combing this place, looking for you! We had not idea where you were!"
"Oh," he turned solemn again, and turned back to the window, his chin back on his arms. "The Admiral is up early, too. I wonder if he was watching the sun rise."
"Captain!" Yuriko cried, outraged at his lack of attention. "What are you --?"
She was interrupted by his soft, exhausted voice. "Have you ever been on Earth to see a sunrise, Yuriko-san?"
Yuriko stopped, confused, and surprised by the tone and content of the question. "No, Captain, I haven't."
He sighed, a great veil of fog spreading up the pane in front of him. "I did once. When I was younger, and sleep wasn't so vital." She stayed silent; she was impatient, but let him remain lost in his nostalgia for at least a little longer. He didn't stray his eyes from the brightening clouds of the Earth as he continued. "It was really beautiful. You can stand there and watch the whole world renew itself right before your eyes. Wiping the slate clean with another day. Giving everything another chance to be better. It makes me wish that people could do that, too. You know, just take a moment to renew and start over? I think a lot of people would be a lot happier that way." He turned and looked back down to her. "Don't you agree? Yuriko-san?"
She paused, speechless. Was this really Captain Tylor? Was this really the irresponsible good-for-nothing she saw day in and day out, talking about such deep thoughts?
But as she stared at his eyes, the expression on his face changed completely. He closed his eyes, put one hand behind his head, and began to laugh. "Heh, heh, listen to me, sounding all philosophical! Did you say that the Admiral wanted to talk to me?"
"Uh…" She shook herself out of her trance and returned to being the well-disciplined, tight-scheduled soldier she was normally. "Yes! And you'd better hurry! He's been waiting for nearly an hour!"
"An hour?" Tylor called down. "That's not too bad. I hope he isn't up this early al the time, though. A man his age could develop some very serious health problems if he doesn't rest."
"Where is your respect?" Yuriko cried. "He's up this early because of you and you've kept him waiting! You'd better not say anything like that to his face when you talk to him, or he'll probably downgrade us as far as we could go!"
Tylor crossed his arms. "Ahh, right. If he's tired, he'll be extra cranky. Maybe he should go on vacation."
"Captain!" Yuriko yelled, her irritation turning to anger. "Get down here, NOW!"
"I'm coming!" He stood up, took a step, and all the crates underneath him collapsed, sending him tumbling down to land in a heap at Yuriko's feet. He looked up. "Heh…I guess I should be more careful when I sit on a pile of boxes."
The commander put her face in her hand. "Tylor…you both confuse and disgust me." He grinned, but she didn't return it. Instead, she yanked him up off the ground and out of the bunker, toward the bridge.