From what Karel Vacek knew, the battle was going well. He didn’t have any specific tasks right now, but was on stand-by in case anything unexpected happened. Having served for years aboard other 304’s, he knew well that that happened frequently. More frequently than back on Earth, at least. Of course, he could’ve remained back in his small cabin, but that just felt wrong, sitting in a small room when everyone else is fighting. Plain wrong.

Of course, it would have been much easier to stay in one place, especially with the ship being hit now and then, but Karel had not joined this program to have it easy. In fact, he hadn’t joined the military to have it easy. He moved down one of the more obscure corridors when suddenly he saw someone lying on the floor. He did not rush forward, though he longed to. He stopped, looked for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing stood out.

Karel took a couple of steps closer, looking for disturbances, any fluctuations that might indicate an imperfect stealth device. It never hurt to be sure. He did not see anything. Then he looked over the walls, ceiling and floor. Other than a faint skidmark on the floor, there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. Exempting the body, that is. He stepped closer, leaning down to check for a pulse, keeping his eyes searching, just in case the one responsible was still around. He had no illusions about this being an accident.

As he suspected, there was no pulse. But the body was still warm, so the woman had not been dead long. Looking at her neck, he spotted the chain of a set of dogtags. He pulled them out, reading the name. Then he dropped them back down, taking a few steps back. He had two calls to make. First bridge, then Infirmary. Protocols were clear on that.

“Desátník Karel Vacek to Oberst Kateřina Černá. I got a dead Scientist in corridor H-17. Tags identify her as Captain Ylva Falk. This was no accident. I repeat, no accident.” Seeing that the Oberst was probably busy, Karel decided to call the infirmary while waiting for an answer. “Corporal Karel Vacek to Infirmary. Got a woman down in H-17. Get a team her ASAP. Bring a bodybag.”