Last Night on Novgorod: Ghosts of the Past and Present

Novgorod Station,
Main Concourse - Deck C
Neon light cast a harsh glow on the worn wood of Maxine's Diner, its greasy menu board promising "Burgers the Way Grandma Used to Make”.

Takezou Yoshida barely remembered either of his grandmothers. One was an engineer, like his father, and his sister. The other was a clerical worker for the Three World Empire before the uprising. Either way, he was sure that neither of them ever made burgers, which was a shame because Takezou and his older brother Takeshi absolutely loved them.

Maxine’s was a dive diner with greasy food and normally he’d go for noodles or the Hibachi Bistro, but tonight was special.

Inside Maxine’s, Takezou sat alone at a chipped vinyl booth, the air thick with his cigarette smoke, a farewell drink, and anticipation for the morning to come. …if you could even call it morning out here.

Tonight was his last on Novgorod Station, a somewhat grimy pit stop orbiting a star choked by debris, before dawn, if you could call it that, took him aboard the sleek behemoth that promised a new chapter - the CSCSS Nomad’s maiden voyage into the cosmic unknown. And Takezou Yoshida was to be the Captain.

Across the table sat no one, but Takezou would tell you there was a “ghost”. The Yoshida brothers, Takezou and Takeshi, stealthily led a squad of outnumbered mercenary commandos behind enemy lines, through the nightmarish, muddy jungles of a UPP moon to infiltrate their base. After taking the base and using the enemy's own orbital cannons and anti-aircraft missiles against them, the mercenary unit became known as the Ghosts of Conglin.

That was many years ago now, and Takeshi died in the aftermath. Now Takezou was finally able to fulfill his dream and oath to his brother by exploring beyond the edges of frontier space.

Takezou raised his pint of Aspin Beer in silence to his brother, one of the Ghosts of Conglin. Takezou took a drink and smiled.
———
Hab Block - E-Deck
He walked along the promenade, towering over the levels of the concourse below and stopped with a grease-stained doggy bag in one hand. Takezou stood there for a moment, staring out at the nebula through the large glass windows and the shuttles moving about. It was always so strangely thrilling and amazing to know that in space, death was just on the other side of some fragile barrier. Its vastness and dangers made one feel insignificant.

Somewhere down below, the Nomad awaited, her engines throbbing with a siren song of adventure. He breathed a sigh and continued to the elevator that would take him to his cabin.
———

The key card buzzed Takezou in where another “ghost” was waiting for him. In truth, this Ghost was his dog, a Siberian husky which was only a couple years old and named fondly in the spirit of the past.

The dog sat patiently, looking at his master with wanton eyes and a drooling tongue that hung out, dripping onto the floor in front of him.

“Oi. Heh heh. Should have named you scraps?” Takezou joked. “Eh?”

Ghost watched as his master unraveled the holy mystery meal from its flimsy container. He licked his chops.

“Wait…” He touched the dog on his nose and smiled wryly. “Good boy.”

The dog snatched up the burger in just two snaps not a second after it was relinquished to him. Takezou took his shoes off and went to sit on his bed. He wondered if he would even get any sleep tonight.