The troublesome past: Dr. Kradow´s papers...

[Guest DRL]

"Okay" said Dr. Kradow, right after he brushed his teeth.

"Now I can continue my research..." He though, as he walked towards the ship´s computer.

"...Maybe I should also rewrite the code for the Targeting system. It certainly lacks accuracy" Thoughts continued to storm his mind as he activated the controls. Such task might have been dificult for anyone else, but for Dr. Kradow it was as easy as breathing; indeed, the computer had not a single or multiple languages programed; as part of the ship´s 'security system' part of the sentences were in Russian, part in English, part in Spanish, and part in German. But he was so accostumed to this, that the lab mode was activated in no time.

Once the reconfiguration of the ship was done, he walked to a nearby cabinet where he left yesterday his notes. With great speed, he took some papers and put them on the lab´s table, then took a black pen, and as he was going to continue writing in his scientific journal, he noticed the old, yet familiar look of these papers. Before thoughs could storm his mind again, he took his glasses and started to read the first paper. The paper had to be old, as it was in a brown-yellow hue and the writing looked like that of an old writing machine. To the Dr.´s suprise, the writing was also in Russian - the same Russian he had to speak while he was under orders of Comrade Teranov, the director of the secret Soviet project he had worked into. It read:

"I have taken the risk of adquiring these additional componets to ensure the success of the project. But we must I do not want any delay on your part - or I will be forced to make use of the nearby correctional facilities. You and your scientists comrades have been selected because of their efficiency and performance, not because of your lazyness."

Lazyness!?, come on!,  there were no other men as dedicated in their research as Dr. Kradow and his team. But expected from Comrade Teranov, just a few lines of text were useful, and the rest, threats, warnings, and blah, blah, blah.

He put the paper in table again, and grabbed the next one. It too, showed sings of age, but this time it was hand writen, and in 'domestic' Kazakh:

"We know that you are are working hard, son. But your mother and I are worried about you. The last weekend, a few officers interrupted our dinner and started to ask questions about you. We answered every question with the truth, as we found no reason to fake it. The officer, who then identified himself as a member of the K.G.B., told us that they were checking the 'loyalty' of their important staff members. Maybe it is just me, but I do not believe him - somebody must be watching you at every moment. Be very careful, my son. I know that you are not a troublemaker, but if I am right (and let´s hope that I am not) somebody is waiting for you to make a little, small, and simple mistake and... Well, I better do not think about it. He,he, your mother says I have been acting a bit paranoid lately, so maybe there is nothing to worry about. Oh, I forgot to tell you about this:

we have a dog. Yes, yes I said they were annoying. But this one is just funny, you should come and look at it. Oh, and good luck with your 'project'.

With love, Mom and dad."

Lately? His father has allways been like this... Securing every door, every window... It was just annoying when it was summer and he closed his son´s window, specialy because at that time the only way to cool down was a wave of cool wind... But apart from that, his father was a good man. For a moment, Dr. Kradow feel sad as he though of his family. He was not married, and chances are he will not get married. All he had were his parents and now he did not even have that. He put down the letter, and as he was going to grab the next one, he heard the sound of the door opening. It was Deckér, with a strange gem in his hand. "Hello Nikolay" He said, as he aproached. "Hello Deckér. What is that?". The young fox answered with a smile: "It is a gem I was handed by a trader. He said in the past people had them as amulets, but nowdays some individuals can use them as the source for a strong shield generator."

Dr. Kradow took the papers and said: "Okay, leave it there. As soon as I have time to, I will see what can be done with it."

"Allright..." said Deckér as he put the gem in a table. "See you later, then?"

He asked. "Okay, come back in a few hours. I think there is something you can adquire that will help me in my research." Answered the scientist.

As fast as he walked in, Deckér walked out of the ship, leaving Dr. Kradow alone with his thoughts.

These papers... He had to read the rest. Definetly, these papers revealed a troublesome past, but he felt there was something else important in them. "Well..." He paused.

"I can read these later. For now I must finish my current investigation." And he spent the following hours in his lab, more or less thinking about his past...

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Okay, this is something I wrote because I was bored, and one way I found to amuse myself is writing stories. Not that I expect it to be good... but at least, it is better than doign nothing...