I always wanted to own a farm.
It'll never happen, of course. But I still would have liked it. The idea of raising crops and tending to animals, getting up and being part of an ecosystem, having a place to live. Stability. Hard work. Accomplishment.
Want to know what I'm doing right now? This very minute? I'm calculating the chemical elements of a newly- discovered compound, an oil. I'm on my way to a shuttle bay to join 199 other Class 33 officers in the "excavation" (genocide is more like it) of a certain life form, from Planet 16943-B. It has been discovered under laboratory conditions that oil can be extracted from the animal. We will serve as supervisors to the 4000 Class 5 soldiers who will be rounding up the animals on the surface and loading them into the cargo hold.
Personally, I think it's a waste. We've got more than enough oil supply, we're extracting it from 378 other planets in just this sector alone, it's pointless to extract such a minor amount from these poor creatures. Not that I'd ever tell anyone in the ship my sentiment; "loose lips get shot off," as they say.
Besides, I've got enough to worry about for not finishing desert last night; a Class 47 officer wandered by in the mess hall, and accused me of treason. Now I've got three guards trailing me at all times, watching my every move. But because of my high rank, five bodyguards have been assigned to me for protection from the other three. I thought there may have been a mistake somewhere along the line. I went to a computer terminal and accessed the assignment records, and found out that a Class 20 officer (Class 20 serve as bodyguards to Class 30 and higher) noticed the guards constantly following me, figured it was an attempt on my life, and therefore took the appropriate safety measures.
I'm surprised that he got the bodyguards out so quickly. Usually it takes 6-8 weeks for the application to be processed, before the guards are deployed. I guess the assassination attempt rate has gone down lately. I should check the Imperial Legion Internal Affairs Statistics Board when I get a chance.
But I digress.
So I'm almost at the shuttle, but I just realized that I forgot my Shuttle Authorization Pass. But it's in my quarters and that's too far away to go back at this point. Now I have to go to a nearby Form-O-Mat and get a Request For Temporary Shuttle Pass Form Form and submit it, and hopefully I'll get a Temporary Shuttle Pass Form before the shuttle leaves. I could be in serious trouble if I'm not on that shuttle upon departure. For one thing, I'll probably be shot for dodging duty, and subsequently treason. For another, I'll probably be put on SaniSeptic duty as punishment.
There's a 50-credit service charge for applying for the Request Form, and another 40-credit charge for submitting it. I'll have to pay 45 credits for the Temporary Form, assuming of course that my Request Form is accepted and the Temporary Form is thereby granted.
I waited four hours, and finally my request was granted. The form printed out of the cheap printer slot attached to the terminal. The ink on the flimsy paper was badly faded, but semi-readable. I then submitted the Request Form, and after about a half hour, a Temporary Shuttle Pass printed out in the same sickly manner. I wandered over to the turnstiles and waited for about 10 minutes until I was at the window. I produced various forms of identification and the Pass, and was granted entrance onto the shuttle.
And so here I am. Sitting in the shuttle for the two-hour flight, until we hit the planet's surface and I can begin supervising a group of soldiers in their efforts of rounding up the animals. What good will it do me? What good will it do for the Imperial Legion? Probably nothing. But, hey, it's a living, as they used to say, before it was discovered that 87% of the Legion jobs are directly and indirectly cancer-causing.
I wonder what it would be like to raise animals for their milk, instead of assimilating them for their various chemical fluids? Is the latter wrong while the former is acceptable? Is there a difference, when it really comes down to it? Who can say. And besides, I've got a team to supervise.