Julian stepped off the train and looked out at the bustling station around him while he absentmindedly massaged his butt. Being stuck in the same seat for almost five hours could make even the strongest-willed people a little sore. Alas, such comforts like extra padding on train seats was not something the military would be willing to splurge on, even for Julian. He made his way over to the exit, the squealing of train brakes growing quieter as he moved away from the platforms and over to the building that held his ride for the evening. It didn’t take long to see a familiar face holding a sign with Julian’s name on it.

“Julian! It’s great to see you. I hope your trip went well?” the voice smiled, reaching into his pocket to grab out a car key.

“Dylan, I wasn’t expecting you to be my ride back to the base,” Julian said. “It went really well. I got to meet my… niece? I mean, technically, she is my many-greats niece, I suppose.”

“Eh, I get it. It’s nice to be closer to your family.” A brief melancholy look entered Dylan’s face, but was shoved aside as quickly as it appeared.

Julian noticed it though, but decided it was better if he didn’t comment on it. “Anyway, we should probably head over to the base. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sarah weren’t checking the time every few minutes. She’s the one who booked my train tickets!”

Dylan let out a laugh, any lingering remnants of that look he had were replaced with a dopey grin. “Yeah. The last thing we need on our plates is an upset commander. You would not believe how strict she gets about our schedules. You should have seen what happened that one time with Fletcher. I swear, he was actually early to his workout session the next day.”

The two made their way out to the car. Julian still couldn’t get over the fact of how futuristic it looked. There was one thing that came to mind when he saw it: sleek. The inside was no different. Despite how it looked, the car was still remarkably comfortable, at least compared to the train he just left. Julian really didn’t have a very good point of comparison though because the last car he had been in was his old ‘03 hatchback his parents got him for his first car. Dylan set the car into motion and continued their conversation where it left off.

“So, have you given any thought for what you want to do with yourself? I mean, as nice as it is to see you every now and then, I feel like it would be best if you were to do something. You know? You’ve got your whole life ahead of you and you have so many more opportunities than back in your old time.”

“I don’t know,” Julian replied. “Before all this happened, I wanted to run for some political office or something like that, to really help people. But now, I’m not sure. I obviously still want to help others, but it’s like everything is so much more complicated now. I mean, there are fucking aliens!”

Dylan nodded. It looked like he was about to say something else, but he stopped, choosing to focus more on the road. The two sat in a companionable silence for the rest of the ride to the base. Despite his outward calm appearance, Julian had a lot to think about, and not all of it was easy to answer. What did he want to do with himself?

Julian yawned. His train trip had been really early in the morning so he would be back in D.C. by the early afternoon, after compensating for the time zone difference. On the train, he hadn’t been able to sleep since he couldn’t stop staring out the window for the whole trip. He felt his eyes drooping as he slowly fell asleep.

Julian woke up to someone gently shaking his shoulder. “Five more minutes,” he managed to mumble. He knew he hadn’t been asleep for that long since the drive back to the base was only around half an hour from the train station. He opened his eyes though when he heard Dylan chuckling at his predicament. He really should have tried to sleep on the train when he had the chance.

Nevertheless, Julian got out of the car and made his way over to Sarah, who was waiting just outside the main entrance to the interior of the base. “Julian! It’s great to see you’re back. I was beginning to worry something happened! Your train arrived over an hour ago!”

Julian couldn’t help but wince. He looked over to Dylan who mouthed ‘sorry’ as he put his hands up.

“I’m sorry commander. I made sure Julian and I went straight to the car without any delays. It’s all on him, mam.”

Julian gave Dylan a dirty look as he made his way over to Sarah. From what he heard from the others at the base, deviating from the schedule was not something the commander took kindly to.

“With me, Mr. Hurt.”

Uh oh.

Sarah led Julian deeper into the base, into the belly of the beast: Conference Room C. He couldn’t help but shiver slightly upon seeing the plaque next to the door. This was the room where he was bombarded with information over the course of two agonizingly long weeks about how the world, and galaxy, had changed in his absence.

Sarah didn’t even let Julian sit down before she started berating him. “A simple schedule! All you had to do was follow a simple schedule. Is it really so difficult?” Julian was about to answer when she continued. “I mean, come on. I know your life has changed a lot over the course of the last month and a half, but seriously?”

Julian couldn’t sink any further into his seat than he already had if he tried.

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Look. I’m sorry, Julian. This whole thing with the Trans Galactic ship is really screwing me, hard. Everyone is trying to point fingers at someone else, and it’s causing an interspecies shitshow. The Jiwa government wants something done, the La’ik planetary government is making things more difficult than they need to be, and our government has decided to shove all of this onto me. Those lazy bastards.”

Julian didn’t know much about interspecies politics, but he did understand human politics. “You could probably issue a statement to the La’ik people about how they aren’t being blamed yet or something. That could probably shut them up for a bit so you have time to deal with the Jiwa government.”

Sarah looked over to him. “You know what? That’s not a bad idea. The only issue is the La'ik are going to need more than just a statement. But, I like where you're coming from. You know, we could use someone like you, Julian. I know you wanted to get into politics, so here's your chance. How about you let us teach you more about galactic politics to get you a degree, and you’ll get to work with the UN in an ambassadorial role.”

Julian looked up at Sarah in shock. He couldn’t help that fact his legs were shaking under the table. “Yes! I mean, yes, of course.”

"You obviously wouldn't start out as an ambassador, but I think you have what it takes to become one."

Maybe he could still help others after all.

Things were looking good for Dylan. Not only did he get the day off, because of his journey out to the train station to pick up Julian, but he also managed to avoid facing the wrath of Commander Hughes. He hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite him in the butt later on though. He didn’t know anyone else who was so keen on maintaining such a strict schedule. He really couldn’t complain though. Her emphasis on order is what allowed him to run his crew so well on missions. He wouldn’t be half the soldier he was if it wasn’t for her.

Regardless, it was time for him to spend some time relaxing. It had been ages since he had the opportunity to spend some time alone. There was always something that needed his attention, but now, there was nothing. It was times like these that prompted him to try his hands at model aircraft. Of course, since he wasn’t some barbarian from the past, most of his models were those of spacecraft, rather than traditional airplanes.

There wasn’t much more relaxing to him than spending some time working on a model spacecraft. Since he rarely had any time to work on them, he only had three complete ones, with his current fourth one, which was still unfinished.

He let out a content sigh. Life was good.

Now Dylan understood why Julian had been so stiff from being on the train for so long. Personally, he would have recommended he just fly across the country instead of taking the train, but knowing Commander Hughes, it was probably cheaper to go by train. Regardless, keeping his back in the same position for three hours was definitely not healthy, so he stood up and stretched. The feeling of his back cracking as he stretched further felt very pleasant. He rubbed his stomach as if it were a genie’s lamp and decided it was time to get some food. After all, he had spent so long on his project, it was already time for dinner.

He looked down at the plastic spacecraft on his desk and sighed. He didn’t get as much done on it as he would have liked. Some things just couldn’t be rushed he supposed. Dylan shook his head and went out toward the cafeteria to get some food.