The grandfathers' war

A cramped med‑ship drifts through silent space, its lone crew a weary human doctor and his faithful, tail‑wrapped tormal companion. The vessel’s sole purpose is to ferry the Interstellar Medical Service’s latest health updates to distant colonies, a routine task that feels almost sentimental in an age of colossal star‑liners. Their days are filled with the hum of background tapes and the occasional philosophical musing pulled from a thin manual, keeping the monotony at bay.

When an urgent summons arrives from the frontier world of Phaedra II, the pair learn of a declared war against neighboring Canis III—an impossibility in a universe where planetary landing‑grids prevent hostile vessels from ever reaching a surface. Skeptical and slightly irked by the needless bureaucracy, the doctor grumbles that they’re being sent to a conflict that likely never materialized, yet the ship must obey. As they set a course toward a war that may exist only on paper, both human and alien are forced to confront the absurdities of duty and the thin line between preparation and futility.