Symbiosis: Chapter 31

CPO Stuart Watson sat at his console on the bridge and watched the small blip slowly travel across his view screen alternating orange and blue as it moved into the Eta Cassiopeia star system. He tried raising the ship through all transmission frequencies but all he could get was silence.

“Rougeau, can you take a look here?”

The ensign stood, stretched, and crossed the bridge, twisting his neck as his walked.

“What’s that?” he asked. Watson raised his brows and looked face-on at the navigator. They both looked back at the transparent screen and Rougeau took a closer look. “What kind of radiation is it emitting?”

“Krypton-Argon.”

“That’s what that Pegasi ship was putting out, a pale blue-green spectrum?” Watson touched a few spots on the viewer and the spectral analysis of the chemicals appeared before their eyes. “You better contact the captain,” Rougeau said. Watson nodded and turned back to his console panel to signal the landing party.

“Jackson.”

“Captain, I thought you’d want to be aware; there’s a Pegasi ship headed for Cinco. Appears as if it’s coming from Cuatro’s orbit, sir.” The com was silent. Stu wondered for a moment if he’d lost the signal.

“ETA to Cinco orbit?”

“About 22 hours, sir.”

“Keep me posted, Stu, every four hours, and can you patch me through to Rianya?”

“Stand by, sir.”

“Hi Tom!”

“Hello Love, how’s everything going?”

“I’m bored crazy but I don’t think I’m going to die.”

“Well, that’s good, because I miss you; it’s hard to get to sleep.”

“You’re not working hard enough, then.”

“Ha, that must be it. Have you gotten any symptoms?”

“No, not yet,” Rianya said.

“How’s ‘Lara?”

“She’s her bouncy little self, but she’s asking for you. How’s the fight down there?”

“Slow, but steady. Stu just told me a Pegasi ship is approaching, so I’m not sure what’s going to happen next. Might not have a chance to call you.”

“Oh, that’s not good. What do you think they want?”

“Profits. If we cure the Cinconians we’re crashing their little business here.”

“Please be careful. ‘Lara and I both need you back.”

“You know I will. Give ‘Lara a kiss for me.” 

Tom shut off the com and turned back to the food he’d been trying to eat. The Cinconians did their best to make more palatable choices available to the humans, hearing requests for something besides the plates of dried insects, worms, and crustaceans but some of it seemed truly inedible. And most of it was retch inducing raw. He could have sworn one crunchy fried morsel was a spider in some kind of batter.

Uncomfortably cool in the room for humans the Cinconians would have thought 15 was a comfortable setting. Tom didn’t know how to change the room temperature so he pulled on his field jacket and zipped it up.

He’d wondered if Dukvita might appear again since his business was about to dry up. He pushed the plate of grubs in their deceptively aromatic gravy away and figured hungry was better than the horror of eating maggots disguised as cuisine. What Tom wouldn’t give for an Angus steak, medium rare, and a pile of steamed zucchini with several gobs of butter melting on top. At least he’d had the sense to bring coffee and sugar. He looked up at a mercifully distracting knock on the door.

“Come in.”

“Hey, can you eat this? Because I’ll let you have mine. Melinda doesn’t even cook this badly.” His old friend held out a bowl with the same gravy covered larvae.

“No, I can’t. Is that what you came across the hall for?”

“I just wondered if you’d contacted the Kiians.”

“I just spoke with Stu. All he had to say was that a Pegasi ship is headed our way.” Tom pushed a chair towards Scott with his foot and Scott promptly fell into it and slid the bowl across the table away from both of them.

“Dukvita?” Scott asked. Tom only shrugged. “I think this occasion calls for some four letter words.” Tom broke a smile, closing his eyes and nodding at his old friend.

“Everyone’s deployed but you, me, and Mr. Wagner, so we all start at oh eight hundred tomorrow. Manufacture, distribution, administration, and documentation.”

“If it sounds good to you, then, I thought I’d have Chen make a daily round to each primary station we set up so he can deliver supplies, pick up records, and so on. I’ll coordinate so you can concentrate on whatever you need to. I can pick up the documentation if you want.”

“Who said you were only an astrophysicist? You obviously know how to execute a plan.” Tom stood up and grabbed a pitcher of water off a table and filled two glasses. “That’s good, because I have a feeling the Kiians and Pegasi are going to keep me pretty busy real soon.”

“How’s Rianya?” Scott took the proffered beverage. “Have you talked to her yet?”

“Just a few minutes ago when Stu called about the Pegasi ship. So far so good. I told the Maria Mitchell to break orbit and go to Cuatro. The greenies should be here about the same time. I didn’t want them seeing Maria Mitchell up there. Quixote’s orders are to get the Kiians to send at least a thousand medics to deal with this crisis, obviously not from Cuatro but from their home world.”

“Will they get here in time?”

“In time? Hm.” Tom refilled his glass. “We’ll be here for a year if they don’t get here pretty soon. We need people power, feet on the ground.” Tom took a few sips of icy water and set his glass down before the condensation would slide it from his grasp. “Let’s go find something to eat.”

~~~

“Good morning, Mr. Watson.” Tom blinked a few times before turning on the visual component of their com system. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you quite this early.”

“I’m sorry if I woke you, sir.”

“No, no, I wasn’t asleep. What’s our status?”

“I’m going to patch you in to Quixote, sir.” Tom slid off the cot and in a few seconds realized he should have gotten up at least thirty minutes earlier.

“Good morning, Captain.” Tom returned to the com box when he heard Quixote’s vaguely British accent, retained from his education at Oxford a decade before they’d ever even met. For Tom, Quixote was proof that any language could be learned and retained for a lifetime. “I wanted to review the mission briefly. I’ve not had many opportunities to be your surrogate.”

“Sure.” Tom yawned and poured his cup of morning ambition before responding. His brain hadn’t quite engaged just yet. “It seems that the Kiians are responsible for bringing Yersinia from Earth to Cuatro and Cinco, either intentionally or accidentally, and we’re going to need them to commit medical personnel to the effort on Cinco. I want a thousand people, and if they can’t help or authorize it, find out who can and I want to talk to them.”

“I wasn’t aware we’d come up with evidence to implicate the Kiians.”

“Not so much evidence as circumstances with no other explanation,” Tom explained. “Illustrations confirm Kiians on Cinco burning victims. I have to think that the research teams on Cuatro aren’t a coincidence given that the mammalian species are virtually extinct there. I want to connect the dots once and for all.”

“Understood, Captain. I’ll do my best for you. Quixote out.”

Captain Jackson hurried through his morning routine and stepped into the sunshine of the lobby on time for the big launch. Containers stacked three meters high filled the room and his crew stood restless, ready to embark after the long trip in space to arrive.

Yee Akbar greeted Jackson and presented him to a table covered with trays of biscuits, hard cooked eggs, and a pale pink beverage. He raised his brows and a curious smile broke out.

“We asked for diet of your ship left before orbit. Breads, cooked eggs bird, juiced fruit mankella. Try,” the brown fellow insisted. Jackson glanced around but it didn’t appear as if any of the others had sampled the cuisine. He hoped the mankella juice would at least be palatable if nothing else, and taking a small sip he was surprised, amazed even that it might have passed for strawberries in lemonade on Earth with a hint more sugar.

“It’s good, I like it,” he said, waving Dr. Gregory and Mr. Wagner to join and try the drink. “Thank you, Yee, that was very thoughtful. We appreciate your consideration,” Jackson said while selecting a biscuit, or perhaps it was a muffin, finding it more than edible but downright enjoyable with a nutty flavor and sweet topping. The eggs were unusual, gamey, but edible.

Food! Things were looking up. Jackson insisted both of his crew members got plenty from the table before he went back for more. His brain cleared with an infusion of sugar and protein which it hadn’t done for the last couple of days. After a final glass of the sweet and sour fruit juice he looked around at his staff crew, the Cinconians, and saw them patiently waiting his orders. He pulled a telecom from his jacket pocket and opened up a broad band frequency.

“Jackson to Mission Teams, acknowledge. Jackson to Mission Teams, respond.”

“Team Three, acknowledge, Captain.”

“Team One, standing by.”

The New Hope team waited. Jackson looked at his men and the Cinconians.

“Team Two, respond,” he said.

“Team Two, aye Captain,” was Dr. Ferris’ voice.

“Does anyone have any questions about deployment? Everyone has their supplies and resources?” Some chatter on the telecom seemed confirming. “Very well, commence operations, check in with me directly every eight hours or as needed. Good luck.”