“Chris?” She blinked. “Chris Mardling?”
He covered his mouth before coughing phlegm onto his fingers. “The bloody feck do you want?”
“Uhh…” She backed up.
“Go on then. I’m sick, unless you haven’t noticed. I―” He lapsed into a coughing fit, spraying dark yellow glops on the wall. “What’re you starin’ at then? Sod off.”
Kerys darted forward into a jog, racing past the dome entrance and crossing the open area beyond to the cafeteria. What had Captain Chen been upset about? Did everyone else in this place but me get some bit of horrible news that put them in a shitty mood?
She stopped at the entrance to the cafeteria, preparing herself to witness Armageddon upon walking in. The low murmur inside worried her with its normality. Huh? Maybe I’m the one who’s stressing out.
A peek past the wall revealed a room packed with Avasar employees. People gathered in clusters of similar-color jumpsuits. Her team, the only blue in the room, collected about halfway in near the right side. All the little round tables by the windows were full. Everyone appeared absorbed in their breakfast or muttered conversations. She caught snippets on her way to the automats from people discussing work projects as though nothing at all unusual had occurred over the weekend. Even the freakishly tall man who’d stared at her in the fitness center like he’d wanted to tear her head off appeared to be laughing at something the woman next to him said.
Opting for French toast instead of the scrambled eggs she’d had three days straight, Kerys collected a tray of food, grabbed a coffee, and headed over to sit between Paula and Corporal Guillen.
“Morning.”
Guillen muttered past a full mouth, nodding. Paula gave her a weary ‘I don’t want to be awake right now’ look.
Don slurped up a spoonful of oatmeal before smiling. “Good morning, Kerys. Hope you’re ready to get back to it.”
“Yeah.” While dumping syrup from a small plastic packet on her French toast, she eyed the people at the next table over. At least half of them looked exhausted, but no one acted strange. “Where’s Marco?”
“Infirmary,” said Paula, sounding half-awake. “He mentioned something about the pain in his leg getting worse.”
“I thought Doctor Sekhar said he should be walking again by now?” Kerys attacked her meal like she hadn’t eaten in days.
“Whoa.” Corporal Guillen grinned. “What, you have a normal meal once every winter solstice or something?”
“Is that necessary?” asked Don in a raised voice. “You know it’s impolite to criticize a woman’s figure.”
Paula glanced up at the unexpected tone. “Don, I don’t think he meant anything by it.”
“No… I’m happy for her,” said Corporal Guillen. “Past couple times I’ve seen her eating, she’s barely touched her food. Must be feeling better.”
Kerys chuckled, and sniffled. “Got a little bit of a cold I think.”
“Me too, and more than a little bit of one.” Paula massaged her sinuses. “Worst headache I’ve ever had.”
“I saw Chris back in the tube.” Kerys stuffed a wad of French toast in her mouth. Everyone waited for her to chew. “Mmf. He looked really bad. Severe flu bad.”
“Problem with a contained environment like this. We’re all breathing the same air and there’s nowhere to go.” Corporal Guillen sipped water. “One person gets sick, we’re all going to share it.”
“And for the record”―Kerys stabbed another piece of toast on her fork―“I don’t have an eating disorder. I just have no appetite when I’m nervous. What we’re finding out there is beyond any expectation I could’ve dreamed up. I’m thrilled.”
“Dammit,” yelled Lars, two tables away and to the left. “Why is everyone so damn loud? I’ve got the worst damned headache.”
Ellen, sitting next to him, glared a challenge at people nearby. She gripped the table, her lips curling into a snarl.
Am I imagining this? Kerys eyed the tall, muscular woman wearing a Hello Kitty amulet and whispered, “Does anyone else notice people acting odd?”
“I’ve been too busy to really watch people.” Don scraped the last of his oatmeal from the bowl to his mouth.
Paula sat with her face resting in her hands, muttering.
“Seems like people are getting short with each other,” said Corporal Guillen. “Right after that rumor started going around about the captain sending a nastygram back to Earth.”
Well, I was thrilled. Since Lars yelled, the tone of the cafeteria simmered in silent discontent. The more she looked around at people glaring at each other, the more she wanted to get out of there before a spark lit off an explosion. “Once they move that platform, I’ll be able to finish scanning Obelisk C today.”
“I found something on the slab,” said Don, “Sent it to the bio people for analysis. It might’ve been moss or lichen. I don’t think it was alien skin cells, but who knows.” He stood.
His motion sent a wave of fidgeting over the crowd, spreading outward like a ripple across a pond that continued all the way to the walls. Kerys inhaled the last few pieces of her French toast and hurried to toss the tray in the collection bin on her way to follow her team out. No one spoke on the walk down the tube to the ready room near the garage.
Don, Paula, Lars, Ellen, and Private Foster went to the lockers holding their e-suits.
“Hey Foster… where’s Gina?” asked Kerys.
He spun around and grabbed her jumpsuit, hauling her off her feet before pressing her back against the steel doors. “Why? What the hell do you care? We’re just fuckin’ grunts to you. Why’s Miss College askin’ about dumbass soldiers?”
Kerys screamed.
Don stomped. “Young man. Put her down!”
Lars chuckled and muttered something, which caused Ellen to growl and push him into the lockers.
Foster leaned close, bloodshot eyes wide and vibrating with rage. His lips curled back, exposing teeth; a trickle of blood ran from his lip. She grabbed his wrists as his knuckles dug in to her chest. Lars growled and took a swing at Ellen who flung open her locker door to block. The bang of his fist denting the steel door startled Foster. He threw Kerys aside and pulled a knife from his belt, facing toward Lars and Ellen.
Kerys scurried away from him and ran to her locker to grab the little six-pound dumbbell she’d left there on Saturday. She spun to put her back to the wall, clutching her ‘weapon.’ Everyone else froze, watching Lars and Ellen.
“Goodbye, kitty.” Lars took a swing with his left.
Ellen ducked and lunged, tackling him flat. They rolled over twice, Lars winding up on top. He drew his fist back, but she shoved with her leg, hurling him face-first into the lockers before he could swing down on her.
“Knock it the fuck off right now,” bellowed a deep, authoritative voice.
Sergeant Gensch, half-in an e-suit, stood at the entrance of the ready room with Corporal Guillen right behind him.
“What in the shit-eating hell is going on?” Gensch set his hands on his hips, glaring at Lars.
Ellen snarled.
“Don’t think I won’t knock you senseless either.” He pointed at her. “I’m an equal opportunity asshole. This is my station and you shit-slingers are going to keep a modicum of order here, or there’s going to be a giant goddamned problem.”
“She thinks we’re worthless,” yelled Foster, pointing at Kerys.
Gensch shifted his eyes toward her.
“All I did was ask him where Corporal Mitchell was. She usually goes out with our group.”
“Mmm.” Gensch advanced into the room. His white brush cut seemed to glow from the LED bulb above him. “Wanna try that one again, Foster?”
“She… she…” Private Foster leaned against the lockers, head back, arms slack at his sides. “I dunno. Just the way they all look at us, Sarge. You know they think we’re just dumbass meatheads who couldn’t get a real job.”
Ellen picked herself up from the floor, gaze loc
ked on Sergeant Gensch.
“Come on, missy.” Gensch leaned at her, chin thrust forward. “You want to ride this train, you go right ahead, but make damn sure you can afford the ticket.” When she made no move, he gave her a smirk of casual dismissal and looked around at everyone else. “The lot of you need to unfuck whatever the hell’s going on here, and do it right now.”
“Everyone just calm down,” said Corporal Guillen.
Paula fell into a swoon on the bench, a hand to her face. Seconds later, she collapsed to the floor. Kerys clung to the dumbbell, wanting to run to her side, but the woman had landed right next to Private Foster. The young soldier looked down at the unconscious woman and laughed.
“Oh, dear.” Don took a knee and checked Paula’s pulse. “She’s fainted.”
Sergeant Gensch pointed at Lars and Ellen. “You two. Quarters, now.”
“Attention all personnel.” Captain Chen’s voice came over the PA system. “Until further notice, I am suspending operations outside Wayfarer Outpost. All employees are to remain inside at this time. Repeat, no personnel are to go EVO.”
Kerys looked up at the ceiling. “What? Can she do that?”
“She just did,” said Corporal Guillen, with a subtle shake of the head. “Somethin’ ain’t right.”
“You’re just noticing that now, shithead?” snapped Lars.
Paula sat up. “Alan? Where’s Alan.”
“Who is Alan?” asked Kerys.
“My son. He was… Oh.” She rubbed her forehead. “I was dreaming.”
Don looked at Kerys. “Help me get her to the infirmary?”
“I don’t need to go to the infirmary, Don. I’ve got a magnitude-nine migraine and got light-headed. I do think I’m going to take the day off and rest.”
“We’re all taking the day off.” Kerys squeezed the dumbbell, her gaze jumping from person to person. Hiding in her quarters with the door locked seemed like a wonderful idea.
Sergeant Gensch grabbed Foster by the chest of his jumpsuit, pulled him close, and swiped the sidearm from his holster. “Get your ass to Doctor Veltmann.”
“I ain’t fuckin’ nuts, Sarge. I don’t need a goddamn head shrinker.”
“Well, private… if Doc V tells me that, then I’ll believe it.” Gensch loomed over the smaller man. “Now, you can walk there, or I can kick your insubordinate ass down the hall, up the stairs, and straight into his room.”
Private Foster’s expression shifted from sheepish to angry to murderous and back to sheepish. “Copy that, Sarge.” He hung his head and trudged out.
“I’m going to my quarters.” Paula stood with Don’s help.
“Oh, grand.” Don smiled. “Suppose we should get back to work then.”
“Don?” Kerys looked up at him. “Haven’t you been listening? Captain Chen shut down all outside work. We can’t go outside.”
“Oh. I wonder why.” He blinked. “Hmm. I think I’ll go have some tea.”
He walked off, back in the direction of the cafeteria.
Corporal Guillen twisted to watch Don as he went by. When he faced the room again, he seemed about to say something, but turned his attention to Paula instead. “Do you need assistance, ma’am?”
She groped blindly at him until she found his arm, grabbed it, and nodded. “Thank you… I just need to get to my quarters.”
Kerys pushed her locker closed and stood there while everyone else left. “Oh, please tell me this is some kinda twisted dream.” The empty ready room offered a sense of comfort compared to the idea of crossing the station and running into other people. She glanced up at the airlock doors, picturing the excavation site a little more than half a mile away. All her hopes and dreams hung on what they might find in there, but in the moment, the luster had faded.
Gripped by the claws of homesickness and regret, she stared at the hallway, too frightened of what might happen to her if she ran into any people. I can’t just stand here all day. Eyes closed, she took a few deep breaths until determination overpowered fear.
Kerys ran back to her quarters, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
12
Cabin Fever
Fear had lessened to worry before evolving into boredom a few hours after Kerys locked herself in her room. To occupy her mind away from whatever chaos spread over the outpost, she tucked close to her desk and pulled up her completed 3D model of Obelisk A. While the pictographic writing remained a total mystery as to meaning, comparing them with images from the Copernicus site convinced her that the same species existed in both places.
The obelisk character forms differed in minute ways, suggesting a refinement perhaps over many years. Or perhaps they had been made by a machine, like putting handwriting next to a printout. Could those obelisks have been mass-produced? She brought up the partial scan she’d gathered of Obelisk C, about eighty percent of the base to as high as she could extend her arms. The fragment on the screen looked like an ancient bracelet, a hollow C with uneven sides.
She spent a while positioning it side by side with the other obelisk, but couldn’t match the symbols.
“They’re not identical… so it’s got to be one long message. But which one is first?”
A heavy thud shook the pod seconds before angry shouting echoed in the ventilation duct. Kerys reached a hand toward the desk, curling her fingers around the dumbbell while staring at the slatted hole in the wall to her left. The screaming tapered off to indistinct muttering, and silence.
Why did Chen lock down the outpost? Keeping everyone inside is going to make it worse. Pressure builds.
Kerys exhaled, listening to silence for another minute before releasing her grip on the steel weight. Staring at meaningless pictograms twisted a knot of frustration in her gut. She could be sitting on information capable of changing the course of human history, but not even Paula had been able to make sense of it yet.
She switched screens and opened the SFT message client to compose a video to Jaden. Wearing a smile and trying to conceal her nerves, she told him about the exciting stuff she’d found so far. The enthusiasm leaked out of her voice a few minutes in, and she looked down with a sigh.
“Look, kiddo. I’m… I wanted to apologize. I know you’ve been nothing but supportive about this whole thing, but maybe it was selfish of me to disappear out of your life for so long. I know, too little too late, right? By the time I get back, you’ll be halfway through high school… not a kid anymore.”
An angry scream leaked from the vent again.
That is, if I get back… She closed her eyes. Don’t think like that. People are just stressed out.
“Anyway… How’s life treating you, li’l bro? Tell me what’s going on back home huh?” She winked. “Almost out of time on this message… so I’ll talk you again soon.”
She tapped the button to stop recording, and confirmed sending. The screen estimated the message would arrive on Earth in twenty-nine days and some hours. Staring at that large number, despite it being remarkably fast for such a distance, made her feel even more isolated.
“I’m an idiot.” She curled over the desk, head down on crossed arms, and sighed. What good was finding alien relics that could inscribe her name in the history books if everything died here with her? She thought about a story she’d read in college, an explorer who’d found a fortune of gold in the jungle, but got trapped in the vault with it. For a few days, he’d become the richest man in the world, but it didn’t do him any good.
As tears formed in her eyes, she sucked in a breath and sat up straight. “Okay. Stop. Fear is the mind killer and all that. You’re overreacting.” She sniffled, coughed, and wiped her cheeks. “At least I’m not getting sicker.” A sigh triggered two sneezes. Kerys grabbed a tissue and blew her nose.
Plum-colored snot made her squeak in surprise.
“T-that’s not blood.” She shivered, staring at it. Once her initial revulsion wore off, she leaned closer to the tissue, studying the mucous close. She sniffed at the air, bu
t her stuffed-up nose couldn’t smell anything. Her glare fell on the boxed plant, which remained sealed. Great. I’ve got sinuses full of spores.
She twisted in the chair to look at the door. I should go to the infirmary and get that checked.
Of course, that would require leaving the safety of a locked door in a remote outpost full of people snapping at the slightest provocation. She changed her mind and opened the 3D scan of the alien head. Her attention gravitated to the grapefruit-sized hollow at its center. Could it have been some kind of seed vault like Annapurna theorized? The hollow could have been accidental and maybe those microbes got in unbeknownst to the aliens. No mention of a container existed in the notes. If the aliens deliberately stored a sample of something like that, wouldn’t they have put it in a bottle?
“Get outta my face!” shouted a woman somewhere outside. A dull thump struck the wall seconds later.
Heavy footfalls raced past her door.
Kerys grabbed the dumbbell again. An eruption of sincere regret at her decision to take this job blossomed into a crippling abdominal cramp. She doubled over, arms braced across her gut, moaning. The room spun under a wave of dizziness, and a dull headache started at the back of her skull. After a few minutes of rocking herself while sipping air between her teeth, the sensation of a spiked ball in her stomach changed to simple (but strong) nausea. She traded the dumbbell for the wastebasket and put her face over it, expecting to have French toast fly out of her nose any second.
“I hate being sick…”
She swallowed air for a little while more, and the imminence of vomiting retreated. Prickles and jabs in her gut continued, fanning the fires of worry.
“Okay, screw it. I gotta see the doc.”
With the six-pound weight in hand, she crept up to the door and examined the hexagonal nugget on the end of the dumbbell. This’ll hurt someone. She took a few slow-motion practice swings against an imaginary attacker. Years had passed since she’d attended any self-defense classes, and they had never introduced weapons.
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