Expedition Nereus

by Ilya Martynov

  "Jack, I hope that you managed to get enough sleep today," she continued after making her standard greetings.

  "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

  "That's good. Today we moved all tasks to the middle of the day. Judging by your work schedule, having to constantly wake up so early might be damaging to your health, even for a fit officer such as yourself.”

  "Thank you, ma'am," Jack barely managed to express, all the while mentally cursing Linda and all her colleagues from the department.

  He had every right to think that way since it had already been four months that he had to do work he wasn't ready for. The only reward for his labor was another ration of standard meals and oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips. And although months of deep reflection about the purpose of such tasks alter Lieutenant Sallenge's perspective quite a lot, he was also deeply offended, like his sense of justice had been violated. From time to time, Jack was left to suffer from an unpleasant sensation gnawing at the back of his mind. The only salvation from all this was his new work. As a result, this cause-effect relationship locked Jack into a vicious cycle.

  "I have to admit that you've attained impressive results during your mission task execution. We didn't even expect you to successfully accomplish almost 80% of planned work. On behalf of the Center and me, we would like to express our deep gratitude to you. We have also rewarded you with a bonus of sequences that have been deposited to your account."

  As Robore said this, her thin lips widened into an even faker smile while her eyes seemed to transform into dark pits.

  "I appreciate your trust. I'm serving for the benefit of humanity," Jack quickly reported.

  He never thought he'd say something like that through a teleport from an alien planet to the director of a massive department. These words weren't the most appropriate ones, but he couldn't come up with anything else. He barely kept himself from punching his leg. It was all beginning to look like a dream where the borders between reality and dreamworld were fading.

  People often saw such vivid dreams when they would be awoken not long before they themselves were planning to wake up. The brain falls asleep only for the alarm to suddenly go off, leaving the last moments of the dream fresh in the mind, startlingly bright and clear. This phenomenon occurs because the brain is woken up during the phase of a quick dream, a short period of time when people view lucid dreams. Only in this phase do people see and remember their dreams in detail. Jack felt that the conversation with the present Director of Intergalactic Missions of the Space Agency was such a dream.

  "Lieutenant Sallenge, we're doing our best to form a plan of action to bring you back to Earth. I'm going to need to ask you for some more of your officer's patience and tenacity."

  There was nothing in this request, which was said in a smooth mechanical voice, that would make Jack believe in the truth of what he had just heard.

  "Yes, ma'am," he answered without enthusiasm, looking into the teleport.

  "Are you ready to wait a little longer?"

  "And do I have a choice?"

  "You've always got a choice," Robore seemed to snap. "The civilians have it... but not aeronauts, you're right. With endurance and discipline..."

  "...through space into the stars," Jack finished the space anthem.

  "I'm glad you remember the code. To mark the Center's gratitude, you're provided four days off. You will receive some care packages at the end of the fourth day."

  "Thank you, ma'am."

  "During the next four days, you're prohibited from performing any physical labor, research, or other work except for your standard fitness training."

  "Roger that. Ma'am, may I use the aircraft Overplan-500?"

  "Hmm," her eyebrows raised a bit and then she frowned. "Since the control of the aircraft requires some degree of physical activity, your orders apply to flying the Overplan as well. Even more so considering you're using it without special permission," she tilted her head with a crooked smile on her face.

  For a moment, Jack though she winked at him.

  "That's strange," he mentally noted to himself.

  Jack remembered Sam's dad reasoning about pathological bureaucracy not only in the Agency but in whole of Aeronaut City. Jack guessed what Mr. Norwell could say about Linda:

  "There was no one equal to the former civil servant in her bureaucratic skills in the whole Agency. She could interpret and rephrase any laws and decrees as she wished. Her talent was incomparable so that no one would ever think of starting an argument with her. Colleagues and employees constantly lowered their heads, unable to oppose the onslaught of recitation consisting of legislative regulations that streamed from her mouth like a conveyor belt. Such people like her were eager to prove to high-ranking administration their commitment to the system and its laws, which often deprived them of a possibility to rationally assess their surroundings. Reports, graphics, and statistical breakdowns become the basis of a framework and core meaning for the huge bureaucratic machine."

  This thought agreed with a comment his dad had made about modern society.

  By trying to achieve independence from robots and biotechnology, people, without any consideration, entrusted their destinies to the system of judicial doctrines. The dry language of laws and deeds defined all rights and duties, creating an illusion of justice. At the same time, it gave some people unlimited power again those who were incapable of mastering all the legislation regulations.

  Having studied the primary rules and mastered the art of spin, people like Linda Robore could easily and mercilessly manipulate the general populace. A ruthless meat grinder awaited those who tried to be indignant, challenging such people with the same rules but using a twisted, situational interpretation. Jack didn't totally understand the essence of what was going on, but he was sure that an appointment of someone from government circles to the position of Director at a huge research department wasn't going to do any good at all.

  "Roger that,” Lieutenant Sallenge answered, almost sad at the fact he'd need to bid farewell to his airbike for a while.

  "I hope that discipline will still be most appreciated by you. This is only to guarantee the success of the current mission and facilitate cooperation between you and us. And now send me the results concerning the last water samples."

  There were still enough water supplies, so he didn't risk asking about schematic instructions to construct the purifiers.

  They should come up with a solution for the water. They won't let me die here after all. Or is that their simple plan?, he thought.

  He hardly controlled his nervous chuckle.

  One after another, Jack placed transparent-green info films with data about scanned water samples and other information about the objects on the planet. Linda was smiling when something in her database reacted with a beep. The information from membrane carriers rapidly traveled to Earth.

  "Excellent job. Even better than I expected!" She suddenly exclaimed when there was another beep.

  "Thank you, ma'am."

  "Jack, you've done so much. And at the highest level. You deserve a break. Get some rest and build up strength," she smiled.

  "Yes, ma'am.”

  Seems like, she's in a good mood today, he observed.

  "Do you need anything else? Is everything all right with your equipment?"

  "Yes... mmm, only..."

  "Don't be shy," Linda suddenly switched to informal language. Jack was confused for a moment but then he decided for some reason that maybe it was his chance to request what he had been denied earlier.

  "I need more starfish for my research... and... and..." he hesitated.

  "You can tell me! Speak up!"

  "And another weapon. There are so many weird creatures here, that..."

  "Jack, how many times do I need to repeat myself?" Robore's gentle tone switched to that of an exhausted teacher who was explaining something to a first grader. "There are not, nor will there ever be, any instructions requiring you to face dangerous creatures in order to
fulfill your orders within the scope of this mission."

  "And I'm not going to..."

  "Jack, let me finish," Robore stopped the lieutenant with a stern, angry tone. "So far as the mission is concerned, aeronauts do not encounter any dangerous creatures. The probes searched the entire planet and did not locate any animals that can be considered hazardous to people. If there were some, the mission would definitely be canceled. I understand your desire to return to Earth soon. And you're looking for any way to make us rescue you as soon as possible, but don't force me to remind you that only with tenacity and discipline..."

  Jack was seething. From Linda's words, one could conclude that the Center was denying any existence of potentially dangerous creatures. But for what reason? They were either pretending that they didn't notice, or someone was concealing information on purpose.

  "Yes, ma'am," Jack muttered. He remembered that he still had two grenade launchers and a few plasma rifles. But he had no confidence that his supply would be enough until the end of the mission. At least the plasma rifles could be charged with solar energy.

  "Jack, no need to get offended. We're doing our best. Unfortunately, we have to work within extremely difficult legislative initiatives and internal orders," Robore explained in an official manner.

  "I understand everything, ma'am," Jack firmly stated and nodded, abruptly interrupting his boss. "I understand all your orders for the next four days."

  "Okay then," Robore blurted out as though the officer's interference with her monologue brought her back to her senses. "I'm switching you over to the supplies dispatcher. Jack, you can do it," she seemed to give him a kind smile again. "Over and out."

  52

  Lieutenant Sallenge received a parcel with dark chocolate, a few tubes with fruit puree, which were always lacking in aeronaut's standard ration for some reason, orange juice, cinnamon rolls, and mint candy. Someone really guessed well what should be inside the package. Jack loved everything. The officer immediately pulled out a piece of green candy from the container and popped it into his mouth. The pleasant taste of peppermint pleasantly reminded him of his childhood.

  Jack remembered how he and his neighborhood friends loved to relax on how sunny days, eating mint candy as a way to cool off. The liquid interior spread across his tongue, chilling it into a frosty icicle. Eating too much candy caused their mouths to burn and their eyes to tear up, leading to the guys sticking their frozen tongues out and mocking one another. The street was filled with the sound of loud raucous laughter.

  Here, on Nereus, the memories of his childhood seemed so remote, as if they had transpired in a different life in some parallel universe. His tongue felt almost nothing, making Jack smile. He took a sip of orange juice and then spat it out almost immediately. The orange liquid tasted like battery acid in his frozen mouth. He left the pavilion and stuck his tongue out, warming it under the sun. The day was coming to an end.

  "Maybe I should wait for the pack of wartstones to return from the watering hole and treat Amigo with some fruit puree?" He went back to his glass home with this thought.

  To his regret, that day the wartstones didn't walk their usual route near the pavilion.

  When late evening came, Jack felt incredibly bored. It was forbidden to bother the Trapes, it was forbidden to fly on the airbike without orders, and there was no built-in music or VR simulation in the pavilion... Jack tried to come up with some activity to do but to no success. He couldn't bear to wallow in memories of Gladys, so he could only meditate on his present and future. He had been thinking a lot about why he had suddenly been provided not with one, or two, but four days off. The prospect of a more complicated task coming up didn't worry Jack, but the sense of some logical discrepancy didn't leave him in peace until after darkness fell. He wanted to go outside and take a breath of fresh cool air.

  Outside, he walked several dozen meters Northwest, listening to the still emptiness of the alien steppe and gazing up at the sky. The gentle evening breeze, humid and rapidly cooling down, brushed the cheeks of Lieutenant Sallenge. The night was dark, almost jet black, as usual. The light of the stars pierced the dulled green of Nereus' sky. Above his head, the sky was absolutely black and only became green near the horizon, which was marked by a blue line with a reddish tint.

  The stars were scattered like irregular clusters across an endless sky. A few stars, the brightest ones, greedily took up the area around themselves, blocking out smaller neighboring stars with their powerful luminosity. The stars were competing for their place on the black canvas of the sky. The points of light were like sparks flying away from a giant flint, forming into bizarre shapes that attracted the eye. Several bright meteors cut through the glittering black of the sky, leaving behind silver-white streaks. The first one, a little smaller, immediately disappeared, while the second one seemed to freeze in space before it too faded away. The rest of the tail was lost in the gleam of surrounding stars.

  Keeping his eyes on one of the brightest stars, Jack recalled Anne. Looking closely at the greatness of stars' waltz, he recognized the beauty Anne had found in those heavenly bodies. It seemed he was experiencing the mysteries and wonders of the night sky in such a way he could sense her presence. But the thought he might never uncover them for sure colored his evening with sad nostalgia. Having returned to his glass house, Jack wanted to hear Anne's voice. Now it seemed to be pleasant and dear, if not close. His emotions were a giant mess of anxiety, ease, melancholy, and cheer. He himself didn't understand where the border lay between what he wanted and what he denied. Two or three years before, he never thought he'd be eager to hear the voice of a woman who talked to him maybe ten times or fewer. He would experience languish, suffering, fear, and sadness, making him whine like a guilty dog who dreamt of hearing the sweet consolation of the sound of her voice.

  At that instant, he realized Anne would be with him forever. No matter what it took. He'd force himself to remember her, Captain Graham, Laura, Alan, and Frank.

  "Only by maintaining a connection with humanity can I preserve the human inside me," he thought, looking at his reflection and the strange eyes that peered back at him like a person ready to dash off and disappear into the night. "My crew members and my memories of them are my connection with humanity."

  He took out a sacred info-line again. Jack decided to start from the very beginning.

  Something started crackling. Perhaps Anne was setting up her equipment. It was probably her first record, which likely explained why Colonel Petrow didn't start immediately.

  "Anne Petrow speaking. Colonel on the research expedition to Nereus," she coughed. "Designated 'Nero-8' according to old protocols. We've been on our journey for already 11 days according to Earth's calendar. The spaceship is moving according to plan, speeding up, energy systems stable..."

  The pavilion fills with a burst of laughter. Almost girlish, vivid, loud.

  "Why is she laughing?" Jack even jumped at the sound.

  "Like a pompous ass... really... damn... this is my personal diary... And I'm making it sound like a report!" She laughed again.

  "Erhm... well, my name is Anne... no, not like that... It's pretty cool here, generally speaking. That's what I should say. We're flying to a new planet. The next year and a half will pass quite fast. And I'll be recording my impressions. There are not that many for now. Just some instructions. Lots of amateurs, as well as a kid... well, I mean..."

  Jack thought first about the child Anne conceived with the Captain, but then he figured out who she was probably discussing. Most likely about him.

  "...well... I meant to say that the ship has its crew. The kid is already a grown-up. Some student with dozens of ambitions instead of experience and skills," Anne spoke, confirming Jack's guess.

  He started laughing nervously as he wanted to turn it off, but he controlled himself.

  "I hope everyone will get used to each other... at least, our pack is controlled by a wise wolf," she continued, silencing Jack's chuckles as he calm
ed down. "There are four men and two women onboard. Me and Laura Stangers. Laura seems pretty bearable. Quite silent, to be honest. She seems a little full of herself, but I need to talk with her more. She dislikes that pompous idiot... well, I said too much already... I promised that I wouldn't... All in all, both of us are stupid enough to fight. I think we'll work together well. So, what else about the crew members.”

  “Frank is a shy man. He sometimes makes jokes at the wrong times, but he seems to have a brain and he's efficient."

  She fell silent. Night was encroaching on the pavilion. The silence turned out to become eerily scary. Jack shuddered. Something rustled again before a light squeak.

  "...Yes... I was looking for my backup card... and, Avant Light, stop spying... it's my personal record for my personal use," Anne shouted angrily.

  It was hard for Jack to tell if she was really angry or not. He was only scratching the surface to uncover the real Anne.

  "...I don't care, in the end, I tell it as it is, not right in their face... and then it'll be just my home archive... well, I think we can do it. I'll record all the collected info about each crew member on board and events too. Enough for today."

  Jack thought that Anne stopped the recording too abruptly.

  He turned to the next one. Anne was telling how "pretty bearable" the food was and then she briefly discussed the work she'd done.

  Then a few more records about "standard days".

  Finally, he came across a story in recording number nine (Anne didn't make them on a daily basis, but she makes them regularly... unless she deleted something), which caught his attention.

  "Today Laura told Alan to stop clowning around on board," she chuckled. "I wasn't mistaken in my assessment of her. Someone should have shut... asked him politely. Although she used to laugh at his jokes earlier, or maybe she pretended that she was laughing. Ehm, anyway, Stangers seems to be fed up with Alan too. We stayed after lunch and talked a bit. I don't have the guts to ask her a lot. If she wants, she'll tell me herself.”