He finally reached Andre’s quarters, but he could only stare at the door. He knew once he entered, he would be facing the reality of losing Andre. There’d be no way for him to deny any further that his friend was gone. John rang the door chime even though he knew it was a useless gesture. Somehow, ringing it seemed like a sign of respect. He couldn’t just barge into Andre’s quarters.
After waiting a couple of minutes, John entered his access code to open the door. Andre had granted him access, so the captain didn’t have to contact security or medical to get the door opened. He immediately stepped inside so the door would close behind him, giving him privacy.
“Andre?” Why was John calling for him? He knew there would be no reply. But there was still a glimmer of hope within the captain. Maybe Andre was still around. John looked around and saw the quarters were neat and tidy. On the kitchen counter was an open bottle of wine and a half-filled glass of cabernet.
“Andre?” John muttered as he made his way further inside. He was hoping that what he already knew in his heart wasn’t real. As he took slow, careful steps, he smelled something familiar. The only other time he picked up this scent was after the Screen attack on the ship when they defended the Ni. “Andre?” His voice cracked as he could barely utter his friend’s name. He reached the bedroom and turned to look inside. His heart immediately sank.
Lying on the bed was Andre. He was wearing an old t-shirt and a pair of jeans. The elderly man looked at peace. Nothing about the scene screamed violence. The only thing John noticed that was unusual was Andre’s skin was an ash gray color. Beyond that, it appeared that his friend was simply asleep.
There was no need to call for him any longer. John retreated to the living room and fell back on the couch. He cried as the reality of what Andre did finally hit him. There would be no more dinners, no more taking him on tours of the ship, no more stories about his life, his wife, family. Andre’s story had come to an end.
The captain managed to compose himself after a few minutes. “Come on, John. It’s going to be a long night,” he said as he hoisted himself off the couch. He took a seat at the breakfast bar, making sure not to look over at the bedroom. He couldn’t look at Andre again. Once was enough.
John cleared his throat and made sure he was composed enough to make the call. “Roberts to Doctor Roth.”
“Go ahead, captain.”
“I need you to come to quarters 157882. Bring a medical scanner.”
“Is something wrong?”
“Bring a scanner,” John reiterated. “And come alone, Amie. The door will be unlocked. I’ll be waiting.”
“Yes, sir,” was all Amie said.
********
It took ten minutes for Doctor Roth to arrive at Andre’s quarters. Sure enough, as the captain had said, the door was unlocked. She wasted no time going inside. She found Captain Roberts sitting at the breakfast bar and immediately went to check on him. “Are you okay?”
“The bedroom,” was all he said. He watched as Amie disappeared into the bedroom. He could hear the faint sound of the medical scanner working. A couple of minutes later, she emerged.
“He’s gone,” she muttered. Those two words were all that was needed for the emotions to overcome him again. John broke down again and cried. Amie wrapped her arms around him, trying to comfort him. “It’s okay.”
“I wish I could have done more for him,” John whimpered. “He tried so hard to be happy here.”
“You did everything you could,” Amie assured. “We all saw he was struggling. When he decided to do this, all his problems went away. There wasn’t anything you could have said or done to stop him.”
John nodded as he regained his composure. “I know it was his choice, but it hurts.”
That was a quality Amie, and those who knew him found endearing about the captain. He genuinely cared about the people around him and would do whatever he could to protect them. “There’s nothing more you can do here. I’ll call a team to get Andre. You don’t need to be here for that.”
“I’ll need to go through his effects later,” John said.
“I’ll lock down his quarters,” Amie promised. “I’ll also contact security and let them know what happened. They’ll have to do an investigation.”
John nodded as he stood up. “Okay.”
“You want me to let Julie know what happened?”
“No,” John replied. “I’ll tell her later.”
“Okay, I’ll be checking in on you tonight. That’s not negotiable.”
“Bring some vodka,” John remarked as he left. Amie chuckled at the comment. The joke was a good sign that the captain would weather this loss. She returned to the bedroom not only to conduct more detailed scans for her report but to say her goodbyes to a man she got to know during his volunteer time in medical.
********
Max stopped by Selection to see how Esther was coming along and to make a business proposition. He’d heard a lot of positive things from the crew about the agency. It seemed that the business had become a welcome addition to Central.
Earlier, Max was on the farm deck to clear up a mix up in his wine order. While down there, he discovered that Esther had not employed the ship’s winery for any services. Apparently, she only wanted to serve champagne at her business. As Max was a friend of the winery owner, he was able to find out that Esther had brought only enough bottles on board to last maybe six months. In talking further, Max learned that the winery did have the capacity to make champagne. He thought it’d be a great opportunity to join with Esther in hiring the winery to produce champagne for both of their businesses.
Esther greeted her friend as soon as he entered Selection. “Darling, so good to see you,” she said as she gave him a peck on the cheek.
“I wanted to see how you were doing and to say congratulations. I heard you had a good celebration night.”
“Better than I could have hoped for.” Esther led him to a couch where they could talk. “After all these years in the business, I still underestimate the human desire for companionship.”
“Since most of the crew is human, I think you’ll never have a shortage of business,” Max remarked.
“Oh, I’m not discounting the aliens either,” Esther said. “I’m angling to promote the champagne bar to them. Apparently, those Onixins are quite fond of bubbly.”
Max chuckled. “You need to go after the Senfo. They look small, but they can consume huge quantities of alcohol.”
“I appreciate the tip.”
Max finally had to say something. He noticed the discoloration on the side of Esther’s face. It was faint but still noticeable. “What happened here?” he said as he touched her cheek.
Esther slowly recoiled from his touch. “Easy, darling. It’s still sensitive.”
Max became concerned. “Did something happen?”
“Just a minor altercation with one of those furry aliens,” Esther remarked dismissively.
Max had to think for a moment. “You mean a Cresorian?”
“He came in to express his displeasure with my establishment,” Esther joked.
Max became alarmed. “He attacked you?”
“He caught me off-guard, darling. No worries, he only got in one shot.”
“How come I haven’t heard about this?” Max asked. “Did you notify security?”
“You know how I operate. Why get the police involved when I can take care of things myself?”
“The Cresorians have caused a lot of problems here,” Max explained. “Captain Roberts has only allowed them free access recently because he thinks they’ve been behaving. If one attacked you, we need to tell security.”
“I told you, I took care of it,” Esther insisted. “I introduced that nasty creature to Henry.”
Max remembered who Henry was. It was the nickname Esther gave to her antique gun. “You smuggled a gun on board?”
Esther waved her hand dismissively. “Smuggle sounds so criminal. I simply neglected to inform
the port officer about him.”
Max got up from the couch, hardly able to believe what he was hearing. “Esther, this isn’t Earth.”
Esther reclined back on the couch. “Really darling? They’ve done an awfully good job of making this place like Earth. For a moment, I was confused.”
“You can’t do things here as you did back home,” Max said. “Those Cresorians can be dangerous. You can’t sweep what happened under the rug, and you certainly can’t take drastic actions.”
Esther was surprised by Max’s reaction. “I remember a time when you were more than willing to take the law into your own hands. Remember how you handle the Salvatores?”
“That was a long time ago,” Max replied. “I was young and full of myself. I’ll say it again, this isn’t Earth. The crew worked too hard to make this ship a reality. They deserve better than to have someone undermine their efforts.”
Esther’s smile finally disappeared in a frown. “If I’m not mistaken, I think you’re insulting how I operate.”
“I’m telling you for your own good. You are part of a community,” Max reminded.
“Spare me the lecture,” as Esther rolled her eyes. “I’ve been in this business a long time. Unsavory elements only know one thing. Strength.”
“You’ve been around a long time, and maybe that’s the problem,” Max pointed out. “You’re stuck in your ways.”
“Works for me,” Esther replied.
“It doesn’t work for me,” Max said. “If you can’t see the need to change, then as your friend I need to look out for you. Give me the gun.”
Esther was appalled by his request. “Henry? Absolutely not!”
“Give me the gun, or I call security and tell them what happened,” Max threatened.
“I’ll deny it,” Esther countered.
“You can’t hide the injury when medical examines you,” Max shot back. Esther glared at him. “Don’t think I wouldn’t tell them.”
Esther studied Max for a moment and considered his words. She finally reached in her pocket and pulled out Henry. She looked at the gun for a few seconds before reluctantly handing it over. “The years have tamed you. I thought I taught you better. I’m disappointed.”
“You taught me a lot, but I also learned a lot from Chris and Captain Roberts,” Max said as he put the gun in his pocket. “My advice to you is to be open-minded and learn how people operate here. What you do affects others. You can’t live in a bubble like you did on Earth. If you do, you won’t last very long.”
Esther turned away from Max. “I think it’d be wise if you didn’t come around anymore.”
Max was disappointed to hear those words. There was no point in replying. Any words would fall on deaf ears. He left without saying anything more to his friend.
********
Amie kept her word. She arrived at the captain’s apartment a little after 2100 hours. X opened the door and let her in. “John informed this unit that you might visit. He is in his bedroom. I will retrieve him.”
“Thanks,” Amie said as she came inside. She turned the bottle of vodka in her hands as she looked around. She had been to the captain’s quarters a couple of times for dinner. He kept a pretty spartan place. The only unusual object was the gorun crystal sitting on the coffee table. John explained how the crystal, from the planet of Volux, operated. It somehow picked up the emotions of an individual and displayed a color pattern based on how someone was feeling. Currently, the crystal glowed a faint blue color.
“Hey,” a despondent John said as he emerged from the bedroom.
Amie held up the bottle. “In case you’re in the mood.”
“X, two glasses on the rocks. Lemon and lime,” John instructed the bot.
X took the bottle from Amie and headed into the kitchen to prepare their drinks.
“Andre’s in autopsy,” Amie explained. “I did the examination and have him in storage until we’re ready to carry out his wishes.”
John nodded. “He wants to be cremated, and the urn fired back towards the solar system.”
“There’s no rush,” Amie said as X returned to the living room and handed the pair their drinks. “You can take your time.”
John motioned for the doctor to follow him to the balcony. Out there, John looked down around Central, watching the people walk around as he sipped his drink. “I’d sit out here with Andre, and we’d watch the people below. This is the first time I’ve come out here since…”
“We don’t have to talk about him,” Amie said. “We can just sit here.”
“It’s okay,” John replied. “I want to talk about him. Not doing so would be like trying to erase his existence.”
“Can I ask you something?” Amie asked. John nodded yes. “Are you mad at what he did?”
It didn’t take long for the captain to answer the question. “No. I’m sad he’s gone, but I’m not mad at him. He was open with me about his struggles after his wife died. Although I wish he didn’t do what he did, I understand why he did it.”
“I can understand it, too,” Amie remarked.
Her words caught John’s attention. “What do you mean?”
“A few years ago, I thought about taking my own life.”
John was surprised to hear such a revelation from someone he viewed as very strong. “I had no idea.”
“I’ve never been good with personal relationships,” Amie admitted. “I tend to sabotage them. Then I met Jason. He stuck by me for years, despite my constantly questioning why he was with me. Just when I finally accepted he was with me because he loved me, I found out about the affair. He never explained himself when I confronted him. He just up and left me.
“I was with him for so long, I didn’t know how to live without him. There was this one night when I went through my medicine cabinet. I wanted to see if I had enough pills to end it, but something in me prevented me from going through it. Somehow I managed to plod along for a couple of months until Admiral Johnson recruited me for the EXODUS Project.”
“Have you ever thought about it?” John asked. “You know, going through with it?”
“Never have since that day,” Amie replied. “I dove into my work here. The EXODUS Project was exactly what I needed. I couldn’t imagine doing something like that now. I’ve accomplished so much and have a good life here.”
John broke a weak smile. “So how come Andre wasn’t able to emerge from his depression like you did? Why couldn’t he stop himself?”
Amie didn’t have an answer for him. “I don’t know. Maybe he was with his wife so long he couldn’t imagine a life without her. I was with Jason eight years, but that pales compared to how long Andre and Adriana were together.”
Somehow, it made sense to John. Or maybe he was clinging onto that explanation because he truly didn’t understand why Andre took his life. Or he didn’t want to understand.
Amie could see John had a lot of thoughts swirling through his mind. “Don’t try to make sense of it. My best advice for you is to remember the time you had with him.”
“I’ll never forget him.” John raised his glass, and Amie did the same. “To Andre.”
“To Andre,” Amie repeated.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Julie got an early start to her day. She was already up by 0500 hours, enjoying some military rations as she got to work. It was nice working in peace as her team members slept. She forgot how enjoyable it was to hear the rustling of leaves and the wind blowing across the land. That was something PHOENIX couldn’t replicate.
After reviewing data on several computer terminals in the main tent, Julie took a seat outside on one of the lounge chairs. She activated her holographic DAT and went over the summary of information collected so far, as well as the list of tasks that needed to be done that day. Occasionally, she took a break to enjoy the view of the outdoors. She could see the Cresorians setting roots here. Sure, this place was nothing like their homeworld, but they could adapt and build a home here. She smiled at the thought. Th
e efforts they put in now could lay a strong foundation for a thriving colony.
Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She looked to her right and thought she saw something small flying around. Maybe she was seeing things. She went back to reading her DAT, but her attention was diverted again. She looked over and was certain there was something in the distance but couldn’t spot it. She pulled out a scanner and pointed it towards her right. Sure enough, her DAT registered two small life form readings.
As she read the scanner’s data through her DAT, the lifeforms flew closer to her. She tried to get a digital image of what they looked like, but they were moving too fast for the scanner to capture the information. The life forms were darting back and forth, like hummingbirds flying.
Julie could hardly keep her attention on trying to spot the life forms and her DAT. She ultimately focused more on her DAT. When she looked up again, she was staring at two metallic dragonfly-like creatures floating in front of her. Their pairs of big honeycomb-like eyeballs were focused on her.
She froze, breathing methodically and as little as possible. She wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want to do anything to antagonize these creatures, even if they were small. Who knows what they were capable of. It seemed very unusual for them to be interested in her. These insect creatures were too small to be sentient. Then again, anything was possible. Julie remembered back when they found a container filled with a colored gas during the Screen mission. Everyone assumed it was simply an unknown gaseous compound. It turned out it was a sentient alien life form, a Ni. Could this be something similar here? Discovering the Ni was confirmation that not all the aliens they would encounter would be organic, humanoid life forms. They even had a non-humanoid living on PHOENIX, a Gercol, that was nothing more than a green blob.
The two insect creatures kept hovering in front of Julie. She slowly nodded her head to them and said, “Hello.”
The creatures emitted some buzzing sounds as they looked at each other and waved their six legs, or arms (Julie couldn’t decide what their appendages were) wildly. One of the insects flew closer to Julie and pointed one of its appendages at her as it emitted some buzzing sounds at her, sounds she could understand thanks to her micron.
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