by Dane Bagley
“I don’t like it at all,” said Mike
“Bob says that he watched Aspiria the whole time that she was cooking. He said that there was no chance that she could have poisoned anything. It could have been a bad piece of meat,” suggested Kenny.
“She didn’t seem to feel well, even before she started eating, but still something is awfully fishy about this. We haven’t had a single episode of food poison, and then Aspiria cooks a meal and someone is sick.”
“Maybe we haven’t been fully exposed to her bacteria. With the meal, Tammy may have gotten a dose of something that she hasn’t been exposed to, yet.”
“Maybe she has been getting sick with it for a while, and is just showing symptoms now. Tammy is with Aspiria all of the time. She is the one that has had the most exposure. I hope that this isn’t the start of something serious going on.”
“Tammy says that our antibiotics knock out all of the alien bacteria easily. We haven’t been on anything prophylactically—maybe a short course will fix this right up.”
“Tammy didn’t want to take anything. I don’t get that. Captain Jenners didn’t seem all that impressed, either. I think that I will have a talk with him. He didn’t seem himself today.”
Mike walked to the bridge. Steve was up there alone. “Hi, Captain; may I join you.”
“Sure thing, Mike.”
“I’m not very happy about Tammy getting sick.”
“Yeah, she’s doing better now, though.”
“There is a lot that we don’t know. I don’t want to accuse Aspiria of anything, but isn’t it a strange coincidence that someone gets sick, the first time that she prepares the meal? Anyway, Tammy is around Aspiria more than anyone else. If we are susceptible to something of Aspiria’s, isn’t it more likely for Tammy to get it first? Tammy would be the most exposed.”
The arguments made sense, but Steve seemed to be hardly paying attention. “No one else got sick after eating, and Bob was with Aspiria the whole time,” said Steve, blowing off the discussion.
“Bob? Bob got us here on accident, remember? I like Bob; he’s a good guy. But I would’t trust Bob with my life.”
Steve just smiled.
“Are we running tests on Tammy? I would like to know if we culture an alien bug in her. We might eradicate it easier if we all got on some antibiotic right away. I think Tammy should take something broad spectrum.”
“I’m glad I’ve got you on this mission. Every crew needs at least one worry wart.”
“Just doing my job.”
Tammy came on the intercom again. “I just got sick again. I’m okay now. It wasn’t as bad as the first time.”
“Do you need me to come down?” asked Steve.
“No. Aspiria’s with me. She got me some soda. I’ll be alright.”
“Just let me know; I’ll be down if you need me.”
Mike looked at his Captain with a very serious and curious look. There was more to this than meets the eye. “I thought Kenny locked Aspiria up.”
“Yes, he did. I let her back out. It wasn’t necessary. Tammy feels better having her out, anyway.”
Mike remembered the moment that they were getting on their space suits in preparation for capturing Aspiria. He remembered Tammy kissing Captain Jenners. It was all becoming very clear. They did spend a lot of time together. The past few weeks had been so eventful, that Mike had not spent time reflecting on this, but now he could see the picture opening up before his eyes.
“Captain, you know what’s going on with Tammy, don’t you? There is more going on between you two, than a great working relationship. This isn’t what I think it is, is it?”
Steve glared at Mike with a look of wounded but recovering pride. Mike was his friend and confidant in many ways, but Steve was his Captain. He didn’t say a word, but Mike knew what was going on. “I’m sorry, Steve. I’ll do what you need; just let me know.”