by Russell Fine
Brealak said, “The toilet is through the door at the back of the room. It is the only private area on the ship. To the left of the door are two smaller doors. That is our laundry system. You place a soiled piece of clothing into the upper door. The system scans the garment, disassembles it, and rebuilds it with clean new fabric. When the new garment is finished, it is placed on a shelf behind the lower door. If there are any metal or plastic pieces in the original garment, they will be reused in the reconstructed new one. The process is fast. It takes point-zero-three-hours per garment. Please place only one item into the system at a time,” she laughed ever so slightly and continued, “If you try it with multiple garments, the results will be both unusual and unwearable.”
They followed her out of the sleeping quarters and into the second doorway. “This is our dining room. The ship is equipped with a food generator. You did not know this, but I had samples of food brought over from the Star Rover and loaded them into the system, so you have some Earth foods available. There is a list printed in English next to the controls so you will know what they are.”
Jeffery said, “Thank you. Frank and I really appreciate this.”
Brealak smiled and said, “You are welcome, but it was not just for you. I prefer your food to ours.”
The last doorway was the bathroom. It was small and contained two sinks, a glass enclosed shower stall, and two benches. Brealak said, “I told you there was no privacy on the ship.”
Jeffery said, “It’s not a problem. The ships we use for trips within our solar system are set up in much the same way. Both of us are used to living like this.”
“Good. As soon as Marcet and your personal things are aboard, we will be ready to leave.”
Marcet arrived at the ship .1 hours later. When she saw Jeffery, she said brightly, “Hello Admiral, it is nice to see you again. Did you like Coplent?”
“On this journey, it’s just Jeffery. It’s nice to see you again too. Yes, I like Coplent, but it’s so different from Earth it’s hard to compare them. This is our ship’s doctor, Frank Weber.”
“Hello Frank Weber. It is nice to meet you.”
“Please call me Frank. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.”
A few moments later, a man began bringing in the items that Jeffery and Frank brought for the mission. Jeffery and Frank put their stuff away in the sleeping quarters and rejoined Brealak and Marcet in the control room.
Brealak said, “Please sit down and we will get underway.” Then she sat down at the left console, closed the hatch, and separated the ship from the space station after informing the station of their plan to disengage from the station and get underway.
Jeffery was sitting right behind Brealak so he could see everything she was doing. She maneuvered the ship away from the space station. The video monitor in front of her showed the area in front of the ship. The video monitor on the right console showed the area behind the ship. Jeffery watched as the space station disappeared from view.
Brealak spent several minutes entering commands into the ship’s control system. Then she said, “Please get comfortable. In one minute, this part of the ship will be in time stasis. While we are in stasis the ship will accelerate to fifty percent of the speed of light. Once we reach that speed the stasis field will turn off and we will be on our way to the Procolt System. We will be in stasis for almost six days.”
Jeffery was watching the monitor when he heard a beep. The next moment the display on the video screen had changed completely.
Brealak said, “That was the easy part of the trip. Now we will enter the wormhole. We will be at the Procolt System in twenty-four days.” She entered a few commands into the system.
The monitor displays turned gray as Jeffery expected. The images suddenly cleared up and Jeffery could see stars. He said, “Our monitors are gray while we’re traveling through a wormhole. This is much better. Do you know how they cleared up the display?”
“No, but when we get back to Coplent I will find out for you. Now I want to spend some time teaching you how to operate the ship. The first thing you have to learn is one word in Coplent’s native language. The word is ‘dorplan.’ This word wakes up the system and then it listens for one or more commands. In order to give the commands in English you must tell it that first. So, to start the system you would say, ‘Dorplan. English.’”
“That seems simple enough.” Jeffery said.
“It is very simple. Next you would give the system the command. For example, if you wanted to stop our current journey and return to Coplent the command would be, ‘dorplan. English. Stop new destination Coplent execute in point fifteen hours.’ That command would bring the ship to a position fifty thousand units above Coplent. Unless a more specific command is given, the ship will always bring you to a position fifty thousand units above the planet’s surface. I could be more specific. For example, ‘dorplan. English. Destination Earth twenty-five-hundred-unit orbit execute now.’ If the ship is already traveling in a wormhole, it will continue on the current course while it calculates the best point to initiate the course change. It will do that with no loss in speed.”
“That’s amazing. Why didn’t it react to your commands?”
“Because I turned the verbal input off. After the calculations are completed it will display the course information on the screen, but not in English so it will not be very useful.”
“That reminds me. Did Garlut tell you I wanted to learn your native language?”
“Yes, he did. We will start that soon.”
For the next several hours, Brealak taught Jeffery how to use the ship’s other systems. By the time the lesson was completed, Jeffery felt sure he would be able to operate the ship in an emergency. Of course, he was not able to actually try out any of his new-found knowledge, but he would have the opportunity when they arrived at Procolt 2.
When the lessons were over, Frank said, “I’m getting hungry. Can we try your food generator?”
“Okay, we will have lunch,” Brealak said. All four of them went into the dining room, where Brealak showed Jeffery and Frank the list of Earth food items that were available. Then she said, “The food generator is programmed for English. You just push the red button and tell it what you want.”
Brealak pushed the button and said, “Meatloaf with gravy and mashed potatoes.” The machine made a soft mechanical sound that lasted for mere seconds. Then the unit made a beeping sound and a panel opened. Inside was a plastic plate that contained hot meatloaf with brown gravy on it and a scoop of mashed potatoes. Brealak reached inside the machine and removed the plate. It looked and smelled like meatloaf.
Marcet said, “That smells wonderful. I would like to try that as well.” Looking at Brealak, she said, “I do not speak English. How do I order that?”
“All the Earth foods have to be ordered in English. I did not have time to program the foods in Coplent. I will order for you.” Brealak ordered the same thing for Marcet and the two women sat down at the table.
Jeffery looked at the menu, pushed the red button, and said, “Roast beef sandwich.” When his sandwich was ready, he took it and sat down. He tried the sandwich and was pleasantly surprised. It actually had the taste and texture of roast beef. Even the bread was good. He said, “This is really very good. I’m impressed.”
Brealak said, “The food generator is capable of matching the taste, color, temperature, and texture of almost any food. Yesterday I tried the macaroni and cheese. It was really very good. By the way, it has also been programmed to make coffee.”
Frank ordered a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich with potato chips. When it was ready, he joined the others at the table. After he tasted his food he said, “I agree, this is pretty good. But it’ll never replace a real cook. We have about twenty-five food items to eat. I think after a couple of months we’ll get tired of eating the same things.”
“You can always try some of our foods,” Marcet said.
“I’ll have to give that some thought
.”
After lunch was finished, Brealak told Jeffery to stay in the dining room so she could start teaching him her native language. She brought some very basic children’s books aboard. The books had pictures of common items with the word for the item printed underneath. However, there were ninety-two letters in the alphabet and twenty-one vowel sounds, so this was not like learning French or Spanish. Brealak and Jeffery spent four hours during his first lesson and she was pleased with the progress he made.
While Jeffery and Brealak were working on his language learning project, Marcet and Frank spent the afternoon discussing various medical topics. During the course of the afternoon they both learned a lot about the others’ cultures and medicine.
Dinner went smoothly and afterward Brealak said, “I am tired so I’m going to go to sleep. But I wanted to make you aware of a Coplent custom first. On Earth, most people wear some type of clothing when they sleep. On Coplent, we sleep nude. Is that going to be a problem for either of you?”
“No, I have no problem with that. I usually sleep in my underwear, unless it’s very warm. Then I sleep nude as well. Nudity is common on our space ships,” Jeffery responded.
Frank said, “Please feel free to sleep in the way that’s most comfortable for you.”
“Thank you,” Brealak replied. Then she left the dining room and went into the sleeping quarters.
The others talked for another hour. Then they all decided to go to bed as well.
The journey to the Procolt System went smoothly. The four of them got along very well and they learned a lot about each other’s culture. Despite the complexity of the Coplent language, by the time they were ready to begin the deceleration phase of the mission, Jeffery was able to read the books Brealak had brought. He was also able to have simple conversations with Brealak and Marcet in their native language.
The four of them took their seats for the six-day deceleration phase of the mission, but because of the time stasis field it appeared to happen instantaneously. After it was over, they were fifty thousand units beyond the outermost planet of the Procolt System.
Jeffery said, “I think we should go to Procolt 4 first and let Glencet know what we’re doing. I left on good terms with him and I don’t want to do anything that would upset him.”
“I agree,” Brealak said, “That would be the correct protocol. I will set up the navigation system to take us there. If we have a clear path it will take less than point-zero-five-hours to get there.” She keyed some information into the navigation system and then she said, “There is not a clear path to Procolt 4, so it will take point-one-hours to get there.”
When they arrived at Procolt 4, they were fifty thousand units above the planet’s surface. Brealak tried to contact Glencet, but there was no response. She tried several more times, but the results were the same. She asked, “Jeffery, are you sure Glencet said he would still be here?”
“Yes, he said he would be here for at least another half year and then another ship will arrive to take his place. Can you scan the area to see if his ship is still here?”
“Yes, I will do that now.”
After spending some time at the scanner Brealak said, “There is a problem! There is no ship in orbit around Procolt 4. But there are some large metal and plastic fragments that may have been part of Glencet’s ship. I am going to move us closer to the fragments so we can get a better look at them.”
Suddenly, Jeffery was worried about his people on Procolt 2. His heart was racing when he said, “Yes, please do that.”
Brealak moved the ship close to the debris field and began scanning. She said, “The debris shows signs of an explosion, but I cannot tell if it was internal or external. We are twenty thousand units above the surface. I would like to drop down to two thousand units and scan the surface. Is that okay with you?”
“You’re in charge of this mission. I’m concerned about my people on Procolt 2, but I agree scanning the surface is a good idea. Glencet told me they had a mining operation. Perhaps we can find that. We should also get to Procolt 2 as soon as we can.”
“I think we can complete our scan in an hour. If we locate the mining operation, I will try to contact them. We have to find out if they need help.”
“I agree.”
Brealak put the ship into an orbit two thousand units above the planet’s equator. She then initiated an automatic scan of the planet’s surface. The system was looking for humanoid lifeforms, heat sources, and electromagnetic radiation. It only took a half an hour to locate the mining operation. A high-resolution video scan showed it. There were obvious signs the operation had been attacked. Several buildings had been demolished and more than a few bodies could be seen. None showed any life signs.
Brealak tried contacting the mining operation. She didn’t expect a response so she was not surprised when she didn’t receive one. She said, “I think we should land and search for survivors. We have two doctors aboard who can help.”
Frank and Marcet had been silently observing. Frank said, “I’m ready. Marcet?”
Marcet looked at Frank and said, “I will get a med-kit assembled, in case we find any survivors.”
Frank asked with some concern in his voice, “Are we prepared to fight in case any of the bad guys are still there?”
“We have several handheld weapons aboard. We will take them with us as a precaution, but my scans did not indicate anything alive down there,” Brealak replied.
“Remember, this is a mining operation. Can your scanner detect lifeforms under the surface?” Jeffery asked.
“It is able to detect life forms up to depth of fifty feet. You are right, we should be prepared for a fight, but I do not think it will happen.”
“There’s one more thing to consider before we land. If there are any survivors, they might think we’re part of the group that attacked them. How do we let them know we’re there to help them?” Jeffery asked.
“I spent over a year on Torblit and I speak their language. I can tell them we are not the enemy,” Marcet said.
Jeffery said, “Good! That makes me feel better. We should bring a translator with us anyway.”
The ship landed near the mine opening. The air on Procolt 4 was breathable, but it was only fourteen percent oxygenated, not the twenty percent they were accustomed to. It was also cold, negative fifteen degrees Centigrade. There were some coats that were part of the ship’s standard equipment and each of them put one on. They also each took a small canister of compressed oxygen in case it was needed, and a flashlight. Brealak and Jeffery also carried weapons.
They left the ship and walked into the mine. As they walked Marcet called out in Torblit, “We are from Coplent. We are here to help you,” every few seconds. The inside of the mine was dark and Jeffery led the way. He was holding his light in his left hand and his weapon in his right. After walking a few hundred feet into the mine they heard a cry for help. They hurried forward and found themselves in a round, rock-walled room thirty feet in diameter. There were three men in the room. All appeared to be badly injured.
One of the men said to Marcet, “We are very glad to see you. We need food. None of us have eaten for a week. I am okay except for the hunger.”
“I am a doctor and so is he,” Marcet said, pointing at Frank. “Can all of you walk to our ship?”
“Two of us can, but Bendal has a broken leg. My name is Sportec. What made you come to Procolt 4?”
Marcet did a quick examination of Bendal and gave him an injection to ease his pain. While she was doing that, Brealak handed a translator to Sportec. After he put it on Jeffery said, “Frank and I are from Earth. We recently joined the trade group. We were here before and we met with Glencet. I left two of my crew members on Procolt 2 to study some animals we discovered there and we went to Coplent. While we were there, we found out my crew members may be in danger due to some type of radiation exposure, so we came back to check on them. We decided to stop at Procolt 4 to let Glencet know what we were doing. When w
e got here, we found that his ship had been destroyed. He told me there was a mining operation on the planet, so we decided to look for it before we went to Procolt 2.”
“I am very happy you did! Grober and I will carry Bendal to your ship.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’m sure Frank and I can do it.”
Jeffery and Frank walked over to Bendal. Bendal tried to stand, but was only able to do so with Frank’s help. Once he was standing, he put an arm each around Frank and Jeffery and they began a slow walk back to the ship.
When they got back, Sportec and Grober went to the dining room to get something to eat. Frank and Jeffery put Bendal on one of the beds and Marcet began a more thorough examination. She gave him more medication for pain. Once the pain medication took effect, she reset his leg, put a splint on it, and secured it with a polymer wrap. Then she put a device over the break and turned it on. Marcet said, “This device will heal the break in your leg. Please try not to move your leg for point-one hours.”
“Thank you for your help. If you hadn’t arrived when you did, I am certain all of us would have died.”
“Would you like me to bring you some food?”
“No, I am hungry but I can wait until my leg heals.”
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“I do not really know much. The three of us were just ending our shift when we felt the ground shake. We thought it was a quake. We walked to the mine entrance just in time to see our main building blow up. The blast knocked us all backward off our feet. I fell and heard my leg snap. Sportec and Grober helped me back to the area where you found us. A few hours later, Sportec went back to see what happened. We had three buildings. All of them were completely demolished. There were twenty-two men working here. The others are all dead. That was eight days ago.”
“We had water, but no food. We had been working here for over a year so we adapted to the low oxygen levels. We tried using our handheld com units to contact Glencet, but there was no response. We assumed his ship had been attacked as well, but we were not sure until you told us. Do you have any idea who could have done this?”