by RJ Johnson
"You are kinder than most sir." Suresh said as he spooned some eggs onto the plate. He grabbed a piece of toast and began to eat it quickly as if starving.
"Easy kid, it ain't going nowhere." Meade said smiling a bit.
Suresh nodded and began to savor the food in front of him. Meade studied the attendant for a moment. "You said you served Atel's father, why didn't he take you with you to Rosetta?"
Suresh shrugged. "I was under the impression I would be of greater assistance if I remained behind and helped his son."
Meade chewed thoughtfully. "And you go where he goes generally?"
Suresh nodded, "As a servant in the house of Sinjakama, you travel with your Master wherever he may go."
"You hear from Sinjakama Sr. at all while he was on Rosetta?" Meade asked.
"Once separated, there is rarely a reason to communicate with old servants." Suresh replied through a mouthful of eggs.
Meade frowned. "They don't treat you very well in the Consortium do they?"
Suresh shrugged. "It is how it has always been." He said this as if that answered everything.
Meade took a piece of toast and chewed it thoughtfully. Hard times in the Coalition, but that was nothing compared to what guys like Suresh faced on a daily basis. Sort of made you thankful.
"Emeline up yet?" Meade asked finishing the toast.
"She and her attendant have been exploring the ship." Suresh replied.
"Where she at now?"
"I believe they are touring the whole of the ship at the moment, however, I believe the Arboretum is their ultimate destination."
"I'm gonna take that shower. If you wouldn't mind, run my clothing through the sanitizer."
Suresh jumped up from his seat and bowed deeply. "It will be done before you finish your shower sir."
"Easy with the bowing kid." Meade grunted embarrassed. "I ain't your master."
"I apologize for offending you sir." Suresh groveled. "The shower is through this door, please take as long as you like. The aquacycler should provide you with much water as you need."
Meade was grateful for the aquacycler. His unit in Mars was old and cranky and rarely reliable. Everything around him had that crisp smell of newness and he was sure that Sinjakama's aquacylcers would provide him with the best shower he'd ever have, or at least beat anything he'd ever get back home.
"Finish your breakfast first kid. I plan on taking a long hot shower. I don't get too many of those, so I intend to scrub down to the grit."
Suresh began to bow but caught himself, instead nodding politely as he sat back at the table hungrily finishing his morning feast. Meade smiled and walked into the bathroom - which was bigger than his apartment on Mars.
Steam billowed out of the tub that Suresh had left running while they had begun their breakfast. Meade quickly stripped down and tossed his clothes outside the door for Suresh to pick up. The hot water felt nice on his skin and he remained in the shower scrubbing until his skin had turned the color of a boiled lobster.
After thouroughly washing every nook and cranny, Meade emerged from the shower wearing only a towel and found his clothes neatly pressed and cleaned, laid out on his freshly made bed. Meade quickly dressed and found his overcoat back to its original color of dark brown, the red Martian dust having been efficiently removed from his favorite coat.
"Like it was brand new." Meade mused looking at his things. He wasn't sure if he liked it.
Meade exited his stateroom and found Suresh standing there talking quietly with an engineer repairing a light in the corridor.
"Are you ready for your tour sir?" Suresh inquired.
Meade nodded and gave a friendly wave to the Engineer repairing the light fixture. He nearly dropped what he was working on as surprised as Suresh was to be addressed as an equal.
Meade followed Suresh to the Arboretum located five decks up on the top of the impressive spaceship. Entering the Arboretum, Meade gasped. It was beautiful, full of greenery and flowers unlike anything he had ever seen growing up on Mars. He didn't know plants could look this green.
"Jim! Can you believe this place?" Emeline exclaimed when she saw him enter the room. She was dressed in a tight blue dress, with beaded sleeves that connected to her ring finger. She looked good, Meade had to admit. It was a nice change from her tight black jeans and rough and tumble jacket she usually sported. "I've never seen so much green in my life!"
"Lotta plants around here. I haven't seen the Coalition's arboretum on Mars, but I hear it's about this nice."
"Bigger maybe, but, this is unlike anything I've ever experienced!" Emeline gushed. "Supposedly his father built this ship for Atel."
"He's got a nice collection of plant life in here that's for sure." He slapped at his neck surprised. "Was that a bee?"
"He's got everything in here!" Emeline said excited. "Insects, moss, everything a bio-dome could need for a vibrant self-sufficient ecology."
"The man's committed, I'll give ya that." Meade said. "
"This place is amazing. Amla and I have been all over the ship!" Emeline swooned. "This is the best part though. You can even see space!" She motioned for Amla to open the cover and suddenly, Meade was surrounded by stars.
Bright shining dots of light surrounded him as the cover on the arboretum became opaque. Emeline grabbed his hand and dragged him to the edge of the arboretum. "See that?" She pointed towards a small red disc rapidly shrinking in view. "That's Mars. Hard to believe just yesterday we were standing on it."
Meade swallowed, the nausea beginning to churn within his stomach.
"It's uhh... nice Em. Hard to get a view like this from the tables I s'pose."
Emeline's face fell as she noticed how white Meade had become. Rolling her eyes. "You know eventually, you're gonna have to get used to the fact we're in space."
"Oh, I don't have to get used to anything if I don't wanna." Meade groused. "Besides, it ain't like I have to be here for long. We're what? Two days away?"
Emeline shrugged. "Amla says it could take a bit longer depending on the engines. This is supposed to be the shakedown cruise, so they're trying to take it easy."
Meade shook his head, "So, I'm on an untested ship? That makes me feel so much better."
Suresh spoke up, "Begging your pardon sir, but this is the most advanced ship in the Consortium fleet. Mr. Sinjakama and his family are well-connected and can afford the best here."
"I'm curious Suresh," Meade said turning away from the view, "Clearly you work for a family with means to afford a ship like this." Suresh nodded, "So, why was Sinjakama on Rosetta? Seems like they have enough money to sit and waste away their whole lives in the orbital cities. I hear the Entertainment Centers on New Pashtun alone could take a man half a lifetime to explore."
Suresh paused before answering. "I of course, cannot speak for Master Sinjakama, but, from my experience with the family, the Sinjakamas have a proud history of working, despite their vast wealth and resources. It is how they collected it all in the first place. I have heard the senior Sinjakama speak derisively many times about the layabouts who live off the interest of their families’ wealth. He does not respect those who do nothing to expand their empire of wealth into the new frontiers in space."
"I knew work was highly valued in Consortium culture, but I figured the upper muckety mucks like to at least vacation a bit."
"Mr. Sinjakama does not vacation. The engineering business keeps him quite busy and has done more to expand his empire of wealth more than any other member of his family before him." Suresh said almost reverentially. "He does not believe in wasting time."
"I suppose that works for some people Suresh, but I got to imagine you take some time off occasionally." Meade mused.
Suresh shrugged, "I have some time to myself at the end of my shift, but I am always on call for any and all of Mr. Sinjakama's needs. It is enough."
"What about you Ms. Sinjakama?" Meade asked, turning to the quiet young lady standing next to Emeline.
"Actually sir, she is not part of the Sinjakama clan. She is on loan from another family from New Pastun."
"She don't talk much does she?" Meade asked.
"A woman in her caste is not allowed to speak to men." Suresh replied, his sad eyes lowering to the ground as if wondering when he would be struck by Meade. "I can assure you sir, she means no offense."
Meade took Amla by the hand and looked in her frightened brown eyes. "It's all right. We're all friends here."
She squeaked and lowered her head, staring a hole in the deck.
"Maybe next time." Meade said releasing her hand.
The doors to the Arboretum slide open and Atel Sinjakama stepped through. Suresh and Amla melted into the shadows as Sinjakama approached Meade and Emeline.
"I trust my people have made you sufficiently comfortable?" Sinjakama asked. He approached Amla and stroked her hair. She shrunk away from him as he caressed her chin. Meade's eyes narrowed, and the urge to slap the smirk off Sinjakama's face rose up within him. He swallowed down the rage and counted to ten. It wasn't any of his business.
"They do an exceptional job." Emeline snapped. "I hope you give them a decent wage for the work they do."
"They are well-compensated for members of their caste." Sinjakama replied without looking at Emeline, still running his eyes all over Amla's body. Meade felt the urge to kill rising once again and decided it was probably best to change the subject and draw Sinjakama's attention away from his servant girl. Emeline had a bigger temper than he did, and he wasn't sure how adept she would be in controlling her rage.
"How long til we arrive at Rosetta?" Meade asked, drawing Sinjakama's attention away from Amla. Sinjakama dropped his hand from Amla's cheek and turned to Meade.
"The Captain tells me we will begin deceleration procedures within a day or so. Without any difficulties, we should arrive on Rosetta in less than forty-eight hours."
"Difficulties?" Meade asked apprehensive.
Sinjakama smiled, "Relax Mr. Meade. This ship is the pinnacle of Consortium engineering. My father designed this ship for deep system exploration. Nothing can go wrong."
A sharp bang resounded through the ship's hull and Meade looked up alarmed. "Why did you have to go and say something like that?"
"A small concern, I have no doubt." Sinjakama replied, but Meade could see, even he was alarmed at the noise. "We are entering the Asteroid belt my guess is we may find a few more knocks here and there. The magnetic shielding should prevent any damage to the ship."
Another sharp bang reverberated through the ship's hull and a klaxon began ringing through the ship. The Arboretum's opaque cover began to close and suddenly their group was left in darkness. The artificial light flickered on and the ship shuddered once again.
"Perhaps we ought to retire to our quarters until we are safely through the turbulence." Suresh suggested.
"Shh!" Meade said sharply. "You hear that?"
The group was quiet and then they could all hear it. It was a slight hissing sound. Meade looked at Sinjakama, "Some spaceship you got here. Can't even handle a micro meteor storm without getting opened up like Swiss cheese."
Sinjakama stiffened and made his way over to the door to the Arboretum. "It is a simple matter of getting the repair crews down here to fill the hole with expand foam. It's quite common on voyages like this. Unscheduled storms are part and parcel of deep space travel."
Meade looked over at Emeline, "And you thought I was being paranoid."
Emeline shrugged. Despite her best efforts, Meade could tell she was concerned too. It's not often he saw her nervous like this, though a close call like that would have anyone upset.
"I'm all for getting back to our quarters if you don't mind." Meade said to Sinjakama as they approached the door to the Arboretum.
Sinjakama was sweating as he worked the controls next to the door.
"Is there a problem Sinjakama?" Emeline asked.
"There is no issue that I can see, however," he swallowed nervously. "It seems the computer has put the arboretum on lockdown until the pressure equalizes."
"Equalizes?" Meade asked apprehensively.
"He means until we end up breathing vacuum." Emeline snapped and stepped up to the control panel. "Don't you have an override for this sort of thing?"
Sinjakama swiped his card and typed on the keypad next to the door. "Of course I do, but for whatever reason, it is not working."
Emeline shoved Sinjakama aside and withdrew an optical cable from her ArmBar and connected it to the keypad. She began typing furiously on her ArmBar, a worried expression spreading across her face.
"What do you say Em?" Meade asked, hoping he didn't sound as frightened as he felt. He was no coward, but, explosive decompression wasn't exactly an enemy he knew how to fight on fair terms.
She ignored him at first, concentrating on opening up the door. After a few minutes though, she sighed loudly and pounded the panel with her fist in frustration.
"Did that work?" Meade asked, hoping the humor was evident.
"It's useless." Emeline said disconnecting her ArmBar. "His stuff is three generations ahead of what I'm used to dealing with. My ArmBar isn't even speaking the same programming language as his stuff."
Behind him, Meade heard a frightened squeak from Amla and he felt better knowing that at least there was someone else in the room as terrified as he was.
"What about Rebreather suits? Got any of those in here?" Meade asked desperately.
Sinjakama looked uncomfortable. "The whole point of the Garuda is to create a ship where such things are unnecessary. The magnetic shielding and duraplating were designed so that nothing would be able to penetrate the hull."
The hiss in the background was getting louder making their group all the more aware of their dire situation. "I'd say your engineers still have some work to do." Meade tapped on his ArmBar and opened up the environmental sensor. The levels of oxygen on the display were falling rapidly.
"We're at ten percent of oxygen saturation at the moment." Meade said snapping the display shut. "If we get below five..." he didn't have to finish the sentence. Most everyone who went into space knew what would happen if they didn't get out of the Arboretum.
Meade turned to Emeline, "Any ideas?"
She shook her head. "If Sinjakama's override ain't working, I don't have much hope of doing anything myself."
Suddenly from behind them, Meade heard someone squeak. "I can get us out."
Meade glanced back at Suresh who was gently urging Amla forward. She was trembling.
"How dare you speak in my presence!" Sinjakama snapped, he strode toward her, his hand raised high.
THAWP! With her eyes blazing, Emeline hit Sinjakama hard, knocking him down to the ground. Sinjakama was stunned, blood trickling down his lip onto his jaw. He sat up, touching his bruised jaw, his eyes narrowing.
"How dare you! You..." Sinjakama didn't finish it as he saw how Emeline positioned herself standing over the man.
"No you listen you pathetic piece of shit." Emeline said in a low voice, the message in her eyes clear, "You are not in charge. You do not hit women in my presence and you WILL listen to what she has to say especially if she has a way to get us the hell out of here."
Sinjakama started to say something and Emeline moved towards him, her fists raised. He backed down quickly.
Emeline turned to Amla and spoke in a far more gentle voice than she had used with Sinjakama. "Tell us, what can you do to help?"
Amla was hesitant, unsure of how to proceed after watching Emeline take her boss down hard. Emeline leaned him, grasping her shoulder and guided her to the keypad. "It's all right dear."
Amla spoke, and Meade was surprised by how mellifluous her voice was. "There are times when we are locked out of certain portions of the ship, and yet, our duties require us to attend to them."
"Cleaning and picking up trash as you lowborn scum are supposed to." Sinjakama muttered picking himself up off the deck. Emeline shot him a look and he shut up.
"We are punished severely regardless of whether they are locked or not." Amla continued looking at the floor. "So, we have found ways around Consortium security overrides."
"And you believe you can get us out of here?" Meade asked. His vision was getting cloudy, and he opened his ArmBar. Their oxygen was nearing seven percent. They didn't have much time before they became useless with hypoxia.
"I believe so yes."
"Then what are you waiting for girl?" Sinjakama demanded, his breathing was labored as the oxygen slowly leaked from the room. "Get to it."