Professor Ricter ran up and let her wrap her arms around his shoulder for support. “I was barely able to lift myself against the wall,” she continued with a shaky voice. She was weak, too weak to even care about how she sounded when she spoke. “I seem to have strength in the legs, I just can’t feel them.”
“I’m told that’s one of the symptoms of Fullerton.” Professor Ricter opened the door. With Marjorie hanging off his shoulder they slowly walked into the room. He was sure to go at her pace. He gently sat her on a chair and knelt. “Captain, I know I say this every time you come here, but I’m hoping you’ll listen to me now. We need to see the ship’s doctor and you need to tell everyone what is going on.”
She sighed and leaned her head back into the chair’s headrest. “I know, but not now. When we get out of Wormhole Beta space I’ll tell everyone.”
“You need to tell them now.”
“We can talk about it later?” She snapped. “I just need your help for a few more days, okay?”
“No, it’s not. Captain, if you don’t see the doctor right now and tell him I’m going to go tell him myself.”
She looked up at him, studying him, as if trying to tell if he was bluffing. He kept his face stone still, not wanting to betray anything. A smile slowly formed on her lips, a sly grin that called his bluff. “No, you won’t.”
She knew him too well. She knew he would never break the trust she had earned over the years, and he had promised not to tell the doctor until she was ready. “Fine, I won’t tell him anything.”
“Can we get on with this then? I need you to rub life back into my legs.”
He knelt down, grabbed her calf muscle and massaged it. “Doesn’t it bother you? Knowing that you can’t walk?”
“Of course it does, but I can’t let it get in my way. My ship and my crew need me now.”
“Who knows what we’ll see on the other side. What if they need you then?”
“Then I’ll be there,” she replied, the tone of her voice implying she was getting tired. “I’m always going to be there for my crew. Without strong leadership this ship might fall apart.”
“What about Commander Pippleton? He could take over while you recover.”
“You don’t recover from Fullerton, you just sort of deal with it. I know what you’re doing, Professor, and it won’t work.”
He worked his way up her right calf, rubbing diligently, wondering if he was hurting the Captain. He moved from her right leg to her left and started rubbing as hard as he could, hoping to get some feeling back. “Captain, are you even feeling this?”
“Yes,” she said, her eyes closing. “It feels nice. Thank you, Theo, you don’t even know how much this is helping.” She snapped her eyes open and pulled her leg away. “Ouch, that hurt.”
“Well, it’s about time.” He replied taking the leg back. “I’ve been trying to hurt you to see how much you really do feel.”
“I can feel them now. The numbness is going away.” She looked at his wall, studying the maps and math. “Are you ready to tell me what that is?”
“No,” he replied sharply.
“Is this punishment for not going to the doctor?”
“No,” he said, once again with a sharp tone.
“I see.” Captain Cook leaned back in the chair again and closed her eyes. Within minutes, she was snoring, leaving the Professor alone working on her.
*****
Marjorie dreamed of better times. She dreamt of being with Payton; her ex-husband who who had died defending the Earth. She dreamt of days before war was common. Before she went into space for years on end. She dreamt of times when she had control of her body.
When she finally opened her eyes she found herself still in the chair, the Professor was nowhere to be found, and the room was dark. She blinked a few times trying to clear the sleep from her head. She tested her legs; they felt good, still weak, but she didn’t feel she like was going to fall. Her hands and arms also felt good, the way they always do after the Professor helps her. He must have kept massaging even after she fell asleep. Fatigue was another symptom of Fullerton, one she had to try to resist.
She heard a noise in the darkness and saw a large, black lump move from the top of a bed. It was Professor Ricter. He must have gone to sleep. How long had she slept for? She checked the clock next to his bed and was shocked to see she had been asleep for five hours. It was almost time for her shift, and she was still wearing the clothes from the party.
She quietly opened the door and walked down the hallway, saluting those she passed. The sprits on the Arwen seemed to be high. They knew they were about ready to enter real space. No matter where they ended up she would immediately order the particle accelerator charged and order a course for home. It might take some time but she was sure they could make it home before Fullerton took over her body completely.
The more she walked the better her legs felt. She stepped into her room and started to unbutton the top of her uniform. As she did she glanced over to her computer to find that a new message. She walked over and looked. It wasn’t from anyone on the ship. It was from the outside. She fumbled for a moment, sitting down quickly, and opened it. It was a written message, written in a language she sort of recognized. Some words she understood, others she didn’t. “What language is this?” She ran the message thought a translator. The answerer surprised her: Old Earth English.
Old Earth English? We haven’t spoken that in over two hundred years. She read the translated message then pressed the communication button on her console. “Bridge, contact Commander Pippleton and tell him to gather Professor Ricter and Doctor Lipton. Have them meet me in the conference room as soon as possible.”
She saved the message to her portable computer and stood. Her legs once again felt numb, but she pushed onward. Things were about to change, and she wasn’t going to let this stop her.
******
Captain Cook looked at the computer screen while she spoke. All those she had called were watching, giving her all of their attention. “The computer informed me it couldn’t translate exactly what was said so it did its best, I’d say the translation is about 98% accurate.” The others looked at her and she continued, “Hello ship that is traveling through the wormhole. You are about ready to leave and I want to welcome you and your crew. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet someone from Earth. I, and my handlers, would appreciate it if you wait. What I have to show you you will not want to miss. The note is signed Newman Ruzoto.”
“Ruzoto?” Professor Ricter said. “I know that name.”
“He was on a manned mission to Jupiter,” Captain Cook said. “He docked at Ida station, refueled, restocked, and then went back into space. They lost contact with him a few hours later.”
“And now he’s sending us messages?” Professor Ricter asked.
“It would seem someone is. Doctor Lipton, I want you to go over the message to see if there’s a way to determine its origin.”
“I’ll do my best,” Doctor Lipton said.
“We leave Wormhole Beta space in two days. Commander, I want you to work with navigation, make sure we’re ready.”
“What are you going to do?” Commander Pippleton asked.
“I am going to read as much as I can about Newman Ruzoto. I don’t want any more surprises this mission. Lord knows we’ve had more than enough.”
Chapter thirteen
Commander Pippleton knew something was wrong when he saw Captain Cook shambled onto the bridge. She walked slowly with what seemed to be deliberate steps. She seemed awkward, not as graceful as he was used to seeing and she kept her left hand in her pocket. Things were adding up in his mind. She spent a lot of time with Professor Ricter and, when she wasn’t with him, she would spend it in her own room. He wondered if the Professor was there as well. He knew about human bonding and understood the concept of love. At least he thought he understood it. From all the literature he read he wasn’t sure if humans understood what it was. On a biologica
l level he understood the need to pair up with someone. On Ulliam it wasn’t much different. Some females and some males mated with each other and no one else. Others females find males who are not opposed to bear children without the need for a male to be around. That was more common. A male would present himself to a willing female, they mated and the male would either stay around to help raise the child or leave and only be there if the mother died or needed his help.
“Commander,” she said sitting in her chair. “What’s the status?”
“We’ve found the exit and are heading toward it. We should be there in less than thirty minutes.”
“Thank you. Did you get everything strapped down? I don’t want things to go floating around once we hit that zero gravity field.”
“I had the second shift working on it in your absence.”
“I want Professor Ricter up here to help monitor what is going on. Please get him.”
“I’ll send someone-“
“No, Commander, I asked for you to get him. Get Doctor Lipton too.”
“I will,” He replied and walked out.
******
Fran towered over Commander Pippleton. He stood in front of her, his shoulder raised in frustration. “There is something going on and the Captain will not tell me what it is.”
“Does she need to?”
“If it affects her duty as Captain of this ship, yes. Haven’t you noticed it?”
Fran had to admit there was something off about the Captain. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
“She spends so much time with Professor Ricter, she’s neglecting her duties and passing them onto me.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? You’re getting the experience you need to run your own ship.”
“If I thought that was the reason she was doing it I would be happy but I don’t think it is. I think she has fallen in love with Professor Ricter and is spending all her time mating with him.”
Fran tittered at the thought of Professor Ricter being with Captain Cook. She placed her finger in front of her lips to try to hide the smile she was doing her best to suppress. “I really can’t see that.”
“Well, there is something going on. Doctor, if things get difficult can I trust you to be on my side?”
What did he mean by difficult? “What are you talking about?”
“If I feel the Captain can’t do her duty to keep this ship safe I will be forced to take over.”
Fran couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She never thought the Commander could even think of forcing Captain Cook to step down. “Are you talking mutiny?”
“Mutiny? No, I’m talking about putting the ship first.”
“Commander, you really need to rethink this-“
“Hmph,” he said, his shoulders by now were above his head. “I now know whose side you will take.”
“Commander, if I feel the Captain needs step down I’ll be on your side, but this isn’t something you just do-“
He stopped her by simply saying, “The Captain would like you on the bridge. I am on my way to get Professor Ricter. I can trust anything we say in this room today will be kept here?”
“Yeah,” Fran said, frightened to entertain the idea of telling anyone what the Commander just said.
“Good, I will see you on the bridge in a few minutes.”
******
The exit from Wormhole Beta space started out as a tiny little black dot in a sky of silver. The Arwen made its turn toward the exit and slowed down considerable.
“We are now traveling at 60% the speed of light,” Professor Ricter said from the science terminal. Fran sat next to him looking at the strange readings. He looked up from the terminal and at Captain Cook, “Captain, I think I understand why there is no gravity zone outside. It just occurred to me-“
“We’ll run by your ideas after we get out of here, Professor.” Captain Cook snapped.
“I’ll be sure to write up a detailed report.” He replied sarcastically.
“I’m sure you will,” Captain Cook said not even trying to pay attention to him. On her screen, the small dot grew.
“50% the speed of light,” Professor Ricter said.
The opening was huge and Marjorie had to reminder herself the one they entered was nearly as large as Earth. “How long until we leave?”
“At this speed, we should be out within in the next twenty seconds.”
The Arwen entered the black, exited Wormhole Beta space and entered real space. Once it entered the no gravity zone, it stopped completely.
All they felt on the bridge was a gentle pull forward as the massive ship came to a stop.
“Wow,” Professor Ricter said, “we went from 60% the speed of light to nothing in less than the length of the Arwen.”
Marjorie felt her arms floating around her body. A pen, which she forgot to secure, past in front of her eyes. She reached up, grabbed it and placed it into her pocket securely. “Commander, damage report?”
“Everything looks normal,” Commander Pippleton said.
“Good to hear. Navigation, scan the sky, figure out where we are.”
“What are going to do then?” Commander Pippleton asked.
“We’re going to set course for home.”
“What about Captain Ruzoto?” Professor Ricter asked.
“We’ll make a note of where we are and send another ship out to see to him. We can’t waste any more time being a mission ship. We have to return to Earth to report what we found.”
“Captain,” The communication officer said, “we’re getting an incoming transmission. It's from a Captain Ruzoto.”
Captain Cook raised her eyebrow. “Put him through to my office. Professor, come with me.”
The two of them floated off the bridge and toward Captain Cook’s office. Once in the office they gathered around her desk. She pressed a button and connected to the transmission. There was a few second delay as the computer translated the message.
“Greetings Earth ship!” The voice said, still no image. “It’s good to know that my race has made it deep enough into space to find one of the wormholes. Now, I’m sure you all want to go home as soon as possible and trust me, I understand but I’m going to have to ask you not to leave until we meet. I’m afraid you’ve stumbled into something big, something that I don’t have the words to explain. A ship should be there in a few days. You'll just need to follow that ship back to me. I look forward to seeing a human face other than my own. Take care.”
Captain Cook looked around the room. They were both silent, lost in their own thoughts. It was Professor Ricter who spoke first, “We can’t leave.”
“A few months ago you told me you didn’t want to see what was outside this wormhole. You were scared of the aliens who had this kind of technology, now you want to meet them?”
“I was afraid then but I’ve come to my senses. It’s a matter of needing to know, maybe even needing to understand the enemy. Mostly, it’s a matter of me needing to know how they built this wormhole and this zero-gravity zone. If we leave without me understanding it, it will destroy me from the inside out.”
“I need more than that. I can’t risk the lives of my crew just for your curiosity.”
“Know the enemy?”
“We don’t even know they are the enemy.”
“No, we don’t. I’m simply trying to make my case that we need to see what is going on.”
She sighed, unwilling to play devil’s advocate anymore. “There are many reasons for us to leave but only a few for us to stay. The few are compelling. What does Captain Ruzoto want us to see? Where has he been all these years and yes, even your question about how this place came about. I have a lot of reservations about staying, but if we leave without getting as much information as can then I wouldn’t be doing my duty.” Marjorie and the Professor knew what this delay would mean. “Okay, we’ll wait. But I’d like to see you tonight to discuss how this man might be alive.”
Chapter fourteen
Sensor
office Juliet Monrow noticed the ship on her screen. She turned to tell the Commander only to find he was no longer on the bridge. “Again,” she said, “both the Captain and the Commander aren’t here. That has to be some sort of protocol breach.”
“We’ve been in space almost eight months” Communication Officer Derek Windor replied. “I don’t think they’re going to stick with strict protocol all time. I’ll contact the Captain. What do you see?”
“It’s a ship, probably the one they kept talking about. It looks like it’s about a day out.”
“Okay, I’ll pass that along.” He swiped his fingers gracefully across the computer screen to bring up a menu which paged the Captain.
“Go ahead,” Captain Cook said.
“We’re seeing the ship on the sensors. It’ll be here in about a day.”
“Understood,” She replied. “Captain Cook, out.”
“You know,” Juliet said, “there’s something going on.”
“Forget about it.”
“I can’t forget about it. We’re the ones down here in the trenches making things happen.”
Derek leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head. “We work the trenches. Everyone does before moving up, it’s how you learn about the ship.”
“I think I’ve gotten to know more about this ship than I cared too,” she replied looking back at her computer screen. She had several dozen readings going at once, one on the wormhole set to alert her if anything came though. Another flagging a massive gravity well she wanted to do a thorough scan of when she had the time.
Juliet felt someone standing over her. It was the navigation officer; she couldn’t remember his name at the moment. They had rotating shifts, 12 on, 12 off. She was in the middle of a 14 hour shift. She promised the other sensor officer, Robert that she would cover for him while he celebrated his birthday. She knew the truth. He had celebrated hard the night before and just needed time to recover. It didn’t matter. She enjoyed the bridge duty and was simply too bored in her room when she wasn’t working. He leaned over her, could smell he hadn’t showered in a while. She wondered how long he had been on his shift. “Do you have any idea where we are?”
The Arwen Book two: Manifest Destiny Page 10