by Chris Hechtl
“The problem is this is where one end of the bridge is,” Wally said as he reset the star chart and then expanded it with a projected course back home. “We'd have to follow the Orion spur. I don't know how far we can go from here and still catch the bridge,” he warned.
“So, we stay here. We'll work around the area, terraforming and filling the computers up with scientific data on what is here while they also work on refining the manual on the bridge so we can hop it home,” the Captain said.
“It sounds like a good plan,” the XO said, nodding his head. His eyes cut to the doctor, telling her silently to shut up. She scowled but then looked away.
“Work the problem folks. Keep your chins up. We can get home. By terraforming a few systems it should give Wally and Nike here time to come up with what we need to get home.”
“While terraforming the computer will be used for science too,” Doctor McReese warned. “As well as the various computing needed for the terraforming, such as calculations and control of the robots,” she finished.
“We'll work it out,” the captain said before Wally could finish opening his mouth. “One step at a time.”
The other officers started to get up. Magnus however still sat there at the table. “One good thing,” he rumbled as most of the others filed out. “We're well outside the one thousand light year barrier that the Earthy bastards put up,” he said. “They can't complain about us being so far out,” he said.
The captain stared at the map shaking his head. “Wanna bet?” he asked softly.
“We have to get back there first, skipper,” Magnus warned, drinking the last dregs of his coffee. He examined the cup's empty interior. “We should start rationing now. Who knows what the future brings?” He asked.
“Start cutting back but I don't want it to impact morale,” the captain ordered. “We'll have to figure out what is renewable and what we need to conserve. And what equipment we also need to be conservative with,” he said, rubbing his brow. He had a headache, the entire situation was one big migraine. But he didn't want to get an analgesic out of fear of needing it later.
“Well, if we're terraforming it will keep everyone busy and preoccupied. Too preoccupied to think of what a crack we're in,” the XO rumbled, getting to his feet.
“To some. To others they are going to complain that we don't try to go home right away,” he said with a sigh.
“Well, we'll just have to drum it into their heads that we need to give Wally and Shannon time,” the captain said firmly. “But keeping them too busy to worry should help a lot.”
“We'll see,” Magnus said.
“Do you think we're doing the right thing?” The skipper asked, looking at him.
Magnus hesitated and then spread his hands apart. “Honestly?” he asked from the open hatch. He leaned against the combing a bit, seemingly as if for support. “I don't know. I think we've been handed a set of options, all bad and you are doing what a captain should do, picking the least bad one on the list. We can adapt. We will adapt. I don't like the idea of being a mudball colonist, but hey, we'd be making history if it ended up that way,” he said.
The captain nodded. He'd looked forward to exploring dozens, possibly hundreds of solar systems and really making a mark on mankind's history. “We'll see. We're not down and out yet,” the skipper said. “Dismissed,” he said with a nod. Magnus returned the nod and then went off to check on the crew and ship.
-*-*-^-*-*-
Isley was like a lot of the crew worried about their location but too busy to get too worked up about it. She was working flat out, either on various repairs, deferred overhauls, or overseeing tear downs. When she wasn't working on her own projects Chief Roak had her checking in on Taz and Jeff's progress overhauling the hyperdrive, or Cosmos's tear down and repair of reactor two.
Everyone was working twenty-hour shifts. They were exhausted, sore, and tired of the seven-day-work week. She knew mistakes were being made, which only increased the irritability of a few people. Finally the skipper stepped on that, giving everyone a half day off to kick back and catch up on laundry or just rest.
She was at ends on what to do with the free time so like a lot of the engineers she'd spent some time racked out before she'd drifted to the galley and then eventually back into engineering country.
She heard the crew grumble about the heavy workload without any long term relief in sight but shrugged it off. “This is total bull. We don't have to kill ourselves. Haven't we done enough while in hyper?” Mat demanded.
Isley frowned. What he was doing was dangerous, possibly considered inciting a mutiny. She frowned thoughtfully, not sure about how to address it. Finally she decided to hit it obliquely.
“You have something better to do? Somewhere else to be?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
He stiffened and scowled her way. She smiled sweetly at him. “I'd rather be busy than bored or dead,” she said. He still scowled, obviously not ready to give in or give up. “We don't have a choice, Mat,” she told the machinist mate softly, shaking her head as he pouted. “Everyone would like a day off. You, me, the skipper,” she shrugged. “We'll get it when we get it. Until then let's just do our jobs and make sure the old gal is ship shape and ready for her next jump,” she said. “And the one after that and so on. Until she gets us home,” she said. He reluctantly nodded as the crowd dispersed to their duties.
When he left Isley let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. That could have gone very differently. They were all wired, tired despite the all too brief time off. They needed an outlet, some way to blow off steam … but only when the ship was back underway she reasoned. A reward, she thought, making a note to bring it up to the chief, Cob, hell, even the skipper if needed. She looked at her hand, steady, rock steady despite the tension. She caught a throat clearing behind her and turned to see Chief Roak there, standing in the shadows of a hatch combing. The chief gave her a mock applause then went about her duties. After a moment of puckish amusement Isley did as well.
-*-*-^-*-*-
To Click'ck'a's annoyance the humans took the helm to maneuver her into the sparse Oort cloud. They sent out remote tugs to pick up ice rocks to process for fuel. She squawked about it so much that finally the captain let her take a shift manning the helm to shut her up. “Some people just don't know when to rest,” Doctor McDaniel grumbled.
“Indeed, Doctor,” the captain replied. “It is hard to just sit around and watch. And harder when one sees someone else doing your job,” he said, nodding to the fin in the first helm slot. The fin was doing a good job, though she was using a lot more fuel than he liked. He reminded himself they were about to refuel, but it still rankled a bit. He made a mental note to have a quiet chat with the fin on the importance of patience while coasting.
“I'll bet,” she grumbled. “Well, if no one really needs me,” she said with a trace of irony. “I'll just go do inventory or something,” she grumbled as she left the bridge.
-*-*-^-*-*-
Once Chief Roak's engineers pronounced the ship as space worthy after a ten-day overhaul, Captain Peck stood the ship down for two days of rest and partying. It was an incredible relief for the crew. On the second day, they were resigned or itching to begin the next leg of their adventure.
The navigator directed the ship to the Pyrax system. The system had been a prime target by astronomers for some time; it was confirmed that she had at least one Mars class planet in the Goldilocks zone as expected.
The system had two pretty good asteroid belts as well as several gas giants in her charts, possibly more things were waiting to surprise them. Her G class star was a nice golden color much like Sol. The as yet to be named planet was larger than Mars though classed as a Mars class because of her color, lower gravity quotient, and ambient temperature. She had a .8 gravity quotient, and spectrographic analysis of her atmosphere confirmed the presence of carbon dioxide and oxygen. There was also tantalizing clues of possible water vapor and water on he
r surface. Studying the radio frequencies from the host star passing through the atmosphere had confirmed a magnetosphere. They were calculating it at .41 Gauss, slightly below that of Earth's .5 Gauss.
Jumping direct from B-92c to the Pyrax was considered tricky, but the dolphins were up to the challenge. More importantly Wally was confident enough in the jump to back it.
The lengthy stressful time on the hyperbridge had exhausted the fins, but the twelve days sitting outside the O class system had gone a long way to allow them to recover their strength and settle down. Click'ck'a took the helm personally as they reentered hyperspace for their next adventure.
“Here we go again,” Anita muttered as the ship crossed the hyperwall.
Chapter 34
Amelia Irons returned to station 32 as an assistant to Hannah as the individual Neo clinics evolved and expanded with the population growth. Lagroose Industries was selling off more and more of its businesses in and around Earth. It was rumored that they were overextended and were divesting themselves of the businesses to stay afloat. Hannah and other company employees knew better. Jack Lagroose, like many of them were just sick of the bull coming from Earth.
The company had stopped expanding once stations 39 and 40 came on line. Mars had a string of pearls around it, artificial moons created by the various megacorps to go along with Phobos and Deimos. Space was getting a bit crowded some said.
The Neo population was expanding. They had gone through a brief hoopla when Doctor Lagroose had been relieved of duty. Dozens of families had started up; the population controls had shifted to the people instead of the good doctor and her team of scientists. Much to their dismay the new parents weren't interested in promoting the future of their species; they just wanted a healthy cub, kit, pup, or even a full litter.
Jack had put his foot down. They weren't going to breed indiscriminately; the habitat couldn't support that. Nor was he about to let up on the ban on the classified Neos. That put a few of the species in a quandary.
The problem had been partially solved when Habitats 39 and 40 had come on line. Primate families had taken up condos for themselves, moving out of their old apartments and habitats, thus freeing up new space. Others had moved to habitats on Mars and other stations and several hundred primates quit the company in order to follow a new path.
But the Neo hospital was still swamped even before it had been officially brought online. Which was why the call had gone out for experienced help. Of course they started the call in house. Amelia was one of the people who answered the call.
She'd gotten sick of Earth. Her two times groundside had been a complete disaster. Not only did she have a medical problem, wearing the exoframe had been hell, but she'd also been mugged each time. Each flipping time, she thought with disgust. The first time she'd been told she'd been asking for it, traveling alone, on a dark street. The second time had been a brutal affair; she'd been ambushed in the rest room and nearly gotten raped for her trouble. If she hadn't had implants and called in help, she would most likely have ended up in the gutter with her throat slit. She shivered. She vowed she'd never go back to Earth. It was dirty, overcrowded, and just wrong.
She focused her mind on the future. It was looking bright, brighter every day. There was a rumor circulating around that everyone in the company was eligible for a colony slot once they opened up. They and their immediate family. And their extended family got major discounts. She smiled. Isley might be the first Irons to go to the stars, but she certainly wouldn't be the last. Not by a long shot.
But even though the company was pulling in its horns around Earth, they were still expanding or consolidating in Mars orbit. They were taking in not only hires from the company but also Neo medics as well now that more and more were graduating from colleges and trade schools. Six months ago the first Neo doctors had reported for duty, all primates.
Emilia had moved back to the station and had came on as an RN and head nurse of the maternity ward since it was overwhelmed. She had reconnected with Amelia, which was a relief to the Irons woman. The trio tended to hang out together when they were off duty for brief periods. Emi was trying to get into a bonobo troop but was finding it hard to socialize with some of the older females.
Whiles she got a handle on that she introduced Amelia and Hannah to Ezri, her younger cousin. Ezri was young, barely six but already in high school with an intense career focus.
Amelia was amused when she found out young Ezri was the daughter of Ezra; she had no idea the little bonobo had settled down. She shook her head. She'd been out of touch, clearly out of touch. Way out of touch, she thought with a wry twist of her lips as she remembered her recent duty in Earth space. Ezri was a good kid. She was taking the medical track for her education but she didn't like sight or smell of blood.
Amelia shook her head. Either the girl would learn to hang or she wouldn't. They could always use administrators, she mused. “Finished your paperwork?” Emi asked, coming over to her.
Amelia jumped in surprise then shook her head. “Sorry. Wool gathering,” she admitted. Emi snorted. “I'll get on it now. Anything I should know about?”
“Yeah, watch out for 3C, major flirt,” Emi said, rolling her expressive brown eyes.
“Oh boy,” Amelia sighed. “One of them,” she said shaking her head. “Well, I'll give him a warning. Sexual harassment won't be tolerated,” she said settling herself grimly.
“Oh, not him, her actually,” Emi replied. That made Amelia stop short. “And pregnant to boot,” she said, chuffing at Amelia's startled expression. Amelia had the grace to blush. “She's in her first trimester, twins from her chart. She's in for a long haul.”
“Oh,” Amelia said, frowning. She accessed her implants … something new for her to get used to, and then checked. 3C was in good health, a gen 8 chimp. Young to be having kids, but apparently she'd gotten past the Neo breeding board.
“And she's in, why?” Amelia asked.
“She was supposed to have a general checkup but they found some issues with her blood so since it was late they held her over. I think the flirting is a way to hide the fear.”
“I see.”
“I noticed she hasn't had anyone. No visitors,” Emi said softly.
Amelia frowned thoughtfully, cocking her head as she finished reading a report. She signed off on the inventory, then checked the status board. “The troop could be spread out all over. Or she could be in a single relationship.”
“A mongie? Unusual in one of us,” Emi said, wrinkling her nose.
“So? Go find out,” Amelia urged absently, not looking up from the chart tablet she was scrolling through.
“Oh hell no!” Emi said, shaking her head vehemently no.
“What are we talking about?” Ezri asked, coming in and plopping her hand bag down on the counter. “Are we going to lunch or what?”
“Um, tell you about it later gal pal,” Emi said. “Did you sign in?”
“My shift doesn't start until after lunch,” Ezri said with a grin.
“It's not wise to start on a full stomach. Or with those shoes,” Emi said, pointing a finger down to the bonobo's heels.
“You like them?” Ezri asked, modeling the red high heels. “They pinch a bit, my toes are too long. They are made for a human but I got them on sale! They just arrived,” she said with a dance. She was a bit unsteady though so she had to grab the counter for support. “Oh …”
“Yeah, you better go change ‘em. Or you'll have blisters for sure,” Emi warned.
“I've got to break them in. But I'm not a complete dummy,” Ezri said, opening the bag. She pulled out a pair of white flats, her usual work shoes. “See?”
“Smart girl,” Amelia murmured as she finished up. She flipped a look at the camera of ward 3C and noted the young woman was reading. She nodded. “Everything is in order,” she said, racking the tablet. “And I …” she sent a signal to the hospital computer signing her off shift for lunch, “ … am officially off duty for lunch. Com
ing ladies?” She asked with an inviting smile.
“You bet!” Ezri replied with a chuff of a laugh, grabbing her hand bag and throwing its strap over her shoulder. “Let's hit it!”
“I'm coming,” Emi said with a snort as she followed them out.
-*-*-^-*-*-
The EETC was hammered by provisions and add-ons in the assembly bogging the beleaguered department in red tape until her directors gave up in despair and quit one after another. It became a running joke on how long a director would last running the department. Some measured their time in weeks or days. They were all resigned to failure.
Eventually the entire tangled mess was repealed and rewritten. The rewrite was stalled as various factions jockeyed for whatever they wanted to protect or exploit. A lot of behind the scenes back room deals were held to break down the department or even scuttle it completely.
The idea that various people were pushing the project for their own ends sparked hot debate over what if scenarios within the media. A discussion between a group of learned talking heads sparked a lot of concern among various circles.
“What if someone claims a planet and someone else wants it? Or even a piece of it? Aren't there enough out there for everyone?” Doctor Klaus Hemdail demanded, staring at the other learned people sitting politely around the table the producer had set up. He blessed the trend in a more comfortable setting of a wood paneled living room over the sleek modern look favored in the previous century by the media. The stuffed chair he was in was far more comfortable, he thought.
“Not that many that can support life, at least not initially. And there are those who will attempt to take advantage of efforts from others that have proceeded them. Either by taking their survey data and trying to get colonies out first or going to them and dropping their own people right on top of the existing colony. Or worse, going to the extremes and destroying the people on the ground first and then claiming they abandoned the colony,” Professor Walkins said. She'd managed to pick herself up after her career in higher education. She'd tried to get in with Star Reach but had been passed over, which had pissed her off. She'd done quite a bit for them playing head hunter, getting dumped had destroyed any good opinion of them she had harbored. She'd lived off her savings for a bit before she had made a few talk circuits runs and blog posts. She'd written a book or two, sat on the talk circuit as a talking head for a year before she'd found a new home at Mars University ten years ago. The university had sent her to Earth to participate in the discussions to protect their own interests.