This was much different than any of us had anticipated. I was used to thinking of shipboard accommodations as cramped with priority given over to saving space and weight; this was more luxurious by far than our base and was at least on the level with a very expensive apartment or penthouse.
There were five hallways also placed equidistant around the perimeter of the central area. Four of them led to each one of my squads that each had a smaller but identical design, spacious living quarters surrounding a smaller central area or ‘hub’, and the fifth which led to the (much larger) hub of the Earth Team HQ. It too followed the same design with living quarters and workrooms surrounding a common area, and had hallways that led to each of the three other platoons.
The Noridian that was escorting us (I don’t remember her name) pulled the other four members of my staff together in my living quarters and started demonstrating the amenities. Food preparation was as simple as verbally commanding the video screen to bring up a menu and speaking your selection. After a few minutes a tray would be ready inside the console adjoining the dining table. She actually apologized for the crudeness of the systems; explaining that Noridians used their bioware to control equipment and that they had ‘dumbed down’ our environment to respond to hand gestures and verbal commands.
It got interesting when the group moved to the lavatory. Although water was available in the sink basin the shower was waterless. When I declined what I thought to be her joking invitation to be the model for the shower demonstration, our hostess immediately and without modesty removed what turned out to be her only piece of clothing and stepped into the open-air alcove. With legs and arms held slightly apart she gave a verbal command and, while bathed in bright light, her breasts were slightly lifted and every hair on her head momentarily stood straight out. In a few seconds the light went out and she stepped out of the shower and started explaining that this device would not only clean the body, but could apply oils, moisturizer, various types of skin protection including ultra-violet, and varying degrees of melanin stimulation (tanning). If we were fitted with bioware, she explained, it would also monitor our health.
All four of my HQ staff are male and Noridian women all seem to have long legs, incredible bodies, and pretty faces. If she noticed any ‘discomfort’ on our part she didn’t show it as she stepped over to what had to be a massage table. Lying face down we witnessed her skin being pressed and massaged by seemingly invisible fingers. I think she was explaining something about force field manipulation but I don’t think any of us were really very focused by that point.
When we returned to the common area, all the view screens showed stars; we’d left the planet without even knowing it. I don’t think I’d fully realized until right then just how advanced the Noridian culture truly was. We were Neanderthals compared to them. Here we were leaving our homes and families behind on a world where modern cities were melting in nuclear fire. Would we ever see our homes again? Would we even have a choice? We were being carried farther away than any of us had ever gone before and without the good graces of our friends/enemies/gods we had no hope of finding our way back. We couldn’t take control of the situation; we hadn’t even been allowed to bring our sticks and slingshots with us. It was overwhelming; it was almost too much.
Once our Noridian hostess had left us to settle in I realized that there was a terrible feeling bubbling just below the surface of my consciousness. It took me a few moments to place it but I finally realized it was a bone-deep fear. I wasn’t in any way, shape, or form even remotely in control of my destiny and that thought scared the shit out of me. I was suddenly very cold and only in my innermost thoughts would I ever admit that panic was a tempting mistress.
I later learned it was called culture shock and I had never in my life experienced feelings like that. I really think the thing that pulled me through was the realization that if I was having this much trouble, with all the training I’d had, my team might need me now more than ever.
I made the rounds until late in the evening. I talked to everyone in my platoon that would talk. Some, including a surprising number of my hardened military specialists, were taking it hard. They’d get over it but I‘m glad I’d made it a point to check in with them. Others were less affected; the Ito twins were inscrutable, and Dr. Mom was her normal cheery self and seemed an unvoiced ally in my attempts to make everyone feel secure. Most of the scientists fell somewhere in the middle of the two extremes and I finally got a glimpse perhaps of why General Nesbit thought so highly of my second in command, Captain Antonio Silva. With a slight build and a skinny frame he’d never be mistaken for one of my Special Forces but that night he put his team first and was making the rounds without any instruction from me.
The person that surprised me the most though, was Dr. Julie Schein.
Chapter 17
Dr. Julie Schein
Julie had taken a seat in the common living area or hub of their squad and laid her head back – it was still early evening and she was so tired. All she wanted to do was sleep but how could anyone sleep with everything that was going on? They were in space!
What a weird, long, incredible day! Their shipboard accommodations were unreal and the look on Anzio’s face when Suzi, their Noridian escort, had demonstrated the shower – it was priceless. Of course Mark had been wearing a silly grin ever since. It was ironic that out of a group of scientists it was Captain Hiromi who had asked all the questions.
For a moment Julie seriously wondered if she’d been drugged. It wasn’t normal for her to be fatigued like this, and then she started noticing the other people around her…
Dr. Tony Decker was sitting on another sofa-like chair, leaning forward with his head in his hands massaging his temples. On the outer edge of the area close to one of the hallways the Ito sisters stood quietly conferring with each other. Kamiko’s arm was on the shoulder of a third woman from her Blue Squad (Jennie?) and it was obvious that the scientist had been crying. Across the squad hub you could stare straight into the conference room (apparently the wall could be made transparent) and see Anzio leaning back in a chair with his eyes closed. The only way you’d know he wasn’t asleep was the slow movement of the chair swiveling from side to side.
“How are you feeling Julie?” the voice of Dr. Mom interrupted her thoughts.
“Toni, (yawn) I didn’t hear you sit down. I’m just a little tired. Why do you ask?”
“Oh, I’m just thinking with all the stress everyone’s been under that it’s amazing there isn’t more anxiety or depression to deal with; my husband died of a stroke and everyone was convinced it was because of stress. And while I’m sure the Noridian’s didn’t mean to do it right at the point when everyone is most stressed about leaving home and what we might find, they bring us into this magical environment. I feel kind of like an ant in the food court of a tap dance studio,” said a smiling Dr. Mom.
“That’s actually a great analogy,” Julie responded thoughtfully.
“Tell me Julie, as a Psychiatrist, if the pressure were to start getting the better of me what symptoms should I look out for?”
“Well, it depends. An anxiety response wouldn’t be unusual. In our situation it wouldn’t surprise me if people didn’t start going into a mild form of shock…” Julie’s voice trailed off.
“And what would the symptoms of shock be?” Toni prodded.
“Oh, feeling cold, feeling despondent, feeling sleepy…” After a moment Julie looked up and said, “Thank you Toni. Thanks for putting me back on track but I’m the psychiatrist and it’s time I started doing my job.”
With a determined look on her face Julie looked around the room again, “How about you, are you ok? And where’s Mark and Dr. Cook?”
“I’m fine dear. I’m going to hang around here and talk to anyone that’s lonely. I’m pretty sure that David is in his cabin and he looked like he was doing fine but I’ll check in on him. You might want to touch base with Dr. Sullivan at mission HQ and you might even want to
stick your head in on Ambassador Rutledge. Mark was supposed to brief with him this evening.”
Julie smiled, patted Toni on the hand as she got up and started walking to the hallway that was marked 3rd Platoon. She’d quickly touch base with Major Reagan and then move on to the mission HQ. As crazy as a certain history professor was there would be no telling what kind of trouble he could be getting into.
∆∆∆
The Platoon Hub was empty so she checked the schematic that was drawn/marked/painted on the wall just inside each hallway and continued to the HQ Hub.
There was something acoustically weird about the hallways because even without doors they remained quiet; and that was quite a trick considering the three-way argument she walked into. The HQ Hub was huge and could probably accommodate the entire Earth Team. Right now there might have been 30 or 40 people sitting, standing, or wondering around; including these three idiots trying to outshout each other.
After spending ten minutes with them she still didn’t know what they were arguing about but she had managed to remind them that they were distinguished professors and this was a high-pressure, emotionally charged situation that needed their leadership.
She could see Ambassador Rutledge and Mark in one of the conference rooms (the HQ Hub had several) and they looked fine so she started casual conversations with any individual or group she ran across. She suspected that there was a mild form of mass hysteria at work here. Most people were fine but not quite all right. Many were understandably a little anxious and a number had fixated on the smallest of details.
For example: a geologist couldn’t quit thinking about the fact that all the elevators only had two buttons. That was significant he explained because we knew there were at least three floors (the ‘garage’ level we’d entered on, the level we were currently on, and the level right below us where our equipment was stored) and presumably the Noridians had some levels of their own. We could go back and forth between the garage and here – that was it.
Another scientist was perplexed at the design of the ship. Had anyone else noticed, she wondered, that there were exactly the right amount of living quarters for our team? That the ship was sectioned off and labeled exactly to our hierarchy of HQ, Platoons, and squads?
Others were concerned with the ship’s interior lighting (you couldn’t tell where it was coming from) and the seamless construction of the walls, floor, furniture, and view screens (even though the sofas had a different color and texture from the floors there were no seams). Like the view screens, the ‘glass’ walls of the conference rooms had no frame – one section was a pleasant beige wall and the next was perfectly clear, even if they felt the same.
It didn’t take Julie long to realize that what was missing was leadership. She eventually found the neatly labeled door to General Nesbit’s quarters and surprisingly the door opened but no one was there.
When she arrived at Colonel Memphis’ quarters the door didn’t immediately open and Julie was just trying to find a button or bell. When it did open it revealed Dr. Derrick Helmer with one arm held high against the wall and the other on his hip.
From an overly relaxed pose he said, “Well, hello.
“Did you know,” he continued, “that the doors turn transparent from the inside when someone is waiting outside? You looked pretty cute when you were trying to find a way to get in.”
Ignoring the comment Julie said, “I’m looking for General Nesbit. Is he here?”
“Nope, just Memphis.”
She pushed past Helmer and walked into the quarters. Colonel Memphis was in the sunken living area, leaning forward from his seat on the edge of the sofa, focused on the view screen that was displaying something technical. A couple of now empty food trays were on the ‘coffee table’ in front of him.
Julie actually had to address him twice before he realized she was there.
“Colonel Memphis, where is General Nesbit?” she asked.
“He went with one of the Noridians when we first came on board and I haven’t seen him since,” he responded. “Why?”
“Because we need some leadership right now.” Julie went on to explain that people needed to be focused and given something to do; that this was a big change and that they needed to feel confident.
“It sounds like your scientists need a babysitter,” Memphis dismissively said to Helmer.
“Actually Eugene, I think Dr. Schein is right. Why don’t we call the group together and give them a pep talk.”
Colonel Memphis shrugged his shoulders and said, “Sure.” He then immediately returned his attention to the screen.
∆∆∆
You could tell, Julie thought to herself, which platoon leaders had been paying attention to their people by the way they entered the HQ Hub. They’d had to send runners out with orders to gather everyone together in 15 minutes. Major Reagan had arrived first with most of 3rd Platoon in tow. The marine major that had the Diplomatic Platoon came next with at least half of his team and the other two platoons kind of wondered in on their own.
Except for the wide walkway around the edge that bordered the doors and hallways, the main floors of the hubs were sunken a step down. There was a simple but elegant rail that ran around the inside of the walkway at about waist height, except where it broke to allow people to step down to the main floor.
Julie had waited against the rail opposite Memphis’ door as everyone assembled. After about 20 minutes Memphis and Helmer walked out of the room and over to the railing beside Julie. She hadn’t realized it but the raised walkway and railing made a perfect speaking position.
Colonel Memphis started, “I want to thank everyone for taking time away from your busy schedule to be here.” When no one laughed he continued, “I know that most of you don’t have the self-discipline that the military demands but we have a mission to perform and you people had better get you act together.
“A fellow scientist of yours, Dr. Schein, has asked to speak to you so if it’s not a rousing speech blame her.” With that, he turned and walked back into his room.
A stunned Julie tried to protest to Nesbit’s retreating back but Helmer stepped in clearly intending to take over – except someone in a loud calm voice overrode him… “Hey, she’s the psychiatrist; let her tell us what’s happening!”
Other voices joined the clamor, so Julie looked over the crowd and spoke her mind.
“I’m not ashamed to say that I’m scared,” she started. “It’s ok if you are too. Our governments have placed a tremendous amount of responsibility on our shoulders and that means we’re all under a tremendous amount of pressure.
“I know,” she continued in a somewhat shaky voice, “that this isn’t easy. I understand that it would be easy to get overwhelmed or to feel that our whole culture is insignificant. That’s a terrible feeling but I know better and so do you. We may not be as advanced as anyone we’ll meet but we’ve made it this far and we’ll keep going. I don’t always know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing but our whole history is full of stubborn people that didn’t give up. It’s part of who and what we are.
“A history professor friend of mind educated me a while back on what culture shock is. I could intellectually understand what he was talking about but I didn’t really get it until tonight. I believe this is what we’re all experiencing and I’m asking each of you to rise above it. I believe that we’ll be ok and that our people will have a great future - and you need to believe that too. So here’s what I’m asking of you… do whatever you need to do tonight; hold hands, pray, talk out your fears with each other but come morning we are the professional representatives of our race.
“No exceptions, no excuses. We will finish our mission and represent ourselves in a way that God Himself would respect… thank you.”
∆∆∆
“Well, it was a pretty short speech,” Mark said.
The three of them were back in Mark’s room and Julie was still feeling buoyed by Hiromi’s ‘thumbs up’ from a few
minutes before.
“Yes,” Anzio replied. “But it held gravity.”
“You mean gravitas,” said Mark as he stood up and gave a theatrical stretch.
“And I would agree with that,” he continued. “Except I think the timbre and tone could have been… oof”
Julie was personally pleased to discover that from a lotus position in the left chair of Mark’s sunken living area she could perfectly connect her foot with his buttocks as he stood there proselytizing.
What was even more impressive was that in the few milliseconds it took for him to look around, she was already back in that same lotus position, doing a great job of stifling a grin and looking innocent.
“Ah, then again, it may have been just right,” he finished.
It was the end to a long and incredibly strange day. Julie wasn’t sure what tomorrow held but for now she was sure that she was where she belonged and in a very weird sort of way felt like she was home.
Here Comes Earth: Emergence Page 9