by Jerry Aubin
After a few mins of furiously removing vegetation and brushing away dirt, Zax uncovered something which made zero sense. He had not been leaning against a tree, but it was instead some kind of fighter which had been knocked onto its side and subsequently swallowed by the jungle. The clear material he first spotted was part of the craft’s cockpit dome.
The fighter wasn’t the same model as those the Ship sometimes deployed during planetary expeditions, but it could have sprung from the imagination of the same designers. Zax peered into the cockpit and his discovery evolved from bizarre to incomprehensible.
The labels on the controls were unintelligible, yet recognizable. There were lots of strange, squiggly characters, but they were interspersed with plenty of E’s and O’s and M’s and other letters which were exactly like those he had used his entire life.
Identifying writing which appeared human was strange enough, but then Zax spotted something which took his breath away. A plaque to the side of an instrument panel featured a picture of a planet. Zax instantly recognized the pale blue marble with its wispy clouds and distinctive landmasses—Earth.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Listen carefully to what I say next.
Zax’s mind raced and his heart pounded. He was standing next to a human fighter which had been abandoned in the jungle of this alien world. A noise off to the side startled Zax, and he spun around to find Mikedo approaching with her visor up.
“The sergeant’s in rough shape. They’re moving him to the rally point for evac and we need to catch up ASAP. Wait a sec—what the hell are you looking at?”
Zax was at a complete loss for words so he simply pointed into the cockpit. Mikedo scanned the interior for a min, turned to him for a moment, and then stared back inside again.
“What is this thing?” Zax finally gasped. “Why is there a fighter with human writing and a picture of Earth inside its cockpit sitting here in the middle of this jungle? This craft isn’t one of ours, but it sure is similar. The Ship’s never been to this planet, right? You know what this means—there are other humans out here! We’re not alone!”
Mikedo gazed at Zax as she took a couple of deep breaths. “I agree with you about what this looks like, Zax, but I want to warn you about throwing around the word human without considering the possible implications. Something as strange and potentially disruptive as this discovery—”
“But,” Zax tried to interrupt and Mikedo waved her hand to silence him.
“Listen—we’ve had 5,000 years of history lessons which tell us the Ship is the only remnant of humanity. Our Mission to seed the universe with new colonies, our leadership structure, all of our traditions, everything we do is based upon that premise. If people hear there might be other humans traveling around, will they hope maybe Earth is still alive and sending out more ships? Or will they dream there is a new human home world somewhere which is technologically advanced enough for space travel?”
It slowly dawned on Zax where Mikedo was going with her concerns, but he was still surprised to hear the words come out of her mouth. He was even more shocked to recognize how she had transformed from her preternaturally calm self into someone who was nervous—maybe even frantic.
“You know what life has been like on board in recent years, Zax. Some days it feels like the Ship might just disintegrate all around us. They keep slapping together repairs, but eventually something critical will break which can’t be fixed. We just went through all that time without a Landfall and even some Crew started to jabber about whether the Mission is feasible anymore.”
Mikedo paused for a deep breath and then continued. “Of course, the civilian population is always ready to explode, and something like this could be the spark. If enough civilians heard about this, don’t you think they might revolt against dumping people into new colonies? They’d start a wild goose chase looking for some mysterious human outpost. Right? Or even worse, force the Ship back to Earth.”
Zax stood flabbergasted. In the span of ninety secs, he went from imagining himself on the newsvid being wildly celebrated for finding proof of other humans to learning that Mikedo felt his discovery was actually bad news.
“Here’s what I want to do,” offered Mikedo. “We need to get to the rally point. As soon as we are back with the Marines, I’m going to check with the Flight Boss. Sorting out what to do with all of this is above my pay grade. The Boss can figure out what’s next. Do you agree?”
Zax wanted desperately to understand what was making Mikedo nervous, but the middle of an alien jungle didn’t feel like the place where she would be likely to share much more. Instead, he nodded in agreement and promised himself he would force her to explain more fully once they were back on the Ship.
Mikedo took his face in her invisible hands and held him focused on her disembodied head as she spoke. “Listen carefully to what I say next. I think it’s best if we act like you know nothing about this. I’m going to tell the Boss we got separated. I discovered this on my own and didn’t tell you anything about it. He’ll believe I would’ve kept this secret from you if I’d found it first because—well—I would have.
“I beg you to trust me when I say this, Zax. This is dangerous, dangerous information, and you don’t want to be associated with it in any way. Do you understand? Promise me you understand.”
Zax hesitated. The expression on Mikedo’s face bordered on desperation. If she felt this strongly about what was going on, who was he to question her judgment? But at the same time, this wasn’t something he could just blindly trust anyone about—even Mikedo.
“I’m sorry,” he replied, “my head’s spinning. Let’s get moving and that will give me a few mins to process all of this.”
Mikedo and Zax walked back to the rally point in silence and arrived just as the Marines had settled Sergeant Yolis and arranged a defensive perimeter around the landing zone. Lieutenant Isoria thanked Mikedo for acting so quickly to treat the sergeant and informed her the other two platoons would arrive within the next ten mins and the shuttle two mins thereafter. Mikedo requested the comms specialist and was pointed to the other side of the clearing. She gestured for Zax to follow and a min later they found her.
“Corporal—I need you to configure a private channel between my Plug and the Flight Boss. Maximum encryption please.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Mikedo gave Zax a wan smile and walked a dozen meters away. She sat with her eyes shut and concentrated on her discussion with the Flight Boss. A few times the muscles of her face twitched and betrayed the intensity of the conversation. After a handful of mins, she opened her eyes and exhaled a deep breath. She gestured for Zax and whispered once he drew close.
“That did not go quite the way I thought it would, but I don’t want to go into the details right now. I promise I’ll give you some more details once we’re back on the Ship. The part of the conversation which did go as I expected was when I told him you knew nothing. I think he was pleased about how I hadn’t told you about the fighter, but it felt was like he was testing me since he asked three separate times in three different ways whether or not you knew anything about it. Each time I made it crystal clear the answer was no.”
Mikedo extended her hand and Zax clasped it to help her stand. “Listen, Zax, I know this is almost impossible, but you’ve got to promise me you’ll put this discovery out of your head for now. I don’t want you sharing it with anyone. You and I probably shouldn’t even discuss it again. The more you talk about anything like this, the easier it is to mess up and reveal something about it at the wrong time. This will be a painful secret to keep, but I need you to keep it nonetheless. I truly hope there’ll come a time when we can figure out the right way for this information to be revealed so you can get full credit, but until then you need to forget it ever happened. Promise?”
Zax wanted to shout “no” with every fiber of his being. He had found evidence of other humans traveling the stars! Even putting aside how amazing it would be to get credit fo
r the discovery, it screamed out as something which was important for everyone on board the Ship to know.
We aren’t alone!
But then he reconsidered Mikedo and her pleading, near desperate expression. It came from the woman who had shown more care and compassion towards him in the last two weeks than anyone in the Crew had in his entire life. The woman who was so smart and talented and had already accomplished so much in her career. She wasn’t trying to steal credit for what he found. She just wanted what was best and safest for him. He sighed.
“OK. I get it. I was never there. I never saw anything. We got separated after the warrior attacked the sergeant, and when you found me, we went straight back to the rally point.”
“Good boy.” Mikedo smiled, but her eyes betrayed great sadness. “I’m so very sorry about all of this, Zax, I really am. I’m touched you trust me enough to follow my instincts about what we should do. I promise I’ll never abuse your trust or do anything to make you regret giving it to me. I’m going to work with the Boss, and we’ll figure out what to do with all of this.” She pointed to where the other platoons had gathered while the shuttle descended. “Let’s get on board, find someone to check out that suit of yours, and figure out what’s wrong before we hit the next LZ.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
I have orders to do yours first.
The shuttle landed and they all filed on. The major approached and frustration was evident in his voice.
“Go ahead and get out of the ChamWare, Marines. The second leg of the mission’s been scrubbed and we’re heading back to the Ship. Since we’ve encountered a warrior, the Omegas want to re-evaluate our mission parameters before we recon the bugs’ larger settlement.”
The major’s announcement elicited universal grumbling. Like everyone else on board the Ship, the Marines were nearly crazy after so much time without encountering a habitable planet. This group was clearly upset at the prospect of losing time on the surface and the opportunity to do their job and kill some aliens. The major held up his hands.
“Settle down, Marines. I know you’re disappointed. I guarantee Charlie Company will be included in the final mission plan. We’re leaving now, but I promise we’ll be back soon enough to finish the job.”
Mikedo and Zax returned to their compartment to undress and get strapped in for the trip back to the Ship. A few mins after takeoff, a medic appeared holding a transdermal injector in one hand and a tray full of vials in the other. Mikedo had gotten so involved with something on her slate that she didn’t look up when the Marine entered their compartment.
“Excuse me, ma’am. I’m sorry to interrupt, but the Omegas have ordered that we all get immune boost injections since we had an encounter with the bugs.”
Mikedo looked up with a quizzical expression on her face. “I’m sorry, Corporal, but I’m confused. This isn’t some new, unknown species. We’ve run into these bugs a dozen times just in my lifetime, not to mention the hundreds of other times the Ship has encountered them. There has never been a single instance where there was any sort of infection traced back to them. Why are we worried all of a sudden about getting immune boosts?”
The medic sighed. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I don’t know if maybe it works differently in Flight, but when Marine corporals get orders, we carry them out rather than ask a lot of questions.”
Mikedo smiled. “Point taken, Corporal. I’m in the middle of something so please take care of my cadet here first.”
The Marine seemed sheepish. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I have orders to do yours first.”
The smile faded from Mikedo’s face. “That doesn’t make any sense, Corporal. Why should it matter whether you do me first or the cadet?”
“Perhaps you’d like to take it up with the major, ma’am?”
There was a long, uncomfortable silence. It didn’t make sense to Zax why Mikedo was giving the medic such a hard time about following orders, but the expression on her face was impenetrable.
Mikedo finally turned towards Zax and smiled as she rolled up her sleeve and replied to the Marine. “That won’t be necessary, Corporal. Go ahead and give me the injection. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.”
The medic gave Mikedo her shot and then loaded a new vial into the injector before turning to administer Zax’s dose. The Marine apologized one last time for the interruption and then exited the compartment. Zax rolled his sleeve back down and sensed Mikedo watching him as he did so. Her cheeks were flushed and she wore a pained expression.
“I need to send an important message, Zax, but I’ve got to tell you something first and you must promise me you’ll always remember these exact words. I absolutely believe you will do great things.”
Zax was clueless about how to react to such a compliment, so he replied with a simple “Thank you.” Mikedo gave him faint smile and then sat back and shut her eyes. With nothing else to do, Zax closed his as well and attempted the Marines’ trick of napping during downtime.
It could have been five secs later or it might have been five mins, but Zax was startled awake by the thud of something heavy hitting the deck. He discovered Mikedo crumpled on the deck next to her seat—unmoving.
Zax unbuckled his straps and jumped up yelling for help as he scrambled to check what was wrong. Mikedo’s lips were blue and her body radiated heat like she was on fire. Her breaths were shallow and horrifically labored. Zax went for the hatch but found it would not open. He pounded on the control panel. “Help! We need help in here! Help!”
“Cadet—please calm down,” replied a voice over the intercom. “Calm down! The biosensors show that Lieutenant Mikedo has taken ill. We’ve got medics donning isosuits who are almost ready to assist. We’re worried it might be something infectious from your encounter with the bugs, so we can’t let them in until you calm down and step away from the hatch.”
Zax backed up to the other side of the compartment and stood over Mikedo’s body. He was about to yell again when a soft hissing noise was immediately followed by the buckling of his knees. He collapsed with his body draped across Mikedo’s and panicked about whether this was the first sign he had also caught whatever brought her down. The voice on the other end of the intercom spoke again.
“Don’t be alarmed, cadet. For everyone’s safety, we’ve doused your compartment with sleeping gas. It doesn’t appear you’re ill, but we’ve got to keep you quarantined until we know for certain. There’s a team just outside the hatch, and they’re going to help the lieutenant as soon as you’re fully sedated.”
Zax fought to resist but was unable to stave off the effects of the gas. His last thought before dropping into unconsciousness was one of tremendous desperation. Mikedo was no longer burning up, but her breathing had quit altogether.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
It means you have a message waiting.
“Try again—don’t let her go!” Zax heard the words, but they sounded like they came from somewhere far above him up a deep, dark tunnel. He opened his eyes and attempted to move his body, but discovered he was somehow restrained. He was still in the shuttle compartment and was staring up into the expressionless face of a man behind the mask of an orange isolation suit.
The figure reached for an injector which he applied to Zax’s arm. The last thing Zax registered before everything faded to inky blackness was the major standing impassively just outside the hatch.
Clap!
“Cadet—wake up.”
Clap! Clap!
“Zax—wake up.”
Clap – Clap – Clap!
The clapping right next to his head grated on Zax. “Go away,” he mumbled, his lids clamped tight against the bright light attempting to shred his eyeballs.
“That’s no way to talk to an officer, cadet. Particularly one who has been taking care of you and is here to share some good news.”
The female voice sounded familiar, and Zax was flooded with relief at the prospect of talking to Mikedo. He forced himself fully awake and blinked the sleep out of
his eyes. It wasn’t Mikedo in front of him but rather an unknown woman dressed in one of the orange isosuits. He checked his surroundings and concluded he was no longer on the shuttle, but instead in the medbay.
“That’s more like it, cadet. You’re still restrained so don’t bother trying to sit up or move your arms. That’s part of the bad news. We’ve got to keep you isolated here for another forty-eight hours to be certain you didn’t contract anything hazardous on that planet which might make you or anyone else sick. The good news is the Flight Boss was down here this morning to check on you personally. When he heard we needed to keep you for another couple of days, he ordered us to go ahead and get you Plugged In right now. He said as long as you’re stuck in sickbay you might as well get some benefit out of the time and use it to recover from implantation.”
“Wait—what happened to the officer I was with? Lieutenant Mikedo. Is she all right?”
The medic smiled down at him benevolently. “I’m sorry, cadet, but I don’t know anything about that. I’m just here to get you sedated. I know it’s annoying I woke you up only to put you back under again, but we need to verify your neurological function is OK before we go cracking your skull open. The scans are all checking out normal and you seem fine, so we’ll get you asleep again. The next time you wake up you’ll be Plugged In.”
“Wait! Stop! Please—I’ve got to find out what happened to Lieutenant Mikedo. I have to know!”
“Sorry, cadet, but it’s too late. I’ve already applied the anesthetic. You’re going to feel your eyelids getting heavy in a couple of secs. Don’t worry about the lieutenant—I’m sure she’s fine. Let’s just worry about getting you completely sedated right now so they can take care of your Plug. Trust me when I say you don’t want to wake up in the middle of this particular surgery.”