"Who would want to get rid of him?" she asked.
Isaac answered, "I don't think anyone really wants to get rid of him. I haven't had anything come back at me over the fact that I'm trying to rehabilitate him."
"So, what did the doctors say about Richard?" Knight asked.
"He's got a few broken ribs. They're holding him in observation for two days. Then he can return to his room to convalesce until he's fit for duty," Isaac answered.
"Two days?" Shelly asked.
***
Shelly entered Richard's room, closed the door, and turned on the lights. She retrieved her lock picks from under the bed and sat down on the deck to work on the lock once more. Time and time again, she thought she'd almost had it open only to find that it was still locked. The hours passed as she kept at the task.
***
Shelly studied the unyielding lock. If it wasn't so old, she thought it might be worth breaking and replacing it with another just like it after having a locksmith re-key the new one to use the same key as the old one. However, there wasn't another lock like it on board the ship or the station. She similarly doubted that she could get it fixed and back on the chest in time so that he wouldn't miss it. As well, she hadn't been able to find a key that fit the lock. Most likely, Richard had the key with him. Gathering herself together, she put her tools away and left his room, frustrated and defeated.
***
"Good to see you back, Richard," Alex said as Richard entered the ready room.
"Thanks again, man, for saving my hide back there," Clarke said.
"You need anything, Richard?" asked Tim.
"Just some quiet," Richard answered through a forced smile as the ship left the station for routine training.
***
"This is Captain Shortner. We're not returning just yet to the station. I'm ordering our course changed to investigate a strange craft that was spotted by Earth telemetry. Rescue Team One has first shot at investigating this craft. The UN registry doesn't list any ships matching the information we're pulling together from stations observing it. Chiefs to the briefing room. SRT Chiefs, bring your teams with you. That is all."
"Okay, everyone to the briefing room. This could be it," Chief Dickson said.
"What's it?" Shelly asked.
"First contact with an alien species. That's the it everyone is talking about," Clarke said.
"Is this going to be formal attire?" Shelly asked.
Chief Dickson said, as the team members chuckled, "Richard, you're welcome to attend, but you're not going out. I'm sorry, but you're in no shape to go this time."
"Says who?" Richard replied.
Chief Dickson stared at Richard with an intensity meant to shut him down. It didn't work. As soon as the Chief realized it, he ordered, "Alex, have Richard's suits taken forward to the bridge."
***
"Okay, we're going to try this the way the book shows. No one knows if this will work, but it's all we have to go on other than our own instincts. I'm relying on you all to think before you act if this ship proves to be alien. For that reason, no guns will be taken with you. I don't want anyone from our side starting a shooting war. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but mankind's interests make all of us expendable in the cause of peace. Whoever might have reached this part of space from far off has to be technologically advanced. That means they're probably more advanced than we are. We still can't leave our own solar system. Chief Dickson, keep your radio open the whole time. We'll record what you say and observe. Hopefully, we won't have to analyze posthumously what you said," Captain Shortner said.
"I hope not, too, sir," Isaac said.
There was some muted laughter in the room.
"Right. To go on, we'll approach cautiously without any sudden moves to as close as the alien ship will permit us. I want to get close enough for your team to cross over without taking more risks than necessary. I don't see Technician Saber here," Captain Shortner said.
Isaac replied, "He's laid up on doctor's orders, sir. He's not going over with us."
Shortner said, "I see. Well, this is a peaceful mission, so it can probably be done with one man less. Therefore, I'm not going to hand it over to Team Two. You still have the first try at making friends."
***
The intercom blared constantly with news from the bridge informing everyone on board as to what was happening.
"Alien ship coming in sight."
"Slowing down to one-quarter speed."
"No response from alien ship on the radio."
"Two kilometers to alien ship."
"Keep her steady and tight. Slow engines to one-eighth. Be ready to brake with thrusters on my command."
"One kilometer to alien ship."
"Brake with thrusters."
"Braking."
"One-half kilometer to alien ship. One-quarter kilometer . . ."
"Ship near zero motion relative."
"Finish matching speed."
"SRT One, you may exit when ready," Captain Shortner said.
"That ship looks damaged," Isaac replied.
"Where?" asked Shortner.
"Up near the bridge area," Isaac answered.
Captain Shortner's voice said, "I see it, too. SRT Two, scramble alert. Be ready to assist SRT One in possible rescue mission. This might be our chance to show our really good side."
Richard hobbled over to the porthole in the team lounge. He wasn't interested much in watching a first contact, but a rescue always caught his attention. He felt as helpless as ever before while he watched his team moving between the two ships. Then he glanced at the ship and recognized it. Hobbling over to the intercom, he pressed on the talk switch. Richard said, "Captain, that's a private yacht from Earth. It's not an alien vessel."
Captain Shortner demanded, "Who's on the intercom? Keep this intercom clear for the bridge to describe the first contact."
"Sir, this is Lieu, I mean, Technician Richard Saber speaking. I've seen that ship before. It's from Earth. You don't have to approach it cautiously, especially if they're in trouble. Please let the team know so they won't waste valuable time getting in."
"Technician Saber, get the hell off the intercom," Shortner ordered.
***
"Okay, I guess we learned something from this exercise, folks. We're going to have to listen to others on occasion instead of thinking we know all the answers. For that, I apologize to Technician Saber. He tried to tell us something important, but I wouldn't listen. Now, we've discovered it to be true. I don't know if the time we lost might have made a difference to those folks or not. I can only pray that it didn't change anything for them. I'd hate to think that I caused the last of them to die. Chiefs, I want you and your teams to go over the recording of our attempt to make a first contact. See if you can spot any flaws in it from that angle. Forget about the rescue portion for now. That blunder's on my shoulders. It will be listed as such in my report," Captain Shortner said.
Richard sat stonily through the debriefing without acknowledging the apology.
***
"I don't get it. Richard doesn't even accept apologies. Not even from the Captain. What's his problem?" Clarke asked as he headed for the briefing area.
"I don't know, man. It's like he's in another world unless he's involved in rescuing someone. Then he's still by himself. It's like he's superman and doesn't descend to talk to mere mortals. Lately, the only time he talks is when he's practically ordered to unless we're doing a rescue. Then it's just information he gives out," Knight said.
"Okay, I heard part of that. If you're going to talk about Richard, then do it where he's not likely to overhear you. I don't want the team split apart by him or you," Isaac said.
"Can you tell us anything about Richard? Do you know anything about him?" asked Alex Knight.
"If I tell you anything, it's going to be in private and you'll keep it to yourselves. Understood?" Isaac answered.
"Sure, Chief," Tim said.
"We'll dis
cuss this in my cabin then before we head for the briefing room," Isaac said.
***
Isaac asked, "Okay, is everyone ready? We'll run the recording from the point where the ship came into sight. Anyone has a comment, then raise your hand and we'll stop the playback. Then make your comment and we'll discuss what you caught, whether it's right or wrong."
"Richard isn't here. Doesn't he have anything to say?" Jimmy asked.
"He wasn't on the call, so he's excluded," Isaac replied.
***
Shelly exclaimed, "Hey! Play that part back! I heard something there I want to hear again."
The recording was reversed and put back into play. The voice came in clearly. "Sir, this is Lieu, I mean, Technician Richard Saber speaking. I've seen that ship before. It's from Earth. You don't have to approach it cautiously, especially if they're in trouble. Please let the team know so they won't waste valuable time getting in."
"Who's Lou?" Shelly asked.
Chief Dickson looked at Shelly for a moment without understanding.
"Richard clearly said, 'This is Lou.' So, who is Lou? Play that part again, please," Shelly asked.
"Sir, this is Lieu, I mean, Technician Richard Saber speaking."
Shelly said, "See? He states, 'This is Lou.'"
"We're getting off the track here. If you want the answer to that, ask Richard later when you see him. For now, we have more important matters to discuss," Chief Dickson said.
***
Shelly felt Isaac take hold of her sleeve as she was about to walk out of the briefing room. The nod of his head was enough for her to understand he wanted her to remain with him. The two of them waited until the room was empty.
"I think you're onto something. From the sounds of it, Richard almost goofed and gave up some information about himself," Isaac said.
"Just what I was thinking. Sorry I got the meeting off the subject back then," Shelly said.
"Forget that. You only delayed it a moment. So, what do you think? You think that maybe his real first name is Louis or something like that?"
"Very possibly. At least, it's more than we knew before about him," Shelly answered.
"Yeah, it is. Too bad you couldn't get into that chest."
"I gave it my best try."
"I know you did. Well, at least you won't have to break into his room anymore. We can't just break the man's property to satisfy our curiosity. I draw the line at picking locks."
"You're right. I was tempted several times to kick that lock with my steelcapped shoes, just to see if I could open it that way."
Isaac said, "I'm glad you didn't."
***
"Richard, I heard about your accident. That was a brave thing you did. All your drinks are on the house tonight."
"Damon, I like to pay my way. Because you're a friend, I'll let you give me one on the house. No more than that. It's less strain on a friendship that way."
"Okay, I was just trying to be friendly," Damon said.
"Damon, I'm, well . . ."
"Whatever, Richard, whatever."
"No, damn it. What I'm trying to say is that I don't like to make friends anymore. Not in space."
Damon replied, "Oh? Why not? I'm curious about this. Aren't spacers good enough company for you? Or do you find them too snobbish? Personally, I find a lot of them do tend to be snobbish and boorish."
Richard laughed for a moment, then replied, "No, it's not that at all. It's because of the risks. I don't like losing friends when accidents happen."
Damon exclaimed, "You what? You don't like losing friends? Is that what I heard you say?"
Richard answered, "Shhh. Yeah, that's what I said."
"Richard, we all lose friends from time to time, here and on the planet surfaces. It's a fact of life. Life dies and other life goes on. That's how the process works."
"I know that. You're not telling me anything new. It's just that death out here is so damn awful to watch."
"It's never pretty."
"I didn't say it was. What I'm getting at is that it happens here from such small mistakes. It's not right that it should be so damn easy to die."
"It's always been easy to die. I don't see it changing anytime soon, either."
"But they were good men and women. Why? Why do the good people have to die?" Richard asked.
"I don't have an answer for you, Richard. I guess I'll need to be a bartender for another twenty years before I'll even have a clue."
Chapter 7
The voices in the station bar got louder, permitting everyone to overhear the argument. Damon, the bartender on duty, paid particular attention to the developing argument.
"I tell you that the Mars colonists can't govern themselves!"
"Yeah, well, why not? They're not exactly stupid, you know."
"I think they are. After all, they're nothing but a bunch of crooks who were too dumb to keep from being caught."
"I'll have you know that my brothers live there. None of them was convicted of anything. In fact, most of the people there weren't. They legally immigrated to Mars."
"Says who? You? Your brothers probably lied to you so you wouldn't be embarrassed."
Damon reached under the bar and pulled out a club. It wasn't much, but it was usually enough. He was glad that no one carried guns. Confident that he could handle the trouble, he watched closely.
"Take it back!"
"Screw you. No, screw your sisters. They're probably nothing more than prostitutes anyway, because they're on Mars!"
Damon watched the first punch delivered. Then the two men hastily got up. They warily exchanged two more blows before they remembered they had gravity to absorb the reaction from their actions. By the time the third punch flew between the two men, Damon was around the bar with his club at the ready. Before he reached the two men, Richard was between them. He paused when the impossible happened.
"Excuse me, but I'd like to get through," Richard said.
For a moment, the two men stopped and looked at Richard as he paused between them.
"Are you trying to get into this?"
"Whose side are you on?"
"I'm not interested in joining in. I just want to get over there. You two turkeys can commit suicide if you want to, even though you survived last week's Thanksgiving dinner," Richard said.
"Turkeys? Oh, you're begging to be pounded into the deck!"
"You insulted me, too. I don't like being insulted by an asshole!"
"Okay, but would you mind if this asshole takes off his shirt so he won't sully the uniform? That way he won't be in an official capacity. It'll be just between men, then," Richard said.
"Yeah, I guess we can wait."
Richard turned around as he unbuttoned his shirt, ignoring the two men who might easily take advantage of his position to punch him from behind. He let the left shoulder of his shirt fall down first.
"Never mind, mate. We've no argument with you. Put your shirt back on."
The other man said in a shaky quiet voice, "I thought you was dead."
Richard quietly said, "Keep it that way, then. Forget the past. Okay?"
"Sure, sure."
"That goes for relatives, too," Richard said.
"Yeah, mate, I get you. I apologize."
"Then have a drink on me and remember you need shipmates to survive out here," Richard said.
"Yeah, I'll remember."
"Me, too. Thanks for the drink."
"Yeah, thanks."
Richard continued on to the bar, taking his usual place while Damon stood not far from the two men who no longer fought each other. Puzzled, Damon watched the two men sit back down amicably before returning to the bar. He walked over to Richard, asking, "The usual?"
"Yes, and a round for them of whatever they're having," Richard answered.
"You know them?"
"Not at all. I just knew men like them before," Richard answered.
"They seemed to know you."
"I think they simply mi
stook me for someone else."
Damon asked, "Okay, but what did you say to them that caused them to end the fight? They looked like they were both going to take you on."
"You heard what I said. I really didn't have to do more than show them some muscle and a willingness to stand up to them."
"No, I mean after they stopped fighting. You said something then to them that I couldn't catch completely. Whatever it was, I'd sure like to know how to stop a fight that well. Can you teach me what to say?"
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