Phoenix Among The Stars (Exodus)

by Robert Stadnik

  “It is harmless,” said the alien. “The micron embeds itself in the neurological area of your brain that controls language cognition. All space travelers who interact with other species have them.”

  “Other aliens?” This was all overwhelming to John. “Shit. Well, thank you for solving our communication problem and thank you for trusting us enough to land in our ship.”

  “I could not pass up the chance to meet creatures who live on such a massive vessel.” said the alien. “The resources to build it must have been significant.”

  “Captain,” said Julie. “You can understand him?”

  “It seems I can,” replied John. “He injected a device that allows aliens to understand each other’s languages.”

  “We should get you to the medical bay to ensure it isn’t anything more than that.”

  John agreed and turned back to the alien. “I’ll be honest with you. You’re the first alien we’ve ever encountered.”

  “I am honored to be your first,” said the alien as it put its wrists together and raised its hands up. “If I am the first foreign species you have encountered, I would speculate you have only recently ventured from your homeworld.”

  This alien was no slouch in its thinking. “Then you understand, as the first alien we’ve met, that we have specific protocols to follow, for our safety and yours.”

  “What do you propose?” asked the alien.

  “Well,” John said as he looked up at the observation. “I think our doctor would like to run some tests on you. Don’t worry, they’re all passive. And I’ll be with you the whole time.”

  “I would be willing to oblige to your tests,” said the alien.

  “What did it say?” asked Julie. John rolled his eyes being forced to play translator. If the doctor determined the micron harmless, John was going to encourage people to get injected.

  “It’s going to come with us to the medical bay so Myers can run some scans,” said John. He looked at the security detail. “I don’t think we need all of you. Chief, meet us in the medical bay.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” said Sandoval. He turned to his team. “I want a staggered presence from here to the medical bay. I’ll be accompanying the captain and our guest.”

  As the security team left, John looked at the alien. “Do you have a name?”

  “Name?” the alien asked in a confused tone.

  “A designation for yourself. A means of identification.”

  “Yes, you may address me as Drix.”

  John’s mind already began rhyming the name. Prick, drip, fix,…. “Ok Drix, if you’ll follow me.”

  John motioned for Julie to lead them to the medical bay. John followed, with the alien walking next to him.

  “And I am curious to learn more about this shit you mentioned,” said Drix.

  John wanted to explain the nature of the word, but he couldn’t bring himself to telling the alien that shit was fecal matter that came out of human butts, but also used as a method of expression. No, he’d just have to watch what he said going forward.

  CHAPTER SIX

  John and Drix were in the main surgical bay in medical, safely quarantined from the rest of the ship as the medical staff analyzed the wealth of data obtained from their scans of Drix. The teams had a hard time keeping their eyes on their terminals, unable to stop looking at their very first alien. They stared at Drix through the observation glass, whispering to one another. Their stares were beginning to make John uncomfortable and he wanted some privacy, but no matter where he looked people were staring at him and Drix. So John focused on talking to Drix to occupy himself.

  Outside the surgical bay Julie Olson, Chief Sandoval, and Professor Marlin stood together and watched the interaction between John and Drix. They were all waiting for Doctor Myers’ report on the alien micron device and any effect it might have on John. Although she didn’t show it, Julie was a bundle of nerves. She felt the captain had put himself in harm’s way needlessly, and was hoping the micron wasn’t doing any damage to his mind.

  “We’ve completed scans of the alien vessel,” said Alex’sis as she entered the medical bay and joined the trio.

  “Anything interesting?” asked Julie.

  “The ship’s comprised of quite a few compounds that are unknown to us. I’ve got the relevant departments working on identifying what they could be. They’re having a field day.”

  “Anything dangerous?” asked Sandoval.

  “Negative,” replied Alex’sis. “We’ve isolated an engine system, a power core and sensor pallets, but there doesn’t appear to be any weapons on the ship. The power core’s tiny, but it generates a lot of energy for its size.”

  “Seems almost naïve to be traveling through space with no weapons,” said Julie.

  “I’d like to get a team in there and start taking the ship apart for more detailed analysis,” said Sandoval.

  “Absolutely not,” replied Julie.

  “Commander, we still don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

  Julie wasn’t about to waiver on her position. “The alien hasn’t posed a threat to us and there’s no justification to rip its ship apart.”

  “We need to be cautious,” interrupted Sandoval.

  “There’s a fine line between cautious and paranoid,” said Julie. “The alien has been cooperative with us and has exhibited no signs of hostility towards the captain.”

  “And it’s provided technology to interpret languages,” said Marlin. “If the alien was malevolent, it wouldn’t have injected the micron into the captain to permit communication.”

  “You’ll forgive me if I don’t accept your theory,” said Sandoval. “Your expertise is languages, not alien behavior.”

  “We’ll proceed with what we know,” said Julie with a stern voice, not wanting an argument to escalate between them. “Until someone provides concrete evidence that Drix is a threat, it will be treated as our guest.”

  The chief wasn’t satisfied and wanted to bring up the fact they didn’t know if the alien was allied with the Screen. For all they knew, Drix was a Screen traveling on a civilian vessel.

  “Is this where you treat your sick and injured?” asked Drix, examining the bed in the center of the surgical bay.

  “Uh, yeah,” replied John. “This is our medical area. We’re inside the main surgical bay, which our doctors and nurses use to treat the more serious ailments of the crew.”

  “Remarkable,” commented Drix. “You are fortunate to have such services.” He went over and looked at some of the readouts displayed on the computer monitors against the glass walls. “Ah, I see your medical staff is checking my physiological makeup.”

  “You can read that?” asked John. “But it’s in English.”

  “English?”

  “That’s the name of our language.”

  “Ah, English, I understand. The micron allows for interpretation of both written symbols and verbal communication.” Drix extended his arm so John could see some symbols patched on the clothing of his wrist sleeve. The symbols were foreign, but John could easily make them out.

  “Guger.” To John, the name sounded like some exotic form of diarrhea.

  “My vessel’s designation,” explained Drix.

  “Wow, cool,” said John. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure where to begin. At least he had a topic to run with. “How was your species able to develop such a comprehensive piece of technology to interpret languages?”

  “My race did not create the micron.” Bingo, that statement indicated to John that Drix had contact with other alien races.

  “I’d love to meet the race that designed it.”

  “I desire to meet them as well; however, no one knows the species that created them. There is no record on how microns were discovered or introduced to this region of space. It is simply a piece of technology that has been used by different races for many cycles.”

  “But you have interacted with other races, haven�
��t you?”

  “Encounters with other races are rare. Species only interact to barter for goods.”

  “Why is that?” John felt like a school kid, asking questions as soon as Drix answered them.

  Drix chuckled. John was relieved to see that there seemed to be some commonalities to Drix and humans in regards to emotions.

  “You are an inquisitive creature. I would be more than happy to discuss my knowledge of this region of space, but I would like some information about you. This is the first time I have met your species and I am curious about such plain looking creatures.”

  John wasn’t sure if that was some sort of compliment or insult about humans. “What do you want to know?”

  “Where do you come from and what has brought you to this part of space?”

  “Well…” John decided not to reveal their primary mission about the Screen. This encounter seemed to be going well, but he wanted to be careful and not reveal too much about the ship or crew.

  “My race is called human and we’re from a planet called Earth. We recently left our solar system to explore interstellar space.”

  “That would explain why you have yet to encounter another species. But you cannot be the only human ship out here.”

  “Why’s that?”

  Drix looked around. “A vessel this large was built by a race with significant knowledge of starship design.”

  “We have many ships in our star system,” said John, knowing TERRA’s five capital ships hardly constituted ‘a lot’ and were not in the same league as the PHOENIX. “We tend to be a xenophobic race and have never ventured out.”

  “Good,” commented Sandoval, as he picked up enough of what John was saying to know the alien was asking questions about them. “Don’t show him our cards.”

  “You do not act like a race who desires isolation,” commented Drix.

  “We’re a complicated species,” replied John hastily.

  The transparent surgical bay door slid opened and Doctor Myers walked in, dressed in a yellow quarantine suit. John was relieved that someone else was here for Drix to focus its attention on. The captain was beginning to feel the pressure of evading the alien’s questions.

  “Gentleman,” said Myers. “I hope the accommodations are to your liking.”

  “Tell your doctor that this medical bay is more comfortable than my own ship,” said Drix.

  “He says he’s very comfortable,” said John. “So what’s the verdict?”

  Myers looked at his DAT. “We’ve compiled all the scans on our guest here. I could go into detail about his physiology, but suffice it to say there is nothing in his cellular makeup that would be harmful to humans.”

  “I am grateful to hear that,” said Drix.

  “What about bacterial?” asked John.

  “We’re still verifying that,” said Myers. “I’d like to keep you both here for at least two days until we’ve run all our tests.”

  “Is there a problem?” asked John.

  “We’ve identified one bacterial strain that the simulations indicate could create a pandemic on the ship. We’ve already come up with a counteragent for it, but we have a shortage of one ingredient.”

  “What ingredient?”

  “Bee pollen,” said Myers.

  “There’s plenty of pollen on PHOENIX,” said John.

  “Yes, but with the ECON down we have not been able to procure it. Our ship’s beekeeper refuses to release any to medical unless it’s properly documented in the ECON.”

  “Damn it! You’ve got to be kidding me,” said John.

  “Damn it,” repeated Drix. “Is it like your shit?”

  Great, John was making sure that, if nothing else, the alien was getting plenty of exposure to human profanity. “I’ll explain later.” He looked at the observation glass at Julie and Sandoval. “Chief, go and get some pollen for the doctor. Tell that beekeeper it’s a direct order from the captain. Julie, the ECON has been down far too long. Find out from engineering what’s the hold up.”

  “They’ve finished fabricating a new computer core and just installed it,” said Julie. “But they haven’t been able to get the software up and running again. I’ll get an update.” Julie and Sandoval both left medical.

  “Excuse me,” said Drix. “But what is this ECON you mentioned?”

  “It’s a computer software program we use to monitor and distribute resources throughout the ship,” said John. “It went down on us and we’re having some problems trying to get it running again.”

  “If it is a software program, I could assist,” offered Drix.

  “Come on,” said John. “You’ve never seen our computer systems. How could you possibly help?”

  “My race has a specialty in working with software. There is no alien system I have seen that has stumped me.”

  John could see Drix was being sincere. He held out his hand to Myers. “Doctor, your DAT.”

  Myers handed over the DAT without question. John quickly accessed the ECON system and then handed it to Drix. “Show me.”

  The alien took the DAT and examined the contents. Within moments, it was typing away as if it had been using it for years. John was amazed as he watched the alien work like it knew what it was doing.

  “The program has decompiled,” said Drix. “I created an algorithm to have the program rebuild itself. There,” as it handed the DAT back to John. “It is fixed.”

  John checked the ECON system on the DAT and, sure enough, it was running. What engineering couldn’t accomplish this alien did in a matter of seconds.

  John looked over at the glass where Alex’sis was still standing with Professor Marlin. “Check that the ECON is running throughout the ship, and make sure it’s intact.”

  “Yes sir,” said Alex’sis.

  “Thank you,” John said to Drix. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “You saved me from a difficult situation,” said Drix. “It is only right I offer my assistance.”

  The statement offered John the opportunity to gain some more information. “What do you mean difficult? Our sensors didn’t pick up anything to indicate you were in trouble.”

  “I will go and get the agent developed,” announced Myers. He knew it best to leave the two alone as it might give John a better chance of learning more about the alien.

  It was only when the doctor left the surgical bay that Drix spoke again. “My ship’s power core was damaged some time ago. I attempted to repair it but the damage was more extensive than my computer indicated. I came to this system so that I could maintain minimum power while I fixed it.”

  “Olson to Roberts,” came the voice of Julie over the intercom.

  “Go ahead,” said John.

  “The crew is reporting the ECON is up and running again. Lieutenant Brandus just informed me what happened and we’re doing some additional tests on the system.”

  “Thank you, commander,” said John. “Roberts out.” He looked over at Drix, who was reading the information on the medical displays. Although they still had much to learn about the alien, John was certain he meant no harm and was just curious about them. “If you do not wish to remain here for the next two days, we can escort you back to your ship.”

  “Days,” asked Drix.

  “You know, days. It’s an elapsed measurement of time. One of our days is a measure of twenty-four hours.”

  Drix just gave him a confused look. “Oh boy,” remarked John. “This will take some explaining.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  It was a busy forty-eight hours in medical. The staff was busy observing and cataloging Drix’s behavioral patterns, analyzing blood, dissecting its DNA make-up, and a myriad of other tasks. The teams were glued to their work which permitted John and Drix minimal interruption. They talked almost non-stop during their time in the surgical bay. Their conversations were recorded and reviewed so every bit of information could be reviewed. Piece by piece, they learned more about the alien.

  Julie called for a m
eeting of the senior staff the following morning to go over what they learned so far about Drix. The staff, along with the heads of several departments, gathered in the board room. When everyone took their seats, Julie cleared her throat and began.

  “At the request of the captain, we’re here to go over what we’ve learned about our alien guest so far. Lieutenant Brandus…” With so many people working on different projects regarding Drix, John wanted to ensure that everyone was up to speed on the information the various teams had gathered.

  Alex’sis stood up and the group’s attention focused on her. “Drix has identified his species as Cresorian. They are a race of space-faring nomads, having no central homeworld. Apparently, the Cresorians are born and raised on ships like the one Drix owns, and only come in contact with one another for mating or trade.”

  “The Cresorians had to come from a planet,” said biologist Kevin Gelvin. “Has he indicated why they don’t have a homeworld?”

  “Negative,” replied Alex’sis. “Drix has not disclosed those details.”

  “Their world could have been destroyed by war,” said Sandoval.

  “No,” said Professor Donavin. “If the Cresorians were war-faring, that would be the one piece of technology they would fiercely protect and retain.” He looked at Julie. “We went over that ship with a fine tooth comb and found no weapons at all.”

  “Maybe they have weapons that aren’t conventional and easily recognizable,” said Bret.

  “We considered that,” said Donavin. “We scanned the ship by every means possible and couldn’t attribute any of the systems as a possible weapon. I am confident his ship is devoid of any armaments.”

  “Anything else about the ship?” asked Julie.

  “We found recognizable components you would expect to find on a space ship,” explained Donavin. “Engines, life support, exterior sensor array, communications. We worked with the alien over the comm during our examination and it should be noted that it was very helpful in pointing out some of the systems on its ship.”

  “What about that micron that it put in the captain’s head?” asked biologist Wendy Tetramin.