by David Byrd
“There, all done.” She said. “You know I can erase that scar on your cheek. How did you get that?”
“An ore hauler with bad brakes hit him in the head Doc,” Jevin muttered from the other bed.
“Oh…an ore hauler…did you own a mine or something?” She asked.
“Ha…he worked in the mines ma’am.” Jevin said.
“Jev…that’s enough…get some sleep,” Nash said.
“Ha Ha you should ask him about that chin scar, now that was something…”
“Jevin! Stow that talk and get some rest, that’s an order.” Nash said as he got up and thanked Julia and left the bay quickly.
“Roger that Sir,” Jevin replied in between snores.
Chapter 6
Earth
In the executive offices of Paxton BioScience, Director Dr. Fenton Burke was just concluding the briefing to the three other men who had knowledge of the events on RanClor IV.
“So gentlemen that is the current status,” Burke said. “Sixty three confirmed cases and seven unconfirmed but we expect those will turn out also. We have sent supplies and advanced scanning equipment by fast military transport as well as sending in one of our top medical researchers. We’ll stay in contact as the situation develops. Thank you gentlemen that will be all.”
Two of the men left the room to brief the government directly on the situation. The third man leaned back and took a long drink from the aged bourbon Dr. Burke had provided during the meeting.
“Interesting developments Fenton,” the man said swirling the amber liquid around the tumbler before throwing it back in one drink.
“Yes…Are you sure Dr. Danforth will be safe?” Burke asked.
“Yes perfectly. You see I know my son better than he knows himself and his duty and honor will be in full force to protect her now.” Henry Nash said.
RanClor IV Central City Medical Plaza
“Dr. Silvan…we have captured one of the parasites and placed it in a stasis cube,” the assistant said.
“Excellent…I’m so glad we were finally able to capture one. The scientist Earth is sending is top in her field so we need to make sure the creature is kept secure until her arrival. We may not get this chance again.” Silvan said. “I just wish we had another treatment for this disease. Those poor souls who have not killed themselves will be forever locked in a delusional state. Nothing we have tried has been able to break them out of psychosis. We can only keep them comfortable now.”
“Sir there is one thing. We scanned the creature and searched the Bio database and it came up empty. But there is a component that refused to scan…an element not yet found.”
“So are you saying it’s from an alien origin?” Silvan asked.
“Unknown at this time Sir but if not alien, it’s never been seen on any inhabited or surveyed world, asteroid or station yet.”
Chapter 7
“Ok…that’s about got it,” Zara said from under Jevin’s console. “Try changing the feed from 04 to 03.”
“Done,” Nash said. The replacement terminal from storage came back to life with a crackle and then stabilized. “Good work. We’ve waited long enough, let’s bring power up to the forward sensors minimum power and see if our friends are still out there.”
Zara adjusted a few settings and ran a very low power sweep one time in a forward arc. The two blips were still in the same positions they were hours ago.
Letting out a heavy sigh Nash mulled over the options. They could stay here quiet and hiding for days but eventually the attackers would bring in an unarmed freighter or other ship with visual ability to scan the area. They could attack in which case they may succeed, but without knowing the strength of the attacker’s, that was a risky move.
“Zara can you hack the general traffic pattern comm band for Midway Station?” Nash asked.
“Sure…its low tech…should be no problem. But if there’s any security you’ll want Jev to do it with his skills.” She replied.
“Alright I want you to hack into that frequency and broadcast a traffic control message stating to have emergency crews on standby for a ship coming in hot…damage unknown,” Nash said.
“You know Nash you can be devious when you want to be,” she said with a smile. “I guess you think they will be monitoring and we can make a break?”
“That’s what I’m hoping for anyway. If they do break off and head for the station, we’ll power up full thrust for a bearing of 227 with forward facing sensors only to avoid any electronic spillover they might be looking for. We can make it far enough sub-light to affect repairs and then jump.” He said.
“It’s working,” Zara said a few minutes later. “Executing full thrust…bearing 227…forward sensors 100%.”
“Well that’s one we got right,” he said. “Leave the stealth field on for 30 minutes and then divert power from the field and hull plating to the engines. Once they get to Midway They will realize the ruse and we need to put several sectors behind us. I’ll be in engineering working on the FTL.”
“Roger that Cap.” She replied.
A few hours later, Nash completed repairs on the FTL and stopped by Med Bay to check on Jevin. As he walked into the bay, Jevin was up and seemed to be taking some final instructions from Dr. Danforth.
“Jev…you look better,” Nash said.
“All good Cap…Dr. Julia fixed me right up good as new and ready to go to work.” Jevin replied.
“Well so long as you are very careful with that shoulder repair…it will still take a few days to mend completely.” She said.
“Doctor it’s about time we talked about just what is going on and why someone is hell bent on stopping you from doing whatever it is that you were sent for,” Nash said. While he was talking Zara came in silently from behind. She was wearing a flexible device on her arm from wrist to elbow that was displaying readings and updates and a small screen.
“I…I’m afraid I can’t discuss that…it’s classified,” she said.
“Classified…lady if we had not been warned and activated the hull plating those particle bursts would have burned right through the ship and destroyed us all,” Nash said angrily. “So stow that classified crap and tell us what your mission is?”
“Look…I like you…really all of you but I hardly know you,” Julia said. “I mean the cruddy exterior of this ship and then the most advanced interior; complete with stealth tech and energy deflecting plating…I don’t know what to think. And then there’s your business whatever that is and the fact that you are the son of one of the richest people on Earth.”
Jevin, Nash and Zara were all staring at her with an open mouth.
“Wow…wasn’t sure she had it in her,” Zara said looking pleased with Julia.
Nash realizing Zara was behind him turned quickly. “Why are you here?” Who’s running the ship?”
Zara with an exasperated sigh held up her arm with the flexible displays smirking and pointing…”Remember this…Remote control bridge operations…Geez Nash what’s eating you.”
Jevin and Zara looked at each other and nodded. “Nash, the lady has a point you know. To an outsider that’s exactly how it looks and you know we like it that way,” Jevin said. “So why don’t we tell the doctor about us and this ship and she can tell us about her mission.”
“Go ahead if you feel like it, I have work on the bridge,” Nash said as he quickly exited the bay.
“Alright Doc, get a grip and we’ll tell you a story,” Zara said. “You already know who Nash’s father is but you don’t know Nash. “The short version is that he left home after his mother died and joined the service. He hates his father for reasons only Nash knows but he moved up in the ranks and then the expansion wars broke out. Nash was the squad leader for an elite group of operatives that Jev and I were part of. Jev is an electronic warfare genius in addition to his overly developed body.”
“Ah she does love me…” Jevin said winking.
“Before I was interrupted, I was saying�
��we were on a mission that went south quickly. I’m not going into the details but what you need to know is that Nash saved our lives and the lives of other members of our team twice over. After leaving the service we hired on together for an ore hauler and a mine in the rim. It was hard, dirty, dangerous work but we were together. When Nash turned 30 he was contacted by an attorney about a trust his mother had setup for him when he was of age. It was substantial. We don’t know how much but he poured every credit of that into building and outfitting this ship. Jev and I helped also and with our contacts we were able to get the latest military systems installed by our friends and former comrades.”
“So you see ma’am, Nash is not rich or connected. The StarSeeker is his legacy from his mother in a sense and we try our best to use her for good.” Jevin said.
“I don’t know what to say,” Julia said. “I’m sorry doesn’t seem right but I’ll tell you why I’m here. There was an outbreak of some kind on RanClor IV. The people affected go insane and start having violent delusions. I only know that some kind of parasite is involved and I’ve been sent to study the organism and the method of infection.”
“But you work for Paxton BioScience right?” Zara asked. “I mean why wouldn’t the government send researchers?”
“I only know what I was told and I have no idea why anyone would try to stop me from helping those people.” Julia said.
“Well that helps some,” Zara said. “I’ll go fill in Nash. Why don’t you and the Doc go check out that medical equipment and make sure there are no bugs or trackers.”
“Yes ma’am, we’re on it.” Jevin said.
Jevin and Julia made their way down to the starboard cargo bay and Jevin used a hand scanner to scan all the crates and equipment in the bay.
“Nothing here…no trackers, bugs, trojans of any kind…and my scanners can detect black ops level devices.” Jevin said.
“Well, all the equipment that I asked for is here and accounted for. What about all that other stuff in the port bay I saw being loaded in when we boarded?” She asked.
“I suppose it’s time to show you what we really do on the StarSeeker,” he said walking with Julia to the port bay. As he opened the hatch and they went inside Julia could see dozens of pallets of medical supplies, food, military MRE’s, water, filtering and hydration equipment. All types of emergency supplies and aid.
“I…I don’t understand,” Julia said. “What do you do with this?”
“The credit we don’t put back into the StarSeeker from space contracts, we buy supplies and visit those areas that the expansion wars hit the hardest. Civilians were not responsible for the war and we can at least give back some of what we helped to destroy.” Jevin said with his eyes shining. “This has been our real job for the last 7 years and we hope to continue for a long time.”
Julia put her hand on Jevins arm and wanted to cry but held back only nodding her understanding. She would prove herself somehow to these people.
The ship intercom came on.
“Jevin, better put that butt in the nearest seat…we are jumping in 10 minutes.” Zara said over the speaker.
Chapter 8
Nix Space Station
Having transported the parasite to the Nix station, Dr. Silvan readied the maximum bio containment lab for the arrival of Dr. Danforth. Occupying an entire level of the station, it was the most secure place to study hazardous material with little reason to fear an outbreak. Originally constructed over 50 years ago, the station was heavily used when aliens were first encountered in the neighboring system. Contrary to popular theories, intelligent life was rare and so far in over 200 years and multiple solar systems, life had only been discovered once so far. That system is a close neighbor to the Nix station and RanClor IV but the aliens were completely xenophobic and initial attempts at contact were met with extreme hostility.
“Exiting in 3…2…1. Normal space Cap,” Zara said. “Nix on approach vector, we have the docking guidance.”
“Good work Zara,” Nash replied. “Jev…any other ships around?”
“Negative…we’re the only ship in the pattern and nothing for 2 parsecs.” Jevin said.
“OK…then let’s follow normal procedures. Let’s keep it low key but I want everyone armed just in case.” Nash said.
Together with Dr. Danforth the crew disembarked without incident. Shortly after, they were met by Dr. Silvan.
“Oh it’s so good to meet you Dr. Danforth,” Silvan said. “I know your work and I’m thrilled to be able to work with you on this terrible outbreak.”
“Ah…thank you Dr. Silvan, I’m glad to have help. I’ve marked several containers for delivery to the bio level if you can please make sure they are delivered. We have all the latest diagnostic equipment to help in the research.” She said.
“Certainly…certainly…I’ll see to it and I’ll meet you there when you’ve had a chance to check in and handle all the routine red tape.” He said walking quickly away to handle the material transfers.
“Well Doc looks like you have work to do,” Zara said smiling. “By the way, that uniform looks good on you.”
Yes ma’am it certainly does and if you ever need anything just give us a shout.” Jevin said.
“Thank you both for everything.” She said.
Nash had been quiet during the exchange and when they had said their goodbyes Zara and Jevin headed over to the port control office.
“So I guess this is goodbye Mr. Nash,” Julia said. “I just wanted to thank you and your crew for everything and I really do wish you well.”
“Dr Danforth I’m the one who should thank you for the way you patched Jev up.” He said.
“Well then,” she said smiling. “I have one more request. I’d very much like it if you would call me Julia instead of Dr. Danforth.”
Nash paused a moment and with just the slightest smile that caused the lines around his eyes to tighten he nodded. “Yes I think I can manage that…Julia.”
“Good…then I’m off,” she said turning and walking away briskly but elated with Nash staring after her.
Zara and Jevin came up by Nash still following Julia down the long hallway.
“So…we’re really not bugging out now are we?” Zara asked.
“Not a chance,” Nash said. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this and I think we need to keep an eye on Julia. But if anyone is watching we just said our goodbyes.”
“Um…Julia is it now,” Zara said sarcastically raising one eyebrow as high as it could go.
Jevin wrapped his huge arms around both of them. “Alright I’m starving…let’s go see what this place has to offer a poor spacer on his last credits.”
Always one to lighten the mood they took off in search of a meal.
As they left the area, one of the dock workers unloading the medical cargo took the opportunity when no one was looking to duck into the ship. Making his way to the crew deck after some trial and error, he found Nash’s quarters. Taking a small container from a concealed pocket he placed it on the floor and pressed a button that took the contents out of stasis and hurriedly left the ship.
Julia unpacked her personal belongings in the quarters on the bio deck reserved for her. In addition to Dr. Silvan, there was one assistant if they needed the help. Walking out of the common areas she approached the main security airlock. There was an indigo blue stripe around the walls of the corridor she was in but she could see looking through the two transparent airlock doors ahead that the space inside those had a bright yellow stripe. Increased threat by color she imagined. She placed her palm on the access panel and her DNA was scanned and matched with a very small authorized list of users with access. The outer door opened silently with a slight puff of air escaping and she made her way inside the airlock after which the outer door slide shut and she was decontaminated through several process including ultraviolet light and an anti-pathogen fog. Having made it through the airlock she greeted Dr. Silvan in the central lab.
“A
h good morning Dr. Danforth,” Silvan said. “I hope you found the quarters comfortable.”
“Good morning doctor, yes they are just fine thank you,” She replied. “So I’ve been looking over your reports and I’d like to get started right away. I assume that the parasite is still in stasis in Max 5?”
“Yes…yes it’s locked up tight in stasis in the maximum level chamber. We’ll need full containment gear to enter and it has a separate airlock system.” He said.
“Excellent, well if you’re ready then I can use your help with the creature,” she said. “Let’s run a full spectrum analysis before we release it from stasis. Let’s start with basic morphology and work up from there. I know we are racing against time but the more we learn from the ground up, the easier it may be to counter. We’ll use the DNA structure model builder to build a virtual model of the creature one layer at a time. “I’d also like to get an actual tissue sample to run through the enhanced scanners from Paxton. They are all cutting edge and we’re lucky to have them.”
“I’m on it Doctor and I’m very happy to be working with you.” He said.
Chapter 9
RanClor IV
Governor Pierre Bennet read the latest briefings on the number of infected cases with alarm. Earth government had already sent a military detachment to assist and they would be arriving any day now. The illness had spread to all three of the inhabited cities and the numbers of cases were growing at a rate that would overwhelm capacity within a couple of weeks unless something was done. Working through alternatives in his head, Governor Bennet knew at a point sometime very soon he would have to declare martial law. Punching up executive orders on his display he setup a series of initiatives so that when the time came he could enact one or more. As he proofread each order he absently reached down and scratched his leg above the ankle.