The Galathea Chronicles

Generation-3

THE DAY PASSED SLOWLY for Carl due to the promise of a pleasant evening with the geo-phys scientist. He spent some of the time watching the RA team surveying and sampling the air, plants, water, rocks, sand, and dirt of the planet. He tried not to be too obvious about paying special attention to Pasha or Sasha, but then she and the rest of geo-phys went away over the sand dunes in the direction of the hexagonal structure. After Haggardy fell asleep in the passenger cabin—he hadn’t set foot outside the shuttle the entire time—Carl played the games he’d surreptitiously uploaded to the shuttle’s console while he waited for the RA team to return.

As the sun began to set, PashaorSasha came back, walking with the rest of geo-phys as they returned from the alien structure. They’d been gone two or three hours, and Carl wondered what they had all been doing inside the building for so long. The team made their way down the beach dunes, and at the same time other RA members began to straggle back to the shuttle. The sampling session was over. Haggardy sat up and rubbed his eyes, before asking the team members vaguely how the session had gone.

When everyone was aboard, Carl put on his headset and did a final passenger check. He closed the airlock, fastened his harness, and smiled to himself at the promise of an enjoyable dinner ahead.

Chapter FourTHREE DAYS IN HER CABIN hadn’t lessened Jas’ anger at Loba for putting his bonus before the crew’s safety, but it had evened it out somewhat. If she were to see him, she didn’t think she would throw him in a garbage airlock and press Purge right away. She might give him time for some last words first.

She turned on the screen angled above her bunk. A menu of entertainment options appeared: vids, games, music, recorded fly-on-the-wall cam footage, and educational programs. You could watch or play almost anything aboard ship that you could on Earth. The crew of the Galathea also had access to mail and videos from home on their private comm systems, options that might have made being cooped up more bearable for Jas, but she had nothing in that vein. No family. No ties to Earth or Mars. At first, she’d thought that made her better off than most others aboard the prospecting ships on their long voyages in deep space. No one to miss and no one to miss her. But over the years, she’d realized that it made it worse. Unlike the rest of the crew, she didn’t look forward to the end of a mission. After a year or longer away from the closest thing she had to home, stepping off the ship with no one to meet her was hard.

She blinked and shook her head. It was no good allowing depressing thoughts to take hold. That was what she hated most about being confined. It gave her time to brood. She needed to do something, anything. Her cabin was already spotless, and she’d arranged and rearranged her scant possessions countless times. Looking up at the screen, she could barely focus on it.

Her door chimed. She raised herself on her elbows. Who was risking Loba’s wrath by fraternizing with her? Or was it the master himself? She’d told the few crew members she was friendly with to stay away for their own sakes. “Door, open.”

Navigator Lee stood waiting. The petite officer was cringing slightly as she looked in.

Jas turned off her screen and swung her legs off her bunk as she sat up. “Come in.” Lee checked from side to side along the corridor before entering the room. She relaxed a little as the door closed behind her.

“Don’t want to be seen visiting me, huh?” said Jas. “Wouldn’t do much for your reputation, would it?”

Lee looked taken aback. “Maybe I should go.” She half-turned.

“Sorry,” Jas said. Why did she always push people away? “Don’t go. Come and sit down. I’m just stir crazy.”

The navigator relented. She pulled out the chair tucked under Jas’ desk and sat down. She opened her mouth to speak, but Jas interrupted.

“I’m glad you came. I wanted to thank you for sticking up for me in the mission room. It was brave of you, and I appreciate it. You were the only one who dared side with me against Loba. That took some guts.”

The frown on Lee’s forehead faded a little. “Thanks, but I wouldn’t put it like that. I didn’t mind helping you out and all, but I meant what I said. You did save our lives back on 87593g. I’ve seen you work. You know what you’re doing, and if you say 67092d isn’t safe I believe you, even if you can’t say why. That’s what you’re paid for, right? To protect us from all those hostile life forms that’re out to get us. I mean, what’s your incentive for making s**t up? What’s in it for you? Nothing, right? So if you’re saying we need to steer clear, I’m right there beside you. Don’t matter what Loba says. There’s more important things than money, you know?

“I’ve read plenty about what can happen to RA teams,” Lee continued, “and seen plenty on the news.” She gave a shudder. “It ain’t safe down there. One of my cousin’s friends...or was it someone at his work?...anyway, he knew someone who was just petting a little alien creature for five minutes, and three days later he was dead. Radiation sickness. Wasn’t nothing they could do for him. And in another case I heard about, an animal just brushed up against a researcher and ran off. The woman didn’t think much of it, but the fur that touched her hand was coated in a poison that penetrated human skin. She lasted a week, and she contaminated a couple of others in her team before they knew about it.”

Jas wondered how many more disaster stories Lee had.

“And there was that attack I heard about a while ago,” continued Lee. “The ship’s security officer didn’t even LIV the site the RA team landed at. I heard no one survived. Did you hear about it too? I think they kept it quiet, you know? Didn’t want to scare folks? Now, what was that other one...?”

“Yeah, well, like I said,” said Jas, standing. “I appreciate the support. Thanks for stopping by.” She was beginning to remember why she’d never been more than acquaintances with Navigator Lee.

The navigator smoothed her cropped blonde hair, appearing not to notice Jas’ hint. “How have you been? It’s been three days now, right? Have you heard anything from the master? Any idea when he might let you out? I’d go crazy sitting in my cabin day after day with no one to talk to. I mean, what on Earth do you do? Do you have comm to the rest of the ship? Can you talk to people?”

Jas sighed and sat down. “No, no contact with the rest of the ship. And you’re my first visitor. Loba said something about a mental health assessment, but I haven’t heard anything about that either.”

“Well, if there is something terrible on that planet, at least it can’t get you while you’re up here. We’re safe here, right?” Lee’s eyebrows rose questioningly. When Jas didn’t answer, she said, “That’s what I think anyway. That’s why I never leave the ship.”

“You never leave the ship? You’ve never been planetside? Ever?”

The navigator pinched her lips together and shook her head. “The only planet surface I’ve ever been on is good ol’ Earth. You wouldn’t catch me down there. God only knows what might happen.”

Jas took a moment to process this statement. “Then...what are you doing here? Why work on a prospecting ship? Why not stay home and get a nice, safe desk job on Earth?”

Lee gave her a questioning look. “Uh, I’m a navigator? My daddy suggested it when I was choosing my degree, and he was right. It’s easy for me, and the pay’s good. As long as I never leave the ship, I can pretend to myself I only have to step through an airlock to be home.”

Jas put her head in her hands. The only supporter she had among all the senior officers was paranoid. What did that say about her? Was she wrong about K. 67092d? Was she crazy too? After her years of service, was she beginning to crack?

“Anyway, I don’t like all this talk of hostile aliens,” said Lee. “Let’s talk about something else. Have you watched Their Eyes in the Stars yet? I loved it. Couldn’t stop watching it. Had to watch the whole thing through. Took me eleven hours.”

Jas’ door chime sounded again, and she exhaled with relief, but as she told the door to open, her relief changed to misery. If there was anyone she wanted to see less than Loba, and now Lee, it was the person waiting.

Standing in her cabin entrance, clutching an interface to his chest and smiling a beatific smile, was Sparks. The medical officer was a renowned brown-noser who had clearly decided which section of the crew he favored and which he did not, based on unspoken and unspeakable factors.

He was there for her mental health assessment. Sparks would be itching to have a hand in that.

Lee jumped to her feet, her features confused. She reddened, no doubt embarrassed to be caught in Jas’ cabin, but she also seemed pleased to see Sparks. He was definitely glad to see her, if anything could be gleaned from the radiant expression on his face.

“Navigator Lee, what a pleasure to observe you providing comfort to a friend in her hour of need.”

The officer’s blush faded as she beamed. “I thought C.S.O. Harrington would be lonely in here all by herself.”

Sparks’ already round eyes widened, and he nodded. “Of course, of course. That was very considerate of you. Do you mind if I join you both?”

“I’m sure you’re here for an official reason, Dr. Sparks, so I’ll get out of your way,” said Lee.

Jas almost regretted it as the navigator left them alone.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” asked the doctor as the door closed behind Lee. He sat in the chair the navigator had vacated. Putting the device face down on the desk, Sparks turned to Jas, leaned forward, put his elbows on his knees, and steepled his fingers. His features assumed an earnest expression. “How have you been?”

“Fine,” replied Jas.

Sparks tilted his head and raised his eyebrows. “Have you been sleeping well? Any headaches? Appetite problems?”

“Look, can we cut straight to the mental health check?”

Sparks straightened up. “Hmpf. I’d prefer to do a preliminary general health assessment. It’s helpful in order to make an exact diagnosis.”

“Is that what this is really about? You’ve got machines for the general stuff, haven’t you? I’m mentally sound, and I’d rather not sit through a load of BF.”

Giving her an ‛I’m not angry, just disappointed’ look, the medical officer picked up his interface and handed it to Jas. “I think we have rather more to talk about than you imagine, Harrington, but if you’re refusing to cooperate...” He sighed. “It looks as though your outburst in the mission room was probably a symptom of a serious issue. But let’s see the results of the assessment before jumping to conclusions.”

He pointed to the first question on the list. “This one is very important.”

Jas read the question and scowled. “It’s illegal to ask if someone’s natural or modded.”

“You’re right, and for very good reasons of course. But senior medical personnel can make an exception for clinical reasons. A person’s genetic status gives essential information about potential mental health issues and other conditions.” He spoke in a low tone. “And you can rest easy. Your answer is completely confidential.”

The problem was, Jas didn’t know if her genes had been modified. Her parents had died in a colony disaster on Mars when she was a baby, and her records were destroyed at the same time. No one in the orphanage had bothered to have her tested, and as she grew up and witnessed the increasing discrimination against naturals, she’d decided against finding out for herself.

She studied the question and looked up at Sparks, who was gazing at her. She didn’t believe a word of what he was saying. She thought he was digging about her genetic status so he could slot her into his ‛us’ and ‛them’ boxes, but if she didn’t pass as mentally fit, she might never get back on duty and find out what was on that planet—before it harmed the crew.

Chapter FiveRETIRING TO HIS CABIN after his duties were complete was almost Master Akabe Loba’s favorite time of day, excepting only what came after. He closed his cabin door, set his corridor-side panel to read Do Not Disturb and shrugged off his jacket, dropping it on the floor as he went to his closet. From the top shelf he took a cylindrical container. He popped off the lid and slid out a roll of very old paper, though it might have been another material such as parchment or vellum. Loba was no expert on such things. He sometimes wondered if he’d been duped into paying an exorbitant sum by the vendor, but it didn’t matter. If the document was fake, it was convincing to him, and he enjoyed the ancient feel and look of the thing. Most importantly, he had found it to be accurate.

His ritual had been the same as far back as he could remember, though if the truth be told, his memory wasn’t as good as it had once been. He should cut down on his habit, he knew, but not today. He would start tomorrow, or next week, when they had cataloged this latest planet, and he could relax a little. Damn that Harrington for causing a delay. He found himself beginning to gasp, and he pushed the memory of the defiant security officer from his mind.

Loba undid and dropped his pants. Stepping out of them, he took two paperweights from the table. One was a fist-sized iridescent crystal he’d picked up from the desert floor of a long-forgotten planet in the days when he’d been working his way up the ranks. The other was a long block of polished ebony: wood of a now-extinct Earth tree. Unfurling the document on the floor, he placed the crystal on one end, then unrolled the rest of the scroll to its full extent before securing the other end with the wooden block.

Every day the same.

Traced in faded ink on the sheet was the figure of a naked man. His arms and legs were outstretched, and his blank eyes were open. Wavy hair surrounded his head like a halo. The figure itself was unimportant to Loba; it was the lines that ran through his body, from his head and spine to his fingertips and toes, that were the focus of his interest. They were meridians: energy paths, where the greatest pain—and pleasure—could be felt.

He ran a fingertip down a line that skirted the groin and followed through to the thigh and leg. It was the meridian he had used for yesterday’s dose. To achieve the greatest effect from his drug of choice, Loba had to apply the doses at each point along the meridians according to a strict rota. Yesterday’s dose had contacted a point at the left-hand side of his groin. Today, he would administer it fifteen centimeters below, in the thigh. Loba relied on memory alone for the order of the dosing points. If any record of his habit were found, it would be professional suicide. This was why he possessed only a physical document to guide him, a document that could be purged into space in less than a minute. Digital information was much more difficult to erase.

Drug abuse had impacted Loba’s functional ability in many areas of his life, but in the matter of remembering the dose position order, his recall was excellent.

He pressed an invisible button on the ebony paperweight. As the block of wood popped open, his breathing quickened. In the lead-lined center of the block was a clear glass vial of carmine liquid. Mythranil. Exquisite purveyor of bliss. Lying next to the vial were a set of fine, hollow needles. Loba could hear himself panting.

Soon, soon.

He removed the vial and a needle and went to the sterilization unit in his bathroom, where he placed the needle in the unit and let it sit for thirty seconds. His hand trembled as he retrieved it.

Only a minute to wait.

He sat on his bunk and removed the stopper from the vial. After inserting the needle in the liquid, he gently sucked at the other end, careful not to draw the mythranil into his mouth. Ingestion destroyed the active ingredients of the drug, and each drop was week’s wages. He slipped the needle from his mouth and quickly placed his thumb over the hole to prevent the liquid from dripping out. Loba took a last look at the image of the spread-eagled man, lay down on his bunk and felt down from the sore spot on his groin to a point roughly fifteen centimeters below.

Just a few seconds now.

Joy suffused Loba as he thrust the needle home, grinning through the pain. His aim was true. He’d hit the meridian line spot on, and ecstasy flowed through him. All cares, worries, and concerns of reality melted away, and he sank into a blissful daze.

***