Fear and Aggression

by Dane Bagley

“What’s Bob doing?” Kenny asked Steve. Steve was staring straight ahead with a faraway look. After a second or two a smile began to creep over his face and he looked over towards Kenny about the same time that Kenny looked at him. Steve shook his head slowly, and reached toward the console, pressing a button.

  “Merick, report on deck.” Releasing the button both men chuckled lightly.

  With the mission underway for just a few short days, the unofficial, unspoken, unwritten roles of each crewmember were beginning to take shape. Bob brought a special comic relief to the ship. It was neither overt, nor subtle, and it seemed to flow naturally and effortlessly. His was not the sharp-witted, dry, perfectly timed comment, surgically placed within a group discussion or conversation—that was the domain of Mike West, the engine specialist. Somehow the way Bob said and did things was just funny. Rarely did it seem that he had meant to evoke humor intentionally, yet when he brought a chuckle, smile, giggle, or deep-bellied laugh, he would just smile brightly and bask in the light-heartedness of the moment. It never felt like anyone was laughing at him, it was always with him.

  “Captain, do you need me on deck right now?” came the reply over the intercom.

  “Bob, we’re flying through outer space at a pace faster than light can go in the third dimension. We need our navigator on deck.”

  “I’m sorry, I just got hungry, and I was thinking about this casserole that Mom makes. So, I was showing Danny how to make it.”

  “Are you with Merick, Danny?” Steve asked.

  “Yes sir, Captain Jenners.”

  “Does this casserole sound like it will be good enough to justify Kenny flying without a navigator for another half hour?”

  “If it’s good eating it will be worth it!” Kenny interjected.

  “I don’t know, sir, I...”

  “Oh, it will be great, Kenny, Captain, you’ll love it,” expressed Bob.

  “You’ve got a half-hour, and I need you up here.”

  “Thanks, Captain...hey—don't cut it too small...” Both men laughed a little.

  Steve looked at his watch. “When’s James due back up here?” asked Steve.

  “Not for a couple of hours. He put in a long shift, and was pretty tired. I want to let him sleep as long as he needs.”

  “Are you alright on your own for a little bit?”

  “Sure,” said Kenny reassuringly.

  “Call Mike if you need him, I'm going to check on Tammy.”

  One of the primary problems with space travel, in the past, was how much energy it took to move large ships such long distances. Now that the energy required was quite minimal, it didn’t make sense to skimp on the proportions of the ship. For a seven-person crew, the galaxy charger was very large. Each crew member had comfortable quarters. The galley was particularly nice, with food a-plenty. Freezers were filled with all of the delicacies. There was even an internal greenhouse with fresh vegetables growing. The research lab was of particular stature. It was immense and filled with state-of-the-art equipment, all organized such that one individual could effectively run it smoothly.

  While the entire ship and crew were under the direction of Captain Jenners, the lab and research specialist had a somewhat different relationship. Tammy, their research specialist, was a civilian. As a member of the crew she took orders from the Captain, but in regards to her daily role and mission, she received her direction from Central Command. It wasn’t as though the Captain wasn’t privy to what was going on in the lab; it was just that the orders didn’t come from him. This all made sense, considering that everything else going on, aboard the ship he had knowledge and understanding of; in fact, he had served in most of the capacities and positions before. He had no experience or expertise in medical or research, nor did any of the other fleet Captains, so it made sense that they were under a different chain of command.

  It’s unlikely that this would have presented him any concern, or much thought, if the research specialist would have been some guy who kept mostly to himself and his work. But Tammy was the most beautiful, attractive, and intriguing woman he had been near before. Though, to be fair, he had been in space, on missions, for quite some time, and there were very few young attractive females around. But Tammy was something special, independent of the immediate scarcity of beautiful women. As he made his way down the final corridor towards the research lab, he thought about his relationship to her. I wish I completely understood our professional relationship—it would help in understanding a personal relationship...were his final thoughts as he reached the door to the lab.

  Tammy was standing at the other side of the room with her back to him. She was wearing dark green shorts that went down about mid-thigh, a tan shirt, and a pair of brown open-toe sandals. Her skin tone was a lovely olive which gave her exceptionally shapely legs a tan appearance. Whatever was occupying her attention had her sufficiently engrossed, such that she was unaware of Steve’s approach to the door. He stole a couple of moments admiring the view before he made a quick sharp rap at the door frame.

  “Hi, Captain Jenners,” Tammy replied with a genuinely bright smile as she turn to see who knocked, “I was wondering when you would stop by to inspect the lab.” This she said with a pleasant tone, and a bit of anticipation which gave Steve a feeling of both calm and excitement all at once. She started towards him, but he didn’t move. Her sapphire eyes and illuminating smile had captured him; no, she wasn’t the most beautiful women he’d seen in some time, she was more beautiful than anything he had laid eyes on before.

  “Come in, come in, no aliens in here to cause concern; at least not yet,” she said with a smile. Steve stepped in, meeting her just inside the door. It was true that this lab, like all of the labs in the new ZX-120’s, was built with the intent to examine extraterrestrial life, the existence of which still lay undetermined before them. This mission seemed particularly unlikely to yield alien life forms, as they were headed into uncharted and unanalyzed domains.

  “I’m sure you were disappointed to learn the nature of our mission,” Steve commented trying not to sound too apologetic.

  “Well,” she said cocking her head toward her left shoulder, “I’m sure I’ll be able to make the most of my time. This lab is a dream come true. I’d love to tap out all of its resources, but I'll just have to be patient.” In reality she was not the least bit disappointed to be on this mission, simply because this was where Captain Jenners was. But she didn’t need to make that too apparent just yet. Yes, she was itching to find and discover alien life. But that was not likely to happen on this particular round of missions anyway. And, if that did occur on any mission, she had assurances from her higher-ups that she would be brought in immediately, Tammy being the best and the brightest in her field, not to mention always enjoying favors from those around her.

  “I’m pleased to have you here. Anyway, you’ve brought a breath of fresh air to the crew,” Steve said kindly, blushing a bit.

  “Do you have some time? I could show you around the lab.”

  “That’s what I was hoping you would do.”

  “Assuming no little green men appear,” Tammy grinned, “this lab will serve as a very expensive mobile continuation of my research into genetic testing. Ideally, we want to be able to genetically analyze any life form within hours or days at the most. Of course, this assumes that these life forms are based on genetics, at least something like earth life genetics. That’s where the heart of my research lies. I’m trying to come up with algorithms that could look for patterns similar to what DNA accomplishes without necessarily coming from DNA.”

  “So life doesn’t have to have DNA in its cellular structure?”

  “On earth it does. In fact, viruses and prions that do have some properties of life are considered non-living entities because they don’t have DNA and RNA. What constitutes a living being is a debatable question. Some of my colleagues hold strictly to the view that life and the DNA/RNA stru
cture are inseparable. I have to admit that I lean in that direction myself. But what, if anything, we find out there may challenge our assumptions in ways we can’t imagine. My job is to imagine the unimaginable, and try to set up the programs to not be based on human bias that may not be correct.”

  “So that we don’t discover what appears to be a living creature, only to have our lab useless in analyzing and understanding its makeup.”

  “Exactly,” she said with a charming smile.

  “How is it coming so far?”

  “I’ve figured out how to turn most of these machines on,” she said dryly, and they both chuckled.

  Tammy led Steve into the lab and around the corner to the left. “This is where all of the rumors are coming from on earth—that we have already discovered alien life.” She pointed to an area that looked almost like a prison cell. “If they built this lab just to analyze plantlike or fungus-like life forms, or even small animal-like creatures they wouldn’t need that.”

  Steve looked at it curiously for a few seconds. He had already inspected the ship top to bottom before its departure, and had seen the large caged area before. But the way Tammy was talking gave it new meaning. “I suppose that even if we find some type of alien life form, the chances of it being large and intelligent are very remote.”

  “So it would seem. But from a scientific standpoint, it would be marvelous, whatever was found and analyzed. Either, the powers that be, know more than they are letting on, or they are not as interested in life in general as they are in intelligent life.”

  “James, our computer specialist, has been very critical in analyzing some of the planetary systems discovered. It was his impression that some of them had real potential for harboring life. But, beyond that, what he was analyzing would be signs of intelligence: radio signals, et cetera.”

  “So, rather than waste his skills in going to those areas that he’s already analyzed, just to see what, in fact, is there, he’s being used to his utmost in analyzing this area here, wherever we are,” Tammy replied contemplatively. “Captain, if you don’t mind me asking, how fast are we heading in the direction we are going?—I mean, relative to the ship’s capacity?”

  “Very slowly; I would think less than ten percent. Our job is not to get to a destination so much as it is to chart and analyze this area.”

  “Then if anything of interest was discovered, the Space Force could have as many ships as are in the fleet there with in a matter of days.”

  “I suppose that’s true; maybe I ought to mention that to James,” Steve muttered rhetorically.

  “I wouldn’t,” Tammy said, out of place, “no sense in in distracting him.” To which Steve made no reply.

  Realizing that this conversation had gotten too deep, too quickly, she motioned her Captain over towards the large, prison-like specimen chamber. This lab could be open to the ship’s air, or it could be sealed off from it entirely. Large canisters nearby could be used to gather up an alien atmosphere and then keep that atmosphere, correctly pressurized, in the lab. It was built such that one could observe everything that went on inside of the chamber from the outside, and also it had been built for whatever might be inside to communicate with those in the lab. The assumptions made in it being built as it was were mind-boggling.

  It had bothered Steve a little, a few moments ago, when Tammy had suggested how he do his job. That was not how one addressed a Captain. She was a civilian, he reasoned, and the last thing he wanted with her was a power struggle. Nothing, he felt, needed to be said. She had softened her demeanor noticeably after that comment, and she seemed to take in his unspoken communication and body language perfectly. As he watched and listened to her explain this large specimen cage, he could not help but notice her pretty features, and graceful movements. Her explanations were spoken with a confidence that was unquestionable; so much so, that it was not overdone, and she seemed comfortable exposing whatever weakness and vulnerability she may have, too. His momentary tightness quickly loosened, and he began to feel as soft as butter as she continued to demonstrate her domain.

  Tammy had felt non-verbally chastened a few moments ago, and worried that Steve had become Captain Jenners for good. His blond hair, dark blue eyes, and strong yet approachable demeanor had attracted her to him. But now she saw a coldness and a stiffness that she had never before seen in him. She had no desire to be in control of him, and reflexively displayed submissiveness to him while still carrying on with her natural confidence. What impressed her most was how quickly he softened. His response had been appropriate, yet as soon as he felt his message was understood and respected, he could loosen up and be approachable again. A rare quality indeed, she determined later that evening when she lay in bed and contemplated the delicious events of the day.

  Steve was given a thorough tour of the specimen area, and the research area. He did grow tired of all the detailed scientific descriptions of each piece of equipment, but never did he grow tired of her voice and presence.

  “Now, Captain, seeing that I have no alien, I shall need a sample of your blood,” she said with a smile, and held up a finger-sticking device. Steve forced a smile, and headed with Tammy to the portion of the lab that would serve as a sick bay, should it be needed. A shot in the arm never caused him a second thought, but a finger prick…now that was a different story. His first thought was to act tough, but then thought better of it. She was so genuine; she deserved nothing less than his honesty. Besides, I can’t pull that off. He sat in the chair that she motioned to and instinctively looked at the floor. His color was now several shades paler. She gathered her things and then headed towards him. Steve looked up at her.

  “Captain, you’ve grown very quiet,” she said as she sat down beside him and grabbed his left hand. “And your hand seems awfully cold and sweaty,” she said as she looked at him knowingly.

  “I loathe finger-sticks,” he said truthfully, while trying to sound humorous, and gave a pitiful smile. She smiled and looked down at his hand in hers. Steve looked down as well. She began to rub his hand in an attempt to bring the blood to his fingertips. Her hands felt warm and soft, her touch gentle and magical. Her spell had been cast upon him, and the fear left him. Suddenly this finger-stick experience was heaven on...well, heaven wherever they were. It was at this moment that Steve felt his feelings for Tammy were beyond attraction and infatuation.

  The stick came, the collection accomplished, and a piece of cotton was pressed to the finger tip. “Not bad, Captain; if I had a sticker I’d give it to you.”

  “Ms. Rogers, dinner is ready in the galley,” came Danny’s voice from the intercom. “Is Captain Jenners there, also?”

  “Yes, Danny, I’m here.”

  “Dinner is ready in the galley, Captain Jenners.”

  “Thank you, Danny, I’ll be there shortly.”

  The crew lived a twenty-five hour day, broken up into five five-hour sections. Only during one of the sections were all seven members of the crew generally awake. This was when dinner was scheduled. It made it easier for the ships secretary to prepare the meal, plus it allowed time for crew bonding. One person would be left on the pilot’s deck, and that duty was shifted around the Captain, pilot, computer specialist, navigator, and engine specialist. The secretary and research specialist were not trained to fly. Bob, the navigator, hadn’t earned his wings yet, either. That would be accomplished on this mission, if he could stay out of the galley long enough to get his training in on the flight deck.

  Steve felt rudely awaken back into reality. The idea of leaving the lab gave him a sick feeling in his stomach. But, he had been shown the entire lab, and could not think of any other legitimate reason for sticking around. So perhaps the timing was not so bad. “Are you heading up to the galley?”

  “Shortly, I need to get this sample taken care of. I want to test the speed and reproducibility of my genetic analyzer.”

  “So you’re going to
crack my genetic code while I eat dinner? Let me know if there’s any bad news,” he said as he got up to leave.

  “Thank you, Steve,” she said as she turned and looked at him in the eyes, penetrating, as it were, to the core. “I’ll see you up there in a few minutes.”

  “Tammy, it was a treat. I’m glad to have you on the crew,” he said in his Captains voice and demeanor. Then, pausing a second, "I’m really glad that you’re here.”

  She smiled sweetly and knowingly, again. He left, feeling it would be impossible to eat when he was so full.