Paravoid (Rust Bucket Universe)

by Atk. Butterfly

  Shortly afterward, the fighter moved in and stationed itself close to the alien ship. The investigation team was halfway to the fighter when their radios came alive.

  "Captain Savala to investigation team. Hold your position! We're getting radio responses from the alien ship now. We're still working on interpreting what they're saying. They're either saying thank you or asking for more assistance."

  "Okay, no sense hanging in between. Let's get back on the alien ship," said Jim to his team.

  The investigation team back tracked across the void between the fighter and alien ship to stand once again on the alien ship's hull. Then they waited for someone to figure out what was being said. The wait continued long enough that another member of the team took over replacement air tanks for them, which they switched quickly and easily. Their empties were sent back the same way for re-use.

  ***

  Jane suddenly said, "I've got something! Try this on those messages! It's not much, but I'm fairly certain it's not anything offensive that would upset them."

  "What are we saying if we send this?" asked Captain Savala.

  "Well, it should say 'Welcome neighbor' as best I can work it out," Jane replied. "I'm still working on getting more of their language, but I don't have much to go on. It might be better if we just met them face to face."

  "Then don't send it unless we're positive what it means. I don't want to be responsible for starting another intergalactic war," Captain Savala responded. Then she picked up her headset and held it close before speaking.

  "First Officer, try knocking on the air lock and see if they'll answer the door. Maybe what we need to do is be neighborly. Make sure that they can see all of you out there. Perhaps our diversity will impress them with our good intentions."

  "Roger, Captain. Okay, team, let's knock on the door," Jim said. He moved near the air lock and then reached out and gently knocked on the hatch with his fist.

  Jim waited over a minute between each set of knocks. He was into his third set when the lights on the panel beside the hatch began to change. He radioed, "I think they're answering the door."

  The green humanoid opened the hatch slowly and looked at the four beings. As Jim looked, he realized that the humanoid was female. He smiled, hoping it would be taken as a friendly gesture. The female looked at the four of them, taking note of their hands in particular. Jim held his up and open as an additional gesture of friendship. So too, did the other cadets, after seeing Jim do so. The female wasn't holding any weapons in her hand, but she did have what appeared to be one strapped to her waist. She finally nodded and motioned them inside the air lock.

  "We're being invited in," said Jim.

  Captain Savala replied, "Okay, proceed with caution. You're on your own, you realize."

  "Acknowledged," replied Jim as he stepped inside the air lock.

  The other cadets followed and stood inside as the female closed the hatch and then began pressing switches to process in air.

  Jim noticed that there was air pressure beginning to take hold inside the air lock. Some lights came on before the female opened her helmet and breathed in deeply. She said something that he couldn't hear very well. She then motioned at his helmet.

  Jim shook his head and reached down for his atmosphere sensor. She noticed his hand movement and reached for her weapon. Jim stopped his arm movement and then began using crude sign language to indicate that he needed to check the atmosphere before he could open his helmet. Somehow he got his point across. She still kept her hand near her weapon as she watched him bring out his sensor and run a quick test.

  "It's oxygen, folks. We can open our suits," Jim said as he put the sensor away. He then opened his helmet in front of a more relaxed alien as she saw that he was honest in his sign language.

  The inner hatch opened revealing more of the green humans standing about. One or two could be seen by some of the cadets to have what appeared to be weapons at the ready. Again, the cadets showed open hands and smiled. Their actions appeared to help defuse the situation. One of the aliens was injured and lying in the passageway not far from the open hatch. Another alien was kneeling next to the injured alien, evidently in anguish, showing what appeared to be tears.

  "Brut, Lydia, it looks like we might score some more points with these people if you can help their injured crew member. Be slow and deliberate in your actions. Make sure they understand what you're trying to do," said Jim. "I'll see if they'll let you help."

  Jim made more signs, still crude but effective nonetheless, as he held his arm at an awkward angle and made a face of pain before he pointed to Brut and Lydia. "Okay, make like your taking care of my arm so they'll get the complete picture."

  Brut took hold of Jim's arm and carefully straightened it back. Then he pretended he was bandaging it with something.

  "They're getting the idea," Jim exclaimed as he watched the delighted faces on the aliens. "I think they'll let you look at their injured crew member."

  "Okay," replied Brut. "Lydia, you want to handle him while I communicate with the doctor?"

  "It's your shift, Brut. You're not getting out of doing the work. I'll communicate," said Lydia.

  "You just want to see me naked again," he said.

  "Perhaps. However, they might not understand that. Just do it with your suit on for now. I think you'll be less likely to expose them to anything from us that way," she responded.

  "True, very true. I almost forgot that," he said as he led the way to the injured alien man.

  Brut bent down and looked at the green man. It was obvious where the man was injured, if only because one of his hands was on the place where it hurt. Brut carefully moved the man's hand and stared at the injury.

  Lydia radioed, "Doc, the alien has an open wound with a piece of jagged metal or plastic sticking out of it. He's bleeding some. His blood is red, even though his skin is green. The wound is in his side, below what appears to be a similar rib cage to ours. About midway between the ribs and the hip."

  "Okay, get bandages out of your pack. Then wipe away some of the blood to see just how bad the wound is. Try to find out if the object is hooked or not. You don't want to just pull it out if it has a hook."

  Lydia took out her note pad and marker. She hurriedly drew the alien with the object in his side. She showed it to the other aliens beside her. Then she drew two possible shapes of the unexposed portion of the object and tried her best to get them to pick out the one most like the object.

  "It's straight, Doc," she replied.

  "Okay. Be ready with bandages to cover the wound with as soon as Brut pulls out the object. Have some of the aliens assist by holding down the injured man," the doctor instructed.

  Lydia quickly drew more pictures to show what she and Brut were going to do. She pointed at some of the aliens and then to the drawing to assign them their tasks. Then she and Brut took their places.

  Brut took hold of the jagged metal and pulled firmly and smoothly on it until it cleared the wound while the aliens held the injured man still. As soon as the object was out, Lydia pressed a bandage up against the wound and held it in place until it was sealed.

  Brut said, "He needs to be seen by our doctor. I don't know what he can do, but it's got to be more than we just did."

  "I agree. Maybe they'll let him come over to our ship," said Lydia.

  She drew a picture of the injured alien, showing a space suit, then a transfer, and then what she hoped the others would interpret as treatment. The aliens were similar enough in a lot of ways that perhaps they would understand medical treatment as she pictured it.

  A male alien looked at the picture and gently took the marker from Lydia's hand. He looked at the marker for a moment before using it to add to her drawing. His drawing was slightly better than hers, but that was besides the point. Quickly, he drew in two more aliens going with the injured man.

  Lydia quickly agreed by nodding.

  The alien began speaking to his crew. Space suits appeared as his c
rew brought them out of a room. Some of the aliens worked at dressing the injured man. Two other aliens dressed in space suits, themselves.

  "I think we should accompany them," said Lydia to Brut. "Otherwise, they'll wonder who the hell is going to treat him."

  Brut began to say, "But the doctor . . ."

  "They don't know him, but they do know us. I think they trust us. Besides, this is the kind of injury we're mostly supposed to learn to treat. Let's get going. I'll notify the ship we're coming over. They can have another fighter standing by for Jim and Reese while we're over there," she said.

  ***

  The aliens were somewhat shocked at first to see that they were going to a smaller ship. Then Lydia used her note pad to indicate that the little fighter would shuttle them over to the cruiser. The aliens then agreed and permitted their injured crew member to be placed on board the fighter. They all crossed over to it and closed the hatch, once again jettisoning the tethers.

  The fighter quickly crossed over to the Dust Bunny. The cruiser easily grabbed hold of the complete attention of the two uninjured aliens. The Dust Bunny was more than three times the size of their ship. They were even more impressed when the fighter didn't hover outside a hatch, but entered into a hangar inside the cruiser. They found it difficult to believe that they could remove their helmets in such a large open area. Evidently, they hadn't yet solved the problems of air pressure inside so large a cabin.

  Other cadets were standing by with a gurney to carry the injured alien to the medical department. Brut and Lydia went with the gurney while the other two aliens tried to hand over their weapons to someone as an apparent act of trust. Instead, they were amazed again to find themselves trusted to keep their weapons. Consequently, they had to hurry to catch up with the gurney.

  ***

  "Okay, let's take a good look at his insides. Try to explain what we're going to do to those two friends of his. I don't want to subject him to anything harmful out of ignorance," the doctor said.

  Again, Lydia used her note pad to draw pictures of some of the medical equipment and indicate its function to the two alien escorts. It was slow and tedious, but she made progress. Likewise, she was able to draw less and less as she referred to earlier pictures instead of drawing everything over and over, especially the patient.

  They nodded when they appeared to understand and the testing began.

  ***

  "Captain, we're going into their engine room to show them what we did already," Jim radioed.

  "Affirmative. I hope they're not disappointed," she replied.

  Jim walked along with the alien male, who appeared to be in charge. The alien male was about to open the hatch when Jim stopped him. Jim quickly did his best to indicate that the hull was still open.

  Finally, the alien male understood and said something to others of his crew. More space suits were brought out. The alien male wasted no time in dressing himself in his suit as Jim put his helmet back on and sealed it. Hatches far behind them in the passageway were closed and latched. Then the alien male opened the hatch to the engine room as he and Jim walked into the engine room to look.

  They looked at the dead crew member and Jim saw what appeared to be a tear roll down the alien male's cheek.

  With some more crude sign language, Jim indicated that the cadets were willing to assist in sealing the hull back. The alien male understood at last and nodded. He was willing to accept the additional assistance.

  Jim radioed, "Everette Dixon, they're willing for us to patch the hull. Go ahead and move in to send out repair crews."

  "Understood. We're on our way."

  ***

  The repair crew arrived back at the alien ship. The cadets mostly worked from the outside while the aliens worked mostly from the inside of their own ship. Though they knew how, the cadets did their best to take their directions from the aliens on how to repair the hull.

  ***

  "Okay, close the wound, Brut. You've done well so far," the doctor said.

  "That's easy for you to say, Doc," Brut replied.

  "Well, you're conversing a lot more easily now while you're working. You've got fairly skillful hands. I'm surprised that you never considered becoming a doctor with your steadiness. If you ever decide to become a doctor, I'll gladly give you a recommendation. I daresay that some of the med schools would fight tooth and nail to have you as a student," the doctor responded.

  "Doc, it's not the work, it's the nudity that bothers Brut," said Lydia.

  "You don't like working in the buff?" asked the doctor.

  "Not really, Doc. I feel like I'm on display," Brut replied.

  "I don't know why. Usually the patients are unconscious. The way we're bent over the operating tables so often, no one else can see you anyway. I still wear clothing when I'm not operating," the doctor said.

  "Doesn't matter, Doc. I still want to be an officer in the Navy," Brut responded. "Always wanted to explore space."

  "Well, you still get to explore space as a doctor. Give it some thought, Brut. You've got good hands," the doctor said.

  ***

  "Admiral, Navy headquarters confirms that a diplomatic team is on the way now. They've asked us to stick around since the aliens are used to us and apparently trust us. They want to know if you have any problems with that," Captain Savala said.

  "Tell them we'll comply with their wishes. This is good training that most cadets never get to participate in. If you would, Captain, I'd like you to try to assign as many third year cadets into liaison positions as possible so they can pass on some training to the rest of the Academy classes, seeing as they have over a year remaining," Admiral Oden said.

  "Can do, sir. How much of our ship should we allow the aliens to see?" she asked.

  "I think we can let them see most of it, consistent with security requirements. From what I've overheard, they're on the same technology track as we are. It won't take them long to bridge the gap. But we'll wait for the diplomats to arrive and escort them around the ship. They're more experienced at that sort of thing," he said.

  "Do you think we've made a good impression with them?" she asked.

  "It sounds like we have. They're apparently being as patient with us as we are with them. That's a good start. It's a better start than we had with Bragh or Malak. I'm thankful that we've mended fences with Bragh and that they joined the Union on their own. I'm still concerned about the Malakin Empire. I suppose that they'll require another two decades or more of trust in us before they change their minds," Admiral Oden replied.

  "You think it will come that soon?" she asked.

  "It will with people like yourselves in the Navy. These new people, whom I understand are being called the Greens already, could make the difference in that. If we can establish solid, friendly relationships with them, then that might impress the Malakins enough to shorten the time estimate significantly. If not, then it will probably lengthen it," Dave replied.

  ***

  "Okay, seal that edge."

  "Inside being sealed!"

  "Outside seal proceeding."

  "Inside completed!"

  "Outside completed!"

  "Okay, tell the alien boss that he can put air back into his engine room. We'll be standing by to seal any leaks out here."

  ***

  One of the Greens came over to Lydia and shook her. She awoke from her nap and looked at the man. He motioned for her note pad and marker. She handed those to him. He drew some pictures and showed her. She quickly understood. She went to the intercom and activated it.

  "Captain, one of the Greens needs to return to his ship in a hurry."

  "Okay, get him to the hangar and we'll do our best," Captain Savala replied.

  Lydia motioned the Green man to follow her. She picked up her space suit as she left the medical department and led him back to the hangar. A fighter was standing by when she and the Green arrived. Quickly, they boarded and the fighter left the cruiser.

  In no time, it seeme
d, they were back at the alien ship. They left the fighter and entered the air lock. The Green man led Lydia to a cabin and found items that he handed to her. Occasionally, he drew on the notepad to show her what some of the items were for. She understood fairly quickly that they were medicines for the injured man.

  Minutes later both of them returned to the fighter and then to the Dust Bunny. They hurried along back to the medical department where they opened the items on directions of the injured man.

  Brut said, "You know something? I bet the injured man is their doctor."

  Lydia replied, "I think you're right. If he is, then it explains why they couldn't treat him."

  ***

  The seals held, not that any of the cadets were worried that those wouldn't. Their work was meticulous and meant to hold. The alien male in charge nodded as his instruments indicated a breathable atmosphere inside the engine room once more. He was already beginning to pick up on some of the body language of the cadets and clapped one of them on the back in congratulations.

  ***

  "I think we're somewhat ahead of them in medicine," said Brut.

  "I think we're a lot ahead of them," Lydia replied. "I don't think they can seal a wound like that. He's still looking for the entry spot."

  "Seems almost funny, doesn't it?" asked Brut.

  "Well, he seems satisfied that we didn't do anything wrong to him," Lydia said.

  ***

  "How are you doing, Jane?" Captain Juanita Savala asked.

  "I'm making a lot of progress. I've had access to some of their written material and entered it into the computer. The entry is the slow part. You were right about the earlier message. It didn't say welcome neighbor," Jane replied.

  "What did it say?" Juanita asked.

  "It said 'Welcome lover', Captain."

  "That was close. At least, they would have known we had friendly intentions," Juanita said with a chuckle.

  "Yeah. I wonder how good they are in bed," mused Jane.

  "You would want to know that, Jane. Don't you ever get enough?" Captain Savala asked.

  "Never. I hope I can keep on having pleasure that way until I'm at least a hundred and thirty, if not a hundred and fifty and on my deathbed," replied Jane.