The Oceans of Emptiness

by Tiffany Weems

  Gerald heard movement behind. He knew they were about to be relieved. As he began to turn away, it came into view. At first Gerald was convinced he was seeing things; it couldn’t be possible. Closing his eyes tightly, he snapped them open again and saw it was still there. A large fin rose from the surface of the water, black against the bright morning sun. It rose taller and taller over the ocean’s surface. Then it turned and slipped beneath the surface faster than it had appeared.

  “Please tell me I’m not crazy,” Gerald said.

  “If you aren’t, then I am,” Wilk said. “What was that?”

  “I don’t know, but I think we better find out,” Fenny said.

  Gerald turned around to see Luna standing only feet from them. Her face was painted with shock, but he also could see her determination. Their mission had just taken on another purpose.

  7

  Thieves

  It had been two weeks since Lance had fallen ill and during the interval several more victims were stricken with the virus that plagued the ship. However, Xana finally was able to develop a preventative vaccine after several failed attempts. Patricia was among the first to receive the vaccine.

  The ship was rapidly approaching the jump point and the last spot at which they would have any communication with Mars. Patricia noticed the attitude change in all the passengers. They were more serious, taking nothing they did for granted. John was working long hours with very few breaks. She hardly saw him except at night.

  So, like the rest of the ship, Patricia immersed herself in her work to get them all off to a great start. Lance was still out. He had been quarantined like all the other sick individuals, but he was awake. Patricia was given constant updates from Xana.

  The afternoon was dragging on. The other two students were working on strands of binary code, trying to correct errors in the system. She was seated at her desk, staring at an essay by Terral that she had been reading for over an hour with absolutely no progress.

  The door opened and Troubalene poked her head inside. “Patricia, can I see you a moment?”

  Patricia glanced at the clock on the desk. “I only have half an hour left with them. Can it wait?”

  “It could, but I have some place to be.”

  Patricia nodded and stood up. She followed Troubalene. “So what do you want?” she asked the moment the door shut.

  “Tomorrow you will be getting a new student. One of the kids has had a birthday today. Her name is Tinka Granture. She should be an easy enough student. From what I understand from Mr. Tint, she has a real aptitude for numbers. Just work closely with her.”

  “Is that what you came to tell me?”

  “I also came to speak with you because Lance will be rejoining your class tomorrow. All those quarantined are being released this evening. Have you spoken with anyone about what we saw?”

  “No. Does anyone else know besides us?”

  “Just the captain. And you didn’t tell John?”

  “Of course not. He would have wanted to examine Lance himself. Probably would want to get a matching tattoo.” Patricia folded her arms in front of her chest. “So what is it you really want?”

  “He’s going to be spending the majority of his time with you. Security detail will be as near as possible to him, but we do not deny his ability to evade our most talented of officers. You will need to be extra cautious around him. Don’t mention what you’ve seen and try not to tip him off that we know anything about his little experiment. We need to fully understand what his intentions are with that digital tattoo.”

  “Are you going to let him walk into the restricted area?”

  Troubalene bit her lip. “I am not able to discuss anything further with you on the matter. We just need to be sure that you’re on the same page. And speaking of duties, you have a very short amount of time left until you need to submit your recommendation for Teral. Don’t wait until the last minute. The captain won’t appreciate that.”

  Patricia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I will submit something soon. Just need to narrow it down a bit more.” With a sigh, she added, “If that’s all, I think I should get back inside and dismiss the class. They’ll need to get some dinner before heading to do more assignments.”

  “Patricia, I’ll expect a status report about Lance every week.”

  Patricia waved goodbye half-heartedly and reentered the classroom. “You two are free to go any time. Finish the assignment tonight and submit it.” She waited by her desk while Teral and Cubina grabbed their things and exited the room. Then she followed, but immediately headed down the hall to the elevator. She wanted to get up to see Xana.

  “How are things today?” Xana asked.

  Patricia shrugged. “So I hear the quarantined are going to be released today.”

  “Yes. After much deliberation on the status of the disease, the individuals have finally displayed enough progress to be released. It also helps that almost everyone on board has been vaccinated.”

  “That’s good. It took you long enough.”

  “I wasn’t the one dragging my feet. So why did you come up here?”

  “To help Tuft.”

  “I think he’s the most excited of all those quarantined to get back out. It’s understandable.” Xana glanced away from Patricia to her tablet. “I actually am not doing a double shift today. Why don’t I come with you? The three of us could actually have a chance to just enjoy each other’s company like we used to.”

  Patricia smiled. “That sounds great. I’m going to need a little time with friends.”

  “Bad day?”

  Patricia shook her head. “Not really. But tomorrow, well that could get interesting.”

  Xana stood up from the desk. “I’ll take you to Tuft.”

  Patricia walked beside Xana. She knew where Tuft was being quarantined. She had tried to pay him a visit several times while he was in the room all alone and was sent away every time. The room was just across the hall with a hand print access pad. Xana placed her hand on the pad and the door slid open. Inside there were several enclosed spaces for each of the quarantined individuals. Tuft’s was at the far end.

  As they walked, Patricia began to feel uncomfortable with the stares from the boxed up people. The worst one to walk by, though, was Lance. His eyes never faltered as she walked across the room. Did he blame her for being quarantined? She didn’t know.

  Xana stopped in the middle of the room. “You are all being released today. In a moment there will be a team coming in for final inspections and you will be allowed to move back to your regular chambers. I highly suggest taking it easy on food consumption for the next few days. Stick to bland foods and mainly liquid items. Also do not do anything extraneous. Each of you have until the end of the week to report back to your jobs. If you begin to feel rough again, feel free to come see me or my fellow medical staff. We will find a solution with a minimal amounts of procedures.”

  No one cheered, but Patricia could see the relief etched on all their faces. She moved to the back of the room and stood outside the see through, metal compartment that housed Tuft. He was definitely relieved. She could see him almost wanting to dance, but he appeared to be too weak to do so. “I thought you might be happy.”

  “This place has sucked. Can’t wait to get back to my room and a real bed.”

  Patricia glanced at Lance. He had taken several steps back and sat on the edge of his cot. His face didn’t read happy. It was more determined. Like he was planning something. She didn’t like it.

  Within minutes, the door opened again and twenty individuals walked in, each holding a scanner. They entered each box, one at a time, scanning the individual and then releasing them. Lance was done about halfway through. He strolled from the room with his hands behind his back. Tuft, however, was the last to be checked. When they were through, he tried to sprint to the door, but got tired and had to stop about where Xana was still standing.

  “You need to take it easy.”

  “That
sucks,” Tuft said.

  Patricia walked over to him and pulled him close, throwing his arm around her shoulder. “Come on. We can go back to my room for a bit.”

  Xana nodded. “I think that’s an excellent idea.”

  They made their way to level six and to Patricia and John’s room. Patricia took a seat on the bed and motioned for the other two to do the same. “How does it feel to be free?” she asked Tuft.

  He sighed. “I’ll let you know in about a week. Right now, I could do with a really long nap.”

  Patricia laughed. She then turned to Xana. “Lance, how was he?”

  “As far as patients go, he was a pain in my ass. Is he always like that?”

  With a shrug, she said, “Yeah, pretty much all the time.”

  “I’m so sorry. He threw a fit about having to be held there. Really, he got off lucky. Considering what the captain wanted to do.” Xana looked away.

  “What?”

  “Never mind. I’m not supposed to talk about it.”

  “Well now you have to talk about it.”

  “Yeah. Ain’t going to be able to avoid that one now,” Tuft said.

  “Besides,” Patricia said. “The rooms aren’t surveilled, not like the rest of the ship. How are they going to know?”

  “Fine. The captain wanted to cryogenically freeze them. He said it was a misappropriation of resources to constantly attend to individuals that posed such a high level of threat to the safety and stability of this crew.”

  “Wow. So he was going to freeze them until we get to our new home?”

  Xana nodded.

  “Can he do that?”

  “Of course he can. He’s the captain. If he wants to freeze someone, he’s going to.”

  Patricia looked at the wall that separated her room from the captain’s room. “I am trying so hard not to piss him off, but I don’t think I’m going to make it all the way there. We’ve got a long flight ahead of us.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Tuft said. “You could kick his ass.”

  “Yeah, that’d go over real well.” She smiled though. “I’m more concerned about his son getting a bad assignment from me.”

  “When is that due?” Xana asked.

  “They want an answer by the end of the week. I’m not sure there’s anything he’ll really be suited to do. He has no passion or drive. Just kind of sits there, like a blob. A semi-stupid blob. His work is mediocre at best. Not like Cubina. I know exactly where to put her. And despite his complete and utter horrible attitude, Lance will be the easiest to place of any student I ever have to teach on board this ship. But Teral, he’s my worst nightmare.”

  “Oh, speaking of nightmares, you are coming in tomorrow for a follow up?” Xana asked.

  Patricia rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure why you’re still bothering with this. I told you that it’s highly unlikely I’ll be able to contribute to this crew in that way.”

  “We need to maintain our population while up here. And all your test results are normal. You don’t give yourself enough credit.” Xana paused. “Are you sure this has nothing to do with Earth?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You could talk about it. We could talk about it.”

  “I told you, I’m fine. There’s nothing to talk about. Nothing happened.”

  “Something happened during the war that you’ve not shared. I could see it on your face when you described everything. There is more to your story Patricia Meyer than you are sharing.”

  “You’re wrong. And I’ll be at that stupid appointment tomorrow, but I’m telling you, there will be no progress on the matter.”

  Before Patricia had even rolled out of bed, John was gone. She had barely seen him the night before as he stumbled in so late. That seemed to be his way anymore. It was fine if that’s what he needed to do, but she didn’t like it. At least if they had stayed on Mars, they’d be able to talk, to have fun, not be stuck working, eating and only seeing each other before they fell asleep.

  She was in the cafeteria for breakfast with a small bowl of mixed fruits when Susanna took a seat beside her. “Big day?” she asked.

  “You could say that. I’ve got a new one starting and Lance is rejoining the class. I have to admit, class went a little smoother without him there.”

  “I bet. My day should go well. Just have to keep them on track.”

  “It doesn’t seem to matter what age they are, their attention never improves.” Patricia laughed.

  “So I hear you’re having a hard time with my son.”

  “No. He’s been doing well. Pays attention, doesn’t disrupt the class.”

  “You don’t have to lie to me. I know that he doesn’t have any passion. And I know he’s not the brightest person on this ship. But I also know where he would work best.”

  Patricia bit her tongue.

  “I need a favor from you. If you do something for me, I’ll help you out. My husband seems to be more anxious than anyone on this ship about where his son could end up placed. I think you should keep that in mind.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  Susanna smiled and leaned in.

    

  Patricia was the first in her classroom, as always. She waited patiently for her students to trickle in one by one. Cubina was there first. She sat down at her desk and began to tap on an assignment that wasn’t due for weeks. Teral came in next. He sat in the corner, back to the wall. With a small grumble, he laid his head upon the table and appeared to attempt to take a nap. It took about fifteen minutes, but eventually the last two came into the room. Lance took his seat, but the new student stood just inside the door as it slid shut.

  Patricia stood up from her desk walked over to the student. She placed her hand on her shoulder. “You must be Tinka.”

  She nodded timidly.

  “Class, this is Tinka. She is now old enough to join us. Tinka that is Teral, Cubina and Lance. You can take a seat wherever you’d like.”

  Tinka walked around the stage and took a seat as far from the other students as she could get.

  Patricia made her way to the stage. “Since we have a new student, I thought it might be nice to introduce ourselves a little, to make her feel welcome.”

  “Or you could do your job and we could get out of here quicker,” Lance said.

  “And I think we’ll skip over you for that comment. Cubina, do you have anything you want to say?”

  “Not really. I’m good.”

  Patricia scowled. “Seriously. Fine. If no one wants to talk, I guess we’ll get started. I do encourage you all to get to know one another because these are the people you’ll be building a new world with. They’ll be your friends, your coworkers, the only people you’ll spend time with.” Patricia then activated the hologram and brought up a projection of the galaxy. “Can anyone show me on this map where we are?”

  Cubina raised her hand and shot up from her seat. She leapt over her desk and jammed her finger into the middle of their solar system. The map enlarged to show their ship moving slowly past Jupiter at the moment.

  “Good job. Though I would recommend that next time, you not leap over a desk that we won’t be able to replace.” She then zoomed them forward to just past Pluto’s orbit. “Can anyone tell me what this point is called?”

  Tinka raised her hand with a slight tremor. “That’s the jump point. That is the point at which we will enter a period of intense speed to reach our destination sooner than what it should normally take.”

  “Very good and how far is our destination?”

  “Approximately 17.345 light years away.”

  “Can anyone show me on the map where that planet is?”

  Again Cubina leapt up from her seat. Instead of jumping over the desk, however, she walked around and zoomed the map out. Then, after a second of thought, she pointed to a planet. The map zoomed in again. The planet hung in the area, spinning slowly on its axis, with information filled dialogue boxes around it.

>   “Thank you, Cubina. You may take your seat again.”

  Cubina did so.

  “This is where we’ll live when our journey is complete. This planet is going to be far different than Mars and Earth. It will be colder and warmer. The air is questionable at best and there are four moons. There appears to be water from scans we have managed to take, but it is all under ground. There are mountains and volcanoes and unpredictable weather patterns. As far as we can tell, there is nothing living on the planet, but that may not be so. You all will need to be skilled in multiple areas in order to develop this world to a viable, habitable source for future generations.” Patricia closed the planet hologram. “Each of you needs to write a paper on the most secure way to develop a world and the abilities that you have not yet been given which you feel would be vital to your education and future survival.”

  “How seriously are you going to take this?” Cubina asked.

  Patricia shrugged. “If your suggestion has a strong basis and good defensive argument, I see absolutely no reason why I couldn’t develop a lesson plan for such a thing.” She then turned to Lance. “I do expect this to be done by the end of the week.”

  Lance shrugged. “And your point?”

  “You know, I really think that you would consider being nicer to me. I am the one who holds your future in my hands.”

  He put on a fake scared look. “I think you might have used that threat before. Be careful, you’re becoming predictable.”

  “As are you.” Patricia stepped off the stage and sat down at her desk.

    

  The rest of the day was pretty normal. After lunch, she dismissed the kids a couple hours early so she could go to her appointment with Xana. The halls were far less congested as there wasn’t a shift change at the moment. Anyone who was working was busy and those who were off were already engaged in an activity or asleep. It was a good time of day. Patricia didn’t like to think that she was on an overcrowded tin can passing through space.