13 Degrees of Separation

by Hechtl, Chris

  “We are? Um, our passengers are interested in that. Or will be when we um, tell them.”

  “Right. Well, it's not just for your crew and passengers, it is for your ship as well. We send engineering crews on board to inspect your systems and offer advice on how to fix what needs fixing. We also clean your computer software for free.”

  “Oh! Well! That sounds downright neighborly of you! I'll um, let my Captain know. You said something of data?”

  “Sending it now,” Tam said, indicating the rating with a nod and finger wave. The communications rating nodded and tapped at his controls for a moment, then turned and gave her a thumbs up.

  “Nelly, we've sent you a course, please follow it carefully and do not deviate until you get past the all clear point. Wendigo clear,” Tam said, sitting back and running a hand through her hair.

  “Um, Nelly clear,” Dwayne replied, sounding disappointed. The channel was cut. The rating snorted.

  “Well, that was exciting! Now we get to pick it apart for a shift or two, then go back to being bored out of our minds,” Tam said, face twisting in a puckering smile. “At least until the next time someone pops in and scares the bejeezers out of us.”

  “I give it a full day Captain to make the rounds,” the rating said, smiling and shaking his head.

  The captains long lips smiled. “Sure, splurge why don't you. People will pick that apart for a while, nothing better to do I suppose. Run a tracking exercise on her, we might as well get our credit's worth.”

  “Aye Captain,” the rating said, nodding.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The ship arrived at Anvil without further incident six days later and docked to the station's now fully restored docking ring. Custom officers were there to inspect the ship right along with a Navy intelligence and engineering team. It was standard practice by now, the intel team used the health and welfare inspection as a cover to get on board and siphon the ship's database for any information. Since the ship had come from Horathian space it was of double interest to them.

  Her crew and passengers were greeted with some suspicion. “I'll do my best to keep an eye on them,” Smithy said to Lieutenant JG Teague, the intelligence officer hastily brought in to handle the inspection. She'd handled several before, but this one she wanted to be careful about. The passengers debarked in orderly fashion as the crew negotiated for fuel and worked on exchanging cargo. Meanwhile Teague quietly arranged to have the ship picked over thoroughly, inside and out. Her sensor records of their time in Pyrax would be erased with a worm program after they jumped out of the system. She alerted station security to keep a discrete eye on the people coming off the ship. There was no telling if they were spies, saboteurs, or just tourists.

  She was instantly alerted to the number of odd people coming out. Most notably, the long line of bipeds in robes wearing strange face masks. Each mask was painted to look like a human male or female. Some were quite elaborate, some were simple. A scan of the people wearing the masked made her even more confused, they were Neo's.

  “What's up with them?” she asked softly to the ship's officer handling the debarkation.

  “They're weird ones. The Chimerian clan or family, or whatever. They're Neo mongrels, a mix of Neo species so jumbled up it's hard to tell who is what. They keep to themselves. Polite, very smart, but weird, with the robes and all.”

  “It takes all kinds. Religious sect?” the Lieutenant asked.

  The man shrugged, clearly disinterested. “Not my problem anymore ma'am, yours,” he said with a smile.

  “Gee thanks,” she said as he signed a tablet and handed it back to her.

  The Chimerians talked with the health inspector doctors after getting off the ship. Each was interested in the bored doctor. The doctor frowned, having a bunch of people dressed in white cotton robes wearing masks was a new one on her. Her partner shrugged. “To each his or her own I suppose,” he murmured in an aside to her. Their tricorders could see through the cloth of course.

  “I'll need a blood sample from each of you. Can you tell me your species... oh wait, hmmm. Chimerian?” she asked. “Is that why you said your clan name was Chimeria?” Doctor Wasan asked, looking up in mild confusion.

  “Indeed.”

  “Well, we'll still need a respiratory sample, along with blood. Possibly urine. Is anyone sick?”

  “No doctor, we have several doctors among us. I am a trained medical practitioner,” the leader, Trenton said, holding out an arm. He pulled the robe aside so she could see his pale pink skin and a black gloved hand. She shrugged.

  “Well, you can't practice medicine here on the station without passing a review board first, just so you know. You can access the station net to find out more.”

  “Okay,” he said as she used a needle to take a sample.

  “This is a health and welfare check, we're looking for viruses and that sort of thing,” she said, taking the sample tube and placing it in an analyzer. After a moment a green light lit next to the view screen. She tapped a button and a flat holo was projected over the screen. “You are clean. Good to go.”

  “Thank you doctor,” the leader said with a nod, pulling his sleeve down. It wasn't until he did that did Doctor Wasan realize his other people had turned away. She frowned but then shrugged as the leader moved aside for the next in line.

  Their ship was a tramp freighter, the old Nelly, their clan numbered near a hundred and the ship hadn't had passenger space for everyone so they'd doubled and even triple bunked. They had of course slept in shifts, and some had slept in storage compartments, but it had been cramped smelly quarters for many months. It was a bit of a relief to stretch and see new surroundings. All that ran through the mind of the custom agent, but then consternation hit. The questions about medical doctors startled and alarmed the customs officer. “Is anyone sick?”

  “No no, not in an infectious way. We are interested in medical exchanges. We have... the leader paused. Slowly he nodded. “Medical equipment we can trade for.”

  “Oh, um, you'll have to speak with Doctor Thornby. She's head of Anvil station medical services as well as the system and the Navy,” the custom's officer said, handing back an identity card. “If you intend to be here for long please look into getting ident chips. The basic ones are free.”

  “I see,” the leader replied quietly, taking the card.

  The Chimera family was dressed in white cotton robes. They seemed like good honest, albeit shy and simple folk, wearing masks painted to look human. They did make a spectacle of themselves as they entered the main passageways of the station. As a group they stood out, attracting attention. Some who saw them in passing thought of them as actors, which some of the clan did do. A few juggled or did small acts in passing, then passed a boot for donations. They were ever polite, even when rebuffed.

  “It is the same here as everywhere it seems,” one female murmured to the male. “Will we ever be free?” she asked bitterly. He waved a hand to indicate to her to be quiet.

  The clan did take note of Neo shoppers. Some of the clan murmured to others, some turned away. The matriarch paused in her shopping to see their parade. She raised her muzzle to sniff the air, catching their odd scent. “Odd,” she said, recognizing the scent of Neos.

  “Hey lady, are you going to buy that or not?” the testy shopkeeper demanded. She blinked. “Oh sorry, yes... um, how many do you have and do you do bulk discounts?” she asked, ears pitched to the newcomers until they were out of range.

  The parade of robed newcomers moved on. Trenton paused at a map to orient himself, then waved in the proper direction. Silently his people followed, trying to not gawk about like tourists.

  “This had better work,” one female said near Trenton.

  “It shall, or it won't and we will move on elsewhere,” Trenton replied, remarkably affable considering he had bet everything of the clan on this remote possibility.

  “You said... and we are low on funds...”

  “The clan will surv
ive. Onward,” he said curtly, cutting off debate before others became involved. This was not the time nor the place for such things.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  Doctor Thornby was exasperated by the interruption, she had been focused on the military medical exams. At one point she'd thought of the wisdom of the entire project, how it could be applied to the growing station population, and possibly the system at large. Now she was just glad this was over. Or mostly over anyway. The Navy side had just concluded, but the Marines were just starting their exams. “Um doctor...” Miss Ralk said, indicating her office door.

  “The apes tend to act up out of boredom and just to cause mischief. It's a pain in the ass to the staff. I wish they'd grow up a little,” she said with her back to her door as she opened her office door. She turned and found a delegation of four people in her office wearing robes. Her implants told her they weren't human. They turned to her. “Oh um, sorry, no offense,” she said, blushing.

  “No, we are not troubled by that,” one of the larger persons said, a male. Thornby realized it was a Neo. Great.

  “Well, I'm not referring to Neos in this case, I'm referring to Marine apes. Marines in general, we call them apes regardless of species. They tend to be...” she waved a dismissive hand, realizing she was only digging herself in deeper by venting a bigoted stereotype, even though there was nothing harmful about it. “Never mind, not important. What's going on?” she asked, looking to her assistant.

  “I tried to tell you they were here,” Miss Ralk said as she shrugged and entered the room. “They have some equipment you want and have a proposition for you, doctor,” she replied. “And a.... delicate medical request,” she said, looking at Trenton for confirmation. He nodded. Doctor Thornby stared at his mask. She could see blue eyes behind the eye holes.

  The doctor turned to her guests. “Oh?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in inquiry. “Why don't you take off your masks and we'll talk,” she said, moving around to the other side of her desk. She took up a position of dominance, projecting it to the room. This was after all her office, and they had come to her for help.

  “Yes...” Trenton came to a decision. Slowly he reached up with a gloved hand and took his mask off. She stared into the blue eyes of a simian. He wasn't quite human, but close. A broad nose, slight muzzle, clean shaven, without a single hair on his face. He looked odd without eyebrows.

  His skin was pinkish, perhaps a little too pinkish. She wondered if he plucked his hair, and why. She shook herself and raised an eyebrow. “I am doctor Thornby, chief medical officer of this station, the star system in general, and also a reserve Lieutenant Commander in charge of the medics for the Navy and Marines as well.”

  “I see. Quite the accomplishment,” the male said nodding in appreciation.

  “It's a headache and a half sometimes, juggling all the duties and titles. And you are?” Thornby asked.

  “I'm sorry, I have been remiss. My name is Trenton.”

  “Trenton?” the doctor asked. “Family name?”

  “We call ourselves the Chimerian clan. Or family, it's the same,” Trenton said, smiling ever so slightly. “We are a mixed breed Neo clan.”

  The doctor nodded. Some Neo's didn't go by a family name or last name, they went by a species or clan name instead. That made sense, but why they were here was still a mystery. “You need medical aid? Basic life sustaining medical aid is covered by the Navy. However, if you need something that falls outside that, we'll have to talk costs. I can't make promises without...”

  Trenton smiled ever so softly as he held up a restraining hand. Thornby stopped talking as he pulled a familiar object out of his pocket with his free hand. He turned his hand palm up and offered the doctor a medical tricorder. The doctor took it, amused. It was in good condition, her implants linked to it and gave it a clean bill of health. “I've got plenty of these. Thousands. I can make more too,” she said, holding it up.

  Trenton blinked, now dismayed. “You can? So can we. We have a medical replicator as well.”

  “And it works?” Thornby asked, clearly surprised by that little news break. They nodded. “Somehow I find that just a little hard to believe. Considering all the lock outs and key codes needed to use it. Unless you have someone with implants like me,” she said, tapping her forehead.

  Looks were exchanged between the delegates. Slowly their hands rose and the others removed their masks. She blinked as they turned away shyly or in shame, she wasn't certain which. She could see simian, more human than ape faces. “Please excuse us, that was a form of a test. And please excuse our appearances, we know we are hideous.”

  The doctor reared back in surprise. She blinked glancing out of the corner of her eye to Miss Ralk who was rapidly blinking in confused consternation. “No, you aren't hideous, quite the contrary. I've seen hideous. Hideous is a burn victim or... never mind. I know beauty isn't skin deep, but you look fine.”

  “Please doctor, false flattery?” one female said.

  “It's not false it's true,” Thornby said stubbornly, and then sat on the edge of her desk. “Why don't you tell me what's going on. First off, why the masks?” she asked, indicating the masks in their hands. She could see they all wore gloves.

  ...*...*...*...*...

  The story took some time to get out. She sent a signal through her implants to Miss Ralk to clear her schedule for the day. Her assistant was used to such requests, she didn't even quibble about it.

  Trenton explained that the clan had come from Horathian space. He didn't go into details, but he did state that they wished to change their appearance to conform to society.

  “Conform to society? In what way? I'm sorry, I'm a little confused. Here it's a bit different. Society is made up of all species.”

  “But some are better than others, and we wish to join the human race. Survival of the fittest doctor, surely you of all people can understand that,” one Chimerian said. Doctor Thornby blinked.

  “We can get into that discussion later. The question is, will you help us?”

  “I'm still trying to understand what I'm getting myself into? You haven't been at all clear there.”

  “We wish to be remade into human. Homo Sapiens.”

  The doctor blinked at him, jaw dropping. Slowly she recovered herself composure and crossed her arms. “It's not possible. Not for you, you can pass for human, but not a complete genetic makeover. In an adult that would most likely kill you. Even a child...” she shook her head.

  “Doctor, we know the risks. We are willing to sign any document you present to prove our intent. We have no interest in litigation, only in results.”

  “I...” She stepped back, stunned by that stubborn insistence. “Wow.”

  “In exchange for the services of you and your staff, we have a hundred tons of medical equipment our clan has carefully kept over the centuries. Along with petabytes of data to go along with it.”

  Doctor Thornby blinked. “I... I'd need to see a list of the items. I don't mean to sound mercantile, but...”

  “Not a problem. Some of it is Ynari in origin, therefore incredibly rare.”

  That had the doctor staring once more. “I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare. But you do realize that... of course you do, you mentioned incredibly rare. Priceless. Ynari equipment? You are certain of the origin?”

  Trenton nodded. “All of it is useless to my people since we do not have the implant keys and language necessary to access any of it, despite centuries of attempting to learn. Which brings us to you. On Old Nelly's last stop we heard strange rumors of implants being once more explored. And you yourself confirmed them a moment ago.”

  “Yes.”

  “So you can do it?”

  “Not so fast,” Doctor Thornby said, hands up. “Hang on. We need a lot more information than what you are providing. Information like your history, why you are doing this, what level you will accept, and the usual contract information. You do realize a lot of what you are asking is borderline unethical?
And dangerous? You could die on the surgical table? Die in the regen tank if your body has a reaction we can't cope with? Even with our modern equipment and training, there are no guarantees.”

  That simple statement actually seemed to excite the delegation for some reason. “We understand that doctor. We are ready to proceed.”

  “Well, good for you, but I'm not. I move cautiously here. Assess what needs doing and form a plan of attack. Working on your genetics...” She shook her head. “That alone... Are you all simian? Ape?”

  Trenton shook his head.

  “Of course not. That would make it too easy,” The doctor sighed.

  Trenton snorted. He explained the history of the clan to the doctor. Of how changes in Horathian space made them more and more isolated from society. “Five centuries ago, our ancestors emigrated from Horath. But the isolation followed us. They settled for a generation on Finagle, a world near Horath. There they had an epiphany, to change ourselves to human.”

  “I...” Thornby frowned.

  Trenton continued. “When humans wouldn't breed with Neo chimeras our ancestors bred with chimps, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans, and that of course complicated the issue of their... our genetics. Those that were born and survived to adulthood were true Chimeras.”

  “I see.”

  “It is... complicated doctor. We have spent the past four and a half centuries attempting to untangle and understand the knot. It is daunting.”

  Doctor Thornby frowned. “I'll have to bring doctor Martel in on this. She is our resident geneticist and genealogist. We'll have to have in-depth genealogy records going back since this... started.”

  “I have what we recorded on file. Some of it is... vague,” Trenton said, setting a chip down on the doctor's desk blotter gently.

  “I see,” she said looking at that. “Any reason why you are vague?”

  Trenton sighed, seeing her interest. “In the interest of full discloser, and I expect this to remain doctor patient confidential,” Trenton looked at the doctor with a long challenging stare. She felt the test of wills but didn't back down. After a moment though she realized he was making a point so she slowly nodded. “Several times in the past there were dark days of rape as well,” Trenton admitted, with a bit of frost in his disapproving tone.