Verita

by Tracy Rozzlynn

  The doors lead to a long hallway which divides the two sleeping/bathing areas. The kitchen and lounge are at the other end of the hallway. It isn’t much: small, but adequate for our team. On the other side is another set of glass double doors that lead to the lab. Again, we have to scan our palms to gain access. This one is three times the size of our base lab. There are windows lining the three remaining walls, giving an incredible view of the field we’ll be studying. In the center of the room, two tables run the room’s length. Our computer tables are on the south and west walls. Each desk contains several monitors; I assume the extra monitors are for monitoring the field cameras at the same time as completing data entry. I thought we had all the equipment needed in the base lab, but this puts all that to shame. On the west end of the north wall are two more sets of double glass doors; they create a mud room area to drop off dirty clothes and equipment before reentering the lab. Again I notice palm scans are needed for access and I wonder: just who do they think is going to break in or out?

  Dr. Brant makes it clear that she is taking the lead for this field visit. I’m relieved. She reviews our search grids with us. Our initial area to research is one square mile. From there, the grids fan outward. Dr. Brant is clear that she expects us to concentrate our attention on the first area. We are to exhaust the information from this area before moving elsewhere. Our initial two days will be spent mostly touring the area to familiarize ourselves. I ask if it’s okay if we place cameras or collect samples. Dr. Brant nods her approval.

  “Ryan, I was hoping you could start collecting some ground cover samples. I’d like to find a non-invasive specimen that we can use for landscaping on the base,” Dr. Brant asks casually. My mouth drops. “There are several bio-domes just north of your lab that you can use for testing the various specimens.” She gestures in the direction of the domes as the blood drains from my face. What are the odds?

  “Sure, okay.” Ryan’s tone is calm, but I see his hands tighten into fists and his posture stiffen. When Dr. Brant turns away, he shoots me an angry glare.

  Of all the things she could have asked, she picks that. My stomach tightens into a knot; I know what Ryan is thinking. I had gone a level above to force him to do what I wanted. I shake my head and try to mouth that I didn’t, but he had already turned his back to me.

  Dr. Brant leads us out of the lab. I just hope Ryan’s anger doesn’t spoil the whole trip. I’ll try to talk to him as soon as I have a chance.

  I get an eerie feeling as I walk through the wilderness. Everything is familiar and strange at the same time. I keep expecting to see something totally shocking, but the only things out of the ordinary are the tropical-looking plants everywhere. It looks like the majority of our initial square is made up of grassy fields. The trees are only present sporadically here. We pass a small grove that reminds me of cherry trees, but with the bark of a birch tree. Delicate pink and white flowers are interlaced with the small, light-green leaves of the trees. I have the impulse to pick one of the flowers, but out of the corner of my eye I notice Ryan glaring at me, just waiting for me to make the mistake.

  As I expected, we don’t see any animals. Thanks to Shane, they know we are coming, and go into hiding well before we’re anywhere near them. So, instead, I focus on finding tracks, scat, and other evidence of their presence, and I place cameras where I find them. Jake, meanwhile, has no issue finding bugs. His biggest problem is deciding which ones to get samples of. The digital camera I suggested he take comes in handy. The bugs he doesn’t collect, he photographs from every possible angle. I enjoy watching him. He’s as happy as a kid in a candy store.

  Molly is more conservative about her collecting. Once I’ve placed my cameras, I focus on helping her chisel samples off of the various rocks we encounter.

  Throughout the day, I watch as Ryan dutifully collect samples of the different ground covers we encounter. He never complains, but I keep my distance, trying to give him some time to cool down.

  We eat a late lunch in the field, carefully removing our food from our sealed storage containers and placing any remains back into the containers when we’re done. We don’t want to take any chance of attracting unwanted predators or pests too close to us. After I finish lunch, I try to get Ryan to talk to me, but he deliberately ignores my attempts to get his attention without Dr. Brant noticing.

  After lunch, we head back toward the lab. Everyone is eager to work with the samples they’ve collected. Dr. Brant seems satisfied with what we’ve accomplished, and not disappointed that we have ended the tour early for the day. She spends the remainder of the day working with Ryan. She’s interested in making sure her pet project gets off to a good start. I sigh, knowing she has no idea of the grief she’s caused.

  I busy myself with checking the reception of the cameras I had placed. Once I finish, I help Jake sort through and catalog the pictures he has taken. He willingly accepts my help. He’s anxious to get it all in the database before any of the other teams can beat him to it. He easily has several days’ worth of information to be cataloged, and he is grateful for the help. We work right up until dinner.

  After dinner, I corner Ryan. I’m not giving him a chance to ignore me this time.

  “We need to talk,” I state quietly, so no one else can hear.

  “I have nothing to say.” He tries to turn from me, but I step back in front of him again.

  I try to reason with him. “Look, either we can have a whispered argument right here and quickly gain everyone’s attention, or you can take a walk with me and we can discuss this like adults. It’s your choice.”

  He sighs, giving in to my determination. “Fine, lead the way.”

  I inform Jake we’ll be right outside, and I lead Ryan just far enough away to be out of anyone’s earshot.

  “Well?” He stands with his arms crossed, staring down at me.

  I resist the urge to cringe away from his accusing glare. “Ryan, you need to know I didn’t say anything to Dr. Brant.” I take a deep breath to steady myself. I’m not used to having to prove my truthfulness.

  “Okay, sure.” There’s no missing the sarcasm in his voice. “I knew you wouldn’t leave it alone, but this… this is beneath you.” He huffs and glares at me disgustedly.

  “It’s just a coincidence that she thought the same as me. I guess we’re both sick of seeing dirt everywhere.” My eyes are pleading. He has to see that I’m telling the truth.

  “Uh huh.”

  He’s still not buying it, and I’m starting to get angry. Who the heck is he not to believe me?

  “Look, you don’t know me very well, but I would appreciate being given the benefit of the doubt. If I had an issue with you, I would approach you directly. If the grass had been that important to me, I would have worked to convince you of its importance – but frankly, I figured if you weren’t interested, another team would take care of it.” The pitch in my voice rises higher as my anger builds.

  “But now I don’t have a choice. Dr. Brant has made it clear that she wants me to take care of it. Awfully convenient, if you ask me,” he snarls. His voice is bitter.

  “Look, you can either choose to believe me and act like an adult, or continue to feel betrayed over something that I didn’t do and have it affect the way our whole team functions.” I throw my hands up in frustration.

  Ryan begins to pace. “Don’t try to pin this on me. You’re the one who was so interested in the stupid grass samples.”

  “Fine! Don’t believe me. Ask Dr. Brant if that’s what it takes.” I fold my arms against myself in a feeble attempt to contain the anger I feel.

  “You know I can’t do that without looking like a fool,” he challenges.

  “Too late; you already do.” I feel myself beginning to shake with anger. “You’re acting like a spoiled child.” I shake my head in disbelief and walk back to the lab. I may not be able to get Ryan to see reason, but I’m at least going to maintain my remaining composure.

  “Hey, do you need me to
talk to him?” Jake sounds apologetic. “Sorry. I wasn’t eavesdropping or anything. It was pretty easy to figure out what going on as soon as Dr. Brant mentioned the ground cover.” He looks at me sympathetically.

  “No, I don’t need him to think I have everyone ganging up on him. He needs to figure out for himself that I’m telling the truth, and that I never said anything to Dr. Brant.”

  “You didn’t?” Jake looks surprised.

  “Not you too?” I drop my head into my hands. How many times tonight will I have to defend myself? “If I have a problem with anyone on our team, I’m going to go to them directly. The only way I would go to Dr. Brant is if I thought there was a safety issue, and the person I had a problem with would have fair warning before it got to that point, understand?”

  Holding his hands up, Jake quickly says, “Hey, I don’t have an issue with you. Frankly, I would have brought the idea to Dr. Brant’s attention. It’s a great opportunity for our team to show what it can do. I’m sure Ryan will come around to see it that way, eventually. I think he’s just pissed it wasn’t his idea, and that he’s being told what to do by a girl. Two girls, for that matter.” He gestures his head in Dr. Brant’s direction.

  “So that’s the real reason he’s had such an issue with me being team lead? Because I don’t have the right body parts?” I stare at him as the impact of his words hit me.

  “Partially. I don’t think he actually has anything against women. It’s just hard taking orders from one. Ya know, the male ego thing and all.” He shrugs his shoulders as if that takes away the seriousness of what he’s implying.

  “Will you have an issue if I tell you what to do?” I ask, hesitant for the actual answer.

  “Probably not. You’re really good at asking and not demanding. I have the feeling that if you yell for me to jump, there’s a good reason for it, like a snake wanting to take a bite out of my foot.” Jake gives me an ear-to-ear grin. His goofiness helps to break my tension. I smile back and walk over toward Molly.

  “Hi, Brett.” Molly smiles at me.

  “Hey. Molly, I wanted to talk to you about the ground cover.”

  “No need, I know you didn’t say anything to Dr. Brant.” She pats me on the arm.

  “How do you know?” I ask, startled.

  “It just doesn’t seem like something you’d do,” she says matter-of-factly.

  “Thanks. That means a lot to me.” I smile at Molly, unsure how to fully convey my appreciation. “Hey, Molly, I noticed Jake was giving you a hard time after lunch today, trying to take over your job again.”

  “Yeah, you noticed,” she says sheepishly.

  I attempt to console her. “Don’t take it personally; he tries it with everyone. I think it’s his way of trying to be useful and helpful. The trick with Jake is to keep him busy. If he has his own thing to do, he’ll leave you alone. He’ll stop bugging you. So, the next time he tries to be the boss, give him a small, insignificant job to do, but make it sound like he’s really helping you out. It might not hurt to imply that it’s something you couldn’t accomplish without him.” I wink and watch a smile spread across Molly’s face.

  “I’ll try that, thanks. Men can be such dolts. I hope Ryan comes to his senses soon.” She reaches into her pack and pulls out a small rectangular box. “How about we get a game of cards started? It might help break the tension, or at least make Ryan realize he’s the one who’s going to suffer if he chooses to be a grouch.” She holds up the deck of cards and smiles. I’m briefly speechless with appreciation.

  “Good idea,” I finally say, laughing.

  The card game makes the night go by quickly. We play poker, using a box of toothpicks as chips. As I expected, Ryan ignores us, and continues to work with his ground cover samples. Molly turns out to be quite the poker player. By the end of the evening, Molly owns most of the toothpicks.

  The next day has a decidedly relaxed feel to it. We had collected more than enough samples the day before. So, we are able to focus more on the beauty of the landscape. The spring season is in full bloom. Most of the fields we walk across are already sprinkled with all kinds of wild flowers. We spend some of our time just watching a pink and white bumblebee flying from flower to flower gathering pollen.

  Ryan is still ignoring me, but it doesn’t bother me as much.

  “It’s amazing how things are so similar to Earth,” Molly sighs.

  “It’s all kind of eerie. I was stung by a pink and white bumblebee when I was little.” I point to my foot to indicate where.

  “But there’s no such thing as pink and white bumblebees on Earth,” Jake argues.

  “That’s what my grandparents told me while they were pulling out the stinger. I was staying with them at their camp. I saw the bee flying around me, and I froze. I had always been told that if you stay still, the bee will leave you alone. Being little, I believed it. I stood as still as a statue and watched as the bee kept circling around me, then finally landed on my big toe, stinging me. I learned a couple of important lessons that day.”

  “And they are…?” Jake nudges me to get me to continue.

  “Well, the first lesson I learned is not to stay still and wait to get stung. If a bee comes too close, I leave. The second lesson is that most adults will only believe what they can see.”

  “Well, right now we are definitely seeing.” Jake reaches out and catches the bee in a container. We look at him, bewildered. “What? I’m going to release him. I’m just going to tag him first. You never know; he might lead us to a new kind of honey.” He holds up and shows us the tag, as if to prove that was truly his intention all along.

  The day goes by much too quickly. Before we know it, it’s time to return to the base. Fortunately, Dr. Brant has been impressed with our field visit and she gives us permission to continue to work out of the field lab from this point on. We have just re-entered the base when Dr. Brant pulls me aside.

  “Brett, can I have a word?” Dr. Brant gestures for me to walk with her. Once we are far enough away, she turns to me. “Whatever is going on between you and Ryan, I need you to take care of it.”

  “I was hoping you didn’t notice,” I admit.

  “It’s hard to notice two people not talking to each other for two days. What’s going on?” Somehow, she looks both cross and sympathetic at the same time.

  “Murphy’s Law,” I sigh.

  “Explain.”

  “Thursday I suggested to Ryan that we collect some grass samples for landscaping. He took offense. He didn’t like me telling him what to do, even though I was just asking. I decided to let the matter drop for the moment. I'd bring it up again later, once he had adapted to the idea of me being the team lead,” I explain.

  “I see. It’s just an unfortunate coincidence that I had the same idea. Would you like me to explain the situation to Ryan?” she offers.

  “No, please don’t. He already thinks I went above him. I assured him that I would be direct with him if I had any issues. If you went to him now it would just confirm that his judgment about me was right, even if he had been wrong about the grass. He needs to figure out on his own that I’m true to my word.”

  “You might be right. But you need to take care of the situation soon, before it affects your team.” She stares at me sternly, trying to drive home her point.

  “I will,” I assure her.

  I don’t know how, but I will.

  Chapter 9

  The following day, Ryan continues to give me the silent treatment. I continue to work with Jake cataloging the insects he’d found. Though my back is toward Ryan, I can feel his eyes on me as I work. I ignore the feeling as best as I can, and continue busying myself with work, despite the distraction. Eventually, Ryan takes his samples and carries them to the bio-dome. To add insult to injury, he informs Jake of where he is going, pretending I’m not even there. I take a few moments to calm myself and focus my thoughts. Then I leave Molly and Jake working in the field lab, and go to the bio-dome to try and talk to Rya
n again.

  I have no idea what I’m going to say to Ryan. I had already told him that I didn’t go to Dr. Brant. What more can I do to convince him that I’m telling the truth?

  Sage advice from my father enters my mind: Don’t look at the behavior, but the cause of it. But I’m not sure why or how it helps me. The cause is pretty clear; he thinks I’m a liar.

  When I enter the bio-dome, Ryan is already busy working, transplanting his samples. My entrance isn’t quiet, but he continues working as if oblivious to my presence. I clear my throat – he still keeps working.

  “So how long do you plan on giving me the silent treatment?” I inquire, keeping my tone as polite as possible.

  No answer. He makes no gesture to acknowledge my presence, no sign that he even heard me – but I spot his posture stiffen, indicating his awareness and determination to continue ignoring me.

  I decide to reason with him. “You know the only thing you’re going to accomplish is hurting our team, don’t you?”

  More silence, but his body tenses. I’ve hit a nerve.

  Encouraged, I tried some more creative reasoning with him. “You know, I have a theory. The reason you are so convinced that I went to Dr. Brant to force you to do what I wanted is that, if you were in my position, you would have done it. So, in essence, you’re trying to punish me for your behavior.” I pause and wait for him to respond.

  Still no answer, but he looks up, catches my gaze for a moment, then returns to his work. In that moment, staring into his vivid green eyes, I realize none of this is about the grass. I saw that same look on the very first day I met him by the fence. This is about him thinking he’s better than me. This is about my becoming the team lead instead of him. The grass is simply an excuse – that’s why he reacted so badly from the first moment I mentioned it. A wave of anger flares through me, followed by nauseating despair. I may realize the true cause behind his behavior now, but what can I do about it?