So, thought Alec, she was one of those types. Driven and didn’t listen. He looked at Chief for support.
“Three more minutes,” said Chief, “and then you have to turn back.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Okay.”
“Z count them,” said Chief.
Z counted the minutes out loud. He got to five and looked at Chief for guidance. A few minutes later Cate said she was turning back.
Alec didn’t like it. She would be in the goo for more than twenty minutes and this was her first time. He looked at the time as it ticked slowly by.
“It has been twenty minutes since she left,” said Z.
It would take more than that, so he shouldn’t worry, but he did. “Cate? You still there?”
“Yes,” she sounded out of breath.
“You doing all right?” asked Alec.
“Hmm.”
That was concerning. She wasn’t talking like she had on the way out. He switched the comm off and turned to Z. “Do we have the backup suit ready?”
“Do you think there is a problem?” asked Chief.
“I don’t know, but I would like to be ready,” said Alec.
“Jamez, put the backup suit through decontamination,” said the Chief.
That would take only five minutes, but they should have done it before, thought Alec. He should have requested it earlier.
“Two hundred,” said Cate.
“You are almost here,” said Alec.
“Damn, it’s still two hundred,” she complained.
“You are so close.”
They could hear her breathing. “My legs.”
“There is railing from there on. Pull yourself along with that,” said Alec.
Chief looked at him. “What is it?”
“She could have leg cramps,” explained Alec.
“One hundred,” she said.
Alec looked at Jamez.
“Two more minutes. It is still two more,” said Jamez.
Alec started to undress. He would put the suit on as soon as it was ready, jump through the shower and go get her.
“Here is suit,” Jamez almost threw it at him.
Alec started to squeeze himself into the suit and then X shouted that he saw something.
Cate was hanging onto the bottom of the ladder, but she had to climb up by herself. They couldn’t reach in because that would contaminate the life liquid.
X and Jamez shouted encouragement as Alec continued to put on the suit. He was closing the suit when Cate showed up the hatch. She didn’t look good. He reached out to her just as she started to keel over and was able to cushion her decent. Both of them ended on the floor.
“You made it,” he said.
Chapter 4: Cate
He removed her headgear. It was heavier than usual. The recording device had added about 500 grams of weight.
“I just need to rest a moment,” she said, “Let me catch my breath.”
“No problem. Take your time,” said Alec. Her breathing was starting to sound normal again.
“You should not have gone that long,” said Jamez.
“Yeah,” she said. “Maybe it was not one of the best decisions on my part.”
She got off Alec and Z and X helped her get the suit off.
“You should rest,” said Jamez.
“Before that, I would like a word,” said the Chief. “If you are up to it.”
“Yes, of course, sir,” said Cate as she dressed.
Everyone went back to work as Alec took the suit off.
“You were going to come after me?” she asked.
“Just in case.”
“Thanks, that was nice.”
“No problem. I would have done the same for any of my coworkers.”
“Of course.” She left him dressing and went into the Chief’s office.
“Close the door,” said the Chief.
Alec wondered what that was about and turned to look. He wasn’t going to hear anything, but he should be able to read their expressions through the glass walls of Chief’s office. Well, actually, he had not learned to read Chief’s expression so he was counting on seeing hers.
It appeared she was being reprimanded. She looked contrite and was not saying much.
Chief was being a bit harsh, thought Alec. She had made an error in judgment, but nothing bad had happened and she was new to the job. You had to learn someway.
He finished dressing and went back to monitor systems. Later he heard her apologize to the others that she would miss their usual drink at the bar.
“I am going to my cabin to rest.”
“Do you need company?” asked Jamez.
“No, thanks,” she said.
That Jamez, thought Alec as he continued to look at the monitor, he was always trying.
“Hey Alec,” said Cate.
He turned to her, “Hey.”
“Just wanted to say thanks again. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
He went to the bar late that night. The place was looking more and more like home. They had convinced the Zandu to dim the lights, add tables of different sizes, for different size groups and the new background music was definitely a plus.
He didn’t have a ‘usual’ stool, but he always sat at the bar. Josh, the bartender nodded to him a greeting. He was human.
“Same as usual?” he asked.
“Make it a double.”
“That kind of day?”
“Yeah,” said Alec as he looked around.
It was the same bunch of guys at this time of the night. Then he saw her. She was sitting at a table and there were several guys around her. What was Cate doing? Didn’t she say she was going to rest?
“Here is your double scotch, neat,” said Josh.
“Thanks,” said Alec turning back to the bartender. “Does she come here often?”
“Almost every night, but usually earlier and with the group of coworkers.”
“Hmm.”
“Aren’t you one of her coworkers?”
“Yeah, but I like to come at this time. There are usually less people to bother me.”
“I get it. I’ll leave you alone.”
He couldn’t help himself and had to turn to look. Her three admirers, two were definitely human, were telling her stories. She didn’t seem too interested. Suddenly she looked up and caught his eye.
He turned around quickly and concentrated on his drink.
“Hi.” She was standing next to him.
“Oh, hi.”
“So you do come to the bar and it looks like you do drink.”
“Yeah, I just like the bar at this time.”
“Right.”
It sounded like she didn’t believe him and two could play this game. “Didn’t you say you were going to rest?”
“I did, but then I couldn’t sleep. Mind if I sit down here?” She didn’t wait for his response and sat down next to him.
There were plenty of stools and he couldn’t very well say he had saved all of them for his imaginary friends. In any case, there was nothing wrong having her sit next to him.
They drank in silence and that should have made him happy, but it was a tense silence.
“You did well today,” he said.
“I could have done better.”
Ah, thought Alec. “Did Chief have a complaint?”
“He did,” she said and didn’t elaborate.
“Maybe he expects perfection from you. He seems to be a fan.”
She smiled.
She had a nice smile.
“Are you ready for a refill?” asked Josh.
She looked at her empty wine glass. “I better not. I have to go back into the life liquid tomorrow.”
The bartender looked at Alec, who shook his head in the negative.
“You are going down so soon?” asked Alec.
“Chief asked me and I know I can do it. This time I will make sure to look around more, to get a better rec
ordings.”
That must have been the complaint, thought Alec. “It will be good if you do. We need to figure out what’s going on with the filters.”
“Will you be there?”
“I wasn’t planning a vacation any time soon,” he said and was rewarded with another smile.
“How many times have you been down there?” she asked.
“Ten, eleven if you count my training, which was less than fifteen minutes, by the way.”
She smiled. “I should go.”
“I’ll walk with you.”
They headed out into the hallway and started to walk. They passed the officer quarters, went down a level to the next level of officers and finally to where the peons like him resided. He was surprised when they continued to the next level down.
“Wow I didn’t know anyone was down here,” he said.
“They keep the trainees down here.”
She opened the door to her cabin and he peeked inside. It was tiny. She would barely fit on the bed and knowing that was somehow comforting to him.
They said good night and he headed up a level.
Chapter 5: The life liquid problem
“While Cate is getting ready to go, I would like a word with you, Alec,” said Chief the next day.
“Another one called to the boss’ office. It seems like everyone is getting in trouble,” said X.
“Except you and me,” said Z.
“Yeah, that because we just do our work, consistently and well,” said X. He lifted the middle finger. It was the Lolas’ way of showing congratulations; on Earth it meant something totally different.
Their self-approval didn’t require any comment from Alec, but he followed Chief a bit reluctantly. Cate had started to undress.
Chief sat down and indicated Alec should sit as well. He wondered what this conversation could be about.
“You did well yesterday,” said Chief.
“Oh,” paused Alec, “thanks.”
“In fact, I have noticed that you have valuable qualities that could translate into another job.”
Wait, thought Alec. Was Chief trying to get rid of him? He loved engineering.
“What do you think?” asked Chief.
“I like working here, in this group.”
“That could be your flaw, lack of imagination of what you could do with your potential.”
That sounded like a compliment, kind of. “What do you mean by another job?”
“There are many things you could do, for example, you could be a Lead Engineer.”
Alec smiled. “That would be fine, but a human as a Lead? Wouldn’t X and Z take exception to me being promoted before them?”
“I am not promoting you right now. I am just submitting your name for consideration, and only if you like.”
“I would like that.”
“Then I will submit your name. That is all.”
Alec stood up to leave.
“You shouldn’t worry about the others,” said Chief. “Most are working in the best job for their abilities and they know it. Not all species have the ambition humans have.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“Now you better get out there. The backup suit is ready for you, just in case.”
Alec tried to keep his excitement under control as he rejoined the others.
“That looked serious,” said Z looking at him with three questioning eyes. “Hope you’re not in trouble.”
“No,” said Alec. “He gave me some pointers, for improvement.”
“We all needs those, right X?” asked Z.
“And right you are Z,” said X.
Those two were getting more alike each day. “Hey, Cate are you ready?”
“Yeah.” She stepped into the shower and a minute later started down the hatch.
“Don’t get tired,” said Alec.
“It should be easier,” she answered. “I know what to expect.”
It went much smoother and Cate made it all the way through the narrow conduit. She was taking her time to make a good recording as well. When she came back up, Chief told her she had done a good job.
“Thank you sir,” she said. “Did you see anything unusual?”
“No, but now we can review your swim in more detail. It helps we have the recording.”
She smiled as she started to take the suit off.
Alec would never get tired of this part.
“Cate, we don’t need you here for the rest of the day if you want to go rest,” said Chief.
“I don’t need to, I’m fine,” said Cate.
“Wonderful,” said Jamez. “In that case there was something in the engine room I wanted you to see.”
Cate said she was looking forward to that and followed him to the engine room.
Chief then asked Alec and Hazel to review the recording. “I know we didn’t see anything when we were watching real time, but I want you to look at it slowly. There may have been something we missed.”
Hazel joined Alec at his workstation and they started to watch.
“The recording is much better than before,” said Hazel.
“Yeah.”
They watched for a moment.
“Do you like her?” she asked.
“What?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Is it something I shouldn’t ask? Is it private?”
“Yes actually, but why did you ask?”
“She is a female human and you are male.”
He smiled, “That does not mean we automatically like each other. Not all males like all the females or vice versa.”
“But you look at her, very often.”
“Ah,” said Alec not sure how to explain it, then he saw something unusual on the monitor. “Wait.” He paused the recording and enlarged it.
There was dark, perfectly round circle on the wall of the shinny, grey conduit.
“What is that?” Hazel big brown eyes had gotten larger.
“No idea, but we should show Chief.”
Chief didn’t know what it was either. “We need a sample. Cate will go down tomorrow and get one.”
“Is she going down again, sir?”
“Yes.”
“You know that swimming in that goo is a grueling process and that it takes a lot energy?”
“She will let me know if she can not do it,” said Chief.
Alec didn’t say more, but it seemed that Chief expected a lot from her and there was nothing he could do to help. It would have been nice to have a robot that could go down anytime they needed, but introducing anything metallic would be disastrous to the life liquid. Everything that went down there had to be organic.
“I want you and Hazel to recheck the rest of the recording. You might have missed something that looks this small,” said Chief.
Alec glanced at the time. It was almost quitting time and the group would be going out for drinks. Today he wanted to join them. He was dying to tell Cate about his possible promotion.
Cate might be the only one of his coworkers that could understand. He wasn’t sure that X and Z would be happy about being passed over, and Jamez would probably not care. His only other coworker was Hazel and no one really knew what she thought about. She kept to herself even more than he.
“Am I keeping you from something more important?” asked Chief.
Alec had to be careful. His possible promotion could become improbable quickly. “No, sir. The job at hand is the most important thing I have to do.”
“Very well said,” agreed Chief.
Alec returned to the monitor with Hazel and they reviewed Cate’s entire trip. No further spots were found. When he finished, the day shift was gone and the night shift had come in.
“I don’t know if finding nothing else is good, or bad, but why don’t you tell Chief,” said Hazel. “I need to rest.”
Alec knew that Hazel needed more rest than the others so he said he would. He found Chief still in his office.
“We didn’t find any other spots, sir,”
said Alec.
“At least in the area recorded.”
“Yes sir. Cate can get a sample of this spot, but it is almost all the way on the other end of the narrow conduit. After that she needs to continue checking the other areas as well.”
“I know and I know it is a problem. I was looking at the rest of the crew to see if anyone else could swim and fit into those narrow spaces.”
That was a good idea, thought Alec.
“It would have been a good idea,” said Chief, “but everyone that could fit in the small conduit, cannot do it. Humans are the best candidates for the job, but there are only twenty-five of you. Six do not even know how to swim, and one of the strong candidates that can swim, has claustrophobia. I thought we had more humans on board.” Chief sounded disappointed.
“I wouldn’t mind more humans, sir,” Alec smiled.
“Still it is perplexing how humans can live on a planet that is 71% covered by water and not know how to swim. Well, we can’t do anything about that and we can’t delay this. The preservation of the life liquid is crucial.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I will see you in the morning.”
Chapter 6: Swim together
Alec went back to his cabin and thought about the problem. He wouldn’t go to the bar, it had been a long day and in any case he knew she was probably long gone.
The solution popped into his conscious when he woke up the next day. He hurried to Engineering and was busy at work when Chief found him.
“What are you working on?”
“I think I have a solution to our problem, Chief. It is a harness. It will allow me to take Cate to where the conduit narrows.”
“You can swim with her?”
“She would be floating so it should be easy to pull her along and that way she wouldn’t expend energy. The harness is organic.” He showed him how it would work.
“This is excellent,” said Chief as he looked at the contraption. “Yes, it is easy to disconnect and that would allow her to swim the remaining distance to collect the sample.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good work, Alec. We can get the sample today and tomorrow we can continue to survey the other areas.”
Alec gritted his teeth as he thought about that. He always had a slight sense of claustrophobia when he swam in the thick liquid, but usually he could deal with it knowing it was for a short time and not too often.
“Alec, you are certain you can do this?” asked Chief.
Maybe Chief saw his hesitation. “I can do it. Yes, sir.”
He knew that the Chief required a commitment in a clear language. Chief had to deal with many species and this was the only way to have clear communications between them.
When Alec and Chief arrived to the hatch, Cate was getting ready, but she was moving slower than she had before.
The Anzu: Alec Page 3
