Haruka returned his smile. “Sometimes I wonder who is really in charge here, you or me. Alright, let’s do it.”
Don’t make me regret it.
Calvin McLaughlin
7 April 2058, 07:12
Michael
Chemical formulas danced across the back of Calvin’s eyelids as he closed his eyes for a moment. The concepts that he was learning were taking some time to get used to, and the boy that he was back on Earth would have given up and found something else to do by now. The sink or swim impetus provided by a new life on Demeter made him study the otherwise mind numbing science behind biodiesel with an unprecedented fervor.
All the same, hours in the cramped ESAARC cockpit learning about reactions, titration, and catalysts took their toll on him. His progress was further slowed by the medication that Dr. Taylor administered for his psychosis. He needed to stop frequently and re-read individual sentences that were twisted or blurred by the haze in his mind.
Cal glanced at the clock on the console and found that it was early morning, though he had not slept for hours. His ordeal with sedation had also served to throw off his schedule, and he was often asleep while the crew was awake. This made his existence quite lonely. Cal could have easily corrected this issue with Dr. Taylor’s help, but he chose not to; he knew that Alexis would need some time and space to digest the idea of being revived from stasis early, and being in her sight would make him a target for any negative emotions she had on the matter.
Cal put his lips to the valve of a drink pouch and took a swig of the stale, bitter coffee that it contained, then flipped the page in his chemistry book. Words jumbled on the page, and after three attempts to read the first paragraph, Cal gave up and closed it.
Time for a break.
He stretched, released the shoulder straps, and opened the door leading out of the cockpit. His heart stuttered and he was given a start, as Alexis was braced on the other side of the door, burning holes into him with her intense stare.
“Alexis?”
“What right did you have to do it? To wake me up?” she seethed.
“None. Look, I’m sorry…” he replied, but was cut off.
“Why did you do it? You had no right to do it, so what made you think it was alright?”
“The first time, it’s because I wanted to show you something that only a couple people besides the crew will ever see.”
“Why me? If you were lonely, why didn’t you pick someone else? The guy in the berth below yours, or next to yours? Why not just hang out with the crew?”
Cal could see tears welling in her eyes, and her lips contorted as she tried to keep up her stern front. Her body wobbled a bit as her arms shook, and her knuckles where as white as snow as she dug them in to the door frame with all her might.
“It could only be you. It would have been meaningless if it was anyone else.”
“For who?”
“For me.” I wish you could say the same. I thought we had a connection.
Alexis regarded him with her green eyes, almost aflame with intensity. Her grip on the door frame relaxed somewhat, and she nodded. “At least you’re honest about it. Now.”
“I’ve never been anything but honest with you. Stupid, yes, but honest.”
She brushed past him and grabbed the back of one of the seats, then craned her neck to view the stars through the dorsal windows.
“So you woke me up the second time to try to prove to me that I’m not your play thing?”
Cal sighed. “When you put it that way, it makes me sound like a douchebag.”
“A very self-aware one, it looks like.”
Okay, you deserved that one, Cal.
“Look, I know I’m probably one of the last people you want to see right now. I’ll stay out of your way if you really want, but I just have to know something first.” He waited until her gaze again leveled at him before continuing. “You kiss me, then you curse me. You say you don’t want to see me, and call me hurtful things, but then you come and find me when I leave you alone.”
“Wait,” she interrupted. “What have I called you that has you all hurt?”
Cal’s eyes drifted slowly closed, and he uttered a single word, barely above his breath: “Monster.” The image of Alexis, curled up, bleeding, and crying in his dreams lingered for a moment. When the image passed and his eyes opened again, her look had changed entirely. Her hand was over her mouth, and her stare seemed to have the softness of the girl he first met back on Earth.
“Anyway,” he added. “You’ve got me confused. You say that I mean nothing to you and you don’t want to see me, but you act like there’s something there. A connection. So which is it?”
There was a hesitation before her response. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that Cal wondered if she was thinking of a lie.
“No connection. If you had gotten to know me a bit more first, you’d know that I’m kind of a flirt, so I guess that’s why you’re confused.”
I don’t believe you. Cal smiled innocently and reached his hand out, placing it on top of hers. A tingling sensation ran through his hand, and a moment later, he was wracked with pangs of guilt. No, I believe you. Every time I touch you, it’s… it’s all me. He shied away and pushed his way out of the cockpit without a word or backward glance. His guilt quickly abated, and the void was filled with a terrible emptiness.
Cal hoped that Alexis might call after him or try to stop him, but her silence spoke volumes. He exited pod twelve and floated aimlessly toward the bow of the ship. He had to go sort out his feelings, and he knew that he needed to do it quickly and in solitude; anger and sorrow roiled within him, and he thought that he might explode if he came across a crew member. It occurred to him that at this time of the morning, the crew would all be at their posts, so he decided to make way for the gym at the forward section of the lower gallery.
After the long journey, he locked himself in the room and began a furious exercise routine. Each repetition of the machines made him work harder, and the pace at which he attacked the routine ramped up until even the exercise could not drown out his emotion. With a scream, his workout routine ended, and he buried his face in a towel. He wiped his face repeatedly, muttering curses to himself.
I’m such an idiot. I really thought she was interested in me too.
Another part of his psyche spoke out, and he began to argue with himself mentally.
She’s just giving you an excuse, telling you what you want to hear to let her go. You gave her the opportunity and she took it.
She’s called you a monster and turned her back to you. It wasn’t an excuse, she’s telling you how she feels. Of course she sought you out to hash it out face to face. She’s trying to keep you from putting her in another uncomfortable situation. Try it one more time and she’ll probably punch your lights out.
She’s not the kind of girl that would do that. Did you see that front she was putting on? She’s trying to let you down. Stop letting her do it. Make sure you don’t leave any doubt for her. Sweep her off her feet.
Cal laughed audibly for a moment as his mental debate continued. I hope that wasn’t a gravity joke. How are you supposed to top showing her the stars? Commandeer the ship from Dayton and declare yourself the pirate king? Hey, it might just work. I hear girls always like a bad boy.
If that’s the case, then I think it’s time I go ask the doctor if I can raid her alcohol stash again. Underage drinking in outer space. Yeah, Cal. You’re a real badass. Maybe ask Hunter to join your little space gang?
Ah, Cal. You’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t. So just do it. At least that way you can say that you’ve tried.
Aren’t you forgetting something?
What?
You’re nuts, remember?
Cal nodded slowly. Yeah, I suppose talking to myself is kind of proof of that. Doc’s treating me, though.
I see how well that’s working.
Cal growled and repeatedly snapped the towel i
nto the seat of the apparatus, and then threw it at the wall, where it seemed to splatter like liquid before it began to float around the compartment.
“God damn it, shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut the hell up!”
Screaming at yourself won’t make you any more sane.
1st Lt Darius Owens
7 April 2058, 09:00
Gabriel
The voice in his earpiece, thick with a New England accent, cut through the silence of the computer core, startling Darius. His hand jerked and almost made him cut out a good section of code from the com system software that he had painstakingly worked to repair.
“Colonel Dayton to Gabriel, come in please.”
The colonel himself is calling? This must be important.
“This is Lieutenant Owens of Gabriel, Colonel. What can I do for you, sir?” As Darius spoke, he heard Dayton’s voice again through the headset. Darius almost stuttered from the distraction, but pushed through.
Damned delay.
He adjusted his shoulder harness and ran his hands along the arm rests as he waited for a response from the other ship. His nerves began to tingle in anticipation, and he was unsure of what to expect.
“I have a couple orders of business, Lieutenant. Are you ready?”
“Yes sir.”
Static crackled in his earpiece as he waited a little over a minute for the response.
“First, I agree to Colonel Eriksen’s proposal about information sharing. The thought of a reactor breach scares the tar out of me, and if there’s anything we can do to avoid it, I’m all for it.”
“Thank you, sir. I will inform him.”
“Second, I want to propose that both ships land at the beacon site, the one Raphael picked out for all three ships to land at. It was big enough for the whole of Project Columbus, and I don’t think we have time to pore over the maps of the surface to find another spot.” There was a brief pause, and Darius opened his mouth to respond, but he heard Dayton continue. “I looked over the reports we have here and I don’t think it was anything in the approach or atmosphere that made Raphael have its issue. Best not to complicate things, right?”
Sensible. I can go to Eriksen with that.
“Understood, sir. I’ll run it by Colonel Eriksen and send his answer.”
“Good. Drisko will be transmitting our report of the disaster, and we await yours.”
“I’m sending it right away, sir. You’ll have it before I get to the bridge.”
Darius waited for nearly two minutes for Dayton to reply. As Darius was about to give up and leave, the colonel’s voice came through one final time. “Understood. Thank you, Lieutenant. Dayton out.”
True to his word, Darius commanded the mainframe to send their version of the incident report to Michael, and then left the core for the bridge. The trip forward was no longer as eerie now that the entire crew was awake. Whereas during a maintenance cycle he could make the entire trip and never see any of the other nine crew members that were awake, there were now forty. The upper gallery, while not bustling, was now filled with the echoing noises of carts being opened and closed and equipment being repositioned for landing. As he approached pod two, he came across Lieutenant Miller and a sergeant moving a load of hand tools from the lower level, bound for the emergency supply lockers of one of the sleeper pods. Darius nodded an acknowledgement to the men and proceeded past them to his final destination at the front of the sleeper ship.
As he approached, Darius could hear Colonel Eriksen having a conversation with Captain Quinn about the propulsion systems.
“You’re sure that running the braking drive at full power isn’t going to burn out the reactor?”
“Absolutely certain, sir. The braking drive isn’t as big as the main drive, so we don’t even have to run the reactor at full output. Between that and other ship systems, we could run the reactor at maybe seventy five percent, and we’d still have plenty of power left over for an emergency.”
Darius crested the stairs and pulled his way onto the command platform just as Eriksen nodded at the engineer. “Do it.”
Darius sidled up to Eriksen and used the railing to pull his body upright. He saluted, and received a return salute. “Sir, I just spoke with Colonel Dayton.”
The colonel’s brows rose quizzically. “Oh? Dayton himself?”
“Yes sir.”
“What did he have to say?”
“He accepts the unconditional exchange of information regarding the loss of Raphael. He also wanted to relay another proposal, sir.”
Darius could see Eriksen clench his jaw as he nodded. “What is it?”
“That both ships land at the beacon that Raphael dropped on the planet.”
There was a pause of several moments before Eriksen responded. “Did he say why?”
“Yes sir. He said that the site is big enough for all three ships, that they haven’t seen anything on the approach to the planet that would explain the reactor breach, and that it might take too long to go over the probe maps to find another suitable site.”
“Good reasoning,” Eriksen said as he tapped at the small console attached to his left armrest. “Which map was it again, Mr. Owens?”
Darius moved to look over Eriksen’s shoulder. His finger hovered over a screen that was tiled in thumbnails. After a moment of examining them, he tapped on one, and an aerial view of the selected site filled the screen. Green grass spread for thousands of meters from the banks of a wide, gently meandering river. A pair of large islands split the river at one point, making it flare out like a tennis ball in a sock. At the periphery of the image, to the west and north, clumps of dark green trees dotted the lighter grass. Darius made circling motions over the ground just to the north of the river.
“From the images, it looked like this would be the best place to land. More than enough room for both ships and it looks like this side’s got easier access to wood resources up here.” Darius crooked his finger at the north edge of the image.
He could see Colonel Eriksen bob his head up and down. “Alright. This is the site, then. Let Dayton know, and tell him north side of the river.”
“Yes sir.” Darius tried to hold back his grin.
Finally, we’re getting somewhere.
“Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Owens.”
“Yes sir?”
“Don’t disobey my orders again,” Eriksen said in an eerily soft voice. “I found out that you told Kimura about Raphael.”
“Sir, he needed to know,” Darius protested.
Eriksen’s glare hardened. “An order is an order, Lieutenant. I did not want him informed until after his final passenger checks.”
Darius’s first impulse was to argue the point further, but he knew that to be a futile exercise. He nodded and took his leave to inform Colonel Dayton of the new plan.
2nd Lt Darren Cormack
Planetfall +10 days, late morning
Eight miles northeast of sleeper pod seven site
Darren winced as the stabbing pain tore at his innards. He gasped for air and prayed that he didn’t suck any of his vomit back into his mouth as his stomach turned out the last of its contents. The dirt on which he curled up – shaded by a gnarled vine tree – was cool against his burning, flushed skin. The stench of his various bodily discharges burned his nostrils and throat as he sucked in air.
Not now, not like this.
His body was wracked with another massive spasm, and his empty stomach heaved. The motions were that of throwing up, but he had nothing left to eject from his body but bile, which stung his throat and left a terrible acrid taste in his mouth. The shredding pain in his abdomen made him start to wish that he was, in fact, dead. Darren could no longer keep track of time, and it had felt as if he had been sick for days. His mind wandered to a morbid estimation of how much longer he believed he could survive against the disease that was ravaging his body.
A day, maybe two. I’d rather they just shoot me.
Drawing in deep breaths, he manag
ed to quell the spasms that churned his bowels. Darren rolled onto his back and flopped an arm across his eyes to shield them from the light. His ears picked up the sound of footfalls drawing near. They came very close to him and stopped, and he could feel the weight of someone’s stare upon his chest.
“Go away,” he croaked, the stench of his own breath nearly making him gag again.
“Not likely,” retorted Brett. Darren felt the nurse’s fingers on his wrist as his pulse was checked, then the back of a cool hand across his burning forehead. “You still have a fever.”
“Thanks for the update. I would never have figured that out on my own.”
“I see your sarcasm hasn’t been dulled one bit.”
Darren sighed. “How long have I been out?”
“Just overnight.”
A loud burst of gunfire erupted from nearby, and Darren sat bolt upright. He looked around, but only saw a blur of brown, green, and blue. He tried to concentrate on something to his side, and could guess that it was a tree, but his eyes could not make out any detail besides a rough shape or color.
“What the hell was that?” he asked. “Ah, shit. I can’t see. Why can’t I see?”
A blob of blue in front of him moved, and he felt a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back to the ground. “Take it easy. You need to rest, and not to worry. Here, drink up.”
Darren felt the hard rim of a canteen against his lips. He drew a deep swig of the warm water, and nearly threw it up right away; he coughed and sputtered, but managed to keep the liquid down. There was a slight metallic aftertaste to the water, and he had to concentrate again on breathing. Once his body had calmed down, he asked again, “What were the shots for?”
He heard an almost imperceptible sigh from Brett. “Probably another jungle cat. We’re seeing them more often now.”
This is nuts. They just won’t go away.
Darren struggled to a sitting position, shaking off his caretaker’s attempts to get him to lie down. He blinked furiously in a bid to clear up the fog in his vision, though in vain.
Project Columbus: Omnibus Page 43
