Panther and Giraffe

by Gregory Anderson

  Giraffe answered, “I understand Panthers choice of Marx because he is young, not set in his ways so will be better able to respond in an emergency and take instruction more quickly.” Zak asked, “Do we also ask them to come on the further mission?” Panther replied, “Yes, for the reasons stated, plus we will have professor Hicks along which will round out the minimum crew we need.” Although it was unspoken, all the planning in the worlds still did not get Zak and the Panther home. They were almost ready to do the atmospheric test and pick up the professor. Giraffe was wary about how smooth things had gone so far,. The General was true to his word and there was absolutely no interference from the station which is what made them nervous. Now would be a time that EDF might try to take over so Giraffe came up with a plan to invite General Murphy on board for a meal and a look see. If things went bad they would have the General as leverage. Zak resisted the idea but both Giraffe and Panther pointed out that they would have to share some technology anyway why not give the station a mana-maker after a good 'home made' meal.

  This would serve a local purpose but also provide the beginnings of a solution to the earths long term food shortage problem. As a bonus, this would put the general in a good light with EDF and the presidents. Zak and Giraffe made an imposing couple as they made their way though the station as they stopped and talked with station personnel along the way to the generals office. They would invite him to personally to dinner. Besides being taller than anyone else, Zak's strong Nordic looks and Giraffe's fiery red hair made them seem almost regal. General Murphy stood as they entered his office, it had been several weeks since he had seen them. Smiling he asked, “How can I help you.” Giraffe replied, “We have come to invite you to dinner tomorrow, sort of a celebration for having the Panthers hull completely repaired.” Cautiously Murphy then asked, “Are you inviting me on your ship?” Zak said, “Of course General, it is time for you to see what you have so carefully protecting all these weeks.” The general frowned and looked a little dismayed saying, “I may have to decline, you see, my wife just came up for a visit and I have not seen her for six months.”

  Zak and Giraffe looked at each other, considering, and then nodding. “Of course your wife is invited too.” The ramifications of letting a civilian on board the Panther were many but the upshot was, it showed trust, and the risk of a generals wife blabbing secrets was quite slim. General Murphy was all smiles, his patience had paid off, he knew, trust takes time. He smiled and said, “Let my aid know the time and we we be there and thank you.” The General had not been informed of the new First Admiral's arrival tomorrow so could not know the possible implications, nor could he prepare the station for inspection. And he did not inform Commander Smyth aboard his his ship which was docked at the station of his dinner aboard the Panther. These three events were sure to liven things up a bit.

  8

  In the gray nebula just past the planet of Pluto in the sol system, appeared bits and pieces of metal slowly blending with all the space dust.

  In the gray nebula just past Edahni the crew of the Cyrillium explorer ship was preparing to launch it's second buoy. The first having no signal return after five days although they had great hopes. The continued probing of this nebula had found an anomaly which they had carefully mapped and they were confident that the new data would give the second launch a much better chance of success.

  On the planet earth professor Hicks was just finishing a proposal on probing and mapping a nebula when he got a call on his other cell phone. After texting with professor Ling the past weeks she suggested that he purchase a plain wireless phone.

  That way they might talk about projects with out others possibly of others listening in. At the time, the suggestion seemed a bit paranoid but with the trip coming up? The phone only rang twice before he excitedly grabbed the phone and answered, “Hello this is Hicks.” Expecting to hear Ling, it was a surprise when he heard, “Hello Hicks this is McCord we have a time and location for meeting.” Hicks hesitated for a second before answering, “Mindy McCord, I swear you are a constant surprise and may I ask where is Ling, is she part of this too?” Giraffe was ready for this, “Ling is not really what she seems to be but, she will be aboard and you can talk to her later. Just don't be too disappointed OK, now here are the coordinates....” She gave him the numbers and added these instructions. “Just park and set up a telescope, then wait, don't worry if someone has followed you. When we land wait five minutes for cool down and then, drive over and park next to the tube. Enter the tube door, then step on up to the airlock and we will get you.” She thought it best that he not know his car would be fried to a crisp when they took off, a little reminder for those following to keep their distance. The three chosen EDF engineers would be along as witness that the professor was not kidnapped. This may have seemed unnecessary but would assure that the agents on the ground could not spread any rumors.

  On station three specialist Henry Wadlow was watching the video feed he had hi-jacked of the Panther docking tube airlock, waiting for his mark, Rodney Downs to show on his way off the ship. Henry's friend Becky had seduced Rodney and they had become a 'couple'. Becky did not know that Henry had added drugs to the mix. Rod had been giving up secret information about he Panther without even knowing it. Tonight, Rod would be taking an extended leave from working on the Panther, he was being replaced by Henry, who aimed to sabotage the alien ship and destroy it. Tonight, Becky would be serving a double dose with the evening drink, then she would keep him in her quarters till Henry had finished his work. When the ship was destroyed it would be Rodney Downs who would be blamed. EDF should have better screening processes in hiring.

  The new First Admiral Jalbahn would be giving his first order tomorrow and, he would be giving it from his new HQ on EDF station three.

  That new order was based on information provided by Dr Gurd of science and technology. They would be sending Commander Smyth and his ship out to the signal buoy where first contact was made. Since Smyth's ship was docked next to the Panther this order would not be well received but, of all EDF officers he was the only one Jalbahn did not trust. Jalbahn's reasoning was sound, pleased the presidents and would test Smyth's loyalty. Putting a ship at the aliens point of entry as a defense measure made sense. Meanwhile, on her down time, Giraffe was looking at pictures and studying the history of the galaxies other sentient beings, the grax and the hegmon. Zak noticed that Giraffe did not flinch when looking at pictures of the grax and had to ask, “Why is it most human types find the grax to be ugly and off putting but you are not fazed at all?” Giraffe answered, “Their looks are different that's all, besides, a monkey looks different but no one calls them ugly.” Zak looked confused and Panther asked the question, “What's a monkey?”

  This was it, Henry Wadlow would be going on the Panther this morning not as himself but as Rodney Downs, engineer. Rod was sleeping in ensign Becky's cabin and by the time the drugs wore off Henry would be done sabotaging the Panther.

  By going in early he hoped to get in and out without encountering anyone. Rod had inadvertently given up information on the location of critical lines that ran through the spine of the huge ship and he new just how to cause a failure using a slow burning acid, it would be too late before anyone could find the problem. Henry felt it was his duty to save earth from what he perceived as the start of an alien invasion. There were others too, that thought the story of a free trader accidentally appearing near earth was to far fetched. It must be a ruse to gather intelligence for an invasion. Admiral Scotts had been relieved of duty and was sitting in jail for trying to take over the alien ship and that failure left it up to Henry and friends to stop them. With the stolen ID he walked through the docking tube to the airlock of the Panther. An airlock door is a chamber that seals on two sides so atmosphere can equalize and another thing this airlock did was a body scan, unknown to whoever was waiting inside. Giraffe awoke to flashing lights and a persistent alarm, the minute she said, “Okay okay what is it Panther?” Panth
er replied, “There is an unknown person in the air lock that showed ID of a Rodney Downs but he does not match body scan, would you like to see?” As Giraffe got up and pulled on her suit she looked over to the monitor and saw Henry Wadlow.

  Henry, the obnoxious specialist that she had left behind on her last mission for EDF. Henry was getting nervous because he did not know how much time it should take to go through the air lock, he had not thought to get that information out of a drugged up Rodney. Giraffe ordered Panther , “Let him through and let's follow him and, alert Zak.” Panther replied, “Zak is up and going to pursue” Giraffe responded, “Zak hold up, let's see what he plans to do before we stop him, Panther please make every bulkhead door seal behind and in front of him that way we can stop him by drawing the air out till he passes out.” Zak replied, “You are positively scary, great idea.” Henry was walking with a purpose like he knew exactly where he was going which he was. Two thirds of the way down the spine towards engineering he stopped at a maintenance closet and used Rodney's ID to open it. This was sabotage, pure and simple so as Henry set down his bag Giraffe ordered Panther to bleed the air out of that area and then they watched as Henry started to stumble and slowly pass out. Henry had forgotten a basic tenant of his space training, never be without your helmet. Zak was on his way to take care of Henry with cuffs and a stun gun. Panther and Giraffe watched Henry.

  They watched as Henry's color started to go blue then they put the air back on. Zak was just a door away and he quickly moved in and cuffed Henry before he even woke up. Zak looked in Henry's bag and discovered the bottle of acid, shook his head and said, “Clever man, we may have not found this till it was too late, this does not bode well for earth humans at all.” Giraffe replied , “Yes, well, please do not judge us all by the actions of this jerk, he has had a personal vendetta against me for a long time, where should we put him?” Zak replied, “Put him in an air lock and space him.” Giraffe broke in with, “Put him in the air lock on the far side with a bottle of water and a food pack . And take his handcuffs off, we will decide what do with him later.” Henry woke up in a small dark space and when he stood up he could look out a tiny window and see dark space, out another was a black hallway and he screamed, but no one heard.

  With the Henry problem taken care of temporarily Zak contacted station security and reported Rodney Downs as a missing person. Zak inferred that he may have been abducted and on a space station, there was a real chance of finding him, unless, he had been spaced.

  The station went on a immediate lock down as well as the docked battleship and it did not take long to find the unconscious engineer in his 'girlfriend's quarters. They arrested both Rodney and his girlfriend Becky and started questioning both immediately. Both were EDF so this would not be easy on them. Later in the day the station security found out that it was specialist Henry Wadlow that was behind it all. Immediately after the search was on for Henry. Becky did not realize apparently, that Henry's goal was to destroy the ship, she gave up all the names of co-conspirators and they were quietly being rounded up.

  General Murphy was boiling, especially after finally gaining the trust of the Panther captains and, personally being invited aboard. This made him wonder if he would still have the opportunity to visit the ship. He had Commander Smyth sitting in front of him demanding on how he could let something like this happen. Murphy really had no answers so he flashed back, “It was your man, Downs that was corrupted, didn't you screen him before he volunteered, I think you are as much to blame for this as I.” Smyth had no idea of the repercussions that would come of this but would, as soon as the new First Admiral found out. Smyth hammered back, “It was your man Wadlow that was the ring leader, have you found him yet, hmm, or did he get spaced already?”

  Murphy answered “We have not found Wadlow yet, but we will and until then I think you will agree, we should hold off contacting the admiral.” On that point both agreed. Aboard the Panther the plans had not changed much, the dinner with Murphy and his wife would go as planned and then they would depart for the test run to earth. Added to picking up the professor might be perhaps, to drop off the troublesome Henry. Finding Henry Wadlow on earth would take some explaining and they felt that no matter what he said the authorities would find him to be crazy. Just the trip to earth in the airlock could flip him out. Most likely they would lock him up. Meanwhile, the Panther would be back in space docked at station three.

  The three selected EDF engineers were getting a briefing aboard the Panther, they had accepted the chance to go on the earth mission. Zak had found them Panther crew space suits which were much more comfortable and safe than the earth made EDF suits. Even though they were on loan from EDF, after all these weeks they had become to feel like members of the Panther crew. Zak explained some of what to expect on the earth mission, “Unlike your slow entry and exit to atmosphere we will be going to be pulling over 10 gees in and,” he paused, “After entry entry we will flip the ship over one hundred eighty degrees and use the main thrusters to slow down which will cause 12 gees for a short duration.” There was dead silence while the earth educated engineers tried to figure out how this was possible and it was young Marx that spoke excitedly, “You have inertial dampers, then you must have artificial gravity too but why.......” He was cut off by the senior engineer, Simpson, “We did not need to know till now and we now know way too much about the capabilities of our alien friends.” The third engineer, Colby had been silent until it hit him, “Ye gods! Then you must control anti-mater, and, we truly are way behind the rest of the galaxy.” Giraffe was sitting back until now and said, “Way behind and, not ready for all this yet, it could tear earth apart.” With a deep breath Simpson said, “On behalf of all three of us I say thank you for your trust, we will remain discreet.” Zak rejoined, “Marx and Simpson will take aft engineering and Colby you will be with us on the bridge for the mission, welcome crew!”

  And then Giraffe added, “You will take dinner early, in the forward galley, we have a treat for you there and please, when you step into the galley be careful, the gravity is on!” Young Marx piped up, “We had better get to work on final diagnostics then” And the engineers filed out a little shocked and a bit ecstatic. It all seemed a bit much thought Zak, a simple in and out was routine for him but, he reasoned, “This is a bit like magic to them I suppose.” Even if she was excited about the mission, meeting her old professor, Hicks, was far for interesting.

  Colby and Simpson were laughing hard as Marx stumbled into the galley with Colby catching him before he hit the floor face first, it seemed that he forgot there was gravity in the forward galley. One thing they all agreed on was that something smelled delicious and they all sat down to the first meal in a long time that did not come from a tube. They were all speculating as to how there was fresh meat and vegetables on board. “It could well have been brought up from earth on the last supply shuttle,” said Colby. Marx replied, “maybe they grow it here.”

  Simpson shut them up with. “Maybe it is grown here but, maybe it's not real meat and potatoes.” Marx did not waste time and rejoined, “I don't care, it's delicious and I believe I'll have some more!” Marx stepping out of gravity was almost as funny as when he stepped in as they all went back to work getting ready for mission. Henry Wadlow was having dinner too only his was in a tube. After spending hours screaming and pounding on the walls he had given up being terrified and resigned himself to whichever fate awaited, the door into the ship or the door into space.

  General George Murphy and his wife Mira came aboard and declined part of the tour as she had no interest to navigate all the way to engineering, she still had not acclimated to zero gravity. They did take a brief look at the bridge. Murphy was mesmerized but did not ask any questions but, his wife Mira asked, “What are the unusual shaped seats for?” Zak answered, “For the grax and hegmon of course.” Both George and Mira had a blank look on their faces until Giraffe clarified, “Humans are no the only sentient species in the galaxy and in some
ways, we are not the most intelligent.”

  She sighed and continued, “When earth people look at Zak they see a real tall human, not an alien. Most earth humans are just not ready to deal with the reality of really different looking people.” Mira said, “Oh my George did you know about this.” “No, not really although did wonders and I have to agree that the less earth knows the better at this time.” Giraffe looked at Mira and said, “I know what it is to be a freak, I finished all schools at thirteen and grew to almost seven feet. Since age fourteen people have called me Giraffe and that does not bother me. But my looks cause many problems for others, for no real reason.” There was a persistent beeping that was getting louder and one of the displays was blinking, Giraffe flipped over into the captains chair and said, “Report please.” The display showed navigation and scrolling text after a minute she asked, ”Identify vessel please'.” After another minute she added, “Thank you Panther” George and Mira were looking at each other and both thinking 'she's talking to the ship?'

  Giraffe turned and said “OK we have a shuttle inbound from station two with a ETA of 5 hours at present speed which is max for it's type, do we know who that might be general?”

  George did not need any time to answer. “That would be our new First Admiral Jalbahn going for a surprise visit and inspection no doubt, not sure how you do that but we would have not seen that till it was almost on our doorstep, thank you.” He turned to Mira and said, “Sorry dear, duty calls I have to alert the station and the ship commander.” Zak put his arm out and gestured 'stay' then said to George, “If all you need to do is make a system wide announcement you can do that from here.” George was a little bewildered by all the technology but replied, “Ah, sure.” Giraffe ordered, “Panther please set up a system wide comm please and let me know when ready.” There was a thirty second pause and the a single 'bong' then Giraffe said, “Go ahead General,” and he did. Afterwards Zak said, “I think it's time for dinner and I for one, am hungry for some more home cooking.” They all headed to the galley and Zak asked George and Mira to sit down. Then Giraffe said, “Earth full gravity gradually please.”