“The honor is all mine,” said Julie. “I still can’t believe that it was you up on that stage.”
“I may have been a little rusty,” said Chris.
“Are you kidding?” said John. He wasn’t about to let Chris doubt himself. “You were fantastic. It was a flawless performance.”
“The people loved you,” said Julie. “You’ve given them something John and I could never offer.”
“Which is why we want you to have this,” said John, revealing a small black box he was holding behind his back.
“How did you know diamonds were my best friend?” said Chris as he took the box. He looked at Julie. “Don’t turn your back on this one, he’s relentless.”
John and Julie laughed. “It’s not diamonds, but I’ll remember that next time,” said John. “Open it.” The singer opened the box and, nestled in the middle, was a gold bar.
“It’s beautiful,” said Chris. “Isn’t this one of your military bars?”
“It is,” said Julie. “The captain and I agree that our mission can only be successful if the crew’s spirits can be kept up. You’ve proven that you can rally the crew and give them hope. We want you to become the crew’s morale officer.”
“Morale?”
“You’ll be responsible for the mental well-being of the crew,” said John. “You’ll also be our liaison, letting us know of any concerns the crew have we should know about.”
“You want me to be an officer?”
“An officer and part of the senior staff,” said Julie.
Chris was touched by the gesture. The captain was sincere when he said Chris was an important member of the crew. “I’m not sure what to say.”
“Chris Anne always has something to say,” said John.
“Yes, I would be honor to be an officer,” said Chris as he took the bar out from its case. He held it up against his chest, then shoulder, trying to find the right place to put it. “I hope this doesn’t mean I have to wear a TERRA uniform. Black isn’t my color, unless it’s evening wear.”
“How about an exemption to the uniform policy?” said John. “You can wear whatever you want.”
“You know,” said Julie. “Maybe you could wear that as a necklace.”
“I like your fashion sense, sweetie,” said Chris as he held it up to his neckline. “What do you think?”
“Perfect,” said John. “Welcome aboard the PHOENIX, Chris Anne.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It finally happened. Long range sensors picked up indications of a habitable planet at one of the nearby star systems in the area PHOENIX was traveling through. John ordered an immediate course change to investigate the system. Sure enough, orbiting the twin stars was a planet that could sustain life. The crew was excited as the probability of finding such a planet was miniscule.
John and Julie were just as excited as the crew over this discovery, but they knew they needed to proceed with caution. Probes were launched around the planet to take detailed readings of the surface, and the science departments worked around the clock to review the information provided by the probes.
The ship spent two weeks in orbit, as John was reluctant to authorize a landing party. He was playing it safe, ensuring all dangers had been identified before permitting any crew member to set foot on the planet.
As the planetary survey was being conducted, Alex’sis’ took the opportunity to escape the command deck to resolve a problem on deck seventy-five, the farm deck. A problem had arisen again with the water reclamation system and the farmers had been unable to resolve it. Alex’sis needed a break from her command deck duties and this minor crisis gave her the out she needed. The problem with the reclamation system appeared to be software related, so she enlisted Drix to help her. She had not spent any time with the Cresorian and decided working on this problem would be the best way to break the ice.
The pair met at the lift and made their way down to the farming deck. For Drix, this was an opportunity to visit a new part of the ship. He read about deck seventy-five in the ship’s schematics and was fascinated by the concept that the crew grew their own food.
“Well, this is it,” said Alex’sis as they stepped off the lift. There were no corridors, unlike most of the other decks. This level was one giant farmland. The area was sectioned into segments: grains, fruits, vegetables, and livestock. A couple of silos and some standalone buildings dotted the landscape.
Alex’sis covered her nose with her sleeve as the odor of manure hit them. “Sorry for the stench. The environmental controls were never designed to remove such a strong smell. You’ll get used to it.”
“The aroma is only mild and is quite pleasant,” said Drix. Alex’sis found his description gross, but she held her tongue.
“We grow most of our food on this deck,” she started to explain, but something caught Drix’s eye that drew his attention away from her.
“What are those?” He headed down one of the trails that ran between the sections. Alex’sis was surprised how quickly the large alien moved.
“Drix, wait. Damn it!” Alex’sis chased after him. What could have captured his attention?
She followed him halfway down the trail. He finally stopped and stared at a group of cows that had approached the metal gates that enclosed the section they were grazing. Alex’sis couldn’t believe it. He was getting excited over cows?
She watched Drix hesitantly raise his hand. He wanted to touch them, but was unsure if these four legged creatures were dangerous.
“You can pet them,” said Alex’sis. “They won’t bite.”
Drix carefully placed his hand on the head of a cow and slowly brushed his hand back and forth. The cow made a noise as the alien stroked it.
“Mooo?” said Drix.
“Uh, they’re not intelligent, so you can’t talk to them,” said Alex’sis.
“What are these magnificent creatures?” he asked in awe.
“Cows,” replied Alex’sis. “They’re indigenous to our homeworld.”
“Cows,” said Drix. “And what purpose do they serve?”
“Actually, we use them in variety of ways. We extract milk from them.”
“That white liquid substance?” Drix had seen on several occasions individuals drinking milk at the Stardust Café. Commander Olson told him the name but didn’t elaborate where it came from. “Why would you drink liquid produced from another life form?”
“When you put it that way, you make it sound kind of sick,” said Alex’sis. “It’s something my people have done for hundreds of years. There’s a lot of nourishment in milk.”
“Fascinating. What else do you do with them?”
“We slaughter them for food.” Again, Alex’sis didn’t think twice about her words until she saw the look on Drix’s face. “We put them to sleep. They don’t feel anything.”
“You eat these creatures?” Drix sounded disgusted at the thought.
“You’ve never eaten an animal before?” asked Alex’sis.
“I’ve spent my entire life on ships,” said Drix. “The only subsidences I’ve consumed have been plant based.”
Great, Alex’sis was explaining the concept of eating meat to an alien vegetarian. “We eat plants too. Some people on this ship only eat plants but, for the most part, we consume a mixed diet of meat and plants.”
“It does not seem you have enough of these creatures to feed everyone on this ship.”
“One cow goes a long way in providing us food,” said Alex’sis. “We have a cloning facility over there.” She pointed to a metallic building at the far end of the deck. “As we send cows to slaughter we breed new ones through an accelerated growth process.”
“Hyper accelerated genetic construction,” said Drix. “Or, as you say, cloning. How do you resolve the genetic gaps sequences inherent in the process?”
“We don’t,” replied Alex’sis. “It’s not a concern as it doesn’t impact the quality of food we derive from the clones. We mix the genetic lines as much a
s possible to minimize the degradation. We’d eventually run down to non-viable genes to clone, but that would take years. I expect PHOENIX would be back to Earth long before that happened.”
Alex’sis watched Drix as he interacted with the cows. She never gave much thought about what they used them for, but thinking of them from the alien’s perspective made her rethink her outlook. She was beginning to wonder if being a vegetarian might be a good idea for awhile.
“If you’re up to it, we can grab a meal later and you could try some meat,” offered Alex’sis.
“I must be blunt and say such an idea is not appealing,” said Drix. “But in the interest of learning more about your species, I would be willing to try.”
“We can tour the rest of the farm deck later,” said Alex’sis. “We better look at the water reclamation system.”
A few hours later, after they had repaired the system, Alex’sis and Drix returned to the command deck. They found most of the senior staff huddled around the operations table.
“Water reclamation on the farm deck is back up,” reported Alex’sis.
“Good,” said Julie. “We’re just going over the latest reports from the science departments.”
Alex’sis looked at the reports displayed on the table. “Anything unusual?”
“The information is pretty consistent,” said John. “The planet’s make up falls within the parameters of sustaining human life. The only thing that’s missing is a lack of life forms on the planet.”
“Why’s that a problem?” asked Alex’sis.
Doctor Myers spoke up. “The atmosphere’s comparable to Earth. Humans, and Cresorians, shouldn’t have a problem breathing the air.”
“Gravity is comparable to Earth,” said Julie. “There are numerous large bodies of water on the planet.”
“It’s a basic scientific notion that water is critical for life,” said Kevin. “Given that the planet appears to have a wide range of plant life, we would expect there would be some organic life forms, even if only bacterial. But so far, plants are the only life forms on the planet.”
“Maybe organic life never developed here,” said Bret.
“Possible,” said Alex’sis as she quickly read some of the reports. “But look at this report on the plant life. The botany department noted that the plants and trees seem overgrown and out of control. If no organic animal life exists then wouldn’t you expect the planet to have devised some other means of controlling plant growth?”
“Perhaps some catastrophe eradicated any organic life forms that once existed here,” offered Drix.
“Something that wiped out organic life but left the plants alone?” said Alex’sis. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“If there was a catastrophe, we should have picked up some residual traces of it,” said Myers.
“Drix, do you know of any races that have technology that could selectively devastate a planet without leaving a footprint?” asked John.
“I am aware of no race that has such a capability,” said Drix. “Even the Screen have never demonstrated such power. However, your hypothesis is sound and it is possible the Screen may have done something to the planet.”
“So far we haven’t come across anything to indicate the Screen have been here,” said Kevin. “There’s also no sign of technology or advanced civilization here.”
John mulled over the information, and the staff waited for his next response. This was the first habitable planet they found, and there were a lot of unknowns regarding the lack of animal life on it.
Alex’sis, impatient with the wait, finally spoke up. “Captain, our sensors and probes can only gather so much information. We need to go down to the planet to investigate further.”
“Very well,” John said reluctantly. He knew that going down to the planet was the next logical step. “Doctor, I want full quarantine procedures in effect. Have all departments who want to send down teams coordinate with you.” Myers nodded as John turned to Chief Sandoval. “Chief, I want all teams escorted by a security detail, two guards per group.”
“Understood,” said Sandoval.
“Captain, I’d like to go down and be the liaison to the ship,” said Julie. It was her way of ensuring John stayed on the ship. It was too risky to allow the captain to venture down, not until they confirmed the planet was safe.
“Fine,” said John. “Alex’sis, deploy the Aries and Virgo fighters and have them do reconnaissance on the rest of the system. I want long range sensors scanning beyond the star system for any ship. Let’s put Drix’s updates of the sensors to good use.”
John assumed they were done, but everyone stood there looking at him.
“Let’s go, people.”
The group quickly dispersed.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The first couple of days on the planet were rough for Julie. Although there were detailed plans outlining how the planet would be explored, the execution left a lot to be desired. Julie was constantly dealing with miscommunications between science teams, deliveries of wrong equipment to the planet, fights among the science teams to use equipment, and flight schedules between PHOENIX and the planet not being followed. To Julie, the source of the problems seemed to be the civilians. They lacked the ability to adhere to protocols, unlike the military.
Julie worked diligently to resolve these issues, but felt overwhelmed. If she wasn’t trying to locate a specific piece of equipment, she was settling disputes between teams. Eventually, she developed a routine and was better able to juggle the numerous tasks being thrown her way. By the fifth day, she felt she had a handle on things and could finally relax and appreciate her new surroundings.
As she stood by the large table at the center of base camp, she looked around the area. The camp had been set up in open grassland, giving them a tactical advantage to spot anyone or anything approaching from any direction. To the north was a forest, to the far south a mountain range. It amazed her how much this planet reminded her of Earth. The land seemed identical to home. Although the scientists told her the similarities were not necessarily remarkable, it still took her breath away knowing she was on a brand new planet.
“Commander,” said Professor Nimix as he emerged from one of the large white tents. He was from the ship’s oceanography department and had quickly become one of Julie’s closest co-workers on the planet. Besides his duties facilitating studies of the planet’s oceans, he had taken the time to help Julie sort out the initial confusion of the planetary survey operation. Despite working together a couple of days with little downtime, Julie already considered him a friend and was grateful for his help in resolving problems.
“Take a look at this,” said Nimix, handing Julie his DAT. “I just got off the line with Ocean Beta Team. They’ve found a repository of coral in the ocean.”
“That supports the evidence we found so far showing life did exist on this planet,” said Julie as she went over the data. The archeology team uncovered animal fossils in a seismically active area on the other side of the planet. With additional support teams sent down by PHOENIX, they had identified twenty-two distinct species.
“I’d like to request additional members of the oceanography department to come down from PHOENIX to help expand our surveys,” said Nimix.
“I’m going to have to deny your request.” Julie spoke to John last night and he was concerned that the scientists had lost focus of the ship’s primary mission. If they had it their way, the scientists would stay and study this planet for years. Both John and Julie agreed that PHOENIX would leave in five days to resume their search for the Screen. Unfortunately, Julie was tasked with breaking the news to the ground teams.
“Commander, without additional support we can’t conduct a thorough analysis of the oceans,” said Nimix.
“I understand professor, but we can’t send more people down here,” explained Julie. “If the Screen showed up, we’d be at a disadvantage getting all one hundred fifty-six people back to the ship. We’re going to have to
work with what we have.” She debated whether to tell him about the five day cutoff, but elected to keep that information to herself until she could inform all team leaders at tonight’s meeting.
“I hate to waste this opportunity to fully explore a new ocean, but I understand where you’re coming from.” That was another trait Julie liked about Nimix. He seemed to understand the military viewpoint and did not argue with her.
“Why don’t you have your teams begin focusing on a single task, like locating fossil remains in the seabed,” suggested Julie.
“Alpha Team is scheduled to explore the northern hemisphere,” Nimix started to explain, but a beep from their pips interrupted him.
“Professor Begsha to base camp.”
“Go ahead,” said Julie.
“Commander, I’m at grid location 2-0-5.” Julie and Nimix verified the location on their DATs. He was in a large open field two hundred kilometers away. “I’ve located a small rock formation with an opening that appears to be a cave entrance. My scanner is getting some unusual readings from it, but I can’t nail down what I’m registering.”
“Private Nicolai,” Julie called over to the junior officer. “What’s the latest on our sensor capabilities?”
“Teams are still reporting problems with their scanners getting detailed readings,” said Nicolai. “PHOENIX has been working on the problem.” It was an issue they had since making landfall. Something on the planet was throwing off the sensors. Even Drix’s modifications to the ship’s sensor array fared no better. The general consensus was the planet’s mantle core was somehow causing the problem.
“Professor Begsha, we’re still working to resolve the problems with the scanners,” said Julie.
“Understood,” said Begsha. “I’d like to go in and do a visual inspection of the cave.”
“Jerry, where’s your team?” asked Nimix.
“They’re on the far side of the grid collecting additional plant samples.”
“Hold position until we can get a geologist to inspect the rock formation,” said Julie. “We need to verify its stability.”
Phoenix Among The Stars (Exodus) Page 11
