The Pathfinder Trilogy Page 13

  She couldn’t help kissing him as he reached over her shoulder to put the lid on the pan and he courteously returned the favor. She ran her hands along his muscular chest and hugged him mightily. They stood that way for several minutes, genuinely enjoying each other’s company before she finally leaned up and kissed him again. “You’re going to go hungry tonight if you keep that up,” he pointed out, taking a quick look at his watch. He lifted the lid and stirred the mixture thoroughly, then placed the cover back on the pan so that the steam could do its work.

  “I hope we don’t go back home to Earth,” Mary said suddenly, her expression growing distant. “It may be lonely out here when we’re so far away but it’s the first time in almost a week that I feel safe.”

  “I know,” Glen replied, kissing her chastely on the cheek. “Don’t think that the Captain hasn’t noticed how many things have returned to normal since we left. He’s been interviewing the civilian portion of our crew for most of the day, since they have as much at stake now as we do.”

  “The agenda for tomorrow’s meeting is pretty vague,” she pointed out.

  “That’s intentional. The original charter written for this ship calls for the formation of our own limited government. Although that may be delayed for now, I have a feeling that everybody is still going to get a chance to speak.” He handed her a couple of plates and some silverware, then took the pan of stir fry off the stove. They moved over to the table and he carefully began spooning a large serving onto each plate. Abruptly, he snapped his fingers. “You forgot the rice,” he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

  “No I didn’t,” she replied matter-of-factly. “I’m watching my weight this month and that’s just a bunch of extra carbohydrates I don’t need right now.”

  “You watching your weight is ridiculous,” he said playfully, taking a bite of food. “Why don’t you leave that to me?” She frowned at him and he gave her a perplexed look. “What?” he said defensively, “Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone walk for exercise as much as you do. If we had stayed at Khyber Base any longer you would have worn a hole in the exercise yard.”

  “I think the formation of a government will be a very interesting challenge,” said Mary, deciding to ignore his semi-humorous jabs. “Especially since we have so many civilians on board now – the eventual number assigned when we started our mission was supposed to be considerably lower.”

  “There are a lot of things that turned out differently than we expected,” Glen commented thoughtfully. “That doesn’t mean we can’t make some adjustments and move forward. There’s a lot to explore out here – our new mission could be defined in terms of a few short months or expanded to a long-term journey that takes years.”

  She looked him squarely in the eyes. “I don’t want to go back to Earth,” she repeated firmly, casually stirring the vegetables on her plate with her fork. “I know it’s selfish, and I know survivors back on Earth are no doubt suffering and at the mercy of that Brotherhood. But I don’t want to go back.”

  *

  Thomas woke up still feeling very drowsy after slumbering through most of the morning and afternoon. It was almost 5:00 p.m. in the evening when he finally sat up and yawned. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed he had been assigned in the Medical Ward and stood up. For the most part he felt fine, with the exception of a sharp, burning pain in his left breast.

  “What’s the deal, Doc?” he asked cautiously, noting that Dr. Simmons had a serious look of concern on her face. “How come my chest hurts so much?”

  The Doctor frowned at him. “Because, young Mr. Roh, the medication I gave you helped you to sleep but it also released the tension you’ve had locked inside of you… quite probably for years now. That’s good old fashioned anxiety you’re feeling, and from what I can tell you’ve got plenty of it packed away.”

  “So I suppose you’re going to send me back to my quarters to get more sleep,” he joked.

  “That’s right,” Dr. Simmons said sternly. “You’re off duty until further notice.”

  “What?” Thomas asked with growing concern. “You can’t do that!” In response to his excited comment she turned and looked at him. The expression on her face was accompanied by a sharp new pain in his chest. “Okay, I guess you can but I seriously hope you won’t,” he decided.

  “Thomas, do you have any idea how serious this is?” she asked.

  “It’s just fatigue, Doctor, honest. We’ve been doing a lot of extra work lately.”

  “I’m going to give you a shot in a minute or two. After that I want you to go straight back to your quarters, get something to eat, and then sleep straight through until tomorrow morning.” She paused, filling a syringe with clear liquid. “When you wake up tomorrow I want you to come straight back here – I’ve set up a 10:30 a.m. appointment for you with Dr. Hagen.”

  “Keith Hagen… the ship’s psychiatrist? Really Doctor, I think you’re over-reacting here just a little bit. I’m not going crazy!”

  “Neither are the other people currently being treated for stress-related symptoms,” stated Karen firmly. “But they need our help, just like you do.”

  “I have to talk to Glen and the Captain first, Doctor. They’re expecting me…”

  “They’re expecting you to do whatever I tell you for the time being,” said Dr. Simmons. “I’ve already cleared this with both of them. You’re on emergency sick leave until further notice.”

  “What do I need another shot for?” Thomas asked. “I’m still drowsy from those pills you gave me. What was that… about nine or ten hours ago?”

  “You’re still drowsy because the medication I gave you takes a lot longer to clear out of your system than some of our modern stuff,” she said, swabbing his arm with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball and then using the hypodermic needle to administer an injection. “My first priority was to get you some uninterrupted sleep, and the second is to begin uncoiling that spring you’ve got so tightly wound in your chest...” She held up the empty syringe for emphasis. “…And that’s going to take some time, young man.”

  “Do you know how far behind I’m going to fall in my duties if I’m gone for more than a day or so?” he asked her. “Seriously, there’s a lot to be done, Doctor, and I’m a crucial part…”

  “Your health is more important to me than your career,” Dr. Simmons interrupted. “And that’s what bothers me most at this point. It should be more important to you, too.” Thomas suddenly felt a wave of dizziness shake him, and he touched the side of the bed with one hand to steady himself. “If I were you I’d go and get something to eat while you still can,” suggested Karen. “In about a half hour you had better be in bed. If you don’t call me and let me know when you’re tucked away in your quarters, I’ll notify two of my assistants to bring you back here.”

  She could tell that he didn’t like the situation one bit, but the young twenty-eight year old scientist nodded in agreement and quickly exited back into the main area of the ship. Thomas was the seventh person so far that she had treated after diagnosing severe stress, burnout, and post-traumatic stress disorder. And there were so many others, fortunately with lesser symptoms that had been caught early enough. The Doctor watched the door close behind the young man and wondered how many more people with similar problems she would be meeting before their situation stabilized. They were isolated, alone, and unable to call for help. Those circumstances had steeled her and made her even more determined to make certain that their best people stayed healthy and able to cope with the dire life-and-death conditions that had unexpectedly been thrown at them.

  THE PATHFINDER PROJECT

  Chapter VIII: Affairs of State

  Dennis and Joseph had gotten up very early to take a tour of the zoo area in the Livestock wing. After his recent visit with Adam, the Captain’s son had become infatuated with the unique mix of nature and technology that kept the farming and zoological wings functioning and was constantly asking to go back and study the area more thoroughly. He w
as particularly interested in the bigger cats – Father and son spent most of their morning together watching the lions and tigers tear into their breakfast, then lick their paws and settle down for a nap. Joseph was also completely captivated by a large black jaguar in one of the cages – it had ignored its breakfast and instead spent its time pacing rapidly back and forth. It looked angry – unhappy with its captivity – and the powerful muscles along its legs and back flexed constantly with its movement.

  “I see you’ve met Midnight, our one and only jaguar,” said a tall, dark-haired man dressed in coveralls. He walked slowly across a dirt path that separated him from the pair. “We call her Middy for short,” he grinned enthusiastically, shaking hands with Dennis. “She’s quite a creature and we’re very proud to have her here.”

  “She doesn’t like being cooped up in there at all,” commented Joseph softly. He continued to stand next to the wooden handrail that separated him from the cage by about two meters.

  “Nope,” replied the friendly man, frowning slightly. “She was born to roam the wild areas of home. That’s one of the tough parts of my job now. Midnight and some of our other animals were supposed to have been transferred off of the Pathfinder before we put to space. Since that’s not going to happen, we’re looking at freeing up some more room for our big cats down the way a bit. We just have to be a little careful because their scent spooks the other animals.” He paused for a moment, letting Joseph observe closely. “It’s a good thing you’re here so early, because most of these animals sleep a lot through the heat of the day.”

  “Joseph,” said Dennis proudly, “I’d like to introduce you to Jeffrey Mathison, our Chief of Livestock & Agricultural Ship Operations. He’s our project leader for both the Livestock and Garden wings… so he’s normally a very busy man.”

  “That’s right,” Jeff replied. “Most of the Pathfinder’s crew is non-military, but we all still have at least one fancy title.” He laughed heartily. “Why, just yesterday I believe I passed the ‘Chief Executive In Charge Of Everything’ on one of the walkways.”

  “Don’t joke about that,” Dennis noted cautiously. “That’s the guy everybody’s going to expect me to be from now on!” He shook his head negatively. “Captain, I have a problem I need fixed…” he joked, chuckling.

  “I suppose that’s one of the reasons you’re down here so early,” Jeff guessed.

  “You could say that,” Kaufield replied. “We’re going to have a meeting at 0700 and one of the items on the agenda is the formation of a ship’s government. I don’t plan on setting it up the way our government usually functions. Instead, I’m going to assign at least one person from each major section and then have 3-4 spots that will be filled by civilian appointees – particularly those that work in key positions in the passenger area.”

  “Do you want me to attend this one?” asked Jeff curiously.

  “I don’t know that you need to yet,” decided Kaufield. “The transcript of the meeting will be available – as usual – but I wanted to give you a heads up that you may be asked to attend future meetings.” He looked at all of the caged creatures surrounding them. “Since you’re in charge of both upper wings I wanted to let you know that you’re almost certainly going to be voted onto our new Council.”

  “Good to know,” Mathison replied firmly. He winked at Joseph. “I’ll be sure to free up some time on my schedule.”

  “I hope we won’t have to continue working people so hard,” Dennis commented sincerely. “The agenda for this meeting is ridiculously simple – I don’t intend for that to happen with future status meetings.” He put his hand on Joseph’s shoulder and squeezed lightly. “We’ll issue a full preview in advance from now on. If you’re really busy and can’t get away, just send someone else from your area to represent your point of view.”

  “Don’t worry, Captain. We’ve had years to test these systems and as long as we keep them properly maintained everything will function as promised in our last report.” He scratched his head. “What concerns me right now is our botanist team. I’ve never seen so many people with green thumbs. If they keep up like they have been we aren’t going to have room for the animals!”

  Joseph laughed at the big man’s humor and his Dad chuckled too. They heard someone behind them holler “Hello!” and – since they were caught off guard slightly – Dennis turned in time to see Corporal Benjamin Henderson walking toward him. The marine’s arm was still in a sling, and a young girl with a brightly colored cotton dress was happily skipping along in front of him waving a handful of flowers she had picked.

  “Well if it isn’t my favorite injured Corporal,” Kaufield joked as Ben joined them. Henderson and the little girl paused to take a good look around at all of the large animals in the cages on both sides of the walking path. It was really quite an impressive view, especially with the exotic series of jungle trees and brush that surrounded each cage.

  “This is my daughter Lucy,” Ben said, introducing her quickly to all the others. “She was on the moon with her grandparents for a visit with me when the attack occurred, so it looks like I’m one of the few left with family to look after.”

  “Hello Lucy,” Jeff said, bending down to shake her petite hand. “Do you like the zoo we’ve got set up here?”

  “Yes, but I want to see the ponies,” she said firmly, looking up at the Corporal. “Daddy promised me I could see ponies and horses.” Her little mind whirled with possibilities. “And the giraffe-eds.”

  “That’s our next stop, sweetie.” Ben said playfully, winking at Dennis and Joseph.

  “You should have turned left instead of right then,” pointed out Jeff. A thought occurred to him and he held up an index finger. “Everyone, please wait right here,” he said enthusiastically, jogging across the walking path and between two of the cages. They could hear him rummaging around in what sounded like cardboard boxes for several minutes. When he reappeared, Jeff was holding two fluffy stuffed animals.

  “Wow, those are really nice,” Ben said, sounding very impressed. He watched Lucy smile as Mathison handed her a brightly striped tiger. He gave a second stuffed animal – this one a hairy, maned lion – to Joseph.

  “Now you have your own big cat,” he told Joseph. Kaufield looked a bit surprised at the gifts but Jeff waved him off. “We have a bunch of souvenir items stored back there that are going to be on display near the entrance eventually,” he said proudly. “But I don’t see why we can’t begin handing them out right away.”

  “Thank you!” Lucy said happily, hugging her stuffed tiger tightly. Joseph also echoed his thanks. They stood visiting for a few minutes longer when suddenly Lucy looked up at her Dad. “Can we go see the ponies now, Daddy?” she asked, doing her best to sound cute.

  “All right, young lady, let’s go see some ponies,” the Corporal decided. He waved goodbye with his good hand, then he and Lucy began walking back toward the exit hatch.

  “I have to say goodbye, too,” Kaufield said. “I’ve got that meeting at 0700.”

  “Why don’t you let Joseph stay with me for a while,” Mathison offered. “I’ll give him a quick tour of the rest of the zoo and have him back in his quarters in time for school.”

  “If it’s no trouble,” Dennis said cautiously. “I know everyone’s really busy these days.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Jeff reassured him. “We’ve got plenty of staff on board to complete our work. Now that we’re away from the base, things have actually settled down quite a bit.”

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed that,” commented the Captain. He affectionately rubbed Joseph on the head. “Stay away from the cages and do what Jeff tells you, kiddo.”

  “I know, I know,” said Joseph excitedly. “I’ll tell you all about it tonight at dinner!”

  Kaufield watched the two of them walk further down the path for a few minutes, thinking about the morning ahead of him. It was only twenty minutes until the staff meeting started, so he decided the first thing he was going to do
before heading up to the conference lounge was to chase down a really hot cup of coffee.

  *

  Mary, Glen, Adam, and Julie were the first to arrive in Observation Dome One. A half-empty box of donuts sat on the large table located in the center of the room. There was also a large coffee pot, and everyone except Glen had a hot steaming cup full.

  Adam was casually doodling on a yellow legal pad, half-listening to the conversation that the others were having. Dr. Simmons had personally stopped by his quarters the prior evening to let him know that his brother was having some stress-related difficulty. It didn’t surprise Adam – he really cared for his younger brother and had suspected for some time that the younger Roh was not completely dealing properly with his high-octane career. Mostly he was worried, since Karen had suggested he refrain from visiting Thomas until lunch time. She wanted him to have every opportunity to catch up on the sleep that he had lost over the past week.

  “I noticed that the Pathfinder executed another PTP transit again during the night,” Mary observed, smiling. She turned her gaze toward Dr. Markham. “Would that be why you’re here, Julie?”

  “Hey, I came to represent my section,” she said defensively, holding up both hands before returning the smile. “But I did request that we make another transit, yes,” she finally admitted, nervously tapping a pen on her notepad. She sat quietly for a moment, but ultimately could not contain her excitement. “Congratulations on noticing, Mary! All of you have been so busy looking out the windows at those three beautiful Galaxy clusters and not one of you thought to look behind us. There were two other, smaller galaxies there that we’ve been studying. They’re catalogued as NGC 55 and NGC 253.”