Arrival (55 page)

“Are you sure?” the chief council member asked.

“You know very well, sir, that one can never be certain in such matters.” Doctor Barilla turned to look directly at Ray, “I’m sorry, Ray.”

“Can we at least protect ourselves against infection during the rescue?” Captain Ishkin asked.

“Yes,” Doctor Barilla replied more confidently. “Our bio-suits and quarantine facilities are more than adequate.”

“Captain Ishkin,” the chief council member inquired, “what is our flight time to Tau Ceti Five?”

“At our present speed, about three months. But we will have to continue decelerating with braking burns. As you all remember, we decided to execute our terminal aero-braking maneuver at a reduced approach speed, in light of what happened to the Icarus on approach to Tau Ceti Five.”

“Doctor Barilla, can they survive that long?”

“No telling. Not without knowledge of their current medical condition. And the fact that the message was
not
sent by Doctor Gonzales leads me to believe that the situation is dire.”

“What about RMS?” another council member asked.

Ray’s mouth dropped open. He was not aware that the crew had been supplied with the RMS serum, and had been under the impression that the risks were never successfully mitigated.

“There was no mention of its use in the message,” the chief council member reminded them.

“If the disease is terminal, and Doctor Gonzales was unable to find a cure with her limited resources, then it would be reasonable to assume they invoked the RMS protocol.”

“Jesus Christ!” Ray blurted out. “I can’t believe you gave them that shit!”

“Please, Mister Wilkins!”

“If they did put themselves into RMS,” Doctor Barilla continued, “then they would have a much better chance at surviving long enough for us to rescue them.”

“I see,” the chief council member remarked. “Let us assume the best case scenario for a moment. Captain, I assume that your people have worked out some sort of a rescue plan?”

“We have been working on it, yes.”

“Please elaborate,” the chief council member instructed calmly.

“Well, we thought about sending a shuttle out ahead of us. But they have a rather limited fuel capacity. Even if we were to load them down with all the fuel they could carry, they would barely have enough to get there and achieve orbit, let alone land, achieve orbit again, and then break orbit to rendezvous. We also considered slowing the Daedalus down to a crawl so that we could pass the planet slowly. That would give a rescue shuttle the time and fuel it would need to complete the mission, but with no margin of error.” Captain Ishkin took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before continuing. “We also looked at placing the Daedalus into orbit around Tau Ceti, in between the orbits of Tau Ceti Five and Six, and then sending the rescue shuttle. However, that would strand us in that orbit, making colonization a slow, painstaking process, due to the increased fuel requirements and transit times between the ship and the target world. It would, however, leave us in a position to colonize either world, thereby increasing our chances of success.”

“Doesn’t that put the general population at greater risk?” the chief council member asked.

“Yes, sir, it does,” Captain Ishkin admitted. “I’m afraid that the only
sure
way to rescue them is to put the Daedalus into orbit around Tau Ceti Five.”

“Which would leave us stranded as well,” one of the council members observed.

“Stranded around the very planet that carries the source of the infection,” the chief council member added. “Hardly a safe place to be.”

“How the hell can it reach us while in orbit?” Ray argued, finding the chief council member’s last remark preposterous.

“Of course it can’t, Mister Wilkins,” the chief council member answered, annoyed by Ray’s sarcasm. “That’s not the point.”

Here it comes,
Ray thought.

“Our ultimate goal is to deliver the population safely to a
hospitable
planet, and to set up a colony of human existence. Not to drop them on a dangerous, disease-ridden world.”

“With all due respect, sir,” Doctor Barilla interrupted, “calling Tau Ceti Five a disease-ridden world is quite an exaggeration. It could be something as simple as a cold or flu.”

“Or it could be a plague that might destroy us all,” the chief council member pointed out. “Are you willing to take that risk?”

“Hell yes!” Ray said as he stood in defiance.

“Well, I’m not, Mister Wilkins! And you shouldn’t be, either!”

Ray had nothing to counter with. He knew the chief council member was right. It was too big a risk to take with the entire population.

“We understand your passion, Mister Wilkins, and we don’t disagree with it. But we have to consider the safety of everyone aboard, as well as the lives of those brave men and women stranded on Tau Ceti Five.”

The room fell silent as those in attendance accepted the harsh reality of being left with no other choice but to condemn their fellow crewmates.

“The council will now recess while we consider the situation and the information that you have all brought forth. We thank you all for your participation. We will reconvene again in one hour to announce our decision.”

Ray watched as the council members rose and filed out of the room to confer in private. He already knew what their answer would be.

* * *

How are you feeling?
Jack asked telepathically.

“Better, actually.” Frank sat down at the wardroom table. “What’s for breakfast?”

I think we should check your chemistries first.

“Aw, come on, Jack. I’m starving.”

Tough,
Jack responded as he headed for the med-lab.
Let’s get started
.

Jack led Frank into the med-lab, hooking him up to the various bio-monitors as Frank lied down on the exam table.

“Are you even going to know what you’re looking at?”

Sort of. Although most of your chems were within normal ranges yesterday, many of them were still slightly out of whack. We’ll load both sets of values into the medical diagnostics computer after we finish the scan. It should show us the differences.

“And that will tell us what?”

Jack thought about it for a moment.
If you’re going to die.

“That’s what I thought,” Frank said, reading Jack’s thoughts.

Will you stop that?
Jack insisted. It was quite annoying, having someone hear his every thought.

“Sorry, but you thought it.”

I’ve got to work on this telepathy thing,
Jack thought as he started the scan.

“How do you mean?”

I’ve got to learn the difference between thinking and sending my thoughts.

“Good luck with that.”

* * *

“It is the consensus of the council that attempting a rescue of the Icarus crew at this time would present too great a risk to the Daedalus and her population. However, if in the future, information becomes available that would indicate otherwise, the council will reconsider its decision.”

Although Ray had been expecting it, his spirits dropped. “We request that the astro-sciences section gather as much data as possible on the fourth and sixth planets in the Tau Ceti system, and submit a colonization recommendation based on those findings, by a deadline to be determined by Captain Ishkin after consultation with the ship’s navigator. We also authorize the use of up to two inter-system probes for the collection of such data. At this time, we wish to express our concern for the safety of the Icarus crew and our hope for their survival. However, her crew knew of the risks involved before embarking on their mission. And they knew that they might be left to fend for themselves if a situation such as this arose. Unfortunately, we have no choice but to put the safety of the Daedalus and her population, and the success of the mission itself, ahead of our personal desires.” The chief council member looked at the faces of the attendees, seeing the disappointment in their eyes, as well as the understanding that there was no other choice.

The look in Ray’s eyes was somewhat puzzling, however. Not of rage, not of acceptance, not even of denial. The expected reaction was missing, and that worried the chief council member.

The audience rose without comment or discussion, quietly making their way out of the room to return to their respective duties. Except for Ray, who had his own agenda.

Ray caught Captain Ishkin as he came out of the compartment, pulling him aside for a private chat.

“I’m sorry, Ray,” Captain Ishkin apologized. “I know how close you are to Jack.”

“I have a question for you,” Ray said, ignoring Captain Ishkin’s sympathies for the moment. “How long until we’re in two-way communications range of Tau Ceti Five?”

“Two weeks, maybe? Assuming they can receive.”

“And how long until we reach the point, after which Tau Ceti Five will no longer be reachable?”

“I’m not really sure. I’d have to consult with my navigator, first.”

“Ballpark?”

Captain Ishkin smiled at another one of Ray’s old Terran euphemisms. “About the same, I guess.”

“I assume that your communications officer has been searching for more signals from them,” Ray said.

“Since the moment the Icarus broke up. In fact, they voluntarily started doubling up at the comm-station since we received the latest message.”

Ray smiled. “Good man.”

* * *

Frank eagerly devoured the meal Jack had prepared. “You weren’t kidding, were you? That sweet root really does make the meat taste better.”

Jack sat down to join him, having just returned from the med-lab with the results from the bio-scan.

“Since when did you learn how to cook?”

From Will. He was pretty good at making a meal out of whatever we could find along the way.
Jack sat down and took a bite of his own portion as he began reading the reports.

“So, how am I doing?” Frank asked.

Well, your chems are definitely improving. In fact, most of them are back to normal. But there are some curious anomalies.

“Like what?”

Some unusual enzyme levels, to start with. A lot of free proteins floating around that shouldn’t be, if I remember my human physiology correctly. And there are even a few chemical traces that shouldn’t be in your blood at all.

“Huh?”

They’re all naturally occurring chemicals in the human body. They just shouldn’t be noticeable in your blood work. They should be bonded permanently to other structures within your body, not floating around in trace quantities.

“Is it something I should be concerned about?”

Not really, I think. At least not overly concerned. But it is curious.

“But I
am
getting better,
right
? I mean, I
feel
better.”

Yes, you are definitely getting better. Liver function is almost back to normal, urinary output is up, fluid and electrolytes are nearly normal. Hell, even your pH is back to normal. A few days ago, I could barely keep it above seven point two.

“Then I
am
getting better,” Frank concluded through a mouthful of meat.

Yes, you are, especially your appetite.

“Great! Then let’s give that slurry to the rest of the crew.”

Whoa, hold on, Frank. It’s way too soon to be thinking about trying it out on the others.

“Why?”

You only took it less than twenty-four hours ago! Don’t you think it would be prudent to wait awhile, to be sure there are no side effects?

“It worked on me. Why wouldn’t it work on them?”

Well, for one thing, you weren’t already in stasis.

“So we wake them up first. What’s the big deal?”

There’s a reason RMS serum is considered a last option, Frank. It’s not like waking them up from a nap. It’s a risky procedure, at best. And we’re not doctors. It would be safer to leave them in stasis until the Daedalus arrives three months from now.

“Uh,” Frank spoke up, setting his fork down. “There might be a problem there.”

Jack looked at Frank, one furry, blue-gray eyebrow raised.

“I sent them a warning message,” Frank confessed.

You did what? When was this?

“A day or two before you showed up.”

What did you tell them?

“Something like, biohazard, crew infected, approach with extreme caution. That sort of thing.”

I thought the comm-system was down?

“Well, I sort of found a way around that little problem.”

Why am I not surprised
, Jack sighed in his mind.

“Come on, Jack. What did you want me to do, let the whole population drop down into the middle of an alien plague?”

Jack leaned back in his chair and let out an audible sigh.
No, of course not, Frank.
Jack thought for a moment.
But this changes everything.

“We’ll just send a new message, tell them everything is alright, come on down and join the party!”

It’s not that simple, Frank. Did you sign the message?

“Sign it? Why would I sign it?”

You sent a critical message, and one of a medical nature. If the mission’s medical officer doesn’t sign the all-clear message, they will ignore it.

“Can’t you just sign it for her?”

It doesn’t work that way, Frank, and you know it.

Now, it was Frank’s turn to do the thinking. “Okay, so we wait a few months, see how I do. Then we wake up Maria and let her send the message.”

We don’t have a few months.

“Jack, the Daedalus isn’t due for at least three months.”

Stop thinking like an engineer,
Jack urged him,
and start thinking like a ship’s captain. The Daedalus is massive. She can’t just change course whenever she wants.

“I forgot,” Frank realized. “The decision point.”

The entire reason we’re here,
Jack added.
So the council could choose their final destination before reaching the final course-change point. Think. You just received a mayday from your scout ship. Critical failure of her aero-braking balloots, breaking up, crew abandoning ship in the LRV. You even have some telemetry that you can analyze to see what went wrong. What’s the first thing you do?