Captain Sherman Lannister felt awkward as he walked down the spaceship's hallway. His depth perception was off and half his face was covered in thick black bandages, but if he was to be honest that didn't bother him half as much as not wearing his uniform.
He understood, it had been dosed in radioactive fallout and had to be discarded. But this scrub-like outfit didn't suit him. He wished he had his uniform.
He stopped in front of a door. The door had writing on it, but it was Consortium and meant nothing to him. This was where he'd been directed but now that he was here, he wasn't sure how to proceed. Did they knock? Or call out? Or just enter?
His second in command, Walsh arrived, his right arm covered in the same black material that was across Sherman's face. A third man in a blue jacket joined them. Sherman was relieved to see Walsh and the other man, he hadn't quite been sure what being invited to a private breakfast with Captain Shana Dowlings had meant, and he was glad there were other guests.
The third man was dark haired, with broad shoulders. He flashed a smile and introduced himself as Bakala, the quartermaster. "Are you ready for guests, Miss Dowlings?" he inquired of the door.
The door slid open and Captain Dowlings ushered them inside. An aide was setting the table, some sort of stir fry and a plate of fruit. Kavinda, the master healer, was there as well as another man Lannister did not recognize. The other man was wearing a red uniform with gold trim, military Lannister believed. He scowled as he regarded the new comers from under bushy eyebrows, but Shana and Kavinda greeted them warmly.
"I figured we needed to discuss what the next six weeks or so will bring for our two crews, cooped up together on board this ship," Captain Dowlings said as they all found a seat. "Breakfast seemed as good a time as any."
Lannister took his seat. There was one empty place at the table and a figure materialized there, the edges of her form glinted, showing she was only present as a holograph. She wore a tight fitting blue jumper with gold trim. She had lush dark hair and a pair of goggles hung around her neck.
"Rohana, I am glad you could join us," Captain Dowlings greeted her.
"I wish I could be there in person," Rohanna responded.
"Did you get your breakfast delivered?" Captain Dowlings said. To Lannister she added, "I have ordered Rohanna and the other flight crew into protective quarantine for the time being. We can't afford to have them sick."
Lannister nodded. "Of course. And I am sorry, we didn't intend to make your crew sick."
Captain Dowlings waved away his attempted apology. "It's the least we could do. Your heroism was remarkable."
As they ate, Lannister asked. "I hope this quarantine period won't create problems for you and your crew. Do you have supplies enough?"
"We should be fine. We can get cargo pods sent over if need be. Bakala?"
"Yes," Bakala said, "this presents no problem. We will get cargo pods with dry goods couple times a week. No need for any rationing, even with a crew and patient contingent this size."
"Good," Shana said. "That alleviates one big concern. The other concern is space itself. It will be tight. I don't expect problems for a couple weeks, your crew," she gestured at Lannister, "is going to be quite sick. Some of ours as well, but not so bad, I shouldn't think."
"Not nearly," Kavinda said. "I have one healer on light duty. I expect a couple more to get sick, but not enough to affect work details. I'd like to take Nara off duty for a few days. They went out three times, the most of any crew. I talked to them about it." He snorted. "They're Kurgara, and not sick enough for me order them off. They scoffed at the notion."
"I can imagine," Shana said with a chuckle.
"And Lana, she went out twice, her and Janda both. I thought maybe I would remove her from her primary case, lighten her load. You should have seen the look she gave me," Kavinda groused. "You'd thought I was trying to steal kittens from a mother. 'We went after her,' she snapped and would have none of it."
"At any rate," Shana said. "Once the crews start to recover, we can use the main bay for exercise. That deals with the physical part of being cooped up in such a small space. The psychological effects we will have to manage as they show themselves. I don't anticipate any problems, we both have disciplined crews of professionals. What say you, Captain Lannister?"
"I should debrief my men about what we can expect over the next six weeks," Lannister replied. He paused. "Only I am not sure what we should expect."
"That's part of what I wanted to discuss," Shana said. "This situation is unprecedented. No, let me correct that. Taking on three hundred patients for six weeks would be unprecedented. This, is..." she waved her spoon in the air. "I don't know what word to use. It's new. We've not met a culture like yours before, and you've not had any off world contact."
Lannister nodded his agreement. "We really have no clue what to expect, either. We will do our best to be good guests. Just let us know."
"And likewise, we will do our best as hosts," Shana replied.
An awkward silence settled over them as they ate, Lannister unsure even what questions needed to be asked. He assumed Captain Dowlings was wrestling with the same dilemma in her mind.
Slowly they began to ask each other simple get to know each other questions, how long had each been a captain? Had they commanded other ships? Dowlings proved an apt conversationalist, which was good because Lannister had never excelled at talking about himself. They were both career military and had captained vessels and that alone gave them a tiny sense of common ground, though nothing else about their careers matched.
By the end of the meal Lannister felt more comfortable with Captain Dowlings, though he still had no clue what the next few weeks would bring. I guess we will just have to wait and see.
#####
Dan Oleson stared down the hall, watching them take Davies to a medical bay. Then he leaned against the wall and looked at Jimmy Fox. "Damn. I saw you the other day, when we were being rescued. I thought... Well, I didn't think I'd see you up and about this morning."
Fox looked down at the stump of his right arm and shook his head. "Hell, you said a mouthful there. I remember running along the hallway. Then the blast, man, even through several inches of steel it was bright and hot. Then the munition locker went. There was a loud bang and the steel door flew past. For a split second I thought I was in the clear. Then the pain hit..." he shook his head. "I thought I was dead for sure."
"You looked like you were in shock when they led us up," Dan said. "Then they were hurrying us along to their ship and I lost track of what had happened to you."
"Once they got me in the meditank, they did something to my nerves. It was like they shut off a switch and it barely hurts. By the time we started accelerating, I felt fine. In fact, I wanted to get out, but they wouldn't let me. That was a trip, let me tell you. I've dreamed about going to space since I was kid. Never dreamed I would be in a bath tub filled with pink goo."
Everyone laughed.
"They've got some amazing technology," Dan said.
"Amazing enough?" Clower asked, nodding towards Davies' now empty bunk.
"Sure, don't worry," Dan said. "You heard them, it was seizure. Heck, we can treat that."
"Yeah, but that's like serious radiation sickness, isn't it?" Clower persisted.
"Yeah but they saved us, even Cheyenne," Kleppie said. "And she was out on deck."
"She was?" Fox said, astonished.
"Tell them about it on the way to breakfast," Madsen said from behind Kleppie. "My stomach is growling."
"Yeah, what did that woman say? End of the hall, take the lift up," Dan led them with Fox at his side.
"Wonder what sort of food they'll have. Something we can eat, I hope?" Kleppie said.
"They have the same biology as us," Dan replied.
"Or so they claim," Clower muttered.
"Sure, remember that diplomat guy?" Dan joked. In anticipation of the Princess Sarasvat's arrival, a select team of diplomats had been invited to the Consortium base ship. One of the junior diplomats had gone missing over their lunch break. After several tense minutes it was discovered that he and his Consortium counter part had simply gone to a different deck for lunch, one of the civilian ones. The incident, and the man, had become a media sensation, part hero and part buffoon. He was the first earth human to see how the Consortium civilians lived, to see their world outside of the carefully scripted lines of diplomacy.
"Yeah, maybe we will get noodles served up by some alien," Kleppie agreed.
They saw a man in white robes walk ahead of them to the end of the hall, through a door and disappear. When they arrived the door led to a small round alcove.
"How does it work?" Kleppie asked.
"Why don't you find out?" Madsen said, pushing him into the alcove.
Kleppie turned back, his eyes wide and his movement's exaggerated. "Holy crap," he said, "There's no gravity."
"What do you mean? There's gravity," Clower said.
"Not in here," Kleppie said.
Another man in tight fitting blue pants and a smock stopped behind them. He tapped his foot impatiently. A slender figure in a white skirt pushed past him and Dan recognized Kavi from the day before.
"It's a zero G lift, silly," she said to Kleppie. She grabbed him by the hips. "Watch your head." She shoved him upward and he disappeared. She stepped into the alcove and made a more graceful turn. "Remember boys, when traveling on a ship with zero G lifts and always wear underwear." She giggled at her own joke and launched herself upward.
Dan stood aside for the man, who gave a grateful nod and launched himself up.
"Yeah, cuz if you don't," Clower muttered, "someone might be able tell if you are a boy or a girl."
Dan shushed him with a nod towards the lift, surely they could hear from the floor above. "She's a girl," he whispered. They all gave him a look. "She was in decontamination when I was."
"And they are not modest, are they?" Madsen said.
Dan stepped into the alcove. It was odd to be suddenly weightless, but he was prepared and didn't do as bad as Kleppie, at least he didn't think so. He used his arms to turn himself and then launch himself upwards. He nearly hit the ceiling and then righted himself and stepped out onto the next level.
Kleppie was bent over with Kavi standing over him, her hand on his back. The man was nowhere to be seen.
"You okay?" Dan asked.
"Got sick," Kleppie said. "Never gotten airsick before."
"It's the radiation," Kavi said. "Your stomach will be sensitive for awhile. Don't worry about that," she waved away the mess at Kleppie's feet. "I'll notify a cleaning crew."
Clower was second out of the lift followed by Fox. Fox stumbled as he left the gate and muttered an apology, "wouldn't believe how much you use your arm for balance til its gone."
Thanks for reading.