The 13: Mission's End Book One Page 2

  “I don’t cheat!” Jeremy said in mock protest.

  “Sure you don’t,” Todd jested back, “and last night those two road pieces just accidentally appeared on the board when it wasn’t your turn.”

  Jeremy laughed.

  “I told you I’m rubbish at those old Earth games. You can’t blame me for that.”

  Naomi was quiet. Her thoughts had returned to the Tereshkova. Jeremy looked down at her, his hazel eyes shifting from mirth to concern.

  “Still worried about our big sister over there?” he asked, speaking in code.

  Naomi nodded. Jeremy absently ran his hand through his short, kinky, black hair.

  “You need a haircut, mate,” Todd said.

  “Yeah, I know,” Jeremy said distractedly.

  “Hey, you guys,” Jeremy got quiet as he turned to them, the din of the cafeteria keeping his voice at their table. “You work in Biometrics, Maria. Anything new there?”

  Maria looked loathe to switch to a darker subject, not to mention one they could all get in trouble for even knowing about. She didn’t want any more demerits, or worse. She would much rather spend her last few hours with her unitmates admiring Jeremy. She sighed and gave in.

  “Well,” she said, lowering her voice, “I’m not supposed to know this, but my station is so close to the chief’s. I know they’ve been in connection with the Tereshkova’s computer to check for anything like a bacterial outbreak before we go over there for the part.

  “I wasn’t going to say anything, because I didn’t hear everything and I might have missed stuff. I don’t want to worry you needlessly, Nomi,” Maria said, patting Naomi’s arm.

  Naomi smiled weakly at her, feeling worse than before. At a glance at Naomi’s wrist monitor, Maria quickly finished.

  “Nothing they saw in the readouts says there’s anything biological wrong over there. Everything seems to be in working order. Life support is still functioning at peak efficiency. It’s possible their sensors are malfunctioning, not reporting correctly at all, but…”

  Naomi sucked in her breath involuntarily.

  “But, what?”

  “Their conformity levels have been dropping off. Rather quickly. Which means something, at least, indicates not all is well.”

  The table sat in an unusual awkward silence, thinking about the implications of a colony ship going dark so close to their destination. The silence was broken by the soft voice of an older woman in a jumpsuit the reverse design of their own. Her orange jumpsuit was broken up with white detailing. She had dark eyes and salt and pepper hair tied neatly into a bun.

  “You four are lighting up the room. So much anxiety. Is it because you’re breaking apart soon?”

  Naomi’s eyes quickly went to their life signs, all glowing bright pink. She felt guilty and hoped she wouldn’t get the whole table demerits. As long as they unburdened properly, she hoped they could avoid punishment.

  “No, Counselor Wen. We should unburden,” Naomi said, glancing around the table.

  Her unitmates nodded their agreement. Counselor Wen pressed an area at the table they were breakfasting at. A fifth stool rose from the floor. She sat on it and waited patiently.

  “I am concerned about the Magellan’s upcoming trade with the Tereshkova,” Naomi said, realizing she had to come clean at least a little or risk worse than demerits. “My unitmates are concerned about my agitation. That’s all it is. We’re not fighting amongst ourselves.”

  “Second Engineer Naomi Tesla,” Wen asked, glancing at her wrist and reading something there, “have you been talking about your work to your unitmates?”

  “I needed to,” Naomi said in a rush. “I needed to unburden, and I needed to seek comfort. I didn’t want to succumb to anxiety.”

  Wen stared at her, the dark gray eyes of the older woman looking through Naomi’s own. Naomi felt like her brain was being scoured for information.

  “Are you sure?” Wen asked. “Last night Jeremy was in Maria’s sleeping pod sharing intimacies. Then, immediately after, he entered yours. Jealousy. You know the punishment for that must be issued immediately.”

  Naomi and Maria looked at each other, then couldn’t help laughing. Jeremy crossed his arms and tried not join in. Todd caught Jeremy’s eye and winked at him. Counselor Wen didn’t miss any of these cues, and relaxed.

  “I can see I was mistaken. You’re a very well-matched unit. I’ll get to your other concerns, but I must ask, are you sure you want to join another unit? Naomi, Jeremy? We can transfer your entire unit to Family if you’d like? You might enjoy being there together.”

  Maria and Todd looked alarmed.

  “No. I mean to say, no thank you, Counselor. I know I’m not ready for that responsibility,” Maria said quickly.

  “Me neither,” Todd said. “Maria and I, we’re good friends with Jeremy and Naomi. But I’m looking forward to new unitmates. Meeting new people is always fun.”

  Maria nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

  Wen looked at them all one at a time, then decided to move on.

  “Well then, I must address the other issue. Naomi, I understand the burden you’ve been under keeping your communications with the Tereshkova secret. I do hope your unitmates have been discrete and didn’t seek to unburden with other fellow shipmates as you have when they learned of the issues plaguing the Magellan.”

  She looked around the table to see everyone nodding enthusiastically.

  “Good. This is indeed a difficult situation we find ourselves in. We wonder if we’re safe, if our mission can be completed. Particularly when we’re the generation that will conclude it. So close to Mission’s End, to have disaster strike us, that’s a frightening and disheartening thought.

  “But,” she continued holding up her finger, “remember, Command chooses not to tell the people because it would cause panic. We would need far more counselors than we currently have to take care of all the people on board this ship. Keeping these things to yourselves is not only important, but essential if we are to reach Mission’s End. I ask, in the future, rather than talking about these things to others, you know what you are to do…”

  Wen waited for the response.

  “Take comfort in each other,” the four repeated dutifully.

  “And?” she prompted.

  “Comfort goes both ways.”

  “Yes. Remember that. That phrase isn’t just about the physical comfort, it’s about the mental comfort. If you unburden something another must carry, you are doing them a discomfort. Next time, seek out a counselor. Do you understand?”

  Naomi nodded solemnly.

  “Good. Now, I’m going to report this infraction and we’ll see what Command says your punishment will be.”

  Counselor Wen looked down at her wrist while Naomi held her breath. Wen tapped the screen a few times then furrowed her brow. A confused expression crossed her face.

  “You’re a lucky woman, Naomi Tesla. Command has suggested I give you three demerits for this indiscretion. Very lenient. But, perhaps they’re giving you some leeway because of the immense pressure you’ve been under keeping this secret. Let’s make sure there isn’t a second infraction.”

  Naomi nodded quietly, afraid to say anything should the counselor change her mind and decide to press the issue further.

  “Now,” Wen said, addressing the whole group, “hurry up, you four. You have your unit reassignments and your regular duties today. You don’t want to dally over-long.”

  Counselor Mei Wen stood and moved off into the crowded cafeteria. Her seat slid back into the floor leaving no indication she’d been there. Naomi sighed, relieved.

  “I’m sorry guys.”

  “Hey, three demerits is nothing. More importantly, no counseling,” Todd said in a whispery voice. “They could have… I was pretty sure when you said that Nomi… I don’t know why she didn’t take you.”

  Naomi shook her head.

  “They don’t give counseling for having a loose tongue. Counseling
won’t help with that.”

  They grew silent as they thought on that. Naomi broke the silence before their moodiness drew a counselor back.

  “At the very most, they would have demoted me. That’s what I expected. More of the ship knows about the Tereshkova now, anyway. It’s not as huge a secret as it was when the problems first started. If they had found out I talked way back then…”

  “Hey now,” Jeremy said, forcing a smile on his face, “crisis averted. At least, I think. You still have enough credits to go to the Gardens with me later this week?”

  “Not for long. Our day-trip will have to be a couple of hours, I’m afraid,” Naomi said, looking at her list of credits, now quite a bit smaller.

  “That’s alright. We’ll make the most of it,” Jeremy said cheerfully.

  “Hey,” Todd interjected, “I hadn’t thought about it until just now, but you guys, we won’t see each other that much. There’s no family unit near our complex. And, well, this is the best matched unit I’ve been in - aside from one little issue. Maria my dear, how you’ve broken my heart,” Todd joked.

  “It isn’t your heart you’re worried about,” Maria said, laughing.

  “Ow, not my honor as well? You should join targeting. You’re a sharpshooter,” Todd said genially. “But seriously. We should, you know, keep meeting. One of our leisure days, we should still do a game night. We could reserve a leisure room together. A standing group get together.”

  “I’d like that,” said Naomi.

  “Yeah, def def,” Jeremy added eagerly. “How else will I hone my chea… winning tactics.”

  Jeremy accompanied Naomi to Engineering. Naomi tried not to look out the windows on the way there. She could feel the looming presence of the Tereshkova just across the void of space between them. The orange floor gleamed up at her as she cast her eyes downward to avoid the temptation to look again, to search for signs of life on the ship. She felt Jeremy pull her into an embrace.

  “Think about this evening. We’ll meet our new unitmates. And then tomorrow, we’ll meet the kids. I checked around. We might have a gennie in our group of kids. That should be… well let’s just be on the polite end and say, interesting.”

  “That is one way to put it,” Naomi said, straightening up for Jeremy’s sake. “Have a good day. I’ll meet up with you later.”

  “We’ll have fun. You’ll see, yeah?”

  He dashed off toward flight training. Naomi meant to ask him what he’d be doing now that he was certified. She imagined he’d be training new recruits next. She turned into Engineering and to the tasks before her. She moved to her console, one among the myriad of similar stations, and placed her palm on the screen to log on.

  “Second Engineer, Naomi Tesla.”

  The screen lit up with all the diagnostics Naomi needed to check before she could begin work on her new projects.

  A young woman standing near Naomi’s station asked, “Tesla? I haven’t met a Tesla yet. They’re mostly in Forward E, right?”

  Naomi knew everyone who worked in the Port Engineering department. She didn’t recognize this woman. At Naomi’s puzzlement, the woman offered her hand.

  “Sorry, I’m Sheryl. A Musk. Almost everyone here is a Musk. I wonder if that’s why they’re sending for you. Sent me back to fetch you. Heading back to Forward Engineering maybe? Were you here for a shortage?”

  Naomi’s puzzlement only grew.

  “What? I mean, yes, I came down here for a shortage. They transferred me here about a year ago. You must have just qualified, I know everyone here,” Naomi said, logging out of her station.

  Sheryl placed her hand on the station and logged in.

  “Sixth Engineer, Sheryl Musk.”

  She turned back to Naomi once the screen lit up with her assignments.

  “Yes, obviously,” she said, giggling. “How long did it take you to get to second engineer? You look pretty young to me. They told me to expect to be a sixth for at least four years.”

  Naomi replied demurely.

  “I don’t know. It’s all in the genes anyway, right? I was probably bred to be an especially quick learner for some reason.”

  “I suppose. I hope I wasn’t bred to be a grunt. I’d like to rise in the ranks.”

  Naomi looked around furtively and Sheryl realized she had spoken her thoughts aloud without thinking much on it.

  “I mean to say, I’m happy being an engineer. It’s not that I’m dissatisfied. But higher ranks get to do some interesting stuff.”

  “Oh,” Naomi said, trying to sound casual, hoping Sheryl didn’t get in trouble for her comments, had anyone overheard. “Yeah. You know, grunts aren’t really, you know, they aren’t bred that way. Everyone’s important. And, you’ll get lots of interesting assignments. Might not be right away, seniority and all that, but you’ll have your hands full soon enough.”

  “Yeah of course,” Sheryl said, taking Naomi’s cue.

  She mouthed the words “thank you” and fanned herself dramatically. A supervisor walked by then and they both smiled at him.

  “Well, I should get to work,” Sheryl said more loudly than she needed to. “First Engineer Arlo Musk would like to talk to you. Good luck! It was nice to meet you.”

  Naomi smiled.

  “Same to you.”

  She walked briskly to the first engineer’s area at the far end of Port Engineering. It was dominated by large screens going through complicated models and diagnostics. Naomi only saw one of the three first engineers in the area. She recognized Arlo from behind because his shiny black hair was tied in a tidy ponytail keeping it from his face. He turned to her, his neatly trimmed, black beard making him look older than he was. She smiled and stood straight.

  “I was told you wanted to see me?”

  “Yes,” Arlo said, reaching past her to tap on a screen behind her. “You’re being transferred to Experimental Engineering. Effective immediately. I trust you know where it is?”

  Naomi kept her surprise hidden. It wasn’t proper to react positively or negatively to job transfers. She couldn’t seem too eager, even though she was.

  “Yes, of course. Is this a permanent transfer, or temporary?”

  Arlo, who hadn’t been paying attention to Naomi, turned away from the screen he was looking at and gave her his full attention.

  “Is that important?”

  “No, it was curiosity.”

  “I guess there’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t know. I was just told this morning. Could be a shortage, like we had here. They didn’t give me the specifics. Only that you were transferred.”

  “I enjoyed working with the Port E crew, Arlo.” Naomi said politely.

  But Arlo had already turned back to his duties and didn’t hear her. Naomi frowned but said nothing as she left Port Engineering and headed toward Experimental Engineering. It wasn’t a long trip, so Naomi didn’t have much time to ruminate on why she’d been transferred without any notice.

  She had a vague impression of what they did in that department, but she wasn’t sure of the specifics. All the experimental departments tended to keep their projects to themselves. As she tried to imagine what she’d be doing there, she moved swiftly through the orange corridors to the center of the ship where Experimental Engineering was located.

  When she arrived outside of her new assigned workplace, the first difference she noted was that she couldn’t enter the department without logging in. She placed her hand on the reader, and spoke her name and designation. As the door opened, she entered a room full of huge monitors and simulation stations. Everybody was buzzing around one of the stations, excited about something.

  “Come on, come on!” shouted one of them.

  Then, collectively, they all erupted into disappointed noises and wandered away from the simulation station. She looked for the engineer with the correct number of orange stripes on his sleeve. She found an older-looking man, perhaps in his fifties, with salt and pepper hair and blue eyes. He had all six stripes of
orange on his jumpsuit and an arrow above the stripes. Naomi had often wondered if she’d ever meet the chief engineer.

  When he saw her he motioned her over to the simulation field. Another woman stood nearby. Naomi thought her age a little under thirty. Her eyes were almost black and her skin and hair were also quite dark. Naomi felt uneasy under her stare. She didn’t look special, but somehow Naomi knew she was.

  “What a lovely hair color!” the chief engineer said. “Strawberry blond, I think that’s what they call that. Green eyes and strawberry blond hair. I haven’t seen that in ages on this ship. When I was a child, a friend who lived in an adjacent family unit had a caretaker with those same markers. Quite lovely.”

  He smiled at Naomi, but his friendliness didn’t meet his eyes.

  Naomi knew better than to thank him for his compliment. He could get away with saying it in his position of authority. He was purposefully pushing against her, showing her his strength. It had been a while since she’d met someone like that on the ship. Her last encounter had been when she was in training. A senior trainee who oversaw the juniors and kept them in order had been like that. Naomi hadn’t liked him either.

  Needing to calm herself, Naomi began counting again. She was looking forward to spending the evening chatting happily with Jeremy more than before. She couldn’t believe how quickly she’d lost her lust for working in Experimental Engineering.

  Naomi just smiled at him, trying to seem as self-effacing a person as she could. The chief watched her, his eyes darkening.

  “I’m Chief Engineer Marcus da Vinci. I’m, obviously, in charge in this department, and in charge of all the ship’s engineering departments. My base of operations is here, though. Where I can do the most good. Which,” Marcus crossed his arms, still smiling with only his mouth, “is why you’ve been sent to me. A Tesla. I’ve found Tesla’s hard to work with myself. A bit uppity.”

  “Says a da Vinci,” the dark-eyed woman said.

  Naomi clasped her hands together behind her back, trying to hide her shock. The woman had no stripes whatsoever on her jumpsuit, just the standard orange piping children wore.