CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

David Block couldn’t believe he was actually on the PHOENIX. He made a decision to join the crew as the auxiliary communications officer. As soon as John found out about his application, the captain quickly approved it. The captain couldn’t believe his good fortune to have one of his closest friends join the crew.

David’s first trip to medical was a bit disconcerting. Everywhere he looked there were aliens. Even the doctor who injected him with a micron and DAT wrist implant was an alien, an Aldarian. David was amazed how he could suddenly understand the doctor with the micron.

After being cleared in medical, David dropped off his luggage bag in his quarters and went to a new officer briefing in the board room. A Lieutenant Tim Richardson held the briefing. It gave new officers a general overview of how the PHOENIX crew operated, which included a cultural overview of the aliens serving on the ship. David learned quickly that things operated on this ship compared to TERRA’s capital ships.

After the briefing there was a short mingling session for new officers to get acquainted with one another. Once that concluded, David headed to the command deck to meet with his direct superior officer, a Lieutenant Bret Michaels. The deck was busy with officers and crew members. David had read all the available specs on the ship but was still amazed how big everything seemed. It was hard to imagine his friend John commanded this massive starship for three years. David always believed his friend would gone on to do big things and John certainly didn’t disappoint.

David spotted John and Julie at the operations table. He wanted to say hi to them but they were busy having a discussion with several other humans and alien individuals. Their discussion seemed to focus on what looked like a holographic display of a planetary surface.

“You must be Lieutenant Block.” David turned to see Bret addressing him. “I’m Lieutenant Michaels. You can call me Bret.”

“Excuse me, sir?”

“That’s my name.”

David was confused. “But you’re a lieutenant.”

Bret chuckled. “We don’t go by titles around here. It’s something Captain Roberts did away with. We only call the captains by their titles, except for the aliens. Everyone else is addressed by their first names. Well, expect for the Quix. No one can pronounce their names.”

David was even more confused now. “Huh?”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Ok. It’s nice to meet you, sir…I mean Bret.”

Bret smiled. “A lot of what the Academy taught doesn’t work on PHOENIX.”

“I’ll do my best to get through the learning curve,” promised David.

“Good.” Bret led him over to the communications station, which was manned by an alien David recognized as an Onixin. “This is my counterpart, Rudov.”

“David Block, it is good to meet you,” as the Onixin stood up and vacated the station. He motioned for David to take the seat.

“Already?” asked David.

“From what we’ve heard you’ve proven to be a whiz at communications systems,” said Bret, referring to David covertly sending PHOENIX’s transmission to the media. “I’m sure you can teach us a thing or two.”

“But your setup is different from what I worked with. It has alien technology,” David pointed out. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

“Best way to learn is to get your hands dirty,” advised Bret.

“Communications, we need your input,” Julie called out.

“I will take care of it,” offered Rudov, leaving Bret and David together.

“You’ll find a lot of the communications processes have been streamlined and automated,” as Bret pointed out some of the controls. “Vish analyzes most of the data relevant to us, so it’s pretty much a matter of interpreting what he’s presenting you.”

“Vish? Oh, the ship’s computer.” David was aware of the AI intelligence that governed PHOENIX’s computer systems. “Is it sentient?”

“Semi-sentient,” replied Bret. “There are programming safeguards preventing Vish from becoming fully autonomous. He’ll always obey the crew and wouldn’t do anything to endanger us.”

“You two having fun yet?” They looked up to see John. The meeting at the operations table had ended.

“I’m just getting David situated,” explained Bret.

“Can you give us a moment?” asked John. Bret nodded and left them alone. “It’s good to see you, David.”

“Same here, captain.”

John shook his head. “No way. You and I are not doing rank. We’ve been friends for too long. You call me what you’ve always called me.”

“But Bret says everyone calls you and Julie captains,” David pointed out.

“They do because they choose to do so. I won’t have one of my oldest friends address me by title. It’d be too weird. Agreed?”

“Sure, absolutely.” David was amazed that John’s accomplishments and high regard with the public didn’t inflate his ego. If nothing else, he seemed tame now.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to meet you when you came on board,” apologized John. “I wanted to give you a personal tour of the ship but there’s a lot going on right now.”

“You mean the planet we’re going to?” David knew they were going to a star system PHOENIX had visited in the past. He just didn’t know the details of their mission.

“There’s that, and there’s a matter I need to attend to in security.”

“You think maybe I could join the team that’s going to the planet?” asked David. “I always wanted to set foot on an alien world.”

“Absolutely not!” John’s words came out sounding harsh and caught David off-guard. He had obviously hit a nerve.

John realized his emotional outburst. “I’m sorry. It’s too dangerous, especially for someone with no exploration experience. The only crew members going to the planet will be heavily armed security officers.”

“Are we going into a warzone? asked David.

“Bret will give you the specifics of the mission.” John didn’t want to go through the details of their encounter with the Io. Doing that would force him to relive what he saw on the planet.

John patted his friend on the shoulder. “I’ll see you later. Maybe we can hang out at The Lounge tonight.”

“I’d like that.” John smiled and left his friend at the station as the captain headed out of the command deck. As he left, Bret rejoined David at the station.

“Bret, the planet we’re going to, you’ve been there before. What’s the deal with it?”

“Unfortunately, we encountered a hostile race there, and a lost a crew member,” revealed Bret. “The captain was on the planet and saw the aliens first-hand. If he felt he had a choice, he wouldn’t be taking the ship back there.”

David had a hard time imagining John being scared of anything. “It was that bad?”

“Pretty bad,” replied Bret. “The captain’s said numerous times how lucky we were none of us saw what he found down there.”

David was now really curious. He never saw John bothered by anything. This Io race must have been quite provocative to have such an adverse effect on the captain.

*********

In medical, Doctor Myers was handling a small crisis in his office.

“You have to wake him up,” pleaded Betty Christen. “Jeffrey can get a new body from them.”

Myers had already sent a message to one of the ship’s psychiatrist through his DAT to come get Betty out of medical. Since Neeman Harthy resigned his position and returned to Earth, the care of Betty had not been reassigned to another doctor.

“Betty, you know we can’t reactivate the module,” explained Myers. “And it’s too dangerous to try and negotiate with the Io.”

“They gave him a beautiful gift. They’ll give him a new body,” insisted Betty.

“You don’t know that,” countered Myers.

“He needs to bond with his son.”

Myers saw Professor Mavis and motioned her in. “Professor, please escort Betty back to her quarters.”

“No!” protested Betty. “I need to see Jeffrey.”

“Let’s talk about this back home,” suggested Mavis. “Maybe we can arrange something. I’m sure your son needs you.”

Myers breathed a sigh of relief when Mavis got Betty out of medical. Why the hell was she still on the ship? She should have been removed and relocated to a hospital that could properly treat her. But with everyone busy trying to staff the ship with additional crew and supplies, Betty fell through the cracks.

Myers made an notation in a file on his desk terminal that as soon as PHOENIX returned to the solar system, Betty was to be transferred off the ship. She needed proper medical care, care that the ship’s personnel couldn’t provide.

********

John arrived at the security office and found Chief Davers and Mu in the observation room. Through the glass, the captain saw the only other Rifva on the ship, Zuk. He was flanked by two guards.

“Have you interviewed him yet?” John asked Davers.

“No, and he doesn’t know why he’s been brought here,” replied the security chief. “I explained the situation to Mu.”

“Captain, such violence does happen on my world, but it is very rare,” explained Mu. “I cannot begin to express the regret I feel that one of my fellow Rifva has taken the life of a human.”

“It’s not your fault,” as John tried to reassure Mu.

“I am not sure what my presence here will do to assist you,” said Mu.

“I need you as a witness,” explained John. “If Zuk does confess, we’re going to need to contact your homeworld.”

“Zuk acted against one of your own. The Rifva Centronimo will simply delegate the punishment to your discretion.”

John wanted to explain the unique position he was in regarding diplomacy and interstellar relations but it was too confusing to get into at the moment. “I need to ensure we proceed carefully. All you need to do is recount what you witnessed here today.”

“I will oblige your request,” promised Mu. John looked to Davers and nodded to him to begin the interview.

Zuk didn’t react when Davers entered the interview room. The Rifva had all three of his hands resting calmly on the table. He never once questioned why he was taken into custody, never voiced any concerns about being in security. He was here for unknown reasons, yet it didn’t seem to bother him.

Davers punched up a biographical image of Geoff Sauners. “Do you know this person?” Zuk looked at the image, but didn’t respond.

The chief then punched up the images of Geoff’s body in Smitty’s kitchen. “He was found murdered. His body was found in Smitty’s but he was killed somewhere else.” Zuk again showed no reaction, so Davers continued. “His body was ripped by claw marks. They contained Rifva DNA.”

Zuk finally showed a reaction. His three eyes looked up at the chief. “Two Rifva live on this vessel.”

“We’ve already eliminated Mu as a suspect.” Davers brought up data of the DNA analysis. “We took DNA samples of all the aliens rescued from the Onixin freighter. The DNA matches your genetic code.”

Zuk smiled. Davers didn’t expect that sort of reaction. John was also disturbed by the Rifva’s reaction. A chill ran up the captain’s spine. This Rifva was nothing like Mu, who was popular and well-regarded by the crew.

“Is this normal behavior for your people?” Roberts asked Mu.

“No, it is not. I have never witnessed a Rifva act unaffected by the loss of any life.”

Davers waited for Zuk to reply but the Rifva said nothing. “We’re going to have to detain you in the brig until we determine what to do with you. This is your only opportunity to tell your side of the story.”

Zuk said nothing. His attention was focused on the dead images of Geoff. Davers gave up trying to get anything out of the Rifva and switched off the images.

“Take him away,” Davers ordered the guards.

Zuk finally spoke up. “He was sad.” Davers halted his exit and turned around. Zuk looked at the chief. “I watched him. Every day I watched him as he cried eating his morning sustenance. He mourned the loss of his mate.”

John read Geoff’s biographical file and remembered reading the tech was engaged to an engineer, David Cornell. David was killed during the Screen’s attack on PHOENIX at the Ni star system. John closed his eyes, understanding all too well how Geoff must have felt losing a loved one. John remembered the pain he went through losing Alex’sis and how he felt he couldn’t go on without her.

“You humans make a strong connection with your mates,” Mu said to John. “Although I could not understand, it bothered me to see someone so sad. I tried to comfort Geoff when he visited the café. Mario tried as well but we could not help him.”

“It’s devastating to lose someone you care about,” said John.

“Did you go through the same thing as Geoff when you lost your Lieutenant Brandus?” asked Mu.

“Yeah. Maybe if I would have known about Geoff…,” but John stopped himself from finishing that sentence. Even if he was in an emotional position to offer support, there were so many people on board who lost crew members they loved. Geoff was only one among many. How could John have known one crew member needed more help over another?

Davers sat back down at the table in the interview room and faced Zuk. “Why’d you kill him?”

“He could not function without his mate,” replied Zuk. “On our world, Rifva mate with whoever is available. We do not commit ourselves to a single individual. This Geoff was wasting his life mourning the loss of a single individual. It sickened me.” Zuk began to talk as if Davers was no longer there. His eyes began drifting off. “I began to despise his existence. He was nothing but a waste, contributing nothing to his own well-being. I slowly came up with a way to end his life.

“I followed him for weeks, learning his schedule, looking for the perfect opportunity to strike. I finally found him alone in a maintenance corridor. I never hesitated. The first cut was across his throat. I learned about human anatomy and knew it would cut off his ability to breathe. He looked pitiful as he struggled. This human, who did not want to live, suddenly fought to stay alive. It angered me. I started slicing him. I wanted him to have a reason to fight back. Human flesh was so easy to tear through. He fought for a long time. Soon he fell silent and stopped moving.”

Zuk had this sickening grin on his face. “The power to take away a life felt good. I realized what I had been missing. Do you know what it is like to take a life like that?”

John didn’t need to have an understanding of Rifva culture to recognize he was looking at a psychotic killer. What scared him was the thought he acted the same way when he tortured the Screen during his breakdown. As sickening as it was to think, John understood when Zuk said how exhilarating it was to take a life. John felt that when he killed that Screen. How different was he from Zuk?

No, he was different. This Rifva showed no regret taking a life. John lived every day with regret for what he did to that Screen. If he could undo what he had done, he would. But Zuk showed no remorse for his crime.

Davers had heard enough. “You’ll be confined to the brig.” He motioned to the guards, who escorted the Rifva out of the interview room.

“Captain, if people learn what Zuk has done, they may blame me,” said a worried Mu.

John reassured his alien friend. “No one’s going to hold you responsible for what Zuk did just because you’re the same race. It’ll be ok.”

Davers emerged from the interview room. “Good thing we got him before he killed again.”

“We’ll have to keep him locked up until we hear from the Rifva homeworld,” said John. He looked at Mu. “The sooner you contact your people, the better.”

“I can give you the coordinates of homeworld,” offered Mu.

“You can use the terminal in my office,” instructed Davers.

“Thanks, chief,” said John. “You two go on ahead. I’ll meet with Julie and let her know the latest.”

********

After what he witnessed in security, John was looking forward to some downtime. He cleared the rest of his day’s schedule and relaxed at home for a bit before going to The Lounge. It was packed full of people. With the influx of new crew members, both The Lounge and Smitty’s were jammed pack with new officers and civilians wanting to experience city life on PHOENIX.

John found David sitting with Julie at a table at the far end of the bar. Both Chris and Max were too busy at the bar serving customers to offer John nothing more than a quick hello as he walked by them.

John told his executive officer and David what happened in security as he sipped some wine.

David was amazed by the tale. He never imagined hearing about an alien committing murder. “So what are you going to do with him?”

“We’ll have to wait for the Rifva’s response to Mu’s message’,” explained John. “We can’t do much until then.”

“You want to let them decide what should be done with Zuk?” asked Julie.

“He killed a human but it might not be our place to pass judgment on his crime,” explained John. “There’s diplomatic issues to consider.”

“He killed one of our people,” reiterated Julie.

“We need to get the Rifva government’s input on this,” insisted John. “Despite my personal feelings, I can’t risk an interstellar incident. We just defeated one enemy. We don’t need to make enemies with another race.”

“I understand. I just never expected something like this could happen,” commented Julie. “Thanks for giving me the update. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some people to talk to.” She used that excuse so John and David could have some time alone.

David looked around the bar as Julie left. “It’s amazing what you’ve accomplished here.”

“It’s the people at the EXODUS Project who built all this,” replied John. “I just command the ship.”

“Yeah, but it’s because of you PHOENIX survived,” said David. “You’ve managed to create an environment where humans and aliens live and work together successfully.”

John blushed with embarrassment. He wasn’t comfortable with such adulations being put on him. “I’m glad you’re here to experience all of this. I wish Billy could have joined us.”

“He couldn’t pass up the position offered to him.” Billy was promoted right up to commander and given command of the Mars communications station for his efforts in providing PHOENIX’s transmissions to the media. As much as he wanted a chance to serve on PHOENIX with his friends, this opportunity was too good to pass up. He figured he’d have plenty of time to explore space by getting promoted to command a capital ship.

David was not so fortunate. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant but wasn’t promised a position anywhere in fleet. He was merely told he could apply for open positions. David knew why he wasn’t enjoying the same windfall as Billy. It was because of his father. Admiral Block was a staunch supporter of Admiral Donalds and fiercely resisted the changes instituted by Admiral Vespia. David’s father lost his commission and was expelled along with many of the admirals in the fleet. David was a casualty of his father’s actions. The young man was being associated with his father’s allegiance to the old guard. No one was willing to have David work for them He suspected he would never advance far in TERRA because of his dad. He was grateful that his friend John offered him a place on the ship.

“I’ll have to keep in regular contact with him,” said John, referring to Billy.

“I had a chance to talk to Julie for a bit,” said David. “She told me about you and Alex’sis Brandus. I’m sorry what happened to her. I am glad you found someone to care about.”

“She was amazing,” admitted John. “I wish I never would have kept our relationship a secret. Of all the military rules to follow, I had to follow that one.”

“You kind of didn’t,” David pointed out. “You fraternized with a fellow officer, you just kept quiet about it.”

John smiled. “That’s exactly what Alex’sis said. She argued with me about telling the crew.” John looked over and saw Julie sitting with an engineer. They both had smiles as they held hands, enjoying each other’s company. John was happy that Julie had found someone to care about. He hoped she never would experience what he went through when he lost Alex’sis.

********

Up in medical, the evening staff was busy getting settled in for their shifts. None of them paid any attention to a black rectangular bot as it came in and did some light cleaning. After working around the main surgical bay, the bot went to the primary science lab. With no one around, the bot went over to a table and attached a small listening device underneath it. It did exactly what Betty Christen programmed it to do. She now had the ability to listen in on any conversations in the lab, a lab where the Io module was kept locked up.