T-Plus 13

“I have gathered you here today,” Oliver began as he looked around their makeshift conference room, “to discuss how to contact Triton and finally get off the Station.”

  During the two days since Joey and Emerson had brought back the two Navigators, they’d cleaned up more of the Engineering Bay. More people meant more needed space, and with more hands, the task became easier. This morning’s efforts had gone into clearing out one of the Bay’s larger rooms to use for their group discussions. Granted, not everyone could be working on the same task, so Daniel had grabbed Joey and Toast to go bring the Chief.

  Oliver surveyed everyone sitting around the table. Sitting at the forefront beside him were the Chief and Daniel. Beside the two of them were Lucky and Johnson. Toast and Soup took up the next two spots, leaving Joey, Emerson, and the two Navigators at the other end of the table. Most of them gathered here looked haggard, but their faces were set in determination with one shared goal.

“I didn’t originally think we’d be able to do it, but with this team, I’m sure we’ll figure it out one way or another,” Oliver continued. “Our goal is to send a message to Triton, saying we have survivors up here, specifically Navigators and high profile scientists, since we’re still under quarantine for an indefinite amount of time. But before we can even think of how to compose our heartfelt message of SOS, we need to get the power going again.”

“We have any idea what’s wrong with the transformer?” the Chief asked.

“No idea, boss,” Daniel answered. “We’d have to go out there and see. Might as well take the chance and see what else needs fixing while we’re out surveying.”

“But even if we fix it, we still need to go down to the breaker and flip the switch back over,” Johnson added. “And that’s on the first floor.”

“Yeah, but with the transformer fixed, the emergency lights will automatically turn back on, and that’s a lot better than no light at all. It’ll make our trip down there go a lot smoother,” Oliver said.

“The message needs to be sent from a working computer system, so we’ll need to find one up here,” Daniel added, waving at the mess they had shoved aside.

  The group glanced over their shoulders at the piled up electronics that sat among the wreckage of desks and other furniture. Finding a working computer might be the hardest challenge out of the three tasks so far.

“Okay, power, switch, computer,” Oliver listed. “We can flip the switch and find a computer at the same time, so let’s worry about that when we get there.”

“We’ll need suits to survey the transformers outside,” the Chief reminded. “Preferably three, but we can probably make do with only two of you going out there.”

“And lines to keep us tethered,” Lucky added. “Chief, where are the closest hatches to the transformers?”

“There’s one hatch on every floor. I’m assuming all four transformers blew, since the whole Station’s powerless,” the Chief said. “If you can get to it, our Bay has a hatch in the back of the hangar. That’s where the emergency power generator is. This floor’s main power source is located on the back side of ARCNAV. The one on the second floor is outside the hydroponics bay. The first floor hatch is directly between Section Three and Four.”

“Sounds like a lot of aliens to me,” Toast chimed in. “What’s the probability of there being aliens outside the Station?”

  No one said a word as everyone turned to stare, or glare, at the scientist. In return, his eyes widened in an attempt to look innocent.

“What? Did no one think of that?”

“It’s a valid point,” Richardson, of all people, said, backing Toast up. “I’m assuming no one’s been outside to confirm, correct?”

"This initial excursion would be the first chance we would have," Oliver said.

"Then whoever's going out there will need to be on their guard."

"Who's going out there?"

  Another bout of silence conquered their discussion. The scientists and Navigators watched as the technicians exchanged guarded looks with each other. The Chief glanced at Oliver who raised his brow at Daniel who shook his head and nodded over at Lucky who smiled at Johnson who finally swiveled his head over toward Joey, who attempted to puff his chest out but realized everyone in the room outranked him and deflated.

"I guess I'm going," he whined. "But! But! But!"

  He puffed up again, slamming his hands on the table, and pointed at the other end of the table.

"I'm an intern! I need a mentor with me to do tasks I haven't done before!"

  Another war of silent gestures erupted. The fiercest glares were between Oliver and Daniel, who were technically his mentors to begin with. The Chief eventually rolled his eyes when they got too tired from flicking glares at his subordinates and opened his mouth.

“Jiang, Hensley, you’re both going with him.”

  Daniel flopped onto the table in defeat and Oliver sighed, muttering curses under his breath. Oliver straightened again, dusting his hands as he continued on with leading the meeting.

“Okay, now we need to find three suits and long enough tethers. We keep some suits up here in the Bay in one of the storage rooms. But if none of them are structurally sound, then the extras are down on the first floor. As for the tethers, one should also be on this floor somewhere. We had brought it out during the initial cleanup after the first shock, and it’s probably lost in the debris. The extras are on the second floor.”

“Should we split the tasks?” Emerson asked, raising her hand from where she sat.

  Oliver nodded, pointing at himself, Richardson, Soup, and Toast. “The four of us are going to check this floor for the missing tether. Daniel, Joey, Lucky, and Johnson, you four will go down to the second floor and grab some extra tethers just in case we don’t find the one up here, and deliver the news to those down there while you’re at it. Chief, if you could stay with Emerson and Zimmerman here and search for those suits and maybe clear out a way to the hatch out in the hangar? And if anyone sees an undamaged computer system, either note it or bring it back with you.”

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  Everyone nodded at their designation before standing. They gathered into their groups and confirmed the equipment in their backpacks: the standard flashlight, blowtorch, extra blowtorch, and now glass container with alien guts. Oliver nodded at his backpack and slung it over his shoulders. As Soup and Toast confirmed their own bags, Oliver laced up his boots over his pants, waiting for the Navigator to finish inspecting his own backpack. They had given him one of the spare ones, and it looked small on him even when he adjusted its straps to their maximum length. He clipped his flashlight onto his shoulder, looking over to where Toast was trying not to laugh.

“What?” Richardson asked, glaring at the shaking scientist.

“N-Nothing.”

“Now, now guys,” Soup said, hiding Toast behind him. “Let’s get going.”

  The Navigator threw another glare at Toast before heading out of the Bay. With him in the lead, Oliver pulled the two scientists along with him and the Navigator walked beside them. According to his memory, they had brought the tether with them so they could patch a hole in the ceiling somewhere along the corridor past the hole that led down to the second floor. If they were lucky, it was still over there somewhere even after two more quakes. If Lady Luck decided to bless and curse them at the same time, it’d be over there but stuck under immense amount of rubble. Only one way to find out.

  The walk through the corridor was silent. Only the sound of their boots tapping against the floor echoed in the dark. Well, other than the faint sounds of whispering that was rippling from whatever Toast was prattling to Soup about. Oliver glanced at the Navigator’s shoulder and then at the two plotting scientists between them.

“How long have you been at this Station?” Oliver decided to ask Richardson over the other two.

  The Navigator paused in his step, stopping to turn and answer Oliver’s question.

“For around a decade now. Of course, I’m not often at the Station, so that might not be the most accurate answer, but Nereid can be considered the base of my operations for the past several years. For me to be here during this mess was pure coincidence.” He paused, staring at Oliver before continuing his words. “What is your relationship with Dr. Emerson?”

“Emerson?”

  Oliver was taken by surprised. Where had this question come from? He flicked his eyes back to where the others had continued on to find they had also stopped and had looked up from their whispering in surprise as well. Richardson didn’t look like he was going to continue on before Oliver answered, so the technician put some thought into it.

“I guess... Emerson’s a friend,” he finally answered.

  It was weird to put into words. An objective answer probably would’ve been something along the lines of “I’m a regular in her clinic because of those two behind us,” but that didn’t fit their relationship quite right either. Granted, Oliver would've loved to say they had a closer relationship than just friends, but he doubted Emerson would've appreciated his sentiments if word got back to her.

“A friend, huh,” Richardson whispered to himself. “I guess the Doctor can make friends.”

  He nodded, moving ahead toward ARCNAV again. Oliver exchanged looks with the others. Was there something he was missing here? The other two could only shrug and shake their heads.

  The three of them caught up with the Navigator, and Toast and Soup instantly swarmed him with the questions that had probably been bubbling in the back of their throats.

“Which galaxies have you gone to?” Soup asked first, starting off with a relatively harmless question.

“Many,” Richardson answered simply. “Several which are classified, so don’t bother asking.”

“What kind of weird species have you seen?” Toast asked next, shoving his face into Richardson’s.

  The scientists had pulled notebooks out of their backpacks, and were already waiting to take any notes they could. The Navigator leaned away from Toast, pushing the other man out of the way.

“If I had to say anything was weird, it’d be your names,” the Navigator answered instead, avoiding the Toast’s question.

  Toast and Soup exchanged glances, their pens pausing on their papers.

“What’s wrong with our names?” Toast asked. “I think Lucas and Viktor are very common names.”

  Richardson pursed his lips, and even Oliver couldn’t help but hold back his snicker.

“Toast, I think he means our nicknames,” Soup translated.

“Ohhh, those? I mean... actually, I don’t even remember how we got these names.”

“Didn’t it have something to do with you constantly getting sent to the clinic your first week here?” Oliver asked.

“No, I believe that was you,” Soup corrected.

“It’s always me.”

“Wait, I thought my name was Toast because I liked toast. Was that not it?”

“No,” was the immediate response from both Oliver and Soup.

“You all are very... weird,” Richardson decided after watching their exchange.

“No, he is,” Oliver said, pointing at Toast.

  He wanted nothing to do with the words weird or strange when there were many more wacky scientists in this Station that fit the bill.

“Have you ever been to ARCNAV?” Richardson asked instead.

  The three of them shook their heads. No one was allowed over to that side of the Station unless they had business over there, and that was also usually after multiple security checks. Despite having helped build the Station, the closest he had ever gotten to ARCNAV’s entrance was delivering a part to someone who would then give it to someone else who then was the person to make it through the gates of ARCNAV and deliver the piece to whichever scientist had ordered it. Even when they did have to make repairs on the transformer that was out by ARCNAV, they would just take the long way around and float over there from the hatch that was in their hangar.

“Have you ever ridden on a ship with a Navigator then?” Richardson continued.

“To get here, yes,” Oliver answered remembering back to that flight from Mars to Neptune.

  The other two also nodded in agreement with Oliver’s words. It’d been at least a decade ago when it happened, and he could barely remember what happened on the trip. However, the one detail he could remember was the Navigator that controlled their warp path. That flight had been the first time he had seen a Navigator’s iconic purple uniform in person.

“Interesting...,” Richardson muttered, lapsing into thought.

  The other three exchanged looks for yet another time. This Navigator the others brought back seemed to find many normal things very interesting despite being the most mysterious one out of all of them.

  As the two scientists continued pestering him, only to receive no or very minimal answers, Oliver swept his light across the corridor. They had arrived again at the hole in the ground, now painted with crossing red and orange spray paint. Some recent footprints and alien splatters at the bottom marked Daniel's group's progress. He guided his group around it, keeping an eye out for a long white, or maybe it was a dusty gray now, tether or rope somewhere among the debris.

“How big is this thing again?” Soup asked.

“About as thick as a normal knotted rope and almost a kilometer long,” Oliver replied, “except white in color with fluorescent paint- Oh, there it is... Well shit, that’s a problem. Everyone back away very quickly.”

  He kept his flashlight pointed straight ahead where it pointed at the tether he’d just been describing. The end of it was still tied to the handle he remembered it being attached to before the outbreak, and it stuck out from between two pieces of rubble. However, sitting on top of the pile of rubble were several aliens, and they weren’t their cute pink jelly selves anymore. These aliens had taken on a grayer color and sat more rigid than their original gelatinous forms.

“They evolved again,” Toast muttered in excitement, practically ready to bounce forward if it wasn’t for Soup holding him back.

“I guess the rest of them realized they could eat rocks,” Oliver muttered.