De Silva felt great relief once Patterson finally cleared him for Command. He was sure he would go insane if he remained on light duty any longer. Reading, personal logs, and cards had long lost their effectiveness at keeping his mind engaged. Finally he could add duty to the mix.
He now waited in his stateroom with Zhu and Holly for making final preparations for their salvage effort. His officers had done well but the crew was better served to see him involved in the final planning. The Nineveh was now fast approaching the point where things could go badly wrong. They didn’t say anything. They knew they would not have to wait long. Replicants were always punctual.
The door chime sounded and he bid Stocky to come in.
Stocky opened the door and entered. He looked at each of them and then sat down as instructed.
“I wanted to have a quick chat with you in private before the general meeting.”
“Sure, Captain.”
“You recorded in the operations survey that you wanted to be on the away team. I want to get your true preference. The other officers are here to witness. I don’t want you to feel pressured to go; everyone is going to get a very important job here.”
“I think I should go,” he said with a nod.
He knew that was the conditioning. And he likely didn’t even have a preference because he hadn’t truly thought about it. “Garvey also says he wants to go. He’s as technically knowledgeable as you are. You’re more focused and resistant to injury. Those are advantages, but they are in the Workshops too. I’ve got a place for each of you regardless. So, I believe the best one for Zhu’s team is the one who really wants to do this.”
“Do you want to explore an alien ship?” Zhu asked.
Stocky turned his gaze toward Zhu. “You’re leading the team?”
“Yes,” Zhu said. “Because I really want to go. This is something that I’ll never be able to do again. I’ll inspect and research the ship and see how an alien civilization approached the engineering challenges associated with spaceflight. And I’ll come to understand them. That makes me the best for the job.
You might also be the best for the job. But only if you’re truly motivated to be there.”
Stocky nodded in understanding and looked back at De Silva. “That’s reasonable. I want to go, Captain. This is something that I’ve never seen before and never will again. And I think my experience working in other structures might help the team.”
That’s what I needed to know. “Let’s meet the others then. You’re on the away team.”
They left his stateroom and headed for the Mess. Everyone else was already waiting for them. The silence in the room showed them to be tense with anticipation. He let the others go in first and then he walked in and stood in front of the aquarium.
“I’ll keep this brief. We’ve decided on a team, and you’ll be happy to know that nobody who expressed unwillingness to board the derelict will need to do so. Half of us will remain on the Nineveh to attend to necessary duties. I’ll lead that group. Zhu will be the officer in charge of the away team. The rest of the away team members are Samoylova, Fuller, Qureshi, Stocky, Soliman, and Doctor Chandna.” He felt quite proud of both himself and his crew for not having to select people who preferred to stay on the Nineveh.
The crew exchanged glances between themselves. “You and Patterson aren’t going, sir?” Ginting asked.
He casually leaned back. The crew on the team seemed more apprehensive than he had thought. “No, I and the others will be here to attend the ship. I’ll be on the Bridge most of the time. Patterson will prepare her labs for small samples. We’ve got the right people where they need to be. Zhu’s engineering knowledge is what the team needs.”
He looked around silently to see if there would be any more questions. Hearing none, he continued. “This is primarily an engineering and operations assignment. Go in, assess the structure and how to make any necessary patch work so that we can rig it for tow and get outbound. I know you all don’t want to stay out here close to the Elios. I don’t either. Let’s get the structural assessment certified quick but correctly.
There is a secondary science portion to this mission. That’s why Fuller and Chandna are with you. Information is valuable to our buyer; we should try to get as much as we can – under Sci-Med’s direction. Patterson will observe your operation and create a research plan for what we find. Sci-Med can perform greater examinations once we’re outbound.”
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The crew slowly nodded in agreement, and he turned to cue Holly.
“The flight conditions for the operation are quite good,” she said. “We are currently in the process of matching the derelict’s velocity. You may notice slight shifting in apparent gravity; it will be kept less than zero point three gees. Most of the debris near the derelict have a similar velocity and can’t impact with enough energy to hurt you. However, this system is quite active with meteoroid activity. You’ll need to use the semi-rigid suits for protection.
I have several possible options for directing the Nineveh back outbound. I won’t know the correct one to pick until I understand how long we will need to rig the derelict for haul. And I will need a refinement on the load estimate as soon as possible. That’s all I got, Captain.”
Patterson gave the Sci-Med brief and told them that the cold conditions on the ship meant that most of the atmospheric gasses had either liquefied or solidified. Cutting or blasting through sealed portions wouldn’t cause a pressure transient if done correctly. But she warned them about making sure the workspace was clear of condensed or frozen gasses because they could be explosive.
De Silva then dismissed the meeting. Zhu would have his team work together over the next several days – including EVA activities. He watched them filter out of the Mess, contrasting them from how they were during the initial briefing. The shock was gone and they now acted casually – like normal. The tension was still there beneath the surface, but he felt that it should be due to the unprecedented nature of their assignment. Most important though, they seemed willing to do this. The uncertainty phase had passed to his relief.
He left the Mess and went through a corridor to reach the gate access to Propulsion One. He quickly heard Patterson’s voice from behind, “Captain, I want to talk to you.” He turned and saw her shut the door behind her for privacy. Then she faced him. “I don’t want Zhu leading the party,” she said.
“What’s your concern?” He looked at her perplexed.
“He’s a sociopath and that’s not what we want,” she said without any hesitation.
He glared at her. That’s not very Christian of you. But it was out of her character to be accusatory. She had some reason for the remark. “Why do you say this? I’ve never seen him act unprofessionally. He supports both our church and the ship, and you should give him some commendation for that. I think he’s a very good ENG. Have you heard complaints from the crew or something?”
“It’s not normally a problem,” Patterson said. “He’s not predispositioned toward violence or criminality. And I think our church has a beneficial and moderating influence on him. And, yes, he’s a very good ENG. But he’s a good engineer because he’s got an inflated sense of self and expects a lot from others with little empathy. He’s manipulative and singularly focused on what he desires.
But we don’t want to do much here. We don’t have the team or equipment to learn all the secrets and knowledge that ship holds. And we can’t predict the risk we face in trying. Our job is to focus on a minimized goal – verify that we can safely transport the craft. We need someone who truly distinguishes between requirements and personal desire.”
“We don’t know that he’s going to try to push them too far.”
“But he’s likely to. He’s the most likely to. And why take the chance? Why don’t you go? You’re as knowledgeable as him.”
“Not this time. The Elios could drop by or a million other things. And there’s no rescue for us. The ship needs its Captain aboard.”
“Holly then.”
“The ship needs its Captain and Navigator aboard. You know that.”
She folded her arms with a pout. “You’re right. But we need a counterweight. Do you think Samoylova can stand up to him?”
“Just follow their video feeds over comms. I’ll do the same from the Bridge. And I’ll explain to Zhu that this is a Science effort as much as it is an Operations one, and that he has to adhere to Sci-Med’s counsel. I believe your concern, but we must work through this.”
She nodded affirmatively after a pause.
“Does the crew complain about him? You never brought this up.”
“The crew occasionally complain about all of us to a point. It’s natural and normally of no concern. But I know that he wants great things, and this is his chance. He believes he’s every bit as capable as you and only doesn’t get the same recognition because of your genetic heritage.
He’s wrong about that. He doesn’t have your experience or influence. But he’s going to think about this as his chance to prove the doubters wrong.”
He remembered his own drive as a young Engineering Officer on an old Aldrin Cycler called the Magellan. That old barge was constant trouble. It was a hodgepodge of different sections made by separate engineering firms (for reasons of cost) which barely integrated together into a working whole. And the many freighters (often with custom modifications) which docked and connected services provided their own challenges.
He had managed then even though he was far more green then than Zhu is now. And though his aptitude was a factor – one which Zhu shares – he felt the greatest reason for his success was that he had a terrific team around him. They were in many ways like the team Zhu and him had put together on the Nineveh. “Well, let’s keep an eye on him and help him along. I do want all concerns addressed. We can’t afford mistakes. But he might just prove your doubts wrong.”
“De Silva, there’s probably nothing to be worried about on the derelict. We still must prepare as if there is.”
I agree with increasing our readiness. But I’m not convinced he’s a liability. He had been performing rescue and salvage ops with Zhu for nearly twenty years. And the two of them had made a good record for the Nineveh when it came to keeping out of trouble.
“Come with me and wait for them to clear out of the Mess. We’ll talk with Qureshi and Samoylova privately later. We can tell them what we expect out of them when they fly the drones. We’ll have a better picture after they perform their sweep.”
She nodded again.
It’s probably nothing. She had to know he was right.
He went up and put his arm around her and led her down the hall. “I was going to work on my green thumb. It will be good to focus our minds elsewhere for a bit. We can talk about this again later, make sure we have alignment, and then we’ll summon the two of them.”
She went with him.