-Claire-
The Conference Room for the Third Lance was more like a large lecture hall than a meeting room. Claire was stunned by just how many people there were in the group. There had to be close to a hundred people sitting in the room waiting for their emergency mission briefing to start.
“I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised. This is a complicated organization after all. There are the Medical and Search crews, then the support staff, maintenance and engineering/construction crews. Neither of our primary specialties could function without the other groups. These missions really are massive team efforts. Logistics for these must be absolute Hell on such short notice.”
The low buzz of conversation permeated the room. From what she could tell the majority of the conversation revolved around the specifics of the Recall Order, but here and there she overheard a few people catching up as though they hadn’t seen one another for a while and at least two people had tuned everything out and nodded off while they waited.
She had caught a few glances in her direction as the more attentive of her new co-workers recognized a new person in their midst. But that was the extent of the attention sent her way. They apparently were either accustomed to random new arrivals or accepted that she had a reason for being there.
Once enough people had arrived Commander Hawke stepped up to the podium and cleared his throat loudly, signaling that the meeting was going to start. The background noise quickly died as people turned to give him their full attention.
“Thank you all for making it on such short notice. A few of us are still on the way, but we can get them caught up as they arrive. We are going to be on a long-distance mission. Long story short, we have received an aid request from the Galactic Community.”
He waited a few moments for the murmurs of surprise to die down, then picked up where he left off.
“Yes, you heard right. Those of you who have been with us the longest should remember that the Centauri Hospitallers as a whole, along with several other aid organizations, joined an initiative that placed us on a call list for the Galactic Community as a way of extending the branch of goodwill.
“If you have been paying attention to the news as of late, you will know about the issues going on around Fildecl. As of sometime last week, they downgraded the conflict rating in that system to Yellow, opening it up to non-military, non-security traffic. With the opening of the lanes, the denizens of Fildecl have sent a request for medical aid and supplies. Our best guess is that even though the GalCom has opened the lanes, they are still maintaining a hands-off approach to the conflict there, so the Chirleen have turned to us. Now, there has not yet been any actual fighting on the planet. The conflict has mostly been just interstellar saber rattling between the local security forces and the challenging Qazirxel fleets and some heated dialogue exchange.
“I… have my reservations about this. But, we are used to going into the danger zone to do our job, be it environmental or external dangers. In broad strokes, we have been cleared for the operation and will be taking off in five hours with a load of medical supplies intended to provide aid to some of the more remote towns on the planet surface. To that end, we will be leaving behind our larger heavy moving and excavating equipment to have more room for supplies. We will be keeping our reconnaissance and transport vehicles as we will still be needing to move between different places and may well have need to perform surveys or other such tasks depending on what they need when we get there. But this isn’t intended to be a search and rescue op, so the big toys stay home.
“The supplies we are bringing will be limited, but we will get resupplied by a GalCom ship while we are there. This resupply shipment will also contain the more familiar foods and meds that they requested, and a lot more of it. We don’t yet have an exact date on the arrival of this supply ship, but we believe they will arrive roughly mid mission.
“Our plan calls for a full month on planet, with a reassessment of continued needs after. If it is determined that they still need support, or have some other need that we cannot provide, then another Lance will step in for a time to fill the void.
“It is going to be all hands for this one as we need to be running as smoothly as possible. This is obviously going to have some major political implications depending on how things turn out. To that end we will have Ms. Holden and Mr. Finley from Centauri News Broadcasting Network working with us.”
He paused in his briefing to point out the two people in question, a slight, but attractive brunette woman and her athletic looking, dark skinned, male partner who stood to the side in plain civilian clothes. The crew seemed quite familiar with them as they received a fair share of friendly waves and nods.
“They will be working overtime recording both our own work as well as the Chirleen people themselves and their way of life and doing their best to give us what we need to integrate as smoothly as we can. I am sure you can all recognize this as both a rare opportunity, and a risk. We are now the face of Humanity to a people who know nothing of us. For those of you who speak GalStan, you are going to be front and center in this. We will be relying on you to interact and mediate for the rest of us and teach the language in your spare time. For those of you who don’t speak it… Welcome to crunch time. I guarantee that by the end of this we will all be at least familiar enough with the language to hold a conversation for basic needs.
“Also, some of the more attentive of you will have noticed that we have a newbie with what has to be the absolute worst possible timing in the history of this outfit, Ms. Claire Fontaine.”
Dry chuckles rippled through the hall as Claire suddenly found herself briefly at the center of their attention.
“Ms. Fontaine will be working as a nurse. She also knows GalStan and has some experience and training in xenobiology and veterinary practices, so she will be working the frontlines on this one. You will also be seeing a lot of her in the coming days as we start training up.”
He gave her an apologetic smile, “Sorry to put you on the spot, but we are going to be needing you and your skills.”
She gave him a smile and a shrug as the majority of the room turned to her as he singled her out, “I’m not much of a teacher, but I will do what I can.”
“Hey, everything helps… and you won’t be alone, this is going to be a group effort. I will meet with you after we take off to get you up to speed and in touch with the right people.
“Right, now that that is all out of the way… The Chirleen and Qazirxel. They have a building rivalry due to their shared preferences in living space. Both species prefer mostly aquatic planets where they can build on and next to the water. The Chirleen are an avian species… Well, kind of. They can’t fly, but they have several genetic markers that show they came from some sort of bird ancestor, likely something close to a puffin or a tern given their environmental preferences.
“Chirleen are carbon-based life forms, bipedal, covered in small, soft feathers, almost like a thin layer of down, and have wide beaks that function similar to a terrestrial squid’s. For those of you that don’t know, that means they can articulate the beak and chew with it. They are also omnivorous, like us, so supply issues with food should be an easy thing to translate and fix in an emergency. However, due to their beaks, they can’t articulate sounds the way mammals can. So they have to wear translator boxes to interpret their chirps and squeaks.
“Now the Qazirxel… we have no information on. They are isolationists and will not entertain ambassadors of any type. The only information we have is a suspicion that they are, at least, semi aquatic due to their environmental preferences. But that shouldn’t be too much of an issue as we are there for the Chirleen, and the Qazirxel aren’t even on planet. The Chirleen are the ones who sent the request for supplies and aid, request specifically asks for food and medical. So our focus after contact is to get with their doctors and figure out how we can help. They have been isolated and cut off for some time thanks to the blockade and Red Zone status and are desperate to make up for lost time.
“Remember… There will be NO Direct Care, of ANY kind. Not until we interface with their doctors to get the proper procedures and safe meds in place. We don’t need to accidentally be killing them because we jumped the gun or go running afoul of some sort of religious issue. We CAN NOT afford to mess this one up. We are the first human aid group to go across the border, and all eyes are going to be on us. Both at home and across the Divide. So, if there is ANY question as to if you should be doing something… ASK first. Ask your department heads and make damn sure that it has been approved by both them and the local leaders.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Now I know you have them, and we have limited time before takeoff, so let’s try and make this quick... Questions?”
______________________________________________
“I can only imagine how exhausting that must have been for him. That was nearly an hour of non-stop questions and last-minute logistics planning. There is no way I could have done that with as little information as he had.”
Claire made her way to her ship quarters after the meeting with her duffel. Liftoff was going to be very soon, and she didn’t want to be the little lost lamb when it came time.
Apparently, the more senior staff lived in their work sections. Which made sense in a certain way, it kept them near to their equipment and allowed them to better monitor their departments and prevent tampering.
But she wasn’t going to be living in the medical wing. She was headed to one of the general berths that lined the spine of the ship. Six cramped bunkhouse style halls with sanitation units separating them housed the majority of the crew. Men and women, young and old alike bunked together, and there was going to be little expectation of true privacy beyond the occasional pulled curtain.
At least not until they made landfall again. Then they could set up a tent village with the base camp and separate into more comfortable housing arrangements.
“This is just for transit.” she reminded herself. “Besides, this is what you signed up for. Embrace the suck girly.”
“Hey… Claire, right?”
Claire looked around in confusion, not sure who had called for her as she had thought she was alone in the hall at the moment. She finally spied the source of the voice standing just beyond arm’s reach behind her.
A blonde-haired woman about her age quirked a smile at her and held her hands up as Claire cast about. “Hey! Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. I was trying to track you down before you disappeared from the meeting.” She stuck her hand out to Claire, “I’m Lily. I’m guessing we are going to be seeing a lot of each other, ‘cause I speak GalStan too.”
Claire shook herself back to the present and reached out for the offered hand, “OH! Hi! Yeah, that’s me.”
Lily shook her hand smartly before letting go and reaching back to adjust her own pack. “You heading in to get settled?”
“Yeah. I didn’t want to get caught out or looking for a bunk when the countdown started.”
Lily grinned and waved for her to follow, “Smart! Come on, I’ll show you around.”
With no other options and hoping to make a connection to someone her own age, Claire followed behind, listening as Lily explained what parts of the ship were what, and the different jobs they entailed.
Lily also stated that she worked in the comms department. Which meant she handled the dispatching of people and materials during emergency operations. She helped to keep comms traffic neat and orderly and the information flowing where it needed to go.
She led Claire with a sure and confident gait, not once even so much as pausing to get her bearings. It spoke to her familiarity with the ship and her time with the Lance. She was doing so well keeping Claire distracted with information that they reached their destination before Claire even realized it.
“Alright, here we are!” Lily said with a game show flourish. “This is Dorm Two. Housing is basically first come first served for transits, so it is good that you decided to come out early. We can get the best seats!”
Claire chuckled in spite of herself, “Are there really any that are better than others?”
“Well… No, not really. But this Dorm is closer to the classrooms, medical offices and labs, so I guess the commute is better? Come on, let’s claim bunks before it fills up.”
Claire looked around her and realized that the halls were in fact filling up with people getting themselves squared away. It wasn’t busy just yet, but the early birds were out in force.
She nodded to Lily and followed her into the room. The Dorm was a very tight space, little more than a hallway with beds built into cubbies in the walls. The beds were situated in two layers, a top and a bottom, with ten total cubbies on each of the two walls. In between each of the paired beds was a pair of bay lockers for personal effects. On one of the short walls was a door to the sanitation cubical, and on the other was an active Terminal showing the local news broadcasts.
She started putting her things on a bunk and filling the assigned locker when a headline caught her attention and she stopped to listen to the broadcast. Lily noticed her lack of movement and leaned out from her bunk to figure out what had caught her attention.
“Are relations with the Galactics improving? We have just received word that our very own Centauri Hospitallers are responding to a request for aid from Galactic Space. The Third Lance is preparing for their newest mission, one that will take them to the contested planet of Fildecl. The system was recently downgraded in threat level from Red to Yellow, and a flurry of requests and activity has been taking place. At least one of those requests landed squarely in the Aid organization’s lap, spurring them to respond.
“Additionally, there is news of another Human/Galactic relationship that has been stirring the waters and sent talking heads across the Sector into hot debates.
“According to Galactic sources and news from Nueva Rios, a Human has been selected to join the Ruulothi Bloodclaws after saving the cargo ship they worked on from a pirate attack. We don't yet have a confirmed name for this individual as local Riosian records are kept private and for some reason the GalNews has yet to cover it, but we do have some security footage that we will put on screen now of a Human and Ruulothi in the Nueva Rios Shuttle Port wearing similar Rank accessories.
“We have been unable to track down any more information on either the attack that brought the Human to the Ruulothi’s attention or the whereabouts of the two in the video at this time, but there is a rumor they may have made their way to the Ruulothi home system after their visit on Nueva Rios.
“It is not yet clear what these developments might mean for Human/Ruulothi relations or our relationship with the Galactic Community as a whole, and thus far no one on either side has made any sort of official statement on either development."
The terminal screen showed a canned video of the various Centauri Hospitaller Lances working on some of their missions when they spoke on the unit. Claire recognized them as the same videos that had been playing in the lobby when she first arrived.
Of more interest to her was what came after. A looping video of a young human male and a large Ruulothi walking down a hallway that played after. The man appeared to be explaining something to the Ruulothi, as he was waving his hands as he walked and talked. He was wearing what looked to be a Ruulothi warrior's waist sash, something that Claire knew the Ruulothi walking next to him would not have allowed if he hadn’t earned it.
Lily tilted her head as she watched the broadcast "Huh, he's kinda cute. That's cool, if it’s true anyway. But who knows these days."
Claire smiled at her, “True, but this looks to have more merit than other rumors. The Ruulothi are very strict about their Honorifics. He wouldn’t have been able to wear that sash without their approval.”
Lily gave her a mischievous smile, “Ooohh? The sash is what you got out of that? Where were you looking hon?”
“A wha-… HEY! You’re the one that called him cute. Pot meet Kettle.”
Their laughter was interrupted by a third voice, “The sash is a good catch, but you can read between the lines a bit too to know just how serious it was, and how strange it is that no one seems to know what happened.”
Claire turned toward the voice while Lily rolled her head back and looked upside down from her bottom bunk, “Oh! Hey Josiah! Whatcha talking about?”
A fit red-headed man in his mid-thirties snorted shook his head in amusement at Lily and pointed toward the Broadcast Terminal. “The Ruulothi. They don’t consider your run of the mill fight to be worth much of anything. If they really were impressed enough to go against the grain and tap him for the Bloodclaws, then it must have been one hell of a fight. You would think that that sort of thing would make the news. So, why hasn’t it?”
“Hmmmm, I dunno. Does it matter though? Come on… don’t be one of those conspiracy nuts.”
He waved his hand at the girl as she worked her way out of the bunk, “I’m not a conspiracy nut, Lily. I just pay attention. But that is neither here nor there.”
The man looked directly at Claire and waved to her. “Hi, Josiah Graves. I handle the Armory and Ordnance.”
Claire looked down in confusion before looking back at him and cocking her head, “Sorry, Armory and Ordnance?”
Josiah chuckled at her reaction, “Yes, sometimes the Search and Rescue Operations require us to be armed due to hostile local fauna, and sometimes we need to use controlled explosions to excavate or cause predetermined landslides and avalanches and clear large debris. It isn’t much, but it’s enough to wake people up from time to time.”
“I’ve never really thought about it from that angle, but I suppose that makes sense. Is that… Is that something we are allowed to do? Bring that stuff across the border?”
“It is classified as Security and Excavation equipment, so it should sail straight through any questions… not that we’re putting neon signs up either. Wouldn’t want them to get their fur… scales?… frills? in a bunch over essentially nothing. I also operate and handle the maintenance on our SAR Drones. You should stop by sometime when we’re running them, it’s a lot of fun.”
“You let me know when they are going up and I will do that.” Claire smiled at the offer. She had seen similar drones in use on her homeworld, but never had the chance to play with them. This was looking better by the day.
The three of them continued chatting for a bit until the room got crowded and they slipped into their bunks to make room for the new arrivals. Not long after that the one-hour warning sounded off, marking the looming deadline.
Lily reached up from the lower bunk to knock on the edge of Claire’s, “Hey, the halls should be walkable now. I’ve got one last thing I want to show you before we have to strap in.”
“Oh?” Claire wracked her brain to think of something that she may have missed in their quick tour earlier, “What is that?”
Lily grinned from ear to ear, “I’m going to introduce you to the twins. The boys that have all our hearts in a vice. C’mon!”
“What? Wait… But I… Whoah!” Claire yelped as Lily practically dragged her out of her bunk and led her by hand out into the halls.
“Seriously, is now really the best time for this?”
Lily looked back at her as they walked, “Don’t worry, I promise it’ll be fine, and you’ll enjoy meeting them. Tell you what… If I’m wrong, then I’ll owe you one.”
Claire glared at the back of Lily’s head, “Fine.” She huffed, “But only for a few minutes, I want to be back in the bunk and ready to strap in as soon as they call.”
“Deal! Right in here.” Lily stopped at a door and waved for Claire to go in. She hesitated a moment, then finally took a breath, activated the doors and stepped through.
The scene inside took her mind a few moments to dissect and come to terms with. Even when she did realize her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her it took Lily poking her with an elbow to bring her back to her senses.
“Ohhhh, they are just gorgeous!”