“Alice Winters of Earth, I did not expect to see you again so soon,” Qul’Roth said politely as he admitted the human to his quarters. By the second warp he was sure he’d be done meeting with the various humans aboard, but she had caught him off guard when she requested entry. Though as a staunch observer of the Order he was always ready to entertain guests and representatives of humanity. Anything else would reflect poorly on his species, regardless of his personal feelings on the matter.
“Don’t sound so excited, Qul’Roth of Ghaela,” Alice replied with a wry smile. “Here, this is for you.” The Ghaelen looked on with mild curiosity as she presented him with a bundle of leaves.
“May I ask what this is, Alice Winters of Earth? And was that sarcasm?” He asked, extending his arm to take the greens from her.
“For the sake of brevity, Alice will do just fine, Qul’Roth. I believe the Order would prefer we speak plainly with one another. And yes, I was being sarcastic. You didn’t exactly sound happy to see me. It’s not exactly an olive branch, but I hope you’ll like it,” she explained, taking her previous seat.
“Forgive me. I was simply not expecting to see you again after our last conversation,” the alien replied, extending customary politeness in response to gift giving.
“You’re a terrible liar, Qul’Roth,” Alice laughed, looking him straight in his eyes. She had gotten used to the all-black orbs rather quickly. A couple of the pacified races also sported monochromatic eyes. “I’m sure you just can’t wait for the opportunity to show me the enlightening truth of the eighty eight canticles and convert another lost soul to the righteous path of the Order, right?” Her bubbly tone did nothing to soften the hard edge in her eyes. The alien had laced his long, thin fingers together in front of him.
“I believe you may have me at a disadvantage, Alice Winters. Did you travel all the way here from sector B-2 just to inform me of this?”
“Checking up on where I live now, Qul’Roth?”
“The passenger logs are publicly available, Alice,” he countered evenly. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before gesturing to the leaves he’d rested on his desk.
“Perhaps I’m the one who has our last meeting more on my mind,” Alice admitted before extending the large alien an apology. “I am sorry for my behavior then. I know you are not personally responsible for anything that happened on the pacified worlds and it was wrong of me to take that anger out on you. I’m here because my passion is aliens, Qul’Roth. You are an alien. The only one on this ship and, until we find a trace of the Lancer, the only one I will have time to interact with. I’m curious about you.”
“Indeed. The Admiral does not seem to be making any unnecessary stops,” Qul’Roth agreed with a tiny nod of his head before he fixed her with a steady look. “Though I feel the need to clarify that I am not here for your amusement, Alice Winters. I am here as a representative of my people and the Order, as well as an observer to ensure our work with your engineers proves fruitful.”
“Of course,” Alice nodded politely. “And for the record it’s not like I’m here because I want to write a paper on you, Qul’Roth. Plenty in Alpha Division have trod that ground already and I’d prefer my doctoral thesis actually be cited in the future. I’ve even heard wind of a few human missionaries preaching about the wisdom of the Order of late…but then humans have always been susceptible to Utopian propaganda.”
Qul’Roth’s ears wiggled momentarily in the silence as he debated what to say to the frustrating human before him. “Then why are you here?” He eventually settled on. The human before him developed a rosy flush in her cheeks, something he’d come to understand meant they felt self-conscious about something. He tilted his head at her, his broad antlers accentuating the motion.
“Because I thought you might be lonely,” she responded quietly. He’d not expected that, scratching an antler as he considered his reply. It wasn’t particularly eloquent.
“I…excuse me? You are the only human I have ever met who has insulted and demeaned the Order to my face, and yet you claim you wish to keep me company?” He asked in confusion.
“Qul’Roth, do you believe that you exist outside the Order?” Alice asked. “Do you believe you’re anything more than a tool for your society and people? And I’m not saying this to insult you or anything like that. There’s been so much written in the last two decades from a human perspective, but very little from your own species’ point of view. Maybe it’s just because your entire planet follows the same set of customs and morals that you don’t feel the need to write them down anymore for a new audience?”
Qul’Roth brought two fingers to his chin and played with the long tuft of fur that grew there, considering her words. “I suppose there is no reason to deny your curiosity, Alice Winters. I hope that in time our discussions will show you the wisdom of our way. And perhaps you are correct. Beyond instructing the youth there is little need for complex examination of the Order these days…at least until we met your species, that is.”
“So will you answer my question?” Alice pressed, leaning forward in her chair as their conversation slowly became more relaxed. “The individual standing before me, Qul’Roth of Ghaela, is he…what exactly is he?”
The Ghaelen took a sip of water from a thermos on his desk. Most aboard the Event Horizon chose to use the standard issue containers with screw tops to prevent spillage. He had done so too as a sign of good faith. “I am not sure that I follow, Alice.”
“Shall I go first then?” She proposed kindly. The Ghaelen sighed, a low, horn-like sound thanks to the length of his body and skull.
“As you said I have little else to do at the moment, trapped in warp as we are. I suppose I can humor you.”
“Aww, does jump space make you cranky?” Alice chuckled.
“It is rather uncomfortable,” he admitted, shifting on his haunches.
“My brother says that feeling never goes away no matter how many times you jump,” she responded, glancing over at the cabin’s display port with a distant look in her eyes. Qul’Roth hadn’t changed it away from solid black yet. “My name is Alice Winters, daughter of Marshall and Sandra Winters. I have two brothers and a sister, all of whom I love very much. As you well know my academic passion is aliens, their biology and cultures equally. In my spare time I enjoy reading and music, though I’m not an author or musician. Right now I guess you could say I have two primary goals in life, completing my doctorate and finding my brother. I have little control over either of those for the moment, and that frustrates me terribly,” she admitted, shifting in her seat and crossing her legs in a new, more comfortable pattern. “There you go, your turn!”
“I still do not believe I understand the point of this exercise,” Qul’Roth replied. Alice sighed with frustration.
“Just introduce yourself, you know? Tell me a couple things about you that are important to your identity,” she prompted. He considered her question silently for a time.
“I am Qul’Roth of Ghaela, envoy and ambassador to humanity,” he said importantly, straightening his back so as to assume a slightly taller posture. Even without his horns he was still taller than her full height. Alice stared at him for a long moment, a sad frown developing on her face.
“That’s it?” She asked softly. To her surprise he spoke to her with immense pride in his voice.
“It is a role I am honored to play, Alice. I was trained from a young age to interact with you and your species. You were discovered shortly after my birth. In your lexicon I believe it would be…let’s see…about ten years. I was still an antler-less child, a vessel for many possibilities but no direction. It was decided that I possessed the aptitude for letters, language, and diplomacy necessary for inter-species relationships. I was moved to a specialized educational facility shortly thereafter as part of the first crop of potential future diplomats. I completed that training, something not every Ghaelen selected can say. It is an honor to serve aboard this vessel as an extension of my people.”
“Your parents must be very proud of you,” she tried, wondering if the rumors were true. He cocked his head at her, a passably human display of questioning.
“You know less of our culture than I had anticipated, Alice Winters. I have no parents. None of us do. Familial ties would only impede our ability to serve the Order. I would not betray my sisters and brothers with such selfishness. Have I satisfied your question?”
“I suppose so,” Alice allowed, her head spinning at the idea of growing up utterly alone.
“Then perhaps you can finally clarify something for me, Alice.”
“What’s that, Qul’Roth?”
“What are these?” He demanded politely, holding up the leaves and sniffing tentatively at them. Alice couldn’t help but chuckle at his curiosity. Leave it to an herbivore, I suppose.
“It’s called arugula, an edible plant that we commonly use as a base for salads. Go ahead; you can try some if you like!” She encouraged, watching as Qul’Roth smelled the bundle once more, pursed his lips in consideration, and tentatively took one of the leaves into his mouth. As he chewed he looked up at the ceiling of his modest cabin, rolling the flavor over his tongue before nodding in approval and emitting a low, rumbling noise that Alice figured was a sign of contentment.
“Such a gift was unnecessary, Alice Winters. But this is a fine flavor and I thank you, as is your custom. I must say I am surprised that your admiral authorized a removal of food from the hydroponic bays in such a fashion.”
Alice winked at him before contemplating her nail beds. “He was amenable once I told him my reasons. Besides, it’s not like these were part of the crop intended for the ship’s crew. Poor things got left behind.”
“I’m not sure I follow,” Qul’Roth said before munching on another leaf.
“You were quite upset when Admiral Kaczynski dropped that bomb about the Lancer, right?” Alice asked. Qul’Roth gave her a disgruntled snort.
“That is one of your military colloquialisms?”
“Yes, yes, I apologize,” Alice said as she attempted to stifle a laugh. “I just meant it was an unpleasant surprise to hear about that news so suddenly, correct?”
“Yes, Alice. We had a lengthy discussion regarding my people’s expectations regarding the sharing of information following that announcement,” Qul’Roth clarified. Alice could only imagine him trying to impress anything upon Kaczynski.
“I’m sure. Well as you might imagine there were plenty of humans who felt the same way, especially those with families. The hydroponics labs are fully automated so it’s not like we need horticulturalists on board. If anything, we need Anita more than anyone else. She’s the engineer in charge of the upkeep of the irrigation and lighting systems, by the way.”
“Miss Prakash, of course.”
“So you do care,” Alice teased.
“She is in charge of ensuring adequate nutrition aboard this vessel given, as you said, that the other individuals involved with that department chose not to remain aboard. It seems a wise thing to ‘care’ about, as you say. Especially since she finds herself alone in that endeavor, admittedly assisted by more than a handful of VI’s,” Qul’Roth rationalized.
“Not worth risking your children’s lives over some plants,” Alice remarked wisely.
“Another inefficiency that the Order would have avoided,” the alien interjected. Alice shot him a firm look.
“You couldn’t resist, could you?” She demanded, resting her elbows on her knees.
“It is simply the truth as I see it. I meant no offense, Alice.”
“I believe you, Qul’Roth. But I believe I should depart for today. I planned to explore some of the other labs, perhaps find an adviser for my doctoral studies…whenever such a thing becomes feasible.”
“I understand, Alice. I thank you for your visit,” Qul’Roth said with impeccable form, bowing his head and placing a hand over his heart.
“And I thank you for your time, Qul’Roth,” Alice replied with equal decorum. “Oh, out of curiosity, what do you think of the normal lettuce that’s grown for the rest of the ship?”
“It is sadly lacking in flavor compared to this ‘arugula’ that you’ve brought me just now. Did I say something amiss?” He wondered, looking as Alice developed a disturbing look on her face that he generally understood was somewhere between a challenge and a victorious expression. He didn’t enjoy the appearance of canines.
“One of the scientists who left the ship is an amateur gardener back home. They say she even managed to get certain plants to sprout in lunar soil. She secured permission from the Admiral to plant all manner of interesting trees and vegetables during the Event Horizon’s construction. Knowing him I doubt she had to do too much in the way of convincing. If your precious Order governed our ship, Qul’Roth, no one would have been allowed to plant that arugula.”
“And I would have endured your lettuce without complaint, Alice Winters.” Qul’Roth felt a tick of annoyance as she just smiled at him.
“Enjoy your present soon, Qul’Roth. It will wilt otherwise. Thanks for the chat!” With that Alice vacated the bulkhead and allowed the door to his cabin to slide shut. The perplexed Ghaelen didn’t even bother activating his personal log, stroking his chin in thought as he nibbled on another verdant leaf.
“To find such complex flavor away from Ghaela…”
-----
“Hey Xan, morning! Selah, high priest,” Zolta bade welcome as Thantis and Xan entered the temple of Tyrdus early one spring morning. They had taken to visiting every day of late, taking what little time could be spared to discuss the construction of a water wheel and the screw that would allow river water to be run through a wooden aqueduct back to the village. With the snows gone, all of the rubble from the fires and raid had been cleared, freeing the servants of Tyrdus to labor on a substantial backlog of projects that awaited them at the beginning of planting season. Zolta tried his best to find time each morning, feeling a certain responsibility to Winters given their understanding of the risk entailed in the gift of knowledge he’d supplied them with. “Master, may I go for a moment?” He asked, looking up from a wooden plowshare he’d been working on.
“Of course, my boy! When do we begin work on this wheel?” His master asked eagerly. Thantis chuckled and tapped his cane on the floor.
“Once we understand whatever it will be attached to, my old friend.”
“As you say, Thantis. I’ll be here if you need me.”
“You have my thanks. Shall we, young minds?” The elder requested, shepherding Zolta and Xan to the social quarters of the temple where they sat around the table. “Tea, young Zolta?”
“No thank you, sir. I’ve had some this morning.”
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“C’mon old man, we did too!” Xan insisted. “What we need to figure out is how we’re going to maintain a downward slope on this channel thing. Do you know how this is pronounced, Zolta?” He asked, flipping to the page of Winters’ book that detailed aqueducts.
“Not a clue. Doesn’t seem important how to say it though,” the smith declared. Thantis nodded with sleepy eyes.
“Do not be so dismissive of knowledge, young one. You never know when you might need it. For now though I shall agree, implementation matters more than terminology. Perhaps there is something else within these pages that might assist us?”
Xan and Zolta put their heads together, flipping through page after page as Thantis looked over their shoulder. After a time he left them to find the nearest fire and make some tea, something that once it was in their hands, their tired minds admitted was welcome. They were about to give up when Zolta’s ears and tail perked. “Hey Xan, go back a page or two?” He requested, looking at a set of weights on strings. Thantis hummed thoughtfully from behind.
“What are you pondering, young Zolta?” He asked kindly.
“I was just thinking about how we build houses; how we make sure they’re pretty much flat. As long as your base is level and the notches in your logs are level, the home will be too. Stands to reason that if you wanted something to be slanted the same should apply, right?”
“Well yeah, but I don’t think we can lay a single log all the way from the river to here,” Xan said. Zolta gave him a soft punch in the shoulder.
“No, of course not, but look. If you had a plank that was slanted the way you wanted you could hang two weights from either side, right? That would ensure the proper slope as long as they hang level. Then set this up somewhere between the river and another point,” Zolta explained, drawing a knife from his belt and carving into the wood of the table. “See, one of us would stand here and mark on a stick, right? Do the same thing on the other side. So long as you connect those two points you’ll maintain the slope. When that’s done we just move the pole.”
“What do you think, master?” Xan asked, unable to see a flaw in Zolta’s logic. The death priest hummed and fluttered his tattered crest feathers.
“I believe his logic is sound, Xan, but we can confirm on our own perhaps? We should leave young Zolta to his tasks for the day, no? I believe at a minimum we would need an estimate of the total height from the river to the village. As we all know there is a bit of a downward slope from here to there.”
“Yeah, sounds good to me. See you later buddy,” Xan said, closing up the book and collecting his cane.
“You’re coming over tonight? Asha’s mom is making stew,” Zolta offered.
“I’ll be there! Ursae again?”
“Ursae again.”
“May we continue to be blessed,” Thantis agreed, earning odd looks from his two young companions. “Gentia is not particularly fond of the flavor, either,” he said with a wink. “We will see you tomorrow, Zolta. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.”
“Given that I’ll likely be building this thing, I’m more than happy to help. See you, Xan. Selah, Thantis.”
“And to you, young one. All the best to your mate. May your cub always have Meylith’s protection,” Thantis offered politely before finishing his tea. Xan grabbed the book of diagrams and the two priests of Kel made their way out of the temple, leaving Zolta to rejoin his master. The grizzled Cauthan hailed him as he sat at his workstation.
“Any progress, Zolta?”
“Yeah, you could say that, master.”
-----
After more than a month aboard the Event Horizon, Alice found that even with a crew of two thousand and a complement of civilian researchers and scientists, the ship still felt empty in many places. It was a testament to Cassia and the other shipboard VI’s to be sure, though during the ship’s night cycles it could be eerie in the dimly lit hallways. Alice took full advantage of the positives, however, using the warp pipes to ferry her to low gravity areas of the ship near storage bays or empty hangars, places where no one else had reason to go. It wasn’t that she needed solitude, per se. Overall Alice considered herself an outgoing and social person. She’d held more than one moderately non-hostile conversation with a Ghaelen and she’d acquired her master’s degree by nature of her inquisitiveness and willingness to converse with otherwise intimidating individuals. That said, with no research or work to pursue in the warp space of their third jump, Alice found herself growing bored and irritated yet again. It was harder to ignore thoughts about what could have gone wrong with the Lancer, to imagine the many futures in which she arrived in a system to find an expanding ring of metallic debris and the atomic signatures of vaporized biological material. She’d committed the Event Horizon’s blueprints to heart and the social and recreation areas of the civilian quarters were perpetually crowded. Crowds meant she couldn’t play her music as loudly as she wanted.
“And all the Ghaelen say I’m pretty fly for a white gal,” Alice improvised, giggling as the opening riff of one of Adam’s favorite songs echoed through the empty corridor around her. In the very light gravity in the passageways just outside hangar C-6, she was able to throw her tablet like a Frisbee and leap after it, turning like a corkscrew and shredding on air guitar as the tinny music reverberated in the empty space. The tablet was no pair of tabletop speakers, but it served its purpose as Alice continued her singing. “They say he’s trying too hard and he’s not quite hip, but in his own mind he’s the…he’s the dopest trip!”
“I can assure you I believe no such thing,” an older man cut in from the open hangar door she’d just floated past. His interjection had Alice shrieking with embarrassment and fumbling after her slowly falling tablet as she finally brought herself under control, landed, and switched off the music.
“Oh I just know Natori is going to find out about this,” she whined, turning back to the man. “I’m really sorry, sir. I didn’t think anyone would be around here. Uh…is Kaiser Wilhelm around the corner somewhere?” She asked, unable to hold the joke within. The man before her bore a striking likeness to a trim Otto von Bismarck in a lab coat, moustache and all. His indignant reply came in English with a thick French accent.
“I beg your pardon, mademoiselle?” He replied in confusion, running his thumb and forefinger over the prodigious but well maintained facial hair, a few flecks of gray belying his age. Alice seemed to realize at that moment just how rude she’d been. I blame The Offspring, she swore internally.
“No no, I’m really sorry I just…my dad and brother are huge military history buffs and you looked a lot like Bismarck and you’re French I guess and now you probably hate me but at least you won the wars, right? I’m Alice Winters by the way. I don’t think we’ve met?” She asked sheepishly, extending her hand as she remembered some amount of common decency. He looked her up and down with attentive eyes full of clarity and interest.
“I daresay the Germans almost got their revenge with that union of theirs. Never imagined throwing our lot in with the Brits like that; not that it matters much now though. But I digress. You are a woman of science, n’est-ce pas? I rarely meet ladies whose brains and mouths move as quickly as yours.” Alice gaped at him as the scientist tilted his head back and gave a mirthful laugh. “It is a complement, chérie. I choose to take your Bismarck allusion in a similar vein. He did have quite the moustache, did he not? Wasn’t a dull witted man either, unlike the Kaiser you spoke of, hmm? It is a pleasure, Alice Winters. I am Doctor Gerard Dupuis, cellular biologist and geneticist at your service. Under normal circumstances I might accuse you of stopping by to steal my research but I suspect your motivations were much more benign, yes?” He postulated, meeting her extended hand and giving it a firm shake.
“Laying it on a little thick for a married man, Gerard?” Alice teased, feeling more comfortable by the second given how quickly the conversation had progressed from her impromptu karaoke session. He shrugged unrepentantly.
“I am French, my dear. And I assure you my wife would find you equally pleasing on the eyes.”
“Okay…that comfortable feeling is definitely well and truly gone.” Alice didn’t bother keeping her opinion to herself. Gerard took a step back and bowed in a sign of truce.
“Honesty goes a long way, I think. But let us return to more cerebral matters. Might I ask about your own intellectual persuasions?” He inquired genuinely, leaning against one of the hangar’s doorframes while Alice kicked ever so gently off the floor to float for a few seconds.
“I’m a xenobiologist. My master’s thesis was a cultural examination of the pacified worlds and I’m currently awaiting…well really anything that I could turn into a doctorate. I promise I wasn’t here to steal your work. I don’t even know what it is you’re doing here,” she affirmed as Gerard narrowed his eyes at her.
“This voyage continues to grow in terms of curiosities,” he pondered, continuing as much for himself as her. “Though I suppose it would be prudent to have a xenobiologist along as we are heading after a lost ship, non? Yet you are so young! Not much older than first contact, I should imagine. With such unknowns…what is the admiral thinking, I wonder.”
“I…” Alice began, though she fell silent quickly, looking at the nearby bulkhead. It felt wrong to speak of such things to others besides Natori or Qul’Roth by account of their positions aboard the ship. But the waiting was beginning to get to her, to grate at her confidence and hope. Honesty is the best policy? Her pondering was cut short as a silky, seductive voice interrupted them both.
“Ah, I find you at last, Gerard.” Alice turned her head to find an elegant, mature woman walking towards them with creamy skin and dark brown hair, somehow making even the standard issue Event Horizon civilian jumpsuit look sexual with the swaying of her hips. The doctor smiled.
“Ah, Yvonne! Have you need of me, mon amou-”
“Woah now!” Alice yelped as Yvonne slapped Gerard straight across the face, dropped her smile, and lit into him in rapid, beautiful French.
“Gerard, we agreed never again! She is too young. She has her whole life ahead of her, to say nothing of this!” She gestured towards the hangar, her thin hand sporting well kept, rosy nails. “At least do so in the privacy of our quarters! You know very well that every area of this ship is monitored in some way. It is a military vessel!”
Alice stared wide eyed as Gerard turned to regard her, a pleading look in his eyes as he bent his spine back to avoid the woman’s aggressive body language. “Mademoiselle Winters, might I ask your assistance in clarifying this matter?” He requested, rubbing his reddening cheek. Alice shook her head rapidly and looked between the two of them.
“Something tells me it would have been better if I had been here to steal your work,” Alice agreed. “I’m sorry. You’re…Gerard’s wife? He wasn’t, we weren’t…yeah ok, definitely not. We just met actually. You two are…” She tried, stumbling over herself more and more. Her verbal incompetence seemed to ingratiate her with the mysterious woman who began chuckling softly, a hand over her thin lips.
“It appears my jealously may have gotten the better of me. Je suis desolée, mon chéri,” Yvonne admitted without any shame, placing a chaste kiss on Gerard’s rosy cheek.
“All is forgiven, Yvonne,” Gerard whispered sweetly. “Alice, this is my wife, Yvonne Dupuis. Yvonne, this young lady here is Alice Winters. She is a xenobiologist, as we were just discussing.”
Yvonne took Alice by the shoulders and kissed each of her cheeks quickly. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Alice.”
“I didn’t…I didn’t really think couples like you actually existed,” Alice murmured quietly, causing a riot of laughter from the French duo. “You really…”
“Yes, Alice. Let’s not speak of it further though. What must you think of us? A couple long past our primes who dabble in our culture’s salacious namesake to keep things spicy? Not a good look, I fear,” Yvonne declared.
“Oh come off it, Yvonne. You are a practicing medical professional and I hold multiple doctorates. Oh, and we are also on a mission into unknown space to rescue a human ship while partaking in research on the side!” Gerard said, glancing pointedly at his wife. “Something we were just discussing before you decided that I needed to be taught my place for gazing at a pretty young lady, Yvonne.”
“You’re a doctor?” Alice asked, eager to steer the conversation anywhere but what she thought was an impending discussion of the ménage a trois.
“I had a clinic back in Paris, obstetrics and gynecology. I’m also certified in pediatric care,” Yvonne elaborated, her surprisingly youthful face falling as she looked out into the fighter bay. The maw of jump space stared back at them through the Ghaelen-adapted force fields that formed the exterior wall of each hangar. “I had looked forward to caring for the young ones aboard this vessel but…let us just say there is very little for me to do now,” she lamented.
“So you’re the same as me,” Alice replied, smiling empathetically. “Shall we sit down and talk? Or maybe just float a bit?”
“Bonne idée! It’s not every day one finds themselves in a low gravity environment!” Gerard agreed with gusto, taking his wife by the hand and leading them into the hangar where he pushed off the bulkhead and floated off into the large space. Alice followed with some trepidation, not wanting to move too quickly and fly past them or connect with the force field instead of the wall. Yvonne collected her with a deft touch of the upper arm.
“Now then, Miss Winters. May I ask about your meaning, exactly?” Yvonne requested politely, showing interest in the manner of someone eager for fresh conversation. Her long hair had formed a sort of veil behind her head as she floated easily through space.
“Just that I find myself with little to do as a xenobiologist. Through bored wandering I found myself here around this hangar and bumped into your husband. What are you doing here anyway, Gerard?” Alice deflected the conversation.
“I am here in the name of science!” The man declared grandly, drawing a tittering laugh accompanied by a roll of the eyes from his wife.
“Gerard, please,” she implored, hooking her arm through his.
“Yes, yes, darling. Can a man not engage in a bit of bravado every now and then?” Gerard asked, gesturing to the exterior hangar entrance. “Miss Winters, I am here in this hanger because I wish to examine the effects of warp fields and warp space in general on human tissue.” Alice followed the line of his arm and saw a small tether anchored to the inside of the hangar. Outside she saw it was connected to a small, transparent case of what she could only assume were human cell cultures. The whole contraption floated eerily beside the ship, seemingly at peace.
“Have you ever…sent something past the warp bubble?” Alice asked with morbid curiosity. To her immense surprise Gerard and Yvonne laughed in unison.
“That was the first thing he tried,” Yvonne replied soberly. “Anything that went past the lip of the bubble simply ceased to exist. We have no idea if it ended up between stars or if we removed mass from the universe itself.”
“Magnificent!” Gerard declared.
“Terrifying!” Alice and Yvonne retorted before sharing a knowing glance. The older woman gave Winters a coquettish smile. “At least there is one other sane individual on this ship. Admiral Kaczynski was a bit too intrigued by that result as well.”
“You don’t think he’d…” Alice trailed off, realizing that yes, Natori just might. “Execution by jump space? Wait…what were you all thinking about?” She demanded as the older couple looked at her as though she’d suggested genocide.
“My dear, you have quite the unique imagination,” Gerard replied, aghast. “I believe the Admiral was interested in the quantum mechanical implications…that or waste disposal.”
“I blame my brother,” Alice replied without thinking. Both scientists were far too keen to not notice the way her face fell.
“Gerard, why don’t you tell her about your findings so far?” Yvonne suggested kindly, moving the conversation along.
“My dear, there are no findings yet! I lost the first batch, as you might recall?”
“Our poor babies,” Yvonne lamented playfully as the group finally reached the far wall of the hangar. With another gentle push the three of them started on their way back to the corridors of the Event Horizon.
“Your…babies?” Alice asked with raised brows. Yvonne’s eyes lit as she replied.
“When our children were born we took stem cell and umbilical cell cultures. Gerard has kept them going to this day! They’ve flown the nest by now, off to find their way in the world as all young adults do while we went on this little adventure. It’s nice to have a bit of them with us still though, beyond the pictures and recordings, of course. Didn’t you even license use of the cells to the Sorbonne a while back, dear?”
“I did indeed, and would continue to do so were it not for their ridiculous departmental policies! I check the genetic fidelity once each year and they’re all fine. Just because those amateurs don’t know how to keep a cellular culture stable doesn’t mean I should be penalized for it!” The scientist fumed, his passionate diatribe animating his moustache. The sight had Alice laughing politely, happy to be discussing science again.
“Do they have some sort of age limit on stem cell lines?” She asked. “I think my last cellular biology course was back in junior year of undergrad.”
“They do indeed, young lady,” Gerard affirmed. “Twenty years and no more. Those royalties paid for their schooling though, so we got something out of it I suppose. Admiral Kaczynski has been much more accommodating, even reviewed the sequencing data with me last year. A good man, to go through that extra work necessary to get us on this ship. Despite specializing in starship engineering, he’s a devoted generalist, if not a tad eccentric.”
“Coming from you I’d wager that’s a compliment,” Alice posited to Yvonne’s delight.
“And she has wit, Gerard!”
“Now now dear, need I remind you of the reason for that little assault you perpetrated earlier?” He countered as they all landed in front of the hangar door, Gerard assisting Yvonne with a gentle hand around her waist.
“I did not mean that, Gerard! Men…always with sex on the brain. I apologize, my dear.”
“Yeah sorry…don’t think the intellectual capacity is going to make up for the age difference here,” Alice quipped with an uncertain look on her face. “I’m flattered…I guess?”
“See what you have done, husband of mine?” Yvonne said sharply.
“You were intentionally ambiguous, wife of mine.”
“And you took it precisely where I feared you would, Gerard. Oh la la. Alice, dear, I am so sorry. I would like to invite you to stop by our cabin this evening or any other for a drink and conversation. Since it likely needs to be said at this point, all clothing will remain on; I can assure you…though I do detest these lamentable jumpsuits. No sense of fashion in Beta division I’m afraid. In any case, it has truly been a pleasure meeting another inquisitive young mind, and good company has been sparse aboard the ship. Though in fairness to the crew, I attribute that to the nature of the mission. I would most enjoy hearing about your work in xenobiology.”
“Do not try to lay this situation all at my feet, Yvonne. I was simply fishing for sympathy on account of a stinging cheek! I would like to echo my wife’s offer, Alice. It would be most pleasant to hear about your master’s work. Do give it some thought, hmm?”
Alice took a moment to consider the couple’s offer before leaving. She and Gerard were a pair of oddballs to be sure, but then again so was Natori and at least half the other scientists aboard. Despite the occasionally saucy topic of conversation they had been polite and courteous. I suppose it couldn’t hurt, Alice thought, nodding her head. “I think I’ll take you up on that sometime in the future. Even with all that’s available on the ship’s intranet, reading every night is getting a bit stale. Where is your cabin?”
“Splendid! We’d be happy to have you; especially since you seem ill suited to stealing my research,” Gerard exclaimed. “We are in sector E-2. Cassia should be more than capable of directing you to our berth once you arrive. Will you remain here, Yvonne? The cultures have another hour out there.”
“Why do you think I came all this way in the first place, Gerard? Go on, mademoiselle Winters. Thank you for taking the time to chat with an older couple. We do appreciate it and hope to see you soon.”
“Thanks, uh same to you!” Alice replied before waving a casual farewell and heading back into the well-lit, silvery hallways. She quickly turned her music back on as soft sounds of a quite unprofessional variety reached her ears from the hangar. Alice blushed furiously, but didn’t deny the small bit of envy she had for the two of them. Even at their age they were clearly very much in love and full of vigor, to say nothing of being the type to kiss one another in an empty fighter hangar where Yvonne seemed to know quite well someone might be watching. The young scientist sighed as she reached the warp pipe station for section C-6, ready to head for the civilian mess hall. “Some gals have all the luck,” she lamented.