Alder's World Part One: Mass 17 (16 page)

Elana gave him a sour
look, but didn
’
t comment as
he made his way to the lift.

Alder rode down the lift
in silence and was startled, as he always was, by the changes in
the engineering section. While he
didn
’
t think there was much
improvement to be had by
“
balancing
”
the ship,
one of the problems that you encountered when you worked with a
crew who had mostly all passed advanced calculus, was that they
could work out their own opinion about what was statistically
significant. In order to present the most balanced ship possible
during the upcoming descent, stores, some of which
hadn
’
t been moved in fifteen
years, had been sorted, weighed and re-distributed using a
nightmarish schema that may or may not have made any real
difference.

The once wide, orderly corridors into
the bowels of the engineering section were a morass of crates and
packing straps.

The number 7 airlock was an entirely
utilitarian affair. It was far out beyond the decorated, pleasant
sections of the ship, out even beyond the production bays and
printers of engineering. The walls were the standard, flat white
paint of all the airlocks. It featured a standard round antechamber
and completely boxy and unremarkable airlock. Pilton was already in
the antechamber when Alder arrive. He was still dressed in his
dress uniform. Behind him, in the airlock itself, was large,
self-lifting cart with a tarp draped over it.

Alder approached somewhat warily. The
Captain was so nervous even Alder could sense it. Additionally, his
clothes were wrinkled and torn and there was a cut somewhere in his
scalp that was bleeding a thin stream down the side of his face and
staining his collar. One of the knees was torn completely out his
pants. His pasty white leg peeked out from the opening like a
frightened child. It seemed too thin to support his belly. He was
noticeably relieved when he saw Alder approaching.

“Computer.”
He said,
“
Confirm Executive Authority, Pilton, William, no middle
initial.
”

“Confirmed. You have
Executive Authority.
”

“Thank you. Please make
the following changes in exactly ten minutes time. Grant to Alder
Samuel C. the rank and privilege of Flight Commander and assign to
him the duties and privileges currently assigned to me. Please
confirm.
”

Alder started to say
something but the computer overrode him.
“
Unable to confirm. That order will
result in two officers with the rank of Flight
Commander.
”

“Correct. Correct.”
Pilton agreed.
“
I will leave the Duster before the end of ten minutes. Please
confirm.
”

“Confirmed.
”

“Where are you
going?”
Alder asked. He was eying the cart
over Pilton
’
s shoulder. There
was a dark and spreading stain on the tarp and it seemed as if
something were moving slightly under it.

“I
…
uh
…
I have to show you
something.”
Pilton was squinting the eye
on the side of the cut. Alder could see a large bruise in his
scalp.

“It
’
s about personality
styles.”
Pilton said sliding backward into
the airlock.
“
You see. We
were all picked not just for our skills but our personalities as
well
…
for the flight. Hold
right there.”
He said to Alder who was
following him, trying to understand.
“
Now that
we
’
re not flying, the rules
have changed.” He was beside the controls in the
airlock.

“Look.”
Alder said, from just outside the airlock
door.
“
This is going to
require adjustment from all of us.”
A
creepy feeling was growing in his gut as he watched the obviously
injured Pilton. There was someone under the tarp. Whoever it was
groaned softly

“Wait!
”
He yelled, but
realization had come a second too late. The airlock door shut slid
shut.

Pilton spoke into the
microphone, his voice echoing tinnily in the ante-chamber.
“…
There are a couple of us that just
don
’
t belong.
It
’
s science you understand.
Well, psychology.”
He giggled.
“
Almost
science.
”

Alder rushed to the tiny
control booth next to the airlock. Pilton was right on the other
side of the thick glass. The controls on
Alder
’
s side were locked out.
He looked through the six inch glass at Pilton who was staring back
at him.
“
I
don
’
t fit here.
I
’
m all glory and fame. You
know that. You all are going to be hungry and cold.”
His eyes were ice blue and
didn
’
t look as mad as he
sounded.
“
I could never do
cold. I could never lead through a famine.”
He paused while Alder pushed vainly at the buttons and yelled
at the suddenly unresponsive computer. Behind Pilton, the tarp was
moving. Whoever was under there was struggling to sit up.
“
You
’
re orders
won
’
t work for another eight
minutes or so.”
Pilton said through the
glass, then resumed his narrative.
“
There are others on the ship who
could lead in inglorious circumstances like that, Mbaka, Elana, and
you Alder. In eight minutes you will be the new ships
commander.
”

“This is
crazy!
”
Alder bellowed out,
hammering helplessly on the glass.
“
Come out of
there.
”

Pilton shook his head. A
red warning light was spinning over his head.
“
No Alder. It needs to be you.
You
a
re clean and
egoless.”

“Don
’
t say that. Come
out. We need you to help us with Tallen.
”

Pilton giggled and glanced
over his shoulder at the cart. The sick feeling in
Alder
’
s gut rose to a
wave.
“
You
don
’
t understand Alder. I
have already helped you with Tallen.”
He
paused.
“
Fisher too. I told
them I wanted to meet. I told them I wanted to cede control in an
orderly fashion.”
He giggled and
wobbled.
“
We were supposed to
meet right after the ceremony. I took a plasma charger. I got
Tallen from across the table. Fisher
was
…
harder. I
hadn
’
t planned on having to
kill two.”
He touched his head
gingerly.
“
I think he gave me
a concussion, the bastard.”
A warning horn
sounded. Pilton
’
s mood swung
suddenly and he leaned into the glass.
“
Elana will tell you.
I
’
m the hero here, the one
they
’
ll tell stories about. I
just saved the crew years of suffering. Tallen was a monster. This
is me in glory. This is noblest sacrifice.”
It was Fisher who was moving on the cart. He was dazed but
had managed to get his head out from under the tarp and was moving
as if to roll over, and toss himself to the ground. Pilton
continued, ignoring him,
“
No
greater love has any man than he who will lay down his life for his
neighbors.”
He jabbed a button and Alder
slammed his eyes shut. While quick enough to be mostly painless,
the outer door took several seconds to open. Since he had not
dropped the pressure before opening the outer door, Pilton created
a sucking vacuum that ripped the room clean. A fair percentage of
Pilton, Fisher, and the already dead Tallen, stuck to the inner
doors as the rest of their remains and the cart were pulled into
the dusty void of space.

Allayah
Harshaw sat quietly in the chair opposite Elana. If she felt
tension about having been summoned to the
ship
’
s psychologist office,
she didn
’
t show it.
She
’
s entered the room
quietly, looked with some interest at the glass ornaments, and sat
when Elana asked her too.

Studying her face, Elana
could remember how impressed she
’
d been with the young bio-engineering back on League Prime
when she
’
d shown up in the
candidate pool.

Allayah
’
s profile had
appeared, even though she was well below the recommended age due to
the concerted efforts of a number of her professors and co-workers.
She was really too young for the mission but, there was an X factor
to Allayah that couldn
’
t be
denied. She had poise. She accomplished everything she set out to
do and she was, quietly, extremely likeable. Elana had given her
the full psychological profile and recommended her for inclusion; a
remarkable woman on a remarkable life journey. Like everyone else
who interacted with Allayah, Elana felt a certain pride at having
helped her reach her goals. Yes, there was an X factor.

Sitting now face to face,
Elana found herself second guessing the conversation she wanted to
have. She
’
d thought about it
for years, maybe even since launch, but
there
’
d never been enough
need, enough pressure. Elana had things she wanted too and
wasn
’
t keen to share. She
cleared her throat.

“Sam says you were the one
who grabbed him when the gravity failed.
”

“Lieutenant Commander
Alder was caught off guard I think.”
Allayah responded.
“
It
was humorous.”

Elana pursed her lips
slightly. She needed the younger woman to open up, hear
Elana
’
s personal concerns.
She switched gears.
“
Thanks
for coming to see me today, Allayah. I just want to assure you that
this is in no way about your performance.
It
’
s exceptional, as
always.
”

“Thank you Dr. Alder. May
I ask what this is about?”
 
So cool. So direct.

Elana paused. Did she
really want to do
this?
  “
This is
about me, Allayah. I
’
m afraid
that, as the ship
’
s
psychologist, I don
’
t really
have anyone that I can confide in. As the
ship
’
s psychologist,
I
’
m supposed to be calm and
in control at all times. It doesn
’
t give me much chance to have moments of weakness or fear
myself. Does that make sense?
”

“Yes
ma
’
am.”
 
Allayah stopped,
didn
’
t asked the obvious
question about why Elana wasn
’
t seeing one of the other
ship
’
s doctors. She sensed as
Elana hoped she would, that this was personal.

“There
’
s so much fear
in the ship now. Everyone is trying to pack up or make plans for if
they don
’
t make it.
I
’
m sure
you
’
ve felt it; that need to
tie up loose ends.
”

“Yes
ma
’
am. Several of my crew
have been hosting
‘
sit
ins
’
in the gardens. They
don
’
t want to go back to
their quarters after they finish their shifts. I sent you a
note.
”

“Yes, and I think your
response has been wonderful. Let them have these hours. We may
really all be dead tomorrow.”
 
Elana slipped into silence.
Allayah watched her.
“
I
’
m a woman too, you
know.”
Elana continued as if to
herself.
“
I have fear.
It
’
s curious to me. I
don
’
t seem to be afraid of
dying, but I have some loose ends I would need to clean up
first
…
just in
case.
”