April 6: And What Goes Around (29 page)

Ferdinando looked surprised but interested. "A
religious obligation?" He guessed.

"Oh no. Nothing like that. I need to re-set my
metabolism. The sort of gene mods I have you do that by restricting diet for a
bit. But I'd love to join you another time," April left open.

"We shall make a point of calling you then. Good
evening April, Jeff." He gave Jeff an extra smile and nod of his head
before they turned away.

"He seems taken with you," April said as
they went back to their table. Ferdinando was probably right. The music resumed
behind them.

"I imagine I have probationary status with him
because I have good taste in friends. What's this Grandeza thing?" Jeff
asked. "Have you given up protesting them and started collecting new
titles?"

"That's just his Spanish custom in titles,"
April said dismissively. "He said I'm more than a
Baronesa
because we're intimate with Heather."

"Well...
" Jeff said and blinked a few extra times at that.

"Not that
way, Silly. We speak with her without formality or using titles. And do you
know? He has the right of it. Did you see how he just accepted the applause for
their dancing? No false modesty or argument? He just graciously accepted it. That's
what I'm going to do from now on," April resolved. "Even if I have to
bite my tongue. No more making faces when you say, My Lady."

"OK,"
Jeff agreed.
We'll see how long that holds,
he thought privately.

Dinner was simple
for April. A petite filet with mushrooms and creamed spinach. Jeff was not gene
mod and he had about twice what she did.

"Barak sent me
a big encrypted file and asked my help with some research," Jeff finally
brought up.

"Is there a
problem with the expedition he had to keep quiet?" April asked
immediately. Barak had never felt the need to use heavy encryption in his
letters to her.

"Problems
with his crewmates," Jeff confirmed. "The fellow who worked outside with
him did something stupid and killed himself in vacuum, for one thing."

"For one thing?
What's another?" April asked. Jeff tended to speak precisely.

"The other is
more complex," Jeff allowed. "His Captain was neglecting his duty to
spend bunk time with his XO. They had a minor fire that everybody had to
respond to and there was nobody on the bridge to direct the response."

"That'll cost
him his ticket," April predicted.

"No it won't,
because he's dead." Jeff said flatly.

April just lifted
an eyebrow at that.

Jeff phrased it
very carefully. "There seem to be... complications Barak has carefully
avoided telling us. I can't blame him. He went to the bridge and found the
hatch locked. While he was standing there the Captain came charging down the
corridor naked with his clothing in hand and started yelling at Barak."

"Oh
dear."

"Barak said
he had a hard impact with the bulkhead and sustained injuries. He carefully
refrained from telling me if he
helped
the captain meet the bulkhead...
He took him to their medical center and left him to be treated by the XO. I'm
concerned for our friend. It sounds like he was put in an untenable position,
but I don't
want
to know the details. So I didn't ask. This is the sort
of mess that makes people, like the investors, look for someone to
blame
,
and the captain being dead is quite unsatisfying to blame.

"Meanwhile,
you say the ship is on fire," April said, backing up in the story. "If
I were there
that
would have my attention until it was resolved. We're
talking survival of the ship with a fire onboard. That gets fixed
first
.
"

"The
Environmental Officer took care of that," Jeff told her. "There
wasn't any serious damage or loss. But of course they didn't know that when the
alarm went off. Barak actually followed procedures to see why the captain was
not responding and render aid if needed. It appears he neither wanted nor
appreciated such aid. The problem worsened when he delivered the Captain to be
treated. The XO had a major emotional meltdown and revealed they blamed Barak
for the loss of the crewman he'd worked with outside the hull."

"Barak was
supervising and responsible for him?" April asked.

"No, the other
fellow was supervising him," Jeff allowed. "But the plot thickens
from this point with the first of several obvious lies from the XO. They
claimed he had deleted his suit files of their outside working shifts."

"I don't
believe it. Nobody sets up a data system that sloppy. The suits dump their memory
when you rack them and there's no way to delete it without administrative
authority on the main computer. My grandpa has told me how it works lots of
times. It's not just a lie, it's a
stupid
lie," April said.

"Yes. Well,
thankfully Barak showed good judgment and refused to get in a yelling contest
with her," Jeff said. "He calmly said he'd only speak for a
hearing."

"Makes sense
to me," April said. "Once things get loud and emotional people stop
thinking."

Jeff nodded.
"She stopped thinking so badly she granted him an immediate hearing. I've
been assured when I asked that this was within her powers on an extended voyage
like this."

"Interesting.
I didn't know that." April was calm enough she was continuing to finish
her dinner. Jeff had been scared she'd get upset. That was why he didn't want
to tell her on com.

"She then
compounded the error by accusing him of inflicting the injury on the Captain,
but admitted in the next breath she didn't have proof," Jeff said.

"I take it he
was unconscious not to be able to testify himself?" April asked.

"Yes. And
skipping some details... She curtailed work for a couple days then announced
they were resuming operations like nothing much had happened without a word
about the Captains condition."

"Wow, that's
just bizarre. Something's wrong with that woman," April declared.

"More than you
think," Jeff agreed. "When asked, she claimed the Captain died
without ever regaining consciousness. Barak was recording his confrontation
with her and at the end he said the man started moving, moaned, touched his
face and said something. He and the crew that are friendly to him couldn't
understand what the Captain Jaabir said, so Barak sent me the recording. He
didn't want to use the ship's processing to clarify it."

"So, were you
able? What did it say?" April asked.

"It was
slurred and nasal. I suspect his nose was swollen shut," Jeff explained,
pinching off his nose to demonstrate how it would sound. "But he said,
What
the hell happened to me?
quite clearly when you match all the elements to
his speech patterns."

"So another
stupid lie. A bigger one and worse – unnecessary. She could have just said he
died without embellishing it. Liars get in trouble when they try to fill the
story with a bunch of details.
She
offed him if he's dead," April
predicted.

"That's what
they think. Me too," Jeff agreed. "He seemed the sort to try to put
the blame for everything off on her. She might well have been scared he could
do so successfully."

"I can't see
Barak being held responsible for this. But it's horrible they're stuck out
there with this crazy woman. What are they going to do?" April asked. "Did
you suggest anything after you processed the audio for them?"

"Not
yet," Jeff said. "I have no advice I'd offer without knowing a lot
more. I have no expertise dealing with crazy people. At least not up close and
personal like this. I just sent them the processed file. But I consulted a
psychologist. We didn't have one on Home and I didn't want someone Mitsubishi
uses because of possible cultural bias. I found somebody through my security
people who would give general advice without knowing every detail.

"She said
this sort of personality that lies quickly to avoid punishment or conflict and will
just keep adding new lies in layers without much thought. She doesn't really
scheme at a deep level. She just lies easily like a child without long range
planning. The psychologist suggested not confronting her in an isolated
situation where she could feel trapped and desperate. Just don't ask questions
and don't accuse her in any way and leave it all to be resolved when they get
back.
That's
what I passed on to them."

"If she
caused the Captain harm doesn't she know that a good forensic pathologist will
almost certainly be able to tell the cause of death?" April asked.

"That's
exactly the sort of thing they don't want to ask her. The ship has no planned
storage to bring back any remains. They know he isn't in either food freezer. If
she shoved him out the airlock he'll be lost as soon as they move and they'd never
find him again among the debris orbiting Jupiter. Certainly not for years
because
nobody
is going to fund a trip just to look for him," Jeff
assured her.

"So you only
have her worthless word that he's dead? She could have him strapped to the bunk
in her cabin alive for all they know," April said.

"Sometimes
you scare me with crazy ideas like that. Except that sometimes you're right. It's
a horrifying mental picture, but in this case I doubt she'd report him dead to
the expedition owners if she had him tied up somewhere."

"Oh. That
does seem unlikely even if she's...
off
." April had a different
thought. "Have you talked about this to the expedition owners?"

"No. You
notice Barak didn't send this message and file to them? I'm frankly prejudiced.
I want to see Barak unharmed. Even if he hit the man it sounds to me like he
was not unprovoked. But the owners might look at it differently. I only know a
couple of the owners well and don't even want to explain how I got these files.
I just want to get them back safely with no more conflict or drama."

"If we try to
do too much for him it might backfire on us," April suggested to Jeff.

"Agreed. It
could appear we were trying to pervert justice for our friend rather than
secure it. Better they just hear how those two neglected their duty and we not
make excuses for Barak he may not need."

 "I guess we'll
find out what the Assembly will do with a murderer when they get back,"
April said. "I wonder how much they'll be influenced by Earth law about
insane criminals? They haven't had a case like this before. The rail gun
killing was a military and political matter, not personal."

"We get to
find out what the Assembly will do about the flu and quarantines tonight,"
Jeff reminded her. "Might we go back to your place and watch it on com
instead of going to the cafeteria?"

"It is a
rather late Assembly isn't it? And if we aren't there nobody can see us and
think to ask if we've had any part in gathering the data or managing
this," April said.

"Exactly," Jeff agreed. "Let's keep a low profile for a
change."

"The voice is
a match for Jaabir and he said 'What the hell happened to me?' quite distinctly
when the file is cleaned up," Barak typed in his pad. "My friend Jeff
suggests, on expert advice, a course of avoiding confrontation and allowing the
Assembly and licensing authorities to deal with Ms. Dobbs when we get back.
Listen to the reconstructed audio," he offered, handing the pad to Alice.

"Ah, 'the
hell' is slurred together so much I thought it was one word," Alice said,
giving it to Deloris to listen to the file.

"This is
awkward," Deloris tapped in the pad. "We have to make nice-nice and
work with a woman who appears to have killed our Captain. I hope nobody counts
it as mutiny that we ignore it. Even temporarily."

Alice reached over
Barak and took the pad back. "What else can we do? What purpose would it
serve to say anything? You know she isn't going to take it well if we do. If
she sees any of us as a threat – I don't want to end up like Jaabir. I'm scared
of her now and not ashamed to tell you that. We're not a court to impose a
sentence. What would we tell her – don't do that again? We can hardly lock her
in her cabin. Need I remind you? None of us know how to pilot
Yuki-onna
back home."

Barak reached over and tapped out. "That's the real rub isn't
it?"

* * *

The usual people
were on the usual temporary platform they put up in the cafeteria for an
Assembly. Mr. Muños, the Registrar of voters, was acting as chairman, April's
father, Robert, for Mitsubishi and Jon, head of security. The usual business
leaders, sitting together at the near tables, self sorted for rank and
association. April watched while one fellow tried to take the last seat with
the ship builders and get turned away, told it was saved.

Muños wore a nice
suit which was unusual, but it seemed natural on him and nobody took it for a
silly affectation. It did fit nicely. Even he skipped the tie since it wasn't a
Home custom.

 The camera feed
was limited, focused on the platform, and it wasn't run by a live operator who
could pan the Assembly. Most people viewed it on com like April and Jeff were
this evening, but she missed looking around at the entire crowd. Everyone on
the fringes were invisible. Lindsey was there undoubtedly. Doing a rough sketch
or two to elaborate on later. April would bet on where Lindsey was sitting give
or take two seats either way.

"The fourteenth
Assembly of Home is called to order," Eduardo Muños said without fanfare.
The few people standing or talking found seats and it got quiet.

"We find a
matter of urgency and national survival to bring before you in Special Assembly.
I ask you leave off less important business and routine matters for the next regular
scheduled Assembly. The flu epidemic on Earth appears to be a serious risk for
Home citizens. Please give our head of security your attention," he asked,
and sat.

Jon outlined his
request to quarantine people showing symptoms and to turn excess people away
who could be carriers within the incubation period. April thought he was much
more comfortable speaking to a huge crowd than he had been when they rebelled
from North America. He made it clear he disliked the necessity of limiting free
travel, even for foreigners, but saw it as a matter of survival.

When Jon sat down
Dr. Lee was invited to speak. Jeff was slouched back sipping on an orange juice
with lots of ice, looking like he might go to sleep. He sat back up and lost
the sleepy look.

"This the
part you've been waiting for?" April asked Jeff.

"No! I knew
what Jon was going to ask, we discussed it on com, but I didn't know Lee was
going to speak. I have no idea what he's going to say."

Dr. Lee was
dressed in a sweater and heavy slacks. Home wasn't given to symbols of
authority like the suit and tie, or lab coats. He didn't need a stethoscope
hung over his shoulders to establish his expertise with this crowd. It would
have insulted many of them to suggest they needed visual aids to know he was a
medical doctor. April had never heard him speak publicly before, but he seemed
at ease and knew to look at the camera to speak.

"I have been
communicating with colleagues on Earth, trying to get timely and accurate
information about the current flu epidemic. It hasn't been easy. Nobody wishes
to share any hard information and indeed in some cases they outright lied to
me. Thanks to data collected by Home citizens who recently visited Tonga I now
have an accurate picture of the genetic makeup of this new variety. It's
definitely derived from what is commonly referred to as the mouse flu. It
originated in Africa over a decade ago. However it has a number of changes that
are quite different from the usual genetic drift we see in seasonal flu.

"I'm a
practicing physician but we are fortunate to have on Home a scholar with
credentials more suited to understanding a genetic construct. I'd like to
introduce Dr. Gerald Ames and have him tell you what he found." Lee stayed
standing to the front of the platform but was joined by Ames – also known as
Jelly by his friends and customers.

"Dr. Lee is
too modest," Ames said. "We both contributed, bouncing ideas and
observations back and forth to understand what we were looking at. The virus is
altered, not just mutated. We lack the complete code but have the data on
critical sequences. Not only the core of the virus is different but the protein
coating is too. Just to emphasize, when I say altered I mean deliberately. It
is a man made construct. I don't think it is too extreme to say it is created
as a weapon. With that in mind let Dr. Lee tell you more about what he found
out."

"I'm not
given to gossip," Lee said. "A physician has many confidences and has
to preserve the privacy of his patients. However what I am about to tell you is
third hand information. We are not subject to the same political pressures here
as institutional medicine suffers on Earth. Nobody in current practice would
talk to me. But I called one of my professors who is retired and he spoke quite
freely to me. He's at an age where he said, 'What can they do to me?' He is not
a spacer seeking information for a foreign nation, so a number of his students
and peers have spoken freely with him. He indicated the mature epidemic in
Italy has a morbidity in the fifteen to twenty percent range."

That produced a  murmur
in the cafeteria crowd loud enough to make him pause.

"Good,"
Lee nodded, looking grim. "Your reaction indicates you know how bad that
is. Public services are significantly disrupted in Italy. Particularly in the
Rome area. As other areas follow the same progression they expect a similar
crisis of ordinary services as well as police and fire protection and medical
services almost worldwide.

"That would
be sufficient reason to isolate Home along the lines of what Jon Davis advised.
However it is much worse than that. The virus is particularly virulent against
anyone with life extension therapy. I honestly can't give you an actual number
of how many succumb because so many jurisdictions prohibit or limit LET or any
gene therapy. We have no reliable report. The infected subject themselves to
arrest and harsh punishments if they seek treatment.

"As you can
imagine many have died at home fearful of seeking help, and many have decided
to disappear. Since people with LET are generally of higher income, some
undoubtedly have retreats they prepared for any disaster and fled there. If
they have business interests or political power they might try to maintain
control remotely. People who have to be in contact with the public like
entertainers have had a harder time doing that of course. We have had a couple
already flee here who test as infected. They were asymptomatic yesterday but
both are running a slightly elevated temperature and complaining of headaches
today. They are in quarantine outside the hull. But we only have facilities for
four. We made them aware the Assembly was considering issues affecting them and
presume they are watching.

"I am aware
many of you here have LET. Be aware the only report my source had for the
effect of the disease on gene mod people was one Swiss hospital. Apparently a
number of people fled Italy and sought treatment in Switzerland where LET is
legal and they would not be subject to prosecution. A member of their staff
said they lost seventeen out of twenty four patients who admitted to having
LET. That isn't a very big sample, and several arrived already very sick. But
it's a pretty firm indication that this disease is devastating to people who
have life extending gene mods. The ones who did survive were also ravaged by
the infection and making generally slow, poor recoveries. I ask you to think
carefully if you wish to open our doors and allow something in that will kill a
third to half of your neighbors." After dropping that bombshell he sat
down.

"Comments?"
Muños invited.

"Mrs. Eiben,
on com," Muños choose.

"I know we
can't let just anybody in who is sick," Eiben said. She was a stout woman
with a serious expression on their screen. "That's how I'll vote. Sometimes
you don't have any good choices, and you do what you
have
to. But I feel
terrible about it, to slam the door in the face of people in need. It's not how
I was raised. Is there anything else we can do to help that doesn't involve
letting these medical refugees in to infect us?"

Jon made a gesture
he'd field that question and got a nod from Muños.

"We've talked
about that. We simply don't
have
any facilities for producing flu vaccines
or that sort of medicine. They aren't practical here. We
do
supply
several cancer drugs and our tech products like specialty chips that contribute
to health care and public safety in many other products. If we lose the
production of those items, or worse the specialists who make them, due to
allowing this pandemic to spread here we'll condemn many
other
people to
death. In the end we'd harm many thousands of folks down below. Far more than the
handful we can help here directly by allowing them in."

That apparently
made Eiben feel better. "Thank you for your explanation," she said, leaving.

"Mr. Baeher,
in the audience," Muños acknowledged. The man was standing to be
recognized.

"How long do
you intend to have this in place?"

"Dr. Lee, can
you address that?" Muños said.

"Exceptionally
lethal flu can burn itself out in a year. The great influenza pandemic of 1918
for example never recurred. We'd have to review the necessity of it with the
Assembly again, once it is not reported heavily. Unless it establishes itself
as a recurring strain. If it pops up at random in the population as a persistent
thing them we'd have to consider much stricter entry requirements than in the
past as a permanent policy. The consequences of ignoring it would be too great
a catastrophe to risk."

That produced a
pause of silence as everyone absorbed the implications.

"If it is
harbored in animal populations," Lee continued, "or one or more
strains become less virulent to people without LET, it can periodically reoccur
as any number of flu strains do. If that happens then Earth will be a very
dangerous place for those of us with life extension mods to visit."

"That is a
sobering prospect," Baeher said, and sat again.

"Ms.
Barrington?" Muños asked, uncertainly, pointing at the lady in question
who had waved.

"Yes, Melissa
Barrington. I work for UPS. We've never been introduced. I'm surprised you know
me. My question is what might the repercussions be from Earth governments for
limiting entry? Might Mr. Davis have thoughts on this? Do you expect them to
play tit for tat and limit entry for citizens of Home? Or might they impose
other sanctions?"

Jon stayed seated,
but answered. "North America can't exclude Home citizens by treaty. But
very few Home citizens have decided to exercise that right. Few of us feel safe
in North America marked as spacers. There is a not too subtle campaign of
propaganda to vilify spacers in North America. There are also places in Europe
I wouldn't feel free to go even if they'd admit me. Anybody who would go to
China right now is insane. Japan and Tonga, of course, we have a special
relationship. Australia still seems safe at the moment, and I can't imagine
they would have a reason to exclude us. No place will be safe while this
epidemic is active. So we're talking after that in any case.

"As for
economic sanctions - even the sanctions North America and China put on us are
for show. There aren't any ready substitutes for most of what we make. They just
damage their own citizens financially to make an ideological point. We still
sell all we make. Despite the economic turmoil below nobody has started canceling
orders for Home goods. That may change if the economy down there doesn't
survive the population being decimated – or worse. However where we have
vulnerability is if they refuse to sell or can't deliver to us. There are
enough countries to shop around among them that I
think
we can get at
least the basics of what we need. Any actual shortfall will probably be from
temporary failures in the supply train, not deliberate political action."

Barrington tilted
her head and looked puzzled. "What sort of failures?" she asked Jon.

"There are a
lot of points for possible failure. As an example take food. If enough farmers
get sick crops can be left in the fields and some of the companies they are
contracted to will have shortages. Not all farmers hold their crop and sell on
the open market. The majority now are under contract. Sometimes before the seed
even goes in the ground. Things are also so specialized just a few people being
sick can shut down the flow of product. Most grain farmers for example don't
own their own harvesting equipment. It's too expensive. The combines follow the
ripening grain regionally, and get used for many more acres than any one farm.
If four or five fellows get sick your contracted combine may not come harvest
your grain when you need it. If a barge crew or a few truckers get sick you may
not receive the diesel fuel the combines need to run, or that the trucks need to
take it to storage or to be processed to flour. It may not be possible to get
it to a port to put on a ship.