The Good Reaper (7 page)

“We’re almost there,” Rachel said as she navigated the Jeep
around some rugged off-road terrain. We had completely left the poor excuse for
a gravel road as the Jeep bumped along the rugged terrain. Finally we reached
the crest of a small hill and I could see the little outpost in a clearing down
in a small valley.

The sea craft shuttle looked just like the one I traveled in
when I left the CIPE center after my orientation and training. It was a
remarkable piece of engineering. Even standing about fifty yards from it, it
was difficult to see. The mirror cloaking system made the ship appear as an
assortment of boulders and trees, similar to the surrounding valley.

I boarded the ship and noticed the woman I had seen at the
airport who I suspected was Ranjisi. I was right. I thought it was too bad we
had to be so secretive about getting from the airport to the CIPE base. We were
two people coming from the same place and going to the same place and we had to
travel separately. But since we planned to be there on P3 for many years, I
agreed with CIPE’s obsessive secrecy policy.

My second trip to the CIPE base was more enjoyable. I had
learned a lot about the human race and I felt much more confident about
everything. I was much better prepared to appreciate CIPE’s engineering
masterpiece.  The docking station underneath the mountain was actually the
top level of the base. From there, a three minute ride on a monorail took us
east, away from the shoreline and deeper into the inside of the mountainous
region of the island. The monorail docked at an enormous arena where I could
smell Ranjisi foods cooking. Rachel was saying goodbye and wishing us luck as
we stepped onto the ramp leading to the main floor.

“Doesn’t that smell good?” It was the woman from the
airport. She was standing behind me looking up. There were six levels of
balconies overlooking the monorail docking station. I guessed the woman’s Earth
age to be about twenty to twenty five. She seemed on the short side for a
Ranjisi. Her eyes were brown and I assumed she was wearing contact lenses and
it made her seem even more human. She was friendly enough although she seemed
kind of formal and businesslike.

“Yes, it appears this entire first floor is one big buffet,
but what are the upper floors for?” I asked the woman.

“I’m Olivia,” she said as she extended her hand.

“You speak English.
Excellent.
I
finally have someone to talk to. I’m Luke.”

“The upper floors are like a hospital and research lab plus
some administrative offices. The second floor is just elevators, mostly going
down to the living quarters and classrooms.”

“I sort of remember that from when I first came here last
year but I was kind of overwhelmed by everything then.”

“So this is your first tour here?” Olivia asked.

“Yes, how about you?”
I asked.

“I’ve been here several years. I keep extending my tour.”

“So you are happy here? What kind of work do you do?”

“I’m in the environmental study group.
How
about you?”

“Medical science research.”

“How do you like it?” Olivia asked.

“I do like it but it is sometimes very painful.”

“What do you mean?”

“I work in a hospital. It’s hard not to care about people,”
I said. “It’s also hard not to get attached to them sometimes. I work in
patient transport and I often take cancer patients to and from the cancer
treatment room. Sometimes they stay at the hospital for a long time and I get
to know them. Watching them die a slow and painful death is difficult. It is
more than difficult. It is sometimes devastating. It is especially hard for me,
knowing that I could end their suffering or in some cases, I could even cure
them. But since we are not ready to make our presence known here, I can’t do
anything.”

Olivia was quiet and just stood there looking at me for a
long and awkward moment. Her facial expression had an odd, thoughtful look and
I wondered what she was thinking. “I have a friend who is also in the medical
team. He also speaks English. You should meet him. His name is Cooper. I can
introduce you to him at orientation tomorrow morning if you would like to meet
him.”

“Yes definitely. I’ll look for you tomorrow morning,” I said.
“Are you eating now or are you going to check into your room first?”

“I’m heading for my room. I just feel like a shower and a
bed in that order.”

I said goodbye to Olivia and headed for the food station.
The foods smelled like Ranjisan foods but they were different. Apparently all
of the Ranjisi spices were brought to P3 and some of the herbs and vegetables
but the meats were replaced with Earthly meats. Everything looked and smelled
the same as back home but it tasted different. It was okay with me. I was
hungry enough to eat raw fish.

My assigned room on floor S4 was quite different than the
room I had stayed in when I first arrived on P3. It had a panoramic screen that
ran the entire length of one wall and curved around on both ends, covering about
a third of the two walls to the right and left of the screen. The screen slowly
came to life so I assumed it was motion activated. A soft blue message appeared
in the center of the screen, “Touch or say Menu to begin.” The center of the
screen filled with category labels in the form of buttons with pictures in the
background. They were mostly educational to help Ranjisi learn about Earth and
the human race. “Biology,” was my first command which displayed a list of
sub-category buttons.
“Human Anatomy.”
Another
selection of sub-category buttons appeared. “Digestive System,” I stated,
“Play.” I could see some differences between humans and Ranjisi right away but
I was too tired to pay too much attention and navigated back to Main Menu where
I dug down into the “Music” category looking for “Classic Rock.” I preferred to
learn about newer music but I also knew that if I experienced the evolution of
Rock & Roll on Earth I would have a greater appreciation for the newer
alternative rock. I also knew this wouldn’t help me much with my Earthly
medical research but I didn’t care.

The following morning I looked for Olivia in the huge dining
hall. She recognized me first and walked up behind me. “Come Luke. I’ll
introduce you to Cooper.”

As we walked around the perimeter of the dining hall I could
sense that Olivia was looking at me. “I see you like the rebel punkish look.” I
got the impression that she didn’t care for my hairdo much. That meant that
there were at least two attractive Ranjisi women who didn’t like the punk look,
Alexis and Olivia. I figured that if Olivia liked it, she would have said
something nicer. “Are you planning on getting tattoos or piercings too?” Her
voice had a slight bit of sarcasm in it.

“I may when I learn more about what they symbolize,” I
replied.

“I doubt if they symbolize anything. I see young people with
tattoos with Chinese writing and I can’t help but wonder if they actually know
what the tattoo says.” I had no response for Olivia. I could see that she was
on the conservative side and not very open minded so I just let the
conversation linger and die.

A young Ranjisi who looked to be twenty years younger than
me was sitting at a table smiling at Olivia as we approached him. “Good morning
Cooper. I would like you to meet Luke. He also works in the medical division
and he speaks English.” Cooper reached across the table and we shook hands in
the human tradition.

We talked about the CIPE base for a while and about our
lives and families back on Ranjisan for a while and then on to our specific
assignments. Cooper worked at a Cancer Center in Tucson so it didn’t take long
to get to the topic of death and the suffering that comes with many illnesses
found on P3. “Luke here has also had quite a bit of experience with terminal
illness,” Olivia said a little apprehensively.

“Yes. It has been the worst part of this assignment.
Watching people suffer for days, weeks, months or
sometimes
even years is
devastating,” I said, paused and continued, “Especially
since I know it is unnecessary.” Cooper didn’t respond. He just stared down at
his plate eating. Olivia sat quietly staring at Cooper. It was a bit awkward.
After a long awkward silence, Olivia began talking about the arid deserts of
planet Earth which were slowly spreading in every direction.

The three of us ate at least one meal a day together. In the
middle of the second week, a man who looked to be about my age approached our
table just after we sat down. “Hi I’m Emanuel. I am called Manny. I heard you
speaking English and I wondered if I could join you. I speak English and
Spanish.”

Manny began eating dinner with us each night and as our
conversations drifted into “end of life” suffering, Manny seemed very
sympathetic. Manny told us he worked at a clinic in the beautiful port city of
Antofagasta, Chile where he spoke mostly Spanish. On Earth, Manny was a nursing
assistant but back on Ranjisan he was a hematologist. He told us his background
and knowledge of oncology and hematology made it especially painful for him
since he believed he could cure most diseases the clinic’s patients suffered
with.

Although the clinic was an outpatient center, Manny told us
he had made a lot of friends during his time in Chile and he had seen a few
people die slow painful deaths. “There is a woman who I spend time with. Her
sister died a few months ago of pancreatic cancer. She suffered a lot and I
wished I could have done something for her.”

Manny looked more human than Ranjisi and I assumed he
colored his hair and mustache to blend in better in Spanish speaking Chile.
“Have you been in Chile for a long time Manny?” I asked. “You’re skin tone is
quite dark. It looks great.”

“I’m in my second tour in Chile. I conditioned my skin
during my first tour by spending time in the sun. As you know, we have to take
our time in the sun very slow. We can’t get skin cancer thanks to our vaccines
but we can easily get awful burns.”

“You almost look like you could be Hispanic,” I said.

“Almost, but my bio says that I was born in the US and moved
to Chile as a youth. That’s much safer and I can easily talk about growing up
in Florida without saying anything that will make people curious about my
background.”

As our nightly conversations continued, we often touched
upon the subject of some of the worst diseases still flourishing on P3 such as
diabetes and cancer. Most of our discussions about the status of medical
advancement on P3 usually ended up in a discussion of end of life beliefs and
laws on P3. On our last night at dinner we had a longer than usual discussion
about Tseen Ke. Everyone had left the dining room when we stood up to say our
goodbyes. During our time at CIPE, we had become friends and we hugged for a
while before heading for the elevators.

It was almost midnight and I was falling asleep watching
historic sporting events on the big screen when there was a knock on the door.
I was surprised to see Cooper standing there when I opened the door. I didn’t
know who I was expecting but Cooper was the last person I expected to see
standing there. Somewhere in the back of my mind I guess I was hoping it was
Rachel although I knew that was unlikely. “Hey Cooper, what’s up?” I asked in
my best New York accent.

“I wondered if I could talk to you for a few minutes Luke.”
I nodded and motioned for Cooper to come in and have a seat.

Cooper sat quietly looking around for a while. I had the
impression he had something important to talk about so I just waited patiently.
Finally he began speaking but he sounded a bit timid. “You feel the same way as
I do about all the end of life suffering we see here, don’t you?”

“I think so. I watched my best friend here die a very slow,
long and painful death. I still have dreams or nightmares about it.”

Cooper was quiet for few long awkward moments before
speaking again. “Have you ever thought about breaking protocol?”

“Yes. I even looked into purchasing acupuncture needles but
that is impossible. Also, if I was able to get my hands on acupuncture needles,
I would need to be alone with the patient for at least an hour. I don’t know if
it would even work since the human anatomy is different.”

“I’ve been down that path many times. There is only one way
to do it and do it correctly and that is with Tseen Ke.”

“Yes but how would that ever be possible?
The drugs cannot be reproduced here,” I said.

“Suppose I was to tell you something? Would you be able to
keep it a secret? Before I tell you I need your word that even if you want no
involvement, you will never tell anyone.”

“I think I understand. I have thought about it and if there
was a way to get Tseen Ke kits here, I would do it. I would never, ever tell
anyone.”

“This is my third tour here. I’ve learned how to work around
the system. I have acquired many sympathetic allies. Some of them have finished
their tours here but we still try our best to keep in touch. I’ve arranged for
someone to smuggle the Tseen Ke drugs here. He will arrive with the group of
cadets in about three weeks. I could arrange a meeting with him. There are
others. If you agree, you would be the fourth Ranjisi to be part of it. It is
complicated and it will require a great deal of planning for each patient.
We’ve also decided that the group will need to approve the patient and the plan
before it is executed.” Cooper was silent for a few moments again. He could see
I was deep in thought. “If things work out with the Tseen Ke kits, we may try
and smuggle some other drugs here, possibly even Zaurak
Elakribi
.”

“Wow. Cancer is the big killer here. It’s quite unbelievable
knowing how simple it is to cure with Zaurak,” I said.

“So, what do you say Luke? If you are interested, you will
be contacted in about a month. It will require some secret meetings and maybe
some travelling and of course you know that you would be breaking CIPE
protocol. If we are exposed and apprehended, we could wind up in a Ranjisan
prison.”