Chapter Eight: Fogstill
Mission Time: +537.2 Earth-years
Ryder was the first to enter Tai's cabin, and he locked the door after Ariki and Tekoha entered. One entire wall was appropriated for a false window. Tai sat on a chair in the center of the room. Wrapped in a thick robe and holding a mug of steaming liquid, his slouching form was framed by a white disk in the projected vista.
Ryder drew closer and saw the disk was covered in clouds, reflecting sunlight; only a few dark patches indicated breaks where light was allowed to pass more deeply.
"What are you doing?" Ryder said. "People need their post-stasis exams." The entire cabin smelled of coffee.
"I configured the auto-nurse to handle that," Tai said. "I'm not fit to be a doctor anymore."
"What? Why not?"
"I violated my oath." Ryder looked at the others, but they remained silent. He turned back to Tai, who seemed very relaxed. His eyelids drooped, and he stared at the image of the planet without blinking. "I should go back into stasis for the remainder of the mission," Tai continued. "There are other doctors who could be revivicated to replace me."
"Look, no one else knows what happened, except the three of us," Tekoha said. "It will take them a while to realize Jun is missing."
"And Mbali will probably put all of us out the airlock when she finds out," Tai said.
They stood in silence for a moment and looked at each other. Ryder moved to the other side of Tai's chair. "Doctor, you should not blame yourself for Jun's death. The hostile vessel seemed intent on destroying one of our skiffs--if it hadn't been Jun, it would have been Anaru."
"Jun was there because of me. And I didn't even realize until I came out of stasis this morning that I'm also responsible for Tangaroa--if I had not foolishly run towards the Kea, he wouldn't have gone out to help me. But, for his kind-hearted effort, he was slaughtered."
"I don't think you can say that," Ariki said. "The aliens were using some powerful laser weaponry--they could just have easily targeted me or Zhao or anyone else farther away. I know it seemed like they hit Tangaroa because he was fleeing, but you can't draw that inference with any certainty."
"And don't forget you probably saved fifteen lives in this process," Ryder said.
"Probably?" Tai said. "I don't know about that. It has been over ninety years since we left--I have difficulty picturing what a settlement would be like now. When they were revivicated, they must have been very confused. They probably saw the column of smoke--they would have walked to it and found a melted skiff, with nothing to salvage. Maybe they found Tangaroa's remains and gave him a burial. Or maybe not. The shuriken might have destroyed their pods before they could ever be revivicated."
"The shuriken didn't go near the pods," Ariki said. "Moments after we lifted off, it did too, and left the atmosphere."
"But how do you know there wasn't another ship?" Tai asked.
"We've seen only one," Ariki said, "--the same one--for half a millennium. Wouldn't we have seen others by now if they were out there?"
Tai shrugged.
"Uh, I think we should mention something else," Tekoha said. "The crew are not going to want to shut down Fai-tsiri after what she did on Teal Grip. You know I have always been an advocate of replacing Mbali, and you have to admit, that is looking like the more viable option now."
"I agree," Ariki said. "I think so would Ihaia and Anaru. How about you two?"
Tai nodded. "Yes, I now have trouble believing Fai-tsiri ordered Hemi's execution. It looks like it was Mbali acting on her own--and if that's the case, then we've let her stay in her position for way too long."
"Kask?" Tekoha asked.
"I think we should be very careful to get all the facts first," Ryder said. "If Mbali indeed went rogue, then I'm with you in replacing her."
"Then do it," Tekoha said.
"What?"
"You have to talk to Mbali and find out what the orders were about Hemi. This mission segment. I know you've taken private meetings with her. You're in the best position to do this."
Ryder nodded. "Fine. I shall. But first, I think Tai should talk to her and say he cannot finish making his gene therapy in time."
"What? Why?" Ariki asked.
"Because he can't," Ryder said.
"Kask is right," Tai said. "There have been more set-backs than I was hoping, and we are really coming to the time where internal radioactive decay could start damaging our DNA permanently whilst we're in stasis." Tai raised his arm and pointed at the reflective globe on his wall. "We have to settle here. This is the end of the line."
They stood in silence a moment, staring at the image on Tai's wall.
"Is that really true?" Ryder asked. "If we go into stasis again, we'll be fried?"
"We can probably make it another century, proper time," Tai said. "But I don't feel comfortable cutting it down to the last minute."
"Okay," Ariki said. "Get dressed and go talk to Mbali."
"We should all go with him," Tekoha said, "for moral support. We can let Doctor Tai do most of the talking."
The others assented and left Tai alone in his cabin. He stood and chugged the coffee, then set the empty mug on his desk and dressed.
Tai looked down as he walked Habitat Sector. He encountered no one, but light and shadow flickered hulking shapes from laboratory windows. Arriving at Command Sector, he noticed all the senior staff appeared to be present. He walked up to Ryder.
"Mbali is in her office," he said. Tai headed for the office door, followed by Ryder, Tekoha, and Ariki. As he was about to enter, Tai turned to see they were following him; but he noticed Kahu in the background whispering something to Zhong, who was glaring at them.
"What can I do for you gentlemen?" Mbali said after the four of them had entered and sealed the door behind. Mbali's window also displayed a centered view of the overcast world.
"I've done some calculations," Tai said, "and I'm afraid the situation is dire."
Mbali shifted in her seat and raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Continued use of the stasis system may result in permanent DNA damage," he said. "We have to stop here. At this world."
Mbali took a deep breath. "I see. But do you realize the oxygen level of this planet's atmosphere is nine percent?"
"That's only enough for very small, simple animals," Tekoha said.
"Mm-hmmmm," Mbali responded.
"We brought the Constructors for water-splitting facilities to be used in just such a scenario," Tai said.
"Yes ...."
"Wait a second," Tekoha said. "A level of nine percent sounds biogenic. Why aren't you citing Protection Policy as usual?"
"Because it's not biogenic--at least not directly. I guess it's 'technogenic', if that's a word," Mbali said.
"Are you saying there are terraforming machines on the surface?" Ariki asked.
"Yes. Or just below the surface, to be more accurate. Millions of small, buoyant objects drifting in the ocean, which covers over 85 percent of the planet. We've also spotted one menhir, of the same design we encountered before. I'd rather avoid establishing a settlement here, because we don't know what will happen to the settlers in a few hundred years when whoever planted those machines returns to claim their world."
"You think they left the system."
"Yes. There's no sign of anyone down there or on any other planet in this system. They must have known it would take centuries or millennia to raise oxygen levels, and had time to go back home. That's Fai-tsiri's best guess, anyway. I'll tell you what I'll do. Pending Fai-tsiri's approval, we can ferry down a number of cryostat pods to the surface and cycle them open. We'll build a habitat and water splitter for oxygen--the planet's atmosphere is already 90 percent nitrogen. We'll have to keep them in the pods for a while so they can adjust to the pressure, which is 2.7 atm. Then they can go through the detoxification procedure."
"Can't we have rolling detox cycles in transit?" Ryder asked.
"If we could, that would be standard procedure," M
bali said. "People can't be out and about whilst the ship is undergoing acceleration."
"Oh, right .... But why do we have to take them down planet-side? Can we just flush them out here?"
"Not enough food, water, or air for that many people awake on the ship at one time. No one wants to avoid sending people down more than I. It's a huge time sink. In fact, I think we may not have time to detox everyone currently in stasis. If we could save some for the next mission segment ...."
"It depends on how long our travel time is to the next system," Tai said.
"Well, we know from old probe telemetry there is a promising world in the habitable zone of Beta Hydri. Coincidentally, it's the same distance there as Epsilon Indi from here."
"Ninety years. I don't know, I'll have to do some calculations and consider that. I think it would be cutting it close," Tai said.
"How long does detox take?" Ryder asked.
"A full detox can be done in four or five days," Tai said. "But if we're pressed for time here, I could run a partial detox. It would be better than nothing, and would certainly buy more time for those who receive the treatment."
"Just a moment," Ryder said. "Did the shuriken follow us here?"
"Yes, when we left the Epsilon Indi system, it continued to shadow us, but at a much greater distance than usual," Mbali said.
"So what if they come down to attack our LZ as they did on Teal Grip?"
"Of course Fai-tsiri has had nine decades to think about a defense," Mbali replied.
"And?"
"Custodians have disassembled three skiffs, and Constructors used the materials to build several small, mobile weapons platforms. They're completely autonomous, and they can operate in fluid pressures up to 8 atm. We're calling them 'Defensive Operations Platforms'--DOPs for short."
"How many are there?" Ryder asked.
"Nine."
"What's their armament?" Ariki asked.
"Railcannons. They also have femtosecond grasers, attosecond lasers, long-pulse masers, as well as cutting and welding tools. I would also like to be ready to get off the surface at the first sign of danger. Right now the shuriken is in a very high orbit, so we would have some time to prepare if it approaches. We're tracking its position with an inconspicuous probe swarm. They can't catch us off guard again. Now, if there is nothing further, I would like everyone here to go to Stasis Sector and help send four hundred pods to the skiff bay. Doctor, get your detox apparatus onto a Moa. Run your calculations at the same time to make sure we can make it to Beta Hydri."
"We're only going to treat a tenth of the population?" Tai asked.
"That's correct," Mbali said. We can only fit one hundred pods onto a Moa-class skiff. We need the fifth Moa to carry the Habitat Construction Tiles and the medical equipment. And we don't have the time for multiple runs. Doctor, do your calculations and figure out what is the minimum time for a partial detox to be at all useful, keeping in mind we're going to be in stasis for another ninety years. Dismissed."
They turned and left, but Ryder stayed behind.
"Yes?" Mbali asked.
"Will the senior staff be detoxed as well?"
"No. We've been out of stasis enough to have some natural flushing. The people who have never been out of stasis for half a millennium are the priority."
"Okay."
Mbali looked down at the data streaming across her desk and shuffled blocks of glyphs. Ryder was unmoving. "Is there something else?" she asked. Then she looked at him and leaned back in her chair. "They're planning to move against me, aren't they?"
"I wouldn't say that," Ryder said.
"Then what would you say?"
"They don't know what to think about Fai-tsiri now, but they still are very concerned about you."
"I see."
"If I may enquire, why did you execute Hemi?"
Mbali stood and placed her fingertips on the desktop, unwavering in her eye-contact with Ryder.
"Murderers have no place on this ship," Mbali said.
"But you could have put him back into stasis."
"Murderers also have no place in the settlements we want to establish."
"Did you receive the execution order from Fai-tsiri?"
Mbali narrowed her eyes. "No," she said.
Ryder met her gaze, unwavering. He tilted his head back slightly. "That's all I need to know," he said in a low voice. He turned to leave.
"Mr. Kask!" Mbali said loudly.
He looked back at her, but then walked out of the office without another word.
As Ryder approached the door to the corridor, Zhong intercepted him.
"What were you discussing in there?" Zhong asked.
"That's not your concern," Ryder said.
"Excuse me?"
"This ship has a flat command structure. I'm not one of your grunts--I don't answer to you."
"Not quite. You serve at the pleasure of Mission Control--the only elected officer aboard is the executive. You do answer to me in matters of security. And your reflexive hostility is suspicious."
"Okay, I don't have time to stand here and spar with you. I've got documentation duties." Ryder tried to move past him, but Zhong held out his arm.
"It's amusing how seriously you take your 'duties'. You will perform them from here." Zhong herded Ryder towards an alcove."
"You're detaining me?"
"Not in any meaningful way. There's a console right there. You can tap into the landing party's feeds and document all you want."
"Why are you doing this?" Ryder sat in front of the console, and Zhong sat at the adjacent one.
"I want to keep an eye on everything you do. Maybe if you were a little more cooperative, I wouldn't have to."
"This is because I didn't want to tell you about the conversation in Mbali's office? It doesn't make sense."
Zhong leaned closer and lowered his voice. "I know there has been talk about shutting down Fai-tsiri. If you think for one moment you could succeed at that, then ..." He leaned back in his chair. "... you don't know me very well."
Ryder stared at him silently for a moment, then shook his head. He turned to the console and logged in. No skiffs, DOPs, or personnel suits were generating telemetry yet. He looked at a status report from Stasis Sector. Some pods had already been decoupled from their normal locked position, sliding along to the skiff bay. He looked over at the other console and saw Zhong had duplicated his own terminal.
"Don't you need to run security on this?" Ryder asked.
"Ihaia can handle it."
"Ihaia ... of course."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zhong looked at him sharply.
"Nothing." Ryder made notes in his log. When he glanced to the side again, he saw Zhong reading his past log entries. Ryder ignored this and focused on his own console. Minutes became hours, until finally the status from Stasis Sector reported the uncoupling of four hundred pods.
"They must have the pods nearly all loaded onto the Moa," Ryder said a few minutes later.
"Zhao to Ihaia--what's your status?"
"Ihaia here. The skiffs are almost loaded, sir; we should be ready to launch in a few minutes."
"Understood; Zhao out." Zhong and Ryder watched on their consoles as the first skiff deposited Habitat Construction Tiles, along with their Constructors. It dipped below gray clouds, then was partly occluded again by ground fog. Its smeared lights revealed a wet surface. A DOP monitored the site, and through its telemetry, they saw the modular habitat constructed in minutes. The Constructors' spindly legs blurred in rapid motion, swirling the fog around them as they built each module at great speed. Then they lined up the modules on a flat stretch of ground and connected them to form the final habitat. A gas filtration system and water splitter was set up and attached to the habitat. Next, the first pod-carrying skiff landed, along with another DOP. The shuriken held its high orbit. Custodians swarmed over the pods, monitoring their physical integrity, as the Constructors carried them into the habitat interior. Three more sk
iffs arrived, and Tai deboarded one of them as the pods continued to be transferred. Ryder opened another terminal displaying the visual output of Tai's suit, and continued to take notes. He pulled various blocks of data from telemetry and pasted them directly into his log.
Tai walked the rows of pods, monitoring the revivification process. Auto-nurses set up detoxification nodes at each pod, intravenous tubes held at the ready.
"Metabolisms are accelerating from static to dynamic mode," Tai reported. "Revivification process nearly complete. I'm keeping their brains in delta-wave states." The pods unsealed and unfolded, and the auto-nurses began inserting tubes into the sleeping humans. For the next seven hours, Doctor Tai walked along the rows and monitored the whole process. At sunset, he shut down the detox machines and re-sealed the pods, re-activating stasis. Custodians loaded them onto the skiffs whilst the DOPs circled overhead. The Constructors disassembled the habitat and loaded the components onto the final skiff whilst the other four pod-laden ones lifted off.
As Ryder wrote in his log, he occasionally glanced at various status reports: with the skiffs back aboard Unbounded, the pods were loaded into the transport tubes and moved back to their receptacles in Stasis Sector. After securing equipment in the medical bay, Tai made his way to Command Sector. Ryder stood up from his console to meet Tai on deck; Zhong followed.
Tai nodded to them. "Everything went as smoothly as it could," he said. "I'm just about to make my oral report to Mbali." He looked specifically at Ryder. "The full report."
"Good luck," Ryder said, whilst Zhong looked at them strangely.
Tai entered Mbali's office.
Mbali spoke first. "Thank you for your efforts, Doctor. I know that was not ideal, but hopefully it buys those people some extra time."
"I request to be relieved of duty," Tai said.
"What?"
"I should be put into stasis for the remainder of the mission. I am no longer fit to practice medicine."
Mbali turned her head slightly and narrowed her eyes. "Why?" she asked slowly.
Tai opened and closed his mouth, hesitating. Then he said: "The status report from Stasis Sector is not accurate. There is a small program in place which is masking the absence of fifteen pods." Tai swallowed. "I left fifteen people behind on Teal Grip."
Mbali closed her eyes. "Why would you do such a thing?"
"I believe it is necessary to get as many people off this ship--as soon as possible--to increase their chances of survival. And although this violates Planetary Protection Policy, Teal Grip is certainly survivable by humans. Since we don't know the fate of those people, it is still somewhat uncertain whether I made the right choice or not, regarding their lives. But that is not the reason I can't be a doctor anymore."
She looked at him.
"The reason is that in transporting the pods to Teal Grip, I had to take a technician with me. Crewman Jun. And so, I am responsible for his death. He was aboard the Kea skiff when it was destroyed."
Mbali stood and walked slowly out from behind her desk. She moved close to him and looked into his eyes. "Your status for the remainder of this mission," she said, "is no longer up to you. I shall report these violations to Fai-tsiri, and you will be informed of her decision in the next mission segment."
"Did Fai-tsiri order you to execute Hemi? Did she order Hemi to kill Nikau?"
"Get out of my office."
Tai turned and left.