kicked off just as hard. He’d seen death before, of course. As a junior officer he’d more than once had to gather bodies and body parts after accidents or skirmishes. But three thousand bodies, many of them scarred or dismembered, and most decomposed to at least some extent, was simply too much.
Rom was silent for a long time as they made their way back to Starhopper. Finally he said in a dull voice, “Commodore, I request to be assigned to Starhopper for the return trip.”
Kas frowned. “Why? You’re a Fleet officer; you’ve seen death before.”
Rom shook his head. “I’ve seen death,” he agreed. “And I’ve done my share of killing. But this… this is a death ship, sir. There’s evil here!”
“Nonsense!” Kas roared. “There’s no evil here. Evil requires purpose. A plague is purposeless — a natural disaster. It just is.”
He paused. “Certainly bad things happened here. There was mutiny and riot and cowardice and horror. But it was the all-too-human result of three thousand frightened people facing certain death. I will not tolerate talk that undermines discipline and panders to rank superstition. You will keep any such opinions to yourself. Is that clear?”
Rom’s face looked strained behind his suit’s faceplate. “Yes, sir. But I still request assignment to Starhopper for the return trip.”
Kas shrugged. “And you may be assigned to Starhopper, if that’s where I decide to put you. But you are a Fleet officer. You will serve where you are needed.” He glowered at the other man. “Damn it Rom, I didn’t expect this kind of nonsense from you! I need you too badly to have you go into some kind of funk just because you’ve seen some bodies. I don’t have time to pamper a prima donna. Now, get hold of yourself!”
Rom flushed. “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. But that…” he shook his head before resuming. “I’m afraid I’m going to have nightmares about that.”
Kas relaxed. “I doubt I’ll sleep well myself for a while. But we’ve got a job to do, and by all the weird gods of the galaxy, we’re going to do it.”
Chapter 10
By the time they returned to Starhopper and unsuited it was time for dinner. At the moment there were few enough of them awake to permit simultaneous meal hours, and Kas was encouraging them to make meals a social occasion. He felt that the interaction promoted crew cohesion and good morale. Today he was hoping that the dinner conversation would help lighten his mood and banish the horrid visions of contorted, agonized bodies that kept intruding on his consciousness. He even looked forward to Ro-Lecton’s barbed wit.
The others were already there when he and Rom arrived, but he noted that Ro-Lecton wasn’t present.
He turned to the little man’s assistant. “Where’s your boss, Doctor?” He asked.
Doctor Nila Kor-Nashta was a statuesque woman of mature but indeterminate age. In these days of easy and affordable body sculpting, one could make few assumptions. In this case, Doctor Kor-Nashta stood some 180 centimeters tall, and the lab coat she habitually wore over her shipsuit — Only the weird gods of the galaxy knew where she’d gotten it — failed to conceal a slim, attractive body. Her honey-blonde hair was pulled into a severe bun. She shrugged. “I haven’t seen him today. I’ve been busy setting up the bio lab. I guess he’s wrapped up in those memory crystals.”
Kas frowned. “Come to think of it, he wasn’t at dinner last evening either. Did anyone see him at breakfast?” Heads shook negatively.
A look of concern crossed the woman’s face, and she rose, gathering her tray. “I’d better check on him.” She turned away toward the disposer, hesitated, then turned back with a curious expression. “What did you people do to him, anyway? I mean, he’s so different.”
Kas’ face relaxed into a grin. “I just explained his priorities. That there were no bureaucrats to impress out here, no fat cats to wheedle for grants. Just a job to be done. I think he was relieved.”
She nodded and returned his grin with a smile. “I’m sure he was. Frankly, I was expecting to have to run the show while he socialized. This is going to be interesting.” She hurried out.
She returned a few minutes later, red-faced, puffing, and slightly disheveled. Tucked beneath her arm was a crystal reader.
“This assistant’s job may be tougher than I thought,” she said ruefully. Then she chuckled. “He didn’t answer my knock, so I got worried and barged in. He was sitting there stark naked, glued to this damned viewer. I’d guess he’s been there at least one day and probably two. He was dirty and unshaven. He cursed me and told me to get out. I tried to reason with him. But finally I had to grab the viewer and tell him that if he wanted it back he’d have to get cleaned up and come down here for dinner.”
She chuckled again. “At any moment he’s going to come boiling through that hatch, probably demanding my head on a platter.” She shook her head. “We’re going to have to keep an eye on him, sir. I know he’s an ass, but he may well be the most gifted epidemiologist in the Empire. Unless he starts taking care of himself…”
Kas nodded, grinning. “Don’t worry, Doctor. I’ll back you up. In fact, why don’t you give me that viewer? I don’t work for him. He can’t just order me to give it back.”
She looked relieved as she passed it over, then got herself a cup of caf and sat down, obviously nervous. Most of the crew had already left the mess room, but those remaining were dawdling and delaying their departure. It seemed that Ro-Lecton’s appearance was anticipated with interest.
They weren’t disappointed. A clean and freshly-depilated Ro-Lecton hurried through the hatch in less than ten minutes, red-faced and angry.
“ Doc tor Kor-Nashta!” He demanded furiously as he entered, “This is inexcusable! Give me that reader immediately! How dare you…”
His voice trailed off as he saw the reader in front of Kas, who was, with difficulty, keeping a straight face.
“Doctor Ro-Lecton!” Kas shouted cheerfully. “Pull up a chair, Doctor.” He looked around. “Tera, would you get the doctor a tray?” Tera, struggling to control her amusement, nodded and hurried to the food dispensers.
Ro-Lecton was obviously wondering what Kas was doing with the reader, and trying to figure out how to demand its return. He dropped absently into a chair, and Tera slid a tray in front of him.
He frowned. “Really, Commodore, I do have work. I have no idea what Doctor Kor-Nashta thought she was doing in stealing the viewer, but if you’ll give it to me I’ll get back to work…”
Even while he was still talking, Kas began shaking his head. “Nope. Sorry, Doctor. Now, you cram a couple thousand calories down your neck, and then we’ll go discuss it.”
Ro-Lecton eyed Kas warily. He was clearly remembering the last time he and Kas had ‘discussed’ something. He was about to protest when his nose was assailed by thoroughly distracting smells coming from the tray in front of him. He swallowed noisily, hesitated, and began wolfing down the food on his tray like a starving man — which, in fact, he was.
He finally sat back and sighed with contentment after consuming what Kas estimated to be over two thousand calories, Kas invited him and Doctor Kor-Nashta to his cabin.
“All right, Doctor,” he began. He suppressed a smile at Ro-Lecton’s wary expression. “You have a very important job here. In fact, the rest of us can’t even begin our part of the job until you’ve done yours. Everyone aboard this ship is depending upon you. Fortunately I think you’re the man for the job, and represent our best chance of accomplishing our mission.”
“But,” he continued, “You’re behaving like a fool. Before this meal, how long had it been since you’ve eaten?”
Ro-Lecton looked uncomfortable. “Uh, I’m not sure. Breakfast? Or was that yesterday? But Commodore, what I’m doing is vital…”
Kas interrupted him with a wave of his hand. “Of course it’s vital. But I don’t want you to miss something important because you’re groggy from lack of sleep. Damn it, Doctor, you have to take care of yourself. We need you too badly to let you kill yourself trying to do everyone’s job.”
“Now, I won’t insist that you attend every meal. But I will insist that you at least eat dinner. If necessary, I will send someone to fetch you — and if you try to scuffle with them the way you did with Doctor Kor-Nashta today,
