Fare For The Passage

Posted on Mon Dec 25th, 2017 @ 6:02pm by Captain Remas McDonald

1,643 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: S1:2: Rubicon
Location: Deck 10, Cryogenic Stasis Bay 3
Timeline: MD 6, 10.30am

For a moment, a bare fraction of a moment, Remas could pretend the stasis pod was being used for its original purpose. Within there was a life put on hold, a person who had signed up to go to the furthermost shore and sail beyond it. But he could only think that for a moment. Life support monitors were powered off, and only the cryonic systems were operating.

The only life being kept in stasis within the pod was that of the necrotising bacteria.

He stepped back from the pod, letting a chill breath as he looked along the row of dark and empty pods. How much more would be filled by those who followed him into these dark waters? So lost in his thoughts was he, that he didn't hear the bay doors slide open to allow admittance to another.

Rena had gotten an alert that a couple pods were "malfunctioning." The issue was minor, an easy fix, but if left alone it would eventually make the whole pod fail. Looking down at the PaDD in her hand, she walked right past Remas and down the row of pods, searching for the first one on her short list. "87... 88..." She came to a stop in front of one of the empty pods. "At least nobody's in it," she said quietly to herself.

Despite being on board since the ship's departure, navigating the pod bay was still a task. Luckily she had a layout of the entire room on that flat piece of tech in her hands. Since the second of the three pods in question was the next row down, she wanted to see what the issue was on the empty one to see if it would affect the life support system before attempting it on the ones in use. It was already a different scenario, since the first pod was only using its cryonic systems, but if the life support system worked without causing a problem then she'd know the problem wasn't likely to be there.

Wanting to eliminate possibilities, Rena tapped in a command on the pod's panel, and a moment later it lit up as the life support system came online. She then ran a diagnostic while it was running to hunt for the culprit, all the while hoping it wasn't a fault in the life support.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this Doctor, but that man is beyond the care of mortal mending," Remas said with a melancholy smile on his face. "I'd have called for your aid in this, but its Rish tradition to see the dead off right and proper the day after. Least restless souls go wandering."

The voice made Rena jump, and she turned to see someone else in the bay, and a moment later spotted the man's pips. "Oh! Sorry, sir, I didn't notice you there. I was looking into an issue that came up in a couple pods, and this one was one of them. As for the man in the morgue, yes, I cannot do anything for him."

She paused when the pod beeped, and she read the results from the diagnostic. At least it wasn't related to the LS, so she turned off the life support to the empty pod, that way it wasn't draining resources. "I will leave you to your tradition, sir, but if you need anything, please do not hesitate to ask."

"No worries from me Doctor, and the dead are long past caring over such things," he took a breath in, and let out a slow exhalation of frosting breath. "If you pardon me for asking it, how would you like to be addressed? I was raised by an older set of values, but it would seem by biology you have two first names and I'd hate to be rude. To you or your companion."

"I don't mind," Rena said, turning her attention to the pod. "A common nickname that's stuck with me is Rena, but... hmm, how to describe it..." She paused for a moment as she worked on the pod. "Kal has no surname, but in a way their name became my last name when we joined. So I can be addressed as Doctor Kal and respond. I suppose it can be compared to a traditional human wedding, except... well, ok, that might not be the best example." Rena chuckled a little. "But to summarize, Rena Kal is acceptable."

“Doctor Kal it shall be,” Remas smiled, and nodded towards the darkened cryo pod. “I’m going to do my best to keep these from filling with crew who will never wake. But we all signed up knowing it might well take all that we are. Did you ever get a chance to meet Mister Zark, our Chief of Operations, before his passing?”

"As long as the pods stay functioning, they should be fine." The Trill paused, a little "aha" coming from her lips as she found the problem. "Blasted rings... uh, no sir, I didn't have the honor of meeting him while he was alive."

"An honour it was," Remas said with a nod. "Indeed a singular honour to know all of you. Never before have I met your like before, folk whose dreams and desires resided so far outside the norm that we had to break the fundament itself to reach them. What hellish lives we all must have endured before this?"

"Well, out of my two hundred years, I'm sure I can think of something," Rena said with a wink, gesturing that she was moving to another pod, specifically the one that was the next row over. "I've always been curious about new things, even before I joined, but Kal's memories only strengthened the feelings I already had." She looked through the window of the pod, staring at the sleeping person inside. "I would hardly call it hellish, more like... ordinary. I bet nobody on board thought they would be here."

"I did. 'From the moment I took breathe and supped upon my mother's teat, I knew no other stars but unfamiliar ones would sate my wandering lust'. The words of my oldest relative Aldarrun De'Rish, Captain of one of the first Rish homesteader ships. We as people do wander so, never taking root longer than needed and always heading somewhere else. Somewhere new," he let out another slow breath. "Got me in trouble often enough, reckon I can keep my self occupied out here. Hope to keep you bored at work, if you'll pardon me saying so?"

Rena let out a laugh. "I hope so, that way I can catch up on paperwork." Knowing what she was looking for, she went to the source of the problem and began fixing it. The screen on the side of the pod kept the vitals of the person inside, and wpuld alert her if anything changed. "But the Rish... you must have had quite an adventure growing up. I have really only heard of them by name, but I can imagine it will be a long while before that 'wandering lust' is satisfied."

“We Rish tend to fall through history because we take so long to get to anywhere. I think the fastest Homesteader out there has a maximum speed of warp 5. And my childhood was filled with love, some small adventure, and one occasion of absolute terror,” he grinned. “I was born aboard the Homesteader ‘Peoples Home’, just a light month out from Epsilon Eridani. When I turned twelve we reached our destination of Harlands World, good trade outpost with a side business of beaches and resorts. 80% water you know? Never did I imagine any place had so much water as that world.”

He shook his head in thought.

“When I saw the oceans at ground level I was terrified. All that water, no baffle cladding or cooling viens? And where were the bulkheads? The dome above my head? I think I took my ma half a day to coax me back out of the crawl space I got myself into inside the shuttle,” he said wistfully. “But that was my reaction to something new: terror and slow acceptance. I intend for us to find the unknown out here Doctor. And terror will not cut it.”

Rena nodded, pressing her lips together as he spoke. Luckily, her back was to him, so he couldn't see her reaction to the mention of a large body of water. As long as she didn't have go to in it... "As a kid, a change like that must have been scary at first, and sometimes, terror is part of the experience," she said, giving a slight shrug. "Granted, it's not a desirable response, but it's rare that fear lacks a reason."

Moving to the other side of the pod, Rena was able to push her thoughts aside. "Your experience was justified, you grew up on a ship and had never seen something like that before. As long as that fear doesn't hold you back."

"We grew up in the Milky Way, beneath a dusting of stars with century old stories and myths draped about them. Out here, amid stars bright and new...I wonder if the fear will be ours to behold, or someone else's?" Remas pushed away from the wall he's gravitated towards and nodded his head to Kal. "Best get back to work 'fore the ship makes a wrong turn somewhere and we end up in Andromeda."

Rena looked up and gave him a smirk. "Even if we did end up in Andromeda, would it be that much of a tragedy to explore it?"

"I knew you were the right choice for this mission. Knew it my bones," Remas said over his shoulder. "Keep up the fine work Doctor Kal. We wind up in Andromeda, you'll be the first one I tell."

 

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