After completing the pre-flight checklist Joe turned around and called out to her passengers "Everybody secured?".
Upon getting confirmation from all 6 passengers she turned back facing the viewport.
"Depressurizing launch bay." she said working the controls to the side of her.
When the indicators showed the launch bay to be devoid of any atmosphere she ordered the launch bay doors to open. Slowly the pod was lowered down from the launch bay into open space beneath the Hermes. The material of the outer hull gave way to the open field of stars directly behind the Hermes.
"Launching." the pod disconnected from the Hermes with a small jolt and ignited its engines. In a graceful curve Joe swung the Pod into orbit of the planet. The planet soon filled the viewport with its massive white surface of almost unbroken ice. After some time a narrow band came into view that stretched the whole circumference of the planet, the only place on this planet that was capable of sustaining life.
"That is something you don't get to see every day." Tony said from the co-pilot seat.
"Absolutely." Joe answered.
"Pod 1 to Hermes, starting descent." Joe called in.
"Hermes to pod 1, understood. We have you on scanners, all clear." Smyke answered from his console back on the Hermes.
The pod pitched slightly towards the planet and began to descent. As its orbits drew tighter it started to enter the atmosphere, creating slight turbulences for the passengers to deal with. After one orbit the pod had shed enough speed to continue its flight in the atmosphere without any more turbulences.
"Pod 1 to Hermes, we've entered the atmosphere. I'm estimating two more orbits until we're slow enough to land." Joe reported in.
"Understood, proceed."
Joe maneuvered the pod over the narrow stretch of green and followed it, the whole time using the atmosphere to slow down the pod.
As the pod slowed down Joe lowered its altitude further until the stretch of green became wider and first details of the surface became visible. The surface was spotted with forrest like growths and other vegetation.
"Hermes to pod 1, please tie in the cameras to we get some good shots." Smyke requested.
"Pod 1 to Hermes, understood." Joe answered and switched on the pickup on the bow mounted camera.
The scientists in the passenger seats eagerly turned to their monitors to have a first look. Within moments the cabin was filled with heated discussions about the flora and fauna visible.
Meanwhile Joe had lowered the pod to an altitude of only 200 meters and approached the pre-selected landing site. She pivoted the pod into an arc to circle the area for inspection before landing.
"Pod 1 to Hermes, we've reached landing site A1. Visual inspection is good, landing site is clear."
"Hermes to pod 1, understood. You're go for landing."
Joe slowed the pod down further and brought it down on a randomly chosen spot. She kept the engines idle and switched of the anti gravity unit. The pod sunk in to the ground for several centimeters and settled. Joe then proceeded to cycle down the engines.
"Alright people. Please remain seated while I secure the pod, it'll only take a moment."
Despite the impatient grumbling from the passengers Joe went trough the checklist.
She undid her seat belt and got up, checking her console for the quality of the air outside, finding nothing harmful to humans at a glance.
"Pod 1 to Hermes, we have landed and are secure. Outside looks good, ready to debark."
"Hermes to Pod 1, copy. Proceed."
"Alright, you're now free to exit the pod. Please stay close to it and be careful, this is an alien planet after all." Joe instructed.
She popped open the hatch, letting the air from the planet in. They had already checked that it was safe to breath, they had not accounted for the smell.
"What is that?" Joe asked.
"That is the smell of fertile soil, good for growing stuff." Tony answered with a wide grin.
"Meaning?" Joe asked.
"Watch your Step." Tony said and stepped out of the pod with a huge grin before anyone could stop him.
The next sound that could be heard was the sound of a man stepping in very wet mud.
"Are you ok?" Joe asked with concern, looking at Tony who was frozen in place.
"Yeah, the ground is a lot muddier than expected. You might want to break out the rubber boots."
Joe turned to the others still in the pod who where busy putting on their rubber boots and covering them with disposable plastic.
"Are you ok?" Joe asked.
"Fine, but I might need to change my boots afterwards."
"Don't worry, that should not be an issue." Joe answered and sat down to change into her own rubber boots. Once done she also finished by adding a sheet of disposable plastic to each boot which would make cleaning them a lot easier.
After that she followed the scientists out of the pod and took a look around.
Two of the scientists where busy helping Tony change into his boots, they carefully bagged his normal boots in a specimen bag to avoid contaminating the pod.
Joe took a careful look around. She had landed on a plane that stretched to the horizon in three direction. To the relative north a thin line was visible, marking the edge of the glaciers.
The other scientists where already busy spreading out and taking samples.
Joe took out her scanner and checked the surroundings.
The scanner showed no movements within range, it also showed the composition of the ground to be pretty much uniform as far as it was able to tell. No real surprise as this was the exact same thing the pods scanners had shown.
Convinced that is was safe for the others Joe relaxed and took a good look around. There was not much to see though. They had landed twenty kilometers south of the northern edge of the habitable stretch. The area was a wide plain. The surface seemed to be uniform flat with no distinguishing features at all.
Joe watched the others at work collecting the samples and scans they had come down for. Shipboard and satellite-based scanners could only tell you so much in the end.
Half of the scientists where busy setting up a portable drill rig to get some samples from deeper areas.
It took almost two hours for everybody to gather back in the pod again. They all took care to safely remove and store the plastic wrappers from their rubber boots before entering the pod. They where all gathered in the same bag as Tonys boots.
They had gathered samples of the soil that was stored in neatly labeled sample bags. The drilling rig was left in place to be gathered later. It was autonomously drilling down and collecting samples every other meter as it went, setting it up had taken most of the two hours spent on the landing site.
Joe was busy with the pre-flight checklist when the passengers announced that they where ready for takeoff. She finished the list and called up the ship.
"Pod 1 to Hermes, site A1 is done, we're heading for site A2." Joe called.
"Hermes to Pod 1, understood."
Signing off Joe ignited the engines, lifting the pod gracefully up into the air. She checked the navigation signal provided by the string of satellites in their equatorial orbit and accelerated the pod towards the next landing site.
The pod flew low over the vast plain that was dominating this region of the planet. Joe had to rely on the navigation signal provided by the satellites as the plain simply did not have any landmarks at all. After a little more than 200 kilometers they had reached the next landing site, pretty much in the middle of the habitable area.
"Pod 1 to Hermes, we're approaching site A2."
"Hermes to Pod 1, understood."
Joe banked the Pod to the side and circled the landing site, checking for obstructions of any kind. As none presented themselves she lowered the Pod and carefully set it down on the ground. Checking the atmosphere revealed the same composition as before and a total lack of anything remotely harmful for humans.
"Pod 1 to Hermes, we've landed on site A2 and are ready to embark."
"Hermes to Pod 1, roger."
"Alright, you're free to exit the Pod. Please stay in visual range while you conduct your studies."
The scientists exited the Pod, again using plastic sheets to cover their rubber boots.
Joe exited last and again scanned the surroundings. She could not pick up anything harmful or even interesting neither with her scanner nor her eyes. The wide plain was flat and completely devoid of any landmarks at all. Even the color was almost uniform brownish. The sky was gray with a nearly complete cloud cover. Only the lack of ice cliffs in the distance distinguished the landing site from the previous one.
Like before they got busy gathering samples and setting up a drilling rig.
They noticeably had begun moving less determined and more slowly due to the depressing surroundings.
"Not really a place to spent some off-time." She mentioned to one of the scientists who was busy gathering some soil samples.
"But almost ideal for farming. This is extremely fertile soil, it should easily grow pretty much anything we want to here."
"Then how is it that there is nothing growing here?"
"Unknown, we'll figure that out, don't worry."
Joe left him to his sample gathering and waited patiently for them to finish. She contemplated for a moment to check on the progress on Pod 2 that was currently doing the same exploration work in a different area of the planet, but decided against it. If they had only found more of the same it would be depressing, if they indeed found something interesting it would be even more depression to be stuck with the boring area of the planet.
She shrugged it of. It's a whole planet, there will be something interesting to see. This is also necessary work.
With her mind in a better state she noticed that the scientists where already wrapping up, so she headed to the Pod to start the pre-flight checklist.
Joe landed the Pod as carefully as before on the third landing site. After checking the surroundings the exited the Pod and began their routine. The landscape was still as depressing but the smell was not as persistent. Either they got used to it or they where starting to smell just like it. Most likely the later. This time they where noticeably moving slower than before, so Joe decided to try and motivate them.
"Alright, listen up." She waited a moment for all of them to look at her. "I know this is not the most exiting work and not the most fun place to be. But this is important work we're doing here. Besides that, this is our last stop. Let's get done and get home to a hot shower and fresh cloths, people."
She felt stupid but it seemed to have an effect as they moved faster and where eventually done much earlier than at the second site.
Once they where all settled in the Pod and the pre-flight checklist was completed Joe took them back to the Hermes for well earned rest.
Flying back to the Hermes was routine, especially with the assistance of the computer. It was still a much more demanding task for Joe than it should have been. Judging by the silence in the cabin everybody was tired and worn out, just like Joe.
As Joe docked and secured the Pod she noticed that the other Pod was not back yet, maybe they had found something more interesting after all.
She secured the Pod and embarked after the others. Tired she made her way back to her quarters in need of a hot shower. She managed to get to her quarter, undressed and got into her shower. The hot water felt very good after this exhausting day. She felt very tired, a lot more tired than she should as she had not done so much today. She managed to dry herself and collapsed in her bed.
It took Joe a lot longer to wake up than normal. Normally she was up shortly after her alarm went off. This time the alarm was on its third cycle when she finally managed to get out of bed. She got ready and headed off to get some coffee before her briefing.
The ship was more silent than normal. Joe just shrugged it off to yesterday being more demanding than normal, but that didn't sit just right. Her train of thought was interrupted by the sight of the coffeemaker. There was no queue, which again was unusual at this time but Joe would not complain. She grabbed a mug of coffee and headed of to the meeting room.
She made it to the meeting room in time and took a seat. Joe clung to her coffee, sipping it in the hope to become more awake and alert. There was no way she would be able to fly a pod down to the surface in this condition.
Joe barely managed to stay awake while the others arrived.
She did not notice how she collapsed on the meeting table, spilling her coffee and bumping her head.
The Captain had already arrived and settled into her seat. She jumped a little from the loud bump Joes head made on the table. It took her a moment to register the spilled coffee and the small trickle of blood coming from Joes head. She shook herself out of the stupor and bolted from her seat. Checking the pulse she was relieved to feel a steady pulse, confirming the Joe had merely collapsed and was still alive.
She moved to the PA system next to the door and keyed it open. "Medical emergency in the Main meeting room, I need assistance. I repeat, medical emergency in the meeting room, I need assistance."
She went back to check on Joe while Sunblast entered the room hurriedly, spurned on by the call for help. The Captain made sure that Joe was able to breath freely by turning Joes head to the side. Both looked at each other quite helpless.
The next one to arrive was the chief, carrying a first aid kit. "What happened?" he asked.
"I had just sat down and she simply collapsed out of nowhere." The Captain answered.
The chief got busy checking Joes vitals.
A short moment later a petite blond woman came rushing in carrying a different med kit. "What happened?" Dr. Fredrichs asked in a sure tone.
"Apparently she just collapsed out of nowhere, Doc." The chief answered while checking the Joes vitals.
"Ok. How are her vitals?" She stepped next to Joe on the other side from where the chief was working on her.
"Weak but stable as far as I can tell. Do you have a med-scanner with you?" The Chief answered.
Dr. Fredrichs didn't bother answering. Instead she opened her med kit and pointed the med scanner at Joe. Methodically she ran the scanner over her head and down her upper body.
"She has a superficial wound on her forehead, pulse and blood pressure are way too low, no wonder she collapsed." she stated. "Did anything happen before this?" She asked the Captain.
"I don't know. She returned from the planet yesterday with no problem. I have not talked to her since. This was the first meeting scheduled for today."
"She was down on the planet? Has anybody else who was planet-side reported any problems?"
"Not as far as I know. But Ms. 9 also did not report anything before her collapse." The Cpatain said.
"Ok, please check on everybody who was planet-side. I'd hate for someone to collapse in their quarters without anybody noticing. Chief, we need a stretch and get her to the infirmary, I don't like these vitals."
"You got it." The chief bolted out the door and recruited the closest two crewman to help.
They returned with a stretcher and armed their way through the crowd.
"Alright people, nothing to see her. Give us some room to work here." The Captain shouted.
The crowd slowly dispersed while Joe was transported on the stretcher.
They arrived at the small infirmary and managed to lift Joe on the scanner bed.
"Alright, lets see what we have here." Dr. Fredrichs focused on the monitor that was starting to fill with data.
She spent quite some time pondering the data.
"Ok. I see." She mumbled while pouring over the data.
"What is wrong with her?" The Chief asked.
"One moment." Dr. Fredrichs said.
She activated the small PA panel and called the Captain.
"Any news, Doc?" The captain asked.
"Yes. Ms. 9 seems to suffer from an allergic reaction. Luckily her breathing is not impeded. It is imperative that everybody that was on the planet is checked upon immediately, not everybody might be so lucky."
"We're on it. So far they're all fine. I'll call you if we need you. Out."
While Dr. Fredrichs spoke to the Captain the Chief had busied himself with cleaning Joes headwound. Dr. Fredrichs turned back to the monitor, occasionally checking on the Chiefs work.
"You seem to have that well in hand, I need to prepare a drip for the ensign, please call me the moment her vitals change." She said and left for the small storage cabinet.
The Chief nodded absentmindedly and continued to dress Joes head wound.
The audience in the meeting room was quite different from the last time. The Captain, Dr. Schmitz and Sunblast where seated at the table together with Dr. Fredrichs.
"Alright, Doc. What did you find?" The Captain started.
"Ms. 9 did suffer an allergic reaction that taxed her immune system to the point where she collapsed. She was critical at some point but we caught it in time.
She is recovering nicely. She woke up earlier this morning but is on bed rest for the next day."
That statement got relieved faces all around.
"Two other members of her expedition also suffered from an allergic reaction but with much milder symptoms. No one from the second expedition did show any symptoms."
"Where you able to identify the culprit?" The Captain asked.
"Yes. I managed to isolate a substance in Ms. 9s blood that caused the reaction. Analysis has shown it to be a byproduct from something very similar to bacteria present in the soil samples from the landing sites of the first expedition, they are absent in the samples from the second expedition." Dr. Fredrichs explained.
"By the way, Dr. Schmitz, good thinking with the boot covers. That prevented the bacteria from being spread to the whole ship, that could have caused quite some problems."
Dr. Schmitz nodded in acknowledgment.
"Why was nobody else affected that much?" The Captain asked.
"Everybody reacts different, especially with allergies. Exposure plays a huge part as well. Maybe the ensign stood downwind from a source and the others did not. In my opinion the Ensigns upbringing is the main factor. She grew up on a freighter, a practical sterile environment compared to a normal urban or rural area on a planet. Occasional visits to planets can help mitigate that but only to a certain degree."
"Fair enough. What can we do to protect ourselves from this bacteria?" The Captain asked.
"My analysis shows that the bacteria entered the body over the lungs, most likely in connection with dirt or fine dust. Filter masks should be sufficient as the bacteria itself doesn't appear to be airborne. We still need to check everybody that returns from the planet to make sure. Treatment is quite simple though. Standard antibiotics kill the bacteria just fine. The allergic reaction is easily controlled with anti-histamines."
"Sound simple enough. I don't see a reason to not continue the expeditions to the planet." The Captain stated.
"I still have to urge caution here, Captain. It appears to be a simple bacteria, but this is a different planet. The fact that its biology is close enough to ours to cause this kind of problems is worrying in itself. We should take additional decontamination measures at the very least."
They all looked at each other puzzled.
"If you think it can be that dangerous, we better implement these measures."
"Thanks. One last thing to keep in mind. There might be more dangers down there that can cause trouble, we should be very careful."
Dr. Fredrichs looked around for any questions.
"If you don't need me anymore, I have a patient to look after."
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