Chapter 32: Talker

The day had been long and really boring so far. It seemed totally incongruous to Daria that waking a sleeping alien should be something that made it so hard for her to keep her eyes open! Still, all of the steps had to be performed if they were going to wake Kazira.

The day had been spent first sealing off an area which could then be pressurized. Once that was complete, the pressure and gas mixture was brought up to the level of their spacesuits. While this could have allowed the Earth crew to remove their helmets and/or gloves this was not the case. They would stay in their spacesuits so that should there be a decompression they would not die. The aliens stayed in their own suits as well. It had been a long 6 hours.

Anton carried the "recovery ball" that would be used to rescue Kazira and bring her back to Explorer. Once on board she would be able to get out and walk around. They needed to head back to Mars as quickly as possible. The amount of oxygen on board their ship sufficient for everyone, but only for so long.

Arnison pressed the button to bring Kazira out of her long sleep. Displays showed information. Specific lights came on. It took almost five minutes before the container slid from its storage unit with a whoosh. Apparently, there was some pressure difference between the unit and the space with everyone else.

Daria was struck by Kazira's beauty. Other than the natural pallor of her skin, she had simply amazing features and hair as red as Daria's sister Quinn when she was a teenager. Daria's thought was that top models would hate this woman. She was more beautiful than they were by far! Daria's opinion of the aliens were that their features were certainly within the normal range of human features. Change their skin color and they probably most resembled people around the Mediterranean. Was this a coincidence? Some DNA testing might answer that – assuming the aliens had DNA.

It took another ten minutes before Kazira opened her eyes. They were a beautiful azure blue. She lay there and breathed deeply as the mechanism that had kept her in place retracted. Then she was free.

Kazira suddenly sat up and started talking, "Wow! That was an incredible experience. I can't believe that I actually dreamed while in suspended animation. I saw myself on Earth. I was by a clear blue lake in the mountains. The trees had all turned those beautiful colors that they do on Earth. And on top of that there was snow gently drifting down. Somehow I had gotten separated from the rest of our exploration party. But, I did see some smoke in the distance."

Kazira's voice was playing in Daria's helmet. Along with that she could see a written translation of what was being said. Anton had not told her that he had put microphones where he could pick up the aliens' conversations nor that he had hooked in a translator program to keep all the humans informed about what was being said. But, sometimes Anton's paranoia was a worthwhile thing!

"Kazira," Arnison exclaimed. "Get out of that container and come over here. We are being rescued and you need to get into this rescue vessel."

"Who's rescuing us? Did it take a hundred years to get someone here? Am I the last person you are awakening?"

Just as Kazira was taking a breath to keep talking Arnison interrupted and quickly stated, "We have been asleep for a thousand years. Our new human friends happened onto our ship and have been good enough to offer to take us back to Mars. Now get in this rescue vessel!"

Kazira's mouth dropped open and she said in almost a whisper – as if only her people could hear, "You mean we are being rescued by pinkies?! They don't plan on eating us do they?"

Arnison gave Kazira a hard look, "First, that is not a very nice thing to call the people who are saving our lives. Second, they have made some progress in the past thousand years. They assure me we are not on their dinner menu! Now get in this ball!"

As she stood, stretched and walked over to the rescue ball Kazira's beauty and figure really shocked Daria. The members of the fashion club could have only dreamed of being this gorgeous so many years ago. Daria watched as Kazira stepped into the rescue ball and Arnison closed it. Anton moved forward and they secured it to themselves with tethers to avoid any chance of losing it as they moved back to Explorer. Looking in the window of the ball, Daria could swear she saw Kazira's lips moving.

32.2

Getting Kazira back to the ship was quite a chore. They had to depressurize the space they were in and tear down the makeshift pressure barrier. Daria got to do most of the work removing the barrier and then she watched as Anton and Arnison moved the rescue ball carefully through the corridor, avoid jagged metal with the possibility of rupturing the ball, and then finally moving past ragged edges and out into open space along the line connecting their ship with the alien ship.

Jaricon was waiting in the airlock as the men approached with Kazira. Through the face shield it looked to Daria like she was laughing. Admittedly, Kazira was quite a sight curled up in that ball with her mouth still going as if she was delivering a lecture. Still, it was clearly hilarious to Jaricon. Daria also surmised that the two women might not be on the best of terms. Was it possible that aliens could behave like humans and make any social group a repeat of high school? Daria was a bit puzzled that her beauty didn't make Kazira one of the "cool kids."

Jaricon stepped out into space – connected to the tether line, of course. This allowed Arnison, Anton, and Kazira to cycle through the airlock first. Daria set her communications program to connect with Jaricon alone.

"Were you laughing as those two guys approached with Kazira in the ball?"

"Yes," Jaricon replied. "You have to know Kazira to appreciate how funny this looks"

"Really," Daria commented.

"Kazsira has it all. Beauty. Brains, Strength. And yet she has two real flaws: in her mind she must always be in control and secondly she never, ever shuts up. She also doesn't filter her statements well. She just says whatever pops into her mind. That sometimes gets her in trouble in our organizational structure."

Daria commented, "Thus she wasn't thinking when she called us 'Pinkies.' It sounded like a derogatory term."

"Let me apologize to you on her behalf, Daria. Yes, it is derogatory. It is a term referring to people from the continent of Europe. There are similar terms for people on each of the continents. Still, even when we left there the Europeans had some of the best technology and organizations on the planet, though the Chinese were quickly surpassing them."

As they were talking the outer airlock door opened and the two women pulled themselves into it. Daria reached over and disconnected the tether line to the alien ship. The door closed and they could hear the hiss of air as it pressurized. When the light turned green they stepped into the ship and removed their helmets.

32.3

Anton and Arnison were working on getting Kazira out of the rescue ball. At this point there was no issue with her suffocating. Still, getting her out seemed to be much more difficult that getting her in. Sazer had gone over to try and help.

Daria and Jazira removed their spacesuits and walked over. Daria noticed that Darren was already going through the pre-flight checklist. They were getting near the limits on their consumables, particularly with the extra people. They needed to get underway.

Finally, the opening yielded and Kazira stepped out of the ball. "Wow that thing is confining!" she stated. "I had my knees under my chin. I don't think I have been that uncomfortable in all my life." Turning to Anton she said, "You really should do something about this thing. It was terribly uncomfortable."

"Sorry," Anton said. "It is designed for humans as a last resort in rescues. Perhaps it doesn't fit your physiology well. At any rate it was certainly better than being left in the box over in your derelict ship!"

"I guess it was OK," Kazira said. "Still, you should look carefully at the design. What if someone needed to spend long hours in that thing! Just look at my hair! It is worse than when I got up out of the box!"

Daria stepped in and looked straight at Kazira. She stated in total deadpan, "You need sit and get buckled into your seat now. We have to go in order to make it to Mars in a reasonable amount of time. As it is, we are low on consumables – like oxygen! Now get going. That is an order."

Apparently the translator worked quite well in this instance. Kazira sat in her seat and buckled in. For once she didn't even say anything. That didn't last long, however. She soon started whispering to Jaricon.

Daria turned her attention to the front. Anton and Darren were just finishing the pre-flight check list. It was finally time to go.

Anton inquired in his best command voice, "Reactor status?" Everything sounded more like an order than a question.

Darren replied, "Running and nominal."

Anton ordered, "Shields on."

Darren replied, "Roger, shields on."

Anton asked, "Warp status?"

Darren replied, "Nacelles on idle."

Anton inquired, "Thrusters?"

Darren said, "Thrusters charged and ready."

Anton asked, "Inertial dampers and artificial gravity?"

Darren replied, "Inertial dampers are online and we are at Martian standard gravity."

Anton asked, "Course for Mars laid in?"

Darren replied, "Aye aye, sir. Course is laid in and ready. The ship is ready for departure."

Anton ordered, "Move us away from the derelict ship on thrusters, then when ready execute our course home. Set speed at 2 C."

Darren replied, "Moving on thrusters."

With the inertial dampers online there was little perception of movement as the craft moved away from the derelict ship and the floating bodies and debris. Daria watched on her screen. It took about 10 minutes for Darren and the navigation computer to get them clear of the debris field.

Darren stated, "We are clear of the debris field and are ready for warp drive."

Anton replied, "Engage."

Darren pressed a button and the navigation computer took over. It energized the idling nacelles and the ship rapidly accelerated to twice the speed of light. He stated, "Navigation shows that we should reach Mars in about two and a half hours. Touchdown in three hours."

Anton turned his seat to those behind him, "You can move about the ship now. We have water to drink and there is still some food in the galley. If you do not want plain water, I think there is still tea there as well."

"Got any Martian Moonshine?" Daria asked.

Anton chuckled, "Not on this mission. But I will happily drink with you once we are back on Mars! We can drink it straight up like you would good vodka!"

Daria chuckled, and then stood up to stretch her legs. A cup of tea did not sound like a bad idea right now.

32.4

Daria stood with Jaricon and each had a mug of tea in their hands. She said, " Did I ever tell you that you look quite good for someone over a thousand years old?"

"Why thank you. Most of my family barely lives to be over 100. I attribute my longevity to hard work and getting plenty of sleep!"

Both laughed as Daria responded, "I am sure that explains it. What I don't understand is how your ship became disabled in the first place."

Adopting a serious tone Jaricon said, "It is a mystery to me as well. We should not have ventured into a debris field like that. Even with shields it is asking for trouble. I frankly question whether or not the shields were even on! The damage was so extreme. And the lost lives! We are really in pain over the loss of our friends, families, and colleagues. It is almost like someone planned this. But, who could do such a monstrous thing? One thing I did while we were on the ship is download the logs and ship's data from the time we changed course to explore the debris field until the ship's systems collapsed from damage and loss of power."

"How were you able to get them if there was no power?" Daria inquired.

"Easy," Jaricon said. Once Kazira was out of her sleep chamber, I simply took the power input and connected it to the nearest computer access point. There was plenty of power, since she had three chamber power units connected to her chamber. That allowed power to flow and I could get my queries answered. Once we are back on Mars, I can study the data and come to a conclusion."

"If you need assistance, then let me know. As the colony librarian I am responsible for acquiring and keeping all of the information collected by the colony. I am really more of an archivist than a librarian."

Jaricon looked puzzled then exclaimed, "Well, the translator gave me the same word for both of you occupations. Can you clarify for me?"

Daria replied, "The first is a keeper of books and other records. The second goes beyond that to, in some cases, directly acquiring the information and even artifacts. For example, I am here to record our first contact with your people and the rescue of survivors from your ship. Thus, I have not only acquired information, but pieces of the ship, images, and video as well. It is important for an archivist to preserve the context as well as the information."

"I think I understand," Jaricon said.

"What I had in mind is that we have procedures for investigating major accidents and disasters. If use of our procedures would be helpful, then I can get you information on how we proceed. One of the important steps in the process is that when a consensus had been reached by the investigation team they hold a public presentation of the results to close out the investigation."

"Very interesting. I thank you and I will certainly give this some thought."

Daria had the opportunity to talk to all of the rescued aliens. Her last conversation was with Kazira.

Kazira looked at Daria and asked – Daria would have said blurted out, "So why is it that everyone here seems to be so old for humans? You must be over 50 yourself. Aren't you too weak and feeble to be able to take on such a long mission? I'm surprised you people have the mental capacity remaining, not to mention the physical stamina, to do all of this. How were you chosen? Wouldn't young people have been a better choice? I mean look at you. Your subcutaneous collagen has broken down. Though you do not lose your strength as fast as your human males, nevertheless you wind up with those floppy upper arms and all those wrinkles! Even your breasts sag, though I guess that is not such a big deal since you must have long ago ceased to be capable of bearing children."

Daria was rapidly starting to understand why Kazira irritated even her own people. This woman has no filter! "Kazira, stop talking a minute."

Surprisingly, Kazira stopped talking.

Daria took a breath. "There are some things I need to explain to you. First, the average life expectancy for humans when you left Earth was around 40 to 45 years. Half the children died before reaching adulthood and there were no effective cures for common diseases. Today the average person can expect to live at least until their late 80s. If you reach age 65, then it is highly likely that you will see age 90. Most children live to adulthood and very few women die in childbirth. If you look at diseases that result in death most are associated with longevity. We have treatments and even cures for diseases and conditions that didn't even have names when you departed."

"Well that is good," Kazira commented.

"Then there is the matter of the age of the people you see here and in our colony. Initially, you had to be at least 60 and in good health to be part of the colony. Why you ask? Well, there was considerable concern about the effects of radiation on the human body. Specifically, that radiation exposure can drastically increase the cancer risk in 30 years. Since the remaining life expectancies of 60 year old colonists are generally 30 years or less we are the perfect choices. Radiation exposure will not likely cause us to die of cancer before we die of something else."

Kazira stared at Daria, "Oh. I guess that makes sense."

"As for your observations about my body and those of my colleagues, well what you say is the truth. However, it is considered very bad manners to point out someone's unattractive physical attributes – which includes the effects of aging. We like to think of ourselves as healthy and attractive, at least to others our own age. I haven't looked like I was in my 20s since I was 35. However, my husband Tom and I are very satisfied with how we look to each other at this age. We first met in our teens and married in our 20s. We have been together and shared most of our lives. The fact that we no longer look like young adults is immaterial to us."

"I am sorry if I have given offense," Kazira said.

"I forgive you," Daria responded. "But, you need to be careful what you say to humans and how you say it."

"I will remember. So, then when did you develop the faster than light drive system? I realize it has been a thousand Earth years since we left. Still, such a development is quite consequential."

"Actually, we didn't develop it. We got it from you. We found your cave headquarters and your artificial intelligence systems were activated. One of them, who calls himself 'Marcipor,' gave us the detailed plans and instructions on how to do the drive, shields, anti-gravity, and artificial gravity."

Anton called from the front, "Get into your seats and buckle in. We are approaching Mars and will be landing soon."

Everyone went to their seats and got ready. As Daria sat down she could hear Kazira talking – endlessly – to the other aliens. Daria would be capturing data on their approach, so she really didn't have time to hear what was being said.

32.5

Anton spoke loudly and clearly. "Orbital injection in 10 seconds. We are going sub-light."

Daria felt a slight pulling on her seatbelt straps and for a fraction of second there was a feeling of disorientation. But then her attention was fully on her screen. It showed the slowing of their craft and its entry into an orbit around Mars. After going around the planet twice, the orbit would decay and they would reenter the atmosphere.

A short time later she heard Anton say, "Atmospheric entry in 10 seconds."

Daria's screen went blank as their craft hit the atmosphere. All power was being diverted to the shields. Clearly, since they were not already dead, the shields were holding, the intense heat was being dissipated away from the ship, and the inertial dampers were keeping the occupants from being squashed by the forces at work.

She heard Anton say, "Heat is dissipating. Begin diverting power to the anti-gravity system."

It was sort of like hitting a speed bump when the shipboard gravity was turned off. They were now close enough to the planet that the artificial gravity was no longer needed. Inertial dampers had also been powered off. Now the main power consumer was the anti-gravity system, which would slow them to nearly a complete stop.

"Activate thrusters and bring us to a hover over the landing pad," Anton commanded. Darren executed his order, though in reality much of his job as pilot was to monitor the computer to make certain that all was well with the flight as programmed.

Daria's screen came back to life. She could see the surface and the landing pad, which were only about 100 meters (330 ft) below them. Their craft was descending slowly and Darren had just extended the four landing legs. At this point she expected that the computer was flying the craft and would bring them to a soft landing. She was right.

Anton unbuckled and stood up. He made certain his translator was on. "Welcome back to Mars! We have landed at the Aries colony. Everyone needs to put on a surface suit or if you do not have a surface suit, then a spacesuit. We will be exiting the craft and will be met by colonists, who will walk with us to the quarantine building. We will be going to the quarantine area, since we do not know if there are pathogens which could make either species sick. We will be confined there for 2-3 weeks until the scientists and doctors are convinced we can be with the rest of the population. I am told that certain changes have been made to the area, so it will be more comfortable than before and we can have some decent meetings! I have also ordered a couple of bottles of Martian Moonshine. We will toast our return at dinner tomorrow! Now get going!"

Daria was truly surprised as she descended the stairs and started walking from the landing pad to the quarantine building. Many of her friends and colleagues were out in surface suits and waiving at her and the others. There were even signs welcoming them back to the colony and welcoming the aliens they rescued. The outpouring of excitement was far more than she had imagined!

Once inside everyone got out of their surface and spacesuits. The group walked together to a new glassed area where they were greeted by Mia and other senior officials – on the other side of the glass. Mia kept it short and the two personnel inside with them, wearing biohazard suits, showed them to their quarters and provided details on the showers and other personal hygiene areas.

After a long day and an exciting mission it was finally time to go to sleep. In bed Daria rolled over and kissed Tom.

Tom smiled at her and said, "We've come a long way from Lawndale, haven't we?"

"No kidding," Daria replied. Then she rolled over and sleep came immediately.