Chapter 16

“The Rescue Team Expands”

“This is an impressive ship,” Ms. Devens commented, sipping the tea, which was now slightly cooled to the temperature she preferred. “Though I’ve never encountered a design quite like it.”

“I would be surprised if you had,” June replied, glancing at Inta, standing to one side. “The Nestia is special, an artifact of an age long past. In fact she may be the last of her kind.” June saw the slight sadness in Inta’s smile as she mentioned it. “That’s why our prime objective is to understand what happened to the rest of Inta’s people. She’s a refugee of sorts, alone in the universe with just us, her crew. We were following a possible lead to find some answers when the tragedy on Khosrow happened. Inta understands loss and pain, and wants to do what she can to lessen the suffering of others.”

Devens rubbed her chin pensively. “I had wondered why you folks were so quick to agree to help, pro bono. Usually folks in your position throw their hands up and say something to the effect of, ‘Wish I could help’, then run the other direction as fast as they can. But you’re not those kind of people, are you.”

June demured, but Inta cared little for societal rules, least of all the ones of modesty, preferring instead honesty and kindness. “Nope, we’re not. We are people who try to make the universe a little brighter by encouraging those who glow, to shine.”

The sincerity in Inta’s voice cut through Devens’ usual cynicism regarding such naive statements; she could tell that Inta wasn’t being glib and that she genuinely felt it in her core. It resonated with the idealistic young woman buried beneath the years of endured bureaucracy, incompetence, and callousness, the woman deep inside Devens who had first gone into medicine to help those in need. She couldn’t help but feel an affinity to these people.

Devens gathered her wandering thoughts and brought them back to the task at hand. “We’re going to need to coordinate with the teams we will be picking up, as well as the AAN Headquarters. Would you have space on board to set up a command center, an office where we can have a few desks, and perhaps a conference table?”

Will and June looked to Inta, who thought for a moment and then replied. “Well, we have a couple of unused rooms on the command deck that you could use. We don’t have a proper conference room; we usually discuss matters around the dining room table. If you give me a few minutes, I can set up the room and have it ready for you. I’ll bring a terminal for our Q-net transceiver in there as well, so you don’t need to come to the bridge when you need to contact someone.”

Devens smiled. “That will be very helpful, thank you.” Devens took a sip of tea as she looked out the front viewport, watching the red-shifted stars slip past as rainbow streamers. “Do you have an ETA for our first rendezvous with the team from Sorkon?” she asked.

“The Sorkon system is a bit out of our way; the contact the AAN coordinator gave us, Pete Flinders, said that they’ll arrive at the rendezvous point in about five hours where we can do a ship-to-ship transfer,” June answered.

A look of surprise crossed Devens’ face, and when she realized they saw it, she felt the need to explain. “I knew Pete Flinders a long time ago. I hadn’t realized he was working on Sorkon.”

They continued to give her a curious look, so she elaborated. “We worked closely on a few assignments; he’s a good man.” A subtle smile crossed Inta’s face, causing the usually unflappable woman to blush slightly. Devens immediately changed the subject.

“I’ll gather the team and we’ll bring what we need from the equipment we brought up to the command center when it’s ready.” Devens got up from her seat, setting the empty teacup on the darkened console next to her. “Thank you for the tea; we’ll be ready shortly,” she said, then left the bridge.

They watched Devens leave, and then Will asked, “Inta, do you need help setting up the office?”

Inta, still watching the empty doorway with a subtle smile, answered. “No, I’ve got it; several instances on it. I’m joining the two smaller rooms to make a large one and I can form the needed furniture in no time flat. I’ll have everything set up by the time Devens and her team return.”

“I recognize that look,” June said playfully to Inta, “what’s going through your devious mind?”

Inta looked back in mock innocence. “Nothing, really. I just think that this trip might end up a tad more fun than I had originally thought.” Then she sashayed over to June and Will, still seated at their control stations, and she ran a finger along both their collarbones. Her eyes were half-lidded with a sultry intensity.

“Speaking of fun, we have a little time before we reach the rendezvous point...” her words trailing off with an unspoken suggestion. June and Will smiled and practically leaped from their seats, dragging the silver girl with them to their lounge.

Rhenna moved swiftly back and forth, gathering every conceivably useful device and stowing them in the hard-shelled cases strewn about her lab. She packed them carefully in the soft foam interior, her long, delicate-looking fingers deftly placing each piece within precisely molded forms.

She padded softly on her eight feet across the tiled floor as she paced back and forth in front of her bookshelves, her fingers stroking the light grey skin of her chin as she internally debated whether or not she really needed physical copies of reference material; everything on these shelves and more would be available at her fingertips using one of the half dozen tablets she had already packed, and holographic media could display the data in any fashion she found most helpful, but she found the tactile experience of flipping through physical pages reassuring; something about the scent of old pages wafting off a book left open on a table, Rhenna couldn’t quantify.

However, she could quantify the amount of space the analog volumes would consume, and every measure of that commodity was precious, so she decided glumly that the tablets would be what got packed.

Rhenna brushed the disheveled strands of hair behind her ear, which always seemed to fall out when she tried to wear it in a bun and glanced up at the chronometer on the wall. She gasped, realizing that if she didn’t hurry, she was going to be late for the mission briefing, which would be unseemly for two reasons: one, this was the first mission she would be leading, and it would not leave a good impression with her team or the Health Ministry, and two, the Minister of Health and Wellness herself would be giving the briefing, and Rhenna would catch all sorts of grief from her if she were late.

The Minister could be a harsh woman, and Rhenna knew from experience that she would be especially unforgiving if she were seen as lacking in her duties. She quickly packed away the last few pieces of equipment she would need, then secured the latches on the crates, making them ready for transport.

Then, with one last glance at the time displayed on the wall chronometer, she quickly shed her lab coat and tossed it hastily on the coat hook as she rushed out the door. Dusk had arrived, and the artificial lighting had already come on in the fixtures along the outsides of the tall buildings of the University campus that hosted her lab. She shut the door behind her, and as she turned, she could see crowds of students heading to and from evening classes in several buildings surrounding the science building her lab was in.

The architecture of the buildings on campus was of standard Linyphiidae design: Organic, sweeping curves, looking closer to a structure that was grown rather than built. The rooms on every level, like her lab, had doors that opened onto raised walkways that ran the length of the building, which had a particular design feature that often troubled visitors; none of the ledge-like balconies had any railings other than a low lip sloping upward, denoting the approaching edge.

Wide flat columns made with the same rough texture as the floors ran down the length of the building from level to level. As Rhenna looked around, hundreds of Linyphiidae students could be seen either casually walking and chatting with their classmates on these vertical surfaces, leaving class, or running frantically up the ‘wall’ walkway, trying to make it to their next class before the lecturer began.

Rhenna sympathized with the harried students, as she was in danger of being late for her next appointment herself. Fortunately, she knew that the lecture hall the Minister had commandeered was on the ground level and that gravity would be working in her favor. Without a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed the lipped edge of the balcony with her feet on her front two legs, swung her body out over the edge, and let go, letting gravity hurtle her towards the ground.

For a moment, she delighted in the sensations of the wind whistling past her ears, whipping through the hair on her head, partially freeing the hair tucked behind her ear that had escaped her bun. The feeling of the wind caressing the almost invisible fine hairs all along the chitinous lower half of her body electrified her senses.

Just before she was about to crash headlong into the ground, she smoothly grabbed the lip of the open second-floor balcony and swung herself around up onto its underside, landing solidly on the ceiling of the ground-level walkway beneath the platform above. She broke into a dead run across the ceiling, avoiding the crowd of students who only looked up in curiosity to see who was sprinting just over their heads.

Rhenna rounded the corner and sprinted across the hallway’s ceiling, heading to the large, reserved conference room for the mission briefing. Once she cleared the last pedestrians potentially blocking her way, she released her grip on the textured ceiling, twisted her body mid-fall, and landed deftly without breaking her stride.

Rushing up to the door, she paused, brushed her hair out of her eyes, and tucked the loose locks behind her ears again, trying to look presentable. She could do nothing about the perspiration dotting the light grey skin of her face, so she just took one more settling breath, then opened the double doors and entered.

The conference room was already full; the team members of the mercy mission had assembled facing a long table, behind which the Minister was shuffling notes and occasionally bending towards one of her several aides, whispering something into their ear, before they hurried out on whatever errand she had sent them. The older Linyphiidae was a handsome woman, aged, but exuded vitality and carried herself with an air of supreme dignity, projecting capable competence earned through years of public service.

Rhenna could see the empty spot at the table reserved for her a quarter of the way from the end, so she made her way towards it as quickly and quietly as possible. As she neared the front of the crowd, the Minister looked up from her quiet discussion with an aide and spotted Rhenna. She gave her a subtle frown of disappointment before continuing to give her aide some last-minute instructions.

Rhenna winched, knowing she would have to answer to that frown, then took her place just as the chronometer on the wall chimed the hour.

“Okay folks, settle down; let’s begin,” the Minister called out to the assembled group in a loud but smooth voice, full of authority and a tone that said she was used to being obeyed when she spoke.

“As you are all aware, this team is the Tarantine Republic’s response to the Altruist Action Network’s request for aid for the emergency on Khosrow.” She paused momentarily to let the statement’s gravity settle with the group. All in attendance knew that being part of this team, officially sanctioned by the government, was not only a chance to make a difference and help people in need but also the highest profile assignment any of them would be on, one that could bend the trajectory of their careers if they performed well, or squash their ambitions, relegating them to irrelevance. Every person waited for the Minister’s following words with unwavering attention.

The Minister continued. “The A.A.N. was able to enlist immediate transport for us and several neighboring partner worlds and is on route to us as we speak. The Humans from Bordan, Sorkon, and Partha are providing general medical supplies and relief workers, The Silvestrians of Sasan are sending a corp of highly trained search and rescue teams, and the Caimar of Nusret are sending engineering and technical teams to evaluate and assist in repairing the local infrastructure, which will be critical for Khosrow’s long term recovery. Which brings us to our role in this effort: Ansuil has long been acknowledged as the leader in advanced bio-pharmaceuticals and tech. The survivors are undoubtedly enduring horrible conditions where disease flourish. There will be people who have been injured and will need our advanced life saving capabilities. Together, we’ll establish a foothold for the relief efforts and help during the most critical window of time until more robust supply lines are established.”

The Minister looked out across the crowd and saw the determination on face after face, reflecting her own. She gave them a slight smile, pride welling up. “You are the best and brightest Ansuil has to offer. The call for help came, and without hesitation, you answered. You make me proud to be Linyphiidae.” Her eyes glistened slightly as she looked upon them, then coughed into her fist and got back to business. “Each Partner world in this endeavor is coordinating with the Home office of the A.A.N.; Dr. Rhenna Teanoda will be this group’s liaison with the other groups and home office coordinators, and will be the team lead for the mission duration.” The Minister looked to Rhenna. “Dr. Teanoda, will you discuss the assignments?” she said, stepping away from the small lectern set on the center of the table.

The Minister’s introduction had a subtle undertone of coolness, something that Rhenna had long become accustomed to when they disagreed. However, the Minister was politically savvy enough not to let even a whisper of such things enter the public eye. As Rhenna approached the Minister, before turning to the podium and facing the group, she leaned in with a pleading whisper to the Minister. “Mother, really I...”

She received a less subtle, harsh glare that told her in no uncertain terms that this was not the time or the place. Resigned, Rhenna approached the podium to address the group and quietly took a breath to gather herself. “Alright everyone, we have much to prepare before the transport arrives. I’ve reviewed the roster and assigned everyone to groups based on your specializations, ensuring each team has a full complement of skills.” She reached over the table and handed several packets to an aide, who then began distributing them amongst the group. “You’ll notice that the teams are organized by the number of expected aid stations we will be setting up, though I’m sure that we’ll need to make adjustments once we survey conditions on the ground...” Rhenna continued to brief the group on their expectations and responsibilities for the next thirty minutes, then dismissed them.

After the briefing, as she was answering a couple of questions from a couple of the team members, Rhenna noticed that her mother was already heading out of the conference room, trailed by several of her Ministry staff. Rhenna thanked the team members she was talking to, excused herself, and hurried after her mother’s entourage.

“Mother, ah, Minster,” she corrected herself. May I have a moment to speak with you privately? “ She glanced at her mother’s aides.

Cassia Teanoda, Minister of Health for the entire Tarantine Republic, paused, pinching the bridge of her shapely nose in frustration. “Shanra,” she said to the assistant standing closest to her, “please head back to the office and prepare the report for the Senate sub-committee. I will be along shortly to review it.”

The aide bowed her head slightly, “Of course, Minister. We will see to it right away.” Then, she and the other aides left the Minister and her daughter standing alone in the hallway.

“Mother,” Rhenna addressed the Minister in a soft, pleading tone. “You agreed that you would be supportive when I decided to take this assignment. I could almost hear you rolling your eyes as I addressed the team. If they don’t think that I have the Ministries full support, it will make my job tougher than it has to be.”

Cassia narrowed her eyes briefly, then sighed, her shoulders sagging. “Rhen, I spent a lot of political capital, calling in and promising favors to secure you an Under-Secretary position in the Ministry, and by volunteering for this mission, you’ve all but guaranteed that you won’t be here for the next round of Senate appointments. Of course I’m going to be irritated.”

Rhenna recoiled slightly at her mother’s harsh tone. Cassia sighed again, releasing the tension she was holding. She stepped closer to Rhenna and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s that, and this mission is going to be dangerous.” She looked into her eyes, and Rhenna saw the hard mask her mother usually wore slip, and the concern and worry she felt peeked through her usually iron facade. “Those people are going to be desperate. When a society breaks down, and people are scared and have lost everything, the worst in people can come out. I just want to protect you from that.”

Rhenna understood her mother was trying to look out for her best interest, and she loved her for it, but it infuriated her at times. “Mother, I know you’re trying to protect me, but those people are hurting, and need help. Help that I and the rest of the volunteers can give. I went into this line of work to help people in need; what kind of hypocrite would I be if I allowed them to suffer just so I can be safe?”

Cassia smiled wistfully and touched her daughter’s face. “So brave ... I am proud of you, Rhen.” Cassia said with emphasis and wrapped Rhenna in a tight embrace. “Be safe while you’re out there, okay? Come back to me in one piece.”

Rhenna hugged her mother back. “I will, Mother. I promise.” They held each other for a few more moments, then Cassia pulled back.

“I have a report to file, and you have preparations to make.” She held both Rhenna’s shoulders at arm’s length and looked at her appraisingly. “You have become such a strong woman. You’ll be a great Minister one day.”

Rhenna smiled, overwhelmed by sudden emotion. A tear pooled in the corner of her eye, threatening to spill. “Thank you, Mother.” Then she added hastily, “I love you.”

Cassia pulled her into another tight embrace. “I love you too, Darling. Now you better get going,” she said, releasing her. “And don’t forget to stop by the Clinic for your inoculations; the rest of your team should already be there. You don’t want to catch something while you’re away.”

“I’m headed there now,” Rhenna confirmed. She stood there for a few moments and watched her mother cross the open courtyard with her usual steady, determined strides until she came to the vertical, wall-like walkway and headed straight up to the roof of the building, where she could hail a cab to fly her back to her office in the city’s administrative district.

Once she was out of sight, Rhenna turned and hurried to the clinic, two buildings over on the ground level. Reaching it, she opened the door and stepped into the small waiting room where the last few members of her new team were still waiting to be seen.

She signed in with the reception nurse and then chatted with the others until they were called one by one, and she was left alone in the waiting room.

The nurses running the clinic were efficient, and she didn’t have to wait long before it was her turn.

The nurse smiled pleasantly and ushered her into an exam room. After taking her vital statistics, she asked Rhenna to sit for a minute while she stepped out and got the prescribed set of inoculations she would need.

“Alright then,” the nurse chirped in a bright bedside manner when she returned. “This first one is a preventative combo for everyone who travels off-world.” The nurse carried the small gelatinous packet to her patient with a set of forceps with ends shaped like two small, narrow spoons, about the size of a small sugar cube. “It also had additional antivirals to combat diseases common to places that have poor sanitation, due to disasters, and the like.”

The nurse brought the packet close to Rhenna’s mouth. “Open please.” Rhenna did as instructed and waited.

“Okay, hold still,” the nurse told Rhenna, falling into a long practiced pattern of describing what the patient would feel to put them at ease. Rhenna smiled; the nurse was probably newly graduated and stuck closely to the scripts taught about interacting with patients, though it was clear that her compassion and care for her patients were genuine. “You’ll feel a slight tugging on your venom sac as I insert the dose. The packet will take a couple of hours to dissolve and be absorbed, so no hot liquids until the lump is gone, okay?”

Rhenna nodded slightly, letting the nurse continue her work. Stooping slightly, the nurse smoothly inserted the little gelatinous packet into the venom sac near the back of Rhenna’s upper jaw, then stood up once it was deposited. “The tough one’s done,” the nurse said, “now just some meds that can be taken orally, then you can be on your way.”

The nurse then handed her a succession of several small cups with a couple of capsules in each. Rhenna dutifully swallowed them down, and the nurse smiled at her, pleased with Rhenna’s performance as if she were a young hatchling. “Good, very good. One last medicine, and then you can go.” The nurse produced a small ampule with a twist-off stopper. This one is best if you bring it home with you and take it there.” Before handing it to her, the nurse paused and took a breath, preparing to give her patient the customary explanation and instructions.

“This medicine will trigger your body to expel any of your eggs that have developed enough to be viable, which will help keep your natural ‘impulses’ at a minimum.”

Rhenna gave her a sour look, causing the nurse to fall out of her well-practiced speech.

“Is there something wrong?” The nurse asked, concerned. “Do you have an allergy to this medication or a medical condition that you haven’t reported?”

Rhenna squirmed in her seat slightly, then sighed in resignation, realizing she would need to explain her situation for the hundredth time. “No, I don’t have any allergies or medical condition, per se...” she hesitated again, hating the awkward discomfort she always felt talking about this personal matter. “It’s just that I’ve never been, you know, active.” Seeing that the nurse wasn’t getting it, she reluctantly continued. “I’m not carrying any fertilized eggs.” The nurse still looked as though she couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and though she should be used to it by now, it was beginning to irritate her. “I know most females my age have gone through their breeding heat, but between my studies and general lack of interest, I’ve never, you know, had sex.”

As the understanding bloomed on the nurse’s face, Rhenna thought about all the times at University when her roommates and acquaintances would come back from a weekend at the male dorms, practically drunk on hormones and wearing dopey smiles of having been well fucked. The time in most Linyphiidae’s lives when they are the most fertile usually occurs during the first couple of years as undergraduates and males become almost psychotically single-minded about spreading their seed far and wide. Her girlfriends, for their part, were slaves to their biology as well and eagerly accepted their advances.

She never really understood it; for whatever reason, her brooding instincts never kicked in, and she never felt the desire, even though it was the way of Linyphiidae sexuality and reproduction since time immemorial. One time, she had allowed her group of friends to convince her to tag along, insisting that once she saw the action, she would get broody, too. She relented, allowing them to drag her along one such weekend.

When they arrived at the male dorms, they were greeted by several males they knew and were escorted to the upper levels and to what was casually referred to as a breeding pit. Already lost in the haze of lust, her friends abandoned her at the foyer and swiftly disappeared upstairs, leaving a shy Rhenna behind.

The party was in full swing, and every room she wandered through was full of horny young people sipping drinks and chatting with each other, loud thumping music playing throughout. Occasionally, she came across couples in a hallway, making out and doing some heavy petting before the women would allow themselves to be led upstairs by the eager young men to continue their escalating affections.

She smirked at the sight as one male after another led someone away, the one time in their lives where the size disparity between the sexes didn’t matter, the women letting the much smaller men, for likely the one time in their lives, assert dominance. Linyphiidae women are typically a foot taller and much more massive than the men. Rhenna knew rape was prevalent in other species, but stars forbid a Linyphiidae male attempt to rape someone; the intended ‘victim’ could literally tear a would-be assailant in half.

Curiosity drove her onward, and she ventured upstairs past snogging couples until she arrived at the large open door of the mating room. Even before she entered, the thick, musky smell of sex floated in the air, and lewd sounds of carnality echoed. She peeked into the dim room, and as her eyes adjusted, the carnival of debauchery came into full view.

Hand-spun netting hung everywhere in the large, rounded room, and couples hung on them, nearly filling the volume with gyrating, rutting bodies. Everywhere she looked, hordes of men clung to the women, kissing lips, stroking skin, rubbing their chitinous portions together. She watched one male after another invert themselves, clinging upside down to their chosen female, their chests pressing breasts while their penile members searched for the honeyed heaven of the women’s slit near the intersection of the soft and hard portions of their bodies.

She watched one particular man find his target and immediately plunge deep into his partner, then jackhammer up into her soft, moist center. The mating couple’s faces twisted in orgasmic ecstasy as they rutted, and momentarily, Rhenna felt a pang of jealousy. It was clear that the moment for the couple was one of unadulterated bliss, a moment that they would experience and share with other partners again and again throughout the night.

But Rhenna felt no desire to partake, in part because of whatever weird quirk of her biology caused her sex drive to remain dormant, but also she felt a slight sadness due to the fact that this mating scene was the apex of these men’s lives, and in a few short months, their bodies would wind down, and their existence would quietly end. The women would carry their fertilized eggs for the rest of their long lives, giving birth to the next generation, clutch after clutch, for years to come.

With no urge to participate, she quickly grew tired of the spectacle and retreated down the stairs into the cool night air.

Rhenna snapped back out of her recollections and realized the nurse had been expectantly holding the small ampule of amber liquid out to her for a couple of seconds. She quickly accepted it and tucked it into a pocket, embarrassed she had spaced out for a moment.

“When you get home, draw a warm bath to soak in, then take this medicine. You’ll feel some cramping and you’ll pass your next six months worth of eggs, fertilized or not,” the nurse said, giving her these last instructions as she guided her to the front of the clinic. “If you have any other questions, feel free to give us a call.”

“Thank you, I will,” Rhenna replied, even though she probably understood the medications and their effects better than the nurse did.

The nurse gave Rhenna a small wave as she exited and closed the door behind her. She looked down at the ground as she walked, her mind already racing again with the long list of tasks and items to check on before departure. So much so that she was completely oblivious to the rapid crunching of gravel as the last of her team came barreling around the corner of the path, crashing into her and knocking her to the ground.

“Oh my word, I’m so sorry,” the woman said, huffing and puffing from her sprint as she helped Rhenna to her feet. “I’m so late, and I didn’t see you, and I just knocked you right over!” she said apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it, no harm done. The clinic is still open for a few more minutes, you should still have enough time,” Rhenna said, giving her a gracious smile.

“Thanks!” the woman said, not waiting any longer as it was clear that Rhenna was okay, and hurried inside. Rhenna shook her head, then resumed her trek back to her apartment, walking quickly because she still needed to pack all the personal effects that she would need for the trip.

The sun had set, and the air had cooled significantly between the time she left her lab, stopped in the clinic, and finally returned to her apartment. Pressing a thumb to the ID scanner to unlock her door, she entered. Weary from the day, she knew she still needed to take care of several things before she could sleep.