“Ah, necromancer Tolukei,” Chang said, while struggling to force a conversation with the Javnis. “That’s cool. And he likes the salad chef made.”
“My species is herbivore,” Tolukei explained.
“A vegan necromancer. Cool.”
Williams recalled that Muodiry was a term given to certain Javnis psionics. Radiance religion states that their gods gifted them with the technology needed to create psionics and in turn shared that technology with all the species that joined the Radiance Union. Prior to the Javnis encountering and joining the union, there were stories of people of the Javnis race that had skills that could only be described as psionic powers, the Muodiry.
Radiance religious leaders refused to believe such stories as it contradicted their understanding of the origins of their gifts from their gods. Some Javnis claimed to be descendants of the Muodiry and as a result were often treated unfairly within Radiance society. Tolukei’s admitting to being one only shed more light on why the Radiance embassy on Earth insisted on Williams recruiting him for the expedition over the other psionic. It wasn’t because he was highly skilled, it was because they wanted to get rid of him because of his origins. And what better way to do that than to put him on a ship that was to embark on a seventeen-year voyage to the Sirius system?
Williams began to wonder if he had done the right thing. On one hand Tolukei’s actions had helped save the ship, but on the other hand could he be trusted later on? Many of the stories Williams read from the Radiance database told stories of Muodiry lashing out at people around them because of how they had been mistreated their whole lives. It would explain why Tolukei was so distant with the rest of the crew.
Time for a subject change, Williams thought. “You navy folks keeping busy?”
“Most of us are pumped up and ready for a rescue mission,” Chang said.
“And you?”
“I’m just a transport pilot, one that’s glad he wasn’t asked to fly down to the surface.”
Williams delayed taking another bite of his burger upon hearing what Chang mentioned. “Is that so?”
“I enlisted to be a Solaris fighter pilot, never made the cut though, so I volunteered to come out here, and I convinced some of my family to come along for the ride.”
“Just like that?”
“I had nothing else better to do with myself,” Chang said. “Having my own fighter was my dream, and the UNE said I wasn’t worthy enough.” He shrugged.
Williams smiled. “Think you could handle this ship?”
“Can’t be all that hard, why?”
“Our helmsman is out for the count,” Williams said. “We launched with a small crew to start with, lots of rookies. I can’t shake the feeling that those aliens will come back for more. Need someone really good at the helm.”
“You’re looking at him then,” Chang said pointing his thumbs at himself. “I might not have made the cut, but I did originally train to fly a Solaris and spent a few hours in the simulator as well.”
“So, you got some moves then?”
“Fuck yeah, just ask the captain before we boarded—” Chang paused midspeech. Talking about Foster tended to stir some worried faces much like the one on William. “Err yeah, just let me and my superiors know, and I’ll take the helm for you.”
ESRS CARL SAGAN, Aft habitat ring
Interstellar space
May 19, 2050, 23:01 SST (Sol Standard Time)
Williams spent the rest of the day reviewing after-action reports, the status of the ship and its repairs, and the last trickle of data that the probes sent back before getting ousted from the system. He sat up from the chair he rested on in the lounge, realizing he was the only person inside. He’d had his face glued to his holo pad so long, he failed to notice all of the off-duty crew members leave him.
A notification appeared on his pad, repairs to the bridge had been completed much to his surprise. There was significant damage done, he assumed repairs would have gone on for another day at least.
Perhaps Rivera submitted the repair report as completed by accident? he thought, and tried to contact her via the intercom, but received no reply. His communicator produced the same results.
“EVE, locate Chief engineer Rivera,” Williams said.
“Chief engineer Rivera is in her quarters,” EVE’s voice replied via the intercom.
Williams arrived at Rivera’s quarters and pushed the door chime button. The door opened on its own seconds later, and he stepped into a room full of smoke and strange soothing meditation-like music playing in the background. Rivera sat on a mat in the middle of her quarters cross-legged like a monk with a lit bong next to her, the source of the smoke and weird smell that made him cringe.
“Sorry, didn’t know you had a Zen thing going on,” Williams said, trying to hide the awkward feeling growing inside of him, his hands waving the smoke away from his face.
“It’s all right, Commander,” Rivera said as she opened her eyes. “I was just about finished.”
She remained sitting on the mat smiling at him like she was spaced out. Williams pointed to the bong next to her. He may not have been the captain, but he knew prohibited items when he saw them.
“Ah, would you like to try it?” Rivera offered.
“Ah no, was more concerned about how you got that aboard to start with?”
“We’re light years away from Earth; a few rules can be broken.” Her voice, it was incredibly mellow and calm, Williams wasn’t sure if it was because she was high or relaxed from the meditation. Or both. “I had the botanist grow a stash for myself; they probably helped themselves to it as well.”
Williams crossed his arms. “So, you’re an engineer, a language expert, and a dealer, talk about a jack-of-all-trades.”
“This is legal in most parts of the UNE.”
“Most. Not all regions, and certainly not aboard ships. But I’ll let the captain deal with that.”
“She too has bent rules in her favor.”
“And now we don’t know where she is. Which brings me back to my question, what’s the status of the bridge?”
“Didn’t I tell you?”
“No, you didn’t, and you didn’t respond to my comm either.”
Rivera tilted her head to the side and saw her earpiece communicator resting on the bed. “Oh, my bad.”
“Maybe you should lay off that stuff, at least until we’re in the clear?”
“That stuff allows my head to be focused and clear.”
She held onto the bong and took a small hit. The smoke she blew out was done in such a graceful and elegant manner, almost as if she was trying to create art with it. Williams was impressed, which meant he was probably breathing in too much of the smoke.
“Case in point, we’ll be ready in the morning,” Rivera said. “Along with a few minor upgrades.”
“Really?”
She took another hit then pointed to the bong. “This is some good shit, what can I say? It’s probably why the great Carl Sagan himself was such a brilliant person.” Williams glared at her. “It’s true, look it up on the computer, he embraced cannabis on a regular basis. His mind, body, and soul opened up to the wonders of the universe we embrace and call home.”
“Just make sure you can do your job correctly. We’re going back for the captain and her team once the way is clear.”
“Promise us the same thing,” Rivera softly spoke. “Do your job correctly so the captain can come back, and these colonists can have a home. That, and I know she was close to you.”