Two
The alarm beeped insistently. Ukatonen slowly opened his eyes and rolled over, his skin a pale, cloudy yellow. It was time to get up. Time for another day of fussing over that inadequate garden, one more day of forcing his brain to learn more human sound speech. It all seemed so meaningless. He reached a long arm out and fumbled with the clock until it stopped beeping, then tossed the thing across the room, and rolled over and went back to sleep, grateful that Moki was spending the night in Eerin’s cabin.
“En?” It was Moki. “Wake up, en, it’s past noon, en.”
“I’m tired, Moki. Go away.”
“But, en, you’ve been asleep since right after dinner last night.”
“And I’m not ready to get up yet,” Ukatonen replied. “Go away and let me rest.” He pulled the covers up over his head and went back to sleep. He barely heard the door hiss shut as Moki left the room.
“Ukatonen?” Eerin said. “I brought you some soup, en. You should eat. Please, en, wake up and eat something.”
Ukatonen hauled himself upright and took the steaming bowl of hot soup. Soup was one of the humans’ better inventions. It made him feel warm, and the steam of it eased his tortured sinuses. He drank it down, slurping up the noodles.
“Thank you,” he said, handing Eerin the bowl and sliding under the covers again.
“It’s my pleasure, en,” Eerin told him. “Would you like the doctor to come and look at you.”
“I’m not sick,” Ukatonen told her. “I’m just tired. I don’t want to get up.”
“Forgive me, en, but I think it’s more than that. I think you’re depressed.”
Ukatonen shrugged and looked away. “I’m tired of being too dry and too cold. I’m tired of everyone shoving words into my ears. I’m tired of making do with that tiny garden. I’ve been pushing myself ever since we left Tiangi. We’ll be arriving at Earth in another couple of weeks. I need some time to rest before then.”
“All right, en,” Eerin said. “But Moki’s been worrying over you all day. I’m worried that he’s fretting himself into a decline.”
“He’s your bami, Eerin. Link with him. Cheer him up.”
“Yes, en,” she said. “I will leave you to rest.” She picked up the bowl, and the door slid shut behind her as she left.
Ukatonen’s eyes slid closed again. It was good to rest, here in this warm, dark room where he could pretend that he was safe on Tiangi again. He would get up when he was ready, and not before.
The door hissed shut behind Juna as she emerged from Ukatonen’s cabin, a worried look on her face.
“How is Ukatonen, Dr. Saari?” Commander Sussman asked. She had been waiting outside the cabin with Bruce and Don and Jennifer.
“He’s no better,” Juna told them. “And Moki’s been worrying himself into a frazzle over the last week.” She looked up at the commander. “He feels responsible for Ukatonen’s depression. If it wasn’t for him, Ukatonen wouldn’t be here.” She shook her head. “I’m glad we’re docking in two more days. They’ve got to get off the ship.”
“Juna,” Commander Sussman said, “I just got word that the Survey intends to quarantine the ship and all its crew until we can prove that the Tendu do not pose a threat.” The commander looked furious.
Juna swore in Amharic. “Why are they doing this? No one on board ship has been ill. Dr. Caisson’s only had to bandage a few scrapes, and set one broken arm.” She slumped against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest.
“I know,” the commander said. “Louise tells me that this is one of the most boring trips she’s ever been on. There haven’t even been any colds.”
“When will they let us out?” Jennifer asked.
The commander’s expression was bleak. “They’re not saying.”
“This is crazy!” Juna protested. “They’ve known we were coming for over two months. Why are they pulling this now?”
“I don’t know, Juna,” the commander replied.
“Ukatonen’s almost stopped eating, and Moki’s losing weight as well. I’m worried that the Tendu are going to die while the Survey bureaucracy sits on its hands. This is no way to treat the first alien envoys to Earth!”
“It’s also no way to treat the rest of the crew,” the commander declared. “Everyone wants to go home. The Survey hasn’t even let our families know that we’ve arrived.”
Juna felt her own despair welling up inside her. She was aching to see her family.
“So what do we do?” she asked, looking up. “How do we convince the Survey to release us from quarantine?”
“Perhaps after we dock, Moki and Ukatonen can convince the Survey that they don’t pose a threat,” the commander suggested.
“Commander, Ukatonen is so depressed he can barely move and Moki’s not much better. We have no way to prove that this is a psychosomatic illness.”
“It will be hard,” Commander Sussman admitted, “but Dr. Caisson says she’ll do everything in her power to break this quarantine. Louise used to be a researcher for the Center for Contagious Diseases. Hopefully she can convince them that Moki and Ukatonen aren’t a danger to humans. At least they’ll be allowing us to contact our families once we’ve docked. There will be a lot of security on the link out,” she cautioned. “You may find your calls disrupted if you breach security.”
“Thank you, Commander,” Juna said. “The chance to talk to my family means a lot to me.” Tears pricked at the backs of her eyelids as she thought about seeing her father, her aunt, and her brother again, even over a secured comm unit.
“I wish I could take credit for it,” the commander said. “It’s a concession to the crew. The Survey wants to keep the union out of this mess.” She caught herself. “I’m going to do everything possible to fight this quarantine.”
“I know you will, Commander, and thank you.”
“I only wish I had better news, Juna. I promise you that I’m going to fight this as hard as I can. But if the Tendu don’t show some signs of improvement. …” The commander left the rest unsaid.
“I’ll do what I can,” Juna assured her.
Juna managed to get Ukatonen and Moki out of bed to watch the docking. They sat in the observation lounge and watched the looming space station draw closer. There was a sudden jarring, and a deep rumble as the ship’s docking probes linked with the station’s. Then there was a queasy moment as the ship’s gravity matched that of the station’s.
“Well, we’re here,” Juna announced.
Moki’s ears spread wide, then drooped, Ukatonen glanced up briefly, then returned to studying the floor.
A few minutes later, Juna was summoned to the captain’s conference room.
“I think you should come with me,” she told the Tendu. “It’s probably about the quarantine.”
Moki took her hand. They waited while Ukatonen got up with agonizing slowness and shuffled along with them to the meeting. He looked old, Juna thought. Old and sick and tired. The last Tendu she had seen who looked this frail had been Ilto, just before he killed himself. She closed her eyes in pain, and pushed the memory away.
Commander Sussman and Dr. Caisson were sitting with three e-suited figures around the conference table. She rose as they came in.
“Dr. Saari, thank you for coming,” she said. “This is Dr. Daniel Nyere, head epidemiologist of the Center for Contagious Diseases; Chief Officer Gabriella Martinez, the administrator in charge of Broumas Station; and Ambassador-General Iago Joven, the United Planets ambassador at large.”
Juna nodded to each of the anonymous, white-suited figures. They had rolled out some impressive brass for the occasion. The fluorescent lighting made it difficult to see their faces through their faceplates.