Arrival (24 page)

“What’s this?” Will asked, picking at the strange-looking concoction.

“Something called ‘stew’. It’s supposed to have real chunks of beef in it. But the beef doesn’t taste like any of the beef we grew back on the Daedalus, that’s for sure.”

Will frowned at the statement, stabbing a chunk of brown meat with his fork and holding it up to his nose. “Smells strange.”

“It’s not too bad, actually,” Jack promised.

Will gave Jack a suspicious look, not sure if he wanted to chance a taste.

“Give it a try. I ate it, and I’m still here.”

Will took a bite, chewing it slowly. “Strange texture,” he commented as he chewed. “But not bad.” Will looked at the stew. “What are these little orange disks?”

“Carrots, I believe.”

“Really? I’ve never seen them so small,” he remarked as he tasted them.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. These meals must’ve been processed before they engineered the jumbo varieties back on Luna Station.”

“Hmm, tastes the same.”

“Yeah, there are little onions in there too, along with potatoes, peppers, and beets.”

“Beets?”

“Yeah, beets. My wife managed to get some seeds from the ag-bank to grow on our balcony. She used to make borscht out of them.”

“What’s borscht?”

“It’s sort of like this stew here. But it’s made with beets. You eat it with a dollop of sour cream. My wife’s great, great-grandmother taught her how to make it. It was supposed to be very popular in Russia back on Earth.”

“You’re wife’s of Russian heritage?”

“Yup. She doesn’t speak the language, or anything, and I think borscht is the only thing her great, great-granny ever taught her to make. She used to make it at least a few times a year. It’s pretty good. I’m surprised you’ve never tried it. They used to serve it every once in awhile in the galley.”

“Ah, yes. Guest-chef night,” Will recalled the event as he continued eating. The monthly dinner still gave him chills. With little actual cooking done in their quarters, there were few people on board who could actually create an edible entree. “I usually didn’t get to the galley until late in the evening. They were usually out of guest-chef entrees by then.”

“Well, we’ll have to have you and your family over for dinner sometime. I’m sure Tanya would love to make it for you.”

Will smiled. As reclusive as he was, the idea of a family get-together pleased him. Neither he nor his wife really knew Jack or Tanya very well. But their children were about the same age, and attended school together. “That would be nice, Jack.”

Will took a few more bites. An actual conversation seemed to be developing between them. They had spoken at length many times since being marooned here. But the topic had usually been about more practical matters. Jack was revealing another side of Will, a human side he had not seen before. Will wanted the exchange to continue, but wasn’t sure how to carry the momentum. Candid conversation had never been his strong point.

“It’s a date, then.” Jack scrapped the last spoonful of stew from the pan, plopping it onto Will’s plate. “So, Will. How did you end up on this mission?”

“What do you mean?” Will was surprised that Jack was trying to continue the conversation.

“No offense, but you hardly seem the adventurous type.”

“No offense taken,” Will chuckled. “You’re right, I’m not the adventurous type.” He took another bite of stew, chewing it slowly. “I don’t know,” Will stalled. He wasn’t completely comfortable with the topic. “Maybe I just needed a change of pace.”

“From lab to alien planet? That’s a hell of a change.”

“Yes, I guess it is,” Will admitted. “But you know, there’s not a lot a Planetologist can do in a lab. Mostly computer modeling. It’s not like I had a lot of rock samples to play with. Just pieces of meteorites and asteroids we collected along the way. Nothing from a complete ecosystem. I guess exploring a real living world just seemed like a natural step.”

“Still a big one, though.”

“True. Maybe the thought of being an explorer appealed to my romantic side. Setting foot on a new, pristine world and all that.”

“I can see your point.” Jack conceded. “I’ll admit, the idea appealed to me as well. Jack Bell, the first human to set foot on an extrasolar world.” Jack passed Will his canteen. “I wouldn’t mind seeing that in the history books.”

Will took a long drink of water. “So why did
you
volunteer?”

“Ray.”

“Ray Wilkins? Bobby’s grandfather?”

“Yup. He was my idol. Bobby, Frank, and I were inseparable growing up.”

“I remember. We used to call you ‘The Three Musketeers’.”

“Yeah, that was us. I used to love going over to Bobby’s quarters and listening to Ray talk about his adventures back on Earth. That’s where I got my adventuresome spirit. I’m sure of it. Then when Bobby died, Ray sort of took me under his wing, put the command bug in me. It’s all I can ever remember wanting to do with my life.” Jack took a drink from his own canteen. “This mission seemed an obvious choice.”

“So you never thought twice about volunteering?”

“Nope.”

“I sure did. So did Abby.”

“Yeah, Tanya did too. She never asked me
not
to go, but I know she wanted to. I guess she just knew I
had
to go.” Jack thought for a moment, remembering their last night together. Tanya’s mother had taken the children for the night, leaving them alone in their quarters for the first time in months. There had been nothing terribly romantic about that evening. They had dined in private, their meals thoughtfully delivered by a friend of Tanya’s who worked in the galley. They had spent the evening talking, mostly about her work in the ag-lab. After being in training for the mission for over two years, most of their conversations had been about his work. She seemed to need to talk about her work. Or maybe she just needed him to listen. He found agricultural work mundane, but she loved it with a passion, and it gave him insights into an aspect of the mission that he otherwise would’ve missed.

They had once thought of her coming along with him on the mission. But they had decided it would be too difficult on their two young children, especially if the two of them perished along the way. So she had acquiesced, thus passing the assignment to Sara.

They had made love that night, refusing to speak of the dangers that might lie ahead for him. She had not asked him to make any promises to return that he could not keep. She understood his inherent heroic nature, as much as she disliked that side of him. And he had made no such promises before departing, saying nothing more than “see you soon” as he kissed her on the cheek and floated through the docking port hatch.

“You know,” Jack realized. “In retrospect, I think she’s probably much braver than I am.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, I think it must be easier to face the unknown when you know you’ll have some amount of control over what happens to you. But to sit back and watch someone you love do so, not knowing what will happen to them, what they may be facing, well, I don’t know if I could handle that.”

“I see what you mean.” It was an unexpected observation on Jack’s part. “I didn’t know you testosterone types could be so sensitive.”

Jack glanced at Will after his remark, catching the grin on his face. “Yeah?” he laughed. “Well, we have our moments.” Jack turned his gaze toward the campfire, deciding that it needed more fuel to maintain its amber blaze.

“Well, convincing Abby wasn’t so easy,” Will confessed. “She even asked Maria to try to talk me out of it. It almost worked, too.”

“So she didn’t want you to go, I guess.”

“That is a considerable understatement. She wouldn’t speak to me for days.”

“What changed her mind?”

“I’m not sure, really. But I think it had something to do with my oldest son. He had never really been interested in my work. I think he wanted someone a little more interesting for a father. Maybe someone not quite so ‘scientific’, if you know what I mean. But after I started training, she heard him bragging about me to his friends. At that point, I think she understood my reason for going better than I did.”

Jack tossed the wood onto the flames. It was a very dry piece, and it caught fire quickly, the flames running up the log on all sides. “Yeah, boys love to brag about their fathers.”

“Maybe, but he had never done so before then. I guess it had a significant effect on her. I know it did on me.”

“Yeah, it does feel good.”

“Yes, it does.”

They sat there for a while, staring at the fire. They had both learned something important about each other, as well as themselves. It had brought them a little closer together, which they both seemed to welcome.

* * *

“Need some help?” Maria asked as she stepped off the ladder onto the flight deck, bowing her head slightly under the low ceiling.

“Huh?” Frank responded, not expecting visitors.

“Help? Assistance?”

“Oh, no thanks, Doc.” Frank was puzzled by her offer. She was an excellent doctor, and a pretty fair psychologist on top of it. But he was pretty sure she didn’t know anything about electronics. That’s when Frank became suspicious. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” she said innocently.

Frank realized where she was headed. “Listen, Doc. I know you mean well, but if you came up here to try to shrink my head, then you can forget about it.”

“A little defensive, aren’t we?”

She was good, there was no doubt about it in Frank’s mind. “You’d be defensive too if you had
Commander
Lynni giving you the evil eye at every turn.”

“The evil eye, huh? Why do you think she does that?”

She was baiting him, trying to drag him into a conversation that he didn’t feel like having right now. “Cuz she’s afraid I’m going to find Jack and she’s going to have to give up her seat of power,” he sneered.

Maria was a little shocked at his spiteful response. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

Frank leaned back away from the electronics rack that he had been tinkering with, slumping back into his chair. “No, of course not,” he sighed. “She just doesn’t understand.” Frank looked directly at Maria. “I
have
to do this.”

“I know you do, Frank.”

“Then why can’t she see it?”

“She didn’t have the relationship with Jack that you did.”

“Neither did you, and you seem to understand.”

“I’m
trained
to understand.”

She had gotten him to open up about it, and quite easily. “Yeah, they trained you pretty well, didn’t they?” he remarked as he leaned forward to test another circuit with his probe.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she countered, not allowing herself to become upset by his jab.

Frank was silent for a moment. “Sorry, Doc.”

“It’s alright, Frank. You know, Will was one of
my
best friends.”

“Really?”

“Yup. I introduced him to his wife.”

Frank leaned away from his work once again, curious about this new information Maria was sharing.

“They were both so shy, I thought I was going to have to coach them through their first kiss!” She laughed to herself. “You should’ve seen them!”

“I had no idea,” Frank admitted, chuckling.

The shared bond had been forged, just as she had intended. But it was time to get down to business. “So, you think you can fix this thing?” she asked as she leaned forward, feigning interest.

Frank knew what she was up to, but the door had already been opened, and she had stepped inside. “No, actually, I don’t,” he admitted. “The circuitry for the radar transponder is burnt to hell. But I might be able to rig it up to triangulate the position of any radio transmissions it might receive.”

“How would you do that?” Maria had no idea what he was talking about.

“If we could put two radio repeaters on the ridgelines, I could program it to triangulate the position of the transmission source by comparing the time difference between the two repeaters.”

“Really? I didn’t know we even carried any, what did you call them?”

“Repeaters. We don’t, actually. But they’d be easy enough to rig up.”

“And you’d have to put them on top of the mountains? Can you do that?”

“I don’t really know. I’m pretty sure I could. Maybe using one of the ATCs.”

“They have to go up that high?”

“If we want to get any respectable range out of them, yes. But I doubt that Lynn would go for it.”

“Have you tried asking her?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not on the best of terms right now. Besides, I’m not even sure I can make it work yet.”

“You know, Frank, and this is just my opinion, mind you. But if you lightened up on her a bit, maybe showed a little more enthusiasm in your regular work, she might be more receptive to this idea.”

“What’s wrong with my work?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, what little there has been of it lately.”

That one hurt. Frank hadn’t realized that his productivity had dropped so much. He was a little embarrassed. “Really?” Her look answered his question. “Yeah, well, maybe you’re right.”

“About which? Easing up on Lynn, or your lack of work?” She wasn’t going to let up on this one.

“Both, I guess.” It hadn’t been an easy pill to swallow. Luckily for Frank, Maria had delivered it in expert fashion. “They did train you well.”

“Now that I
will
take as a compliment.”

“Okay, Doc. I’ll give it a try,” he promised, seeing the doubtful look on her face. “I promise.”

“Good. And you can start now by knocking off for the night and getting a full night’s sleep for a change.”

“Is that an order, Doctor?” he teased.

“If necessary.”

Frank ceremoniously placed the probe he was using back on the desk beside him, turning it off. “You win,” he conceded as he rose from his seat. “Did I at least put up a good fight?”

“Not really,” she teased as she climbed down the ladder to the storm porch. At the bottom of the ladder she called up to Frank. “By the way, where did you hear the expression, ‘shrink my head’?”

“From one of those old movies you and Laura are always watching.”