Galileo (Battle of the Species) (32 page)

The mechanic finished entering commands into his tablet and set it down. “Great, let's get your suits on then,” he said. He walked over to a control panel on the wall and tapped a few buttons, prompting six spacesuits to eject in tight bundles. The mechanic handed the largest to Grus and then checked the sizes, handing them out to the others. The last one he kept for himself and continued talking while he unbundled his own suit.

“So, the plan for today is to replace a panel on the port side of the ship that was damaged. Should be a simple process; remove the old panel and weld the new one back in its place,” the mechanic said.

“If it's so simple, then why are we here?” the girlfriend asked.

“Well, I’m here to repair a panel and you're here to have the living daylights scared out of you, so you don't do whatever it is you did, again,” the mechanic retorted.

The girlfriend looked up at her boyfriend with a sigh. He put his arm around her waist and kissed her forehead.

“Now then,” the mechanic continued, getting right to the point, “you will all be given magnetic shoes. Ava monitors them, so that one shoe is always attached to the ship and cannot be released until the other shoe is locked into place. This, however, does not mean you are 100% safe. Be cognizant of your surroundings, don't tear your suit, follow the others, and keep an eye on each other at all times.”

Desh walked up to Renn, handing him a thin pair of silver wired gloves. “Put these on under your suit,” Desh said.

Renn opened his mouth to talk, but saw Desh purse his lips and squint his eyes, daring him to fight him again. He had been right about the water, after all
,
Renn reminded himself. He shut his mouth and put the gloves on, mumbling, “Thanks.”

“Yeah,” Desh said, while putting on a similar pair of gloves.

When he locked the helmet into place, the air inside the suit automatically turned on. He then took a whiff of clean oxygen, but could smell the plastic from the suit lining.
Plastic
.
Great, it’s made on Temin,
Renn thought, hoping he wouldn’t get cancer from wearing it for an hour.

When everyone finished getting their suits on, they went around checking each other's straps and locks, regardless if they knew each other. The boyfriend checked Renn's suit and air tank, but Desh came back around afterwards to double check — neither saying a word nor making eye contact.

Renn became embarrassed about the way Desh was fussing over him like a helpless child. He wondered if he had just inherited an overprotective brother, but the nightmare of Desh chopping his head off resurfaced. Chills ran up his spine and he wanted to ask one of the Fourth Years to recheck his suit once Desh was done.
Oh gawd.
What if he unlocked something?

He turned to the Fourth Years, but they had already begun following the mechanic into the air compression chamber with the others. Renn took a deep breath and started walking.

The door automatically sealed behind them.

“Now, can everyone hear me all right?” the mechanic asked through the headset.

Everyone replied with a unanimous, “Yes,” except for Grus whose “yes” came out as more of a whimper.

Renn felt the gravity disengage and could feel his stomach doing somersaults from nervousness. His body became weightless in his suit, and both soles locked to the ground.

They all looked through the windows in the outer door until they heard a soft beeping in their headsets and watched the doors open into the vast darkness.

They were in deep space, megaparsecs from the nearest galaxy. There was no sun and therefore no light, just star speckled blackness and the little light emitted through the ship’s windows.

Renn felt one of the shoes release from the ground and realized what Ivan meant. He once again felt the falling sensation while he followed the others into the void. He took a deep breath, hoping he could come to terms with the absence of an up or down, and left or right, before he threw up.

Their face shields adjusted to a green screen, creating contrast in the dark and allowing them to make out the others around them as they stepped out of the ship. The turn from the cabin to the side of the ship was the trickiest, since ankles could only bend so far. One foot had to be planted flatly for the next to move.

Renn stepped forward, gaining a little more confidence with each step when his feet locked into place. Walking was difficult to get used to, but at least he wasn't having as hard a time as Grus, who kept floating backwards with one foot hovering in front of him while the other remained secured to the ship.

Sometimes Desh would pull one of Grus' feet down and other times Renn would push the other foot forward, so the line could continue moving ahead.

“Ava, illuminate outer section P-4,” the mechanic said.

A beam on top of the ship showered rays of light on them and the surrounding area, prompting the night vision to turn off.

Renn could see the broken panel ahead — contorted metal, clinging to the ship by only a couple of shards. The mechanic was already there, looking back to the others, waiting. They huddled around the panel, crouching down, and the mechanic took the large bag he was carrying, locking it down to the ship's surface with magnetic corner weights. He took out a metal cutter and detached the broken panel.

The Fourth Years were closest and helped him. The girlfriend held the old panel while the boyfriend pulled the new one out of the bag. As he turned back, he bumped the old panel and the girlfriend lost her grip, causing the panel to fly across the ship towards Renn's helmet. Renn raised his hands to catch it, but it hit his faceplate with a
clink
.

He looked to his left and saw that Desh had caught the panel.

“It’s okay, I got it,” Desh said, handing it back to the girl.

Renn's heart raced, realizing what would have happened had it busted his faceplate. He felt his hands heat up, causing him to panic even more.
Don't spark, don't spark
!  But the more he tried to calm down, the more upset he got, and his hands sparked.

He stared at the gloves in horror, hyperventilating.

“Who's breathing like that?” the mechanic asked through his headset, while he looked around.

Renn felt a hand grab his arm and looked over to see Desh's diamond eyes.

You're okay, Renn. The wire gloves will absorb the electricity. Just calm down, we're almost done,
Desh projected. “He's all right,” Desh said through the headset, prompting everyone to stop staring at Renn.

They went back to repairing the panel, welding it into place. They crept along until they were done, then trekked back.

When they got back to the compression chamber, none of them said a word. They just climbed out of their space suits, handing them back to the mechanic, submerged in their own thoughts. Space had a way of doing that. Reminding travelers of how small and vulnerable they were. Making one feel guilty for worrying about the minutia of the day, instead of focusing on things more important.

Renn handed the wire gloves back to Desh, but Desh mumbled, “Keep them,” before walking away.

Renn looked at the clock on his vicom. The humans would be eating. He walked to the mess hall and found Dylan, Leo, Lux, and Joss sitting around talking and laughing.

“So, how'd it go?” Leo asked.

“It was all right,” Renn replied, not wanting to talk about it much.

He looked around the mess hall and saw Meta walk in. They made eye contact and smiled. Her smile gave Renn butterflies, while she walked over with her little ballerina feet, sitting down across from him. They giggled to each other as they ordered, deciding to share a plate of Talinthian chicken. But it wasn't chicken, it was a Talinthia, a nasty animal that brutally killed anything that moved, but it tasted like chicken and was usually used as a substitute for the docile species.

Renn and Meta kept looking up at each other, unable to control their smiling. Renn thought about the Fourth Years he had seen in detention and wondered if that was going to be them in four years. He smiled to himself, hoping it would be.

After sleep curfew, Renn tossed and turned in his bed, unable to fall asleep. He heard the soft chirp of his sleep regulator and was grateful for the small help entering his blood stream.

Upgrade gave a sigh by his knees and readjusted himself on the bed. Renn's last thought was of Max on Earth, wishing he could explain to the dog where he was. He liked Upgrade, but it wasn't Max and never would be.

***

The students walked into the simulation room for their botany class, finding a large jungle planet with three moons, a light blue sky and lush foliage. Trees rose high into the air, but were separated just enough to allow rays of light to scatter between the leaves.

Professor Skat stood in the doorway, welcoming the students while they entered. “Well, I think that's everyone,” Professor Skat said, as the door closed behind her. “Can anyone tell me where the animals are?”

Everyone looked around for any signs of life, but saw only vegetation.

“Nothing?” Professor Skat asked with pleasure. “The planet you're looking at is paused. Let's put it in motion and see if you can spot the animals versus the plants. Ava,” Professor Skat beckoned, “please animate Janjala.”

“Janjala animated,” Ava confirmed.

The planet came to life and a light breeze blew through the trees, yet nothing else seemed to move.

“There's nothing here,” Katie said.

Professor Skat smiled. “Oh, I think the Mindeerians would disagree with that. Renn, why do you look so confused?” she goaded.

Renn looked around at everyone staring at him. “Because I hear thoughts, but don't see anything.”

“Try to find the source so the rest of us can see it,” Professor Skat said.

Renn walked over towards a plant, moving his hands in the air, half expecting to hit something invisible. He shook the plant's leaves, thinking maybe something would jump out, but the plant became frustrated by the assault, uprooted itself, and walked away in a huff.

Renn jumped back and laughed. Not because the plant walked away, but because Ivan screamed like a little girl when it did.

“Please feel free to walk around,” the professor said, while the students continued to laugh.

Large flowers bloomed within seconds, chasing tiny plants around, in hot pursuit. Renn and Leo followed a beautiful red flower, long enough to see it devour a tiny spider plant that seemed to cry out once captured.

“Now, Janjala is a Class Four planet,” Professor Skat continued, walking around with the students following close behind. “Ava was kind enough to leave out the dangerous plants that lie still until you approach them and then wring your neck with their branches when you get too close. She left out the flowers that will bite your nose off when you lean in to smell their beautiful blossoms, and the fungi that crawl up your legs, injecting poison into your skin or scales. Ava, please pause the planet,” Professor Skat said, “and insert the dangerous vegetation.”

“Janjala paused. Inserting hazardous life forms,” Ava confirmed, scattering more plants, flowers and trees across the jungle.

“Please take out your tablets, adjust them to identify, and continue looking around.”

The students obeyed, identifying the plants and animals as either plant and/or animal, malignant or benign.

“Now, the planet's ecosystem works like every other planet's ecosystem, in that the plants and animals are part of a food chain, dependent upon each other for survival. They eat and nourish each other, require each other for pollination, and round-and-round the cycle goes, sustaining life. There are insects on this planet as well to help with pollination, but they're more fun to watch at night. Ava, insert insects and fast forward Janjala to nighttime; reanimate the planet, freezing only the dangerous life forms.”

Ava transformed the blue sky into a velvety black blanket with three moons illuminated above the trees. The stars were sprinkled about like they were in every night sky, but some of the stars turned out to be fireflies that would suddenly drop down to the students for a closer look. There were phosphorescent flowers that created blue, pink, and yellow lights around the base of the trees and outlining pathways.

Renn lifted his tablet to a large yellow flower, glowing near a tree with a radiant light intense enough to illuminate a large area. The tablet identified it as benign, with the name, Helianthus. He pressed, “Capture,” saving it as a photograph.

Meta came up behind him and stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear, “What are you looking at?”

He could feel her breath on his neck, making his knees weak. He wanted to kiss her, but everyone one was nearby and he resisted.

“A Helianthus,” Renn replied, settling for taking her hand into his. “I want to send my father some seeds for his backyard. It's so dark back there, but he doesn't want to use more electricity than he needs to. This way, he doesn't have to.”

“That's sweet,” Meta said, looking up into his eyes.

He brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead and once again had to resist temptation. “Come here,” Renn said, turning around.

He put the tablet up in front of them and they leaned into each other, smiling for the tablet while Renn pressed, “Capture Video.”  

“This is me and Meta on Janjala,” Renn said. “Is there anything you’d like to say?”

Meta gave a bashful laugh. “Just that I’m really happy to be here with Renn,” she said, smiling.

Renn tapped on the screen, turned it around, and played it back for them to see.

“Can you send it to me?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Renn replied with a smile, having hoped she would ask.

They looked into each other’s eyes and slowly leaned in for a kiss.

Renn watched as she imagined a spider crawling up her leg.

She jumped back screaming, swiping at her legs.

Renn looked around, having seen her thought and looked for the spider that wasn't there. “I don't see any…” he said, then froze when he saw Desh walk away. Renn stood there staring at him in disbelief, until his hands became illuminated, snapping with sparks.