Facing the Problem (Part 2)

Month 6 Day 16

1317 Hours

Smythe

Previously:

“This doesn’t seem... appropriate.”

A frown line appeared between her eyebrows, but she nodded in understanding. “That we’re alone.”

“No. I... we seem too... intimate. Like this.” She abruptly released him. Remembering her past supervisors, he added, “I don’t normally put my hands on a crew woman.”

Her eyes flew open. “None of them?”

“No, I-” His face flushed. There was that nurse last shore leave. And there are times when I do touch crew women; to get their attention, pull them from harm’s way... any number of reasons.

“That’s too bad,” Colleen murmured, and pink flags colored her cheeks. “Or sad.”

He couldn’t respond. He leaned back, eager to go. How did I get into this mess?

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean- Do you have to go?”

“No.” Why the blazes did I say that? “But you’re supposed to rest.”

Colleen adjusted her position on the bed, then the cold pack. “It’ll be hard to relax knowing Winthrop can walk in at any time.”

Smitty reached for her shoulder, stopped and self-consciously let it hang again. “He won’t be back.” Not today, probably. We don’t usually have to protect patients from the security chief, but we should have some means of doing it. “The nurses will keep a closer eye on things.”

“I know, but... I’d prefer a door I could lock!” She glanced at the doorway. “Something I could do myself, rather than rely on others.” She crossed her arms to hug herself, her hands rubbing her arms.

Exactly as if- “Are you cold?”

“Yeah.” One corner of her mouth curled. “Cold packs do that. I put up with it.”

I could warm her up. Captain wants me friendly- “Stop that!”

She jerked, startled by his command. “I don’t have control over shivering.”

He took a step away. “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“There isn’t anybody else here.”

Temple hurried in, stopped to study them. “I was afraid Winthrop had-” She gave each of them another look. “Did I hear you two arguing?”

“It was a misunderstanding.” Smitty didn’t want to dwell on it.

Temple sighed. “Mac, it’s not  good when a communications officer keeps misunderstanding.”

Colleen’s face hardened, then she considered the head nurse. “Are you trying to pick a fight?”

Temple opened her mouth, paused. “I think I am,” she agreed. “But it isn’t you I want to yell at.”

“I can’t remember you ever yelling at anyone,” Smitty told her.

“Of course not,” Temple returned. “I have to remain professional, even if she doesn’t know what the word means.” She moved forward. “We should probably take that cold pack off for a few minutes, or you’ll turn blue.”

“Thank you,” Colleen sighed as the nurse removed the item and laid it on the next bed. “I don’t think blue would suit me.”

“You’d look-“ Beautiful whatever your color. Smitty didn’t finish the original thought, changed the comment to, “quite respectable in blue.”

“Medicine?,” she assumed he meant. “No thanks.”

“Science is a blue uniform,” Temple pointed out. “Lots of different sciences.”

“I like the way I am,” Colleen stated, but her demeanor was uncertain.

Temple bit her upper lip. “I’m sorry. About the cold pack temperature. I’ve got a problem I can’t resolve, but I shouldn’t take it out on others.”

Smitty cleared his throat. “Frustration makes it hard to control your emotions.”

“I have heard you yell a time or two. Heard that you had, at least,” Temple told him with a half smile.

“Mostly, that’s to get their attention. I can’t teach them anything if they don’t pay attention.”

“Maybe that’s why I can’t get through to her,” Beth muttered and headed for the door, tossed back over her shoulder, “You’ve got about 20 minutes before negotiations, Mac.”

Smitty found the redhead sitting up, one hand gingerly rubbing her rib cage. “No more restraints,” she muttered.

“I should let you rest,” he stated.

She looked up. “Can I ask a question?”

Have I been here long enough? Probably not to suit the captain. It’s just a question, Smitty. “Sure.” He waited while she thought, her brow furrowed in confusion, but he wasn’t particularly patient today. “What’s your question?”

“What? Oh.” Her eyes focused and her face flushed. She looked around the room. “I thought... I mean, I figured... There ought to be a way to keep illness from spreading through the entire ship.”

Not exactly a question. Why not ask MacGregor? He’s always around her. I suppose she thinks I know everything about this ship. I don’t do much with that except- He cleared his throat. “The designers tried. There’s filters and sanitizers the air runs through, but they aren’t perfect. And each doorway in sickbay has a field that can be turned on. Doesn’t keep people and things from going through, but it does a decent job killing germs. The ones on the outside, anyway. But by the time someone feels bad enough to see a doctor, they’ve been contagious for 2 or 3 days, and other people have caught it.”

“Oh. I wasn’t aware of the door fields.”

“I don’t imagine it was mentioned in any of your classes.” They were only theory when I took classes, and she’s not really an engineer.

Now she canted her head to one side. “How does the field tell a germ to be killed from... anything else? I mean, don’t we all have beneficial organisms that live in and on us?”

This is not a subject I would have broached. It barely touches on engineering, in my mind. The subject won’t last long, but it seems safe. Wish I had a place to sit and a cup of coffee, maybe a- He noticed a chair next to her bed, and a partially eaten tray of food on the bedside table. Tea instead of coffee, and it’s iced, but it’ll wash down the sandwich. “I, uh, didn’t get any lunch. Do you mind if I finish yours?”

“Lunch?” She looked at the tray with its stacked dirty dishes, an untouched sandwich and a piece of cake. “Go ahead.”

“Thanks.” He sat down and took a bite, washed it down. “Where were we? Oh, the medical safety fields on the sickbay doorways.”

“And how they know the difference-“

“Between good and bad organisms.” He nodded, put another bite into his belly and leaned half an inch towards her, his gaze on the doorway. “I have no idea.”

“What?”

“They tried to explain it, when I first inspected the ship, but their explanation was 10% engineering, and the rest was medicine, biochemistry and who knows what else. Subjects I’m not knowledgeable about.” She fell silent, her gaze riveted on the doorway.

Smitty ate the rest of the sandwich, would have preferred the tea be hot, and wasn’t sure what to make of the cake. It’s not pineapple up-side-down cake, but it’s good. I don’t remember Anna ever making this before.

“Smit?”

“Yes?” He stacked the empty utensils on the tray.

“That wasn’t the question I wanted to ask.”

I’ve heard that before. Hope it’s not too silly. “Then what was your question?”

She pulled her gaze off the doorway, twisted to look at him. “Why did you shave off your beard? You looked good in it. I mean, not that you-” She swallowed and turned away. “Never mind. It’s too personal.”

Yes, definitely starting to get personal. But the question... “I don’t find the question personal,” he stated. “Only confusing, because I’ve never had a beard.”

“You haven’t? Oh, blast!” She threw herself against the mattress. “I thought I was confused before Kolla got into my head! Now I’ve got her memories as well as mine! And I’m not doing so good sorting them.”

“You mistook me for Kolla’s husband?” Smitty asked.

“Not ‘mistook’. I know there’s 2 of, um, you. But when I hear one name, I’m not sure the face in my mind is the right one. I’m such a mess!” She twisted on her bed to look at the chronometer. “They’ll be here in a couple minutes; I don’t have time to make notes. If I can take notes on that library console, now that I’m cut off from reference materials.”

“Notes on which of us is which?”

“What?” She untwisted, again felt her ribs. “Definitely bruised,” she muttered, returned to his question. “I hope my brain will eventually sort things out. Maybe with sleep. If I ever get any. You know, when we were together, Kolla said their transport machines have to be able to read the, the... I don’t know if there’s an English word for it, nor exactly what it is. It might have something to do with DNA. Apparently, every person’s qorjah is different, and their transport machines have to see that difference. Otherwise, it might pick up 2 people, and not re-assemble them correctly. Or as 2.”

“That’s a harrowing thought,” Smitty stated, trying not to picture the results.

“Yeah. Petrified me, while she treated the transport beam like, like... radio waves! Well, it is. Like them. Kind of. Anyway, if those doorway fields tell the difference between good and bad organisms, maybe we could incorporate just a little of the transport beam technology into them!”

“To do what?” Send the germs into space? They do no harm onboard once they’re dead.

“To keep people out.”

“Why would we do that?”

She faced him and whispered, “Winthrop!”

“Oh.” It might keep a woman safe from him. He frowned. “They’re not strong enough to-“

“Oh, we can’t kill him,” she agreed, rolling to her back again. “Pretty certain the Fleet wouldn’t approve. We’d have it give a different response. Some kind of alarm, I suppose.”

“I should have known,” MacGregor stated sourly from the doorway. “I let you in for a short visit, Smitty, and you’re still here, talking shop!”

Noticing a trio behind the doctor, Smitty hastily stood. “We discussed how that flu took over the entire ship, and the scrubbers couldn’t keep it in check.”

“I got side-tracked,” Colleen stated. “Went off on a weird fantasy tangent. Probably fantasy. Hard to be sure. I’ve still got Kolla’s memories, which seem like they’re mine.”

Kolla grinned. “Me too!”

“Well, you have negotiations,” Smitty said and started for the door.

“Who took the cold pack off?” MacGregor asked, moving forward. “And when?”

“Temple, 20 minutes ago,” Colleen answered.

“Well, it goes on again now.”

Smitty nodded to Kolla. When she came up for negotiations, her husband spent the time in Smitty’s office, where they swapped engineering stories.

The captain stopped him. “Looks like your first visit went well.” He made a face at how it had started, which she noticed. “You don’t agree?”

“Winthrop was here when I arrived,” he answered. “Nobody knew he was here, including Colleen.”

“Then your timing was impeccable,” Jane returned. “It can’t have hurt your standing that you saved her, so to speak.”

“Again,” he muttered, remembering another time he had interrupted Winthrop’s plans. “But-“

“I know. You aren’t looking for hero worship.”

Not what was on my mind. Oh, well. “Too many of ‘em feel that way when they get here. Makes it hard to develop a working relationship with them.”

“I agree. What’s with the cold pack? She didn’t have it this morning.”

“Winthrop, uh, Colleen tried to sit up, but the restraints held her, bruised her ribs.”

“Is that possible?”

“She’s a heavy worlder,” MacGregor said as he joined them. “Dense muscles, and lots of blood vessels. Bruises are practically an every day event for her.”

“But the restraints-“

“She stretched the top one,” Smitty revealed, and turned to MacGregor. “If it needs replaced, let me know.”

“I won’t use them anymore,” MacGregor stated. “From her wince, she could have bone bruises. Wish I’d thought of that before it happened.”

“How will you get her to sleep?” Jane wondered. “Sedate her?”

“I’ve been doing some research. I think I have an idea. Let’s hope it works.”

“I need to get to engineering,” Smitty stated, and turned away.

Negotiations (Part 2)

Month 6, Day 13

Kolla

1250 hours

In Part 1:

“Good idea,” JanBuck agreed. “When you think you’re done sleeping, Smitty, come back for a formal release.” She reached out to relieve him of his grip on Mac’s arm.

“Yes, captain,” Smit replied. He released the girl and left the room.

“Thank you, Captain,” Mac murmured.

“We’ll discuss it later,” JanBuck returned. Mac gave a short nod, left her gaze on the floor as she took a deep breath.

“Now, if we may--“ Arblek began.

Mac faced her captain. “The original people who made contact? Isn’t that what you said?”

“That’s what I understood,” JanBuck agreed. “It’s possible the translator--“

“Even if that contact was a... an accident? That they weren’t trying to make contact?”

“The situation of the first contact did not seem to matter.”

Mac turned to Kolla with a half smile. “Kolla, I guess it makes sense. We had to work together to solve a huge, intricate problem presented by that first contact. After that, negotiation should be a piece-- should be easy.”

Arblek snorted. “Please address me. I am the elder negotiator for my people.”

Mac finally looked at him. “And my captain is the senior... negotiator for this ship, which represents all the planets within our alliance. But apparently, the negotiations must happen between those who first made contact. You were brought to me, Ambassador Arblek, but you were not involved in our first contact. Kolla was. I assumed I would negotiate with her.”

“She is only a mechanic! She-“

S’thyme stiffened in outrage.

“It’s a good thing she is,” Mac interrupted. “Because the mistake that brought us together took a lot of mechanics and electronics, some biology and biochemistry before we could set things right again.”

Arblek’s cheeks went gray as he turned to JanBuck. “Do your underlings always speak thusly to a superior?”

JanBuck blinked, twice. “To answer that properly would require a long explanation about the culture of the Alliance. Which - if I understand your customs correctly - cannot be done until negotiations are completed. My short answer is that I have not heard her say anything that is not true. I appreciate that you ‘bent’ your customs to explain your traditions. Do you now want us to ignore your people’s beliefs and customs?”

Arblek’s face turned even grayer.

“She’s right,” Ambassador Ooka stated, and Arblek whirled to face her. “You have overstepped, Arblek, confused them. If we are to hold to the old ways, even when meeting people who are not from our planet, then we must hold to them. Tleeda, return Arblek to Yukosk and explain the situation to the Council. I will stay and assist Kolla through the negotiations, as I assume you, Captain JanBuck, will assist your... Kolla.”

“Colleen,” Kolla corrected, though her mind whirled at this sudden change.

“You can’t send me back!” Arblek argued. “I am the Elder Negotiator-“

Tleeda asked, “Why remind everyone that you are old? And yes, you have been a negotiator longer than any other living person. But Yukosk hasn’t needed any negotiators for 3 centuries, so it’s only a title.” She placed a black square on his shoulder, then pressed the middle of the square.

“No!” Arblek reached for the patch, but before his hand touched it, the transporter beam swirled his molecules into gray smoke that was whisked away.

Tleeda placed another black square on her own shoulder and smiled at JanBuck. “I’ll send your translators back, Captain.” She pressed the button.

“Does that hurt?” DocMac’s eyes were wide as Tleeda’s appendages turned to smoke.

“That probably-“ Ooka began.

“No pain,” Tleeda answered, the translator sounding distant. “Numbness. Dizziness. Some experience...” Swirling smoke faded and she was gone.

“Nausea,” S’thyme stated. “A few people experience nausea.”

Ooka sighed. “The amount of technology we share is usually determined by negotiation.”

“That will be fun, won’t it?” S’thyme teased. “We’ve put this ship back together, so we’ve already had a good look. Our doctors studied their biology, so we know some of that. Ooka, we are starting with a great deal of their knowledge, which you must make an honest effort to repay.”

“Like your mother, I know my obligations. But exchange of technology and knowledge is not the first item on the negotiation list.”

Kolla asked, “What is the first thing to negotiate?”

“Where and when to begin negotiations,” Ooka replied patiently, and glanced at the humans. “Obviously, that’s not here and now.”

Colleen was leaning against DocMac, her eyes closed. DocMac strained to keep her upright. “She’s fallen asleep, hasn’t she?” he asked.

“Let’s get her onto a bed.” JanBuck bent to lift her legs, grunted. “She is heavy.”

“You should see how much weight she works out with,” DocMac replied.

S’thyme moved forward to help, and as soon as he placed his arms under her torso, Colleen jerked awake. “Who-?” She blinked, staring at S’thyme. “Like the beard, Smit.” She was asleep again before they deposited her on the bed. DocMac draped a blanket over her.

“Is she heavier than others of your kind?” S’thyme asked.

DocMac studied the display panel on the wall. “She’s a Gaelunder. She comes from a colony on a planet with more gravity than our home world.”

“You have a home world and colonies also?”

“S’thyme!” Ooka hissed.

“Do not worry, mother-sister-in-law,” Kolla told her. “We have worked with these people. They do not mind questions.”

“Some might, if the questions were too personal,” JanBuck corrected. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure the translator knew one of the words you used. Could you explain ‘mother-sister-in-law’?”

“Ooka is my mother’s sister,” S’thyme replied. “Kolla is my bride.”

“Oh, yes, now I understand.”

“When this is over,” Ooka stated, “I will see that your honmuck time is adjusted. Now, um, when do you suppose Colla-n would be better rested?”

DocMac was frowning at the display.

“Drake?” JanBuck said. “How long before she wakes up?”

He glanced around. “Hard to say. Maybe... 3 minutes? Four, if we’re really lucky.”

“Do I understand your time measurement correctly?” Ooka asked.

“Unfortunately, she has trouble sleeping,” JanBuck replied. “Drake, isn’t there any way you can help her?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know what the problem is. I could sedate her, but if she’s having nightmares...” He sighed. “At least I can keep her from falling out of bed.” He tightened restraining straps around her and looked at the display again. “What in space does that mean?”

“What?” Kolla asked.

“Her blood pressure has fallen, slightly. She’s stabilizing into normal sleep.”

“Isn’t that what you want?” S’thyme wondered.

“Sure, but... people don’t usually sleep well when they’re tied up, which is basically what I’ve done.” He looked down at his patient. “Mac, every so often, you react in such an unexpected way that... I just don’t know what to think.”

“She won’t answer, Doctor,” came a voice from the doorway. “She’s asleep.”

He turned, smiled at the newcomer. “Nurse Temple! Good to see you up and healthy again.”

“Thank you. It’s good to be healthy again, even if I am one of the last to return to duty.”

“Your first assignment is to keep an eye on Mac. She’s still fighting the illness, despite the medicine, and her body is completely exhausted. But she won’t stay asleep more than a couple minutes at a time. Nightmares, apparently.”

Temple nodded slowly. “What about a dose of monotrellix?”

“Anti-anxiety,” he stated. “That might be worth a try.” He bit his lower lip. “I don’t know exactly what the Yukoskians gave us. On everybody else, it seemed to have some sedative properties. I’d better consult with them.” He headed for the door. “Try to keep her asleep.”

“Perhaps,” S’thyme suggested to his aunt, “you could make a tentative plan to see if she might be able to negotiate tomorrow.”

Ooka turned to her niece-in-law. “Is that agreeable to you?”

Kolla looked from aunt to husband to JanBuck, back to her aunt. “If she can get some sleep, then yes, we can try. But I do not want to tire her overly much.”

“History says the longest negotiation took 60 years,” Ooka stated calmly. “While negotiations with people from another planet are likely to be more complicated than between 2 ancient tribes on our own world, I had hoped this would not take that long.” Kolla felt her face darken. Oona patted her shoulder. “I don’t expect you to understand negotiating, Kolla. Your mind is full of engineering. I hear you are as good at that as your husband.”

“Better,” S’thyme said. “I had to marry her, to keep another team from snatching her away.”

“Not to mention you love her,” Ooka added tartly. “She can’t read your mind, nephew. Tell her of your feelings.”

“Yes, mother-sister,” he agreed, and returned to Kolla’s side. Kolla was delighted that her husband’s arm slipped around her.

“Since negotiations are delayed,” JanBuck stated, “may I give you a tour of the ship? I promise not to explain any technology to you.”

Ooka laughed. “I wouldn’t understand it,” she returned. “And Kolla and S’thyme no doubt want to continue testing the work they’ve done. But I would not mind a brief look around.” They all headed out the door, leaving Colleen in Temple’s care.

Negotiations (Part 1)

Month 6, Day 13

Kolla

1250 hours

The negotiators halted in the doorway, confused by the struggles of the threesome across the room. Even Kolla wasn’t sure what was happening; it looked like DocMac was trying to pull Colleen into a standing position, while S’thyme – No, she calls him Smit – tried to put Colleen’s feet on a bed. He knows she needs more sleep, instead of having to deal with this nonsense.

Colleen jerked, Smit lost his grip, and Colleen fell atop DocMac. Kolla winced. That was a hard landing. With a grimace, Colleen rolled off her friend and laboriously climbed to her feet, then helped DocMac off the floor.

I have to talk to her. Kolla surged across the room and wrapped her arms around the woman who had spent so much time closer to her than her husband.

After a moment, her hug was strongly returned. Even so, she knew this was nowhere near the strength Colleen usually had. Poor girl. First her studies, not being able to sleep, then… well, me. And the cordaki illness, always so hard on an adult. And instead of sleeping, now she has to deal with insane demands from an old man who’s been out of date for centuries! “Wish we could speak privately,” Kolla whispered.

“Remember Gaelunder?” came through the translator.

Even stranger than sharing a body is that I learned 2 languages during our time together. Colleen read the computer screens in English, and now I can read, speak and understand English. But her personal thoughts were in her native tongue, so I can speak and understand that, also. “Yes,” she answered.

When they separated, Colleen’s fingers brushed the controls of Kolla’s translator, which then spoke strange words –. “No one else here speaks it.”

This isn’t the same as our communication while we shared a body. That was easy, as long as she was drinking. She has strange biology. But I have to warn her, before someone interrupts us. Anxious, she spoke quickly, mostly in Gaelunder, but occasionally she substituted English or her own language. She hoped Colleen could understand the mishmash. “Some are angry because I dared to make first contact instead of letting them make contact.”

Colleen frowned, which emphasized the dark smudges under her eyes, the few faint yellow spots that remained. “It wasn’t your idea. Wasn’t anyone’s idea.”

“Negotiator Arblek doesn’t care. Or doesn’t believe it. The man with a face of wrinkles. He’s stuck in the ways of long ago.”

Colleen looked grim. “I know the mind-set.”

“The other two are more modern, but he won’t listen to them. However, the rest of the council will, so you must try to impress them.”

Colleen hesitated for a long minute, then shook her head slowly, and had to be grabbed by the men on either side to keep her upright. “They should talk to the captain, not me. I’m basically nobody. And mostly asleep.”

“They won’t. Arbleck-“

“Kolla,” S’thyme said quietly as the group approached. “That’s why you’re in trouble, remember?”

Colleen gave her a lop-sided smile. “I’ve been in trouble my entire life, seems like. Sorry it overflowed onto you, Kolla.”

“Probably, mine overflowed onto you,” Kolla returned and sighed. “I was hoping to avoid any more misunderstandings between our peoples.” She turned, but Colleen caught her upper arm.

The human’s fingers played with the translator again. “Now you can hear and understand everybody.”

Kolla returned to her husband. She didn’t understand. I didn’t convince her that this potentially friendly contact could go completely wrong. Now that Arblek is involved. S’thyme wrapped his hand around hers and gave a gentle squeeze. Hope my trouble doesn’t overflow onto him. That would be a poor start to our marriage.

Colleen studied the negotiation team for a moment, lowered her eyelids and failed to open them. She started to slump, straightened abruptly and opened her eyes. She stared at the negotiators again and muttered, “Still here.” She sighed and faced her supervisor. “What do I do?”

Smit glanced at the group and shook his head. “Sorry, Colleen, I woke up only a minute before you.”

Colleen turned, lost her balance and fell against Smit, who grunted, but supported her. “Doc?” she asked hoarsely.

But it was JanBuck who answered the question. “Yukoskian tradition says that those who made First Contact will negotiate the relationship between the 2... peoples involved.”

Mac pulled her brows together as her eyes glazed. She shook her head, listed, and was held upright by both men. “Captain, I need sleep. I heard your words, but they didn’t make sense.”

JanBuck tried again. “You were the first member of our crew to come into contact with a Yukoskian. Therefore, you must negotiate whether the Fleet and Yukosk will be friendly or not, engage in trade or not, and probably a dozen other things. These negotiations might take days.”

“I have no authority for that!” Mac protested. Kolla saw Arbek’s face turn hard, while the 2 younger negotiators glanced at each other.

JanBuck stepped forward. “Ambassador Arblek has explained that according to their customs, you are the only one with the authority. I believe he drastically bent their customs to tell me, because normally, the only communications at this time are the negotiations.”

Mac groaned and turned to one of the men holding her arm. “Put me ba--“ She stopped and turned, blushing, away from Smit to face DocMac. “Send me back to bed, Doc. This is even worse than my usual nightmare.”

“Wish I could,” he told her. “Wait, what nightmare?”

But Colleen had turned back to her captain. “That rule isn’t in our SOP... Is it?”

“No,” JanBuck stated. “Not in any SOP you would know. The closest we get is the understanding that in these situations, the Fleet members try to oblige the customs of the culture that has been contacted.”

“I wasn’t trained for it!” Mac muttered. “I’m in no condition- I can’t think!” She paused. “Mr Smythe.”

Smit looked surprised. “Yes?”

Her face red again, she didn’t look at him, stared instead at JanBuck. “Could you leave? Abbie says I think better when you aren’t around.”

“You’d think better if you could rest and recover,” DocMac growled under his breath.

JanBuck stepped forward. “The same goes for Smythe. He’ll want to examine every inch of this ship before we leave, but right now, he’s still got a couple spots.”

“Captain, I feel--“

“Has he been released?”

“Not for duty,” DocMac stated. “I told him to go to his quarters and sleep.”

“Good idea,” JanBuck agreed. “When you think you’re done sleeping, Smitty, come back for a formal release.” She reached out to relieve him of his grip on Mac’s arm.”

“Yes, captain,” Smit replied. He released the girl and left the room.