The Travelers - Chapter 2

Arlytian Terms:

*Backer - a Traveler who is a level lower than a Charge.  Backers answer to their Charge leaders.
*Communicator - Arlytian word for a small mobile phone
*On the planet of Arlytia, 22 hours composes a full day.
*Fall into space - an Arlytian phrase meaning to let something slide or fall through the cracks
*Victor tree - a small Arlytian grown tree with a hard wood and edible leaves.
*Directional room - the primary room where the ship is flown from

Chapter 2

The ship’s alarm jerked Oz’s attention completely away from the vegetable plants he was carefully cultivating, hoping to transfer them into Neveah’s soil in just over a week’s time.  His heart plummeted at the sound.  It was the call that all Travelers needed to get to the nearest meeting room to partake in an emergency shipwide video conference.

Taking just enough time to lock up the Ag center, he quickly followed his fellow workers into a meeting room and turned his attention to the video screen.  Charge Pilot Seren appeared looking serious. 

“Fellow Travelers, our sensors have alerted us to an approaching meteor shower…” 

There was a collective gasp in the room.  The word “meteor” had become the equivalent of a curse in their society.  The thought of traveling through a mass of them was daunting in the deepest sense. 

“We have approximately forty minutes before contact and we expect evasive maneuvers will be necessary.  All Travelers are being ordered to the holding rooms immediately, with exception to our Charges.  Charge leaders, you can take one Traveler of your choice to gather as much necessary data or materials as can be safely taken to the holding areas, but you must be at the rooms by twenty minutes after eighth hour.  The doors will be closed and locked at that time.”

The transmission ended and there was the murmur of anxious voices in the room.  Oz didn’t bother wasting his breath over his concerns.  There was no time for it.  His eyes scanned the room and quickly spotted a trusted agriculturalist who worked under him. 

“Backer Vega,” he called with authority.  The young woman immediately gave him her attention. 

“Yes, Sir.”

“I’ll need your help gathering things.”

“Yes, Sir.”  She promptly followed him out the door and the two of them worked quickly and efficiently gathering all they could.  Oz did everything possible to keep the mature plants and vegetation safe where it was, and then packed a lock box full with seeds of every kind and even some cuttings.  To Vega he gave as many files as she could carry to the holding area.  He also remembered a back-up file on their computer that he quickly secured in his pocket.  It wouldn’t be any use if they lost their computers, but it was still a precaution and valuable resource to have.

When he and Vega reached the holding room, there was ten minutes left before the doors would lock.  Oz entered the space that was already getting crowded and immediately reached for his communicator while setting his supplies down.

“Oz?” the familiar feminine voice answered his call.

“Amrynn, where are you?”

“Holding room one.”

“Where?  I’m at the door.  Come to me.”

He kept the communicator at his ear for another twenty seconds before he saw his wife making her way through the crowd.  He quickly helped to close the distance.

“Have you talked to Cayson?” they asked in unison.

Oz made a face and brought his communicator to his ear again.  It took three rings before Cay answered on his end.

“Where are you?” Oz demanded immediately.

“Med unit three.”

“Get to a holding room now!” Oz ordered.

“I have to secure the antibody room and we’re still trying to arrange our last patient to be moved safely.  I can’t secure anything until then!”

“Secure what you can now and go!” Oz insisted.

“I’m trying!” Cay yelled into the communicator before the line cut out.

Oz had to hold himself back from smashing something.  Instead he grabbed Amrynn’s hand firmly.  “Let’s go!”

She didn’t question him.  When it came down to it, all three of them knew where they stood with each other.  Either they would all be safe or they would all be at risk.  They were a unit and didn’t separate. 

The two of them ran to med unit three and reached it in time to see a patient with his leg casted being moved out the door and down the hall to the holding room.  Oz and Amrynn ran inside and saw Cay with his arms full still trying to initiate the safety walls for the antibody room.  Without words they emptied Cay’s arms, giving him the means to safely secure the supply of medicines for the ship.  It took only moments, and Oz grabbed his hand, nodded at Cay to hang on to Amrynn, and the three rushed toward the nearest holding room.

The doors were literally sliding shut as they reached the space.

“Hold them!” Oz demanded loudly, effectively scaring the Backer who had been in the process of securing the entrance. 

Seconds later the three of them made it inside, the doors were shut, and Oz gripped both spouses against him, holding them to his chest as their hearts pounded in unison.  “If we live through this, I’m going to kill you, Cay,” he said breathlessly.

There didn’t seem to be any good response to that, but none was really needed.  Moving as one, the three of them shifted toward the wall and slid to the floor since all seats in the overly-full room were taken.  Voices of fellow Travelers filled the room.  Fear was palpable in the air, although there were no tears to be seen on the faces around them.  Every person on ship had been trained to face danger when it came.  Physical and mental strength had been taught, encouraged and built inside them since they could walk on their own.  They’d embarked on this mission knowing it could mean their death as well as their salvation.

Several minutes later, the cacophony of voices quieted as another sound was heard.  Taps and occasional bangs on the outside of the ship reached their ears.  The stronger impacts caused vibrations that mixed with the feel of the ship rocking as it avoided still larger meteors and caused its occupants to be tumbled against walls and each other. 

It felt like the ship rocked and clanged for ages; and in truth, the maneuvering through the storm went on for more than an hour.  Eventually the sounds of impacts decreased and then stopped.  The swaying motion eased as well, but no one moved to evacuate the area.  Another twenty minutes passed and then the swish of the door opening brought everyone’s eyes to the entrance.  Charge Pilot Seren crossed through the entry and met the gaze of his shipmates.

“We’ve made it through,” he announced in a voice that wasn’t loud, but carried throughout the room.  He didn’t give anyone the chance to cheer though.  “Have there been any injuries here?” he questioned.

There were murmurs throughout the room, but no one claimed any serious personal damage.  Seren looked relieved. 

“We’re still checking on injuries in the other holding rooms.  Any medics in here, we’d appreciate your assistance as quickly as possible.  Before you go though, you should know that we don’t yet know the extent of damage to the ship.  We lost a few areas for some minutes at one point, but were able to bring them back online relatively quickly. I need all Charges to head to their departments and make an assessment.  I want any serious matters brought to my attention immediately.  Everything else needs to be documented and sent to the records department.  I want a copy of every assessment sent to my personal transmit as well.  Understood?”

The room seemed to wake up with a resounding, “Yes, Sir!”

Seren nodded at the crowd.  “Thank you all,” he said with simple gratefulness.

With those final words, he left the room with an authoritative air following him.  Oz, Cayson, and Amrynn stood as one.  Each was a Charge for their own respective units and knew that the next few hours would separate them and be high tension as well.  They shared a perfected three-way kiss and Oz followed it up with a large hand gently touching each loved face. 

“Be careful,” he ordered softly.  Cay and Amrynn nodded at him and with a last look, they separated.

*****

The ninth hour had come and gone by the time Oz finished assessing the agricultural center, had things relatively put to rights, and composed a detailed document which he sent to the records sector and Charge Pilot Seren’s personal transmit.  He was worn out and feeling some bruising develop from being mildly knocked around when the ship had employed evasive maneuvers.  However, instead of heading to his stateroom, his feet took him to the medic unit.  The area was much busier than he would have liked.  He saw several patients being attended to, and his observant eyes noted the range of injuries: head wounds, a couple possible broken bone, and a few with minor-looking abrasions.  Nothing appeared life-threatening, but it would not be good to have the dozen or so people out of commission. 

His attention didn’t linger on the patients though; instead, his searching eyes quickly spotted his husband.  Cay’s body language revealed his weariness, but his face held vigilance in its features.  Oz noted that Charge Pilot Seren was standing with Cay and the two were apparently discussing something important.  Not wondering or even caring if he would be welcome to join them, Oz strode across the room and put a strong and steadying arm around Cay’s waist as he reached him.  Cayson automatically slid his arm around Oz as well, but he continued without pause in his conversation with the ship’s lead man.

“The antibody room remained secure, but the outages affected all our med unit’s backup systems.  It will take me a full twenty-two hour day to reboot things properly, and that’s without interruption of patient care or sleep.”

“And rebooting the backup can’t wait?” Seren questioned, not appearing to notice Ozias’ presence at all.

Cayson shook his head.  “Absolutely not.  Our backups are our safeties.  The main systems can run without them, but if we have an unexpected overflow surge or face another meteor shower that does us damage, we can’t risk not having the backups ready to fill the gap should we lose our primary systems.”

“We can’t permanently lose your work with the patients.   We now have several that will need your attention.  Your doctoring skills, even with minor injuries, are important so you can be continuing to train those under you.  Does anyone else know how to do the rebooting?”

Cayson nodded, but it felt grim to Oz.  “Backer Eli and Backer Eris know how to do some of them, but not all.  At least half would be up to me to do.”

“Unless Amrynn and I helped,” Oz inserted in his quiet but noticeable way. 

This time Seren did give him his full attention.  “You know how to do the backups?”

Oz nodded.  “It’s a practice we share in our trio.  What one knows, we believe the others should know as much as they want and as much as they can.  Cay far surpasses Amrynn and me in medical abilities, but we can reboot the systems as well as him, just as he can efficiently nurture plant life like me or build a purifier like Amrynn.”

It was hard to read Seren’s thoughts on that, but after a long pause he nodded.  “It’s wise for partners to understand each other like that.  I can see the accountability it would provide; but I know you’re Charge leader for the agriculture block, Ozias, and if memory serves me correctly, Amrynn is the Charge of water and air purification.  I don’t know that we can afford to take the two of you away from your specialties.  You’re needed where you are.”

Oz nodded but his eyes shifted from their pilot to Cayson.  “Are there emergencies that need your attention now, or can you be spared for thirty minutes?”

Cayson’s gaze assessed the room.  “I think I can be spared if our night Charge will take the lead for the time.”  He nodded towards a serious looking redhead who was examining a man moaning from a head wound.  “Charge Ionna is good and qualified.  If she’s willing, I can be spared.”

Ozias turned back to Seren.  “I can see if Amrynn can meet us here and maybe we can work out a rough schedule so no needs fall into space.”

“Do it,” their leader said with quiet authority. 

Ten minutes later, the three men and Amrynn soberly discussed what the next day might look like.  Charge Pilot Seren led the dialogue.

“Charge Cayson, I know the backups are very important, but my focus is on my injured people in this ship, and you are the most knowledgeable and experienced medic we have.  If we’re going to divide up into shifts, I’d like your first slot to be focused on getting all our injured as comfortable and secure as possible.”

Cayson nodded.  “That’s doable, but Oz or Amrynn will have to take first shift working on the backups.  They know the more critical ones that will take the highest priority, and that will leave Eli and Eris able to handle the less vital ones for their shifts.”

Seren looked to Cayson’s husband and wife.  “You two are certain you know what you’re doing with the backups?”

“Yes, sir,” they answered in unison, but Amrynn spoke up after her answer.  “But I’ll need at least an hour’s time to assign tasks and leadership in the Purification Annex before I can focus my attention here.  Our air filters survived the shower, but two water units were cracked.  They’re reparable, but I don’t want my most experienced Backers working on them.  I’m also still running tests on the air and water quality in the low level engine rooms.  Someone has to monitor them for at least the next four hours.”

Seren nodded as he took her information into consideration and slid his rather intense blue eyes to Oz.  “Charge Ozias, how are things looking in the Agriculture Annex?”

“We endured well.  The east quadrant has some replanting to be done, and a victor tree fell onto a corner of our vegetation plot, but everything is salvageable from what I assessed.  However, like Amrynn, I’ll need some time to make assignments, and I’d like to put in a request that Backer Corbin be relocated while I’m unavailable at the Ag center.”

Pilot Seren’s eyes grew a bit more serious.  “Is there a problem there, Charge Ozias?”

“Nothing unmanageable, but not something to be ignored either.  Corbin is a strong worker and knowledgeable, but he doesn’t take direction well.  If I’m there to monitor him, it doesn’t become a problem, but in my absence he’s relayed different priorities to other Backers which have interfered in the training of some members.”

One of Seren’s fingers tapped the table in a rhythm that revealed his minor agitation over this news.  “Why wasn’t I told of this before?”

“Begging your pardon, Charge Seren, but I’ve managed him while we’ve been traveling and he won’t be part of my crew permanently.  His specialty lies in construction.  He’ll be focused on that arena once we reach Neveah.  You’re focused on getting us to our new home, and you shouldn’t have to mediate the Travelers as well.  That responsibility lies with the individual Charges, and only goes to a higher authority if the issue becomes a matter of ship safety or a direct contravening of our established codes.”

A barely audible sigh escaped Seren’s mouth.  It was the only sign that his natural composure and poise of authority was being stretched.  “You’re right, Ozias, and I trust your skills in management.  I would like you to keep me informed if Backer Corbin becomes a problem though.”

“Yes, sir,” Oz assured.

“Getting back to the matter at hand—and to answer your previous question, I will temporarily reassign Corbin—I think you and Charge Amrynn should take the hour to make what arrangements you need to in your wards. We can start shifts at the eleventh hour and switch every third.  Cayson, as we discussed, you’ll stick with the patients for shift one.  Amrynn, since it sounds like you have a little more on your hands in your ward than Oz, I’ll have him take the first rebooting shift and you’ll have the second.”

Amrynn started to nod but paused as Oz spoke up again.  “Charge Seren, the rotation schedule is fine, but each of us, including the Backers, is going to need a chance to rest.  It’s been a heavy day and having anyone perform non-stop for any indefinite period is hazardous to their health and the ability to perform duties quickly and efficiently.”

It was true and no one denied it, but losing anyone when injuries left them short-handed and the day’s events increasing the workload made it difficult to accept.  Seren appeared to think hard for a long minute before looking seriously at Cayson.

“There are fifteen medics under you on this ship, correct Charge Cayson?”

“Yes, sir.  Sixteen with me.”

“And while the rest of the Travelers don’t have the level of training the rest of you do, we all have received more medicinal lessons than the average Arlytian,” Seren said more to himself than the rest of them.  He was quiet for another minute, his mind obviously working as he sought a solution to things. 

“Alright,” he said with the air of a man issuing his final decree.  “We’ll divide our medics into groups of four for each shift.  I know the other departments on the ship who can spare some people and we’ll bring in at least two extras to help your crew for each third hour rotation.  Cayson, you’ll be lead medic on first shift and I’ll trust you to assign groups and leaders for the rest of the time.  Ozias, you’ll start the first rebooting then as well, and I’d like either Eli or Eris to shadow you so another Traveler could help should we run into this situation again.  Charge Amrynn, once you have tasks assigned for your unit, I want you to get some rest; then you’ll take over the rebooting during second shift.  I trust with that start I can count on the three of you to oversee the shift transitions and make sure everyone, including yourselves, gets at least one three-hour slot to sleep?”

“Yes, sir,” the three said together.

“Good.  If this goes smoothly enough, we’ll hopefully have everything back on track with just one day’s passing.”

Seren rose, looking almost regal in his bearing, his poise far surpassing his youthful age of twenty.  “I know minor dilemmas can be managed by the three of you, but if something serious comes up, I want it reported directly to me.”

“Yes, sir,” they replied again.

“I’ll leave you to it.  You can expect aid from other departments shortly, and I’ll be in the directional room indefinitely if you have need.”

         He turned and strode out quickly, leaving no question that he’d do his part or that he doubted that his orders would be obeyed.