LJ Idol, **Fiction** , My enemies pay well.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
I found myself sitting in a conference room facing off with five senior members of the Xeno Logistics Corporation trying to explain what happened on my last cargo run to Titan. Seated at the table were COO Jim Starnes, though I last knew him as flight operations manager. To his left was Sara Michaels, currently Chief of Operations for XL at Artemis base. She and I were an item once. Next to her was Assistant Chief Robert Early. He was head of flight training when I came through six years ago. On Jim’s other side were Craig Jones and Mary Scott, representing NASA. We went through flight school together. For a room full of people I thought I was friends with the vibe was really negative.
“So I removed the creature from the hull, saved the ship and cargo, arrived at the research station on time, and this is the way you treat me?” I think my anger at being interrogated after a successful delivery as if I screwed up was justified, but the management at Artemis Moon Base were just not liking my story. It hurt even more than I knew every person in the room and they knew me, though I was six years older than the last time we talked.
Jim started in on me again, “Captain Jensen, we’re just trying to get to the bottom of the situation with your recent trip to the Titan Research Station. There are some anomalies in the ships logs that we’re just not able to explain, so we need your input on them.”
I’m sure my exasperation was coming through in my response, “Oh, we’re going by titles now, Jim? I introduced you to your wife. My name is Tom, we used to go to Smitty’s tavern together.”
Sara answered for him, “Captain Jensen, Tom, let’s just start from the beginning, shall we?”
I couldn’t help but sigh before starting again, “Look, you’ve seen the video from my EVA, you’ve seen the ship logs. Amethyst Dream woke me early from hypersleep on the outbound leg due to an indicated power loss from the ion reactor. I investigated and found a creature affixed to the hull. I found a way to remove the creature, restore reactor power, and make the delivery on time. We made repairs to the ship while the eggheads were offloading their supplies. I took on two passengers in hypersleep for rotation earthside and the return trip went like clockwork. Hell, those two scientists are already on the surface shuttle back to Houston. What’s to explain?”
“We want to know where our alien is,” said Craig.
I was honestly shocked. “What? You’re kidding, right? You saw the video. The last I saw it was drifting in the general direction of Uranus, clinging to that hull patch and welding unit. What was I supposed to do with it?”
Jim answered for the group, “You were supposed to contain it and bring it back, or at the very least take it to the Titan station.”
I was shaking my head as I answered, “Contain it in what? The moment the batteries died on the welding kit that thing would have been back at the reactor. No reactor, no maneuvering thrusters, and no supply delivery. Without the supply delivery, your scientists on Titan would be in big trouble waiting for the next scheduled delivery. And hell, alien intervention isn’t in my contract. I did my job, and that contract is over. I’m retiring early to Bora Bora.”
Their next statement was another shock, “Unless you want another contract. Retire in style after one more run. There would be a bonus this time if you found our alien.”
Part 2
Part 3
I found myself sitting in a conference room facing off with five senior members of the Xeno Logistics Corporation trying to explain what happened on my last cargo run to Titan. Seated at the table were COO Jim Starnes, though I last knew him as flight operations manager. To his left was Sara Michaels, currently Chief of Operations for XL at Artemis base. She and I were an item once. Next to her was Assistant Chief Robert Early. He was head of flight training when I came through six years ago. On Jim’s other side were Craig Jones and Mary Scott, representing NASA. We went through flight school together. For a room full of people I thought I was friends with the vibe was really negative.
“So I removed the creature from the hull, saved the ship and cargo, arrived at the research station on time, and this is the way you treat me?” I think my anger at being interrogated after a successful delivery as if I screwed up was justified, but the management at Artemis Moon Base were just not liking my story. It hurt even more than I knew every person in the room and they knew me, though I was six years older than the last time we talked.
Jim started in on me again, “Captain Jensen, we’re just trying to get to the bottom of the situation with your recent trip to the Titan Research Station. There are some anomalies in the ships logs that we’re just not able to explain, so we need your input on them.”
I’m sure my exasperation was coming through in my response, “Oh, we’re going by titles now, Jim? I introduced you to your wife. My name is Tom, we used to go to Smitty’s tavern together.”
Sara answered for him, “Captain Jensen, Tom, let’s just start from the beginning, shall we?”
I couldn’t help but sigh before starting again, “Look, you’ve seen the video from my EVA, you’ve seen the ship logs. Amethyst Dream woke me early from hypersleep on the outbound leg due to an indicated power loss from the ion reactor. I investigated and found a creature affixed to the hull. I found a way to remove the creature, restore reactor power, and make the delivery on time. We made repairs to the ship while the eggheads were offloading their supplies. I took on two passengers in hypersleep for rotation earthside and the return trip went like clockwork. Hell, those two scientists are already on the surface shuttle back to Houston. What’s to explain?”
“We want to know where our alien is,” said Craig.
I was honestly shocked. “What? You’re kidding, right? You saw the video. The last I saw it was drifting in the general direction of Uranus, clinging to that hull patch and welding unit. What was I supposed to do with it?”
Jim answered for the group, “You were supposed to contain it and bring it back, or at the very least take it to the Titan station.”
I was shaking my head as I answered, “Contain it in what? The moment the batteries died on the welding kit that thing would have been back at the reactor. No reactor, no maneuvering thrusters, and no supply delivery. Without the supply delivery, your scientists on Titan would be in big trouble waiting for the next scheduled delivery. And hell, alien intervention isn’t in my contract. I did my job, and that contract is over. I’m retiring early to Bora Bora.”
Their next statement was another shock, “Unless you want another contract. Retire in style after one more run. There would be a bonus this time if you found our alien.”