Fast Cars and Intergalactic Speed Dating

42: Screening

The landing party consisted of Wessona, Kavita, and Ol-Maran. They were gone for what felt like hours; as always, it was difficult to tell time on the ship. Kavita was the only one with a watch, and the clocks on the ship remained completely foreign to Richard.

Only Wessona and Kavita returned. They were both wearing simple paper masks. Kavita's looked familiar, a covering for her nose and mouth. Wessona's was of a different type, fitted around the base of her frill. It was the first time Richard paused to wonder where her nostrils were.

Wessona was carrying a couple of large paper envelopes. "We are welcomed," she said. "There will be a health screening for everyone on board and there is a mandatory five-day quarantine. We brought masks for the rest of the crew." She held the envelopes up.

"Quarantine?" Garth said. He looked excited and outraged in equal measure. "Do they think we have Earth cooties?"

"Don't be dramatic," said Kavita. "It's just like buying a new fish: you put him in his own little area before you introduce him to the rest. You don't know what bugs he'll have on him."

"But I feel fine!"

"And you might be fine, but there are aliens here who might not have immunity to things you're carrying." She turned to Richard. "Will there be a problem with the quarantine?"

"Not at all," said Richard. "I'm all for a quarantine, and so is Garth. If he moans any longer, they can just threaten him with stun guns."

Garth scowled. "To soon."

"C'mon, Garth. I thought you'd be kissing the ground after the longest road trip you've ever had."

He narrowed his eyes at Richard, considering this. Then he turned back to Kavita. "Fine. But I want my objection noted for the record."

"Noted and discarded," said Kavita. She turned to Wessona. "We'll let you three go first, if that's alright? I imagine you'll want to stick together. Let everybody know what they said: no one comes back to the ship until after quarantine, so we should all get our things from our quarters before we disembark."

"Right."

"We should go last," said Richard. "I need to make sure the ship has entered hibernation mode before we can leave." Ol-Maran had reviewed these protocols with Richard before they'd landed; it was straightforward, but would take a little time.

The Chorodonians gathered, donned their masks, and disembarked, Shashi all but vibrating with excitement to be off of the Beyma at last. While Richard monitored the ship's cool-down process, Nen-Alaya and Kavita sent the Karra down in groups of two and three. Meanwhile, everyone, including the humans, took brief trips to their quarters to gather their belongings.

When Richard and Garth returned to the bridge from their quick trip to pick up their toothbrushes and clothes, they found Kavita and Nen-Alaya alone on the bridge.

"And there they are. That's the last of us," said Kavita. She grinned at Nen-Alaya, raising a hand for a high five. The hand was met with a perplexed stare—Nen-Alaya had not taken the translator back, so there wasn't a good way to explain that particular human ritual. Lowering her hand, Kavita said, "Boys? Are you ready?"

Garth bounced on the balls of his feet. "I've been ready since the day I was born. I've been ready since I was conceived. I've been ready since—"

"And that's enough," said Richard. He accepted his mask from Kavita and slipped the loops over his ears as Garth did the same.

Kavita reached for their hands, twiddling her fingers. "C'mon. Let's go walk on a distant planet."

***