Seeking An S.O.S.: Behind The Scenes

26. Anger Issues

As the monitor turned pitch black, Xabiere's anger unleashed. He looked around his surroundings and found a red Solo cup and threw it at the screen knowing that Fritz wouldn't be able to see him rant. It made a bumping sound, and water splashed across the screen causing an electric spark to ensue.

Crackle!

"Dammit Fritz! Don't have a cow! Who do you think you are anyway? Ruler of all Pluto kind! You can't order us around after what we all do for you!"

Confused by what he just heard, Murdock questioned his friend on what he did.

"Dammit Xabiere, calm down." He paused and scratched his head. "Don't have a cow? What does that mean? Does Fritz own a real cow?"

Xabiere stopped what he was doing and faced his friend. Knowing that Murdock copied his own negative gestures, made Xabiere aware that as a role model, he should know better not to lose his temper. Thinking about what Murdock also said, sent humorous images in Xabiere's mind where his grim attitude soon turned into a smile.

"No Dock, it's a negative expression I heard humans say when they get upset. So, it means that I wish Fritz would just relax and calm down. Trust me, there aren't any cows on Pluto; thus, Fritz wouldn't even know what the fat animal looks like. And if he even owned one, I'd assume that he'd eat it. Heard humans eat the animal's meat."

Xabiere imitated the sounds of people chewing a juicy cheeseburger as he recorded it on radar.

Chomp, Chomp

However, he didn't mean to frighten his friend due to his gestures, yet he made a munching noise out of the blue.

"Xabiere! Stop it! I hate it when you do that. You're also scaring me! How can they do that to an animal? The cow didn't do anything wrong!"
Murdock closed his eyes as he wanted to forget about the images that flashed through his mind.

"This is just like the first time you fought with me. Throwing a thingamajig is not the answer! Besides I found that souvenir when we were on Earth, now you wrecked my one and only!"

Pouting, Murdock put his hands on his small forehead to show how disappointed he was of his friend.

A bit shocked to hear this unusual outburst of his, Xabiere admitted how he was getting tired of Murdock's nagging.

"Sorry, I'm sure we can find you another thingamajig, but for now we have to continue with our voyage. We can't stop now and turn back. We've traveled so far."

Picking up the remnants of the cup, Xabiere held it to the light.

"It's not heavily damaged; you can still keep it. But that's why I didn't want to take you down to visit Earth in the first place. I knew you'd get too attached to humans and other objects found on their planet. I'm sorry Murdock but we are not going back. We cannot let them know who we are. Whatever happens to those humans we met is now in the hands of their superiors."

As he was listening intently with his antennas standing upwards, Murdock gazed at his friend sternly and placed his hands on his hips.

"Are you saying this is all my fault Xabiere?"

The alien in question nodded. He hated lying between his teeth as Xabiere didn't like to offend anybody, but he couldn't fight the guilt that he held in his mind anymore.

"Fine! It's good to know where you stand!"

Murdock crossed his stubby hands together and swore to stay silent all the way till the end of the journey, hoping that by the time they land his anger would subside.

And as the space voyage continued, it was only the rushing sound of the engine of the spacecraft that was heard. The two friends were at war again with each other, thanks to Pluto's ruler, and Fritz intended complete mayhem to break out between the two Plutonians.

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Meanwhile on Earth, computer data was being retrieved from the SPANA'S archives.

NAME: Garreth Lewis

AGE: 60 years old

PROFESSION: SPANA Head Administrator

YEARS ON THE FORCE: 35 years

PAST EXPERIENCES:
1980 - flight on the Odyssey for Mars Research. Visit to the red planet was quite treacherous in the beginning as a dust storm caused the trip to be delayed, yet he safely returned to earth.
1987 - rode on the Titan for a second chance to do Mars Research. He and his fellow astronauts were able to also stopover to walk on the moon. However, after these two voyages, Lewis had a car accident that left him paralyzed. But after a month of rehabilitation , Mr. Lewis went back to do data work. With the help of an astrophysicist, they seeked out to understand the universe and our place in it. His efforts later helped future astronauts prepare for what they'd expect to find in space.
2000 - was promoted as SPANA Administrator Assistant.
2020 - filled the position of SPANA Head Administrator after the previous one retired.

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Dr. Cider re-read the information about the former astronaut that he requested from SPANA. Silas decided to keep these details to himself as they were for his own personal research. Earlier, Dr. Cider's brother-in-law mentioned that the SPANA Head Administrator might not be as loyal as he says he is, and that was bothering the scientist. He wanted to know what Lewis did that was so terrible, but instead of asking the head administrator what he was hiding, Silas decided to dig into Lewis's past.

It was said that Garreth Lewis hid a secret long ago. One that could have hindered his career if it was exposed; but unfortunately, it didn't happen.

The crime involved was adultery.  Dr. Cider's brother-in-law was none other than Adam Williams, the same man who found out that his ex-wife had cheated on him.

Adam confessed to Dr. Cider, that he inserted a pouch of carnivorous seeds in Lewis's pants when he flew with his colleagues on theTITAN to space. Adam's intention was to get Garreth in trouble and to learn not to mess with his woman again. But instead the packet fell out of Garreth's pants pocket as he changed gear inside the space rocket. And due to the shifting and turbulence that the rocket endured, the seeds initially fell. Thus, Dr. Cider concluded that if someone noticed that packet was still on the ship before takeoff, that person must have stayed quiet all these years about it. He also figured that if those carnivorous plants survived on their own, they would be a threat to all man and alien species if discovered. Some say it must be a myth, but carnivorous plants are not dangerous to humans at all. All Silas knew was that they consume mostly insects; but since there aren't a lot of those microorganisms in space, those plants must be very hungry!

As he thought about it, the chances that those plants are on the new planet are second to none. And the scientist knew that it was possible that Mr. Lewis was that exact person who found that packet as Silas found a short report of his expedition on the TITAN.

It's a mess here Captain! Found some green substances scattered on the rocket's floor. Since there is no gravity here, I'm afraid I'll have to gather them up and place them in a secure bag. ~ Lewis

Of course, that's what the astronaut wrote to convince others that he was a responsible person, but Dr. Cider was not convinced that what was written was true. In addition to this, talking to the SPANA Head in private made Silas think otherwise.

During their interview, Lewis avoided answering direct questions concerning his previous flight on TITAN, as he would only give the same answer to the scientist;"That was a long time ago, please move onto the next question". Lewis didn't make eye contact with Dr. Cider and the SPANA Head's inner corners of the eyebrows were raised as if he were in shock that Silas even knew about his previous Space voyages.

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"I've talked with my other colleagues in the SPANA administration and we all agree to send people up to this new planet. However, we are not going to endanger the lives of any of our astronauts." Garetth Lewis proudly announced via the speakers.