Outcasts of Gideon

Fractured : Part 1

Kishan moved aside to allow Captain Peduli to pass. He wasn't surprised by her anger. He might have felt the same had he been in her position. Of course, he knew there wasn't any reason for the quarantine.

"Aren't these your people?" bellowed the Captain.

Grant laughed. "Some of them work for me, but that doesn't mean I control them." He had taken up defense of the others. Kishan decided that was not the best path, so he remained quiet.

"Now we have a potential threat loose in the station."

"It's not a threat. I've been around the thing and it hasn't affected me."

"Hasn't it? How do you know? How do you know it affected them?"

That was a question Kishan had asked himself many times. Accepting Dawn actually dissociated was difficult. As far as he knew, no human had ever survived that. Dewey seemed to be changing, but he didn't know the man well enough to be sure. These were things the Captain was being asked to believe. He went along because he needed to. She didn't need to.

Grant wouldn't let it go. "You saw her. You saw Dawn dissociate."

"What I saw was someone who seemed to dissociate. She could have been faking it. No one else has ever come back from that."

"Captain," said Doctor Daris, "We might be better served if we concentrate on finding them."

"Do you have a suggestion?"

"Well, you've already taken the first step. I would assume that station authorities will contact the appropriate Earth authorities. That might ease your mind as far as the planet is concerned."

Captain Peduli forced a smile. "Catherine, I know what you are trying to do. I appreciate it. But if you don't have a recommendation as to how we can find them..."

"The device they carry was beyond our ability to detect. We can only search for them. It's why we brought them here in the first place, to study the device."

"It's a device that could be infecting the entire station."

"Understood, but it also may be the first actual proof of alien intelligence."

"At what risk?"

"I'm not trying to invite risk, Muthia. I'm trying to ensure that science has an opportunity – that we have an opportunity – to learn from this."

"What do we know about them?" Kishan leaned away from the wall, drawing everyone's attention.

"Them?" asked Grant.

"Dawn, Dewey, Bobby. What do we know about them?" Kishan paused to allow them to answer. No one did. "We know Dawn wanted to go back to the empty. She was looking for something."

"What are you talking about?" asked Captain Peduli.

"People act for a reason. She refused a stasis chamber because she wanted to dissociate. She was looking for something."

"That's insane."

"No, it's human. She wanted something. She acted. To you, from your perspective, it was insane. From hers, it made sense."

"So you're saying we try to figure out what she was looking for."

"What I'm saying is we try to figure out what all of them are looking for. We're only here because Bobby said he had to go to Earth. What might be on Earth that has anything to do with an alien device found in Odyssey Omega?" Kishan looked from face to face. "Any ideas? What would they find on Earth? We know they can't get there. Not easily, anyway. In fact, we aren't going anywhere ourselves. With them out there, the authorities have no incentive to process us off this ship."

"No, that's not true," said the Doctor. "We could be processed off. We just have to convince them that we can help find your friends."

"Good point. How can we make that happen?"

"'We' are not going to make that happen." Captain Peduli rose. "I have already informed the Damasos that the three of you are here. You won't be going anywhere."