Calan - The Immortality Paradox

Chapter Nine: The Scorpion's Prey, Part One

Date: 315, OA19,655

Location: Crin, E'blanche, Canol System

Harissa found the Professor with his head bowed over a laboratory table in the subterranean levels of the research base - the same spot she'd left him the day before. His greying mass of hair stuck out like a pasture that had recently endured a tornado. Delicate hands toyed with the section of a circuit board, removing and replacing transistors methodically. A map of E'blanche adorned the far wall, barely perceptible under a battery-powered lamp. White arcing lines showed the final trajectories of the satellites during their descent. Diligent, he continued his diagnostic report on U2 Fly's navigation system. Although the President of the Calan had more or less unravelled the malfunction mystery, the Professor had taken it upon himself to make an independent investigation. Harissa assumed he wanted to avoid seeming beholden to the Calan and challenged himself not to take their statements verbatim.

She felt guilty for informing Tywysydd without the Professor's consent, but the necessity was there to solve a crisis. Gregon concurred. No matter what, the Professor convinced himself, there was no escaping the suspect nature of their satellites' untimely demise. More than anything, she felt devastated for her mentor. Watching him now, slaving away under a dingy light, she could feel his disconsolation like a cloud of misery. His most fabulous creations were wiped out in a matter of a week. To add salt to the wound, Drindlock - king of all breathing bastards - had severed auxiliary funding indefinitely. All the other employees had been made redundant. The Professor's remaining incentive held the Astronomy Base's future. The building on the mountain could once again become a relic of a past endeavour.

In one hand, Harissa carried some newly printed transistors. In the other, frothing at the edges of the container, was the Professor's favourite drink. A blend of vanilla and banana supplements with a spike of caffeine. She approached him quietly, careful not to disturb his workflow.

'Your usual, Prof.' She placed the flask on the raised platform in the centre of the table. Almost immediately, Steale reached for it, drawing it to his lips. He took a few greedy slurps and replaced the container on the platform. Froth coagulated on his ragged beard.

'Perfect.' He exhaled happily after smacking his lips together. 'Harissa, I should be admonishing you for being stubborn and staying put in this non-existent job, but how can I when you keep treating me like this!'

Harissa frowned at the redness of his eyes. 'I feel like I shouldn't be putting these in front of you either, but here are the spares.' Deliberately, she placed the new transistors more than his arm's length away. 'Don't you think it's time to take a break, Prof?'

'I probably should.' He sighed. 'But if Leonians are going to keep up with other Chapters in the technology game, then these need to get back in orbit as soon as possible.'

'You haven't really stopped working since the satellites came in.'

'I abandoned an old life, devoted all my time and even forgot a few friends to make this happen. If I give up now, there's really nothing that could motivate me ever again. The state of this satellite is a pretty accurate metaphor for the contemporary state of my life. In orbit, it's stable, functioning and renowned. Down here...well, decrepit.' He glanced up at Harissa apologetically. 'Sorry if that doesn't make sense.'

'No, Prof, I understand. Though I wouldn't say decrepit. Stubborn as well, perhaps.' They laughed simultaneously. Though, the Professor's laugh was more of a pressure release. Harissa knew she was one of the few who had that effect on him. 'I know how much U2 means to you. For Calan's sake, I was there when the first satellite launched over ten years ago. I've never seen someone look so full of pride. Honestly, who holds that much pride for an inanimate object?'