A New Species

The New Gig

For the next 12 hours Mike would be sitting here at station 12B monitoring the Zuar region. His ship had just completed a full nano-pulse scan of the previous region and found nothing but rocks floating in space. He wished he had never come here. If he had stayed at home, he could have still been with Farthmat, the woman of his dreams. They would not have any money, would be relegated to the splot farms, and would probably end up resenting each other for years to come... but this job was boring and all the guys were planning a Gampo game tonight. Mike was pissed. He loved Gampo. His mother always told him never to play that game with the bad boys because he could get in serious trouble. He started playing just a few months ago when this mission started. Mike was the youngest Kaahlet on the ship and was still known as the new guy. He always had to do the chores that nobody else wanted to do, and tonight, of all nights, extra duty was called on from the control deck, and since he was the new guy, he had to sit and watch black. "Black" is what they saw when they were not in close range of any particular star, and it was looking black again tonight.

As if the duty itself were not depressing enough, there was also Kaleb. Mike could not stand that brown-nosing bastard. The guy was a do-gooder and was trying to fast track himself to the control deck, and he didn't care whom he might have stepped on along the way. Mike resented this aspect of Kaleb so much that it made his blue blood boil, which is bad because when blue blood boils it would often leak out of his ears. Mike also hated that their uniforms were white.

"Mike where is your I.D.? You have to have your I.D. when you are patrolling a zone, where is it? You need it? I will get it for you just tell me where it is. Mike you are so irresponsible. If constable Squib comes down to check on us, I will tell him about your I.D. You need that I.D. Mike." Said Kaleb.

Mike was used to Kaleb's demands and prattling, but he still hated the guy. "Fine Kaleb. It's on the ledge above my bunk. Don't hurry back," Mike said.

"Your bunk? I am not going anywhere near that disgusting room and besides its way too far. I though you just left it outside the station, but it's all the way to your BUNK? What if Constable Squib comes? I am not going to help you out of this one; in fact, I may just have to turn you in myself."

"Relax Kaleb, there's like 10 of us on the ship. We've been together for like 4 months now." Said Mike.

"Article 1.01.01.08.01 clearly states that all Kaahlets must display identification badges at all times for the mutually desirable purpose of providing a consistent method of identification and to provide additional means of personnel verification in such a way as to discourage invasions by likely Non-Kaahlet beings to the craft." Kaleb said until he was out of breath.

"Fine. Will Constable Squib mind if I go get my damned ID badge if you sit and watch for me?" Asked Mike.

Kaleb stood before Mike with a blank look and finally said "I will do this just once for you but if it happens one more time..."

#

Mike turned the corner to go down the hall that passed the Emperor's District Offices to get to his bunk. As he passed the portal to the offices he heard the doors open behind him, "Mike, you should be on duty." It was constable Squib. Mike braced for impact. The Prolube Cuff was highly unpleasant, and was often unleashed with frightening immediacy. He held his breath as he turned to face Squib.

"Um, yes sir, I just, well I wasn't feeling well so I thought I would visit the composting station for some relief. Kaleb is watching my post; I only needed about five minute's sir." Said Mike.

"Bullshit Mike. You forgot your ID again." Squib placed his hand on his utility belt and tapped his fingers. The Prolube Cuff was activated from that belt. "Relax Mike, Garmonde wanted to see you before your shift anyway. Go get your ID and come back here for your orders."

Mike was surprised to get a pass on this one. He thought Squib was a real bastard, but this time maybe not. "OK, it will only take a second," said Mike as he turned to trot down the hall. TSHZZZZ... Mike fell to the ground in immediate pain, which subsided almost immediately. He caught his breath and looked up to see Squib standing over him, smiling. "Now go Mike. Don't forget your ID anymore rookie."

Mike changed his mind back to its original thought; Squib was such an asshole. He got back to his feet and half trotted toward his room.

When Mike returned to the Emperor's District Offices the portal opened for him and he stepped in to see Barsha, the Emperor's official secretary ready to receive him with her security wand. She stood and approached Mike, "put your pockets out and lift up your arms. She was a beautiful creature, until she spoke. Rude, demanding, no emotion whatsoever. Mike wanted her badly. She passed the wand around his body scanning for contraband, then turned to her desk and without a word, opened another portal that lead into Garmonde's room. She did not glance or say a word and a silence hung. Mike said "so... Should I..."

"I opened the portal didn't I?" Barsha said without even looking in Mike's direction. "Friggin rookie," she said.

Mike stepped forward through the portal and Garmonde spun in his chair. His wide operating station was filled with monitors, levers, and other controls that baffled Mike as he took it all in. He had never been invited into the Emperor's District Offices before and was nervous as he approached the operating station, which sat high up on a dais.

#

Mike was not happy with his new headgear at all. It made him feel very alert, but also very jumpy and twitchy. Almost nervous. He left Garmonde's department and headed back to his station where he met Kaleb. Kaleb looked toward Mike and began to complain "that took far longer than it needed too. I was concerned that Squib would come by while you were gone and since you lollygagged I told myself that I wouldn't lie for you. If you do this again I am telling. What is on your head?"

"I have a 5 day assignment. This thing is supposed to keep me awake the whole time" said mike.

"OH? They gave YOU an assignment? Why would they give an assignment to a rookie? You have no proper training or skills! I am going to have to have a word with someone about this" Kaleb said as he marched himself out of the portal.

Mike was glad to be rid of him. "So, a mission to monitor a rock. Great" Mike said to himself as he sat down at his terminal. An intro package had been downloaded to his monitor station and he opened it. The text and photos described a rock that was quite small, almost microscopic really. The pictures did not reveal much other than its position amount other rocks and stars. Most of the information was too technical in nature for Mike to understand, as it had to do with Universal Positioning. He did know that the computers handled that, and he knew how to transfer a package into the scopes so they could aim properly. Mike loaded the program and waited for the scopes to begin the search for their target. In all the information that was uploaded for Mike, nothing told him why the Emperor was interested in this particular rock.

#

After the first 26 hours, Mike was starting to get bored. He thought he might be tired, but after he really considered things, he was sure that he was bored. His headgear was a very effective way to keep him from sleeping. The round ball was almost completely filling his monitor now as the scope was able to gather more light and see deeper into space. Mike was able to ascertain different patches of color, but was unsure of what those colors meant. He was taught that the computers would be able to determine the type of atmosphere, and what the rock was made of on the surface. Sometimes it was just a gas or a vapor and sometimes it was a liquid. Sometimes it was just rock. He wasn't trained yet in reading the computer reports so Mike didn't really know what this rock was like, but it did resemble home. He guessed that this rock may have had oceans, but the color was not quite like back home.

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