Space Chronicles The Beginning

Chapter 9

Baby, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

-  BTO -

Night landings at Area 51 are unnerving. You can't see the ground except in infrared, which displays everything monochromatically as if it had been turned inside out. That really didn't matter because the crew remained in a state of somber and anxiety ridden reflection. They knew that they were going to suffer for their sins in a very unpleasant manner.

For each of them, returning to Earth was bittersweet. It's nice to get back on terra firma, but each knew that he or she must go through purgatory to get into heaven. NASA had no idea of how to prevent an alien infectious agent from being accidentally turned loose on Earth, so they erred on the side of paranoia. They subjected the crew to Dante's version of hell.

When the men rode the ship's elevator down and the door slid open, they saw the bare backsides of the women being ushered into a plastic tent the size of a circus big top. The sight should have been pleasant, but it was depressing. They were ordered to strip by technicians encased in bio suits. You couldn't see these germ chasers' faces and it was impossible to discern their gender. Oh well. This is no place for the prudish.

###

Marty entered the makeshift common room and took a seat at a table with George and Tyler. The women were seated together at another table. The crewmembers were dressed in white disposable robes and slippers. Any clothing they had when they got off the ship was gone forever. There was a video screen mounted on the wall displaying news, but nobody was paying attention.

"I say," Tyler said. "They are overdoing this a bit, don't you think?"

Marty gave him a smile. "They're afraid, and fear breeds irrational extremes."

"Are we going to go through this every time we have physical contact with aliens?" George asked.

"I don't know," Marty said. "I heard that they're working on a device that can scan and kill infectious agents."

"Yeah, and guess who will be the guinea pigs?"

"It might be better than going into the tank," Mary said with a grin.

"I say, when that water came up over my head, I thought they were drowning me," Tyler said.

"That wasn't water," Marty said. "It's an organic breathable liquid. Deep-sea divers use it to withstand enormous pressures. I've been in it before."

"It scared the hell out of me," George said. "Why did they do that?"

"I believe it flushes out our lungs."

"They could have warned us,"

"I found the dermis burning more distressful," Tyler said. "Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"It's like getting a bad sunburn," Marty said. "I suppose it kills off any microbes on your skin."

"The fair sex weathered it well," Tyler said after glancing over at them.

"I'm beginning to think that they're not so fair," George said, frowning.

Marty chuckled. "Maybe they enjoy it."

Uma noticed their glances. "The men must like this nonsense. They're laughing."

"Men are such assholes." Anna said. "All they think about is sex and alcohol."

"They must be having withdrawal," Ferris said. "There's no alcohol in here."

Angie grinned. "And, no sex. Bummer."

They laughed.

Suddenly, the video screen went dark. Even though nobody was paying attention, everybody turned to look.