Astronomicon: Behemoth

Chapter 31 - Taking Command

"It seems there's been all sorts going on while I was frozen," started Mo Gordon, Colony Commander. "Now, Mr Santiago and Mr Nowak have already given me a full run-down of our present situation and recent events, but I want to see some of this stuff myself."

Mo was in his late-thirties, below average height and of a comparatively petite build. His thin face was not enhanced by his crew-cut blonde hair which contrasted unfavourably with his much darker-toned skin. Under normal circumstances, his job involved taking command of the entire colonisation project once the Arcadian was safely down on her target planet.

After being defrosted, as soon as he discovered the situation, he had called a meeting of the entire unfrozen crew in the briefing room. As several members of the crew had been outside the ship at the time, it had taken a while to get everyone together.

"I hope they have impressed upon you just how serious this situation is, Commander," said Ekono.

"Please don't worry about that, Mr Danjuma," smiled the Commander. "I am aware that you have unfortunately been injured by these alien creatures and have a desire to exact your revenge upon them."

"It's much more than that, Commander," replied Ekono, looking deeply hurt.

"It's perfectly natural to hate somebody so different to yourself. As much as we deny it, human nature tends to push us that way, even now."

"This is war, Commander. We can't afford to lose this..."

"It is not a war," snapped Commander Gordon. "The situation has simply been handled badly and has got a little out of hand. Our first order of business must be to retrieve L.E.O. Pastore before there is any further bloodshed."

"Bettino is just doing what we should all be doing, Commander," spat Ekono.

Mo looked at him with open disdain. "What we should all be doing, Mr Danjuma, is making sure that one of our very first, first-contact situations doesn't escalate into an interstellar war. This is so much bigger than just getting revenge for a fallen crewmate."

Ekono's usually calm demeanour had broken. He looked as if he was close to lashing out. Even surrounded by other crewmembers, Commander Gordon felt intimidated by Ekono's substantially larger and more muscular frame. Doing his best to avoid showing his nervousness and struggling to maintain his authority, he took a step towards Ekono and straightened up a little to minimise the substantial height differential.

"Mr Danjuma, we will do what we can to locate and retrieve L.E.O. Pastore before he causes any further harm to either himself or others. Now, you can either agree to that and come along, or you will stay here under restraint until we return."

Ekono simply stared at him angrily but made no attempt to reply.

"I will take that as an indication that you have no intentions to comply."

* * *

"I haven't had time to read all the reports since the Arcadian arrived here, but do we have any idea what this waterfall of gel is for?" asked Commander Gordon as he shook the glistening residue from the arms of his E.V.A. suit.

Aron brought the buggy to a halt.

"The best theory we could come up with was some sort of biological seal on our hangar. The airlock doors take care of the pressure and gas content differences and the gel, maybe, deals with any microbes or biological factors," replied Aron.

"Some sort of disinfectant?"

"Precisely," Aron chuckled.

Aron was the only person on the four-seater buggy who had seen the gelfall previously. The two recently-defrosted L.E.O.s in the rear seats had remained silent passing through the gel but were now vigorously shaking and wiping the residue off their E.V.A. suits.