A New Beginning Ch. 03

After his attempt to take control of the ship when Butler had his abscess and with the situation we were then under, neither I nor Joshua trusted him to be on the bridge by himself.

I then asked for volunteers to help Sam manage the TV lounge. A construction crew woman named Judith and a cafeteria waitress named Carli volunteered. They both had worked in a bar before signing on the James Cook. So far everything was going fine. I knew the rest wasn't going to be so easy.

"Doctor Yves, how are the two burned men?"

"I have them sedated for now. They're not doing so good. The lightening bolt that hit them went right through their suits, causing their clothing to catch on fire. Their suits were filled with oxygen. They're both burned over 90% of their bodies. I will be very surprised if they live more than 24 hours."

I closed my eyes and thought of Butler. I wondered where he was when the fifth lightening bolt hit us. Was he in the cargo hold or just suiting up? I said a silent prayer that he died without much pain.

Then I said ominously, "By now y'all know that there was an explosion and that we've lost the tail section of the James Cook along with the cargo hold. But there are a couple of things that y'all don't know. That's why I've called y'all here."

I paused and looked at Joshua. He nodded as if to say that he was behind me.

"First of all, we've lost both our main and backup long range antennae. There is no way to contact MC3 until at least one of them is repaired. Captain Butler had a crew outside attempting to repair one of them when a lightening bolt hit them. I understand two men were killed and another two were badly burned. That's what Doc Yves and I were alluding to just now."

I looked around the cafeteria. Some were just staring blankly at me; others were obviously shaken by this news. I dreaded going on.

"Secondly, with the exception of a few officers remaining on the flight deck, what y'all see among yourselves here make up the entire crew of the James Cook. We lost 89 souls when the ship broke apart. We've got nothing with which to build a space observatory . . . The mission is over. We're going home."

Immediately there was a murmur among the crew. I paused again. I heard someone say something about their pay.

"Don't worry about getting paid. Y'all will get your full pay. Your contract requires that."

Everyone except the prostitutes was paid an amount each month according to what he or she asked to be paid from what they were going to receive when they returned home. But not so with the prostitutes, they were given a small bonus when they signed on. After that they only got what they earned from their johns. If they didn't work, then they got nothing. Everyone else hired on at a base pay, depending upon what kind of work they would perform.

Then each month Valarie, the bursar, did her thing on the computer and, except for the prostitutes, credited everyone's account the amount that they agreed upon before leaving MC3. An equal amount was debited to each person's onboard bank account. At the end of the voyage each person would be paid the balance of his or her account plus any remaining amount in their onboard bank account.

Every time someone used their picture ATM card to purchase something, their onboard account was automatically credited with the proper bank balance.

I had to get everyone thinking positive. I turned to the ship's master chef.

"William, correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't you just fill up all the food lockers a few days ago?"

"Yes ma'am, I figured that once we got into orbit around Europa, if I went with a team down there then, then we would probably just be in everyone's way. Everyone would be busy unloading the cargo hold with the stuff needed to build the space station. So me and a couple of my waiters went down there a couple of shifts ago. All our food lockers are full right now."

"We got 68 men and women onboard right now, not counting the two burned victims. Can you give me an estimate on how long that food will last us?"

I was thinking and hoping we had enough food to last us until we got back to Earth and MC3. Five or six months was what we would need for a return trip from Mars. I was pretty sure we had enough food but I wanted those present to hear it from our master chef.

William stood up and looked around the cafeteria. "I'd say we have enough food in our lockers right now to last us about nine months, a year if we ration it out."

That was the first good news I received since before Butler woke me up several hours earlier. Our master chef did his calculations believing that we were still in the vicinity of Jupiter. I assume that's why he mentioned that we could stretch the food out to a year if we rationed it out.

What William and most of the others didn't know was that we were now only a few days away from Mars. Nine month's supply would be plenty enough food to get us home. Unless, of course, more problems arose onboard, then even a year's supply of food might not be enough.

"On another note, you construction workers don't have a place to sleep. Y'all lost your sleeping quarters when the tail section broke off. But I don't want y'all to worry about that either."

I looked down at the notes I jotted down earlier.

"We lost 29 officers and crew members. There are 25 construction crew members among y'all. That means we have enough living quarters for all of you . . ."

"What about all my stuff?" a construction worker called out, interrupting me. "I lost everything I had when the ship broke up. Are you telling me that I'm not going to get my stuff back?"

"I'm sorry about y'all losing your belongings. But the contract each of you signed says that UNESA is not responsible for your personal belongings. When we get back to MC3 you can take that up with your representative."

I paused to let the information sink in. Chantelle got up out of her seat and moved to stand near me. She put her hand on the taser gun strapped to her hip, as if to remind them that there would be repercussions if anyone tried anything stupid.

"I have already asked Terri, Josephine and Alicia to move their belongings into Veronica's cabin. The rest of you will be assigned new berths as soon as the personal belongings of the dead crew members can be cleared out of their cabins."

I looked over at the recreation officer and the supply officer's mate. "Louis, Konrad, I'm asking you two to select a couple of crew members and take care of that for me. Konrad get some boxes from supply and put all the personal belongings of those who died in those boxes. Then put the person's name on the box. Y'all don't have any objections do you?"

"No ma'am I don't," Konrad responded.

"When do you want us to do it?" Louis asked.

"I would like y'all to get started on it as soon as I finish here. Chantelle will open the hatch for y'all and assign a new password to it using her override code. As you clear out a berth assign a construction crew member to it. OK?"

"Fine by me," Louis answered.

"Me too," Konrad added.

"Then give Chantelle and Father Ray each a list of who is living where. Finally, I want you to bring the clothing of the dead crew members to the cafeteria and let the construction crew members sort through it. Just their clothing, put their personal stuff in a box and give that to Father Ray." I looked over at Father Ray; he just nodded.

Then turning back to my audience I continued, "Those of you who lost everything will be able to sort through the clothing of those who perished. This may sound inhumane but it is either that or y'all wear dirty clothing or go naked. Take your choice. As for tooth brushes, tooth paste and other toiletries . . . Konrad I want you to issue some from supply at no charge."

"Yes ma'am," he answered.

Turning again to the rest of the crew members, "I'm asking y'all to please be patient and work with me, Konrad and Louis on this. We've had a major catastrophe and we all have to deal with it."

No one seemed to object. I looked again at my notes.

"We lost most of our water. That means that we have to ration what's left. So I'm going to close the rear showers, the ones near the cafeteria. The front showers are closer to where y'all will be living anyway. Also, I'm restricting the number of showers one person may take. There are sixteen faucets in the front showers and 64 of y'all onboard."

I did a quick mental calculation.

"If y'all are divided into two groups then everyone should be able to shower within two days. No one gets really all that dirty here and the air conditioners keep us all from sweating too much. Again, I'm asking y'all to be patient and work with me on this."

"What about brushing our teeth and shaving?" One of the cafeteria waiters asked.

"The showers and sinks will be turned on from nineteen hundred hours until twenty-two hundred hours and the sinks will be turned on from zero seven hundred hours until ten hundred. That should be plenty enough time for everyone to take care of their toiletries. As for those of you who like to take a morning shower, well y'all will just have to get accustomed to taking one in the evening instead."

I glanced at my second in command. "Joshua, I'm assigning that to you. I want you to make up two lists of who can shower and when. Give one copy to Chantelle and post another copy outside the showers where it won't get wet."

"What about washing up after we use the toilet?" It was the same cafeteria worker.

"Use a handy-wipe," I answered him.

"Will us women have to shower with the men?" a construction female asked.

"What's your name?" I was disappointed with myself for not knowing her name. There were about thirty or forty of the original 85 construction laborers who I recognized but I didn't know their names. Nor did I know the names of all the other crew members.

I knew the names of all the officers. That's because the officers wore uniforms with their name and rank on the left breast whereas everyone else wore their civilian clothes. Besides, there were only 26 officers onboard whose name I could to connect with a face but 133 laborers and crew members.

"Laci Bianca."

"Have you ever been in the forward showers before Laci?"

"No ma'am. I've never been to the forward section but a couple of times. I was in the cafeteria when the ship broke in half."

"Well, they're divided in half just like the rear showers, except that they only have eight faucets on one side for the women and eight faucets on the other side for the men, instead of sixteen to each side like the larger showers by the cafeteria."

"Thank you," Laci answered.

"You're welcome Laci," I responded. "Any more questions about the showers?"

"Are you telling me that I will only be able to brush my teeth every other day?" The chef's assistant asked.

"No Mark. Everyone will be able to use the sinks to wash up in the morning and the evening. I'm just restricting use of the showers."

Norton, one of the custodians, asked about when the prostitutes were going to get new rest areas for their services.

I told them all that we were going to reassign the four remaining rest areas to the four surviving prostitutes. That brought smiles to the faces of several of the men.

So far everything was going easier than I expected. But I knew the rest of the information I was going to have to give them wasn't going to be as easy.

When I informed them that I was closing the saunas, the games room and the TV lounge until everyone was reassigned you would have thought I had committed some kind of unpardonable sin. But I didn't want Louis reassigning someone to a room and then having to go hunt that person down in order to give him or her the code to open the hatch of that berth. I wanted everyone somewhere where Louis could easily find them. Most of them seemed to accept this.

I told them that if everyone cooperated then they could all get back to doing their own thing a lot sooner and that they shouldn't complain. Most of them were going to get full pay for doing absolutely nothing. Everyone seemed to like that.

Then everyone had a laugh when Regina Aurora, a construction laborer, called out that she was tired of sleeping in the weightlessness of the tail section. She was happy that for the first time in over a year and a half she was going to get to sleep in a gravity controlled environment.

Lastly, I pointed out to them that we were no longer in the vicinity of Jupiter and its satellites, that we were now only about a half million kilometers from Mars. I told them that somehow the explosion threw us 550 million kilometers across space. I didn't know how it happened; it just happened. I said that it was one of those mysteries of space flight that we have all heard about, that it was nothing to get worried about. The ship was in great shape.

I informed them that Vickie and her crew had been trying to raise Mars for over an hour, but so far had gotten nothing but static over the radio. I would let them know immediately when she or any of the communication officers raised Mars.

I didn't tell those present about the hole we went through. In hindsight I guess I should have mentioned something about it because a number of the crew members did not believe me when I told them we were instantly thrown across millions of kilometers of space.

I took a chance that my silence on it wouldn't be the source of rumors later on. But when Joshua, Joseph and I discussed it in my quarters earlier, we all agreed that it would be better if no one except the officers knew about the hole. The three of us figured that it would be better if we didn't tell them about something that not even we knew what it was.

Instead, I asked if anyone had any questions.

Father Ray asked if he could address the crew. I nodded and he informed everyone that he was going to offer a mass in the morning for those who died. He said mass everyday but very few attended. I wondered how many would attend his next daily mass. I made a promise to myself to attend it.

Leonard, one of the cafeteria waiters, then asked if those who were not going to be moved could go to the games room or TV lounge. I looked over at Louis for his input since he was going to be the person in charge of that. I wanted everyone to remain in the cafeteria but I thought I would let him answer the question.

He told everyone present that he didn't know who was going to be moved and who wasn't going to be moved. He said that he didn't want to have to go looking all over the James Cook's living section for anyone; he wanted everyone where he could easily find them.

He added that he was going to try to keep as many as possible where they were and at the same time keep officers with officers, crew members with crew members and construction crew with construction crew, just as I had done earlier with the prostitutes.

Then Ronald, the same guy caught cheating at Hole Poker, dropped the first bomb.

"How do we know you're telling us the truth? How do we know we haven't been orbiting around Mars for a year and a half?"

"Excuse me but I don't understand your question Ronald," I answered him.

I couldn't imagine why he would ask such a question. Because if it were true that we had been orbiting around Mars for over a year and a half, just telling everyone that we were on a mission to Europa, then it would have to be a conspiracy that would involve about a third of the leaders of the United Earth Republic, over half of the United Earth Space Agency and all the officers of the James Cook, totaling thousands of people.

That is to say nothing of the fact that Louis had televised the lightening show between Jupiter and its satellites over our onboard television, a show which everyone had watched.

But I suspected that the real reason he asked it was just to stir up trouble. I still didn't know whether or not he ever forgave me or Butler for finding him guilty, even thou I only acted as judge in the proceedings and Butler as the prosecutor. It was a jury of seven officers who found him guilty based upon the evidence.

"Well how do we know all this isn't some trick of yours to take over command of the James Cook?" he continued.

"Ronald are you insinuating that I killed Captain Butler, 88 more crew members and destroyed the . . ."

"That's enough," Chantelle interrupted me. "We don't need any wiseass questions from someone who is just trying to get revenge for his own problems."

"No Chantelle, I want to answer him and anyone else who may be thinking that I or any other officer onboard the James Cook is the cause of this." I knew that the chief of security was only thinking of me but I wanted to clear the air. I wanted to stop the rumors before they got started. Unfortunately, I didn't silence them. I only delayed their surfacing.

"Y'all saw the pictures of Jupiter and its satellites and the lightening show," I continued. "No one onboard faked that, which is what we would have had to do if we were really orbiting Mars."

"Those could have been movies," another construction worker said.

"They weren't. They were real and everyone onboard knows that," I countered. Now I was angry. "For two years before the launch there were advertisements all over Earth, the moon and on every space station asking for construction workers and crew members for this mission. No one onboard the James Cook faked that."

I paused to let that sink in.

"If anyone of y'all believes that I murdered Captain Butler . . ." I didn't finish the sentence. I just closed my eyes and shook my head. Ronald's question left me speechless. I had nothing to hang onto.

At that point Chantelle came up to me and put her arm around my waist. She was in love with me and hoped to live with me as my sex slave on Nuda Earth after the mission. I hadn't committed myself to that yet but I was contemplating it. However, I did enjoy the sex with her.

"That's enough," she said. "Louis, Konrad would you two get to reassigning berths? Call me on my cell TV-phone when you need me to open a cabin. The rest of you just sit down and wait until you're called to move your belongings and to be shown to your new living quarters. If everyone cooperates we should be able to finish this up in a couple of hours."

Then she looked straight at Ronald as if to defy him to open his mouth again. He didn't. I guess he figured he'd gotten even.

The meeting was over. I told Josephine, Alicia and Terri to move their things into Veronica's cabin and asked them to give me the other's girl's personal things as soon as they collected them. I then headed for the door.

There are two sets of sliding double hatches on opposite sides of the cafeteria leading into it. Chantelle posted herself at one set and ordered Anthony, her first security officer, to post himself at the other. I told her I didn't think that was necessary. She shrugged and told me she was just being overly cautious.

At that point I didn't care anymore. I was heartsick and just wanted to get out of there. All I could think of was that there were members of the ship's personnel who believed that I engineered the murder of Captain Butler.

As I was walking toward the exit I heard someone ask if they could play cards while they were waiting. I turned around and looked around the cafeteria for Sam, the bartender for the forward TV lounge. I saw him in the back.

"Sam could you get a few decks of cards, poker chips or whatever else the crew might want from the TV lounge and distribute it among those here who might want it? Would you do that for me?"

"Sure thing, Toni," he answered me. The two of us were seldom formal. I guess that's because we spent so much time in bed together. Next to Butler and Chantelle I probably had more sex with him than any other member of the James Cook. Maybe not, I don't know. I didn't keep a list of everyone I went to bed with or a score card or anything.