Station Chronicles II - Heller and beyond by Simon Kattenhorn

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Station Chronicles: Heller and Beyond
by Simon Kattenhorn

Chapter Three

The lift doors opened and Julia was immediately assaulted by the wailing sound of a woman crying hysterically, and the angry voice of a man trying to reason with one of the orderlies.

"I don't understand," he was saying with failing patience, it was clear. "All we're asking for is *five* minutes. *Please*!"

The orderly was doing a fairly efficient job of ignoring the man's very existence, and seemed completely unfazed by the mournful sobbing of the woman. Julia recognized the orderly as Leonid Voniskaya, a man she particularly detested in light of his unsympathetic attitude towards the Syndrome children he was relegated to work around all day. In light of this fact, she felt it her duty to help these people to the best of her ability. No matter who they were or what they wanted.

She walked over to where the man beside the orderly was trembling in anger at being treated with such blatant disregard.

"Is there a problem here, orderly?" she flashed him an icy look as the sarcasm hovered in the air around them.

"These *Earthers*," he said with no attempt at hiding his disdain, "think they can just walk in here and demand to speak to Dr. Vasquez."

Julia bristled at the man's reprehensible prejudice towards planet-born people. She had never been able to fathom the ridiculous sense of superiority that some station dwellers had developed over "Earthers", as they had come to be known. Some human traits never seemed to disappear, Julia thought sadly.

Turning to look at the woman, who was now sitting with her face buried in her hands and sobbing quietly, Julia noticed for the first time a fourth person. Sitting next to the woman was a small, young girl- Julia estimated six or seven years old- watching the arguing men with a look of curiosity that could only reflect her lack of comprehension of the events transpiring around her. She fidgeted slightly and scratched at where the immuno-suit nostril tubes chafed at her upper lip.

"I told them the doctor is busy," he orderly added.

"Did you bother asking what they wanted?" Julia scythed through the orderly's smug attitude.

Voniskaya blanched, and began looking noticeably uncomfortable. He had crossed paths with Dr. Heller once before and hadn't enjoyed the encounter that time either. This was obviously not going any better.

The man cut in, sensing this was his opportunity to be heard.

"*Please* could you let us speak with Dr. Vasquez!" he grabbed Julia's arm and held onto it as if it were a lifeline. "We *have* to speak with him!"

"If you would just tell me what the problem is," Julia asked the man. "Perhaps I can be of help."

The man slumped down into the chair beside his wife, who was now wiping at her puffy eyes and taking in the sudden swing in the conversation. He was beginning to look defeated, and for a moment, Julia wondered if he might burst into tears himself. She knelt down next to the man and softened her tone.

"Why don't you start by telling me your name," she prompted him.

"His name's Uncle Jack," piped up the little girl suddenly.

"Shhh, honey," the woman cut in. "Let your uncle talk to the nice doctor."

Julia smiled at the little girl, who was staring back quizzically, as if analyzing Julia- trying to decide if she were indeed a nice doctor or not.

"Jackson Innes," the man finally said, his voice sounding considerably calmer now. "This is my wife, Samantha, and this," he gestured towards the little girl, "is my niece, Daria."

"Hi Daria," Julia smiled again at the little girl, after nodding a greeting at Samantha.

"Hello." Daria's small voice was sharp, and her breath steady, and Julia decided her Syndrome condition was not extensively advanced; surprising considering the little girl's age. "Can you help us go to the far away planet?" she asked innocently.

Julia's eyes widened, and she suddenly understood what was going on here. These people wanted to join the Eden Project colonists. She turned back to Jackson Innes.

"Is that why you need to see Dr. Vasquez?" she asked him. "You want to be a part of the Eden Project?"

"We *have* to be on that ship!" he implored. "I promised my brother I would take care of Daria. I *promised*!"

"Daria's father...?" Julia let the question dangle.

"He was killed three years ago," Samantha filled in. "Construction crew..."

She did not need to say anything more. The dangerous working conditions of station construction workers was well known. The number of injuries, and even deaths, was staggering.

"But you are from planetside?" Julia wondered out loud. "How can Daria have the Syndrome? No cases of the Syndrome have been reported planetside before."

"Daria was born on the stations," Jack clarified. "Her mother died...soon after the birth," he lowered his voice, trying to avoid upsetting his niece. "We've looked after her for the last three years."

Julia was confused. She had never heard of a Syndrome child being taken off the stations before. Who would look after them?

"You had a doctor knowledgeable on the Syndrome planetside?" Julia asked.

Jackson looked at his wife briefly before replying.

"No. We've taken care of Daria. We've never had the money to reach the stations ourselves. You wouldn't believe how much it cost us just to get hold of an immuno-suit from the stations."

Julia looked at the man in open-mouthed shock. "You took care of her *yourself*? Without a doctor?"

The man nodded. "We read a lot of material on the Syndrome. *All* of Dr. Vasquez's work."

Julia couldn't remember the last time she had been so impressed. These people had literally beaten the odds and looked after this little girl by themselves. Planetside. And now they had reached the limit of what they could do, left to their own devices.

"The Eden Project is our last hope," the man added, the pleading evident in his tone.

Julia grimaced. As far as she was aware, the Eden Project Colony vessel was at capacity. There may still be a chance that three openings could be found, she supposed. But at this late a stage? Julia wondered if it were possible to get these people into the ship's complement without endless paperwork and delays.

"I'll tell you what," Julia held the hands of both the man and the woman, "I'll speak with Dr. Vasquez myself and see what I can do. Come back and see me tomorrow morning, okay?"

Jackson Innes stared into Julia's eyes. "Please," was all he could say with a choked voice. The look in the man's eyes was one of utter desperation. Julia had only seen that look once before in her life.

"*Please*! You've *got* to save her!"

Merrick Porter, Eloise's father, shot a desperately pleading look at Julia's father, who was working frantically at trying to keep up with the little girl's cascading organ failure. He knew it was hopeless. No matter what he did to stabilize one thing, something else would start failing and her condition deteriorated further. Dr. Robin Heller had never seen anything like it before in his lengthy medical career. It didn't help that he was lacking most of his medical equipment, here in the bedroom of his own daughter's best friend.

Julia stared at the proceedings with a removed numbness. She did not understand what was happening. Why wasn't her father able to make Eloise wake up again? Belle stood behind Julia, her fingers clasped around Julia's shoulders. She also seemed to be staring blankly, as if the horror playing out before her eyes were nothing but an illusion. A horrible nightmare that would soon disappear if she could only make herself wake up.

Eloise's frail body was pale and lifeless as Dr. Heller ran his medical scanner over her and attempted to tackle each problem to the best of his ability. There were an inadequate number of medical supplies in his kit that he had brought over to the Porter home after Julia had come screaming in the door, crying that her friend was dying. Her situation was direfully critical and only a hospital could properly supply the range of equipment required. But even a trip to the station hospital would take too long. It was already too late.

"Please, please, please," Eloise's father was sobbing as he stroked his fingers through his daughter's sweat-matted hair.

Robin Heller stopped suddenly, his scanner held hovering over the little girl's chest. He was staring at the display, as if willing it to give a read-out other than the one he was seeing. The one that told him that the battle was finally over. The war had been lost.

He looked up at Merrick Porter and something passed between them, Julia decided, because the man's entire demeanor changed. Julia could almost see every last measure of hope evaporate from the man's body. He was a man who was utterly defeated.

"I'm so sorry," Dr. Heller said, and Julia was surprised to see tears in his own eyes. She had *never* seen her father cry before.

"Noooooo!" came a piercing cry from behind them. Eloise's mother had arrived home- Julia remembered overhearing Belle calling her on the ComCon as soon as Eloise had collapsed. She had walked in the door in time to hear those final words from Julia's father. She ran over to where her husband was cradling the little girl's body and together the two of them held onto Eloise tightly and wept.

Belle was still trying to wake up from her daze as Julia's father escorted her from the room, Julia trailing behind abjectly. Belle hadn't made a single sound throughout the entire ordeal. It was as if the emotion had been drained right out of her. As if she had been preparing herself for this moment for so long, that when the time had finally come, she couldn't draw upon a single remaining emotion to adequately express what she truly felt.

Julia turned for a final glance at the Porters before leaving the room. Less than an hour before, she and Eloise had been playing right there, on the floor of Eloise's bedroom. They had been playing grown-ups again. Julia was the doctor and Eloise was the important corporation owner, in charge of building the stations. 'Eloise will never be a grown-up again.' The thought hovered in Julia's young mind, and it was as if the stations became a different place that day. Julia had watched her best friend die.

And Julia's father had been helpless to save her. *Her* father- the man she thought could cure anyone, no matter how sick they were. But it *wasn't* a game. In fact, it wasn't any fun at all. Julia decided it was something she didn't want to play anymore. Not until she could *really* make a sick person well. Someone like Eloise- her very best friend- who would never be a grown-up again.

Julia put the image of Eloise's still body out of her mind as she entered the hospital ward aboard the Colony vessel. She hadn't thought back on that moment in her life in a long while, but the feeling of sorrow somehow still permeated.

The hospital ward aboard the Colony vessel was a hive of activity. Within a few days, all Syndrome children would begin with the transfer process to move operations aboard the ship. It would take quite an effort to relocate nearly two-hundred-and-fifty sick children and ascertain the working status of the new ward. No problems were expected of course- the hospital ward aboard the vessel was state of the art- but it would be prudent to take a few days to be sure everything was indeed operating smoothly before departure.

Seeing Dr. Vasquez in the ward talking to a few project doctors, Julia hurried over to him as he looked up and smiled at her approach.

"Julia, I was just mentioning that you'd probably be showing up soon. Are you ready for the diagnostics team?"

"Yes, but if you wouldn't mind, there's something I need to ask you before we get started."

Dr. Vasquez nodded to the doctors he had been talking with and began walking back out of the ward with Julia beside him.

"Talk to me," said Vasquez as they entered the corridor and headed towards the cryo-section at the back of the ship.

Julia was apprehensive about asking and hoped her judgment of Dr. Vasquez was accurate enough to result in a positive response.

"There is a family." Julia began. "Earthers. They have a Syndrome child."

"*What*?!" Vasquez exclaimed. "The Syndrome on the planet? That's impossible!" At least it was impossible in light of Dr. Vasquez's current theories as to the cause of the Syndrome. A sobering thought ran through Vasquez's head as he considered the implications of his theories all being wrong and the resultant futility of sending hundreds of people twenty-two light years to a new planet on the basis of a disproved hypothesis. 'Less than two weeks until departure! It can't be true!' he thought to himself. This was a nightmare he had feared for the past eight years. Fortunately, Julia allayed his fears within the next few seconds.

"No, no, I don't mean the child developed the Syndrome planetside," she corrected. "The child is station-born."

Dr. Vasquez gave out an obvious sigh of relief and Julia was momentarily confused by the doctor's response. Probably because she had personally never had any doubt that Dr. Vasquez's theories on the Syndrome were absolutely correct.

"They've cared for the child planetside for three years, but she's obviously coming of age." Julia used the phrase that had become generic in referring to Syndrome children who were about to turn seven- the highest age to which a Syndrome child had ever survived. "They need to join the project."

The two of them rounded a corner of the corridor and passed a few Ops crew who were working at an electrical panel recessed into the corridor wall. The cold-sleep chamber doors could be seen at the very end of the corridor, about twenty meters further down.

"Join the project? Julia! Are you being serious? You know how detailed the background checks have been for all of the families. Adair would never allow it at this late a stage!"

Julia had feared this line of argument. And expected it. What Dr. Vasquez was saying was absolutely correct. The Adair Corporation had done a very thorough job in the background investigation of each and every one of the Syndrome families joining the Eden Project. Devon Adair was taking no chances that the Council would somehow attempt to infiltrate the project in some way in the hope of taking control of the New Pacifica colony. It had been made perfectly clear to the general public that no applications would be considered less than six months prior to departure. And this was less than two weeks.

"That's why you will need to convince her of this personally," Julia said evenly.

Dr. Vasquez looked at Julia skewly. "And why would I want to do that, Julia?"

Julia realized he was being genuine, rather than captious. He truly wanted to be convinced himself.

"She'll listen to you, you know that."

"If I have enough justification, she *may* consider my suggestion," Dr. Vasquez corrected.

Julia bit her lip and thought for a few seconds as they entered the cold-sleep chamber.

"This child could be important to your research," Julia suddenly spoke up.

"Oh? How so?" Dr. Vasquez was still being cautious, if not cynical.

"Well just think about it!" Julia was beginning to sound excited. "This child has lived planetside for three years. *Out* of the station environment. Now we've never thought it wise to expose Syndrome children to Earth's polluted environment, but this child not only survived, but seems to be in better condition, considering her age, than any of the children we have. Including Ulysses Adair."

The final statement was the punch, and it had caught Vasquez's attention as effectively as a fist in the face. Julia continued.

"This is the only Syndrome child with exposure to a planet's environment. We are going to be exposing two-hundred-and-fifty children to such an environment simultaneously. I think it would be in our best interests to have someone like Daria there to give us some idea of what to expect. Who knows what insights her condition may offer?"

Dr. Vasquez was starting to display an excited gleam in his eyes too.

"The idea is intriguing," he said and appeared to be lost in thought for a few seconds before continuing. "I'll be sure to talk to Devon about this later today. I can imagine she'll be partial to any idea that may have benefit for Uly and all the other Syndrome children."

Julia smiled broadly and grasped Dr. Vasquez's arm. "Thank you, doctor. Now why don't we see what these cryo-engineers have to say about the status of the new units?"

It was five days before Julia heard from Dison Blalock again. Five relatively peaceful days in which everything seemed to be progressing very smoothly for both the Eden Project and herself. Devon Adair had approved the admission of the Innes family into the project. The transfer of the Syndrome children to the colony vessel hospital ward was proceeding without hassle. The cryo-unit checks were all positive and all systems were at go. And Julia had begun moving her belongings and equipment aboard the Advance ship. She had almost forgotten that the Council even played into the Eden Project equation at all.

And then Blalock called. And Julia's life took yet another unexpected turn.

Julia's eyes fluttered open at the sound of the beeping ComCon. This was becoming an annoying recurrence, Julia decided. She sat up, then waited for a few seconds while her balance caught up with her. Then, crawling out of the bed, she stumbled over to the console and activated it.

"Good morning, Citizen."

Julia's stomach turned. 'Ah, that's just great!' she thought to herself. 'Now why did I just *know* I was going to be hearing from him again before too long?'

"Blalock, don't you ever operate at reasonable hours?" Julia spat at him. "I *am* a dayshifter in case you forgot."

"As usual, Julia, it's a pleasure to see you again too," Blalock sneered. "I hear that you are getting settled in on the Advance vessel."

"Of course you do, Blalock. Know all, see all, right?"

Blalock smiled. "Well that's what we have *you* there for, Citizen."

Julia shot him an icy look and tucked some fallen strands of hair behind her ear.

"I don't recall giving you a run-down of Advance ship preparations, Blalock. I guess there are a few extra worms in the apple, hmm?"

"Perhaps they are doing a better job than others at finding the core," Blalock extended the metaphor with a sarcastic jab.

"Blalock..." Julia let out a long sigh as she rubbed her right eye with the ball of her palm. "*What* do you want from me?"

Blalock took on that holier-than-thou look that Julia had come to detest. It was the look that said with scornful condescension that he was better than she. That he pulled the strings to her actions. That he was in control. And Julia knew it was true, no matter how much it reviled her.

"The time has come, Citizen."

Julia looked at the face on the monitor quizzically. "Time for what?" she asked.

"To brief you on your mission," Blalock was deadly earnest.

Julia felt her world spin slightly as the repercussions of those words hit home. She had almost been expecting it, at some level, that there would be more to it than Blalock had let on a few days earlier. But it still came as a shock in the event and she feared the worst.

"When?" she asked resignedly.

"1400. But this time meet me at the Colonnade. Medical."

The screen went blank, leaving Julia reeling. "The Colonnade?" Julia pictured the gigantic row of columns that defined the gateway into the Council Operations section of the station. "This is not going be good news," she realized.

The Council Colonnade was a testament to excess. The entrance to Council Operations towered over all who passed through its gates, and one could not help but feel awe for the power that lay embodied in the building at the end of the row of marble columns. The design was obviously influenced by ancient Greek architecture, and was, as far as Julia was concerned, an obvious demonstration of authority inspired by the likes of some infamous Greek despot. It was a statement that made it perfectly clear who had power here.

As she walked along the entrance way into the Colonnade, as the Council Operations building had now come to be known, Julia couldn't help but feel the import to her role in the Council. 'Somehow, this must be a cause bigger than myself,' she thought to herself about her career with the Council. 'This must be for the greater good.'

Julia entered the Colonnade and headed to the south lobby lifts that would take her up to Medical. She had long ago gotten used to the ridiculous habit of the Colonnade using compass directions to refer to different parts of the complex. The South Lobby. The West Wing. Directions hardly made much sense in a rotating chunk of metal floating two-thousand kilometers above the surface of the Earth. It was not as if the Council adhered to convention in any of its other activities. Julia's current mission included.

Exiting the lift at Medical, Julia glanced around before catching a glimpse of Blalock conversing with another man at the end of the hallway to her right. She proceeded towards him, but he caught her advance immediately out of the corner of the eye in the back of his head (it would seem) and hurried towards her.

"Good, Julia, you're here. Let's go right in." Blalock had grasped Julia by the elbow and steered her into what appeared to be an examination room.

"What is going *on*, Blalock. Why did you call me here?" Julia was genuinely confused. She had no idea what her nemesis had planned for her this time, and it grated on her like a raw nerve.

Blalock looked up at a nurse who popped her head through the door briefly before disappearing again as he gave her a small nod, then walked over to a bench containing various medical supplies and instruments, with which he began fiddling as he launched into his explanation.

"You will have a contact waiting for you at G889," he said almost casually.

"*What*?!" Julia was bowled over.

Blalock turned and looked Julia squarely in the eye.

"A contact. You will continue your reports to the Council by relaying them through him."

Julia was stunned. Her mind was racing to find a semblance of sense in what Blalock was saying, but she was having a hard time configuring the pieces.

"Are you saying there is another Council spy on the Advance team?" she demanded.

Blalock chuckled and returned the sedaderm with which he had been fiddling to the bench with the other instruments.

"No, that's not what I'm saying at all, Dr. Heller." He looked at her directly again. "Don't you believe we have the utmost trust in you alone for this mission?"

Julia could hear the veneer of contempt in his every word.

"If you have the utmost trust in me, as you say, Blalock, then why do I need a Council nanny to watch over me after I get there? Am I too much of a wild card for you?"

"Please, Citizen," Blalock gave his usual sneer. "You will not have the capabilities to send reports back to us directly. That's where your contact comes in."

Julia was still trying to make sense of how the Council could possibly manage to sneak a second operative along on the mission without them being discovered by the Eden Advance Ops crew. They would undoubtedly go over the vessel with a fine tooth comb prior to launch for sure, and any stowaways were bound to be discovered. And unless the operative was planning on taking along his own portable cryo-unit, he would do well to bring along a good book. A *long* one.

"How are you going to get this contact *to* the planet?" she finally asked, nonplused.

Blalock smirked. "Oh we don't need to." He soaked up Julia's confused expression with a look of extreme satisfaction. "He's already there."

Once again, Julia found herself at a complete loss for words. It didn't help matters to have Blalock's smug expression right in front of her face either.

"What do you *mean* he's already there? No-one's ever been as far as the G8 system."

Julia realized the error in her assumption as soon as she said it. Of *course* someone had been as far as the G8 system. 'Hell, the Council's probably been sending out scouts for years,' Julia thought to herself. 'Expendable ones,' she realized as she considered technological restrictions involved with interstellar spacecraft construction. The Eden Advance vessel was the fastest of its kind, and even that would take forty-four years to make the round trip. Only very recent advances in cryo-unit technology allowed such lengthy interstellar excursions without running the risk of Cold Sleep Syndrome and the inescapable resultant death it promised. Julia imagined far reaches of space with drifting spacecraft and skeletons of long-dead Council operatives who died for the Council cause. Whatever it was.

"Citizen Heller," Blalock spoke as if he were lecturing a child, "surely you didn't think that the Council hasn't had a vested interest in this planet from the very beginning?"

"So you knew about the habitability rating of G889 all along," Julia surmised.

"Oh, for many years. Let's just say we were biding our time," said Blalock.

"*Why*?" demanded Julia. "Why on *Earth* would you leave a perfectly habitable planet unpopulated when there are still so many starving people planetside struggling to survive?"

Blalock shrugged his lack of compassion for Earthers.

"They weren't ready," was his response.

"Who weren't ready?" Julia demanded again. "Earthers?"

"The Interstellar Authority, of course," came a woman's voice from the doorway behind Julia.

Julia spun around and failed to stifle a gasp.

"You!" Julia stared in open-mouthed shock. She looked at the woman with apparent disgust. "I should have known you would be a part of this somehow."

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