The Communicator, Chapter 19

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Cheep!  Cheep!  Cheep!

 

Brevix stood at his viewscreen, surveying the broad expanse of the planet below him.  Just above the horizon of the planet, he watched the Drragh transport turn and move away.  He turned to his communicator panel, and waved his hand over it.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Skipper, Bridge.  The captain of the Drragh transport has signaled to say they’re leaving.  He wishes you good flying.  His exact words were ‘Tell your captain we wish him fair winds upon which to soar, and a successful hunt!”

 

“Signal back ‘May your hunt be fruitful and feed your families for weeks!’”

 

“Sir?”

 

“It’s a traditional exchange between Drragh.  He honored me with it, I can only return the honor.”

 

“Sir.  Bridge out.”

 

Sticking his head into his sleeping chamber, he saw Hourna stepping from the shower.

 

“Hou, get Nautewlus and join me in the mess.  We need to talk about the clones.”

 

He didn’t wait for a response.  Stepping into the corridor he turned to his right and set off briskly.

 

Moments after arriving in the officers’ mess, he was joined by his Chief Investigator and First Officer.  He waved them into their normal seats, then set up three mugs of tea, putting one before each of them.  He sat down and sighed quietly, then sipped.

 

“We need to discuss the clones. We’ve now utilized clones on five missions.  In each previous case the clones were semi-sapient, mostly utilized in dangerous environments.  I didn’t have any qualms about having the few that survived re-vatted.  But, there’s something different about this batch.”

 

“Something different? I’ll say.  You even said it yourself.  The others were all semi-sapient.  They couldn’t have survived long anywhere.  These clones, these humans, were designed fully sapient, fully aware.  Did you really ever think that we’d re-vat them? I never did.”

 

“Yes, actually, you did, Lu.  When we first decided to hatch this batch, we all talked about re-vatting them.”

 

“Aye, you did that, Lu.”  Hou turned to Brevix.  “I don’t see the problem.  It’s not like they’re real. They’re artificial.  You even call them “clone”, not by their names or their designations.”

 

“I call them clone until introduced.  These are sapient.  Their living, breathing, thinking sentients.”

 

It was obvious Hourna didn’t really have the stomach for the discussion, as he let the topic drop.  “Well, what DO we do with them, then?”

 

“That’s why I asked you two here.  We need to figure this out soon.”

 

“Skipper, I might be able to make the decision easier.  They came to me last night and asked me about this very topic.  It seems one of them read a little more in our databases than we thought.  He read references to the previous batches.”

 

“What did you tell them?”

 

“They told me, actually.  Skipper, I think things will get ugly if you try re-vatting.”

 

“I have no intention of doing so, but I still need to know what we should do with them.”

 

“So, sir,  Hiram spoke for everyone.  He said two of the men, Boris and Jeffy, would like to stay here on Earth.  They’ve been busy working on setting up identities for themselves.  They want to go into cryptozoology.”

 

“Crypto what?”

 

“Sir, the majority of earthers believe dragons to be fictitious or mythological beings.  They were unaware of the reality of the Drragh.  Cryptozoology is the study of creatures that some believe to exist but that others or even the majority believe to be mythological.  There are numerous such creatures on the planet.  Because of what these clones of ours have learned, they want to investigate, see if they can find what the truth behind the stories is, if possible.”

 

“They understand we will not come back for them?  I will not leave communications gear behind for them to contact us.”

 

“They understand, yes.  And are prepared to go it alone.  Especially if we can afford to give them each a bit of a nest egg.”

 

“How much of a nest egg?  And are you going to pay this out of your pocket?”

 

“Well, as it turns out, sir, not much of one.  It seems a fairly common meta that we have in abundance on board is extremely rare, and extremely valuable on the planet.  Gold.”

 

“Gold?  Seriously?  Let them each have a thousand kilos, then.  Is that enough?  Should I give them more?”

 

“I’ll ask sir.  That leaves ten more clones sir.  They’d all like to explore the universe, be the first of their kind to see beyond their planet.”

 

“Why?  They’ll never be allowed to return to share their experiences with earthers.”

 

“Exploration for the sake of exploration, skipper.  It’s really why we are all out here, isn’t it?  Would you stop today, if you were told you had to go home now and never see more, or continue on and never again go home?”

 

Brevix and Hourna both snorted.  “Not likely.  I see your point.  I don’t have room on the Mustafir for ten more crew.”

 

“No, we don’t.  But we do have room for four additional crew.  Hiram, Charlie and two others snapped those up - if you’re willing, that is.  The remaining six all have done research and have expressed an interest in applying to several research agencies.  They’d do research, and in turn be subject of non-invasive research.”

 

“Sounds to me like they solved my problems for me.  Anything else?”

 

“No, not really sir.  But, you should be aware I happen to know that two of the four remaining are doing so because,” she paused and made eye contact with Hourna.  “Because they hope to ‘jump your bones’ is the idiom they used, skipper.”

 

Hourna laughed loudly and slapped the table.  “I knew it!  I knew it!  Speaking as your lover, sir, they’re welcome to try!”

 

Brevix turned a dark shade of purple and sighed.

 

“Sir, it seems the humans also are quite taken with your lovely bottom parts.”