The Rescue
Nov 9, 2022 20:57:04 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Nov 9, 2022 20:57:04 GMT -5
The Rescue
By Radrook
By Radrook
“This is Captain Jose Cardona Caraballo Calderon, transmitting once more and for the one hundredth time from exo-planetary station XO11560.
Please be informed that a mysterious malady has erupted and killed everyone here but me.
I have been patiently awaiting the promised arrival of your rescue ship, El Aguila Veloz, now for the past five years. Can you offsprings of mothers-of-ill-repute somehow finally find it in your hearts to come and take me off this God-forsaken rock?”
There was a long pause filled with static before the barely audible response came.
“Message received. This is captain Eusebio Calderon of the Aguila Veloz. You said epidemic? What exactly is the nature of this epidemic?”
“A sudden gradual reduction of all bodily functions at a cellular level.”
There was suddenly mumbling and rustling and chirpings some non-human growls and static.
Then:
“How is it the you escaped such a deadly plague, Sargent Caraballo?”
“That’s what I was hoping you could tell me captain.”
“Did your medical staff run any tests?”
“They couldn’t. The medical staff was the first to become ill and we were wiped out within a matter of a few hours.”
“Strange!”
“Of course it is strange! But more strange is why you haven’t come to pick me up yet.”
“How do we know that you aren’t the source of this epidemic, Captain Caraballo?”
“Are you supposed to be asking me this instead of getting me out of here?”
“What do you think we are-crazy? The way you describe this thing, we might get wiped out as soon as we put you on an anti-grav gurney.”
“Is that justice?”
“Is it justice for my whole crew to get wiped out to rescue one man? Better yet, if such a devastating unidentified plague would get back to Earth, it could prove unstoppable. At least if you could give us some clue. What were your symptoms?”
“What symptoms. I just told you that I was not affected. People just started dropping like flies for no observable reason.”
“Yet here you are talking to us alive and well. Did you consume something the crew didn’t?”
“No, we all ate and drank the same things. Standard-issued supplies from Earth-regulated suppliers.”
“Anyone there involved in contraband?”
“Not that I know of. Outpost administrator Eusebio De La Vega, may he rest in peace in his chair over at the computer room, always ran a tight operation here.”
“Any members from some non-human uncharted regions?”
“No. Only humans.”
“Your crew didn’t deviate into the Sagittarian quarantined sector for some illegal R and R by any chance prior to your arrival, did they?”
“I just told you that captain Eusebio De La Vega ran a tight operation. The bastard was a fanatical stickler for rules. In fact, he was a pain in the ass. Can you get me off this rock now?”
“We understand your plight Captain. We aren’t exactly lacking in compassion. But you must realize that we need details so that our medical staff can provide themselves with the needed protection from whatever it is you people were infected with. Were you able to take blood samples and examine them under a microscope?”
“You don’t seem to get the picture yet do you? As soon as everyone began falling like flies I locked myself in the mess room.”
“Strange that no one else followed.”
“Well, after they noticed I was surviving, they did try to get in but I couldn’t very well let them contaminate me, now could I?”
“In other words you refused them mercy without knowing their medical condition because you feared for your safety?” Caraballo hesitated before responding to that question. But having maneuvered himself into a corner he found no other way out.
“It might be interpreted that way but--!”
“But now you want us to do the opposite for you?”
”That wasn’t my job! In contrast, it is yours!”
“True, but within the parameters of sanity and prudent judgment.”
“In other words you are just going to leave me here to die?”
“Well, Captain Caraballo, let’s put it this way. Under the rules of space exploration we are instructed to deal with this situation in a very logically methodical manner. First we determine what the situation is. Second we look for viable and safe methods to assist. Third if no rescue is advisable, then we either ignore the transmission or else we tag the location as unapproachable after submitting it to a sterilizing concentration of intense Gamma Rays.”
“In other words, what you are telling me is that I am as good as dead. Correct?”
“Well, Captain Caraballo, look at the bright side. You out-lasted everyone else for a full six years. So you were not that unlucky, now, were you? Especially since you locked everyone else out from the only section of the installation that was maybe uninfected - and appropriated it for yourself. So you got off easy.
"You call this getting off easy? How the hell is this getting off easy?”
“You could have been charged with murder! Sentenced and exiled to one of the prison asteroids in the Kuiper Belt. You know what they do to prisoners there don’t you? They castrate them in order to reduce aggressive tendencies.”
“So in other words, I’m screwed!”
“Besides, we were in orbit and about to land when we received your last transmission laced with insults in which you called us all manner of indecent names.”
“You mean tell me that you were that near and turned back? Is that what all this is really about? Because I was frustrated and spoke in anger? You have my apologies. Where are you now? Are you still in orbit? “
“Unfortunately, Captain Caraballo, your insult involving mothers reached the ears of our mother-worshiping alien crewmembers who almost went berserk. Our chief medical officer wanted to personally decapitate you. The others wanted to boil you alive in the festering urine of the Gava Beasts. It was only my intervention that saved you from such a painful fate.”
“What kind of a rescue ship is this? This is outrageous! The Interplanetary Exploration Authorities will be informed of this!”
Not possible Captain Caraballo, all transmissions to Earth are being blocked. Next time, watch what you say and to whom you say it or be aware of whom might be listening. This is captain Eusebio Calderon of the Aguila Atroz signing out.