******
Nash rolled up his sleeve as Dr. Talhoo prepared to give him an injection. As usual, the doctor mumbled to himself as he performed his work, something the colonel always found amusing. Nash noticed the doctor wasn’t using his usual injection gun, but instead held an old style syringe.
“What’s with that thing, Doc?”
The doctor held up the syringe and smiled. “Practice. I keep these on board just in case I run out of cartridges for the injection gun. Once on the planet's surface, I know I’ll run out of cartridges sooner or later, so I just wanted to get in practice.”
Talhoo’s response was met with crossed arms from Nash. “So I’m your guinea pig?”
The doctor didn’t say a word, but simply continued to smile as he flicked the syringe, removing air bubbles. Finally ready, the doctor wiped Nash’s shoulder with a cleaning pad and then inserted the needle into Nash’s shoulder with a quick, smooth jab. With slow and even pressure on the syringe, he injected the purple solution, then gingerly removed the needle.
“There we are. All finished, Colonel,” the doctor said as he pressed a gauze pad over a drop of blood on the Colonel’s shoulder.
“You do good work, Doc,” Nash said with a half-smile. “What’s this injection for again?”
“Immune system booster,” Talhoo replied as he disposed of the needle. “It will help you acquire resistance to local diseases.”
Nash nodded. The ship’s crew normally went through the decontamination chamber after visiting a foreign planet. Once inside the chamber, an individual’s body was bombarded with a variety of energy particles to kill any pathogens. After landing on Aria Prime, using the decontamination chamber would not only be impractical, but would use far more energy than they were capable of producing.
“How many still need the booster?” Nash asked.
“You’re the last, Colonel.”
“Good.” Nash leaned back in the exam chair and rolled his sleeve down. “How are your preparations for the planet?”
The doctor sat on a wheeled stool opposite the Colonel. “Very well, I should think. We are well supplied, and among the colonists there is a doctor and three nurses. A chemist and a chemical engineer have also stepped forward to assist me in the manufacture of medicines.”
“Decker told me about them. Said you’ve already been brainstorming on what you can and can’t make.”
“Precisely. Much will depend, of course, on what local raw materials are available. But I do have high hopes.”
“High hopes.” Nash put his hands behind his head. “That about sums you up, doesn’t it, Doc? Nothing ever gets you down.”
A wide smile swelled across the doctor’s face. “One should always look on the bright side of things. Optimism, Colonel, Optimism!”
“Colonel Nash,” a voice called from the corridor.
Nash turned toward the sound of the voice, revealing a woman standing cross-armed and staring at him. She was of medium height and somewhat thick around the waist, with stringy, shoulder length hair the color of walnut, save for the occasional streak of gray. Her skin was very pale, and the dark bags under her eyes added years to her looks.
“Yes?” he replied.
“We can’t land on Aria Prime. You need to turn this ship to some other planet.”
Nash blinked twice and stood. “I’m sorry … and you are?”
“Hope Liberty,” the woman snapped. “We can’t land on Aria Prime.”
“And why is that?”
“The planet is inhabited by a humanoid life form. We can’t contaminate their culture. Do you know what happened when Europeans came to the new world?”
“Yes, I know,” Nash said. “The Columbian Exchange. Thousands of the American Indians died of disease. That was eight hundred years ago. Dr. Talhoo is taking steps to ensure that we don’t—”
Liberty cut Nash off. “I’m not talking about disease. I’m talking about their culture. We will be ruining their chance to develop without human interference. We have to go somewhere else.”
“I’m sorry, but there is no other planet we can reach. It’s Aria Prime or nothing.”
The woman’s forehead and nose wrinkled. “Then at least promise we’ll have no contact with the natives. We can’t contaminate their culture.”
Nash put his hands on his hips. “We’ll do our best to tread lightly, but I’m going to do whatever is needed to keep everyone alive. If that means I contaminate another culture, then so be it.”
“Don’t you realize what you’re suggesting?”
Deep valleys formed across Nash’s forehead as he squinted at the woman. “If I have to contaminate a thousand cultures to save the people on this ship, I will do it without hesitation. If you have a problem with that, file a formal complaint with the Coalition Command.”
Dropping her arms to her sides, Liberty huffed, turned around, and stormed away.
Up to this point, Dr. Talhoo had been sitting silently, listening to Liberty and his Colonel banter back and forth. With Liberty’s leaving, he looked at Nash and shook his head.
“Interesting woman.”
“Interesting isn’t the word I’d use, Doc.”
“Well,” the Doctor said as his smile returned, “as they used to say in generations past… LOL.”
“You’re a lot of help,” Nash replied.
They both laughed.
Over the intercom, the alert signal sounded followed by McBride’s voice.
“Colonel to the bridge.”
Nash hit the intercom button on the wall nearest to him. “Bridge, this is the colonel.”
“Colonel, we are nearing Aria Prime.”
“On my way.”
Nash hit the intercom button again and turned to leave.
“Colonel,” Dr. Talhoo said.
Nash stopped and turned to look at the Minervian.
“Good luck, Colonel.”
“May fortunes favor the bold,” Nash replied and then continued on his way.