done, Ensign?” Collins said. She was clearly getting tired of the inquisition.
“Why didn’t you just tell me all of this when I came on board?” Dahl said.
“What are we going to say, Andy?” Collins said. “‘Hi, welcome to the Intrepid, avoid the officers because it’s likely you’ll get killed if you’re on an away team with them, and oh, by the way, here’s a magic box we use for impossible things ’? That would be a lovely first impression, wouldn’t it?”
“You wouldn’t have believed us,” Cassaway said. “Not until you were here long enough to see some of this shit for yourself.”
“This is nuts,” Dahl said.
“That it is,” Collins said.
“And you have no rational explanation for it?” Dahl asked. “No hypothesis?”
“The rational explanation is what the Dub U told us,” Trin said. “The Intrepid takes on high-risk missions. More people die because of it. The crew has developed superstitions and avoidance strategies to compensate. And we use advanced technologies that we don’t understand but which allow us to complete missions.”
“But you don’t believe it,” Dahl said.
“I don’t like it,” Trin said. “I don’t have any reason not to believe it.”
“It’s saner than what Jenkins thinks,” Mbeke said.
Dahl turned to face Mbeke. “You’ve talked about him before,” he said.
“He’s doing an independent research project,” Collins said.
“On this?” Dahl asked.
“Not exactly,” Collins said. “He’s the one who built the tracking system we use for the captain and the others. The computer system AI sees it as a hack and keeps trying to patch it. So he’s got to keep updating if we want it to keep working.”
Dahl glanced over at Cassaway. “You said he looked like a yeti.”
“He does look like a yeti,” Cassaway said. “Either a yeti or Rasputin. I’ve heard him described both ways. Both are accurate.”
“I think I met him,” Dahl said. “After I went to the bridge to give Q’eeng the Box data about Kerensky’s plague. He came up to me in the corridor.”
“What did he say to you?” Collins asked.
“He told me to stay off the bridge,” Dahl said. “And he told me to ‘avoid the narrative.’ What the hell does that mean?”
Mbeke opened her mouth to speak but Collins got there first. “Jenkins is a brilliant programmer, but he’s also a bit lost in his own world, and life on the Intrepid has hit him harder than most.”
“By which she means that Jenkins’ wife got killed on an away mission,” Mbeke said.
“What happened?” Dahl asked.
“She was shot by a Cirquerian assassin,” Collins said. “The assassin was aiming at the Dub U ambassador to Cirqueria. The captain pushed the ambassador down and Margaret was standing right behind him. Took the bullet in the neck. Dead before she hit the ground. Jenkins chose to at least partly disassociate from reality after that.”
“So what does he think is happening?” Dahl asked.
“Why don’t we save that for another time,” Collins said. “You know what’s going on now and why. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you about this earlier, Andy. But now you know. And now you know what to do when either me or Ben suddenly say that we’re going to get coffee.”
“Hide,” Dahl said.
“‘Hide’ isn’t a word we like to use,” Cassaway said. “‘Perform alternative tasks’ is the preferred term.”
“Just not in the storage room,” Mbeke said. “That’s our alternative tasking place.”
“I’ll just alternatively task behind my work desk, then, shall I,” Dahl said.
“That’s the spirit,” Mbeke said.
* * *
At evening mess, Dahl caught up his four friends with what he learned in the lab, and then turned to Finn. “So, did you get the information I asked you for?” he said.
“I did indeed,” Finn said.
“Good,” Dahl said.
“I want to preface this by saying that normally I don’t do this sort of work for free,” Finn said,
“Why didn’t you just tell me all of this when I came on board?” Dahl said.
“What are we going to say, Andy?” Collins said. “‘Hi, welcome to the Intrepid, avoid the officers because it’s likely you’ll get killed if you’re on an away team with them, and oh, by the way, here’s a magic box we use for impossible things ’? That would be a lovely first impression, wouldn’t it?”
“You wouldn’t have believed us,” Cassaway said. “Not until you were here long enough to see some of this shit for yourself.”
“This is nuts,” Dahl said.
“That it is,” Collins said.
“And you have no rational explanation for it?” Dahl asked. “No hypothesis?”
“The rational explanation is what the Dub U told us,” Trin said. “The Intrepid takes on high-risk missions. More people die because of it. The crew has developed superstitions and avoidance strategies to compensate. And we use advanced technologies that we don’t understand but which allow us to complete missions.”
“But you don’t believe it,” Dahl said.
“I don’t like it,” Trin said. “I don’t have any reason not to believe it.”
“It’s saner than what Jenkins thinks,” Mbeke said.
Dahl turned to face Mbeke. “You’ve talked about him before,” he said.
“He’s doing an independent research project,” Collins said.
“On this?” Dahl asked.
“Not exactly,” Collins said. “He’s the one who built the tracking system we use for the captain and the others. The computer system AI sees it as a hack and keeps trying to patch it. So he’s got to keep updating if we want it to keep working.”
Dahl glanced over at Cassaway. “You said he looked like a yeti.”
“He does look like a yeti,” Cassaway said. “Either a yeti or Rasputin. I’ve heard him described both ways. Both are accurate.”
“I think I met him,” Dahl said. “After I went to the bridge to give Q’eeng the Box data about Kerensky’s plague. He came up to me in the corridor.”
“What did he say to you?” Collins asked.
“He told me to stay off the bridge,” Dahl said. “And he told me to ‘avoid the narrative.’ What the hell does that mean?”
Mbeke opened her mouth to speak but Collins got there first. “Jenkins is a brilliant programmer, but he’s also a bit lost in his own world, and life on the Intrepid has hit him harder than most.”
“By which she means that Jenkins’ wife got killed on an away mission,” Mbeke said.
“What happened?” Dahl asked.
“She was shot by a Cirquerian assassin,” Collins said. “The assassin was aiming at the Dub U ambassador to Cirqueria. The captain pushed the ambassador down and Margaret was standing right behind him. Took the bullet in the neck. Dead before she hit the ground. Jenkins chose to at least partly disassociate from reality after that.”
“So what does he think is happening?” Dahl asked.
“Why don’t we save that for another time,” Collins said. “You know what’s going on now and why. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you about this earlier, Andy. But now you know. And now you know what to do when either me or Ben suddenly say that we’re going to get coffee.”
“Hide,” Dahl said.
“‘Hide’ isn’t a word we like to use,” Cassaway said. “‘Perform alternative tasks’ is the preferred term.”
“Just not in the storage room,” Mbeke said. “That’s our alternative tasking place.”
“I’ll just alternatively task behind my work desk, then, shall I,” Dahl said.
“That’s the spirit,” Mbeke said.
* * *
At evening mess, Dahl caught up his four friends with what he learned in the lab, and then turned to Finn. “So, did you get the information I asked you for?” he said.
“I did indeed,” Finn said.
“Good,” Dahl said.
“I want to preface this by saying that normally I don’t do this sort of work for free,” Finn said,
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