The Original Beefcake

Bianca was the first to tend to Carmen. "She is burning up! She has a fever!" Bianca said, with panic in her eyes. Everything else was forgotten and Marcus carefully lifted Carmen up and transported her to the trucks. Candis was informed and when they entered the truck, she was already waiting near the medical station. Hammond and Grace joined them only seconds later. "She must have overworked herself, or maybe she got an infection?" Bianca theorized, and held Malcolm's hand. Now that Marcus was aware of it, he realized that Malcolm and Bianca also looked somewhat drained. Of course the situation wasn't easy for all of them. Stress and lack of sleep could attack one's health, but what if that wasn't the reason? Marcus thought.

Candis took off Carmen's jacket and sweater and touched her skin on her arms, face, neck and her belly. The face of the Priestess darkened and Marcus felt a sudden burst of panic rushing through his veins. It isn't just overwork or stress, he thought. "I don't understand that. Her body is damaged everywhere. It isn't a lot, but I can't find any part that isn't harmed," Candis said and Marcus turned to the other two scientists. "Check them too," he said, but he already knew what she would say. A few moments later Candis confirmed his fears. "You two lie down, too. Your bodies have also suffered damage. It feels less extreme, so I will first tend to Carmen," Candis said, and was now in full healer mode.

The Priestess treated Carmen and the others while the rest of the raid discussed over the com line what could be the reason.

Radiation. Something inside the wreck must emit dangerous radiation.

Xeen analyzed and Marcus agreed with his theory. "It is most likely some form of radiation. We class holders wouldn't feel it if it is on the weaker side, but they have spent a lot of time in the wreck over the last few days," Marcus said, in the middle of the discussion. After this, Rita assisted Candis in the treatment. She had some background knowledge about radiation poisoning from her military days, and thanks to the combined treatment the scientists looked a lot better a few hours later.

Marcus stayed close to the medical station and scrolled through the alien e-reader. He couldn't make anything out of this, but the alien inside his head was quickly learning the whole language. "Don't tell me you can read that," Carmen said, with a soft voice. She sat in her bed and looked a lot better now. "I was just scrolling…," Marcus started, but Carmen put on a sad smile. "Stop lying Marcus. Please don't sell us short. We know something is up with you. There are unsolved questions about your odyssey too," Carmen said, and the other scientists got up from their beds and joined Carmen. They formed a wall of hardly dangerous people, but Marcus felt unable to overcome this obstacle.

What now?

You can read my thoughts, so you already know. Some of the other raid members lingered in the vicinity and watched things unfold. "What if this would put you, and anybody around you in mortal danger? Would you still want to know?" Marcus said, with a firm voice, and stared into the eyes of the three scientists. "Yes. We are risking our lives all the time in pursuit of knowledge and understanding. I would rather risk dying than to stay ignorant," Carmen said, and the other two nodded. Marcus sighed, but couldn't help and smile, "Well, if that is the case, let me introduce you to Xeen…"

The three scientists got the Xeen basic information package and as expected Marcus faced a tsunami of excited questions. For hours the scientists bombarded him with questions and all animosity between them vanished into thin air. The opposite was the case. After the reveal of Xeen Carmen looked at Marcus, like a child would look at a person sized candy treat. "How close is Xeen to understanding the language?" Bianca asked eventually.

I should be able to work the ship console. Specific nouns are of course still missing but context should solve that problem, most of the time. Besides, I already know what the warning message says.

"He says, we can give it a go," Marcus said with a smile, cutting Xeen's answer short.

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In spite of their protest, Candis forced the scientists to stay in their beds and rest. This meant Marcus took a look at the control console on the bridge only escorted by Rita. Hammond and Grace had relieved Alistair and Carlos from their guard duty and protected Janette at this moment. Marcus leaned over the degraded console and with a simple touch revived it back to life. Xeen's handy, pink light guided Marcus through menus, options, security details and damage reports. Xeen translated the text for him and soon Marcus understood how bad things were. "Shit," Marcus said unconsciously. "Could you explain this in more detail? You have been playing with this thing for ten minutes without so much of a word," Rita said, with a sarcastic smile on her face.

"According to the logs, the drive of the ship has been damaged and indeed radiation is leaking. We feel nearly nothing of it, because the ship was built to contain potential radiation leaks. But behind those heavy doors the radiation level is at least a hundred times higher than here. And close to the core we are talking a thousand times higher," Marcus explained, and used the com line to inform the whole raid about it. "What kind of radiation?" Grace wanted to know, and Marcus took a deep breath. "Let's call it unnatural. Xeen thinks the ship uses a form of space folding technology to move faster than light. To do so, you need some strange matter that isn't really stable in the natural universe. I don't need to tell you, this is so far beyond us it isn't even funny," Marcus said.

A wild discussion about the next steps erupted over com until Marcus spoke up. "There is the possibility that I can repair the damage to an extent. My Reconstr-" "NO." Janette's voice sharply cut through his words. It was the first time she had spoken in this discussion. "If anything goes wrong, nobody can save you Marcus. Whatever we can gain from this, isn't worth risking your life like it," Janette said, and soon others agreed.

"How much of the ship is accessible right now?" Alistair wanted to know. "About 60%, roughly. But most of the cargo holds are in the radiated area," Marcus said, after checking with Xeen. "Could we try and recover items from the holds? This still should be less dangerous and at least the people with vitality in the high twenties or thirties could work for a limited amount of time," Grace said, and Janette wasn't against it.

We will have to work out a safe route, override some security protocols and create a work plan for the item retrieval.

Can you do that? I mean the override part.

Can a hoophoop flop?

I take it as a yes.

Of course, especially with the command codes I found in the private files of the first officer.

"Marcus, move your ass up here. It is time for you to freeze your ass off, like the rest of us," Janette's voice demanded, and Marcus moved, expecting some serious chewing out.

"You are doing it again! Putting yourself into unreasonable danger to help others. Think about yourself, think about Azaa, think about me and Cherry!" Janette said, and poked with her finger against his chest. Marcus had only just arrived and relieved the others from their guard duty, when Janette started to put him through the wringer. "Okay, I won't do it, I promise!" Marcus said, and looked pitiful. "And you Xeen! You should be more mindful in advising him. You know how reckless Marcus can be," Janette continued, and squinted her eyes. Marcus found it funny that Xeen got some too. In spite of what Marcus had expected, Xeen was laughing hard.

It has been a very long time since I got scolded. She really does fit her framework.

What do you mean by that? And don't say in-

In time, you will understand.

You really can be insufferable!

In spite of her words and anger Janette was happy Marcus stayed with her over the long, dark night until her guard duty was finally over. Every few hours the trucks moved a bit and raid members freed them from a thick layer of snow. When they finally got back into the warm truck, Marcus made sure Janette ate something decent and took one of her sleeping pills. When the sun moved over the horizon Janette finally rested peacefully. Marcus stayed awake a bit longer and worked out a schedule to retrieve items from the contaminated zone. Only he, Grace, Alistair and Carlos had enough vitality to stay for a longer time in the hot zone. That meant the rest had to cover the guard duties for the whole day, or they had to work slower.

We should also prepare to blow up the core. The weapons this ship is carrying should not fall in the hands of the human nations.

Agreed, if they are only half as powerful as you have described, we can't risk the super powers on Earth getting their hands on them.

Not to talk about the core itself. I can only imagine the devastation it would cause if your scientists would try to recreate the core. Actually, I do not need to. I remember a world that had failed to control this technology in the past. Not even the Destroyers cause this much damage to a planet.

Can we make it look like an accident?

That should be possible, but we need to time it right. Once this is put into motion, we will not be able to stop it. It would be best if we were already through the portal.

Noted.