Here Comes Earth: Emergence (15 page)

Dr. Julie Schein

Julie
had stopped keeping her journal; or at least she had stopped recording it on
her smartpad. She had become increasingly suspicious that the Noridians could
monitor everything said inside their ship. She had no real evidence of this but
Major Reagan had urged her to trust her instincts and this was a strong one.
Another instinct was telling her that her thoughts on the Noridians and even
her own team members weren’t something that should be accessible.

The
video feed from the planet had had a profound impact on mission personnel and
when the 2
^nd
Platoon returned it only reinforced that apprehension.

Probably
because Julie was a psychiatrist she had always been sensitive to changes in
the personalities of those around her. Dramatic paradigm shifts could often
have physiological repercussions and/or leave a certain type of personality
open and unguarded to suggestion.

A
paradigm shift occurs when a person’s viewpoint of a situation, event, or
person is suddenly yanked to a different perspective. The stronger the belief
in the previous viewpoint the more profound the reaction can be.

Another
way to say it; if your confidence in the truth of your worldview is shaken you
might be more open to the strongly held worldview of someone else even if it crosses
normally held mores, ethics, or beliefs.

Julie
was starting to notice a pattern and if true the implications could be dire.

The
first night on the ship the Noridians had demonstrated just how advanced they
were, and by comparison, just how insignificant our culture was compared to
them. Culture shock is a type of paradigm shift and it was the following
morning while everyone was still somewhat susceptible that Jaki’s universally
watched interview with Mark introduced the offer of Noridia to ‘embrace’ earth
and protect us in our transition – and spelled out the possible catastrophic
consequences of not accepting that help.

Yesterday,
the Noridian’s had taken 2
^nd
Platoon on a tour that forced everyone
on the mission to face the stark reality that human-type civilizations could
and in fact did exterminate themselves – just as Jaki had claimed. It is one
thing to intellectually know that your species is not immortal, it’s quite
another to have any pride or self-confidence ripped from your heart with
in-your-face evidence.

Another
paradigm shift and now another follow-up selling the Noridian message; or at
least that is how it was starting to look to Julie as she watched Dr. Helmer,
Colonel Memphis, and their cronies circulate amongst the team.

The
selling was subtle; a hand on the shoulder here, some comforting words there.
To Julie it was starting to look more like proselytizing the ‘religion’ of
Noridia than anything else.

There
was a lot going on and there was a lot at stake. It was possible that these
events were innocent in and of themselves and it was only the fast pace that
they were happening that made them seem orchestrated but Julie was starting to
strongly suspect otherwise.

You’re
only paranoid if they’re really not out to get you.

These
are the thoughts Julie was contemplating as she tracked down Dr. Sullivan. She
could have called him but again she didn’t want to possibly call more attention
to herself than she needed to. Much better if she just ran into him.

And
run into him she almost did; as she neared the end of the hallway leading into
the HQ Hub Dr. Sullivan turned the corner just ahead of her. They stopped
short, facing each other just inside the hallway. As Julie had noticed before
the hallways had a strange noise deadening effect that seemed especially
pronounced just before the hallways met the hubs. It was disconcerting enough
that most team members would naturally pause their conversation for a beat as
they walked through these connection zones.

As
Julie greeted Dr. Sullivan he started to step back into the hub to clear the
zone; until she reached out and lightly grabbed the front of his tunic and
said, “Please, let’s talk right here.”

Dr.
Hilbert Sullivan was no trained agent of the government but he had risen
through medical and governmental politics to the number two position at the
Center for Disease Control in Atlanta; he was no stranger to political
intrigue.

“Hilbert
please,” Julie said. “I need to ask you about how General Nesbit is doing and I
need your candid assessment even if it’s somewhat speculative.”

After
a considered moment Dr. Sullivan responded, “I’m concerned Julie. I go three
times a day to check on him but there’s nothing to see. They still have him
sedated and claim that it’s perfectly safe. They say the only reason the
process is taking so long is that they’re worried about other arterial
weaknesses in the same general area.”

Julie
looked Dr. Sullivan in the eyes and said, “Do you believe them?”

Dr.
Sullivan let out a deep breath and raised his hand to his forehead. “Julie, I
just don’t know. I want to believe them but what they’re saying just doesn’t
make sense to me. There’s no sign of arterial expansion or weakness on the
medical view screen and his blood pressure is consistent with his medical
history – the high side of normal. I would think if they were really concerned
about arterial weakness they’d be trying to lower it.”

Julie
was digesting this new information when Dr. Sullivan said, “Talk to me Julie.
What do you know?”

“I
don’t know anything Hilbert,” she responded. “I think the timing of his
affliction is another coincidence in what is becoming a string of coincidences.
What are you hearing from the HQ staff?”

“Julie,
that’s the other thing. It’s like HQ lives in another world; everyone here is
happy and confident about the future with no worries. When I get out to the
platoons, however, it’s just the opposite. Except for maybe the diplomatic
platoon, it’s like there’s a giant disconnect from what everybody else is
experiencing. I’ve been trying to sound the alarm but Helmer and Memphis aren’t
listening. I’m not really sure what to do anymore.”

“Hilbert,
I’ve got a favor to ask; two really.”

“What
do you need Julie?”

“First
off I need to ask you to keep our conversations private; and I mean private
from everybody. Can I count on you for that?”

Dr.
Sullivan quickly considered and then nodded his head. “Yes, of course.”

“The
second thing is that I need an excuse to spend time around the HQ staff;
especially Helmer and Memphis. Do you think you can come up with a plausible
reason to have me around for a few days?”

Again
nodding slowly Dr. Sullivan said, “I’ll have to think up something but I’m sure
I can manage. Would tomorrow be soon enough?”

“Tomorrow
is perfect.”

Right
before they moved on Julie said one last thing. “Oh, and Hilbert as a personal
word of friendship; stop raising the alarm. Keep your eyes open but don’t get
pegged as a discontent.”

∆∆∆

Most of the team had
developed the habit of ordering lunch from their room dispenser and then
carrying the tray out into the common hub area. It was a convention that Julie
understood thoroughly; after all we are a social species.

She hadn’t been sitting
for long when Hiromi sat down beside her. Even though she was pretty sure it
was Hiromi it didn’t stop her from looking at her uniform.

Good thing she
double-checked; the nametag said Ito so that was no help, but the squad patch
was red meaning this was Kamiko.

As usual, the captain didn’t
start the conversation so after a few minutes Julie said, “Do you and your
sister ever feel you can read each other’s mind?”

After thoughtfully chewing
on her food Kamiko responded, “Not really. We usually find it easier to figure
out what other people are thinking.”

Julie half laughed and
said, “I really wish I had your ability. Right now it would make my life so
much easier.”

“Then let me loan you
mine. The answer is yes, he has feelings for you.”

“Whoa,” Julie exclaimed.
“I was talking about the mission; I so need to understand who’s who.”

“No, my friend Julie. You
weren’t just talking about the mission and the answer stays the same; he does
care.”

Julie actually felt
herself blushing. She hadn’t blushed in… years!

“Kamiko, I don’t know what
you think you know but I can assure you…”

Kamiko interrupted with, “Julie,
you cannot even assure yourself as hard as you try. You have a large
responsibility on your shoulders and you think that leaves you no time for
personal feelings but you cannot schedule your emotions. As a psychiatrist you
should know this.

“We have a saying,” she
continued. “I don’t know if it translates well but it states that your war is
big enough already without adding new fronts to battle. Maybe you should think
about giving in to some of those feelings; it might make the rest of your
burden easier.”

As Julie sat silent,
thoughts in turmoil, literally not knowing what to say Kamiko said, “Would you
like my orange juice?”

∆∆∆

It
was too much. Everything happening all at once was just too much for any one
person so when Toni had suggested that what they really needed was a girl’s
night out Julie immediately agreed.

Except
of course that there really wasn’t anywhere to go ‘out’ to and the fact that
they’d ended up at Major Reagan’s quarters sort of belied the ‘girls’ part of
it altogether.

It
was still a relief however and the fact that when they’d showed up at the
Major’s door demanding a couple hours of mission-free, pressure-free time he’d
invited them in - it went a long way to helping Julie relax.

The
fact that Dr. Mom had smuggled a bottle of Melbec on board certainly helped too.

The
professional side of Julie was relieved to see the major open up a little and
relax – she even got a chance to see a full smile which didn’t look too bad on
him at all. If she was feeling the pressure then it was amazing that he could
stand up straight with all that was on his shoulders.

Dr.
Mom seemed her usual unflappable self and had deftly gotten the major to talk a
little about his personal life; something Julie definitely got the impression
that he didn’t do all that often.

“I
can’t believe that cooking is one of your hobbies,” Toni said.

“Why
not?” the major responded. “A lot of men are chefs and it relaxes me.”

“It’s
just that you’re so… macho,” Julie said. After seeing the look on Major
Reagan’s face she hurriedly continued, “Not in a bad way! I just mean that
you’re like the perfect image of a military leader and cooking seems so…
domestic.”

After
both Julie and Toni stopped laughing the major smiled and in a conversational
spirit recounted how early in his career he had been stationed at Ft
Leavenworth, Kansas to spend a rotation at the Army’s Combined Arms Center.

What
most people don’t realize is that Leavenworth is just outside of Kansas City.

What
even more people don’t realize is that Kansas City is the absolute BBQ capital
of the world. Between the American Royal and the hundreds of privately owned
BBQ restaurants it was a matter of pride for every Kansas Citian to own a
grill, a slow cooker, and/or a smoker; there might even be a law requiring it.

“While
I was there,” he continued. “I was befriended by a man who was old enough to be
my grandfather and that had served BBQ for lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall
restaurant every Wednesday and Thursday for 32 years.”