Under the Dog Star

I was awoken as our Superluxic rocket went into orbit around Sirius the brightest star in Canis Major. We had been asleep for the three month flight from Earth Three months to cover the eight point six light years to the Dog Star

. I was the first to be called, just as I was the last to go to sleep, after I had made sure that the five hundred people on board were safely connected to the life support systems. Now I set about reviving the flight crew. Starting with our captain Jumo. Thankfully he was fine, but I refused to vary the procedure by waking the cooks next. He could wait for a meal the same as the ten man flight crew. After checking them over and getting them coupled to the exercise chairs which will exercise every muscle to ensure they will be physically fit to carry out their duties.

Jumo took control. Getting the surveyors into their workstations. He had to select the most likely planet to land on. Jumo is a beta, nominally in charge of all manual aspects of this mission. I'm an alpha all policy decisions are mine. I am also a doctor so the health, both physical and mental, of the crew, from Jumo and Freida, the head of maintenance, down to little BB the youngest epsilon is my responsibility. I think that we are all here because we have transgressed and upset one or another of the World State Directors in some way. In my case it was telling them I would not sleep with any of the until they improved their body odour, they stank, every one of them. I have all the files on the computer, but I prefer not to read them, I'll deal with each as I find them. The computer also holds all knowledge known to mankind. From changing a light bulb to modifying a virus. Which I fervently hope I'll not need.

“ Right. What have we got?” Jumo asked the surveyors all engrossed with their sensors. “There doesn't seem to be one that will sustain our life-type .” Kitlin replied. She was the senior surveyor. “Looks as if we'll have to abandon the mission and go home.” “Oh I don't know” said Berlam the junior surveyor “ The fourth planet has vegetation. Granted it's a bit hot, but we don't have to be outside that much. Do we?” he asked of Jumo and Kitlin while looking at me. I busied myself reviving a delta. They've got to get on with each other. “Any animal life there? Jumo asked “Only in the trees” replied Darli. “We'll get closer and orbit it pole to pole a few times” decided Jumo “ I don't trust equatorial surveying. So watch your instruments.”

After five more orbits Jumo decided to land . I must say that Cari the pilot and Cedo the navigator did a very good job . Smooth as silk, whatever that was, we could still have been airborne. I'd just got BB off the exercise chair when Jumo opened the doors and a new atmosphere pervaded the ship. Jumo got thing moving. First priority was food, the deltas got the processor set up and the epsilon went foraging for material. All living material would be fed into the processor Which would be sterilized and sorted out into the bits it could use and the rest rejected. Surprisingly there was very little rejected so the epsilons got off lightly on that score as they didn't have to move it away. Then we were ready to explore and categorise the whole planet.

Atmosphere testing had begun the moment we landed and in this location was deemed to be safe. The immediate vicinity would be explored and samples of flora, and the geology would be done on foot. With the surveyors leading teams of Deltas and Epsilons. Anything small enough would be brought back to our Superlux, but larger objects like trees and outcrops would be examined and logged by our Field Scanners. That left the problem of the animals. Darli had been continually monitoring the near vicinity and was now in conversation with Jumo “ We will have to do it in segments” Jumo half asked. Darli contributed “If we do it on a linear basis, say a mile at a time, Cari can get over it in an Air-Scooter and anaesthetize the strip and the rest of us can walk through pick up the small animals and scan the large ones where they sleep” “I'll check with Cari that it's OK with her.” Jumo said. Darli continued “That only leaves the insects. We can cover the open ground before we start on the trees, but that will have to wait until we can evaluate the risk from live animals. Some of them may be small” he continued “We'll need motion sensors to find them.” They seemed to have it all in hand. So I asked the question no-one else had asked “Kitlin, How much daylight is left?”. “Not a lot.” she replied “we'd better get everyone in for the Soma issue and leisure time. If that's alright with you?”.

Happiness is still an aim of the Supreme Committee, so the drug is still a State issue and free sex still actively encouraged. Since the 'Incident at the Lighthouse' as historians like to refer to it, things have changed, admittedly excruciatingly slowly,but they have changed. A sense of purpose is now acceptable for betas and alphas and some gammas in life. Epsilons and deltas are now able to think more due to a change in gene modification procedures.

'Responsibility' is frowned upon although I think sending me on this as a lone alpha may be an experiment to see how it goes. I retire to my bed alone.

I slept fitfully and was wide awake before the call to breakfast. The epsilons were running hither and thither serving the meal when I received a call from Jumo. It seems Berlam had informed him of the presence of a spaceship in the vicinity and a stream of unintelligible radio signals. I went to the Control Room and put on my Universal Translation Helmet. It took minutes for the computer inside to translate the radio signals “Answer this call or be destroyed” was the last message I heard. I ordered an emergency and the flight crew and surveyors all rushed into the Control Room as the first shots from the spaceship shook the Superlux. “Where are the meteor shields?” I demanded. “Can't deploy them while on the ground.” came Cari's reply. “Then take us up to the minimum altitude they will work at” We took another hit which rocked the Superlux still no reports of damage then the Meteor Shields took the blasts. “Just keep pointing at the spaceship.” I said as calmly as possible. Jumo asked “How long do we take this?”. “Until they stop firing.” then an idea sprang into my mind, turning to Cedo I said “Angle of incidence equals” , “Got it” he said “Cari, let me have the steering” we watched the radar screen as the space ship flew towards us and fired and screamed past, turned and came back still firing as their shots seemed to bounce off the shields. Cedo turned the ships slightly and one of the shots came off the shield and followed the spaceship and hit its' rocket motors. The spaceship struggled to the ground,yawing left and right until it hit the land. Luckily t did not burst into flames. “Right Jumo, organise the rescue. Good flying Cedo thank you. First though I want a couple of Air-Scooters to spray all of it with Soma Vapour mist.” I was a bit officious, but I wanted action. “Cari land as close as you can there are bound to be casualties.”

As soon as we landed the scooter took off and quickly sprayed the spaceship and the survivors, Jumo with a squad of deltas, was just as quick getting a field hospital set up. And my gamma nurses were right behind them starting to treat the injured. Cuts, bruises,superficial burns and fractures were easy to sort out, but I was concerned about the internal injuries. On the first of these I did a full body scan to see if they were different from us. They were. The organs were different probably caused by a difference in gravity and atmosphere of our home planets. I still had my Translation Helmet on and the computer had worked out the language, more or less. “Do you have a Doctor on board ?” I asked one of the patients, her reply took the computer a few minutes to work out. I wish it hadn't really. So I started looking for the leader, the captain, but whoever I asked I got more or less the same abuse. From what I heard as I walked around the site my nurses were getting the same, but luckily they didn't have translation helmets. I walked into the ship and looked around there were some dead and some more injured all unconscious. I went into what I took to be their control room and found a man in a colourful uniform sitting with his head in his hands and some sort of, I presume, gun dangling from his fingers. “Are you the Captain of this spaceship” I asked. He nodded. “I want you to order your people to accept medical treatment.”. He shook his head, “ You want your people to suffer and die because of your mistake?” He got up and went to a control panel, threw a small switch and said “We are defeated, I want you all to live. Accept the help you are offered.” Then he pointed to gun at himself and pulled the trigger. Whatever I thought of it he more than likely believed it to be a noble gesture. I turned to leave when I was accosted by six or seven people all asking for help for their fellow soldiers. “Where is your Doctor?” I asked. “No Doctors on spaceships” seemed to be what they were saying. I walked back to the Superlux and set up to operate on the first patient. I thought about using our blood, but tests showed it was incompatible. We needed donors from them. I caught the first one I could and asked him to give his blood for his colleagues “We cannot save the injured without you giving your blood” he looked shocked.”Why do you want to save our people?” he asked. I was taken aback. These people had tried to kill us. So why did I want to save them? “Because we are all people just doing our jobs” I said. “At the moment my job is to save lives”. That seemed to satisfy him. He spoke to a few of the walking wounded and they passed it on, and in a matter of minutes I had a queue. Then I had to shout for nurses to take the blood. I set to work making notes of the differences in their bodies and I managed to save more than I lost. I think. When all the injured had been seen to it was well past nightfall. Without being asked Freida had rigged up lights over the whole area and made the spaceship habitable so they were all under cover and, I found out later, locked in.

I passed on my drug ration that night for the first time in my life and collapsed into a troubled sleep. The survey of the planet had to be completed and the survivors dealt with. The first was easy the crew would see to that, but what about the survivors? I called Jumo and told him to carry on with the survey without my nurses and ten epsilons. Then I had to talk to Freida. Could the spaceship be repaired? The answer was no. Even if the rockets could be repaired it had been damaged too much to take off safely. What to do about the survivors. Well I could ask them. So I did. I took Cari, Cedo and Freida across to the battered spaceship. When we opened the door we were met with a stony silence. I think they were expecting a firing squad, “Who is in charge here?” I asked as politely as possible. A tall woman snapped to attention “I am the senior officer”. “What is your name? And what are your plans?” My name is Captain Serva. We have no plans. We are in your hands. Your troops have destroyed every weapon we had. There is nothing we can do.” I looked at Freida “ Jumo and I thought it was a good idea at the time, as you were busy operating” I smiled. It was a comforting feeling to know that me back was covered and my gaps filled. “There are options, I hope. Cari and Credo can look at the possibility of returning you to your home planet. We could take you back to Earth with us when we have completed our survey of this planet, or we can leave you here and Freida will repair your communications before we leave. I think you will have more visits from Earth, but staying is an option.”You are free to do as you like but you will not enter our ship.” That was quite a speech, off the cuff, With that Freida gave Serva the key to the doors and we left.

Days passed quietly until Serva appeared at the door and asked to see me. “Do we have to eat the food you give us?”. “What else is there to eat?” I asked perplexed. I have not seen anyone more embarrassed “We have looked around and there are berries, nuts and leaves that we can use that will taste much better than your manufactured meals.”. Good Ford, I thought We are in Savage territory here. “If that is what you want, go ahead” I replied. “Oh, I almost forgot, Freia has made a number of Translation Helmets. We haven't enough to give one each but they will be available if anyone wants to talk to my people.” My people, how pretentious! Serva left and I did my best to evaluate the situation. While I had all the information on our people (Our, not my.) I knew nothing about them. I was mulling this over when BB came past with an equally young girl helping him with his fetching and carrying. Both of them smiling. “BB, who is your friend?”, “I don't know her name, but she is nice and she helps me.” I've never heard an epsilon sounding coy before, “But you can't talk to her. You haven't got a Helmet”. He got even more coy “We don't need to talk, we just know.”. That decided me I had to find out about them.

Serva seemed to have a right hand man called Breta more mature than Serva, so I asked him to tell me about the crew and their home planet. He told me that they were all conscripts, considered troublemakers on their planet. Put on the spaceship under discipline as a punishment. Life at home was regulated, hard work, no freedom, every minute controlled by Local Officials who had the power of life and death. The had escaped with their lives because of family connections. “I think neither the State nor families will worry if we are killed.” he said “They will not come looking for us.”. I thought of our hedonistic life. One planet with controlled hardship and another with controlled hedonism and soma. Control is the common denominator. After a few days I noticed that the Translation Helmets were in great demand and our sorties on surveys contained as many survivors as our people. Our daily life fell into a routine. The surveyors were doing their jobs, so I had spare time. I spent it listening to Breta as he told me about his country on a planet with perpetual wars. The weather was hot I enjoyed another and another day in the heatwave

We completed our survey and the time had come to return to Earth. I called Serva and Breta to ask them what had been decided for their future . Serva answered “We will stay here.” he said “There is nothing for us anywhere else. Here we will control our own destiny. We can live off the earth. It will be hard, but no harder than our lives at home.” I felt out of my depth. What did I know about anything other than empty words, the drug and mechanical sex, I had no depth. “Right,” I said “Talk to Freida, about anything you need to help you survive.” Then I called Jumo “Are we ready to go?” “No” he said in a definite way “I am not going back.” I heard murmurs of assent from those within earshot. “Call everyone together.” I said trying not to sound pathetically imperious “We'll have a show of hands.” They gathered outside the Superlux I stood before them in trepidation “How many of you want to start for home?” no-one moved. “You want to stay here?” A few said yes then a few more then a lot more. It seemed unanimous. “Well I can't fly the thing myself, so I'll just have to get used to it.”

Breta, Freida, Jumo and Serva came and grabbed my hands. “Thank you.” they said “We are glad that you will carry on, we need you.”

I walked away. Away from them, away from the Superlux, away from everything I had ever known. I sat on a hilltop a warm evening breeze gently ruffled my hair and I cried and cried and cried. I only stopped when Breta put his arms around me and kissed my wet face. Then after thousands of times of having sex I made love for the first time in my life.