The Side Effects of Progress (Part 3)

    Yuri woke up. He had no idea how long he had been out, but he felt well rested. Looking at the monitor, the vital signs seemed normal. He didn't recall hearing any noises during the night, so he had figured the alien, or whatever it was, was fine. Yuri laid in bed for a while, for an object at rest will remain at rest. It wasn't until he heard a familiar thud in the kitchen, where he decided to get up. Yuri threw the sheets off of him, the cold station air slightly discomforting him. He spun his legs around, planting his feet on the floor, and braced himself before standing up. Yuri took the PDA with him, and walked into the office.

 

    A quick glance at the screen reveals that the station was no different from yesterday, the communications and sensors still disabled. To his right, he could see the kitchen, a sealed meal just barely in view. To his left he could sort of see through the med bay door, seeing the armored boots of the alien. Yuri walked past his desk and decided he'd check up on the alien. Looking at the alien, he noticed it was still sleeping. Yuri checked the collection container to see that it had filled some more, and was very slowly dripping fluid. Just one more day, and the process would be done. The patches and bandages were still holding their airtight seal, and no puddles of fluid had formed under the alien. Things were looking alright.

 

    The medical room was quite a mess with all the uneaten packets lying around in stacks. Yuri headed out of the medical bay and walked into the kitchen. He took today's breakfast and filled the packet up with some water. He let it sit in the sink as he walked around the rest of the station, looking for some sort of large container or bin. Finding one, he headed back to the medical room and started loading the uneaten meals into the bin, bringing it into the kitchen, and storing them in whatever cabinet was available. The process took roughly 25 minutes, Yuri filling the kitchen storage entirely, having to use his own drawers in his bedroom to store the rest.

 

    Yuri put the bin back where he had found it, and decided to eat breakfast, which was supposed to be a pancake with bacon and eggs. Yuri at it, not really liking it that much, and tossed the remaining wrappers down the garbage chute. He washed his hands off, and went into the bathroom to check on his clothing. They were all clean in the tub, maybe they had sat there a little too long. He drained the tub out and tossed the wet clothes into the dryer, the only laundry component that really couldn't be replaced yet. Yuri walked back towards the medical room, perhaps the noises he had made finally awoke it.

 

    As Yuri walked into the room, he could see it stare at him with tired, droopy eyes. Yuri takes a seat in the corner of the small room and asks, “How are we feeling today?”

 

    It coughs, but to Yuri's surprise, it, no she, manages to say something in a raspy voice, “Where... Where am I?”

 

    Yuri sits up in his seat rather quickly from the response, “Ah, it speaks. And we can understand each other. I have a long and short answer for you. What will it be?”

 

    To which she replies with, “I don't think I'm going anywhere anytime soon.” She looks down at her chest, her gaze following the line created by the vacuum tubing.

 

    Yuri smiles a little and says, “Well, you are in a PTMC distribution satellite.”

 

    The words don't really mean much to the alien. She asks for clarification, “Are we on Tal?”

 

    Yuri shakes his head and laughs a little, “No, we are in space orbiting Earth. I've never heard of a place called Tal.” Yuri stands up from his stool and retrieves some more water and aspirin. Yuri drops the tablets in the cup and sets it on the counter.

 

    The alien, perplexed by the location given, asks Yuri, “In space orbiting Earth?”

 

    “Well, you see,” replies Yuri, “Space is the place you wind up in if you keep on going up to the sky. In this case, we are in space above Earth.” The alien starts coughing again, Yuri holds out the small cup to her. She takes the cup and drinks the contents.

 

    “Take it easy,” says Yuri, “Don't stress yourself now.” The last thing he wanted was more complications from the shock caused by pain, and general over stressing of her body while injured severely.

 

    Yuri walks out of the room, and brings in the table from the kitchen. It is just tall enough to clear the lower part of the medical table. The alien places her wrists on top of the table. Yuri disappears back into the kitchen again, coming back into the medical room with a vacuum sealed bag. He tears off an edge and fills it with a bit of water. As Yuri works, the alien asks, “Who are you?”

 

    Yuri turns his head around and looks at the alien, “I could ask the same to you. I've never seen anything like you before.” Yuri poked the bag to feel if the temperature was hot enough inside of it. “I am human.”

 

    The alien taps her fingers on the metal surface of the table, “Well, Human, do you have a last name or anything, or is it just 'Human'?” When she is done taping, she stretches out her arms and lays them across the surface.

 

    Yuri craned his neck around again, saying, “Oh, human is the name of my species. I am Yuri Krasevec. Who, and what might you be?” Yuri took the smaller subdivisions out of the bag and shook them dry over the sink.

 

    “I am,” she hesitates with a sigh, “Tochi Osiv. I am a Sergal.”

 

    Yuri takes a small plastic tray out of one of the packets, and sets it on the table in front of Tochi. He also grabs the included plastic ware and sets it to the side of the tray. The sergal takes a sniff of the air and asks, “Are you feeding me?”

 

    Yuri laughs a little and says, “I might have to if you can't use your arms.”

 

    She looks down at the tray and utensils in front of her. She picks up the knife and pokes at some stuff, asking, “What is this?”

 

    Yuri takes a quick look and answers, “Salisbury steak, corn, and mashed potatoes.” It looked eerily similar to a typical TV dinner. Yuri had eaten it before. He remembered that it tasted like it came out of a dollar store. Fortunately, Yuri wasn’t a picky eater. Some words resonated with Tochi, so she figured out the fork and knife as best as she could, cutting a piece off the “steak” and placing it into her mouth.

 

    She must have been hungry because once she chewed it and swallowed, she immediately came back for more. It didn't take her long to finish up everything else, and to Yuri's surprise, she didn't make much of a mess either. Cleanup, as always with packaged meals, was a breeze, just simply throw it away. Space is the ultimate landfill after all. Yuri pitched a question to Tochi as he washed his hands in the sink, “So, can you recall what got you here in the first place? I'd like to figure out what all happened because I'm just as confused about this situation as you are.”

 

    Tochi though for a moment, trying to recall what all had happened. “Well,” she starts, “It started when we got reports from strange activity in the nearby mountains. Noises, things flying in the sky that weren't birds. I was sent to check it out and saw some people with strange glowing slits on their faces at what looked like a mine of some kind. I don't remember the rest, but I must've blacked out because the next thing I know, I hear a loud crash and I'm stuck in some metal box.” Yuri compiles the story in his head and thinks of the possibilities of what she saw was plausible or not.

 

    Yuri shut off the sink and asked her in an attempt to narrow down the suspects, “Did they happen to have cyan glowing slits on their face?”

 

    Tochi nodded, “Yes. How did know?”

 

    Yuri then explains to Tochi, “That is the typical suit look for CEC workers. It sort of tells me that the CEC is responsible for this more than anyone else so far. Not saying the PTMC is completely innocent either. Recently a fair share of more confidential material has come through this facility between the two companies. You did arrive in a confidential CEC delivery after all.” Yuri turns around and sits on the stool, propping his chest up by resting his forearms on his thighs.

 

    Tochi takes in the information for a bit then asks, “Explain to me these groups. Why would they do this?”

 

    Yuri takes a long winded sigh and says, “Okay, where to begin. The older PTMC, or Post-Terran Mining Corporation and the much newer CEC, the Concordance Extraction Corporation are two major mining companies that mine on planets other than Earth.”. Yuri pauses to clear his throat, then goes on to further explain, “While we build massive amounts of robots and machines to do the mining for us in the more traditional ways, the CEC builds ships that tears chunks off of planets, giving them instant access to pretty much everything. Needless to say, they cut pretty far into our profits.”

 

    Tochi raised her voice a little with great concern, “So, they're going to tear Tal into pieces?” One of the last things she expected, or wanted, to hear.

 

    “Hold on now,” says Yuri, “A recent law was passed, making it illegal to do any mining on inhabited planets. If what you witnessed is correct, then they would be running an illegal operation.”

 

    Yuri gets up from his stool again and checks on the pressure of the vacuum pump and the status of the container. Everything looked normal. Yuri adjusts the vacuum pump to suck with less pressure, while asking Tochi, “Now, the process to evaluate a planet takes more than a year. How long have these reports been going on?”

 

    To that question, she replies, “About a month. Which reminds me, we sent two out there earlier and they didn't come back. Do you know where they are?”

 

    “Unfortunately no,” says Yuri, “They could of came through here, just like you.” Tochi had been the first he had seen. None of the other deliveries had opened on their own accord.

 

    Tochi coughs a bit, and tries to clear out her throat, “Can we stop them?” Yuri wasn't really sure if that was possible at all. The PDA in his pocket vibrates and beeps. He takes it out and looks at it for a moment. He smiles and walks up to her side.

 

    He pats her on the head gently and says, “Don’t worry, I'll look into that. We have time. For now though, you need to heal up.” Tochi looks up at Yuri as he withdraws his hand to go search for a different kind of drug in the cabinets. Mainly supplements to accelerate the healing process. Yuri takes a couple of containers and withdraws some more pills. He places them into the cup and fills it with water. Yuri hands the cup over to Tochi who proceeds to take the contents of the cup.

 

    Yuri walks into the office and looks at the monitors. Nothing about the station has changed at all. He rested his head on his palm, elbow on the desk as he tried to figure out what he was going to do. He knew the CED wouldn’t investigate just because. The PTMC probably already knew and was keeping quiet about it for whatever reasons. The CEC certainly wasn't going to have a change of heart anytime soon. The only option that seemed plausible was to tease some amateur do-gooders into doing the work for him. He couldn't explicitly tell anyone about the Sergal either, he wanted to keep that a secret for now. In fact, he wanted himself to stay as anonymous in this situation as possible. He didn't have a death wish with the CEC or PTMC.

 

    The best thing he could seem to figure out to do for now was say the container got lost during the micro-meteor storm to the PTMC and the CEC. He could find some activists to inspect the shipping container for a shipping manifest, and hopefully they might run across the origins of the container and the bits of fur that might be inside of it. Then they would lead their own investigation into it and gather evidence so damning, the CED couldn't deny it and be forced to take action. Well, that is what Yuri had hoped to happen anyways.

 

    Yuri kicked his feet back, causing the chair he was in to roll backwards a couple of feet. He got up from his desk and pushed it back into place. He really wanted to do something, but he feared that restoring functionality to the communications array would compromise the situation. It was best that he didn't make waves for the time being, and just focused on getting Tochi recovered from her wounds. He was thinking a bit too much. Going into the kitchen, Yuri crouched down and took one of the vodka bottles from the carton sitting on the floor. He took some mind easing sips from the bottle, each one slowly starting to make him feel a little more at ease.

 

    Being a responsible drinker, because he knew it was going to be awhile until he could get another crate, he drank conservatively, and put the bottle up before too long. There was just the right amount of alcohol in his system now to make him happy and relaxed. He was still a little tense from yesterday, with his encounter with Tochi and all. It didn't help that he was now responsible for taking care of her for the time being, putting a little more stress on his mind.

 

    Hours passed and the boring reality of sobriety slowly crept its way back into Yuri. Tochi wasn't much for conversation as she rested quietly in the medical room. Yuri thought it was strange, for if the situation had been reversed to where Yuri was injured within an inch of his life, he'd still be nervous. Tochi, on the other hand, already seemed comfortable with Yuri's presence. Still, he didn't know that much about Sergals to verify if that behavior was normal or not.

 

    Maybe it was something else, something Yuri did. After seeing her get shot in the chest several times, he couldn't help but feel she was helpless. Stolen by the CEC only to get shot up in some space station millions of miles away, not to mention her appearance and decision to stalk gave off some animalistic vibes. Seeing her lying on the ground with those traits could of easily landed her in an ASPCA advertisement. Yuri went through the effort of patching her up, feeding her, and even giving her some head pats. Maybe that changed her attitude towards him.

 

    Feeling a little tired, Yuri leaned back in his chair, staying awake, but ready to fall asleep whenever his body felt like it. As Yuri's eyes started to slowly close by themselves, sinking into the depths of sleep, he was shocked back awake by a sudden smack. The noise took him by surprise, causing him to jump in his chair a bit. He got up, blood rushing from his head to the rest of his body. He braced himself against the wall and recovered so he could investigate the noise. Walking into the kitchen, he sees a packaged meal sitting on the counter. Of course, it was lunchtime already.

 

    Yuri overheard a voice coming from the other room, “What was that?” Yuri walked into the room and picked up a packet.

 

    As he opened the cabinet to grab one for Tochi as well, he replied, “Just lunch.” He took the two packets in his hand and walked out of the kitchen and into the medical room. He opens up the packets and fills them up to the required amount with sink water.

 

    “Yuri,” quietly asked Tochi, “Why are you doing this?”.

 

    Yuri turns off the sink faucet, “Doing what?”

 

    Tochi coughs then clears her throat out before replying, “I could’ve killed you, but you bested me. Why heal and feed me rather than killing me?” Yuri didn't really like the question all that much, and the implications it carried as well.

 

    Yuri walked back to the corner of the room and picked up the stool, saying, “When the PTMC hired me, they did so because I didn’t ask questions or snoop around.” Yuri places the stool between Tochi and the sink, taking a seat. “Now, I didn’t expect these events to, transpire, but I thought it would be in the best interest of everyone to keep you alive. You could have been important to them.” Tochi watches Yuri poke the bags with his finger to check for the temperature.

 

    She then asks, “What do they want with me then?” Yuri took the meals out of the packages and shook the water droplets off of them. Their wrappers crinkled with noise as he opened them up and removed them from their preserving seals.

 

    “No idea,” he replies, “You might of not of been a priority the more I think about it. They would of came over immediately and searched the area, but they didn’t. I have a bad feeling about this.” Yuri slides a tray of Swedish meatballs and a set of plastic utensils towards Tochi. As for Yuri, he was stuck with barbecue chicken.

 

    Tochi stares at her meal then looks at Yuri, asking, “So am I important to you since you feed me, heal me, and didn’t kill me?” Tochi started eating on her own, eagerly waiting for what Yuri’s response would be.

 

    “I suppose you could say that,” says Yuri. He wasn’t entirely sure either, but Tochi had left him with no other option when she decided to strike first. He only acted in self defense, the shooting for his life, and the healing for his job with the side effect of saving her life. That was back then though. Now, Yuri sort of enjoyed the company after being alone for so long. It gave him something to do.

 

    Once they were done eating, Yuri cleaned up what little mess had been created. Another trip to the kitchen to dispose of the trash and wash his hands concluded lunch. Yuri walked back to his desk to check up on the status of the station. Nothing new to report of. Yuri then walked back into the medical room to tell Tochi something. “I’m going to clean up the mess downstairs. If you need anything, just pull that monitor off your finger. Try to get some rest while I’m gone.” Tochi gives Yuri a nod, showing she understood.

 

    As Yuri turned around to get started on work, his PDA started emitting a solid tone. He pulled it out of the pocket and saw that all the stats had dropped to zero. He turns his head around and sees that Tochi had removed the monitor from her finger. Yuri walks back to her, standing in the doorway. “What do you need,” he asks.

 

    Tochi shivers a bit and says, “I’m cold. Do you have a blanket?” Yuri turns around and walks into his bed room. He strips the comforter off the top bunk bed and tucks it in a roll under his arm. He walks out of the bed room, around his desk, and into the medical room. Yuri pulls the table away, exposing the rest of Tochi. He sets the blanket down at her feet, and unrolls it up the length of her body.

 

    Yuri puts the monitor back on her finger after tucking her in under the covers, “You behave now.” Tochi shuts her eyes and smiles a little. Yuri couldn’t help but chuckle as he left the medical room to get to work.