Antibodies 7

Characters.
Nana Bev, Interplanetary prospector.
Jamie, Bev’s younger prospecting Partner.
Dennis Potter Freight manager and old friend of Beverly’s.
Jack Godfrey Yard foreman and walking boss.
Charlotte and Lucy - Jamie’s younger dancing & clubbing friends.
Rose and Violet. Cis-girl friends of Jamie.
Dr Williams Virologist
Jennifer Jamie’s girlfriend. (Sleeping partner.)

Chapter 7

I expected the authorities to take several weeks to even consider my offer but I was obviously unaware of the deteriorating situation regarding the Verdaspiro virus. Lockdown procedures were barely holding the deadly virus back and all human endeavour was beginning to seize up. The next time I contacted Doctor Williams she demanded that I agree to be patched through to the government’s COBRA emergency committee.

I immediately refused, broke off the call and destroyed the burner phone.

Long years of transgenderism and the attendant contemptuous abuse I had endured when dealing with men in authority had made me hyper reclusive towards such bullies. The only male I remotely came near to trusting was Dennis and he had no idea about Jamie’s or my immunity to Verdaspiro.

The following morning, I purchased a third new burner phone and contacted the doctor one last time. This time and to my surprise, they agreed to lend me a fast patrol craft and total anonymity surrounding the hand-over. The craft was despatched to a pre-arranged location where Jamie and I would collect it. Then we would remove the patrol craft and Digger to a second hidden location and Jamie would then join me on the patrol craft, leaving Digger and our identities hidden away.

Having successfully completed the anonymous swap, Jamie and I contacted Doctor Williams again and asked when they would have the ships with the volunteers ready.

“They’re ready now. We organised some volunteer groups from the armed forces and they are standing by at an hour’s notice.” She revealed before adding.

“Most of them are from the army medical corps, we thought, -“

“I follow your reasoning doctor. That's a fair and quick way to protect the medical teams. Just make sure that the serum is distributed on the basis of clinical need, not political or commercial clout.”

“I object to your insinuations. I would have it no other way, but I agree with your requirement that medical personnel get first chance at the serum, they will be getting the worst exposure.

We have three ships arranged to follow your patrol craft and two cargo ships loaded with stores to feed the volunteers. The passenger craft are only designed for three-day passages to Mars during apogee. If this venture is going to take more than a week, extra supplies will be carried on the cargo ships.”

“I’m happy with that doctor. So how many volunteers in all?”

“We’ve managed to squeeze about a thousand into the three ships.”

“And when can they be ready?”

“By noon today.”

“Good. We rendezvous over the south pole. We’ll be waiting at exactly terrestrial declination ninety south. That will make the initial orbital navigation calculations easy.”

I turned to Jamie as she grinned over my shoulder.

“We’d better get organised then Nana. We need antiradiation suites for us to avoid overdosing.”

“There’s good news Babe’s. This patrol craft is equipped for modest exploration duties. It’s equipped with an anti-radiation suite. We just step inside it when we get close to the asteroid. I stipulated that during the negotiations.”

Jamie grinned and we went to check our supplies. We had no intention of depending on the supply ships for our rations because our intention was to remain anonymous and unseen during the whole expedition.

Precisely at Noon, we were loitering above the south pole as three recognisable interplanetary passenger shuttles loomed into view. Communications were easily established and we made formation quickly. Soon after, the two supply ships appeared with an unannounced military escort. At first Jamie and I were suspicious but on further inspection we realised our patrol craft could easily lose it and escape with our superior speed.

Furthermore, the crew of the warship provided extra volunteers to be irradiated. ‘The more the merrier,’ I mused.

“Looks like all we have to do is show them the way.” Jamie observed thoughtfully.

“Makes our job easier,” I replied. “I gave them what radiation parameters we experienced on Digger, how close we went and how long before we became woozy and went unconscious.”

“Would it really harm us if we went in close again?” Jamie wondered.

“I’m not pushing my luck babes. We’ve got immunity and donatable blood. Let’s just leave it to them.”

“Hope it works.” Jamie observed softly.

“It’s got to girl. Otherwise, virtually all the planet is wiped out.” I reflected soberly.
ooo000ooo

Three weeks later our convoy located the asteroid. We had already provided a full description of its size, shape, nature and orbit so the captain of the warship took command of the exposure processes. Our job was technically over but we hung around awhile out of courtesy and curiosity.

From a safe distance inside our radiation suite Jamie and I watched and also discussed the progress of the volunteers. By far the most uncomfortable part was watching the video of the volunteers become nauseous then fall unconscious. We spent an anxious thirty-six hours while over three hundred volunteers lay unconscious in their military style cots and it was with some relief that we finally watched them recover consciousness.

Worse was to follow when the first twenty were separated, put into isolation and exposed to Verna Spiro one. For these tests, Doctor Williams herself had accompanied the volunteers on the warship and she worked like a trojan spacewalking between the first ship and the warship to conduct the first trials.

When she and the rest of her team were satisfied that the volunteers had acquired immunity, she despatched that first ship back to Earth while concentrating on the volunteers in the second ship. The second group of volunteers where in the main, medial corps volunteers and the process went much more smoothly.

From her laboratory on the warship she tried hailing our patrol craft. We were well out of visual range or radiation range from either the ships or ‘Green-eye’ (Our affectionate name for the asteroid.) but fortunately, we were in radio range.

After agreeing, Jamie and I decided to answer their hail.

“Hello project Verna Spiro this is Omega girl, we read you.”

There was a pregnant pause then the noticeably relieved voice of Doctor Williams.

“Ah! So you are still around.”

“Happen.” Jamie responded briefly. We’re just watching.”

“I’ve got some news for you.”

“Which is?”

“We’ve got a second convoy of bigger passenger liners hoping to expose some more volunteers. It’s a United Nations expedition organised by the USA and China.”

“They’d better hurry. In another two to three weeks Green-eye will be entering Jupiter’s magnetosphere, there’s no knowing how that will affect the asteroids radiation.”

“Good point Omega Girl. I’ll jolly them along. So what are your plans now?”

“Well, our job’s done. We’ll be returning this patrol craft back to the authorities on Earth then getting on with the rest of our lives.”

“Would you not be prepared to stay around to render assistance if needed?”

“How? We’re a two-man crew in a small patrol craft. We’ve done our bit.”

“Yes but you’ve got proven skills when operating on special missions in space.” Dr Williams tried to persuade us.

“No we haven’t,” I re-emphasised. “We’re just two spacemen who can navigate our way around the Solar System.” Any spaceship officer could have done it. Our only contribution was knowledge of the meteorite’s predicted path.”

“But your craft. It can act as an effective shuttle between the United Nations ships delivering the other volunteers and the ships taking them home.”

“It’s not my craft Doctor Williams. It’s a naval patrol craft on loan to me from the naval authorities. Any naval lieutenant could do the ferrying.”

“Yes but those lieutenants are all back on Earth getting them here will take time we have not got.”

“What about delegating two officers from the bigger military ship that escorted us here?”

Even as I spoke I realised this would compromise Jamie and my identities. It seemed there was only one way and it meant Jamie and I would have to do the transfers ourselves. The United Nation vessels had been urgently compartmentalised between radiation proof sections and exposure sections. As soon as the United Nation volunteers were sufficiently exposed, they would have to retreat to radiation proof sections provided on the ‘return’ ship and leave the area as soon as possible.

Jamie and I would have to operate the shuttle service from the radiation proof command suite on our fast patrol craft.

What complicated things was that we had no idea how fast the shuttle service would operate, - and Jupiter’s magnetosphere was drawing ever closer.

ooo000ooo

Reluctantly and somewhat angrily, Jamie and I agreed to commence transfers up and until we felt it was too dangerous to continue. Doctor Williams was at least prepared to extend us that privilege.

As we bid good luck and bon voyage to the last shipload of volunteers from our home country’s endeavours, Jamie and I stared at the detector screens as their echo faded in the direction of Earth.

“So when do these United Nations ships arrive?” Jamie wondered out aloud.

“God knows!” I replied as frustration started to eat at my confidence.

Jamie, ever sensitive to moods and atmospheres looked supportively towards me.

“Remember Nana, we do not have to take any risks ourselves. If we have any doubts we abort.”

I nodded and smiled wanly. Jamie was right and I could have hugged her for being so stoically supportive.

“Don’t you worry about that Babes; you can bet your bottom dollar I’m not going to endanger us.”

With these thoughts, I headed away from old Green-eye the asteroid, to escape the radiation and thus enable us to live normally outside the radiation proof suite; - at least until the UN convoy showed up.

It was not long in arriving. Jamie and I barely had two-day break before the groups of echoes identified themselves on our sensor screens. This time I was on duty when they showed up and I woke Jamie with a delicious breakfast.

“Get this down you now Babes. God knows when we’ll get a decent meal again. I’ve counted four large targets and two smaller ones. Looks like we’re going to be busy for a week or more at least.”

Jamie groaned and reluctantly crawled out of bed as I put the meal on her table. While she ate, I contacted the approaching convoy to establish our strategy, or more correctly, their strategy.

After they had explained their plan I slumped back in our command seat and took a long, slow incredulous breath.

“You mean transfer them in radiation proof boxes?!!”

Their planners quickly tried to elaborate by explaining that the ‘universal access port on the rear deck of my Naval patrol craft was a standard fixture on all military spacecraft. Then a standard access portal could be attached very easily to connect a container and ensure the transferral of goods or people (soldiers ordinarily) from the sealed container to the spacecraft.

As a commercial spaceship captain and commander I had never had cause to use such a device but I had often seen the door-shaped frame on several military craft and realised it was some sort of airtight connection to make a simple but effective airlock connection.

Warships and large commercial passenger craft were invariably supplied with a suitable universal connector that could connect to another ship or to a life-saving container.

However as I normally operated my own ship ‘Digger’ with a two-man crew, (me and Jamie); and occasionally a passenger or two, I had no need to be fitted with a universal access portal. If we had to abandon our ship ‘Digger,’ we used ‘space-pods’ with sufficient fuel to get clear of any danger then any survivors would ‘subspace’ a distress call.

This container idea was something I had never envisaged or seen.

“Are you serious. You place the volunteers in an airtight container, then ship them from the radiation craft to a radiation proof space on the receiving craft.”

“Yes. The system has been tested and it works. All you have to do is let our operators locate the radiation proof container on your after deck then transfer it across where the receiving craft can collect the container and volunteers. Meanwhile, you take back an empty container. Don’t worry captain, it’s been tried and tested back in a near Earth orbit and it works.”

I exchanged a disbelieving glance with Jamie who pulled a long doubtful face. However all we had to do was locate alongside one ship, receive the container then take it to the other ship. We wouldn't even be using the access ports or airlocks.

“Ours but to do or die, ours not to reason why.” Jamie softly intoned the famous lines from Tennyson’s Poem.

I shrugged resignedly. Jamie was right.

Two hours later, the convoy hove into sight and promptly started locating the volunteer ships at the right distance from old ‘Green-eye’ the asteroid.

The commander of the operation then asked me to put my craft alongside the cargo hatch of the passenger craft and as I did so, (very carefully,) the huge side cover opened and a large boom appeared. The intercom boomed advice.

“When the first volunteers are irradiated, we will extend the boom and place the container on your craft. All you have to do is transfer it across to the reception vessel and lay alongside their cargo hatch. While they are processing the first batch you bring an empty container back then it becomes a simple shuttle process.”

“Got you.” I confirmed. “How many volunteers are in each container?”

“About eighty, all standing.”

“Not much time then,” I observed, “limited air to breath and stuff.”

“There’s an oxygen bottle in each container. “Sufficient for three hours but we expect each transfer to only take an hour there and back.”

I did a quick calculation. Eighty people an hour and a thousand passengers on each big ship. Twelve to fifteen hours per passenger craft, - if everything went without a hitch.

I turned to Jamie who was reading my mind.

“Four ships, four thousand passengers; say four to five days if everything goes without a hitch.”

Simultaneously we uttered the identical remark.

“And nothing ever goes off without a hitch!”

“Well, we should have plenty of time. It’s still two weeks approximately before we get too close to Jupiter’s magnetosphere.”

Jamie maintained a deafening but knowing silence.

"Shurr'up!" I riposted nervously and the irony was not lost on her.

ooo000ooo.