7. Town Hall
Simpson glanced at his watch, a gift from the company for 10 years of service on the outer rim. The finish had long since worn away, but it worked and still had a bit of a shine to it in the right lighting - which was good enough for now, all things considered. Lydecker’s suggestion to tie attendance to forfeiture of shares had been a good one, but there were still far more empty seats than he expected. The science and medical teams he could understand, but there were notable absences from colonial administration, maintenance, and company affairs, which was worrisome. On top of that, docking pay on the rim could have dire consequences, if it was even legal. Simpson frowned and hoped it wouldn’t come to that. The last thing he needed was a riot. He cleared his throat.
“If you could all take your seats I’d like to get started.”
The idle chatter in the room died down.
“I know you’re all busy so I’ll get right to the point. Some of you may have heard about the discovery of a derelict ship of unknown origin by Anne and Russ Jorden a few days ago.”
He paused, reading the room before continuing.
“What you may not have heard is that Russ Jorden came back with some kind of parasite attached to his face. We tried to remove it but it started to cut off his airway in response. Eventually it let him go on its own accord. We found it lying next to him, dead.”
There was a stunned silence.
“A short time later Russ was up and talking. He had no recollection of the event and seemed fine. The medical team checked him out and he was cleared to return to light duty in the motor pool. The specimen was placed in stasis and the science team began its analysis. This is a creature unlike any we’ve encountered before. There’s no limit to what we can learn from it.”
“So where’s Russ now?” This from Tom Lewis, a Daihotai mechanic. “I worked the motor pool yesterday and he never showed. I figured he was off counting the credits from his big find. I ended up having to cover so I think I’m entitled to at least a partial share.”
There were scattered shouts of approval.
“Jorden sucks face with a parasite and we have to pick up the slack? I think we all deserve a slice of that find.”
The situation was beginning to deteriorate, and Simpson was losing his cool.
“Russ Jorden is dead,” Simpson said plainly.
Lydecker, who up until this point had been watching the Colony Operations Manager lose the room with a detached interest suddenly sat bolt upright. “Wait a minute Al, I thought…”
“The medical team found him a few nights ago in the service corridor leading to the garage. I’ll spare you the details but we believe that the parasite laid something inside his chest that, ah…” He wet his lips. “…Emerged violently from his chest cavity, killing him instantly. There was one witness but…well…we’re still talking to him but what he’s saying just…doesn’t make any sense.”
There was a beat and then it seemed that everyone began to shout at the same time. Simpson stood and slammed his fist on the table in front of him. Lydecker eyed him coolly.
“Here’s the situation. We need to find this thing, and fast. We don’t know what it is or what it’s capable of. We don’t even know what it looks like, nobody actually saw it. It may have escaped into the ventilation system, but we can’t be sure.” This was met with an uneasy silence.
“I’ll need some volunteers. Bonuses will be paid.”