"Jalaine" by Sally Catlin

Captain Marcos's arms were crossed as he gazed through the viewport into space. "Is everything prepared?"

"All systems on automatic," I reported.

"Ready to to open channel to Mission Control Earth," said Marcelle.

Pause.

Silence.

"Navigator! Report!"

Pause.

He turned around. "Where's Jalaine?"

"Not here, Captain," I offered helpfully.

He glared at me. "JALAINE!"

"Just a minute . . . " her voice filtered in from somewhere in the bowels of the orbiter.

Captain Marcos closed his eyes. I could feel him counting slowly to ten before he spoke. "Carl, go find out what is so important that she need not be here."

"Yessir." I maneuvered my way out of the cockpit and back through the ship. Living quarters were empty; so were the storage room and engine compartment. I found her in the launch bay, fiddling with one of the spare atmosphere probes. I tapped her on the shoulder.

She startled, flying up and hitting her head gently on the ceiling, then ricocheting toward the far wall. "Carl," she said as she pushed back off toward the probe. "Don't do that to people, man!"

"Captain wants you in the cockpit. Right before we leave orbit he's going to make his grand historic speech, remember? `And as the first terrans to reach this place leave Venusian orbit, we look back to the words of our foregoers in exploration-' "

"`One small speech for Marcos, one giant bore for Mankind'?" She wrinkled her nose at me. "Wouldn't miss it for all the worlds. Got something to take care of here first."

"What? Going to launch yourself back to Venus in a tiny unmanned capsule?"

"No." She grinned impishly and pulled a large something out from behind the probe. "Going to launch this."

"What . . . is that?" It was about the size of a beach ball and covered in insulating foam and I had never seen it before.

She looked at fondly. "A microbial stew. Sort of critters who adore hot, low-oxygen environments. Biologist friend prepared 'em for me-- snuck 'em in with my personals."

I gaped at her. "You're nuts!"

"'Course. Why else would I have volunteered to drive on the first trip out here?" She snapped the package into the experiment compartment on the probe. "There. Programmed it to release when it reaches the water-rich layers in mid-atmosphere. Hope the foam'll dissolve
and they'll all disperse over the planet and live happily ever after."

She shoved the probe into launch position and I helped her close the bay doors. "Captain's not going to like this."

Her eyes were sparkling. "He'll live," and she initiated launch.

"J A L A I N E !!"

"Ah, see? He's fine. Better head up there- don't want to miss the speech, yes?"

She glided into the cockpit just ahead of me, and Captain Marcos was waiting. "Jalaine. Something. just. launched. from. this. ship."

"Yessir! That's correct sir!" she replied cheerfully.

He'd been putting up with that from us the whole way out, and he broke, grabbing her upper arms and twisting her upside down so that he was yelling right into her face. "What was it? A farewell letter and some roses?"

"Nosir. Was 1.5 kilos of thermophilic anaerobic archaea."

The captain stared at her, caught off guard and lost for words. "That . . . that's .. . the damage . .. pristine environment . .. mission . .. publicity . . ."

"Oh, stuff it, Raul," she said to him, leaning against the ceiling. "You've been watching too many old Star Trek vids. There's no directive; no obligation not to interfere with other planets. My little present won't spread fast enough to interfere with your precious scientific mission in any of our lifetimes. But maybe in half a million years our grandchildren will come back home to find stepcousins living on a green garden next door.

"We didn't all come out here for duty," she nodded at me, "or disinterested scientific curiosity," Marcelle, "or because we needed room for our massive egotism." Captain Marcos shrank before that gaze. "Some of us are here for a dream. And dreams can't die."

In memory of Jalaine Mwale

2021-2083

"Where there's life there's love.

Spread the love."




You will be missed.