All Or Nothing (continued)

All Or Nothing, An Anunnaki Story

Chapter 5

"Is it connected now?" a voice said over the Comm.

  "Yes, I can see the connection," Tiamat answered.

  "Finally," the voice replied. Tiamat heard a sigh of relief.

  "Good work Ensign, Tiamat out," Tiamat said. She stared at the holographic monitor projected above the console where she was working.

  "How many more need set up?" she asked herself. She had lost track of the connections she made between the Tellus emergency medic systems and the Nibiru's system. It was necessary to have immediate access to a doctor in case of an emergency. The medics on Tellus could handle most things, but they were not doctors. The Comm links would let them consult with a doctor about their patients and share images of illness or injuries.

  Tiamat counted the links that appeared on the monitor. "Ten more to go," she said, then heaved a sigh. She wished she could fast-forward to the end.

  "It's time to stop," Apsu said, strolling through the door behind her.

  His sudden appearance made her jump. "You startled me," Tiamat said, glancing over her shoulder.

  "I am sorry," Apsu said apologetically. "But it's getting late, and your captain has an order for you."

  Tiamat turned, facing Apsu. "And, what is my Captain's order?" she asked.

  "Let the ones who have not yet connected know you will get to them tomorrow," Apsu said. "We are going home."

  Tiamat tapped the device on her wrist. "This is an announcement to all the med stations on Tellus," Tiamat began. "We will continue the setup of medical communications between Tellus and the Nibiru tomorrow. Tiamat out."

  In the Nibiru, it never gets dark, so Tiamat had not realized how late it was. She also did not appreciate how tired she was. She nearly fell asleep in the back of the taxi on the way home.

  "Did you eat?" Apsu asked as they entered their house.

  "When?" Tiamat asked.

  "That is a no," Apsu said.

  "I'm too tired to eat. I'm going to bed. And, you can not pull rank while we're home," Tiamat said, walking to the bedroom.

  "Technically, I could," Apsu said, following her.

  Tiamat shot him a stare that told him he better not.

  "But, I won't," Apsu said sheepishly.

  Tiamat went into the bedroom and dropped onto the bed face down.

  "Aren't you going to undress?" Apsu asked, following her into the bedroom.

  Tiamat let out a long, loud groan.

  "It's your choice, but you'll be more comfortable out of your work clothes," Apsu explained.

  "I know," Tiamat said indignantly. Her voice was muffled from talking into her pillow. . Grudgingly, she got up, undressed, then climbed into bed under the covers. She fell asleep instantly.

  Apsu got word early that the mining camps had reported in and were ready to mine. Pleased to be reporting positive news, he strode into the control room.  

  "Captain, Admiral Tolk would like you to contact him," Lieutenant Anshar said.

  "Thank you, Lieutenant. I'll be in my ready room," Apsu answered.

  In his ready room, Apsu took a seat behind his desk. The holographic computer monitor appeared automatically. "Contact Admiral Tolk," Apsu said to the computer.

  "Contacting Admiral Tolk," the computer replied.

  An image of Admiral Tolk appeared on the monitor.

  "Report Captain," the Admiral said.

  "Sir, all mining camps have reported they are ready to mine," Apsu said.

  "Good to hear," the Admiral replied. "I will arrive tomorrow to begin inspections of the camps."

  "Tomorrow, I imagined we would give them more time, sir," Apsu stated. "If they are ready to mine, they are ready for inspection," Tolk answered gruffly.

  "Yes, sir."

  “Tolk out.”

  Apsu sat back in his chair and let out a moan. "I was hoping to put that off," he said to himself. Apsu hated doing inspections. Being the one getting inspected was the only thing he hated more.

  A beep announced there was someone at the door of his ready room.

  "Enter," Apsu called to the person on the other side of the door.

  The door slid open, and Mummu entered.  

  "We are doing inspections tomorrow," Apsu announced.

  "Already?" Mummu asked.

  "Tolk's orders. He will be here tomorrow to begin the inspections."

  "He knows the miners are civilians, right?" Mummu asked.

  "Yes, but the camps also include military personnel," Apsu explained.

  "I'll be holding down the fort while you're gone, right?" Mummu asked, hopefully.

  "I'd like to say no," Apsu said, "but I need you here in case of emergency."

  "Yes," Mummu said, doing a double fist pump.

  "You've got Conn. I'm going home to pack," Apsu said, leaving the room.

  Mummu moved around the desk and sat down. "That's the reason I never want to be a Captain," Mummu said to himself as he leaned back in the chair.  

  Apsu had no sooner left the control room when Lieutenant Anshar contacted Mummu on the comm.

  "Commander, we are being hailed," the Lieutenant said.

  Mummu hurried out into the control room. "Where is the hail coming from?" Mummu asked.

  "From Tellus," she replied quizzically.

  "On screen," Mummu directed.

  The screen lit up, and an angry-looking man with brown hair, black eyes, and blue skin appeared.

  "What business have you here?" The man was speaking, but his lips did not match the words Mummu heard.

  A translator, Mummu thought. "I am Commander Mummu," he began but was immediately cut off mid-sentence.

  "I do not care who you are. What are you doing here?" Again the blue-skinned man's mouth was not matching the words Mummu heard. It was like watching a dubbed movie.

  "We are on a peaceful mission to gather gold and take it back to our planet," Mummu explained.

  "This is our planet," the blue-skinned man said. "Leave."

  "What is your claim on this planet?" Mummu asked. "We were told there were no native inhabitants."

  "I am Kuru prince of Kaurava. I was here first. That is my claim," Kuru replied. "Now, leave."

  "I'm afraid we can't do that," Mummu countered. "Without the gold we came for, our planet will die. Can't we come to an agreement?"

  "What kind of agreement do you offer?" Kuru asked. His expression softened slightly.

  "Perhaps we could share some of the gold we mine?" Mummu offered.

  "Perhaps," Kuru said. "I will require one-half of all the gold you mine to allow you to stay."

  "One-half, that's robbery," Mummu replied, his voice rising in anger. "The Admiral will never agree to that."

  "Are you saying you do not have the authority to make this agreement?" Kuru asked. His tone was condescending.

  "Well, no," Mummu said, feeling out of his league. "But the Admiral, who will be here tomorrow, does have the authority."

  "You are of no consequence to me. I demand an audience with this Admiral," Kuru demanded.

  "I will tell him right away," Mummu offered.

  "I will not wait past one day," Kuru said haughtily.

  The screen went blank.

  "Lieutenant, contact Admiral Tolk," Mummu ordered, as he marched toward the ready room seething with anger. "Tell him I need a word."

  In the ready room, Mummu sat down, the computer appeared, and he waited for the Admiral to come online. When the Admiral appeared on the holographic screen, Mummu said, "Did you know they were here?"

  The Admiral looked taken aback. "What are you talking about? Did I know who was there?"

  "Are you going to deny knowing this planet was occupied?" Mummu asked, angrily.

  "Commander, remember whom you are talking to," Tolk replied.

  "A blue-skinned alien calling himself Prince Kuru just told us to leave," Mummu said, taking control of his anger.

  "Did you tell him we can't do that?" Tolk asked matter-of-factly.

  "Yes, I did," Mummu replied. "I asked if we could come to an agreement."

  "And," Tolk said.

  "He demanded to talk to you as soon as you get here," Mummu explained.

  "Then, I guess we better not keep Prince Kuru waiting," Tolk said. "Tolk out."

  "Computer off," Mummu said. He stood and paced back and forth beside the desk. "There is no way he did not know they were here," Mummu said to himself. Mummu walked out to the control room.

  "Lieutenant, you have Conn," Mummu said, "Contact me if anything happens."

  "Like what, sir?" the Lieutenant asked.

  "Anything involving people with blue-skin, or the Admiral," Mummu answered.

  "Yes, sir," the Lieutenant said.

All Or Nothing, An Anunnaki Story

Chapter 6

Mummu rushed out of the building and hailed a taxi. He wanted to talk to Apsu, and he couldn’t wait. When the taxi reached Apsu’s house, Mummu paid for the taxi, then rushed to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited for Apsu to respond. Apsu’s picture appeared on a monitor in the door frame above the button.

“Mummu,” Apsu said quizzically. “What happened?”

“Can I come in?” Mummu asked.

“Oh, sure,” Apsu answered. The door unlocked, slid open, and Mummu stepped in.

“Apsu, it’s terrible,” Mummu began. ‘There’s another race of beings on Tellus, and they’re not happy that we’re here.

“Wait, what?” Apsu asked.

“Right after you left, we got a hail,” Mummu said. He was talking fast. “It was a blue-skinned man who called himself Prince Kuru. He demanded we leave. I explained our situation and asked if we could come to an agreement. He wants half of the gold we mine. I told him the admiral would not agree. Now he wants to talk to Tolk.”

“Blue-skinned man?” Apsu asked, surprised. “How long have they been there?”

“I don’t know,” Mummu replied. “Something’s not right.”

“Did you tell Tolk?”

“Yes, I did,” Mummu answered. “And he wasn’t happy with the way I told him.”

“What did you do?” Apsu asked knowingly.

“I’ve lost my temper a little,” Mummu reacted sheepishly.

Apsu chuckled. “I wish I could have seen that.”

Mummu grinned. “Do you think Tolk knew they were here?”

“It depends on how many beings there are,” Apsu said. “They could easily miss one small ship. I will reserve judgment until we know how many and how large the ship or ships are.”

“Tolk will talk to Kuru tomorrow, immediately after he gets here.”

“OK, we’ll find out the situation then.”

“I have a bad feeling about it,” Mummu said disquieted.

“It could simply be a minor bump on the road,” Apsu said consolingly.

“I hope so,” Mummu said, moving towards the door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“OK, have a good night.” Apsu was more concerned than he let on. This could turn nasty quickly, he thought.

Apsu and Mummu stood waiting for the Admiral to arrive in the control room. To ensure he and Mummu were both there, Tolk messaged them in advance to let them know when he was going to arrive. Apsu had butterflies in his stomach. He hoped this conversation with Prince Kuru would go smoothly. The elevator door slid open, and Admiral Tolk strolled into the control room looking more confident than Apsu felt.

“Admiral, in the control room,” Mummu said. Everyone stopped what they were doing, stood up, and saluted the Admiral.

“As you were,” Tolk said. “Now let’s get Prince Kuru on the screen and find out what kind of deal we can make with him.”

“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Anshar said.

Within seconds, Prince Kuru’s image appeared on the screen.

“Prince Kuru, I am Admiral Tolk. I’ve been told you want to speak to me, “Tolk said.

“Yes, your underling said I must talk to you,” Prince Kuru began. A translator spoke his words again and made his mouth look out of sync with the sound. “This planet is ours. We have been here for some time. If you want to stay, we have to come to an agreement.”

“Commander Mummu told me you want half of all the gold we mine,” Tolk said.

“That is correct,” Prince Kuru replied via the translator.

“We simply cannot agree with that. We’re on a time-sensitive mission,” Tolk replied. “A fourth would be easier to comply with.”

“One third and no less, or you leave my planet now!” Prince Kuru’s face flushed with his outburst, a dark, almost navy blue.

Tolk raised his hand to his chin and stroked it with his index finger and thumb. “OK, we have an agreement. Radio the coordinates where you want the gold to be delivered. We will let you know when we have a shipment ready,” the Admiral replied.

“See that you do,” Prince Kuru said sternly. The screen went blank.

“This went much easier than I expected,” Mummu said.

“We can’t leave without the gold,” Tolk said. “This is a do-or-die situation

“Yes, sir,” Apsu said.

“Now let’s start those inspections,” Tolk said to Apsu.

Apsu gave Mummu a pained expression. “You have the conn,” he said to Mummu solemnly.

Mummu grinned. “Yes, sir.”

Tiamat just finished the last medical connection with Tellus when her universal device began beeping and blinking. She raised her wrist near her mouth. “Tiamat here.”

“We’re leaving to start the inspections,” Apsu’s voice came across the comm channel. “Let me know if something happens and you need me, ANYTHING,” Apsu said, stressing the last word.

“If I can find a reason to pull you away from the inspections, I will,” she promised. “Unfortunately for you, I think I can handle everything here.”

“I love you. Talk to you soon,” Apsu said.

“I love you too. Try to enjoy yourself a little.”

“During inspections?”

“There has to be some downtime.”

“OK, I’ll try. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Tiamat heard a beeping sound, and a light on the connection console started flashing. It was from med.-station 8. She stepped to the connection console and tapped the holographic monitor to answer the call.

“Nibiru Medical bay,” Tiamat said.

“Can I speak to the Chief Medical Officer? We have a strange situation down here,”

“This is Chief Medical Officer Tiamat. What’s the situation?”

“Our group is allergic to something here. We do not have enough medical supplies to treat the number of cases we have. Almost half of our group has broken out with a rash, blisters, and itching. We need some supplies sent down,” the medic at the other end said.

“I’ll bring the supplies myself. I would like to investigate this,” Tiamat answered.

“Thank you, med.-station 8 out.”

“Nibiru out.”

A rash, blisters, itching, and a mystery cause, Tiamat puzzled. “This is a job for me,” she said to herself. She loved a challenging medical mystery, and a mystery allergen would be a fine one. Tiamat took a small handheld molecular spectrometer from the closet, put it in the pocket of her lab coat, then notified the shuttle bay she needed a shuttle and a pilot. Some orderlies helped her take the medical supplies to the shuttle bay. The pilot was standing by the shuttle, waiting for them when they arrived with the medical supplies. The pilot helped them load the supplies into the shuttle, then the two of them took off for Tellus.

The medic who called and several of their medical team were waiting at the landing site when they arrived. They unloaded the supplies and took them to the medical tent. Tiamat went into the tent with the others. She put on some medical gloves and walked over to a patient.

“May I examine your arm?” Tiamat asked the man.

“Sure.” the man said, raising his arm.

Tiamat took his arm in her hands and examined the rash closely.

“This looks like you brushed up against something you were allergic to. I need to know where you have been. I need to identify this allergen.”

“I haven’t been many places. Only here in the camp and the stream where we dredge for gold.”

“Okay, hopefully, that will make identifying the allergen fairly easy,” Tiamat said hopefully.

Tiamat went outside to look around. The camp was in a field, and they mowed all the grass in that area, so there would be no clues here. She noticed where they cleared a path leading away from camp. She took the molecular spectrometer from her pocket and started scanning the plant life along the path. It wasn’t long before she found a small plant with three leaves that gave her the reading on the spectrometer she was looking for.

“There you are,” she said to herself. She took a picture of the plant with her universal device and carefully picked one of the offending plants to return to the camp.

Entering the medical tent, she placed the plant on a counter near the entrance.

“Is that it?” the medic asked.

“That’s it, and there’s a lot along the path to the stream,” Tiamat replied, removing her gloves and tossing them into the trash. “I took a picture. Make sure everyone knows what it looks like, so they can avoid it.” Tiamat shared the picture file from her device to the medic’s universal device.

“Yes, ma’am, gladly.”

“I will forward the picture to all the camps, so everyone knows about it. Hopefully, we won’t have any more breakouts like this one.” Tiamat said. “Is there anything else you need before I leave?”

“No, ma’am. Thank you so much for the help.”

“It’s what I do,” she said with a smile. If only all emergencies were this simple, she thought, walking back to the shuttle.

Being acting captain until Apsu returned meant Mummu had to take care of the daily chores of keeping the Nibiru running smoothly. Most of it was “paperwork”. Of course, there was no paper because everything was digital, but it amounted to the same thing. Forms came in, Mummu read them, signed them electronically, then sent them back out. Rarely was he needed in the control room. Another reason not to be the Captain, Mummu surmised.

Being the Commander was what Mummu enjoyed. He had much less paperwork to deal with and spent most of his time in the control room having idle conversations with the crew. Mummu enjoyed getting to know those he worked alongside. Commanding the Nibiru was a tremendous job. The Nibiru was a moon-sized space station, which in reality, compared to running an immense country.

Of course, it wasn’t as extensive on the inside as you might expect. The material making up the hull was strong. It had to hold up against being bombarded by meteors and other space debris. They covered the surface with regolith and igneous rocks to help absorb the effects of the meteors colliding with the Nibiru. A well-put-together machine hidden in plain sight.

Mummu sat back in his chair and stretched. His muscles were getting stiff from sitting so long. Deciding it was time to take a break and stretch his legs, he stood up and went out into the control room. “Anything to report?” he asked.

“No, sir, all’s quiet,” Lieutenant Anshar reported.

“You have the Conn Lieutenant Anshar,” Mummu said. “Let me know if I’m needed.”

“Yes,

sir.”

Mummu took the elevator down to the basement where the cafeteria was. He ordered a black coffee and a plain muffin, then sat down at the closest table to relax for a while. Suddenly, Tiamat sat across the table from him.

Startled, he looked up and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“Nice to see you too,” Tiamat replied. “Your cafeteria is better than ours, so I come here on my breaks.”

“We do have an excellent cafeteria,” Mummu agreed. “Any word from Apsu?”

“He’s miserable.”

“Expected. Any news from the camps?”

“Med.-station 8 reported an allergic reaction to one of the native flora. Half the camp broke out in a rash, itching, and blisters. They didn’t have enough medication for all the people, so I took some down for them.”

“Why didn’t you just send someone down?”

“Because it’s a new planet because I’m the Chief Medical Officer, and I wanted to go.”

Mummu laughed. “Tiamat to the rescue?”

“As always,” Tiamat said with a wide grin.

“My hero,” Mummu said affectionately.

Tiamat smiled.

Mummu knew how much Tiamat enjoyed playing the hero. Any time she could swoop in and rescue someone from any situation, she would do it.

“I wonder what Apsu’s doing right now,” Tiamat wondered.

(To Be Continued)

Read chapters 7 and 8 here:

https://vocal.media/fiction/all-or-nothing-continued