The Final Weeks of Interplanetary Cargo Ship Deo

The interior of The Deo was not impressive. Her monitors were outdated, her wall panels were bulky, and the once gleaming white surfaces had been stained to a dingy cream color from decades of human use.

But, according to the Gaian monopoly that owned the vessel, she was sturdy, reliable, and cheap. The ship’s AI ensured that only 12 crew members were needed to maintain the massive blocky ship.

12 underpaid and overworked earth rats. Thought Gill as they pressed their palm to access their workstation.

The beam of light tickled their hand slightly before three red lights blinked into focus. Gill rolled their eyes as they said in unison with the calm feminine voice of the vessel’s artificial intelligence: “Access Denied,” before adding a sardonic. “Yeah yeah, I know.”

This was Gill’s first voyage, but after 6 weeks on the Deo…some things were becoming annoyingly common.

“Not letting you in?” Asked a friendly voice behind them.

“Obviously not,” Gill muttered.

“Can I give it a shot?”

Gill stepped back to allow the much taller man to step forward and press his hand to the scanner.

“This happens sometimes. Mendez had this exact problem at the beginning of his shift.” Said the man. “There’s a trick to it - see?”

Three green lights flickered, and a hydraulic hiss accompanied the sound of the door sliding open.

Gill slipped passed them with a nod. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, no pro - whoah.”

Annoyance cracked through the exhaustion. Plates and bowls were stacked on their desk from late nights when dining in the cafeteria wasn’t an option. Their coffee station was stained, and many open mugs covered the surfaces.

“Umm…” Began Rae uncertainly, his eyes drifting over the various grimy detritus-covered surfaces. “You good, bud?”

“Long shifts, lately.” Replied Gill, picking up a clean cup and setting it in the coffee dispenser.

“Because of the - “

“Yes.” Gill cut him off sharply and took a sip of their iced coffee.

“That’s supposed to have a cover. Open liquids are a hazard -”

“I know.” Replied Gill shortly. “But the ships got grav back-ups, right?”

“...riiight. Until those fail…” Said Rae, scratching the top of his balding head before sliding into a chair at an adjacent desk and spinning lightly.

“If our systems and backup systems fail, we have bigger problems than coffee floating through the air.” They eyed him suspiciously. “You gonna rat me out for wanting to drink my coffee out of a cup? If it’s not allowed, why’d they supply them?”

Rae shrugged. “I won't report you.” He clicked his thermos open, took a drink, and closed it again. Then he cleared his throat. “Can I ask you a question?”

As Gill typed their password into their screen, their eyes narrowed and they grunted in response. The lime green lettering on their black screen reflected in their brown eyes.

ACCESS GRANTED.

They began clicking through the cameras in Cargo.

In cargo bay four, a woman carefully recorded stats from one of the containers. In cargo bay five, a man of slight build was taking a break and drinking out of a thermos. In cargo bay two, a large tall man checked to ensure that some customers’ mini-pods were mechanically secured. Gill was reminded of the bright gleaming ad on the e-pamphlet uploaded to their comms at the application office.

OUR DILIGENT CARGO MASTERS MONITOR YOUR PRECIOUS ITEMS, AND CHECK FOR CONTAMINATION TO ENSURE THAT YOUR SHIP REMAINS SAFE. NO UNCOMFORTABLE QUESTIONS. NO EXTRA PAPERWORK. BECAUSE AT HARKER LLC, WE BELIEVE IN A CLIENT’S RIGHT TO PRIVACY.

Gill wasn’t qualified to work directly with cargo. Instead, they were a glorified secretary and middle manager. Emailing clients with cargo stats, answering questions, and updating people with delays. It was boring, low-paying menial work - but it was making a dent in Gill’s debt. Their official title was “Communication Officer” but the title was meaningless. Every onboard decision was made by Corporate.

They clicked back through the cameras…one was down. Cargo bay three.

“Why is it always cargo bay three?”

“Oh yeah,” said Rae. “I already emailed Lethabo.”

“Oh, thanks.” They closed out of the email they had already begun typing and clicked on their “internals” tab. They scanned the day’s earlier submissions. Another sigh.

“So why do they call you Gill, anyway?” Rae asked brightly, collecting dirty plates, bowls, and clubs scattered about Gill’s workstation.

Umm…one sec.” They clicked their mic on. “Mendez, this is Gill. I don’t have your mid-shift reports.”

“Whaaaat?” Rae almost dropped one of the plates. “I swear I got everyone’s mid-shifts before calling it.”

“Well, I don’t have anything from Mendez.” Replied Gill shortly. “What did you ask?”

“Why do they call you Gill?”

“Oh.” They pulled their eyes away from the computer to look at the man, searching him. He was older than them but had one of those puppy-dog faces that didn’t seem to age. His expression was childlike curiosity. He wasn’t being an asshole. “I worked on a sub-station. Some guys found out my first week, so it just stuck.”

“Oh, cool, cool.” He picked up something small from their desk. “Oh, wow. That’s a bad sign.”

“What?”

“Somehow, a fly got in here.” He replied, holding up the dead little thing by its wings. “Be sure to check in with Tina. I’ll head down to sanitary management and tell them to keep on the lookout.”

They turned away from him as something between irritation and shame licked at Gill’s insides. Of course, there was a dead fly in their office. Then an idea came to them. “Aren’t you tired?” They asked pointedly.

“You’re the one who’s been taking on all the extra shifts.” Rae pointed out, and Gill saw him lick his lips nervously in the reflection of their monitor. “I could take some off you, you know.”

“No.” Said Gill shortly.

There was an awkward silence. Rae seemed to be considering his words carefully. Gill focused on their work.

“It wasn’t your fault.” He said with an infuriating note of pity in his voice. “It’s not the first time someone’s gone missing on this ship."

Gill did not want to talk about this.

The ship should have been turned around and returned to earth. But corporate had made it clear; a full investigation would be launched when they reached Mars. Delays were not acceptable.

“I just need the money.”

“Ah, well, that I get.” Rae suddenly gave them a wide grin. “Like I tell everyone - you can do anything; ya just need the right motivation.”

Gill didn’t answer. They weren’t sure what he wanted them to say. Finally, Rae slapped his thighs and stood. “Take it easy today. Don’t work extra hours. Eat with the team tonight. We’ll exchange stories and talk shit about the dumb-ass corpos from Gaia.”

His smile was so wide they couldn’t help but return it. “Fine.” They said. “Two hours.”

Rae grabbed the stacks of dirty dishes and left.

Gill swiveled back in their chair and responded to a few E’s from concerned customers. Nitpicky bullshit. Their fingers flew across the keys, sending the usual ass-kissing that corpos seemed to love. Then they clicked back to their reports before grabbing the comm mic again.

“Yo, Mendez. Where’s my report?”

A pause, then. “Mendez isn’t online.” Came a woman’s voice.

“Where the hell is he?"

Gill panned over to the camera in bay four. Yup, it was Tina.

Tina leaned over the comm, resting her head on her forearm as she spoke. “Well, he ain’t here. Listen, Gill, some of the vitals were going nuts on the bio-cargo today. I ain’t got time to hunt down Mendez every time he wants to get high in one of the containers.”

“Yeah, there was a dead fly in my office.”

“Mierda,” hissed Tina.

Gill scowled. “What am I supposed to do when the Corpo’s start blowing up my E’s with hate spam?”

“Listen, dude, I’ve got enough on my plate. It’s not my problem.” The woman lifted her finger from the button. Then Gill watched as Tina took a half step away before her shoulders slackened, and she turend to press the button again. “Look, I can access Mendez’s reports and send them your way. He reset his password this morning, but pinche pendejo just said that shit out loud. So liiiike…fuck safety, I guess.”

“Tina, I’m in love with you. Marry me?” Gill trilled into the com.

“Get in line.” Tina pulled her finger from the button and trudged to the cargo bay’s computer stations.

Moments later, Gill watched as the document appeared on their screen and swore loudly. They grabbed their mic and switched the settings so the whole ship could hear their following announcement. “Mendez, you dumbass. Whenever you get back from getting high in your pod, you best believe you’re gonna explain to Rae and me why you didn’t finish your stats.”

Two crew members passing by let out “oooooohs” from outside Gill’s pod, and they grinned to themself before reviewing the report properly.

The process was a simple one. Parameters were assigned to each containment pod based on its cargo. An algorithm was in place to automatically highlight when container pods oxygen, radiation, or temperature levels were extended beyond their assigned parameters. The thousands of containers were split amongst 7 cargo monitors….well four, now.

An uneasy feeling crept over Gill.

Three now?

Don't.

A few had left before leaving Gaia. But then…Alexandria…

Their eyes drifted through the report. It indicated that 27 of Mendez’s assigned pods had shown some error. This was higher than usual. Mendez had reviewed 26 of them.

The last was…

No.

Gill swiveled in their chair and grabbed the mic again, this time with a slight edge of panic to their voice.

“Tina?” They flipped through the cameras at each station. “Yo, Tina? Andrei? Minato? Anybody there?”

A voice crackled over her speaker. Andrei’s thick accent came. “What is wrong, little fish?”

Gill didn’t have time to be offended. “Camera in bay three is down. Mendez isn’t reporting.”

“So, little fish?” Replied the voice dryly.

“So, Mendez was assigned to bay three today.”

“Rahat.” Spat the voice through the comm. “I am heading that way now.”

“No, wait. Find Minato or Tina. Don’t go on your own.”

“I am not a fool.” Replied the voice dryly.

Gill began furiously clicking through cameras. They stared at the white static of bay 3’s screen. “Broken ass ship.” They said, pounding their hand on the screen.

As if on cue, one of the UVs overhead flickered out. Piece of crap.

They took a deep breath before grabbing their microphone again. “Lethabo, I need you to get the camera in bay three up.”

"What is that? Bay three is down again? Why is it always bay three? What are they doing to that camera?”

“Mendez is missing, Leth. I need that camera back up.”

“My name is Lethabo. Not Leth. Not Letho. Lethabo.” A pause as he began typing rapidly. “Okay, I am doing this now. Do not let anyone go to bay three before the camera is back up.”

They had already turned on their mic, so everyone in the cargo heard his voice.

“That Leth?” Came Tina’s voice. “What’s up, Gill?”

Another voice came over the speaker, accompanied by terrible feedback. Gill swore and quickly turned off their speaker. “Okay, switch to remote comms. I need to talk to all of you at once.”

Moments later, remote comms were activated, and voices poured into Gill’s ears.

Loudest of all was the cool, calm voice of the ship's artificial intelligence:

ALL REMOTE CONVERSATIONS ARE RECORDED FOR TRAINING PURPOSES. ANY INAPPROPRIATE CONDUCT OR LANGUAGE MAY BE GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION UPON ARRIVAL AT THE NEXT PLANETARY OR LUNAR PORT. PLEASE NOTE THAT HARKER LLC IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TRAVEL ACCOMMODATIONS UPON DISMISSAL.

After the recording, Lethabo quickly jumped in to speak. “Okay. No one is to go to cargo bay three, okay? Cameras need to be rebooted. Do not be stupid.”

“Got it.” Said Tina shortly. “Okay, when was the last time everyone saw Mendez? Minato?”

Minato paused before his soft voice said simply, “Mendez and I separated after starting our shift.”

“Dumbass didn’t say anything to you about going off or slacking off today?” Asked Tina.

“Esteban is aware that I do not take such actions lightly. Such an act would be shameful to our superiors.”

Andrei clicked his tongue. “You say this, Minato. But we all know you keep Sake in your thermos for extra long shifts.”

“How dare you.”

While they bickered, Gill’s eyes scanned each camera. They switched to viewing the airlocks…but all were empty. They typed a quick message to Rae, requesting him to check Mendez’s room. Panic was rising in their throat.

“How we looking on that camera, Lethabo?”

“There is some kind of interference. Nothing can be done.” He said simply.

“Okay…” They swiveled in their chair, rubbing their forehead.

The whole situation was too familiar.

“Cargo team, do you all have your bodycams?”

“I got mine.” Said, Tina. “Don’t know what to say about these two clowns.”

“It is standard regulation to equip a bodycam at the start of your shift.” Minato quoted the handbook dutifully.

“Good, we all have our cameras. We can now go to cargo bay three and drag that fool out.” Replied Andrei irritably.

“Leth?”

Silence.

“Lethabo?”

“I have accessed the engineer’s system and am communicating with them now. They state that all temperatures, radiation levels, and air quality are correct.”

“What's even in there, anyway?” Tina asked.

Three new camera feeds appeared on Gill’s screens. They could see Minato, Andrei, and Tina facing one another. They watched as Tina pressed her comm mic closer to her mouth.

“Yo, Gill?”

“One sec.” Gill clicked back to the cargo roster. Each bay contained similar cargo. This made it easier to track. Cargo bay three was especially easy. The entire bay had been rented by the same company. “Soil samples from the earth. Part of some real-estate monopoly’s terraforming project. Delivery to Whitby Corp on Mars.”

“You tellin me Esteban and Alexandria -”

Gill’s eyes flicked to Tina’s camera just in time to see the sizeable blonde man spit over his right shoulder.

“That’s fucking GROSS.” Tina’s disgusted voice came.

“Do not speak the name of the dead while aboard a ship,” Andrei said with a shrug.

“Perhaps Mendez noticed the cameras were down and is hiding there,” Minato suggested politely. Adding to his hint, Minato jerked his head to indicate they should start walking.

Their cameras weren't great. Like all of the tech on the Deo, they were outdated. The grainy image of the vast hall and large doors that separated each cargo bay came into focus just as they were passing them. Then, finally, they came to cargo bay three.

“Huh.” Said Tina as their camera picked up the number pad.

It was a highly outdated system - manually inputting numbers with no bio-scanning. The number pad was flashing with the words:

PASSWORD RESET SUCCESSFUL.

“If Mendez reset it, it's probably the same password.” Tina reasoned.

Her reasoning was good. The light flashed green. The cargo bay’s doors slowly rose…

The interior of the cargo bay was unnaturally dark. Radiation levels for this bay were supposed to be set as low as possible - and UV lights weren’t allowed.

The room was full of steel containers. Each was about three feet wide, six feet long, and three feet tall. Like all Harker containers, they were stackable…but these were not stacked. And therefore, they could be seen clearly, the black screens flashing with green text…

Except for one in the middle.

“Do you all see that?” Asked Gill. It was so clear. A red patch in a sea of green. One of the vitals was off.

“What did you say these were?” Asked Andrei. Something in his voice was off.

“Soil samples for terraforming Mars.

“How many?” Asked Andrei, taking a step back away from the door.

“Umm, I’m not sure. Can one of you check the vitals on that one?”

Gill could see Andrei’s expression in Tina’s camera. It was one of dawning terror.

“What is it now, Andrei?” Tina asked irritably.

Andrei shook his head and crossed himself. "I will not go in."

Tina raised her eyebrows. “You never struck me as the religious type. Guess it's just me and you, Minato.” She rolled her eyes and stepped into the room.

As they moved closer to the box, their cameras began flickering.

“Lethabo?”

“I see. Strange. I cannot determine what is causing this interference.”

The two cameras flickered out, leaving Andrei as Gill’s only view into the room. He stood in the doorway, and Gill could hear his heavy breath. They watched as Tina and Minato became figures illuminated strangely in the one or two harsh LEDs.

“Yo, this is weird.” Said, Tina. “Someone opened this bad boy.”

Minato began moving around the room. “I will check the others for signs of disturbance.”

As he did so, Tina checked the vitals on the screen. She nodded to herself before attempting to push it shut. “Jesus Christ, this is heavy.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Andrei, gimme a hand.”

"This is a bad idea." Said Lethabo quickly. "Andrei has the only working camera."

“Fine. Minato?”

A message pinged on Gill’s comms. It was Rae.

“Mendez isn’t in his room. What’s up?”

Gill didn’t respond. They turned their gaze back to the shadowy image of Minato and Tina in the cargo bay.

“Minato, you deaf? Get over here.”

But something was wrong.

Gill's eyes moved across the screen to see that Minato was frozen, staring at something on the ground next to one of the containers. After a few more calls and prods from Tina, Minato slowly backed away, shaking his head. From Andrei's perspective, it was impossible to see what Minato was staring at.

Then, the man suddenly stumbled backward, fell to his knees, and began vomiting violently.

“What the hell?” Said Tina, quickly walking over to him. “Lethabo, anything in the room?”

Lethabo’s voice answered, shocked. “No, no, all systems indicate levels are within the safe range. No hazardous materials detected.”

Tina gingerly stepped around the vomit and placed her hand on Minato’s shoulder. He wretched for a moment longer.

“What’s going on?” Tina asked.

And then…with one shaking hand…he pointed at the spot he’d been staring at. Inexplicable dread licked at Gill’s insides. They grabbed the mic. “Tina, just get Minato out of there.”

“Hold on!” Snapped Tina and took a few steps toward where Mintao had pointed. She froze and stared at the spot. There was terrible silence except for the sound of Minato’s rasping coughs.

“What is it?”

Tina said something incomprehensible.

“Tina? Tina, what do you see- Andrei, will you shut up?”

For Andrei had begun speaking in soft, rapid Romanian. His hands kept moving in front of the camera as he crossed himself repeatedly.

Without a word, Tina grabbed Minato and dragged him out of the container.

“God damn it, we’ve got a problem” She announced once outside of the room. She slammed the lock button and the door began to lower slowly. “Lethabo, Gill - get your asses down to the entrance to the cargo area. We’re locking this bay down, customer be damned.”

Moments later, they were assembled. Lethabo, tall and dark, rapidly tapped a bulky tablet. Minato's whole body was shaking as he pressed a napkin to the back of his neck. Andrei stood near him, quietly praying. Tina was pacing like a caged animal. Gill watched all of them from the side, their arms folded.

“So…? What did you see?”

Tina held up a hand and continued pacing.

Lethabo continued tapping his screen. “Engineering states that they will have the cameras back online shortly. I have searched for any flaws within the ship's algorithms. I have found no explanation for the interference we have been experiencing. I do not see how this can be happening.”

“The system being down is the least of our problems.” Snapped Tina. “Mendez was down there.”

Silence met these words…then a sob broke it. Minato had his face buried in his hands. Andrei finally ceased his muttering and hand gestures. He withdrew his thermos, took a large swig, and then squatted next to Minato to offer it to him.

“Drink, friend. We shall need strength for what is to come.”

Gill watched as Minato took a sip of whatever was in the thermos and gagged.

“He’s dead?”

“Yeah.” Said Tina, pacing. “And whoever did it had a real fucking bone to pick with him. They didn’t just kill him…”

Minato drank again, coughed, and steadied himself. “Some kind of animal…” He said shakily. “A beast.”

“What’s the protocol here?” Gill said, searching their colleagues' faces desperately. “Surely we’ve got a protocol for stuff like this? How to dispose of the body? Containment of biohazardous materials or something like that?”

“Can you get Rae on private comms?” Asked Tina with a frown.

“Sure. But isn’t there a rank system or something? For emergencies?” Gill looked between them desperately.

Lethabo frowned at them. “There is no captain. We each work our stations and report directly to corporate. You know this."

Another electronic brochure momentarily flashed into their mind.

TIRED OF PUSHY MANAGEMENT? AT HARKER LLC, WE BELIEVE THAT BEING YOUR BOSS MAKES FOR BETTER WORKERS.

“I’ll contact Corporate."

“Gill, this is the second time something’s happened to someone on your shift. They’ll just can you.” Tina snapped her fingers impatiently. “Get Rae on comms and get him down here, now.”

Gill didn’t argue. Their stomach twisted uncomfortably as they called a bewildered Rae and insisted that he join them at the cargo bay, alone.

Moments later, Rae was jogging through the door, a nervous expression on his face.

“What’s up?” He asked, his eyes taking in the strange scene.

“Mendez is dead. We’ve got to contact Corporate.”

Rae blinked, looked at each of their faces in turn…and then nodded. “Can I use one of ya’lls computers?” He asked.

Tina sat down at her computer and typed something. Her fist slammed onto the table suddenly, causing Minato to jump terribly.

“What is your problem?” Asked Andrei fiercely.

“The shitty system is broken again.” It’s asking me to reset my damn password. AGAIN.”

Rae placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “May I?” He asked.

“Do you know my password?”

“No.” He said honestly. “But I’ve been doing this long enough to know how to bypass the passwords. I just need your permission.”

“You should not be doing that.” Snapped Lethabo.

Rae ignored him. “Do I have your permission, Tina?”

“Don’t.” Said Andrei, suddenly.

“What? Why?”

“I - well - he has his own computer, no? Let him use that.”

“We don’t have time for you to be a dick, Andrei.” Snapped Tina, pulling back the chair for Rae. “Fucking, whatever, dude. Send the E to corporate."

Rae sat for a few moments and typed.. He absentmindedly picked something small off of Tina’s desk and threw it into his mouth. Gill was the only person who noticed. He caught their eye and winked. The ship hummed and beeped, magnifying the silence that fell between them

Just like that, the report was filed.

The Corpos responded within 30 minutes.

“LOCKDOWN CARGO BAY THREE. MAKE PORT AT GANYMEDE. DO NOT DISCLOSE INFORMATION TO THE CREW. ALL INVOLVED PARTIES WILL REPORT ONLY TO WORKSTATIONS AND QUARTERS.

“Well shit.” Tina shoved her hands in her pockets. "Guess that's orders."

Those were the last words Gill heard from Tina.

Morale amongst the crew worsened over the following weeks as crew members went missing with increasing frequency. Superstitious mutterings took hold. Gill took it upon themself to file reports daily with Corporate. They got no response.

Minato failed his psychosocial evaluation…he was removed from service. He stopped joining them in the mess hall. Andrei’s panicked voice came over comms two days later, requesting a medic to Minato’s room, but it was too late.

Andrei abandoned his post after that. People were dropping like flies. It was happening too quickly.

Twelve...six...three...

One week from Gannymeade, Gill awoke in their pod…and instead of going to their workstation…they went to Rae’s quarters.

“Rae, you in there?”

But there was no answer.

“Rae…I don’t know how much longer I can do this man. We gotta figure something out.”

Still no answer.

Lethabo stopped answering the day before. Now Rae was gone. It was too much. Gill wandered down to the psych ward and stole the emergency room codes. Somehow, they felt that their friend had an answer for them.

Rae’s door opened with a hydraulic hiss…and a stench unlike anything Gill had ever known washed over them.

The room was filthy. Worse than Gill’s. Detritus littered the floor, along with broken plates and…bones. Gill covered their mouth with their arm and knelt to examine the small animal bones that littered the floor…along with signs of human waste.

They backed out of the room suddenly and ran back to their pod.

The next few days passed like a fever dream. The halls of the ship seemed to be growing progressively darker, and they realized upon waking one day that every UV light had been broken.

Gill did not remember contacting Corporate, but when they logged into their computer, they saw they had. An email titled “all cargo levels normal, ignore previous correspondence.”

After that, they spent hours clicking through the different camera views, staring at the empty halls before eventually finding themselves staring at an airlock. Their comm chimed at them.

“Andrei?” They asked apathetically, “What are you doing in that airlock?”

“I will not die to it, Gill.” The man said, his voice shaking. “It will not take me."

“Oh.” This felt as though it should be important or impactful, but Gill couldn’t put their finger on why. “But why are you in the airlock?”

“You must contact Ganymede. Tell them by no means to let this ship dock at the station. This ship must not reach Mars!” He sobbed into the phone. “Please, Gill.”

Something about Andrei begging broke through the fog. Gill’s voice was suddenly more alert. “Andrei, get out of the airlock. Come up to my office, we can talk about this.”

“You have invited it into your office. This is the only way.” He slammed his fist on the door to the airlock and leered at someone on the other side of the door that Gill could not see. Gill switched the camera…only to find it had been disabled.

Andrei’s fist found the button, and he was ripped into space. From the other side of the door…something closed the airlock.

Panic had returned to Gill and with it, action. They pulled up their E’s and began typing rapidly. The last thing Julliai Cunningham would hear was the hydraulic hiss of the door accompanied by a familiar voice.

“Told ya there was a trick to it.”

_______

HARKER LLC | INTERNAL COMM | DISTRIBUTION PROHIBITED

MH: Tell me you’ve seen the news and are working on it.

LW: I saw it.

MH: This is a cluster. I need to know you can handle this.

LW: On it.

MH: I told him discount cargo ships were a bad idea.

MH: He never listens.

MH: Any news on the crewmember?

LW: Rae Michael Renfield. He’s at one of our hospitals. Seward's on it.

MH: I’m so tired, Lucy.

LW: Girl. Mood. Don’t sweat this tho, we got it. Go find John.

MH: Love you, girl.

LW: Love YOU.