Free He Without Sin by Ed Hyde

can’t wait to see what the natives are like.”
    “Yeah, I bet they can’t wait to bash your head in, mate,” is Grigor’s reaction, as he is also within earshot.
    “I don’t know,” I say, “I’ve still got reservations about ‘the big picture’ as he put it. Should we be messing with intelligent life? Or any life, really.”
    “Oh dear, you should have been weeded out of the program long ago with thoughts like those, eh J-man?” gibes Grigor.
    “I think the big picture directives are correct,” says Carol. “Although it’s an almost totally independent biosphere, it’s still arable land; it’s still a fertile environment. Think of it this way: It’s a good spot for a garden that just happens to be isolated and a long way from home. One has to tend a garden to produce anything beautiful or useful,” she adds, parroting the accepted line, “and this is one of our many gardens to tend. The results in other cases have proven excellent beyond doubt. You’ve all been to the Academy Outpost, yes?”
    “Yes, nice spot indeed, the outpost,” says Grigor. “But do you really believe the Outpost started out like this place, doll?” I try to understand his implication, but dismiss it as another ‘Grigor moment.’
    “What are we looking at for ground transportation, Mark?” Dylan asks.
    “Assuming we get the go ahead and are set up on the surface, we will make do with two for starters; one is a small runabout, the other is a little bigger. It’s a workhorse and big enough to be called a transport unit. You’ve all no doubt trained in or at least have seen similar models before. It’s up to David and Wesley if we need to do anything more in the way of fabrication. Speaking of the devil…”
    “Mark, I need to get with you about the ground images and what you’ve found. Can we do it now?” asks Brachus after approaching the small group discussion.
    “Absolutely. Getting ready to go exploring?”
    Brachus chuckles and says, “Yeah, that’s right.”
    I still don’t have any warm feelings for this guy. I always get the sense he’s hiding something. David seems OK with him, so he must have some value, something positive to contribute, right? Whatever it is, I’m not impressed. Neither he nor his two underlings have bothered to comply with my request regarding their comms linkup and channel verification. We’ll see how that works out for them when they have no communication or data path on the ground.
    ______
    In orbit, the ship has a different feel than it did before. It must be due to the way artificial gravity is handled. The famous hybrid system. Also I believe there are certain correction thrusts periodically. I say I can feel them, but Carol thinks it’s my imagination.
    That Tracy woman sticks like glue to Brachus. I bet they’ve opted out of the ‘medical relief’ procedure as Grigor says, jokingly. Ha. Could be some truth to that. When I try to contact Master Brachus, it’s hard to corner him without going through her. I think it’s an intentional firewall.

    No response from the Resource team triumvirate. Time’s up and now the ball is back in my court. My plan is to make one last attempt to talk directly to him or his whole team without having to involve David. I can’t work out what the problem is. It’s not a big deal; just do it! Is it possible he is a technophobe? Hardly seems likely but in that case I will bite the bullet and do it all myself. Funny, it’s not the amount of labor—that’s negligible—it’s the idea of not conforming to the rules and crew expectations that bugs me.
    I like Grigor; he’s a good one to cut through the crap and get to the point. He questions everything and gets me to thinking. Something he said earlier triggered an idea that I’ve had before: How is it, really, that our little mission is here to document and help guide the evolution and development of an entire planet? Talk about improbable. The same sort of feeling of awe occurs to me