New to Other-Terrestrial? Check here! Or if you need to, jump to the beginning of the episode here!
Did people from MS-29 not know how to queue, Pirra wondered in annoyance.
The crowd outside the shuttle was merely a blob with no semblance of order. She saw drones trying to herd them around, but the people seemed extremely reluctant to do anything other than try to stand as close to the glass as possible.
Just a few antsy people had started it, as far as she could tell. Once they’d broken the line the others had just started milling about as well.
Where were the officers, trying to bring some order to this? The drones couldn’t do this alone, they could use nothing except words against civilians, and few if any of the doctors seemed to respect their authority.
She saw one man in the ship’s uniform trying to control things, but he was being talked to by at least five different people, and her system told her that he was just an acting-ensign.
“Hold this,” she said to Alexander, shoving the bag she was carrying into his arms.
“You’re not going to-” he began. But she’d already stepped away.
Glancing around the crowd, she clocked herself back into duty, and saw that many of these people were doctors or other specialists, people with rank. They should know better than this!
Taking control of the drones, she ordered them into a formation above the heads of the doctors, and spoke through them.
“This is Response Lieutenant Pirra,” she said. It boomed out from the speakers on the drones, startling the whole crowd.
“I am issuing a direct order under section 37, article 19 of the ship’s charter. You are all to assemble into an orderly line immediately. You have until this countdown completes.”
“Ten,” the drones said in their own voices in unison.
The crowd looked shocked.
“Nine,” they counted again.
“Move it!” she barked.
They scrambled to obey. The count was just at three when they were all queued up. She let it stop.
Article 19 of section 37 only stated that Response personnel could, in fact, direct traffic. She had no authority for punishment.
But they hadn’t known that. It was just all about the attitude.
“Ma’am,” one man asked. He looked like trouble, she thought. She waved him over, but when others also began over, she barked out again. “Only him.”
He hesitated, and she watched him, intentionally not blinking. It sometimes intimidated humans.
“Our shuttle is late,” he said. “We’ve been waiting for thirty minutes!” He stressed the last two words as if they were the worst thing ever.
She continued to stare at him. “Then wait,” she said. Her system told her that his rank was Doctor-Commander. Far above her pay-grade, and she technically had no right to order him around, not unless there was an emergency. Hopefully, he wouldn’t think to look up the command she had cited.
“There’s no one even controlling things!” he said. “We have one young man who doesn’t know a thing!”
“We’re overwhelmed,” Pirra replied. “Our people haven’t been back to Earth in a long while either, and we’re carrying a lot of passengers. This is bound to happen. Now,” she raised her voice so it carried through the drones again. “You are logged in the system. You are not forgotten. The shuttles are just behind schedule – no doubt because some people forgot how to behave in an orderly fashion.” She cut off anything more pointed. “So we’ll queue up, and then all quietly wait for our shuttle to arrive. Do you understand?”
There was a moment of hesitation where she was not sure if he’d listen. But the man nodded, and moved back into line.
Letting out a breath, she also moved back into line next to Alexander.
“Good job,” he said quietly.
She glanced up and saw the acting-ensign looking extremely grateful.
“Thanks,” she said. “Someone had to bring some organization to this. Are we really that short-handed?”
“Honey,” Alexander said. “Your crest is up.” He reached up, and gently patted the stiff feathery bristles.
She realized he was right, and willed them back down to lie flatter.
“Were you ready to punch him if he talked back?” Alexander asked her, laughing.
“Maybe,” she replied, still feeling the adrenaline. Her kind, she knew, were often said to be ‘calm until they weren’t’, and in her case it was quite true. If the doctor had recognized her raised crest as the warning signal it absolutely was, perhaps that was why he’d backed down.
Of course, she wouldn’t have punched him, but he might not have been willing to bet on that.
It had worked, at least.
The wait wasn’t as long as she feared it would be. Only five minutes later they received the notification that boarding would begin soon. And only three more after that, the doors opened to allow admission.
The boarding was rapid and efficient, until someone’s bag got loose and floated through the tunnel, careening around until drones captured it.
When her turn came, she pushed down the zero-g tunnel to the shuttle main area. Using the handholds she made her way to her seat, and was grateful that the doctor she’d ordered about wasn’t near them.
Stuffing her bags into the compartment below the seats, she sat down. Alexander sat down next to her.
“Well,” he said. “We’re on our way.”
Pirra felt a rush of euphoria. She’d been looking forward to this visit for months. “To Mars,” she chirped happily.
Other Terrestrial 