Sem Lockdown, Day 6
"Yes, Commanding Officer Godwin, this is Alpha Radio Station 1," Akira said to the radio, "We haven't managed to fix the connection yet, no. Look, it might be easier if you could send someone over... I understand that it might not be the easiest right now but..."
Tristan, who had told Akira to call the CO since she had the radio, motioned for her to hand it over to him,
"Officer Godwin, Officer Godwin, this is Captain Tristan Kearney of the Rising Star Battalion. I must say that Akira is right. Miles, by his own volition, is excellent with technology but, even he has no idea what to do here. We could really do with a technician, even if you send them in a Hazmat suit, over?"
There was a long pause, but Akira could see that the team's CO had given in from the look of relief in Tristan's eyes.
"Thank you, Officer Godwin. We will have a deep clean before they arrive and take all safety precautions as always. Out."
"That's unusual," Akira said, "Not like him to give in so easily."
"True, but you were correct in your judgement, Akiyama."
"Going by second names now, are we? You must be in military operations mode now."
"Sorry, it's just, you know that while I see you all as friends, I still have a duty to uphold."
"Captain Kearney," Akira gave him a pleasant laugh, "With all due respect, the rest of us feel the same way. Come on, I'll clean the radio and get my gloves on while you give out the new orders."
"Yes, you're right. Please start with the bathrooms, Akiyama. I'll get Schäfer and Douglas to do the kitchen."
"And you, Captain?"
"I'd better wash my hands and script tonight's broadcast before I do anything else."
Tristan, who had told Akira to call the CO since she had the radio, motioned for her to hand it over to him,
"Officer Godwin, Officer Godwin, this is Captain Tristan Kearney of the Rising Star Battalion. I must say that Akira is right. Miles, by his own volition, is excellent with technology but, even he has no idea what to do here. We could really do with a technician, even if you send them in a Hazmat suit, over?"
There was a long pause, but Akira could see that the team's CO had given in from the look of relief in Tristan's eyes.
"Thank you, Officer Godwin. We will have a deep clean before they arrive and take all safety precautions as always. Out."
"That's unusual," Akira said, "Not like him to give in so easily."
"True, but you were correct in your judgement, Akiyama."
"Going by second names now, are we? You must be in military operations mode now."
"Sorry, it's just, you know that while I see you all as friends, I still have a duty to uphold."
"Captain Kearney," Akira gave him a pleasant laugh, "With all due respect, the rest of us feel the same way. Come on, I'll clean the radio and get my gloves on while you give out the new orders."
"Yes, you're right. Please start with the bathrooms, Akiyama. I'll get Schäfer and Douglas to do the kitchen."
"And you, Captain?"
"I'd better wash my hands and script tonight's broadcast before I do anything else."
******
"This is crazy," said Miles, bleaching the kitchen sink, "We shouldn't be in this much of a mess because of an alien interception. We should be better than this. And everything still smells of cheese!"
"These things happen," said Kain, "We need to accept that sometimes we just have to do the best with what we've got. There are going to be plenty more instances like this, especially when we're on foreign planets." The other man was mopping the floor with a tartan scarf wrapped round him to block out the cheese smell.
While there had been significant advancements in domestic technology in recent years, the military still preferred to use manual equipment for such tasks as far as possible. It kept up soldiers' productivity, boosted team morale through shared activities and, what's more, it was cost-effective.
Akira had just finished hoovering in the hallway and stuck her head around the door,
"Are you doing your talking while you're walking, boys?"
"Excuse me," said Kain, "This was an important conversation." Akira put her hands on her hips and Kain sighed, "Though you do make a fair point."
"Do you reckon we'll get a broadcast out tonight?" Miles asked.
"I think the Captain wants to do a shorter broadcast alone tonight with just a few very brief updates," Kain replied.
"It might be a good idea to order pizza tonight," Akira suggested, "We could probably all be doing with some." The others agreed. "I'll put an order in. What does everyone want?"
"One plain, one cucumber and aloofplant and one Sem-style Hawaiian?" Miles considered.
Aloofplant was a type of herb found in Sem, given its name due to the way its leaves parted and the way it rose towards the sun, making it look like it was about to explain why you were wrong to be bothered growing it. To be honest, the plant was so tasteless that most farmers didn't really know why they did either.
As for Sem-style Hawaiian, the only difference was that the recipe used a fruit similar to pineapple which arguably tasted much better on pizza than the Earthling version.
"Why cucumber and aloofplant?" Kain asked, trying not to look disgusted. This was much aided by the scarf.
"Health benefits," said Miles. The other two shrugged.
"Kain, can I just ask, what's with the scarf?"
"Everything smells of cheese and it is a much treasured family heirloom. Leave me alone, Akiyama."
She laughed, "It suits you."
"Yeah, right. Get back to work."
******
The technician arrived at 1400 hours, in a Hazmat suit as expected. He turned the entire radio connection on and off again and it worked perfectly. He left in less than half an hour.
The RSB were left ashamed, frustrated and disappointed in themselves. The radio beeped and Commanding Officer Godwin ranted and raved about precautions, competency and the consequences of one's actions for a rather lengthy period of time.
As a result of this, the three pizzas were devoured without a trace upon arrival, including the cucumber and aloofplant one.
******
"Good evening, fellow citizens. Tonight will be a slightly shorter broadcast due to last night's interception problems. I apologise sincerely for any information you have missed out in the last twenty four hours. Akira has posted the weather for tomorrow on the website and Kain has shared some helpful crāpulavirus articles as well.
Speaking of which, thank you very much for all the feedback we have had from you all, the test result statistics should prove helpful and you will notice them influencing official decisions very soon, especially after the new models come out.
The Sterculians have received a picture message from us, politely asking them to back down. Hopefully this will defuse the situation while we wait for our head translator to recover from crāpulavirus. I hear they are making a good recovery so we should be able to make a verbal connection in the next few days.
Since it was my turn to pick a song to play us out yesterday, I shall leave you with a song of my choosing.
Goodnight, people of Sem. Thank you as always for your attention and co-operation and I promise we will have the ordinary broadcast schedule back up and running tomorrow evening."
👍👍👍🧀🧀🧀😷😷😷
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