Cislunar Space
United States Space Force Academy
0800 hours
"Madam Under-Secretary, what can I do for you today?"
Lieutenant General Cameron smiled brightly at the screen, while internally cringing at her delivery of that line.
God Almighty, she hated politics.
"Superintendent Cameron, I'm afraid that this meeting was not called for personal reasons, so I suggest you keep the military formalities and other meager chitchat to a minimum," the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, Madame Renee Lavoie, replied.
"Madam?", her Assistant Secretary-General under her, a Mr. John Long, squeaked out whilst holding a briefcase.
Snapping her fingers, the Assistant-Secretary General rushed to place it on the table adjacent to them and revealed the contents of the formerly filled-to-the-brim briefcase.
"I want to request that special care is made to prevent a diplomatic incident while the scheduled guest and the UN liaison are on board your academy," she chided.
The Lieutenant General, clearly confused, said, "Excuse me, Madam Under-Secretary, but what is that you are referring to? We are a military installation that..."
Waving her hands in the air, Madame Lavoie responded back, "That is not what I am referring to. Although special care has been given from our side, such as providing the special guest with an American Marine as his UN liaison, there is still some...", scratching her neck to reveal her discomfort, she finished her sentence with, "hesitation from the politicians in the UN whether the special guest is the best choice for building the new ISS."
"Then why agree to send him up here then?", General Cameron quipped back.
Clapping her hands together, the Under-Secretary-General of the UN, who was not used to people questioning her decisions, answered with, "President Seon is...no, has exceeded the requirements for our perfect candidate to build the new ISS." Counting out the reasons in her hands, she continued, "He is intelligent, respectful, most of all, will follow orders, and has a previous military background along with a tremendous knack for being innovative. I mean...he built a whole military academy in space, the same one you're in now, with only a year's time to do it mind you, with technology that hadn't even been invented yet? Who said that the impossible can't be done with men like him?"
She smiled, as if proud that some mother out there could raise such a diligent child as him.
"A military academy and an International Space Station are two different things..."
"And that is why you will help him every way you can. He has already been trained by the Japanese on how to live as an astronaut for three months..."
General Cameron then interrupted, "I was not made aware that he would stay up here in space for more than a week. We were told to give him a brief tour and help him realize his plans of constructing the ISS but..."
A new figure entered the screen. "Madam Under-Secretary, the Ambassador of the United States wants to speak with you regarding the inclusion of the United States in..."
As the Under-Secretary-General left, the Assistant Secretary-General apologized before quickly exiting with papers sprawled all over his hands. "Madam Under-Secretary, wait for me!"
The call ended as the screen cut to pitch black, leaving Cameron feeling as empty as she felt beforehand.
"So, how bad is it?", Vice Superintendent Calloway asked.
General Cameron gave him one look, and he remarked, "That bad, huh?"
"I mean, I knew he was a Korean Navy veteran, but he's basically a civilian...and he's younger than me by at least a decade! What were they thinking, hiring this guy as a contractor?", she related to the Lieutenant Colonel.
Calloway shrugged, and told her, "that it's out of your hands now. You just have to babysit another over-eager civilian, it's not like you haven't done it before."
"Before I wasn't in a giant tin can in space, that by the way, the 'civilian' built. What bothers me is that he's only a little older than our first-year cadets here...what if they mess with him..."
"No, no, no ifs, and's or but's. You heard it from the Under-Secretary, you read it in his file, and when you meet him, you'll probably see he's not in the mood to mess around. Because as much as you think of the Academy as your baby, with you being the First Superintendent of it and all, but this," he said, turning and pointing to everything around him, "was originally an idea in that young man's head."
"What are you saying now?", she inquired.
"Don't mess it up for him. Don't make him stress himself out over all the military customs and courtesies that he decides that it's not worth it."
"What? That wouldn't happen..."
"Or he reports you to his country's government for harassment..."
"He wouldn't dare!", she cried out in shock.
"Hey, there's a reason the Under-Secretary-General called you. Read between the lines-as long as he's here, he's the face of the new United Republic of Korea. And the United States does not want to get in trouble with it's ally, right?"
"The only trouble will be in is if the cadets get to our guest first...wait a minute."
She did a right-facing movement and faced him head-on for her next command.
"Yes, General?"
"Order the cadets during the monthly morning assembly to be on their best behavior the next few months or else."
"During or after the safety briefing...", noticing the stare he was receiving, Colonel corrected himself, saying, "after, it is."
Meanwhile, Dr. Zhao Li Jie came face-to-face with his least-favorite working colleague.
"Dr. Zhao! What a wonderful pleasure it is to see you...again after the meeting!"
At this moment, Dr. Fabio Esposito beamed as brightly as the sun.
Dr. Zhao could barely cover his eyes to block it out.
"Good morning Dr. Fabio," he stammered reluctantly.
"Buongiornio, my good friend! How have you been doing recently?", he asked, while holding his hands in the air for some unknown reason.
Dr. Zhao growled. "We just saw each other at breakfast. How do you think I'm doing?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were well after...after the whole mishap in the conference room," he related, twisting his foot to show his obvious discomfort in repeating what happened this morning.
"Why did you help me, Dr. Fabio?"
"Help you...oh, why we're colleagues, no?'
"I thought you were vying for my position," Dr. Zhao accused.
"No, if I were to become head clinician, it would be through my efforts! Not by demeaning those around me!", he declared.
"Alright, if I say I believed you, would you leave me alone, at least until I get back to the clinic and have to see you again?"
"No! I have something to say...", approaching closer to Dr. Zhao, he whispered, "regarding Patient Zero."
Dr. Zhao frowned, and retorted, "What about him?"
"You know how all those discoveries, vaccines and diseases are named after the people who found them like comets?"
"Yes...", he said, not knowing where he was going with this.
"Let's make this a friendly competition and see who gets the new disease, if it really it a new disease, named after them."
Dr. Zhao glared at Dr. Fabio and went on his way, disgusted at the mere prospect of contemplating what he had just said.
"Did you not come to space to do research on rare diseases?", Dr. Fabio postulated after catching up to the athletic Thai doctor.
"I didn't come for the view, certainly," he quipped back.
"You know... I don't know whether you're joking or not."
"That wasn't a joke," he muttered, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
Running after the introverted virologist, Dr. Fabio revealed, "You know, in these three months, I've never seen you smile or crack a joke. Which for me, as an Italian American, is just outrageous to see..."
"And why did you come to space, Dr. Fabio?"
"ADVENTURE!", he hollered. "I've traveled the world doing speeches and realized that getting out of your comfort zone and expanding your horizons is key to being a good doctor...at least in my opinion. You know, there's a slight twitch in your eye right now...do you need to see an ophthalmologist for that?"
"Fine." Dr. Zhao stopped, and faced his enthusiastic subordinate with concealed displeasure.
"Would you happen to have a contact in the World..."
"WHO? Yes, I do! Thank you for reminding me! I'll contact them and see if there are any new diseases that aren't listed in last year's medical textbooks and journals yet! What a great and splendid idea, Dr. Zhao!", he said, jumping up and down while holding Dr. Zhao's arms.
Dr. Zhao ripped Dr. Fabio's arms off him, confessing, "Don't thank me just yet. I'll contact my former teammates at the CDC as well."
"And here all this time, I thought you didn't like me!", the happy Italian teased.
The Thai doctor audibly grunted, and left, obviously not wasting any time on idle chitchat.
Dr. Fabio smiled back, squinting as his figure faded out of view and added, "May the best man win."
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Author's note: Welp...a lot of clever people we met/learned more about it in this chapter then. By the way, if it wasn't made clear in this chapter, Dr. Zhao and Dr. Fabio ARE not friends. (AS in past, present or future. It's not a spoiler, it's a fact.) Also, if you miss our dear ole' protagonist Quibilah, don't worry...she'll be back! It's just there are other important characters too that do stuff that drives the plot.