Proxima Adventure

Chapter 21. Conflict

Chapter 21. Conflict

The Proxima B returned to an orbit around Earth which allowed for topping off the ship's water supply and for the crew to get a break from being concerned about the dangers of space travel. The only thing that was on everyone's mind is the fact that recent tests indicated that there was some unknown reason for their physical durability, a phenomenon that was welcome but disturbing.

As usual, the men congregated on the engineering deck to discuss the problem.

"Is there some way we could analyze our skin to find out why it's almost indestructible?" Dave asked.

"That's a good question," Charles said. "Our devices are designed for analyzing power sources and machines, not living tissue."

"How about the medical station," Carl asked. "Doesn't it have some way to analyze our bodies?"

"Yes, but it's designed for finding illnesses or injuries, not for repairing keratins, which make up most of our skin."

"There must be some reference to this in the commander's data file. Maybe we should go over it again."

"I did, but I didn't find anything that mentioned this issue."

"Could it be that since we're no longer human, we've been morphed into something that looks human but isn't."

"Maybe it's a fast-heeling phenomena."

"That's possible, but I don't think tissue damage could be repaired almost instantly."

"Yeah, you're right. That's too farfetched.

Charles sighed. "We keep ending up with circuitous reasoning."

"Maybe we should ask that robot if he knows what's going on," Robert proposed, pointing to a humanoid robot.

"I doubt it. They're just machines that have no idea what living creatures are made of." He paused. "Look, I'll get with Alice and see if she wants to pursue the science connected to this phenomenon."

"What about us deliberately damaging our skin and see how fast it's repaired?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, that might be an interesting test, but I don't think I would want to damage flesh that the women could see. It would have to be some place hidden from view, at least while we're not naked like now."

"We could try a metal spatula that we use to stick a probe onto a heat pipe," Carl proposed.

"Yeah," Charles replied. "Then you could apply it to my butt."

Carl gave him a confused look. "Are you volunteering?"

"Sure, why not."

Carl stared at him for a moment before getting up and going to a cabinet that stored tools. He selected a spatula and went to a pipe that runs from the power source to a cool down unit. The pipe is usually very hot. He held the spatula against it until the temperature was near a hundred degrees C. Charles stood up and bent over so that Carl could apply the hot spatula to his buttocks.

Charles braced for the pain, which was intense, but he didn't yell. He gritted his teeth instead. "Ow! That really hurts."

"It left a nice red mark that swelled your skin, but the tissue is rapidly shrinking, and the redness is fading."

Charles straightened up. "The pain has already subsided."

"It's almost gone. Amazing."

"So, this indicates that our flesh can suffer damage, but that our body is capable of repairing the damage quickly," Dave said.