The Phoenix Rising by Richard L. Sanders

point of this is
about risk management,” she said. “We lessen the chance of everyone
getting the disease by trying to get every person immunized, but
immunity is not guaranteed. Someone who’s been inoculated could
still get the disease—it’s just less likely. And anyone bringing
the disease aboard the ship puts everyone else at risk. It’s not
necessarily a high risk, but it is high enough to be concerned
about.”
    He nodded. So now he had a choice, he could
put his crew in unnecessary danger, or he could trample the
personal religious beliefs of a minority of people on his ship,
potentially alienating people he wanted to assimilate into the
crew. Neither choice was attractive.
    “ I’m sorry Rez’nac, but I
believe it would be best for everyone if you and your soldiers
agreed to be vaccinated.”
    To Calvin’s surprise, Rez’nac showed neither
outrage nor frustration. He bowed his head. “Very well, Lieutenant
Commander, I will submit to your judgment, for you are master of
this house. I shall obey.”
    “ But as a show of good faith
and support,” said Calvin, wanting to fellowship his new shipmates,
“is there anything I can do for you to make you more comfortable?
Perhaps let you use the observation deck for religious services?”
He wasn’t sure that Polarians even congregated for their rituals
but he wanted to make some kind of peace offering.
    “ That would please us
greatly,” said Rez’nac. “And we would be honored to have you join
us.”
    Calvin hesitated. He knew instinctively that
he should accept, however he’d never been a church-goer of any sort
and the thought of being locked into the routine of going to these,
for however often and long they were, wasn’t appealing. Still he
kept a smile on his face and just as he opened his mouth to reply,
Rez’nac spoke.
    “ I only ask that you go
once.”
    “ Yes, definitely,” said
Calvin, “I’d love to.” Perhaps he was coming across as too
enthusiastic, he hoped he didn’t sound insincere. Truthfully the
thought of observing the Polarians and their rituals sounded like
an excellent way to gather more intelligence on who they were as
both individuals and a collective. He just didn’t want to be roped
into attending dozens of meetings when one alone would
suffice.
    “ You honor me.”
    “ I’d like to go too,” said
Rain. “If I can. I’ve never been to a Polarian church before.” This
request took Calvin by surprise. Most people he knew that came from
scientific backgrounds tended to dismiss spiritualism in any form
as superstitious nonsense. He’d never known if that was because the
empirical mind—taught to test hypotheses and seek out concrete
evidence—
    found nothing to relate to in the world of
faith, or if it was a byproduct of being a part of a culture that
was almost uniformly atheist. Perhaps it was a combination of
both.
    “ You of course are welcome
to join us,” said Rez’nac. “Perhaps if the brothers see you paying
your respects to our ways, they will not be so afraid of your
needle.”
    “ Actually it’s an oral
tablet. But I get your meaning.”
    “ Excellent, then I’ll see
you there,” he smiled at them. Not the pleased-with-himself grin of
someone who hoped to win two converts to his religion—in fact
Calvin was pretty sure humans were not allowed to join the Polarian
religion—but rather the look of someone who valued being respected.
“I shall take my leave of you both now, and see to my
brothers.”
    “ Actually I’m leaving too,”
said Calvin. “Do you mind if I walk with you?” He wanted to get to
know Rez’nac a bit more, and had an important question for
him.
    “ Do I mind? I am honored by
the request.” He motioned and Calvin led the way out of the
infirmary.
    “ Nice to meet you Calvin,”
Rain called from behind.
    “ You too,” he waved at
her.
    Once he and Rez’nac were in the corridor,
Calvin was glad to see that it was empty. “Rez’nac, if I were to
ask you a very