by Ginger Booth
It’s still my day off.
He reached for the VR rig and put it back on. His first step was deleting the Costly character and wiping Shorteyes from his friend list.
11
Addictions were a constant concern in the artificial environments of space and colony domes.
“Everyone’s looking more cheerful this time,” Sass said brightly, as their party entered the officer’s mess again that evening at 18:00. Commandeer Alohan invited them to celebrate the fresh protein supply, newly loaded in the clean plumbing.
Abel nodded judiciously.
“Smells better than last time,” Jules told him, held tight to his side.
Abel missed the welcome dinner. Oddly, Kassidy and Benjy volunteered to take over from Clay and Abel guarding the gangway tonight. Sass overruled Benjy, insisting that the party was for him and Copeland as well as herself. Copeland was still stuck in the auto-doc. “Where’s Pollan?” he asked. “The man of the hour.”
“I’m not sure he’s invited,” Sass whispered back. “Class thing, noncom among the officers.”
Abel nodded agreeably. “I have no idea what that means.”
“Just as well.”
“Sorry you couldn’t bring Clay.”
“I’m not,” Sass assured him. “Commander Alohan! Are we nearly ready for the great taste-test?” Sass gamely intended to eat at least a small serving of the main course tonight. “Abel was just wondering if the master chief is joining us.”
“His party is in the engineering mess,” Alohan assured her. “No, it wouldn’t do at all for officers to crash that party. I signed off on extra kegs in exchange for him spending the day in an auto-doc recuperating.” The commander paused. “Thank you for that head’s up.”
Sass estimated that it pained the woman to thank her for anything. Her opinion rose a notch. “No reason I couldn’t drop by his party, is there?”
Benjy’s eyes bulged, and he drew nearer her side. Sass wondered anew what ailed the kid today. Must have spooked him with the radiation talk.
Alohan replied, “That could get rowdy. Feel free to bring along a couple of my security detail. They’re right outside.”
“Thank you.”
Tonight Sass’s whole contingent was seated with Alohan at the table of honor, the Directors displaced to mingle with lower-ranked officers. As soon as Alohan took her place, she beckoned the servitors.
Friedman placed Sass’s plate with something suspiciously close to enthusiasm. “Did you taste test it, Friedman?” she inquired archly.
“I’ll think you’ll be very pleased, captain,” the steward purred. “Fresh corn, new potatoes, and the barbecue riblets are outstanding. Even the salad tastes better.”
Alohan pursed her lips at him. But she’d learned not to chew out her staff while Sass looked on. “I sampled it in the galley. Probably not up to your excellent cooking standards, Ms. Greer. But light years ahead for our cooks. A toast!” She stood and raised a wine glass. “To the crew of the Thrive, for bringing us fresh protein stocks, and helping clean the food system!”
“Hear, hear! To the Thrive!” the leaders of the station cried out in enthusiasm.
Sass raised her wine glass along with them, beaming. She hadn’t sampled the golden wine last time, but it seemed unfriendly not to drink a toast. She took a sip. A strangely fruity concoction, with at least the usual level of alcohol. She made a mental note to ask Pollan what they made it from. They certainly didn’t grow enough fruit in hydroponics to make real wine.
In no little trepidation, she sampled the riblets, a printed meat reminiscent of pork. The barbecue sauce tasted like corn syrup inexpertly mixed with tomato paste and vinegar. But the riblets themselves tasted no worse than Jules would make. The salad did taste better, as well. Pollan had grown ambitious and flushed much of hydroponics and the drinking water mains. Once they’d gotten that unfortunate cross-contamination cleared up.
“Very nice!” she encouraged. “Benjy, we do good work! My compliments to your engineer, Commander!”
“And yours. Is he recovered yet?” Alohan winced.
“He’s allowed out now,” Sass replied. “But the auto-doc recommends another 12 hours. He got out and walked around, then decided to go back in overnight.”
“I’m sorry. I hadn’t really thought that your crew was settler, not urb.”
“Those two,” Sass agreed. “I have nanites myself. Exception to the rule.” She explained how she’d added herself to the detail to make sure her guys had dosimeters before she’d let them work on the project at all. Followed by a full account of how two people for one shift expanded to three people for six shifts, plus food catering for dozens per day.
Alohan grew increasingly doleful through this review. “What do you want, Collier?”
“Funny you should ask,” Sass returned with a smile. “Abel has a list. Nothing prohibitive. Although we would like a cut of that protein back to replenish our stores. I only intended for us to give our coworkers a treat, not feed two shifts of crew for three days running. That’s left us short.”
“Reasonable,” Alohan allowed before accepting the comms tablet from Abel’s hand. Her eyes narrowed as she paged down that list. “Pono over poodles, you cannot be serious.”
“I think we’ve already earned more than a little of that, commander,” Sass crooned. “But I also feel you have needs here.”
“Funny,” Alohan said, handing the tablet back to Abel in distaste. “I was about to say the same thing.”
Sass pushed her empty plate away and leaned forward, elbows on the table. She enjoyed the way the officer’s nostrils flared at this social gaffe. “You need a new station, commander. This one is nearing the end of its useful life. But even in advance of that, you need better radiation shielding. And then a fresh flush of water. After that you can start building a new station. Or possibly extend this one. And although my estimation of Master Chief Pollan’s abilities is perhaps higher than yours, I think we both agree he cannot accomplish these things. He doesn’t even seem to have a capable second, much less someone to build new systems while he tries to eke a few more years out of the old ones.”
“Are you trying to depress me? Or is there a point to this?”
Sass spread her hands. “Do you agree these are worthy objectives?”
“Certainly.” Alohan snapped her fingers. “Easier said than done.” Friedman topped up their wine glasses.
Sass waved to Abel, who dove in. “We’re haggling with Hell’s Bells for spare parts to build us a new star drive, to upgrade the Thrive.”
“I recognized the parts from your shopping list,” Alohan agreed. “Parts I don’t have to give you. If I did, I’d have power for our own radiation systems. We did have one once.”
Abel nodded. “Exactly our point. You have retired star drives. Hell’s Bells would like those cores to rehabilitate. You’d get back rather fewer than you give them. They’re quite eager for Mahina’s protein printer stock. That excited them. A few other odds and ends. Beyond our ability to supply at present. But I think I have the seeds of a grand deal coming together.”
Sass joined her end of the sales pitch. “Perhaps you could spare an hour or two tomorrow to discuss it? Come for lunch, stay to brainstorm?”
She and Abel were so intent on tag-teaming Alohan that they didn’t notice Jules get up. A steward directed her to the restroom.
“We’re talking right now,” Alohan growled. “I don’t see the possibility.”
Sass shook her head. “There’s been a change of management at Mahina Actual. I think new things are possible. But as I see it, the key to getting help with the full range of your challenges, is to cut these radiation levels.”
Alohan blew out a long sigh. “Yes. That.”
“Morale, for instance,” Sass pressed delicately. “Including your own,” she added compassionately. With a small wave she encompassed the room of officers, downright chipper after their first decent meal, possibly in years. “A little c
an go a long way. If one pursues the right objectives.”
“You’re not up here to solve MO’s problems, Collier,” Alohan replied. “I don’t know what you are here for, really. Wild goose chase, it seems to me.” The commander downed her fourth goblet of wine and summoned a refill.
“Possibly,” Sass allowed. “Even probably. But the rewards of success are so very high. And the cost of trying not so much.”
Alohan sighed, and spoke in a low voice, not to be overheard at other tables. “Fourteen star drives. And fuel to feed them. That’s Pollan’s estimate for what it would take for radiation shielding like yours. That’s for one station. One old station and one new one would need twice as much.”
Sass and Abel exchanged dismayed glances.
“A foot in the door,” Abel suggested. “Obviously, the Thrive only needs one more star drive, and fuel for two. And refueling now and then. We are willing and able to pay for it, however.”
Sass frowned. “Is this really all or nothing? I mean, sure, the ideal would be to have the entire station encased in a field. But the racks are all on just a few decks, right? If crew spend half their time in the racks…”
Alohan wobbled her head so-so. “Pollan’s not the engineer to figure that out, as you say. Beyond his abilities. But back up. When you say you are willing and able to pay?”
“What I’m suggesting,” Abel said. “We have possible funding, in Mahina credits. We can’t pay Hell’s Bells with that. But –”
“Where’s Jules?” Benjy interrupted. “Excuse me.”
Alarmed, Eli rose with him. Friedman pointed them toward the restroom.
Abel froze, then pushed back from the table. “My wife,” he explained. He’d forgotten she stepped away. She’d been gone too long. He jogged to catch up with the other two.
Alohan and Sass trailed them, Alohan motioning her security detail to attend them. The wild-eyed man who bolted out of the bathroom, bleeding from a split lip, didn’t stand a chance. The guards seized his arms. Alohan treated him to a single resounding right hook to the temple. He slumped unconscious.
Benjy escorted Jules from the bathroom, her dress torn. If Sass was any judge – and she was – the girl had the beginnings of a vivid shiner, a broken nose, and finger bruises around her neck.
“Madam, did he rape you?” Alohan demanded.
Jules buried her face in her husband’s shirt, his arms enfolding her.
“I don’t think it got that far,” Abel claimed. “Sweetie? He never got your underwear off, did he?”
Jules shook her head violently. “He tried –” The word broke off upward into keening.
“Get her home, Abel,” Sass murmured. “Eli, help him, would you?”
“Of course.” He moved in to shield Jules between himself and Abel, placing another kindly hand on her back. “Just a couple flights of stairs and we’ll be home.”
“I want a bath!” Jules cried in a soft whine.
Abel crooned, “You will absolutely have a bath. I’ll draw it myself, and stay right by your side.”
Alohan and Sass stood like stone until the door closed behind them into the stairwell.
“Airlock,” Alohan decreed.
Sass nodded.
“Just like that?” Benjy asked. “Execute him?”
Alohan didn’t deign to respond. “Just like that,” Sass agreed. “You don’t have to watch, Benjy. I will, for Abel and Jules.”
“If you wish,” Alohan allowed. She waved for the guards to precede them with the condemned man. They followed along, in no especial hurry. “I ought to warn you, Captain Collier. Typically we wake the victim first and offer the chance for final words. Pointless really.”
“Go home, Benjy,” Sass encouraged. “If you could spare one of these guards to walk him back to the dock?”
“Of course.” Alohan fingered one for that detail.
“But Sass, what about you?” Benjy pressed.
“I plan to go to Pollan’s party,” Sass answered. “Right after the execution.”
“Always makes me thirsty,” Alohan concurred.
“Won’t you join me, commander?” Sass attempted again. “Surely dropping by for a few minutes won’t throw an undue pall on the festivities in engineering. I should think it was good for morale, seeing you congratulate the man.”
“Hm.”
“But captain!” Benjy begged doggedly.
Sass patted him on the back. “I understand and appreciate your concern. I’m fine, Benjy. Truly. Go on home. Don’t wait up.”
Alohan chuckled darkly. “Always gives me an appetite for that, too.”
“Affirmation of life,” Sass concurred.
Benjy left them in defeat, embarrassed to be grateful for his guard.
“Where is Sass?” Clay demanded at the gangway when Benjy returned alone.
Benjy waited until the security guard decamped, the door to the stairwell sighing closed behind him. “She stayed to watch the would-be rapist executed. On Abel and Jules’ behalf, she said.”
Clay breathed relief. “That makes sense.”
“Then she’ll go out carousing. Said not to wait up.”
“Did she.” Clay pursed his lips. “Take the door for me?”
Benjy glanced up in surprise. “Is Jules alright?”
“Just bruised. Scared. Kassidy and Abel are with her. She doesn’t need us.”
“Clay, I’m no use defending the door,” Benjy complained, anxious to get back to his cabin.
“Everyone’s home except Sass and me. Just button up and wait inside, answer the doorbell if it rings.” Clay grabbed his chair and papers and dragged them inside. He ran up to his room to change, and was gone inside of 5 minutes.
Benjy sank to the chair, head in his hands. This station was starting to get to him.
12
Virtual reality abuse, sex, drugs, drinking, gambling, and more – like rats in a maze, human instincts were desperate for escape from their stressed environment.
“You’re the guard?” Sass asked in surprise. Kassidy waited in the umbilical to open the door for her when she returned near 01:00. Sass naturally locked the door to the docks behind her.
“Clay is still out,” Kassidy said. “Benjy sat here for a few hours, then he and Abel got to yelling at each other. Then Copeland dragged out of the auto-doc to yell at them to shut up. By then I had clothes on. I couldn’t sleep anyway. Ordered the boys back to bed.”
Sass locked the second door into the hold behind them, and glanced in concern toward the med bay. “Copeland’s sleeping again, I hope?”
“Yeah. And Jules.”
“How’s she doing?”
Kassidy wobbled her head so-so. “The bruises will heal, and she’s calm. Maybe angry at Abel and not sure how to deal with that.”
Sass winced in sympathy. “Because he took so long to come get her?”
Kassidy nodded. “We, um, assumed Clay went looking for you.”
“Never saw him.”
“We, um, are confused. Are you two –?”
“We’re not lovers. Sit.” They took the bench under the sleeping scrubber trees, light pipes doused for the night. Sass breathed deep of the ultra-fresh air around them, a welcome antidote to her grunge-filled evening in the station air.
“Clay and I have a long history,” she confided in the younger woman. “Old frenemies, let’s say. We’ve fallen into bed. Unfortunate side effect of our nanites. The damn things want us to screw all the time. But there’s sex and then there are relationships.”
“So you don’t mind him going out to find someone else?”
Sass shrugged. “I did the same. I don’t imagine it means any more to him.”
“Was he fun? The guy you found.”
“Good sex. Hydroponics supervisor. We talked plants. I liked him. Urb-shaped. Guess I’ve never managed to feel attracted to leggy settlers. Kind of a problem.”
Kassidy nodded understanding. She’d never felt drawn to the gravity-stretched either. “Yo
u watched an execution?”
“Not my first,” Sass replied quellingly. “He didn’t die well. Most don’t. So aren’t you eager for bed? I could doze off right here.” She yawned in illustration.
“I wasn’t asleep,” Kassidy murmured. “Stuff on my mind.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“I wasn’t going to tell you this, but I got spooked on the station. That I might get raped. Benjy was scared too. Then someone attacked Jules.”
“Good,” Sass encouraged. “Glad you learned without too much damage done. To us, anyway. Someone died in Jules’ case. I heartily recommend the buddy system until we’re back safe on Mahina. But you were right. You’re adults. Not my place to make your choices.”
“No.” Kassidy hesitated, then said, “That’s not all. I’m trying to design my next show. I mean, I can come up with the footage for two shows. Stunning starscapes, some EVA tumbling. But me smiling and having a ball touring MO – that’s a lie. Telling the truth would be censored out. Not something I’d want to tell anyway. Sad story.”
Sass contemplated this concept sleepily. “Truth is a slippery thing. We went to PM3. That’s a sad story. But I watched your show, and it was visionary. Kassidy, it’s not a lie to highlight the good. A whole lot of good came out of that trip. You have that eye. Maybe you haven’t found your vision here yet, but you will.
“Take Commander Alohan for instance. Now I don’t like the woman, and likely never will. Wrong temperament for command. But I need her to get what I want. And we had some fun together tonight, before she took off.”
“Did she pick up someone in a bar too?”
“No, I think her guards moonlight with her after hours. Not my point. My point is that you focus on what you want to accentuate. This station could be better. Selling the vision isn’t a lie. Selling the service MO provides to Mahina isn’t a lie. All our moon-wide communications ability is up here. Observation, navigation. They do important stuff. Science too.”