Dreaming of Atmosphere

by Jim C. Wilson

  “I hardly think the Captain would appreciate me sharing her cabin.”

  “I meant Zoe!”

  “The pretty little girl with a medical degree? No thanks, she’d talk my ear off.”

  “But…but…” I stammered.

  “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of women? Do I intimidate you?”

  “A little, yeah!”

  “I promise I won’t bite. Unless you screw up the job, then I do bite.” At that, she gestured to the small remote device she was carrying when I first saw her. I stared at it for a moment. Then I looked back at her. She was still smiling that evil little grin. I sighed in defeat and began taking off what equipment I had left and putting them back away in a locker I keep in my cabin for just such a purpose. When finished, I glanced longingly at the small shower stall in my cabin.

  “Do you mind?” I asked, indicating the stall.

  “Not at all, go right ahead.” She leaned back on her arms behind her and kept watching. So that’s how it’s gunna be? I thought. I started stripping down my ruined clothes, pausing briefly when I was down to my last undergarment and turned to look sheepishly at her. She sighed and pretended to be inspecting something under her fingernail. I quickly undressed and jumped into the stall, pulling the opaque screen door closed behind me. My troubles evaporated almost immediately with the release of hot water and I began scrubbing at my grime-caked body. I let the hot water massage my muscles, and felt my tender shoulder once more. Maybe I should let Zoe look at it.

  By the time I was finished, we were under-way and when I left the shower Artemis was gone. Thankful for a moment of privacy I dried off and grabbed a change of clothes, a simple jumpsuit with many pockets favoured by star ship travellers the galaxy over. I went below decks to look for Zoe, and found her in the med lab on the second deck, aft of the living spaces. The med lab isn’t big, or even very well equipped, but it has all the necessary equipment needed to patch up an energy burn, a broken limb or a cut from sparing. It also has a minor surgery rig for basic operations and two bunks for observation. This is where Zoe spends most of her time, and she even brought with her a top of the line Aug maintenance kit with her from the university on Kanto Prime. Her passion, she told me once, is cybernetics and biological Augs. She only got into medicine to get familiar with the principles of Bios, and cybernetics is her hobby. She’s going to have field day on me today, though.

  “Zoe, I need you to take a look at me, please?” I startled her, absorbed on equipment, connecting several cables to a small box I didn’t recognise.

  “Oh, sure thing, are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt? Wow, wasn’t that a rush out there! I was so scared!”

  “Zoe, I’m fine, I just need you to take a look at my shoulder. I took an energy blast to it earlier.”

  “You were shot?!” she almost dropped the small screwdriver she was holding.

  “It hit my ablative jacket, but I have an Aug where it hit.”

  “You’re augmented?” this caught her off guard. She’d never given me ‘the medical’ that she did on the other crew. I’d always avoided her as often as I could. Maybe this was why.

  “Yeah, reconstructive.” I explained as I folded down the top half of my jump suit.

  “Oh wow! You have got to let me tinker with you!” She started to probe my shoulder and arm with her fingers. “Human Industries Model 398 Synthetic skin, is that a Class 4 cybernetic limb? And the shoulder? I’d say that’s a Suus-Van FX-91!”

  “93, actually. There’s also a synthetic lung, a hybrid neuro-cord shunt and my breast bone is titanium alloy.” She stared at me for a few moments, the first time I’d seen her speechless. It didn’t last.

  “What happened to you?”

  “Long story. From my time with the Star Marine Corps.”

  “I’ve…I’ve never seen someone with such extensive augmentation. The whole left side of your torso must have been almost completely destroyed?!”

  “Yeah, I’m not really comfortable talking about it. Most of the crew don’t know either. Please keep it that way.”

  “Of course.” She was suddenly professional. Say what you will about her more annoying personality traits, I know Max wouldn’t have taken her on board if she wasn’t good. Zoe started inserting small electrodes into my synthetic skin around my shoulder and connecting them to various test equipment. She injected a solution into my upper arm and used a handheld scanner to trace around my shoulder once more. The whole process took less than ten minutes, but when she was done she told me I could pull my jump suit back up.

  “Those nanites should repair any cellular disruption to your FX-93, I think you just had some overloaded syro-static converters from the energy blast. Should be back to normal by morning.”

  “Thanks, doc. Sorry I’ve been a bit hard on you lately. I know I haven’t been the most sagely Space Daddy to you, and…”

  “Are you kidding? You’re the best Space Daddy I’ve ever had!”

  “Ah…okay. Well, thank you and let’s just keep the Augs between you and me, okay?”

  “Doctor / patient confidentiality!”

  “Right! Okay, I’d better go then.”

  “I have some questions, actually, if you don’t mind?”

  Inwardly I groaned, there she is, back to her usual self. But I figured I owed her, and yes, Max is right, I need to learn patience and introspection, etcetera.

  “Okay, I’ll answer a few, but I have to get back on station in the command module.”

  “Who was that man, Jenner? Why does he want us to go to the Gossamer System?”

  “He’s a crime boss, and I’m not sure. Because he thinks we’re up to the task.”

  “But I thought we don’t work from criminals?”

  “We don’t. Maxine was coerced into it, as you saw at the docks.”

  “Okay, do you think that lady will blow us up?”

  “Artemis? No, I don’t think she will. I hope she won’t.”

  “Will she be bunking with me? Should I talk to her when she does?”

  “No, apparently she’s bunking with me. And you can talk to her if you like.”

  “She’s bunking with you…but, you’re…you’re a guy!”

  “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

  “I mean, isn’t that little bit inappropriate?”

  “I don’t think Artemis gives a shit about what’s appropriate and what’s not. I think she just enjoys making people feel uncomfortable. I figure it is part of her defence mechanism, or part of her arsenal of weapons. I think she’s someone who’ll use sex to get what she wants and…”

  “Who said anything about sex? You’re not going to sleep with her are you?” she gasped, “You are! You’re already thinking about it, aren’t you?”

  “What? No! I said…”

  “You men are hopeless! I’ve been on this ship for almost nine months and you haven’t even made a single pass at me. She’s here for less than thirty minutes and already you’re jumping at the chance to get naked around her!”

  “What?! I had no choice! She wouldn’t leave the cabin!”

  “What?”

  “What? Nothing!” I was flabbergasted, bamboozled and a jabbering mess. One thing did sink in though. “Wait, did you want me to hit on you?”

  She threw a kidney pan at my head and narrowly missed me. She reached for the next nearest thing and I ran out of the med lab as if I was under fire. Zoe? No, she never ever, well she, I mean no, that’s completely inappropriate, I’m her Space Daddy!

  “Talking to yourself again, Donovan?” I almost ran into Mal Cutler, I was so caught up in my thoughts.

  “Sorry, Cuts.”

  “And watch where you’re going! Starships are no place for addle brained wannabes!”

  “Sure, Cuts. Thanks for the advice, bezak.”

  I made my way back to the command module, pausing at each corner in the passageways and open hatches, hoping to avoid any more unpleasant and terrifying encounters with women. I literally threw mys
elf into my seat with a loud huff, which earned me an eyeful from Fel and Crege, both of whom were still at their stations as we navigated away from the Corus Cluster.

  “Where’s Max?” I asked.

  “Having a shower. Problems?” returned Fel. I grunted.

  “I’ve had better shore leave, human.” Declared Crege.

  “Haven’t we all?” I retorted.

  “You seem a bit strung out, my friend. Anything I can help you with?”

  “Thanks Fel, but unless you have some secret Way technique for understanding women, I think I’m on my own here.”

  “Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.”

  “Which of your ancient Orlii philosophers said that?”

  “I believe it was Oscar Wilde, actually. One of your ancient earth philosophers.”

  “Huh.” I grunted.

  “Which particular woman are you in trouble with now?

  “Take your pick. One wants to stay in my cabin and bunk with me, the other is pissed at me because I let it happen. I think she’s jealous.”

  “Wait, human, which one is bunking with you?”

  “The new one!”

  “She is enemy, fool, a calak! She will slit your throat when you sleep!”

  “Thanks, Crege, as if I don’t have enough nightmares already. Look, she was already in my cabin when I got there, and she wouldn’t leave. I somehow blurted out while talking to Zoe that I took a shower while she was there, and now she’s pissed at me. Something about me not hitting on her the whole time she’s been on board.”

  “You are Space Daddy, not the way a warrior should act!”

  “Right! That’s what I thought!”

  “I agree with Crege, Seth, you hold a position of authority over Zoe, your role is to guide her in the abyss of space, not to pursue her.”

  “Look, I agree with both of you. I’ve never even considered it.”

  “And therein lies the problem.”

  “You think I should sit down and explain it to her?”

  “Yes!” “Yes!” they both shouted in unison.

  “Okay, I will.” I stood to go.

  “Not now, Seth!” said Fel as he grabbed my arm and pulled me back to my seat. Crege was chuffing and trilling in the front. I could tell the pair were having a good laugh at my expense. I let them. They were my friends, and we were heading into a very dangerous part of space. We’ll need all the laughter we can get if we’re to get through this next job. Did I mention that space was dangerous?

  7.

  Crege took the Dreaming of Atmosphere away from the Corus Cluster and soon we were far enough away from the habitat to engage our main propulsion drives. There was a slight tug on our bodies as inertia tried to have its way with our mass, but technology had long ago removed that inconvenience from space travel. Most top notch pilots like to set their stabilisers slightly below full capacity, a buffer they call ‘the soft zone’. Crege explains that to be a truly exceptional pilot you need to be able to feel the ship moving about you. To the rest of us, it just means a neck muscle workout and for Zoe a bout of motion sickness.

  The majority of space travel is rather boring, an exercise in routine tasks and maintaining a healthy mental state. The generally accepted description of open space is empty, and the vast distances between points of interest, such as planets, space stations and Jump Gates, means that a pilot really only has to calculate the position of their destination at the time that they’ll reach it and then point the ship in that direction. The main propulsion drives do the rest. Once within a certain radius of a POI, short for point of interest, the crew is alert and we’ll generally close up on our consoles in the command module. This is known among spacers as closing up on station.

  Traffic between the POIs can include anything from other star ships, debris from accidents or pirate attacks, and unauthorised or unregistered vehicles or stations. Asteroids can be a hazard as well, although the majority of them are identified, tracked and logged within a system wide navigational hazard database called MTAS – Message To All Spacers. Whenever a ship approaches within range of a station or other ship, the on-board computers automatically update their records and charts to indicate the paths and velocities of all known asteroids large enough to cause damage to a star ship. Smaller space rocks and debris is pushed aside by a forward projected energy field that nudges the debris aside. It’s not a hundred percent effective, however, and for this reason the most heavily armour part of a ship is the bow.

  Sensors of various types provide another layer of defence against navigational hazards. Radar, infrared sensors, light wave emitters, gravity detectors and high definition cameras reach out in all directions of a ship, interrogating and inspecting anything they detect. All these signals are processed and analysed by the ship’s computers, flagging anything of note for crew input. Raw feeds of the data are also available, and shouldn’t be ignored.

  Each ship does things differently, but most crews run routine shifts on duty in the command module. A good captain will ensure each watch keeper receives adequate training in reading and responding to the various MTAS and sensor inputs that need to be monitored regularly. By tradition, as First Mate, I was to stand the first watch after we reached stellar transit speeds, what we referred to as underway.

  Fel’negr and Crege climbed out of the command module soon after we were underway and went down below decks. We knew Maxine would want to address the crew regarding our newest job, and the easiest place to do that would be the cargo hold. There were internal cameras in the hold that I could watch and listen, and I had access to a ship-wide PA system so I didn’t need to be there in person to tune in. Sure enough, about ten minutes after I had the bridge to myself, Maxine entered the compartment, her hair still damp from showering. She wore the same jump suit I wore.

  “Before I call the crew, we need to talk.”

  Shit, I thought, here it comes.

  “Yeah, I figured it was coming.”

  “Good, it’s a start that you realise you made mistakes. I’m not going to chew you out about Jenner sneaking up on you, but we need to talk about your PTSD.”

  I sighed, “It’s been a while since I had an episode.”

  “Yes it has, but you’re still having them. Should I be getting in contact with Dr Shale?”

  “No, it’s just, I’d been thinking about a few of my old squaddies and then Jenner dropped that bomb on me. I don’t think I was mentally prepared, or something.”

  “I’m worried about you. Especially considering where we’re headed.”

  “I’m fine. Really. Won’t happen again.”

  She looked at me like she didn’t believe me.

  “Your inability to talk about Gossamer, and what happened, isn’t healthy. You need to deal with this. I need you on your A game. Normally, I’d let you deal with it on your own, like you’ve always done. But I can’t afford to do that this time.”

  “I’m not sure I like where this is going.”

  “You won’t. If you won’t talk to me about it, talk to your doctor.”

  “Shale? He’s light years away, we don’t have time to see my shrink!”

  “I’m not talking about Shale…”

  “Who? Zoe? Not a lot of options out here, Max!”

  “Why not Zoe?”

  “You’re serious?”

  “You think I only got her on the crew because she’s good with a bandage?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When you came back to the Dreaming, you were a veteran of some major fucking combat actions. You had half of your torso blown away and replaced by machines and biological augmentations. Adjusting to that was rough, and you were doing double and triple shifts on the bridge because you didn’t sleep. When you weren’t on duty you were sparing with Crege for hours on end. You were taking apart and reassembling all our guns repeatedly. You were joining Eric and Cuts in the engine compartments almost as much as they were.”

  “I was trying to bond with t
he crew!”

  “You were trying to stay busy so that you didn’t have time to think!”

  I was silent, mostly because she was right.

  “You’re getting better. At least I thought you were. But it’s clear that you still have to deal with what happened to you.”

  “And how does Zoe fit into this?”

  “She knows how to keep your Augs in good condition, and she’s had training in psychological treatment as well as medicine.”

  “So you hired her to take care of me?”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, you both need taking care of.”

  “So I’m her Space Daddy, and she’s my post-traumatic stress Mummy?”

  “Don’t joke about it, Seth, I really need you. The crew needs you.”

  I took a deep breath and blew it out, in defeat.

  “Okay. I’ll try and talk to her. I think she’s mad at me though.”

  “She’s a women, we’re always mad a men. Keeps you in line.”

  “Speaking of lines…”

  “The bitch?”

  “Artemis.”

  “Right. I’ll be talking with her right after I address the crew. Make the call. Cargo hold. Listen in.”

  She stood up and hesitated. Her hand rested on my shoulder for a few seconds and I couldn’t look her in the eye. She walked out and when I could hear the compartment hatch shut I used the PA and piped the crew to the cargo hold. As I pushed the button I could see my hand shaking slightly and griped it tightly with my other hand.

  I sat back and did some serious thinking. How was I going to talk to Zoe about my past? I didn’t even know how to bring it up with Max. It’s not that I become a jabbering wreck when I think about it, it’s just that I don’t know where to start, or where I’d become so undone. Maybe I should just talk to her, see where my thoughts end up. I just hoped she wasn’t going to still be pissed at me.

  Soon, I could see the crew mustering down in the cargo hold on the security cameras and I switched audio on. When everyone was there, even Artemis, Max started doing her usual pacing, getting her thoughts together I knew.

  “I’m sorry for the limited shore leave, things got pretty serious on the ‘Cluster and we’ve found ourselves with another job sooner than I’d liked” She started, giving Artemis a filthy look.