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Starliner Athos Nexus Main Chat

Chattykaffi: Good morning, cruisers! As we enter our second day of the fallow phase, we are pleased to welcome four Ohuli guests to the Athos. If you see them, be sure to give them a warm greeting. Have a wonderful day!

RedPlumber: Did I hear right? We took on four stranded passengers? What do we know about them? Were they vetted?

KelinHK: I’d like to know too.

MaintenanceMark: All I know is their ship is tethered at Docking Bay 1 and it got a thorough going over by a FAN team last night.

RedPlumber: That’s something, I guess.

I slept, but I had strange dreams and woke feeling like I’d just closed my eyes. Also, for the first time in a long time, the alarm had to wake me up.

“Alarm off,” I muttered, already cranky. I needed coffee. I blinked a few times to get the sleep out of my eyes and realized I was not alone.

Harry was lying parallel to me, on his back, paws splayed in the air, his round, white belly just there for the rubbing.

Despite my mood, I laughed. It was impossible not to. “You’re the most ridiculous creature.”

Still in my pajamas, I padded out to the Instachef and tapped in my coffee order. I wasn’t really ready to be awake, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I had to open the library this morning, and, more importantly, I had research to do.

I wondered how Frank’s night had gone. If he’d discovered anything. And if he’d gotten any sleep.

Bleary-eyed, I glanced at my wristband and realized I had a message waiting. It was from the man himself.

Had a thought. Could I have the pila that Nostromo gave you?

The message had come in around 3a.m. I didn’t know what that meant for Frank’s sleep, but I hoped he’d gotten some. If he was sleeping now, I hoped he had his wristband on silent.

I can bring it with me to the library or drop it off at your place first thing, if you want it sooner.

He hadn’t said anything else, which I took to mean he hadn’t found any answers yet. I didn’t ask, knowing he’d tell me when that happened.

The Instachef chimed. My coffee was done. I picked up the cup and carried it back to bed. I needed to get ready, but I needed some caffeine in my system before that happened. I sat on the bed and took my first sip.

At least I didn’t have to think about my outfit much. I’d be back in my standard-issue jumpsuit today. Maybe I’d pick my accessories based on my mood. Black cardigan, black flats, and a black scarf in my hair.

I drank some more coffee and knew I wouldn’t do that. I liked color too much, and if ever there was a day for color, this was it.

Harry continued to lie on the bed as though he hadn’t a care in the world, which he didn’t. What a life.

By the time I’d showered, done my makeup and hair, and gotten dressed (in a bright blue cardigan, white sneakers, and a blue-and-white scarf in my hair), I still hadn’t heard from Frank, but I was feeling more awake.

The second cup of coffee really helped. I ate a probiotic yogurt with some spaceberries for breakfast, since I wasn’t that hungry.

I would be later, though, so I ordered lunch from the Instachef to take with me, a salad with chicken, chickpeas, cucumber and Greek dressing, then packed it, along with the pila, into a small tote. “Ready, Harry?”

“Ready, Mum.”

We left and headed down the corridor to the library. We weren’t more than ten steps away when my hormones took over and a hot flash hit me. I unzipped my jumpsuit a little more, but that didn’t begin to give me the relief I needed.

“Harry, detour.”

“Righto, Mum.”

I changed course and headed directly for the cryostasis chamber, which was kept at a crisp thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit. I held my wristband up to the scanner and dashed inside before the door had completely opened.

The door slid shut behind Harry, and I unzipped a little more, pulling off my cardigan to let myself breathe.

“You all right, Mum? Your temperature is way up.”

“Hot flash, Harry.”

“That’s from menopause.”

“Yes, thanks.” I fanned myself, trying to get as much cool air down the front of my jumpsuit as possible without getting completely naked.

Stupid, stupid jumpsuit. “You can, um, look around, if you like.” There were two hundred and twenty-five of Earth’s best and brightest in their cryostasis pods for him to look at, after all.

And they’d be the minds responsible for keeping the new Earth colony going, once we reached it.

The new colony on EB 465 had been set up six years ago, but it needed more bright minds and young people, both of which we were bringing them.

“All right.” He trotted off to investigate.

At least the cryostasis chamber was conveniently located between my quarters and my job at the library. I was starting to cool down enough to pay attention to what Harry was doing. Which was standing on top of one of the cryostasis pods and peering in through the little window.

The pods resembled enormous tubes of lipstick more than they did people holders. Except for the little glass rectangles over the faces.

“Find something interesting?” I asked.

“Dr. Lucille Parl,” Harry answered. “She’s a neuroscientist.”

“That is very interesting.” I was starting to get chilly. The hot flash was mercifully over, and it was time to open up the library. I pulled my cardigan back on. “Come, Harry. Off to the library we go.”

He looked at me. “All better, Mum?”

“All better.”

He jumped down. We slipped out and continued on our way. Once in the library, I turned on all the lights and did my usual walk around to be sure everything was in order. It was, other than a grouping of chairs in the reading nook that needed rearranging.

There was some actual library work to be done.

Every time we visited a planet, we picked up new books.

They had to be translated, a job the computer took care of, but they had to be done in batches and then checked against the covers to be sure the right cover made it back onto the right book.

For whatever reason, the computer struggled with that.

I put my lunch away, put the tote bag with the pila in my office, then got the first batch of books uploaded and into the translator.

Next, I made sure the classroom for the molecular physics students was ready and their video presentation queued up and waiting.

With that done, I could start my Ohuli research project. But I’d only just opened up a search window when a patron came in.

Except it wasn’t a patron. It was someone from engineering and mechanical, judging from the navy jumpsuit. Not Frank, sadly. “Good morning.”

“Morning. Are you Ellis McFadden?”

“I am. What can I do for you?”

“I’m Sten Ollanson. I have a work order to upgrade your Instachef.”

I blinked in amazement. “You do? That’s wonderful.” I had no idea how that had happened, but I wasn’t going to turn down such a nice surprise.

He smiled. “Just point me to it, and I’ll get the old one disconnected and out of your way. I’ll be able to bring the new one up and get it installed by the end of the day, if all goes well. You be all right without one for a couple hours?”

Good thing I’d brought my lunch. “That’ll be fine. Just let me fill my water bottle and you can proceed.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

I ran to my office and grabbed the refillable stainless-steel bottle I kept in my desk and took it to the breakroom. Sten was already in there, measuring.

“What will become of this one?” I asked, filling my bottle with water.

“It’ll be stripped for parts, and what can’t be reused will be recycled. Very little waste, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

“Just curious, mostly.” Bottle full, I screwed the lid back on. “I’ll let you get to work.”

As I walked back to the desk, another patron was coming in. One I recognized. “Morning.”

Frank nodded. “Morning, Els.”

I frowned, concerned about my guy. “You look tired.”

“I feel tired.”

“Did you get any sleep?” I slipped behind the counter, then leaned over it to give him a kiss.

“Not much.”

“Were you able to answer any questions?”

He sighed, resting one arm on the counter. “Not really. Mostly I just created some new ones.”

“That bad, huh?”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “It’s a real puzzler. What I have been able to determine so far is that the ship appears to be constructed from an organic material that contains layers of latticed nanocrystals that seem to be a variation on an iridophore.”

I should have gotten a third cup of coffee. “Can you say that again in English?”

“You know how a chameleon or an octopus can change their color?”

“Sure.”

“It’s that kind of biological technology, which is not a subject I have a real depth of learning in. I have some because of my work with compdroids, but this … this is next-level stuff.”

“What can I do to help?”

“I need any books on biological technology you’ve got, and I came to pick up that pila.”

“That’s in my office. Let me grab it.” I ran to the office and got the pila out of my bag. As I was carrying it back, a loud thump followed by a grunt came from the breakroom.

Frank frowned as he looked at me. “What’s going on in there?”

“Instachef is being removed so a new upgraded model can be installed.”

Frank nodded. “Finally, huh?”

I smiled. “Yep.”

An oddly pale Sten stuck his head out before I could give Frank the pila. “Do you have a— Oh, hey, Frank.”

“Hey, Sten. How’s it going?”

“Um…” Sten held up his hand, which was dripping blood.