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Starliner Athos Nexus Main Chat

Chattykaffi: Good morning, cruisers! Who else stayed up past their bedtime last night? Wasn’t the gala amazing? If you’re looking to keep the fun going, check out the breakfast spread at the Supernova Buffet. I hear there are mimosas! And here’s your reminder not to miss the Cosmical Acrobats tonight in the Galaxy Amphitheater. One of the most incredible shows this side of Uranus!

NeptuneCruiser: Other than losing the lights for a bit, the gala was stellar! The Omega Min Nebula is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Well, second only to the Omega Min Star. Can’t wait to hear Ayronina sing again. She’s an angel!

Starman00: The Omega Min lived up to the hype. I plan to spend some more time on Deck 39 today.

Nexus_Mod3: Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Starman00.

ZeeinHousekeeping: If you lost anything at the gala last night, please ring housekeeping to describe your item. Several things were turned in, and we’d love to reunite them with their owners!

I shifted, tugging the covers higher, still half asleep and deeply comfortable in the nest of my bed. Harry was lying against my side. He started purring when I moved. I reached down to give him a little pet. “Morning, baby.”

He rolled onto his back, paws in the air, eyes closed, chubby belly exposed for rubs. “Sleepy, Mum.”

“I know. I am, too.” It had been a late night at Frank’s. Sadly, I wasn’t sure we’d accomplished that much. I needed to talk to Hazel today and see what additional information she could give us. I’d decided not to ask her last night just because I knew she’d stay up and pull the data immediately, and I was hoping she’d been able to get some sleep.

Frank and I wouldn’t have done anything with the dossiers last night anyway.

I glanced at the time. The soft chimes of my weekend alarm would be going off at any moment, and the window would shift from opaque to clear, giving me a glimpse of the nebula. “Computer, cancel alarm and start coffee.”

“Alarm canceled,” came the gentle computer voice. “Coffee begun.”

I really didn’t want to get up, but the current situation was more important than sleeping in. I sat up and scooped Harry into my arms, nuzzling my face into his neck.

For an android cat, he was surprisingly lifelike. Warm, soft, and because of the model I’d gone with, perfectly chunky. I gave his neck a loud smooch, then set him down. “Time to get moving, Hieronymus.”

He stretched, downward-dog style, butt in the air, front legs out as far as they would go, tail up. He was adorable. He sat down and yawned. “Where are we going, Mum?”

“Um…” I was headed to see Hazel, then back to Frank’s to do more digging. I hadn’t planned on taking Harry, but as he did usually come to the library with me every day, he was used to tagging along. I enjoyed his company, too. “I need to see Hazel, then I’m going to Frank’s.”

“I like Hazel. And Frank. And Gracie.”

“Better get yourself charged up then.”

“Righto.” He hopped down and went out to the couch, where his charging station was. It was cleverly disguised as a cat bed.

I pulled on my robe, then strapped on my wristband. No messages. I checked the Nexus. No real complaints about the lights going out last night, despite the slight panic that had seemed present in the crowd.

Maybe the sight of the nebula had made that easy to forget.

I lifted the wristband to my mouth. “Message to Hazel Perry. Stopping by to see you this morning in about an hour. Send. Next message to Frank Kitson. Bringing Harry, if that’s all right. Send.”

The delicious aroma of coffee drew me to the Instachef. I retrieved the waiting cup, then punched in a request for a sausage, egg, and cheese bowl with mushrooms and green onion. While that was being made, I went back to the bedroom to pick out my outfit.

I had no intention of getting dressed up on a Saturday, but I was seeing Hazel and Frank, so I wanted to look nice. My faded-wash jeans seemed too casual. I went with the dark wash jeans, pairing them with a black-and-white polka-dot blouse and a purple cardigan.

I’d add black flats and a purple scarf in my hair to complete the look. Being cute was important. I might be sixtysomething, but I did not feel my age on the inside.

Funny how that worked. How your mental age didn’t really keep up with your physical age. Sure, some days, I felt every one of my years. But most of the time, I didn’t. Especially being around Frank.

Of course, people lived longer these days. The life expectancy of the average person was closer to a hundred and twenty-one years now. Technically, that made me middle-aged.

I smiled. The Instachef chimed that my food was done. I went back out to get it. I put on the Morning News Report and sat at my little table to eat. I was curious to see how the gala would be reported.

Claire Weatherall filled the screen, talking about the nebula and how the Athos would be orbiting it for the next two days to give everyone the best opportunity to view it. Then they showed a clip of one of the interviews from the gala.

The Nexus Main Chat feed scrolled across the bottom of the screen. Mostly it was cruisers with questions. Those of us who lived permanently aboard the Athos preferred the Nexus Chat 3, as cruisers didn’t have access to that message board.

The camera switched to Kent Murakami, the man hired to replace the late Andrew Woolsey. “There was a brief power outage on Deck 39 last night, but it was quickly resolved, and we’ve been assured that it was just a minor issue that has been fixed.”

The camera shifted angles, and a picture of a cornucopia of vegetables appeared next to him. “The agriculture department wants your input. Should they grow bok choy or daikon as part of the next crop rotation? Voting is open until Monday at seventeen hundred hours.”

I’d already voted for bok choy. What could I say? I thought it was nice in a stir-fry. Also, anything was better than broccoli.

Kent looked over at Claire, his toothpaste-white teeth gleaming under the studio lights. “What’s new at the mall?”

The camera switched to her. “A lot, Kent. Thanks to our stop at Loessa, the shops on Deck 34 have some exciting new offerings. Blue Moon Beauty will be featuring a line of organic cosmetics that go on sale today. At Chausser’s Boutique?—”

I turned the screen off and went to shower. It seemed a little suspicious to me that the power outage had been treated so lightly, but at the same time, I knew that negative events on board tended to get the Pollyanna treatment for the sake of the cruisers.

Before I got into the shower, Hazel answered, letting me know she’d be in her office all day. Frank sent back a thumbs-up.

I ditched my robe and nightgown and stepped into the vapor shower. The heat felt good. I lingered longer than I should but finally got out and got dressed. I put in my usual diamond studs, a gift from my late husband, Ned, then did some light makeup. I tied my purple scarf into my hair, brushed my teeth, and put my shoes on.

Back in the living area, I put my dishes in the sterilizer, then did a quick look around. Everything was pretty tidy, but I wanted to make sure there was nothing on the floor that a vuum might accidentally suck up.

“Ready, Harry?”

He stood up in his bed. “Ready, Mum.”

“All right, let’s go.”

Getting to Hazel’s office required a little more travel than going to the library, which was on the same deck where I lived, or going to Frank’s, which was a few decks away.

Outside her office, I touched the lockscreen to announce my presence. The door whooshed open, and we went in. Hazel stepped out of the inner office in full uniform. “Morning, Mom.”

“Morning, Hazel.”

Her administrative assistant, Ensign Bartholomew Gibson, was off today. Hazel rarely had him work weekends unless there was something urgent going on. Of course, the missing Star qualified as urgent, but I also knew she was trying to keep that as contained as possible.

“You want some coffee?”

“No, I’m good.”

I sat across from her desk while she slipped back behind it. Harry jumped up onto the other chair and curled up.

Hazel smiled at Harry. “Hello, little man.”

Harry meowed as he sat beside me. He only talked in front of me or Frank. Thankfully. That was an upgrade that wasn’t generally optioned. In fact, I didn’t think most people with compdroids even knew it was available. I wouldn’t have if not for Frank.

The smile on Hazel’s face disappeared, replaced by the stress of the situation. My heart ached for her, and my resolve to help doubled. “Anything new?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No. Which I’m taking as a good thing. I guess. What about on your end?”

“We made a little progress last night, but we need some more information.”

Hazel nodded. “What do you need?”

“A list of all the guests, including the plus-ones. We have the invitation list, but that doesn’t include them.”

“I can get you that.”

“What about dossiers on everyone who attended? We want to dig into backgrounds, see who has the right connections to make using or fencing the Star possible.”

“Much of that is classified information.” She held her hand up. “But I know you need it.”

“I have a pretty decent security clearance,” I reminded her.

“You do. But it’s still not high enough to read classified information on the premier and his wife.” She chewed the inside of her cheek, a sure sign she was struggling with a decision.

“I don’t want to get you into any trouble. Just give me what you can.”

Her gaze came back to me. “I want to give you all of it. But I need to cover my butt, too. Can you get Frank here? I could swear you both in as Special Envoys. Under the Diplomatic Circumstances Act, the Federation allows for such things.”

“This definitely seems like a diplomatic circumstance. I’m sure Frank can be here in a few minutes.” I sent him a quick text, asking him to come to Hazel’s office.

His nearly immediate response was , I’m on my way .

While we waited, I asked Hazel some more questions. “Have the missing guards shown up?”

“Sort of. One of them unlocked the door to their quarters last night, and the other checked in at the fitness center this morning.”

“Actually them? Or do you just have notifications from their wristbands?”

Hazel’s mouth tightened. “Just their wristbands.”

“I see.”

Frank arrived. Hazel swore us in, all three of us standing. It was quick, just the repeating of an oath with our hands raised. “All right, that’s it. You’re now FAN Special Envoys. Your new clearance levels end when the circumstance is fully resolved, which could take a while. If anything’s happened that requires either of you to testify, the designations will remain in place until all legal actions are concluded. I trust neither of you will take advantage of the situation.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Frank scooped Harry up from the chair and sat, putting the cat on his lap.

My brows lifted in anticipation as I took my seat, too. “Do we get badges?”

Hazel slanted her eyes at me before tapping away at her keyboard for a minute, then looked at us again. “I’ve uploaded the requested information to a private bubble, which I’ve sent the login for to both of you. Anything else?”

“Yes,” I said. Apparently, we were not getting badges. “Was Ensign Gibson at the gala last night?”

“He was,” Hazel replied.

“Is there a dossier on him in the information you shared?”

With a small sigh, she said, “Yes. I really hope it’s not him. He’s a good worker. Reliable. I hate to think someone that close to me could do something like this. He could be court-martialed if he’s involved.”

“We’ll let you know the moment we find out anything,” Frank said.

“Thank you.”

He leaned forward. “I find it so odd that neither the premier nor his wife said anything about the real Star being replaced with a fake.”

“As do I.” Hazel frowned. “It’s one of the most worrying parts of this entire debacle. It makes me feel like we’re being set up for something far worse.”

Apparently unwilling or unable to elaborate, she glanced toward the lozenge-shaped window beside her desk. The edge of the nebula was just visible. For a moment, she stared at it, then turned back to us. “Anything else you need, just ask, but your new clearances will let you access a great deal of additional information. Time is of the utmost importance, so please, work with urgency.”

“We will,” I assured her.

“Take Monday off if need be,” Hazel said. “Both of you. I’ll allow the absences so neither of you will lose a PTO.”

Frank stood, still holding Harry. “We’ll let you know if that’s necessary.”

I got up, nodding in agreement.

Hazel got to her feet as well. “I hope it isn’t, but I’m a realist. I don’t think this is going to be solved so easily.”