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Carter stared into the bathroom mirror. The briefcase rested on the edge of the sink. His head throbbed, and the room grew dark. Overcome with dizziness, he gripped the sink counter to prevent himself from falling.
“Are you almost finished?” Sylvia asked.
“Yeah,” he stammered.
“You’ve been in there for quite some time.”
“Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. I wanted to check on you.”
Carter shook his head. In the mirror, something moved behind him. He turned quickly. He didn’t see anything except the hovering cloud of shower steam. When he faced the mirror again, he caught a glimpse of the alien’s large dark eyes staring back at him. He squeezed his eyes shut. When he reopened them, she was gone. He wiped the condensation off the mirror. Leaning closer, he stared into his own eyes. Everything seemed normal.
With his right index finger and thumb, he peeled his eyelids wider apart. Other than partially bloodshot from fatigue, he didn’t see any signs of jaundice or strange dilations of his pupils. He closed his eyes and massaged them gently, until bursts of bright colors intensified behind his eyelids.
Looking in the mirror again, Carter rubbed his cheeks. He needed to shave. Not that it really mattered. By the time the seven-month trip to Earth was over, he’d have a full beard and long shaggy hair, which might prove to be a blessing for disguise. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that Grayson Enterprises would seek to capture him, Magnus, and Sylvia at almost any cost. With the longer hair and beard, no one would readily recognize him.
Wiping his brow with a damp towel, his hands began to shake. Chill bumps ran up his spine and down his arms. He shuddered for a moment and then patted the rest of his face dry. Anxiety overshadowed him.
Outside the bathroom door, Sylvia laughed and talked to Digger. He wished he could laugh with such a carefree attitude, but that was something he doubted he’d ever experience again. Life was short, and the only true happiness he remembered had died a few days earlier.
Carter looked into the reflection of his own sad eyes. “Wanda, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything.”
***
Sylvia’s door opened, and Magnus walked through. She sat on the end of the bed stroking the back of Digger’s neck. The ferret closed its eyes with obvious content.
“Welcome back,” she said.
Magnus glanced around the room. “Thanks. Where’s Carter?”
“Still in the bathroom. He’s been in there for quite some time.”
“Showering?”
She nodded. “Over an hour ago.”
Magnus shrugged. “If I had the opportunity, I’d shower that long, too.”
“But the water stopped forty-five minutes ago.”
“He’s been through a lot. Maybe he needs time to cope.”
Sylvia gave a slight shrug. “I suppose.”
Carter opened the bathroom door and stepped out with the briefcase in hand. Steam billowed out behind him.
“Everything okay?” Magnus asked.
Carter nodded. “Yes. I’m tired. I need to get some sleep.”
“That’s a good idea,” Magnus replied.
“Yes,” Sylvia said. “We need to get to the mechanic shop before the guards change shifts. That means early.”
“Why’s that so important?” Carter asked.
“Because the night shift guards will be exhausted.”
“And if we don’t get some sleep, so will we,” Magnus said.
“You’re right,” Sylvia said. She stared at her full-size bed. “It will only hold Carter and I.”
Magnus smiled. “I don’t mind the floor at all. I’m so tired, I could sleep through almost anything.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh, don’t be. It’s okay. We’ll sleep better once we’re on our way back to Earth. Actually, we can take one hell of a long nap then.”
Sylvia grinned.
Magnus stretched out on the cold floor and sighed. “Actually, I think the hard floor will help my aching back.”
She tossed him a thin blanket.
Carter sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor. His eyes became distant again.
Sylvia wondered why he constantly seemed so deep in thought. What was going on in his mind? Seeing all the carnage on Deimos had to have been staggering. She hoped that more sleep would help him before morning, but PTSD from any situation never faded easily. Sometimes it never went away.
***
Carter snored loudly until Sylvia finally shook him awake the next morning.
“Huh? What is it?” He rubbed his eyes for a moment and then saw her smiling down at him. He frowned, looking around the room.
“We need to go,” she said.
“Hell,” Magnus said. “If I had known you’d sleep this long, I’d have taken a longer shower.”
Carter rolled and sat up on the edge of the bed. Grabbing his briefcase, he headed to the door where Magnus was already standing. Carter shook his head. His eyes were heavy and fatigued.
Carter said, “I don’t understand why I feel so drained.”
“Space lag,” Sylvia said. “It will be even worse by the time we reach Earth.”
Magnus nodded, taking in her information. “Never thought about that, but seven months . . . yeah, that’s gonna tax us pretty heavily.”
“We’ll sleep most of the way in Hyber-Sleep,” she said. “We should probably set our timers to sleep for a month at a time and then awaken for three or four days to exercise before inducing sleep again.”
“I have no recall of how I got here,” Magnus said, rubbing the back of his head. “I imagine there must have been some kind of transitional stages for the miners when they arrived. Surely, they don’t put them all to work immediately.”
Sylvia replied, “They do gradually exercise them for about two weeks before placing them into the mines, which probably isn’t enough. Not after seven months of Hyber-Sleep.”
“The muscular atrophy would be my concern. Any idea how the guards that traveled here cope with these trips?” Carter asked.
“There are exercise bikes and machine weights aboard the shuttles.”
“Ah, good, “ Magnus said. “That will help.”
“Yep, and the officers who fly here, they have to wait about eight months before they can take another shuttle back to Earth.”
“Really?” Magnus asked. “Why’s that?”
She nodded. “Something to do with bone density. From what I’ve read and heard, space travel causes a loss of one percent bone mass per month of space travel. Staying here for several months lessens one’s chance of osteoporosis.”
They stepped into the dark corridor. Magnus pulled down his helmet visor, as did Carter. The corridor was quiet.
“Hurry,” Sylvia said in a quivering nervous voice. “We need to get to the mechanic storage room.”
She marched between them, hoping that anyone watching from the overhead cameras would think that they were escorting her through the corridor. Since she was heading toward the landing bay approximately an hour ahead of her schedule, she needed to fool security into believing she had been requested for duty. Such requests occurred from time to time when a mechanic became sick or was too hung-over to work.
The corridor seemed colder than normal. Sylvia’s breath escaped her nose and mouth in little clouds. She hugged herself. Without even realizing it, the trio walked at a fast pace. Between the fear of being caught and their anticipation of stealing the shuttle, their adrenaline levels had spiked.
The closer they got to the landing bay, the brighter the corridor became. Under the fluorescent lights, the walls were magnificent to behold. The polished tunnel showed the brilliance of the small MarQuebes infused in the walls. The imbedded stones resembled an array of shiny ruby-red and blue twinkling stars.
“Remain calm if any of the other guards head toward us,” Sylvia said. “Don’t engage in conversation because it might give you away.”
Magnus nodded.