They say that to be in command is to be automatically lonely. By now you might have already figured out that Tree is a fairly lonely person anyway, and the isolation that comes from being in command maybe even suits her personality.
But that makes me sad. She has one of the kindest hearts you’ll ever meet, but it’s been roughed up quite a bit in her short life. Now she guards it fiercely, and I suppose I can’t blame her for that.
Thank goodness for Lita Marques.
The slightly curved walls of the corridor created something of a tunnel, which helped the circulation of air within Galahad. And although all of the walls were covered with a thin spongy material, each level had its own color scheme, helping the crew members quickly identify their location as they made their way around the ship. This particular level, which housed the Dining Hall, Rec Center, and a number of offices and control centers, also was home to the Conference Room, where the Council held its meetings.
Triana’s walk had ended up here, and she leaned against one of the curved walls outside the Conference Room. Lita had also arrived early, and was sitting on the floor with her back to the opposite wall, chatting with the Council Leader. The two girls had become friends during their long, grueling training schedule on Earth, and had grown even closer during the first four months in space. Triana had quickly realized that Lita was trustworthy and honest, which made it easy to talk with her during difficult times. Normally a shy and quiet person, Triana wasn’t often comfortable making casual conversation but found that it came naturally when she was in the company of her friend from Mexico.
It would be all business when the meeting came to order, so for now the two girls enjoyed the chance to make small talk.
“Are you nervous? I sure would be,” Triana said.
Lita smiled. “I’ve been playing the piano since I was seven, including recitals and school shows, so you’d think I would be cool up there. But you know what? I’ll be just as nervous as I was the first time. What do you call it in America? Butterflies? Well, I’ll have a stomach full of them when I walk out there.”
Triana decided to tease her a bit. “Well, don’t even think about the two hundred people staring at you, listening to every single note.”
“Very funny. Actually, I always seem to calm down after I get started. The music just takes over, I guess. Plus, I’m not going to be the only one up there.”
The concert had been Channy’s idea. Since so many crew members played an instrument, she had recommended that several of them get together. Now, after three weeks of practice, the show was set. In about thirty-six hours the Learning Center, or School as it was better known, would be packed.
“And I don’t want to brag,” Lita said, “but I think we’re pretty good. All we really need is someone to sing, and we could have a hit.” Both girls laughed. “Even though we haven’t written much of our own stuff yet. Right now we’re just trying to tighten up on some of our old favorites.”
“Why don’t you sing?” Triana said.
Lita flashed her smile again. “Uh, no. That’s one skill I don’t have. Believe me, I’m perfectly happy hiding behind my electronic keyboard.”
Gap came around a corner, a surprised look on his face. Probably can’t believe somebody actually beat him to a meeting, Tree thought.
“What’s going on?” Gap said. “Are we meeting out here in the hall?”
Triana shook her head. “No, just hanging out, waiting for everyone.” She tried to put him at ease with a smile, and then realized that she had been doing that for weeks. Was it a matter of trying to overcompensate for the awkwardness between them? Gap was still being cordial to her, but his overall coolness had now dragged on for months. Maybe it was time for a talk with him, she decided, but the thought of that instantly settled like a knot in her stomach.
Lita, still sitting on the floor, looked up at Gap. “How’s the arm?”
“Great. Couldn’t be better.”
“Hmm. Why don’t you stop in to Sick House in the next day or two and we’ll see about getting rid of that sling.”
A sheepish look came over Gap. “Well,” he said, pulling the arm out, “I’ve actually been doing this a lot lately.” He waved the arm around a few times, and then noticed the alarmed look on Lita’s face.
“Oh, great,” she said, the smile disappearing. “Do you want to have that arm back in there for another two or three weeks? Stop doing that!”
Gap grinned. “Yes, mother.” He slid the arm back into the sling.
Lita looked across the corridor at Triana, who was barely holding back a laugh. “Do you see why my job is so difficult? No respect.” She turned back to Gap. “When you wake up tonight with pain, don’t even think about slinking down to pick up some meds. You just sleep with some pain, okay, tough guy?”
Gap pulled the arm out one more time and blew a kiss toward Lita with it. This time Triana couldn’t hold back the laughter, and was glad to see that the corners of Lita’s mouth were curling upward also.
“Well, everybody seems to be in a good mood this morning,” Channy said, walking up to the group. Iris was cradled in her left arm. “The two princesses are here. I see you have all waited at attention. Her ladyship and I will see you now.”
“Oh,” Lita cooed, and held her hands out. Channy transferred the small cat to Lita, and then turned to face Triana.
“Are we meeting out here in the hall?”
Triana rolled her eyes, and then looked at Gap. “Maybe we should think about that. C’mon, let’s go.” She pushed off from the wall and walked into the Conference Room, followed by the other Council members.
As soon as they took their seats, Channy looked around. “I see that our jolly friend Bon isn’t here yet.”
“He’ll be here,” Triana said. “He hasn’t missed a meeting yet.”
As usual, she tried to deflect criticism from Bon. For one thing, as Galahad’s leader that kind of talk made her uncomfortable. But she also had to be honest with herself and admit that there were other feelings floating around inside her, too. Feelings that she still couldn’t figure out. Feelings, she hoped, that wouldn’t affect her ability to command properly. Bon could not be immune from discipline, nor receive any other special treatment, regardless of what she felt. For now she bit her lip and silently wished that he would walk through the door and spare her from having to deal with that particular issue.
The group chatted and laughed for a while, unconsciously killing time to allow Bon to show up. But after a few minutes, Triana brought the meeting to order. She was getting irked at the Swede by this point. It was true that he had never missed a meeting—until now, it seemed—and she couldn’t help wonder if this was part of the new coolness he had developed around her. He wasn’t quite as rude as he had been before the Spider bay incident, but still had kept a frosty distance. She decided to put her business face on and concentrate on the issues at hand.
“Let’s take care of some minor items first,” she said. “Hannah Ross is going to join us in a few minutes.”
Gap raised his eyebrows. “Really? What’s up?” He suddenly became aware of Channy’s eyes on him, and did his best to seem only mildly interested.
Triana shook her head. “I don’t know for sure. She sent me an e-mail and said she had something important to share about Titan.”
“Yeah,” Gap said. “I know she’s really into that stuff. And I mean into it a lot.”
“Well, I told her to give us a few minutes to take care of old business before she stopped in. Since we’ve wasted enough time waiting for Bon, let’s go ahead and get started with the department reports. Gap, why don’t you go first.”
“Everything is running smoothly with Engineering. The slingshot around Saturn went perfectly, as you all know. The solar sails will stay retracted now, and the ion power drive is running at 94 percent.” He brought up a trajectory image on the vidscreen, similar to the one that Triana had been looking at in the Dining Hall. “We’re on course, and our next contact point will be the Kuiper Belt at the edge of the solar system.”
For a few minutes he discussed some maintenance issues on the ship, and concluded with an update on the pesky water recycling units in the Agricultural Domes. They were each being inspected, and would hopefully be in top working condition within the week.
Triana nodded. “Channy, what do you have for us?”
“I’m happy to report that crew member fitness is excellent. So far everybody is participating like they should in the exercise programs.”
“Of course they are,” Gap said with a grin. “Nobody wants to get on your bad side and end up doing five miles on the treadmill.”
“More like ten,” Channy said. “All kidding aside, I’m really happy with all of the activity. Soccer, of course, is still number one, and I’m thinking about another tournament next month. Attendance in the dance classes seems to ebb and flow, but those who really like it never miss a class, so that’s good.” She looked at Triana. “I guess I don’t have to be a nag . . . yet.”
Chuckles rippled around the room. Then Lita recognized that it was her turn to speak, and the expression on her face grew serious. She filled everybody in on the sudden rash of patients at Sick House, and the similarity of their symptoms.
“The headaches are what really concern me. Medication is helping some, but we still haven’t figured out the cause, and that could be something serious. We need to become medical detectives and solve this mystery soon.”
Each member of the Council offered questions and suggestions about possible causes. Radiation? No. Stress? Maybe, but from what? General fatigue? Are they just tired from their four months working in space? Maybe, but why only isolated incidents?
“I’m still wondering if it has something to do with our encounter with Saturn,” Lita said. “Nobody knows for sure what a huge gravitational object like that might do to some people.”
Triana frowned. “I don’t know about that. Roc, any comments?”
The computer said, “Sure. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I think that from now on I’d like to be known as ‘Your Honor.’ ”
Gap turned to Channy. “Is it just me, or is he getting more outrageous every week?”
Triana sighed. “Roc, please.”
“Oh, all right. To answer Lita’s concern about Saturn, that’s not likely. The ship is affected, of course, but our life-support systems protect all of you from any damaging effects. I’ve checked and rechecked radiation levels, and that’s not an issue. And each of the ship’s air-filtration systems is fine, too. In other words, there’s no ship malfunction that’s to blame.”
Although it was good news, it still left Triana concerned. Could the patients’ symptoms just be a fluke? Could it be some sort of stress reaction after all? Somehow she didn’t think so.
Lita spoke up again. “Anyway, we also have our little friend here.” She held up Iris, who was on the verge of falling asleep in her arms. They could all hear its purring as Lita stroked it softly behind the ears. “For now she seems to be happy with the fake fish from our Dining Hall. I’ve checked the data banks, and as long as we get her the proper amount of protein and minerals, she should be fine. Not the optimal diet, maybe, but not too bad.”
Channy giggled. “Don’t forget about the litter box situation.”
“Ah, yes,” Lita said. “The litter box. For now she’s loving life up at the Farms. Uh, I don’t know what Bon will have to say about that . . .”
Tree sighed. “Well, I don’t see the harm if we maintain a little space for her somewhere in the Farm Section but away from the crops. I suppose we need to do a little research on the health ramifications. Roc should be able to help with that.” She felt her eyes watering a little bit, and knew that if she got any closer to Iris her allergic reaction would intensify.
The door opened and everyone looked up to see Hannah Ross. She had a look on her face that seemed to be asking if she was too early. Tree smiled and indicated an open chair at the end of the table. “C’mon in, Hannah.”
Hannah nodded at the Council and sat down. She chanced one quick glance at Gap, who seemed to be concentrating on a point somewhere in front of him on the table. She set her work pad in front of her and looked across at Triana.
The Council leader said, “I think we’re at a point where we can move on to new business. Any objections?” They all turned their attention to Hannah, who fumbled with her work pad before meeting their looks. She nervously cleared her throat.
“Let me just say that I don’t have an answer for what I’m about to share with you.”
“Wow,” Channy said, laughing. “That’s a great start.”
Hannah exhaled, then started again. “Two days ago I started running scans on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. I was hoping to use the data from the . . . the research station, but I don’t think we have that yet. Is that right?”
Tree nodded but remained silent, listening.
“Anyway,” Hannah said, “I’ve always been fascinated by this moon, and I’m not alone. It’s one of the reasons there was a research station put there in the first place. Titan is a treasure trove of information. I couldn’t wait to get started. In fact, I wish we could hang out here for a while.”
Gap smiled at her. “Uh, unfortunately we have an appointment a few light-years away.”
Hannah blushed at his attention, hoping that no one noticed. She looked back down at her work pad. “Then yesterday I noticed . . . it. I ran a couple of checks to make sure all of the equipment was operating smoothly, and it all came back okay. So, like I said, I have the data, but not an explanation.”
Triana sat forward. “What is it?”
Hannah paused, then looked across the table at Triana. “Titan. It’s talking to us.”