Page 23 of Across The Stars
I smiled, elated that I was going to see Sam again, and walked more briskly toward the viewing deck. The trek was much longer than I thought it would be, but when I finally found the sliding double doors, I was relieved to find them open. I slipped inside and found a hundred-foot, round floor covered in a see-through dome that looked right out into space. I felt like I was floating and paused just inside the entrance to take a breath.
There were three other people in the viewing area, all staring out into space like they were dreaming. In the middle of the platform was a white dome, inside which was what looked like a big telescope with a computer screen on the front for people to observe. I was about to go fiddle with it when I heard a familiar squeak from behind. I spun to see Sam hopping toward me with a beaming smile. We tried to keep our voices down as we collided in a relieved hug, but it was near impossible.
“Holy shit,” Sam whispered loudly. “How was your first day? This whole thing has been crazy. What about you? What have you been doing?”
I shrugged. “I did warehouse work today. It’s easy. The food is good.”
“Right? I had spaghetti today. It doesn’t taste fake at all.”
“Well, it’s not,” I chuckled.
“You know what I mean. Innifer, I am so happy you suggested this. This place is amazing. Have you filled out your profile yet?”
I recalled the accidental selfie I snapped of myself and cringed. “No.”
“Well, do it. It’s like social media for the Nexus. Obviously, there are a lot of restrictions, but it’s still cool. It feels so official. God, this place rocks.”
“What are you talking about? All I’ve done is sleep and eat and move boxes. What have you been doing in just one day? I mean, don’t get me wrong, this placeisamazing. I’m not shaking my ass on stage, so that’s great and look at that,” I pointed toward the stars above and sighed. “I can’t believe where we are.”
“I know. But,” Sam said, tapping me on my shoulder and dragging me toward the farthest side of the dome. She looked around at the others in the chamber and tugged me close. “I’m shadowing this lady named Tollie. She’s a doctor.”
“Seriously? I thought all new recruits were doing grunt work.”
“Oh, trust me. What I’m doing is grunt work. I just kind of carry data pads and sometimes jot down notes. Anyways, check this shit out.”
Sam sat herself down on the floor like a child and crossed her legs as she sifted through images on her Buddy. She fumbled, clearly not acquainted with the device yet.
“Ok, here,” she said, pulling up an image of a ship that looked like an arrowhead, though the photo was a little blurry. “See that? Apparently, that’s what the blockade picked up when we got here.”
“And you know about this how?”
“Because I look like a ditz and people talk around me. Anyways, they’re the gek’tal and I guess the Nexus is full of information on them. Sounds like their rivalry with the valerians has been rekindled as of late and since we as humans agreed to provide military power in exchange for syfer, they’re trying to make sure we have all the information. What are the odds of that? Wejustgot here and we’re in the drama. Their war hasbeen more or less over for decades and now they’re back? This is the kind of shit Earth puts into movies and we’re living it.”
“The fact that the gek’tal might be trying to start another war while we’re up here doesn’t seem great.”
Sam shrugged. “Yeah, but if we were in real danger, they wouldn’t keep us up here, right?”
“Sure,” I said, unconvinced.
“Anyways, most of the info is in our Buddies, so that’s cool. Maybe not the deets on the political stuff, but there’s a good amount. And I wouldn’t be able to understand the politics if I tried, so who cares?”
“Yeah, I was surfing it a little earlier.” I raised my brows, thinking. “So, what cool things have you learned about the gek’tal?”
“Dunno. I can’t retain anything Tollie says when he starts using big words. I just write shit down. And you know doing research isn’t my strong suit,” she snorted. “As far as I know, they’re humanoid, mean, and they live on some planet called Wolf, but they call it Ge... Gesei... Geseiy... shit I can’t pronounce it, but apparently, we found the planet a long time ago, but never knew there was life there. Now look! It’s trying to kill us,” she laughed, wiping her brow.
“I had no idea this stuff interested you,” I chuckled.
“I didn’t either! I feel like this was the best decision of our lives.” She leaned in, hugging me with a toothy smile. “But what about you? I want you to be happy, too. I mean, it’s just been one day, but I wanna know.”
“I am happy,” I said, looking up again at the endless, star-littered black surrounding us. “We’re in an enclosed station and I feel freer than I did on the ground. Also…” I pulled up my Buddy to search the profile I found on my father. “I found this.”
“Holy shit. Is that your dad?” Sam said.
“Yup. He was given a medal up here.” My smile flattened a little as I stared into my father’s eyes on the image. “Kinda leaves a lot of a room for improvement on my end. I’m a fucking stripper.”
“Exotic dancer,” Sam corrected, lifting her chin with pride.
I laughed softly into my hand. “Ok, well when you put it that way. Aside from that, I’m rooming with a nice guy named Omar.”
