Applause met Captain-Mayor Ian Brooks’s words, but it was not thundering. It was honest, from those who did it, but in the sea of hundreds of faces, the most common sentiment Apollonia saw was a bleak horror.
Sure, it was hidden by smiles and hope, but she saw it all the same.
It wasn’t at leaving New Vitriol, Apollonia knew, it was about realizing what they had escaped. Already, she’d heard people calling their previous home “Hellrock”.
She also felt the same bleak horror.
Everything about the Craton seemed to be a stark contrast to Hellrock – it was a damn good name and she was going to call it that forever more. Where Hellrock’s bulkheads had been sheet metal, at best, those on the Craton were smooth and perfect, a crisp white. Where there had been dripping water and dirty air, the Craton was cleaned so much that even the floors shined.
And floors! Hellrock didn’t have any appreciable gravity, and they couldn’t even rotate it fast enough to simulate it without ripping the asteroid apart (though she’d heard they’d tried, and actually caused a rift to form). The Craton had artificial gravity.
It felt weird to just walk on the floor. She hadn’t done it for years, not since Vitriol, where they’d built large rotating areas for exercise. On Hellrock, they’d had to just strap themselves to treadmills.
She’d almost forgotten how it felt. A lot of people in New Vitriol, she knew, had never even walked in gravity. Dr. Y had told her that many who wanted to leave the colony had to be refused for the simple reason that their hearts couldn’t have handled their own weight at 1g.
Probably a big reason there hadn’t been any physical fights. Hard to throw a punch when you were unsteady on your feet.
It was stronger than what she was used to, she had to admit. But she could handle it.
She’d survived Vitriol and Hellrock, right?
Brooks was saying something else, and the official citizenship event ended. He stepped down into the crowd, talking to people, shaking their hands.
Apollonia watched him from a distance, having a bad feeling he’d head her way. She’d gotten an invitation to join him on the stage, but she really didn’t want to do that. It would draw a lot of attention.
But even in the crowd, people had shied away from her. They still knew the stories about her from Hellrock.
The irony of standing alone while being welcomed into the Sapient Union wasn’t lost on her.
Wasn’t like she could avoid attention, she might as well have accepted the Captain’s invitation.
But it hadn’t been just Brooks up there; there had been the strange Coral alien, and Dr. Logus, along with a handful of other officers.
The only one she knew was Dr. Y. And he was the only one she felt comfortable beside.
She approached the doctor. He was easy to spot through the crowd, he towered over any person she’d ever met. Besides Brooks himself, he seemed to have the most people around him. All probably ones he’d given medical attention to . . .
She waited for them to clear up before approaching.
“Hello, Ms. Nor,” he said, offering a polite bow. It was so perfect and genteel that she couldn’t help but smile.
“You can just call me Nor,” she said. “No need for ‘miss’.”
“Yes, but this is a somewhat formal event. I feel compelled to obey the niceties,” the machine replied. “But any other time, I shall call you only Nor, as you have requested.”
“I’m a citizen now, that doesn’t change anything? I’ve heard in the SU everyone is called by a number,” she said, laughing. “All just cogs in the machine.” She felt a sudden heat wash over her face in embarrassment. “Ah . . . I’m sorry, was that insulting?”
Dr. Y waved it away. “I am hardly insulted by a joke, Ms. Nor. I do not believe you mean it to hurt me. Though, that it comes to your mind so quickly suggests that on some level you believe there is an element of truth to it. If so, may I ask why?”
“Oh,” she said. “It’s just . . . all the shows I ever saw, you guys always come off as . . . brainwashed. All in lockstep.”
Dr. Y hesitated before replying. “I think you might need to see some new shows, Nor,” he replied jovially. “We have over five hundred million shows available for viewing on the public stations.”
Brooks was looking her way, she noticed. But he was still caught up talking to others still.
“I noticed you stood . . . isolated,” Dr. Y said to her. “I am surprised you had no friends with you.”
“I barely know anyone,” she replied.
“Oh, that is unfortunate. But I am sure that it is something that can be rectified now that you are on the Craton.”
“Maybe,” she replied without enthusiasm. “But what about you? Do you . . . talk to people outside of your work?”
“Of course,” Y replied. “I speak often with Commander Cenz, and he regularly joins me in my quarters to play Epochs.”
“What’s that? And wait, you have a room?”
“Of course. I do not need it, but I am entitled to the space and I use it largely for entertaining.”
Apollonia tried to imagine the doctor entertaining guests. She had a feeling it didn’t involve him dancing.
“As for Epochs,” he continued. “It is a card game, that both of our people widely enjoy.”
“How do you play? I’d like to learn it,” she said, smiling.
“I can certainly show you,” Dr. Y said. “But it will have to be another time. I am afraid that my full attention is required in the med lab. We have much work to do in preparation for our arrival at Medical Station 29.”
“Oh,” she replied. “Yeah, of course. You have to do your job.”
He bowed to her again. “Always a pleasure, Ms. Nor. Please take care of yourself.” Turning sharply, the doctor walked away, and Nor watched after him.
She’d heard a lot of people talking about this medical facility. They were going to take all the surviving clones to the place, but there had been a tension about it she didn’t understand.
Maybe they were just eager to get the clones off their ship. They were creepy, though it was no fault of their own.
The clearing of a throat caught her attention.
Expecting Brooks, she turned to offer as polite a greeting as she could manage, but the words caught in her throat.
Dr. Logus was smiling at her lightly. “Apollonia, do you mind if I have a word?”
She said nothing for a long moment. Apparently, he took that as permission to continue.
“You’ve been avoiding talking with me, and-“
“I do mind,” she said quickly.
The doctor recoiled slightly, surprised.
“If I have insulted you, then I am sor-“
“No,” she said. She wasn’t even sure what it meant in the context of his words, but it summed up her view.
Turning, she walked away quickly, glancing back only once to make sure the man wasn’t following her.
He wasn’t. He was just staring after her with both concern and confusion on his face.
Other Terrestrial 