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Brooks felt more drained than he expected after leaving Verena’s office. He headed back towards the Craton, going from the spin-gravity of the habitation area to the zero-g of the transition areas.
He was tired.
He shouldn’t be tired after just seeing Verena again, but he was. Every time he saw her, he remembered the easy camaraderie between the three of them. Him, Zach, and her.
She’d been a good friend.
As much as he was glad she had survived Terris, it still felt like she had died there.
And why had he gotten to walk away?
Zach had not actually been at Terris. He knew the man – his friend – felt an enormous amount of guilt over it, but he’d had a good reason. Just luck, really; at that time he’d had his daughters with him and hadn’t been aboard the Kilimanjaro. There might have been time for him to get back, but the two had decided he would stay with their children.
Damn it all.
The tunnel leading back to the Craton seemed dimmer than he remembered. Power-saving? Seemed odd, but it could be.
In the darkest corners, he felt like he was seeing something, a shape – a ring.
Staring into the shadows, he realized that it was like the surface of the tunnel itself was in the shape. But no, that made no sense, it was just an airlock tunnel, not an-
“Captain?”
Startled, Brooks jerked back, almost flipping over the railing in the zero-g.
“Yes, Dr. Logus?” he asked, managing to hide most of his annoyance.
“Are you all right, Captain? You seemed to be just staring.”
He looked back to the area he’d seen the oddities.
There were no shadows. The tunnel was well-lit.
“I was lost in thought,” he told the doctor.
“Ah, I understand. Well, Captain, apologies for bothering you, but I wondered if I might speak with you.”
Brooks nodded and started back down the tunnel towards the Craton. He moved quickly and easily, as a spacer would. Many people claimed that those born on planets never adjusted to spacer life well, but he was pleased to see that Logus was having a hard time keeping up – despite being born on a station.
“There’s the matter of Apollonia Nor’s breakdown earlier. I am concerned about her, Captain.”
“As am I. I believe you should speak to her, Doctor.”
“I would like to – but she refuses. She doesn’t seem to like me much, which I believe is related to the low-quality of medical care in the Begonia system.”
“She seems to have taken to Dr. Y well enough,” Brooks noted. “She called out to him on the Chain when she was raving.”
“Yes, that’s true,” Logus replied. He looked troubled.
They stepped into the gravity of the Craton. It was a bizarre sensation, one could feel their blood and organs shifting, their bones compressing slightly as they began to have weight again.
“But you are correct – she needs to deal with these issues,” Brooks continued.
“She’s just through that door if you’d like to talk to her,” the doctor replied, pointing.
Taking a deep breath, Brooks went into the room. Logus appeared like he was going to follow, but Brooks waved him back.
Apollonia was still in the room, and Brooks was caught off-guard by how young she looked. Like little more than a child. It clashed terribly with his memory of her on New Vitriol.
She had a blanket over her shoulders, but shrugged it off when she saw him. “Captain,” she said, guardedly. A cup of tea was in her hands, and she took a sip.
“Ms. Nor. How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” she replied.
“I’m glad to hear that. What do you think happened when you went onto the medical station?”
She hesitated. “Weird shit, I guess.”
“Have you had that happen before?”
“Not like that,” she replied. “When I first got to New Vitriol I got sick – threw up. Not fun in zero-g, and it really didn’t help my first impression.”
“I understand – but don’t worry, even if that had happened, no one would judge you,” Brooks replied.
She regarded him oddly, and he continued. “How would you feel about going back onto the station? To be clear, I’m not saying you have to – only asking how you feel about it.”
That look returned to her; the one that made her seem to be more than a mere mortal, a thing beyond his understanding. A cold, pitiless stare.
“I never want to set foot on there again,” she replied.
“I understand,” Brooks said again.
This time it seemed to annoy her. “You keep saying that, but you don’t understand.”
Brooks took a deep breath, being reminded of Kell suddenly . . .
“I understand what you’re saying,” he clarified. “Given the circumstances, I’d like you to talk to Dr. Logus. He can help you deal with these things you feel – and we won’t force you to go back on the station if you don’t want to. We just-“
“No,” she snapped.
“What?”
“No,” she repeated. “I won’t go see Logus. I don’t want to see him, I don’t want to talk to him. Not now, not ever.” She sipped her tea again.
“Ms. Nor, he’s a very good psychiatrist and-“
“I don’t care. This is just the way it is.”
Brooks stared at her in silence, considering. Her jaw was set, and she did not seem like she was even willing to discuss this anymore.
“Just go, okay? I would like to be alone.”
“Ms. Nor – you are not making a decision simply for yourself here. Due to being a Cerebral Reader, it is important that you remain sound of body and mind.”
“What do you mean?” she asked warily.
“I mean that I am ordering you to go see Dr. Logus,” Brooks stated flatly. “And there is no question of this.”
“You can’t do that!” she replied, standing up. She dropped her tea, the cup shattering on the floor.
“I am the Captain of this ship and it is for the health of her and the whole crew that I do this,” Brooks replied. “So yes, I can.”
He turned and headed for the door, while Apollonia glared daggers at his back.
Other Terrestrial 