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Captain Brooks’s Log:

In the aftermath of battle with the P’G’Maig, the Craton is hurting.  Though we have patched the holes and are under power, there is deeper work to be done to bring the ship back to her full strength.

As a result, we are headed to the nearest shipyard capable of effecting proper repairs, at the neutral Gohhi Confederation.  The Sapient Union maintains a small repair shipyard in their territory, in accordance with our treaties with them.

The territory, inhabited by species other than humans for several millenia, is outside of an inhabited system in an area peculiar for being the terminal point for many commonly used safe paths in zerospace.  As unnatural as it is to think of routes in ordinary space, zerospace behaves as it will, it seems, and the inhabitants of the many space stations of Gohhi have turned this to their advantage.

Though non-federalized, with each station largely minding its own business – and there being several thousand stations – the locals jealously defend their neutrality.  So long as one is willing to pay them, they will allow anyone entry – meaning people can access goods and ideas from all over known space.  The advantages to staying on good terms with them are obvious, and ultimately our trip will be diplomatic as well as practical.

I remember it well – it is a wonderful and terrible place.  I’ve missed it.

*******

Apollonia was amazed at how quickly the Equator had been repaired.

Part of it had been sealed off by heavy blast doors for a time, as the hull had been ruptured here during the battle – the entire block of transparent titanium having been blasted out in the landing of a Hev boarding pod.  Amazingly, though, in less than twelve hours it was being re-opened.

And not simply some crappy patch-work that seemed like any stray micrometeoroid would take down; the missing areas were replaced with seamless gray bulkheads that looked like armor plating from a warship.

Even the planters that had been destroyed or sucked out had been replaced, though the plants in them would take some time to grow to match the glory of the originals.

She had heard that a non-combat Volunteer team – granted, one higher grade than hers – had tried to stop the Hev here and suffered heavy casualties.

There was even a plaque to commemorate them; one of the first pieces that had been put in after the place had been pressurised, and she stopped to take a brief look at it.

On this spot, four Citizen Volunteers

Len Ackerman

Jane E. Heffo

Julio Hernandez

and

Perso Kynz

Gave their lives to protect the Craton

and her people against overwhelming enemy forces

They will be remembered and missed

Seeing the place now, she was amazed any had survived at all.  Such a large area had been taken out, and the signs of violence were still evident – bullet holes, entire walls blown out, though not even a drop of blood or drone scrap or bullet fragment.  All of that had been meticulously cleaned, and now even those damaged internal walls were being replaced.

Watchito’s looked like it had been hit hard, almost gutted.  New walls were being trundled in on rolling drones, with more machines and workers inside, repairing and replacing quickly and efficiently.

She had seen a lot of work projects on her home colony, but at those times the process had been painfully slow, shutting down areas or paths for weeks or months.  Not so, it seemed, when the work was actually being planned centrally and people weren’t paid by the hour.

A few of the staff were standing outside, and she saw them directing some drones towards putting up a new sign over the door, which read:

WATCHITO’S II: THIS TIME IT’S PERSONAL PAN PIZZAS

She snorted out a laugh, and one of the employees turned and smiled brightly at her.

“Oh, Ms. Nor!” the woman said.

It took Apollonia a moment to remember the woman’s name – Ann, the woman from the bunker she’d gone into during the battle.

“Oh, hi Ann,” she replied.  “You can just call me Apollonia.  Or . . . Apple, I guess.”

Brooks had given her the nickname, and she’d kind of hated it.  But really, it wasn’t bad, was it?  And it seemed odd to be so formal when the woman was being so friendly.

“Apple, all right!” the woman said cheerily, then gestured at the sign.  “We’ll be back open for lunch tomorrow!  Though if you’re hungry, we do have a couple things available now, and I’d be glad to get something for a Volunteer!”

Apollonia felt her stomach drop.  She had been out to get something to eat, but . . .

She didn’t deserve special consideration.

“Thank you,” she said.  “But that’s okay.”

“Are you sure?  Well, all right, but be sure to come by once we’re fully open – we’re giving a free desser to all Volunteers!”

The woman started to suggest some other places that were open and were giving extras to Volunteers, when Apollonia noticed a familiar person jogging by.

“Oh, sorry, gotta go,” she said to Ann, trying to sound properly nice and polite.  “My jogging partner is here!”

“Have a good one!” Ann called as Apollonia sprinted after the jogger.

Jaya did not slow her pace even when she saw it was Apollonia running next to her.

“This is a surprise,” the woman said, eyeing her critically.

“Uh, hi,” Apollonia said.  They hadn’t spoken since Jaya had chewed her out for being too afraid and hiding during the battle.

But she found herself glad that the woman would still talk to her.

“Do you . . . mind if I join you?” she asked the commander, starting to breathe hard from the effort of running.

“You may.  But as I recall, previously you turned down my offer to go jogging together,” Jaya replied, and not sounding even the slightest winded, despite the sheen of sweat on her brow and bare arms.  “You referred to the idea of running when unnecessary as ‘a cruel and unusual punishment, devised in the deepest pit of hell’.”

“And I stand by that,” Apollonia said, panting more.  “But the only thing worse is an awkward conversation.”

Jaya studied her through half-lidded eyes, then picked up her pace, leaving Apollonia struggling to keep up.

“Slow down!  I’m not as strong as you,” she said.

“Exercising is how you get stronger,” Jaya told her.

“I don’t have-“

“I know you don’t have muscle enhancements.  But do you think those simply make you strong?  No.  You still have to work at it, make your body understand how you wish it to be – and then follow through.  It takes willpower.”

Apollonia bit back a retort, but on some level felt stung.  Jaya was absolutely right, and she knew she was being whiny.

But it was just so easy for the other woman, wasn’t it?

“I never ran or exercised before,” Apollonia said, trying to force it out simply as a statement.

“I can tell.”

“Because I never had the energy to spare,” Apollonia continued.

Jaya didn’t have a retort to that.  But she slowed slightly, and it made it easier for Apollonia to talk.

“You’re right – it’s in my head, the ability to make myself do it.  It’s just . . . beyond me being unfit and noodly, it’s against everything I’ve ever learned.  I always knew I had to conserve.”

She reached up and tapped her head.  “So I guess this is the real struggle.”

Jaya slowly came to a stop, and Apollonia gladly stopped with her, hands on her knees, panting.  She didn’t know how much longer she could have kept up even that light jog.  Her lungs and chest were burning with exertion.

“And though you don’t need to go hungry again,” Jaya said.  “Your body does not know or accept that yet.”

Apollonia nodded, not saying anything.

But when she could, she looked up to Jaya.  “I’ll run with you.”

“You still want to go on?  I typically lap the Equator Ring two times each morning,” Jaya said.

“I can’t do that.  But I’ll run for as long as I can,” Apollonia replied.

“And then next time, perhaps you could run just a bit further,” Jaya added.

Apollonia nodded, feeling physically miserable, but hoping that maybe someday she wouldn’t.  “That’s the best I can do.”

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