Once Valorie was in the hallway, she refocused on Yulia, who was still fuming from the discussion with Serge and Leon. Yulia led the way down the hall without a word about where they were going. When she finally spoke, it was with her gaze on the path ahead.


    “I’m sorry about them. It’s no excuse, I know, but my brother can be very paranoid of imperials sometimes…” She said, glancing at Valorie, and sighed. “Okay, a lot of the time.”


    “And he is comfortable with Mr. Gomez and Captain Hughes?” Valorie asked. Yulia paused and looked Valorie over, as if she was trying to parse out what Valorie said.


    “Mister.. Gomez?” A smirk cracked through her anger, “Oh, he must love that.” She said. Valorie remembered his face when she had first said it, and shook her head.


    “No. He does not appear to. At all.” She said, looking to Yulia for answers. Yulia’s smirk turned to a smile, and she patted Valorie on the arm.


    “Just call him Leon.”


    Valorie nodded. This was an order, and it was easy to follow. She was still waiting for the answer to her original question. Yulia led in silence for a moment. Her movements were stiff.  The longer Valorie waited, the more uncomfortable Yulia became.


    “I’ll take you to the wash facilities next…”


    “Okay.”


    The silence was heavy somehow. Valorie wondered if it would be appropriate to take her question back. Would that only make it more awkward? Valorie felt paralyzed, even as she followed Yulia down the hall. The hallway came to a split, and Yulia stopped walking, resting her hands on her hips.


    “We joined the Helianthus crew a little over a year ago.” She said, looking down at her feet as she tapped her toe. “At first, Serge was gung-ho, all excited to be “studying the enemy.” That kinda thing.” She said. “But we got comfortable. Well, I got comfortable. And he… he is a good brother. So, here we are.” She crossed her arms across her chest, and looked Valorie head on. “Anyway, I’m sorry.”


    Valorie nodded.


    “What, that’s it?” Yulia steadied herself. She was still angry. Why?


    “Uhm, thank you?” Valorie added.


    “Seriously?” Yulia tapped her forehead. Valorie was almost sure that question was rhetorical. Almost. When she made no move to answer, Yulia huffed and started down the left hallway, her long legs giving her a quick pace. Valorie had to move quick to keep up.


    “Come on, aren’t you angry? Appalled?”


    “At what?”


    “Serge was talking down to you, and they both even threatened to…” Yulia trailed off. Valorie shrugged, but Yulia couldn’t see her, so she had to speak up.


    “Although rare, it’s not uncommon.” She said. Yulia rubbed her right temple in small circles.


    “They threatened to kill you.” Her anger had dissipated, and her voice softened, “That’s not okay.” She said. Valorie had not given it a second thought at the time, but now she was speechless. They reached a door at the end of the hall, and it slid out of their way. Yulia tapped the wall to the right, and a screen popped up with a large grid.


    “During the 12 hour off time, the baths are available for 6 hours. There is open times, but Serge set up this display so people could reserve personal time.” She tapped on one of the columns, and Valorie could clearly see the available times on the minimal interface. Yulia tapped an open slot, and a pop up offered similar times. “He can be so meticulous about something like this. I’ll make sure he apologizes.” Her eyes were warm as she looked over the display.


    “Thank you, Yulia.” Valorie said, and Yulia looked at her, surprised at first. A grateful smile spread across Yulia’s face, and she nodded. Valorie felt a weight grow over her chest. Yulia’s gesture was so familiar, it reopened the ache in her heart.


    “Valorie?” Yulia’s expression turned to concern. Valorie felt tears collecting in her eyes, and reached up to touch them in surprise. She blinked quickly to clear them, but they fell down her cheek.


    “What’s wrong?” Yulia asked, worry creasing her brow.


    “I’m okay,” She said, pulling her sleeve across her face. “You remind me of a friend of mine and I miss her.” Valorie tried to sound matter of fact, but her voice wavered. She couldn’t stop the well of feelings, or the tears that followed them. Each outburst was more frustrating than the last. “Sorry.”The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Silence followed, and Yulia reached out to pat her arm, but stopped. The air felt heavy, and Valorie’s words hung in the air. Did Yulia feel it, too? She sensed uncertainty, and she peeked up. When their eyes met, Yulia jumped on the first thing that came to mind.


    “Don’t be sorry… Come on, we have lots of ship to explore.” She said, “We’ll go by the Bio room next. Sachi might be there around this time.” Her voice had softened. Valorie could still sense the uncertainty behind her words. She took a slow breath, nodded.


    “Thank you for your guidance.” She said, an even tone returning to her voice. Yulia smiled and led the way.


    The path Yulia chose for her tour of the Helianthus seemed to have no logical pattern. Each place they visited had no connection to the previous area. As promised, they went to the Bio Room next. It was located near the rear of the ship, in the room below the Gardens.


    “Oh. Sachi isn’t here.” Yulia gazed at the measuring equipment that filled out the room. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with petri dishes and plant samples. Each one was labeled by hand, and laid out according to age, type, and strain. Yulia looked over the shelves, trying to glean what she could. “Well, I know it has to do with oxygen and the gardens. Filtration? Oh, and our health. Something, something, the importance of organic material.” She said.


    Valorie’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked the room over, too afraid to touch anything. She paused at a large tub half full with a deep green cloudy water. The surface pulsed, and large chunks bubbled up. A feeling in her stomach started to do the same. She felt Yulia move up next to her to see inside the same tub.


    “I vote we move on to the next place.” Yulia said.


    “Yes, please.” Valorie swallowed, dragging her eyes away. Yulia couldn’t help a chuckle at Valorie’s polite rejection of the bio room.


    From there, they zigzagged through the ship. First, they visited the Captain’s office which was near the bridge. Then, they visited the rec room which was near the gardens. Next was the gym on the lower decks by the kitchen, and finally the bridge at the helm. Each time they passed by the same area, Valorie felt a little more confident in navigating the ship. Was that Yulia’s true plan? She stared at Yulia’s back as she wondered. That had to be it, she concluded in admiration.


    “Wow. So, here we are at bridge!” Yulia explained as they walked down a wide hall that led to an elaborate set of double doors. The edge of the door frame was engraved with cursive intertwined with elegant leaves. Valorie tried to make it out, but Yulia distracted her.


    “You’ll spend the majority of your working time here.” Yulia held her hand out to the scanner, and the double doors opened before her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here with you.” Yulia smiled at the pure curiosity on Valorie’s face. The entrance was at the very back of the bridge. Valorie followed Yulia inside, the room opening up to her as she did.


    The bridge was a layered cone. The curved lines of consoles in three rows descending to the pilot’s seat nestled in the nose of the cone. Yulia went ahead, racing to the front, but Valorie took her time. Two sets of stairs cut through the rows, and met at the pilot’s seat. The captain’s chair sat on the top row, between the stairs, looking out over the rest.


    The upper half of the cone was a grid of glass and thick metal guards that met in a semi-circle around the pilot. Through the glass, she could see the docks lined with tracks that carried the ship into the station. As she was admiring, she sensed someone familiar.


    “Uhm, Yulia…” Valorie tried to speak up, but Yulia was too excited to show off her post. Valorie made the rest of the trek down the steps, to find Yulia was already in her seat. It had a large yoke surrounded by instrumentation, including several pedals at her feet. It was dizzying to look at, and Valorie was glad her own station was much simpler. Yulia stretched her legs, and flicked at her screens.


    “See! This is where I’ll be.” She grinned, opening her arms to present the layout before her. It was at this moment, Yulia finally saw what Valorie had been warning her about. She froze. Valorie looked between her and the Captain, who was sitting in his chair. Red spread from Yulia’s cheeks to her ears. Gareth leaned on his hand while he waited for her greeting, eyebrows raised, a smile tugging at his lip.


    “Captain! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.”


    “Good Afternoon, Yulia.” Gareth said as he managed to suppress a laugh, “How is your tour going?”


    “It’s good. I mean, well. It’s going well, sir. Actually, that answer is on Valorie.” She looked to Valorie, “What do you think?” She asked. Valorie nodded, surprised by the sudden attention.


    “Very informative,” She said, and noticed Yulia’s tension ease. She was still blushing, but her pride was back.


    “See? I got this.” She said, swinging herself out of the pilot’s seat.


    “I believe you do.” The captain said. Valorie half-listened as she looked over the other stations. Only one station looked as if it was currently in use, but none of them stood out to her.


    “Will I have a station?” She asked. Yulia looked to the Captain, and he nodded and stood.


    “Either one in front of my seat is the best candidate. Centered makes it easy to be heard from I’d say.” The Captain stood, and made his way down the steps. “Do you need any special equipment to run Comms?” He asked. Valorie pulled her hair aside, and revealing a band of wires held together with an elastic. She had them tucked beneath her hair, along her neck.


    “Direct connections?” Gareth asked.


    “I can do without, sir.” She said tucking the wires back under her hair. The Captain shook his head.


    “Quinns may be able to do something about it before takeoff tomorrow. Yulia, can you take her over to engineering? I’ll message ahead with my permission.” He said.


    “Of course I can. We still need to visit there, anyway.” She said, as if just remembering the missed location. “See you later, Captain.” She headed for the exit with Valorie in tow.


    Valorie glanced over her shoulder at the Captain once more. His back was to her, as he settled into his seat. He pressed on the ring on his finger, and a holo display screen popped up. He was reading something, and Valorie felt a deep calm radiating off him. She wondered why he found the bridge to be such a relaxing place.