"Are you tired? Do you want to get back in the tank and rest?" Lana asked.
"A bit," Cheyenne said, "but not yet."
It was now late afternoon and this was the longest Cheyenne had been out of the tank so far. It was a good sign. But at the moment she was still restless and bored. She paced the room, not sure what to do.
She reached over and scratched a spot on her upper arm, where the black patching met flesh. "It itches," she groused.
Lana came to her side. She'd cut her hair off. She hadn't lost all of it, but it had been looking patchy and the master healer had decided it was just as well to start over. "It's new flesh, this pink spot. That's a good sign. You're healing. You should be happy."
"I am happy," Cheyenne complained.
"Maybe we should give it a greeting. Welcome, new flesh," Lana said to the spot and then kissed it gently.
Cheyenne's right hand came up and stroked the side of Lana's head, feeling the short hair. She marveled, as she always did, that the artificial skeletal fingers had all the sensitivity of her real fingers. "Miss healer, Ma'am," Cheyenne said, a sly smile playing across her face. "I think I have a bit of new flesh on my lip, too." She touched the side of her mouth.
Lana returned the smile. "Oh, indeed, I think you do," she said and kissed her. They kissed for a long time, Cheyenne lost in the feel of Lana's lips on hers, the sensation of running her fingers over Lana's head and holding the back of her neck.
When they finally broke their kiss, they intertwined their hands, sliding over each other's softly. Cheyenne stared at her skeletal fingers and her mood sank as quickly as it had risen.
"Is something wrong?" Lana asked.
"I'm not going to heal..."
"In time, you will," Lana protested.
"Not in three weeks."
Lana sighed. "Not in three weeks, Miss Cheyenne."
Cheyenne felt on the verge of tears, not that she could cry right now, not physically. "In three weeks, they're all going home. But, I can't, can I?"
Lana wrapped one arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. "Honey, I'm sorry." She ran her free hand over Cheyenne's back. "It will be several weeks before you can be away from the tanks for an extended period. Months before the tissue of your hand completely regrows. Your feet could take longer, almost a year."
"What am I going to do?" Cheyenne protested. "We don't have this technology back home."
"Don't worry about that," Lana said, guiding her to the couch and helping her sit. "We won't kick you out. As long as you need treatment, we will provide."
"But, where will I go?" Cheyenne asked. "And my kids. My kids need me."
"They need you alive and whole," Lana said.
"I know but how can I be there for them if I am stuck here." Cheyenne was rocking now. She would never have thought this but she'd give anything to have the release of a good cry.
"Anywhere you want to go in the Consortium, you will be welcome. You must know this," Lana said.
"And there would be healers there, too. Healers like you?"
There was a long pause before Lana answered. "I've been talking to Janda. We both agree. We aren't contractually obligated to this ship. We can work anywhere. And we'd like to see this case through."
Cheyenne scrunched her eyes, though she couldn't guess how the goggles interpreted such an expression. "Are you saying, you'd go to?"
"To whatever station you wish, yes. We will be your healers as long as you will it. Even though that means poor Janda will have to see mostly routine cases." She laughed at her own joke.
"I hate to take you from what you love," Cheyenne protested.
"You're not," Lana replied.
Cheyenne stared at her, unsure how much to read into the reply.
"Come, you must rest now," Lana said after some time. "And I know, you have many things to worry about, but you must know we will do all we can for you. I promise."
#####
Gerald Klempke did as many deep squats as he could, as fast as he could. He didn't need to, they'd already had PT that day. But it helped take away the need to pace. Once he was exhausted he lay on his bunk again.
Martin Green was at the back of the room the two men shared. They had learned that their table could be dropped down to the height of the benches, making one low bed. Green was laying on the improvised bed, watching a show on the view screen. He seemed content in his nest.
Klempke, on the other hand, stared at the closed door, fighting the urge to go out and pace the hallways. He wouldn't do it. He never did. But the urge was there.
They were prisoners on an alien ship. The politicians back home could mouth what ever words they wanted about peace and cooperation. The rest of the crew could say whatever they liked about these Others. Klempke and Green knew the score. They were on their ship. They couldn't leave. So, they were prisoners, pure and simple.
You don't fraternize with the enemy. Klempke, Green, several of the other seaman and seaman's apprentices didn't. Name, rank and serial number. Go to the healers as ordered, but don't get friendly. Go to the mess for meals, the forward bay for PT. Otherwise, stay in your room, lay low.
It would be easier if they weren't so damn friendly. Got half the crew convinced we're all buddies now. Fraternizing all the time. If only there was some way to make them show their true colors, make them crack down on the sailors so the rest of the crew would know the truth, they were prisoners.
#####
Dan found his seat in the main conference room. Across the way, Bakala gave him a wink. Dan smiled at the memory of their hook up. Then the two captains entered and Dan blushed. Lannister wanted him to look into fraternization between the crews. What was he going to do?
Keep seeing Bakala, if possible, he admitted to himself. That was the hardest part of this whole assignment. How was he supposed to spy on other people having trysts when he knew for a fact that the next opportunity he'd do no less?
Captain Dowlings called the joint officer's meeting to order. As before she turned first to Lannister. "I haven't much to say," he said. "Seems like this last week has gone pretty smooth."
There was a noise at the back of the room as Bankim, chief of security, blew out noisily. He leaned back with a look that defied anyone to ask him to explain.
Dan already knew, Fox had told him about Bankim's plot and how Nara and Daksha had foiled it. Now the only way Bankim could prove Runningbear had been in that airlock bay without authorization was to ask information to review the whole time period. If he did so, Daksha, the chief walker, had made it clear that she would in turn ask why the hatch had been taken down for maintenance without her permission.
"Classes are going well, I hear," Lannister continued.
It was Dan's turn to bite back a snort. Classes were a disaster. Most of them were jokes, and the crew knew that going in. They only went because they were ordered to, besides there was so little else to do.
"I haven't heard of any further misunderstandings," Lannister concluded. "Captain Dowlings?"
"I agree, no new misunderstandings," she said, her voice guarded. "Rather quite the opposite."
"You mean fraternizing?" Lannister said. Dan blushed. He looked up and down the hall. Had others?
"I mean the black market," Dowlings snapped.
"Surely not," Kavinda joked nervously.
"Your healers are by no means exempt," she said. "You think I haven't noticed the sudden proliferation of cultural artifacts onboard my ship? Data has even contacted me about it."
"Cultural artifacts?" Lannister asked. "I don't understand."
It was Su'nin, the data officer, that answered. "They have numerous names, iTunes, Amazon, Netflix. They are all just carriers of your cultural artifacts, music, videos, books, you name it."
This was greeted by a chuckle on both sides.
"We came millions of light years," Bakala protested, "to see something new. We've had no chance. Now we have a portal. We wish to know the stories these people tell, the music they play. What is wrong with this?"
"And our boys are stuck up here, nothing to do," the munitions officer complained. "So they download the latest movie to pass the time."
"I am not begrudging your people something to pass the time," Dowlings told the man. "Nor criticizing your curiosity," she added to Bakala. "But I want to protect their crew. They have nothing. If this were all public feeds, coming through the portal, I would not protest once."
"But its not," Su-nin said. "A considerable fraction is premium. They pay," Su-nin gestured across the room. "But the artifacts end up here." They gestured back at their own side. "This concerns us. If they are gifts only, that alone carries some ethical concerns. We owe them a debt, not the other way. They should not feel obligated to give us gifts. But I agree with the captain, likely favors are passing. Our crew should not be taking advantage of these earthsiders in this way."
"And I think there is a hand behind it all," Dowlings said.
From beside Bankim, Nara said, "I will talk to her, though I doubt it will do much good." Captain Dowlings nodded. Dan looked back and forth. Many expressions on both sides were blank, he was clearly not the only one who had no clue what was going on.
"Well if it's simply an issue of curiosity and boredom, there's a simple enough solution," Lannister said. "We did it in wars past. I will talk to our liaison about getting some movies. We can show them in the forward bay or somewhere else. Something for the men to do in the evening, and if your people are curious, they are welcome to come watch as well. I will have petty officers take turns playing chaperone. Maybe one of from each crew?" He gave Dan a measured look. Dan nodded.
Dan was getting almost as many blank looks from the Corelean's officers and he knew they had no idea why Lannister thought the crew members would need any sort of chaperone. Maybe I can talk Bakala into helping, Dan thought and then had to bite a laugh at the thought.
Captain Dowlings agreed and asked if there was any other business. Moments later it was over.
As Dan left the chamber, Lannister fell into step beside him. Dan was worried he'd want to talk about fraternization again, or that he'd heard about the spy ring Fox and Dan had broken up last week. Instead his voice was casual. "How are you doing, Oleson?"
"Pretty good, sir," he replied. "Feel like I'm turning the corner, you know? And you, sir?"
"Good, like you say, feels like we've turned the corner. Bored more than anything. Maybe I should have signed up for some classes, eh? So what's up for today?"
Dan shrugged. "No class today," he said. "Kleppie and I were invited to lunch with Walker."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she's out of the tank every day now, at least for awhile. Company does her good, too."
"Well, send my regards as well. And take care."
"Yes, sir," Dan said and saluted. As Lannister disappeared down the hall he blew out a sigh of relief.