It was six pm, just after supper, when Lannister called on the slate. Dan did a quick bit of mental math as he answered and guessed it around 4 pm there.
Lannister was still in his uniform but he was in his own apartment, sitting at the couch with his feet up, so he must have been off duty. "Oleson," he greeted Dan.
"Sir?"
Lannister waved his hand. "I'm off duty, Oleson. And not your captain anymore. This is strictly a social call."
A social call?
Lannister must have sensed the question. "I know, it's kind of out of character. What can I say? Maybe it's the new job. You know these Consortium types, casual. Maybe it's because this feels more like a civilian job than a military command. Heck, most of my crew whatever that word means up here, are civilians..." he broke off. "Damn it, I miss you guys. Walker, you, the whole crew really."
"Lannister, it's okay," Dan said. "I know. I miss everyone, too. It was such a unique situation, you know."
The stared at each other for some time, not sure what to say. Neither had been very social with the other.
"So how is the Station? Everything you hoped for in a command?"
"Well someone tried to blow the station up the first day," Lannister said lightly.
"What?" Dan spluttered.
Lannister waved it off. "We kept it out of the press. Just a... misunderstanding might not be the word, but they weren't really trying to blow up the station."
"That leaves me more confused than before."
Lannister chuckled. "Just between you and I, they were making meth."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Explosive, yes. Especially in the confined quarters of a space station. Luckily the data grid picked up the chemical traces. Now that data knows what that particular combination of chemicals means, we've been able to catch a number of other petty criminals before they got as far. And we've been able to educate a few other not so bright people on why trying such a thing is a bad idea."
"Sounds like a lot of excitement. Are there lots of problems?" Dan commented.
"Not as much as it sounds. The Shoshone collective has added some five, I think we passed six thousand today, to the stations permanent population. Of them, a handful have past legal problems. Most are eager to start over with legitimate jobs. But sometimes old habits die hard."
"Are all the problems coming from the Shoshone collective?"
Lannister shrugged. "Rest of the station is a ghost town. We've about two and half thousand consortium crew and civilians. Six thousand in Shoshone Collective. Barely a handful regular Americans. State Department hasn't finalized travel visas or passport restrictions for the consortium. Kismet was joking this morning that our new motto should be, "Once you come to Shoshone, god only knows if they'll let you back."
Dan snorted.
"So how's the navy treating you?" Lannister asked.
Fine stuck in Dan's throat. Minnesota nice, they called it back home. Fine, Good, Okay, all those words that you said to be nice when you couldn't be honest. "Umm, it's been a rough transition, you know. Like you said, that was a unique situation. Hard to know how to pick up after something like that. And..."
"Let me guess, Madsen's theory?"
Dan startled. He wasn't aware that Lannister had heard it. He nodded.
"Remus got himself an embassy post," Lannister said. Remus had been communications officer onboard the Cambridge. And then he added, as if to make sure Dan knew he wasn't contradicting Madsen's theory. "In Somalia."
"They've a strong consortium presence, don't they?"
"Yeah."
"Still," Dan said. "Now that they've pacified most of the warlords, they are starting to be able to rebuild that country. It must be kind of exciting. I've landed a desk job, updating protocol manuals. So exciting."
Lannister chuckled. Then he sobered. "Have you talk to the others? I've only talked to Remus and you. Well, Walsh, Kismet and Fox are here and I've heard from Cheyenne once."
"Kleppie's here, Whitman, Davies... a few of others I don't know so well," Dan said. "Whitman claims to have talked to a bunch of the men. It's the same everywhere. We've been grounded. Talked to Jensen last night. He's in Texas. He doesn't seem to mind his new job. Of course he's got extended family in the area, so it works for him."
Lannister nodded and listened while Dan talked. Dan told him about Kleppie. "You wouldn't hardly believe it, sir. Lannister, I mean. He's like a new man. Nothing gets him down."
"I can only imagine," Lannister replied. "He's been told his whole life that he was stupid. We've all tried to contradict that, but there's only so much one person saying it can do. But when the advanced society scans your brain, I guess you have to believe it."
They talked awhile longer about the old crew. "Cheyenne?" Dan said. "What did you think about the interview?"
Lannister laughed aloud. "I don't think that guy has any credibility left. I've noticed the whole issue has dropped off the news after that."
After awhile longer Dan said. "I'm going to have to let you go soon. I've another call, from Venus." Lannister raised an eyebrow. "Bakala," Dan explained.
"You two stayed in touch?"
Dan nodded.
"How is the Corelean?"
"Good, they are supervising some construction project on Venus. I think the lower level crew is mostly the same. Same pilots and captain, too. But it sounds like there's been a fair turn over in healers."
"Really?"
"I think they were the smart ones," Dan said. "They knew they'd been through something so different, there was no going back. About a third left their contracts and went elsewhere. Kavi's in deep space now. Kleppie still talks to her all the time. Lana and Janda, well you know, they're with Cheyenne on Shin. Kavinda took some post in Africa. Decides he likes working with us primitives."
After a few more minutes of polite banter, Dan made ready to sign off.
"One more thing," Lannister said. "If you want, I could try and pull some strings. I don't know how much clout I have, but I could use an officer of your calibre up here."
A lump formed in Dan's throat. "Sir, if you could..."
"Consider it done. I will let you know what I hear."
######
Lana entered the kitchen. Cheyenne continued to chop carrots, not turning to acknowledge her. "If she doesn't like it here, we can move deeper into the core of the station. We've enough money. There aren't medical apartments with tanks built in, but we can have one installed. It's not impossible."
She was talking about Mackenzie, who had another crying jag this morning, not wanting to go to school with those mean girls. They had taken to teasing her for not knowing so many things they took for granted.
Cheyenne knew the feeling. She was constantly having to ask for help with every little chore. The station, the culture, the technology was all unfamiliar and it was disorienting at times. It was hard enough when your helpers were sympathetic. Even if they were at times, too sympathetic.
"We could even go up to the disk. It might look more like planet side. If this man drops his case against your children we can go back to Shoshone..."
Cheyenne dropped the knife. "Stop it!" she barked. She wheeled around to see Lana's hurt expression.
"Stop what?" Lana protested.
"Fixing things," Cheyenne said.
Lana gave her a look, the one she reserved for when she felt Cheyenne was being unreasonable.
"I am a grown woman. I can take care of myself. I can even take care of my kids, believe it or not." She leaned back and pinched her nose to fight back the tears. She should not be this emotional. On the right side of her nose, the flesh of her finger pressed against her tear duct. On the left, the exposed metal of her thumb clacked against the remaining eye casing, reminding her that she did need to be cared for. It angered her even more. She cussed.
"What's wrong?" Lana stepped forward and reached for her.
Cheyenne held her arms up, pushing Lana back. Not hard but Lana caught the hint and stepped back, her face fell and she seemed near to tears. "I just don't know what to do? I am not supposed to fix things? What does this mean? I am only trying to be helpful."
"I know," Cheyenne muttered. "I just need some space."
"You want me to go? You want someone else to be your healer?" Lana asked. "I can, if you wish."
"Is that what you want?" Cheyenne asked.
"No." Lana looked at the floor. "But if it's what you want... Mackenzie doesn't like me. Everything I do angers you lately. Maybe it would be better. Janda could handle your case easy now, or any healer."
Cheyenne felt torn. She hated seeing Lana looking so forlorn. I need to talk to legal about the custody battle. The thought intruded in her mind, followed immediately by another. And I shall have to ask directions and help, again. She hated feeling so helpless, so lost. She cussed. "I just feel so..." she shook her head. She turned away. "I just need some space," she repeated. "I'm going for a walk." She turned and left.