Narrator:

Lem closed her eyes, already feeling exhausted with

Patrick’s antics.

Lem:

“Now do you guys mind if I get back to…?”

Narrator:

Lem nudged her head back at the woman standing in the

room.

Artie:

“Just be back at the dock at eight am on Tuesday so we

can load cargo,”

Narrator:

Artie replied.

Lem:

“You got it, Cap.”

Patrick:

(Tossing her a pack of cigarettes)

“Here,”

Narrator:

said Patrick, tossing the remaining pack of

cigarettes over to her across the hall past Artie.

Patrick:

“You’ll want those for later.”

Narrator:

Lem looked at the pack for a moment with disgust. She threw them back to him. The pack bounced off his chest and fell to the floor.

Lem:

“I don’t smoke trash or cigarettes.”

Narrator:

Patrick snickered, as Lem closed the door behind her. Artie turned around and walked back over to Patrick. Patrick grinned at him.

Patrick:

“If I wasn’t a married man, I’d be doing the same thing.”

Artie:

“She can spend her days off the ship however she feels

like. Same goes for you , since you aren’t a married man,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Patrick:

“Once you have a son, you’ll understand. Marriage isn’t

just about you and her. Once you have a child together, that

marriage becomes unbreakable.”

Artie:

“Could we please change the subject.”

Patrick:

“Right, sorry, boss. Anyway, I don’t need all that drama

in my life. I sleep. I can hardly sleep a wink while we are on

the ship, so now’s my chance to make up the last twenty-six

days I missed,” 

Narrator:

said Patrick with the cigarette between his lips.

Narrator:

Artie looked up at her, wishing she would just let go of

her guilt already.

Artie:

“Fine. Did Patrick and Lem fix the doors to

the storage room?”

Narrator:

Lara stood next to him at the console, wiping the grease

and frustration away on her jumpsuit. “I don’t know; you’d

have to ask them.”

Artie swiveled his chair around and leaned forward to

the console. He pressed the call button with Patrick’s name on

it. The console beeped twice as they both waited for a

response.

Patrick:

(Greeting)

“Yellow?” 

Narrator:

said a male voice over the speaker.

Artie:

“You guys fixed that door to the storage room yet,”

Narrator:

asked Artie leaning toward the console.

Patrick:

“Lem, hand me that box of wire nuts. Uh… No. Was

about to when Lem reminded me we still needed to repair the

ventilator for the argon tanks,” 

Narrator:

Patrick replied.

Artie:

“Well once you’re done, please fix it. I don’t want to

be chewed out because the inspection crew can’t get in the

door. They always look for a reason to cut part of our pay,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Patrick:

“Whole damn ship’s a floating space dumpster,”

Narrator:

muttered Patrick over the intercom.

Artie:

“Yea, well she’s my space dumpster, so take loving

care of her,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Patrick:

“Yea, boss. We’ll get it fixed. Lara finished rewiring the

defroster on the Schooner?”

Narrator:

 asked Patrick.

Lara raised her eyebrows at Artie in irritation.

Artie:

“She’s almost done. I’m going down to help her now,”

Narrator:

Artie replied looking back at her with a smirk.

Lara grinned back at him.

Patrick:

“All right. How close are we?”

Artie:

“Seventeen hours away,”

Patrick:

“Seventeen hours too many. All right, I’ll let you know if

we need anything back here,” 

Artie:

 “Roger that,”

Narrator:

Artie replied as he hung up the call.