Narrator:

Artie turned around and knocked on the door. He could

hear rustling around inside of the room of someone trying to

get to the door. The door slid open. to aA woman with red hair

stood inanding at the doorway with only a sheet wrapped

around her.

Patrick laughed to himself, watching the woman

standing in the doorway, unsure how to respond.

Artie:

“I’m sorry, I must have the wrong room,”

Narrator:

said Artie confused.

Patrick grabbed his pack of cigarettes from off the end

table and put one in his mouth before lighting the end of it, still

laughing at the uncomfortable situation he had created.

Lem:

“Sorry, Cap. I’m here,” 

Narrator:

Lem replied hurrying out from

the back of the room over to the door, dressed in only a shirt, a

bandage patch hiding under her bangs from her head injury.

Lem gave the woman a look of uncertainty.

The other woman turned around and walked back into

the room, leaving Lem alone with Artie at the door.

Lem:

“I’ll be there in a second,” 

Narrator:

Lem said to her.

Artie raised his eyebrows back at Patrick, then looked

back forward at Lem.

Lem:

“Sorry, Cap. How’d the meeting go?” 

Narrator:

asked Lem nervously.

Patrick:

“We leave in two days,”

Narrator:

shouted Patrick across the hall

over Artie’s shoulder.

Lem looked at Artie in disbelief.

Lem:

“Two days is a lot shorter than two weeks, Cap. Not that I’m sad to hear we

didn’t lose our jobs, but that’s a bummer.”

Artie:

“Yea. We lost our vacation time,”

Narrator:

 Artie replied.

Lem:

“Both now and when we get to Earth?” 

Narrator:

asked Lem.

Artie:

“Yea. You guys are taking on another hand as well,”

Narrator:

said Artie not wanting a reminder.

Lem:

“Son of a bitch…” 

Narrator:

Lem replied.

Lem:

“They don’t need to add another person we can handle-”

Artie:

“It was my decision. Our ships designed for a five-man

crew, and we’ve been floating by with only four so far.”

Narrator:

Lem nodded to him.

Lem:

“He or she?”

Artie:

“He. And he’s only been on three trips on a third-class

vessel with not the cleanest track record, so you and Patrick

will be in charge of him.”

Lem:

“Fun. Not only do we lose our vacation time, but we

get the town fool. No offense, Cap.”

Patrick:

“We already took on a town fool two years ago,”

Narrator:

shouted Patrick.

Lem leaned around Artie and glared at Patrick as he

smiled back jokingly.

Narrator:

Lem tied the two ends of Cliff’s flight jacket around the

back of his neck. He let out a subtle grunt of pain. His arm

swayed in the sling.

Lem:

“Better?”

Narrator:

Cliff looked down at his arm wincing with discomfort.

Cliff:

“Better than before, but still hurts.”

Narrator:

He examined the patch on her jacket sleeve, admiring

the intricacy. He reached out with his good arm and pointed at

it.

Cliff:

“What’s that from?”

Lem:

“A friend gave it to me. Means happy-”

Cliff:

“Happy accident? Yea, I’ve heard the term before. Don’t

see it being really relevant in this shit show though.”

Lem:

“Well, that’s the beauty of it I guess. You never really

know what’s happy about it until it’s all over.”

Narrator:

 Lem turned

around and started walking toward the others.

Cliff cleared his throat.

Cliff:

“Hey, sweet cheeks. Thank you

for taking care of me by the way.”

Narrator:

Lem spun back around and stared at him through her

bangs.

Lem: 

“You’re welcome,” 

Narrator:

she replied. She stepped forward

and kissed him on the cheek. Cliff grinned at her as she

stepped away.

Lem:

“You’re still an asshole, but at least you’re an asshole I

don’t mind having around now,” 

Narrator:

said Lem, stepping backward away from him.

Cliff:

“That means I might have a chance to convince you to

change teams?”

Narrator:

asked Cliff.

Lem snickered.

Lem:

“Not on your life.”

Narrator:

Cliff exhaled and laughed as she turned back around

and walked away from him with a sense of pride in her stride.

He followed her over to Artie and Lara standing by the cargo

bay door. Patrick remained on his side of the room, watching

Artie getting ready to make his run for the central server again

to restart the ship.

Narrator:

Patrick snickered to himself, running his hand back

through his crew cut grey and coffee- colored hair.

Patrick:

“We’ve made this run fifty-six times, and every time they put us on hold for another two or three hours. There’s always someone who has to ask someone else for docking confirmation, while that person’s probably running around asking questions from some other official for two hours. Bunch of monkeys could run the show better.”

Artie:

“Pat, head down to the hangar and load up in the

Schooner. Maybe if we are overly prepared they might speed things up,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Lem:

“I’ll do it,” 

said Lem with an eager voice.

Artie turned around and looked back at her.

Artie:

“Pat’s the only one designated to fly.”

Lem:

“I passed the SS license test yesterday on the computer

and Pat’s been working with me all week in the hangar. Come on, Cap,” 

Narrator:

pleaded Lem.

Patrick shook his head in agreement.

Patrick:

“She’s got the right stuff. I wouldn’t mind staying on the ship for once.”

Narrator:

Artie thought to himself for a moment. He looked over at

Lara.

She shrugged at him, letting him know she was going to

abstain fromon the decision. Artie looked back at Lem, who

proceeded to clasp her hands together begging to him in

silence.

Artie:

“All right. But keep your mic open the whole time. Pat,

take her down and show her everything,”

Narrator:

said Artie.

Lem smiled with excitement.

Lem:

“Yessss.”

Narrator:

Pat grinned at her.

Patrick:

“Come on,”

Narrator:

he said, tugging Lem by

the sleeve toward the door.