An Imposter Among Us

3: Accident in Electrical

Astrid (3rd-person POV)

Astrid—Calypso—had thought waiting in line at the DMV took a long time. It turned out that was nothing compared to waiting for heavy-eyed Captain Genesis to maneuver the ship to the dock of the Skeld. It took a lifetime after everyone recovered from the break from Earth's atmosphere, and it included more than a few body-flinging bumps into the space station, despite Genesis insisting she had everything under control.

Once they were all sure they wouldn't get sucked into space once the pod doors opened, everyone picked up their helmets and advanced haphazardly through a short tunnel, which opened up to a blank room with three more hallways branching off from it.

"Once the supply ship comes," Genesis said, pausing to yawn. "We'll be dumping all of it here, in storage. Bunks are down the stairs in comms. If you find any food lying around, throw it away unless you want to implode on yourself. Fifty-four."

She leaned against a wall and slid to sit on the ground. "Also do your tasks. They're...inside the pod somewhere."

"You look tired," the tall girl with the impressively thick curls conveniently observed. "How about you claim your bunk and get some much-needed rest."

Genesis nodded. "Yeah. That sounds good. But get going on those tasks. They won't do themselves."

"We will. Need any help getting down there?" She bent down a bit and offered her hand, but Genesis swatted it away.

"I'll be fine. Someone go get the tablet sitting on my seat in the pod."

"I'll do it," Jericho offered, immediately turning around to fetch it. Astrid trailed behind him, just in case he had any more tricks up his sleeve. He had already shoved a few things into his pockets before they all got into their escort cars. It was mostly foodstuff and a pack of cards, but she suspected he had smuggled at least one weapon onto this ship.

He looked around the pod and picked up an iPad resting on the middle seat. He strode back into the ship, giving Astrid a glare as he passed her by, and handed the rhinestone-covered case to their fatigued captain. She took a full minute to punch in the PIN, then pulled up a note.

"Alright, team. Zaniah, you have comms. That includes downloading all files we may get from the big guys and uploading them to wherever we need them on the ship. You also need to solve any problems like a bad signal."

The girl with the curls--her tag said al-Faddel--nodded.

Genesis's eyes glazed over the screen, unable to focus on any one word. Astrid would have to give her an examination after her nap. "And then...Ceres. You have both engine rooms. You need to keep them fueled up and make sure their outputs are aligned."

The guy with no tag picked up his chin. "If you don't mind, Captain, I took the liberty of giving each of us mini-tablets that can track our tasks. You can also access a twenty-minute cat video I downloaded in advance." He turned around and addressed everyone else. "You're welcome."

"Wow," Genesis said, rubbing her eyes with her palm. "I might have to take you up on that. I like cats. They're cool. Vicious, but cool."

Everyone waited for her to yawn again, then look back down at the note. "Calypso, you have medbay. Scans. Exams. Stuff like that. I'll also send samples of stuff for you to test once in a while."

"I think everyone should get an examination before we start on tasks," Astrid said. "I'll need to draw blood from a couple of you, just in case we need a transfusion."

"Got it," Jericho said, leveling his gaze at her. She huffed, looked away, and waited for Genesis to acknowledge her suggestion. Astrid took her slow nod as one of approval.