Xenos

i. Growth: July 6, 2126

Day Thirty-six

"That is what you get when you go up against the master," Alexei crowed, his excitement making him lose his carefully held control over his Russian accent. He tossed the helmet onto the table and pumped his fist in the air.

Cin looked up at the clatter of the helmet, her relative quiet in the library destroyed by Alexei and Mollia's banter as they played some sort of first person shooter game.

Mollia scoffed. "Did you learn your trash talk from teenagers, Lex?"

"Don't challenge me if you can't handle it," Alexei preened, flexing his arms.

Cin rolled her eyes at his display. "Guys, can you keep it down?" Cin gave them a wave when Lex and Mollia looked her way.

"I completely forgot you were back there," Mollia confessed, twisting a lock of ginger hair around her finger. She came over to lean across the short half-wall that divided the rec-room from the library. Electronic books were lined up in the spaces on both sides of the wall, capitalizing on the limited space that was designated as the library. Though space and weight were limited on their ships, an exception was made to include books, since they were vital for the mental health of crews and provided essential screen-free time.

Cin sat in a plush loveseat that was pushed between two bookcases as an afterthought. A lot of people took books back to their room or read out on the rec room's couch, but Cin always found the library more relaxing. At least, she usually found it more relaxing. Putting a finger in her book, she smiled at Mollia. "I'm quiet," she replied.

"We got a little carried away," Mollia said, a rueful twist to her mouth. "I'm a little competitive."

"Well, as long as you're not destructive, I think a little competitiveness is okay," she told her. "But..." she indicated her book. "I'd like to get back to it."

"Oh, right! Sorry, sorry," Mollia said, backing away. "I'll turn the sound down. And remind Alexei to be quiet."

Cin gave her thanks to Mollia and returned to the pages of her book, turning the delicate pages carefully. Most of the books in the library were from the private collection of the Earth Space Corps—books that had been collected from the quarters of deceased members or donated from those who worked with the ESC in their lifetime—which meant that some of them were older than others. Print books weren't exactly rare, but older editions were overwhelmed by the new, synthetic plastic paged ones. The one she had in her hands right now was made of paper, and Cin relished the soft feel of it between her fingers. Mollia and Alexei had resumed their game but soon the sound faded into the background as she read.

Cin was lost in the realms of Middle Earth when a crackle of static broke the relative quiet of the room. Mollia and Alexei looked up from their puzzle game, their faces mirroring the curiosity of the other. The vid-screen buzzed a moment longer before flickering to life. Cin rose, book in hand, as they turned toward the screen where Galen's face flickered.

"Good afternoon, Exhi. We will be having a mandatory meeting on the bridge at nineteen-hundred. Gray will be informing us of recent discoveries. Please refrain from bothering him until then. Stormweather out." The screen faded to black. Galen wasn't one to give extended announcements. 

"Substance?" Mollia turned to Alexei. "What did we miss?"

Cin sighed and put her book back on the shelf after marking her place with a strip of paper. "Gray and Lixue have been studying a substance that we found outside of the ship."

Alexei's forehead crinkled underneath his cropped blond hair. "It's on the ship?"

Cin nodded.

"Isn't that kind of...dangerous?"