White Space

2

 On their way to the recreation room, they bumped into a grumpy man in his late 40s, sitting on top of a small ladder, working on an air vent shaft overhead. He was so immersed in his work he didn't even take the time to address the newcomers. To Accacia's not-so-cordial invitation, he just spat up a "I'll make it if I fucking make it." through teeth holding a screwdriver. "This ain't fixing itself, boss."

 Accacia apologetically told them about Anisim, the face behind the grumpy voice, who was the on-site engineer here ever since the research station was built. He knew the whole place better than anyone, but having spent most of his adult life on Europa; he didn't have much in terms of social skills.

 The two men eventually got offered some terrible coffee, which they were happy to take. Yemon, with his expectations heavily dialed down on account of the state of the station, concluded that the coffee was indeed better than bearable. It was actually very nice brew. The research team slowly gathered in the recreation room, which was a comparatively large, circular room, but a simple affair, in keeping with the aesthetics of the old base. There was a table in the middle, also circular, with a heavily padded bench going around one half of it, all plastic, with one long backrest, allowing for as many people to sit at the table as needed. The other half had normal chairs for seating. Ironically, it was all too big for the few people occupying the station. Overhead, just above the central seating arrangement, there was a cold light illuminating the table and dimming everything else in sight.

 Slowly, Yemon's eyes adjusted to the contrast as he entered with Jaleel and Accacia by his side. The room, all in all, looked cozy. It had a sort of strange, olden feel, like a rundown bar in a desert, sans the windows. It was even complete with empty, discarded bottles on a side table and a pool table in the back, close to an actual small bar, fashioned from white cabinets built int the wall and some kind of workstation turned into a mini counter.

 Colin, who washed his face and just generally tried to create a human being out of what Yemon and Jaleel had seen before, sat on top of the backrest of the circular chair in the middle. A woman in her 30s, of heavier complexion and light brown hair, sat next to Colin's feet, the only person occupying the big bench in the intended fashion. Behind them stood Anisim, the man whose lower half they'd also briefly met on the way to the rec room, still dirty from whatever fixing-up he'd been immersed in. In the back, in a doorway, was a lanky looking man with beautiful bright brown skin and strikingly handsome features. He was, interestingly, dressed in a smart casual attire, still more smart than casual, a stark contrast to the clothes everybody else seemed to wear on the station.

 "So what the fuck is this again? More delays? Boss, please don't tell me we need to stay here for long—" Anisim said but was cut short by Yemon.

 "You all know why we're here Mr. Sorokin." he said, enjoying the brief flash of surprise on the man's face at him, knowing his full name. "But, should any of you need a refresher, we came to investigate the disappearance of your Yin Shu and, if at all possible, attempt to save her life."

 "I knew it, you guys!" Colin shouted, looking around for a friendly face to join his enthusiasm. There weren't any.

 "So why aren't you out there searching for her, then?" Anisim said.

 Yemon held the man's icy gaze. "We're here to investigate."

 "What does that mean?"

 "First, it means we're the ones asking the questions. Second, it means that we'll not be the ones looking for her out in the dark, not even knowing where to start. We gather all the intel and relay it to our colleagues in the Alpha team, who are out there attending to the other matter hands-on."

"Oh..." Colin looked at the floor.

"There's another situation developing not far from here, as you will know, seeing how Mr. Narayanan is here with us." Yemon nodded toward the well-dressed man standing in the shadow. "The explosions took place on the construction site at exactly the same time as Ms. Shu's disappearance, so they are considered the same issue."

"But—" Colin tried to interject, but Yemon shook his head and continued.

"We know that the two things are separate, but we have to follow protocol. For all intents and purposes, right now, Alpha team has to proceed with search efforts at the site and work from there. As for ourselves, we'll conduct interviews and sift through all the data we can relay the info to them."

"Do you know if there's anyone alive out there?" Accacia said.

"I was expecting the question from Mr. Narayanan there." Yemon glanced towards the man in the back again. "But yes, we expect several individuals to possibly be trapped or injured or both. But we cannot be certain. It is not just some people lost in the wilderness on Earth where they have a chance at survival naturally. We're technically in space."

"So you don't even plan to go out and look for her?" The heavyset woman next to Colin asked.

"Not for now, Dr. Comtois. We have our gear, we'll get our submarine and surface vehicle ready, but for now, consider us... detectives, for lack of a better comparison."

A heavy, grave silence fell upon the otherwise cheerfully furnished recreation room. Yemon looked at the faces in front of him one after another, then around the room. It had a cheerful vibe that was now painfully out of place. Pictures lined the walls, actual physical pictures, showing the denizens of Enki station in their seats, drinking beer at the very table they were squirming at right now. There were awards on the wall too, commemorating important life events, some of them birthdays, others strange, nonsensical ones, like the consumption of the one thousandth fake burger on Europa. None of them were about scientific achievements, however.

"Look, there's no reason to be worried as yet. Yes, as far as we can tell, communication has been lost with her, but her disappearance is fairly recent. Her suit can last up to about a week. If she's acting energy conscious, which she should, she can last eight or nine days. That gives us enough time, but we need to search as accurately as possible. Hence the interviews and the detective work. As soon as we have an idea where to look, Alpha can be there in a second. If their hands are full, we can go out ourselves." When he finished talking, he looked around the faces, looking back at him. "Questions?"

 "Yes?" he pointed at Dr. Comtois, who was holding up a shaking hand.

 "How long do you think this whole thing will take? We're running short on supplies as we were supposed to be decommissioned weeks ago and I mean—"

 "That's none of our business, Dr. Comtois." Yemon tried to sound considerate. It wasn't his strong suit. "You need to talk to your employer about that. Our primary concern is getting as many people out alive as possible, including Yin Shu. We'll take no longer and no shorter than necessary. What that entails will be clearer as we go."

 "Yeah, and how about the extra pay?" Anisim chimed in, "I mean, the company already paid us for the rest of this little trip in advance." He made air quotes. "But now we're weeks behind and we'll have to arrange new transport to Earth. It's one thing that we are forced out of our homes, for all intents and purposes, but at least compensate us for the whole—"

 "Can you take this up with her in an internal meeting? This does not concern us." Yemon said. He looked at Jaleel and then at Accacia. "We need to set up the interviews as soon as possible."