White Space

3

 The big, padded chair made Colin look so small. He was squirming around like he wasn't sure the chair or the soldiers wouldn't swallow him whole. The pale light in the tiny control room caused his face to look even more like a death mask, except for the sweat. It was entirely too much sweat. Yemon tried to explain it away at first, thinking the boy just didn't really feel at ease or that he was just not comfortable being interrogated, which could be true for everyone. Even Yemon himself never liked to be on the opposite side.

 The kid looked from face to face, sometimes glancing at the monitors and keyboards in the control room. This was the only place they could agree with Accacia to conduct the interviews, having not wanted to use any of the numerous empty suites. That was considered somehow too... personal by Yemon. He wanted someplace that looked official, that, if not shouted, at least whispered authority. Then Colin's eyes slowly settled on his feet.

 Yemon knew where to start and whom to start with. Accacia had already informed them after the introductory meeting that they should start with Colin because there was a good reason he was acting so weird about Yin's disappearance.

 "So what is the nature of the relationship between you and Yin Shu?"

 Colin's eyes darted from one man to the other. "I... We're colleagues."

 "And that would be the extent of it." Yemon watched the sweat thicken on Colin's forehead.

 "Well, I mean we're... I wouldn't say friends, but we've worked together for, like, what? Two years now?" He started scratching the back of his head violently.

 "When was the last time you saw her?" Yemon asked, lifting his device. Colin visibly squirmed at the prospect of being recorded.

 "In... umm... in the recreation room." He said, his eyes darting back and forth, struggling to jumpstart his brain. "I mean, she said she was going there. To read, I mean. It was the night she disappeared. She borrowed one of my books."

 "We were told that you had some kind of fight that night."

 "Oh yes, that's right. We fought. It was nothing, really." Colin said, swear literally pouring down his temples now.

 "About what?" Yemon took some notes.

"Look, I... It's nothing, ok?"

"We were also told that you are more than friends." Yemon said, taking a deep sigh. He wanted Colin to give up this fact on his own accord, but they couldn't go on chasing each other's tails. There was something clearly wrong with the kid, and he got stuck in a rut. His mind wasn't functioning anymore. Maybe it was just the fear of being questioned. Maybe it was something else.

Colin swept his hand across his face, trying to make himself look like a person, even if not an especially competent and collected one. He put his hands down, realizing he had been fidgeting too much, and started chewing his lip instead. Then he took a deep, shuddering sigh, shooting a glance at the ceiling.

"So she's finishing her PhD in marine biology. Well, it's basically done. So... I just wanted to talk about... you know. The future when we move back to Earth. Like..." his voice began to tremble, "... Our future. Together. But she didn't want to talk about it much. And then when I pushed it, she stormed out with the book."

 "Was that all you have talked about?" Yemon asked, trying to ask something from the boy that would provide a bit of safe ground under his feet. He didn't want to torture him, he just needed to get the information. He needed him to not want to lie.

"Yeah. And it wasn't the first time, either. She wasn't interested in this lifeless rock anymore. She had done her research, she has her PhD, so she was just kind of waiting around, I guess. We all are."

 Colin's sweating subsided somewhat, but didn't cease, which seemed odd to Yemon. The entire station was at perfect room temperature. Although the air conditioning systems were audibly struggling with the temperature and air filtration all over the station, it was very comfortable inside, almost chilly.

 The sweating was different. It could have been stress, but Yemon had seen it before. Military life often goes hand to hand with certain forms of self-medication. He had always found it sad to see some of the most well-disciplined people in the solar system being unable to resist the urge to numb themselves constantly. But if they were struggling with it, what could living for years on a strange lifeless snowball do to civilians? Especially kids his age?

 "Go get some rest. Or eat something. We should be done with all the interviews soon." He told the boy, trying to be as soft as he ever could be with a complete stranger.

 They told Colin to send in Anisim for his round and Yemon was now organizing his notes. Not that there was a whole lot of organizing required. There wasn't much to learn here, it seemed.

 "Man, aren't you getting hungry? When was the last time you ate?" Jaleel asked. Yemon suddenly became aware of the presence of Jaleel's stomach, a subtle growl reminding him to check on his own.

 "Yeah, we should eat. I think we haven't eaten in a few hours."

 "More like a day." Yemon knew better than to challenge this assessment. He knew that Jaleel's stomach was better at keeping time than an atomic clock. He opened his mouth in agreement, but a soft knock interrupted their discussion. The two men looked up to see a round face in the doorway. Anisim, by the looks of him, wasn't going to remove the layer of grime and dirt from his face for something as trivial as an interview with two military men. Yemon couldn't help but think that he must have attributed some kind of health benefits to the filth.

 "Mr. Sorokin, please, if you don't mind, we actually decided that the crew deserves the lunch Ms. Stephenson mentioned when we arrived. But, by all means, do not feel compelled to wash your face."

 Anisim turned away, mumbling something under his breath.