Astrophysical (completed)

Chapter 2

The ship was quiet. It didn't even have the sound of a motor running and the lights were dim. In the Mess Hall, the hustle and bustle that usually filled the air was gone. The cooking stations were empty and clean, even though only hours earlier it was messy and filled with men yelling and cracking jokes.

Cassie wasn't sure exactly what time it was, but she understood that it was after hours for the crew. She had been wandering around for the past few days to avoid contact with anyone. If not, she stayed in her room or sneaked back to the observatory to pass time so that she could enjoy the ship and adjust to all this on her own terms. Currently, she was climbing down the stairs that led to the atrium and onto the kitchen in hopes of finding food.

When she reached the bottom floor, she hopped over the counter and entered the kitchen. It was again just dimly lit and with all the cooking instruments casting shadows around it. She found the large silver containers that held the food. They had a large latch that she undid to open them, feeling that fresh cool air brush against her face. Much like the previous night's adventures, she was disappointed to find nothing familiar. But if she didn't get over it, then she wouldn't eat. So, she grabbed the first thing closer to her, a small packet of red mushy substance. It had no label, so she had no idea what it was, but that's what experimenting was for.

She managed to find a small knife and open the package carefully. She sniffed it once it was open, but it didn't have much of a scent except for something meaty. Cassie guessed that maybe all she had to do was boil it and it would be cooked. She stumbled a bit until she found a pot and then lit the stove top contraption. After a couple of seconds of warming it up, she dropped the substance onto it and heard the bubbling as it sat there. Whatever this space station used to power things, she was constantly amazed at how fast and how easy a lot of it worked. It was just a couple minutes later, and a more pleasant smell ascended from the pot.

After turning everything off, she gathered her newly cooked food and a drink of what tasted like orange juice to her and moved to one of the empty tables. She took a spoon and picked up some of the meaty substance, examining it in the dim light once more before taking a bite.

To her grateful stomach, she was glad it was savoury. She hadn't had meat in a while since it was a little too expensive for her on the budget she had back home. Since coming aboard she had only found starchy and sweet substances that hadn't quite fit her mood. But this was delectable.

She was halfway through her meal when suddenly someone sat down in front of her. She somewhat choked on the bite she had just taken, covered her mouth, and held her chest to try and calm her fast-beating heart. She relaxed at the fact that it was Ash of all people before she closed her eyes to try and calm her heart, but when she opened them, she was surprised to see him eyeing her with a smirk on his face.

"You know, I would say sorry, but that's what you get for sneaking around in the dark," he said matter-of-factly.

"Shit, you gave me a heart attack," Cassie replied, taking a sip of her juice to further clear her throat.

"And swearing still isn't going to make me apologize, though I will admit it's entertaining."

She frowned at him and sighed. "I take it you're not awake due to insomnia."

"It's been a week," he said calmly. "I hadn't seen or heard from you like I was expecting to. And when I asked around, nobody confirmed that they had seen you. Call me crazy, but I wanted to make sure you weren't really a ghost since every time I also checked your cabin, you weren't there."

"Sorry," Cassie said breaking her gaze and looking down at her plate. "I just don't know what to do around here. Or how talk to anyone."