Charlie's

6

I stayed around the outpost for the rest of the day, wanting to be sure Sarah would be okay on her own. There was always cataloging to catch up on, and news and shows to watch after that. I also messaged Marie, telling her I'd be tied up with work for a while.

Sarah finally came out when I was making my dinner. I ordered up a burrito for her and set it down beside her. She ate in silence, not looking at me.

"So...where're you from?"

No answer.

"Why'd you stow away?"

Still nothing.

I gave up for the moment, turned to the console, found a soccer tournament and brought up a game. After a while I heard her doing something at another console, and the fabber produced something to drink.

Halfway through the game the fabber spat out a package of clothes. Sarah took it to her room and closed the door. She came out wearing a leather jacket and boots, black shirt and jeans.

I nodded in approval. "Looks good."

"Thanks. Does the fabber do beer?"

"Yeah, it's okay with beer, but it can be a little flat sometimes. It's better with wine. Or liquor. Very nice scotch."

She tried the beer, and seemed okay with it. I guessed she was kind of young to have had much better.

"Listen," she said after half her bottle was gone. "I don't mean to be a bitch, okay? I just never thought I'd be stuck in a place like this."

"Where'd you think you'd be stuck?"

"I dunno. Some place different. Some place that...wasn't where I was."

"Home?"

"If you wanna call it that. Just...forget about it. What is this place?"

"This is the Survey Office outpost for Tantalus 3. I study the geology here, mineral content, formations, radiation patterns..."

"Radiation?"

"Sunlight, ambient energy, mineralogical decay. Nothing dangerous."

Sarah nodded, looking around at the equipment. "Why?"

"It's interesting. It's how we learn how planets are formed."

"So you're out here by yourself, checking out the landscape, looking at the rocks..."

"Taking soil samples, core samples, doing chemical analysis. Yeah."

"All by yourself? For three years?"

I shrugged. "I like being on my own."

"Yeah, but isn't this a bit much? Don't you miss people?"

"Well...that's what the sim is for. It keeps me entertained."

"That's not people."

"It's a lot of people. Want to see?"

Sarah looked around the room, not seeing anything new, except the windows darkening toward black. "Sure."

"Great. I've set you up with a hotel room...that's where you'll wake up by default when you go in. I'll meet you in the lobby."

"...Right. So I go in there, and undress, and get in the thing...and...close the lid..."

"And the sim system will take care of the rest."

"Okay." She sat there a moment, not moving. "I might be a little while."

"Take your time. I'll bring a book."

"...Right."