And Silent Were The Stars

- 5 -

"Hey, there!" Arthur's voice poured over Rebecca like a bucket of ice-cold water. She turned in her chair to see him watering the plant in the corner. Not taking her eyes off him, she reached with her fingers over the controls of the screen and minimized the window with the video stream. From his smug smile, she tried to understand how long he had been standing there.

Finally, she broke the silence, "You scared me."

"Anything interesting on tonight?" He carefully poured the water into the synthetic turf of the flower pot, giving her a sideways glance. Right at that moment, the door leading to the quarantine area hissed open and the large man strode into the room.

"Captain Richards." Rebecca got up from her chair.

"Good evening, Captain," said Arthur.

The man stopped, probably not expecting to see anyone in the room. "Doctor Porter. Doctor Doyle." For a second, his stare lingered on Rebecca and on the holoscreen behind her back. He took in a breath as if about to say something but then just nodded at Rebecca and headed for the exit.

"Someone's in a funky mood today." Arthur poured the remaining water into the container with the plant and raised his eyebrows.

Rebecca didn't answer and turned back to the screen.

"Isn't your shift over?" he came up closer and she felt his hands rest heavily on the back of the seat. The pungent smell of his perfume stung her nostrils. She shifted in the chair and moved slightly forward.

"Yes. It is. I just wanted to check one thing..." She let the sentence trail off unfinished. What was it that she came to do here? To check on the man in the other room? To see if he was still unconscious? Did she want him to wake up? To know what had happened down there on the dead, sunless rock? Did she really want to know?

"Doctor Dawson asked me to make sure that all the vitals are in order." She managed, knowing he would not buy into it.

"I see..." Arthur put more weight on the back of the chair, leaning closer to her. "Listen, I'm finishing in a couple of hours. Maybe we can grab dinner together. I have some great movies we could watch." His face was at the same level with hers now, almost rubbing against her cheek. She couldn't see him but knew that he was smiling.

"I'm not hungry," she said, opening another document and pretending to go through a report on the screen.

"Okey-dokey, suit yourself. Although, I hear they are serving Mexican tonight." She felt the pressure on the chair disappear as he moved away. "Maybe then we could just skip the food and watch ourselves a movie or two? Seeing how you like reality TV and all." He spoke as he slowly walked to his desk. Rebecca's hands clenched into fists under the desk but she said nothing.