And Silent Were The Stars

- 9 -

 Rebecca opened her eyes, still holding her breath. She exhaled until her lungs were empty and sat up on the bed. Catching her breath with her mouth, unable to get enough oxygen into her body, she shuddered and looked around. Then she saw the numbers on the digital clock glowing in the dim illumination of her private cabin - 02:13. The thin thermal blanket lay crumpled on the floor by the bed and next to it an empty pill container. A wave of shivers coursed through her and she broke out in a silent sob, hiding her face in her palms.  

Rebecca kept her eyes closed and felt warm water flow down her body. She moved her face under the stream and let it caress her skin and pass through the short auburn hair. The palms of her hands slid from her shoulders down to the small breasts and further down to the flat belly. The sound of water hitting the rubbery surface of the shower filled the silence.

She felt it again. The feeling of someone watching her crept over her like thousands of tiny spider legs, crawling on her skin, making her hairs stand on end. Rebecca opened the eyes and turned around. For a moment she thought she'd heard a noise. It was as if it was coming from the locker room located just out of the shower area. She reached for the taps and turned the water off. As the valve of the faucet turned it gave out a sad screech and then the silence hung in the humid air. From somewhere deep inside the walls a constant humming sound quietly reverberated through the hull of the ship. The Syracusae made all kinds of noises as life support systems pushed enormous amounts of water and air through the filtration systems every second of the ship's lifetime to support more than a thousand souls aboard. It took Rebecca some time to get used to live with the constant humming and droning.

Rebecca looked out into the long narrow space between the two lines of showers, placed one if front of the other, convincing herself that it was just her imagination playing mind tricks on her. She washed the face and the hair, the foam disappearing into the drain in the floor, and as she did so she heard the same sound again. The shrill, cutting noise as if someone had scratched a metal surface with the tip of a screwdriver. This time she was sure the sound she'd heard was real and that it wasn't the Syracusae 'breathing'. Slowly, she leaned out of the shower, looking at the end of the narrow passage. There, behind a corner was the locker room. Her fingers found the tap and she turned the water off and reached for the towel hanging right outside the shower cabin. As her feet touched the rubbery surface of the floor, she could clearly hear the hinges of a locker squeal and metal hitting on metal as someone opened the door of a locker.

Rebecca wrapped the soft, white towel around herself, brushing the short curls back with her palm and letting the water drip from her hair onto the back. A small puddle formed under her feet. Barefoot, she walked down the corridor between the shower cabins. Right around the corner, the tall metal lockers were organized in four rows, a narrow bench dividing them.

From somewhere up ahead she could hear rustling and another sound that distantly resembled soft purring or gurgling. She passed the first row and looked left and right, making sure there was no one there. Rebecca walked on, placing one foot in front of the other very slowly. The second row was empty as well. Wet footprints trailed behind her as she moved further ahead.

Two more rows remained. The sound seemed to be coming from somewhere up ahead. There was no doubt that the noises she heard were there and that they were real. By an ironic coincidence, her locker was located in the very corner of the room, in the last row. Right where the sound seemed to be coming from. She tried to breathe so as not to make any noise. Having passed the empty third row she was about to look into the last one when, suddenly, she felt someone touch her shoulder from behind and her heart skipped a beat.

"Wow, chill," Jen laughed as Rebecca spun round and backed away, hitting the side of a locker with her back.

"Jesus, you scared the hell out of me..." Rebecca drew in a deep breath and exhaled, holding the towel up with both hands and leaning her head against the locker.

"Sorry." Jen smiled and opened the second locker of the opposite row. The door of the locker hid the young woman from Rebecca. The name plate on the metal door said Jennifer Simmons, MED0005. "And I thought that a hot shower was supposed to help you relax." Jen peaked from behind the door, her eyes smiling, looking at Rebecca who was still standing there, clutching the towel to her breast.

"Jeez, girl, you look like you've seen a ghost." She frowned.

"I... I didn't expect to see anyone here this late."

"Yeah, neither did I." Jen leaned into the locker and started searching for something at the very bottom. Rebecca felt her heart start to regain its normal pace. She stood still and listened. Now the only sound was Jen cursing while searching for something she couldn't find. "Where the hell did I leave them..."

Rebecca made a step away from the locker, her fingers rubbing one corner of the towel, "Jen, have you seen anyone in here?"

Jen stopped digging in her things and looked out from behind the door at Rebecca, a puzzled look on her face.

"I mean, when you came in. Was anyone else here? Or did anyone leave?"

The young woman started to undress. She pulled the top over her head and threw it into the locker. As she reached down and took the purple rubber slippers out she said, "Nope." She pulled the black legging off, followed by the underwear and slid her bare feet into the slippers. The she added, looking at Rebecca, "No, haven't seen anyone. Why?"

"No, it's nothing." Rebecca pulled the towel higher up. "Just thought I'd heard something."

"Something? Those better not be the guys from engineering spying on us again." She smiled. "Although, there's definitely stuff to see here." She spoke the last words louder and turned first to one side, then to the other, grimacing and acquiring positions aimed at seducing a nonexistent spectator. Rebecca smiled at her antics and shook the head side to side. Jen blew a kiss to the vent in the ceiling and whispered in a seductive voice, "Those naughty, naughty boys." She then shook a finger in the air, her full, dark lips pouting. Rebecca couldn't hold the laugh in.

Jen closed the locker and looked at Rebecca. Her dark skin created sharp contrast with the white towel tucked under her arm. "Seriously, you should get some sleep, girl. You look awful."

"I'll try," Rebecca lied, memories of the nightmare still lingering in the back of her mind.

"Well, I'm going to enjoy my shower then. Come see me in my kingdom of the dead. We can have a cup of tea. Irish." She winked.

Rebecca nodded once. 

Jen walked towards the showers, singing a song from 'Let's Run Away to Mars', a popular musical. After a couple of steps she turned halfway and looked at Rebecca, putting one palm up to her mouth, covering the lips with the fingertips, and used the towel in the other hand to cover her private parts, a fake shamed expression on her face. They both laughed and Jen walked on. Rebecca watched her as the woman disappeared behind a curve, her voice sounding more distant now.  

She exhaled and said under her breath, "More sleep... Yeah right..." Before she walked up to the last row of lockers, Rebecca stopped and listened. All she could hear was the water running and Jen singing in the shower. Nothing else.