Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode Five: Adam #3

Sophia thought the young man looked familiar as soon as he entered the room that afternoon. He wore a jean jacket, T shirt and jeans. He had a bag over one shoulder and hung back observing the crowd.

It was growing to quite a crowd, too. As news of the medical wing spread, people were coming from all over for treatment on all kinds of conditions. With news that relations were normalized even more people felt comfortable coming up.

Two things prevented the flow from becoming overwhelming. The other stations had taken a page from Shoshone and opened similar wings. And most of the conditions could be treated much faster than on the surface. The patients left almost as fast as they came and they were starting to blur in Sophia's mind.

She pushed through the crowd to where the man was standing. "Hello, I'm Sophia, one of the liaison officers." They had hired three more people to help with her workload. "Can I help you?"

"Craig," the man said taking her hand. He looked around for awhile before going on. "I wanted to see about staying on the station. Finding a job and all that." Sophia was about to direct him down the hall, to where the economics office was, when he went on. "Only, I've got this medical conditions."

"I've seen you," Sophia said, her brain making the connection suddenly, a young man on the edge of the scene at one of the bars that Carl had liked. She named the place.

He startled. "You a lesbian?"

She laughed. She had changed a lot since coming up, she knew. "No. Trans. Used to hang out with this guy that liked to go there. Carl." She watched his reaction but got none. Apparently Carl wasn't as well known around the scene as he liked to pretend. Thinking about him made her sad. "Anyway, this disease?"

He nodded. "Positive. My counts are pretty good, but I thought this might be the logical first stop, see what I have to do to keep my treatment up to date and all that. Is there stuff they can do?"

"I used to be positive, too. It's okay."

"Used to be?"

"Yeah, used to. They can treat it." She looked around at the treatment wing. They were ushering the twentieth, at least, patient for the day back to the tanks. "Tell you what, it's not something you would need to stay here for. I'll take you up to another clinic. Be a lot faster." She turned and waved at Dhanvin. "Taking this guy to another clinic. Be back." Dhanvin nodded.

"The medical wing is really for those that need long term care," she explained as she walked Craig towards the main lift. "This will only take a fifteen, twenty minutes."

"And then I'll be cured? That would be amazing."

"It would," Sophia agreed. "But it's not quite that easy. They will clear all the active virus from your blood stream. You will need repeated treatments to get it all, though, to get the stuff in the cells and what not."

"Makes sense, I guess. But eventually I will be cured, like permanent?"

"Yup. Depends on your personal case, but a handful of treatments. Meanwhile you can get a job and get settled, all that. The treatments don't hurt or nothing."

"Cool."

Even with the station open to visitors, most of stayed on or near bottom. The lift was virtually empty as they rose through the station.

"I suppose that will be the next step then, getting a job and getting settled. I don't got much for tonight."

"Your starting bank is plenty for one night," Sophia told him, "Don't worry. I am taking you to Chaka Court. It's a workers court, perfect for your situation. There's a good cheap hotel right across from the clinic. They've got laundry services, food stalls and it's close to rim court which has some good food, too."

"Thanks."

Sophia thought of her apartment. They hadn't replaced Kerry yet. It was okay, with her new job. But still tight for the others and there were things Sophia wanted to save for, like being able to cut her hours a bit and start her basic education. "Umm, actually, would you like to do supper?" He gave her a short look. "It's not anything like that," she said. "Me and some friends from the surface have a place, is all. One of them left, went deeper in the Consortium. So we have a room free. I'll message them and have them come too."

"Yeah, that would be super cool," he said.

She showed him to the medical clinic and then stopped by the flower stand where Sherry was working. Sherry was excited about the chance to get a new roommate as well. She promised to let Tamela know as well. Sophia headed back to her job, feeling good about her day.