The Line of the Sol Empress

Chapter 3.2

[Celeste]

"Hi."

Celeste leaned out from behind the maze of piping and wiring, wedging her foot under a pipe to keep from floating away. Smears of a dark substance blotched her hands and one cheek. She had tied her dark hair in a bun to keep it out of the way, something especially problematic in zero gravity. "You're up, Moon. How do you feel?"

Moon floated beside the piping, holding a pipe support bracket to keep himself stationary. "Much better." He put a hand to his forehead. "The headache is almost gone. How long did I sleep?"

"About seven hours."

"That long? What was in that shot?"

"It was a head-knock medicine cocktail, including drugs that limit potential brain bleeding and a painkiller. It has a sedative side-effect."

Moon narrowed his eyes. "You drugged me?!"

She huffed. "Moon, you probably had a concussion! Until we get the med bay up for proper diagnostic imaging, you need to get plenty of rest. I need what few brain cells you still possess to continue functioning until you get me to the outer colonies."

He deadpanned, "You mean it's not because you enjoy my stimulating personality?"

"No. Definitely not that." She rolled her eyes. By the Empress, he is aggravating.

Moon shook his head and pointed. "You're working on the air recyclers?"

She lifted her chin. "Yes. I have one line working. It should keep us breathing."

"Celeste, you are a woman of many talents." He pointed his thumb behind himself. "I'm going to start working on the power systems and maybe get the gravity and computer systems online. You keep working on the environmental systems."

Celeste lowered her voice and widened her eyes. "Do you think Sai is okay?"

"I think so. Her core is shielded, and she backs herself up regularly. I hope it will be just a matter of rebooting her."

She wagged a finger at him. "I want you to take regular breaks. And be sure to drink plenty of water. Don't make me drug you again."

Moon made a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am." Floating away, he winked back with one of his eyes. "Dinner later?"

She nodded. "Okay."

"Right then, it's a date."

Celeste's eyes traced Moon until he disappeared from view. She shook her head.

Oh no, it's not a date.

*****

"You should have warned me." Celeste stood behind Moon with her arms folded, a scowl across her face. He kneeled in front of an open access panel in the passageway outside of the galley. Various tools laid scattered on the floor beside him.

He jerked his head around. "About what?"

"About turning the gravity on." She was soaked. Her tank top drooped, clinging to her body, and drops of gray water dripped to the floor from her soggy long hair. "I was working on the water recycling system. The sudden gravity caused a surge."

"Umm, sorry?" Moon put a hand to his mouth, being unable to hold back a smirk. "I tried to bring it on slowly, but the manual controls were a bit touchy." He stood. "I'll fix dinner while you get cleaned up. You'll have to use my cabin."

"Don't I have my own room?"

"Not anymore, unless you don't need to breathe. The spare cabin is under vacuum now, probably from a hull breech. I am glad you were not in there when it happened."

Celeste lowered her head and slogged down the passageway, leaving behind a trail of small water droplets.

The shower refreshed her, even though the water was bracingly cool. She kept it short, knowing that fresh water may be in short supply at the moment.

While toweling her hair, Celeste gazed about the room in the dimness of a single emergency light. A one word of description would be 'functional'. The relatively small room included a bed platform above a set of drawers; a bedside cabinet; a low chest fastened to the opposite wall with cushions on top for sitting; a desk with a comfortable looking high-back chair; and a small closet at one end partitioned with a mirrored sliding door. The large transparent view screen mounted on the wall behind the desk laid blank. As standard on a starship, all furnishings were secured to the floor or a wall.

Pillows, a few pieces of clothing, and various personal objects were strewn about the room, likely because of the recent gravity loss and not any tendency toward messiness. She took note that no pictures of family or lover were displayed, rather no photos at all.

Moon is an introvert and values function over form, basically the stereotypical engineer.

A leather-bound book on the floor beside the desk gave her pause. When entire libraries may be stored on a small memory crystal and easily read on a viewer, physical books were rare.   Dog-eared page corners indicated age and use. Her eyes widened as she turned it over to place it on the desk, revealing the title, 'Writings of the Sol Empress'.

Does he follow the Empress' teachings? Maybe there is hope for him.  

A warm feeling flowed through Celeste as she picked it up and placed it gently on the center of the desk. The Writings were perhaps the most influential work of the last millennia. While some might mistake it as a religious text, it was really a collection of moral codes written over the centuries for personal behavior and governmental function.  To this, she had devoted her life.

Most everything in the room was colored light gray. The only thing artful was a painted mural showing a somewhat abstract depiction of the Phoenix Star blazing about the cosmos. As Celeste bent down to retrieve her bag, she noticed another piece of art low on one wall next to the bed. Drawn in red and blue directly on the wall, it crudely depicted a spaceship on a planet with several smiling stick figures preparing to board, like what a small child might produce. She tilted her head and furrowed her brow.

A child was here?

Having left her wet clothing hanging above the shower to dry, she took out a pair of black leggings from her bag. She borrowed a gray t-shirt, hoping Moon would not mind. It fit more like a baggy dress on her petite frame, but became almost fashionable when tied at the waist with her sky-blue scarf.

Something in the drawer beneath his rolled-up shirts caught her eye. She withdrew a small stack of crinkled paper.

Paper? Who uses paper anymore?

The sheets displayed colorful drawings by children of various ages and artistic abilities. A warm smile rose on Celeste's face as she leafed through the drawings. They depicted various scenes on a planet or in space. Two things were common to them all: happiness and thankfulness to Moon.

There is more to him than he reveals.