Drifting Dark

Cassie's tablet was sitting on the table in front of her. It showed that the dark generator was running normally. No alerts, no irregularities, no problems. So far. Even so, the device was set to stay on and keep refreshing.

Next to the tablet, there was a dehydrated soup pack that she'd just injected with hot water using the kitchen facilities. It was standing upright on her tray, valve sticking upwards, untouched. She was currently waiting for the contents to cook. Her stomach rumbled.

She wasn't looking at the glowing tablet. Nor was she looking at the food in front of her.

She was staring at the photos cycling on the wall screen.

She'd tried to ignore it earlier, but as she'd waited, her attention had been captured by the amazing landscapes. So many photos, of Earth, of Mars. Even a few of one of the lunar cities. But mostly Earth and Mars.

It reminded her how the planets had so much. So much water. So much air. So much food. So much life.

So many things that were so scarce in space.

Not that she would trade her life for every other. Space was beautiful in it's own way, in the way she liked. Even just getting to see the stars, without smoke, light pollution or clouds, was worth it. In her limited experience opinion, anyways.

As the pictures started their cycle again, she recognized more of the crew, even though they tended to look much younger. Mike. Geoff. Danny. Brendan. Shrey. Aqeel. Everyone except Helen.

Maybe their captain didn't like having her picture taken.

The red beach faded to black, replaced by a hillside of lush green grass, sheep scattered in the background. Wispy clouds were spread across a deep blue sky. Danny looked a lot younger in this one, and the man he was posing next to could have been his twin. Or a friend.

But Danny didn't strike her as the type of person who had friends.

"Feeling homesick already?" Brendan's voice came from the other end of the table.

The snapped Cassie's attention away from the display surface. She finally noticed the sharp, rich smell in the air. Brendan had just put down a tray with a steaming bowl of spiced green sauce coating a large number of unidentifiable meat chunks. He reached for the reddish bottle that had been sitting in the center of the table since before she'd sat down.

She had already been hungry, but her mouth started to water, even though it was clearly a meat dish. Maybe there was something similar with vegetables in the ship's storage. She swallowed unconsciously.

"Oh, no, that's not..." Cassie babbled, fiddling with the liquid input valve on the packaging of her soup. "...they're just nice to look at." She picked up the container, shaking it vigorously.

"Thanks." Brendan smiled slightly as he squirted red oil all over his meal. "I took most of them. I always try to take a photo or two every time I go back home.

Cassie put the soup down and glanced back at the display again. "Wow, you're a really good photographer."

Brendan shrugged slightly, as his smile widened. "It's just a hobby."

"You'll need to find one for yourself," Geoff chimed in, sitting down next to her. His tray had a brown, thick loaf that was covered in grey-brown sauce. It smelled like meat and looked even more unappetizing.

Brendan nodded agreeably, his mouth full of fragrant, still unidentified curry.

"Things can get real boring out here." Geoff grabbed the bottle of red oil that Brendan had used earlier. "So what's your thing?" The red colour really did nothing to improve the look of his meal.

"What do you like to do in your free time?" Brendan clarified.

"Um... we never got a lot of free time." Cassie picked up the scissors and expertly cut open the top of the foil package, turning it into a makeshift bowl for her noodle soup. "And I'll probably be really busy here too."

Brendan waved off the excuse. "You'll have plenty of downtime here, not much work to be done while we're in dark mode."

Cassie used her fork to stir up the noodles, causing the artificial vegetable scent to waft upwards, as she subtly bit the inside of her lip. "Uh, I like reading manuals."

Danny snorted loudly from one table over, his feet up on the seat next to him and his tablet in his hand, playing media. "That's not a hobby."

He'd finished eating ages ago, but hadn't bothered to clear the table yet, being too engrossed in his device. The leftover clear plastic packaging from his meal, some kind of mixed rice dish with meat and vegetables, was still sitting there. He had been occasionally taking sips from his flexible silver water bag, but hadn't moved otherwise since Cassie had sat down, until now.

"Don't worry, you'll have lots of time to find something better out here," Geoff told her. "And I'm sure we can help with that."

"You could always take up gardening," Brendan suggested. "Like Shrey."

Cassie coughed on a mouthful of noodles. "You're serious? Gardening? We're in space."

Brendan smiled at her reaction. "And yet, he's got a whole jungle going."

"Not quite a jungle," Danny chimed in unprompted. "More like a swamp."

Geoff nodded in agreement.

Cassie put down her fork. "But... how?"

Brendan shrugged.

"He's obsessed," Mike answered instead, sliding into the seat across from her, placing his bottle on the table. "That's how." He picked out a bright green sphere from the small, black plastic package he was holding and popped it in his mouth.

Cassie waited patiently for further explanation, but none seemed forthcoming. "So does he eat them or..."

Brendan chuckled. "No, they're just decorative."

Cassie stared at him in disbelief.

Danny snapped his fingers. "See, I'm not the only one who thinks it's weird."

"Pilots," Geoff stated as he cut up a large chunk of the brown loaf. He dipped it into the even browner sauce before shoving it in his mouth. "What's there to say? They're all a little crazy."

"Don't knock it till you try it," Brendan said, almost defensively. "You never know, you might like it."

"Uh, I'm really better with machines than plants." Cassie scowled slightly, choosing to take another forkful of noodles.

"Or, you could always take up running," Danny suggested brightly.

Collective groans rose from the other members of the group.

"I mean it. This place is huge. Best track around," Danny continued, ignoring the shaking heads and annoyed grumbling. "Takes me a half hour to get from one end to the other." He took a sip of his drink. "You guys are missing out."

"It's a pain, that's what it is," Mike protested, pulling an orange sphere out of the package this time, then putting it back.

"I already get enough exercise getting from here to my quarters, no need for any extra," Geoff grumbled.

Cassie blinked. "Wait, there are no elevators?"

"Oh, yes, the secret elevators that we keep hidden on the grand tour." Geoff smirked knowingly.

Everyone chuckled. Except Danny, who shook his head and groaned.

Cassie glanced around at the group. "But on any ship this size..."

"Not on a ship this old," Mike explained. "The grav field flip is also a relic you won't see anymore."

"It's worst than just no elevators," Geoff continued. "No bikes. No skateboards. No hoverboards." He counted off the prohibited items on his fingers. "It's inhumane."

Brendan put down his spoon for a moment, pausing to dose his green dish with more red oil. "All the walking keeps you fit."

Geoff scoffed. "Skateboards keep you fit."

"For people who can actually use them." Brendan stirred his dish, now looking much more brown than before. "You'd crash one the second you go on it anyways."

Geoff's scowl deepened.

"It's never going to happen," Mike said firmly. "You're outvoted."

Geoff looked like he was going to argue.

"We all remember hoverboard incident," Brendan added, his mouth full of curry. It was probably meant to sound serious, maybe a warning, but his garbled voice ruined the effect. Even so, Geoff didn't utter a snappy response, and focused on cutting a particularly tough part of his meat brick.

Cassie spun more noodles around her fork, watching the conversation with interest. "This place is really different than the other fleet ships."

"Because it's not," Brendan confirmed. "It's a private ship, and we used to negotiate our own contracts with the mining companies... but now we work exclusively for the military."

Mike bit down on the red candy currently in his mouth, causing a loud crunch. "Under a contract we couldn't negotiate."

"Or refuse," Geoff grumbled lowly.

Cassie glanced at the others, sensing the faint edge of fear lacing the conversation, even though they were all trying their best to hide it. "Is that true?"

Brendan met her gaze. "They did imply..."

"No," Danny interjected firmly. "We decided to take the contract."

Geoff leaned forwards. "We had a choice."

"No, we didn't," Mike spoke up, suddenly sounding annoyed. "We didn't have a dark generator and we could never compete with the other, much larger, inner transport companies. And you all know it." He paused, as if expecting for someone to disagree, but the group was oddly silent. "We would have been sitting in dock, racking up pointless fees, if we hadn't taken this contract."

"It's not important how we got here," Brendan said, putting down his spoon, a tone of finality in his voice. "We're in this now. We work for them, go where they tell us, but they've left us alone so far. We're still running the show."

That got some murmurs of agreement.

"So you took this contract and the only thing the military gave you was the dark generator?" Cassie asked innocently. "No other upgrades?"

"Nope," Brendan added hastily. "That was it."

"Not true. They also painted their logo on the side," Geoff pointed out, with obvious disdain. "Painted a fucking target on us."

Brendan shot his coworker a warning look. "We're just lucky they let us keep flying it, provided we follow their orders."

"Still a raw deal," Geoff grumbled lowly. "Half the pay, twice the danger."

"If you hate your job so much, then quit," Danny shot back. "You just like to complain."

"You do understand what the word 'conscription' means, right?" Geoff retorted, arms crossed. "Lot of good that would do. I'd just end up working for them anyways."

Brendan rubbed his forehead as he stared down at his empty bowl.

Geoff stabbed the remaining portion of the dull brown loaf he'd been eating with his fork. "And I'd rather be a contractor than a soldier in this stupid war."

Now it was Mike's turn to shit Geoff a warning look. "Don't start that again."

"It's true," Geoff continued, ignoring Mike's expression. "It's the stupidest thing ever. Why are we even fighting in the first place?"

"Unity."

"Bullshit." Geoff smacked the table, causing Cassie's flimsy bowl to shake, as he glared at Danny. "It's all about the Ellidium, that's it. Mars and Earth will never hand over control of the supply to an independent government. People are dying over a stupid rock."

Cassie consciously held onto the container as she continued eating, slurping up her noodles silently.

Danny simply glared back, apparently undisturbed except for the increased tension of in his jaw. "We won't have modern space travel without that 'stupid rock'. It's important."

Geoff's fork, stuck upright in the half-eaten brown brick, wobbled slightly. "Then they should have given the stations the price they were asking. Instead, they've spent a ton more throwing warships at them."

Danny shrugged, but his grip on the tablet was tightening. "The stations were negotiating in bad faith, they were never going to be happy with any price."

Geoff stared at Danny from across both tables. "The planets thought they could strongarm the tiny stations into accepting a raw deal." He crossed his arms. "It blew up in their faces, then they had to balls to call foul."

"They aren't the victims here." Danny finally put down his device to look back at Geoff. "The Horizon Alliance want a monopoly, they want control. They just bullied the other stations into joining."

Geoff shook his head. "The planets were the ones who came up with the damn ultimatum, how did they think that was going to go over?"

"It wasn't an ultimatum, it was a call for humanity to come together, take on the universe together. Like the old days." Danny's tone had shifted into almost patronizing, definitely irritated. "They forget where they came from. Earth and Mars built those stations."

Geoff waved his arm about, vaguely gesturing in an unknown direction. "And then sent them out there in piss poor conditions to mine until their bodies rot, leaving their kids to suffer from weak bones and bad food."

"That's not fair. Everyone thought artificial gravity would solve the health problems of long term space travel," Danny argued back. "They only found that out after the first generation, then they tried to help."

Geoff tapped the metal table loudly with his knuckles. "Except it didn't work, so the stations paid top dollar for new field generators that had the exact same problems as the old ones."

Danny crossed his arms. "How does that justify starting a war?"

"Because they didn't have any other choice," Geoff answered, in the same patronizing tone Danny had been employing. "The planets had backed them into a corner."

Cassie watched as the two kept bickering back and forth. It wasn't long before Geoff had gotten up and migrated over to Danny's table. Their conversation seemed to alternate between friendly debate and outright argument, but seemingly escalated no further.

After a while, Brendan sighed, loud enough to be heard over the animated voices. He gave Cassie an apologetic look. "Ignore them. They'll go on for hours."

"Or days," Mike added, tiredly. "It gets old real fast."

"Oh, I don't mind," Cassie mumbled, focused on slurping up more noodles.

"So..." Brendan stared at her curiously. "...what's your story?"

Cassie started hastily eating her lukewarm soup, the noodles long gone. "There's no story to tell."

"Everybody has a story," Brendan pressed.

Cassie shrugged, stirring her soup to bring up the stray pieces of tofu from the bottom.

"Let's start with the most important question," Brendan suggested. "Earth or Mars?"

Cassie stared at her meal. Tofu chunks were falling from the surface, disappearing into the murky depths. "Ummm... Mars."

"Oof." Brendan dropped his spoon into his almost-empty bowl, holding nothing except a shallow pool of green-brown sauce.

"Told you so." Mike smirked as Brendan reluctantly tossed him a small candy bar. "So you went to one of the orbital academies?" He ripped open the colorful packaging, taking a big bite of the bright blue substance.

Cassie nodded, stirring her soup again.

Brendan picked up his spoon again. "What was that like?"

"It was... very hard to get in," Cassie said hesitantly, in a quiet voice. "I know I'm very lucky to be here."

"Why do you say that?" Brendan asked curiously, as he began to finish off his curry.

Cassie bit the inside of her cheek. She'd said too much. This was too... close to home. "My family gave up a lot to send me here," her voice was almost a whisper. "I just hope I can pay them back." She carefully picked up her packaged soup, just broth now, and drank it dry.

Mike nodded understandingly, munching on his winnings happily. "The pay is decent, Geoff just likes to complain."

"Yeah, don't listen to them." Brendan tilted his head the other two men, who's argument seemed to be losing steam. "You'll get paid well, this work isn't going to make anyone rich, but you'll definitely be able to help your folks out."

"And you'll get it in Martian credits," Mike added. "So no need to worry about the currency conversion fees when you send it down to the surface."

By then, Geoff and Danny had stopped arguing and turned their attention back to the conversation.

Geoff put a hand on Mike's shoulder, leaning over the table. "I heard something about money?"

Mike brushed his hand off. "We're just trying to convince our newest crew member that she's going to get paid."

"Oh." Geoff's expression softened. He sat back down at their table, in his old seat next to her. "It's not as good as it used to be, but it's not bad. Still buys some decent booze."

Danny pulled up another chair, yellowish and stained. He sat down at the end of the table, next to Cassie and Mike.

Mike raised an eyebrow at Geoff. "I thought you were still trying to make your own?"

Geoff reached inside his light jacket. "Not trying, succeeding." He pulled out an old fashioned flask and waved it around dramatically. "The fine fruit of storage room C."

Brendan frowned slightly, disapprovingly. "You're not supposed to be doing that."

"Shut up, you got your cut already." Geoff unscrewed the top and took a deep sniff. "Plus, this batch has turned out pretty good, if I say so myself."

Brendan scowled. As if he disagreed. As if he felt like he'd gotten the short stick of this arrangement.

Geoff took a long drink before offering the flask to Mike. "Want a taste?"

"I'll pass." Mike leaned away from the table. "Your last experiment was too close to gasoline for my liking."

"I'll do it." Danny grabbed the silver flask, taking a swing without even smelling it. He was a lot faster than Geoff and smacked his lips together afterwards. "It's an improvement."

Danny handed the flask back, then Geoff offered it to Cassie.

Cassie looked at the battered container dubiously. A faint scent was starting to grow in the air. It didn't smell good. She didn't like how everyone was watching her either. Her fingers started running over a particularly deep gouge near the edge of the metal table.

"Are you even old enough to drink?" Brendan asked suddenly. There was weight behind the question.

Cassie thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "In some places? I'm seventeen."

"That's pretty young to be a spaceship mechanic," Mike commented.

"Conscription starts at fourteen," Geoff pointed out. "They've got fifteen year olds piloting fighters. Like that's not insane."

"Thanks for the reminder," Danny said dryly. "Because we all didn't know that already."

"You're welcome." Geoff smirked back, before turning his attention back to Cassie, still holding out the booze. "Don't worry, there's no drinking age in space."

Cassie gave the flask another skeptical look.

"That's not true. At all." Brendan pulled the alcohol out of Geoff's hand, picking the silver cap off the table.

Geoff let their first officer take the questionable contraband without any resistance. "Old enough to die fighting, old enough to die drinking," he said pointedly. "That's what I say."

Brendan just shrugged as he screwed the cap back on before handing it back to Geoff.

"You should try it. It's good." Geoff immediately offered Cassie the closed flask, for the second time.

Irritation flickered across Brendan's face. Mike suppressed a smile.

Cassie smiled politely, but didn't make any move to take it. "Thanks, but I don't drink."

"Smart girl," Brendan said approvingly. "You'll definitely have money to send back home soon." He pointed at Geoff and Danny. "Don't let these two suck you in."

Cassie smiled slightly as Geoff tucked the flask away, after taking one last gulp.

"These two?" Danny objected immediately. "Hey, I've got nothing to do with this bootlegging operation."

Mike and Brendan shared a knowing glance.

"I'm no chemist," Danny argued. "I just drink the product."

Neither Mike or Brendan looked at all convinced.

Danny tilted his head thoughtfully. "And accept it when he runs out of cash at the black table every week," he admitted.

"Not true," Geoff said hastily, wagging a finger at Danny. "And I'll prove it this Friday."

Danny shrugged. "I'm sure you'll try." He looked at Cassie curiously, almost as if he were mentally strategizing. "You're invited to join too."

"Woah," Brendan jumped in. "Don't steal all her money right away. Girl's got a family to support."

Geoff looked offended. "Hey, we don't do that."

"Yeah, this is an honest game," Danny protested, though it lacked sincerity. "We always play fair."

"Sure," Brendan replied, extremely skeptically. "And what happened with Shrey?"

Geoff snickered.

Danny couldn't hide his smug smirk. His eyes slowly drifted over to Cassie as he started fingering the single stud on his left ear. "Well... I'm sure she's better than Shrey."

Mike stifled a scoff, covering it with an not-so-inconspicuous cough.

Brendan gave Danny a rather unamused look.

"Um, I probably won't be there," Cassie finally said quietly. "...I'm not a big gambler either."

"We'll be able to fix that soon." Geoff winked at her conspiratorially.

Cassie shifted in her seat, just enough to cause the microwrench sitting in her busted pants pocket to slip out. It hit the floor with a sharp clang and she nearly jumped out of her seat. Her elbow hit the edge of her tray and her makeshift bowl wobbled dangerously, she grabbed it before it could tip over.

She exhaled in relief, before realizing that the container had been empty anyways, and wouldn't have made a mess even if it had tipped over.

Before she could pick the tool up off the floor, Danny had already grabbed it. He put it on the table, with exaggerated gentleness, and slid it towards her. "A little jumpy, are we?"

Cassie flashed him an apologetic smile as she took the tool back, putting it in a different pocket. "I'm just a little on edge... you know, with the dark zone and all," she admitted softly.

"Don't be," Danny told her bluntly. "There's nothing to be afraid of out here."

Cassie glanced around the group. "Are none of you worried that we're going to run into anyone else out here?"

Geoff took another swing of his flask. "Nah."

Mike nodded, finishing off the last tiny piece of his candy bar. He tossed the wrapper on the table. "You'll see, this place gets boring real quick."

Cassie looked to Brendan, who had been silent so far.

"They're right," Brendan finally agreed. "Nothing ever happens out here other than the trouble we make for ourselves."

Before everyone could react to that, Cassie jumped again as the radio in her ear beeped twice, signalling a shipwide alert. She managed not to elbow anything this time. Helen's voice came through the earpiece.

"Everyone to your stations. We're going to be passing real close to a cruiser in about ten minutes."

Another beep signaled the message was over. Chairs started to scrap as people began to move. Geoff sighed, moving slowly. Danny had disappeared before she could blink twice.

Cassie sat up straight, very on alert. "What's going on?"

Brendan patted her shoulder reassuringly. "It's nothing to worry about. Just procedure."

Cassie glanced around at everyone leaving, still seated. "Um, where do I go?"

Mike had a thoughtful look, which then morphed into a smile. He gestured for her to follow him. "Come watch the show."