When Gareth and Valorie reached the bridge, Leon turned in his chair to greet them. An easy grin spread across his face as he sat forward. He spared Valorie a glance before looking to Gareth. Valorie sensed he was in a good mood, but she could not guess at how he felt about her. At least he didn’t frown when he saw her.

“We got the final pass on the inspection. The Hayes just started the decoupling on their side.” Leon said, rubbing his hands together.

“That’s good news. Are you feeling chilly, Leon?” Gareth asked. Gone was the tight uniform and shirt. He was down to a white undershirt. The jacket was slung over the back of his chair. All that was left of the uniform was the slacks, giving him a rushed look.

“I didn’t have time to change, but I wasn’t going to wear that a second longer than I had to.” He said, opening his arms to show off a full range of motion. Gareth raised an eyebrow and covered a smirk with a thoughtful hand.

“I’m happy for you. Please find a suitable planet for orbit on the outskirts. I want to be out of their scan radius.”

“Will do, Cap.” He faced back to his console. Gareth looked to Valorie at his side.

“Take your seat. Let me know if the Hayes moves. Any movement, tell me the moment you can.” Gareth said. She opened her mouth to speak, and then hesitated. He waited, both eyebrows raised. She glanced down.

“Should I.. receive comms, too?” She asked.

“Yes. Keep us updated.” He said. She nodded, raising her head to meet his eyes, but he wasn’t focused on her. He was puzzling something out again.

“Yes, sir.” Valorie turned quickly and approached her console. Gareth followed, passing her by as she sat down. She watched him slide into the pilot’s seat. His movements were comfortable but slow. He ran his fingers along the bottom of the console and over the yoke.

“I’ll be glad when Yulia’s out.” He muttered rearranging the seat’s orientation to his build, and moving the screens.

“I’ll be glad when we’re on Gomori,” Leon said. Valorie leaned over her chair to see him, but he was still focusing on his console. “Having a drink and a laugh over this whole thing.” He added. Valorie tried to picture it. She had seen her coworkers celebrating various events in the cafe on the Anderson. Various drinks, greasy repli-meals, and cake. Always cake. The thought made her hungry. When she imagined this crew at a meal like that, the hunger dropped into an ache.

“We’ll be there soon enough,” Gareth said. He made a ship-wide announcement through the intercom warning of their imminent departure. No jumps this round, just a trip to the quieter side of the star system.

“Detachment complete. Bridge retraction starting.”

“They are signaling us to take first movement,” Valorie said. Seda was happy to keep in touch. She would keep Valorie updated on the Hayes. Valorie had nothing to look at on the console, but she sat back into her seat, buckling in.

“How generous,” Leon muttered before speaking up. “Ending orbital down phase. Prepping flight mode.” He said. Valorie felt gravity drop away again. The ship rearranging for flight around her. As the bridge slid forward, she stared out the window at the planet. A quick look revealed no hint of life so it did not tempt her as planets always did. Instead, it reminded her of a hologram – beautiful but unreal.

“Bridge retraction complete. When you are ready, Cap.” Leon interrupted her thoughts. Gareth made a few more changes, adjusted the ship’s orientation, and shifted in his seat. He looked everything over one more time and nodded.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Engage flight mode.” He said. The first shift in momentum when the ship changed course always surprised Valorie. She gripped her seat at first. She had done it again. She lifted her fingers slowly this time, avoiding the sound of her fingers peeling away from the seat. Gareth eased the ship away from the Hayes on low power. The window above turned away from the planet and faced open space. As the distance grew, he increased the power. Gareth asked for the coordinates of the chosen planet, and Leon answered. Soon they were sailing across the star system – the planet only a speck behind them.

Late into the afternoon hours, the Helianthus settled into the orbit of the seventh planet. It was a gas giant, swirling in bands of dark brown and deep red. With the gravity back on, Serge had the ship’s facilities booting up before everyone converged in the Gardens. Valorie was never left alone, but she wasn’t locked away either. She wanted to believe that was a good sign.

Sachi had marked out where to dig and what to avoid. The exposed roots were all bundled up with the nutrient water packs. Sweat coated her forehead and neck, but she was calmer than before. Everyone took turns in groups of three removing dirt.

When Valorie arrived in the Gardens, Sachi did not hesitate to hand her a shovel and gloves. This was new. Clone bodies were not built to withstand physical tests. Valorie gripped the metal shovel, it was lighter than she thought it would be. She watched Serge and Leon for a moment and tried to emulate what she saw. When it came to dumping the dirt, Serge would toss it into one spot. When she tried it fell short and tumbled back into the opening. Embarrassed, she opted to carry it over and dump it. She was sweating before long. She huffed lifting another load and paused after dumping it out. Before she could get another, Quinns caught the end of the shovel.

“Take a break.” He said. She blinked – she had been focusing so hard on working, she didn’t notice the tax on her body. She nodded.

“Thanks.” She released the shovel and stepped aside. His face reddened, and he looked towards the hole.

“No problem.” He said. She watched, catching her breath.

It was Gareth and Serge digging when enough of the door was revealed to open it. Gareth used the manual override to force it open. Yulia was standing on the other side. She stepped out and breathed deep.

“Ah, finally! How long was I in there? It felt like a week!” There was something off about the energy in her voice. She stretched her back by twisting her torso. She looked a little pale and her movements were stiff. Serge ruffled her hair and she smiled, giving him a quick hug.

“You should have brought a book,” Shayla said as she emerged. Yulia tilted her head.

“Captain said no electronics.” She said and Shayla frowned. Before Shayla could say more, her assistant patted her on the back.

“Not everyone has that kind of money, Lorrie.” Her assistant muttered in her ear before stepping up to Gareth. “Thank you, Captain Hughes. How did it go?”

“It went well, Ms. Palomo.”

“Margarita is fine, thank you.” She said, and he gave her a polite smile.

“We are in the clear. We will be resting for tonight, and then resuming our original plan in the morning hours.” Gareth explained, helping them onto the grass.

“Ah, very good. I could use a hot bath.” Ms. Palomo said.

“Yes. Like right now,” Shayla followed up. Yulia stood before them. She was still covered in dirt from helping to prepare the hiding spot. She grinned.

“No kidding, maybe two for me.” She said. Gareth chuckled and she grinned.

“The baths will be ready by the time you reach them.” Serge interrupted.

“Awesome! I’ll take’em over there.” Yulia jumped to action, leading Shayla and her assistant away. She seemed eager to put some distance between her and that little room.

“Yulia,” Gareth said and she paused, turning towards him. “We’ll have a dinner service tonight at 1800 hours. Everyone is invited.” He said. Yulia’s eyes lit up.

“We’re having a party? Nice!” She turned to Shayla and her assistant, “I can’t wait.” She kept talking as she led them away. Serge moved to start cleaning up, but Gareth got his attention.

“Serge, can you prepare dinner?” Gareth said. Serge looked around at the hole, glancing up at Sachi. “The rest of us will finish this,” Gareth added. Serge seemed a little disappointed.

“Don’t need help with this? Digging is all around a good exercise.” He said.

“A meal ready to eat afterward would help the most,” Gareth said. This gave Serge pause, and his disappointment passed as he considered his new task.

“Got it. Dinner it is.” Serge said. Leaving his shovel and set of knee-pads with Sachi, he followed after Yulia’s group. Valorie thought of eating dinner with everyone, and the shovel in her hands felt lighter. She could do this.