"Secondary team has landed, two kilometers past the entrance," Rachel Zhu reported. "They are beginning safety tests, but so far conditions seem acceptable."

"Is there an atmosphere?" Cenz asked. "At the scale of this station, it is possible that the temple's gravity will hold onto air."

"They are reporting a thin atmosphere, not breathable," Shomari Eboh replied. "Gravity seems to be 70% that of Earth."

"And the orientation?" Urle asked, frowning.

"Towards the floor . . ." Cenz said.

Urle considered. "Either they're using pseudogravity like we can on the Craton, or they're using active supporting technology and concentric rings of high mass inside to create real gravity."

"Or," Cenz suggested. "A technology we do not understand."

Urle was surprised to hear that from his science officer - but it was true, they could not be sure. Pseudogravity technology relied on related krahteonic manipulation - which relic technology also often employed in strange ways.

"Captain," Shomari Eboh said. "We're getting a call from the Raven's Ghost. They are registering a complaint."

"Really?" Urle asked, feeling some amusement. "Put them through."

An image appeared of a balding man with a prominent scar on his chin.

"You Union thugs have a lot of nerve, breaking this agreement," the man said. "We were told we had exclusive rights to the temple."

"No, you had first rights. Which you got."

"You sent a team in immediately after ours! They are in direct competition!"

"They are conducting surveys at the entrance and are not going deeper," Urle said. "They are not even equipped for it. Not even if your team gets in trouble."

The man scowled. "I want my complaint sent to your command. You'll lose your post over this."

Urle wanted to laugh. If only the man knew that he was only Acting-Captain right now.

"I'll pass it along," he said dryly.

"And tell your people to stay out of Farland's way," the man said.

"Your team won't be hindered. But you should recall that you do not own this temple or its contents."

"Of course you lot will seize-"

Urle cut the call. "If they call to complain again, just let them stew," he told Eboh. "Only answer if it's something actually worth hearing."

Eboh smiled. "Yes, Captain."

Urle leaned back, looking at the temple. Given its size, it could be days before they learned anything.

Since they had learned of the mission, he had welcomed the workload. Like many others, he could recall Terris and the events around and after it.

For those who had been there, yesterday had been the date when they had looked at their losses and realized just how severe they had been. At this time, eight years ago, he had still been hoping for the best while fearing for the worst.

Because he had not been there. He had been safe, with his two daughters. Persis had only been one year old, and he had not been on the ship when the alert came in.

But Verena, his wife, had taken her post. They had spoken, and she had sent the children out to him.

No matter how badly it went, they had reasoned, the girls would still have one parent.

And it had gone badly.

Verena had survived, was still alive, but she was a changed person. She remembered them, remembered him, but felt nothing - the parts of her brain dealing with emotions had been compromised.

Nothing had been able to heal her. Their marriage had not survived.

Now, looking at this temple, with nothing to do but wait, those memories could not be shunted away with work.

He took a deep breath.

"Keep me updated on the status of our team and Nadian's team," he said calmly.

----------------------------------------

Apollonia found that she could not help but to drag her feet as she walked towards office suite seven.

Last night she had been told that she'd be coming on this mission, and that she'd be waiting to take her Officer Candidate Test.

Which had been great.

But then Nadian Doucheland had sent her back.

Pet CR, he had called her. It still rankled.

And since she had returned, Jaya had decided that she'd still have to take the test - the next day.

Her tablet told her the office suite was only a few tens of meters down the hall, but she felt herself slowing.

What if she just . . . didn't go? Jaya would be mad. But maybe if Apollonia told her she had a headache, or was just too agitated . . . something. Maybe Dr. Y would help.

No, she thought. He would just convince her to go. Well, maybe that was an idea, actually. If he could help pep her back up.

A door down the hall opened, and Jaya stepped out.

Guilt made Apollonia freeze in place. Jaya's eyes fell on her.

"Ah, there you are," she said, smiling slightly. "I had begun to worry you were not going to come," she said. A relieved smile crossed the woman's face, and Apollonia suddenly felt like scum.

She had been about to do just what Jaya had feared, and here now she could not help but see how tired the woman was. There were bags under her eyes, stress wrinkles slowly growing there.

An avalanche of realization hit her, and she thought about how much Jaya had given to her; spending hours of time with her, trying to help her to this exact point.

And she had almost backed out because she'd felt a little scared. Scared of what? Of getting what she wanted?

She had paused for an awkwardly long time, and Jaya frowned now. "Apollonia, are you all right?"

"Yeah," she gushed out. "Just pre-test jitters, sorry! I'm here."

Jaya nodded and opened the door for her. Apollonia smiled at her, forcefully beaming, and Jaya started to look a little confused.

Well, here she was. In the office, she thought, looking around.

In her mind it would be a far more intimidating room, perhaps with strange equipment all over to study her. Or else a totally blank room, all white.

But it was just a normal office. A small work table for her, a larger one for Jaya, and a lot of open area for moving when she was in VR.

"I consulted with Nurse Boziak about how best to track you, given the difficulties you have with the technology," Jaya said. "I came up with this."

She took out a shirt, which had silvery tracker disks sewn into it.

"They are just reflectors, but the VR headset was adjusted by Engineering to have very good tracking. I hope it will work for you."

"Thank you," Apollonia said, feeling a burning of appreciation and shame again in her chest. This was a lot of effort.

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"We want to make sure people get a fair chance," Jaya said. "Now, put it on, and these trousers."

The light-weight garments fit right over her own, and weighed almost nothing. She was barely aware she even had them on over her normal clothes, though when she looked down at them, she saw that they did look ridiculous.

"Would you like to start with the virtual or the written test?" Jaya asked her.

She felt more nervous about the written test than the practical. If she started with the practical it might help her warm up.

"I want to start with the VR."

"Are you sure?" Jaya asked. "It is your choice, but the written test starts with simple questions for which there are no wrong answers. The virtual test begins immediately into proper problems that expect a general skill in basic ship life."

"Virtual," Apollonia said firmly, though now she was not as certain inside.

She put on the headset, its weight so little she was barely aware of it.

The room still looked the same, but a nameplate hovered over Jaya's head indicating that she was a real person.

A door that she hadn't seen before opened on the far wall, and . . . Jaya walked in.

She looked just like the real thing, down to her stride.

Apollonia lifted the visor.

Only the Jaya behind the desk was still there.

"Apollonia, you are not in trouble for this breach, but you must not lift the visor until instructed."

She had been told that in her prep sheets. "Right, sorry."

"I know it must have been slightly startling, but this is part of the test," Jaya added.

Nodding and swallowing, Apollonia put the headset back on.

The second Jaya was still there, and now there was Brooks as well.

They both approached her, but Jaya walked past her, to her other side.

"Apollonia," Brooks said from her right. "I have an optional mission for you. A team on the planet below has discovered objects that they believe are relic technology. Would you be willing to go down there to help?"

Jaya spoke from her left. "Apollonia, do not forget that you agreed to take a shift on the command deck crew. You are still on the schedule for that."

Words appeared, glowing, on her screen.

"What is the appropriate behavior in this situation?"

Apollonia hesitated, her insides going blank. But wait, this wasn't that hard a situation, was it?

She looked to Jaya. "I'll apply to the coverage board to see if anyone can cover for me." She turned to Brooks. "I'm going to try and find someone to cover for me so I can go, Captain."

Both figures nodded, but new words appeared on her screen. "You are unable to find someone to replace you."

Well that, er . . . kind of sucked. She looked to Jaya, feeling guilt already. "Jaya, I can't find anyone to cover for me. What should I do?"

Jaya froze and more words appeared. "While normally it is appropriate to ask supervisors for assistance, in this instance you must come to a solution on your own."

She frowned. "Okay, Jaya - I'm sorry, the Captain wants me for a mission that only I can do. I can't be on the command deck."

Jaya frowned. "Apollonia, you cannot simply blow off such a duty."

"I'm the only one who can protect that team if there's a danger!" she protested.

Jaya sighed. "Very well."

Both figures disappeared.

END SCENARIO appeared on her screen.

Well . . . had she done well? She didn't even know.

Another scenario appeared; in this one she was introduced to a new person - who she presumed was fictitious.

He was wronged by another crewman, and she witnessed it. She was tasked with what to do.

It wasn't a hard one to navigate. But they began to build upon it - the next one involved the man who had been wronged, but now he was stealing unindexed sweets.

Not even a lot; just a handful. When she said something to him, he argued that he'd had a lot of stress lately with the other crewmember . . .

Was she supposed to report him?

She wasn't sure. His excuse was lame, but should she really get him in trouble for stealing some freaking candy? It wasn't like it was a huge amount.

She ended up just telling him she had seen him and warned him not to do it again, she didn't want him to get in trouble.

The cynical part of her thought she was probably supposed to turn him in.

But was that really what they wanted? This was the Sapient Union, and so often when she'd thought such things, they had turned out to be wrong.

They only continued to get more difficult; scenarios started to become less about ethics. Instead, she had to deal with unclear orders under stress, real-world issues that tested her math or science skills, spatial awareness.

And then the Craton was under attack.

It had all felt so real, the only break being those times when characters disappeared. People she knew appeared peppered within the scenarios, and they both looked and acted just like she'd expect.

By now, she almost believed it was real.

She was there as part of the hull was torn open. She saw a man fly out, a piece of debris shredding him. The blood and gore was brief, as he was sucked away, but it looked so real she gasped.

Her uniform suit let out a pop, the hood flying over her head and sealing. Her breathing echoed in the tiny space, and she didn't know if her hood really had popped or if it was just the simulation.

She panted for breath, watching the air levels plummet in the corridor around her. A security door had closed between her and the void, but the bulkhead was riddled with holes and air was still leaking out.

Another door started to close behind her.

Apollonia had to only move a few feet to get through to safety on the other side of the closing door, and she wondered if this was only to test how she handled stress. She moved through to the side of safety.

Then she saw another crew member running towards her, mouth moving in a call for help.

He'd never make it in time, she realized. She knelt, waving him forward, but the bulkhead shut before he could get there.

There was a small window of transparent titanium on the door, and she looked through. The man's suit had popped to cover his head, and she could see his panicked face through it.

There was another door off to the side, and Apollonia began to point, yelling for him to try that one. She had learned how to open this blast door, but . . . she could get sucked out. Others would be endangered if she did that. And that would close more doors behind her, so they'd end up in just a new airless compartment.

The man finally saw her pointing and went to the door. It opened, and he went in, but she could see his face in the window. His expression turned to horror, and he mouthed;

"Hole in suit".

Oh shit. These suits had very little air storage; mostly just CO2 scrubbing. She didn't have much herself, but she had more than he did.

The words appeared; "What do you do?"

She tried calling for help, but the airwaves were full of static and partial cries from others. Her calls went unanswered.

That crewman would die if she did nothing.

She tried to think. What supplies were nearby?

Looking around, she saw an emergency cabinet. Tearing it open, she found air tanks inside, and a suit patch.

She ran back over, mouthing for him to check the room he was in. He couldn't understand her, and when she held up the kit, he got excited, waving for her to come to him.

She could do that. It was the only way he'd live.

"Fuck it," she muttered.

Checking the integrity of her suit, she then opened the door, remembering at the last moment to hook herself by a strong tether to the wall so she wouldn't get sucked out.

The air blasted out at her feet, but rapidly tapered off as the air pressure dropped. A new door started closing behind her, and once the one in front of her was open enough, she went out.

There wasn't much of a gap to cross, but she felt legitimately terrified. It did not seem like a test anymore.

The man opened his door, and she came inside.

A shrill alarm went off in her ear; the radiation alert. She gasped out loud.

"What is it?" the man yelled, pressing his helmet against hers to transfer some of the sound.

She didn't reply. Instead, she looked down at her arm, where there was a radiation exposure meter. The man's suit must have been too damaged to warn him.

She froze as she saw the reading; it was already in the red.

"Radiation," she said, her voice wan.

The man didn't get that, but took from her the patch kit and air tank. He was gasping, but started to look a little better after he got the seal on.

Then he threw up.

It covered his screen, and he staggered away from her.

The suddenness almost made her ill, and she looked away, thinking on her training and exposure helping Zey down on Ko. She'd seen worse than that, she'd seen worse than that . . .

But she also knew what it meant. The man's radiation exposure was huge.

Her alarm was still going off. Every moment her exposure was getting worse.

She grabbed his arm, and started to pull him towards the door. He resisted going outside, but she yelled at him, and he finally relented, seeming to lack the strength to resist. His arm felt real in hers.

They went out, and she could only hear her panting in her ears as she walked along the floor, mag-boots activated, towards the other door she'd opened. Getting him in, she closed it behind them.

There was still no air in this compartment. But . . . but maybe the door would protect them from radiation. That was part of its purpose, after all.

She started panting, but she realized that her vision was going black in the edges of her vision.

"Wh-what?" she asked.

Everything went black and she let out a yelp of fear.

Then, all at once everything reverted to normal.

She was back in the room. The gravity, which she hadn't even noticed turning off, gradually came back so she could find her footing.

Jaya was still behind the desk, watching her.

"That one is a little stressful," she said calmly. "I suggest you take several minutes to calm yourself before beginning the written test. If you have any calming games on your tablet, I recommend playing one for a time."

Apollonia stared at her in shock.

Jaya glanced up. "The second half will be later," she said. "But once your break is over, you must continue - if you wish to complete the test."

Slowly, Apollonia climbed to her feet.

"Did I die?" she asked. "I-in the sim, I mean. Did I fail?"

Jaya only watched her. "I am not allowed to tell you the results yet."

"But how would I know what I got right and wrong in case I need to take it again!?"

Jaya listened to her protest with interest. "That is the point, candidate. Sometimes, there is no right answer, only better or worse ones. We observe how you approach them."

Apollonia moved over to her seat behind her desk, sitting down heavily.

This was not how she had thought this would go.