Aspen sat with Ericka standing over her shoulder in the common room, the small game system Ericka had been playing on previously now in her hands. Aspen groaned as the racecar on the screen crashed into a wall and several other cars flew past her position, sending her from a measly fourth place to dead last. She paused the game and set the system down, looking up at Ericka, “Okay I admit, it takes some skill to play that.”

Ericka gave Aspen a broad smile, “I always try to explain that to people when they see me playing it. Hand eye coordination, reflexes, it helps with everything.”

Aspen gave them a shrug, “How long did it take you to get as good as you are?”

Ericka cradled their chin with their hand and hummed, “Well, I’ve had that game since my first deployment… so… seven years?”

Aspen raised her eyebrows, “Wow, no wonder you’re so good at it.”

Ericka gave Aspen a grin, “I know another crew member who has the same game, I’ll see if they can let me borrow their console for a bit and we can play a versus match some time.”

Aspen laughed, “As if I’d have any chance of winning. I’m down to play, though,” She stood from the table, “Let me know though!”

Ericka smiled as they waved goodbye to Aspen and resumed their video game.

Aspen made her way up the mezzanine steps to head towards sick bay to see if Dr. Holt had anything for her to do.

After her conversation with Tara a few hours earlier Aspen was just killing time. Stopping to sit with Ericka for a while had been entertaining and as much as it seemed like they wanted to share their game time with her, Aspen didn’t want to subtract what little free time she knew the ship’s head chef got with her presence.

Just as she entered through the doorway to the hallway away from the common room, she heard a voice calling her name. Stopping, she turned back around to see Tara jogging towards her.

Tara stopped in front of her, and pulled her tab from her pocket, “I got it.”

Aspen cocked an eyebrow, “The proof?”

Tara nodded, “Yeah. This isn’t the place for this, though,” she looked down the hall towards sick bay, “You busy?”

Aspen shook her head, “Still haven’t heard from Dr. Holt about anything popping up so I was just gonna stick my head in and see what was going on.”

Tara nodded, “If you still wanna do that we can meet in the usual spot, after.”

“Nah, if they need me I’ll get a message on my tab, let's go.”

Aspen and Tara walked in silence through the halls. Aspen caught sight of Tara’s nervous expression in the side of her vision a few times during their walk but said nothing. She hoped whatever Tara had done to get their proof wouldn’t end up with either of them getting into trouble. Whatever or however she got it, she was sure the Marine was careful, though.

\\\

Aspen sat in the logistics office behind the empty manager’s desk with Tara’s tab sitting on the tabletop in front of her. As she slowly scrolled through the text on the photos Tara had taken, she glanced up to see Tara pacing back and forth in the room, stopping occasionally to look through the windows at the cargo hold which was only lit by dim red emergency lights, the stacks of cargo crates barely visible under their glow.

The gist of the information in the photos Tara had photographed lined up with what the Marine had told her.

That her parents had found fossils of unknown origin on Titan.

That her parents were killed while doing xenobiology research.

That the purported origin of these fossils was the Alpha Centauri system.

That the Federation of Sol’s Artificial Intelligence had chosen her for the Meili.

That that same A.I believed she could somehow be involved or related to whatever xenobiology research was going on.

That the Meili’s actual goal wasn’t “border patrol”’ or “search and rescue,” but was actually searching for signs of intelligent life.

And, that Tara had been chosen to keep an eye on Aspen, with the words “in whatever way deemed appropriate” used.

Aspen sighed and leaned back in the chair, rubbing her temples. She appreciated the honesty Tara had exhibited so far, but still wasn’t comfortable with the fact that she had been outright ordered to watch her. Aspen acknowledged that Tara took an interest in her in what was probably beyond what was expected of her, but didn’t think that Marine or Navy command would consider the actions taken thus far “deemed appropriate.”

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Tara stopped pacing and looked to Aspen, “Done?”

Aspen nodded, “Yeah, I’m done. Thank you for getting me this.”

Tara walked to the desk and picked her tab up, “I’m going to delete these pictures, last thing I need is someone seeing them while I’m trying to show off a deadlift video or something.”

Aspen nodded again, “Good idea.”

Aspen sat forward in the chair and watched Tara tap at her tab. The large Marine’s face scrunched with concentration as she navigated the device. Aspen suppressed a chuckle thinking of how her parents would look at their own tabs in the same way when she was younger, and they were still alive.

Now having proof of what Tara had said didn’t really change what she was meant to do on this ship. She was there to provide medical care. But, now knowing that the Federation thought her presence would be critical enough to matter did put a slight kink in her plans for the future. Was she going to be permanently stuck in the Alpha Centauri system until they found the source of whatever that fossil was? Aspen’s plans of doing her years on the Meili and then rotating to a different ship back in the Sol system were up in the air, for now.

But, Aspen knew she wouldn’t be able to leave this knowledge alone. She wanted to know more about these supposed aliens and what the Federation’s A.I thought she had to do with them. Sure, it was probably a coincidence that it was her parents that had found those fossils, but whatever they had looked into had wound up with them dead, and from what Tara had said, purposefully. Why would the Federation’s A.I lump her in with a mission like this with what kind of connection her parents had to it.

Aspen mused a bit longer until Tara pocketed her tab, “So, now that I have my proof, I admit I believe you,” she leaned back in her chair again as Tara sat on the hideous orange couch, “But, what I want to know is why put me in this situation if it had gotten my parents killed?”

Tara scratched her chin for a second before answering, “That’s the real question, isn’t it? Neither my orders nor my background for you gave me any indication as to who gave those orders. They could have come from anywhere, even the Federation’s own A.I. All I know is that their deaths were no accident.”

Aspen put her hands behind her head as she leaned the chair back as far as it would go, “It doesn’t make sense for the Federation’s A.I to have my parents killed and then have me added to a mission where the same subject matter they had been researching is an objective.”

Tara shrugged, “I agree, but I don’t pretend to know how that A.I makes its decisions. The thing is damn near sentient from what rumors say, so who knows what’s actually going on with it.”

Aspen blew a raspberry, “I wish I could ask someone higher up about this… Do you know who else is in the know on this mission of yours?”

Tara shook her head, “Other than myself and the Second Lieutenant, no, and I don’t think asking anyone in the upper command levels is a good idea. The Marine command gave us those orders and the info. I assume the Navy has something similar to what we have going on, but I have no idea who is in on it.”

“Makes sense, I guess. I was hoping I could confide in Dr. Holt, he seems like a pretty trustworthy guy.”

“If anyone is in on it, he’s definitely one. He’s your commanding officer, right?”

“Yeah, direct.”

“Hm. I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I strongly suggest against doing anything any time soon.”

Aspen nodded, “Oh, for sure. I think for now I’ll just keep up appearances as though I don’t know anything and we’ll see how this plays out.”

Tara stood from the couch, “Good idea… Speaking of, I hope they give us some actual duty on this damned ship soon, if I have to do another ‘strategy meeting’ for an impossible scenario, I’ll go nuts.”

Aspen stood as well, “Be careful about what you wish for, they might have you scrubbing the floors or something.”

Tara adopted a mock superhero pose, “Then the floors will be the cleanest they have ever been!”

Aspen giggled, “I’m sure they will be. Anyway, let’s get goin’ I still want to check in with Dr. Holt and see if he has anything for me.”

\\\

Aspen and Tara walked the short distance from the empty freight manager office to sick bay together, Aspen humming as she walked. Popping her head into the waiting room area, she saw it was empty, and moved back to the patient care area.

Dr. Holt was sitting in his chair spinning slowly as he idly swiped at his tab. Spotting Aspen, he quickly stopped himself and sat upright, “Oh, uh, hey Aspen. Did you need anything?”

Aspen schooled her expression before a smile could break across her face and shook her head, “Nope, I was just seeing if you had anything for me… Doesn’t look like it, though.”

Dr. Holt chuckled, “Ha, no. I just gave David the boot about ten minutes ago and I’m just in here killing time,” he stood up and walked over to his terminal and tapped a couple of buttons, “I’m probably going to wait here for another thirty minutes or so before I head out as well.”

“Gotcha, well if anyone needs us they can always just activate the emergency system,” Aspen turned from the doorway and looked at Tara, “Sounds like I’m free, wanna go do something?”

Tara nodded, raising a hand in greeting to Dr. Holt, “Yeah, I’m sure we can find something.”

Dr. Holt bid them farewell as the duo turned and left, “See you tomorrow, Asp-”

The Meili shuddered, and the lights in sick bay dimmed.

Tara crouched reflexively, holding onto Aspen’s shoulder to keep the smaller woman from toppling over as the ship shook around them, “What the fuck was tha-”

A klaxon began to blare in the room, the sound of the siren being matched by a pulsating red glow that overtook the room’s regular lighting. The ear piercing sound reverberated through the room making Aspen and Tara both slap their hands over their ears.

Dr. Holt appeared through the doorway from the patient care area, also covering his ears and shouted, “Are you two alright?”

Aspen nodded, gritting her teeth against the pain in her ears from the sound of the siren. She looked to Tara who was likewise grimacing, who also nodded at the doctor.

As suddenly as it had started, the siren stopped. Rubbing her ears to ease the ringing she heard in her head, Aspen looked around and noticed the emergency lighting was still active.

The overhead speakers crackled and Captain Marcus’ voice came out, “Search and Rescue teams report to station. Sick Bay, prepare for casualties.”

Aspen turned to Dr. Holt, watching his face grow pale and listened as Captain Marcus continued to speak, “All hands, emergency operations mode. Marines on board - battle ready.”

Aspen turned to look at Tara who looked at her wide eyed and nodded, then took off, the large Marine moving faster than Aspen would have thought some one her size could.

Dr. Holt swore and began to move the chairs in the waiting area to the side, “Aspen, you’re auxiliary S&R, but I need you here. This is probably going to get ugly.”

Aspen nodded, swallowing hard, “You got me as long as you need, doc.”