“John, you awake?”

“No..” John mumbled reflexively. Morning light was streaming into the room. He rolled to the side and pulled the pillow over his face. Maybe the light would go away, he thought.

“Well, then I suppose I’ll drink my coffee alone.” She turned to leave their small bed room.

Visions of caffeine nirvana began kicking some primal parts of his brain. “That smells good.”

“It tastes even better. I would offer you some, but you shouldn't sleep and drink, it's bad for your mental health.” She quickly pinched his toes on her way past.

“Alright, I'm moving, Captain Varen.”

She poked her head around the corner. “That’s Admiral Varen to you.”

He heard Juno speaking while she whisked through their small apartment in Colesway. She began to hum, and soon the sound of cooking joined the morning chorus.

Fuzzy memories from yesterday were still rolling around his head. Veridia's rotational period was 31 hours, and as a result, he was still adjusting to a significantly longer day cycle, which was playing havoc with his circadian rhythm.

The smell of food wouldn’t let him go back to sleep, so he worked his way out of bed and shambled towards their “Compact Biomass Reclamation and Sanitation Unit”. He spent some much-needed time in the “Sanitation Station". Afterwards, feeling more awake, he rummaged through their closet. He found a pair of light multi-pocketed pants and a nondescript long-sleeved shirt, he tossed them on the bed and finished drying his short, dark brown hair. I don't need anything fancy, I'll be changing into my flight suit anyway before I start my shift today, he thought as he began to dress. Finished with the towel he walked into their common room halfway through putting on his shirt.

Juno was seated at a small two-person table with a plate of bacon and eggs set before her. She was reading the news on her uplink. She was framed magnificently in front of him by a spectacular Veridian morning view that extended all the way down to a distant, shimmering coastline. When the weather was really clear, like today, you could see the Corsea Sea as a deep violet ribbon barely visible in the distance, interrupted only by the rambling New Castle mountain range on the western horizon. Mighty Yakutut, Veridia's massive orbital patriarch, completed this vivid diorama as it dominated a portion of the north-eastern sky.

Juno pointed to a now-cold cup of coffee. “I said, did you have a rough day?”

John picked up his designated cup and pressed the recessed button on its side until he heard a soft tone. “It was an extended shift, more boring than rough, really. I'm still adjusting to the longer days on Veridia, I guess.” He smiled. “I was finally assigned to one of those sexy new T-11 orbital transport ships. We only have a few in our fleet, so I jumped on the chance to fly one. They lack somewhat in cargo and passenger space compared to the old T-8's I was trained on, but they are a hell of a lot more fun to fly.”

Juno laughed. “You aren't pulling any crazy close terrain flying or high angle reentry maneuvers, are you?”

“No, not with potential heart attack victims on board.” He tried not to grin. “There was this one time though... The only other person on board was a young xenobiology student. In my defense, he did ask me ‘if this flying bucket can go any faster.’ You should have seen the look on Commander Jeffries' face when I walked into control after my shift. It was worth the reprimand to see how fast that student could run once we landed.” Taking a sip of coffee, he turned around and began questing for something to eat.

Juno shifted in her seat. “You don't need to make Mr Jeffries' life any more complicated than it already is, you know he's still dealing with staff shortages on top of that messy business with his family.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

With his quest for sustenance completed, John selected the boil setting on their food prep station's “Multi-Purpose Molecular Oven”, then put his bowl of Veridian Rice Grain in to cook. He turned to her with a surprised look. “I thought that was all so much orbital space dust by now.”

Juno shook her head, fiery copper hair dancing across her shoulders. “Old families tend to have long memories.” She selected a news item from her uplink for display on their common room viewer. Part of the morning landscape vanished as a screen with the article in question appeared on the now opaque portion of the transparent wall.

John watched with mounting disbelief. The video clip showed a Galactic News Network reporter recounting a recent incident involving the attempted assassination of consul member Giovani Daniels. Daniels was shown passionately explaining why the Jeffries family wanted him dead and that the truth was on his side. The GNN reporter mentioned nothing about potential Jeffries family involvement.

At one time, the Jeffries family was the majority shareholder in many of the most powerful corporate empires under the United Earth Directorate, but through a series of bad decisions and aggressive maneuvers, they were reduced to a few fringe enterprises at the very edge of colonized space.

“Why would anyone want to kick the proverbial dead horse?”

Juno closed her feed, then placed her uplink on the table. “Who knows, maybe Consul Daniels is telling the truth and the Jeffries family is trying to influence policy that would give them an advantage? Whatever is going on, I'm sure Dorrin has nothing to do with it.”

A set of soft tones informed John that his Veridian Rice Grain breakfast was ready. He sat down to eat across from Juno while she gazed pensively towards the distant coastline.

Colesway was situated in a picturesque valley sheltered by two arms of the New Castle mountain range (the range itself runs for thousands of kilometers from northeast to southwest). Their apartment was positioned at the southern edge of Colesway, giving them an unparalleled view through their southern nano-composite wall all the way down to the coast. This was Juno's favorite part of the whole apartment; she never had any other wall running transparent, and she spent most of her time here.

Thinking about Commander Jeffries' situation, John suddenly remembered seeing a quiet, white-sand lagoon in a sheltered cove not far from Colesway. “Why don't we invite the Jeffries over for the evening? I could fly us in a public skiff down to this beach I saw during one of my low-altitude cargo runs. We could even make a party of it and spend the night if the weather cooperates. By ‘the Jeffries’ I mean Dorrin and his wife.”

Juno's expression lightened as she turned the idea over in her head. “I haven't spoken with Aelin in ages! And the 'Corsea Sea' can really put on a show this time of year with all those roaming blooms of hunting Bio-luminescent Zooplankton.”

“I'll mention it to him when I see him today before shift starts.”

“Excellent!” She stood up to leave, then glanced at her agenda before pocketing her uplink. “I should really get moving, there's always mountains of work to do at the Institute. Even just logging all the new species we find could easily become a lifelong mission. Being horribly understaffed isn't helping either, but what else is new at the edge of civilization?”

She walked around the table and sat on his lap. He felt her arms settle on his shoulders. Looking into her beguiling smoke-green eyes was like gazing into the heart of a hurricane, calm at the center but surrounded by swirling contingencies. She savored his attention for a moment. “Don't forget to fix the water purification unit.”

Laughing, he wrapped her in a warm hug. “I love you too, sun fox.” Before she got up to leave, she gave him a light kiss and whispered into his ear, “Come back to me safely, Captain Varen.”

Knowing his eyes were now following her every move, she sauntered over to a section of the common room wall. Standing in front of it, she deliberately gestured with her hand from left to right. She stepped back as a line of soft white light flickered into existence, quickly forming a door-sized rectangle on the surface of the wall. This portion of the wall then slid noiselessly out, revealing a clothing storage unit. She selected a light-weather cloak and a pair of rather stylish-looking walking shoes. With one last mischievous glance back towards John, she walked out the door into a bright early morning.

He smiled. She always enjoyed dramatic exits.

Halfway through his bowl of rice grain, he remembered he had a shift this morning. “Lucy, what time is it?”

Their apartment's assistant AI responded, “It is hour Oh-Four-Hundred Standard Ship Time.”

“Lucy, I meant what's the local time.”

“It is Hour Eleven-Thirty Local Time, one point five hours past sunrise.”

He realized he was going to be late if he didn't “fire the afterburners”. Rushing through his breakfast, he quickly cleaned up, putting the scant few dishes they used into the auto-wash unit. “Lucy, run a wash cycle please.” He hurried over to the closet and grabbed his boots and coat.

“Wash cycle initiated,” replied the disembodied AI voice.

“Thanks.” He rushed out the door into the early morning sunlight.

“You are welcome, John.” Came the unheard response.