Therazan Sajan sat alone at a table in the commissary. She observed the crew it was her job to protect. They had grouped themselves primarily by uniform color. Many were sitting in groups of the same color based on what they did on the ship. The black outfitted staff seemed to be in groups mostly as well as the green military personnel. Some tables had many colors because the group consisted of people from the same home nation or spoke the same native language.
There were plenty of other Americans on the crew and no shortage of them spoke English but none of them were about to take a seat at the same table as the Head of Security and Therazan did not have a problem with that. She did not join the Solar Fleet to make friends. But she had not joined it to be in charge of security either. Security from what? If the Daedlus was as advanced and well armed as the CEO claimed it was highly unlikely they would be boarded by enemies.
Therazan Sajan was prepared to eat her meal alone in peace when someone came up to her table.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” asked a pretty asian woman.
She was wearing the yellow of a member of the intelligence division. Therazan saw the red insignia on her uniform; the woman was from the Chinese Empire. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail. She began to sit down before Therazan could answer.
“My name is Suchin Markjon,” she said introducing herself.
“Suchin Markjon, the decoder,” said Therazan, “you’re the head of the team trying to decode the Spectral Horde’s data bursts we intercept sometimes. And trying to figure out how they communicate and react so fast.”
“Have you read my file?” asked Suchin.
“I’m head of security. I’ve read everyone’s file.”
“Hello Ms. Sajan, may I join you?” said a young woman as she sat down at the table. The young woman was wearing a white and blue summer dress.
“Hello,” she said to Suchin, “I am Anyantha Whitecross.”
Suchin introduced herself in return and asked what part of the crew she was with.
“Oh I am not part of the crew,” said Anyantha, “I am Mr. Kerrigan’s personal assistant. Because of that I do not have an official wardrobe like everyone else. I brought my own clothes for the journey. Do you think this summer dress is appropriate for space travel? I feel a little out of place.”
“Oh don’t worry,” said Suchin, “you look lovely.”
Therazan did not move to another empty table or try to make them leave her alone even though she was tempted to. She let them talk to each other about decidedly girly things. Therazan was not opposed to feminine things. She was quite capable of being feminine when she wanted to be. But she was not in a particularly feminine mood at the moment. Right now she just wanted to do her job even if it was not the job she had hoped for. She went back to scanning the room. She put names to faces that she could remember. She would have to make it a point to further familiarize herself with the crew’s personnel files.
They caught each others eye about the same time. He had a red pilot’s jacket on. He was at a table of men all with the United States
“Is that her?”
Therazan had not been paying attention to… whatever Suchin and Anyantha had been talking about.
“I think that is her,” said Anyantha, “the natural fighter pilot. She has red hair.”
“Are you two talking about Janessa Kepshawn?” asked Therazan.
“Of course,” said Suchin, “haven’t you been paying attention?”
“No,” said Therazan but it seemed now it was her turn to be ignored in favor of something more interesting.
“The rumor is that she was assigned to prime squad because it was good for public relations,” said Suchin.
“I hate to admit it but that does sound like the sort of thing Mr. Kerrigan would do,” said Anyantha, “who is that with her?”
“That’s Junitha Findragon,” said Therazan, “she’s another prime squad pilot. She’s a Pakistani expatriate among other things.”
“They’re coming this way,” said Suchin.
“Wow she’s really beautiful,” said Anyantha, “and she’s really a natural, never had any gene mods.”
“That just doesn’t seem fair,” said Suchin.
“Hey it’s the head of security,” said Junitha, “mind if we join you?”
Junitha sat down right next to Therazan instead of across from her like the others before anyone could answer. Janessa took a seat on the other side of the table by Suchin and Anyantha. They introduced themselves and were introduced to right back. There was a bit of small talk and then the question came up.
“So how did you end up in the Solar Fleet Janessa?” the question was asked by Suchin.
“They have some of the best college programs,” said Janessa, “I wanted to go into outer space so I enrolled in the aeronautics program.”
“It just seems odd considering who your parents are,” said Suchin.
“And why should my parents have anything to do with my involvement in the Solar Fleet?”
“I did not mean to offend you. It is just that, you know…”
“No I don’t know,” Janessa was getting mad.
“Am I missing something?” said Junitha, “I’m totally missing something here aren’t I? Did her parents do something? Are they in jail? What’s the deal? I been wondering about that since you mentioned their names earlier. I wondered, what’s up with that?”
“You really don’t know who her parents are?” said Therazan, “Do you not keep up on current events or pay attention to the news? You must have at least heard of the Kepshawns growing up?”
“I’m from Pakistan ,” said Junitha, “have you ever been to Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan I didn’t much care about world events as I did about enjoying myself anywhere that was not Pakistan
“So you’ve really never heard of her?” asked Anyantha.
“Heard of who? Janessa?” asked Junitha, “did you do something I should have heard of?”
“It’s not a big deal,” said Janessa, “can we just stop this? My parents just happen to be Hippers. And I didn’t do anything special?”
“You won the Olympic silver medal in gymnastics when you were fourteen,” said Anyantha, “You were amazing.”
“Not bad,” said Junitha, “oh I get it. There was a big fuss because you’re a natural.”
“Yes there was,” said Janessa, “they tried to prove I cheated somehow. It was a long time ago.”
“Do you still do gymnastics?” asked Anyantha.
“Not professionally, I just do it to stay fit these days.”
“So your parents were Hippers?” asked Junitha, “Is that why you’re eating salad?”
Janessa was the only person in the commissary eating salad. Everyone else was eating nutrient rations. Therazan had a nutrient bar she was cutting into pieces and eating with a fork. Suchin was eating a packet of nutrient bites one by one. Junitha and Anyantha and a few others around the commissary had soup.
“Not all Hippers are vegetarians,” said Janessa, “I grew up eating meat. I’m not having the soup because what you’re eating is not real meat.”
“You got a point,” said Junitha, “the chicken in this soup does not taste like any chicken I had when I was a kid.”
“It tastes fine to me,” said Anyantha.
“That’s because you grew up eating synthetic meat,” said Janessa, “do you know where that stuff comes from or how they make it? In a lab they grow it in these big vats. They grow this huge mass from animal clone stock cells. Then they chop it up into those little cubes you’re eating. And that nutrient stuff you guys are eating, the human digestive system was not meant for that. Do you have any idea what the long term affects of a diet like that could have on the human race?”
“You definitely talk like a Hipper,” said Suchin.
“I’m not a hipper,” said Janessa getting annoyed, “Okay I was raised by hippers. My parents are hippers. But that does not mean I believe in some of their more out there ideas. But there is science to back up some of their claims. Not all of them but some.”
“So her parents are hippers,” said Junitha, “what’s the big deal?”
“Actually her parents are not just hippers,” said Therazan, “They are the hippers. Darryl and Vicki Kepshawn were huge in their younger days. They were always going on talk shows and carrying out protests about how gene mods were going to destroy the world and it wouldn’t matter if we beat the Spectral Horde if we were no longer really human. Crap like that.”
“They are not like that anymore,” said Janessa, “they really toned down their message and they never do public appearances anymore.”
“Maybe I never heard of them because they’re American,” said Junitha, “Americans always seem to think if something happens in the states then the rest of the world must know about it. No offense to you guys. Wait are you guys Americans. I know Suchin is from China
“No, I’m from Finland
The rest of the conversation mostly consisted of Junitha talking and occasionally one of the other women trying to get a word in but unable to because of the sheer momentum of Junitha’s stream of consciousness going directly to her mouth. Therazan did not listen to any of it. She glanced back at the pilot who had smiled at her earlier.
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