Among Stars

Cleaning Up

Naina ran to the engine bay, sat down on a random chair and leaned backwards. She sighed deeply, looked at the ceiling, and put her hands on her face. She blew out a lungful of air.

"What are you doing, Naina Melcey?!" she yelled at herself. She straightened up, put her hands in front of her and stared at them like they were some alien appendages. "I am a scientist. I am an explorer. I am a spaceship captain," she listed.

"And, contrary to your beliefs, also a young woman," Quera said flatly.

"Oh, shut up you," Naina said. "We have a problem. We need to solve the problem. We're in trouble and in danger of dying, if we don't solve this problem," Naina said, waving her hands around like thin trees in a wind.

"And I can't concentrate, because my stupid brain is just Valera this, and Valera that," Naina said. "Why does she have to be so absolutely cute and beautiful? Why does she have to have the most adorable voice?" she said in a pained voice.

"Get a hold of yourself, Naina," Naina said. "You got this. You can think with your brain and not with your.... Anyway," she said and closed her eyes.

"Oh, for Ne'alla's sake!" Naina yelled exasperatedly. "The second I close my eyes, the only thing I can see is her face! Those lavender eyes looking at me. Making my body... react," she said and threw her hands in the air.

She got up from the chair, picked up a handful of parts, a few tools, and started angrily unscrewing cover plating from the Polarizer assemblies.

She was armpit-deep and head-first in one of the assemblies, when the audio circuitry made a crackling sound.

"Uh... Melcey?" Mizuni called her.

"Yeah, I'm here," Naina said.

"Lu's pestering me to eat, and to tell you to not go for days without eating again. Would you like to come up and eat with us?" Mizuni asked.

Naina's stomach hurriedly agreed with Mizuni, and she grinned. "Yeah, I'll be there in a sec. Didn't even realize I was hungry, thanks," Naina said, crawled completely out of the assemblage and went looking for a washing station.

They ate in relative silence, only occasionally chatting something about the ongoing work, and Perez complimenting the Proxian Meals. Afterward, they were all sitting around the table, sated and even a little bit sleepy, leaning back in their chairs.

"Captain Melcey," Quera said suddenly, with a voice that you could almost believe was said with a smile. "I think I've managed to do something that you approve," she said.

Naina raised her head slightly from the lean she was currently in. "Oh? And what is that, Quera?" she asked.

"I've been slowly starting the generators and equipment on the Infinity, and I believe the crew quarters are now fully working," she said. "And Sunstar seems to have a few matter batteries left in storage. I believe that with those, I can get the showers running," Quera said.

"Shower?" Naina and Mizuni said almost simultaneously. They looked at each other, smiled, and nodded.

"Let's go, Naina," Mizuni said. "I'm dying to have a shower."

Naina got up and nodded. "It feels like years since I last took one. I really need a shower," she said. "We should be able to carry enough between the two of us. Let's go", Naina said, and they walked out of the room, almost running towards the exit and towards the Sunstar's storage rooms.

After half an hour or so of transporting a few heavy canisters to a room, and socketing them properly into their receptacles, Naina was standing in an empty crew room, taking off her clothes and glancing at the shower longingly. She had grabbed her scientist uniform from the Travelstar, so she could put on clean clothes afterwards.

She spent a long time under the hot water, thoroughly washing her hair and all the soot and space dust that had collected everywhere on her during these last several days.

In the next room, one over, Mizuni was leaning on the wall in the shower and washing her face. She felt like all the eight years in the sleeping pod must be washed out, and spent a considerable time under the shower, making sure every bit of her was clean.

Naina got out of the room, still drying her slightly damp hair with a towel. Her scientist uniform was lighter than her space suit, and it hugged her form a bit more. She turned to go back to the room Perez called HQ, when she noticed Mizuni standing in front of her door, looking at Naina, with her cheeks slightly dark. She was wearing slightly more casual clothes, the same ones the staff used to wear on the Infinity. It consisted of a pair of light pants, a white shirt, and a color-coded jacket over it. Mizuni was wearing a white one that had "Kitchen Staff" written on it.

"Oh, hi," Naina said. "Sorry, it takes ages for my hair to dry properly," she said and grinned at her. "I think I'll go grab a fruit or two, and then head to bed for the night," she said. "I suggest you have a rest, too. Perez and Quera get too angry at us if we don't," she grinned.

Mizuni nodded, not daring to open her mouth. She followed Naina and tried to keep her eyes from the diminutive elf's backside, with varied amounts of success. Once they arrived at the location, Mizuni was in need of another shower -- this time, a cold one.

"Hi girls. Feeling better now?" Perez asked. He was looking miles better himself, having too had a shower, and changed into a generic clothing that he had found in a closet Quera had unlocked for him.

Both of them nodded. "Yeah, but better," Naina said. "It feels like the last time I took a shower was months ago."

Mizuni nodded. "Same. Though I guess the last shower I took was technically eight years ago," she said and grinned.

Perez smiled at her. "So, where are we? How close are we for a lift-off?" he asked.

Naina and Mizuni looked at each other. They smiled, then nodded.

"A few hours, maybe a day," Naina said. "Then I'm ready."

"Same here," Mizuni said. "I need to program one of the controllers, and then verify them with Quera," she said and paused for a moment.

"I think we might be going home tomorrow," Mizuni said.