“It seems that Aika is a bit cross with you,” said Naeva with a mischievous smile on her face. “You know, if you need to console her tonight, I don’t mind.”

Reece looked up from his plate of rehydrated pork and green beans. Naeva’s attention was on her plate as she organized the vegetables she had gathered from the kitchenette into a decent-looking salad.

Reece began to wonder what was going on in this woman’s mind as she often sent his whirling. He decided to let it drop and concentrate on something else, such as doing his job. He figured he could worry about the situation later...or never.

“Well, nothing?” asked Naeva suddenly.

Reece noticed her looking at him again, awaiting an answer with an arched eyebrow and that same smile still playing across her face.

“I really don’t know what to say,” replied Reece curtly. “What exactly did you mean by that comment. Because what it sounded like was that you were okay with me sleeping with Aika. And now isn’t exactly the time, is it?”

“I knew you were smarter than the average astronaut. Look, she’s clearly hurting more than she’s admitting and she could really use a friend. Especially right now. If she needs more than that, I’m not going to let it bother me. We’re not exclusive, right?”

“And why would you be okay with that?”

This time Naeva’s smile vanished from her face as her demeanor shifted to that of a scholarly type.

“First, get this straight. It’s not because I want to sleep with half the men on this boat. The only other man I was ever attracted to up here was Angel, and that ended a long time ago and rather badly. I do not want to discuss that history further. Second, considering everything going on, I don’t want to get too attached, and keeping our ‘relationship’ open will help with that. And third, whatever happens here can’t be a long-term thing anyways. Please just trust me when I say that I can’t explain it to you, ever. I just need you to understand that it is a fact. So, if you want to have a little fun, I’m here. If you want to get married, keep looking. Do you understand?”

Reece considered all of this for a moment. It didn’t make a lot of sense to him, partly because he was obviously missing key information. However, it didn’t seem like he had a choice, at least as far as his relationship with Naeva was concerned. Aika was another matter entirely, but things were extremely complicated right now.

“Fine. Don’t see that I have much of a choice in the matter. I’m glad we had this talk sooner rather than later.”

Naeva smiled, though Reece noticed that it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Great. I’m glad we have an understanding and don’t think this has anything to do with last night. You were just perfect.”

Reece couldn’t help but blush as the pleasant experience pushed into his consciousness to mix with the awful feeling that he was already dealing with. It was an odd and unnatural mix and left him feeling emotionally uncomfortable. Trying to avoid the feeling, he changed the subject.

“Uh, thanks. Uh, let’s finish up and get back to work. I still have a lab that’s leaking atmosphere and it won’t fix itself.”

Naeva’s mischievous smile was back as she stared into Reece’s eyes, not unlike a predator, and she even chuckled a bit through her bites of salad. The woman was more of an enigma than ever. They finished their meal, cleaned up, and left the module.

“Good luck, handsome,” Naeva called back teasingly as she and Reece split up to go to their separate assignments.

Reece thought about Angel’s warning about the woman and he slowly began to understand where he was coming from. His mind was trying to unravel the mystery of the woman before she drove him completely crazy.

Attempting to focus on his task, Reece continued down the hall to the EVA airlock and retrieved the EVA suit, torch, and tool belt. Thus encumbered, he made his way to the lab. He stepped between the garden and lab bulkheads and sealed himself inside. It would be detrimental to the plants and trees if the lab’s potentially compromised air made its way into the garden module. Suiting up first, Reece checked his tools and spun the lab’s bulkhead door open.

He could see that the bulkhead between the module and the hallway section was still open. Reece entered the lab and the first thing he noticed was the empty terrarium. That worried him but he needed to focus on one problem at a time. He inspected the damage from the inside and determined that his assumptions were correct. Casting his worries aside, Reece got to work, removing the partially displaced panel. Luckily, a quick assessment showed that the damage was obvious and relatively easy to fix.

Determining the best course of action, he began the repairs. First, Reece pounded the support beam back into place. Once finished with that, he reconnected the wiring and pounded the creased steel alloy back into shape. With everything roughly back where it should be, he welded the crack closed. The repairs were complete, so he wished for the best and turned the life-support system back on. Now that the power had been reconnected, the system hummed back to life.

Waiting several minutes, he inspected everything, finding that his patch job seemed to hold just fine. Mentally thanking the old gods, Reece buttoned everything up as he started to realize how exhausted he was. He needed some rack. The outside damage to the garden and lab modules would just have to wait until the next day. Still, Reece had repaired the actual breaches to the station today and he hoped that would mollify the commander for the time being.

Once the readings inside the lab returned to normal, he removed his EVA suit.

“How’s everything look?” came the commander’s voice from behind him.

Reece turned to see the commander giving him an appraising look.

“Good, sir. The lab is air-tight, and everything looks nominal. I’ll just have to finish up the outer repair later, and she’ll be good as new, or nearly so,” replied Reece.

“Excellent,” came the commander’s reply. “Reece, you do great work and seem like an intelligent individual. I want you to think about your future. It could be very bright. You can drop the formalities, we’re in space and we’re all equals here.”

“Okay,” said Reece’s tentatively.

“Look, this is highly abnormal, but you’ve proven yourself more than capable of handling difficult situations. I’d like to make you an offer, but you need to understand something. Once you’re in, you’re in. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” answered Reece slowly though he really didn’t understand. How could he? He had a bad feeling about where this conversation was going and the position that it might put him in.

“Good...good. So, I work for a non-existent government organization that is trying to save humanity by any means necessary. I assume you’re familiar with the discord in our country and the echoes of it throughout the world. Something bad is coming, perhaps even a third world war. Billions will die if that happens. My group and I are doing everything we can to turn the tide back towards a more peaceful outcome. Unfortunately, there are those who want the chaos. They desire the world to burn, and we can’t allow that. Do you understand everything I’ve explained so far?”

“I do,” answered Reece with a hint of trepidation in his voice that betrayed the palpable anxiety he was feeling.

“Good. Now, do you want to be part of the solution, or are you content to sit on the sidelines and see what happens? You strike me as the type who couldn’t live with yourself if you could have done something but stood aside. Think of your friends and your family. Think of their children and the future generations who are in danger if we don’t do something now. These corrupt politicians talk and talk and only succeed in driving us farther apart from each other. We need to come back together as a single people if we ever want hope of living in peace. Now, does that sound like something worth fighting for?”

“Yes, it does. What exactly is the strategy to begin healing the wounds that are dividing our nation right now?” asked Reece as he sought to glean any additional information from the commander.

“I’m sure you’ll understand, but I can’t tell you that right now. Not until you’re in all of the way.”

“Alright,” said Reece. “And what if I decide to remain on the sidelines? Am I free to go?”

The commander just smiled at him and motioned over his shoulder with his left hand. Jared came up beside him holding a pistol.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t the kind of offer that can be refused without consequences. Please understand, we don’t want that. However, this movement is simply too important to put at risk by leaving too many loose ends. Still, if you decide against joining us, don’t worry. Your death will only be sped up by a few days. Everyone on this station is being given a choice, join us or earn a quick and painless death...we’re not monsters after all.

That being said, you haven’t heard the best part. We’ve been developing some pretty amazing things up here and you’ll be given your fair share. You’ll be immune to what’s coming, have great longevity, and be part of the new shepherds of humanity. You’ll be faster, stronger, heal quicker, and be able to endure much more than any normal human could ever hope to. So, what do you say?”

Reece quickly went over his options in his head. Accept, decline, and die, or try and fight the two men. One was his size with a gun and the other was much bigger and more muscular. Plus, if what they were saying was true, he’d potentially be facing off against two men that were more than human. There really was no choice. He had to play along for now.

“Okay, I’m in,” replied Reece. “Sign me up. I was going to say yes anyhow. I just like to know what my options are. This decision was easy considering it's obvious the kind of trouble our planet is in.”

The commander studied him carefully.

“I don’t trust him,” said Jared. “I think he’ll say anything to save his own skin.”

“That’s enough,” replied the commander. “You don’t trust anybody.”

The commander gave Reece another hard stare as if trying to determine his character. “Okay, you’re in. Now, to induct you properly into the Order.”

That last statement caused a cold shiver to flow down Reece’s spine. The commander withdrew a syringe full of a blue substance from a drawer in the lab’s wall. Checking and adjusting the dosage, he prepared to inject it into Reece’s arm.

“Just so you know, this is just the first of the gifts you will be given as a part of the Order,” explained the commander. “A gas has been released all over the earth and this is a permanent inoculation for it,” he explained as he injected the substance into Reece’s arm. “It’ll also help you to link with our minds. I know, I know. It’s hard to believe. That’s okay, just wait. Oh, and last but not least, it’ll extend your life indefinitely. Do well, and future injections will bless you with the speed and strength and such that we talked about. Now, finish up here and report to me when you’re finished. And remember this, none of this ever happened. Your life depends upon it.”

The commander left Reece to finish up in the lab, while Jared sheathed the weapon and trailed after him. Reece was reeling. He thought he heard the two men whispering to each other. The strange thing was, he could still hear the whispering even after the men were long gone. He shook his head violently and the voices seemed to stop for the moment.

Reece got back to work picking everything back up. Once it all was collected, he re-opened the garden’s connecting bulkhead and headed back to the EVA airlock to store his gear. That finished, he decided he’d better give Rogers a progress report before he got some sleep, that was, if he could get some sleep at all now.

The commander was waiting for him in the control module.

“The lab’s sealed up,” Reece informed him. “I’ll take care of the outer damage tomorrow. The station should be fine until then.”

“That’s good news. Why don’t you get some sleep? You look like a dead man walking,” said the commander, smiling knowingly.

“Thanks. I think I will,” replied Reece with a half-smile on his face. Suddenly, a big yawn overtook him despite everything he had gone through.

“What had that injection done to him?”

“Alright, I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight,” Reece said while casually waving to those still in the control module.

Reece headed back to the men’s barracks module and grabbed the first cot he could get to, laid down on it, and quickly drifted off.

“I thought I was going to stop letting myself get this tired,” Reece thought to himself as darkness once again took him.

Suddenly, he was surrounded by the entire crew, except they were all dead and rotting. They tried to speak to him, but only blood and gore fell from their slackened jaws. Their complexion was ashen grey, with sickly blue veins bulging just under the skin. Pieces of their bodies had been torn away by some unknown horrific incident and their blood-red eyes lolled weirdly in their sockets. The commander was the closest and he started grabbing and shaking Reece roughly as the rotting face of the man emitted an inhuman moan.