Valorie was on the line, going back and forth with station control with details about the launch. She missed the ease of communicating with her sisters, but this was her job, too. Around her, everyone else was preparing in their own way. Except for Leon. She traced his light as he made his way to the bridge.

Yulia spoke up again, “What about you, Captain? I bet you were the teacher’s favorite.” She paused setting up the drive controls to look at Gareth. He chuckled but continued organizing data on the navigator’s display.

“When I was the only student she had… maybe.” He said.

“There is no way that’s true,” Yulia said. Gareth finished what he was doing and turned to her.

“I like reading a lot more now than I did back then.” His eyes drifted from Yulia over one of the empty stations. “If she saw me now, she would be mad.” His voice mimicked a stern lecture, “Where was all this when I was teaching, hmm?” He joked, but Valorie sensed an old sadness. The entrance slid open as Yulia answered.

“Really?” Yulia turned forward in her seat once more, “I think she’d be proud.” She added. A gentle smile crossed Gareth’s face, and Valorie felt in him a strong sense of longing. The moment dispersed as Leon entered.

“Who’s proud now?” He asked, nodding to Gareth as they passed. Gareth sat in the Captain’s seat and Leon took his place at the navigator’s station.

“Shockingly, it’s nothing to do with you, Leon.” Yulia looked over her shoulder at him, sticking out her tongue.

“Weird.” He grinned, settling in. A realization crossed Yulia’s face.

“What about you? Always talking back, I bet you were a real handful in school.” She said, her confidence at its peak. Leon glanced at her with raised eyebrows, his smile gone.

“That is both random and kinda rude.” He said. Yulia’s chin dipped, but there was still a small smile on her lips.

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way?” She offered.

“I was top of my class – honor roll and everything.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Calculus was my favorite. Really challenged my creativity.” His sly smile returned as he spoke. He turned to his station again. “I bet they missed me when I quit.”

“Ah, see? You dropped out -”

“I left. Doesn’t mean I wasn’t a great student.” He said, a quick grin covering up his snap response. He turned to Gareth. “Is Dr. Porter joining us on the bridge for this?”

“Yes, he will be here shortly,” Gareth said, ignoring the complaint implicit in Leon’s question. Glancing at his display for the time, Leon frowned.

“Better be soon.” He said. Valorie reached out to check and noticed two lights moving along the main hall. Would it be strange if she said something? The lights were close enough that it was probably unnecessary. She glanced up at her Captain, but he had started his routine of contacting each crew member in turn.

Facing forward again, Valorie focused on external comms. She worked her way through the incoming messages, making sure data went to all the right places. There was a lot of uncertainty among the station crew and a lot of arguing. She looked beyond the canopy at the docking crew who hurried along the scaffolding. Was it them that she was listening to? Straight up above, she could see the enormous bay doors the Helianthus would exit through. The scale was hard to imagine, and the vast nothingness beyond left a pit in her stomach. She looked away, focusing on her work once more.

“Sorry, Gary. It’s not looking good. Docks had trouble lining up with the intake.” Quinns’ voice caught her attention. He was talking to Gareth through a display. Valorie glanced up at the Captain’s seat, sensing a growing frustration. Gareth’s voice remained calm.

“How long?”

“Probably an extra hour. Leave the feed up, I’ll keep you updated.” Quinns answered, his focus somewhere else. Gareth nodded and turned his attention on Valorie.

“Relay that to station control and line up a new take-off.” He said, following it up with a few more instructions. Valorie followed the order, including an update to the schedule in the ship-wide log. The flurry of activity was capped with the arrival of Sachi and Dr. Porter.

“And here, we have reached the bridge, Doctor,” Sachi said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Gareth turned in his seat. She smiled at the Captain and bowed her head at Dr. Porter before taking her leave.

“Welcome, Dr. Porter. I hope you had a decent sleep last night.”

“Good morning, Captain. Thank you. I was able to sleep for a moment, but it was hard-won.” He answered, looking around the bridge as he stepped forward. Gareth directed him to the open seat in the middle of the row closest to the Captain’s chair. Thanking him, Dr. Porter sat down, hurrying to get buckled in. The miasma that surrounded him the day before was back. Many emotions, all distressing, swirled at a lazy pace. Valorie remembered her Captain’s words. Dr. Porter had lost so much in the attack on the Lampropeltis, as Valorie had from the Anderson. She focused on her screen, avoiding the storm. Her discomfort mixed with guilt, dragging her down.

“Judging by the time, we will be leaving soon, yes?” Dr. Porter asked, testing the handgrips. He sat forward, legs crossed at the knees.

“I’m afraid not,” Gareth answered. “We are experiencing a short delay. Should not be more than an hour.” His tone and the feelings Valorie sensed did not quite match.

“Ah, well, that’s…” Dr. Porter began but paused. His face fell for a moment before he cleared his throat, “That’s quite alright, Captain. I suppose I am not in any hurry to see the Lampropeltis once more.” The air grew heavier and, for Valorie, the storm harder to ignore.

No one had a response ready for Dr. Porter’s lament. His sentiment hung in the air with only the tapping of displays and the murmur of electronics. Valorie wished there was more she could do, or say, but with the delay, there was nothing to do but wait.

“That name, the lampro, uh the name of Dr. Porter’s ship.” Yulia broke up the atmosphere. “It sounds kinda like the Helianthus.” She turned in her seat to face the rest of the bridge.

“Yes, the Database has a tradition naming their ships with scientific names from Earth. The classifications for living things.” Gareth said, shoulders relaxed so his fingers curled over the edge of the armrest.

“Perhaps the first leaders felt these names were the mythical beasts of our time?” Dr. Porter touched his chin as he spoke, eyes turning up as he considered it. He shook his head. “Though I suppose most of Earth’s creatures still exist. Someone did tell me once what exactly a Lampropeltis is, but I can not recall what they said.”

“And here I thought Helianthus was just a unique last name.” Yulia sat forward in her seat, her curiosity refreshing the air. Valorie found it fascinating how changing moods rippled through conversation among humans. “What’s it stand for then?” Yulia asked. Dr. Porter shook his head and turned to Gareth.

“Sunflowers.” Gareth said, “My mother was a fan of the romantic nature of flower language. When they asked her and my uncle to name the ship, she jumped at the chance. Sunflowers stand tall and face the light, she’d say. I think she wanted the same thing out of this ship.” Gareth’s voice softened, his frustration dropped away and he smiled.

A chuckle emitted from the display next to him. “I’m surprised your uncle was cool with that,” Quinns’ said from off-screen.

“The seeds were a favorite snack of his. He’d joke saying, that’s enough meaning for me.” Gareth said. Quinns laughed as he sat down in front of the screen again.

“Yeah, sounds like him.” He said. Valorie peeked up at the display with his video feed. The smile on his face was one she had not seen before. She tried reaching out to his location, but distance made a complex read difficult. The feelings she did pick up were similar to the Captain’s nostalgia. Quinns glanced off-screen for a moment, nodded, and smiled turning back. “Okay, we’re all set on my end. Serge is up next.”

“Thank you, Quinns.”

“And, before you ask, I’m all strapped in and ready to go, so don’t worry about me. See ya later, Captain.” Quinns added, cutting the video feed. Gareth exhaled a short laugh before moving on. With the variables out of the way, the new release time was set at 1230 hours. Comms picked up again, and workers started clearing out of the dock’s decompression zone.