1.4.2

Astrid Acclimates

Once alone, Astrid immediately paced and tugged at her hair. She needed to bring herself back to her own energy and filter everything else.

“It isn’t me, it’ll pass,” she muttered her trained affirmations. “This is temporary. This is temporary.

“I am light,” she tried. She grasped her crystal pendant for stability. “I am light!”

The quartz didn’t respond. Astrid growled, too unfocused while her mind tallied a painstaking account of everything that could go wrong.

Her presence could affect the engine. If in space when she lost control who knew what systems might fail.

What a careless, reckless idea, Astrid admonished. What hope did her people have for leaving the Sanctuaries if she herself could not endure the first ten minutes?

“I can take it,” she promised herself. “I’m stronger than what’s happening to me.”

Astrid held her pendant firmly in front of her face and bore her eyes into it. She summoned every memory reminiscent of her true nature.

Endra’s courtyards. The library. The steady, calm tranquility of study. Certainties in which she excelled.

“I am light,” she repeated. Steadily, the chaotic hail upon her senses converted to warmth. “I am light!”

The haze cleared just enough for Astrid to find purchase in her breathing exercises. Like second nature, her meditations kicked in the moment she could grasp them, even if only by the edge.

It felt a relief to find all that muscle memory and incessant training to bear fruit. Until finally, all the rampant distress of her panic expended itself in a soft blue glow of light bound to her crystal.

She watched the ember burn with all her deposited doubt until she found herself once more.

The captain believed in her. Keeper Alethea believed in her. The least she could do is believe in herself, she reasoned.

Emboldened by success in dissuading a loss of control, Astrid poured every reservation she held into her pendant until it dimmed dormant once more.

She tucked the precious tool back under her shirt, took several deep breaths, then nodded resolutely.

As promised, the gunnery chief stretched just outside, leaned in the shadow of a wall to keep watch for any passersby.

When Astrid emerged, Tenya straightened.

“Hey, I’m sorry, Kitten. I shouldn’t have to hit you with so much at once. You okay?”

Astrid felt humbled by the woman’s kindness. Though sheepish she needed it.

“I… yes. I just needed to collect myself.” Embarrassed, Astrid dared to ask a small favor. “Could you maybe not tell anyone about that?”

A friendly smile returned to Tenya’s face to hear such a common and human request. She draped an arm over Astrid’s shoulders in kinship.

“Come on. Let’s take a gander where you’ll be staying.”

~~~

Tenya directed Astrid to the sleeping quarters. A set of bunks, fastened to the metal floor, stood in three lines of five, for thirty mattresses altogether, stacked in pairs.

“We sleep in shared quarters. Well, most of us. Hope that’s okay for you.”

“No, actually that’s quite alright. I’m used to it.”

“Oh,” Tenya replied shortly. “Well, that’s helpful.”

The chief sauntered to a bed deeper in. “This set is open. We keep ourselves spread out since we’re not full.”

Tenya clapped her hand on the footlocker welded in the base of the frame. “There’s a combination lock. You can set the numbers yourself.”

Astrid slowly lifted her satchel over her head and set it on the lower bunk. Next to the tidy linen pillow, her single sack of possessions seemed sadly miniscule.

“Don’t worry, girl. Give it a few months aboard and it’ll start feeling like home. I’ll make sure of it.”

Astrid felt doubt swirl in her stomach. She could never have known, waking in her own bed that morning, it would be the last time. She woke up believing she already knew everything there was for her to know about the world. What would she know tomorrow, she wondered?

“Next stop?”

Tenya moved them onto the mess hall.

The kitchen equipment alone occupied nearly a third of the room. A single man armed two stovetops with a whistle on his lips.

“Sugar, this is Astrid. She’s our new crewman!”

The cook spun to the woman’s voice with a gleeful grin that wrinkled his face up to his brows.

“Name’s Carl, Astrid. Welcome aboard!”

Beside her, Tenya bumped Astrid’s shoulder with hers. “He won’t admit it, but he answers to ‘Sugar’, too.”

While Astrid felt in awe of Tenya’s easy contact with her, the man ignored Tenya’s teasing. Carl’s hands laden with a spatula and stirring spoon, he instead bobbed his head in greeting.

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting you!”

“How did you know I was coming?”

“Well, not you, specifically. But I’ve been informed that energy work can leave a Channeler quite famished. You’ve been approved for double rations. Can’t risk malnourishment in the field!”

“I… thank you.”

Again, Astrid pondered what exactly the captain intended for her, though she could hardly presume the ship’s chef to know.

“We need to keep moving, Sugar. Gotta get her up to Ishioka.”

“And I need to get back to work before supper. But I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other, Astrid!”

The man whipped back into his rhythm with a spin. Astrid suspected he must be used to most the crew coming and going, because he never lost a step as he returned to multi-tasking in time with his melodic tune.

A second set of stairs led to the next deck, and Tenya hurriedly urged Astrid toward a sterile motion-sensitive door.

It swooshed open in a hurry, to a polished steel and white hold. A bold banner of blue raced down the side walls, towards a squat set of exam tables, consoles, and medical equipment Astrid could not name.

At the back of the room, at a tall computer on a wheeled cart, a professional with jet black hair clicked along the keyboard like a woman possessed, every move deliberate.

Astrid took in the sight of the environment, pristine and perfectly organized. Even the doctor stood swathed in a spotless tunic, tailored to precision.

“Doctor Ishioka.” Tenya interrupted the woman, and Astrid suddenly felt they’d intruded on a meaningful trance.

When the woman turned, Astrid’s heart nearly leapt to her throat. Almond eyes and clean complexion, deep and rich brown irises, nearly black, brought back memories of a young boy with a charming smile.

Astrid cleared her throat as she realized she must look like a guppy, mouth agape.

“You must be the Channeler, then?” the woman pressed.

“Um… yes, ma’am.”

“’Doctor Ishioka’, please,” the lady corrected and waved her hand that Astrid should come closer. “Quickly, quickly.”

Astrid looked to Tenya, whose eyes sparkled in amusement.

The doctor nodded to the table, and Astrid clambered up to sit. The physician quickly donned fresh gloves, and without explanation, rested her palms under Astrid’s jaw and along her neck.

“Any pre-existing conditions I should know about? It’s important I get a clean baseline.”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

The doctor scowled at her ambiguity.

“You’re my first Channeler patient. I need to know of any abnormalities. Does your temperature run customarily higher? Do you know your typical vitals? Blood pressure, heart rate, etcetera?”

“I’m afraid not. We were not often compared to Stat--, well, to other humans. It was not discussed with us, anyway.”

Ishioka maintained a firm grip as her fingers trailed with exact measure down Astrid’s spine.

“I suspect you’re feeling a little anxious, having just arrived?”

“You could say that.”

“Then I’ll need you to return tonight before you sleep. And each night for the next week. I need to establish a profile on you before I can determine when you might be sick or overworked in the future.”

“I don’t get sick often.”

“In the same place, among the same social group your whole life, no, I imagine you wouldn’t. But you’re going to be exposed to a lot of new bacteria, flora, and people, in the coming months. Not to mention the strain on your abilities. And I will not be caught unprepared.”

Astrid fell mute as the woman reached for a nearby stethoscope and continued to prod while she listened over her patient’s chest.

Doctor Ishioka’s gloved fingers moved Astrid’s crystal aside, and Astrid felt her heart skip a beat.

Dark eyes flitted to hers as the sharp woman noticed, but she left it unaddressed. She moved the stethoscope to Astrid’s back, over her lungs.

“Breathe.”

Astrid obeyed while Tenya leaned back on the table next over.

“Once more.”

Again, Astrid did as she was told. Finally, the doctor removed the device from her ears, divested herself of her gloves, and returned the computer. At a few quick key commands, she formed a new file and typed away.

But Astrid could not tear her eyes from the woman’s face.

“Are you Korean?”

“No.” The doctor’s own stare never left the screen. “Japanese.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Astrid squirmed on her perch. “I don’t get out much. I didn’t mean to assume. You just… look like someone I used to know.”

“Inquiry provides better education than assumptions. If you are truly interested, I could send you some resources unbiased by perception.”

“I would rather know you as a person than a representative.”

Again, Astrid found herself pinned under a sharp gaze when the doctor curtly answered, “An ironic view for a Channeler in your position. It may take some time for you be afforded the same courtesy.”

Astrid shifted her gaze to Tenya. Dark arms crossed over the woman’s stomach, but a faint smile still played over her lips, so Astrid reasoned she could not have blundered beyond repair.

The doctor herself seemed no more or less composed than when they arrived. And when they departed, Tenya chuckled to herself.

“You did alright. Doctor Ishioka is a good gauge for testing people. I admit, I wanted to see how you’d do.”

“I’m starting to feel this whole thing is a social experiment,” Astrid commented while they walked the corridor.

“I suppose it is. I mean, we need you, but this is the first time we’ve worked with anyone like you. And vise-versa right?”

They passed through the War Room briefly, so Astrid could tour the bridge. Tenya introduced her to the Navigator, Hammond, Comm Officer Shaely, and their pilot, a flirtatious young man by the name of Ricks. But by then, Astrid’s capacity for names and ranks began to blur.

“You’ll have time,” Tenya assured. “For now, our immediate squad is the most important to get to know. We keep each other standing. We do our job together and trust the others will do theirs.”

Astrid shrank herself to one side as Dell bypassed them on the stairs to the Bridge.

“Captain’s getting ready to assemble. Ten minutes,” he advised.

“Perfect!” Tenya grinned to Astrid. “You ready to learn why you’re here?”

Though already besieged by novelty, Tenya’s playful manner began to grow on her.

“It’s a little late to say no, right?”