Chapter 30

After Eva had painted my nails, we sat on my bed, but we didn’t talk much. It was strange, as we usually spent our time discussing our research or any other topic that caught our attention. It felt good, but also confusing, as it was an anomaly that I couldn't understand; yet, at the same time, it didn't bother me. When Eva finally went to bed, I lay down and ran the diagnostics on my systems, but all the results were normal.

When I came back online, my blue toenails caught my attention, and I smiled. They reminded me of Eva, and I liked it, even if I found it a bit distracting. At least I would not see them for most of the day, so there wasn’t a problem. I considered letting her paint my fingernails, too, but I was not sure how much distraction it would cause. I didn’t want it to affect my performance, but Eva said that the colour suited me. I decided to check my manual during the lunch break to find out what impact having my nails painted would have.

I pushed away the feelings and went to the command centre and set to work. Nhi and Sven were discussing something quietly, and I didn't want to disturb them, so I sat down in my seat. The scanner had produced so much new data during our absence that I had more than enough to do for a long time. Once again, I found comfort in the endless stream of data that flooded my holo screen and almost didn’t notice Eva when she came in carrying, as always, a cup of coffee.

She stood next to my seat and looked at the screen.

“What are you working on?”, she asked.

I showed her the data I had isolated, along with the next potential anomaly that still needed verification. Briefly, she put her hand on my shoulder before she walked to her console and started to work. Her touch stirred something in me, and I closed my eyes as a wave of unknown emotions flooded my systems once again. I whispered quietly,

Through the dark void

we sail together

watching the stars pass by

as we set the course

to the safe harbour

I still didn’t understand what those words meant or why they came, but they felt different from my other poems. I smiled and promised myself to analyse their meaning later, hoping I would finally find a way to understand what all those overwhelming feelings meant.

Later that day, we received a message from Titan. Our new supply ship had left Mars and would arrive in 3 weeks. I smiled. It would give Abedi enough time to recover and return with that ship. It would also give Nhi a chance to try out the emergency rations for a few days before fresh food arrived. She wasn’t as excited about the prospect as I had expected, though. We shared the news with the rest of the crew, and soon the thrill of the coming package took over, and she seemed to forget about it.

I checked my manual, and it said nothing about any negative consequences of having my nails painted, so I decided to let Eva do it later. For some reason, though, once the decision was made, I became restless. I was impatient for the evening to come so I could spend time with Eva, but a part of me was worried about the strange state I was in, and I wondered if there was an update to my manual that I hadn't received yet. I ran the diagnostics a few times, but they showed normal results, leaving me confused about the origin of the unrest.

I thought about the poem that had come to me earlier, but my systems could not decrypt its meaning. Except for the obvious that I was happy that the anomalies affecting my relationship with Eva had disappeared, I was still no closer to understanding what I felt. I smiled. At least I had another poem I could share with Eva. She really liked the previous ones I had told her, so according to my systems, there was a 97% chance that she would like this one, too.

In the end, I offered to help Raul in the lab again, deciding that having something to do was better than being restless. We started to analyse another batch of samples from Pluto, and my systems relaxed, having a clear thing to focus on that required a lot of my cognitive capacity. Raul looked at me and said,

“I spoke with Sven, and we’re considering going down there to see if we could set up a permanent meteo station on the lake.”

“It would be more accurate”, I nodded.

“And powerful”, Raul added.

“So you are still hoping to find liquid nitrogen there?”

I looked at him, wondering if that was his plan. The probes we had sent there so far didn’t have a GPR strong enough to penetrate the ice, but a permanent station had around an 87% chance of producing conclusive results.

“Of course”, he smiled. “I know it is there, we just need to find it.”

I smiled at his optimism, knowing that the chances of liquid nitrogen existing deep under the ice were estimated at around 39%.

“What are you thinking, Rea?”

“How you will power it”

He sighed.

“We could start with power cells, and if the project gains enough attention at home, we could try to get funds to install something more permanent.”

I nodded. It could work. The idea of a permanent research station on Pluto definitely had its charm, even if most people didn’t realise it would be built with a cargo container filled with a dismantled probe and a few pieces of equipment we took from the station. But if we all stood behind this project, there was a 74% chance that we would get the necessary funding to expand it into something better.