Canteen [ Log 1 ]

Karla

I woke up with my arms still wrapped around her and her head resting on my chest. For the first time, the closeness didn’t feel suffocating, and I hoped we could stay like this and make up for all the time I had been gone. She stirred and looked at me with sleepy eyes. I could feel she didn’t want to let go, but her old habit of productiveness won, and she sat up, pulling most of the duvet from me, like she always did. I knew there was no point fighting her, and I followed her as she got up to get dressed.

At least the floor wasn’t freezing cold, and our cabin had stayed warm through the night. I was almost half-expecting Li to burst through the door, only now allowing myself to admit how much I missed her. As El finished dressing, she helped me put on my suit, checking it to make sure I was ready for the day. We walked to the small canteen decorated with faded Union flags and old photos of those who had become history long before I was born.

It was empty, and she hesitated for a moment, as if she saw it for the first time, before sitting down at the table with a cup of coffee in her hands. I sat down quietly next to her, taking a sip from my cup. I didn’t want to break the silence, even if I was afraid of what it might bring. Or maybe I was afraid of nothing, and this place was the home I had wished for so long. Even if part of me still didn’t dare to trust it, I could push those thoughts away rather than listen to them and run before all my hopes would shatter once again as they always had before.

The door to the canteen opened with a soft hiss, and Li and Sol walked in and joined us at the table.

“In six days, we will reach D473”

Sol pointed to her holo display. El smiled, seeing her crew gathered around her.

“What shall we do in the meantime?”, Li asked, looking at us.

I leaned back in my chair, sipping my coffee, asking myself exactly the same question. When I stayed on Minerva, I spent most of my time in their cabin, trying to be out of their way as they spent most of their shifts maintaining and repairing their ship. But here, it would be different.