Page 185 of Every Almost

Charlie returnedto her quarters that night feeling truly whole for the first time since Helen's death had rocked her and Katie's world. Something about her nights spent in quiet conversation with someone she was starting to feel was becoming a genuine and valued friend, despite what else may be happening, gave Charlie a sense of belonging she'd only felt with her sister. That surprised her, seeing as she'd only been on the Emberkind for a little over two months. How was she able to feel so close, comforted, and connected to people like Tavi, Selowen, and, maybe most especially, Reyna, in such a similar way she did with Katie? She pondered this until she got into bed and laid her head on her pillow.

After a few minutes, she leaned over and grabbed her datapad, opening the music program Tavi had built. She scrolled through the library of her music that Tavi had put together, not looking for anything specific, but trying to find the feelingcoursing through her by the pull of any song that called to her. And soon, one in particular caught her eye.

"Don't Get Me Wrong." The Pretenders. 1986.

She tapped it, and it started playing softly in her room. A catchy beat with the smooth vocals of Chrissie Hynde. She tapped the button that added it to her Favorites, because the song matched something she couldn't name and she wanted to be able to find it again.

Don't get me wrong, if I'm looking kind of dazzled...

She set the datapad down and stared at the ceiling. The melody played softly in the dark, and she thought about the Observation Room, and the bench, and the captain who sat closer tonight than she'd ever sat before, the same captain who made Charlie believe she would take on prejudice for LGBTQ+ people on Earth as a personal affront. And that made Charlie happier than she wanted to admit.

She fell asleep with the song still playing.

The next morning,as Charlie was walking through the corridor to Engineering, she heard it. Faint and low, coming from someone's quarters as she passed. Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere" with Lindsey Buckingham's guitar and that unmistakable opening.

Oh, I want to be with you everywhere...

Charlie stopped walking and stood in the corridor, letting the song reach her through the wall. She suddenly thought of Reyna's face in the Observation Room last night, and Reyna's shoulder bumping hers when Charlie said she'd ended up on the Emberkind, and Reyna looking over her shoulder to a corridor, waiting for Charlie to walk through it.

Everywhere.

She pulled out her datapad, found the song in Tavi's library, and added it to her Favorites, before she just kept walking.

When she walked into Engineering, Tavi was already at his console. He looked up at her when she arrived, and something by the way he studied her stopped her in her tracks.

"What?"

But Tavi just smiled. "Strike three."

"Tav, what are these 'strikes'?"

"You'll figure it out when you're ready, Spark Plug. I have faith in you." He smiled at her and gave her the smallest nod.

Charlie wasn't sure what to do about it, but she had the lingering suspicion it meant everything.

TWENTY-ONE

BIOLOGICAL MARKERS

Reyna had beenin a good mood for eleven days, and she was starting to find it a little... suspicious.

Not the mood itself. The mood itself was fine. In fact, the mood was, arguably, a wonderful consequence. She noticed she'd been sleeping better, her eating habits had become more consistent, she even arrived on the bridge each morning with a demeanor that was being noticed by the crew each morning. Even her rounds had taken on a new feeling of purpose instead of routine. Her voice would carry across the ship with an ease she hadn't noticed until it was already there, a part of her, which made it feel as though it had always been that way.

The reason for the suspicion? If she allowed herself to consider it, she could trace the trajectory of this mood with uncomfortable specificity. Every line she drew always pointed to the same coordinate. Like a compass always pointing north.

The coordinate was not allowed to have a name. The coordinate didn't even have permission to be in her thoughts.

Instead, she decided to channel the energy and focus on the ship. But her focus wasn’t necessary. Cael's engineeringreports were adequate, as they always were. Maren's logs were immaculate, as they always were. And Torvax's morning briefings? Thorough, efficient, and delivered with the tonal warmth of a man reading an appliance manual, as they always were.

Everything was normal. Everything was running well. Even she was running well.

And that was the problem.

"Captain."Kess rapped a single knuckle against the doorframe of Reyna's office, once. "It's that time again. Quarterly physical." She was precisely on schedule, as per usual, and Reyna knew any request to postpone would be met with a downright denial. Reyna had long since stopped pretending to try and postpone these anyway. It was futile.

"Is it that time already?"

"Time moves at its standard rate regardless of your willingness to acknowledge it."