Page 217 of Every Almost

Then she lay there and looked at the ceiling for a long time before she finally fell asleep, her hand still curled.

TWENTY-EIGHT

AN OBSERVATION

Kess foundReyna in the corridor outside Engineering.

"Captain, can I borrow you for a moment?"

Reyna had seventeen things to do before third bell, but when Kess sought her out, she always made time. "Of course."

Kess fell into step beside her, her datapad tucked under her arm, cluing Reyna in that she'd already reviewed whatever was on it. They walked in silence for thirty paces before Kess spoke, which was abnormally longer than Kess usually waited. But she kept walking, kept her eyes forward, waiting it out.

"Your quarterly review is coming up," Kess remarked. Reyna nodded.

"Next week, yes."

Kess nodded in return before going quiet again. Reyna began to catalog possibilities, providing her with a short list, none of them good.

"I wanted to flag something ahead of schedule. Something I'm noticing." Reyna looked over at Kess and saw there was no worry in her expression, but that she had information needing to be shared.

"Flag away."

"Captain," Kess began, looking at Reyna with conviction. "Rey. Your stress markers continue to improve."

Reyna felt her heart rate increase.Uh oh.

"Your cortisol equivalent is down twenty-three percent from pre-arrival baseline. Your sleep architecture remains in its improved state with your inflammatory markers stable." Kess paused. "Your Skin Memory index registered an anomalous event two nights ago."

Reyna didn't move a muscle. "Define anomalous."

Kess sighed. "A localized activation event. Something brief but it was consistent with an external tactile input that your autonomic system classified as significant."

She heard what Kess was saying.Someone touched you, and it registered into the medical database.

"I adjusted a... thing, an audio thing. It went in my ear so I could listen to music," Reyna said, failing spectacularly at trying to explain. "Charlie was sharing a song with me, through the device she brought from Earth. It required physical placement."

Kess nodded. "Of course."

"It was incidental contact," Reyna continued.

"I would never suggest otherwise," Kess said.

Reyna looked into Kess's eyes, seeing a mirror there that could only come from two Kaelari women, each raised to the same discipline, each perfectly capable of reading what the other was not saying.

Reyna closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking at Kess again and trying for something true. "I know you can see... hell, you can probably read it in their medical files... but crew morale is exceptional," she said. "At levels even I haven't seen in years. Earth Night has become a genuine community institution. Engineering output is up. The Aetherfin habitat is stable. Maren's logs are the most thorough I've seen and Tavi'ssystems upgrades have improved operational efficiency by a number I'm sure is record breaking."

"Fourteen percent," Kess stated.

Reyna indicated to Kess. "See?" She said, shrugging her shoulders. "The crew is thriving, Kess. All of them."

Reyna knew Kess had listened to every single word. But she looked at Reyna with eyes meant to find out the truth.

"And you? Are you thriving?"

Reyna deadpanned and said the first thing that came to mind. "I am performing at peak capacity," she said quickly. "Even you said so."

Kess stopped walking, and Reyna halted mid-step, turning to face her.