~ Solar Flare -
~ Chapter Two - Beta ~
Ajay got up and followed Rollie as the latter left the room. He knew the man was upset - any fool could see it written all over his face, and knowing what he knew about the now unclassified information regarding Beta, he could make a pretty shrewd guess as to why.
"She won't stay mad forever," he said softly.
Rollie turned around. "Every day seems like forever when we're this far apart." He shook his head and threw his arms up in the air. "I don't know what to do. I've tried talking to her but she's just so, so ... "
"... angry?" Ajay supplied helpfully.
"No, it's not even that. I could deal with her yelling at me or telling me what an asshole I am for not telling her, but this is something I've never seen before."
"You haven't been married very long," Ajay said tactfully.
Rollie shook his head vehemently. "No. I know Jenn. She's an emotional person. She screams. She yells. She throws things." A wistful smile pulled his lips up for a few seconds. "When she's upset, you know it and she doesn't let go until it's resolved. Now she's acting withdrawn and quiet and just won't talk to me. It's as if she's disconnected herself somehow. I've never seen her like this before."
Ajay felt sympathy for his friend. It always hurt him inside to see his friends suffering. "She's never felt as if you'd betrayed her before either," he said with quiet wisdom. "And you're not there for her to throw things at." He put a comforting hand on Rollie's shoulder. "Give her some time. I'm sure she'll come around and yell at you eventually."
* * * * *
"Are you sure about this?"
A look of annoyance crossed Paula's usually cheery face. "Of course I'm sure. It's fine." She waggled her thumb.
Wass shrugged. "I'm just saying ... I know you're dying to do this but maybe you'd be better off waiting for Mars. Give yourself a few more weeks to heal."
"I am fully capable of piloting that lander," she said haughtily, drawing herself up to her full five foot three inches.
"Well you're going to have to prove it," Evram said, joining them at the table. "You know Goss won't let you do it unless the sims are one-hundred percent perfect."
"They will be," Paula said confidently.
Wass nodded but he didn't look at all convinced.
* * * * *
"You can't see anything? You mean like nothing?"
"Empty space. I don't see anything in that compartment. Just air."
"Nothing?" Zoe was absolutely floored.
"Zip, zilch, nada."
"Do you hear the song?"
Jenn shook her head. "I wish I did," she said sadly. "You all seem so enthralled by it. I wish ... I wish I could be a part of this with all of you but it seems Beta doesn't want to communicate with me. All I got were fractal tomatoes."
"Oh Jenn, I'm sure there's some explanation."
"Really? What? Apparently we were all chosen to be up here but I don't feel very chosen since I'm the only one who can't see or communicate with the damn thing."
"You were chosen ... "
"Don't you see? I of all people should be the one studying it. I'm the friggin' biologist; lifeforms are my field. How can I study something I can't even find?"
"You're here for a reason," Zoe said stubbornly, "or you would have been sent back just like Ajay and Rollie. Beta wants you here Jenn. You'll just have to be patient to find out why."
"I'd have been better off being sent home. At least then I could be with my husband." She blinked rapidly and turned away. "I'll be in my room."
Zoe stood watching the door for a long while after she'd left. Beta's siren call was still pulling at her but her friend's upset had caused discord and hurt in her soul that even it couldn't wash away.
She left pod four and shut the hatch, sealing it and spinning it back to pod two - food supplies.
"Zoe?" She turned as Donner entered the corridor and came to stand beside her. "What are you doing here?"
"Jenn and I were just talking." She paused, looking for the right words. "She's pretty upset."
"I've noticed. She has every right to be. I'm pretty pissed myself and Ted ... " He smirked. "You don't want to know. Trust me."
She cleared her throat. "Is Paula ready for the sims? I'm free to get started now." She began to walk.
Donner grabbed her arm. "Zoe, wait. I don't want you to go."
"Excuse me?" Her temper flared. "This is why I came up here, to survey the planets. How am I suppose to do that from in here?"
"Please, I don't want to lose you."
"And you're sure that's going to happen based on what? The dream? Venus isn't even a part of it."
"Sharon."
"Oh great. You slept with one woman and then she died and now you're afraid I'm going to die because you slept with me too? I thought we were scientists, not soothsayers," she spat. "I'm flattered you care enough to worry about me but I am not missing out on the pinnacle of my career all because you have a bad feeling." She turned and began to walk away.
"Sharon was having hallucinations before the Mars mission."
Zoe stopped dead. She hadn't known that. Didn't know if anyone else did. "How do you know that?" She turned back to face him but kept her distance.
"She told me."
"She told you?"
"We were close okay?" Donner scuffed his boot against the deck and shook his head. "I had no idea at the time ... I wish I'd known what it meant. I would have stopped her from going out there."
"So now you're trying to stop me? I'm not Sharon, Donner. The same thing isn't going to happen to me. I know what I'm getting myself into and I won't get into trouble."
"You can't be certain of that."
"Can any of us really be certain of anything?"
"I'm going with you."
She snorted. "How can you? There's only room for two of us in the lander."
He stepped towards her and lowered his voice. "You're the one who was worried about dying out there. Last night I promised I would watch over you and keep you safe. I can't do that if I let you go alone. I have to find a way to go with you."
She pondered his words for a minute, both liking and not liking the implication in them. "Paula's not going to give up without a fight."
He raised an eyebrow. "Good thing I've had a lot of practice fighting."
* * * * *
Paula's hand shook as she took the control for the first time - as much from excitement as from nervousness. She swallowed hard and smiled up at Zoe.
"You ready to get started?" Zoe asked.
Paula nodded. "I'm so nervous! I've waited for this for so long and I came so close to not making it ... " She pulled the St. Christopher medal out of her pocket, kissed it, and stuck it to the lander with a piece of gum. "This is God's plan for me. I know this is exactly where He wants me to be and He's doing everything to make sure it happens." She bowed her head and breathed a quick prayer. "Okay, let's go."
The simulation didn't go well. It took three tries before she could get the lander to hit the surface smoothly, but even by the fifth try she couldn't get it to dock with the Antares without crashing.
Zoe's heart went out to her as Paula cursed and buried her face in her hands. Then she saw the blood.
"Paula, your thumb."
Paula lifted a sweat and tear-stained face and stared at her bloody thumb as if it were something she'd never seen before.
"I'm so sorry Paula," Evram's voice came over the intercom.
"I'm sorry," Zoe echoed in a whisper.
Paula continued to stare.
* * * * *
"Well that's it Donner, Paula failed so you're up for the trip to Venus."
Goss's words filled him with twice the relief he'd expected - firstly, for getting to go to the planet with Zoe, as he was positive it was the right thing to do, and secondly, that he hadn't had to antagonize Paula - and probably the rest of the crew, by insisting his way was the right way.
It was as if destiny was smiling on him this time around. Destiny, or perhaps Beta ... Maybe they're one in the same. But he rejected the thought immediately. He was a scientist; he didn't believe in all-powerful beings pulling the strings of his life. His destiny was what he made it.
"I'm ready," he said.
"Give Paula a little time," Goss said with uncharacteristic sympathy. "At 1400 you and Zoe can begin the sim sequence again."
Nadia smirked at him as he nodded to the already dark screen. "You and Zoe, together on Venus. How sweet."
Ted seemed to sense trouble between them. "Nadia, can you go check to make sure we're still in proper orbit? I can't let anything else go wrong today."
She nodded and left but not without giving Donner a backwards glance.
"What was that about?" Ted asked after she was gone.
"Oh nothing." Donner shrugged. "She's just got it into her head that there's something going on between us."
"You and Zoe? That's a joke. She hates you."
Donner chuckled though his face felt warm. "Sure feels that way sometimes."
Ted smiled. "I'm off to go see how Paula's doing. I suspect it ain't going to be pretty though."
* * * * *
"So it looks like you're stuck with me after all."
Zoe allowed a brief smile to cross her lips as an indicator she was pleased. "I feel bad for Paula," she said, aware that their every move and word was being monitored.
"I know. It's a tough break for her. At least we'll be out here for a while though, and there are enough other planets that she'll get her chance."
Neither she nor Donner said what he was thinking - Beta hadn't wanted Paula on this particular mission. Would it let her take any of the others, or was her place elsewhere?
Zoe ticked off a few boxes on her clipboard. "Are you ready Donner?"
"Ready."
The simulation went perfectly, even down to Zoe finishing his sentences and Donner anticipating what she was going to ask even before she spoke. They were like a team that had worked together for years. He stared up at her when it was over, pleased but unsurprised it had gone so well. There was just something about her ... about them ...
"That's what I like to see," Ted's voice said cheerily through the 'comm. "Good job you two. Now go, get some R and R for the rest of today. You've got a busy couple of days coming up."
"Copy that." Donner stood. It was cramped in the lander when they were both standing behind the seats.
"Good," Zoe said.
"Good." He nodded in return.
"You'd better do that well tomorrow," she admonished, "because if you kill me, I'll kill you."
Donner smiled. "Deal."
~ TBC ~