"I sung of Chaos and Eternal Night,
Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down
The dark descent, and up to reascend..."
Carson cradled the worn old book in her hands and continued to read through its delicate pages for quite some time. It had come into her possession from another member of the crew some few weeks ago. When she was finished with it she would, in turn, pass it to another who took interest. It was a strange ritual that had developed among several denizens of the crew and spread rapidly. She sat curled in a chair in the corner of the officers lounge with her left leg straight. Things had been rather hectic on the Dusicyon with the new recruits cutting their teeth and she had taken to seeking out places of peace and quiet when she had time. The quarters she occupied, though kept exceptionally neat and orderly by her own hand and a few of her comrades', was not always the best place to find solitude.
The light coming through the small windows changed in hue from late afternoon gold to evening red. It only occurred to her that dinner would be served soon when she began to find it hard to see the words on the page. Coming to a good stopping point she slipped a piece of scrap paper, with a completed to-do list scrawled on it, between the pages and rose out of the chair. The book would be dropped off at her quarters on the way. She took long, quiet strides hampered by a slight limp to the door and left the lounge empty.
The sunset was brilliant from the deck and she walked slowly, letting her hips rock rather than keeping a straight-laced military strut, and enjoyed it. Not only did she want to enjoy the light painting the clouds, but also the stark cleanliness that had found the well-traveled deck. The corner of her lips only just turned up. Her fingers drifted over a freshly polished hand rail.
Once in the cafeteria she took her place in line and chose her food quickly. She didn't bother to make pleasantries with anyone. She had only just sat down when the captain entered. She didn't have to wait for Grissom's bellowing to immediately snap back up into a salute as rigid as a marble statue. Others did the same only a second or two later.
Solid ground. An interesting prospect for this crew. It had been nearly two years at this point since she had been picked up by Renault on that hellish little spit of an island and she could count on one hand the number of times she had stepped off of the ship. While the concept now seemed strange to her, she couldn't help but think it was a much needed asset. The crew was growing steadily. Perhaps the Captain should begin considering the procurement of a fleet in the future as well.
Now casual conversation resumed and she listened as banter flew across tables while eating her simple meal of steak with no seasoning, greens with no sauce and baked potato with no butter. Water was all she drank. A necessity she saw as the luxury it really was.
When Cyrus winked at her she had just, unfortunately, looked up. In return, all he got for his efforts was a cold, deeply unimpressed stare. She kept eye contact with him until it became uncomfortable to the point of being scathing and then turned her attention to Faulkner, a few seats down.
"General," Carson spoke in a low, soft and highly articulate voice, "The deck is in flawless condition this evening. It's been some time since I've seen it shine quite like that. You have my commendation."