“Go on, show Nana.”
A toddler in pink twisted with delight, brandishing a recently unwrapped doll in colorful plastic packaging. The camera panned to an aging face, which brightened with an amazed gasp. Lit along her edges by the ghostly blue light of the monitor, Camden felt herself smile.
“What did you get!”
Still tangled in her sheets, Camden curled around the tablet in her bunk. Before the Captain decided to crow for the morning, she stole what peace and privacy she could manage in the dark of her cabin. Friendly shadows expanded to fill the room in cool, cozy quietude, except for a twinkling array of colored indicator lights scattered along the walls. The ship’s engines hummed a soothing tune underneath everything, a sound that Camden had come to associate with safety and security.
The video ended, so reluctantly she peeled one limb from the warmth of her covers to navigate the touch screen. She had already flipped through a few pages of photographs and text entries when the Captain finally addressed his crew over the com, filling each room with his gravelly cheer.
Camden switched off her tablet and rolled onto her back, yawning and arching into a stretch with shameless abandon. Afterward, she collapsed back onto the mattress and made herself accept that another day in this life had begun. Now then, time to go be useful.
The ship’s medic was still twisting a tie around her dry, lusterless hair as she appeared from her cabin, pausing to glance down the hall. With a piercing feeling in her heart, she recalled that this would be about the time Dakho would be rolling out of his room, always with something sharp to say to Camden if he passed her by. This morning, there was no one down the empty hall. Just the shadows of Iikka and Reaver leaving from the other end.
It was a lonely feeling. She had never thought about it much until he was gone, but he was just about the only other soul on board who understood the value of a sense of humor.
Camden entered the mess hall and counted the heads as she passed by the cabinets. A prepackaged plate was drawn carelessly from one of the cubbies and given only a cursory examination before she slid it into the kinetic oven.
“Mornin’ lads.” Leaning against the counter, Camden folded her arms and hooked her heel on the surface behind her. “Iikka, you’re looking positively chipper, as usual. Sleep well?” She sent a smirk in Reaver’s direction as well. He looked about as ready for the day’s adventure as she felt.
The oven chimed, and Camden withdrew her breakfast. There was a metallic element to the steam as she inhaled the scent, but nonetheless she flicked a gold and white portion into her mouth.
“Mm, polystyrene eggs.” She sat down with her meal, keeping a comfortable amount of room between herself and the wireframed human. “Just like my grandmother used to make.”
