HAB 12 (Scrapyard Ship) by Mark Wayne McGinnis Page B

strict rules about fraternization between officers and NCOs. His schoolboy crush would need to stay just that: a crush—and a secret one at that. Looking away from Dira, Jason saw Billy staring at him. He smiled and shook his head. Shit.
    “What are you working on over there, Gunny?” Jason asked, seeing Orion entering something on her virtual tablet.
    “I’m reconfiguring our HUD weapon interfaces,” she said, looking up. “What happened today, the multi-guns not being properly set. I thought we’d have time. I wanted to show everyone how to configure the menus.” Orion abruptly stopped talking. Her eyes welled-up with tears and she started to shake. Billy got up and sat down beside her. He reached an arm around her shoulder, but she pushed it away. He tried again, and this time she didn’t fight it. She turned and cried into his shoulder for what seemed a long time.
    Jason was quiet, and then said, “You know, this is new for all of us. We’re all winging it as best we can. No one’s blaming you, Gunny. Without those amazing guns, we would not have survived today.”
    She nodded, her face still buried into Billy’s shoulder. Jason looked away to the star-filled horizon. As the last vestiges of light slipped away, his eyes focused on a red planet, a planet with Saturn-like rings. It looked close enough to touch.
    “I believe that planet is called Evam ,” a voice nearby said.
    Jason turned, seeing Ricket had taken the rock where Billy previously sat.
    “The name fits, ” Jason replied, keeping his eyes on the magnificent view.
    Jason looked over to the mechanized alien, wondering just how much Ricket was analytical and machinelike, and how much an actual sentient, feeling being. Still irritated at Ricket’s previous actions, Jason stood. All eyes followed him. “It’s my turn to take watch.”
     
    * * *
     
    Jason overslept. He'd stayed awake, covering two sentry duty shifts overnight, and only crawled into his sleeping bag at 0600 as the sun started to rise. He'd heard yelling and laughing for the past hour and realized it was his team having a little R&R in the pool. By the time he’d gotten up and made his way over to the pool, things had settled down. Traveler was the last one still in the water.
    "Good morning, Traveler. How's the water?" Jason asked. 
    "The water is a gift from Baruke . Like fire and air, one of the elemental forces."
    Jason realized that the phrase 'how’s the water' was an English-language colloquialism and he'd taken the question literally. Over the past few weeks, Traveler had picked up English fairly quickly. Jason saw no need, nor did he have the energy right then, to correct him.
    "I will leave you to some private time of tranquility, Captain."
    Traveler pulled himself out from the rock pool. Seeing him now, naked, and without his heavy outer leather coverings, the years of battle were clearly evident. Scars—some were long and traveled the full length of his upper torso, and others were jagged, round-like clusters where his hide had been punctured. Seeing he was now alone, Jason activated his battle suit to disengage from his body. The torso and leg panels, as well as his boots, silently hinged open and allowed him to step out from it. The suit’s materials were extremely lightweight, yet sturdy enough for the battle suit to remain standing on its own. Wearing only his underwear, he jumped into the water. He'd expected it to be cold and invigorating, but it was more warm and relaxing—which was just as well. 
    "Mind if I join you, Captain?" came a voice from behind him. Jason pushed away from the side of the pool and turned as he treaded water. "Please, come on in," Jason said, trying to sound nonchalant. Dira stood at the edge of the pool, looking down at him. Smiling, she turned away and activated her own battle suit to disengage from her body, as Jason had, and now wore only bra and panties. Jason, averting his eyes from her, dove under the water and came up on