Day 4
Day four had a whole lot of Evan waxing poetic about the medic and Russo steadily looking more and more homicidal.
Finley left them to it for the most part and most of day four was relatively quiet. Things were still tense between the two crews. There were clear sides in the mess hall and recreation areas, but no one had dared to bring anything to Finley yet.
She'd already decided she wasn't going to step in until someone did. Forcing herself into the situation and making a problem into something it wasn't was an easy way to destroy this crew before they even made it out of the solar system.
The next day or two would see the last of the system bugs solved and the first day of a regular routine.
Or as much of one as was possible on a ship and a mission like this.
Russo already had a pretty extensive list of contraband that had been brought on the ship, but unless it was dangerous, like more of the tree frog poison, he was leaving it be for now.
They needed as much of the crew intact as possible until after the Walker Hospital stop. There was still a chance the new government would call the whole thing off if there was a significant issue prior to the first planned stop.
Finley getting assassinated and replaced wasn't nearly as big an issue as a large chunk of the crew having to be replaced. Ten people from the wrong department would cripple the ship and while there was a short list of backups on stand-by, the amount of time to get them on the Loss was not time they could afford to lose with the eyes of the entire solar system on them.
Finley had gotten into the military academy on scholarship at thirteen.
Well, they'd called it a scholarship, but it had really just been charity that was a step a juvenile center. With no family to go to, she managed to talk the authorities that found her, and Evan and Russo, into letting her test for the academy and she'd managed to score high enough to enter. She'd dragged Evan and Russo with her, the three of them keeping the oath they'd made as children to never leave one another.
The academy had been an adjustment. Until then, there'd been few adult presences in their lives and none of them had been stable or long-term. The rigid rules and timelines of the academy had alien and unwelcome, but the food and shelter had not been.
The first few months all three of them had ended up in the medical clinic because their bodies hadn't been prepared for the amount or quality the food and they'd eventually had to gone on specialized diets. Finley hadn't even been able to drink coffee regularly until her second year in the academy.
The first time she'd had the delicious dark brew, she hadn't slept for two days and thought she was dying. Now she needed multiple cups a day to stay a decent person.
Thankfully, due to the many forms it came in and the fact that it was relatively easy to grow in a controlled environment, it, and tea, were two of the easy staples to maintain on a ship.
And Finley loved tea almost as much as she loved coffee. She'd never taken to the energy boosted fruit juices or flavored waters that were popular and came in thousands of flavors.
Or the weird energy shots made of Jello and that contained three cups of coffee worth of caffeine in an inch by inch by inch little square.
When they'd first been introduced to them in the academy Evan hadn't believed what their fellow cadets told them and had eaten four one after another. The doctor at the academy had to drug him to calm him down and the energy shots had been banned for the rest of the year.
It hadn't done much for their relationship with the rest of the cadets, but it had certainly been a learning experience.
Evan had never taken one of those shots again and Russo refused to drink anything that wasn't water or came solely from a plant.
And Finley survived on coffee, tea, and water mostly.
None of them were fans of alcohol.
Not after Evan's father.
Since the day was peaceful and she was still waiting to see if someone tried to kill her today, Finley decided to spend a few hours in the mess hall while she read over the status reports.
It was between mealtimes when she arrived, so there were only two culinary specialists on duty, one in the kitchen, one tidying the eating area. Aside from the culinary team that managed and produced fresh meals, they kept a steady supply of snacks available and there was a row of Gordon's, food generators that had been nicknamed after the famous Gordon Ramsey, and Julia's, liquid food generators named after Jullia Child.
These machines could make pretty much anything, though the more complicated the recipe the less quality it usually turned out. Since it was all made from nutritional mixes and flavored accordingly, it was never as good as the real thing, but it could sustain someone for their entire life.
Finley grabbed a cup of coffee, taking a deep whiff of the spiced scent.
Most of the tables were empty, but there two at opposite ends of the mess hall that had a few occupants each.
Finley picked the table smack dab in the middle and sat down. She was kind of curious to see if anyone would approach her. She'd turned down having a Captain's Mess. It didn't make sense with the kitchenette in her room and the lack of space on the ship in general, so she'd have to eat with the masses if she didn't feel like eating in her office.
Generally, Finley like to end her day alone to decompress, but there were some days that just wasn't possible. She snatched minutes when she could and made up for it when she could when she couldn't.
She had a stack, digital of course, of reports to read over. All the little issues identified on launch day that had been repaired.
She made it through half her list before someone finally sat down across from her.
Beau Callahan gave her a wide, dimpled grin and a fresh cup of coffee.
~ tbc