A Spaceman

Chapter 5--The Stars

"Here, this is how you strap it on," I say, helping to Clarisse to adjust the harness which will hold her down in zero G to run. The window in front of us looks out at the now calm chasm of space. A million stars glitter. I cannot help but smile at the scene. This cold universe is home to me. I sigh, my mind going back to my argument with the quack. Someday, there would be somebody who saw the same thing I did out there. I just had to find her.

"Did you ever want to have a pet, sir?" Clarisse asks, still on her extensive web of lies.

"I suppose, when I was younger. I never got to though," I say, getting into my own harness. I resist the urge to switch my earphones to music. She will want to be talked to. But I want my quiet time, to run and zone out to hard music pounding in my ears. It is not to be tonight, however.

"Do you want to have kids someday, sir?" she asks, looking down at the controls and starting the treadmill very slowly.

"Yes," I say, surprising myself with the speed of my response. I do, actually, now that she says it. Have some son or daughter who I would---do all the things my father never did, get pets for and carry on my strong shoulders, and tell stories to. I didn't know. I didn't know what a father was supposed to do.

"Me too," she says, not prying, "I liked caring for my little brother. A lot. It was fun, rocking him to sleep. Reading him stories."

"Yeah," I say, increasing the speed so that I run faster, "No wonder you miss them."

"Well, I'll see them one day, when I'm done here," she says, shrugging, and I can see she is being brave. She looks like she might cry again.

"Have you figured out how to use this thing yet?" I ask, pointing to the ear piece in my ear identical to hers.

"No, sir, I barely hear announcements on it," she admits.

"You press in the number code of your partner, " I say, leaning over and pressing my code into hers, "So we can talk back and forth if we are in a ship, or if you hold down the button three. If you press one, it increases the volume, two decreases, hold down four to reset if you have a different partner---but you'll always be with me so don't worry about that---and hold down five to access your radio station. You can use the computer in your quarters to set up a radio station with whatever music you like and then it will draw on that to play. But don't play it when I'm talking to you because a red light flashes so I will know if you're tuning me out."

"Has anyone ever done that?" she asks.

"Lt. Starr did it to Major Tom once, she knocked him upside the head, he had bruises for a week---but don't tell anyone I told you that," I say, smothering laughter at the memory.

"I won't, sir," she says, grinning conspiratorially. I feel like I can trust her, although I don't know why.

**

After being informed very melodramatically that there is a traitor in our midst working to overthrow the entire New American government and possibly every civilization on Kepler itself, we were instructed to go about as normal while surreptitiously trying to route out the traitor. Yeah, right. Whatever. So, I still have to go and see the quack for two hours. Unless he is the traitor, which would mean I would get to shoot him (God wouldn't be that kind to me), then I'm accomplishing nothing. and of course he is not the traitor, because

A) he has no allegiances

B) he's too damn stupid to have any allegiances

C) he probably doesn't have access to the code.

D) he definitely doesn't speak Isylgyn

E) Unless I am very much mistaken I know who the traitor is.