Shoshone Station: The Galactic Consortium season 2

Episode Three: The Egg #17

Sophia worked the morning after Thanksgiving. Jack took six people to the surface. Two were kids, pronounced stable enough to finish their recovery at home. Of those staying, one or the other parent left to maintain their homes on the surface.

He returned with four new patients. A young single mother had a two year old child with a heart defect. Two were vets and they looked night and day from each other. One was clean shaved, trim and fit despite having lost his left arm just above the elbow and his right leg just below the knee. The other was physically whole but dirty and shabby. What he'd lost was harder to tally, a brain injury and PTSD had left him homeless. The fourth and final patient was a young man that Sophia knew vaguely from one of the gay bars that Carl liked to hang at.

"Heard rumors that you were up here. But they said no one could." He shrugged. "Then I saw you on the news the other day. I'm positive. Said they could fix it. Then, if I can, I'd like to maybe stay."

Sophia nodded. "Yeah, we can help with that, too. In fact the treatment for HIV isn't that much, unless you've got a bad case. You could probably start getting settled immediately." And, she added in the back of her head, maybe I should talk to Tamela. We do need a fourth roommate.

That day was quiet. Charles came around shortly after lunch to see who need to ride up to the market. Jessica wanted to go play at the playground, predictably. Both Scott, the young man with HIV and James, the homeless vet had things they needed.

Both Dhanvin and Sophia went. They could take turns watching little Jessica, and Dhanvin wanted to take Scott to the regular economics office. His treatment wouldn't take long and he could start finding a job and getting settled immediately.

"Just so you know, blue is considered feminine in the consortium, and red is masculine," Sophia warned the two men as they entered a clothing shop to find them each a couple of new outfits. "The entire station is climate controlled so if you are staying, light weight stuff is probably good enough."

James made a subvocal noise that didn't really communicate anything to Sophia and stomped towards the back of the store, where they had a long display of shirt and pant combinations in heavy earthen tones. Scott shrugged at his retreating back and turned his attention to a nearby rack. He pulled out a red shirt covered in orange flames and draped it over his chest. "What do you think?" he asked. "Very masculine?"

Sophia chuckled. The shirt reminder her of Tapanga and she wondered briefly how Tapanga and Kerry were doing on Saras station. To Scott she asked. "The shirt? Or your pose? Cause that's confusing me," she joked.

He laughed. "I know, I could never pull off masculine." He sighed. "Unfortunately."

"You should just be yourself," Sophia said. "They accept that up here. They believe gender is on a spectrum, and there are many different distinctions. I'd say you were definitely on the soft side of masculine, but not really effeminate." She selected a blue shirt with a zig zag lightening bolt across the chest and slightly exaggerated shoulders. It was a Shin import. "Here try this."

"Lightening, cool," Scott said as he draped the shirt. "So, they say they don't have a word for gay, but they also don't care. How does that work? Is there a community?"

"Not really. They are very casual about the whole sex thing." James had come back with a couple of light brown shirts that seemed to suit him. "Both of you should be aware. Gay, straight, whatever. It's just not a big deal. If they are interested, they'll just kind of casually mention it and then leave it. If you are interested, too, it's pretty easy. Otherwise they won't push."

When they returned to the rim, Sophia bought them each a bowl of noodles from Treeka's shop and went to find Dhanvin and Charles. They were sitting on the cart still, watching Jessica play and talking religion.