Chapter 11. The friendship between Daisy and Noah
Totally frustrated, Tiny collapsed on the couch. Suddenly her anger was gone, leaving only a feeling of emptiness and depletion. She felt helpless and didn't know what to do. Deep down, she knew that everyone couldn't be lying. And Noah’s actions were nothing but confirmation of what others were saying. But if this was true, then her aunt was lying to her. This is the worst thing for her. Because her aunt has been her only support for years. She is her support. If Nancy lied, who else could Tiny trust? What else could she believe? What should she do next? The wisest thing to do would probably be to call her aunt and lay everything out. Her aunt's reaction would surely reveal something. But Tiny was afraid of doing this. She didn't want to let down the only person she trusted. She fears that she might eventually find out that her aunt cheated on her too. The easiest way is probably to leave the ship, never look back, and forget everything. But she knew she couldn't. Uncertainty will continue to plague her.
Determined, she stood up and walked to the computer. She could only hope that the connection to her hometown wasn't too far away. Now her aunt has to take responsibility. If she doesn't tell her the truth, then she swears she'll get all the help she can get to find out for herself.
Ingmar walked into the bar, his eyes scanning the room. Some at the door looked briefly at the newcomer before turning back to the person they were talking to. He walked across the room slowly, with no clear purpose. He knew no one else on the ship except the commander. A small bar like this is the perfect place to change that. Apparently this hangout was very popular among the crew as it was quite crowded.
At a small table he saw a young woman sitting. She clutched her cup tightly and stared blankly into the distance. He had to hit on this woman. She is slim and has a cute face. Her dark blonde, shoulder-length hair is streaked with light streaks. The ends cling to her neck, making her hairstyle look both formal and playful.
"Hello. Please forgive me, there are many people here. Is there any room here?" he asked as he walked up to her. She only noticed him when he spoke.
She looked him over briefly, seemed pleased with his appearance, and motioned for him to sit down. Ingemar had anticipated this, and it usually worked. He's also well aware that his good looks play a role in that. Why doesn't he take advantage of this?
"My name is Ingmar, by the way, Dre Ingmar," he introduced, flashing his most charming smile.
"I'm Limi," she replied, showing a row of shining teeth.
"I hope your friends won't mind me joining you." He tried to sound as innocent as possible.
"No, I'm sure. My friend was just going to the bathroom. She'll be happy to see you." Her smile was contagious, and he was mesmerized by her twinkling eyes. A strand of hair fell on her forehead, making her face look even more charming.
"Are you new here?" she asked after he ordered some drinks from the waiter.
"Yeah, I've only been here a week." He confirmed. "Otherwise we must have met before."
"I've only been here for a week. My cabin mates took care of me and helped me get familiar with the crew." She smiled and moved the strand of hair behind her ears with elegant movements. Ingmar watched with fascination the movements of her slender fingers. There's also a sense of elegance and great glamor to the way her head moves. Yet this manner was neither artificial nor arrogant and seemed entirely in character. In spite of himself, he began to imagine her in bed.
Before Joey came back, Ingmar and Limi had a great time chatting together. Ingmar uses his usual charm to tell stories of his adventures aboard different ships that are a bit exaggerated but not overly exaggerated. He wanted the story to still sound authentic and not sound like he was boasting. And this time, his plan seemed to be working again. Rimi was attracted by his every word, becoming more and more obsessed with him and laughing at even his weirdest jokes. Her laugh was bright and infectious, and Ingemar couldn't get enough of it.
Although the atmosphere was slightly dampened by the presence of Joey, she was less prone to succumb to Ingmar's charms and was more skeptical than Limi. However, out of politeness, she participated in their conversation.
Ingmar breathed a sigh of relief when Joey finally said goodbye and went to bed. Li Mi hesitated. Although she felt obligated to accompany her roommate, she really wanted to stay a little longer. She felt very comfortable with Ingmar and he was a good conversation partner. He had a sense of humor, had stories to tell, and listened to her. She hadn't had such a pleasant conversation with someone for a long time. And he's also very handsome.
After some clever persuasion, he managed to convince her to stay. The reason she was allowed to stay was probably also because Joey said it was okay as long as she stayed quiet when she returned to the dormitory.
Remi continued to be fascinated by his story, she was already smitten with him and would do almost anything for him. Ingmar knew this. It was so obvious in her eyes. But he restrained himself. He couldn't act hastily now. With a little more patience, she wouldn't be able to resist him anymore. Ingmar felt that the rest of the night and the sex scene was just a formality, after all, this kind of scene was already commonplace for him.
On a metal recliner that had been removed from freezing, lay John's body. Dr. Celia examined the body with her medical triangle scanner for the third time. The result is always the same. The way the energy blast entered his body suggested he was operating the laser gun himself. This corroborates Ted's investigation into John's room and the circumstances of his death. However, no amount of frequent scanning can change the facts. Of course, she didn't expect any changes. She just couldn't accept that a young man chose such an ending. This is a meaningless death. So ridiculous and redundant. She recalled his age. Twenty-two years old. He's still so young and has his whole future ahead of him. Why? This question echoed in her mind over and over again every time she looked at the scanner. But she couldn't find the answer in the data. Her eyes turned to John's body. She tried to remember him, the young man who had a zest for life, who could laugh no matter what the situation, the young man whose laughter touched the heart. But she couldn't find it. She has no recollection of this man because he never existed. She couldn't recall any occasion when he laughed. She couldn't even remember the way he smiled. how so? He never smiled. When she recalled it, she had very limited memories of John. Really, just some work stuff. She had only seen him a few times during routine check-ups at the medical station. He was always serious, no small jokes had any effect on him, and he never showed a smile. In fact, this is a warning sign that they should react to. But at that time she just saw his seriousness as part of his personality and didn't think much about it. Now, though, she felt guilty that she hadn't paid more attention to him. Is it normal for humans to become so cold and heartless?
"Doctor," a voice interrupted Celia's thoughts. She looked up and recognized Daisy standing before her. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on the present moment. Slowly, she put the scanner aside.
"How can I help?" Celia asked, facing the engineer.
"I want you to give me some painkillers for my headache," Daisy said, rubbing her right temple.
Celia nodded. She picked up the scanner again and walked to Daisy's side.
The room they were in was adjacent to the medical station. There are nine stasis slots here that can save a body to slow the passage of time. Typically, these troughs hold the remains of deceased crew members until the investigation is completed and funeral rites are conducted. If necessary, it can also be used to temporarily house seriously ill patients, thus significantly slowing the progression of the disease. This buys extra time to find a treatment. Patients will be placed in a state similar to an artificial coma, except their vital signs are minimized, almost as if they are frozen. In this state, time affects the patient very slowly. Theoretically, a person could survive this way for thousands of years. Of course, this approach has not been tested.
Celia examined Chief Engineer Daisy's head, specifically her frontal lobes. "Nothing serious," she finally decided. "You've been under a lot of stress lately. You should get some rest."
"I will," Daisy smiled weakly. Her staff, of course, were still shocked by John's sudden death, even though they hardly knew him. "I'll have enough time to relax by then. But now can you give me some pain relief medicine? I'm going to the surface of the planet in a few minutes to continue helping to set up the camp." Daisy said.
Celia sighed. She is not optimistic about simply prescribing the right medicine. Because doing so won't solve Daisy's headache. It couldn't solve the problem of her thoughts. But she also understood that Daisy couldn't just take time off and relax now. This will have to wait a few more days. So, she nodded, walked to the cabinet, took out a syringe, and came back. She pressed the syringe against Daisy's neck and it hissed, the medicine taking effect within seconds. If only it worked so quickly for all patients, Celia thought, thinking of John.
"Thank you." Daisy looked at the doctor, and then at John's body lying aside. "I still can't believe this is really happening."
"Yes," Celia nodded. She barely knew John, but his death affected her greatly. No, it wasn't the fact that he was dead that hit her, exactly. After all, she knew very little about him. It was more the manner of his death. This is simply incomprehensible and simply incomprehensible to an outsider. What happens in such a mind? Shouldn't they have seen it earlier? The signs had been right in front of them all along. John has an extremely closed character, he never smiles, he is often late for work, he never shows up during his leisure time, he just sits in his dormitory. Aren't these all signs of what has already happened? Did they all ignore it, or did they deliberately not want to see it?
"I'd love to know why he did this. How he got to this point," Daisy said, without sounding particularly sincere. She probably just said it casually. Celia felt that as the chief engineer, she might not care so much about these things.
However, Celia couldn't do this. She must know. "Me too. I'll find out why," she replied firmly.
Daisy nodded briefly. She then turned toward the door, but before leaving she thanked the doctor for the medicine he had prescribed. Then she left the room.
The doctor turned slowly. Her eyes fell on John. His young face looked so innocent. So cold and cold. Such a scene looks so wrong and unreal. Here he lies, dead. She would find out his motives. At least after he died, she would find out why and show everyone that he, too, had lived. She would keep him from being forgotten.
"Okay, a little further to the left. Slowly. Okay, stop. Now put it down," Daisy directed the crane worker who was placing a large wall panel. They had been working on the planet for five hours, building different structures. This is to prepare for the permanent presence of scientists to increase the possibilities and efficiency of research. In this way, you can avoid traveling back and forth between the spacecraft and the planet every day. At the same time, studies can be analyzed and evaluated directly on site, rather than having to wait until the next day. This is very convenient for scientists, who have long been eager to stay on the planet for longer periods of time.
Now, they have all kinds of laboratories. There are a total of three buildings dedicated to scientific research. In addition, there is a residence for ten persons and a building for sanitary needs. And all buildings are designed to be easily dismantled at the end without leaving any permanent damage on the planet. This is an important consideration for researchers and federal leaders. The only thing that cannot be completely reversed is the anchoring of the cranes used for construction to the ground. But this small sacrifice is still acceptable.
For Daisy and her team, such a construction job is unusual. Typically, they are busy in the machine room repairing much smaller but more technically complex equipment. They never built anything like a house. Because even the large machinery on board the spacecraft was built and assembled in shipyards. The spacecraft's engineering team was not involved at the time. While the spacecraft is in operation, only damaged parts need to be repaired or replaced. So working here made everyone a little skeptical, but with the outdoor work and rapid progress, the overall atmosphere became pleasant. And with prefabricated building components, it's much simpler than initially feared.
The buzz of the metal transmission beam sounded, and a visitor from the spacecraft appeared a few meters away from Daisy. Through a brief eye contact, the chief engineer recognized Commander Carol. Now was a good time, she handed over supervision to a staff member and then turned to the Captain's Mate. "Commander, nice to meet you."
Carol looked around, took a quick breath of fresh air, and seemed to really relax. This is not common for her. "It is as beautiful as your report says," she then said.
Daisy raised her upper eyebrows and looked at her boss. She knew it was Carol's first time on this planet. But her stable mood for environmental analysis seemed a little inappropriate. For any ordinary person, the sight of swaying fresh grass, trees swaying in the breeze, and a lake hundreds of meters away is intoxicating. But Carol seemed to have no more feelings about it, like a Vulcan. Or maybe she just can't express it.
"It's great here," Daisy added excitedly. "I hope the captain will allow us a few days of land leave during our mission. Because here, you can relax your mind perfectly."
Although Carol nodded, she didn't comment much. Instead, her eyes turned to the new construction. They are set up on stilts to minimize damage to the ground. The only problem is that the stilts dig into the ground a bit. But the technology here ensures solid support rather than anchoring to the ground. The anti-gravity units reduce some of the weight of the building, so that the foundation no longer bears too much unnecessary burden. However, the light gray color of these buildings is slightly jarring compared to the bright colors surrounding them. But no one would have thought of giving it another color treatment here. Eventually, everything will disappear after half a year.
"How's your work going?" Carol asked.
"We are making good progress and it is expected to be completed in three hours. Then the scientists can move in." Daisy replied. As with most of the researchers, she didn't care too much whether they were on the ship or not. They could barely see anything anyway. Only Joseph Ive would give Daisy some regret during his time here. He was a gregarious man and his evenings on the lounge deck or at the bar were always very interesting and enjoyable. He never seems to be short of topics and jokes and always brings joy to everyone. He was a jack of all trades and his good humor was contagious.
Carol nodded in approval. She was entrusted with research tasks by the captain. Initially, the captain himself wanted to take matters into his own hands, but his daughter disrupted his plans and he knew that now he had to devote himself to solving the problem. Unfortunately, he no longer had time for research work. Therefore, this task now falls on Carol. She accomplished this task with her typical efficiency. She worked closely with Jeffrey and kept detailed records of the mission's progress. "Scientists will be delighted to hear this news," she said.
Daisy smiled and said, "I hope so. We really put in a lot of effort here." Then she turned serious again. "How's the Captain?" she wondered, hoping Carol had some update. After all, she had just returned from the spaceship.
"He just accompanied me to the teleportation room. Then he was going to find Tini." Carol said. "He hasn't given up hope of talking to her."
Daisy nodded in ecstasy. She knew that on the outside Noah hadn't given up hope yet. But deep down, he was really doubtful. Even though he would never show it. He is the captain, and he must maintain a façade of high morale in all situations, appear to have everything under control, and exude optimism. Even when it came to personal matters, he couldn't lose that.
"You're worried about him," Carol said sympathetically.
Although Daisy had known Carol for several years and had unconditional trust in her, she was still unsure whether that trust would extend to a personal level. Because Carol is too closed off and unapproachable. Although they were more or less the same age, they had never developed a closer friendship over the years. Still, Daisy nodded. "Yes, of course. He's in trouble right now and there's little I can do to help. It's really frustrating."
Of course Carol knew about their friendship. They didn't hide it, and even though they were close friends, no one could read anything else into it. So it's completely understandable that Daisy would be worried. However, maybe there's more going on behind the scenes? Carol seems to be more talkative than usual today. Carol brought up the subject again. "He's very important to you, isn't he?"
Daisy was a little surprised by this question and hesitated. "Yes, that's right," she said. "As friends. Really good friends." She added quickly.
"Really just as friends?" Carol asked.
Daisy hesitated, then replied firmly, "Yes, just as a friend and mentor, really." The natural setting seemed to release them both. As they walked slowly toward the building, they talked easily, something they had never done on the ship. "I've known Noah for a long time," Daisy continued. "When I graduated from the academy, I was transferred to his ship. I was only twenty years old at the time, very inexperienced, and a little impulsive. We We got along really well from the beginning and he helped me grow. As time went on, I saw him as a kind of father figure."
"Where is your real father..." Carol asked.
"I've never met him," interrupted Daisy. "He died before I was born. The Klingons destroyed the ship he was serving on."
"I'm sorry about that," Carol said sincerely. "Are you jealous now that the captain's real daughter appears?" she guessed carefully.
Daisy stopped and paused. She had never considered this before. She listened silently in her heart, but did not find herself feeling any jealous feelings.
"No," she smiled and shook her head. "I no longer see the Captain as a father figure. I'm no longer young enough to need that feeling. But he's definitely closer to me than anyone else. He's family to me. And he actually has a daughter, I think it's wonderful. I just hope they can get along well in the end. In that case, my family will also add a new family bond." She smiled piously. "I just hope that if they can't resolve their differences, he can handle it."
"He will," Carol responded confidently. Then she pointed forward. "There seems to be something wrong with the roof of the last building."
Daisy followed her gaze and was slightly startled. "I'll be right back," she said hurriedly, quickly walking towards her team. If they can't solve the problem, the entire schedule will be thrown off.
