Chapter 71: Things are overwhelming me and I am overwhelmed
"Think about it, Captain," Frigg repeated, standing up. "You still have time to think about it as you will continue to be our guest for some time."
Just then two soldiers walked through the door and stood waiting.
"These two gentlemen will take you to a cell. Better than the previous one. Please do not resist, there is no need."
Noah stood up silently. He made no progress. Frigg paid no attention to anything. It was frustrating, even if he shouldn't have expected it. But at least he had a better idea of what might have happened. Before heading to the door, he asked the general again, "Where are my officers?"
Frigg deliberately pretended not to know what he was talking about, and then pretended to remember and said, "They are our guests too. The lady is in your neighboring cell. Unfortunately, she is as stubborn as you. That stranger, why do you call him here?" Well, Vulcan, is a very special creature. Green blood is something we have never seen before. Furthermore, he is completely unmoved by the suggestion. I'm afraid I won't be able to permanently remove him from our science department. Take it away. They will certainly want every element of him to be studied and subsequently preserved. As for the Andorran, he is no longer here. Their government is directly responsible for his care."
Noah frowned in disgust. "You are such a vicious person."
As he prepared to leave the room, Frigg called after him, "I enjoyed your company at tea. We should repeat this gathering when we have the opportunity."
Noah didn't respond and left the room. Frigg's last words disgusted him. Now, he really wished he could stay in an empty cell.
"I'm in a meeting!" Celia shouted to her assistant and walked straight out of the room. She arrived earlier than scheduled, but work at the medical station was relatively smooth, and she wanted to leave before something new happened. The medical station became quieter during this time. All the wounded have been treated and most have left the medical station. Only four crew members were seriously injured and are still receiving treatment. But fortunately, their condition is stable. The only thing to worry about is that Ted's condition is still very critical. They had done everything they could, but he was still dying. If there were facilities on Earth, perhaps they could help him. However, these facilities no longer exist. This worried Celia because she felt it would be difficult for Ted to survive without this help.
There was nothing Celia could do about Ted now, and he was in stable condition under the care of assistants. Now she has another person to care for, Ingemar. She'd barely seen him over the past few days, but when he briefly showed up at the medical station today, she was shocked. She thought he looked terrible. Of course, he now has a huge responsibility. Without a captain and first officer, he became the commander of the Republic. He assumes responsibility for the ship and its crew. He must also find out what happened and decide what to do next if his two superiors don't return.
But it wasn't just his problem, she could feel it. Something else was bothering Ingemar. Although she didn't know the specifics, she knew him well enough to know that something wasn't right. So she rushed to the conference room earlier, hoping to have a private conversation with Ingmar.
When she walked into the conference room, Ingmar was already there. He stood in front of the window, looking out with worry. The windows reflected a distorted image of Ingmar. His forehead was wrinkled, as if he was thinking hard, because he didn't notice when she walked in.
"Hello, Ingmar," she greeted cautiously. She didn't want to scare him.
Still, he turned suddenly and looked at her with wide eyes. "Hi Celia. Nice to meet you."
She approached him and stood in front of him. "How are you?" she asked.
He gave a wry smile. "Can I be okay? The captain and her lieutenant are missing, the universe seems to be in chaos, everything here is about the same as it was a hundred years ago, but completely different from a hundred years ago. We are surrounded by enemy ships ready to open fire , suffered a lot of damage. I've never felt better." His sarcasm grew stronger with every word.
Celia didn't find this funny at all. She looked at him seriously. "I don't believe you. In addition to all the problems you mentioned, and there must be others, you have never had such a bad time. Am I right?"
Ingmar snorted and turned back to the window. "Why do you think so?"
"I've known you a long time. If that's not enough for you, call it female intuition."
He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes briefly. "Yes, you're right," he whispered. He hesitated, but finally said it. "I kissed Shu Ran."
Celia raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Who did you kiss? She's not your type at all."
"Yes," he replied shortly.
"Just a kiss?" she speculated.
He hesitated. "Yes. But not because of me."
"She resisted your kiss? I got to know this woman closer," Celia teased. "Now is this question keeping you awake?"
Ingmar ignored her sarcasm. In fact, it even caused him pain. "I love her," he whispered. "I couldn't get her out of my head, out of my thoughts."
Celia was stunned and speechless.
Ingmar turned to her again. "I could only think about her. Even though she was difficult. She was fat and awkward and stood out everywhere. But she was so wonderful in that situation. But she didn't feel the same way about me."
"Oh my God," Celia muttered. She couldn't believe that Ingemar could actually fall in love with a woman. This doesn't suit him at all.
“She wanted us to be friends,” Ingmar continued.
"Oops." She frowned. "Be friends." That's just about the worst thing you can say to someone who's in love with each other. Although it's a classic, almost everyone has heard of it at one time or another. Celia understood how Ingemar felt.
"It pains me every time I see her and know that she doesn't feel the same way. Damn it, I can't hide from her. As long as I'm in command, she works in the operations room for me. That means we have to work together. She's coming to this meeting soon. Every time I see her, I feel like I'm going to be torn apart."
"I understand," Celia said thoughtfully. She wanted to help Ingmar, but she just didn't know how. In the end he must face it all alone. She could only listen.
"I think I'll take her up on her offer and become her friend. That way at least I can be there for her."
"You must be crazy to do this."
"Yes, I..." Ingmar stopped. The door opened and the leader walked in. The opportunity for a private conversation was missed. They must postpone continuing the conversation.
The meeting itself was not long. Nothing new. Based on different intercepted messages, it is now certain that the imprisoned crew members are no longer in Geneva. But where they are being held is unclear.
Meanwhile, restoration work has been slow. There were too few spare parts on board. And new parts cannot be obtained from Earth. Therefore, repairs can only be carried out with the parts that are on hand, and in other cases, they can only be used as a temporary emergency.
For Ingmar, meetings were a burden. Although he acted well, he was sure that no one could see the pain in his heart. But he was really tortured inside. Shu Ran is still as charming as ever. She looked completely normal, nothing abnormal. Even he couldn't tell the difference. Occasionally she even smiled at him, which made his heart churn again. What should he do to forget this woman? He was sure he could never do it.
After the meeting, the leaders retreated to continue their work. Shu Ran deliberately delayed for a while. So Celia preferred to leave quickly. There seemed to be a conversation going on here that she definitely didn't want to interrupt. Celia decided to talk to Ingmar later.
After everyone left the room, Shu Ran turned to Ingemar. "We've had very little time to talk over the past few days," she began.
"Yes." Ingmar felt like he couldn't say anything.
"How are you?"
"Yeah~~~, not bad," he lied. "And you?"
"Well, that's good too. Would you like to have a drink with me tonight? We can go to the bar and chat."
Ingmar smiled. "My pleasure." In his mind, he heard a voice reminding him that he should forget her. But he ignored it. He wanted to shut up this sound so that it wouldn't disturb him anymore.
"Okay. See you tonight then." She turned and left the room.
Ingmar looked at her back. He could hardly believe it. He felt like a teenager on a first date. He seemed to be floating. Even though it's not really a formal date. At least not from her perspective. To him, it didn't matter what she called her. He looked forward to spending time with her again.
The sun has set. In a fringe area of Los Angeles, dull crashes occasionally echoed through the streets. Tall buildings circled the streets, their tops lost in the dark night. Only a few houses were outlined in the moonlight. A gentle breeze blew away plastic bags and cups from the streets. Eye-catching billboards flash on building walls and signage. The bright lights are almost day-like, but so garish that they give you a headache. They try to attract residents and tourists to shop. And in this part of the city, the shopping may not be the most serious.
A couple who looked a bit older hugged each other tightly and were lost in this neighborhood. They looked around sometimes with some fear. They feel uneasy in this strange place. The area is so old that there aren't even public terminals to view maps. So they have no choice but to continue getting lost until they get to the next area.
Some of the scantily clad women gave them a few glances, but didn't do much more. They knew the old couple had nothing to focus on.
Only occasionally a floating scooter whizzes past them. Too fast to stop and ask them for directions. Most of the time, loud music is playing from the scooters. This is music for young people. For most older people, such music only hurts the ears.
They hurried past a bar and heard a dull crash inside. It's the bass of the music. Until they walked over, the man suddenly stopped. His wife was completely taken aback and almost bumped into him.
"I'm going to go in and ask where we should go," the man said.
"Honey, are you sure we shouldn't keep walking? One day we'll get out of this area," she pleaded fearfully.
Her husband looked up at the moon between the buildings. "Maybe we'll get completely lost, and then maybe get mugged. No, I'm going to ask now," he decided, his voice firm.
Then he quickly walked to the bar. His wife followed him, struggling internally between fear of entering the store and fear of being left alone at the door. As they cautiously opened the door, warm, oppressive air hit their faces. The smoke in the bar finally had an outlet and blew into their faces. The wife coughed and turned around, but followed her husband into the bar.
The bar inside looks much better than outside. However, it was almost as dark inside as outside. A faint red light fills the air, illuminating the wood-clad walls and upholstered furniture. This adds a dark feel to the whole scene. There were strippers dancing in three areas, swaying to the beat of the music. Their very lewd actions left the couple almost speechless. They had never seen anything like this. They turned around quickly and looked for a relatively reliable person in the bar. Eventually, they came across a man who looked to be in his forties. Upon closer inspection, he may actually be in his thirties, the kind of guy who looks visibly older under the influence of alcohol. His messy black hair looked like it hadn't been combed in a long time. He sat leisurely on the bar, leaning on the bar, staring blankly in the direction of the dance floor.
"I'm sorry, sir," the old man shouted against the pounding beat on his heart.
The man slowly turned his head and looked at them. The old man was startled. Half-closed cloudy eyes stared at him. This look in his eyes was definitely not just blurred by wine. There must be other substances at play.
"Excuse me, can you tell us where the nearest subway station is? We want to take the subway to the city center." The old man shouted again, his wife hiding behind him. She kept glancing into the bar, a sheepish expression on her face. Every time her eyes passed over the naked girl, there was a trace of disgust and humiliation in her eyes. Everything felt uncomfortable to her, and it wasn't just fear, but an uneasy feeling that triggered the discomfort.
The young man in the bar stared at her for a long time, and the old man who asked the question wasn't even sure whether his conversation partner truly understood his needs. A few seconds passed, which seemed like a lifetime to the old man. His confidence faded, and suddenly he felt like he might not make it out alive. The deafening rhythm penetrated his soul, the red light made his eyes flash, and the young man's gaze...
"Of course," the person in question finally said vaguely. "You go out, go left up the street, go to the second intersection and turn right. You'll find a station."
The old man looked at him again for a few seconds. He was very surprised that he got an answer and it was so accurate. He was then rudely pushed by his wife. "Let's go," she whispered.
As she turned to leave, she scolded him softly, "If you're a little patient, we can find the subway station ourselves. But you have to come in here." Her accusation was muffled by the deafening music.
The man standing at the bar turned to the man next to him. "Looks like some weird people are here. Those two Albergi guys are so funny. And did you see that woman?" He started laughing and almost fell off his chair. "I don't think the poor man has any say in the family."
