The Archangel Chronicles Part Two: The Blood Mosaic

The day ring that circled the lab in the place where the curved wall joined the ceiling was glowing amber. It was full evening, and almost time for her shift at monitor. A fact verified by the sudden chirping of her earring. She clamped her fingers around it to silence it.

Her mother had not heard it. She stared again at the numbers that were curving around her face.

"Are you finished with me?" Rhian asked. "It’s time for my shift."

"Oh," Portia called up a timescreen amidst the other numbers. "Is it that late already? All right, then."

Rhian hung up her lab coat and washed her hands. "Say hello to Alek for me," Portia said absently.

"I will," Rhian replied. She wasn’t certain how mother knew about Alek, since she’d been very careful never to mention him in front of her. She decided not to pursue the inquiry.

"Don’t work all night," Rhian called as she left. "No matter how many times you run those numbers, they’re going to be the same."

"Not if I’ve missed something."

"I don’t think you’re missed anything. It’s just too early." The door clicked shut behind her.

Her mother’s lab was on the very bottom tier of Botasi station. Monitor was at the very top-if top and bottom had any meaning in the deepspace it inhabited. So, it was a long lift ride to her station. Most of Botasi ran itself, aided by Suraji, the AI modeled after the biologist the station was named for, Suraji Botasi. But early on, the crew of scientists had decided not to trust the station completely, and to elect a governor from among themselves that would be in charge of the station for a term of sixth months. They also decided to have a person at the monitor station at all times, so all 32 of the science aides were assigned a rotating 4 hour shift. Since they were assigned their shifts in alphabetical order, Aleksander Garvan had the shift just before hers.

As she arrived, Rhian thought Alek had fallen asleep at monitor. Slumped sideways in the chair, he held his chin in his palm. Rhian tapped her foot against the side of the chair, but at the last second, he spun around to face her.

She jumped back, while Alek grinned.

"That wasn’t very polite," Rhian said, stifling the urge to slap him. "I thought you’d fallen asleep."

He shook his head and spun around to face the screens again. "That would be completely irresponsible," he offered in a mock-wounded tone.

The monitor screen enveloped the round room, leaving only a narrow opening for the door. Alek sat in the station, a circular bank of controls and screens that gave a read-out for nearly every aspect of station systems. Not that it was necessary to watch all of them assiduously, Suraji would pop up to alert the station monitor if there was a problem. Since the monitor station also provided access to Botasi’s comm, the aide on duty could summon any of the Station’s residents at any time. She could also visually access all of the public places, including labs, and gain access to private quarters in necessary, though a warning chime would indicate to the inhabitants that they were being watched if she did so. Alek had none of these screens enabled.