The Law of Attraction [Chris Beck]

Chapter 5

                "Pat!" Alice exclaimed when she saw his face appear on the screen. The movement was slightly lagging but she was just happy to see him. Smiling at him, she sat up a little straighter. In the Rec room there was little privacy but everyone had cleared out for each person's turn to talk to their families. Beaming at Patrick, Alice let out a sigh of relief. "It's so good to see your face."

"Yeah, you too," he said, less enthusiastically than her. "How's space?"

"Well it's keeping me on my toes, but so far no mental break downs." She grinned, placing her hands on the table in front of her and tapping her fingers excitedly.

"I can't wait for you to come home," he said, his voice slightly more energetic now.

Alice frowned; she was twelve days into the trip, and she was not thinking about going home already. Having Patrick instantly jump to that was a little off-putting, but she understood that of course he would be missing her. 

Alice was bundled in a grey NASA sweater, and she had her legs crossed underneath her in the chair. Having been on the Hermes for almost two weeks, she had gotten accustomed to everything about it. It was her home for the next couple hundred days, the crew her family. Thinking about going back to Earth, well, it hadn't actually crossed her mind yet. It was too early in the mission to be homesick, and it bothered her that Patrick had already pulled that card.

"Yeah, I'll be home before you know it." She smiled, but it was slightly forced. "How are things there?"

He shrugged. "Work's work."

Alice squirmed slightly; why was he making this so difficult? She began to wish that she had requested a chat with her brother instead. "Did Nick catch a flight home?"

"Yeah," Patrick replied, seemingly bored.

"Good, he's probably talked to mum since then."

"Yeah, I dunno."

She heard footsteps behind her in the Rec room, and she turned behind her seat to see Vogel and Beck entering the room. They were talking about something that she couldn't hear, and she turned back to Patrick. She still had lots of time to chat with him, but seeing that they had already run out of things to say because he wasn't willing to carry any of the conversation, she decided that she would cut it off sooner rather than later. She knew that the next email she would get from him would be filled with questions about why she cut off the chat early, but emails would be easier to deal with than awkward face to face while Vogel and Beck were possibly listening in.

It was as if Beck sensed the tension, and he walked over to Alice. Gripping the back of the chair, he stood taller so that his face was not in the video-chat session. "Hey, are you almost done here? I don't want to rush you, but I'm waiting on video time to talk to my sister."