"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."
"Of course." Alice was almost thankful that Beck had come over. He nodded at her politely and stepped out of the camera angle, disappearing from Patrick's sight. Even though he had not seen Beck's face, he still had a frown on his face when Alice turned her attention back to him. "Looks like our time is up."
"I thought we had twenty minutes." He was still frowning. Pouting, really.
She accidentally let the words slip, "Do we even have twenty minutes of things to say to each other?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
She sighed, running her hands through her brown hair. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Vogel had left, and only Beck was left in the room. Turning back to Patrick, she lowered her voice so that Beck didn't hear. "You don't want to hear about what I've been doing here, I can tell. You're not carrying conversation, I can't pull all that weight. If you don't want to talk to me, that's fine. Maybe next time I'll call Nick."
"Glad to see you're doing so well." He grimaced. "I guess email if you get bored of all the attention you're getting up there from Beck."
"Pat-" The video chat ended, and Alice was seething. She had slipped up, she let her frustration with Patrick build up and let it out in the worst way. Not only had she argued with him on their first video chat of a thirteen month trip, but Beck had very obviously heard what he had to say. Taking in a deep breath through her nose, Alice held it for a minute. She heard foot steps again and let out her breath, opened her eyes, and stared at the blank screen. She could feel Beck's eyes on her, and she knew that he was right there. "I'm sorry you had to hear that."
"I didn't realize..." Beck swallowed nervously, "I didn't know he knew."
"I thought it would be best for the relationship that he knew." She shook her head, placing her hands over her face. Dragging them down and contorting her features as she did, she dropped her shoulders. "Apparently that was the wrong decision."
"It was one night nine years ago," Beck said, and Alice realized that they were having this conversation. The one she wanted to have later. But it was happening now. Beck had taken the wheel, though, and was handling it as well as Alice had intended to. "I get it now, the tension between us. I'm sorry if I made things difficult at all. Anything I said earlier, I was just messing around."
"No, it's really not you at all." She uncrossed her legs and got out of the chair. "Pat has a problem with it, I have a problem with Pat having a problem with it. But I have no problems with you, Chris, I don't want there to be any issues between us."
"Then there won't be," he clarified.
"Thank you, Chris." She felt a huge weight lifted from her shoulders. Though she was still regretting what she had said to Patrick, she was thankful that Beck had overheard now. Not only did it force them to address the situation, but also to get over it and move on. The rest of the trip would be far less awkward, and once she got things sorted out with Patrick, she didn't want to see any more hiccups on this mission. "I'll leave you to it, then."
"Oh." Beck glanced at the computer. "I actually already had my video chat. I just overheard... sensed the tension, thought I would save you the- That was not my place, I'm sorry."
Alice couldn't help but smile. "Actually, I appreciate it."
"So, coffee?"
"Sure." Alice nodded, shifting slightly in her cozy NASA sweater. The two of them left the vacant Rec room and maneuvered down the halls towards the kitchen. Vogel and Lewis were chatting, both of them drinking something bright and green. Her and Beck prepped the coffee, both of them staying quiet as if they weren't allowed to talk with anyone else in the room with them. But that would look strange to anyone and so Alice hopped up on the counter. She didn't want to reminisce about the past, but it was all her and Beck had in common. "Remember our prof? What was his name... Coleman?"
Beck laughed. "Jeff Coleman. I had him for two courses."
"Ouch." Alice chuckled lightly.
"He might have been tough in class, but his grading wasn't all that bad."
"Speak for yourself. That course kicked my ass." She shook her head. "Walked out of the final with a B."
"That's not too bad." His eyes suggested he was withholding telling her what he got.
"Well? What about you?"
"I don't like to brag-"
"Yes you do." She laughed. "But my grandpa used to always say, 'it's not bragging if it's true'."
"Smart man." He poured the coffee and handed the mug to Alice. She gripped it and thanked him quietly. Behind them, Lewis and Vogel got up from their seats; Vogel left the room but Lewis walked over. Both Alice and Beck smiled at her.
"I couldn't help but overhear, you two knew each other before this?" Lewis asked; she was kind, stern when it came to the mission, but a gentle woman.
Alice nodded. "We had one course together nine or so years ago."
"I had no idea." She spoke softly. "Are you feeling comfortable here, Alice?"
She looked at Beck, then back at Lewis. "Everyone is really welcoming, I'm very happy to be a part of this crew. I'm excited to do my monthly psych evaluation; normally I am doing a video chat from home, this is going to be a very unique experience."
"Well, as much as we want it to be smooth sailing," Lewis smiled, "anything could happen, and I think I speak for the entire crew when I say we're thankful for you being here."
"Anything could happen," Alice replied while glancing up at Beck.