Waking up was jarring, to say the least.
At most, waking up felt...unnatural. That's what worried Tiptree most about the dura-chamber process. Everyone experienced something different. Guin said she loved it. Forster said it didn't feel like anything to him. Samuel said he hated feeling so confined. Russ mumbled about nightmares plaguing her.
For Tiptree, nightmares hadn't been a problem. Once the darkness had descended, she had been enveloped by a warmth that was hard to name. If she had to attribute a word to the feeling, only one came to mind.
Safe.
The dura-chamber had made her feel safe. Like Kass had.
Tiptree didn't trust it.
Three months had passed, and journey through the jump-point had been successful. Two days later, and the ship now hovered above Kevrun 9. Tiptree had stared at the orange and blue sphere for hours. She thought if Mars and Earth had a love-child, it would be Kevrun.
The planet had been chosen for initial probe scans promising plant life. Nothing on Earth was effective in combating the spread of the Storm. The Kevrun mission was to retrieve and analyze the plant's application for a cure.
Captain Forster had triple-reassured Tiptree of the planet's neutrality. And she was happy to volunteer for the gig, even though her colleagues had passed on it several times over. No one on the crew wanted what seemed like an easy job. Samuel and Russ were holding out for the next two planets, as both boasted signs of life.
Kevrun 9 would be her first mission, a fact which kept repeating in her head as she packed and suited up. The implant near her wrist itched like crazy, but Jason told her the discomfort was all in her head. The tech was designed to track and communicate mission status to Control. As he scanned it to ensure it still worked, he reminded her the chip could save her life.
"If something goes wrong, it's how we find you." After seeing the look on her face, Jason added, "But it's not like anything will."
"Right."
"Dudes are usually right."
She playfully punched his arm. His jibe had mitigated tension, but not much. He left her to pack.
Tiptree fumbled with the language converter, and it clattered to the ground.
Wrapped as she was in the suit, bending over was out of the question. Guin picked it up. Casually, she unzipped one of the side pockets of the suit, slipping the converter inside.
"What if they don't practice religion?" she asked, patting the packed compartment.
Tiptree chuckled. "It's a neutral planet. No people. No religion."
"Then why, pray tell," here, Guin smiled at her pun, "would they send you, theologian?"
"I volunteered," Tiptree said, then added, "You're not going, and couldn't even if you wanted." She spoke as she finished packing the last of her gear. "It's simple recon." She paused. "Isn't your brand of science only good up here anyway? "
Guin laughed, but more like a threat than camaraderie. She walked off without a good-bye or good luck.
The awkward encounter over, Tiptree focused on mission parameters as told to her by Kass:
-Do your job.
-Get the hell back to the ship.
Easy. Too easy. Suddenly, her pulse quickened and her head swam. She groped for the bench behind her, and plopped down gracelessly.
"I remember my first mission."
The voice belonged to Russ. Her friendly tone calmed Tiptree somewhat.
"Oh yeah? How'd it go?"
Russ leaned on the launch archway. "Went alright. Crashed the ship."
Laughter sputtered out of Tiptree. Relief cut through her anxiety, but only a little.
"You're still here."
"Yeah. I didn't realize that when the controls malfunction, they turn back on after a hard-reset. Just wait three seconds, count it out, and sometimes the pod resets itself. If it's more than three seconds, depress the manual reset."
Tiptree smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "What if that doesn't work?"
Russ shrugged. "Count to three again. Pray in all the languages you can."
Chuckling, Tiptree nodded. She summoned a sprig of strength, took a deep breath, and stood.
Russ shared a few more tips before leaving her.
The talk had helped, but not by much. She continued to carry a rock in her belly.