Howard's Quarters

Howard rubbed his eyes while he waited for the call to connect. The events of the day had him on edge. He tried to force his unhappy thoughts out of his mind as he waited for Sophie to pick up.

The call connected, Sophie was smiling at him. As soon as she saw him though, her smile vanished and was replaced with concern.

'Howard, what's wrong?' she asked.

Howard chuckled in spite of his mood. 'Am I that obvious?'

'Only to me. Now out with it.'

'This mission is complicated.'

'Is it your drive fault?'

Howard shook his head, 'No no, that test went fairly well actually. A few people didn't strap in and got jostled, but otherwise, it went well.'

'Are you wondering if you made the right choice?'

He thought for a moment. 'Yeah, maybe that's it. You were right of course, I have a lot more people I need to watch over.'

She leaned back in her seat and regarded him. 'There's more your not telling me.'

Howard felt a lump in his throat. He wanted to tell her about his talk with Sam, but his gut was telling him not to say anything.

He trusted his gut.

'It's nothing really. Just have a lot on our plate right now. We're getting close to Veil and we have a lot to get ready before we hit orbit. Everyone is getting a little on edge I suppose. Including me.'

She nodded slowly. 'You go ahead and tell me what's really going on when you feel up to it. I'm not going to push you.'

Howard smiled sadly. 'Thank you, love.'

'I do have something that may cheer you up. Doctor Patel got the green light. We're going to go ahead with the treatment. Axion has been in touch too, they're ready to follow up on their end of the deal.'

Howard smiled warmly. 'That's wonderful! What's the timeline going to be?'

'We'll have some tests done over the next few days, the actual procedure will be about a week and a half away.'

'We should be hitting orbit around Veil by then. That's very exciting. It'll still be months before I can get back, but if it works, we have the time,' Howard said.

Sophie nodded. 'It's exciting, isn't it? Maybe I'll come to you instead,' she said with a wink.

Howard laughed. 'If your recovery is that quick, I'd be happy to see you.'

She began to twist some strands of her hair around her fingertips. 'I'm actually a bit serious. It might be nice... to have a fresh start when this is all done.'

Howard nodded slowly and said, 'But you love our home.'

'It hasn't been the same lately. Not with my condition as bad as it's been, and with you gone again. Now it just feels... restrictive. I'm trapped here most days. It's not the same anymore. I want to get away and just can't.'

Howard smiled warmly at her. 'It's not a bad idea. Axion wanted me to stick around for a while and help set up the colony. We could arrange a trip and stay here for a while. At least I'd still have a job.'

Her expression brightened at this. 'Really? You mean that?'

'Of course, Sophie.'

She clapped her hands together. 'That's wonderful! Thank you.'

Howard grinned. 'Look at you, it's like your a kid again. Seeing you like this makes everything worth it.'

'Haha, don't get too distracted, Space Captain Fredrick. You've still got a job to do.'

Howard nodded. 'Yes my dear, I certainly do.'

'Can I call up Mr  Richards and tell him you changed your mind about helping with the colony set up?'

'Sure thing Sophie. I'm sure he'll have some questions for me, but he knows how to reach me.'

'Okay. I'm going to go do that right now.'

'I'll talk to you later then, Sophie.'

'Goodbye Howard.'

The call ended.

Howard leaned back and smiled. It would be wonderful to have Sophie come to Veil.

Of course, he had to make sure there was a Veil to go to.

He had to stay on top of everything.

He had to get the ship there safely.