Chapter 18

"Well, what did you think of that?" Cali asks as she picks up the outer candles. Rory has already taken care of the inner ones.

"Where do I start?!" Rory answers enthusiastically, and then thinks for a moment. "Well, the thing that stood out the most is the fact that there was so much deity. I've had deity attend rituals before, sure, but I've never had three at once. So that was," she pauses, her eyes taking on a faraway look as she remembers the feeling of so much presence, "intense."

"Yeah, intense might even be an understatement," Cali says as she takes the candles from Rory and slots them into a clever drawer that disappears into the wall next to the altar. Putting away the candles makes her realize how lucky they are. "They really thought of everything. There are all these little storage areas, the tree, the altar, the magnetic wood. Oh, and that they asked us what garments we wanted for rituals and had us pick garments for different roles. That was brilliant and really worked to our advantage this time."

She looks down at her flowing white gown. "I mean, look at this, it's amazing!"

Rory takes the opportunity to look Cali up and down and gulps a little. "Yes, quite. Um..." She turns and checks the altar. Having restored all the implements to their positions, she presses the little button, and the whole thing slides in and stows away. The tapestries rise into the ceiling, and then it is just them and the tree.

"You go on ahead, and I'll finish up here. I need some alone time with the Ship Tree." As she tells Cali to go, she presses a different button, and a literal broom closet slides out of the other side of the altar. She makes quick work of sweeping any stray dirt bits back into the base of the tree. She finishes and stows the broom. Then, walking up to the tree, she sits down with her back against it. "Tyche, can you turn the lights down? Early evening."

"Sure thing, Rory." And when they say that, the lights dim and are an excellent imitation of how they were during the ritual, including the 'sky' lights. "Shall I lower the tapestries as well?"

"No, that's okay, thanks," Rory answers, and leans her head back against the bark of the trunk. She closes her eyes and communes with the tree. She sits down with just the intention of thanking the tree for being there and helping them with their work, but like usual, whenever she comes to talk to the tree, she is deeply comforted.

She starts by Ground-and-Centering and then sends waves of gratitude to the Ship Tree. The tree responds by sending energies of compassion, comfort, and healing back to Rory. Before she knows it, she is silently crying, and that transitions into full-on sobbing.

Tyche treis to leave it alone, but they can't. "Um, are you okay, Rory? Can I help?"

Rory wipes her eyes and works to calm herself, taking that comfort from the tree and drawing on the energy from the dirt under her before answering, "No, it's okay. This always happens when I commune with the Ship Tree." Before Tyche can ask something, she continues, "It's not the tree doing it. Actually, the Ship Tree helps me. Someone has hurt me, deeply and well; when the tree comforts me, it relieves a little of that pain, that stress that I exist in. And so the crying starts, usually happy tears, but then I end up thinking about what happened and how much I still have left to heal, and well, it's all too much."

She pats the bark of the tree as she gets up. "But they always help me with that, too. It's a process, and I am very grateful that we have this tree." Giving it a little kiss, she heads to the door. "Lights off, please, Tyche." She turns back to look at the tree in admiration as the lights dim, then turn off, "Thanks."

#

A couple of days later, Rory is lying in a beanbag in the little nook she has created in engineering, thinking about the incident in The Grove, and she thinks back to what happened on her Bounding. She shakes her head, not wanting to think about it. But it gives her an idea, and she asks the ship, "Tyche, where is Cali?"

"Cali is in her quarters. Shall I tell her you are seeking her?" Tyche responds.

"No, that's okay. I'll go there myself, thanks."

"Oh no, I've already told her! I'm sorry," Tyche says.

Rory sighs and stands up to leave, looking grumpy.

"I'm kidding, sorry. I'm still working on my sense of humor." Tyche sounds embarrassed.

Rory says with a laugh. "It's okay. Keep working on it. Thanks for letting me know where to find her."

Approaching Cali's door, Rory is just about to knock when Cali comes out, almost bumping into her. As she collects herself, she notices Cali's workout gear and can see why Brigit was so enamored. "Sorry about that," Rory says.

"No, I should have been looking at where I was going. Were you looking for me?" She asks as she starts for the workout bay.

"Um, yeah, well, I was wondering, would you teach me some self-defense?" Rory asks.

"Sure, I was just on my way to do a Tai Chi set. Want to learn that? Some people think of it as a martial art that's just for show and exercise, but the fundamentals are beneficial for protecting yourself." Cali says. Seeing Rory's nod, she resumes walking, and Rory follows.

"Will I be okay in my ship tee and shorts?" Rory asks, looking down at what she is wearing. She only has on her ship suit over the aforementioned items. Rory hadn't thought of workout gear when packing for the trip. She'd always just kind of been thin throughout life without having to really do anything. Vanessa in Academy used to call her 'beanpole' but affectionately. And Vanessa sure enjoyed playing with her 'beanpole' whenever she could. Heat rises to Rory's face, not in embarrassment, but in excitement. 'Later,' she thinks to herself.

Cali looks Rory up and down and nods. "It's not designed for working out, but it's also not restrictive, so it should work for now."

As they enter, they notice Doc working out in the corner where all the weights are. They both stop and stare as he faces the other direction and hasn't seen them come in. Cali leans over and whispers to Rory, "I don't normally go that route, but with some, I could be convinced. He is very convincing..."

Rory nods and whispers back, "I know. Now I see some of what Adair sees in him." She turns to Cali, sees the intense fire in her green eyes, and almost wants to offer herself in Doc's place. "Do you think they'll share him with us?"

The question breaks Cali's stare, and she heads over to the mat. "One can only hope." She calls over to Doc, letting him know they are there. "Hey Doc, how's it going?"

Doc finishes his rep and sets down the weights before looking over and responding. "Good, good. Adair is keeping me busy." He seems a little embarrassed that he just admitted that. Seeing what they are about to do, he nods. "Good, something where you can't get hurt. Well, knowing you these past few weeks, I wouldn't put it past you." He says with a smile to soften the blow and goes back to squatting.

They have only been at it for a few minutes when Rory notices Brigit and Adair come in. Adair sets their tablet down, making sure it is still good for getting alerts, and then sets about stretching and getting the climbing wall ready. Cali is facing away and deep into the feeling of the Chi as she moves when Rory notices Brigit checking out how Cali's workout leggings hug her toned glutes, and she whispers, "Hey Cali, look who is checking you out. Subtly." She warns as Cali turns.

Cali flows effortlessly into a new form that had her turn directions, and right before Brigit turns away, Cali catches her staring and gives her a warm smile that melts Brigit. She watches as Brigit turns to Adair and says, "Let's start."

#

About twenty minutes later, Tyche interrupts everyone. "Crew, as good of a time as you all are having, I feel like I must tell you we are nearing navigation range of docking. I'm astonished that none of you knew that was coming up. Who is supposed to be watching for this kind of stuff? Oh, right, me!" You could almost hear the grin in the last sentence. "You probably have enough time to get a sauna and a shower in if that is something you would like to do."

The first to head to the sauna is Doc. He racks his weights and ambles to the sauna. There is a sheen on his skin from the effort he has exerted. Cali and Rory follow him after they finish the set they are on. As they walk to the sauna, Cali compliments Rory, "Well done today. You're taking to it quickly! Pretty soon, we'll have two security officers!"

"It's not like that," Rory converses as they enter the sauna. They both pause a moment to watch Doc lift himself onto one of the top seats. "I just want to protect myself." She whispers.

Cali breaks the sad moment by taking Rory's shoulders and pushing her gently ahead of her. "It's okay, I'll protect you." She slips up onto one of the top spots, and Rory takes the bench in front of her, leaning her head against Cali's inner thigh, relaxing in the heat as Cali says, "It is my job, after all."

"What is your job? Lazing around in the sauna?" Adair says with a chuckle as they and Brigit enter, and they pour some more water on the stones, steaming up the small room even more.

"Funny." Cali says with a smile before patting Rory's bald head. "Protecting this one here. And all of you."

"Yeah, and I'm going to ask you to stop getting hurt so that you can do your job," Brigit jests as she pulls herself into the last top bench seat, leaving Adair the lower bench seat in front of Doc.

There are many contented sighs as they all luxuriate in the heat. However, it doesn't last long, as Brigit sits up and jumps down. "Alright, everyone, see you on the bridge soon." Even though there are showers attached to the workout bay, she heads back to her quarters.

Everyone else gets up, taking their time, stretching and filing out one by one. Rory, the last one out, right after lingering a moment with Adair, turns down the heat and lights.

#

They all assemble on the bridge after cleaning up after their respective workouts. Brigit has raised the conference table, and they all are leaning on it. The exercise has wiped them out.

"So," Brigit looks to her left at Adair, "How is the course?"

"Course is locked, and I have prior permission from Zephyr Orbital to dock. Of course, we'll have to go through the motions as we approach. Ready once." Adair gives their report.

"I'm going to make this one a little abbreviated; if I skip you, it's not on purpose, and it's just not a required part of the ritual. Rory, how are thrusters? Are the sails ready to furl?" Brigit asks.

"Thrusters are primed and ready. They have the course locked in for the automated section and will have sufficient additional power and fuel for the manual part. Sails are tired and ready to come in from the dark. So ship is ready twice." Rory reports.

Brigit looks down at the board. Seeing it all green, she continues, "The board is green, the ship is ready thrice. Let's give them a rest for a bit. You all know your stations. If you're not required, you don't have to be here, but it is a sight to see, so you may want to hang around."

She lowers the table and turns her chair. "Tyche, main screen port mode. Overlaid with course in bottom right, lock info upper right, and ship information and diagram in upper left."

The screen changes, and they all see the orbital as a distant sparkle in the dark. Brigit looks over at Adair. "How long until sails are furled?"

Adair does some quick computations on their pad and answers, "T minus twelve minutes and thirty seconds. Tyche, can you put that on the screen for us?"

It appears on the screen on the bottom left. Brigit settles in to wait. This part is always dull because you are just slowly approaching the station, but also exciting because of the technology and skill needed to bring two items together in the vastness of space. They all watch as the station gets bigger and bigger. In no time, it seems, the clock beeps down the last ten seconds. At zero, Brigit looks to Rory. "Furl sails."

Rory presses some buttons, and they all see the sails contract into the ship on the upper left of the screen. They can also see the speed accelerate, but the thrusters automatically come online, and the station continues growing.

It is soon filling the entire screen, and Tyche tells Adair, "Automatic approach done. Handing over thruster controls to you. I have rung the station for permission."

They all watch the station in front of them, and then there is beeping, and at Brigit's curt, "answer," a bored-looking port official is on screen. "Greetings and welcome to Zephyr station. Do you have a pre-authorization?"

"We do," Brigit replies. "Tyche, please send the requisite codes."

Getting what he needs, he nods. "I have cleared you for docking. Please proceed to dock forty-seven. Have a pleasant stay."

When the screen clears, Rory says, "Well, he's having an enjoyable day..."

They all laugh as Adair maneuvers the ship. Luckily for them, it is small enough not to need tugs. Though it would be less work for Adair. It doesn't take them long to get the ship oriented and spinning with the station. They all watched as they get closer and closer to the station.

Even though Brigit knows Adair knows what they are doing, she still feels it necessary to say, "Easy, almost there."

Adair only nods, clearly concentrating on what they are doing. Finally, closer and closer, the ship gets to the station. Then they all feel the bump as they make contact. Brigit looks over with a questioning look on her face. Adair meets her gaze and smiles big. And they both turn to the screen, and beside the scarred skin of the orbital, they watch as the dock cycles red, then green, showing that it has them locked to the station.

The power flickers a moment as they join station power. Brigit is just about to ask Rory to begin the fueling process, but she can see that it has already started. Looking over at Rory, she smiles at the captain and shrugs.

At that moment, as in many others, Brigit is proud of her crew.