Chapter 38 - Light Duty

“You’re a jerk! Jerk, jerk, jerk!”

—Shizuku Tsukishima, Whisper of the Heart (1995)

The infirmary lights hit full morning brightness right as Joey pulled the last IV from Emily's arm. She winced as the tube slid free. He dabbed the blood away before she could look at it, which was fine. She didn't want to look at it. Twenty hours in the medical pod had saved her life, but nobody had told her muscles that.

"Take it slow," Joey cautioned, supporting her elbow as she pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Your body's been through hell."

Emily nodded, the room tilting slightly just from sitting upright. The red hoodie hung loose around her frame, soft against her tank top. She'd asked Zoe for it the second the pod opened. It smelled like laundry detergent and the Triumph's recycled air, and wearing it made everything feel slightly less terrible.

"How bad was it, really?" she asked, clearing her throat.

Joey checked something on his tablet, his expression carefully neutral. "Bad enough that I'm ordering you to light duty for the next forty-eight hours." He looked up, catching her gaze directly. "And that's non-negotiable, Em. Your white cell count is still climbing back to normal."

The infirmary door slid open with a soft hiss, and Zoe stepped in, her dreadlocks pulled back in a practical ponytail. "Morning, sunshine," she said, her smile widening at the sight of Emily sitting up. "Ready to blow this joint?"

"God, yes," Emily muttered, already shifting her legs toward the edge of the pod.

Zoe moved to her side immediately, offering an arm for support. Emily hesitated only briefly before accepting it, swinging her legs over the edge of the pod.

"Alright, steady now," Joey said, hovering nearby like a nervous parent. "Remember, your muscles have been rebuilding from cellular damage. They're going to feel weak for a while."

Emily gritted her teeth as her feet touched the cold floor. "I've got this," she insisted, even as her knees threatened to buckle.

Zoe's arm slipped around her waist, taking her weight without comment. "Course you do," she agreed easily. "I'm just your decorative escort."

Joey handed Emily a small container of pills. "Three times daily with food. And let me know immediately if you feel lightheaded or nauseous. Don't try to tough it out."

Emily pocketed the medication with a nod, concentrating on staying vertical as she and Zoe moved toward the door. Each step felt like her legs were encased in concrete, the muscles protesting with trembling weakness that infuriated her. She was supposed to be stronger than this.

The corridor outside the infirmary stretched ahead of them, the metal flooring cold beneath her sock-covered feet. The morning cycle lighting cast long shadows down the passageway.

"Did I miss anything important?" Emily asked as they moved slowly toward her cabin, leaning into Zoe more than she'd ever admit.

Zoe adjusted her grip around Emily's waist. "Just the first wave of satellite data from New Dawn. Danny's been freaking out over the biological readings. There's complex animal life all over the surface." She grinned. "And I've been working on the landing calculations. We've got three potential touchdown sites identified."

"We still set for landing?" Emily asked, determination bleeding through despite her weakness.

"Yep. Heading down later this afternoon." Zoe helped her navigate a slight turn in the corridor. "Luca pushed it back so you'd have time to recover."

Emily's stomach did something stupid. "He didn't have to do that."

"Please," Zoe scoffed lightly. "He fell asleep in the chair next to your medical pod. I heard him snoring when I came to check on you."

Heat crept up Emily's neck, and she was grateful for the dim corridor lighting. "He's just being a good captain," she said.

Zoe's snort of laughter echoed against the metal walls. "Sure, and Danny actually notices when I practically throw myself at him during system checks."

Emily nearly stumbled. "Still nothing?"

"Nothing," Zoe said with exasperated fondness. "I swear, I could strip naked and dance on his lab table and he'd probably ask if I needed help with a data analysis." She helped Emily around another corner, her voice dropping low. "At least your painfully oblivious captain might finally be catching on. The way he looked at you in that hoodie... I thought his brain was going to short-circuit."

Emily's fingers clutched reflexively at the red fabric of the hoodie. "You really think so?" she asked, hope creeping into her voice despite herself.

"Uh-huh." Zoe's tone was knowing. "And you were practically melting into it when he came to check on you. The poor boy looked like he'd been hit by a freight train."

Emily felt her cheeks burning now. "Can we not do this right now? I'm kind of focusing on not face-planting in the corridor."

"Fine, fine," Zoe conceded, still grinning. "But seriously, Em, if he's finally figuring it out, maybe he's just scared. You know how he gets when he thinks he might mess up something important."

"I'm not something to mess up," Emily countered, wincing as her muscles protested another few steps. "I'm something to... I don't know, actually do something about."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Tell that to Mr. 'I'll just pine dramatically from a distance.' He's worse than Danny when it comes to emotional constipation."

Emily opened her mouth to respond, then closed it again, out of comebacks. Instead, she shifted the conversation to safer ground. "So, speaking of Danny... what's going on there? I noticed you spending an awful lot of time in the science lab lately."

It was Zoe's turn to flush, and Emily caught it immediately. "I'm helping with data analysis."

"Right," Emily drawled, the word stretched with skepticism. "And Ryan's suddenly interested in xeno-botanical studies?"

Zoe's eyes widened. "What? No, Ryan's just—" She broke off, catching Emily's knowing smirk. "Oh, shut up."

"That's what I thought," Emily said, a small victory in their perpetual friendly sparring.

They walked without talking for a bit. Emily focused on keeping her legs under her and pretending the corridor wasn't getting longer with every step. The effort of walking and talking at the same time was embarrassing, and she hated it.

"We're almost there," Zoe said, her teasing gone. "Just a little further."

Emily nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Each breath came harder now, the corridor blurring at the edges every time she blinked too long.

"When we land on New Dawn," she managed between careful breaths, "I want to be the first one off the ship."

Zoe glanced at her, surprise evident in her expression. "Em, you can barely walk right now."

"I'll be better by this afternoon," Emily insisted, stubbornness lending strength to her voice even as her body trembled with exhaustion. "I'm not missing this. Not for anything."

They reached her cabin door, and Zoe punched in the access code with her free hand. As the door slid open, she gave Emily a long look that Emily had seen a hundred times. The one that meant Zoe thought she was insane but loved her for it.

"You're something else, you know that?" Zoe said softly, helping Emily through the doorway.

Emily managed a weak smile. "That's why you love me."

"Among other reasons," Zoe conceded, guiding her toward the bed. "Now go shower so we can get some breakfast."

Emily sank onto the edge of the bed and let her legs shake without pretending they weren't. New Dawn was hours away. An alien world, waiting for them, and she could barely walk to the bathroom. She was going anyway. Radiation poisoning could get in line.

---

Luca jerked awake, adrenaline jolting through him. The ship's programmed daylight cycle had kicked to full morning brightness and cut right into his face, casting patterns across his tangled sheets. The clock on his bedside table read 1000 hours, and the realization hit him like a bucket of ice water.

He'd slept through his alarm.

He'd slept through the entire morning.

"Shit," he hissed, throwing off the covers and scrambling out of bed. His foot caught in the sheet, nearly sending him face-first into the floor. "Shit, shit, shit."

How could he have slept so long? After everything that had happened with Emily, after promising himself he'd check on her first thing? Joey had practically thrown him out of the infirmary last night, insisting that Luca needed rest as much as Emily did. But he'd set his alarm for 0600, determined to be there when she woke.

Luca yanked his uniform from the closet, cursing under his breath as he struggled into it. His fingers fumbled with the zipper, teeth catching on fabric. He'd overslept by four fucking hours. What kind of captain was he? What kind of friend?

He splashed cold water on his face, not bothering to dry it properly as he rushed out the door. The corridors were eerily quiet. Everyone else was probably at their stations, doing their jobs, while he'd been dead to the world. The thought of Emily waking up alone in the infirmary made his chest tighten with guilt.

The infirmary door slid open with a soft hiss, revealing an empty room. The lights had been dimmed to standby mode, and the medical pod where Emily had lain yesterday stood open, its monitoring screens dark. The sheets had been changed, all traces of her presence erased.

Luca's stomach dropped as a dozen questions hit him at once. Had Joey moved her somewhere else? Had something happened during the night? He crossed to the communication panel on the wall, jabbing at it with more force than necessary.

"Joey? Joey, are you there?" His voice echoed in the empty room, and when nothing came back, frustration and worry churned in his gut. He needed to find someone, anyone who could tell him where Emily was. The bridge was the obvious choice, but they'd be preparing for the landing approach. The mess hall was closer.

By the time he reached the mess hall doors, Luca had concocted a dozen worst-case scenarios, each more dire than the last. Had Emily's condition worsened? Had Joey moved her to quarantine? Why hadn't anyone thought to wake him?

The doors slid open, and the sound of laughter stopped him cold in the entryway.

The entire crew sat gathered around the long table, plates of breakfast scattered between them. Danny was gesturing wildly with a fork, nearly taking Ryan's eye out as he explained something with his typical scientific enthusiasm. Zoe leaned back in her chair, smirking at whatever Joey was saying. Chris was busy demolishing what looked like his third plate of eggs.

And there, right in the middle of it all, was Emily.

She looked pale, certainly, and there was a new fragility to her movements that hadn't been there before. But she was showered and dressed in a clean uniform, her hair pulled back neatly, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth as she listened to Danny. She looked alive and impossibly real.

Luca must have made some sound, because suddenly all eyes turned toward him. Emily's smile widened, and she patted the empty chair beside her.

"Look who finally decided to join the land of the living," Ryan called out, sliding a mug of something that might generously be called coffee across the table. "Sleeping Beauty awakens."

"You look like hell," Zoe observed cheerfully as Luca made his way to the empty seat.

Emily tilted her head, studying him with those green eyes that always seemed to see right through him. "Rough night?" she asked softly.

"Something like that," he managed, sinking into the chair beside her. Up close he could see the shadows under her eyes and the careful way she held herself, the ordeal still written on her body. But she was here, awake, talking. The tension drained from his shoulders so fast his knees nearly gave out.

"Here," she said, sliding a plate of food in front of him. "Eat something before you pass out. Joey says you barely ate yesterday."

Before he could respond, she leaned over and rested her head briefly against his shoulder. The gesture was so quick, so natural, that he might have imagined it. But the warmth where her cheek had pressed against him lingered, and he caught Ryan's knowing smirk from across the table.

"Did you make this coffee?" Luca asked Ryan, taking a cautious sip of the black sludge that had been pushed his way. "Jesus, it tastes like engine degreaser."

"You're welcome," Ryan replied cheerfully. "Made with my special recipe. Extra grounds, no filter."

"It'll put hair on your chest," Chris added around a mouthful of eggs.

Joey rolled his eyes. "And probably strip the lining of your stomach."

"So," Danny interrupted, clearly eager to return to whatever he'd been explaining. "As I was saying, the biological readings from New Dawn are incredibly diverse. We're seeing signatures that suggest complex ecosystems across multiple biomes, including forests, plains, and what looks like wetland regions near the equator."

Luca took a bite of waffle, surprised to find himself suddenly ravenous. "Any updates on the landing sites?" he asked, forcing himself to focus on the mission despite the overwhelming urge to keep staring at Emily, to reassure himself that she was really okay.

Zoe leaned forward, pulling up her tablet. "Three potential sites identified. This one," she highlighted a flat plain near what looked like a forest edge, "offers the best combination of stable ground for the Percival to land and diverse biological sampling opportunities."

"The Percival's loaded and ready in the hangar," Ryan added. "Full diagnostics came back clean this morning."

Chris frowned slightly. "About that... we need to talk sleeping arrangements. The Peregrine only has six berths, but there's seven of us."

Joey shrugged. "Someone can stay on the Triumph. We'll rotate shifts."

"We don't have enough fuel for round trips," Luca added, causing all conversation to stop. "We'll need someone to stay behind."

Emily piped up from his left, that mischievous glint in her eyes. “I volunteer to bunk with the captain. Problem solved!”

The crew laughed. Luca's cheeks went warm, but he tried to play it cool. “Nice try, Em. But someone needs to stay behind on the Triumph.”

The mess hall erupted into protests, all of them talking at once. Zoe’s voice rose above the others, “We’ve come this far together. You can’t expect one of us to sit out the most important moment of the mission!” He knew. He’d been trying to be responsible, which wasn’t exactly his strong suit.

He raised his hands, “I know, I know. But it’s a matter of safety and practicality.” He looked at each of them, his friends, and saw that same fire in their eyes. The same crazy need to explore and make history. How could he deny any of them that?

Luca let out a long sigh. “Alright, alright, have it your way. We'll make it work somehow.” If they all had to sleep sitting up, that was fine.

Emily relaxed visibly, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. "Thank you," she said.

"Finish up," Joey instructed, gesturing to their plates. "We're headed to the hangar next."

As the meal wound down, conversation shifted to excited speculation about what they might find on the surface. Through it all, Emily remained quieter than usual, but her eyes were bright with anticipation.

When they finally rose from the table and headed toward the hangar where the Percival waited, Luca drifted into step beside her.

The hangar doors opened to reveal the Percival dropship, its sleek form gleaming under the overhead lights. The boarding ramp was already lowered, and the pre-flight checks were underway, status lights blinking green across the exterior panels.

As they approached, the rest of the crew moving ahead to begin the boarding process, Emily hesitated. Luca paused beside her, watching as she took in the dropship that would carry them to humanity's first steps on an alien world.

"We're really doing this," she said softly, wonder bleeding through the exhaustion in her voice.

Luca nodded, allowing himself to share in the moment of awe. "Yeah, we are."