The Final Expedition

Day Nineteen

I entered the Zvezda module where Aki and Natalya were talking quietly at the small galley table before both laughing with each other, Aki putting her hand over her mouth in the Japanese custom as she did so. Their laughter was stifled when they realised they were no longer alone. Natalya turned her attention to the packets of food in front of her while Aki glanced sideways at her before picking up her own food packet.

“Good evening.” I smiled brightly, approaching the table. “Nice to hear a bit of laughter. This place has felt like a morgue for the last few days. What was it that tickled you?” Natalya blushed and Aki babbled something unintelligible, before they both looked at my baffled face and exploded in a fit of giggles again.

“Sorry.” Aki finally regained her composure. “It’s a girl thing.” Natalya nodded sheepishly.

“Right.” I replied uncomfortably, reaching for a food packet myself. At that moment, Flynn joined us.

“Hey Chuck.” I greeted him, glad of the opportunity to change the subject.”

“Carter.” He replied brusquely with a curt nod before reaching for a food packet himself, opening the microwave and throwing his food inside.

“What have you been up to?” I asked him. Flynn paused, perhaps considering for a moment whether to dismissively cast aside my query, before finally shrugging his shoulders and replying.

“Working on a few of the experiment racks and helping Miss Takako fine tune the hydroponics experiment. It’s all set up for sustenance, so we will have to watch and wait to see how that turns out.”

“Good work, Chuck!” I smiled.

“Glad to have your approval, Carter.” Flynn replied with more than a hint of sarcasm. The microwave chimed and Flynn reached for his food packet and took it with him towards the other end of the station. Morrison and Karpov passed him on their way to the food cabinet.

“Hey guys.” Morrison smiled.

“Seriously what is his problem?” I looked in the direction of the departing Flynn. “Things aren’t bad enough already that we need his attitude too?”

“Who, Flynn?” Morrison replied, checking several packets, deciding which one he wanted. “He’s okay. Sure, he prefers his own company, but once you get to know him, he’s actually a good guy.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Aki replied. “He seems a very angry man.”

“Look, I know the guy can sometimes be an asshole, but try to cut him some slack, eh?” Morrison replied. “He’s going through the same emotions as the rest of us. He had a wife and daughter in Chicago you know, so he’s hurting the same as us. He’s dealing with it in a different way and maybe it’s making him a little prickly and antisocial, but let’s not vilify the guy for it.”

“I guess so.” I conceded.

“There are six of us in a confined space in a bad situation.” Morrison continued. “It’s inevitable that tensions will run high and small irritations become amplified out of all proportion.”

“It’s true.” Karpov nodded in agreement, tearing open his food packet. “I read that even one of my heroes, the Cosmonaut Valery Ryumin, once wrote that ‘All the conditions necessary for murder are met if you shut two men in a cabin measuring 18 feet by 20 and leave them together for two months’ and he was twice decorated as a Hero of the Soviet Union.”

“Let’s just try not to pile all our frustration and anger onto the shoulders of one individual.” Morrison added. “While Flynn might not be the most charismatic guy on the station, he’s not the antichrist either.”