Quinns tried to really listen to Gary’s explanation of the inspection this time. During the emergency meeting, a growing idea distracted him from the discussion. If you asked him if he was listening, he’d say yes. But five minutes afterward, he couldn’t recall a word anyone said.

Even now, as Gareth spoke, Quinns’ hands fiddled with his helmet. He swore fidgeting made it easier to listen. And he only needed a basic run down – his job would be down a different path. Gary, Leon, and Valorie would walk over to the Hayes and have a nice conversation with the ship officers. Meanwhile, Quinns would be on an adventure of his own.

Quinns knew he was right when he said Gary wasn’t going to like it. He was pleasantly surprised when Gary let him go along with it. He’d thought it would be more of a fight. Gary could be overprotective sometimes, but Quinns was 23 now. Almost 24. This time, when Quinns brought up his idea to protect Heli, Gary was willing to listen. There could be several factors for that. Most pressing, Quinns thought, was desperation.

“Quinns, I expect you to be done at that time.” Gary said. Quinns snapped out of his thoughts and gave Gary an apologetic look. Guess he was wrong about how easy it was to listen. Gary did not even look surprised.

“When the initial scans are complete, the inspection team will follow us back to the Helianthus.” Gary said. “I won’t be able to give you any warning when it happens.”

“Sir, may I?” Valorie spoke up. She often had a serene look about her, but Quinns could see the shyness in her, too. Every time she spoke, she was nervous. It was as if someone told she was wrong to open her mouth, and she had never gotten over it.

“Yes, go ahead.”

“My implant allows for simple messages via PD comms. If I may have his net code, I could provide a significant warning time.” She looked down as she spoke, “I know it is improper to ask for a net code, but I-” She began.

“It’s up to him.” Gary said. When she looked this uncomfortable, Quinns wanted to say something. Instead, his cheeks turned red when she peeked at him.

“It’s fine.” He said – probably too fast, his voice a bit too high pitched. “It’d really help me out.” When no one moved, he remembered his PD. “Right.” He muttered. Fishing the PD out of the helmet, he tried to ignore the raised eyebrow from Leon. He failed, and his ears burned as he focused on the PD. The more eyes that were on him, the harder it was to move.

Once the code was ready, he held it out to her. She watched as he did so with what was definitely wonder in her eyes. She held up her own bracelet PD, and a small smile lit up her face as the notification rang. His heart rate increased under her gaze.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” He said, shrugging it off as best he could.

“Good. One less thing to worry about.” Gary said. Quinns saw Valorie refocus on her PD. He understood the feeling when everything else dropped away, and there was only the task ahead. He noticed the change in her eyes. Valorie flipped over the PD and uncovered a small jack in the side. She plugged in one of the wires interspersed with her hair, and one of the indicators lit up. When she looked up again, she realized all three of them were staring at her. Quinns knew that discomfort all too well.

“Attuning…” She said, refocusing her gaze on the PD, “I’m attuning the implant.” She clarified, her voice a little quieter.

“Of course.” Gary said. By the look on his face, Quinns knew he would be researching it later. Leon was frowning as he looked from her to Gary. His annoyance made it all the easier for Quinns jump in.

“Makes sense to me.” He said, offering a smile he hoped wasn’t awkward. She nodded, eyes snapping back to her display once more. Her red cheeks made him want to say more.

As he struggled to think of something, a loud DING reverberated against the bay walls. Quinns’ eyes widened, and the group looked to the exit. The warning lights were now green, and a display above the airlock said the docking bridge was ready.

“What in the…?” Gary said.

“Was that… an oven?” Leon asked. Gary gave Quinns a dark look, and Quinns responded with his most innocent of expressions.

“I.. uh.. forgot I modded the alert.” He said, unable to hold a laugh any longer. Leon couldn’t help a smirk.

“Well, it gets your attention, that’s for sure.” He said. Gary closed his eyes, looking up for guidance.

“I’m surrounded.” He said, his voice dripping mock disappointment. Valorie was watching his antics with wide eyes. She glanced at Quinns with a worried expression. Quinns chickened out of comforting her and backed away from the group.

“I’ll, uh, change it back. Don’t worry. Good luck talking with those guys.” Quinns said waving them away. Gary sighed and nodded. The formal determination returned to his eyes. It made Gary look so much older. Never failed to make Quinns uncomfortable. Quinns began making his way to the lander. Gary’s voice followed him.

“Be careful out there. Remember what I said.”

“How can I forget?” Quinns said, mostly to himself, as he entered the lander. Once inside, he paused to watch Gary leading the group through the exit. The door closed behind them and relief ran through Quinns’ body. He felt a little guilty about it sometimes – how much better he felt alone. Nothing came close to this peace.

He slipped out of the planetary exosuit – it would do him no good here. The EMU was a newer, more expensive model. It was harder to get on hence why he had thrown the exosuit on first. The EMU had a sleek design that made movement during a spacewalk more natural. Of the two they purchased, he had modded one with Gary’s permission. The right arm and leg cut off at the shoulder and thigh. Over the cuts, he had installed a metal ring with a rubber insole. It locked into place over his prosthetics, creating a seal. This way he could leave the metal prosthetics exposed. He tugged on the shoulder and flexed. The seal didn’t budge. He smiled as he tugged at it one last time. Perfect.

He glanced at the closed docking bridge again. Gary was the only one that he felt the closest to being himself. He dragged his eyes away to focus on the spacewalk checklist. Gary always made it through. Quinns scrolled down the checklist. Gary would be fine, and now that Quinns was alone, he would be fine, too.

Helmet in hand, he headed for the offices. The inside was a glorified storage room. The only thing that kept it neat was the necessary preparation for low gravity. If it was anything like his room planet-side, a rogue wrench would’ve killed him by now. No, everything had to be organized and locked down for travel.

On his right was the console and chair he buckled into during jumps. Beyond that was a lock bench. Specific metals would stick to the surface automatically. When he wanted something released, he would tap the item in a preset pattern. It kept his tools from drifting away while he worked. He set down his helmet in the chair and looked over the bench.

The night before, he had laid out the tools needed for a spacewalk. He picked them up one at a time and checked each for any safety concerns. He knew intimately the results of catastrophic safety failure. He scratched his metal thigh as he matched the items to the checklist.

He wasn’t surprised everything checked out fine. The safety equipment was all new. Gary had renewed as much of it as he could afford. New tethers, lock boots, a latch gun, and various redundancies. It was the only stuff they had that wasn’t decades old.

Before Heli even left storage, Gary had put together a list. It had everything Heli needed to pass a readiness test for the Database. From check-ups to supplies, the list was long. Worse, it was expensive. Gary’s savings from his family-mandated service covered the necessities to get Heli out of port. Nothing more. Quinns pictured the long road ahead and frowned at the latch gun in his hands. He hooked it to his waist and picked up his helmet. At least Gary was free now, he thought. He slipped the helmet over his head. He’d make sure it stayed that way.