“Come back to this recording once you’ve had time to think all this through,” my voice finishes. “I’ve left some... helpful surprises on the ship for you. Some schematics that will be useful.”
I let that one go for now. There’s too much else to think about. “OS,” I say, “how far are we from this exoplanet destination?”
“I do not understand what you mean,” my mother’s voice replies. “You are on your way to Titan to rescue Minerva Cusk.”
“I don’t believe you,” I say, then cringe. Now OS knows where the information from my previous self was likely located. I’ll need to find a new place to store it for the futureme. If that’s really a thing I’m going to be doing.
“Whatever you’ve decided to believe,” OS responds, “I still need you to focus on the mission at hand. TheCoordinated Endeavorhas undergone numerous small damages over the course of its journey. I need you and Spacefarer Celius to repair them, to maintain the integrity of our vessel.”
“OS,” I say against the pit in my belly, “I’m inclined to believe that the only reason we have so many small damages is because you’ve been flying this ship without a human crew for thousands of years. There’s no reason there would be so many tasks to complete that Rover couldn’t handle. That simply shouldn’t happen over the months it takes to get to Titan.”
OS goes silent. I get to my feet. “I need to see Kodiak.”
“You are not alone on this ship, you are correct. But Spacefarer Celius does not wish to see you.”
“I know that’s what you claim, OS,” I say, dusting my palms. “But I have some things to say to him that he’s definitely going to want to hear.”
_-* Tasks Remaining: 4909 *-_
Kodiak and I stand before the wide screen of 06, looking out at the stars. They seem so real. But they can’t be touched or smelled. Despite the evidence before our eyes, I’m increasingly coming to believe they are not real.
“This is not how I expected this journey to begin,” Kodiak says gruffly.
“Believe me, I didn’t, either,” I say.
“I was all ready to lock myself away, to call you an enemy and be done with it so I could focus on my mission. But this evidence...” His voice trails off. I can feel him staring at me.
“Goodbye, Minerva,” I whisper as I press my forehead against the screen.
_-* Tasks Remaining: 4909 *-_
We stand beside theEndeavor’s airlock. The suits are all gone, except for one. Its helmet is intact but has been ravaged, a jagged scratch raked into the front of it. Kodiak holds it up to his face, examining the damage.
I watch him, wondering where this evidence will bring his mind.
Finally he speaks. “Sorry. I seem to have caused a messour last time around.”
I reach out and grasp his hand. The hand of this stranger who will become anything but. He stiffens, then surprises me by clasping mine back fiercely. As if he’s lost his balance on a cliff, trusting the nearest stranger to hold him back from a fall.
_-* Tasks Remaining: 4909 *-_
I invited Kodiak to come for breakfast. I hear the orange portal open before my morning alarm even goes off. I roll over in my bunk and ask OS to project the ship time. It’s 4:25 a.m., back in Mari. Not that there probably even is a Mari anymore. When I tap on my light, I’m startled to see Kodiak at the doorway, staring down at me.
I flail to my feet. “What is it, what is it?”
His voice comes out muted. “I couldn’t sleep. I was hoping—apparently you have a violin? Would you play it for me?”
“Yeah,” I say, running my hand over my hair. “Sure. Let’s go find where it is.”
_-* Tasks Remaining: 4909 *-_
I’m not sure how long I play. OS cuts in between movements, asking us to work on smoothing the ship’s exterior shielding, but Kodiak raises his finger to silence it before he goes back to his eyes-closed reverie, seated on the floor with his arms wrapped around his knees. “Could you start at the beginning of the quiet section?” he asks. “The one that goesdun, dun doop?”
I return to the start of the adagio, the polycarb bridge on my violin stopping the instrument from playing much louder than the hum of the ship. The softness of the music feels right. A smile spreads across Kodiak’s features, and the furrows in his brow soften. I continue to play.
_-* Tasks Remaining: 4799 *-_
No task OS can come up with is pressing enough to get in the way of our music sessions. I scour the ship’s partial internet image for sheet music, surprising Kodiak with a new recital each morning. Once I run out, I compose pieces of my own, space-inspired combinations of harmonics created by laying my pinkie lightly on the string to produce high-pitched frequencies. I don’t think Kodiak enjoys themas much as the classics, but he puts on a good face.
